In the shattered world of Ayotha, the remnants of a once-great civilization struggle to survive amidst the ruins. Here, ancient powers and hidden truths lurk in the shadows, and the line between myth and reality is thin and easily crossed. Magic, a force so alien and dangerous that it threatens to tear the fabric of reality asunder, is both feared and coveted by those who dare to wield it. The Night of the Vacant Throne, a cataclysmic event that sundered the world and left it in chaos, serves as a grim reminder of the price of meddling with forces beyond comprehension.
In the wake of this devastation, factions rise and fall, each vying for power and control in a world on the brink of collapse. The Grey Cabal, a secretive order of witch hunters led by the enigmatic Elyana Blackwood, seeks to protect the innocent from the corrupting influence of magic, while the Slender Crown, an elusive figure, weaves an intricate web of intrigue that threatens to ensnare all who come too close.
Yet, amidst the darkness and despair, hope remains. Adventurers from all walks of life rise to the challenge, driven by their own convictions, seeking to make a difference in a world teetering on the edge of oblivion. As the struggle between light and darkness unfolds, the fate of Ayotha hangs in the balance, and the choices made by those who dare to shape its destiny will determine whether it finds salvation or succumbs to the darkness that threatens to engulf it.
|STYLE OF PLAY:
Omensworn is a very different setting from what you're probably used to. This world is bleak and unrelenting and it undoubtedly doesn’t take much to end up dead. In fact, it’s painfully easy, specifically, if you seek to construct characters you would ordinarily play in standard fantasy frameworks, where you’re a mighty hero who’s prepared to handle any challenge and smite evildoers by the dozens. In this game conflict is ever perilous. Know that many individuals will not pause to deceive you, take from you, or murder you, should they see fit. Use your head, be wary of what you say, and always look out for yourself, because no one else will. One final thought to keep in mind is that you are not supposed to beat every challenge placed in front of you. There is no ridicule in running away if it means you live to fight another day. Optional conflicts are frequently the hardest, so don’t run at the first chance to be viciously murdered.
|THE LIVING CAMPAIGN:
Living campaigns are a shared campaign setting with a codified set of rules for the campaign that govern how to build and advance characters as well as how the campaign will handle rules elements of the setting. Campaign staff create, distribute, and manage new adventures in that campaign setting, and quite often administer a player database and promote various products. A living campaign lets players build and advance characters, develop their personalities, and forge relationships. Living campaign games are run at conventions, game days and other gatherings. The rules for character tracking allow a player to take their PC they created for the campaign to any of these meetings and play it in the adventures offered.
In this instance the OLC or Omensworn Living Campaign is an online living campaign centered on using the programs Discord & Roll20.net to create a living, breathing world where multiple game masters and players can come together to build a shared universe. Players can create characters and take them to multiple games to go on different adventures or explore dark dungeons as they present themselves. Always keep in mind however that actions have consequences and those consequences can affect the world around you!
|SHARED SETTING, BUILT BY THE COMMUNITY:
A shared setting is a massive work of collaborative and interactive fiction. This allows a set of creative works where more than one writer, artist, or world builder can independently contribute a work that can stand alone but fits into the joint development of the storylines, characters, or world of the overall project. We have a foundation of strong lore, numerous pantheons of gods, a map, and other pieces of fiction that players can reference to help them build additional pieces of content to add to the overall setting. Ohr Games also hosts numerous contests throughout the year related to writing micro fiction, creating pieces of art, etc.
|COLLABORATORS, NOT CONSUMERS:
A collaborator player is someone who is excited, they think about the game outside the immediate session. They have a drive and excitement for the setting, they want to build characters and stories in the world. They want to help expand their lore and to contribute in meaningful and fun ways. Furthermore, they role-play, they're active in the community, and they're a joy to be around. These are the types of players we're looking for. We want to create a community of great people, and this is the first step to doing that.
Consumer players just want something to do in their spare time, when they aren't in the middle of a game they aren't paying attention to the discord, they aren't having a conversation about the game, they aren't planning anything, etc. They're not here to think very hard about the game. They just want to kill a few hours. Sometimes that's okay, but generally, we're not looking for those sorts of players. We want folks to be amped about the setting. Enjoy sword and sorcery, and dark fantasy, and want to contribute. If you're a consumer-focused player, you probably won't get much out of this community.
|LORE OF AYOTHA:
RUINATION OF MAGICK AND RELIGION
The world is a fragmented, ruined shell of what it once was, and magic is what ensures it stays that way. In Ages past, before the Night of the Vacant Throne -- when mankind and the other races of Ayotha were given the chance to meet a sliver of what it was that they had foolishly called their Gods -- the world followed the rules set out for it at its creation. Arcanery, in a very generous sense of implying it existed at all, was only a theoretical, philosophical exercise, conducted in meeting halls and lounges by societies that simply enjoyed dressing their social circles in a different kind of trapping. It did not exist; not merely as the world sees it now, in this broken age of horrors, but at all, and when it did arrive, it did so on the wings of nightmares.
Magic is not some mystical recipe its practitioners follow on a day-to-day basis to casually manipulate the world around them; while it affects very real results in the world around it, these results are consequences of another reality being imposed upon ours and causing the one we live in to shatter, albeit in -- at least hopefully -- a controlled fashion. As far as scattered records can ascertain, the application of this knowledge came at the hands of the humans of Ayotha first, as most of their peers and the other races struggled not just to rebuild but to survive in the lloigor-wracked wasteland that was once a comparatively peaceful, fertile world. After the Night of the Vacant Throne, rumors of uncovered writings which allowed real magic, real power, to be channeled through a dedicated practitioner and out into the world. These writings were collected in an utterly forbidden grimoire that came to be known as the Black Book, a tome with many speculated origins. Some say the Book is a legitimately living, sentient other, alien and conscious entity with unknown and sinister purposes. Others say that it exists simultaneously in other times, other places, other worlds, and exists conterminously to spread its influence in the past, present, and future all.
What is incontrovertible, however, is that the following of parsed and translated rituals found in this book or copies of it has wrought unmistakable horror upon the world and those in it. While the Night of the Vacant Throne was responsible for the destruction of cities, towns, and life, the magic found in the Black Book is responsible for the corruption of what remains and what has been built to try and effect repairs upon those shattered remnants. While there is real power to be found in the practice of these rituals, the overwhelming vast majority that even know of the existence of the Black Book are far from willing to pay the cost of not just their own sanity, but that of their friends, loved ones, and fellow men. Every so-called spell cast brings Ayotha closer to a tremulous reality merged with that of wherever the grimoire truly came from, and even amongst the universally loathed practitioners, all but the maddest can recognize that that would bode very, very poorly for our world and those living in it.
Most do not know of the intricacies of magic, of course, but they know enough and have heard enough of rumors to wish to stamp it out where it exists. People have been strung up, burned, tied, and quartered, even tortured to death over days over mere mention of witchcraft, and this is the case through almost all true civilization. There exist, of course, esoteric societies, occasional outposts, even whole races of people who feel differently, but these people are outside of their own universally reviled as destroyers and corruptors of the highest order, and they are ruthlessly hunted and slain by those who catch wind of them. Only in the vast, far reaches of the untamed world is this viewpoint ever relaxed, and even then, it would still be a poor idea to reveal oneself -- fear is the most powerful motivator of violence.
|IS THIS A PAID GAME?:
Omensworn is a FREE TO PLAY GAME. Donations and subscriptions are available through our Patreon, but players are not required to pay before jumping in and playing a game. The only limit is time and seats at the digital table. I do monthly free content releases for all members of the community. This varies from free, public domain pieces of art. One-page dungeons, NPC cards, and more. Those who choose to help us monetarily receive access to a large archive of old PDF content and design documentation for our games and world-building. In addition, you are given free access to every PDF that I release while you're subscribed. We also offer character art and art prints to those who subscribe for longer periods of time.
|PRODUCTION VALUE:
I'm 100% in favor of talented dungeon masters earning money while running games online. I don't agree with the idea that just because you're paying someone they're going to run a better game than someone who does it for free. Money does not equate to quality, this is especially true in a field such as this one. Style, ability, and literally everything else that centers around these games is 100% subjective. Where one player might find a particular style of Game Mastering fun, someone else might have a miserable time. This is why I operate on a 'PIYHF' system. It's not a particularly fun abbreviation to say, but it gets the point across. "PAY IF YOU HAVE FUN'. If you can donate monetarily, that's awesome. If you'd rather write a story or help contribute to our setting. That might just be even cooler.
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A dagger in the dark is worth a thousand swords at dawn.
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|WHAT IS OMENSWORN:
In the wake of this devastation, factions rise and fall, each vying for power and control in a world on the brink of collapse. The Grey Cabal, a secretive order of witch hunters led by the enigmatic Elyana Blackwood, seeks to protect the innocent from the corrupting influence of magic, while the Slender Crown, an elusive figure, weaves an intricate web of intrigue that threatens to ensnare all who come too close.
Yet, amidst the darkness and despair, hope remains. Adventurers from all walks of life rise to the challenge, driven by their own convictions, seeking to make a difference in a world teetering on the edge of oblivion. As the struggle between light and darkness unfolds, the fate of Ayotha hangs in the balance, and the choices made by those who dare to shape its destiny will determine whether it finds salvation or succumbs to the darkness that threatens to engulf it.
|STYLE OF PLAY:
Omensworn is a very different setting from what you're probably used to. This world is bleak and unrelenting and it undoubtedly doesn’t take much to end up dead. In fact, it’s painfully easy, specifically, if you seek to construct characters you would ordinarily play in standard fantasy frameworks, where you’re a mighty hero who’s prepared to handle any challenge and smite evildoers by the dozens. In this game conflict is ever perilous. Know that many individuals will not pause to deceive you, take from you, or murder you, should they see fit. Use your head, be wary of what you say, and always look out for yourself, because no one else will. One final thought to keep in mind is that you are not supposed to beat every challenge placed in front of you. There is no ridicule in running away if it means you live to fight another day. Optional conflicts are frequently the hardest, so don’t run at the first chance to be viciously murdered.
|THE LIVING CAMPAIGN:
Living campaigns are a shared campaign setting with a codified set of rules for the campaign that govern how to build and advance characters as well as how the campaign will handle rules elements of the setting. Campaign staff create, distribute, and manage new adventures in that campaign setting, and quite often administer a player database and promote various products. A living campaign lets players build and advance characters, develop their personalities, and forge relationships. Living campaign games are run at conventions, game days and other gatherings. The rules for character tracking allow a player to take their PC they created for the campaign to any of these meetings and play it in the adventures offered.
In this instance the OLC or Omensworn Living Campaign is an online living campaign centered on using the programs Discord & Roll20.net to create a living, breathing world where multiple game masters and players can come together to build a shared universe. Players can create characters and take them to multiple games to go on different adventures or explore dark dungeons as they present themselves. Always keep in mind however that actions have consequences and those consequences can affect the world around you!
|SHARED SETTING, BUILT BY THE COMMUNITY:
A shared setting is a massive work of collaborative and interactive fiction. This allows a set of creative works where more than one writer, artist, or world builder can independently contribute a work that can stand alone but fits into the joint development of the storylines, characters, or world of the overall project. We have a foundation of strong lore, numerous pantheons of gods, a map, and other pieces of fiction that players can reference to help them build additional pieces of content to add to the overall setting. Ohr Games also hosts numerous contests throughout the year related to writing micro fiction, creating pieces of art, etc.
|COLLABORATORS, NOT CONSUMERS:
A collaborator player is someone who is excited, they think about the game outside the immediate session. They have a drive and excitement for the setting, they want to build characters and stories in the world. They want to help expand their lore and to contribute in meaningful and fun ways. Furthermore, they role-play, they're active in the community, and they're a joy to be around. These are the types of players we're looking for. We want to create a community of great people, and this is the first step to doing that.
Consumer players just want something to do in their spare time, when they aren't in the middle of a game they aren't paying attention to the discord, they aren't having a conversation about the game, they aren't planning anything, etc. They're not here to think very hard about the game. They just want to kill a few hours. Sometimes that's okay, but generally, we're not looking for those sorts of players. We want folks to be amped about the setting. Enjoy sword and sorcery, and dark fantasy, and want to contribute. If you're a consumer-focused player, you probably won't get much out of this community.
|LORE OF AYOTHA:
RUINATION OF MAGICK AND RELIGION
The world is a fragmented, ruined shell of what it once was, and magic is what ensures it stays that way. In Ages past, before the Night of the Vacant Throne -- when mankind and the other races of Ayotha were given the chance to meet a sliver of what it was that they had foolishly called their Gods -- the world followed the rules set out for it at its creation. Arcanery, in a very generous sense of implying it existed at all, was only a theoretical, philosophical exercise, conducted in meeting halls and lounges by societies that simply enjoyed dressing their social circles in a different kind of trapping. It did not exist; not merely as the world sees it now, in this broken age of horrors, but at all, and when it did arrive, it did so on the wings of nightmares.
Magic is not some mystical recipe its practitioners follow on a day-to-day basis to casually manipulate the world around them; while it affects very real results in the world around it, these results are consequences of another reality being imposed upon ours and causing the one we live in to shatter, albeit in -- at least hopefully -- a controlled fashion. As far as scattered records can ascertain, the application of this knowledge came at the hands of the humans of Ayotha first, as most of their peers and the other races struggled not just to rebuild but to survive in the lloigor-wracked wasteland that was once a comparatively peaceful, fertile world. After the Night of the Vacant Throne, rumors of uncovered writings which allowed real magic, real power, to be channeled through a dedicated practitioner and out into the world. These writings were collected in an utterly forbidden grimoire that came to be known as the Black Book, a tome with many speculated origins. Some say the Book is a legitimately living, sentient other, alien and conscious entity with unknown and sinister purposes. Others say that it exists simultaneously in other times, other places, other worlds, and exists conterminously to spread its influence in the past, present, and future all.
What is incontrovertible, however, is that the following of parsed and translated rituals found in this book or copies of it has wrought unmistakable horror upon the world and those in it. While the Night of the Vacant Throne was responsible for the destruction of cities, towns, and life, the magic found in the Black Book is responsible for the corruption of what remains and what has been built to try and effect repairs upon those shattered remnants. While there is real power to be found in the practice of these rituals, the overwhelming vast majority that even know of the existence of the Black Book are far from willing to pay the cost of not just their own sanity, but that of their friends, loved ones, and fellow men. Every so-called spell cast brings Ayotha closer to a tremulous reality merged with that of wherever the grimoire truly came from, and even amongst the universally loathed practitioners, all but the maddest can recognize that that would bode very, very poorly for our world and those living in it.
Most do not know of the intricacies of magic, of course, but they know enough and have heard enough of rumors to wish to stamp it out where it exists. People have been strung up, burned, tied, and quartered, even tortured to death over days over mere mention of witchcraft, and this is the case through almost all true civilization. There exist, of course, esoteric societies, occasional outposts, even whole races of people who feel differently, but these people are outside of their own universally reviled as destroyers and corruptors of the highest order, and they are ruthlessly hunted and slain by those who catch wind of them. Only in the vast, far reaches of the untamed world is this viewpoint ever relaxed, and even then, it would still be a poor idea to reveal oneself -- fear is the most powerful motivator of violence.
|IS THIS A PAID GAME?:
Omensworn is a FREE TO PLAY GAME. Donations and subscriptions are available through our Patreon, but players are not required to pay before jumping in and playing a game. The only limit is time and seats at the digital table. I do monthly free content releases for all members of the community. This varies from free, public domain pieces of art. One-page dungeons, NPC cards, and more. Those who choose to help us monetarily receive access to a large archive of old PDF content and design documentation for our games and world-building. In addition, you are given free access to every PDF that I release while you're subscribed. We also offer character art and art prints to those who subscribe for longer periods of time.
|PRODUCTION VALUE:
I'm 100% in favor of talented dungeon masters earning money while running games online. I don't agree with the idea that just because you're paying someone they're going to run a better game than someone who does it for free. Money does not equate to quality, this is especially true in a field such as this one. Style, ability, and literally everything else that centers around these games is 100% subjective. Where one player might find a particular style of Game Mastering fun, someone else might have a miserable time. This is why I operate on a 'PIYHF' system. It's not a particularly fun abbreviation to say, but it gets the point across. "PAY IF YOU HAVE FUN'. If you can donate monetarily, that's awesome. If you'd rather write a story or help contribute to our setting. That might just be even cooler.
A dagger in the dark is worth a thousand swords at dawn.