Logan Tithe

The Vespermark’s most powerful villain is Logan Tithe, a vengeful undead gunslinger. The inspiration behind Logan Tithe is extremely simple: do you remember the undead gunslinger that Brom did for the cover of the old Deadlands? That shit rules.

Logan Tithe

Once a celebrated gunslinger of the Knights Labyrinthian, Logan Tithe was slain in a pitched battle with highwaymen. Unable to go to a quiet grave, Logan rose from the dead as a revenant with murder on his mind. After all of the brigands who participated in the ambush that took his life had been killed, he still found that death would not take him. For reasons he does not understand, Logan is cursed to ride the Vespermark, sending others to an eternal rest that has been denied him. He runs down travelers and caravans on a rotting stallion, but he does not ride alone—he is almost always accompanied by a posse of dead-eyed wights.

    • Appearance: Logan Tithe appears to be a worm-riddled corpse clad in a moth-eaten duster and a black wide-brimmed hat; he bears two hellfire-spewing six shooters at his hips. 

    • Personality: Though the embrace of death refuses him, he relishes sending others to their doom. 

    • Motive: He cannot still the Hell that's in his hands.

    • Flaw: Logan fears being hunted down by his compatriots in the Knights Labyrinthian.

The Saturnine Chalice

As is the custom, I ran a Call of Cthulhu one-shot because the calendar has ticked over into Spooky Month. The premise for this one-shot was that the four characters were a gang of bank robbers (Tiny, Wildman, Goon, and Mouse) who had just pulled off a heist in Ithaca, NY and were now en route to Buffalo via some backwoods roads. In case you want to avoid spoilers, the scenario I ran was "The Saturnine Chalice." I didn't quite manage a Total Party Kill, but three out of four characters ain't bad.

Events

Tiny was at the wheel of the getaway car; Wildman was in the passenger seat acting as navigator--he found an isolated road for them to stick to. Unfortunately, something went wrong with the car; despite the gas gauge reading "Full," it sputtered to a stop at the side of the road, apparently out of fuel. Fortunately, they spotted a driveway winding up a wooded hill. Surely, the residents might have some gas to spare or at least had a phone to call into town? 

After they rang the bell, an old man answered the door. Dressed in the uniform of a butler, he invited them inside and asked them to steady the step ladder he was using to change the lightbulbs in the chandelier overhead. Goon helped him, but failed to notice that the wires were actually too frayed for the chandelier to be operational.

The characters were joined in the hallway by an older man (Augustus, the master of the house), Veronica (his daughter), and Rosemary (the maid). Veronica was wearing mourning dress, but everyone else was dressed normally. Rosemary had a disconcertingly wide smile.

The group requested aid, so Augustus had the butler (Jeremiah) take the characters out to the garage to fetch some gas. Unfortunately, the gas cans were empty and Jeremiah said that the family's Rolls-Royce was nonfunctional. Back in the house, they used the family's phone to request that the general store in the next town over deliver a few cans of gas so they could get their car started.

At this point, August and Veronica invited them to have tea in the dining room while they waited. The long dining room table was already set for an astounding twenty-two people. They explained that they were expecting guests for a dinner party later that night. However, the characters noticed that the candles in the candelabras on the table weren't actually burning down. 

They also spotted a small lead sculpture of an ox with a strange symbol inscribed on its base: a square subdivided into nine numbered squares with a line moving from one square to another. Augustus told them that the symbol was a kamea and pointed out that the sum of the numbers in the squares all added up to fifteen in every direction. He said he couldn't remember where he picked up the item. When Goon asked about Veronica's mourning clothes, neither of them could remember who she was grieving. Clearly, something strange was going on in the house.

The characters were left on their own in the dining room, which gave them a chance to explore further. They found a lounge with bright white walls. The room had several paintings of the family, including Augustus's wife (whom they hadn't encountered in the house), as well as a metal bust of Augustus. The bust was positioned to look out the window. When Wildman examined it, he saw that it was inscribed with a different kamea. Beneath it was a scrap of paper that offered a clue on how to decipher the kamea's hidden message. 

Veronica came in to play the piano while they worked on the code. They also noted that the library was full of occult and theological works, particularly focused on the role of angels in the Abrahamic religious traditions. Engaging the group in light conversation, she said that she loved to travel. When pressed further, she said that she had just been in Scotland before returning home--but couldn't remember why she had left to come back to her father's house.

The group moved upstairs to explore further. Strangely, none of the residents of the house tried to stop them from poking around. The upstairs bedroom featured a desk with more books. From the materials on the desktop, it was obvious that someone in the house had an interest in the Book of Abramelin, an occult tome focused on summoning a guardian angel. 

Mouse tried to open the door leading to the balcony, but it was nailed shut and the gaps around it were sealed with red wax. She noticed that although it should have been just past noon, it was now dark outside. She also saw a line of identical cars approaching the house.

Wildman tried to leave the house, but found the space beyond the front door barred by a stout brick wall. He yelled for Jeremiah, but the butler insisted that he couldn't see any wall.

Back upstairs, Mouse found an oratory room with whitewashed walls. There was a stone altar in the room; hanging over the altar was a odd-looking lamp. When Mouse climbed up onto the altar to get a better look at the lamp, she saw the corpse of a woman in mourning dress hidden behind it. The dead woman had a three-foot wooden wand driven through her chest. Undeterred, Mouse clambered onto the altar and saw that the lamp's glass sides were crystalline and unusually clear. There was a wick inside, but the lamp was out of oil.

Meanwhile, back downstairs, the guests for the dinner party arrived. There were all identical middle-aged men, and all of them went by the name Lester Goodman. The Lester Goodmans had no trouble simply walking through the brick wall in front of the door. There were sixteen of them in total. (Sixteen of them, plus the four characters, plus Augustus and Veronica added up to the twenty-two settings on the dining room table.)

Frantic to figure out what was going on, the characters descended into the basement, where they found the corpses of a man in a butler's uniform and a woman in a maid's uniform clutching each other in death. They noticed a shadow move across the wall; it was unusually tall and seemed to have feathered wings on its back. 

They returned to the room with the altar, bringing with them a bottle of lamp oil from the pantry. When the lamp was lit, they found themselves in the presence of a winged angel who said "Be not afraid." The characters involuntarily dropped to their knees before the angel. The angel told them that all they needed to do to escape the house was to destroy or deface one of the kamea statues in the house; he explained that the family had botched a magical ritual and had inadvertently turned the house into a prison.

Tiny rushed downstairs and toppled the Augustus's bust onto the floor, breaking it. 

Back in the altar room, the others watched in horror as the angel began to glow brighter and brighter, until the being's innermost light burned out their minds, leaving them catatonic. The angel, which was never an angel, was now free. It then departed to wreak havoc on an unsuspecting world.

Tiny found that he was also now free--the house was empty and there were no bricks between him and freedom. Returning to the garage, he found that the gas cans were actually full and that the Rolls-Royce was perfectly operational. Leaving his co-conspirators to their grim fates, Tiny departed with all the loot from the bank job and put the horrors of the Saturnine Chalice behind him.

Graves and Guitarras

About a month ago I had someone on my discord who lives in the UK approach me to ask if I could run a Krevborna game for them since they knew they would have a September night free for it. Look, if someone is willing to stay up that late for one of your games, you gotta say yes, right? It's too flattering! The premise for this one-shot was simple: the characters were all grave robbers given a simple task that quickly became complicated.

This adventure was adapted from one of the scenarios in Keys From the Golden Vault, in case you're wary of spoilers.

Characters

Harriet Grimstone, a big, tough, mean bruiser

Percy Rood, a sneaky urchin with a dark secret

Cornelia Draven, a necromancer who likes to source her own materials

Events

The grave robbers gathered in the back of a pub called the Old Leather Boot to receive a mission from the Angel of Graves herself. Serafina explained that the first woman blackened skald, Attilika (real name: Olga von Glau) was buried in the cemetery of Tillsbury. She was interred with a magical, skull-shaped guitarra. Their mission: dig up Olga von Glau's grave, retrieve the guitarra, and bring it to the Angel of the Graves.

They found the grave under the cover of night. Unfortunately, it appeared to have already been disturbed. They dug up Olga's coffin anyway. Olga's remains were inside, but the guitarra was missing. Percy was startled by a movement at his peripheral vision; a white mist poured from the earth, coalescing into a corpse paint-wearing specter. Once they reassured the ghost of Olga von Glau that they weren't there to defile her bones, she told them that her guitarra had been stolen by an elven woman and a fat man. She could only point them in the general direction that the thieves ran; she couldn't stray beyond the boundary of the cemetery.

Proceeding in that direction, the grave robbers found a house on a hill surrounded by a ruined orchard. The house was once a grand manor, but had deteriorated. They spotted a sign on the road up the hill proclaiming that the building was now the Lark Conservatory. 

They noticed that there was a stained glass skylight atop the building, which goaded them to scale the building to try and enter via the roof. Looking through a clear section of the skylight revealed that the room below was a large music hall sporting a variety of instruments. 

Percy was small enough to wriggle down the chimney into the unlit hearth below. The rest of the group shimmied down to a connected balcony. After scouting the room, and not finding Olga von Glau's guitarra, they approached a door...and three small demons suddenly materialized out of the ether. They look like humanoid ratmen devoid of all hair; each one of them brandished a different, smoking-hot implement of torture. When each of the demons was killed, it dissolved into a bubbling puddle of goo. Harriet did a lot of the heavy lifting here.

As they explored further, they found a hallway with an elevator cage. Next to it was a suit of armor. They were very afraid of the suit of armor. They located the master bedroom, which had a large footlocker at the foot of the bed. When it was opened, a piercing scream filled the air. They shut it in short order.

By the spiral stairs leading down, they discovered that an oil painting was actually a secret panel leading into a hidden study. The paperwork on the desk filled in some of the blanks about the conservatory. Whoever Lark was--they were badly in debt. It didn't improve Lark's financial situation when the group stole a wooden coffer full of coin they found in a desk drawer.

On the floor below, they stepped out onto a mezzanine. They could hear the sound of voices below. They also heard the sound of the elevator ascending from the first floor. The grave robbers quickly scrambled into the first room they could get into to avoid being spotted. 

The room turned out to be a bedroom used by one of the music students at the conservatory. Strangely, there was a statuette of a demonic, full-breasted woman holding a cat o' nine tails on the dresser. The other rooms on this floor appeared to also be bedrooms for the conservatory's students, but none of them had anything as outlandish as the diabolic statuette.

They proceeded down the stairs to the first floor, working their way through a parlor decorated with antique crossbows and hunting trophies. They passed a particularly large stuffed wolf next to a locked door; Percy noticed that there was a key shoved back into the wolf's mouth.

Unfortunately, they were then attacked by the same (reformed!) demons from earlier. They killed them off again, but not before taking some wounds themselves. 

Closer to the front door, they surprised most of the household to barging into the dining hall while they were in the middle of after-dinner drinks. There was a handsome man with blonde curls (and features that were a little too perfect) and three teenaged music students. 

The man with the blonde curls stood up, swished his wine, and commanded the students to head into the kitchen for their own safety. He then revealed himself to be an incubus and attacked the grave robbers. In the middle of the fight, the elevator came back and Lark (and his rapier) joined the fray. The incubus was defeated and Lark was grievously wounded. Lark surrendered and agreed to hand over the stolen guitarra.

Lark led them back to the door by the stuffed wolf and used the key that had been stashed within the wolf's mouth to unlock the door. Inside was a room that was once a chapel, but it had been profaned as a satanic ritual space. Cornelia recognized that it was dedicated to Abzula, the Demon Queen of Lust. 

Once the guitarra was passed over, the grave robbers left the conservatory in great haste. They went back to the Old Leather Boot and turned the instrument over to Serafina, who was impressed with their work, and paid handsomely for their troubles.

The Screaming Place

A recap of the last episode of Krevborna High.

Characters

Daytona, misunderstood, quiet loner with a secret heart of gold

Panthalassa, do-gooder who loves to meddle in others personal affairs, a bit of a nerd

Pendleton, self-medicating overachiever teetering between valedictorian and total burn-out

Garazi, unusually outgoing art student

Raoul, goth, rich kid, theatre kid

Events

The characters' transportation options had narrowed since the last session. Raoul had his keys taken away by his parents after his arrest. Alie won't be around to drive them places because she's looking after an injured Sera. Daytona busted the radiator in his truck during the car chase. 

Daytona went to take a look at how bad the damage to his truck was, but found that someone was already working under the hood. His mysterious benefactor turned out to be Kassidy Durango, the woman who owns the local hunting and fishing shop. She explained that she couldn't stand to see a vintage truck like his out of commission at the side of the road, so she went to Gary's U Pull It and got a replacement radiator. Daytona offered to work the cost off at her store, but she told him to just apply for a job--it would beat working at the gas station, at least.

After picking up Raoul and Pendleton, the boys went to Laura's bookshop to see if she knew anything about "the Screaming Place" that Sera had dreamed of on the operating table. Laura knew that the Screaming Place was a concept from local Waronak native folklore: it was a liminal space between the world and the afterlife. She also pointed them to an old book written by a parapsychologist; the book's thesis was that the Screaming Place was a Waronak name for similar concepts such as Limbo and the astral plane. They looked into ways of accessing the Screaming Place, such as ecstatic dancing, occult ritual, drug use, etc. 

In the book, they also saw a primitive device that connected a living woman and a skull as an experimental means to enter the Screaming Place. This explained both why Emily and Imogen Garner's skeleton was missing. It did not explain why Emily may have been abducted for that purpose.

Later that night, Garazi and Panthalassa went to the practice space to help Alie load up her guitar and amp. Since she had broken her hand, she wouldn't be able to participate in the Battle of the Bands at the Freedom Warehouse. Before they left, Alie had to use the lady's room. Following girl code, Garazi and Panthalassa went with her. While they were in the bathroom, the lights went out. And then they were attacked by the same knife-wielding masked figure who had slaughtered kids in the woods.

Garazi and Panthalassa got stabbed up trying to escape, until Garazi hit the killer with a fire extinguisher and got Panthalassa on her feet. Alie got her Firebird started and they peeled out. Since two of them were now badly wounded, they went to Doctor F's house. Doctor F patched them up and gave them some strictly off the books medication for the pain.

Speaking of off the books medication, when the group reconvened at Panthalassa's apartment, they burned incense, put on Emily's favorite music, and took Pendleton's hallucinogens in an attempt to reach the Screaming Place. Most of the teens had a bad trip, hallucinating a menacing version of Siouxsie Sioux. Garazi, on the other hand, hallucinated that she was the beloved queen of nature, sat upon a throne of living wood, and found Emily in the Screaming Place. Emily told her that she couldn't remain in the Screaming Place much longer, but Garazi did return from her trip with more clues for them to follow.

After the final day of classes, Pendleton was obligated to clean Doctor F's lab. She asked him if he had seen two "helmet-like devices" because they were now missing. Remembering the illustration in the parapsychologist's book, he verified that the missing items were part of a similar apparatus. (Doctor F admitted that she had done some work for the US government on accessing the Screaming Place for the purposes of remote viewing.) Pendleton was also told that he would be contacted by "scientists with unusual accents" after graduation and offered an opportunity to study science at the fringes without government oversight.

The group then patterned up again with the Graymalk sisters. (To get their aid, Daytona had to agree to go on a date with one of them.) The Graymalks were able to clear up some aspects of the mystery: someone was using a device to summon and control the murderous ghost of Judge Mason Powell. Imogen Garner's skull was being used to fuel the "death" part of the equation; Emily was likely being used as fuel for the "life" side. Why was Emily chosen for this? She was a distant cousin of the Graymalks, so she had the blood of witches running in her veins.

Panthalassa also went on a sailing date with Thomasina. It went well! Thomasina agreed to hang out again; they'd rent Bound and watch it together.

One of the things they learned about the place Emily was being held is that it had wood-paneled walls and bowling trophies, indicating a basement. Panthalassa looked into it and discovered that the trophies could be connected to Erasmus Feist's family. The group hatched a plan to pay him a visit: Raoul and Daytona would arrive at the front door on an "apology tour," while Pendleton and Garazi would find a way to sneak in and explore.

It didn't quite go as planned.

For one, the door was answered by Erasmus's older sister Severina, who led them into a very dimly lit living room and offered them bottles of Crystal Pepsi. Raoul excused himself to use the bathroom, opened the window and let Pendleton and Garazi in. Unfortunately, someone grabbed Garazi's foot and pulled her back outside!

Meanwhile, when they had an opportunity to flick the lights on, they discovered that Severina was keeping it dark so they wouldn't notice the bloodstains in the living room. The jig now up, she attacked them with a knife--the same knife she had been using in her attacks to throw the group off her brother's trail.

Outside, Garazi and Pendleton had to deal with Erasmus Feist. Bargaining with him availed them nothing; ultimately, Garazi had to bum rush him. Erasmus hit his head on a rock and was incapacitated.

Back in the house, Severina was cutting the teens to ribbons. (For reasons that will never be explained, Daytona did not make use of the taser he had.) On the way back to the living room, Raoul stopped to grab a knife from the kitchen--which he used to murder Severina.

They all ran downstairs to the wood-paneled basement and found Emily on a cot, her head cradled one of Doctor F's stolen helmets. The skull of Imogen Garner was connected to another. A third helmet was currently vacant. Pendleton wisely stopped Raoul from disconnecting Emily. (That would have killed her instantly.) Instead, Garazi put on the third helmet and found herself within the Screaming Place. One there, she was able to "lead" Emily out--and get her consciousness back into her body.

The group heard the sound of people prowling around upstairs. They braced themselves for the worst and ran up the stairs--but they discovered a coalition of Dr F, Laura, Vanessa Laurant, and Helena Graymalk. The women who dealt with the killings that happened back in the 80s! 

The adults took over. Dr. F treated their wounds while Helena destroyed Erasmus's machine. Vanessa and Laura emptied cans of gasoline in the house and set it ablaze to destroy all evidence. (Including Severina's corpse.) Erasmus was bound and loaded into a car; he would never be seen again.

The group was sworn to secrecy about what they had discovered. Really, they should just be happy to be alive, even if prom was canceled.

Car Crashes and Microfiche

Here's a recap of what happened in the second session of Krevborna High.

Characters

Daytona, misunderstood, quiet loner with a secret heart of gold

Panthalassa, do-gooder who loves to meddle in others personal affairs, a bit of a nerd

Pendleton, self-medicating overachiever teetering between valedictorian and total burn-out

Garazi, unusually outgoing art student

Raoul, goth, rich kid, theatre kid

...and Alie, their kinda dumb metalhead friend

Events

We left off in the previous session with a white Cadillac peeling out of the video store parking lot. Since that was the same white Caddy that seemed to be staking out Daytona's house, the group went into high gear trying to chase it down: Raoul and Alie pursued the Cadillac in their cars, while Daytona took a cross-street to cut the driver off. Unfortunately, his maneuver meant that the Caddy plowed into his truck, busting the radiator. Since he was already concussed from the brawl he got into earlier in the day, he was now in BAD shape.

The driver of the Cadillac got out and was, understandably angry. The driver was none other than Erasmus Feist, one of their high school nemeses; the kid had a reputation for being a repulsive little creep. Things escalated when Raoul tried to intimidate Erasmus and Daytona forcibly snatched his wallet. Protip for players: if you want information out of a guy, going aggro is sure to make someone clam up unless you have the heat to back it up. In this case, they didn't: Erasmus scuffled with them, and it took Pendleton entering the fray, and catching a stray fist, to break it up.

Since Garazi and Panthalassa didn't want to have to deal with the cops, Alie drove them out of there; they headed to the library.

The others...sped away from the scene of an accident AND a crime, which meant they got pulled over and arrested in short order.

Over at the library, the remaining characters hit the stacks and the microfiche to learn more about Imogen Garner, the accused witch, and the similar killings that had taken place in the 80s. They learned that Imogen was probably accused of witchcraft by Judge Mason Powell because she spurned his advances. They also discovered that the symbols on her gravestone translated to "REST UNTIL NEEDED." 

The witchy Graymalk sisters arrived at the library and demanded to see one of the books the group was using. The group struck a deal with them: they'd share information. From the Graymalks, they learned that it was the Graymalk family of yesteryear who erected Imogen's grave marker.

As they left, they spotted Alie talking to Thomasina, Panthalassa's crush. The thing about Alie is that she is an outrageous flirt who has a way with women--and it looked like Alie was poaching Panthalassa's girl. Not so! Alie did Panthalassa a solid and declined Thomasina's offer to go sailing. (She feigned seasickness.) She did, however, set up a sailing date for Panthalassa instead.

When Saturday morning rolled around, it found Daytona at work at the local Apple Gas station. A kid came in to buy condoms, but then abruptly had to borrow the key to the restroom. Thomasina came in, bought a pack of Big Red and got a job application. After she left, the kid in the bathroom still hadn't emerged. When Daytona went to check on him, he found what looked like a crime scene: broken mirror, lots of blood, but no body.

Since they already had a couple run-ins with the law, Daytona called his friends instead of the cops. When they got there they...cleaned the crime scene (!!!).

That night, Raoul was scheduled to deliver a couple kegs to the bonfire party in the woods. Since the party was being thrown by members of the baseball team, and since one of the murdered students was a baseball player, the party became an impromptu memorial. The somber atmosphere didn't stop two of the teens from sneaking off to make-out in the woods. Sera showed up to do a paper-bag "delivery" to one of the girls at the party, which had Panthalassa suspicious about what her roommate was involved in.

(Spoiler: Sera is dealing illicit copies of Titanic on VHS that "fell off a truck" so she has money to put toward Panthalassa going to college.)

Of course, the kids who wandered off never came back, so the teens grabbed some flashlights and went looking for them. They found them, all right: disemboweled and hanging from a tree!

To make matters worse, they heard screams coming from the party. They ran back and found teens being slaughtered by a knife-wielding masked figure. They ran for it. Sera and Alie got separated in the chaos, which the group only realized when they got back to their cars at the edge of the woods. Some characters were too scared to go back for them, but a few brave souls soldiered back into the woods to find their friends.

They met Sera and Alie halfway. Sera had been stabbed by the killer and was losing a lot of blood; Alie had broken her hand punching the masked killer in the face to save Sera. They were both bundled into the cars and driven to the hospital. Sera was stable after surgery, but she had something she needed to tell them: while under anesthetic, she had a vision of Emily, Raoul's missing girlfriend. Emily told her that she was in "the Screaming Place," a room of blue light with two exits, but wouldn't be able to remain there much longer.

They had new leads to follow, but now they knew that they were up against the clock if they wanted to save Emily.

Three Hearts and Three Lions

Bad Books for Bad People, Episode 97: Three Hearts and Three Lions

Poul Anderson’s 1961 novel Three Hearts and Three Lions is one of the cornerstone influences on Dungeons and Dragons: a medieval-inflected romp through creature encounters and chivalric romance, featuring the world’s most terrifying version of troll. Jack and Kate, our paladins of pulp, armor up and prepare to do battle with a veritable monster manual of menace in this month’s book.

What makes old D&D art so damn compelling? How does Nazi-punching figure into this fantasy adventure? Why is this sword named after the virtual assistant inside my Microsoft device? All these questions–plus a lengthy digression on enormous tomes–and more will be explored on this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.

Tserberon Falls and Vulture House

Two final locations of the Vespermark. Tserberon Falls has a bit of Ravenloft's Mists in it, mixed with Stephen King's "The Mists." Vulture House exists because I love putting a masquerade ball into my games--and this one has legs.

Tserberon Falls

Tserberon Falls was once a vibrant frontier town, home to a bustling trading post and livestock market. It is now enveloped by a roiling red fog teeming with monsters comprised of animate shadow.

    • Unbeknownst to the people of Tserberon Falls, one of their fellow townsfolk—a man named Johannes Metrovic—was an occultist conducting baleful experiments with blood magic.

    • One dark night, Metrovic’s experiments exceeded his grasp and he unwittingly unleashed a magical red mist that plunged the down into darkness.

    • The townsfolk, including Metrovic himself, were warped into ravenous creatures of shadow by the calamitous red fog.

    • The crimson mist now spreads in every direction from the “Red Wound of Tserberon Falls.”

    • The fog generally moves slowly, creeping across the Vespermark, but has been known to suddenly surge forth to engulf a settlement and consume its residents—transforming all living creatures caught within it into monstrosities. 

    • The Knights Labyrinthian track the progress of the mist, but they have yet to discover a way to counteract its growth. 

Vulture House

Vulture House is an ambulatory manor that walks the Vespermark on enormous bird legs. It settles in one place long enough to lure hapless travelers and “guests” into the perpetual fey masquerade ball that rages inside.

    • Vulture House appears to be a luxurious and otherworldly mansion with uncountable rooms, for Vulture House is the site of a luxurious and never-ending masquerade ball presided over by Queen Mab, the fey Lady of Shadows.

    • Mab is capricious and cruel, and anyone who breeches one of her ever-shifting rules of decorum or who refuses to wear a mask inside Vulture House will face her wrath.

    • Those who are obsequious enough, or who bring the Lady of Shadows a unique gift that catches her fancy, might be granted a wondrous boon—though this boon turns to ash as soon as they lose her favor.

Krevborna High

The pitch for this game was simple: an AU of characters from the past couple of Krevborna games, but versions of those characters as high schoolers in the 1990s. Instead of using Savage Worlds for this one, we're using Monster of the Week.

Characters

Daytona, misunderstood, quiet loner with a secret heart of gold

Panthalassa, do-gooder who loves to meddle in others personal affairs, a bit of a nerd

Pendleton, self-medicating overachiever teetering between valedictorian and total burn-out

Garazi, unusually outgoing art student

Raoul, goth, rich kid, theatre kid

...and Alie, their kinda dumb metalhead friend

Events

We started the session by playing through each kid's morning routine. Panthalassa woke to the sound of her roommate Sera watching loud horror movies. Daytona noticed someone in a white Cadillac watching his house; when he went to get a closer look, it sped off. Garazi got a ride with Alie and Panthalassa in Alie's 70s Firebird. Raoul saw a series of cryptic symbols in his IM conversation with his girlfriend Emily. Pendleton got picked up by Raoul in the Lambo.

When the kids converged at Krevborna High, they could immediately tell that something was wrong. There were cops standing in front of the main doors, not letting anyone in, and their fellow students were heading around back to the football field--and they could hear screams coming from that direction. They followed suit and saw that two students, a couple who were dating, were disemboweled and hanging from nooses tied around a goal post. No one seemed to know what was going on; Officer Draghul gave Daytona a suspicious look. Eventually, Principle Dolan came out with a megaphone and told everyone to go home because school was cancelled. 

Emily was, unfortunately, no where to be found.

Of course, no self-respecting teenager goes home when they suddenly find themselves with a free day to dispose of. The kids' first stop was Emily's house; Raoul broke in, but there was no sign of her or her parents inside.

Their next stop was the book store because they knew that Laura, the owner, always brought fresh-baked cookies in--plus, it would give them a chance to research the strange symbols Emily had sent to Raoul. They figured out that it was a cipher--a cipher that read "HELP ME." Laura also let them take a look at Emily's latest special order of books. Amid the Anne Rice and Poppy Z. Brite novels, there was a single book on the history of witchcraft in upstate New York. Flipping through the book, they spotted a picture of a grave in their own local Greenwood Cemetery. The name on the headstone was Imogen Garner; below her name were more of the symbols Emily used in her cipher.

Panthalassa ran out to give Thomasina, the girl she has a crush on, a cookie--but the interaction was AWKWARD.

Before they left the Commons for Greenwood, they decided to split up and check the parking ramp for the white Cadillac that Daytona saw earlier. Daytona didn't find the Cadillac, but he did find trouble: Wagner Highcross and his soccer goons gave him some shit about his mom, prompting a fight. Badly outnumbered, Daytona got his ass kicked--until Dr. F stepped in and tasered one of the soccer players. They threatened to report her, but she calmly reminded them that any authority figure was far more likely to believe her version of events than theirs. Once they left, she checked Daytona out, declared he had a minor concussion, and gave him the taser. She also gave him a bit of advice: "There are two kinds of people--those who ride and those who are ridden. You need to choose which you're going to be."

Initially, they had no luck locating Imogen Garner's grave in the cemetry. Then they were approached by a weird old man--groundskeeper Willard! He explained that Imogen was buried in the pauper's field. When asked about Emily, he said a girl fitting her description often came to the cemetery. He even handed over a bracelet of hers he had found on the grounds. When they searched for Imogen's grave in the pauper's field--they found it had been dug up and was now empty. Groundskeeper Willard didn't know much about her, but he knew someone who might--Sera, Panthalassa's roommate, who had done a civics project mapping the cemetery before she graduated.

They went to the Video King where Sera worked. Sera said that it was "crazy that it was happening again." They didn't know what she meant, so she explained that back in the early 80s there was a serial killer in the area who got nicknamed "the Lyncher" because he left a trail of dead high school couples in his wake. This made the kids want to head to the library to do a little microfiche research, but before they did they pressed Alie to talk to Sera about their mutual love of horror movies because Alie has an unrequited crush on Sera. Alie left with a pile of VHS tapes, courtesy of Sera's recommendations.

Outside, they spotted a white Cadillac pealing out of the strip mall. They decided it was time for a little hot pursuit. We'll see how that works out next time...

THE MONSTER SQUAD

I was asked to post the characters from this PLANET MOTHERFUCKER one-shot I ran. See below. They're basically just re-flavored versions of characters straight out of the PMF books, with a little bonus "kicker" of Meat points to make for a slightly superheroic feel.

These characters were assigned based on having the players pick a flavor of Monster energy drink. (Limited to the Ultra and Juice ranges because those are the ones I know.) I'll post all the possible options after the characters who appeared in the session.

Kitten DeKlaw

Anime catgirl burglar

Muscle: -1 / Grit: -1 / Cunning: +2 / Moxie: +2

Meat: 13 / Mojo: 2

Bod: Catgirl, duh / Look: Speed Racer t-shirt and lycra booty shorts / Weapon: Pistol d6

Knack: You were Trained in the Ninja Arts of the Trailer Park. You get a +2 to rolls to sneak or hide. Your claws deal d6 damage, but you’re VERY afraid of breaking a nail. 

You’ve got Nine Lives. When you’re reduced to 0 Meat, roll a d6. On an odd roll, you aren’t killed. You revive in d4 rounds and regain d4 Meat.

Mako Gorejaws

Wereshark surfer

Muscle: +3 / Grit: +1 / Cunning: -1 / Moxie: -1

Meat: 16 / Mojo: 2

Bod: Tan surfer/fuckin’ sharkperson / Look: Board shorts and a tank top / 

Knack: You’ve got the Jaws of...Jaws. Your attacks with ‘em deal d8 damage. Whenever you bite a creature that has a discernible head, roll a d10. If you roll a 10, you bite its head off, killing it instantly.

Mutilatrix

Military-grade robot domme

Muscle: +1 / Grit: +0 / Cunning: +1 / Moxie: -1

Meat: 15 / Mojo: 2

Bod: Shiny and metal / Look: Black leather S&M gear / Weapon: Cat o’ nine tails d8

Knack: Your Bio-Mechanical Body gives you -d4 protection. You are Terrifyingly Inhuman. The first time your enemies have to check Nerve in a brawl, they take a -2 penalty to the roll. 

Beachgrinder

Death metal tiki-god mixologist

Muscle: +0 / Grit: -1 / Cunning: +1 / Moxie: +2

Meat: 10 / Mojo: 2

Bod: Ambulatory wooden tiki / Look: Ripped Cannibal Corpse t-shirt and a leather jacket / 

Weapon: Shotgun d8

Knacks: You know how to brew up a Mean Tiki Drink once per game. It heals d10 Meat. 

Once per adventure, you cause someone’s head to fill with the sound of death metal and tribal drums that drive them into a Frenzy! For the duration of a brawl, they gain +d8 Meat (even above their maximum!), +2 to all Muscle rolls, and they can attack twice on their turn if they fight up close and personal.

Thork Bloodbeard

Axe-wielding undead Viking

Muscle: +1 / Grit: +2 / Cunning: -1 / Moxie: +0

Meat: 17 / Mojo: 2

Bod: Big, hulking undead Viking—bones poking through n shit / Look: Horned helmet, furs, drinking horn / Protection: Viking furs (-d4 protection, Cunning rolls to Defend are +2 harder)

Knack: The Axe of Crom is a massive, two-handed barbarian’s axe. The axe deals d10+1 damage. When you kill a worthy foe with it, you gain +d4 Meat. Crom thirsts for blood!

THE EXTENDED MONSTER SQUAD UNIVERSE

These were the possible options:

Viking Berry: Thork Bloodbeard, undead viking

Mango Loco: Jolly Roger, skeleton pirate

Rio Punch: Trixie Toxic, Vegas showgirl witch

Pacific Punch: Mako Gorejaw, wereshark surfer

Pipeline Punch: Mama Hex, voodoo queen

Ultra Sunrise: Ankh Hotep, scarab-infested mummy

Ultra Peachy Keen: Kitten DeKlaw, catgirl burglar 

Ultra Ruby Red: Carmilla Cadavera, vampire seductress

Ultra Vice Guava: Mutilatrix, robot dominatrix

Ultra Violet: Maglar, Martian warlord

Ultra Blue Hawaiian: Beachgrinder, death metal tiki god

Ultra White: Jimmy Hellson, demon-possessed child

They Defeated Racism+

A couple weeks back I ran a PLANET MOTHERFUCKER one-shot as a "palate cleanser," which is ironic because the game tastes like a hangover. The characters were all members of the MONSTER SQUAD, a group of antiheroes in the Suicide Squad/Creature Commandos vein. Characters were assigned to the players based on which flavor of MONSTER energy drink they picked.

Characters

Beachgrinder, a wooden death metal tiki god in a torn Cannibal Corpse t-shirt

Kitten DeKlaw, an anime catgirl burglar in lycra booty shorts

Mako Gorejaw, a wereshark surfer who loves gnarly waves, dude

Thork Bloodbeard, an undead viking wielding the Axe of Crom

Mutilatrix, a military-grade robot domme with a whip

Events

The MONSTER SQUAD was on a train, sittin' tight in their magnetic handcuffs, on their way back to HQ from their last mission. Then the explosions started. The train rocked back and forth on the tracks as incendiaries burst around them, then the train derailed and turned side over side down a cliff.

When the dust settled, Kitten DeKlaw found herself free of her magnetic cuffs. She quickly got the others free, then they went in search of the lockbox where all their gear was stowed. What they found was TWO lockboxes: one that Thork smashed open held their weapons, but the other had been busted open with crowbars. While they were looking for clues as to what the fuck had happened, they heard the squawk of a walkie-talkie: it was Captain Johnny Goodkind, their handler. 

Captain Goodkind told them that the other lockbox contained reels of a print of Birth of a Nation that had been psychically altered by Nazimancers and imprinted with the power to turn whoever watched it into a racist. Their new mission was to retrieve that film at all costs before it could be publicly broadcast.

Luckily, Mako picked up the blood-scent of someone who had cut their hand getting the lockbox open. They followed the smell down to a "town" that was really little more than a street with a few businesses (a grocery store called White Circle, a bar called Chode's Place, a movie theater called Family Pictures, a gas station called GAS STATION, and Lucky Chan's--a combination laundromat and Chinese restaurant), and a bunch of stacked cargo containers being used as homes. 

Figuring that the evil film got taken to the movie theater, a couple members of the MONSTER SQUAD snuck in while the others kept the owner busy. They didn't find a rogue copy of Birth of a Nation, but they did find reels of Bambi and Deep Throat. They wrecked the theater's projector, then felt bad about it.

Their next stop was Lucky Chan's because they wanted some crab rangoon. Since they didn't have any money, they had to work for their treats: specifically, Kitten had to pretend to be one of those good luck cats with the moving paw in return for a plate of crab rangoon. They questioned the dude working there about who might have blown up the train--and he pointed outside as two racist-ass superpowered jerks, Redline and Sundowner, flew down from the sky.

FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! They killed the two "superheroes," then went back to the theater, where the owner was weeping and holding his broken projector like a baby. Mako fixed it for the poor guy, and in return he told them that more super goons brought a reel in to test it--then high-tailed it out of town. He was able to point them in the right direction, then he hot-wired a car for 'em so they could head off in pursuit.

A ways out of town, they found a big gathering--and it turned out to be a meeting of the DNC. As they drove to the parking lot, they got the lay of the land--concessions, a stage with speakers, food trucks, a flea market, and a big ol' drive-in movie theater screen. The evildoers' plan was now clear: they were gonna make the DNCers watch a magic movie that would turn everyone racist! Fuckin' shit!

They immediately checked out the projection tower, but there was no way to enter it from the outside--the only entrance was from inside the concession stand. One of the workers at the concession stand was a teenage girl in a Naruto t-shirt; the group rapped with her about anime, which got her on side. She told them to meet her by the porta-potties in an hour and she'd help them get in.

With an hour to kill, the MONSTER SQUAD checked out the flea market. Beachgrinder got a serial killer's cocktail recipe, Kitten got jerky and porn mags, Thork got a flannel shirt, Mako got a tattoo, and Mutilatrix took a tour of items removed from rectums. The weirdest one? The skull of Jimmy Hoffa. Raises more questions than it answers, right?

When they met up with Naruto Girl again at the porta-potties, she gave them ninja climbing claws she had ordered from the back of a karate magazine. They went back to the projection tower and started to climb--and then they were attacked by a giant black bird. That's right, they had been ambushed by Jim Crow! Kitten launched herself at Jim Crow, riding him around as he flew crazily.

Jim Crow wasn't their only problem. A guy in a KKK hood calling himself the Grand Wizard came down from the sky and summoned lightning to strike at our heroes. If that wasn't bad enough, a minivan rolled up and a Karen with a machine gun, calling herself The Segregator, jumped out. 

Kitten managed to force Jim Crow to crash land. She then smashed a claw into his beak, holding him in place while she put the barrel of her pistol to the side of his head, execution style. BLAMMO! Dead bird.

Meanwhile, a chanting crowd formed around Mutilatrix and The Segregator as they squared off, cat o' nine tails vs. machine gun. Then Mako came up behind The Segregator and bit her head off. Insert sad trombone sound here.

Thork leaped from the projection tower to take down the Grand Wizard--and missed. Totally ate shit. Thunder and lightning goddamn it's so exciting! Wounds all around, but Thork managed to cleave the racist wizard in two.

Beachgrinder made it up into the projectionist's booth and lit Birth of a Nation's silver nitrate reels on fire. They reported back to Johnny Goodkind that they had accomplished their mission. He told them to sit tight while another transport was dispatched from HQ, but they were like, nah, we're striking out on our own, see ya.

They piled back into their van and headed off, like the most fucked up version of the A-Team to ever exist.

The Danse Macabre and the Hounds of Velun

Below are two factions in Krevborna. The first was inspired by one of my player's riffs from his own game in the setting. The second has been around in the setting for a very long time, but this is the first real write up they've gotten.

The Danse Macabre

Ostensibly a traveling dance troupe specializing in horror-themed performances, the Danse Macabre is actually a secret society of voodoo priests and priestesses who use the opportunities afforded by their recitals to exert magical influence over their audiences.

    • Each of the Danse Macabre’s recitals is potentially a ritual enacted through dance.

    • Possible goals of a recital include causing madness within a crowd, dominating an audience member’s will, or harvesting an attendee’s soul as arcane fuel.

    • Members of the Danse Macabre relentlessly train their bodies for strength and agilitye; they make for surprisingly dangerous combatants. 

The Hounds of Velun

The Hounds of Velun are a secret society of monarchists devoted to restoring a lost heir to Krevborna’s vacant throne.

    • Most members of the Hounds of Velun are drawn from aristocratic families who lament the loss of power and influence they wielded before the Uprising.

    • The Hounds of Velun believe the royal line was not wholly extinguished; they search for an heir possessing a direct blood tie to the last tsar.

    • The Church considers the Hounds of Velun to be enemies of the faith; since the Church wishes to rule Krevborna as a theocracy, a new tsar would threaten its plans.

Magog Station/Old Perdition and Trevania

Two adventure locations in the Vespermark. I love the idea of a "ghost train," hence Magog Station and Old Perdition. Trevania, on the other hand, is very obviously a dark play on Arthurian myth. In various ways, both locations can probably be traced back to my appreciation for Stephen King's The Dark Tower series. Magog Station and Old Perdition also has at least a little inspiration from the Ghost Train set from LEGO's Monster Fighters; that thing ruled. Additionally, the cursed sword Drachenmort is a sentient black runesword as a tip of the hat to Michael Moorcock. 

Magog Station and Old Perdition

Magog Station is a remnant of the Vlaak Empire’s outposts on the western edge of Krevborna. In its heyday, Magog Station was a railway hub for trains entering and leaving Vlaak territory. 

    • Now abandoned and left to decay, Magog Station is the terminus for a single train: Old Perdition, a beast of iron that belches steam and flame.

    • Old Perdition possesses a life of its own; it is unclear whether it is haunted by the specter of a Vlaak engineer, inhabited by a demon, or something even stranger.

    • Those who wish to board Old Perdition must bargain with the conductor for safe passage—to do otherwise is to risk evisceration at the hands of the undead crew and passengers doomed to ride Old Perdition for eternity. 

    • Those who do come to an accord with the engineer invariably find that the train is headed to the destination they desire to travel to; it arrives by night amid mist and fog, lets its living passengers disembark, and then lurches away into the darkness.

Trevania

When an adolescent knight named Nadezhda Olashenko drew the black runesword Drachenmort from the rock in which it was embedded, the people of the town of Trevania rejoiced to see the fulfillment of a foretold prophecy. To the folk of Trevania, this feat was a sign that Nadezhda was the promised templar who would lead an army to liberate Sibersk from the grip of its vampire overlords. 

    • Nadezhda has ignited a zealous and oppressive fervor in the town of Trevania. 

    • Acting under the fell influence of Drachenmort, a sentient blade that seeks to cause discord and bloodshed, Nadezhda’s paranoid dictates incite violence against supposed traitors, spies, and unbelievers. 

    • She is treated as a living saint, but her increasingly manic decrees have led to instances of false imprisonment and public executions in Trevania. 

    • Nadezhda’s proclamations are law in Trevania—very few realize that she is a fallen paladin and a puppet of the insidious magical sword that is always at her side.  

Anastasia Elanova and Erasmus Feist

Two NPCs from my campaign setting: Anastasia Elanova and Erasmus Feist. Anastasia is a monster hunter, and also secretly the heir to Krevborna's vacant throne. Erasmus Feist is a loser who was been habitually bullied by various characters in-game, but in the intervening years since he last appeared he's  been delving into alchemy and has a horrible secret of his own.

Anastasia Elanova

Anastasia Elanova is a young monster hunter who travels Krevborna slaying unnatural beasts for coin. She is also of royal blood and the nearest surviving heir of Krevborna’s tsar. Like every scion of her noble lineage, she posses the “Voice of the Tsarina.” When she puts the force of her will behind her commands, her dictates tend to be obeyed.

She knows the secret of her origins, though she would resist any attempt to install her as the land’s sovereign ruler. 

    • Appearance: Anastasia is a young woman who keeps her blonde hair boyishly short; a livid scar mars the sharp angles of her cheek.

    • Personality: She is brash and overeager to prove herself.

    • Motive: She aspires to nothing more than a life of adventure.

    • Flaw: Anastasia avoids responsibility like a plague.

Erasmus Feist and Yosef Wulfson

Erasmus Feist is a dilettante occultist who foolishly experiments with alchemy. Unfortunately, imbibing the wrong chemicals has resulted in an uncontrollable affliction: when he becomes angered, afraid, or otherwise stressed, Erasmus Feist transforms into Yosef Wulfson, a brutish lout given to licentiousness and explosive violence.

    • Appearance: Erasmus is a thin, reedy man with prematurely receding hair; Yosef is a muscular giant of a man who is slovenly in appearance.

    • Personality: Erasmus is an arrogant poseur, but he is timid; Yosef is loud, selfish, and possesses a horrid temper.

    • Motive: Erasmus desires respect he does not deserve; Yosef lives for his own perverse pleasures.

    • Flaw: Erasmus is terrified that the world will learn of his second life as Yosef; Yosef hates that he has to share his life with Erasmus.

Diremoon Revelator Shrines and Fort Gilead

The following two adventure locations in the Vespermark are meant to emphasis its status as the "wild frontier" far away from the mainstream Church and other loci of authority. "Location" is being used fast and loose to describe the Diremoon Revelator Shrines, since there are many of them dotting the Vespermark, but they were also a great opportunity to introduce a folk religion based on belief in Santa Muerte. Fort Gilead, on the other hand, is a classic convention of Wild West fiction, but I'm also giving it a little bit of gloss from Stephen King's Dark Tower books.

Diremoon Revelator Shrines

The Diremoon Revelators are followers of a folk religion that venerates Saint Vionka, a non-canonical saint, whom they believe intercedes on behalf of mortals in matters of death.

    • The Diremoon Revelators maintain no organized temples or churches—instead, they establish small shrines dedicated to Saint Vionka throughout the Vespermark. 

    • The Diremoon Revelators’ devotional shrines are most frequently found in areas prone to turmoil, violence, and danger.

    • Saint Vionka is depicted as a pale maiden clad in a black dress and wearing a matching lace veil; she is often shown accompanied by crows, ravens, and jackdaws. 

    • The Diremoon Revelators pray to Saint Vionka be to spared from “bad deaths,” such as deaths by violence or at the hands of the evil creatures who roam the land. 

    • The faithful hope that Saint Vionka will guide them to “good deaths” free from pain and strife. 

    • Saint Vionka’s faithful consider the undead to be atrocities; the most fanatical Diremoon adherents hunt undead abominations as a sacred calling.

Fort Gilead

Fort Gilead is a castle stationed on the wild frontier of the Vespermark. Fort Gilead is currently occupied by members of the Knights Labyrinthian, who are using it as their ad hoc headquarters.

      • Fort Gilead is used as a center of trade for the people living on the Vespermark’s plains. 

    • As their tranactions take place under the watchful eyes of the Knights Labyrinthian, traders are expected to be fair in their dealings.

    • The Knights Labyrinthian also use Fort Gilead as a training ground for the young “squires” of their order who have not completed their trials and are not yet recognized as full members.

    • Squires are trained in tracking, wilderness survival, and marksmanship; they are also initiated in the Knights Labyrinthian's mystical teachings and peculiar version of laconic chivalry. 

    • Within Fort Gilead, the Knights Labyrinthian compile information on the Grail Tombs gathered in their travels across Krevborna.

Urska

Did you know that Krevborna has bear people as a playable race? It's true. Below are the Savage Worlds stats I've cobbled together for them; I think I might have based them somewhat on the minotaurs from the Fantasy Companion.

Urska

Similar to humanoid polar bears in appearance, urska are generally solitary–though they sometimes rally under the banner of a strong leader who commands their stalwart loyalty. Such leadership roles are only ever assumed when a urska manages to best all challengers in deadly, ritualized combat. Urska often favor attitudes best characterized as stoic and militaristic. 

• Blunt: Taught that might makes right, urska struggle with diplomacy and tact. They have the Mean Hindrance.

• Claws: Urska claws cause Strength+d6 damage, adding +4 if the character runs at least 5” (10 yards) and hits with them.

• Cold Resistance: Urska receive a +4 bonus to resist cold effects. Damage from cold is also reduced by 4.

• Heat Weakness: Urksa suffer a –4 penalty to resist heat effects and take +4 damage from heat and fire. 

• Hulking: Urska are tall and broad, adding +1 to their Toughness. They are Size +1.

• Martial Code: Honor is very important to urska. They generally keep their word, don’t abuse or kill prisoners, and feel duty-bound to respect those who have bested them.

• Tough: Urska starting Vigor is d6, increasing the limit to d12+1.

• Uneducated: Urska society favors physical prowess over intellectual ability. Smarts rolls are made at −1.

• Unwieldy: Their muscular frames causes urska to subtract two when using equipment designed for smaller beings, and they cannot wear humanoid armor or clothing. Equipment, armor, food and clothing cost double the listed price. 

• Very Strong: Urska start with Strength d8, increasing their maximum Strength to d12+2.

Beltaire and Bordel

Two adventure locations in the Vespermark: a pilgrimage site where something very strange is happening and a frontier town run by a family of nefarious wereleopards people. Beltaire is a product of my fashion with Europe's bejeweled catacomb saints, as well as my love for the video game Blasphemous. Bordel is my Wild West-inspired take on Val Lewton's Cat People. (The name "bagheeta" is from Lewton's short story in Weird Tales that formed the basis of Cat People; it's definitely worth checking out!) There's probably also a little play on "leopards eating people's faces party" in there.

Beltaire

The ruins of Beltaire are a popular pilgrimage destination for the faithful of the Church of Holy Blood, for beneath the village lie catacombs that house the gilded and bejeweled skeletons of venerated saints. 

    • It is unknown who placed these skeletal remains within the subterranean crypts or who has taken pains to dress them in sumptuous religious vestments, but the Church’s adherents consider it an act of faith to anoint the saints’ bones with blessed oil.

    • Oddly, the saintly corpses within the caverns are sometimes found to have changed posture or position—or to have moved to a different section of the catacombs entirely. 

    • The faithful regard these unexplained movements as miraculous, but there is a darker truth to the ambulatory dead of Beltaire; when the sun sets, the unquiet spirits of Beltaire’s former residents stalk the ruins in search of prey.

    • A thriving market peddling fraudulent saintly relics, fake holy water, and other chicanery has taken root just outside the walls of the ruined village.

Bordel

Governed by a scheming brothel madame named Katarina Valdemar, Bordel is a community of swindlers who survive by providing services such as gambling, saloons, and prostitution to travelers in the Vespermark. 

    • The sins of Bordel drain the town’s visitors like parasites, draining their coin before sending them on their way, broken and humiliated by their vices. 

    • Katarina and her family run the town as if it were their personal barony; strangely, those who stand up to their despotism are often found badly mauled as if they had been attacked by wild animals. 

    • These killings are the work of the Valdemars—a family of bagheeta, werecats who turn into hybrids of man and black leopard when angered or aroused, hiding in plain sight as bawds and procurers in Bordel.

The Unworthy

Bad Books for Bad People, Episode 86: The Unworthy

Agustina Bazterrica’s 2023 novel The Unworthy explores the relationship of its unnamed narrator with the repressive post-apocalyptic cult in which she finds herself. Jack and Kate embark on a harrowing journey through broken relationships and authoritarian control and dare to ask the most important question of all: can it be considered nunsploitation?

What does it mean to crave feel-bad stories? Where did nunsploitation come from? And why does everything have to be “elevated,” anyway? All these topics and more will be explored in this episode of the podcast.

The Vespermark

Art by Mike Royal

The Vespermark is an area of Krevborna not detailed in the first-edition book, but it will be featured in the revised version of the setting. I realized I wanted in an area of frontier wildlands, one influenced by the Westerns I grew up on.

The Vespermark

A Nightmarish and Lawless Frontier

The sparsely populated hills and plains west of Krevborna’s nominal bastions of civilization are collectively known as the Vespermark. Small towns, villages, and farmsteads dot the borderlands between the settled areas of Krevborna and the rest of the world. In between these outposts are swaths of badlands and steppes littered with supposedly abandoned keeps, castles, and monasteries.

An atmosphere of vigilante justice prevails in the often lawless Vespermark; its settlements are imperiled by unholy beasts and predatory outlaws, and it lies beyond the protective reach of the Church of Holy Blood. The lonely homesteads and towns of the Vespermark are encircled by perimeter walls meant to keep out monsters and bandits. 

Most settlements in the Vespermark practice their own forms of self-governance, but some are oppressed by local tyrants, hereditary boyars, mercenary bands, or cult leaders. For example, the wilds of the Vespermark are a safe haven for the Yezhuli—a forbidden sect of the Church of Holy Blood that practices polygamy.

People who live in the Vespermark are protective of the lives they carve out of the desolate landscape. They are often regarded as standoffish, justifiably so, as they often have good reason to be distrustful of strangers.

Hallmarks

The following elements and aesthetic notes define the Vespermark:

    • The Vespermark is the sparsely populated borderland between Krevborna’s “civilized” areas and the neighboring countries.

    • The settlements of the Vespermark are self-governed, when they aren’t oppressed by local strong-arm rulers.

    • Strange cults that would otherwise be stamped out by the Church often take root in the Vespermark.

    • Brigands, highwaymen, and monsters prowl the badlands and prey upon the Vespermark’s farmsteads and towns.

    • Unusual flowers, their scent both sickly sweet and redolent of rotten meat, grow in the wilds of the Vespermark.

Two Reasons Why Call of Cthulhu is One of the Great Horror RPGs

Call of Cthulhu is one of the best horror games I've ever played, and I've played a lot of them. There are many reasons why it works great for horror, but I want to spotlight two elements that make a particular case for Call of Cthulhu as a top of the class game.

Sanity

It has been said, and rightly so, that Call of Cthulhu's Sanity system is a poor representation of actual mental illness.

Everyone who says that is correct. What they're missing is that this is a feature, not a bug.

Used liberally, Sanity loss in Call of Cthulhu is an unstoppable spiral into the abyss. Players should be incentivized to involve their character in the scenario for an important reason (stopping something awful from happening, keeping the people they love safe, etc.), but the act of involving their characters should also always put them in a position where losing precious Sanity is a preeminent threat.

The beauty of Call of Cthulhu's Sanity system is not in how it models mental illness, but rather in how it snowballs precipitously into a spiral of madness. One failed check means the next check is even more likely to fail, which means that the margin of success on the check after that is likely to be the slimmest it's been. 

Couple the viciousness of that unmitigable peril with the fact that every blown Sanity check could be an opportunity to make the current situation worse. If things go truly bad on a SAN check, it might mean briefly handing a player's character over to the Keeper's machinations and forcing them to do something that is contrary to their best interests.

And Keepers? If you get that opportunity, use it. Have the character do something that really fucks them over or makes the situation demonstrably worse.

What this means is deceptively simple: in Call of Cthulhu, even your own character is a liability.

There's also a special social effect that often occurs when the Sanity system rears its misshapen head in Call of Cthulhu. Sanity loss seldom spreads itself evenly across a group of characters; some characters get hit hard, while others remain largely unscathed. This creates a tension within the group between players who want to play it safer (they're watching their character's SAN score plummeting toward permanent insanity) and those who want to explore the scenario more cavalierly (their character is mostly unharmed by the horrors encountered thus far, so they see room for further error without consequences). 

So long as that tension remains at the table between the characters, and doesn't spill over to the players themselves, it makes for a wonderful push-and-pull of anxiety and dread that really enhances the game's atmosphere of horror.

The Character Sheet

At the side, you can see the skill list that takes up the majority of a Call of Cthulhu character sheet. It almost looks like a tax form, doesn't it? There sure are a lot of skills in this game.

They won't save you.

Ideally, there comes a point in a Call of Cthulhu scenario where a player desperately looks to all the skills listed on their sheet and has a horrifying realization: there is nothing there that can help them.

I've never seen a better encapsulation of the futility of human animal come face to face with eldritch horrors than that.

It's the theme, isn't it? The sum of human ability, the skillset that has allowed mankind to flourish on Earth, all that hard-won specialized knowledge and mastery--all of it is ultimately worthless when confronting things the human mind is not equipped to comprehend.

Now, do I think that is an intentional design choice on the part of Call of Cthulhu's authors? Of course not; the skill list in Call of Cthulhu is obviously an iteration of RuneQuest's rules updated for a modern setting. But as an unintentional facet of the game--it's utterly delicious, a nightmarish serendipity.