Aethermoor: The Bleeding Age

Creating your character

Regardless of what point you join the adventure, you deserve a proper Session Zero. If you're joining with the initial party, that happens together as a group before the campaign begins. If you join later, it will likely be a solo Session Zero just for you. Either way, character creation happens during that Session Zero — come with an idea of what you want to play, and I'll help you build it out in D&D Beyond or Roll20. Beyond just building your sheet, Session Zero is also where I connect your backstory to the world already in motion — a debt someone in Aethermoor owes you, a rival who resents you, a personal reason you have skin in this fight. Your character won't just exist in the story; they'll already be tangled in it before session one even begins. Stats are rolled rather than point-buy or standard array — this lets you invest your rolls with your character concept in mind while still leaving room for luck. You get three full rolls to choose from, so if you don't like your first result, you've got two more options before committing. Characters start at level 3. There are no restrictions on source books, classes, or races, as long as your concept fits within the narrative of Aethermoor. If you're new to D&D entirely and building a character from scratch feels overwhelming, that's completely fine — I have a set of pregenerated characters ready to go, so you can jump in and learn the system as we play rather than getting stuck before session one even starts.

Preparing for the session

Before your first session, join the Aethermoor Discord server — the link goes out once you commit to Session Zero, and it's where you'll interact with other players, ask questions, and stay in the loop between sessions. There you'll also find a short "Aethermoor 101" primer, giving you a quick overview of the current conflict and the world's tone so you're not walking in cold. A working microphone is required, though a webcam is optional — I'll be on video myself, but there's never any pressure for you to be. Voice-only on Discord is completely welcome. If you already have a Roll20 or D&D Beyond account, great; if not, don't worry, we'll set one up together during Session Zero. Come ready with a character portrait or image, along with at least a rough idea for your character's backstory — we'll build the rest together. And don't stress about the cost of getting started: Session Zero itself is free, so there's no risk in joining and building your character before deciding whether the campaign is right for you.

What Jorge Crespo brings to the table

I bring character voices to the table — I'm not a trained voice actor, but every NPC gets something distinct, shaped by their personality and the moment. My narration isn't neutral; it shifts with the story, matched by original music and soundscapes that track the tone in real time: sad moments get sad music, dark scenes get dark undertones, combat gets driving, high-energy tracks. I also bring in sound effects for key story and combat beats, all delivered with clear, dedicated audio. Visually, I provide maps and NPC art — the art is always ready ahead of time, and handouts appear when the narrative calls for them. Combat in Aethermoor isn't one-note: expect everything from horde encounters against waves of enemies, to high-stakes boss fights, to sandbox-style events where the map itself shapes your options. I run tactical combat for planned encounters, with real positioning and strategy involved, and shift to theater of the mind if a fight breaks out unexpectedly. Political intrigue is just as central as combat, and how you've roleplayed up to that point genuinely affects how those moments play out. When it comes to rules, I lean toward Rule of Cool over strict Rules as Written — I'd rather make a fair, quick call that keeps the story moving than stall the table over a rulebook page number, though I always follow up afterward if a ruling needs correcting.

How Jorge Crespo creates a safe table

Safety starts at Session Zero, where I set expectations up front rather than waiting for something to go wrong—boundaries, tone, and how the table handles discomfort are all covered before we ever start playing. During sessions, I use the X-Card system through a custom emoji in our Discord chat rather than a physical card. If a scene becomes uncomfortable for any player, they post the emoji, and I immediately shift away from it — no explanation required, no questions asked. Depending on the moment, that might mean fading out ("I'll leave the rest to your imagination"), cutting to another thread already in motion, or improvising a new direction entirely. After every session, we take about 10 minutes to simmer down together in our main Discord chat. This is open space for feedback — how a scene felt, how a character's arc is landing, how intense the session was, or anything else on a player's mind. It doubles as a check-in on comfort with the material itself, so I'm not just guessing whether something landed the way I intended — I actually hear it directly from my players, every session, not just when something goes wrong.