Heroes of the Borderlands | Definitive Campaign | Levels 1–20

Creating your character

GETTING STARTED Getting your adventurer ready is easy. Build as much—or as little—as you want. Every character begins at level 1, uses the 2024 D&D rules, and joins the game through a D&D Beyond campaign invite. ⚙️｜Build Your Own・Standard Want full control? Create your character step by step with D&D Beyond’s Standard Character Builder. ⚡｜Build Fast・Quickbuilder Want your own character with less setup? D&D Beyond’s Quickbuilder offers a faster, guided way to create a personalized level-1 adventurer. 🧙🏽｜Ready to Play・Premade Want to jump straight into the adventure? After joining the D&D Beyond campaign, you can review and claim one of 13 optional ready-to-play characters. Across the roster, all 12 core classes and all 10 core species are represented, plus an Artificer option. Premades are completely optional—custom characters are always welcome. CHARACTER RULES 📚｜Use the most current official 2024 character options from the Core Rules and Expanded Rules on D&D Beyond. Legacy content, Partnered Content, third-party material, and homebrew are not allowed. 💪🏽｜Use Standard Array or Point Buy to determine ability scores. Rolled or randomly generated ability scores are not used. 🎒｜Use the normal starting equipment provided during character creation. 👿｜Only non-evil characters are allowed. ✅・No lengthy backstory is required. Your adventurer only needs a reason to come to the Keep on the Borderlands in search of adventure and work with the other adventurers. ⚠️・Please have your character completed before the campaign begins. Whether you build every detail yourself, use Quickbuilder, or claim a ready-to-play hero, the goal is the same: arrive with a character you’re excited to play.

Preparing for the session

GETTING READY Getting ready should be simple. You do not need to study the rules or setting lore ahead of time. After booking, you’ll receive the links you need to get set up. 💬｜Join the Table・Discord Create a free Discord account and join the game’s Discord server. This is where you’ll receive game updates, ask questions, and join voice chat for each session. 🧙｜Bring Your Adventurer・D&D Beyond Create a free D&D Beyond account and join the game’s campaign. The Character Creation section gives you several easy ways to create or claim your adventurer. 🗺️｜Access the Adventure・D&D Beyond Maps The game will be played through D&D Beyond Maps. No separate VTT account, download, or paid software is required. 🎧｜Check Your Setup・Audio + Internet You’ll need a computer or an internet-connected mobile device/tablet with a web browser, plus a working microphone. A computer is recommended for the smoothest VTT experience, and headphones are strongly recommended for clear audio and to prevent echo. 🔧｜Test Before We Play・Quick Check Before game time, make sure Discord can hear your microphone and that you can access D&D Beyond. A quick check beforehand means more of our session can be spent adventuring instead of troubleshooting. ✅・That’s it! No rules mastery, setting homework, or module reading is required. If something is unfamiliar, you can learn it through play. Just arrive ready to play together, make choices, and discover what waits beyond the walls of the Keep.

What Christopher brings to the table

THE EXPERIENCE You bring the adventurer and the decisions. I’ll provide the world around you, keep the game moving, and make sure everyone has meaningful opportunities to explore, roleplay, think creatively, and roll some dice! 🗺️｜Explore the Borderlands・Maps + Visuals Key locations across the Borderlands will be presented through D&D Beyond Maps with clear exploration and encounter maps, creature tokens, and visual handouts that make exploration, positioning, and the action easy to follow. 🎭｜Meet Characters Who Respond・Roleplay + Choice NPCs are more than obstacles waiting for a fight. Talk, investigate, bargain, threaten, ask questions, or draw steel when the situation calls for it. How characters respond—and how those relationships develop—depends on what you say, what you do, and how the situation unfolds. ⚔️｜Fight Smart・Tactical Combat When combat breaks out, expect encounters where positioning, terrain, teamwork, and creative decisions matter. I’ll keep the action moving while giving you room to think tactically and use the environment to your advantage. 🎲｜You Can Certainly Try・Creative Play + Clear Rulings The 2024 D&D rules provide our foundation, but your options are not limited to buttons on a character sheet. Describe what you want to try. I’ll adjudicate unusual ideas fairly, make clear rulings, and keep the game moving without letting a tricky rules question stall the session. ⏳｜Keep the Adventure Moving・Purposeful Pacing Every session should move the adventure forward. I’ll keep things moving when a scene has run its course, keep downtime and rules searches from swallowing our time, and give important moments room to breathe. 🤝｜Share the Spotlight・Collaborative Table Everyone should get meaningful opportunities to make decisions and contribute. I’ll actively move the spotlight around the table so everyone has room to participate without any one player or scene taking over the session. ✅・Whether this is your first adventure or your hundredth, you can expect a welcoming table, clear communication, consistent rulings, meaningful choices, and a GM focused on making your time in the Borderlands feel like time well spent.

Homebrew rules

HOUSE RULES This campaign stays close to the 2024 D&D rules. I use only three small changes designed to keep play moving and add useful choices without unnecessary complexity. 📚｜Study Quickly・Bonus Action You can take the Study action as a Bonus Action instead of an Action. This lets you recall or analyze information about creatures, objects, locations, or clues without using your entire Action. 🧪｜Take Your Time・Maximum Potion Healing You can use a Potion of Healing normally as a Bonus Action and roll its healing dice. If you spend an Action instead, you don't roll the healing dice; each healing die restores its maximum value. For example, a standard Potion of Healing that restores 2d4 + 2 Hit Points restores 10 Hit Points when used this way. This applies whether you drink the potion yourself or administer it to another creature. 🔄️｜Rebuild as You Grow・Character Rebuilding Whenever you gain a level, you may rebuild any choices made during character creation, including your starting equipment. Rewards, equipment, and other benefits earned or purchased through play remain unchanged. You may also rebuild your character once whenever a new official source containing character options is released. ✅・Outside of these changes, the official 2024 D&D rules remain our foundation. If an unusual situation comes up, I'll make a clear ruling and keep the game moving.

How Christopher creates a safe table

SAFETY & CONSENT The campaign may put your character in danger; your comfort at the table comes first. You do not need to know any of these safety tools in advance—if they are new to you, I’ll explain them before we play. 🛡️｜Before We Play・Consent + Boundaries After booking, you’ll receive a short Monte Cook RPG Consent Checklist and Lines & Veils form. Lines are content that does not appear in the game; Veils are content that can exist but stays off-screen or undescribed. During your brief Session 0, I’ll make sure you understand how these tools work and confirm the boundaries that apply at the table before play. You never need to explain why something is a boundary. 🚦｜During the Game・X, N + O X, N, and O give you simple ways to communicate while we play. Use X when something needs to stop or change, N when you don’t want the scene to go further in that direction, and O when the current level of intensity is okay. You can say the signal aloud, type it in Discord, or message me privately. If one is used, we’ll pause if needed. Then we’ll adjust the scene and keep playing without putting anyone on the spot. ⏸️｜Take a Break・Anytime Anyone can ask for a break at any time, for any reason. We can pause, reset, handle anything privately if needed, and return when everyone is ready. 🚪｜Open Door・Step Away Anytime You are always free to step away from the table when you need to. You can also message me privately whenever that feels easier than speaking in front of the group. You do not need to justify needing a moment or asking for a change. 🤝｜Respect the Table・People Before the Fiction Character disagreements can happen; disrespect between players is not part of the game. Player-versus-player conflict, deliberate sabotage, or actions that remove another player character’s agency are not assumed and require prior discussion and consent. ✅・The listed Content Warnings describe material that may appear in the campaign, but boundaries can change at any time. If something affects you differently in play than you expected, say so—or use any of the tools above—and we’ll adjust. The goal is a table where everyone can participate, make meaningful choices, and enjoy the campaign together.