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City State of the Invincible Overlord: A Campaign
In a city thousands of years old, ruled by an evil overlord, your heroes will either hide in the shadows or rise up and become shining beacons of hope
TYPE
SYSTEM
LEVELS
LANGUAGE
EXPERIENCE
AGE
$11.00
/ Session
Details
Bi-weekly / Saturday - 5:30 PM UTC
Session Duration / 4–4.5 hours
Campaign Length / 12+ Sessions
3 / 8 Seats Filled
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Schedule
About the adventure
If you want an urban fantasy campaign that's at turns gonzo wacky, dark and dangerous, and complex and conspiratorial - you know, Old School! - then this might be for you. The City State of the Invincible Overlord was the first sold product of Judges Guild in 1976 and the first glimpse anyone outside of a small circle of friends had of the campaign setting known as The Wilderlands. It is a city to be explored, a city of adventures, and a city of hundreds of personalities. And possibly just the start of a wider exploration of the Wilderlands!
Game style
Rules as Written (RaW)
Roleplay Heavy
Combat Heavy
Dungeon Crawl
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
About me
You travel 60' down a 10' wide corridor. At a 4-way intersection you encounter me. The encounter reaction is friendly! From me you learn the following rumors: 1. I have been playing D&D since the B/X edition and DMing most of that time (T). 2. I once dressed as a minotaur for Halloween (F - but I wish!). 3. I was published in Dragon magazine once, in the TSR days (T). 4. I have written published modules and accessories for several small gaming companies (T). 5. I own the world's largest d20 (F - where would I store it??). 6. I am a self-published game designer, my game is the best supported game you've never heard of (almost surely T). 7. I am here to run Old School games that are fun, challenging, and rewarding, using theater of the mind and low-tech props over Zoom (T). 8. This was all a trick! Roll for initiative!
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
Starting level may vary over time for new characters and we will discuss this on an individual basis. You may submit your own rolled up OD&D character, using the original 1974 booklets + Supplements I-III, or we will work together to make the character, or you can even submit a character from a later ruleset and I will help modify it appropriately.
The party currently consists of third to fourth level characters (no one started at level 1).
What to expect
Preparing for the session
You will need a webcam and a mic; it would be ideal to test them on Google Meet before the game. You do not need to have read the rules, but it would not hurt. You will be rolling dice on your end (honor system). You should also have graph paper for mapping!
What Melissakainen brings to the table
I will be bringing my imagination! My dice, game books, and maps will be right here with me. There may be visual aids sometimes, but it will largely be theater of the mind.
Homebrew rules
OD&D requires more interpretation than rules revision. That said, I have tweaked some things and created additional mechanics for handling downtime.
Equipment needed to play
Webcam
Internet
Platforms used
Safety
How Melissakainen creates a safe table
Players can expect to quickly pick up the 0e D&D (1976) rules. Game play will be largely roleplaying, then exploration, killing, looting, and problem solving in that order. Every session will begin with a short "session 0," discussing expectations, things you need to know, and character generation (unless you opt to play a pre-gen).
Content warnings
Safety tools used