Setting the Stage, Campaigns for D&D and Other RPGs

I talked with Aaron Ryan about two of his book series, Dissonance and The End.Dissonance is a near future world where aliens have attacked, killing most humans and animals on Earth and driving humans into hiding underground. Humans finally develop technology to fight back and the war enters a new stage while the characters also struggle to determine the motivation for the alien invasion and nefarious actions of the government.The End is a Christian End Time series based loosely on the events described in Revelations. A man calling himself Nero has risen to rule over the world and he has outlawed Christianity. Robots called Guardians hunt Christians throughout the world, murdering them on the spot if they don't recant their faith. A resistance movement works in the shadows against Nero, but things aren't looking good for them.We talked about the basics of those settings along with how they could be adapted for RPG campaign settings. My main recommendations were Ashes Without Number, Spire, and Blades in the Dark.If you're interested in reading Aaron's books you can find them at most any bookstore or library. Both of the series are also being adapted into movies, but aren't publicly available yet. Aaron's website is https://authoraaronryan.com/ for the latest updates on his work. Next up for Aaron is the Talisman series that covers events within the "Aaronverse" in the decades between Dissonance and The End.Our website: https://gocorral.com/stsWant to be on the show? Fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/U11TbxtAReHFKbiVAJoin our Discord: https://discord.gg/Nngc2pQV6CSupport the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SettingtheStage

Sensei Suplex joins us to talk about his campaign, Project Aurora. Suplex started Project Aurora in college with some friends. They agreed to have a few different campaigns done by different DMs to all exist within the same shared world. Suplex transitioned to paid DMing and the world expanded beyond that into a huge RPG experience with dozens of DMs and thousands of people playing, all in a shared universe.With such a large pool of players and DMs there's a decent effort to match groups in style, tone, and schedule so that everyone is happy with what they're doing. There are full campaigns and pickup West Marches style adventures as well. Sensei Suplex believes in matching what players want with his DMing style. Thus the world/universe for Project Aurora is varied with different cultures, technology levels, and themes for whatever a particular group is interested in playing.Sensei Suplex also has a YouTube channel with some great videos on how to be a better DM. The most popular of those videos being one on how to create something the TTRPG equivalent to the Nemesis System from the Lord of the Rings: Shadow of War video game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aSJ145y2hASensei Suplex also recommended a Ginny Di video on paid DMing that you can talk a look at here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_M0M-j1ruZQIf you'd like to learn more about Sensei Suplex, his YouTube videos, or Project Aurora, it's all available from this link: https://beacons.ai/senseisuplexOur website: https://gocorral.com/stsWant to be on the show? Fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/U11TbxtAReHFKbiVAJoin our Discord: https://discord.gg/Nngc2pQV6CSupport the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SettingtheStage

There were some audio issues in this episode that we did our best to correct. Hopefully you can understand everything or close to everything! If you can't, you can always drop into the Discord to ask additional questions.The story of Godstorm starts 70 years ago when a fisher from the city of Gulia went deep into the ocean. He came back many days later covered in various marks. The marks gave him magical blinking powers. The king of Gulia unjustly executed the fisher to remove a threat. The burning fisher's marks then spread throughout the populace, making it so now about 20% of Gulia's citizens bear the marks and their power. At the same time electric eels were being developed as an energy source. The eels are taunted to put their shocks into batteries which power a bunch of technology throughout the city.The design goals for the system of Godstorm focused on every PC being able to blink in short teleportation jumps. There are a bunch of different classes that give little bonuses along with selected feats to the blinks. You could leave a hazard behind you, create a protective ward where you blink to, or heal everyone along the path of your blink.You can try the Godstorm system out for yourself by following this link: https://siixu.itch.io/godstormAnd you can be involved in the playtesting of Godstorm by joining the Discord: https://discord.gg/dqq2tBywBbOur website: https://gocorral.com/stsWant to be on the show? Fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/U11TbxtAReHFKbiVAJoin our Discord: https://discord.gg/Nngc2pQV6CSupport the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SettingtheStage

John tells us about his campaign setting, Tahlvaen. The world was something he dreamt up in childhood that he's now turning into a campaign setting for D&D. Tahlvaen is threatened by eldritch entities known as the Outer Five. These nasty beings were cast out beyond the Veil that separates them from the Tahlvaen. The eight Veilborn gods protect the world from the Outer Five, but all planar travel is cut off as a consequence. New magic classes exist in Tahlvaen to reflect this, focusing on music, resonance, and psionics as sources of power.John has been writing a full set of books for publication on Tahlvaen. He plans to launch a Kickstarter in April 2026 to bring the book to life. The book is named the Veilborn Universe Campaign Setting: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/veilborn/the-veilborn-universe-campaign-settingAnd you can find all of John's socials here: https://linktr.ee/tahlvaenOur website: https://gocorral.com/stsWant to be on the show? Fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/U11TbxtAReHFKbiVAJoin our Discord: https://discord.gg/Nngc2pQV6CSupport the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SettingtheStage

John tells us about his actual play show, Blittle League Blaseball! The show is based on the now passed internet phenomenon, Blaseball. In Blaseball, baseball teams play against each other while using magical and technological powers. Their furious battles satisfy the Elder Ones and prolong the time before the Antediluvians rise and consume the world as we know it. So if there are professional Blaseball players... There must be a Blaseball Little League, right? That's where Blittle League Blaseball comes in!The campaign focuses on a team known as the Summerville Sunflowers. The four PCs are the main members of the team who go on monster slaying missions as part of their Blaseball training. John uses the PbtA Monster of the Week system with players upgrading each time they go up a grade at school.The best place for more about Blittle League Blaseball is their website: https://www.blittleleague.com/YouTube is the best place to listen/watch Blittle League Blaseball: https://www.youtube.com/@BlittleLeagueAnd if you want to check out the team's other project, Dungeons and TBD, follow this link: https://www.dntbd.com/Our website: https://gocorral.com/stsWant to be on the show? Fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/U11TbxtAReHFKbiVAJoin our Discord: https://discord.gg/Nngc2pQV6CSupport the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SettingtheStage

KC Broadhead is a certified life coach who uses D&D and other TTRPGs as a motivational force for his clients, mostly young men and boys. He meets with each person weekly to check on their goals for self improvement. Based on their progress each client is rewarded some building points that can be spent on their character in their weekly session. People who work more consistently on their goals get greater rewards in the game, instilling a sense of competition in the other participants to do better on their own goals. It's a new and effective life coaching method that KC is operating under the name Knight's Castle Services.KC's world is named Liara. The world is used for all of his life coach sessions with each group adventuring at the same time but in different regions of the world. The history of Liara is consistently muddled, either due to magic or bad records. The gods of Liara are separated into nine different ranks called Rings. Creation gods at the top, followed by Elements, Time, Fate, Souls, Knowledge, War, Dreams, and Thought. The Creation gods made the universe while lower Rings sprang into existence as needed or when a particular mortal being became worshipped after their death. There's also a secret tenth pantheon...The people of Liara are threatened by a violent race of fairies called the Zephyrynn. The best defense is the Ka’vothan, a race of super strong oni-like people that are able to fight back against the fairies due to their superior strength.KC's D&D style life coaching is available on his website. Check it out if you're interested! https://www.knightscastle.org/Our website: https://gocorral.com/stsWant to be on the show? Fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/U11TbxtAReHFKbiVAJoin our Discord: https://discord.gg/Nngc2pQV6CSupport the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SettingtheStage

Al from the Point of Insanity Game Studio and Podcast is here to talk about a couple of different things! We started off by discussing the Dark Sun campaign setting, which was a post-apocalyptic campaign setting released for D&D in 1991. Next was the changes in D&D over the editions/years. After that was Al's Point of Insanity Network podcast, a variety podcast about a number of different topics in the geek and horror space.Next we discussed one of Al's RPGs he's designed, Strange Things Afoot. Characters in Strange Things Afoot are high schoolers with their stats derived from their character's grades in school. They work to investigate horror stories based on belief. The monster from the horror story can manifest as a tulpa, powered by the belief that society has in that monster. The teenagers must discover the terrifying mysteries, defeat them, and survive to make it to gym class on time.The last thing we discussed, that was the main focus of the episode, is Al's RPG called Caught in the Backrooms. The Backrooms concept comes from video games where if you maneuver your character correctly you will clip into an area of the map intended just for developers to access during playtesting. But once you're in that zone there isn't a way out. You wander aimlessly through endless blank corridors with the occasional secret room. That's the Backrooms. Caught in the Backrooms provides rules for playing characters who have slipped into the Backrooms of reality and are unable to escape. PCs must struggle to find resources, fight against monsters, and maintain their sanity, all while looking for the exit, if there even is one.You can learn more about Al's podcast, Point of Insanity Game Studio, at his website or on your podcast app: http://www.poigamestudio.com/Al's storefront on DriveThruRPG where you can find Strange Things Afoot and Caught in the Backrooms: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher/2995/point-of-insanity-game-studioAnd Lulu if you prefer paper copies: https://www.lulu.com/search?contributor=Al+SeegerAnd one of our previous guests, Peter from Tales From Elsewhere, is crowdfunding his first TTRPG book, Clockworld. You can check the Kickstarter out at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/talesfromelsewhere/tales-from-elsewhere-clockworldOur website: https://gocorral.com/stsWant to be on the show? Fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/U11TbxtAReHFKbiVAJoin our Discord: https://discord.gg/Nngc2pQV6CSupport the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SettingtheStage

Kevin tells us about his setting and TTRPG, Orbis. It's a crunchy mech combat game!Central to Orbis is the Ion Tempest storm. It started long ago and afflicts the world with electrical storms, cold snaps, heat waves, and odd magnetic and gravitational fields. History of the world before the arrival of the Ion Tempest is lost. Some sort of apocalypse occurred to this science fiction civilization that destroyed everything and created the Ion Tempest. The storm also has sentient representations of it called Apostles. The chaotic wilderness is full of lucrative treasures from before the collapse of civilization. People known as ronin go out into the wilds with protective mechs known as armored gears to fight behemoth monsters, secure territory, and find loot. Some ronin are trained as voltweavers, able to use the energy of the Ion Tempest itself to perform magical feats.On the system side, Orbis seeks to unify mech games that focus on the mechs with ones that focus on the pilots. Both your mech and your pilot are relevant and advance as you play the game. As you might imagine for a mech game, customization is rampant with tons of options, gears, levers, and nozzles to fiddle with for how your pilot and mech are setup. For action resolution you compare the score of your most relevant attribute and skill to a difficulty number. You gain a modifier on a d100 roll equal to the difference between your numbers and the difficulty number. Your target is always 50 after that modification. Critical successes occur whenever you a double on the D100 (11, 22, 33, etc).Orbis is still early in development but there is enough material to start playing it if you're interested. Join the Discord for rule files and to connect with Kevin. Or follow Kevin's BlueSky account for the latest updates.Discord: https://discord.gg/7pvcGPHEvQBlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/orbisgame.bsky.socialAnd one of our previous guests, Peter from Tales From Elsewhere, is crowdfunding his first TTRPG book, Clockworld. You can check the Kickstarter out at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/talesfromelsewhere/tales-from-elsewhere-clockworldOur website: https://gocorral.com/stsWant to be on the show? Fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/U11TbxtAReHFKbiVAJoin our Discord: https://discord.gg/Nngc2pQV6CSupport the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SettingtheStage

John tells us about his setting and TTRPG system he's developing, Dalteria.Dalteria the world was originally lifeless. Long ago on Earth, magic existed. When God flooded Earth, the wizards took all the magic with them. Noah built his ark while the wizards left Earth to settle and terraform Dalteria with their magic. Millenia later the people of Earth advanced enough to develop colonization starships. One of these colonies made it to Dalteria, but were not received peacefully. The resulting war eventually resolved and the current timeline is set 400 years afterwards. Regular animals and plants have largely died out and been replaced by magical or technological horrors. People cluster into cities that are protected by technology or magic to keep themselves safe from the monsters that cover the planet's surface. PCs take on the role adventurers going outside the safety of cities for various tasks.The system is still in the early stages of development. Players choose tech or magic for their power sets (or both, but they don't play well together). The main stats are Body, Mind, and Spirit. There are six kinds of magic for casting spells. Monsters somewhat match up to these stats with base monsters being modified by different types of magic or technology to make something more interesting and threatening. You can follow along at Dalteria's Discord server: https://discord.gg/WPcNGpDFxtOur website: https://gocorral.com/stsWant to be on the show? Fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/U11TbxtAReHFKbiVAJoin our Discord: https://discord.gg/Nngc2pQV6CSupport the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SettingtheStage