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Smoke Over Nocturne - A Noir-Style Campaign
Enter the mystical underworld of 1950's New York and explore the hidden world of magic, murder, and fantasy races plagued by tradition and dark plots.
$25.00
/ Session
Details
Bi-weekly / Sunday - 8:00 PM UTC
Session Duration / 3–4 hours
1 / 5 Seats Filled
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Meet your party members
1/5
About the adventure
Myth and legend have been part of human history since time immemorial. Whether it is found in religion, cultural history, tradition, or local customs, we have built a web of stories that has joined these disparate places together. However, they are not merely stories. In the early 1600's, after a multitude of dire events, the world's leaders and the leaders of those now-legendary cultures decided to hide the fantastical and mythological from the masses. They created the Veil, a magical construct that hides the inhuman and mystical from the average person's eyes. With it came the inventions known as GLAMORS that have evolved to better hide such individuals going about their daily lives, otherwise known as the Veiled. It is the 1920's, years before the Great War. Seven years before our story starts, a terrible fire spread through southern Manhattan - dubbed the Great Manhattan Fire - that caused mass devastation and the loss of hundreds of lives. That part of Manhattan has a permanent haze settled over it as if it remembers the massive fires, and the city that rose up from the rubble was dubbed Nocturne due to the twilight cast upon it during the day, as if it eagerly awaits the night. In this dusky city, the many hidden cultures and races have come to thrive, with simple lives and normal jobs during the day and changing faces as the sun sets. Alongside the typical threats of such a time, many have a hidden facet - the thug in the alleyway is secretly an orc, the rich executive is secretly an elf using fae magic, the club bartender may be a vampire, and that husky man in the park may be a werewolf (he did seem really good with dogs). One way or another, everyone has a story and a hidden life in Nocturne - you just have to know where to look. The surface pretends to be as normal as ever, and the subway tunnel that's been abandoned since the fire hides the Night Market, where you can find anything and everything esoteric and occult in its many shops. Whether you've got a gun, use hedge-magic to run your business, wield a badge like a sword, or use an actual sword - Nocturne is just as dangerous as the rest of New York these days. This time, though, New York City might get a taste of the Veiled world, and it all starts the same as any noir tale: With a murder and a mystery, and just a bit of magic. Welcome to Nocturne. Keep your GLAMOR handy and your gun hand steady.
Game style
Roleplay Heavy
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Puzzle / Mystery Focused
Theater of the Mind
Combat Lite
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(26)
4 years on StartPlaying
455 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Rule of Cool, World Builder
Average response time: 19 hours
Response rate: 50%
About me
I have been running TTRPG campaigns since 2015. Started as a player, then moved up to running a session once every couple weeks. Now I'm doing it weekly, and I can't get enough. I love to write and build worlds, and this lets me be every character I've ever written. I'm happy as the Forever DM, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to share my worlds with others!
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
Characters will be created during Session 0 where information on the setting and historical stuff will be brought up for character backgrounds. Depending on the experience level for the players, if the group is new to the Savage Worlds Adventure Edition (SWADE) ruleset we'd start at Novice, and if the group is experienced with SWADE we'd start at Seasoned. We will be using the core SWADE rulebook, Deadlands for their weapons and extra archetypes, and the Fantasy Companion for the spells, fantasy races, medieval weapons, and crafting mechanics. As the Fantasy Companion changes many of the base races, the campaign will prioritize those alongside the couple introduced in the Deadlands book, as well as magic from the Fantasy Companion - as the book changes how the normal SWADE powers work, we'd be using those more than the base books.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
You will need an account with Discord, a microphone, and a good web browser for Foundry. We will be using the Discord server for voice chat, messaging, image sharing, and entertainment, alongside specific campaign purposes. Sessions will take place in Foundry alongside Discord for the voice options.
What CryptMaster brings to the table
I will be providing the VTT through Foundry with maps, tokens, and content provided by the previously listed books and manual input through Foundry. I do my best to provide different voices for each character or NPC, and I have tried to use appropriate music for areas and events within the campaign. This campaign is reliant on problem-solving, roleplaying, and puzzle-solving. Combat will rely on terrain features for cover, with options to use these features as environmental traps. I love the Rule of Cool, and Savage Worlds is no exception to that mindset. Roll high enough, and we'll see if it works!
Homebrew rules
We will be using the following setting rules, which will be discussed during Session 0 and when new players join: Betrayal, Conviction, Dumb Luck, Gritty Damage, Hard Choices, Heroes Never Die, More Skill Points, and Villainous Conviction.
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How CryptMaster creates a safe table
Session 0 will cover both character creation and any limits or triggers for players who wish to participate. These can either be covered through the Discord voice chat or via direct messaging. Breaks can be taken when needed or at the session's halfway mark. The content warnings provided in this listing may be changed based on player needs, as content may be removed to make it more comfortable for the group. I have a zero-tolerance policy for the mistreatment of fellow players, and those who choose to participate in acts that make the game less fun for the group, with the statement of "it's what my character would do," are not welcome. Phobic statements and toxic acts are not welcome and will cause removal from the game. Political or religious statements, arguments, and sentiments are discouraged while part of the campaign and during sessions. Unless everyone has the same beliefs and/or are happy to share and discuss as adults, we're here to play the game that lets you not be yourself for a while. We're here to have fun and escape from reality for a bit. Certain aspects of the 1920s in terms of world or local events will either be ignored or replaced to fit with the preferences of the group. These topics will be discussed and changed, as this is an alternate universe that can fit our preferences. History is ours to make it the way we want so that we are comfortable with current events and can better concentrate on having fun and making comically bad mistakes. While this is a Noir setting where everything is generally serious, gritty, grim, and monochromatic (I made all the maps black-and-white except for the red bits!), we can be silly as we need to. We're not in a noir setting; the characters are. We can enjoy the absurdity without having to be as serious as the characters, with laughs and silly jokes. I am all for the humor!
Content warnings
Safety tools used