Intro to Eshara

About the adventure

Our adventure starts aboard the famed airship called the Endeavor. She's an accomplished ship, known for being able to sail through any storm, always delivering her cargo on time and in perfect condition. Captained by the seasoned Captain Mortenson, the Endeavor's normal crew has been given extended shore leave, and our party has stumbled onto the job! Why was his regular crew dismissed? Why is Mortenson so secretive about his cargo? Why is he paying this newbie crew 200 gold each for their efforts? Surely this will be an easy and uneventful delivery! .... This game takes place in my homebrew setting of Eshara! It's a fantasy setting where the world was once much like we know ours to be. That is, before an event known only as the Cataclysm happened. During the Cataclysm, chunks of earth rose up into the sky, oceans disappeared, and the landscape was forever changed. Now Eshara is made up of a floating continent with a few even higher floating islands up above, and a seemingly never-ending sea far, far below the inhabited lands. It's been over 1000 years since the Cataclysm happened, and life has found a new normal. The descendants of the original survivors live in cities built on the ruins of the old world. Species such as bugbears, goblins, and gnolls - once seen only as mindless monsters - are now almost fully integrated into society and are not uncommon sights in large cities. Many adventurers who seek power or fame look for ancient ruins of the past world to find powerful and unique magics that have been lost to the ages. Scholars and mages dedicate their lives to uncovering the truth of what really caused the Cataclysm all those years ago, some whispering that there may be a second Event on the horizon... This is an open-ended campaign where players can explore the world as it is now, seek out the secrets of the past, or perhaps even stop the world from changing once more.

Additional Details

How to prepare

Free accounts on Discord and Roll20 are required. Please have a decent mic, as we use voice on Discord to communicate! All maps, handouts, and tokens will be on Roll20. New players are welcome! I'm happy to assist with character creation or give a basic intro to Roll20.

What I provide

Maps, tokens, item and lore handouts will be available in Roll20. For those with a d&dbeyond account, I can share my compendium for easy character creation.

Gameplay details

As with most fantasy adventures there will be combat and bloodshed, tavern brawls and drinks, and people to save! During Session 0 we'll go over topics to avoid and how to handle uncomfortable topics. My player's comfort and fun is my top priority as a DM! There will be plenty of room for exploration, NPCs to chat with, inter-party conversations, and more. I love when my players are immersed in the world and like to offer lots of room for roleplay! Combat is a close second in terms of importance. That said, I'm not a fan of entirely random encounters. I like every combat to somehow relate to the story or character's actions. There will almost never be an encounter of "5 random orcs who only want to murder the party!" without some kind of reasoning behind it. Combat will range in difficulty from fighting an angry swarm of disturbed wasps to a no-holds-barred fight to the death. I prefer my encounters to have weight and meaning to them, especially the big fights! As far as puzzles go, I adore riddles and visual puzzles and am more than happy to include them, but I understand that that's not everyone's cup of tea. Depending on the players there may be a lot of puzzles, or absolutely none!

Content warnings

(none)

Safety tools used

Breaks
Session 0

How will character creation work

Characters will be created during our Session 0. You're more than welcome to bring a character idea to our first session, but please be open to change! It's important to me as the DM that everyone's characters have some kind of connection or tie to one another and to the story as a whole; details that are best worked out during our time together in Session 0.

Players can expect

• Find a game to join solo or search for a professional game master for you and your friends/coworkers/family.
• Book your session and wait for the Game Master to approve you.
• If you don't have a blast with your first game, your next game is on us.