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Cryptid Creeks: The Watcher's Chosen
TYPE
SYSTEM
LANGUAGE
EXPERIENCE
AGE
$5.00
/ Session
Details
Weekly / Tuesday - 7:00 PM UTC
Session Duration / 3–4 hours
4 / 4 Seats Filled
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Schedule
Meet your party members
4/4
About the adventure
Play Cryptid Creeks with the head curse-writer! Cryptid Creeks is a tabletop roleplaying game about a crew of teenage investigators—the River Scouts of Shingleford—who find themselves entangled in a centuries-old conflict between powerful cryptids. They do this by investigating Curses—supernatural blights that grip their home region of Clawfoot. These Curses spring from the Peddler, an eldritch being intent on spreading chaos and misery throughout the community. His reappearance in Clawfoot is of particular concern to the Watcher, a benevolent creature and supernatural patron of the Scouts, who has existed in harmony with the townsfolk since ancient times. The game evokes popular movies from the 80s, such as The Goonies and Stand By Me, alongside modern TV series such as Gravity Falls and Stranger Things. The game’s mechanics are based on Apocalypse World by Vincent and Meguey Baker, with the mystery system and phase structure lifted from Brindlewood Bay and The Silt Verses RPG by Jason Cordova and Gabriel Robinson, respectively. You don’t need to know anything about those games in order to play. Eldritch horror, manipulation, supernatural rituals, powerful curses, threats to animals and children, family trauma, revenge, and other dark subject matter come up in this game from time to time, all explored through the lens of the coming-of-age genre. Subject matter will vary between Curses, but in the interest of setting expectations now, you should know that while the game is generally lighthearted, some intense subject matter can come up.
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(5)
1 year on StartPlaying
5 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Inclusive, Knows the Rules
About me
I've been playing TTRPGs for well over a decade now, starting with Dungeons and Dragons 3.5e run by my dad when I was little. I fell in love with the medium and over the years grew a preference for story-driven, narrative-heavy, and rules-lite games. I've been GMing for about seven years, most of which has been Powered by the Apocalypse and/or Carved from Brindlewood games. I'm also a game designer, and you can find some of my work on DriveThruRPG, as well as in Hatchlings Games' coming-of-age game, Cryptid Creeks. I'm openly trans and gay, neurodivergent, and have a big focus on safe and comfortable gaming utilizing safety tools.
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
Character creation will take place during session 0. Keep in mind that you should not talk about your character's backstory in or out of character until directed to do so by the game's rules.
Play Cryptid Creeks with the head Curse Writer! In this first session, we will go over basic procedures as well as create our River Scouts, set expectations for the game going forward, and play through an abbreviated Investigation Phase.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
You will need a Google account to access and edit the shared character keeper. You will need a free Zoom account to join the game sessions. You must have a working microphone. Webcam is encouraged but not required.
What Steph brings to the table
I will provide a link to a Character Keeper hosted in Google Sheets, as well as a Zoom meeting room. If it's something each player wants, I can record the game sessions and upload them privately or publicly to my YouTube channel so everyone can go back and watch the game if they're getting nostalgic. I try to voice each character with a unique way of speaking, and I like to lean into whatever themes my players are presenting me with. I do my best to say yes, and or yes, but to anything a player wants to do. I have Spotify playlists for the game I'd be happy to send over if you're like me and enjoy background music.
Platforms used
Safety
How Steph creates a safe table
Session 0 will be roughly half set-up, including discussion of safety tools and character creation, and half gameplay. I use the Open Door policy, meaning you can leave at any time for any reason, and you won't be pestered about it. During session 0 and throughout the course of the game players will be able to select Lines and Veils from a sheet, as well as romance plot consent. When using the X-card, in the context of a video-call, please say "I'd like to X-card that" since I have a lot to focus on and little screen real-estate to do so, meaning I won't always be paying the closest attention to webcams. At the end of every session, we will utilize a technique called Stars and Wishes---everyone will go around and say things that they liked about the game or this particular session (stars), as well as what they would like to see going forward (wishes).
Content warnings
Safety tools used