The Black Reserve
Decommissioned by Karrnath, secretly sent to find Trebaz Sinara, raise a fleet, and become the power peace cannot survive.
$18.00
/ Session
Details
1 player following this game
Bi-weekly / Tuesday - 12:30 AM UTC
Sep 15 / Session 0
Session Duration / 3.5–4 hours
4 / 5 Seats Filled
Top Game Master
One of StartPlaying's top-rated GMs, a player favorite and highly recommended.
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Schedule
Meet your party members
4/5
About the adventure
THE BLACK RESERVE: PIRATES OF THE LHAZAAR SEA *The Last War is over. Your service is not.* Your Karrnathi naval company was officially decommissioned after the Treaty of Thronehold. Your ship was removed from the rolls, stripped of its insignia, and sold back to its officers for almost nothing. That is the public story. In reality, you are part of the Black Reserve, a deniable Karrnathi contingency force preparing for the moment peace falls apart. Your orders are simple: Build a reputation. Secure a harbor. Recruit a loyal crew. Raise a fleet. Find Trebaz Sinara. Trebaz Sinara was the seat of Lhazaar herself, and somewhere behind its storms, demonglass reefs, monsters, and ancient defenses lies enough wealth to build a nation. Karrnath wants you to find it first. Your only guide is the Grave Compass, a necromantic navigation device containing the ghost of a Karrnathi naval intelligence officer. He can lead you along the route he sailed in life, but only that route, even if it has become the most dangerous path in the sea. The route shifts with the moons, tides, and influence of the planes. To reach Sinara, you will have to rebuild a dead man’s final mission one piece at a time. Along the way, you will deal with pirate princes, Bloodsail necromancers, rival privateers, sea monsters, hidden islands, naval battles, political alliances, and every bastard who realizes what Trebaz Sinara could make you. And even if you survive long enough to claim it, that is when the real problem starts. The Crown wants an ally. The Old Admiralty wants a weapon. The Ministry of the Dead wants what is buried in Sinara’s tombs. But by then, you may already have your own ship, your own crew, your own fleet, and your own claim to power. So when Karrnath finally gives the order, you will have to decide: - Do you still serve the nation that sent you, or have you become one of your own?
Game style
Roleplay Lite
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Tactical / Crunchy
Sandbox / Open World
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
4.9
(22)
4 years on StartPlaying
209 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Rule of Cool, Visual Aid
Average response time: 24+ hours
Response rate: 100%
About me
I'm starting here at Start playing to broaden my experience. I have hosted games for my friends and family and want to host a higher amount of games with a plethora of characters. I try to work with my players in character creation, helping new players, homebrew, and improvising. If you have a reasonable homebrew, I'll usually allow it unless it doesn't make sense thematically.
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
- You will fill out a form and send it to me in discord. (Dndbeyond character link is not accepted, I am boycotting them). - Multiclassing and feats are accepted. - Variant human (Free Feat) is banned. (Alt. V. Human (Free Half Feat) in [Discord]. - Starting level is level 3. - Ability scores are selected with standard array +1 or point buy 28. (Explanation in Discord) - Tasha's Origin Customization is allowed (assign your racial ability score increases however you like) Use starting items from your class. Each player has 4 points to use towards what magic items or additional starting gold it wants for their character. The points work as follows. - 1 point for a common magic item or 500 gold. - 3 points for an uncommon magic item. (Armor allows you to get an uncommon version of your starting armor or armor you buy with gold.) - 6 points for rare *Reminder, Potions of Healing are 50 gp, Potions of Greater Healing are 250 gp*
We have a Aasimar Tamer so far
What to expect
Preparing for the session
Players will need a good microphone, internet, a Discord account, some light reading of the GUIDE channels. Message me so I can send you an invite. Once you're in I'll add you to the campaign channels.
What Alejandro Vaca brings to the table
I bring to the (virtual) table: - a majority of WOTC Sourcebooks - Heliana's Guide to Monster Hunting - Caliya's Chronicle of Runes - Laserllama's homebrew, - custom maps - custom tokens. I provide players access to these resources on request. Everything I have you are allowed to use! I utilize a range of voices and I use ambient music. I encourage tactical combat! I try to stick to Rule of Cool, but might make exceptions.
Homebrew rules
- Heroic Inspiration and separate Session Inspiration. Session inspiration refills at the beginning of each session and does not roll over. - Drinking a potion as a bonus action - Modified Crits: Nat 20, 10 or above enemy AC - Variant Checks only if they make sense: Str (Performance), Int (Persuasion), Str (Stealth) - Initiative Rerolls: A bot will reroll initiative at the end of each round - Helping Requirement: must have a 3+ bonus to skill in order to help. Extra Systems: Crafting, Harvesting, Monster Trait Research
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How Alejandro Vaca creates a safe table
I will set a timer for the break to start 2 hours in. I try to end my sessions with Stars and Wishes.
Content warnings
Safety tools used