This is a Dungeons and Dragons Campaign. Though beginner players are welcome, the gameplay itself will be quite fast-paced and may confuse newer players.

WAY BENEATH THE WITHDRAUGHT
Strange things are afoot in the small town of Helix. The dead walk the moor nearby and strange travelers have arrived from far-flung worlds, drawn into *thinnies* in the world, places where the line between realities blurs. Emerging from holes, caves, drainage ditches and into the hollow of a tree, these strangers have been drawn together by fate or happenstance. Will they attempt to solve the mystery of the thinnies, or use them to their own end?

THE LONG LINE
Beneath a nearby river lies the remains of an ancient sewer system -- The Long Line. Each turn seems to have a thinny, connecting *here* to somewhere else. The villagers seem unaware of this, but the arrival of the travelers from different worlds seems to point to a change in the way in the workings of the Long Line. Has someone reactivated an ancient magic? Or has it been activated by accident, time, or decay? Was this the Long Line’s original purpose? 

THE EXPERIENCE
Way Beneath the Withdraught is homebrew campaign that will be different for every group of learners: a multiversal experience of plane-shifting where a Cowboy, a Gnomish Mage and an Alien Space-traveler can meet and find adventure together, either trying to discover why fate has brought them together or figure out ways to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the ability to shift between realities. The founding group had a Ninja Turtle, a Gunslinger, an Elvish Barbarian, and Napoleon Bonaparte (yes, that one) as player characters.

One week you may be trying to foil a train robbery in a fantasy version of the old west, while in the next you may find yourself trying to stop a World War, or retrieve a talisman of ancient power from a fey realm of magic that itself defies belief. 

This is a sandbox game and the world(s) will respond to the players actions, dastardly or heroic. The background that you imagine and write for your character will shape and inform one (or more) of the worlds that exist in the game, so players will have an unusual amount of narrative control over the course of the game. Factions, areas, monsters and characters that begin as a simple sentence of description can become fleshed out over the course of the game to become critical to the future of the campaign, with maps, art, theme songs, and more. 

In this game, some players want to DM 'their worlds'. If you're interested in DMing and want some practice, this is a great game for you. In these instances, I will act as the Assistant Dungeonmaster - helping with preparation, scenario structures, maps, tokens, and other details while the learner runs the game. So far we have had four different DMs running this game!

DETAILS
Safety tools will be provided to keep the game fun and enjoyable for everyone. Individuals will make their own goals - and be rewarded with special quests that materially benefit their characters. If you decide to forge a magical weapon of great power, each step along the path will be rewarded with boosts to your character. 

Topics and Themes of the class include: history and alternate history, connection, improvisation, cooperation, goal-setting and imaginative play. The core concept will be stretching Dungeons and Dragons to see just how far we can take it!

This is an incredibly interactive experience, where learners will have many chances to explore the kinds of adventures that they've always imagined with other like-minded learners. I will use Virtual Tabletop Software to enable art, maps, drawing, tokens, dice, character sheets, music, and more, sharing a screen to show the table if needed. I will use some slides and discussion as well to handle specific topics or as requested.

#builder