Old Gods Made New
Homebrewing Old Gods of Appalachia to 5.5e - Setting, monsters, encounters, and lessons along the way
I am currently running a homebrew campaign of (mostly) 5.5e rules, using a sourcebook I picked up from a Kickstarter a few years ago. Since it's pretty heavy on the homebrew I thought that someone may find some value in how I am adapting a from sourcebook to accommodate what works for our table, adapting from a completely different mechanical system, creating monsters, unique encounters, or whatever other shenanigans my players throw at me.
As of writing this we are around 6-7 months and probably 13-14 sessions in. Starting with that alone is a win! Getting 6-7 thirty-somethings together on average twice a month is a feat in and of itself, especially considering everyone has other hobbies, partners, and even a new mom who got to come back for a session not too long ago!
To give a little context to the world we are playing in, I am using the Old Gods of Appalachia book for a good bit of folklore, monsters, and general vibe. I chose this setting because it's a rich setting that pulls from actual folklore, it's kind of spooky, and on top of that we are geographically pretty close to the area. There are supernatural beings, ancient eldritch horrors, backwoods witchcraft, bootlegging, and industrialization that shaped a region for decades.
The first thing you may be asking is “Why adapt from a completely different setting and system?”
I know that our group has a tendency to be prefer a shorter arc style so they can move from area to area and explore, solve an immediate problem and move on. This setting lends itself to that fairly well; they can go to a small town, do some investigation, clear up an immediate issue and move on. The benefit to me is that I can have a significant amount of pre-made areas, with NPC's and it's own economy built already that I can improvise off of at a moment’s notice.
As for taking monsters built for the Cypher system and moving to 5.5e, that's another very simple and practical change. I have been using 5e since I started playing TTRPG's in 2018 both as a player and DM though I have more experience as the former. Since I have nearly a decade of experience with it, I can pretty much eyeball a stat block or pull something that I have used or seen before and reskin it in the world with minimal effort. Finally, and most importantly, most of the other folks I play with have only used D&D so it is considerably easier for me to reflavor a goblin as a Tommyknocker than it is to teach everyone a whole new set of rules.
Plus, we collectively have so many D20s it would be a shame to switch to a d10 system!
So that gives a great deal of context that no one asked for and brings us to where we are starting this blog… in the middle (so to speak). The PC's just finished the first arc and are leaving West Virginia for the first time. They are halfway through a pretty interesting endurance encounter that is a first for them in the TTRPG experience and my first time designing and running one! The next update will be more focused on designing something unique and challenging to hopefully add some spice to your games!
Remember, in the Appalachian woods if you think you here something calling your name… no, you didn't…