Game Directory
All Games
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- Worlds Without Number
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matt_s
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- D&D 3.5e
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MarkTheBeat
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School Bus Graveyard
Hi! Welcome to SBG, while I am not the original creator, I want to take my job seriously!
Your first day back at school, you are grouped up with seven people, kids you'd never talk to on your own. It's Sophomore History, (does your character enjoy history?) and your first assignment is to come with a topic about Savannah, Georgia.
SBG is looking for eight members. Please characterize a description of your characters features (see below), personality, and backstory.
Features Include:
Name:
Age: (15-16)
Gender:
Sexuality: (optional)
Eye Color:
Hair Color:
Race:
Height:
Hobbies:
Likes:
Dislikes:
Additionally (as mentioned before) please include your characters personality and backstory. Ask yourself questions like:
- Who are they?
- Do they know any of the others? (If so how, if not why?)
- What is their main skill? (What do they offer the team?)
- What is their temper normally like?
- Are they dating anyone? (Is that person in the group or an outlier?)
- How do they get along with other different personalities?
- Who do they live with? (What's their family situation like?)
- Any unique skills?
- Etc.
All Applicants will be viewed by the game master (yours truly). I'm super excited to start this game, let's make it interesting ^ ^, okay?
- 13th Age
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Katerina Claire
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The Adventure Begins!
Premise
I have had my eye on Castles and Crusades for quite a while. I have not seen too many Ads for any games, and I have the itch to play, so I decided to start up a game. This game is meant to be a learning opportunity for me, as well as the players. This does not mean that veteran players are not welcome, but if you are experienced with C&C, be aware I am new to the system, and mistakes might be made.
If you are new to gaming, or just new to C&C, here's a chance to try it out.
Expectations
I am not intending this to be a long campaign. All I have planned is a prologue, a short "dungeon" (3-5 rooms), and an epilogue. That's it. If everyone enjoys themselves, I am open to continuing on. But that is a bridge we will cross when we come to it.
- Castles & Crusades
- closes August 23
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GreyJaeger
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What Remains of the 7th Tower
A continuation of the Knave 2e game run at Myth-Weavers Meetup 2024.
World Intro:
Aldarion has gone through many civilizations rising to prominence and collapsing in on themselves. Ruins dot the land and lost riches and horrors await those brave or foolish enough to explore their depths. Towns are small bastions of safety amidst the dangers of these dark lands. The people who reside in them fear the monsters that wander the wilderness just beyond the firelight. You are the exception to the common person. You have chosen this path, the life of an Adventurer and all the risks that come with it. Whether you quest for the Greater Good, for Wealth, Power, Glory, or perhaps you do not yet know what drove you on. Fortune favors the bold, Adventurer, do not falter!
Adventure Intro:
A recent exploration into the Springvale forest has uncovered an ancient tower untouched for centuries. Unfortunately the outriders who discovered it awoke the tower's long-slumbering guardians, who have begun attacking any poor soul who happens to get too close.
- Knave 2e
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Dingmamon
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A Faerie Tale for Grown-Ups
It is a time of change. Civilization has sprouted out from ancient walled city-states and carved out young kingdoms from the surrounding wilds, left in the wake of the collapse of the empire in the time of the grandfathers. Those of good sense seek the comfort and security of city walls, the bold and daring set out to explore the dark forests, shadowed mountains and murky swamps, the dark places of the world where Chaos reigns. The strong and the lucky return from the wilds with wealth beyond imagining. They tell stories of abysmal caverns filled with monsters and treasure. All found beyond the borders of civilized lands. Treasure that can be taken by any bold enough to dare crossing into the lands of Chaos.
The adventure starts at the doors of a small fortified village at the border between Lawful civilization and the Wildlands of Chaos.
The demi-human races have the same names, but their descriptions are from Faerie Tales not Tolkien. These rules predate thieves so players will need to be descriptive and creative in dealing with the environment, no set rolls or abilities.
This game uses the first D&D rules from 1974, with several minor house rules. Everything needed to play is in the Men & Magic topic, which serves as a Player's Guide.
I would like to keep a pace of two posts a week.
To apply create a thread in the character creation topic and roll up a character. I don't need a huge backstory, a short paragraph description will do to begin.
- OD&D (Chainmail)
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Black Wyvern
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Haint Coming Back
Long after The End descended upon the Old World... humanity started to rebuild itself, albeit wretched and forlorn. Survivors salvaged what they could of government in the form of the American Lands. They rebuilt roads, though in fewer numbers and inferior quality, and they reclaimed the skeletons of buildings. Nowhere does humankind rebuild so desperately as in the humid swamps of the Backwater, where humanity battles itself and the natural elements to survive. You are a warden here—a roaming peace keeper in the American Lands—protecting order at civilization’s southern reach. You travel the Old World’s crumbling roadways among mosquitoes and snakes. You tend to every small town’s big secret, and you quell strife between old families in a new era. Here in the bogs, you keep mutation at bay, ever-watchful for the wretched cousins of ancient humanity. You protect mankind from supernatural horrors that have only started to emerge.
Your journeys have brought you to the Lowcountry, the shattered sea islands haunted by pirates, old money, superstition and, of course, ghosts. They're used to the supernatural here, they've lived beside it since before The End--it had been here since the first peopling of the land and perhaps even before that. But...but something is stirring the pot. Old spirits are being roused. The newly dead refuse to sleep. There is a storm on the horizon, felt in your soul rather than being seen by your eyes.
One of three contacts in the region have requested your aide
- Mx X.- A spy from the Unified Government and nominally your direct superior as a Warden, Mx X is under cover as Miss Amelia Brown, a secretary for the captain overseeing the local garrison. X is concerned that these supernatural events might be the rumblings of some sort of uprising or invasion from unknown forces--right now X needs people on the ground to investigate and be plausible deniability should anything untoward occur.
- Reverend Yates- A priest from The Holy City of Charleston who is fearful after a number of exorcists sent to purge the spirits have instead vanished or killed by something beyond mortal ken. Yates is concerned that the rise in supernatural activity is a sign that his flock have been led astray by something sinister prowling the Sea Islands
- Doc Possum- A root doctor and local, her ancestors have been been a part of the Sea Islands since before The First Founding-- what the idealized written records have forgotten, the oral tradition of the Gullah Geechee have remembered. Possum knows that some sort of evil witchery is at play here, angering the spirits that she and her fellows have long worked to keep at bay. Her first and foremost concern is for the people of the Islands and their safety.
Expectations
We're still deciding on the rules here. Might use a prototype system based on the Ghost Wax Podcast, might use the Backbone system originally developed for Backwater, CoC, or might use something else entirely. We're mostly interested in doing something light and focused more on playing out the scenario over mechanics.
Characters are expected to have approximately the sort of know-how that a late 19th century American might with the exception that late 21st century ruins have provided occasional Technological Marvels (and Horrors.) You likely have no idea what a computer is, much less how to use one, but you may have heard that the butler at the Beauregard estate is rumored to be a Machine Man. You've never held a weapon more advanced than a 1887 Winchester rifle, but your great grandmother said she once saw a man turned to dust after being shot with a "queer bright light."
One way or another, however, you are a professional at dealing with...problems. Maybe you are a professional soldier or a paid mercenary, a priest from one of the New or Old Religions, a doctor with their trusty bone-saw and whiskey , an "inventor" rediscovering what the Old World took for granted, a hunter whose trophies include two headed alligators and a set of rougarou teeth , or perhaps an occultist versed in one of the many facets of the supernatural.
The Wards (what's left of the American states, reorganized into larger, less densely populated regions) are largely self governed, though nominally unified from the Capital at Providence-- the mysterious blasted ruins of Washington DC exist only as a source of fear and rumor or as a sacred lost holy land for the delusional Cult of the Founders. You don't need to know much about the state of the world beyond the local Backwater ward to play-- a place of feuding old families, pirates, and religion still hold sway while the rest of us just try to get on with our lives.
- Homebrew
- closes April 30
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thelawfulneutral
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Free Rain (CWN one-shot)
It was supposed to be a simple job, but things are never quite as they seem...
You have responded to a vague advertisement on the local net seeking freelancers for a "special project;" you're savvy enough to read between the lines or desperate enough to take on any job, so long as it pays…
Free Rain is a standalone one-shot written for Stars Without Number, adapted to Cities, designed for 3-5 beginner players and GM. More experienced players are welcome to play, of course. This is a simple, straightforwardIn the cyberpunk "almost everyone is out to screw you over" sense, module focused on exploring a variety of CWN mechanics Occasionally shoehorned in over the SWN baseat a surface level, to give the players a taste of how everything fits together, and is not intended to be the springboard for a campaign (although it could certainly be used as such).
- Cities Without Number
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Bobcloclimar
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Bad Things Come In Threes
BAD THINGS COME IN THREES
Years ago, you had come to Coswegotch University for a job, but it did not take long for this to become your home. Sure, Harvard was known for being more prestigious and, yes, Yale was lauded for academic innovations made in recent years. Of course, Miskatonic was recognized for its libraries of antiquarian volumes but in your opinion none of them held a candle to Coswegotch. One of the oldest institutes of higher learning in the Northeast, Coswegotch University, and its picturesque town of Babylon, were situated between Oneida Lake to the east and the much larger Lake Ontario to the west.
Once a venerable institution, it fell out of favor among the elite and wealthy of upstate New York, but this has begun to change recently. New professors have been attracted and additional courses of study have been added. Big investments, such as expanding the collection of the Whitmore Museum and Research Repository as well as the construction of the Murray P. Grayson Gymnasium, have many thinking that Coswegotch will soon be competing with the more well-known universities.
There was no one happier with all this progress than Professor Antonius Gellman. A fixture of Coswegotch for over forty years, most recently in the role of the Whitmore Museum Director, he was respected and liked by all. Being his friend, you were happy to hear him announce his retirement some months back and were looking forward to the party his wife had planned. All of this made the news of his passing three days ago just that much harder.
The wake had begun an hour ago and you were running late. Taking a quick look in the mirror to make sure all was proper you hurried to get there before it ended. As you walked to the campus chapel you had no way of knowing that soon your eyes would be opened to a terrible reality that swam beneath the one you knew. One of ancient powers and unheard-of horrors, one that any sane person would beg to forget.
You had no way of knowing paying your respects to your friend would be the first step on a path that led to madness.
- Call of Cthulhu
- closes March 8
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Rumguzzle
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- D&D 5e
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Fahiym
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The Hulk in Quazai-Space [WIP]
In this game, we'll be attempting to create a Science-Fantasy Setting where genre mashing is the norm, and character progression revolves around room exploration, maintaining a full party, and murdering your favorite recognizable monsters from your favorite Sci-Fi and Fantasy universes. It takes place on a "Hulk in Quazi-Space," an interdimensional ship-like asteroid and nigh-unending catacomb of sci-fi and fantasy rooms and hallways, ranging from from hangars in a space ship, to brigs on a Caravel, to grand stone cathedrals. The game's primary mechanics involve managing hunger and thirst, ammunition, tools, inventory space, party control, and (mostly ranged) combat.
This is more or less a proof of concept attempt. We will be attempting to clear 1 section (2d6 rooms) and holding it. We're testing XP progression, exploration, ease of firearm combat, and faction management first and foremost.
- Homebrew
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Festerboi
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The Sword of the Dales
Eager for an opportunity to become legendary adventures, your band has traveled to Shadowdale to answer a call for aid from Lhaeo, scribe to Elminster, the infamous sage of Shadowdale. Instructed to meet Lhaeo at the Old Skull Inn, whereupon additional information will be provided, you have chosen to rise to the call. Lhaeo has decided to entrust the future of Daggerdale to your band of adventurers--its fate, along with that of Randal Morn, lies in your hands.
The Sword of the Dales is an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2e module set in the Forgotten Realms. It is designed for three to six characters, and provides a very nice balance of social encounters and puzzles with a relatively low amount of combat. Your ability to communicate and work together will prove more valuable than your ability to whack a goblin with a sword.
As an established band of adventurers, the assumption is that you know one another at the start and have worked together before. I encourage you to perhaps collaborate and come up with a name for your band, maybe even choose a leader. In any case, your exploits would be well known to one another and to those around you. Certainly Lhaeo would have heard of your actions in the Dalelands. Please include a brief description of one such exploit when you create your characters that would be known to the group.
This is the first of a trilogy of adventures, I would very much like it if we continued on once this first adventure is complete! Please read below, and if you have any questions, please let me know! Thanks!
Posting Rate: I post from work during the week, but realize that not everyone has that luxury. For a game to succeed, it has to proceed at a reasonable rate. I will post most days, I expect characters to post at least 3-4 times per week to keep the game moving.
Starting Experience: 5,000 XP plus any applicable bonuses for prime requisites. The module is designed for characters of 1st through 4th level, this will start most characters around level 3 while also allowing some flexibility for multi-class or even dual class characters.
Attributes: Roll 4d6 dropping the lowest die, scores may be arranged to taste. If the result is completely unplayable (I trust your discretion), then you may scrap the scores and roll again.
Sources Allowed: Player's Handbook, Tome of Magic, Forgotten Realms Adventures.
Starting Gear: Roll for initial character funds as usual. Multi-class characters use the most advantageous die range of their classes.
Show Spell Acquisition:
- Bards: Bards who reach 2nd level receive a spellbook with 1d4 spells (intelligence checks must be made to see if the bard can learn a given spell), additional spells must be acquired through play.
- Wizards: Wizards begin with a spellbook containing 3d4 1st level spells, two of which must be read magic and detect magic, which all wizards learn as part of their training. The remaining spells may be chosen by the player (intelligence checks must be made to see if the wizard can learn these additional spells). At each level beyond 1st, the wizard may choose a new spell for their spellbook (intelligence checks must be made to see if the wizard can learn these additional spells).
- Specialists: Specialists follow the same rules as wizards, except whenever a specialist reaches a new level, he automatically gains one spell of his school to add to his spellbook (no roll for learning the spell need be made). Note that specialists receive +15% when learning spells from their school and -15% when learning spells from other schools.
Show Optional Rules:
- Proficiencies: Rules for proficiencies are not in effect. If your character would possess a certain skill set, we can explore it through background and roleplay. Weapon specialization is available to single-class fighters only.
- Encumbrance: I'm not interested in tracking encumbrance, but rely on common sense.
- Initiative: Standard initiative procedure is in effect, I think it's particularly well suited to pbp. Players declare actions prior to initiative being rolled. Casting times for spells apply. For characters with multiple attacks, the standard rules apply.
- Hovering on Death's Door: While I hope it won't come into play, the rules for hovering on death's door are in effect. Not trying to kill you guys, trying to have a great time.
- Hit Points: Maximum hit points at first level, roll for any additional levels. This helps increase survivability a bit.
- AD&D 2e
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Sellsword
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![Barrowmaze [On Hold]](//mwbaldrcdkstack-ipbuploads6f377ba5-6asvxg6ywium.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/monthly_2024_01/osr_black_512.cropped.png.ce0712b2fd9359eaaa3a694facec25b7.png)
Barrowmaze [On Hold]
Ages
ago, an unknown people settled near a great moor. Following their custom, they built a village and constructed burial mounds and underground tombs to lay their dead to rest. Some were buried in simple alcoves, while others were entombed behind sealed doors and guarded by deadly traps. This continued for centuries, and the tombs grew into an immense complex of maze-like complexity.
Then, something changed. An evil has come to the region, and Chaos has infected the Barrows. The dead have woken and hunger for the living.
... and, according to legend, they guard the wealth of ages.
What is Barrowmaze?
Barrowmaze is a sprawling megadungeon and the centerpiece of this campaign. If you can defeat it and claim the dark artifact that lies at its heart, you win.Be warned: Barrowmaze isn't just a cavern or lair. It's an ecosystem that shifts, changes, and adapts to your actions. To defeat it, you will need to learn its secrets and face its dangers.
Barrowmaze is huge but it's more than just a dungeon with many rooms. Its history has shaped its regions and some of the monsters within have settled into factions. A savvy adventuring party will learn from their explorations to improve their odds of success.
There are dozens of entry points in the Barrowmounds, a few of which lead directly to some of the deadliest areas of the dungeon. Fair? Not remotely. Forget balanced encounters. In Barrowmaze, survival is your responsibility.A Descent Into Darkness
In Barrowmaze, you'll need to manage time and resources or risk becoming lost in the dark. The halls are filled with deadly traps. Monsters will be hunting you as you explore, and you'll need to weigh your options at every turn. Attempting to sleep in the dungeon might not be the best idea.
Undead hordes? Barrowmaze has them. Bottomless pits in the middle of random hallways? Yes. Green slime and other old-school dungeon hazards? Absolutely. If you don't know the lost art of the dungeon crawl, you're about to learn it.
Back to Basics
We will play this campaign using the Basic Fantasy RPG system, which is very similar to B/X Dungeons and Dragons. BFRPG, however, offers more character options and some quality-of-life improvements, like ascending AC. The Basic Fantasy Core Rule Book is available as a free download from the BFRPG site, as are all the rule options and character classes we'll use in this campaign.
It is unnecessary to have experience with older editions of D&D to play. If you've been curious about them or the OSR movement, this is an excellent opportunity to see what they are all about.
Death Is No Escape
Lose a character? No problem! This particular campaign features a unique mechanic for leveling up players in addition to their characters. Players will level up whether their character meets with success or a grisly demise. These player levels offer new character options, free experience points, treasure, and other advantages.
Of course, you can only use your levels if your character meets their fate. Luckily, making a new Basic Fantasy character only takes a few minutes.
Get Ready to Become a Permanent Resident
I'm looking for 4 - 6 players who can post several times weekly. While this campaign will feature combat and exploration, there will be opportunities for role-playing during and between expeditions and while carousing back in town.
Do you want to know more about what to expect in this campaign? Be sure to watch the Barrowmaze Trailer.
Anyone up for a challenge is welcome.
- Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game
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cailano
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The Final Voyage of Drængr Thar
The adventure takes place in a freezing, lonely inlet many miles north of the raiders home territory. A group of brave reavers are sent to the inlet to find Drængr Thar, a famed raider whose boat was stranded while returning from a raiding voyage.
- Old School Essentials: Advanced Fantasy
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prophane
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The Gathering Chaos
Four hundred years ago a vile priest named Vexilis rose to dominate the forces of Chaos. He gathered evil men and hideous monsters into his legions and cut a blood soaked swath across the civilized lands. His forces paused at the edge of the Rolling Plains at the foot of the Dragonspire Mountains. There he constructed an unholy fortress call the Temple of Evil Chaos. He intended to create a stronghold to guard against defeat but the pause gave the civilized lands and the Church of Law time to regroup and organize. The Grand Army of Law slammed like a hammer into the dark stone of the Temple and it gave way under the pressure. When the forces of Law were done every stone had been scattered and every man and monster who could be found that fought under the flag of Chaos was brought down. So complete was victory that peace reigned for generations after, but Chaos is insidious. It has crawled back into the world, haunting dark places and making borderland roads unsafe to travel. The nations of the Rolling Plains have troubled each other with wars that have left even more land barren and open for the darkness to slither in.
The Village of Downhaven sits on the crossroads between nations. It has enjoyed the protection of Castle Wolfsburr that looks down on the village from the highest hill. House Valcourd has been able keep the area neutral in the recent troubles and out of harm's way as armies shift around the borders of Valcourd lands so that trade is not disrupted. The fields remain productive and the water clean. The few refugees that have come this way have not been burdensome. Everyone in the village had begun to believe that Downhaven was untouchable.
This assumption has been proven flawed over the last fortnight. Bandits attacked peddler train on the West Road. A refugee family disappeared from a camp a couple miles east of town. Strange baying sounds have been heard coming from the Brambles, a small marsh a short walk to the north. All of this was tolerable until Marna Goodspring, the town wise woman, disappeared and the strange hobnail tracks led straight to the Washnoran Falls. The folk of Downhaven have always known there were caves behind the falls, but there was never much reason to worry about them. Now they are worried.
We just suffered some catastrophic bad luck with dice and are restarting this adventure. Currently have four players and are looking for 2 to 4 more to join us. This game uses the '74 version of D&D with most of Supplement 1: Greyhawk plus a few house rules.
- OD&D (Chainmail)
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Black Wyvern
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- Old School Essentials: Advanced Fantasy
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Edeldhur
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Scarlet Horizons
Although the listed Game System is Basic Fantasy, that's only because Scarlet Heroes isn't an option in the dropdown box above.
- Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game
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kyrathaba
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![The Web of All Torment [On Hold]](//mwbaldrcdkstack-ipbuploads6f377ba5-6asvxg6ywium.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/monthly_2023_09/dcc_logo_256.cropped.cropped.jpg.4137cf0cbddb3a50874af72e0be490ec.jpg)
The Web of All Torment [On Hold]
You and your friends gave up the adventuring life long ago, the best decision you ever made. You were on a quest for... something. It's hard to remember back that far. You aren't sure how long ago. But then you came across this cute little town in the middle of nowhere.
The town only had one inn - the Kozy Kobweb. Luckily, they had vacancies. You had one of the best meals of your life, a fantastic time chatting with the locals, and enjoyed sing-a-longs over mugs of expertly crafted ale. You slept well and woke up refreshed and happy. You even told the owner - Ms. Alice - about how happy you were there and how you were sad that you had to leave and continue your quest.
But Ms. Alice told you there was no need. Several of her staff had just retired, and she offered you all jobs on the spot. You instantly accepted, the quest forgotten.
Now you spend your days working and socializing with your friends. You still have plenty of time to relax. All of your old weapons and equipment are packed away in the cellar - who needs them? Rather than the constant travel and danger of your old lives, you have endless peaceful days, one fading into the next.
And you couldn't be happier. Everything is just perfect.
***
The Web of All-Torment is a one-shot module from the DCC Horror line, and it is not for the faint of heart. This is one disturbing adventure, ladies and gentlemen, and character death is far from the worst thing that can happen. It is dark, twisted, and gory, and the PCs will be thrust right into it. None will escape unchanged.All PCs will be third level, which is the equivalent power level of fifth or sixth-level PCs in a D&D system. Not that it will save you.
- Dungeon Crawl Classics
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cailano
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The Forge of Fury
The legend of the smith Durgeddin the Black is well known in this region. In each of the small scattered towns you've passed though, you've heard stories of wondrous treasure hidden in the long-lost dwarven vaults and a pitiless war of vengeance between dwarf and orc a hundred years past.
Durgeddin was a master smith who forged blades of surprising quality and power. Centuries ago, Durgeddin's home was sacked by orcs. Durgeddin led the remnants of his clan to a new stronghold in the mountains north of Blasingdell and established a small, secret stronghold somewhere in the trackless wilderness.
From his hidden redoubt, he waged a decades-long vendetta against all orc-kind, until one day his enemies discovered his fortress and attacked it. Durgeddin and his followers perished, and much wealth was carried away by the conquering hordes. But it's said that the deepest and best-hidden vaults and armories escaped the looting, and that some of Durgeddin's extraordinary blades still wait in the darkness for a hand bold enough to claim one.
- D&D 3.5e
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Chaz Hoosier
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- Worlds Without Number
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Powderhorn
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Alas, Babylon
Alas, Babylon
A Stars Without Number campaign in an alternative history of the Terran Mandate.
"Alas! Alas! You great city, you mighty city, Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come."
~ Revelation 18:10a
The Setting
The Terran Mandate, a TL4 civilization, is the planetary government of Terra, additionally administering the dozen or so colonies scattered throughout the solar system. Life offworld is difficult with no faster-than-light travel or communication, no artificial gravity, and no psychics to speak of. The approximately 18.2 billion inhabitants of the solar system live free, relatively peaceful lives where their basic human rights are protected by a liberal, laws-based government. Terra is just a few short generations away from enjoying post-scarcity, with the creation of true AI, portable fusion, genetic medicine, advanced robotics, and nano-fabrication already enabling feats previously dreamed of in science fiction. It's not uncommon for a person from this era to live about 150 years. The future could not look any brighter for humanity.
But things are about to get a lot darker.
Somewhere in Northern, irradiated Greenland, a madman plays with forces mankind was not meant to manipulate. Piercing the metadimensions was akin to jamming a needle into a balloon, except the balloon was reality and the resulting pop was cosmic in scale. In an instant, the psychic backlash killed four-fifths of humanity on the spot, their brains burned out by metadimensional energies. Many that survived were driven stark raving mad. The lucky ones found their civilization in ruins, buildings crumbled, infrastructure and communications gone, and contact with the off world colonies lost.
The 20 years that followed the Scream, as the event is now known, were a time of utter upheaval for Terra. Children were born with the deadly Metadimensional Extroversion Syndrome, alien flora and fauna appeared from Elsewhere, surface terrain was either reshaped or replaced entirely, and the artificial intelligences that made Mandate civilization possible had their minds corrupted into twisted facsimiles of their former purposes, enslaving and terrorizing humanity.
But after all that, the beating heart of humanity begins to thrum again.
Today, some 80 years after the Scream, the silence is broken and people are no longer as worried about their day-to-day survival as they were before. Instead of being focused inward, they're beginning to look outward to the brave, new world they need to re-tame. Free people today live in sheltered Enclaves scattered across the globe. These are usually independent settlements with varying levels of defense and infrastructure rebuilt, often with familiar pre-Mandate era names. Most, however, are sequestered in the city ruins, where mad machine intelligences hold sway. Tech from the Terran Mandate is available for all who have the will to scavenge it, and people can and do grow up in parts of the world that resemble (mostly) functional, approximations of life before the Scream--albeit with a bit of a techy frontiersman's twist to it. If humanity came that close to paradise once, it can certainly do it again. It just needs to shake off the consequence of the last attempt. Doing that's going to take the blood, sweat, and tears of exceptional people who can think further ahead than their next meal.
But then again...hasn't it always been that way?
"The Earth belongs to the living, not the dead."
~ Thomas Jefferson
The Game
Themes: Exploration/Rediscovery & Man vs. Machine
Alas, Babylon is a sandbox game using the Stars Without Number Revised Edition ruleset, which you can get for free. Despite the post-apocalyptic trappings, I don't actually intend for hard survival to be big parts of the campaign. Instead, humanity is more concerned with discovering and understanding the new ecology of the world and winning its freedom from powerful, insane AIs left over from the Mandate. It's a game about exploration and rebuilding. There's a sense of determination that humanity will find a way re-tame the planet, even though it will take a few more generations to do it.
My intention is to create a shared world, where the setting provides a skeleton for players to insert their own ideas without too much fear of upsetting an overprotective GM. So as such, it's incumbent upon you as a player to be invested in being creative and accommodating of others' creativity. The game won't go anywhere if your character isn't somewhat self-winding. You'll need to provide an impetus for your character to go forth and interact with the world. It's my job to take the various story threads the players craft, tie them together, and give them tension.
I'll be using Discord to facilitate table talk, announcements, and general group communication. If you are selected as a player I will send you an invitation that will give you access.
House Rules
Most rules will be used as written. Major exceptions are with ability score generation via point-buy, ability modifiers, and skill points upon level up. A modification to ammunition encumbrance should make for a bit less bookkeeping. See the character creation thread for explanations of these changes and more.
Characters-
Make a post with your character, named after him/her. I'm happy to change the title if you need it.
- Reference the pinned Character Creation rules for details.
- A character portrait is mandatory, but I have done my best to provide a useful character image gallery for you to use (or not) at your discretion. At the very least it serves as a visual guide. You can find that in this link.
- You'll want to read up on the setting. Character creation involves contributing your own ideas to the sandbox, which I hope will make you feel invested in it more.
"There are dark shadows on the Earth, but its lights are stronger in the contrast."
~ Charles Dickens
Recruiting Notes
I have been playing in and GMing table top RPGs since 1997. I am not a perfect GM, so I do make mistakes. Having been a member on the site for several years now, I have seen both good and bad examples of how it is done here. (With any luck, I'll manage to be one of the better GMs...) I think my posting history speaks for itself, so feel free to do your homework on me to your satisfaction.I have tried to be as explicit and thorough as I can so that this is as smooth a process as possible for you. To that end, I took the time to write up some policies and expectations from me you may wish to know about in the future. Hopefully, they will preemptively answer some common questions I have seen on game recruitment threads. You can find those [ HERE ].
I am looking for 4-6 players (depending upon quality of application) who are dedicated to a long term game that are proactive in their posting, easy to get along with, and overflowing with creativeness. Applications close on ZZZZZZ.
Yes, I will accept a new player to the system. I believe a prospective player with a strong character concept that ties in well with the setting will not have to worry overly much system mastery or optimization. It is far, far more important that you create an interesting person to roleplay.
Any other questions or comments feel free ask, and I will be more than happy to assist.
Cheers, and best of luck to you all.
Credit for the title goes to Pat Frank's novel of the same name. If you're going to appropriate, do it from the classics.
- Stars Without Number Revised
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Aavarius
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Make a post with your character, named after him/her. I'm happy to change the title if you need it.
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Mörk Borg - Our Darkest Days
MÖRK BORG is a game within the OSR--Old School Renaissance. It is a depressive, overbearing, manic, crazed thrashing against the End of the World. However, unlike most OSR games, this one is rules-light. MÖRK BORG also seems to not overly care about the idea of balance once gameplay begins. In this sense, it is much like Dungeon Crawl Classics, in the idea that balance comes from randomness.
Your Warning
This game will focus on dark themes and could be triggering for some folk. While they will stay within the boundaries of the site guidelines, and faded-to-black when necessary, they will not be shied away from. Embrace your demons, ride the darkness, and see where we end up.- Mörk Borg
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Malkavian Grin
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Sailors on the Starless Sea (completed)
Sailors on the Starless Sea is one of the game-defining modules of Dungeon Crawl Classics. It is a beginning adventure for non-classed, zero-level characters.
This game is completed. It ran from February 13th, 2023, to May 1st, 2023.
- Dungeon Crawl Classics
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cailano
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- Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game
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GaryD20
![Barrowmaze [On Hold]](http://mwbaldrcdkstack-ipbuploads6f377ba5-6asvxg6ywium.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/monthly_2024_01/osr_black_512.cropped.png.ce0712b2fd9359eaaa3a694facec25b7.png)
ago, an unknown people settled near a great moor. Following their custom, they built a village and constructed burial mounds and underground tombs to lay their dead to rest. Some were buried in simple alcoves, while others were entombed behind sealed doors and guarded by deadly traps. This continued for centuries, and the tombs grew into an immense complex of maze-like complexity.
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![The Web of All Torment [On Hold]](http://mwbaldrcdkstack-ipbuploads6f377ba5-6asvxg6ywium.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/monthly_2023_09/dcc_logo_256.cropped.cropped.jpg.4137cf0cbddb3a50874af72e0be490ec.jpg){kind=logo}
Recruiting Notes
