I was informed today that the name I have been recently using for my S&W modern supplement was copyrighted. This, obviously means I cannot use it and rightfully so as I would hate for someone else to come along and start to use Usarm without my knowledge or consent. The reason I share this is because a lot of posts have gone missing from Google+. This is due to my inability to change the link name back to the blog to something that doesn't hamper the copyright of another developer. I am in no legal trouble that I am aware of and for the moment the game will go back to being called Eldritch Shadows or Basic Modern ... at least until something else that is much more cool and invoctive of the system (and totally legal) can be found.
Conversely, if anyone happens to know HOW I can find out if a name is copyrighted or trademarked (preferably for free) please let me know.
On a side-note, despite this unpleasantness it was a great day at the beach!
Patreon Supported Adventures - Old Fey Bargains: A Short Scenerio for Eldritch Shadows
Introduction
Fey Magic is a short
adventure, a romp, to fill in the gaps between campaigns or major
story points within a large, Eldritch Shadows game. This adventure is
suitable for players of the third or fourth level and should take
about on night of play. Fey Magic is an investigation adventure,
requiring players to think and travel on their own accord. While some
rolling is required this romp is more suited to discussion, roleplay,
and critical thought.
Summary
Alister MacCuinn's
family has always been fortunate. Since the late 1800s they have
prospered in the New World, leaving Scotland as poor dirt farmers
only to become the most powerful coal family on the Eastern Sea
board. When coal lost its throne to oil, the MacCuinn's found in
their mines veins of copper and far rarer material. Now, in the early
years of the twenty-first century all seems good for the McaCuinn
clan, except an old bargain and an ancient enemy are about to be
broken, and all the good fortune of the MacCuinn's will fall back on
them and the town they built from the wilds of the Appalachians.
Nearly a century
ago, Alister's Great-Great Grandfather trapped a Fey deep in the
pouching mines he dug. For all this time the creature, a woman of
great beauty and dark heart, has remained chained far below. A
Bargain was struck that should the family ever be blessed with the
birth of triplets, who would number as two girls and a boy, born in
an order of girl, boy, girl, the cold iron chains that bound the Fey
would fall and she would be released. To seal this bargain, the
MacCuinn bound the Fey's power to a pendant that was passed sire to
heir until now it rests against Alister's chest.
Last week,
Alister's Daughter Moira, birthed triplets with the help of modern
medicine. The order matched that of the bargain made, and as the
babes slept their first night in their mother's care, a mine collapse
killed 40 of Alister's men. The next day as shock rang across the
country, Investigators claimed that MacCuinn had bribed safety
inspectors and that the mine had been dangerously unsafe for years.
The same day, Moira's husband was killed when a sinkhole opened up in
front of his car as he traveled to the hospital to see his wife and
new born children.
Hooks
While the players
could be involved for any number of reasons here are several that
could aid in convincing them to aid MacCuinn.
- The Power of the Fey – With the bargain broken, a wave of Fey magic explodes across the country, and assaults the team's Magic-User viciously, showing him visions of the Appalachians collapsing the deaths of millions.
- An Old Favor – One of the character's great-great grandfather's was close friends with MacCuinn, even traveling to the states with him. It has been long understood that the character's family owes the MacCuinn's a debt of brothers and blood.
- College Sweetheart – Moira MacCuinn dated one of the characters in college and while she has fallen out of touch, knows he is involved in the supernatural. Not believing that all the bad luck is just chance she contacts the character and begs for help.
The Adventure
MaCuinn's Domain
For whatever the
reason the players soon find themselves involved with MacCuinn's
problems. Unfortunately, the old businessman doesn't want them
involved at all in his problems and is rather uncouth in his opinion
(and statement of such) of the characters. When meeting with MacCuinn
the players should be allowed several minutes of time alone in
MacCuinn's office while the old business man attends to other
matters. The following are some of the things they may discover:
- There is a memo on
the table that reads “For the tenth time, Roger, we aren't
expanding to the south. While we own that land it has already been
savaged of all materials by poachers and wannabe teenagers.
- Pictures and
paints on the walls depict the MacCuin men going down the family tree
to the original immigrant. With the exception of the first MacCuinn
all following MacCuinn men have the pendant.
- The pendant is
laying on the desk, its chain broken and the stone in its center a
deep red/black, different from the blue depicted in the storybook.
- A letter from
accounting inquiring as to why a miner named Zeb Liben, who was fired
thirty years ago was still receiving a weekly pay.
During the meeting
Alister is hostile to the characters, believing them to be nothing
but frauds and opportunists out to make a quick buck at the expense
of Alister's company. No matter the angle, Alister will storm out,
alerting his security forces to have the character's arrested.
Other Points of Interest.
While much can be
gleaned in Alister's office other information can be obtained by
hitting the streets and mingling with the townsfolk. The following
are some of the things they may discover.
- Zeb Liben is an
old nut job who lives in the woods near the town and has a tendency
to poke at people with a silvered butter knife.
- Despite being
unused wild land, Alister maintains a high security presence in the
area, and has gone so far as to install hidden cameras throughout
that section of forest.
- A Few nights ago
(the same night as Moira gave birth) a group of teenagers at a bush
party in the forest near the MacCuinn property swear to hearing a
laugh that seemed to come from the earth itself.
- A couple of the
miners who escaped the collapse claim to have seen great hands of
rock and earth ripping out the supports and collapsing the mine.
- Investigation into
the inspector will reveal no sign of him as having ever been employed
by the PA State Mines Commission (In truth the inspector is the
brother of the trapped Fey disguised by Glamour).
If the players
decide to find Zeb, they'll locate him living in an old, broken to
rust and mildew trailer in the forest near the hills of the MacCuinn
property. Zeb is twitchy around those he doesn't know and keeps his
hands on an old shotgun. From Zeb the players can find out the
following.
- Zeb believes that
MacCuinn has hired assassins to take him out.
- The former company
level inspector discovered the MacCuinn family secret and was
paid-off to keep his mouth shut,
The Southern Property
The southern
boundaries of the town are edges of this huge section of wild lands
owned and patrolled by the MacCuinns. If any character should study
what they see with their eyes over Internet image searches they will
discover that the ground has fallen away. A Successful Intelligence
SR will reveal that is not the grounds but the hills that have moved,
growing about 10 feet in height. While the cave is easy enough to
find, a Successful Wisdom SR is needed to assure that the players do
not get lost in the wild.
While traveling
through the wild lands outside the town the player have a 3 in six
chance of running into one of the following once:
Roll Enemy
1 – 2 Bear
3 – 4 Fey-blooded
ally
5 – 6 Rock Dog
The old pouching
mines have long since been boarded up and concealed by years of scrub
growth. However, the sense of mere presence acts to guide even the
most magically dis-inclined character to its entrance once the
players get close enough (within ¼ mile). Inside the caves the
players will find a small, narrow tunnel leading deep into the
mountain, the walls and floor are slick with water and a faint glow
can be seen far ahead a long with the sweet sound of a woman singing
in a deep Scottish lilt. Anyone who does not succeed a Wisdom SR will
be under compulsion to obey the fey further in the tunnel.
At the tunnel's end
the players find an unfinished section of the mine. Mining tools and
an old cart still waiting for their owner to retrieve them. Against
one wall, a tall, lean, red-headed woman with deep violet eyes is
bounded to the wall by a singular chain around her left wrist. Her
right arm is free, but a broken chain can be seen danging from her
right wrist. This is Fia, a Fey tricked into traveling across the
waters and trapped by the MacCuinn generations ago. If she has any of
the players under compulsion this is the moment she uses them,
commanding them to free her, if any play not under her compulsion
attempts to stop the enspelled player they should be attacked.
Fia is interested
in revenge for her long imprisonment and demands the blood of the
entire MacCuinn Clan to sate her. While it is possible to convince
her to another route, Fia is spoiling for a fight and even trapped is
a force to be reckoned with.
Outcomes
The bargain has been
broken so whether Fia is once more imprisoned, killed, or freed the
MacCuinn luck is long gone. Alister is none to happy about this but
sees little he can do about it given his failing company and the loss
of much of his wealth. Oddly, while Alister ends up in prison due to
the mining accident and revelations of corruption and political
bribes over the years, the reversal of luck doesn't seem to affect
Moira or her children. If the players should, in later years, follow
up on the case they will find that Moira has named one of her
daughter's Fia and while her siblings have gray eyes she is gifted
with deep violet ones. Unfortunately, Fia Brother, a power Fey Lord
who has been searching for his sister for a long time will not be so
forgiving to the players should they imprision her once more or kill
her, and should become a force in the backgrounds of their lives for
quite some time.
Bear – HD 4; AC 7
[12]; ATK Bite; MV 12; Save 13; HDE/XP 4/120; SPC Hug
Fia - HD 6; AC 4
[15]; ATK Unarmed; MV 2; Save 11; HDE/XP 8/800; SPC Spells 1st
lvl, 4 (Charm Person x2, Sleep x2); 2nd lvl, 2 (Detect
Thoughts, Phantasmal Force); 3rd lvl, 2 (Hold Person x2).
Fey Born abilities (Glamor at-will, Compulsion 3x/day)
Fey-Blooded Ally –
HD 5; AC 6 [13]; ATK Handgun (1d6+1); MV 12; Save 12; HDE/XP 5/240
Rock Dog – HD 4;
AC 4 [15]; ATK Bite; MV 12; Save 13; HDE/XP 4/120; SPC Slam
Quick Shots - ROC Facility
Today I continue work on the X-Plorers' adventure "Wag the Dog". As anyone who follow my google+ stream knows I've been posting a lot of stuff for the adventure in the last two days in terms of layout as I both prepare the adventure for my Patreons and retail release. Below is the map of the ABRI Corporation's ROC2 Facility, a factory on the artificial planet of Hella where most of Act II takes place.
Patreon Supported Adventures - Forgotten Goods,
Here it is blog folk! The latest one-page-romp from Genius Loci Games! If interested you can get all my Patreon Supported Adventures in pdf form as a Patreon Supporter.
Forgotten
Goods, is an introductory one-page-romp for Shadowhack
meant for 4 to 6 rookie Runners and should not take more than a
single session of play. The adventure begins with the players getting
a gig from a Decker named Westend who wants them to retrieve an
off-line datacore she claims as her own tech from a storage unit in
Old Town. What should be a simple milk run soon unravels as the
Storage Facility has become the home for a cult of Ghouls who are
very interested in protecting their turf. Should the players succeed
and recover the datacore they will find that Westend has transferred
a substantial amount of credits to their credit sticks.
Unfortunately, the job may not be over as the Nostromo Corporation is
hunting for the Runner Crew that stole their property.
About Shadowhack
Shadowhack is a simplified version of the classic FASA roleplaying game,
Shadowrun, that uses the Old School Hack OSR ruleset as
its foundation. While not complete, Shadowhack offers a good
framework to fast play in a cyberpunk fantasy world. To play
Shadowhack all you need is a bunch of d12s and the Shadowhack
PDF file.
Introduction
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© copyright by Jazbee 2012 |
Kurt-G's Forget-Me-Not Storage
Security
is rather light around the storage facility. Automated cameras, and a
few rusty old drones (Goons - HP 1, Damage Ranged Ballistic 1d12)
roam the lanes of storage units in packs of 3 to 4. Any forced entry
into the facility will key the drones and cameras to focus on the
intruders, transmitting the collected data to Troubleshooting
International for later investigation or sale. Hacking the security
cameras is relatively easily (GM modifier +2), but the drones are
harder (GM modifier +4) and will fry when successfully hacked. Both
the drones and the Cameras have been reprogrammed to ignore the
Ghouls, and can give no warning to the presence of the squatters
should either system be compromised.
While
the front sector of the storage facility is free of Ghoul influence,
the back half is under the full control of a Ghoul named Papa Sym,
who has lead the Ghouls to believe that they are cursed by God and
can only find redemption through him. In truth, Papa Sym is a BTL
manufacturer who uses the Ghouls as a personal security force, and
cheap labor. In truth, Papa Sym is a Vampire of no account.
Enemies
Ghouls
(Goons) 18 – HP 1; Damage Ranged Ballistic, Melee Slashing
1d12; Notes: Ghouls hunt and attack in packs of six. If more than 75%
of a hunting party the remaining Ghouls will attempt to flee.
Ghouls
(Heavies) 3 – HP 4; Armor (Light – I 12, B 13); Damage
Ranged Ballistic (Minigun) 2d12
Papa
Sym (Boss) – HP 10; Damage Ranged Ballistic (Handgun) 3d12,
Ranged Magical (Fireball/2x 3 pts) 3d12 Area Sphere 3 around Target;
Notes – Other Spells – Heal/1x 3 pts.
Payday
The
players will find the datacore in a random storage unit, floating in
a zero-g field in the center of the unit. The units only light comes
from the soft glow of the zero-g unit. Any attempt to physically
bypass the field will result in bio-feedback (damage 2d12, 1 pt) and
trips an alarm that will alert Troubleshooting International and lock
the players inside (GM modifier +6 to hacking attempts). Attempting
to use hacker abilities to gain access will alert, security programs
within the self contained system of the zero-g field's generator.
Once the players have gained access to the datacore, they will
receive a message from Westend as to where to drop the package and
guarantee their payday.
Enemies
Security
Program (Goons) 6 – HP 1; Damage Ranged Mental 1d12
Conclusions
Westend
will somehow access and deposit the appropriate amount of credits to
each players credit sticks, and through the player datacoms (both
systems typically thought to be unhackable) thank them and apologize.
It is here she will reveal that the datacore isn't hers, but
Nostromo's property and that they are already investigating the
disappearance of their core. Any questions about Westend's propose or
why she needs the datacore will result in the Decker closing the
transmission.
Briggian Werewolves and the Eldritch Shadows


about and soon planning was underway with character creation over skype and discussions on where the game will take place.
Oddly enough the library game will be taking place in the same area as all my existing (and upcoming) Elritch Shadows adventures ... Pennsylvania, and take place after "Fair Game" but before the events of "River Marked". The group consists of a Lone Wolf werewolf, a Human White Witch, and two mortal cops dealing with a group of Irish Fey who claim the Appalachian Mountain Range as originally belonging to them before Continental drift.
This set-up has given me two problems: 1. how the hell to handle how Witch Born magic works in Mercy-verse, and 2. how the hell to handle werewolf characters as they're presented in the Mercy-verse. So ... werewolves first.
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Adam by Frvn-art |
2. Transformation to and from wolf-form is a painful and long process requiring a successful Constitution SR and three turns. Should an SR be failed the Briggian Werewolf is "locked" into their current form for a number of hours equal to 1d20 + 4.
3. In situations of high emotions the Briggian Werewolf must succeed an Intelligence SR or lose themselves to the wolf for 1d6 turns.
4. For every day a Briggian Wolf remains in wolf shape he or she must succeed an Intelligence SR with a negative modifier equal to the number of days within wolf shape. After three failures, the Briggian Wolf has "lost him-or-her-self to the wolf" and will be hunted by the Enforcer.
5. Whenever there is a full moon, the Briggian Wolf must succeed
an Intelligence SR or become "moon called" and "loose themselves to the wolf".
6. While in wolf shape a Briggian Wolf regains hit points equal to 1 every three hours. However, if the Briggian Wolf attempts to shift while injured there is a 3 in 6 chance of further injury in the form of 1d6 additional damage.
7. Silver-based objects (weapons, poisons, etc) deal double damage, any silver that remains in the body (shrapnel, shavings, poison) deal an additional 1d6 damage every hour and inflict a negative 4 modifier to all rolls until removed.
8. While in wolf shape one of the following ability scores increases by 4 (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution) and all sense-based Wisdom SR Checks receive a +2 modifier.
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