D&D 5e – "Parnast in Peril" transitioning into "Storm King's Thunder"
(New player friendly)

Set against the backdrop of the Storm King’s Thunder Story and campaign*, this Dungeons and Dragons 5e campaign will be taking place in or around the small town of Parnast, one of the first permanent settlements to the west of the great Anauroch Desert, and the last place to get a decent drink east of the Greypeak Mountains**.

You’ll find yourself thrust into the role of local heroes tasked (willing or unwilling) into keeping Parnast in one piece, as the events of the wider world drive upheavals which affect even this remote outpost.

This campaign will be aimed at those who might not have played D&D 5e before, are returning after a long while, or want to see how the RPHaven works and were a bit nervous about jumping into a game and committing for a long period.  Initially we’ll be going slow so that you can all get up-to-speed building and playing your characters and learning the basics of the rules (spoiler, no one remembers all the rules all the time).

Mixing a bit of Homebrew and Adventurers league modules, I’m aiming to cover all the basics of roleplay; from investigation and exploring the world, beating up people and taking their stuff, solving puzzles, terrible terrible jokes, social interaction and unsustainable accents...

Whilst I'll run the campaign as a series of interconnected stories which build to a planned conclusion, it’s somewhat modular so you don’t need to commit for more than a quarter if you don’t want to, but it will most likely end up running longer than just the one quarter.

September 2023 update:
We've got 2 more modules to go with the Parnast arc including the big conclusion of the story. If (and it's a big if...) Parnast is saved, the party will then head out into the wider D&D world trumphant and delve deeper into the Storm Kings Thunder campaign setting! (At character level 5).

Session 0 and Character Building:

The Adventures starts at an oasis in the desert where several trade caravans have stopped to rest and take on fresh water. Your character may be a local who’s crossed the Desert many times or an outcast looking to escape their past by travelling somewhere new, either way people from all over the world can be found here and won’t raise much suspicion***. 

Factions also play a part in this world, as they offer additional side missions and rewards to players/characters who join them. This world has the standard 5 factions which you can choose to be a part of, i’d encourage you to have your character be from one as it provides motivation and RP opportunity****, you can find more about them here: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules/appendix-c-the-five-factions.

In Session 0 we’ll do some table talk before playing about what your character's hopes and ambitions might be, that way I can tailor the world a little more to fit into that, however don’t worry, you don’t have to commit to everything before playing.  A big tip that helps me is to think about how you could describe your character to someone else without naming their class or abilities; are they happy, curious, cautious or headstrong. Give them some flaws, like being afraid of heights or distrusting anyone who dresses too fancy.

You’ll start with Level 2 Characters, so you’ll be a little experienced about the world. For core stats you can pick the standard points-buy or roll stats with dice, additionally I tend to think most characters are more interesting with Feats, so pick a Feat from the list (see Pg.165 of the PHB) and have it for free.

Note: If none of that last paragraph makes sense then I'm happy to explain it via email or on the night, the most complicated thing in D&D is making a character when you’ve never made one before.  There’s also an RP Haven discord server for Lewisham so that’s also a great place to ask around.

As a DM I try to reward inventive or interesting play in game, we’re building a story together that should be interesting to everyone round the table. There’s a variety of things to do in an RPG and some of the most memorable moments can come outside of combat, so that’s worth thinking about when creating a character. 

I’d like to discourage player vs player conflict, Parnast and the surrounds can be dangerous, you’ll need to stick together to survive, it’s a team game after all! It’s always worth thinking about why your character is working with the other players’ characters and why should the other characters keep working with them too.

Daffrid
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* But exclusively from Adventurers League models for that story, so if you’re planning to run or have been a part of the main SKT campaign book, this should be pretty spoiler and repetition free.

** This means it’s set in the same world as other major D&D lore takes place, from the great Cities of Waterdeep and Neverwinter to Baldur's Gate and the recent D&D movie.
*** That’s DM code for you can use whatever books and expansions you like to make your character, however if you want to use Unearthed Arcana then do ask before.
**** In the D&D movie Chris Pine’s character was a member of the Harpers faction, and that had some pretty notable plot impacts.