Deep Time Wanderers Campaign Post

 Started running a new campaign yesterday.

It's a weird one. I didn't feel a strong conceptual impulse, a need to run this. Rather, I started rolling on random tables and accidentally generated something playable, at least some strong improv seeds. And when combined with the fact that I haven't run anything in a year I decided to push it hard. I'm driven not by strength of concept but by desire to see a campaign break the 10 session barrier. We'll see.

In theory, it's a love letter to 70s prog rock and science fantasy art, heavy metal, that kind of stuff. I'm using Sword and Wizardry, though without strong ties to the system- I'm going for that Science Fantasy feel- a world so very far in the future that post-apocalypse no longer sums it up, a world of mutants and wastelands but also fantasy and wonder. A friend has been talking about Gamma World recently and this has made me realize I really should have read that system before starting this because I suspect I'm hitting a lot of the same beats independently. Not a big deal!

A major source of this venture is Elfmaid and Octopi's Planet Psycon PDF which I downloaded some years ago but started thumbing through on a whim and it is in large part responsible for the whole thing. Also pulling liberally from Vaults of Vaarn and  Ultraviolet Grasslands. But I'm not afraid to throw some vanilla OSR modules in here- I can either reflavor stuff, or I can leave it as normal vanilla fantasy for contrast- when everything is Weird, nothing is, after all. 

The initial centerpiece megadungeon is Highfell, the Drifting Dungeon. To be a little blunt, I have some reservations about using this one as I have not heard good things about Gillespie in recent years, but Gillespie's dungeons are... to put it nicely... a little bland, and in this case it means they can be reflavored however I need them to be. I do not have to worry about the author's views, as the author's voice is barely there. Highfell itself is a solid concept and I hope to make good use of it. Of course, getting to the dungeon is difficult, as it floats through the air, so as of session 1 the party has decided instead to set their sights on the "Swarming Jungle" to the southwest and it's fabled gem mines.

 It's all a very different approach from my usual anime-fueled weeb aesthetic, but I can contain multitudes, and when I gm I've noticed I usually go for much different themes than when I'm a player. That's ok, I contain multitudes.

I had some fun with the player races, coming to the conclusion that of the traditional D&D races, only humans and elves really fit, and elves only because space elves are absolutely an established tradition- I am going to be drawing on Hill Canton's Eld a lot, I think. I also suspect I really need to get around to reading some Moorcock.

For the rest, we have the mutants of the wasteland- Mutants being the assumed default of the setting- "pure" humans are fresh from the vaults so to speak, or cryogenically preserved from eons past. Mutants roll on a table to determine 3 peculiarities, which given the table I am using , so far suggests they may be busted.  I'm also trying out a "Mutant as class", whose whole thing is getting a mutation per level up, and getting advantage on mutations. This is an idea I've had for awhile, and have had fun with in my solo games, but time will tell whether it's a solid one. 

There's beastmen, stolen shamelessly from Vaarn, and two of my players jumped on the opportunity to be Veins of the Earth Trilobite Knights. Animal people are something of the wildcards of the setting, as their abilities aren't predefined- better to work with the players.

Finally, we have robots, which are 100% assumed to be made of steel and chrome, and can be upgraded in a number of ways. I suspect this may be the actual stealth OP option, as I have... so many upgrades for robots. Of course, the reliance on loot or purchasing items may keep robots from reaching their potential. 

So... the balance is not good! It's a "hot mess" but I'll refine it as I go. What matters is that it's a fun conceptual foundation to begin play. 

Here's to hoping this one lasts more than 5 sessions!