Catch the Thief, Save the Town | 3rd Level One-Shot

Creating your character

For this one-shot, I allow all official sourcebooks for D&D 5e (2014) in the creation of your character. I do not allow third party or homebrew content. I suggest the Player’s Handbook as a great resource for making simple, but fun characters. I also have several premade characters that I'm excited for you to use! :) Whichever sourcebook you use, the characters are 3rd level in this one-shot so they won’t have access to feats. If you want to select a feat, I do allow variant humans. As for the rest of your sheet, we will use point buy/standard arrays to determine ability scores and use the starting equipment given to your class at 1st level. In terms of building your character, there will be opportunities for combat, roleplay and exploration. So expect to react to what Foggy Bob and Hambone have to say. Be prepared to scout out and fight your way through the Silver Thumbed Thief's forest hideout. And if you're preceptive and stealthy enough, you might even find his prized magic item! However you make your character there will be time at the start our session to create them. So you do not need to have a set idea ahead of time, but put some thought beforehand into why your character finds themselves in Brookbend. Did they hear rumors of a bounty? Do they want to do good and protect a small town? Or maybe they have a vendetta with the Silver Thumbed Thief?

Preparing for the session

I use Discord for voice chat and run the game with Foundry VTT through a hosting platform called The Forge. So you we will need to have a Forge account, a Discord account and to join my Discord server to play. Webcams are not needed, though, I expect to use mine for a pre-game chat. If you're unfamiliar, Forge and Discord accounts are free to create. Once you have signed up for my game you will receive an email with an invitation to join my Forge and Discord servers. If you don't receive that email for whatever reason, feel free to message me here on StartPlaying and I'll send the links that way. Lastly, you do not need to have a D&D Beyond account to play. If you do have an account, I have a module that can import character sheets from D&D Beyond. To make a sheet there you will need to make a free account. Otherwise, I have other tools on my server for you to build your character. Here are links to: Discord sign-up: https://discord.com/register Discord download: https://discord.com/download Forge sign-up: https://forge-vtt.com/account/signup

What Nicholas Perkowski brings to the table

Outside of being fun to play with, the thing I've heard people describe me as is helpful and friendly. So if you have any problem, whether it be nervous jitters before play or having a hard time knowing how to fight that giant spider, I'm here to help. I also provide my dedicated creativity. I made a lot of the art that you’ll see as we play. The maps, for example, that we will use for this one-shot I drew myself. I also created this one-shot. The design and ideas are all original to me. No AI was used at any point. In terms of setting tangible expectations, I mostly follow the rules as written. At the same time, I don’t think the rule book needs to be strictly memorized either. So I, often on the fly, sometimes diverge from the rules when it feels natural. You can also expect transparency from me on my rulings. Otherwise, expect at least one combat encounter where there will be a decent chance your character will be knocked unconscious, with a very low chance you may lose your character. Also, be prepared for me to occasionally ask you to briefly describe what your character is feeling or doing. You can definitely expect to provide description when you make a skill check.

Homebrew rules

While I like a more grounded power level to my games, a homebrew rule I have is I allow you, as an additional alternative to how it's normally used, to use the Inspiration mechanic to come up with one-time, narrative abilities and solutions that fit your character and the scenario they face. A little bit of Rule of Cool. Typically, though, I keep a Rules as Written and "the DM has final say" mentality. That helps move things along. As for other disputes, like whether a character would know a certain fact, I let the dice decide and will have you roll a check.

How Nicholas Perkowski creates a safe table

I always want to run a game where everyone feels comfortable. I think trust and respect are the basis of comfort. At the beginning of our session I will take some time to not only break the ice and shake off the nerves (I know I’ll be a little nervous), but talk about expectations for our game. We definitely won’t have enough time to cover everything or get to know each other well enough so I’ll include digital X, N and O cards in play. I like to have a similar chat at the end of a session as well. It gives me a chance to get some feedback to help me grow as a DM, but also a chance for all of us to either blow off some steam or reflect on a fun time. I plan to also briefly check-in through Discord after the game if needed. A big reason I value trust and talking things out as a group so much is because with the style of combat I run, character death, while rare, is possible. I want you as a player to know that I want to see you succeed and I’m trying to offer a fun challenge, not beat you. So after a tough fight, or whenever we might need it, we will pause for a moment and see how everyone feels. I prioritize building trust with you so that we can have those kind of discussions. So we'll talk about expectations. We'll take breathers after hard fights. You'll even hear me admit when I make a mistake.