Dungeons and Dragons for Teens - Vecna: Eve of Ruin

This class uses the 5th Edition 2014 Legacy rules.

My Classroom:

First and foremost, my D&D groups are inclusive.  LGBTQ and neurodiverse students are always welcome, and my content is always anti-racist.  I make an effort to include representation of characters from all walks of life to normalize diversity.  Learners are required to respect others' pronouns and names and to be accepting of other learners' unique abilities and personalities.

My goal is to foster connection between learners.  In my campaigns, learners will find the consistency of meeting every week with the same learners, often over years!  Some of my learners have been adventuring together for almost five years with me!  Learners with social anxiety will have enough time and opportunity to become comfortable in a group.  

New players are always welcome in my classes.  The best way to learn how to play Dungeons and Dragons is to just jump in and play it.  I am adept at guiding brand new players through their options during game play and explaining rules as they come up.  More experienced learners may jump in and provide support to newcomers as well.

Storyline:

In this weekly, on-going class, we will play through the Dungeons and Dragons module, Vecna:  Eve of Ruin.  The legendary arch-lich Vecna seeks to complete a dark ritual which will destroy all the gods and remake the world according to his whim.  Can a group of heroes stop him?  Characters will travel across the planes, adventuring in iconic Dungeons and Dragons campaign settings like Eberron, Ravenloft, Dragonlance, Greyhawk, Avernus, Planescape, and Spelljammer.  As always, I include lots of bonus content not included in the official game module and I leave plenty of room for character development, which creates a unique experience for each class. 

This adventure does include combat, but learners will also need to rely on their wits to look for clues, solve puzzles, and retrieve magical items.  Learners who enjoy roleplaying will find plenty of opportunities to shine in this adventure.

Because this is a longer campaign, students will be able to unsubscribe to the class if a break is needed.  Students joining the campaign part way through will easily be able to jump in to the adventure.

Character Creation:

This campaign uses 5th edition 2014 Legacy rules.  Learners should correspond with me prior to the start of class to make sure their character has been created properly.  Please use *official* content only.  DnD Beyond is acceptable, as are other methods of character creation.

We will start with an introductory adventure for level three characters as a way to create a group backstory and a reason for the characters to be adventuring together.  Students will need to create a 3rd level character prior to the start of class, with the expectation to jump to level ten after the first few sessions.  Students will level their character up to 20 by the end of the campaign.  Since this is a high-level campaign, this is a good fit for experienced D&D players.

The Players:

This campaign is best suited for:
1)  Students who are experienced with Dungeons and Dragons. 
2)  Students who want to explore more of the official D&D settings.
3)  Students who enjoy the social aspect of D&D as well as combat and solving puzzles.
4)  Students who want to go up against one of the most powerful villains of all time.

Learners should expect to play "heroic" characters.  This does not mean that characters cannot be flawed, but they should strive to work together with other characters to resolve  the campaign's storyline.  This means that Player vs. Player combat is not allowed and players should not antagonize each other in any way.  Needlessly destroying settings, NPCs, or plotlines is frowned upon.  Learners should, above all, keep in mind that Dungeons and Dragons is a *cooperative* game.

We use the honor system for character creation and dice rolls during game play.  Learners must avoid the temptation to report higher rolls for characters' ability scores and rolls during class.  Remember that always winning is boring!  It's also frustrating for learners who are honest about their rolls.  If issues arise, I may require all students in a class to roll their dice publicly using a website called Roll Dice with Friends (www.rolldicewithfriends.com).

Metagaming (reading the campaign module or creature stat blocks ahead of time) is discouraged.  However, in some cases it's unavoidable, especially if a learner has fought the same type of monster in a different campaign.  In these cases, learners are expected to keep their knowledge separate from what their character knows.  Learners are also expected to keep this information to themselves so as to not ruin the plot for other learners.

All of the above rules are in place to make sure that learners practice taking responsibility in ensuring that their fellow classmates are having just as much fun as they are.  It's important to make sure each learner feels that the game is fair.