Curse of Strahd a 5.5 beginner friendly horror campaign

Creating your character

Character creation will happen during session 0. What to expect: 2024 or 5.5 characters only. I award a free feat at the beginning of character creation. We will use standard array for stats. We will primarily use Roll 20, but I am aware that roll20's character creation is clunky. We will also use dnd beyond if the party wish to. I will help anyone who needs it in creating their characters and we can always change things up if you're not loving with your character. I ask that no generative AI is used in creating the art for tokens. I can provide a lot of options for you to use to find art that fits your character. Finally, I will ask that you bring characters that want to do good. Even if they are cowardly, or dastardly. They don't need to be knights in shining armor, but they want to do good in the world. Barovia has far too many edge lords, and ass hats in it.

Preparing for the session

A discord account During session 0 and for the campaign, we will use Discord as the primary way to communicate. Cameras are (optional), microphones are less so. If it's a problem I will ask that we try and address it before the beginning of the campaign. A Roll20 account. and if the party wish a dnd beyond account.

What DMKilfoot brings to the table

FREE SESSION 0. That's right folks, If you don't like my vibes we can part ways. I know I'm not everyone's cup of potion. That's fine by me and know that there's no ill will. WHAT TO EXPECT AT MY TABLE: - A fiercely LGBTQIA+, neurodivergent, and beginner-friendly circus. We’re here to punch monsters, talk in questionable accents, and occasionally remember how skill checks work. Respect is non-negotiable. So is laughing when the rogue inevitably sets something on fire. Do you want silly voices? Then I'm your man. Do you want to have fun and or nerve racking combat? Then I'm your punching bag. Do you want to tell a story about good triumphing over evil? I mean depending on the dice sure that might happen. Will I create an organic experience for you, so that your tragic backstory fits into the tapestry of the game? I'm gonna do the best I can, but I can't really do much with (reads: Parents eaten by wolves...). In short I want to make a fun and memorable experience for you, but it's give and take folks. What I can for sure tell you is I'm going to give it my all. I want you to have a fun time, and experience a wonderful adventure.

Homebrew rules

Rule of Cool. Rules are there as the guardrails, they help keep things fair and fun. But, if you have an idea that isn't exactly how things work I want to hear it. I won't always say yes, but I'd rather we have a good time and tell a fun story. Inspiration Points. I award a “Heroic Inspiration” at the start of each game if players contribute to the recap of the previous session. I also award a d6 inspiration dice for the session, if you answer the session question through your character's perspective. In voice is even better but will not result in additional inspiration. The reroll can be used at any time for any of your rolls. The session question dice can be used at any time for any of your rolls. Session Questions I start each session with a question for your character. Think of it as an ice Breaker. It helps us get into the mindset of the characters. Brutal Criticals. (optional) Critical Hits deal max damage. Death Saves: Failed death saving throws are maintained until a long rest, rather than resetting when the character is healed. If a character fails a third save after being brought back up they will die. Death saves are a d20 Roll. 10 or higher is a success. Bless, inspiration, or paladin aura bonus to saves effects death saves. Death saves are rolled in secret. You can message me what you rolled. Multiple Spells a Turn. Spells of level 2 or lower don’t count against the ‘one spell slot spell per turn’ rule For example: you could cast “Call Lightning: " and “Healing Word” on the same turn. But, you can't cast “Wish” and "Mass Healing Word" on the same turn as they are both over the 2nd level. Player v Player There is no pvp, or stealing from party members unless the party are okay with this. We will be respectful of each other. If a member wants to deceive the party we will ask if the party are okay with a role. Luck Checks: If I ask for a luck check please roll a d20. usually it's a 10 or higher and bobs your uncle something good happens. I will let you know if luck is more or less on your side. Corruption: (optional) The land of Barovia corrupts all those who walk the land. Few places are safe from this corruption; and even rest may leave its mark upon your character. Maybe you might have an extra arm, maybe an extra eye. Body horror is an option. Maybe you might grow some fangs, or your shadow may move a bit after you do. Lots of fun and crazy stuff. But It's optional and we will go over more in the session 0. Potions: Feeding/ drinking a potion as an action restores full amount. Feeding/ drinking a potion as a bonus action require a roll. Help with a skill check: Helping with a check requires that the helper have proficiency with said skill.

How DMKilfoot creates a safe table

I will do a Session 0 and go over a lot of this as well. I use the Lines and Veils: and Other Safety Tools. I use a consent checklist, provided in the game resources channel on discord once you've joined the campaign. Feel free if you are uncomfortable with calling out things in the session 0 to message me privately and I’ll add them to the list. Safety tools are used to keep the game “Fun.” When dealing with horror, we want to be scared, we want to get a little uncomfortable. That being said, there is uncomfortable and then there is triggering, traumatic, and unsafe. I want to keep the game as far fucking away from that as I can. Now, the consent form has green, yellow, and red. Red is a hard “No,” while the yellow is more of a “if mentioning please don’t go too deep,” or, “if we are discussing it please don’t make it last long,” or even “if we are dealing with x please give me a heads up so I can step away, or mute.” Yellow can mean different things, and please feel free to share what you want to about it. I aim for perfection, but fall short. I hope you will let me know if I make a mistake so I can correct it. Some automatic “No’s,” or “Red’s,” in this game and that are not up for negotiation are: Sexual Assault- not even jokingly. Explicit sexual acts- I stop at fade to black on Sex. Explicit Romance - I keep it pg13 on kissing, and again will fade to black on any more than that. (I know it’s a horror movie trope but yeah no one is getting it on and then a masked man puts an arrow through their neck.) (side note, I know it was Jason’s mom that killed off Kevin Bacon with the arrow through the neck). Homophobia- The real world is shitty, let's not let the fantasy world be “As Shitty.” This goes for any of the LGBTQIA+ types of discrimination. Real world Racism- Please see homophobia above. Fantasy Racism- It’s crazy to think that a world where magic exists, is also a world where people think all Drow are evil, and all halflings are thieves. I will say this campaign does have some "mistrust of strangers" that may feel like racism and if that is a no go, we can address it in our session 0. Open Door Policy Another safety tool I readily use is the open door style of dming. This means you can message me privately if something came up that you didn’t like, or made you feel uncomfortable. It can be scary to talk to someone about these matters publicly, and you may not want to bring it up right then and there during the session. I’m totally fine with people messaging me outside of the session. I may not get to your message right away, but I promise I’ll get to you as soon as I can. Ultimately my role as the DM is to make the game as enjoyable as I can. Breaks We take a 15 minute break around the hour and a half mark. Aftercare We will go over what happened during the session at the end, the highs the lows etc.