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Detectives Wanted at The Fantastical Crimes Unit
As the newest agents at the Fantastical Crimes Unit, explore a haunted carnival, battle dream assassins, and more in this original campaign.
$20.00
/ Session
Details
2 players following this game
Weekly / Wednesday - 10:30 PM UTC
Oct 7 / Session 23
Session Duration / 3–3.5 hours
Campaign Length / 25+ Sessions
5 / 5 Seats Filled
Top Game Master
One of StartPlaying's top-rated GMs, a player favorite and highly recommended.
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Schedule
Meet your party members
5/5
About the adventure
In the land of Beor, crimes committed by mythological and supernatural creatures are investigated by a crack team of specialists, the Fantastical Crimes Unit. These are their stories. As the FCU's newest agents, you'll carry out a rescue mission in a haunted carnival, battle an assassin in the dreamworld, attempt to foil a plot to destroy the Winter's Crest holiday, and much more. Set in the story world I spent eight years building for the video game Epic Tavern. I already have one FCU campaign 20 sessions in and running strong. If this plays out anything like it did with them, we'll start with a mission-of-the-week format and evolve into base-building and cooperative worldbuilding, with the larger story shaped by decisions you'll make. *Includes a custom story bible with weekly Session Summaries and a glossary with entries on everywhere you go and everyone you meet.
Game style
Puzzle / Mystery Focused
Tactical / Crunchy
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Roleplay Heavy
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(24)
2 years on StartPlaying
65 games hosted
Highly rated for: Storytelling, Inclusive, Creativity
Average response time: Under 1 hour
Response rate: 100%
About me
I'm a professional fiction writer and game designer who grew up playing and running D&D games in the '70s-'90s. I spent the past decade as a narrative designer with Hyperkinetic Studios, writing well over half a million words worth of fantasy quests for their RPG Epic Tavern. I've also worked in comics, film, audio fiction, and novels. You can find some of my past projects here: www.ShawnFrench.com Recently, I've found myself circling back around to my first love, running games, except this time with a lifetime of experience as a professional storyteller. The folks at Hyperkinetic have also been kind enough to allow me to run games in the story world of Epic Tavern and its comic spinoff Tales from the Fantastical Crimes Unit. So I have this rich story world to explore, with players as new agents at a detective agency tasked with solving crimes committed by supernatural and mythological creatures. I've also just started running long-term campaigns in my Children of Ascension story world I've been building since 1980. Whereas FCU campaigns have a Case of the Week format, Children of Ascension is much more open-world exploration. A long-form collaborative storytelling adventure set in a world I've been designing since grade school in the Long Ago Time.
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
I have a pool of 10 premade Level 3 heroes based on playable characters from the video game Epic Tavern, or you can create your own. We're using 2024 Dungeons & Dragons core rules. Stats are Standard Array.
CAMPAIGN BEGINS ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
Discord account DND Beyond account with an open character slot Microphone Headphones (ideal)
What DM Wisdumb brings to the table
D&D Beyond's VTT Pre-made characters Private Discord channel for your party Shared source books through D&D Beyond A weekly campaign log and glossary of NPCs you meet A story world I've spent the past decade building full-time
Homebrew rules
Rules are there to help provide structure to the story, but I'm all for players trying to use their abilities in unorthodox ways.
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How DM Wisdumb creates a safe table
Lines and Veils: Tales from the FCU is a PG-13 adventure, using all the same restrictions a movie with that rating would. My games never contain sex, romantic roleplay, child abuse, or PvP, and I'm always open to adding additional lines and veils to accommodate player needs. It's your table too. Stars & Wishes: I always love to hear what you enjoyed (or didn't) about an adventure. X,N,O Cards: Discord messaging, say something in chat, roll a handful of dice to get my attention, whatever's easiest. I run an inclusive table where everyone is celebrated and bullying is never tolerated.
Content warnings
Safety tools used