[LFP] Online D&D 2024 / 5.5e Text-Only Sandbox LFP — Async Discord, Flexible Timezones

Game: D&D 5e / 5.5e using the 2024 ruleset
Group type: Online, Discord text-only / play-by-post
Experience: New players and experienced players both welcome
Location/Timezone: Online. Timezone is flexible, but players must be comfortable with asynchronous Discord play.
Schedule: No fixed weekly voice session. This is a text-based campaign where players post in Discord scenes as they are available. I keep the game moving through scene responses, NPCs, rulings, checks, consequences, combat when it happens, and scene transitions.
Roles sought: Players — engaged roleplayers who enjoy bringing initiative, character voice, and thoughtful choices to a living sandbox.
Cost: Free. I do not charge for my games.
Software/Websites: Discord and D&D Beyond are required. Dice will be handled through Discord/Avrae or D&D Beyond as needed. Theater of the mind is the default; D&D Beyond Maps, AboveVTT, or screenshots may be used occasionally for visual reference or complex scenes.

Campaign: A Line in the Sand
Setting: Forgotten Realms — Calimshan, beginning in the city of Memnon
Starting Level: 3
Rules: D&D 2024 / 5.5e, XP progression, Point Buy or Standard Array, fixed HP, feats allowed, multiclass requirements on, Variant Encumbrance, and coin weight tracked.
Sources: Core and allowed official sources through D&D Beyond. No homebrew. Noncore options may be subject to DM review or errata during play.

Game style:
A Line in the Sand is a large-scale, Discord-based, text-only D&D sandbox campaign set in Calimshan, the Land of Wonders. This is not a voice game and not a traditional weekly session format. Players write what their characters say and do in Discord, and I respond with the world, NPCs, consequences, checks, combat when it happens, and new scene prompts.

This is not one fixed party following one linear main quest. It is a shared-world sandbox where characters can team up, split up, travel alone, form smaller parties, pursue different leads, cross paths later, or become part of different stories happening in the same living campaign world. You can enter an inn, visit a map shop, ask around at the guildhall, follow a rumor, take a job, investigate a mystery, hire a guide, go shopping, join another character’s scene, or simply pick a direction and see what waits there.

The campaign begins in Memnon, a red-walled trade city on the edge of the Calim Desert. Memnon is a place of caravan yards, red-brick streets, painted doors, public fountains, magical shops, merchant houses, refinery smoke, suspicious letters, clockwork messengers, desert guides, soldiers, sailors, mercenaries, pilgrims, and adventurers looking for work. Beyond the city are desert roads, ancient ruins, oases, trade routes, genie politics, strange weather, old magic, dangerous crossings, and opportunities for characters who are brave, clever, prepared, or desperate enough to go looking.

Discord threads represent active scenes and locations. If your character enters a tavern, shop, guildhall, villa, ruin, caravan yard, or road scene, you can be added to that thread. When your character leaves, the thread can move on without forcing everyone else to be in the same place. This allows multiple small groups and solo scenes to exist at the same time while still sharing one campaign world.

The campaign is designed for player choice. You do not need to wait for the entire party to gather before playing. Your character can talk to NPCs, ask questions, pursue leads, take jobs, visit locations, shop, investigate rumors, travel with others, or simply interact with the city. The world will not scale perfectly around you. What is there is there. Start small, pick a place, and say what your character does.

Beyond the city walls, adventure becomes practical as well as heroic. Heat, thirst, sandstorms, mirages, unstable ground, caravans, mounts, supplies, local customs, reputation, money, and preparation can all matter. Buying a camel, hiring a guide, choosing a road, filling waterskins, asking the right question, or offending the wrong host can shape what happens next.

This campaign is a good fit for players who enjoy:

• In-character writing

• Play-by-post / asynchronous roleplay

• Open-ended sandbox play

• Characters who can choose their own goals

• Teaming up or going solo as the situation allows

• Exploration, investigation, social scenes, travel, and tactical danger

• Roleplaying with NPCs and other player characters

• Meaningful choices and consequences

• A living campaign world where different scenes can affect one another

• D&D rules without needing a weekly voice session

• Reading scene context and responding thoughtfully

This campaign is probably not a good fit if you are looking for a voice game, a fixed weekly session, a fast combat-only dungeon crawl, a single railroaded main quest, or a server where you can join immediately without reading the campaign information first.

Important onboarding note:
Before I invite new players to the Discord server, I will send you a 32-page Player Guide. You do not need to memorize it, but I do expect prospective players to skim it before joining. It explains the campaign premise, character creation rules, Discord play format, posting expectations, Tupperbox/in-character posting, cooperative play, action declarations, basic setting knowledge, and how the Calimshan sandbox works.

If reading a campaign guide before joining sounds like a dealbreaker, this probably is not the right campaign. No hard feelings — I would rather everyone know that before joining.

Please reply or message me with:

• Your D&D experience level

• Your comfort level with text-based / play-by-post games

• Your general posting availability

• Your timezone

• A character concept or the kind of role you enjoy playing

• Whether you are willing to skim the 32-page Player Guide before joining the server

• Any questions about the format

Hello!

I'm very interested in joining, I'm a new player, I have only played a one shot and a D&D campaign that is still active, I have never tried playing by post or text based D&D, but I don't have any trouble with the concept, I have played before games with similar concepts, text based games and RTS games with realistict time.

I'm generally aviable to post at least once a day, I have plenty of time.

I'm from GTM-6.

I enjoy a lot being a support or independent characters that help others but only if they can do so, the class that I like the most for this is the cleric, I have the concept of an unfairly vanished cleric.

I'm willing to read all of that, doesn't sound long.

I only have a few questions about how the game works:

What would be the limit to the answer to an action and what would be the consequence of not answering on time?

How the movement and traveling would work?

Are there going to be more DMs?

Waiting for an answer.

Good evening, good afternoon or good night.

Hello JayDragon08!

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. You sound like you may be a good fit, especially since you are comfortable with text-based games and willing to read the Player Guide before joining. New players are welcome, and being new to play-by-post is not a problem as long as you are comfortable writing in character and asking questions when something is unclear.

To answer your questions:

For posting pace, the general expectation is that players post when they are available, ideally at least once per day when they are actively in a scene. There is no hard “you missed the session” penalty because this is asynchronous, not a weekly voice game. If someone is slow to respond, I will usually wait a reasonable amount of time, nudge if needed, and then keep the scene moving in a way that does not unfairly take control of their character. In combat or time-sensitive scenes, I may use standing instructions, have the character take a safe/default action, or let the moment pass if the player is unavailable. Communication matters more than perfect attendance.

Movement and travel depend on scale. Inside the city, characters move through Discord location threads: inns, shops, guildhalls, streets, public squares, and other places. You can team up with other characters, split off, go solo, follow a lead, ask around, shop, investigate, or travel to a new location. For larger travel outside the city, the campaign uses routes, supplies, time, weather, navigation, mounts, water, and sometimes encounters. Theater of the mind is the default, but maps or AboveVTT may be used for adventure sites, dungeon crawls, tactical encounters, and situations where positioning matters.

As for DMs: I am the DM and final authority for the campaign. I handle the world, NPCs, rulings, pacing, continuity, and final decisions. Because this is a larger asynchronous sandbox with multiple scenes, I organize play through Discord threads so different characters and groups can be active in different places without everyone needing to wait on one party.

Your cleric/support concept sounds very workable. “An unfairly vanished cleric” is interesting — I would want to hear a little more about what you mean by vanished, whether that means exiled, erased from records, falsely accused, missing from home, or something supernatural.

The next step would be to connect on Discord so I can send you the Player Guide. I do not post my Discord username publicly, so please send me your Discord username by private message here on D&D Beyond, and I’ll add you.

The guide is 32 pages, but you do not need to memorize it. I mainly want prospective players to skim it so they understand the format, character creation rules, posting expectations, and campaign style before joining the Discord server.

If that still sounds good to you, send me your Discord username by private message and we can talk more about your cleric concept there.

hi i am relatively new to D&D but im interested in learning more about it. im alright with text-based gaming as i start im usually available Thursday thru sunday afternoons pacific standard time .Ive just made a dragon born paladin plagued by nightmares (a monster killing monsters) , and ill skim the player guide looking for insights on how to best play the role n the game

Consider me interested.

I'm not very experienced in actual play but I have a firm grasp on a lot of the rules

Text-based is perfectly fine, that actually expands my hours of availability to 'whenever I'm awake'

A Criminal Background Ranger, looking to get out of the life after a risky job went sideways and a near-death experience

I'll read your booklet cover to cover

Wouldn't the booklet answer most questions about the format? Or am I misunderstanding the question?

Hey, I am very interested!

I have been playing D&D for over 6 years and have played text-based games before.
I work from home mostly, so I am actually very available to post and play.
I am pretty flexible in terms of play style/characters, but I do have a couple of ideas I would love to try.
I definitely don't mind reading the booklet. If you're still looking for players, I would love to join.