Last month I announced plans to run an online Eberron campaign set in Threshold, a town on the edge of Breland and Droaam. In October, I worked with my Patreon supporters to establish important details about the town. The dominant faith is the Three Faces of Coin, a variant of the Sovereign Host focused on commerce and industry (both legal and otherwise). There’s an undercurrent of interest in the Cazhaak worship of the Dark Six, driven by the kobold community on the edge of town. Other significant segments of the population include Brelish veterans who fought for the local lord during the war, Cyran refugees granted safe haven in this backwater, and a few goblin families from Sharn.

With this completed, we’re now developing the Characters. Each session will have a different group of players, chosen from among the patrons. The players will choose their characters for the session from a roster of ten shared characters—and we’re currently establishing defining those ten characters. Three have been fully developed.

• The Marshal is a Battle Master fighter with the Mark of Sentinel; a battle-scarred Sentinel Marshal from the oldest family in House Deneith, he was excoriated after they killed a war criminal who would otherwise have gone free. Now he wants to make a difference on the frontier.
• The Smith is a beasthide shifter and a blacksmith from Cyre. She doesn’t remember anything that happened in 992 YK, but since then she’s found that her natural strength and shifter abilities have been enhanced in strange ways—giving her the powers of a Way of the Beast Barbarian. While she’s using these gifts to help protect the Cyran refugees and has become a local folk hero, the Smith mainly wants to work at the smithy she’s established with her partner, the Cannith tinker who built their prosthetic leg. The Smith and the Tinker are pictured above, as envisioned by Julio Azvedo.
• The Greensinger is a druid of the Circle of Dreams; while they typically appear to be an elf, they’re actually a changeling. They grew up in Thelanis, in the realm of an archfey known as Fortune’s Fool, and this has led to an optimistic outlook; now, they seek to help the people of Threshold establish a relationship with the local fey. The Greensinger is a skilled storyteller and singer; they know many magical songs (spells), including a song that holds tremendous power—but singing it might kill them.

The Smith and the Marshal came from a poll selecting “The Muscle.” Currently we are finishing up “The Faith” with a poll that establishes details about The Flame, a kalashtar orphan who receives visions from the Silver Flame. We still have six characters to go, covering the Knowledge, the Cunning, and the Unexpected. Below you can see a screenshot of the poll for the Flame, which is going on for another day…

What I like about this process is that even though I’m presenting ideas, I don’t know how these characters will turn out. The question of whether the Flame is Last of their Line or Not Kalashtar will have a major impact on their long term story arc. Because I’m running this campaign for a hundred potential players instead of five, it’s a different process than creating characters with people around a table, but I’m enjoying seeing these characters come together. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that these “Facts” play the same role as the secrets I present in my latest DM’s Guild book, Eberron Confidential…. In fact, Last of their Line is taken directly from that book!

I expect the first actual Threshold game session to be at the end of the month, given that there’s still six characters to develop. If you’d like to be a part of that process, go to my Patreon and check it out!

Thanks also to Threshold supporter Sierra, who created the following image to lobby for the Flame in the last poll!

Earlier this month I revealed my plan to run an online Eberron campaign for my Patreon supporters. The campaign will use a set of pregenerated characters, but the players for each session will be determined by a challenge posed to supporters.

Currently I’m involved in Session Zero: the same process I’d use to lay the groundwork of a campaign at the table, but drawn out and resolved by polling supporters. Through this process, we’ve established a number of important details. Threshold is a town on the edge of Breland, the last outpost of civilization before you reach Graywall. It is in the domain of Count ir’Blis, and a core group of settlers are Brelish veterans who served ir’Blis during the Last War. However, the town has become a haven for devotees of a Sovereign Host sect known as the Three Faces of Coin—a faith devoted to facilitating trade and profit, whether through legitimate commerce or shadier paths. Their efforts helped draw House Orien to the town, and Orien has brought in a local kobold clan to help with labor; this has also brought the Cazhaak faith—an alternate interpretation of the Dark Six—to Threshold. Recently, ir’Blis has allowed a large contingent of Cyran refugees to settle in the town, and they’ve been joined by a few goblin families from Sharn. So there’s a mix of people in Threshold, and lots of potential for conflict and intrigue.

The supporters decided that the adventurers were working for the town itself—that each character has a tie to Threshold and a stake in its prosperity. The next step in this session zero is to define the characters themselves. Through polls, we’re going to define a total of ten characters that will form the recurring cast of player characters; this will ensure that every player will have some options in deciding who to play. We’re starting with a poll that chooses the basic concepts for two characters; the next poll will add details and determine their classes and subclasses.

So, currently we are selecting two characters that I’m defining as The Muscle. Here’s the concepts people are choosing from:

• The Sheriff is a warforged juggernaut who served under Count ir’Blis during the Last War, and they have ties to the Brelish veterans who make up part of the population. Along with the Steward, the Sheriff represents the interests of ir’Blis and is tasked to maintain order in Threshold. The next round of questions will determine if the Sheriff is a grim realist, or if they are driven by faith or idealism. 
• The Marshal is a dragonmarked former Sentinel Marshal of House Deneith. They’re no longer part of the house, and rumors swirl as to whether they were excoriated for wrongdoing or severed ties of their own accord. Either way, they believe in justice and they’re determined to make a difference in Threshold.
• The Smith is a Cyran shifter just trying to make an honest living. They’ve opened a general store with their partner, a Cannith tinker. They don’t like to talk about what they did during the war, but they can swing a hammer and you won’t like them when they’re angry. They’re respected within the community of Cyran refugees within the town, and pursue the interests of their people. 
• The Hunter is a Tharashk half-orc and licensed bounty hunter. They’ve been working the frontier for a decade, and know their way around Droaam and the wilds. Their first interest is profit, and they have ties to the Three Faces of War… but thanks to their time in Droaam, they’ve also adopted some of the beliefs of the Cazhaak faith. 

All of these characters will be part of Threshold. The question is which ones will be player characters, and which ones will be NPCs with their own secrets and goals. Will the Sheriff be a player character responsible for maintaining order—or will the Sheriff be an NPC the adventurers will have to deal with if they cause trouble?

Part of what I love about the Session Zero process is seeing how the story evolves through collaboration. I have my own ideas for the story, but things will definitely change depending on which of the characters are selected and the decisions made in the next round of questions. If you’d like to be a part of this process—and to potentially join in the game—join the Threshold tier of my Patreon!

Western Breland is an untamed land, a realm with untold opportunities… and unknown dangers. The Daughters of Sora Kell have laid claim to the land west of the Graywall mountains, and the city of Graywall marks the edge of their territory. But Graywall is a city of monsters, governed by a mind flayer and patrolled by trolls… Not a welcoming haven for Brelish settlers and opportunists. As Droaam grows stronger, Dragonmarked houses and Aurum oligarchs are considering western opportunities, but many don’t trust Graywall and its governor. And so they are looking to the towns springing up on the Brelish side of the frontier… towns like Threshold.

Beginning in November, I’m going to run an online D&D campaign set in the town of Threshold. The characters and the story will be ongoing, but the players will change; before each session, I’ll post a creative challenge to supporters, and the winners will get to play; once you’ve played you’ll be ineligible to play again for the next four sessions, to ensure that we get a rotating cast. While only five people will get to participate in each session, I’ll also be reaching out to supporters to help establish details about the characters and campaign, primarily through polls.

The support of my Patreon backers is what makes it possible for me to spend time on the articles on this site. For some time now, I’ve been thinking about ways to add value for supporters. I’ve considered exclusive content, and I have published a few Patreon-exclusive articles. But I dislike restricting material. Now, everyone who supports at the Threshold tier—which is $1/month above the current Inner Circle—gets a chance to play in the game and an opportunity to help shape the story. To be absolutely clear, there are going to be a limited number of seats and not every Threshold supporter will get to play. But everyone will have the opportunity to compete for a seat, and those who don’t get a seat at the table will still have an opportunity to shape aspects of the story.

In addition to this, I’m adding a discord channel at this level. This will be a place to discuss the campaign itself, as well as the articles I post on my website. I’ll drop in after I post new content, and I will have at least one scheduled AMA on the channel each month.

Now, this is an experiment. I’ve only run a handful of streamed games, and I expect this to be a learning experience. So the first four months are going to be a test period. Starting in November, I will run at least one game a month. I may run more than one session each month, but I don’t yet know the technical challenges I may face, and there’s a number of other things that could place unexpected demands on my time, so I’m only going to promise one session per month in this period. At the end of four months, I’ll evaluate the experiment and settle on a format and schedule for the campaign moving forward. I may or may not release the games to the public during this trial period, but they’ll certainly be available to supporters.

So in summary: I’m adding a $6/month tier to my Patreon, the Threshold tier. People who support at that level will have all the benefits of the Inner Circle—helping shape the content of the IFAQs and Dragonmark articles—but will also receive polls that will help shape the characters and story of the Threshold campaign. At least once each month, I will post a creative challenge for Threshold supporters, and the winners will play in the next session of the online campaign. In February 2021 I’ll evaluate the project and make plans for the next phase.

If you have questions, ask below! Otherwise, I hope I’ll see some of you in Threshold!