Apr 21, 2026 4:25 pm
Premise
Whether one enrolled by way of noble privilege, personal merit, shadowy patronage, or other means, every student knows that the Tern City Polyscholastic Seminary opens doors to an ambitious future. Sure, it won't turn a mundane individual into a wielder of divine gifts, but its graduates are welcomed into the ranks of clergy of all major creeds, and, more importantly, get opportunities to join one of the branches of the internationally powerful Ataraxia Concordat.
But of course, one cannot expect a bunch of ambitious young adults of mixed social strata to just quietly sit in class studying esoteric subjects for several years, and neatly go their separate ways in an orderly fashion. Of course, in the halls of such an institution, there would have to be revelries and rivalries, alliances and animosity, betrothals and betrayals, investigations and intrigue.
Technical Information
✅ System: I'd like to run this with my homebrew system, Dramalogs. On the player side, it exists mostly for getting an idea of the comparison between character capability in a given field vs. challenges of a task, often without even rolling or spending drama points. On the GM side, I use it to have finer-grained calibration for character capability/challenge stuff (but I'll keep the nerdy stuff hidden under spoilers for those who aren't the target audience for it).
✅ Content Considerations: This is the kind of story where the camera does not overly focus on graphic content or controversial themes, but does not pretend that such family-unfriendly things are not happening or cannot influence and/or be part of the lives of the people inhabiting the game world, including some of the main characters. Where such topics come up, they are expected to be neither downplayed nor gratuitously savoured. (For a modern media example of such an attitude, consider Apothecary Diaries (this is purely as an example of content handling, it has nothing to do with the campaign premise): it's a 14+ show, but one whose world and plots include many very family-unfriendly events, which are handled in a no-nonsense manner, without relishing and without pearl-clutching. If something was in that series, it very well might show up in this story too.) More specific content considerations can and should be discussed before the game together.
✅ Character Guidelines. Most of the freshthings are expected to be young adults pursuing an esoteric education and having at least one foot in the door of high society. Most are expected to not be well-versed in esoteric lore (but there can be exceptions). Some may possess supernatural divine blessings. Each PC should already be acquainted with two other PCs and two NPCs (similar to the Entanglements in Hearts of Wulin). Overall, aim for the character creation to be very collaborative.
✅ Post Frequency. Try to post every 24 or at least every 48 hours if there is a situation where your PC is relevant. For dialogues or single-player situations, posting even more frequently is welcome but not required. If you need to put posting on hold, inform others through OOC channels. I understand that emergencies happen and sometimes it's impossible to warn in advance; however, if more than 48 hours pass after a prompt that requires a response (e.g. an NPC action/question), I need to keep the game moving lest the whole campaign stalls and dies. The campaign duration is not yet defined, but definitely won't last past graduation.
✅ Specialized Software and Resources. Quick discussion requires text communication on a Discord channel (join link will be given after invitation). General setting lore (not related to the specific campaign) is hosted on a separate wiki. The rules reference exists as a Word document (you don't need to read it all, though at least skimming the concise summaries section is recommended).
✅ Player Experience Requirements. I prefer players who have some experience with non-dungeoncrawly PbPs.
✅ How to Apply. Make a post in this thread. If we haven't played together before (or not much), briefly summarise what you're interested in in RPGs, including what you'd like to see in campaigns, especially this one. Write brief ideas of what sorts of character concepts you are considering for this campaign (you don't have to commit to them yet). If you have any early questions, they're welcome, but keep in mind that more discussion is to come during character creation. I am looking for 1-3 more candidates (already have some), with a strong preference for those who have a long-term track record of reliable posting/participation. I would hope to decide whom to add to the group by the end of April.
✅ Some baggage best left behind. While the world Between Abyssal Skies has its share of prejudices (based on class, creed, nationality), it also lacks many others that humans would take for granted. Do not carry that baggage from the human world into the game world if it wasn't already in there. Even more importantly, do not carry any such baggage to the gaming table.
The World
The events of Between Abyssal Skies occur in a world of islands suspended between the extremes of baleful disorder above (the Outer Abyss) and deathly stasis below (the Inner Abyss), populated by two species who, despite physiological distinctions, are not all that different to each other.
The Bestiary
The world between skies boasts a broad variety of beasts both wild and tame. Dogs and big cats are used as guards; small cats and foxes as companions; corvids as mail-carriers and living burglar alarms; reindeer and cows, hens and ostriches as a source of food. In the deep forests, one should be wary of crossing the path of a tiger or bear. And the lives of sky-sailors are complicated by encounters with flying wyrms and winged hydras.
The Age of Lightning
The local civilisations are currently undergoing an extended Enlightenment era, boasting such cutting-edge technologies as the power loom, the sky-ship of the line, the electrical telegraph, the skyfarer’s chronometer and the spring-powered bolt-thrower.
The Supernatural
There is wide disagreement about whether the divine consists of five abstract principles, or of about two dozen deities, or of a more difficult to understand unified force that attains highly specific properties when it permeates and possesses places, items, and people. But in any case, the divine seems to take an ‘interest’ in the lives of sufficiently remarkable mortals, for good and ill. Such mortals are referred to as Thespians, and often enjoy supernatural gifts, whether willingly or not.
In addition to the divine, there are other supernatural phenomena and entities, originating from the Abysses above and below; these, however, are much more dangerous for the denizens of the world, and often much more hostile.
The Most Noteworthy Social Organisation
Decades ago, a series of upheavals both geopolitical (such as large wars and revolutions) and supernatural (such as chaotic cataclysms and plagues of monsters) has prompted the creation of the Ataraxia Concordat, an organisation with purposes as varied as upholding laws of war, hunting monsters, reducing inter-religious tensions, and conducting research of the supernatural. To a degree, it was successful at those tasks.
Unsurprisingly, an organisation like this immediately became a place of intrigue and conflicting goals.
More in-depth information about the setting can be found here:
<https://vicky_molokh.codeberg.page/between_abyssal_skies/>
Whether one enrolled by way of noble privilege, personal merit, shadowy patronage, or other means, every student knows that the Tern City Polyscholastic Seminary opens doors to an ambitious future. Sure, it won't turn a mundane individual into a wielder of divine gifts, but its graduates are welcomed into the ranks of clergy of all major creeds, and, more importantly, get opportunities to join one of the branches of the internationally powerful Ataraxia Concordat.
But of course, one cannot expect a bunch of ambitious young adults of mixed social strata to just quietly sit in class studying esoteric subjects for several years, and neatly go their separate ways in an orderly fashion. Of course, in the halls of such an institution, there would have to be revelries and rivalries, alliances and animosity, betrothals and betrayals, investigations and intrigue.
Technical Information
✅ System: I'd like to run this with my homebrew system, Dramalogs. On the player side, it exists mostly for getting an idea of the comparison between character capability in a given field vs. challenges of a task, often without even rolling or spending drama points. On the GM side, I use it to have finer-grained calibration for character capability/challenge stuff (but I'll keep the nerdy stuff hidden under spoilers for those who aren't the target audience for it).
✅ Content Considerations: This is the kind of story where the camera does not overly focus on graphic content or controversial themes, but does not pretend that such family-unfriendly things are not happening or cannot influence and/or be part of the lives of the people inhabiting the game world, including some of the main characters. Where such topics come up, they are expected to be neither downplayed nor gratuitously savoured. (For a modern media example of such an attitude, consider Apothecary Diaries (this is purely as an example of content handling, it has nothing to do with the campaign premise): it's a 14+ show, but one whose world and plots include many very family-unfriendly events, which are handled in a no-nonsense manner, without relishing and without pearl-clutching. If something was in that series, it very well might show up in this story too.) More specific content considerations can and should be discussed before the game together.
✅ Character Guidelines. Most of the freshthings are expected to be young adults pursuing an esoteric education and having at least one foot in the door of high society. Most are expected to not be well-versed in esoteric lore (but there can be exceptions). Some may possess supernatural divine blessings. Each PC should already be acquainted with two other PCs and two NPCs (similar to the Entanglements in Hearts of Wulin). Overall, aim for the character creation to be very collaborative.
✅ Post Frequency. Try to post every 24 or at least every 48 hours if there is a situation where your PC is relevant. For dialogues or single-player situations, posting even more frequently is welcome but not required. If you need to put posting on hold, inform others through OOC channels. I understand that emergencies happen and sometimes it's impossible to warn in advance; however, if more than 48 hours pass after a prompt that requires a response (e.g. an NPC action/question), I need to keep the game moving lest the whole campaign stalls and dies. The campaign duration is not yet defined, but definitely won't last past graduation.
✅ Specialized Software and Resources. Quick discussion requires text communication on a Discord channel (join link will be given after invitation). General setting lore (not related to the specific campaign) is hosted on a separate wiki. The rules reference exists as a Word document (you don't need to read it all, though at least skimming the concise summaries section is recommended).
✅ Player Experience Requirements. I prefer players who have some experience with non-dungeoncrawly PbPs.
✅ How to Apply. Make a post in this thread. If we haven't played together before (or not much), briefly summarise what you're interested in in RPGs, including what you'd like to see in campaigns, especially this one. Write brief ideas of what sorts of character concepts you are considering for this campaign (you don't have to commit to them yet). If you have any early questions, they're welcome, but keep in mind that more discussion is to come during character creation. I am looking for 1-3 more candidates (already have some), with a strong preference for those who have a long-term track record of reliable posting/participation. I would hope to decide whom to add to the group by the end of April.
✅ Some baggage best left behind. While the world Between Abyssal Skies has its share of prejudices (based on class, creed, nationality), it also lacks many others that humans would take for granted. Do not carry that baggage from the human world into the game world if it wasn't already in there. Even more importantly, do not carry any such baggage to the gaming table.
[ +- ] Snippets about the game setting, Between Abyssal Skies
The World
The events of Between Abyssal Skies occur in a world of islands suspended between the extremes of baleful disorder above (the Outer Abyss) and deathly stasis below (the Inner Abyss), populated by two species who, despite physiological distinctions, are not all that different to each other.
The Bestiary
The world between skies boasts a broad variety of beasts both wild and tame. Dogs and big cats are used as guards; small cats and foxes as companions; corvids as mail-carriers and living burglar alarms; reindeer and cows, hens and ostriches as a source of food. In the deep forests, one should be wary of crossing the path of a tiger or bear. And the lives of sky-sailors are complicated by encounters with flying wyrms and winged hydras.
The Age of Lightning
The local civilisations are currently undergoing an extended Enlightenment era, boasting such cutting-edge technologies as the power loom, the sky-ship of the line, the electrical telegraph, the skyfarer’s chronometer and the spring-powered bolt-thrower.
The Supernatural
There is wide disagreement about whether the divine consists of five abstract principles, or of about two dozen deities, or of a more difficult to understand unified force that attains highly specific properties when it permeates and possesses places, items, and people. But in any case, the divine seems to take an ‘interest’ in the lives of sufficiently remarkable mortals, for good and ill. Such mortals are referred to as Thespians, and often enjoy supernatural gifts, whether willingly or not.
In addition to the divine, there are other supernatural phenomena and entities, originating from the Abysses above and below; these, however, are much more dangerous for the denizens of the world, and often much more hostile.
The Most Noteworthy Social Organisation
Decades ago, a series of upheavals both geopolitical (such as large wars and revolutions) and supernatural (such as chaotic cataclysms and plagues of monsters) has prompted the creation of the Ataraxia Concordat, an organisation with purposes as varied as upholding laws of war, hunting monsters, reducing inter-religious tensions, and conducting research of the supernatural. To a degree, it was successful at those tasks.
Unsurprisingly, an organisation like this immediately became a place of intrigue and conflicting goals.
More in-depth information about the setting can be found here:
<https://vicky_molokh.codeberg.page/between_abyssal_skies/>
Last edited August 20, 2026 5:06 pm
