Clash Over Chrysopolis
Clash Over Chrysopolis
Across the sea, far from civilization, a new continent has been found, its lands foreign, unfamiliar, and for now, unexplored. Upon the shining shores of the Radiant Bay, stand the ruins of a once great city of an ancient empire: Chrysopolis, which in the old tongue means "The Golden City." This once-sprawling metropolis now lies mostly in ruins, its crumbling streets and dilapidated buildings crawling with foul beasts, monsters, and tribes of evil humanoids. A small part of the city has been reclaimed and rebuilt, held by one of the rival factions at play. But there are other factions who wish to claim the secrets of Chrysopolis and its lands for themselves. Far from the watchful eyes of the empire which forces these factions into a tenuous unity on the home continent, each faction hopes to gain glory, wealth, and power for themselves in these new lands, and each is happy to do it at the expense and exclusion of others. Still other factions simply wish to profit off the fighting, playing all the sides off each other for their own personal benefit. Yet other factions may have their own goals for which they strive to the aid of some, the detriment of others.
Nearby the ruins of Chrysopolis are many more mysteries to unravel. The Embermount Isle lies but a few miles off-coast, an active volcano daily spouting plumages of foreboding smoke into the sky. Next to Chrysopolis is the perplexing Hedge Maze, its bushy walls thick and nearly impenetrable. They seem impervious to fire and grow back so quickly they cannot be effectively cut down. Beyond the Hedge Maze stands the Obsidian Tower looming tall, its doors magickally locked, and no one knows what lies within. To the southwest of Chrysopolis a sprawling jungle spreads out below the hills, teeming with danger and where, rumors fly, bands of some wicked, intelligent foes slaughter all who dare enter.
There is much more to explore on this new continent and also room for GMs to expand the size and scope of this continent to even more lands. Clash Over Chrysopolis gives you a good starting base from which to create your own grand, living campaign with as many players as the GM can handle, controlling both factions and individual adventurers (often more than one).
Clash Over Chrysopolis is a campaign-starter module in which the story is not crafted by the GM or dictated by the module, but by the actions of the players and the GM working together. Players can build and determine their own factions to begin play, which starts with a Braunstein style conflict between the different factions. In Clash Over Chrysopolis the story is emergent, never pre-determined, and every group's story of what happens to Chrysopolis and the continent it lies on will be different.In Development
This campaign starter module is currently in development and there is no ETA on its final form. I plan to playtest it over a reasonable period of time. Since a core concept of the module is low-prep or zero-prep, the current plan is to emphasize ways in which you can easily develop the specifics during play or with very little preparation just before play. With busy lives and lots to do, low-prep or zero-prep helps to prevent GM burnout and keep the game just as fun for the GM as the players. Since this design philosophy is a key concept, my hope is that it will speed development of the module as a whole while propagating positive, enjoyable, and sustainable practices for prospective GMS.
This campaign-starter module began using the Horde Wars Basic rules because of their simplicity for playing with people new to RPGs or with children. However, my own interests lie in more complex and fully fleshed-out rulesets such as ACKS II. As a result, the plan is to release more than one version of this campaign-starter module for various rulesets. For the time being, my plans include ACKS II, Horde Wars Advanced (which is still forthcoming), and the first edition of the world's most popular RPG.
Midwinter Convention 2025
Clash Over Chrysopolis will be publicly playtested for the first time at the Midwinter Convention in Pewaukee, WI Jan 9-12.
Session Times
- Session 1: Thu, Jan 9, 10:00am
- Session 2: Thu, Jan 9, 5:00pm
- Session 3: Fri, Jan 10, 9:00am
- Session 4: Fri, Jan 10, 5:00pm
- Session 5: Sat, Jan 11, 9:00am
All sessions run for 5 hours and include some very brief setup time and a brief break to eat a meal during the session. Arranging to have some food on-hand is recommended in case there are long lines at food vendors.
Session 1 will open the campaign with a Battle Braunstein to set in motion player-generated conflict, plotlines, and intrigues which will then feed into and affect more the more adventurer focused Sessions 2-5. Faction play will continue to receive some attention in Sessions 2-5 as well.
Players should feel free to jump in and out joining all five sessions if you like, or only a few. There is no requirement to start with Session 1. Jump in for Session 2, 3, and 5, for example, or Session 1 and 4. "Come, go, return (or not)" is very welcome.
Pre-generated characters and factions will be provided, but if players wish to come to the table with a new, level 1 ACKS II character and a sort of faction they'd like to play, that is certainly permitted.
IRL Backstory
Recently, there was the nascent idea of an adventure module contest between the venerable Rob Kuntz and the incisive Jeffro Johnson. For various reasons, that contest did not launch. Meanwhile, I had been working on this campaign starter setting for Horde Wars Basic with my kids and, simultaneously, reading the rules for ACKS II. The mixture of all these events led me to decide I'd like to develop this setting into a campaign-starter module usable by others to introduce them to key "Winning at RPGs" concepts such as rules-as-written, 1:1 time-keeping, character downtime/time-jail, patron play, low-prep/zero-prep, and the total non-stop Braunstein.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Clash Over Chrysopolis is not an official Autarch product and Friend Folio, the creator of Clash Over Chrysopolis, has no direct affiliation with Autarch (the publisher of ACKS II)