Image by Kip Pheasant
The Usher Foundation (A Magnus Archives Cypher Game)
The Usher Foundation is a vast library and paranormal research facility. You've found yourself working for them. You hope you come out alive.
TYPE
SYSTEM
LANGUAGE
EXPERIENCE
AGE
$20.00
/ Session
Details
Bi-weekly / Friday - 1:00 AM UTC
Session Duration / 3–4 hours
1 / 5 Seats Filled
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Meet your party members
1/5
About the adventure
Maybe youve always had a creeping sense that something was wrong about all of this. Maybe you’ve seen things from the corner of your eye too horrible to think too long on. Maybe you know or feel or understand too much, and no one in the world can truly see you as you are. You live in or near Washington DC. It is Autumn. It is 1999. Based in Babylon, Maryland, the Usher Foundation investigates and archives paranormal and other fearful happenings throughout the United States, and may or may not be funded by the government. Maybe you’ve heard of them. Maybe you haven’t. No matter how involved you are with the perhaps crackpot organization that resembles more a library than anything else, you don’t know much about what goes on within, as even the job listings keep tight-lipped on what exactly you’ll be doing there. But you've got the job, should you choose to accept it. Maybe you’ve sought them out to forget. Maybe you’ve sought them out to finally understand. -- Set in almost-modern day, this is a campaign wherein you will be working for the Usher Foundation, and cataloguing (and perhaps solving) the mysteries surrounding each horror they send you out to investigate. When you’re not in the field, you may be back in the Foundation itself, investigating the strange cast that makes up your coworkers, and trying to get to the bottom of what darkness this place is either containing, or trying to unleash. This campaign is a spin-off in a sense from the podcast The Magnus Archives, using the Cypher system. You do NOT need to have listened to TMA to play this game; the TMA RPG does a good job of allowing this in and of itself, and I will not be referencing the podcast characters or anything else aside from the world-building and lore, which will gradually become clearer over the course of the campaign. Aside from the pre-existing lore, location, and a couple NPCs that I’ve set in certain roles as a starting place, this will largely be a custom built campaign! This will allow us to act through the players’ character arcs and themes in a way truly interwoven with and complementary to the story we’re telling together. We will also be implementing use of the RPG Consent Checklist/discussing Lines and Veils, as well as an X card should need be. This is for the sake of player safety and fun, and I use this in all of my games, but especially horror-based ones. While my session 0s do entail all of us creating the broad strokes of our characters together, this doesn’t mean you can’t have a couple of surprises or layers of intrigue that your fellow players don’t know about. This is a mystery horror after all. This campaign is suited for both experienced and new players. I have been a GM for the better part of a decade, and been teaching folks how to play ttrpgs just as long!
Game style
Puzzle / Mystery Focused
Roleplay Heavy
Theater of the Mind
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(5)
Less than a year on StartPlaying
Highly rated for: Creativity, Rule of Cool, Inclusive
About me
My name is Knack, let's tell some stories together! I've been running games since I first started playing dnd a little under 10 years ago, from one-shots to multi year endeavors. My specialties lie in narrative and collaborative games like Daggerheart and Monster of the Week, and in that vein I like to bring a level of player choice and collaboration into every game I run. While I'm most versed in the D&D 5e and PBTA systems, I'm always excited to learn and implement systems that players might want to try out. In my day job, I'm a cartoonist, so I tend to make custom assets or character art for the games I run. Let's roll some dice and put some characters in situations!
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
- We will be creating characters via discord call, ideally all together! (This will help bonds and character chemistry happen a bit more organically.) You're welcome to come in with a character concept, ideas, etc, of course, but try not to set anything in stone just yet! - We will be starting from the lowest level/tier, re: character creation -- keep this in mind when you start thinking about the character you'd like to play (e.g., unless you can come up with a fun justification, you probably won't want to play a veteran paranormal investigator, etc). - I will be providing all necessary material (PDFs, character sheets, etc.) for the system, and walking everyone through the rules. We'll be creating these by hand on PDFs (or as .psds in your program of choice).
What to expect
Preparing for the session
To be ready to play our game, you should have: - Digitally: a discord account (I'll have sent you a link to the discord server ahead of time), and a way to view PDFs. Additionally, some software to write onto your character sheet with -- this can be MS Paint, Photoshop, photopea (free in browser!), or you can print and write on your character sheet yourself (I will need an image of this for my own reference though). - Physically: a webcam, headphones, and microphone. You can play without web cameras on, but it is STRONGLY encouraged. Some set of headphones, or other way to mitigate echo, is also required.
What Knack brings to the table
- Expect voices, music/ambience, and maps where they're needed! - I like to give opportunity for PC narration (and I'll jump in should anyone need help), the ability to "fail forward," and rule of cool where applicable. - Roleplay and character arcs always take precedence unless we've decided otherwise as a group. Whether that character arc (or story arc) involves combat is different per group, depending on the preferences of my players.
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Webcam
Platforms used
Safety
How Knack creates a safe table
CONSENT CHECKLIST: We will be implementing use of the RPG Consent Checklist and discussing Lines and Veils, as well as an X card should need be. The Magnus Archives RPG comes with a checklist, which I will be sending, and you may feel free to add your own should certain things not be listed. (These will be sent out via discord.) LINES AND VEILS: I ask that these get filled out before session 1, whether that be in session 0 or out of game time, and I encourage players to post these lists publicly in the "lines-and-veils" channel I implement in all of my ttrpg discord servers! X CARDS: If something comes up in game, such as something triggering that you didn't realize was triggering until that moment, X "cards" are also implemented in my games. You can use one physically (like an X on a post-it) and hold it up on camera, or send an X in the sidebar chat of discord. BLEED: I am also very aware of the impact roleplay can have on parties, and we'll be talking through character vs player feelings especially after particularly harrowing sessions. Character bleed can be more impactful than we expect sometimes, so it's good to keep these discussions open! BREAKS: I run my game to take 15 minute breaks every 90 minutes or so, but if a player ever needs a break ahead of that, I'm happy to oblige.
Content warnings
Safety tools used