*EDIT (UPDATED 03/30/2020): We had 6 players last Thursday, but the frontline tank decided not to stick with the campaign. If you'd like to be the party's front line in combat, please read the post and fill out the application! You can also watch our Session Zero, and I'll link the video to you in a PM.
Quick Highlights Curse of Strahd module, with significant (250+ additional pages) expanded content Weekly sessions Thursdays, 3 - 4 hours, starting at 7 or 8 PM US Central Time (flexible dates/times, up to players) 5 players preferred If one player cannot attend, we will run with 4 No evil-aligned characters Must have mic, headset, webcam, and be willing to stream Must be 18+, mentally mature, and a decent person This means the campaign is LGBTQIA+ friendly, and there is ZERO tolerance for bigotry/racism/ableism/sexism/transphobia/homophobia/harassment/bullying/etc. That said, rough and uncomfortable topics will be addressed, due to the nature of this gothic horror campaign setting. Topics involved are detailed below. New players and/or experienced players welcome! I will adjust my DM tips & tutorial behavior to your preference. Paid sessions (see details below) Application must be filled out and sent via private message (or leave a reply, as Roll20's message system is being problematic) I know there’s a lot to read here - but I expect that, if you’re seriously interested, you’ll read it and be excited to apply for what I believe will be a thrilling campaign filled with wonderful adventurers! Introduction Hello y’all! My name is Dustan Archer, and I am a Young Adult Librarian at a public library in Texas. I’m 33, married, child free, and have a dog named Princess Buttercup, whom I guarantee you’ll meet if you join the campaign - she loves making her presence known. I’m an avid gamer of all types - from board games to competitive Living Card Games (LCGs) to computer games like RimWorld and Oxygen Not Included. Just by Googling me you should be able to find articles I’ve written about D&D for other teen librarians on Teen Services Underground, as well as confirm that I do, in fact, exist! In addition to playing D&D and other tabletop RPGs off and on over the last ten years with various DMs, I’ve been running Curse of Strahd for teenagers every week as part of our teen programming at my library for the last two years. I also run a weekly session for friends on Wednesday nights, and that is a Curse of Strahd campaign that is still on-going with over 50 sessions and more than a year later, and they’re just starting to explore the mid to late game of the campaign. As a librarian and roleplayer, I have a tendency to over-prepare and engage in deep, emotional storytelling, which serves both me - and my players - well in our games. As this post is quite long, you’ll notice that I tend to be verbose. I promise - it’s a feature, not a bug! What To Expect from Me Besides the typical benefits of a Plus subscription, like dynamic lighting, I try to be as immersive as possible in storytelling and music choice. While I am no professional voice actor, I do my best to give NPCs voices and very real identities. I am quite knowledgeable about the rules, but I do not use every rule as written in the book, which I will discuss in Session Zero or via direct messaging if requested. I will be on time and run this campaign every week, barring exceptional circumstances and any pre-planned absences like vacation, and will do so with your entertainment and enjoyment in mind. Additionally, I am an LGBTQIA+ ally, a Safe Place supporter, and expect my players to be so as well. If you find that you are prone to racist, ableist, sexist, and other such discriminatory behaviors and statements, you will not be welcome here. Why Curse of Strahd? An excerpt of the introduction from the module is as follows: Under raging storm clouds, a lone figure stands silhouetted against the ancient walls of Castle Ravenloft. The vampire Count Strahd von Zarovich stares down a sheer cliff at the village below. A cold, bitter wind spins dead leaves about him, billowing his cape in the darkness. Lightning splits the clouds overhead, casting stark white light across him… But Strahd is gone. Only the howling of the wind - or perhaps a lone wolf - fills the midnight air. The master of Ravenloft is having guests for dinner. And you are invited. Curse of Strahd is one of two 5e campaigns I’ve read cover to cover, and I find the dark, gothic horror roleplay-heavy style of play to be suited to my interests. As I’ve been running it for two years (both with my teens and with my weekly group), it’s the one I’m most prepared to run as a DM for players I’ve not met personally. If you choose to join this campaign, I ask that you do so while keeping a few things in mind: 1 - I prefer those who have NOT read Curse of Strahd spoilers. If you have read or played Curse of Strahd, that’s not an immediate deal-breaker for you to join the campaign. I have found that it’s far easier to not meta-game when you don’t know what’s coming. On that note… 2 - I am running a huge amount of expanded content and lore - do not expect a straight rendition of the hardcover campaign. I have spent hundreds of hours scouring various sources, from previous versions of Ravenloft to subreddits dedicated solely to Curse of Strahd, in order to create a campaign that is more immersive and expansive than the official campaign. All of these elements, which span an additional 250+ pages on top of the 250 page book, are utilized to enhance the story and create an unforgettable roleplaying experience. 3 - This is a dark, gothic horror campaign, and there is a lot of disturbing content - which will be handled with the respect it deserves. Truly, Curse of Strahd is not for the faint of heart. It is not a campaign where you are likely to roll through, killing everything you see and looting to your heart’s content. The campaign is very roleplay heavy (roughly 70/30 roleplay to combat, with entire sessions potentially being combat free) and deals with disturbing themes. While there certainly is a significant amount of combat, you will likely feel that the odds are stacked against you - and they are, especially early on. This is a feature, not a bug - if you’re willing to accept that you are not going to breeze through everything, and that character death is quite likely, you’ll find this to be an incredibly rewarding experience. After all, death is not always final… Why Is It Paid? This game will require payment to the Game Master at a rate of $12 (USD) per session per player via PayPal (Friends & Family), Venmo, or Cash app. Roll20 is not responsible for any payment transactions and cannot enforce any private arrangements. See the LFG listing here: <a href="https://app.roll20.net/lfg/listing/202404/curse-of-strahd" rel="nofollow">https://app.roll20.net/lfg/listing/202404/curse-of-strahd</a> This is a sticking point for a lot of people, and I get it. It can be frustrating to pay for something that you expect someone to do as, ostensibly, they’re enjoying and having fun with the experience as well. And you’re not wrong - but I feel that storytelling (and, by extension, DMing) is a skill developed and honed, and we need to pay people for the service that they render. Additionally, paid campaigns show that the individual players have a real interest in being there, and are far less likely to flake out. While I do run a weekly session for friends for free, this campaign is for people I haven’t met, and am taking a chance on spending my limited free time with. That said, the main reason I am doing this is to provide a great experience and help people during this period of social isolation, which is likely to last for a significant length of time. Additionally, I get paid decently as a librarian, so I don’t need the funds as much as many do. So, I will detail how I plan to use the funds over the course of the first few months, at least: 1 - Purchasing additional manuals on Roll20, and enabling compendium sharing via Roll20 for our campaign. Currently I have the Player’s Handbook, Monster Manual, and Curse of Strahd campaigns, but would plan on obtaining the rest of the 5e rulebooks in short order. Compendium sharing will be turned on, so all of these manuals will also be available for you to use during the campaign. 2 - Supporting artists that are in self-imposed quarantine or socially isolated to enhance our campaign. Funds would be used to commission work by artists of each player’s character, as well as a custom token to use during gameplay. Additional commissions could include an intro page/splash screen, custom maps, and more. 3 - Enhancements for streaming. Off the bat, I would like for us to plan on streaming via Twitch, which I have done before for Extra Life (a charitable organization). Funds could be used to help enhance the stream, from custom artwork to hardware improvements. As my setup is pretty solid right now for streaming, most enhancements would likely be virtual. Payment WILL be required for every session, including Session Zero, and will be due by the end of the evening of the prior week’s session. I know many DMs offer a free Session Zero, but I’m also making very clear upfront the requirements to play and the type of player I’m looking for, and I don’t want to waste anyone’s time! You are expected to pay for each session whether or not you plan to be absent, and you should notify me and the party of a planned absence a week in advance. Repeated unscheduled absences and tardiness will be considered grounds for removal and replacement of your character. That said, life happens - so every 12 paid sessions will provide 1 refund for scheduled or unscheduled absences, working retroactively as well. We will still play if 4 out of 5 players are in attendance. If only 3 players are present at session start, and we haven’t heard from the other players within a reasonable amount of time, the session will be cancelled and the on-time players will have their session’s payment applied to the following week. If I have to suddenly cancel a session last minute, which has historically been incredibly rare, that session will be refunded and the following session will also be free. Additionally, if I will be going on vacation, I will give significant notice of pre-planned cancellations of sessions. I don’t take a lot of vacations, but it happens. I tell you all this ahead of time, because I truly only want serious applicants looking to build a mature, serious, and fun roleplaying group that will stand together for a year or more. I’m not here to make a quick buck - I want to build a real, strong, solid roleplaying group. What I Expect Of You I’ll make no concessions here - I expect you to be an adult. While that means 18+, I also expect you to be mentally mature enough to handle the serious topics in Curse of Strahd while still retaining the capacity to create humor and have fun in a dark setting. Humor doesn’t mean punching down or making inappropriate jokes about race or domestic violence - both of which are serious topics that are part of the content of Curse of Strahd - but creating absurdity and hilarity from roleplaying interactions and in getting to know your fellow players. Curse of Strahd is a gothic horror setting with all that that entails, and Strahd von Zarovich is a predator in every sense of the word. Potential rough and uncomfortable topics that will be addressed over the course of play, due to the nature of the campaign include: racism, domestic violence and coercive behavior, violence against children, gaslighting, potentially problematic descriptions of mental health, abuse, and addiction, and more. These will be handled as appropriately as possible, but will be acted out in accordance to an NPCs’ inherent nature. Please keep in mind that these topics WILL come up during the course of gameplay and are not meant to be taken trivially. I LOVE new players to D&D. Do NOT feel that you need to be an experienced player to play in this campaign! Curse of Strahd is a brutal, challenging campaign, and is typically recommended for more experienced players, but I have run it for brand new players - most teens I work with at the library have never touched D&D, and my campaign on Wednesdays had a variety of experience levels at the beginning. Depending on the party’s comfort level, I will provide assistance with suggestions of things you could do in given situations, like rolling Insight to see if this person is telling the truth, or reminding you to look around in areas that could be beneficial. Of course, if we have experienced players in the group, I can leave that sort of nudge to them to provide, but if the entire group is new I will cater to that! You will be required to have a headset & microphone, webcam, and be willing to be on stream on Twitch. I’m looking to make this a fairly professional game, and I want to create content for the wider community. While there’s already a lot of D&D streams and podcasts out there, I want to provide reliably good content that feels achievable by the more average player. Voice chat will be via Discord, video via Roll20. No homebrew content will be allowed for player character creation, and I would like for us to work together during Session Zero to create our characters collaboratively. Curse of Strahd is run entirely in its own sandbox, and as such has a more limited range for including deep ties to character backstories and involvement, but efforts will be made where appropriate to tie those in - especially if requested! Please be respectful and committed to yourself, other players, and me. All of our time is valuable, and if your fun is going to come at the expense of others, don’t apply. Additionally, feedback is crucial, and I appreciate hearing both what you enjoyed, and didn’t enjoy, after a session! Knowing what does and doesn’t work for a party is half of the battle, and what the party enjoys may change over time. During Session Zero, we will talk about the disturbing themes and topics we will run into, and we will discuss our off-limits topics that players will be banned from engaging in against each other. For examples, torture, rape, and sexual assault will not be tolerated in PC actions against each other, and I would prefer no negative interactions among party members, including theft and the like, without consent. You will find that some NPCs engage in torture, and Strahd is absolutely a predator, but I guarantee no player character will be subjected to rape. You may think this should be clear and obvious, but unfortunately, there are really, really horrible players out there. Additionally, this is not a campaign for evil characters. The campaign itself is really not built for it, and while it can theoretically be revamped to accommodate that, I have zero interest in running a campaign for an evil party. I leave that sort of chaos to my teens during our library programs. Application To apply, please send me a private message (or leave it as a reply, since Roll20's message system is being problematic) with the following information completed. Preferred Name: Pronouns: Age: First Language: Time Zone: Preferred Timeslot (Tuesday or Thursday, 7 or 8 PM Central time): Do you have a webcam, microphone, headset, and are willing to be on stream?: Describe yourself and your previous role-playing experience: Describe what you enjoy about tabletop RPGs or what you look forward to experiencing: Describe the personality of a character you would like to play without referencing their race, class, ability scores, or gameplay mechanics: Have you ever had a bad experience with a Dungeon Master? What about it was difficult for you? If you disagreed with the DM about a ruling, what would you do?
