ISBN 0-9700821-7-7 Copyright ©2000 Gareth-Michael Skarka and Laura Hanson, Produced under exclusive license by Synister Creative Systems. All Rights Reserved.
Written and designed by
Playtest/Design Commentary:
Gareth-Michael Skarka With: Laura D. Hanson T.S. Luikart Sean Jaffe Layout and Design:
Joshua “Pidge” Jaffe
Cover by
Christopher Shy
Interior Artwork by:
hive Raven Mimura Thomas Denmark Yesse America Bradley K. McDevitt Jerry Grayson Frank Fallon Nichole Clark Andrew Baker Delmar Samatar Sean Benjamin Jaffe Joshua “Pidge” Jaffe Peter “Peet” Johnson Clayton Graham Gareth-Michael Skarka
Sean Jaffe Joshua “Pidge” Jaffe Laura D. Hanson Aaron Rosenberg Jen Purcell Lou Prosperi Frank B. Fallon Nichole Clark Jared Sorensen T.S. Liukart Edward Webb Sandy Antunes Ed Healy Matt Snyder David Artman Alex Heggie Andrew Brehaut Joel Sammallahti Chris Womack Kevin L. Nault Kevin Mowery Trey Palmer Stuart Wells Greg Basich Derek Guder Miguel Valdespino Jeremiah Genest M. Raoul Yaches Stephen Herron Mike Mearls Michael O’Connor
Special Thanks to Sandy Antunes and RPGnet
Dedicated to Allie, Maggie and Ian —who are still my best work.
Mike Sullivan Shawn Isenhart Yesse America Paul Beakley Garett Lepper James Droscha Matthew Hanson-Weller Kevin L. Nault Dan Price Karl Low Jason P.Prince Andy Guest Steve Darlington Daniel Pond David Rowe Myrddin Emrys Elizabeth Bartley James Holloway Pete Rogers Robert A. Rodger John Baker Sergio Mascarenhas... ...And the many others who participated in the forums on RPGnet
Dark accurate plunger down the successive knell Of arch on arch, where ogives burst a red Reverberance of hail upon the dead Thunder like an exploding crucible! Harshly articulate, musical steel shell Of angry worship, hurled religiously Upon your business of humility Into the iron forestries of hell... -Allen Tate, The Subway
Downbelow By T.S. Luikart
First Stone Eisric Dane’s fabled luck seemed to run out in a back-ways sewer shaft beneath a crescent moon. Three slender rays of wan light slipped their way past an iron grate to illuminate his final scene, but only served to make the shadows darker still, a fact not lost on the sensibilities of Dane’s executioner. The slayer in question wore a colorless trenchcoat and denim jeans, which had been tailored by Strauss himself. Pitch black loafers with ruby-sequined spats adorned his feet and he went shirtless. In his fist’s a pair of twined knives lurked; the first was flint, the second, steel. One of his eyes was solid black and lidless. The other was sewn shut with sinews taken from a dead saint’s left hand. His name was Ithio, and he hummed as he carved. It doesn’t rain Down Below, but it should’ve been.
Comes a Ripple There have always been places where Up Above touches Down Below. Pieces of bright memory & bitter regret hold pools of Radiance, and Mockeries
sift up to walk the earth and plague the ignorant. Among the broken pits of fallen Vaudeville, where discarded wooden Charlie Lumley’s lay, talky strings gone rot; amidst the tarnished bronze kazoos and stale one-liners, the Buckskin dwelled. When its pain grew too great to bear, when it could no longer stand the tatters of its former greatness, it would follow the siren’s call of Broadway, and creep up, up, up to the distant twinkling lights—always to find a dreamer with stars in their eyes. The Buckskin collected those stars, and kept them in a large glass tank which had once held the mortal remains of Houdini. Three years after the Queen of the Roaring Heights was coronated, two before Captain Uridian charted the Brooklyn Sound, Lord Steam & The Analog Kid went to collect on the Buckskin’s bills. What is there to say of Steam that has not been said? A rogue, certainly. A genius, unquestionably. A lunatic? Perhaps. The UnderWorld makes due with what heroes it can. 5 foot 6 he stood, 5 foot 10 if you counted the blazing corona of white hair that erupted about his bald pate in a style reminiscent of "fork to socket". His eyes were pools of electric blue questions; near to impossibly large behind brassrimmed & bottle-sized trifocals. Tools of every shape & caliber were always secreted about his person. When he saw children he gave them hard candies and when he was angry even the toughest Bravos fled. As for the Kid, you probably grew up on tales of his exploits, yes? In those days, his eyes were a Rolex & a hand made Swiss pocket watch. But the Atomic Clock at the center of his chest and the honorable spirit that fuels it were the same, then, as now. The pair found the Buckskin’s latest victim in an unused subway shaft, half-hidden by a hasty fiend & a large strip of burlap. Steam laid her to rest & the Kid cried, great wracking metallic sobs that shook stations miles away. Blue eyes looked into mechanical, and it was decided without a word. As above, so below. Justice. Justice long denied.
The Waves Begin I doubt Eisric Dane was feeling the pain much. After the first few kicks, the agony kind of recedes as the body goes into shock. He distinctly recalled the snap of the first rib to break and the cold entrance of the first knife but he claims a merciful blur set in after that. When he came to, the first thing he noticed, with little surprise, was that he wasn’t dead. The surprise was swiftly replaced by regret as he attempted to stand. I suppose the story might have ended there and then if Moray hadn’t happened along, but there you have it. She turned a corner in time to see a large man in a dark trench-coat collapse against a tunnel wall with a stifled cry of pain. Moray approached cautiously, her knife held at the ready before her. "Mister? Hey, Mister, you don’ look so good." No response. She waited for awhile, debating the wisdom of going for help or trying to take him with her or just letting nature take its course. It was the coat that decided it. As the light from the torch she carried fell full upon it, a brilliant green light shined out from the darkness of the man’s overcoat. Before her wondering eyes, runes began to slowly crawl across the surface of the trench. An audible crack sent her leaping back several feet and her eyes widened in shock as she realized that the man’s arm was realigning itself as she watched. Iron grey eyes caught and held her hazel ones as he slowly pulled himself to his feet. "By the Radiance," she whispered, "what are you?" "Damned," he said, then fell, unconscious, at her feet.
Ripples Interlocking "We will need a lorekeeper," the Junkman rumbled. "And someone to find the path," the Artificer added, " the way to Vaudeville is long and treacherous." He smiled. "You’re not exactly agile." What passed for an expression of amusement crossed the Kid’s wrought iron features, "I didn’t make me, old man." "It isn’t easy to mask the sound of pistons, you know…"
"Hmmm." "…And venting steam quietly without any whistle." "Uh-huh." "At least you don’t creak." "My gratitude knows no boundaries." About that time, the old tinkerer changed the subject. "So who’s the best?" The metal man considered the question for a time before answering, "Forlan." Steam gave him a sharp look. "We could never afford him," Steam paused, "There is another we know, and he owes me." The clock hands of the Kid’s eyes stopped rotating. "He’s been Outcast." "I know." A slight pause. "Would he do it?" "He has honor, no matter what his Guild says. Besides, if you want the Buckskin, if you truly want to take him down permanently, we need Dane." Slow whirring nod. "So be it."
New
Patterns Emerge Moray searched the long corridor with her eyes as she dragged the strange-coated man down it. Every echo caused her to flinch and look back the way they had come. It was good that her burden had stopped bleeding, though she was disturbed. What had started as a torrent of blood from his side, had subsided to a trickle, then nothing. Moray knew enough about knife wounds to know the stranger’s should have been fatal. She reached her squat and probably sighed in relief as she pulled the man into it. "Thank you." She gasped and stepped away from him, causing him to fall heavily to the floor. "I think," he wheezed. "Oh, sorry. Sorry. You startled me." "I tend to do that to people." In spite of herself, Moray was intrigued by the droll expression on his face. "Who are you? What happened to you? Were you lost? You were in one of the high roads hardly anyone goes up there." He raised himself and sat against the wall. She flopped down on the other side of the room, careful to never take her eyes off of him. Though she appeared unarmed, she always keeps throwing knives hidden about her room. "I should tell you now, I appreciate what you’ve done for me, but I’m Outcast. There is little I can do for you, or pay." She put on a casual expression. "Well maybe we can make a trade. Your life in exchange for, oh, how about your coat?" He smiled. "My life is not yours to give. It’s barely mine. As for the coat… I wouldn’t be doing you any favors by giving it to you. Wearing this coat," he paused for a while, "wearing this coat is a burden all of its own. I have some Above money I can give you. You could trade it." He studied the slim girl that sat before him. Her quick sharp smile. "What are you called?" "Moray, like the eel. As in, ‘as slippery as’." She grinned, "and you?" "Dane. Eisric Dane." Her eyes widened. "THE Dane? The detective? No waaaaay." He nodded. "But, no offense, but, uh, who could do this, I mean, who could, you know,
beat you up?" "He didn’t "beat me up" girl, he killed me." "Killed…you?" He nodded. "But how?" "He didn’t know the truth about me. Next time… next time he will." She flinched away from the power in his gaze. "But next time, I’ll be ready for him, as well." "Who?" "Ithio." She practically screamed, "Get out of my flat, NOW!!!" She didn’t though -- although she did start hyperventilating. "Ith…io…you…fought…fought…alive…what… what?" "I’m a Legendary, kid. One that, among other things, represents the belief that an underdog must stand against the odds." A dark expression crossed his face. "That the truth must come to light, as well." Moray slowly calmed down. "Who would send, Ith…Him, after you?" "I don’t know. But I know why, I’m getting too close to the truth." "The truth, what truth?" He made a sweeping gesture around the room. "I’ve about figured how who built all this and why." "All this…you mean, you mean UnderWorld?" He nodded. "Whoooaa. Then you know, about the Radiance & the Subways?" He nodded again. "Is that why you were Outcast?" "I believe so, though I have little proof. Now I’m trapped. Can’t exist in the world above, hunted in the one below." A slight smile crossed his face. "These tunnels down here are mean, good thing I’m a man without fear." A strange expression replaced the smile and his eyes grew vacant. "Someone is looking for me." "I’ll just bet," she said. "No, not like that. Someone needs me… Someone I owe." "How do you know that?" A series of resonating thumps echoed down the corridor outside Moray’s squat. Both the girl and the man looked at the rug that served as her door. "You don’t suppose." The curtain raised and a small man followed by a
metal behemoth entered the room. "Found you," said Lord Steam.
The Last Wave Begins "I can’t believe you talked me into bringing her," Dane growled, "she’s in a lot of danger." "Everyone’s in danger Down Below, besides we needed a scout," the old man replied. "You owe me anyway," Moray yelled back from the corridor before them. "And you," Dane turned to the Junkman who stomped down the corridor at his side, "Steam I understand, but I expect better of you, Kid." "Our need is great. It has gone on to long, Eisric. The Buckskin must be stopped. Afterwards, we can help you with your problem with Ithio." "Problem? That’s one way of putting it." "Of course my boy. If I had a nearly unstoppable psychopath that wanted to stick knives into me, I’d call it a problem." The old man grinned. "I see those humor experiments still aren’t panning out for you." The Artificer frowned. The Junkman chortled. "Moray," Dane raised his voice, "don’t stray too far ahead." Moray appeared in the corridor before them. "I don’t get it. We should be there by now." With that, the Buckskin struck. Part of the wall before them flowed, quick and vicious, onto the girl. She screamed as the flesh of her arm was stripped away by tendrils with sharp teeth. The Analog Kid roared like a semi springing to life and charged forward. His huge mass impacted into the Buckskin and the two of them crashed down the corridor in a heap. Lord Steam pulled a long device out from under his coat and aimed it at the struggling combatants. The gadget resembled nothing so much as a Jacob’s ladder that had been turned into a gun [which is what it was]. "Blast you, Kid, get away from him!" He turned to Dane in frustration. "What do we do?" "We’ve got to find his focus. Probably the eyes its taken, what they represent to it. Find them and destroy them. Look, the Kid’s holding his own." The Analog Kid was indeed holding his own. The Junkman grappled with the Buckskin; metal fingers locked vice tight on slippery, changing flesh. "GO,
GO NOW!" Moray had slumped against the corridor, blood oozing from a dozen tiny lacerations on her arm. Despite her pain, she concentrated and then pointed, "That way that’s the way. I’ll be alright, go." The Artificer & the Outcast raced down the tunnel, the sounds of the struggle echoing behind them. A massive cavern opened before them, at the center of it, a massive fluid filled tank held hundreds of eyes. "That’s it! Blast it, Steam. Destroy it!" The Jacob’s Hammer {that’s what Lord Steam called it} spat an arc of electricity at the tank, which exploded with a satisfying crash. Bits of glass and sizzling eyeballs flew about the room, in the distance; the pair heard a hideous roar that gradually faded to nothing. Shing. Shing. Shing. Steam’s triumphant grin faded. Dane looked about, expectant. Shing. Shing. Shing. A dark figure produced sparks in the darkness. Sparks that fell from a pair of twined knives, which lurked in his hands as he rubbed them together. "It seems I underestimated you," a high, soft voice, opined, "it will not happen again, detective." "I’m ready for you this time you son-of-a-bitch." "Hmmm. I think not. Even I would rather not face the Analog Kid. Another day, Eisric Dane. Good bye, Lord Steam." With a slight bow, Ithio stepped into the shadows and was gone. The Kid entered the room carrying a pale, but smiling, Moray. "You should have seen it, guys. The Buckskin sucked into itself. It was great." "It was revolting," grated the Kid. "Guess who we just had a chat with?" asked the old man. The Analog Kid looked back and forth between the two of them. "Life was getting too dull anyway."
Revolutionary War…and beneath the city streets, the world’s most extensive subway system courses through it all, like arteries pumping blood through the body. The New York City subway system is the result of the work of several different independent companies. The first subway began construction in the late 19th century, following the lead of London, whose Underground Rail opened in the 1890s. The Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT) was the first subway line to open, on October 27, 1904. The IRT line ran from City Hall, at the lower tip of Manhattan, north to Grand Central Station, then west under 42nd Street to Times Square, and then north under Broadway, eventually terminating at the Bronx Zoo. This form of public transportation was greeted with fervor and excitement by the public—on the first day of operation, over 150,000 people rode the rails, despite cries from detractors that the process was bad for the lungs, bad for the eyes, and bad for the soul in general. Few people noticed that an invisible line had been crossed. For what was once History solely a matter for heroes of myth—journeying New York City…the grand metropolis of the beneath the ground, travelling into the underworld United States, one of the largest cities in the world, is and returning alive—was now commonplace. home to millions upon millions of people. Like many By the second decade of the 20th century, the city of the larger cities on the East Coast of North America, it has a history extends back some 400 had issued contracts to an additional subway years—not as extensive as the lengthy histories of the company: The Brooklyn Manhattan Transit (BMT). great cities of Europe, but more than enough to dwarf The two corporations constructed and ran the rapid the respective ages of the other cities of the New transit system in New York as a concession from a city that could not afford to build and operate such a World. system on its own. The BMT and the IRT fought The millions of people who live and work in the against City Hall in many political battles throughout city are surrounded by the reminders of this history: the early 20th century, especially during the from the towering buildings that dominate the administration of Mayor John F. Hylor in the 20s. skyline—the products of the last century—to the Hylor wanted the subways to be constructed and run skewed streets and narrow avenues that tangle below by the City government. He continually spoke out 14th street, following the paths set by the original against private monopolization of the rapid transit Dutch settlement of the 1600s. International system, and proposed an Independent Subway (IND) financial institutions of the 21st century sit next door in 1925. The IND opened with little fanfare in 1932, to pubs that have served clientele since the before the after Jimmie Walker, who was much more supportive
Overview
of the private subway status quo, had replaced Hylor In fact, the loss rate of The Radiance, which grew exponentially during the 18th and 19th centuries (as as Mayor. the industrial revolution sandblasted the magic from Eventually, by the 1950s, the city of New York the face of the Earth), should have resulted in a did subsume the IRT, BMT and IND into one system, complete depletion by now...but it hasn't. There is only one reason for this—the subways. under the auspices of the Metropolitan Transit Authority, which is how the system is operated to this day.
Next Stop, Rune Station
It is these Byzantine beginnings that are often cited as the reasons behind the New York City subway’s odd, labyrinthine layout. The official stance is that since the system was laid out by three separate companies, there was little communication between planners, and little effort made to coordinate efforts, resulting in the twisting mass of stations and tunnels that lie beneath the streets. The real reason is far more complex.
Lost Magic The world used to be a place of Magic. It is evident in our myths, our legends and our fairy tales—magic was a common force of nature. Gradually, as human culture developed and grew, people began to quantify and define the world around them purely in rational terms. Science was born. As science began to spread, magical energy began to recede. This energy, called The Radiance, began to leak away from the world like blood jetting from an arterial wound. Like blood, however, it pooled in some places--the UnderWorld. The UnderWorld is one of the last vestiges of The Radiance left on Earth. It lies beneath the world of Man, beneath the subways, beneath the stations, beneath it all. It is a hidden world of caverns, chambers, passageways, tunnels…. and magic. The deeper you go into the UnderWorld, the stronger the surrounding Radiance. At the upper levels of the UnderWorld, though--the subway stations and passageways carved by man--The Radiance leaks away, like heat being lost. Magic is not a renewable resource.
Across the globe, during the latter part of the 19th century, construction began on the subway systems of the world's larger cities. Some person or group (no one really knows for sure, although there are more theories regarding this than there are stars in the forgotten sky) subtly influenced that construction-changing a route here, moving a track there. Unbeknownst to almost anyone, the subways were laid out in ancient patterns--similar to runes, mandalas, or the spirit-paths walked by Shamans. But instead of a single sorcerer walking the path dictated by the arcane geometry and thereby generating a small amount of magical energy--the paths of the subways are followed by many people, unwittingly, every day. Each rider gives up the smallest, most miniscule fraction of his or her essence for the generation of a magical charge. With millions of people unknowingly participating in this ritual daily, enough power was generated to replenish The Radiance--to slow its arterial dispersal at first, but as the 20th century plowed ever onward, and more and more people plugged themselves in to the hidden magical generator that is the modern subway system, the rate of loss reached equilibrium. At this point, the turn of
are made up of several Breeds. A Breed is a grouping somewhat akin to a species or a race, but usually cast in a wider net. Some, like the elusive Mole People, are a true race unto themselves. Others, like the Freaks, are as widely varied as the different species of flowers that blossom in the World Above. Some Breeds like the Junkmen and the Legendaries are borne of magic and not natural at all. the 21st century, The Radiance is being replenished at a rate equal to what it looses daily to the world above. Some within the UnderWorld speak in hushed tones of the mysterious architects of this planwondering if they set this generator in motion for their own purposes, and what will happen when the subways start to provide a surplus of magical energy into The Radiance. But perhaps it's best not to speak of such things. After all, they say that when you think of the Devil, the Devil thinks of you. It is this power—maintained by the largest mass of moving human flesh and blood (second only to the entire planet Earth)—that powers the magic that is the UnderWorld.
Down Below Far from the eyes of the modern world, there exists a realm that has only been hinted at in our myths and legends. The world beneath the streets is full of life and magic, unseen by the world above. The UnderWorld (as it has been termed by its citizens) is divided into various Domains, each ruled by a Lord. Like the kingdoms of old, the Domains of the UnderWorld forge alliances, trade in goods and services…and, at times, make war upon each other. The Lords each rule their domain as they see fit: some are benign, others are despotic. A key to survival in these tunnels and caverns is awareness of the mood and temper of each particular Domain’s ruler…in some cases, it can mean the difference between life and death. The denizens of this underground Domains
The people of the UnderWorld, in all of their Breeds, organize themselves by profession. These professions, known as the Guilds, are, perhaps even more than the rule of the Domains, responsible for carving out a sense of order in the chaos of magic and survival that is the World Below. Every Domain respects the rule of the Guilds, regardless of the whims of the individual Lord. The traditions maintained by the Guilds, similar in structure to the guilds of Europe’s renaissance, allow for a rule of law that maintains the status quo, and allows the secret of the UnderWorld to be kept from the mortal world. Traders are the only Guild who travel Above. Bravos are the only Guild who trade in violence. Mendicants tend to the health of the people. Navigators get you where you need to go. The Guilds all have their roles, and those roles are sacrosanct. It is the order of things, and all but a dangerous few obey. Outside of the Domains, the UnderWorld is wild. Great beasts lurk through dark tunnels, ready to devour the unwary. In caverns deeper than any UpWorlder has ever traveled; there are lost cities, built by inhuman hands. The Radiance manifests itself in wondrous and unexpected ways. There are villains, and there are heroes. This is the World Below. This is UnderWorld.
The Framework What you hold in your hands is not a game, despite what you might have read on the cover. To call it a game is a misnomer. It is not truly a roleplaying game, although it can be used as such. It is not truly a Live Action game, although it can also be used in that fashion.
fine, as well. There are, after all, no "right" or "wrong" ways to play a game. These players may end up using the UnderWorld setting with another set of rules. If that is how they choose to use this framework, then that is their version of the game, and it is just as valid as those players who might decide to use the setting presented in this book with no rules whatsoever.
Both groups are playing UnderWorld, in their own fashion…playing a game, using the same It is a framework for you to create your own framework. games; your own stories. It would be folly for any Participants in an UnderWorld game are divided writer or publisher to attempt to second-guess the into two types, Players and Conductors. creativity of every gamer who picks up a product like A player is a participant who takes the role of one this. So, we will not try. of the Main Characters (MCs) of an UnderWorld What we have presented here is a framework. A adventure. They create their fictional characters to series of guidelines that each individual gaming inhabit the imaginary world presented in the game. group can use to create their own specific version of The stories created during the game are the stories of the game. The rules presented herein are perhaps the player’s heroes. much more open to adaptation and interpretation than A Conductor is a participant who presents the you may be used to. That is intentional. It is the world to the players, directs the story, and portrays experience of UnderWorld’s creators that, more often the Supporting Characters (SCs) that the MC’s than not, the stricter and more detailed the rules encounter. Other games refer to this role as the game system, the more likely those rules are to be changed master (GM), or referee. Conductors should make or dropped entirely by a gaming group. So, what we themselves very familiar with the rules of have done here is to specifically create rules UnderWorld, as well as the setting (although the guidelines that are already in a form to be adapted setting details of the Conductor’s individual game into a "house rules" system. may vary from the "official" setting, or any other Conductor’s for that matter). In addition, the entirety Some of you may not be comfortable with that of Chapter 6 is devoted to information and tips level of autonomy. Some players are much more at specifically for the participants who choose to ease with a set of very structured rules…and that is become Conductors. UnderWorld is best described as a framework.
The Rules
1 Success Needed: Average - any schmoe should be able to do it. 2 Successes Needed: Moderate - a moderately skilled person can do it. 3 Successes Needed: Hard - a professional is needed. 4 Successes Needed: Daunting -difficult even for professionals 5 Successes or more: Epic - the stuff of legends.
At the heart of UnderWorld is a single rules mechanic, known as the Head Count. Almost every situation that you may encounter while playing can be covered by some variation of this mechanic. As the name might suggest, the Head Count mechanic is based on a coin toss, and a counting of the number of "heads" results. When faced with a task, every character in UnderWorld gets one coin to toss as a default. The character gets an additional coin if they have a Trait that comes into play in this circumstance (for example, the Trait "Incredibly Strong" would be very helpful in attempting a feat of strength). Another coin can be garnered if a Breed ability or a magical technique is being used. In the case of skills, the player receives an additional 2 coins to throw if a Guild or Breedbestowed skill is being used. If the skill is not one from your Guild, but one of another Guild's skills that the character picked up as one of their secondary skills, then only 1 additional coin is gained. This results in a player tossing at least 1, and possibly as many as 5 or more coins to attempt a single action.
coin tossing going on. Most of the time, the Conductor will make a reasonable judgement based on the character's ability, the difficulty of the task, and, perhaps most importantly, the needs of the story. The only time that the Head Count will come into play is when the outcome is really dramatically important. Conductors shouldn’t be asking for Head Counts to see if characters can climb a rock face, for example--unless there is a giant albino sewer gator nipping at their heels, or something else that makes the action crucial.
After the coins are tossed, the total number of Magic, Salvage Tech, combat…all use "heads" results is tallied. This result is the number of successes. These successes are compared to the variations of the Head Count system presented above. More detail on these systems, and on the total number of successes needed. There's probably not going to be a great deal of Head Count itself, is given in Chapters III and IV.
Coins Tossed # of Possible Results 1 Success 2 Successes
3 Successes 4 Successes
1
2
50%
0
0
0
2
4
75%
25%
0
0
3
8
87.5%
50%
12.5%
0
4
16
93.75%
68.75%
31.25%
6.25%
5
32
96.875%
50%
18.75%
81.25%
Soul Ante By T.S. Luikart
I love the sound of that clock. I love the swell and press of the crowd, everybody running nowhere special at high speed. I was here, when they first built this station, you know. Yeah, it was a long time ago. I don’t look so old? Thanks. You kids want to hear a story? I’m waiting for this guy, so I got the time. So this story, right, this story starts with a lost girl an old debts and it ends with a midnight poker game. Not just any game. You all pay attention you just might learn a thing or two. So I was taking care of business, doing things that need to get done, right? Such as? Making certain UpWorlder cops what don’t know the score don’t lean on our people, getting some decent food, that sort of thing. What’s an UpWorlder? You all are. It means you live up here, in the stations, in the light, not Down Below. My boss, Rector, he’s a good guy, just a little touched in the head, but not a man to be messed with. Besides, you disrespect Rector, you gotta talk to me, and trust me, you don’t want to talk to me in that situation, capice? That’s another part of my business. So he sends somebody to bring me round so’s he can introduce me to this little girl. She looks like she can’t be more than 15, tops. A looker though. But her eyes…I been around, I know what’s what and trust me, you’ve never seen eyes like hers in any normal kid. They were missing everything that counts. Everything. So Rector says she’s an old friend, and coming from him, that really says something. She’s been cheated, he says. She was promised her memories back he says, and then I know for sure what she is, right? Why were her memories missing? Well, where I come from, there are these people and they’ve lived
a long time. I mean a real long time. But somewhere along the road, they loose the way and their memories. Pretty soon, they don’t know why they’re still alive and they try to find out. Rector is one of them. Anyway he says, "She was so desperate, she didn’t realize what was being asked, or what she offered. She was tricked out of her spirit, Robin. Without a spirit, what do memories matter?" So I says, "Boss, if the deal was square what can I do?" Then, he floors me. "It was Beleth." Who’s Beleth? Beleth’s bad news. It’s straight up Hellborn and no mistake. Yeah, I said, Hellborn. What? Yeah, I meant "it". You think I don’t know how to speak? All right, then. Beleth is whatever Beleth wants to be: sometimes male, sometimes female, maybe both or neither, capice? Maybe it changes with the tide, I don’t know and I don’t care. Anyway, Rector knows I got long problems with Beleth and I’ve been waiting for a long time to stick it to that punk, you know? Now most people, they’d be scared, but I ain’t a Knight of the Lesser Boulevards, and Rector’s go-to guy for nothing. It’ll be a cold day in the Boiler Yards when somebody gets one over on Goodfella Robin, and if I go down, it ain’t gonna be on account of that freak. What do you mean, what am I talking about? Oh, yeah. Well, Rector’s Lord of the Lesser Boulevards. The Boiler Yards, heh, you wouldn’t believe me. Anyway, Rector sees the look on my face, so he knows I’m green. "Evora will, of course, be going with you." I know better than when to argue with him, so, like it or no, I’ve got a tag-along. She don’t say much, just looks at me as we leave the LB with those great empty eyes. "What do you propose?" she whispers. Now I’m a man who knows things, and I did a favor for a guy a couple of years before this thing with the girl. I got some scars out of it and a little ring. I hoped that ring was my ace, but I didn’t tell
her about it. What I did say was: "Beleth can’t resist a game of chance. Thrives on ‘em. Host a game where the stakes are high enough, Beleth’s a shoo-in. So we need a game and a couple of marks. Trouble is, Beleth will spot a set up, easy. So the marks can’t be patsies. They can’t be in on it, either. Beleth can smell lies." "What about you?" I gave her my best pearls. The Cheshire’s got nothing on my grin. "Nobody knows when the Puck’s lyin, Miss. Nobody." Who’s the Puck? I’m the Puck. Stop interrupting. "So where do we find these…marks, who are not… patsies?" "Down off the Sound, I figure. Dis way." I took her down the long way, because she didn’t look like she was up for the Shrieking Elevator. The Elevator? It’s like a Coney Island ride without a seat belt. Sounds like fun? Well, it ain’t called "shrieking" for nothing. Now the Brooklyn Sound, well, she’s not the most impressive body of water, but, man, she is the loudest. All the caverns man-made and otherwise that she runs through pick up the noise and bounce it around. Some say it’ll drive you mad if you’re not careful. When we got down to the Sound’s banks, I lit up a road flare to call for a ride, and waited. After a couple of minutes I heard a bell ring and a soft chug, chug, chug sound. No less a person then Captain Uridian himself and his ship, the Albatross, came round the bend. Uridian? He charted the Sound. He’s nuts. The Albatross is a beauty though. She’s a cross between a steam locomotive, a tugboat, and a bulldozer. Great metal hooks come up over her bow and sets of tank treads are woven into her sides. Where Uridian can’t sail, the Albatross can walk, and her massive hooked arms have climbed them out of more than one pit. "Ho, there, ho," came a voice. "Two passengers, Captain. We need a lift to the Iron Pig." I yelled. "I know that voice," came the reply, "if’n I catch you in my whiskey, Goodfella, I’ll feed you to the Purple Carp." I laughed, "Sounds fair, Captain." The Albatross pulled up to the shore, and a long metal plank hit the sand. The girl and I stepped aboard. Uridian isn’t a big man, but he’s got presence and flair. He swept off his hat, feathered plumes and all, and bowed to
Evora. "Gentlest lady, welcome to my humble ship. Tides willing, we will make good time to the Pig." He winked at me, "and the sooner I get this rogue of my decks, the better." After Evora went below, I asked Uridian what I owed. "Not a thing, Robin. We were headed that way already." The Albatross did make good time, and we reached the Iron Pig in less than two hours. Anywise, Evora and I stepped off at the Pig’s docks and waved the Albatross on. The Iron Pig is an ancient bar that belongs to my friend, Amrys. It was a five-ton piggy bank. Yeah, you heard me right, five tons. I don’t know where it came from; maybe it belonged to a giant’s kid. Can I continue, now? We walked in and a couple of the regulars started to sidle up to the girl, but they vanished quickly when they saw me. Everybody got real quiet till I open handed them to show that I wasn’t there on business, least ways not my usual business and they settled down. Amrys sharked at me and waved me over to the bar. He stood between a rack of barrels, each one with a curling spigot, consisting of rubber tubing and a converted blender. The whir of the blenders as he pulled drafts covered the sounds of our conversation nicely. "Who’s the jail-bait?" "Nope. Nomad." "Occh, man, I hate that shite." "Wasn’t my idea." "Hmmm. One of Rector’s likelies?" "Maybe. Beleth jacked her." He let that one sit for awhile, wiped a few glasses. "So," he looked me in the eye, "you’re finally going to sort it out then?" I nodded. "Well, lad, what do want from me? Whatever it is, you’ve got it." "That’s a dangerous offer to make to me, Irish." "Don’t I know it." We both grinned. I told him parts of my plan, never trust anybody too much, and we drew up a short list of players. Not many are willing to face the Game. What? Yeah, its poker. But there’s poker and there’s Poker, you know? It’s the stakes that make for the difference. See, you play the Game, you’ve got to be willing to stake anything. Lose anything. Not many got the cojones for it. Amrys goes, "So where do you want to be having it, not here, surely?"
"Nah. I was thinkin’ The Glass Confection." "Will Myriad be up for it?" "I wasn’t gonna ask." "You’re a cheeky bastard, Robin." "You’ve no idea. You’ll handle the invitations?" "Of course." "Will you be there?" I didn’t really have to ask. He looked at me and I saw more pain in his eyes than I could ever bear. I had to look away. "Aye," he said, "aye." Amrys and Beleth? No, you don’t need to hear about that. If you ever find yourself Down Below, kids, you be careful. You can lose a lot more than you’re shirt, and some things can’t be won back. Anyway, I took Evora, who by the way, was staring at her reflection in the mirror the whole time I was talking with Amrys, and made for the Hundred Candle Vault. The Vault’s name is a little misleading. It’s a massive cavern filled with candles alright, but there are also Bunsen burners, flashlights, kerosene lanterns, gas burning lamps from old Wall Street, arc-lights, florescent lights, neon lights, whatever. If it makes light, it’s in the vault. The candles get replaced regular by Myriad’s girls, and there are a lot more than a hundred. The rest of the lights were converted by Artificers to work on their own. What’s an Artificer? Kinda like a mechanic. Sort of. Myriad is a Seline. One of the old Fey types, right? Yeah, a fairy. What, you bought the rest, but don’t believe in fairies? O.K. fine, she’s ah, unusual, all right? She can make glass flow like water. She built this tavern made of glass, the Glass Confection, in the center of the Hundred-Candle Vault. It’s been around a long time. Used to be called the House of Twilight Rainbows, but she changed
the name and the design a couple of decades ago. It’s beautiful. There are a few deep core electric shafts that run parallel to the Vault, and walking along the cables is the easiest way to get there. When we finally walked into the Vault and the girl got a look at it, even in her state, she caught her breath. Perfect place for the Game, eh? Now I know Myriad’s gonna be pissed with me, and I’ll owe her big time, but the game has got to look legit, see? So I walk up the steps, which is always a trick cause their almost invisible except for the reflected light and smile, but I don’t even get a word out before: "No. No. Whatever it is, whatever you want, get out of my place." "I can’t. Invitations are already on the way. The Game is on." Her eyes got real wide. Myriad’s eyes don’t have any pupils so the effect is pretty stunning. "Why, Robin, by the Lady, why?" I flicked a glance at Evora. "She lost something. Beleth found it. I’m taking it back." She looked from the girl to me, then nodded, slowly. "If you fall, Rector owes your debt." "Agreed." "Tonight?" I nodded. "I’ll prepare at once." "Myriad?" She paused. "I’m sorry." She nodded. "Could you hide the girl?" She nodded again, and gestured to one of her servants. When Myriad pulls the stops, there ain’t anything to compare it to. In a couple of hours the Confection looked like a fireworks show frozen at the finale. She set up her best table, not glass, but Heart’s Wood Oak taken from the center of a still living tree. I just sat and worried and waited. Yeah, kids, even the Puck feels fear. Never much and
never for long. You keep it under your hats though, O.K.? The first mark to show was Long Tommy. He’s not a bad sort, and he has skill, but he likes the sauce too much. Amrys and I figured a steady flow of the good stuff would take care of him. He swaggered in with smiles all around and a tip of his top hat to Myriad. "Once more into the breach, eh Robin?" "Tommy… be careful tonight." He was the only one to get a warning out of me, that night. He looked at me for a long moment then nodded slowly. "Beleth." He said. It wasn’t a question. I just looked at him. "Hmm. Think I’ll have a drink." "Do that." Mavrin Rain showed up second. Rain was a Blade. One that didn’t ask questions. He’d gut his mother if the trade was solid, but he always fancied a good game. I can’t say I was too worried for him. Mavrin sharked at me an Myriad as he banked an arsenal from beneath his long coat behind the bar. "Wouldn’t want any accidents, would we?" I’ve heard buzz saws with more emotion. Myriad set him straight though. "Not unless you’d like to spend the rest of your days as statuary." I’ll give Rain this; he didn’t look baggered as he sauntered away. What? Oh, Myriad can encase people in glass. Pretty statue, bad ending. The house was starting to fill. Word moves fast Down Below. Some came for amusement, some for vengeance. Most came because they had to know. Besides, people talk about this stuff for years after and most want to say, "Yeah, I was there." The last player, aside from the freak, who hadn’t shown yet, was Ilian Thahn. Deep scout he was. Good, but twitchy. After, Beleth, he was the one I had to sharp the most. Normally, he wouldn’t
have entered the Game, but he owed big Favors, an he needed more than duckets. When he came in his clothes were rustic and dusty, like most scouts. He nodded to me, but said nothing. I glanced around, found Amrys. I raised a brow at him an he shrugged. I started to get up, then I felt the crowd go still. It’s name slipped about the room, shadow quick. "Don’t get up on my account, dear boy." Such a kind voice. A loving parent’s voice. An old friend’s. I thought about ripping out the juke that produced it, but shrugged it off. Wouldn’t have phased the freak anyway. "Long time, Beleth." "Quite." I looked at it. It was dressed in black velvet with bright blue trim. A rock the size of an eye was pinned at its throat. Its hair was long, blond, and unbound. Its eyes were lavender. "Let’s play," I said. The Game is named after the subways, its got three stages, called rails. Each one is worst then the last. With each rail, the stakes go higher. It always starts with material things: duckets, trade, artifacts you know. The second’s when it starts to get interesting: Favors, secrets, Charms, whatever… The Third Rail… most don’t ride that far. Then, kid, then you ante the only things that matter. Parts of you. Your memories, your experiences…your soul. Beleth and I were headed for the Third Rail; the rest was just for show. How do ante your soul? I hope none of you kids ever know how. It doesn’t matter how, just know that it can be done, O.K.? We all moved to the table and the crowd backed off. Beleth and I sat opposite each other. The others filled in. Myriad produced the cards. Carved pieces of ivory, each one unique. I got the first deal on account of calling the game. "5 card draw," I smiled, "Joker’s hidin, jack’s wild."
That’s how it began. What am I going to tell you guys, draw by draw? It was poker. Everybody was smooth at first; the First Rail’s like that. The drink flows, the duckets shift, you know? Tommy won a nice converted lighter off of Rain with a low straight. Thahn raked us all with a full house. The banter was lighthearted still. Hell, I an Beleth even traded of few civil shots. "Robin, I hear it’s still difficult to hire maids these days, are you still having the dust removed from Rector weekly?" he asked. "Nah. I’m letting it build up for spring." Talk like that, see? Myriad called for the first break. Twenty minutes, then the Second Rail. Amrys walked over to me. "How are you faring, lad?" he asked. I grinned at him. "I haven’t shanked it in public." "More’s the pity." "You think it’d notice?" I asked. "Not unless you spoiled its finery." I laughed for the first time in a long while. Myriad walked up behind Amrys and sharped the two of us. "Are you ready for this?" I nodded. "Game on then." The Second Rail is as far as most ever go, and it’s bad enough. The first ante is always Charms. After that, out come the Favors and the secrets. Favors are kinda like the old Irish geasa. No one can force you to give out a Favor though. What’s a geasa? It’s something you have to do, or not do. Favors though are like markers you take against yourself. How can you risk a secret? It’s kinda tricky. There was this Artificer name of Volken, Mad Volken to most, who loved to gamble. He looked for a way to gamble secrets for years, and one day he came out of his workshop with the first Loremyr. They look like a silver fish with a big open mouth. Volken told gamblers they could write down a secret on a piece of paper, and stick it in the Loremyr’s mouth. It would then sharp the table it was on and somehow, know
what the secret was worth, in relation to what was on the table. If the secret was good enough its eyes would flare blue, if it wasn’t, then red, and the gambler had to come up with something else, or a different secret. I don’t know how they know, kid, I didn’t make them, but I know they work. There are only seven of them, and Myriad has one. Way back some smart guy figured that maybe the Loremyr’s remembered everything they were told and he tried to steal one. It bit his hand off. Anyway, the Second Rail was vicious. Beleth slipped something to the Loremyr that made us all raise, big-time. I lost a Bravo’s Favor that I’d been carrying for a while, but Tommy really got hit. A couple of Charms and a secret. He shook his head, tipped his hat, and bowed out, weaving slightly. Tommy’s departure left the hard and the desperate at the table. Thahn lost a lot of Favors in rapid succession, and then he did what always signals the end to old players: to make up for a lost hand, he put out a Favor on himself. If you win, everyone knows how little you’ve got left. If you lose, they can call in your favor and have you bounced. He did win, but twitchy or not, he knew when to back off, and knocked out. Two down, that means the second break. Most call the game right there. Rain looked at Beleth then me. "I think I’ll stay," Rain said, "I like the action." "So do I, my boy, so do I." Beleth sharked. I shrugged. I went to the bar and took a long drink. Amrys and Myriad both joined me. "A long time coming," whispered Amrys. "Robin," Myriad looked at me for a long moment, "are you afraid?" "The Puck, afraid? Forgetaboutit." I raised a glass with Amrys. "To justice," Amrys muttered. "To vengeance," I replied as I slammed down the whisky. "Third Rail, time to ride." I walked back to the table and took my place. Beleth glanced at me, then at Rain, and smiled back at me. I got the message. Rain was going down so we could get to business. It took less then ten hands, and by the end Mavrin Rain was no more. It started
simple: memories of UpWorld. What do they matter down there? Easy to ante, easier lost. Soon came his first kiss, his first love, his first kill…Mavrin Rain unfolded before our eyes and ceased to be. As for me, what did I give up? Nothing I couldn’t afford to lose. My love of the sound of rain echoing down from the streets above, a sight of my first rainbow, a well-practiced feint, these and more I lost. Beleth? Beleth didn’t lose at all. Rain slumped against the table and Beleth gestured to have him bounced. The monks would have to care for him from now on. "Well?" it said. Beleth was always a stickler for the rules. Break the rules and all is forfeit. When one falls, the others can quit. "The Puck doesn’t fold." "Excellent." The game raced on and I ran with it. All the pieces of me that make me who and what I am slowly piled up on that HeartWood table. My hopes, my fears, my dreams, everything. Beleth sensed victory long denied and closed in for the kill. In the depths of my mind, I saw Evora’s empty eyes, and remembered a hundred thousand laughing days under another country’s sun, when I was another, and yet, still the Puck. Beleth dealt the final hand. I asked for two and looked at my cards. A three of spades, a five of clubs, a nine of hearts, an ace of diamonds and my old friend the one-eyed black jack winking up at me. Nothing. Nothing at all. I looked at Beleth and it smiled. I put my soul on the table. "Raise" I said. Something dark and wondrous joined my contribution on the table. "Match and call?" it inquired. It knew it had won. Knew it. Amrys stared at me with horror in his eyes. The crowd was grave silent. "Do you wish to raise?" I reached down into my pocket, and produced a little silver ring. A ring I had acquired with a bunch of scars a long time before. A ring that was covered with tiny Latin print, and two names. Both names belonged to the freak across the table from me, but only one came from before human history. "No, no call," I put the ring on and held it up to my lips. I whispered a name that hadn’t been spoken on
the Earth in millennia. Then I looked the horrified bastard right in the eye. "I want you to fold, you son of a bitch." Its scream shattered the ceiling. Broken glass fell down about us, slicing the crowd. Myriad threw out her hands and slowly, the shards melted away and the ceiling reformed. Its voice was hatred and despair. "I…fold. The game is yours." I snatched the dark dancing sphere off the table and gestured to Myriad. Evora emerged from a back room. Beleth looked at me, then the girl and I saw comprehension in its eyes. I held up my newly-won prize. "This, for the girl’s." Defeated, weary, broken…defiant still, it nodded. Evora gasped as all she had lost flooded back into her. I tossed the globe to Beleth. It snatched its spirit from the air and walked towards the door. It stopped on the threshold, turned and glared at me. "There is no forgiveness for this. Ever." I just sharked him. Yeah, kids, that’s it. No explosions, no epic sword duels, just that. Evora? The shock of regaining her spirit drove away her memories. I think it’s just the nature of Nomads, but I don’t tell Rector that. A hero? Me? Forgetaboutit. Revenge for me, justice for my friend, a favor for my boss, where’s the hero in that? There’s my guy, I gotta go. You kids are all right. You ever end up Down Below, I’ll set you straight. Trust me. Hey, would the Puck lie?
Skills, Defining Traits, their Breed, and their Guild. These functions allow characters to be quantified without reliance upon statistics and numbers, yet still Every story begins with its characters. They are with enough variance to ensure that each character is the vehicle that we use to travel through the plot, distinct from every other character. exploring the setting and carrying us through to the Skills are the abilities of the character—those conclusion. things that they have learned through either life A role-playing game, whether played on a table- experience, or through instruction. top, or through Live Action, is very much the same. Defining Traits are the innate talents of the You need characters, which will act as the players’ character—those inborn qualities that separate alter-egos, existing within the fictional setting, and people who might otherwise be outwardly similar. reacting to the events presented to them by the referee or game master (or, in UnderWorld, the Breeds are groupings of similar types of Conductor). characters, whether along the lines of race or species,
Character Creation
Characters in UnderWorld come in two varieties. Main Characters (or MCs) are, just as in any story, the focus of the adventure. These are the characters as portrayed by the players. Supporting Characters, as their name indicates, are the secondary characters that are encountered by the MCs through the course of the story. They are the inhabitants of the setting, portrayed by the Conductor.
or similar background. Guilds are the occupational organizations of the characters, found throughout the UnderWorld.
To create a character in UnderWorld, the player picks a Breed and a Guild, making note of the special abilities, magical techniques and skills that each confers. The player then picks three Defining Traitsthose things that are the core descriptors of the character. He (or she) picks one from the list of Traits All characters, whether Main or Supporting are available to the chosen Breed, and one from the list defined through the same rules mechanics. Characters are described through a combination of available to the Guild. The third Defining Trait can come from ANY of the lists (it's the individualized
"wild card" factor, if you will). Players are also encouraged to develop their own Defining Traits, in concert with the Conductor, that will further individualize the character (in fact, several of the Traits that you’ll find on the lists that follow developed from individualized Traits created by early The UnderWorld is home to those who have no place in the world above. The tunnels and caverns players of the game). are filled with a surprisingly large population, most The player then can choose three "secondary of whom live out their lives without ever seeing the skills" from any of the other Guilds' lists-these are sun. The population is divided into groupings known skills that the character has learned, but not anywhere as Breeds. Some Breeds are true species unto near the level of proficiency that a member of that themselves, but most are merely convenient labels for similar individuals. There are nine breeds that Guild would have. make up the population of the UnderWorld: Ferals, Freaks, Homeless, Junkmen, Legendaries, The Lost, Then, confer with the Conductor to determine Mole People, Nomads, and Normals. what she or he considers to be reasonable starting equipment for characters in this story (equipment and The nine Breeds are fully described on the weapons are listed at the end of this chapter). following pages. The format for the descriptions is as follows: There you have it. At the end of this process, you will have a fully functional UnderWorld character. You may find that it makes the process run much Name: Obviously, this is the more smoothly if you have some initial idea of the sort of character you want to play before you begin. name of the Breed. Any nicknames That way, you may tailor the character as you go, and by which the Breed is also known are the decisions you will make along the way will be listed as well. much easier, since you have a mental image of the character right from the start. Description: The bulk of the
1) Pick a Breed A) Note Special Abilities, Magic and Skills
2) Pick a Guild A) Note Special Abilities, Magic and Skills.
3) Pick Three Defining Traits A) One from Breed List B) One from Guild List C) One from Any List
4) Pick Three Secondary Skills From Any Guild List. 5) Determine Starting Equipment.
entry, giving all of the pertinent information on the Breed in question. Radiance Level: The full effects of the Radiance upon certain characters are given in Chapter III. For right now, simply make note of this entry on your character sheet. Special Abilities: This is where any magical or natural abilities possessed by the Breed are described. Defining Traits: The list of eligible Traits for the Breed. Skills: If the Breed confers any skills upon a character, they are listed here.
(Beasts, the Wild) Never mind the homeless. The truly forgotten denizens of the city don’t have homes or even clothes. Kicked, abused, forgotten, and occasionally even flushed, the true scapegoats of the city must live in constant fear of municipally ordained extermination. They root through garbage for scraps of food. They languish in cells and die nameless and forgotten. Unless they can get underground.
instead with claws, paws, and jaws. More than one Feral artificer has come up with a set of robotic strap-on arms and hands, but the proud Ferals tend to disdain such devices as human trappings. Any animal who would actually wear one of the clumsy rigs had better be prepared to face some harsh criticism from their peers. The Ferals are a proud Breed, strong and willing to fight for what they believe in. They tend to keep a close eye on animal-rights politics topside. Most realize the inevitable outcome of any sort of confrontation with mankind, and so choose to bide their time and make decisive strikes that take out the worst offenders. The time will come, though. One day, there will be a revolution.
The animals of the city, the dogs, cats, rats, bats, and other more exotic beasties who inhabit the Urban Jungle, all share a common secret- they know that if they can get underground, the radiance will free them and allow them to communicate with the humanoids once again. In the UnderWorld, animals are very much people too. The Feral Breed is primarily made up of four different types of animals- Dogs, Cats, Rats and the fabled white Sewer 'Gators. Still, the Radiance’s gift of speech can be bestowed on almost any animal underground, and even the occasional roach has been seen to stand up on his hind legs and start cracking wise about his living conditions- a sobering sight. The Ferals are an angry breed, and although they can understand the difference between the humans above and the humans below, their anger often boils beneath the surface. The dogs’ loyalty leads them into a compromised position with the humansthey claim that they have taken an ancient blood oath to serve and protect their "best friend", but they feel betrayed, and the sting of that betrayal worsens with every stray put to sleep. The cats, as usual, could give a rat’s ass, and the rats take umbrage with this, seeing as how they collectively have plenty. By far, the most vocal and outspoken haters of mankind are the ‘Gators, the oldest of whom even still remember their own painful, frightening and demeaning journey below, and how many of their parents and grandparents drowned on the way down. The 'Gators travel in packs, and all but the toughest or dumbest humans know to give the gangs of huge white reptiles a wide berth or face the toothy consequences. The most obvious difficulty with being a four-legged individual in a two-legged world is the lack of hands. To this end, Feral artificers have come up with dozens of devices that are operated
Radiance Level: 1 Special Abilities: The greatest special ability of the Ferals is that which allows them to be played as characters in the first place: their Radiancebestowed higher intelligence. Other special abilities will depend upon what sort of animal the character is: most will have natural weapons (offering an additional coin during combat), some have heightened senses (cats have their eyes, dogs have their noses—again, offering an additional coin for any action where those abilities come into play). Use common sense in determining what abilities a Feral possesses that are truly special, and work it out with the Conductor.
Defining Traits: Feral Friendly Vicious Cute Small Large Wild Cunning Loyal Fast Tough
Skills:
Scrounging
(Monsters, the Tribe) The Freaks are the most widely varied Breed of the UnderWorld. Throughout history, they have been the monsters that fill the dark corners of our imaginations. The Minotaur was a member of this Breed, as was the monster created by Victor Frankenstein in early 19th century Austria. The Breed ranges from side-show oddities (Phillippe, the dog-faced boy—current Lord of the Under East Side—is famous throughout the UnderWorld) to the truly monstrous (such as the champion gladiators of the Washington Depths, who are rumored to be the discarded results of military genetic experiments). Whether they are the products of mutation, or of experimentation, or of natural evolution, it doesn't matter—they're all Freaks. Freaks have a single bond that unites them as a Breed. They must live in the UnderWorld, for they would be hunted and destroyed in our world. This has happened on more than one occasion, and the instances have entered into legend: The lesson learned by Frankenstein’s monster, for example, has not been lost on his fellow Breed. Humanity has always destroyed what it fears, and the Freaks have learned that it is safer to live far from the torches and guns of the World Above. Despite this harrowed existence, the Freaks are not a vengeful Breed, nor are they particularly melancholy about their lot in life. Vengeance comes from a sense of outrage, and the Freaks are extremely pragmatic about the conflict between their kind and the upper civilizations—they know that interaction with humans is dangerous for them, and is therefore best avoided. Each Freak is unique in appearance—some are animalistic,
others hideously deformed. No two Freaks are exactly alike. A player choosing to play a Freak should have an idea in advance of the appearance of his or her character, and should then work with the Conductor to tailor the character to fit their conception.
Radiance Level: 1 Special Abilities: The Freak has a number of special abilities, usually tied in to their appearance. For example: winged Freaks have the ability to fly, animalistic Freaks have natural weapons like claws and teeth that offer them additional coins in combat. It is recommended that the Freak character possess no more than one major ability—one that offers a major game effect (such as flight, or resistance to certain types of weapons) and no more than three minor abilities (tracking scent, natural camouflage, natural weapons, etc.). A major ability can be defined as one that offers the character an advantage that they can use again and again without penalty, and a minor ability would be one that only offers a bonus to a Head Count throw.
Defining Traits: Strong Agile Tough Intuitive Perceptive Fast Clever Strong willed Commanding Stealthy
Skills: None.
Radiance Level: 0 (Strays, Gypsies, Folk) The Homeless are the rank-and-file members of the UnderWorld population. They are the most common of the Breeds, and, unlike many of the others, they can be found in the World Above almost as often as the World Below. They are the only visible part of the UnderWorld in the daily lives of the UpWorlders… although they are often ignored, outside of the occasional guilt-ridden offer of a few spare coins or a scrap of food. They are derided as bums or vagrants by the World Above, which remains unaware of the true majesty of their subterranean domain. The common bond of the Homeless is that they have collectively turned their backs upon UpWorld society. Certainly, most of the Homeless did not choose to become what they are—but without exception, all of the members of this Breed chose to remain as they are. These are not the helpless alcoholics or overflow from the mental wards that do, unfortunately, make up a percentage of the topside homeless population. The Homeless who make up the Breed that bears their name have discovered the wonder of the UnderWorld, and have simply ‘jumped ship’ to another way of life. They have seen behind the façade of "reality" as it is defined aboveground, and have chosen to no longer participate. Their unique nature, straddling the two worlds, makes them the primary source of news and materials from the surface. As such, many Homeless are members of the Traders Guild (q.v.). Even those who are not Traders, however, maintain some ties with the world of the surface, usually old friends from their previous lives aboveground. Below ground, the Homeless make up the bulk of the citizenship of the UnderWorld, and a good percentage of the ruling class as well. The name of the Breed is a misnomer, in fact, since they do have homes—just not any that the UpWorlders can see. Some find the moniker "Homeless" an insulting hold-over from the stigma placed upon them by the surface society, preferring instead to call themselves "Folk". However, most Homeless wear their name as a badge of honor, an outward sign of their abandonment of UpWorld culture.
Special Abilities: The Homeless possess the unique ability to use UpWorld technology at any level of the UnderWorld, regardless of that area’s Radiance Count, or the Radiance Level of the technology being used. Homeless can take guns, laptops, cellphones, and other modern accoutrements down into the deepest levels of the UnderWorld, and they will continue to function.
Defining Traits: Clever Intuitive Jack of all Trades Perceptive Resilient Charming Courageous Stealthy Fast Talker Streetwise
Skills:
Contacts (surface) Scrounging
humanoid Junkmen—ranging from a sentient vending machine on wheels to a strange combination of a remote-
(Ticktocks, Heaps, Clunkers)
control helicopter and the brass head of a boardwalk fortune telling machine.
Created by the Artificers (q.v.), the Junkmen are automatons—robots created from trash and abandoned machinery, directed by the intelligence of a ghost who has been bound within the metal frame, and powered directly by the Radiance itself. Their forms are as widely varied as the imaginations that spawned them. Whirring gears and cogs, hissing steam and crackling electricity, the Junkmen wander the world below, living out their new lives. Some are overjoyed at this new existence, this staving off of death—but some Junkmen are melancholy creatures, longing for release from this world.
The biggest drawback of existence as a Junkman is that their connection to and dependence upon the Radiance for power effectively keeps them within the UnderWorld. A Junkman cannot exist in the World Above…without the power of the Radiance to draw from, they run down and eventually cease functioning, leaving nothing but the pile of junk from which they were built.
Radiance Level: 2 Special Abilities: (the
bizarre
inventions
construction—most
are
roughly humanoid in form, however. The ghost within the machine finds it easier to acclimate if it’s new body is at least somewhat familiar in shape. However, there are some non-
of
the
Artificers) incorporated into their A Junkman player character
can devise two Salvage Tech devices (using the rules in the Salvage Tech section of Chapter IV) with which to begin the game.
Defining Traits: Strong Tough Clever Resilient Jack of All Trades Strong Willed Commanding Inventive Intelligent Radiant
Skills:
The Junkmen vary in
created
beings, Junkmen have Salvage Tech
bodies. The Junkmen are a rare Breed—the process of creating them is incredibly difficult, and there are few Artificers capable of achieving such a feat. Those Junkmen that are created are effectively immortal, however, only needing occasional repairs to keep going. They are impressive creatures— great clanking collections of metal, rubber, and other scrap, lumbering down the tunnels and caverns of the UnderWorld, drawing sustenance from raw magic.
As
Junkmen can pick three additional skills from any list to represent those abilities "left over" from their previous lives.
(Spooks, Archetypes) The UnderWorld is home to heroes and villains…gods and monsters. Legendaries are the after-effects of continuous magical use. The magical properties of the UnderWorld create something akin to a magical background radiation, known as the Radiance. Sometimes, this energy coalesces, and spontaneously shapes itself into a being. Often, these become the monsters that inhabit the deepest tunnels— but sometimes, the spark of awareness is created, and a new lifeform is the result. Legendaries often take the form of archetypal ideas—the result of drawing their awareness from the collective unconscious of the millions of surrounding people. They are Urban Legends personified. They take the shape of tales that are told in hushed tones by nervous subway passengers, or loudly proclaimed as fact at the corner deli or neighborhood playground. Not to say, however, that all Legendaries are the embodiment of myths specific to the urban experience. As the Radiance has slowed and eventually ceased its dispersal, Legendaries have taken more wide-ranging forms, including characters from particularly well-loved books, or classic archetypes from ancient myths. Legendaries are literally dreams given form…however, it is always prudent to remember that not all dreams are good. Like Junkmen, Legendaries are creatures that depend entirely upon the Radiance for their existence, and as such, cannot venture into the World Above. Legendaries who do fade into the ideas and emotions that spawned them, and are re-absorbed into the minds of the humans in the immediate area. This can have a disruptive effect upon UpWorlders…recently, a vile Legendary that was the embodiment of the Sexual Predator distilled from the fears of the City’s women was chased to the surface by a group of Bravos (q.v.) hired to hunt it down. Unfortunately, it surfaced near the south end of Central Park during a heavily attended Puerto Rican Day Parade. The concepts of the Legendary dissipated into the crowd, resulting in a group assault on several dozen women in what the local media referred to as a "wilding." They have no idea how appropriate that term is.
Given the possibilities inherent in this Breed, players wanting to portray Legendary characters should have a clear concept in mind (similar to the situation when playing Freaks)—it will make character creation flow more smoothly.
Radiance Level: 2 Special Abilities: Legendaries abilities are link to their legend. Like Freaks, the Conductor should allow no more than one major affect, and/or three minor affects for starting abilities. For example: a Legendary like Eisric Dane (from the story at the beginning of Chapter I), who is based on the archetype of the hard-boiled private eye who always gets his man despite impossible odds, has one major effect as his ability: He always finds what he’s looking for…although this often means that he’s set against very powerful enemies. As another example, a Legendary based on the archetype of Sherlock Holmes might have as his major effect a brilliant deductive skill. A Legendary that is the representation of Uncle Sam might be able to come back from any injury, as long as the United States exists. Creating a Legendary requires close communication with your Conductor, to determine what abilities would be overbalancing for the campaign in question.
Defining Traits: Strong Agile Tough Cunning Resilient Jack of All Trades Radiant Strong willed Knowledgeable Charming
Skills: Lore
end up either dead by fatal miscalculations, or in Belview Hospital, receiving treatment for their "mental illness".
(Anachronisms, Temps)
So far, there is no evidence that any member of this Breed has ever made it back to their correct time. That does not stop the Lost from looking.. After being down in the UnderWorld for a while, however, most Lost end up concentrating on the task at hand—namely, surviving in their new environment. A member of the Lost never truly gives up the search for home, but for most it becomes an overall goal, rather than the driving force of their day-to-day existence. As a Breed, the greatest connection between members of the Lost is their shared desire for the eventual resolution of their temporal exile. When two members meet, they often share tales of their progress with their fellow Lost, in the hopes that someday, another may provide that last remaining piece of the puzzle that makes it all come together, and leads the way back home.
Radiance Level: 1 Special Abilities: The Lost have one special ability—due to their exposure to the vagaries of time, they have a special relationship with the 4th dimension. They have an unerring Time sense, and have a limited ability to control the flow of time as well: time can flow slightly faster or slower for the Lost, depending upon his or her whim (this allows the Lost to choose their action last, but act first in combat, or they can slow time to allow for extra care in attempting non-combat actions, giving them a bonus coin, for example). Groups of the Lost can combine their abilities to more major effects (see the section on Magic in Chapter 4).
Defining Traits:
There are many ways into the UnderWorld. Some of these pathways travel across more than just space, but through time as well. The Lost are people from another time, who wandered into the UnderWorld, and now cannot find the way back. The Lost uniformly come from the past—a fact that some offer as proof that the future is unwritten. Regardless of the reason, denizens of the past are almost uniformly stunned by the huge, loud metropolis that is New York. Unable to adjust to life in the UpWorld, The Lost remain below, eking out an existence, while searching for a way back home. Some Lost choose to remain above, however most of these
Friendly Tough Driven Knowledgeable Resistant Intelligent Inventive Courageous Perceptive Commanding
Skills:
The Lost can choose three skills from any list to represent the knowledge they brought with them from their own time.
(Fuzzies) The only Breed which truly is a species unto itself, the Mole People might have been human at one time…or perhaps not. Their origins are shrouded in the dark corners of history. It is assumed by modern UnderWorlders that world-wide legends of the little people who live under the ground are most likely references to encounters with the Mole People. Small, lithe and able to see in the dark, the Mole People have evolved through generation after generation of living underground. They are unable to live in the world above—sun light harms their eyes.
Radiance Level: 1 Special Abilities:
Mole People have several special
abilities: They can see in near complete darkness, they have hightened senses of hearing and smell (extra coin bonus when attempting to detect something through these senses). They possess natural claws which can aid them in digging, or in combat (a one coin bonus). In addition, they have a natural affinity with magic that makes it easier for them to use (see the chapter on Magic), and allows starting characters to begin the game with twice the number of charms. (or, if your Conductor allows it, you can give up all of
The Mole People (not their true name, which is unpronounceable to human tongues) tend to live in insular communities, away from other UnderWorlders. They venture out of their settlements only to trade with others, or in emergencies. Young Mole People often seek their fortunes out among the other UnderWorlders, returning to their villages only after making a name for themselves. Mole People worship the Radiance as a god, believing it to be the force responsible for the creation of the world. They believe that the World Above has turned its back on this god, and as such view anything or anyone that comes from the surface with suspicion.
your starting charms and begin the game with a relic instead.)
Defining Traits: Agile Resilient Tough Fast Clever Small Perceptive Stealthy Intuitive Fierce
Skills: None.
Conductors should allow Nomad PCs to heal normally, even from the point of death…it will take time, but eventually, the Nomad
(Immortals, Shadowmen)
will pull through. (For rules governing healing, see the section on Combat in Chapter III)
Legends from all over the world talk of the connection between the search for Immortality and journeying into the UnderWorld. The Greeks spoke of travelers who would drink from the subterranean river Lethe, which would allow them to live forever, but make them forget everything. The Chinese told tales of the hollow mountain of K’un Lun, and it’s grove of magical peaches which bestowed immortality. These legends have a basis in fact. Nomads are immortal—they do not age, and, barring massive injury, cannot die. However, they do not know how they became immortal, or even who they were before they became immortal…for as surely as they live forever, their memories of their previous lives have gone. Some Nomads return to the world above to attempt to get on with their lives…but many choose to remain within the UnderWorld, searching for some clue of their previous lives, or the source of their incredible life span. This Breed takes its name from the lifestyle of its members. Very few Nomads choose to remain in one location for very long. Their quest for their memories drives them to constantly move from place to place, looking for new sources of information. There are exceptions to this, naturally—Rector, the Lord of the Lesser Boulevards, for example, is a Nomad who has become the Lord of one of the Domains. Given their wandering nature, and their…unique physiological anomalies (see Special Abilities), Nomads, especially those of the Bravo Guild (q.v.) are highly valued as assassins…what better weapon than an unknown stranger, who cannot be killed? In fact, it is sometimes said that if the Nomads were not so pre-occupied with the recovery of their memories, they could dominate the UnderWorld, by virtue of being unstoppable. This is not said loudly, however. It wouldn’t be smart to give the Nomads any ideas.
Radiance Level: 0 Special Abilities: The Nomads posses only one special ability: Immortality. They cannot die from natural means, and can return to life from even the most critical of injuries. Catastrophic damage such as being blown to bits, or chopped into pieces, or disintegrated, etc. will permanently kill a Nomad, as no degree of healing will re-join the various parts of body.
Defining Traits: Resilient Tough Courageous Commanding Perceptive Intuitive Resistant Fierce Tireless Agile
Skills:
None, and in fact, a Nomad may only pick two secondary skills, rather than three (to represent one of the many side-effects of their lost memory).
(UpWorlder, Meat, Commuter) The last Breed of the UnderWorld isn’t really a Breed, or from the UnderWorld, for that matter. Normals are people from the World Above, who, for whatever reason, have found themselves in the UnderWorld. They do not truly belong to the World Below, and as such, are only able to be Guildless (q.v.). In fact, Normals should only be played when the Conductor wishes to have them be the focus of the campaign— the source material for UnderWorld (see Inspiration Material in the Appendix) is full of stories of regular men and women who are drawn into the fantastic world. If this is the sort of story that the playing group wants to tell, then Normals are the Breed to use for this purpose.
Radiance Level: 0 Special Abilities: As you might imagine, Normals receive no special abilites.
Defining Traits: Courageous Friendly Mundane Knowledgeable Wealthy Jack of All Trades Inventive Driven Clever Odd
Skills:
Professional Contacts (UpWorld)
insure that skills are proprietary, only the practice of those skills. For example, just because you’re a Bravo doesn’t mean that someone else might not be a better fighter than you are (through combination of a different set of special abilities, for example). What it does mean, however, is that as a Bravo, you are licensed to commit violence in the fulfillment of a contract. Full details of the proprietary trades of the Guilds are given in their descriptions, which follow.
The world below the streets is much more organized than anyone might expect. Despite a population that is a chaotic mix of many different kinds of individuals, all bound together by a uniform rejection of the mores of civilized society, the UnderWorld is, in some ways, more structured than There are 8 Guilds and 2 "non-Guilds" for the World Above. characters to choose from: Artificers, Bravos, Librarians, Mendicants, Navigators, Sappers, The denizens of the UnderWorld long ago realized Taggers and Traders make up the Guilds proper, and that it is this very structure—a combination of order Outcasts and the Guildless fill out the list. and tradition—that aids in surviving a hostile environment, and also allows for the existence of the The entries for each Guild adhere to the following UnderWorld to be kept a secret. format: One of the most pervasive elements of this structure is the dominance of the Guilds. Similar in arrangement to the Guilds of Renaissance Europe, the Guilds are occupational organizations that completely govern and control the practices of their professions. The Guilds gather similar occupations together for training and education, and strictly control their trade by insuring that only Guild members are licensed to perform certain functions within the UnderWorld. Some Guilds are more powerful in some Domains (especially in those where the Lord—often a member of a particular Guild himself—acts as a patron for that Guild, giving them privileges over the others within the Domain. No Lord would ever think of risking the ire of the Guilds by using non-Guild tradesmen (at least publicly). The Guilds rigidly enforce their monopolies, boycotting those employers that have failed to follow Guild dictates. A Lord can ill afford, for example, to suddenly have all of his House Guards walk out on him because he had hired an assassin who was not a member of the Bravo’s Guild. Being a member of a particular Guild does not
Name:
The official designation of
the Guild.
Purview:
The professions governed by the Guild. Description: A fuller explanation of the Guild’s activities and membership. Special Abilities: The special ability available to members of this Guild Magic: The list of charms or other magic made available to Guild members. Skills: The roster of skills taught by the Guild to its members.
Defining Traits:
The list of eligible Traits for the Guild.
work because they’re crazy enough to believe that they will.
Purview: Salvage Tech Inventors
Whatever the reasons, it is an undeniable fact that the crazier the Artificer, the better an inventor. There is some link between the two factors. As such, starting Artificer characters must begin the game at least slightly crazy. As an Artificer expands his inventing ability, so must his insanity expand. Example forms of insanity can be found in the Salvage Tech section of Chapter IV. A starting Artificer begins the game at Stage One…higher levels of Inventing ability (and accompanying craziness) must be achieved through play.
Description:
The Artificers are sometimes called "Mad Scientists", especially by their critics. The designation is not entirely unwarranted. Artificers are the inventors of Salvage Tech, bizarre technology based on junk found in the underground and powered by the Radiance itself. Salvage Tech is a magical science—it’s inventions cannot function in the World Above, since they are theoretically impossible. However, in the UnderWorld, the Radiance makes the inventions Special Abilities: The Artificers are the only not only possible, but allows Artificers to Guild that are able to invent and build Salvage accomplish the impossible on a regular basis. Tech (as described above). A beginning Main The side effect of working in this medium is that Character starts the game with this ability, as well the Artificers are stark, raving mad. The members as three pieces of Salvage Tech (See Chapter IV).
of the Guild argue that it is precisely this nonMagic: The Artificers Guild concentrates on linear method of thinking that allow them to wrestle with the concepts necessary to construct Salvage Tech to such an extent that they do not Salvage Tech—non-Artificers simply say that practice magic, as a rule. Individual Artificers they’re as crazy as loons, and their inventions may accumulate charms and relics through play, but none are provided by the Guild itself.
Defining Traits: Inventive Clever Driven Knowledgeable Energetic
Skills: Invention Research Scrounging Lore Observation 36
throw the Bravo into an Oubliette or just execute him outright, the Guild will come down on that Lord hard--no further business for example (especially Purview: Fighters of all sorts—Bodyguards, problematic when the Lord's Guards are all Bravos themselves). A non-sanctioned attack, however, from assassins, gladiators, etc. a non-Bravo, confers no legal protection upon the Description: An environment where survival is perpetrator. The Lord is free to do whatever he wants paramount, like the UnderWorld, definitely needs to the offender, assuming the Bravos don't attempt to rectify the situation themselves. fighters. Hence, the Bravos: those that serve as hired muscle, bodyguards, assassins, gladiators, or anything Keep in mind that this proprietary rule is else where the ability to deliver physical injury to only a legal matter. Many fights occur far another living being is a marketable skill. from the eyes of any witnesses, after all, and who’s to say if the comba ta n ts w e r e The Bravos are one of the most powerful Guilds sanctioned or not? in the UnderWorld. All of the warriors who owe allegiance to one of the Domains are members of this Guild (armed conflict between domains is greatly help by the fact that there is no proscription barring fighting against fellow Guild members…it is expected, in fact). Freelance fighters are also members…or, rather, they’re supposed to be.
Special Abilities:
The Bravos are masters of combat. Their combat abilities, a guarded secret passed down from Bravo to Bravo, are legendary in the UnderWorld. Using these abilities, which the Bravos refer to as battle-craft, a Bravo can choose to either: a) gain an extra coin for use in detailed combat (see Chapter III), for attack or defense; or b) gain an extra coin for use in abstract combat (again, Chapter III).
The Bravos are the only people in the UnderWorld with a legal right to perform violence. Any violence done within the UnderWorld by someone who is not a recognized member of the Bravos Guild will not only brand the perpetrator as an Outlaw (q.v.) but will draw the wrath of the Guild itself. (Go ahead--try to exist in the UnderWorld with every Bravo out for your head. Nice knowing you.)
Magic:
Bravos can start the game with two
charms, taken from the following (for complete descriptions, see the Magic Section in Chapter IV):
The legal right means that a Bravo could kill someone in a public bazaar, and, when the guards arrive, simply hand over his contract to prove it was sanctioned. (Many times, when a fight occurs without a contract—a common enough occurance—the Bravo in question will simply hand over his Guild identification. The guards, Bravos themselves, usually let it slide). In the rare event that a particular Lord still opts to 37
Daedelus Twine Life Stone Freeze Tag Brass Knuckles Free Ride Soup Stone Mob Cap Luck Chips Colors Sleep Visor
Defining Traits: Cunning Fierce Wild Calm Veteran
Skills: Fighting Survival Acrobatics Contacts (UnderWorld)
Pu rv i e w : Information Brokers Description: This Guild is devoted to information. They deal in knowledge. Sages, advisors and specialists of every sort, the Librarians keep the maps, the records, the books and the files. They know things that no one else knows-they have heard of things that no one else has heard. The World Below is a huge place, with countless tunnelsand each of those tunnels has a story. This Guild knows those stories, and countless others. Think of them as the UnderWorld equivalent of the Oracle, Sage and the Bard of ancient history, plus the Dealer and Middle-man of the street. If they don't have the information itself, they know where it is hidden, and how to get it. They more connected than any other Guild, having their finger on the pulses of sources in both the UnderWorld, and the World Above. They amass huge storehouses of information, available to any who will meet their prices. Some Librarians deal in barter for services rendered, others prefer to take magic in exchange for information. The most
dangerous Librarians are those that will only accept equal trades: information for information….because you never know who’s going to end up with what you tell them, somewhere down the line.
Special Abilities: Each Librarian has a library. Despite its name, this does not have to be a collection of books—libraries take as many forms as there are individual Librarians. Some are the standard, sprawling collection of books, newspapers and other documents. Some are merely arcane scribblings on scraps of paper that the Librarian carries on his person. Some are data, stored in Radiance-powered, Artificer-built computational machines in the deepest tunnels, or hidden in unused caches on some corporation’s basement server. Regardless of the form, the Library is the character’s stock in trade. With it, the Librarian has the potential to access to any information sought. Using the Research Skill, any pertinent Defining Traits, and an extra coin or coins depending upon the extensiveness of the Library, the player makes a Head Count. Beginning characters start with a Library that only grants them one coin…better Libraries are garnered through play (see Chapter 6: Conducting for information on advancement). The number of successes needed is based upon the level of information sought: between 1 and 5, with 1 representing commonly available knowledge, and 5 representing the most obscure, or even legendary, facts.
Magic: Librarians may begin the game with any single charm. (see the complete listing in Chapter IV).
Defining Traits: Intelligent Knowledgeable Perceptive Studious Deductive
Skills: Lore Contacts (UpWorld) Contacts (UnderWorld) Savvy
Purview: Healers and Caregivers Description: Every society needs people who are concerned with the welfare of their fellow man. Many times, this responsibility falls to a society’s religious community. Such is the case with the UnderWorld. This Guild is responsible not only for patching wounds inflicted by the many dangerous elements found in the tunnels, but also to generally care for the well-being of the denizens therein. After all, in far too many cases in the real world, getting sick while homeless can equal a death sentence. Exposure leads to a worsening of the condition, and the weakness brought about by the sickness itself can easily lead to falling prey to various predators (human, more often than not). The Mendicants Guild teaches its members the appropriate medical skills, as well as imparting to them a sense of custodianship for the well-being of their fellow UnderWorlders. They are a religious order, revering God (in the abstract, nondenominational sense), and practicing their caregiving as a matter of religious devotion as well as secular responsibility. Members of this Guild are addressed as "Brother" or "Sister" depending upon their sex. The Guild takes its name from the fact that most of its members keep no fixed abode, and travel the
UnderWorld, begging for food and shelter. Mendicants usually have no trouble finding either, since many UnderWorlders view it as quid pro quo for the medical services that the Guild provides. Some Mendicants do settle in one location, especially if they believe that it is a location particularly in need of their care and attention.
Special Abilities: The Mendicants posses the ability to heal, not just through their skill, but through miraculous means as well. Believed to be a manifestation of the Radiance, filter through the religious beliefs of the Mendicants themselves, this laying on of hands has, in some cases, even raised the dead. The Mendicant lays his hands upon the afflicted, and performs a Head Count with three coins (modified by any appropriate Defining Traits). For each success, one wound level is healed (more details on wound levels can be found in Chapter III). This ability is exhausting: each use delivers one level of temporary wound damage to the Mendicant. The temporary levels heal at the rate of one per hour.
Magic: The Mendicant may start play with one charm taken from the list below:
Life Stone Soup Stone Protective Incense Sleep Visor Free Ride
Begging Hat Dousing Rod
Defining Traits: Blessed Calm Commanding Friendly Tireless
Skills: Empathy Negotiation Survival Scrounging First Aid
Purview: Operators of Transports Description:
Down in the tunnels, there are rivers (rainwater or sewage-who knows, but I'm not jumping in there to find out...)—and where there are rivers, there are boats to travel on them. Travel, though, is not limited to the rivers...your characters may have a need to travel down below the deepest tunnels, further than any Tagger has explored...and who better to take you there than Captain Quinn and his Leviathan Crawler? Navigators are the owners/ operators of transit devices (Boats, private subway cars, whatever), who take people where they want to go. They have access to a vehicle of some sort, as well as knowledge of the routes to get there. They are the transit system below the transit system, and their vehicles come in every shape and size. The Navigators Guild controls shipping in the UnderWorld, operating "port authorities" at some of the larger Domains, and levying tolls to ensure that all traffic is being handled by Navigators. Traders will cease dealing with anyone (and thereby cut off a valuable life-line of supply) if they discover that person or organization has done business with non-Guild members bringing in goods. Main Character Navigators will fit within the mold of the old Tramp Steamer Captains of the pulp stories, or the Space Freighters of science fiction: a
character with a vessel, who travels from place to place getting into trouble. Navigator’s transports make good focal points for a playing group—it gives them a reason to be together (they are the crew that works for the Navigator), as well as giving them a mobile base of operations.
Special Abilities: The Navigator starts play with a vehicle of some kind. Discuss the design of the vehicle with your Conductor. Most Navigator vehicles are, or incorporate, Salvage Tech devices. These can be taken from the examples given in Chapter IV, or constructed with the rules found there.
Magic: Navigators begin play with one charm, taken from the following list:
Daedelus Twine Brass Knuckles Luck Chips Guiding Light Life Vest Sleep Visor
Defining Traits: Clever Intuitive Shrewd Streetwise Veteran
Skills: Transport Savvy Contacts(UnderWorld) Survival Negotiation
Purview: Tunellers and Engineers
Radiance Pool (it is up to the Conductor to determined what constitutes "nearby"…remember that Radiance Pools can have a powerful effect upon the game (see Chapter III), and should not be discovered easily).
Description:
In a subterranean setting like Magic: Sappers can begin the game with one UnderWorld, you have to have some people who are charm, taken from the following list: skilled at digging (and more importantly, *repairing*) the tunnels and caverns. The Sappers Guild is devoted to teaching its members the skills of both digging new tunnels and shoring up the old ones. They are also often used by Domains as combat engineers, of particular use because of their demolitions skills. But Sappers are more than that. They’re experience with the deep tunnels of the UnderWorld has attuned them to the Radiance. A Sapper can almost smell the stuff, and can lead you to areas where it concentrates (known as Radiance Pools). Using these Pools, and their engineering and tunneling skills, Sappers are able to control the flow of the Radiance to a small degree, increasing or decreasing the local RadCount. (For more information on the Radiance, RadCounts, and the like, see Chapter III). This combination of skills makes the Sappers a Guild whose skills are very much in demand. Lords often offer great favors to Sappers in return for having the RadCount of their holdings increased, or for the discovery of a new Radiance Pool. A clever Sapper can become very wealthy and influential through the accumulation of such favors, and many have done just that. For the Sappers who have yet to "strike it rich", however, life is different. They wander the UnderWorld, exploring the hidden corners of the Deep looking for new Radiance Pools, using their more mundane excavation and engineering skills as a way to eke out a living until they score the big jackpot.
Special
Abilities:
Sappers can sense concentrations of the Radiance. Using a three-coin Head Count, Sappers can determine the following, based upon the number of successes achieved: 1 Success: The RadCount of the local area 2 Successes: The directional heading of the nearest area with a higher RadCount 3 Successes: The directional heading of any nearby
Defining Traits: Guiding Light Luck Chips Beer Goggles Hot Rocks Ace of Spades Glowstix Life Stone
Driven Inventive Radiant Strong Tireless
Skills: Demolitions Survival Fighting Engineering Climbing
what monsters lurk, and which Domain claims jurisdiction. Any expedition into dangerous territory usually brings a Tagger along, to read the signs, or to make new ones. Those that don’t, don’t often return.
Purview: Graffiti artists and scouts Special Abilities: Taggers have two special Description:
There are few people in New York City with more bravado and courage than the graffiti artists. They risk life and limb to leave their mark upon overpasses, building ledges, and other inaccessible spots. You see a colorful scrawl on a elevated train trellis, and you wonder at the fact that anyone was brave (or stupid) enough to crawl out there, suspended in mid-air, to practice their art. However, below ground, these efforts are even more impressive. Below ground, there is the Taggers Guild.
abilities, both related to their graffiti. First and foremost is the language of the tag itself. The Guild teaches all members how to use this secret code, and guards this knowledge fiercely. Hidden within combinations of color, letter and form are surprisingly detailed accounts of what lies ahead on any particular passage. The second ability is even more useful. Taggers have the ability to imbed magical effects within their tags. A Tagger can suspend the effects of any charm they possess, along with specific information regarding the trigger (for example, specifying that the effect goes off if anyone touches the tag, or comes within 5 feet). Obviously, this will only work with charms that have external effects. It would not do any good, for example, to suspend the effects of a Life Stone (q.v.) in the scrawl, but suspending the effect of a pair of Hot Rocks would result in a piece of graffiti that gives off a comforting heat whenever anyone is near. The magical tag will continue to work until removed or defaced.
This Guild is made up of graffiti artists who, in their search for new places to tag, found themselves delving deeper and deeper into the UnderWorld. Eventually, Magic: this Guild became a Taggers begin fixture of UnderWorld the game with society, offering their t h r e e services as scouts. charms, After all, if they taken were going to from explore the deepest regions of t h e (A UnderWorld anyway, why not get something out of anywhere. complete list can be it besides a new place to mark? found in Chapter IV) The Taggers are the explorers of new frontiers, and the markers of the way. They mark the paths with signs that only other Taggers can read, thereby insuring their usefulness as a Guild. Their sigils tell of what landmarks to expect, what pitfalls to avoid,
Defining Traits: Artistic Agile Courageous Stealthy Streetwise
Skills: Lore Savvy Survival Stealth Climbing
bringing their wares to far-flung settlements, and sharing news of the outside world with any who have a moment and an ear for the tale. The Traders Guild keeps the UnderWorld apprised of what’s happening Purview: Merchants up top, and this, along with the valuable artifacts that Description: The UnderWorld, separate as it they bring with them, makes them a valuable ally to may be, depends upon the World Above for many any Lord. things. Salvage Tech, for example, an important part The economy of the UnderWorld is based in barter. of life beneath the streets, is constructed from the Traders exchange their goods (and often, their detritus of above-ground civilization. Food is information) for other items of value, whether in the another sought-after commodity (there is food native form of equipment, weapons, magic, a service, or a to the UnderWorld, but one tires of rat and favor. This system guarantees that when a Trader mushrooms after a while). With these, and many pushes his cart into your Domain, you can be sure that he carries things far more interesting than just a bit of other categories, there has developed a vibrant broken clock radio, or the water pump from a 79 market for "artifacts" from the UpWorld. Oldsmobile. The Traders are a Guild of merchants, who bring treasures from the surface (old blenders, scraps of mattress springs, cans, and maybe the occasional firearm) down Below, usually in their ubiquitous shopping carts. Given the nature of this Guild, membership is largely limited to those Breeds who are able to function aboveground. As such, the
Special Abilities: The Traders deal with all sorts of people in their day to day lives. As such, they have developed an uncanny ability to speak any language to which they are exposed. In addition, Main Character Traders begin the game in possession of a stash of UpWorld artifacts—the specific contents of which are left for you and your Conductor to decide.
Magic: Charms are one of the more common ways that people pay Traders for their goods. As such, a Trader may begin the game with three charms, taken from the complete list in Defining Traits: Chapter IV. Charming Cunning Fast Talker Perceptive Shrewd
majority of Traders are Homeless, and Legendary and Junkman Traders are extremely rare (and usually limit their trade to purely subterranean operations). The Traders are like the Merchant Caravans of old,
Skills: Contacts (UnderWorld) Scrounging Negotiate Savvy Survival
Outcasts are not a Guild. Rather, they are those that have been excommunicated from their Guild for transgressions of one sort or another. A member may be cast out for going against the wishes of his or her superiors, or by being an accomplice in the fostering of non-Guild employment, or by any number of other reasons. They are pariah, essentially outlaws with no legal right to perform their trade. A player who is considering playing an Outcast should think twice about this option. You are essentially branding your character as a criminal, with the accompanying stigma. You should expect to be shunned, not only by others of your Guild, but by others as well, since it is a common belief in the UnderWorld that Outcasts bring misfortune in their wake.
Expect to be treated roughly by the citizens of the UnderWorld, or even worse, in some Domains. Welcome to the life of the Outcast. Some Outcasts are able to find their way back into the good graces of their Guilds, but, in the tradition of all great stories, such a fate must be the reward for incredibly heroic actions in the fact of almost insurmountable odds.
The average Joe-in-the-tunnels doesn’t necessarily belong to a Guild. There are those who have no profession, and simply live their lives day-to-day, as the general population of the UnderWorld. These are referred to as Guildless. The Guildless include all of those minor professions which have no organizing To create an Outcast character, go through the structure in the UnderWorld, including food service, process as normal , including choosing the clothiers, candle-makers, etc. character’s former Guild (you do receive all of the skills and abilities of your former Guild, but you do Occasionally, members of a profession band together not begin the game and a minor Guild is with any of the created, but it is a rarity, magic—you are since few are strong stripped of these, and enough to organize on your Guild that level. Usually, they identification, when just continue to toil you are away as Guildless— excommunicated). some thankful that they Lastly, decide, with do not have to contend your Conductor, the with the politics of the reason behind your UnderWorld. character becoming an Outcast. Guildless are not You begin the intended to be Main game with no Guild Characters, but if the Membership, and no needs of your particular rights to engage in story demand it, they your profession. You can be created---they may, depending upon receive no special the severity of your abilities, and only one transgression, also Guild-bestowed skill: begin the game with Profession (specific), to any number of govern their livelihood. enemies who are now out
to
get
you.
Defining Traits
Charming: The character gains an extra coin for use in persuasion attempts. (negative: Annoying)
As discussed earlier, the Defining Traits that you Clever: The character gains an extra coin for use choose during character creation are the individualizing factors that separate your character in mental feats. (negative: Dim-witted) from others who share the same Breed and Guild. You choose one Trait from the list of those available Commanding: The character gains an extra to your Breed, and another from the list of those coin for use when attempting to lead groups. available to your Guild. The third Trait can come (negative: Weak personality) from anywhere, without restrictions.
Courageous: The character receives a bonus The list below contains all of the Defining Traits from the Breeds and Guilds, as well as some that coin in situations where their bravery is called into appear only here. In addition, Players are encouraged play. (negative: Cowardly) to develop their own unique Defining Traits, with the approval of the Conductor, using the following Traits Cute: The character gains a bonus coin in as guidelines. persuasion attempts based upon their appearance. As an optional rule, Conductors may also allow (negative: Ugly) Main Characters to take Negative Traits—reversals of the Traits presented herein. Where ‘Agile’ gives Cunning: The character gains a bonus coin in characters an extra coin for actions involving dexterity, for example, ‘Clumsy’ (it’s reverse) would any situation where trickery is called into play. Note penalize the character one coin in the same situations. that these situations can include when the character is If the Conductor allows this, Players may take an attempting the trickery, or is attempting to discover additional Defining Trait for every Negative Trait other’s attempts. (negative: Thick) that they choose, up to a maximum of 2 additional Defining Traits. Deductive: The character gains an extra coin for Agile: The character receives a bonus coin when actions involving the solving of puzzles or riddles, or performing actions where physical dexterity is the interpretation of clues. (negative: Oblivious) important. (negative: Clumsy)
Diplomatic: The character gains an extra coin
Artistic: The character gains an extra coin when in persuation attempts based upon negotiation. attempting to perform any artistic task (painting, (negative: Undiplomatic) singing, musical instrument, dance, etc.) (negative: Driven: The character gains an extra coin in any Untalented) situations where their life-long goals are of supreme Blessed: The character receives a bonus coin importance to the outcome. (For example: a Nomad when performing actions where his or her strong attempting to regain his or her memories). religious faith is called into play. (negative: Cursed) (Negative: Lax)
Calm: The character receives a bonus coin to resist the effects of fear. (negative: Panicky)
Energetic: The character gains an extra coin in situations where exhaustion comes into play. (negative: Feeble)
Fast: The character gains an extra coin for Lumbering—not the opposite, but the negative initiative. (negative: Slow)
Fast Talker: The character gains an extra coin
connotation of large)
Loyal: The character gains an extra coin in
for persuasion attempts based upon glibness and situations where their allegiance to others is called guile. (negative: Blunt) into play. (negative: Disloyal)
Feral:
The character gains an extra die for Mischievous: The character gains an extra coin actions involving a close connection to nature (for when attempting humorous actions. (negative: example: following a trail by scent, foraging for food, Humorless) etc.) (negative: Tame)
Fierce: The character gains an extra coin in combat. (negative: Timid)
Mundane: The character gains a bonus coin in situations where the facets of UpWorld society are called into play. (no negative version)
Friendly: The character gains a bonus coin in Odd: The character receives an extra coin in any situation where their personality comes into play. situations where they are dealing with the strange and (negative: unfriendly) bizarre. (negative: Traditional) Honorable: The character gains a bonus coin in any situation where righteous and upright behavior is Perceptive: The character gains an extra coin for called for. (negative: Dishonorable) feats of observation or perception. (negative: Intelligent: The character gains an extra coin in situations involving mental acuity. (negative: Stupid)
Inattentive)
Precise: The character gains a bonus coin for
Intuitive: The character gains an extra coin actions where precision is required.
(negative:
when they do not have an appropriate skill for the Imprecise) task at hand, but have a related skill. (negative: Radiant: The character gains an extra coin in Rigid) actions involving use of the Radiance. (negative: Inventive: The character gains an extra coin for Blocked) use in invention. (negative: uninspired)
Resilient: The character gains an extra coin
Jack of All Trades: The character may flip during feats involving the recovery from wounds. over any one coin, changing the result into one (negative: Frail) success, in any situation where they do not have the Resistant: The character gains a bonus coin to skill required for the task. (no negative version) resist the effects of magic. (negative: Susceptible) Knowledgeable: The character gains an extra Shrewd: The character gains an extra coin coin in actions involving recall of information. towards the detection of guile and deception. (Known (negative: Uneducated) in the streets as a "bullshit detector.") (negative: Large: The character gains an extra coin in Gullible) situations where size is an asset. (negative:
Small: The character receives a bonus coin in any they show no restraint whatsoever. (negative: situation where small stature is an asset. (negative: Bloodthirsty. A special situation: in this case the Tiny—not the opposite, but the negative connotation character’s viciousness is so extreme that he or she must make a successful Head Count to avoid attacking of Small) allies as well as foes)
Stealthy: The character gains an extra coin for actions involving concealment, obfuscation or silence. Wealthy: The character gains an extra coin (negative: Obvious) whenever the action involves the use of worldly
Streetwise: The character gains an extra coin in situations where familiarity with "the Street" is called into play (Yes, this even applies to life under the streets as well). (negative: Clueless)
wealth (equipment, property, etc.). (negative: Poor)
Wild: The character gains an extra coin in combat, but only if they fight with no weapons.
Strong: The character gains an extra coin for feats involving physical strength. (negative: Weak)
Strong Willed: The character gains a bonus coin for willpower feats. (negative: Weak Willed)
Studious: The character gains an extra coin in any situation involving research or study. (negative: Uninformed)
Tireless: The character gains an extra coin to resist the effects of exhaustion. (negative: Tired)
Tough: The character gains an extra coin to resist damage. (negative: Fragile)
Veteran: The character gains a bonus coin in situations where their past experience is called upon. (negative: Rookie)
Vicious: The character gains an extra coin in combat—but only when
(no negative version) The use of these Defining Traits is not limited to the situations described in their entries. The Traits may be adapted to fit many different situations. We’ll go into more detail on that in the next chapter .
Skills Every character has all of the skills learned through their Guild, plus three secondary skills that can be taken from any of the Guild lists. Some Breeds offer characters bonus skills, as well. Breed and Guild Skills give you two coins for a Head Count, whereas Secondary Skills only give one. On the list below, you will find all of the Skills that have been listed under the various Guilds and Breeds, as well as some that appear only here (and hence are only available as secondary skills).
Acrobatics:
Leaping, tumbling, tightrope
walking, etc.
Animal Handling: Familiarity with control and care of animals.
Carousing:
Skill with less-than-wholesome forms of entertainment: drinking, gambling, etc. Includes the ability to locate establishments that provide such services.
Climbing: Self-explanatory. Concealment: The ability to hide an object or yourself.
Contacts (area): A contact is a person with whom you’ve had previous dealings, who is allied to you, and will provide you with assistance. The skill is used as an abstraction of your ability to find any one of a number of your contacts at any given time. You must specify the area where those contacts are found (the UnderWorld or the World Above).
Cooking: The preparation of meals.
profession. That profession must be specified when the skill is taken, and the skill must be taken multiple times to represent multiple professions.
Criminal: Catch-all skill governing knowledge and familiarity with the procedures of the criminal Research: Scholarly or scientific investigation, world. study or inquiry. Demolitions: The ability to set and detonate Savvy: Knowledge of the situational status quo explosives. in the UnderWorld, as well as any current events.
Disguise: Concealment or alteration of your features.
Sciences (specific): Knowledge in any of the UpWorld sciences. Must be specified.
Empathy: The ability to connect with people on
Scrounging: The ability to find needed items (food, an emotional level. This skill allows you to get a supplies, etc.) through foraging or salvage. Sometimes also basic read of a persons emotions, or to successfully called "dumpster-diving". communicate your emotions to them. Engineering: The design and construction of emplacements or structures.
Stealth: The ability to move in a covert manner. Survival: The skills necessary to thrive in the
Fighting: An abstract skill representing combat UnderWorld environment, outside of the civilization of the ability.
Games: Skill with games of chance or recreation.
Domains.
Tracking: The ability to follow the path taken by your target, and to locate them.
First Aid: Emergency medical treatment. In play, used for the healing of wounds.
Transport: Catch-all skill representing the operation and maintenance of any form of transportation.
Invention: Design and construction of devices, machines, weapons or other implements.
Trivia: Catch-all skill representing a wide variety on non-specific skills and knowledge.
Lore: Knowledge of legends, myths and rumors in the UnderWorld.
Equipment
Negotiation:
Persuasion of a supporting character through verbal interaction.
UnderWorld is a game of modern urban fantasy. As such, there is no need for any exhaustive equipment Observation: An abstraction of the characters lists, since the players will be more than familiar with the sort of equipment that can be found in the modern ability to perceive or notice details. world. Professional: Skill in the core abilities of a
One thing that you will need to keep in mind, however, is that the Radiance has a detrimental effect on certain types of equipment…the more associated it is with the modern world, the less reliably it works in high RadCount areas. Full details on this can be found in the section on the Radiance in Chapter III. Weapons are a necessary evil in the UnderWorld. There are always monsters lurking around the next corner, or steely-cold Bravos out for your head on the orders of their Lord. Sooner or later, you’re going to need a weapon. The effect of the Radiance makes the reliability of firearms questionable (see Chapter III). The last thing you want to have is questions about something on which your life may depend, so many UnderWorlders choose to rely on lower-tech weaponry. After all, you never have to worry about whether or not a crowbar will work….
Weapon
Damage
Brick/Rock/Concrete
1
Knife/Small bladed implement
2
Another reason for the UnderWorlder’s reliance on more primitive weaponry is that firefights could draw unwanted attention to the UnderWorld, in the form of UpWorlder police investigations. It is much quieter, after all, to shiv someone in the dark than it is to blast away indescriminately. The weapons listed below are representative of the sort that are commonly used in the UnderWorld. You’ll find the weapon’s damage rating, expressed in the number of coins that they add to the damage determination portion of combat, and their range, expressed as either Personal, Immediate, or Distance (see Chapter III for details). Armor, like many weapons in the UnderWorld is improvised. Padded armor can be made by electrical-taping yellow pages books to your torso. Metal armor can be fashioned from street signs. All armor is rated by the amount of coins they add to your damage resistance.
Garrotte/Choking implement 2 Whip 2 Crowbar/Axehandle/Bludgeoning implement 3 Sword/Large bladed implement 3 Spear 3 Sling/stone Bow/arrow Pistol Sub Machine Gun Shotgun Rifle
1 2 3 4 5 5
Range Personal Immediate (thrown) Personal Immediate (thrown) Personal Immediate Personal Personal Personal Immediate (thrown) Distance Distance Distance Distance Immediate Distance
The above list should allow Players and Conductors to extrapolate statistics for similar weapons.
Armor Type
Resistance Bonus
Padded (paper, leather) 1 coin Light metal (street signs) 2 coins Heavy metal (manhole cover) 3 coins* * You must have the "Strong" trait to be able to wear this type of armor.
Excerpt from Metropolitan Transit Authority there’s a shallow step, and then you continue, and Internal Review Department Document AJ7-5W-300 then there’s another… At this point, we’re figuring this might be some Interview with Rivera, Constantino J. (Employee of the original work tunnels from the first sandhog no. 337-57-9961) digs, or something like that. That’s what Mullaney’s saying, anyhow. Me, I don’t know. I don’t think Rivera: …so then me, Mullaney and Carter we’re in the right part of town for that. headed down Access shaft 28, just like the Supervisor The passage goes along like that for a while…I said. don’t know exactly. Kinda lost track of time…it was weird down there. Felt weird. MTA: That would be…ah…. Patrick Mullaney and Tyrone Carter? MTA: Could you be more specific? Rivera: Si. Yes, that’s right. MTA: Please continue. Rivera: OK…half way down 28, we spot the cavein. A section of the wall had crumbled…fallen into the Access Shaft, ya know? Happens sometimes. This section is real old…the walls are brick, and nobody has used this shaft regularly since…I dunno, like the 30s or 40s. Anyway, the hole leads into a passageway. But it’s like, ya know, like a cave? Not brick or anything.
Rivera: I dunno, man…just weird…you know that sort of detached feeling you get when you first wake up? When it’s like you’re still dreaming, but you’re awake? It was kinda like that. (Note: results of post-incident medical exams indicated no evidence of alcohol or narcotics in any of the subject’s blood tests. See attached.)
Rivera (continued): After a while, Carter starts saying we should head back. We’ve been down there God knows how long, and it doesn’t look like we’re anywhere near the end of the passageway. He’s all MTA: It’s natural? like "who knows how far this thing goes" and talking about how even we turn back now, it’s still gonna be Rivera: Yeah. So, Carter and Mullaney and me, after quitting time by the time we get back. Mullaney we figure this is probably where the problem is, so and I figure that he’s got a point, so we mark the wall we check it out. We light up, and in we go. to mark how far we came, and start heading back up The first thing we notice is that this sucker is the passage. That’s when it started. long, man. We must’ve walked for like a half a mile, and the whole time, the thing is angling down. We’re MTA: When what started, Tino? pretty deep at this point…hell, Shaft 28 is below the main lines itself, and we’re going down from that. Rivera: After about a dozen or so yards back up, Anyway, that’s when we notice that there are we come to a fork in the tunnel. Crazy fucking thing like…steps, carved into the rock. Just one, every few was, though—that fork wasn’t there when we came yards or so. You walk along a little bit, and then down. It had been a straight shot all the way. All of
us got real quiet. Nobody wanted to say anything. Me, I figured it was just me…I had been slacking off, and hadn’t noticed that we had come down one side of the fork. So, I just waited, figuring that I’d follow everybody when they headed back up whichever one was the right one. Nobody moved. After a couple of seconds, Pat says "Alright…which way do we fucking go?" Carter and me crack up at that point…not because it was funny, really, but more outta relief that we’re not the only ones that didn’t remember any fork in the passage. I move up a bit into the left-hand passage, just to see if anything looks familiar. All of a sudden, it gets really cold. I mean like in a freezer. I can see my breath and everything. No way, I say to myself. I woulda remembered walking through a goddamned meat locker. I backtrack out of the tunnel, and we all decide to take the path on the right. We hike up the passage for about a half an hour, then we come to a cave—this thing is big. We can’t see the other side of it, even with our flashlights. It’s got those spiky rock things…you know, like you see on the Discovery Channel…hanging from the ceiling and growing from the floor. MTA: Stalactites and Stalagmites Rivera: Whatever. We weren’t too concerned about what to call them. We were too damn busy freaking the hell out, because we sure as shit didn’t come through any cave on the trip down. Carter is loosing it at this point, going off about how we’re lost, and how nobody’s ever gonna find us. You hear stories sometimes about guys coming down and getting disoriented, unable to find their way back. They end up starving to death, or falling down some hole or shit like that. So all of this is running through our heads, and things are looking pretty bad. I mean, we don’t know where to go…and then Pat notices that the passage we came in from isn’t there any more.
(Subject lights a cigarette at this point in the interview. He takes a few minutes to calm himself) Rivera (continued): What could we do, man? We started walking around, looking for a way out of this cave. We followed along the wall, looking for any opening. At this point, we didn’t care where it led, as long as it led out. We’d sort out how to get back home after that. We were so intent on looking for a way out that we didn’t notice the guy until we were almost on top of him. MTA: …and this would be the indigenous homeless man that you mentioned in your initial interview? Rivera: He was a man, all right. I’m not too sure about homeless, though. I kinda got the feeling that the cavern was his home. Not that he was squatting, or anything like that, but that he belonged there. He was part of it, somehow. He was a big guy…well over six feet tall, and built like a brick shithouse. White. He’s wearing these beat-up cargo pants, you know—the kind with all of the pockets? Got ‘em tied at the waist with a piece of rubber cable insulation. Wearing a pair of Converse Chuckie T’s…red and white…I ain’t seen those since I was a kid. No shirt, but he’s got this long trench coat with the sleeves torn off. He’s got long blond hair, but it’s all matted into those whiteboy dreads that you see the kids in the Village wearing, and around his neck, he’s got a necklace with a rat skull hanging from it. It was all I could do to keep from going apeshit. I figured…that was it, ya know? This guys a CHUD, and we’re gonna get eaten. MTA: I’m sorry…a CHUD?
Rivera: Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers, man…what’s the matter with you? You never go to the movies? MTA: What do you mean, "isn’t there?" MTA: Guess I missed that one. Rivera: Just what I said, man! Chingada! We turn around, and were we just walked in, there’s nothing Rivera: So, this guy steps out of the darkness but a smooth rock wall. A wall! right in front of us. Tells us that we don’t belong
down there. Starts talking all this crazy shit…about trespassing in the Lord’s Domain, and like that. He’s using this Shakespeare talk the whole time, like one of the fruits that works that Renaissance Faire thing that they do in the summer at the Cloisters? Says that he is the "Warden of the Stone Forest"…you can stop looking at me like that. I know it sounds fucking crazy, man…I’m just telling you what the guy said. And no, I have no idea what the "Stone Forest" is…like I said, the guy was a nut job. I figure, crazy or not, this guy might know the way out. So I tell him that we’re sorry for trespassing, that we didn’t mean it, and that we’d like him to show us the way out so that he can go back to Wardening, or whatever. He nods, and then he says—and I remember this specifically. Don’t think I’m ever gonna forget it for as long as I live—he says "But tarry not, nor follow in any step but mine own, for some paths are, and some have never been…and those that walk them, walk alone." I had no friggin’ clue what he meant, but he was off, and we followed. Sure enough, in no time at all, he had lead us to another passageway that exited the cave. He walked in front of us, guiding the way. The tunnel branched, and branched again, and sometimes turned around back into itself like a traffic circle. I couldn’t keep up with it all in my head. I just fixed my eyes on this guy’s back, and walked. He didn’t walk slow, either. It was all I could do to keep up with him. We walked like that for what seemed like hours. He kept looking back over his shoulder. A couple of times, he had this concerned look on his face, and I would get worried that we were following some loon who had no more idea of where he was than we did…but he didn’t move like that. He moved like a man who knew his surroundings. All of a sudden he stops, and points forward. He tells us that he can go no further. Tells us to just keep to the left, and we’ll be fine. Well, we didn’t need to be told twice, right. We high-tailed it. As we’re leaving he says something like "Time is a distance, and distance is a space. That which is not, can not." I’m like "whatever, holmes." I didn’t want to stick around. Sure enough, about twenty minutes later, we come out into a storm drain in Battery Park. MTA: That’s all you remember? Rivera: Yeah, that’s about it, I guess.
MTA: What about Carter and Mullaney? Rivera: What about them? MTA: Where are they? Rivera: What do you mean? We all got out… (Subject is becoming visibly upset) MTA: Listen very closely, Tino. There is no Patrick Mullaney, or Tyrone Carter…there never has been. There is no record of any employees of the Metropolitan Transit Authority with that name. You went in to that tunnel alone, and you came out alone. Rivera: What? MTA: There are no such persons, Tino. We’ve never heard of them. Nobody has ever heard of them. They don’t exist. Rivera: (becoming more agitated) Who the fuck is that? What the hell is this? I’ve worked with them for three fucking years, man! I know those guys. I know them! You trying to mess with my head? After what I’ve been through? What is this? MTA: Take it easy, Tino. Take it easy…. Rivera: (yelling) It isn’t true, damn it! I know those guys! I know them. I’ve worked with them, I’ve hung out with them. I know them! They’re real! They’re real! (At this point the subject became agitated to the point of necessary restraint. The interview ends).
RECOMMENDATION: Rivera shows signs of extreme delusional syndrome. Treatment at a Mental Health Care facility is merited, to be covered by the Employee’s Union coverage plan. SECONDARY RECOMMENDATION: Seal off Access Shaft 28.
Supporting Characters encountered at that location. For more details regarding the different considerations of live action versus tabletop play, see the Conductor’s section, Chapter VI. The need for ease of conversion between tabletop Now that you’ve got characters, what do you do and live action play necessitated the development of with them? an extremely light rules system—one that would be able to be intuitive UnderWorld was enough for players to designed to be played use without having to as either a tabletop or a lug around copies of live action role-playing this book for game. For those of you reference. In addition, who are unfamiliar with the game was the difference, tabletop designed so th role-playing games are played entirely within at live action play the imaginations of the would require no participants. The s p e c i a l i z e d Conductor describes all equipment. To that of the action, the setting end, a rules system and the Supporting was developed that Characters that the uses coins as a players encounter. It is randomizer. referred to as a "tabletop" game, since the As mentioned in the game usually takes place with the Introduction, participants seated UnderWorld uses a around (you guessed it) single core rules a table. It’s a good mechanism known as place, after all, to put the Head Count. As character sheets, chips, you may have already soda, a few copies of noticed by reading the this rulebook, and the descriptions of the few handfuls of coins Defining Traits and that you need to play Guild special abilities, the Head Count can be the game. adapted to cover every eventuality encountered A live action game is a little more complex. The during play. A Head Count is a simple coin toss. You don’t players physically act out the roles of their characters, in a setting reserved for that evening’s have to use coins…any disk with differing designs game. There is often more than one Conductor, on the obverse and reverse sides will suffice: Mardi since one person can’t be everywhere at once Gras favors, subway and bus tokens, engraved (believe us, we’ve tried), and in addition, there are buttons, and some varieties of poker chips will all usually assistants who portray the various work just as well.
Head Count
1 Success Needed: Average - any schmoe should be able to do it. 2 Successes Needed: Moderate - a moderately skilled person can do it. 3 Successes Needed: Hard - a professional is needed. 4 Successes Needed: Daunting - difficult even for professionals 5 Successes or more: Epic - the stuff of legends.
The only thing you have to remember is that the number of "heads" results you get in any toss is the final number of successes your character achieves. How many coins do you toss? Use the following formula.
1 coin 1 coin
Default For every Defining Trait that comes into play in this circumstance 1 coin If a Breed Ability or magical technique is being used 2 coins If a Breed or Guild-bestowed skill is being used 1 coin If a secondary skill is being used. This formula results in a character throwing at least 1, and possibly 5 or more coins to determine the success of a single action. After the coins are tossed, the total number of "heads" results is tallied. This result is the number of successes.
when the outcome of the action has a critical bearing on the direction of the adventure. There’s no need for players to be tossing coins for every little action they attempt, especially if it is something that they are reasonably skilled at, or something that is fairly mundane.
For example, a Conductor probably wouldn’t The Conductor will set a Difficulty for every make someone throw a Head Count to climb a unopposed action, which will give you the number rock face, unless something makes this particular of successes needed for the action. rock face special: The character is attempting to If you’ve read the introduction, you’ve seen scale the wall quietly, to infiltrate the villain’s these percentage breakdowns before. However, keep perched on top; or there are regular tremors they bear repeating , so for ease of reference from passing subways; or there are 6 albino Sewer ‘Gators chomping at your heels as you climb. appear on this page as well. (Note that this is all assuming that the character in question has the Climbing skill. If they do not, the That’s the core of the entire game. Conductor would be perfectly within reason to Conductors should only demand Head Counts demand a Head Count, just to see if the character when the situation is dramatically appropriate— can climb without falling to his or her death!
Coins Tossed # of Possible Results 1 Success 2 Successes
3 Successes 4 Successes
1
2
50%
0
0
0
2
4
75%
25%
0
0
3
8
87.5%
50%
12.5%
0
4
16
93.75%
68.75%
31.25%
6.25%
5
32
96.875%
50%
18.75%
81.25%
Pez throws his coins, and gets heads on every one. 3 successes! He pulls himself up onto the pipe, and crawls along it to safety, silently cursing the twist of fate that placed Let’s take a look at a couple of situations, to get an idea of him in this example in the first place. how the system works. The above examples only cover unopposed One actions. What happens when one character attempts to compete directly against another? That is even The Analog Kid, a Junkman Bravo, is attempting to get simpler. Using the same formula for determining the out of the way of an oncoming subway train, by running to number of coins to throw, both characters compare the nearest access shaft. The Junkman has 1 coin as a default, their total number of successes. The character with and has the Defining Trait "Fast", which gives him another more successes is the winner. It’s that simple. coin. There is no skill for running, but the player Let’s take a look at another example, to argues that knowing how show how an opposed action to avoid being flattened by works. subways is an UnderWorld
Examples of Play
survival skill, and he should be able to use his Guild skill, Survival. The Conductor thinks it over, and decides to allow it. This gives the Kid another 2 coins to use, bringing his total to 4 coins. The Conductor rules that getting to the access shaft before the Train pastes you is definitely what you’d call Daunting. The hapless Junkman needs 4 successes.
Three
Nefret is a Lost Librarian. She is attempting to persuade Harkness, a Homeless Trader, to let her have a book that he’s got, for substantially less than he’s asking. She and Harkness both get 1 coin for default. For Defining Traits, Nefret has "Clever" (the Conductor says that he thinks it applies here), and Harkness has "Shrewd". That brings their totals to 2 each, The Kid throws his coins, and gets…three heads. Close, so far. For skills, Nefret has none that are applicable, but but no cigar. Harkness has "Negotiate." So, the final tally is 2 coins for Nefret, 3 for Harkness. Don’t worry, though. The Kid is really Tough. Getting smacked by a train will probably only piss him off. Both throw their coins—Nefret gets two successes…and so does Harkness. The negotiations are stalemated, and they continue. They both throw again—this time, Nefret gets Two only one success…but Harkness gets none. Nefret returns Pez is a Homeless Tagger. He’s good at what he does, too. to her home, with a new addition to her Library that she Unfortunately, today finds Pez hanging by his fingertips picked up for a very reasonable price. from a water pipe, suspended over a very, very, VERY deep The above examples both featured situations where hole. (He doesn’t know how deep…and he doesn’t want to players argued different uses for their Skills and Traits than find out, which is the point of this little exercise.) Pez gets 1 coin as a Default. He has no appropriate the write-ups originally indicated. This sort of thing should happen with some regularity during an UnderWorld game. Defining Trait, so he’s out of luck there. He also has the The Traits and Skills are purposefully broad in their Guild skill "Climbing", so that’s worth 2 coins, for a total of interpretation, and Players and Conductors are encouraged to 3. The Conductor says that pulling himself up onto the pipe explore the possibilities. is Moderate difficulty, needing 2 successes.
Interaction The Head Count can be used to handle any form of interaction between Main Characters and Supporting Characters. Most of these interactions will take the form of an opposed roll, as described above. Interaction between Main Characters, however, should not be handled via Head Counts. No player should have to have the actions of his or her characters dictated by a random result. Interaction between MCs, therefore, should be played out. Negotiations, Persuasion attempts and like should depend upon actual conversation between the players, rather than Head Counts. This also applies to situations where Conductorplayed Secondary Characters attempt to persuade or otherwise influence a Main Character. The Conductor should take the role of the SC, and then the outside stimuli. The most common checks are against Fear and Exhaustion. interaction should be played out as if it was taking place between two MCs. Other iterations of the Head Count system are Checks and Feats.
Fear Checks
When a character is faced with something that causes fear (some monsters generate fear, other situations are outlined below), they make a Head Count. The character gets one coin as a default, and bonus coins for any appropriate Checks are Head Counts to determine the Defining Traits. Some skills may apply here as outcome of tests of a character’s reactions to well (Veteran, for example). The number of
Checks
Fear Severity Minor Moderate Severe Major
Example Stimulus Successes Needed Vertigo, Single Fear Bugs 1 Giant Slobbering Monster, Animated Corpse, Oncoming Train 2 Fear Bug Swarm, Animated Corpse of Close Friend 3 The Devil, Subway Dragons 4
successes needed to overcome the fear depends you must sleep, or you start taking one wound level for every additional day that you stay upon the severity of the stimulus (see above). awake, in addition to taking the coin penalties. If you fail to achieve all of the necessary If this continues, it is possible to die from successes, you subtract the number of exhaustion. successes you made from the number you needed. The number left over is the number of A good nights sleep, however, subtracts one turns that you are unable to act, frozen with from the penalty. To get back up to normal, fear. you have to sleep a number of consecutive nights equal to your current penalty, or spend Exhaustion Checks entire days resting and sleeping, which will reduce your penalty by two coins per day. Even with the abundance of magic and beings with unusual powers, there is no getting around the simple fact that everyone needs rest. Even Junkmen, who are artificial constructs, have to Feats are normal uses of your abilities and shut down, if only to offer their minds a respite skills, as described in the basic Head Count from the days events. explanation at the beginning of this chapter.
Feats
For the purposes of determining applicability However, things are not always perfect, and of Defining Traits, Feats are divided into the sometimes you just can’t find a safe place to following categories: bed down for the night. This happens from time to time, and is unavoidable to an extent. Mental Feats: activities involving mental After all, better to push yourself through acuity. another day than to let your guard down in an Strength Feats: raw tests of physical area where you might "wake up dead." might. Dexterity Feats: tests of coordination or For every day that you don’t sleep, however, agility. you have to make an exhaustion check, with a Observation/Perception Feats: tests of a difficulty equal to the number of nights sleep character’s ability to notice details. that you’ve missed. Success indicates that you Recovery Feats: gauging the character’s ability to heal from damage (see combat) are able to continue. Failure also means that Social Feats: tests of the character’s you can continue, but all Head Counts that you ability to interact with others. make during that day are at a penalty equal to Willpower Feats: tests of a character’s one coin for every day that you haven’t slept. strength of mind. When your penalties exceed 3 coins, however,
The Radiance The magical background radiation of the UnderWorld has been largely stabilized by the continual effect of the subways travelling along their mystic pathways. The riders, oblivious to the true nature of the glyphs that their travels etch into the fabric of the cosmos, each give up a little piece of their essence with every ride they take. This harvest of raw magical energy has reached the point where it generates the same amount as is lost each day. Magic has reached a point of equilibrium. Despite this, however, the distribution of magic is not equal. The Radiance grows more concentrated the deeper you travel. Immediately below the surface of the city, there is barely enough Radiance to register. Travel into the forgotten passages and natural caverns hundreds of feet below, however, and the Radiance abounds. The measure of the inherent Radiance in an area is known as the area’s Radiance Count, or RadCount. RadCounts have a critical effect on equipment, magic, Salvage Tech and some characters. The deeper you go, the higher the number gets. On the surface (the UpWorld), the Count is zero. In the Subways themselves (the stations and train tunnels), you start getting just a little bit "other-worldly", and so the Count is 1. The further away you get from the "real world", the more the Count climbs...2, 3, 4, up to 5. All of the areas described in the setting section in Chapter V give that area’s RadCount. Every character and piece of equipment will have a Radiance Level. The Radiance Levels of the Breeds are given back in their entries in Chapter II. Those Breeds that have a closer association with the Radiance (Junkmen and Legendaries, for example) have higher Radiance Levels. When characters with high Radiance levels operate in areas with low RadCounts, they receive a penalty on all Head Counts equal to the difference between their Radiance Level and the RadCount of the area.
with Radiance Levels of 2 or higher take damage, at a rate of one wound level per turn. This is the reason that Legendaries and Junkmen cannot function in the World Above. Objects, on the other hand, have problems operating in areas with higher RadCounts. In general, the more an object is associated with modern reality, the lower that object's Radiance Level will be. The reason for this is that magic operates on a system of sympathetic relationships and symbols. The more an object is a symbol of the modern world, the more at odds it is to the magical nature of the Radiance. This means, for example, that firearms, despite having been around since the Renaissance, are less and less reliable in high Radiance areas, because they are so potent a symbol of modern life. The same thing would apply to laptops, cellphones, PDAs, and CD players. The Conductor is the final judge of the Radiance Levels of items. Equipment should have Levels from 5 to 0. Use the guidelines below to assist you in making your final decisions
Obviously, there is a lot of room for interpretation here. That is as it should be—after all, as we said in the Introduction, UnderWorld is merely a framework. It becomes a game when Players and Conductors begin their own stories. Something which would have such a wideranging effect upon a campaign should be within the If there is no Radiance in the area (the surface, for purview of the the individual Conductor. If your Conductor example, has a RadCount of zero), characters and creatures wants to allow more modern equipment and weapons in the
deep tunnels, then feel free to go ahead…it’s your game.
fizzle out. The items will still work when taken up to areas with lower RadCounts, and in fact, might work the next time you try to use them here. There’s no way of telling—the effects of the Radiance remove that sense of reliability that we have come to expect from modern technology.
From there, it's pretty simple: When using an object in an area where the Count is higher than the object's Rating, the player receives a penalty to the coin toss equal to the difference. For example: let’s say that your character is trying to use a Laptop (Radiance Rating 0) in a cavern with a Count of 3. Radiance Pools Any attempt to use that Laptop would receive a 3 There are areas where the Radiance collects into coin penalty...probably enough to prevent it from sources that are of much higher concentration than working at all. the surrounding area. These spots are known as Radiance Pools. Pools are essentially collections of That's it. Nothing too complicated. You can see that this pure Radiance, with RadCounts so high as to be system does not prevent the use of modern weapons and uncountable. RadCounts are highly sought after by UnderWorlders, and many Domains have gone to war over ownership of Pools. They are of great aid in the creation of charms and the performance of rites, as well as the construction of Salvage Tech (see Chapter IV for details). In addition, Radiance Pools, being concentrations of magic, sometimes are the sites of events that cannot be predicted or quantified. Pools have been the birthplace of Legendaries, have brought UnderWorlders back from the dead, and have been the catalyst for events which can only be described as miraculous.
equipment in the deep tunnels. However, with Radiance Ratings of 0 to 1 at best, they're going to be less and less Conductors should use Radiance Pools as reliable the deeper you travel. complete magical wild card factors. Anything is possible when dealing with a Radiance Pool,, and the So what happens if an item doesn’t work, due to the Conductor should use them to let their imaginations penalty on the Head Count? Just that…it doesn’t work. It run wild, as the focus of events and adventures that should work, but for some reason, it hasn’t. A gun will fail shape their campaigns. to fire, or inexplicably jam. A laptop or cellphone will suddenly lose battery power. A halogen lamp will suddenly
Item High-tech electronics, Modern weapons (1980s or better) Common late 20th Century items and weapons (1950s or better) Early Industrial technology and weapons (19th century and up) Non-technological items and weapons
Radiance Level 0 1 2 5
64
by turn, standard RPG combat system, and the other is much more abstract system, representing the entire combat, taken as a whole. Live action play can use the abstract system, which will distill the combats into a streamlined whole. Some table-top might like the option of switching back and forth between a Or, Subterranean Ass-Kicking 101 streamlined, abstract combat system and a more detailed one, depending on the importance of the combat in question. For example, a table top game Here we go. can use the abstract system for fights with the The root of all action-adventure stories. The faceless hordes, and then switch to the detailed system for the final battle with the main villain of the pulse-pounding excitement of combat… adventure. Let’s face it—the setting can be cool, the characters interesting, the plot of an adventure intriguing, but when you get right down to it, the real Turn By Turn excitement comes when you’re facing down a powerThe more detailed of the two is really not that detailed mad Artificer and his dozen Junkmen shocktroopers, and you’re all that stands between the good people of at all. It is simply an adaptation of the Head Count mechanic that you're already familiar with--except in this case, instead the Lesser Boulevards and certain death. of going for a number of successes based upon difficulty, the That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it. This is not to say coin tosses are opposed. that combat should be the sole focus of an Combat will be broken into turns. Every UnderWorld campaign, but a hero occasionally has to combatant gets to make an attack each turn, as well pound on a few bad guys…it’s in the union contract. as defend against any incoming attacks. Turns are That said, UnderWorld needs two combat systems. That's right, two.
broken down as follows:
1. Combatants throw for Initiative 2. Attacks proceed in order. Damage is tallied after each attack 3. Wound checks are made
Why two? Simple--back to the idea of this being run as both a table-top RPG and a live action game. Combat in LARPS is a touchy subject. There can be absolutely no actual contact involved. You don’t want to have your live action players going after each other Initiative: All combatants make a standard Head with crowbars and bricks (not to mention swords, Count throw, and tally their total number of knives or the like). Simply using the standard RPG rules, adapted for the LARP situation, seems boring. successes. Combatants also will receive bonuses to Two systems will cover it. One is a detailed, turn initiative based upon the situation:
Situation
Bonus
Ambush Readied weapons Held action last turn Appropriate Defining Trait Fighting Skill Other Appropriate Skill Other
Ambushers receive 2 coins 1 coin 1 coin 1 coin 2 if Guild, 1 if secondary 2 if Guild, 1 if secondary Conductors decision 65
Actions then proceed, from high success, through none. Combatants with the same number of successes in initiative perform their actions simultaneously. Attacks: Attacks need to be made at the appropriate range. The ranges for weapons in UnderWorld are as follows: Personal: You’ve got to reach out and touch someone. Immediate: The target has to be within your immediate area (same room, for example). Distance: The domain of true ranged weapons - if you can see them, you can hit them. Keep in mind, that in a setting like the UnderWorld, Distance attacks are going to be rare…there are almost no areas in the UnderWorld that have that much space where combats will occur.
Unharmed: minor scratches and bruises. No effect Lightly Wounded: Flesh wounds, some bleeding. 1 coin penalty to Head Counts Seriously Wounded: Internal injuries, broken bones, heavy bleeding. 2 coin penalty to Head Counts Dead: Self explanatory. Wounds are cumulative, as well. If you take three wounds of one type, they become a single wound of a higher level. For example, if you have taken 2 levels of Unharmed, and take one more, the 3 levels become one level of Lightly Wounded—and you no longer have any levels of Unharmed. If you take three more levels of Unharmed, they become your second level of Lightly Wounded, and so on. Penalties are not cumulative, however, you only suffer the penalty of the highest wound level you have taken.
The attacker makes a Head Count toss, opposed by the defender. Results are compared, success to This is a deadly combat system. It only takes 4 success. If the attacker has more, the attack successes to kill someone outright. This is as it succeeds. Extra successes go through to deliver should be. Combat is not something that should be extra damage. entered into lightly. Damage: To determine damage, you take a default coin, a number of coins based upon the damage of the weapon, and any extra coins left over from the attack, and throw a Head Count, opposed by the defender, who gets a default coin, modified by Defining Traits and any Armor they might be wearing. Every success by which the damage throw exceeds the defender’s throw delivers one wound level to the target. There are four levels of wounds: Unharmed, Lightly Wounded, Seriously Wounded, and Dead. At the Conductors discretion, some types of attacks (fists, for example) will do temporary, nonlethal damage. This damage is tallied seperately, although it uses the same designations as above, although "Dead" is replaced by "Knocked Out".
In addition, at the end of every turn, everyone who has taken wounds needs to make a Wounds check. This is a standard Head Count, against a difficulty equal to the highest wound level you have taken. A failure indicates that you suffer the full penalty of your wounds, starting next turn. A success, however, means that you are still wounded at that level , but you do not suffer the corresponding penalty. (You’ve shrugged off the effects) Note that you are checking to see if you suffer the effects of your highest wound level, even if you haven’t taken that wound that turn. For example, you’re Seriously Wounded, but have managed to shrug off the effects. Next turn, you take a Light Wound. At the end of the turn, you have to make your Wounds Check against the Serious Wound, because that is still the highest wound level you have taken.
Example of Combat Lord Steam, the Homeless Artificer, is facing down against Ithio, the Legendary Bravo. Steam is armed with his Jacob’s Hammer, a gun that chucks bolts of electricity for 4 Damage. Ithio just has his knives—relics that do 3 Damage, instead of a knife’s normal 2, and give him 2 extra coins for resisting damage against him. Turn One: First comes initiative. Both combatants get 1 coin as default. Ithio has Fast as a Defining Trait, and Fighting as a Guild Skill. Steam has Fierce as a Defining Trait, and Fighting as a secondary skill. Steam will throw 3 coins for initiative, and Ithio will throw 4. They throw— Steam gets 2 successes, and Ithio gets 4. Ithio goes first. Ithio’s looking to end this quickly. He goes for the kill. He gets to throw 4 coins (1 default, 1 for his Defining Trait "Vicious", and 2 for his Fighting skill). For defense, Steam gets to throw 3 (1 default, 1 for his Defining Trait "Tough", and 1 for his Fighting Skill). They throw—Ithio gets 2 successes, and Steam gets 2: the attack fails. Steam opens fire. He gets only 2 coins (1 default, 1 for his Fighting Skill). Ithio has 3 for defense (1 default, 2 for his Fighting skill). They throw—Steam gets 2 successes, and Ithio gets only 1. The attack succeeds, with 1 coin going towards extra damage. Steam takes 5 coins (4 for the damage of the Jacob’s Hammer, 1 extra), and throws against Ithio’s 3 (1 default, and 2 for his relics). Steam gets 3 successes, and Ithio gets 1. Ithio takes a Light Wound. Ithio makes a Wound Check. He gets 2 coins (the Conductor feels that his trait "Vicious" should allow him a certain maniacal relentlessness). He throws, and only gets 1 success. Failing the check,
Ithio is now at a 1 coin penalty to all Head Counts. Snarling at Lord Steam, he uses his Legendary ability to travel through shadows to escape, vowing vengeance against the heroic Artificer.
Abstract The abstract system is just that--an abstraction of the entire process. Instead of going round-by-round, attacking, defending, etc., the abstract system distills the entire combat process into a single opposed throw. This is handled a little differently than the process listed above. In the abstract system, each combatant (or group of combatants--this can be used as a fight between groups, as well) determines their goal for the combat-this can be to simply kill the opposition, or to knock them unconscious, or to capture them, or otherwise subdue them, etc.
Advantages Greater numbers Higher number of appropriate skill levels Natural weapons Superior weapons (ranged versus personal, for example) Maneuverability advantage (flight, transport, etc.) Appropriate Magical abilities (charms, relics, etc.) Appropriate Breed abilites Salvage Tech superiority Other as determined by the Conductor. Before the throw is made, each side tallies up their "advantages": things, like greater numbers, combat skills, etc., that give them an advantage over the opponent: Then, each side throws three different types of Tokens as a single throw. Each token represents a different aspect of the combat. One represents attack, one represents defense, and the third represents the goal (as defined above). To achieve your goal, you must have a "heads" result on all three.
will have to determine how the combatant’s goals (or the failure to achieve the same) should translate into game terms. This system requires much more work on the part of the Conductor—it is almost a narrative method, rather than a true game mechanic. For this reason, it should be used by Conductors who are experienced game masters, and who are comfortable with their ability to craft a story out of abstract elements.
Example of Abstract Combat: This is naturally only going to occur 1 out of 8 times (12.5%)--that's when your advantages come in. For each advantage you have, you can flip a coin to its opposing side. This can be one of your coins, to aid you in achieving the three heads result, or it can be one of your opponent's coins, to keep them from achieving three heads--but they (and you) can also use advantages to re-flip the coin back to a positive result. So, basically the abstract system is a single toss of three coins, followed by a "bidding war" of sorts to re-direct the results to your advantage.
Mina, a Freak Bravo, faces down against a halfdozen Bravos in the services of the Lord of the Washington Depths. She is a bat-winged, clawed monstrosity who wields a kusari-gama (a martial arts weapon—a hand-held scythe with an attached weighted chain). The WashDeep Bravos are all armed with guns (this occurs in a hig tunnel).
Both sides tally their advantages. Mina has natural weapons, flight and "Fierce" as a Defining Trait. (She also has Fighting as a Guild skill, but so do the other Bravos, so it’s not an advantage.) The As a bit of flavor, it is encouraged that when a WashDeep Bravos have greater numbers, and coin is flipped by an advantage, the "flipper" should superior weapons. So, Mina has 3 advantages, and the Bravos have 2. narrate what is happening in the combat to reflect this change of favor. This can be easily imagined, by The Bravos goal is to kill Mina (she wandered into looking at the particular advantage involved, and which coin (attack, defense, or result) is being a tunnel where they are preparing a nefarious plan for flipped. For example, if my side's "Greater Numbers" Mordecai, the Lord of the Washington Depths). Her advantage allows me to change the result of the goal (aside from avoiding being killed, is to wipe "goal" coin--I can say that we swarm over the enemy, them out, as well. overwhelming them from all sides. If I flip the Both sides throw their three coins: "defense" coin because my side has a Superior Weapons advantage, I can say that because we were Attack Defense Goal bearing down on our opponents with fearsome Tails Heads Heads weaponry, they were hesitant to approach and attack. MINA BRAVOS Heads Tails Tails This system will result in one of three results: One side will achieve their goal, neither side achieves The Bravos use their 2 advantages to turn their their goal, or both sides achieve their goal. This is Tails to Heads. (note that they could use them to where Conductor adjudication begins, to interpret the insure that Mina will not succeed, but the Conductor results of the combat. This will depend entirely upon is running them in accordance with their goals…it is the stated goals of the combatants. The Conductor more important for them to try to succeed at their
goal than to prevent her from achieving hers). The Conductor narrates that their greater numbers aided in their defense, since she had to split her attacks Healing of wounds requires medical attention and rest. A amongst six targets. The Conductor also says that wounded UnderWorlder must seek someone with the First their superior weapons helped them achieve their goal, since bullets are more conducive to killing than Aid skill, or some other healing ability (some charms are capable of healing wounds, for example). to wounding.
Healing
Mina uses one of her advantages to turn one of the Bravos newly-acquired heads results to tails, thereby ensuring their failure. She decides that her flight negated the benefit of their superior numbers, since she attacked from above. Using 1 of her remaining 2 advantages, she changes her Attack coin into a heads result…narrating that her claws and barbed tail evened out the odds, effectively tripling her available weapons. The final tally:
Attack MINA Heads BRAVOS Heads
Defense
Goal
Heads Tails
Heads Heads
Mina achieves her goal. The Conductor decides that she flies into battle, a flurry of blades and claws coming from above, and the Bravos are slaughtered to a man. In the above example, if both sides had achieved their goals, the Conductor would have had to describe how both sides were able to kill their opponents, and yet were slain themselves. If neither side won, the Conductor would have given both sides a few wounds to represent the effects of the combat, but would have had to engineer a reason for the combat to have ended with no resolution…perhaps the combatants were interrupted by a third party.
The healer must make a Head Count, with a difficulty equal to the number of wound levels the victim has suffered. In addition, if the victim has a Defining Trait such as Resilient, it adds coins to the Healer’s Head Count. Unlike a normal Head Count, however, not achieving the total number of successes is still a good thing. Each success represents one level of wounds that will be healed. Each wound level takes two days to recover from—even with a successful healing Head Count. During the days it takes to heal, the patient must rest. Lack of rest will negate the effects of the Healing. Note that the special healing ability of Mendicants instantly heals those wound levels, without the normal healing recovery period. For example: An UnderWorlder is suffering from a Serious Wound. A doctor makes a Head Count, and gets 2 Successes. The Serious Wound will heal, becoming a level 1 (Unharmed) wound, but will take 4 days of rest to get to that point. If the healing was performed by a Mendicant using his special ability, the healing would have been instantaneous. Magical healing effects are covered in the Magic section of Chapter IV. Temporary wound levels (such as those inflicted through fisticuffs) are naturally healed at the rate of 1 wound level every 6 hours.
Last Train To Valhalla "Christ, this is not good." Walker shook his head and looked up at Robin. The Goodfella just stood there, a look of shock on his face. Between the two men (well, Walker was a man— Goodfella Robin was a Legendary, but that’s neither here nor there), a body lay sprawled in a pool of its own blood. Walker brushed his dreadlocks back from his face. "It’s Meridian." Robin winced. "Shit. I wouldn’t want to meet whatever was able to do this to someone like Meridian. I always thought that his bastard would be able to whack Death himself." Walker stood. "It looks as though he was shot. Big holes, too." He looked over at the Goodfella, who was examining the walls and floor of the surrounding tunnel. Robin gestured to the spray of thick, clotting blood on the tunnel wall. "He was shot here. But, ah…." "Don’t tell me. No bullets." The Puck nodded grimly. There was only one gun that was able to do that sort of damage, and yet fired no bullets ever crafted by man. The .44 Caliber Killer. The revolver was a relic—a legendary archetype based upon the gun used by the Son of Sam, David Berkowitz, who terrorized the city during the summer of 1977. The gun certainly was not the actual weapon that the killer had used—that was recovered over two decades ago by the police. The .44 Caliber Killer was a magical relic, distilled from the fears of the millions of people who lived through that tense, hot summer. What was even worse was that the relic was the preferred weapon of one individual: "Lorca." Robin and Walker simultaneously intoned the name of the assassin, a Freak Bravo known for his efficiency as much as the armored plates which grow from his skin. "I’ll say it again. This is not good." Walker started pacing nervously. Robin silently stared at the body on the floor, lost in thought. "You know…." Walker stopped pacing. "Aw, hell no, Puck. Not even. You’ve got that look." A wry smile crept across the Goodfella’s face. "What look would that be?" Walker pointed. "That one. The look that says ‘Hey, Walker, I’ve got a helluva plan, which will be fraught with danger, and most likely get you killed.’ That look. I’ve
seen it before." The Legendary began to lift Meridian’s body in a fireman’s carry, hoisting it up over his shoulder. He looked at Walker expectantly. Walker threw up his hands in resignation. "OK, fine— ya got me. What’s the plan?" Robin grinned. Walker was always dependable. "We’re going to take Meridian for a ride." Walker pulled a crowbar from a sling on his back. "…and then we go after Lorca?" "Abso-frickin-lutely. I’m getting tired of that beetleskinned bastard. Plus, that gun needs to go. I think I know of a good forge to toss it into." Half an hour later, the two Bravos sat on an unused subway platform. City Hall station used to be a thriving hub of activity, until the adoption of modern trains, too long for the antique curved platform, forced its closure. Walker stood and watched over Meridian’s body as Robin fished through his backpack, pulling out a small leather pouch. "There are three of us riding. This will take my last three tokens. I hope it’s worth it." Robin emptied the contents of the bag into his hand: three old brass subway tokens, grown green with age. He tossed the tokens, one at a time, onto the tracks, very carefully aiming to hit the third rail. Each token bounced off the rail with a flash of electricity and the smell of ozone. "The train will be here soon." Robin said. "All we have to do is ride it for three stops…that should do the trick. Meridian should come back to life, and then the three of us can go after Lorca." Walker shivered. This sort of magic was far too powerful for his tastes. Charms were one thing—but rites of this level of power frightened him. There was too much that could go wrong. Almost as if in answer to Walker’s concerns, the sounds of slow footfalls echoed up and town the platform. Robin and Walker whirled around to see the chitinous form of Lorca striding purposefully towards them, the .44 Caliber Killer leveled at them steadily. The flat grey of his skin glistened under the low light of the abandoned station. "No need to go after me, Puck. I’m already here." The Freak’s voice grated like a knife blade being drawn across a concrete wall. Walker and Robin froze, staring down the barrel of the magical revolver. One shot from that gun was enough to kill either one of them, and Lorca had them dead in his sights. The Freak came closer, moving like a cat that had cornered its prey.
An onrush of air announced the approach of the train before the sound reached the platform. "I suspected that you were lying in wait to see if anyone was going to come after Meridian." Robin said calmly. "False bravado doesn’t become you, Goodfella." Lorca yelled. The roar of an approaching train began to fill the chamber. "If you think I’m going to let you resurrect Meridian, you’re a bigger fool than you appear to be." Walker flexed his hands around the grip of his crowbar, looking for an opening to attack. Robin pounded his fists into his thighs in frustration. "I can’t believe I made such a mistake." He muttered. Lorca smiled. Suddenly, the platform was filled with the roar of the subway car that rocketed into City Hall Station. It was an older car, painted in the red livery of the IRT line. There were no passengers visible through the windows, and the train’s arrival made the hairs on the back of Walker’s neck stand up. Over the din of the mysterious train’s brakes, Goodfella Robin yelled to Walker. "Whatever happens, make sure that Lorca doesn’t get on board that train!" Walker nodded in agreement. The train ground to a halt and the door opened with a hollow-sounding chime. Lorca’s smile had split into a fierce grimace of triumph. "Wrong again, Puck. Wrong again." He leveled the gun at Walker. The sound of a barking dog could be faintly heard…which seemed to be coming from the gun itself. Lorca backed towards the open train door. "Neither one of you can stop me." The next couple of seconds went by in a flash. Walker saw one of the aluminum poles from within the subway
suddenly detach itself from the ceiling of the car and snake outwards, quicksilver and impossibly fast. It wrapped around Lorca’s torso, pinning his arms to his sides. Lorca’s eyes widened in disbelief as the metal tentacle tightened around him and dragged him back into the subway car. Walker stared in horror as the other poles in the car detached and tore at Lorca, like a nest of vipers, tearing the armor plating from his skin in ragged crimson strips. Lorca’s screams grew shrill and wet-sounding before they stopped altogether. A sephulcural voice echoed from the subway’s PA speakers, sounding like a call from the bottom of a deep, deep hole. "Please step into the car and away from the closing doors." Robin stepped backward, putting his hand out to move Walker back as well. "No, that’s alright. We’ll wait for the next one." There was a pause, almost as if the train was considering its options. "Very well, Goodfella. You used the tokens, so it is your choice whether or not to ride. Next time we meet, however, things will be different." With that, the doors closed, and the train pulled out of the station. As it disappeared into the dark of the tunnel, Walker could see the train continuing to devour Lorca’s body. He turned to face Robin. "Son of a bitch. ‘No, don’t throw me into that there briar patch…’ I told you that you had that look." Robin just shrugged. "What are ya gonna do. Man had a train to catch."
Magic More so than any other place on Earth, the UnderWorld is a place of magic. This is not the magic of the UpWorld occult movements, which attempts to quantify the supernatural in structures and rules of almost scientific precision. This is the magic of folk and fairy tales—magic of symbolism and childlike logic. Magic in the UnderWorld comes in three varieties: Charms, Rites, and Relics. Charms are the most common— small objects imbued with magical p owe r, or simple actions that have been t a u g h t from generation t o generation. Rites are much more powerful, realityaltering and much more rare—their occurrence is the stuff of legend, even in the UnderWorld. Relics are, essentially, Legendary objects (rather than individuals)—items which, like the members of the Breed, have distilled the essence of legend or belief into their substance. Magic can only be attempted by individuals who know the correct Charm or Rite, or who possess the appropriate Relic. Charms and Rites can only be attempted in areas with a RadCount of at least 1. Some Charms (and most Rites) require a much higher RadCount—those requirements are listed in their descriptions below. If you are attempting to use magic in an area which has a higher RadCount than needed, each level of Radiance above
what is necessary bestows a one coin bonus to the Head Count of the attempt. In cases where magic is being used against someone, the target has the ability to resist the effects of the magic through a Head Count (modified by any Defining Traits or magic that they possess). Each success on the target’s Head Count removes one success from the attackers attempt. Each individual use of magic has its own procedures, which are described in the individual entries that follow.
Charms Charms come in two varieties: small objects that are imbued with magical effects, and certain formulaic actions which result in a magical effect. Some example charms are:
Daedalus Twine: A ball of string or yarn that unwinds along twisted passages to help wanderers find their way in, out or through a labyrinth. The user places the ball on the ground, and the ball rolls along, spooling its thread out behind it, leading the way. It’s usage requires a Head Count using three coins (modified by any appropriate bonuses), achieving two successes. (Minimum Radiance: 1)
Brass Knuckles: A set of brass knuckles that have been imbued with the essence of a sledgehammer, enabling them to do far more damage than their appearance would merit. When a successful attack is made with the knuckles, the attacker makes a three coin Head Count. Each success equals a bonus coin for damage determination, over and above the single coin, which the knuckles would normally bestow. (Minimum Radiance: 1)
Guiding Light: A flashlight or lantern with a Forget-Me-Knots: A charm to hold a captured thought. As the information is remembered, a knot is tied to trap the thought and keep it from being lost. The knot or bow can take any form, and is a favored charm of Nomads. The user throws a three coin Head Count. If no successes are garnered, the charm fails. If one success is made, the charm succeeds. If two or more successes are made, the memory can be retrieved by anyone untying the knot, rather than just the original user. (Minimum Radiance: 1)
Red Rover: A vocal charm for retrieving small personal items. The user says "Red Rover, Red Rover, send (object) over," while holding out their hand, palm up, to receive the item. A three coin Head Count is thrown, and on two successes, any personal item owned by the user, but not currently in hand, will appear. (Minimum Radiance: 2)
Luck Chips: Small poker chips that contain stored Luck. By "cashing in their chips" (casting the chips away from them, which uses up their charge), the user gains an additional Head Count coin for every chip they spend. (No minimum Radiance.)
stored charm within it that allows the light to shine in the direction where the user wishes the go. The light will bend around corners, etc. to aid in traveling to a particular location. This charm can only be used to guide the user to a location, rather than to find a specific person or object. A Head Count of three coins, achieving two successes is necessary for its use—otherwise it functions as a normal light. (Minimum Radiance: 1)
Life Vest: A charm which allows an article of clothing to act as a life preserver that works on both water, and in the air, protecting the wearer from falls as well as drowning. It takes a three-coin Head Count to activate. One success will bestow buoyancy, and two successes will bestow weightlessness. (Minimum Radiance: 2)
Ill Wind: The creation of a short blast of gale force wind by pointing at your target and whistling. The wind will begin from the end of the caster’s finger, and travel at full force to the target. The wind is strong enough to knock over any target that is slightly larger than man-sized, or less. The wind itself does no damage, but could certainly be dangerous if directed at someone precariously balanced over a precipice, for example. The charm requires a threecoin Head Count, with two successes. (Minimum Radiance: 2)
Sleep Visor: A sleeping visor of the sort handed
out on airlines or at hotels, imbued with a charm that allows the wearer to experience a full night’s rest in only one hour. No head count is necessary. (Minimum Radiance: 1)
that is not possible in some stations, which use floor-to-ceiling revolving iron gates known colloquially as "Iron Maidens"—the Free Ride allows passage through these. No Head Count is needed. (Minimum Radiance: 1)
Life Stone: A stone worn on a necklace, enchanted to give the wearer an extra coin to resist damage during combat. No Head Count is necessary. (Minimum Radiance: 1)
Begging Hat: The Begging Hat is a beat-up old hat with a charm placed upon it that attracts money. The user lays it down, and throws a threecoin Head Count. The hat will magically attract small amounts of money, subway tokens, and even food if the throw garners two successes or more. (Minimum Radiance: 1)
Soup Stone: This is a charm that will allow the user to create a pot of soup by dropping any stone into a pot of boiling water. Its successful use will feed one person for every heads result on a three-coin throw. (Minimum Radiance: 1)
Dousing Rod: A dousing rod is a stick with a
Protective Chalk: This chalk is able to draw
charm placed upon it that can be used to find sources of drinkable water. One success on a threecoin Head Count is all that is required (well, OK…that, and a stick.). (Minimum Radiance: 1)
lines through the Radiance. Inscribing a circle with it protects those inside from the effects of charms directed at them. (No Head Count necessary) Obscuring the chalk line will remove the protective effects. (Minimum Radiance: 2)
Freeze Tag: This charm can be placed on any Protective Incense: This charm allows the
torn-off mattress tag, turning it into a powerful weapon (see, there’s a reason that you’re not suppose to remove those…). If an attacker can successfully slap the tag onto a target during combat (treat as a hand-to-hand attack), the tag will freeze the target in place. The charm will activate on three successes on a threecoin Head Count. The target will remain unable to move until the tag is removed. (Minimum Radiance: 2)
smoke from any stick of incense to create a perimeter of smoke roughly 20 feet across. A three-coin Head Count is thrown. Every success will add one level of difficulty that must be overcome by anyone attempting to cross the smoke. The smoke lasts for as long as the incense burns. (Minimum Radiance: 1)
Free Ride: The Free Ride is a MetroCard (a magnetic strip debit card used to pay for subway rides) that has been enchanted to allow the user to pass through turnstiles without having to pay. Normally, UnderWorlders would simply leap over the turnstiles, but
Mob Cap: This charm, when placed on an ordinary hat or cap, allows the target to blend into 78
user to excavate twice as fast as normal. In addition, if the item is used as a weapon, it will do bonus damage equal to the number of successes on a three-coin Head Count, in addition to the normal type of damage for the item. (Minimum Radiance: 1)
crowds, becoming indistinct and unmemorable. The user throws a three-coin Head Count, and each success acts as a one coin penalty against anyone’s efforts to locate the user within the crowd. (Minimum Radiance: 1)
Colors: Enchantment placed on any clothing
Glowstix: This charm, when placed upon a
emblazoned with signs of the character’s allegiance (the emblem of their Lord, for example), that allows it to act as armor against attacks. When the item is created, throw a three-coin Head Count. The number of successes achieved is the protection offered by the armor. Multiple layers of Colors are not permitted. (Minimum Radiance: 1)
stick, makes the stick in question radiate all of the sunlight it once absorbed. The Glowstix can then be used as light sources in the UnderWorld. Many UnderWorlders carry them wrapped in cloth to douse their light until needed. No Head Count is necessary to create this charm. (Minimum Radiance: 2)
Slapstick: A charm placed on any
Beer Goggles:
stout piece of wood (approximately two feet long) carried in a plain burlap sack. When the bag is opened, the stick will fly out and begin to thwack any target appointed by the owner about the head and shoulders until the bag is opened a second time—at which point the stick returns to the bag. Creating the Slapstick requires two successes on a three-coin Head Count. The stick is a distance weapon which does 3 coins of Damage. (Minimum Radiance: 2)
This is a charm that enchants any pair of glasses, turning them into eyewear that allows the user to see in the dark. One success on a three-coin Head Count is needed during the creation of the Beer Goggles. If three successes are achieved, the goggles will also be able to see the invisible or magically obscured. (Minimum Radiance:1)
Hot Rocks: This charm is cast on any two stones. A three-coin Head Count is thrown, and if two successes are achieved, the stones will always radiate the heat of a campfire if they are placed in contact with each other. This heat sheds no light, and will do 3 coins of damage if anyone touches the stones while they are in contact. The heat completely disappears if the stones are moved apart. (Minimum Radiance: 2)
Acorns: Charms can be placed on acorns allowing them to carry a small charge of lightning. Acorns are rare in the UnderWorld (no trees, after all), but some UnderWorlders try to gather acorns from the surface after a thunderstorm (Throw 6 coins…you find 1 appropriate acorn for each success). Those acorns can be thrown at a target (range: immediate) and will do 2 coins of electrical shock damage for every acorn thrown. (Minimum Radiance: 1)
Ace of Spades: This charm can be placed on any digging tool. The item in question can allow the 79
Pack o’ Smokes: This charm summons transportation. The user takes a regular pack of cigarettes, and taps them three times on the heel of his hand. The user then takes out a cigarette and lights it. Transportation of some form will arrive before the end of the cigarette, if the user can make three successes on a three-coin Head Count. (Minimum Radiance: 1)
Moths of Confusion: A charm placed on a small wicker cage filled with moths (two successes on a three-coin Head Count to enchant the moths— but first you have to gather them). When the cage is opened, the moths flutter around the face of the target, distracting the target from whatever he or she is doing. Throw a three-coin Head Count. 1 success indicates the target is distracted…3 successes indicates that the victim suffers temporary amnesia for about an hour. (Minimum Radiance: 1)
Bedtime: A mix of fine sand and eyelashes blown from the palm of the hand across the subject to be put to sleep. 2 successes on a three-coin Head Count will put the target into a deep, natural sleep. The target can be woken as normal. (Minimum Radiance: 1) Pixie Stix: Drinking straws full of concentrated "Radiance Dust", collected by capturing pixies and shaking them (careful, they bite). One strawful of the dust can make up one level of difference between the local RadCount and a higher level needed for use of a charm. (No minimum Radiance)
Hair of Rapunzel: A short coil of rope braided from strips of cabbage leaf. (2 successes on a three-coin Head Count to create) When uncoiled, it grows into a length of climbing rope as long as needed. It reverts to its former size when re-coiled. (Minimum Radiance: 2)
Voice of the Mermaid: This charm requires
the user to breathe in through a conch shell. No Head Count necessary to create the charm— although you do have to find a conch shell.) Breathing in through the shell will give the user a magnificent singing voice and a charming and easy manner which makes them much more persuasive. (Throw a three-coin Head Count. The effects last for a number of turns equal to the number of successes, and bestow a bonus to persuasion equal to those successes as well). (Minimum Radiance: 2)
Bluebeard’s Key: A charm which will unlock any lock. To create the charm, you need a found key, and then you need to wrap a blue hair around it seven times. (Blue hair is not as hard to find as it once was, especially if you look in Greenwich Village). When the key is used on any lock, throw a three-coin Head Count. 1 success will open the lock. (Minimum Radiance: 2)
Strength of the Green Knight: A charm that bestows upon the user two additional coins to resist damage, and one additional coin for Strength Feats. It is cast by weaving a tendril of ivy around the caster’s neck, which grows tendrils down around the torso and limbs. Creation of this powerful charm requires three successes on a three-coin Head Count. (Minimum Radiance: 2)
Jinx: A charm that can cause the target to fail whatever action he or she is attempting. The caster crosses their fingers, kisses the knuckles and points at the target. A Head Count is thrown, and 2 successes are required to make the target fail. If 3 successes are achieved, then the target not only fails, but fails spectacularly. (Minimum Radiance: 2) Abracadabra: A charm to heal wounds. The word "Abracadabra" is written 3 times on a scrap of paper, and then bound over the wound. A three-coin
Head Count is thrown, and a number of wounds is instantly healed for every successes gained. (Minimum Radiance: 2)
Creating New Charms
Special Abilities and Magic Certain Breeds and Guilds, as well as certain Defining Traits, have magical effects, as described in the Characters section.
Additional charms will appear in future Mole People, for example, receive an extra coin UnderWorld releases. In the meantime, though, if for any attempt to use magic, due to their inherent Conductors and Players wish to close relationship to the Radiance. create new charms, they should look to folk and fairy tales for People possessing the Trait inspiration. Most of the above "Resistant" are very difficult to affect charms (those that weren’t based with magic. Any attempt to use on bad puns, and some of them magic against them suffers a 1 coin that are) were taken from classic penalty. In cases where active fairy tales. resistance is called for, the Resistant individual can add 1 coin to their In general, a charm should attempt. require at least 2 successes on a three-coin Head Count to create, The Lost, as previously unless the magical effect is truly mentioned, have the ability to affect minor. More powerful charms the flow of time. Normally, this is a shouldn’t necessarily be harder minor effect (as described in their to create than that, but should Breed entry). However, when groups require a higher level of of the Lost band together, they can minimum Radiance. affect time to a greater extent. A single Lost can manipulate time on a Example of Charm Use: scale of seconds. With three or more Goodfella Robin is running Lost, the scale moves up to minutes. from a group of UpWorld Police, A dozen or more Lost moves the who want him for questioning scale up to hours. It is even rumored (something about a running that if 100 Lost could ever get swordfight taking place on the 7 together and act in concert, they Train during rush hour). He tries could take action that would affect to lose them in Grand Central the flow of time on a scale of years. Station, by using a Mob Cap. He No one has ever attempted this, whips up a charm, and puts a however—finding that many Lost in knit NY Rangers cap on his head. The area he’s in has a RadCount of 1, and the one place is nearly impossible. Mob Cap has a Minimum Radiance of 1—so, he can do it, although he doesn’t receive any bonuses for the Lastly, as mentioned in their Guild description, attempt. Following the directions of the charm, he Sappers have the ability to affect the flow of the throws a three-coin Head Count, and gets 2 Radiance in a particular area. The mechanics for this successes. The police are trying to locate him, and are as follows: The sapper makes a Head Count, they’ve got 2 coins to do so. The 2 successes of the using their Engineering skill, and any appropriate Mob Cap completely negate the 2 coins possessed by Traits. They are able to raise or lower the RadCount the police, and so the Goodfella successfully avoids of a local area by 1, for a number of turns equal to the detection, blending into the bustling crowd. number of successes. If the area is in proximity to a Radiance Pool, however, that modification of the RadCount is permanent on three successes or better.
Rites Rites are another matter entirely. Rites are powerful magic—the sort of thing that appears as the main focus of a fairy tale. These are the spells that cover an entire kingdom in thorns, or places a princess in a magical sleep that lasts a hundred years. Rites should be created by the Conductor, and should be a major event in the course of an adventure—these are not the sort of spells that characters should be throwing around commonly, if at all. They should form the cornerstone of the adventure. For example, an entire adventure can be woven around the quest for magic to counter the effects of a rite, or a race to stop a villain from completing the steps necessary for a rite. Rites must be tailored to the specific needs of the story that the Conductor is crafting, and as such, no "shopping list" presented in this or any other book would be able to cover all of the possibilities inherent in their creation. After all, only you know what suits your campaign. In general, there are four categories of rites: Restoration: The returning of the target to a previous state. This is the form that most counter-rites take, used to reverse the effects of another rite. Other examples include resurrection of the dead, or the re-building of a destroyed location.
Binding: The trapping of a target within a particular location or state of being. Examples include the imprisonment of genies within bottles, or a curse that places the target in a magical sleep until woken by "true love’s kiss". Transformation: The changing of one thing into another. Examples include the transformation of an arrogant prince into a hideous beast, or changing a group them into a flight of swans. Destruction: The obliteration of a target. This can be outright destruction (wiping it from the face of the Earth) or more sublime (covering a kingdom in impassable thorns). The casting of a rite will require a very specific set of conditions, which can form the basis of adventures as the characters attempt to meet or prevent those conditions. Conditions can often seem impossible or contradictory— part of the puzzle of rites is figuring out how the conditions may be met. For example, in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the Scottish Thane is convinced that he is invincible, for he is told that ‘no man of woman born’ can harm him. Unfortunately, his enemy, MacDuff, was ‘from his mother untimely ripped’—he was a caesarian birth, and hence not technically "of woman born". Rites are like that…tricky.
Relics Relics are highly sought after by UnderWorlders, for the power that they bestow upon the user. Adventurers delve into the deepest reaches of the UnderWorld in an effort to locate new, undiscovered relics for their use, or on behalf of a Lord or another patron. As mentioned earlier, relics are legendary objects, the distillation of myths or ideas into physical form. Like members of the Legendary Breed, they have a Radiance Level of 2—they cannot function on the surface. Conductors are encouraged to develop relics specific to their own campaigns. Example relics are detailed below:
City's collective unconscious, a towering example of shame and our fear of getting involved. The Silence Knife is the result of that fear. No one knows if it is the same knife that killed Genovese--it probably isn't. Rather, it is the archetype, created by the Radiance from the mental images of several million people, outraged at the crime, but more ashamed of the behavior of the witnesses. The Silence Knife is a wickedly sharp blade with a deadly magical effect. No-one who witnesses the knife in use is able to lift a finger to intervene. Worse, the knife prevents them from ever being able to communicate to anyone what they saw. The wielder of the knife is free to use it without fear of being stopped or testified against. It is the distillation of our worst fears of urban violence, and our inability (and shameful unwillingness) to do anything about it. The Silence Knife does 5 coins of damage, in addition to its magical effects.
The Key to the City: This oversized golden key is the distillation of the power of the City itself--and its wielder becomes part of the very fabric of the City, both UpWorld and UnderWorld. The holder of the Key becomes "tied to the land" in the same way that Arthur was tied to Britain. As the Key bearer thrives, so thrives the City, and as the bearer falters, the City falters with him. No door in the City is barred to one who holds the Key, and it is rumored that the Radiance generated by the Subways (and perhaps even the Subway itself) moves in accordance with the Bearer's wishes. The Key is the most powerful Artifact in the UnderWorld--and the most sought after...for its location remains a mystery. No one knows who currently wields the Key--but it is assumed that it has no current owner: After all, if someone had the Key, they would be the undisputed ruler of the entire UnderWorld.
Travelling Trunk: In a space-crunched city like
New York, people are always obsessing over having enough space for their stuff. This obsession manifested itself in the Travelling Trunk, a battered steamer trunk with tarnished fittings. If the trunk is kept hidden in a secure location, it can be summoned up by its owner tapping the ground three times with the key. The trunk will appear out of thin air, and return to it’s previous location when the owner taps the ground again. Beauty’s Ring: This is a silver ring, engraved with roses, taken from the fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast". It will instantly transport the wearer to their home when the ring is turned three times around the finger. It can only transport one living being at a time. Interestingly enough, it is uncertain whether or not this relic even exists any longer—the Disney version of "Beauty and the Beast" (both the animated The Silence Knife: On March 19th, 1964, 28- film and the Broadway musical) does not feature this year-old Catherine "Kitty" Genovese was stabbed to ring, and this version of the tale is in danger of supplanting the original story, thereby weakening the death in front of her apartment in Queens. There legend that created this relic. were thirty-eight witnesses, but not one intervened. The police eventually caught up with the killer, Romper Mirror: For many people who grew up Winston Moseley, and he is now serving a life in the 1960s and 70s, the television program sentence in prison--but that murder entered into the "Romper Room" was a fixture of their childhoods.
Each show would close with the female host of the show holding up a mirror, and saying "I see Amy, and Joey, and Charlie, and Jennifer…" The list changed every show, and children watching would eagerly wait to see if their name was called. This childhood magic created the Romper Mirror. If the user holds up the mirror, and intones the activating phrase "Romper Stomper Bomper Boo," the mirror will allow them to see any person that they specify, via a live magically-transmitted image. This relic has been seen more often recently, especially in a variation which some are calling "Beauty’s Mirror", based on a similar item which appears in the latest version of the Beauty and the Beast story (currently on Broadway). The .44 Caliber Killer: In the summer of 1977, New York City was held in the grip of a madman. A serial killer calling himself "the Son of Sam" stalked the city, killing young brunettes with a .44 Caliber pistol. Eventually, David Berkowitz, a pudgy, lonely little man, was apprehended. Berkowitz claimed that the killings were commanded by his neighbor’s dog, who was in fact a several-thousand year old demon. He was convicted, and sits in prison today. The terror generated by the murders and the insane taunts sent by Berkowitz to the newspapers distilled into a relic weapon of fearsome power. The .44 Caliber Killer is a burnished black revolver, which never requires loading. It does 6 coins worth of damage, yet fires no physical bullets. The sound of a barking dog can be heard before the gun is fired. The Umbrella of Impending Doom: This appears to be a flimsy black collapsible umbrella, similar to the ubiquitous variety available at any corner newsstand in Manhattan. These umbrellas are invaluable urban survival tools, and most New Yorkers have more than one lying about their homes (after all, they’re so cheap, that if it rains and you’ve forgotten one, you just buy another). This relic, however, when opened, acts as a defensive shield against distance attacks, offering full protection— unless the user attempts to look around the umbrella at the attacker, in which case the umbrella offers no defense. Sometimes referred to as the Wile E. Coyote umbrella. Summoning Tokens: These aged subway tokens were taken from the tillers of the opening night of the New York City subway system: October 27, 1904. These tokens can be used to summon the dreaded Late Train, or any other magical train (see Chapter V), by throwing a token onto the third rail of the subway tracks.
Personal Relics Another form of relic is created when a Main Character becomes so well-known in the UnderWorld that pieces of their personal equipment become so associated with their growing legend that they take on the powers of a relic. This sort of thing will only happen after a character has been played for a long while, and has become a well-established part of the UnderWorld. Personal items will begin to bestow bonus coins based upon famous events in which they were used. For example, if the character has a sword which was used during their career as a gladiator, the sword might eventually begin to bestow a one-coin bonus in any situation where the character fights in front of an audience. Changing a character’s equipment into personal relics is a reward that should be meted out sparingly by a Conductor, Make sure that the character is truly developing a legend around their name—this sort of power has the potential to be unbalancing to a campaign, and should be a benefit given to characters who have truly earned it. As a general guideline, the Conductor should bestow 1 bonus coin at the end of every adventure (note: an adventure is a full story, not a single gaming session), which can be affixed to any piece of the character’s equipment. These coins can be used as Head Count bonuses, or may be saved up. Three coins can be traded in to give an item a major effect rather than a bonus (the silence effect of the Silence Knife, for example). In this way, the characters can eventually take their place within the tapestry of legend and myth that makes up the UnderWorld.
Salvage Tech Salvage Tech is the bizarre science that is the purview of the Artificers. Using junk that they have found in the tunnels, or purchased from Traders who have carried it below from the surface, the Artificers bend reality to their will, warped through the Radiance—producing inventions that physical science never envisioned. One cannot begin a discussion of Salvage Tech without speaking of the madness of the Artificers. Some argue that it is their daily proximity to the Radiance that gradually drives them insane. Others say that it their insanity that allows them to create the Salvage Tech in the first place—for it is the instability of their minds that permit them the freedom to think in the bizarre terms necessary to shape everyday wreckage into working, fantastic inventions. As stated in the section on Character creation in Chapter II, Artificers begin the game with a form of insanity, at Stage One. As an Artificer’s career progresses, and their talent for invention grows, so does their insanity. The crazier the Artificer, the more talented an inventor they are…they put the "Mad" in "Mad Scientist." What follows are descriptions of several different forms of insanity, and their corresponding Stages. Note that these are simplified charicatures of actual, serious afflictions. This is not intended as a belittling of these disorders. No player of UnderWorld should mistake the information presented in this game for serious attempts to define realworld sicknesses.
Multiple Personality Disorder: This form of insanity manifests itself in the development of more than one distinct personality residing within the same mind. The Artificer has additional personalities, usually in stark contrast to their dominant personality, and often with their own desires and motivations. Stage One: The Artificer has one additional personality, which manifests itself during times of stress.
The Conductor orders a Head Count, and the secondary personality manifests itself on a result of 2 successes. This manifestation is usually temporary (the Conductor decides the duration). Stage Two: The Artificer has one additional personality which manifests as above, except only 1 success is necessary, and the duration of manifestation is usually longer than Stage One. Stage Three: The Artificer has between 1 and 3 additional personalities…each of which manifest during stress on only a single success on a Head Count. The manifestations are permanent, until another stressful situation forces another change.
ManicDepressive: This form of insanity manifests itself in wide, sometimes violent mood swings— sometimes also referred to as Bipolar Disassociative Disorder. Manic-Depressives fluctuate wildly between energetic, almost frantic highs and deep, crippling lows. Stage One: The Artificer throws a Head Count every day. If there are more successes, the Artificer’s mood is high…they are filled with energy and enthusiasm, and generally positive in their outlook. If the result is primarily tails, the Artificer is depressed— unmotivated, laconic, and in a generally dark mood. Stage Two: The Artificer’s moods behave as above, but with additional game effects: positive moods give the Artificer an additional coin for all Head Counts, while negative moods give the Artificer a one-coin penalty. Stage Three: As above, but the mood swings come more rapidly. The Artificer must make a Head Count to determine his or her moods every 8 hours, rather than once per day.
Paranoid: Individuals suffering from this form of insanity see enemies around every corner. Whereas in a setting like the UnderWorld, this may actually be the case, the degree to which such perceptions exist within the mind of the Paranoiac is extreme—seeing enemies and plots where none exist. Stage One: The Artificer is filled with suspicion at every facet of his life. He trusts no one, and makes no lasting friendships. Stage Two: The paranoia increases to the degree that the Artificer believes that everyone he encounters is out to get him, a part of some vast conspiracy specifically engendered to bring about his downfall. This view will color and direct all of the Artificers actions. Stage Three: The Artificer will interpret almost any
action taken by those around him through his or her persecution complex. The Artificer at this point is beyond reason, and may even take pre-emptive measures to insure that no harm befalls him—including attacking his allies or people who have no connection to him at all.
Obsessive-Compulsive: This behavioral disorder is marked by a need to complete certain actions in an almost ritual observance. The further this disorder progresses, the more elaborate
these rituals become, and the more crippling the effects if the rituals are not followed. Stage One: The Artificer has one small ritual that must be followed…for example, a thorough washing of his or her hands after a certain material is touched; or walking around the workbench, clockwise, three times, before beginning work. If the ritual is not followed, the Artificer suffers a one-coin penalty until the ritual is completed. Stage Two: The Artificer begins to develop more compulsions. (the Player and Conductor decide upon 2-3 additional situations) If these rituals are not followed, the Artificer suffers a two-coin penalty. Stage Three: The Artificer’s compulsions become so crippling that he or she cannot take any action without an accompanying compulsive obsession. No penalties are incurred by not following them…simply, the Artificer
must follow them.
Delusional: This is a very wide-ranging disorder, with many manifestations. Individuals suffering from this form of insanity labor under misapprehensions about the nature of reality. The form this delusion takes, however, is as widely varied as the individuals themselves. Stage One: The Artificer has a single core belief which is Delusional (for example, the Artificer believes
that he is accompanied by a 6 foot tall rabbit named Harvey) This belief, while odd, is relatively harmless, and does not otherwise negatively impact the Artificer’s life. Stage Two: At this stage, the Artificer’s delusions begin to impact his or her life: for example, a belief that the Artificer is invisible, or that anyone wearing a hat is, in fact, a demon. Stage Three: The Artificer’s delusions are now so extensive that he or she is operating fully within that world. At this point, the delusions have the potential to seriously endanger the Artificer’s life—for example, a belief that the Artificer is immune to damage.
Sociopathic: A sociopath has no internal moral compass— they literally cannot discern between right and wrong. They take action based on efficacy and self-interest, with no regard for the welfare of others or the mores of society. This is a very
Maniacal: Another widely varying form of insanity, mania manifests itself in one of any number of forms. Mania is most easily described as an unnatural fascination with something. Examples include: Egomania (a fascination with self), Kleptomania (fascination with theft), Pyromania (fascination with fire), Homicidal mania (fascination with killing), etc. Stage One: The strength of the Artificer’s mania is minor (the character can avoid temptation by achieving a single success when faced with the object of their fascination). Stage Two: The Artificer’s mania is of moderate strength (the character can avoid temptation by achieving two successes). Stage Three: At this point, the Artificer no longer responds to temptations—he or she goes out of the way to create situations that satisfy the fascination.
dangerous form of insanity for Main Character Artificers. Stage One: The Artificer’s behavior is motivated purely by self-interest. The Artificer gives no thought to the consequences of their actions, outside of how their actions would effect their own interests. Stage Two: The actions of the Artificer begin to stray outside the realm of acceptability for any member of a civilized society. The Artificer increasingly begins to view others as simply inhabitants of their personal world, or means to an end. Stage Three: At this point, the Artificer has become truly dangerous. They will commit acts of violence, giving it no more thought than they would to crossing a subway platform. They are completely disassociated from normal human behavior.
The Effects of Insanity OK, so now your character is nuts. good does this do you?
What
Every Stage of insanity gives the Artificer an extra coin for use in the invention of Salvage Tech (1 coin for Stage One, 2 for Stage Two, 3 for Stage Three). Hence, the crazier the Artificer, the better an inventor they are. All Artificers begin the game at Stage One. Progressing to further stages is covered in the Conductor’s guidelines in Chapter VI.
Inventing
transport in question—which is rated in the amount of space for passengers (although this may be cargo
The rules for the design and construction of space, depending on the role of the vehicle). Salvage Tech are divided into several parts. Mode of Transportation: Ground (wheeled, tracked) 1 First, you must determine the Operants of the Ground (legged—can climb) 2 invention. Operants are the "verbs" of Salvage Water 1 Tech…what the item in question is intended to Water (submersible) 2 do, upon completion. There is no limit to the Air (flight) 2 number of Operants that may be featured in a Size: single invention, but each Operant adds another Personal (user only) 0 level of difficulty to the construction. Small (user + passenger) 1 Medium (4-6 passengers) 2 Large (6-20 passengers) 3 The seven basic Operants for Salvage Tech Immense (20+ passengers) 4 inventions are: Destruction, Transportation, Repair, Creation, Transmutation, Manipulation Repair: The returning of an item or a person to and Communication. their natural, undamaged state. This Operants’ cost is upon the number of coins it uses to perform Destruction: Any Salvage Tech weapon uses based Head Counts. These Head Counts are the means by this Operant as it’s primary. This Operant is the which wounds are healed, or damage (i.e. wounds to ability to deliver damage to a target. The form that objects) is repaired. Repair Coins: 2 levels of difficulty for every 1 delivers this damage is defined by the player creating the invention: electricity, pure Radiance, ready-whip coin. (For example, a healing ray that mends wounds with a 4-coin Head Count would total 8 levels of spray cheese, it doesn’t matter—the mechanics are difficulty) the same. You determine the range and the damage delivered by the item to determine how many difficulty levels it costs. Range: Personal 0 Immediate 1 Distance 2 Damage: per coin of damage 1 Temporary damage x .5 So, a gun that fires bolts of electricity siphoned off the third rail—a distance weapon with a damage rating of 5 would cost 7 levels of difficulty. If the gun only did stunning damage, it would cost (7 x .5 = 3.5, which rounds up to) 4 levels.
Creation:
This Operant governs the creation of
something from nothing, and is one of the hardest to pull off (this is the Operant which is used in the creation of Junkmen, for example). The difficulty of this Operant is based entirely upon the complexity of the objects being created, and must be determined by
the Conductor, with the following guidelines: Simple materials of no real use 3 Simple, useful materials 4 Complex compounds (food, for instance) 5 Complex systems 6 Living machines12 (Fizzers) to 20+ (Junkmen) For example: Lord Steam wishes to build a device Transportation: This Operant governs that creates a liquid which hardens into stone. The movement from one location to another. Difficulty is Conductor rules that rock is a simple material, but a hardening liquid form is definitely useful, and so the based upon the mode of transportation (transports difficulty is level 4. may have multiple modes—each one adds its difficulty to the whole), as well as the size of the
Transmutation:
Transmutation is the
changing of one thing into another. This Operant is another of the more difficult ones in the Salvage Tech arsenal. Again, the Conductor will have the final say regarding the difficulty of constructing inventions using this Operant.
Range: Local (same domain) Intermediate (same part of borough) Long (entire UnderWorld)
Method:
General guidelines for
Text 1 Voice 2 Image 3 No reciprocity x4 For example: Lord Steam constructs a communications device. He decides to pull out all the stops. He makes it able to transmit his image, anywhere in the UnderWorld…and decides that the receiving party does not have to even have a similar device on their end (no reciprocity). This device will be constructed at a nighimpossible level 24 difficulty. Steam rethinks his plan, and instead builds a Long-Range Voice communicator that requires reciprocal units, for a
determining difficulty are based upon the similarity of the objects in question. Variations of the same object 4 Similar objects 6 Dissimilar objects 8 Usable against living targets x3 For example: Doc Fortune wants to build a "Change-O-Ray"—a weapon that will transform any person struck by its beam into a duck. The Conductor rules that people and ducks, while worlds apart, are both living beings, and hence could qualify as "similar objects" (the Conductor reasons that if Fortune wished to turn people into Scandinavian Living Room Furniture, that would qualify as dissimilar). The difficulty level for similar objects is 6, and the multiplier for use against living targets is x 3. The final difficulty for Doc Fortune’s "Change-ORay" is a whopping 18.
Manipulation:
This Operant’s usage is twofold. First, it can be used for the physical manipulation of objects—creating robotic arms for lifting, as an example. Second, it can be used to manipulate individuals, via the domination of their willpower. Difficulty is based upon the number of coins available to the device for Head Counts. Per Head Count coin 2 Physical multiplier none Mental multiplier x3 For example: The wicked Artificer Jojo constructs a helmet that allows him to brainwash his targets into doing his bidding. He gives it three coins for the attempt, and remembers to apply the mental multiplier. The final difficulty level is 18.
Communication:
This Operant governs the transmission, receipt, or exchange of information. It is most commonly used to construct devices which allow distance communication in the UnderWorld (a location which is not kind to radio waves, and in which cellphones can fritz at a moment’s notice). Difficulty is based upon the range and the method.
1 2 3
difficulty of 5.
Extras In addition, Salvage Tech items may be given Defining Traits (as characters), or inherent secondary skills, which would bestow bonus coins to any user’s Head Count. These items also add difficulty levels to the construction: 1 per Trait or Secondary Skill. Some items can also deliver temporary Head Count penalties to their target, at a cost of double the intended penalty. (1 coin of penalty for two levels of difficulty) To lower the cost of an item, limitations may be attached to it. These limitations must be fully worked out with your Conductor. Examples include:
Limited Use (runs out of fuel or ammo) After single use -4 After multiple uses (set with Conductor) -3 After day -1 Fuel or ammo is rare additional –2
to 14. In addition, he says that the Ray runs on solar Unreliable (requires successful Head Count to power (a rare commodity in the UnderWorld), bringing the difficulty down to 12. This divides activate) 2 successes needed 3 successes needed Negative Defining Trait Penalty to Skill Use Other
Construction
-2 -4 -1 -1 As determined by Conductor
equally, giving each step of the invention, Design, Materials, and Construction, a difficulty of 4. Doc has a 5 coin Head Count for invention (1 default, 1 for his insanity, 1 for the Defining Trait "Inventive" and 2 for his Guild skill). He tries the first step, Design, and throws four heads. Design takes 4 days, and is successful. Doc moves on to Materials and only throws two heads. DAMN IT ALL TO HELL! (he screams). Materials takes 4 days, and fails. He must try again, this time at difficulty 5. This time, he gets lucky and gets 5 heads. The step takes another 5 days, and he moves on to Construction (difficulty 4). He throws four heads, and the "Change-O-Ray" is complete, having taken 17 days, start to finish. Quack!
Now that you have your total difficulty, you divide the number, as evenly as possible, into 3 categories: Design, Materials and Construction. Each category represents a portion of the invention process. Design represents the development of the initial concept and drawing up of plans; Materials represents the acquisition of the necessary materials; and construction represents the final stage, where the item is actually built. Each portion’s difficulty is thrown separately. Full success is needed, or Track Sabers that portion must begin again, this A relatively simple piece of salvage tech, time at a higher level of difficulty The Track Saber is simply a one-piece metal (+1 for each failed attempt). Each sword with a thick rubber handle. Sticking out level of difficulty corresponds to of the bottom of the handle is a long cord that the number of days each portion attaches to an iron electromagnet. Some of the takes, even on a failed attempt. Note that if the Artificer fails any stage more complex versions have retractable cables. often enough, the difficulty can grow to The Track Saber is designed for use almost exceed the Artificer’s ability (the exclusively in Subway tunnels. Simply chuck the difficulty being greater than the number of magnet at the third rail, poke your opponent and coins in the Head Count). In this case, the watch’em fry. Click the button to disengage the invention is a failure, and must be scrapped. magnet, and you’re done. The amazing popularity of Track Sabers probably has a lot more to do with the highly familiar hum they Example of Invention: produce, and the spark-spraying lightshow Going back to Doc Fortune and when two Track sabers clash in battle. his "Change-O-Ray" from a (Range: Personal, Damage: 6) previous example, you’ll recall that the final difficulty for this Plungerstickers device was 18. Doc decides that Another relatively common piece of the device in question is a little too difficult as is…so he says that the device is one shot only (it salvage tech are the Plungerstickers, named for their needs to be reloaded.) This brings the difficulty down close resemblance to plungers that attach at the
Sample Salvage Tech
elbows and knees. They take a little getting used to, personal) but an advanced user can actually scuttle along any surface- wall, ceiling, or floor- at a pretty good clip. Ready Whip Aerosol Cheese Gun No Artificer is mad enough to admit to being the They’re designed to hold to a ceiling, but they nefarious mind behind this hellish will work almost anywhere. The special contraption. The gun is a large fire-hose gel-plastic cups will adhere to any surface, and backpack affair that douses its no matter how dirty or rough. A favored intended target with literally gallons of tool of spies and assassins, Plungerstickers thick, clotted, processed cheese food. It are useful for anyone who needs to pass does 4 dice of temporary damage (based on through unnoticed. (Transportation: ground, suffication), and bestows a one-coin penalty personal) to physical action until the goop can be washed Jacob’s Hammer off. (Destruction: Range: Immediate, Damage 4 An invention of Lord Steam, the (temporary), -1 penalty to physical action). The Jacob’s Hammer is an adaptation of the gun fires from a clip of Aerosol Cheese (a Jacob’s Ladder (the electrical-arc lab rare substance in the equipment so often seen in mad UnderWorld…thankfully), and must be scientists lairs). The rife-sized device looks a bit like reloaded after every 6 shots. Sick. a tuning fork—and throws a bolt of electricity at its target. {Range: Distance, Damage: 7, no reloads Track Skates necessary (runs on static charge) Rollerblade-style skates intended for use on subway tracks. They draw power from the third rail Tunnel Crawler to propel the wearer at speeds rivaling the subways A common form of transportation in the UnderWorld, a tunnel crawler is a small tracked themselves (Defining Traits: Fast, secondary skill: vehicle with room for two people, made from bits of Transport). (Transportation: ground, personal.) old Big Wheels and strips of washing machine driver belts. It is not particularly fast, but it is rugged The Motivatrix (Defining Trait: Tough). (Transportation: Ground, Perhaps the ultimate vehicle, the Motivatrix is a Small) large (10 passengers plus cargo) vehicle that features all modes of travel: Ground (via tracks and legs), Doctor DeathsHead Battle Armor Water (surface and submersible), and Air. It features This suit of powered armor was built by an a long range voice communicator, self-sealing armor Artificer with a severe delusion: He thought he was a (4 coins of Repair), and an electrified skin comic-book villain. The armor uses the Repair Operant to counteract damage (3 coins worth), and (Destruction, Range: Personal, Damage: 4). It is a contains an integral Rocket Pack (Transportation, air, preferred vehicle for the discerning Navigator (or at personal) and Chainsaw fist (Destruction, Range: least those that don’t have custom conveyances). personal, Damage: 4). A fearsome bit of equipment, if not for it’s extreme unreliability (3 successes NetGun needed). This devices casts a net at a target, wrapping them up in the lines (made from old bits of string and I Go Pogo fishing line). The weapon does no damage (Range: Not a very popular form of transportation in low- Immediate, Damage 0), but hits the target with a 5 ceilinged tunnels, the I Go Pogo is a mechanical pogo coin penalty against any physical actions, until stick that goes like a bat out of hell once activated someone releases them from the net. (Defining Trait: Fast). (Transportation, ground,
and legs and blend in instantly with the rest of the Rock’em Sock’em city junk. Still, there is a high attrition rate topside. Those who have figured out what they can of the Gauntlets Fizzer language can recount stories of "horrible bigT h e s e mouthed blue monsters" and the terrible place the g a u n t l e t s , Fizzers only know as "the Recycling Center." constructed from Goalie mitts and Erector Creating a Fizzer is a level 12 Creation invention. Set pieces, function both as a This is a basic Fizzer, as described above. “Souped weapon and a tool. As a up” Fizzers, that essentially have additional Salvage weapon, the Gauntlets are Tech added to them, come in at a higher difficulty. Personal Range, 4 Players are encouraged to let their Damage items. They also posses the imaginations run wild when designing their Defining Trait "Strong", Artificer’s Salvage Tech inventions. Working and have 3 coins of with your Conductor, there should be no limit Manipulation built in to them. This considerable to what you can come up with. Further ability is offset by the fact that they make the user examples of Salvage Tech appear in certain Clumsy (negative trait)…and they look pretty silly, too. character descriptions in the Setting Chapter (V) and Adventures (Chapter VII). Future UnderWorld products will contain additional Fizzers A few UnderWorlders can remember a time when examples as well. there were no Fizzers- a few. Now, the ubiquitous little pseudo-junkmen are just about everywhere. Apparently some long- gone artificer came up with a tiny, easy to make device that, when dropped in an ordinary soda can, would turn the thing into a tiny homunculus that would follow one simple command. Without thinking, he created hundreds of the things, which in turn started making more and more of themselves. The initial device is still relatively easy to find- It’s a simple charm that resembles two bottlecaps that are held together by a rubber band. Drop it in a can , shake it up, and out pops a pair of tiny arms, legs, and a little head. The tiny homunculus will follow one command, then, it goes off on it’s own. It’s unknown exactly what the proto-junkmen are up to, but they are everywhere, jabbering in their strange language of rattles, clinks, and clanks. They are not inhabited by ghosts, like true junkmen, but by ideas, emotions, and passing whimsies. Ambitious homeless still collect hundreds of cans in the hope of creating a miniature army; this tactic rarely works. Fizzers, oddly enough, can operate topside and are excellent spies and thieves because they can retract their arms
©
MTA,
Used
with
Don’t Sleep on the Subway Bzy Gareth-Michael Skarka
Emma grabbed her purse and held it tighter to her chest. She hated having to ride the trains this late at night, but there were no cabs to be seen, and this was still the fastest way home. The way she saw it, it was better to be home in 15 minutes and have to put up with a little bit of danger, than to take 45 or more to walk home—a prospect whose danger level increased the longer it took her. The A train was pretty empty, especially for a Friday night…or Saturday morning, as the case may be. The cars were usually filled with people on their way to and from the clubs, which didn’t close until 4 a.m.—and then only if they were strictly adhering to the law. Her car, though, only held herself, a bag lady sleeping in the corner seat, and a couple of laptopcarrying web-heads heading home from some late hours at whatever pre-IPO Silicon Alley dot-com was theirs. Her eyes drifted to look out the window. Funny, she thought, how you tend to do things like that to avoid eye contact with people, even in situations like this, where there was nothing to see outside except the flash of tunnel lights as they sped by. Sort of like being on an elevator—you look anywhere, except at the people who are standing there with you. Emma found herself wondering why they even bothered to put windows on the purely underground trains—lines like the 7, which ran aboveground in Queens, she could understand…but these? The train rolled into the 72nd Street station. The
doors slid open to the sound of the accompanying electronic chime, and the echoing notes of someone playing saxophone somewhere in the station. The web-heads got out, buzzing to each other in some sort of binary code for people, headed, Emma imagined, to some cozy Upper West Side 1-bedroom, comfortably paid for with seed money from some witless, over-eager venture capitalist. The doors slid closed, and the train set off again with a slight lurch. "81st Street, next stop. Watch the closing doors." The announcement came over the train’s PA about a second behind the doors actually closing. Typical. The rhythmic rocking of the train caressed Emma’s weary mind, lulling her ever closer towards unconsciousness. She flexed her eyebrows, tensing and releasing in an effort to force her eyes open. Falling asleep on a subway…not exactly at the top of the list of urban survival skills. "Don’t sleep in the subway"…the faintest fragment of a song drifted through her mind—wasn’t that Petula Clark? At least someone on this train was getting some sleep. Emma looked over to the snoring form of the bag lady, bundled under layers of old clothes. A slight metallic sound caught Emma’s attention, and she noticed a beer can drop from under the woman’s makeshift blankets and roll back and forth on the floor. That explains how she can sleep, she thought, watching the can rock back and forth against the woman’s seat. Suddenly, the can leapt upright, and little metal arms and legs punched through its aluminum sides with an audible pop. Emma stared, blinking in disbelief as the little can
climbed, with no small effort, up the seat to the window, and appeared to peer into the darkness beyond. With a movement which managed to denote a sense of surprise, the can jumped down with a clank, and began to tap the bag lady furiously on the shoulder. "Ermph? Gnnn?" The woman began to sit, swatting at the distraction on her shoulder. A meaty hand caught the can squarely, knocking it across the subway car, where it landed at Emma’s feet. She watched, mouth gaping, as it got back up on its legs, gave her an "excuse me" shrug, and headed back over to the bag lady, who was now standing up and tucking her belongings under her arm. The train began to enter the 81st Street station. "Heh. Almost missed my stop." The woman’s voice, worn rough by drink and cigarettes, cackled. The train stopped, and the doors opened. The woman nodded to Emma. "You’re not sleepy, are ya? I could leave him with ya…he’s mighty useful at watching over ya while ya sleep…" The can did a little "ta-da" flourish. Emma tried
hard not to notice. "No…I couldn’t possibly…" She began. "Aw, hell, girl—you don’t hafta worry: he’d find his way back home, eventually. Fizzers are good that way." The bag lady was holding the door open with one hand, preventing it from sliding shut. "No, that’s OK. I’ve only got a couple more stops to go." The bag lady winked. "Suit yerself, girlie. Be careful, now." She left the train, and the doors began to slide shut. The little can—did she call it a Fizzer, Emma wondered—barely made it through in time, scrambling after the bag lady on tiny, scrabbling metal legs. The train slid out of the station, and Emma watched as the bag lady turned and waved to her through the window as she dropped out of sight. Emma had no difficulty staying awake for the rest of her ride home.
The UnderWorld The UnderWorld is….? Well, that’s the question, now isn’t it? For thousands of years, scholars (both surface and subterranean) have argued that very point. The UnderWorld has existed, in some form or another, since the beginning of time. The ancient myths speak of it—the land of dead, far below the earth, from which no travellers save heroes may return. Dante wrote of it, or his interpretation of it, filtered through his religious beliefs, in his Inferno—"Lasciate omni speranza, voi ch’entrate", he wrote: "Abandon all hope, ye who enter." Not all visions of the UnderWorld have been so dire. The ancient Celts saw it reflected in the homes of their gods, the Tuatha De Dannan. These legends survive to this day, in the form of little fairies who dwell inside of hills. There have been UnderWorlds beneath almost every human settlement, since the dawn of civilization (since the loss of magic in the world, the number has significantly lessened—there are now only UnderWorlds beneath those cities that have managed methods of replacing the Radiance, usually in the form of a subway system). Does this fact indicate that the UnderWorld is merely a subterranean reflection of the world above, cast in earth rather than water? The subterranean world has always been a home to our legends and the mystic expressions of ourselves. Perhaps, then, that is the role that the UnderWorld plays, it is the space beneath the bed of the world, where monsters dwell, and the rabbit hole to wonderland can be found. Regardless of its purpose, the UnderWorld is now almost a world unto itself—connected to, yet separate from the World Above. Its citizens go about their day to day lives, most never encountering surface society, or seeing the light of day. Many of these citizens are cast-offs from that daylight world: the homeless, the unwanted, the forgotten. These and more have left us behind, to forge their own world in the tunnels and caverns below our city.
you need to figure out is how far down to travel. The people of the UnderWorld are as widely varied as those in the World Above. A mix of cultures make up the population, as is the case with any large city. Some of these cultures are similar to those that you would find in the streets of the city above you, but mixed in with these familiar strangers are those that are stranger still: the Freaks, the Legendaries, each as individual as a snowflake. The Lost, out of times past, and the Nomads, who have no such past. Manufactured beings like the Junkmen, the definition of "Ghost in the Machine" made manifest; and species like the Mole People, or the Ferals, who force us to re-examine what we call "people". All of this, bustling through the ground beneath our feet.
How to find your way, though? You could always ask another UnderWorlder, but who is to guarantee that they might understand you? The lingua franca of the UnderWorld is English (it lies below New York City, after all, and at least nominally, that's the main language of the city). However, the language spoken by the UnderWorlders is filled with specificity to their environment and their lifestyle--a slang that reflects the mix of cultures that make up the population, combined with the circumstances they endure, unique to the UnderWorld. Mix this with healthy helpings of the latest street slang from the UpWorld (brought in by the Homeless Traders), and there you have the base patois, called Tunnel. Other languages are spoken, including Spanish, Chinese, Haitian Creole...hell, even 17th Century Dutch in some places...but Tunnel is the common ground that most denizens share.
The UnderWorld is a confusing mass of tunnels, chambers, passageways and rooms, stacked upon each other in layers that reach down thousands of feet below the surface. The overlapping territories and levels makes maps nearly useless in the World A Brief Glossary of Tunnel Below. Directions are usually given in terms of what lies above them, in the top layers—the subways. A Agarthan (n): someone who's spent a long time subway map is your clearest guide—from there, all down deep, or (adj) a deep tunnel or place. Thus also, something which goes on for a long time, eternal. Amadán (n): An idiot or fool. From the Irish.
Baggered (adj): Scared, terrified--from the Dutch phrase "bagger schijten", meaning literally "to shit mud". Ben Zsona (n): Son of a Bitch. From the Hebrew. Bounce (v): To get out, to leave. Christ-time (n): The time of day from roughly 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm when cars pack the UpWorld streets so fully that an UnderWorlder could walk the length of Manhattan Island solely on the car's tops, like walking on water. Also named for the most common epithet coming from the drivers of those cars. Climbing the down (n): To kill time, or to be stalled in one's effort, from the result of trying to go up a down escalator Clockwork Zombie (n): A derogatory term for a Junkman.
Crow-Ho (n): A derogatory term for anyone who The Frizz (n): One of the more youthful synonyms wears a preponderance of leather, PVC, rubber, nylon for the Radiance. or other "goth" accoutrements. A reference to James O. Barr's comic book series, The Crow. Green (int.): Understanding. Usually in the form Domain(n): One of the political territories of the of a query or response: "We green?" "Yeah, green." UnderWorld, something like a nation on the surface. Taken from green indicator lights in the subway tunnels, showing that the way is clear. Duckets (n): Money (from ducats, an old form of coinage). High-Tide(n): The time period that comes from Fastness (n): A variety of Domain that is 5:00 am to 8:00 am (roughly), when the UpWorld is having their morning showers and the resultant extra restricted—usually walled, and closed to strangers. water flow comes through the pipes. Also can be used Freehold(n): A variety of Domain that is open to all for "very soon" travellers. The Horde (n): the collective name for the legions Hellenback (v): To travel a long way, especially through difficulties. Ex. "We hellenbacked all the of UpWorld people who fill the stations everyday around Christ-time. way to Brooklyn." Hording (v): walking or travelling amongst the Jack Roll (v): To rob, usually from someone who is helpless. Often shortened to either "jack" or "roll". Horde - a dangerous practice, but sometimes necessary. Jump Stiles (v): To leave, rapidly--from "jumping turnstiles" in the subway.
Kissed the light, or Kissed it (v): Killed, as if hit by a train.
railway usage for going through a stop signal. Latch (v): hang around, group with or be connected to. Muter (n): nickname for UpWorld train riders, from commuter. Norm (adj): Crazy
Sparing (v): Begging from the UpWorlders. Surf (v): To travel by riding the tops of subway trains. Tanned: (adj) Out of the loop, not in the know.
Push (n): Gossip or advance word, from the strong wind that comes before a subway train
Tracking (v): walking, travelling, roaming, often at a leisured pace or aimlessly. "We hellenbacked to Rolex (n): generic name for any UpWorld treasure Coney, and then we were so clocked we just tracked of significant value, usually jewelry or the like. Plural for a while" is rolexes. A rolex could be worth hundreds of Third Rail(n): A person or thing dangerous to be duckets. around, in reference to the story of the third rail Scheduled (adj): Destiny, unavoidable, again a carrying the electricity. reference to the train. Screamer (n): Once any train. Now usually means an express—going fast and likely to kill you. Named for the train whistle. Spad (v): To push on with something despite being warned or forbidden, usually with dire consequences; The UnderWorld is divided along political lines to make somebody lose their temper by keeping on at into Domains, which are similar to nations or them when they`re obviously annoyed. From SPAD kingdoms of the surface. Each Domain is a (Signal Passed At Danger), a technical term in sovereign state, under the control of its Lord (the actual title varies from Domain to Domain, but the
The Domains
general descriptive term is "Lord"). Some Domains are open to all—these are referred to as Freeholds, and are centers of commerce and culture for the UnderWorld, attracting Traders selling their wares, as well as other Guild members looking for employment. They make excellent locations from which to begin adventures, or to use as home bases for your Main Characters. Other Domains have restricted access. These Domains, known as Fastnesses, do not open their gates to strangers. Their Lords stay within their walls (if they have walls), and none of the population (if there is any) ventures outward, except in the rarest of circumstances. These are places of mystery for Main Characters, who will have never been inside such locations before (assuming, naturally, that they manage to get inside this time, which is doubtful). Many Fastness Domains are very aggressive about defending their borders from perceived incursions, making these types of locations very dangerous. There are many Domains in the UnderWorld, ranging in size from single chambers to huge territories covering many square blocks of area, as well as multiple levels. To try to map them would be folly—instead, directions are given in relation to the nearest corresponding point on the map of the New York City subway system. Each Conductor’s campaign should be unique, filled with Domains of your own design. After all, with the entire city to fill, as well as countless levels, reaching deep into the earth, no setting description could hope to list every Domain in existance. Besides, that’s part of what makes a Conductor’s job enjoyable: Coming up with your own material, and seeing how the Players react to it. (More guidelines for Conductors can be found in Chapter VI) What follows are several of the more well-known Domains of the UnderWorld, to use both as examples, and as common elements that can be featured in any campaign. Each entry gives a brief description of the Domain, including its subway-map landmark, local RadCount, and information about its Lord. These should give you ample starting material
from which your Players may branch out and explore and this has resulted in the fort (officially Fort the intricacies of your own version of the George, but almost universally called Fort Wonderland) becoming quite a bustling trading post. UnderWorld.
Major Sir Charles Worthington
Wonderland (RadCount: 3) In Central Park, on the East Side near 75th street, there is a large, bronze statue of Alice in Wonderland. It is a popular site in the Park, where residents and tourists alike gather to climb upon the giant mushrooms (great fun in winter, since the metal of the sculpture traps a small amount of the heat generated by sitting all day in direct sunlight). This site has focused this goodwill into the Radiance that has pooled many feet below the surface of this part of the park...into a Domain called "Wonderland" by the denizens of the UnderWorld. A cavern bathed it sunlight, despite there being no sun present, and filled with a pleasant, rolling field of grass, spotted here and there with giant mushrooms, and a few trees as well. The mushrooms are edible, and quite delicious, although not many people get the chance to taste them, since the entire cavern is claimed by a group of late-18th century British Soldiers, lost in time. Unable to return to the 1770s, and unsuited for life above, the Redcoats have constructed a frontier fort in Wonderland, which has become the center of a domain ruled by the British commanding officer, Major Sir Charles Worthington. Worthington (and truthfully, many of his men) has been unhinged by his bizarre experience, and he maintains his troops, constantly drilling and keeping up discipline, waiting for what he's sure will be the imminent arrival of "the Relief"--a search party sent by the British Army to retrieve them. Of course, that Relief is never coming. Wonderland was initially classified as a Fastness, due to the vigilance with which the Redcoats defended their territory. However, recently, Worthington has decided to allow trade with "the natives", as he calls the denizens of the UnderWorld,
Lost Bravo Defining Traits: Clever, Intuitive, Fierce Secondary Skills: Cooking, Transport, Negotiation Magic: None Weapons: Flintlock pistol and Musket (which often don’t work due to the Radiance—leaving Worthington to fight with Musket’s bayonet (Range: personal, Damage 2) or his sabre (Range: personal, Damage 3))
The Lesser Boulevards (RadCount: 2) The "Lesser Boulevards" is the UnderWorld name for all of the little streets down in Lower Manhattan, where the regular grid of Streets and Avenues breaks down and follows the chaotic paths of the original settlement's roads. If you've every been down there, you'll find that it feels so different from the rest of the city—the streets are narrower, the numbering system gives way to little thoroughfares with names (Rector, Courtland, Wall, etc.). It was once the sole center of the city, but its power has given way to the relative newcomer that is Midtown (well, not entirely given way--Wall Street and City Hall maintained their power-grip, and are now being joined by the internet start-ups of "Silicon Alley"). The Domain that lies beneath much of this area (roughly from Chambers Street on the west side to the river on the east, and south to the very tip of Manhattan at South Ferry) was also once much more powerful, but is waning somewhat (although still vital)—ruled by a Lord powerful enough to hold on to his territories, but weak enough to be losing some influence. The domain is filled with some of the oldest places in the UnderWorld—forgotten cellars of Dutch New Amsterdam houses, some of the earliest Subway stations—Including the gorgeous, cathedrallike City Hall Station, now abandoned. Not to mention the secret bomb shelters built beneath the
New York Stock Exchange, which allow some of this Domain’s citizens to live in almost opulent splendour. Despite its fading prominence, the Lesser Boulevards still remains the largest Domain of the UnderWorld. The Lord of this domain is a Nomad, immortal and amnesiac. He was once a Librarian by Guild, and his Library is filled with the remnants of his efforts to discover his own lost identity as well as the forgotten source of his immortality, a quest which occasionally still draws his attention from matters of state (hence the waning power). He calls himself Rector, after the subway station where he awoke with no memory in
the early years of this century. To others, he is Lord of the Lesser Boulevards. The Lesser Boulevards are famous for one other thing—the Knights. Rector’s hand-picked heroes, the best of the best within the UnderWorld, who operate under the collective name of The Knights of the Lesser Boulevards. The most famous of these is the Captain of the Knights, a Legendary Bravo named Goodfella Robin.
Rector, Lord of the Lesser Boulevards Nomad Librarian Defining Traits: Agile, Studious, Perceptive Secondary Skills: Fighting, Negotiation Magic: Several Forget-me-knots, a LifeStone, and a pair of Beer Goggles (which can see invisible objects.) Weapons: None. He carries no weapons—he depends upon his Knights for his defense.
The Washington Depths (RadCount: 3) The area beneath the Washington Heights neighborhood in Manhattan (roughly 110th through 145th Streets, along the 1/9 line on the West side) is known (not surprisingly) as the Washington Depths, or, more colloquially, WashDeep. WashDeep is one of the more notorious Domains in the UnderWorld. Their Lord, Mordecai, is ambitious and ruthless…a bad combination, in the opinion of WashDeep’s neighbors. Mordecai is a ruler cut from the mold of the worst of the Roman Emperors—callous, bloodthirsty, arbitrary and unstable. Mordecai runs his domain with the proverbial iron fist, although the Domain is actually a Freehold, rather than a Fastness. Mordecai keeps the gates of WashDeep open—it ensures attendance at his infamous gladiatorial arena. Mordecai uses the arena as an audition for his armies…if a person is enough of a bad-ass to survive the WashDeep Arena, they’re exactly the sort of person that Mordecai wants for a soldier.
The current champions of the WashDeep Arena are Secondary Skills: Fighting, Negotiation, Criminal Magic: Pack o’ Smokes, Slapstick, Jinx, Freeze a group of Freaks, believed to be the failed results of military experimentation. So far, no one who has Tag Weapons: A pair of nunchucks (Range: personal, faced them has left the Arena alive. Damage 3) Recently, WashDeep soldiers have been seen in the The Manhattan Projects public tunnels surrounding the Depths. In some (RadCount: 4) cases, these bands of warriors have attempted to set Located on the extreme northernmost tip of tolls for the use of these passages. Some fear that this Manhattan, many levels beneath the twin Dyckman may be the initial move in an effort by Mordecai to Street stations, lies the Manhattan Projects—the expand the territory controlled by WashDeep. Time will tell…but by then, it may be too late to stop him. domain that contains the Artificer Guildhall. The other Guilds nominated this domain as the location for the Artificers, because, as one Homeless Trader Mordecai, Lord of the Washington Depths said, "If the damn fools blow themselves up, they Homeless Bravo Defining Traits: Cunning, Strong Willed, Vicious. should be out in the boondocks." Secondary Skills: Observation, First Aid, Games Magic: Life Stone, Colors The Domain itself has little or no life outside of the Weapons: Carries a Sledge Hammer (Range: Guildhall itself—not too many UnderWorlders are personal, Damage 3)
The Under East Side (RadCount:2) The UES is a small Domain, found beneath the area bordered roughly by Bleeker Street and 2nd Avenue in the north, to the Bowery and Grand Street in the south. It is an area known for it’s Tagger community—in fact, the Guild Hall of the Taggers is found in this Domain. The Guild Hall is the only area of the Under East Side that isn’t open to everyone— only Taggers in good standing are permitted within its walls. The UES is ruled by a Freak Tagger named Phillippe the Dog-Faced Boy, a former circus sideshow attraction who refers to himself as the High Muckety-muck of the Under East Side. He is a jovial ruler, eager to interact with others and hear news.
Phillipe the Dog-Faced Boy, High MucketyMuck of the Under East Side Freak Tagger Freak Abilities: Phillipe has a dogs head. He has a highly developed sense of hearing and smell as a result. Defining Traits: Artistic, Friendly, Fierce
comfortable living at Ground Zero for several dozen Artificer experiments. In fact, the Domain itself has no Lord—it is ruled, in effect, by the Artificer’s Guild, directly. There remains no better place, however, to hire an Artificer, or to research a particular piece of Salvage Tech.
Crooklyn (RadCount: 1) The Domain of Crooklyn lies beneath the High Street, Jay Street and Clark Street Stations in Brooklyn, right across the river from Manhattan. This Domain gets its name from the fact that it is the home to a fledgling organization that is trying to achieve Guild Status—a group of UnderWorld criminals calling themselves the Hoods Guild. Despite the fact that they do not have, nor is it likely they will ever have the numbers necessary to give them the power of a full-fledged Guild, within the borders of their Domain, the Hoods reign supreme. Crooklyn is a marketplace where anything can be had for a price. Any UnderWorlders searching for contraband, or outlawed goods (such as slaves, or non-Bravo assassins for example) know that they will find what they seek in the stalls of Crooklyn, provided that they don’t get themselves rolled in the process. The Domain, and the so-called Guild, is ruled by a Homeless Trader named Peeps. Peeps is a short, wiry pit bull of a man, who does a brisk business selling UpWorld drugs both above and below the surface. He prefers to use the title "Head Nigga in Charge" in his dealings.
Peeps, HNIC of Crooklyn Homeless Trader Defining Traits: Jack of All Trades, Savvy, Courageous Secondary Skills: Acrobatics, Criminal, Fighting Magic: Colors, Mob Cap
Weapon: SMG (Range: Distance, Damage 4)
Magic: None Weapons: None
Myurrhtown (RadCount: 3) There’s a legend amongst the strays of New York. It passes from dog to cat to rat to mouse to snakes and lizards and even down to the very roaches. This legend refers to a sacred place, a city beneath the city where all the animals are safe from the oppression of man. There are no collars, no cages, and no exterminators. The air is always warm, the water clean, and what you catch is what you eat. Humans don’t come to Myurrhtown. Humans are not welcome in Myurrhtown. As a matter of fact, the few humans that do find there way into Myurrhtown are considered quite the delicacy. Myurrhtown used to be a homeless community under Harlem, below the 125th Street 2/3 stop. One of the homeless got the bright idea to enslave the local Ferals and create a farm. Things got Orwellian rather quickly after that point, and the animals took over. Few wanted to tangle with the angry Ferals of what was thereafter called Myurrhtown. The City itself is a collection of makeshift tents and pens, that largest of which is only ten feet high. Still, it is very much a community to the animals who call it home. A haven for the lost and forgotten animals of the city, Myurrhtown is the only Feral-only district in UnderWorld. Humans of any stripe are forbidden, and those who are dumb enough to enter are eaten. The Lord of Myurrhtown, a huge three-legged grey mastiff named Barkhabar, is never seen without his advisors, a raven named Klootie and a one-eyed alley cat with a limp named Blitz. The chief of security in Myurrhtown is a retired police horse named Eoh, and due to his size, there is less crime in Myurrhtown than in virtually anywhere else in UnderWorld. Still, there are vocal groups that seek to strike out against mankind from the security of their subterranean lair like the Sewer Gators. For now, the Myurrh- the Feral word for "Silent"- prefer to stay underground.
Barkhabar Feral Tagger Defining Traits: Feral, Courageous, Intuitive Secondary Skills: Cooking, Empathy, Negotiation
The Great Basin (RadCount: 3) The Great Basin is just that—a huge basin into which all the sewer drains empty out. It’s the size of a stadium, ringed by catwalks and connected by a single thin, railing-less bridge over a whirlpool that varies in severity. The bridge rotates, however, to connect the various catwalks and tunnels. Under normal circumstances, the whirlpool is more than enough to suck down anyone unfortunate enough to fall in and be washed out to some faraway tunnel during a hard storm, the level rises, and occasionally the Basin has to be evacuated. The Lord of the Great Basin, a tremendous sixarmed Freak named Skar, enjoys a sport of his own devising, uncreatively called SkarBoxing. Two contestants are forced out onto the bridge and have to have it out until one drops off of the platform. It seems fairly standard for underground pitfights, except that in SkarBoxing, the bridge is spun rather fast, usually causing the contestants to get rather dizzy. It’s not unknown for both contestants to topple before they ever lay hands on one another. The Great Basin also serves as a neutral zone and meeting place for several influential UnderWorlders. The immediate danger of the location discourages hasty violence, and the din of rushing water makes it difficult to overhear otherwise private conversations. The Basin has seen more than it’s fair share of fights, double-crosses, and even the occasional peace treaty, and will no doubt continue to serve in the future.
Skar, Lord of the Basin Freak Bravo Freak Ability: 6 arms Defining Traits: Vicious, Courageous, Perceptive Secondary Skills: Invention, Scrounging, Tracking Magic: LifeStone Weapons: Wields six swords (Range: personal, Damage: 6 (because more than one hits at a time))
The Boogie Downs
Locales
(RadCount: 2) North of Manhattan, in the area below the 149th Street/Grand Concourse station in the Bronx, you’ll find the Boogie Downs. The Downs are the home to a large Mole People community—in fact, the largest group of Mole People living in close association with non-Moles anywhere in the UnderWorld.
Other Locations exist within the UnderWorld that are not truly Domains. These areas have no true rulers, or no residents…they exist solely as an area that exists as an obstacle or a goal (depending upon the wishes of the Main Characters). Many of the examples below do not have their precise location in their description—this is so that the Conductor can place them in their campaign where they wish. The Downs are known for the large Mendicant Guildhall, Examples include: which acts as the largest hospital in the UnderWorld. The Hall acts as home to a revolving staff of Mendicants, who Pipe Jungle never stay for very long—they simply spend some time in A dimly lit, moss-covered mass of piping lies service at the Hall, and then continuing their wandering. almost untouched in the UnderWorld. The Pipe Jungle, much like the other areas of the UnderWorld, The Lord of the Boogie Downs is a Mole Person is its own self-contained environment. There is no Librarian named Duane Reed (or at least that’s what a specific ground, up, down, left, or right. Once inside, Homeless once called him, and it stuck). all sense of bearing is lost- the sprawling mess of piping goes in every direction.It is rumored that many people have been lost in the tangled piping. Duane Reed, Lord of the Boogie Downs The Pipe Jungle exists in a state of perpetual twilight, Mole Person Librarian lit by the dim yellow glow of certain pipes. This glow Defining Traits: Small, Agile, Perceptive, Veteran is rumored to be toxic, but no one, not even the inhabitants of the Pipe Jungle, are sure of its cause. Secondary Skills: Jack of All Trades, Fighting, Magic: Daedalus Twine, Moths of Confusion To someone entering the Jungle for the first time, Weapons: AMonkey Wrench (Range: personal, Damage the sound of rushing water is deafening. Between the 3) sound of the city above constantly flushing, rinsing and cleaning and the near constant drip of the pipes themselves, there is easily enough noise to drive a normal person insane. Not many people can stand the noise for very long without having to somehow protecting themselves against the incredibly high level of noise in the Pipe Jungle. The only known inhabitants of Pipe Jungle are a tribe of monkey-like Freaks that have been nicknamed the Clamberlings. The Clamberlings, standing at the most four feet tall, genrally look similar. Large white eyes cover the majority of their face with no visible pupils, and they have extremely large hands and feet equipped with suction cups. Their tails vary in length, however, most are at least triple the size of their bodies, with the same suction cup growths running along the underside of the tail.
As an evolutionary precaution, the Clamberlings appear to be deaf, and communicate with sign language. What exactly the Pipe Jungle lies underneath is unknown. The only known way in or out of the Pipe Jungle is through the pipes themselves. With random openings in the crisscrossing network of pipes it is nearly impossible to predict where anyone will be dumped into or dropped out of the Pipe Jungle itself.
St. Ives Cathedral Beneath the Cathedral Parkway stop on the West Side (near 112th Street), is a construction effort of sublime beauty. On the surface, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine is underway, a continuing project which has been in the works for over 100 years. The first stones of the Cathedral were layed in 1892, and since then, it has been a work in progress, allowing visitors to witness the construction of a Cathedral from the ground up. What few people realize is that an equally ambitious project occurred hundreds of feet below St. Johns. Part of the reason why construction of the surface Cathedral has taken so long is that materials (and some artisans) found their way below, where another, smaller cathedral was built. The Cathedral of St. Ives is a beautiful work of architecture, hidden in a cavern where few will ever see it. The Cathedral of St. Ives is a house of worship and refuge for all in the UnderWorld. None may violate its sanctuary, and none do—not even the mindless creatures which prowl the tunnels of the area. No one knows why they honor the rules, but some UnderWorlders like to say it is the holy aura of the Cathedral itself which protects those within.
Carthage Opera House During the construction of the subway lines, one of the methods used for building the tunnels was the "blast and cover" method of excavation. A trench was dug in the street, 50 feet deep at times. The track was laid, and then the trench would be capped, covered over and the street rebuilt.
During one such project, on Lower Broadway around Union Square, the trench was dug far too deeply, and de-stabilized the surrounding buildings. One of the buildings, the famed Carthage Opera House, slid on its foundation, and crashed to the bottom of the trench. The excavation company in charge of that section of the track lost their contract, and the trench was filled in (eventually, another track ran near the area, but this one was built with sounder technology). The Carthage Opera House was forgotten. However, the UnderWorlders discovered the nearly-intact building, and have maintained it as best as they can. The velvet chairs may be a little bit musty, but there has been no sunlight to fade the carpets or wallpaper, the brass railings still gleam, and every night, there is a grand performance upon the stage of the Carthage.
The Devil of Grand Central In her book, The Mole People (see Chapter VIII), Jennifer Toth talks briefly of The Dark Angel--a man who lives many levels beneath Grand Central Station, who, according to some of the area homeless, is the devil himself. The tales that some share with her, along with her own encounter with The Dark Angel is certainly disturbing, leading her to conclude that at the very least, this man is a dangerous psychotic who exudes an almost palpable aura of evil.
What Toth could not have realized, though, is that the Dark Angel is the devil...or at least a reflection of him. He is a Legendary, created from the Radiance and shaped by the fears of millions. A distillation of every evil impulse the City generates, he lives in a lair beneath Grand Central, his influence spreading around him like the strands of a web. He rules this single location absolutely, but has no subjects--no The Opera House has become one of the centers of one else lives there. Still, denizens of the entertainment in the UnderWorld. Many Lords travel UnderWorld can encounter his disciples--those who well outside of their domains to view performances at wish to share his power...and characters may even this plush and opulent grande damme of the theatre. travel to the Dark Angel's lair looking for some sort of information that only he possesses, like the witches in the wilderness of the fairy tales.
The Conductor should give the Dark Angel enough power to strike fear into the hearts of his Players.
Old Bones Below Penn Station and Madison Square Garden is a cavern that has been worn away by erosion and construction. This chamber is one of the junctions of the UnderWorld—a highly traveled spot, which connects several dozen major passageways, and myriad minor ones. To get from one tunnel to another across this gaping expanse, the UnderWorlders placed a latticed web of rusting old steel girders from buildings all over town, crisscrossing the chamber at all levels, like some bizarre highway overpass. The UnderWorlders refer to the area as Old Bones. It is a confusing tangle of pathways and girders, and even those UnderWorlders who know exactly where they are going sometimes find themselves lost after passing through the junction. It seems as though the area doesn’t conform to the rules of Euclidean geometry. Or, as some UnderWorlders say, "Sometimes, Old Bones sets you on the path that it wants to…whether you want it or not."
The Sterling Palisade Urban Legends, particularly amongst the municipal workers and subway techs that take to the depths every day, cling to a story about a oncebeautiful, but now washed-out clump of tunnels, far beneath any others, thousands of feet—perhaps miles –beneath the city. Their administrators often chide them for their superstition. Truth is, the Sterling Palisade does exist. Created by the robber Barons in the twenties, it is to subways what the Titanic was to Ocean Liners and the Hindenburg to airships. Opulent, superlative, and ultimately, disastrous. No one seems to know what happened to the Sterling Palisade, and if anyone does, they sure aren’t talking. Airy and spacious, the once-glittering Stations—
there are thirteen in all, scattered throughout the city—are testament to forgotten beauty. During the Seventies the system accidentally became a freshwater shunt for four years. The years of dust were washed away, and the eerily beautiful stations appear to be preserved as if frozen in time. The Palisade Station, located almost exactly a mile beneath the Empire State Building, is a gigantic curving rotunda arched high around a central column with nowshattered stained glass depicting great moments in history leading up to the founding of New York City. The newsstands still contain waterlogged copies of Newspapers and Magazines form the exact date the catastrophe took place- Christmas Eve, 1921. The stations are achingly beautiful, plush, sweetsmelling and warm. There are the remains of a few stores, even, with mannquins in the window displaying the most Avant-Garde Fashions of the Early twenties. Rumors hold that some of the safedeposit boxes still contain millions of dollars worth of gold, jewels, and antiques. The clocks are all stopped at midnight. It has remained untouched like this to this day.
There was once a man who was little else but sinew and bone. In search of his fortune he roamed the Old West. He didn’t find it; however, in the bitter gold fields of Alaska he did find two things: a gift for invention and a loathing of all things cold. When Simeon Kletch returned to his native New York, fate and a terrible winter storm drove him Down Below. Three days of wandering wind swept tunnels, meeting strange people and struggling for his life made their mark on Kletch. He knew he wasn’t going back, but, by the Radiance, he wasn’t gonna be cold. To this day, speculation runs as to how the budding Artificer managed to get three freight locomotives down to Brier’s Cavern. Everyone gave up long ago on how he managed to suspend them twenty feet above the cavern floor [supposedly with the chains that had once bound the titan, Prometheus, if you believe such things] and set them into eternal motion. Simeon never spoke about it only that: "Train engines are the hottest damn things I’ve ever seen, so I used ‘em". To help channel the heat he created a legion of small, burrowing machines he called ‘mole-mites’ to dig convection tunnels throughout the UnderWorld.
Simply, any UnderWorlder with a brain in his bean-can knows better than to venture anywhere even Most don’t care how he did it; they’re just grateful near the Sterling Palisade. Entire communities have for the Boiler Yard’s heat. battled for the right move down there with hopes of a plush life in the warm, beautiful Stations. The losers find themselves the winners, and the "winners" are never heard from again. Dozens, perhaps hundreds of Vaudeville adventurers have ventured to the enticing stations There is a place where the dreams of Broadway with plans as noble as rescuing the others who had disappeared or as base as grabbing as much loot as hopefuls go to die. It is a junkyard of the nostalgic, an outpost of simpler times and happier days. It has they could. None have ever returned. collected the lost hopes and bitter regrets of New The mystery of the Sterling Palisade permeates the York for over a century. To search for Vaudeville, is Underworld. What is down there? What does it want? to search for a time and place that only exists in the Will it ever venture out? So far, whatever menaces memory of the old. Why then brave the dark roads that lead to the beautiful stations remains a mystery, but it seems to ignore anything that does not come bother it’s Vaudeville? The magic of the stage and the power of domain. Whether or not this will remain the case is, words to move hearts, expand minds. There is like everything else concerning the nightmare wonder there and danger as well. Many seekers have fallen prey to Vaudeville’s overpowering ennui and paradise, unknown. spent the rest of their days wishing for a past they never experienced or reliving their greatest regrets over and over again.
The Boiler Yards
that others thought were well kept…
The Brooklyn Sound Where the ‘Sound begins is at least as great a mystery as where it ends. At one time the Brooklyn Sound flowed through the caverns of the UnderWorld at random. At times it rushed with the brutality of a flash flood, yet emptied into caves where it was little more than a trickle. Captain Uridian and his legendary vessel, The Albatross seemed to have changed that. The very action of charting most of the ‘Sound seemed to lock the river into its course, and its path is now, somewhat, predictable. It flows through much of the UnderWorld, but it takes a special vessel to follow its course, for at certain points it flows upwards. Several of the caverns that the ‘Sound flows through have taken on bizarre tonal qualities. The sounds of the flowing river bounce off stalactites and back at the water causing odd reverberations. Most ship crews have taken to putting wax stoppers in their ears to block out the sounds. Those that haven’t tend to go insane. Many of those maddened by the river claim it was speaking to them. Most would like to dismiss such talk, but the River Crazies do seem to know the strangest things and more than a few secrets
The Silent City Deep in the lower tunnels is a place that few UnderWorlders dare to go. The Silent City is a huge cavern of mythical proportions, about twenty stories tall and about as large as Midtown. Impossibly, a gentle wind blows through, but there’s no other movement. The Silent City is a junkyard, a grave for everything that the city has forgotten. Old billboards and neon signs from the twenties, trolley cars, ancient pinball machines, rusted tractor trailers and graffiticovered subway cars lay stacked and forgotten. The entire area is permeated with a maddening quiet, and the strange domed ceilings seem to absorb sound. In the Silent City, a scream sounds like a whisper, and anything less is inaudible. Naturally, this makes it an excellent place for monsters of all stripes to hunt, and it serves as something of a headquarters for the fearsome Schrechtenkafer (see monsters, later in this chapter). Like most of the areas of the Underworld, The
Silent City is a mystery. No one is quite sure who brought all of the items into the cavern, or what purpose the massive collection of junk serves. Pitted WallDogs, Rusting cars and even desiccated airplanes litter the grounds. The mass seems to be centered around some flickering old neon signs and what looks like an old ruin of some sort. It’s believed that this ruin was some sort of altar to the Scherecktenkafer once, but it’s unknown who might have put it there. If there is some sort of cult dedicated those monsters, it’s long since gone… Or just very well hidden.
The Hundred Candle Vault The first fear that most experience is nyctophopia: fear of the dark. So many children, so many years, one day the fear awoke, and it was hungry. Nearly a century ago a formless horror preyed through the depths of the UnderWorld slaying all in its path. A band of heroes formed a desperate plan to seal the nameless thing in a prison of light. All but two of them fell trapping it: Lord Steam, the artificer who conceived of the Vault and the junkman, The Analog Kid. As long as light shines in the Hundred-Candle Vault the Dark Fear can’t escape. The Vault is a massive cavern filled with lights of every shape and description. Kerosene lanterns sit side by side with real candles and florescent lamps. Myriad, the Fey owner of the Glass Convection, a tavern that lies within the Vault, makes certain that the real candles are continually replaced with fresh ones. It is no accident that Myriad choose the vault as a location for her tavern, she also, was one of the heroes that fought the Dark, though she has long concealed this fact. Steam’s lights weren’t enough to hold the thing, there is also an enchantment, keyed to 101 tallow candles, that binds the Fear.
Roach Motel 6 Everyone knows Roach Motel 6, and everyone tries to avoid it. Located under the Bronx, anyone
approaching it can tell it from pretty far away by its incredible stench. It is, in its entirety, a three-story brownstone in a cavern just large enough to house a three-story brownstone. The rooms inside appear to be seedy hotel rooms, complete with fifties-style interiors, black-and-white televisions, and 25-cent "magic finger" beds.
into being around the twenties. The perpetually burning station is called "Triangle Shirtwaist Station," and it is believed that the legendary factory fire might have had something to do with the subterranean inferno. The sounds of girls screaming and the smell of burning skin precedes the "Station", but few have managed to actually get in and look around because of the flames, which roar so hot that even the toughest junkmen won’t get very far inside. No one knows how it got there, but it has become For the most part, the UnderWorlders leave it alone the home of a colony of the largest roaches anyone has had the gross misfortune to see. Averaging about a foot and a half long, the roaches are located right near the flux point of the Subway mantra. It’s unclear what they eat, although they have been seen dragging off cats on occasion. They vary in intelligence. Most The UnderWorld isn’t just home to Breeds and are as about smart as a dog, some are of ordinary Guilds. There are also creatures down in the tunnels roach level, and some even seem to near human and caverns, running along the tracks and prowling levels of intelligence. For the most part, they aren’t through the tunnels, that have never been seen in the dangerous to people, although immensely disturbing. world the world above. On the other hand, Mole People savor the Giant Roaches as a delicacy. (It is worth noting that Track Rabbits watching the Mole People eat their prized roaches Somewhere between Rats and Jackrabbits, these nasty, disease-spreading beasts are fast and vicious. has been known to even make JUNKMEN sick.) They’re also pretty good eating. Track Rabbits are Roach Motel 6 is a sacred place to the Mole about two foot long rodents with long ears, naked tails, and powerful legs. Their eyes are comparatively People, and they make sure only to take enough small, but the have a large, bulbous organ towards the Roaches so as to prevent diminishing the colony. In front of their heads that serves to aid in echolocation. recent years, however, the colony Track Rabbits eat rats and mice, but won’t hesitate to make a meal of anything that has gotten a little too large, and comes too close to their nests, including has begun spilling into other areas. animals much larger than themselves. Despite this, no measure have been Fortunately, their nasty disposition means than taken for fear of angering the Mole not even the Ferals have any real objection to the People. Rumors persist that the occasional Track Rabbit getting roasted up for an roaches may be pushing topside. If evening’s meal. As one would expect, they taste like chicken, albeit this is the case, something must be a little gamy. done.
Monsters
Game Stats:
Triangle Shirtwaist Station In Queens, there is a certain spot on the R line that seems a little warmer than the rest of the line. You’d never notice it if you weren’t looking for it. Beneath the metro- transit line is a blazing inferno that popped
Defining Traits: Wild, Perceptive Skills: Fighting, Tracking Special Abilities: None
The Late Train In the early 1900’s the Metro-Transit authority
realized it was sitting on a surplus of over a dozen separate fully functional trains. The unwitting Transit Authority hatched a plan to put an extra train on the lines that would "Pick up the slack" on off days when other trains were running late or problems had arisen. This experimental project went into operation Friday, November 13, 1913. It was called the Late train. Unfortunately, the train’s erratic movements around the runic pattern of the subway tracks caused all forms of bizarre occurrences to take place. Things fell up. People’s personalities randomly switched. Strange, dangling lights would occasionally be seen outside the windows. Cars would inexplicably rearrange themselves between stations. As the weirdness steadily grew worse, word came down that the project was to be scrapped. And by that time, the train wasn’t having it. They never found the bodies.
duo Gomer and Mina , Goodfella Robin, and even Rector himself, to name a few. Still, for the most part, the nightmarish Late Train is one of the most feared denizens of UnderWorld. It’s been dormant for about ten years now, but the first trainload of people on the 1 and 9 out of Time Square after the Millennium disappeared completely, and sightings have begun again. The Late Train is back on schedule.
Game Stats: Defining Traits: Pretty much all of them. Skills: See above.
Subway Dragons Immense, ancient, and filled with a malevolent intelligence, Subway Dragons are the last remnants of this legendary species, driven underground by mankind’s expansion. Now, their final refuge has been invaded, and the Subway Dragons are not at all pleased by this development. They are solitary creatures, and dislike being disturbed. They will fiercely defend their territory against incursions.
It’s a story that mothers in UnderWorld tell their children to make them behave, but the elder swear that it is true—a Sentient subway awakened by it’s own Radiance, mad beyond imagining and carrying Some UnderWorlders seek out the Dragons, and the ghosts of hundreds that have disappeared within. attempt to negotiate with them, for the Dragons are The Late Train prowls the tunnels searching for victims, the dark, forgotten god of the UnderWorld, the premiere authority on the UnderWorld—they know where the secret chambers are, and are and it will accept no other before it. intimately familiar with all of the legends and Lord of the Radiance and master of dozens of histories that have been forgotten over time. If a forms of Magic, the Late Train is capable of going Librarian is unable to help, you can be sure that a pretty much wherever it wants. It has been known to Dragon will have your answer, if you can avoid being lay track out ahead of itself while chasing a victim killed long enough to ask. down an unlikely tunnel. Similarly, it can easily create new tunnels simply by smashing through wherever it wants to go. It can change it’s shape and appear as it’s original turn-of-the-century form, a cobbled-together patchwork of trains throughout the ages, An ordinary modern-age train of any designation from any city, or even it’s "true" form— a writhing metal centipede thousands of feet long, with a cruel maw like a steam engine skull full of railroad-spike teeth.
Game Stats: Defining Traits: Huge (Subway Dragons have an extra two levels of wounds, at the "Unharmed" level), Fierce, Veteran, Strong. Skills: Fighting, Lore, Savvy Special Abilities: Fear (see Chapter III), Most forms of Magic, Teeth and Claws do 4 coins of damage, Fire Breath (Range: Immediate, Damage: 5)
Schrecktenkafer ("Fear Bugs")
There are only two things that the Late Train fearsIndividually, these ugly, three-inch-long, long Water and light. There are a few accounts of various people having tricked the Train into sewer tunnels or antennaed, zebra-striped, hopping, wingless insects better yet, the above-ground trestles. The Navigator aren’t much of a threat. Unfortunately, there’s no
such thing as an individual Schrectenkafer. The Schrecktenkafer are psychic insects, and they are responsible for much of man’s fear of bugs. The Schrecktenkafer wouldn’t have it any other way. They need fear to survive. They quite literally eat fear. Schrectenkafers live in colonies of 100,000 to 500,000 members. The colonies typically take the form of the last meal they have consumed, so it is not unlikely for a colony to appear as a hazy, blurry, indistinct human or animal form from far away. Colonies have a single mass intelligence that can be quite high, and easily rivals human. Some believe the bugs are held together by the ghosts of their victims, like insectoid junkmen. Some colonies, particularly those higher in status due to age or size, will wear colored robes as symbols of respect. Colonies can speak by rubbing their legs against their carapaces like a cricket. Depending on how many are speaking at once, the sound can be almost deafening. Schrectenkafer will go to great lengths to cultivate fear, and are well aware the best way to frighten an individual is to kill and consume their companions. A Schrectenkafer Colony has been known to skeletonize a dog in under ten minutes. This action and ones like it often produces the results the Fear Bugs seek. A swarm of Schrenctenkafer does 6 coins of damage in a single attack. The task of procreation is dangerous to Fear Bugs. When the council has decided a new colony is needed, a single, bug-level intelligence insect is discharged topside. This bug finds a sleeping human and places it’s orvapitor in the human’s chest, face, or arm, and begins depositing hundreds of eggs. The process usually takes an hour, after which the depositor bug crawls off and dies. The human will notice an itchy lump for a few days, and will eventually scratch the wound open, spilling thousands of tiny black scuttling Schrectenkafer larva everywhere. This
initial burst of shock, fear and revulsion is almost always enough to guarantee the fledgling colony will grow quite strong. Soon after, the young colony retreats beneath the Earth to meet with the Council and learn their duties. The Schrectenkafer actively seek to subjugate the Underworld. This was not always the case, but recent developments have put ideas in the insect’s heads. The burst of fear that certain humans experience when approached by the police in New York City, regardless of their guilt, is pleasing to the Fear Bugs. The bugs assume that the police must kill and beat these arbitrary (Bugs can’t see color) members of the human population because they consume fear as the Schrecktenkafers do. As the Fear Bugs see it, the Human Police enjoy the flavor of fear the humans in areas like Flatbush, Flushing, and Harlem produce. The Fear Bugs have elected a mayor and will soon begin a project they call "Operation Condor, " Wherein they stake out certain communities and patrol them. To this end, some of the younger colonies have even taking to devising uniforms for themselves. The fear bugs will have their own fear farm soon, and the entire UnderWorld will be the harvest.
G a m e Stats: Defining Traits: Vicious, Strong (in a swarm) Skills: Fighting, Stealth
Lavaboys If you get lost in the lower tunnels, watch out! These pudgy little orange, glowing men may appear friendly, but they are really tricky little mothers. Lavaboys tend to be around one to two feet tall, softly rounded, and made of molten rock. It’s unknown how or why they came into being, but they
are capricious and mischievous, not to mention a Grillcrackers can be tamed and make excellent pudgy, roly-poly ball of the hottest substance on mounts. Tame Grillcrackers are a common sight in earth. some of the UnderWorld Markets. Their extreme strength makes them valuable to merchants and Lavaboys leave little flaming footprints that later navigators. harden to little stone footprints, making them easy enough to track. They pop out of cracks in the lowest There is a trade in Hollowed-out Grillcracker tunnels and play tricks on anyone they meet. They’re shells as well, however. It’s not too difficult to install not evil or even particularly cruel, but very dangerous a motor in the shell and have a decently serviceable in that they exceed temperatures of several thousand vehicle. What’s more, the meat is a little tough but degrees. (damage 5 if touched) They have started tastes a lot like pork. Recently, several many fires by accident, but at least seem genuinely UnderWorlders have united in an attempt to buy up sorry after they do so. They do realize that they burn enough land to start a Grillcracker farm. Many of the people by touch, and usually retain a safe distance, older denizen hold that this will only end in disaster, but have no qualms about pointing someone in the wrong direction or burning though a bridge to dump but are noticably vague when questioned why. someone in the water.
Game Stats:
Defining Traits: Strong, Tough, Fast Lavaboys don’t seem to speak, but they can be Skills: Fighting, Transport. plenty expressive anyway. They have the ability to The Ilowen shapeshift into simple shapes- a ball, a wheel, or a There is a cavern, deep in the UnderWorld, hidden cylinder, for example, and that aids their from the foolish and the weak. It is home to the last communication. They seem to have a particular remnants of an ancient people, a race interest in the Junkmen, but only time will of crafters and once, dreamers. A tell what the strange little elementals are race who have almost given up up to. on ever breaking their bitter curse. Once the Ilowen made Game Stats: marvels that all beings Defining Traits: Small, Agile envied, and their riches grew Skills: Acrobatics, Climbing beyond counting. Wise men and heroes would cross continents for an hour of their time for there was nothing they Grillcrackers could not forge, no device they couldn’t Perhaps the world’s first conceive of. In their arrogance, they mocked the wheeled animals, Grillcrackers Gods and thought themselves untouchable. They are tough, ornery beasts that resemble a cross between a Volkswagen and an were wrong. Armored dinosaur. They move in small herds of up to ten members, eating the moss and lichen that grows underground. Grillcrackers’s wheels seem to grow from their tough shells, and they spin the axles with strong vestigal feet. They can reach speed of over forty miles an hour. Grillcrackers charge when provoked, and sport a nasty horn that can go through cinderblock. Still,
One day, the Ilowen as a race awoke to find themselves stripped of their most precious possession: their imaginations. For their greed and for their pride, they were brought low. From that day to this, the Ilowen have never been able to create anything without the direction of another. Their skills linger still, but their fire has gone out. To break their curse the Ilowen must create
Skills: Engineering (for digging) something that has never existed, on this world, or Special Abilities: Will destroy anything in their any other. Something truly new. To that end, they way. Also takes no penalties from wounds. accept likely sounding commissions for their work in Other creatures will appear in future UnderWorld releases. the hope that one of their clients will conceive of something that will save them. They will not accept work that they have done in the past, and the Ilowen have a long memory. Few indeed are the implements of war and destruction that haven’t long since passed through their workshops. Then, too, there is the matter of the fee. Sometimes a trifle, sometimes a life, sometimes the impossible. Truly imaginative clients are often offered whatever they wish, if only they will stay for a time and think of other devices for the Ilowen to create. The Ilowen, as a race, resemble upright gecko men. They stand less than three feet tall, with massive eyes and clever, webbed hands. The walls of the UnderWorld are easily scalable for them, and they often travel on cavern ceilings to avoid predators. Their youths sometimes travel through the higher caverns seeking adventure and hoping for inspiration.
Game Stats: Defining Traits: Untiring, Energetic, Agile Skills: Engineering,
Sandhogs Large, burrowing animals, about the size of a hippopotamus. Sandhogs are able to tunnel through solid rock as if it were loose dirt. Their claws are as hard as diamond, and are highly prized—many UnderWorlders like to use Sandhog claws as knives.
Game Stats: Defining Traits: Large, Tough, Strong Skills: Climbing, Fighting, Engineering (for digging) Special Abilities: Claws do 6 coins of damage.
White Worms The deepest caverns, miles below the surface, is the realm of the White Worms. These albino earthworms grow to as long as 150 feet, and nearly 12 feet in diameter. They burrow blindly through the lowest levels of the UnderWorld, creating new tunnels in their wake. They are not intelligent—although they still represent a threat, as they mindlessly chew through anything that lies along their path.
Game Stats: Defining Traits: Huge (2 extra wound levels), Strong, Tough
Observation, Climbing, Tracking Magic: None Built-in Salvage Tech: Jackhammer hand (Range: What follows are some of the more famous Personal, Damage:5), Jet assist (single-shot speed members of UnderWorld society, who might be burst, bestowing 2 coins worth of "Fast"), Selfrepairing armor (3 coins of damage reduction). encountered by your Main Characters. Weapons: None
Personas
Lord Steam & The Analog Kid It is difficult to speak of either of these without the other, for they have fought side by side for over a century. The Great Artificer Lord Steam is 5’1/2 feet tall. His bright blue eyes dance merrily behind a massive set of brass rimmed trifocals. He has bright white hair, and a sharp wit that spears all around him. He should have been dead years ago, but he converted most of his bloodstream to electricity, heightening his lifespan considerably. Lord Steam suffers from Stage One Manic Depression.
Captain Uridian & The Albatross The first time Jonas Uridian laid eyes on the Brooklyn Sound, he knew where his destiny lay. It took him thirteen years and five tries to build a ship that was up to the challenge though. The Albatross is that ship and she lives up to her legend. She’s a cross between a steam locomotive, a tugboat, and a bulldozer. Great metal hooks used for climbing come up over her bow and a set of tank treads are woven into her sides. Baring size, there is no place she can’t go.
The Analog Kid is a Junkman with the soul of a hero from the Old West. Steam has upgraded the Kid’s body over the years, and his present form is powered by a Radiance-fueled atomic clock. His eyes have always been made from various pocket watches, the origin of his name.
As for Uridian, he’s just over 5 feet tall and a long shore man from birth. He usually wears a widebrimmed hat with large ostrich plumes and effects a pirate’s patois. He and his crew haul cargo human and otherwise, up and down the ‘Sound.
Lord Steam
Jonas Uridian
Homeless Artificer Homeless Navigator Defining Traits: Inventive, Fierce Defining Traits: Charming, Courageous, Jack of Secondary Skills: Fighting, Tracking, Contacts All Trades (UnderWorld) Secondary Skills: Savvy, First Aid, Games Magic: None Magic: Guiding Light, 5 Acorns, Romper Mirror Salvage Tech: Jacob’s Hammer (see example in Weapons: Cutlass (Range: personal, Damage: 3) Chapter IV), Tool Belt (generates Artificer’s tools through manipulation of the Radiance (Creation The Albatross operant), others as needed. Weapons: None, except the above Large Size (20 passengers or cargo) Transportation, Water Transportation, Ground (Tracked and Legged) The Analog Kid 3 Coins worth of damage Repair Junkman Bravo 3 Coins worth of manipulation (metal climbing hooks) Defining Traits: Strong, Tough, Loyal Long range voice communication. Secondary Skills: Empathy, Lore, Savvy,
Eisric Dane
Eisric Dane
Called "the Great Dane" by both friends and enemies, Eisric Dane may be one of the most dangerous men in the entire UnderWorld. Eisric is a Legendary, formed from people’s hope that there are still champions for truth in this cynical world. A piece of Marlowe, a touch of Spade & a hint of The Dark Knight make Dane a force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately, his unseen enemies are equally powerful. Dane was banished from the Librarian’s Guild for the supposed pursuit of forbidden knowledge. Dane seeks to know who built the Subway’s and why, reasoning that the accumulation of the Radiance in the UnderWorld is no accident. Experience tells him that he’s not going to like the reason when he finds it.
Legendary Outcast (Ex-Librarian) Defining Traits: Intuitive, Clever, Tough Secondary Skills: Fighting, Contacts (UnderWorld), Observation Magic: Righteous Trench (see above) Special Abilities: Dane is destined to always get to the bottom of whatever he’s investigating, as did the archetypes that he is based on. This powerful ability, however, comes with a price—like those archetypes, his investigations attract powerful enemies. Weapons: None (used to carry a .45, but lost it)
Dane wears an artifact greatcoat called, "the Righteous Trench". The surface of the coat is covered with slowly shifting runes. As long as Eisric seeks justice for all and helps those in need, it makes him immune to Immediate and Distance ranged weapons and causes him to regenerate (heals 1 wound level per 2 turns).
Ithio One of the grimmest Bravos of the UnderWorld, mothers send their children to bed with the admonition: "Behave, or Ithio will come for you." Ithio is a living piece of the Dark Fear that lies trapped in the Hundred-Candle Vault. Being rather fond of his sentience, he has no intention of letting the Dark out, as he’s rather certain he would be reabsorbed immediately. One of his eyes is solid black and lidless, reflecting his innards. When the Fear was first bound, it called to Ithio and part of its essence erupted from his left eye. He sewed his wound shut with sinews from a dead saint’s hand. Ithio can step between shadows at will. The last thing that most of Ithio’s victims hear is the soft "shing" of his blades scraping together. Those he truly respects get to see one or two sparks before they go.
Ithio Legendary Bravo Defining Traits: Vicious, Strong, Tough Secondary Skills: Tracking, Observation, Lore Magic: Ithio’s knives are relics ( 3 Damage, and they give him 2 coins to resist damage) Weapons: See above. Special Ability: If Ithio steps into any Shadow, and makes 2 successes on a three-coin Head Count, he seeps into it, and can step out of any other Shadow in the UnderWorld. Not a good thing.
Goodfella Robin, Knight of the Lesser Boulevards Robin is a Legendary—the embodiment of the Puck, Robin Goodfellow, filtered through a distinctly New York state of mind. He operates as a Bravo in the service of Rector, Lord of the Lesser Boulevards, as Rector’s Captain and main "go-to guy". He is a jovial friend, but a fierce combatant when crossed, and his trickster nature makes him a worthy adversary for any villain he encounters.
Goodfella Robin Legendary Bravo Defining Traits: Clever, Mischievous, Jack of All Trades Secondary Skills: Lore, Games, Trivia Magic: Life Stone, Mob Cap, Umbrella o’ Impending Doom Weapons: Usually carries a sword (Range: Personal, Damage:4) Special Abilities: The Puck can fly (although he doesn’t like to—"says it takes a lot out of him"), and can only be harmed by iron weapons, or magic.
Robin is a short man, with curly red hair and a constantly amused expression. He wears clothing that could best be described as "dramatic"—a literal definition, since he found his velvet frock-coat, wool The UnderWorld presented in this game is only vest, silk shirt and cranberry ascot in a basement one facet—the facet that exists below New York City, costume closet of a Broadway theatre. His friends the largest city in North America. It is not the only tell him that it clashes with his torn blue jeans and UnderWorld. Any place that has managed to develop a method Timberland boots, but he doesn’t care. of replenishing the Radiance (usually in the form of a
Other Unders
hit), it would certainly have an effect upon the World Below. Great rushing torrents of water, pouring into every storm drain and subway tunnel, was a sight to behold for we who live in the World Above—and had a potentially devastating affect upon the UnderWorld. Great floods pouring through the tunnels, a sudden drop in RadCounts, as the subways shut down, Travel between the UnderWorlds is rare, but blocking the replenishing flow of Radiance…it possible. There are some tunnels, thousands of miles would have been an epic struggle for the denizens of in length, that travel between UnderWorlds, but since the Domains. these are often the result of the burrowing of White Think along those line when deciding how surface Worms, they seldom follow a straight path, and can often meander incredibly long distances to reach an events would affect the UnderWorld—even a small UnderWorld that is only a few hundred miles away. news item for us might have more ramifications To travel these tunnels, you’d have to find them first, below. For example, an initiative by a residents association to lobby the city for construction of a 2nd and then you’d have to hope that you encountered no Avenue subway line (currently there are no subways worms (or other opposition) along the way. in Manhattan east of Lexington Avenue, an inconvenience for East Side residents). This story There are magical methods of travel, as well. A has the potential to greatly change the landscape of story is told of an adventure had by Goodfella Robin, the UnderWorld, not to mention adding another in which he fell into a poster on a subway platform dynamic to the pattern that replenishes the wall, only to come out of an identical poster on a wall Radiance—who is behind it? Is this an innocent in the Charing Cross station of the London effort on the part of inconvenienced city residents, or Underground. Of course, he never specifies which is it more? Could it be the next step in the plan of who-or what-ever implemented the design of the poster it was—he keeps that secret to himself. subways, or perhaps a political maneuver by one Domain to ruin another, which lies in the proposed It is generally assumed that UnderWorlds exist path of the new line? The adventure possibilities beneath London, Paris, Rome, Tokyo, Moscow, begin to stack up. Delhi, Toronto, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Keep in mind, as well, that despite the fact that Travellers from those UnderWorlds have appeared in the NYC UnderWorld before. There is a probability almost all UpWorlders are ignorant of what happens that there are more, at various locations beneath the beneath their feet, there are some that have learned of world. If the area has an extensive system of the UnderWorld. Transit police who work the subterranean tunnels and caverns, there is probably a subway stations might have an idea of what’s going on, not to mention the construction crews who dig bastion of the UnderWorld, no matter how small. and repair the tunnels, or the conductors and Subway, although there might be other methods) has an UnderWorld beneath it, unique to that location. Each UnderWorld has the same Breeds and Guilds that are present here, although there might be additional Breeds and/or Guilds specific to that city.
The UpWorld What of the World Above? The civilization that exists on top of the tunnels of the UnderWorld should be more than familiar to players of this game—it is the world that we all inhabit. What effect, though, do events in that world have upon the UnderWorld? The two worlds are connected. Nothing can happen in either world that does not affect the other. Were a hurricane to strike New York City (as nearly happened during the creation of this game—it "downgraded" to a high-end tropical storm before it
motormen who operate the trains. Homeless outreach programs sometimes send teams into the tunnels with medicine and food—what might they encounter in the World Below? Have they encountered it already? The adventures that take place within the UnderWorld will always have some element of the UpWorld about them, whether implicitly, or explicitly. As above, so below. That has been the law of things from the beginning of time.
Sub-Rosa Subway By Gareth-Michael Skarka
February 25th, 1870 The basement of Devlin's Clothing Store at Murray Street and Broadway Alfred Ely Beach stretched his back, feeling the joints pop—the release of tension not only from working within the cramped confines of the tunnel, but stress over the fate of his venture. The pneumatic subway was a success when he demonstrated its principles at the American Institute Fair in 1867. He had proven then that the invention would work. A single train car could be propelled down a length of tunnel by the vortices of an immense fan. The fan, also known as the "Roots Patent Force Blast Blower," was designed to move the train at a top speed of ten miles an hour. The car would be driven the length of the tube like a boat before the wind. The project had cost him dearly. Nearly $350,000, if his last calculations were correct. It was the only way, however. The political corruption that was rife in New York made it impossible to get anything done without bribes and graft paid to Tammany Hall. Beach had been unwilling to engage in the politics of vice, and so funded the project himself. The tunneling, the construction, everything…done in secret, without the knowledge of Boss Tweed, or any other citizens of New York City, apart from his work crew. Now, he was ready to unveil the work. The tunnel ran 312 feet, from Murray Street to Warren Street. A short ride, to be sure, but more than enough to convince the journalists and members of polite
society that the system would function. Damn Tweed and his cronies—the public support of the pneumatic railway would overwhelm the politicians with waves of enthusiasm, and Beach would get his charter to continue construction. Beach sat at the bench of the grand piano that he had installed in the waiting room. He knew that the public would never deign to ride on the subway, let alone support it, if they had to enter a dank, dreary tunnel. To that end, Beach had designed an opulent waiting room, 120 feet long, and embellished with a fountain, ornate paintings and sculptures, a piano and even a tank with live goldfish. Customers on the Beach Pneumatic Subway would find themselves in an elegant parlor lit with zircon lamps. "You’ve done well, Alfred." The voice startled Beach, but not as much as it used to—he had become accustomed to these visits. He looked up as the figure emerged from the tunnel. Its features were shrouded, as always in the hooded black robes that it wore. The lamps in the parlor allowed occasional glimpses of its features, pallid and drawn, deep within the recesses of shadow cast by the cloth. "This is a marvel you have constructed, Alfred, and only the first step—the first line drawn in a complex pattern that will change the world." Beach sighed. "Assuming that the charter is granted." The figure shook its head dismissively. "The die has been cast now, Alfred. There is no turning back from this point. Even in the event that the fools reject your proposal, you have crossed the Rubicon. The future lies underground." That was cold comfort, Beach thought. If the charter is denied, I’m the one who has bankrupted himself, not my mysterious benefactor. The man had given him valuable instruction regarding the
tunneling process, though, and ideas for the invention of his tunneling machine. Beach remained silent. "I think we have more to worry about from the Mole People than we do from any surface-dwelling politicians. They are not well pleased about what they see as an invasion of their territory." The hooded figure said, peering into the depths of the goldfish tank. The fish, oblivious to their observer, described their endless cycle of two-second journeys, trapped within their own memory spans. Beach paled. "Will there be trouble?" Visions of armed subterranean Hottentots, pouring through his tunnel and slaughtering the assembled worthies at tomorrow’s opening ran unabated through his mind. "Not of any direct kind, I shouldn’t think. The Mole People are numerous, but they dislike confrontations—a solitary race. Besides, I think your tunnel is too close to the surface for them to be comfortable." Beach pondered that point. His visitor often made references such as this—hints and statements that intimated the existence of an immense network of pre-existing caverns and tunnels beneath New York, filled with many creatures, both benign and malevolent. Beach felt the cold, ancestral fear of the dark crawl up within him. "Such is not for you to concern yourself with , Alfred." His visitor continued. You have nothing to fear in that regard. Your efforts shall insure the glorious future of mankind—the next step of history. A reclamation of the age of wonders and heroism!" "Heroism isn’t my trade, sir." Beach laughed. "Science is where my strengths lie." The visitor nodded. Beach could not clearly see his face, but he thought he detected a smile in the voice. "To be sure. It is your science, Alfred, and the science of your antecedents, which will propel mankind into its new era. Your inventions, and those of men very much like you, will plumb the very depths of the world. The pattern begins here. You help to usher in a new age, Alfred. An age of Radiance." At the time, Beach considered it to be an odd choice of words. The Beach Pneumatic Subway won approval from the New York state legislature in 1873. Beach's perseverance had paid off—however, Beach's victory
was pyrrhic at best. He was physically, monetarily, and emotionally wasted. Inflation had forced his cost estimates from $5 million to $10 million, all of which had to be raised from financiers, such as John Jacob Astor. Unfortunately, Astor wanted no part of Beach or his subway. Other financiers refused him funds; one after another of Beach's attempts to raise cash failed, until in 1873 Governor Dix withdrew the charter for Beach's Pneumatic Subway. New York's first subway remained forgotten until February 1912 when a construction crew—digging for a new Broadway subway, the BMT—dug through the wall of the Beach tunnel. The ornate waiting room, in all of its opulent splendor, was still there.
Conducting The Conductor’s role is one of the most important parts of UnderWorld. It is the Conductor that makes the world come alive for the players, through presentation of the setting, and portrayal of Secondary Characters. The Conductor creates the adventures that the players shape through their character’s actions. The Conductor’s job is made up of equal parts of actor, writer, record-keeper and director. A daunting task, especially for beginning role-players. It is recommended that the Conductor be the most experienced member of the playing group, or, barring that, the person who has made themselves most familiar with the setting. Potential Conductors should have the following abilities: 1) The ability to think on one’s feet. Perhaps the most important skill to possess. Improvisation is the key to presenting a seamless story for the players. Think of it like jazz—if you’re really good, nobody can tell that you’re pulling this stuff from the top of your head. 2) A firm grasp of the setting. Make the setting your own. Use the examples provided in this book to craft individual elements for your own campaign. 3) A firm grasp of the rules. The mechanics of
UnderWorld are fairly simple. When it doubt, call for you’re playing a live action game)to bring them to a Head Count, and base your life. The creation of a Secondary Character is decisions from that. handled exactly as you would 4) Fairness. The handle the design of any Conductor’s rulings should character. You pick a Breed and be even-handed, a Guild, some secondary consistent and skills, magic, and unbiased. Never equipment, and that’s it. favor one p l a y e r ’ s The amount of character over detail you put into another, or the creation of favor your S e c o n d a r y settings and Characters is in direct s u p p o r t i n g proportion to their characters over the place within the needs main characters. of the adventure that Nothing is worse you’re crafting. For for a player than example, the Trader having to sit back and from whom the watch the plot unfold characters get some through the actions of information is not going supporting characters. to have to be as detailed 5) A love of the as the power-mad artificer game. We close with that they’ll have to combat at the second-most the story’s end. important factor to posses. If you’re not Give some thought as to the enjoying yourself, it role of the Secondary will show, and Character you’re creating, and nobody else will enjoy themselves it should be clear how much either. If it’s not any fun for you, stop detail is necessary. doing it. A forced game is a Given that all bad game. members of a respective Guild possess the same skills, a lot of the work is done for you in that area. If the Secondary Character is intended just to be a "walk-on, bit part", they probably need no more detail in skills outside of those Guild skills. A more detailed Secondary T h e c h a r a cters portrayed by the players are your Character would merit some exploration of his or her story’s Main Characters—they are the subjects of the tale secondary skills, since those are the individualizing being told. Everyone else that they encounter, from the aspects of the character. If the SC is not intended to faceless crowds they move through, to the snarling Villain be an individual, but rather just a face in the crowd, who is as critical to the plot as they, are called Supporting that’s probably all that’s needed. Characters. Supporting Characters are the cast of the drama, Defining Traits require a bit more thought, but a lot and it is the job of the Conductor (or his assistants, if of these can come from the mental image of the
Creating and Running Supporting Characters
Secondary Character that develops. As the SC begins something went wrong during the SC design stage. to form in your mind, certain characteristics will More information regarding Secondary Characters present themselves which can be used as Defining Traits, whether from the core list of Traits in Chapter can be found in the Intuitive Continuity section, later II, or via the creation of a new Trait to specifically fit in this chapter. the situation. Choosing Magic for a Secondary Character is a decision that is modified by two factors: the SC’s role in the adventure, and the power level of the Main Characters. Magic is a great equalizer. A minor SC would probably not have any, but a major SC, intended to stand on his or her own with the party of Main Characters, would be expected to have enough magic in their possession to stand them on equal (or better) footing with the Main Characters. After all, you don’t want to have the playing group struggle their way through an exciting, complex adventure, only to have them waste the main baddie in a single turn of combat. Conversely, having the whole group of Main Characters wiped out in the beginning of the story in an unplanned bar fight that they picked with a solitary Mole Person is also a good indication that
Designing and Running Adventures An adventure is a single heroic tale, with a beginning, middle and end. An adventure, is not a session, which is single meeting of the playing group—nor is it a campaign, which is a series of connected adventures which tell the greater story of the Main Character’s careers, perhaps even unified by a common theme, or an over-arcing plot. The design of an adventure requires the Conductor to detail the rudiments of the plot (at least those elements that are not entirely dependent upon the actions of the Main Characters), as well as populating
the tale with the Supporting Characters who will be encountered (see above). Think of an adventure as a framework. You can be absolutely certain that at some point during your experiences with roleplaying games, your players will, through their character’s actions, completely invalidate the careful crafting which you have done on your adventure. They’ll ignore clues, they’ll go south when you need them to go north, or they’ll simply pick up what you thought was a minor plot thread and decide to focus upon it obsessively. It happens to everyone. If you’ve read many roleplaying game rulebooks, it will not surprise you at all to read the following advice—UnderWorld is not the first game to say this: Let them run. If the players go "off-track", run with it. Use your improvisational skills, and you’ll find that before long, you’re crafting an adventure whose plot is surprising even to you, it’s nominal creator. Of course, at this point, the tale is truly being crafted in cooperation between the Conductor and the players—which is exactly how it should be. The design of your adventures should be tailored not only to the characters in your group, but to the players as well. Make the effort to come up with stories that not only are appropriate to the type of characters your group plays, but also the sort that your players would find interesting. Inappropriate
adventures (for example, one that takes place almost entirely in the UpWorld, when you’re group is made up of Legendaries, Mole People and Junkmen) are just as bad as uninteresting ones (for example a slowmoving murder mystery when your players are edgeof-your-seat action/adventure fans). Know your players, and know their characters, and the largest part of the adventure design is already done for you. Chapter VII contains a starting adventure, as well as a system for randomly generating adventure ideas, which will help you get started with your own tales.
Rewards At the end of every adventure (not every session— only when the story at hand is complete), the Main Characters deserve some form of reward for their efforts. In most roleplaying games, this comes in some form of "experience points", by which the character can improve their abilities, getting better as time progresses. With a simple system like UnderWorld, however, there is not really any room for improvement—you either posses a Trait or a Skill, or you don’t. So, how can your Characters be rewarded? There are two methods: Hero Tokens and Bestowed Ability. As an adventure ends, the Conductor s h o u l d award characters
with between 1 and 5 Hero Tokens. Use the following formula: Hero Tokens are kept in reserve—each Token can be "spent" to give the player an additional coin to throw on any Head Count.
A Discovery campaign tells the story of a Normal or group of Normals who stumble upon the UnderWorld and are drawn into what's happening there. The adventures of a Discovery campaign would revolve around the exploration of the setting, and the unveiling of key concepts like the other Breeds and Guilds. Initial characters (and those that If the Conductor wishes, rather than waiting until would form the focus of the tale) would be Normal, but UnderWorld characters could be brought in to act as guides to the new world (think of Dorothy’s If the character… Then give them… encounters with the Tin Man, Scarecrow and Lion, Participated fully 1 Hero Token for example). Had Good Ideas 1 Hero Token Performed Heroic Acts 1 Hero Token The Intrigue campaign is a complex weave of Played Role Well 1-2 Hero Token political maneuvering between power blocs within the UnderWorld, whether they are domains, or the end of an adventure, he or she may give out Hero merely gangs. These types of campaigns often Tokens during play, to immediately reward actions feature the Main Characters as the powerful taken by the character—if something the player individuals who find themselves involved in decided to do makes you say "Wow, that’s cool!", it’s competition with other groups. Advanced probably worth a Hero Token. Using this method is campaigns of this type might even make a great way to encourage certain styles of play, the Main characters act in opposition to through positive reinforcement. each other, instead of (or in addition to) Bestowed Abilities are simply that--special any outside force (a campaign where the abilities that the PC gains through play, that the Main Characters are all highly placed Conductor decides should be permanent. members of a Lord’s Examples would include new skills, etc. court, jockeying for position, for example).
Designing Campaigns
A campaign is a series of connected adventures. There are various types of campaigns that can be run. This section takes a brief look at some of them, which will hopefully give you some ideas about what you might like to do with your own campaigns. The first type of campaign is called the Series. It simply features the adventures of a group of Main Characters. There is usually no over-arching theme (other than that inherent to the setting), and no effort to tell a wider story through the adventures. It is similar to the construction of a television series (hence the name), featuring the largely self-contained adventures of a particular group of heroes.
A Survival campaign places the characters in opposition to the setting, making the challenge of day to day existence in such a harsh environment the focus of the campaign. Characters in this setting are usually low-powered, since a lot of magic and Salvage Tech would tend to make survival a much e a s i e r proposition. Adventures in this type of
campaign would center around such necessities as the location of food, or the defeat of vicious predators that threaten the group. A War campaign, obviously, would place the characters in the midst of a conflict between two or more forces. The characters could either be front-line combat troops with no say over the direction of events, powerful commanders whose plans and strategy can change the outcome of events, or some middle ground between the two (Special Operatives of one side against the other, for example). With a little bit of thought, many other types of campaigns will present themselves. What we’ve looked at here are only examples.
Intuitive Continuity Intuitive Continuity is a method of Conducting that specifically encourages and engenders the type of improvisational play for UnderWorld was designed. Simply put, Intuitive Continuity is the development of your own campaign story arcs with little or no prior planning. The planting of plot elements throughout the campaign that, in retrospect, will appear to make a unified whole...and yet began as mere improvisation on the part of the Conductor. The key to Intuitive Continuity is
improvisation—which is not to say that there shouldn’t be any preparation or detail on your part. What makes jazz musicians so good at improv is that they have a repertoire of riffs and licks that they have learned, which they insert into a composition when the time seems right. They construct a complete piece of music out of well-practiced parts, connected by improvised links, and filtered through their own experience and inherent talent. As a Conductor, you have your inherent talent, and, if you’ve run games before, you’ve got experience. What you need is a collection of riffs and licks, for you to weave together at a moments notice. A Conductor’s riffs are a well-stocked cast of Supporting Characters. These can be thrown in at any time, and the better you know your Supporting Characters, the more they will seem like they were intended to be where you drop them. One method that can assist you in this is the COPP rating. When your player’s characters meet a Secondary Character in the game, you will perform a Head Count with 4 coins, to determine the SC's COPP rating (Cooperation, Opposition, Personality, and Plot importance).
Each heads result in the Count means that category will be a bad thing (Opposition). The Mole Person is will be "active". a jovial guy, quick with the joke (Positive personality), and he’s going to turn out to be Active Cooperation means that the Supporting important to the plot. Just from this result, I start to Character is basically helpful to the Main Characters. get an idea, about the doorman shilling for a Nomad who needs people (like the characters) to retrieve an Active Opposition means the SC will oppose the item he needs…except that he’s done this with 3 Main Characters in some way (note that it is possible other groups already, and none of them have made it for a person to be helpful in the short term, yet back alive. still an obstruction to your overall efforts...the result of two heads in As you start to improvise details during play, the these categories). second most important aspect of Intuitive Continuity comes into play: record keeping. Write down every Personality is a general fact that is clearly established to the players, and gauge of whether the NPC is make notes of those things that you’ve "positive" (heads) or "negative" determined, but not yet established. Here is (tails) in outlook. the key: if it hasn’t been established yet, it can always change to conform to later Plot Importance is the crux of the details, until such point as it becomes COPP rating, and its main focus in the established. Intuitive Continuity system. It gauges whether or not the Secondary The notes might be changed in order to Character is at all important to the reflect the results of another COPP later in overall plot of your current tale...and it the game, or an idea that just occurred to is possible that at this point, you might me out of the blue, or if the players take not even know what that plot is! actions which would invalidate that branch of plot development. This way, However, after a few such meetings you’ll never have to worry about the have passed, the Conductor can look actions of the players ruining your back and say, for example, "Well...the carefully crafted adventure. You simply Librarian they met in the Lesser craft the adventure as you Boulevards, the Bravo on the E Train, and go along, changing things the Tagger were all important to the behind the scenes as plot....how might they be connected?" necessary, and revealing This should start to spark ideas for your little bits at a time. own arc, which has already begun. For instance, in the Example: My players have their above example, the only characters head down to the Carthage fact that is established to the Opera House, hoping to troll for work players is that the Mole Person knows a Nomad from any of the members of who’s looking to hire. I still make notes of my ideas UnderWorld society who are gathering there for the about why he’s looking, but until those reasons are evening’s entertainment. They tell me that they grab presented to the players, they are malleable—they the nearest doorman, and ask him for the inside scoop can and should be changed to reflect better ideas, or on who’s here. I decide to make the doorman a Mole additional information. They can be changed and rePerson (no reason, I just do), and I throw a COPP for changed right up until the end. him, which comes up heads, heads, heads, heads (!!). I decide that the doorman will introduce them to That’s Intuitive Continuity. someone (being Cooperative), but in the long run that
Live Action Versus Table Top Play UnderWorld is intended for use as either a tabletop or a live action roleplaying game. The rules are simple enough to be used in either format, with little or no adaptation required. There are three things that separate live action from table-top play: Conductor’s Assistants, Location, and Costumes. Conductor’s assistants are required for live action play because most Conductors can’t be in more than one place at a time. They need help not only in the portrayal of all of the Secondary Characters, but in keeping an eye on what the players are doing, if there are different groups in different areas of the location. The assistants should be assigned to play specific SCs, if needed—some games might not have need of Secondary Characters, if the game is large enough that everyone the player’s character meets is another player themselves.
set apart for play. The game area should not be a public area, since the actions taken during play may frighten or disturb people who aren’t aware of what’s happening (plus, on a practical level, having folks wander through your game can be distracting). Once the game location is arranged, make sure that all players are aware of the borders. Let them know that play is permitted within the borders of the area, but not outside of it. This keeps the game safely and privately contained, and also limits the amount of area that you and your assistants have to cover while Conducting. Remember that a live-action game of UnderWorld should never contain real weapons, or actual physical contact during the adjudication or combat. This should be common sense, but we’ll say it anyway. When the game shifts over into combat, step out of character, resolve the combat with the Conductor, using the abstract method. The Conductor will then describe the events that resulted from the combat, and play can pick up from there.
The last question of Live action play is the really big one: What do I wear? Costuming for live action The assistants should be clearly indicated, so that play of UnderWorld can be incredibly easy, insanely they can officiate over any question of the rules difficult, or even both at the same time. which comes up (notably, the setting of Difficulty Levels). The main Conductor should brief his Playing a Normal, or one of the Homeless is as assistants ahead of time regarding how much leeway easy as raiding a closet (preferably your own) for they have in adjudicating action. Remember at all regular, everyday street clothes. Dressing as a times, the main Conductor is in charge. Legendary who is the Minotaur of ancient Greece is a bit more problematic…and just how is the wellLocation also presents a unique challenge to live dressed Junkman arranging his bolts these days? It’s action play. not as if there are copies of "Junkman Today" or "Freak Style" on the newsstands. NOTE: Despite the fact that UnderWorld takes place in a subterranean setting, beneath the subways However, playing in a campaign where everyone of New York City, we in no way advocate, and in fact has to be either a Normal or a Homeless sounds strongly recommend against, players of the game pretty dull, doesn’t it? The last thing you want your entering into subway tunnels, caves, steam networks, game to be is dull. UnderWorld should be fun, or other areas which may be dangerous. These areas exciting, mysterious, and maybe just a little bit scary. are off-limits for a reason, and going into them without permission and experienced accompaniment What follows are a few hints, tips and ideas that is a sure way to get yourself hurt, arrested, or worse. will help you with the process of bringing your JUST DON’T DO IT. UnderWorld character to life. The game should be held in a location specifically
First, there are three basic functions that a costume should perform for a Live Action game: 1) It should help you (the player) get into character. Whatever props, wardrobe or makeup helps you feel like that character should be used. 2) It should be help set the stage for the other players. It should be visual enough that everyone else can recognize your persona, and it contributes to the mood of the game. Minute details may help in the personal aspects of roleplaying, but it doesn’t help the player across the room who’s trying to decide how to interact with your character. 3) Your costume should be comfortable and easy to wear. This is more important than you might think. A costume that is too tight, or itchy, or has a hem that you’re always tripping over can only serve as a distraction, not an aid to play.
Example: Anne has decided to play Nefret, an ancient Egyptian Librarian (one of the Lost). Anne decides that two of Nefret’s main traits are that she feels most comfortable wearing the styles of her homeland, but has adapted to her job rather well. Anne already owns a long white sleeveless dress that she can wear. She decides to accent it with gold jewelry and to outline her eyes in heavy black eyeliner. Simple enough, but it brings across the idea. Next, she creates some scrolls by crinkling up plain paper, staining them with tea, and rolling them into tubes that she ties with a ribbon. She puts these in a burlap shoulder bag, and viola! Instant Library! The last thing she decides to add are a few lengths of string with knots tied in them (to represent "Forget me knots"). She’s ready to play.
Well, that’s great for Anne, but The hard part is deciding what now, you’re thinking: "where do I should make up your costume. get all those wonderful toys?" Try Maybe you’re really lucky the following: Costume shops, and you have the time, the fabric and craft stores, money or the inclination hardware stores, giant discount warehouses, your to fully create whatever local library, costuming sites you have designed…if on the Internet, and even you do, that’s great. A grocery stores (packaging is a fully realized costume beautiful thing). If you walk can be a fantastic aid in into any of these sources with play—it helps bring across the magic of the setting, a good attitude and a cool idea, you’ll find plenty of and is really cool to look at, to boot. But, not people who are willing to help out. everyone has this option. What then? Focus on the key elements of your character. Costumes can be made out of anything. Look the Decide what three or four traits or items are so part, and you’re good to go. important that the character would not be the same if they were missing. Concentrate on these. Maybe your Bravo is never without his whip and mirrored breastplate. Perhaps your Freak character is a rhinoceros with one horn in the middle of her forehead and one on her nose.
or
The Lost Art of Fine Dining in Lower Manhattan What follows is a beginning adventure for your UnderWorld campaign. Additionally, after the adventure is a Random Adventure Seed Generator, which will help the Conductor develop ideas to flesh out into full-length stories for their UnderWorld games.
metal crunch under your weight. There is an audible noise as the electricity cuts out. This is odd-- who would be piping electricity to a tunnel like this without living here?" Let the characters take the logical next step and follow the cables. The seem to lead into (and back out of) a highly-specialized salvage-tech alarm system, that has now been disabled. The cable continues to a metal door:
"You notice, however, as you scope out the area, that there is a rather large metal door sticking out of the wall of one tunnel, and that it’s been used Part 1 recently. The door is made of burnished steel and is oddly cold to the touch. The electric cables seem to The Main Characters are in need of a new home, as lead here." their old one was destroyed in a tunnel collapse. The door is big and heavy, and would require some They’ve been poking around for a while, and they’ve come across a seemingly abandoned stretch of tunnel impressive strength to pound through it. The handle about a mile from Market Square. This stretch seems itself is pretty heavy duty, but, with the alarm gone, it is only locked with a rather simple padlock. Picking to be nearly perfect. the lock is relatively simple, and prying it off with a The tunnel is nice- warm, spacious, and long crowbar or similar implement would be a piece of forgotten- the buildup of dust on the tracks indicates cake. If the Characters choose not to open the door, that no train has been through here in at least thirty or go on to part 2. However, if they do decide to take a forty years. There is access to electricity and clean look, read: water, as well as a third, much larger pipe that seems "There is a blast of steam as you open the door. It’s to be a sewer pipe. It appears to be the perfect squat for some tired UnderWorlders, if not a little close to not from the heat, but in fact, from the cold- the room itself is covered in frost. It seems to have gone on to the upper tunnels. some backup generator, as the room is lit from within Pick one of the characters at random and read this by light blue neon on the ceiling. out loud: "As you are investigating, your foot goes through The room is a freezer, about ten by twenty by ten a rusted-out cabled cover and you feel something feet. Two large white ventilation grates are on the
side walls toward the ceiling, and on the back wall is eating. a safe with a combination lock. There are clearlyAfter about ten minutes—or once the characters salvaged deli-style racks on either side of the room, figure out what’s going on, whichever works best—a each one piled high with fresh, tasty meat." god-awful shuffling sound can be heard emanating from the pipes on either side of the room. If the Any Ferals, Molemen, or like creatures in the party characters decide it’s worth it to stick around and find will instantly smell it, but it might take some figuring out what the noise is, they see a huge white alligator out on behalf of the others. This meat is human flesh. nose open the grate on the wall and slip down, ready If the characters don’t figure it out, they can try to to do battle. He is followed shortly by another Feral crack the safe on the far wall. Doing so reveals a few guard like himself coming out of the second grate. watches, some random trinkets (lipstick, broken calculator, compact case, a wallet) Several changes Abner and Dr.Teeth of male and female clothing of various sizes, and a Feral Bravos film canister. Opening the film canister reveals that it Defining Traits: Strong, Fast, Fierce is full of human teeth with gold fillings- this should Relevant Skills: Fighting (Guild Skill) be enough of a tip-off that it’s really time to stop Magic: None
"There goes the neighborhood." Mumbles a sharpWeapons: Natural weapons: Teeth (Range Personal, Damage 3) Claws (Range Personal, toothed Freak as he turns and goes back to his work. Damage 2) and Tail (Range Personal, Damage 1), "Attention, Attention!" Barks a voice over the Natural Armor (1 coin) loudspeaker. "No UnderWorlder is to go into the upper tunnels for any reason! Repeat, no Abner and Dr. Teeth are powerful enemies, and not UnderWorlder is to go to the Upper Tunnels!" ones to take on lightly. If the characters decide to stay and fight, make them pay for it. If the characters do Give the characters a few minutes to take all of this defeat both Ferals, they can continue to explore the in. Then, let them decide what to do. If the room, but there is nothing more there of any value. UpWorlders start tearing up the city looking for Mary Campbell, the UnderWorld would be in grave danger of discovery. Anyone with any sense of selfpreservation will try to find Mary Campbell; hopefully, she is still alive. If the characters did their prying in Part 1 they will know that the problem is Film at Eleven worse than it seems, although looking through the personal affects that were in the same reveals that The Characters will most likely want to get away Mary Campbell was not among the victims who had from the freezer one way or another. Their best bet is been butchered. to head back to Market Square. However, when they get there, more bad news is waiting for In any case, if the Characters start poking them. around, they will find that Mary was involved with a Homeless Trader named Jasper Lupo. Read: "As you pull into the square you Apparently he was supplying her with a see that all eyes are on the old Trinitron particular designer drug that she could only get giant TV that was unceremoniously from him, making him, one of the rare Traders brought down here when it’s time was that traded up as well as down. Further up in Times Square. The majority of digging reveals that Jasper can be found citizens are clustered at it’s base, but betting on the SkarBoxing matches at the the stragglers and merchants have Great Basin. their eyes glued on the screen as well.
Part 2
The salvaged old MTA PA system blares the news report.
Part 3
"This is Macgee Hickey with a News Sold Out 4 special report. Mary Campbell, estranged daughter of city councilman When the characters arrive, the Great Howard Campell, is missing. Eyewitness Basin is choked with UnderWorld bettors reports claim that the struggling Miss of all stripes. Skar himself is announcing Campbell was seen being dragged into an the next match, a battle between Victor, a uncovered manhole on the Lower East hulking Freak gladiator from WashDeep, Side. NYPD is currently working with Con and Eoh, the Equine Chief of Myrhhtown’s police. Ed and the city’s Public Works division on a citywide search of New York’s’ myriad tunnels. We’ll Eoh wins. keep you posted as events warrant. Now back to your Anyone looking for Lupo will have to hunt around. regularly scheduled programming." Any Bravos or Freaks in the group could try to talk
with Skar. Otherwise finding Lupo will be a simple Streetwise task. Once the characters find the Trader, it’s obvious he’s losing badly. He’s passing off most of his stuff in one of the upper tiers of the basin. Anyone approaching him will get a faceful of bad attitude. Jasper claims to know nothing about Mary Campbell, although a bribe might be able to jog his memory. Conversely, he will take a bet on the next match- a huge Lost blacksmith named Maxwell vs. the Clank Bros. The Clank Bros. appear to be dead meat- they are a group of Fizzers. Only when the match begins does it become apparent that the Clank Bros. will win the fight— Because there are over six hundred of them. Once the characters can pay Jasper, or he loses the bet, or some other deal is made, he explains that Mary was a very special case, and that she " had very select tastes." He says that he can arrange a meeting with his supplier at Roach Motel 6 in three hours, and claims his supplier might know where Mary is. Now it is up to the characters if they want to follow Jasper or take him up on his offer and meet him later. Either way, he’ll lead them into a trap. Maxwell, Kite, and Doughboy, three Bravos, are waiting to thrash the characters. As soon as the fight starts, Jasper books it.
Maxwell Lost Bravo Defining Traits: Agile, Calm, Commanding Relevant Skills: Acrobatics, Fighting, Climbing Magic: Life Stone Weapons: a blacksmith’s hammer (Range: Personal Damage: 3)
Kite Junkman Bravo Defining Traits:
Fierce, Courageous,
Jack of All Trades otherwise, It’s best to just try to get away. Still, before Relevant Skills: Fighting, Climbing they go, they over hear some odd conversation. Magic: None Weapons: He is a weapon. "Unit 7-B, this unit K-5. We just…we…You will Special Abilities: Kite is constructed from razor not BELIEVE what we just found." blades. Any attack he makes counts as a weapon with "Unit K-5, report, Over." a Range of Personal and Damage of 4 "Unit 7-B there is a huge meat locker full of human meat down here. Human meat, Jerry. Lots of it." Pause. Doughboy "Unit K-5, I don’t understand- Have you found Freak Bravo Mary Campbell?" Defining Traits: Vicious, Wild, Strong "Dammit Jerry, are you listening to me? I’m telling Relevant Skills: Fighting, Stealth you we found Hannibal Lector’s frigidaire! Magic: None We…Ack!" Weapons: None The Radio cuts out, followed by the sound of even Special Abilities: Doughboy’s puffy, pliant skin more chaos. absorbs damage (throw 3 extra coins to resist). In addition, he has a special attack: Smothering (Range: AT this point, The Characters have several optionsPersonal, Damage 2 per turn, Strength feat required they can either to break his hold) 1. Continue Hunting for Lupo 2. Return to the Meat Locker 3. Go back to Market Square and warn the Jasper has retreated to hide in Authorities about the cannibals. the upper tunnels. If the characters go after him, they Any of the above options will be a race against quickly find that the time. Radiance is highly diminished where he is (RadCount drops to 1). Fairly soon, they hear the sounds of Chaos! footsteps and see flashlights 1. IF THE CHARACTERS CONTINUE searching to and TO HUNT FOR LUPO fro. A team of six police officers and Once again, this will require a little one Public Works tracking. Anyone tracking Lupo by scent will official is scouring smell his scent mixed with blood. Soon enough, the tunnel. Outright they find Lupo’s body—he’s been stabbed several attack is a disastrous times in the back. Searching Lupo will yield this idea, and will likely have note, and it’s envelope—Indicating that it was freshly legions more police pouring into the tunnels within hours. The opened. "Mr Lupo UnderWorlders should evade the cops. My father plans to step up the operation. We need However, the pollics have dogs—which might make evasion more difficult than it seems. If they are to tell Ezekiel. Meet me at the Locker. -Mary" not too dumbed-down by the weak radiance, a Feral Dog could attempt to reason with the Hounds,
Part 4
2. IF THE CHARACTERS RETURN TO THE MEAT LOCKER
spilling the beans on the operation. The characters should go to Ezekiel and Howard Campbells’ meeting to put an end to things.
If Abner and Dr. Teeth are still there, they chose to scare the cops away rather than killing them. Being giant white reptiles, this wasn’t particularly difficult. 3. IF THE CHARACTERS GO BACK TO When the characters arrive, they can overhear a MARKET SQUARE AND WARN THE conversation. AUTHORITIES ABOUT THE CANNIBALS "You do as you’re told. We pay you quite well." "Yeah, yeah, lady, I know. And trust me, no one like eatin’ people much as me. But this bringin’ cops down here is bad news." "My father changed the deal." "That’s it, I’m outta here."
The word will get back to Gil, the Lord of Market Square, who will send two official Bravos out with the characters to the Meat Locker. The Bravos will formally request that the characters take them to the locker rather than give directions. See above.
The two Alligators walk out of the room. If the see the characters, the shrug and ignore them. ( The two Ferals are fed up and at this point might be persuaded to join the Characters.)
Part 5 Showdown at The Screws
The Screws is actually the name for a section of On the other hand, If the characters killed Abner Underworld that is a long tunnel with a single and Dr. Teeth in Part 1, they find three dead cops, and catwalk over a series of giant fans. It’s unknown what a shaken Mary Campbell. Once she these fans are for (if anything) sees the characters, she perks up. But one slip can cause quite a mess. The catwalk is about ten feet wide. The local "Oh, thank God! Did Jasper RadCount is 1. send you? " If the characters answer yes, she says: "Then there isn’t much time, but it’s not too late! Come with me to The Screws. My Father and Ezekiel are going to work out the rest of the agreement."
When the characters arrive, There are five serious-looking Cops with a man in a suit, facing down a Homeless guy in a wheelchair (this is Ezekiel) with an assortment of Bravos (any who survived the above scenes, with the exception of Abner and Dr. Teeth.)
As the characters arrive, the If the characters Bravos overpower the cops and kill answer negative, she them, capturing the man in the suit. will try to escape. If This is Howard Campbell. Howard she escapes, she’ll will claim that he’ll call off his go straight to the investigation if he and his daughter are Screws, and the characters spared. Ezekiel, wisely, isn’t having it. At can track her down there. Of this point, it’s pretty much up to the characters what course, If she is captured, the characters can try to turn her over to the authorities happened next. and consider the whole thing ended. But If they want to know what'’ going on, Mary is still a Normal very Ezekiel Homeless Trader much out of her element and can be intimidated into
Defining Traits: Feeble, Clever, Cunning Relevant Skills: Negotiation Magic: Life Stone, Pack of Smokes Weapons: A gun (Range: Distance, Damage 5)
Howard Campbell Normal Guildless Defining Traits: Clever, Wealthy, Mundane Relevant Skills: Negotiation, Cooking Magic: Yeah, right. Weapons: Howard’s packing heat—a .32 revolver (Range: Distance, Damage:5)
Mary Campbell Normal Guildless (and Legendary Cannibal Spirit, see below) Defining Traits: Cute, Wealthy, Fierce Relevant Skills: Fighting Magic: The Legendary Spirit within Mary can fly. She doesn’t know it yet, but if she falls from the Screws, she’ll realize it. Weapons: None Special Abilities: If Mary uses her nails in combat, the Legendary will make them grow and turn to iron (Range Personal, Damage: 4)
survive. Ezekiel became the supplier for Mary’s unique habit. Soon enough, Mary was healthy and back on track, but Howard found, to his shock, that there was a demand among Manhattan’s elite for Mary’s cuisine. He found himself strangely attracted to the taboo of it all, and began to partake along with his daughter and her socialite friends. He made an arrangement with Ezekiel to continue the supply. To this end, Ezekiel started the Lower Manhattan Epicurean Society- a network of Bravos and traders who abducted UnderWorlders and butchered them for the UpWorlders, all the while taking great pains to make it appear quite the opposite.
Unfortunately, the Radiance-tainted human flesh is taking it’s toll on Mary and Howard, who are both going quite mad. Howard believes that once the entire UnderWorld is in the clutches of the NYPD, picking the tastiest and most delicious What’s really going on: specimens will get much easier. Ezekiel On Halloween last, Mary foresaw this little Campbell has having some fun with stutter-step, and now her boyfriend while making out in his car. While just has to eliminate trying to spook each other, she peered into the the two of them, pin it all on the dead Jasper Lupo, rearview mirror and muttered "Bloody Mary" Three and find a new buyer on behalf of Manhattan’s upper times. Unfortunately, she was under a subway trestle crust connoisseurs. at the time, and a freak burst of Radiance from the train passing overhead at exactly the stoke of midnight released the legendary spirit into Mary If Ezekiel Survives: Campbell. She killed her boyfriend and ate him. He will , as stated, simply go back about finding Unbeknownst to her, there was a single witness- an old homeless vagrant named Ezekiel. another buyer, perhaps someone with more selfcontrol. This can be the beginning of an ongoing Mary’s father successfully covered up the incident, story. Ezekiel is not Physically powerful, but he is a but noted with growing concern that his daughter was brilliant and wicked individual who respects his wasting away. Finally, while on the street one night, enemies. Ezekiel confronted him and explained what had happened, offering up a Moleman’s paw as proof. If both Howard and Mary Survive: Ezekiel explained that Mary Campbell had been They will proceed back to the surface, where they possessed by a spirit and needed human flesh to
Aftermath
will step up the investigation. As above, this could be Jasper Lupo the beginning of an Epic story wherein the future of The major-domo of Ezekiel’s Epicureans, Jasper is UnderWorld hangs in the balance. sneaky and malignant. He’s been backstabbing and double-dealing all his life, and he’s quite good at it. If just one of them survives: As a matter of fact, Jasper would probably do quite well for himself in Hollywood or Washington except This will be a best case scenario- the other will for his little gambling problem. Jasper lives from take return topside screaming and ranting and generally to take, and his past is about to catch up with himspilling the beans on UnderWorld. Of course, no one with a vengeance. will be listening except for Bellevue’s other inmates. New York will lose interest in the tunnels soon Doughboy, Maxwell and Kite enough, and things will proceed as normal. These three bravos were handpicked by Ezekiel himself. Doughboy is a Freak, a genetic anomaly that looks like a crudely-molded blob of Silly Putty. He Cast Of Characters: hits like 200 pounds of hard rubber, and can be cut, (Stats can be found in the adventure text, above) shot, stabbed, even exploded with very little lasting effect. Abner and Dr. Teeth: Maxwell, the SkarBoxing Gladiator, was a These two Ferals aren’t part of Ezekiels’ Colonial Blacksmith before he stumbled into Epicurians. As far as they are concerned, it’s just Underworld. He’s the strongest of the three. another job. To them, eating people is nothing Lastly, and probably the most dangerous, Kite is special, and they’ve been hired to guard a room. Still, the soul of a killer in the body of a cobbled-together this will rapidly become more then they bargained razor-blade gargoyle. The Artificer who created him for, at which point they’ll just leave. These guys are was put to death in his community. really just a pair of reptilian Mooks when you get right down to it, and can easily be reasoned with. Ezekiel They would rather scare people away than kill them. The man called Ezekiel is an enigma. Upon his Still, their looks make them appear much more return from Vietnam, paralyzed and broken, he built dangerous. himself back into an emotionless machine bent on survival. Once he realized that he had attained his goal, the acquisition of power filled the void. Ezekiel is physically quite limited- homeless, confined to a wheelchair, and gaining in years- he makes up for it in absolute ruthlessness and utter brilliance. Ezekiel is quite likely one of the smartest men in the UnderWorld.
Bloody Mary Even before her unfortunate incident, Mary Campbell was a spoiled Stuyvesant brat from the Upper West Side. Daddy took care of making sure Mary never had to deal with any of life’s problems, and unfortunately this little "craving for human flesh" thing is no different. Unfortunately, someone who 144
normally would have just been a smarmy bitch in life is now a complete monster. A very well-protected monster.
Head Head Head (HHH) Head Head Tail (HHT) Head Tail Tail (HTT) Head Tail Head (HTH) Tail Tail Tail (TTT) Tail Tail Heat (TTH) Tail Head Head (THH) Tail Head Tail (THT)
City Councilman Howard Campbell The real tragedy here, Howard was a good and moral public official who became embroiled in events beyond his control. He’s quite mad now, and he just can’t get that taste out of his mouth. He’s certain that if he just UnderWorld under control, he can take care of things and get his life back on track.
Random Adventure Seed Generator Here's a little scenario for you: It's a little bit before dinnertime, and you get a call from your playing group. They're all coming over, ready to play... tonight. Problem is, you've got nothing prepared---last time you played, your group completed their latest adventure, and for whatever reason you haven't had the time to come up with anything else. To come up with an adventure idea on the fly, use the following tables, which will give you enough of an idea from which to proceed. Pepper the idea that you get with some Supporting Characters (returning supporting characters, if available—players always enjoy a sense of continuity in their Character’s life stories), and you’re ready to go.
The basic format for a random adventure seed will be the dramatic core taken from screenwriting: all plots can be boiled down to the following sentence-"the main characters must [DO SOMETHING] but have to contend with [COMPLICATIONS] while being confronted by [OPPOSITION] ." This makes a nice structure for any adventure, whether its roleplayed, written, or filmed. For UnderWorld, however, we’ll expand that a bit more, allowing for a wider variation. So the basic dramatic structure of an UnderWorld adventure will read more like this: "The main characters must [DO] [SOMETHING] at [LOCATION] , but have to contend with [COMPLICATIONS] while being confronted by [OPPOSITION] ." Each category marked in brackets will be determined by throwing two three-coin combinations on the tables below, and cross-referencing. Since each category has 64 possibilities, this structure allows for 1,073,741,824 possible combinations... more than enough to give the Conductor something to work with.
The tables below use a three-coin Head Count, but in a different fashion than you’ve seen throughout this game. Make sure that you use three coins of differing denomination, so that you can delineate between them. Instead of counting successes with the coins, read the coins results as if they were in binary language. A single throw of the coins will garner you one of eight possible results:
145
The main difference between the standard form
and the form that is being used for UnderWorld is developed an adventure detailing the character's that the location has been added as something that is struggle to overcome a malevolent magical weapon variable, and, more importantly, [DO SOMETHING] that has come alive! has been split into [DO] [SOMETHING]. Let’s This type of system is not intended to replace explain that a bit further. planning on the part of the Conductor, but rather as a springboard for the development of the Conductor's The "do something" is the focus of the adventure- own ideas. --it’s what drives the action. Making it a single category under this system only result in 64 "The main characters must [DO] possibilities (by cross referencing two three-coin [SOMETHING] at [LOCATION] , but have Head Counts). However, after splitting the "do" (the to contend with [COMPLICATIONS] while verb) and the "Something" (the subject) into two being confronted by [OPPOSITION] ." categories, that means that each have 64 possibilities and can combine for a total of 4096 results. For example, take these: "Rescue the Princess", "Find the Treasure", and "Defeat the Monster". Under this new system, these three focii can be split, giving you those same results, but also additional ones such as "Find the Monster", "Rescue the Monster", "Find the Princess", etc. This can also give you some odd results, such as "Defeat the Treasure"... but as a Conductor, that phrase, which, on its surface seems bizarre, begins to generate all sorts of ideas. What is this treasure? Why must it be defeated? How do you defeat a treasure, anyway? Before you know it, you’ve
HHH Fight
Aid
Arm
Escort
Entreat
Move
Conceal
Strike
HHH
HHT
HTT
HTH
TTT
TTH
THH
THT
Snatch
Look at
Track
Journey with
Chase
Sell
Talk with
HHT Defeat
Beset
Reveal
Amuse
Rally
Oppose
Buy
Find
HTT Rescue
Shield
Race
Enchant
Check
Meet
Combat
Attack
HTH Protect
Resist
Save
Defend
TTH Hunt
Injure
Drop
Destroy
Kill
Watch
Take
THH Look for
Contend withHarass
Tag
Comfort
Change
Revive
Create
Join
THT Battle
Confuse Manipuate
Quarrel withObserve Trade with
Dispel
Investigate Support
Ally
Guard
Assist
TTT Retreive
Lord
Artificer
Outcast
Feral
Mole
Lost
Assassin
Stranger
HHH
HHT
HTT
HTH
TTT
TTH
THH
THT
Friend
Traveler
Sapper
Nomad
Trader
Guild
People
Princess
Woman
Item
Object
Freak
Junkman
Thing
Monk
Wealth
Beggar
Navigator Ruler
Librarian
Secret
Enemy
Normals
Treasure
Soldier
Bravos
Arena
Tagger
Legendary Insect
Vehicle
Salvage Tech Area
Police
Domain
Prophet
Spy
Thief
GladiatorGuildless
Criminal Homeless Equipment
Animal
Artifact
Charm
Subway
Creature
TTH THH THT
Love Interest Thug
Rebel
Man
Leader
Relic
Radiance
Monster
HHH HHT HTT HTH TTT
THT
THH
TTH
TTT
HTH
HTT
HHT
HHH
Drain Pipe
Transport
Steam Tunnels
Vault
Penn Station
Boiler Yards
Crooklyn
UpWorld
Secret Chamber Wash-Deep
Fastness
Lords Home
Sewer
Freehold
Guild Hall
Platform
Small Domain
Hospital Morgue Market Square
St. Ives cathedral
Access Shaft
Trader Camp
Chinatown
Lesser Blvds.
Yankee Stadium Subway Station Tunnel
Cave
Basement
Roach Motel Shirtwaist
Opera
Mole Village
Bar
Shelter
Storm Drain
Radiance Pool
Artificer Lab
Library
Farm
Queens
Construction site
Manhattan Projects White Worm Tube Parking Garage
Passage
Subway Train
Sterling Paradise Old Bones
Great Basin
TTH THH THT
Under East side Myurrhtown
Brooklyn sound100 Candle Vault Silent City
Grand Central
Subway station
Lair
Bus Terminal
Vaudeville
Boogie Downs Subway Tunnel Pipe Jungle
Wonderland
HHH HHT HTT HTH TTT
THT
THH
TTH
TTT
HTH
HTT
HHT
HHH
Ferals
Artificer
Ambush
Drugs
Police
Animals
Travel
mistaken identity
Freaks
Bravo
Old Enemies
Gangs
Power struggle
Riots
Squabbling
Disaster
Legendaries
Tagger
Annoyance
Getting lost
Guild politics
Duplicity
Lost equipt.
Crime
Homeless
Mendicant
Normals
Insanity
Domain politics
Fear
Abduction
Legal trouble
Radiance
Weather
Lack of info
The Lost
Navigator
None
Side tracked
Mole People
Librarian
The Unknown
Cave-ins
Junkman
Sapper
Stampede
Traps
Mental feats
Mystery
Monster
Nomad
Trader
Distraction
Vendetta
Border trouble
Survival
Trickery
Upworld influence Magic
TTH THH THT
transport problem Physical feats
Theft
Barriers
Misdirec-ion
HHH HHT HTT HTH TTT
THT
THH
TTH
TTT
HTH
HTT
HHT
HHH
Ferals
Spy
Group
Unknown
Leader
Assassin
Dragon
Artificer
Freaks
Priest
Relic
Minor Guild
Friend
Traveler
Last Train
Bravo
Veteran
War
gladiator
Rebel
Monster
Mendicant
Legendaries
Homeless
Recurring Villain Radiance
Police
The Devil
Gangster
Ruler
Domain Lord
Tagger
The Lost
Love Interest
None
Disaster
Normal
Soldier
Old Enemy
Navi-gator
HHH HHT HTT HTH TTT
Mole People
Teacher
Corporation
Outcast
Guild
Thief
Former Ally
Librarian
Trader
Junkman
wanderer
Punk
Guildless
Domain
Themselves
Nomad
character
Outlaw
Stranger
Creature
Madman
Upworld society Criminals
Sapper
TTH THH THT
Examples of Use
the characters getting involved with a Homeless man who is actually a UpWorld businessman, who had been spying on his Company for a Let’s run through a couple of examples, just to rival, and went underground to hide. They meet up with him in Market Square, where he get a look at how the process works. asks for their help in escaping the agents of the Corporation, who have been sent to capture Example One him. "The Characters must (TTT/TTH) Support (HHT/THH) the Police at (HTT/HTT)the As you can see, these tables can generate more Brooklyn Sound, but have to contend with than enough ideas from which to flesh out a full(THT/TTH) Mole People, while being length adventure, or even an entire campaign. confronted by (HTH/HTT) a Gangster." This gives me an idea for an adventure which features an UpWorld cop who has chased a Gangster into the UnderWorld. Unfortunately, the characters stumble upon this situation just as a local
group of Mole People take umbrage with the violation of their territory, and place the Cop, the Gangster and the Characters on a raft, pushing it into the Brooklyn Sound, where they will be driven mad unless they can support eachother.
Example Two "The Characters must (HTT/TTH) Save (THT/THH)a Spy at (TTH/HTH)Market Square, but have to contend with (TTT/THH) Traps, while being confronted by (TTH/TTH) Corporation."
a
The story that develops in my head features
UnderWorld is the result of a great many influences. Television, film, books, and comics Benson Bobrick wrote a fascinating study of all added their own unique stamp to the thought the cultural, mythological and historical processes that lead to the creation of this game. significance of subway systems in his Labyrinths The initial conversation between myself and Laura Hanson on the N Train coming back from a game of Feng Shui at the apartment of Atlas Games freelancer Mike Mearls in Queens was largely devoted to the subject of subway systems in urban fantasy literature. Soon, the conversation turned to how cool a game would be, were it to be set in that genre.
of Iron. This was one of two non-fiction books which provided inspiration for UnderWorld. Unfortunately, the book is now out of print, but worth tracking down if you are at all interested in subways.
The Newford Stories by Charles DeLint is a collection of his urban fantasy short fiction, all of which he sets in the fictional North American Over the year that followed, other city of Newford. DeLint is one of the best inspirations presented themselves, some for the writers of urban fantasy working today, and this first time, others merely reminding us of the collection is a great sampling of his work. appropriateness of their content, in some cases years after we had first been exposed to them. To say that Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere What follows is a inspirography—a combination bibliography, filmography, and more that will give you some insight into the fuel for the dreams that gave birth to UnderWorld.
provided inspiration for UnderWorld is an understatement. It was a conversation about this book, as well as Lisa Goldstein’s Dark Cities Underground and television’s Beauty and the Beast (see their separate entries) that was the impetus for the entire process of this game’s design.
Books
Neverwhere is a tale of fantasy set in the London
Underground—specifically the tale of Richard Clive Barker’s novels always have heavy Mayhew, a Normal, and his brush with the doses of urban fantasy. Pigeonholed by many as fantastic. Highly recommended. a horror writer, Barker’s novels of dark modern fantasy are direct inspirations for many
The aforementioned Dark Cities Underground elements of UnderWorld. Cabal in particular by Lisa Goldstein is another wonderful (and its filmed adaptation, Nightbreed) was the inspiration. Goldstein tells the story of the primary source behind the Freak Breed. archetypes that dwell in the underworld which Everville is also worth looking at, for its tale of lies simultaneously beneath all of the cities of how the magical and the mundane can exist side the world. The development of the Legendaries by side in any town or city. was begun by the spark thrown from this novel.
China Miéville’s King Rat was suggested to me by a participant of the RPGnet UnderWorld forum. It is a wickedly inventive urban fantasy, featuring the ages-old battle between the Pied Piper and the Rat King, mixed up with the drum-n-bass culture of modern London. My public acclaim for this book led the author to contact me, and we struck up an electronic correspondence. China sent me a galley copy of his newest novel, Perdido Street Station, a sprawling epic of urban fantasy, set in the mythical city of New Crobuzon. Amazingly enough, the story featured Freaks, Legendaries, and even Junkmen. Miéville had managed to write a perfect UnderWorld novel, without even being aware of the game. Go get this one—right now. My correspondence with China also helped in other ways. He sent me a copy of Michael De Larebetti’s The Borribles, a British youngadult fantasy novel (the first in a series), long out of print in the US. The Borribles has been described as "Punk Peter Pan"—a tale of magical children who never wish to grow up, and their adventures in London. The Last Call is just one of Tim Powers brilliant novels. This man does urban fantasy like nobody else I’ve read. His tales of
illuminated history and magical synchronicity are incredible reads. The Last Call is a story of the magical subculture in the US, the Fisher King legend, archetypes and Las Vegas. Wow. Mervyn Peake’s Ghormenghast novels(Titus Groan, Gormenghast, ,and Titus Alone) are not exactly modern, or urban fantasy, but the feel of the novels— gothic fantasy set in a sprawling ancient castle filled with eccentric Dickensian characters— manages to convey a sense of wonder and simultaneous claustrophobia, which is appropriate for UnderWorld. George Chesbro’s mystery novel Bone tells the story of an amnesiac homeless man in New York, named for the fossilized human femur that he carries as a club, and his efforts to discover whether or not he is the serial killer that the police are hunting. A great look at the homeless culture of NYC, and some cool subterranean scenes, as well. Lastly, journalist Jennifer Toth’s work of investigative journalism, The Mole People, was a major source of inspiration. Toth went down into the tunnels below New York City, and interviewed the homeless who live down there, far from the eyes of the world above. Her exploration of the society that is developing in these chambers, as well as her discovery of some of the secret, forgotten areas below New York gave valuable insight into the environments that would be faced by UnderWorld characters.
Movies
York City subway train, filmed extensively on location. Much better than that lame Wesley Snipes/Woody Harrelson Money Train piece of First of all, Dark City with Rufus Sewell and tripe. Keifer Sutherland is a creepy dark fantasy set in a city where it's always night. Unfortunately the Q-The Winged Serpent is a hokey and US release of this film has all of the mystery thoroughly enjoyable trash film about (and no, ruined by a voice over by Sutherland at the I'm not kidding about this) Quetzlcoatl living in the top of the Chrysler Building. This actually beginning, which gives away the whole secret was inspiration, folks—seriously: The mix of behind the City--for best results, fast forward fantasy story in a modern setting is pulled off through that part, and start watching. well (this manages to be a standard NYPD cop story, while at the same time still clocking in as City of Lost Children is a bizarre French film a giant-monster-attacks goof-fest). which features Ron Perlman as a circus strongman who tries to stop an evil scientist There's more to The Fisher King than meets the who is unable to dream, and who goes about eye. Robin Williams has unfortunately parleyed purloining children to steal their dreams. Any the strength of this role into a seemingly nevermovie that has clones, an octopus-woman, and a ending string of preachy, feel-good, "emotional brain living in a fish-tank rates high enough on lesson" films (Patch Adams, What Dreams May the wierd-shit-o-meter to be inspirational. Plus, Come, etc), but this film mixes New York City the design of the whole place is creepy. with Arthurian Myth and a portrayal of the homeless as Knights Errant. Cool stuff. The first Fritz Lang's classic silent film Metropolis film that, to me at least, made New York seem contributed inspiration in its presentation of like a possibly magical place. Maria, the ultimate Junkman...er...Junkwoman. The 1959 classic Journey to the Center of the Earth has James Mason and Pat Boone leading an expedition into the bowels of the earth. Based on Verne's novel, this contains some of the classic tropes of underground life: Giant mushrooms, surviving dinosaurs, and scenechewing villains.
How could I not mention a movie that takes place in the tunnels beneath NYC, and features giant cockroaches as well? Take a look at Mimic. Lots of cool tunnel stuff, an abandoned subway station (based on the City Hall station architecture--"The Armory" station does not exist), Mole People and the biggest, baddest bugs this side of Starship Troopers.
One of Luc Besson's early films, Subway (originally called Metro, before Eddie Murphy took the title for a lame action film here in the US) tells the tale of Christopher Lambert as a criminal hiding out in the Paris subways, where he interacts with the society of cast-offs who live there. Really cool film—although it currently is only available on DVD—you might be able to locate a VHS version from it's original release in 1985 on ebay.
Finding inspiration in unlikely places is always a nice surprise. The Hugh Grant and Gene Hackman film Extreme Measures was one such discovery. What was expected to be a medical thriller about unauthorized experimentation upon humans featured subterranean-dwelling homeless as the subjects of that experimentation. Worth a look for that reason, if nothing else.
Nomads, a chilling, little-noticed thriller The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is a mid- staring Pierce Brosnan and Adam Ant, was one seventies thriller about the highjacking of a New of the major inspirations for (not surprisingly)
the Nomad Breed, as well as managing to contain some things to say about Legendaries as well. This can be found languishing in the sci-fi backstock section of many large video stores. Candyman, based on a Clive Barker short story, though, was the primary inspiration for the Legendary Breed. This story of an urban legend come to life, starring Tony Todd and Virginia Madsen, remains markedly superior to any of it’s lackluster sequels. The Terry Gilliam film 12 Monkeys, based on a French short film called La Jete features a subterranean society (in the future segments), as well as a good performance by Bruce Willis who makes you think about whether or not all of the crazy people in mental hospitals are really crazy—or if they might just know something we don’t. Willis’ co-star in that film, Brad Pitt, turns in an inspired performance in Fight Club, a film that does not appear to have a lot to do with UnderWorld—but look again. A film about a secret movement with its own rules and traditions is perfect for conveying the feel of the unknown that pervades the urban environment. Remember…the first rule is that we don’t talk about Fight Club.
and a leonine beast-man who dwells beneath the streets of New York (played by Ron Perlman) was one of the original topics that formed the impetus of this game. The secret civilization of homeless beneath the streets, the candle-lit chambers, and Father’s immense library all found their way into concepts presented in UnderWorld. The BBC recently produced a 6-hour miniseries version of Gormenghast , starring Christopher Lee and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers. The costume and production design of this show manages to do justice to Peake’s novels (at least the first two—the third was not adapted), a feat worthy of celebration. The television version of Gaiman’s Neverwhere is also wonderful—in fact, it was developed simultaneously with the novel, and by Gaiman himself. The casting of the characters manages to perfectly distill their essences—the roguish Marquis de Carabas most especially. This series should be required viewing for any players of UnderWorld.
Comic Books
Without a doubt, Sandman, also by Neil Gaiman, is the premiere urban fantasy comic series. The series itself has now ended, but can be Television purchased in paperback and hardcover The biggest inspiration for UnderWorld on collections. The story of Morpheus, the Lord of television was the CBS series Beauty and the Dreams, stands as a milestone in fiction, Beast, from the late 1980s. This story of the whether graphic or text. romance that develops between a wealthy Other titles in DC comics’ Vertigo imprint are socialite lawyer (played by Linda Hamilton) equally stirring examples of modern fantasy.
Fans of UnderWorld should especially take a look at Preacher, Hellblazer, Proposition Player and the Books of Magic. Promethea, one of Alan Moore’s America’s Best Comics line (also published by DC) is a great look at the sort of archetype that makes up the Legendary Breed. It was recently announced that this series will also be collected in hardcover format.
York City subway system to work. Hurtling through the darkness, one cannot help but wonder what lies beyond the safety offered by the rattling subway car. Occasional flashes of sparks from the third rail would give brief glimpses of tunnels and access shafts, more often than not marked in the secret code of some unknown Tagger. We realize that the majority of UnderWorld players will probably never get a chance to ride in
Writer Warren Ellis’ series for DC’s WildStorm imprint, Planetary, which features a team of unusual individuals (including Mr. Snow, who could be a member of UnderWorld’s Nomad Breed) investigating the unusual and bizarre happenings that occur beneath the normal façade of the world, is definitely worth checking out. However, the biggest inspiration for UnderWorld came every morning, as Laura and I rode the New
the century-old mass transit system where the game is set, but our daily brushes with the unknown that lies beneath the streets convinced us that if you look around, wherever you may live, you can find something in your everyday surroundings that makes you think "who knows?" Take a closer look around you. Magic is there.
Gareth-Michael Skarka Laura D. Hanson 2000 A.D
