Running a pokemon one shot using the Pokeymanz rule set(google it, first result will have rulebook link)

Mentioned on Whatsapp, but Ill help though character cretion and rules. Just ahve a think about your starter and calling


Roll 20 link here - https://app.roll20.net/join/15557460/K0e56w


I have added character sheets for your trainer/starter for those I know want to play.

Calling all mosnter hunters:

Link to game: https://app.roll20.net/join/12913342/S3thHA

Ive set up a Roll 20 game to hold character sheets and the like. I have added some useful hand outs to have a quick look at. The most useful one is the basic actions list. Have a quick look if you get the chance. Dont really need a character token because we dont have maps, but Id like something to represent you so if you have an idea, drop me an image,

Happy to answer any questions or see you at 17:30 tomorrow. We start by building characters,

As the Champions of Barovia set off back into the world of the sword coast, the atrocities that they experienced and overcame began to become memories and the occasional nightmare. The order of Oerth, having understood that the betrayer gods sarcophagi were sealed in the collapse of the amber temple, they took the exposed vessel containing Vampyr and hid it in an undisclosed location.

For 10 years, the names Vampyr and Strahd faded into the echoes of time. That is until Opal and the order of Kelemvor, got wind of a cult beginning to form under the worship of the betrayer gods and their overarching deity, Vecna. Over the coming months, news became more and more troubling until it was discovered that the amber sarcophagi containing Vampyr was now no longer in the possession of the order of Oerth.

One of Opal's scouts, Galianthe, gathered intelligence that there is a hideout within the Nether mountains where the cult of Osybus are in the process of creating a vessel that is able to accept the soul of Vampyr to enact his will on those of the sword coast and increase Vecna's influence on the material plane.

In this time of desperation and need, you all feel a pull on your soul bond to aid your former companion. Will you heed the call once more to stop a previous adversary?

Coming Spring 2022 - The Cult of Osybus - A level 12 one shot.

As some people have started finishing their characters I have the starting scenario.

Bones. Bones have been seen rising to the surface of the water at a nearby reef that is normally a popular fishing spot for some of the Saltmarsh fishermen.
As such they refuse to go and fish there until the reason can be worked out.

[Insert your character here] and 3 others have been offered payment of gold or favour from Eda Oweland if they can investigate, and preferable sort the problem.

You have been taken out on a small boat by a volunteer who dropped anchor just off the reef and offers you a rowboat to get closer to investigate.

WARNING: LONG READ I GOT CARRIED AWAY. FEEL FREE TO SKIM

So with Sam taking a break from being a DM in a few weeks coming. I have volunteered to take over and host a campaign. However I realised that I actually have to do some work for this to work. Unlike watching Sam play lion in dota this isnt a laughing matter. I need get planning. So I made a short list of a few ideas. Please read through and let me know what you would want to do.

So Options available:

New Dnd Capaigns

Rime of the Frost maiden:

Set in the civilisation of Ten Towns this campaign can be looked at in 2 parts. A early sandbox of exploring Ten Towns followed by a brutal fight to the Cave of Hungers to discover a secret so old and terrifying that few speak of it.

https://dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop-games/rpg-products/icewind-dale-rime-frostmaiden

Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus:

A trip into the nine hells and back again. Set during the blood wars this is a long campaign (up to level 13) and one article described it as " Mad Max meets the Underworld" . Good if you like Baldurs gate, infernal machines or hell wasps.

Ghosts of Saltmash:
Less burning hells and more raging seas, this is features 7 shorter campaigns in the area of Saltmash. It has a huge variety of things to see do and die to. Also can be great for sandboxing if fighting Krakens or exploring Islands becomes too boring.

Tomb of Annihilation

ZOMBIE T-Rex.
If any other description is needed, and lets be honest it isnt, this is a Aztec jungle campaign exploring old tombs Indiana Jones style. A good all rounder.
And not Tomb of Horrors, thats the ♥♥♥♥ Tomb based campaign. Also Zombie T-Rex.

Mad of the Mad Mad
1 long dungeon crawl, from level 5 to level 20! While its very combaty and dungeon crawly it also has portals to the multiverse and forgotten Realm locations to explore. The dungeons has its own civilisations (apparently) so there will be plenty to do. (For anyone who didnt get it it called Dungeon of the Mad Mage)


Like DnD without the DND
So if we want to explore alternate dnd like systems there are a few choices.

13th Age: Eyes of the Stone Thief, The Strangling sea or Shadows-of-Eldolan

So what does 13th age do different? 13th age seems to have more of an emphasis on weaning you as heros into the word. 13th Age takes a more narrative approach to combat and world-building. Its more complex and requires players to interact in the narrative more than DND. This article covers the basics :https://site.pelgranepress.com/index.php/a-5th-edition-dd-players-guide-to-13th-age/

For Campaigns we have Eyes of the Stone theif, think Dungeon of the Mad Maze. https://site.pelgranepress.com/index.php/eyes-of-the-stone-thief/
The Strangling sea- A voyage to "that terrible place where castaways cling to existence in the rotting hulks of trapped ships, and deadly creatures feast on the unwary."https://site.pelgranepress.com/index.php/the-strangling-sea/
Shadows of Eldolan. Think Mines of Philadelphia.https://site.pelgranepress.com/index.php/shadows-of-eldolan/.

Shadow of the Demon Lord
Enter a world on the brink of annihilation, its lands torn asunder by war, plague, and ancient horrors. Urth, the world of Shadow of the Demon Lord, is one of many imperiled by the shadowy menace lurking without and in this game you can play through its final days as embattled survivors fighting against what to many seems to be an inevitable end. A complete role playing game in one book, Shadow contains everything you need to create characters to confront the hordes of demons spilling in from the Void and to create and play through exciting stories steeped in horror and violence.

Anyone sad that Curse of Strahd is ending? Well I found the solution.
The difference between it and 5e?
SotDL is faster paced and suited more for contained campaigns. If you like big sprawling dungeons or set pieces with lots of fighting - that's DnD's specialty. If you want smaller adventures with fewer but more significant encounters, then you would look towards SotDL. I would also say SotDL benefits from an episodic approach to campaigns whereas DnD tends to be really good at the meandering, continuous time, day-by-day style of play.

Something not mythic fantasy?! Does such a thing exist for Rpgs?

So we have a few systes designed for a different flavour of campaigns.

Lancer
LANCER features a mix of gritty, mud-and-lasers military science fiction and mythic science fantasy. In the setting, conscript pilots mix ranks with flying aces, mercenary guns-for-hire brawl with secretive corporate agents, and relativistic paladins cross thermal lances with causality-breaking, unknowable beings.

Players of LANCER adopt the roles of mech pilots -- comrades together in a galaxy of danger and hope. Some groups will fight for Union, working to rectify the crimes of previous administrations. Others, for a corpro-state, working to advance private interests while lining their pockets. Yet others will fight for groups acting in opposition to those in power, or for themselves.
https://massif-press.itch.io/no-room-for-a-wallflower-act-1 <- Campaign

Blades in the Dark
A criminal caper tabletop RPG set in a world inspired by Gothic fiction and Victorian London.

Blades in the Dark is a particularly unique fantasy RPG - one of our 2019 Games of the Year. Funded on Kickstarter in 2015, you play a gang of criminals pulling heists in a filthy steampunk-style city. The whole vibe is twisted Victoriana, with plentiful ghosts, lightning and cruel bureaucracy. Its default setting city of constant night Doskvol operates on roughly 19th century technology.

Firstly, you all pick a horrible criminal archetype, which can see you speaking to ghosts, robbing shiny goods or summoning hordes of urchins - depending on your tastes. You’ll then band together to pull off shady heists as part of a long-form campaign, playing out the consequences of the last big job - whether that means the city guard are on your trail, or you’ve attracted the attention of a nastier, bigger underworld boss.

Blades in the Dark is also one of the less mechanically meaty tabletop RPGs out there. You assign stats appropriate to your class, then roll a d6 (the only type of dice you'll need for this game)for each point in the skill you have. Due to limitations in class, each party member usually ends up being good at a few specific things.

Of all these mechanics, the flashback one proves the most conducive to storytelling. At any point in the game, you can pause and point out a thing that happened in the past relevant to your character. For example, you might have acquired an item, or spoken to a contact beforehand, that fact will turn the tides of battle right now.

In addition, you’ll get to construct your own criminal hideout, which expands as you hopefully accrue more ill-gotten gains. You can also build your own mad weapons over a series of heists.

Werewolf: The Apocalypse
Thematically, the setting veers towards a goth-punk dystopia and gritty realism. In it, werewolves, monsters and vampires all live among us.

You’ll play Garou: werewolves pretending to be humans, who are part of both the material and the spirit world. Sworn protectors of the earth, you can shapeshift at will.

In Werewolf: The Apocalypse 5th Edition, the world is dying, and the Garou are split on how to save it. Like the vampires in Vampire: The Masquerade, every Garou tribe has different ideologies and goals - so infighting is as much an issue as hostile external forces.

Shadow Run
Think cyberpunk rpg. The title is taken from the game's main premise – a near-future world damaged by a massive magical event, where industrial espionage and corporate warfare runs rampant. A shadowrun – a successful data theft or physical break-in at a rival corporation or organization – is one of the main tools employed by both corporate rivals and underworld figures. Deckers (futuristic hackers) who can tap into an immersive, three-dimensional cyberspace are opposed by rival deckers and lethal, potentially brain-destroying artificial intelligences called "Intrusion Countermeasures" – "IC" for short – who are protected by street fighters and/or mercenaries, often with cyborg implants (called cyberware), magicians, and other exotic figures, on such missions as they seek access, physical or remote, to the power structures of rival groups. Magic has also returned to the world after a series of plagues; dragons who can take human form have returned as well, and are commonly found in high positions of corporate power.

Furry Pirates
Probably the superior choice