D&D 5.5: Badlur's Gate: Descent into Avernus

Creating your character

We will have a session zero to discuss player preferences and boundries, lines and veils and create characters. A well balanced party with a good variety of classes and abilities will make the adventure more enjoyable for all. No pre-existing characters are allowed. Please do not make characters before the session zero! Characters will either be made on the campaign page in D&D Beyond, or on the 2024 character sheets in Roll20. I allow the 2024 Player's Handbook (PHB), and the Heroes of Faerun (HoF) sourcebook, as well as certain sections of Tasha's Cauldron of Everything (TCoE), Xanathar's Guide to Everything (XGtE), the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide (SCAG), Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse (MPMotM) that have not been updated or replaced yet in the 2024 rules. For introductory adventures, characters must be 1st level brand-new to keep table balance, in case we have new players with limited resources. There won't be any dice rolling for character creation because I want players to make the characters that they desire to play, not what the dice dictate. The point buy system or the standard array in the 2024 Player's Handbook will be used for ability scores, and your character will start with maximum hit points at 1st level. Equipment and starting gold will be static and by class and background from the 2024 PHB or other books. No outside equipment, species, subclasses, or magic items will be allowed from books, other than what I have mentioned above, to keep things fair at the table.

Preparing for the session

The games will be played every other Thursday night from 6 PM to 10 PM Pacific (California) time on Roll20 with Discord for voice chat and either D&D Beyond and the Beyond20 browser extension or the 2024 (5.5) Roll20 character sheet.

What Gary brings to the table

I will provide the campaign page and shared resources on D&D Beyond, and the Roll20 VTT room, and Roll20 character sheets as desired, and have music preloaded into Roll20. I use mostly rules as written/ intended but will allow "Rule of Cool" where I deem appropriate.

Homebrew rules

I allow multiple instances of Heroic Inspiration on the same character, but you can only use a single Heroic Inspiration per die roll per turn unless it is used for rolling Death Saves. Players can only share Heroic Inspiration as the rules dictate, or when a player character's death is imminent. I may also still use opposed Skill or even attack rolls in certain circumstances instead of fixed DCs in a character vs. character or character vs. monster situation.

How Gary creates a safe table

We will discuss boundaries and player preferences in a session zero before the game, and I will have a safety deck preloaded into Roll20 in case there are any issues during the game.