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Dig Deeper, Die Faster: A California Mining Horror Chronicle
Something under Julian has been dormant since 1893. The mine, now reopened for lithium, has just given it a reason to wake up.
TYPE
LEVELS
LANGUAGE
EXPERIENCE
AGE
$25.00
/ Session
Details
7 players following this game
Weekly / Monday - 11:00 PM UTC
Oct 26 / Session 3
Session Duration / 3 hours
Campaign Length / 10–12 Sessions
3 / 5 Seats Filled
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Schedule
Meet your party members
3/5
About the adventure
You became a werewolf the same season a mining company reopened the Stonecutter Shaft outside Julian, California. That mine has been closed since a cave-in killed eleven miners back in 1893, and the locals still don't like talking about it. Now they're digging for lithium again, and the air by the entrance runs ten degrees colder than it should. Something down there has noticed you. This is a Werewolf: The Apocalypse campaign for a brand-new pack. The mining company is a problem you can deal with, they have permits and a bottom line. Whatever is under Julian is a different kind of problem, and figuring out what it wants is a big part of the story. If you've never played Werewolf before, that's fine, this game is set up for new players. I'll walk you through making your character and explain the setting as we go. I have pregenerated characters if you'd rather jump right in, and you won't need to buy the rulebook. I use custom maps and a lot of ambient sound to set the mood. Big swings are welcome, just know they can go wrong. Bring a character who has something to lose.
Game style
Roleplay Heavy
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Meet the Game Master
4.9
(18)
Less than a year on StartPlaying
10 games hosted
Highly rated for: Sets the Mood, Visual Aid, Rule of Cool
Average response time: 3 hours
Response rate: 100%
About me
I'm Cris Malcom, I go by Mal. I've been running TTRPGs for some time now, principally Werewolf: the Apocalypse. I fell into it like a lot of people, awkwardly sitting down at someone else's table, had a blast, and then couldn't stop thinking about new game ideas, then ran out of games to play so moved into the Storyteller seat. These days I run my own Werewolf chronicles, mostly set in one shared San Diego County. Every pack has its own story, but they all live in the same world, so what your pack does can ripple into someone else's game, and theirs into yours. I wanted the world to feel alive between sessions, not frozen until we log back on, so I built two in-world channels on our Discord. Channel 4 News covers what the humans saw: the fire, the bodies, the cover story. SeptNet is the Garou network, where packs trade warnings, rumors and gossip, sometimes about you. Every story on both comes directly from something a player did, so you get to see your choices land in the world. I also built a chronicle wiki so nobody has to dig through months of Discord messages to remember who an NPC is or what a faction wants. It covers the territory maps, NPCs, factions, locations, artifacts and custom house rules your pack runs into, and it's there whenever you want to look something up between sessions. I've accumulated an extensive battle-map and location art collection, so players get something to actually look at instead of just my description of it, and all the chronicle art is done in a consistent graphic novel style so the world has one look. I brought on a production assistant to handle prep, which lets me put my time into the story and means every session shows up ready. New to Werewolf? Built, Not Born is my one-shot raid made for first-time players, with pregens and an established pack so you can jump straight in. I speak English and Spanish, so if Spanish is easier for you, I can help! I've even done several corporate GM gigs too! I'm also an active player here on StartPlaying, currently in multiple WtA, STA, and DnD campaigns, so I know what this looks like from the other side of the screen, what makes you want to come back next week, and what makes you quietly stop showing up. Outside of games I work in tech and manage a team, which mostly just means I treat this like a job. I show up on time, I answer messages, and I don't cancel on people.
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
Character creation happens together before session one, either one-on-one or as a group session zero, whichever suits table. We're using core Werewolf: The Apocalypse 5th Edition rules. Standard array for attributes, no homebrew point-buy unless the table wants to discuss it. You can build a Garou from any tribe. This is a brand-new pack, no existing caern claims Julian, so there's no established sept politics to slot into, you're the ones establishing it. The First Change is treated as recent, so characters start at the beginning of their war, not as veterans of it. Ties to Julian itself are optional, whether your character grew up there, just moved for work, or has never set foot in the town before session one is entirely your call. If you want to jump in without deep system knowledge, I have pre-generated characters ready to go, you're welcome to reskin the concept and make it yours. I keep shared reference material in the Discord server for reference. I'll cover what you need in session zero, no outside homework required.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
Before session one you'll need: - A Discord account. The server link goes out once your seat is confirmed, it covers out of game voice chat, scheduling, and a pinned channel for maps, handouts, lore and shared reference material, no rulebook purchase needed. - Nothing to install for gameplay itself. We run sessions through ro.am for voice, music and sound effects with Owlbear Rodeo as the VTT for maps and tokens, both browser-based, no account or download required. Links go out prior to each session - A character sheet, either the official WtA 5e sheet or a digital tool available in our resources section. - About 15 minutes before session zero to think through a rough concept: who this person was before the Change, and what they stand to lose. Joining mid-campaign? You'll get a full Session Zero before your first session, a one-on-one rundown of the world, the story so far, and how your character fits in, so you're never playing catch-up at the table.
What Mal brings to the table
Sound carries a lot of the tone at my table. I run layered ambience, crowd noise and string-light chatter under a festival scene, distant wind and dead radio static once you're near the mine, and I can shift the whole soundscape instantly the moment a scene turns, no dead air while I hunt for the next track. Every track and effect I use is human-composed, no AI-generated audio in the mix. Accentuated sound effects punctuate specific beats when it matters. I'll drop into a character voice on occasion for key NPCs when it helps a scene land. Anything that needs a visual gets a background scene or custom map, the mine, the town, Meridian's site office, whatever the scene calls for, but these are mood pieces, not tactical grids. I run a blend between these and theater of the mind, so nothing here is for measuring squares or tracking exact positioning. Mechanically I lean Rule of Cool with real consequences behind it. Try something wild and I'll run it straight, it might work, or it might cost you. I don't fudge outcomes to protect characters from bad calls, but I don't design encounters to punish creativity either. Combat is present and it matters, expect real stakes when it happens, but it's narrated rather than played out square by square. Some of the worst threats in this story aren't things you put down with claws, and figuring that out in time is often the actual challenge.
Homebrew rules
None baked in right now, core Werewolf 5e rules in play and interpreted. If the table wants something specific, we work it out together at session zero
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Headphones
Platforms used
Safety
How Mal creates a safe table
Session zero opens the table before anything else: tone, expectations, and which safety tools we're using get discussed together, before character creation starts, not after something's already gone sideways. Two tools carry the table through the rest of the campaign. Open Door means anyone can step away from a scene, or the table entirely, for any reason, without needing to explain themselves or ask permission first. Breaks are built into longer or heavier sessions, time to process, step outside, or reset before we pick back up. This is a horror chronicle with adult themes: industrial disaster, grief, corporate exploitation, and body horror among them. If something's a hard no for you, say so before session one. I would rather adjust the story than lose a player.
Content warnings
Safety tools used