Beneath the Red Sun 1.8

by ZardozSpeakz

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Introduction

This is version 1.8 of Beneath the Red Sun Campaign document.

  • Chapter 1 includes 10 new ancestries, replacing those available in the core book. As of 1.7 there are many level 4 options for each ancestry.
  • Chapter 2 has new rules for professions and languages, these changes are minimal and mostly include adding new categories of professions: cultural, noble and occult (which replaces religious professions)
  • Chapter 3 has campaign setting information, including descriptions of cities, peoples and places. It also has descriptions of pantheons, cults, arcane traditions and other sources of power. Now greatly expanded as of 1.7.

Character Creation Rules

  1. Select Your Ancestry: Each ancestry will guide you through your starting stats. Eight ancestries are available at lvl 0: Human, Automata, Cherub, Dog, Ghoul, Intelligent Ape, Pig Demon, Talking Cat, Troglodyte and Zoog.
  2. Select Your Professions: Every character has 2 professions, plus a culture profession and associated language from your Ancestry. Some ancestries, like Human, grant bonus professions.
  3. Select a positive and negative personality trait: These are just roleplaying aids and have no mechanical benefit or penalty. They help the DM understand your character.
  4. Starting Equipment: See page 25 of the core book. If you plan on playing a spellcaster and your starting wealth includes a spell invocation, it should probably be related to your previous magickal training (if any). Otherwise, it's an invocation you found or purchased.
  5. Interesting Thing: You can pick your first interesting thing from the charts in the corebook, roll randomly, come up with something new or ask the DM to pick or invent something.

1: PLAYER ANCESTRIES

Humans

Urth was once dominated by humanity and it’s civilizations. What now remains is caught in a struggle for survival, torn between civilization, barbarism and degeneration.

Civilization hangs on by a thread. The Last Cities of Urth are diverse and different, but few could be called pleasant. Extreme wealth and extreme poverty live side by side. Despots, criminals, cults and slavers make cities dangerous places. Slaves make up the vast majority of humans in cities. Most cities are cosmopolitan places, full of refugees and immigrants from far away lands, but more than a few cities are locked fortresses that shun outsiders. Civilized humans often take great pride in lawfulness and ability to follow rules, even if the law itself is corrupt or vile.

Barbarism is the way of life for many humans. With the mighty empires of past ages long gone, the countryside and wilderness are lawless and savage places. Humans band together into small ethnic clans or communal gangs, nomads traveling across the wastes of Urth, seeking food, weapons and mounts. While unorganized, the sheer number of wasteland gangs, tribes and clans led to collapse of Urth's greast empire, the Imperium of Mundia, which was perpetually sacked by Amazons, Skraeling Raiders and Pictish Savages. Barbarians value strength and unity, seeing city dwellers as weak, selfish and morally depraved.

Degeneration has taken hold of the lost and forgotten. Humans live naked and dirty alongside animals. Feral human populations have increased since the fall of the Mundian Empire, with the most well known being the Dogmen of Mungo. These men and women live alongside wild dogs in large packs that roam the Mungo Desert. Such dogmen have no language and scramble on all four legs. Feral Humans are often caught by Zingaran slavers for the slave markets of Shandikar, but such chattle sell for very little, having few skills and proving hard to train. Dogmen and other feral humans do sometimes leave their packs and engage on great quests, drawn by circumstance or destiny. Other humans tend to be disgusted by their feral brothers and sisters, though some take pity on them or even envy their ignorance and freedom.

Human Ethnicities

These tables list all the current human ethnicities, divided into the categories of Civilized, Barbaric and Feral.

See Chapter 3 for descriptions of these people, their lands and cultures.

See Chapter 2's section on culture professions as well. Your ethnicity reflects your parentage and has no game effect. Your culture profession reflects the culture you are most familiar with and does have a game effect (like that of any profession).


d10 Civilized Ethnicity
1 Babylonian
2 Heliot
3 Jomon
4 Lengenese
5 Mundian
6 Shemeni
7 Stygian
8 Zingaran
9 Barbarian Ethnicity
10 Mixed Ethnicity, roll again twice

d10 Barbaric Ethnicity
1 Aztlani
2 Bedobi
3-4 Pict
5 Pythian
6 Skraeling
7-8 Wasteland Gangster
9 Xeno-Amazon
10 Mixed Ethnicity, roll again twice

d10 Feral Ethnicity
1-4 Dogman of Mungo
5 Other Feral Humans
6 Civilized Ethnicity
7 Barbarian Ethnicity
8-10 Mixed Ethnicity, roll again twice

Level 0 Starting Human

  • Starting Attributes: Str 10, Agi 10, Int 10, Will 10
    • Choose two attributes and increase them by 1
    • Optionally, -1 to one and +1 to another
  • Perception equals your Intellect score
  • Defense equals your Agility score
  • Health equals your Strength score
  • Healing Rate equals 1/4 your Health, round down
  • Size 1/2 or 1, Speed 10, Power 0
  • Damage 0, Insanity 0, Corruption 0
  • Choose either Barbaric, Civilized or Feral
    • Barbaric Human: 1 barbarian culture profession, associated language and 1 martial or wilderness profession.
    • Civilized Human: 1 civilized culture profession, associated language and 1 academic or common profession.
    • Feral Human: 1 feral culture profession, associated language and 1 wilderness profession.

Level 4 Expert Human

  • Characteristics: Health +5
  • Professions: You gain two professions or languages
  • Identity Profession: Select one of your professions to become your Identity Profession
  • Choose one of the following talents
    • Armed for Battle: Your Strength and Agility counts as 2 higher for the purpose of meeting armor and weapon requirements.
    • Heroic Soul: You can’t gain Corruption involuntarily, such as through an attack or a trap. Instead, you heal damage equal to the corruption.
    • Interpreter: You learn to speak and read a number of living languages equal to the number of paths you have.
    • Legendary Relic: You gain a Relic, a powerful magical item of legend. Your DM will determine what it is.
    • Linguist: You learn to speak and read a number of dead languages equal to the number of paths you have.
    • Lost Soul: If you have 9 or more Corruption, you do not automatically die when you become Incapacitated.
    • New Spell: Learn a new spell from a Tradition you have discovered.
    • New Tradition: You discover a new Tradition.
    • Plague Scarred: You gain two boons on challenge rolls against disease. You only suffer half effect from diseases.
    • Quirky: For each Quirk you have, you gain 1 boon on challenge rolls to avoid gaining Insanity.
    • Scavenger: So long as you have space to roam, you always succeed on challenge rolls to find food and water for yourself. You can maintain the Getting By lifestyle at no cost.
    • Sidekick: You gain a trusty sidekick. It is made like a player character that is four levels lower (to a maximum of level 6). Its Health increases by your character level. At the DMs permission, it might be an animal or monster or have an unusual ancestry. Sidekicks can't take this talent.
    • Survivor: Once per day when you become Injured, you may use a triggered action to heal your healing rate.
    • War Training: You take half damage from Mobs.
    • Windfall: You gain 25 gold. You pay zero gold to maintain a Rich lifestyle for this level.

Atlantean Automata

Atlantean Automata are constructed beings of metal and marble, machine-men invented by the Atlanteans in ages past.

The Awakening: For ages, Atlantis lied in ruin, submerged deep beneath the ocean. But as the Red Sun scorched the earth, the city drained and the Automata have awoken. They poses no memories of the old city, the Atlanteans or their downfall. Despite a lack of memory, each automata remembers a name and most are highly trained in things like mining, engineering, mathematics, warfare or even technomagic.

Unique Machines: Each Automata is unique. Most resemble men, but some resemble centaurs. Each has a unique face made of marble and metal that is capable of remarkable expression. As machines, they are vulnerable to water and electricity, but can be repaired with ordinary tools. Their magitech nature means both technomancy repair spells and life magick work on them.

The Iron God: Some automata worship a great colossus in the ruins of Atlantis, which they call Titanus. The priests of the Iron God preach that the colossus will awaken and destroy humanity, creating a utopia for machines.

The Arkive of Dreams: When automata 'go to sleep' they are able to access an enormous library of forgotten memories and past lives. The fragments are hard to understand, but some automata believe these collective memories are tied to their initial creation in ancient Atlantis, and may be the key to their destiny.

Level 0 Starting Automaton

  • Starting Attributes: Str 9, Agi 9, Int 9, Will 9
    • Choose one attribute and increase it by 2
    • Optionally, -1 to one and +1 to another
  • Perception equals your Intellect score
  • Defense equals 13
  • Health equals your Strength
  • Healing Rate equals 1/4 your Health, round down
  • Power 0, Damage 0, Insanity 0, Corruption 0
  • Professions: You gain no culture profession. You can speak Atlantean and read any language your speak.
  • Choose a Shape
    • Humanoid: You are Size 1 and have Speed 10. You can wear human armor and clothing.
    • Centaur: You are Size 2 and have Speed 12. You can not climb and use size 1 weapons.
  • Electricity Vulnerability: You take +50% damage from lightning.
  • Immunities: You are immune to damage from disease and poison and also immune to the asleep, diseased, fatigued and poisoned afflictions.
  • Mechanical Body: You do not eat, drink water, breathe or sleep. You do not age and you cannot be transformed into an undead creature. You can not swim and sink in water. If you spend more than a minute submerged, you die.

Level 4 Expert Automaton

  • Characteristics: Health +5
  • Professions: You gain a new profession or language
  • Identity Profession: Select one of your professions to become your Identity Profession
  • Choose one of the following talents
    • Arkive Dreams: You gain an additional profession and language. You may change either after each rest.
    • Atlantean Sentinel: Your defense equals 10+ your character level instead of 13 and you lose your Electricity Vulnerability talent.
    • Auto-Repair Module: If you become incapacitated, you heal your healing rate at the end of the round. Once you use this talent, you can't use it again for 1 hour.
    • Blessings of the Iron God: You learn a spell from the Battle, Destruction, Metal, or Technomancy traditions, even if you haven’t discovered any of these traditions.
    • Hover Wings: You gain the flier trait, but fall to the ground if you fly higher than 5 yards above the ground.
    • Legendary Relic: You gain a Relic, a powerful magical item of legend. Your DM will determine what it is.
    • Lemurian Madness: You are immune to the Frightened condition. When you go Mad, treat a roll of 1 (Death) as a roll of 20 (Revelation).
    • Magitech Upgrade: You learn a spell from the Arcana, Metal, Storm or Technomancy traditions, even if you haven’t discovered any of these traditions.
    • Necrotech Corruption: You learn a spell from the Death, Madness, Necromancy or Technomancy traditions, even if you haven't discovered any of these traditions. You gain 1 corruption and 1 insanity.
    • Power Surge: You can increase the number of actions you can use on your turn by one. When you finish your turn, roll a d6. If you roll an odd number, you become stunned until the end of the next round.
    • Sidekick: You gain a trusty sidekick. It is made like a player character that is four levels lower (to a maximum of level 6). At the DMs permission, it might be an animal or monster or have an unusual ancestry. Sidekicks can't take this talent.
    • Waterproofing: You don't die when submerged in water for one minute, but instead become Incapacitated until you are no longer submerged.

Cherubs

Cherub’s are Heaven’s foot soldiers, angels of lowest rank. They appear as human toddlers or adolescents, but with beautiful white feathered wings. Cherubs guard the places where Urth and Heaven meet. Of all the angels of the heavens, cherubs are the most likely to descend to Urth for righteous missions, curiosity or lust for the pleasures of the mortal realm.

Babes of Heaven: Cherubs spontaneously spring into existence in groups of 5 to 30 called choirs. They are born as babies, but mature into adolescents within hours. While Cherubs are effectively ageless, most find death in combat or calamity within a few centuries.

Guardians of the Firmament: Cherubs are always born near places where Urth and Heaven meet, often on the peaks of places like Olympus or the Holy Mountain. While they spend the vast majority of their days playing, singing and dancing, they know their purpose is to defend the borders of Heaven from both monsters and men. These encounters with mortals often lead cherubs or entire choirs to descend to Urth to undertake holy missions and crusades.

Innocent, Naive and Cruel: Cherubs have playful childlike personalities. Their lives in Heaven have sheltered them from the suffering of mortals and their evils ways. Cherubs are taught to hold mankind and Urth in great contempt. Most Cherubs see humans as little more than violent, lusful animals. Cherubs hold utter hate for demons and blame them for the corruption and suffering of mortals. But surprisingly, these extremist views of the world beyond Heaven often lead cherubs astray, causing them to underestimate humans.

The Fallen: Of all the angels, Cherubs are the most likely to fall from grace. Righteous crusades and adventures in the mortal realm can take a toll on a cherub's soul. Heaven forgives some transgressions, but many Cherubs find their souls twisted into the very evil they sought to eradicate.

Level 0 Starting Cherub

  • Starting Attributes: Str 8, Agi 11, Int 9, Will 11
    • Optionally, -1 to one and +1 to another
  • Perception equals your Intellect score
  • Defense equals your Agility score
  • Health equals your Strength score
  • Healing Rate equals 1/4 your Health, round down
  • Size 1/2, Speed 8, Power 0
  • Damage 0, Insanity 0, Corruption 0
  • Professions: You gain the Babe of Heaven culture profession and can speak and read the Words of Creation
  • Angelic Being: You are an angel of Heaven. You do not need to eat food or drink water, but still must breath air and rest. You are immune to fatigue from exposure to the Sun or excessive heat.
  • Halo: You shed light in a 5 yard radius. As a triggered action you can suppress or rekindle this light.
  • Cherub Wings: You gain the flier trait, but fall to the ground if you fly higher than 10 yards above solid ground.
  • Absolution: You cannot gain corruption involuntarily and Heaven will forgive some of your sins. At the end of an adventure, you may reduce your corruption by 1 but only if you are truly repentant in your heart. You must acknowledge your action was wrong and undertaken out of weakness.

Level 4 Expert Cherub

  • Characteristics: Health +3
  • Professions: You gain a new profession or language
  • Identity Profession: Select one of your professions to become your Identity Profession
  • Choose one of the following talents
    • Angel Wings: As a triggered action, you may hide your wings or make them reappear. You gain +2 speed and can fly to any height.
    • Arrows of Love: When you damage an enemy with an arrow, they must make a Will challenge roll. On a failure, they become Charmed by you until the start of your next turn. On a success, they are not charmed and cannot be affected by any cherub’s Arrows of Love for 24 hours.
    • Blessed Brilliance: When you activate your Halo trait, you can expand the radius to 20 yards. Any creature that attacks you while your halo is active takes 1 bane.
    • Celestial Magick: Learn a new spell from the Celestial, Life, Order or Theurgy tradition, even if you have not discovered that tradition.
    • Fallen Angel: You must eat food and drink water and lose your Absolution talent. You add your Corruption score to your Health total.
    • Guardian Angel: Pick a number of allies equal to your character level, they gain your Absolution trait. You can reselect and add more allies after each adventure.
    • Healing Hands: As an action, a creature you touch heals damage equal to its twice its healing rate. You can not use this again until you complete a rest.
    • Heaven’s Fire: Your melee weapons deal +1d3 fire damage.
    • Legendary Relic: You gain a Relic, a powerful magical item of legend. Your DM will determine what it is.
    • Sidekick: You gain a trusty sidekick. It is made like a player character that is four levels lower (to a maximum of level 6). At the DMs permission, it might be an animal or monster or have an unusual ancestry. Sidekicks can't take this talent.
    • Touched by the Red Sun: You gain immunity to radiant and fire damage and the Blinded condition.
    • Willing Martyr: When a mortal creature within long range dies, you may choose to sacrifice yourself in their place. Your character dies and that creature is healed of all damage and afflictions.

Dogs

In the darkness of the prehistoric world, man and wolf learned to live in harmony. Over time, the wolf became the dog. Dogs and Mankind have lived side by side since the dawn of history and many of civilization's greatest heroes adventured with trusty canine companions. Today, dogs can be generally be divided into three categories: domesticated, pariah and wild.

Domesticated Dogs: For centuries, mankind has trained and bred dogs for a wide range of tasks. Big dogs bred for war and little dogs bred for companionship. Dogs who can chase, dogs who can swim, dogs who can dig, dogs who can track, dogs who can guard and dogs who can jump. Pure bred dogs are prized and sold for as much as a decent human slave, and they're often more loyal.

Pariah Dogs: Other dogs live in the allies and gutters of civilization. They are not purposefully bred and they are rarely tamed or trained. Such pariah dogs scour garbage heaps for food, chew on discarded bones and hunt for rats, cats, bugs and whatever else seems tasty. Such dogs keenly recognize that humans are a food source, but also potentially dangerous and violent if annoyed. Some cultures, like the Aztlani tribesman and residents of Regium, will often catch and eat such dogs, if better sources of meat aren't available.

Wild Dogs: With the collapse of many human civilizations beneath the Red Sun, large packs of dogs have split off from humanity, seeking their own path. These wild dogs live in the wastes and forgotten forests of the world, hunting other animals for food, guarding their territory with great attention. In a strange twist of fate, some humans live among these packs, feral and wild as the dogs themselves. The Dogmen of Mungo are the best known of such feral humans.

Level 0 Starting Dog

  • Starting Attributes: Str 10, Agi 10, Int 7, Will 10
    • Choose two attributes and increase them by 1
    • Optionally, -1 to one and +1 to another
  • Perception equals your Intellect score +5
  • Defense equals your Agility score
  • Health equals your Strength score
  • Healing Rate equals 1/4 your Health, round down
  • Size 1/2 or 1, Speed 14, Power 0
  • Damage 0, Insanity 0, Corruption 0
  • Professions: You gain a Dog culture profession and Dog Communication
  • Bite: Your unarmed strike deals 1d6 damage instead of 1.
  • Dog Brain: You cannot speak but can understand languages you have learned.
  • Quadruped: You walk on all fours. Your paws are only capable of crude manipulations and can't hold objects. Your mouth can hold objects, but can't wield weapons or shields.
  • Strong Nose: You gain 1 boon on all perception checks to track someone or something.

Level 4 Expert Dog

  • Characteristics: Health +3, Perception +1, Speed +1
  • Professions: You gain a new profession or language
  • Identity Profession: Select one of your professions to become your Identity Profession
  • Choose one of the following talents
    • Bloodhound: Creatures within short range cannot be hidden from you.
    • Heroic Dog: You can’t gain Corruption involuntarily, such as through an attack or a trap. Instead, you heal damage equal to the corruption.
    • Legendary Relic: You gain a Relic, a powerful magical item of legend. Your DM will determine what it is.
    • Lock Jaw: Your unarmed strike deals an additional 1d6 damage. You gain 1 boon on Grab, Knockdown and Pull attacks.
    • Lone Wolf: You are immune to the Frightened affliction.
    • Man's Best Friend: When you use the Help action on a Human, you automatically succeed and grant 2 boons instead of one. If the human is incapacitated from damage, they heal 1 damage.
    • One Smart Dog: Your Intellect increases by 1 and you can read any language that you understand. With some difficulty, you can even scrawl messages or say simple phrases.
    • Pack Tactics: If you attack a creature that has already been attacked this round, you gain 1 boon on the attack roll.
    • Scavenger: So long as you have space to roam, you always succeed on challenge rolls to find food and water for yourself. You can maintain the Getting By lifestyle at no cost.
    • Sidekick: You gain a trusty sidekick. It is made like a player character that is four levels lower (to a maximum of level 6). At the DMs permission, it might be an animal or monster or have an unusual ancestry. Sidekicks can't take this talent.
    • Survivor: Once per day when you become Injured, you may use a triggered action to heal your healing rate.
    • War Training: You take half damage from Mobs.

Ghouls

Cursed be any human who eats the flesh of their brother.

The Transformation: Upon eating the flesh of another man, a human slowly transforms into a ghoul over about 1 week. Symptoms include, vomiting, fever and delirium. A newly transformed ghoul retains their human memories and personality, but slowly loses them over the course of months and years. Some ghouls even forget their names.

Cannibal Curse: Ghouls suffer from an endless hunger that can only be fed with dead human flesh, the more putrid the better. While they need not each much to survive, ghouls feel compelled to eat more than necessary. Few ghouls could be described as in their right mind, driving them to dangerous, desperate and even pathetic behavior.

Horrifying Physiology: A young ghoul looks mostly human, but covered in sores and flaky skin. Ancient ghouls have rubbery skin that ranges from sickly yellow to pale green, blue or purple. All ghouls have fangs and claws, some grow bat-like ears, snouts, tails or other bestial features. Bizarrely, ghouls are capable of giving birth to more ghouls, who mature in only a few months, but most ghouls have no desire to parent or share food. If well fed, a ghoul might live for centuries.

The World Below: Most ghouls congregate in places where the Underworld and Urth draw close, where dead human corpses are found in abundance. The most notable of such places is Ghoultown and Lepertown. Unlike most mortal creatures, ghouls are immune to the soul draining winds and waters of the Underworld, though they must still be wary of that realm's guardians and monsters.

The World Above: Other 'wild ghouls' live hidden in human cities, preying on the weak and sick, digging through their tombs and graveyards. Some turn to canibalizing the dead out of desperation and hunger, other through perversion, with the desire for dark power. Such ghouls rarely live long, as humans are quick to hunt and destroy them.

Level 0 Starting Ghoul

  • Starting Attribute Scores: Str 10, Agi 12, Int 9, Will 9
    • Optionally, -1 to a attribute and +1 to another
  • Perception equals your Intellect score
  • Defense equals your Agility score
  • Health equals your Strength score
  • Healing Rate equals 1/4 your Health, round down
  • Size 1, Speed 12, Power 0
  • Damage 0, Insanity 0, Corruption 1
  • Professions: You gain a ghoul or human culture profession and associated language
  • Cannibal Curse: You do not need to drink water and can only gain sustenance from human corpses. A single corpse is enough for a month. When you go hungry, you make deprivation checks once a month instead of once a day.
  • Compulsive Feasting: If you see a human corpse within short range and have not eaten today, you must make a will challenge roll or be compelled to feast on it. After you have spent an action feasting, this compulsion ends and you cannot be compelled by this talent again for one day.
  • Darksight: You can see in areas obscured by shadows and darkness within medium range of it as if those areas were lit. Beyond this distance, you treat darkness as shadows and shadows as lit.
  • Fangs and Claws: Your unarmed strikes deal 1d6 damage instead of 1.
  • Undersoul: You can rest in the Underworld and do not gain insanity from its exposure to its winds and rivers.

Level 4 Expert Ghoul

  • Characteristics: Health +3, Speed +2
  • Professions: You gain a new profession or language
  • Identity Profession: Select one of your professions to become your Identity Profession
  • Choose one of the following talents
    • Cannibalize Memories: You gain one profession and language from the last corpse you ate. You lose this profession and language after one month or when you eat another human corpse.
    • Creepy Crawler: You gain the Climber trait. You gain 1 boon on Hide and Sneak challenge rolls.
    • Frightening Appearance: You gain the Frightening monster trait, it doesn't affect allies of your choice who are familiar with you.
    • Ghoulish Magick: Learn a spell from Alteration, Death, Forbidden, or Shadow Tradition, you do not need to have discovered the tradition.
    • Gibbering Panic: As an action, you can remove the Frightened condition from yourself and move up to your speed.
    • Gorge: As an action, you can eat an entire human corpse. When you do, you heal damage equal to twice your healing rate. Once you use this talent, you must rest before you can use it again.
    • Legendary Relic: You gain a Relic, a powerful magical item of legend. Your DM will determine what it is.
    • Lost Soul: If you have 9 or more Corruption, you do not automatically die when you become Incapacitated.
    • Monstrous Maw: Your unarmed strikes deal an additional 1d6 damage. You gain 1 boon on Grab attacks.
    • Sidekick: You gain a trusty sidekick. It is made like a player character that is four levels lower (to a maximum of level 6). At the DMs permission, it might be an animal or monster or have an unusual ancestry. Sidekicks can't take this talent.
    • Skinsuit: When you consume the flesh of a dead human, you may choose to take on their appearance. Your flesh transforms and you appear exactly as your victim did, in full health, before their death. This disguise is perfect, but rots away after one week or until you gain the Injured affliction.
    • Transparency: if you haven't eaten within 24 hours, your flesh and organs become partially transparent. You are invisible to creatures beyond extreme range, and gain 2 boons on hide checks against creatures beyond short range. Wearing armor or clothing more than underwear negates this trait.

Intelligent Apes

The Apes of Bandar Log are an insular people who live hidden deep within the jungles of the Kongo Jungle. Bandar Log is a brutal heirachy of competing warriors, each striving to prove their greatness.

Great Apes: Intelligent apes are about the same size and weight of a human, but much much stronger. An intelligent ape can lift more than a human, jump higher than a human and run longer than a human. Completely unlike humans, Bandars have exceptionally strong jaws and large sharp teeth capable of crushing through bone and armor.

Fierce Warriors: Bandar Log is a hidden city and it is defended fiercly. Any human who gets to close will likely be killed on sight. Status in the heirarchy of Bandar Log is determined by feats of strength and victory in battle. A chief who doesn't fight alongside his warriors is coward. If one cannot fight, then the next best thing is forge weapons.

Enemies of Mankind: In ages past, the apes of Bandar Log fought brutal wars against humans. Outmached in both numbers and technology, the apes were forced to retreat into the deepest jungles of Afrika. Though the world of men has long forgotten these prehistoric conflicts, the Apes have not. It wounds the pride of many Bandars that they are not the rulers of this world.

Exiles: Many leave Bandar Log, for one reason or another. Some are exiled for crimes, others leave rather than face humiliation in front of their superiors. All exiles are sworn to secrecy to never reveal the location of Bandar Log. Those who can't be trusted with that oath are executed.

Level 0 Starting Intelligent Ape

  • Starting Attribute Scores: Str 11, Agi 11, Int 9, Will 10
    • Optionally, -1 to one and +1 to another
  • Perception equals your Intellect score
  • Defense equals your Agility score
  • Health equals your Strength score
  • Healing Rate equals 1/4 your Health, round down
  • Size 1, Speed 10, Power 0
  • Damage 0, Insanity 0, Corruption 0
  • Professions: You gain the Ape of Bandar Log culture profession and speak Bandarkian
  • Climber: you ignore difficult terrain penalties while climbing
  • Bite and Slam: Your unarmed strikes deal 1d6 damage instead of 1.

Level 4 Expert Intelligent Ape

  • Characteristics: Health +7
  • Professions: You gain 1 profession or language
  • Identity Profession: Select one of your professions to become your Identity Profession
  • Choose one of the following talents:
    • Armed for Battle: Your Strength and Agility counts as 2 higher for the purpose of meeting armor and weapon requirements.
    • Heroic Soul: You can’t gain Corruption involuntarily, such as through an attack or a trap. Instead, you heal damage equal to the corruption.
    • Dominance: You gain 1 boon on Intimidate and Taunt attacks and 1 boon to resist gaining Insanity.
    • Leaper: Triple your maximum jumping distances.
    • Legendary Relic: You gain a Relic, a powerful magical item of legend. Your DM will determine what it is.
    • Literacy: You can read any language that you speak.
    • Rising Fury: When you take damage, you make your next attack roll before the end of the next round with 1 boon.
    • Secrets of the Great Tree: Learn a new spell from the Life, Nature, Soul or Spiritualism tradition, even if you haven’t discovered that tradition.
    • Sidekick: You gain a trusty sidekick. It is made like a player character that is four levels lower (to a maximum of level 6). At the DMs permission, it might be an animal or monster or have an unusual ancestry. Sidekicks can't take this talent.
    • Silverback: You grow to size 2.
    • Survivor: Once per day when you become Injured, you may use a triggered action to heal your healing rate.
    • Quadruped Rush: When you take the Rush action, you move triple your speed.
    • War Training: You take half damage from Mobs.

Pig Demon

Pig Demons are the lowest of the low, the cannon fodder of Hell’s armies. They are notorious schemers and liars. All live in constant fear of displeasing their infernal king.

Slaves of Hell: The Bronze King Moloch is ruler of Hell and Urth and all who dwell within are his slaves. Pig Demons know this truth better than most.

Pig Demons are born in Spawning Pits of , great lakes of slop formed from the runoff of fiery Phlegethon River. Fully grown, they are pulled from the pits and given weapons, then shipped off to fight Moloch's enemies in the Lower Circles.

The 666 Legions:

Demons on Urth: Naturally, many seek to leave. Getting out of the lower realms is difficult, but not impossible. Some find cracks in the walls of Hell and sneak through the Underworld, while others trick or cajole human wizards into summoning rituals. Once on Urth, Pig Demons begin plotting to seize power from humans. The more important their targets, the more likely they are to please their king Moloch. Still, many spend so many years in the shadows that they forget all about Hell and learn to live for their own dark desires.

Gluttons and Liars: Pig Demons are naturally good at lying, plotting and scheming. Despite being built for war, Pig Demons are exceedingly cunning and much smarter than most humans. But they know better than to flaunt their superior minds, instead preferring to play dumb and flatter the egos of Humans. In addition to seeking power over mankind, Pig Demons must seek food. Once on Urth, their gluttonous appetites are hard to sate, forcing them to eat much more than even large adult humans.

Level 0 Starting Pig Demon

  • Starting Attribute Scores: Str 11, Agi 8, Int 11, Will 9
    • Optionally, -1 to one and +1 to another
  • Perception equals your Intellect score
  • Defense equals your Agility score
  • Health equals your Strength score +4
  • Healing Rate equals 1/4 your Health, round down
  • Size 1/2, Speed 8, Power 0
  • Damage 0, Insanity 0, Corruption 3
  • Professions: You gain the Slave of Hell profession and speak High Infernal
  • Demonic Being: You are a demon of Hell. You must consume twice as much food as a human in order to stay fed.
  • Silver Tongue: You gain 1 boons on all social attack roles.
  • Fiendish Resistance: You take half damage from poison and fire.

Level 4 Expert Pig Demon

  • Characteristics: Health +6
  • Professions: You gain a profession or language
  • Identity Profession: Select one of your professions to become your Identity Profession
  • Choose one of the following talents
    • Collection Mandate: Whenever you have a direct hand in killing a human, you gain 1 gold for each point of corruption they posses. You can gain up to 666 gold.
    • Demon Commander: Any demon you summon or command gains 1 boon on all attack and challenge rolls.
    • Favored of Moloch: When you die, you may plead with Moloch for another chance. Make an a Persuade challenge roll with 1 bane for each time you have used this talent. If you succeed, you are reborn at a place of Moloch’s choosing.
    • Fiendish Immunity: You are immune to damage from fire and poison and immune to the Poisoned condition.
    • Gluttonous Hog: You grow to size 1, but must consume four times as much food as a human in order to stay fed. Add your Corruption Score to your Health.
    • Goldeater: You no longer eat food or drink water, but eat only gold. Eat 1 gold coin or its equivalent each time you level up and pay living expenses. If you don't have gold to eat, you are fatigued until you do.
    • Hedonist: When you ever you intentionally gain corruption, you heal your healing rate. Once you use this talent, you must rest before you can use it again.
    • Infernal Blood: Learn a new spell from the Demonology, Enchantment, Fire or Transformation tradition, even if you haven’t discovered that tradition.
    • Legendary Relic: You gain a Relic, a powerful magical item of legend. Your DM will determine what it is.
    • Sidekick: You gain a trusty sidekick. It is made like a player character that is four levels lower (to a maximum of level 6). Its Health increases by your character level. At the DMs permission, it might be an animal or monster or have an unusual
    • Summon Feast: As an action, you summon a feast capable of feeding a number of people equal to your corruption score. Anyone who spends 10 minutes feasting heals damage equal to their healing rate and gains 1 corruption if they have less than 3. Once you use this talent, you must rest before you can use it again.
    • Warpig: You take no speed penalty from heavy armor and can wield heavy weapons like a medium creature.
    • War Training: You take half damage from Mobs.
    • Winged Swine: You gain the flier trait, but must end each turn on solid ground or fall.

Talking Cat

Ulthar, the City of Cats, is an idyllic agricultural town in the countryside of Zingara, known for its hundreds of stray cats which are revered by the townsfolk. What most outsiders don’t know, is that these are no ordinary cats, but rather intelligent beings with great magic powers who live for centuries.

Secret Kings: Even the human residents of Ulthar aren't fully aware of their feline masters. The Cats of Ulthar subtly guide and control the populace, interfacing only with the priests of the local temple. All residents of Ulthar revere the cats though, treating them kindly, feeding them and never, ever, harming them. Any human, native or outsider, who harms a cat has a tendency to dissappear. The Cats are not malicious rulers, but rather seem themselves as benovolent guides and companions to their human subjects.

Masters of Time and Space: The Cats of Ulthar have innate magick, allowing them to communicate telepathically, teleport over vast distances and control the flow of time. They are loathe to use their magick in front of untrusted humans. The Cats of Ulthar see themselves of guardians of Urth. Though they know their power is limited and their numbers few, they are able to reach across vast distances and interverne in serious threats to Urth and Mankind.

Level 0 Starting Talking Cat

  • Starting Attribute Scores: Str 5, Agi 12, Int 11, Will 10
    • Optionally, -1 to one and +1 to another
  • Perception equals your Intellect score +1
  • Defense equals your Agility score
  • Health equals your Strength score +3
  • Healing Rate equals 1/4 your Health, round down
  • Size 1/4, Speed 14, Power 0
  • Damage 0, Insanity 0, Corruption 0
  • Professions: You gain the Cat of Ulthar culture profession, Cat Communication and Common Pidgin.
  • Claws: Your unarmed strikes deal 1d3 damage instead of 1.
  • Climber: you ignore difficult terrain penalties while climbing
  • Paws: Your paws are capable of simple manipulation, but can't wield weapons or shields.
  • Shadowsight: You see in areas obscured by shadows as if those areas were lit.
  • Telepathy You can communicate telepathically with any creature you can see within medium range, so long as it is capable of langauge.

Level 4 Expert Talking Cat

  • Characteristics: Health +3, Perception +1, Speed +1
  • Professions: You gain a new profession or language
  • Identity Profession: Select one of your professions to become your Identity Profession
  • Choose one of the following talents
    • Bauble Collector: For each Enchanted Object you possess, you gain +1 Health, up to your character level. You can inspect any Enchanted Object with an action and understand its powers.
    • Black Cat: When a creature within medium range makes an attack roll against you, you can use a triggered action to impose 7 banes on the attack roll. Once you use this, you cannot do so again until you complete a rest.
    • Cat Dandy: You can wield weapons intended for size 1/4 creatures. You ignore the strength requirements of weapons and armor.
    • Cat Magick: You discover a spell from the Celestial, Telepathy, Teleportation or Time traditions. You do not need to have discovered any of these traditions.
    • Graceful Landing: You gain 2 boons on any challenge roll that would knock you prone. You can stand from prone as a triggered action after you become prone.
    • Legendary Relic: You gain a Relic, a powerful magical item of legend. Your DM will determine what it is.
    • Sidekick: You gain a trusty sidekick. It is made like a player character that is four levels lower (to a maximum of level 6). At the DMs permission, it might be an animal or monster or have an unusual ancestry. Sidekicks can't take this talent.
    • Truesight: You can see perfectly in darkness and can see invisible creatures.
    • Truespeech: You can speak and read all languages.
    • Nine Lives: When you die, you return to life with 1 hp at the start of the next round. You can use this talent 8 times and then you lose it. If some ongoing situation (such as being on fire, drowning or suffocating) would cause you die again (typically at the end of the round), you might burn through all of your lives very quickly.
    • Pounce: You ignore the bane imposed by taking the Charge action.
    • Very Cute Cat: You gain 2 boons on Befriend and Persuade rolls made against humans.

Troglodytes

The Cavepeople of Gath are terrible devolved mutants who live underground and fear the sun. It is thought they were once human, but were cursed by gods whom they insulted.

Albino Cavedwellers: Troglodytes have grey or yellow skin, white hair and great yellow eyes. Most are filthy and covered chalky white warpaint. Their teeth are are long and sharp, protruding from their mouths. Troglodytes are incredibly strong. They stand a foot taller than most humans and weigh anywhere from 200 to 400 pounds. All troglodytes fear the sun, as it makes them sick and weak.

Brutal Predators: Troglodytes live and hunt in packs, generally no larger than 20. centered around one particularly strong male of female who beats the others into submission. Troglodytes will eat anything, but prefer the warm flesh of slaughtered humans. At night, troglodytes creep out of their caves to attack caravans and camps. Incredibly simple creatures, troglodytes have only a rudimentary language that humans call Darkspeech. Some of its words are eerily similar to human words, including 'meat', leading some scholars to suspect that the troglodytes were once human.

Leaving the Caverns: Some cavepeople do leave their packs, often cast out after battles for pack supremacy. Isolated and alone, many are killed by monsters or humans while others are captured by slavers. Troglodytes make decent slaves, though their stupidity limits them to mostly physical tasks. Some Troglodytes find their way to freedom or make their way in mankind's more anarchic settlements, such as Blackport or Regium.

Level 0 Starting Troglodyte

  • Starting Attribute Scores Str 12, Agi 10, Int 8, Will 8
    • Optionally, -1 to one and +1 to another
  • Perception equals your Intellect score
  • Defense equals your Agility score
  • Health equals your Strength score
  • Healing Rate equals 1/4 your Health, round down
  • Size 1, Speed 10, Power 0
  • Damage 0, Insanity 1, Corruption 0
  • Professions: You gain the Caveman of Gath culture profession and speak Darkspeech
  • Darksight: The creature can see in areas obscured by shadows and darkness within medium range of it as if those areas were lit. Beyond this distance, the creature treats darkness as shadows and shadows as lit.
  • Sunlight Weakness: You are Impaired while you are in areas lit by sunlight. You can never learn spells from the Celestial tradition.

Level 4 Expert Troglodyte

  • Characteristics: Health +6 and Insanity +1
  • Professions: You gain a new profession or language
  • Identity Profession: Select one of your professions to become your Identity Profession
  • Choose one of the following talents
    • Baptism of Gog: You lose your Sunlight Weakness talent and take half damage from celestial light. You gain 1 corruption.
    • Bloody Frenzy: When you have the Injured affliction, you gain 1 boon on attack rolls.
    • Deranged: You are immune to the Frightened affliction. If you go mad, roll an additional time and choose which result you prefer.
    • Educated Caveman: Your intellect increases by 1, you learn to speak another language and you can read any language you speak.
    • Godkiller: Whenever you kill a creature born of Heaven, you heal your healing rate.
    • Legendary Relic: You gain a Relic, a powerful magical item of legend. Your DM will determine what it is.
    • Nocturnal Hunter: You gain 2 boons on Sneak, Hide and Perception challenge rolls from sunset to sunrise.
    • Scavenger: So long as you have space to roam, you always succeed on challenge rolls to find food and water for yourself. You can maintain the Getting By lifestyle at no cost.
    • Sidekick: You gain a trusty sidekick. It is made like a player character that is four levels lower (to a maximum of level 6). At the DMs permission, it might be an animal or monster or have an unusual ancestry. Sidekicks can't take this talent.
    • Sticks and Stones: You deal an additional 1d6 damage with improvised weapons and gain 1 boon on attack rolls with improvised weapons.
    • Subterranean: You gain the swimmer and climber traits.
    • Well Fed: You grow to size 2.

Zoogs

The strange creatures called Zoogs hail from fungal forests of Madagascar. Appearing like grotesque lemurs with tentacle covered noses, few humans have ever seen a Zoog. They are simply so strange that most humans don’t even see them, or mistake them for ugly dogs, possums or rats. Zoogs are known for their Moon Wine and for possessing magical powers over dreams and illusions. Most Zoogs are cowardly skittish creatures, but some Zoogs grow a spine and venture out into the world, perhaps even just to steal shiny objects and taste some human cooking.

Invisible Ghosts: A zoog's natural invisibility allows it hide among human societies with ease. Unhelpfully, the deranged and insane are able to see Zoogs, but this causes the sane to dismiss the existence of Zoogs as a delusion. While it's easy to fool humans, dogs are able to sniff out Zoogs and typically try to chase them away or eat them. The Zoogs have fought lengthy wars against the Cats of Ulthar, who despise the Zoogs for their insidious and secretive natures.

Dream Eaters: Many human societies do tell stories about Zoogs, calling them Dream Eaters or Nightmare Monkeys. The Jomon call them Baku. Most often, these stories are told to scare children into behaving and going to bed at an appropriate hour. While hidden in civilization, Zoogs are able to siphon energy from the dreams of sleeping humans. This leads the sleeping humans to have bad dreams, sometimes especially disturbing and scary nightmares.

Creatures of the Dreamland: Zoogs can be found all over Urth, wherever humans are, but most live secluded in the fungus forests of Pnath in Madagascar. This strange forest lies at the convergence Urth, the Dreamlands and the Underworld and possibly other realms. The Zoogs have spent ages perfecting the magickal arts of dream travel and astral gliding. If you need to leave Urth, a Zoog probably knows a nearby exit.

Level 0 Starting Zoog

  • Starting Attribute Scores Str 6, Agi 12, Int 11, Will 9
    • Optionally, -1 to one and +1 to another
  • Perception equals your Intellect score
  • Defense equals your Agility score
  • Health equals your Strength score +3
  • Healing Rate equals 1/4 your Health, round down
  • Size 1/4, Speed 12, Power 0
  • Damage 0, Insanity 0, Corruption 0
  • Professions: You gain the Lemur of Madagascar culture profession and speak Lemurian.
  • Climber: you ignore difficult terrain penalties while climbing
  • Dream Eater: If you sleep within medium range of another sleeping creature that is not a zoog, you do not need to eat or drink for a day.
  • Shadowsight: You see in areas obscured by shadows as if those areas were lit.
  • Ghost Lemur: You are invisible to humans, except those with an insanity higher than 5. As an action, you may suppress or reactivate this invisibility. After you attack, this invisibility is suppressed until you take an action to reactivate it.

Level 4 Expert Zoog

  • Characteristics Health +3, Speed +1
  • Professions: You gain a new profession or language
  • Identity Profession: Select one of your professions to become your Identity Profession
  • Choose one of the following talents
    • Dreamfeast: During a rest, you and all who sleep within medium range of you heal four times their healing rate and need not eat or drink for a day. When each sleeper wakes, they must make a strength challenge roll or be sickened for 1 hour.
    • Frightening Appearance: You gain the Frightening monster trait, it doesn't affect allies of your choice who are familiar with you.
    • Legendary Relic: You gain a Relic, a powerful magical item of legend. Your DM will determine what it is.
    • Nightmare Lord: When you use your Dream Eater talent, you may induce nightmares in the sleeper. Upon waking, they must make a Will challenge roll or gain 1d3 insanity. For each point of insanity you inflict, you do not need to eat or drink for a day.
    • Portal Sense: If you come within medium range of a passage way between different worlds (such as Urth, the Underworld, Heaven, Hell or the Dreamlands), you automatically detect it, though the specific destination is not automatically clear.
    • Quirky: For each Quirk you have, you gain 1 boon on challenge rolls to avoid gaining Insanity.
    • Sidekick: You gain a trusty sidekick. It is made like a player character that is four levels lower (to a maximum of level 6). At the DMs permission, it might be an animal or monster or have an unusual ancestry. Sidekicks can't take this talent.
    • Sneaky Creeper: you gain 2 boons on Sneak and Hide rolls.
    • Spook: Your Ghost Lemur talent applies to all creatures, except other Zoogs.
    • Spring Away: When a creature you can see gets a failure on an attack roll against your Defense or Agility, you can use a triggered action to retreat.
    • Zoog Tricks: You discover a spell from the Illusion, Shadow, Teleportation or Trickery traditions. You do not need to have discovered any of these traditions.

2: PROFESSIONS AND LANGUAGES

Using Professions

Professions describe what your character knows how to do and how your character fits into the setting. They act as cues to help you decide how your character acts, what your character can do, and what things your character knows. The Game Master will sometimes look to your professions to judge whether an activity you describe results in a success or failure. A profession could grant a success or it might grant 1 boon to your roll if the outcome isn’t clear. If you have two or more applicable professions, you might gain 2 boons on your roll.

Identity Profession

At fourth level select one of your professions as your primary, core identity. You excel at this profession more than any other, to the point where you are likely known by it, such as 'Conan the Barbarian' or 'Aladin the Thief.' Your identity can be any type of profession, including culture professions. If you have a noble or occult profession, it is likely your identity. This profession works like any other, except you are granted 2 boons on rolls related to your identity. Whenever you level up, you may reselect your identity to any profession you have.

Languages

Instead of gaining a profession, often you will have the option of gaining a language. When you first gain a language, you learn to speak it. If you can already, speak a language, you can choose it again to become literate in that language. Some classes and ancestries (such as Magicians) automatically learn to read any language they can speak.

Customizing Professions

You may choose to customize your professions or invent new ones not listed below. You might customize a profession to reflect a specific title or status such as 'Journeyman Carpenter' or 'Master Carpenter' or even 'Master of the Shandikar Carpenter's Guild'. Instead of 'Soldier' you might choose 'Hoplite of Ashod' or 'Retired Soldier'. Other professions might change over gameplay, such as 'Prince of Shem' becoming 'King of Shem' or 'Slave' becoming 'Freed Slave.' You may rename professions whenever you level up, to reflect how your skill or status has changed.

Culture Professions

Culture professions represent your exposure to particular place, people and way of living. All players begin with one culture profession that represents where they have lived most of their life. This profession allows you to blend into your home, know its customs and traditions, navigate the locale and find whatever basic services are available.

All culture professions have associated languages, refer to your ancestry to see what culture profession you begin with and what your options are.

Your starting culture profession may or may not be your actual blood heritage. For example, a man of Mundian blood born as a slave in Shandikar would take Shandikar Resident as their starting culture profession. Some ethnicities, such as Stygians and Pythians, have no living culture, and take on whatever culture they live in. Those who wish to practice the old ways must instead research and select an appropriate academic profession.

Well traveled individuals might learn additional culture professions, just like any other profession. You do not automatically learn associated languages for these additional culture professions.

Civilized Human Culture Professions

Culture Profession Associated Languages
Ashod Resident Heliot, Common Pidgin
Blackport Resident Common Pidgin
Prisoner of Leng Lengenese
Regium Mundi Resident Common Pidgin
Shandikar Resident Arch-Zingaran, Common Pidgin
Shem Resident Shemite, Common Pidgin
Yamagawa Resident Jomonese, Comon Pidgin

Barbaric Human Culture Professions

Culture Profession Associated Languages
Aztlani Raider Nahuatl, Common Pidgin
Bedobi Nomad Bedobi, Common Pidgin
Pictish Tribesman Pict, Common Pidgin
Skraelangi Clansman Skraelangi, Common Pidgin
Wasteland Gangster Common Pidgin
Xeno-Amazonian Sister Amazonian, Common Pidgin

Feral Human Culture Professions

Culture Profession Associated Languages
Dogman of Mungo Dog Communication
Raised by Bears Bear Communication
Raised by Monkeys Monkey Communication
Raised by ??? ??? Communication

Dog Culture Professions

Culture Profession Associated Languages
Domesticated Dog Dog Communication
Pariah Dog Dog Communication
Wild Dog Dog Communication

Ghoul Culture Professions

Culture Profession Associated Languages
Ghoul of Ghoultown Pnathic
Ghoul of Lepertown Pnathic, Common Pidgin

Non-Human Culture Professions

Culture Profession Associated Languages
Ape of Bandar Log Bandarkian
Babe of Heaven Words of Creation
Cat of Ulthar Cat Communication, Common Pidgin
Caveman of Gath Darkspeech
Slave of Hell High Infernal
Lemur of Madagascar Lemurian

Academic Professions

Academic professions are gained through study, education and research. Many are just collections of facts written down in books and scrolls, while others may also pertain to laboratory techniques or other methods. Your character might be self taught, but more likely they had a mentor, tutor and some sort of formal or informal education.

Whenever you gain an academic profession, you learn to read one language you speak.

Academic Professions Academic Professions
Architect Lawyer
Archaeologist Linguist
Astronomer Poet
Botanist Playwright
Cartographer Scribe
Cosmologist* Storyteller
Doctor Surgeon
Engineer Mathematician
Geologist Philosopher
Historian** Zoologist

*Heaven, Hell, The Underworld or other Hidden Realms

**Amazonia, Atlantis, Aztlan, Babylonia, Jomon, Mundia, Pythia, Shem, Skraeland, Stygia, Zingara

Common Professions

Common professions are tasks undertaken by the lowest classes, the workers and laborers, craftsman and serfs. Most people have a common profession, taken up as a hobby or in youth, even if they practice more prestigious professions.

Common Professions Common Professions
Animal Trainer Herder
Artisan* Laborer
Barkeep Merchant
Beggar Midwife
Boatman Miner
Butcher Musician
Cook Refugee
Courtesan Servant
Entertainer Shopkeeper
Farmer Slave

*Blacksmith, Bookbinder, Carpenter, Cobbler, Jeweler, Glassblower, Leatherworker, Mason, Painter, Potter, Sculptor, Tailor, Weaver

Criminal Professions

Criminals develop survival skills needed to avoid the law and make a living. Most criminals don't get rich, but they a dream of the next big job. Having a criminal profession allows you make contacts with other criminals in adjacent lines of work, such as fences for your stolen jewelry. Such networks of criminals are often informal, but are sometimes organized into gangs and cartels.

Criminal Professions Criminal Professions
Burglar Pickpocket
Carouser Pirate
Charlatan Prisoner
Fence Prostitute
Forger Rebel
Gambler Smuggler
Gangster Thief
Grave Robber Terrorist
Highwayman Spy
Murderer Thug

Martial Professions

Martial professions reflect serious training in warfare. Anyone can pick up a pistol and try to fire it, but only a soldier knows how to keep it clean and functioning. An army takes many men, each with their own tasks and roles, from grizzled veterans on the front lines, to the planners and commanders in the back.

But not all warriors are found on the battlefield, they're found in prisons, arenas, patrolling city streets and guarding property. Martial professions include any job where a weapon is a tool, where violence and or at least the threat of violence, is a solution.

Martial Professions Martial Professions
Bodyguard Militia
Cavalry Legionnaire
Crusader Peasant Conscript
Gladiator Pillager
Guard Siege Engineer
Infantryman Soldier
Jailer Squire
Knight Strategist
Officer Torturer
Mercenary Watchman

Noble Professions

Noble professions reflect your position of authority. Not all kings are equal, and indeed many sit deposed without thrones and kingdoms. Noble Professions are likely customized to your character, like Prince of Shem or Chieftain of the Wygonk Tribe. You might be an Exiled Prince or a Former Mayor.

A noble profession is not just your title though, it reflects your competency to hold that position. A particularly uninterested prince or or recently appointed duke might not have a noble profession, reflecting their lack of knowledge and experience.

Noble Professions Noble Professions
Aristocrat Merchant Prince
Chieftain Patriarch / Matriarch
Duke / Duchess Prince / Princess
Elder Senator
Emperor/ Empress Shogun
General Sultan
Lord Thane
Mayor Tribune
Judge Tyrant
King / Queen Warchief

Occult Professions

Occult Professions reflect your knowledge of the fantastic and magickal. Some occult professions like Hermetic Wizardry can be learned by anyone who finds the right books or teachers. Other occult professions reflect your initiation into a secret society, cult or priesthood. Any rogue might be able to figure out how to active Babylonian spellcrystals, but only a Crystal Mage truly understands the process of their creation. Any character taking the Magician or Priest novice paths will have at least one occult profession.

Below are only a few examples, some generic and some highly specific, see Chapter 3 for more details on religions, cults and magickal technique.

Occult Professions
Artificer
Cartomancer
Crystal Mage
Demigod Child of (any Deity)
Demonologist
Disciple of Moloch
Diyonesian Reveler
Follower of the Left Hand Path
Genie Binder
Hermetic Wizard
Initiate of the Delphinian Mysteries
Mundian Alchemist
Pictish Shaman
Priest of (any Deity)
Pythagorean Geometer
Rainbow Servant of Huzocoatl
Skraeling Skald
Snake Cultist
Stygian Necromancer
Witch

Wilderness Professions

Wilderness professions reflect your knowledge of the natural world, it's hazards and bounties. Barbarians and nomads often have wilderness professions, but so do city dwellers who find themselves traveling frequently.

Wilderness Professions Wilderness Professions
Animal* Friend Hermit
Bandit Hunter
Birder Pioneer
Caravan Driver Prospector
Clam Diver Shepherd
Explorer Spelunker
Exile Tracker
Fisherman Trapper
Gatherer Vagabond
Guide Woodcutter
  • Bigguana, Falcon, Monkey, Rat, Snake, Songbird, Vrek, Wolf or any other beast

Living Languages

The following languages are used in communities across Urth on a daily basis.

Wilderness Professions Wilderness Professions
Common Pidgin Hermit

3. CAMPAIGN SETTING


It is said that in ages past, URTH was covered in blue oceans and green forests, that mighty empires lived in peace with each other and that citizens could expect water and food, liberty and justice, peace and happiness.That world is gone.

The world has become one endless desert of sand and dust, a hellscape of ruins and ash. Rain is rare, and what does fall is quickly soaked up by the blazing RED SUN. Vegetation is sparse and stunted, trees are rare and precious, while the beasts of the wastes have become lean and predatory. Life clings to the few oases and rivers that still flow.

And where there is clean water, you can still find civilization, or whatever is left of it. The LAST CITIES are dominated by warlords, criminals and cults. Those with power do as they please, while the weak toil as slaves. Though food and water is scarce, people give sacrifice to foul gods. Everywhere they say: “Red Sun, burn this instead of me!”

Those who flee tyranny are forced into the endless wastes. The OLD WORLD is buried beneath the deserts where intrepid explorers might find the arcane treasures of lost civilizations. But beware! For the wastes are also home to anarchic gangs, terrible monsters and other forgotten dangers.

Life Under The Red Sun

Knowledge & Technology

The Last Cities of man are crumbling versions of their past glory. The water shortage makes farming difficult and arduous. Living trees are rare, so buildings are made with rock, concrete, mud or even the ‘lumber’ taken from dead, petrified forests. Plant-fiber clothing is a luxury, most people wear leather or wool.

Ironworking techniques are known, but most weapons and tools are made of bronze or copper. Black powder weapons are rare and expensive to maintain, most being antiques from fallen kingdoms or the inventions of eccentric engineers. Wagons, chariots and other vehicles are still made of wood, making them quite expensive.

The Old World’s libraries have been burned or looted. The historical record is full of holes and what is actual history and what is mere legend isn’t clear. The vast majority of people are unable to read and write and would have little need to do so.

Freedom & Slavery

Most people are either slaves or serfs, toiling for their masters or waiting to be sold. Free people maintain their liberty with weapons and wits, especially in cities where kidnappers prowl the streets at night, looking to capture drunks and foreigners. Still, most would suffer serfdom or slavery over risking death in the wastes. A typical slave sells for 1 gold coin, but might fetch more or less depending on their skills, age and health. Slaves typically wear metal collars and are marked with brands on their back to indicate their owner.

Beasts & Monsters

Many domesticated and feral animals still coexist with humans, including camels, dogs, pigs, goats, pigeons, cats, mice and other vermin. Large mammals are mostly extinct. The cow, elephant, deer and even horse, are now only creatures of legend. Instead, large domesticated reptiles act as mounts and beasts of burden. The most common is the Bigguana, a beefy quadruped suited for heavy labor and the Vrek, a fast bipedal creature suited for travelling and combat.

The vast majority of the wastes are inhospitable for any form of life, though many insects and reptiles, some exceptionally large, manage to survive on small amounts of food and water. But dangers lurk in the ruins of the Old World, including hungry giants, fiery dragons, the living dead, arcane golems, demons and other horrors.

Magick & the Gods

If the gods exist, then they are either extremely cruel or incapable. Most people have no time for religion, except to mutter a god’s name as an expletive or to celebrate an annual festival. Priests and magi are avoided by the common folk and with good reason. In the Last Cities there are countless temples dedicated to foul gods and demons where priests offer sacrifice, often in the form of human flesh, to learn magickal secrets. Few, if any, of these cults could be described as benevolent, but many kings rely on these organizations to stomp out chaos and disorder. Most common folk despise the priests, both for their bloody sacrifices and their hoarded wealth.

If priests are reviled, then magicians are outright feared. While a few academies have maintained their traditions, most magi are renegades relying on pilfered tomes and ancient artifacts. These sorcerers have no masters, making them dangerous and unpredictable to the common folk. But when the peasants do manage to stand up for themselves, it isn’t uncommon to see witches burning in the streets.

The Last Cities of Urth

Ashod, Citadel of Rust

When the sun turned red, the mighty Heliots of Ashod were prepared. All Heliot citizens of Ashod must complete mandatory military training and continued citizenship depends on readiness for war. Those who fail their training are cast out or tossed into Krypteros, the Pit of Death. Ashod is ruled by two kings and two royal dynasties, House Ajax and House Saturnus. The kings are equal in power and succession falls to the eldest male that has completed his military service. The kings mostly abide the decisions of their generals and the council of elders.

Bandar Log, City of Apes

Most men think the city only a legend, but there is much truth in the stories. In ages past, Man and Ape fought wars against each other, and the defeated Apes retreated into the jungles of Afrika. Bandar Log is hidden deep within the Kongo Jungles and built around an enormous tree, said to be the oldest on Urth. Many clans of apes guard the Great Tree and the jungle, fighting amongst each other, believing a state of constant war will keep them vigilant and prepared for when the humans return.

Blackport, City of Thieves

Blackport was once a notorious pirates cove, but now the bay and docks are replaced with salt flats and a graveyard of shipwrecks. Blackport is an anarchic shithole of filth and debauchery, an endless carnival of public drunkenness. Blackport has no government, but various Pirate Kings control territory through gangs. Many escaped slaves and criminals flee to Blackport seeking a fresh start.

Byzantium, City of Empire

Built at the strategic crossroads of Europa, Asia Minor and Afrika, the city of Byzantium is the final remnant of the great Mundian Empire. When the empire was ravaged by famine and raiders, the last Emperor abandoned Regium to the Gulgoth barbarians and relocated his court to Byzantium. The temple of the emperors, the Sancta Sophia, remains one of the largest buildings on Urth and a final monument of the thousand year old empire. While the empire has crumbled, Byzantium retains its place as the crossroads of the world and center of trade.

Gor, City of Skulls

The Warlord of Gor maintains something resembling a city on PLACE. Known as the City of Skulls, the brutal tyrant has impaled thousands of human heads on pikes encircling the settlement. No fortifications exist, and the Warlord lives in a great tent, as is traditional of the XYZ Nomads.

Leng, The Hidden City

The Plateau of Leng lies in the far southern reaches of the world, consumed in eternal windstorms of salt and ice. Somewhere on that grey plateau lies the the Hidden City. No outsiders ever visit Leng, but refugees recount lives of terrible slavery in the mines of a hellish underground prison where the only food is boiled centipedes. Survivors speak in hushed tones of their former overlords, the Hidden Masters, silent wizards who wear yellow robes and are too tall to be mere humans.

Persopolis, City of Fire

All that remains of the great Parthian Empire is it's summer capital, Persopolis. Fires burn day and night atop the cities tall towers, and also within the Temple of Eternal Fire where eunuch priests worship the Red Sun. Persolpolis is a highly stratified city. The vast majority of people in Persopolis are foreign born slaves bought as young boys, who live miserable lives of toil in barren farms and dangerous mines. Women are rare in Persopolis, they are either foriegn concubines or native Parthian noblewomen. It is said the Sultan Owns 100,000 slaves, including 1,000 concubines and 10,000 Jannisaries, a special caste of warrior elite who are sworn to never speak a lie.

Regium Mundi, City of Rats

The world’s largest empire, the Imperium of Mundia was destroyed by 100 years of civil war and rebellion, culminating with the capital of Regium Mundi burning to the ground. Today, the old capital is a hollow ruin contested by violent gangs and the crumbling Great Coliseum is a leper colony. Those who don’t join the gangs and don’t have leprosy, live in the shanty towns outside the old walls and venture into the ruins to hunt for rats and ratdogs or the ultimate catch: an old cache of fine Mundian wine.

Shandikar,

City of Wickedness

Even before the drought, Shandikar was home to Urth’s largest slave markets. Shandikar is ruled by the godless Zingaran Guild-Lords, an oligarchy of the city’s wealthiest merchants and oldest Zingaran families. It is said you can buy anything in Shandikar’s markets. Even assassins do open business, protected by their guild charter. The coin determines prestige in Shandikar and money lenders are all too eager to entrap the destitute into scams and slavery.

Shem, City of Gods

When the old kingdoms fell, many people fled to Shem and brought their idols with them. Today, the King of Shem still maintains his palace and royal guard, but the city itself is controlled by countless, squabbling cults. Shem’s temple district has a strange skyline of mismatched towers, pyramids, temples and ziggurats. Looming largest is the Temple of Moloch, where the high priests immolate human sacrifices inside a giant brass idol.

Oasis, City of Freedom

Beneath the floating ruin of Babylon lies a a great lake and a ramshackle settlement known as Oasis. Fed by a great waterfall from the ruin above, a lush forest of fruit trees and fertile land has given new life to the barren desert. While the city itself is still new, it has become a haven for wastelanders, barbarians, escaped slaves and outlaws. The defacto ruler of the Oasis is the bandit king Green Jack, leader of the Greenjacks, though he works closely with a group of Xeno-Amazon Battle Maidens. The only rules in the Oasis are no stealing, no murder, no slavery, no going to floating ruin and all refuse must go to the designated trash dump.

Ulthar, City of Cats

North of Shandikar is a forgotten little village that few travel to. The people of Ulthar are simple folk and have a meager life as fishermen and potato farmers. Any visitor will notice an over abundance of cats, some friendly and some skittish. But these are no ordinary cats, they are magickal creatures who can see across time and space. The talking cats will reveal themselves to noble heroes or innocents who are in need of protection. Anyone who harms a cat in Ulthar is said to disappear without a trace.

Yamagawa, City of Clouds

When the famines struck, the mad emperor of Jomon ordered his samurai to execute half of the peasantry. After a short civil war, the fortified mountain retreat of Yamagawa Castle was the only city left standing. The Supreme Shogun rules the fortress and is said to possess a sacred power called ‘The God Fist’. Jomon society is still divided in two castes of noble warriors and peasants. Yamagawa is closed to uninvited foreigners and the deposed royal family. But if you need a good sword, you can’t beat Jomon steel.

The Fallen Kingdoms of the Old World

Alexandria, Jewel of the World

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Assyria, Empire of Clay

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Atlantis,

the Drowned Kingdom

Long, long ago, the ancient kingdom of Atlantis was drowned beneath the oceans in a cataclysm. No one has ever met an Atlantean, but their strange ruins can be found, buried under fossilized coral and sediment. Adventurers who have explored the ruins tell tales of complex fortresses filled with traps and strange devices, including enormous golems of marble and metal that attack all intruders.

Aztlán, the Kingdoms of Blood

Aztlán was once a lush jungle before the drought. Many warring kingdoms fought endless wars and murdered their prisoners atop great basalt pyramids to appease their bloodthirsty gods. Those green jungles burned in the drought, nothing but the toxic, thorny, strangleweed grows in Aztlán now. The drought accelerated the cycle of war and sacrifice, pushing the kingdoms into anarchy. Refugees fled in all directions, leaving behind their bloody pyramids, but taking their demonic cults with them.

Babylonia, Towers of Heaven

Babylonia was once a land of marvelous floating towers, palaces and gardens. It is said that the Wizards of Babylon attempted to build a tower into Heaven, and for their crime, the gods shattered their kingdom with tremendous earthquake, lightning and thunder. Today, the Babylonians are dispersed across Urth in a vast diaspora. Many believe the floating towers may still be out there in the sandstorms, waiting to be reclaimed.

Lemuria, the Black Crystals

East of the jungles of Madagascar, deep in the white sands of the Indus Desert, lie the Black Crystals of Lemuria. Enormous black crystal edifices rise out of the desert on moonless nights and emit an eerie green glow. Terrible horrors, known as Nightmare Machines lurk in those cursed tombs, waiting to destroy the minds of mortal men. Strangely, the machines speak the language of the Zoogs of Madagascar, though the ghost lemurs claim ignorance of their neighbors and refuse to speak of them.

Mundia, The Eternal Empire

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Pythia, the Serpent Kingdoms

In their temples, the ancient kings and priests of Pythia worshiped giant snakes and fed the reptile overlords with human slaves in exchange for magickal power. Some say that the naga grew too hungry and eventually devoured everyone. Today, Pythians and their serpent cults can still be found in Shem and Shandikar.

Punt, the River of Gold

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Phonecia, Kingdom of Sails

The ancient Phonecian cities of Tyre, Sidon, Antioch and Bylbos were home to Urths first shipyards. Skilled shipbuilders and sailors, many of the great cities along the Mungo Salt wastes were founded by colonists and traders from Phonecia, including the great city of Ashod. It is said that in antiquity, more phonecians lived on boats than lived in their cities. When the sun turned red, the seas quick shrank and their mercantile empire collapsed. Suddenly penileless refugees, many died from deprivation or strife. Those who survived fled to foriegn cities or joined up with the increasing hordes of bandits raiders in the wastes.

Stygia, Kingdom of the Dead

Stygia is among the oldest kingdoms on Urth. For milleniums, the God-Pharaohs of Stygia expanded their empire along the fertile banks of the River Styx, from delta on the Mungo Sea to the grasslands of Nubia. They built great pyramids and tombs for themselves, where the high priests perfected the black arts of necromancy and mummification. When the Sun turned red, the Styx turned black and foul, and the kingdom quickly descended into famine and chaos. The people of Stygia murdered their kings and fled to foreign lands. Today, most Stygians live in Shem, but they can be found all across the Urth. Many speak of ancient treasures sealed in the pyramids, but also of terrible undead monsters who continue to defend the tombs.

The Thracian League

The Thracian League was a loose confederation of city states along the Agean Sea including fabled cities like Athens, Pellagea, Ithica, Ephesus, Miletus, Rhodes and Thebes. These cities were renowned centers of learning, including mathematics, engineering and philosophy. Some cities were ruled by kings and tyrants while others were ruled by councils or senates of citizens. The great conqueror Alexander united the cities of Thracia and led an army across the known world, conquering lands as war east as Parthia and Pythia and as far south as Stygia. After his death, his empire fractured into kingdoms ruled by his generals and allies. In the ages since, the cities have been part of many empires, including the recent Mundian Empire and all now lay in ruin.

Nomads of the Endless Wastes

The Bedobi Camel Herders

The Bedobi are a nomads who organize in small family clans. For thousands of years, the camel herders have guided camels and goats from oasis to oasis as the seasons change. They are known for fine camel hair textiles and skill at mounted archery. They will trade with friendly outsiders, but do not seek them out.

The Wastelanders

The Cavemen of Uratu

The Dog-Men of Mungo

Mungo was a great ocean, but today it is a desert of pure salt. The Mungans are primitive nomads who roam the desert with packs of wild dogs, hunting anything that moves. Most of the time they prefer to behave as wild dogs, mingling in the greater pack. The Mungans have no religion, no myths, no art, no stories. Most of the Dog-Men speak rudimentary pidgin, but prefer not to. The Dog-Men avoid other humans and they are frequently targeted by Zingaran slavers who consider them an easy catch.

The Pict Tribes

The Red Sun transformed the forests of the Picts into a graveyard of petrified trees. Growing desperate, the nomadic tribes banded together under a single warchief and sacked the Imperium of Mundia, repeatedly, leading to that empire’s collapse. “Pict” is a Mundian word that means ‘painted one’, which describes the Pict’s terrifying warpaint. The Picts worship animal spirits and clothe themselves in trophies and totems.

The Skraeling Barbarians

In the old world, the Skraelings were master boat builders and fearsome pirates who grew rich from pillaging their neighbors. When the oceans dried up, Skraeling culture collapsed. Without the ability to travel great distances, the Skraeling clans began raiding each other. Today, Skraelings can still be found in the wastes, living in small nomadic tribes, but most live in chains. Skraeling slaves are highly prized for their muscular physiques.

The Scythaean Lizardlords

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The Xeno-Amazons

The Sisterhood is a crusading gang that has declared war against slavery and patriarchy. Taking inspiration from the Amazons of legend, the Sisters raid the cities of Urth, killing slavers and freeing slaves. Only women and eunuchs are initiated into the Sisterhood, and the most extreme members believe in murdering all men.

The Five Realms

The Red Sun shines from Heaven, the Realm of the Gods, below which lies Urth, the Realm of Man, below which lies the Underworld, the Realm of the Dead, below which lies Hell, the Realm of the Damned.

Heaven

The Heavens vault above Urth. Angels live amongst the clouds and each star is the realm of one the Gods of Heaven. Heaven and Urth are said to touch on the highest mountain tops, such as the Holy Mountain of Shem, Mount Fuji, Mount Kailash, Mount Olympus, Mount Telamon, Sagarmatha and others.

The High Heavens, the stars of the night sky, are each a Paradise. Some Paradises are great palaces, towers or castles, some are luxurious gardens filled with endless fruit and rivers of wine. Some are pristine wilderness, untouched by civilization and some are realms of pure color and light. Some are ruled by great gods, others are home to hosts of angels and some remain empty and perfect in their emptiness.

A mortal's soul can only pass through the Gates of the High Heavens in death. While each mortal's soul is made of Heaven, it is shackled in the dirt of the Urth. Indeed, trying to pass through the Gates themselves will destroy any mortal body. Throughout the ages, many great heroes and holy men have died and ascended to Heaven, only to be reborn with a divine mandate from the gods. But such figures are rare, most mortal souls will never reach heaven and most of its Gods turn away from the world.

The Red Sun hangs in the High Heavens. It is Heaven's Judgement. The Men of Urth have grown decadent and sinful. They enslave each other and worse, they willingly enslave themselves to the demons of Hell, permanetly corrupting their divine souls.

The Low Heavens are closer to Urth, they contain the winds and clouds. While most of the Low Heavens are empty, hidden among the clouds are Celestial Gatehouses, great fortresses filled with angels who guard the way to the High Heavens.

Angels sometimes guard the places where Urth and Heaven draw close, the peaks of the greatest mountains, such as the Holy Mountain of Shem, Mount Fuji, Mount Kailash, Mount Olympus, Mount Telamon, Sagarmatha and others. The floating citadels of Babylonia touch the Low Heavens and their Great Tower of Babel tried to reach the High Heavens, but was destroyed before it was completed.

The Foul Gods of Urth

The following pantheons and cults are just some of the many religions of Urth. Characters taking the Priest Novice Path must select one of these options or invent a new one. The traditions listed for each god or cult are those most commonly learned. A priest might learn other traditions through lost teachings or heretical subversion.

Ashod Death Cult

Heliots of Ashod do not worship gods, believing they must be strong enough to defend themselves. There is only a single priesthood in Ashod, the priests of Krypteros, priests of the Pit of Death. In Ashod, all are equal in death and all are tossed into Krypteros, whether they be thief or king. Heliot citizens live apart from the Kryptot priests. The priests of Krypteros oversee funerals and executions at the pit and are often tasked by the Kings of Ashod with hunting criminals.

Krypteros Traditions...
Death, Earth, Shadow

Aztlán Pantheon

These demons were worshiped in the jungles and pyramids of Aztlán. All of the Aztlán gods demand blood sacrifice, often involving the removal of the heart, flaying of skin, decapitation or cannibalism. Today, most of the exiles of Aztlán are glad the pyramids lie in ruin, but small cults still practice the old rituals.

Deity Traditions* Associated with...
Ai’Ap’Ak, The Decapitator Battle, Forbidden, Water sex, axes, torture, floods, blood, spiders, crabs, demons
Huzocoatl, The Hummingbird Illusion, Nature, Primal birds, rainbows, flowers, bees, hallucinogens
Baba'Xilbaba, the Corn Queen Alchemy, Earth, Nature corn, farming, pregnancy, fecundity, cooking, potions, poisons
Tezcatlipoca, The Smoking Mirror Divination, Shadow, Transformation the moon, darkness, scrying, obsidian, were-jaguars
Quetza'Kuku, The Feathered Serpent Air, Order, Storm winds, tornadoes, rulership, wisdom, conch shells, snakes, parrots
Xototl, the Skeleton King Curse. Death, Necromancy the underworld, the dead and undead, graves, dogs
Yapa’Totot, The Bleeding Sun Celestial, Fire, Life birth and rebirth, the Red Sun, flaying, human hearts

*Any Priest who worships an Aztlán god may also select Demonology as a tradition.

Bandarkian Mysticism

Not all intelligent apes are blood thirsty warriors. The maharishis of the Great Tree practice a primordial magick tied to the ebb and flow of life in the jungle. By calming their souls, they are able to heal wounds, control plants and channel animal spirits.

Bandarkian Mysticism Traditions...
Life, Nature, Soul, Spiritualism

Pictish Druidism

Unlike the Shamans who dwell within in Pict tribes, the Druids live completely isolated and shun contact with outsiders. Most picts fear the druids, well aware that they periodically kidnap tribesmen for initiation or ritual sacrifice. Animals instinctively flee from these cultists. Fear and madness drive these murderous priests, as they believe their bloody rites appease terrible unnamed beings that dwell in the wilderness.

Cult of the... Traditions Associated with...
Bog Bathers Earth, Necromancy, Water sacrificial drowning, bog-mummification, mud bathing, mud drinking
Mold Smokers Alchemy, Death, Forbidden sacrificial suffocation, mold, fungus, poison, sickness, smoking pipes
Green King Chaos, Nature, Protection ritual decapitation, mistletoe, trees, axes, wood masks, green face paint
Monolith Celestial, Conjuration, Time ritual blood drinking, standing stones, star watching, the moon and stars, solstices, monster summoning
White Maidens Alteration, Curse, Song castration rituals, seduction, murder, shapeshifting, white gowns, song and dance
Wicker Man Destruction, Fire, Life sacrificial immolation, wicker idols, golden sickle, wild grains

*All druids can select the Madness tradition.

The Iron God Titanus

Some Atlantean Automata worship the great colossus as a god of war, whom they call Titanus. The priests of the Iron God proclaim that Titanus will soon rise from the Urth, and crush Humanity beneath its feet. Priests of Titanus despise humans and animals and think all creatures of flesh and blood should be destroyed. They often wear human skulls as holy symbols.

Titanus' Traditions...
Battle, Destruction, Metal, Technomancy

Jomon Ancestor Worship

All castes of Jomon society, whether they be noble, serf or outcast, pay respects to their ancestors through funeral ceremonies and family shrines. Many shrines incorporate talismans of important deceased ancestors, such as suits of of scrolls, armor, swords, or even mummified hands. Jomon priests act as intermediaries between the living and the dead, but many of the priesthood wander the countryside of the old empire, tending to the shrines and graveyards of the millions killed by the civil war. Each new tradition a Jomon priest learns represents a connection to a different ancestor.

Jomon Ancestor Worship Traditions...
Battle, Celestial, Divination, Metal, Protection, Spiritualism

Mundian Mystery Cults

The official state religion of the Imperium was Mundus Invictus or “Mundia Unconquered”, a military brotherhood that exalted warfare and worshiped the emperor as a living god. Other minor mystery cults, often of Thracian origin, existed in the empire. These secretive cults still persist across Urth, though the state religion has fallen into disrepute after the collapse of the empire, with most adherents living in the city of Byzantium.

Mystery Cult Traditions Associated with...
Diyonesian Bacchanalia Enchantment, Nature, Song orgies, revelry, wine, nudity, the wilderness, beasts, birds
Delphinian Mysteries Divination, Illusion, Water Oracles, soothsaying, the oceans, dolphins, mermaids
Mundus Invictus Battle, Order, Protection the emperor and empire, soldiers, warfare, brotherhood, eagles
Mysteria Amphibia Curse, Forbidden, Life mutations, deformity, rebirth, healing, the sick and weak, frogs, snakes, spirals
Pythagoreanism Divination, Order, Rune numerology, calendars, clocks, regular polyhedrons, circles
Virgins of Samothrace Life, Song, Theurgy virginity, purity, healing, children, music, dance, doves

Parthian Fire Cult

The Parthian eunuch priests, known as Mazdayans, worship Ahura Mazda, the name they give to the Red Sun. They preach of the eternal struggle between light and darkness, truth and lies, Heaven and Hell. Mazdayazna is a strict religion, that teaches all will be judged by their deeds after they die, the righteous will join Ahura Mazda in the House of Song and the evil will be cast into the Abyss. Lying is considered the greatest crime for the priests, resulting in them being burned at the stake. Mazadayans are trained from the young age of 5, when they are selected from noble houses and castrated. They are strict monotheists and do not engage in idolatrous worship of other gods. The high priests of Ahura Mazda tend to the Eternal Flame in their temple in Persopolis, while younger priests tend to ancient fire temples in the ruined cities of the empire.

Mazdayazna Traditions...
Air, Celestial, Fire, Life, Song, Theurgy

Pictish Shamanism

The wild pictish tribes worship a wide variety of animal, plant and nature spirits. They give these beings names like Great Mother Sky, Great Corncob, Great Black Wolf or even simpler names like Coyote, Turtle and Crow. Each domain that a Pict Priest selects represents one of these nature spirits. Shamans often construct totem poles that contain all of their personal guardian spirits. Many also wear masks that channel their totem spirits.

Pictish Shamanism Traditions...
Air, Earth, Fire, Life, Nature, Primal, Spiritualism, Storm, Transformation, Water

Pythian Snake Cults

While the serpent kingdoms lie in ruin, snake cults still persist in Shem, Shandikar and other hidden places. The cults maintain and worship the ‘Living Gods’, terrible giant serpents who feast on human flesh. The Pythian priests believe that these creatures are children of Python, the great serpent slain by the Shemmite god Marduk. In exchange for sacrifices, the serpents bestow dark magic powers upon their disciples.

Pythian Snake Cult Traditions...
Chaos, Curse, Death, Enchantment, Forbidden, Illusion, Life, Nature, Primal, Telepathy, Transformation

Shemmite Pantheon

These gods were once worshiped across the lands of Shem, Phonecia and Assyria and Babylonia, but today most of their cults reside in Shem. The people there make sacrifices of food or flesh, hoping to gain favor with the gods and their priests. Many highborn consider it a great honor to give their children to the cults, either to be ritually sacrificed or trained as an acolyte. Most common foik find these practices deranged or repulsive, they avoid the priests and their temples. It is said even the king fears the priests of Moloch and their burning brass idol.

Deity Traditions Associated with...
Dagon, the Green One Nature, Primal, Water Fertility, agriculture, irrigation, grain, rivers, fish, pigs, demons
Enoch, The Ancient Watcher Celestial, Conjuration, Theurgy Words of Creation, teaching, writing, Heaven, stars, moon, angel summoning
Innana, Queen of Beauty Battle, Enchantment, Song war, lust, beauty, flowers, summer, butterflies, bees, honey, mead
Ishtar, Queen of Heaven Air, Celestial, Order the four winds, four cardinal directions, rulership, wisdom, eagles, winged bull
Marduk, The Dragon Hunter Battle, Destruction, Metal war, the arena, the wind, arrows, swords, monster hunts
Melqart, Guardian of the Dead Earth, Spiritualism, Water, The Underworld, Graveyards, Tombs, Spirits of the Dead, Stone, Wells, Turtles
Moloch, The King of Hell and Urth Demonology, Fire, Order Hell, immolation, cows, demons, brass, slavery, civilization, rulership
Pazazu, the Demon Mother Demonology, Life, Protection mothers, doctors, healing, pregnancy, protective amulets, demon summoning
Tymorah, The Mother of Chaos Chaos, Madness, Storm tornados, thunder, lighting, famines, locust, dragons, monsters

Shemmite Archangels

Many common people of Shem make informal prayers to seven great Archangels who are said to reside in the high heavens and serve as guardians of humanity. The deity Enoch was said to among their number, but was cast out for fornicating with the daughters of man and teaching them to read and write. These angels have no temples, priesthood or rites associated with them. Sometimes they answer mortal prayers for deliverance, but mostly they do not. Rarely, they bless mortal champions with their power. More often, hermetic wizards learn their names and sigils to seize their power directly.

Archangel Traditions* Associated with...
Azrael, Angel of Death Air, Curse, Death
Barachiel, Angel of
Gabriel, Angel of Revelation Celestial, Divination, Song
Michael, Angel of Judgment Battle, Fire, Order
Raphael, Angel of Resurrection Life, Soul, Water
Zadekiel, Angel of Mercy Illusion, Protection, Telepathy,

*Any Priest blessed by an archangel may also select Theurgy as a tradition.

Shemmite Demon Cults

These demons are not worshipped in public temples, but more often by lone cultists or secretive cults. These demons reside in hell, and most vascilate between being servants and rivals of Moloch, the king of hell.

Demon Traditions* Associated with...
Baal, Lord of Flies Forbidden, Necromancy, Madness Flies, Maggots, Zombies, Plague, Decay, conjoined twin of Zebul
Buer, President of the Gates Battle, Fire, Primal Lions, warfare, the gates of hell
Lilith, Daughter of Deception Enchantment, Illusion, Shadow Adultery, prostitutes, lust, moonless nights, bats, succubi and incubi
Mammon, Treasurer of Hell Metal, Adultery, prostitutes, lust, moonless nights, bats, succubi and incubi
Pwyfylwyg, Watcher in Darkness Destruction, Shadows, Telepathy tentacles, eyeballs, invisible monsters,
Zebul, Lord of Lies Enchantment, Illusion, Trickery Insanity, Lies, Murder, Conspiracy, conjoined twin of Baal

*Any cultist of a demon prince may select the Demonology tradition.

Skraeling Pantheon

The Skraelings worship a pantheon of hero-gods through a rich oral history of epic sagas and morality tales. Skraeling religion is not based around ceremony or sacrifice, but instead practiced with the community through informal prayers, song and storytelling. Skraeling skalds willingly share these stories with anyone who will listen and many of the tales have become popular across Urth. The skalds also pass down the incantations that allow one to invoke the power of these ancient gods.

Deity Traditions* Associated with...
Hrunga, The Old Witch Curse, Enchantment, Forbidden witchcraft, curses, hags, widows, mutants, frogs, black cats
Kromm, The Thunder King Air, Battle, Storm war, wind, thunder, lightning, spears, shields, kings
Strankji, The Trickster Illusion, Teleportation, Transformation cleverness, games of chance, dance, romance, jokes
Vanjir, The Wounded Wolf Chaos, Primal, Transformation The wastes, wild beasts, starvation, madness, berserkers
Wotan, The Hanged King Death, Rune, Water boats, language, alphabet, the underworld, ravens, funerals

*Any Priest who worships a Skraeling god may also select Song as a tradition.

Stygian Pantheon

Stygia was theocracy ruled by dynasties of God-Pharaohs, many of whom were deified. The last God-Pharoah, Amon-Hotep XI and his high priests were murdered when the Styx turned black and the kingdom descended into famine and revolt. What remains of the Stygian religion takes the form of secretive cults, mostly in the city of Shem, where the priests still pass down sacred texts and teach the dark arts of mummification and necromancy. Most Stygians have long abandoned their old gods and many initiates come from far away lands.

Deity Traditions* Associated with...
Amon-Hotep, the Sun King Air, Celestial, Fire the red sun, rulership, desert winds, Heaven, hawk-man
Anub-Shatar, The Gatekeeper Death, Order, Spiritualism the underworld, Gates of Hell, judgment, souls, jackal-man
Bathora, The Lion Queen Battle, Primal, Transformation warfare, motherhood, bravery, wild beasts, lion-woman
Khnum-Ru, the Elephant King Battle, Destruction, Earth conquest, fortifications, roads, sieges, earthquakes, rams, elephant-man
Jezbethaphet, Queen of the Styx Curse, Enchantment, Water the Styx, water, sirens, seduction, hippo-woman
Nyarlath-Hotep, The Black King Chaos, Demonology, Madness the void beyond the stars, chaos, nightmares, secrets, swarms of worms, leeches
Set, the Usurper Chaos, Earth, Fire deserts, sandstorms, infernos, earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes, anteater-man
Sobrek, the Crocodile King Destruction, Transformation, Water feasting, sex, masculinity, pain, injury, shapeshifting, crocodile-man
Thoth-Hermes, The Thrice-Great Arcana, Divination, Life wizardry, knowledge, immortality, scribes, ibis-man

*Any Priest who worships a Stygian god may also select Necromancy as a tradition.

Thracian Pantheon

Thrace was a prosperous republic that revered great titans that purportedly reside on Mount Olympus. These titans were fickle and unpredictable, the people of Thrace had many stories about their gods coming down from the mountain and masquerading as mortals. Jupiter was the chief god of the Thracians. Stories tell how he waged war in heaven against his father, Saturn. Few people still worship these Olympians, few even remember their names. When Thracia was conquered by the Mundian Empire, their cults declined.

Deity Traditions* Associated with...
Atlas, the Mountain King Alteration, Earth, Protection the Atlas Mountains, Atlantis, burdens, holding up heaven, suffering, dirt and soil
Jupiter, King of Olympus Air, Storm, Theurgy lightning, storms, thunder, Heaven, wisdom, judgment
Neptune, King of the Ocean Primal, Storm, Water the oceans and seas, fish, tempests, hurricanes
Pluton, King of the Underworld Death, Life, Nature the Underworld, life, death and rebirth, the passing of seasons
Prometheus, King of Fire Alchemy, Fire, Metal forges, metalurgy, artifice, giver of fire to man, volcanoes
Saturn, The Harvest King Nature, Order, Time agriculture, harvest, autumn, law and order, fatherhood
Venus-Aphrodisia, God of Love Enchantment, Song, Trickery beauty, love, the arts, the Muses, dancing, swans, clams, pearls,

Magicians of Urth

While training in a priesthood is one of the surest methods of learning magic, there are other ways. A player taking the Magician Path (or a Rogue with magical Power) should select one (or more) of these methods below or invent a new one. Some magi focus on a single technique, while others dabble in a variety of methods. Each method has suggested traditions, but these are not mandatory for Magicians, who are free to choose any tradition.

Alchemy

Most know that alchemists attempt to turn dirt into gold, but the true secret of alchemy, the Magnum Opus, is transmuting ones soul from mortal to immortal. In the past, there existed secret orders of alchemists, many of whom led double lives as advisors to kings. If such an order still exists today, it hides itself from the world. Today’s so called ‘alchemists’ know nothing of the secret order and put their alchemical skills to more practical uses in commerce and violence.

Implements: potions, acids, poisons, chemistry labs

Traditions: Alchemy, Alteration, Fire, Water

Atlantean Magitech

When the oceans dried up, the lost kingdom of Atlantis was rediscovered. The colossal ruins hold advanced technology which archeologists call ‘Magitech’. These devices often hold countless secrets that can be unlocked and discovered, but once an objects secrets have all been learned, an aspiring artificer will often begin modifying and upgrading his artefacts.

Implements: clockwork, golems, machines, tridents

Traditions: Arcana, Metal, Storm, Technomancy

Aztláni Skullwarping

Skullwarping was perfected over countless generations In the old kingdoms of Aztlan. By feeding a child magical herbs and binding their skull with cords and plates, the child’s brain develops magickal powers. As an adult, holes are often drilled into the skull, to allow this power to be unleashed. Unlike the other ‘High Arts’, which require skill and training, the skullwarper accesses their magick through self mutilation and the spilling of blood. It is said that even in death, the deformed skull still contains magickal power.

Implements: knives, chains, skulls, bones, blood

Traditions: Alteration, Battle, Forbidden, Life

Babylonian Crystallography

The wizards of Babylonia’s floating towers invented a unique method of enchanting crystals with magickal power. A crystal-mage can inscribe dozens of spells within the lattices of a single crystal. By reciting phrases in ancient Babelog, one can retrieve magical energy out of the crystal and cause devastating magical effects. A different colored crystal is used for each tradition the magi learns.

Implements: crystals in crowns, staves and swords

Traditions: Air, Arcana, Destruction, Rune

Cartomancy

Using a magickal deck of cards, a cartomancer can divine the future, curse his enemies and summon mythical beasts. By shuffling and drawing a card, the Cartomancer gains insight into fate of the world and its inhabitants. Many different kinds of decks exist. Some depict archetypal symbols like kings, towers and fools. Other decks feature heroes, gods and monsters from Skraeling or Stygian legends.

Implements: deck of magic cards

Traditions: Chaos, Conjuration, Curse, Divination

Demonic Blood

As a pig demon ages, their blood grows potent and foul, often resulting in strange new mutations and powers. Some demons learn to change their shapes, others to belch fire and while some learn to enchant mortal minds. Rarely, humans and or other creatures posses demonic blood, usually as a result of a deal with a demon or a cursed bloodline. Such mortals often have twisted forms and posses many Marks of Darkness.

Implements: Blood, Marks of Darkness, Mutations

Traditions: Demonology, Enchantment, Fire, Transformation

Ghostly Possession

Ghosts and other restless spirits sometimes inhabit a living mortal’s body rather than moving on to the afterlife. Possession can be unwanted, accidental or intentional. Often the ghost was known in life, a sibling, parent, friend or lover. Some dark magi summon the ghosts of ancient wizards to gain their power, but such arrangements are dangerous and the magi risks losing control.

Implements: bones, lock of hair, keepsakes, heirlooms

Traditions: Air, Death, Spiritualism, Telekinesis

The Ghoul Curse

The Cannibal Curse can bestow strange powers upon those who give into their desire to eat dead flesh. The more rotten meat the ghoul consumes, the more it's flesh warps and the more it forgets it's past life. The oldest of ghouls display inexplicable supernatural power.

Implements: bones, skulls, vials of blood, skin suits

Traditions: Alteration, Death, Forbidden, Shadow

Godspawn

Most gods are distant entities, if they exist at all. But from time to time, they descend (or ascend) to the mortal realm and fornicate with men, women, beasts, trees, rivers or whatever else they might fancy. Their offspring are demigods of great power. Some godspawn look like normal, while others appear monstrous. Not all deities have mortal children. Cults dedicated to Aztlani demons or Shemmite gods conduct rituals to create such unions. Thracian or Skraeling gods disguise themselves to abduct or seduce beautiful mortals. Some Godspawn are unaware of their heritage and most have a difficult or hostile relationship to their parent and parent’s priesthood.

Implements: divine weapons or objects

Traditions: Any tradition granted by the divine parent

Hashashi Mysticism

The Hashashi are a mystical order of assassins and spies. Their agents take a vow of secrecy, while the most devoted assassins take a vow of silence, sewing their mouths shut. Central to practice of Hashashi mysticism is in the smoking of hashih and vision quests through the dreamlands. Many Hashashini live double lives, spending years living under fake identities, waiting and preparing for murders that are decades in the making. Their hidden fortress is said to lie somewhere in the Himilyan Mountains.

Implements: hashish, pipes, swords, veils

Traditions: Alchemy, Illusion, Shadow, Trickery

Hermeticism & Emerald Tablet

The ancient sorcerer Thoth-Hermes is said to have learned the names of all the angels of Heaven by watching the movements of the stars and that he inscribed his knowledge on 400 emerald tablets. For centuries, these secrets were closely guarded by Stygian priests, but today copied fragments of the Emerald Tablet can be found across Urth. The principle of Hermeticism is symmetry: “As Is Above, So Is Below”. The hermetic wizard aligns events on earth with the stars of Heaven by drawing magic circles and inscribing the names of angels and demons. By using these principles, the wizard achieves the three ‘High Arts’ of Abjuration, Conjuration and Divination.

Implements: magic circles, grimoires, wands, mirrors

Traditions: Arcana, Divination, Conjuration, Protection

The Left Hand Path

While the Hermetic Technique can be put to great good, it can be twisted for sinister purposes. Practitioners of the Left Hand Path use The Lesser Key of Hades, a tome containing the names of demons of Hell, in order to summon and trap evil spirits and learn forbidden spells. These magi do not worship devils, but form twisted relationships where it often becomes unclear who is the master and who is the slave.

Implements: 5-pointed star, demon relics, knives

Traditions: Demonology, Fire, Forbidden, Transformation

Lemurian Necrotech

The terrible machine-magic of Lemuria is a dangerous and mind-bending practice. Creating nightmare machines requires an intelligent, but unhinged mind. Similar to the Atlantean method, Lemurian Necrotech uses foul power sources, often utilizing human and alien bones, toxic slime and necromantic ritual. The resulting bio-necro-techno-mantic inventions are capable of unleashing terrible death rays, burning radiation and inducing insanity, both in the target and wielder.

Implements: machines, radioactive guns, slime, bones

Traditions: Death, Madness, Necromancy, Technomancy

Pythian Mesmerism

Pythian Mesmerists employ a combination of smoke, mirrors and other alchemical stagecraft but the true magick lies in a unique hypnotic technique. The rhythmic chanting, dancing and music of Pythian Mesmerism allow the magi to control another person’s mind and movements, fool their senses, or induce euphoria or madness. Many mesmerists learn their magical craft from mentors in the carnivals and circuses of Blackport.

Implements: baubles, capes, bells, alchemical supplies

Traditions: Alchemy, Enchantment, Illusion, Song

Scrappers

In the ruins of the Old World, you can find many marvelous wonders: flamethrowers, cannons, ballistas, machines and stranger inventions. The abandoned workshops of Mundia’s military are home to many rusting war machines and plenty of black powder. Junkers, scrappers, powdermonkeys, bombers and engineers by any other name, often go searching the wastes for lost tech. The Brotherhood of Blood has many scrappers in its ranks who create fantastic chariots.

Implements: flamethrowers, bombs, ballista, machines

Traditions: Alchemy, Fire, Metal, Technomancy

Ultharian Chronomancy

The talking cats of Ulthar know the secrets of space and time, mind and matter. Using wands, crystal balls, clocks, crowns and tiaras, the cats and their servants unleash righteous magic against the forces of chaos and death. Using Ultharian Chronomancy requires the dramatic recitation of sacred oaths to fight the forces of darkness. Mortal servants sometimes gain favor of the cats, who often act as mentors, gifting them with the required magical wands and other tools.

Implements: Wands, Crowns, Tiaras, Clocks

Traditions: Celestial, Telepathy, Teleportation, Time

The Way of Emptiness

Through years of meditation and stillness, a meditant can achieve unique mental and physical powers. By emptying heart and mind of all thought and emotion, the mystic believes that the universe flows through him, allowing him to alter his mind and alter reality. The monks of Yamagawa are the best known practitioners of ‘The Way’ and will teach their techniques to any disciple who demonstrates dedication, but demand a strict ascetic lifestyle of poverty and discipline.

Implements: incense, martial arts weapons, calligraphy

Traditions: Soul, Telekinesis, Telepathy, Time

The Words of Creation

The angel Enoch became so enamored with the maidens of Shem that he descended from Heaven and sired many children. Before he departed, he taught his children the Words of Creation, the secret language of the angels. Today various incomplete ‘Enochian Keys’ exist across Urth, and while the legends may not be true, the words do hold magickal power. By reciting the incantations, a magican can speak with the angels and seize the power of Heaven for himself. The Cult of Enoch in Shem forbids the use of Enochian by human wizards. Cherubs often learn the Words of Creation directly from superior angels or each other. Implements: words, rods, staves, scrolls

Traditions: Celestial, Life, Order, Theurgy

Zingaran Genie Prisons

The magi of Shandikar are known for their elemental prowess and binding angels, demons and other djinn into magick bottles and lamps. By sealing the spirit in a prison, the magi is able to draw elemental power from his slave. Many genie’s resent their master, but will respect one who treats it fairly or promises it release it before the magi dies. Most imprisoned djinn can offer only one or two traditions, but a magi can create new prisons and bind additional spirits, if he dares.

Implements: bottle, lamp, puzzle-box, bag, hourglass

Traditions: Air, Chaos, Earth, Fire, Storm, Water

Zoog Dream Magick

The ghost lemurs of madagascar are strange tricksters with innate magical power over dreams. Zoog dream magick can be learned by outsiders, but only by drinking moonwine and going on dreamquests with a zoog as your guide. These zoog tricks aren't with out risk, the dream world is full of unseen danger.

Implements: moonwine, mushrooms, dolls, lost socks

Traditions: Illusion, Shadow, Teleportation, Trickery

Factions of Urth

Many guilds, orders, gangs and other orginizations exist on Urth. Warriors and Rogues might associate with these groups. Priests and Magicians might also be members, but none of these groups have any magic to teach.

Black Guild

In the city of Shandikar it is said that anything can be purchased, and that includes murder. The assassins of the Black Guild are highly trained professionals who sell their blades to anyone with enough money. The guild provides 100% confidentiality and customer anonymity, but otherwise operates freely and openly within the city. The only restriction placed upon them by the Guild Lords is that they may never murder within the city gates.

Brotherhood of Blood

The Brotherhood of Blood is an anarchic wastelander gang that can be found all across Urth. ‘King Bloodfuck’ leads the Red Riders, who are easily identified by their bloody red flags and their vrek steeds covered in red paint. The gang robs and kills as it pleases, often searching out healthy mounts, food and gold. The gang’s slogan is ‘Ride or Die’. Members are expected to be loyal to each other, infighting or and scheming isn't tolerated. Those they are mostly nomadic raiders, they maintain a permanent presence in the pirate cove of Blackport.

Flagellants of Saint Heb

The Flagellants of Saint Heb are a relatively young order of religious fanatics. They follow the teachings of Saint Heb, who advocated a life of poverty, homelessness and humility. But the order is best known for the public parades in which they self-flagellate, whipping themselves into a desperate and bloody fury. This practice recounts the martyrdom of their teacher Heb, who was whipped to death in market district by the imperial guard for the crime of begging for food. Unlike many other religious orders, the flagellants do not teach magic, but like Saint Heb, some of the most devoted have been capable of performing spontaneous miracles (see the Miracle Worker master path in the Core Rulebook). The Flagellants are tolerated by the Kings of Shem, because they pose no real threat. The flagellants preach pacifism and don't involve themselves in politics.

Greenjacks

The Greenjacks are a collection of wastelander bandit gangs that have formed around a charismatic leader, Green Jack. Known for wearing green dyed caps, the bandits have a code of honor and only steal from those they percieve as "the rich" and give much of what they steal to "the poor". While Green Jack has led his band across most of the known world, he has recently become the defacto ruler of the Oasis, a settlement of wastelanders, barbarians, escaped slaves and outlaws, that resides beneath the floating ruin of Babylon.

Jannisaries

The Greenjacks are a collection of wastelander bandit gangs that have formed around a charismatic

Knights of Camelot

The ancient Kingdom of Camelot supposedly lies far to the west, beyond the Atlas Mountains. In a gleaming castle of silvery blue metal, the knights served a noble king named Arthur and were renowned for their deeds of heroism and chivalry. What happened to the kingdom, if it ever really existed, no one can be sure, but its legend has only grown, forming the basis for many popular children's stories. Some warriors of noble intent and pure heart claim they have seen visions of the Blue Castle and embark on lengthy quests to find it. These contemporary "Knights of Camelot" are a loose order, but do maintain a small stronghold in the city of Shem and make some attempt to enforce their knightly honor code among those it deems worthy of knighthood.

Marshals of Last Hope

Fort Last Hope was built on the north-western edge of the Mundian Empire in it’s final years. Initially, its purpose was to defend against raids by Pict and Aztlani raiders, but as the great empire crumbled, the soldiers of Last Hope increasingly found themselves fighting against roving bandit gangs made up of Mundian citizens. Even after Regium’s fall and the total collapse of the imperial order, the Marshals of Last Hope continued patrolling and policing the wastes and deserts. But even Last Hope eventually fell, burned to the ground by Ultragoths. Few Marshals still live today, and many so called Marshals are likely too young to have ever set foot in the fort. Marshals of Last Hope obey a simple honor code and take it upon themselves to act as judges in places that have fallen to anarchy.

Oceanic Society

Located in Shandikar, the Oceanic Society is an association of scholars and treasure hunters who seek to preserve knowledge of the world before the Red Sun, specifically it's oceans and seas. The Society maintains an extensive museum of skeletons of extinct creatures and also examples of sailing ships of ages past. Many of the members are willing to pay handsomely for such archeological finds, as prestige within the club is determined by donations to the collection. The Society has existed for several hundred years, back when there were still oceans and seas to explore. The museum's prized pieces are gigantic skeleton of a monster called a "whale" and also an elaborate mechanical contraption called a "submarine".

Phrygian Order of Alexander

The Phrygian Order of Alexander are an ancient knightly order founded by the great Thracian conqueror Alexander. They were meant to maintain the peace of his fledgling empire, but were unable to prevent the empires splintering after his death. Regardless, the order has persisted for nearly one thousand years, initiating new warriors each spring. The knights follow a code of honor, requiring righteous behavior and defending the common folk from barbarians and monsters. Today their number is few, and they patrol the Anatolian Plateau from their fortress in Ankyra.

The Silent

The Silent are an organized conspiracy dedicated to abolishing slavery. Their origins are unknown and their hierarchy, if it exists, is also a mystery. Most members know only a few other members within their network. Members are expected to aid escaped slaves and slave rebellions. The Silent are active across the realms of Men, and members identify each other with a simple hand gesture or raising two fingers to the lips. In the cities of Shandikar and Shem, where slavery is rampant, membership can result in public execution. In the more anarchic cities like Blackport and Regium, the Silent do their work without opposition.

Wayfinder's Company

The Wayfinders are a recently formed company in the city of Byzantium, but have offices in most of the world's remaining cities. Comprised of the best guides, mapmakers and bodyguards that money can buy, the Wayfinders are an effective, yet expensive, way to navigate across what remains of civilization. The Wayfinder General is currently Lord Calvino II, a nobleman and son of the companies founder and he serves at the pleasure of his council of investors. Under the Calvino's guidance, the Wayfinder's Guild has sought both profit and to preserve and pass on the skills of cartography.

 

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