The Reign of Thraxemir the Crimson Flame

Sixteen years ago, Duke Julius Meyer was deposed by the Red Dragon Thraxemir. The entire noble house of Meyer was hunted down and slain by Thraxemir as she secured her hold over the Duchy of Astrus. In the years that followed, Thraxemir secured her reign over Astrus, ruthlessly putting down rebellions and demanding tribute from all those who found themselves within her new domain. She demands that her subjects pay her a tax of coin or other goods, and offer a number of the inhabitants of her realm to her each year. These people are either never seen again, or end up in her service.

And yet despite these harsh tribute demands, the lives of the people of Astrus are slowly improving. Crime is dropping quickly and Banditry has been all but eradicated, with all bandits either being hunted down and slain by Thraxemir and her servants, or giving up the life of banditry altogether. The Goblin tribes that had been stealing and killing the village and townsfolk are being driven out of Astrus while the Kobolds that had been causing issue have been brought to heel by Thraxemir and have ceased their activities. Other nearby nations have turned their hungry gazes away from Astrus, not wishing to anger a Dragon. This has led to many within Astrus to wonder, whether Thraxemir arriving may have ultimately been a blessing rather than a curse. Certainly the Tribute she demands is harsh, but other than the sacrifices the taxation is no more than they used to pay to the previous Duke. And if a few people have to die each year to save hundreds or thousands more then perhaps that is a price worth paying.

Ultimately such thoughts may be unimportant to those few who are chosen to be sacrificed to Thraxemir, many of whom will merely be eaten by the powerful Dragon. Yet there are those among the sacrifices within whom Thraxemir sees something of value and of use to her. To those she offers power, wealth or a chance to improve the lives of her subjects.

You are a group of such people. Individuals who have been offered up to Thraxemir as a sacrifice, perhaps of your own free will. Perhaps you were chosen randomly or forced to sacrifice yourself to Thraxemir by the town or village you live within. What will you do? Will you end up serving Thraxemir loyally? Will you attempt to flee her rule? Will you try to bring about her doom? Or will you try to mellow Thraxemir to further improve the lives of her subjects.

Heyo, I'm LEGION, or Martin and I've been a DM for 9+ years, looking to start a new campaign in Akoris, my Homebrew world that I've been working on and running games in for 5+ years. I focus on Roleplaying and storytelling, and love weaving in PC backstories into both the world and the campaign in order to tell a story that everyone enjoys. I pride myself on a grounded and "realistic" world where I always ask myself what would realistically happen in a certain situation, or how an NPC would react. Throughout all of my campaigns my players have managed to alter the course of history on multiple occasion to everyone's excitement and I hope to be able to repeat that with you!

Game: D&D 5e

Group type: Online, via FoundryVTT and Discord

Experience: I have 9+ years of DMing experience

Timezone: CEST

Schedule: Current plan is to run weekly on Thursday, Friday or Saturday at 7PM CEST. Sessions will typically last ~3.5-4.5 hours

Roles Sought: 4-6 players

Game Style: I typically stick to ~40% Roleplay, 30% Combat, 10% Exploration, but that can change depending on the party/situation the party finds themselves in. 

Payment: Payment will be $20 per session per player, handled via Startplaying games.

Why Paid?: I put quite a bit of time and effort into my campaigns, and I also provide premium battle maps, often times customized to the situation as required, self-made world and region maps along with soundtracks and audio effects. I love worldbuilding and campaign planning but unfortunately such things take time and the more campaigns I start, the more I have to look at my financial situation. Therefore I am hoping to be able to play more D&D, and explore more stories with other people while still being able to put food on the table. 

 Adventure Link: https://startplaying.games/adventure/6253eaa181c6799ca04ac8ed

Reviews from players, both current and previous:

 "Been part of a campaign with Martin for a few years now. Throughly enjoyed the game ever step of the way. Great combat, roleplay and a fantastic world to play in. Would say the games I have played alongside him are some of the most fun I've had with DnD and other table top games."

- Emu, currently playing in two campaigns, his first character is a monk who is in a party that is plotting to reorganize the Vastrellian Republic (a Roman esq, High Elven republic) into the FIRST VASTARELLIAN EMPIRE, for a SAFE and SECURE society. 

 "Been my DM for the better part of 5 years. I've never been able to experience laughing so hard I can't see to crying my eyes out within the span of 30 minutes before. I still think about the campaigns we've played together and stories that have been told daily. The worlds, characters, and plots I've been a part of rival my favorite works in literature and shows. I was blessed to have such a good DM as my first, and I wouldn't want anyone else at the helm."

- Jude, also currently playing in two campaigns, his first character is a paladin of conquest who sold his soul to a devil, the second is a half-halfling half-elf chaotic rogue who lost her mother at a young age and whose father sought to exploit her dancing talent for wealth and prestige. 

 "Well thought out world, player choices matter and influence the world as a whole. Happy to accommodate and work with players to craft narratives, items, and custom content that is both enjoyable and interesting. Passionate about the craft and game and very reasonable to talk with. "

- Matt, currently playing a shaman, but was part of a previous campaign where he played a mad scientist alchemist and was part of a party that successfully managed to summon Tiamat into the world.

"I have played a few different D&D campaigns with Martin as my DM over the course of nearly a decade now and have thoroughly enjoyed them all. His campaigns have a good mix of combat and roleplay with the majority of sessions incorporating at least some amount of each. Martin is a patient and helpful DM; I have played in sessions with newer players and he did a great job of helping them figure things out and getting them involved with the party and world. For more experienced players, he is open to creative character ideas and works to incorporate them into his world whilst retaining enough control to ensure that things don't go completely off the rails. He has always cultivated a relaxed and friendly environment which has allowed player creativity to thrive.

Martin does a great job of immersing you into his own world that he has built within the D&D universe. With its own history and geography, empires and territories, his world feels alive and ever-changing. It is especially great that since he has run many a campaign already in his world its history is fleshed out not just by Martin's imagination but by the actions of past parties as well, making the world feel more organic in addition to giving the players themselves a chance to leave a mark, their deeds influencing and sometimes straight up altering the course of world events."

- Ben, previous player whose last player was a Wild Magic Sorcerer who entered into a pact to stabilize his magic and gain more power from a Red Dragon daughter of Tiamat.

 "I've played with Martin for a long time and in several campaigns. He loves to make grand stories and put a nice splash of homebrew in there. It's always a joy to have sessions and both fun and serious moments are plentiful. Easy to talk to. Loves his swords. A geek to the bone!"

- Infinite, currently playing a kobold sorcerer who used to be a Dragon and more than anything wishes to regain his previous body.