Dark Stardust, expedition into the far realm

Creating your character

Session 0 we will go through character creation. 2014 content is allowed from its many books. I suggest finding a level of ability the whole group can agree on as to not have one player character built for a challenge the rest can not match as to keep the balance of the game fun for all and not have one player bored with easy encounters and the rest fine or 1 that can handle encounters while the rest are functionally useless. 3rd party content and homebrew must be approved on a case by case bases or be on the list of approved homebrew listed on the discord server. Setting specific content is allowed but may not be justifiable and so may not get much engagement from the game (if we aren't in Eberon there won't be much talk about marks and houses) Standard character creation is point buy using the normal 27 point method. Feats or ASI when appropriate. Average hp on level up, multiclassing requiring the approapriate stats. Characters can be made or imported from roll20 or dndbeyond.

Preparing for the session

You will need both a discord and roll20 account to participate in the game. If you wish to have 3rd party content you should join early to get approval. Not everything will be approved but the more time is given to review the more likely it will be allowed to be tested. Characters will have tokens and should have some form of art or placeholder different from the standard placeholder of roll20. No paid account is needed as I can teach you the ways around it. Some encounters will be theater of the mind as not every encounter has a map that is appropriate for the eldritch weirdness.

What Light brings to the table

This game is heavy on the combat and exploration sides of the game. Most combats are challenging but winnable. My goal is never to kill the party but to give you a challenging enough experience that it can be fun and memorable. You as players are expected to keep the same goal of having a fun experience for everyone involved. The novelty of the far realm is the strangeness of everything there and as such there will be a lot of descriptions of the alien world aimed at immersing you into this other alien world. Some maps will be provided for when that is able to be applied but plenty of encounters will be handled with theater of the mind with detailed descriptions to guide you through the encounters be them combat or exploration.

Homebrew rules

This game has Madness tied in with certain abilites of monsters and interactable objects causing madness. Madness is treated as a HP pool for your mind with effects adding up as you pass certain levels. Along with that there is an area where a chase scene can happen and that will have a special way to be interacted with that is half way between a combat and skill challlenge with an explanination that will be given before that game and guided through. My last players liked it a lot though it took a round or two to fully understand it. Some effects and items won't be the traditional ones as a gain DND doesn't tend to get very detailed on the far realm experience. Finally the world you are entering will have some environmental rules that will work differently than a regular walk through the woods. And of course some monsters will be modified to allow them to be challenging to a party of level 12 characters.

How Light creates a safe table

During session Zero we will go over everyone's limits that should be sent to me before hand. You will of course fight and kill monsters and in games with specific themes they will be listed and addressed before the game. Most of the time there will not be a lot of R rated themes like gore and sexual content beyond glanced over references like saying there is someone mutilated corpse or a brothel filled with barely dressed people, but that's the extent it goes into that. And by default don't add themes that aren't listed in the game. If you need to not be in the moment you can always message that you will be back and we will continue on and you can rejoin the scene when you are ready. Some basic rules that will also be posted on the discord server: These game can SOMETIMES have mature content and dark topics depending on the themes of the individual game. If they are not warned about for that game do not inject them into the game. No Politics, real world religion or other divisive topics need be discussed here. Do not flirt with the players themselves. If you flirt with another character in game make sure the player controlling that character is ok with it. Player vs player is prohibited unless both players agree above board on the terms of the interaction. These games are cooperative and PvP has never led to more cooperative play in any of my games. Be kind, helpful and patient with everyone (no bullying or harassment). Be punctual to sessions you are a part of. I and others may make mistakes or have a different interpretation of certain rules. When such things arise my goal is to find what is most fair and not slow the game down with arguments or research. If you have a problem with someone please resolve it privately or seek a third party to assist in resolution. When it is not your turn please type out what you want to say on roll20 unless the player taking their turn or the DM is interacting with you. Talking over one another does not help anyone.