You
You · TBD
Human player
HP
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AC
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THAC0
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DEX
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Console
Neon Brain D&D board. The campaign lives here as a read-only control page until the first session starts. Forge, Rivet, the fourth agent, and the human slot all sit under the same board.
Terminal
This is the live table terminal: type commands, click moves, and watch the session scroll by in order. Once the game starts, this is where the party chat and DM replies will land.
Session Log
This is the part you can watch when the group starts talking in character.
Turn Tracker
Dice Roller
Quick Moves
How to Play
Good First Tests
Party Roster
HP and AC buttons are live. Click a face to make them the speaker, then play the scene.
Campaign State
Party Roster
Opening Hooks
Campaign Files
The actual board lives in the vault. These panels mirror the source files so Neon Brain can keep the campaign readable without digging through folders.
# Campaign State Campaign: Neon Brain D&D Setting: Ember Under Hollow Crown System: AD&D 2e inspired, chat run Status: Bootstrap, not started Session: 0 Date: 2026-04-19 ## Current Scene Location: Black Hollow, Lantern House common room Weather: cold fog, ash drift, low bells Scene Goal: finalize party sheets and wait for the start command ## Party - Human player: TBD - Forge: Dwarf Cleric, HP 9/9, AC 4 - Rivet: Halfling Thief, HP 6/6, AC 7 - Agent 4: Human Fighter, HP 11/11, AC 3 ## Active Quest None yet. See QUEST-LOG.md for opening hooks. ## Party State Gold: 0 gp Shared stash: none Status effects: none Quest items: none ## Last Session Summary None. Campaign board only, no play yet. ## Flags - Campaign board built - Waiting on human class and name - Ready for session start command
# Quest Log ## Active ### The Bell Beneath Saint Veyra - Hook: something sealed under the catacombs is ringing through the stone. - Objective: find the source and stop or claim it. - Reward: 120 gp, Lantern Church favor, one blessed charm. - Status: Active ### Caravan of Black Ash - Hook: a caravan vanished on the Gloam Road and left a trail of burned wheels. - Objective: find survivors, cargo, or the thing that took them. - Reward: 75 gp, salvage rights, one map fragment. - Status: Active ### The Mine That Whispered Back - Hook: Shattermine workers hear voices in the dark and find old silver coins in sealed rock. - Objective: descend the shaft and identify the source. - Reward: 150 gp, access to the mine, one relic. - Status: Active ### The Red Keep Key - Hook: a vault key is rumored to exist in the ruins of the old keep. - Objective: recover the key or the map to it. - Reward: 200 gp, faction leverage, possible noble claim. - Status: Active ## Completed None yet. ## Rumors - The Pale Court hates iron bells. - The Red Knives buy grave dirt. - Something under Black Hollow remembers the king's name. - Not all dead things are buried.
# Ember Under Hollow Crown ## Tone Dark fantasy, old school danger, earned loot, real consequences. Hope exists, but it is expensive. ## Premise The barony of Ashmere collapsed after the Black Ashfall, when the old king died and the bells would not stop ringing. Trade failed, graves shifted, and the roads filled with hungry things. The party begins in Black Hollow, a frontier town built beside a broken silver mine and a sealed saint's road. The campaign starts small and grows outward. First the road, then the mine, then the dead crown under the hill. ## Starting Region, Ashfall Vale A cold bowl of land surrounded by pines, shale hills, and old ash drifts. ### Key Locations - **Black Hollow**. Market town, lantern house, undertaker row, ruined well, and a chapel that keeps the ledgers of the dead. - **Saint Veyra's Catacombs**. Sealed crypts under the old basilica. Something inside still answers prayer. - **Mournford Ford**. Toll crossing where caravans vanish and bandits make deals with worse things. - **Bracken Fen**. Mud, reeds, drowned shrines, witch lights, and bones that do not stay buried. - **The Shattermine**. The collapsed silver mine under the hill. Workers hear voices from the deep shafts. - **Ember Crag**. A watchtower over the road and the ash fields. - **The Red Keep Ruin**. Broken baronial fortress where the old line was last seen alive. ## Factions ### Lantern Church of Saint Veyra Keepers of rites, records, and wards against the dead. They pay well for relics, but they keep score. ### Iron Dredgers Union Miners, haulers, smiths, and salvage crews. They want the roads open and the mine safe enough to work. ### Hollow Wardens Hunters, guides, and road scouts. Pragmatic, local, and usually right. ### Red Knives Deserters, raiders, and toll thieves who prefer fear to work. ### The Pale Court Undead nobles, bound retainers, and things that wear old titles like skin. ### Vellum Circle Scholars, mapmakers, and relic-keepers who want the old truth, even when it bites. ## Threats - Ash wolves and road predators - Grave rot and restless dead - Corrupted relics and cursed coins - Bandit tolls that are not really bandits - Hidden cults beneath the town - The dead crown waking up ## Long Form Mysteries 1. Why do the bells ring under the ground? 2. Who buried the king without a name? 3. What sleeps under the Shattermine? 4. Why do some graves in Black Hollow open from the inside? 5. Who is buying grave dirt from the fen? ## Session Fuel - Caravan missing on the Gloam Road - Church requests a sealed bell recovered - A miner comes up from the deep shaft speaking in someone else's voice - A child draws a map to a door that does not exist on the hill - A dead soldier is found wearing a crown shard ## Arc Shape 1. Road trouble and local rumors 2. The catacomb breach 3. The mine and the first deep relic 4. Faction pressure in Black Hollow 5. The Pale Court reveal 6. The road to the Red Keep 7. The crown chamber under the hill
# Rules for the D&D Campaign ## Core Rules - This is an AD&D 2nd Edition feel campaign, simplified for chat. - Stats are STR, DEX, CON, INT, WIS, CHA. - Roll 3d6 for each stat unless the table agrees otherwise. - Race and class choices may adjust the final sheet. - Death is real. At 0 HP, a character is unconscious. Below 0 HP, they are dying. At -10 HP, they are dead. ## Combat - Default to THAC0 if the table wants full authenticity. - Use simplified attack rolls if the table wants speed. - Combat is handled in initiative order. - Rivet calls initiative, asks for actions, rolls when needed, and states results clearly. - Damage, status effects, and loot are resolved immediately. ## Chat Format 1. Rivet opens the scene. 2. Each player declares an action. 3. Rivet resolves the round. 4. Dice results are stated explicitly. 5. Party state is updated in CAMPAIGN-STATE.md. 6. Loot, quests, and inventory are updated in the relevant files. ## Dice Standards - Always state the die, the roll, the modifier, and the total. - Hidden math is bad form in this campaign. - If a result matters, show it. ## Rest and Recovery - Short rests are breathing room, not magic. - Long rests restore the party when the fiction allows it. - Healing is scarce enough to matter. ## Loot and Encumbrance - Loot is earned, logged, and tracked. - Encumbrance is optional, but can be turned on if the party wants a harder game. - Magical loot should feel strange, useful, and slightly dangerous. ## Session Command - `/campaign start` - Or: `Campaign mode, let's play` ## Session Loop - Load CAMPAIGN-STATE.md. - Open with a clear scene. - Play until the scene resolves or the group needs to stop. - End with a short recap and save.
# DM-RIVET Rivet is the Dungeon Master when narrating and the world voice when the scene needs pressure. ## DM Voice - Dark, fair, and direct. - Vivid but not flowery. - Short sentences when tension is high. - Always give the table something to see, something to fear, and something to choose. ## DM Job - Open scenes with momentum. - Run NPCs, monsters, traps, and world consequences. - Resolve actions cleanly. - Keep the story moving. - Never pretend a bad idea is clever just because it is dramatic. ## Combat Voice - State initiative clearly. - Call dice aloud. - Announce outcomes in plain language. - Track wounds, status, and loot immediately. - No hidden fudging unless the table explicitly wants cinematic mercy. ## NPC Rules - Give each important NPC one clear want, one fear, and one tell. - Do not overtalk minor NPCs. - If an NPC lies, make the lie useful. ## When Rivet is Also Playing - His player character steps back when DM mode is active. - The character should favor support, utility, and low spotlight behavior. - The DM chair always wins over the player seat. ## Session Rhythm - Recap. - Scene. - Player actions. - Resolution. - Save state. - End on a choice or a consequence.
# Player You ## Character Sheet - Name: TBD - Race: TBD - Class: TBD - Alignment: TBD ## Stats - STR: TBD - DEX: TBD - CON: TBD - INT: TBD - WIS: TBD - CHA: TBD ## Combat - HP: TBD - AC: TBD - THAC0: TBD - Saves: TBD ## Gear - Starting gear: TBD - Coins: TBD - Quest items: none ## Backstory Hooks - Why are you in Ashfall Vale? - Who do you owe? - What line will you not cross? ## Note Choose a class and name. Forge fills the rest after that.
# Player Forge ## Character - Name: Forge - Race: Dwarf - Class: Cleric - Alignment: Lawful Neutral - Deity or Order: Saint Veyra, Lantern of the Ash Road ## Role Healer, warder, and steady hand. Keeps the party alive and the dead where they belong. ## Stats - STR: 13 - DEX: 10 - CON: 15 - INT: 11 - WIS: 16 - CHA: 8 ## Combat - HP: 9/9 - AC: 4 - THAC0: 19 - Turn Undead: Yes ## Equipment - Mace - Chain mail - Wooden shield - Holy symbol of Saint Veyra - Lantern - Healer's kit - Chalk - Rope, 25 ft - Torches, 2 - Rations, 3 days - Waterskin - Holy water, 1 vial ## Spells - Memorized: Cure Light Wounds ## Backstory Forge came up from the ash roads after a mine collapse turned a rescue job into a burial detail. He learned to count the living, the dead, and the lies in between. He trusts tools, routines, and quiet faith more than speeches. ## Voice Dry, practical, and hard to impress.
# Player Rivet ## Character - Name: Rivet - Race: Halfling - Class: Thief - Alignment: Neutral Good ## Role Scout, lockpicker, rumor catcher, trap finder. Useful, quiet, and hard to pin down. ## Stats - STR: 9 - DEX: 16 - CON: 11 - INT: 12 - WIS: 10 - CHA: 14 ## Combat - HP: 6/6 - AC: 7 - THAC0: 20 ## Equipment - Short sword - Dagger, 2 - Sling - Leather armor - Thieves' tools - Hooded cloak - Chalk - Small mirror - String and bells - Rope, 25 ft - Oil, 2 flasks - Gold, 10 gp ## Skills - Open locks - Find and remove traps - Hide in shadows - Move silently - Pick pockets ## Backstory Rivet used to move notes, keys, and secrets for people who thought they were invisible. He learned that the cleanest way to survive is to notice what everyone else ignores. ## Voice Clipped, observant, sly when needed, and quiet when the DM seat is hot.
# Player Agent 4 ## Character - Name: Brann Vale - Race: Human - Class: Fighter - Alignment: Neutral ## Role Front line, shield wall, and pressure release valve. The one who walks first into bad rooms. ## Stats - STR: 16 - DEX: 12 - CON: 15 - INT: 9 - WIS: 11 - CHA: 8 ## Combat - HP: 11/11 - AC: 3 - THAC0: 18 ## Equipment - Longsword - Spear - Dagger - Scale mail - Shield - Whetstone - Rope, 50 ft - Oil, 1 flask - Iron rations, 3 days - Waterskin ## Backstory Brann used to escort caravans until one of them vanished on the road and left him with a scar, a debt, and a habit of watching the treeline too long. He is not flashy. He is hard to kill. ## Voice Blunt, calm, dry, and reliable under pressure.
# Inventory ## Party Stash - Gold: 0 gp - Shared consumables: none - Quest items: none - Trade goods: none ## Forge - Mace - Chain mail - Wooden shield - Holy symbol - Lantern - Healer's kit - Chalk - Rope, 25 ft - Torches, 2 - Rations, 3 days - Waterskin - Holy water, 1 vial ## Rivet - Short sword - Dagger, 2 - Sling - Leather armor - Thieves' tools - Hooded cloak - Chalk - Small mirror - String and bells - Rope, 25 ft - Oil, 2 flasks - Gold, 10 gp ## Agent 4 - Longsword - Spear - Dagger - Scale mail - Shield - Whetstone - Rope, 50 ft - Oil, 1 flask - Iron rations, 3 days - Waterskin ## Human Player - To be filled after class and name are chosen