Cincinnati Adventurers Guild

Book Rack/Hero's Hearth is staying open late for these events. For the $60 admission, you get a guaranteed spot for all 6+ sessions, one soft drink every week, and a set of dice.*

Somewhere in the heart of the steaming Hemponaland jungle, hidden beneath an endless emerald canopy, lies the answer to the whispered tales—rumors of a magnificent city where forgotten splendor and foul, horrid rituals are said to endure in the shadows. Few who have sought its secrets have ever returned, and those who did spoke only in hushed voices of strange wonders and nameless terrors. Here, a brave party might uncover untold riches and marvels beyond imagining—or meet a grim and lonely death. Is your party courageous enough to brave the perils of the unknown and find the Forbidden City?

This game will use the most current D&D 5.5 edition ruleset published in 2024. Please completely generate your own character beforehand. Contact event organizer for help.

Character Creation:

• Only the following sources can be used: 2024 PHB, XGtE, TCoE, MotM.
• Level 4
• Standard array or point buy
• Average HP per level.
• Starting equipment +400 GP.
• Assume basic camping supplies, except rations & waterskins.
• One rare and one uncommon magic item from the DMG.

Come learn the RPG that hits the sweet spot between time travel, sci fi, hidden agendas, and mission based play in a way players (and GMs) are hungry for right now.

This RPG hits a very specific niche, and right now that niche is hot. People want time travel. People want sci fi. People want secret factions, strange missions, alternate history, and the feeling that what they do at the table actually matters. The Vanguard Protocol is built right in that space, and this Meetup is for Game Masters who want to learn how to run it well and get in early while the game is still growing.

This is not a dry rules seminar and it is not just a player demo. We’re going to walk through how the game actually feels at the table. We’ll cover the core rules, how jumps and missions work, how factions and hidden agendas create pressure, and how to run the system in a way that feels smooth, tense, and fun instead of clunky. The game is built to be flexible, so you can lean into action, mystery, paranoia, character drama, or all of it at once without fighting the rules every step of the way.

If you’re a GM who likes being ahead of the curve, likes exploring new systems, and wants to run something that feels different from the usual fantasy dungeon crawl, this is for you. Come hang out, learn the game, ask questions, and see why this setting has so much pull right now. If time travel, covert missions, and sci fi faction conflict sound like your kind of thing, you’ll probably have a blast with this.

By the time you leave, you’ll have a solid handle on how to run The Vanguard Protocol and why it hits such a great sweet spot of time travel, sci fi tension, hidden agendas, and mission driven play.

The Vanguard Protocol is a d10 system. Core Rulebooks will be at the table for reference and available for purchase from NRG.

Book Rack/Hero's Hearth is staying open late for these events. For the $60 admission, you get a guaranteed spot for all 6+ sessions, one soft drink every week, and a set of dice.*

Somewhere in the heart of the steaming Hemponaland jungle, hidden beneath an endless emerald canopy, lies the answer to the whispered tales—rumors of a magnificent city where forgotten splendor and foul, horrid rituals are said to endure in the shadows. Few who have sought its secrets have ever returned, and those who did spoke only in hushed voices of strange wonders and nameless terrors. Here, a brave party might uncover untold riches and marvels beyond imagining—or meet a grim and lonely death. Is your party courageous enough to brave the perils of the unknown and find the Forbidden City?

This game will use the most current D&D 5.5 edition ruleset published in 2024. Please completely generate your own character beforehand. Contact event organizer for help.

Character Creation:

• Only the following sources can be used: 2024 PHB, XGtE, TCoE, MotM.
• Level 4
• Standard array or point buy
• Average HP per level.
• Starting equipment +400 GP.
• Assume basic camping supplies, except rations & waterskins.
• One rare and one uncommon magic item from the DMG.