ICRPG Worlds PDF [PDF]

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RUNEHAMMER GAMES presents: INDEX CARD RPG WORLDS All WORLDS Book pages may be printed for personal use. Any other use of printed or digital ICRPG Documents or artwork is prohibited without the express written consent of RUNEHAMMER GAMES LLC! All artwork and design copyright 2018 RUNEHAMMER GAMES LLC the RUNEHAMMER and ICRPG logos are Trademarks of RUNEHAMMER GAMES To create content for ICRPG, contact [email protected] Visit RUNEHAMMER to learn more, and join the growing ICRPG community: www.icrpg.com facebook.com/Runehammer.Games/ and on youtube at Runehammer Special Thanks to Alex Alvarez, Jason Scranton, Matt Shaker, Austin Redmond, Rigaroga, Runehammer PATRONS, and everyone on ICRPG Google+ community! ICRPG WORLDS is protected by, and open for use under The CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE 4.0 Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International See Google+ for the full license text FONTS used with license: Calibri by Microsoft, Nusaliver by DABNOTU and FLATBREAD by Jake Luedecke

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CONTENTS Foreword.........................................................4 ADVANCED CHARACTERS Play Styles.......................................................7 Milestone Paths............................................8 Choice Method..............................................14 Archetype Method........................................15 Purchase Method..........................................16 Milestone Moments.....................................17 ALFHEIM Map of Kingdoms..........................................19 Almanac of the 16 Kingdoms...................20 Map of Alfheim..............................................62 WARP SHELL A Universe in Ruin........................................64 Assemble a Crew............................................67 Warp Shell Adventures...............................68 Power Armor...................................................89 Warp Shell Enemies......................................90 GHOST MOUNTAIN Welcome to Purgatory................................95 Ghost Mountain Classes..............................98 Character Types.............................................103 Weapons and Equipment...............................104 Firearms Rules.................................................106 Spells.....................................................................107 Conditions.........................................................108 Ghost Mountain Campaign.........................109 Loot Table.........................................................118 Monsters............................................................120 Allies and Villains...........................................121 Conclusion..........................................................122 3

FOREWORD TO ADVENTURE!

COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES

Welcome to Index Card RPG WORLDS! This is the companion book to the Index Card RPG Core, which includes a complete ruleset, encounters, monsters and equipment for WARP SHELL and ALFHEIM. With WORLDS, you can take your Index Card RPG (ICRPG) game much further!

The heart and soul of ICRPG is freedom, and daring to go beyond what is written. This skill many of you have mastered, and it’s why we play! As you read on, unfolding new dimensions and stories with each page, I invite you to do even more: to share that freedom with others.

Imagination is an incredible thing. Not only is it the most human of traits, and something every single one of us shares in our own inner world, it is the only thing in the universe with absolutely no limits. Even when it’s sated, or weary, it craves more. Even when it’s baffled or caged it squeezes out in new directions and possibilities. This is the spirit that has created ICRPG WORLDS.

Sharing creative freedom takes great trust and optimism. It’s no easy thing to set control aside and let others take the wheel! As your table mates guide the ship of the story, you’ll see countless ideas disappearing behind you. Here is where courage will be your ally. If you can honestly accept the dreams of others, and see in them great things, you won’t believe the surprises in store.

In these pages you’ll find three huge worlds to dream in, destroy, explore and save from destruction. A world is far more than a simple map or list of locations, it’s a collection of stories. A world is a dilemma, a challenge, a destiny ready to defy! Every detail isn’t listed, because every detail doesn’t exist yet. That’s where YOU come in.

Go beyond what’s written, trust your friends, your players, and your GM. To hell with what should be. You are the master of what will be. Forward! Smash a Squag for ol’ Hank, will ya?



It’s what happens next that makes it a game, not a nov el. It’s how it happens that gives players their definitive role. The Game Master at your table is simply a sign post...a sign post that reads ‘this way to adventure!’



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FOREWORD FOR PLAYERS PLAY STYLES: Here is just a brief section to consider HOW you’re playing. These ‘classic’ play styles can help to crystallize your role playing. MILESTONE PATHS: For players who want more customization, more progression and evolution in their characters, you can now choose a MILESTONE PATH to work through as play unfolds. MILESTONE PATHS will feel familiar to XP-driven players, spell-hoarding magic users or warriors set on wielding furious battle skill. GHOST MOUNTAIN: Flip back to this section for 9 new classes, equipment, weapons, LOOT and SPELLS in the Weird West.

FOR GAME MASTERS ALFHEIM: A complete fantasy world. The Age of Kingdoms is here presented as a wide open listing of locations, backstories, and people of note. This should let your players wander, but always discover new detail that is woven together in a huge, consistent landscape.

STRAIGHT TO THE TABLE

Most of this book is designed to absorb in just a few minutes and take straight to your tabletop. The simple mechanics that make an ICRPG session work (as laid out in the ICRPG CORE) are left to you, while WORLDS WARP SHELL: A science fiction epic. WARP SHELL gives you numerous tidbits to break the blank page bounces all over the universe, so here it’s presented as syndrome and get your story turning. a collection of adventure starters. Dozens of different adventure concepts are listed. Even if you only really see a single opening MOMENT in your head, once the players are at the table and GHOST MOUNTAIN: Adventure in the weird West. things get moving, you can simply mine their assump- Nothing beats a good western. This WORLD is presenttions and questions for what comes next. Never apol- ed as a single campaign to take a group through several ogize for taking a few minutes between ‘rooms’ to find nights of life and death gameplay. some terrain, some monsters, or jot a few notes. You can even announce “Ah! I see where this is headed, just a second,” and get your next encounter ready. The purpose of WORLDS is to give you the thematic and historical command of concepts to run with whatever happens.



On the opposite end, WORLDS can be a powerful prep tool for a session, too. Playing ‘canon’ adventures takes a bit of time to catch the nuances, so sit and cackle in your lair alone for a few days to really build a zinger.

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advanced characters

Worlds don’t have stories, people do. Places don’t make heroes, but danger, friendship, and wonder can. All adventures begin and end in the same place: YOU.

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PLAYER STYLES DIVE DEEPER

SPEARHEAD: You can’t stand waiting. You feel an inAt the heart of your experience with ICRPG is your exorable pull forward, into danger, against evil, or over Character. In a long-running campaign, you learn the any obstacle. This play style is invaluable, because it nuances, frailties, and mighty deeds of that character keeps the story moving without pressure from the GM. “You guys can keep talking, I charge ahead.” in a way that no other experience can truly capture. To make this bond run even deeper, here is presented a far more detail-rich path for building your next hero, or SCRIBE: Every detail must be kept and organized for future use. You know the wizard’s name, the potion inaugmenting one you already have. gredients, and the password. This style reminds everyStandard ICRPG characters use a series of simple MILE- one how lush the story really is over time. “Wait! This is the guy we we’re supposed to kill!” STONE REWARDS to grow and evolve. This method leaves most of the heavy lifting to players and GM’s to inject robust, homebrewed class options and ‘builds’ BARD: Hail, the heroes! You celebrate deeds and cry into the game. To give more detailed guidance on how for the fallen. You give everyone a feeling of greatness this can be done, have a look at the MILESTONE PATHS by exalting, announcing, naming and retelling. You are below. Each includes lots of new options that can be often the GM’s favorite, because you make the game added to any ICRPG class, offered as reward LOOT, or epic. “We are so awesome! Well, except that one time...” granted to players at key moments. This section also includes ideas for when to reward players, as an alterCANARY: You are the first one to be scared. You’re native to XP based character growth. usually sure death awaits around the next corner. You add tension and fear to the game, and sometimes the fear is all too real. “Guys, there’s no chance we’ll make it through here!” SECRET-KEEPER: You, poor soul, must bear some horrible secret for the GM’s wicked purpose. This style is a great addition to the table, because inevitably you start lying, usually badly, and an air of suspicion adds a whole new layer to things. “No, nothing is wrong. It’s right this way.” PURE OF HEART: You are the innocent, good-intentioned, bright eyed saint. You always choose right, and always offer yourself in sacrifice. You earn real friendship from other players, and they will go to great lengths to protect their good guy. “I’ll stay here. You all run for it.”

PLAY STYLES As you delve into the additional options and features in WORLDS, expand and enhance how you play your character, not just what your character may be. This a huge part of every tabletop RPG, as it can define the very essence of the story, and the feel of the table. Play style is far more important to a game’s tone and evolution than any STAT or detail of the game system.

PACIFIST: You abhor violence, blood, and death. At every turn, you will seek another way forward. Another GM favorite, because often the safest way is around, not through. “Maybe we should just ask nicely.” 7

MILESTONE PATHS BECOME THE MASTER A MILESTONE PATH gives your character something to strive for; something to become. They can be used with any class. Think of a MILESTONE PATH as the heroic realization of your character’s goals, not the starting point. • • • •

MILESTONE PATHS are a series of REWARDS earned at specific TIERS To earn a REWARD from a TIER, the player must Have at least two REWARDS from the previous TIER Rewards occur when a character reaches a MILESTONE MOMENT (see pp. 17) Path REWARDS are bound to your essence, and cannot be given or traded with others

Players can switch PATHS at any time, mixing and matching to create all kinds of new synergies. The nature of the system rewards those dedicated to a single PATH with deeper REWARDS, but allows a jack-of-all-trades approach for those who want to dabble in numerous PATHS. In time, characters will have a point of progress in any given PATH, presenting them with interesting choices at each MILESTONE MOMENT.

THE 5 PATHS PATH OF IRON: This is the mind of metal, the weapon master, the armorer, and the mechanic. It is a road of knowing fire, and ore, and hammer and bolt. Like iron itself, those who master this path become invulnerable, deadly sharp, and resistant to all the forces that seek to erode our world. PATH OF SMOKE: You are the hidden, who walk the Path of Smoke. You are there and not there, ever changing, gone in an instant, and elemental as night itself. Dark indeed is the soul who walks down this shadowy road, for it often leads to a place that terrifies most mortals. PATH OF AMBER: Amber is a living, but timeless substance, just as the arcane forces that bind our world seem to be. Those who walk the Amber path seek to use, understand and expand this mysterious force. At its highest levels, the Path of Amber allows its masters to bend time and space, break the cosmic laws, and even dare the boundaries between dimensions. PATH OF OAK: Life is everywhere. The cosmos itself has a life force, and to the mortal mind it is like the silent soul of a great and ageless tree at the center of all that is. The Oak-walker seeks to know and protect this power. Mastery of the Oaken path renders its practitioner indistinguishable from the cosmic life force, and in this unity, there is great power. PATH OF THE HAWK: You are the uncanny marksman. Be it guns, bow, or even darts, you specialize in incredible feats of accuracy. You are the tactician, the battlefield-controller. You select targets, focus fire, and leave the enemy no retreat. The walker of this path is one of the deadliest, often hoarding an entire arsenal of weaponry for every situation.

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PATH OF IRON TIER 1 REWARDS • MARK OF THE FALCON: A CARRIED iron symbol imbued with power. CON rolls are EASY. • DURANIUM SIGNET: A curious, indestructible ring. When EQUIPPED, ignore 1D4 damage done to you once per ROUND in battle. • KIT OF SPIKES: CARRY this equipment to give your gear a painful, toothy surface. Even when you MISS in melee combat, inflict 1D4 damage on your target. • FORGE HAMMER: CARRY this armorer’s tool. Repair any metal item or machine in 1 ROUND, or use it to create armor, weapons, and simple devices with an ATTEMPT and 1 HEART EFFORT. • WAR CALLER: EQUIP this metal-etched war horn, usually worn at the belt. When used, it will earn the attention of all enemies or hostiles within a FAR radius. They will be fixed on you for 1D4 ROUNDS. TIER 2 REWARDS • YOG WHETSTONE: A crystalline sharpening tool for edged weapons. CARRIED. Your edged weapons are so sharp, anytime they do ULTIMATE damage, that target also bleeds, taking 1D4 damage for 3 ROUNDS. This sharpness also lets you chop or cut almost any object in two with a simple CHECK. • THE LAST DAGGER: Knife of the Path, a relic of your way. This blade is indestructible, and never be lost. It is a MAGICAL weapon. Even if thrown into the abyss, you will find it again in 1D4 ROUNDS. • SHIELD HARNESS: A series of straps and metal cuffs affixed to any shield. When EQUIPPED, you never drop your shield. Also, failed RANGED attacks against you ricochet back to their origin. • UDIN’S BLOOD: A phial of clear liquid with a slight glow. 5 uses. Heal to full HP and break all negative effects. • WAR CHAIN: Attach to any weapon. That weapon can now be thrown and return. Changing attachment takes 1 TURN. TIER 3 REWARDS • BUCKLE KIT: A tiny first aid kit hidden in a belt buckle. Use to heal 3 HP with a touch and WIS CHECK. • FIGHTER’S GEM: A black stone on a blocky necklace. Equip to add your STRENGTH to your WEAPON EFFORT. • HEAVY RIVETS: Modular armor parts made from elementite. Equip to add your CON to your ARMOR. • WORLD BREAKER: A collapsible duranium javelin. It is a normal MAGICAL weapon, except when used against stone. If attacking stone, any roll of natural 15+ destroys the target entirely, up to FAR cubic volume. • STAR SPLINTERS: Tiny bits of an ultra-dense star. When CARRIED, you cannot be moved against your will by any force except gravity. TIER 4 REWARDS • MARK OF STONE: A granite totem CARRIED in a pocket. All damage inflicted on you that is not MAGICAL, or ENERGY is reduced to 1. • WAR BEAST: You craft a mechanical familiar of your design, as large as a lion or small bear. It has 2 HEARTS and 6 points of STATS. It is somewhat intelligent, but has a mind of gears and clockwork. • LIFE DRINKER: Take 2 HEARTS of INT EFFORT to create a supreme weapon of your own design. It always does ULTIMATE damage, and heals you for 1D4 HP with each hit. It can possess up to 5 WEAPON TAGS. • DURANIUM HAND: With 2 HEARTS of STR EFFORT, you design and build a prosthetic hand. It can possess 3 INT SPELLS, adds 5 to your ARMOR, and 3 to your STR. • THE IRON WILL: You are bestowed with a super-mortal ability to continue fighting against incredible odds. If you kill a foe, roll a CRITICAL HIT, or inflict 10 or more damage, ATTACK again.

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PATH OF SMOKE TIER 1 REWARDS • MARK OF THE SERPENT: EQUIP this bracelet. You cannot be poisoned by non-MAGICAL means. Also, you can create poisons with an INT check. Types: Slow, Paralysis, or Blindness. • THE EBONY HOOD: This light-absorbing cloak and hood deflects attention. Even when seen, enemies will choose you as a target only if they have no other options. • INK OF ANTALION: A tiny bottle of dark oily fluid. A single drop can be placed on any object or creature. For up to 1 week, the user of the ink can see and hear through the droplet at will. • ACID KIT: CARRY this leather fold-out case to create a phial of highly corrosive acid with 1 HEART of INT EFFORT. The acid is MAGICAL, and damages anything it touches, for up to 6 ROUNDS, trickling downward. • INT SPELL: SHROUD: Cast on a stationary person or object. Staying still, it cannot be seen by anyone but you for 1D4 ROUNDS. TIER 2 REWARDS • EYE OF THE BEYONDER: This glass eye can replace one eye with a physician’s help. See heat, magical auras, and the truth in illusion magic. With a HARD INT roll, you can even get glimpses through a wall, door or gate. • SHADOW KNIVES: EQUIP this magical sheath. When you draw the dagger, another identical one materializes into the sheath. The knives are CLOSE, THROWN, MAGICAL, and dissipate seconds after being drawn. • INT SPELL: LOST: With a competing INT roll against your target, induce a state of complete confusion that lasts 1D4 ROUNDS. The range of the spell is FAR, and the target must be visible. • MASTERWORK TRAP KIT: CARRY this set of tools. Any ATTEMPTS involving traps are EASY. Also, create elaborate traps with 1 HEART of INT EFFORT. • MASTERWORK LOCK KIT: EQUIP these picks and tweezers to disable any type of lock, with no roll, in 1 to 4 ROUNDS. The GM will call how much EFFORT any given lock will take. TIER 3 REWARDS • SWARMER DART: A tiny, THROWN weapon that splits into 1D6 darts, hitting up to 6 targets in one ATTACK. • CLOCKWORK WORM: A mechanical snake, made of duranium, that accepts basic commands. • MARK OF KRONO: CARRY this silver totem. You will can stay the passage of time. Make a HARD INT CHECK to hold one GM TIMER at bay for 1 ROUND. • INT SPELL: DARKHEART: Touch one living target. Divine its vulnerabilities. • WIS POWER: FOG: Become a mass of dark mist or fog. Remain in this form up to 4 ROUNDS. TIER 4 REWARDS • CRYSTAL OF DOORS: With an INT CHECK, this YOG can open a doorway to any location you can remember. • MARK OF DEATH: EQUIP this amulet, marked with a red skull. If you inflict 12 or more damage in a single attack, your target must make a CON roll or drop to zero HP instantly. • DEMON BOND RING: With this ring, you are guarded by a demon-like creature. It will appear either when you reach 1 HP or if summoned with a CHA roll. It has 2 HEARTS, and 1 magical claw attack. • LIGHTNING BOOTS: Speeds unimagined! EQUIP these to run so fast, up to double FAR, that all objects and creatures in the path of your dash take MAGICAL damage. • INT SPELL: WINDOW TO THE VOID: Open a portal into the dimension of nothingness. The portal is 10 feet in diameter. An unlimited number of creatures or objects can be placed inside. When the portal is closed, no time will pass for anything within. Each time the portal is opened, even from within, the INT roll must be made. 10

PATH OF AMBER TIER 1 REWARDS • LIBRUM ARCANO: An ancient tome on all things MAGICAL. CARRY this book to heighten your magic power. Any natural roll of 15+ when casting SPELLS is now critical. • RING OF ELUDING: EQUIP this for +3 ARMOR. Also, if you take 5 or more damage in a single ATTACK, you slide to within NEAR distance instantly if you wish. • ELEMENTITE EYE: This metallic eye can be implanted with the help of a physician. Choose one element: Stone, wood, metal, air, ice, or fire. All MAGICAL effects with that element are always DOUBLE. • HAND OF CINDERS: This odd chain-link glove burns with an eternal flame. With a CON roll to control it, conjure a shield-like disc of fire with ARMOR of 10. This lasts as long as you focus ONLY on maintaining it. • INT SPELL: SPELL NOVA: Any SPELL cast on the TURN following this cast explodes in a NEAR radius area, and is CRITICAL. If your cast roll fails with this SPELL, you cannot use magic for 1 ROUND. TIER 2 REWARDS • INT SPELL: ILLUSION: Conjure convincing illusions of any description. They can either last 1D4 ROUNDS, or be sustained by your constant and total attention. • INT SPELL: LIFE: You can bring objects or dead things to a lifelike animated state, but only lasts 1D4 rounds. The exact nature of these puppets is a mystery, and can be very volatile. • INT SPELL: DEATH: With a HARD INT roll, you can kill a living thing in sight with 2 HEARTS or less. Their only chance for survival is to make a CON CHECK, which will leave them with 1 HP. • MASTERWORK TOME: This gold-bound book must be EQUIPPED. There is no limit to the number of SPELLS you can have at the ready with it in your hands. • MARK OF LOKUS: A bracelet with interlacing horn motifs. The arm where this is worn slowly changes into a barbed, crab-like claw or twisting ridged weapon shape. It acts as a MAGICAL WEAPON, and is terrifying. TIER 3 REWARDS • AMULET OF THE INFERNALS: EQUIP this item to gain dominion over demonic creatures and infernals. Command them with a CHA roll, or summon 1D4 of them with an INT roll. • OAK ROSARY: An aged wooden cross and beads to be CARRIED. All HOLY SPELLS are EASY to cast. • INT SPELL: RAVEN: Assume the form of, or conjure 1 to 10 ravens. The birds are living things, but with your intelligence. In raven form, you can cast SPELLS with a HARD roll, but you cannot speak or use equipment. • INT SPELL: WARDEN: Choose a plant or wild animal and imbue it with the mystery of Amber. It doubles its HEARTS, doubles all its EFFORT, and cannot be harmed by non-MAGICAL means. • WIS POWER: SPELLFINDER: With this POWER, you can detect, and are drawn to, written SPELLS within 1 mile. The exact route to these locations is not always clear. TIER 4 REWARDS • CRYSTAL EYE: Look into this CARRIED artifact with an INT roll. On a natural 15+, gain 1 new SPELL. • MAGE’S HAND: A skeletal prosthesis. It acts as the one and only key to a Glyph of Iridess. This glyph is rumored to lock the chaotic Ogdru in their distant dimension, somewhere in Kath. • RING OF FORMLESS POWER: When using formless magic, you can reroll your ATTEMPT. • INT SPELL: FOUNDATION: Call forth 1 massive column of an element for each point in INT. They are colossal towers, rising upward up to 1 mile. • INT SPELL: ELEMENTAL BLAST: Conjure a spherical burst of an element at a location you can see. Its radius is FAR, and it behaves and affects surroundings as that element demands. 11

PATH OF OAK TIER 1 REWARDS • GREEN BARK: A leaf-pattern cloak, +3 ARMOR. The pattern adapts to any natural surroundings, making you nearly invisible when stationery. • FEATHER OF ARAK: CARRY this heirloom to take the shape of any bird for 1D4 ROUNDS. • NECKLACE OF SOULS: 13 iridescent coins form this necklace of gold and lapis. Place on a living thing to enter their consciousness as a ‘co-pilot’ intelligence, sharing control. • GREENBOW: A longbow made of living Elm. The weapon is MAGICAL, grows a new arrow for each fired, and can never hit a friendly target. Also, the arrows will grow into small trees wherever they stick. • WIS POWER: WILD CALL: Call upon an animal or small group of animals within 1 mile. They will come to your aid for 1D4 rounds, but will flee on a failed CHA roll. TIER 2 REWARDS • RAZOR VINE: EQUIP this bracer-wrapping item. With it, grappling or pulling STR rolls are always EASY, and it has a FAR reach. It can be severed, but will regrow in 1D4 ROUNDS. • SEEDS OF AT’AR: CARRY these 5 little seeds. Each can only be used once. When planted with soil and water, they explode into a colossal growth of flowers, trees, thickets and vines. If unchecked, this mass of growth will go on for up to 5 miles in all directions over the course of a few days. • WIS POWER: MOSS OF AGES: Cast on a living being with a touch. That creature heals 1D6 HP per ROUND until the moss is cast on a different creature. • WIS POWER: STICK MAN: Assemble a construct of sticks and pebbles. It is humanoid, up to 12 feet tall, and has 3 HEARTS. It has no attacks, but can obey commands. It crumbles away the instant you take any damage. • WIS POWER: CLEANSE: With a touch, remove any curse, poisoning, sickness, paralysis, or negative condition on a creature. TIER 3 REWARDS • GREENKIN GLOVES: +3 ARMOR. These gloves grip living wood or uncut stone with profound strength. On these surfaces, climb in any direction with no roll, and no known force can pull you away against your will. • SKULL OF ORMO: EQUIP this one-of-a-kind glyph-etched elk skull for +1 ARMOR. Also, any EFFORT done with a WIS POWER of 4 or less can be re-rolled, choose the better of the two rolls. • WIS POWER: WARD: Forcefully separate two touching objects or creatures you can see. This effect holds as long as you give it total attention. • WIS POWER: OATH: Make an oath aloud. If the GM approves, and it is fulfilled, learn 1 new WIS POWER. • WIS POWER: CHILD OF THE GODS: Bless a plant or animal with a touch. It becomes immortal, and gathers other local creatures to itself to ward off evil or wanton destructive forces. TIER 4 REWARDS • GREENHEART: CARRY this amulet, which hangs near your heart. If you drop to 0 HP, you will return to 1 HP in 1D4 ROUNDS. If you are killed utterly, you will regrow to live again in 1D4 days. • QUIVER OF A THOUSAND ARROWS: With a WIS roll, describe a type of arrow. That arrow will grow into the quiver in 1 ROUND. If you want to make the same arrow again, no roll is needed. • STAFF OF PINES: This MAGICAL weapon can instantly grow up to 10 massive pines with a WIS roll, anywhere. • STAFF OF STORMS: A MAGICAL weapon that lets you cast LIGHTNING BOLT with no roll. • WIS POWER: LUNA’S GLOW: With a touch, restore a being’s HP to full. This effect also grants them an additional HEART which lasts until the next moonrise. During this time, the creature has a faint glow. 12

PATH OF THE HAWK TIER 1 REWARDS • ELEMENTAL AMMO: As you ready a shot, declare an element: fire, ice, stone or iron. Your shot has the properties of this element, releasing that effect on impact. • MARKSMAN’S GLOVES: These high-grip gloves give you an excellent hold on all ranged weapons. No non-MAGICAL means can force you to drop that weapon. • WEAPON RUCK: You can carry up to 20 ranged weapons in this special harness. The harness only occupies 1 of your CARRY slots. • CRYSTAL FLARE: Attach to a shot. A target hit for 1 or more damage is now marked with a glaring bright pink magnesium spark for 1D6 ROUNDS. TIER 2 REWARDS • SEEKERS: Spend 1 ROUND to modify any type of AMMO, up to 3 count. Those shots will hit their target, even around corners, through tight gaps or underwater. • SPLIT SHOT: Call a shot as split. Make the roll as HARD, and break your round in two. If you hit the TARGET, but miss the HARD roll, you hit with a normal single shot. • GRAV AMMO: With a HARD shot, hit a target with a grav round. All subsequent shots on that target are EASY. • RING OF RICOCHET: With this MAGICAL ring, you have an uncanny ability to bounce shots off of surfaces, up to 6 different rebounds. If you make a kill with such a shot, your enemies must make a CHA roll or be terrified of your incredible aim. TIER 3 REWARDS • REAPER AMMO: Spend 1 extra TURN holding a shot, making it a REAPER. This shot will penetrate its target and continue in a straight line for 1 mile, doing damage to any targets in that line. • CRYSTAL GOGGLES: These YOG-lensed goggles let you track targets up to 5 miles away. Any shots made HARD by distance are NORMAL for you. Allies acting on your spotting also benefit in this way. • REFRACTOR CLOAK: This master-crafted cloak deflects missiles of all kinds. Any time you are hit by a ranged attack, roll 1D6. On a 4,5, or 6 the attack is deflected. • BLOOD SIGHTS: This head piece can work with goggles or on its own. When you take a TURN to examine a target, you see it organs and workings, determining a weak point at once. TIER 4 REWARDS • MASTERWORK WEAPON KIT: Choose one ranged weapon. This modification makes it +4 EFFORT. • CHAIN REACTOR: You have an incredible ability to bounce shots on a targets inner parts such as bones. Your shots now chain react. For any DAMAGE rolled over 3, roll DAMAGE again. • INCENDIARY PUTTY: Take 1 TURN to attach this alchemical wonder to any shot. That shot, on impact, now explodes with its effect to NEAR or FAR range, your choice. • KRELL WEAPON MODULE: This wonder of the outer world can be reconfigured in an instant into ANY type of ranged weapon including: Energy weapons, bows, crossbows, mortars, machine guns, pistols, slings, spear-throwers or grenade launchers. The weapon is also deadly in its power, never requiring ammo refills, and adding a 1D20 DAMAGE to every shot. The different forms the module takes include their native properties such as RAPID FIRE, EXPLOSIVE, LONG RANGE, VOLATILE, ENERGY and the like. The module can also be compacted into a pod-like form, easily stowed and concealed, occupying 1 EQUIPPED slot in your inventory.

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THE CHOICE METHOD CHOOSE YOUR PATH

PITFALLS OF CHOICE

The simplest way to build your character is to choose MILESTONE REWARDS as you go. Let’s say your fighting ability is where you like it, but you’re itching for some magical powers, or your group is in desperate need of healing. At your next REWARD, simply seek out what you’re wanting, and begin the PATH toward that specific one.

Having no restrictions on what REWARDS players can choose can have a downside, too. Characters can become hard to understand or categorize. “Are you a mage or a pikeman?” This problem can lead to a world or set of characters that is hard to believe, or even just silly.

Even more perilous is the effect of characters becomUsing this simple method, characters will be very di- ing ‘one stop shops.’ This means that each character verse, and hard to classify. A GUARDIAN class with ar- has fighting skill, magic, healing ability, ranged comcane magic? Sure! The only limit to your customization bat ability and so on. This might sound like a boon is your CARRY and EQUIP capacity and your reaching of to the game, but it can eliminate or reduce the need MILESTONE MOMENTS. Beyond that, any combination for teamwork, which is the foundational reason for a is possible. class-driven character system in the first place. Complimentary skill sets make playing with your allies more meaningful. ADVANTAGES OF CHOICE By developing your character in a completely free way, you can discover or devise synergies that can be It’s all simply a matter of taste! Just talk with your taterribly powerful. Synergies are combinations of abil- ble, and your GM. What feels right to YOU? Maybe at ities that compound damage, invulnerability, magical times your progression is free to choose, and at others power, and the like. This is a common theme in many it is restricted. Maybe certain combinations feel countgames. Also, choice can be excellent for experienced er intuitive, so come up with a house rule! Remember players who want to explore new realms with their all these options are here to make your game what you want it to be! character, rather than familiar tropes or types.





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THE ARCHETYPE METHOD

FULFILL YOUR PATH

WARLOCK: You have made a pact with dark and powArchetypes are classic or well-known types of charac- erful forces. When in Tiers 1 and 2, take the Path of ters we all know and love. The gold-clad Paladin, the Smoke. For Tiers 3 and 4, switch to the Path of Amber. dark-hooded Assassin, or the creepy, mysterious Gunslinger who materialized one winter morning. The Ar- WEREWOLF: Despite this curse, you have become a chetype method of progression takes a bit more work heroic force for good. At Tier 1 and 2, you walk the on your part, but then your PATH is set and all you need Path of Oak. Beyond that, walk only the Path of Iron. do is fulfill it. MAGUS: You have devoted yourself to the purest form An Archetypal method chooses a set selection of RE- of magical training. You may only take REWARDS from WARDS, in the Tiers listed, and marks them as avail- the Path of Amber. able to you. You and your GM can choose these at the time of character creation, with the goal of capturing a EVENSTAR: You are a warrior for all that is true, holy very specific flavor of character. Then, as you play, you and good in this world. Whenever you earn a REWARD, simply ‘unlock’ each REWARD as was predetermined, you must alternate between the Path of Oak and the and glow with newfound power that fits a concept or Path of Iron. You can never use Infernal Magic. theme. Here are a few suggestions for Archetypes to get you started. An Archetype can be any class! An Archetype can even inform when your MILESTONE MOMENTS will occur, or your role in the wider story. Are your REWARDS earned, granted, or found? It’s all up to you.



OFFWORLDER: A strange being from the outer cosmos, you are a visitor only. For Tiers 1-3 walk the Path of the Hawk. At Tier 4, choose from any Path. Invent new REWARDS, new TIERS, or even entire new PATHS! The only limit is your imagination.

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THE PURCHASE METHOD SO SHINY

VENDORS AND VENTURES

Some games are focused on COIN as a key element of progression and reward. COIN can be great in that players are given a lot of control over how their efforts are rewarded. It can also save the GM time, as she can always get a smile by awarding COIN on fallen foes or in the tombs of kings.

The key question with allowing players to buy items is who has what. Meager vendors in backwater towns should not be selling the Skull of Ormo! The process of seeking out exotic or rare vendors can be the pivot of many great adventures. Here are some guidelines of what kind of vendors will be found with what kinds of wares.

ICRPG is no exception to this time-honored tradition in tabletop games. Like many games, consider 1 COIN to be fair pay for 1 day’s work. This price listing is only a starting point, of course. You can always use your favorite source book for gear and pricing, as many games follow the ‘1 gold=1 day’s pay’ rule.

COMMON MERCHANT: Average guy in an average town or village, just trying to get by on whatever he can find, scavenge or buy at a discount. Starting Equipment, Shabby LOOT, Supplies

TRAVELING WARESMAN: This vendor wanders the ITEM COMMON PRICE in COINS span of one kingdom or region, actively seeking quality goods. It can be challenging to bump into them between their travels, but they will regularly visit a set of Meal and Bed for a Night 1 larger towns. Weapons and armor, Starter LOOT Starting Equipment Items 5 Basic Weapons 5 EXOTIC TRADER: Here is a merchant that travels beLarge Weapons 10 yond one kingdom, but isn’t an armed adventurer or Military and Mechanical Weapons 15 treasure hunter. They are usually only met in very large Armor 5/point Advanced Armor (+3 or more) 15/point cities or by special arrangement. Basic LOOT, Starter LOOT Supplies 10 Bullets 1/5 FARFOOT: To the ends of the Urth and beyond go Starter LOOT Items 50 these explorers. They are usually found in ports or Shabby LOOT Items 10-50 remote caravans, but seldom in towns or cities. Epic Basic LOOT Items 25-75 LOOT, Tier 1 Rewards Epic LOOT Items 200+ Tier 1 Rewards 250 PURVEYOR OF RELICS: This kind of collector caters Tier 2 Rewards 1,000 to high end clients such as dukes and kings. They have Tier 3 Rewards 5,000 several adventurers and treasure seekers in their emTier 4 Rewards 50,000+ ploy, and deal in the rarest, most coveted objects and House 500 wonders. Epic LOOT, Tier 2 Rewards Castle 10,000 Town 50,000 MYTHIC WANDERER: This type of ‘vendor’ usually City 250,000 only has one item or type of item. It is their very exRetainer/Thug/Porter 1/day istence to curate, keep and distribute this rarity, and many folk don’t even believe they are real. Finding them is next to impossible. Tier 3 Rewards, Tier 4 Rewards





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MILESTONE MOMENTS TIER 1: GEARING UP Earn Tier 1 Rewards once or twice per session. This isn’t a hard rule. You and your GM will know when the time is right. Here are a few examples of when to drop that sweet Tier 1 LOOT. • • • • • •

A decisive victory against lopsided odds A clutch maneuver to help the entire group When the story glows with ‘the feels’ A display of true honor, courage, or kindness Meeting a mentor or master Receiving a boon from grateful villagers

• • • • •

Traverse, repair or rescue the stream of time Uncover a mythic relic or artifact beyond Urth Inherit or be bestowed with lordship Encounter beings from another world or dimension Spend 50 years in reclusive study with a master

BE A SEEKER

TIER 2: A LOCAL HERO Tier 2 separates the dabbler from the practitioner. Rewards from this Tier should be earned when something specific to your PATH happens in play. This will be more rare, maybe once every 2 sessions. • • • • •

power is reached by one hero in a thousand. To reach these final echelons, you will face interdimensional forces, immortal monsters, or evil that threatens all the world, whatever that world may be.

Most importantly, do not feel confined by these examples! If a specific REWARD catches your imagination, then tell your GM. Seek out a way to retrieve, earn or find the thing you seek, and make that story your own. Every devious-minded GM loves to have this kind of player drive, as nothing makes for more personal quests or story arcs than those which players create.

An encounter with a high-level hero of your PATH Using a specific PATH ability in a decisive victory Defeating a personal enemy one on one Taking time to study with a master of your PATH Being exposed to powerful arcane forces



TIER 3: MASTERY At this Tier, you are an accomplished expert in the given PATH, and only through specific quests, long term study, or a royal award can you reach higher levels of power. Here are examples of how to seek out these REWARDS. • Complete a heroic errand for a local lord • Make safe an entire region or kingdom by your actions • Discover or recover a relic of legendary power • Receive a blessing or touch from an immortal • Die and return to life with new supernatural power

TIER 4: A LIVING LEGEND Some folks aren’t even sure you are real. You are featured in bardic tales, and sought out for the most impossible quests and royal errands. This level of 17

ALFHEIM

We were caught between history’s lessons and a future that refused to learn. I looked out from the hollow head of the colossus, lightning flitted below distant thunderheads to the West, and it was a good day to die.

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ALFHEIM

NO ONE DOOM ALFHEIM is a place of many threads and stories, but no single theme tying them together. It isn’t ‘dark’ or ‘high’ or ‘low’ fantasy, but a complex fabric of flavors. We all have our own fantasy worlds in our minds, ALFHEIM gives you the tapestry to build upon. From high cliffs, castle-crowned mountains, and towering monoliths to the shadowed tunnels of Ardenmoor, the ruins of Iridess, or the fabled mines of Duros...these are all the elements available to build your next fantasy WORLD bigger and better than ever.

AN INCOMPLETE MAP Not every detail is shown on the ALFHEIM map! For one thing, knowledge of the world is not total in the Age of Kingdoms, and for another, those blank spaces and unmapped dungeons are for you and your players to discover! The WORLD PRIMER in the ICRPG Core Set can get you started, but this more realized place can give you the location or villain to top it off. Finally, the island of Crask, in the far northeast, is yours to imagine. Use it as a distant goal, supreme enemy, or even heroic headquarters. Each entry listed below should also give you a template to create your own kingdoms, islands, and continents.

The sandbox style of the following information will let your players explore freely. Using your knowledge of distance, terrain, monsters, and player SUPPLIES you can dare the elusive, and awesome, sandbox-style Now, let me tell you of the Fourth Realm... game many players crave. 19

ALFHEIM IRE, DOMAIN OF THE PRIMALS “Only hearty folk dare the wind-swept cliffs of Ire, where the ape-man still walks the snows.” LAY OF THE LAND • Frigid: Rocky highlands swept with snow. Stranded travelers can freeze to death on cold nights. • Hazardous: Spend 2 Supplies per day traveling. • No Roads: Much of Ire is simply impassable without a guide. If traveling without a guide, add 1D12 days to your journey. • Storms: On a failed travel, scouting or nature roll, a storm destroys equipment, expends remaining supplies, or blocks travel completely. DANGERS TO DARE • The Primals: Somewhere in the northern snows, these 10 foot tall beings rule. They are the dread enemy of the lowly ape-men, who hate and fear them. They abide no intruders. • Giant Beasts: A secret sect of chaotic druid-folk have been imbuing bears, wolves, and elk with power and size. These beasts attack at random, set to destroy all civilized folk. • Coal Demon Slavers: Wandering out from Solstice Depths, these infernals seek slaves to delve their warrens below the mountain. • Ice Wind: During any encounter here, the freezing wind adds 1D4 to all TARGETS. DETAILS TO DISCOVER • A frozen traveler, coated in ice, clutches the sky at a roadside. He wears a strange amulet, untouched by cold • Cracking fissures in the frost revealing a glowing catacomb below, leading west • Snow-dusted aftermath of a battle. Primals, ape-men and dwarves all lay silent, but one survivor stirs • A wagon full of gar merchants heading to The Warden. They are lost, freezing, and hunted • A dwarven village burned to the ground, now frosted over • Iron-hinged crate of Koabi scimitars lying in a mess of broken arrows and blood spatter • Bluish ice cliffs shine in the sunlight, revealing tunnel entrances with ape-men guards • A group of druids, barely alive and frightened at Pine Henge • A charred handprint on The Warden sickens the ageless tree as rumors spread of an infernal presence • Burning skulls on pikes flanking a neglected dwarven roadway towards Solstice Peak 20

ALFHEIM FOLK AND FRIENDSHIP • Sval of White Bluff: Orc chief of all Ire, but whose rule is contested by warring tribes • Pietro Pete: Legendary dwarvish trapper who guides travelers through the northern reaches • Asra Cloudbow: Matriarch of the Pine Henge druid-folk, who seeks help • Strom: A Primal who believes his people are wrongly warring with Ire, and seeks to stop the invasion • Helen Asram: Dutchess of Port Snow, who seeks aid to drive out the Koabi pirates DUNGEONS TO DELVE • Pine Henge: Deep below the henge, a dimension door has grown out of control, and the caverns are filling with strange lifeforms and evil will. If the gateway is not closed, or brought to heel, it could shatter the powerful magic that holds Ire safe from the Primal invasion. • Solstice Depths: Coal Demons have overrun the once-prosperous dwarven city of Solstice Peak. The forges run nonstop, and they are arming a siege of Ire itself in the fiery deeps.



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ALFHEIM MORE ABOUT THE WARDEN • The Warden is Ire’s central town, but also home to an ancient tree, which emanates a powerful life force. Once, the Wardens dotted Alfheim. It is now said this is the last of these colossal trees, and in its heart rests the very lifeblood of Urth itself. Druids are prone to exaggerate such things, though. • The town is lawful, held safe by a council of traders, pioneers, and frontier folk. It is populated by dwarves and men, but few elves are welcome here. • As the ‘last stop’ before the northern wilds, Warden is rich with smiths, outfitters, and even magical suppliers for expeditions and border fighters. It serves as headquarters for those fighting the Solstice demons, the Primals, or the elements. • One thing is certain to all in Ire: if The Warden were to fall to dark forces, the fate of the North would soon follow, and all hope of taming this wilderness would be lost.

IRADRUM, KINGDOM OF HEROES “Where any man or woman may rule, if their deeds deserve, and the mighty forges of dwarves burn hot.”

LAY OF THE LAND • Bountiful: A wide, green country of villages, sea ports and the Kinder Peaks to the north. It’s easy to find shelter and good folk here. • Pleasant: Spend 1 SUPPLY per day, and travel double normal pace (up to 25 miles per day). • Kingly Roads: Guarded, well-kept, and often lined with vendors and travelers. There is no getting lost here, save traveling through the Witchwood, to the northwest, which has no roads at all. • A Folk of Feasts: Gain 1 FOOD ITEM on any trip through Iradrum. The road culture here is generous and bright with bounty. • Dwarves! This is the oldest settlement of dwarves in Alfheim, so has an animated, exciting culture of gar and song. All dwarf characters are welcome here, and make social rolls as EASY. DANGERS TO DARE • The Iron Outcasts: Among the Iradrum, there is a legion of metal-clad dwarf warriors who refuse human rule in their land. For this, they are banished, and wander as fugitives, attacking any non-dwarves in Iradrum when possible. They are ruthless and evil, despite their appeal to some dwarven purists. • Skeleton Army: Witchwood was once its own barony, before the rise of Norburg. It is unknown what doom befell that sunken land, but now an endless trickle of skeleton warriors stumble from the dead trees, and prey on all they encounter. • Direhorn: Legend holds that the Ogdru blasphemers below Norburg created this species as war-beasts centuries ago. Now only a few remain, ravaging road-folk ... eating men whole in one terrible bite.

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ALFHEIM DETAILS TO DISCOVER • A cask of fresh gar fallen from a wagon or traveling supplier. Roll for type, best stuff in Alfheim! • The symbol of the Iron Outcasts, a red chevron, painted across a destroyed wagon • A merry band of bards on their way to Norburg, celebrating a newly crowned hero • A strange, heavy iron key in the motifs of the Iradrum deep-miners • A direhorn’s claw-nail, broken clean off and caked in blood • Disoriented slaves wandering south from Witchwood, unable to speak • An Iradrum forgemaster in a mobile weapon and armor cart, eager to buy and sell • Ambushers from the heretical Ogdru cult, camouflaged in a thicket outside a village • A company of royal lancers traveling the countryside in search of new army conscripts and squires FOLK AND FRIENDSHIP • Three Hero Kings: Norburg is ruled by three heroes of great deed. They are true good, and willing to help or reward all adventurers who rid their land of evil influence or foreign claim • Hatch’s Heroes: Hatch is an Iradrum dwarf, born in West Kinder, who refuses to accept the expansion of Witchwood. He is always looking for able bodied warriors who will aid his cause • Cap’n Gettz: One of the most decorated pirates and captains of the Emerald Sea • The Lightning King: High ruler of Iradrum Spire • Gibbles: A Thushum goblin armor trader and weapons expert who travels the Iradrum roads

DUNGEONS TO DELVE • Blackwave: The Island Southwest of Norburg was once a garrison of Crask. Shelled into oblivion by Norburg siege engines, it is now a broken ruin. Still, something stirs in the rubble... • Kinder Mines: A volcanic heart feeds the Dwarven fires below Iradrum. These fires have also carved a maze of lava tubes and magma chambers, occupied by all those terrors that dwell below. • Witchwood Lake: As the dark power grows in Witchwood, so does the stick-barrow at the center of this mucky pond.

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ALFHEIM KHETT, DESERT OF BONES “Few places are more lonely, more deadly, than those high, cold steppes.” LAY OF THE LAND • High Desert: Barren plateaus and wind-scoured hardpan. Distance can be the main enemy here. • Deadly: Spend 3 Supplies per day traveling. • Nomadic Folk: Settlements here move with the seasons. Only local guides will know the exact locations of the three main camps of the Khettish. • Volatile Wind: When acting up, the gales here can add 2 to TARGETS, and even demand DEX or STR rolls to resists their terrible force. DANGERS TO DARE • Nomadic Brigands: The Khetts are without mercy for travelers, but even worse are the lowly thieves who wander the steppes in search of victims. For each day spent here, roll nature, scouting or navigation TWICE to avoid their raiding parties. • Bone Constructs: Since the Colossus fell here, strange versions of men and monsters have been forming or animating from dusty old bones. How can you kill what has never lived? • Crystal Skitters: The YOG mines of Nool have delved deep indeed, and there opened a hatching chamber of crystalline insectoids that threaten the eastern borders, growing in number down in the depths.

DETAILS TO DISCOVER • A group of armored skeletons, buried to the waist, slowly beginning to move again • A lone horse, equipped for lance or spear cavalry, wanders the waste • The remnants of a tent camp, abandoned. In one hut an old woman has been left to die • An odd group of small folk travelers taking shelter in a stand of giant cacti • Slow-moving Stone Flimes migrating north • A floating sky barge, with room for 5 crew, tethered to a tall stone pinnacle. The hull is peppered with arrows • A freshly opened fissure leading down to red-glowing depths • The skull-heaped lair of a Sand Dragon • A hermit waves with a smile from a red tent on a bluff. A closer look reveals he is a wooden clockwork 24

ALFHEIM FOLK AND FRIENDSHIP • Shirash the Knife: Not exactly a friend, the ruler of the Khett tribes is not officially recognized as king. Nevertheless, he lives by a code of honor that is the closest thing to law here. • Jadzaro Bunini, Genius: This half-mad engineer and philosopher wanders the steppes, creating wonders of science such as sky ships, walking wagons, and digging machines. • The Daughters of Rel: A tribe of orc women who fight the Khetts with guerrilla tactics, all in honor of Mud’s great grand daughter. • Ferrin’s Folk: The canyonkeepers of Nool can be hard-nosed, but one family still holds the old hospitality. They are crystal magi who work to stop the return of the snake-men to Alfheim. BORDER WAR • All the surrounding nations of the west fight to contain the chaotic Khetts. They have no taste for rule or law of any kind, and plunder as they please. Thus, the borders of Khett are heavily guarded, and fought over, on all sides save Koab, where only the dead stand watch. DUNGEONS TO DELVE • West Colossus: This massive creature is now a hollow husk, but its power pervades the landscape around it and below it. There is an entrance at the head, but the Khetts guard this place, claiming the treasures below as their own. • The Canyon Abyss: At the dark floor of the eastern canyonlands, a bounty of Yog crystals grows. With them, comes Skitters and other creatures far older. The folk of Nool work to mine this area, but seldom return. • Ruin of Beetle Meer: The castle northeast of Port Sand has been reclaimed by the desert, but travelers have spotted great green-shelled beetles there, as in the legends, and a ghostly glow by moonlight.

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ALFHEIM KATH, THE TOMB OF SNAKES “Still close is the evil influence of the long-dead snake-men in the pyramids and jungles of Kath.” LAY OF THE LAND • Dune Sea: Expend 4 SUPPLIES per day to travel here, mainly carrying water. • Sweltering Jungle: The southeast is dense with jungle, and far easier to traverse with 1 SUPPLY per day. • Uninhabited: Few ever go here, fearing snake-men from ancient times. The largest settlements of living people are the excavation camp along the northern border and the tiny, accursed village of Hal. • Die of Thirst: If travelers become lost for more than 4 days, they have a 50% chance of meeting their end. DANGERS TO DARE • The Undead: The snake-men used the dead as their legions, and many remain here. Mummified priests, skull-faced warriors, and moaning shamblers make up their ranks • Serpent-Folk: The rumors are true: snake-men have been seen walking the dunes, weaving black magic and working to awaken their terrible gods • Agnar and Agnar Riders: The primal ‘mega-mouth’ can be lurking anywhere • Devious Traps: In their time, the serpents used many complex mechanical terrors to guard their tombs and unholy places. Many of these are still armed and just as deadly as a thousand years ago. Sometimes even the open desert hides buried death just waiting to be triggered

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ALFHEIM FOLK AND FRIENDSHIP • Verkin Ferinale: Master Archaeologist, or so he claims, running the excavation camp. With the aid of a sky galleon, and a small crew of dwarves, he has established a relic trade in Kath • Liette of Hal: A hero who refuses to abandon her dying town • The Grey Road Cavalry: The northeast border is held by Grey Guardsmen. They are always willing to help those in need, but will only venture a day’s travel into the dunes

DUNGEONS TO DELVE • South Colossus: A massive coil of stone vertebrae twists through the jungle, capped by a pyramidal ‘head’ near the Dead Lands gate. If it has been explored, no one has any written account of what lies within. • Pyramids of Koab: Once a mighty city of snake-men, this is now being reclaimed by the dunes. There are no less than twenty giant pyramids, concealing an even larger undercroft. • Dead Iridess: The town that ran red with blood when Aras the Red Fang awoke his dead queen so long ago. Now it is a haunted city, and the dead queen’s chamber of power still fills this place with dread. • Tomb of Sett: At the south extreme is a weird island, hewn square in raw bedrock, and covered in glyphic warnings and sigils of confinement. This is believed to be the sleeping place of Sett, the serpent God. The nearby pyramid served as a place of worship in elder days. IRIDESS, REALM OF MADNESS • Aras, also called Red Fang in later days, gained his dark power in this abandoned city. The dead queen who gave him this hideous gift still dwells there, beneath the silent streets. To tread that place brings a plague of hallucinations, and comes with it a death curse from beyond time. 27

ALFHEIM NORDHEIM, THE ENDLESS WOODS “True pioneers live up north, master shipbuilders, and keepers of dark, violent secrets.” LAY OF THE LAND • Vast Forests: Endless pine forests in low hills and rocky plains make this a maze to navigate. • Remote: Only use 1 SUPPLY per day traveled, but rolls are all HARD. • Shipping: Travel anywhere on the Nordheim Coast in 1-3 days. Ports and moorage are plentiful. • Patrolled Roads: There are a half dozen well-kept roads in Nordheim, patrolled either by Nordish knights from Shipshelm, or the Grey Border Guard. The roads are kept safe year round, at any cost. DANGERS TO DARE • Stick People: The forests here are vast, and ancient. Within, a race of semi-humans still fight off what they see as an infection on the world: all civilized races. On occasion, the border troops of Nordheim will clash with stick folk. They are huge, antlered things born of dark, angry magic. • Snow Orcs: The South of Nordheim, near the Khettish border, is home to a tribe of predatory orcs. They run rampant on those who defy their borders, and use the Broken Rocks range as their fortress. • Thushum Outcasts: Those goblin kin who are too vile, or too evil-willed to endure in Thushum often take refuge here in the woods. They form small bands, and work their deadly mischief with woodcraft machines and deep woods ambushes. Their clans are Groat, Pineblood, Thumush and Big Tooth in name. • Escaped Pit Fighters: The fighting pits at Arlston crossroads represent the dark and violent hertiage of this rugged land. Either by amnesty or escape, the death dealers from the pits find their way into the countryside. Some are noble-hearted. Many are not.





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ALFHEIM DETAILS TO DISCOVER • An abandoned logging camp, riddled with snow orc arrows • A strange talisman made of sticks and bone, left as a warning of some kind • An escaped gladiator from Arlston, camping near a fire. With him is a small boy • Branches and mud piled into a crude hut, the smell of roast flesh on the breeze • An old dock moorage with a derelict ship roped and left unmanned • A lodgepole fort manned by a single warrior from Gilhelm • A massive clawed footprint, 30 feet across, and smashed trees in rows • A locket, silver, with the likeness of the Duchess of Westbrook inside FOLK AND FRIENDSHIP • Hankerin Ferinale: Ambassador to the Iradrum in Gilhelm, honorary mayor, and Brewmaster of the Frothy Mare tavern. On occasion, Hankerin will commission mining expeditions to the Broken Rocks and beyond. • Crumb: One of the heroic dwarves who fought back the ‘Titan of Shipshelm,’ this stout fellow is now in the duke’s employ as a road guardian. He lives a quiet life escorting travelers and leaning on old pines. • Elisa of Englemoor: The hill folk of Nurin can be found in Nordheim, and their best is Elisa, the savior of Hannar, hero of Englemoor before its destruction. • Oracle of the Banners: The old ruins on the west point of Nordheim are occupied by an ancient being few have seen. Some say she is a humanoid turtle in robe and hood. Either way, folk say she can see the past and the future in that haunting rubble.

DUNGEONS TO DELVE • Depths of the Dark Brotherhood: Below and beyond the manor of Duke Herald, the governor of New Haven, is a vast catacomb of burial chambers and demonic tunnels. This is the seat of the Dark Brotherhood, who claim themselves as witch hunters, but are in fact the most powerful witches of all. • Lost Barrow: Told of only in stories, a dwarven city hidden in the hills. • Broken Rock Tunnels: The snow orcs have occupied these rocky crags for centuries, gaining power and fortune by the rich iron deposits there. Far below these mines are deeper places... • Ruins of Light Port: Just south of the Oracle of Banners is a now-destroyed port town. Some say the Titan destroyed it, or wild seas of old, or even the wrath of snake-men. The mystery remains unsolved, as those who venture there do not return. 29

ALFHEIM APHOS, REFUGE OF THE ELVES “The island fortress of Elf kind is held in a magic power, and they are lonely in their perfection.” LAY OF THE LAND • Shrouded Isles: Navigating any ship to Aphos makes all rolls HARD • A Weird Calm: Despite being so far north, it is sunny, warm, and pleasant around the Aphosian islands • The Grey Veil: Aphos is guarded by an endless, impenetrable fog of magical mist. Many dead ships drift here, voices hang on the ghostly wind. Some even say time itself can become warped, or tangled, in the fogs • Limestone Crags: White stone built these islands, and it is common to have dizzying drop-offs and ruin-topped pinnacles here • Ancient Wealth: Ancient are the elves of Aphos. Their architecture stands as a testament to the millennia they have ruled from here, living like demigods among the sublime beauty. All LOOT found here is EPIC DANGERS TO DARE • Treachery: A recurring theme in Aphos is the deception and multi-layered betrayals of elves. Infiltrators, double loyalties, or ensnarements are common here to the unskilled. To the elves who dwell here it is not evil, but simply a way of life that has kept them alive for millenia. • Minotaur Rebellion: Once the servants of the high council, and many great houses of ancient Aphos, the bullmen now openly revolt, and hold ruins and catacombs for their own. Some are too far gone, mad with lost love or rage, and can no longer communicate as human beings. • The Scorned: Ever do elves work to hide their ugly side. Using dark magic, they place their vices and sin into other beings. The saddest of these are The Scorned, a misshapen race who lives below ground, operating the elder machines that power Aphos’ magical engines. They are sunless, seldom seen, and cannibalistic. • Unstable Magic: Any magic used by outsiders here is highly unpredictable. Write a 1-10 mercurial Spell table, and roll it whenever magic is used. Results vary from fizzled Spells to cross-dimensional catastrophes. • Snake-Men: From far below Aphos the enemy of Alfheim has begun to resurface, but only in the ruins of the outer islands.

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ALFHEIM DETAILS TO DISCOVER • A hovering chunk of spell-etched stone, just hanging in the air • An old elf, hunched over on a rock, but on a second look she is young and beautiful • Slender green snakes that align to form vaguely familiar glyphs • Pillared ruins and causeways below the glimmering green water • The impossible, wondrous form of the Colossus, circled by birds and a ring of thin cloud • Starless nights • A slave, carrying water, who has no mouth ... none at all • A child of The Scorned, wandering burned, dazed, in rags only, stumbling among the white pillars FOLK AND FRIENDSHIP • Star Ephelle: A lovely young girl, who believes the Colossus can renew elven virtue • Stryke: Vengeful for the elves’ imprisoning her here, she lurks in the cliffs • Brumble Ironfist: A hilarious dwarven seafarer who runs trade routes to Aphos • King Archeiandeus Daelon: A doubted, sudden ruler who dwells with the hated Yellow Robes in dark halls. Despite this, many believe his soul can yet be saved, if Queen Adea can be found

DUNGEONS TO DELVE • The North Colossus: This giant rests upright, but few have ever survived the climb to its massive skull. The elves have kept this creature in perfect condition, and its workings are studied to this day. • White Halls of Lazareius: Straight down beneath the main island of Aphos is a baffling maze of geometric cavities and shifting shapes. Here preserved are the Elven dead, and their endless libraries. Also here is the skeletal snake-king, kept in secret for eons. • Quay Island: Southeast of the bigger islands is the stronghold of the Minotaurs. Their ranks have been plagued, though, by the ravenous Scorned hordes, who threaten to overrun the island. 31

ALFHEIM GREY, THE HEART OF ALFHEIM “A vast, diverse Kingdom riven only by the defiant hill folk of Nemedia.” LAY OF THE LAND • Land of Many Borders: If traveling across or near a Border of Grey, expect to encounter dangers or Knights or both. Dangers from the neighboring Kingdom can be used. Incursions are all too frequent. • Vast Fortress: Grey itself is the largest city-fortress in Alfheim, with thousands of residents, and more than 20 enormous towers. The city could be a location for several adventures in itself. There abandoned parts of the city, bustling markets, lively arenas and dangerous slums. Every manner of service and item can be found here, for a price. • Law and Order: King Henryk keeps a lawful kingdom, by goodwill and the sword. Evil doers find no quarter here, and are hunted relentlessly. The incarcerated rot in the vast lake castle at Reaver Fjords or are sent to Arlston to fight in the pits. • Pleasant: Travel in Grey is pleasant, safe, and bountiful. Use half your normal SUPPLIES to travel. • Ancient Forests: Frogwood, The Grey Glades, and Mystvar are tangled, ageless places that remain mostly unexplored despite their central location.

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ALFHEIM DANGERS TO DARE • Ant Folk: There is little known of the Southeast of Grey, where the land is sundered. This is mostly due to the dominance of fierce ant people there, who tolerate no intruders. On occasion, they are spotted in foraging parties as far as Nemedia or Gwadan. • Deep Delvers: Beneath many parts of this massive kingdom dwell the oldest, most isolated dwarves. These subterranean delvers resent the surface world, and though their queen is good-hearted, many of them crave only death for sun-walkers. • Shadow Lasher Packs: The vast forests and farm lands of Grey are home to shadow lashers, who hunt in packs. They are especially problematic in the northeast, where farms and livestock are raided. • The Rusted Company: In the Age of Snakes, the early lords of Grey made a pact with those serpent emperors to spare their lands. For this, they were cursed with immortal wrath, and their ghostly army wanders Grey in a daze of thousand-year old anger. Some say there is a way to free them, but it remains unknown. DETAILS TO DISCOVER • A carved stone head, 10 feet across, lying vine-wrapped in a dim forest • Remnants of a wood-spike fort, littered with skeletons. The birds are oddly silent • A colossal tree, oak or elm, as old as the Wardens once were • A frantic librarian, laden with a cart of rare books, fearing for his life • A polished helm of the Grey soldier elite • Two pair of iron manacles, picked or jimmied open and left behind • A carving in old stone, weathered, written in Nemedian glyphs • A discarded banner of King Henryk’s army, tattered and blood-stained • Sand-dusted splinters of the purest red YOG crystal • A forgotten cask of the gar so golden, so good, men will kill to get it FOLK AND FRIENDSHIP • King Henryk the Hawk: A good king! Henryk aids the true, defends the weak, commissions noble adventurers, dares to chart the unexplored, and stands firm against all threats to Grey and the wider world. • The Boggish: The frog-like kin in Southern Grey are a kind-hearted, bright-eyed folk, known far and wide for their impeccable hospitality, cooking, and finery. Their rapier-wielding captains have also earned distinction fighting in Henryk’s Wailing Raiders unit. • Mugs Pink: Though gar be loved across the known world, it began in Gwadan. For generations the brewmasters have passed down the secrets of this wondrous drink. The presiding brewmaster is, these days, one Mugs Pink. He is a stout, glad fellow who symbolizes and protects all that is best in the Alfhemic heartland. • The Grey Troubadors: Ah, the whirling bards of Mystvar! Alfheim’s most famous story troop calls Grey home, and can most times be found there. They are a diverse, boisterous band of heroes, poets, dancers and madmen with little regard for war or doom: they insist the world laugh. AT WAR WITH NEW HAVEN • Duke Herald has made a blood-enemy of King Henryk by defying the order to abolish the torture and burning of so-called ‘witches.’ This war has escalated in recent times with the disappearance of Baron Westbrook of Nordheim. For this reason, the northwestern border of Grey is a forbidden, dangerous place. 33

ALFHEIM DUNGEONS TO DELVE • Reaver Fjords: A dungeon in the truest sense of the term, this dark, windowless fortress sits at the central reaches of the vast Reaver Fjord lake. It serves as a prison for Alfheim’s most uncontrollable, unkillable, or simply powerful villains and monsters. Though the prison is mostly effective at containing these horrors, the area surrounding the lake is still lurking with what evil seeps out. • Unalaya Summit: The huge mountains that protect Grey’s great towers are called the Unalaya. High atop these snowy peaks, a lost fortress is said to house the old mountain gods. This has long been an obsession of dwarves in the area to discover, but few return from the dizzying heights of those slopes. • The Fissures: The insect realm of the Fissures is arid, toxic, and unstable. The ground has been ravaged and eaten hollow. Things far worse than ant men crawl below the baked dirt. Some say the insects have found a source of power even older than YOG, and will soon threaten all life on Alfheim. For this rumor many explorers have given their lives, but little is yet known... • Mystvar Henge: The vast, shadowed forest of Mystvar holds many secrets. Among these is the great henge, which dates all the way back to the Primordius itself. Beneath this stone edifice a great hidden hollow is hewn from solid rock: the Domain of Urth, or ‘Star Barrow’ as the wood elves call it. To even find this place is near impossible in the shifting woods and small-folk roads. Any group entering Mystvar appears in a random part of the forest each morning, unless they can find a way to undo or resist the magic of the trees.

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ALFHEIM NEMEDIA, THE FERAL HIGHLANDS “Elk, wolves and men commune as one on those remote, desolate stones...” LAY OF THE LAND • Rocky Highlands: See for miles, especially travelers or campfires. Use supplies as normal, but wagons cannot traverse the uneven ground. • Untamed Wilderness: Predators prowl the steppe. Roll once per hour to encounter predatory animals. • Frigid Wind: If the wind is up, it can inflict cold damage, sweep away equipment, or even push characters against their will. • Spike-Walled Borders: 20 feet high in places, spiked walls made of rope and timbers ring these lands. DANGERS TO DARE • Banshee Plague: Something dark gathers here, despite the stubborn pride of the folk. The beasts grow too large, and the dead often return as banshees to haunt the living. Their howls can be heard echoing across the bare hillsides by starlight, and they have a hatred of the living. • Stone and Snow Flimes: As the curse spreads across Nemedia, flimes of various kinds are growing in number. They are simple minded, wanton predators who kill to feed, and feed to multiply. • The Ogres of Bear Crag: Just north of the old Grey city of Whiteshield, the foothills of the Unalaya hold a vicious tribe of Ogres. They have been driven from their ancestral lands on all sides, and scheme to destroy Nemedia, then all of Eastern Grey. • Nemedian Barbarians: No danger here is more feared than the wandering reavers to defend these hills. They are a once proud people, now cornered, and they fight like lions. The Nemedians honor a code of valor, but it leaves little room for intruders, weaklings, or civilized men.

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ALFHEIM NEMEDIAN HOMELANDS • The rock-strewn highlands of Nemedia are home to a defiant, fierce folk. Brothers of the Nurin hillmen, these warrior clans are called wolf-keepers, rockmen, rangers, or even the ‘mountain ghosts.’ As the centuries have passed, they have refused to be ruled by any king or nation. They hold their borders with furious, courageous warriors, sometimes only one against dozens, and are said to speak with animals. Little is known of their true ways, for so few are welcome among their mighty ranks. FOLK AND FELLOWSHIP • Captain Helgatha: The garrison at Westburg Road is held by the heroic leadership of Helgatha, a shield maiden of ancestral blood from the heart of Nemedia. She is a hero to all clans here, and is recognized as supreme war chief for all the clans in time of crisis. Ever has held an alliance with the folk of Westburg, and so keeps that border safe, and open to trade. • Argus the Wolf: With Grey Elk gone, the wolf clan has risen to far greater power than its neighbors. At its head stands Argus, a fierce traditionalist who plans to push Nemedia’s borders outward at any cost. Deep down, though, he is an honorable and good man. • Menduh: An old woman has wandered the highlands for decades, casting prophecies and helping fallen heroes. She is Menduh, the oracle of Nemedia, and she seems as old as time. • Killian Tarney: Brother to Dobbs Tarney, the famed owner of Dobbs’ Dim pub in Westburg, Killian is a brewmaster and carouser who wanders the Westburg road, telling tales and chasing women. DETAILS TO DISCOVER • A wolf’s den, but cluttered with sticks and debris. Spiderwebs are seen in the tangle • A rusted woodsman’s axe, with a hand still grasping it • A lockbox of silver arrowheads with the monogram ‘AG’ on the lid • A cache of obsidian tools from a prehistoric age • A field of skeletons, laying bare on the exposed rocks of a high plateau • The broken wheels of a cart • A great silk banner, lying in the dirt, with two great black chevrons • A hideously deformed wolf skull, far too large and adorned in bony spikes ELK CLAN • Nomadic hunters who seldom speak at all, the Elks represent druidic ascetism, solitary living, and nature’s way. Their prime directive is to fight the encroachment of civilization and magic into the highlands. BEAR CLAN • The Bear Clan lives to make war. They are a loosely affiliated group of raiding parties, whose only code is never to kill one another. They fight for plunder, power, or simply glory. They are most often found near the borders where the action is. WOLF CLAN • The most reasonable of the Nemedian clans are the Wolves, who broker a narrow path between their people and the outside world. Argus is far more ambitious than his predecessor though, and this could prove dangerous for all the neighbors of Nemedia in coming years.

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ALFHEIM DUNGEONS TO DELVE • The Dead Fort: In Nemedia’s lowland south, a wooden fort stands. It is victim of the Dead Lands’ arcane rot curse, and inhabited by skeletons, crows, and marsh demons. Nemedians avoid the area entirely, but lately the glow of fires can be seen in the sagging walls, and fell voices are heard on warm summer nights. • Bear Crag: The canyon citadel of the Ice Ogres, Bear Crag is a place hewn from bedrock, and braced with countless raw timbers and stripped logs. Something, or someone, has given these creatures the unnatural power to survive across ages of defeat, but no one has returned from the region to tell. • Tombs of Whiteshield: The Eastern border of Grey was held, long ago, by the hillmen of Whiteshield Fortress. It was their blood that battled back the ice Ogres of Bear Crag. Time has left this place abandoned, retaken by ice and rockfall. Still, legend tells of ancient tombs beneath that ruin that hold the relic vault of those heroic highlanders.

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ALFHEIM THE DEAD LANDS “A poisoned, cloying hell of ebony muck and rot. Here dark forces take seed, and the land cannot heal.”

LAY OF THE LAND • Noxious Swamps: A low, rotten fog lays on these marsh lands at all times. Every day spent there inflicts 1 CON damage, only recovered when free of the area. • Razor Thistles: Towering, impassable tangles of carnivorous, thorned vines choke the south. These inflict WEAPON damage if NEAR, and can only be cleared with fire. • Sinking Lands: Travel is near impossible here. Use 5 SUPPLY per day, with chances to lose wagons, gear or even hired hands during traversal. The mud eats it all. • The Charred Wall: On both flanks of the Dead Lands a colossal wall of charred-black oak and basalt hems the infectious evil of this place. The wall is 50 feet high in places, accented with sharp spiked towers and not a single guard. Its entire surface is hot to the touch. DANGERS TO DARE • Hut People: The central swamps here are held by a tribe of masked oddlings called the Hut People. They are cryptic, little known folk who hunt both man and beast for food, and seem to keep some strange pact with the dark forces that curse these lands. They hunt in scouting parties of 4 or more, utilizing snares and other devious methods to make the murk even more deadly. • K’tul Fishmen: To the southeast, and along the coast, people have been changed into half-fish deformities, driven only by some wanton murderous desire from the depths. Every solstice they gather in great numbers and hurl themselves onto the sharp rocks at Spiral Point and Blood Sholes. • Razor Pods: Among the twisted vines, a form of alpha predator plant lurks. These spine-toothed giants can eat a horse in one bite, have been seen at more than 50 feet long, and blend perfectly into the baffling scenery. • Eye Beasts: Some say the curse that keeps this place dead was caused by eye beasts, who dabble with chaotic magic. What few dwell here employ armies or corpses, swarms of flies, and sucking mud pits to guard their lairs. Any eye beast located will have 2-20 magic books in its keeping. • The Lure of Ynsmouth: Everywhere one goes in the Dead Lands, a sort of subliminal call or lure can be heard and felt. It is Ynsmuth, the southern port town. By magic unknown, it calls to all within 75 miles, luring them to join the gloom there by the Bay of Masts. Any character in extreme duress, be it injury or fear or hunger, while nearby must roll a HARD INT check, or be drawn powerfully to the town. This lure will cause its victims to lie to, betray or even kill their companions to answer its call. 38

ALFHEIM DETAILS TO DISCOVER • A shallow trench forming a spiral shape, 300 yards across • An ageless elm tree, leaf bare, with 7 skeletons hanged by the neck • An unnaturally dense group of red-eyed crows swirling above • A discarded helmet made of mud, with a disturbing, howling facial design • The slime-wet spear, net and supply pack of a fishman • A vast bog of rusted armor, smashed helmets, broken swords and black banners • A human ear • A stray chunk of the charred wall, ever hot, black as pitch • A worn roadsign pointing south to Ynsmuth • A possum turned inside out and crawling with fishman tadpoles FOLK AND FELLOWSHIP • Grax the Wanderer: Out among the swamps a giant hillman walks, carrying a great pack of food and wares. He collects all manner of odd relics from the dead here, and some say he’s been driven mad by the marsh. • The Charred Rider: A lone knight, clad in black armor, patrols the walls. He is neither dead nor alive, but doomed to eternal service. Those who dare the wall must answer to him, but enemies of the Ynsmuth curse find an ally. • Old Yaba: Supreme among the mud-masked Hut People is a shrunken hag called Old Yaba. She is wise, terribly powerful with dark magic, and intrigued by travelers. It is unknown if she is driven by good or evil, but she has no love for the k’tuls or razor vines of the south. • Harlo the Ferryman: Across the river north of the Bay of Masts, a lone ferryman is known to offer crossing to those who can pay the toll. Few dare the trip, however, as that river delta is infested with gargoleths and tentacled things. No one knows why, but they leave his ferry unmolested.

YNSMUTH, CITY OF THE ACCURSED • Whatever dead influence hides beneath the waves here, it has sickened the town of Ynsmuth with a cruel, disturbing curse. Its folk have a fishy slime about them, some even hunching over, splitting gills at their necks or concealing webbed fingers. Many adventurers have gone missing there trying to find the reason for the dark influence. Some believe they are cannibals, or murderous cultists, set to end the world. Mostly they are simply a wretched, quiet folk who live a damp, muddy life in the shadow of a bay crawling with unseen beasts and limbless horrors. 39

ALFHEIM DUNGEONS TO DELVE • Stick Barrow: The Hut People worship a frog-god somewhere in the deep marsh. This vile behemoth dwells in a mountain of mud and sticks, fed by human sacrifices. It has enslaved the folk here with its grotesque frogmind. Most devious of it all, it lures treasure-seekers with a vast hoard of gold and magical items retrieved from the sunken battlefields nearby. • The Ynsmuth Depths: Ynsmuth is merely a shell atop a vast underground maze of tunnels and waterlogged caverns. Among these caves are ritual sites, foul altars, and the egg-lined oubliettes of fish men. Some say the only known map of Xenos is somewhere down in those caves, but what madman would even dare explore them? • The Charred Tower: This monolithic spire can be seen in the gloom for miles around. It is at least 200 feet tall, and hewn from charred oak, elm, and basalt supports. It is hot to the touch, seething with smoky fumes, and emits a dreadful dark magic. Long has it stood as sentinel, hemming in the curse of the Dead Lands. How it was built or when is unknown, for few venture there. What is known is that the dark power that fuels the Charred Wall is focused in this forbidding structure.

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ALFHEIM XENOS, STAR-FALLEN “The stones in Xenos are children of some far away star, or a time long before our own sun was born.”

LAY OF THE LAND • Colossal Jade and Basalt blocks: The Xenosian islands are made up of interlocking blocks of irregular shapes and seams. They tower and lean impossibly. There is no natural landscape whatsoever. • Mind-defying Angles: Climbing gear is needed to go almost anywhere here, and the absence of plants and animals inflicts 5 SUPPLIES per day to survive. • Unnatural: No known force can form blocks and structures of these type and size. For each day here, make an INT roll or suffer -1 INT damage, recovered upon departure. • Doorways: At all manner of angles, weird triangular doors lead to subterranean chambers. All navigational, mapping or scouting rolls are HARD when daring to enter. • Shifting Shapes: At intervals, linked either to the moons or tide or both, the cyclopean blocks shift and slide, forming new jagged shapes. There is a small chance that explorers could be caught in this shift, and be crushed or dropped into thin air. DANGERS TO DARE • Bore Worms: A terrible breed of these predators dwells in the cavities of Xenos. They have adapted to feed on YOG crystals, which can be found in the odd-shaped catacombs below the surface. This variety is also deadly in its intelligence. They are known to call to one another, stage ambushes, and even lure prey into primitive traps. • Children of Azatoth: The hideous statues that hold star-fallen evil lure the weak minded to their deaths. Xenos is most likely the origin of these powerful beings. • Brain Horrors: Many believe that brain horrors are a descended form of the original Xenosians. They despise sunlight, and only dwell in the deepest recesses of the islands, poring over baffling inscriptions and forming incomprehensible plans to rid Urth of other species. • The Custodians: These huge constructs, some 30 feet tall, are the servants of the Xenosian all-mind. They maintain, patrol, repair and protect the islands with tireless mechanical precision, seemingly preparing for some far-off arrival or awakening. They are made out of the same unearthly material as the islands themselves, and blend perfectly into the weird scenery here. 41

ALFHEIM DETAILS TO DISCOVER • A map of Alfheim, etched flawlessly into solid jade, showing the continent as it was in some ancient past • A tiny splinter of YOG crystal, vague shapes twisting and moving inside • A jade sword with levitating elements and a glowing teal gemstone on its hilt • Blood-stained pages from a cartographer’s journal, showing a vast series of chambers below the islands • A black stone bracelet, carved with a single, lidless eye motif • A spiral-etched flute. When played, can induce visions of some terror beyond space • A group of dwarven corpses, dry with age, gathered around surveying equipment and crushed to death • A series of odd triangular bottles, each containing a fetal creature of unknown type • A baffling control panel of lenses, colored levers and a brass dial • A slime trail, 3 feet wide, leading down into the depths

FOLK AND FELLOWSHIP • Bartleby Longfellow: Dwarves dare to chart, mine and explore even the most extreme environs of Alfheim. Bartleby is the best, maybe the boldest of these. Part pirate, part archaeologist, he welcomes all who dare the shifting cubic shores of Xenos. • Xil’Ul the Defiler: Driven from the ruined monastery at Valley Rim, the spirit of this. ..creature... has taken a new form, and seeks redemption for crimes in the name of Ogdru and the Xenosian gods. • Crazy Tom: Those who dwell here go mad. The baffling, greenish landscape is more than the mortal mind can handle. Ol’ Tom, well, he’s been here for almost three decades. • The Hags of Glass Rock: Somewhere on the northern islands, three hags gather ‘round a hovering cube of pure jade. It is said they are neither good nor evil, and will answer any question ... for a price. • Effigy of the Red Lady: The goddess who stands guard over the underworld has an envoy in Xenos. It is a massive statue, that speaks directly into the minds of men. It is the only way to gain an audience with her majesty, besides walking the halls of the dead. REALM OF THE OGDRU • Xenos remains mostly unmapped because it is comprised of impassable, ever changing blocks and baffling shapes. These pearlescent, greenish stone megaliths form what remains of an Ogdru vessel called a starfarer. When the 4th Realm was formed from the Primordius, eons before the Age of Serpents, this cosmic object formed the anchor point of Alfheim. • The star-fallen are a race so ancient, so vast, that they are both the creators and destroyers of countless worlds. This ineffable scale has made comprehension of their kind so elusive over the centuries. One thing has been determined: events in the Primordius echo forever, somehow carried by vibrations or markings on the Starfarer. Some even believe the ship can be activated, or that it contains the secret to the collossa. 42

ALFHEIM DUNGEONS TO DELVE • The Argent Lens: A series of spherical and cylindrical chambers connected by omnidirectional tubes and chutes. This puzzling space is ever moving with silver rings and spiral-etched gears. At its heart, a massive array of crystal discs align and re-align, focusing beams of sunlight and radiant energy into the cosmos for purposes beyond mortal comprehension. • Dead Surrath: An enormous city of windowless towers and ballustrades stands at the eastern edge of Xenos. The buildings are beyond any human sense of scale, but within is chronicled the starfaring journey of the Xenosians and their Ogdru ancestors. Indicted in these frescoes and star maps are several far worlds, including Xevos, Tortua, and Aster. What other secrets lie in these towering corridors and galleries? • Jade Coast Caverns: Facing the infinity of the Southern Seas, the lower coast of Xenos is dotted with a multitude of ocean-carved caves. Here the ugly side of the star-fallen can be found: those poor deformed wretches who have been twisted and made hateful by the Ogdru. They occupy these caves, brooding over plots to eat the world, or burn it, or somehow turn the starfarer against the nobler races out of pure spite. • Starfarer Halls: The deepest section of Xenos is the mighty control rooms that the Ogdru once used to pilot this immense craft. None have ever seen that place and lived to tell of it, for it guarded by constructs and machines beyond mortal imagination.



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ALFHEIM THE GREENWAY “There are yet good and simple folk in our world, and they hold fast all that is best in this life.”

LAY OF THE LAND • Hill and Dale: This pleasant green land is well traveled, with kept roads and friendly faces at every turn. Use 1 SUPPLY every 2 days’ journey here. Also, each day encounter 1 or more friendly local merchants. • Farmlands: All but the northwest corner of The Greenway is verdant, rolling land farmed by all kinds of folk. Inns and villages, meals and gar are all plentiful. It is common to see a dozen or more farm houses, barns and hamlets in one day’s walk. • The Bogs of Hurun: Where this land meets the Dead Lands, and the forbidding highlands of Nemedia, the forest has sunken too low, taking on a mucky tangle. Travel here is terribly difficult, costing 3 SUPPLY per day, and many become lost in the winding marsh. • Historic: Being the first land settled by people after the Age of Serpents, there is history everywhere here. Old roads, grave sites, abandoned towns, centuries old cobble walls and landmarks dot the country. • Rainy Season: Each spring, The Greenway receives a few months of relentless rain. This keeps the land green and lush, but also lays a gloomy dim on all its folk. Travelers make daily CON rolls or get the chills. Left unattended, this can lead to a fever or even pneumonia.

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ALFHEIM DETAILS TO DISCOVER • A dolmen stone, etched in time-worn spirals, leaning in a grassy field • A high-roofed barn tended by a dwarven farmer and his family, the smell of gar wort in the air • A circle of ancient elm trees, covered in thickets and vines, with an odd clearing within • Cobbled roads overgrown with thick green grass, leading to every corner of the land • A faded wooden sign pointing oddly into untracked wilderness • A basket of fresh bread scattered about, and a pair of children’s shoes nearby • Two drunks, one dwarven, one human, asleep in a thicket surrounded by empty casks • A sweeping vista atop a small hill, showing rolling fields of green and gold • A hamlet of small folk, busily preparing for a feast • An elf, imprisoned in a hanging cage at a rainy crossroads • A blonde woman, carrying a bundle of dead flowers and singing a sad dirge DANGERS TO DARE • The Eels Beneath: The curse brought forth by Aras, later called Red Fang, still infests the dark places of the Greenway. These are tangles of eel-like serpents, each lined with barbed suckers. They move in swarms through any subterranean space, and some grow to 20 feet in length. Contact with them can cause an infection. More of them grow in the host, eventually bursting out with ravenous momentum. • Hurun Mudmen: All along the marshy border of the bogs, a tribe of ape-like mud people fight to hold their lands. Some believe they are related to the Ape Men of Ire. • Sahaguin: Garret Frak’s evil magic, which laid ruin to Westburg, still brings about these demons through unstable dimension doors. They are often controlled by a hag, or one of Frak’s many disembodied heads. • Bloodsworn Elves: Not all the elves of Hath Ordur, the tower where Lydea once ruled, have been ousted. There are squads them still, and they prowl these lands with killing as their only agenda. Theirs is a path of a doomed people, and they see no other way but that of the arrow and the sword. • Groat Goblins: Nasty, pointless, mischievious buggers who ambush travelers and villagers in a futile effort to glorify their toothy, nasty folk. FOLK AND FELLOWSHIP • Grinn Tarney: Great Nephew of the hero Dobbs Tarney, Grinn now mans the bar at Dobbs’ Dim, one of the most famous taverns in Alfheim. He is a community leader, and has been instrumental in the rebuilding fo Westburg after the numerous disasters there. • Scoots Whiteflag: Above the Greenway floats a great sky galleon, patrolling those verdant lands like a guardian angel. At its helm stands Scoots Whiteflag, a dwarven sky capatin. • The Flying Walenzos: A hilarious troop of bards travel the roads and villages of this area, and they are beloved wherever they roam. • Swan Grady: The newest Lord of Englemoor is a small folk Dutchess named Swan. She is a kind ruler, and works daily to route the evil that dwells below that storied city. • Zheimer the Wise: None other. After his many adventures, Zheimer has settled on a humble farm ‘tween Westburg and Englemoor, there spending his days devising magic to protect and enrich the land. • The Order of Helm: An order of knights patrol these lands, stopping to aid the weak, imprison thieves and rampagers, and stand firm in the name of Dutchess Grady.

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ALFHEIM

DUNGEONS TO DELVE • Hath Ordur: A series of siege tunnels lead to the depths below Lydea’s insidious old tower. Some of the tunnels stretch for miles in straight lines, but the main chambers house an elder wyrm. This creature seems beyond time and space, and some say it actually feeds on the timestreams, destabilizing the cosmos. • The Catacombs of Ardenmoor: Long ago, Englemoor was called Ardenmoor, and the catacombs below were a place of torture and madness. Now the asylum is there, but that is only the upper layer of a labyrinth as old as Alfheim itself. No place are the eels of Iridess more densely packed in nesting swarms than there. • Nurin’s Stones: In the southeast of this land, a set of stones still leans upright. These act as an entrance to a vast undercroft, where the stone giant Lion Sword and his phantom warriors still growl with anger. None go there, for to awaken those titans could spell doom for the entire south coast.

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ALFHEIM THUSHUM, GOBLIN STRONGHOLD “What most consider to be a vile folk are in fact a noble, honorable, and hilarious race.”

LAY OF THE LAND • Hinterlands: This far north, the seasons can be exaggerated, and the cold wind can be ruthless. Though storms are rare here, when they come, travel is perilous. Each day has a 10% chance of storm. If one rolls in, triple SUPPLY use, and make HARD rolls to scout, navigate, or hunker down and find shelter. A failed roll can leave you lost, captured, or facing the wall. • Off Limits: The entire Kingdom of Thushum is forbidden to all but the goblin folk who have taken the vow of loyalty. Intruders will be taken to the great hall, to be judged by Queen Knyfe. • Great Wall: Besides the Guud Peaks, the land border of Thushum is penned by a massive stone wall. It is patrolled at all hours, and has no gate. • Barrows: Goblins here make their homes in brick huts and long houses on timber stilts or lodged in cliffsides. These structures are tough, with few windows, and highly defensible. • A Little Known Folk: Despite common belief, the Thushum are a noble, stout hearted, and good people. They have a rich oral history which predates most written language, and stand for all that is best in life. DANGERS TO DARE • The Thumush: Not all who call Thushum home take the sacred vow. These outcasts succumb to the craven spirit that has given goblin folk their evil reputation. For this, they are cast out. Some have yet to leave, and hide in the countryside laying in wait for the unwary. • Snogres: The blood enemy of goblins has always been ogres. No where is this feud worse than here, where high mountain ogres refuse to abandon their ancestral fortress high in the peaks. Their true clan name is Throg-Ungut, but the Thushum simply call them Snogres. They hate this. • Stone Flimes: Like all flime colonies, this one has continued to multiply against all the Thushum efforts. In fact, this threat is reaching critical mass, as the troublesome little buggers can now be found in almost every corner of the realm. • Sink Holes: As the flimes continue to devour the bedrock of Thushum, the upper layers of that land has become riddled with tunnels and drop-offs into deep places. To make things worse, the Thumush have begun massing down there. 47

ALFHEIM DETAILS TO DISCOVER • A malfunctioning wooden contraption still shooting arrows and swinging floppy swords at random • An open sinkhole. Far below, a series of campfires are smoldering in the dim • An abandoned quarry site, where huge blocks were once removed, now occupied by flimes • A goblin skeleton, adorned with rare white gold jewelry and a gem-crusted battle axe • A pile of pelts and timbers near a road, some charred • A tremendous outdoor forge. A thatch hut nearby glows from within • 3 goblin helmets, rusted by intact • An odd, super-heavy metal cube covered in goblin markings • A terribly unkempt rope bridge over a gorge • Dozens of gable posts and lodgepoles stacked as if ready to build a home • An iron-banded lock box filled with steaks, dried meat and roasted fish • A goblin battle horn among long-decaying bones and broken spears, far from any road FRIENDS AND FELLOWSHIP • Queen Knyfe, Lady of Thushum: Ever has Thushum been ruled by a woman, and Knyfe is one of the all-time greatest warriors, heroes, and queens they have known. • Sir Thaileon: At Knyfe’s side stands a knight of impeccable courage and virtue. He commands the Thushum armies, and is known to love a night of green gar, here called Verdangarst. • Priestess of Roses: The worship of the god called Guud is omnipresent here, and this is their leader. • Dockmaster Quinn: The great trading ports on Northern Thushum are of legend. They are managed, and kept safe by this one-eyed human, who was raised by the Thushum from birth. • The Grillmasters: A council of goblins runs the monthly feast. They are master chefs and master drinkers. WORKING THE WALL • There is a never ending demand for soldiers and sell-swords to guard the massive wall. There is more than 40 miles of wall to patrol, maintain, and repair. This work employs fully half of the Thushum people. They only employ outsiders after years of residence. This patrol is also sleepy work, though as the wall is constantly assailed by snogres and the glory-seeking hordes of Skar. DUNGEONS TO DELVE • The Coal Beds: Beneath the Great Grill in the northwest of Thushum, there is a huge cavity in the earth that has filled, over the centuries, with the coals from above. A small crew of Thushum maintain the cavern, but it has gone too deep, reaching the strange depths where crystal worms dwell. Faced with an expedition to retrieve the YOG those worms feed on, the Thushum seek adventurers up to the deadly challenge. • Teeth of Guud: The jagged rocks off the coast of Thushum have claimed many ships. Not only are these spires haunted by the ghosts of the doomed, many great treasure holds have sunken there, ripe for the taking. • Frostfall Prison: The snogres keep many Thushum prisoner as a food source. Desperate not only to attack, but to free the prisoners, Queen Knyfe has issued a king’s ransom for any one who can crack the prison and rescue the doomed there. • The Thumush Undercroft: Outcast goblins have fortified a huge underground labyrinth below the pine woods, hoping to launch a siege on Thushum City when they are at full strength. Win the adoration of the realm by finding, infiltrating, and destroying them all. Rumor has it, though, they have made a sinister alliance with other creatures in the deep. 48

ALFHEIM SKAR, REALM OF BEASTS “Myriads of wild things roam the wide plains and plateaus of Skar, and they all want to eat you.”

LAY OF THE LAND • A Scoured Land: Vast, open spaces define this place. So vast are these plains, any journey with less than 10 SUPPLY is all but doomed. In the furthest, loneliest reaches, strange lights have been seen in the endless sky. • Towering Buttes: Seven colossal buttes define the horizons of the endless steppe. Local people call them the ‘Seven Gods.’ The largest are 10,000 feet high, their table-flat tops etched with gigantic lines and shapes. The nature of these is unknown. Either way, the buttes must be circumnavigated, for their sheer walls are unclimbable in most places. • High Desert: Most of Skar is cactus, grass, and low scrub. There is almost no water here. At night, the temperature drops terribly. This diversity makes Skar home to all kinds of shrewd predators, and wildly different are their kinds by day or night. • Old Bones: In the southwest of Skar, giant Drakes from primordial times fell to ruin. Their bones still tower over those haunted lands in the moonlight, and few dare go there. • Breath of the World: Wind. There is a ceaseless, wild gale that blows here. It drives some mad, pushes men from cliff edges, or topples wagons on frigid nights. Each day here, there is a 25% chance of a cataclysmic wind storm, which can wreak havoc on any living thing without stone shelter. 49

ALFHEIM DANGERS TO DARE • Dire Predators: All manner of giant beast prowl these lands. Some legends say the nomads even control some of the monsters, but mostly local folk are preyed upon as much as explorers and adventurers. Species range from giant buzzards and eagles to lions, sabretooths, cave bears, vipers and even crocodiles. • Skar Nomads: Two tribes of nomadic warriors call this place home. They are blood-enemies of each other, vowing to kill each other to the last child. It is unclear if either is a force of good or evil. They know only hate. The two tribes are called Canus and Herat. • Outsiders: Skar is visited, for reasons unknown, by a group of outsiders piloting a WARP SHELL. Their agenda is a mystery, but they have been known to vaporize, pursue, or entrap various creatures. • The Arden Company: Banished centuries ago from their home in what is now called Englemoor, these knights roam forever on the steppes, between life and death. They still believe themselves on a holy quest. Treat as 20-50 Commanders, Priests, and Blades with 10 points of STATS each. • The Last Colossus: The only colossus still up and moving has been spotted plodding across the plains at night. These monsters destroy all they encounter, as is their nature. DETAILS TO DISCOVER • A mile-long straight line etched into solid rock, its edges flawlessly tooled • The buzzard-cleaned skeleton of a massive lion, bigger than a horse • The blood-spattered wreckage of a doomed caravan, freshly destroyed. No bodies are found • A strange metallic object lodged in a small crater. Roll for WARP SHELL LOOT • An ancient standing pole of animal gods or totem creatures, facing due east • A makeshift windmill, abandoned • A stretch of fence, almost 20 miles long, from a long lost ranch or farm • A stand of towering saguaro cactus, as dense as a patch of forest • A lonely grave, marked with the forbidden symbol of Ardenmoor • A cluster of enormous feathers, each more than 8 feet long • A lost small folk child, filthy and forgotten, who cannot speak • A mud hut, occupied by garrison keepers of one or the other tribe FRIENDS AND FELLOWSHIP • Brimoire Steelhearted: A great legend walks these plains, wearing a horned helmet, wolf-head pauldrons, and a cape of great eagle feathers. On a direhorn she rides, and folk say she is guardian of all that calls this place home. Exactly who or what she is unknown. • The Druids of Needle Rock: In Western Skar, great precarious spires of sandstone stand against the wind. In a series of cliff dwelling and rope-bridges dwell a group of druids. They are friend to all, and work to find a peace between the Canus and Herat ... someday. • The Nuzka: Some say they are not real, but there is a group of small folk who work to maintain and restore the great etched lines in this vast place. They move in teams of three, with stone tools to hone and keep prefect the ancient lines. • Ezra Muntz: One man from the south has managed to survive here, a hillman named Muntz. Once a year he returns to the Greenway with a catch of direhorn, plains mares, and giant ostrich. These the folk of Nurin make mounts and breed for war steeds.

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ALFHEIM DUNGEONS TO DELVE • Tower of Lokus: Once the hardened core of a massive volcano, this striated tower now houses a complex base used by outsiders from another world. Here they service their starfaring ships, develop their strange plans, and hold their countless specimens for study. • Ruins of Skrix: A serpent-city of old still stands here. It is a feared, hated place, long abandoned. Like so many of their enclaves, though, movement has been sighted there recently, especially by night. What is the strange green glow in that black-windowed hell, and what doom lies in store if none dare its shadows? • Lizard Rock: Both the Canus and Herat claim credit for carving this huge monument. Whoever is right, the rock conceals a labyrinth of tunnels and chambers that, some say, reaches to very hollow core of Urth. Few dare its heights, for it is home to all manner of giant reptiles. • Dur Olo: An Olo settlement lies within Skar borders. Both nations tolerate this arrangement for the dire duty of that frozen shore: to hold watch on the evil island of Crask. It is a town of soldiers, sparse accomodations, and a grim tone. Never has Crask moved without an alert from these dire watchmen, and they take a fierce pride in their charge. Along that ice-bashed shore a series of hollows is said to stretch under the channel all the way to the forbidden island. This is unconfirmed.



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ALFHEIM DURADIN, FORTRESS OF DWARF KIND “A great and sprawling land, that stands as the indomitable capitol of all the kingdoms of Alfheim.”

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ALFHEIM LAY OF THE LAND • Land of Many Climes: So vast is Duradin, it ranges from the frigid north to the warm, arid south coast. Much of its cold is due to altitude rather than latitude, as most of the realm is near tree line. Some snows even last through the summer, especially in the heights around Dur Moro. Travelers here should expect a range of conditions that can be gleaned by their approximation to other kingdoms. • The Molten Mountains: The borderlands due west of Ramthas are sundered by a range of huge, conical, volcanic mountains. These titans are still active, and choke the region in smog, heat and ash. Travel there is perilous and requires some form of protection from heat and toxic smoke. • A Mighty City: Ramthas Rock is a wonder of Alfheim. An entire city, almost as big as Grey, hewn form one massive outcrop of solid rock. This is the seat of dwarf culture, and was once home to King Akram in his time. Many spend their entire lives there, and ever do evil eyes look on its splendor with envy. • Cold Hills: In the northeast, the altitude is so high that the land is snow-locked. These are the foot-lands of Gem Glacier to the north. Travel here should be treated as if exploring Ire. • The Wall of Duros-Tem: The largest known structure in all the world. This monster is 80 miles long and 1,000 feet tall in places. All navigation up, over or through is HARD. Here the ancient elves rallied their greatest attack, and failed to break the lines of the Falcon King. The battlefield west of the wall is a terrible, dead place that still echoes with the din of war. • The Underkingdom: The great door of Dur Moro is the entrance to the dwarven realm. No one knows how far and wide these barrows spread, but it is vast. Non-dwarves will find travel there challenging, 2 SUPPLY per day, and all navigation and scouting HARD. • Endless Coast: The only vulnerable section of Duradin is its vast coastlines. Dwarves are not masterful ship-makers, and so they defend these great cliff walls with a series of ingenious lighthouses. • The Amber Grove: Somewhere in the far South of Duradin is an opening so deep, it reaches the hollow center of Urth, or so legend tells. These rumors speak of a magical aspen growth somewhere down there that holds the life force of all the world in its delicate roots. • The Duros Road: From the towering Sword Gate all the way to Olo’s border, there are well-kept roads. Staying to these makes travel pleasant, and wandering merchants and smiths may be encountered along its length.



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ALFHEIM DANGERS TO DARE • All Manner of Monster: Covering so much territory, Duradin contains every monster known in Alfheim, and some yet to be documented. Next to Skar, this realm is a destination for loremasters who seek to map all the world’s oddities. • The Dead: There is a sad truth behind the dwarven mirth of Duradin. Many wars have been fought here, and the countless fallen do not all rest. A curse lay upon the ancestral battlegrounds, and those who have died there, unless consecrated, tend to rise. These undead are often armored soldiers, archers, or even cavalry on skeletal mounts. • Ant Men: The Molten Mountains are teeming with ant men, who mostly mind their own business. Every few decades, though, they dare to expand their borders. • Athic Rebels: The seafaring smugglers of the south have been trying to break free of Duradin rule for generations. Having failed so far, they settle for terrorizing travelers and sabotaging roads. • Hill Demons of Xhil: The entities that follow Xhil ‘Ul have found their way into the north of Duradin. These are squid-faced spellweavers, misshapen deep delvers, and worse. It is unknown what gives them the power to stave off the dwarves, but they have proven unkillable so far. • Plague of Wolves: All across Duradin, a type of supernatural wolf pack can be found. They are all drawn south, always seeking the Amber Grove for reasons not totally understood. Regardless, there seem to be an unlimited population. They feed on shadows and form from black smoke on moonless nights. Every few years, they gather in great numbers, and all the armies of Alfheim must unite to drive them back.

DETAILS TO DISCOVER • A broken warhammer, gouged with fang marks of unusual size • A cask half-full of red gar • Near a road, a broken shipping crate. White iron cheese and loaves of Sfengart bread scattered everywhere • The drying corpse of an ant man, still sporting war equipment • A rune-etched translation stone, used for decoding architectural carvings • A stone-ringed exhaust port with some chamber of machinery far below • A lonely, thin red banner whipping in a cold breeze • An abandoned 4-wheel cart, empty, but stuck in deep mud ruts • An angry heard of wild turkeys • A cryptic, brass-capped navigation marker spiked into solid rock • A group of Ramthas soldiers, enjoying gar and singing songs of the good ol’ days 54

ALFHEIM FRIENDS AND FELLOWSHIP • Yababa, Keeper of the Coins: In the mountains near the East Colossus, a tiny old woman wanders the sparse pines. She lures travelers with a bounty of coins, but these coins are the souls of men, and come with a terrible price. Despite this grim truth, she has been known to aid the greatest kings and lowest slaves, and her exact purpose and agenda remain a mystery. • Boot Myron: A little-known champion of King Akram is Boot Myron, who has ruled as a steward of the throne of Duradin for many years. Boot has the strange distinction of being half deep delver, and so has become a bridge between the peoples of the above and below. This has made Duradin mighty, but some dissent exists on both sides, believing there can never be such a peace. • Gilga and the Riders of Valhal: A troop of female knights roam Duradin, fighting back the forces of evil. They bend the knee to no one, and answer only to Thoor himself. Their leader is Gilga, a blonde-braided dwarf woman that stands as a folk hero for all the people of the east. • Hugh: Of the relentless ant men, there is a small enclave that believes a peace can be achieved. Their leader is called Hugh. He is considered a traitor to his kind, but has proven his heroic worth to both sides over the years. DUNGEONS TO DELVE • Dur Moro: Beyond the massive doors, an under-realm sprawls out, almost as large as the surface of Duradin. It is a vast place of blocky tunnels, forgotten crypts and towering halls. Here are stored great dwarvish artifacts, burials of ancestral kings, and forbidden places where serpent men pry at the world of the living. • The Molten Cathedral: One reason for the endless war with the ant men is their taking of this mighty tower at the heart of the Molten Mountains. Here, a god-forge rests, and is the only way to create weapons and armor as powerful as Angrid the Lawgiver. This is an insufferable affront to Dwarves. Ever do they seek to reclaim the cathedral, but the ant men have fought them back so far. • Udin’s Rest: There is a holy place where it is said the gods rest. This temple exists in a sort of tear between times and places, vibrating between the stars forever. Its location changes each solstice, and no one has ever explored its wonders and lived to tell of it. • The Amber Grove: The heart of life in Alfheim is sustained by these magical trees, hovering impossibly at the hollow center of Urth. Every 1,000 years, a sickness comes on this grove of aspens, and shadow wolves spread out across the land. If the grove is not tended, and cleansed, it could spell the doom of all.



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ALFHEIM OLO, A FROZEN HELL “None dare the ice hells of Olo, for they are the dead realm of Manac, and grave to any who dare the snows.”

LAY OF THE LAND • Frozen Solid: Stranded travelers can freeze to death on cold nights. Spend 2 SUPPLIES per day traveling. • Gem Glacier: Impassable even by foot without some means of flight. • Castle Manac: The walled realm of the defiler. Ghosts still serve the dark wizard here, and SPELLS make lost even the best scouts. • Salt Frost: All the coastal areas here have a frozen, salty soil. For each day there, DESTROY one item, weapon, or piece of armor per traveler. • Plains of YOG: Manac built his fortress here to harvest the plentiful YOG growing from the ice. DANGERS TO DARE • Snow Orcs: Most of Olo is held by vying tribes of snow orcs. Some are nomadic, some dwelling in stone fortresses or timber garrisons. They unify only in groups of 50 to 100, and their feuds go back centuries. Only Manac has held them at bay. • Ghosts of Manac: In the oft-retold battle in the Salt Frost, where Fenrir the Grey Wolf was lost, Manac cast a powerful spell that cloned his life force 1,000 fold. Though defeated, the echoes of those duplicates still wander the wastes here, and are as dangerous as the original Dark Lord. • Ice Drakes: The inaccessible vistas of Gem Glacier are home to three ancient drakes. These are called Hydranax, Suros, and Garudan. Each seems to have its own agenda, but none abide the presence of lesser creatures who do not serve as slaves or devotees. • Unstable Time: The dabblings of Kazgat the time wizard have created a ripple effect across Olo. Time itself vibrates and even tears in places. When unto these tears lead is never certain. • Snow Flimes: No where in Alfheim are the snow flimes worse than on these wind swept slopes. They have been allowed to reproduce unchecked, and in places they swarm so thick they have turned to eat one another. Woe unto any traveler who encounters such a horror, for they are ravenous. 56

ALFHEIM DETAILS TO DISCOVER • A ruby amulet frozen in a glass-clear block of ice • A spiral vortex of skeletons frozen in a bluish ice lake, all reaching upward from the dim • The wreckage of a nomadic tent, strewn by wind, even the iron center pole bent by some great force • A flickering rip in time itself, appearing and disappearing • A seemingly bottomless fissure, lined on both sides by small, man-cut caverns • A small growth of YOG crystals growing out of the ice • A corroded set of plate armor with the mark of Ramthas • A snow orc Banner atop a rocky outcrop • An oddly snow-free swath of terrain, leading up to a steam-belching cavern • The flesh-cleaned skeleton of a wooly direhorn. It has been eaten by something very, very big • A road sign indicating the route to Olo FRIENDS AND FELLOWSHIP • Kazgat the Time Wizard: In a canvas tent somewhere near the glaciers, dwells one of the mightiest wizards in Alfheim. He has been known to aid heroes and wanderers, but he is also a bit mad. His mind has become a tangle of timelines and dimensions, but he still makes a fine mint tea. • Fort Anvil: A cave in northern Olo has been fit with timber barricades and three catapult. This alliance of dwarves and men hold fast against the orcs and ghosts of Olo. To do so, they keep a 24 hour vigil. Many believe it is only a matter of time before the drakes destroy them. • The Roadkeepers: Patrols from Fort Anvil keep the roads open here. They can be flagged down to aid any traveler. They are stout, selfless warriors sworn to a life of service in this forbidding place. Encounter 2-5 at any one time. • Hilga the Hammer: In the pine forests of Olo, there is a legend of a mighty hunter. A solitary dwarven shieldmaiden with a zest for life and a talent for survival. The location of her cabin is unknown, but those who have met her tell tall tales of her hospitality, heroism, and incredible bravery.



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ALFHEIM DUNGEONS TO DELVE • Castle Manac: Imagine the secrets that must lay hidden in that lifeless place! Manac’s basalt fortress, called by some The Red Keep, has lay silent for decades. A terrible storm of traps and wonders await those heroes who finally crack its doors. • Drake Hollow: Somewhere in Gem Glacier, the ice drakes keep their lair. Here also, according to legend, is the frigid orrery of those mighty beasts. What fool would dare such a place? • YOG Island: Just East of the YOG fields so carefully cultivated by Manac, a small island sits in the ice. Kazgat has recorded a brilliant gleam of crystal caverns below that place, but it remains unexplored. • The Blue Abyss: At Olo’s center is a mind-defying chasm. Its depths are frozen solid, and, some say, home to a forgotten race of frost giants from another world. These are simply rumors. To even verify the story would require a 2 mile descent down sheer ice walls into the darkness.



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ALFHEIM CRASK, WORLD’S END “Here is your place to create. Is it an evil stronghold? A last bastion of good? A dimensional fold or climatic anomaly? All doors are open.”

LAY OF THE LAND • Travel Conditions: Devise one key detail that affects travel here, in terms of peril, SUPPLY cost, or simply flavor. • A Landmark: Besides the castle, what singular feature warrants investigation or avoidance? Is it natural or the work of mortals? Immortals? • A Mystery: Set up a loose end. You don’t need to know its outcome, only its introduction. Dream outside the norm, and dare heroes to unravel the truth someday. • An Obstacle: Designate one peril intrinsic in this location that makes exploration exciting, difficult, or actively prevented.

DANGERS TO DARE • Creatures: Create or choose a species that prowls or hunts here, posing deadly threat to any intruders. The creatures should fit the LAY OF THE LAND, and reinforce the mood and tone you are building in Crask. Those who go here should dread encountering these beasts, and expect them to leap out at every corner. • Monstrosities: A creature or two? No problem. This thing however, could destroy an entire party. This is a giant thing, an invisible thing, or an evil army. Escalate the danger 10 fold with this danger, but make it less likely to appear. • Characters: Besides beasts and terrors, what folk call this place their own, and suffer no intrusion? A tribe of warriors? A sect of evil cannibals? A brotherhood of witch-hunters? Again, use these people to reinforce the underlying feeling, story, or theme of the location as a whole. • Perilous Events: When daring the outer reaches of the world, terrible things are bound to happen. Imagine a calamity that would occur here: a frozen tidal surge? Eruptions of scalding steam? Poison fog from deep space? To get more specific, designate a likelihood or die roll to check for the event’s occurrence. • The Unknown: Devise a hint or clue that has no confirmation. Not only is it still unknown, it is deadly. This dares your heroes to find the truth without being destroyed by it.

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ALFHEIM DETAILS TO DISCOVER • Try listing three or four things that can be found lying around. Just right there on the ground • Lay a breadcrumb. Whatever the coolest idea is in your region, leave a clue that leads to it • Nothing useless. Don’t list any detail here that doesn’t have to with something. Just peppering bits of information or objects in the area only clutters the theme FRIENDS AND FELLOWSHIP • Even in the darkest lands, there are good folk that welcome travelers, aid the downtrodden, and resist the evil forces of their home. They can serve as merchants, combat relief, shelter, or story motivators. • Someone Magnanimous: Add a figure of royalty, leadership, or high station to serve as a sort of representative for the location you’re visualizing. • Someone Lowly: Add a friendly character who has very little, and is barely getting by in the hardships of this area. How can you help them? • Someone with a Quest: An errand of heroic proportions often begins with a single clue or call for aid. Picture one person in your region who holds such an important task. • Someone Fun: It’s always good to have a few bright-hearted folk about, to remind heroes what they’re fighting for. These are the best of us, and stay happy and cheerful even in dark times.



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ALFHEIM

DUNGEONS TO DELVE • First, devise four names that suggest doom, mystery, adventure or treasure. Don’t worry about any of the details. A simple name is all you need. Make it fit the area’s theme, and load it with ominous suggestion. • For each dungeon, it can help to visualize a brief description by picturing a single word that captures your idea. Get this single word in your head, then start inventing descriptive tidbits that reinforce that word. Examples could be words like frozen, dark, unstable, overgrown, ancient, or inhuman. • A Natural Wonder: One of your dungeons can be a great cavern, mountain, or other feature. Some force has created a great hollow, and wonders await deep within. • A Fortress of Evil: The classic way to build dungeon ideas is to house a great evil in a series of traps and hazards. Heroes dare these halls to confront the vile presence. Count on it. • A Beast’s Lair: Some great dungeons are tunnels and chambers dug or occupied by terrible predators, monsters or beasts. They guard treasures, terrify innocents, or must simply be destroyed. When building such a place, employ curving tunnels, jagged cavities, and bone-strewn shadows. THE WHOLE TRUTH • When creating new areas, or filling in the adventures and details in Crask, keep track of the full story. This means the region’s stories and secrets in totality. A good place for this is your GM’s journal. With the whole truth at your side, you’ll be able to answer every player question, improvise encounters, invent travel mechanics, or reveal shocking facts at the right moment. It isn’t about writing everything, it’s about knowing the root of what’s going on so you can freely create a new story with your group. 61

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WARP SHELL

The grav anchor snapped, and the ion drive spun into deep space. We were marooned in the vapor, two more ghosts to drift through The Wake. That’s when we found out what a WARP SHELL can really do.

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WARP SHELL

ONE-SHOT HEAVEN WARP SHELL is purpose-built to run one-off adventures, each wildly different from the last. The entire universe is at your disposal! A trek across the ice, a race in hypercars, a gunfight in the jungle ... all with the same cast of characters, or new ones every night!

TRAVEL BIG, FIGHT SMALL

In general, the limitless dimensions and timestreams of WARP SHELL can be daunting at first. Solve this by allowing massive travel through space and time, but each peril or mission the players face is very tight or small scale. This keeps you jumping from world to world for epic variety, or a great rhythm for running For this reason, don’t worry about economy, SUPPLIES, one-offs, but keeps each adventure detailed, human, COIN, or really any mundane elements of life. A WARP and comprehensible. SHELL crew has the details covered, they have bigger matters to attend to. I see what you’re thinking: No solar-system scale supercruiser battles? No planetary war? Sure! Include these If you’re new to running one-off adventures, just keep elements, but place the heroes in a single supercruiser, it simple! Three encounters, a twist in the middle, and working to disable a specific doomsday weapon. Plana big cataclysmic end works every time. Let players ex- ets may make war, but assassins must end them. Take plore the crazy LOOT, CLASSES, and BIO-FORMS freely! the huge and zoom in to the tiny. 64

WARP SHELL INTRODUCTION Eons beyond the swords and kings of Alfheim, in a universe crumbling under the awful appetite of a god-like being called The Devourer, those who survive desperately search for some hope to stave off the end of all things. It is an age of spacefaring folk, titanic cataclysm, great and ancient starships, and interstellar cultures laid low. As an RPG and storytelling setting, WARP SHELL is a bit different from other brands of science fiction. It is inspired by the sci-fi of Isaac Asimov, Transformers, Douglas Adams, Silver Surfer and Larry Niven. It is a cosmos-spanning tone, including all times and dimensions. Deep space objects and long-declined stellar cultures dot the stories. On this operatic backdrop, larger-than-life struggles fight back oblivion, and heroes are made. Here are a few key themes to reinforce during your campaigns and adventures that can help to capture this unique tone. • WHERE ARE WE, WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE? Every adventure in WARP SHELL should start with this mysterious arrival, a cosmic purpose, and staggering revelations. • SCALE BEYOND NIGHTMARE. Always include massive scale in your descriptions, and remind the players how giant, how ancient this universe is. • STATISTICAL AND MECHANICAL EXAGGERATION. With all the tech and cosmic phenomena in this setting, be ready for your game to have more varied, more ‘crazy’ variation in damage, movement, and other elements of play. Embrace it! • DURANIUM. This indestructible material gives you, the GM, a great device. Players can’t smash it! They have to think around it. Use this as a puzzle-driving trope. • THE MAGIC OF HIGH TECH. In WARP SHELL, you have two sources of wonder to build monsters and characters: magic and technology. Be free with your use of tech as a mysterious, all-powerful, mercurial force! It’s so high tech, the two begin to blend… • WORLDS RATHER THAN REGIONS. In fantasy, heroes travel from region to region, but here you can leap from world to world, timeline to alternate dimension, and beyond. Keep the guessing, span the universe!



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LIMITING THE LIMITLESS INFINITE? Generally, the unique capabilities of a WARP SHELL negate common limitations of distance or speed. Heroes can travel anywhere, in an instant. This gives your world a new freedom, but also asks your creativity in comprehending and using space and distance in adventures. No matter how far they travel in space or time, always come back to the mystery of a WARP SHELL to keep things interesting, impose limits, and force hard choices. Here are two key methods to so.

WARP SHELL INTELLIGENCE As a living thing with an incomprehensible mind, a WARP SHELL cannot be directly piloted. Systems can be repaired, weapons activated, landing craft launched and the like, but only the WARP SHELL itself can utilize its drive system. The crew never knows where they’ll appear next, how far in space or time, and this can make a powerful tool for a creative GM.

YOG: FUEL OF THE COSMOS WARP SHELLS consume YOG crystals to function. This fundamental need for fuel can lead to all kinds of adventures and tight spots. Here are a few examples. • Fuel Spent by Deep Warp: Traveling immense distance in time or space can expend every splinter of YOG onboard. The WARP SHELL may tumble through space, crash land, go adrift, or be found by space salvagers. Either way, some new fragments of YOG crystal must be installed to reactivate the ship. • YOG Damaged: Whether by attack, asteroid impact, or darkstar emission, a damaged YOG drive core will cripple a WARP SHELL. This can be worked on with improvised tools, but a space dock is the only way to get a reliable fix. This can be expensive, and take days or weeks to complete. • Unstable Power Core: Using improvised tech, pirated parts or low-grade YOG crystal can introduce unpredictable variables into a WARP SHELL’s functions. This can make for some unexpected twists and perils in space. • Dimensional Fold: Pushing a WARP SHELL too hard, or being exposed to extreme energy fields can cause a dimensional fold. This will deposit the craft in a parallel universe, where all kinds of new possibilities and adventures may await ... one more way to fit any kind of adventure into your campaign. 66

THE WARP SHELL CREW CHOSEN BY THE SHELL The ICRPG CORE Set includes a complete listing of CLASSES, WEAPONS and LOOT for WARP SHELL. To supplement that listing, presented here are four unique WARP SHELL crews. Recall that WARP SHELL spacecraft select their crews through an ancient ritual on Xevos. This process can result in interesting team dynamics that can lend unique tone to a WARP SHELL storyline.

CREW 1: EXPLORERS Explorers are not soldiers, or killers. They set out to CHART the cosmos, not dominate it. This distinction should give you the key direction to set an Explorers campaign apart. Also consider using more oddball character concepts, and avoiding badass stereotypes. Examples could include an Xill Fragment, a Psyker Ghost, or a Mecha Outsider. These oddballs search not only for the truth of the cosmos, but their place in it.

gifted individuals who have taken a solemn oath to serve a higher purpose in very specific ways. Rather than spanning the cosmos in their efforts, they delve into a series of 2 or 3 worlds to save a monarch, preserve an ancient tradition, or stop a ravaging horde one eye-to-eye fight at a time. The characters here recreate fantasy classics: a Geno Gunner who only uses bows, a Reptoid Tank with a battle axe, or a diminutive Mecha Fragment that can barely understand her power. A good example of a Sworn campaign could be using a tectura as a final, supreme enemy. The crew must uncover, locate, explore and slay a living deep space dungeon to preserve the ancient life ways of a forgotten world. The scope is small, the gravity high, and the poetry thick.

CREW 4: BOLTS

WARP SHELL takes place in a very very old universe. A way to add peril and imminence to an Explorers Cam- Taking this even further, you can imagine a cosmos paign might be to warp this crew to some remote, un- largely devoid of life, where machines are almost all known sector of deep space. Not only must they find a that is left. Enter on this setting the Bolts crew, a team way home, but survive what dwells beyond the known. of mecha playing out ancient orders despite the doom of all. Their goal: locate and preserve life. Of course, CREW 2: WARMASTERS OF XEVOS the more they search, the more human they become, As a counterpoint to the Explorers model, Warmasters and the fun of emergent life in mechanical form takes are trained destroyers with a deadly, unified purpose. root. They are sent to annihilate, halt, or assist titanic galactic forces with raw firepower. In many ways this cam- To build characters, go wild but with all mecha. The paign can be easier to write and run, as it flows from less magical they are the better, too, as they struggle one massive combat to the next, and the characters to understand how such a force was ever extent in the universe. have little turmoil with their station in life. Build a Warmaster crew with maxed out combat char- acters such as a Torton Tank, a Mecha Gunner, or a Rep- toid Blip. Combat drops, tanks, super weapons, bombs and doomsday weapons should be common themes.

CREW 3: THE SWORN The more sci fi is adapted to feel like fantasy, the more a GM can feel that familiar rhythm of travel, discovery, dungeon crawling and recovery. A crew suited to a fantasy-style campaign is The Sworn. These are uniquely 67

WARP SHELL ADVENTURES THE DARKSTAR PHENOMENON

ADVENTURE STARTERS Your vessel, a WARP SHELL, can’t accurately be called a ship. It is more a being or creature than a starship. It vanishes without sound into the dimension between, and there is no telling where or when it will appear. The WARP SHELLS have an innate sense of cosmic peril, and follow the trail of clues to super-scale dangers without error. The ship materializes again, in some new, unknown time and place. Here listed are several unique adventure starters. Choose one that fits your story or piques your interest. Choose randomly or find your favorite.



The Devourer destroys all it encounters, but each time it folds space it also creates. So massive is this entity, that when it enters warp a kind of cosmic tear is formed: a darkstar. These imploding clouds of negative energy pulse and flare with an unexplained mutagen-fusion wave. The waves reach beyond the inner galaxies, and most often go undetected by their victim races ... mistaken for the hatred of some unseen shadow-god. The malevolent emissions of darkstars have been blamed for countless horrors, and in some remote galaxies they are even worshipped as Death itself. They are the supreme, condensed form of the will to extinguish, the hunger that is never sated: what we call evil. For this reason, they stand at the climax of many campaigns of the righteous, and must be destroyed whenever found, no matter the cost. Roll 1D4, and pray you have the strength to resist the lightless mutagen glow of the Darkstar… 1: A HEXED WORLD Bathing in the infernal radiation of a nearby darkstar, the planetoid of Ferion is rotting away from within. It is a sickened world, choked in blackened vines and dead brambles. The oceans have stilled, filmed with slime and debris, and the clouds have burned away to a thin grey haze that never shifts. It is a world of muck, and flies, and wretched stillness. Here marks the grave of an entire people, for they are hexed by the endless evil of the darkstar. The Ferions were once a mighty, tower-building folk. The remnants of their spacefaring days litter the mud, and never-launched starships still point skyward on flight gantries. Wailing voices drift on the muggy breeze. A tiny few survivors still cling to life, and they have managed to call for help. The distress beacon is a cobbled mess of filth-caked wires and junk, but it works, and the signal reaches fold-space ... it reaches your crew.

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WARP SHELL ADVENTURES Here sticks float in weird geometric shapes, insects grow to hideous proportion, and always that black eye hovers in the twilight sky. They don’t fully realize it, but these people have been saturated in evil energy, and their minds are warped with demonic, homicidal urges that can no longer be held at bay. • The distress beacon is just a lure for prey • The Ferions don’t want to escape, they worship the darkstar • A final ritual is being planned to convert Ferion into a new, more powerful darkstar • The highest priests of this anti-faith are insectoids in black robes • The planet is hollow, filled with egg sacs • Some of the bigger insects can reach low orbit

3: GRAVITY STORM When scores of ships go missing in a deep space void, scouting probes reveal the appearance of a new darkstar. The WARP SHELL arrives there, amidst a massive 2: SUBSPACE NOMAD clutter of wreckage and smashed ships. This darkstar There is a darkstar called Nehbiru, somewhere in the emits powerful gravity waves, which have crushed a outer galaxies. It is unusual among its kind in two ways. few hundred starships into a mass of twisted steel and First, it seems to have a will of its own, and the ability death. But not all the victims here are innocent, for an to fold space. It wanders the universe in search of prey, evil purpose shrouds the chaos in gloom. worlds to consume, or souls to corrupt. Second, the anti-energy flaring from this lightless star is beyond cold. This darkstar was created by psyker zealots, developIt is an all-consuming freeze that reaches out through ing a new gravity weapon. When their creation flew space, encasing entire solar systems in ice. out of control, they were mostly killed, and the calamity began. Now they prowl the wrecks in power arWhere Nehbiru travels, woe and dread prophecies fol- mor, searching for the inverter coil that can make their low. It is believed to be a dark god by some. Silent and lightless god even more powerful. The same coil, in the uncaring for these concerns, it has now appeared near hands of skilled mechanic, could also reverse the gravithe Aster Cloud, a cluster of primitive mega-planets in- ty emissions, and crush the darkstar into nothing. habited by all manner of life. Nothing will survive this ice age. Something must be done. • The wreck is a labyrinth of tunnels and rooms in all directions • Aster 3 is already half-encased in ice • Gravity waves shift and amplify at intervals, chang• There, an old shaman knows a mighty secret... ing orientation, and inflicting crushing weight • A combination of planetary elements can cause a • The inverter coil is detectable, but moving as sun-flare big enough to fight the freeze psykers try to activate it • Each element, three in all, can be found on Aster • A geno survivor, Skip, knows his way around the mega-planets in a mini-adventure tunnels • Gathering the elements will incite Nehbiru to at- • The gravity field has combined elements of wrecktack with a swarm of mutated minions age into a formless junk-monster • No matter the outcome, one WARP SHELL crew • The inverter coil must be retrofitted to an ion drive member will be mutated by the darkstar and fired to reverse the gravity waves 69

WARP SHELL ADVENTURES 4: MUTAGEN CLOUD Gods, the terrors that scream in the black ink of a darkstar! It was long ago, centuries at least, that the mutagen was first encountered. On Tezat, a torton ocean world. Here a darkstar drifted too close, and the Squag race was born. An entire planet mutated into hateful things! That is not the end of the story though. The Squags have become mad with lust. They wish to change their entire galaxy with a new mutagen-based weapon. It emits a cloud that can engulf a solar system, and it is moving toward Toatha, one of the last Torton home worlds. Locate and infiltrate the squag superstation, find the mutagen cloud weapon, and destroy it before the last of the torton species in twisted into squag slaves. squags are aquatic creatures, using water-filled helmets during space travel. Their ships are 70% water-filled compartments, so it will be no easy task. There is no telling what lurking death coils and swims in that massive ship. • The squag superstation is contained in a moon sized mass of water moving through space • The station is not only a weapon, but a complex used to conduct mutagen experiments • Encounter all manner of darkstar-mutated bioforms and monsters • Elude squag capture or be tested on! • Overload, steal, or sabotage the mutagen weapon in the station’s engine bay • Readouts throughout the station show Toatha getting closer by the minute

THE IMPERIUM REVIVAL

Occasional reports of Imperium ships, soldiers, zealots and loyals have been popping up in several systems. If they are indeed returning, it will mean another age of death and silence for countless worlds. Distant dread of The Devourer will be blotted out by the march of iron power armor, and the scorch of the Imperium heat ray. 1:ONE NASTY BASTARD On Kura, one of Kerrak’s many forested moons, a single Imperium Warlord in full Dragonhide power armor is holding the Zurin elders hostage. He is a one man fighting force, callsign Skull, demanding the ‘verse bear witness to their deaths. Little does he know, among these elders is Anna Frey, one of the oldest and most powerful of her kind, a being of pure good known as The Keeper of Trees. If she dies, the moons will wither, and the Zurin species will dwindle. The WARP SHELL appears near Kura, and comms light up with hails. On one side, the Zurin organize a raid, on the other, a ragtag band of Imperium loyals proclaims their incoming support. You’re right in the middle of the whole mess, as usual, and something’s got to give. • Skull is a ship-level war maker, with missiles, cutting beams, explosives, and force shields • When the loyals are approaching, use a timer for their landing/attack • Skull has no terms. If the loyalists can reach him, they will kill the elders and escape • The only landing zone on Kura is 3 miles from the hostage site, in a small settlement • The Zurin settlement are not warriors, but they do have some machinery • Shadow lashers prowl the forests

How many ages did we pine under the tyranny of the thousand Imperators and their mockery of law? For the good of all did they burn, and news of an Imperium resurgence is a pox on the cosmos. Nevertheless, rise they shall, and like unwanted ghosts haunt the descendants of their victims.

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WARP SHELL ADVENTURES 2:THE GOLDEN SPIRE In the height of the Imperium days, colossal, moving palaces glided through space carrying the Imperators and their terror troops in glass towers and silver domes. One of the super-ships has not been seen in an age ... until now. At the edge of the Imperium Belt, a golden spire has drawn two WARP SHELLS. Within, no robed Imperator commands, but the ship is manned by a legion of ghost armor.

• The Imperium WARP SHELL represents a dark future of endless war, if Xevos should yield • Two guerilla factions struggle in the elegant streets of Xevos: The Defiant and The Union • Only one senator can truly be trusted • The ransom signal was actually sent by the Imperium WARP SHELL, as a ruse to dominate Xevos • One villain stands to gain the most: Senator Insal, an old, cynical war monger • Inevitably, the heroes will face an evil WARP SHELL Driven by their immortal vow to fight forever, the and its crew ghosts press outward from the belt to retake the surrounding worlds, and pave the way for some unseen rise of elder powers. There are many entrances to the golden spire, and unknown perils within. No one has ever defiled such a power and lived to reveal its secrets. Find a way. • Treat the golden spire as a huge vertical dungeon • The ghosts have employed undead crewmen to man the various decks...and worse • Besides danger, this place holds plunder undreamed of • These types of ships are powered by the banned rune drive...a force of terrible unstable power • Weird reminders of the Imperium heyday are all about, but ancient and desolate • The captain has a worthy cause: to stop the Xill 3:HATCHET FIGHTERS OF XEVOS Yield, or be reduced to ash. This is the call of from an Imperium signal emanating from deep space. All WARP SHELLS are recalled, but the nature of the threat remains unclear. The Xevoisan senate breaks into a protracted debate, and tensions boil over when a saboteur bombs the high chamber. What will be the response to this deadly threat? Can a few WARP SHELL crews stop an all out civil war? What treachery hides behind all this? Just when things can’t get much worse, a WARP SHELL appears from the future, flying Imperium colors and demanding a royal welcome. As they come to land on Xevos 1, you and your crew are out of time.

4:FOR HONOR Marooned on a remote fragment world, you and your crew have only your rover and a week of supplies before death becomes unavoidable. The harsh volcanic landscape is relentless as it is lethal. Then, scans reveal that the planet is unstable. An Imperium mining AI has eaten the core hollow, and when it collapses it will destroy all life in the 12-planet system instantly. Faced with certain death, and one crew member who refuses to go along, the task remains. Do you have what it takes to fight back the mining machines and AI guards from centuries ago? • Even if the heroes stop the meltdown they’ll be killed in the blast • One crew member has gone stark mad, and will try to sabotage the mission in every way • Play out 7 encounters as the rover travels to the core, 1 per day, escalating in deadliness • The rover can be used as a combat vessel against the final machine enemy • Enemies include Mecha, magma constructs, and lots of environmental hazards • Receive a planet-to-planet transmission near the end thanking them for their sacrifice

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WARP SHELL ADVENTURES PLIGHT OF THE TORTONS

Detecting some subtle change in the life signs of these super-soldiers, the WARP SHELL arrives at Guro 3, readying a subsurface pod for you and the crew. Find the torton mecha, and hope they will join the fight against The Devourer.

The Devourer came, and the oceanic homeworlds of the tortons were destroyed. What few of their species remain are scattered across space, searching for some hope to stop the devastation. The wise of their kind hold dear an ancient prophecy, that on the day the De- • Guro 3 is inhabited by hostile sea creatures called furies who will fight any intruders vourer falls a shelled hero will stand tall, and reunite • There are 3 torton mecha, 1 of which has become their tattered folk. pure evil The turtle-people of Tortua are some of the very best • A few of the furies will defy their own people to help the crew, seeing the cosmic mission of us, and everywhere they go friendship follows. • In a final encounter, the fury king reveals his purIf one bio-form could lead the cosmos to freedom it pose: to keep the mecha here as prisoners could be them. • This adventure has a very flexible ending outcome, as the furies are not inherently evil Roll 1D4, and stand tall with your shelled brethren. • Consider using this story to add a player to your group, as a torton mecha 1: SECRETS OF THE SEA It is little known, but the tortons were technologically advanced. In an age long past, they had developed Mecha technology, even true AI. Some of these warriors chose dark paths, and so the program was scrapped, and the remaining mecha stored in a deep sea bunker on Guro 3, an oceanic mega-planet.





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WARP SHELL ADVENTURES 2:THE SHAMAN Among the zurin, only one torton has ever reached the station of Elder. She was called Delora. Sadly, she vanished years ago with no explanation. When your WARP SHELL materializes in deep space with nothing nearby, she reveals herself aboard. Before a word can be exchanged, you and your crew are cast into her inner world: a mindspace where she battles the will of The Devourer.

into warp, a powerful energy field nullifies its ion core. There is no escape from this forest world as long as that field is active. In moments, a booming, disembodied voice reveals itself. The planet is an ancient AI, and terribly lonely. Angry and despondent, it attacks the WARP SHELL to keep it new friends here forever. Find a way off this strange world before the AI’s turbulent emotions get everyone killed!

Delora is weakening, locked in mental war with The One. Decipher the baffling mindscape, assemble the dream-glyph, and hold tight to your sanity. In Delora’s mind both wonders and terrors coil out of control. Bring her back from the brink.

• The planet AI has large weapon and computer tech beneath the forest surface • The tractor-field is generated deep in the planet’s interior by a huge liquid reactor • Sloopy takes the form of aggressor, friend, sage, • The Dream Glyph is in three pieces, and must be and monster assembled to waken Delora • The AI can be reasoned with, but becomes more • The Devourer guards the pieces in Delora’s worst volatile over time memories and nightmares: The death of her father, • Tortons created this place ages ago, and the mainbeing lost in a dead forest as a child, and a crumframe contains vital cultural archives that were bebling vision of the doomed future lieved lost • Delora is both the enemy and the one to rescue ... • Once (if) the crew escapes, they must endure the she has become confused baleful despair of the lonely AI on comms • Use this adventure to see, communicate with, and confront The Devourer at last 4: OPERATION: ANVIL • All things: terrain, enemies, and even play mechan- A new colossa tectura has been located in the Bastion ics can shift and change here ... go nuts system. The tectura are a malevolent race of living lab• If the crew make it back alive, no time has passed, yrinths, who float through space acquiring debris and and they now know The Devourer’s location technology to add to their own mass. This newest one is massive: the size of a city, and drifting toward the 3: FISHING TRIP habitable moons of Bastion. Your WARP SHELL appears After a half dozen hair-raising missions in deep space, near the surreal creature, a sort of floating maze in your WARP SHELL needs a power down cycle and space, but immediately the situation escalates when a stops off on an uninhabited forest world. Stuck for a grav anchor takes hold, and begins to pull you into the few days, the crew decides to get some much needed tectura’s tangled passageways and bizarre shapes. rest in the lush pine-covered mountains. Before long, they encounter Ol’ Sloopy, an aged torton fisherman Crash land, or barely avoid it! Then face the inevitable: and hermit. Happy to see friendly faces, Sloopy leads the tectura must be slain. To kill such a thing, the colthe crew to his fishing hole. Everyone has a great time lider core must be located and destroyed before the fishing, drinking by the fire, and swimming in the pure numerous denizens of the structure overtake our hewaters. Soon the WARP SHELL signals a new emergen- roes. As a GM, here is a great setup for an innovative, cy, and summons the crew once more, but Sloopy can’t creepy, deep space dungeon! be found for a goodbye. As the SHELL begins to drop 73

WARP SHELL ADVENTURES • Tectura are constructed of living stone, and feature moving walls and folding floors • Weird, archaic tech can be found throughout the dungeon, and even used to communicate with it. This can be used to reveal that the tectura is being enslaved, or tractor-beamed in, by the Xill in the Bastion system • Creatures and room challenges can be anything that fits your group or campaign, from crystal skitters to krell battroids and beyond • A final reveal at the tectura’s core shows that a torton, altered beyond recognition by machinery and stone, is at the heart of the floating maze. She is a tormented, almost pitiful creature. Suddenly, the mission to destroy her is not clear-cut

• Many of the rebels are fanatics, driven mad by the caverns, but a few among them doubt the virtue of the plan, and seek to end the destruction • In a turn of hypocrisy, the rebel leader Azod, uses YOG crystals to power a gigantic krell battroid. This will be his doomsday weapon to breech the surface • Tremors and energy surges emanate from the planet’s core, causing cave-ins, strange crystal resonance, and other destructive effects • During the climactic conflict, it is learned that the Elders themselves started this rebellion to garner support for an increase in YOG harvest

2: CRUCIBLE OF THE ZURIN In the remote deserts of Xevos’ equatorial belt, an ancient zurin ruin houses a sect of zurin who use formless magic. Once every 30 years, they gather here for GHOSTS OF XEVOS a ceremony of power, and to plan their next wave of The WARP SHELL home world is much more than it objectives. It is uncovered that an assassin has found seems, plagued by a dark past, and facing a grim fu- the temple, and plans to eliminate the key members of ture. There’s something very poetic about running ad- the powerful sect. You and your company are sent to ventures on the home world, when an entire universe stop them. Your reward? A glimpse at the incredible, awaits. Poetic or not, there is much to be done here, secretive rites of formless magic. and even more to uncover, for no place has more se• The zurin have complex ideology, and are not simcrets than the planet of elders. ply good or evil. It is complicated Like so many things in the cosmos, Xevos has many • The assassin is a xill Ghost called Curas, who is convinced the zurin are building some dire plot against sides, many layers. On their shoulders rests the most Xevos terrible guilt, and the only hope of its absolution. • A secret chamber reveals that these zurin in fact worship The Devourer, and plan to blast it with a Roll 1D4, and enter the hollow planet... beam of power, hastening its destruction • A solar convergence marks the window for this cer1: THE CRYSTAL CAVERNS emony, and the heroes have only 2 days to stop it Xevos houses a bounty of YOG crystals, deep below the surface. This power helped develop Xevosian technology, but at a dire price: YOG crystals only form as they Use this adventure to lighten up the combat load, and delve more into the intricacies of power in the cosmos, consume molten stone and metal. who controls it and why. Could the zurin have good Sent to investigate instability in the planetary core, the cause to cast this great spell on The Devourer? Could heroes encounter a series of krell battroids, destroy- Curas be the deceiver? Is there any limit to formless ing the crystal formations. These battroids are run by a magic? radical group of rebels, who plan to bring the Xevosian civilization to its knees, and, in their minds, save the planet. 74

WARP SHELL ADVENTURES 3: TORTURED SOULS Where did the WARP SHELLS really come from? A garbled transmission begging for help, in binary language, is discovered as part of a Xevosian cover up. Why are they hiding this transmission? The heroes track it to its source, discovering the terrible answers they never imagined: The WARP SHELLS were once the noblest of creatures on Xevos, enslaved by the psyker-seeded humanoids who rule there today. These majestic creatures, huge arthropods, are subjected to a tortuous process of mechanization and augmentation in the hollow depths, and transformed into the sentient ships known across the universe.

• The WARP SHELL ‘factory’ is guarded by smaller scale creatures created in a similar fashion ... mechanically augmented arthropods • Huge water tanks hold the WARP SHELLS in their natural form, one of them has died already • The ultimate threat here is a xevosian elder sent to stop the heroes ... a powerful, ancient Fragment called Faze • The WARP SHELLS can be released to freedom by a jump gate. For each one rescued before destroying the factory, grant a bonus MILESTONE REWARD to each hero • Destroying the factory can be accomplished by overloading the reactor via three shutdown termiFree the tortured creatures being transformed, free nals all of them if possible, and destroy the factories that • Consider the numerous and interesting consebuild ships on the agony of a once free species of wonquences of heroes defying their Xevos masters, drous beasts. Once the deed is done, incite the rage and ending the creation of WARP SHELLS forever and wrath of all Xevos itself...





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WARP SHELL ADVENTURES 4: SEED OF DOOM This adventure takes place centuries ago, and explores the origin of The Devourer. Go back to alter history. When a malfunctioning scout ship awakens an ancient, growing evil on a remote world, N 543, the Imperium sets its will against the dark power there, to no avail. Against an imperium edict barring rogue action, Xevos employs an independent ‘hunter’ called Z to end the threat. The evil seems neutralized, but Z is lost, and must be recovered to avert civil war in the wake of the imperial disgrace. Your crew is hired to find her, and bring her back undetected. N 543 is a complex hollow world harboring all kinds of energy-eating organisms. Chief among these is the proto-form of The Devourer, eager to break free of its cavern womb. As the heroes struggle to find and rescue Z, they uncover the darkest secret: that this place is a decommissioned imperium bio-weapons experiment gone terribly wrong. The stakes only go higher as the mission unfolds. Can the evil be contained? Can galactic war be averted? • Run this as classic dungeon crawl: tunnels, weird chambers, giant mutants, insectoid energy-eaters, lava pits and ammonia rain • The tunnels are short circuited by a system of matter-transport beams heroes can discover and use • The caverns were used by the ancient zurin long before the Imperium experiments, ruins, statues and LOOT caches reveal their distant presence • Z is a very powerful ally, with a relic-level power suit and weapons, but she is near death • Add 1-3 super-mutants as supreme challenges. These are creatures that were meant to be The Devourer, but failed to grow large and powerful enough • Encounter The Devourer itself in its early form, straining its bonds to explode out of N 543 and change history forever

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WARP SHELL ADVENTURES THE REPTOID THESIS

Help with what? The nomadic reptoids, a people called the Brinn, face extinction. Honor demands they hurl Exactly how the reptoid bio-form came to be is mostly themselves at the threat without hesitation, but there lost to time. My name is Voss, and I’ve decided to solve are few left, and the elemental entities that seem set this puzzle, perhaps in an attempt to restore the digni- to destroy their kind are unfazed. Find a way to stop ty and diversity that their kind deserves. Too long have the ice demons, and make safe the delicate future of they been treated like squags or ravagers. The reptoid these noble folk. In return, the Brinn chief can lead the is a far nobler creature than those raiders, and I will heroes to a place where technology will function long enough to escape. see it proven to all. • The threat is a cabal of ice elementals, driven forward by the storms. They are centralized in a series of glacier caves • If the storms can be slowed, the elemental will weaken. This can be done through many means: magic, a mysterious ice crystal, or the disturbed Roll 1D4, and join Voss on his quest… will of an undead shaman trapped in the ice • The chieftain insists his son and daughter join the 1: TIME JUMP: THE REPTOID ICE AGE quest, as their coming of age. If either is killed, it By whatever means, the heroes are plunged into the doesn’t necessarily end the adventure, but the ice age of an ancient reptoid world. Here lies the oldtone of victory will be grim. If both survive, award est tribal origins of their fierce spirit, but all is not well every hero with a HEART STONE. Tell them this on the frozen steppe. This planet, hammered by ice gamble up front! storms and seismic upheaval, has a nullifying effect on most technology. Trapped and mostly gearless, the he- • The tribe will arm the heroes. Devise primitive versions of preferred gear, with magical properties as roes must trade their help for a way home. fits theme and character. In my travels, I encountered things that will be hard to believe, and knew friendships I never expected. It is a story of high adventure, and lasting truths that cannot be undone.





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WARP SHELL ADVENTURES 2: SHATTERED MOON A common reptoid myth describes a broken moon, orbiting an ancestral homeworld. It’s believed that here a codex of reptoid history and ancestry was once stored, but the moon has never been found, or even confirmed to exist. Voss receives new data, using your WARP SHELL sensors, and you arrive at the moon in an instant.

• There are riding dinos the crew can use to chase Voss • Most of this adventure plays out inside the squag supercruiser • Find a way to open the hangar where the captured WARP SHELL is held • Steal, sabotage or destroy squag tech to survive the fray

This place is a maze of giant rock fragments, with very low gravity and gravity in multiple directions. The spaces are far too small for a ship. Navigate the gravity-maze of the broken moon, called Krissius, disable the automated defenses and locate the codex. There’s just one problem: a group of reptoid neo-zealots has followed you, insisting the ancient data must be destroyed for the New Reptoid Order to rise, and they mean to hunt you down.

4: SONG OF THE SWAMP While interviewing reptoid elders on the swamp world of Allsance, weird singing is heard at night, far out in the bogs. The elders deny anything is out there. A local reptoid girl named Finch comes to the heroes, begging them to investigate, in return for a fuel crystal she has acquired that could power a WARP SHELL.

Off into the fens the adventure goes. Navigating the perils and beasts of the swamp, the crew discovers a • Explore 3-5 ‘chambers’ which can be configurations tribe of reptoid mutants in the swamp, they are evil of the same key elements: timed gravity shifts, and deformed versions of the townsfolk. During a brief changing entrance/exits, and automated laser sen- respite from their traps and attacks, the crew meets another mutant, at first thinking him an enemy, but try traps • For each chamber, bring 2-6 reptoid neo-zealots to he is the singer, Grayson! The swamps are poison, and slowly turning all the reptoids here into ravenous attack, led by Skaron One-Eye • The codex is a huge mainframe like object that re- fiends! Evacuate as many as possible to a nearby moon before the mutations spread! quires machinery to get aboard • Huge fragments of moon rock can be moved with thrusters, weapons, cables, and the like • Use this adventure to experiment with more open-floorplan battles in the deep swamp 3: A BROKEN HEART • Sucking mud slows movement, exploding spore When Voss learns of a primitive reptoid colony on a pods dizzy the eyes, and choking vines pull at you distant forested planetoid, he insists you go to invesfrom every angle tigate. On arrival, you discover the colony melted to • The mutants will attack when the evacuation is ruin by a squag supercruiser, landed nearby for refuel started. Use a timer for liftoff, and fend them off! and repair. The forest is burned for miles. The bodies • Finch falls into Grayson’s arms! As a reward, she ofare frozen in ash statues of agony, and Voss is overfers 2 WARP SHELL LOOT per hero whelmed with rage and despair. In a blink, he steals the • Need one more surprise battle? A few mutants WARP SHELL and goes to annihilate them in a frenzy. cling to the WARP SHELL as it takes off, attacking the crew within in low orbit! Blast them into space! Give chase on the ground, finding Voss slaughtering the squags like a lunatic. He has lost his mind! The WARP SHELL is captured, as well! Subdue Voss without killing him, and escape the fury of the squag commandos. 78

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CHILDREN OF AZATOTH Azatoth is an ageless god, and worshipped by countless many in countless times. Part of this worship has always been the creation of powerful servants, or children, who are employed for all kinds of tasks. From Viking immortals to prophetic deformities, from gerblin drunks to unkillable human bombs, the children are dispatched with little hope of survival, but cosmic purpose to fulfill. In these adventures, you are one such child: a being of supreme power created, stored, or summoned for some grand mission of death. You awaken confused, stiff, lost, or in pain. The attendants doomed to wake you are often long dead, or treacherous as snakes. There are no guarantees. You know nothing of home, or hope, or the little joys of a normal life. You are a weapon.

For a thousand years, the profit-mongering War Pigs, a cabal of Azatoth worshippers, have sown the seeds of war on Earth. Caught in this web of lies are all humanity, who struggle to be free of the War Pigs, and Lucifer’s legions, who thrive and frolic in the chaos. Desperate to destroy Lucifer, and claim the Earth for themselves, the War Pigs awaken you, 5 of the most legendary viking warriors to ever live! Reach the Earth, and beyond to Hell’s very heart, to battle Lucifer. But... if you defeat Lucifer, the War Pigs will dominate all life on Earth. Is there any hope for victory?

• Heroes awaken in malfunctioning stasis pods • They soon discover they are in orbit, in colossal coffin-ships being bombarded from Earth below • They are forced to swan dive to Earth like meteors from heaven Roll 1D4, and be plunged into the fire of destiny… • On Earth, they discover a transport beam to Hell itself, but the beam changes them in infernal ways • One hero becomes Lucifer himself, and the final 1: VIKING DEATH SQUAD battle plays out as the massive coffin-ships crash to Earth, the year is 3066, and the wars left our home Earth, destroying everything desolate, burning, and dying. Inspired by the Black • How will you meet your end, hero? Sabbath song War Pigs, this adventure places you at the heart of the war to end all wars. 79

WARP SHELL ADVENTURES 2: NIGHT OF THE CRACK This hilarious one night adventure has the players as clueless gobling warriors who materialize to fulfill ancient destiny. One night, the gerblins are all partying in the forest, singing “Night of the crack! Night of the crack! This is the night that the crack comes back!” They cheer and party like wild, until a massive fissure opens in the ground, swallowing everything! All this as you and fellows appear. Flee the terrible crack, and discover the doom that threatens the entire world. It can be stopped! Once victorious, the heroes realize that this phenomenon happens every year, and every year it is prevented. This is why the goblings party! • • • • •

3: THE MUSIC OF ELYSIA A geno superspecies has been kept in deep freeze by Azatoth’s followers. When they awake, they are all slain in a twisted, ancient ritual. To Elysia, the after-world, they have been sent. There to bring heaven itself crashing down in the name of the ageless anti-god. Your squad, all that remains of that powerful race, are awakened to pursue them, and death is the only path. Die, and awaken in Elysia, but a heaven torn by war and disaster. Find the vault of Udin, plunder its weapons, and make siege on the high throne. Valhal is at your side, but is it enough?

• Players face a party of like-powered anti-heroes • Equip them with insane, wildly powerful relics such The crack is the ultimate ‘kill everything’ timer in as Mjolnir, Udin’s Spear, or the Wings of Gabriel every scene • An army joins them as they fight through Valhal to Heroes find ridable dinos nearby, but other gobthe high seat, with an entire army of heroic souls lings fight over them being destroyed in the battle! The crack leads them to an underground lair, where • When, or if they finally confront the other gegiant machines that hold the world together need no’s, they are shocked to discover they are simply to be re-activated clones. The conquerors explain themselves: tired An evil mage, Skara, struggles to stop them of the yoke of hypersleep slavery! So, who is right? A narrow escape can be managed ... somehow! Who must die? Or will the players join this group against the worshippers of Azatoth? • Here’s your chance s GM to go wildly over the top. Go for it!



4: IRON HEART On the second moon of Urth, a group of heroes is stored in solid stone pillars. They are called nunaki. When the moon is torn apart by a supernatural meteor, they are awakened by a wizard with knowledge of many timestreams. Fulfill your destiny, and find a way to the very core of the moon to confront whatever evil has come from deep space. This adventure is a sort of romp, simply to enjoy weird heroes, odd new monsters, and a series of battles that jumps from place to place and time to time. Can they defeat Beylar, the meteor-spawn in time?

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WARP SHELL ADVENTURES • Invent or look up a cast of bizarre, otherworld monsters and group them into a forest, a plain of ice, a volcanic hell, and a swampy morass. Use dice to move about, select foes, and create new challenges. • The mysterious wizard, Yalfonso, is your key to weaving a story here. Time is tearing apart, things seem chaotic, but Beylar must be defeated! Yalfonso leaps the heroes through portals and keeps things moving. • Cartoonify the Children of Azatoth! Use colorful visuals, wacky plant monsters and bug people to lighten the mood! • The climax: Fight the final battle in the molten core of the second moon. Platforms of rock slide about, certain death is below, and Beylar has many tricks up his sleeve. • Bonkers LOOT: Use this odd adventure to create your own wacky LOOT. Imagine how early science fiction would equip their Martian heroes, and go even crazier. Make things stretchy, teleporting, death-raying, mind controlling insanity!

1: 534-GAMMA: OPERATION DART Every xill homeworld is the same: a half dozen harbinger class freighters in orbit, and a weird, re-configuring fragment cloud made of silicate. This mission tests a theory that their homeworlds share one common power source: a grav engine. Pilot a dart class fighter, with your crew, directly into the grav engine on 534. You are a bomb. They will try to stop you. Punch through at all costs and detonate the ship at the target.

THE XILL TYRANNY

• This mission is all about ship combat. Gunners, mechanics, incoming fire, ramming, maneuvers. Do it all! To mix things up, have some xill Blades board and attack. • Near the grav engine, discover a colossal, serpentine biological form at the planet’s core. This is the xill power source...some kind of imprisoned supercreature. Can it be killed? • Once ship’s sensors have analyzed the creature, receive transmit that home base is satisfied, mission aborted. Crew expendable. They have their data, is it worth your lives?

Where once we knew geno tyrants, their defeat only paved the way for a far worse threat: the xill. These abstract creatures care little for life or freedom, perceive time in ways few comprehend, and operate interstellar machines and gateways beyond the limits of all. They are cosmic demolishers, agents of some quieter universe. Long have the gentler races sought to defeat them, but they seem unflinching even against the Imperium. There may yet be hope to slow them.



You are part of a purpose built mecha commando squad, designed for one function alone: to infiltrate, sabotage, and destroy xill homeworlds. Roll 1D4, and check your power cell. Combat drop in 3 seconds…

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2: 313-BETA: OPERATION SKELETON KEY Your team is inserted deep within a xill research effort. All of you are outfitted for stealth infiltration. Your mission: discover what new tech the xill are developing, and destroy their infrastructure. Steal any tech possible. Extraction via grav anchor three days after drop ... if you’re still functioning.

3: 110-BETA: OPERATION FIREBAT A single xill prophet class cruiser has been located at an uninhabited volcanic world. They are building something on the surface. Find their facility, and laser-paint it for stellar weaponry to vaporize. Extraction is your problem, you’re outfitted with a dart class fighter. One problem: the heat is so intense on 110-Beta, it could damage or melt mecha components.

• Bring the scale and focus WAY back down to tiny for this tunnel-crawl. Every corner counts. • Fire! Lava! Shifting terrain! Here’s your chance to go wild with deadly, changing environmental haz• Xill guards and automated traps work to deter intruders. ards. Almost no monsters are needed. Use jump, • Use a strict “if-discovered” rule to enforce stealth. climb, evade, or escape rolls to move the action to This could be guard swarms, teleportation to pristhe xill facility. on containers, or blaring alarms. • One monster. The facility, it turns out, is a con• After some twists, turns, and laser grids, the heroes tainment attempt on some kind of crystal titan. discover the main lab: The xill are growing another This creature is ancient and terrible, and the xill world-engine-worm. This one is different though: are straining to confine or control it. Like all these it is Mecha! The poor thing is in agony, and clearly missions, the heroes should feel a certain remorse not volunteering for this doom. when given the destroy command. This will be one • There is also a weapons research lab. Talk about hell of a fight. LOOT. • Let yourself be lethal on this one. • What will your squad do? Destroy it? Rescue? Steal a xill ship and defect? There are many outcomes here. 82

WARP SHELL ADVENTURES 4: 761-ALPHA: OPERATION HAMMER In route to your next mission, your Mecha squad is piloting a juggernaut class destroyer, and encounters a massive systems failure. Repair times are not encouraging. As work continues, things go from bad to worse. Failures are the result of sabotage, and something is still on the ship.

DATABASE KEY: DEVOURER

An outsider Blip among your WARP SHELL crew, Strom Ynnis, has hacked the psyker files on The Devourer. This includes records of numerous attempts to slow or destroy the thing, its devious origins, and all known recon on its structure and behavior over the past 3 centuries. Now, Strom has vanished. Find Strom and the Find, identify, and neutralize the intruder(s) and repair data, and put it to use. The story begins somewhere in the ship in time to execute the mission: delivering a The Wake. mega-payload of explosives to the Harbinger orbiting Bastion. Unlike many of the adventure sets, this one is a miniature campaign. Run all 4 in order, culminating in a • Whatever it takes: even if only one mecha is alive, cataclysmic encounter with The One itself. they can deliver the payload. If they fail? The xill Harbinger is bound to destroy Bastion or worse. 1: MARKED FOR DEATH • Super-deadly intruders: the saboteurs are actually Strom realizes too late he has downloaded the biggest xevosian assassins. Blips and Ghosts sent to ‘test’ secrets in the universe. To spare his fellow crew certain your team. Make their attacks brutal, and their destruction at the hands of psyker enforcers, he steals stealth superhuman. a shuttle and blasts off immediately. The shuttle can be • As the climactic end approaches, players realize tracked, following its ion trail. Just as the WARP SHELL the terrifying futility of their payload. The Harbin- catches up to Strom, the psykers arrive to keep their ger is bigger than a moon, silicate, armored with secrets safe, and the battle begins. duranium wreckage. A colossal shadow stretches over the Juggernaut, and the futility of the mission All this occurs in The Wake, where massive planet fragis laid bare. ments and space junk clutter the spaceways. This environment will make the effort to rescue Strom a complicated mess with many possible paths for players to take.



• Catch up with Strom: Make sure Strom is a beloved crew member. The players should be hell bent on finding and helping him, learning about the database as the chase unfolds. • The shuttle crashes: Strom goes down either during a psyker dogfight, or before the WARP SHELL arrives. Dice, player actions, or story twists can determine exactly how and when. • Psykers in space: A squad of fighters attack! Run a fast paced space battle in the debris. • Psykers on the surface: Strom is stranded, and the psykers move into take him out. Consider a cool battle on a spinning chuck of rock or a piece of a destroyed ship. 83

WARP SHELL ADVENTURES 2: DEEP WARP Once (if) Strom is rescued, and the data onboard, the situation is revealed. Your crew now has the full picture: How Xevos created The Devourer, how psykers are using it to cleanse the universe, and how it can be destroyed. The first step is to catch up to the behemoth. This means entering deep warp to reach the thing before it annihilates another solar system. • One interesting twist could be that the WARP SHELL is destroyed in chapter 1, and the heroes must use a psyker ship to chase down The Devourer. • Locational data indicates a deep warp is required to travel far enough. This means the ship must pass through a sort of nether realm, infested with formless horrors, to travel far enough. • Once inside the deep warp, the heroes’ ship is attacked by a swarm of abominations. This battle has multiple parts that can be played various ways. • The creatures draw power from a hive-nodule that matches speed with the ship. It can be destroyed to end them. • These things overtake a hero’s mind, turning them against one another. • They are vulnerable to extreme cold. Various ship’s systems can be retrofitted to use this weakness. • As a final event to this fight, the hive nodule rams the ship, eating into it with barbed tentacles. This can be a boss fight, or rip the vessel from warp, careening into The Devourer for Chapter 3. • This is a chance for players to have a lot of action aboard their ship.



3: AT THE MOUTH OF MADNESS Arriving at The Devourer is a moment players should always remember. More than a planet-eater, it is a solar-system eater, sweeping through the cosmos, and bigger even than a large nebula. It is a labyrinth of tubes, mouths, tentacles, spines and rocky spires all coiling through space. The heroes drop out of deep warp either damaged, with too much speed, or faulty navigation data, and smash into the twisting surfaces. • Crash site: The surface of The One is a segmented, broken alienscape. Offer a short respite, then a cluster of parasites attack, seeking to clean away the foreign matter. The collider, The Devourer’s immense power source, is visible in the distance. • Reaching the collider is a crawl for the ages. Here comes a segment of play that could stretch multiple sessions. The heroes must journey, on foot, through this environment, facing all manner of peril and navigational hardship. Get creative, build a massive omnidirectional dungeon, populate it with fallen aliens, malfunctioning machines, weird organic pseudopods ... anything and everything. If you want to press time, the solar system in peril can be seen approaching off in space. • Parasites and the paranormal: it should soon become apparent The Devourer is a paranormal entity, driven by ghosts and madness ... a sort of dark god wandering the cosmos in agony and regret. • Use grav anchors, zero-g jumps and no way is up. Gravity is hellish here, and surfaces are all around. Roadblock the heroes and force them to think in 3D, and navigate that way with cables, jump packs, dead ends, leaps of faith and death-defying falls. You could even run a battle during a long slow upfall to a far-off surface. • The Emissary: As the heroes near the Collider, The Devourer reveals its semi-human holographic liason, The Emissary. She is a lovely, demonic woman who functions much like a mind-flayer or high level magic user. Her mission: turn the invaders against one another, destroy them, or feed upon them. Use her to role play some of the weird, haunting psychology of this elder being.

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WARP SHELL ADVENTURES 4: THE COLLIDER At last they reach this supergiant, sun-like core of nuclear fire, where entire planets are melted into food. The undertones of death and suffering are unbearable here, where countless millions have lost their lives. Overload this volatile, semi-organic reactor, and end the age of destruction once and for all! Strom’s database provided a detailed schematic of the Collider. This reveals that it has a timed pulse mechanism, that if disrupted could cause a destructive chain reaction. The real question is...is there a way to get out alive? • Create distance-based puzzle: heroes must spread out, each manning a separate reactor core, inducing a timed reaction. • Set up several ‘branches’ that could offer escape routes, but leave it entirely to the players. Perhaps a Psyker ship still in pursuit? A way to ride the destructive wave into warp? A remote teleport SPELL? Maybe a massive chunk of debris can be used as a cosmic surfboard! • Bring The Emmisary to bear here, and a swarm of parasitic abominations. Then bring in the booming, mind melting voice of The One itself: crying out in agony after lifetime of death! • This victory earns a TIER 4 reward at least! How/ where/when do they survive or end up? What could possibly be next? A universe awaits...



THE DOOM OF THE KRELL A mighty race laid low, like so many in the age of The Devourer. This set of adventures takes heroes back to the remote past, to a world as much fantasy as science fiction. 1: BACK TO THE BEGINNING 10 billion years ago, The krell pioneered the first cosmic technology. They were a people of swords and wizardry, catapulted into the age of fusion far too fast. Start this adventure with Alfheim characters, then have them encounter a tribe of lizard folk with pulse cannons, energy swords and duranium armor. The Lord Regent of the Krell, Kaelen Ard, needs your help to root out and destroy these lizard usurpers, and unlock the secret of their terrible new weapons. Find their lair, and end this before it’s too late. • The lizard folk have unearthed a runic stone. It contains instructions to build fusion-based weapons and armor. • In a chamber in their fortress, there is a gear cache after some guards are dispatched. This cache will allow each hero to gain one key piece of high tech: a weapon, armor, or other item from WARP SHELL of their choosing. • The lizard men have a great beast: a red tiger. This thing is huge, feral, and loosed to end the heroes. • End the crawl with a fight at the rune stone, where a lizard sage is decoding the alien data. He uses a combination of magic and tech to fight, much like an imperium ghost armor.



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WARP SHELL ADVENTURES 2: BENEATH THE FORBIDDEN PLANET King Ard reveals that there is a hidden planet behind Krell’s second moon. It lies in shadow, but an ancient SPELL can transport men there with effort. The princess, Arianne, has been kidnapped and taken there. Now the King needs brave warriors who can retrieve her.

Desperate to stop the war, and show his people a bright future, King Ard devises a bold plan: to simply disarm the rebels. He reveals his matter nullifier. This device will atomize all duranium within a radius, but he needs a team to secretly infiltrate the enemy and activate the device from within. That’s you.

• Heroes go in disguise as recruits to join the rebel While on this mission, the heroes discover that Krell’s army. Put them in a terrible dilemma to gain the runic tech originates on the forbidden planet. It is a rebels’ trust, as they attack the outer city. world of eternal darkness, illuminated only by strange • Once activated, the nullifier will draw attention, blue fungus. It is these fungi who etch the runes, and and takes time to spin up. This will be one hell of possess an incredible high-tech culture. But they are a fight. dying, and prepare to invade Krell. • Have Eldor show up early, as a mighty warrior-prince with noble ideals. Later, he reveals his true form: a • The kidnappers are already dead save 3 or 4 of skeleton-faced demon craving power! He means to them. The fungoids have slaughtered them. take the technology, not undo it! • The princess is a formidable sword warrior with a • In his skeletal form, Eldor is a super-powered fightduranium bikini (naturally). er with 4 or more ATTACKS, SPELLS, and MAGICAL • To return to Krell, the heroes need to find a telegear. porter pad, far below the surface. To reach it they • If defeated, heroes are imprisoned, starting a whole campaign to rescue Krell from Eldor’s evil must battle through all kinds of fungoid enemies. • They see first-hand the invasion force preparing to rule. attack Krell, as the shadow planet is withering. • Add a twist by including a fungoid who believes the invasion is wrong ... a dissenter. He will help the heroes, and likely be killed trying to follow his conscience. • Freely load players up with WARP SHELL LOOT. This is their welcome into the wider cosmos! 3: ELDOR’S RAGE King Ard’s great war-chief, Eldor, is a true old schooler, who sees technology as doom for his people’s way of life. For this reason, he sabotages the new technology effort in the royal city of Krell Prime. All Krell’s armies are behind him, and a battle for the ages is about to break.

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WARP SHELL ADVENTURES FALL OF THE RUNE DRIVE The complex civilizations of Bastion, and its many moons, have been without faster-than-light, or spacefold travel for centuries. At one time in their history, they possessed a powerful technology called the rune drive. How and why this technology was lost is seldom told. Here, now, is the real story... 1: DRAGOON BOOT CAMP A deadly malfunction transports a group of trainees into an alternate dimension ... but one all too close to our own. The heroes are brand new to operating their dragoon power armor, but the terrors of this dark universe will teach them quickly. 4: THE BATTROID REBELLION • Start with a training drill in dragoon armor. CharIn an attempt to win Krell’s civil war, the battroids are acters are executing power jumps, dodging simple created. These are autonomous synthetic life forms, obstacles, or blasting through a firing range. powered by runic technology from the fungoid planet. • A piece of military gear goes haywire, and zap the They are incredible war machines, and not only do they heroes are instantly in the dark universe. They reend the war, they decide to form their own society, and ceive a faint transmission. If they can reach the arc overthrow the crown for their own strange agenda. gate in time, they can be pulled back. Coordinates are barely audible in the comms. It is discovered the battroids have discovered dark • Now they have a journey to make across the lightmagic, and used it to assemble a great fortress on the ning-scorched, xeno-infested landscape of the dark remote plains of Rygur. This towering stronghold has universe. great skull gates at every corner, and is armed with all • The twist? The terrain is all familiar, and, terribly, manner of WARP SHELL tech. The fortress must be levso are the xenomorphs. They are analogs to the heeled before the battroids launch their final assault. roes’ friends and colleagues, but in a horrible form. • Now take them on a mad dash through a volatile • King Ard, if still alive, will move his armies to the gauntlet to the massive arc gate, which is not active West of Skull Fortress. The heroes will move in when they arrive. They have to hold their ground from the South, undetected, to sabotage and disthere until it lights up. rupt them from within. • The battroid fortress contains a reliquary. Here 5 EPIC LOOT items are stored. • Here is your chance to run a colossal battle. Armies clashing, heroes flanking. Introduce a bomb element, a giant war beast, or orbital beam weapon. • To make the most of this setup, consider showering your heroes in EPIC LOOT, extra HEARTS, and even temporary invulnerability or chain-reaction multiple ATTACKS. Let them be gods of war!

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WARP SHELL ADVENTURES 2: INCIDENT ON HERON Your squad is sent to extract science personnel on Heron. Their assignment: stabilize rune drive technology after the arc gate fiasco. The result of your efforts: the entire moon is folded thousands of parsecs into deep space, with you on it. Using energy from the dark universe proves very difficult. Rescue the scientists using an old ion drive ship as the moon is attacked by xill spacers.

• Vindica is a powerful technomancer, using both magic and science to defend her moon. • She has also employed a legion of psyker mercenaries, most of them Blip and Shadow class, to defend the weapon. • Run the adventure as a crawl through the weapon’s operations base. • Vindica will fire the thing if pressed to the limit, she is mad with hate.

4: DAY OF ROSES • The core theme here is repairing, launching, and The great doom of rune drives came when Sept Karas operating an outdated spacecraft. Time keeps run- arrived for the beloved Day of Roses holiday on the moon of Surn. Once a generation, he would visit all his ning out as the heroes struggle to launch in time. • Force a rescue! If all the scientists are lost, the xill patrons, all his people, and the great capitol ship filled attack accelerates beyond survivability. Press the the sky, as did rose petals. This time, though, a squag difficulty of dragging these scared, injured, com- drill bomb pierces that lovely, immense ship, and sets in motion a chain reaction that could tear Surn to atbat-useless technicians around. • For the final scenes, heroes are aboard this huge oms. Do what you can. ship, manning turrets, repairing couplings, and holding on by a thread. Imagine an old bomber Open the scene with a great celebration. Rose petals fill the air. The sept ship is immense, and materializes crew flying through swarms of fighters. • At last, a scientist fits the ion drive for one colossal just above the surface. When the drill bomb hits, make burst, sending the craft back to Bastion in seconds it clear to players that the other dragoons are dead, and the rune drive is about to overload. rather than months. • The outcome of this rescue is the refinement of rune drive tech, and within a few months all the • The rune drive begins emitting arcs of power that split the moon to its molten core. These cracks moons are using rune drives for fast space travel. • For their success, heroes are made dragoon chamthen form into vortices, where deep space can be pions. Shower them in rewards! seen beyond. • Huge chunks of the moon begin spinning into 3: DOOMSDAY space. After a system-wide edict outlaws the use of rune • The drive can be destroyed by shutting down cooldrives, one renegade sees her moment. She is Vindica, ing towers at its three poles. These controls are a malicious sept gone rogue on an outer moon. Using way up there. a stolen rune drive, she has built a moonkiller weapon, • To make it all worse, squag raiders are pouring out and threatens to hold all of Bastion ransom. of their drill bomb. • There is likely no escape from this, but the heroes Your assignment: Find a way onto the moon, sabotage can die saving the cosmos from a chain reaction. or destroy the weapon and put an end to Vinidca’s ter- • If it helps, include a royal vizier or courtesan NPC rorist network. who can explain the stakes here. • Wrap things up by telling of the thousand year tra• Your players are now the leading dragoon operadition that started that day...when a handful of dratives, so they are given this mission. goons saved the universe itself. 88

POWER ARMOR POWER ARMOR This method for building, operating, upgrading and destroying POWER ARMOR can be extended to pilotable mecha, ships and other vehicles. For more, see the VEHICLES section in the ICRPG CORE Set.

• SPELLS: 1 SPELL can be equipped as a CHUNK. Use it as normal. • CRITICAL DAMAGE: If a suit takes 20 or more damage in a single hit, 4 CHUNKS are destroyed and the suit is totally immobile for 1D4 ROUNDS or until repaired. • UPGRADES: Add CHUNKS to a suit at a garage or hangar with 1 roll per CHUNK. This is important if upgrading in MOMENTS or during combat. • REPAIRS: Repair with an INT roll, doing BASIC work on a CHUNK of your choice. Use tools or a Power Armor Repair Kit to improve the roll and EFFORT. • SOCIAL STATUS: Anyone wearing POWER ARMOR is generally perceived as wealthy, military, or royal status. This can be used to great effect in rural areas.

• USING CHUNKS: For each desired function, STAT boost, WEAPON, SPELL, or capability, add 1 CHUNK. This costs 500 COIN, weighs 20 pounds, and has 5 HP. Spend twice the COIN to halve the weight. No armor can total more than 250 pounds and still be operable. When taking damage, assume it is taken, in aggregate, 1 CHUNK at a time. ie: take 10 HP damage, 2 CHUNKS are destroyed. Use a simple die roll to decide what CHUNKS take damage. • BURNING POWER: Using POWER ARMOR takes energy. Use this onboard fuel just like SPELL BURN. ie: 4 ROUNDS of actions, roll to recover for 1D4 ROUNDS. Mitigate this limit with a fuel pack (1 CHUNK, escalates limit by 1 ROUND). Overclock actions by burning extra fuel. Double a WEAPON’s damage, move DOUBLE FAR or the like with an extra ROUND of fuel used. • ABLATIVE ARMOR: CHUNKS of ARMOR grant +5 per CHUNK. When CHUNKS of ARMOR are destroyed, the suit will need repair. This means suit ARMOR steadily reduces during combat.



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WARP SHELL ENEMIES HUMANOIDS The universe is plagued with several factions of hateful invaders, xenophobes and galacto-fascist armies. Here are the most common of those. SQUAGS: These nasty-tempered, stumpish spacefarers are ubiquitous as rats throughout the universe. They build mining operations, starbase outposts, and invasion garrisons on planets far and wide, but seldom rally more than nuisance-level military might. They always move in large groups, use energy weapons, and sometimes employ energy-reflecting shielding on their armor. They are particularly drawn to any YOG deposits they can find, and breathe water in their liquid-filled helmets.

FUNGALOIDS: Multiplying their numbers via microscopic spores, these fungal beings are common throughout the universe. Their fungus brains are distributed through all their individual bodies, and they have a loathing for other species who do not perceive reality as a collective. The only way to permanently kill a FUNGALOID is by burning it to ash or atomizing it. Even the smallest piece, limb, or spore can regrow into multiple individuals in a matter of days.

NIRISIANS: This devious race of insectoids is reclusive and mysterious, but when they appear it is always to conquer, destroy, or take from other civilizations. They have achieved a very high level of technology, approaching that of the xevosians. The most unique element of their culture is the use of chemical signals to communicate. In an attempt to understand this property, psykers have taken many nirisian specimens for study, earning the hate of their kind.

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WARP SHELL ENEMIES

IMPERIUM GHOST ARMOR: The elite of the Imperium, these power armor warriors are a cross of machine and undeath. Their suits are powered, and occupied by, a liquid/gas ectoplasm. If this substance escapes, the ‘ghost’ loses its strength. Ghost armors are fierce fighters, with 3 or more actions per TURN, command of 10 or more SPELLS, energy WEAPONS and more. Since the fall of the Imperium, though, they are solitary terrors, wandering the stars as tyrants, killers, or zealots for the Imperium’s return.

RAVAGERS: No more savage civilization roams space than the ravagers. They are pirates, cannibals, or madmen not even loyal to one another. They are partially cybernetic, but also have reptilian traits. Their society is brutal and violent, and they move in large groups dominated by the deadliest warrior. They have no spoken language, but use a series of hisses and barks to speak. This has not slowed their technological development, as they are master junksmiths and builders.

DEATH DRONE: A long lost experiment to develop the ultimate predator gave rise to this solitary creature. They live only to kill. It is unknown who developed them, only that they are an artificial form of life, made up of duranium, silicates and other highly resilient materials. They are stealthy, fast, and have no discernable consciousness save the urge to destroy.

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WARP SHELL ENEMIES BEASTS AND MUTANTS Alien lifeforms cover a vast spectrum of variety from the enormous to the tiny. Don’t be afraid to build monsters that use energy WEAPONS, are as large as starships, metallic or un-killable.

STREAKERS: These dog-sized animals are lightning fast runners, and move in packs of 100 or more. They’re senses are purely magnetic in nature, and they feed on all forms of metal. They reproduce by depositing duranium nodules that develop into young within a few hours.

ARCHITECT: Little is known of these creatures, save their incredible age. It is widely believed they are one of the first lifeforms in the universe, and that they are responsible for seeding other species, building entire worlds, and more. Their language has never been decoded, and they prefer seclusion and secrecy, deepening the mystery. Whatever their purpose, it predates all known civilizations.

SAIL LIZARD: Found on primitive mega-planets or windswept jungle worlds, these gigantic beasts use a large dorsal fin to slide along in windy conditions. They’re speed is remarkable, especially for their size. Some have been spotted more than 200 feet from nose to tail. There are tribes, such as those on Aster 12, who live and travel on the backs of these wondrous animals.

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WARP SHELL ENEMIES WARDEN: Like the ancient trees of the same name, these lumbering giants act as guardians of natural balance on uninhabited worlds. They abhor civilization and technology, and will be roused to destroy anything artificial if their planet is intruded upon. Short of planetary weapons or a darkstar supernova, there is no known way to destroy one of these titans. Some societies worship them as gods.

NITRO BUG: One of the rare species that inhabit deep space. These insects are around 20 feet in height, and feature two biological ‘rockets’ as forelimbs. These rockets let them cruise the spaceways, feeding on rock and other inorganic debris. Generally, they stay to themselves, but if threatened they attack in swooping formations. Their ability to maneuver in a dogfight is unparalleled.

BULLGORT: Bulky, armor-plated plodders the size of a small starship. Bullgorts are found mostly in jagged or mountainous terrain, and they are drawn to all forms of radiation or energy. They feed on this energy, usually to destructive effect. Though flesh and blood within, their thick armor gives them the ability to ignore any damage below 30. They roam and feed in groups of 6-12.

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GHOST MOUNTAIN

This whole place is somewhere between worlds ... caught ‘twixt life and death. Whether or not it’s Heaven or Hell, well that’s up to you. Mount up, kid, and pack some silver. We’re huntin’ demons tonight.

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GHOST MOUNTAIN

WELCOME TO PURGATORY

A WAR OF GOOD AND EVIL

It’s unclear how, but Ghost Mountain is caught between Earth, Heaven, and Hell. The dead aren’t dead, folk are beginning to change, and every night the Devil threatens to burn it all. This turbulence is the root of every Ghost Mountain story.

The holy. The infernal. Each tugging at the poor souls who wind up here. There is no middle ground. Each deed you commit, each SOUL you save or destroy, each kill you make, each bloody memory you carry, will be tallied in the war.

How did folks get here? Was it revenge, a terrible death, or a foolish vow? Are they dead, demonic, angelic, or lost entirely? Is this even real?

As you read on, and begin crafting your own stories here, remember this vital conflict. It’s no ambiguous moral situation or grey area. Evil deeds make the Devil stronger, and doin’ right brings us all one step closer to salvation. It’s a world of detail, of big importance in small folks, and winning this one bullet at a time.

How will folks get out? Will they ascend, become devils, or just dissipate on the wind? Is there any salvation for the people here? What will you do about it? These are the questions that haunt those trapped in purgatory ... trapped on ol’ Ghost Mountain.

It all starts with a kid named Hatt Martins...

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GHOST MOUNTAIN INTRODUCTION Before the age of machines reached the far West, when the frontier was wild and dangerous, there were many untold stories that few lived to tell. Whole towns were swallowed up by the desert, entire families vanished in the mountains, and great tribes of natives who no longer roam the plains stood tall. It was a deadly time. Death stalked all too close in those days. So close, in fact, there was one place where the realms of the living and the dead had become entangled. It was hell on earth, a sort of purgatory between the dimensions. A terrible thunderstorm tore that whole mountain from this mortal coil, and everyone there was caught in a war between this world and the next. Here’s a few key facts and themes that will give your mountain a unique mood... • Hell is a part of everyday life here. The reality of the supernatural is not in question. The people live every day in the presence of demons, hellfire, and mortal struggle. • SUPPLIES are scarce. Like all worlds, 1 SUPPLY is 10 COIN. The problem on Ghost Mountain is finding the SUPPLIES! If you’re strict about travel, food, and SUPPLY, this can drive much of player anxiety. • A dark red sun will mark our end. If that blood-red sun ever sets, every soul in Ghost Mountain will be lost to the Prince of Darkness. Good deeds hold it there, always dusk. What side will finally be victorious? There are special rules to measure the war ‘tween good and evil. See pp. 97. • Magic is polarized, and feared. Most folks associate magic power with demonic energy. This is entirely inaccurate, but nevertheless, it is a feared and misunderstood power. • The hollow inside the mountain is little known. Great and terrible forces are at work beneath the mountain, but only the most powerful crusaders know or believe it. To all others, it is simply Hell. • Time and reality can be a bit fuzzy. Especially at the edges of Ghost Mountain, time can ripple, gravity get confused, and all manner of nightmare phase in and out of existence. Maybe it’s a way out, but not that anyone has lived to tell. • The weather is volatile and destructive. Once the maelstrom happened, thunderstorms here have been cataclysmic. They’re so bad, towns simply shut down. Innocents being killed by lightning is no rare thing.



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GHOST MOUNTAIN THE MEASURE Each day on Ghost Mountain, the low, red sun threatens to set. If it does, it sets forever, and the whole place will just sink into nothingness. There’s only one way to stop it: play cards with the Devil. At the end of a chapter in your story, the heroes are invited to the Devil’s table, to play a friendly wager for the fate of all. This game is called THE MEASURE. • The heroes choose one among them to stand against the Devil. He draws 3 cards, and so does Lucifer (played by the GM). • Keep your hand secret. Now it’s time to wager, and the currency is SOULS. Players will find these throughout the game. The Devil has 2D10 SOULS to gamble. • Once betting is complete, reveal. Most FACE CARDS wins. If a tie, use FACE CARD QUALITY. Still a tie? Leave the pot and draw again. Proceed playing HANDS until you have an OUTCOME. • OUTCOME 1: Beat the Devil. If the Devil runs out of SOULS before the player, those SOULS are saved and the Devil leans back, smiling, happy to be beaten one more time. • OUTCOME 2: Walk Away. At any time after the first hand, just walk away. Any lost SOULS will go to Hell, and the Devil will kindly invite you back. • OUTCOME 3: Lose it All. If the player runs out of SOULS, the Devil has all the power he needs to swallow Ghost Mountain whole. Sure, you could always walk away, but then, isn’t that really letting evil win? THE MEASURE is a way for the Devil to slowly change men, darken their hearts, turn ‘em yellow, and win the war his way. Use THE MEASURE at the very ending of your campaign, after a huge victory or crushing loss, or a turning point in the story. Maybe one soul in particular is worth risking it all for. THE MEASURE is the GM’s tool to remind the players it’s all hanging by a thread, and Lucifer is laughing.

WHEN TO FIND SOULS Strange, iridescent gold coins can be found on the mountain, usually where someone loses their life, but folk don’t use ‘em for money. They’re SOULS. SOULS appear where good men have been buried, where terrible tragedy falls, or even out in the wild. Who knows why... As the GM, use SOULS as a form of reward for awesome role play or heroism in your players. You’ll know when the time is right. You can also include SOULS on a LOOT table. Rule of thumb: 1-2 SOULS per player, per session.



REDEEMING SOULS Players have a few ways to redeem found SOULS. It’s no small thing, having a SOUL in the palm of your hand, so choose wisely. The GM will be taking notes. • Set them free after THE MEASURE • Redeem them for a MILESTONE REWARD or MILESTONE PATH REWARD. 3 SOULS for 1 REWARD. • Pay an unpayable debt. Everyone in Ghost Mountain has a reason to want SOULS, sometimes only a specific one will do. Damn dirty business using human lives as currency. • Heal a CONDITION. Whether you’re almost gone to SMOKE, or been MUERTO for too long. Even the blind or crippled can be healed by absorbing a SOUL. Selfish, frightening thing, but it can be done. Desperate times n’ what not. 97

GHOST MOUNTAIN CLASSES

GUNSLINGER

Anyone can carry a six-shooter, but a GUNSLINGER, well that’s a different thing entirely. They make an art of the gun. Fast as a copperhead and cold as a moonlit grave. “Six bullets, 10 men, no problem.” Recommended Gear: Weapons Kit, Six Shooter (2), Ammo Pouch, Wool Poncho Starter reward: Masterwork Revolver (On a successful pistol shot, choose to roll 1D6. Fire that many bullets at up to that many targets. Your cylinder is empty) Milestone Rewards: Speed Loader (When you RELOAD, roll 1D4. On anything but a 1, use no time) 12 Silver Bullets (ULTIMATE EFFORT on a pistol hit, silver properties) Hellfire Powder (3 count, Use a TURN to make 6 bullets EXPLOSIVE) Phantom Duster (+2 Armor, +2 ULTIMATE EFFORT) Deadeye Eyepatch (+2 WEAPON EFFORT) Silver Cross (+1 WIS, silver properties)



OLD TIMER

It’s no small thing to reach old age in Ghost Mountain. The Old Timers keep all the secrets, hide the books from the raiders, and seek to finally find some way to end the hell that tears at reality. “In my day…” Recommended Gear: Heavy Jacket (+1 ARMOR), Six Shooter, Oak Cross, Medical Case Starter rewards: Hallowed Book (create and cast HOLY Spells) Choose TWO HOLY SPELLS Milestone Rewards: HOLY Spell: God’s Hand (Paralyze a target you touch for 1 ROUND) HOLY Spell: Locusts (FAR radius, 1D4 ROUNDS, all ROLLS within are HARD) HOLY Spell: Destroy the Dead (Annihilate 1 Undead per 1 HP burned, FAR range) Weird Crystal (+2 MAGIC EFFORT when casting Spells) Lucky Horseshoe (When rolling ULTIMATE EFFORT, re-roll all 1’s and 2’s) 98

GHOST MOUNTAIN CLASSES

TRACKER

I’ve seen a Hepawa youngster track a cougar in a hail storm. I’ve seen a Coal Demon sniff out a frightened nun on a salt flat. Trackers are keen as a razor and masters of the wild. “Follow the order of things, you’ll always find a way.” Recommended Gear: Carbine Rifle, Longbow, Supplies, More Supplies, Trapper Gear Starter Reward, Choose one: Bush Blanket (Disappear for 1D4 ROUNDS even in plain sight) Crystal Scope (Mount on any RIFLE, Roll ‘Aim for Vitals’ as NORMAL) Milestone Rewards: Mushroom Tea (5 Count, use NO SUPPLIES for 3 days) Tar Arrows (10 Count, CLOSE targets face a HARD STR roll to break free) Antique Sawed-off (NEAR range, DOUBLE WEAPON EFFORT) Shady Brady: All TRACKING Attempts and Checks are EASY Black Flag (5 count, TOUCH a target, all attacks against it are ULTIMATE)

WRAITH The Devils you can talk to, if you keep your eyes on the dirt. Wraiths don’t say nothin’. Most of ‘em are little more than smoke and brimstone. Poor bastards. “...” Recommended Gear: Fire Stone, Bowie Knife, Spell Book, Pouch of 50 Coin Starter Reward: Demon Glyph (cast and create INFERNAL Spells) Milestone Rewards: Soul Gem (occupy any other creature for 1D4 ROUNDS with an INT roll) INFERNAL Spell: Wither (A target in sight has -3 to all rolls for 1D4 ROUNDS) INFERNAL Spell: Bone Lance (Hits ALL targets in a straight line up to FAR range) INFERNAL Spell: Ignite (Touch an object to ignite it) INFERNAL Spell: Death Aura (If touched by an enemy, inflict MAGIC DAMAGE) INFERNAL Spell: Fury (Touch a target, they kill at random until making a CHA roll)

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GHOST MOUNTAIN CLASSES

BRAVE

The Canuska are a tribe of fisherman and furriers, mostly, but the Hepawa are fierce as bears. You’ll not find a deadlier knife-fighter than one of their Braves. Thank God they’re on our side ... mostly. “It is a good day to die.” Recommended Gear: Bowie Knife (2), Carbine Rifle, Weapon Kit, Trapper Gear, Ammo Pouch Starter Reward: Great Eagle Feather (When fighting with knives, Attacks of 15+ earn another attack AND a NEAR move if desired) Milestone Rewards: Antler Knife (Magical Weapon) Bear Hide Cloak (Any time you’re hurt, ignore 1D6 of damage done) Treated Hide Armor (+3 Armor, waterproof) Cougar Tooth Talisman (+1 STR) Raven Claw (For each HP in blood on your knives, inflict 1D4 extra damage)

GAMBLER The west is won and lost over blackjack and whiskey. Gamblers are shrewd, clever, lonely buggers with the Devil in their eyes. “Care to make it interesting?” Recommended Gear: Pouch of 50 Coin (2), Six Shooter, Supplies, Armor Kit Starter Reward: Devil’s Deck of 52 (When firing a six shooter, DRAW to determine damage. DRAW twice for ULTIMATE) Bad Bet (DRAW. If a RED, heal that amount. If a BLACK, take as damage) Lucky (Replace any ATTEMPT or CHECK with a DRAW. The DM DRAWS, too. High card wins. If you draw an ACE, critical success, no matter what the DM DRAWS) Milestone Rewards: Pouch of 100 COIN Slam Loader (Reload a firearm in no time) Steel-Knit Vest (5 Uses, If shot, take only 1 Damage) Snakebite Whiskey (10 drinks, pass out for 1D4 ROUNDS) 100

GHOST MOUNTAIN CLASSES

SHAMAN

They don’t mess with that infernal magic, or holy spirits as some folks claim. Nope, they find power in the stones and scrub. Hell of a thing… “The veil between worlds is thin here. Tread lightly.” Recommended Gear: Meditation Beads, Small Pet, Walking Stick, Supplies Starter Reward: Dream Catcher (Speak with, and use CHA to persuade, animals and natural forces) Milestone Rewards: Choose any 2 WIS POWERS Masterful Boots (+1 Dex) Animal Form Hood (Choose 1 animal. Take its form for 1D4 ROUNDS) Dream Chain (Heal 1 ally with a touch. Any NEAR allies also benefit, and any allies NEAR them in turn)

MARIACHI

There’s always hope in this world as long as there’s music. No one knows it better than the Mariachi. Count yourself lucky to have one around. “The world is only as poetic as we make it, my friend.” Recommended Gear: Instrument (rare or unique), Bowie Knife, Six-shooter, Weapon Kit Starter Reward, Choose one: Embroidered Sombrero (+3 CHA when inspiring or performing) Gun Case (Holds up to 4 concealed guns, Never run out of ammo) Cookin’ Spit (If camping, all allies recover to full HP in 1 hour) Milestone Rewards: Sheet Music: Pistolero! (Sing! Those who hear AIM FOR VITALS) Sheet Music: Red Blood Rodeo (Sing! Those who hear roll EASY to RECOVER or pop up from DYING) Silver Spurs (+1 CHA, Ride anything with EASY rolls) Gramophone Gadget (Record a song, play it at a location) Songwriter’s Book (Create Sheet Music with a CHA roll) 101

GHOST MOUNTAIN CLASSES

MISTRESS

These are some of the most dangerous types on the Mountain. Sharp as a razor and deadly as a viper, you’d best steer clear. What’s that? Caught in her spell? Well, then it’s been nice knowin’ you. “No need to be alone, stranger.” Recommended Gear: Masterful Coats, Concealed Pistol, Spell Book, Fire Water Starter Reward: Joker’s Glyph (cast and create any SPELL) Choose 1 INT SPELL of any kind Milestone Rewards: Mage’s Quill (Create INT SPELLS) Rune Stone (Create WIS Powers) Brass Crucifix (Create HOLY Spells) Pentagram Medallion (Create INFERNAL Spells)



STARTER OPTION: TOWNSFOLK

Most of us here are just ordinary folk: miners, carpenters, ranchers and what have you. We’re not lookin’ to be heroes of any sort, but we sure as hell ain’t just standin’ by while the world burns. “I say we fight.” Recommended Gear: Tools (specific trade), Pouch of 50 COIN, Flintlock Pistol, Bouie Knife Starter Reward: Choose a business that you own and operate Milestone Rewards: Pouch of 50 COIN Certificate of Commerce (Double the yield of your business) Deed of Ownership (Own a huge tract of land) Carbine Rifle

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GHOST MOUNTAIN TYPES All characters in Ghost Mountain are human, but who are you? To help visualize this, select one TYPE below, or work with your GM to invent your own. TYPE has no mechanical element to it. It simply describes your place in the rough and tumble world of the maelstrom.

DO-GOODER: Some folks simply can’t let evil go unpunished. They’re usually unlikely heroes, shopkeeps or farm hands with an undeniable conscience, and the courage to do something about it. OUTLAW: No shortage of these buggers on the mountain. Outlaws rob, cheat and steal their way to survival. They often have an odd code between them, but little else to curtail their chaotic appetites. LONER: Trackers and mountain men prefer to keep their distance from the towns and ranches. Wanderers, treasure hunters, and feral men make up what folk simply call Loners. GENIUS: Wizards with machinery, alchemy or finance can be found, in small number, on Ghost Mountain. They are often bumblers in the wild, but work wonders with modern whozits and whatfors. LUNATIC: Not every kept it together after the big storm. Some folks just plain cracked. They see things, make no sense, and seem like little more than the Devil’s playthings. NATIVE: They were here first. It’s that simple. The main Native groups are Hepawa and Canuska, but some other small tribes can be found in further reaches. Diverse, brave, ingenious peoples who keep old ways. TROUBLEMAKER: Drunks, card-cheats, brawlers and petty criminals occupy too much time with the Law, but someone has to contain ‘em. RIGHTEOUS: The old faith is still around, and some folks take it to the extreme. They believe this whole mess is a sort of religious test or penance, and they tend to smite others into thinkin’ the same. FOREIGNER: Some folks from China, Germany, France, Russia or even Bolivia were trapped in the Maelstrom. They’re still here, too.

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WEAPONS OF THE MOUNTAIN KNOW YOUR TOOLS SIX SHOOTER: The standard sidearm of the West. Simple, Reliable, uses 1 TURN to reload, Explodes on a blunder, NEAR CARBINE RIFLE: Lever action, 8 capacity, a damn revolution. Powerful, Loud, Sturdy, FAR SHOTGUN: A nasty, clumsy weapon for close-quarters and bad aim. 2 capacity, 1 TURN to reload, Powerful, Durable, Short Range SNUB SHOTGUN: Brutal scatter shots, 2 capacity. Loud, Simple, Explosive, Concealable. Hit any CLOSE targets in front of you when firing. COMPOUND BOW: Pulleys and what not. Add STR to damage. Elegant, Immense Range, Lightweight, High Tech BOWIE KNIFE: Here you have the most reliable thing on the mountain. Simple, Useful, Reliable, Sturdy, Durable, Common SABRE: Military cavalry sword. Expensive, Silver, Cannot be concealed GATLING GUN: Godless death machine of the East. 4 shots per roll High tech, Complex to learn, Siege, Rapid Fire, Expensive, Rare DEMONSPINE: Fencing weapon used by Lucifer’s host. Piercing, Fast SMOKE BLADE: A sabre, but caught ‘tween dimensions. Can only be touched by Smokes and Infernals. Magic, Elegant, Sharp, Unblockable RELIC PISTOL: A haunted gun. Go figure. 4 Capacity, Magic, Durable ELEPHANT RIFLE: Biggest damn gun I ever saw. 1 capacity, always does ULTIMATE. Immense range, Huge, Bulky, Useful SCREAMER: Like a grenade, but it’s a god awful skull. Explosive, Smashes Armor, Volatile IRON CROSS: Oak and cold iron, one huge spike. Simple, Deadly, Always does DOUBLE to Infernals, Smokes, Devils and Vamps. NITRO BOTTLE: Careful with that, kid. Explosive, Volatile, Incendiary 104

STARTING EQUIPMENT GHOST MOUNTAIN STARTING EQUIPMENT (Choose Three)

Choose from the STARTING EQUIPMENT in the CORE, or from these additional options to give your character more ‘Ghost Mountain’ flavor.

Fire Water, 8 sips, Pass out for 1D4 ROUNDS Nasty stuff. Viper venom mixed with monkey juice, I tell ya. Stick with whiskey. Ammo Pouch, 24 capacity Without one of these, you’ll be lucky to keep 6 shots dry and in your pocket. Cold Weather Gear Up above Buckskin it’s terrible cold. Without this gear, you’ll be dead in hours. +1 Armor Bull Whip Hard as hell to master, but makes for a nasty, useful tool in uncertain times. Can be used as WEAPON or grappler.

Saddle & Tack, includes Lariat A must for any riding. Can be sold for 30 COIN, requires wagon or cart to transport. Manacles, Leg Irons n’ Such Crucial gear for a Law man. Can also be forged with silver properties to restrain Infernals, Smokes and the like.

Coffee Outfit Conserve 1 SUPPLY when camping, grant all cohorts a HERO COIN at breakfast. Canuska Blanket A near-indestructible wool blanket with geometric patterns. Also shows friendship with Canuska tribes. Hepawa Buckskin Tent & Tack A compact, portable shelter for five men. Can be used in cold, conserve 2 SUPPLIES per day. Requires wagon or cart to transport. Includes rope, iron spikes, and cooking gear.



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FIREARMS & SUPPLIES GUNS: THEY’LL KILL YA Ghost Mountain has some special firearm rules. In the old west, folks didn’t wear much ARMOR or use shields, and guns were terribly lethal. Most fights were finished with a single bullet, so mind your cover, and aim with both eyes open. • BIG SLUGS: On an ATTEMPT of 15+, do maximum damage • IN THE FACE: Any hit at point blank range does maximum damage automatically • KNOCKED SILLY: Any time you are hit by a firearm, for 3 or more damage, make a CON roll to avoid losing 1 turn • STRICT AMMO: 6 bullets count as 1 SUPPLY • PRIMITIVE BARRELS: All PISTOLS can only hit NEAR targets unless you roll a natural 20 • DUDS: Wet ammo has a 50% chance of being ruined, which you will only find out when firing. Ammo pouches keep ammo dry • RIGHT IN THE EYE: On any gunshot ‘aim for vitals’ HARD ROLL, if a hit, do NOT roll damage. Target makes CON roll or is dropped to 1 HP.

SUPPLIES: LEAN TIMES

• BASICS: 1 SUPPLY feeds 4 people for 1 day, OR contains 6 bullets, costs 10 COIN • HOOF IT: On foot cover 10 miles per day. With wagon, cart, horses cover 20 • HUNGRY: Spending a day without SUPPLY makes all rolls HARD until meals and shelter are procured • EXHAUSTED: Second day with no SUPPLY take 3 UNHEALABLE damage until you find supplies • SKIN & BONES: Third day take 3 more as above • STARVED: Five days without SUPPLIES will kill a man. Make a HARD CON roll to keep breathin’ one more day • MERCANTILE: As the GM, consider a few basic prices at the local store, including horses, wagons, lumber, and the like. Cheap: 10 COIN, Spendy: 25 COIN, rare or expensive: 50 COIN, and so on. 106

GHOST MOUNTAIN SPELLS HOLY POWER

The God-fearin’ folk of Ghost Mountain place their hope in Old Timers, who are the last ones able to channel real power from on high. You’ve just got to believe. All are INT SPELLS, no learning required, as they arrive by divine light.

ANOINT: Touch an ally. They are immune to all harm for 1 ROUND BANISH: Touch an INFERNAL or SMOKE. They vanish for 1D4 ROUNDS BAPTISE: Counts as a GOOD DEED. Baptized folk make all fear-oriented rolls as EASY BLESS HOLY WATER: Create a small vile of HOLY WATER from any water source CONSECRATE: Mark the ground NEAR you in a circle. Evil cannot enter for 1D4 DAYS EXCORCISM: Touch and hold the possessed subject for 1D4 ROUNDS. The evil will be cast out LIGHT: Create a bright light that reaches FAR for 1D4 ROUNDS MIRACLE: Describe any effect approved by the GM. If you can roll a 20, it happens NEMESIS: Name or lock eyes with ONE BEING. You are drawn to it, and know its general location RENEW FAITH: Touch an ally to give them a HERO COIN RESTORE LIFE: Heal with a touch, if the subject has 0 HP SPIRITUS SANCTI: Gather a SOUL from any dead body STIGMATA: Trade HP for a bonus on your MAGIC EFFECT as you unleash a blast of raw power TRUST IN GOD: For 1D4 ROUNDS, you can only be harmed by natural 20’s

INFERNAL MAGICKS

Far more powerful magic serves the darkness. It is destructive, incendiary, sudden, and treacherous. All the more to test the faithful, I reckon. All are INT SPELLS, no learning required, as they are innate powers of the legion.

ASH CLOUD: Fill a NEAR radius with ash and smoke. All rolls within are HARD BLOOD OATH: Draw blood and make an oath. If it is fulfilled, heal to full HP and gain a Milestone Reward BURNING KNIFE: Imbue a WEAPON with MAGIC fire for 1D4 ROUNDS CHASM: Smite the ground, opening a fissure that reaches FAR, and has no bottom CREATE MUERTO: Turn any corpse into a MUERTO DECEIVE: Completely fool 1D4 targets with your rouse FIRE FORM: Assume a form of pure fire for 1D4 ROUNDS FORGET: Touch a target to wipe away 1 specific memory permanently GLYPH DOOR: Draw two GLYPHS, the walk between them instantly for 1D4 days HELL STORM: With a HARD roll, conjure a terribly destructive thunder storm IMPERVIOUS: You are immune to all harm for 1D4 ROUNDS KILL: Touch a target with a HARD roll. They must make a CON roll, or die NIGHTMARE: Summon a flaming steed that lasts 1D4 ROUNDS TIRA LOS DADOS: Once cast successfully, ANY ROLL in the following ROUND may be forced to re-roll

CREATING SPELLS Players can create SPELLS of their own in two simple stages: STATE and ROLL. STATE: Offer the NAME and EFFECT of the desired SPELL. It must be a type you can cast, and the GM must approve. ROLL: Roll D20 + INT. Lose 20 - the total in HP. If 10 or less, take 10 damage AND fail to create the SPELL. Once created successfully, SPELLS may be used immediately. 107

CONDITIONS YOU DON’T LOOK SO GOOD

Life is hard up here, and Lord knows we’re hanging on by our fingernails. Even hero-types get the flu, knocked up side the head or start fadin’ into smoke. Use CONDITIONS to remind players how tough this land really is. Custom monsters can inflict CONDITIONS, lack of SUPPLIES or weather exposure are also common causes. Each CONDITION has causes, effects, remedies, and final outcome. Any condition left untreated for 1 week reaches it final outcome.

SMOKE Cause: Touched by a SMOKE, cursed, or losing hope in all things Effects: Become intermittently incorporeal, only able to touch your own gear and other SMOKES Remedies: Absorb a SOUL, be anointed by a righteous priest, redeem your hope in mankind Final Outcome: The CONDITION becomes permanent. If you are SMOKE for a year or more, dissipate into the wind.

INFERNAL Cause: Passing through a gate to hell, being possessed by a demonic force, making a pact with Lucifer Effects: Gain +3 STR, -3 CHA, +1 HEART, you become bony with horns and sunken eyes, all good folk hate you Remedies: Be touched by an angel, have the demon exorcised, redeem your evil deeds with at least 3 good deeds Final Outcome: The CONDITION becomes permanent, be compelled to obey Lucifer, gain 3 INFERNAL SPELLS

MUERTO Cause: Dead and unburied for a day or more, result of INFERNAL magic or curse Effects: Take half damage from bullets, heal HP only from SPELLS or WIS POWERS, +2 HEARTS, -6 CHA Remedies: Absorb a SOUL for each HEART, drink the Canuska holy tea Final Outcome: IF 0 HP, then simply go to dust, if MUERTO 1 week then the CONDITION is permanent

SICK AS A DOG Cause: Extreme cold, plague, starvation, tainted food or water Effects: -3 CON, people will shun and avoid you unless they are medically trained, move only NEAR Remedies: Warm soup and a cozy night’s sleep, heal to full HP by FOOD, Hepawa sweat lodge Final Outcome: Take a permanent -3 CON penalty, never go above 1 HEART total HP

GONE YELLA Cause: Extreme horror, fear, or existential terror. Can also be caused by critically failing a FEAR roll Effects: Flee the source of your fear for 1D4 ROUNDS, actively avoid it from then on Remedies: Make a CHA roll, be inspired by a MARIACHI Final Outcome: You will never face the source of your fear again, even if it means death first

LOCO Cause: Desert starvation, exposure to extreme cosmic truth, botched asylum brain-tincturing, Canuska spirit tea Effects: Erratic behavior, INT rolls are HARD, senseless gibbering, cannibalism, self-harm, comical absurdity Remedies: None Final Outcome: You become incommunicative, random, senseless or catatonic

POISONED Cause: Snake bite, weapon poison, food-borne poison, breathing poison gas Effects: Take 1-4 HP damage each ROUND, depending on the toxicity of the poison Remedies: Antidote specific to that poison, earning a HEART Final Outcome: Death. If at 0 HP when poisoned, you cannot roll a natural 20 to pop up from DYING.

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GHOST MOUNTAIN CAMPAIGN THE WHOLE TRUTH

THE DOOM OF HATT MARTINS

Hatt Martins set off to find Ghost Mountain, and save Though presented as a somewhat linear story here, his family. What he found was a place in a shadow of there is no telling how your Ghost Mountain adventure will go. Plan one night at a time, and give players opevil, and our heroes are his only hope. portunities to choose where it’s all headed next.

CAMPAIGN CHAPTERS

THE BUCKSKIN STAGE: Players are waylaid on their The big truth at work here is that the One God has torn usual coach route by a standoff at the Gallows Cross- Ghost Mountain up to take it away from Lucifer. Why? Because within the mountain lies a colossal deposit of road. YOG crystals. If they were to fall into the Devil’s hands, SHOWDOWN: The Dyre Gang, and the Slayer, depend- his power would be limitless. While the forces of good ing on Chapter 1, want the heroes killed dead. It all pull the mountain ever closer to oblivion, demons and comes to a head outside Buckskin, on the slopes of darkness crave to save it, mining feverishly in the hollow. This is the terrible irony of the full truth: that the Hatchet Mountain. only hope for Ghost Mountain is destruction, and so A DEAD ROCK LOVE STORY: Dyre’s operation is head- the lure of Lucifer’s agenda holds sway over so many. quartered in Dead Rock. Problem is, every damn soul is falling in love with the same woman: Mistress Dia- In such times, what can a few heroes do? That is for you to discover... mond. Things are about to go haywire. HELL AND HIGH WATER: At one point or another, the heroes may wind up in Dead Rock. The Dyre Gang sets up a brutal ambush, unleashing Coolie Dam and flooding the town. This can happen at Buckskin too. THE MUNSON MINE: A series of events lead our heroes to the deepest mine on the mountain, where the Dyre Gang has been transporting wagon loads of TNT. They mean to open a tunnel straight to the Hollow, and release a legion of demon kind.



EDGE OF EVERYTHING: Stumped in the Munson Mine, or shunted from there to the only way deeper, heroes wind up spelunking the crumbling edge of Ghost Mountain, looking for a way in or out of the Hollow. FRIENDS IN LOW PLACES: Here’s one hell of a crawl. INTO THE SUNSET: The Dead Pinnacles are the location for a climactic showdown with Azael the Butcher. Once the heroes return to town, if they do, the many threads of family, friendship and revenge tie together. Hell of a thing. 109

GHOST MOUNTAIN CAMPAIGN THE BUCKSKIN STAGE

CLUES AND CHOICES

Players begin with their heroes working as guards, stage drivers, wranglers, hunters, stowaways, pursuers or missionaries on a stagecoach route from Dead Rock to Buckskin. Try choosing one hero to play the stage boss and hire the others for this perilous supply run.

From the little town of Buckskin, heroes will have several choices of how to proceed. Don’t try to out-plan your players, just propose threads of adventure at session-end. Be fluid!

• Wagon tracks and TNT: Heading east from Buckskin Halfway along, at Gallows Crossroads, they encounter are a set of well-worn wagon tracks. This is where the Dyre Gang, in the middle of terrorizing a family. A the gang has been shipping TNT to Munson Mine. few of the outlaws are men, but two of them are In- • Smoke rising from the Henson Ranch: Off to the west, a plume of black smoke marks the old Henfernal. They have a father, mother and their daughter waylaid and hogtied, rifling through their possessions. son place...looks like a very big fire just burned there. Turns out the Dyre demons just blew his These are the Martins family, minus Hatt. place to bits when he stood up to them, but he • A gunfight at the crossroads: Provide a cover-rich knows about their TNT operation at the landslide approach, but remember how lethal guns are here, outpost. and warm players up to a good ol’ shoot out. • The Canuska Burials: Up North, weird standing • Two paths to Buckskin: Heroes can travel north to stones mark a magical place. A Canuska shaman Buckskin, but they learn that it is blocked by a landskulks there, and has cosmic answers for odd quesslide. This landslide is actually a Dyre Gang trap. tions. One catch: this shaman is actually The HunThey can go south, but that takes them close to the ger in human form. This can be an epic, brutal, Edge and will take twice as long. LOOT-rich encounter, or used to alleviate CONDI• A town being bullied: Buckskin, when they arrive, TIONS heroes might have. is being bullied and brutalized by Dyre’s men, who • Ending the Slayer’s Curse: The Slayer is a creature born when a wrathful soul digs up a Slayer Root in are loading a wagon of TNT and hounding the citizens. a dense wood called The Tangle. The only way to stop this rampaging beast is to kill it and re-bury it • Emma: The mayor of Buckskin is a woman named Emma, who is pure of heart and stout as an oak. there. She wants to fight back, and will help the heroes any way she can. • The Slayer Argument: Just outside of town, two residents are found arguing about something called a “Slayer” and how it won’t stop. The argument is heated, and they look afraid.



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GHOST MOUNTAIN CAMPAIGN SHOWDOWN Whether it’s outside Munson Mine, or somewhere near Buckskin, the heroes are going to come face to face with Dyre and his best men. Sure it’s a tough fight, but it also unfolds the next chapters of the story. • Hard to Kill: Dyre is part SMOKE, so he is immune to all non-MAGICAL attacks. Make him extremely resourceful, fast, and hard to fight. He and his men, though, have key information when it comes to what’s really going on in Ghost Mountain, ie: the YOG mining and Azael the Butcher. • The Righteous Play Their Hand: Coming up from Thomson Gulch is a small squad of highly trained religious gunfighters called The Righteous. They wear black, have silver crucifixes, silver guns, and mean to end the demon plague once and for all. Finding one dead, or meeting one in The Tangle can be a good way to introduce them. Can they be trusted? • Humble Help: Don’t forget your Buckskin townsfolk, who want to beat Dyre. Maybe they can create a distraction, hide up in the rocks with rifles or put on a ruse to lure the gang in. Part of the fun of weird west is the humble, regular folks. • The Hunger: This creature can be as much or little as you want for your game. It can manifest as a giant mouth in the ground, a huge bear make of black smoke, or a Canuska Shaman in infernal form. It is the native response to fight back everyone who has come to Ghost Mountain, and it is angry.



CLUES AND CHOICES Whether or not Dyre is defeated during the showdown, these clues can lead players in a few directions. • The Munson Map: At this point, drop a crude map of the mine as a clue. It indicates ways down that make no sense, and infernal markings and glyphs. • The Henson Brand: If the players never chose to check out Henson Ranch, place a little brand or mark on the TNT or wagon that an NPC recognizes. The ranch is where the demon gang has been mining Sulphur, and they have left poor Henson’s entire family as wrathful muertos. • A Letter to Mistress Diamond: A strange letter can be found, proclaiming undying, almost psychotic love and loyalty for a woman named Diamond. It’s addressed to Dead Rock, and signed by Dyre himself. • Splinters of YOG: Tiny fragments of red YOG crystal can be found here and there as players begin to sniff out the mine. You can also make them FIRE STONES or priceless gems. They are hints at the biggest part of the story: that Ghost Mountain is a colossal growth of YOG, thus its cosmic importance.

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GHOST MOUNTAIN CAMPAIGN CLUES AND CHOICES You can use Dead Rock to do lots of different characters and story threads, or simply play it as a chaotic battle. Either way, the next chapters will escalate the story to a final confrontation with the demons operating the Munson Mine. If your players never go to Dead Rock, these clues can be placed as options anywhere.

A DEAD ROCK LOVE STORY Either to collect supplies, pursue Dyre, or fall back from a tough defeat, the heroes may find themselves in Dead Rock. One problem: the whole town has gone bonkers. Her name is Mistress Diamond, and she’s got everyone in a chaotic violent frenzy of jealousy...and you just walked right into it.

• The Red Diamond: You find a gleaming, purest red jewel the size of a fist. It is pure, uncut YOG. It will heal anyone CLOSE to it for 1D6 every ROUND, it is priceless, and could even power a starship. A close look at this crystal reveals faces, swirling in a red mist, and they are the faces of men you have killed. The red diamond can be identified by almost anyone on Ghost Mountain as coming from the Munson Mine. • Is This the God You Worship: A deep talk with an NPC of your choice leads to a staggering truth: that the One God is the cause of the maelstrom that ripped Ghost Mountain from Earth. It was done to keep the YOG deposit from Lucifer’s legions, but it still places blame for this entire mess on the socalled righteous god. • The Righteous: These gunslingers eventually reveal their true purpose: to kill Azael. They know ways down to the Dead Pinnacles, or perhaps one of them is a shapeshifter in disguise. You can use them in all kinds of ways to lure, guide, or compel heroes to action. • Book of Eyes: This magical tome includes 12 pages. Each can be read at a location. An eye is placed there. From that day on, the user can turn to that page and see what the eye sees. One page is already functioning, and shows Azael feeding on raw YOG, growing bigger and bigger, with piles of smoldering dead all around him.

• Whoopin’ and a Whompin’: When heroes arrive here, the town is in chaos. Cowboys and drunks are running wild, shooting, fighting, flying out of windows, or being dragged by spooked horses. Just to get in and figure things out will be no easy task. • The High Horse Riders: One group is thriving in the madness, a posse from up north. They’re horse thieves and killers, no ordinary yokles with guns, and they mean to be Mistress Diamond’s top men. They’re holed up in the Gilded Goat saloon. No one gets to the mistress without going through them. • Diamond’s Lair: In the vast store rooms below the Gilded Goat, Mistress Diamond has a posh boudoir. It’s really more of a demonic shrine, where she is casting the magic that has everyone going nuts. Here she only has two guards: blind horrors from the deep. She is a powerful sorceress. • Azael Revealed: If Diamond is engaged, or pressed to a limit, or even defeated, she reveals her true form: that of Azael the Butcher. This is an archfiend from Hell itself, but only appearing in astral form. It is enraged, and marks the heroes as its next vic tims. This can’t be good. 112

GHOST MOUNTAIN CAMPAIGN CLUES AND CHOICES

HELL AND HIGH WATER Just when it couldn’t get more lawless in Dead Rock, whatever is left of the Dyre gang blows the Coolie Dam and floods the town. This will either drive heroes out of town, or wish them into a sinkhole. The question is: can anyone be saved? •

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Survivors are the real measure of this catastrophe, and heroes should make every attempt to save the innocent. This is a time to get biblical with your descriptions, and personal with your clues.

• Horace Walters: An old farmer who survives the flood will take the heroes in, equip and feed them. Rumblin’: As your Dead Rock segment winds down, Moreover, he knows a secret route into the Muna terrible rumble can be heard just outside of town. son Mine that can bypass the eye beast halls. One This is Coolie Dam being blown, and the town is catch: it’s a 2 mile climb straight down. about to be wiped out. Here’s a TIMER for the ages! Total destruction: When the flood hits, nothing • Ada Ardagast: This attractive schoolteacher has been secretly studying Azael and the legions of hell. can withstand it. Entire buildings are smashed, She has detailed information on their powers and poles and timbers go flying, crowds are crushed weaknesses. You can homebrew these as needed, and drowned. It is a deadly day. Only high ground making Azael especially nasty to confront. She may is safe. also know of a certain artifact or incantation that Bastards at the High Ground: Once/if heroes will lower the archfiend’s defenses, or make an eye reach Cemetery Hill, the innocents there are being beast vulnerable to bullets. pushed back by a group of cowards with guns. One • The Lord’s Church Choir: This group of kids can be of them kicks a poor old woman into the torrent. rescued from the flood. Their gratitude grants the Take ‘em down. heroes each a MILESTONE PATH REWARD. Blue Canyon Falls: Where the flood drops off a cliff, • Ol’ Jeb: The legend of Jeb goes way back. Seems at Blue Canyon, the whole town is smashing and every few decades an old man appears with this colliding, then tumbling down the edge. If swept name, and he’s sort of invulnerable or proof against away, the heroes can take this route into the Shalinfernal powers. He can be led down into Hell, as lows of Hell, or the depths of Munson Mine. The a sort of Virgil or holy ward, and used to confront odds of surviving such rapids are very, very low. even the most powerful fiends. Thing is, he sure moves slow.



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GHOST MOUNTAIN CAMPAIGN THE MUNSON MINE

• Shallows of Hell: One corner of the caverns holds a child of Azatoth. It is surrounded by the dead, Here is your first real dungeon crawl of the campaign. and piles of bones. The heroes are drawn to it, and It can stretch out or compress to fit your table’s style. their doom. If it can be defeated, EPIC LOOT awaits. Dyre and his men are using TNT to blast their way The LOOT is from Alfheim, for so far-flung are these down to the hollow, unleash the demon armies, and aid Azael in finding the YOG vein. Do-gooder heroes accursed beings. will try to stop it all, but any sane person would run for it when they see the doom that awaits here.

CLUES AND CHOICES

• The Big Collapse: A ways into the mine, the tunnel collapses, blocking exit and alerting the denizens within. On a bad roll, a hero or two might even get caught in the rubble as the shadow wolves attack. • Diggin’ Pits: Dyre’s men have been digging downward, trying to make an opening to the shallows, which are the upper layers of the hollow interior, where Hell begins. These pits are crossed by precarious plank bridges (naturally). • Bridge of Ashes: One great stone bridge in the caverns is crumbling with age. It shows signs of ancient gothic architecture. From a fiery chasm below, the ash-black skeletons of lost souls are crawling upward, confused and seeking living flesh. • Blast Site: Deep in the mine, the men are blasting with TNT. This will knock everyone down, break concentration on SPELLS, or make rolls HARD. These pits can be used to descend further.

After encountering the bridge of ashes, blind horrors and eye beasts, the players are likely to seek safer passage or simply flee. That’s when things get interesting. • The Righteous: If the ‘men in black’ haven’t appeared in your campaign yet, consider placing one way down here, fighting back the hordes all alone. He can be used to frighten, inform, or guide heroes onward. • Dyre’s Way Down: The TNT pits can be climbed, but at risk. Be ready for brutal falling rolls, hero death or even a party wipe out. If this happens, they awaken deep in hell, stripped of all gear, in bars. • Touched by Evil: The child of Azatoth can be used in very insidious ways, even secretly turning a hero to pure evil, sending them the wrong way, or alerting Azael all too soon. Be ruthless. Be arcane.





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GHOST MOUNTAIN CAMPAIGN CLUES AND CHOICES

EDGE OF EVERYTHING The edge of Ghost Mountain is a crumbling place, where gravity and thunderstorms are all twisted and volatile. This location can be reached at a few times in your campaign, but no one goes there deliberately. It can serve as an escape from the hollow, or a long way ‘round the avalanche on Hatchet Mountain. • The Lonely Tracker: However or whenever your players come this way, a lone tracker, part infernal, will defend his camp here. He is a sniper-style sharpshooter who hides in the rolling clouds, aiming for vitals and dropping heroes one by one. • Shadow Wolves: These dimension-phasing predators are the tracker’s pack. They will fight to the death once anyone comes too close to the tracker’s campfire. • Storms: Use a giant sliding cloud to represent limited visibility here. Even consider using lightning strikes, driving rain or wind gusts. Giant boulders raise into the air here, and the void itself is visible out in the distance. Heavy stuff. • Dead Men in the Dirt: Lead players along by placing skeletons here and there. Load them with SHABBY or Ghost Mountain LOOT.



Heading onward from the edge is a simple matter of knowing the area, providing roadways, and keeping a tight watch on SUPPLIES. Out this far, it’s all too easy to get stranded, lost, or simply starve. • Native Traders: A good random encounter in this wilderness can be Canuska or Hepawa traders. They have LOOT, but are slow to trust. They can also be used to inform, guide, or trick heroes. • The Road to Buckskin: It’s a long way up Hatchet Mountain. Remember to press SUPPLIES. Force heroes to hunt, search or scavenge. • The Road to Dead Rock: Heading back is an option, past Gallows Crossroads, but Dyre has dispatched a squad to investigate what happened there, and it will be tougher than last time, with MUERTO gatling gunners on site. • The Cliffs to the Hollow: One way to reach upper Hell is to climb down the edge with ropes and such, but it is a dizzying, unstable scene with floating rocks and infinite drop-offs. This can make an epic scene for an encounter with The Hunger or a floating eye beast.



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GHOST MOUNTAIN CAMPAIGN FRIENDS IN LOW PLACES Below Munson Mine, in the great hollow within Ghost Mountain, the upper levels of Hell are contained. Also here is the largest deposit of YOG on Earth, and there is no overstating the importance of keeping this power from Azael, and Lucifer himself. These halls are the shallows of Hell itself...an endless tangle of streets and caverns, spiked fences, fields of spears, roaring fires, towers and pits, all teeming with lost souls, skeletons burned to ash, demon torturers and archfiend overlords. • Rings Upon Rings: Like in ‘Dante’s Inferno’ Hell is arranged in a series of descending, concentric rings. Use this as a guiding design principle as you lay out your dungeon. The further down, the worse things get, and each ring is hemmed by a massive wall. • A Pilgrim Unburnt: Whether it be Ol’ Jeb or a more mysterious character, introduce a ‘pilgrim’ who is incorporeal, but seeks to aid the heroes. Imagine a robed figure with a lantern ... like a holy ghost in Hell’s red shadows. • Flayers of Souls: The task masters of Hell are these 4-armed demons, whose only work is to whip and smite the damned, and drive lesser demons to similar deeds. They will work tirelessly to stop the heroes. • The Dead Pinnacles: Finally, there is an upside-down fortress that hangs from below Ghost Mountain. Great stone towers and tangled chains. Imagine an upside-down tower adventure with Azael himself at the nadir of it all. Beyond epic.



CLUES AND CHOICES All roads here either lead to the Dead Pinnacles, and Azael’s lair, the Crystal Caverns, or the pits where souls burn. • A Secret Door: By whatever means, heroes discover a secret entrance to the Dead Pinnacles that will take them straight to Azael for the final battle. • The Dig: A huge area of the shallows is occupied by demons hard at work to uncover the Crystal Cavern, and reach the YOG. Heroes should be tempted to destroy or cripple this huge operation. • Forges of Hell: Near the Dead Pinnacles, a smoky domain of molten iron holds these forges. This is where the great chains are made that bind the pinnacles, and all Hell’s armies are equipped. Consider placing EPIC weapons and armor here. • Gravelands: One way to lead heroes around, or inform them, is a vast swath of land occupied by etched grave stones. All kinds of clues and possible directions lay there written.

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GHOST MOUNTAIN CAMPAIGN CLUES AND CHOICES

INTO THE SUNSET However your campaign may conclude, here are some ideas to give an epilogue to all that has happened. Be poetic, let it all hang on the edge of a knife, and be ready to rewind time, end the world or worse.

Ghost Mountain has two connections to the other WORLDS: the Wizard’s Door and the Crystal Cavern. Here are ways to make that bridge, and continue the saga far beyond the mountain.

• Into the Light: One way to end things is to have all of Ghost Mountain sort of fade into sunlight. Yes, everyone ‘dies,’ but the YOG are safe and Lucifer defeated. A sunset to end all sunsets. Even winning is sad up here. • Crashing into Hell: A heavy metal ending might be using the massive chains, or some form of powerful magic, to ‘crash’ Ghost Mountain into Hell below. Like a giant missile or starship, Ghost Mountain could be thrust into Hell, destroying everything. • Morning, Again: A classic way to move on is have the heroes go black, then sort of ‘wake up’ on the morning of their departure to Buckskin, all the way back at the beginning. They look at each, baffled, afraid, trapped forever in this nightmare. • Thomson Gulch, the Night of the Maelstrom: A more triumphant ending could be coming-to in Thomson Gulch before the mountain was ever torn up. A game of cards is being played, and storm clouds are brewing. The world has been given a second chance, thanks to the mighty heroes.

• Wizard’s Door: The Hunger has a small hut wherever he appears in your story. Within, he has conjured a gateway to ALFHEIM. This could be used to pass back and forth, call monsters or heroes, or anything else you imagine. One problem: The Hunger hates all living and unliving things. • Crystal Cavern: So dense is the growth of YOG here, its raw power has opened a sort of wormhole or dimension gate into the remote future of WARP SHELL. Maybe a ship comes slamming into Ghost Mountain, or weird west heroes are swept up in a WARP SHELL ship for more adventures. The possibilities are endless.





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GHOST MOUNTAIN LOOT 1: RATTLER VENOM (FOOD, 5 uses, use as antidote OR poison, applies or removes POISONED condition) 2: SILVER CRUCIFIX (ITEM, take half damage from any supernatural entities that would harm you) 3: JUG O’ MOONSHINE (FOOD, 10 uses, 1 swig gets you drunk, can be used as flammable or antiseptic) 4: UNDERTAKER’S SHOVEL (WEAPON, If you bring a target to 0 HP with this WEAPON, it DIES instantly) 5: SADDLE BLANKET (ARMOR, +3, place on any animal to soothe it, all rolls with that animal are EASY) 6: FINGERBONE BRACELET (ITEM, rolls to control, destroy or resist effects or results with SKELETONS are EASY) 7: NECKLACE OF SEVEN FANGS (ITEM, Any time you do 5 or more damage with a KNIFE, roll damage again) 8: HEPAWA WARBONNET (ARMOR, +1, a crown of eagle feathers, +5 CHA when interacting with Hepawa peoples) 9: HIDDEN PISTOL (WEAPON, 1 shot, 1 TURN to reload, can only be used CLOSE, target saves with WIS to spot) 10: SILVER BULLETS (AMMO, MAGICAL, 6 count, Double damage against supernatural creatures) 11: HUNGRY MEDALLION (ITEM, Gain the maximum benefit of FOOD consumed) 12: MASTERWORK MUSKET (WEAPON, On any ATTEMPT of 10+ do maximum damage, 2 SHOTS, 2 TURNS to reload) 13: ARMORED DUSTER (ARMOR, +3, Gunshots from FAR range only inflict 1 point of damage) 14: PIGGIN’ STRINGS (ITEM, Any object, animal or person tied with these cords CANNOT escape or shake loose) 15: BUTTER RUM TOBACCO (FOOD, 3 uses, Ask the GM any question when smoking, receive a true answer) 16: CANUSKA BONE ARMOR (ARMOR, +5, All rolls when interacting with the Canuska are EASY) 17: BLACK SKULL (ITEM, No evil entity may come within NEAR of this powerful object) 18: RUSTY LEG IRONS (ITEM, Bind a person at the ankles, on a HARD STR roll, they can break free) 19: IRON BOLO (WEAPON, FAR range, Targets hit makes a HARD DEX roll or falls prone, immobile for 1D4 ROUNDS) 20: JAWBONE CLUB (WEAPON, MAGICAL, BRUTAL, When struck, targets also lose 3 STR for 4 ROUNDS) 21: VIPER BOOTS (ARMOR, +1, You cannot be poisoned, these boots are also fire and acid proof) 22: GAMBLER’S VEST (ITEM, A fine vest with hidden pockets, EQUIP up to 15 pieces of GEAR, 5 of them secretly) 23: OBSIDIAN TOMAHAWK (WEAPON, THROWN, Ignore damage-reducing ARMOR, reroll DAMAGE below 5) 24: ANTLER KNIVES (WEAPON, MAGICAL, DO double EFFORT against animals, wood, or stone) 25: THE DEVIL’S DICE (ITEM, Reroll any 1 die once per TURN, Be compelled to do Lucifer’s will) 26: CHEMICAL LANTERN (ITEM, A sulphur-magnesium lamp, illuminate up to double FAR) 27: SPYGLASS (ITEM, +3 WIS when rolling to scout, navigate or spot) 28: CAVALRY SABER (WEAPON, RARE, Targets hit for 8 or more DAMAGE must make a CON roll or fall to 0 HP) 29: CHLOROFORM FLASK (FOOD, 3 uses, Breathe this in to appear dead for 1D4 hours) 30: BUNDLE OF TNT (WEAPON, EXPLOSIVE, VOLATILE, 1D4 ROUND fuse, Inflict 4D12 damage to all NEAR) 31: BLACKSMITH’S FRIEND (ITEM, A clever multitool, All rolls when repairing, building, or using tools are EASY) 32: LUCKY HORSE SHOE (ITEM, Any natural roll of 18+ counts as a CRITICAL success) 33: RED EYE WHISKEY (FOOD, 5 uses, 34: SNAKE OIL (FOOD, 3 uses, cures any CONDITION) 35: ARCANE GUN KIT (ITEM, Attach to 1 firearm, that gun is now MAGICAL) 36: LUCKY POKER CHIP (ITEM, When using cards to roll, you may draw twice each time and take the better draw) 37: CLOTH BANDAGE KIT (ITEM, Heal 1 HP when succeeding at “don’t die on me, man!”) 38: CACTUS JUICE (FOOD, 5 uses, Replaces 1 day of SUPPLIES for a group of people) 39: SAWED-OFF SHOTGUN (WEAPON, See weapons list) 40: DEATH MASK (ARMOR, +2, Bronze shaped into a face, terrify townsfolk, no roll, Take 3 damage when removed) 41: WOLF TOTEM (ITEM, Wolves are drawn to you, and consider you one of their own) 42: BARBED BULLWHIP (WEAPON, A working grappler bullwhip that also does WEAPON EFFORT) 43: HARPOON GUN (WEAPON, Functions as an ELEPHANT RIFLE, also grapples its target solid for 4 ROUNDS) 44: RUBY RING (ITEM, Worth 2,000 COIN, Reveal to mesmerize or entrance the greedy) 45: EBON HEMP ROBE (ITEM, Double FAR length, cannot be cut, burned, ripped or damaged in any way) 46: IVORY BROACH (ITEM, An image of a regal old woman, Give to someone to bind them to one OATH forever) 47: GREENSTEEL KATANA (WEAPON, RARE, SHARP, Any foe killed with this sword grants you its SOUL) 48: HANGIN’ JUDGE’S GAVEL (ITEM, Point at a person and slam this gavel, all those in sight with see them as GUILTY) 49: COSSAK SASH (ITEM, Be avoided and left alone by bandits outlaws and criminals who can see the sash) 118

GHOST MOUNTAIN LOOT 50: AMULET OF AZAEL (ITEM, Mark of Azael’s Elite, You are IMMUNE to attacks from Azael, he knows your location) 51: DAZZLING SAPPHIRE (ITEM, Worth 10,000 COIN, Can be bartered for twice its value) 52: DEVIL’S PITCHFORK (WEAPON, MAGICAL, Treat as a spear, Can be consumed in flames on command) 53: SHARP OBSIDIAN SHARD (ITEM, Replace the blade on a WEAPON, add any 3 TAGS you choose to that WEAPON) 54: BEAR BURGERS (FOOD, 3 uses, +5 STR for 4 ROUNDS, Heal to full HP) 55: BAR O’ LARD (ITEM, Apply to any surface to make it super slick, flammable and waterproof) 56: BEACON OF HELL (ITEM, All demons and infernals within 1 mile are drawn to it until put away) 57: BLOWGUN (WEAPON, SILENT, Includes 8 darts, POISON a target with no detection) 58: RANGE RIDER’S TRENCH COAT (ARMOR, +1, Use half SUPPLIES as normal, All mounted rolls are EASY) 59: TRUE SKELETON KEY (ITEM, Open ANY locked door) 60: CROSSBONES EYEPATCH (ITEM, On command, you have limited X-RAY type vision to FAR) 61: BRAWLER’S GLOVES (WEAPON, Fight unarmed as if with a WEAPON, ARMOR +3) 62: GOLDEN LARIAT (ITEM, MAGICAL, Any target grappled with this lasso must tell the truth, immobilized) 63: POUCH OF GOLD DUST (ITEM, 1 Use, Sprinkle on any object to make it MAGICAL) 64: BOTTLE OF HOLY WATER (FOOD, 3 uses, Sprinkle in a threshold, supernatural evil cannot pass) 65: CANE SWORD (WEAPON, CONCEALABLE, Works as a normal sword, requires a HARD WIS roll to spot) 66: HEXAR ALMANIS (BOOK, A massive book of magic rites, Learn and cast 5 SPELLS of any type) 67: SMOKE BULLETS (AMMO, 12 count, These bullets will hit targets with the SMOKE condition) 68: URN OF ANGELS (ITEM, Burn a dead creature, place its ashes here, it will be reborn in 1D4 days) 69: SCROUNGER’S PACK (ITEM, Make a WIS roll once per location, find an object you seek there) 70: RING OF SLAYERS (ITEM, On an attack roll of 15+ roll again, if 2nd roll hits, it does ULTIMATE) 71: CRITTER IN NEED (SPECIAL, You find a small animal that immediately imprints on you as its best friend) 72: DIAMOND WHETSTONE (ITEM, Sharpen a bladed WEAPON, that WEAPON is +3 EFFORT) 75: SPIRAL LOCKET (ITEM, EFFORT done with HOLY SPELLS is +3) 76: SIGNET OF THE RIGHTEOUS (ITEM, Earns you membership and privileges of the elite gunslinger cult) 77: EZRA’S WEDDING BAND (ITEM, CURSED, Ezra’s ghost haunts you for all time, roll a natural 20 to remove) 78: DAGGER OF RUINS (WEAPON, MAGICAL, Does TRIPLE ULTIMATE against structures, doors, or vehicles) 79: STAFF OF SPIRITS (ITEM, MAGICAL, Learn and cast any 5 WIS POWERS) 80: GHOST DRUM (INSTRUMENT, MAGICAL, Supernatural entities are terrified of this sound) 81: BAG O’ MONEY (ITEM, Contains 5d10 x 1,000 COIN in bonds, cash and gold) 82: BLUE CACTUS PEACHES (FOOD, 2 uses, Heal 1D12 HP, Cure all CONDITIONS, Ignore the next 5 damage) 83: BLACK SPADE REVOLVER (WEAPON, MAGICAL, Never needs AMMO) 84: RAVEN’S CLAW (ITEM, Shapeshift into a raven with a WIS roll, stay in that form as long as you choose) 85: BULLET ARROWS (AMMO, 20 count, Use firearm rules with a bow) 86: DEMON DECK (ITEM, Replaces a Gambler’s Deck, Treat every card as if it were one card better) 87: DEVIL’S DECK (ITEM, Replaces Gambler’s Deck, Re draw on any non-face card) 88: TURBAN OF FUTURES (ITEM, With a HARD INT roll, see into a specific future) 89: GOLDEN MATTOCK (ITEM, With a WIS roll underground, find a YOG splinter, gold nugget, or tunnel) 90: AZAEL’S CLEAVER (WEAPON, MAGICAL, When you hit a target, they must make a CON roll or drop to 0 HP) 91: CHEST OF WONDERS (CHEST, 2 HEARTS to open, Take 3 total LOOT rolls, These can be rolled on any TABLE) 92: OWL HEAD DRESS (ARMOR, +5, You cannot be harmed by bladed WEAPONS) 93: CHAIN CLAW (ITEM, With a DEX roll, fly to any FAR point instantly) 94: DR. WARSTEIN’S AMAZING MACHINE (ITEM, When activated, this machine takes a form designated by the GM) 95: GHOST GUN (WEAPON, MAGICAL, This pistol cannot miss and never needs to be reloaded) 96: LIGHTNING COIL (ITEM, Activate with a lever, in 1D4 ROUNDS everything within FAR takes 3D12 damage) 97: CROSS OF SANTIAGO (ITEM, Infernal SPELLS cannot harm you) 98: GUERAS MALEFECTORUM (BOOK, Melee attacks on supernatural foes are always CRITICAL and MAGICAL) 99: GHOST BULLETS (ITEM, 20 count, Shoot these through any material up to FAR with no loss in momentum) 100: RING OF FALLING STARS (ITEM, Make a wish. It will come to pass. There may be consequences) 119

GHOST MOUNTAIN MONSTERS CREATING HELLIONS Most of the ‘monsters’ encountered on the Mountain are just men and beasts turned ugly by the forces at work. The closer you get to the edge, or down in The Hollow, you’ll find more horrible things. Generally, use the monsters provided in the ICRPG CORE Set. Throw in some dire wolves, burning skeletons, undead gunslingers, or giant rattlesnakes for good measure. As a guideline for Ghost Mountain monsters, theme them around Hell’s demonic, fiery influence. This is the weird west, not a fantasy world, so use exotic monsters only with great care. The monster roller tables in the ICRPG CORE Set should serve perfectly for all your mechanics.

COMMON TYPES DIRE ANIMALS: Wolves, snakes, bears and even vultures can take an evil taint sometimes. They become bigger, more ravenous, more devious. They’re known to wander all over the mountain, mainly hunting human beings for sport. They are not supernatural, but sure look a fright. MEN TOUCHED BY EVIL: So many good folk are turned by Lucifer’s dark power. They become reavers, thieves, killers, or lawless lunatics. In time, they even turn infernal or go smoke. Their errands range from petty robbery to destroying the damn world. DEMONS, DEVILS, AND GHOSTS: From The Hollow come these supernatural entities, bound to do the Devil’s will. They work break mankind’s faith, to open the doors of hell, or call up terrible storms just for fun. SKELETONS: Poor souls, countless in number. They burn down there, or were buried too shallow. Infernal magicians use them as pawns. UNDER GODS: Azael has a small group of demigods and immortals that serve his will. Pray you never encounter one, for they cannot die. They are the princes of the underworld. HORRORS: The turbulence between life and death has twisted some life force into black tentacles, spiked mouths in the dirt, eyeless insects or disembodied heads. Hold your ground, fight back, or these things will be everywhere someday. 120

VILLAINS AND ALLIES NASTY BUGGERS Easy thing, being nasty in dark times. These snakes took the low road, and deserve a bullet. • Dyre: A half-smoke outlaw with a whole gang at his command. They take what they want, kill anyone who gets in their way, and seem set to unleash hell’s armies. Dyre does have a soft spot, though: he used to be a man, and though he’s all but forgotten, his family is still alive somewhere out near Dead Rock. • The Hunger: This mysterious being takes many forms, mainly of a defiled Canuska shaman or a gigantic toothy mouth opening up in the earth. It seems to be drawn to burial grounds, and what it wants is unknown. • Black Jack: Some kind of supernatural card player. NOBLE HEARTS Some folk don’t think he’s real, but he’ll appear, Good folk are still around, still willing to fight. Make run a town dry, kill off the women folk and even friendly like, these are your only hope. kids before he’s done playing. Then he just disappears. • The Red Lady: Long the guardian of lost souls in Hell, her charge is to stop Azael. She takes the form • Azael the Butcher: In the shallows of hell, an archfiend called Azael tortures lost souls or fools who of a giant, silent, sphinx-like creature with greenish mine too deep. He has no love of Bae-Al, thinking feathered wings and a necklace of pure green YOG. himself hell’s real prince. • Emma: The mayor of Buckskin, Emma watches over the upper reaches of the mountain. She’s really no more than a farmer, but with a heart as true and stout as any ever were. • Big Bear: This young man was raised Canuska, but born to a pioneer family in Thomson Gulch. He has fully embraced the native ways, but most folks just think he’s crazy. • Reginald Henson: Owner of one the largest ranches over near the edge. Here’s a classic good guy, and ought to be made sheriff. • Hatt Martins: Just a kid looking for his family, who unwittingly opened the depths in Munson Mine. • Raleigh Watts: The roads are patrolled by this sharp shootin’ lady. Rumor has it she’s hunting Dyre and his gang, but she is seldom seen in any town. • Scrap: Just a weasel trying to survive? Nope, this critter is a totem animal ... a shapeshifter from the ancient days, and those who believe the stories will tell you he’s our best hope to win this war. 121

CONCLUSION LET’S DO THIS

Now that ICRPG has grown to have a robust community, a best-selling CORE book, and WORLDS, we are truly ready to boldly go. There are too many stories already, and so many yet to come. I owe it all to the incredible, talented, creative, totally nutty players and readers out there making it all possible. The next milestones for ICRPG include a SECOND EDITION CORE Set with all of the PDF updates up to 1.3.5. A Special edition of this book will also be available on AMAZON in 2018. Also coming are two more books to complete the set: GOOD and EVIL. These books will deliver loads of new material for all you deep divers out there. Stay tuned. As we went through the process of playtesting WORLDS, we discovered how intertwined these different themes are, how robust the ruleset can really become, and how ICRPG has improved all of our games and game-mastering styles. I hope you have the same experience. May your dice roll high. -HF

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