Ryoku's Conquering Kaiju Island

Creating your character

Session 0 is where we gather around the fire and forge legends. Bring a character concept that gets your blood pumping. We'll dive straight into crafting your hero's story, weaving bonds with your fellow adventurers, and tackling any rules questions as a party. For this campaign, the available species to pick from are Human, Elf, Dwarf, Genasi, Hadozi, Kalshtar, Giff (flavored as Hexaprotodon ancient hippos found in Asia), and species from Ryokus For ability scores, roll 4d6 for each stat, reroll any 1s, and drop the lowest die. Do this seven times, then pick your favorite six results to shape your character's strengths. We'll start at level 5. This is a Gestalt campaign, so from the beginning, you'll blend two classes, gaining the features of both and the skills of your primary class. Think big, think bold, and imagine the kind of legendary figure you want to bring to life, and don't be afraid to make something broken. I love seeing the builds people come up with. You can draw from any official material, plus four special PDFs I’ve handpicked for this campaign. Players should come to Session 0 with: * a character concept * a rough gestalt class combination. * If you have questions about what’s allowed, just send me a message on StartPlaying or Discord. This campaign is about a group of people trying to build a home on a dangerous island after their home was destroyed by a creature even more dangerous than the ones that guard the island's rare resources. Build your new home and conquer the island.

Preparing for the session

First, join my Discord server. That’s our main hub for all things campaign updates, crazy ideas, and party chatter. Second, be ready to use either D&D Beyond or Excel for your character sheet, whichever fits your build best. For actually building the character and looking at the character options, I will have a D&D Beyond campaign with all of the content I have shared for the player. Third, we’ll be using Owlbear Rodeo for maps, scenes, and combat. Make sure you can access it and feel comfortable using it during our adventures. Before the campaign starts, players should: * Join the Discord server. * Make sure they can access D&D Beyond or Excel for character sheets. * Make sure they can access Owlbear Rodeo. * Come to Session 0 ready with a character concept. That’s all you need to get started. The rest, we’ll tackle together as a party during Session 0.

What Dominic brings to the table

I’ll set up a D&D Beyond campaign with content sharing turned on for everyone, so you’ll have access to all the character creation tools and shared material you’ll need for the game. I’ll also share any approved third-party PDFs we’re using, so everyone’s got the same extra resources for building characters or exploring campaign-specific options. Pdf's provided *Ryoku's guide to the yokai realms *Galène's Guide to Elemental Powers *tome of mystical tattoos II *Flying Sword Master *Soul Binder Class As your GM, I aim for a healthy balance between Rule of Cool and Rules as Written. I care about the rules, but I want those epic character moments to shine. If you want to try something creative, I’ll do my best to work with what’s on your sheet and within the game’s mechanics to make it happen. You can also expect: * background music to help set the mood and atmosphere * character voices for important NPCs, or to help make it clear who is speaking * smart, meaningful combat with real stakes In combat, my goal is to make every fight feel dynamic and engaging. I don’t want battles to just be run up, hit, and stand still; I want encounters where positioning, choices, movement, and tactics all matter. Overall, you can expect a game that aims for: * strong atmosphere * memorable NPCs * cinematic moments * tactical combat with stakes * a fair mix of structure and flexibility

Homebrew rules

I use a handful of homebrew rules to keep combat moving, amp up the drama, and support the kind of epic, cinematic play I love to run. Potions in Combat Drinking a potion in combat is a bonus action. If you take your action to drink a health potion, you get the full healing amount. If you use your bonus action, roll for the healing as usual. Crunchy Crits We use Crunchy Crits: instead of rolling double dice on a critical hit, you deal maximum damage on your normal dice, then roll the damage dice once more and add your modifiers. It makes crits feel punchy and memorable. Gestalt Rules In Gestalt campaigns, you level two classes at once and gain the features of both. Your Main Class sets your skill and saving throw proficiencies. For hit points, take the average HP from your Gestalt class and then roll for your Main Class. Pointy Hat’s Battlefield Action System We also use Pointy Hat’s Battlefield Action System, which makes combat feel more alive and cinematic. The battlefield itself becomes a character, encouraging movement, interaction, and creative choices every round. Combo Attacks We’ll also use the setting’s Combo Attack rules. These reward teamwork and let you set each other up for stronger, flashier group attacks. If you coordinate well, you’ll create some big cinematic moments together. Kaiju Fighting Rules This campaign also uses the setting’s Kaiju Fighting rules. Ryoku is built around larger-than-life threats and dangerous creatures, so these rules make giant monster battles feel like true set-piece encounters, not just regular fights with bigger numbers. Suspenseful Death Saves If your character drops, I’ll roll your death saves behind the screen. I’ll let you know if you succeed or fail, but you can’t tell the rest of the party how many successes or failures you currently have. Party members can check your condition if they are nearby: * If they are within 5 feet and proficient in Medicine, they can use a bonus action to assess you. * If they are not proficient in Medicine, they take action instead. The Medicine check works like this: * DC 10: They learn whether you are closer to stabilization or closer to death. * DC 15: They learn exactly how many successes and failures you currently have. All these rules are here to make the game feel faster, more cinematic, and packed with tension while still keeping your choices meaningful every step of the way.

How Dominic creates a safe table

Your comfort at the table matters, so I weave in a few simple safety checks to keep things fun for everyone. Before a session, I’ll give a quick heads-up if anything potentially triggering might come up (nothing super detailed, just enough to prepare). After every session, I’ll do a short check-in/debrief so people can flag anything that didn’t sit right or anything they’d like handled differently going forward. During play, I’ll also send a message to everyone who has red or yellow reactions. If something is getting uncomfortable, you can click yellow to mean “ease up / steer away,” or red to mean “stop this and change direction.” No explanations required in the moment, we’ll just adjust and keep the game safe and fun. Also, I’ve got ADHD, so we’ll take breaks along the way. They help me stay sharp and keep the adventure running smoothly, plus they’re a great chance for everyone to grab water, stretch, and