Setting the Stage Episode 19 – John and Olnap

Published by

Isaac

June 21, 2023

A special episode with the DM that taught me to play, John! When I was nine he ran us through a campaign he’d designed previously called Olnap. The name for Olnap is derived from the real-world map of OLympic NAtional Park that John used to design the campaign. In the campaign my friends and I rampaged across Olnap defeating monsters and solving problems that had come up due to the physical breaking of the peninsula’s luck into pieces. Of course we succeeded in the end. John is also the father of Will, the cohost of our first episode, Tolkien, WW1, and Shelob’s Farts.

John is in the process of designing and playtesting his own rule set for roleplaying games. The system is called Epic Power. It’s similar to GURPS with a realistic bell curve for action resolution. Additionally, players have a resource called Epic Power which they can use to influence die rolls or perform amazing feats. If you want to learn more about the system or possibly use it yourself you can email John at <epicpower@johnlamping.com> or take a look at the Epic Power store on itch.io.

Olnap’s campaign map is superimposed over a map of the Olympic National Park. Google Maps is just as good as any other image.

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One response to “Setting the Stage Episode 19 – John and Olnap”

Applying TTRPG Customer Profiles to the Setting the Stage Podcast – GoCorral

February 20, 2026

[…] Scraw and Gnomestones, 14 – Nathan and Aenea, 15 – Hayden & Carson and Egress, 19 – John and Onlap, 39 – Jeph and Big Campaign, and 47 – Malcolm and Our […]

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I’m Isaac

Welcome to the GoCorral website! I’m Isaac Shaker and this is a place for me to write about D&D and occasionally other topics. I host a podcast called Setting the Stage that interviews different DMs about their campaigns. I’m currently focused on completing the Cimmeria campaign setting and turning it into a book.

Setting the Stage Podcast

83 – Call of Cthulhu's Garden (Hem and The Sprouting) – Setting the Stage, Campaigns for D&D and Other RPGs

Hem tells us about their actual play campaign, The Sprouting. Within the world of The Sprouting, Earth's history diverged during the 1800s when an eldritch horror was summoned into our reality. The horror lay in wait for centuries, building up a secret army of plant monsters. In 2020, the plant monsters struck, ruining infrastructure and attacking population centers across the world. One hundred years have passed and our heroes learn that the next stage of the plant apocalypse has begun…We also discussed some of the difficulties and pleasures of actual play podcasts and how the RPG community varies internationally (Hem is in Iceland).If you want to try listening to The Sprouting its available on all major podcast platforms. You can learn more on The Sprouting's website.For other shows produced by Hem check out Blighthouse Studio's website.Hem mentioned The Lucky Die actual play show of theirs several times which used D&D 5e.And the broader network of Fable and Folly has their website too.Check out the Setting the Stage website!Want to be on the show? Fill out this survey.Join our Discord!Support Setting the Stageon Patreon! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.