Frozen Sick | Level 1-2 Mini-Adventure | D&D 5.5e

Creating your character

1. Join the Campaign: I will share a D&D Beyond link to join the campaign through D&D Beyond. Look for "Frozen Sick". 2. Create Your Character Within the Campaign Link: After using the campaign invite link, click "Create a Character", and you can create your Level 1 character using the content I've purchased from D&D Beyond (D&D 2024 Core Rules). Bring on the weapon mastery! 3. Official D&D Expansion Content: You are welcome to create a level 1 character with any core content you own from D&D Beyond (2014 Core Rules, Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, or Xanathar's Guide to Everything). Please note that, generally, at this lower level, characters created with the 2024 rules tend to perform better than those made with 2014 rules. But let's see those Artificers! 4. Homebrew and other content: You are more than welcome to propose the use of homebrew options or other expansion options in the creation of your level 1 character, but please review your choices with me either during our session 0 or at another time for approval. This is primarily for balance purposes. Want to be a vampire? Go for it! 5. Pre-made characters or character-building help: If you would like help creating your level 1 character, just let me know. I love making characters with other people and am more than happy to guide you through the process or to simply create a character for you that fits your play-style if that's what you prefer. Make it easy on yourself! 6. Assign Ability Scores: Please use the Standard Array or Point Buy methods to assign ability scores. If you would like to use the Rolled method, let me review your character sheet before we begin. This is primarily for balance purposes. I need to know if you plan to be too broken! 7. Starting Equipment: You may begin with starting equipment or a gold piece equivalent as permitted through D&D Beyond. If you choose to start with gold, you may purchase any equipment available from the Dungeon Master's Guide, but you will be limited to (1) common magical item. 9. Back-story: If you wish to have backstory elements integrated into this mini-adventure, please speak with me about it during our session 0, and please understand that creating meaningful character backstory implications in a mini-campaign is sometimes not practical. 10. Other: We will devote some of our time in session 0 to character-building. You may use this time to create your character or talk with me about questions or for help creating or selecting your character. I would like to review whatever work you have done on your character at this time. If you wish to use homebrew or an evil-aligned character, or if you wish to select your character from a premade list or catalog of characters provided by D&D Beyond or customized with myself, please speak with me about it during our session 0.

Preparing for the session

You will need to have a free Discord account before we can begin. We will use that platform for communication during the game. Please send me your Discord information through StartPlaying once you are signed up for the game, and I will get the needed invites sent over to you. We will play the game through D&D Beyond and its Maps VTT, so you will need a free D&D Beyond account. Once you join the campaign through the campaign link that I will share via Discord, you will have access to my purchased D&D Beyond content to help you make your characters.

What Matthew brings to the table

I try to use character voices here and there with amateurish consistency. I will have optional ambient music that can be adjusted by each player to whatever output they prefer. Some of the music will be original works that have been featured in video games. I try to stick to the rules as written, for the most part, but I am a huge fan of making cool stuff happen, so if you have a creative idea, I'd say see if you can do it! You can expect this mini-adventure to rely heavily on combat, survival, extended journeying, and mystery. My goal is for your characters to reach the end of the adventure alive, but it will require you to not make too many critical mistakes. The game will be challenging but fair. Hope you enjoy the mystery! Please review the content warning section and come prepared to point out any you would like to avoid. We can definitely make a few tweaks so your gaming experience is as enjoyable as possible!

Homebrew rules

The 2024 rules have already applied most of the homebrew rules I was running previously. As of now, I don't run any homebrew rules, but I'm happy to discuss them with you if you have some ideas or preferences that you feel strongly about.

How Matthew creates a safe table

We will schedule a session 0 that can be a "come and go when you please" sort of thing. We will discuss other safety tools in more detail at that time. We will also utilize that time to help create characters and integrate them into the adventure as desired. We will discuss Lines and Veils during the session 0. If you prefer to discuss these with me privately, feel free to DM me. If needed, we will utilize X's and O's. If we start experiencing content that previous players have identified to me as uncomfortable, I will start an anonymous poll on Discord, allowing everyone to answer X or O to indicate their level of comfort with the content. If you would like to start such a poll at any time during the game, feel free to DM me, and I will start the poll. It won't be required, but each player is invited to participate in Wishes and Stars at the end of the session. You may DM me with a "Star" or something you particularly enjoyed in the session and also with a "Wish" or something you wish had gone differently or something you hope to see in the future. Longer sessions will utilize brief breaks at the halfway point. If you would like for our games feature other safety features, please feel free to let me know during our session 0.