LFP | Online Async Text Campaign | D&D 5e 2024 | A Line in the Sand — Living Calimshan Sandbox

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LFP | Online Async Text Campaign | D&D 5e 2024 | A Line in the Sand — Living Calimshan Sandbox

Hey there everyone,

I am looking for new players for A Line in the Sand, an online, text-based D&D campaign set in Calimshan, with play currently centered in the city of Memnon.

This campaign is my attempt to build the kind of D&D game I imagined as a kid: a whole world waiting behind the screen, open long enough for characters to wander through it, talk to people, follow rumors, prepare for journeys, make mistakes, find work, earn reputations, and discover things the DM never had to shove in front of them.

When I was younger, I imagined D&D as the kind of game you could keep playing if you had all the time in the world. You could spend an afternoon in the city before the adventure. You could ask around, buy a map, find a room, make a contact, visit a strange shop, follow a rumor, get into trouble, and only later realize that one small errand gave the party exactly what it needed.

Play-by-post gives that childhood dream an adult-friendly shape. We take the sense of unlimited table time and spread it across days, weeks, and months.

Game: D&D 5e / 2024 rules
Group type: Online, Discord-based, text-only play-by-post
Cost: Free
Experience: New and experienced players welcome
Location/Timezone: DM is in the U.S.; campaign is asynchronous and can support players in multiple time zones
Schedule: No fixed weekly voice session. Players post when available, and scenes move through Discord threads over time. Regular engagement is strongly preferred.
Roles sought: Players; several seats open
Tools: D&D Beyond for character sheets, Discord for play, Tupperbox for in-character posting, Avrae for dice and automation
Starting level: Level 3
Setting: Forgotten Realms, Calimshan, centered in Memnon
Game style: Living sandbox, heroic desert adventure, exploration, roleplay, investigation, city play, jobs, travel, supplies, factions, strange magic, and character-driven choices

What This Campaign Really Is

A Line in the Sand is a living sandbox campaign.

The opening hub is Memnon, a hot, old, busy Calishite city on the edge of river, road, desert, and sea. Its streets are full of inns, guilds, moneychangers, mapmakers, apothecaries, caravan yards, tailors, magical shops, temples, bathhouses, soldiers, sailors, merchants, travelers, and people who know more than they say at first.

This is a campaign where the city before the dungeon has teeth.

A character who rents a room has a place where messages can find them.
A character who buys a map may stop getting lost.
A character who asks a moneychanger the right question may hear which merchants are frightened.
A character who visits the Guildhall may find work suited for one person, two people, or a larger company.
A character who talks to an innkeeper, tailor, scribe, guide, healer, or street vendor may begin building the kind of local knowledge that saves lives later.
A character who prepares well before leaving the city may spare the whole group thirst, delay, ambush, embarrassment, or worse.

The adventure does not begin only when a full party stands outside a ruin.

It can begin when your character steps into a red-doored inn and asks for a room.
It can begin at a public fountain, listening to criers and rumors.
It can begin at a blue-doored map shop, trying to understand the shape of the city.
It can begin at the Scarlet Sand Guildhall, reading jobs posted by people with dangerous problems and money enough to hire strangers.
It can begin with a single question asked of the right NPC.

You do not need to wait for a full party before your character starts playing. Solo scenes and small-group scenes are welcome. Your character can explore, prepare, gather supplies, follow leads, make contacts, investigate rumors, register for work, or start learning how Memnon works. When other characters are ready to join up for larger adventures, that earlier legwork can give the group names, directions, warnings, maps, contacts, supplies, and options.

The city is part of the adventure.

What Play Looks Like

This is a text campaign played in Discord threads. Many threads represent actual places in the world: an inn, a square, a guildhall, a shop, a street, a caravan yard, a harbor tavern, or a road outside the city.

You post what your character does in that place.

A useful post does not need to be long. It needs clear intent.

Examples:

“My character enters the map shop and asks what kind of map would help a newcomer avoid getting lost in Memnon.”

“My character asks the innkeeper how messages are handled for guests.”

“My character studies the job board and looks for work that one or two people could begin.”

“My character buys water, rations, and desert clothing before taking a road job.”

“My character asks whether anyone has heard the name from the strange note.”

The world responds through NPCs, prices, directions, rumors, jobs, complications, clues, and consequences. Sometimes the response is small. Sometimes the response opens a door. Sometimes it tells you which door to avoid.

Who This Campaign Fits

This campaign is best for players who enjoy reading, writing, exploring, asking questions, and making choices in character.

You do not need to write huge posts. Clear action beats purple prose. A short post with a clear verb, target, and intent is often perfect.

Players who enjoy roleplay, investigation, exploration, city sandbox play, preparation, travel, personal goals, faction intrigue, and long-term character development will probably get the most out of this campaign.

Combat exists. Danger exists. The desert is real. Heat, water, supplies, routes, maps, mounts, shelter, and preparation can shape what happens once characters leave the city. This is still heroic adventure: strange magic, old ruins, genies, caravans, hard choices, discoveries, danger, humor, and victories earned through action.

Character Freedom

Characters may split up, travel alone, form temporary groups, join different jobs, pursue personal goals, hire help, keep secrets, or build alliances through play.

That freedom works best when players treat the campaign as cooperative, even when characters are complicated.

Your character can be cautious, ambitious, strange, secretive, criminal, devout, mercenary, generous, suspicious, proud, haunted, or morally gray. Your character needs a reason to function in a shared campaign.

A good rule of thumb:

Complicate the adventure. Do not sabotage the players.

Argue with NPCs. Bargain hard. Take risks. Follow a personal lead. Walk away from a group when your character would. Hire help if you need help. Build trust slowly. Let relationships grow through play. Keep the game fun for the people behind the characters.

Expectations

I am looking for players who can:

• Read the campaign handouts and make a good-faith effort to understand the basics.

• Use D&D Beyond for their character sheet.

• Use Discord and Tupperbox for in-character posting.

• Use Avrae for rolls, or be willing to learn.

• Post with some regularity, even when the post is short.

• Engage the world instead of waiting for the DM to push every hook directly into their hands.

• Respect other players’ agency and scenes.

• Ask questions when something is unclear.

• Enjoy a slower, deeper campaign where small choices can become useful later.

New players are welcome if they are willing to read, learn, and communicate. Experienced players are welcome if they enjoy collaborative play and can adapt to a text-based sandbox format.

How to Apply

Reply here or message me with:

1. Your D&D experience.

2. Your timezone and general posting availability.

3. Whether you are comfortable with Discord, D&D Beyond, Tupperbox, and Avrae, or willing to learn.

4. What kind of character you are interested in playing.

5. What part of this campaign sounds most interesting to you: exploration, roleplay, mysteries, city sandbox play, faction intrigue, travel, combat, personal character goals, or something else.

6. Confirmation that you understand this is an asynchronous text campaign, not a weekly voice session.

This campaign is for players who want to enter a living world and start pulling on threads.

Memnon is open. The desert waits beyond the gates.