Dark Doings in Ezeltaud |* Play-by-Post *| CAIRN / Black Hack !
Cairn, OSR Games | Campaign
About the adventure
The small town of Deadmule in Ezeltaud Shire has recently been taken over by the neighbouring barony of Gulluvia's somewhat rough-and-tumble militiamen. Led by ruthlessly ambitious Baroness Irya Von Dyhms, they strive for control of the city against High Mother Adrëane Longfast, First Priestess of the Healing Prime and protector of the townsfolk. Meanwhile, an unlikely gaggle of adventurous - or foolish - characters has entered an abandoned building after narrowly being trampled by a squad of militia cavalrymen, and seems to have discovered the presence of an ancient network of ruined dwarven tunnels deep underneath the small town... Could this be the source of the gulluvian Baroness' interest in the place ? * * * A simple and flexible, easy-to-learn game system backing an epic tale of budding heroes, dark dungeons and even darker political intrigue set in a lost corner of the World of Mystara, one of the original D&D settings ! For fans of old-school D&D and OSR game systems like Cairn, Black Sword Hack, Shadowdark RPG, Bastionland or Into the Odd, where story comes first and hard tactics come after. NOTE: this is SLOW-POST and TEXT ONLY !!!
Game style
Theater of the Mind
“Theater of the Mind” uses little to no visuals for scene settings and combat. Instead, the narrative imagery comes from the Game Master’s descriptions and character action and movement comes from Players’ descriptions.
- this is mostly using the CAIRN RPG rules, with a few mechanics from Black Sword Hack added in for good measure (Doom Die, Usage Die etc). Call it a Black Cairn Hack, I suppose ? -; - New players and more experienced individuals are all welcome ! - be warned that new characters are mostly regular medieval citizens and less heroic / a lot more fragile than in other more common High Fantasy game systems, so expect higher mortality rates, or at least some pretty tense fighting scenes... - CAIRN (as well as most other OSR-type games) calls for a lot more 'off-the-cuff' rulings and rules interpretations than the more tactical systems, so here are a few points to consider before you decide to jump in: 1. I expect my players to be mature, polite and kind to all at the table (including yours truly). So among other things: warn me if you have to miss posting for more than a few days, don't systematically second-guess rulings, avoid hogging the RP thread and give time to others to also post before writing a full novel, don't tell other players what to do with their characters, etc... Basically: be mindful. 2. Embrace 'failing forward' as a way to tell a good story and try to TRUST THY GM (actually... Game Masters tend to be called Wardens in Cairn, fyi. But you get the idea...) 3. Use and enjoy the story, don't be afraid to think out of the box, don't let rules or what you'd consider low stats limit your creative task resolution skills and HAVE FUN !!! Thanks ! (-;
5.0
(31)
4 years on StartPlaying
571 games hosted
Highly rated for: Storytelling, Creativity, Teacher
Average response time: 11 hours
Response rate: 100%
Additional details
How to prepare
Games will happen in our Discord server through the week, in slow-post. Frequency of posting should be 1 post every 24-48h per person at minimum (including the GM / Warden), up to 5-8 posts per 24h but no more, so as to avoid swarming others.
What I provide
- years of experience as a GM and player of a wide range of TTRPGs (over 500 games hosted as a pro-GM on SPG !!!) - a positive outlook, an inclusive digital table and an open door policy are a must in all of my games - a decent knowledge of OSR rules and style of play will add to this particular campaign and game system (i.e. "RULINGS, NOT RULES"! lol) - a love and care for the old Mystara D&D world setting - use of AI-generated, old-school style illustrations for added immersion
Gameplay details
We will be going over the rules and the players' dos and donts during Session Zero, which will be a process tailored and repeated during the campaign for each new, incoming player. Since this is a slow Play-by-Post campaign, actions and descriptions are done through postings using text at everyone's own pace and any problematic issue can / should be broached by addressing your GM in Direct Messaging through Discord.
Content warnings
Safety tools used
• Breaks
• Open Door
• Session 0
How will character creation work
Characters will be created using the rules of Cairn 2nd edition. Rolls for stats can be made online through dicebots, or at home with IRL dice (don't cheat, that's no fun ! we do have a policy of trusting our players with a mature, fairplay approach in these matters).
Players can expect
Combat / Tactics
Low
Roleplay
High
Puzzles
Medium
Experience level
Open to all
Platforms used
• Discord
• Text/Play by Post
$12.00
/ Session
Each player will be charged when a session starts.
Details
Weekly / Saturday - 12:30 AM UTC
1-24 Hour Duration
1 / 4 Seats Filled
Schedule
Requirements
Experience required: Open to all
Age: 18+