The Night, the Lich, and the Watch Tower
Beyond the Steel Mountains, a mystery lies in Black Spire. Some of the miners have experienced sudden onset madness, and others have disappeared?
TYPE
SYSTEM
LANGUAGE
EXPERIENCE
AGE
$20.00
/ Session
Details
Once / Thursday - 2:00 AM UTC
Feb 12
Session Duration / 3–4 hours
0 / 5 Seats Filled
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About the adventure
Do you enjoy problem solving and getting to the bottom of mysteries? Then this adventure is for you! This One-Shot takes place in a custom made world, called Alderon. Alderon is home to four Species: Feyfolk, Weefolk, Grendu, and Clawlings. Each Species has their own unique history and culture. The adventures I have envisioned for this world suite the Cairn system very well because you are encouraged to be creative in your problem solving, ask lots of questions to find out information, and not be limited by what your character knows. Below is the opening to the One-Shot: We begin with our party in the Black Spire long house, cold and tired from the 2 week travel from Salenburg. You were warned when you took this job that the Steel Mountain pass was not for the faint of heart. Theodore Gross, a weathered Grendu transporter, brought you along in his caravan car carrying the first package of supplies to Black Spire for this new Summer. Summer is a word that doesn’t have as much meaning here. The ground is frozen solid, and the last bit of greenery you saw was in Garianna woods. Theodore smiles at you and says “Bah! You lot did alright, if this job you came up here for doesn’t pan out, I am looking for a new summer crew.” He looks on at the smouldering fire, warming his paws “The last crew, well let’s just say they weren’t up to scruff”. You’re not too sure what he means, but you think it best not to press. Based on the experiences you had with creatures attacking the car on the way up, you can hazard a guess as to what he means. Dr. Drake Milcavich at the Mideen Grounds of Sacred Knowledge said there were cases of Miners in the Steel Mountains disappearing, wandering off cliffs, and even attacking each other with no prior provocation. This news came to Mideen after making its way to Duchess Revan who sought out Dr. Milcavich’s aid directly for council, as he specializes in “Sudden Loss of Will”. The party was hired and granted license by her majesty Queen Ireen to investigate this matter. And now that you’re here the first thing to do is meet with Barron Hazel. --- This is where the One-Shot will start, with the party about to open the door to Barron Hazel's Cabin home in Black Spire. As an adventuring party in the Cairn 1e system the party has a common goal and purpose. Party members are friendly and generally trusting of each other. That being said, I will leave it up to the group to decide if you have all been adventuring together for some time, or if you were all brought together for this specific investigation. Either way, you are hear now and share a common cause.
Game style
Roleplay Heavy
Sandbox / Open World
Theater of the Mind
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
1 year on StartPlaying
Highly rated for: World Builder, Voices, Creativity
Average response time: Under 1 hour
Response rate: 100%
About me
Hi there, hello! My name is Joe, I’m 29, and I’ve been playing RPGs regularly since I was 16 and GM-ing since I was 17. Outside of TTRPGs, I enjoy hiking and camping, performing improv comedy, playing and designing board games, and spending time with friends and family. My journey into RPGs began with a nine-month Warhammer Fantasy RP 2e campaign, meeting twice a week, followed by a six-month D&D 4th Edition campaign. Over the past 12 years, I’ve run many 4th and 5th Edition D&D campaigns, often lasting 18 months or more. I also have experience with Warhammer Fantasy RP (2e & 4e), A Song of Ice and Fire RPG, Cairn 1e, and CoC 2e. Altogether, I have over 500 hours of GM experience and more than 1,000 hours of RPG playtime. I also run a small D&D YouTube channel aimed at helping new players learn the game, which has helped me develop clear explanations, strong table pacing, and an inclusive, welcoming GM style.
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
We will use the character creation section of the Cairn 1e rule book on page 4. For the Character Traits tables on page 6, if you don't want to role you don't have to, you can pick from the options in the tables or write in your own. For the Starting gear tables, please do roll for those. Skip the Bonus item and spellbook tables. You will not get a spell to start. Please do role for all your stats as described on page 4 (Str, Dex, and Wil). For your HP (Hit Protection) roll 1d6 like instructed, but if you get a 1 or 2 on the role write in 3 HP. I have generated ready made characters if you prefer one of those.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
We will use Discord to connect for the session. Please have a webcam and microphone for communication (built-in webcam and mic are okay). Once you have signed up for the session, I will send you the discord server link. The only thing you'll need to play is a way to record your character sheet (either pencil and paper or a digital document). Dice are optional.
What Eddie Proudfoot (GM Joe) brings to the table
There are several supporting documents that you will get access to in the Discord server. Mainly hand drawn world map, custom lore, and unique Species for Roleplay flavour. NPC's will feel distinct, not just through their voices, but also their cadence and mannerism. For combat, we will use theatre of the mind.
Homebrew rules
For the mechanics of Cairn 1e, we are pretty much sticking to the book. If you have read it before, its only 23 pages, and it's very open to interpretation. The point of that, is to leave lots of room for creativity! The "Homebrew" I have is the world itself and the custom species. However, none of those provide mechanical benefits in a meaningful way. It does influence roleplay via the cultures of the species. For instance, the Clawlings are very inquisitive and learned; while Grendu are savvy survivalist and can thrive in the any situation. Once you have joined the Discord, there is a link there to a document with all the worlds history and lore.
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Webcam
Platforms used
Safety
How Eddie Proudfoot (GM Joe) creates a safe table
Since it's a One-Shot, there will be a link to the Lines and Veils document where players will be able to add what they are not comfortable with occurring during the One-Shot. I have one in both Lines and Veils to start us off: Line - PVP; and Veil: Sexual Content. At the beginning of the One-Shot, We will, as a group, go over the Lines and Veils and have an open discussion about how to respect them during the game. The first 15-30 minutes of the session will be the One-Shot's "Session 0". Please fill out the Lines and Veils before hand so that we can streamline this process. That being said this part of the One-Shot will not be rushed as it is important we are all on the same page. During game-play we will use the X, N, and O check-in method. Except, instead of cards we will use hand signals: - X = Arms Crossed 🙅♀️ - N = Thumbs Down 👎 - O = Thumbs Up 👍 For those unfamiliar X, N, O are like Red, Yellow, and Green lights. - X means stop immediately (cut to the next scene) - N means let's move away from this (fade to black) - O means everything is okay The goal with Line and Veils is that we won't have to use this measure since we will all know what to avoid at the beginning of the One-Shot. This tool is here as a fail safe or if something is forgotten.
Content warnings
Safety tools used