u/InsidiousToilet

My ideal group would consist of:

Adults (18+ only, for occasional cursing)
Allowing small breaks to let my puppy out (3m every hour).
People who don't bring politics/religion into the game.
No rules-lawyers who interrupt the game.
Absolutely no hate speech, slurs, or harassment.
Understanding that I might be slow since I've never played online.

My ideal game would be:

Setting: I'm mostly familiar with Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, and SpellJammer. I am fine with Homebrew though, I just need a big lore dump before going in so it doesn't feel so alien and out of place to me.
Modules and homebrew content is fine, as long as the story we tell together is great!
A good mix of roleplaying, action, tension, and laughter.
Minimal railroading, but story-driven adventures with some plot twists and creative "gotchas" can be super fun!

About me:

D&D changed my life early on. I was a mean child with daddy issues who lashed out at everyone, got into fights, and hated people who were different than me. Playing D&D (and learning to love reading through the Dragonlance novels) made me a better person. Without it, I never would have met the amazing people I have in my life, never would have left my home at 18 to travel the world and experience other cultures, and probably wouldn't have the two amazing kids that I have right now (one of which is out doing cool scientist stuff in college). I also would not have been the kind, understanding person I am today, which wouldn't have eventually led me to marry my favorite person in the universe after bribing her with a shiny rock.

Out of nearly 40 years of playing D&D, I have only been an active player four times:

[AD&D] 1993 as a Dwarf Paladin named Gunther Gonadgrinder.
[D&D 3.5e] 1999 as a Nezumi Shugenja named Rhuta.
[D&D 5e] 2017 as a Kenku Whispers Bard named Yolo.
[D&D 5e] 2022 as a Human Lunar Sorcerer named Desmond.

I've never really gotten to play, though. Gunther was mostly just a character I played and fought ancient entities and gods on whenever we had a snow day in school. Rhuta was when I was completely out of my mind while doing things that underaged people should not be doing. Yolo was a four-session "adventure" where the DM just wanted to tell a story, and handed out 4 levels every week to do it (there was absolutely no character growth). Desmond was in a faux-AL at our LGS, but the DM knew nothing about the module he was running and gave up halfway through, to the point that the game ended abruptly when no one expected it to.

I'm looking for something I can introduce a character to, and watch them grow with my fellow players. I think I'm terrible at roleplay, but I try my best, and want to be better at it!

I look forward to playing with whoever read all this <3

Morabella, Gerald, Bertha, Jacob, Diablo, Aeris, and Malakar: Here there be Vecna, turn back now and read no further!

I've been running the Vecna: Eve of Ruin adventure for over a year, and they're finally in the Cave of Shattered Reflection facing the Whispered One himself. I'm looking for ideas on how to give them a satisfying ending without it being just either "you win" or "you lose". It's a weak point of mine that I failed at in the last adventure we ran (Shattered Obelisk). None of them are particularly deep role players, they just like to solve puzzles, have fun, and murder stuff.

I always hate asking for help because I try not to write a book, but also don't want to leave out important info, so I'm really sorry! I just want to give them a strong finish and now I'm second-guessing everything, lol.

Up-front Questions:

I want to imply there's a timer for the ritual, and it's still ticking even with Vecna stalking the cavern. I just don't know how to narratively describe that to them.
In the event they find out about the warlock assisting Vecna, should I allow the party and the warlock to attack each other?
After three rounds of the warlock focusing and the party planning and holding actions, I want to have Vecna re-enter the ritual chamber, so they get a good, satisfying "final battle" going rather than the cat-and-mouse game he's been playing so far.
Let's say Vecna wins, either by defeating the players, or by incapacitating them so he can complete the ritual. How would you end it? Describe how everything starts fading and melting away, only to fade back into existence, but twisted, etc?
Let's say the party wins, whether they find out about the warlock or not: other than "good game, you stopped Vecna!", how might I narrate something to tell them how they won and what impact that has on the multiverse?

Background Info

The short rundown on it is this: Vecna is in the central chamber of the Cave of Shattered Reflections, enacting a ritual to remake the multiverse with him as the primary power. I am running the stat block as-is, but with 7 players, I have given him a little more health and two extra legendary actions per round.

What Happened So Far

They stumbled into getting into the ritual chamber and rushed head-first in to go confront Vecna. Nobody attacked, they sat there watching while he ignored them. When they finally made a move, he clapped back hard and were a bit taken aback. He left the ritual chamber to see if he could get them to follow and split up...and they did. He's spent his turns stalking them like prey and roughing each of them up, before moving on to the next. My hope was this would scare them into heading back to the main ritual chamber...and it did. That's where I'm planning on lots of area-of-effect damage to push them to the brink of defeat, to make it more satisfying when they succeed.

Deals With Vecna

One of the warlocks in the party is in love with an NPC (think like "The Overly Obsessed Girlfriend" meme). She just thinks that the NPC is too afraid to let the other NPCs know about his love for her, so it's a forbidden love (she's in love with "Mordenkainen" in the adventure...if ya know, ya know). Vecna knows of this, and after encountering her alone and injured in one of the rooms, offered her a deal: help him finish the ritual, and he will give that NPC to her so they can be together. For eternity, if she wishes. She thought about it a bit, and agreed.

That's when I deviated from the book a bit: I gave her the ritual focus that Vecna was using. He told her to go to the ritual chamber and continue channeling energy into the focus to keep it going until he returns to her. She's pretending it's something she bought in Sigil that acts similar to a Bloodwell Vial for the party sorcerer, but gets her some spell slots back, so she's going to go "take a short rest" while everyone prepares for Vecna appearing again.

Current Status

We're picking it back up in about 4 hours to finish, and I want it to be as strong and satisfying as I can. I don't want to have the adventure end because the warlock "finished" the ritual for him when nobody noticed. I still want him to come and claim his "spot" in the ritual to ascend, and have a final battle with him after the cat-and-mouse phase ends..

[Online][5E 2024][UTC-7][18+][LGBTQ+][Any day Thurs-Sun] Experienced GM Looking to Be a Player Online

Finishing the Campaign Strong: Feedback on the Eve of Ruin fight with Vecna?

Morabella, Gerald, Bertha, Jacob, Diablo, Aeris, and Malakar: Here there be Vecna, turn back now and read no further!