Survive The Night

Creator

Brian Crenshaw Editing Team

Siobhan Armstrong, Rachel Bare, Thomas Baumbach, Alex Grady Art Director

Megan Jerbic Cover Art

Lines by Lu Pan, layout by Megan Jerbic, colors by Pong Jeed Interior Art

Aishwarya Chandramohan, Pavel Eryzhenskii, Megan Jerbic Yevhen Karpenko, “Kelelowor,” Brandon Liu, Jordan McCrackenFoster, Alessandra Nocera, Lu Pan, Hector Ramirez, Bernice Wang, with assistance from Anna Peterson and Shermond Wong Graphic Design

Thomas Baumbach, Megan Jerbic Special Thanks

David Kish, The T&T Team, Ryan Horn, WM Art Studio, and all of our supporters on Kickstarter

All rights reserved. © 2018-2019 Brian Crenshaw

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Player’s Guide  5 Character Creation  13 Character Sheets  26 Narrator's Guide  39 Aqualung 51 Unholy Trinity  65 The Dreamer  83 Carnage at Camp Ojibwe  105

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Player’s Guide

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Introduction The shadows move on the far side of the room. The floorboards creak behind you. Something goes bump behind the closet door. Dark things are brewing and it will be all you can do to Survive the Night!

Survive the Night is a horror role-playing game that throws you against the stuff of nightmare with nothing but your wits and whatever eclectic advantages your characters possess. The game does not give you the benefit of knowing what to prepare for. The best you can do is field a party of characters with a diverse set of skills that may save some of you by game’s end. Within this book you will find everything you need to play the game. That includes the rules on how to play and how to create a character, a guide for how to run a session, and four example scenarios that you can run with your friends.

The Experience Survive the Night is an exercise in cooperative storytelling. Each player has an avatar in the story, one of twelve character archetypes. Each of these possesses skills that might prove useful for the group’s survival...or not. The first thing you will do is decide which player represents the forces of the game: the Narrator. The Narrator’s role is to deploy horrific elements against the players in the most exciting and heart-pounding way possible. This player does not create a character of their own, but is in charge of everything in the story other than the players’ characters. The Narrator is the ultimate authority of what happens in the story, so the role should be entrusted to someone who will make the game challenging while giving the group a chance to make it out alive. For the other players, the beginning of any game of Survive the Night is character creation. The players should coordinate to ensure that they create a team with a variety of complementary talents. The Narrator is under no obligation to share the nature of the scenario the group is to face. Be prepared for anything.

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Once characters have been selected, the Narrator reads the opening for the scenario and sets the scene for the story. When the game has begun, each player takes their turn in order, stating what their character attempts to do. While some actions can be easily completed, such as tying a shoe or taking an object off of a table, others require a successful difficulty roll. The Narrator is free to interrupt the turn order at any time. Difficulty rolls are performed by rolling a single six-sided die, adding the bonuses the character has to the activity being attempted, and comparing the result to the difficulty score. The Narrator determines not only what the difficulty score is, but also what bonuses apply to the roll. A difficulty score of 2 would be easy for almost anyone. A score of 4 would be intermediate difficulty, but simple for anyone skilled or talented in the subject. A difficulty of 6 or higher represents a challenging task which is unlikely or impossible for an average person to complete, but can be accomplished with the help of useful skills or natural ability.

This process of setting scenes, stating actions, and making difficulty rolls continues until either every character is dead or the characters have gotten themselves safely to the end of the story. Make sure to set aside plenty of time when planning a game of Survive the Night, as a long game can take upwards of five hours. Even a short one usually takes more than an hour. Make an afternoon out of it, and be sure to invite friends who like scary stories!

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Difficulty Rolls The Narrator sets each scene. They can demand a difficulty roll for any action undertaken by a character or to determine a reaction to anything done to a character. This could include anything from a run roll to escape a pursuing psychopath, a strength roll to hold a door shut against a horde of zombies, or even an intelligence roll to determine if something obvious would occur to a character that the player has overlooked. Anything that can take place in the story can be interpreted through difficulty rolls, though not everything needs to be. Just remember that the difficulty roll is the primary mechanic determining chance within the game. It is meant to be flexible enough to fit the needs of each game session and its players. No matter what bonuses a character receives to a difficulty roll, a result of a ‘1’ on the die always fails. There is always a chance of failure. Example: Biff attempts to run from a monster. The Narrator determines that the enemy is very quick, so the difficulty to beat is 7. This is impossible to beat for an average person. However, Biff has the Run skill, granting +2 to his roll. He has +1 Coordination and adds that as well. As an athlete, Biff gets +1 to all athletic rolls, and running qualifies. Biff rolls a 3 on the die, adds the +4 for all of his advantages, and has a result of 7. Biff successfully runs away from the monster without being caught. He survives the encounter.

Common Difficulty Rolls Perception Roll

Passively detecting nearby sights or sounds. Add Perception to result.

Observation Roll

Actively looking for clues or unusual signs. Add Perception to result.

Strength Roll

Moving or influencing an object with force. Add Build to result.

Reflex Roll

Reacting in time to avoid danger. Add Coordination to result.

Skill Roll

Performing a specialized task. +2 if character possesses the relevant skill.

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Fear Fear is one of the most common difficulty rolls. Some events are so shocking that the characters may panic. These can range from the relatively benign occurrence of finding a body (a difficulty of 2 or 3 might be appropriate here), to more serious things like seeing a friend killed (4 or 5) or encountering a creature of nightmare for the first time (6 or higher). Because fear is so prominent in a good horror story, it requires an extra step that other difficulty rolls do not. Like other rolls, the difficulty score is determined by the Narrator on a case-by-case basis. Unlike other rolls, when a character fails a Fear roll1 they must roll again on the Panic! Table, inducing an automatic action.

Panic! Table D6 6 5 4 3 2 1

Result Gasp! (character makes a noise that can be heard nearby) Shout! (character makes a noise that be heard at a distance) Escape! Scream! (character runs screaming in direction of choice) Flee! Scream! (character runs screaming directly away from danger) Paralyzed! (character is frozen in place from fear) Paralyzed! Scream! (character is frozen in place from fear, screaming)

Characters suffer -1 to their Fear rolls if they are in a party of less than four members and -2 if they are alone.

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The Narrator determines how long the effects of the Panic! table last, as well as what a character can do if they approach the frightening situation again. Generally, it is assumed that a failed Fear roll that induces running or paralysis prevents the character from turning around and approaching the dangerous situation right away. In some cases, the Narrator may determine that the character runs so far that they are completely separated from the group.

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Fatigue Characters are under constant physical and psychological stress. Fatigue will wear at them quickly. Each time that a character is forced to run as a result of a Panic! roll, is reduced below half of their starting Life (rounded down), or is in a situation that the Narrator deems suitably draining on their reserves of strength, they become Fatigued. Characters suffer a -1 to all difficulty and Panic! rolls for each Fatigue penalty applied. There are certain factors that remove Fatigue penalties: the Good Cardio trait, the Eye of the Tiger trait, the walking stick item, and having a snack. Snacking (which includes drinking a refreshing beverage) removes a penalty once per game.

Life Player characters start with 20 Life plus or minus your character’s bonuses. Any time a character takes damage, they subtract the amount from their Life total. Characters operate normally until they have taken damage equal to their Life total, at which point they collapse. The Narrator determines whether they die at this point or are merely unconscious (depending on how difficult the Narrator wishes the experience to be). The Narrator may also decide that an injury has other adverse effects on the character. It adds an edge of tension and realism to the game to give injuries specific descriptions and consequences, so that players don’t come to view their Life total as a resource that can be trivially spent down to the last drop. Introducing a limp after a leg wound or a strength penalty after an arm injury raises the difficulty of the experience.

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Combat Combat begins when a character comes within reach of a threat or adversary and one of those parties attacks the other. An attack is a difficulty roll against the target’s Dodge Value (DV). Player characters have a base DV of 3, but Coordination and the Dodge skill can add to this value. When striking at a target, add +2 to the roll if the attacker has skill in the weapon being used. If the result meets or exceeds the DV, then the attack hits and the attacker rolls one or more dice to determine damage based on the weapon they used. They add their strength bonus to the result (or Coordination for ranged attacks), as well as +2 if they have a skill for the weapon being used. The total result is subtracted from the victim’s Life total. Note: Every weapon has its own rules for how many dice it rolls for damage, listed in the Gear section on page 16. If a player makes an attack without a weapon, roll 1d6 for damage and divide the result by 2, rounded up.

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Example: Walter is in a room with his friend, Paige. They open the closet door and something horrible jumps out at them. Paige fails her Fear roll and is Paralyzed!. Walter passes his and decides to fight rather than abandon his friend. He is armed with brass knuckles and attacks. He rolls a 3 and adds +2 because of his Boxing skill. The Narrator informs him that the creature’s DV is 4, so he lands a hit. He then rolls again, but this time for damage. The result is 3 and again he adds +2 for his Boxing skill. He has Build +1, so he adds that to his damage roll. Last, Walter has a special trait called ‘Stiff Jab’ that adds +2 damage to boxing attacks. As it stands, he deals a total of 8 damage to the creature’s Life total. The Narrator describes this as a solid WHACK to the thing’s misshapen face. Paige is Paralyzed! with fear, so it is the creature’s turn. It rolls a 2. Walter’s DV is 3 by default, he doesn’t have any Coordination bonuses or penalties to affect it. Against his DV of 3, the creature’s attack misses. On his next turn, Walter may run or continue to fight in hopes that Paige recovers.

Drag Down Characters with the Tackle skill, as well as many inhuman creatures, have the ability to drag or knock their opponents to the ground. The Narrator decides what the difficulty of this roll is. A good standard is the target’s DV plus their Build. Characters that have been dragged down cannot move freely, and their DV becomes 1. Every turn, both participants roll to grapple, using 1d6+strength to determine their result. The Wrestle skill adds +2 to this roll. The highest result wins. The winner may stand up and leave, or they may remain entangled with their adversary and roll standard attack damage. Monsters or other villains often have their own grapple rules, so be careful!

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Character Creation Creating a character is a great avenue for creativity. A host of variables ensures endless diversity in playable characters and approaches to the game. If you want to skip this step, there are twelve sample characters listed at the end of the Player’s Guide. Each character begins with 10 character points. These points are spent on stats, skills, gear, and traits. Each character has a class, which grants unique abilities and determines which skills are available to that character. Bear in mind that every character can take two items from the Gear List, and two choices from the Common Skills List unless otherwise stated under their class rules. It is recommended that you begin character creation by choosing a class and then purchasing stats, skills, gear and traits. However, this booklet will cover classes last since they have abilities which hinge on the mechanics set down in the other sections.

Stats Stats represent the innate talents of a character; personal qualities that come into play when making other rolls. Survive the Night has three core statistics which determine what a character is naturally good at: Build, Coordination, and Perception. A +1 bonus can be taken in any stat for a cost of 2 character points. Similarly, a -1 penalty can be taken to award 2 points that the character can spend on something else. No player character is able to have a higher bonus than +3 in any stat nor a higher penalty than -3.

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Build This is the size and strength of your character. Characters with high build are big or sturdy and generally pretty powerful. Characters receive bonuses or penalties equal to their Build modifier to any roll having to do with strength and gain +5 life for every build bonus (or -3 life for every penalty). Bonuses and penalties also affect damage done by your character in combat. They are applied to grappling rolls, as well.

Coordination This is the dexterity and agility of your character. Characters with high Coordination have good reflexes and are quick to react. They receive bonuses or penalties equal to their Coordination modifier to any roll having to do with quickness or nimbleness, and gain +1 DV for every Coordination bonus (or -1 DV for every penalty to Coordination). Bonuses and penalties also affect damage done by your character using ranged implements such as guns, arrows, or thrown objects.

Perception This is the mental acuity of your character. Characters with high Perception are very keen and quick on the uptake. They can also apply their Perception to a wide array of different situations. Characters receive bonuses or penalties equal to their Perception modifier to Perception, Observation, and intelligence rolls, as well as any skill roll that the Narrator deems to be mental in nature.

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Skills Skills represent any learned ability that a character has gained over the course of their life. Every character gets to choose up to three skills from their own class list and up to two from the common skills list. Each selection costs 1 character point and grants them +2 to all rolls involving the skill in question.

Common Skills Acrobatics Animal Handling Bluff Boxing/Brawling/Karate1 Climbing Decipher Diplomacy

Disguise Driving Under Pressure Escape Artist First Aid2 Hide Lockpicking3 Mechanics

Memorization Run Sense Direction Sleight of Hand Sneak Swimming Training: Mastery4

Boxing, Brawling, and Karate are interchangeable: +2 To Hit and +2 to damage when fighting unarmed or with brass knuckles.

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First Aid does not require a first aid kit from the gear list, it is assumed that the character can make do with strips of cloth or sticks for splints. Make a skill roll against difficulty 6 to heal any character in the group, First Aid skill adds +2 to this roll. If passed, the target gains 1d6 life, +2 if the user has First Aid skill, +2 more if they have a first aid kit.

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Lockpicking does not require lockpicks from the gear list, it is assumed that the character has a hairpin or paperclip.

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Training: Mastery elects one skill the character already has. That skill grants +3 to skill rolls instead of +2.

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Gear People carry stuff. While some of that stuff would not be terribly useful in a life or death situation (such as a driver’s license), some might very well be, and other items are very situational in their use. Every character can take up to two items from the gear list. All items cost 1 character point.

Utility & Weapons

Miscellaneous Gear

Utility

Weapon

Flashlight Binoculars Rope/40 ft. First-Aid Kit1 Roll of Duct Tape Swiss Army Knife Compass

Hammer & Nails2,3 Brass Knuckles4 Tire Iron2,5 Sheath Knife8 Baseball Bat8 Walking Stick2,6 Brick2,7

Book Blanket Deck of Playing Cards Matchbook/Lighter Notepad & Pen Lockpicks Video Camera Snackfood Water Bottle Bottle of Booze Magnifying Glass9 Motor Oil/WD-40 Handcuffs Flash Drive

First aid kits grant +2 to First Aid rolls and +2 Life on a successful First Aid roll. Each kit can be used twice but never on the same injury.

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Improvised weapons do 1d6 damage.

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Hammer & Nails grant +2 to Barricade rolls.

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Brass Knuckles grant a reroll on missed attacks.

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Tire Iron grants +2 to Mechanics rolls

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Walking stick forgives one fatigue penalty

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The Brick can be thrown as an improvised weapon.

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The Sheath Knife and Baseball Bat roll 2d6 damage.

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The magnifying glass grants +1 to Observation rolls and +1 to Decipher rolls.

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Traits Traits are qualities or talents a character possesses. There is no limit to how many traits a character can take as long as they have the points for them. Players should feel free to invent their own traits, though the cost (or points back if the trait is negative) must be agreed upon with the Narrator. Walter’s ‘Stiff Jab’ is an example of a non-standard trait that fits his character, but one which he would need special permission to take. Note: Traits cannot stack on top of one another if they do the same thing, such as Weightlifter and Mr. Olympia traits. There are two exceptions to this: Overprepared and Well-rounded can both be taken as many times as the player is able to pay for.

Example Traits: 1 point Brave [+1 to Fear rolls] Cool Headed [+1 to Panic! Rolls] Good Cardio [Remove first Fatigue penalty] Iron Constitution [+5 life] Quick Reflexes [+1 to Coordination rolls, +1 to Acrobatics rolls] Over-prepared1 [Take an extra entry from the Gear list] Weightlifter [+1 to strength rolls, +1 to melee damage] Well-rounded1 [Take an extra skill from the Common Skills list] Over-prepared and Well-rounded traits allow a character to go over their maximum skill or gear limit by one. The character must still pay the additional points to buy the added skill or gear.

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18 Example Traits: 2 points Courageous [+2 to Fear rolls] Courage Under Fire [+2 to Panic! Rolls] Devoted2 [May unparalyze ally who has rolled a 1 or 2 on the Panic! table] Eye of the Tiger [Remove first two Fatigue penalties] Mr. Olympia [+2 to strength rolls, +2 to melee damage] True Grit [+10 life] Devoted allows a character to use a turn to cut short another character’s paralysis. They can do this prior to any Panic! result that forces them to run, but not if they become paralyzed themselves.

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Example Traits: -1 point Fearful [-1 to Fear rolls] Frantic [-1 to Panic! Rolls] Feeble [-1 to strength rolls, -1 to melee damage] Out of Shape [Takes two factors to remove first Fatigue penalty (cardio and food, etc.)]

Phobia [-2 to Fear rolls/-2 to Panic! rolls for one particular fear, agreed upon with Narrator]

Sluggish [-1 to Coordination rolls, -1 to Acrobatics rolls] Weak Constitution [-5 life]

Example Traits: -2 points Asthmatic [Fatigue penalties cannot be removed.] Cowardly [-2 to Fear rolls] Hysterical [-2 to Panic! Rolls] Self-serving [Unable to put self at risk to help others]

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Classes Athletes Ball Player Heavy Runner

Intellectuals Bookworm Paranormal Investigator Sleuth

Survivalists Camper Doomsday Prepper Hunter

Team Players Follower Leader Wingman

Athletes Athletes are more likely to rely on their physical abilities to save their skins. Different sorts of athletes have different physical skills to fall back on, but most of them have better base stats than the other classes.

Intellectuals Intellectuals rely on their minds to survive a dangerous situation. Different types of intellectuals have different knowledge bases to draw on, but they universally have a higher base Perception than the other classes.

Survivalists Survivalists have learned how to operate outside of the comforts and regulations of society. Survivalists are not noted for any particular mental or physical qualities, but rather for specific skills they have learned or items they carry.

Team Players These classes lack the specialization of the others, but have greater flexibility and a more eclectic mix of talents. While less impressive in any one area, team players make up for this by the versatility of their possible builds. Team players do not have their own skill lists, but may take four skills from the Common Skills list instead of two.

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Ball Player Athlete

Ball Players occupy their time playing sports that emphasize skill. Ball Players choose one from of the following class abilities: Great Cardio1, For The Team!2, or Coordinated3. They can choose from the following skills: Pitch4, Run, and Sporting Implements5. They receive +1 to all athletic rolls. Great Cardio removes the first fatigue penalty and stacks with other Fatiguerelated traits. 2 For The Team adds +1 to Fear and Panic! rolls while with the group. 3 Coordinated adds +2 to all non-combat Coordination rolls. 4 Pitch skill grants +2 To Hit and +2 damage when throwing a weapon! 5 Sporting Implements skill grants +2 To Hit and +2 to damage when wielding sporting implements like baseball bats or hockey sticks. 1

Heavy Athlete

Heavies are athletes that are big and strong. They can take more punishment than other classes and are one of the best to have in a fight. Heavies receive +2 Build for free. They can choose from the following skills: Wrestle, Tackle, and Run. They receive +1 to all athletic rolls.

Runner Athlete

Runners are fast and lean. They have better reflexes than other classes and react faster. Runners receive +2 Coordination for free. They can choose from the following skills: Jump, Dodge1, and Run. They receive +1 to all athletic rolls and +2 to Run rolls. The Dodge skill adds +1 Dodge Value, making Runners harder to hit.

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Bookworm Intellectual

This class of intellectuals has good overall knowledge of academic and certain practical subjects and a wider base of available skills than other classes. Bookworms get +1 to all knowledge-related rolls; they are also permitted to reroll any skill roll as long as it was taken from the class skills listed here. They receive +1 Perception, the Memorization skill, and two skills from the following list for free (they may also pay for up to three more skills off their list as normal): Science, Local History, Computer Hacking, Circuitry, and Decipher.

Paranormal Investigator Intellectual

Members of this class of intellectuals are obsessed with the occult and the mysterious. While their very narrow knowledge base never serves them in their day-to-day lives, it could help them out of a potentially deadly paranormal situation. Paranormal Investigators get +4 to Paranormal-knowledge rolls and +1 Perception for free. They can choose from the following skills: Exorcism, Paranormal Weaponry, and Recording Devices. They may also take items from their own gear list: Silver Talisman1, Protective Herbs1, and Audio/EMF Recorder2. Silver and herbs such as wolfsbane and garlic are associated with defense against various supernatural entities. It is up to the Narrator what impact these items have on the antagonist, if any. 2 Audio/EMF recorders are commonly used by ghost hunters to detect electromagnetic activity associated with the supernatural. 1

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Sleuth

Intellectual These intellectuals possess formidable deductive skills and have exposed themselves to a wide variety of crime-based fiction and media. They receive +1 Perception, +2 to Observation rolls, and the Observation skill for free (for a total of +5 to Observation rolls). Sleuths can choose from the following skills: Detect Motive, Lockpicking, and Sneak.

Camper Survivalist

Campers have spent time living in the wilderness either by camping or hiking. They know how to survive for days when separated from others, miles away from civilization. As such, they automatically receive the Wilderness Survival skill for free. Campers may choose from the following skills: Sense Direction, Ropework, and Swimming. They may also take up to two extra entries from the Gear list for free.

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Doomsday Prepper Survivalist

Preppers are known for keeping caches of things hidden away that might be handy come the apocalypse. While considered kooks by the general population, such a doomsday-minded individual is more likely to have something useful in case of an emergency. Preppers get to choose from the following skills: Shooting1, Melee Weaponry, and Barricading. They may also choose items from their own gear list: Pistol2 with 12 rounds (2 points), Combat Knife3, and Door Jammer4. The Shooting skill grants +2 To Hit and two additional damage dice when firing guns. Pistols deal 4d6 damage, 6d6 if the user has the Shooting skill. 3 The combat knife rolls 3d6 damage. 4 The door jammer grants +2 to Barricading rolls. 1 2

Hunter

Survivalist Whether because of a rural upbringing or an intense interest in hunting and marksmanship, this class possesses an array of skills useful for engaging the hostile elements of a horror scenario. They receive +2 to Perception rolls. Hunters can choose from the following skills: Shooting, Wilderness Survival, and Hunting Implements1. Hunting Implements skill grants +2 To Hit, +2 to damage, and +2 to crafting items such as a bow, spear, knife, or snare from materials in the wilderness!

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Follower

Team Player Sometimes all you can do is accept that someone else has the situation under control and hope that following them will help you survive. Followers rely on dumb luck and sensible decisions to survive. Followers have three Lucky

24 Breaks, which work as follows: any Follower may cash in one or more of their Lucky Breaks at any point during the game session. If they do so before the game starts, they can trade in one or more for skills or items from the Gear List. Skills or items bought this way are otherwise free and ignore restrictions on how many skills or items the character can take. Skills bought this way may be taken from the class skills of any other class. Any Follower cashing in a Lucky Break during the game itself may reroll a single difficulty or damage roll, with a bonus of +2 to the result. If they fail a Lucky Break roll and have more in reserve, they may continue making rolls until they run out.

Leader

Team Player Natural leaders help the entire group keep itself together. Leaders have the Rally ability and an automatic +2 to Fear rolls. Rally means that any Fear roll that a friendly character fails may be rerolled so long as the Leader has not failed that roll already.

Wingman

Team Player Some people naturally fall into a supporting role behind another more charismatic leader. While they can make fair leaders themselves, they are comfortable lending a hand to others while someone else takes the lead. Wingmen choose another character at the beginning of the game to befriend. As long as that person is nearby, both the Wingman and the friend may roll two dice on the Panic! table and choose highest whenever a Fear roll is failed. Wingmen choose one from of the following class abilities: Devoted Friend1, Group Favorite2, or Encouraging Word3. Devoted Friend grants +1 to Fear rolls for chosen friend and Wingman. Group Favorite allows the Wingman to choose two characters at the beginning of the game instead of one for the class's Panic! bolstering abilities. 3 Encouraging Word adds +1 to Rally rolls for a group in the presence of a leader. 1 2

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Conclusion Those are the basics of Survive the Night. Make your character, respect the Narrator’s decisions, bring at least one six-sided die and prepare for a scary ride. Not all of you will make it out of this alive, but if you work together and play it smart, a few of you may Survive the Night. Note: To help you get started, the following pages are filled with sample characters which you are free to play in your games, or to use as a reference when creating characters of your own. These comprise the official cast of Survive the Night, one character from each class used in the game’s playtests.

Biff

Heavy Biff is rock solid when there’s a threat he can meet with brawn. He loves playing the hero and being the strongman of the group, but when it comes to things that go bump in the night, he is a man of little courage. You’re as likely to find him standing tall at the front of the group as cowering behind the others. Being so strong and having the Tackle skill, he can overpower adversaries and force them into a grapple, where his Wrestling skill and size will give him a great advantage.

Build +3 Coordination +1 Perception 0 +15 Life +3 melee damage +3 grapple

+1 Dodge Value +1 ranged damage

Life

35

Dodge Value

4

Skills

Traits

Run

Athlete

+2 to run rolls

+1 to athletic rolls

Swimming

Fearful

+2 to swimming rolls

Tackle +2 to drag down rolls

Wrestling +2 grapple

-1 to Fear rolls

Good Cardio remove first Fatigue penalty

Weightlifter +1 to strength rolls, +1 to melee damage

Gear

flashlight

Ruth

Runner A consummate athlete, Ruth never stands still for long and is always game for a challenge. A runner of track and cross-country, a gymnast and martial artist, she trusts in her physical abilities to carry her through any danger. Her high Coordination and Dodge skill add up to make her very difficult to attack. High Coordination also aids her Run skill, enabling her to escape enemies quickly.

Build 0 Coordination +3 Perception -1 +3 Dodge Value +3 ranged damage

-1 to perception, observation, and intelligence rolls

Life

20

Dodge Value

7

Traits Athlete +1 to athletic rolls

Runner +2 to run rolls

Eye of the Tiger remove first two Fatigue penalties

Skills

Quick Reflexes

Acrobatics +2 to acrobatics rolls

+1 to Coordination rolls

Dodge

Weightlifter

+2 to dodge rolls +1 to DV

Jump +2 to jump rolls

Karate

+2 To Hit/+2 damage unarmed

Run +2 to run rolls

+1 to strength rolls, +1 to melee damage

Gear

water bottle

Tom

Ball Player Once the star of the high school baseball team, Tom hasn’t had a lot going for him since then. This recent misadventure with his friends is no exception. Life has been throwing him a lot of curveballs since graduation... is he about to strike out? Tom’s Sporting Implements skill grants him +2 To Hit and to damage when attacking with his baseball bat. With his wellrounded physical stats, skills, and traits, he is a character that will be useful in many different situations.

Build +1 Coordination +1 Perception -1 +5 Life +1 melee damage +1 grapple

+1 Dodge Value +1 ranged damage

-1 to perception, observation, and intelligence rolls

Life

Dodge Value

30

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Skills

Traits

Driving Under Pressure

Athlete

+2 to driving

+1 to athletic rolls

Pitch

Great Cardio

+2 to throwing rolls +2 To Hit/+2 damage with thrown item

Run +2 to run rolls

remove first Fatigue penalty

Courageous +2 to Fear rolls

Iron Constitution

Sporting Implements

+5 Life

+2 To Hit/+2 damage with sport item

Gear

baseball bat

Paige

Bookworm While she is glad to call herself Cate’s best friend, Paige does sometimes wonder why she lets the gung-ho camper get her into so much trouble. It’s a sure thing that before long, Cate will pull Paige’s nose out of her books to make her help with the latest fiasco. With her massive Perception score and varied expertise, Paige can add +6 to most knowledge rolls, equipping the group with much-needed insights into how to survive.

Build -1 Coordination 0 Perception +3 -3 Life -1 melee damage -1 grapple

Life

17

+3 to perception, observation, and intelligence rolls

Dodge Value

3

Skills

Traits

Memorization

Devoted

+2 to memorization rolls

may unparalyze ally

Science

Bookworm

+2 to scientific knowledge rolls

+1 to knowledge rolls, may reroll class skill rolls

Local History +2 to historical knowledge rolls

Computer Hacking +2 to computer knowledge rolls

Circuitry +2 to circuitry knowledge rolls

Decipher +2 to decoding/translating rolls

Hide +2 to hide rolls

Gear

chemistry book (+2 to chemistry rolls) notepad & pen

Paranormal Investigator

Sheri

Sheri is the smartest person in the room as far as she’s concerned. It makes it that much more frustrating to deal with when no one will listen to her regarding forces from the other side. They’ll be happy to have her when they have no idea what’s going on and she and her camera are capturing all the proof she needs. With her high Perception and natural Paranormal Knowledge bonus of +4, she is the go-to expert for anything beyond the realm of science.

Build 0

Coordination -1 Perception +2 -1 Dodge Value -1 ranged damage

Life

20

Dodge Value

+2 to perception, observation, and intelligence rolls

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Skills

Traits

Decipher

Paranormal Investigator

+2 to decoding/translating rolls

+4 to paranormal knowledge rolls

Paranormal Weaponry

Over-Prepared

+2 to making or using paranormal weapons

buy an extra item from the gear list

Recording

+2 to Panic! rolls

+2 to using video/audio/ electromagnetic recording devices

Run +2 to run rolls

Courage Under Fire

Gear

video camera EMF/audio recorder flashlight

Walter

Sleuth A lifetime of crime dramas, police procedurals, and mystery novels has shaped Walter into a capable private eye. His analytical mind and calm demeanor make him a natural choice for group leader, and the others seldom argue. With his brass knuckles, Vigilante and Justice, stashed in his pocket next to his lockpicks, he feels confident in his ability to deliver himself and others from danger.

Build +1 Coordination 0 Perception +1 +5 Life +1 melee damage +1 grapple

+1 to perception, observation, and intelligence rolls

Life

25

Dodge Value

3

Skills

Traits

Boxing

Brave

+2 To Hit and damage unarmed

+1 to Fear rolls

Detect Motive

Sleuth

+2 to discerning intent

+2 to observation rolls

Lockpicking

Stiff Jab*

+2 to lockpicking rolls

+2 damage when boxing

Observation +2 to observation rolls

Sneak +2 to sneaking rolls

Gear

brass knuckles lockpicks

*Survive the Night encourages innovation. Stiff Jab is not on the traits list, but if Walter’s player gets it approved by the Narrator, he can take it at an agreed-upon points price. Feel free to invent your own!

Cate

Camper Cate has always loved the outdoors. A common sight on weekend camping trips and in sporting goods stores, Cate can handle anything nature throws her way. Best friends with Paige, she is the more outgoing and personable of the two, though her loud personality sometimes gets her on Paige’s bad side. She is someone you want on your team in case you need to survive any length of time outdoors. Using traits and packing extra water, she is also highly resilient to the stamina drains of the game.

Build 0 Coordination +1 Perception 0 +1 Dodge Value +1 ranged damage

Life

20

Skills Wilderness Survival +2 to wilderness rolls

Sense Direction

Dodge Value

4

Traits Eye of the Tiger remove first two Fatigue penalties

+2 to sense direction rolls

Ropework +2 to ropework rolls

Swimming +2 to swimming rolls

Hide +2 to hide rolls

Gear

lighter rope (40 ft.) sheath knife water bottle

Doomsday Prepper

Randall

Twitchier than the other members of the group, Randall is distrustful and has secretly been waiting for something to go wrong for a long time. He listens to Jan, trusting her instincts. He is quick to draw his gun but never fires without due caution. As the only member of the group who always brings a firearm, his utility in dangerous situations is undeniable. Hopefully they aren’t contending with anything that is immune to bullets…

Build 0 Coordination 0 Perception 0

Life

25

Dodge Value

3

Skills

Traits

Shooting

Brave

+2 To Hit with firearms

+1 to Fear rolls

Barricading

Iron Constitution

+2 to barricading rolls

+5 Life

Lockpicking

Quick Reflexes

+2 to lockpicking rolls

Mechanics +2 to mechanics rolls

+1 to Coordination rolls

Gear

pistol with 12 rounds tire iron

Mitch

Hunter Mitch’s summers spent living off the land have taught him one thing: he doesn’t need anyone else. Other people only slow him down. He’s polite to others, but when it comes down to life and death, Mitch is going to use his prodigious survival skills to look out for number one. Others will just have to keep up. If he can get his hands on an appropriate weapon and gear, he has a chance of making it through the entire game himself.

Build +1 Coordination +1 Perception +1 +5 Life +1 melee damage +1 grapple

+1 Dodge Value +1 ranged damage

Life

25

+1 to perception, observation, and intelligence rolls

Dodge Value

4

Skills

Traits

Wilderness Survival

Hunter

+2 to wilderness rolls

+2 to Perception rolls

Sense Direction

Self-serving

+2 to sense direction rolls

unable to put self at risk to help others

Hunting Implements +2 to making or using hunting tools

Shooting +2 To Hit with firearms

Sneak +2 to sneaking rolls

Gear

beef jerky

Jan

Leader A natural leader, Jan is the most levelheaded of the team and responsible for most decisions that see them to safety (and into danger, but she focuses on the positive). With diplomacy and intelligence she can reason her way out of many quandaries, while delegating other duties to friends who excel in other areas. Her Rally ability and her First Aid skill make her indispensable to the group.

Build 0 Coordination 0 Perception +1 +1 to perception, observation, and intelligence rolls

Life

20

Dodge Value

3

Skills

Traits

Diplomacy

Leader

+2 to diplomacy rolls

+2 to Fear rolls

First Aid

Rally

+2 to first aid rolls

all party memebers can reroll any failed Fear roll that Jan passes

Sneak +2 to sneak rolls

Gear

flashlight first aid kit

Courageous +2 Fear rolls

Cool Headed +1 Panic! rolls

Dave

Wingman

Veterinary student by day, epic wingman by night, Dave’s always got his best bro’s back. Granted, this time his bro seems to have gotten into more trouble than usual, and after a night of hard drinking Dave isn’t sure where he got the brick he’s holding, but you never know: it might come in handy! Dave has a broad set of skills, but his supportive traits are what make him stand out. As long as his best friend (chosen at the beginning of the game) is nearby, both of them will perform much better in their Fear and Panic! rolls.

Build 0 Coordination 0 Perception 0 Life

20

Dodge Value

3

Skills

Traits

Animal Handling

Wingman

+2 to handling animals

Bluff +2 to bluff rolls

Driving Under Pressure +2 to driving rolls

First Aid +2 to first aid rolls

Gear

bottle of booze brick

both roll two Panic! dice, choose highest

Devoted Friend both get +1 to Fear rolls

Brave +1 to Fear rolls

Cool-Headed +1 to Panic! rolls

Devoted may unparalyze ally

Greg

Follower Greg is not sure why he came along. He loves a good party and wouldn’t mind impressing the ladies with a few card tricks and funny anecdotes, but it’s pretty clear that playing cards and drinking games won’t help him this time. Greg’s three ‘Lucky Breaks’ grant him rerolls at any point in the game that he chooses. He receives +2 to these rerolls. Between that and his diverse list of skills, he’s got a better shot at making it through the coming dangers than most.

Build 0 Coordination +1 Perception +1 +1 Dodge Value +1 ranged damage

+1 to perception, observation, and intelligence rolls

Dodge Value

Life

4

20

Skills

Traits

Bluff

Lucky Break x3

+2 to bluff rolls

Disguise +2 to disguising himself and others

Hide +2 to hide rolls

Sleight of Hand +2 to dextrous deception rolls

Gear

deck of playing cards bottle of booze

Name

Appearance

Class

Build

Life

Coordination

Perception

Dodge Value

Gear

Skills

Notes

Traits

Narrator's Guide

40

Introduction You have learned the rules and determined that you want to be the Narrator for an upcoming session of Survive the Night. First of all, don’t worry! All of the rules you need to host a game are present in the Player’s Guide: there are no new rules listed here. Rather, this guide is meant to help new and practiced game masters run a session of Survive the Night. Within these pages you will find pointers for how to run the story and how to respond to common situations within the game. Four example scenarios (Aqualung, Unholy Trinity, The Dreamer and Carnage at Camp Ojibwe) are included at the end of the guide as a baseline for what you can do with the system.

Your Job The players’ role in Survive the Night is to work together to survive the hostile game elements. Your role as the Narrator is to array those game elements against the players to ensure a satisfying and challenging experience. Even though you are in charge of setting the stage, remember that the choices of the players should drive the direction and ultimate outcome of the story. There are a few things to remember in order to maximize the ratio of fun to tragedy in a game where all of the players’ characters might die. Below are a few things learned from other Narrators’ experiences, recorded here for your benefit.

The Basics You begin a standard game of Survive the Night by setting the scene. Often this is a prewritten segment of story to kick off the experience and set the players in the right direction. You will find examples of setting the scene in the scenarios at the back of this book. This introduction can be anything from a few sentences to a few paragraphs. In some scenarios, one or more scenes take place before anything dangerous or supernatural occurs. This gives the characters time to familiarize themselves with their setting before they have to fight to survive in it. Maps are sometimes included with the scenario, but are not always given to the characters.

41 After the scene is set, you want to introduce the characters. This can be done by going around the circle of players and having them announce their character’s name, class, and a few important details about their character. Alternatively, the players can introduce themselves through role playing if they want to get into character. When the scene is set and characters are introduced, the players begin telling you what they would like to do. It is up to you whether you want to follow a strictly turn-based format or if you prefer an open forum playstyle. Turn-based play starts with the player on the Narrator’s right or left and goes all the way around the circle, with the Narrator free to insert events or actions as desired between the turns of the players. Open forum is a playstyle where turns progress more casually and organically. Whenever a player has something they would like their character to do, they simply say so. The players are trusted to remain orderly without shouting over one another. Your job is to make sure that people do not take more than their share of turns before the less outspoken members of the group get to act. Most games will wind up as a hybrid between these two styles, with combat becoming turn-based and other scenes being an open forum as some players will have more to say and do than others. This allows everyone to fight or run in proper sequence, while giving characters with skills relevant to the scene the freedom to take successive turns until it is resolved.

The Meat of the Game Your job as the Narrator, above all else, is to use your creativity to keep the game fun and engaging. You can be as creative as you like with Survive the Night; from writing your own scenarios and building your own monsters to interpreting existing scenarios in new ways and reacting to your players. While creating scenarios is enjoyable, making sure the players are entertained means reading your players, what they enjoy, and how they react to the game you are running. Everyone’s nightmares are a little different. You can give your players hours of entertainment (and fright) by bringing yours to the table! Choosing a ‘Theater of the Mind’ or Grid playstyle is important for any group, though some Narrators take elements from both playstyles. “Theater of the Mind” simply means that the game takes place entirely in the imaginations of the players

Gameplay Example Greg, Biff, and Cate are trapped in an old house surrounded by zombies. They find that a zombie is in there with them and, luckily, all pass their Fear rolls. Greg uses his beer bottle as a weapon and attacks the zombie, but misses. Biff uses his Tackle skill to drag the zombie down and prevent it from attacking the others. Both Biff and the zombie make grapple rolls, which Biff wins. He does 4 damage by pinning and punching the zombie. Cate pulls her sheath knife and stabs the zombie, landing a hit and dealing 7 damage. The zombie had 10 life before their attack, and is now dead (for real this time). The characters are still trapped in the house and start discussing how to get out. Greg has the Disguise skill and suggests wearing the defeated zombie’s blood and viscera to look like zombies themselves. The Narrator decides it would take Greg several minutes to convincingly disguise each character. Biff and Cate decide to sit still, skipping their turns, simply listening for any sign that other zombies have broken in while Greg takes the time he needs and makes Disguise rolls for all three of them.

43 (Narrator included) and that important details such as whether a character has time to perform an action or is standing on the far or near side of a room must be agreed upon by the people playing. A grid style of play is so-named because it uses a grid and markers (generally dryerase) to display the area the characters are in and miniatures to show where each character is. This is sometimes useful for showing where everyone is for combat purposes or for keeping a running visual for who is leading the group and who is bringing up the rear.

While using a grid system, a good standard is that players move up to 6 spaces per turn, or up to 4 spaces diagonally, and can attack once per turn anytime they end their move next to another person or antagonist. You as the Narrator can change this convention as you see fit. Roleplaying is another big element for the Narrator. While the players each have one character to control, it is your job to control every other character in the story. Some Narrators do this by taking on different voices and accents for each important actor in the story. Others glaze over this, standing resolutely in the storyteller role and conveying what is being said without engaging directly with the player, character to character. There is no wrong way to play. Just do what is comfortable for you and your group. Disputes are possible in a game of Survive the Night, especially with players trying to argue that their character should have lived through a scene. It is up to you how much leeway you want to allow for bargaining or arguing against you. Just remember, at the end of the day, the Narrator’s word is law.

44 It may be fair to give a character a second lease on life if you and the player misunderstood one another. Perhaps the character would have known something that the player didn’t (‘Oh, I didn’t realize the monster was nine feet tall...I would not have attacked it if I knew that!’) or you made a premature decision without realizing or remembering something about the situation. The same logic goes for smaller disagreements, as well. Common sources of contention are miscommunications about the layout of a room or building, the distances between players and antagonists, and the physical possibility of various actions or events within the game. Be clear in your descriptions, especially when the players have a lot to lose! Pacing is key to a good game. Think of your favorite horror movies. How do they begin? The answer, for most of them, is suspense. Throwing the main character into a room with a werewolf in the opening two minutes does not have nearly as much punch as dropping clues that the group is being hunted leading up to the much-dreaded first encounter! Once first contact is made, the players are counting on you to keep the tension high and the action moving at a faster pace than it was before. While there are different strategies for running an effective game, starting slow and building to a climax is a tried and true formula. Controlling death is a major component of controlling pace. Keeping everyone alive until the halfway point is a good way to ensure that you are building tension rather than just a body count. This also helps to keep your players engaged, and prevents players from being thrown out of the story early. Once the first person dies, the degree of danger should build and the rate of death increase. The margin for player error should get smaller and smaller as the game wears on. Bad judgment and bad luck (poor dice rolling) are the preferred causes of death at first. But as players become more cautious and the danger grows, there may not be any more good choices left to make and bad luck may mean simply running slower than the person next to you. Confusion is an enemy of heart-pounding pace. Games get bogged down when the players are uncertain what to do. Give them clues about what they can do next if they are struggling to choose a course of action: a hastily scrawled note left by a previous victim with a bright idea to defeat the monster, an untended garden with garlic that their bloodsucking attacker will not go near, or perhaps the character with the highest Perception is asked to make an intelligence roll, allowing you to give the players an idea as a ‘flash of insight.’

The End Justifies the Means A last note: being a stickler for the rules can hurt the game if it leads to an unsatisfying end for the players. As the Narrator, it is ultimately up to you if things go well or run into a wall. While you should not cheat the players out of a hard-earned victory, you may find that a creature you designed is dying too quickly from the players’ attacks or that they discovered a quick and easy way to escape your death trap in the first twenty minutes. In instances like these, it is acceptable to decide that your monster has more endurance than you initially wrote down, that there is rubble blocking the road out of the wilderness, or any other reasons that keep the characters locked into the story.

46 Be flexible in both directions. If the game has come down to its final act where a solitary survivor finds their escape blocked by the looming form of the villain, it might be better for the story that the villain fall even if it would usually be too strong for one character to defeat alone. Another common occurrence is for a player to want to use a character skill in a situation where you are not sure it would be useful. Can Animal Handling really be used to calm down the hellhounds chasing the group? Can Diplomacy be used to reason with a psychopath bent on killing the character in the next five seconds? The rule of thumb is to do whatever makes the experience better. People like it when their creative choices pay off. As long as it does not derail the game, work with players and roll with the punches of their creativity.

Example Playthrough Charlie is running his first homemade Survive the Night scenario. He opens the scene, casting his four friends onto a desolate island strewn with bones. They do not yet know of the carnivorous creatures that live inland or the science lab at the center of it all where they were created. After giving them a brief description of the shore, Charlie sets them loose to discover what they can. He litters their environment with ominous clues about the dangers they face, including a skeleton clutching an old map marking the way to the science lab. Charlie has planned some great encounters with the beasts that live on this island, depending on where the group goes. Unfortunately, the players fixate on the skeleton and relentlessly investigate all the bones they find on the shore, showing no interest in going inland where the beasts live. Charlie considers methods of getting them back on track and ultimately decides to give them what they want. He decides—though he didn’t plan on this beforehand—that there is a vault in the science lab with a device that can control the creatures. The skeleton of the scientist who owns that vault is out where the group can find it, clutching a key. When they investigate, they find that the scientist was clearly trying to go inland, gripping the key with purpose before being cut down. The players follow the clues and head for the lab. After about thirty minutes navigating the island, escaping quicksand, avoiding the traps laid by the scientist, and seeing more signs of the hungry creatures that live here, they finally trigger the encounter that Charlie has been anticipating.

47 The monster erupts from its hiding place and lunges toward the players. One character fails a Fear roll and another chooses not to run in the face of the monster, putting two out of the four characters at risk. Charlie thinks that it would be okay for one of the characters to die here since they spent so much time looking at bones and the game has gone on for about half as long as he wants it to, but he doesn’t want to lose half the group so soon. Forced to choose between a player who elected to stay and fight versus the one who simply rolled poorly on their Fear roll, Charlie decides it is better to claim the character whose poor judgment caused their danger. As Character One watches Character Two being devoured, Charlie tells Player One that this sight jars them from their fear-induced paralysis, and they are free to flee. The chase is on! The group does their best to find shelter and some kind of weapon to use against the creatures of the island. Charlie cannot wait as long as he did the first time for the villains to claim another character. He will be looking out for bad decisions and opportunities to introduce new dramatic events. If the characters behave sensibly, then he will be looking for people who fail rolls, either those based on Fear or the rolls meant to evade the monsters. The faster the pace and the more dangerous the situation, the more often he can demand that the players make rolls. This continues to escalate leading up to their final desperate effort to either get the device that controls the creatures or find a boat and row away from the island of monsters.

Tips for Creating Your Own Scenario While you are encouraged to use the scenarios in this book, the most fulfilling thing about narrating a game of Survive the Night is exercising your own creativity and taking the players down the rabbit hole of your own nightmare. Sandbox is a term used for a free-range environment that your players can interact with rather than a predetermined linear sequence of events. While stories and many games benefit from the latter, Survive the Night is a horror experience that kills off a good number of its players. The players should be directing the story, so survival or death is due to their own cleverness or recklessness. Death, as previously mentioned, is a major component in the pacing of the game. Try to keep the players alive until about halfway through the session. Character creation can take some time and no one wants to spend 15 minutes making a character only to die 10 minutes into the game. If the game has an estimated 60

48 minute length, try to keep everyone alive for half an hour. If it has an estimated length of five hours, make sure everyone survives the first two or three. Players with dead characters might still enjoy seeing how the story turns out, but only if they were invested in it at the time of their death. Making an example of a character can establish the threat of the villain in a profound way. Sometimes, someone has to die early to reveal the danger at hand. Non-player characters—or NPC’s—are a great way to achieve this, especially if you include them often enough that the players cannot predict that they will always die. In the sample scenario, The Dreamer, you will see an example of an NPC who is used this way, showing the players that death is around every corner without any of the players’ characters having to die. Try to be creative with non-lethal ways for the villain to reveal themselves, as well. It does not pay to be predictable when scaring your friends. Keep descriptions short and to the point. Setting the scene by describing the environment or monster is fine, but remember that when you are reading, the players are not playing. Do your best to keep them playing or thinking about their next move and deliberating amongst themselves on the best course of action.

49

Look for loopholes. When designing a scenario, look for ways to get around your desired sequence of events. The players should be given freedom and you should be flexible with your interpretations so that their ingenuity is rewarded. But a passed Mechanics skill roll leading to a hotwired car and a quick exit, or a story that begins with a wide open window for the players to leave before anything supernatural happens, can easily lead to your scenario falling flat. Remember cause and consequence. More than anything else in the game, the players will respond to your control over death in the story and so will the length of the game. Bear in mind the likely causes of death. Make note of them so that you can kill characters at fair and appropriate times, rather than quickly snuffing them out in unsatisfying ways late in the session just to bring it to a close. Jump on these opportunities, starting with bad judgment, after the halfway point. Try to avoid killing players based on total chance for as long as possible and generally give them an opportunity to make good rolls to prolong their lives.

Conclusion Hopefully this guide has been helpful to you. In the following pages there are four example scenarios available to provide ready-made games so you can play immediately after learning the rules and perhaps gain inspiration for your own games moving forward!

Aqualung

Recommended Players: 4-6 

Estimated Game Length: 1-2 hours

52

Synopsis The characters find themselves in a sewer complex without any of their gear, and the whole place is quickly flooding with water. They only have a short time to find the key that will let them escape, but someone who knows the tunnels better than they do will claim as many of them as possible before they get out.

Narrator Notes Bear the rising water level in mind, and use the threat of that to drive the players forward. This not only helps you control the length of the game, but also allows you to empower your antagonist, Aqualung. He operates just fine in water while the other characters will become slowed and cannot see well beneath the surface. Aqualung, being human, is susceptible to bullets. You should ensure that the keys that will allow the group to acquire any guns they might have brought are hidden at the extreme ends of the complex.

Introduction You wake up in the dark, the cold floor freezing on your skin. The desolate sound of dripping water echoes off the walls. Rustling and groans fill the room as others wake up around you. What is this place? Why are you here? The only light is from a trail of glowsticks leading out of this cramped concrete chamber into the tunnel beyond.

54

Entrance (1) If the group takes up the glow sticks and look around, they will find: ◊  A ladder of metal rungs that leads up twenty feet to a circular hatch door. ◊  The wheel lock for the hatch door is held in place by a sturdy chain attached to an exposed piece of rebar. ◊  A heavy-duty padlock keeps the chain in place. They will need a key to escape. ◊  A camera is fixed to the wall near the hatch, its wires extending deeper into the complex. As they explore the tunnels, they will find that security cameras appear at regular intervals on the walls beside these wires. Note: The padlock out is unpickable, either due to the quality of the lock or because it is at too awkward of an angle for them to bring both hands into the work of picking it.

Television Tunnel (2) Following the glow stick trail, they come down a short tunnel lined by ceilingmounted televisions in wire cages, each connected by a bundle of cables that runs along the ceiling all the way back toward the Entrance, and deeper into the complex going the other way. The first person who looks at one of the TV’s triggers the following scene: The video is grainy, but you recognize your apartment. And that’s you, coming home late from work. You approach your door, oblivious as a man dressed all in black emerges from the shadows, huge and looming behind you. You never had a chance. Your stomach knots up as you see him jab a hypodermic needle into your arm, and you watch the recording of yourself struggling feebly before passing out. The goon drags you offscreen. Each television depicts variations on the same thing, each victim picked off at home or in parking lots late at night The tunnel comes to a T-junction, and a television hangs over that junction beside a camera. It comes on, the screen flashing blue with footage of sharks in frenzy over chum. Visceral human screaming, more real than anything from the movies, plays over the footage. Then the screaming stops, replaced by a composed voice:

55

“Welcome, contestants. You have been selected to participate in our game show, Aqualung! Our viewership is small, but generous with its donations. Take note: it is against the rules to damage any of the cameras you see arrayed about the sewer complex. You will be prohibited from winning if you do so. “Here is how to win. You must find the key and open the hatch to escape. You must do this before the rising waters fill the complex. There are multiple keys hidden throughout the tunnels, as well as numerous lockers which hold the effects you had before you came here. “But you are not alone down there. You share the tunnels with something that has no fear of the water. Its goal in the game is to kill as many of you as possible before you escape the tunnels. Good luck!” The sound of rushing water fills the complex as the video ends, echoing down the concrete corridors. A low passage extends left and right beyond the last television. The ground is lower, sloping into a shallow trench that is slowly flooding. Glow sticks light the way down in both directions from beneath the water.

56 Note: You may choose the rate at which the water rises over the course of the game to maximize dramatic effect and either increase or lower difficulty. There is no official mechanic for how quickly the water level rises, only that the characters suffocate if it fills the tunnels completely.

Locker Room (3) At the left end of the junction they find the locker room. There is no light source in this chamber, so the group will either need to use the glow sticks for very minimal light, or come back with a flashlight. There is a pit in the middle of this room, seven feet lower than the rest of the sewers. A lip around it, two feet high, prevents it from flooding immediately. At the bottom of the pit, lockers are stacked haphazardly, each shut with a padlock. The number of lockers is equal to one more than the number of players. There is another tunnel on the opposite side of the chamber from the way they came in. Glow sticks do not generate enough light to see this unless a player crosses the room. Note: If anyone approaches this tunnel or thoroughly investigates the lockers, a deep animal bellow comes from the far tunnel, triggering a Fear roll against difficulty 5. Each locker belongs to one of the players. The keys throughout the complex can be assigned to specific players or determined randomly. The extra locker in the pit belongs to Aqualung, though the key to it is hidden along with the other keys and not on his person. It holds a facemask and oxygen tank, a harpoon gun with rope and one harpoon (it deals 3d6 damage if fired), and a handheld meathook (2d6 damage). Inside they can also find a glass vial of clear, unlabeled solution and an empty tube of superglue.

Animal Planet (4) This room lies at the right end of the junction. It is ringed by six televisions in wire cages, which flicker to life as soon as anyone sets foot in the room. The footage on-screen is of sharks tearing into chum, red spreading through the water.

57 ◊  In the blue and red light from the TV’s, the group can see a small metal tray hanging by a chain from the ceiling. The tray contains a flashlight and a small, nondescript key. ◊  The tray is welded to the chain and cannot be removed. The flashlight is low on battery and only emits weak light. This key goes to one of the lockers in the locker room. Which locker is random, save that it must be a player who brought no weapons if possible. ◊  There is a tunnel heading left, 90 degrees from the one the group came in through. There are no more glow sticks.

Long Tunnel (5) The tunnel beyond the Animal Planet room goes a long way down, further than the flashlight will reach. They can see the wheel lock to a hatch door thirty yards down on the left. This wheel lock is stuck if they try to open it, but going down that far, they see the tunnel continues. There is a second exit down the hall on the left (it is an open passage, with no hatch door). Twenty yards past that, the main hallway takes a ninety degree turn to the left.

58

Fork: Key Shrine (6) This narrow path is twenty yards deep, and leads to a cylindrical chamber ten feet across. A tray is fixed to the concrete on the opposite wall. The tray has keys on it (equal to the number of players minus 2). Each key goes to a random player’s locker. Note: Feel free to include a trap of your own here, or to use one of the recommended traps from the end of this scenario. The group often encounters this room early, so it is recommended that the trap not be lethal. Sometimes leaving it empty lowers the players’ defenses so that they are not looking for a trap when they reach Room 7.

Straight Path: Rails (7) The turn at the end of the hall leads down a black tunnel with a higher ceiling. The group can see the water level rising as they go down this passage, and notice a particularly ominous sight above their heads: razor-sharp blades welded to a long track extending into the distance. This track is screwed into the ceiling periodically along the tunnel, bracketed on either side by rails. ◊  At the end of the tunnel is a cramped circular chamber ten feet in diameter. ◊  Set into an alcove at the far end of the Play it Again! chamber is a tray with a key on it. In subsequent playthroughs, ◊  The tray is fixed into the concrete do not expect players to beside two metal brackets extending willingly walk into this trap just to the ceiling. because their character doesn’t ◊  There is a hatch on the left side of the know that it’s there. A way to room. change it up is to let them notice ◊  The water level is high enough to and jump over the pressure plate, obscure the pressure plate under their only to have Aqualung open the feet. hatch door before they reach the ◊  The first person to step into the key. Anyone who fails a fear roll chamber, unless they specifically may be compelled to run back over state that they jump into the room the plate. Anyone who is paralyzed, or examine the floor directly in the villain can throw onto the plate front of them, sets off the rail trap. and trigger the killing switch. You can also replace this trap with one of your own altogether.

59 The click is the only warning you get, and the room erupts into violent motion. A metal platform bursts from the floor, racing up tracks hidden just inside of the chamber. It terminates half a foot from the blades on the ceiling. This inflicts 4d6 damage to the victim. The mechanism has locked into place, but if anyone in the group passes a Mechanics skill roll against difficulty 7, has rope and Ropework so that everyone can work together to wrench the locking mechanism free, or any other viable solution, they can save their comrade. If anyone in the group reaches for the tray in the alcove, they hear another click, and then the platform zooms off along its rails to the far end of the tunnel, shredding anyone it has trapped inside. Anyone who grabs for the key will find that it is hopelessly affixed to the tray in a mass of congealed superglue. There is little hope of prying it off the tray, and even if they did, the goop would prevent it from fitting into any locks. Note: The mystery solution in Aqualung’s locker can dissolve the glue, leaving the key pristine. If secured in this way, this key can be used to open the hatch door leading up and out of the complex.

Beyond the Lockers (8) ◊  If the group goes past the Locker Room to the tunnel beyond, the tunnel turns right sharply, and then stretches onward into the blackness. As soon as they peak around the corner, a snarl and roar booms from the passage. Fear difficulty 5 if this is their first time hearing it. ◊  If they forge ahead, the group sees a speaker hanging from the ceiling. The sound effects cease as soon as they reach the speaker. ◊  The tunnel goes on for fifty yards. At the end of the hall, there is a hatch door straight ahead beside an exposed piece of rebar, and a ninety-degree turn to the right. ◊  Down the right turn, extending into the distance for another forty yards, they can see a vague shape set into the wall. There are two alcoves off to the right of this hallway. The first is fifteen yards ahead and it leads into another chamber. The second is five yards from the far end of the tunnel, and it is simply a hatch.

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First Alcove: Keys (9) This alcove is actually a low hall leading to a cylindrical chamber ten feet across. On the far wall, a tray is fixed to the concrete. The tray has two keys on it. The lockers they go to are random. ◊  Observation roll to notice that there is a hollow in the ceiling above the pit. It is filled with large plastic drums, and connected to the tray by cleverly hidden wires. There is a camera in this room as well. ◊  As soon as anyone reaches for the keys, they hear a crack and the contents of the drums pour down over their head. Fear difficulty 3. In the dark, they cannot tell the color, only that the contents are liquid. This is a white phosphorus solution, a substance that spontaneously ignites when dry and exposed to oxygen. ◊  Once they have been doused, there is little hope for them. If they get wet from head to toe periodically for the rest of the game, then they will be safe. As soon as they get dry, the white phosphorus reaction will ignite so aggressively that they cannot extinguish it before it burns them mortally. This causes a Fear roll difficulty 4 in surrounding group members.

Second Alcove: The Grinder (10) As the group walks down the tunnel, they see that the shape at the end of the hall is some kind of winch or motor, two horizontal cylinders with gear-like teeth that fit together. Aqualung is waiting just beyond the hatch door near this device. If they ventured here early, Aqualung will loom into view from the hatch door, a figure obscured in black with goggle eyes. If they came after the water level has risen, all they see are ripples around a formless black figure in the water. Fear difficulty 5. Aqualung fires his harpoon gun (3d6 damage), and adds +2 To Hit. There is a rope tied to the end of the first harpoon. If the water level is high, Dodge Value is reduced for all parties by 1, 2 or even 3 (depending on whether the water is knee high, waist high, or chest high). Aqualung can proceed to attack the group or retreat through the hatch of the second alcove, closing and locking it behind him using a chain and padlock.

61 The winch begins to turn at high speed as soon as the hatch door closes, or whenever Aqualung chooses to activate it. The winch draws taut the rope caught in its gears—the same one attached to the harpoon—and drags the victim to a grisly end unless someone has a blade to cut the rope, someone with the Ropework skill passes a roll of difficulty 7 (they may add their Coordination), or the group can muster a strength roll against difficulty 10 (the strength it takes to rip the harpoon out of the victim’s flesh for 2d6 additional damage).

Hidden Passage (11) The space between the two locked hatch doors is an empty corridor that Aqualung can use to traverse between locations (5) and (8). He keeps them locked from the inside using chains with padlocks, connecting the wheel locks to exposed rebar on the inside the same way the hatch door out of the complex is locked.

Livewire Trap (12) This can be triggered in the long tunnels between alcoves if the group destroys any of the cameras or if the group needs a harder challenge. Have the group make an Observation roll to notice that there is a hollow in the ceiling. In it there is a camera looking down at them. Beside the camera is a springloaded blade affixed to the wall and aimed across the wires near the ceiling. The trigger can either be remote-controlled or connected to a tripwire in the tunnel. The group hears a snipping sound, then a live wire falls into the water near them. It deals 3d6 damage to everyone standing nearby, 1d6 for those standing further out. Each character hit is paralyzed for three turns for every five damage done to them, rounded down. This is especially dangerous if Aqualung is nearby.

Bear Trap (13) Like the livewire trap, this can be situated anywhere it is needed by the Narrator. Perception difficulty 2 is required to spot this before stepping on it if they have a light source better than a glowstick. If they don’t, they need to pass a Luck roll against difficulty 4 (a roll with no modifiers) not to set it off.

62 The trap breaks the victim’s leg and deals 2d6 damage, chaining them to the floor. It requires strength difficulty 3 to open the trap back up, but it takes two turns to do this safely. Bear traps are one-use only, though the Narrator can scatter more than one throughout the complex.

Aqualung Note: Flavor text like what follows is meant to give the Narrator context and inspiration when playing the villains. It is not meant to be read aloud to the players, though the Narrator is free to do so if it could enhance the experience! In the history of the game, no contestant has ever made an impact like the first season winner. Even after ten years of the game, the ratings have never exceeded those of the oft-rewatched first season. The brutality, the gore, the ruthless self interest...the spectacle of that first game launched an enthusiasm that has only grown with time. The winning contestant’s combination of power, cunning, and sheer will to live made him an instant crowd favorite. He bested every trap and left a bloody trail through the sharks, crocodiles, and other players that the game had arrayed against him. He swam out of the death trap unopposed. Nothing like it has been seen since. His performance set the tone for all the seasons to come. He was so successful that, a few years later, the producers approached him in the outside world with a check and an invitation to return for future seasons. He agreed, and assumed the title that has been his ever since: Aqualung. The primary antagonist of the sewer complex, Aqualung is a 6’6 brute dressed in a black wetsuit. He has breathing equipment and modified goggles, enabling him to see in the dark and underwater. He is armed with a harpoon gun as well as a combat knife and an axe. He carries the master key for all of the padlocks in the complex, and most notably for the way out. The locks on all of the hatch doors are his and respond to the same key. Notes: ◊ Due to his rubber suit, he is immune to electrical damage. ◊ He can breathe underwater, so he may try to avoid the characters until the water rises.

◊  He has an ear-piece that the show organizers use to inform him of the group’s progress through the complex, which they follow with the cameras on the walls. ◊  Aqualung’s goal is to prevent the group from escaping, so he can ‘win’ the game. He tries to winnow them down with traps until the water levels are high enough that he can attack them with impunity. He relies on his harpoon gun for ranged attacks, and he uses his axe and knife up close. With +5 to strength, he is a dangerous opponent even in a grapple. He receives +2 To Hit and rolls 4d6+7 damage with his axe. He has Dodge Value 3 and 35 life Stats: Build +3, Coordination 0, Perception 0 Skills: Swimming, Melee Weaponry, Shooting, Barricading Traits: Mr. Olympia, Quick Reflexes, Self-serving, Phobia (fire) Gear: Axe (4d6+7), Combat Knife (3d6+7), Harpoon Gun (3d6), Scuba Gear, Master Key

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Escape To escape, the group needs to acquire the key for the padlock to the overhead hatch in the Entrance room. They can acquire this either by de-gluing the key at the end of location (7) or by taking the key from Aqualung himself. Once they get to the lock and have the key, read the cutscene below. The water level rises. You jam the key into the padlock, your heart pounding, and for one tense moment it sticks. Then, with a grinding turn, the metal arm releases. You pull the chain out of the way and turn the wheel lock. The hatch door cracks open and fresh air from the surface vents down the shaft. Metal rungs extend upward. You climb, and hand over hand you pull yourself up out of the cold, damp crypt, to safety. Note: If the group made a habit of destroying cameras, they are answered by the same voice from the opening video introduction telling them that they broke the rules. As they climb, liquid cement is poured down in such quantities that its weight begins to drag them down off the ladder. Strength roll difficulty 4 to climb through the cement current. If they succeed, they find that the cement is being poured by a truck controlled remotely. No further obstacles await them if they get clear.

Unholy Trinity

Recommended Players: 4-6 

Estimated Game Length: 1.5–2.5 hours

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Synopsis The characters have just crossed a ravine with no way back. A wilderness expands out around them in every direction but the way they came, with untold dangers lurking around every corner and night quickly approaching. It is up to them to find safety or a way back to civilization.

Narrator Notes The players can trigger different villains based on where they choose to go first. Feel free to shuffle locations and triggers within the map so that the players cannot manipulate the game upon future playthroughs, or even to force them into an interaction with the villain of your choosing. Pacing can be tricky for this scenario. Remember that Unholy Trinity is a fastpaced story. As soon as they trigger a villain, have that villain make an appearance to spur the game onward. A howl behind them once they reach the cave pushing them to the cabin, a dire meeting with the Baron wherever they are if they refuse to go to the third floor of the manse, or the echoing incantations of the necromancer if they choose the road but never quite make it to the church. Unholy Trinity requires more improvisation than the other scenarios. If the group misses an opportunity to kill the villain or escape, you may need to improvise a new opportunity for them to survive. That, or you can decide that they missed their chance, making them learn the hard way for next time.

Introduction It was a lucky thing you got out of the van when you did. You thought that old wooden bridge could take the weight, but halfway across, the boards began to snap and it was all you could do to ditch the vehicle and escape to the far side. Now the bridge lies at the bottom of the ravine along with your van, twohundred feet down. The sun is setting, and you need to find help—or at least shelter—soon. The road veers to the right, along the eastern side of the cliff. To the left, thick woods obscure your vision, save for a thin dirt trail leading off among the trees.

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◊ The territories in the map are divided into arcs: Moonlit, Candlelit, and Black. ◊ ‘Moonlit’ scenes and territories lie down the dirt path into the woods. ◊ The main road forks a short way down, as described in the ‘Crossroads’ section. ◊ The high road leads to the ‘Candlelit’ territories. Low road is ‘Black.’ ◊ The players are free to go anywhere on the map, but triggering any arc determines which of the three antagonists is active in the session and may change things about different territories. Note: This scenario changes drastically based on the choices of the group. Depending on what locations they explore first, the antagonist is either a werewolf, a vampire, or a lich with his horde of undead. Alter the game accordingly. The Ravine: This is an impassable obstacle for the characters. They have no means by which to traverse this chasm. The cliff past the glade operates the same way. Rock Walls: The rock walls surrounding the manse can be traversed with a Climb or Ropework skill against difficulty 7. The players cannot see any obvious way up the rock walls on their way north, but if they turn back for any reason they can find a stone staircase set into a niche in the wall, granting them access to the central section of the map when fleeing from hazards in the Moonlit and Black arcs.

Moonlit Arc Wooded Path (1) Low growth almost blocks the path down what appears to be an old goat trail. However, after shouldering their way past thick honeysuckle and thornbushes, the way becomes easier. Though the sun is still up (barely), almost no light gets in through the canopy. It is rough going, but the trail stays true, winding through stands of ash and maple trees.

69 Everyone must make a Wilderness Survival roll against difficulty 4 to avoid taking any injury as they navigate the brambles and uneven, stony path. Unlike most Wilderness Survival rolls, they must add Coordination to this roll. Everyone who fails suffers 1d6-3 damage from scrapes, cuts, and scuffs they receive along the way.

Cave (2) Deep amid the twisting ways of the dirt path under the trees, the trail runs up against a sheer rock face jutting up thirty feet. This barrier extends as far as your light shows from northwest to southeast. Set into its base nearest the path is the black mouth of a cave. A stale stink wafts out from somewhere in the dark. ◊  If they go in, they find the place littered with bones, both human and animal. ◊  Dozens of claw marks score the walls as their light scans the interior. ◊  There are three chunks of silver metal on the floor. If someone passes a Science roll against difficulty 6, they recognize these as tooth fillings. Science skill can be used to melt them down to put into the point of a weapon if they have a source of fire. Note: After they discover the claw marks in the cave, it may benefit the story to give your players signs that they are being hunted. A howl from far off that grows closer every time they hear it, snapping twigs just outside the halo of their light, anything to drive them deeper into new areas of the map. Candelit Arc: Instead of the claw marks and silver from above, the players find a bloodless corpse in the cave. If they leave the pale body, it rises and attacks them deeper in the woods. It has 15 life, DV 3, +1 To Hit, and deals 1d6 damage.

Cottage (3) After miles of hiking, the woods thin out into the first large clearing. Just within the treeline, you see a modest cottage. It has a stone chimney and solitary, dark window. The door lies on the ground four feet from its hinges. ◊  There is a pile of firewood on the far side of the cottage, along with a lumber axe (4d6 damage). ◊  An outhouse stands deeper among the trees, about a hundred feet away. ◊  There is no electricity in the cottage. It has chairs, a table, and a kitchen. ◊  An oil lamp rests on a hook inside beside a matchbook.

Moonlit Arc: They find a small journal on the table beside a mostly melted candle. Read the following passage to the players. ‘I can’t live like this. Residing in the cottage to be away from those who know, spending every full moon locked in the basement of my manor by the priest, living like a beast in my own community. It is only a matter of time before someone is killed, or worse. Anything I bite changes, torn apart by the hell in my blood. Vernon has agreed to help me end this. If I cannot do it myself, he will finish it, and scour the evidence of everything that I am.’ Note: If they attempt to stay here, no amount of barricading can keep the werewolf out. It receives +6 to any roll it uses to break through their barricades, and if that fails it can dig under the wall and break in through a weak point in the floorboards. Candlelit Arc: If they can get the door back onto the hinges (Barricading or Mechanics difficulty 4) then the Baron cannot enter. They can safely survive the night. Black Arc: They need to get the door back onto the hinges and pass Barricading difficulty 5 to preserve themselves against the dead. If they do, they can last through the night.

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Glade (4) The trees make way for a wide glade, bright and silver in the moonlight. A family of deer feeds from low shrubs near its heart. Your view is unbroken for hundreds of yards, far enough to see the limits of the clearing. ◊ The dirt path cuts through the glade to join the main road on the opposite side. ◊ The main road cuts into the earth, diving down into the narrow tail of the ravine. ◊ This narrow passage is an escape route, but there is nowhere to run if they get caught. Moonlit Arc: The rock face from the cave extends into the glade, joined by a huge forest of burned trees on the eastern side. The western side is cut off by the curling ravine. The road is on the far side of the glade. Among the deer is a buck that takes an unhealthy interest in the players. If they don’t shoot it immediately (alerting any foes on the map to their presence), describe it approaching them curiously and then read the following. The buck snorts, and a warm, copper-smelling spray covers you. The animal trembles, tossing its head to and fro as its hooves pop with the sound of cracking walnuts. It rears and, with a violent crack, it doubles over backwards. The buck chases them, thrashing with hoof and antler. It receives no hit bonus, and deals 1d6 damage. It has DV 2 and 20 life. Anyone it damages may transform into a werewolf later in the game. If it doesn’t touch anyone, any person caught in its spray is also eligible. Candlelit Arc: The deer have no special properties in this playthrough. However, the glade is a wide open space where they cannot hide from the Baron. He attacks them here if they cut through. Black Arc: The group sees deer crossing the glade in numbers, a worrying unity in their motion. If they stay long, a mob of the dead emerge from the nearby woods. The narrow road out of the area is being choked with dead that swarm over the cliff on the far side, falling and suffering broken legs. They reawaken as voracious, crawling monsters.

The Werewolf There is one werewolf on the map at the start of the game. It used to be Vernon, the friend mentioned in the journal. Anyone bitten who survives becomes a werewolf themselves. The werewolf is likely to first appear sprinting their way or looming in a doorway for ominous effect. A huge shape comes into view, gray and looming. Light reflects from dark eyes, red within black. Bright fangs gleam as black talons curve from its flexing fingers. Fear difficulty 5. The werewolf has 35 life, +8 to Tackle, +8 to grapple, +2 To Hit when it attacks and it may reroll misses. It does 4d6 damage. The wolf can be ‘killed’ but never stays dead unless slain by a silver bullet or fire. If it is appreciably damaged it retreats and comes back later at full health. Those bitten by the werewolf transform at the most dramatic time. Werewolves dislike and attack anyone carrying wolfsbane last, which can be found on a Wilderness Survival or Science roll of 7 in the woods by a character intentionally looking for it. The Paranormal Investigator’s ‘protective herbs’ also count.

The Faces of Master Rothschild Some people are born with a black mark on their lives, fated for ill-fortune. They follow their ideals, try their best to live up to the expectations of their family and peers. Yet, no matter their course, their actions lead to ruin. Such is the fate of one, Master Alexander Rothschild. From a wealthy German family, he suffers a fascination with the occult that—regardless of his many more savory enterprises—must inevitably consume him. Eventually, one or the other of his many

73 obsessions will be his undoing, no matter where the turns of fate land him in space or time. Whether born in Victorian Europe or in modern America, whether a pillar of his community or a bitter outcast, whether he came to love the wild acres of his vast property or delving the secrets of the family library, his doom invariably lies with the dark things of the world. The only gift afforded him by the cruel hands of destiny is the constancy of one friend. No matter what turns Rothschild’s life takes, Vernon is always beside him. Someone he can count on to end his cursed life as a lycanthrope, to serve his immortal life as a vampire, or to act as the unwitting sacrifice to begin his life as an undead sorcerer.

Candlelit Arc High Road (5) Following the road along the ravine’s eastern edge, you have easy going while the light passes from orange-gold to red and slowly a deepening blue. By the day’s failing light you see a fork in the road, a gravel path splitting off from the main thoroughfare up a steep incline toward a rocky ledge. You might see things better from up there, but it looks like a punishing climb. The path you’re on continues to follow the curve of the ravine in a gentle downward slope, but you’re not sure where. ◊  They begin the Candlelit Arc if they take the high road. The Black Arc lies on the low.

Zigzag Trail (6) The gravel path winds aggressively, the only way up what the group sees is a nearly vertical plateau. Given the sheer angle and smooth stone of the bare rock face, they have no hope of traversing it anywhere but here. It is night by the time they reach the top. ◊  Have each player make a Coordination (or Wilderness Survival) roll against difficulty 4. Those who fail suffer a Fatigue penalty. ◊  When they reach the top, they find deep forest, parted in a straight line to make way for the gravel road. At the end of the road lies a large manor house.

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Manor (7) A stately manor house stands quiet in the moonlight. It looks Victorian. You see a small candlelight in a window on the top floor. The manor house is large enough that it could only be owned by someone who is very wealthy. In each arc, it is the living place of Master Rothschild, though only in the Candlelit Arc is the villain found here initially. The notes in this section provide broad guidelines for what the players find within, but feel free to design the specific layout of the manor to your liking. The first floor has six rooms, filled with finery including a grand piano and ornate dining table. In the pantry, the players can find thirteen bottles of high-proof liquor. The second floor has six rooms. There is a rifle in a gun case on this floor, as well as a large-caliber revolver that can hold five bullets (this weapon can fire silver bullets found in the Moonlit Arc). One of the rooms has a reinforced door and bars on the windows. As long as the Candlelit Arc is active, a man named Leo is locked inside the cage room. He got here by taking a boat across the lake to the northeast, and his boat is still there. He says he was kidnapped by a man with a gun (Vernon) and begs the players to retrieve the key to his room from the basement. The basement is a single cement room. Inside is a luxurious chair resting beside a small table with a candelabra. There is a heavy iron cage fixed to the house’s support beams in the corner. The key to this cage is hidden on the third floor in the bedroom. In the Moonlit Arc, the key to the cage room on the second floor is hung from a hook in this room. The third floor is comprised of grandiose living quarters with a large dining area, a kitchen, a bedroom with a four-poster bed, a study, and a sunroom with the drapes pulled apart. In the Moonlit Arc, a pallid aristocrat dressed in fine maroon clothing is eating rare meat with fork and knife in the dining area. He has a goblet of what appears to be thick red wine. He is reading a book by the light of a candelabra. It concerns the many ways one can prepare meat. Note: If the players hesitate to go to the third floor, having the owner of the manse come down to meet them as guests is a good way to get the story moving. Moonlit Arc: If the wolf storyline is active, the alcohol can make a useful weapon, as the damage werewolves take from fire is permanent just like it is with silver. There is a gun on the second floor which can be used to fire the silver bullets from

75 the burned wood to kill the werewolf (6d6x3 damage). If they get the relevant keys, they can also lock themselves in the cage in the basement or the second floor prison room and wait for a daylight victory. Black Arc: If the dead storyline is active, there is plenty of alcohol in the pantry to make Molotov cocktails or other fire-based weapons. However, with the large windows and gaudy doors, the area is indefensible against the hordes of undead. The gun rack in Vernon’s room on the second floor is better-stocked, with a rifle (6d6 damage over long range with Shooting skill and 20 rounds), a shotgun (6d6 damage or 8d6 damage with Shooting skill and 10 shells) and three pistols (24 rounds a piece). The dead in sufficient number can break open the cage in the basement or squirm through the bars. There is a book on occult magic hidden in the study with an eight-pointed star. If they find it and pass Decipher difficulty 7 (Paranormal Investigators receive their +4 bonus to Paranormal Knowledge), they may read spells from it. While Narrators are encouraged to be creative with what this might entail, it isn’t uncommon for players to become besieged in the mansion. A Paranormal Investigator with the Exorcism skill can use the book to weave a counterspell to the necromancy being cast over the region, and engage in a battle of wills against the Lich, ultimately defeating it and banishing the dead to their graves.

Baron Rothschild The man before you is deathly pale, his gaunt features illuminated by candlelight. His pointed chin dimples the ruff of lace around his neck, worn over antiquated maroon dress clothes. Gray eyes study you with languid regard. The Baron greets the players with all aplomb, but he is a ravenous vampire and has no intention of passing on an opportunity to feed. He can only be killed by sunlight, a stake through the heart, or an exorcism. Anyone wearing garlic (the Paranormal Investigator’s ‘protective herbs’ count) he attacks last. His abilities are listed below. While too powerful for the group to defeat right now, the vampire is not interested in devouring them on the spot. He treats with them politely, slowly getting to the point that they have until he finishes his meal to run. He begins chasing them afterward, picking them off one by one. A good rule of thumb is that he never takes more than one or two player characters per encounter once the chase is on.

76 Vernon is his mortal helper. Vernon is a servant who has devoted his life to the Baron. He feeds his lord by cutting up victims and draining their blood, then preparing them both to his master’s taste. Vernon lives on the second floor in the room with the gun rack, but can alternately be found in other areas of the map hunting for the baron’s food. He has DV 3, 20 life, shooting skill and a rifle with 12 rounds.

Abilities

Too Easy?

◊  Baron Rothschild’s eyes glow blue-green A good way to increase if he locks gazes with anyone, and they do the difficulty of the as he commands them (the bond between a playthrough is to have the Wingman and their best friend can break Baron turn his victims, this spell). making them weaker vampires mystically bound ◊  He can fly soundlessly, though his black coat to his will. This also keeps does ruffle in the wind. People trying to hear players invested if they are him must pass Perception difficulty 6 or he killed early. can sneak up on them with Sneak +4. He is immune to physical damage, has +6 strength and can grapple anyone he sneaks up on. He deals 1d6+4 damage with his bite and every turn thereafter that he wins the grapple. He may choose to either feed on players or take them to the cage. He takes only one or two victims at a time but travels quickly. ◊  He may be killed using either exorcism to eject the evil from his body (the supplies for this are at the church), or by staking him, which requires someone armed with a stake to defeat him in a grapple, or to pass a Sleight of Hand roll against difficulty 7 while he is biting them. He cannot attack any character that manages to fix the door of the cottage and hide inside. He also cannot land on the far side of the lake, though he gladly attacks characters en route to the other side. He does not own that land, and his powers hinge greatly on whether or not he is in his own domain.

Burned Wood (8) If the players travel beyond the manor and not back the way they came, they reach a shallow decline. It heads down the plateau into woods that have been destroyed by fire.

A vast woodland spreads out before you, quiet in the darkness. It is hard to see the black tree trunks at night, but the ashes under your feet and stale smell of settled smoke betrays the tale. This forest—all of it—has been burned. Once strong trees stand barren, rows of brittle sticks before the fury of what must have been a terrible blaze. They can choose to travel north, west or east from here. The main road curves in from the east, running along the northern and eastern border of the woods. Beyond the road is a lake. To the west is the glade. Candlelit Arc: The Baron gains +2 to Sneak through this area. The players are exposed and easily tracked. Moonlit Arc: The group comes across a blackened, inhuman skeleton. Twisted, broken, the bones are a circus freak blend of human and animal. A box of bullets has been tossed carelessly onto the sternum of the beast. Inside are five large caliber bullets made of a bright, reflective metal. An especially large pistol would be needed to fire these rounds.

78 Black Arc: As soon as the group gets a short way into the burned woods, they see the trees begin to shudder, raining ash around the characters. The charred earth erupts in a sickening cascade of blackened skeletons. They have the same combat values as other undead. Fear difficulty 7.

Black Arc Low Road (6 again) Following the road along the ravine’s eastern edge, you have easy going while the light passes from orange-gold to red and slowly a deepening blue. By the day’s failing light you see a fork in the road, a gravel path splitting off from the main thoroughfare up a steep incline toward a rocky ledge. You might see things better from up there, but it looks like a punishing climb. The path you’re on continues to follow the curve of the ravine in a gentle downward slope, but you’re not sure where. ◊  They begin the Candlelit Arc if they take the high road. The Black Arc lies on the low.

Chapel (9) The road goes on for another two miles, blockaded to the left by a great height of stone. Night falls just as a building appears on the horizon. The light of the moon exposes a high-roofed chapel sitting atop a low hill, looking down on the street to one side and the sheer drop of the ravine on the other. The door is unlocked, but what they find varies wildly based on arc. Black Arc: Within, they smell a peculiar musty smell like old ledgers and mold. A Perception roll against difficulty 4 reveals the faintest whiff of brimstone. There is a pentagram drawn on the podium at the head of the chapel in coal. A note is nailed below it. ‘Your words are lies, and lies are chains. I silence you to set them free.’

79 Moonlit Arc: The smell of gore hits them just as they reach the door. A trail of blood leads from the door to the podium, where a priest festers in the late stages of decay. The church is a safe place from the werewolves, though the poor priest was torn apart on his way in. Candlelit Arc: The pallid corpse of the priest is sucked dry out back. Within the chapel they can find a special black bible with stylized script and gold binding. A bookmark of matching coloration brings them to an apocryphal passage not printed in standard bibles. ‘My children, thou shalt anoint the heads of the fallen with blessed water and in the name of the Lord compel those who have strayed to repent their ways and walk once more in the light. Show them the cross and once more compel them in my name. Pray for them, and compel once more. Do this, and they shall repent.’ A Paranormal Investigator can use these materials, along with an Exorcism roll against difficulty 9 (they may add their Paranormal Knowledge bonus) to cure Baron Rothchild of his vampirism. Given that he is hundreds of years old, his body shrivels and turns to dust once the evil passes from him.

Grave (10) Beyond the church lies a sprawling grave, a mob of headstones littering the slope of the long hill. It is absolutely quiet, as if nature itself stood in reverence to the loss of the hundreds—no thousands—who lie here beneath the earth. The graveyard is bordered by the main road on its western side and a huge lake to the north. The burned woods are just across the road northwest of the grave, and an impassable wall of rock is directly west. Black Arc: You hear an ominous voice in the distance beyond what your light can reach, a rhythmic chanting and bellowing command. The words echo until they swirl about your head in a deafening roar. Bile rises up your throat as the incantations thrum through the soil and sour the air. Then the ground begins to churn. Shapes erupt from the breathing earth, clawing their way to the surface. Hideous with decay, the dead boil from the ground toward you, staring with empty sockets, dark mouths open in dusty cries.

80 Fear difficulty 5. All the dead have 6 life. Once this is reduced to 0, they fall, but return with 3 life and crawl along the ground toward the players at reduced speed until they are killed for a second and final time. They do not rise if they are dealt 10 damage in one blow. They deal d6+1 damage but have no bonus To Hit. Fatigue is a major obstacle in this playthrough, and the players gain a penalty for every three locations the dead have chased them out of. The players can’t run forever, and the dead continue to chase them or spring from the earth in various ways in every section of the map. Some group members probably have to die to buy time for the others as their energy wanes and the tireless dead pursue.

Lake (11) A vast lake fills the darkness before you, waters black in the poor light. Tranquil, placid...its surface is smooth as glass. Heavy fog hangs over it, glowing faintly beneath the moon. Black Arc: The dead are moving underneath the water. If the group swims out, they are at risk of being taken. If they wait at the shore, the dead emerge from beneath the water, spilling over one another in wet masses of limbs, scrambling toward the players. Moonlit Arc: The werewolf has +2 to Swimming rolls. Candlelit Arc: If the group looks for it, they find the boat that Leo spoke of with both ores. The Baron, if he isn’t pursuing someone else, tries to pick them off before they make it across the water.

The Lich The group may decide to return and kill whomever is raising the dead. If so, they need guns and ammunition in great amounts, which they can claim from the manor. From there, they must return to the graves and fight their way across them to the cliffside, following the chanting voice. They will likely lose some of their members along the way. If they make it, they come across a vast diagram carved into the earth with a freshly killed corpse in the center. A hooded man is kneeling over the body. Read them the following description:

81 The ground shudders beneath your feet. The moon deepens into scarlet and casts a beam of infernal light onto a man kneeling at the edge of the chasm. He bursts into pale blue flame, the stink of brimstone filling your nose. As his flesh and clothing burns to nothing, the figure rises, a thing of blackened bone that meets you with a skeletal grin. A thousand voices scream around you, and the earth trembles with the threat of collapse. The Lich has 40 life, bullets do half damage. It swings its fists like clubs, causing anyone it hits to burst into flame. +2 To Hit with 1d6+6 damage, 1d6 additional damage is inflicted every turn afterward by the burns (cumulative based on number of hits). It has strength +6 for purposes of grappling, though it never elects to grapple the players. As soon as it dies, the screaming stops. The moon becomes white again. Come morning, they see thousands of footsteps heading back to the graveyard from which they came.

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Victory There are a number of ways for the characters to win. Some notable victory conditions to keep in mind are below. 1. Kill all werewolves with silver bullets or fire. 2. In the mansion, use the cage in the basement or the cage room on the second floor as shelter from the werewolf (locking it or themselves inside) until morning. 3. Stake the Baron. 4. Confront the Baron with an exorcism. 5. Barricade the cottage against the dead. The dead have no way in, and the group can wait until morning to leave. Tell them when they emerge that they do not see any dead remaining, but there are many, many footprints. 6. Discover the occult tome in the mansion and overpower the Lich’s magic, returning the dead to their sleep. 7. Find a way through the exit to the northwest or across the lake without the werewolf running them down, the Baron cornering them, or the dead blocking their way.

The Dreamer

Recommended Players: 4-6 

Estimated Game Length: 4-6 hours

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Synopsis The characters pull into a cozy town off the highway for the night, only to find their sleep interrupted by something unnatural. The townsfolk are dead, but still walking around and newly murderous. Guided by the journal of a deranged archaeologist, they must evade the hunger of the dreaded Dreamer and banish it back to the other side.

Narrator Notes The group must kill four specific members of the living dead before the Dreamer, an invisible and unstoppable demon, is banished. If they try to drive out of town, let them know that their van is out of gas. If they fuel it up, be creative in how you keep them in the game area. Perhaps a horde of the dead creates an impenetrable roadblock, or the Dreamer itself attacks their vehicle, damaging it horrifically and injuring everyone inside. They can wake up in the wreckage later with splitting headaches.

Introduction It is October 13th, and you are crammed into a minivan on a road trip heading for the East Coast. The sun is setting, and ahead of you a road sign comes into view: ‘Welcome to Bellford.’ This quaint little town seems as good a place as any to pull in for the night. Bypassing the two-story hotel, you agree instead to stop at the bed and breakfast for a more authentic country feel.

Starting Group Gear Spare Clothes Cash Cell phones Roadmap

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Bed and Breakfast (1) This structure is a sizable two-story house with a sign out front saying ‘Bradshaw’s Bed and Breakfast.’ It has a gravel parking lot out back and open windows showing off a nice chandelier. They are met at the door by the proprietor. Louis Bradshaw—A hunched old man with a severely receded hairline, Louis is the primary manager of his family business. His granddaughter usually deals with the customers directly, though he handles them when she is busy. He acts friendly, but would rather not be bothered. Nancy Bradshaw—The granddaughter of Louis, Nancy is a friendly young woman with blond hair. She takes care of the guests after Louis leads them inside. She gives them a key (or keys for however many rooms they need) after they have paid and leads them upstairs, explaining that breakfast is served at 8:30 in the morning and that curfew is 11:00 at night. Allow the players to interact and explore the building for a turn or two before the next scene begins. Use the layout of your own house, or a bed and breakfast you’ve been to before. Perhaps a good Observation roll by a player yields a useful item, or a high Diplomacy roll with Louis or Nancy allows them to glean details about the town or the people in it.

Awakening You wake up in the middle of the night. You’re not sure why, but you feel the grip of dread tightening your chest. The group can explore the house, but they will find it entirely empty. In most playthroughs, nothing tries to get them this early. Alternatively, you can have Nancy and Louis remain as possessed corpses with 15 life, no bonus To Hit, dealing 1d6 damage with heavy objects or 2d6 with knives.

Kitchen ◊  A broken ketchup bottle is on the floor and a smear of red as if someone slipped in it. ◊  A tuft of blond hair lies at the foot of the refrigerator. ◊  The interior of the fridge is stocked with food as normal.

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Dining Room ◊  A chair is slightly askew at the dining room table. ◊  The table itself is canted slightly downward. Something appears to have cracked the leg.

Living Room ◊  The TV is on. ◊  In the armchair, they can find a scrap of fabric with the same pattern as Louis’s shirt. The group probably wants to discover what’s going on. They don’t have enough gas in the van to leave Bellford without refueling. They will need to find a gas station or proceed on foot. Note: Phones are another way the players might try to reach help. As the group is in the midst of a supernatural event of apocalyptic proportions, there are many ways you can handle this. The easiest is to say there is no signal for their cell phones and no power to the landlines. If you want to be more dramatic, consider having the calls go through, but the ringing sounds like it is a long way off or underwater. The voices that answer are cruel, and not who they tried to call, mocking them and telling them ‘At last, it has awoken!’

Gas Station (2) As they approach the gas station, they see a pickup truck turned on its side near the exit, as if it crashed in a mad effort to leave. The driver’s side door is fifty feet beyond the wreck and no one is inside the vehicle. If the group investigates the truck, they find a shotgun with 5 shells in the backseat. Note: The shotgun receives +2 To Hit at close range. It deals 6d6 damage, 8d6 for those with shooting skill. ◊  The lights are off in the gas station, it appears empty. ◊  The main window is missing, only broken shards remain at its edges. ◊  The pump is electronically activated from the store.

88 ◊  The panel where the pump is controlled, as well as everything behind the cash register, has been crushed. It looks like something immensely heavy pressed down on them. There is a splash of blood on the floor. ◊  Aside from this, the store has all of the junk food, tobacco, alcohol and roadmaps they could want.

The Town Square The town square around the gas station looks abandoned. The inn, the diner, and the sporting goods store lay at each remaining corner of the square. The lights are off at all of them. After a moment, you see a beacon in one of the secondstory windows of the Bellford Inn. Perhaps a flashlight or lantern…it flickers at deliberate intervals. The pattern changes as you watch.

Bellford Inn (3) ◊  The lights are out. The circuit breaker is in the control room behind the kitchen. If no one thinks to look for it, you may have a Bookworm with the Circuitry skill roll to think of doing so. ◊  If they have a light source, they see a faux-wood interior decorated with taxidermied animals and country knick-knacks. ◊  A stuffed bobcat is snarling on the counter (Fear difficulty 3 if they uncover it with a flashlight). ◊  Beyond the lobby, the inn has a kitchen, dining room, and waiting area on the first floor. Waiting Area (a)—This room is empty. Dining Room (b)—The chairs are scattered in the dining area. A plate of cold food sits half-eaten at one of the tables. A human hand still clutches its fork, and four inches of human shin protrudes from a shoe nearby. Kitchen (c)—There is a large oven with its metal racks out on the floor in front of it. A red smear coats the floor tiles from the chef ’s station to the door of the walkin freezer. Cutlery litters the floor, making this is a good place to pick up a weapon. The knives here deal 1d6 damage, but among them is a butcher knife that deals 2d6. They can also find a blowtorch, lighter fluid and matches. Oven: A body is contorted inside the oven, dressed in white chef ’s clothes. Apparently, the poor man crawled in to avoid the chaos outside and asphyxiated.

89 Freezer: There is nothing in the freezer save for a bloody handprint on the floor and a scrap of white fabric.

Second Floor Note: The inn has eight rooms on the second floor, as well as a janitor’s closet and a linen closet. Six of the eight rooms are empty. The only sign of the prior occupants are bloody spots on the floor; where they were presumably devoured with horrible totality and speed. The janitor’s closet has cleaning supplies, which are propping up a pair of legs pinned by the water bucket (Fear difficulty 3). Linen Closet (d)—The closet appears empty. If they rifle through the sheets, something leaps out at them. Fear roll at difficulty 4. This is a black cat, whose collar reads ‘Charlie.’ Charlie’s tag jingles, which can give them away if they don’t think to remove it. However, Charlie has +3 to Perception rolls having to do with his senses, meaning he is very good at hearing or seeing things coming before the party does. Room Seven (e)—In room seven they find the man with the flashlight. A professor in his fifties with wispy, graying hair, Harold Poulson his name is Harold Poulson. Bookworm He tells them that this was all the doing of the Build -1 crazy academic in the next room. The man was muttering to himself about some ritual: “He Coordination -2 was disheveled, his eyes bloodshot, gripping Perception+2 a book like his life depended on it!” Harold Skills: Science, describes how he heard the screams the next Memorization, Hide room over and hid under his bed before the Traits: Out of Shape, Fearful door burst open. Whatever came in, he never saw it, but heard it eating people. He’s stayed in Gear: Flashlight his room ever since. Room Eight (f)—The room where it happened. There is a thirty-something man lying in a pool of his own blood in the center of a large diagram. He is clutching a book in his hand. Within the book is a journal detailing the logistics and minutia of an archaeological dig. This account is interrupted by more than one-hundred pages of diagrams, geometrical designs, and sketches of animal and human physiology. Prominent on the last page before the writing resumes again is a laboriously rendered drawing of almost human teeth.

93 ◊  Much of the other writing in the book is cramped and difficult to read. Decipher against difficulty 6 can tell the reader that the dead will walk in the creature’s wake, and that only holy water or purifying fire can destroy the hold each sacrifice has on the summoning. The characters hear what sounds like Harold Poulson rummaging around for something in the other room while they try to read the messy writing in the journal. If they are not with him or actively watching the hallway, then the corpse from the kitchen enters his room and murders him while they read. It waits for them outside their door with a butcher knife. A pallid corpse stands just outside the door, its eyes glazed over, staring at you with a meat cleaver in hand. It grips the severed head of Harold Poulson by the hair. The dead chef lunges for the first person who opens the door. Fear roll against difficulty 5 for the nearest person, 3 for everyone else. The corpse has 20 life and DV 3. It does 2d6+1 damage with every attack of its cleaver but has no bonuses To Hit.

Lar's Diner (4) The front window of the diner is shattered inward, and the establishment is completely empty. Chairs are strewn everywhere and there are bloodstains on the tables. The fryer and microwave still work and there are hamburger patties available in the freezer. The party can find food to help their Fatigue here, but the later in the game they choose to do so the more likely they are to find the dead inside.

Sporting Goods Store (5) This building looks to be a rather cramped sporting goods store. The door is hanging off its hinges, but otherwise you see no sign of anything disturbed within the building itself. Mostly the store seems to sell items for kids' sports, camping gear, and archery equipment. A mannequin in a fishing hat and camping vest stands near the store entrance.

94 ◊  Hatchet (2d6 damage) ◊  Lumber Axe (4d6 damage) ◊  Bow with 12 arrows (3d6 damage) The mannequin is possessed. It moves stealthily toward one of the weapons that no players take for themselves. If they hear it with a Perception check against difficulty 5, it freezes when they turn to see it. It moves suddenly when they move to investigate, Fear roll against difficulty 5. It receives +1 To Hit and adds +1 to the damage of any weapon it gets ahold of.

The Dreamer Before time and light and waking, there were things that felt and knew and were. In the great dream that came before the world, these things filled the empty skies in numbers beyond count. Many thrived upon the chaos of that formless place, but others were not content to drift through voids of boundless dreaming, and sought to make solid that which had no shape. Between these factions there could be only strife, and thus began a war in heaven. Among these hosts was a herald of the great dream, a whisperer whose messages resounded with the chaos of the void. Many spirits danced on the strings of its influence, propelled by the madness of its gospel. They followed it from the dream to make war on the waking, devouring much that was solid and real, casting all into the hellish space between life and death. Through the cataclysm of this conflict, the herald was felled by the great powers of that epoch. Gravely wounded, it retreated into the dark places where the mind dwells before dawn. There it slept. Over eons, mortals have heard its call. They have heaped many names upon it... Zakar, Astraeus, Janus, and others. The demon is all and none of these fictions. Hungry for slaughter on an unfathomable scale, it waits for someone to heed its call from beyond the veil of sleep. Should that listener reach across to where it lies dreaming, the wounded creature will rouse and feed again, bringing its army of mind-slaves into the waking world once more.

The Dreamer is an invisible entity that has been summoned into our world. It is eating to restore its strength, one person at a time. An army of spirits came through with it, each one able to possess the bodies of the deceased and inhabit objects created in the human image. These dead vary in strength, speed, and disposition. The Dreamer starts hunting the group as soon as it learns that they are trying to banish it. In order to ultimately defeat the demon, the group must not only defeat the sacrifices made to summon it (reducing the spirit-inhabited bodies to 0 Life), but must also destroy each body as a vessel for evil spirits, either by immolating them with fire or by using a holy or paranormal weapon on them. If they do not do this, you may have the dead rise once more after a few minutes of game time. The Dreamer will not appear when they destroy the first sacrifice of the summoning, but the possessed corpse they have destroyed tells the group as it dies: “The Dreamer is coming for you.” When they destroy the second sacrifice, the spirit tells them “The Dreamer is coming closer!” and laughs at them before it dies. As soon as they destroy the third, the spirit shouts “The Dreamer is HERE!” At this point, they hear something enormous just outside or—if they are already outside—lumbering closer. They must roll Fear against difficulty 6. The Dreamer will choose one or more targets, depending on how many run in the same direction. Scattering is wise since they cannot outrun the Dreamer. It is possible for no one to have died until this point, but unlikely that all of the characters will survive this encounter.

96 When the Dreamer overtakes a player, it consumes them, taking giant bites out of them that simply disappear from view. It can devour players in one or two bites. The Dreamer pursues them on their way to the fourth sacrifice. It may overtake them again on their way there, presumably claiming another victim while the group scatters and reconvenes at the location of the last sacrifice. Note that the Dreamer does not know where these sacrifices are, otherwise it would head them off. The end of the game will be a race against time to destroy the fourth sacrifice before the Dreamer catches and devours them. If the Dreamer is not frightening enough as an invisible set of teeth that bites people in half, ingesting them in whatever alternative reality it comes from, here are some other powers it can employ. ◊  Immense Strength: By the time the Dreamer is pursuing the group, it is the size of a house, though it only interacts with our world ephemerally, denying its substance to anyone trying to hurt it directly while maintaining the ability to knock down walls, throw cars end over end, or twist and rend metal objects. ◊  Demon of Doors: The Dreamer defies the laws of reality in many ways. Its body, as rendered in the Survive the Night rulebook, depicts a multitude of grasping hands around a voracious mouth. As large as the Dreamer is, it may still fit through any door and navigate the interior of any structure. When inside a building, it may open every door simultaneously, and instantly search every room at once (though its mouth can only eat one person at a time). ◊  Creature of Nightmare: While part of the Dreamer’s threat is that it cannot be seen, fear of an invisible death that simply eats people might become stale if too many characters have been killed in the same way. Flour, paint, or neon glowing blood from a successful attack (perhaps with holy water) can cast the Dreamer’s features into sharp relief, revealing its horrifying visage. In one of our playtests, an exploding propane tank revealed its silhouette in the conflagration. ◊  Summon the Damned: Just as the Dreamer brought an army of evil spirits with it to inhabit the bodies of Bellford, so too can it return the dead party members to life to fight or distract their friends, even if those party members were bitten into pieces while being devoured. This can be done in answer to the party splitting up or evading capture. You can return control of the character to the player, with the instruction that all actions are to be used to kill the others. If you can do this without the other players knowing, all the better. Player characters swallowed with their guns are especially dangerous!

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The Stables (6) The stable has horses in it. They have not been killed or eaten. If anyone has Animal Handling, it’s a great way to get around quickly and can even serve as an escape route. If not, it can serve as a place to hide for either the party or—if they fail to eliminate her on their first attempt—Kate Brown from the Clinic.

The Clinic (7) The clinic is a long ranch-style house modified to accommodate patients. There are no outer signs of damage to the home, though the sign on the door says ‘Dr. Judith Wilson’s practice is closed until tomorrow.’ ◊  The house is a single story. The lights are on in most of the house. ◊  The front door opens to a foyer with a couch, a chair and a coffee table. ◊  The house is a rough ‘L’ shape, with the foyer at the corner between the two halls. ◊  The long arm of the house extends to the right, the short one continues straight ahead. Past the foyer is a short hallway leading to a kitchen and two small rooms. A rhythmic humming is coming from the room on the right. The Kitchen (a): Nothing is amiss in the kitchen. The back door to the house is located at the far end of this room. Right room (b): This is a utility room with a dryer, washer, and heater. If they come close, they can tell that the sound they hear in the hallway is coming from a dryer that is still running. Left room (c): This door is locked. They can break it down or find the key. Inside there are medical supplies, enough for everyone in the group to count as having a first aid kit.

99 Down the long hallway there are four doors, two on the left and two on the right. All of them are closed. The group can hear water running behind the first door on the left. First Right (d): This bedroom is furnished for comfort, and a young woman is sitting on the bed staring at the floor. She looks battered, and her brown hair extends in a tangled mass down the small of her back. She clutches a lab coat tightly around her shoulders. A name tag on her coat says ‘Dr. Judith Wilson.’ She looks afraid and will not or cannot speak. The key to the medical room(c) is in her left pocket. What they don’t know is that this is the corpse of Kate Brown. After its possession, it murdered the real Dr. Judith and stole her clothes. Underneath the lab coat are incisions made during her autopsy. Second Right (e): This is an examination room. It is clean but comfortable, and has a filing cabinet in the far corner and a closet in the near corner. First Left (f): The bathroom. The curtain is drawn. Note that you can play this up as if they are about to find something, but when they pull the curtain they see only an empty shower with no one inside. Second Left (g): Another examination room. The room is nice and has a clean but comfortable look. There is a filing cabinet in the far corner and a closet in the near corner. A medical table dominates the room, and something is concealed beneath a white

100 sheet on the table. It has the definitive shape of a human body. If they pull the sheet away, they find a woman with a scalpel buried through her eye-socket into her brain. ◊  If the group has the woman in the lab coat with them when they pull the white sheet from the body, she will attack the nearest group member with immense strength. Her lab coat falls open, revealing the autopsy incisions. If they don’t understand, a Perception roll can reveal that this is Kate Brown, posing as the doctor. Fear roll against difficulty 4. Kate Brown has 20 life, DV 4, +2 To Hit and deals 1d6+4 damage. She gains +4 to grapple rolls. Note: While Kate attacks, the corpse of Dr. Judith Wilson rises from the table and withdraws the scalpel from her eye socket. Fear roll against difficulty 4 for nearest person. She has 15 life, DV 2, +1 To Hit. She deals 1d6+1 damage.

The Church (8) A modest structure near the center of town, the church is a white building with a sharply peaked roof. The parking lot is empty save for one solitary car. A muddy handprint appears to be baked onto the glass of the front door, which is locked. Inside is a large sermon hall with many rows of pews. The building is empty of people. There are plenty of bibles and crosses, and dozens of plastic water bottles in a cooler, as if in preparation for some kind of field trip. A holy water font is located near the front door. Note: There are no threats in the church. Rather, it is a place for the party to take shelter and stock up on holy weaponry. Holy water burns and temporarily deters the dead. This can be represented as a stunning effect, or raw damage of 3d6

Wait it out? If the players choose to remain in the church to wait out the danger until morning, the demon or the undead from the graveyard can find them inside. The undead cannot enter, but the Dreamer can. Give the siege due weight, as the holiness of the place resists the demon’s entry. Ultimately, the faith of the missing congregation cannot keep the evil out. The entire building groans, the windows shatter, the crosses fall from the walls...whatever makes the scene more dramatic. It is not easy for the Dreamer to barge its way in, but eventually it will succeed in doing so.

101 (each water bottle can hold enough for two attacks in this way). Crosses sharpened into stakes deal 15 damage whenever a hit is landed on anyone or anything possessed by an evil spirit. Holy water or staking sanctifies the sacrifices, and counts as destroying them for the purpose of breaking the spell holding open the rent between worlds.

The Graveyard (9) The graveyard is a wide field behind the church littered with tall, elegant headstones. There are many holes in the ground, especially around the more recent burials. It takes some time to find a headstone that reads ‘Margaret Booker’ per the journal’s instructions. They find that this grave is undisturbed, and that they have to dig down to get to the sacrifice. After they begin digging, if they never rescued Charlie the cat from earlier in the story, the party sees glowing eyes approach from where an ornate lamp post illuminates part of the graveyard. The creature runs toward them, Fear roll difficulty 2. If they shout or fire a gun, they alert the dead to their presence. They have limited time before they are overrun. The creatures shamble in two to four at a time at first, but as the digging progresses the numbers become impossible to cope with. When they finally dig up the grave of Margaret Booker, the corpse inside releases a blood-curdling shriek when they open the casket, triggering a Fear roll against difficulty 4 for the group. She is mostly buried and unable to fight back if they try to destroy her.

Play it Again! In subsequent playthroughs, try having Margaret appear in different ways. Perhaps she erupts from the ground as they dig, taking the fight to them, or her face squirms into the beam of their flashlights from the side of the hole they’re digging, causing a Fear check and engaging them with whatever combat abilities the Narrator deems appropriate.

The players must pass Fear rolls against difficulty 3 as the dead shamble forward. The difficulty increases as more of them come on.

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The Cornfield and the Woods (10) Rick Gallagher’s cornfields are comprised of many acres of crops that are not distinguishable from one another. It is fair to have the players make Wilderness Survival, Sense Direction, or Memorization (if they’ve read the map) rolls to navigate them and the woods beyond. Scarecrows call to the party mockingly and tell them that the Dreamer is coming. If the party is doing this sacrifice last, have the scarecrows cry “THE DREAMER IS HERE!” as soon as they reach the tree line. The cornstalks flatten as something enormous and invisible races toward them. They must make a Fear roll against difficulty 6. This sequence occurs even if the group was not close to the fourth acre where the booklet tells them they need to enter. The Hole: When the group finally finds it, it’s as unwelcoming as it sounds. The hole is at the base of a large, gnarled oak tree, and lies beneath the crook of two roots, running just to the left of the tree’s taproot. It is no more than three feet in diameter. There is no telling how deep the hole goes, only that it twists around near the entrance, preventing them from seeing very far down. The earth here is moist, cleared out by running water over the years. Anyone going in needs to crawl along their belly in utter darkness to explore inside. Long firearms (such as shotguns) cannot be effectively aimed underground, though pistols are still useful (using them in the tight space below causes the character to lose their hearing for the duration of the game). Weapons like baseball bats and axes are nearly useless, since there is no room to swing them. The dank tunnel corkscrews sharply around the oak tree’s taproot, dropping at a steep angle into darkness. Another root forks the path to the left and the right. The left path stays level but twists so even if they have a light, they cannot see further. The right path continues down, into what looks like water (if they have a light). The left track dead-ends, forcing the character to crawl backward to return to the main path. The right tunnel that angles down leads to a well of stagnant water. Anyone coming down that path will have to actually go into the water to find the body of Jeremy Hook.

103 In the darkness, the corpse attacks them with skeletal fingers and rotting teeth. Anyone backing up from the left tunnel feels his skeletal grip on their ankles. He will try to drag them through the downward path. They have to defeat Jeremy’s strength to avoid being pulled into the water to their doom.

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Fear roll difficulty 7. Jeremy has +3 to grapple rolls and deals 1d6+3 damage. He has 15 life. He chases them if they run, in which case they can kill him on the surface, though it may take friends and a rope to pull a character out backwards faster than Jeremy can catch them. Note: If this is the final sacrifice they need to destroy, the Dreamer will arrive during the battle underground, its digging lending tension in the final moments of the conflict.

The End Read this passage if the group successfully destroys the fourth sacrifice. A peculiar stillness settles into the air around you, freezing the breath in your lungs. Your ears ring with a grating sound of static, and moments later, a chorus of unearthly wails rises from the streets and houses of Bellford. A bellow of crumbling stone shakes the ground, and a fleeting image of a blackened doorway fractures before your eyes. The moon winds backward through the sky and the sun climbs upward from the west, setting the last phantoms of the nightmare ablaze. With a start, you wake up. The sheets of Bradshaw’s Bed & Breakfast are rumpled all around you, covered in dirt and sweat and blood.

Carnage at Camp Ojibwe

Recommended Players: 4-6 

Estimated Game Length: 4-6 hours

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Synopsis The characters go to a campsite in northern Michigan with the rest of their gaming club, and things go monstrously awry. Winter has come early, and great stalking white things are roving through the camp. They must try to secure the key to their bus and escape, or determine how to banish these creatures back to wherever they came from.

Narrator Notes The easiest way to escape the camp is to use a Mechanics skill roll to hotwire the bus in the parking lot and drive to safety, thus bypassing the hurdles of finding the bus key or teaming up with Don Coldcrow to banish the wendigoes. This can be allowed, but may happen too early. Consider leaving two or three wendigoes in the parking lot as a way to discourage, or at least challenge, players from cutting this corner. In playtests, having a ‘chief wendigo’ stationed in the parking lot proved an effective way to deter this escape loophole. An optional “boss fight” scene is available on the last page if you want to utilize this idea, but it raises the difficulty of the scenario considerably!

Scene 1 Once a year, your gaming club makes a special trip for its annual championship. The game is different every year, and so is the venue. This October, Club President Frank Larson has organized an outing to his favorite camping spot near the Canadian border. Camp Ojibwe is bound to be cold this time of year, but it has enough space to host the twenty-player tournament, and plenty of diversions for after the games are done. You find yourselves on a bus driven by fellow club member Jordan, watching the familiar environs of civilization giving way to the rolling wilderness of the north.

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Frank and the Gamers Club ◊  The club is here to hold a tournament of some board game, which can be decided by the Narrator or the players. As the game will not in fact be played, which game is not an important detail. Make something up, use a well-known game, or make a joke out of it. ◊  The gamers’ club has 20 people, all currently on the bus and going to Camp Ojibwe. ◊  Everyone in the club is staying in one of Camp Ojibwe’s four cabins. All of the player characters are signed up for Hatchet House. Frank and the driver, Jordan, are in Eagle Lodge. ◊  Frank, a quarter Cherokee himself, has been going to Camp Ojibwe every summer since he was a kid. His plan is to have the preliminary round occur in the cabins the night that they arrive, and to have the highest scoring players from each of those games participate in two semi-final games the next morning. He plans for the tournament to conclude that evening with the final round. ◊  The whole event should be finished by Saturday night. They’ll have a ‘Breakfast of Champions’ Sunday morning and drive back home. For games that end early, Camp Ojibwe has an archery range, a tribal history museum, great hiking trails, and a trading post. ◊  Obviously, since this is a horror story, things will not go as he expects.

Scene 2 Frank’s expression falters as the bus pulls up to the open gate of Camp Ojibwe. Looking out the window, you see a shoddy tollhouse of flaking timber squatting before the gate. It is ringed by a carpet of moldy brown leaves. The sky is a somber gray. Clouds roll overhead with the promise of a storm. Jordan parks the bus in the sandy dirt parking lot alongside other vehicles that must belong to the camp staff (there are six in total). Frank collects money from everyone in the group so he can go in and pay the manager. If the players decide to go with him, they see the interior of the tollhouse, cramped with a desk, computer, filing cabinet, and cash register. The manager is a friendly man in his early forties with a beer gut and a head of prematurely gray hair. The going rate is $100 to rent one of the lodges for the weekend. The gamers’ club is renting all four.

109 Frank picks up a map of the camp for the players, and offers to lead them to their lodge. The players are put up in Hatchet House which is the furthest from the entrance (the characters at the other cabins won’t swap with the players even if they ask). There is about half a mile between each lodge, with camping areas littered around the trail. The lodges are arrayed in a rough square at the heart of the campgrounds. Hatchet House is at the extreme end, near the far-flung campsites and the amphitheater. Cowrie Cabin is the second furthest away from the entrance, and is close to the archery range. Eagle Lodge is the second closest, and lies near the Game Warden’s Cabin and the museum. Medicine Lodge is the closest to the tollhouse. The trading post is in the center of the square. It sells an assortment of snacks, drinks, souvenirs, and even a few more practical items.

Scene 3 You walk more than a mile down the trail, past the Medicine Lodge and Cowrie Cabin, to the structure labeled on the map as ‘Hatchet House.’ It is small and homey with a steep roof and firewood piled high by the door. A sign hangs overhead with a hatchet painted in the center and two feathers to either side, lending a sense of fabricated authenticity to the heavy-handed Native American theme. The cabin has only two rooms, a main chamber and a tiny bathroom. The main room doubles as a communal area and bedroom, with four bunks pushed into the corners, a wall-mounted black phone, and a large fire pit in the center. The chimney is just a hole in the roof, which is supported by curving rafters. A stone hatchet is affixed to a wooden plaque high on the wall, wreathed in multi-colored feathers and a Native American phrase that can only be translated with a Decipher roll against difficulty 7 (it means ‘For Evil Spirits’). ◊  Frank helps them set up before heading out with the last four members to Eagle Lodge. ◊  For now, they need to settle in and get their first game started. ◊  In-story, this is where the characters play their championship game. To save time, have the players make a ‘gamer’ roll to see how well their characters perform when playing the game (alternatively, you may have them play an abridged version of the game, such as a hand of poker). ◊  For the ‘gamer’ roll, have each player roll a Perception roll against one another. Memorization, Bluff, Diplomacy, and Detect Motive skill bonuses can all be added to this roll. The player with the highest result wins the

110 game-within-a-game. Given that it appears that luck is with them today, their character gets a Lucky Break. This allows them, once during this scenario, to reroll a difficulty or damage roll at +2.

Scene 4 As the game wears on, snow starts falling and the cabin grows chilly. Judging by the open roof, you doubt Hatchet House has a heater hidden anywhere. You get a fire going shortly before the game ends, and when it’s all over, you sit in a circle around the crackling blaze. You spend a few minutes watching shadows dance against the walls when the wind outside picks up, howling against the thick cabin windows. A rancid smell wafts down from the roof, and disappears with the next gust of wind. There is a harsh rap at the door. ◊  Frank is outside the door. He is mortified, pale and panicked. ◊  He says that Stan, a gamer from Eagle Lodge, is dead! Note: Several members of the gaming club are mentioned by name in this section. Frank, Jordan, Stan, and Larry are all part of the club and came in on the same bus the characters did.

111 If he is pressed for details, Frank explains that the team at Eagle Lodge ended their game early when it was clear who the winner would be. He stayed back to analyze the game. Jordan and Stan went night-hiking, hoping to snap some photos of nocturnal creatures with Stan’s new camera. Larry went to the Trading Post. Fifteen minutes or so later, Frank headed for Hatchet House. He found Stan’s body shredded on the trail not far from the players’ cabin. He wants to phone the other cabins to warn them something dangerous is in the woods. Note: Phoning the other cabins does not work. There is no cell reception. The cabin phone lines have a list of reference numbers for the different buildings within the camp, but all calls outside camp must pass through the tollhouse. If they dial the tollhouse, they get a busy signal.

Scene 5 The group can go to a nearby area or decide to stay in Hatchet House to protect themselves. Frank won’t risk the trails without them, so he’s with the group until he is killed. Frank dies at the first fatal encounter. Other than specifically nonlethal encounters, he should be the creatures’ first target. Note: From this point on, the players are exploring the map with little guidance, so scenes are no longer numbered. Every time the characters go to a new location, that qualifies as a ‘scene.’ ◊  There are six wendigoes in Camp Ojibwe. Each of them either has a ‘roaming area’ where it can be found, or is free-moving (rogue). ◊  Stage 1: For the first two scenes after Scene 5, two wendigoes occupy the area of Medicine Lodge and the nearby tollhouse, one is at the trading post, one is at Eagle Lodge, one is at Cowrie Cabin, and the last is rogue. ◊  Stage 2: It is cold outside. Fatigue sets in for the characters after every three scenes. Feel free to accelerate this if they spend too much time in one area. Any wendigo that is not killed the scene it is encountered goes rogue. It can be moved to pursue the party, abandon them to go to a neighboring area, or stay put where it was before. If there are uneaten victims in an area, the wendigo stays there to devour them. This is why all wendigoes stay in their starting areas for the first two stages if the players don’t run into them. Wendigoes that are fought but not killed heal by 20 life for every scene the party isn’t interacting with them.

112 ◊  Stage 3: All wendigoes can move to new locations four scenes after Frank knocks on the door. What direction they move is determined by the Narrator, though gunshots attract them. WENDIGOES CAN ALWAYS STAY WHERE THEY ARE!

Hatchet House The group begins in Hatchet House, and there are some useful materials inside. They can stack the bunks to remove the stone hatchet from the wall (it has strong medicine…Hatchet—3d6 damage, 6d6 damage against wendigoes). There is a half-full book of matches with five left inside. There are also blankets, pillows, and toiletries in the bathroom. If the players inquire about a realistic amenity, be reasonable about providing it. Most importantly, if the group decides to stay, all the entrances to the house can be barricaded except for the hole in the roof. At the beginning of Stage 2, the rogue wendigo comes for them. Read the passage below if this occurs. Slowly, the air grows colder and snow drifts down from the hole in the ceiling. After an hour, a putrid smell wafts in. You hear a crinkle of leaves outside before the house fills with the sound of something sharp dragging along the walls. A long, low croak comes from outside. If the doors are barricaded, the creature bursts in from the window. If the windows are barricaded as well, then it descends through the hole in the roof. It moves quickly and all they can make out is a lank creature scrabbling toward them on all fours. It descends on Frank. The party must make a Fear roll, difficulty 8.

The Wendigo In the lore of the Algonquin tribes, the wendigo is an evil spirit of winter. A manifestation of gluttony, famine, and cannibalism, it twists human beings into ravening monsters. Once corrupted, victims are driven from kill to kill by their never-ending hunger. Those who resort to cannibalism to survive the lean winter months are highly susceptible to the wendigo spirit, as are those who harbor greed in their hearts. Consuming the body or well-being of others for one’s own appetites opens the door for the spirit, and once it has a grip, it does not let go.

A mysterious medicine man arrived in Camp Ojibwe not long before the appearance of these entities. How he is connected to them is unclear. Perhaps he came because he knew evil resided there. Or maybe he brought it with him. Whatever the reason, the staff is gone and evil monsters rove through the camp. They will never stop their mad hunt until the spirits have been driven from their bodies. That, or until their bodies have been destroyed. Wendigoes induce a fear roll at difficulty 8 the first time they appear, difficulty 4 for subsequent appearances. Wendigo—50 life, strength +6, Coordination +1, DV 4, +1 To Hit, 1d6+6 damage claws, 4d6 damage bite. Drag Down: d6+3 against player DV+Build, and the character grapples with the wendigo if drag down roll succeeds. Wendigoes inflict a bite every time they win a grapple roll. Note: Withholding the appearance of any monster until late in the game increases the fear it can induce, but brave characters and impatient players might not let you obscure the beast. The official description is below, for whenever you choose to reveal it.

114 White as bone, the thing stalks into view on legs like stilts. Eight feet tall and emaciated beyond human endurance, blood and viler things drain from the gaping red hole in its belly. Cracked lips peel back from dozens of misaligned teeth, its jaw hinging open like a snake’s while it reaches for you with bloody claws.

Cowrie Cabin This cabin looks exactly like Hatchet House, right down to the open-roof chimney at the center. In place of a painted hatchet and feathers above the door, it has a seashell in the middle of a blue circle. The front door is ajar, a dark invitation into the foreboding blackness. Something stinks within. The interior of the house looks just like their own cabin, but there is a shapeless mass near the back door. A flashlight doesn’t fully distinguish what it is, but if they go around back they find the back door open. The shape is a jumble of body parts underneath shredded clothing. Two heads are rolled on their sides near the far end of the room, their hair matted with blood, glassy eyes staring blindly. Whether the group goes in through the front door or opens the back to get a better view, they hear a long, low croaking from the bathroom. Coming in from the front, their light can’t get around the corner to see what’s inside. From the back, they can shine their light straight in. In either case, if they leave after the first croak, the wendigo leaves them alone. If they shine their light in or linger too long, it emerges. It will kill Frank if he’s still around, however. If they deal with the wendigo, the house has some useful tools inside. They can find a pocket knife, a compass, and a lighter.

Eagle Lodge The snow falls heavy now, gathering over the doorway and obscuring the proud eagle painted on the wall. The lodge is the largest you’ve seen, though it is marred by a broken window and splintering near the door lock. The stack of fire logs by the wall has been disturbed, like someone whipped around the doorway and clipped it in a rush to leave.

115 If the group shines their light through the broken window, they find a torn-up human body resting against the door. It has been eaten down to the spine through its belly. Another is on the bottom bunk of one of the beds. If they open the front door without noticing the body leaned against it first, they must pass Fear difficulty 3 when it falls out in front of them. If they search the house, they can find a sheath knife, first aid kit, maps of camp, and a flashlight. There is an arrow on a plaque on the wall similar to the hatchet they saw before. It is a strong-medicine arrow, and deals 6d6 damage to wendigoes. Note: There is a wendigo in the area. It will come after them on the trail to Medicine Lodge.

Medicine Lodge The cold is getting hard to bear and a deep snow drift has gathered over the firewood of Medicine Lodge. Even though the quickly-falling flakes have concealed any trace of blood, you can still smell it. The front door has been knocked down flat, and you see straight through to the back as the rear door hangs skewed in its frame. At the far end of the room, a dying fire crackles within the brick housing of an actual chimney. Medicine Lodge is too dark for them to see much. With a flashlight or torch they can see that the floor is soaked with blood from end to end. Three piles of what looks to be shredded human meat litter the floor. Footprints in the snow suggest many people fled the lodge in the direction of the tollhouse. If they search the lodge, they can find a tire iron, a roll of duct tape, walking stick, 40 feet of rope, and a broken flashlight.

Copper Arrow Archery Range The long, squat archery building faces away from you toward an array of targets on hay bales. There is a door on the side of the building. Judging by the empty area under the overhang before the targets, this side room must be where the bows and arrows can be found.

116 Ask the group how they’re positioned before they open the door to put them on edge. It is locked, so they either need to pick the lock or break the door (causing enough noise to summon the wendigo from Cowrie Cabin if they left it alone before). Inside are a dozen bows, twenty bow strings, and 80 arrows. Hunting Implements or Sporting Implements skill roll against difficulty 4 to get their bows strung properly. Everyone who fails finds their arrows fly slow and crooked: they need to restring the bow to get any use of it. Arrows shot from bows do 3d6 damage, 4d6+2 damage for characters with Hunting Implement or Sporting Implement skill. The strong-medicine arrows found at Eagle Lodge or the Museum deal 6d6 damage, or 8d6+2 damage for those with the appropriate skill.

Trading Post The trading post stands mute before you, serene in the falling snow. Its vaulted ceiling gives the impression that it has two stories, but you can tell from the cant of the roof that there would be no room for anything but a cramped attic. Compared to the lodges, it is a spacious structure, filled with knick-knacks, souvenirs, and all the tools a camper could want. The door is unlocked, and the lights are off inside. The smell of decay and blood wafts out when they open the door. Inside, the building is filled with racks and shelves, stacked with goods almost up to the rafters. Anything the group members want, they can ask for, though it’s a toss-up whether the trading post has it or that they can find it with the lights turned off. Some things the trading post definitely has include snacks, water bottles (and running water to fill them), matchboxes, pocket knives, sheath knives, hatchets, whetstones, compasses, rope, duct tape, first aid kits, walking sticks, and animal furs. Note: They can find the body of Larry behind the counter, disarticulated and mostly devoured. There is a wendigo in the trading post with them. This can be a non-lethal encounter. It is in the rafters, having already eaten. If they are in and out quickly, it ignores them. If they linger, have the players make a luck roll. The character with the lowest roll is standing directly beneath the support beam where the wendigo is hidden, and it either pounces on that character or hoists them up onto the rafters with it.

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Turning on the lights reveals the wendigo above them (assume no one is directly beneath it). It croaks and stalks down among them to kill the intruders. Either way, this encounter triggers a Fear roll 1 difficulty higher than the standard wendigo rates mentioned above.

Ojibwe Museum The museum stands atop a winding mound of earth. It is a long, twisting building itself, following the curve of the hill. Vertical planks of wood make up its walls and snow-peppered shingles cover its roof. Unlike the other structures, there is no chimney or firewood.

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Looking through the wire-framed windows, the group can see little in the darkness beyond. The museum doors are locked. Lockpicking difficulty 7 or strength roll difficulty 9 is necessary to get through the door. The museum exhibits many Native American tools and artifacts. There are paintings depicting how the Ojibwe lived, mostly to do with boating, gathering shells and other goods from the waters near their homes. The exhibits are protected behind gallery glass. Strength difficulty 5 (+3 with a blunt tool) to break through this to get to the items inside. If they successfully ransack the museum, they can claim jewelry, arrowheads, and other Ojibwe paraphernalia which grants +1 damage when attacking wendigoes, no matter what they are attacking them with. There are also three arrows and one tomahawk, all of which have strong medicine and deal 6d6 damage to wendigoes.

Game Warden's Cabin A narrow path splits off from the main trail, leading through a stand of conifers to a tiny hut tucked among the trees. The curtains are drawn across the windows and the shack looks utterly dark. ‘Game Warden’ is embossed across the front door. Inside, Game Warden Don Coldcrow is sitting with his hands on his rifle, waiting by the fire with the barrel aimed at the door. An Observation roll against difficulty 7 reveals the smoke rising from the chimney despite the darkness. Unlike many of the other buildings in the camp, his only has one entrance. Don is a Native American of the Cree tribe who works as the Game Warden at Camp Ojibwe. If asked what he knows, he mentions legends of the otshee manitou, or wendigo. It seems that dark spirits have been awakened in this place. He can tell the party everything listed in the scenario notes about what wendigoes are, but not mechanical game details such as life totals. Familiar with the sacred sites around camp, he believes that he can reverse the curse if the group can help him get to the amphitheater at the top of Rising Sun Hill. The spirits will know he is trying to banish them. He needs the group to protect him until he is finished.

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This finale can easily go wrong for the player characters as wendigoes converge on the amphitheater. If the final battle turns against them, it is fair to allow one of the smarter characters to make a Perception roll to deduce that if the entire population of wendigoes is currently at the amphitheater, that means the way to the parking lot is open, so an Escape victory is still possible. Note: Don Coldcrow’s true background and motives are up to the Narrator. In some playthroughs, he has been an innocent bystander, as surprised by recent events as the players, but knowledgeable enough to help them reverse the curse.

Don Coldcrow Medicine Man (Hunter/Paranormal Investigator) Build — Coordination -1 Perception+1 Skills: Shooting, Hunting Implements, Wilderness Survival, Exorcism, Paranormal Weaponry, First Aid, Sneak Traits: Medicine Man (+4 to paranormal knowledge rolls) Gear: Rifle with 12 shots, jacket, sheath knife.

In others, he came to the camp with full expectation that something supernatural would occur. The camp profiting off the traditions of a dispossessed Native American culture, the sacred site of Rising Sun Hill desecrated...these things made Camp Ojibwe a likely breeding ground for vengeful spirits. In this iteration, the arrival of the wendigoes came in answer to Don’s failed attempt to banish their influence earlier in the season. Returning with the first fallen snow, the wendigo spirits are seeking out the medicine man to kill him and devour everything in sight. In a third interpretation, he is a bitter exile cast out by his community as a fake or ‘plastic’ medicine man. Eager to prove his spiritual might, he slipped human meat into the diets of his fellow camp staff, and performed a ritual at the amphitheater to draw the dark spirits into them. However, when the first snow came early and set his curse off before he could leave, he became trapped in the camp with the players. No matter what his motive, Don needs the player characters’ help to survive. He can be counted on to aid them as a result, though his degree of selflessness may vary depending on the backstory the Narrator chooses for him.

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Amphitheater A steep hill ascends before you, hundreds of feet into the air. Two trails lead to its peak, one a long and gradual path, the other a death-defying climb up its steepest slope. Thick forest crowds the hill; naked, leafless trees and bristling conifers both. If they take the easier road, a rogue wendigo is more likely to intercept them. If they take the winding road, have them roll Climb difficulty 6 (a walking stick reduces difficulty to 3) or suffer a Fatigue penalty. At the top of the hill: Before you is a shallow bowl cut out of the hilltop. Crude steps made of mud and stone are arrayed in a half-circle around the large fire pit, all facing west. This place is the most sacred location in Camp Ojibwe, and where Don Coldcrow can attempt to banish the wendigo spirits. It takes a scene of preparation (making the bonfire, setting up lookouts, everyone learning their roles in the ritual) and then another to actually perform the banishing. Once the fire is going, Don daubs his face with paint. He begins the dance and the song, and asks the group to protect him while he completes it. The wendigoes run up the hill to the amphitheater almost as soon as the group starts this process. Have someone pass an Observation roll to see lank white shapes in the distance, approaching quickly. Every living wendigo in the camp approaches by whatever trail is fastest, trying to stop the ritual before it is completed. The monsters kill Don unless the party makes a good showing in the battle: passing their Fear rolls and lasting through at least three turns. A paranormal investigator can make a Paranormal Knowledge roll against difficulty 9 (add Exorcism skill bonus to this) to pick up the gist of the ritual and complete it if Don is killed. If completed, read the following cutscene to the players: The song carries into the sky and through the trees, and you hear the words echo back into the bowl of the amphitheater, deep and resonant. A gust of warm wind overtakes you and the bonfire flares! An inhuman shriek cries from the heart of the flames and fog descends around you. Slowly, the creatures shrink down into convulsing human shapes, vomiting meat and blood onto the earth. When the eerie fog clears, they lie on the floor of the amphitheater, shaking with ragged breaths. The nightmare is over.

Hiking Trails Hiking trails occupy zones where the wendigoes can be found, and where rogue wendigoes can overtake the group. There are three particular zones that are of importance. ◊  The first are the hiking trails off of the main path between Eagle Lodge and Hatchet House. To find Jordan’s remains and retrieve his bus key, the group needs to spend time exploring them with a flashlight and good Observation rolls. Without this keys, they cannot escape by bus (unless they hotwire it using the Mechanic skill). ◊  The second are the hiking trails between Medicine Lodge and the Tollhouse. The group can find many dead bodies in gore-strewn heaps on their way to the parking lot. ◊  Lastly, the manager of the camp transformed in the woods around the tollhouse. He dropped the key to his SUV when he tore through his clothing. The party can find his keys, but only by chance since they wouldn’t know where to start looking. A Wilderness Survival roll can be made to follow the tracks from the tollhouse into the woods.

Tollhouse The description for the tollhouse is listed in Scene 2. There are TWO wendigoes that spend their time patrolling the parking lot, intercepting any group that tries to escape. They are not easily put off, though if the group commits to a sacrifice/distraction strategy, the Narrator can honor that and let the others go. If any of the rogues have not been accounted for, feel free to end the game by telling the players as the bus rolls away that they hear a heart-stopping croak from the back of the vehicle. On that note, you can fade to black in classic horror movie style.

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Chief Wendigo One optional device when running this scenario is the ‘boss fight.’ This involves a massive wendigo that towers over its brethren and poses a threat that even a full party would be hard-pressed to fight through. This creature gives the wendigoes added punch not only when fighting in the parking lot, but also at the amphitheater. Games run this way generally end by having the group outmaneuver, rather than kill, the chief wendigo. When the players sneak through the parking lot, read the following as soon as anyone fails a Sneak roll:

A massive white hand drapes over the bus, rending sheet metal as it drags something huge from the shadows behind the vehicle. Mammoth in size, the thirteen-foot tall monster unfolds from its hiding place, drawing its thin frame over top of the bus toward you.

Chief Wendigo—100 life, strength +12, Coordination 0, DV 2, +2 To Hit, 2d6+12 damage claws, 8d6 damage bite. Drag Down: d6+5 against player DV+Build, the character grapples with the Chief Wendigo if drag down roll succeeds. The Chief Wendigo inflicts a bite every time it is victorious.

The shadows move on the far side of the room.

The floorboards creak behind you. Something goes bump behind the closet door. Dark things are brewing, and it will be all you can do to Survive the Night.

Survive the Night is a horror RPG that throws you up against the stuff of nightmare with nothing but your wits and whatever eclectic advantages your character may possess. The dark tone mixed with an emphasis on story and simple rules makes this a unique and memorable experience for the whole table.

$25.00 ISBN 978-1-7336096-0-9

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