Echoes After the Vanishing
A Longform Dungeons & Dragons Campaign (5E, 2014 Edition)
The gods disappeared. The world broke. You didn’t ask to fix it… but something is calling you anyway.
“Echoes After the Vanishing” is a dark-fantasy D&D 5E campaign full of mystery, lost divinity, crumbling faith, and dangerous new powers.
Start in a quiet town and spiral into a cosmic struggle that will define what the world believes in—if anything—ever again.
“The gods are gone… but their echoes remain.”
The world has not ended—but it has been abandoned.
Decades ago, the gods vanished without word, reason, or war. No holy fire, no final prophecy. Just silence.
In the quiet that followed, the old temples crumbled. Miracles ceased. New powers emerged from shadow and smoke, claiming truth in contradiction. Now, faith is a story—bargained, borrowed, or burned.
You arrive in Briar Glen, a fading town that once crowned prophets and priests. It now houses skeptics, relic-thieves, and the rare fool still hoping for something sacred. At its heart lies The Withering Spoon, a crooked inn built on forgotten foundations, where whispers linger beneath the floorboards and the innkeeper always seems to know your name.
What begins as a flicker of mystery becomes a flame, and soon—
echoes will call your name.
🕯️ Campaign Features:
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A longform, roleplay-rich story arc.
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Mystery, folklore, fading faith, and slow-burning horror.
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A grounded start that spirals into the surreal.
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Custom mechanics for divine influence, memory, and cursed relics.
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Unique character connections to the world’s unraveling myth.
A Story of Lost Divinity, Fractured Faith, and Dangerous Hope
They called it the Vanishing. But it wasn’t just the gods who disappeared… it was certainty, purpose, and the light that once marked right from wrong.
🌌 What Does D&D Look Like Without the Gods?
In this world, the gods are not dead—they’re missing. No tombs. No divine wars. No apocalypse. Just… silence.
This absence created a theological void that echoes into every corner of life and magic:
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Clerics are rare, often regarded as con artists, delusional, or miracle-wrought pariahs.
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Holy symbols are relics, worn for sentiment or superstition.
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Warlocks bargain with forgotten forces, hoping to fill the hole divinity left.
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Paladins follow broken oaths, finding power in purpose, not patron.
Without divine order, the world is morally unmoored. Every priest is suspect. Every miracle is questioned. Every blessing feels cursed.
📖 Campaign Title Meaning: Echoes After the Vanishing
The gods are gone, but their echoes remain:
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Whispers in ruined chapels
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Relics that bleed light or madness
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Prophets who speak dreams they do not understand
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Forgotten prayers still lingering in the bones of the land
The party must decipher:
Are these echoes a trail home—or the last cries of dying gods?
🧭 What Has Changed in the World?
🧠 Knowledge of the Divine
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Most people have never seen a cleric cast a true divine spell.
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History books disagree on what even happened.
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Each region has its own story of why the gods left—none the same.
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Ancient faiths are twisted into cults, philosophies, or heresies.
⚖️ Political Fallout
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Kingdoms claim divinely inherited rule… but who enforces it now?
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Warlords and “godlings” pretend to channel divine will.
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New churches sell miracles, power, or absolution like merchants.
🌍 Global Instability
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Plagues. Famines. Rifts between planes.
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Weather patterns shift like a temperamental deity.
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Once-protected places now rot or rage untamed.
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Creatures of darkness—held back by divine light—now roam freely.
🧙♀️ Player Experience
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Mystery: You won’t know what’s real or myth. The truth is buried and fractured.
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Agency: You can build faith, break it, or replace it.
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Tone: Starts grounded (weary inn, rural politics), grows into the arcane and cosmic.
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Drama: Allies may be false, enemies may be right. Your choices matter spiritually and narratively.
🗺️ Campaign Arc Preview
Session 1–5:
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Start in Briar Glen, a forgotten town where dreams echo like prophecy.
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A shabby innkeeper with a knowing gaze hides an ancient secret.
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Old ruins rumble. The veil between belief and madness thins.
Session 6–15:
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Journey to forgotten churches, haunted temples, and heretic lands.
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Face false gods, each trying to rewrite reality in their image.
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Decide what kind of power should fill the divine vacuum.
Late Game:
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Confront the reality of what happened during the Vanishing.
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Restore, destroy, or reshape faith in your world.
