The Tithings of Pennarth Fen | Stories of Sunken Cities (CoC7e)
A tithe was paid in stone and blood, water rose and submerged the grievers. A century later, a drought reveals what was sunk beneath the lake.
$15.00
/ Session
Details
Bi-weekly / Saturday - 1:00 PM UTC
Session Duration / 2–3 hours
Campaign Length / 15–20 Sessions
2 / 5 Seats Filled
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Meet your party members
2/5
About the adventure
– Free Session 0 Included – – New Players Welcome! – "The Tithings of Pennarth Fen" is a 15–20 session folk-adjacent horror campaign for players who enjoy slow-burn dread, complicit communities, the weight of buried history, and the slow realization that the land itself has been keeping a ledger. In the summer of 1927, the reservoirs of mid-Wales are failing. The drought is the worst event to plague the land in living memory. Springs run dry. Wells turn brackish. And in the Cambrian hills, the waters of the Pennarth reservoir have receded far enough to expose the spire of a chapel that was drowned in a long time ago — along with the village beneath it, and the things its people left behind. Most call it a curiosity. A photograph for the London papers. An antiquarian's footnote. However, to be safe, the local governments have called upon a small group of outsiders to investigate, members of the Miskatonic Detective agency of greater London. Your investigators arrive as varied as they are skilled — antiquarians, journalists, folklorists, perhaps one with family ties to the valley. The surrounding hamlets are not welcoming. The chapel records are missing. The drowning, you will come to learn, was not an accident, and not a tragedy. It was a payment. This campaign is built as a structured, three-act horror story. Your backstories matter a little bit, but are not the focal points of the campaign. This is folk horror in the British tradition. Expect: • Isolated communities with old, specific rules • Pagan survivals and corrupted Religion entwined • Cosmic dread that wears a local face • Sanity-eroding revelations and rural violence • Choices about complicity, witnessing, and what you do with what you learn Over the course of the campaign, your investigators will not become heroes. They will become people who know. Whether that knowledge survives them, or they survive it, is the campaign's question. Reach out with any questions.
Game style
Roleplay Heavy
Rules as Written (RaW)
Theater of the Mind
Puzzle / Mystery Focused
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(40)
1 year on StartPlaying
74 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Teacher, Storytelling
Average response time: 2 hours
Response rate: 100%
About me
Hey, I’m Jayke. Game Master, published writer, game designer, queerfolk, and a person with “too many creative hobbies” and not enough restraint to stop picking up new ones. My games tend to focus a lot on character, consequence, and letting the story grow naturally from the decisions you make. I’m not here to fight the players. I’m here to take you seriously, see what you do, and figure out what happens next. I’m not a perfect GM by any means, and I’ll be the first to say it, but I try my best, adapt to what my players need, and genuinely value critique and feedback so I can make the best experience possible for everyone at my table. I love running for new players, experienced players, and anyone in between. You don’t need to know all the rules. You just need to show up, engage, and be willing to exist in the world for a few hours with me. Best case scenario, we tell a great story and have a great time. Worst case scenario, I TPK the table, question my life choices, and we try again while laughing about our terrible decisions.
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
Character creation will happen during Session 0. Players will draft up characters who work for the Miskatonic Detective agency, often freelancers who get paid to explore weird shit going on around the country, this being the most out-of-the-way task yet. Detectives will be made using standard CoC7e creation rules, which will be taught to anyone who has not played the game before. We will establish connections between characters, clarify tone expectations, and discuss boundaries before play begins. We will use Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition standard rules. I will provide digital PDFs for reference. You do not need prior experience with the system. Backstories are welcome, but this campaign centers on the village itself rather than sprawling personal arcs.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
Requirements: 1. Discord account, where we will be in a shared call for play 2. A Quiet Space to play, with little interruption if possible 3. A Computer, Microphone, and Headphones (Webcam optional) Additionally, I do prefer players showing up 15 minutes before starting time, but I understand that's not always entirely possible (especially this early in the morning), so it is not required.
What Jayke brings to the table
What I provide: 1. Free-to-use browser based Virtual Tabletop (Foundry) 2. A Discord chatroom and voice channel for game communication When it comes to the more abstract things: I use a Virtual Avatar of a bear for every game I run so players have a visual aspect to their GM. Additionally I use a open-source bot to play Music and Ambience, as well as doing voices for characters (to the best of my monotone ability). I am a loose rule follower and always prefer "coolness" over by-the-book rules. My only important note is that I don't like argumentation at the table, if there is a conflict I will address it swiftly and immediately to keep the game moving, and I will remove players mid-game if it becomes a problem.
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How Jayke creates a safe table
All of my games feature three important safety systems to make sure all players are comfortable: 1. Session 0 Before every game I host a Session 0 to make sure all players are comfortable and have appropriate expectations for play. I also often keep the time open for players to ask questions as well as build their characters. 2. Tabletop Break Around halfway into every session, I host a 15-30 minute break for players to step away to use the bathroom, get more snacks, or just decompress. I have pretty severe social anxiety and understand some players need a break now and then. 3. Debriefing + Stars & Wishes At the end of the session, I open the floor for players to give honest feedback on their experience, whether it be positive or critical. I do this so I can improve my games going forward, but also to make sure no on has a negative experience. Additionally, we will use the Stars & Wishes system so I can make sure to include what players want in future sessions. 4. Monte Cook RPG Consent Checklist During session 0 I will provide the Monte Cook RPG Consent Checklist for players to fill out so I can adapt the campaign in accordance to any sensitive topicality for the players.
Content warnings
Safety tools used