New Tier: Threshold (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 my website. 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. 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!