Session 0: Prepare to Jam! Report-2022/12/27
General Summary
Summary of Discussion
Why We Play
Having Fun > Being Accurate
- Steve: Balance between Meaty combat and Interactive storytelling. Does not get excited by accounting exercises (inventory, loot, etc) unless its a focused survival game.
- John: Balance between Combat and Social. Don't get bogged down in the mechanics; Having Fun > Being Accurate.
- Jess: 60% Combat/40% RP. Big thing is to not drag out RP when it's not moving the story forward. DM will use timers and also be clear where there's no more info to get so we can move on.
- Dayna: Enjoy hagning out with friends
- Chris: Like to find interesting and creative ways to handle combat. Participation from the entire group is valued.
Type of Campaign
- We agreed that we would have =<10% of the time spent in ship combat. Ship to Ship "combat" is a few rounds of flavor that involves the folling main choices: Attacking the enemy vessel from afar, Pullling up next to the ship and board it, Boarding It, or getting the Jam out of dodge.
- We agreed that we are going to roll with the Published adventure, Ligh of Xaryxis. This means that we will not have our own ship, but we will get to see a few different ship types. It also means there will be an NPC who is the Spelljammer for us. DM is going to modify it a bit so that we can complete in 5-6 sessions, with the ability to extend into follow-up one-shots as desired afterwards.
Characters
- Chris: Planning to keep playing his Monk; continue on with what he knows. ie: Saved Phandalin, has a Mansion under construction in Phandalin. Formerly a Member of the <Static> adventuring crew.
- Jon: Planning to play a character who knows that Wildspace/Spelljamming exists, but doesn't KNOW. Strong desire to see what it's all about and explore the Stars.
- Dayna: Character is based on Tinkerbell; mischievious, mystical, knows more than she lets on
- Steve: A Sniper Archer who is a "Fish out of Water". First time in space.
- Jess: Tweak her existing <Static> Warlock to be Warlock/Wizard to make it a bit more fun to play. Background is that she is an Elven prisoner recently released? broken out of? Elven jail. In her youth (50's?) she was not supportive of the Second Unhuman War that the Astral Elves (and the Elven Imperial Navy, the by-far largest in Wildspace) waged against the Orcs. This was about 100 years ago.
Agenda Topics:
Character Creation
- Ensure your settings on the first page of Character creation match Picture1 in the Discord
- Start your character at Level 5 under Class
- Use the "Standard Array" under Abilities just like in Picture2
- You will get a Feat at Level 1 from the selection of feats below. Either your background will provide one like in Picture3 or it will not like in Picture4 and we will need to add one (see below). DM will be the ultimate referee in whether you can choose an additional feat or not.
- If you need to add a Feat (only if your background does not include one), then you will need to go under Manage Feats on your character sheet. See Picture5.
- Under Equipment, choose "Equipment" and not "Gold". Pick from the options available. The DM will give everyone some additional special starting items (extra gold, a Magic Item, and some fun stuff in Inventory). If you have a specific request please talk to the DM.
This is the List of Feats you can choose from IF your background doesn't already include a feat:
- Charger
- Defensive Duelist
- Dungeon Delver
- Elemental Adept
- Grappler
- Healer
- Inspiring Leader
- Mage Slayer
- Magic Initiate
- Martial Adept
- Mobile
- Ritual Caster
- Savage Attacker
- Shield Master
- Skilled
- Skulker
- Spell Sniper
- Tough
Admin
- Let's get you noobs set up on your mics/video and Above VTT
- Let's get you set up on Above VTT (You must have a COMPLETE character in the campaign for this to work). You can just make a complete test character and then change it later.
- Quick run through of Above VTT Features
Expectations
Most of the stuff I expect it to be respectful of the DM and other players time. We don't get to play that often, so it's no fun for anyone if we need to burn 30 min. so we can figure out how your spell works. No one needs to be a D&D neckbeard, but if the game is getting backed up then we will move on and we can figure it out after the game.- Show up on time. We aint waiting for yo' ass.
- Review you character and know what it can do BEFORE the game.
- Make sure your tech stack is up and running. Be better than your poorly run meetings at work.
- We will schedule 2 sessions ahead of time so that everyone is aware when we are playing
- We will default to "We are playing when planned" unless there is a last minute issue where multiple can't show up.
Discussion-- Activites You Enjoy
- What is your favorite thing about playing TTRPG's? What is your least favorite?
- How much do we want to be doing "D&D in a Space Setting" vs. "Space Combat in a D&D Setting"?
Spelljammer Specific Rules
ALL of the 5e Specific Rules are found in the Astral Adventurer's Guide, which you should all have access to via your DM. I know not all of you have time/desire to read that much, so I'm including the Critical Stuff here that you will need to have SOME familiarity with to play in a Spelljammer campaign (in addition to basic 5E Rules).- Air and Gravity in Space
- Ship to Ship Combat
- 5e Spelljamming Ships. How much this matters will depend on the type of campaign we decide to run (see below). Here is maybe a more user friendly list of ships if we need them.
Background/Knowledge of Spelljamming
Does your character have experience in Wildspace/Astral Sea? Do they even know it exists? Main directions are:- Typical adventurer; no knowledge of Wildspace/Astral Sea
- Newly minted cadet from the Spelljammer Academy; Has done everything in theory but only ever done simulations.
- Already began your career in Spelljamming. Definitely not green, but still new to the scene.
Discussion-- Type of Campaign
- Published Adventure; Light of Xeryxis; This is basically a mix between "D&D In Space" with a bit of "Space Travel in D&D" mixed in for flavor. Linear Story with a solid mix of exploration, social, encounters. Will wrap up cleanly at the end. You may or may not save the Multiverse. In this campaign, we will not have our own ship, but will get to see a few different ones in action. Clear milestones each session, but broader objective (Save the world) is the objective and will take all of the sessions to resolve.
- Episodic One-Shots: Enounter Focus; Charlie's Angels meets Hans Solo.. This would focus more on "D&D in Space". We are Space Pirates/Smugglers/Traders/Navy, retrieving McGuffins or Saving hotties for our patron. In this type of campaign we could have our own ship, run someone elses, or have a different ship on each adventure and we would just use the ships to get us to the next location/dungeon. Goal is to wrap up adventure each session.
- Episodic One-Shots: Space Travel Focus; Star Trek Meets D&D. This would focus on "Space Travel in D&D Universe". It's more about exploration of different systems and finding new races/cultures. There will still be dungeons/encounters, but more focused on the time on the ship. In this type of campaign we would have and run our own ship. Goal is to wrap up adventure each session.