The Winding Road - Adventuring through the Forgotten Realms

Creating your character

Players are allowed and encouraged to pre-plan and come up with ideas for characters and backstories before session 0, and we will be using the core rulebooks along with Tasha's Cauldron, Xanathar's Guide, and Mordenkainen's Monsters of the Multiverse, allowing for a wide range of character customization options. We will be using the Fantasy Grounds VTT program available for free to players through Steam. Character creation, along with ability score rolling and permanent character sheet info will be done at a Session 0 with all the party assembled. Session 0 will be a full length gaming session, with half focusing on player expectations and other safety tools, and the later half with getting accustomed to the Virtual Table Top software (Including the first test combat encounter to get all the players used to setting targets and conducting attacks and spells!)

Preparing for the session

Players will receive limited, single-use invites to the campaign's discord server, which will be the primary communication method both in-game and out. Additionally, they will need to have the Fantasy Grounds VTT application installed through Steam (available for free). Optionally, players may elect to create a Syrinscape account for use with the Syrinscape audio system, which will be used throughout the sessions for music, ambiance, sound effects, incidental and other sounds.

What Check brings to the table

I provide players with a Rule of Cool playstyle where imagination and unique creative ideas can take shape inside of the world, making heroic acts take form inside the shared world. In most of my DM style, the rules are there to tell us how the world reacts to the characters' bold actions, with success or failure on the dice leading to dramatic outcomes. We use one of the heaviest of tabletop programs, Fantasy Grounds, to keep online combat fluid and automated, so that players can remain in the action and never feel like they are missing their +1 from the bless on each roll, or forgetting that the target is Prone on their ranged attack rolls. The deep integration of game systems in Fantasy Grounds requires a fine touch and has a bit of a learning curve, but I'm here to make sure that it becomes the ultimate tool of immersion for the players. Along with that, we heavily utilize the vast library of Syrinscape's audio offerings to provide a massive range of moods and themes.

Homebrew rules

While the Rule of Cool overrides most rules, specific House rules that I tend to use in games revolve around driving wagons in combats and chases, as those types of rules are generally sparse and few and far between within official rulesets. They are simple to understand, and ultimately optional if a party doesn't find it fun engaging in larger scale vehicle/enourmous monster type encounters. There are generally 3 areas these rules fall into: Wagon controlling, Wagon breakdowns, and wagon upgrades. Players may choose to take an optional skill, "Drive", based on either Constitution or Wisdom (their choice). This affects a wagon's movement, ability checks and saves, and AC during combat. Wagon breakdowns happen when the wagon takes damage in combat, and can range from broken walls leaving insides exposed, broken axles inhibiting movement, and more. Wagon upgrades and attachments can be purchased after characters reach level 5, combining functionality from DnD 5e (2024)'s new Bastion systems with homebrew wagon weapons, armors, and magical items fit for heroic over-land swashbuckling adventures!

How Check creates a safe table

Before our session 0, all participants will be given a link to fill out a google questionnaire. Half of the questionnaire will incorporate the Lines and Veils document, and afterwards be made public to the entire group for discussion at our official Session 0. The other half of the questionnaire will include some questions about character backstories, wants, goals, fears, and also anything the players want to inform me about privately and securely. At our session 0, we will go over what Lines and Veils are, how they work, and what we have on our shared list to know to avoid. Since I like to have players describe their "Kill Shots" from time to time in combat, its a good way to incorporate these Lines and Veils in this way since I am also personally squeamish about graphic depictions of eye damage (for me, a veil). We will also go over our other safety tools in play during our Session 0, such as our X card policy and our continuous communication/aftercare policy.