ANANKE: Mythic 601 BCE [Foundry]

ANANKE: Mythic 601 BCE [Foundry]

Forty people awaken in 601 BCE, each carrying one amphora of irreplaceable future technology. Their mission may save humanity or become scripture.

TYPE

Campaign

SYSTEM

LANGUAGE

English

EXPERIENCE

Intermediate

AGE

18+
1 NEEDED TO START
$25.00

/ Session

Details

2 players following this game

Bi-weekly / Wednesday - 2:00 AM UTC

Session Duration / 3 hours

3 / 6 Seats Filled

Report Adventure

Money Back Guarantee

StartPlaying Money Back Guarantee

If your game doesn't happen, we guarantee a refund. Just reach out to StartPlaying Support. Refund Policy

This game will begin once 4 players have joined

Meet your party members

3/6

About the adventure

In 2389, humanity lost the future. The Deviation was not an invasion or a war. It was a process that rewrote physics, biology, and memory toward something no longer human. In one final attempt to change history, the Solar Cooperative sent forty refugees backward through time. They awaken in custom-grown bodies in Saite Egypt, 601 BCE, each carrying one sealed amphora of irreplaceable future technology. There is no resupply. No way home. No guarantee that everyone arrived safely. And the past is not what they expected. The ancient Mediterranean is wealthy, interconnected, politically dangerous, and deeply religious. The gods people worship are real. Rituals sometimes work. Somewhere in this world, fragments of an ancient text may hold the key to resisting the Deviation, but those fragments are already being copied, divided, misunderstood, and turned into scripture. Every character brings one amphora of future technology into the campaign, and what you choose to bring matters. Medicines are consumed. Batteries die. Ammunition runs out. A device that saves a life today may be desperately needed six months later. Demonstrated before the wrong witness, it might attract the attention of a ruler, a temple, a thief, or a god. This is a GURPS 4e campaign for players who enjoy historical fantasy, strange mysteries, competent characters, resource pressure, and moral ambiguity. Characters may be physicians, soldiers, engineers, historians, diplomats, theologians, or dissidents from the dead future. Newcomers to GURPS are welcome. Session Zero is free and used to build characters together and make sure the game is a good fit before paid play begins. The central question is not only whether the refugees can save humanity. It is whether they can do so without becoming conquerors, gods, or the founders of the very history they came back to prevent.

Game style

Roleplay Heavy

Tactical / Crunchy

Sandbox / Open World

Game themes

Meet the Game Master

4.9

(18)

Published Writer

3 years on StartPlaying

95 games hosted

Highly rated for: Creativity, Knows the Rules, Storytelling

About me

I got into roleplaying games for the thrill of real stakes: a character I cared about could actually die, and something about that possibility made everything else matter more. From there I learned, through years of playing and running, how to fully inhabit a character rather than just pilot one. I run games to build worlds that feel lived-in, whether I’m running for one player or a whole table: NPCs with their own agendas, events that keep moving whether or not the characters are looking at them, and consequences that actually stick. I lean roleplay-forward and character-driven, with a particular love for horror, mystery, danger, difficult choices, and stories where relationships, loyalties, regrets, and ambitions carry as much weight as any dice roll. I run a rules-solid game, but I use the rules in service of the fiction rather than stopping the fiction to admire the rules. If you want a game where your character’s choices and attachments genuinely shape what happens next, come find me.

View Profile →
Character creation

Creating your character

Characters will be created together during a free Session Zero. They will be built on 200 points, with the 45-point High TL advantage for being TL11 characters in a TL2 world provided for free. Characters should be capable specialists from the Solar Cooperative, not superheroes. We will coordinate professions, backgrounds, languages, beliefs, and the contents of each character’s amphora so the group fits together. Use the GURPS Basic Set and Ultra-Tech, with material from other books by approval. Newcomers to GURPS are welcome, and I will help with character creation.

What to expect

Preparing for the session

Players will need free Discord and Foundry accounts, a working microphone, and a reasonably stable internet connection. Discord will be used for voice and campaign communication, while Foundry will handle maps, tokens, and dice. Characters will be created and maintained in GURPS Character Sheet (GCS). I can walk you through installing GCS during Session Zero. No paid subscriptions are required.

What souldiver brings to the table

I try to keep the game moving, give characters room to interact, and let players decide how they want to approach problems. Combat can be tactical and detailed when it happens, but I do not want the game to grind to a halt over a rules question. I generally stick to the GURPS rules, make a quick ruling when needed, and check the exact answer later. For Ananke, I will emphasize mystery, tension, historical atmosphere, and the strange feeling that something is wrong beneath the world. I provide maps, campaign notes, and AI-generated reference images for locations, NPCs, and important scenes. I will also help players with character creation, GCS, equipment choices, and understanding the setting. Campaign information and reference material will be kept on Discord.

Homebrew rules

No major homebrew rules are planned. The campaign will use standard GURPS 4e rules, with setting-specific character creation guidelines explained during Session Zero. When an uncertain rule would slow the game down, I may make a quick ruling at the table and check the exact rule afterward.

Equipment needed to play

Internet

Computer

Microphone

Safety

How souldiver creates a safe table

We will go over tone, boundaries, and campaign expectations during Session Zero. Players can establish Lines for material they do not want included and Veils for material that can exist but should remain off-screen or be handled briefly. The game also uses an Open Door policy. Players may step away or take a break whenever needed, without having to explain themselves. Anyone can also message me privately during or between sessions if something in the game is making them uncomfortable, and I will adjust the material. Ananke includes violence, death, cosmic horror, religious themes, and the possible loss or transformation of identity. The goal is tension, mystery, and difficult choices, not shock for its own sake.

Content warnings

Slavery
Sexism
Violence
Real World Religion
Murder
Death
Fire
Language/Cursing
Mind alteration

Safety tools used

Frequently asked questions