How to prepare

Access to Discord and a working microphone is a must. Please make sure your microphone indeed works as needed, since troubleshooting your setup during a session robs the other players from their playtime. You can download discord from https://discord.com/ The campaign will be ran through Fantasy Grounds, and we'll be using that software to create and keep track of your characters and their abilities. You can download the demo version of Fantasy Grounds from http://www.fantasygrounds.com/, which will be enough for the campaign - no purchase is necessary.

What I provide

I'm bringing a Fantasy Grounds Ultimate license, so players do not need to purchase a FG license themselves - the free demo version will suffice. Inside Fantasy Grounds, I'll be sharing with players the sourcebooks - particularly the Player's Handbook and Strixhaven sourcebooks (sans the adventures,) but also including other books that might be of interest such as parts of the DM's guide.

Gameplay details

Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos focuses in the shared experience of the players as magic students at the titular college. The campaign encompasses all four years of the players as students, starting when they first join and ending once they graduate. The focus of the campaign is two-fold. There's an overarching storyline/mystery that unfolds throughout the campaign, which helps shape the storyline and give the players motivation for certain actions and events. Meanwhile, there's the day-to-day life at campus. This includes classes, clubs, and jobs, all of which are presented as social encounters in slice-of-life-like scenes. The players' actions during these encounters will help shape the friends, allies, and potential enemies they make along the way, which will in turn help shape some encounters of the main storyline. On top of these, there's an exam system, which determines the grades the characters get during their stay at Strixhaven. Exam results are determined by rolls (so no need to study as players :P,) and the efficacy of those rolls or whether players get rerolls is determined by how much they study, or prepare to cheat, before tests. Since good grades offer players some bonuses, this leads to players having to make choices at times on which activities or encounters to pursue, as time will at times be limited. ------------------------- Safety Information ------------------------- Strixhaven is along the lighter D&D campaigns theme-wise, as it revels in its own whimsical nature and allowing the students to roleplay their time at the titular college. As such, it's one of the safer D&D campaigns, with fewer traumatic events than other, darker campaigns might bring. However, all the whimsy in the world won't assure no traumatic or potentially triggering moments will happen, particularly considering the wide array of possible situations, both scripted and not, that can arise during a roleplaying session - and how sometimes these situations can affect us in ways we ourselves might not expect. To handle this, we will host a discussion about lines, veils, and potential triggers during session zero. Just as well, we'll repeat said discussions several times during sessions to ensure the safety and enjoyment of everyone in the group. To help players deal with potential stress resulting from in-game situations, sessions can be stopped at any moment if a player feels triggered, even if the situation creating it wasn't one discussed before and thus not one of the previously agreed-on lines or veils. It is my duty to offer you the safest experience I can, and I'll hold myself to it.

Content warnings

(none)

Safety tools used

• Aftercare

• Debriefing

• Lines and Veils

• Luxton Technique

• Luxton Technique Discussion

• Open Door

• Session 0

• Stars and Wishes

• X, N, and O Cards

How will character creation work

First off - Player creativity and imagination is heavily prized at my table. Even if something you want for your background or during character creation isn't covered by the books, we can probably arrange it (as long as it doesn't make your character OP, of course.) For stat allocation I let each player choose between standard array and rolling for stats. Rolling for stats will determine your stat values, not which stats will get what - you still get to move them around if you wish. Point buying is also an option - the idea is that you'll have a good time with your characters. We'll create characters during session zero, where as a GM I'll both guide the players and recommend what choices to make. Races available are all from the Player's Handbook, the Strixhaven book, and Mordekainen's Monsters of the Multiverse. While some tables allow and encourage players bringing pre-created characters, I'd rather players bring an idea of what they want - particularly when it comes to personality, race, backstory, and the specific role or gameplay style they'd want. This is for two reasons: First, the game is ran through Fantasy Grounds, and as such characters will need to be created in the software, in my instance of the game anyway. Second, and more important, when we create characters together we can ensure maximum compatibility among the group. Moreover, when I'm a part of the process I can use my expertise in character development to help you fill out any blind spots in your idea for your character, thus ensuring you'll get something as close as possible to a full-fledged character ready to take on the campaign. This latter point is particularly important since it's a roleplaying-first campaign, where having a rich backstory and knowledge of your character is invaluable to players - as it will inform the reactions and choices they make.