Age of Storms II

The gods were dead.
Their bones poisoned the soil.
Now a twisted echo screams their names.
Welcome to
AGE OF STORMS II




The Pitch: The warring gods annihilated one another - and in their fall, they broke the world. Decades of magical apocalypse twisted land and people alike, leaving little behind but ruin and chaos.

You will play as the descendants of those who survived. Stoneclaws, your village, is all you have ever known—until refugees arrive from the south, bearing news of a new Goddess. Twisted, ambitious, eager for conquest and dominance.
Some will join the refugees on a desperate expedition north, seeking to explore the world and found a new sanctuary beyond her reach. Others will stay behind, fortifying Stoneclaws and preparing to face the inevitable fury of her followers.

Death will be common. Replacement characters are expected. What endures is not the individual, but the legacy they leave behind. Expect dangerous expeditions, hard choices, and long stretches of downtime where your characters recover, plan, train, and shape the future of their people.

The Meta Pitch: Age of Storms draws inspiration from games and RPGs where characters are fleshed out over time rather than defined at creation — works such as Dungeon Crawl Classics, Spire: The City Must Fall, Heart: The City Beneath, XCOM and Darkest Dungeon were part of the inspiration for this game.

Your characters are expected to change and have a story of their own. Some will not survive long enough to grow. Others may endure and be shaped by what they witness and what they do. Advancement should therefore result in a change of identity, instead of just mechanical adjustments.
Because the world is dangerous and unpredictable, you will control multiple characters over the course of the campaign. This is intentional. It allows space for different personalities, backgrounds, and arcs to develop, and ensures that loss does not end your involvement in the story. Those who survive carry forward knowledge, scars, and connections that matter.

Downtime will be a core part of play. Training, recovery, crafting, building relationships, and making long‑term plans are all opportunities for character growth.
Finally, the campaign looks beyond individual moments to the paths your characters carve over time. As they grow, their actions may shape communities, traditions, or entire regions. Whether they become leaders, specialists, visionaries, or something stranger, their development will leave a lasting imprint on the world.

Age of Storms II is my 7th campaign in this universe since 2012 and 2nd one on Gamersplane. The previous games have contributed to a large library of lore, which I am happy to say most players seem to enjoy - and hopefully you will too.

Game system: Resistance Toolbox, absolutely amazing narrative game engine used to run games such as Heart: The City Beneath or Spire. Advancement is done via completing "story beats" - goals for the story of your character, whose accomplishments then grant them greater powers. Damage can be not only to one's body, but also their mind, wealth and other aspects, resulting in Fallouts - narratively interesting repercussions of the character's actions.
The system is pretty lean and resembles Powered by the Apocalypse in certain aspects. Or, for those inclined in a more niche direction - you've ever played Heart, you are pretty much good to go already. Full ruleset will be provided as a document in one of the game threads.

Character Options: I would like each player to have a pool of 2-3 characters, some of which will be focused on downtime activities while others are in action. You will be free to assign the characters to one of the two main narrative branches or have them carve their own path.
Random character generation is recommended, yet not mandatory.

Game Duration and Post Frequency: I would like this to be a long-term campaign. That said, I understand real life happens sometimes. Player interest will be revisited on chapter-by-chapter basis, with the option to bow out of the game or take in new players.
As for the post frequency, I expect the game to settle at about 3 posts per week and would like this number to be a little higher at the beginning to get things off.

Player Experience: None needed!

Adult Content or Controversial Themes: This is a game about life inside a cursed land that will give you everything you ever wished for or kill you in the process. While I am perfectly happy to do a fadeout, you can expect a controversial theme or two.

Welcome Marginalized Groups: All are welcome in these cursed lands!

We are currently at 2 players, with preferences of having 3-4. If you feel like joining, we'l be happy to have you! :)

This seems very much up my alley setting-wise and thus quite a temptation, but the posting rate is scary - especially the "a little higher" part. Would you be willing to let someone join once it's no longer sped up? Or perhaps just have a slightly more passive character? I'm good at these! :D 3 posts per week is fine, but I struggle with daily posting.

No worries, the posting rate 5 times per week was meant as the "little higher" variation, I would not be able to post daily myself :)

The system is also set up in such a way that passive characters are not a real issue (for example there is no Initiative in combat sequences), hence I think it should be fine :)

I have an idea for a village shaman’s assistant.

When she was quite young she started having what her parents deemed "episodes" her toys would move to her or she'd be out of her crib when she could not have possibly done so on her own. As she grew older it became more of a problem especially since when she had a tantrum or was angry fires would start. When one fire nearly ran out of control and burned the young girl's right side the young couple had finally had enough. They couple brought the child to the village Shaman. The Shaman determined that he best thing was for the couple was to give their daughter up to the Shaman's care.

The girl grew up in the Shaman's hut and began to learn to control her powers along with the skills and knowledge necessary to take over for her mentor when they pass on, but that day has not yet come. Still, there is a danger on the horizon a great storm that threatens them all. Her mentor is very old and likely won’t survive the voyage. Can the apprentice be the shaman her people need?

Hi, I would be interested in participating and can generally guarantee one post per day from Monday to Friday. Excluding periods of peak personal work. In that case, I can still guarantee 3 posts over 5 working days.
Just one thing for the sake of thoroughness: to confirm my participation, I would like to understand a little more about the setting.
If I say it's a post-apocalyptic fantasy world, am I right?
But is it a desolate post-apocalyptic world? Or something else? I saw the references you included. I am familiar with all of them, except for X Com, which I only know by name. However, it seems to me that they refer more to the interaction between the world and the character (which is important, of course) than to the setting.
Could you tell me a little more about other elements of inspiration from the point of view of the type of setting? About the story and the world. Maybe even visual elements. They would help me understand better.

As for the system, I've never played it, but I know what it's about. Also, I definitely consider pbta-style combat a bonus.

This could actually fit pretty nicely! There is already established a faction of "druids" that happens to occasionally take care of Stormborn children - those who were touched by the Storms and possess magical abilities. One of the PCs even happens to be part of this faction.

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The part about the interaction is very much correct. As for the setting itself, it is not desolate per se - on the contrary I would say.

The world is post-apocalyptic in the sense that a god-level catastrophe already happened and permanently reshaped reality. The gods destroyed each other, and the fallout wasn’t just a single event, but also decades of storms, mutations and warped magic. That said, it’s not a sterile wasteland or a dead world. Life persisted, adapted, and learned how to exist amid the scars. Inhabited ruin might therefore fit the description somewhat better than just "desolate".

People live here. Some farm, others migrate or fight - but always in places shaped by remnants of the past. Settlements are so rare that the inhabitants of the starting village never saw another one. Travel is dangerous not because the land is empty, but because it is hostile, strange, and unpredictable.

I hope it makes the picture somewhat clearer - if you'd like any additional color, let me know!

Okay, count me in!
Are there any guidelines for character creation? If I understand correctly, there will be two per player.

Invite sent! :)

The character creation is alreday in progress, you'll find the relevant thread in the game.

If this is still open, I'd be interested in joining this game and playing. I have some character ideas swirling around in my head for the backup/stay-behinds and the expeditionary types depending on what you and the system allow within the setting.

I prefer to begin PbP games with a larger group to account for early attrition. Happy to have you with us - invite sent! :)

If still open I would be interested. Like trying new games and can post as much as needed. I will go with flow on characters since I don't really know what classes or races are being used.

Is this still open?

The game is currently in progress through the introductory chapters of the story.

While I am happy to take in new players, I would prefer the incoming characters to join after the intro chapters finish and the story branches out a bit more.

It is always difficult to estimate how long it would take, but my best guess is that you would start with proper play in about 2 weeks. If this is ok for you, I am sending out the invites - feel free to decline if it does not suit you, I understand it may not be the preferred option for many.