The 5th Edition Crusades!

About the adventure

The story of St. George and the Dragon can be kinda tough to accept as literal truth, but turns out it's fantastic fodder for a D&D campaign. I am definitely not running this as a Christian church story, but more as a realistic take on how crusades would have played out given the massive forces in play. Also how they would have played out if God was 100% real and if we accept the stories of the saints as literal truth tied to D&D mechanics. The campaign setting is largely Crusader-Era Balkans/Turkey, in those far off hills with nothing but small border towns between massive civilizations. In this world, there is only one actual, literal, D&D god. All divine magic stems from worship of this one god. All other forms of magic is essentially witchcraft garnered from studying the occult.

Additional Details

How to prepare

I have characters pre-generated for this campaign on D&D Beyond, many of which already have backstories and reasons to be there. Players are free to use these, or take them as inspiration to make their own.

What I provide

Everything is setup on Roll20 for this campaign, and handouts are prepared in shareable ways.

Gameplay details

My sessions tend to run about 50/50 tactics vs Roleplaying. Exploration is on, and if the gang is travelling over wilderness, they will need 8 hours for a short rest and a full 24 hours off for a long rest. I usually rely on a battlemap for most things because I don't trust my descriptive skills for much "theater of the mind". Oh, and almost every encounter is usually balanced to be about 120% deadly on most CR estimators. Players will need to be thinking on their feet to survive.

Content warnings

(none)

Safety tools used

(none)

How will character creation work

Characters will be Level 6. There's a list of pregen characters that I'll send players that all fit within the setting. If PC's want to make their own, or tweak the pregens, that's fine. Any race on D&D Beyond is OK, but for this setting, all characters will present as some form of human, as this is supposed to be set in the realish world. Elves present as lanky fancy French types, Halflings as children, Dwarves as Danny DeVito, Firbolgs as really hairy viking types. Any races with inherent magical abilities will be held to the same standards as the rest of the casters - so don't get busted for witchcraft casting Darkness. I kindly ask that anyone looking to roll Aarakocra or other non-humanoid races to maybe not, or come up with a skin-change that works within the setting. Otherwise the NPC's will definitely freak out seeing a Turtle that can talk. PC backstories can be anything D&D approved, but to help me with the story, I ask that everyone please have a reason to be on the crusades. Benedictine Paladins & Clerics on Holy Orders. Nuns seeking to ease the suffering along the way with some divine soul sorcery. Former sinners that have seen the light and want to go along to get along. Turkish locals that "converted" the instant their guide contract was signed. A Baptist-style preacher that tells everyone he's been touched by God but knows full well he's just stumbled onto witchcraft (Bard). I'm usually pretty flexible on character backstories, but will not accept "Merc for hire" or "lol I'm a Thief", or "I'm random and do whatever I want!". Your character must have a reason to want to attain salvation, or at least want the mission at hand to succeed that isn't based on treasure. Using the examples above, you could be a reformed criminal who no longer kills for profit and just wants to get to the mountain, or who now has a "do or die" contract with the Church after a job went bad. Characters should meet this general guideline: "What is your bond to your goals, and how does your flaw prevent you from achieving that goal?".

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.
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