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

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

Tommy talks about his world of Oryn. The world was created with a lot of input from his players. This includes asking a question of the players at the start of each session to further develop the world and the PCs position within it. The PCs are exploring the world and have discovered the ruins of an ancient mind flayer empire. Tommy throws in lots of prophecies along with the players participating with tarot readings to keep him on his toes as he has to make the predictions come true. Of course we learn about the best cheeses that are available in the lands of Oryn and folk lore heroes inspired by Marvel superheroes.Here is a map of Oryn.Our website: https://gocorral.com/stsWant to be on the show? Fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/U11TbxtAReHFKbiVADiscord: https://discord.gg/Nngc2pQV6C

Kernel walks us through the Final Lands. All the races of the world have huddled together on an island the size of Ireland. At the center of the Final Lands is a crystal tower called the Soul Forge. The tower is surrounded by a formidable wasteland that magically drains the life of travelers. Additionally, dragons live around the Soul Forge. Every two years a comet passes over head signaling the beginning of a contest. The first to reach the Soul Forge is granted a wish, but there's a hidden catch...Kernel also runs an active guild for the upcoming Ashes of Creation MMORPG. They are creating little bits of story that align with the lore of Ashes of Creation so that when the game releases they can jump right into a roleplaying server with all their relationships and history preestablished and ready to go. If you'd like to learn more about Ashes of creation you can check it out here: https://ashesofcreation.com/Our website: https://gocorral.com/stsWant to be on the show? Fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/U11TbxtAReHFKbiVADiscord: https://discord.gg/Nngc2pQV6C

Rob tells us about his world, Garou. We get a unique perspective for our podcast as Rob's campaign in Garou recently concluded. Garou is a single continent world where the landmass is shaped like an apple. The world is a dumping ground for the rest of the universe resulting in an odd mishmash of races and factions that do not fit the typical mold of fantasy worlds, resulting in them being dumped from more traditional worlds into Garou. The judges of what don't belong are the gods, thus the only god of Garou is Wee Jas. She came to Garou to collect the world's magic in the form of orbs. These orbs are similar to mythals, imposing laws or empowering magic in a small area around them.Rob is also the cohost of the Storyteller Conclave podcast with Sara who featured on Episode 13 of Setting the Stage! If you'd like to check them out you can find more at https://storytellerconclave.mixlr.com/ or on the same platform/app you're using to access this podcast.Here is a map of Garou.Our website: https://gocorral.com/stsWant to be on the show? Fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/U11TbxtAReHFKbiVADiscord: https://discord.gg/Nngc2pQV6C

Natowa/Michael tells us about his campaign world, Akrimyos. The magic of Akrimyos is a strange and mysterious thing with many different ways of accessing the flux, raw magic that exists throughout Akrimyos. Natowa uses the same names as many of the gods from the Forgotten Realms but with very different domains and personalities to make them his own. Akrimyos also includes a few science fiction elements within the world's lore with aliens, a living planet, and an inhabited moon.Natowa's campaign events have focused on the Kingdom of Calham on Ardentia. Calham is kept safe from the giants in the north by the Giants' Wall mountain range and the dragons that stand guard. An intricate political landscape exists within Calham and the kingdom is on the verge of civil war.Natowa has a lot of the material on his campaign available at World Anvil in French. It's an easy Google Translate away from being readable in any language. That's how I read it! Check it out: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/akrimyos-natowaYou can a look at the map of Akrimyos hereOur website: https://gocorral.com/stsWant to be on the show? Fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/U11TbxtAReHFKbiVADiscord: https://discord.gg/Nngc2pQV6C