On 20. August I’ll be starting up a new D&D 5e campaign based on the Storm King’s Thunder module. In this and coming post I’ll take you through the setup, preparation, some house rules we’ve decide to implement and so on.
What is Storm King’s Thunder?
Storm King’s Thunder is a module for 5e published back in 2016 by Wizards of the Coast. It is set in Forgotten Realms, more precisely the Savage North/North/Sword Coast. The lead designer was Chris Perkins. Basically it is designed to take an adventure group from level 1 to 11, but as it is very sandy box in design it could turn out we’ll keep on playing long after level 11 – time will tell.
How do we intend to play?
This campaign will mostly, if not exclusively, take place online. We will be using the vtt Roll20. As a DM I’ve purchased the module digital via roll20.net and will be using “just” a Plus subscription. Roll20 can be used for free via a basic subscription, yearly paying 50$ for a Plus subscription or 100$ for a Pro subscription. To unlock important features like dynamic lighting you need at least a Plus subscription for the DM (which I’m signed up for) but luckily players can use the app for free. There are several VTT out there, the “big three” is perhaps Roll20, Fantasy Ground and the newest addition Foundry. It was a bit of lazy option opting for Roll20. It is the system we’ve been using on and off since 2014, it has a very low learning curve and a core system the players are familiar with. In the long term Roll20 however is the most expensive solution, so we’ll probably try out some options and future campaigns will probably take place on another VTT.
Besides using Roll20, we will be using a Discord server. The chat function in Roll20 isn’t the best, and it’s also nice to have separate channels in Discord for both in-game talk and metagame discussions etc. I know some players just use Discord to play online, but we enjoy the added elements a VTT gives the players/DM.
The Preparation
When I’m DMing I always start out with some grand ambitions, and I love to tweak and (in my eyes) perfect the module. If you look online, there are several videos and threads about what’s “wrong” with the module, and I’ve tried to iron out any flaws I think the module has, as well as weaving the players and their backstory more closely to the core story elements of the module.
I have also created a separate Players Guide to the campaign I’ll be hosting. Player guides are something players familiar with Adventure Paths in Pathfinder will recognise. In it I lay down what the campaign will be about, some important/interesting history/facts that will help players create characters, but also some important game mechanics. What character options are allowed/forbidden (yes, I’ve been pretty strict in that department!) and what optional and house rule we will be using. We currently also discussing some further house rules we might incorporate in the campaign over at our discord server.
I find player guides very helpful and in many ways takes some of the session 0 elements out of the equation, but some players probably thinks I’ve dropped too many options.
The Players
We are currently set to start with 5 players, each playing 1 character. As mentioned these characters are created based on what is presented in the player guides. Besides the standard character creation I’ve also urged players to create at least 3 NPCs that they have some form of relation to, and a list of magical items the character wants/desires. We also have some documents on a shared OneDrive that I have had the players fill out (things like quick-fire questions for the character)
Expectations and important rules
Some of the expectations are laid out in the player guide, and also discussed in the discord server. We also have some documents in the OneDrive which players give input in what they want from playing DnD. I’ll go in more detail on things like house rules in later posts, but I’ll end with these two important rules.
- As a minimum we will play every other Thursday. If players want we can schedule more sessions, but as a bare minimum I want a minimum of sessions locked down and no less than one in 14 days. Nothing kills of RPG-campaigns as much as scheduling problems…
- If at least three players can play we will play a full session. I’ll try to end session without massive cliffhangers and allow for some characters to logically miss a session here and there if things happen.
Tabletop Cave 