Written By: Jonas Karlsson
yield fruits. Unimaginably slimy, beautifully rotting,
There are more things in heaven and
earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
- Hamlet (1.5.167-8)
Most people walk safe in the knowledge that the world
makes sense, that life has meaning and purpose, that
cause follows effect, that humans are more than mere
animals, that change, and progress is possible, and, of
course, that humanity has a future, a bright one.
Alas. Humans are limited by their society, biology,
innate inclination to short-term thinking, hyped-up
pattern matching, evolutionary origins, indeed all the
things that makes humans, well, human.
Most humans see the world through a distorting lens, a
veil that hides that which would break their primate
minds. Some seek to pierce the veil, to adjust for the
distortion, to truly see the world for what it is. And some
unfortunate few cannot avoid seeing the truth, no matter
how much they would like to avoid doing so.
A Truth – Veritas – about how the world really works
that may set them free, destroy them, or lead them to
power. But a truth that also does not care - or even
perceive - that humans exist.
When to use these rules: Use Veritas if your game
features an uncaring universe, where ignorance is bliss
and the truth gradually drives one insane. Powerful. But
insane.
Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at
least by my example, how dangerous is
the acquirement of knowledge, and how
much happier that man is who believes
his native town to be the world, than he
who aspires to become greater than his
nature will allow.
—Victor Frankenstein, Frankenstein
Knowledge about the way the world truly works is
covered by Veritas, which like Wealth is similar to a
Trait.
Like a Trait it’s die type progresses from untrained (d4-
2) through d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d12+1 and beyond.
Unlike a Trait it cannot be raised by Advances, instead it
increases in play, often as a result of horror and mental
trauma, though researching the blasphemous mutterings
of the insane poets and madmen of antiquity may well
This game references the Savage Worlds game system, available from Pinnacle Entertainment Group at www.peginc.com. Savage
Worlds and all associated logos and trademarks are copyrights of Pinnacle Entertainment Group. Used with permission.
Pinnacle makes no representation or warranty as to the quality, viability, or suitability for purpose of this product.
non-Euclidian fruit to be sure. But still…
As the character’s mind becomes increasingly unhinged
and disconnected from the way others see the world, the
character finds it easier to see through the veil. To gain
the true Knowledge, the Veritas. High levels of Veritas
tend to detach one from the mundane world, to cause
one to consider one’s fellow humans mere talking
animals, of no more consequence than any other creature
one happens across. It changes one’s mind, seldom for
the better, as far as other people are concerned. Not that
they matter…
Each die type of Veritas effectively gives a Minor ‘mental’
Hindrance ‘for free’ (e.g. Arrogant, Big Mouth,
Bloodthirsty, Cautious, Clueless, Curious, Death Wish,
Delusional, etc.) Physical ones that could plausibly be
psychosomatic are also allowed (e.g. Blind, Can’t Swim,
Clumsy, Mute, etc.). It is also possible to choose to
upgrade a minor Hindrance to the major version of the
same Hindrance. Alternatively the GM may allow the
removal of an Edge, if appropriate (the theme should be
to disconnect the character from ordinary society and
normal life.) Once gained they are in all ways normal
Hindrances and can be removed by Advances as usual.
Each die type also grants an Edge ‘for free’, the first (at
d4) should be Arcane Background (Veritas), but after that
you can choose between any edges the GM tells you are
available (the default is all Power Edges for which your
character fulfills the requirements.)
Having Veritas may grant more benefits, or problems,
depending on the campaign world.
It is said that power corrupts, but
actually it's more true that power
attracts the corruptible. The sane are
usually attracted by other things than
power.
-- David Brin
„ ARCANE SKILL: Veritas (no attribute)
„ STARTING POWERS: 1
„ POWER POINTS: equal to twice the Veritas die type
The character’s knowledge of the way the world truly
works grants the ability to manipulate reality, albeit at
great risk. It can only be acquired by having a Veritas die
type of d4 or higher.
Unless the following rules explicitly state that it works
differently, use the standard Powers rules. The main
difference is that casting a spell uses a Dramatic Task
variant, again using the normal rules for such, unless
otherwise stated below.
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 For in much wisdom is much grief: and he
that increaseth knowledge increaseth
sorrow.
― Ecclesiastes 1:18
The powers available for your character depends on the
campaign. For acquiring powers beyond the first, see the
Learning Spells section below.
Casting a spell (i.e using a Power) is a single-person
Dramatic Task, you need to get enough successes to cast
the spell before the maximum number of rounds have
passed, the exact number of successes/rounds depends
on the rank of the spell, see the table below.
While casting the spell you are performing an obvious
ritual of some sort, chanting/singing/dancing/etc. (Those
that notice you perform the ritual can use Veritas (d4-2 if
they are untrained) to figure out which power you are
using, at a penalty equal to the Rank number in the
table.)
You can spend several actions to cast the spell in one
round, with the normal Multi Action Penalties.
Others with Veritas can attempt to Support you as
normal for a Dramatic Task. (Occult can serve in a pinch,
at a penalty equal to the Rank number in the table
below.)
First roll Veritas, one per action until you either stop
casting, have reached the maximum number of rounds
allowed, or succeeded.
On a successful conclusion of the Dramatic Task your
power points are spent, and the spell is cast.
If you get more successes than needed, count them as
raises for the spell if that matters. (You can continue
casting the spell after success in order to get more
successes, if the maximum number of rounds have not
passed.)
If too much time has passed or you stop casting before
success, for whatever reason, your attempt to impose
your will on reality has failed, and it pushes back. Spend
one power point and roll on the Dynamic Backlash table,
any supporters gain a level of Fatigue.
The number of successes/maximum rounds are given
below:
Power Rank # of successes Maximum
(number) rounds
Novice (1) 4 3
Seasoned (2) 6 4
Veteran (3) 8 5
Heroic (4) 10 6
Legendary (5) 12 7
2
“What’s the old saying? Ah, I remember
now. ‘Curiosity flayed the cat alive,
ripped it apart limb from limb, and
listened to it scream before it killed it.’
That’s the one.”
― Simon Holt, The Devouring
In many settings where there is a hidden Truth some
elements of said Truth may well have been discovered
by previous generations of Truth-seekers who recorded
their discoveries in Tomes.
For the purpose of these rules, a sizable collection of
Veritas-connected lore is considered a Tome (though it
may well be stone tablets, Quipu strings, rune stones,
pictograms on a wall, a heap of pamphlets, a shelf full of
books, or even a stack of printouts of the discussions on
a long-forgotten message board.) The definition of a
Tome is that it contains enough information about the
Truth of the universe that it can affect a character’s
Veritas and contains enough hints that a character can
potentially learn spells from it. In a campaign it would
be unusual to find more than a dozen or so Tomes in
total. (There may well be other books of lore, but not
ones considered Tomes.)
Studying tomes won’t directly increase one’s Veritas, but
it does set a baseline. The number of Tomes a character
has fully read and understood affects the lowest Rank
his or hers Veritas can be as per the following table:
Tomes read Minimum Veritas
2 d4
4 d6
8 d8
Double the previous Increase one die type
Skimming a tome (to get an idea of its contents, and be
able to use it as a reference) takes about a working day.
Attempting to fully read a tome takes about a week
(potentially affecting your Veritas as per above, and
making it possible to learn the spells found in it.)
Either way, to read a Tome you must:
• Know the language it is written in.
• If it is ciphered succeed in the
appropriate skill given in the book
description (often Occult or Academics)
to be able to figure it out.
• Have enough Veritas to be able to
fathom the contents of the Tome.
 • Succeed in a Veritas check to understand
it. (If you fail you cannot try again until
your Veritas has risen.)
A critical failure causes an immediate Fear roll with a
penalty equal to your current Veritas die type as you
truly grok the implications of what you have just read…
A skimmed or read Tome can also be used to give a +1
bonus to any skill rolls regarding its subject matter if the
book is at hand when the roll is made, at the cost of
quadrupling the time the skill roll takes.
A Tome usually has a physical description, notes on
deciphering it and any penalties to the above rolls, a
minimum Veritas needed to understand it, a summary of
its contents, and suggested spells that can be learned
from it.
Description: A set of acid-etched sheets of titanium
supposedly found wrapped around an Egyptian
mummy’s canopic jars at an archaeological excavation of
an Old Kingdom pyramid. The symbols seem to be
Akkadian.
Deciphering: It is written in Akkadian and uses many
obscure analogies to the mythology of the Akkadians
requiring an Academics (Ancient Cultures) roll to
decipher. The reader must have a Veritas of at least d4 to
be able to understand it fully, and rolls to read it has no
penalty.
Summary of contents: It goes into great detail on the
internal politics of the Annunaki and exactly how their
withdrawal of support from Akkad caused the Curse of
Akkad, as well as a lot of speculation on how to replicate
some of the effects on a mortal scale.
Spells: Lower Trait and Sloth with trappings of hunger
and deprivation.
To learn a spell beyond the one you get through Arcane
Background: Veritas, you must first take the New Powers
edge (automatically through a raised Veritas, or as one of
your normal edges) and then choose among the Spells
available to learn.
The normal way to find spells to learn is to study Tomes
you have fully read as these often contain descriptions of
spells. Other campaign events may well grant access to
knowledge about spells (perhaps you can learn by
seeing them cast, or some entity implants it the ability to
cast it in your soul, or your GM may even tell you to
research your own spells.)
The unnatural and the strange have a
perfume of their own
― Fernando Pessoa
Creatures, things, locations, etc., can all have a score in
Unnatural (it is, like Veritas, not a Trait, but acts like one),
showing how far from what humans perceive as natural
it is, and, incidentally, often how dangerous and
powerful it is.
The Unnatural is in a way a mirror of Veritas in that to
someone with a Veritas lower than something it
encounters, it’s very existence can be mind-blasting (see
Interacting with the Unnatural, below).
The Unnatural should not be granted to ordinary scary
things such as huge monsters that are simply likely to
kill you, Fear will do fine for those. The Unnatural is
intended to be used for things like the reality-defying,
sanity-blasting beings of eldritch horror of the Cthulhu
Mythos, the dawning realization that we are but
simulations trapped in a Roko’s basilisk, seeing that
"overhead, without any fuss, the stars were going out."…
(A thorough perusal of various Cthulhu-related
roleplaying games, and perhaps even the TV tropes page
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheseAr
eThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow should give plenty
of further examples.)
Like Veritas, the Unnatural can be used for altering reality
(performing magic). The more Unnatural a creature is,
the more it can change the apparent rules of the
universe. In effect, many Unnatural creatures have the
Arcane Background (Veritas) edge, though they use their
Unnatural Trait instead of Veritas. Use the magic system
above or simply assign Unnatural creatures suitable
abilities as you see fit.
Any fool can know. The point is to
understand.
― Albert Einstein
The process of learning – especially about that which
man was not meant to know – can be frightening.
Encountering that which is beyond one’s current
understanding of the universe is likely to cause a Fear
check.
When someone interacts (sees, communicates with, uses
Detect Arcana, etc.) with something Unnatural, consider
the Unnatural to have an effective Fear (Terror) score of
(Veritas die type - Unnatural die type), with a positive
score meaning that the one interacting with this instance
of Unnatural has integrated it into his or hers worldview
and is considered Jaded in regards to it. (Anyone that
does not have Veritas is considered to have d4-2, and
thus uses 2 as their ‘die type’.)
Those who do not fail a Fear check can then use their
Veritas to recognize what they are facing, possibly
learning useful details on a raise.
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Using Divination, Resurrection, Summon Ally, Teleport
or similar powers that have any contact with another
plane of existence is considered interacting with any
nearby Unnatural influence.
Unnatural creatures add the above effective Terror rating
as a bonus to any roll to resist/difficulty to affect them with
any Power.
Knowledge as the Trait. Trappings, Hindrances
and Edges should be themed around obsession,
secrecy and knowledge at any cost. Instead of
chanting et al for rituals, trace an obsessively
detailed map of London in the air, recite a
difficult and obscure route, etc.

I chose the term Veritas as it’s a fairly neutral word that
should fit well into most campaigns where Latin is, or
once was, spoken. Some alternate suggestions follow:
• Masks of the Crawling Chaos. Eldritch Horrors
campaign about saving the world while not
going too crazy. The default assumed by this
document. Mythos is a decent alternative name
for Veritas. Trappings, Hindrances and Edges are
themed towards insanity and power.
• Righting Stars. Eldritch Horror campaign, but
the players are cultists working for the return of
The Unnatural, making the stars right once
again. As above, but use Unnatural (or possibly
Mythos) as the Trait name, add physical
hindrances with overtones of corruption and
depravity to the Hindrance list, add Leadership
Edges to the Edge list.
So, why give a Minor Hindrance in return for an Edge
when a Major Hindrance matches in ‘point value’?
Two reasons. 1) Players cannot raise their rank in Veritas
by themselves. 2) It is intended to be used as the only
magic system in a campaign and is frankly quite
dangerous. Those who take Veritas (willingly or not) will
be overburdened enough with Hindrances as it is…
To use it in a campaign with several magic
systems/arcane backgrounds it would probably be for
the best to instead give Major Hindrances (or, of course,
two Minor Hindrances.)
To use the No Power Points Setting Rule with Veritas,
simply ignore any mentions of Power Points, instead
applying skill penalties as usual. Any Preparation
should be done before starting to cast.

• Flesh Song. Posthuman Cyberpunk campaign

about a hivemind-inducing nanite infection
intentionally being spread through the world. I would like that to be known; these facts
Use Flesh Song as the Trait. Spells might be are in the summary which I think is a very
called Songs or possibly Infections. Trappings, good one.
Hindrances and Edges should be themed -- John Sherman Cooper
towards alienation, body horror and hive minds. Characters have a new Trait, Veritas, used to understand
• Gossamer Veils. A Nihilistic Enlightenment the universe, alter reality, and go insane.
campaign. The Demiurge tried to keep reality Some things are Unnatural, they need not obey the laws
hidden from mortals. But the veils are growing of nature, which tends to frighten those without Veritas.
faint. Normal people can sometimes peer
through the veils, see the supernatural world,
become changed by it and work towards either
showing everyone (the Illuminati) or protecting
everyone from the truth (the Obscurati). Use
Unveiling as the Trait. Trappings, Hindrances
and Edges should be themed towards depravity
and hedonism for the Illuminati (“Do what thou
wilt shall be the whole of the law.” A. Crowley);
hard choices and living to fight another day for
the Obscurati ("You've got to know when to hold
'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk
away, know when to run." K. Rogers)
• The Knowledge. A Supernatural London
campaign where gaining The Knowledge is
about more than being allowed to drive a taxi
through the streets of London… Use The

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 Written By: Jonas Karlsson

Savage Worlds License Agreement

This game references the Savage
Worlds game system, available
from Pinnacle Entertainment
Group at www.peginc.com. Savage
Worlds and all associated logos
and trademarks are copyrights of
Pinnacle Entertainment Group.
Used with permission. Pinnacle
makes no representation or
warranty as to the quality, viability,
or suitability for purpose of this
product.