Drowned Man's Gold: A Pirate Adventure

Creating your character

Characters will be created during session 0 as a group to make sure that there is proper party cohesion. Stats will be rolled in the roll20 server for fairness, though point buy or standard array is acceptable if you prefer. Players will start with a single Uncommon Magic Item. If you played in the "Dirge for the Pirate Queen" One Shot, you may instead reprise your character.

Preparing for the session

This game will be played on Roll20 as the game engine and Discord as the voice server, so players will need an account for both. Webcams are not required (though they are encouraged), but a working microphone is. Lastly, bring a good attitude and a willingness to work with your fellow players.

What Ben brings to the table

In game, you can expect distinct voices for NPCs, a dynamic soundtrack, and vivid descriptions to help immerse you in the world. Out of game, I'm always happy to talk about character details and help players get what they need to feel excited about an upcoming game. I'm a professional improviser, so I'm happy to use Rule of Cool to reward players for making creative decisions to push the story forward. My combats are dynamic and tactical, with an emphasis on motivation and environmental play. It's important to me that players feel inspired to do more than simply stand in one place and hit a stat block with a stick until everything is dead. I try to keep the flow of gameplay fast and player focused, while still leaving room for players to explore their characters and roleplay the relationships that are important to them. I have oodles of lore available for those who are interested, but absolutely none of it is mandatory to understanding what's going on or how to interact with the world. Homework is for school, not game time.

Homebrew rules

I use flanking and allow potions to be consumed with a bonus action. Rule of Cool is also a must to encourage creative decision making.

How Ben creates a safe table

I like to use session 0 and player consent forms to help set the expectation of what my players will deal with in the game and to learn what they don't feel comfortable playing with. Players are also encouraged to message me any time before, during, or after a game to let me know if what their comfortable with has changed or if they have issues or concerns with how the game is progressing. I also like to debrief after every game to see what players liked, what they'd like to see more of, and what could be improved upon going forward. I'm a queer GM and this is a queer friendly table. No forms of bigotry or disrespect are acceptable at my table and I'm not afraid to kick a player who is ruining the fun for everyone else. For smaller issues or misunderstandings, however, I like to chat with the player one-on-one first to see if it can be resolved. More often than not, I find that these problems are unintentional and can be fixed with good communication, but when they can't it's better to just politely part ways.