Xurnia: a Retro RPG
You arrive to Xurnia, a distant archipelago where adventurers have been exploring. And yet, a strange corruption is spreading through the land.
$15.00
/ Session
Details
Weekly / Wednesday - 1:00 AM UTC
Session Duration / 3–4 hours
Campaign Length / Up to 42 Sessions
0 / 2 Seats Filled
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About the adventure
Welcome to Xurnia A Retro-Inspired Open World D&D 5e Campaign (Levels 1–12) Xurnia is a vast, untamed land where survival is earned. Inspired by classic NES-era RPGs and built on D&D 5e (2014) with extensive homebrew systems, this campaign rewards preparation, ambition, and smart decision-making. The world does not scale to you. Some regions are meant to challenge you early and conquer later when you are stronger and better equipped. Exploration drives the game. Xurnia uses a hex-crawl overworld where travel, terrain, distance, and supply matter. Roads are safer than the wilds. Pushing too far without preparation can end careers quickly. Exploration rewards rare materials, hidden locations, faction opportunities, powerful resources, and profitable discoveries. The land is dangerous, but survival brings wealth. Combat is deliberate and risky. Not every encounter is balanced, and not every enemy should be fought. Retreat, negotiation, scouting, and planning are valid strategies. Random encounters are biome-based and varied. Violence carries social and economic consequences. Smart players manage risk. Character progression extends beyond leveling. Advancement is experience-based, and skill challenges play a major role in travel, survival, social maneuvering, and escape. Your decisions shape how factions and regions respond. Backstories are woven into the world to ground each character in Xurnia’s lore. Tool proficiencies and backgrounds matter. They unlock expanded crafting, economic leverage, social influence, alternate skill approaches, and creative solutions. Harvesting and expanded crafting systems allow players to gather materials from creatures and environments to create, upgrade, trade, and profit from equipment. Crafting requires proficiency, time, and resources. Wealth can be earned through trade and ingenuity, not just combat. Xurnia includes a mount, pet, taming, and mercenary system. Hire NPC adventurers for contracts. Tame wild creatures. Purchase trained mounts and pets with unique bonuses. Train and specialize companions for exploration or combat roles. Companions require care and investment. Guilds drive wealth and influence. Major factions include the Adventurers Guild, Mages Guild, Alchemists Guild, United Temples, Druid Circles, and Merchants Guild. Reputation grants better contracts, rarer gear, stronger spells, and exclusive opportunities. Gold is access and power. Magic works differently. Spells are not automatically learned on level up. Spellcasters must purchase, research, discover, or be taught spells. Casters gain an extra level 1 spell slot at level 1 but begin with limited spells known. Scrolls are consumed when learned. Magic must be earned and funded like any path to strength. Xurnia is built for players who enjoy exploration, calculated risk, meaningful progression, faction politics, economic growth, and a reactive world.
Game style
Hexcrawl / Exploration
Combat Heavy
Roleplay Lite
Sandbox / Open World
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Dungeon Crawl
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
2 years on StartPlaying
About me
Hi! My name is Jim and I am 38 years old. I have been a GM for 5e since launch and been loving it ever since. I have always enjoyed high fantasy, creative writing, and board games. So naturally, D&D was inevitable. I also dabbled alittle in 3.5e. Im a nice mellow guy who loves having fun above all else. Im not a rules lawyer and believes the "rule of cool" reigns supreme. This is a collaborative story craft with epic heroes! In the famous quote, "You may certainly try!", its my job to create a scenario within the game mechanics to allow you to try anything! Within reason. If its too far fetched or beaks the rules, I'll have to call No. I have been a fan of H.P. Lovecraft my entire life and enjoy the dark, gritty cosmic horror genre. I'm also a sucker for High Fantasy. Mixing the two is my favorite style of homebrew.
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
All official sources allowed. Including Critical Role and Valda's. Other sources need to be approved. Exception is no flying races. Starting level is 1. 27 Point buy to start. Backgrounds matter in this campaign. What was your character doing before leaving by ship to adventure in Xurnia!
We currently have - a Goblin Paladin of Bahamut - a Goliath Cleric of Loviatar - a Human Rogue Story-teller
What to expect
Preparing for the session
Game held on Roll20.net Discord for audio chat.
What Jim brings to the table
I utilize ambient music and thematic audio to help immerse the players in the situation. I encourage tactical combat. It can be so much more than hitting each other with sharp sticks. I follow RAW as much as I can but ROC does help them be bent. Im not great a doing voices but i will jump in for some RP if the players are into it! Most of the game is RP light.
Homebrew rules
Harvesting creatures for loot, to craft or sell. Adventurer's Guild type jobs to earn wealth, esteem, and faction benefits. Expanded crafting and harvesting rules. Your background and tool proficiency's matter. Classes do not auto learn magic spells from leveling up, the scroll must be bought and studied to gain access to that magic. Access to better equipment and spells become available during the game. Various Guilds exist across Xurnia for all your gear and magic learning needs. Homebrew Mount, Pet, and Mercenary management system, with the ability to take wild creatures as companions to use or sell. Drinking potions are a bonus action. Skill challenges to give the players a chance to use their proficiencies.
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How Jim creates a safe table
My games are fairly mild. I prefer to get them dark and moody, not cringe and disgusting. Id say a PG-16 rating. I'll go over any concerns in session 0, try to explain in better detail what the game entails. I always ask for the players to send me feedback after every session if they have any, just to make sure if there is something that is bothering them that I can change.
Content warnings
Safety tools used