Astral Drifters: Elemental Hunt

Creating your character

Character creation will be done before the first session. It's planned to happen during a Session 0, however if someone can't make it for external reasons or simply wishes to make a character earlier, I have no problems with sitting down to figure out a date to meet and create the character together. I'd advise to avoid immediately setting down on a specific character unless you have room to change some things, since this is a homebrewed setting with it's quirks. However, due to it's nature almost anything can work, ranging from your average knight to gunslingers, to noir detectives, to inventive artificers, psions, shamans, engineers - you name it! (Although do take into consideration that it should fit into something around the lines of magitech, regular magic and other fitting themes) As for more technical details, stats are going to be set using Point Buy, with the use of Tasha's rules for races to allocate racial bonuses to any stat. Characters will be starting at level 3, and each character receives a Free Starting Feat. All official dnd 5e content is allowed, but any homebrew is likely to be allowed to, as long as it is sent to me to revise and ensure it's balancing is ok. I'm also open to designing spells, subclasses, races or other custom elements to help you make your dream character come true! As for the format, I do have a semi-automated Google Spreadsheet functioning as an easily editable character sheet, though if you wish to use a physical character sheet or another online medium, I have no issues with it.

Preparing for the session

As far as programs go, I'll be running the sessions on Discord so an account there will be required. We'll also be using Owlbear Rodeo, however players don't need an account to use the site, so making one is entirely up to you. The sessions and any other content related to them will be all held in a discord server which all players will be added into once the group is formed. Furthermore, a decent quality microphone and internet connection would be heavily appreciated, and while face cams are always nice they are not required.

What EpicSpydi brings to the table

From my style of play, players can expect me to craft intricate stories with plenty of depth and intrigue, while also keeping it simple enough to not be overwhelming. Various characters with unique personalities and philosophies will pop up, and any fights held will be sure to hold special challanges to make it more than simply rolling attacks for 30 minutes. From a more technical side of things, I always heavily use music to really highlight the emotions and the climate of the various scenes in the game. I also sometimes use sound effects to further add to the mood, making sure each situation is as memorable as it can be. As far as rules go, I do like utilizing them to create unique and fun challanges, but a fun and creative solution will almost always overrule any written specification. In the end, the goal is to create dynamic and interesting scenes in both roleplay and fights, so I'll be fine ignoring some rulings in favor of a more amazing scene writing wise. Difficulty wise I'm a huge fan of a fair challange. Players should expect to face some difficulties in their adventures, nothing that'll be an unfair challange they can't best, but definitely something which will require them to think creatively. I believe that the best scenes and memories are made from moments in which the players band together to find a creative solution through a difficult task, and that victory tastes best when it is earned. With that being said, I wouldn't expect player death or insanely unfair conditions. While there are consequences to dumb actions, and plenty of damage (both short and long term) can be done to the players, nothing will be thrown on them without the option to somehow avoid it. I do tend to lean more into heavier, narrative driven difficulties for PC's but if someone wouldn't wish to see their character harmed in such a way, things can be easily arranged for a lighter outcome.

Homebrew rules

There's quite a bit of smaller homebrew mechanics that I use in my games, all of which are up to change / discard if the players choose so. From the quick overview of the most important ones: - Exhaustion is stacked to 10 instead of 6, and each level gives -1 to all Ability Checks, Attack Rolls and Saving Throws made instead of the regular effects - Taking a Long Rest no longer heals all Exhaustion. Instead, you can now choose to either restore all your health and features, OR you can lower your Exhaustion level by 1. - When making an attack under certain conditions, you can make a Called Shot. Such an attack targets a certain part of your target, and has less odds to hit. However, if it does connect, it causes various side effects and debuffs, sometimes crucial in certain battles - When a creature is down to 0 hp, it gains 1 level of Exhaustion - Death Saving Throws are rolled in private between the DM and the player rolling it - ALL consumables take a Bonus Action to use - If a certain attack would be narratively extremely brutal, or if a character is hit while at 0 hp, they will receive a Brutal Injury. This could be a limp arm, broken bones or in extremely grizzly situations, lost limbs.

How EpicSpydi creates a safe table

During session 0, players will be asked for their Lines and Veils to ensure no harmful or traumatic topics are brought up during the game. There will also be a bref discussion going over how comfortable players are with things happening to their players, backstory characters, companions and so on to ensure nobody's creation is mistreated. After each session, players will also be asked for feedback, any parts they enjoyed and anything which they considered less fun, whether it be mechanical or thematic. They'll also be able to state what would they like to see more or less in future sessions, all in a friendly atmosphere as a catch up once the action wraps up. Aftercare will also be part of such discussion, giving players a space to express any distress or anything more serious to them without the worry of being shamed for it. Absolutely no hate speech is allowed at the table, and every single player has the same right to express opinions, emotions and anything of such sort without having to fear for their comfort.