RPGaDay 2026 Day 5: Burden

 Now to go someplace that we've never been before.

To create some sort of sequence for these, let's go by distance for Ureka, since that's more or less the focus of the campaign. The closest Ruin would be Calpoly, the former site of Arcata and California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt (though back when I lived in the area, it was Humboldt State University).

There are a couple of interesting tags that we rolled up for this one and I haven't really addressed them. The first is "Highshine Concentration." In the default setting of Ashes Without Number, Highshine is the secret sauce that means that radiation will give you cool mutations rather than just radiation sickness and cancer. While I'm not really using an established larger setting, it does let us have those Gamma World vibes even if everyplace else is a bit more Fallout.

The other tag is one that I haven't really addressed, but probably should. "Political Gulag." Someone is using the town as a prison. Since Ureka is the nearest Enclave, that suggests that they're the ones sending poor souls here, presumably to get eaten by the wild mutant plants and animals that roam the area.

With our prompt being Burden and the location being a place where mutations are common, let's assume that he has a mutation that makes him a burden. It's a bit extreme, but let's say that he has no arms and no legs. He can move and get around, and we could probably have fun by setting up encounters with him turning up in unlikely places, but I think the most common form of interaction would be him requesting a lift somewhere.

I do also want him to have some sort of attack power. This is partly to create a justification for how he's able to survive in such a dangerous environment with a distinct disability and partly to discourage players from being dicks and dismissing him outright or being overly ableist. It's a bit crude, but players are going to have more respect for anything that can cost them hit points, regardless of form.

He should also be connected to the Political Gulag Tag. He's was not born there, but exiled for some crime against Ureka, The easy one would be sympathy for Ratfolk, but we can also explore other aspects of Ureka by supposing that he was an opponent to some aspect of the Victorian Reconstructionism embraced by the rest of the community. A fun mirror to modern times might have him be an environmental activist against reconstructed timber barons.

That also suggests our name: Hillard Hurwitz. "Hillard" as a nod to Julia "Butterfly" Hill, an activist who spent a year in a tree. Hurwitz is for Charles Hurwitz, owner of Maxxam, the private equity company that bled Pacific Lumber Company dry. The idea of a descendant trying to make right has a certain appeal.

Name: Hillard "Stumpy" Hurwitz

Appearance: A man with no arms and no legs, clean shaven (somehow) but with long, lanky, dark hair.

Quote: "How about a lift?"

Roleplaying: Stumpy is a stereotypical hippy in many ways. He is very "go with the flow" and sympathetic to the balance of nature. He is casually optimistic and avoids getting overly bummed out if possible. He's spent a long time learning about the strange ecology that has developed around Calpoly and has a deep respect for it.

Background: After staging protests over excessive logging by the Timber Barons of Ureka, Hillard was exiled to Calpoly. While there, he suffered significant injuries to his arms and legs. The mutating elements in the environment granted him a healing power that closed the wounds quickly, but did not restore the limbs. It also granted him thermokinesis which he can use to defend himself.

Key Info:

He is surprisingly capable and well adapted to his current status.
He will often be found requesting a lift to a destination
He understands the ecology of the monsters roaming Calpoly, but it opposed to their casual destruction or exploitation.

Stat Block:

RPGaDay 2026 Day 4: Charm

 Now we come to the Ruins. The first Ruin on my list is the Eureka Ruins. I might come up with an alternate name for the area, but for now, let's focus on our NPC.

We know this character is female, likely a Ratfolk, and our prompt is Charm. As this is early days, this will be some sort of "face" character that adventurers would likely be dealing with.

Let's say that she represents the Rat King. Is she a simple emissary? Nah. That would be boring. She's a Second Foundationer.

To back up a little bit, the Rat King that rules over the Ruins of Eureka is a collective consciousness made up of several ratfolk linked by their tails. Presumably, this makes them (singular or collective "they" is the correct pronoun for the situation) super-intelligent, so we can imagine that they have some sort of predictive power along the lines of psychohistory from Isaac Asimov's Foundation stories.

But in the stories, psychohistory wasn't perfect. While the Foundation was the public face of the Seldon Plan, there was the Second Foundation that had agents that took action behind the scenes to ensure that the Seldon Plan was fulfilled.

So let's assume that our "charmer" is one of these agents. Her job is to gather information to help the Rat King make better plans, but also acting to subtly influence the other players on the board to ultimately advantage the Ratfolk. So she could turn up in a lot of adventuresome locales.

Again, we have a challenge for a name. I don't think that Ratfolk speak English amongst themselves. It's probably a squeaking and chittering language, so we've got another "use name" situation. Let's call her Scarlett. We could come up with an in-universe justification for this, like red fur, but really, it's a reference to Scarlett Johansen who played the Black Widow in the MCU.

Name: Scarlett

Appearance: A female ratfolk with reddish brown fur, Among the ruins, she wears minimal clothing, mostly belts, harnesses and holsters for small weapons and other tools. In Ureka, she wears a loose, light dress as a ratfolk housemaid might wear, with the harnesses and holsters underneath it. Her tail has a few fleshy growths along its length, signs of healed injuries

Quote: "You don't have to do that."

Roleplaying: Scarlett is a manipulator. She prefers to talk rather than fight her way out of tight situations. She appears as non-threatening as possible as a way of getting access to surprising places. She doesn't always understand her missions, but she has faith that they will lead to greater success for the Rat King and her people.

Background: Scarlett is an agent of the Rat King and acts to fulfill their long-term plans.

Key Info:

She is a wild card, possibly aligned or opposed to the party, depending on her missions
She doesn't always understand what her mission is supposed to accomplish

Stat Block:

RPGaDay 2026 Day 3: Poise

Now it's time for an NPC for the last Enclave, Cow Town. And keeping with the gender pattern established, this character is male.

Someone with poise feels very strange in Cow Town. It feels like a community driven to extremes. Everyone is sick. Everyone is hungry. Everyone is despairing.

So what we'd be looking for is someone trying to keep the extremes in check. Maybe a spiritual leader of some kind. Which does bring up the subject of religion.

Most Americans, I think, assume that "religion" and "Christianity" are the same thing, unless it is specifically called out. So I could easily call him "Father" or "Reverend" and be done with it. Assume the major religious doctrines are in the general "be a good person" mode.

Post-apocalyptic settings give us an opportunity to explore other possibilities. Cultural relics could be given religious significance. The apocalypse itself could be a source of revelation.

But for Cow Town, I think there's a lot of inertia. They've been a farming community for quite some time, even before the apocalypse. The only thing that really changed for them was the customer. They no longer had to provide Costco with ice cream and other dairy products. Local production for local needs became the priority.

Likewise, the local churches became separated from their larger ecumenical organizations and became focused on local needs.

I think the radiation infusion occurred within the last generation or so. Long enough ago that people have largely accepted that this is the way things are now, but no so long ago that the conditions have managed to kill everyone or drive them away.

So our priest could possibly be old enough to remember the time before that and use that as an anchor for his faith.

There are two Lutheran churches in modern-day Ferndale, so I feel comfortable drawing on my own Lutheran upbringing, along with the common trappings of Christianity that we all know from movies and TV even if we don't participate in them, to get a picture of this church.

I'll also draw on my own history for a name. This is Pastor Dave. And remembering Pastor Dave helps me fill in a few pieces. But this is an imperfect mirror of the Pastor Dave of my childhood, with a few layers of tragedy on top.

Name: Pastor Dave

Appearance: A balding man in his late 40s. The hair that remains on the sides of his head, as well as his thick mustache, is light brown turning to grey. His once-rounded face gives way to sunken eyes and cheeks.

Quote: "I'm scared, too."

Roleplaying: Pastor Dave is warm and empathetic. His voice is warm and deep (Nick Offerman is probably the closest, but imagine a situation where Ron Swanson was the evil twin. Pastor Dave would be the good twin,) He listens and he understands.

Background: Pastor Dave grew up in Cow Town and took over caring for the congregation from his father, Paster George. He had hoped one day to pass the position to his own son, Seth, but the radiation came and took Seth. Pastor Dave has since dedicated himself to making sure that no other parent should suffer as he has. This dedication has become so strong that he has reached out to nearby raider gangs for aid.

Key Info:

He is dedicated to peaceful resolution whenever possible
He has connections to local settlers and even raiders

Stat Block:

RPGaDay 2026 Day 2: Stature

 

Still going in no particular order, "Stature" makes me thing of Squatch-Ville, so let's go there. A person of Stature can be very tall or very important. A sasquatch living in Squatch-Ville is both.

As has been previously established, sasquatch form a nobility overseeing the humans of Squatch-Ville. But there are also things going wrong in Squatch-Ville that the populace is trying to ignore or paper over.

Since this is the first sasquatch NPC I'm defining, this should be a character that likely PCs will be interacting with regularly. Someone with some rank and status, but not so much that they can't leave the palace, so to speak. Someone who has some interest in affairs both within and without Squatch-Ville.

Since yesterday's character was male, let's make this character female. I'll probably avoid having trans, non-binary or other gender-nonconforming characters, just because I don't have enough experience with those identities to have any confidence with writing them, not because I think they don't or shouldn't exist in a post-apocalyptic world. I only feel marginally competent to write women. Something may come up that really feels like it needs to go outside the gender binary, but for right now, my plan is to simply alternate between male and female.

So our sasquatch of Stature is their main trade delegate. One suggested reason why we have little to no solid evidence for sasquatch in the real world is that they are very long lived, so let's say that she has been alive long enough to experience the entire history of Squatch-Ville. She started small, helping the early survivors trade with smaller survivor encampments and ensuring that those in her protection were treated fairly. Now she oversees most of the trade that goes through the largest and most prosperous settlements in the region.

She has become spoiled by the luxuries made available due to Squatch-Ville's success. While she may not wear clothes, she definitely adorns herself. She also enjoys marijuana. It may be her influence that encouraged the general use of marijuana as a currency throughout the area.

The use of marijuana may also be the reason that she has been able to maintain a consistent presence in Squatch-Ville. The traditional Sasquatch lifestyle is very solitary and maintaining a large community is very stressful for them. From time to time, sasquatch will suddenly disappear without a trace and then reappear months or years later. This is called "going invisible." Typically, their role will have been filled in their absence and they will need to find another position in the leadership hierarchy. There is no memory or record of Cleopatra going invisible

None of this is to say that she is easily bought. She is still shrewd and protective of those in her charge. But she will favor those who bring luxuries either to her or into Squatch-Ville.

Now to figure out her name. I'm not sure she has one in the conventional sense. She is identified by other sasquatch either by a sound too low to hear or loud enough to be deafening or by something like a name-sign for an ASL speaker. So for her dealings with humans, she has adopted a "use-name." Given her love of luxuries, I feel like "Cleopatra" would match her nicely.

Name: "Cleopatra" (what she is called by other sasquatch cannot be easily produced by outsiders)

Appearance: 7 foot tall sasquatch, covered in dark brown shaggy fur that is kept clean and perfumed. She wears no clothing, but does wear elaborate bracelets and necklaces. Her shaggy fur obscures most of her feminine curves.

Quote: "Have you tried these? You simply must!"

Roleplaying: "Cleopatra" is typically relaxed and rather casual. In her own space, she has a hookah as well as some indulgent food or drink and she offers to share either of those to make her guests feel welcome. She loves roses incorporated into her food and drink. (A current favorite is small cakes or cookies baked with acorn flour and flavored with rose essence.) She is careful to manage her consumption so that she is "buzzed" rather than inebriated. She cannot be bribed and will make no deals that endanger the community, but she can be influenced with proper gifts. While she might appreciate the opportunity to abdicate her responsibilities, she will refuse any effort to return to "invisibility," the sasquatch cultural practices that kept them undetected by humanity for all of those centuries.

Background: She is old enough to remember life before the sasquatch revealed themselves to the humans flooding into the redwood forests. She joined the security patrols keeping their refugees safe from petty warlords and independent raiders. When a traveling trader found them, she was the one who made first approach. Ever since then, she's been the primary contact most traders have with Squatch-Ville.

Key Info:

She is the main trade envoy for the community of Squatch-Ville.
She will prefer trade deals or negotiations in which luxuries and comforts are made available.
She will refuse any effort to return to "invisibility."

Stat Block:

RPGaDay 2026 Day 1: Discipline

 

For this year, I'm doing character creation for RPGaDay. Since I've been trying to build an Ashes Without Number post-apocalyptic sandbox all year, I'll be taking advantage of this opportunity to build out the NPC cast.

If you're just joining me, this is a post-apocalyptic version of the northern coast of California, encompassing Humboldt and Del Norte counties. Because this is a very sparsely populated area even now, there are fewer Enclaves (pockets of safety and what civilization still exists) and Ruins than a typical AWN setting covering the same size area elsewhere.

The Enclaves are:

Squatch-Ville: As civilization fell, humans fled into the redwood forests en masse. The local Sasquatch took pity on them and taught them the ways of the forest. There is now a sprawling city with the Sasquatch forming an inadvertent ruling class over the humans. Located in Elk Valley in the redwood forests of Del Norte County

Ureka: The former site of Eureka. Abandoned during the apocalypse, the city became home to sentient mutant rats. Humans dissatisfied with the austere lifestyle of Squatch-Ville came here to live in the shadow of the Carson Mansion, believing that it represented the height of human culture. They have pushed the Ratfolk out of the northern, coastal regions of the city into the suburbs.

Cow Town: The former site of Ferndale. This was a breadbasket region until the entire area was afflicted with radiation sickness. Scavengers raiding an old nuclear power plant brought back a cache of irradiated and radioactive materials that quickly got incorporated into all aspects of the town. Crops tended with radioactive farming implements sickened and mutated along with the people, leading to widespread starvation. Cow Town persists, but is slowly dying.

There are also 5 Ruins in the area.

The Eureka Ruins: While humans have reclaimed a portion of the city, there is still a large portion controlled by the Ratfolk. They are ruled by a Rat King, which is a cluster of Ratfolk who have merged their tails and their nervous systems to create a powerful hive mind.

(As I've been developing this, it feels like the Eureka Ruins is a Ruin only because of politics. If the humans weren't so chauvinistic and insisted on pushing them out, there could be cooperation and development for mutual benefit.)

Crescent City: Most of the city was abandoned when a tsunami struck during the apocalypse. Among the survivors who remained arose a small number of powerful telepaths. The remainder of the citizens here have had their minds overwhelmed and live like zombies under the control of the psychic overlords.

Calpoly: The former site of Arcata and Cal Poly Humboldt. Aggressive and reckless research in the days leading to the apocalypse resulted in Calpoly and the surrounding area to be overwhelmed with mutated plants and animals.

Hupa: Former site of Hoopa. As part of the collapse of civilization, the United States splintered. The people of Hupa attempted to build up quickly to become a regional power. Their attempt at militarization wound up a mere footnote, but it's likely that some useful relics could be found.

McKinleyville: The main thing I know is that there was an attempt at building a community in this area that ended in tragedy.

So my plan will be to develop an NPC for each of these sites, then repeat for the Enclaves and also the Eureka Ruins (like I said, it could be an Enclave if the people of Ureka were willing to get along), cycling through until the end of the month.

Although I listed Squatch-Ville first, I'll be starting with Ureka, since it's my hometown and where I'm planning to focus the campaign.

The prompt is "Discipline." This can be a disciplined person or someone whose job is to keep discipline.

Let's flesh out Sheriff Allen Ross, leader of the Ratcatchers.

The Ratcatchers is an organization somewhere between a military and a police force. As the name implies, they are focused on dealing with Ratfolk, either leading raids to claim a new historical structure or responding to raids and infiltration by the Ratfolk, but they can be called on as general peacekeepers and police if needed.

I'll be borrowing the format for NPCs from The Alexandrian, mostly because my brain craves structure and I might or might not need game stats for any of these.

I plucked the name Allen Ross out of historical research, but a picture of him has not been forthcoming. Though trying a Google image search did turn up pictures of Colin Ferguson as the Sheriff on the SciFi TV show Eureka. I might borrow some of his image from that. But the overall concept is more in line with an 1880's version of policing.

Name: Sheriff Allen Ross

Appearance: A tall athletic man in his early 40's with light brown hair and blue eyes. His mustache grows down the sides of his mouth, but his chin is clear, with sideburns that extend to the jawline.

Quote: "Do it right and you only have to do it once."

Roleplaying: Sheriff Ross is disciplined. He avoids going off half-cocked and discourages his Ratcatchers from doing the same. He is less bloodthirsty than his predecessor, but just as dedicated to returning Ureka to Human occupation.

Background: Allen was a boy when they arrived in Ureka. He volunteered as a scout, using his small size to hide in small spaces to observe the Ratfolk, gathering information for eventual attacks. This taught him patience and an appreciation for intelligence.

As a young man, he joined the Ratcatchers at their formal founding. Rising through the ranks of the Ratcatcher Civic Patrol, he was eventually given command of the division. When the first Sheriff, Sheriff T. M. Brown, passed, Allen was promoted to Sheriff and head of all Ratcatcher operations.

Key Info:

Head of the Ratcatchers
Prefers tidy, efficient solutions

Stat Block:

Building Character in 2026

 

This year, it looks like RPGaDay has become a character creation challenge and I am on board with that. The early years of the challenge were easy for me, since they encouraged me to share my collection of games, which I was quite proud of. Then it moved more towards gaming stories and anecdotes, which I do have a collection of, but it's a limited number and it has not been growing significantly in recent years.

The idea of a character creation challenge appeals to me. It lets me leverage the books that are on my shelf. It pushes me to create rather than reflect. The thing I'm not sure about would be exactly what sort of focus I want to have.

I could readily go back to "shelfie" mode, creating a character for a selection of RPGs that I own. Or I could create characters as possible NPCs and PCs for a campaign. I've been working on an Ashes Without Number setting for some time, and it could be an opportunity to flesh that out.

Or maybe I could think about a campaign I've wanted to do that has lain fallow for some time.

I've wanted to do Stars Without Number for some time and have the basics of a sector rolled up, but turning that into something that I can zoom in on enough to imagine what a campaign in that sector might look like. Probably a case where I need a Session 0 before I'm really able to run a campaign. But a batch of NPCs might also do the trick.

I always tell myself that if I had to run a campaign in the next week, it would be OSR. Just because of the wealth of material and the straightforward nature of the core activity. So NPCs to flesh out a homebrew fantasy setting might be good too.

Another possibility would be to build another campaign from scratch. I tell myself from time to time that I should make the effort to get familiar with D&D 5e, Pathfinder or Starfinder so I could be more comfortable running or playing in one of the more popular settings/systems out there. So a batch of NPCs in support of one of those concepts might be a good kick in the pants as well.

 It's been a couple of weeks. My goal has been to post here weekly, but at least I'm posting more frequently than I have been for a while.

I got exposed to job resources at college, and have been trying to take advantage of those. But like most things to do with college, it's only going to really kick into gear once classes begin. I might have made an effort to join the summer session, but I worried about being in a rush for deadlines and missing something important, as well as a concern that most of the financial aid cycles were geared towards the fall semester. So now I have a couple of months until classes begin and I have lots of time to prepare and aim at the milestones, but a lot of the process is waiting for those deadlines and milestones to come.

In the short term, the monthly meetup for the local gaming club is this Saturday and as usual, I am debating what to run. I've got my pickup gaming kit, with all the materials I need to run Fiasco Classic, Microscope, Fate Accelerated (with the It's Not My Fault! scenario creation cards) and InSpectres. Those are easy choices.

My other thoughts are turning towards more trad-style games that require a bit more prep. A portion of my interest in Ashes Without Number was that the setting and adventure creation tools seemed very clear and usable. Because my previous standard time for building trad adventures has been far too long. Often weeks, if not months. So now I'm wondering if I've laid enough foundation for a new adventure that I can bring to the table for Saturday.