I talked with Aaron Ryan about two of his book series, Dissonance and The End.

Dissonance is a near future world where aliens have attacked, killing most humans and animals on Earth and driving humans into hiding underground. Humans finally develop technology to fight back and the war enters a new stage while the characters also struggle to determine the motivation for the alien invasion and nefarious actions of the government.

The End is a Christian End Time series based loosely on the events described in Revelations. A man calling himself Nero has risen to rule over the world and he has outlawed Christianity. Robots called Guardians hunt Christians throughout the world, murdering them on the spot if they don’t recant their faith. A resistance movement works in the shadows against Nero, but things aren’t looking good for them.

We talked about the basics of those settings along with how they could be adapted for RPG campaign settings. My main recommendations were Ashes Without Number, Spire, and Blades in the Dark.

If you’re interested in reading Aaron’s books you can find them at most any bookstore or library. Both of the series are also being adapted into movies, but aren’t publicly available yet. Aaron’s website is https://authoraaronryan.com/ for the latest updates on his work. Next up for Aaron is the Talisman series that covers events within the “Aaronverse” in the decades between Dissonance and The End.

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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

78 – D&D in Suburbia (Ryan and Serenity Springs) Setting the Stage, Campaigns for D&D and Other RPGs

Ryan tells us about his new adventure, Serenity Springs! It's a cozy little suburb. Or at least it seems like it at first. Until you realize its in a dimension like Ravenloft and evil entities lurk around every corner to threaten the citizens and visitors with awful, gruesome death. Just don't bleed on Mrs. Dotty's petunias!You can follow the Kickstarter for Serenity Springs at this link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/grinningportal/serenity-springs-campaign-setting-for-fantasy-ttrpgs?ref=7ob6pyIf you'd like to know more about Ryan's other projects you can check out his website: https://grinningportalgames.com/And you can follow Grinning Portal Games on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/grinningportal.bsky.socialOur website: https://gocorral.com/stsWant to be on the show? Fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/U11TbxtAReHFKbiVAJoin our Discord: https://discord.gg/p97dfEauFjSupport the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SettingtheStage Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
  1. 78 – D&D in Suburbia (Ryan and Serenity Springs)
  2. 77 – KPop DnD Hunters (Dan and Idols of the Neon Dark)
  3. 76 – Flying Island Worlds (Alan and Fractus)
  4. 75 – Masks, Capitalism, and Coming of Age (Joel and Critical Bits)
  5. 74 – Kylie and Fallout: Garden of Atom