I am looking for one person who has this Saturday free, and who would like to live for a game-day in a steampunk world, joining us as a guest player for this next session. Maybe you’ve always been curious about steampunk and just want to try it out. Or maybe you want a game where you play not every Saturday, but just this one. If so, we’d love to have you come along for this part of the journey. Steampunk has proven to be such a novel setting, that I'm happy to expose it to more people. This is certainly a great opportunity to leave the well-travelled road and try out something that isn't very common in RPG settings.
This Saturday, we are entering scene 5 of the act, where players are continuing their investigation of a fog-enshrouded lighthouse. The lighthouse has mysteriously stopped working; already ships have foundered on the rocks and the players are seeking to prevent any more loss of life. Players are seeking clues as to the fate of the lighthouse keeper and his wife, while trying to find a way to get the lighthouse working again. Themes are mystery and horror for this outing. I'm using Roll20's dynamic lighting to simulate a heavy fog, evoking that Silent Hill feel. Character tokens have been set so that they can only see what is directly around them and a bit more beyond but not as distinctly. It's very easy to get lost and you're never sure what you're going to encounter until you step on it practically. One thing I want to mention: though many of the past sessions have featured typical steampunk dressing, such as kinotropes, aerial ships, steam carriages, and many other fantastic technological contrivances that one associates with steampunk, this particular session is not particularly "steampunky." Many RPG sessions will have aspects of adventure that are not particular to a given setting. Though there was a wax cylinder recording of something rather troubling that was discovered last session, the setting and mystery are really not specifically steampunk; they could work in most RPG settings. I just wanted to warn anyone joining us that this particular upcoming session is going to be light on the steampunk aspects that are associated with the genre. And normally I would say that " Guests may choose from a variety of pre-generated characters of varying classes, which should accommodate most play styles." But w e are in scene 5 of an ongoing story, and sometimes story progression dictates that there's a more limited pool of NPCs to choose from, which is the case for this next session. The steam mechanic is prescribed as mandatory and she is the only NPC available to play; therefore we can accommodate only one guest player for this specific session.
As a guest, there's no requirement to know the system, or to own any system books. The emphasis is on character and story and you will be guided on how to make a roll when the time comes. The character sheets have been built out and most rolls require just clicking a particular button from the sheet. The ideal guest is someone who enjoys roleplaying a character, but keeping to script (meaning respecting the current NPC biography), but still imbuing it with lots of personality. The ideal guest also has a respect for setting and story: steampunk being such a richly drawn milieu. If you have this Saturday free and you’re interested in sampling some steampunk, I'd love to hear from you. If you would like more information about what’s happening on Saturday, follow the link below to read a synopsis of previous scenes from this act. This is the codex for Act VII, used as an archive and reference for places, people, and things. A synopsis of every scene is added after the game session. This Saturday, we will be acting out Scene 5 of Act VII of the steampunk campaign. (An act is a story arc that bridges several game sessions, called scenes; this Act is titled: The Orison Stone.) <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/18vZnPaRkwdyyVMPPmIbozfb4VmXoy4gsn-dcW8q0MuA/edit?usp=sharing" rel="nofollow">https://docs.google.com/document/d/18vZnPaRkwdyyVMPPmIbozfb4VmXoy4gsn-dcW8q0MuA/edit?usp=sharing</a> Please note: if you would like to join us, I need to hear from you prior to the actual game day. That would be today (11th), or tomorrow (12th). Anything later is too late . On game-day Saturdays, I will be focused on preparation and running the game. Invariably, someone will contact me on Saturday morning. I will ignore any such inquiries or questions until afterwards, usually sometime the following week, which is obviously too late for you to join us for this session. There is very minimal prep, but there is some. I also have guests log in 30 minutes earlier so that I can run you over the basics and get you caught up in the story. We're using Spacemaster , which is quite different from D&D, which is what most people know. It's good to know how to approach encounters, which play out a lot differently and can be quite lethal if you go into engagements expecting them to play out like D&D encounters.
The game will take place in Roll20. We use Discord for voice and Roll20 sound for background music and sound effects.