Campaign Info

About the DM

I'm a 40ish year old straight white guy from the midwest United States. I know. You never thought you'd encoutner such a rare creature. I don't care what boxes you check. You do you.
I have run a campaign from level 1 to 9 in a previous homebrew world of mine, as well as a few one shots. Given that, I would consider myself still very inexperienced as a DM. I put a large amount of thought and effort into the world, and preparing for sessions. That in no way gaurantees that either one end up great, but I can gaurantee I try. I'll be happy to take feedback between sessions and do my best to adapt and improve.

Tone of the Game

At one end of the tone spectrum you have games like Acquistions Incorporated or Crit Juice. In those games, the setting, story, and rules take a distant back seat to the primary goal of cramming as many jokes as possible into a performance for an audiance. That's not a bad thing, I love both of those games. The other end of the spectrum is a bunch of rules lawyers doing a dungeon crawl with little to no story and zero RP.
Somewhere between those is what I consider the sweet spot of games like Critical Role and High Rollers. In those games, hijinks can and absolutely do occur, but they do so in the context of the world. In those games the key aspect is that everybody is invested in the story, the world, and the game. The focus is on playing a role, rather than entertaining an audience. As it happens, doing that actually does entertain an audience, but that's not the point.
So, to sum up, I am not Matt Mercer, Mark Hulmes, or Brendan Mulligan (not even in the same universe) and I don't expect you to be Liam O'Brien or Laura Bailey. That said, my goal is for us to all be invested in the story, the world, and the game (which at times will involve being invested in hijinks).

Tone of the World

My goal is for the world to feel as real as I can make it. Given that the setting is a rough amalgemation of the early middle ages (aka the Dark Ages), that means things can be pretty bleak sometimes. As you may have already read on these pages, some parts of the world are rocking pre-American Cival War and pre-French Revolution vibes. Some of the folks there are having a great time; most of the people are not. Also, don't forget the regions where clan and tribal warfare are facts of life.
I'm by no means suggesting that the PCs will be wading through misery at every step. I just want to be clear that the PCs will encounter suffering and injustice, and usually won't be able to fix it. They will be able to help, at least a bit, but even grand adventurers can't fix every problem in the world.

Length of Campaign

The goal is to play up to, or very close to, level 20. Will we make it? No clue. If we're having fun and everybody can continue to show up to sessions, we might just get there. As for how long that takes in real world time, I have no idea.

Railroading vs. Free Form

I have a variety of story arcs in mind. I hope to add to those by taking hooks from PC backstories. I'm also open to adjusting and exploring completely new paths that might open up because of interactions during the game. The goal is for everybody to feel like their characters have reasons to do what they're doing, not just that the players do. As for the story arcs I have in mind, I hope to present them in such a way that the PCs choose to ride the railroad, rather than feeling like they're being forced. I might fail at that, and that will be something to discuss between sessions so we can all get on the same page.

Magic Loot

You can't really call a 5e game "low magic." Have you seen the PHB? There's magic all over the gaff. That said, Bastion has much less magic around than a setting like Forgotten Realms or Exandria. In those settings, every city, and even many towns will have a magic shop or alchemist shop with potions (which are just magic in shot glass form). Entire nations are run by mages or high-powerec clerics (Waterdeep, Thay, Vasselheim, etc.). That is not the case in Bastion.
I'm not saying there are no magic items, or that the PCs will not have any magic loot. You should just turn the dial back a bit regarding the amount and power of loot you may expect. At least...for a while...

What to Expect / Not Expect

Voices - I dont' really do voices. I can almost certainly do more than I have, and it's something I will continue to work on. It's mostly about being comfortable trying it.
Battle Maps - Unless I can find a pre-made map that fits exactly what I'm looking for, we'll likely be using lines drawn on Roll20. In the past I have made fancier maps but I am very much not an artist and it takes me a crazy amount of time to make a single nice map. The amount of mental energy involved with that just causes burnout for me, and in the end probably isn't worth the effort. I will always endevour to set a good scene in the theatre of the mind, and the maps will just serve to facilitate combat without having to explain where everybody is every turn.
Amount of Combat - This will be open to adjustment based on player preference and feedback. My default is to have more combat encounters than you typcially see on the streaming shows. They focus on having fewer, grander, battles for the sake of the audience. It will not, however, be the amount the DMG considers a "typical adventruing day." My goal is for the game to be fun. Combat is fun, but it's a component of the game, not the game.
Blood and Gore - Extremities, heads included, are going to be removed from their owners, perhaps to be claimed by new owners for purposes unkown. There will be descriptions of violent combat. If you can handle Mercer's level of fidelity in this regard, you'll be fine.
Adherance The Rules - Meaning D&D 5e (and 5.5e) rules. I like the rules. I think combat can be fun if it's not allowed to turn into a slog. So, yes, we'll be paying attention to cover, maintaining concentration, needing spell components (or focus), and all that stuff. I will point out that the Rule of Cool is one of the rules, so I'll be sticking to that one too. I greatly look forward to players being creative in their actions within the rules, and the creative attempts to bend them a bit to liven things up.
Anything Beyond Minor Flirting With NPCs - Nope. We all love the sweet moments between Vax and Gilmore, but that's not going to happen here. Sorry. As for more casual encounters along that track: if/when this sort of thing comes up we'll be using the ol' fade to black, wink wink, nudge nudge.