TROIKA! - The Tears of Time

On the surface, Guardia resembles any mythical medieval sphere across the humpbacked sky except a hyperdimensional parasite, the Devourer, slumbers at the world's heart. Its dreams peel away at potential timelines, grooming all life to an ideal form for consumption. This process left the wall between epochs thin if you wish to travel between them.

Upon arriving via golden barge, you can enter a "time gate" to visit 3 other distinct eras: Prehistory - where humans, dinosaurs, and lizard-men are locked in a struggle for survival, the Middle Ages -  a high romance of knights and magic, and the Wastes- where destitute humans huddle for shelter in arcologies away from the mutants and killer robots outside. A research mission from the Academy of Doors can be found in Truce, trying to find a path to the "End of Time".

SILENT SWORDSMAN
Your life was so simple before the Millenium Fair. Then the mysterious beauty stepped into your inventor friend's telepod, tearing a hole through the immaterium of time and space. You leaped in after her and found yourself adrift among the humpbacked sky.

Possessions
Headband
Katana (Damage as Longsword)
Padded Vest (Light Armor)
Eager to Help

Advanced Skills
4 Whirling Swordplay
2 Left-handed
2 Time Traveler
1 Spell - Jolt

GIRL GENIUS
A brilliant inventor and the swordsman's childhood friend. Since the princess got herself lost with your telepod you feel responsible to track her down. Bouncing from sphere to sphere, you haven't found her but you repaired some friends along the way.

Possessions
Pea Shooter (Damage as Pistolet)Pouch with 20 Bullets
Toolkit
Taban's Vest (Light Armor)

Advanced Skills
3 Mathmology
2 Mechanical Genius
2 Spell - Explode 
2 Time Traveler
1 Pistolet Fighting
1 Hammer Fighting

RUNAWAY PRINCESS
Bored with palace life you slipped out to enjoy the Millenium Fair. Too bad you also slipped through space and time. Stupid telepod. Now you have no idea where, much less when, you are.

Possessions
Bowgun (Damage as Crossbow)
10 Quarrels
A Mystical Pendant (Roll twice for any Oops! test and choose one of the results)
Maiden Suit (Light Armor)
A Case of Mistake Identity

Advanced Skills 3 Spell - Drown
2 Second Sight
2 Blonde Bombshell
1 Healing
1 Crossbow Fighting

FROG-FACED CAVALIER
Once a squire in service of the Kingdom's Royal Family, following the death of your mentor at the demon king's hand you're trapped in a monstrous form. Now you seek revenge and your lost queen across the shining spheres.

Possessions
Cursed Frog Form (Do all the things frogs do)
Greatsword
A Love for Their Queen
Bronze Mail (Modest Armor)

Advanced Skills
3 Etiquette
3 Knightly Combat
3 Leg Day
1 Awareness

Special
You may test Luck to ignore the downsides of a curse.

ACHY BREAKY AUTOMATON
Originally built to assist mankind in the post-apocalyptic wasteland after the Devourer at the world's heart emerged and stripped all life. With some vague recollection of the way the world was, you set out to do more.

Possessions
Kaiser Arm (Damage as Maul)
Steel Body (Achy Breaky Automatons always count as Modestly Armored)
Sympathy for Humanity

Advanced Skills
3 My Body Is Full of Weapons
2 Voluntary Arborist
2 If They Had a Heart
2 Keep On Ticking

Special
When you suffer Mighty Damage roll Keep On Ticking. If you succeed then lose a system instead of taking damage: optics, speakers, memory banks, arms, or legs.

QUEEN OF THE STONE AGE
Chief of a tribe locked in constant war with lizard-men. You left your people with allies from the distant future, reassured you would return in seconds of your departure. It's been 3 years.

Possessions
Piece of the Dreamstone
Enormous Club (Damage as Club)
Queenly Authority

Advanced Skills 4 Strength
2 Club Fighting
2 Fierce Courage
1 Blonde Bombshell

Special
You can eat 6 Provisions per day to recover Stamina. You can't improve or acquire any ranged Weapon Skills but you can always throw boulders with Strength.

DEMON KING
You were the prince of a golden age until you brushed against the Devourer's sleeping mind. Flung through space and far flung epochs, you long to resurrect your lost kingdom. Stabilizing a new time gate to your home era may be the solution.

Possessions
Moonsharp Scythe (Damage as Spear)
Raven Armor (Light Armor)
Grief For a Bygone Age

Advanced Skills 2 Spell - Firebolt
2 Spell -Thunder
2 Spell - Ward
2 Spear Fighting
1 Astrology
1 Second Sight

Borchardbriar: Clowdertown Blues

DISTRICTS OF CLOWDERTOWN

Proud Oaks Where the wealthy play	Upper Garden The richest part of the city	Braebuck's Ferry Thieves and markets	Ninian East The Cathedral
Corim Keep The old keep, now a neighborhood	Verdauga Government and the old cat city	Oldsong Cemeteries and Graymalkin's tower	Heather Reach Apothecaries and the gentle sort of danger
The Green Boulevards & mercantile interests	Spillover The Fishery & warehouses	Deyna Square Teashops and merchants	Rillflagg's Terrace Vice and workhouses
The Litterbox A shanty town	The Docks Gateway to the Burning South	Waterside Watched over by the Abbess	Shrimptail The old otter village, now a know of piers and houseboats.

The modern city of Clowdertown was established as two separate holdfasts grew together over time, an otter fishing village on the southern coast and a cat trading settlement in the upper delta. Since then it's endured a searat invasion, hurricanes, the Blight, and Greeneyes' reign of terror. Through it all the city, and its people, have held together. But that was back in the Bad Old Days when events felt fleeting before returning to an illusion of stability. Before the constant pressures of the Tithe and starvation.

These days, Reynard's eternal autumnal boughs frame a city known for two things: its prosperity and carefully balanced "neutrality" regarding the Foxlord. While the rustic villages and riverside towns throughout the land simmer with resentment against the Tithe, the other cities have proven silent, if not eager, collaborators. Clowdertown sends the fewest kits possible and selects them by lottery to maintain a pretense of impartiality. These practices make the city a destination for families at risk and a fertile recruiting ground for any sort of rebellion.

Clowdertown's Oddities
The Abbess - A killer prowling Waterside almost exclusively, their victims are found in a penitent's pose. Though the bounty keeps escalating with each victim, Waterside residents won't help the Meow Street Runners track the Abbess down.

"Feathers" - Notable for the dietary demands of its citizenry, cats and otters' demand for meat supports a thriving fish market and an illegal trade in poached songbirds aka "feathers". Rumors occasionally surface of more exclusive clubs hidden in the richest corners.

Gutter Regattas - Illegal boat races between otter crews to ultimately compete in the Great Row, an annual festival and competition in honor of the Birthing Waters. The winners' families are immune to the Tithe until the next festival.

Poison Gardens - Greeneyes strictly prohibited carrying weapons larger than a knife so the aristocracy found other ways to dispose of rivals. The cultivation and use of toxic, intoxicating, and narcotic plants was one of them. Most common in Verdauga and Heather Reach, you can find small bunches of dubious potency elsewhere.

Reticules -  Small drawstring pouches traditionally containing toxic paste should a beast need to dip a blade or claw for self defense, or assassination.  Now a fashion item embroidered or beaded sometimes signalling political affiliations or more clandestine desires.

CLOWDERTOWN CAPER GENERATOR
What's the deed? (On a Clubs, draw an additional card for "What's Gone Wrong?")
2-5 - Surveillance.
6-8 - Delivery.
9-10 - Sowing unrest
Jack - Infiltration.
Queen - Black-bag job.
King-Ace - Assassination.
Joker - Clash in the open. Re-draw if Resistance is < 4

Where's the spot? (Hearts & Diamonds / Clubs & Spades)
2 - Abbey of the Alley / Fleeting Fetches
3 - Bread & Butter Bakery / Readnola Viaduct
4 - Serenity Bridge / Stormy Crossing
5 - Summermuse Avenue / Owl Track
6 - Ms. Kitty's / The Fishery
7 - Marley's / The Ashamed Rat
8 - Moon Market / Boiling Cauldron
9 - The Bitter Tortoise Theater / Goldguard Trading Company
10 - Goodberry Manse / Humbleblossom Estate
Jack - Tallstone Gatehouse / Duskdirge Garrison
Queen - Hammer & Tongs / Rodrig's Box & Tackle
King - Greeneyes Palace / Crescent Plaza
Ace - The Queen's Island / The Strongford
Joker - The Little Twin / Graymalkin's Tower

Who's the target?
2-5 - Civilian authorities collaborating with Reynard's regime. Who are they? Can they be turned?
6-8 - A small team of Meow Street Runners. Who do they work for? What are they investigating?
9-10 - A fat cat with a monstrous appetite. Which is it - Feathers? The 'nip? Taxidermy? Addermilk?
Jack - A coterie of Reynard's tithe takers. Draw an additional location card for their fall back plan.
Queen -A sorcerer, bard, or chimera who's been untrustworthy. What was their betrayal?
King-Ace - An infamous Wyldbreaker who's in town. What are they known for?
Joker - One of Reynard's winnowers is in town (black = the Bellringer / red = the Penitent)

What's gone wrong?
2-5 - They've been double-crossed by someone. Who was it?
6-8 - The target didn't show. Were they warned?
9-10 - The cell has a parallel opportunity. Draw a new set of cards to generate a parallel caper. Do they split the party?
Jack - Someone's raised the alarm! Bells! Flares! Watchmen on every street corner!
Queen - They've has been ambushed by (Red- Meow Street Runners / Black- Wyldbreaker and retinue). Do they fight or flee?
King-Ace - There's an additional target of opportunity. Do you take it? Draw again for the target.
Joker - Depends. Red Joker = Everything goes smooth, for once. Black Joker = Someone has sold them out, there's a bounty on the cell's heads and the Hunt may begin soon. Increase the Cell's Rep by 2.

Borchardbriar: Unseen Principalities and Unclean Spirits

ARCANE BACKGROUND (Bard)
ARCANE SKILL: Performance (Spirit)
STARTING POWERS: 3
POWER POINTS: 10
Bards are highly skilled performers but they're more than simple musicians. Scraps of power hide in the shanties, stories, and songs echoing through pubs and churches. A bard coaxes these echoes, drawing on their legendary feats or offering a balm to their comrades.

Suggested Powers: boost trait, darksight, deflection, fear, healing, protection, quickness, speak language, succor, summon ally, warrior's gift
Backlash: Drawing on the Distant Past can leave an open door for phantoms to come forward and relive their glory days. 1 Ghost per Wild Card appears, make reaction rolls for each ghost. This is in addition to normal Backlash.

ARCANE BACKGROUND (Chimeric Might)
ARCANE SKILL: Bend Shape (Strength)
STARTING POWERS: 2
POWER POINTS: 15 
Chimeras tap into the land's Wild Magic, flexing an immaterial set of muscles to alter their forms to grow quills, massive size, or a sticky tongue as needed. Many live on the fringes of city and town, hesitant to expose themselves to Wyldbreakers.

Note: A chimera's powers are limited to targeting themselves unless they pay for Additional Recipients or it makes narrative sense.

Suggested Powers: burrow, damage field, entangle, farsight, fly, growth, shape change, and anything else you can work out with your GM.
Backlash: The Wild Magic slips through your grip and runs rampant. All trees, grass, ivy, etc. in a league suddenly grow large, aggressively biting into any buildings, roads, or walls in the vicinity. This is in addition to normal Backlash.

ARCANE BACKGROUND (Sorcery)
ARCANE SKILL: Spellcasting (Smarts)
STARTING POWERS: 3
POWER POINTS: 10
Sorcerers understand the World is patchwork stitched together by unseen forces and high powers. Through practice they learn the rituals, gestures, and words in the Watchers' Blue Tongue to command the little needles, producing magical effects when invoked.

Suggested Powers: banish, blind, boost/lower trait, clairvoyance, deflection, detect/conceal arcana, dispel, divination, elemental manipulation, puppet, slow, slumber, teleport, wall walker
Backlash:  There's a catch or snag when you release the spell, the ripping and tearing fundamentally alters the area (large template) until the next full moon. Water is not wet. Fire does not burn. Air chokes. Earth floats into the sky. This is in addition to normal Backlash.

THE YONDER & ITS INHABITANTS
Everybeast has heard a similar tale: a beast has stopped breathing, pulled from a river or similar accident, and thought to be dead. When they cough up the water, or what-have-you, they recover quickly. Nonetheless they were lost to us for a time.

And where were they while not-quite-dead? Stuck as the soil beneath our paws. The Golden Meadow or Dark Forest promised by the Abbey? No. They tell us of a blue expanse full of chill light.

Show me a beast who claims ignorance of this place and I will show you a liar. They've been to the Yonder, an Otherworld arching over our heads we all visit briefly on the cusp of sleep. Which is important to remember. Unlike the Watchers, we're just passing through.

Clutch that Saint's medallion close when you sleep, lest the witch-birds swoop in and steal your good dreams. Those oddities of churning wings and fiery eyes have long memories and witness everything. I bet they remember before Reynard ruled Castle Borchardbriar.

Is it any wonder Sorcerers build towers to entreat them for secrets, power, and patronage?
Bartering the bones of our dead for their greed.

- Crait, Retired Meow Street Runner

Back Of House

Hey everybody, I know things have been quiet for the past month but I've been busy writing on some cool projects. Here are the ones I can talk about:

I've contributed a mini-module to the 90's cyberpunk game Retropunk, by Samjoko Publishing, called Whalefall. Detailing the environs, hazards, and gigs you could get up to in the exclusive ship-breaking yard of the rich and famous. The game successfully kickstarted back in December and should be in print in April this year.

***UPDATE: I'm running Retropunk at Magcon and Chupacabracon this year. If you're in the area, come by and play!

Trophy is currently on Kickstarter with 48 hours to go and $150,000+ raised so far. It's a dark fantasy game of desperation and doom, if you like Darkest Dungeon, Hereditary, Descent, and The Ritual this game hits those notes masterfully. I wrote an Incursion (an adventure) for Trophy Dark called The Pit, it's a lot of High Plains Drifter, Dredd, and a little bit Event Horizon with swords.
It'll make sense when you read it. I'm also going to write a wing in the Roots of Old Kahldur mega dungeon.
So that's awesome.

If the campaign hits $185,000 then all the stretch goals will be included in the physical books.
***UPDATE: We hit all the stretch goals and all the digital content will be included in print.

Also - I'm working with Eli Kurtz and Dee Pennyway on a game called Oligarchy, a game of political folly, that's based on Trophy Dark and also on Kickstarter. The campaign has raised nearly $3,000 and beating that number would be really cool. In Trophy Dark you play doomed treasure hunters who meet their end scrabbling for glory and fortune. In Oligarchy you already have all that. You're rotten bastards in the Gilded Age, glutted on lucre and luxury. Every comfort at your fingertips and yet you want more. Not just more. You want it all. The world and the people will not take it any more.


Play an Asshole. Get Got.
***UPDATE: We raised nearly $4,000. Thank you! 

Borchardbriar: The Way of the World

 SETTING RULES

ACCORD - Every Wild Card starts with maximum Accord equal to 2 + half their Spirit die type. As things unfold the GM may call for a Accord check with a modifier based on events. An Accord check is a Spirit roll, the results may modify your current Accord score.

Murder -  Killing for any reason, other than self defense, causes an Accord check at -2.
Backlash - The GM may call for an Accord roll due to Backlash from Powers.
Fear - When you fail a Fear check, lose 1 point of Accord.
Cursed Relic - using a cursed relic causes an Accord check.
Open Road - Each day you're on the Open Road, make an Accord check. Start with a -2 penalty and add +1 for each companion.
Viciousness - Predatory and cruel acts cause an Accord check, with a penalty at the GM's discretion.

Sliding into Savagery
The real risk of losing Accord is uncontrolled transformation, the Land's wild magic using your flesh as a canvas. But maybe a little monstrosity is fine given the stakes. When you lose points of Accord, you temporarily gain a Tinge. Draw a card for each point lost and applying the card of your choice. At your next Advancement you can choose to keep the Tinge instead, otherwise the Tinge blows away on the wind. Be sure to conceal you Tinges, the Wyld Breakers are always on the look for Folk meddling with the Old Times.
If your Accord reaches 0 then you're lost as the wild magic overwhelms you

BEAST WITHIN - During character creation, choose a Kith and make note of the traits in brackets. Spend a Benny to temporarily gain an Edge (you must meet the requirements) or 3 points of Racial Abilities that reflects your Kith via those traits. Beast Within lasts for a scene.

FOUR LEAFED CLOVER - You've made it this far, all Wild Cards start with the Lucky Edge.

PACTSTONES - Relics from the Bygone Days, these rings of standing stone were erected where Folk swore oaths and spilled blood. In these Fallen Days they still crackle with turbulent energies and a daring beast could coax it to the surface for their own ends if they'd just open their veins a little.

You may draw upon a pactstone's latent power through a Dramatic Task (5 Task Tokens in 3 rounds) using Occult and similarly appropriate skills, spending Wounds (+2 per Wound) and Accord (+1 per Accord) for bonuses on your rolls. If successful, you gain a magical charge. This charge may be spent to:

• Treat every Power Point you spend as 2.    
• Increase the Range of a power to your Spirit in miles.
• Increase the damage of a power by +3d6

Backlash: Failing the activation check provokes an Accord check with a -2 penalty. Draw an additional card for the Drift if you fail.

You can also knap pactstone shards into crude blades or arrowheads, gaining 2 points of Armor Penetration and ignoring bonuses to toughness from powers or special qualities.

ADDITIONAL SETTING RULES YOU MIGHT WANT TO USE*:  Born A Hero, Dynamic Backlash, Wound Cap

*I use all of these.

NEW EDGES

BALLADEER
REQUIREMENTS - Seasoned, Performance D8, Arcane Background (Bard)
At the start of the session, roll 2 of your Perform dice and set them aside. You can replace any resist roll so long as you're Performing. Additionally you can use Perform instead of Taunt for tests and add the [Inspiring] tag to your Kith.

CUSTODY
REQUIREMENTS - Umbral Cabinet, Spirit d10
Throw back some Snakebite and let your ghost advisors take the wheel Once per session, you can add +4 to any skill the GM agrees is in line with one of your umbral cabinet's experiences.

DEMAGOGUE
REQUIREMENTS - Seasoned, Persuasion d8
You're able to gather Furred Folk to your cause with relative ease. Reduce the amount of Food needed to upgrade your cell by 1. Your cell cannot benefit from more than one Demagogue at a time.

FERVENT
REQUIREMENTS - Novice, Spirit d8
When you're outnumbered, add +2 damage and gain +1 Armor. Add the [Messy] tag to your Kith.

GLAMOUR
REQUIREMENTS - Seasoned, Bend Shape D8, Arcane Background (Chimerics)
You can alter minor details of your appearance with a Spirit roll (ie: fur pattern, coloration, etc). Also you can attract the attention from someone with only a glance. A botch calls attention from Above.

HUNTER'S EYE
REQUIREMENTS - Novice, Notice d10
With a successful Notice roll you can ask the GM a question about a given enemy and they must provide an honest answer. Each Raise gives you an additional question. Add the [Sharp Eyes] tag to your Kith.

NINE LIVES
REQUIREMENTS - Cat
When you would die, suffer an injury, or botch a roll then you can escape the consequences (ex: immediately recover 1 Wound, ignore the injury roll, or treat the botch as a normal failure). Each time you do this, reduce your starting Bennies by 1.

OPPORTUNISTIC
REQUIREMENTS - Novice, Agility D8
When you outnumber your opponent, roll an additional D8 for damage and drop the lowest. Add the [Underhanded] tag to your Kith.

POT-VALOR
REQUIREMENTS -  Veteran, Vigor D10, Spirit d8
After 3 shots of Snakebite, you back down from no one and no thing. Ignore 2 points of penalties to tests and increase your Strength die by one size.

PUISSANT
REQUIREMENTS - Arcane Background (Sorcery), Strength D8
When you deal damage with a spell, roll an additional die of the appropriate type and discard the lowest.

TUNNELER
REQUIREMENTS - Mole
You can burrow through the earth at your full Pace leaving a tunnel behind for others. It might be a tight squeeze though. You can also Run while burrowing but the tunnel collapses behind you..

UNDERFOOT
REQUIREMENTS - Roden
Non-Roden Folk suffer a -1 to hit you in melee combat. You lose this benefit when you're Entangled or Bound. If you have the Thief Edge, then add +1 when squirming out of bonds or through tight spaces.

UMBRAL CABINET
REQUIREMENTS - Novice, Spirit d8
You have a panel of 3 ghostly advisors to confer with. You can table talk with your fellow players who aren't present in the scene for 1 Fatigue level. If you have an Arcane Background then add +1 to activate powers dealing with spirits.

WARRANT
REQUIREMENTS - Seasoned, Arcane Background (Sorcery) -or- Persuasion D8, Connections
You hold a license to perform sorcery, regardless of your actual ability. Reduce the rarity of potent herbs, magical reagents, and sorcerous contraband by one category. The Wyld Breakers might still come knocking on your door if they have a reason.

Borchardbriar: Furred Folk and Their Kith and Their Kin

 

BEAST WITHIN - During character creation, choose a Kith and make note of the traits in brackets. Spend a Benny to temporarily gain an Edge (you must meet the requirements) or 3 points of Racial Abilities that reflects your Kith via those traits. Beast Within lasts for a scene.


CAT - One of the most populous Furred Folk, Cats are found everywhere, you'll find them in every holdfast and the Open Road. The superstitious often accuse them of hexes and other mischief. Aloof softpaws don't give a straight answer since things just go their way. [Adaptive, Softpaw, Sharp Claws]

PANGOLIN - Down South and Far Away in the Burning Lands, the Antseers sense a malady in the North. Young Pangolin warriors journey northward to the Kingdom, landing in Clowdertown. Hungry for fame and glory they take risks trusting in their armored scales to see them through. [Vainglorious, Scaly, Long Tail]

RACCOON -Without a home of their own, the Raccoons thrive in the cracks of society. Forging close bonds of business and friendship, Raccons are less clannish than other Folk and quickly adopt those on the fringe. [Gregarious, Cleanhands, Knows A Guy]

TURTLE - All across the Kingdom, you can find hardbacks plying the Rivers on their rafts and canoes. Their transient life affords them a certain comfort and security from Reynard's horrors. Insisting that things will change, but remain the same. [Simple, Hardback, Unflappable]

BADGER - Great in girth and stature, the great lords of Stonebones belong to rival clans, each keeping ledger of slights in a Book of Sacred Grudges. Ascending to the Iron Council requires erasing a Grudge with blood. Fallen nobles offer to open their veins a pinch for food if it will clear a Grudge. [Blustering, Ironlord, Big Bones]

 MARTEN - Long and slender, the walkers were a common sight on the Open Road around Whisper helping sedentary Folk with seasonal work. Work that just doesn't happen. Their colored wagons went from long trains to armed encampments. Erecting new Pactstones and actively harassing the Watchers Above, they're playing a long game other Folk can't see.
[Mystical, Walker, Always Hungry]

MOLE - Before the Badgers came and Stonebones was even a city, the Moles burrowed throughout the Eastmarch hills. The Ironlords quickly turned them out of their tunnels before the stripmining started in earnest. Many blindeye elders fear the Pits may release sightless horrors if they go much deeper. [Secretive, Blindeye, Heavy Claws]

RODEN - An umbrella term for a fairly wide range of Folk the Roden are small, quick and always on edge. They've carved a niche tackling the most dangerous jobs. In Stonebones operating the foundries and furnaces. A dangerous place for any Beast, but there will always be more Roden. [Negligible, Roden, Quick as a Flash]

HARE - Quick footed and insular, the Hares of Sunset Hills often clashed with the Ironwood Clans in the past. After the Accord, they're combined efforts created the greatest holdfast in the Kingdom. Since then, their great numbers have gone from an asset to a liability and the Senate of Sky and Soil exclusively sent Hares and Squirrels to Borchardbriar for the Tithe. The Senate soon found itself overturned, though the founding families still retain clout with the Ruling Committee. [Altruistic, Longear, Leaps & Bounds]

SQUIRREL - Quick to fight and slow to back down, the former Ironwood Clans clutch to rusting martial traditions flaking away in their grasp. Visitors flock to the Vault each year for the Battle of Red Branch. A holiday when all eligible young Squirrels fight a vicious "King of the Hill" struggle in the boughs of Last Tree. The winner is exempt from the Tithe, though some enter Reynard's service at the opportunity to exercise their skills. [Brave, Ironwood, Battle-wise]

HEDGEHOG - Known for hospitality and high spirits, Hedgehogs are welcome anywhere. Which is good because they can be found anywhere. It's traditional that upon reaching age of majority, troupes of pricklepigs venture out into the world and fully experience it for themselves. Some love the places they visit so much that they stay, and home becomes a distant memory. [Punchy, Pricklepig, Lucky Charm]

OTTER - Where there's a waterway, there'll be Otters. Born to the river and in love with the sea, they work hard and play harder. Organized into clan-like crews, they fish and revel with no-holds-barred. [Jocular, Waterdog, Brawny]

FOXES - Few Folk have it as rough as Reynard's get. Foxes largely fled to Whisper & the Open Road rather than continue bearing the brunt of grief and rage. Their kits go to the Tithe too, but that gets missed in the outrage. In Whisper the Redtails made themselves useful to House Maugrim and received protection. That arrangement ended with the Prophet's rise and the Foxes are once more out in the cold. [Sly, Redtail, Reynard's Get]

WOLVES - The founding Folk of Whisper, they built the holdfast from the bones of the Red Rock Cult's worship sites and suppressed the Cult under the guidance of Saint Magna. All was well until Magna Maugrim returned, proclaiming a second coming of the Red Rock's Naked Gods. Salting old wounds and dismantling her namesake's handiwork. The Wolves are now in their "rightful" place at the top of the food chain. [Fierce, Howler, Terrible Jaws]

BEAVERS - Unified under St. Magna's vision, the Northern Beavers transitioned from sacrificial meals to Whisper's true architects and builders. With the recent upheaval, their gains are rapidly unraveling. Many families have already fled under cover of darkness, seeking out Mudslide, the floating city. [Industrious, Miller, Natural Swimmer]

HOGS - The bane of the southern Open Road, the Wild Sounders roam, root and rut wherever they like. Only the threat of Reynard's attention causes them to step lightly. Too much ruckus and the Fox King's war bands will pour out of Borchardbriar and raid their litters. Not to be confused with the  more congenial pinkskins. [Aggressive, Bristlehide, Iron Gullet]

OPOSSUM - Life outside the Holdfasts is dangerous for the small and squishy. The Opossum eke out a living by staying up and out of the way. Their treetop hamlets stay quiet and camouflaged, high in the boughs of tupelo trees. The only business they have below the boughs involves the breeding, care and harvesting of venomous snakes. [Shy, Wormtail, Adderproof]

TUESDAY REVIEWSDAY: They Mostly Come Out At Night & Lorn Song of the Bachelor

 The first book in Benedict Patrick's Yarnworld series, They Mostly Come Out At Night opens a window into a primeval forest, helpless woodsfolk, their fears, and the vicious beasts that stalk them beneath shrouded boughs. An atmospheric fantasy that marries subtle world building with the dark heart of fairy tales. Composed of three interweaving narratives: the present plight of the protagonist plagued by nightmares, the lessons taught by the mythical(?) Magpie King to his son, and the folktales comprising the forest folk's oral tradition. They form a tale and setting that still sticks with me despite the 2 years since I read it. Everything has a weight of mythology and meaning to it, though we don't spend a lot of time ruminating on that meaning in the text. It's fast paced, like a roller coaster.

If you're a fan of Scott Snyder's Batman run, Grimm's Fairy Tales, or The Sandman then you owe it to yourself to check this book out. You can find it here.

Written by Zedeck Siew, presented by the Hydra Cooperative, and published by Exalted Funeral. The Lorn Song of the Bachelor is an adventure focused on a stretch of tropical river haunted by a seemingly immortal crocodile. Whether hired by an exploitative company or following rumors of their own volition your adventurers quickly find themselves in deep current far enough from shore that they just can't reach. Brimming with Zedeck's fantastic prose (check some out here) and Nadhir Nor's evocative illustrations, Lorn Song presents a well organized adventure location and the forces, internal and external, coming to bear. Dripping with flavor and sense of place, the climate and environs of the SE Asian Pacific really comes through. We should all take notes on this and how the adventure grapples with complex themes of colonialism. Overall, it shows what independent creators are capable of and show why the SE Asian RPG scene is one to watch going forward.

You can find it in print here or in pdf here.