Narnia: Ghosts of the Golden Age
A game set in the Golden Age of Narnia, where the direction of reconstruction is caught between looking to the past or the future.
About the adventure
The White Witch is dead and the Long Winter has given way to Spring. The four kings and queens rule over Narnia and a Golden Age of peace has settled over the lands once again. Families and groups that had lived in Narnia long ago, forced to flee from the White Witch's conquest now return and look to rebuild a land where any and all peoples and creatures may live in community and harmony. But how to achieve this? Dig up the foundations of past success, of a land lost to weather and Winter that had advanced significantly before its fall? Or to hold faithful to the natural designs of Works and Routine to push onwards to something new, never looking back? A story from between the lines of C.S. Lewis' own inkings, shape the unseen tales of the land beyond the wardrobe.
Game style
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Rules as Written (RaW)
Theater of the Mind
Roleplay Heavy
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
Less than a year on StartPlaying
3 games hosted
Highly rated for: Inclusive, Creativity, Storytelling
Average response time: 7 hours
Response rate: 67%
About me
I was once described as an "angst ho". In that moment I truly understood being completely offended by something I 100% agreed with. I get my inspiration to run games from the storytelling school of mid 2000s traditionally female demographic cartoons, Totally Spies, W.I.T.C.H. and Barbie Movies (Princess and the Pauper is the best one, that is the only correct answer) as well as stories that are absolute gaggles of smashed together mythos, fantasy and theism like the Chronicles of Narnia, His Dark Materials and The Mortal Instruments(not beating those angst ho allegations). All this to say I focus and specialize in narrative games. Between my actual GM experience of about 5 years on top of another 3 as a player, the story is where these games live and breath for me, plus with a healthy dose of theater and improv experience I find delight in being in character and bringing worlds to life. I would go as far to sat that I live and breath ttrpgs, and at any given moment there is a coins toss chance I am thinking about a campaign I am currently running, or one that I would like to run. I love discovering new systems, one of my most treasured possessions is a flash drive full of digital rulebooks, and I love involving my players in my obsession. Whether getting them involved in worldbuilding together to have them feel more involved in the world, or conceiving personal plots for them, My goal is to be a yes first GM, that I will do what I can to make the absolute nonsense my players want to do into a reality. I'm not the best at combat encounters, but I strive to make combat more than just a back and forth, and offer stakes, or alternative goals during conflict. Plus I can, and love to hurt my players in other ways (:< (with consent of course). In terms of on-boarding, I have a 0.5 interview process, consisting of 1on1 session 0 interview to see if a potential player will fit in with the game/group and go over table policies. If a potential player is invited to join, there will be a session 0.5 for character building and integration and any lore questions the player may have, followed by their first session with their character. All of these will be free of charge, to ensure the player also feels they are integrating well and intend to continue with the game. Overall I seek to offer the a safe, comfortable and healthy environment for myself and players to immerse ourselves in the heights of what this form of storytelling has to offer
View Profile →Reviews (5)
Proficiencies
Players say this GM is great at:
Inclusive
Creativity
Storytelling
I've played 4 one-shots so far with this GM and after each one I walked away with an emotional bond with the world and its characters, as well as my own character, that I've sometimes gone entire campaigns without establishing. I attribute this to Yana's incredible skill at roleplaying and the room they create to allow players to flourish. My favorite moment was when I was playing a character pretending to be a distraught friend of someone who the person I was talking to was friends with, because for a solid minute I forgot either I or my character were pretending.
I wouldn't call Yana a Game Master; he is a Storyteller, a Companion, a Guide. And sometimes a dragon from ages past, a kick-ass privateer, a...whatever Hailtrep is, a chilling, mind-twisting villain, a douche master-wizard who you just want to punch in the face. He takes you on an adventure through living lands where you meet friends and foes, challenges and fears, sadness and silliness. If, like me, you enjoy: - real characters - player agency - vibrant, non-static worlds - a fantastic mix of social situations and exploration, occasionally flavoured with some unique combat - bending rules when it makes for great storytelling or player moments - someone who roots for the players but also challenges them - bloody good fun then you've found your 'game master'. Thank you, Yana, for all of the above and more. Best ttrpg experiences I've ever had.
I've played 3 one-shot with Yana and loved each one. They're amazing at building an atmosphere that's intriguing and compelling and they're great at encouraging players to dig into the story how they want to approach it. There was space for humor, sillyness but also deeper emotions. The characters have all felt very engaging and the voice acting for each was really good, from the angry older bostonian boss to the snarky blasé teenage college student. They've been great at redirecting us when we've needed it and very comprehensive and helpful when someone required guidance (whether it was during character creation or in game when the rules weren't clear). They crafted helpful maps during combat. Overall it was an awesome experience and I really recommend it. (On the bit about inclusion I've had two characters being POC and one of them be queer as I am myself. None of that was ever an issue. And there was even an important plot point in one about racism. All of that to say even if I couldn't delve super in depth about this since they were one shot. I think Yana does a good job at inclusion and never felt uncomfortable or anything of the sort)
Character creation
Creating your character
Official character creation will take place during a Session 0.5, where all participating players will be on a call and craft characters using the 2014 editions and WoTC published add-ons for 5e. Homebrew/third-party classes & races will not be allowed without explicit GM approval. There will be opportunity to discuss third-party/homebrew rulesets, or carrying over better rules from the 2024 edition at this point as well. Showing up to this session with a concept and having a rough mental outline of a character beforehand will be helpful and speed up the process.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
Players will need: -A Roll20 account -Discord account & program -Regular access to internet connected computer or device that can operate the prior 2 programs -A decent microphone -Ability to potentially edit fillable PDFs
What Yana Underwood brings to the table
-Free 3-part introductory & onboarding system: 1) A 1on1 Interview/Session 0, to get a read on a player, learn a bit about them and if all goes well, an invitation to the game. 2) A group Session 0.5 where we can all meet on the planned game day(set to take place weekly), get a feel for each other and go through character creation and parts of world development will occur. During this time is where more interconnected aspects of how characters are connected to the world, and possibly each other will be discussed and everyone will be able to bounce ideas off each other and the GM 3) Session 1, the first game! This step ensures we all feel good about gaming together before a transaction occurs should players continue on and past Session 2 -Knowledge of source material: While some grew up with Tolkien, my formative fantasy was the works of Lewis. I am very familiar with the full series, and even began GMing in a Narnia based campaign that is still ongoing. I am deeply familiar with both the canon works of its original author, and can fill the blank spots left behind by him to build a compelling supplementary experience for my players -Tone Setting: I use Roll20 as my vtt of choice. The vtt will hold a variety of assets to help me run the game, such as mood setting background music, visual aids and images to help set the scene and assist players imagine the location their characters inhabit. Occasionally discord bots help with additional music and sfx -Battle Maps: Making combat easy to manage. All of the above sourced or created without the use of A.I. to my best knowledge -Adventure logs: Along with Roll20, a Discord server is set up to help host certain aids and materials for a game (Roll20 storage ain't infinite :/ ). Spaces to log the events of a game in chronological order, NPCs that have been encountered, maps and navigation help within the wider setting -Communal Space: Discords for my games also have player chat spaces, for sharing character references, chat or ask questions, and even game time chats so players can share OOC goofs and gaffs without disrupting the game! -2014 5e: All official WoTC materials allowed -Custom Patches: From minor custom items, to third party supplements to flesh out some systems, we get under the hood to make the game work as needed -Theater Kid: A wide ranging library of voices and accents that I use to do my best to bring my worlds to life. Characters are diverse in every sense -Consistency: I endeavor to have my worlds follow a through line of setting defined logic that makes it feel like an organism and character of its own, that will ebb and flow and be changed and influenced in conjunction with players actions -Make Believe: I value the improvisational aspect of these games and bring my experience from both improv performances and other games I have GMed, using these skills weave an interconnected tale, pulling from my own designs and PC backstories to make a shared world we can all have pride in
Homebrew rules
Usually homebrew is kept to a minimum, class and racial homebrew is not usually greenlit. Often third party supplements like Limithrons Guide to Naval Combat, will be used to supplement areas of core rulesets that are not entirely fleshed out. Other times, simple reskinings of items or reflavoring of items if an item would not fit a characters prefered fighting style, i.e. a Mace of Smiting turns to a Scimitar of Smiting Some table rules that are generally in play for my 5e Tables are as follows Inspiration Collection There is no limit on how much points of Inspiration you can have. However you may only use one point of inspiration per failed roll. Advantage stacking I like to reward tactical play, so I allow multiple levels of advantage to be stacked. Different actions/abilities that individually grant advantage may be used in conjunction to confer multiple levels of advantage for a single roll. Flanking rules are in effect
Equipment needed to play
Computer
Internet
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How Yana Underwood creates a safe table
Details of Safety Tools and whatever boundaries individual players will officially be gone over during onboarding, Sessions 0 & 0.5, and players are encouraged to bring up discomforts at any point during out of game time. VTT integrated X,N,0 safety deck also allows for assistance in anonymously bringing attention to sensitive subjects during game time and potentially pausing the game if needed.