Something that has always been a part struggle as I get older is finding a group. Not just a one shot. But a real campaign group. With my schedule and living on the West Coast. And to be honest I am use to a gaming on every other Saturday. I know that might be old school. But beside when I was in grade school for a sleepover. I never played during a week. For my mind set weekdays is for school and sleep and some TV hehe. When Civid happen Before then I never thought of playing during the weekdays. And boy did I do a lot of gaming during that time. But now we are back to a similar normal life. So my weekdays is too busy or too tired to even think of gaming. So besides solo gaming I have tried. But the thrill of a group it is ok. So I have thought about play by post. But my experience with playing what will is beyond zero. I got some serious questions. How does combat and a social reaction work. I have a hard time seeing how that could work well. I feel like I want it to work but I have a hard time seeing how it works. Help me I want this to work.

I thought long and hard about this. And played a lot of systems. And I have to say I like it better to gain XP with bother my completing micro task to keep myself engaged in the story we are trying to tell. But at the same way I am torn by getting XP by failures. The idea getting XP by learning from your mistakes. Speaks to me. And then again I like what as a group we all level up with milestones. I know how bad it felt when one class would level up and you did not.

Hope this makes sense. I am continuing a campaign someone else did a couple sessions of, Dragons of Stormwreck Isle, dnd 5.5e if that matters. The concept in my interpretation is several adventurers go there because they're seeking something at the island, wisdom, spells, etc. One PC is looking to find out what has happened to his long lost grandfather. This whole thread has nothing to do with the prewritten material other than there's a dragon type quest to resolve and the rumor about the grandfather is he was carried away by a dragon over 50 years ago. I have planted a couple clues that would lead the crew to think this PC(paladin aasimar) has a "twin" that has been seen on the island and that there are some signs of a time travel vortex or field or something. I'm thinking maybe they'll find the twin and realize it's actually the grandfather and there's a time warp. Then I'm thinking maybe they'll get pulled into some other world/timeframe/something and that might be the new proactive campaign. I'm planning to tell the actual players about these concepts a little bit each week as we resolve the pre-written scenarios/adventures prior to the time warp. Any thoughts on how to transition in a cool or conflict driven way? Or any suggestions on moving forward? While on the island I have a sorcerer & wizard who both want more magical powers/spells etc., a tabaxi rogue who wants cat nip but is holding back on other motivations, a warlock on a quest for knowledge, patron still a mystery. Open to any reactions, thanks.

I read Proactive Roleplaying a few months ago and now I’m in to the second book, which has options for wiring with a homebrew or published book. How many of you are using homebrews? I started playing in 1980 and have played and DM’d on and off since. I had a traditional homebrew created with key elements and lots of choices. I had thought to use it for our first Collaborative Campaign, but I’m so excited as I read the book that I may start from scratch to get more player agency. I would love feedback on that, too.