Living Erenel

Welcome to Living Erenel, a 5E/MMO experience set in Erenel’s Fictional Universe and played in the Gamingbrew Discord. Join the living world and play in games hosted by me!

What is Living Erenel

Living Erenel is a “living world” style TTRPG campaign, played using a heavily modified version of 5E. The living world is hosted by Gamingbrew and supports a maximum of 40 players. Whether you dive into the living world daily or once a week, Living Erenel strives to offer a fulfilling gameplay experience by focusing on four gameplay pillars.

The Four Pillars

Character Advancement

Player Factions

Roleplay

Seasonal Narrative

What sets Living Erenel apart from traditional campaigns?

Form a group and play when your schedule allows it.

The players and their factions determine the direction of the game.

There is no set party. Play with friends and meet our amazing community as you explore Erenel.

Each season, the living world evolves as a storyline is complete. Players keep their character advancement but enter an exotic new hexcrawl ready to be uncovered every few months.

Joining Living Erenel

Players of all experience levels are welcome! Living Erenel is free to join, with the only cost associated with unlocking additional player options thru the Gamingbrew Patreon (classes, races, subclasses).
Living Erenel adventures are live-streamed, with all games affecting the living world in many ways. Players are invited to watch one another experience the living world and support each other with fellowship and memes!

PLAYER SIGN UP: CLOSED

Character Creation

Gamingbrew is a Proud WorldAnvil Partner

Use code Gamingbrew for 40% off all World Anvil annual subscriptions!

FOUNDRY VTT

Living Erenel is played using FoundryVTT. Check out this amazing guide if you're new to FoundryVTT.

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CHAT WITH US!

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How does Living Erenel Work?

There is No Regular Play Time!

Every session is scheduled by the players. Explore the town hub map for lore and NPC rumors, then use the #group-up Discord channel and choose your Living Erenel Adventuring.

There is No Set Party

Because players create their own adventuring party, each session could have different players from the living world player base. In addition, players can share information found on their journeys and discuss world events in 24/7 text roleplay channels.

Foundry VTT

Adventuring in Living Erenel mirrors a typical 3-hour TTRPG session with all games played in FoundryVTT. You do not need to purchase FoundryVTT! When you join Living Erenel, you are provided a username and password for Living Erenel’s “Town Hub,” a 24/7 world that contains your character sheet, lore journals and an explorable town map!
Check out this amazing guide if you're new to FoundryVTT.

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SCHEDULE GAMES

Living Erenel is structured around “update blocks” that occur biweekly (every two weeks). Brews hosts the Fireside 20 Update at the end of every update block, highlighting major events and showcasing how the living world evolves following player decisions and gameplay
Players can play in multiple sessions per update block if an adventure spot is available. However, players who’ve already participated in at least one adventure are added as "backups" and will step out for players who have not yet played during the current update block. Roleplay only adventures are not considered in this rule.

Scheduling Games

Living Erenel features two primary methods for joining adventures.

Brews Scheduled Adventures

When specific high-priority games pop up, Brews will post the game in the ⁠#group-up, with the first 5 players who respond, forming the group. Additional players are put on the backup waitlist when the group is full. This post will always be made before anyone else can post after a Fireside 20 Update.

LFG Adventures

For all other games, players are free to assemble a party and choose an available adventure type using the #group-up Discord channel. Adventures can start at anytime as long as they do not fall under blackout periods. Blackout periods are days/times when Brews is unavailable to run a game. Blackout periods can change update block to update block with changes announced during the Fireside 20 Update.

Blackout Period Example

No Sundays or Monday the 14th.

Maximum of two adventures per week (Sunday - Saturday).

Game start time cannot be before 10AM or after 11PM EDT.

Game start times must be separated by 24 hours.

by Dean Spencer

Important Schedulings Notes

Games require a minimum of 4 players with a maximum of 5 players per session. A minimum of 3 first time players for the current update block must be present. Players can play in multiple sessions per Fireside 20 Update, but will be asked to step out if a player has not yet played a game that update block.

When a player lists a game, the posting player can tag other players that have agreed to join in the adventure beforehand.

Scheduling is done on a first come, first serve basis. If three games are posted for the same week and a blackout period lists only two games can be played, the first two games that are finalized are chosen.

All games follow the Adventure Behaviors section listed in this article.

Games are streamed on the Gamingbrew Twitch for other players to follow along with the adventures!

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Character Progression

Living Erenel uses experience milestones for character progression. Experience is predominantly earned by participating in adventure sessions, though players may also gain experience from other events announced during the Fireside 20 Update.
Sessions that run for a minimum of 3 hours are eligible for player experience. Although rare, sessions that run for a minimum of 6 hours are eligible for double rewards. Experience is awarded at the end of a session.

Level Range

Over time, players will have a range of levels. To help ensure players are of a similar level for parties to readily form, a level range is in effect.
A level range is a min and max level that all player characters reside within. When a significant milestone is reached, typically the defeat of a challenging encounter or major discovery, the level range will increase by 1. During character creation, a Living Erenel player begins at the level range's minimum level. The current level range can be found on the Living Erenel Character Creation article.
Players cannot exceed the level range until a significant milestone is complete and will not earn experience until the level range is increased. Players below the minimum level range are rewarded with enough experience to advance to the new minimum level.

PvP

PvP in both adventures and open role play is not allowed in Living Erenel. To scratch the PvP itch, structured PvP adventures are run by Living Erenel game masters. Structured PvP can take many forms, including capturing the flag, battle royale, and duels.

Death

A player can only have one character in Living Erenel at a time. They may retire a character, losing their character, to create a new character at the minimum level range. If a character is killed during a session, the party can perform a resurrection spell if they have the means to do so. If not, the player must create a new character at the minimum level range. Any equipment is deemed lost unless surviving party members recover and return the equipment.

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Player Driven Factions

Factions in Living Erenel are player-run organizations overseen by important NPCs. The player faction in Living Erenel is a unique entity with its own leadership hierarchy and player responsibilities. As a subset of the main Faction, you serve the Faction's best interests in the region, tasked with solving problems and making critical decisions at a local level.

Faction Membership

During character creation, players can choose to join a Faction. Each Faction provides additional unique starting equipment and other character bonuses. Players can also choose not to join a Faction and instead gain the Lone Wolf title. Being a Lone Wolf provides its own bonuses.
Learn more about Living Erenel: Factions and what factions are available to join.

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Seasonal Narrative

Living Erenel is made up of multiple seasons, with each season having a unique theme and storyline. A season typically lasts 10-12 weeks with a two-week break in between.
All season themes are voted on by Living Erenel players. Faction member persuasion and faction voting alliances are expected when deciding on a new theme!

Season Overview

Each season contains the following.

Living Campaign

A series of drop-in and out adventures tells an overarching storyline, ending with a large-scale adventure finale. A seasonal campaign is fluid, with its direction dictated by the player/faction decisions and their regional successes or failures. A season cannot end until the season finale is completed!
In addition, factions can sign up for two faction campaign adventures. Each faction campaign is episodic and plays out of Living Erenel’s entirety.

Hexcrawl Exploration

Move across a dangerous landscape with each hex representing a unique location and adventure. A seasonal hexcrawl has a minimum of 10 hexes connected to the town hub shared by all Living Erenel players.
When moving across the hex crawl, there are no traveling rules. The party picks a hex to move to from an already explored and safe hex. However, to discover what may lie ahead on a hex, NPC rumors and information uncovered during previous adventures could help light the way.

Archway Raid

Archway raids are challenging content designed for power games and resemble raiding in Final Fantasy 14, World of Warcraft and Destiny. This means there are no permanent deaths, as you are expected to die while learning the mechanics of individual fights.
For more information on Archway raids, check out the Living Erenel Adventuring article.

You retain all character and faction advancement as you progress from season to season. If you are into playing multiple characters or interested in trying different factions, it’s highly recommended to switch during the break between seasons!

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Text Roleplay

Roleplaying in Living Erenel represents how your character engages the world between adventures and is one of the most considerable aspects of participated content. The ability to roleplay 24/7 in the Gamingbrew Discord is a fantastic part of being in the living world!
In order to make roleplaying the most enjoyable experience possible for players, it is essential to be aware of the following information.

BEST PRACTICES

The following are important formatting rules and best practices when roleplaying in the Gamingbrew Discord. Gamingbrew moderators help facilitate and may delete your roleplay post if necessary.

Change your nickname in the Gamingbrew Discord to (Character Name) Discord Name. Example: (Rylid) Gamingbrew. Rylid is the player character, and Gamingbrew is the Discord alias.

When speaking in character, use "quotation marks" or Bold. Bold can be done by placing two asteriks before and after your dialogue.

When describing an action or scene, use italics. Italics can be done by placing an asterisk before and after the action in Discord.

To quickly say something out of character, use (parentheses). Keep in mind, excessive out of character talk will be flagged by a moderator.

You can only be present in one roleplay channel at a time. To enter a roleplay channel, use in italics -(YOUR CHARACTER NAME) ENTERS-. If your character leaves one roleplay channel for another, use in italics -(YOUR CHARACTER NAME) EXITS-, so other roleplayers know you have left the area.

You only control your character when roleplaying. For example, if you attempt to persuade a character, the character decides if you were persuasive. You can also make a dice role if you wish.

by Dean Spencer

Be courteous. If players are roleplaying a scene together in a channel, wait until they have finished before beginning your scene.

Discord tagging a player during roleplay is acceptable and recommended, unless the player asks you to not tag them.

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Player Behavior and Disciplinary Actions

The etiquette below outlines our expectations of everyone in the community. Violations of these rules will result in Moderator action. Brews reserves the right to remove any user, at any time, for any reason.

Be excellent to each other. We are all here to have fun. Lift those around you, and don’t be a dick.

No offensive material. No hate speech or pornographic content of any kind will be permitted. Also, please avoid topics such as real-life politics. We are here to escape the outside world.

Harassment is not tolerated. If someone makes you uncomfortable for any reason, please DM a moderator immediately.

No Spam. Text walling and spamming do not contribute to the community.

We are a fair and open community, but there may be situations not covered by the rules or times when a rule may not fit the situation. If this happens, rule-breaking will be looked at on a case by case basis. Moderators are trusted to handle the situation appropriately.

Adventuring Behaviors

Cheating, lying to a game master, arguing with a ruling, or promoting an unhealthy atmosphere will result in disciplinary action.

A player who no shows a game and doesn’t provide a warning of at least 30 minutes before the session will receive a warning. If another no show occurs following a warning, the player will be removed from Living Erenel.

Players have a 10-minute late window before the game master will begin the session or attempt to replace the player. If you’re running late, let the game master know.

If you die on an adventure, players in the adventure may attempt to resurrect you. If the resurrection is unsuccessful, don’t worry, death comes for us all. You’ll create a new character.

During an Adventure, if you break the Behavior Rules outlined in Discord, you will be subject to disciplinary action. This applies to all players and game masters.

We do our best to include everyone who wants to adventure. Still, unfortunately, not everyone will be able to adventure each week. We will always strive to include as many players as possible.

Prohibited Roleplay Conduct

The roleplaying actions below are prohibited and are considered a bannable offense. While the subject matter exists outside of the game, we're here to have a great time.

Sexual Harassment. You will not sexually harass or assault another character, regardless of the other character's consent. Romance, marriage, and less egregious actions are permitted, but being overly erotic will result in moderator action.

Suicide. You cannot commit or threaten suicide. Self-sacrifice in-game to save the party does not qualify as suicide.

Torture. You cannot graphically torture another npc or player character physically or mentally.

If you ever feel uncomfortable by another player's roleplaying, speak to a moderator immediately.