Welcome to another amazing year of Club Campaign! This year we have 5 Shared Worlds as well as 6 Independent Games, including D&D 5th Edition, Starfinder 2e, LANCER, Triangle Agency, and more! You can find information on each campaign below. All games are listed with as Title (Game Master).
The Illini Metagamers Club Campaign has a tradition of Shared Worlds. These refer to a collection of 4-7 games that all have a shared overarching plot and broad setting. These Shared World games will meet twice a semester in a CoGame event, where GMs and players swap around for a unique, plot-focused one-shot! This year, our Shared World include
Games that aren't part of a Shared World are referred to as Independent Games, and are indicated in their pitch below.
GMs: Michael, Panth, Ethan, Alex, Nadia, Amelia
Themes: 1920s, Noir, Syndicate Factions, Family, Hope, Despair, Creativity, Madness
Region: The Hex
System: D&D 2024 with Homebrew
A crack broke through the sky like shattered glass, and the world went Dark. Throughout the city of the Hex, once the jewel of the world, civilians turned into monsters, attacking, maiming, killing, and consuming each other. It was at this moment that the Muses, silent and nearly forgotten gods of art, life, and Light, appeared for the first time in physical form. Together with their champions, they pushed back the monsters, leaving…. this.
In The Renaissance, you will play as survivors in the aftermath of this eponymous event. Work together with your faction to gain influence in the city, improve your home, and uncover what mysteries led to the destruction of the world.
Games Included:
Memento Vivendi (GM: Michael)
Et Ratio Principalis (GM: Ethan)
Civitas Mendaciorum (GM: Panth)
Custodem Promissum (GM: Nadia)
Tympana Audisne (GM: Alex H.)
Reductio ad Absurdum (GM: Amelia)
The Dumpsterverse
GMs: Kyle, Aidan W., Gibby, Thanasis, Iris
Themes: Multiversal Conflict, Connection, Upsetting the Balance, Chaos, Survival
Region: The Weld
System: D&D 2024
It was a day like any other when the four worlds of The Weld were smashed into one. Different planets with different rules, turned into one by unknown forces. Nothing would ever be the same again. New lines were drawn, people healed, and five years passed. Stability was found, but in the background, the very fabric of reality itself began to split apart.
In The Dumpsterverse, players will work alongside an ailing world desperately trying to heal itself, even as its condition worsens. Trailblazing militiamen, mad scientists, Commission agents, conniving villains, and sleuthing detectives, inextricably linked in this new world.
Games Included:
Chaos Heralds an Untimely Demise (GM: Aidan W.)
Death Gone Rogue (GM: Gibby)
Ides of Chaos (GM: Thanasis)
Wild Card Trail (GM: Iris)
Institutionalized (GM: Kyle)
The Chasten Class
GMs: Jack, Avery, Aidan G., Rishi, Rob, Sam, Mitchell
Themes:
Region: Cedmaran
System: D&D 2024
Once a thriving continent holding the vast majority of peoples on Aurel, Cedmaran has found itself slowly crumbling over the past few hundred years. Parallel planes upend their own rules, entire countries have been lost to ruin, and no one knows why. All we can do is stand strong against the world’s adversity and hold strong what we hold dear.
In Cedmaran, you all are citizens of these withering lands, whether on the material plane or one parallel. Seek to solve the problems of Cedmaran and perhaps sustain this world faster than it can collapse.
Games Included:
The Clandestine Division (GM: Avery)
The Good of the People (GM: Jack)
A Cairn Awry (GM: Rob)
Caedes Caeli (GM: Rishi)
Censure of Bloom (GM: Sam)
The Precipice of Something Great (GM: Aidan)
Rainbow in the Dark (GM: Mitchell)
Tellus
GMs: Alex U., Joey, Logan, Luke, Max, Shane, John/Gina
Themes:
Region: Tellus
System: D&D 2024
The region is fractured, split by the raging sea. An enormous moon hangs low, locked in place in the sky. And at the center of it all, an inscrutable mist emanates outward from the landmass’s center. It has been this way as long as anyone can remember.
Welcome to Tellus, a land shrouded in mystery. As tensions rise, schemes unfold, and ancient evils claw their way back from forgotten history, all will find themselves face to face with one grand mystery. Are you ready to face the truth?
Games Included:
[TITLE CARD] (GM: Luke)
One Storm Among Many (GM: Logan)
How the Mighty Have Fallen (GM: Alex)
To Kill a Living Book (GM: Joey)
‘Neath the Hide (GM: Shane)
Hades Attacks! (GM: John/Gina)
Waning Memories (GM: Max)
The Shattered Expanse
GMs: Promit, Adam, Josh, Patrick, Fletcher
Themes:
Region: The Shattered Expanse
System: Starfinder 2nd Edition
The Shattered Expanse wasn't always 'shattered'. The galaxy was once a thriving, unified corner of space full of thousands of life forms, mostly living in harmony. Then, millions of planets disappeared. There one second, gone the next without so much as a trace. The Shattering left the galaxy in ruin, and over the last 50 years, the Unified Planetary Tribunal has been attempting to reunite and repair the damage. However, even 50 Standard Sols later, the effects can be observed in every remaining solar system. From grief, to economic collapse, to strange anomalies, and the mystery that may lie within the Dimensional Void left by the Shattering, stories lie in every corner of the galaxy.
Games Included:
Total Eclipse (SF2e, GM: Promit)
Ghost In The Machine (SF2e, GM: Adam)
A Fistful of Credits (SF2e, GM: Josh)
Requiem For The Stars (LANCER, GM: Fletcher)
Fantasia Rinata (GM: Matt)
Themes: Italian renaissance, low fantasy, magic realism, “Fighting for your place for in a changing world”
System: AD&D
Time: Wednesdays, 7:00pm
After the fall of old Aeter and the 4 great calamities, the world has been swept clean of its once great powers. In Pratrium, one of the few surviving nations, emerging groups face off against each other to claim the now blank slate of the world as their own.
In Fantasia Rinata, you decide. Who are you in this world? What views do you have, and how far are you willing to go to see your dreams carried out? Every choice you make will open (or close) the doors to an uncertain future across Pratrium and the world.
The Crimson Price (GM: Wyatt)
Themes: Roleplay, Combat, Exploration, Samurai Cowboys, Cattlepunk, Weird West
System: D&D5.5e with Heavy Homebrew
Time: Tuesdays, 7:00pm
Howdy there pardner, welcome to the land of Aikiyazan. Once a land solely inhabited by its native tribes, the Emperor of the country of Kagutei deemed the land fit for their people.
This land is rife with both lawlessness and opportunity, which makes it an appealing prospect for all kinds of folks. Folks have been coming here looking for a new life for a while now, and it looks like y’all are next to traverse the Wild West.
In this game, players will explore the setting and people of Aikiyazan as they travel from deserts to mountains to forests on a several month long wagon train of folks looking for better opportunities. Characters will experience themes of immigration and colonization in a world of cowpoke and outlaws.
Echoes of the Forgotten (GM: Robert)
Themes: Roleplay, Exploration, Heavy Customization, Intrigue, Rebellion, Censored History, Psychic Abilities
System: D&D 5.5e with Homebrew
Time: Tuesdays, 7:00pm
It happened without warning. One day you woke up and it was there: a black image the size of your hand carved into your body. All you know is that the Marked are enemies of the emperor. Eventually they got you, it was inevitable, and they shipped you off to the sweltering sun and shifting sands.
You’re here now, in a cell with others bearing marks of their own. Whatever the marks mean, whatever fate the Empire has planned for the Marked, you are about to discover it together. Or perhaps fortune will smile on you. Perhaps there is still a way out.
In this game players will explore the setting and attempt to discover that which has been hidden. They will have to make their way when the world is their enemy and make a new world of their own.
On Borrowed Time (GM: Owen)
Themes: Beginner-Friendly, Roleplay, Character-Driven, Arc-Based, Time Travel, Acceptance, Existential
System: D&D 5.5e with Light Homebrew
Time: Fridays, 7:00pm
”Before Time, there was nothing. Beyond Time, there is nothing. Yet, doesn’t it intrigue you? We mortals are destined to die, fail, and turn to dust… is there not more?”
- Kronos, in the Philosophy of Chronurgy, circa 103.2 GT
In the wake of a great disaster that seals Time across the Ages, you are called to action to preserve the order of all things. Explore the holy First City, Tempus, across its many turbulent eons. Meet the many colorful denizens of parallel timelines. Bring the Time Gears back where they belong. Learn your origins. Learn your end. Find meaning in the face of insignificance.
Dungeon Delvers (GM: Carlton)
Themes: Meat Grinder, Boss Rush, Morality, Ethics, Existentialism, Choices
System: AD&D
Time: Fridays, 7:00pm
A thousand years ago, a mysterious Dungeon appeared in the middle of the ocean on a mysterious island. Fortunately, it was inhabited by creatures that looked and acted just like humanoids! They were benevolent, which led to good relations for a while.
Until the denizens of the Dungeon and explorers alike started changing. Adventurers went missing while the denizens started attacking whatever they could see, even leaving the Dungeon to wreak havoc. Fortunately, they were unable to survive outside of their home.
To prevent mass casualties, the Delver’s Association was created by the world’s governments to watch over the Dungeon and train individuals who wished to enter. For centuries, things have been calm. But with the denizens evolving to last longer outside of the Dungeon, it is now up to a special team to delve where no Delver has gone before to seek the source of all this.
Third Tri (GM: Evan)
Themes: Unpredictability of life, Legacy and consequences, roleplay
System: AD&D
Time: Fridays, 7:00pm
Reality was never meant to be perceived. With the advent of humanity, things began to break. Every idea, thought, and notion sends a ripple throughout reality, and can result in errors. These errors coalesce into anomalies, who feed off of the thoughts which birthed them, and will stop at nothing to do so.
That's where you come in. You have all bonded with an anomaly (which gives you cool abilities), something which would’ve normally resulted in your capture and an indefinite stay within our Vault, the holding cell for anything which breaks reality. Instead we offer you employment. In exchange for you hunting down any anomalies we track down, you will receive help in controlling your personal anomaly.
Your lives will be monitored both on and off the clock to ensure you do nothing to further threaten the fabric of reality. (Using the in character chat is recommended)
If you'd like to see what Club Campaigns have run in previous years, you can find all archived campaigns at the link below!