Situations

SITUATIONS
FOR TABLETOP ROLEPLAYING
1
CONTENTS
LONG KNIVES is used to create situations for
4 intrigue that the characters are tied to.
TRANSGRESSION is a generator for social

10 movements and the resistance to them.
BROKEN PLACES builds situations where a villain

18 has taken over an organization.
THE QUEST is used to generate adventures that

24 will take the characters out on journeys.
PREDATOR SOULS is a means for making

32 monster-hunting scenarios for your games.
THE ESTATE assists in creating estates that

40 characters can acquire, trouble included.
THE DEVILS WE KNOW is for situations where

46 one evil keeps another contained.
EXPEDITIONS covers journeys by multiple means,

52 into odd places, to seek something.
ONE OF US is for when a player character is

58 infected by some manner of changed being.
FUTURITY is for covering situations where

66 something new has been invented.
THE OPEN FOLIO, a quick page of notes on what

72 this document works with.
THE UNLICENSE, permissions to use this text in

73 other projects as you like.
2
WHAT THIS IS
Situations is a primarily compilation of twelve articles – methods for
building situations for tabletop roleplaying. Each of the methods is a
simple procedure; by working through one of these procedures and
writing out your results, you'll generate the core 'stuff' needed for a
session or two of play – notes for an interesting scenario, all down on a
single page.
At the end of this book, the final section is a discussion on how to
string together situations and nest them inside one another, developing
a campaign from them.
CREDITS
Writing and illustration by Levi Kornelsen.
(More to be added as consultation occurs)
3
LONG KNIVES
4
FACTION CONFLICT
Faction conflict situations can take some effort to get ready, and to
ensure that the players care about them. Many Guides have spent
enormous amounts of time creating intricate scenarios that... nobody
was all that interested in. This is a way to put together such situations
quickly, and have them tied them to the characters all around
First, grab the blank paper. Note the location – where the characters
are based, or a place they'll be shortly in the campaign, and where
they'll hold still long enough for you to grab them.
Now, start noting down characters relationships to groups. This can
include implied groups just as much as known ones. If they have
special training, what group did they learn from? If they've seen some
action in the past, who was it with, and against who? Where were they
raised, and among what people? Things like that. You might want to
have their character records on hand, so you can build up a list.
For each, consider if they might have a presence in the target area; if
so, write them down. These can be subsets or variations of that group
rather than the whole – a guild office for a profession one character
has, people who follow the same mystical tradition as another
character, retired members of a mercenary troupe one character
travelled with, who now run a fighting school, and so on.
Once that's all down, you have your raw material; those people are all
in the area, but they won't all necessarily matter right off. Figuring out
which groups are central to the immediate action comes next.
THE RECORD SHEET
5
GROUP TO FACTION
With that list of groups, walk through it one group at a time, and note
next to each of them a few things that they might want in the area, and
who might oppose them. So, if you had noted “Winter's daughter
Serpentine, and her raiders” in your list, you might add “Wants more
of the raid loot to go back into raiding gear; to expand operations,
opposed by her clan elders”.
As you go along, look for places where groups on the list have
common general opponents. The goal here is to find a tight cluster of
four groups, each of whom would find the others aggravating (not all
the groups in that clump need to be from the original list; it's pretty
usual for one of the common ties to be “law enforcement” or “the
local nobility” or other vested interests.
Once you have a workable cluster, it's time to formalize them into
factions. This is done by giving each a spot on the record sheet, and
noting in the following...
♦ FACTION: The name of the group, or at least a name for the
group.
♦ HAS: What kind of troops, money, and other resources does the
groups have in the area? How can they exert political force (or
real force)? Try to think of one obvious thing, and one less obvious
thing.
♦ WANTS: What things does this group want?
♦ LINK: How does this group connect to the player characters? Not
all groups will, to be sure, but most should.
♦ RELATIONS: As you fill in multiple groups, note relationships in
the arrows leading to and from each.
Doing this, remember that your notes don't need to make sense to
anyone but you. Shorthand what you need, leave blanks. You're not
writing an instruction book, you're prepping something to use and
improvise from for yourself.
6
FACTION EXAMPLE
Below is a simplified example giving two factions and their conflict, just
to make it easy to track through the various stages. The has-and-wants
details given here are pretty specific to each other; when third and
fourth factions are added, those will likely get more complex.
In this scenario, it's very likely that one of the other factions will be
another clan that the raiders threaten (whether or not they've taken
real action yet), or potentially their raiders.
FACTION 1: Serpentine's Raiders

Has: Loot from raids,
Hero-worshipping youths.
Wants: To get more loot, give
less to the clan.
Link: Serpentine is Winter's
Granddaughter.
Let Us
Draw Less Expand
Attention! Our Raids!
FACTION 2: Zatoch Clan Elders

Has: All the clan everything
(In theory).
Wants: Long-term clan security,
with low risks.
Link: Winter is a clan elder; all
characters are in the clan.
7
INCIDENT, REACTION
THE FACTIONS MAY very well end up with a look that suggests
“You know, if everyone was reasonable, they could all get what they
want!”
This is not destined to happen.
Instead, one of the factions will have done something. This should be
something underhanded, or something aggressive, or both. If possible,
it should also be something that affects more than just the faction
they're acting against, so that everyone on the sheet can get pulled into
the action quickly. This action, or the first visible effect of it, is the
incident.
Before the player get involved, or possibly as the thing that involves
them, the incident will have happened and the reaction started (or may
even happened). It may be tempting to involve the characters in the
incident itself, but if you do, make sure that it's something they can't
actually stop.
How will the other factions (not only the one that's actually the
intended target of that first move) react to it? Again, remember that
being reasonable should not be your first idea here; bad blood on all
sides is the best way to warm up a grudge that can last for years.
Revenge! Overreaction! Opportunism! Lies! That's what you need
here.
For the purposes of the example, I know that the third faction I would
add in would be a set of rival raiders, so I'm just going to pretend that
they're already in the mix and add a starting incident courtesy of them.
THE INCIDENT THE REACTION

Serpentine's rival raiders The clan elders send
in the Cuata clan bring heavily-armed guards to
some treasure to the bring Serpentine in for a
Zatoch clan elders, and trial. Serpentine evades
claim that Serpentine hid them, learns of the incident,
it on a secret island base. and murders the captain of
This lie is believed. the Cuata raiders.
8
THE FUTURE
If nothing is done, this will get worse. Take a moment to imagine what
the messiest, most grudging end you could attach to this. Then put
that, or a variation on that, down as the future. Depending on what
that future is, you may want to threaten it piece by piece, or all at
once.
For our simplified example, we can threaten it right away.
THE FUTURE
Serpentine and her crew flee
and turn to piracy, a lasting
shame for the clan.
INVOLVEMENT
Now you need to get the players in here. Given their ties to the
situation, it should be pretty easy to imagine one or more ways to get
the players involved. If you have player characters with ties on
multiple sides of the issue, look for ways to have all the sides appeal to
those characters for help – and remember that these appeals should
always be biased and based on limited information. Make a quick note
or two in the “Involvement” section to cover how you hope to snag in
the characters.
INVOLVEMENT
Winter will be sent for to
join the other elders in the
trial... That never happens.
9
TRANSGRESSION
10
ISSUES WRIT SMALL
Social movements on the large scale are often sweeping changes
moving too broadly to track, or entrenched factions struggling for their
goals, and interaction with them tends to the abstract. But on the small
scale, at the beginning, they are acts of transgression, with gathered
supporters, and a host of forces arrayed against them. And at that
scale, they can be very interesting to engage.
This situation builder requires an issue that has two serious sides to it.
For example, the ransoming of hostages after battle, with a year of
indentured work if no ransom is paid, might prevent the open slaughter
between feuding villages that the elders remember, but also lead to
'kidnap raids' out for servants in the present day; there's both good and
bad in the custom, and a cry for its abolition won't be entirely
straightforward. As the Guide, don't put an issue in front of the
players unless you're prepared for them to go either way on it – or
potentially for the characters to disagree strongly on it. If there's only
one way you're willing to let things move, find a different issue (though
see the end of this section for a few notes on one-sided issues).
It's often best to start with something where the convention seems
fairly decent or at least workable, and the transgressors trouble, since
the procedure will ask you who benefits and who is being oppressed by
the status quo – which pushes a little toward finding reasons to side
with the transgressors.
THE RECORD SHEET

Printing a copy of the record sheet to reference as you read through
this procedure can be extremely helpful.
11
BUILDING THE ISSUE
Starting in on the record sheet for this situation, you'll first need to
name the issue that you have in mind. Then, it's time to dig into how
that issue exists in the society.
♦ THE ACCEPTED RHETORIC. What you're primarily looking for
here is the main negative word used to justify the normal social
stance on the issue. Diabolism is evil. Invention is heretical. It
doesn't need to be true, just accepted. Dishonourable. Unclean.
Unnatural. Find that word!
♦ THE ELECT WHO BENEFIT. Someone with power benefits from
this social attitude, even if the benefit is small. Who is it? How do
they benefit? Even maintaining the ideological comfort of the elect
is a benefit of sorts. Decide on this, and make a note on it.
♦ CENSURE OCCURS. What's the mildest action on this issue that
will draw a criticism from an average person? Hostage-taking might
be openly criticized, but it's when a warrior sets their hostages free
that they're censured. Or the whole topic may be taboo; decide
and make a note.
♦ DISCRIMINATION STARTS. While fully transgressive action will
clearly get a hit, where does serious social trouble start? At what
point is a person considered “involved enough” in an issue that
they'll start finding doors closed to them? Is a rebellious sister
enough?
♦ VIOLENCE OCCURS. At what point will someone start reacting
violently to the transgression? This can be authority or just the
nastiest person on the street; whichever way, when do they 'go off'?
The issue is...

Can diabolic artifacts be used for good?
The accepted rhetoric is all diabolic artifacts are evil.

The elect who benefit are all other magic-users.
Censure occurs if diabolism is mentioned as an option.
Discrimination starts if any 'taint' of it is rumoured.
Violence occurs if there is visible evidence of it.
12
TELL ME A STORY
The situation begine with a series of events. Start this by deciding
where this all happens. Try to be pretty specific; think in terms of
neighbourhoods.
♦ SOMEONE IDENTIFIES. Some person in the setting is
transgressing, and has an interest in getting others in on it. Who is
this? What drove them to this, and what draw do they have?
♦ THEY ADVOCATE. This person will look to gather support– to
either bring more people in on what they're doing, to make it
acceptable, or both. Who do they talk to, and where?
♦ PEOPLE GATHER. A group of believers begins to get together on
a regular basis. Where? What form do the gatherings have?
♦ THEY HAVE A GOAL. The gatherings will have at least one
immediate goal. This might be “avoid the Inquisition and grow”,
or “get a discriminating law overturned”; general or concrete. They
might have a plan to do this – or not. Your call.
♦ THE PLAYER CHARACTERS. Before moving on, decide where the
player character will get involved in this. If this is the first situation
in a campaign, the player characters might be these people; if not,
how do they get approached or entangled in this business? off'?
This is all happening in...

The city of Tepucha, near the docks.
Someone identifies; a strange preacher from the north
named Kacha; she lives on a ship, with no clan in town.
They advocate, Kacha distributes healing talismans
to the poor and offers to teach their making.
People gather; on her ship, Kacha instructs them in ritual
precautions needed to bind a diabolical to service.
There's a goal; enslavement of creatures from beyond.
The characters are given a talisman by an admirer, told
about the great healer, just after the first gathering.
13
THE OPPOSITION
This new movement won't go unchallenged. But 'society reacts' is
nebulous; in the immediate moment, there will be some institution that
will take up the cause against them first. This could be a group
officially dedicated to stopping this sort of thing, or just the power bloc
of one of those elites that benefits from the current setup. Decide
which way you'd like it, and put the institution together from there.
♦ THE LEADER. Someone will be in charge of the effort against the
new group. That's the leader. If the Inquisition came to town, the
leader would be the lead inquisitor in that group, not the pope. Who
is it, and what's the organization called?
♦ THE FOLLOWERS. This leader will have some specialists; name
them and their specialties. Who are they? Groups like “assorted
thugs, soldiers, and ranchers” go under resources, not followers.
♦ THEIR RESOURCES. The opposition will have resources at their
disposal to use against the transgressors. To invent these, work in
reverse – list escalating bad things that they might try to do, figure
out what resources do that, and then list them in the block given.
LEADER: RESOURCE USED TO
{
Elder
Tachan, Influence Find & confiscate
The Wind Over Dock Talismans, and
Temple Overseers disgrace owners
FOLLOWERS:
The
Temple
Guards { Deploy and patrol
the docks in a
crackdown.
Chavath, a spy.
Anek the storm.

Huge
Piles Of
Money. { Post bounties for
information, for
Leader's head.
14
FUTURE CONFLICT
Next comes a story about how the opposition has and will use their
resources, and about what they actually know.
♦ THE OPPOSITION WILL HEAR THINGS. The opposition is
operating blind; even if they have good spies, they won't necessarily
listen to them. But they need to hear something, or they won't get
in on the situation.
♦ THEY BEGIN AND ESCALATE. What's the first thing the
opposition will do? What next, and so on? What will go wrong, and
cause side effects and atrocious incidents, as they do this – how does
it all fall apart?
♦ IF THE PLAYERS DO NOTHING. If the player character don't
change the course of events, what happens? This should be a few
things. First, it should be problematic enough that players will want
to avert it to some degree. Second, some of that problem should be
visible; if the players don't know that they want to change things,
they might not work too hard to do so. And third, it should be
something you're okay with letting happen; if the player characters
decide to engage some part of the situation that won't resolve it, and
use the whole thing as backdrop for and material for their own
pursuits, that should lead to more good situations in future.
The opposition will hear about the talismans on the docks,

and assume they came in by trade.
They will begin by confiscating them, disgracing those who

are found possessing them (through contacts).
And escalate to bounties and patrols, causing incidents

and accusations that rile up the dockworkers.
If the players do nothing, riots and purges will occur.
15
RUNNING THE SHOW
Once you have this kind of situation, and get going, don't stop
grabbing at the characters. Everyone involved wants things done, and
player characters are the kind of people that get things done. Have
people come to the characters, ask for help.
There's rhetoric for the social value in place – have someone spout
that rhetoric, in long form. This might entice the characters, or it
might repulse them; so long as they react, you're in. There's money
and entrenched interests on the opposition side; offer some of it to
them. The transgressors, on the other hand, are at least being
suppressed (or even fully oppressed in some cases) and are trying to do
what they think is right, and they're about to get hammered by The
Man for it. Be clear on that, and show off how they're trying to do the
right thing – the diabolist cult forming in the examples is handing out
healing, and learning how to ward off diabolicals; those are good
things, even if binding a diabolical being really is the worst idea in
history.
Even once the characters have a side, throw at least one more
temptation to switch their way. Even if you're sure that they'll refuse
it, actually playing out the refusal can be fun, and now and then you
might get them into some double-triple agent fun.
If the characters ultimately do side with the transgressors, then they will
need to beat, evade, or convert the opposition resources and their
actions. They will eventually need to discredit, convert, or otherwise
deal with the leader. Take a few moments before play to think about
how what game statistics you might need for any fights, social rolls, and
so on.
If the characters side with the opposition, they've got the big power on
their side. In this case, the goals are to end the group and stop it's
leader – and possibly to stop their own side from going too far, or
(alternatively) to make sure that they go far enough. How far will they
go, and how far is necessary?
If the characters want to push a third way, or do something entirely
sideways about the situation, you can oppose them with both sides (or
have them need to win both over), have one side use them as a
diversion, or similar. So long as players are playing with the stuff of the
situation, roll with it. They don't need to be hooked into firmly picking
a side, so long as they're engaged and you can figure out what should
happen next.
16
SINGLE-SIDED ISSUES
It's possible to have issues with only one acceptable 'side' to them, and
build them in this setup, but doing so offers no real choices for the
players to make, and if placed at the centre of play, just feels railroady
and dull.
Putting such issues in the background of play, however, can prove
much more fruitful. If there's a slow-running revolt going against a
powerful temple that worships cthonic gods and feeds people to them,
running over the course of a whole campaign, and it spins off pieces
that impact the situations that the characters actually are part of, that's
great. If participating in the revolt is used to put the characters into
other situations where there are substantial decisions to be made, that's
also lovely. But simply being carried along with something where it's
always going to be “Of course we say yes” for every major point of
action is dreary play even if it's good action.
17
BROKEN PLACES
18
A VILLAIN IN CHARGE
A great many adventures in fiction are about dealing with the shadowy
villain that has overtaken some place, bringing their sinister powers to
bear in order to seize power behind the scenes. This is a means to set
up that kind of challenge.
To get started, you'll need a place to be overtaken – somewhere with a
distinct and valuable resource. It'll need to be a place where the
characters have or can exert some degree of power or authority
without immediately being smacked down by a greater regime; if it's
within the remit of their reputations as “people who fix things”, that's
enough, though if they can fix things with a snap, that's probably too
much power for the setup to pay off perfectly.
It's also useful to have some idea of what kinds of corrupt power can
last in the setting. A warband leader seizing control of a mining village
makes perfect sense in some areas of many settings and none at all in
others. Equally, a con man playing accountant who buys out the
company using its own money is a significant figure in some settings,
and a laughable squirt that the player characters will thrash and ride
out of town moments after sorting out what's happened in others. How
do corrupt powers make their way in this part of the setting, and stay
entrenched against being rousted out?
THE RECORD SHEET

19
WRITING HISTORY
Finishing each of the sentences in the first section of the record sheet
tells the story of the rise of the villain. As in the example below, “A
place called” is for the name of the locale, “It was blessed with” for the
local resource, and “It wasn't perfect” is the lead-in for existing local
problems that likely got in the way of stopping the villain in the first
place. After that, blanks are fairly straightforward – the villain arrives,
gets a foothold, and builds up until seizing power entirely.
There was a place called The Farms Of Unrao
It was blessed with: beehives making preservative honey.

It wasn't perfect; everyone bickered with the elders.
Someone came, a clever merchant named Jagra.
They got power, the job of managing accounts.
And increased it, shifting pay rates, reassigning rooms.
And took over, with guards and a secure main house.
Solidifying power; keeping hostages in the main house.
Now, these days, those who fight him are cut off.
To get a good history, ensure that you’re showing both how the villain
got power, and make sure that you’re showing off how the villain keeps
power – which will usually play into how they'll push back against the
characters.
After play begins, these sentences become the framework for the
history of the place that the characters can hear about; given the right
mouthpiece character, you can very nearly give this section to the
player characters verbatim.
20
HOW IT SHOULD BE
Things can only be really corrupted if there’s a right way for things to
be. There should be a leader (which might be a group, such as ‘the
tribal elders’), probably with some specialists that aren’t officials but are
close to the leader, and some officials, each with their own areas of
responsibility.
While you’re filing this out, you'll likely want names and titles, and
you’ll probably want to include the villain - many villains have an
‘official’ job that is significantly more humble than their actual powers.
In addition, unless the society of the game world makes it unfeasible,
use a nice blend of males and females, and spend a quick moment
considering their family situations; fiction about broken places often
also includes broken families divided along partisan lines, people
‘sleeping with the enemy’, and other personal issues. The form is built
to act as a quick reference for authority structures in play, but that
doesn’t mean that authority is the only game in town.
LEADER: OFFICIAL CONTROLS

Elder
Alkin
Ilxi,
the hunter.
{ Leads any hunts,
head of the guards.
SPECIALISTS:
Jagra,
chamberlain. { Manages the
farm accounts.
Axari, advisor. Kia,

beekeeper.
{ Manages the hives
and performs
farm rituals.
21
HOW IT REALLY IS
THIS SECTION MIRRORS HOW IT SHOULD BE, except that filling
this out is about the power structure that the villain actually has and
uses. This should include the villain, and any notes about them you care
to make, and their ‘free-roaming’ agents (thugs). It should also include
the people that the villain has subverted with authority or has put in
charge of his own operations (dupes), and finally, it should describe
what those dupes are in control of (with a note on how they do it, if
they have no ’legitimate’ authority). As with the boxes describing how
things should be, consider how these characters relate to others in the
community (and especially in the legitimate power structure).
When noting down what a given individual has power over, you might
also want to note down how the villain has power over them. In the
example below, Kia the Beekeeper works for Jagra only because he's
holding her son captive.
VILLAIN: UNDERLING CONTROLS

Jagra
Unacha,
thug. { Keeps the main house;
warden of the captives.
SPECIALISTS:
Solrun,
lickspittle. { Overseer of the old
barracks (where
dissidents are housed).
Cacho, assassin.
Kia,
beekeeper. { Hives and rituals;
her son is a captive.
22
GETTING INVOLVED
NOW THAT THINGS ARE A MESS, and you’ve put a villain in
charge, it might be good to turn your attention to creating the
opportunity for some band with sufficient daring and wit to come and
save the day.
♦ THE HOOK: First, you’re going to need to get the attention of the
characters with something that they can’t (or won’t) ignore. This
might be as easy as sending them a letter that says there's trouble, or
they might need to be sent by authority (and given some authority
of their own), or it may be directly in their interests. If the thing
that's supplied by the locale is something they use, and supplies
aren't arriving properly, they may decide to take an interest all on
their own.
♦ THE CONTACT: A mouthpiece character, the contact is someone
on the inside that knows what the characters need to know. Decide
who that is, and (just as important) think of a few ways to connect
the characters to them, as quickly as possible once they’re on the
scene.
♦ THE NETWORK: If there’s a villain running the show, then there will
be people that want to resist. The network is the means by which
they communicate - do they still act like the legitimate government is
in power? Do they meet secretly? Have a base out in the jungle?
♦ INSIDERS: One or more of the people working for the villain or
around the operations should be ready to join the characters, change
sides, turn out good, be double agents, that kind of thing. Who are
they?
Getting Involved
The hook: Phoenix's brother here writes a letter.

The contact: Ilxi's kids, who will take them to Ilxi.
The network: A jungle camp where violence is being planned.
An insider: Kia, though she will fear for her son.
An insider: Elder Alkin, captive but carefully unharmed.
23
THE QUEST
24
THE GREAT JOURNEY
The quest is an adventure setup so standard that it might well be
invisible; this builder will help you prep one. The first thing to do in
creating such a setup is to lay down the very basics of the situation. On
the record, that's based on the lines shown below (though they're
spaced out with complications on the actual sheet). These blanks are
filled out one line at a time, to form complete sentences. For each,
think of two or three ways to finish the sentence, and then choose the
best option. Here's an example of how this looks:
Unless Something Is Done...

The fledge of Kazra, sovereign dragon of lightning,
has promised to lay waste to the city.
You must take Kazra's daughter Az, captured in a raid.

And go to the dragon isles to release her.
But be wary of the cult of Tiamat.
For they wish to capture Az and sacrifice her.
And there are rumours of other dragon fledges interested.
THE RECORD SHEET

25
FILLING THE BLANKS
Unless something is done [a bad thing will happen]. Finish this
sentence with something the player characters will not tolerate
happening, and will want to stop - but which wouldn't end the game.
Give yourself a few seconds to think about what you would do if the
player characters utterly fail to stop the intolerable event. What stories
could you tell after that? Could heroes lead a resistance movement
against a dragon overlord? The player characters turn to a life of
crime? How far are you willing to push, and keep going if it the
characters don't come through?
You must take [something that can stop it]. Finish this sentence with
something or someone that can prevent the very bad thing from
happening. Usually this will have obvious value or power, which can
give even more opportunities for tension, as other characters in the
story will want it. If the object is actually a person or creature, that
opens a whole host of complications based on keeping them "on-side"
and dealing with their various demands, which can be fun.
And go to [the place it can be used]. Finish this sentence with a place
where the object can be used in some way - with a very loose definition
of used. A magic ring can be destroyed, a rising prophet can speak with
the Gods, a spy can be planted. By all means, consider other possible
site as failsafe options, or even riskier alternatives. But you only need
one.
But be wary of [bad guys and other threats]. Here's where you
introduce the immediate story's primary antagonists, which may or may
not be related to the very bad thing that we made up in "Unless
something is done...". What's the main threat on the journey from here
to there?
For they wish to [do a no-good thing]. The obvious answer is "stop
you and kill you". And don't be a afraid to use it - but if it feels a bit
simplistic, consider having the enemies on the road wanting primarily
to steal the preventative thing, and take it somewhere entirely different
- then you're got a potential side chase right up the road, if they
manage to “grab the ball”.
And there are rumours of [a wildcard thing]. This last bit is some
other odd thing that just happens to be in the region, which you can
pull out as needed. This group should have potential motives for
getting involved - they don't like intruders, they also want to make off
with the device, for some other reason entirely, and so on. The
wildcard is present so that they can be pulled out on any side - as an
added opponent if needed, or as a happy relief force that will also
make things far more complicated, or as just background.
26
COMPLICATIONS
THE NEXT THING is to go over each of the elements of the situation,
and consider which of them, if any, could be used as "a twist". To do
this, take a look at each, and ask "What would make this a bit different,
if it were revealed?". Don't feel like you're binding yourself to making
these revelations. You might or might not, as pacing and the adventure
in play require. They may not even all end up being true, when the
actual session gets going.
You must take the dragon's daughter Az, taken in a raid.

Complication: The raid was on a diabolist cult, not
into the dragon reach. Az has no memories.
And go to the dragon isles to release her.

Complication: Kazra's fledge sent a messenger with
the threat and drop-off site... and will be there.
But be wary of the cult of Tiamat.

Complication: The cult has already marked Az;
they can track her over any distance.
For they wish to capture Az and sacrifice her.

Complication: Az has already been messed with;
thus the lack of memory (and more).
And there are rumours of other dragon fledges interested.

Complication: A fledge that Karza once mentored,
who are monitoring the situation.
27
TIMING IT OUT
In a scenario with clear direction, keeping a tight pace can easily end
up coming out in play as pushing for very specific actions. That's less
than ideal, and taken too far, it can push into “railroading", which is
ugly. Keeping the action moving in general, though, is just good pacing.
So this step is to help set things running in a useful fashion, and to spur
thoughts about how you're actually going to present this material to
the players. To do that, break up the action into five distinct stages -
Introduction, Acquisition, Challenges, Complications, and Closure, each
of which adds a little more on top of the the stuff going on; we'll go
into detail on those shortly. Each stage of the situation is comprised of
two quick bits...
The opener is the thing that happens to signal the beginning of the
stage. Notably, this should be the thing that happens to the characters;
while this stage of the situation may well reflect larger events, what
matters here is how those events meet play.
The events are things that will happen during this stage. Again, you'll
focus on things that will happen to the characters.
It also deserves some stressing: Filling in the blanks for the later stages is
practically all the prep you ought to do towards them early on; they
should be held lightly, with a willingness to revise as you go on.
28
FLESHING OUT STAGES
The introduction stage is where the characters are given the basic
situation and are motivated to solving it.
♦ The opener is typically a mouthpiece approaching the characters, or
a conflict to be explained afterwards, but could be a greater in-
world signal or omen, which one character has the skill to interpret.
♦ Events in this stage are about information-getting and preparation;
meeting people who know more, doing research. In some cases, no
added events are needed; the opener may be enough.
The acquisition stage is where the character acquire the plot device.
Depending on the scope of the situation, this could be a single scene,
or an extended heist, with heavy planning.
♦ The opener is generally where the characters first sight or meet the
plot device, or of the place or opponent it must be acquired from.
It's often a conflict, or paves the way for a few challenges.
♦ Events in this stage comprise things must be done to actually get
the plot device. In a quick situation, the opener is usually the only
event. In a an epic, there might be quite a few.
The challenges stage is the first part of the actual journey - laden with
peril, but nothing confusing. This is the straightforward part.
♦ The opener is generally the first encounter with the "standard
challenge" of the situation, often combative.
♦ The events of this stage are often variants on the opener itself,
further challenges and conflicts in the same vein.
The complications is the second part of the journey, where the real
story comes out. During this stage, players may decide to take the
action in new directions. That's all right – it's better to have players
engaged than be married to your closing!
♦ The opener of this stage is usually a minor reveal of how some part
of the basic situation is complicated, and often with the means to
dig up more. This might be a communication, or some action on
the part of the plot device.
♦ Events in this stage revolve around gathering more information, or
dealing with fallout from information gained. If the group is staying
on the move, this is in addition to challenge events.
The closing stage is the last piece of the original journey the characters
agreed to. You might not actually get here, but it's good to be ready.
♦ The opener is the arrival at the place of delivery, which is where
anything not revealed or not realized in the complications stage
should quickly become clear.
♦ The events section after the final reveal should describe the ending
that will occur if the players make it here and go along with the
original plan.
29
Introduction: The message from Kazra arrives.
Events: The city guard determines that they have Az,
debate on“dealing with the devil” is fierce.
Acquisition: Visiting the cell where Az is being held.

Events: Az has gold scales, lightning powers,
no memory, and fights like a cornered animal.
Challenges: The character embark on a voyage by sea.

Events: Attacks by Tiamat cultists on winged.. things.
The other fledge pacing the group.
Complications: Hopping from fringe island to island.

Events: Az is hit by lightning, recovers some memory.
Tiamat-cult pursuits, skirmishing with the dragons.
Closing: Kazra's fledge waits on the named island.

Events: They restore Az to full memory (Az IS Kazra).
She'll then react to her treatment from the group.
30
BIT PARTS
At the bottom of the record sheet, you'll see four further one-line
entries to fill in. These are minor pieces for you to hold in case of
need, and throw at the group when and as it's useful to do so. It's
likely that you've already come up with some of these, and just need to
name them, while others can be invented just to have handy.
♦ The would-be thief: If the special cargo of the quest is able to be
stolen away in some way... Who is actually going to do the deed?
Planting them with the group early makes their betrayal work far
better.
♦ The unreliable guide: Having someone who will mislead the
characters, try to get them into a trap, take them the wrong way, or
the like, is useful. Who is it?
♦ The pursuers: These are usually pretty obvious from earlier steps,
but if not, decide who is chasing after the group (or add another
pursuer to those already created).
♦ The closed path: When you prep the map, as noted below, if
there's a singular path or shortcut that seems especially obvious,
decide on why it's not as easy as it appears. Whether it's actually
closed, or just troubled, is up to you – and note that you can
disclose this well in advance of arrival; it's not improved by
springing it the group at the last second.
PREP A MAP,
BUT NOT A ROUTE
Despite this being all about a journey, actually talking about maps and
features and travel time has been left to the side for the moment. This
is because while the progress of events is managed by the Guide, the
choice of routes, locations to visit, and other incidentals, should largely
be the province of the players. Hand them a map showing the starting
point and destination, and plenty of ways to get from here to there.
Journey prep for what's where and getting involved with it can then
largely be done after they've confirmed each leg of the journey they
intend to make. They retain free movement, and those choices can be
meaningful, while the core of your preparations remain valid regardless
of where they go.
31
PREDATOR SOULS
32
HUNTING THE MONSTER
Monster hunts are one of the staples of gaming, and for good reason.
Hunting down nasty things is pretty satisfying.
This generator makes a few assumptions about the monster, all of
which have a good bit of flex to them but each of which assists in
making the situation work...
♦It was once human. Or at least, of a species that players can have as
a character in the setting. Possessed humans, Frankensteinian
creations, and the like all qualify as well.
♦It is predatory. That is, it feeds on people in some fashion (though
not always physically), and this feeding is dangerous to the victims. It
might also feed on things other than humans, but people are core
targets.
♦It is infectious. The survivors of harsh feedings, or people that are
deliberately turned, or the dead bodies of those left after a feeding,
can potentially become lesser version of the same monster.
♦It congregates. Powerful versions of the monster have power over
the infected ones, and gather them up and boss them around. This
power might be supernatural, or it might be purely practical; things
like “I know how to use your new abilities, and will teach you” or
“Here's how to hunt”.
THE RECORD SHEET

33
DESCRIBE THE MONSTER
Vampires, werewolves, undead horrors, and many other kinds of
creatures can match the profile, though they might not be exactly
'classical' when they do. So, stepping through, describe your monster:
♦ Identity: Jimmy the loser-turned-vampire is pretty basic; Mrs.
Robinson the real estate broker turned demonic eyeball-eater is
weird. Who was your monster, and what is it now?
♦ Hunger: Does it drink blood, eat flesh? Does it seduce married
men and devour their emotional connections to their wives?
Consume mystical items?
♦ Feeding: How does the process of feeding work? Physical assault,
intimate contact, long stalking and indirect contact?
♦ Agenda and Turf: What's the primary motive of the monster? Is it
trying to make more of it's own kind, secure it's territory against
some threat, pursue some historical goal of vengeance or collect
some item? Where does it lair and hunt? This can be a simple
physical locale, a lair with a surrounding turf, or a pattern, like
rotating through singles' bars. Note that either Turf or Agenda
should provide clear leads to finding the monster, but both don't
need to be (the example situation is strong on turf, for instance – a
situation with an angry ghost looking to put it's collection of burial
goods back together, with players looking to get in front of that, is
all about the agenda).
♦ History: All monsters have origins. Some are recent; others have
local myths. A history that can be found, and hints at the agenda of
the monster, is ideal.
The monster is...

Mushussu the diabolical, which took over
Aktev the dockworker, and has reshaped that body extensively.
It hungers for sacrifices of flesh to shape – human and not.
It feeds by ritual sacrifice, performed by a small cult.
Its agenda is to refine its body, and raise other diabolicals.
Its turf is a ship; hunting is in the dockyards of Tepucha.
Its history is the outcome of a binding attempt gone wrong.
34
THE INFECTED
Monsters breed more monsters. Sometimes, this takes a deliberate
action, sometimes it's just the standard outcome. Modern vampire
stories often include a 'process of turning', while one bite from a
zombie and, well, you're on your way.
♦Infection means: What does it take to infect someone? Do the
infected become the same kind of monster, or something else?
♦The infected are: Who has the monster actually infected? If there a
lot of them, and they're doing different things, you may want to
make added notes in the margins. But if there are just a couple, or
the infected are following along with the monster in general (which is
the easiest case), just note down who they are, and cover the details
in congregation.
♦How they congregate: What is the whole group doing? Are they
meeting physically with the monster for tutelage and instruction, or
are the 'spawn' influenced in some other fashion? This might be a
good place to drop yourself a note on the monster's actual lair, if
they meet up there – or on the turf as a whole.
Infection means...
The fed-upon lose vital body parts, but live on in agony.
They are then driven to seek and tear those parts from others.
The infected are dockworkers turned ravening killers.
Congregation means...
These lost, torn killers feel naturally drawn to hunt in packs.
Mushussu can suggest targets to them mentally, by pure will.
35
THE EVIDENCE
Next come instances of feeding. These will be locations and events that
can be investigated. For each:
♦What happened: A quick line on what occurred in the event; who,
when, where, and what has happened to the site, evidence, or corpse
since.
♦Leads on Agenda: If the attacks fit a pattern based on the agenda of
the monster, this should be fairly easy to spot, as 'details that seem
odd' but match each other.
♦Leads on Turf: Feeding sites will all be within a certain range of the
lair of the creature, or the creature will leave some trace of “where it
came from” behind at all of them. Again, this should be made pretty
clear in play.
♦Witnesses: Did someone hear, see, or otherwise note the affair? What
do they know? What will they say? Will they be on the scene, or
leave behind something showing off their identity?
♦Site Order: The second and third feeding sites can happen after play
gets rolling. The first site can be confusing, with the second a bit
clearer, and the third clearer yet.
The most notable thing you'll need to keep in mind when running a
situation built this way is that characters always notice leads (clues).
When there's a lead on the agenda, or the turf, of the monster, the
characters see it. Dice rolls should be used to see how well they
interpret it. Do they need to follow up with footwork, or will they be
able to kick in the door and surprise the enemy?
There is a temptation to make leads tricky and forensic. Unless your
characters actually are forensic, squash that. Leads should be obviously
out of place, or right up front where they're obvious. Don't hesitate to
point at whole classes of turf; that nasty slime on the scenes can be
obviously gunk from a ship's bilge. A roll might be to notice that there
are also little flecks of oak in it, narrowing the search to two ships in
the harbour, and to realize the thing doing the spattering had to be ten
feet tall at least.
Sometimes this kind of thing can strain disbelief; why would the
murderer be carrying a boathook downtown? If you get stuck on a
result like this, leave it and come back later; it's worth taking a little
extra time to get leads that feel like they make sense while also being
clear pointers.
36
SITES EXAMPLE
The first site is...
The canal embankment
What happened: A guard was found, eyeless & mad.
Leads on agenda: He claws at faces, and can apparently see...
Leads on turf:It happened on the canal; nothing else.
Witnesses: None.
The second site is...

The dockside wind shrine
What happened: Elder Tachan; mad and biting without teeth.
Leads on agenda: Nothing new.
Leads on turf: It happened outside; a boat was seen.
Witnesses: A drunk, who says they were rough sailors.
The third site is...

A small canal-boat, adrift on the water.
What happened: It was boarded & taken to the ship.
Leads on agenda: Ritual scrawl covers the boat; three victims.
Leads on turf: Victims tied TO the boat; happened aboard?
Witnesses: The discoverer saw it drifting from the harbour.
37
CONNECTING PLAYERS
Some forms of situation work well pretty much regardless of how the
characters connect to them. This isn't one of those; the strong
assumption here is that the player characters will commit to hunting
the monster. Which means you want to shamelessly hook them, and
do so with significant strength. Some hooks:
♦Duty: If the premise of your game includes the characters being given
missions of some sort, or serving some authority, make the hunt a
mission. Find out what's going on there, and put an end to it.
♦Revenge: Look back at the feeding sites. Consider installing one or
more non-player characters that the players actually like as victims. If
you're going this way, don't go for “your long-lost cousin who's never
been in play” - wipe out someone they have interacted with, even if
it's a bit part like “That shopkeeper who cracked a joke at you one
time”.
♦Reward: Never mind offers of quick cash; is there something that the
characters really want? Business ownership, titles, some item of
power? Great! Figure out who has that, and put someone they love
as the first victim.
♦Threat: Before the characters even hear about the monster, hit them
with the infected, and be ready to hitting them again, and others in
the setting; it will usually take very little until they're ready to go
“Okay, this has to end”.
Mouthpieces are also handy; just catch-all characters for getting players
in on the action. The butler to the mad billionaire that hired them, and
the sergeant at the crime scenes, for instance. Not just characters that
will explain the starting situation, but ones who could easily receive
some more information if it's useful to hand some over; often, this
means law enforcement types and criminal bosses, but can include
anyone that has their 'ear to the ground' – the street vendor or
bartender who hears everything, for example. In modern games, the
hacker genius or paranoid expert keeping an eye on all the police
reports and other information might suit as well.
As asides, note any additional encounters you know you want to throw
at the characters as they progress; things like getting attacked by
infected, or being followed by someone outside the situation who
wants in on it for a completely different reason.
38
FINAL PREP
The situation as given by the record sheet will hook in the characters,
send them after the monster, provide them with bits that will let them
catch up to it and face it. The side notes for added encounters add a
little spice on top of that. But as always, there's plenty more you'll
might want to get ready for running this situation:
♦Pavement to pound: The group may very well start searching turf
and agenda-related sites the moment the fist lead drops. This can be
covered by 'build up successes' rolls and the like, of course, but it can
be a lot more fun to pile in the colourful characters and red herrings.
There's no guarantee players will hit this stuff, but having some ready
can make the chase much more fun.
♦Significant digits: When the group finally confronts the monster,
there's going to be a showdown. Depending on your system, setting
up for that might be as easy as picking a “threat number” and having
at it... Or as complex as a set-piece battle, with tactical abilities and
statistics. If there's room to make that engaging? Do it.
♦Cat and mouse: The monster and infected, whatever form they take,
probably aren't going to sit still during the investigation, if they have
any warning at all. Which means that you have the opportunity to go
well past the two side scenes if you like, and change the game into
“we want to catch it before we get unlucky, and get dead”. If the
investigative grind is a secondary kind of fun for the players, or
you're not sure you can pull a rabbit from your hat for each new way
of looking around that the players come up with, chase this angle.
♦The death map: If you're going for “all the feedings took place near
the lair”, then you'll want a map that you can mark them on; just
describing this is nowhere near as good at spurring the pavement-
pounding.
Follow-up to a predatory situation is also something that should be
considered. If the players are hot and you don't throw a lot of red
herrings out there, it's possible to blow right through a situation like
this. But killing the monster doesn't need to end the threat entirely –
there may be any number of infected, and the origin that created the
monster itself may still be in the area. Finding and killing the monster
can easily be the beginning of a whole cascade of situations, rather than
the end, if you want it to be.
39
THE ESTATE
40
YOUR NEW HOME
The characters are now the owners or the lead personnel in some new
place, after the former heads of that site are taken out of the picture.
Sudden inheritances, military conquests, and other reversals of fortune
are often the cause behind this – though, in some cases, these are only
the apparent cause behind the transfer.
On the situation record, the title section there is where you'll lay down
the basic concept. Name the estate to give a basic idea of what kind of
functions it might have and be made to serve. If the title of the estate is
"The Night Fortress", that gives a differing impression from "Tavail
Hunting Lodge" or "Gravis Trade Station"
Immediately following this should be the reason the player characters
will value it, which should be something good enough to make it worth
the troubles it's about to bring them.
The estate is: Eldwood Castle
And is desirable as: A Fortified base in the Elder Wood.
THE RECORD SHEET

41
OTHER CLAIMANTS
The player characters won't be alone in having a claim to the estate.
Claims can include “I have an army nearby”, or chains of inheritance,
or almost anything else.
Deciding who else is potentially around with a claim and laying down a
few colourful figures can give you a list of people that might be trouble
and hoping to inherit, or just people present who could be used by the
characters or their enemies, or pure side action and colour.
Some of these claimants might be secret or unknown to the others if
you feel like a revelation of a claim can be fun. Some might also be
staff, for whatever reason. Some will likely be central to the history of
the place you'll be writing next, while others won't.
Other Claimants
NAME DEMEANOR
CLAIM
1. Gunnar Stoic 3. Betrane Sneering
Brother of Dana's PC. Local noble; title reverts if...
2. Selvia Bookish 4.
Estate owes her money.
HAVING A MAP
You may want a map, either of the estate itself or of the surrounding
area. If you'll be using some form of resource management system
for maintaining and building up the estate later, or the whole value of
the estate is about placement and resources, then having this
information available to be presented up front is handy as well.
42
THE HISTORY
Moving on to the history section, the group or person who previously
held the estate is next up, followed by how they lost it. "Mysterious
uncle nobody, who died" is the direct trope here, but "The evil alien
space empire, who were driven out by spacefleet" is equally valid
(especially if the player characters are spacefleet officers).
The executor is the person or groups that contacts the characters and
puts the estate into their hands. This could actually be the executor of
a will. It could be someone hiring the characters to get involved. It
might be a commanding officer sending them to this new posting.
Whatever the case, this is often the first mouthpiece character; you'll
want an idea of who they are.
The reason for the transfer answers “Why are the player characters
getting this estate”? For an inheritance, this answer is pretty easy:
Transfer is because you're the next of kin, or named in the will. For a
grant of land from a queen, it might be because the characters are the
only ones the queen trusts to get the place back in order... Or it
might be as a gambit to get these troublesome adventurers out into the
back country and away from other affairs. If you'd like to have the
actual reason be nefarious, just fill in the reason the characters will be
told, and come back to this later.
Finally, the entailment is a basic condition of management that must be
agreed to before the transfer is complete, a requirement of the
inheritance, posting, grant, or whatever form the acquisition comes in.
Classically, this is the "To inherit the house, you must live there for a
year" component, but may include any other notes. “Maintain an
embassy and good relations with the local aliens on behalf of
spacefleet” is an entailment; so is “As lords of Larfell, you must supply
troops to the Queen”.
The History
It was held by Dame Vanchell
Who lost it by Dying fighting the Beast of Eldwood.
The executor is Lord Betrane
Transfer is because Dame Vanchell named Dana's PC
As her heir, though they met only once.
The entailment is paying tax to Betrane, old debts,
Fighting the monsters of the Eldwood.
43
PRIZE AND LOYALTIES
Almost every estate worth describing either is, or contains, a significant
prize - something others will be taking the opportunity of the moment
to try and get hold of. If an estate is the home of a billionaire, for
example, then the home and grounds may be the prize. Often, though,
the estate contains some prize beyond that. The manor may be
collateral on a dozen bad loans, but if the horses in the stables are
worth millions? Then the horses are the prize. Decide on whether the
whole estate or something in it is the prize, and name it.
The previous keepers of the estate no doubt had some agenda for both
the estate as a whole and for the prize in particular. Some who remain
on the estate may well remain true to that agenda. These characters
are typically not allies to the player characters, though they may
pretend to be - or they may be perfect allies, but not expect to be
(allowing a reversal in either case). Their loyalty is to the departed.
The estate itself was built to serve some purpose – often the thing the
characters value it for. Many characters on the estate will that purpose
specifically; the mechanic who really mainly cares that things work
properly is one of the faithful. The faithful are likely aware of the
remnant and seekers, and know what the prize of the estate is... But
aren't necessarily loyal to the characters. Their loyalty is to the estate.
Where there's a prize, there's greed. The next in line to inherit, with
murder on their minds. The thieves hiding in the confusion. The
fraudulent and false, and very possibly among those responsible for
deposing or disposing of the last keepers of the estate. The loyalty of
these characters is to their own greed.
Prize And Loyalties
The prize is the enchanted defences and armoury.

Those loyal to the departed want revenge on the beast.
Organized hunts for it, etc.
Those loyal to the estate want to keep holding the
Line and holding the Eldwood at bay.
Those loyal to their own greed want to sell armaments

From the keep to various nobles.
44
THE STAFF
Every estate has staff, ranging from housekeepers to chefs to mechanics
to spacedock officers. Of these, a number will have strong positions as
regards their loyalty, will interact with the characters, and have some
clout in whatever institution the estate represents. This section of the
sheet is for those people.
To fill this section out, you'll likely want to make a general list of the
kinds of positions exist within the estate; this might be a very simple or
very complex affair depending on the estate itself. Then, choose from
among those to decide which might be able to best pursue the prize of
the estate, commit actions against the official heads of the estate, and
otherwise be a major problem. Pick a few of those and assign loyalties
to them, and give them names.
Once you have these people, imagine what agenda they might be
chasing, and how (and especially how that action involves the player
characters). This doesn't usually need noting down; have it happen in
play or ignore it as needed. What you should have polished, however,
is what they'll say to the player characters. How will they present
themselves, and what will they bring forward? Try to sum up what
they'll try to get across as a statement they'll make. Then, in play, you
have material posed to throw at the player characters immediately;
people can present their views and try to make impressions, even as
they go about serving their loyalties and creating trouble offstage.
Staff And Statements

NAME POSITION LOYALTY
STATEMENT THEY'LL MAKE
Aschor Falconer Dame Vanchell
We must get out there and kill that beast!
Dunstan Chatelaine Greed
Too many debts, no support. Sell it all, abandon it.
Bela Squire Estate
I think Dunstan is stealing from the estate.
45
THE DEVILS
WE KNOW
46
SEALED HORRORS
SOME VILLAINS THINK OF THEMSELVES AS HEROES or at least
as a terrible necessity, because their actions prevent a greater evil.
Sometimes, they're right – or at least, their belief has strong
justification. This situation builder is about designing villainous groups
like that which will end up tangling with the player characters.
THIS SITUATION BUILDER AIMS to create situations where a group
of villains exist largely to hold back something even worse, whether in
secret or very much out in the open. This setup is then prepared to be
destabilized in a few different ways, so that even if the player
characters would choose to turn a blind eye to the whole thing, they
won't be easily able to do so in the long run.
For a couple of media references, think of the film “The Cabin in the
Woods” for a secret organization doing this, or the long song in the
Doctor Who episode “The Rings Of Akhaten” for an example of the
action taking place in public. Both of these treat the terrible nightmare
as semi-mystical, but a broken starship sending suicide missions into
radioactive asteroid belts to gather fuel could potentially exist along the
same lines (the 'nightmare' in such a case isn't conscious, of course, but
that's not actually a strict necessity).
THE RECORD SHEET

47
THE NIGHTMARE
THE NIGHTMARE is the first component of this scenario; the terrible
being or scenario that (the villains believe) must be prevented at all
costs. Give it a name, and describe what it wants to do; if it's not a
conscious thing, then it 'wants' this the way water wants to flow
downhill, and that's all right. Then, fill in what it is capable of doing;
what kind of power it would possess or represent if it were loose in the
world. Finally, name the thing that holds it back – the dam that
restrains it, the magical seal that contains it, the lullaby that keeps it
asleep, whatever the case may be.
The nightmare is...

A fiery intelligence living in the roots of the world.
It wants to awaken volcanoes, spread to the surface.
And it can influence massed pools of magical energy.
But it is held back by pyrokine energy being dispersed.
48
THE VILLAINS
Whatever the nightmare is, and whatever it is that's holding it at bay,
some kind of action or maintenance is required to keep things stable,
usually something awful. In the villain section, you'll fill in the name of
the group who does those bad things, the thing they do to keep the
nightmare scenario at bay and what that action requires... and how
the group obtains that. Then, fill out a few details on that organization.
Who leads it, who works for them, and what do they have in the way
of serious resources (temples, ships, guns, armies, whatever).
As you define the villains, consider which parts of this operation exist
openly and which parts operate in secret. The villains and the terrible
work may very well be public and sanctified as ritual – but backed up
with secret police and agents that deal with dissent against the
necessity. Or the actual work may be secret, but recruitment may be
taking place openly under false pretenses. It's often handy to have one
part out in the open where they can be easily interacted with, and a
another kept secret to be revealed later.
The nightmare is kept held back by villains...

The Desparan Heresy, a widespread cult.
Who maintain the seal by stopping all fire magic.
Which requires killing pyromancers, ending research.
Obtained by sabotage, assassination, warnings.
LEADERS: RESOURCE USED TO

Raico
Desparan Alto
Brewery. { Hide the traffic of
meetings in taverns.
FOLLOWERS:
A mob, some
occult scholars.
Tumpile
Printers { Print leaflets and
Heresy literature.
49
MAKING IT WORSE
If it were just a terrible necessity, the scenario as given might fade into
the background, static. To ensure this doesn't happen, three
complications are added.
First, the nightmare having some sway means that the act of keeping it
at bay is imperfect. If it's an evil entity sealed away, it still has the
power to tempt or touch the world in small ways. If it's a severe
shortage, then having there be small outages is likely. Having this
complication around gives the villains something to point at to prove
that they're needed, proves that they're not entirely effective, and
means that the villains might want the player character to help them
deal with such incidents.
Second, would-be liberators may be people who don't know about or
believe in the nightmare scenario (or at least that it's not bad enough to
justify what the villains do)... or they might be people who are faithful
to the nightmare itself. They might just want to see the current system
burn down, to build something else or not. Decide who they are, and
how they hope to bring the villains down. Naturally, they may also
hope to gain the help of the player characters.
And third, truly corrupt villains are people among the villains that are
either on the side of letting loose the nightmare or who have found
some way to personally benefit from the presence of the nightmare or
the process by which it is kept at bay. Profiteers on supposedly nobly-
motivated forced labour, priests doubling the number of human
sacrifices that keep the sun from going out so they can use half of those
to fuel their own magic...
Complications
The nightmare still has some sway, sending dreams of
fire-gathering to potential pyromancers.
There's a group of would-be liberators, the Vulcanoi,

Who believe the cleansing fire is deserved.
Some of the villains are truly corrupt, agitating

For all magicians to be killed, “to be sure”.
50
MAKING IT MOVE
This situation is likely semi-stable, only beginning to spiral out of
control, with the three complications given causing regular incidents
that need to be dealt with in some way. Creating some incident that
impacts the characters is the easiest way to drag them into the action.
Start by decided what already happened out of sight of the player
characters. This will usually be one of those complications acting out,
leading to some problem. Then determine who will carry the news of
this to the player characters – someone who has at least some idea of
what has happened, and who may have some kind of next step that
they could take.
Finally, decide on a next step, a thing that will happen to more
forcefully bring the player characters into events if they're moving
slowly. Having people come to deal with the bearer of the news is an
easy method, whether by wanting to have a frank discussion, to arrest
them all, to assassinate everyone involved, or whatever suits. Having
another incident take place even closer to 'home' for the player
characters is also possible. These steps can be weak or strong – the
first incident and the news of it can be used purely as foreshadowing to
an incident that catches up the characters, or the first incident can be a
serious blow to the characters, which they will want to act on
immediately.
A Recent Incident
What already happened: A mob of extreme Desparani
Murdered Geoff's PC's tutor (the Witch Una).
The bearer of the news: Una's other apprentice, who

Barely escaped alive, will bring the news.
What happens next: Some extremists are pursuing;

Desparan is engaging in internal disciplinings.
Once the characters are acting, try to regularly present them with
more information, with each side of the thing giving their case in some
way. You may want to prepare a pool of characters representing the
various groups (or just a list of names you can assign to whoever you
need as you go). In the end, you'll want to push the characters to
make a stand on the situation – and to try make it stick.
51
EXPEDITIONS
52
UNEARTHING THE RELIC
LOST CITIES AND TOMBS TO RAID are often the subject of a fairly
common format of expedition, and one that differs from a plain quest
or a dungeon in a number of details. This situation builder follows that
format and lays it out for your use.
This situation builder mirrors the a segment of many pulp adventures;
Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider, and The Mummy all have expeditions in
them, typically embedded inside or immediately followed up by other
situations. This is worth keeping in mind for this situation builder, as
well; the expedition often isn't going to end up being the whole of the
scenario.
Additionally, when constructing an expedition scenario, it's worth
taking a moment to consider if your ingredients are skewing towards
“let's steal something that belongs to another living culture and running
it back home to civilization” – and if they are, how you feel about that.
Digging into the past of one's own people, into the relics of obvious
villains, or into truly dead and lost civilizations, is always a cleaner
situation less like to result in questions of 'wait, are we the bad guys?'.
If you're certain that your players are onboard with situations where
they belatedly learn they are the bad guys, though, there's drama to be
had in such a discovery, too.
THE RECORD SHEET

53
GOAL AND GUIDE
The goal for the player characters is typically to find a very specific site
or artifact, found within a larger place, noted one the line under “the
journey to find” on the record sheet. If this stumps you at all, try
putting everything in the same theme: The book of the afterlife is
found within the city of the dead, where the necromancer kings once
lived with their immortal nobles.
The guide to this site can be an item or a person, something or
someone that's been to the region in question. Decide where that
guide is now, and how it is that this guide only recently came to be
available (or only recently decoded, if you like). You may want to
place this guide somewhere that presents an obstacle in itself, putting
the guide in prison, or on display in a private and secure collection, or
in the hands of the enemies of the characters
The Journey To Find

The Lost Sanctum of the Archmage
Will take you into The forest of Kirthain
To seek the old Fallen city of Elves
It was once held by The Archmage Oaina
And guarded by Her elemental legion.
The guide there is An ancient map of Kirthain.
Which we can find In storage in the city prisons.
The guide surfaced recently When it was taken from

a thieving intruder into the wizard's guild.
54
THE DESTINATION
Detail the destination before the journey; this allows you to use the
journey to foreshadow what will be found at the end.
The area around the destination will always be held by something. This
something is most often an active agent – a population, a villain, a
horde of monstrosities. Decide who this is, and why this agent wants
the area. If the occupying power isn't a thinking agent that wants
things, give another reason why it's there instead of somewhere else.
Additionally, give some note on what opposed the occupiers; what
troubles or enemies do they face? Doing this leaves open the option
for the player characters to try and deal with the occupiers by some
means other than strict stealth or main force; there's something to
negotiate over, or some other side to take.
Finally for the destination, determine what became of the original
guardians of the site, and how they still act to uphold their old duties.
They may have been transformed or transcended, have gone
underground as a secret society, or any number of other options – but
this exists as a further obstacle if it feels to you like the player
characters deal with the main occupiers too quickly for your pace, an
ally if the occupiers are especially awful, or some other kind of twist
when and as you feel the need to bring one in.
On Arrival
The area is held by Ghanrana, the bandit queen, and
her army of bandits and scum.
Who want it for The sanctum, and as a great

secret base – a whole ruined city!
They're opposed by the elementals and wilderness.
The original guardians became settled into the area,

but are waking up more and more.
Who still guard the site as mudslides, flash fires, etc

outside; they incarnate in the sanctum.
55
THE JOURNEY
The journey istelf is fairly simple; split the travel into three sections,
each of which goes over differing terrain, and determine the best way
to travel each of them.
This may be fairly simple, in some settings; trains are naturally limited,
for example. For characters that have access to flying vehicles,
including a segment of underground travel can break things up – or
even just denying them places to land in the ending zone can manage
it. Swampy regions can break up what would otherwise be a lot of
horseback riding, and travel to caves and cities deep under the ocean
dictate similar courses of travel.
Once you have your three sets of terrain, and know the means of
travel, determine how the characters will go about acquiring those
methods of getting around (if such an acquisition is needed). These
may be fun places to insert small scenes.
Lastly, decide what will threaten the travellers on each leg of the
journey, linking these to the destination and the point of origin
wherever possible. If the landscape grows thorny and barren in the
second leg, and filled with undying things in the third as the group
enters the city of the dead, the players will be well-tuned to the theme
by the time they arrive.
The Journey
The first leg is to The forest edge
Best travelled by Horseback

Acquired from The city stables.
The threat this leg is City thieves.
The second leg is to The fallen city.
Best travelled by Hiking with packs.
Acquired from -
The threat this leg is forest dangers.
56
FRAME AND SKIP
With the journey and destination laid out as firmly as it is here, this
situation benefits strongly from glossing over much of the actual travel
in play (sometimes extremely, as per the pulp “the plane leaves a
dotted line on the map” kind of action). The places to generally call
for character scenes and stage action are:
♦The Introduction: Where the characters receive or discover the
information on the goal and the guide, in whatever way will draw
them into the expedition.
♦Getting The Guide: The whole process of acquiring the guide can be
interesting to play out, depending on what it is.
♦Setting Out: Discovering that getting from here to there will likely
require multiple legs of the specified types, and shopping,
requisitioning, or otherwise kitting up.
♦Travel Encounters: Breaks in the action or interesting scenarios
during each leg of the journey.
♦Transport Changes: Switching forms of transport, dealing with
interesting characters, costs, ant troubles there.
♦Arrival: Everything from the close approach to the destination
onwards to resolution.
57
ONE OF US
58
TURNING MONSTROUS
Monstrous infections like lycanthropy and vampirism are a staple of
fantasy and horror movies, and even more extreme transformations are
often explored on the horror side of that equation. In many of these
stories, a community of transformed individuals exists and attempts to
pressure those they've infected into joining them, while those infected
also struggle with the seemingly-inevitable decline into their new
condition. This situation builder exists to put those pieces and
pressures into a game with relative ease, for whatever condition you
decide to dream up.
If you already have a transformative condition in mind, start this
situation builder with the group that's spreading it. If you need to
design a new condition from the ground up, skip to the bits on defining
the condition and do that first, then come back to this.
THE RECORD SHEET

59
MEET THE MONSTERS
To define the group, you'll need to give the name for your type of
altered people, a line on how they're organized (a churche, covens,
families, a secret society?), the kind of people that they try to recruit
from (street people, strong ones, nobility, elves?), how they infect
others, and how this might happen to a player character.
Some of these entries might not match their titles perfectly! If
gargoyle attacks always work to petrify those subjected to them, but
only a few survive long enough to start being changed into gargoyles
themselves, that's not exactly 'recruitment'. Still, it goes in the spot;
don't feel like your notes need to match the prompts perfectly.
There is a group of vampires

Who are organized in covens serving their makers
And recruit among the powerful and capable.
They change others by feeding them maker's blood.
A character may be changed when

Visiting an inn or other place vampires control.
60
THE OFFER
Continuing to develop the changed, you'll need to determine how the
already-altered will detect those that they have infected, what they'll
offer those being changed, what they demand, and how they punish
those who refuse to agree to their demands.
The symptoms of the condition being inflicted are the most common
means of detecting those altered, but it's possible that whatever sensory
abilities given by the condition will play a part. In the example,
vampires will detect the changed by their lack of a heartbeat, since I've
already decided that vampires can feel or hear heartbeats at range.
The offer that the altered will make is most generally some means of
controlling the condition – since, if uncontrolled, it leads to becoming
'lost' in some way. How can the condition be kept from progressing, or
kept under control, and how does the group keep some degree of
control over it?
Acceptance of whatever price the group places on their help is most
often some form of joining the society of the changed. This might be
swearing an oath, accepting an apprenticeship, claiming and
maintaining territory according to some set of strictures, and so on.
Whatever the case, this should be a heavy price – something serious
enough that characters will chafe under it constantly, leading to either
attempts to get out from under it, seek a cure, or end up in regular
conflicts with the group.
Refusal should also entail some significant punishment, and is often a
straight description of the procedure by which the group kills those
who refuse to join it.
The changed will know them by the lack of heartbeat.

And will offer them the blood ritual that reduces Stigma.
(by 1/day, to a minimum of 4).
But they must accept the authority of their maker.
If they refuse, their maker is expected to kill them.
61
STARTING THE CHANGE
Building a condition that slowly escalates and transforms the character
can be done using the right-hand side of the situation sheet. The basic
mechanic here is “stigma”. When the character is infected, they gain a
point of stigma; as the condition progresses, they gain more and more
stigma points until they are eventually lost.
There are four tiers of stigma; these are compulsion, benefit,
connection, and becoming lost.
The first tier, compulsion, affects the character so long as they have
any points of stigma. Anything that removes all stigma cures the
condition; actions that only control it should never reduce the stigma
to less than one point.
A character at this stage has symptoms, put in after the “you become
constantly”. Is the character always pale? Black-eyed? Hungry?
A character at this stage of affliction has some form of trigger, and
when faced with it is pushed to take some form of action for a time. A
gargoyle-cursed character might want to curl up in bright sunlight,
while a lycanthrope might feel the urge to tear at their own crawling
flesh under the light of the full moon.
When a character gives into their compulsion, they are thrown into a
different state. They might be feeding madly, be transformed into
stone for the day or into a beast for the night, whatever fits.
It is also possible to resist the compulsion, at least for a time. This
might be a single check to block out the incident, or the compulsion
may escalate and require constant and harder resistance to maintain
over time, forcing the character to get out of the scene, the sunlight,
away from the temptation, or into a cage before they are overtaken.
The compulsion starts at

1 Stigma
You become constantly pale; the heart stops, sun hurts.

And whenever you smell someone bleeding
...You are compelled to feed on and kill the source.
...In which state you deal +3 biting damage.
...Resist for the scene by making a willpower check.
...Mark +1 stigma if you succumb to the compulsion.
62
FURTHER CHANGES
The second tier of the condition will start at some level of stigma you
choose. Decide how many points are needed for this to occur based
on how quickly you want it to happen, how common the compulsion
trigger is likely to be presented to the character, and how difficult it is
to resist. While affected by this tier of the condition, all the effects of
the first tier remain, and more appear.
At this tier, you've got room to add an additional symptom or group
of symptoms, showing the progression of the condition. This symptom
can be cosmetic, or be a positive or negative, as desired, though the
main benefit is to follow.
Those with the condition have the ability to gain some benefit from it
by taking some kind of action (which is often, but not always, strongly
related to the trigger for their compulsion), and generates a point of
stigma. In some cases, the action taken is solely an effort of will,
committing to or drawing on the power the character has become
connected to – if this is the case, it should be clear to the player that
this is exactly what's going on, but the character might not really
understand that every use of their new ability sinks them deeper into
the problem.
If stigma can be strongly controlled, then the benefit here should be
relatively light and the action triggering it can be commensurately
simple. If stigma can't be controlled by going along with the society of
the altered, and progresses as a one-way trip into nastiness if it's not
cured, then the benefit here should be deeply impressive in order to
present an actual temptation.
The benefit starts at 2 Stigma
You become constantly red-eyed.

And whenever you drink blood from a person.
...You gain strength +2 (all day.), heal any one injury.
...And mark +1 stigma.
63
FINAL CHANGES
The connections tier will also have some level of stigma where it kicks
in, adding further to the condition the character is operating under.
The point at which it comes into play can actually be a lower number
than that of the benefit, if desired (it can also be set at one stigma, and
be part of the initial package).
At this tier, the character gains some additional sensory information of
some kind. This might be very specific; an incipient gargoyle might
always intuitively know how long it is to sunrise. Or it might be a
much broader extension of a sense, such as a lycanthrope gaining a
permanently improved sense of smell.
Additionally, at this tier, the character gains some kind of new sensory
ability that they can focus on to gain further information. A character
that has been infused with a diabolical presence might be able to tap
into that presence to sense the goodness or evil or know the sins of
those they meet, while someone that has been injected with troll blood
might be able to sense the meaning behind anything a troll expresses,
regardless of language. Doing this normally increases the number of
stigma points the character has (though, as in the example, this can be
struck out as desired).
The connection starts at 5 Stigma
You can always sense heartbeats within 20 feet.

If you focus on the one who changed you.
...You feel the direction to them, and be felt in return.
...And can learn what their emotional state is.
...Mark +1 Stigma when you do this Nah, it's free.
You are lost upon reaching

20 Stigma
At some level of Stigma, the character is lost. This typically means that
the character is locked into compelled action, turned permanently to
stone, or otherwise out of action. It might be possible to retrieve a lost
character and bring them to recovery by reducing their stigma, or to
effect the cure on them in this state; decide how this works and set the
amount of stigma where this event takes place.
64
SEEKING THE CURE
The cure for this condition should almost always be a chancy, badly-
understood story; something the afflicted can attempt but which
requires action, components, ingredients, and risk. Additionally, the
cure should not be certain; it should be possible for taking the cure to
result in transforming the condition rather than actually lifting it.
A second situation might also need to be prepared for the cure,
depending on just what it is. If it's a rare and powerful thing, then an
expedition or dungeon might stand between the afflicted and acquiring
that cure. If it's in the hands of some specific person, they might
demand that some problem be taken care of before they're willing to
do what's needed to lift the problem.
Additionally, being cured might lead into further situations; those
leading the afflicted might want everyone involved in the cure to
vanish, while others might also hope to be cured. If a side effect or
transformation of the cure includes immunity or resistance to the
source of the affliction, the cured may suddenly be in a position to
troubleshoot issues related to that condition – if those who have been
cleansed by exorcism are the best warriors against the diabolical, say...
The supposed cure is to kill your maker.

Trying it will require a fight, betrayal, etc.
And may result in becoming an infectious 'maker' instead.
JOINING UP
If the offer is accepted, you'll need at one Guide character prepared to
represent the already-changed to the player character or characters
that have been afflicted. If this is a villain or mastermind of some sort,
and the others with the condition are merely their underlings, then
they're likely all you need. If there's a more complex society of those
with the condition, however, you may well need to prepare an entire
second situation to describe what's happening among them, potentially
using another situation generator to do that. For that second situation,
consider the type of beings involved and the opportunity you want to
be presenting to the character – are they getting tipped headlong into
intrigue (Long Knives), brought in on the losing side of a power struggle
(Broken Places), or something else yet?
65
FUTURITY
66
A NEW AGE DAWNS
Grand science, new technology, and strange anachronisms. These are
all familiar abilities and activities at many gaming tables.
However, the follow-up to the creation of the impressive new
technology or arcana is often a little too simple and one-sided – a
major new creation should rapidly attract opponents, opportunists,
confusion, and all manner of various troubles. So that's what this
situation generator is all about.
It's worth noting here that the new creation doesn't need to be be
technically new; it can easily be forgotten or ancient technology that's
been rediscovered. It can also be something that was previously only
imported or otherwise obtained at great cost, and is now being made
much more easily. Finally, a creation can also be a means of making
something that was entirely pre-existent but made much less efficiently
(such as the printing press); doing this requires a little creative re-
interpretation of some of the prompts given, but not so much that it's
terribly hard to do – the methods of creation are actually what's often
at stake regardless.
THE RECORD SHEET

67
THE CREATION
To get started, describe the creation in a single, simple phrase. What's
it look like, and what does it do?
Follow that up with whoever is producing it, and who they're
distributing it to. The original creator is likely part of this effort, but
it's possible they've already been cheated out of it before player
characters even contact the situation, and will have a role elsewhere.
No need to decide that now unless the creation is being produced by
them individually; name the group instead.
If the new creation is a service or action (such as a ritual), then fill in
who is performing it and who benefits from or is subjected to it as the
producer and subject of distribution. If one of the characters is
crafting alchemical grenades, which are new to the setting, but only
handing them out to the other player characters, that's a pretty small
loop, but it's a production and distribution group even so. It won't
expand until the group leaves some witnesses who have the presence of
mind and ability to collect some of the residue and take it to another
alchemist, but that's fine.
Someone has recently created

An arcane crystal matrix allowing long-range telepathy.
It is currently produced by the mountain elf Magisters.
And distributed to mountain elf fastnesses and holds.
The player characters are mages that trade lore with the
Magisters; a matrix is delivered as a gift early on.
Hook the the player characters directly to the root of this setup, if
they're not actively the instigators. Have one of them be related to the
inventor or producers of whatever this is, or have the inventor be a
close associate of one of their direst and strongest enemies. Positive,
negative, or just plain weird, give them a stake right from the start of
the setup, so you know what their starting role is relative to things to
come.
68
A MOTIVATED CAST
A NUMBER OF PARTIES WILL BE AFFECTED by any significant
invention. This section is for breaking that down and naming them.
Who is capable of duplicating the creation immediately, and who could
potentially become capable if they had the right information, plans,
ingredients, or other materials to work from?
Who would the creation help, and what would it help them do if
delivered into their hands? This may be people who would use it
directly, or those with a lot of users working for them – a queen, for
example, might not use a new weapon, but has an army...
What older technology or arcana will the creation supplant and who
runs that business? The Schola that trains scribes takes a tithe of their
wages will have opinions on the printing press.
What kind of supplies, especially rare ones, are involved in making and
using the creation? If the supply is limited or expanding it would cause
major trouble or create loads of work, someone will react.
What side effects can be expected if the invention is used heavily? Is
there an environmental, magical, or other small effect that taken
cumulatively may become a significant issue (or benefit) that people will
care about? Who?
It is also understood by all the Magisters, basically.

And can be understood by the PCs, any archmage.
It empowers magicians of all sorts.
Who will use that power to coordinate; fight the Desparans.
This will supplant courier crows.
Which is made by are locally trained; no guilds.
Making and using it requires lots of quartz.

Which comes from dwarven mines.
Heavy use of it also creates pools & currents in ambient magic.
Which affects the nightmare of the Desparan heresy.
69
FACING THE WORLD
While the characters pursue their plans for or defence of the creation,
as suits, the world will also react to the existence of any serious
invention in at least a few of the ways given. For the most part, the
cast created in the last step will become the instigators of these actions.
♦ Attempts to isolate production include things like trying to
federalize a technology, reserve it for military use, absorb it into a
secure monopoly or guild, and so on. Such plans may well include
conscripting everyone involved in production; they may even be
presented as good offers, though they always limit the freedom of
the current producers to do as they like.
♦ Attempts to duplicate production are just what they sound like. If
the characters are keeping production and the results a closed
affair, word of their feats may still get out. If so, such an attempt
may begin with them being followed around, stopped and searched,
stolen from, and evidence gathered up behind them.
♦ Attempts to halt production are often intended to destroy the
technology entirely, including all existing examples if possible and
either locking up or killing everyone able to produce it. This kind
of action is normally only taken by the extremely powerful or
extremely desperate, and requires significant resources to pull off –
assassins, government influence or private military power, and so
on.
♦ Finally, at least one wild card will likely occur at some point, where
an expanded, excellent, or heinous use for the invention is found.
This may be some adaptation of it, or simply a larger-scale use than
the player characters would have considered. Inventing a new
weapon and intending to use it to fight evil can still lead to an
atrocity being committed with one's work, once it has gotten loose
into the world.
70
An attempt to isolate it for specific use will be made by:
The Overlords of the Mountain Elves
Their want it to be solely for Mountain Elf use.
And for the current producers to be conscripted.
They will attempt to seize the Magisterium, ending its
Independence; seize any 'loose' matrices.
An attempt to duplicate production will be made by:

The Dwarven Runethanes
They will try to entice the player characters to join them.
An attempt to halt all production will be made by:

The Desparan Heresy
They want to destroy this new arcana completely.
And for the current producers to die, as a warning.
They will do this by rabble rousing in taverns, sending both
Mobs and mercenaries to do the job.
It will be put to some surprising use by:

The Vulcanoi
They'll use it for contacting their god and relaying its words.
Which will meet broadly with fear and disbelief.
71
THE OPEN FOLIO
This document is part of a series, each part of which can be used
independently with material from wherever you like or pulled
together. All the parts of this series can be found on
levikornelsen.itch.io.
♦ Basic Practices: Fundamentals of Tabletop Roleplaying goes
over the very basics of how to play and run tradition
tabletop roleplaying.
♦ Setting and premise: Awen: Fantasy Setting Design is a
group procedure for creating fantastic settings, from placing
biomes to working out a history. Resulting setting tend to
hover around something like a late bronze age or early
medieval era at completion, but can push along further if
desired.
♦ Situation Builders: Situations for Tabletop Roleplaying is a
compilation of fill-in-the-blanks situations, allowing for quick
prep of situational elements on a single page.
♦ Rules Engine: Schema is an adaptable rules set using
fate/fudge dice, which lets the group fold down fairly
complex activity into a very few dice rolls, with loads of
unintended consequences, side effects and benefits all
packed in.
Taken together (and with whatever further material you like
added in), these can be used as a singular game – or any number
of them can be substituted out, swapping for a premade or
Guide-built setting, using other methods to create situations, or
using a different rules engine to handle the dice-and-numbers
parts of play.
72
UNLICENSE
You have permission to use any or all of the text in this document for
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Situations - Main Book - 2022a

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Situations - Main Book - 2022a

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FOR TABLETOP ROLEPLAYING

TRANSGRESSION is a generator for social

BROKEN PLACES builds situations where a villain

THE QUEST is used to generate adventures that

PREDATOR SOULS is a means for making

THE ESTATE assists in creating estates that

THE DEVILS WE KNOW is for situations where

EXPEDITIONS covers journeys by multiple means,

ONE OF US is for when a player character is

FUTURITY is for covering situations where

THE OPEN FOLIO, a quick page of notes on what

THE UNLICENSE, permissions to use this text in

THE RECORD SHEET

FACTION 1: Serpentine's Raiders

FACTION 2: Zatoch Clan Elders

THE INCIDENT THE REACTION

THE RECORD SHEET

The issue is...

The accepted rhetoric is all diabolic artifacts are evil.

This is all happening in...

LEADER: RESOURCE USED TO

Anek the storm.

The opposition will hear about the talismans on the docks,

They will begin by confiscating them, disgracing those who

And escalate to bounties and patrols, causing incidents

THE RECORD SHEET

There was a place called The Farms Of Unrao

It was blessed with: beehives making preservative honey.

LEADER: OFFICIAL CONTROLS

Axari, advisor. Kia,

VILLAIN: UNDERLING CONTROLS

The hook: Phoenix's brother here writes a letter.

Unless Something Is Done...

You must take Kazra's daughter Az, captured in a raid.

THE RECORD SHEET

You must take the dragon's daughter Az, taken in a raid.

And go to the dragon isles to release her.

But be wary of the cult of Tiamat.

For they wish to capture Az and sacrifice her.

And there are rumours of other dragon fledges interested.

Acquisition: Visiting the cell where Az is being held.

Challenges: The character embark on a voyage by sea.

Complications: Hopping from fringe island to island.

Closing: Kazra's fledge waits on the named island.

THE RECORD SHEET

The monster is...

Mushussu can suggest targets to them mentally, by pure will.

The second site is...

The third site is...

The estate is: Eldwood Castle

And is desirable as: A Fortified base in the Elder Wood.

THE RECORD SHEET

Prize And Loyalties

The prize is the enchanted defences and armoury.

Those loyal to their own greed want to sell armaments

Staff And Statements

Aschor Falconer Dame Vanchell

We must get out there and kill that beast!

Dunstan Chatelaine Greed

Too many debts, no support. Sell it all, abandon it.

Bela Squire Estate