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

Maura tells us about her campaign, Her Dark Ministrations, which uses the Spire rules and setting made by Rowan, Rook and Decard. Maura's campaign and version of Spire follow the base setting pretty closely. From the game's website, "Spire is a roleplaying game about desperate revolutionary dark elves caught up in a secret war against the high elves, or aelfir, who rule the towering city of Spire. The world of Spire is a brutal one, and players can expect to see their characters suffer at the hands of their oppressors, or their rivals; bodily harm, psychological scarring and reprisals against their allies are commonplace. But for those willing to do what it takes, Spire is on the brink of full-scale rebellion, and you are poised to push it over the edge."Maura provides some important twists to this though. Her campaign has been running much longer than most other campaigns, already being double the length of the expected 12 session maximum. Additionally, Maura has a fascinating conception of the deities and their motivations and interactions with the Spire world and the Spire city itself where the campaign's action takes place.If you'd like to listen to Maura's play campaign you can check out Her Dark Ministrations at https://www.herdarkministrations.com/If you'd like to learn more about Spire and maybe play it for yourself you can check it out here: https://rowanrookanddecard.com/spire-rpg/There's some quick start rules you can get started with and if you like it, buy the whole book for lots more! https://rowanrookanddecard.com/product/spire-quickstart/Our website: https://gocorral.com/stsWant to be on the show? Fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/U11TbxtAReHFKbiVAJoin our Discord: https://discord.gg/Nngc2pQV6C

Corey tells us about his campaign called Tales of the Undead which takes place in the island country of Equalia.This episode starts off with a reference to a video about Equalia that Corey uploaded to YouTube. For the full experience you can watch that video at this link: https://youtu.be/qFsqInICbAo?si=Vm9B5UVVjoJJm3gaEqualia was once ruled by an oppressive human regime. In the last few years a civil war placed the benevolent King Sekai on the throne. She has worked tirelessly to mend the discontent brought by the former regime. Sadly the elves of Equalia left during the years of tyranny long ago. It is rare to see one in the country nowadays. Currently King Sekai is contending with bearfolk viking raids into her land.In the Tales of the Undead campaign the PCs wake up dead. They have been brought back to life not by an evil necromancer but rather a kind-hearted one. The dark elf Lord Zeken gives the party the news they died and have been brought back for one year of life. If they work for him for one year, he will restore the rest of their lifespan. Those who take his deal join the Volition of Vivification guild to go on errands for Zeken and his patron, King Sekai.If Corey's world and/or DM style intrigued you, he is a full-time professional DM. You can check out his campaigns at https://startplaying.games/gm/dungeonhusbandOur website: https://gocorral.com/stsWant to be on the show? Fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/U11TbxtAReHFKbiVAJoin our Discord: https://discord.gg/Nngc2pQV6C

James tells us about Quelmar which is not just a campaign world but also a charity organization! Quelmar was created by James for his D&D games in college. Many more players joined the campaign swelling it in size and complexity as more and more PC backstories populated the lore of the world. James took the idea and ran with it, expanding Quelmar into a West-Marches style game with multiple DMs and campaigns happening simultaneously across the world. Quelmar currently has fourteen active campaigns playing. The in-world history of Quelmar is described with broad strokes from creation, into the high fantasy era, beyond into modern and cyberpunk eras, and even further into the apocalypse and the end of the world.The Quelmar charity organization has conventions every year, lends out books and gaming materials, and hosts outreach events to bring RPGs and a sense of community to various places where Quelmar members are based.James has taken a backseat for the Quelmar organization at this point. He still occasionally DMs within the world. James's current campaign is dubbed "Just the Q of Us" which is an anthology campaign. Each session focuses on two different PCs from different Quelmar campaigns. James reads through past campaigns and identifies two characters that might've crossed paths at one point and then designs a one-shot adventure for those two PCs. The sessions are broadcast on Twitch at https://www.twitch.tv/thequelmarrealm and the archives are available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmeY9m-DhVYx7dXDtsCQBKpladhB8hADaQuelmar has a few of its own web links you should check outThe Quelmar Wiki: https://quelmarwiki.com/wiki/Quelmar_WikiaThe Quelmar Organization's official webpage: https://quelmar.webflow.io/And Quelmar's Discord server: https://discord.gg/9FZ4EJjOur website: https://gocorral.com/stsWant to be on the show? Fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/U11TbxtAReHFKbiVAJoin our Discord: https://discord.gg/Nngc2pQV6C

Darin is back from Episode 11 to tell us more about Aellorah! Since we last spoke Darin has worked more on Aellorah's magic system called the Flow. There's plenty of new metals and special materials to make equipment out of. New classes and subraces abound. The governments of Aellorah are more detailed and fleshed out than before. Darin has created a lot more for his world and is own his way to having a campaign sourcebook draft!Our website: https://gocorral.com/stsWant to be on the show? Fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/U11TbxtAReHFKbiVAJoin our Discord: https://discord.gg/Nngc2pQV6C

Bryon tells us about his Vaesen game set in the Pacific Northwest during the Industrial Revolution. Vaesen is a Swedish RPG where the PCs possess the Second Sight and are able to see all the monsters and faeries of folklore and myth. The societal changes of the Industrial Revolution have upset the hidden creatures of the world. As humanity has expanded encounters between these creatures and humans have become more and more common. Vaesen was originally written for a Scandinavian setting but Bryon has repurposed the game for North American folk tales. He's set his game in Seattle, Washington where the players are agents of the mysterious Library investigating monstrous appearances in the Pacific Northwest.Bryon's Vaesen campaign is captured on his podcast, Spirits and Monsters of Old Seattle.You can check it out on your favorite podcast or by clicking here: https://www.spiritsandmonsters.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/Nngc2pQV6C

Jack presents his arcanepunk world of Televyse. Televyse is a metropolis city on a plane made up of large hexagons of territory. Every month the hexagons rotate, destroying all life and structures on the previous hexagons and replacing them with something new. The hexagon Televyse is located on is the only one immune to the hexagon shift. The city center is the Dome where corporations host reality TV show replicas of adventurers going through dungeons for audience entertainment. During the interview we discussed the punk genre and the themes of dystopia and utopia that are central to Jack's work.Jack has compiled a thorough and well-organized campaign setting book on Televyse that he's made available on Google Drive at this link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rhBbYtJrV7O23y9Y75aZzwV27urBFH2GJs4hhJ7eyxU/Our website: https://gocorral.com/stsWant to be on the show? Fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/U11TbxtAReHFKbiVAJoin our Discord: https://discord.gg/Nngc2pQV6C

A special episode! A look at my own campaign with my players after the fact. This is a post session recording with my players and me after the conclusion of our D&D 4e campaign Orkish Rising.The campaign focused on the orc chief, Gregor, and his rise to power within the Orclands. He had to fight and unite tribes to oppose the evil necromancer tribes trying to take over the Orclands. At the end he stood as King of All Orcs.Our post session conversation covered a range of topics. What's it like to run a campaign where a single PC is the focus? What were some of the missed plot threads of the campaign that weren't explored? Was Gregor a fascist or a typical monarch for his time? How did the NPCs make their decisions?Hopefully the breakdown is a unique experience and a useful tool for your own campaigns and how you design and execute the adventures for your players.Our website: https://gocorral.com/stsWant to be on the show? Fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/U11TbxtAReHFKbiVAJoin our Discord: https://discord.gg/Nngc2pQV6CThis episode also features a song from the 1977 Rankin/Bass animated Hobbit movie. The song is "The Road Goes Ever On" written by JRR Tolkien and performed by Glenn Yarbough.

Tim's fantasy world of Alanui is recovering from an apocalypse that nearly wiped out all life. A small habitable region remains, surrounded by the Wall Wood which expands against the irradiated Wastes. The apocalypse was multifaceted, but strangely parts of it were erased from history and memory of all but a few by the Director, the leader of the peacekeeping force of Guardians. This erasure was actually carried out by the Director to cover up his own involvement in the apocalypse. Alanuis is dominated by two nations, The Steadings and The Tribes. The Steadings is in the throes of an Industrial Revolution while The Tribes are a nomadic desert culture.Sorry for the delay on getting this episode out! I had some shakeups in my professional life and my wife had some problems as well that I was supporting her with. I didn't have as much energy to devote to the podcast as I would've liked. I have also run out of people on my survey backlog to interview! I'll need to see what I can do to get more people interested in the show. For now, you can consider this the final episode of "season 1" if you'd like. I have another special episode in the works that I'll work on and release when I've got time. Thank you all for listening and I hope you enjoy!Our website: https://gocorral.com/stsWant to be on the show? Fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/U11TbxtAReHFKbiVADiscord: https://discord.gg/Nngc2pQV6C

Matt tells us about his campaign set in the Pokemon world. Pokemon is split into different regions based off of real world areas. Matt's game is set in his own original region named Osee. based on Orange County in Southern California. Matt originally recorded his sessions to go back and listen to himself or with his group, but he reworked them into a podcast that you can listen to from this link: https://oseepkmnpod.buzzsprout.com/The game is played using D&D 5e rules which obviously require a lot of homebrew to create a Pokemon style game. We dive deep into the rules that Matt created along with how he crafted the setting and the campaign events as well.Our website: https://gocorral.com/stsWant to be on the show? Fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/U11TbxtAReHFKbiVADiscord: https://discord.gg/Nngc2pQV6C