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.

Borchardbriar: Conquest of Vittles

Food is an abstract measure of foraged and preserved foodstuffs. They could be confit, cured, dried, jellied, jugged, pickled, salted, etc. The everyday meals and snacks your characters consume are not tracked, instead 1 Food is equivalent to a large jar of jam or pickled herring - more food than a prudent Beast would eat alone in a single sitting but not so large that you couldn't transport it easily. The lifeblood of the underground economy since the field's harvest ripens swollen and sour.
Never fit for anybeast's consumption.

When a character would gain an Advancement, they also earn 1 Food which can be spent on the following Downtime Activities:

•  Acquire an Asset - Gain temporary use of a special item, a gang, a vehicle, or a Major Favor outside your Network to use during your next clash.
•  Long-term Project - Researching a lost ballad, developing a sorcerous ritual, investigating a mystery, building trust, or courting a new contact requires a Dramatic Task that may take several Downtimes (or several Food) to complete.
•  Recover - Healing comes at a price in Borchardbriar, it costs 1 Food to bounce back from the Injury Table.

Downtime Activites all require a Test and if you (or an ally) succeed, then you can buy a Raise for 1 additional Food.

You can also keep unspent Food to yourself or pool Food with other players in the Cell's Stockpile. Food in the Stockpile may be spent to:

• Increase the Cell's Rank: Raise the Cell's Rank by 1 which increases Rep and possibly Resistance. Increasing the Cell's Rank costs a number of Food equal to the next Rank.
• Buy a Hideout Edge: Edges cost 2 Food. A Cell's maximum number of Edges is equal to the Rank.

Be aware that if you choose to horde Food, there's a chance it could be stolen though it would be on hand if you need a Favor from an NPC or something. If you keep Food in your inventory you can:

• Sweeten Disposition: You can improve a Reaction Roll by +2.
  
• Wild Chance: Draw and keep an additional card from the Adventure Deck.

GM: If a player is undecided on which downtime activity to perform, offer a long-term project idea. You've got a clue to their interests and what they like. Suggest a project that will dovetail with those.

Borchardbriar Roadmap

So. How did we get here and where are we going?

For the past 2-3 years (do I have longtime readers?) I've been tinkering part time with a Savage Worlds setting called Borchardbriar - a fantasy world of talking animals on perilous adventures and sowing rebellion to overthrow the Fox King Reynard, a grim and terrible monarch. But the pitch wasn't that concise. It hadn't been honed to that razor point.

Stemming from a mash up of  Redwall/Robin Hood + The Old Kingdom + Armello, the summary/pitch meandered and often restated the initial post from May 2017. Trying for a twist on the dark/gritty fantasy settings and stories that have become increasingly popular. And in many ways filling a gap in Savage Worlds' extant settings since Evernight hasn't been updated for a couple of editions.

We even did a podcast mini-series set in this earlier iteration here.

If you listened through the series you'll notice some other influences creeping in, shades of noir like True Detective and Blacksad creeping in. Continued exploration saw bits of Jesse Bullington's Folly of the World (Early Modern period instead of pseudo-medieval), Charles de Lint's Riddle of the Wren (folklore as a window into a mis-remembered past), and Daniel Polansky's The Builders (why you fight) surfacing. At that point I felt ready to start pulling the blogposts and handwritten notes together into something resembling finished work.

However, mapping the older material to Richard Woolcock's Savage Worlds outline showed gaps in the material. Ultimately gaps that were kinda there on purpose. Holes for players and other GMs to fill in, to make their own mark on things. Additionally the scale for Borchardbriar had shifted with SWADE's release. Instead of a paperback, probably a zine. Maybe in time for ZineQuest 2. We'll see.

So what's next for Borchardbriar? How much is being recycled?

Am I reinventing the wheel completely?

Maybe a little bit.

Not to give too much away but, here are the blog posts coming down the pipe:

• Introduction to Borchardbriar - a revised pitch and world overview
• The Furred Folk and Their Kith and Their Kin - how I'm handling different talking animals
• The Way of the World - setting rules new and old, additional edges
• Unseen Principalities and Unclean Spirits - arcane backgrounds and the Watchers
• Odds & Ends - equipment, charms, and superstitions
• The Resistance - a character above your characters
• Conquest of Vittles - hard to rebel on an empty stomach
• We All Lift Together - developing the Resistance
• The Accord - the line that holds us
• Becoming Monsters - when that line breaks
• Clowdertown Blues - The Southern Corner
• How It All Comes Together - session structure
• Smashing of the Van - counterinsurgency, blowback, and other high stakes
• The Hunt - hounded from your boltholes
• Castle Borchardbriar- Reynard's stronghold
• The World Turned Upside Down - The Final Battle
• Hands Raised Against You - foebeasts and the privileged who command them

Borchardbriar: The Resistance

The Resistance
Why do you fight?

Did they snatch your young? Or did your da' take your place? Does a Wyldbreaker lean on you for "protection" money? Are you just trying to make some quick coin? Inspired by an unlikely bard in the public house? Or easing the hurt in the world?

There's a gash in things these days, you can see it with your eyes. Everyone's at least a little hungry. An ache in your stomach spreads through your bones. A weariness you just can't shake like rot on fruit. A grey-green bruise on your soul.

While it might all be falling to pieces 'round our ears, it doesn't have to be.

That's why I fight.

The Means
How does your Cell oppose Reynard's regime? Choose one of the options below: 

• Agitate - Flare tempers.
• Sabotage - Break stuff.
• Liberate - Release folks.
• Terrorize - Sow fear.

When you perform actions in line with your Cell's Means, roll an additional Wild Die. You still use the highest result.

The Network
Who is on your side? Choose 2 of the options below:

• Yasmine - The Gunsmith. Has a new method for creating Salamanderdust she needs to perfect.
• Sebastien - The Patrician. Holds sympathies with the working families who pay most of the Tithe.
• Toni - The Pot-Stirrer. Born under dubious signs, things never go smooth.
• Keith - The Medium. Chased out of Stonebones, he claims to hear the dead.
• Cass - The Raconteur. Spins a yarn so fine the oak tree bends to listen. Wanted for sedition.
• "Lucky" Luci - The Gangleader. Gathered disenfranchised youth for mutual defense.
• "Miss Kitty" - The Madam. Operates a feralhouse where genteel folk can stretch their claws and behave badly.
• Horace - The  Merchant. Snakebite's illegal but that doesn't mean thirst went away.
• Roland - The Stevedore. The biggest paws and the strongest back down on the Docks.
• Aderfi - The Explorer. From the Burning South, been to Manykings and seen the Edge.
• Pedro - The Astronomer. Used to be a navigator but retired from salt spray to soft soil. Owls cluster close.

They will do Minor Favors for you without cost but Major Favors cost Food.


Rep 
Your starting Rep is 0


Resistance 
Your starting Resistance is 0