Siege of Brackenhill Fort - A Daggerheart Dark Fantasy Oneshot

Creating your character

Character creation will happen before the first session via Session Zero (A safety tool where players meet before play to discuss the game). Session Zero will be text based on the Discord server, though I will be open to voice chats. Those can be spontaneous (if I have time) or scheduled. The Discord will also be open for the other members of the party to voice chat whenever they would like. Character creation will be standard, following the rules in the Daggerheart core rulebook with one exception. Players will start with one piece of Loot as described at the Loot section in the handbook. Loot has an item number attached to it, and item numbers 1-24 are what players are limited to choosing from. Playtest material for the upcoming expansion and homebrew characters are allowed, provided all homebrew is run by me at most the day before session one. Character sheets in any form are fine. I do want your character's evasion score but otherwise it's not necessary to share your sheet with me unless you want. Demiplane does provide a character sheet maker for Daggerheart. When I tested out making my own character sheets, the Daggerheart sheets looked completely free. Regardless, that's a resource available to those who would like to use it and NOT required for this game. Discord is completely free.

Preparing for the session

In order to play, you will need a Discord, which is completely free. You will also need to join the Discord server. The link for the Discord will be provided when you join the game. Anytime before the first session, you will need to either voice chat with me or use the Discord text channels for Session Zero. As part of Session Zero, I would like your character's evasion score and as much backstory as you want to share.

What Taoist Dragon brings to the table

I aim to have a fun and inclusive game for all players. I am a creative person, and my worlds match that creativity. When I'm in the GM seat, I am the narrator and arbiter to the players story. I set up the world and scene and let my players have the spotlight. As we play, I will be paying attention to make sure everyone gets to engage with the scene. Another focus of mine is the narrative and roleplay of the story. As an actor and storyteller what draws me to TTRPGs are the characters and roleplay. For myself, I will be exploring the characters of my NPCs and the world. For my players, this means I want to see your characters shine and give plenty of opportunities for role play. I will go out of my way to incorporate your backstories and craft scenarios around your characters. As an actor with some voice acting experience I also love to do voices. I wouldn't describe myself as professional, but I try. For me, TTRPGs are a way to work on that skill! I believe that the rules exist to serve the players and game. I'm a bit new to Daggerheart, but I do know most of the RAW (Rules of Written). TTRPGs are big games with lots of rules, so I will still need to look things up occasion. I'm all fine with changing or bending rules though. The only thing is I am making an fun and engaging game for all that are present, and spending too long on the rules breaks the game's flow. I won't waffle back and forth on rulings too often because of this, but even my rulings aren't set in stone. My games are a mix of role play and combat. Combat in Daggerheart is more roleplay focused than systems like Pathfinder. A lot of mechanics are kept vague on purpose, such as the range of weapons, to keep things flexible. At the end of the day, the amount of combat and role play will be mostly set up by the players. It's your actions and how you interact with the world that determines what path we go down. I truly believe in play autonomy and try to set up my scenarios in ways that won't railroad my players into specific solutions. As a final note, I don't do PVP (Player Vs. Player) in my games. PVP slows the game down and a lot of systems, like Daggerheart, don't have clean ways of doing PVP. Interfering with other players is allowed, such as pulling them back when they try to attack a friendly NPC.

Homebrew rules

Players will start with with piece of Loot from the Loot table in the Handbook from item codes 1-24. Players can play playtest or homebrew character as long as they are ran by me a day before the session.

How Taoist Dragon creates a safe table

Aftercare/debriefing: After every session, I will give the players the opportunity to reflect on the game with at least me. This can be to unpack some content that might not have sat well with you, it can be to talk about some things you loved. That said, I understand schedules can be tight and I won't make attendance mandatory to these aftercare sessions. However, I understand two players might need to talk it out. The Discord server is open and I will mediate and make sure that any issues a player might have with another player is resolved in a fair and healthy way if need be. Breaks: I want this game to be inclusive to everyone. Anyone can call for a break at anytime, and we will discuss at Session Zero if we want a built in break for the game. Lines and Veils: Lines and Veils is a way of building content warnings into a TTRPG. A Veil is content that is brought up and approached with caution. As a GM, I will design my game to avoid these unless told otherwise. If brought up by another player, I will let them know it is a Veil and check in with the group before proceeding. A Line is content that is a hard no. As with Veil's, I will avoid putting those into my game. If another player brings it up, I will remind them that's a Line and we can't broach that topic. If they keep trying to force that Line or keep attempting to cross other Lines or Veils without consent, they will be removed from the game. No refund will be given if you are kicked from the game for this. Safety is not subject to take lightly. Lines and Veils are a mandatory part of Session Zero. Stars and Wishes: Stars are things you enjoyed in a session or the game, Wishes are what you would like to see in the future. This is just feed back for and not necessary, but be sure to let your fellow players know if something they did was a star! Deck of Player Safety: Players can play these at any time with no reason given. The Caution card indicates that the content doesn't need to change, but it's time for a subject change. This is used with the Go Ahead card, which indicates that the current direction is fine. Go Ahead can also be used if players want to indicate they love the current topic. The Stop card indicates a hard stop on the topic and potentially rewriting the content. Session Zero: Session Zero for this game is a text/voice hybrid on Discord. This is mandatory for three specific things. One, I want to know every player's Lines and Veils (and Wishes if you have any). Two, I want players to get to know each other and their characters. This includes sharing your character with me. You can share your character sheet, but I just want their evasion score and if you have backstory you want me to incorporate. Third, I want to do some bookkeeping, like discussing if we want breaks.