Spes Magna Games

That’s the title of the new Man-Day Adventures campaign that kicks off tomorrow with yours truly taking over as DM after Man-Day Adventurer Wes oversaw our failure to save Oerth from the fell forces of Tharizdun while returning to the Temple of Elemental Evil.

This new campaign will strive to be the opposite of Monte Cook’s Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil. In other words, WNIAA won’t be a grueling, blood-soaked trek through sprawling complexes guarded by a bewildering assortment of baddies while searching for MacGuffins galore in order to thwart a diabolical plot so Byzantine that it would baffle an alternate universe amalgam of Umberto Eco and J. R. R. Tolkien.

The initial premise of WNIAA is that each Man-Day Adventurer plays the role of a normal, 21st century person who’s won a two-night, three-day, all-expenses-paid bus trip to gamble in Louisiana. Along the way, Something Goes Very Wrong, plunging the bus and its passengers into a strange world that largely conforms to Pathfinder rules. To start with, each Man-Day Adventurer submitted a short PC bio and ability scores. I then used d20 Modern to cobble together a basic stat block.

Our first session tomorrow will include a short, introductory adventure followed by a group PC crafting session. Collaborative conflict mapping will happen during the group PC crafting session. I’ve got eight factions printed on 3-by-5 cards, a 10-page house rule document, and a 5-page overview of the Four Communities. No Man-Day Adventurer has seen any of this material yet.

Keep an eye on this site for future updates about this experiment in sandbox-style campaigning. If nothing else, you can shake your head in mute wonder at our antics.