Setting the Stage, Campaigns for D&D and Other RPGs

61 - Helix and RPG Major

Today's guest is Helix, the GM of the actual play podcast, RPG Major. RPG Major is a detective show in a fantasy version of modern Seattle. The show is half RPG/half musical improv, setting it apart from many other actual plays. The game is run using the Genesys system. Every few minutes a song drops in to cover the group's activities and emotions. The whole show is accompanied by live acoustic guitar music. There's a little chord the guitarist plays whenever the dice are rolled or a bad thing happens. Great, easy listening.The world is much like our own, but with more fantasy creatures right on the surface of the public eye. Creatures are everywhere if you know where to look, but most people simply don't look. History remains similar to our Earth, with no fantastical events or magic in the last few centuries. All the satyrs, dryads, fairies, and ogres have gone into hiding. And when a problem with the fantastical world emerges, who you gonna call? Not the Ghostbusters, but Thorn Investigations! The PCs play the members of the new detective agency, Thorn Investigations, which helps the people of Foxglove (fantasy Seattle) whenever a supernatural issue arises.RPG Major LinksWebsite: https://www.rpgmajor.com/Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5VJkfQ5Rm2KimYsCpOOUOsApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rpg-major/id1766663794Discord: https://discord.gg/HXNRZqZxAEHelix and I also briefly discussed the Filipino monster, the Manananggal, and the Filipino actual play podcast, the Blades of Mayari. You can check them out using the hyperlinks to learn more.Our website: https://gocorral.com/stsWant to be on the show? Fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/U11TbxtAReHFKbiVAJoin our Discord: https://discord.gg/Nngc2pQV6C Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

60 - Todd and Skjaald Sagas

Todd tells us about his world, Skjaald, and his fantasy TTRPG system he's designing for it called Skjaald Sagas. The main continent for Skjaald is Driktsuung, a place with varied biomes similar to North America. The people of Driktsuung are divided into the Six Realms with different governmental structures for each Realm. All the typical fantasy races are present with a few twists. Magic is deeply connected to the soul in Skjaald, causing changes in the nature of all magical creatures. Dragons are the most affected as they are beings of almost pure magic. Magic also acts as a form of radiation that slowly turns spellcasters into draconic beings.The Skjaald Sagas system grew out of D&D with d20 resolution and class-like choices based off different personality types called archetypes. Examples include Fighter, Protector, Cleric, Thinker, Coward, and Leader. You roll using your attributes which are also increased through usage. Thus if you want to be a better melee attacker, you either have to attack during combat or state that my character is practicing during downtime. Higher attributes that are associated with a certain archetype allow you to increase the stage of the archetype and unlock new abilities. The point based system allows for easy movement between the different archetypes as your character grows through play.Skjaald Sagas Links:World Anvil: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/skjaald-todd-cainPlaytest Materials Google Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Z8BvQk-F7BI6xQtWu7ZwMEMk91bbDujHtZ85kYQ4gwo/edit?usp=sharingI mentioned Elfquest while talking with Todd about the elves in Skjaald. If you'd like to try Elfquest most of the comics are available through a reader on the creators' website: https://elfquest.com/reading-room/Our website: https://gocorral.com/stsWant to be on the show? Fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/U11TbxtAReHFKbiVAJoin our Discord: https://discord.gg/Nngc2pQV6C Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

59 - Ryan and Ethereal

Ryan is designing a TTRPG system and setting called Ethereal. In the setting all cryptids like Sasquatch, the Loch Ness Monster, and Mothman are real. An international government organization known as the Beacon exists to control these cryptids and keep them away from humanity. The players act as agents of the Beacon, solving different cryptid crises in an X-Files or Men in Black fashion. The stories take place during the 1910's, but with slightly more advanced technology available for Beacon members.The Ethereal system is a hybrid of d20 and detective games like Gumshoe or Brindlewood Bay. Everything has a set DC of 11 or 22 to make things simple and players have a resource called Momentum for investigations. Each player character is a picks a Division (class) and Specialty (subclass) as part of their training and expertise within the Beacon.If you'd like to follow along with Ethereal's design and release process you can stay up to date with these links:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FineGroundCryptidsTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/finegroundcryptidsDiscord for playtest files and community: https://discord.com/invite/JhWh8ewSW6Our website: https://gocorral.com/stsWant to be on the show? Fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/U11TbxtAReHFKbiVAJoin our Discord: https://discord.gg/Nngc2pQV6C Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

58 - Luca and Codex Inversus

Luca presents his world, dubbed Codex Inversus. Luca is from Italy and has used Italian Renaissance art as the inspiration for his campaign setting. Whenever he writes a new piece of lore its accompanied by a photoshopped piece of Renaissance style art. To see all the amazing art you can check out Luca's links below.Codex Inversus is a world that its creator god abandoned. With the creator gone, all the lesser divinities, devils, angels, and elementals began fighting. This conflict resulted in The Collapse which fused the planes of existence into the mortal world. Parts of of those planes are still scattered across the world. Forced to live in the same territory, the wars for extinction have ended between outsiders. Devils now coexist with angels, their respective progeny, and many humans, elves, dwarves, halflings, orcs, and beast people alike. Some still wait for the return of the creator, but others work to build a new world in the creator's absence.Check out these links to follow the content that Luca is making for Codex Inversus. He shares the same stuff to all three places, but more of the fan content is present on Reddit.Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/codexinversus/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/codex_inversus/Medium: https://lucavanzella.medium.com/If you'd like to vote in the CRIT Awards you can check out the different nominees on their website: https://www.critawards.org/Our website: https://gocorral.com/stsWant to be on the show? Fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/U11TbxtAReHFKbiVAJoin our Discord: https://discord.gg/Nngc2pQV6C Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

57 - Daniel and Mists of Eldoria

Daniel tells us about his community published campaign, Mists of Eldoria! Mists of Eldoria is available for anyone to download and run for themselves via Daniel's Patreon page. Of the nine parts of the campaign four are finished so far. You can follow along with the adventure as Daniel and his own group explore Eldoria and get closer to defeating the ancient evil at the heart of the continent.Eldoria is a magical continent hidden in the mists of Toril, the world that Faerun is on. It was cut off from Faerun until recently a ship captain found a way to navigate the mists and arrive at the hidden continent. One thousand years ago Eldoria was cut off from the world by the immortal wizard, Taldor Vex. He has secretly ruled Eldoria since by wearing various disguises through the ages. Players must discover who this man is, why he cut the continent off from the outside world, and his motivations for doing so. Do they want to undo his actions or allow the status quo to continue?If you'd like to check out Mists of Eldoria for yourself here are some links:Daniel's YouTube page with some info on Eldoria and lots of his prop making stuff: https://www.youtube.com/@MasterfulDungeonsDaniel's Patreon where you can subscribe for free to get updates on all his latest content: https://www.patreon.com/masterful_dungeonsThe Mists of Eldoria Dropbox where all the campaign content is stored for you to access: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/aiothd8em7zxo963zp974/h?rlkey=n77zrbqeqd86ugi04ur5zpnlp&dl=0If you'd like to vote in the CRIT Awards you can check out the different nominees on their website: https://www.critawards.org/Our website: https://gocorral.com/stsWant to be on the show? Fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/U11TbxtAReHFKbiVAJoin our Discord: https://discord.gg/Nngc2pQV6C Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.