A Horror RPG

By Ribston « Ribsie » Pippin

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 Writing, Layout and Illustrations
Ribston «Ribsie» Pippin

Cover Art and «Fears and Fathoms» Logo by

Sarah Carapace

Playtesters
Altar, Ange, Eliott, Enarys, Lyn, Maxime, Oriel, Youiou

Special thanks
My friends and lovers, for being there, always, through everything,
with special mentions to:
Lolv Peregrin, for inspiring me every day to write
Enora, for making me roar with laughter
Puchu, for keeping me grounded through it all
Kleme, for helping me understand a whole lot of design things
Guillaume, for keeping me nice and fed with memes and games
And Mum, for teaching me so much
Aknowledgements
This game was inspired by various media, especially:
The writings of Octavia Butler and Robert W. Chambers
Blades in the dark and the games that followed suit
The video game Phasmophobia
Jay Dragon’s Sleepaway

This game is dedicated to

Ange, my dear adelph, who made me want to write it

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 Contents
Before we Start 4
Shape your Character 6
Build relationships 8
Understand your Fate and the Rules 10
Items and how to use them 12
Example of Play 14
Wounds and Downtime 22
Trauma and Curses 24
Trauma table 26
Curses table 28
So, you want to be a Keeper of Fates 30
The Murder of Joan Becker 32
Random generators 42
Character Sheet 48

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 BEFORE WE START
What is this game?
Nothing much really. I was supposed to be making myself something to
eat and clean my house. I was too tired to do any of this. So I started
making this, and kept at it. Here we are now, I guess.
The world outside is scary and cruel. Somehow, in these trying times,
I’ve found solace in role playing games that are about horrible things
happening to good people.
I think it’s something about being isolated like this that makes facing
horrible trauma appealing as long as it’s with friends.

So here we are. What is this?

This is a game.
This is a game about people who have been hurt by something no one
else wants to see.
This is a game about horrors that lurk just below the surface of the
mundane world.
This is a game about a universe full of wonderful and sublime forces that
wish for many things.
This is a game about the Strange, a power that shapes and warps
everything it touches.
This is a game, there are many like it, but this one’s mine.

I hope someone else has fun with it and that ya’ll can live some
wonderful stories together.

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 About emotional safety
This is a horror game. The book itself gives you hints on how to build
your own horror, but to me, horror is something deeply personal, and this
is why you need to discuss with your players how exactly you want to be
spooked, because there are fears that are fun to experience, such as
rollercoasters, and others that aren’t, so I’m not going to risk making
someone uncomfortable by naming them.

So before playing this game, the referee, whom we will call the Keeper
of Fates or Keeper for short, should take the time to discuss with each
player to make sure their favorite spooks and shivers are in, and their
potential triggers and traumas are out.

You should always communicate at the start of a session what kind of

horror will be the focus of your game this time, because preferences and
squeamishness can fluctuate over time and as life goes on, taste changes.

Do not hesitate to use safe words: one for when you want things to slow
down, and one to indicate you need care, right now.

Do not hesitate either to use signals in order to communicate that you can
take it and want the person speaking to just go to town and not hold back
anything.

This game is all about the conversation, keep in mind that you should
always tell your friends if something is too much or not enough.

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 Shape Your Character
I am many things, but they know me as a:
1. Scholar, curious, cultured, reclusive and secretive.
2. Caretaker, kind, thoughtful, loving and caring.
3. Sinner, edgy, transgressive, cunning and dangerous.
4. Faithful, transcendant, mystical, aware and determined.
5. Fighter, passionate, unyielding, powerful and volatile
6. Weirdo, strange, unpredictable, different and erratic.

Ever since I encountered the Strange, I seek:

1. Answers to my questions about the things I have seen.
2. Justice for all the harm it has done to me.
3. Power from beyond, to protect me and those I care about.
4. Forgiveness for what I have let it do in the past.
5. Belonging with these that have been touched like I have.
6. Thrills and shivers, because I have never felt more alive.

On my investigations, I always bring:

1. A powerful weapon, as a reminder of past mistakes.
2. A trained animal, my oldest friend and trusted ally.
3. A strange tome which I don’t fully understand.
4. A suitcase full of classified information for my eyes only.
5. A gnarled keepsake gifted by someone I lost.
6. An old car or boat, with a tankful of gas and memories.

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 You have three attributes: Mind, Body, and Soul
Mind is for finding things, understanding the Strange and
messing with stuff.
Body is for breaking things, fighting the Strange and running
away from stuff.
Soul is for being nice to things, withstanding the Strange and
bargaining for stuff.
One starts at d10, one at d8 and one at d6.
Pick four skills from this list or make up your own. Skills are
not tied to attributes: medicine is as much about understanding
sickness as it is about caring for people, for example.
Sample skills: Architecture, Arson, Barter, Blades, Biology,
Criminology, Cyphers, Guns, History, Fists, Locks, Medic,
Painting, Photography, Politics, Psychology, Running, Search,
Tarot Reading, Tax Evasion, Zoology.

Each session, pick your stuff:

Every character has a smartphone and their wallet, as well as
the kind of random shit one has in their pockets (chewing gum,
cigarettes, loose change...) and you pick three useful items from
this list any time you embark on a mystery:
First aid kit Electrician toolbox Parabolic
Microphone
Painkillers Crucifix
High quality
Baseball bat Carton of salt Camera
Small gun Alcohol (good) Cam-recorder
Knife Alcohol (medical) Night vision
Crowbar Recreational drugs goggles

Sledge hammer Anxiety Diving gear

medication Climbing gear
Military-grade
flashlight Holy water Camping supplies
Electro-magnetic Locksmith kit Food for everyone
field reader (EMF)
Tarot deck
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 Build Relationships
Scholars
What book have you not given me back?
What about you fascinates me?
What have you taught me?
What dream of yours have you shared only with me?
Why did you sit next to me in class?
Do you know that I care?

Caretakers
Do you like it when I sing to you?
What wound have you shared only with me?
What is your favorite meal that I always cook?
How did I give you hope when you were ready to give up?
How much do you know about the burden I carry?
When did we realise our friendship was built to last?

Sinners
How much do you know about my past?
How did I deserve your love?
Why do you still believe there is hope for me?
How did you learn about my special skills?
What do you secretely admire about me?
When did we stop fighting?

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When rolling for character, you can use this. Pick two people and
ask them one question from the list that corresponds to your
character. Build from the answers. Play what feels right and true.

Faithful
Do I scare you or do I make you feel safe?
What does my faith remind you off?
Why do you put up with my weirdness?
What secret of youts do I keep safe?
How did you save me during a crisis of faith?
How did we mend our relationship?

Fighters
Who have I hurt for you?
How did you keep my fire burning on a cold day?
Why are you worried about me?
How did I save you from harm?
Why do I keep falling for you?
What passion do we share?

Weirdos
How have I rubbed off on you?
What did you make me see?
How did you help me love myself?
What do people say about our friendship?
What have I made you see?
Do you believe me?

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 Understand Your Fate
And the Rules
The Keeper of Fates describes the world, and sometimes, you will
wish to act upon this world. Whenever you try to do something
hard but doable and you might suffer dire consequences, the
Keeper will announce the Circumstances, that being the overall
danger represented by a failed roll, then you roll with the
appropriate attribute.
Depending on your skills, equipment, or various circumstances,
you may gain additional dice to roll.

Gain one more dice if:

You have a skill that applies to the situation
Someone is helping you
This action will get you what you Seek
You have an object that gives you an exceptional advantage
Retract one dice if:
You lack the appropriate tools
You’ve just been wounded
You’re drunk or inconvenienced in some way

You can roll between 0 and 3 dice. If you roll 2 or 3 dice, keep
the highest. If you would roll 0 dice, roll 2 and keep the worst
result.
If penalties reduce your dice to 0, roll twice and keep the worst
result.
On a 1-3 you fail and suffer the consequences. On a 4-5 you
succeed but still suffer consequences. On a 6+ you manage to pull
through without harm.
Consequences depend on the Circumstances, described by the
Keeper. Whenever you suffer consequences, the Keeper picks
which one (or ones, up to three)

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 Consequences are inflicted upon all those that
participated in the action and anyone who wishes to
take it in their friend’s place

Fairly Safe:
You are now In Danger.
Things don’t exactly work like you intended.
You get winded and do not gain a bonus from this skill for a few
minutes.
You take longer than anticipated.

In Danger:
You are now Doomed.
You or a friend suffer a minor wound to the stat you rolled.
Things don’t go as planned, at all.
You are exhausted and do not gain a bonus from this skill until
you get some rest in a fairly safe place.
You gain a trauma, the Keeper either rolls or picks one.
You deplete or damage the object you were using

Doomed:
The Strange claims you. You are dead, maybe worse.
You or a friend suffer a major wound to the stat you rolled.
A minor wound becomes a major one.
You suffer a curse, the Keeper either rolls or picks one.
The object you were using is now broken beyond repair

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 All together now!
When a group of characters bands together to act in concert, each
character taking part makes their own pool. As long as any one
character makes a successful roll, the action will be succesful, but
for each character that does not manage to get a 6+, the group
suffers a consequence. If a character rolls more than one 6+, they
cancel one of the consequences that might befall the group.

Steeling yourself
When faced with something harrowing or dangerous, characters
may need to make a roll in order to be able to act without losing
their cool or avoid consequences. When faced with a situation
that’s unusually gory or strange, or when they activate a trap that
is about to be sprung on them, they should announce how they
deal with things. At this point they’re either doomed or in danger.
If they rationalize, they roll with Mind.
If they dodge or endure through pain, it’s Body.
If they rely on guts and instinct, use Soul.

Combat
Sometimes, the only way out is through. There is no initiative in
combat, discuss amongst yourselves who might react first and
how. Some monsters will let the initiative to the players, some
might attack first, requiring the characters to Steel Themselves
before they can act. Ennemies are designated by their level of
Circumstances. Cultists with shotguns put the investigators In
Danger, but bigger monsters make them Doomed.
Protection
Mystical wards and armor found or made may prove useful in
surviving the horrors of the strange. Such objects reduce the
Circumstance by one as long as they hold out. As long as they’re
not depleted or damaged.

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 Magic?
Magic exists, this should come as no surprise, but as a Keeper, it is
up to you to decide how it works and how it relates to human
understanding of it. A modern witch might play with crystals and
tarot cards, but she doesn’t usually expect it to make firebolts
spew forth from her fingers.
Human magic is subtle, so don’t hesitate to have a character draw
cards or cast bones to get a glimpse of how things are going to
happen. You should also take this opportunity to make the power
of the Strange felt, as it warps the humans’ tools for magic.
Perhaps the cards change, perhaps once silent crystals glow eerily
and sing with a thousand agonizing voices, perhaps the crystal ball
actually starts to glow and the mind of the fake medium fills with
voices that are not their own.
What matters is that human magic is safe but subtle and easily
dismissed by rationalisation, but once the Strange gets ahold of it,
it becomes wild and dangerous.
If your players start to dabble in the arcane you should consider
draining their mind and soul as minor wounds for minor things
like tracing and activating an simple ward, or cursing them for the
truly weird stuff when drawing tremendous power from the Weird.
You can also state, for some powerful magic event, that whatever
happens, they WILL suffer a consequence. After all, mere contact
with arcane artifacts might already yeald such consequences.
What matters in the end is that the players understand what they
get into. Establish rules, stick by them. You, as a Keeper, are not
here to trick them, instead you should think of yourself as a
mystical tax collector, making sure the Strange what is owed to it,
and if the players find a way to evade these taxes, let them
celebrate that victory before sending them the magic IRS to pay
their late fees to Fate.
They may have to run forever, but then again, is that not a fun
thing to play?

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 Items and How to Use them
This game is all about discussing what does and what does not help
you try to manage the situation you find yourself in. Maybe a knife
is not the best way to deal with a Deep One, but at least you have
something. A fireman’s axe however as an example of «powerful
weapon» is great for cutting deep into the flesh through the scales.
Always keep in mind that human craftsmanship and technology is
what gives us a fighting chance in real life, and it’s the same here.
Sticks, guns and blades
The gun, knife and baseball bat are things many people can have easy
access to and might not raise too much suspicion. They have many
uses, not all deadly, but they might hurt a person or small beast, and
might at least slow down the bigger, meaner things. Crowbars and
sledge hammers might be used as weapon, but they’re quite
unwieldly, so while they might be better than nothing, they rarely
will offer any bonuses. Powerful weapons might have history, but
they’re rarely supernatural. They will prove dangerous to most fleshy
things out there however, natural or otherwise, and should provide
bonus die in most cases.
Practical gear and supplies
Tools and especially kits are meant to be broad, and while you don’t
have to be precise about the contents they are assumed to fit a
purpose, and should always contain what makes sense. Your players
might not think to stock up on a specific kind of screw, but the
character probably would, so don’t worry about being too specific
about contents or uses. A good example is the EMF reader, as a
staple of the genre, often used as a thing that goes bleep when there
are ghosts around: it is up to the Keeper to decide what does and
doesn’t make it tick, but it should always tell you something useful
regarding the weird electromagnetic currents from ghosts or other
things.
Meds, drugs, alcohol and other chems
It’s very important for you to discuss as a group how you all want to
deal with intoxicants and meds. Bear in mind that not everyone reacts
to drugs in the same way, and it is interesting to discuss the variety
of effects a single item will have on different characters. Weed might
help one to pillow away the horror, giving a bonus dice to stomach
it, while it might just make other people sluggish and slow on the
uptake, for example. It might do both or something else entirely. Try
as a table to bear in mind who is under the influence of what, be open
and honest about how you handle the Good Stuff, and when in doubt,
discuss, and maybe look up what a drug does before roleplaying its
effects if you like authenticity.

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Ammunition and durability
Nothing lasts forever, but you should not run out without reason. As
a Keeper, you don’t need to be harsh about supplies. After all, you
have an entire rogues’ gallery of creepy crawlies, hoorded weirdos
and things that go bump in the night for that. The characters’ own
tools should always be reliable and work as intended, but that doesn’t
mean that they should last forever. If your players come out alive
from a run in with the police, they might be bruised and battered, and
have fired a few shots, but you don’t have to count the bullets (your
players can if they’re into that, but you, my friend, have better things
to do). After a second fight, you might want to let your players know
that even if they made only 6+, that doesn’t mean they have magical
bottomless magazines, and from there you can tell them something
like «you think you have enough for no more than one encounter like
that».
The results that deplete or damage objects should advance this
invisible, ticking clock in your head, but whatever you do, don’t play
gotcha with your players by hiding the state of their tools. Don’t make
them feel dumb because you made them unable to plan for something.
Loadout, stocking up and carrying things
Depending on how you play this game, the characters might have
occasions to stop at home to resupply, or to go shopping for specific
gear before raiding the haunted house. The limit of three objects from
the loadout might seem arbitrary then, but keep in mind that these
characters are probably limited by finances (they might not all own all
the items on the list nor have the money to buy them right now) and
by the requirements of your endeavour (keeping your weight on the
light side, having space in your bags for looting, et caetera.
As with other things, be open and clear. If you feel that a player is
carrying a lot, or that an object is heavy even in a backpack, tell your
players just that. Give them concrete and tangible examples too. Tell
them that this statue is clearly made of lead and will weigh a ton, so
scaling the walls might prove harder than when you came in, for
example.
Objects found on site
From the dawn of gaming, one truth has held fast: looting is fun. Not
all find it fun, but many do. The thing is, objects found in the hands
of cultists or in a haunted manor might be less reliable, having been
touched by the Strange. You can be meaner about these items, but as
always, be open: let the players know about their shoddy make, or the
strange feelings they awaken within the characters. Let them know
that these items might be useful, but risky.
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 Example of play: Entering the Cottage
Jade and Diego have been tasked by their paranormal investigations’
club in high school to inspect the old house by the lake. Rumor has it that
people have seen strange shadows inside during the day, even though the
owners have been dead for a few days now, with no relatives ever
coming to check on them..
–
Keeper: As you approach the house, Diego, your pet rat suddenly rushes
to your pocket, cowering.
Diego: Aw, poor thing what’s the matter?
Jade: Isn’t he super scared all the time though?
Diego: No! Tik’s a brave rat!
Keeper: Indeed, this is unusual, but the rat won’t come out.
Diego: Can I try to like, cajole him into getting back on my shoulder?
Keeper: Sure, I’d say you roll with Soul, you’re Fairly Safe, as in you’re
not in danger but you might miss something.
Diego: Can I add a dice from my Rat Tricks skill?
Keeper: Hm. No, it’s not really about tricks here, but you do have a
special bond, as Bertram is your ‘oldest friend and trusted ally’.
Diego: Nice! That’s a 4 and a 7 can I like, give him some rat treats?
Keeper: Sure, yeah that’ll do it, you fish some rat treats and the rat
gigngerly peeks his head out. You notice that he seems especially scared
about one window in particular, but you don’t see anything out of the
ordinary out or through it.
Diego: Huh. Well I’m not really the most observant here. Hey Jade, do
you see anything weird about that window?
Jade: Good question! Hey Keeper, I have Architecture as a skill, could I
use it to maybe look at this window like a home inspector would?
Keeper: Interesting! Yeah, I think you could and should! Roll with Mind
then, you get your bonus die. You’re still Fairly Safe

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Jade: A 3 and a 5? What?! I have a d10!
Keeper: The Random Number Gods are cruel this eve. Welp. Describe to
me how you inspect that window, I’ll tell you what goes wrong and what
you learn.
Jade: [expletive] me, well, I guess I go up to the window and look
inside… Then I follow the hinges and stuff to make sure it’s well set into
the wall? I think I look inside and tap on the glass as well.
Keeper: Well, that’ll do it missy, you draw attention to yourself, and for
a few seconds, your EMF reader goes crazy inside your pocket.
Jade: What do I see inside?
Keeper: Your reflection seems to lack a face.
Jade: What?
Diego: What?
Keeper: What?
Jade: Okay, no really, I shake my head, what do I see?
Keeper: It’s a nice, if dusty, lakeside cottage, really, it’s disenhearting to
realise you’re as twitchy as a rat. You do notice something weird: this
window was replaced recently. Like, a few days ago. Probably right
before the owners died.
Jade: Well Diego, Guess we need to get inside. People have been here.
Digeo: I don’t like this.
Jade: Yeah me neither but if we don’t get some solid pics the seniors are
going to be up our asses for the rest of the year and call us scaredy rats
for the rest of our lives.
Diego: There’s a life beyond high school Jade.
Jade: Source?
Diego: Ugh, forget it. Keeper, I push the door, does it open?
Keeper: Surprisingly, it does…

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 Example of play: The Faceless Ones
Jade and Diego have entered the cottage and things do not add up.
They’ve been finding ore and more strange things.

Keeper: You fish through Ms Callum’s notes, oh, what’s this?

Jade: Let me guess, another picture where the faces have been crossed
over?
Keeper: You’re a fast learner. Yep, among the scribbles on yellow paper
you find a picture. Like all the others, it’s a picture of Ms Callum and
her husband with their faces crossed out. As you trace your finger against
the picture, you feel a shiver down your spine.
Jade: I turn around!
Keeper: Diego’s there.
Diego: Oh so I came back alive from the toilets?
Keeper: Against all odds.
Diego: Sweet. Hey, can I see that picture? I want to confirm something.
Keeper, can I compare the pictures and the writing? I want to know if I
can maybe guess if the crossing out was done by the same hand.
Keeper: Hm. That sounds hard to do. You’ll have one less dice.
Diego: That’s okay. Do I get a bonus from my Penmanship skill?
Keeper: You have a what skill. Oh. Right. Heh, nice one, yes. Roll with
Mind. You’re In Danger now though: the EMF suggests something is
close by.
Diego: So that’s just the one d8. Ech, 5, could be worse.
Keeper: But it could be so much better. Diego, as you take the pictures,
you take a few minutes to compare. The contents of the notes are deeply
disturbing however. It’s like Ms Callum was losing her grip on reality,
and one thing is sure: the crossing out was quite meticulous, not the work
of a woman who suspected her husband of being the devil and consorting
with Beelzebub because he watched movies at 5 in the morning. More
disturbing still: the crossing out… It’s dried blood.

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Diego: Wait what. Are the other pictures like this?
Keeper: You fish them out of your pocket, and yeah, same. Meticulous
red strokes. You can’t even begin to understand this. So many pictures
so much blood. It makes no sense. You take a minor wound to Mind.
Diego: I think I start gibbering incoherently as the realisation sinks in,
and can only manage to point the fact out to Jade.
Jade: Do I get a wound too?
Keeper: No, you’re not the one who spent minutes going through
extremely disturbing notes only to find out someone decided that
scribbling in blood on picture would make fun christmas decorations.
Jade: Oh, cool. Sorry Diego, not sorry. Oh and if this takes him minutes,
I think I’m going to try and force open that hidden door we found with a
crowbar. I don’t suppose my home inspection skills will serve me this
time?
Keeper: What the hell. What’s one more right? That’ll be Body though.
Jade: Do I get a bonus from the crowbar?
Keeper: No, it’s the appropriate tool, but not a super duper good one.
You’d get a penalty if you didn’t have it.
Jade: [expletive] that’s a 2 and a 5.
Keeper: You jam your heavy tool in the side of the door to break it open.
It takes some doing, a few minutes, but then the door flies off its’ hinges
and you’re showered in splinters, revealing a hidden staircase. As you
look away from you handywork, you see Diego looking up from the
notes and pictures to explain them to you, and you barely have time to
register what he’s trying to explain as a tall, emaciated creature without
a face bursts into the room from the mirror behind the bed. You are now
Doomed.
Jade: Shit I grab Diego and barrel down the staircase! That’s still body
right?
Keeper: Yes, and you have that track and field skill right?
Jade: Yeah! Okay that’s a 1 and a 6!
Keeper: You bolt through the door with your friend in tow…

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 Example of play: The Ultimate Showdown
Jade and Diego have been chased by a strange creature without a face for
a while now, running and hiding through strange corridors under the
lake.

Keeper: As you huddle behind a stalag… Mite? If it goes up it’s mite,

yeah. As you huddle there, you hear the heavy breathing of the creatures
through the reflection cast by the puddles of lakewater. It’s trying to sniff
you out. You’re still in danger.
Diego: I hate this. Are we in the main cave though? The Mr Callum’s
notes mention something about a main cave?
Keeper: Do you peek out from your cover?
Diego: Nope.
Jade: I do!
Keeper: You do. It does look like some of his drawing. The place does
have «Main Cave Energy» what with the Altar and giant faceless bone
mask towering above, taunting you with it’s perfect smoothness. As you
observe this, you can’t help but stare at the perfection of this sublime
work of art. You can guess the beginning of a face here. It could be
anyone’s. It could be yours. You could be the face they worship.
Jade: Where does THAT thought come from?
Keeper: Somewhere else. From here, you see the dagger on the altar, but
it’s about fifty feet from your hiding spot.
Diego: Okay. Could a rat pick it up?
Keeper: He could. You may roll with Soul and Rat Tricks to order him
around. You realise you’re In Danger right? That means him too.
Diego: Yeah, but he’s more sneaky than us. Oh no.
Keeper: With a 5 as your highest dice my friend, that’s not sneaky
enough.
Diego: Please, Keep, no, not him.

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Keeper: I did announce it, and you did go through with it. You rat runs
across the cave, and here and there, a crooked arm out of a puddle
attempts to grab him, but he manages to nick the dagger. An arm finally
manages to stomp him just as he’s about to give you the dagger. As he
manage to rush back into your pocket, you realise he’s badly beaten, and
this in turn gives you a minor wound to your Soul, and as the creature
finally get out of a puddle and into your world, you realise you are now
Doomed.
Jade: Not so fast! I have the dagger now, and Mr Callum’s heart. I stab
it and try to remember the incantation!
Keeper: The dagger glows in silence in your hand. There is nothing but
the knife. In that instant, feel that whatever happens, this moment will
mark you.
Jade: Was that supposed to scare me?
Keeper: Attagirl, roll with Mind. Remember, you have a wound there.
Jade: Come on, I just need a 4. 6! Yes!
Keeper: Great! But you’re still grappling with forces you can’t fathom.
You stab the heart. As you do, blood start’s flowing from it once again,
and it animates with new life as the old words drift out of your mouth, all
reflective surfaces start shining brightly. The creature breathes with rage
and pain it tries to grab you along with it but…
Diego: I kick it! I try to drive it back!
Keeper: Hm. Actually yeah! You do just that. Your foot smashes the
creature’s face repeatedly, it loses purchase, the only thing he manages
to grab is Jade’s shadow…
Diego: Oh no.
Jade: Wicked.
Keeper: Jade, as you banish this foul creature, you feel a tearing in your
soul get a glimpse of the god-shaped void that once inhabited this cave
before this creature made it its’ lair. As the faceless desperately grabs
your shadow, you feel something being ripped away from you. As it is
sealed back into the nowhere from whence it came, you catch your
breath, and soon realise, looking down a puddle, that you no longer have
a reflection.

21
 Wounds And Downtime
Wounds reduce one of your stats by one level from d10 to d8,
to d6, to d4, to 0. If an attribute reaches d4, you become unable
to interact with the world in a certain way:
Body: you're beaten, bruised, bleeding. You need someone to
help you move around and cannot do anything exhausting or
you'll make your wounds worse.
Mind: there are to many variables and my unknowable
parameters to this conundrum. You don't notice things that are
out of the ordinary or hidden and lose all of your focus, as
you're completely overwhelmed.
Soul: you feel like there's no hope, and can't even properly
communicate it. You refuse to be alone and can barely form a
sentence without sobbing in a shrill voice.

If it goes below that, you are out of commission and on the

brink of death, which ensues very quickly if no one is there to
help you.
Body: you need medical help stat. Your blood and bones are in
all the wrong places and the pain is unbearable.
Mind: none of this makes sense, there's something missing,
your senses are overflowing and your thoughts are racing, you
can't move or talk or perceive as your mind attempts to deal
with the horrors it's facing.
Soul: you're hyperventilating, crying, shouting, probably
relieving yourself and are seconds away from a heart attack.

All wounds are healed at the end of the session

Minor wounds last until you can be treated with a first aid kit,
painkillers, recreational drugs or a heartwarming moment with
your friends. Major wounds can only be recovered from in a
hospital.

22
 The end of a session is a moment
to reflect on what you’ve learned and patch up wounds.
It is assumed you take some downtime, explain away
the stranger parts of your injuries, et caetera.
If you have learned something important about the Strange, gain
one new skill to reflect that, if any are appropriate.
If you have found something very valuable and sell it, next
session everyone can pick one more object before going out
adventuring thanks to the extra cash.
If your you were called out on your shitty coping mechanism for
trauma and go to therapy, you may erase that trauma
If you have made use of an object more than any other, you may
spend some time tinkering with it in order to make it better,
adding one of the following tags to it: Cool, Deadly, Precise,
Sneaky, Waterproof, Well stocked.
If you think your character has had enough, retire them, it’s
okay, they pass the torch to another character. Create this new
character with four skills plus one of the old one’s skills (what
they taught them) and one object they tinkered with (a
heirloom). Do the same if they died, they had a scion, even if
they might not have realised it.

At the end of any session, the group should vote on a scene to

be played out:
The passing of the torch to somebody new
A moment of remembrance for those we lost
A hard phone call to someone who doesn’t know
The silent ride home
A long-awaited breakfast at a waffle house
A strange dream that will never leave you
Minutes that feel like hours in a hospital’s waiting room
A confession out of the blue
The new life of someone who retired
23
 Trauma and Curses
Trauma
When you suffer through something harrowing, sometimes, it
changes you. We all have our ways of dealing with it. That
doesn’t mean they’re good ways.
In fears and fathoms, trauma doesn’t make you stronger, it just
means you tend to react differently to horrible things. When
you gain a trauma, what actually happens is more that you gain
a way to deal with how shitty this world is.
You may only have one trauma at a time. If you’ve had it for
more than two sessions, you may recover from it during
downtime with therapy or help from your friends.
Whenever you suffer consequences, once per scene, you may
replace the consequence by the one proposed by your trauma at
the appropriate circumstance level.

How to use Trauma as a Keeper

Trauma can be gained as a consequence of a failed roll, but that
doesn’t mean it should be the first thing that happens whenever
the deep ones show up. Give your players some close calls, and
chose it when the character seems to be about to break.
Now as for what actually happens whenever you gain that
trauma, leave that to the player. The one thing to keep in mind
is that traumas are designed to leave the choice up to the
player, regarding how they deal with how trauma can
sometimes make you into a pretty shitty person to be around.

Making your own

Maybe my list doesn’t offer anything that really vibes with
your player’s character. Maybe some of them hit way too close
to home. That’s okay. The guideline to make your own is to
remember the the aim is to give the players alternatives in how
they deal with bad shit. That means that it might be a good
choice and sometimes it might be a bad choice. It’s up to you
when you write it to make sure that whatever it is, it sparks
conflict and keeps the story tense.

24
 Curses
Honestly, what the fuck did you expect. You thought the
Strange would just let you go? You thought you could walk
away? Even if you manage to seal the Gibbering Madness,
even if you slay the Ones That Crawl, even if you leave the
house on Deathgallow Isle, the Strange is always there,
somewhere.
And sometimes, it leaves its mark on someone.
It’s never pretty.
Curses change you in ways you can never recover from. It
makes you alien to all that you know. It fundamentally changes
how you interact with the world, warping your body and giving
you one bonus dice in weird situations or at a cost, but taking
one away in more mundane ones.

How to use Curses as a Keeper

Curses are trickier than trauma. It should be used carefuly.
While having your whole crew being traumatized is fine and
makes sense, you might find that curses will affect the tone of
your campaign if you do not use caution when attributing them.
As for who gets what, I’m a fan of dice rolls myself, but it’s is
up to you to decide weether the Strange is completely random,
or if it has a will and shapes characters with a purpose in mind,
or if on the contrary its’ manifestation shows up as an unlocked
potential within the character. All three are fun to use.

Making your own

The Curses you’ll find in this book are made with various kinds
of Mythos in mind, but as you write your own canon and
campaigns, you should not hesitate to make curses that are right
for you. What you should keep in mind is that curses make
mundane life pretty much impossible for the character, they
have to rely on their friends for anything that involves talking
to a human that is out of the loop.

25
 TRAUMA TABLE
1 - Toughen them up
Pain makes you stronger, as they say. All of your friends are too
weak to stand before the strange. You need to make them shape up.
Fairly safe: You demonstrate your superiority in an ostentatious
and aggravating way
In Danger: You blame your friend’s weakness, making them doubt
themselves, their next action will have a one dice penalty.
Doomed: You reveal why one of your friend will never be good
enough at something they love, they can’t use that skill for the rest
of the session.

2 - Listen to the voices

You find it easier to deal with the world by being nice to
everything, and start talking to inanimate objects as if they were
talking back to you. It makes you feel better, or perhaps you really
hear them?
Fairly safe: You become overly attached to an object for the next
hour.
In Danger: You become obsessed with an object, your next roll
must involve using this object.
Doomed: You now hate an object forever. No one can gain any
bonus from it in your presence for the rest of the session.

3 - Drink away the Pain

It’s just way easier to deal with stuff when you’re not exactly
there. Drugs and booze help with that. Just numb it away buddy,
just numb it away…
Fairly Safe: You leave a trace of your passage in the form of a
cigarette but, or alcohol spill, making you easy to track.
In Danger: You spend the next minute puking your guts out or
having a bad trip.
Doomed: You chug some alcohol, drugs, meds or painkillers,
stealing them from a friend if need be, and spend the next minutes
absolutely zoned. Whatever you take, it’s completely spent.
26
 4 - We’re all in this together right?
This happened because they’ve left you alone, again. Well, you’re
not going to let this happen anymore. From now on, you’re all in
this together, and you’re going to make sure everyone gets their
share of the pain.
Fairly Safe: you and another character each reveal something
about yourselves to the world.
In Danger: you and another friend draw some unwanted attention
to yourselves.
Doomed: you and another friend suffer a minor wound.

5 - quiet
Let’s just stop. silence. It can’t find you in the silent dark, so
become the silent. It’s not that you have nothing to say, but your
words simply won’t come out. It’s ok. You prefer the quiet.
Fairly safe: You struggle with words and have a hard time
explaining what you have learned.
In Danger: Everything seems so loud. Speaking becomes painful
for you, inflicting worse circumstances on your next roll
involving talking.
Doomed: You fall into a semi-catatonic state. You become
unable to speak and move sluggishly for the rest of the scene.

6 - Watch it!
Always keep on your toes, always look out, always be ready.
You’ve seen too much shit to let anything catch you by surprise.
The problem with that is that you tend to go tunnel vision at the
worst possible time.
Fairly safe: You notice something unrelated, but you’re sure it’s
important.
In Danger: You obsess over a minor detail and miss something
important
Doomed: You refuse to leave the problem out of your sight unless
you’re a hundred percent sure it’s dealt with.
27
 Curses TABLE

1 - A Hunger from the Grave

So hungry. So very very hungry. You need to eat, but water tastes
like ashes, meat tastes like soot. Deep within your soul, you know
what you need. You need to feed on humans. All your Body rolls
have one more dice if you have eaten human flesh within the last
three hours, one less if you haven’t fed in the past 12 hours. Your
jaw grows wider, your teeth more pointy, and each day without
feeding it becomes a little harder to hold back, a little harder to
tolerate humans, especially when your mind keeps calling them
«cattle».

2 - A Light from the Stars

They are here to protect you, as long as you follow their command.
When you listen, you hear the strange commands of a will beyond
your own. Obeying it fills you with bliss. You gain one more dice
on all Soul rolls when you are pursuing your protector’s plans, and
one less if you are actively opposing it. Your eyes become
completely white and glow brightly in the dark, yet you seem to see
everything more clearly. Here and there, you catch glimpses of
Them, smiling at you. You hope that’s a good thing.

3 - A Voice from the Beyond

You see dead people everywhere now. They’re actually quite nice.
They understand stillness and peace. No one else does. All your
Soul rolls have one more dice when dealing with ghosts, and one
less when dealing with living humans. Your skin becomes papery
and pale in some places, and whenever something a ghost says
really sticks wih you, their words appear as ink on your skin. The
more you talk to them, the more the paper gains you.

28
 4 - A Call from the Deep
You feel it calling to you. There’s something for you within the
salty, briny depths. You dreams are filled with thoughts that seem
to be that of a deep sea beast. Your nights taste of fish, and you
sometimes wake up lost in the middle of the closest body of water,
so you’re not sure if those are dreams or memories. You gain gills,
that are growing out of your neck, fleshy and pulsating. All your
Body rolls have one more dice when you’re immersed in sea water,
and one less when you’re not drenched.

5 - A Blast from the Past

You are not always when you think you are. You blink in and out
of the current timeline. You disappear, here and there, only to find
yourself for a few days or years in the past. All your Mind rolls
have one more dice to understand what has happened in the past
thanks to you having been there, and one less to understand what is
currently happening or might happen in the future, as you
sometimes get lost in timelines. Sometimes, you get transported to
the past, as if some strange power wished for you to bear witness to
certain happenings.

6 - A Gift from the Void

You have glimpsed a shapeless god. You see it in the dark. In your
dreams. It follows you. When you are in complete darkness, it gives
one more dice to your Mind rolls, as it dispenses wisdom in a
language you don’t know but still understand on a deep level.
When there is bright light, your Mind rolls have one less dice, as
you are distracted by distant weeping. You feel your days marked
by a creeping loneliness. Maybe it has something to do with the
loss of your shadow and reflection. Indeed, you never show up on
mirrors or film and lack a shadow.

29
 So, you want
To be A Keeper of Fates
I'm going to get personal here, Keeper:
Thank you. You, who reads these lines, because odds are that
you either bought my book or had it offered to you, and if you
read this, well, you probably intend to play my game, and for
that, know that you've made a small french weirdo happy as
can be.
You've chosen to be a Keeper and thought my game would be
a good way for you and your friends to have fun for an evening
or two or twelve, and that makes me very happy.
So I want you to have everything you need to run a cool game
that will make these pizzas taste somehow even better.
These pages are for you, and for you only.

As a Keeper, there are three main things that you will play:
The location, the inhabitants and the power that rules over both.
I suggest you to think of them as characters all of their own,
with their own wants and needs.
In any scene, ask yourself some of these questions: what is the
main thing opposing the characters, is it the environment, with
strange waters, unsafe staircases, crumbling archs? Is it the
locals, as they try to intimidate, outright kill, or simply exist in
a way that is dangerous and unnerving? Or is it something
weirder, that seeps into each and every crack of unreality into
the material world?
In any case, your duty is to use that antagonist to create drama,
keep them on their toes, keep them in danger.
So in the following sections, I will give you moves that these
characters can use to take the story in another direction and
threaten the players in new and unexpected ways.

30
 The Location
You are stone, and wood, and wind, and water, and so, so much
more. You exist before and after everything. You are. Everything
else is fleeting and changing. You were always a labyrinth and are
bound by no law. Always ask yourself: what do you want from
them? What do you want from everything else? What is the one
thing you fear?
- Threaten harm through unsure footing, a confusing layout, or
isolation
- Separate characters with sudden changes and alluring apparitions
- Take away something or someone they rely on, put it behind bars
or walls.
- Hint at hidden riches and lore through strange sounds and old
wounds in your skin.
- Offer an impossible dilemma between knowledge and safety.

The Locals
You are many faces, vibrant and alive, that humans see as one. You
are many, you are legion, you are home. You exist as a dark mirror
of their failings and prey on their fear. A gal’s got to eat, after all.
Always ask yourself: what do you want from them? How will you
punish their trespassing? What is the one thing you fear?
- Threaten harm with weapons and teeth and tongues and strange
songs
- Take their friends away, make them work to stay together
- Observe from the shadows, waiting for a moment of weakness
- Paralyze them with fear, pain and disgust
- Appear suddenly, revealing a new path

The Strange Power

You are a moody force of chaos. You exist in glimpses and flashes,
never staying for long, but mark people forever. Always ask
yourself: what do you want from them? Do you want to take it, or
make them give it to you? What is the one thing you fear?
- Make your presence felt, but not known, with pain, sickness or
sudden emotion
- Take away their senses in a violent display of force
- Mark someone for greatness, make greatness alien and
horrifying.
- Show them things through invasive visions.
- Invest their possessions and make things act in strange ways.
31
 THE MURDER OF JOAN BECKER
A sample mistery
The following is a simple scenario I used in my playtests. It
contains descriptions of self harm, body horror, and
mentions domestic violence.

Timeline
In 2014, the monster hunter and occultist Terrence Drake
finds the trace of the nazi piece of shit that killed his parents,
Joan Becker, hiding in the US as Jonas Martin. He sets up
home in the small city of Dunnsmaw, Oregon and starts
gathering occult supplies right under his enemy’s nose.
On Saturday 16th of april 2019, he is ready. Terrence takes
advantage of the fact his first floor tenant is away to
accomplish a ritual. From there on, Joan Becker suffers from
harrowing nightmares.
On the next Friday, in a last ditch attempt at paranormal
defense, Joan curses Joan with his dying breath. His nurse
finds him the next morning in bed, dead of what looks like a
heart attack.
A week later, at 6pm on Saturday April 30, Armin
Wartmann dies behind his donut shop, pecked to death by
crows. It is on this day that the story unfolds. If the players
do nothing, two other people will die (Pamela at 12am and
Katherin Bronwyn at 6pm) before Joan’s dying curse finds
Terrence and kills him as well, at 2am in the night before
sunday.
This will not bring him peace, the botched curse will linger
and every April 16th from there on, the crows will kill four
people within 6th hours of each other. The ghost of Joan will
keep haunting his house until the curse is lifted.

Characters
The players take the roles of concerned townspeople that
have seen the Strange before, and might find the Strange to
be at work here.

32
Roll or pick for each player
1. The character knew Jonas as a benefactor and prepares to
go to his funeral. On the way there, you spot crows,
peering at you ominously. They feel peckish, for some
reason.
2. They go to their local donut shop to get their morning
dunk on only to find it closed, police taped and with the
owner’s husband crying in front of all of it. Having
encountered the strange before, they feel in your skin a
familiar sensation as you approach this place.
3. They a strange dream where you are a crow, having fun
doing crow things and suddenly the world seems to swirl,
they feel pulled away from their body as it escapes their
control and take a diving swoop at someone in a back
alley (they are seeing, through a crows’ eyes, Armin’s
attack).
4. As they drive through the city early in the morning, a
flock of crazy birds goes to town on their car and the tires
burst as a result, leaving them stranded here for a while as
the garage is, alas, closed. Luckily they are here to see
some friends.
5. As they do their daily morning routine, they get horrible
visions, terribly vivid, of Jonas being murdered in a
thousand ways. They are, in fact, experiencing a flash of
the nightmares he felt before he died.
6. The discreet and ominous government agency that they
have been in contact with calls them in the morning. They
want them to keep an eye out for “disturbances” and
report as soon as possible.

33
 Joan’s Curse
The curse is a debatably sentient force known as the
Harrowed Hunger. It is slowly spreading to the surrounding
country, imposing itself upon the mind of crows and
bringing them here to find and kill Terrence. It hungers for
eyes, for what they have seen and will see.
Thankfully for Terrence, Joan has botched the curse, which
is why it eats the eyes of three wrong persons before it gets
to him.
Still, it is a powerful force from a dimension beyond our own
that has agreed under contract to shape reality. If the players
seem to want to stop it, it’ll try to stop them.
As a consequence of a failed roll, you may bring in the birds
to creep the characters out
Fairly safe: The characters attract the attention of the birds.
Some perch on things and clearly eye them, menacingly.
They listen.
In Danger: The crows suddenly become aggressive and caw
to call more of them.
Doomed: The crows that are here decide to make you their
next victim and will not cease to attack until they’re dead or
you are.
The crows do not linger or feed, once the person is eyeless
and unmoving, they leave. It is possible to survive by
feigning death if you’re not a person that is close to
Terrence, because the birds do not really need your eyes in
this case.
The characters won’t be the only ones to notice, or even to
have nightmares about them, don’t hesitate to use the hooks
for inspiration as to what the random people of the streets
might know or have seen.
The cancelling ritual requires the curses’ thirst to be sated by
the willing sacrifice of a human eye, and a catalyst in the
form of a geode of amethyst, which can be found among the
decorations of Joan’s living room. Then, the caster must
offer one of their deepest shames to the Curse. Whatever
happens, anyone taking part will then suffer the curse of
Hunger from the Grave.

34
Joan Becker, A.K.A Jonas Martin
Jonas was a kindly old man who got to live to the ripe old
age of 90. At least that’s what his birth certificate states.
Truth be told, Joan Becker was his real name, and he was
born in 1904. He was one of Hitler’s Hexenkommandos, and
through abject means, he obtained a longer life.
He committed countless atrocities and ruined countless lives
to have his way, and completely got away with it.
He retired in wealth in the lovely city of Dunnsmaw,
Oregon, and lived happy, until Terrence found him.
Before his death, he had a week of horrifying nightmares that
grew worse and worse, torturing him into becoming a broken
shell of a man. He desperately tried to search for a good
defence but the drugs given by his nurse didn’t vibe well
with the mystic assault. In the end, he was only able to
bumble his way into cursing his killer, but botched it, which
is why the curse needs to attack persons near Terrence before
it can get to him.
When he dies, the town mourns him. He was a benefactor of
sorts. Many people show up to his funeral, which is on the
day where the session happens, at 9pm.
Ask your players if their characters show up.
The funeral is a sober affair, and the nazi is laid to rest
besides his late wife.
The priest says a few words, then the mayor announces whe
will name a street after him and mentions offhand that the
police chief couldn’t come but his wife Kathryn says a few
words for him about how good friends they were. Joan has
no living relatives, but well, there are flowers. Dude was
rich, gave a lot of his money to the city, didn’t really pay
taxes and smiled at white kids on the street, so of course
everyone is devastated.
As far as anyone knows, he died of a heart attack in his sleep.
This a good moment to introduce Terrence as a face in the
crowd, chatting with Kathryn after her speech, mayhaps.

35
 Terrence Drake
The descendant of a long line of occultists. He’s an old, tired
hunter. The bottle is all he has now beside very few friends,
but he knows he can die happy, as he has avenged the death
of his parents.
He’s a shifty individual. Aloof and guarded. He casts no
shadow, and has no reflection in mirrors.
The death of his parents left him a broken child who grew up
into a broken man. After a life consumed by revenge, he
barely speaks. He rarely forms full sentences, and when he
doesn, it is as if the sound of his own voice hurts him. He
will accept to answer most questions but has no plan to
reveal anything.
Terrence spends his hours since Joan’s death reading and
staying away from the public. He has no idea what is going
on. He doesn’t really care. He gets some news because him
and Katherin Bronwyn are actually quite good friends. She’s
the only person he has anything nice to say about. Her
presence soothes him somewhat.
To kill Joan, he used a very complex ritual that took him
months of preparation. All that is left of it now is ash, dust,
and blood residue from the circle (all his, he drained himself
meticulously through the months and kept the blood fresh so
he wouldn’t have to actually sacrifice or hurt anyone). He
has burned the many scrolls used to write down runes, and
the precious stones and gems all were consumed. The spell’s
effect meant that old Joan suffered from many harrowing
nightmares that drained his sanity over a week until it caused
him a heart attack during his sleep.
Terrence is present at the Funeral. He is somber, like
everyone else, but the players might know him as a loner, so
it makes sense for them to take notice at his presence. It
might inspire some to say “aw, even him doesn’t that much
of a heart of stone.”
If they speak with Terrence here, he will appear visibly
uncomfortable (he is after all here because he assumes that
is what a normal person would do, although he’s not quite
sure how he should behave) and say that he loved that he was
a benefactor to the local hospital. If pressed, he will
understandably get angry, and require people to back off,
this is a funeral for pete’s sake.

36
The Authority
The town is led by Alyzee Jones, a shrewd yet kind person.
She hated Jonas’ guts but couldn’t say shit. Only her and her
secretary, Kevin Goodkind, really know why: even with all
the polish, even with the smiles and nods and kindly white
hair, a nazi is still a nazi. You can smell it when someone
sees you as subhuman. She will grow increasingly worried
as victims pile up and will blow the police chief’s phone
about it.
Said Chief is Clarence Bronwyn, a donut cop who got where
he is through good old nepotism and shining police brutality.
He beats his wife Katherine and covers for his officers who
do the same. Lazy, but not stupid, he keeps an affable air, in
front of his constituents and keeps the workplace harassment
of minorities at a minimum. He also scrupulously observes
inclusivity guidelines so no one looks too deep into the fact
that his wife seems to keep falling down the stairs.
He has put Helene Shackleton on the case. Helene is by the
book as they come. She believes in regulations, law and
order. She’s also very proud of sharing a common ancestor
with Ernest Shackleton (look him up he’s a riot) and likes to
boast that where he broke the ice and when on to explore like
no one before him, she breaks the glass ceiling like a total
#girlboss. She’s extremely excited about this case, because a
serial killer is the occasion to prove herself. She will
completely discard any possibility of paranormal
involvement and is persuade the bird thing is just a gimmick
of the killer to make himself look cool, and she’s not alone
in this. If the players try to say “okay but the birds though”
she’ll dismiss it as “well I too would be weirded out is a bird
dressed as a man used man hand-shaped tools to kill other
birds, they are probably just agitated.”
If the players get on her good side and seem capable enough
she will also give them her phone number. Her partners on
the case are Jake and Jill Loughfry, but everyone calls them
the Jekylls. They’re twins, and while Jake is a human
labrador that would take a bullet for anyone, Jill is
disillusioned by her job and is the most likely to cooperate
with less law-abidding characters if she thinks it’ll make her
job easier.

37
 The Murders
The first victim and local donut shop owner, Armin
Wartmann. He sees Terrence almost every day (the man has
a thing for sweets). He is pecked to death and has his eyes
plucked out.
He dies at 6 am: the birds get him as he takes out the trash
in the alley behind his bakery. The cops quicly bag him and
cart him away.
The second victim is Pamela Starr. She dies at 12 o’clock
during her lunch break as she is eating fries behind the
Fiddlesticks Dinner where she works, pecked to death, eyes
plucked out. As the birds surround her she barely has time to
scream, completely taken by surprise, and passes out from
the pain before prompty bleeding to death.
The third victim, Kathryn is the closest person to Terrence.
He helps her with the pain. He tried to convince her to tell
everyone about Clarence but she can’t bring herself to.
Instead he tries to get her to leave him, but she’s terrified.
She dies on her way out of Terrence’s place, in sight of
everybody, pecked to death with her eyes plucked out, just
like the other two.

The Ticking of the Clock

As time marches on the curse grows bolder her hold on the
city and the region becomes manifest. First, there are more
and more birds as the hours come and go. At 10am you have
small murders on every other powerline, and by 2pm the
skies are almost black with birds.
It’s also a very rainy day.
After Pamela’s murder some cops and locals take to the
streets with shotguns loaded with birdshot, and might be
convinced to give one to the plauers. They do not initiate
anything however, most of them are scared stiff and
extremely nervous.

38
Hitting the streets
At any point, a player might make a roll to “talk to people
they know”. If they’re basically trying to just talk to random
people, on a 6+ give them a hint about people having seen
more birds in the streets around Terrence’s place or the
Martin estate, or have them express suspicion at that Drake
weirdo (he’s weird and lives nearby). On a 4-5 you might
want people to be about to tell that kind of stuff until they
notice that there’s an uncomfortable number of birds around,
and they somehow, they get the feeling that they’re listening.

Witnesses
The male nurse in charge of Jonas, Gregory «Greg»
Dudemeister will freely discuss his death. A week ago, when
he went to visit Jonas, the old nazi made the error of
complaining about nightmares and Greg spotted various
signs of stress and insomnia. As a result, he drugged the
bastard into deeper sleep, which only made him weaker to
the attacks. Greg is an excellent nurse and agonises over this:
while his dosage were perfect, you can’t dose for killer
nightmares from hell. The autopsy report found him
absolutely 100% not guilty of any kind of mistreatment but
he still feels like it’s somehow his fault. He’s also genuinely
confused as to why the old man refused to be taken to the
hospital and insisted on remaining in his estate, even though
that is quite common in old people.
Armin’s husband is called Jim Wartman, he woke up at 6 to
cries of help, ran down and found his husband’s eyes gouged
out and pecked to death. Their bedroom’s window is right
above the alleway’s dumpster, and he did see a few crows
flying away.
Pamela’s manager, Herman, is the one who finds her body 5
minutes after her death. He thinks she’s taking too long a
pause, so he goes out and finds her like Armin. When he
finds her, he immediately calls the cops, who get there in ten
minutes, as the police station is quite near.
Pretty much everyone on the street is a witness to Kathryn’s
death. They see her get pecked to death by a swarm of birds
and scatter as some birds scramble to get them too.

39
 Dunnsmaw Sights and places
There isn’t much to do in Dunnsmaw, it’s mostly a stain of
concrete in the middle of the woods. The main attraction
here is the statue of the founder, defaced so long ago that no
one but the archives know about him.

Incidentally, the town archives, in the library, is a great place

to learn about Jonas. They might find that Terrence has only
come here a few years ago, but that’s it. About Jonas
however, a few things do not add up, the main thing being
that according to pictures of him, he’s been 90 for a long,
long time.

The police station is quite small, and the morgue is not far.
When not on a crime scene, Helene and the Jekylls can be
found there as well as Chief Bronwyn. Is is a sober, single
floor buiding. The morgue where the bodies will be stored is
right down the street.

Not far from here is the Fiddlesticks Dinner, the familly-

style restaurant where Pamela works. It has the classic
«Grease» look, complete with a roller rink that no one ever
uses anymore, alas. It still has some pretty great music, albeit
loud, which is why no one inside hears Pamela’s cries for
help.

40
Terrence lives in a 2-stories house. He used to rent the
ground floor to one Pamela Starr, but, well. Pamela’s floor
is clearly the student dream home. Terrence needed the
income, so he rents her the ground floor on the cheap. He
was somewhat of a patron to her, as he does quite enjoy her
paintings. There were several rooms on her floor but now it’s
pretty much all a workshop for her various art projects.
Terrence’s floor is austere to say the least. It has its own
bathroom and kitchen on the second floor. His library is
notable however: full of occult texts, although most of these
are just charlatanism (one must go through the trash to find
treasure).

He lives a few houses away from the Donut shop, which is a

small but cute place, where one can grab a good pastry and
a warm drink. Of course at the moment of the scenario, it’s
completely cordonned off by the cops.

41
 The Martin Estate
A farming house up the hill near the city. Although it is not
that easy to spot, there are always quite a bit more birds here.
The farm is quite big, it takes a few minutes to get from the
gate (or walls) to the house proper. It’s mostly an orchard for
apples and a barn. The birds are everywhere on the trees.

The ground floor is mostly for receptions: there is a

ballroom, a kitchen, a dining room, a washing room, a
garage (where the fuses are), a library and a servant dining
room. The library is quite extensive, and one shelf is a secret
passage to the basement. It is quite a cliché library (after all,
the nazis are nothing is not cliché) with a lot of german
history mostly told by people who are uncomfortably okay
with the whole murder stuff. In his last days Joan had sent
his servants away as he was becoming quite insufferable and
as a result most of the library is dusty, except of course the
single book in the trick-bookcase. The bookcase can only be
activated if the power is on, but it isn’t and must be turned
back on at the garage’s fusebox.

The spirit of Joan stalks these walls, raving and crying and
howling. It will attack anything that comes into his home by
throwing stuff around like a poltergeist. It can’t be seen aside
from glimpses, and can be disrupted with salt. It makes
EMF’s go crazy, which allows people to brace themselves,
and will appear in mirrors, scowling, before striking.

42
A grand stairway leads into the second floor, which is all
bedrooms and a grand bathroom. In Joans’ room, it is quite
easy to find his journals, which are full of the confessions of
the death camp scientist Joan was. There is also, on the
nightstand, a strange book bound. It contains the instructions
for the curse, and on the opposite page, instructions for
calling off the curse, if one knows where to look. It is written
in simplistic “dog latin”.

In the basement, a hastily drawn blood circle sits. It crackles

with occult energies as crystals float in the air. Many books
are scattered on the floor. On the wall, a gaping, shifting
maw waits, breathing without closing. This is where the
characters must make the sacrifices. Characters in this room
start feeling hungry, very hungry, and might catch
themselves drooling when they get close to their friends. The
hair here is extremely damp and smells faintly of sulfur.

43
 RANDOM GENERATORS
We are to investigate...
1. An old manor
2. A small keep
3. A ruined church
4. A secluded village
5. An abandoned asylum
6. A derelict gas station

Next to…
1. A road no one ever takes, where did it use to lead?
2. A creepy graveyard, why are there no names on the
graves?
3. An ancient forest, what do the trees whisper?
4. A quiet cove, who used to hide stuff here?
5. A monastery full of silent monks, why are they so nice to
us?
6. The oldest tree we’ve ever seen, who’s bodies hang from
the branches?

Because…
1. We were invited, by whom?
2. Our friend hasn’t come back, is it the first time though?
3. One of us saw it in a dream, does this happen often?
4. A map says there’s something to be found, is it precious
or powerful?
5. Someone we knew died here, what is the official reason
the case was closed?
6. Someone dared us to go, what are the exact terms of the
dare?

44
And we’ve heard that…
1. Ghostly lights hover and linger above this place at night, where
do they go at sunrise?
2. The owner died recently, where did they die?
3. There are some pretty interesting caves underneath, where do
they lead?
4. Some pretty rare and interesting birds are nesting there, are
those actually birds though?
5. People who go there never return, who was the last to go?
6. The beach is breathtaking this time of the year, why is there no
lifeguard?

But we should keep an eye out for…

1. The people from the nearby town, who’s smile is just a bit too
wide
2. The dogs, who roam in strange packs
3. The rats, who live there as kings
4. The windows, which are not wha they seem
5. The books, which only contain lies, hopefully
6. The statues, which start walking when you’re not looking.

45
 The Locals have a name:

1. Day 1. Stealers
2. Night 2. Lurkers
3. Dream 3. Eaters
4. Death 4. Drinkers
5. Bone 5. Breakers
6. Flesh 6. Screamers

They come from: They want:

1. The past
2. The future
3. Stars beyond our own
4. Strange waters
5. Our dreams
6. A forgotten forest
1. Peace, from what?
2. Flesh, from who?
3. Vengeance, for what?
4. Chaos, in what form?
5. Pain, how?
6. To serve, who?

They know: Something weird about them:

1. Who we are 1. They can’t be seen, only heard
2. What we want 2. They’re intangible, only an EMF
detects their presence
3. What we need
3. They hunt in packs and kill for fun
4. What this place is
4. They come wrapped in mists
5. Everything
5. They smell of death and carrion
6. Nothing
6. They never back down from a
challenge

46
They fear only:
1. Salt
2. Consecrated items
3. Sunlight
4. Moonlight
5. Fire
6. Silver

They move slowly, but:

1. Not in water
2. They pass through walls
3. They can fly
4. Only when you can see them
5. They never give up
6. They can crawl anywhere

They kill you with:

1. Tooth and claw
2. Old, rusted weapons
3. Strange rays
4. Deafening screams
5. Thousands of crawlies
6. Thrown objects

47
 The power has no name, but manifests itself as:
1. Sounds of a thousand feet, marching far away
2. A sudden cold that makes us shiver
3. Shapes on the walls, twisted and strange
4. Voices in chorus, chanting gently
5. A sudden sinking feeling, like at the top of a rollercoaster
6. Dancing lights, right around the corner

It wants to:
1. Rip, tear and destroy
2. Understand and study
3. Be alone
4. Be attended
5. Protect its children
6. Remain unknowable

It makes our stuff go haywire:

1. Lights flicker and shut off at the worst possible time
2. Service is patchy or dead, we can’t call for help
3. Strange words appear on paper
4. We get calls that are just breathing
5. Everything tastes like ash
6. Clocks, watches and even our phones don’t give proper time

48
It grows stronger when:
1. Blood is spilled
2. Relationships break apart
3. Lies are spoken
4. Things are taken from it
5. People feel alone
6. People suppress their wants and needs

It fears only:
1. Genuine love
2. Sincerity
3. Light of a certain colour
4. The words of a long dead tongue
5. Promises
6. The death of its’ children

49
 My name: I’m a… Seeking…
My nickname: Scholar Answers
My pronouns: Caretaker Justice
My age: Sinner Power
My looks: Faithful Forgiveness
My voice: Fighter Belonging
My reputation: Weirdo Thrills

My Body is My Mind is My Soul is

D10 Vigorous Sharp Burning
D8 Steady Clear Warm
D6 Soft Unfocused Faint
D4 Bruised Confused Cold
Broken Fractured Cracked

On my investigations, I always bring:

I also have a smartphone, my wallet, loose change and:
First aid kit Electrician toolbox High quality Camera
Painkillers Crucifix Cam-recorder
Baseball bat Carton of salt Night vision goggles
Small gun Alcohol (good) Diving gear
Knife Alcohol (medical) Climbing gear
Crowbar Recreational drugs Locksmith kit
Sledge hammer Anxiety medication Tarot deck
Food for everyone Camping supplies Military-grade flashlight
Holy water Electro-magnetic field Parabolic Microphone
reader (EMF)
I will freely describe my skills here:

If I ever suffer trauma or a curse, I will describe them here:

I will use this space to take note of things I notice and / or loot:
 Make them see
Make them believe
Make them pay
3