Hello. I am looking for a party of 3-5 players to participate in the Curse of Strahd campaign. I'm not looking to take it or ourselves too seriously, I mostly just want a group of goobers who can wrangle themselves just enough so the plot never fully stalls.
Overview
- Discord and Roll20
- Every week, Friday from 6:00 to 8:00PM (sessions may extend if it is within everyone's capability and is desired)
- Starting at level 1
- Curse of Strahd mostly by the book with a little variation
- Keep it PG-13
The DM
I was a player with a group for about a year until I eventually took over that group as the DM for about 6 months because the previous DM could no longer handle the time commitment. This would be my first time tackling such a long and consistent story as well as my first time DM-ing a D&D game with the 2024 rules so bear with me. Half the reason I am doing this is to get more practice with DM-ing. I intend the keep the story of Curse of Strahd light though if I can impart a lesson from it then I have succeeded in my goal. Historically I have most enjoyed the creation of non-narrative things. This is why I am using a pre-built campaign. It also means you'll be getting a lot of magic items of my own creation and be fighting in strange arenas. Don't expect too many puzzles because I found they often bring the session to a screeching halt. I may throw one or two to test the waters with a given group but don't expect it to ever be really prevalent.
To Potential Players
I expect you to metagame somewhat if it serves the purposes of the real people playing the game. If your character would do something that would actively harm the player experience then come up with a justification that keeps the player experience fun. Part of this comes across in character creation where your character has to have a reason to be with the rest party but a lot of it comes up in the sessions themselves. If your character is about to do something that affects everyone and that the rest of the party disagrees with, let your character be stopped by the other members. You're always allowed to purposefully fail a check. If your character is about to permanently separate from the party and you want them to still be part of the campaign, come up with some justification for why they stay, even if it isn't very good. These are just examples, you will likely come across some scenarios that force you to metagame for the purposes of keeping the game enjoyable and making sure there isn't bubbling resentment.
I don't have an outright ban on PvP but I heavily discourage it. It is very easy to get resentment from the characters bleeding into resentment between players. ALWAYS check with the other player before you drag their character into conflict with your character.
House Rules
These are mostly rules I picked up from my former DM that I liked using as a player or as a DM.
- Combat will be handled in blocks. The monsters will roll their initiative as a group and act all in one "phase" where any of them can go before or after any of the others. Players will all roll initiative as normal, but still act in a "phase". Those who roll higher than the monsters will get an extra turn that happens before the monsters' attack phase and the attack phase of the other players. This extra turn only combines the turns of players who rolled higher than the monsters. I've found that this lets people combine their abilities and synergize better while not removing the benefits of having a high initiative score.
- Monsters will always use average damage when dealing damage. This just makes combat faster.
- At the start of each session, the group gets a pool of advantage usages equal to the number of players present. If there are 4 players, there are 4 uses of advantage that you can apply whenever you want to any d20 roll. Each player could use 1 or one player could use 4, it's up to the group. This is what replaces inspiration. Instead of giving inspiration to one person, I will simply give the group back one of their inspiration dice. These inspiration uses do not carry over between sessions and will always be fully replenished at the start of the next session. This lets there be a meta help function by sacrificing one of your dice to give to one of your fellow players.
- When you roll a check, I will tell you the DC of the check before you roll, but you must then commit to making that check once you know the DC. This only applies if there is a specific DC you need to beat. If I need to have a success or failure be secret then I will not tell you the DC. This does not apply to monster AC. This just ensures things are fair and transparent which is something I prefer in my DM-ing.
- I play loosey goosey with the official rules, especially considering I am mostly unfamiliar with the 2024 rules. If I can't remember a rule off the top of my head or if I think a particular rule is dumb, I'll change it or make something up for it. If you are a player that knows the rule off the top of your head then let it be known and I will rule on it.
- Any NPCs that enter combat with you will either be useless spectators or be controlled by the players indirectly.
Selection Process
If you've filled out the form and been selected, I'm going to put you with a crew of other folks to run through the Death House. This is just meant to test if individual players vibe with me and if the group vibes with each other. If I receive too many suitable applicants then I will have to DM a couple groups within the same timeframe and that means I may have you be put on a different day or a different time until your group gets through the Death House. Once you get out of the Death House, and if you are selected to stay, you will be back on the listed schedule. Scheduling is something we can work on in Discord.