Urban Shadows: Blood Rain Skies || [Learn2Play] [One-shot]

Creating your character

Individual characters are simple to make with a few quick choices at the beginning of your first one-shot.

Preparing for the session

To participate in the chat on Discord, you'll need a mic. Webcams aren't necessary, but they can help improve communication. Discord accounts are free and you should install the software before the game. I'll provide a link to my personal Discord server for the game. Foundry will be hosted by me, and once you've joined the game we can set up a pre-session to iron out any potential technical set up such as connecting to Foundry. You don't need to know the rules beforehand, no sweat! Urban Shadows is an easy to learn game, based in the Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) core, so if you're familiar with that, you practically know everything already. Regardless, your only concern should be enjoying the game and bringing your character to life. You can use physical dice if you have a favorite set, and Foundry character sheets will include steps to help automated dice rolling.

What Travis D. brings to the table

I'll provide the voice server via Discord and the Foundry VTT campaign link. Foundry has full character sheets and I'll provide art to set the stage for the game. This game is primarily Theater of the Mind. I have a great command of the system and love helping players get into a new game. I also enjoy helping people find their voice or style or roleplaying, and creating a comfortable environment we can explore together. Open-ended games like this require adaptability and on-the-fly adjustments, and together with the players I look forward to exploring the collaborative world we create. Expect cinematic styling, off screen reveals and an immersive story built around the PCs.

How Travis D. creates a safe table

This game will feature a heavy amount of Roleplay; That doesn't mean you must do character voices, or even speak in character if you find that difficult, but it does mean being invested in your character and their experience. Who are they? What would they do in this situation, might it be a bad choice, but the choice they'd make? How does whats unfolding around them shape their life, and where will they end up by trying to react to these happenings? It doesn't mean we need to know in advance these answers, rather much we'll be Playing to Find Out, and along the way creating an action packed movie together. Sharing the Spotlight and juggling the action, as well as the beats of the story, primarily fall in my responsibilities, but feel free to suggest alterations to scenes or exciting ideas. As long as we share the table respectfully and don't talk other each other, we're all taking on all the roles of director, actor and audience collectively in this game. And who knows what is fun to watch better than an audience themselves? Game will be held on Discord (Mic required, webcam optional but encouraged), with player aids, handouts and characters sheets on Foundry. The game will feature a mix of Theater of the Mind and art pieces to enhance the scenarios. Lines & Veils handled with handout on Discord & Foundry, and Breaks will be 5-10 minutes at the top of the hour unless everyone is too caught up in the game (or we prefer a single break in the middle). Stepping away for any reason is also completely fine, but if able please check in if it's a slight pause the table can wait for or if you prefer not to interrupt the flow of the game. Post game debrief will occur wrapping up the session, but feel free to use StartPlaying to message any additional thoughts that occur later before the next game. Stars and Wishes can be discussed before stepping away as well, but will also have a Discord channel for the game so there is no stress to think of all the cool things you'd like to see immediately.