A Savage Worlds One Sheet™ by Ben Giles. Art by Alex Vede.
A riverboat’s sunken treasure isn’t all that’s hiding in the muddy waters of the bayou.
Death on the Bile takes place in the upcoming setting, Vermilium. However,
with a little imagination it could be used in any weird west or fantasy game.
BACKGROUND
The paddlewheel riverboat Sathoggua’s Dream set off for Boondock a year
ago carrying very rare, and outlawed, medicine from a local halfling tribe;
black mandrake root. It is one of the only known remedies for the blight, a
terrible disease that turns one’s flesh into fungal matter, slowly transforming
them into infectious, shambling horrors of mold and spores. Also onboard
was a number of crates containing apple-sized bile frogspawn, perfect for
making gumbo – a local delicacy! It got stuck in the mud after being forced
to pass through an uncharted creek, eventually sinking into the mire.
One year later, as the moons have all but fully waned in the sky, the
boat rose from the water, reportedly having been seen once again through
the fog haunting the swamps. Having not been prepared properly, some of
the medicine seeped into the mud, its preserving properties corrupting the
frogspawn that continued to grow and mummify under the peat, waiting to
be released from their burial.
The townsfolk desperately need that medicine to combat the Blight
spreading through the town, but aren’t the only ones after that medicine, as
the pirates that ply these waters want it for themselves.
ALL ABOARD
The characters find themselves in the town of Boondock, built along the
river banks of the squalid southern bayous. It’s permanent buildings and the
boardwalk roads snaking around them are raised on stilts around the roots
of the gargantuan bald cypress trees, though many structures float on boats.
The heroes have come to see an old friend with a job offer, but find
him sick with the Blight in a heeling house with the other infected. The
proprietor, Doc Cotton, hires the heroes to find the missing medicine,
offering V250 each to complete the job; half upfront and the rest upon
delivery. The heroes can keep anything else they find on board.
Asking around down at the docks, the heroes can find out the boat’s
original route down the Viridian River, but are warned of the pirates plying
the waters, and the dangerous beasts lurking beneath them. They can rent
a keelboat and crew down at the docks, costing V100 per day, or they can
forgo the crew and half the cost to pilot it themselves, but are advised
against it. There are four boats available along the jetties, each piloted by a
different crew coming with their own benefits if hired.
Amos & Moses: Elven gator trappers. They cook up a pot of special
frogspawn gumbo for the trip. If the heroes partake, they must make
Vigor rolls. Success grants them Resistance to the bile frogs’ vomit attacks,
negating 2 from damage rolls.
Forrest & Sylvester Derleth: Bootleggers selling hooch in mason jars
up and down the Viridian. Each Moonshine Draft costs V25 and contains
enough for one use of the darksight power (Arcane Device, arcane skill of
d4). Critical Failure causes blindness for 1d6 rounds. They can also be set
alight and thrown, causing 3d6 flaming damage in a SBT.
One Eye & Hanging Moss: Halfling guides piloting a painted boat.
Speaking in halfling, they offer repellent mud paint against the swarming
insects in the next scene, adding +1 to the journey’s Vigor rolls.
Leo & Abilene Laveau: Pirates disguised as common shrimpers. They
leave fishing flies along the way to let their friends know where they’re
heading, claiming that they don’t want to get lost if caught doing so.
This game references the Savage Worlds game system, available from Pinnacle Entertainment Group at www.peginc.com. Savage Worlds and all
associated logos and trademarks are copyrights of Pinnacle Entertainment Group. Used with permission. Pinnacle makes no representation or
warranty as to the quality, viability, or suitability for purpose of this product.
WITHOUT A PADDLE
The air is thick and humid, alive with clouds of fireflies and mosquitoes
engaging in dog fights over the stagnant waters, shaded by the hanging
canopies above. The journey to where the boat was last spotted takes the
rest of the day, providing the perfect opportunity for an Interlude or two.
Along the way, have each hero make a Vigor roll to resist the voracious,
oppressive bugs. Staying inside the small cabin, or keeping a smoking fire
going, adds +1 to the roll. If anyone fails, they gain a level in Fatigue.
Half way upriver, have one player draw a card to determine a Quick
Encounter, detailed below. Success does not result in Fatigue.
Suit Result
Gators or giant snapping turtles attack from the water. Free
♠
rerolls are granted if the heroes hired the gator trappers.
Raiding halfling tribesmen attack from the riverbanks. Free
♥
rerolls are granted if the heroes hired the halfling guides.
♦ Gaint bats descend on the heroes, hungry for blood.
Spore-like rot flies hover over the river carrying the Blight,
infecting all who succumb to them. Instead of taking d4
♣ Wounds, a Critical Failure results in Exhaustion. A successful
Healing roll using the black mandrake root, or the relief power
removes Fatigue as normal.
Joker The heroes avoid any dangers. Everyone gets a Benny!
Using Survival, the heroes eventually find flotsam covered in slime
and acid burns, which can be followed to the wreck of Sathoggua’s Dream,
resting on a flooded mud flat called Bile Creek. If successful, the heroes
approach the next scene in the hazy evening under Dim Illumination,
otherwise they find it around dusk under Dark Illumination. Their keelboat
will have a lantern, however.
STILL WATERS RUN DEEP
The evening’s light streaming into a clearing reveals the sagging boughs of
the trees around the boat are draped with tendrils of giant frogspawn, and
the bark of the trees appear as if melted with acid. The rotting riverboat
rocks under footsteps, half submerged in the muddy water with only the top
deck completely exposed. The keelboat’s crew refuse to board.
The pilot house contains a ledger detailing the cargo. The main deck
is under three feet of brackish water, making it Difficult Ground to wade
through, while the cargo hold, accessed through the hatch on the main deck
or through a hole in the hull, is fully submerged and in Dark Illumination.
The medicine is in here, found in an iron strongbox weighting 100lbs, easily
opened thanks to the rusted lock. Inside are the wrapped roots, seeping
black ooze. A swarm of tadpoles among the cargo stalks anyone down here,
attacking as soon as the box is approached, at which point the frogs attack
the main deck from outside beneath the waters. Call for Fear rolls!
■ BILE FROG PRINCE
• BILE FROG (1 per hero).
• CREW (2).
• TADPOLE SWARM: Use the Swarm profile in Savage Worlds with
Aquatic Pace 10 and the Undead special ability.
PIRATES OF THE VIRIDIAN
If the heroes stay for the night, have them make Vigor rolls again to resist
the swarming bugs, or have another player draw for a Quick Encounter.
Just after dawn on the return journey, the sun rises on the bayou, piercing
the fog that blankets the still, fetid waters. From out of the fog, a gang of
river pirates make their move to steal the medicine from the heroes. If the
shrimpers’ efforts were thwarted in any way, have the pirates simply patrol
the river as the heroes return, glimpsed through the fog, meaning Stealth
rolls may be enough to avoid them.
Otherwise, have the heroes on deck make Notice rolls to spot ripples
in the waters coming from ahead. If failed, they are surprised in the first
round of combat. The haze imposes a –2 penalty to all rolls to see or attack
anything more than 6”/12 yards away.
The pirates pilot their own keelboat, supported by a number of canoes.
If the heroes want to fight, run a standard combat encounter. If they wish
to avoid conflict and make it to town before the pirates catch them, run a
Chase. The pirates won’t come within a mile of town. If the shrimpers were
chosen as the crew, they attack as soon as the ambush commences, or try to
get their friends’ attention.
4 pirates are on the keelboat, the rest follow in canoes.
• CREW (2).
• RIVERBOAT PIRATE (2 per hero).
CONCLUSION
Cotton pays the heroes in full if the cargo is returned undamaged. If the
heroes fail in their mission, thir friend, and only contact in town, succumbs
to the Blight.
If they managed to escape the pirates, or left any alive, the party might
find that they have a new enemy in the region, out for vengeance!
CREW & RIVERBOAT PIRATE
The crews represent different folks from around the region, but the
pirates are criminals and deserters dressed like native halflings, bare-
chested with menacing warpaint.
They both use the Soldier profile in Savage Worlds, with Boating d8,
and are armed with sixbows (Range 5/10/20, Damage 2d6, RoF 1, Shots 6,
AP 1) and tomahawks (Str+d6). The pirates have the Steady Hands Edge.
BILE FROG
A large, amphibious ambush predator the size of a small bear, mummified
and preserved inside the contaminated peat.
The bile frog prince uses the same profile, but is a Wild Card.
Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d4 (A), Spirit d6, Strength d10, Vigor d8
Skills: Athletics d8, Fighting d6, Notice d6, Stealth d8
Pace: 6; Parry: 5; Toughness: 9
Edges: —
Special Abilities:
• Aquatic: Pace 8.
• Bite: Str+d4.
• Leap: Frogs can jump twice as far as normally allowed, and add +4 to
damage when leaping as part of a Wild Attack instead of the usual +2.
• Low Light Vision: Bile frogs ignore penalties for Dim and Dark
Illumination.
• Size 1: Standing nearly five feet at the shoulder.
• Swallow: At the beginning of any turn where the frog has already
Bound another creature of Size 0 or less, it may make attempt to
swallow them whole. If the frog makes a successful Bite action, the
victim takes damage and is swallowed, during which the victim is
considered Bound, and the frog is not considered Vulnerable.
• Tongue: A bile frog has a long, dexterous tongue it uses to catch prey,
counting as a single Tentacle with a Reach of 3.
• Undead: +2 Toughness; +2 to recover from being Shaken; no additional
damage from called shots; ignores 1 point of Wound penalties; doesn’t
breathe; immune to disease and poison.
• Vomit: Bile frogs have acidic vomit, acting as a Breath Weapon using
the Small Blast Template instead of a Cone, causing 2d6 damage.
VEHICLES
Canoe: Size 1, Handling +1, Top Speed 6mph, Toughness 7 (1), Crew
1+1.
Keelboat: Size 6 (Large), Handling –1, Top Speed 6mph, Toughness
10 (2), Crew 2+10.