Nova Hellscape

**Strippin** as Vulkan Burgh

**Surefour** as Geth

**SummersSalt** as T'las

**Woops** as Mach Burgh

> *Glory is a great thing, and life is fleeting. Watching them hang onto it day by day, like they could somehow live a comfortable life in this Hellscape... It's simply impossible. So I suggest one last ride, one magnificent claim to glory.*
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> -Deborrah
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**Nova Hellscape** is a Dungeons and Dragons 5e homebrew campaign set in the World of Io, taking place off world in the hellish Nova.

Nova Hellscape is the ninth campaign in Phase 2 of the World of Io series. The campaign stars Strippin, SummersSalt and Woops as returning players and introduces Ster and Surefour as new players. BrettUltimus resumes his regular role as the Dungeon Master.

The series first aired on Twitch on July 5th, 2021, lasting for a total of eight episodes with the finale aired on September 21st, 2021. An epilogue, called The Fate of The Hellscape, was aired on January 3rd, 2022, in which the cast reconvened to discuss the fate of their characters out of game.

## Summary

To live in the Nova is to live a life of suffering, squabbling and starvation. The very sky is aflame, the earth barren and unnatural monsters roam the lands. In the midst of this, rumors of a city of plenty reach the ears of a small and unusual tribe of survivors, who go forth to see this so-called paradise for themselves.

The Nova Hellscape is designed as a hardcore campaign that takes place on the remnants of Jupiter. Food is scarce, so for better chances of survival, a diverse group of travelers has banded together about a year before the events of the game. This campaign has "hard mode" rules, that include critical fumbles, injuries on critical hits, which need to be tended before they get worse, and the need to find food or suffer levels of exhaustion.

# Mammowrath Fighter**T'las Remmus**

### Prominent NPCs

* Raoul the Coward
* Ukaye
* The Light Eater
* Elder Olab
* Fungatuam
* Seer Ewah
* Lagos, The Emissary of the End

## Notable Locations

#### The Nova

* The Village of Cowards
* The Underground Tunnels
* Order of the Memory's Hideout
* Fungatuam's Lair
* City of the Horn
* Seer Ewah's Villa
* The Obelisk

#### Other

* The Dreamscape
* The Altered City of Atlas
* Io

## Etymology

The title of the campaign "Nova" refers to the campaign setting, which takes place on the Nova and is considered Io's version of Hell. It also indirectly refers to the in-game event "The Nova", also called "*The Jupiter Incident*".

A nova is an event where a star suddenly increases in brightness before settling back to its original state after some time. This is typically caused by interactions between a white dwarf and another star within a close binary system. Matter will be accreted onto the dwarf from its companion, leading to rapid runaway fusion which subsequently expels matter and energy in a violent flash. The term initially comes from Tycho Brahe's observations of such an event in the 16th century which he described in his book "De Nova Stella", which is Latin for "Concerning the new star".

## Trivia

* The Nova Hellscape campaign is considered Io's version of Hell, while it's inhabitants are considered the equivalent of Demons from classic D&D.
* The Nova Hellscape introduces six new player races; Aurorans, Ashen Astari, Jackelfolk, Mammowrath, Kaasmanites and Kindled. Aurorans also posses four subraces. The races were designed by BrettUltimus and illustrated by MasaeAnela.
* This campaign marks Ster and Surefour's debut in the World of Io series.
* Strippin, Woops and SummersSalt have previous played characters in the Phase 2 campaigns of World of Io. Strippin has also partaken in the offline campaigns of Phase 1.
* With the introduction of T'las Remmus, SummersSalt had the most player characters active in Io's Phase 2, with a total of four.
* A potential sequel, the Nova Invasion, was initially planned, however scheduling difficulties meant that it could not go ahead.