🌑 Eldritch Gloam | Lvl 1 → | Heroic Horror | Drakkenstadt
A city devoured by cosmic ruin. No rest, no mercy, only steel, spellfire, and the slow whisper of the Gloaming.
$16.00
/ Session
Details
Weekly / Tuesday - 9:00 PM UTC
Session Duration / 3–4 hours
0 / 5 Seats Filled
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About the adventure
Attrition. That word has two meanings. The capital of Westauf fell in a single night beneath a screaming firmament. An eldritch light tore open the sky and left behind a wound in the world. A hundred years have passed, and the city of Zollerin still stands, though frail and mired by vying factions. In the day, its industries function and its people live their lives, but each night it is drowned in the Gloaming’s shadowed tendrils, and aberrations stalk wherever the dark touches. Many fight back, in their own way, but again, “attrition” has two meanings: a sustained attack made to weaken a greater force, yes, but also the sorrow one feels having committed a mortal sin. Taking inspiration from Dungeons of Drakkenheim and Steinhardt’s Guide to the Eldritch Hunt, this is a survival horror game of grim heroics, discovery and abominations: the Gloaming chokes the city and denies you rest; contamination creeps through armour and bone alike; verdite crystals thrum with eldritch power, promising miracles while reshaping flesh and mind; and every night expedition is a desperate descent into attrition. This will be a player-led campaign defined by hard combat, meaningful consequences and escalating dread. Plans, relationships and logistics matter, but above all stands YOUR RESOLVE. This table is for fairly experienced players who want dangerous fights, factional intrigue and the steady, nigh unbearable pressure of cosmic horror closing in — while you draw steel and step forwards anyway.
Game style
Combat Heavy
Realm Building
Sandbox / Open World
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(13)
1 year on StartPlaying
97 games hosted
Highly rated for: World Builder, Creativity, Storytelling
Average response time: Under 1 hour
Response rate: 100%
About me
Hullo, I'm L, British GM — it's a pleasure! PASSION is where I'm at right now. This is not only some of the most fun a person can have, it's also really important to where we are as a species. Sure, it's a window into the unknown and unfamiliar, but its real PSYCHIC BOON is how much you can learn about yourself and the people you're playing with. A writer since birth (moving gradually through fantasy/alt history/post-modern romance/pulp fiction/sci-fi), I took instantly to GMing. Being able to immerse others in such a direct and collaborative was a BREATH. After six years running games in person and online with local and worldwide friends, I became a dad, and then more of us became parents, and it became very difficult to schedule games. But NOW I find out there's a way to do what I love (and am very good at, promise!) while getting a bit of nappy/diaper pocket money? Sign me up!
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
As soon as you join and get in the Discord, you can start playing around with character options. Have a read through the quick rundown of the setting in the House Rules doc (see the "Eldritch Gloam" tab) to start situating your character in the world; there are also character creation pointers for the world: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tg4JD95gbRCLGv0x1O4J4h-oM6tk9nDl3HwrnDrGfgg/edit?usp=sharing Consider the Drakkenheim Player Character backgrounds: Continental Nobility, Mageborn, Devoted Missionary, Survivor, Treasure Seeker; and the Steinhardt's Guide backgrounds: Amnesiac, Beast Hunter, Cult Initiate, Disciple, Inquisitor, Investigator, Marked for Death, Scion, Worthless Husk. We will be finalising your PCs in Session 0!
What to expect
Preparing for the session
You will need a working mic and a Discord account. Owlbear doesn't need an account and works grand on most devices. Character sheets will be on D&D Beyond (or at least reproduced there, if you want to use a physical one), so you'll need an account there. If you're not too experienced playing D&D, don't fret, there are no bad questions! You don't need to know the rules back to front, just how your character functions (and I understand that might take a few sessions). For those who want to read about the new additions from Drakkenheim and Steinhardt's, I've written up a cheat sheet (see the "Eldritch Gloam" tab): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tg4JD95gbRCLGv0x1O4J4h-oM6tk9nDl3HwrnDrGfgg/edit?usp=sharing
What L Sunborn Games brings to the table
My utmost to bring this world of eldritch horror (and anywhere else you find yourselves) to life, completely reactive to your designs. This means it changes around the decisions you make and functions in reaction to your passions and convictions. I'm very comfortable with sudden shifts and thinking on the fly! We'll use D&D Beyond for character sheets and the shared Party Inventory. We use Owlbear maps for exploration and combat with ambient/atmospheric music, and voice chat on Discord. I'll also provide character voices galore! At the end of each session, I sketch out the main beats of the session while it's fresh it everyone's memory, then a few days before the next session, I post a proper write-up that everyone can collaborate on and will be used to introduce the next session. Combat against Gloam-spawned monsters will be challenging, but always gauged by your interest in it.
Homebrew rules
Many, but none too controversial! We are deferring to Dungeons of Drakkenheim and Steinhardt's Guide to the Eldritch Hunt, otherwise there are a bunch that I find make play more fun and exciting. Like everything else, they're collaborative — I'll always be happy for critique and to make sure to bounce off you. You can read here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tg4JD95gbRCLGv0x1O4J4h-oM6tk9nDl3HwrnDrGfgg/edit?usp=drivesdk
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How L Sunborn Games creates a safe table
The Session 0 will be set up as a character creation session and "mood board" rundown for anyone who joins. At any time you can let me know about lines and veils and I'll stick to 'em religiously. 𝙉𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙒𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨. The content/trigger warnings below are not exhaustive. Basically, let your mind delve into tropes of a dark-but-heroic, bleak and horrifying eldritch world, and we'll probably get there at some point. HOWEVER there will be no majorly problematic content or themes, nothing outright abusive or discriminatory — if you have a concern, shoot me a line or veil.
Content warnings
Safety tools used