The Uncoiling Serpent - Your Epic Faerûnian Chronicle
The chronicle of your character's epic development in the Forgotten Realms - join now and make Faerunian!
$20.00
/ Session
Details
Weekly / Monday - 6:00 PM UTC
Session Duration / 3–4 hours
0 / 6 Seats Filled
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About the adventure
Welcome to The Uncoiling Serpent, a grand campaign spanning the breadth of Faerûn and the planes beyond. Prepare for a journey that will test your mettle, challenge your morality, and etch your names into the annals of history This is not a linear tale, but a living chronicle set against the sprawling, often unforgiving canvas of Faerûn. We begin in the familiar region of the Dalelands, but your destiny is not confined. From the humid jungles of Chult to the icy peaks of the Spine of the World, and perhaps even to the planes beyond. 🧭 A Tapestry Woven from Classic Lore The inspiration is rooted in the rich, often stark, and wonderfully weird material of the early Forgotten Realms. Expect to encounter: • Ancient Evils: Vestiges of the Crown Wars, dark plots of the Zhentarim and the Red Wizards of Thay, machinations of the secretive Cult of the Dragon, and perhaps even slumbering powers of long-forgotten deities. Drawing on the mystique of the Moonshae Isles, the political intrigue of Waterdeep, and the dusty tombs of the Anauroch Desert • Challenges: The structure and tone will emulate the spirit of classic adventures - complex dungeon crawls where the environment is as deadly as the monsters, wilderness treks fraught with unexpected danger, and political webs that threaten to ensnare the unwary. Expect resource management to survive the wilds, cryptic clues to beat puzzles, and moral ambiguity where few choices are easy • Deep Faction Play: Your allegiance (or defiance) of classic factions like the Harpers, Lords' Alliance, Shadow Thieves, or even the burgeoning Emerald Enclave will have genuine, long-term consequences. This is a world of shades of grey, where allies can become enemies and sworn foes might offer aid - as long as it benefits them 🎲 Gameplay and Tone The tone is one of heroic, high-stakes fantasy balanced by a touch of gritty realism. Magic is potent and wondrous. Combat is dangerous and tactical, but not just a simple hack-and-slash affair. You will need to think, plan, and sometimes run. • Exploration: The map is vast, and many secrets lie hidden in the wilderness. Successful exploration requires preparation, survival checks, and a keen eye. You will chart ruins, delve into lost dwarven holds, and navigate ancient trade routes • Social Interaction: You will deal with powerful nobles, paranoid mages, desperate commoners, and inscrutable extraplanar beings. Your reputation, whether for honor or ruthlessness, will precede you and shape interactions Players who appreciate deep world-building, enjoy complex problem-solving over brute force, and are ready to commit to an epic-length campaign that will see their characters grow from local heroes to figures of legend, forever changing the face of Faerûn. When a PC dies, do you move on and draw up a new sheet, or does the party hold a funeral and mourn the loss? This campaign looks for those that enjoy the latter as well as the rolling of dice. Are you ready to claim your legend?
Game style
Roleplay Heavy
Realm Building
Sandbox / Open World
Tactical / Crunchy
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(5)
3 years on StartPlaying
19 games hosted
Highly rated for: Inclusive, Creativity, Teacher
About me
What Ho, adventurers! I'm JJ, I've been a Dungeon Master running campaigns and one-shots since I got the D&D 3.5e books in 2003. 22 years later, I'm still running weekly games. My experience as a DM ranges from the down-right bizarre such as an all-dwarven one-shot to save Santa, to more serious high-drama and high-fantasy multi-year campaigns. I'm available for one off custom requests covering all of the games I have listed in my profile such as: D&D 5e, D&D 3.5, Pathfinder 2e, LotR 5e, AoS Soulbound, and Star Wars RPG. Requests can be for one-shot sessions or campaigns. If desired, a pre-written campaign is always an option if your party just wants to play something!
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
This is a zero-to-hero campaign, your PC will NOT have been adventuring before and this will be their induction to the world outside of what they know from their 'current' life - be that a smithy or a scribe who dreams of the world outside their hamlet, a monk sent to learn of the wider world from their closed-off temple, a paladin departing on their first quest, or a baker thrown into the chaos of the realms they learn to love. Key Points: 🖋️ Build characters using DnD Beyond in the campaign link provided on sign-up. Will link into Roll20 🖋️ Use WotC content only using the 5e 2024 rules 🖋️ Standard Array for Ability Score: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 🖋️ Basic equipment or gold equivalent to start + 1 uncommon magic item 🖋️ Multi-classing into one other class is ok, but it must make sense in-game - i.e. Taking a level of barbarian after level 1 is a tough one to explain/justify. A diversion from the PC's starting class must be explainable as to why and how the level was gained in-world. This isn't to be stingy, but to keep the game focused on how the characters develop through the story - This game isn't for players who refine their PC for the most mathematically efficient way to hit everything every time - tldr; story over function.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
⚙️ Download Discord ⚙️ Sign-up to DnDBeyond ⚙️ Sign-Up to Roll 20
What DM JJ brings to the table
🎲Free Session 0 to get introduced to eachother, generate charcters, and kick off the campaign! 🎲 I'll bring the ruleset (D&D 5e 2024) - no need to buy the books! 🎲 I'll design a series of campaigns that carry the PCs from level 1 through to level 20, bringing back time and time again a common evil that keeps the world on its toes. I’ll also incorporate (where possible and to be discussed) the players wishes and storylines as well as how they have affect the world and its response to these actions 🎲 I also bring my 23 years of experience running D&D games - I can support when things don't make sense or you need help with how something works. I’m not the Players Handbook incarnate but I’ve played enough to be able to quickly resolve a ruling issue and adjust later for the future
Homebrew rules
🎲 Perkin's Crits: Max damage of the dice + modifiers + roll the damage dice. e.g. damage is 1d8+1. A crit would be: 8 + 1 + 1d8 🎲 Secret Death Saves: Only the DM and the player know the outcome of a death save. This keeps the immersion of a PC's status unknown (thus eliminating any metagaming intentional or not by the other players) to the rest of the party
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How DM JJ creates a safe table
I've done my best to think of all the things that could come up in a game as complex, long, and ‘unplanned’ as this. There are some lines I'm not comfortable crossing and wouldn't include in my game (e.g. sexual assault) but I've attempted to list anything that might/could come up – sometimes to aid in the development of the ‘feel’ of a culture or location, other times to be challenged and fought against because it is the right thing to do. There will be themes in this game where the world that is Faerûn gets 'grey' and the moral boundaries in the real-world aren’t what you find in the Forgotten Realms. There will be uncomfortable decisions to be made, or the PCs may witness an uncomfortable action or behaviour. HOWEVER, this is done with the consent of all involved and if a topic begins to go too far and break the enjoyment of ANY at this table I will stop it. To keep things simple, I use the following techniques to avoid it going too far: ✅ Open Door - You're always welcome to step away and come back when ready, let me know (if you can) that you'll be away so I can adjust the scenario accordingly; and, ✅ DM me if anything is too much and I'll see what I can do to adjust the scenario as it plays out. It may not always be possible if the issue is a direct element of the encounter underway, but we can work it through, and it will be noted to avoid in future. We're all here to have fun, not to be miserable playing a game we love. Due to the planned long-term nature of the game, a Session-0 (FREE) will also be held to ensure everyone is signed-up to the same boundaries and expectations of each other and of me as the DM. Please message me to chat if concerned. I'd rather put your mind at ease than make you uncomfortable in the future and spoil the game for you.
Content warnings
Safety tools used