Tarleaux is a campaign setting for Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition, created by Chad Hogg in 2023.
- We will be using the rules of Dungeons & Dragons, 5th Edition, modified as per the House Rules listed below (which are subject to expansion / change on a whim).
- I'm not actually that familiar with those rules, so please be prepared both to correct me and to roll (pun intended) with things that might not be quite right for the sake of getting things done.
- It looks like we are going to have an unusually large party. Because of this, we will hold a game when all but one player is available. If players find it mutually agreeable, we will have another player control the character of a missing player for the session. If not, they will just mysteriously fade into the background for a bit.
- While I am sure that the players will inject plenty of humor into the gaming sessions, our characters will find themselves a part of deadly serious events. Think less "merry band of murder hobos aimlessly wandering around" and more "people caught up in interesting times and trying to survive them as best they can". This has several consequences:
- Players should expect that their characters may encounter upsetting circumstances.
- Evil-aligned characters are unlikely to contribute effectively to the story we will be telling together. Chaotically-aligned characters will probably be OK, as long as you don't interpret that in ways that make effective cooperation between characters impossible.
- I don't intend to go out of my way to avoid character death. If it happens, and the player would like to continue, they can invent a new character who joins the story, or perhaps their original character can be revived if the party has that capability.
- Rather than having a world in which challenges automatically rise to the level of the party at all times, I intend to try to build a world in which challenges of varying complexity exist in all places at all times. Characters will need to use discernment to avoid wasting their time on challenges that are beneath their abilities or to take on challenges they are not yet prepared for.
- If any player becomes geographically separated from the rest of us, I would prefer to collaboratively write their character out of the story in an epic way than to try to continue with some players remote.
- I would like one player, or several players taking turns, to maintain a journal on this website describing what their characters have done and observed in each play session.
- To encourage characters to be judicious about expending their limited-use abilities and allow series of small encounters to be interesting, a short rest will require 6 hours of actual sleeping, while a long rest will require both 6 hours of sleeping and 18 hours of restful downtime.
The player characters are:
- Kestyn Gulch (Darrell Lagace), a former acolyte at the Brothers of Ikhil Monastery in Jalabard. In his early 20s, he has completed his initial studies and is currently on leave, sent to earn real-world experience (military, political, and social) before returning to hopefully take up an officer position in the Monastery's armed forces.
- Whipp ad Shavagh (Emily Baldys), a heavily tattooed Half-Orc from the borderlands between Solafeth and Wondimu, formerly (and maybe currently) a mercenary looking for work. They are 26 years old, 6'6" tall and weighing 265 pounds, with brown eyes, black hair, and grey skin, and usually carrying a giant maul.
- Emma Galanodel (Andie Petrillo), is a Wood Elf with bronze skin, gold eyes, and long green hair. She is social awkward and on a quest for knowledge. She enjoys mysteries and is working to restore and maintain a library. She has been in Ikhil for a few months, searching for rare manuscripts to return to her mentor.
- Kiiv Ophinshtalajiir (Will Killian), is a person.
- others TBA
The Player's Journal keeps a record of what happened at each session.