Oppression Aware Podcast, Fairy Tales, and Games

 

Crossroads is a land of diverse peoples and geographies. In addition to humans, many nonhuman peoples call Crossroads home. From elves to merfolk, vampires to fairies, and trolls to talking animals, each species that lives here has as much cultural diversity as humans do. And all of this diversity creates lively trade, both between the different regions of Crossroads and with those outside of its borders.

In the past there were many wars, but now a unified kingdom spans the land. However these past wars have left many magical hazards. The presence of these hazards has led to the development of professional adventurers, individuals and groups who are called on to address a wide range of problems, both large and small.

And new problems are arising all of the time because the magic of Crossroads has a tendency to go awry. You see, this world is woven from threads of magic. Many of the people living in Crossroads have the ability to manipulate these threads and change their pattern. Unfortunately, making changes to the threads requires the magic user to unweave a small piece of reality. Unwoven magic is unstable and comes with serious risk. Unexpected results are common.

Crossroads also has many unusual magical features—a series of lakes that hover in the air, mountains covered in forests of giant flowers, and hidden gateways to the beautiful and dangerous Other Realm. Perhaps the most important magical feature is the Ring of Mist that encircles all of Crossroads. This mist prevents magic and knowledge from crossing in or out of Crossroads. However people and mundane items can freely come and go and many traders pass through the Ring of Mist every day.

 

Adventures and Lore

Adventures that take place in Crossroads are here, along with articles on its lore and mechanics that are designed to make this vibrant setting come alive.

Into the Research Garden: This comedic adventure is all about the player characters encountering the strange, wonderful, and dangerous magical plants and fungi of Juniper’s research garden.

You are part of a team of investigative journalists working for the Crossroads Observer. The Observer has obtained a sample that could finally expose the dirty dealings of the wealthy Steward Family. Your job is to convince the expert Juniper Huckleberry to analyze this sample. The only problem is that Juniper is an infamously reclusive gnome druid who lives in her research garden, which is full of dangerous magical plants.

Plants of Crossroads: A few vivid examples of the strange and wondrous magical plants and fungi that live in Crossroads. Additional plants will be revealed as they come up in Unfamiliar Heroes episodes.

Animals of Crossroads: Some examples of the magical animals that live in Crossroads.

Crossroads Lore: Starting off with the creation story that explains Crossroads’ unpredictable magic, this section gives depth to many of the unique features of the Crossroads Setting. Included are a discussion of the mysterious Ring of Mist that surrounds Crossroads and a brief tour through different theories of creation, each of which provides an avenue for connecting Crossroads to other settings.

The Other Realm: Inspired by mythology of the fairy realm and the fae, the Other Realm is a fragment of the First Creation that escaped its destruction. This beautiful and dangerous place connects to Crossroads in a small number of magical gateways. Anyone able to find one of these gateways can cross into the Other Realm, but be warned, the Other Realm is shaped by the will of its Three Rulers and it follows its own laws.

The Peoples of Crossroads: The goal of this section is to create vibrant species with unique physical and mental characteristics, while simultaneously depicting the diversity within each species.

Mini Adventures for Character Creation: This is a character creation sequence for the Magic Goes Awry game system that is specific to the Crossroads setting. Currently this comes with five different mini adventures that can each be played immediately after character creation.

Dramatized Readings: A fairy tale style reading of this Crossroads Overview and Crossroads Lore can be found in Crossroads Story Time 1. Future episodes featuring the Other Realm and other aspects of the Crossroads Setting are in progress.

The Geography of Crossroads: In progress.

More Crossroads Adventurers: Additional adventures are in progress.

 

This page has the following sub pages.

• The Other Realm
• Crossroads Lore
• Crossroads Creatures
• The Peoples of Crossroads
• Into the Research Garden Adventure
• Crossroads Plants
• Mini Adventures for Character Creation