Call to Arms: Heroes of Phandalin!

Image by Jaime Jones (LMoP WotC)

Call to Arms: Heroes of Phandalin!

Wave Echo Cave: the mine that could remake Phandalin. Gundren Rockseeker thinks he's found it, and he needs heroes he can trust.

TYPE

Campaign

LEVELS

1

LANGUAGE

English

EXPERIENCE

Beginner

AGE

18+
Request to join
Send a request to join this game. The Game Master will review your application and reach out with follow up questions to see if you are a good fit for the table.
3 NEEDED TO START
$5.00

/ Session

Details

9 players following this game

Bi-weekly / Saturday - 10:00 PM UTC

Session Duration / 2–4 hours

0 / 4 Seats Filled

Report Adventure

Money Back Guarantee

StartPlaying Money Back Guarantee

If your game doesn't happen, we guarantee a refund. Just reach out to StartPlaying Support. Refund Policy

This game will begin once 3 players have joined
About the adventure

Lost Mine of Phandelver is a classic D&D adventure and an ideal starting point if you've never played before. You'll begin as hired wagon guards on the road to the frontier town of Phandalin—a simple job that quickly turns into something much larger. No knowledge of the rules is required! The setting is old-school fantasy: rough frontier roads, goblin ambushes, and the long-buried legend of Wave Echo Cave, a mine lost for a generation and rumored to hold both fortune and forgotten magic. Phandalin itself is a town still finding its footing, populated by locals with their own agendas, rivalries, and half-buried history worth uncovering. Expect a blend of dungeon-crawling, wilderness exploration, and town intrigue, with combat that escalates as your characters grow into the wider threats around them. I'll work with you on every step, starting with character creation and continuing through actual play, introducing rules as they come up rather than all at once. Along the way, we'll dig into some of the core pillars of D&D and TTRPGs in general: combat, exploration, and roleplay.

Game style

Combat Lite

Rule of Cool (RoC)

Dungeon Crawl

Game themes

Meet the Game Master
Neurodivergent

Less than a year on StartPlaying

Highly rated for: Beginner Friendly, Storytelling, Knows the Rules

About me

Greetings and well met potential adventurers! Whether you're picking up your first set of dice or you're a ten-year veteran, my table is a place for collaborative storytelling and shared adventure. While I am capable of running most styles and tones of games, I prefer a heavy emphasis on roleplaying and immersion with character driven story. I love working with players in character creation so everyone feels genuinely rooted in the world. Regardless of the style of game I am running, I make sure to prioritize player safety by using multiple tools such as Lines and veils, stars and wishes, a safety and consent checklist, and the X-card (Via DM or public chat.) I've been my friend group's go-to Game Master for over five years, and have spent over 10 years on the other side of the GM Screen. I primarily run games on Roll20, though I'm always looking to expand my options - currently exploring Talespire and Foundry VTT to see if either has better options for immersive experiences in game. My main system is D&D 5e, but I recently picked up Daggerheart and the Cosmere TTRPG books and am eager to bring those to the table soon. My love for fiction and adventure started early, exploring worlds through books and games, and now I'm channeling that into the work I want to build my life around: crafting worlds and stories, and running games that invite others in to tell their own. Whether it's a one-shot or a year-long campaign, I'd love to have you at my table.

View Profile →
Character creation

Creating your character

We will handle our character creation before session one, taking time during the end of session zero and any time until the first session. Creation will be on roll20 using any of the content I will have available and shared to the game and we will be starting at level one. Session Zero will be free!

What to expect

Preparing for the session

We will be using Discord and Roll20, both require user accounts and can be accessed through the web browser. On Discord I will create a private server for us to use for Voice Communications.

What French Sensei brings to the table

This is primarily an educational game designed to help teach you how to play and get you started on your journey in tabletop. Expect character voices, sound effects, and ambient music for suspense! Combat will be engaging yet fair — I'm not striving to "win" against the players, but to give you a taste of the many types of encounters you might experience on the combat side of the game, from tense skirmishes to tactical puzzles to dramatic set pieces. While we'll be exploring how the rules work with the table to support storytelling, I'll sometimes use my own rulings or set aside a rule here and there for the sake of a good story or an impactful character moment — I won't hold you to the rulebook word-for-word. No question is a dumb question. I'll walk you through character sheets, dice rolling, and how your turn works as we go, so you're never left guessing, and I'm happy to help you build a character beforehand or hand you a ready-made one if you'd rather jump straight in. We'll run a quick rules primer and a get-to-know-you session together first, so everyone knows what to expect before we dive in. Above all, this is a safe space to experiment — try weird tactics, roleplay outside your comfort zone, and make mistakes without judgment. By the end, you'll walk away understanding the core loop of D&D — exploring the world, playing your character, and fighting battles — and hopefully hungry for more.

Homebrew rules

I will only be running with my Homebrew Healing Potion rule. Usual Rule: Drinking any potion is an Item Interaction (A full Action) My rule: You can choose to drink specifically a healing potion, with either an action or a bonus action. If you drink a healing potion with an action - you are carefully drinking every last drop and gain FULL healing. If you drink a healing potion with a bonus action you must roll for healing as per usual - trying to rush through drinking the potion causing some to spill. Giving a potion to another creature is always a full action.

Equipment needed to play

Internet

Computer

Microphone

Safety

How French Sensei creates a safe table

We will be using and going over Lines and Veils in session zero to allow everyone at the table to explain their limits(lines) in what they feel is safe to explore in story telling, and what they think shouldn't be detailed(veils.) I will also run through Stars and Wishes at the end of every session and take time at the end of the session for everyone to speak up about how they feel and make sure everyone feels positive about the experience so far. And as always, I will be utilizing an open door policy - for your own mental well being at any point you can step away from the game, take a break, or leave permanently at any time for any reason without needing to explain yourself and without judgement.

Content warnings

Animal Death
Alcohol Use
Blood
Death
Language/Cursing
Murder
Spiders
Violence
Character Death
Deep or Large Bodies of Water
Execution
Kidnapping
Prejudice
Slavery

Safety tools used

Frequently asked questions