Hello one and all I would like to announce a campaign that I will start running at Value Fridays by the name of „Gardenia a war for the Grazes". the Campaign will be a story driven sandbox set in my own setting of Gardenia.
Gardenia quick description:
Gardenia is a magical backyard of a once great wizard, who by sheer accident managed to create a world of sentient insect, frog, rat and more civilisations built upon the magic items he left behind.
Magic is somewhat common especially in smaller weaker use cases, with stronger magic being exceptionally rare.
Recent History Overview:
The once fractured world of Gardenia has banded together under the elder tree empire ruled by an elected Concordant emperor around one thousand years ago. It has remained this way this for the past thousand years. Different Emperors from different empires take the reins of the kingdom at the death of each previous emperor.
Although the Concord was initially founded to ensure peace and prosperity, this did not stop the greed and desire for violence of some critters, as Wars and Conflicts were common place in this so called “era of peace”. Namely most recently the “hunt for Sting and stripes” took place, as a response to a Cabrosi (Hornet) uprising taking place across the empire. The response of the Elder Tree Empire was the utter and complete destruction of the home of the Cabrosi along with a genocide at a scale Gardenia had never seen. Since this atrocity conflict has been low, but tensions higher than ever.
The Adventure begins around 50 years after the events of the Cabrosi genocide took place. The current Concordant emperor Kuwaga Kabuto of the Kabu (beetle) empire rules in uncertain times of likely conflict, internal power struggles and higher tensions than ever. Seemingly an empire waiting for his fall so they can Jump to sieze power.
Nations quick Overview:
Gardenia is comprised of a total of 16 different unique nations with unique cultures and unique Inhabiting species. 5 of these 16 Nations form the elder tree empire and also make up a majority of the Population of the Gardenian inhabitants. The 5 largest Nations in order are:
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Elder Tree
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Formic Ant
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Wasp Clans
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Beetle Dynasty
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Glyphesian order
Campaign info + rules:
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the campaign will play in dnd 5.5e aka 2024 rules and will begin at level 3
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We would play bi-weekly at Wowkeepers or die Requisite depending on players
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Would begin around the middle of june
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The normal set of species set would not be playable. instead I have a glossary of insectoid/critter species you can choose from.
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Because of homebrew species and creature types some spells will have new variants and new wordings
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There will be some homebrew backgrounds and subclasses classes to choose from in addition to the standard 5.5e ones
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The campaign is designed be a long term campaign to last upwards to a year or more, but segmented out into different arcs/acts with varying lengths, so if anything drastic happens or new players want to join and/or old ones need to leave there will be well placed “jumping off/on points” for such matters. I will try keep transparent about “arc/act scheduling” so players know when the best time is to hop on or off. The separation of acts will also be there to give me and the players creative breaks and give us opportunities to think on how to develop the story forward
About me:
My name is Jan, I am 24 years old, am a Native English speaker and have 3 years of DMing experience. I previously ran the Mini Campaign „Ratterdam
" and am currently finishing up „Rifthaven
" and “One last wish
”. My favourite things are Bugs, videogames and telling stories.
What to expect:
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political Intrigue, uncovering mysteries, fighting for justice and a whole lot of whimsy
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The first arc will almost exclusively be set within the Elder Tree Capital and will be urban exploration and mystery focused
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I enjoy interesting character interaction in roleplay, complicated dynamics, conflicted characters and layered relations.
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I would work with you all on character creation for the sake of story cohesion and planning ahead
What I expect from players:
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open and respectful Communication with me and each other along with Open mindedness, Compassion and Kindness to another
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A thought through character (I don’t expect pages of backstory or an entire lore universe, but I would like to work with you to make a rounded character that can fit into the adventure and work well with the rest:))
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A somewhat consistent schedule (I don’t mind a missed game or 2 as long as it doesn’t happen too frequently)
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I wont tolerate any Racism, Homophobia, Transphobia or any general bigotry at my tables - The story might involve themes racism or homophobia ,but there will never be direct and blatant, racist or homophobic attacks towards players or player characters.
Safety tools:
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Themes that might make players uncomfortable: War, Genocide, Racism, Manipulation and heavy ptsd
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General Trigger Warnings for fears: Arachnophobia, entomophobia (fear of insects and other arthropods), Parasitophobia,
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Specific Lines for me: Sexual violence, child murder, sexual coercion and any sexual „scenes"
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Player lines veils and other safety tools will be more in depth discussed in the session 0
If you are interested or have any questions just post in this thread or dm me! I shall add everyone interested to a message thread with more setting info!
I would also run some oneshots for everyone to get a feel of the vibe of the setting in the coming weeks.
