Wauselo: Escape from Blue Spires

Creating your character

Character creation: Premade characters will be provided when you join: a fighter, a cleric, a wizard, and a rogue. Claim one as-is, or use it as a starting point. We'll adjust your character as the game goes on, and you'll level up from 1 to 3 over the adventure. We'll be using the 2024 (5.5e) rules, but you won't be required to know them by heart. For those with more experience, characters will be structured like this: > Start at level 1, with milestone leveling > Use the standard array: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 > Use the core 2024 Player's Handbook species, classes, and backgrounds, without extra material

Preparing for the session

Don't worry if these tools are new to you; we'll get everyone set up in Session Zero. > will be on Discord, so you'll need a free account: https://discord.com. To do these calls you will need at least a microphone on your device, and a camera if you feel ok being seen. > We'll track characters on D&D Beyond, so you'll need a free account there too: https://www.dndbeyond.com. If you don't have the 2024 rules, I'll share them with you digitally through the campaign. The free System Reference Document with the base rules is here: https://www.dndbeyond.com/srd > Combat and exploration will use D&D Beyond's Maps. > If you'd rather roll physical dice than virtual ones, feel free to pick some up. I'll be rolling physical dice too!

What Driftless Journeys brings to the table

My philosophy as a game master is to create a situation that allows the people at the table to ask interesting questions and make interesting choices. The fun of the game is following the players' choices as the situation unfolds around them; both in spite of, and in reaction to, their choices. My narration style is deeply descriptive and I like to illustrate complicated characters and rich environments to provide theme and flavor to the events as they unfold. I also focus more intently on exploration and role-play elements of the game than I do combat. When dealing with system, for a game with beginning players I will do more work to explain what needs to be rolled and remind you about abilities you might have but I heartily recommend that any player take some time to familiarize themselves with their character's abilities. In D&D there are sometimes a lot of them! For more advanced players, I welcome players proposing novel actions or alternate uses for their abilities and I love working to see those through, but I reserve the right to say 'no' if things seem too far fetched.

Homebrew rules

> For this game we will decide if we want to do 'Complication instead of Death'. This means that instead of the characters dying, they will be knocked out and a new complication for the adventure will be introduced. > I love it when players acknowledge other players doing cool stuff. If you think another player did something funny or amazing in the game, you can nominate them for a Heroic Inspiration and if another player agrees, they get it! Heroic Inspiration allows you to reroll one roll.

How Driftless Journeys creates a safe table

It's a priority to me that my games are a place for everybody at the table to be able to play in safety; here is how I work to facilitate that: > I use Lines and Veils. When a game is confirmed I'll send out a link to the game's Lines and Veils document where you can anonymously add topics. We will go over the document in Session Zero to see if we need to add anything. > I like using Session Zero as a way to review safety tools for the campaign, in addition to going over character and game structure topics. If you would like to request additional accommodations or safeguards we can discuss that in private or during session zero. > If something comes up during the game that makes you uncomfortable, use the X card to stop the action. You never have to explain why. We'll adjust and move on, and if it helps, we can talk briefly as a table about how to avoid it in the future. > I prefer to take the last 15 minutes of the session to debrief about the session for any feedback, bright spots, or areas folks at the table think need to be addressed. > If you have safety concerns that you do not want to voice in front of the group I'm always happy to take private messages where we can discuss the issue and how to remedy it. > Lastly, if for any reason you need to take a break from the game and not attend a session or two, this is an OK thing to do! If you intend to return to the game we will keep your character in the background so that you can jump back in. Content notes: This adventure begins with your characters captured: drugged unconscious and imprisoned. Its villain is a manipulator who lies to your characters throughout. Anything else can be adjusted through Lines and Veils.