⚙️ Circuit Breakers - Scouted or Hunted? Daggerheart One-shot🗡️
Forced to fight for a slumlord's profit, a brutal match draws the eye of Cid Greyson—are you being scouted for glory, or hunted for control?
About the adventure
🏙️ Setting: Argent — The City That Thinks for You Argent is a towering cyberpunk sprawl of neon-lit skyscrapers, rusted infrastructure, and omnipresent surveillance. It’s ruled not by politicians, but by algorithms—hidden intelligences that manipulate everything from corporate deals to individual thoughts. At the heart of it all is the Phalanx Academy, a combat institution that breeds elite warriors to resolve political disputes between the cities striving for Motherboard's scarce resources and hunt rogue machines. But beneath the martial honor code lies something dark, and veiled in mystery. You begin as a trainee—ambitious, skilled, and slowly realizing the arena is more than it seems. 🎭 Tone: Gritty Cyberpunk Rebellion With inspiration being drawn from Final Fantasy 7, Altered Carbon, Ready Player One & Two, Horizon Zero Dawn, Mortal Engines, and many more, you can expect a mix of: Combat sports spectacle (think Ender’s Game meets Gladiator) Mind-hacking paranoia (Ghost in the Shell and Deus Ex) Dystopian mystery with high-stakes choices and corrupt institutions It’s loud, stylish, and dangerous. ⚙️ Core Mechanics in Play Built on Daggerheart, emphasizing the following systems: 🔹 Code Trial Combat Structured PvP/team matches with points, crowd hype, and sabotage. Objectives beyond simple fighting: hold zones, disable leaders, hack systems 🔹 Machine Upgrade System Cybernetic loot (implants, chips, weapon mods) offer power... but at what cost? 🔹 Arena Reputation Your squad earns fame (or infamy) which can create allies and enemies. Your choices and performance matters. 🧬 What Makes Circuit Breakers Unique? Arena Combat with a Narrative Purpose Fighting isn’t just mechanical—it affects your social standing, mental state, and place in the city. The Choice Between Power and Freedom Upgrade your body, risk your mind. Every mod could change you—in stats and story. Cyberpunk Rebellion with Style You’ll hack systems, infiltrate data temples, duel mech-gladiators, holograms, and other teams, and expose what lies behind AI-controlled peace. A Living, Watching World NPCs remember your choices, your matches are public, and every decision pushes the narrative toward rebellion—or assimilation.
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
4 years on StartPlaying
9 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Teacher, Storytelling
Average response time: 3 hours
Response rate: 67%
About me
Looking for a GM to take your game to the next level? Look no further. My name is Joey. I've been playing TTRPGs for over 27 years and a DM for friends and family over a variety of fantasy settings and games since 2003. I'm an avid fan of D&D literature and have read many amazing works from R.A. Salvatore, Ed Greenwood, and many others that serve as fuel for my encounters, blueprints for combat sequences, and inspiration for my plot points. Whether you're a fan of smashing things with a hammer until gold comes out of their ears or solving intricate puzzles/investigating mysteries, I'm here to deliver a thought provoking experience that is best accomplished with teamwork and the Rule of Cool. I'm an IT and Cybersecurity Major, and also have quite a deal of experience with Audio/Visual work. I enjoy curating beautifully crafted digital maps, evocative background music and ambiences, and leveraging Artificial Intelligence to fill in gaps (my artistic ability 🙃) and bring my stories to life. I've been playing Daggerheart for my in-person group and I'm loving the collaborative storytelling approach. It is now my preferred system to run games on!
View Profile →Reviews (15)
Proficiencies
Players say this GM is great at:
Creativity
Teacher
Storytelling
Avalanche ran a oneshot for us playing Daggerheart and really showcased an exciting new system. He was knowledgeable about the rules, made a very engaging and well paced story and made for a great evenings entertainment. Combat was exciting and a great tool for understanding how Daggerheart combat works. He was very clear on rules, took time to explain where needed and encouraged our creativity and wove it into the narrative. He was also just a really nice person, could not recommend him more.
A great time all-around. Avalanche is a great facilitator, particularly for players new to the systems he runs. He took the time to engage with our first-time daggerheart party early before session start to help folks get the most out of the one-shot he ran for us. I was a big fan throughout the 4-hours.
The GM ran an engaging one-shot for a system I hadn't played before and was patient in explaining the rules, allowing the players to figure things out. A highlight was the combat, where he set up encounters for us to approach in the way we wanted to. This meant that the players weren't locked into only one method of resolving the issue.
Character creation
Creating your character
Level 1 Characters can be created via Demiplane or using Daggerheart core rules and fill out the Motherboard Module sheet. See the links at the end of this message. We will tweak characters together in the Start Playing Group chat prior to Session 1. It is recommended to read the Motherboard campaign frame on Ancestries, Technomancy, Ikonis, Augments, and Quantum. https://www.daggerheart.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Character-Sheets-and-Guides-Daggerheart-May212025.pdf https://www.daggerheart.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Campaign-Frame-Materials-May202025.pdf
What to expect
Preparing for the session
You will need a free Roll20 account, and sync it with Demiplane (if preferred).
What AVALANCHE brings to the table
What I Bring to the Table: 🎲 Demiplane Access integrating to Roll20 Seamless character creation with official Daggerheart tools—easy, intuitive, and fully supported. 🧠 Support for New Players No experience? No problem. I offer a welcoming space with patient guidance—just bring your curiosity! 🎭 Roleplay-Driven Storytelling Your character’s choices matter. The story evolves based on what you do. 🗺️ Immersive Visuals Custom maps and key NPC visuals to bring the world to life and encourage exploring!
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How AVALANCHE creates a safe table
Lines and Veils discussed at session start and XNO cards used during play.