LFP
Paid
D&D Beyond
What is it about?
The Southern Marches of the Kingdom had ever been considered of little value, a "wasted land". It is a region of arid steppe and rocky plains, where soil is poor and water is often tainted by the ashes of Hellmountain, looming dark in the west. By custom, the ancient holdfast of Grimstone Keep had been given to the nobility fallen from grace; and no household, however haughty or storied, ever survived more than a generation within its' walls. Yet the young margrave Rialdo, fresh out of favour with the King of Leryn, cares little for old customs and cautionary tales. He is determined to tame the Southern Marches by fire and sword if need be, and thus sets out to claim his new fief.
Rialdo has a reputation of a man who always gets what he wants, despite his young age, but this task might prove to be beyond even him; Orcs, brigandry, and assorted Freebooters of the Marches are already on the move, plotting and leering in the dark, looking forward to a new sacking of Grimstone. Their Warchief broods upon his seat at the fire-spewing Hellmountain; the dark sorcerer Garast in the south ever plots and schemes; and a Dwarven expedition set out to reclaim the lost city of Orth might spell doom when they awake things within that are best left undisturbed...
Many dangers await in the Southern Marches - but also great riches and glory, should they be overcome. Are you up to the task?
The Southern Marches is a high fantasy adventure set in the arid and rocky lands of the Wastes, away from trials and burdens of civilised folk. You as players will take on a role of Rialdo's retainers - knights, vassals, sworn swords or perhaps simple mercenaries destined for something greater. He will rely on you to see this through, and it is by your swords that his house will flourish... or perish terribly. There will be moral choices, tough decisions to make and more than one enemy to defeat before the Wastes can prosper as they did once upon a time - for there is more to this wasted land that meets the eye.
Characters and Stuff
Characters will ideally be created beforehand, using D&D Beyond. The content pertaining to character creation will be shared there, and preparatory materials will list some suggestions to that end; the game will mostly focus on classic fantasy races, therefore more exotic folk like owlins or kobolds might be viewed with wonder or suspicion. There will be a Session 0 where everyone will be able to discuss their character concepts and we will see how this all fits together! We will start at level 1, and I expect that the party will progress to around level 10 by the end of the campaign.
Proposed House Rules
Here are a few rules that I find interesting and which bring flavour to a campaign.
1. Lasting injuries. When you are reduced to 0 HP for the second time in the day, you suffer an injury (from those listed in Dungeon Master's Guide, under Combat Options chapter). You also suffer a level of Exhaustion. Going to 0 HP for the first time in a day has no consequences.
2. Flanking and Higher Ground. An optional rule that makes position matter more in combat. Whenever two allies are on the opposite sides of a creature, it is considered Flanked, and everyone within a melee distance gains an Advantage on attack rolls. Similarly, being on a higher ground than an enemy gives a creature an Advantage as well.
3. Travel. While traveling could be handled very differently from campaign to campaign, I'd like to put something of an emphasis on it. There will be a hex-map of the region, and character guiding the group will be making Navigation rolls with the possibility of getting lost. Weather effects, hard terrain, scarce supplies - all of that will have a place in the game.
About me
Hi! I'm Sergey, a 30 years old TTRPG enthusiast from the other side of the globe! That is, I live in Central Asia, in that faraway fairytale land somewhere between Russia and China. I have a background in social sciences and history, and a decade of experience working as an interpreter and a tour guide. English isn’t my first language but years of working as an interpreter, translator, and tour guide have given me an excellent grasp of both the spoken and written form.
I love running games, I love storytelling and I love filling characters’ lives with adventure. I run my games like a show, full of drama and action. Rivalries come to the fore, friendships are tested, tempers flare… and there is always a clock ticking somewhere. I see it as my chief responsibility as a GM that everyone has fun and walks away from the table satisfied and eager for the next session. That doesn’t mean your characters are going to have it easy! I work for player enjoyment first and foremost.
If you’re liking everything you’ve seen so far, great! Joining a game is really simple: just send me a message through Discord - DM Sergey#7185 - or reply here!
Still looking for players! Come join the adventure!