A few years back I ran a campaign called Hyperdrift Stories, which combined two different games in effect. You could play as part of the starship Tempest’s crew, or you could play in a strategic game as one of the major factions in Settled Space. We got in about 18 sessions with the Tempest crew and played around 8 turns with the strategic game. Now, I want to do something like this again, but I have some different approaches. I’m running a cyberpunk campaign that is open table - anyone can join. The campaign is set in New Ashford, a mega city with many arcologies, cities buried under cities and powerful corporations locked in a strained alliance.  The abstract map of the city.  What I’ve done with this campaign is set up two systems (for now) that pertain to how you play. Downtime is handled in a very specific “ Citizen Sleeper ”-style gameplay, where each turn lasts a real-time week. In this system you can explore the city, meet new characters and manage resources. This part...

I recently finished the series of Heroic Relics , which I made to give a D&D’ish feeling with Into the Odd. I’m currently running a new Curse of Strahd campaign for my coworkers using Into the Odd. For that reason I’ve also come up with a sort of table set that will scatter the Heroic Relics across the sandbox in Curse of Strahd. At character creation, I ask the players what class they want to play as, and provide the list of classes that was used in D&D 5e. Once they decide, I ask them to roll a d6 to see which of the six Heroic Relics they start with. The rest are then “generated” into the sandbox as needed. Image generated with Midjourney. First off, note to the player that there is a strange sigil on the item they start with. You can draw this out if you want. The idea is that each relic has this sigil on it, identifying it as a piece of the set. Second, cause an event for each player which clues them in on the existence of the rest of the items. A ghostly figure appears in...

In the Heroic Relics series I've been writing a set of items adapting the class abilities found in Dungeons & Dragons as items for Into the Odd. In this part, I take on the Sorcerer, Warlock and Wizard. This is the final part of the Heroic Relics series. The entries are as follows:     Barbarian, Bard, Cleric     Druid, Fighter, Monk     Paladin, Ranger, Rogue     Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Sorcerer Image generated with Midjourney. Staff of the Elemental Channeler: This enchanted staff allows the wearer to channel elemental power. When activated, the staff can produce a specific elemental effect (e.g., a bolt of fire, a gust of wind, or a surge of lightning), which can either deal d10 damage or cause a local change (i.e. light something on fire, knock something down with wind, or power an ancient electrical device). The staff depletes its energy after three uses, but regains it at dawn.  Amulet of Sorcerous Blood: Thi...

In the Heroic Relics series I've been writing a set of items adapting the class abilities found in Dungeons & Dragons as items for Into the Odd. In this part, I take on the Paladin, Ranger and Rogue. Enjoy! I'm doing the full array of classes found in 5th Edition, so the order of appearance will be the following: Barbarian, Bard, Cleric Druid, Fighter, Monk Paladin, Ranger, Rogue Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Paladin Image generated with Midjourney.   Pendant of Divine Sense: This pendant helps the wearer detect powerful evil or good forces nearby, showing their direction and nature. Gloves of Lay on Hands: These gloves let the wearer heal with a touch, providing a pool of healing points equal to their Willpower score per day. Spend 1 point to heal 1 HP or d6 points to regain 1 Ability score point. Sword of Divine Smite: This sword can smite up to three times per day, dealing an extra d8 damage on its next attack. If it deals damage to an undead’s STR, they must pass a WIL s...

Last week I wrote some items that adapt class features from Dungeons & Dragons and places them in an Into the Odd context. Here is the next set in line, this time for the Druid, Fighter and Monk. I'm doing the full array of classes found in 5th Edition, so the order of appearance will be the following: Barbarian, Bard, Cleric Druid, Fighter, Monk Paladin, Ranger, Rogue Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Druid Image generated with Midjourney.   Staff of the Wild: This magical staff allows the wearer to communicate with animals and plants, understanding their feelings and emotions. Upon passing a WIL save, the wearer may view the memories of the creature they touch.  Robes of Nature's Ward: These robes provide the wearer with a natural resistance to harmful environmental effects such as extreme temperatures or poisonous plants. Up to three times per day, the wearer may use the robe to sprout a plant that entangles an opponent and causes their attack to be impaired.  Circlet of ...

So me and a few of my coworkers decided we want to start a new campaign. Almost all of them have never touched an RPG before, so I want to run Into the Odd for them, but still sprinkle in a bit of the fantasy-element found in Dungeons and Dragons. To that effect I've started making some items that are themed after the classes in D&D. This will be a series of posts, essentially, where I post 6 items per class. I'm doing the full array of classes found in 5th Edition, so the order of appearance will be the following: Barbarian, Bard, Cleric Druid, Fighter, Monk Paladin, Ranger, Rogue Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Barbarian   Image generated with Midjourney. Belt of Raging Strength : Wearing this belt grants +d6 Strength. Once per day, the wearer can tap on the belt to gain bonus HP equal to their Willpower.  Bracers of Wind: Wearing these bracers grants the wearer d12 HP. Once per day, the wearer may re-roll the d12. The bracers do not work if worn along with armor.  Great...

So, I had a little idea the other day. I call it "Dungeon World" just to cause confusion. But it's also literally a world of dungeons 😏 . No, literally . There is no natural landscape in this world. It's all dungeons.  Picture by Rudy and Peter Skitterians , used with permission. It was originally built by unknowable creators in some unknowable time in the past. Since then, mages from various planes of existence discovered the place and decided to add their own touches. Many peoples live here. To them, the thought of a world not made by the Makers is just freaking weird. Mountains of just solid rock? Preposterous. Only the great edifices of the Makers or the Mage-Kings that followed should reach towards the skies. Food is something you get from the Garden-Cemeteries of Ceres. Or maybe you hunt it in the Underworld.  Picture by 132369 , used with permission.  Journey deep enough and you find the Columns That Hold The World. Great hexagonal pillars made of a substance ...

In this post, I’m going to outline some ideas for how to handle campaigns when it’s difficult to get the same players at the table consistently. You have probably seen the memes. Maybe experienced it first hand yourself how hard it can be to schedule a game.  What I offer is by no means a silver bullet, but it may make things easier to run. And of course, none of this is necessary if just one of your players will miss the session. This is more relevant for those who have several players missing. The first thing to tackle is… Linearity For many it is a foregone conclusion that whatever follows in the next session should be in continuation from the last session. But is that really necessary? In my mind, it isn’t. It may be at odds with consistency, but it hasn’t surfaced often as a problem in my games. Put a pin in that - One Shot Mentality What benefits are there to non-linearity? Let’s say you have a group that is crawling through the tomb in Winter’s Daughter and your group stops ...