Dead Reckoning: A Surveillance State Horror Chronicle

Creating your character

Character creation happens together before session one, either one-on-one or as a group session zero, whichever the table prefers. 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. This isn't a brand-new-to-being-Garou pack. Most characters have a year or two past their First Change already, enough to know how to survive as Garou, not enough to have noticed the border grid specifically has started noticing them. You can build a Garou from any tribe. Silent Striders and Glass Walkers have an obvious thematic pull here, wanderers who live at thresholds, and people who can actually read the system trying to read them, but neither is required and nothing about tribe gates you out of the pack. Ties to San Ysidro or the border itself are optional. Whether your character crosses daily for work, has family split across the line, does something they'd rather Continuum not flag, or has no real connection until the pack pulls them in is entirely your call. What matters more than backstory is why you keep crossing anyway, now that you know it's watching. 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, so nobody needs to buy the core rulebook before playing. I'll walk through what you need at session zero, no outside homework required.

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, 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 reference visuals, both browser-based, no account or download required. Links go out once your seat is confirmed. A character sheet, either the official WtA 5e sheet or a digital tool I'll point you to, your call. Before session zero, think through a rough concept: why your character crosses this border, and what they stand to lose if the wrong system starts paying attention to them. 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 does a lot of the work at my table, but here it's less about mood music and more about information. Ambient checkpoint noise, radio chatter that's slightly too clean, the hum of a scanner that pauses a beat longer than it should, small audio cues you'll start reading the same way your character does. I'll drop into a character voice for key NPCs when it matters, though it's not the focus. Anything visual gets a custom map or scene reference, the crossing itself, the pack's territory, a checkpoint layout, so you're never guessing at geography. 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 happens and it matters when it does, but this chronicle isn't built around a fight every session. A lot of what you're up against here isn't something you solve by hitting it, it's something you solve by noticing it in time, or by figuring out who else has noticed you. Theater of the mind throughout, nothing here is played on a grid. Session zero covers tone and expectations before character creation starts, this is a paranoia-forward chronicle and I'd rather set that up front than have it land as a surprise mid-campaign.

Homebrew rules

None baked in right now, core Werewolf 5e rules in play and interpreted. If the table wants something specific once we're playing, we work it out together.

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: surveillance, institutional control, immigration and border anxiety, and paranoia among them. If something's a hard no for you, just let me know.