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The Cosmic Opal
This cycle is ending. It has ended before. Your choices become canon in this epic, player-driven custom D&D campaign.
$15.00
/ Session
Details
Weekly / Wednesday - 1:00 AM UTC
Session Duration / 3–4 hours
Campaign Length / 50–150 Sessions
0 / 6 Seats Filled
Top Game Master
One of StartPlaying's top-rated GMs, a player favorite and highly recommended.
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About the adventure
This cycle is ending. It has ended before. The question is what your choices leave behind? The Cosmic Opal is a long-running, high-stakes Dungeons & Dragons campaign set in Primora; a fully original world with new gods, new nations, new foes, and an unfolding cosmic mystery your table writes as it plays. You are the Opalbearers: marked, hunted, and holding the reigns on a powerful artifact in a land where just mentioning such an object could get you killed. WHY THIS TABLE IS DIFFERENT This isn't a module. Every session is built around your decisions. The alliances you forge or burn, the factions you empower or destroy, the quests you take that close the door on others. Your choices, and consequences, compound. Each act's finale is designed to be shaped entirely by who you've helped, harmed, or ignored along the way. Nothing is on rails, and nothing is wasted. Your actions become canon. Cosmic Opal is about a world approaching oblivion, what the next Cycle looks like is completely up to you. THE STORY A dragon-descended empire reels from a succession crisis. Technomagi emerge from the shadows. Gods walk in mortal skin. Gold-clad demi gods, bathed in blood. And somewhere beneath it all, something ancient is binding the threads of time together whether the anyone wants it or not. You'll navigate royal courts and open seas, bargain with dragon paladins and crime syndicates, and decide which powers deserve to survive what's coming. THE DETAILS • 5th Edition D&D on Foundry VTT — dynamic lighting, some automation, gorgeous maps (I do my best 😂) • Beginner-friendly and veteran-welcoming, with full onboarding for new players • LGBTQ+ friendly; safety tools standard (Session 0, Lines & Veils, X-card) • Top DM, 100+ sessions of this campaign run online and in-person! • Weekdays at 7pm, Weekly 3-4 hour sessions, Starting price of 15$CAD! Bring a character concept or come with nothing. Either way, you'll leave with a story.
Game style
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Realm Building
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
About me
Hey! Im Apex, I am a DM with about 15 years of experience, running mostly 5e DnD with some 3.5e in there and some of the new 5.5e. I enjoy worldbuilding, homebrew, and dark fantasy! All of my campaigns take place in a worldbuilding project named "Primora", with full intention on refinement and eventual modulation of the entire setting! The main story, Cosmic Opal, is a long form, narrative focused 1-14 campaign. There is a prequel called Plagueheart to this campaign as well! With many plans to follow up to the dramatic conclusion of Cosmic Opal. I also do some creative writing within the setting. I am most definitely a Rule of Cool DM, I enjoy bending, breaking and changing the rules of the TTRPG to alleviate pain points and create truly unique experiences focused on immersion and player agency. I like to go pretty in depth into Player Characters and root them within the homebrew somewhere, making sure their personal quests feel important and impactful! If you have any questions feel free to message me on Startplaying or on discord @apex_the_deity ! I hope to see you within the mysterious wilds of Primora...
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
I use point buy with an extra feat at 1st level, allowing only rules-as-written characters—no monstrous or innate flying races, setting-specific, this includes: UA, Ravenloft, Ebberon other third-party subclasses/backgrounds/feats. All that being said it is not a hard rule! If you have an idea or just want to to use it cause you think its cool, I am open to anything! For hard rules: I disallow evil characters (unless the group agrees or a really good idea), PvP combat, stealing from fellow PCs, Large PCs and mute PCs. Leveling is XP to 3 and then Milestone from then on. I am aiming for 1st to 14th level. A short session 0 handles housekeeping before the first paid session, and depending on when you see this I might even have a choice of one-shot to get the party into the campaign!
What to expect
Preparing for the session
You are just going to need a discord and a mic! Some familiarity around Foundry will help but is not necessary. I can help with anything rules or character related and its totally ok to learn the game as we go!
What Apex/Brandon brings to the table
I will provide you with a wholly unique experience and countless stories to share with friends. My only real goal every session is to walk away knowing everyone had fun. DnD, RPGs, and tabletops are my LIFE. No question is too small, no character unimportant. This is a homebrew campaign within the unique gameworld I have crafted called "Primora". Primora is a planet with two moons and is a place defined and literally shaped by colossal conflicts in the deep past. It is both high and low magic depending on the locale and retains immense wilderness with civilization being spread and isolated. The campaign will move throughout the game world. I have a profound love for writing various and unique cultures and environments, I hope to be able to share them! There is both a unique pantheon and magic system that shouldn't conflict with any existing mechanics. The character sheets will be based in Foundry and we will use Discord for audio/video. I use rule of cool as philosophy and the campaign has an emphasis on player agency. The themes can definitely be heavy but I will tailor it towards the group playing and their individual wants and needs. It will be a mix of both combat and roleplay encounters. I would like to work with the players to create a collaborative experience so that no two versions of the campaign will be the same. The starting location is an area of low magic due to suppression by the ruling class.
Homebrew rules
I use quite a few including but no limited to: double healing (Number of dice and bonuses are doubled for all healing sources.) crunchy crits (When roll crit damage, base damage is automatically maximized and you maim the target in someway. Goes usually just for player and legendary monsters) Potion use as bonus action is a roll, Action or Out of Combat is maximized rolls I dont tend to use material components until 5th or 6th level spells. Heroic rounds after PC death
Equipment needed to play
Computer
Microphone
Mobile Phone
Platforms used
Safety
How Apex/Brandon creates a safe table
I will go over all of it in the first session or the session 0, but I want to make sure that everyone feels safe, comfortable and ready to have fun!
Content warnings
Safety tools used