WATER RUNS SIDEWISE: Deferred Destiny in a Broken World, Powered by the Apocalypse!

About the adventure

Center City, the HiveRoost, once the hypermassive draconic capital at the center of the universe, wrought by Dragons birthed by the will of stars, the wisdom of the wilds, or the aching Want of the most ambitious of peoples, is now a hollowed out shell. Laid to waste by the Fell dragon Queen Tiamat, the husk of center city is a throne left empty after her disappearance at the battle those centuries ago. What was to be the Chromatic Queen's crowning glory instead ushered an age between, a world that died in childbirth. Center City lies broken and emptied, which is perfect for you. Failure. Washup. Runaway. Coward. They may call you what they wish, but you only desire peace in this war torn world, and peace is an abundant commodity in a place where few care about much. The Celestial nobility try still to crawl from the wake of destruction Tiamat left, their greatest dead or hung like trophies across fractured skies. Tiamat's children, the Chromatic hoard, are split into back biting warlords, each trying to claim the Birthright of their mother. The little folk, the Cobalt servants and Merric humans of all shapes are prey now, and the streets are stalked by Fell demons and the once great Guardians of the old hoards and worldwyrms. It is a place of nooks and crannies and people who will look no one in the eye. A place perfect to stay hidden from destiny. But that really is the problem, isn't it? Eventually... Destiny always catches up. Water Runs Sidewise is a game that draws from narratives familiar to the realms of Kung Fu, Chambara, and the Western. It takes place in a world between ages, in the time of monsters, and the players take on the roles of individuals who chose, or had to leave a great destiny behind for the sake of peace, and finding themselves in a situation where they must act, act in a way that could reshape worlds and peoples, where their inaction may destroy them. It is played with Broken Worlds, a game Powered by the Apocalypse and the official game of the webcomic Kill Six Billion Demons, but will take place in an original world with modified playbooks. Expect action, cinematic violence, intrigue, and a strong thematic pull for the players to commit to the world and find the core desires of their character. Power is Beauty! Greed is Grandeur! Spread your wings, and Reach Heaven Through Violence!

Additional Details

How to prepare

If players do not have a discord or Roll20 account, they will need to sign up to both. Discord will be the primary landing pad for the group, the voice chat client, and the repository of files and notes for all present. Roll20 will be the virtual tabletop.

What I provide

I will bring the rulebook, a worldbook that players may engage with as much or as little as they like (Though there will be some wonderful artwork in it), A set of custom character sheets, and any maps needed in Roll20.

Gameplay details

The game will be fast paced and cinematic. Planning, resting, and resource collection/crafting will be done with the constant understanding that enemies are at your back. This is a story of a journey, ultimately, and while there may be an end point on the map, between you and it are enemies at all sides. This game will be kept around the point of a hard PG 13 movie. There will be action, violence, a certain amount of terrible villainy and moral grayness, but there will be hard content cutoffs discussed and maintained at the start of the game. I will be using an array of safety tools to make sure that the game can be played fast, hard, and fun without leading to situations that will be harmful or undesired by the players. Lines and Veils will be discussed in the first session, as well as the Script Change safety toolkit. The use of these tools will be enforced, and failure to do so will lead to the players being kicked from the game and banned until the issue is addressed.

Content warnings

(none)

Safety tools used

(none)

How will character creation work

Character creation will be done on a one on one basis during the first session, with each player deciding their character's playbook and past before the game started. Each player will have a character sheet that I will be able to send as a writable PDF or given as a character entry in their roll20 journal.

Players can expect

• Find a game to join solo or search for a professional game master for you and your friends/coworkers/family.
• Book your session and wait for the Game Master to approve you.
• If you don't have a blast with your first game, your next game is on us.