Where Dead Gods Lie | Curse of Strahd

Creating your character

Character creation will happen before, during, and after session 0. The creation process during session 0 will just be deciding what your character's stats and class will be. Before and after session 0 will be discussions of character backstory, who they are to start, and potential arcs they can undergo during the game itself. For this game, I would suggest that you make characters that are just normal people to start out as. This is also a very roleplay-heavy game, so try to make characters that have a story/personality that can be interacted with.

Preparing for the session

To prepare as a player, please come in with open-mindedness, the willingness to collaborate, and the willingness to let your character (and sometimes yourself) feel true fear in the face of terror. Please also have a Discord account, a laptop/PC, a generally stable internet connection, and some sort of decent-quality mic.

What DM Aria brings to the table

As the Dungeon Master, I will provide and utilize ambient music, character voices, maps and scenes, the Tupperbox Discord bot, several quality of life Foundry VTT modules, and my own homebrew classes, subclasses, spells, items, species, and creatures.

Homebrew rules

Enemy HP - Enemy HP is hidden outside of descriptions such as "Bloodied," "Near Death," etc. If you are the same species/race as an enemy, you can make a Medicine or Investigation check to know the exact HP value in private. This does not work on Bosses. Intent to Kill - Attacks against Hostile creatures will be assumed as lethal unless stated otherwise. Attacks against Neutral or Friendly creatures will be assumed as non-lethal unless stated otherwise. Certain descriptions of actions may be subject to DM ruling. Spellcasting is always considered lethal. Spellcasting - You can cast a spell as a Bonus Action as long as the spell is of a level no greater than half of your spellcasting level, rounded down. This cannot be used with spells higher than 4th level. (Example: A level 5 Wizard can cast 1st and 2nd level spells as a Bonus Action.) Death Saves - Death Save rolls are private. Someone can take a Bonus Action or Reaction to know the state of Death Saves when within 5ft of a downed ally or creature. Additionally, someone within 5ft. of a downed ally can make a DC 10 Medicine check to stabilize them. Success brings the downed person to 1HP, but they remain unconscious. Failure counts as Death Save Failure. Taking damage equal or more than double your Max HP results in instant death. Turn Time Limit - When it becomes your turn in combat, you have 1 minute to decide how to use your turn. If you are undecided by the time the 1 minute is up, it is assumed your character takes the Dodge action. This does not apply to action descriptions and explanation of effects. Except for in boss fights, during the first round of combat, everyone will have an extra 30 seconds to decide their turn. Critical Hits - Crits use a max roll die automatically (Example: 1d6 crit turns into 1d6+6) Additionally, if you roll below average on the dice, you can take the average. Panic Rounds - Panic rounds take the place of the Surprised condition. During a panic round you gain an additional 10 feet of movement, but you can only take a Bonus Action.

How DM Aria creates a safe table

Aftercare: After each session I will always ask the same questions. "How did y'all feel about today's session?" "Is there anything I did that you'd like to see me do more/less of?" After each question, I'll give you all time to answer. After that, please feel free to share any other thoughts pertaining to that day's session that were not expressed. Breaks: During each session, after an hour and 30 minutes have passed, we will cut for a 15-20 minute break. After the break, session will resume as normal. At any other point during the session, a player may request a 5 minute break. Please try reasonable with the number of smaller breaks you request. Lines & Veils/Consent Checklist: They will somewhat be mixed together. Simply fill out the checklist and send the filled version back to me. The sooner, the better! I will then take what was given in the consent checklist and translate that into a google doc of anonymous lines and veils. This doc will then be put into the game discord server. Open Door: At any point in the session, you may simply leave. No questions asked. Just please DM me to tell me that's what you're doing. If you wish to rejoin session, feel free. There will be no judgement awaiting you. This applies to Session 0, as well. Session 0: During Session 0, we will introduce ourselves. Feel free to share as much or as little as you like (within reason, ofc). Once introductions have finished, go over house rules to make sure everyone is in agreement and understanding. Then we will review the safety tools. Finally, we will move on to character creation. X, N, & O Cards: Whenever you feel the need during session, don't hesitate to send me an "X", an "N", or an "O" in my DMs. I will then tell the table "A player has requested an '__'." If an "X" is requested, I will inform the table and rewind/skip to a point the requester is more comfortable with. Please note that if you send me an "X" it would be helpful for me if you also include where you wish to rewind/skip If an "N" is requested, I will inform the table and will steer the game in a different direction. If an "O" is requested, I will also pause the game and have everyone check in with myself and each other. All X, N, & O cards are anonymous. It is expected that no one will try to figure out who sent the card.