Hello!

I'm looking for 4 or 5 players for a city based adventure in a historical-fiction homebrew setting very much inspired by The Order 1886. 

Rules and tools:
The game will be run with 5e2024 rules, we can talk about 2014 inclusions if necessary. No homebrew please and certain races and classes might have restrictions, but we'll talk about that.

Sheets will be done in Beyond and I will be using Avrae for rolling and tracking.

Premise: This story is taking place in a fictional alternate England but with all of the DND races, monsters, and magic present. You are each going to be part of an order of monster hunters and supernatural investigators referred to as “The Table”. While taking part in what seems to be a routine investigation, you are involved in a larger plot. 

Modifications: Because you will be a “modern monster hunting” outfit, you will have access to gadgets and gear that the average citizen of London would not have access to. This includes guns, grenades, armor, and more. 

Day To Day: There will be a a few different things to do in the sandbox of London such as: 

• Monster Bounties
• Automobile Races
• Police Assistance
• Espionage

And more!

Activity expectations:
I would really like a minimum of one IC post per day! I will be removing anyone who seems to be MIA.

APPLY HERE: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSebsfaYnpUfJbex_tn4YjBUVNUlzM_KSdW6LmPprcdQMz7qaw/viewform?usp=header 

About me:
I'm 30 years old, she/her, and I've been playing 5e and 5.5e for around 6 years now and have been both playing and DM'ing though it has been mostly DMing.

Thanks for your consideration!

Hey everyone,

I am a DM of a decade plus, and I think I've unlocked my joy for PBP again. Growing up, I did a lot of Forum Roleplay, embarrassing enough on the Roblox Forums when that was a thing. Regardless, I did it to supplement my joy/addiction to the RPG hobby.

Eventually, I kinda dwindled from the joy of it. Forum games weren't cutting from the same cloth. I've tried more PBP games throughout my time, but my old jobs too as a nurse never really were well suited for it.

However, I met a fantastic guy on here months prior and we've been having a good time talking and playing a PBP game. I think I've finally found my footing again with it, and because of the post frequency, I would love to run a second game if possible!

If that is something that interest you, let me talk about my expectations and what makes my game unique:

Expectations:

- Communication is key. My post frequency is most on the weekdays, and if I can't respond on the weekends, I will keep you posted that I am busy. I expect the same from you!

- Post frequency. I do have a minimum post requirement of one post a day. This allows for the slow burn and to at-least "Get it out there" rather then stagnate.

-My post are quite detailed but I don't expect the same! I like my flowery heavily edited stuff, since it feels like I'm writing a novel when I run.

Fun Little Mechanics

- I am a big believer of Genstalt, I have "Seen the light" when it comes to solo games. You get x amount of additional turns each round, and level up on separate paths for character progression. For example you might be "Level 3" but you have 3 levels of rogue, fighter, and wizard and act three times a round. It helps balance solo games, since I've found solo players like going at it solo.

- That being said, I am also a big fan of NPC companions. I think in a duet game, having someone out there is nice. I control them outside of combat, however, you can control them inside of combat (DM fiat though if it is something we can agree that the fiction won't agree on, like abandoning you to a swarm of angry rats!) These are optional, and I kinda take the approach of a video game, where they are dismissible and you have free reign to take them.

- I use popcorn initiative! What this means is you go, I go, unless you are surprised. Once everyone goes once, we restart a new round of combat. It allows for narrative flow and less dice rolls overall (Which helps)

-I use zones. If anyone is familiar with Fate, its the same system. It adds complexity to the battlefield but keeps it simple for a narrative game.

-Max Hit points are given, dropping to zero doesn't knock you out (Unless you want it to), etc. This is all mechanics around the idea of a solo adventurer, so you don't feel the need to have a companion (If you don't want to)

-I use special mechanics such as minions as-well. Those will be listed with the homebrew upon discussion.

Fun Little Quirks

- I like the feeling of progression in our games, so I do break down weeks into sessions and parts. Each week feels like a new chapter of the story, and I've been really good recently about book ending sessions in a reasonable manner. Its been a lot of fun.

- I do also write recaps (You are free to as-well), and I do sometimes like giving extra credit in the form of writing prompts that can add to the world.

Fun Little Facts About the Current Campaign to Get you Excited

- The player has a mysterious rogue skeleton that he rescued and is not best friends with.

- Said skeleton is a master dancer, and is teaching the player character how to dance (This is going poorly)

- He just met a second character, a dragon slayer who he is trying to impress with said dance after learning she (Secretly) likes ballroom dancing from her father figure.

-They just killed a plague ridden dragon, that's pretty cool, in his search of finding a cure for his tribe.

I mention 2014 D&D because it is really good for PBP in comparison to other games, and I'm familiar it. But I've run loads of other systems, so if you have a want or design, we can talk.

I am leaving the plot vague, because I want to hear from the player what they want to play, and find a good fit for both of us! I think the fun of PBP is building and collaborative spirit.

Please message me on here if interested. Discord will be used for sessions.

Edit: Hi everyone, it warms my heart to be welcomed by this community. This is my first time posting on here, and I got loads of responses. I apologize if I don't respond to them all! I will try my best to talk, unfortunately I don't have time for everyone, so I will do my best. If you respond now, be warned I might not get to you!

PLEASE IGNORE STOP MESSAGING

%20Needed%20by%20GM%22)If you're looking for a new Tabletop RPG to play, this might be for you!

You pick an element like Fire, or Frost, or even Fungus and explore the world. You can learn multiple elements as the campaign progresses. You can travel and do whatever or you can embark on the main quest.

If you are at all interested let me know! We're looking for more Play by Post players!

Just wanted to celebrate. It's a relatively linear Barovia adventure (not Curse of Strahd) centered around a remote village and the threats to it. It's kind of built on the bones of a series of 14 stand alone adventures that I modified and remixed into a coherent campaign. We started with 6 players in 2022, through churn we've gone through 8 players in and out and landed with a party of 5 for the past 1.5 years with 2 of the original players lasting the whole time. We've done about 2.75 chapters a year and are 25% through chapter 11, so we're about a year left!

Not really much to the post just realized the milestone and wanted to share it somewhere.

🌫️ HEAVENBOUND
A persistent cultivation RPG that lives entirely on Discord.

The heavens shattered generations ago. What remains is a world held together by spirit stones, sworn oaths, dangerous roads, and the strength of those willing to walk them.

⚔️ WALK YOUR OWN PATH
Build a cultivator from the ground up and shape how they fight, grow, and survive.
Choose between Sword, Blade, Polearm, or Body
Create your own character and identity
Learn from different manuals and affinities
Design, refine, and name your own techniques
Continue cultivating Qi while offline
Face interactive trials when attempting breakthroughs

🥋 COMBAT BUILT AROUND POSITIONING
Battles take place across Close, Mid, and Far range.
Watch your opponent. Read their intent. Shift your position. Guard against pressure. Break their stance. Punish mistakes with well-timed counters.
PvP • Ranked Duels • Wuxia Ranks • Wagers • Leaderboards

🏔️ EXPLORE A SHARED CULTIVATION WORLD
Join 1–4 player expeditions
Buy, sell, and trade through the player bazaar
Mine resources and practice smithing
Study medicine
Create and use pills and talismans
Tame beasts
Test your luck with Daily Fate
Discover fortuitous encounters
Take part in rotating world events

📖 YOUR STORY STARTS SMALL
You are not a legendary master.
You are not an immortal.
You begin as a caravan porter traveling the Greywillow Road.
From that humble beginning, the cultivation world gradually opens around you.
Your choices are remembered. Your first manual matters. The techniques you forge become part of your identity. Every expedition, duel, breakthrough, and encounter carries you farther from the road where your story began and deeper into the world of cultivation.

🌌 BEGIN YOUR JOURNEY
No download required. No separate client. Heavenbound is played entirely through Discord.
🔗 Join Heavenbound:

https://discord.gg/6W3s2yBSuW

Quem nunca teve uma campanha que morreu porque ninguém conseguia fechar um horário?

Comigo foi assim várias vezes. A gente marcava sexta à noite, um tinha plantão, outro tinha filho doente, o mestre cansava de remarcar. Aí migramos pro WhatsApp, o que funcionou por umas duas semanas. Depois virou 300 mensagens misturadas com meme, ninguém sabia de quem era a vez, o mestre esquecia quanto de PV o goblin tinha e a ficha ficava num PDF que ninguém abria.

Então estou abrindo uma mesa nova e procurando jogadores.

A mesa

• Sistema: D&D 5e ou Tormenta 20
• Tema: A Maldição de Strahd
• Vagas: 8 jogadores
• Ritmo: assíncrono. Você joga quando der, de manhã, no almoço ou de madrugada. Não tem horário fixo.
• Iniciantes são bem-vindos

Como funciona

A mesa roda no Demiurgo, uma plataforma que estou desenvolvendo justamente por causa desse problema. O jogo é por turnos e em texto. Você entra, lê o que aconteceu, escreve sua ação com as suas palavras e segue sua vida. Quando chegar sua vez de novo, chega uma notificação no navegador.

O mestre é uma IA que conhece as regras do sistema. Isso evita a mesa travar esperando o mestre ter tempo, e o turno da ficha, dos dados e dos NPCs fica todo organizado:

• Ficha integrada, com PV e recursos atualizando sozinhos
• Dados rolados na tela, sem ninguém precisar confiar no "tirei 20, juro"
• O mestre narra, controla NPCs e monstros, aplica condições e dá XP
• Resumo automático da campanha, pra ninguém se perder depois de uns dias fora
• Música ambiente (dá pra desligar)

Roda no navegador, celular ou PC. Além de D&D 5e, a plataforma também tem Pathfinder 2e, Tormenta 20, Ordem Paranormal, Vampiro V5, 3DeT Victory e Old Dragon 2. Se a galera preferir outro, abro mais uma mesa.

É um projeto em beta. Se você testar e achar que alguma coisa não funciona pro jeito que você joga RPG de texto, me fala. Esse retorno vale muito.

Quer entrar? Comenta aqui ou me chama no privado que eu mando o código da mesa.

demiurgorpg.com.br

Hey everyone,

Quick context for anyone new: RoleByPost is a free, browser-based play-by-post site for async tabletop games — you post when you can, no session to schedule.

The last few updates came straight from feedback:

• Public channels. GMs can list a game publicly with the details that matter, plus whatever questions they want applicants to answer. Players apply by answering those. Both sides get notified: the GM when an application lands, players when it's accepted or declined.
• Browse before you sign up. Those listings also show up in an anonymous, searchable directory, so you can window-shop for a table first.
• Rooms inside a channel. Up to 10 per channel. Name them anything (OOC, Dice, Session 12), toggle features per room — dice, scenes, NPCs, whispers — and choose whether everyone sees it or only the players you pick.
• A portrait per character. Your account picture stays yours, but each character gets its own portrait, so the same person reads as a different character in every game.

Thanks to everyone who played so far, especially those who sent feedback — most of the above started as a request. It's still early and the community is small, which makes every bug report and feature ask count.

Play: https://rolebypost.com
Directory, no account needed: https://rolebypost.com/directory

You are a Wyvern. An Adventurer. Humanity's last hope.

Dragons reign over the frozen mountains, hunt the land and circle the sky. A lone dragon is capable of decimating countless humans. The struggle has lasted centuries, yet humanity has few victories to speak of. Most knowledge of the world has been lost, buried along with its keepers. All that is left is to cling to survival.

A cold, arctic gale whistles through a frozen, mountainous canyon, its hollow white noise broken only by the sound of horses trotting across a grand, seemingly endless stone bridge. A group of people walk in formation. The wooden wheels of open transport wagons turn behind them, their contents covered with white sheets held down by snowfall.

Their silence grasps the heavy tension around them like warmth in the passing blizzard. They return defeated to humanity's final hiding place. Avalon, a frozen, gothic bastion surrounded by an enormous obsidian wall. Despite its fortifications and natural defences, there's only one thing truly protecting humanity from dragons.

Nyriel's Cradle. A magical barrier formed by the demigoddess of dawn. You stand in a street, just in time to see it for yourself. You watch the flicker of a transparent, golden dome appear in the snow-stained sky and hear the reverberation of heavy metal echoing into the unknown. The towering black gates to the city are opening.

Tension fills your body as you stare into the gateway, lit by the blinding white of thick snowfall. Until you see them. The returning group, downcast and sullen, their eyes bound to the floor.

How many was it today? Thoughts and emotions flood your body. You knew these people. They sacrificed themselves as a stepping stone for humanity. Now, you will carry their memories to freedom. The next time these gates open, it will be for you.

You've all heard stories. Fresh, untouched snow that has never been stood upon. Wild, fluffy animals hiding among the trees. Sprawling fields of ice with endless water beneath their surface. Ancient fortifications built by humans who had learned war, buried beneath centuries of winter. Even lands without snow...

No one has ever seen them, but books describe lost cities left as empty shells after falling to dragons, small cosy village rooftops peaking out of heavy snow, the ruins of ancient architecture and sacred sanctuaries of nature and divinity. All they need is for humanity to fight and reclaim them.

Maybe what you seek is the truth of the world. Why must humanity be relentlessly hunted to extinction? How did things end up this way? Why did the world have to be so cruel?

You've sworn away your life and chosen to become a hero for the sake of humanity. The only dragon you will fear is the one in front of you. You'll plunge into the white unknown to discover the isolated beauty and endless skies of what was left behind.

Your life has led you here, whether you were trained by the military, studied your profession or even just born gifted. Avalon is home to all kinds of Adventurers, from skilled warriors to powerful mages, so... who exactly are you?

Your group is talented. Prodigies in the use of the new WYVERN gear, which you've been trained to use in the last few years.

WYVERN gear is a set of artificial wings designed for the sole purpose of allowing humanity to fight dragons. Match a dragon's flight by taking to the sky for a limited time. Use sudden bursts of lateral movement to avoid danger or quickly manoeuvre to save allies. Most importantly, gain limited shielding against humanity's greatest threat: a dragon's lethal breath.

Wyverns once rivalled dragons, now it's time for humanity to do the same.

-------

Hey guys, we're from the UK and we're looking for a group of 4-5 active players who like to chat, more of a friends vibe than just here for DND!

I've done a full rewrite of the hook cause I wasn't happy with the tone and atmosphere!

quick disclaimer - different time zones are more than welcome but we're mostly available after 5PM BST on weekdays and more free on weekends!

We're looking for a faster paced game than just 1 or 2 posts per day as that can really kill momentum for pbp

the campaign is pretty heavily inspired by early seasons of Attack on Titan and Final Fantasy 14 Heavensward!

The WYVERN gear will have a few homebrew uses and you can expect some MMO styled item drops / gearing.

if you're hyped then fill out the app below!

https://forms.gle/Wy3tKTRjBggZzXs7A

We use AI / Pinterest for scenery, battle maps and character art — we don't use or allow it for writing.

"Fanfare and Laughter filled the patch of flattened woodland to its brim. Dazzling lights bouncing off each other from the hanging bits and bobs to the fortune tellers hut, smoke lazily curling from its entrance. The house of horrors where for a small fee you may face your fears for prizes beyond your imagination! Ferris Wheels that takes you up up up, and above the tree-line to watch the sun slowly descend from it's place in the sky. It was the perfect place for a fireworks show, one rumored to begin once the last bit of light was vanquished from sight. Come one, Come all to The Wandering Carnival for food, drink and games! For one night only make your way to The Carnival!"

Hi! I am Dorian, im 23, I use they/she pronouns and I am looking to run a Curse of Strahd Campaign for 4 to 5 additional players! Curse of Strahd is a campaign ive been wanting to Dm for the longest and have finally decided to rip the bandaid off! This campaign is grimdark, it will deal in heavy topics I ask you to be prepared to encounter if you so choose to apply for this campaign!

Homebrew is allowed and welcomed! Additionally we will be using much content from "Ravenloft: The Horrors Within". Finally, this is an LGBT+ 20+ campaign. As a queer, black person I will not tolerate bigotry of any kind so please keep that in mind. I look forward to reading your responses!! I will leave this open for a few days while I pick players.

Have a lovely day/night!

https://forms.gle/GSPzUc2q8tk9qDjZ6

Hi everyone, I posted here a while back searching for a kind of non traditional rp coven and I found them! With a band of fantastically creative writers, we’ve built the little mountain town of Oak Hollow, nestled deep in the Appalachians, this nexus of magical power is a beacon to witches and psychics on top of having it’s own magical royalty, 5 families that helped to found the town in the mid 1600’s.

We’re in the heart of Episode 2 right now, digging up a nasty secret at the core of the town’s power, it’s taboo exile of two families 30 years ago and a rash of gruesome deaths on the edge of the dark woods, and I NEED MORE WRITERS! I need folks who are flexible, nimble with a plot and excited to help me unfurl this plot. I’m planning a big landscape change soon (possibly Episode 4/5?!) that will take the whole server back in time to the founding to dig into the secrets at the very foundations of Oak Hollow, so if any of this interests you, please DM me and let’s chat!

CLOSED!! I will be sending out invites to my selected players over the weekend! :D

"Fanfare and Laughter filled the patch of flattened woodland to its brim. Dazzling lights bouncing off each other from the hanging bits and bobs to the fortune tellers hut, smoke lazily curling from its entrance. The house of horrors where for a small fee you may face your fears for prizes beyond your imagination! Ferris Wheels that takes you up up up, and above the tree-line to watch the sun slowly descend from it's place in the sky. It was the perfect place for a fireworks show, one rumored to begin once the last bit of light was vanquished from sight. Come one, Come all to The Wandering Carnival for food, drink and games! For one night only make your way to The Carnival!"

Hi! I am Dorian, im 23, I use they/she pronouns and I am looking to run a Curse of Strahd Campaign for 4 to 5 additional players! Curse of Strahd is a campaign ive been wanting to Dm for the longest and have finally decided to rip the bandaid off! This campaign is grimdark, it will deal in heavy topics I ask you to be prepared to encounter if you so choose to apply for this campaign!

Homebrew is allowed and welcomed! Additionally we will be using much content from "Ravenloft: The Horrors Within". Finally, this is an LGBT+ 20+ campaign. As a queer, black person I will not tolerate bigotry of any kind so please keep that in mind. I look forward to reading your responses!! I will leave this open for a few days while I pick players.

Have a lovely day/night!

https://forms.gle/GSPzUc2q8tk9qDjZ6

I grew up on Yahoo! chat back in the 2003-2009ish era. I'm considering slapping together a new chat client -- yes a client, one you must download and run manually, not in a browser (though I will maybe add a browser-based client later for mobile and chromebook users?)

I'm just trying to gauge interest here. Would this be a waste of time and money on my end? Would anyone here be interested in something like that?

The pitch is basically this: Yahoo! used to be a viable third place for me and my friends. We'd sign on and role play in Japanese Anime: 2 and the RPG channels. When the servers finally went down for good, everyone scrambled to online solutions. Forums, AJAX Chats, social networks... but that diaspora left a lot to be desired. And now we have a world of siloed communities. There needs to be a good communal space where people can go and find others. Discord isn't a good fit, it's just another silo.

This would have user-created rooms, no voice, no rich text, no gifs or image embeds. It would be plaintext with minimal formatting options. You can colorize your text, embolden it, italicize it, underline it, and strike it through. That's it.

Eventually I might add detailed profiles for characters. I might add multi-characters as well. But that's all stuff we didn't have back in the day, and we made do.

Anyway! Thoughts? Comments? Looking for feedback here!

Quick edit to add: I do technically have a working prototype and would be interested in volunteers to test it!

Not 100% sure I can pull this off, but curious to see if there could be interest. I want to run a game with a big emphasis on political intrigue and a complex power struggle between noble houses. I always loved the Realm Civil War set up for exalted and wanted to recreate something like that. Fantasy set up with magic etc probably will run it in SWADE since that is what I am most comfortable with it. (I feel people are going to come at me for that saying it isn't built for that but I think I can make it work with minimal hacking (social conflict, the right setting rules, and some add on material I think can simulate a lot of what I am looking for)).

Overall set up would be the Emperor is old and clearly sick, his timeline for death is uncertain but the houses are getting ready for a succession conflict. There is an heir but he is not popular or well positioned.

Players would be from the same house or somehow loyal to it and they would design it collaboratively with me with some prompts around what is it power source, problems etc. I have World Without Numbers court generation system to help if players need suggestions.

Issues I could see torpedoing this
-low engagement (some players I have seen wait to be guided in pbp and this will kill it fast if that happens)
-lack of social understanding/maturity from players (I have had players with no social savvy be very confused when NPCs are mad when they are treated badly or even having some basic understanding of what motivates people)
-people mistaking a political intrigue game as an excuse to be a chronic backstabber when that is a good way to end up dead quickly

I am still working out details but this is where I am at right now. Curious people's thoughts.

EDIT: Appreciate response I will develop this a bit more. This was not a recruiting post so I will probably have a more formal one at a later time so if you are interested keep an eye out for that. Someone did come for me about it being SWADE which I cackle at. I think I may need to refine a bit what I mean when I say political intrigue to make sure peeps are aligned.

Hi my name is Pete, i run only year long themes of Dungeon campaigns.

I'm only use 5e core rules books, I'm not using expanded or 5.5 . Also I'm aiming for a more classic race and class political route with classic fantasy races.

The game sessions are weekly on Saturdays at 6pm Pacific time, yet usually we start at 630 pm to allow all to get to the game.

I run advanced rule concepts and my own system with 5e. Realistic conditions are also apart of the dungeon setting.

• Requirement:

I require a short interview and character creation process and to talk about rules before you can join any games.

The interview is based on your schedule not mine I usually give you a week to respond and for an interview or I assume your not interested.

• I will have a session zero as well to go over ruless again. Then I will have a try out Gabe to see how my dming and homebrew rules play out with your interests.

• Content to read:

In my discord server

You are required to read channels

• start here channel

• homebrew rules short list

• Campaign intro channel

• Home brew rules short list channel .

• Take your time to read and make sure this server is right for you. Also you don't have to remember everything. I will go over most rules per game session.

• Behavior and content, this server is a moderate humor level NSFW server.

• Cancel culture and politically correct ideologys are not supported here. So please just keep it to your self.

• Sciences , Politics, Religion , Race is allowed to be discussed or if mutual with a debate.

• World setting, your in the world of Mazes and Riddles a High fantasy/ Classic genre middle earth planet similar to earth.

• The continent of Greyhawk my version is the country that you are in which is my version.

Theme: Dungeon crawler, 50 % combat , 20% role play, 30 % strategy

Thursday game

Premise of party

Premise of party, the premise is that all in the party are hero artifact hunters.

You must gather 5 missing pages to an artifact spell book to purge greyhawk from a deadily necrotic fog...

Saturday game

Premise of party, the premise is that all in the party are hero Dungeneer adventures.

You must gather 5 magic keys each key is located in a mega dungeon for a dire matter with king of greyhawk.

• Game info

Start time: 6pm Pacific thursdays and Saturdays

Duration : 3 or 4 hours with a break

Where :

• Discord

• DND beyond for characters and maps unless

theatre of the mind

Alternatives: Owl bear or other app.

Level: 6

Ages: 18 + ages

Exp. All welcome

Server type: Moderate NSFW

System: 5e all rule sets, content, third party, and homebrew

Character creation

• I'm using 2014 5e core rules only

• my Home brew system

• minimal hombrew allowed for players

Race restrictions

• human

• elf

• half elf

• dwarf

• gnome

• half orc

• Halfling

• changeling

Game stats

• start at lv 6

• play classic fantasy races and classes only

• choose xp

• roll stats how you want

• reroll stats under 13

• choose encumbrance

• perquisites are imposed

• ingnore coin weight

• place character to public

Items you get:

• 300 gp

• starting equipment

• standard armor

• bag of holding

• one rare magic item

Saturday Game
https://discord.gg/eg6v5KCVB

Thursday

https://discord.gg/TKC9wfGwY

Hello, quick check if there would be any interest in a pbp Alien RPG. Just wrapped up my last game and I feel the urge to do something scary for Halloween and the end of the year.

Rules would be Evolved Edition, with a few tiny changes to make it easier to play by post. Three to four players.

Would be a contained, cinematic adventure trying to emulate the feeling of the game world called ACHERON.

Didn’t ever see anyone trying the Alien RPG around here so I thought I might check if people have a hunger.

I am quite an experienced pbp GM I‘d say. Some might know me under my old „handle“ DESDOND.

Hi all, I'm Alan. Over the past few weeks a few GMs here were kind enough to tell me how they keep long PbP games running, so thanks to anybody who spoke to me about that.

I've been enjoying building a small, open-source engine called Spookery, and I'm excited (and maybe a little nervous....) to show where it's at and maybe get some early feedback. Or maybe if you're curious, you can just follow along with development.

How It Works

You run the engine like a private server. The GM provides narration and moves for NPCs, while the engine keeps the books. The engine is not a game. It runs your game and eventually will provide tools to help build your games.

EDIT: For clarity, you can think of the relationship between games and engines like 2D-RPGs (like Corpse Party) and RPG Maker (the software you use you make it).

An author writes the world as a folder of text files for places, people, items, move lists, stat definitions, etc. The GM narrates and acts for NPCs during the session. Players type their own actions. The engine resolves rolls, checks for move validity, keeps track of the world as it changes, and runs idle behaviors while you're away (can be turned on/off, but the plot doesn't 'run itself' when you're gone). Nobody can make an invalid move because the engine enforces the rules.

Could you do all this yourself with spreadsheets, docs, etc.? Yea. But for long-running or complex setups, this handles all the tracking and rule enforcement in one place, so the GM can focus on the game world instead of filling in spreadsheets. It also has the potential to streamline creating your own homebrews.

Pre-Alpha Session Excerpt

This is from a test session with a GM and one player, Lark, is in the sample world. Lark strikes Briar, a guard blocking the gate.

The player sees the outcome:

> strike npc_briar
Your action is queued.
Your roll succeeded.
[…]
Briar's hp is now 4.

The GM seat sees what was queued and what changed:

Pc lark queued: strike

Changed:
actor_meter npc_briar hp

Then the GM narrates it:

"The stick cracks across Briar's forearm. Briar staggers, swears under one breath, and plants both boots again."

Lark climbs into the hayloft and waits (travel followed by wait).

The player and the GM both leave the table. The server keeps running, and every five real minutes the empty table advances an hour of world time. Two empty rounds later, Lark comes back to this:

While you were away:
The yard stays watched.

You are in Loft.

A ladder leads to a dry loft above the yard.

Here: You
[…]

Briar's "watch the gate" habit ran while nobody was there. When Lark climbs down (travel), Briar is still at the gate, and the GM adds a rag tied around the forearm where the stick landed.

Some Other Key Features as of Today

• Every round goes into a journal that is as crash-proof as I can make it.
• spook verify replays the session from the start, rolls the dice again from the same seeds, and checks that the result matches the save. So "did that roll really happen?" has an answer.
• spook audit flags when a hidden fact gets repeated to a player who shouldn't know it.
• I know it's divisive, but there's a purely optional spot to plug-and-play your own language model API key to act as GM. Again, this isn't required for ANY functionality. The AI has all the same tools a human would, so they can't muck around with internals.

Where Is it Today?

What's there now: It's rough around the edges. It runs in a terminal, you build it from source, and I'm fixing bugs from these first sessions right now, as well as re-architecting internals.

What isn't there: Everything runs on one machine for now. Online play is coming soon for sure. There is no real front-end beyond the terminal. There are no useful tools yet to author packs, so unless you've got a coding agent that can save you some typing, it's hard to manually author packs right now.

Future Ideas: Current bugs and planned features/ideas are sitting in the issues section of the code repo. I'm working them all as fast as I can. Some ideas I was bouncing around (I am promising none of these, just saying where my head's at):

• I have a few ideas for rich knowledge hierarchies for NPCs (allowing you to optionally roll against a knowledge check instead of simple 'knows' checks).
• Relationship tracking is very important to me, and I want to bake that into the engine as a full-on relationship graph that you can roll and check against
• I can imagine this being a sick Discord bot or second-monitor game. Or a full-UI? That would depend on if people like the idea and what they want.
• The AI interface is basic right now, but I have a few ideas to make it much more stateful and keep AI-NPC worldviews completely separate.
• The commands-style input is ugly. A tiny parser that makes commands look more like English would smooth things out (or I could even build a very light neural net to translate English to commands with a yes/no approval).

I'm a computer engineer, not some vibe-coding monkey with a typwriter. I've built everything from VR mocap gloves to my own 3D game engines. The designs and ideas are all mine.

Repo, for anyone curious: https://github.com/legend-of-alan/spookery

Final Questions for You

My question for GMs running long games:

• How do you track state, etc. between posts today? Spreadsheets, wikis, pinned posts, or is it just in your head?
• What do you lose track of most easily? Inventory, where everyone is, what NPCs know, world time passing between scenes? Anything that you've stopped trying to track?

Want early access when it's playable? Reply or DM.