Excerpts
These excerpts are drawn from published tabletop roleplaying game materials developed for Pinnacle Entertainment Group and Ulisses Spiele. Each selection reflects a different facet of my work, from adventure design and setting development to system-facing rules text.
All excerpts are presented for portfolio purposes and used with permission. The contents remain the property of their respective publishers.
Canyon City
(From Deadlands Guide to the Weird West: The Abominable Northwest)
Founded 1862, Pop 360
FEAR LEVEL: 3
Built in a gully along the banks of a burbling stream, this little burg is Oregon’s own little Deadwood.
Canyon City was founded after an old- timer wading across the creek with his mule found knuckle-sized chunks of gold just sittin’ there for the taking. Try as he might, he couldn’t keep the find to himself. As word got out, thousands of hopefuls raced out this way hoping to get a piece of the action, forming impromptu mining camps and towns in the many feeder streams all around Whiskey Gulch. The grandpappy of them all was Canyon City, right where the first gold had been spotted.
Of course, most of those treasure-seekers found nothing but shattered dreams. Just when it looked like Canyon City might become the biggest town in Oregon, most of everyone just upped and left.
That was just fine by the town’s stubborn hardliners, who just know there’s gold right around here somewheres, and it’s only a matter of time until they strike it rich.
A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT
Unlike most towns in the Weird West, this one isn’t platted out in a nice line. It sits on both sides of Canyon Creek, with residential Humboldt Street following the river’s course on the west side and commercial Washington Street on the other. Two bridges span the creek—one at Main Street and the other at the aptly-named Bridge Street. But numerous fords and rickety pedestrian bridges provide crossing all up and down the creek.
It only amounts to three blocks, but downtown is where all the action takes place. Here, one can find Canyontown Saloon, a no- frills clapboard taphouse run by pugnacious Sylvester Markham. The poker game at a corner table has been going for two years, stopping only for the occasional bar brawl. Markham saves money by making his own spirits in a basement distillery, slipping in the extract of a local root known for its addictive properties, on account of it being good for repeat business.
Across from Canyontown is the Rider’s Rest Inn, a flophouse which fancies itself as a proper big-town hotel—but the tiffany lamps and floral carpets can’t disguise the rickety wooden floors, the gaps between the planks on the wall, and the lack of running water. At least the owner, Henrietta Langstaff, keeps the prices down to a reasonable $3 per night.
Several brothels operate in and around Canyon City. All but one of them are owned by a single madam, “Miss Cordelia,” whose identity as a madam might be one of the town’s best-kept secrets.
Just outside of town is Canyon City’s Chinatown, a sorry collection of wooden buildings and tents. Most of its residents were hired to work mines that didn’t pan out and subsequently became stuck here. Several Chinese men and women have started panning or digging for gold on their own, causing tensions to run high between Chinatown and the rest of the community.
Example Stronghold: The Clocktower
(from the Savage Worlds Fantasy Companion)
Advantage (Inspiring): The players roll an Inspiring location. Their low fantasy campaign takes place in a decaying port city which was once the crown jewel of a mighty empire, so they decide the stronghold should be located in one of the last remaining structures of that bygone era, an ancient clocktower overlooking the central canal. The mechanism hasn’t worked in living memory and some of the pieces were stolen long ago to be melted down, but the structure is still sound, and those who live in the district hold it in reverence. The Spirit die of each party member increases one die type.
Complication (Contested): The area around the clocktower is known as the territory of a ruthless crime syndicate, the Tenfold Blades, whose thugs are a constant problem in this city. The Blades have long used the clocktower as a backup hideout, training ground, and lookout tower, and they don’t take kindly to newcomers taking it over.
Form (Clocktower): Rising nearly sixty feet over the canal, the clocktower offers an amazing view of the city all around. Several chambers in the adjoining Clockmaster’s residence provide sufficient area for personal quarters, while the party can use the storage rooms in the clocktower’s lower levels for training, meetings, and supplies—once they drive all the pigeons away!
While it hasn’t been maintained in over a century, the clocktower is (on paper, at least) the property of the crown. Having recently helped a local lord reclaim an important shipment from brigands, the party petitions the local lord to have the clocktower signed over to their stewardship. As long as the party continues to push back against the criminal activities of the Blades, the lord agrees to finance any repairs, maintenance, and upgrades.
UNIQUE STAFF MEMBERS
• CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD: Darian Ward isn’t much for conversation, but he’s always on high alert. He’s fascinated with the old clock faces and likes to stay up there at night so he can look out over the smoky city.
• STEWARD: The lord who granted the clocktower to the party sent his longstanding servant, Nona Eldridge, to act as its primary caretaker. She’s a fussy housemarm to the party, overseeing the project to gradually return the clocktower to its original grandeur.
• CHEF: Eddard Tolvurn once served in the army, where he was in charge of feeding nearly five thousand soldiers, retainers, and bannermen. Having to serve up hearty meals to a half dozen adventurers is his idea of early retirement.
FIRST UPGRADE (VAULT)
After a successful mission into a bandit-infested bog, the party decides they need a safe place where they can store their loot. They opt to have a vault added to a small belowground storage room of the tower.
ENCOUNTER
After the Upgrade, the GM rolls for an Encounter and gets a 20—The King is Dead! Not an auspicious way to begin the party’s new stewardship of the clocktower. The GM decides the lord who bequeathed it to them was slain. It doesn’t take a leap of logic to realize who might be responsible—the Tenfold Blades! A public funeral takes place at the lord’s estate in the high district and propriety demands the party be in attendance. This is a perfect opportunity for the Blades to hit the clocktower in the party’s absence. Right after the funeral, the party must deal with a small contingent of assassins holed up in their own stronghold!
Running Huntley House
(From “The Horror of Huntley House” for use with the Savage Worlds Horror Companion)
Warning: this is not a typical adventure. The heroes rarely encounter physical danger. Instead, they’ll need to pay close attention to the ghostly clues in the house to piece together a dreadful mystery.
Beginning at midnight (or some other hour of your choosing), the grandfather clock buried inside the wall of the study chimes twelve times. The four ghosts of Huntley House then manifest one after the other, reliving moments of their lives attached to strong emotions and unresolved conflicts (see the Active Ghosts sidebar on page 4).
Each ghost waxes and wanes, its presence in the house lasting for about 30 minutes before fading out once more. After a brief time of quiet—around 15 minutes long—the next ghost gradually emerges for its phase.
The grandfather clock buried inside the wall of the study is sensitive to these shifts, chiming once at the beginning of each ghost’s phase. This sound can be heard everywhere in the house.
Then, just after 3 o’clock a..m., the final ghost recedes and Huntley House is once more just a sagging, empty derelict until the cycle repeats the next night.
During these three hours, trespassers are unable to leave the grounds (see You Can Never Leave on page 6).
Finding the grandfather clock isn’t easy. When it chimes, each investigator may make a Notice roll. With success, they know whether it is on the same floor or not. A Critical Success also lets them know its general direction from them (north, east, etc.)
Destroying or dispelling the clock (if the heroes can find it!) ends this effect but it doesn’t put the ghosts to rest—it just removes the supernatural relic that seals Huntley House in its own doleful bubble.
Watches and other timekeepers go haywire anywhere on the grounds at night, and cellular phones or computers simply don’t work. Other electronic or mechanical devices function just fine until the user rolls a Critical Failure while using the device, after which it dies and must be Repaired.
HOUSE OF CARDS
Game Masters who wish for a less predicatable haunt schedule might consider using cards to represent the phases of Huntley House’s ghosts. Every 15 minutes (or some other period of time) draw a card to determine which ghost manifests during that brief time:
Clubs: William
Diamonds: Charles
Hearts: Elizabeth
Spades: Jeremiah
Joker: None
As usual, the ghosts only manifest in certain rooms during their phase. This method means it is possible for ghosts to have much longer phases (by drawing the same suit several times in a row).
Follow That Drone!
(from the adventure “Going Viral” in Savage Tales of Science Fiction)
If the characters (or some of them) decide to track the drone, they’re signing up for a Chase. The cyberpunks don’t have any vehicles with them—though they may have one parked nearby if you like.
Another option is simply stealing a motorcycle or car. They can use Fighting or Intimidation (or another suitable skill) to hijack a passing vehicle, or Thievery or Electronics to boost an unoccupied one. The nearby abandoned CorpSec car might seem like an obvious choice, but would-be joyriders must first bypass biometric locks (Thievery or Hacking –2) to even gain control, then disable the lo-jack (Electronics or Thievery –2) or lead the entire CorpSec force straight to their location.
In either case, start the drone between one and three Chase Cards ahead of its usual starting position due to lost time.
Pursuing the drone on foot is definitely possible, though the speed difference gives the drone +1 to its maneuvering rolls to Change Position.
DRONE CHASE
The drone zips in and out of alleys, zigzags over crowded streets, and flies over Maglev train tracks and pedestrian overpasses. Not an easy quarry!
Run this as a standard Chase of nine Chase Cards and a Range Increment of 5. The drone starts on the third card—or farther, if the party lost time trying to secure a vehicle. The drone has a Flight Pace of 12.
This is an extremely congested City Streets environment (see Customized Chases). Aside from the penalties described in that section, vehicles of Size 2 or larger (such as cars) suffer an additional –2 penalty on Complications. Characters pursuing on foot don’t have the speed advantage of a vehicle, but reduce the minimum Complication penalty by 1.
A CorpSec squad car enters the Chase on the third round, starting on the first card. Traffic parts for their siren, allowing them to ignore the minimum penalty on a Complication. If they catch up with the ‘punks, the Chase ends and the drone escapes.
If at any time the gang starts a new round on the same card as the drone, they have successfully tracked it to the source. See Flyboy below. However, if it gets away (including using the Flee maneuver), or if the impatient punks blast the thing out of the sky, they’ll need to find information elsewhere. Turn to Gone Surfing on page 13.
• COMBAT DRONE: See page 19.
• CORPSEC POLICE (1 per hero): See page 20. The CorpSec officers are in a single vehicle. Use a standard ground or aerial patrol car, as appropriate to the setting.
Pulp Science Fiction
(From the “Sci-Fi Styles” section of the Savage Worlds Science Fiction Companion)
Hard sci-fi is defined by its attempt at scientific accuracy and detail. While it might also have elements of action, horror, or the fantastic, stories in this subgenre earnestly attempt to ground everything in real-world physics and plausible technology. Space travel is slow, human understanding is limited, and there is definitely no sound in outer space.
Because of the focus on either real or highly plausible technology, “hard” sci-fi often takes place in the relatively near future, as humanity is just beginning to venture in earnest across the solar system or to our closest galactic neighbors. The technology is generally recognizable as advanced versions of existing tech, or the first functional applications of current theories. Anti-gravity technology, FTL travel, energy-based weaponry and gear, shields, cyberware, robots, and aliens are either rare or completely absent. Any advanced tech present in the story is weird, monolithic, vaguely threatening, and important to the plot.
This realistic approach means resource scarcity, survival, and the dangers presented by basic physical laws are frequent concerns. Atmospheric effects, gravitation, escape velocities, gravity assists or orbital slingshot maneuvers, Zero-G combat and movement penalties, the health problems (diseases and even deformities) associated with years or a lifetime spent living in zero gravity, fuel, radiation, food, water, and even air to breathe can all become critical plot points in these settings—for those last few see Hazards in Savage Worlds.
In hard sci-fi, a vessel’s atmospheric Top Speed is not multiplied by 2,000 for Deep Space acceleration (see the Speed Ratings sidebar on page 141). Keep it at the much slower 10× orbital speed when moving throughout a solar system.
FTL systems are usually nonexistent or a complete mystery in hard science-fiction. If FTL travel is possible it’s usually via wormhole points and may involve time dilation.
Arcane Backgrounds are usually unavailable, with the occasional exception of Psionics (and even then often limited to a very short list of powers).
• SETTING RULES: Difficult Healing, Downtime, Energy Management, Extreme Environments, Gritty Damage, Hacking, Logistics, Skill Specialization.
• EXAMPLES: Andy Weir’s The Martian and Project Hail Mary, Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars trilogy, Arthur C. Clarke’s Rendezvous With Rama, Liu Cixin’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy, James S.A. Corey’s The Expanse books and television series, Gregory Benford and David Brin’s Heart of the Comet, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Interstellar, Arrival, Ad Astra, Gravity, Sunshine, Starfield (video game).
Scene 5: Last Call at the Anubis Club
(from Act I of the adventure The Fires of Ra)
Dramatic Scene. Nile Empire Dominant Zone.
The race is on to get to the Anubis Club and nab the final canopic jar before the Retribution League can track it down and claim whatever is inside. Unfortunately, Hooded Cobra is already here. His associate, Lady Hourglass, has already used her mind controlling abilities on Sahir Faisal and has claimed the jar. Read or paraphrase the following:
The Anubis Club is located in a huge Art Deco building, on a major boulevard in a part of Heliopolis, which practically oozes with wealth. It is just after sunset, and already a large crowd is gathering, members of Cairo’s upper crust, dressed in tuxedos or evening gowns. Searchlights shoot beams of light into the sky. A neon cartouche over the door depicts Anubis himself tossing back a cocktail beneath a palm tree. On a poster beside the entrance is a stylized illustration of an aloof diva dressed as an Egyptian Queen, going by the stage name “Cleopatra.”
Proper attire is mandatory. The heroes can requisition or buy a tuxedo or gown in a nearby store with a test of either streetwise or persuasion, which gets them past the door. If they’re unsuccessful, they have a chance to slip in once Hooded Cobra makes his move, though they miss the first round of the action (see below). Odd-looking heroes, such as edeinos or dwarves, can still get past the reluctant doorman, but he insists all weapons must be left at the door. “This is a classy joint,” he says, and he “doesn’t want no trouble.” Recalcitrant Storm Knights have to find another way in or accept the rule. Small weapons smuggled under clothing escape his notice. After the heroes have made it inside, read or paraphrase the following:
Decorated in a cool, Nile blue with gold tones, the interior of the Anubis Club defines elegance and class. A stage framed with palm trees looks out on a dance floor, which is ringed by candlelit tables for dining. Many of the tables are already filled, and a good-sized crowd is slow dancing to “Moonlight Sonata,” played by an orchestra. A waiter directs you to a table. As you glance around for Sahir Faisal, the house lights dim, and a man announces that Cleopatra is taking the stage. She emerges in a lavish Egyptian dress, wearing a gold serpent headdress and an intricate lapis lazuli scarab necklace. The crowd goes wild as she begins to croon, “Baby, Be My Pharaoh Tonight.” She’s hardly through the first verse when you spot Mr. Faisal emerging from his office. He appears dazed. With him is a woman in a red evening gown with a monocle in her right eye. Her dress is embroidered with a striking hourglass symbol. In her hands is the canopic jar.
The heroes have but a moment to react. The band stops playing in shock as Hooded Cobra strides out on stage, leading a squad of shocktroopers. He seizes Cleopatra and holds a ray gun to her head. “Bring me the jar!” he shrieks.
The audience gasps at this unexpected interference. Lady Hourglass tosses the jar to Hooded Cobra, but it glances off his fingertips and goes skittering across the floor. At that moment the club erupts with panic. The genteel club quickly becomes a riot as club goers flee chaotically from door to door, finding each one barred or guarded by goons. Every round the jar is accidentally kicked away to some other location.
Getting to it through the chaotic throng is a modified Dramatic Skill Resolution. Run it similar to a Chase against Lady Hourglass and a reality-rated shocktrooper (acting separately) with each step a Standard (DN 10) test of Dexterity. Be sure to describe the canopic jar skittering and spinning around the floor, under tables, past the stage, and so on.
To complicate matters, the other shocktroopers attack the heroes at the same time. If either villain wins, they toss the jar to Hooded Cobra, who cackles with glee, shatters the jar, and triumphantly retrieves a golden scepter about the length of his forearm.
Hooded Cobra himself doesn’t engage in this battle, he’s keeping Cleopatra hostage and angling to make an exit as soon as one of his lackeys gets the jar.
• Shocktroopers: 2 per Storm Knight, plus one reality-rated trooper. See page 109
• Lady Hourglass: see page 105
Exploring Kalipur
(From Act Five: The Village That Wept in the adventure A Trifling Matter)
Almost all the homes are abandoned, and the town’s remaining dozen occupants are gathered in the church for protection.
As the heroes look around, they discover clues about what has happened in Kalipur. This is an ideal time to play up the oppressive, eerie atmosphere in the village. Here are some sights and events to sprinkle into their exploration:
Dark Rain: It begins to rain, but the raindrops are dark in color and stink like decay.
Dropped Weapon: A shotgun sticks out of the mud. A Challenging (DN 12) evidence analysis or fire combat test shows it was used recently.
Dying Bird: A waterlogged bird thrashes around fitfully as if dying, but a Standard (DN 10) science or Mind turns up no sign of any injury.
Eye See You: A random Storm Knight sees a single female eye shrouded in long black hair peering up at them from a bucket of water, but upon closer examination the water is clear.
Jump Scare: A window shutter suddenly and inexplicably slams shut. Pass an Easy (DN 8) willpower or Spirit test or become Stymied or Vulnerable (Player’s choice) for the duration of this scene.
Shy Spy: The Storm Knight with the highest find skill spots a young woman looking at them from a window in an abandoned house, but aside from wet footprints on the floor there is no sign of anyone inside.
ABANDONED HOUSES
Stilt houses in Kalipur are constructed from unpainted planks but use other materials where needed to patch walls, roofs, and so on. They have a main room in which most daily living occurs, including eating, and a small rear room with a bed. Furnishings are spare and usually hand-made, but some are imported. Fishing gear, boxes and barrels of supplies, and other necessities occupy the corners of the rooms. Lighting comes from kerosene lamps and candles. None of the doors are locked.
The empty houses show signs they were recently inhabited. In one is a fly-ridden meal left on a table which a Standard (DN 10) science or Mind test shows is only a day old. In another house a machete is embedded in the wall beside the door.
Yet another house has several magical charms hanging by ceiling beams, and a different one has a puddle of river water in the center of the floor. Flies buzz around houses that contain corpses which, inexplicably, are bloated as if drowned. Perhaps most disturbing, in one dark house strands of long, wet black hair hang from a hole in the ceiling and are withdrawn immediately when the heroes enter, yet there is nobody on the roof.
LONE HOLDOUT
Aside from Mandeep’s place (see below) there is only one remaining occupied house. Inside is a terrified, barely coherent middle-aged man. In a mixture of Bengali and English he pleads with the heroes to leave him alone, warns them to flee, and mutters that “she” will kill them. A Standard (DN 10) persuasion or intimidation test can buy a single answer to a direct question between the panicked babbling. Depending on what they ask, they might learn that Mandeep is in the village and where to find him, that there are only 20 remaining survivors here, that “she” is a ghost, or that the bodies floating in the river are her victims.
Moments later, he is distracted by his eye starting to itch. From it he pulls a hair—a very long black hair that slowly spools out from behind his eyeball. He screams, “No! Not me! Please! I mourned you! I gave you offerings!” Then he starts violently coughing up river water and falls to the floor, where he proceeds to drown as water supernaturally fills his lungs. The Storm Knights are powerless to stop this process, and it does not respond to healing magic or first aid tests.
Scene One: Derelict Sea
(from Act 6 of the adventure Relics of Power Redux)
Standard Scene. Nile Empire Dominant Zone.
The heroes travel to the the site indicated by the Destiny Map by seaplane piloted by the “amazing” (and chatty) Rex Steele (see the Living Land Sourcebook). As they get close to the site, read or paraphrase the following:
Ahead, you spot a bizarre, irregular floating mass on the surface of the sea. It resolves into a cluster of ships as you draw closer. The derelict vessels are a variety of types and sizes, from sailboats, to fishing trawlers, to a 200-foot passenger steamship. They are all hopelessly mired in a patch of thick seaweed.
Approximately 50 ships comprise this eerie “graveyard,” most of them close enough to let those on deck step from one to the other. In fact, on closer inspection the heroes can tell someone has lashed them all together and connected them with makeshift plank bridges. The seaweed mat is only one meter deep, and doesn’t grow beyond its current area.
On board the ships are moldering old dead bodies, their bones entwined with the same seaweed. A closer inspection with a Standard (DN 10) evidence analysis test shows it wasn’t the weed that killed them, though—they’ve all been shot with some sort of energy ray.
Attack of the Robo-Men!
As the heroes explore, a group of Polyphebo’s robo-men, alerted to their arrival, come up from the dome lab to eliminate the newcomers. They approach stealthily from below the water, then climb onto ships to take flanking positions and begin firing. Another group uses an airboat (stored in a secret garage inside a derelict ship) to attack from the water. The airboat can skim harmlessly over the seaweed due to the unique fan propeller and low draft. The robo-men are ruthless and efficient, but flee when their numbers drop below a third of their initial force.
Nothing can get defeated robo-men to divulge any secrets, but the heroes can confiscate their diving gear, as long as it wasn’t badly damaged during the fight (see the Adventuring Underwater sidebar for more on diving gear). The robo-men use diving gear suitable to Tech 20.
• Robo-Men: 2 per Storm Knight, plus an additional 1 per Storm Knight on the airboat (see below).
