Dust and Darkness | wild west and eldritch horror | campaign

Creating your character

Player characters will start at level 1 and rapidly level from a few quests until level 3 where the world will be opened up to them to explore as they wish. Players are encouraged to brainstorm their own ideas but characters will be made during a session 0 when all players are present. During that time options for main quest motivations will be presented letting me know what parts of the game you want most developed and where you wish to take your characters. These are event that will happen during the "tutorial levels" which is up until level 3 where players will be given the option to remake their character before setting off for the larger campaign. The game can be ran in either 2014 or 2024 version of DND 5e which can be decided during session 0. @014 will have players staring with a feat similar to that of the 2024 origin feats but otherwise creating characters as normal for the level as is appropriate for the level. 3rd party content and homebrew must be brought up before session 1 for review and be agreed upon by me and the party as to hopefully keep the game fair for everyone involved. Character sheets will be handled on roll20. If you have dndbeyond you can feel free to use it but issues with characters sheets can not be helped if they are not on roll20 so use only if you know the website.

Preparing for the session

Join the discord and roll20 campaign (this expires most of the time so I will direct message it to you when you join). People who are new to either can message me and I'll help you with it. Start thinking of what you want to play, I work best with solid ideas that are well defined and thematic to the setting. I can build a house with any shape of brick, but I can't build a house out of sand. Be firm in you ideas, not willing to fill in the gaps.

What Light brings to the table

A world with you in mind. Even with the defined setting I am can fit your character and story into it to make you feel like you are a part of this new world as long as you don't bring something ridicules like a tickle me Elmo, Duke Nukem, or a Robot obsessed with shooting a certain German political group (these are all real examples). If you don't bring such characters you can expect to have as much or as little of your own personal backstory tied into the rest of the campaign (that is up to your screentime, if everyone wants the game to follow their story than the most you can expect is it to be evenly divided among the party). I use music and voice acting to add to the setting though I am limited in my skills so some accents are just not going to come up. There is world and dungeon maps though not all locations will get something so fancy and sometimes they are as simple as a quick drawn map for when you are handling low threat encounters. During session 0 players some agreements will be made on what tome the players want for the game and as such what can be expected to follow. Though I have ran intense tactical combat games, horror mysteries, and cozy seasonal adventures the game will have to have a theme that everyone agrees on.

Homebrew rules

I usually run flanking as solid numbers based on the number or surrounding targets, and help being limited to those with the skill or those with solid reasons their help could work. With 2024 some monsters will be modified to bring back strength and constitution saves that became automatic with some possible modifications to certain spells if they are broken or abused. All settings I run tend to have some homebrew mechanics that are needed to make the setting feel different but this greatly depends on what focus that game will take. You don't need ship mechanics if you don't plan to sail, and things like that.

How Light creates a safe table

The game will have much of the standard DND triggers though much of which can be put behind lines or veils if required. I have very rarely had issues with these things as they are rarely the focus of any of my games but for the if reassurance is required here are the game expectations. During session Zero we will go over everyone's limits these 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.