Story HourPost your ongoing tales from your campaigns, and read those from others for inspiration. Lots of other RPG boards post "Story Hours", but this is where it started!
Title:Small Beginnings Author: Enk&D'Shai (Enkhidu and dshai527) Number of Threads: 2
Type: Fantasy (very firmly so!) System: D&D 3.0/3.5 Setting: Homebrew
Started: June 27th, 2002 Status: Ongoing Average Installment Length: Somewhat Verbose (1000 words at the short end, up to 4000 or so for long ones) Average Frequency of Installments: Varies - currently one every two months or so
Overview: In 1972 a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles ... Oh wait, wrong story.
Small Beginnings, and its companion thread The Heroes of Icemist is tale of small town heroics based on the in game exploits of a campaign that started January 2002. Join Theo, Ander, Aurora, Ashrem, Worm, and especially Pack as they discover exactly what it means to be a hero. And maybe have a laugh or two along the way.
Reader Comment:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rel
You folks, both players and DM, should be damn proud of the world you've crafted. You guys raise this hobby to an art form. If you were to ever publish this setting, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
Type: Humour (black, goofy, suggestive). System: D&D 3.5e with shotguns added Setting: The Good Ol' US of A, and some two-bit fantasy world
Started: 15 April 2004 Status: Completed Average Installment Length: Short-Medium. Average Frequency of Installments: Weekly, more or less
Available for Download? Not currently Style: 3rd person narrative prose. Thank goodness you didn't ask about Class. We don't have any of that
Overview: The WotC Adventure Path meets Pro Wrestlers with Guns. George S. Patton's a lich. Madness ensues. Now with extra Commies!
Reader Comment:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Plane Sailing
You are a psychic vampire who is draining my life away. No, really. Each one of your storyhours is a great read and I've got to look at anything with your name on it.
Title:Q-Ship Author: Capellan Number of Threads: 1
Type: Sci-Fi, Humour. System: Spaceship Zero Setting: The Solar System
Started: 25 August 2003 Status: Active Average Installment Length: Short-Medium. Average Frequency of Installments: Anything from every 2 days to every 3 months.
Available for Download? First two episodes are available in ENworld's Downloads section. Style: 3rd person narrative prose.
Overview: It is the year 2023. Mankind has come together under the benevolent aegis of the United Earth Government, and has spread throughout the solar system. From the dense jungles of Venus to the dusty wastes of Pluto; from Saturn's rings to the moons of Jupiter; men can be found, living and working for a better tomorrow.
That tomorrow is now.
Deep within Mission City - capital of the UEG - lies the laboratory of Doctor Alois Gustav, mankind's most brilliant mind. The Doctor's latest invention; his greatest ever; is finally complete. The XS-Pathfinder, a new spaceship equipped with the Doctor's experimental Q-Drive, is ready to blast off on its first mission.
What lies beyond the familiar solar system, in the cold reaches of dark space? Is there intelligent life, friendly or foul?
Join the dedicated crew of the Pathfinder:
* Captain John Fury
* the Venusian Princess, S'Ondra
* Doctor Gustav; and
* Archie the Robot
As they throw the switch on the Q-Drive and blast off to adventure!
Reader Comment:
Quote:
Originally Posted by PirateCat
I'm spending all my time reading this instead of updating my own.
I mean... err... *thinks fast* every time you update, I'll update!
Type: Fantasy. System: D&D 3.5e Setting: Saltmarsh (the 1e version, not the one in DMGII)
Started: 8 January 2003 Status: Complete. Average Installment Length: Short-Medium. Average Frequency of Installments: N/A - complete.
Available for Download? In ENWorld's Downloads section Style: 1st person narrative, in the form of reports to a superior officer
Overview: Kull Redfist, Half-Orc Cleric of Hextor, goes to Saltmarsh. He's not very impressed.
So he fixes things.
(This is not an Evil SH btw. Kull is resolutely - one might even say fanatically - Lawful Neutral.)
Reader Comment:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lazybones
The Kull character is compelling and the format of the entries as reports to a superior is just brilliant. I find that I do not care the slightest what happens to the other characters. I haven't been so focused on one character since Wulf's story hour.
Started: 09-23-05 Status: Ongoing Average Installment Length: Medium to Long Average Frequency of Installments: As I can - I try for weekly.
Available for Download? No Style: 3rd-person, present tense, though through a first-person, unidentified narrator.
Overview: The Ambergate Chronicles are the adventures of two young student wizards and their friends:
Dante of Ambergate (wizard) - strange, sickly Imperial wizard, a student of necromancy; Dante was left as an infant on the steps of the Church of Alioth, the One True God, and raised as devout follower
George Barleycorn (gun mage/rogue) - Mavarran youth with a tendency towards pranks, a smart lad who doesn't apply himself well; has an affinity for guns and Corvus, the trickster god
Ishiro Longshears (monk) - gnomish monk and gardener at Ambergate University
Jade Harkith (druid/rogue) - Elvin druid, part of the entourage of the Elvin ambassador; has an affinity with insects
Serai (psion/thrallherder) - young Murkraali noblewoman with a dark past
Reader Comment:
"I've been re-reading this from the start over the last couple of days, and I'm very glad I did. An excellent story, excellently told." - HalfOrc HalfBiscuit
Special: KnidVermicious renderings of buildings and important objects:
Title:World of Samardan Author: Jason 'Flynn' Kemp (not me, but helping GM out by posting with his permission) Number of Threads: 1
Type: Sword and Planet (Pulp) System: UCS / Grim Tales / d20 Modern / d20 Setting: Samardan, a Sword and Planet style setting with grand adventures and heroic actions
Started: 22 March 2006 Status: Ongoing Average Installment Length: Medium Average Frequency of Installments: Weekly Available for Download? No (may be in future) Style: 3rd person narrative prose
Overview: Heroes transported from Earth fight for the freedom of the inhabitants of Samardan
Type: Fantasy System: D&D 3.0e and 3.5e Setting: Empire of Shtara / Homebrew
Started: 26 February 2003 Status: Ongoing Average Installment Length: Short to Medium Average Frequency of Installments: Bi-weekly
Available for Download? No Style: Usually 3rd person narrative prose but can vary
Overview: A story version of my players journey through the Night Below Campaign box set. The characters discover that spellcasters of all sorts are being kidnapped. They decide to find out why and stop it.
Reader Comment: “Just wanted to leave a quick note to say that I am enjoying this SH. Your updates are written with a direct style and tempo, which I like.” - Capellan
__________________ The best laid plans of mice and men are often acts of desperation. -bac
There are terrible things in the Night Below. See what happens when those things come up for a visit. There have been five deaths now - who will be next?
Started: 19 Aug 2003 Status: Completed Average Installment Length: About a thousand words Average Frequency of Installments: Shamefully rare, but it's finished now.
Available for Download? No Style: 3rd person narrative prose, written more like a novel than a game log.
Overview: A bunch of folks in a tramp starship get a charter job, discover something interesting in passing, and set out to get rich off it. They have some troubles along the way...
Type: Fantasy System: D&D 3.5e Setting: Living Arcanis, with heavy doses of Freeport and Call of Cthulhu
Started: October 8, 2004 Status: Ongoing Average Installment Length: Short Average Frequency of Installments: Daily!
Available for Download? No Style: 3rd person narrative prose, with occasional winks to the underlying mechanics.
Overview: The very world of Arcanis is threatened by an ancient, mad god who once destroyed the elven pantheon. Now he has returned, and sows destruction and chaos across the land, even as the various kingdoms struggle for supremacy. The best hope is the children: sons of kings, half-angels, and even the progeny of a god. Will Kham ever get rid of Fleshripper? Will Quintus and Ilmare ever get together? Will Calactyte ever learn to read? All these questions and more will be answered...eventually.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Henry Lopez, PCI President
GREAT job! You are certainly bringing my little mod to life. I’m glad you’re enjoying it as I am certainly enjoying your prose. I look forward to your next installment.
Game Started: 20 June 2005 (storyhour lost in server burp and reposted 10 May 2006) Status: Completed Average Installment Length: Medium Average Frequency of Installments: Usually every other week by sunday evening.
Available for Download? No Style: 3rd person narrative prose with script form dialogue, with occasional player comments.
Overview: If you've watched Firely, you've seen the Big Damn Heroes. Well, these ain't them. Ruthless Bastards is a much more fitting title for this group. After all, the nicest member of the crew is the sadistic doctor. Come watch as a bunch of moraless bastards show that, while you can be overly competant in your field and still be terrible at crime. Comedy is usually a strong point, mixed in between their ruthless inefficiency.
Reader comment sniffles: Is it just me or did all of the players want to play Jayne?
__________________ '' /\_/\
>(O.O)<
~(> <)
Last edited by Ao the Overkitty; 7th March 2009 at 03:40 AM..
Type: Fantasy with Anime Influence System: Exalted Setting: Modified Version of the West in Creation
Game Started: 13 June 2005 (storyhour lost in server burp and reposted 11 May 2006) Status: Ongoing Average Installment Length: Long Average Frequency of Installments: Periodic bursts of activity with occasionally multiple session posts in one day.
Available for Download? No Style: 3rd person narrative prose with script form dialogue, with occasional player comments.
Overview: They once ruled over the West of Creation. Now they're just trying to get a handle on what it means to be Exalted. Come watch as the Unconquered Sun shakes his head and wonders if his other exalted are more competant. Watch as A-dom makes undead for fun and to annoy Jade's Luck (which are one and the same, really). Watch as the Lunar, Ceri, tries to save Creation from these idiots. Watch as Jahar summons demons because he thinks it's a good idea. They'll get better at the whole religion thing... I hope.
Started: May 2006 (reposting after boards crashed) Status: Ongoing Average Installment Length: Medium to Long Average Frequency of Installments: 1-3 weekly
Available for Download? No Style: 3rd person present-tense narrative prose, with some dialogue. Includes a number of 1st person past-tense in-character journal entries by a player. Original writeups were intended as recaps for players and not for a story hour, so starts off a little dry and hard to get into.
Overview: A bunch of very unlikely heroes (used loosely) try to make their way through the labyrinthine politics and other dangers of Eberron's most exciting and dangerous city - Sharn. Heavily character-driven and fairly open-ended campaign.
Reader Comment: "Watch a real RBDM at work." Gold Roger
__________________ shilsen is broken - Crothian (and this is why)
My Eberron Story Hour. Updated November 12. Almost at the climax!
Started: 3 March, 2006 Status: Ongoing Average Installment Length: Medium Average Frequency of Installments: Thrice weekly, for the nonce.
Available for Download? No Style: Unreliable 1st person prose, with occasional explanatory or narrative interludes.
Overview: Today, centuries after the fall of the mighty Gate-Builder empire, the people of CITY face many troubles. Fierce gangs of lawyer/thieves, memory-eating demons, evil cake, the dreaded Yu-Tang Clan, and the terrible Church Without Doors...just to name a few.
Fortunately for civilization, the mighty alchemist Burne is here to save CITY!
Or burn it to the ground.
Oh, and there's some foreigners who follow him around, too. But they're not as important as Burne, nor as attractive.
Reader Comment:
Quote:
Originally Posted by sandtiger
Hey,
Just wanted to say, keep writing. I am enjoying the (pompous) narrative. I found myself laughing out loud at work several times reading this. So, it's on your head if I get fired.
Started: 12 December 2005
Status: Ongoing
Average Installment Length: Medium
Average Frequency of Installments: Bi-monthly
Available for Download? No
Style: 3rd person narrative prose
Overview: The Adventures of a crew aboard the Dragonmarked House Lyrandar's airship, The Liralen. Adventure that spans a continent, with intrigue and action in the air and on the ground.
Reader Comment: "You know, I haven't even gotten past the third post, yet, and already I'm enthralled.
You have a great writing style and a sense of humor that you use incredibly effectively. Your painting of the characters in the first post introducing them is superb." - jeremy dnd
Special: Micah and Tmaas, our two DMs makes excellent maps using Dunjinni mapping software that she will often post to the storyhour itself. However, you can see their past collections as well as the latest maps that are troubling the PCs in this storyhourat the Dunjinni site message boards. Just check for posts under their user names.
Type: Fantasy (D&D). System: D&D V3.5. Setting: Homebrew.
Started: May 20th, 2006. Status: Just Started Average Installment Length: Verbose. Average Frequency of Installments: Twice Monthy.
Available for Download? No. Style: As written for the Players, plus additional narrative.
Overview: The Wild Lands were originally a neutral zone between the Elorhim (Psionic, spacefaring) and the Calaseans (powerful natural magic-users who control the world and enslave all other races). Now it is a protected region where the descendents of 'Free Humans' (previously escaped slaves) and those freed at the end of the big war 22 years ago try to build the first Free Human governments and Civilization.
Reader Comment: None!
Other Comments: Roughly 80 page Player's Guide of Setting information, House Rules, Character Creation, Geographic Information, Economics and Religion Details provided to players before game start.
House Rules pertain mostly to Wizards and Magic (very few spell components, no spell books, etc), Economics (Silver based, different scaling for magic items) and some character aspects.
__________________ 'Fair' is a Human Ideological Concept.
Perception, the bastard child of Subjective Reality.
"Spinning is so much cooler than not spinning. I'm the general and I want it to spin." - Stargate Episode #200
Last edited by Chimera; 4th June 2006 at 06:54 AM..
Reason: Added the link to Title
Type: Fantasy (with story arcs of city/political and underdark/horror) System: D&D 3e and 3.5e Setting: Home campaign world of Spira, along with Planescape
Started: 9 May 2006 (original story hour began in 2000; this thread has new material but will repost edited and rewritten entries from the original threads.) Status: Ongoing Average Installment Length: Medium (1200-2000 words.) Average Frequency of Installments: Currently weekly.
Available for Download? Not currently Style: 3rd person narrative, with first person insights and occasional game insights.
Overview: In a slow-advancement long-running campaign (14 years and counting), this SH details an evolving adventuring group moving from mid- to epic-levels. It features darn clever players and some interesting twists on conventional adventure plotting.
Reader Comment: "I kinda got lost on the original thread and stopped reading. This'll be MUCH better!" ~ Brogam
__________________ - Piratecat, EN World Admin
Currently editing the 4e War of the Burning Sky adventure path. Support EN Publishing, get excellent modules!
Type: Epic Fantasy (style, not levels) System: D&D 3.5e Setting: Homebrew High Medieval European
Started: 6 September 2005 Status: Ongoing Average Installment Length: 2000 words Average Frequency of Installments: twice per month
Available for Download? No Style: 3rd person narrative prose, with occasional winks to the underlying mechanics
Overview: A group of adventurers, at the behest of a secret society within the holy church, oppose vampires, witches, frost giants and more.
Reader Comment: "In a day when it seems that everyone's turning toward plane-hopping technomagic bigger-badder-more types of styles, your campaign smacks of an original, primeval core of D&D goodness with just enough mystery to keep players coming back time and again. Very, very well done.." --Destan
Author: Canaan (who is formerly Tirlanolir) and D'nemy
Number of Threads: 1
Type: Fantasy
System: D&D 3.5e
Setting: brew
Started: like January 2006.
Status: Ongoing
Average Installment Length: Medium/Long
Average Frequency of Installments: Weekly
Available for Download? No
Style: 1st person journal style, with occasional winks to the underlying mechanics.
Overview: Ohhhh, it's a grand tale about childhood friends who grew up in Goldfire Glen told from the perspective of an outsider to Goldfire Glen who met them when they began their adventures. The world is monotheistic for the most part. Though there is the concept of The Green and the anti-god, The Adversary. The PCs uncover a plot against the national religion, Canaanism, which involves a group trying to resurrect a dead Archmage, so they think. Meanwhile, the government is pushing to annex parts of the Wildlands where most of the worshippers of The Green reside. The followers of The Green fear persecution and the destruction of their lands. Meanwhile, the Curia, the organization that runs the Church of Canaan, is pushing the government to invade The Wildlands to get to a place called Rappan'Athuk, where the supposed physical manifestation of a great evil resides. The PCs, are of course, caught in the middle of all of it.
Reader Comment: Mostly erased after the "Big Crash," sorry.
Type: Fantasy System: D&D 2nd Ed, then 3.0, then 3.5e. It's been going on a while. Setting: Homebrew
Started: 21 Jan 2002 (Campaign started in 1995; you can read the whole thing in the download linked below.) Status: Ongoing Average Installment Length: Medium (c.2500 words) Average Frequency of Installments: Varies wildly with my free time; about 1/week when I'm on top of things. More typically, 1 per 2 weeks.
Available for Download?Yes Style: 3rd person present tense Overview: An epic many-layered adventure pitting the PC's against a variety of foes. It's been one continuous campaign for over 10 years of real time, during which the PC's have gone from 1st level to 17th.
Reader Comment:"And what a journey it’s been for all of us breathless readers to bring us to this point. I can’t wait to see what happens next! Congrats to Sagiro and the whole crew on a fine job so far." - Swack-Iron
Last edited by Sagiro; 14th June 2006 at 09:06 PM..
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