This is a series on the first game I’ve run as a Game Master (GM). These posts reveal parts of the world and events that have unfolded during gameplay. They are posted after they happen or have been revealed. My hope is that this helps paint a story of the events that unfold and provide readers inspiration into running their own games.
Project Hope is a grandiose plan of Elderglen to establish an outpost town. The goals of this outpost aren’t fully known by those involved, other than the urgency of its establishment. Our heroes have found themselves here after volunteering to participate in this arduous task.
Volunteers for Project Hope were sought after in Elderglen when the council determined it was necessary to establish an outpost. Isabella Steele leads the project and is responsible for its success. The heroes are each volunteers, among others, and each have their own reasons for volunteering. Some of the volunteers are seeking to reduce a sentence for a crime they committed. Others are ready to leave the safe walls of Elderglen to see the wilds they’ve only read about in stories. They all know it will be a difficult feat to accomplish this task and many will not survive, but, they all accept this risk.
The process of locating a suitable site was long and hard. The travel that was required for establishment took longer than expected and food stores quickly depleted. After weeks of searching, Isabella and the volunteers finally agreed on a location and started setting up. The location was a few days travel southward from Elderglen and has a nearby water source, a necessity for survival in the wilds. But, this does not come without risks. As water is a rather scarce resource, others are also using the same water source and this leaves Project Hope vulnerable to opportunistic raids.
After a year of building, Project Hope is still a shanty of a town. It’s barely finished, barren of much of what you would expect in such a well established town as Elderglen. The efforts to establish Project Hoper were bootstraped by Elderglen and getting additional resources from the wilds was expected on the outset of this expedition. Because of this, few notable buildings exist within the town so far: a mechanist’s shop, a tavern with a built in distillery, and a sheriff’s office (complete with holding cell).
Project Hope was hastily built and an early focus was on gathering the necessary resources to survive: food and water. Shelter came third. Most of the townsfolk are crammed into small shacks and morale is rather low. The outlook for the town is bleak, but Isabella has high hopes that they can turn it all around and make something great out of a dire situation.
It is here that our story begins. The first step of defense, a wall, has just been established. The sense of security it provides has rejuvenated the hope that this project so desperately needed. It took a little over a year to get this far. Let’s see if our heroes can continue the success.