Rebuild a ruined frontier fortress

Hello everyone, Alex here! I am a new GM on Start Playing, and I am looking for players for my mini campaign. I am hoping to become a full-time GM and figured this was the best way to start. A bit about me: I've been a GM for 7 years. I am an artist, illustrator, animator, voice actor, and writer. And I absolutely love roleplaying!  Game Premise: In the world of Anangnibi (pronounced Ah-nahng-nee-bee) there looms a threat to the local towns and villages outside of a major port city called Agonan Mizhakwad (pronounced Ah-goh-nahn Meez-hahk-wahd). Reports of attacks have become more frequent and many have claimed to see a flying creature up within the mountains. Maps indicate that there is an old fort that has been empty for quite some time in the area. The local authorities have put up a reward for heroes to go and investigate the area and find out what has been happening. You as the heroes will find yourselves walking into the mountains to find the old hold, and once you get there, you'll find out that you have gotten far more than you bargained for. Who, or what, awaits within the halls of old abandoned stone? And will you survive the secrets within? Or will you be claimed by death much the same as those of the poor raided villages? Death lurks here, cold and indifferent like the sitting stone. You will need your strength and wit if you want to survive. So be prepared to face the challenges and discover the mystery of what hides within the mountain stone. Game Price: $25 per person  Session count: 1-3 sessions Session length: 4-5 hours Player Character Level: 5 System: D&D 5E Sourcebooks accepted: PHB 14, XGE, TCE, VGM (Other sourcebooks are open to discussion) Homebrew and 3rd Party: Open to discussion More information and details about the game can be found here on the Start Playing post: https://startplaying.games/adventure/cmt21mabu0037l404tjn7c32u?ref=cmrmikhi800frl704k6ca84nl  Content warning: While I am a newbie player friendly DM/GM, the game I am running is a DEADLY game with a DEADLY dungeon; your characters have a high chance of dying. Please keep that in mind for this game. If you are not okay with character death, this may not be the game for you.  If you have any additional questions, please feel free to message me, and I will get back to you as soon as possible.  You can also get some more general information about me as a GM, as well as read previous player reviews through my Start Playing GM Profile here:  https://startplaying.games/gm/alexthedmpanda Looking forward to hearing from you soon!

ABOUT: This adventure takes place in the Sansinukob Wildspace. This system has 13 planets, held together by a dead and forgotten god at the center. There are no suns here, only moons to illuminate every planet. Fifty years ago, a monstrous sea serpent named Bakunawa awakened from her slumber, consumed by endless hunger. She consumed all six moons above planet Tawalisi, one by one, until they were left in darkness for thirty years. Twenty years ago, the datu, Maximo Catubig, invented Bulan Lights, magical lamps that emit artificial moonlight, finally bringing light back to his people. They were a solace, soon placed in every home in Tawalisi. The people were finally able to thrive again, and Maximo helped pave the way to further technological advancement. However, decades of darkness had taken its toll; Some of the citizens of Tawalisi have become consumed by the same hunger that possessed Bakunawa, mutating their bodies and destroying their minds until all they can think about is eating the Bulan Lights. They will stop at nothing to consume all sources of moonlight, and will hurt and kill anything and anyone that gets in the way. Datu Maximo has called for help from all adventurers willing to listen. Assist him in installing these lights wherever he can, so he can save his people from being plunged into darkness again. Here is the StartPlaying page: https://startplaying.games/adventure/cmo4c49ip001fl1048tncritn?slug=noahmicah039 Please message me either on here or StartPlaying if you have any questions or would like to join. Here is my StartPlaying profile if you'd like to know more about me!: https://startplaying.games/gm/noahmicah039 Additional Info: $20 per session after sessions 0 and 1 All ages welcome Hosted on Discord (will receive server invite) Games every Saturday at 9:00 am EST

The Helix Initiative was introduced to the public as a revolutionary leap in environmental adaptation, biological medicine, and survival science. Officially, the organization claimed it was developing new ways for humanity to survive ecological collapse, disease, and resource shortages. Behind closed doors, however, Helix operated hidden research divisions dedicated to experimentation far beyond legal or ethical limits. Somewhere deep within those divisions, a scientist identified in surviving records only as Dr. W██d████ T████ developed a machine capable of shrinking living organisms to less than an inch tall. The technology was presented internally as a breakthrough in resource efficiency and medical research—but many of the subjects brought into testing were children between the ages of eight and sixteen. Most never returned. You are one of the survivors. After undergoing the procedure, you awaken inside an ordinary city park that has become an impossible wilderness at your scale. Blades of grass tower like trees. Puddles become lakes capable of drowning entire groups. Ants patrol the dirt like armored soldiers, while spiders transform sections of the park into web-choked death zones. Every inch of terrain matters. Every storm is catastrophic. Survival depends on learning how to weaponize the environment itself—crafting tools and defenses from thorns, sap, insect shells, broken plastic, roots, and scavenged debris left behind by previous miniature civilizations that clearly did not survive for long. As you explore deeper into the park, you begin discovering abandoned outposts, collapsed shelters, and fragmented Helix logs detailing increasingly unstable experiments. The records reference attempts to create “evolutions chosen suvivors” capable of evolving beyond normal biological limits. Again and again, one phrase appears alongside heavily censored personnel files: MARROW SYNDROME. The disease slowly destroys the body in stages—first decaying bone tissue, then muscle structure, and finally flooding the lungs with blood. Somewhere among the corrupted files are hints that Dr. W██d████ T████ never joined Helix out of loyalty. Some logs imply he infiltrated the organization to expose its corruption, free the surviving test subjects, and continue researching a cure for a terminally ill child connected to the syndrome. Whether those rumors are true remains uncertain. Helix officially denies the existence of both the disease and the scientist. Not every strange thing in the park comes from Helix laboratories. Survivors occasionally encounter a bizarre figure known only as Rock—a hyper-muscular talking bee obsessed with shouting “MUSCLE” at every possible opportunity. Most groups dismiss him as insane until they realize he understands far more about the park than he should. One moment he acts like a reckless coach forcing terrified children to become stronger, and the next he casually references erased facilities, failed experiments, or “previous attempts” that nobody else remembers. Near the edges of abandoned Helix sectors, Rock sometimes becomes unusually quiet, staring into empty space before muttering warnings that sound less like jokes and more like genuine fear. HE IS WATCHING YOUR EVERY MOVE...