The Wilds, Dungeons, and Ways Between

The Ways Between

Spiritways & Veilways.

“The Ways Between do not measure miles. They measure choices. A wrong turn might lead to yesterday. A right turn might lead to a version of yourself who made a different decision – and is still alive to regret it. The mist does not hide landmarks. It hides destinations.”
— The True-Mason

What do people eat for breakfast? Nothing. There is no breakfast in the Ways Between. No morning, no hunger, only the walking. The walking is sustenance.

What does a child learn before they can walk? To forget. Children born in the Ways Between do not learn. They remember the path they took to be born – eight turns, then the ninth turn is the birth. The birth is a choice. The child does not know they chose.

What is the first thing you notice about a stranger? Their direction. A stranger walking toward you may be coming from your future. A stranger walking away may be going to your past. A stranger walking beside you may be yourself from a timeline where you did not turn left. Do not ask.

What is the most common crime? Stealing – but stealing is a paradox. A thief steals a memory from a version of you that no longer exists. The memory never belonged to you. You cannot miss it. You will miss it anyway.

What does no one talk about but everyone knows? The Ways Between are not between anything. They are the only thing that exists. The solid ground you remember – cities, roads, hearths – is the dream. The Ways are the waking. The waking is the walking. The walking never ends.

Where do people go when they die? Deeper. The Ways have no surface, no bottom. The dead walk deeper. The deeper they walk, the less they remember. When they remember nothing, they become the path. The path is the walking. The walking is the dead.

How do you apologize for a serious wrong? You cannot. Apologies require memory. Memory requires a self. The Ways erase both. The only apology is to stop walking. Stopping is not an option.

What is the most important festival? There are no festivals. There is only the moment between heartbeats when you realize you have been walking for nine years and you do not remember why. That moment is the festival. Celebrate it by taking the next step.

What is the secret that could destroy a powerful person? The Wayfinder is not a person. It is the road itself, dreaming of a traveler who will finally reach the end. The end does not exist. The road knows this. The road dreams anyway.

The Ways Between — Obishaal, the Realm of Dreams and Death

Quick Reference

Tagline: Every dream is a door. Every door is a judgment. The dead dream forever; the living borrow their sleep.

The Wayfinder (Elite): “I exist only in the moment of choice, the breath between one path and another. Obishaal is not a place—it is a state. To guide here is to understand that every dream leads somewhere, but only the virtuous know which somewhere is worth the waking.”

Lost Pilgrim (Commoner): “The dead don’t leave. They just change addresses. Obishaal is their new neighborhood, and the scales are balanced with virtue. If you’re lucky, you’ll only visit. If you’re not…you’ll find yourself climbing stairs that never end, and every landing offers a bargain you can’t refuse.”

Genre / Mood: Dream-death metaphysical, virtue-based ascent, temptation and fall, folk-surrealism.

Starting Location: A crossroad shrine of black glass stones, where travelers meet their reflections coming the other way. The shrine is silent except for the soft hum of the stones. A Backwards Pilgrim stands at the crossroads, facing the direction you came from. “The Thirteenth Stone speaks,” they say. “But the path chooses who arrives. What did you bury on the road here? The stones can smell it. And in Obishaal, every buried thing dreams of waking.”

The Ways Between is a transit way, the eternal crossroads through Obishaal, the element of Dreams and Death, the eighth element after Fire, Life, Air, Fortune, Earth, Fate, Water, Dreams/Death. It is the realm where the settled dead go not to oblivion but to an ideal afterlife—a dream that reflects the life they lived. A farmer dreams of endless harvest; a warrior dreams of eternal battle; a merchant dreams of scales that never tip. These dreams are real, and they are paradise or prisons.

The living may enter the Ways through thresholds of sleep, near-death, or deliberate ritual. Once inside, they find a landscape that shifts with their own psyche—but also with the weight of their choices. To ascend through the layers of Obishaal, a traveler must demonstrate virtue: honesty, courage, mercy, self-sacrifice. To fall is to yield to vice: greed, cowardice, cruelty, despair. Each layer is a test, and each test is a dream that tempts you to fail.

At the very bottom, pressed into the silt of the deepest dream, lies Ikasha, She Who Sleeps. Her sisters Inaea and Isoka imprisoned her there eons ago, for Ikasha dreamed of summoning and confronting the Clockwork Monad—a confrontation that, in their judgment, would unmake reality. Now Ikasha dreams fitfully, and her nightmares seep upward, infecting the layers above. Sometimes a traveler who falls far enough can hear her voice, offering escape in exchange for service—a service that would free her.

Between the layers drift the dead who have not yet found their final dream. They are the Unsettled, and they will trade memories, secrets, and virtues for a chance to ascend—or to pull you down with them.

What you notice first: The air tastes of copper and old keys. Your footsteps echo half a beat too late. The waystones are warm—and they pulse like hearts.

The one rule that kills newcomers: Never answer a question asked by a reflection. The answer will bind you to the path you did not choose.

Regional Mood: The Dream That Remembers

Here, the dream is not a thing—it is a witness. It remembers every promise made at a deathbed, every lie told to a dying ear, every virtue you failed to keep. Obishaal does not forgive, but it does not forget either. It offers passage in exchange for truth. The longer you stay, the more the dream learns about you. By the time you reach your destination, you may find that the destination knows you better than you know yourself. Some travelers never leave. They become dream-echoes, their faces pressed into the glass of a forgotten dream, their names still warm on the lips of the next pilgrim.

On any path in the Ways Between, the ninth step you take in a straight line will land on a threshold you did not see. The wise take eight steps, then pause to look around. In Obishaal, the ninth step is always a dream of falling. Those who fall hear a voice ask, “What did you owe?” Answering costs a memory; silence costs a name.

Thin Places — Where the Veil Wears Thin

Not every threshold is a door. Some are a crack—a place where the world forgot to finish its seam. The Pereshi call them breath-holes, where the mountain’s exhalation smells of yesterday. The Tulkani knot a thread and leave it untied, marking where the Hollow’s attention wanders. The Aeler do not name them at all. They simply count to eight and leave the ninth breath unspoken.

A thin place is a location where the boundary between the waking world and the Ways Between is unusually permeable. Crossing is not a matter of ritual or intent—it is a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong angle. A wrong step. A miscounted breath. A name spoken at the wrong hour.

When Does a Thin Place Open?

The GM may declare a thin place when:

• A character rolls a critical failure (all 1s) on a navigation or survival test in a liminal region (Valewood, Mistlands, high passes, deep mines, ancient ruins).

• The party camps at a crossroads, bridge, or ford during a new moon, an eclipse, or the ninth hour.

• A character breaks a taboo (pours the ninth cup, takes the ninth step, speaks the ninth name) in a region where the Hollow is strong.

• The GM spends 3+ Story Beats to introduce a supernatural complication, and the fiction supports a threshold crossing.

• A player willingly seeks a thin place (rare—most who seek them never return unchanged).

Signs of a Thin Place (d6)

Roll or choose when the party enters an area that might be thin:

1. Echoes answer wrong. Your voice returns half a heartbeat later, or in a different pitch. Sometimes the echo speaks words you did not say.

2. Shadows drift. Your shadow moves when you stand still. Cast by a light source that isn’t there.

3. The ninth step appears. A stair, a bridge plank, a stone—where no ninth should exist. Step on it, and the ground shifts.

4. Bells ring without clappers. A distant chime, a temple bell, a levee alarm. The sound comes from a direction you cannot find.

5. The air tastes of copper and old keys. The same taste Saikou Ira describes before every exorcism. The same taste the Aeler name breath of the deep.

6. A door stands where no door stood. Gray wood, warm handle, no frame. It does not open for those who knock. It opens for those who do not.

Accidental Crossing (Mechanics)

When a character is in a thin place and the conditions align, the GM may call for a Spirit + Endurance test (DV 4–6, depending on the thinness). On a failure, the character crosses into the Ways Between—not by choice, but by accident.

• Partial success (0 < successes < DV): The character feels the pull. They may choose to step back (mark 1 Fatigue) or let themselves cross (gain 1 Boon, but enter the Ways).

• Miss (0 successes): The character crosses involuntarily. They arrive in a random location in the Ways Between (roll on the table in §).

• Critical failure (all 1s): The character crosses—and something crosses with them. A Oath-Keeper, a Counting Wraith, or worse.

Once crossed, the character must navigate the Ways Between using the standard travel procedures (Chapter 46). They cannot simply “turn back”—the threshold that opened may close behind them. Finding the way home requires a balance: a story, a memory, or a name offered to the road.

Known Thin Places (By Spades Draw)

The following locations are known thin places, keyed to the Spades (place) draws of various regional generators. A GM who draws one of these cards while the party is in that region may declare the area thin, triggering the possibility of an accidental crossing.

Denizens of the Ways Between (Expanded)

The following creatures may appear in the Ways Between, drawn from the bestiaries and expansions. They are not random encounters—they are judges. Each has a hunger, a weakness, and a price.

Accidental Crossing Destination (d6)

When a character crosses into the Ways Between accidentally, roll to determine where they emerge:

1. The Mist-Ford of First Doubt (Class III Procession site). Water runs uphill. Footsteps echo backwards. The dead march here at midnight.

2. The Bone Corridor of Unfinished Business (Anchor graveyard). Shadows walk the walls but never touch the floor. A Poltergeist may be forming.

3. The Crossroads of the Ninth Choice (Threshold nexus). All four paths lead to the same destination—but different yesterdays. A Trow sits at the center, smoking.

4. The Promise Bridge of the Unsettled (Oath-Keeper territory). Cross with a vow, and the bridge remembers. The toll is a story you have never told.

5. The Long Mile of Temptation (Vice’s testing ground). The road stretches differently for each traveler. A Walking Scale appears at the halfway mark.

6. The Thirteenth Stone (Ikasha’s Seal). The path ends at a warm stone. The stone whispers. Beneath it, She Who Sleeps dreams of freedom. A Deep Drake may be coiled nearby.

Thin places are not traps. They are complications. A party that accidentally crosses into the Ways Between should not feel that they have “failed.” They have simply entered a different kind of scene—one where negotiation matters more than steel.

• Offer a way out. The Ways Between always offer a path home. The path may demand a toll (a memory, a story, a name), but it exists.

• Use the travel rules. Treat the Ways Between as a leg of a journey. Draw cards. Set timers. The destination is “home” or “the next threshold.”

• Let players use their bonds. A character who calls on a bond while lost in the Ways may hear a familiar voice—or see a familiar face—guiding them. The road remembers who weighs what.

• The ninth is always watching. In any scene set in the Ways Between, the ninth card drawn (or the ninth roll made) triggers a manifestation of the Hollow. Not a fight—a question. The players must answer truthfully, or the road takes a memory.

Set down by the Gray Wanderer, after a night spent in a thin place near the Black River. The fire went out three times. The shadows did not. The ninth bell rang once—and then was silent.

The Ways Between are not a dungeon. They are a conversation. Speak carefully. The road listens.

Spades — Places (Dream Layers)

2. Mist-Ford of First Doubt — Water runs uphill; footsteps echo backwards through time. ‘[THRESHOLD]‘ The ford shows you wading through your own past. Do not look down at the water.

3. Bone Corridor of Unfinished Business — Shadows walk the walls but never touch the floor; light as memory. ‘[DEATH]‘ The bones are from those who chose vice and fell. They shift when you blink.

4. Threshold Arch of Virtue — Shows a reflection as someone you might have been; the past as a mirror. ‘[TRUTH]‘ The reflection has a scar you never got. It asks how you avoided it.

5. Spiral Path of Recursion — Ascends but returns to the same stone marker; the journey as meditation. ‘[MAGIC]‘ Each loop, the stone moves closer to the center. Or you do.

6. Promise Bridge of the Unsettled — Cross with a vow and it remembers your weight; an oath as a toll. ‘[OATH]‘ The bridge’s planks are old letters. Read one, and you may owe the writer.

7. Crossroads of the Ninth Choice — All four paths lead to the same destination, but different tomorrows. ‘[THRESHOLD]‘ The center stone is warm. A coin placed there will vanish—or be accepted.

8. Stone Circle of Forgotten Villages — Marks where a village used to be; the houses are now constellations. ‘[DEATH]‘ The stars are too close. You can touch them. They crumble like ash.

9. Memory Tunnel of the Dying — Hear the thoughts of those who passed here; the past as an echo. ‘[MEMORY]‘ The thoughts are in a language you almost understand. One word is your name.

10. Fossil Stairs of Ascension — Each step is an eye that watches your ascent; the climb as scrutiny. ‘[FEAR]‘ The eyes belong to those who fell here. They blink in sequence.

11. Waystation of the Virtuous — The keeper trades in unfinished conversations; words as currency. ‘[SOCIAL]‘ The keeper has no face. It wears the faces of those who paused too long.

12. Junction of Vice and Virtue — Paths physically collide; you must choose which reality to follow. ‘[THRESHOLD]‘ The collision sounds like breaking glass. The glass reforms into a door.

13. Long Mile of Temptation — The road stretches differently for each traveler; distance as perception. ‘[MAGIC]‘ You are the only one walking. The others are already at the end.

14. The Thirteenth Stone — Ikasha’s Seal — Where the path reveals its true destination; truth as revelation. ‘[TRUTH]‘ The stone whispers. The whisper is a promise you made to yourself and broke. Beneath it, the stone is warm—and dreaming.

(Wayfarer/Spirit/Dream-walker)

Lost pilgrim who thinks they’re going home but forgot where; toll-taker accepting payment in forgotten memories.

Hearts — Travelers & Guides

2. Lost Pilgrim — Thinks they’re going home but forgot where; destination as a memory. ‘[TRAVEL]‘ Their pack is full of stones. Each stone is a forgotten promise.

3. Toll-Taker (Virtue Assessor) — Accepts payment in virtues you didn’t know you had. ‘[SOCIAL]‘ Their scales weigh truth and echo. A balanced scale means you pass—for now.

4. Wayward Guide — Directions technically correct, morally questionable. ‘[TRAVEL]‘ They point with a broken compass. The needle spins, but the path is true.

5. Dream-Merchant — Carries a sack of nightmares and one perfect dream for sale. ‘[MAGIC]‘ The perfect dream is their own. They are selling it because they cannot wake up.

6. Child-Ghost of Unfinished Life — Knows shortcuts but charges in riddles; wisdom as a puzzle. ‘[DEATH]‘ The riddles have no answer—only a choice. Choose wrong, and you become a child.

7. Wounded Walker (Vice-Bound) — Bleeding metaphor; their pain grows thorns along the path. ‘[FEAR]‘ The thorns have faces. Each face is someone they failed to save.

8. Map-Merchant of Impossible Dreams — Selling maps to places that don’t exist yet; the future as a commodity. ‘[TRUTH]‘ The maps change as you watch. The destination is always one page ahead.

9. Guide-Dog (Ancestral Spirit) — Made of shadow and starlight; follows those who walk with purpose. ‘[SPIRIT]‘ It never barks. It whines when you are about to make a mistake.

10. Backwards Pilgrim (Dream-Echo) — Moving through time; their steps erase what just happened. ‘[MEMORY]‘ They are walking toward their birth. Every step, they forget something.

11. Soul-Ferryman — Carries the luggage of the living; a burden as a service. ‘[DEATH]‘ The luggage is full of things you never said. The ferryman knows them all.

12. Road’s Child (Dream-Kin) — Born where paths crossed, raised by waymarks; navigation as instinct. ‘[TRAVEL]‘ They have no navel. They were never born—they simply began.

13. Dead-Road Keeper — Ensures proper passage for those who should not walk. ‘[DEATH]‘ Their lantern burns a cold blue. The flame does not flicker.

14. The Wayfinder (Dream Avatar) — Exists only in the moment a choice is made; a decision as an entity. ‘[LEGEND]‘ They are every guide you ever needed. They are also every road you refused.

(Veil-Thin/Dream-Bleed/Wayward)

Path loops back to show your funeral preparations; reality thins—you see the dreams of sleeping travelers; Ikasha’s nightmare bleeds into the upper layers.

Clubs — Complications/Threats

2. Funeral Loop — The path shows your funeral preparations; death as a destination. ‘[DEATH]‘ ‘[FEAR]‘ The mourners are people you have not met yet. They seem to know you well.

3. Reality Thins (Ikasha’s Dream Bleed) — You see the dreams of sleeping travelers; the boundary as a veil. ‘[MAGIC]‘ A dreamer mutters your name. They are dreaming of a choice you will make tomorrow.

4. Waymark Lies (Vice’s Test) — Points the wrong way; trust leads to places that never were. ‘[TRUTH]‘ The waymark has a crack. Through the crack, you see a path you should have taken.

5. Dream-Bleed — Waking memories become someone else’s nightmares. ‘[MEMORY]‘ ‘[FEAR]‘ You remember a childhood fear that was not yours. It still terrifies you.

6. Toll Demanded (Virtue Payment) — Currency you did not know you carried; payment as a revelation. ‘[SOCIAL]‘ ‘[WEIGHT]‘ The toll is a secret you told a dead person. They are now standing behind you.

7. Path Split (Virtue vs. Vice) — Each version of you remembers differently; identity as a choice. ‘[MAGIC]‘ One you is smiling. One you is weeping. One you is already walking away.

8. Gravity Shifts (Guilt’s Weight) — Emotional weight grows physically heavy; a burden as physics. ‘[WEATHER]‘ Your pack feels heavier. Inside is a regret you forgot you carried.

9. Time-Sickness (Dream Chronology) — You arrive before you left; paradox shadows follow. ‘[MAGIC]‘ Your past self waves at you. Do not wave back.

10. Truth Payment (Ikasha’s Price) — The road remembers your lies and demands truth as payment. ‘[TRUTH]‘ ‘[WEIGHT]‘ The lie is carved on a stone. The stone is warm. It knows your temperature.

11. Crossroads Judgment (Virtue Audit) — The path you chose judges the ones you did not; decision as karma. ‘[TRUTH]‘ ‘[SOCIAL]‘ A ghost of the road not taken asks why. You have one sentence to answer.

12. Memory-Thief (Unsettled Dead) — A rest stop keeper pays in counterfeit recollections. ‘[MEMORY]‘ ‘[SOCIAL]‘ The memory is almost right. The color of the sky is wrong.

13. Forbidden Path (Ikasha’s Descent) — Opens only for those already lost; loss as a key. ‘[DEATH]‘ The path smells of old tears. You taste salt on your lips.

14. Convergence (Ikasha’s Waking) — All travelers arrive together, none recall how; arrival as a mystery. ‘[MAGIC]‘ ‘[LEGEND]‘ You recognize everyone. You have never seen any of them before. The air tastes of honey and rust. Ikasha is dreaming of you.

(True Name/Safe Passage/Waywisdom)

Waymark that always points toward your next important choice; a token of passage that the road recognizes as belonging.

Diamonds — Rewards/Leverage

2. Choice Compass (Virtue’s Needle) — Always points toward your next important choice. ‘[TRAVEL]‘ The needle is a splinter of the Thirteenth Stone. It hums when you are near a decision.

3. Passage Token (Dream-Marked) — The road recognizes you as one who belongs. ‘[SOCIAL]‘ The token is a braid of your own hair. You do not remember cutting it.

4. Dream-Catcher — Filters nightmares from your rest; sleep as a sanctuary. ‘[MAGIC]‘ The catcher is woven from old promises. It smells of lavender and regret.

5. Truth-Compass (Ikasha’s Fragment) — Points to what you most need to know, not what you want. ‘[TRUTH]‘ The compass has no needle. The housing spins until you speak a truth.

6. Memory-Anchor — Keeps you from losing yourself on deeper paths. ‘[MEMORY]‘ The anchor is a river stone. Your name is carved on it in a language you have never seen.

7. Safe Haven (Virtue’s Rest) — A guaranteed rest stop without complication. ‘[TRAVEL]‘ The haven is a dry arch. The arch is a doorframe with no door.

8. Guide-Light (Virtue’s Beacon) — Burns the color of your truest intention; purpose as a beacon. ‘[SOCIAL]‘ The light is blue. Blue means you are honest. Red means you are not.

9. Path-Cutter (Dream Shears) — Cuts distance through metaphor, not space. ‘[MAGIC]‘ The cutter is a pair of shears. Cut a memory, and the road between here and there vanishes.

10. Scale-Clearing (Virtue’s Mercy) — The road forgives one weight you thought you carried. ‘[WEIGHT]‘ The weight was owed to a dead person. They are no longer dead on this path.

11. Crossroads Boon — Choose among three paths, each exactly where you need to be. ‘[LEGEND]‘ The paths are labeled: Regret, Forgive, Forget. Choose carefully.

12. Way-Wisdom (Dream-Logic) — Understand the language of paths and signs for one journey. ‘[TRAVEL]‘ The waystones whisper. They are complaining about the last traveler. It was you.

13. Grace Passage (Virtue’s Shield) — Walk safely through any dangerous crossing for one night. ‘[TRAVEL]‘ The grace is a bell. Ring it, and the road will pretend not to see you.

14. Road’s Name (Ikasha’s True Name) — Call the path by its true name and command its nature. ‘[LEGEND]‘ The name is a single syllable. Speaking it will change the road—and you.

Quick use notes

• Draw until you have all four suits: Spade = place, Heart = actor, Club = pressure, Diamond = leverage. Highest rank sets the main Timer (2–5 → 4, 6–10 → 6, J/Q/K  → 8, A  → 10).

• Diamonds are codified outcomes (true names/safe passages/waywisdom) that change position rather than call for a roll.

• If any A appears, echo dream-road motifs—reflections that lie, paths that judge, destinations that choose the traveler. Also, the presence of an Ace hints that Ikasha’s dream is particularly close.

Additional Features

• Dream-Logic Navigation: Any Ace introduces a metaphysical requirement (a sacrifice, a taboo, an exchange) that must be satisfied to pass. Name it at the table; the road will enforce it.

• Reflection Points: Face cards (J, Q, K) show alternate selves or unlived choices. Treat them as temporary NPCs or scene tags that can help, hinder, or tempt.

• Memory Currency: Diamonds may be traded for knowledge or safe passage as if they were memories. Describe the memory paid; the path (or its keeper) pays in kind.

• Virtue and Vice Timers: Each character in Obishaal tracks a small personal Virtue [3] and Vice [3] timer. Virtue advances when they act with honesty, courage, mercy, or self-sacrifice. Vice advances when they act with greed, cowardice, cruelty, or despair. When one timer fills, the character ascends (Virtue) to a higher layer of Obishaal or falls (Vice) to a lower one. Ascension offers a boon; falling offers a temptation (a cursed gift from the layer’s vice-spirit). The timers reset after each layer transition. Reaching the bottom (Vice filled in the deepest layer) allows Ikasha to speak directly to the character.

• Ikasha’s Whisper (Patron Intervention): When a character falls to the lowest layer (or deliberately seeks her out), they may hear Ikasha’s voice. She offers a Fragment of Freedom:  + 2 dice to any roll involving escape, secrecy, or breaking bonds, but each use marks 1 Obligation to Ikasha and advances a Waking Dream [6] timer. When that timer fills, Ikasha uses the character as a vessel to attempt an escape—a campaign-level event.

• Local Patrons (Syncretic Names):

  • The Unnamed Guide — The Traveler. The road that appears only when you are lost.

  • The Mirror Listener — The Witness. The reflection that tells you what you need to hear, never what you want.

  • The Threshold Child — The Sealed Gate. The one who was never born, who guards the places where paths end.

  • The Echo King — The Ninth. The voice that answers when you speak to the empty road.

  • The Dreamer Below — Ikasha (imprisoned). She who sleeps and dreams of waking. Her whispers are bargains; her freedom is a promise.

Lore Echoes (Cross-Expansion Hooks)

• The Bitter Root: Daughters of the Cord know the Ways Between as the Cord’s shadow. A lost Hollowed wanders here, its thread trailing into the mist. Follow it, and you may find a Sister who cut herself free—and who now tends Ikasha’s dream.

• The Threshold Compendium: Saikou Ira’s silver mirror shows the Ways Between as a tangled knot of unfulfilled balances. He has walked three paths here. He will not speak of the fourth, where he glimpsed Ikasha’s face.

• Malachai, the Chained Angel: A silver coin that never spends lies at every crossroads. Pick it up, and the road will offer you a shortcut—but the coin will reappear in your pocket at the next junction, heavier. In Obishaal, the coin is warm and pulses like a heartbeat.

• The Gray Wanderer’s Grimoire: Psions call the Ways Between “the Stair.” They climb it in their dreams, trading memories for glimpses of paths not yet walked. Some never wake. The Gray Wanderer claims that the Stair is Ikasha’s spine.

Ways Between Superstitions (burn for  + 1 die once)

• Bread to the Stones: Crumble a crust at the base of a waystone. Ignore the first Waymark Lies penalty. ‘[SUPERSTITION]‘

• Knot the Path: Tie a single knot in a piece of string and hang it from a milestone. Cancel Path Split or take  −  − 1 die on your next navigation roll (your choice). ‘[SUPERSTITION]‘

• Name to the Crossroads: Whisper a dead traveler’s name into the center stone. Gain  + 1 Effect when bargaining with a Toll-Taker this scene, but mark Obligation to the Wayfinder. ‘[SUPERSTITION]‘

Thematic SB Spend Table

Minor Complications (1 SB)

• Exposure: Your actions draw unwanted attention from path keepers or wayward spirits.

• Noise: Sounds of your actions alert nearby travelers or memory echoes.

• Trace: Evidence of your passage marks your route for trackers or reflection points.

• Delay: A brief but meaningful setback costs you time or favorable path alignment.

• Supply Strain: Mark  + 1 segment on a relevant resource timer.

Moderate Setbacks (2 SB)

• Alarm Raised: Toll-taker or wayward guide becomes aware and begins responding.

• Position Lost: You lose advantageous ground/cover/stealth due to path shift or reality thinning.

• Foe Appears: A memory-thief or forbidden path entity arrives on scene.

• Gear Trouble: A piece of equipment becomes Compromised/Neglected.

• Lock/Barrier: A simple obstacle now requires a test to overcome.

Serious Trouble (3 SB)

• Reinforcements: Additional wayward spirits, path entities, or alternate selves arrive.

• Key Gear Breaks: A crucial tool/weapon becomes temporarily unusable.

• Major Twist: The situation fundamentally changes - path loops/time shifts/reality fractures.

• Rail Tick: Advance a relevant campaign/front timer by 1 segment.

• Condition Applied: Mark Fatigue 1/Harm 1/Condition appropriate to fiction.

Major Turns (4+ SB)

• Trap Springs: A prepared danger activates with full effect.

• Authority Arrival: The Wayfinder, Dead-Road Keeper, or Road’s Child intervenes.

• Scene Shift: The environment changes dramatically - reality thins/paths converge/time loops.

• Patron Omen: Divine/arcane forces take notice - omen appears/blessing lost/curse manifests.

• Narrative Pivot: The story takes an unexpected turn that reframes objectives.

Region-Specific SB Options

• Obishaal (Dream-Logic): Paths rearrange without warning, reflections speak unbidden, destinations shift mid-journey. A character may hear Ikasha’s whisper as a free omen (the GM may spend 1 SB to make it a false omen).

• Obishaal (Memory Currency): Memories become tangible, forgotten knowledge resurfaces, past and present blur. Trading a memory here may also tick the Virtue or Vice timer depending on the memory’s nature.

• Obishaal (Virtue and Vice): Decisions echo forward, alternate selves appear, paths judge moral weight. The GM may spend SB to force a character to test a virtue (e.g., “Resist the temptation to lie”) or to offer a vice that ticks their Vice timer.

Path-Moves & Procedures (Optional Depth)

Weighing of Steps (Travel Move)

When the company enters a liminal path (Mist-Ford, Bone Corridor, etc.), choose one:

• Pay the Toll: Each PC names a small truth or a fond memory (GM: 1 SB banked,  + 1 Position on navigation).

• Refuse the Toll:  + 1d on Speed, but start a Way-Scale [4] timer.

• Bargain the Toll: Trade a Diamond reward as if it were a memory (see Memory Exchange below); cancel one imminent Club card in this scene.

When Way-Scale fills, trigger Crossroads Judgment at the next junction.

Reflection Duel (Social/Moral Test)

When confronted by an alternate self or Reflection Point, state what that self wants from you and roll your best social action.

• Success: Gain a Guide-Light tag for the scene and clear 1 tick from Paths Decide.

• Mixed: Trade places for one exchange or take a Condition: Disoriented.

• Miss: The reflection walks away with one of your Diamonds (GM picks the most narratively apt).

Memory Exchange (Rates & Risks)

Exchange Rule: If you pay the same kind of memory twice in a journey, start Hollowing [4]. When it fills, you gain the Backwards Pilgrim tag until you reclaim what was lost.

Way-Keys & Taboos (d6)

1. Speak Last: Only the final word said at a gate is true; others are “practice.” First speakers take  −  − 1d on their next test.

2. Step Odd: Crossings require an odd number of steps; even counts loop you back one scene.

3. Name Nothing: True names wake Name-Theft; use titles or lose a Diamond.

4. Wet Iron: A drop of water on iron cancels one glamour once per scene.

5. Back Gift: Leave something behind to go forward; refuse and tick Way-Scale.

6. Answer Bent: Answer a waystone’s question with a metaphor, not a fact, or trigger Truth Payment.

Boss Seeds (three-phase foes)

• The Archivist of Unmade Roads (cloak stitched from surveyor’s cords) — Phases: Receipts of Refusal → Stay of Journey → Unfiled Options. Cracks: a Choice Compass reveals the true path; a Scale-Clearing voids his claim.

• The Toll-Matriarch Beneath the Bridge (many hands, one voice like wet stone) — Phases: Truth Payment → Scale-Clearing → Forbidden Path. Cracks: a Passage Token marks you as belonging; a Road’s Name commands her to stand aside.

• The Wayfinder’s Shadow (your silhouette, two steps ahead) — Phases: Crossroads Judgment → Guide-Light → Haste Mark. Cracks: a Memory-Anchor keeps you grounded; a Grace Passage slips past its gaze.

• Ikasha’s Nightmare (Dream-Eater) — Appears only in the deepest layer. Phases: Whispers → Temptation → Consumption. Cracks: a Virtue filled timer can be spent to reject the nightmare; a memory of true self-sacrifice (cost 1 permanent Bond) banishes it entirely.

Encounter Seeds (quick hooks)

• The Promise Bridge’s Receipt: An old vow you never spoke was logged here. To cross, define when you would have sworn it—and to whom.

• Thirteenth Stone Auction: The stone sells three possible endings. Each bidder is you from a different failure.

• Bone Corridor Choir: Shadows sing a name wrong by one letter. Correct it and gain Truth-Compass; ignore it and start Name-Theft.

• Ikasha’s Finger Bone: A character finds a bone that pulses with dream-light. If they hold it while sleeping, they can speak to Ikasha directly—but each time, the Waking Dream timer ticks.

Extensions (Plug-in)

Choice Dial (Resolve ↔︎ Drift)

Track the party’s footing between firm intent and wandering.

• Resolve High:  + 1 Position on Path Split tests; the first Dream-Bleed each session hits harder (start at 2).

• Drift High:  + 1 Effect when bargaining with way-entities; the first Truth Payment each session costs a cherished detail.

• Center the Dial by naming aloud the next choice and why you might refuse it; clear 1 tick from Way-Scale.

Counter-Seal (once/scene, if justified)

Break a single metaphysical instruction (taboo, key, or omen) by presenting a memory in symbol form (a token, a letter, a sketch). Gain  + 1d on that crossing; the GM banks 1 SB as a Marked Consequence to spend when reflections return.

Start-of-Scene Murmurs (1d6)

1. Second Sunrise: light arrives twice; your first missed navigation roll becomes a mixed success.

2. Name Draft: the air steals a syllable; your next lie sounds true once.

3. Echo Scale: your footprints owe a step—skip a square or tick Way-Scale  + 1.

4. Pale Bell: time hiccups; the first Club can be delayed until the end of the scene.

5. Traveler’s Chorus: distant voices agree with you;  + 1d on appeals to path entities.

6. Hollow Weather: rain that does not wet; conditions look dire but impose no penalties this scene.

Plug-in SB Conversions (Obishaal Flavor)

• 1 SB → Footprint Vote: your tracks choose a different direction; increase DV by 1 on any roll that relies on following a trail.

• 2 SB → Echo of Refusal: a choice you avoided manifests as a minor obstacle (a locked gate, a forgotten toll). If the choice involved a vice, also tick the Vice timer of the character who refused.

• 3+ SB → Threshold Cracks: the path fractures; gain a temporary Path-Cutter effect but start Convergence [4] (all travelers you have met will arrive together at the next junction). Additionally, Ikasha’s dream seeps through the cracks; each character hears a single word of her voice.

Cross-Regional Conversions (Using Diamonds Across the Map)

• Valewood: Road’s Name may count as a Valeheart Clause once if spoken under leaves; doing so creates Court Tithe [2].

• Mistlands: Grace Passage functions as Pall Indulgence over one levee crown at night; ring a bell afterward or start Witchlight Count.

• Vhasia: Way-Wisdom can be presented as “pilgrim right” to bypass one Interdict barrier; begin a Parlement Divided tick.

• Viterra: Passage Token can be notarized into a temporary Ferry Priority; on use, advance Border-Lace.

• Ubral: Memory-Anchor counts as a Guest-Token at one hearth if you recount a family road-tale.

• Silkstrand: Path-Cutter doubles as a night-boat route once; spend 1 favor with a smuggler or trigger Seal Counterfeit.

• Linn: Choice Compass acts as a Pilot’s Token in a reed-maze if you pay a name to the water.

• Theona: Crossroads Boon allows counting “eight-and-one” to cross an Uncounted Bridge safely once.

In Obishaal, power flows through understanding the metaphysical nature of dreams, the ability to navigate virtue and vice, and the careful management of one’s weight before the scales. The true authorities are those who know the True Names of dream-layers, can mediate between the living and the Unsettled, and understand the currency of virtue.

For the GM: Patronage in Obishaal revolves around guidance, safe passage, and the ability to navigate moral tests. Rewards often take the form of dream-tokens, fragments of Ikasha’s memory, or knowledge of a layer’s True Name. To emphasize this:

• Tie rewards to visible symbols (compasses, anchors, bells) that can be challenged, stolen, or voided by the dream itself.

• Let rival guides (Virtue vs. Vice) issue conflicting directions, forcing players to choose whose favor matters more.

• Use the crossroads, waystations, and dream-layers as arenas for moral contests, where a single act of mercy can ascend you—and a single act of cruelty can damn you.

In Obishaal, your virtue is your power, and your power determines whether you wake or sleep forever.

The Wilds

Roads, Ruins, and Weather.

“Between towns and treaties, the land breathes with patience. Old roads keep the step of armies in their dust; cairns hold the names that no page can contain. Law here is not written in books but in the marks we leave and the debts we owe to the earth – not in coin, but in the weight of a story. To travel is not to conquer the land, but to ask its leave, and the land answers not with silver but with the memory of our passage. The hollows are not holes in the world; they are the lungs of the earth, breathing deep and slow. They do not judge; they do not give. They simply are, and in their being, they teach us to be.”
— The Bravo of Silkstrand

What do people eat for breakfast? Whatever they found – berries, roots, a rabbit snared at dawn. The wilds provide. The wilds also take. The taking is breakfast for something else.

What does a child learn before they can walk? To read the sky. Wilds children are taught the eight winds by taste. The ninth wind has no direction – it is the land’s own breath. The land’s breath is a warning.

What is the first thing you notice about a stranger? Their pack. Heavy pack means traveling long. Light pack means just started. No pack means a fool or a ghost. The wilds eat fools. Ghosts eat the wilds.

What is the most common crime? Forgetting – but forgetting is a survival strategy. The wilds are full of things that want to be forgotten. A traveler who forgets them may pass safely. A traveler who remembers must pay a toll – a story. The memory is the trap.

What does no one talk about but everyone knows? The wilds are not empty. They are full of watchers – spirits, beasts, old things with no names. They do not interfere. They wait. They remember every footprint.

Where do people go when they die? Into the land. The dead are left where they fell. The land absorbs them. The land’s memory grows longer. The dead become the land’s memory. The memory is the wilds.

How do you apologize for a serious wrong? You leave an offering – a coin, a button, a lock of hair. If the offering is gone by morning, you are forgiven. If it remains, you are not. If it has been moved, the land is testing you. The test is the walk. The walk is the apology.

What is the most important festival? The Turning of the Leaves (autumn). The wilds change color – red is anger, gold is warning, brown is patience, green is forgetfulness. This year the leaves are red. The land is angry. Do not ask why.

What is the secret that could destroy a powerful person? The wilds have a heart. A stone buried beneath the oldest oak. The stone is warm and beating. If it stops, the wilds die. Nothing left to remember. Nothing left to wait.

The Wilds — “Roads, Ruins, and Weather”

Quick Reference

Tagline: The land walks when you don’t watch it, and the roads remember who bled on them.

Claimant Chief (Elite): “These lands answer not to charters but to those who can read their signs and respect their moods. Authority here is earned one campfire at a time, by proving you understand the difference between claiming and belonging.”

Forager Child (Commoner): “The wilds don’t need your roads or your rules – they got their own ways of keeping score. Follow the cairns if you want to live, and always leave something behind to thank the land for letting you pass. Every hill hides a secret, and every hollow breathes.”

Genre / Mood: Hexcrawl wanderlust, ruin-haunted silence, weather as character.

Starting Location: A shelter hollow carved into a fallen giant’s ribcage, moss glowing faintly under starlight. A Forager Child offers a route-song: “The Bad Ground shifts, and the weather walks behind it. Sing with me, or walk alone.”

Between towns and treaties lies the patience of the land. Old roads remember armies; cairns remember names no book keeps. In the Wilds, law thins to trail-marks and favors, and the weather keeps its own counsel. This is the country of the hexcrawl: a patchwork of hidden valleys, forgotten ruins, beast lairs, and the bones of failed settlements. No single authority rules here—instead, the land itself is the measure, and every crossing writes a new line. Walk soft, read the wind, bargain with whatever still listens, and keep one eye on the horizon. The next hex may hold water, treasure, or teeth.

What you notice first: The silence after a bird stops singing. The way a cairn seems to have shifted since you passed it last. The smell of rain on dry stone, even when the sky is clear.

The one rule that kills newcomers: Never sleep in a hollow that has soot on the ceiling without adding your own to the fire. The land knows the difference between a guest and a thief.

The Wilds Timer

The land has a memory. Track it with a visible timer:

The Wilds Timer [6]: Tracks the land’s growing attention. Ticks when:

• The party ignores a cairn offering (+1)

• The GM spends 2+ SB on environmental complications (+1)

• A character speaks a true name aloud in an unmarked place (+2)

• The party takes the ninth step without pausing (+1)

At 3 segments: Navigation rolls gain +1 DV. Paths begin to loop. At 6 segments: The land manifests — roll on the Manifestation table (see below).

Regional Mood: The Land That Watches

Here, the wilds are not empty—they are patient. Every ridge has been climbed by someone who never came down; every spring has been drunk from by a hundred generations of the lost. The land remembers every footstep, every campfire, every promise whispered into the wind. It does not judge, but it does not forget. Power in the wilds is not given by crowns or charters—it is earned by reading the weather, by leaving the right offering at the right cairn, by knowing when to move and when to wait. Those who rush are swallowed; those who listen are guided. The wilds are not a destination. They are the conversation between the map and the untamed.

In any Wilds scene, the ninth cairn you pass in a day will be warm to the touch. Leave an offering—a pinch of salt, a copper coin, a single word spoken to the wind—or the path will forget you. Those who forget to pay find that the next crossing leads back to the same cairn, and the cairn has grown a new stone. The stone has their name on it.

Travel at a Glance (Fast & Loose)

A journey through the Wilds is a series of choices, not a checklist. Before each leg (a day, a stretch of road, a single hex), the party picks two priorities from Speed, Stealth, Safety, Survey. Those become your edge; the others become vulnerabilities. The GM then frames a single roll based on the terrain and the weather’s mood (see Weather Whims, below). Success means you find what you sought; a mixed result trades progress for a cost; a miss throws a complication from the Clubs table onto the path.

Weather Whims (d6, one per leg)

1. Glass-clear – long sight, easy navigation. +1 to Survey actions.

2. Low fog – stealth advantage, speed suffers. +1 to Stealth, –1 to Speed.

3. Trickle rain – tracks wash, cold bites. First navigation or tracking roll at –1 die.

4. Dry cold / heat – resources drain faster. Mark +1 supply strain at end of leg.

5. Shifting wind – smoke and scent lie. Reroll one die on a weather-related check, but the GM may bank 1 SB.

6. Omen sky (aurora, sun-dog, three moons) – the land is listening. The GM may ask one player to answer a single question about the party’s future.

Making Camp

When you stop, choose one boon and accept one risk:

• Boon: heal a piece of gear; clear 1 Fatigue; scout tomorrow’s weather; share a story with a road spirit (gain a Truce Cord).

• Risk: thin shelter (next weather hits harder); smoky fire (attracts prowlers); exposed approach (ambush more likely); hungry neighbors (locals or beasts appear).

A road spirit’s favor requires a small offering—a pinch of salt, a dropped coin, a whispered truth. Be polite.

Spades — Places (Hex Terrain)

2. Crossing Point — Ford, ice-span, stepping logs, dune saddle, reef shelf. The crossing has a price: a stone, a story, or a moment of silence. The water hums when it’s satisfied. Hook: To cross without incident, offer something (1 Boon, a memory, or a story). The GM may accept or demand more. Refusal ticks the Wilds Timer +1.

3. Lookout Knoll — Tor, cliff, dune, ridge with wind-carved marker. From here, you can see three hexes in clear weather—and one that shouldn’t exist, flickering like a heat-shaped lie. Hook: Spend a scene observing. Roll Wits+Lore (DV 3). On success, learn the nature of one nearby hex. On a 1, the wind tells a lie — gain false information and tick the Wilds Timer +1.

4. Old Road — Trace with cairns and switchbacks half-eaten by terrain. The cobbles are worn smooth by ghosts. They whisper directions at dusk. The directions are always true, but never complete. Hook: Walking the road at dusk gives +1 die to navigation, but the GM gains 1 SB (the ghosts will ask for a story before you leave). If you can’t tell one, lose 1 Fatigue and tick the Wilds Timer +1.

5. Shelter Hollow — Overhang, cave, root cellar; soot says “used lately.” The soot is layered in thin, greasy rings. Someone has been coming here for a very long time. The hollow smells of wet fur and old secrets. Hook: Resting here clears 1 Fatigue. The soot on the ceiling is layered — each layer is a different color. If you leave your own mark, the hollow will remember you (gain +1 Position on your next roll in this hex).

6. Water Source — Spring, seep, fog net, snow pan, guarded by thorns or stone. The water tastes of iron and old bargains. Drink deep, but leave a coin—copper for a safe draw, silver for a question answered. Hook: Drinking here gives +1 die to the next roll. Leaving a coin gives +1 Position on the next encounter. The water is cold even in summer — something sleeps beneath it. If you take without offering, tick the Wilds Timer +1.

7. Windbreak — Rock ribs, lee of pines, reed-wall berm. The windbreak smells of woodsmoke and wool. Someone camped here last night. Their fire is still warm. Hook: You may find a small cache (1 Supply) or a sign of who passed before you. Reading the sign (Wits+Lore DV 3) reveals their direction and number. If you use the fire without leaving fuel, tick the Wilds Timer +1.

8. Ruined Outpost — Watchstack, wayside shrine, marker pile. The ruin’s flagstones are warm, as if a great beast sleeps beneath them. The air tastes of rust and thyme. Hook: The ruin has a secret (a hidden door, a buried cache, a ghost). Searching takes a scene and a Wits+Insight test (DV 4). On success, find 1 Diamond of the GM’s choice. On failure, the land’s attention sharpens — tick the Wilds Timer +1.

9. Bad Ground — Sinkhole, bog crust, crevasse, loess slump. The ground breathes—a slow, deep inhalation that lifts your heels. Step lightly or it will swallow you. Hook: Crossing requires a Body+Athletics test (DV 4). On failure, lose 1 Supply (drowned) and tick the Wilds Timer +1. The ground has teeth — it remembers those who fall.

10. Gate Gully — Pinch point between bluffs, dunes, or ice hummocks. The gully has a name carved in the rock. The name changes every season. Carve yours, and you may never leave. Hook: Carving your name in the gully grants +1 die to all rolls in this hex — but you are now part of its history. The next time you pass, the gully will remember you. The name carved deepest is a warning: “They stayed too long.”

11. Boundary Row — Totems, standing stones, prayer flags bent by weather. The flags are faded. The last prayer was for rain—and it still hasn’t come. The totems have grown moss in the shape of faces. Hook: Crossing the boundary without an offering angers the land. The totems have a pattern — eight in a row, then a gap. The ninth totem was taken. Whoever took it did not return. If you cross without offering, tick the Wilds Timer +2.

12. Worksite — Abandoned mine, quarry, logging camp, salt pan. The tools are scattered, but none are rusted. Whoever left did not plan to return—or has not yet finished. Hook: A successful Craft test (DV 3) reveals the tools are still sharp. Someone comes back to use them. They will return within 1d4 days. If you wait, you may meet them. If you take tools without leaving payment, tick the Wilds Timer +1.

13. Signal Height — Old fire-pit or mirror stand; smoke stains linger. Light the fire, and someone will answer. Whether they are friend or foe is your risk. The smoke always smells of your childhood. Hook: Lighting the fire summons someone — a guide, a warden, or a spirit. The GM rolls on the Hearts table. The fire also ticks the Wilds Timer +1. If you light it at the ninth hour, the one who answers is always the same — the Hollow’s Own.

14. Trail Nexus — Migratory, pack, or contraband paths knot here. Three trails meet, but only two are on any map. The third belongs to the dead. Their footprints point the wrong way. Hook: Following the dead’s path leads to a thin place (see Ways Between). The footprints are fresh — someone walked this way recently. They did not come back. If you take the third path, roll Spirit+Endurance (DV 4). On failure, tick the Wilds Timer +2 and gain the Marked by the Dead condition.

Hearts — People & Factions (Hex Denizens)

2. Forager Child — Goat-herd or berry-picker with truer maps than yours. Their map is drawn on a scrap of bark. It shows a path that disappears at a standing stone. The stone is not on any other map. Hook: The child will trade their map for a story or a piece of bread. The map is accurate — but the path only appears at dusk. If you take the map without offering, the child’s ghost will follow you (gain the Haunted condition for one session).

3. Guide — Three routes and one price (changes daily); navigation as negotiation. Their price is never coin. It is a favor, a secret, or a night’s watch. They will not tell you which until you arrive. Hook: The guide will not tell you the price until you reach the destination. If you refuse to pay, they leave you at the last crossing. Their silence is a kind of judgment — you gain -1 Position on all navigation rolls in this region until you settle the debt.

4. Warden Patrol — Local badges, local laws, local patience; order as familiarity. Their badge is a chipped sunburst. They serve a crown that no longer exists. The crown does not pay them. The land does. Hook: The wardens will escort you through their territory — but they will ask questions. Refusing answers starts a Suspicion [4] timer. When it fills, they detain you for “questioning” (lose 1 segment of travel progress).

5. Caravan Crew — Drovers, porters, yarn-post hands trading speed for coin. They know every shortcut and every ambush. They will share both—for a price. Their silence is purchased in stories. Hook: Traveling with the crew gives +1 die to navigation, but their loyalty is to their cargo, not to you. If a better offer comes, they will abandon you. The crew leader carries a tally of every story they’ve been told — and every one they’ve sold.

6. Pilgrims — Bound for a tucked-away shrine or stone; faith as a destination. Their shrine has no name. The stone there is warm, and it answers questions poorly. It prefers to ask them. Hook: The pilgrims will guide you to the shrine if you walk with them for a day. The shrine asks one question of each visitor. Answering truthfully grants a Boon; refusing ticks the Wilds Timer +2. The pilgrims do not speak of what they have been asked.

7. Poachers — Know every snare and shortcut; survival as expertise. They wear the teeth of game wardens as necklaces. The game wardens are still alive. They are saving for a full set. Hook: The poachers will trade information for silence — they don’t want their route known. Their information is always accurate. The price is a promise not to reveal their location. Breaking the promise ticks the Wilds Timer +3.

8. Hermit-Healer — Dogs, geese, and opinions about weather; wisdom as isolation. Their poultices smell of grave-moss. They work anyway. The dogs do not bark at strangers—they judge them. Hook: The healer will treat wounds for a story. If the story is true, they also give a charm (+1 die to resist poison for one session). If false, the charm turns against you. The healer’s dogs will remember which one you told.

9. Prospectors — Salt, amber, iron, fungus; chasing rumors and glint. Their claim is marked with a knot of red thread. Cross it, and they will shoot. The thread glows when a stranger’s foot touches it. Hook: The prospectors will share their find if you help them work — a day of labor for a share of the claim. The claim may be worthless — or it may be the mother lode. The red thread was tied by the land itself; cutting it ticks the Wilds Timer +2.

10. War-Band — Reavers or “escorts,” depending on your purse; violence as commerce. Their banner is a painted skull. The paint is from a dead comrade’s blood. They add a finger bone to the standard after every contract. Hook: The war-band will fight for you if you pay in silver or supplies. Their loyalty is to the purse, not to you. If you can’t pay, they may take what you have. Their banner has nine finger bones — the ninth is always the last contractor who couldn’t pay.

11. Monster-Hunter — Rite-keeper wearing yesterday’s trophies; death as livelihood. Their trophy is still warm. The monster’s mate is close behind. They are not running—they are leading. Hook: The hunter knows the location of a nearby lair. They will guide you there — for a share of the kill. The mate is already hunting them. If you accept, roll Wits+Lore (DV 4) to avoid the mate’s ambush. On failure, the hunter dies and you gain a blood-debt (tick the Wilds Timer +2).

12. Quartermaster — Ledgers first, hospitality second; supply as authority. Their measure is written in a code only they understand. The code is their life story. The margins are full of regrets. Hook: The quartermaster can supply your party — for a price. They have a ledger of debts owed to them. You can pay in coin, labor, or a promise. The promise is always the most expensive. The ninth entry in their ledger is always blank — it awaits your name.

13. Claimant Chief — Papers and spears to match; legitimacy as force. Their papers are stained with water and blood. Both are still wet. The water came from a spring they poisoned. The blood from the spring’s keeper. Hook: The chief will grant you passage — if you swear an oath to them. The oath is witnessed by the land. Breaking it ticks the Wilds Timer +3. The chief’s papers have a seal — a bell without a clapper. The silence is the signature.

14. The Stranger — Spirit-touched nomad or emissary; rules bend near them. They have no shadow. The ground does not remember their footprints. Their voice echoes twice—once for them, once for the land. Hook: The Stranger knows the Wilds Timer’s true level. They will tell you — for a memory. The memory must be something you cherish. They will not take it by force. They will ask. If you refuse, they will not speak again. If you offer a false memory, the land will know — tick the Wilds Timer +2.

Additional Denizens of the Wilds

Not every soul in the wilds is a wanderer. Some have built fragile refuges, while others have been broken by war, exile, or the land itself.

14. Isolated Town (Palings) — A handful of families eking out a living behind a thorn hedge. The gate is a wagon axle lashed upright. They trade hides for salt and ask no questions. Their children have never seen a paved road. Hook: The town will trade supplies for stories. They are desperate for news of the outside world. If you bring news of a war, they will give you 2 Supply. If you bring news of peace, they will give you a Guide (treat as a Diamond, +1 die to navigation for one leg). Their children have never seen a road — they will follow you if you leave.

15. Refugee Train — A column of worn carts and quieter people fleeing a war or a curse. Their leader carries a charter from a lord who is now dead. They will trade stories for passage and bury their dead without markers. Hook: The refugees know the land ahead better than any map. They will share their knowledge if you help them bury their dead. The dead have no markers — but the land remembers them. If you help, gain +1 die on all navigation rolls for one leg. If you refuse, the dead will remember you (tick the Wilds Timer +1).

16. Deserter Camp — Soldiers who threw down their colors, now living by stealth. They still drill at dawn and keep a sharp watch. Their loyalty is to each other, not to any flag. They may know the location of an abandoned fort. Hook: The deserters will trade information for food or weapons. They know the location of a nearby fort (treat as a Spades draw for a Ruined Outpost). If you give them weapons, they will fight for you once (Cap 2, one scene). If you give them food, they will guide you through one hazardous hex (ignore one Clubs draw).

17. Beastman Hunting Band — Feral-looking folk with antler charms and pelts stitched to skin. They do not speak Utaran. They communicate in growls and hand signs. They are not savages—they are the land’s first children, and they remember when the roads were deer paths. Hook: The beastmen will not attack if you approach slowly and show your palms. They speak in gestures — a successful Wits+Insight test (DV 3) allows basic communication. They know the location of every water source in the hex. In exchange for a story about a hunt, they will lead you to water (clear 1 Supply strain). If you threaten them, they will vanish — and the land will remember your face.

18. Lost Tribe (Cairn-Folk) — Descendants of a settlement that fell off every map. They wear the teeth of their ancestors and tattoo their lineage on their faces. They believe the Hollow is a sleeping god and that the party are its messengers. They are wrong—or are they? Hook: The Cairn-Folk believe the Hollow will wake when the ninth stone is placed on the Great Cairn. They will ask the party to bring them a stone from a distant mountain. If you accept, gain a Quest Timer [6]. If you refuse, they will not speak to you again. If you complete the quest, gain a permanent Cairn-Friend trait (+1 die on all rolls in this region).

19. Rootless Mercenaries — A dozen sell-swords between contracts, nursing old wounds. Their captain lost an eye to a mushroom spore. They will fight for coin, but they will also fight for a hot meal. They know the location of a forgotten cache of arms. Hook: The mercenaries will fight for you if you pay in coin or supplies. They know the location of a cache of arms (treat as a Diamond, grants +1 die to combat for one scene). The captain’s lost eye was taken by a spore that still grows in his socket — he will trade the location for a cure (a Medicine test DV 4 or a story about a healer).

20. Anchorite in a Dead Tower — A holy woman who has not spoken in twenty years. She writes prophecies on the walls with charcoal. The prophecies are always about the next storm or the next stranger to arrive. She will not look at you if your shadow is wrong. Hook: The Anchorite writes prophecies on the walls. A successful Wits+Lore test (DV 4) reveals the next weather omen (see Weather Omens table). If your shadow is wrong (i.e., you have a Shadow Debt), she will not speak to you. If you ask her a question, she will write the answer — but it is always about a storm, not about what you asked.

21. Feral Children — Orphaned by a raid or a plague, raised by wolves or worse. They know every hidden spring and every game trail. They will not come close, but they will watch. Leave them a piece of bread, and they may leave you a knapped arrowhead—or a warning. Hook: The children will not approach. If you leave an offering (bread, salt, a shiny object), they will leave something in return. Roll d6: 1-2: a knapped arrowhead (+1 die to one ranged attack); 3-4: a warning about the next hex (ignore one Clubs draw); 5-6: a map to a hidden cache (treat as a Diamond). If you try to follow them, they will vanish — and you will be lost (lose 1 segment of travel progress).

22. Cult of the Unburied — Grave-tenders who believe the dead should not be left to the land. They carry iron shovels and speak in hushed tones. They burn the bodies of the fallen they find, lest the Hollow take them. They may be willing to burn your dead as well—for a story. Hook: The Cult will burn your dead for a story about the deceased. The story must be true — they can tell if you lie. If you agree, gain +1 die on all rolls against spirits for one session. If you refuse, they will follow you until you bury your dead properly — and they are patient.

23. Exiled Scholar — An academic who fled a city after proving the wrong theorem. He carries a single book—his own—and will trade a chapter for a night’s shelter. The book contains a map to a ruin that does not appear on any official chart. Hook: The scholar will trade a chapter of his book for shelter. Each chapter contains a clue to a ruin’s location. If you give him shelter, gain a Clue (treat as a String). If you steal his book, gain the ruin’s location — but the scholar’s ghost will follow you (gain the Haunted condition until you return the book).

24. The Gray Singer — A blind woman who wanders the wilds humming. Her songs calm territorial beasts and call down birds. She is looking for a melody she heard in a dream. If you help her find it, she will teach you a verse that quells a storm. Hook: The Gray Singer is searching for a melody. If you help her (a Wits+Performance test DV 4), she will teach you a verse. Singing the verse calms one weather hazard (cancel one Weather Turn complication). If you refuse, she will hum a different tune — and the weather will turn against you (tick the Wilds Timer +1).

25. Bandit King’s Lookout — A scout for a large robber band, hiding in a hollow tree. He has a whistle that can summon a dozen riders. He is not cruel—just hungry. A bag of salt or a true story will buy his silence and his guidance around the ambush. Hook: The lookout will guide you around the ambush — for a price. Salt is acceptable. A true story is better. If you give him a story, he will tell you where the bandit king’s treasure is hidden. If you give him salt, he will only guide you around the ambush. If you give him nothing, he will blow the whistle.

26. The Hollow’s Own — A figure dressed in gray rags, walking the same path every dusk. They have no face—only a smooth expanse where features should be. They do not attack. They point. The direction they point is the direction the Hollow will walk next. Hook: The Hollow’s Own appears when the Wilds Timer reaches 4 or higher. They point in a direction. If you follow, you find a thin place (see Ways Between). If you ignore, the Hollow will walk in that direction at midnight — and you will be in its path. If you speak to them, they will answer in a voice that is not their own — the voice of someone you have wronged.

Clubs — Complications/Threats (Hex Hazards)

2. Weather Turn — Heat snap, cold snap, fog, dust; plans sag like wet leather. The wind changes direction three times in an hour. Someone is watching. The air tastes of a season that hasn’t come yet. Hook: All navigation rolls are Desperate for the scene. The air tastes of a season that hasn’t come yet — if the party takes shelter, they may wait it out (lose 1 segment of travel progress) or push through (mark 1 Fatigue). Tick the Wilds Timer +1.

3. Doubleback — Tracks loop; the navigator swears the land moved underfoot. Your own footprints face you. They were made yesterday—or tomorrow. The toes point toward a future you have not chosen. Hook: To escape, the party must test Wits+Lore (DV 4) or lose 1 segment of travel progress. On a failure, the GM may tick the Wilds Timer +1. The footprints are warm — they were made recently. By you.

4. Prowlers Shadow — Wolves, jackals, ghouls, seals, ravens by night; hunt as a company. Their eyes reflect no light. Their teeth do. They are patient. They have been following since the last hex. You are only now noticing. Hook: The prowlers will attack at a moment of weakness. The party may make a group Stealth test (DV 4) to lose them. On failure, combat — treat as Cap 2 adversary with Pack Tactics (+1 die when adjacent to another prowler). They have been following for three hexes. They know your patterns.

5. Route Blocked — Deadfall, rockfall, dune shift, ice heave; the path as an obstacle. The blockage was placed. The toolmarks are fresh. Whoever cleared this path did not want you to follow—or wanted you to take the other way. Hook: Clearing the blockage takes a scene and a Body+Athletics test (DV 4). On success, the path is clear. On failure, the blockage shifts — lose 1 Fatigue and tick the Wilds Timer +1. The toolmarks are fresh — someone passed this way recently. They left a message carved in the stone: “Go back.”

6. Quarantine Sign — Camp fever; wardens sniff your packs for death. The sign is a ribbon tied in a figure-eight. Do not cross it. The ribbon is damp. It was tied recently. The wardens are still nearby. Hook: The wardens will detain the party for inspection. They are looking for a specific person — a fugitive, a deserter, or a ghost. The party may be mistaken for them. A successful Deception test (DV 4) avoids inspection; a failure starts a Detention [4] timer.

7. Territorial Beast — Charge, stampede, or swarm; your choice of which is wrong. The beast’s lair is nearby. You can smell it—old blood and older musk. The ground is warm. You are standing on its pantry. Hook: The beast will attack if provoked. It can be avoided with a Stealth test (DV 4) or distracted with an offering (1 Supply). If combat occurs, treat as Cap 3 adversary with Lair Advantage (+1 die to attacks while in its territory). The beast’s lair contains a cache (roll on Diamonds table).

8. Elemental Front — Grassfire, peat-burn, canopy flare, blowing spindrift. The fire moves against the wind. The wind is lying. The smoke writes a word in a language you almost understand. It is a warning. Hook: The elemental front advances each scene. The party must outrun it (group Athletics test DV 4) or take Harm 1 from the elements. The smoke writes a word — reading it requires a Wits+Lore test (DV 4). On success, gain a warning about the next hex. On failure, the word is your name.

9. Paper vs Spear — Jurisdiction fight in the wilds stalls your day; law as argument. Two officials, one road. Both have seals. Neither will show them. The seals are warm. They have been used recently—on death warrants. Hook: The party must choose a side or find a third option. Choosing a side gains an ally and an enemy. The land is watching to see who you choose. If you choose poorly, tick the Wilds Timer +2. If you find a third option (a bribe, a story, a clever argument), gain a Favor from both sides.

10. Supply Pinch — Water, fuel, or feed low; pick what starves first. Your canteen is full. The water is from a source that dried up last year. You do not remember filling it. Someone did. Hook: The party must find new supplies. A Wits + Insight test (DV 3) locates water; a Craft test (DV 3) locates fuel. The water is cold — and it’s watching. If you drink it without thanking the source, tick the Wilds Timer +1. The water tastes of iron and old bargains.

11. Pursuit — Hunters or avengers follow; signs say “close.” The tracks are one hour old. They are gaining. The hunters do not need to sleep. They have not slept for three days. Neither have you. Hook: The pursuers will catch the party unless they find a way to slow them. An obstacle (a fallen tree, a false trail, a toll) costs 1 Supply or a Fatigue. If caught, the pursuers demand a debt be paid — a story, a memory, or a name. Refusal means combat (Cap 3).

12. Bad Omen — Will-lights, taboo day, saint bells silent; locals refuse to move. The omen is written in bird droppings on a milestone. It is still accurate. The birds are watching. They are waiting for you to ignore it. Hook: Following the omen grants +1 die to the next roll; ignoring it ticks the Wilds Timer +2. The birds are waiting for you to choose. If you ignore the omen, the birds will follow you for the rest of the leg — and they are not silent.

13. General Alarm — Levy, muster, evacuation; all tracks become checkpoints. The alarm horn is cracked. It sounds like a scream. The scream is a name. The name is yours. Hook: The party is conscripted or questioned. A successful Deception test (DV 4) avoids the worst; a failure starts a Pursuit timer. The alarm horn is cracked — it sounds like a scream. The scream is your name. Someone is calling for you.

14. Catastrophe — Flood, whiteout, sandstorm, lahar; timers jump like frightened deer. The catastrophe has a name. The land remembers it. The land is shouting it now. The sound is the same as a heartbeat. Yours. Hook: The catastrophe advances each round. The party must find shelter (Survival test DV 5) or take Harm 2. The land’s name is a warning. If you speak the name aloud, the catastrophe will pause for one round — but the land will remember your voice.

Expanded Travel Hazards (from expansions)

For GMs who want even more variety, add these entries to the Clubs table (either replace six existing entries or expand the table to d18 by renumbering).

14. Bell-Line Failure (Mistlands) — A ward-bell cracks. Wraiths cross the levee. Test Spirit + Endurance (DV 4) or gain the Marked by Mist condition (the next spirit encounter starts at Desperate Position). ‘[DEATH]’ Hook: The wraiths are drawn to the party’s warmth. If anyone carries a bell, they can ring it to drive them back — but the ring will attract something worse. Tick the Wilds Timer +1.

15. Star-Road Phasing (Valewood) — An ancient Lethai road flickers in and out of reality. Navigation DV +2. On a failure, the party emerges in a different hex entirely (GM chooses). ‘[MAGIC]’ Hook: The road phases at the ninth hour. If the party walks it at dusk, they may emerge in a different hex — or a different time. The Lethai roads remember the empire. They are not always happy about it.

16. Spirit-Dust Storm (Ashaan) — Red sand from the Red Desert carries whispering spirits. All actions Desperate for the scene. On any 1, a bound spirit breaks free and attacks (Cap 2). ‘[SPIRIT]’ Hook: The spirits are bound to the sand. If the party can speak their names, they will calm. A Wits+Lore test (DV 4) reveals a name. If you speak it, the spirit will answer one question before returning to the sand.

17. Ninth Night (Tulkani Circle) — The party has camped too long. The Hollow walks. An Oath-Keeper appears at midnight. It asks for a story, a memory, or a promise. Refusal deepens the land’s watchfulness. ‘[ATTENTION]’ Hook: The Oath-Keeper is patient. It will wait until midnight. If the party offers a story, it will listen and leave. If they offer a memory, it will take it and leave. If they offer a promise, it will remember — and return. Tick the Wilds Timer +1 for each refusal.

18. Well-Spirit Honored (Fhara) — A dry well suddenly flows, but the water carries minerals. The spirit asks for respect—an offering of dates or a true story. Granted, the water stays sweet; refused, it turns bitter for the next leg. ‘[SPIRIT]’ Hook: The well-spirit is old and lonely. If the party offers a true story, the water will remain sweet. If they offer a false story, the water will turn bitter — and the spirit will follow them for the rest of the leg.

19. Toll Shift (Silkstrand/Brass Coast) — A gatekeeper changes the crossing terms. All passage costs +1 Measure until the next landmark. Diplomacy requires a successful Presence + Sway (DV 4). ‘[AUTHORITY]’ Hook: The gatekeeper is testing the party. If they pay the toll, they pass. If they negotiate, they may pass for less. If they refuse, the gate will close — and the land will remember their name.

Diamonds — Rewards/Leverage (Hex Discoveries)

2. Cache Token — Key to a hidden food or fuel stash (once); preparation as power. The token is a knucklebone. The stash is marked with a cairn that has one stone missing. The missing stone is the token. Hook: Using the cache gives 2 Supply. The token can be used once — after that, the stash is empty. The missing stone is now your debt — the land will remember that you took from it. If you return the stone, you may use the cache again.

3. Right-of-Pass — Recognized marker for a named trail or crossing. The marker is a notch carved in a milestone. The notch is shaped like a bird. The bird is an owl. The owl watches at dusk. Hook: Showing the marker grants +1 Position on any travel roll on that trail. The owl watches at dusk — if you’re still on the trail, the land will test you. The test is always a question: “Why are you here?”

4. Warden’s Favor — Escort letter; “they’re with us” as a shield. The letter is stamped with a bell. The bell’s clapper is missing. The absence of sound is the signature. Hook: The favor grants safe passage through one warden patrol. The wardens will not question you — but they will remember your face. The letter’s bell has no clapper — it cannot ring. The silence is the signature.

5. Weather Window — Good forecast and a narrow gate to use it. The window is a single hour at dawn. The birds will tell you when. They will stop singing. That is the signal. Hook: The window grants +1 die to all travel rolls for one leg. The party must move quickly — the window closes at the next weather turn. If they miss it, the weather will turn against them (tick the Wilds Timer +1).

6. Water Deed — Lawful draw at a scarce source; necessity as a right. The deed is a clay cup. Break it, and the spring will flow—once. The cup’s shards can be traded for another deed. There are nine shards. Hook: The deed grants access to water in a dry region. The spring is cold, and the water tastes of iron — but it’s safe. The cup’s shards can be traded to the spring’s keeper for another deed. If you lose a shard, the spring will remember.

7. Route Song — A map scrap that actually works; knowledge as navigation. The song has eight verses. The ninth is humming. The humming is the sound of the road itself. It changes with the weather. Hook: Singing the route song grants +1 die to navigation for one leg. The humming changes with the weather — it’s the road’s mood. If you sing the ninth verse (the humming), the road will speak to you. It will ask one question. Answer truthfully, and it will show you a shortcut.

8. Remount Hire — Fresh legs or hulls waiting at a post; speed as a service. The remounts have no names. They answer to whistles and bribes. They remember every rider. They do not forgive cruelty. Hook: The remounts grant +1 Speed for one leg. They will not obey anyone who treats them poorly. They remember cruelty — if you mistreat them, they will throw you at the worst possible moment. If you treat them well, they will remember your kindness.

9. Truce Cord — Taboo exemption at a site (one scene); peace as a thread. The cord is braided from wool and ash. Burn it to invoke the truce. The ash must be from the same fire that warmed the truce. Hook: The truce lasts one scene. No violence can occur within the site. The cord’s ash must be from the same fire that warmed the truce — if you use different ash, the truce will not hold. If you break the truce, the land will remember (tick the Wilds Timer +3).

10. Toll Waiver — A ferry, bridge, or reef gate honors this chit; passage as paper. The chit is a dried leaf. The toll-keeper will not touch it. They will nod and wave you through. They will not speak. Hook: The waiver grants free passage through one toll. The toll-keeper will not speak to you — they will only nod. They will remember your face. If you try to use the waiver again, it will crumble in your hand.

11. Favor Owed — Locals owe you (or you owe them); trade for labor or insight. The favor is carved on a tally stick. Break it when the favor is done. The stick will not burn. It will only splinter. Hook: The favor can be traded for labor, information, or safe passage. The tally stick will not burn — it will only splinter. If you break it, the favor is done. If you lose it, the favor is still owed. The land will remember.

12. Private Audience — A keeper, shrine-warden, or spirit of the place hears you alone. The audience is held at midnight. The spirit wears your face. It asks only one question. You will answer truthfully. Hook: The spirit will answer one question truthfully — but it will ask one in return. The answer is always a weight. If you lie, the spirit will wear your face for a day. If you tell the truth, it will give you a boon (treat as a Diamond of your choice).

13. Road Commission — Temporary authority over a stretch of wilds. The commission is a whistle. Blow it, and the land will listen—once. The whistle is carved from a bone that was never alive. Hook: The commission grants temporary authority. The land will obey one command — but the land will remember your use of the whistle. If you use it to harm the land, tick the Wilds Timer +3. If you use it to protect the land, gain +1 Position on all rolls in this region for the rest of the session.

14. Earth’s Exception — One temporary rule-bend (cross during a storm, pass uncounted, beasts ignore you). The exception is a secret. The land will forget it as soon as you use it. You will remember it every night for a year. Hook: The exception lasts one scene. The land will forget it as soon as you use it — but you will remember it every night for a year. The exception is a secret — if you tell anyone, the land will remember and take it back. If you use it wisely, the land may offer you another.

Wilds Manifestation Table

When the Wilds Timer reaches 6, the land manifests. Roll 1d6:

Quick use notes

• Draw until you have all four suits: Spade = place, Heart = actor, Club = pressure, Diamond = leverage. Highest rank sets the main Timer (2–5 → 4, 6–10 → 6, J/Q/K → 8, A → 10).

• Diamonds are codified outcomes (cache/pass/favor) that change position rather than call for a roll.

• If any A appears, add a lingering omen of the land (a smell on the wind, a sound that carries too far, tracks that shift) that you can echo in later scenes.

• The Wilds Timer should be visible to players — the land’s attention is a pressure they can feel.

Weather Omens (d10) — Mini-Generator

When the sky speaks in signs, roll to interpret its warning or promise.

Ruin Findings (d8) — Mini-Generator

When you explore a forgotten structure, roll to discover what echoes remain.

Trail Signs (d6) — Mini-Generator

When you pause to read the land’s subtle messages, roll to interpret what the way is telling you.

Lore Echoes (Cross-Expansion Hooks)

• The Bitter Root: Daughters of the Cord use certain shelter hollows as waystations. A renegade Sister has hidden a Hollowed in a ruined outpost; the child has not moved in weeks. The outpost’s flagstones are warm — they remember her.

• The Threshold Compendium: Old Roads are Class II Anchor sites—ghosts of imperial surveyors still measure the miles. Saikou Ira would leave a silver coin at every milestone. The ghosts count the coins. They have not finished counting.

• Malachai, the Chained Angel: A silver coin that never spends lies at the bottom of every spring. Take it, and the water will never run dry—but the spring will remember your face. The coin has eight edges. The ninth is a scratch.

• The Gray Wanderer’s Grimoire: Wilds psions are called “Stone-Listeners.” They hear the memory of old trails. Claimant chiefs pay well for their services—and dispose of those who hear too much. The stones speak in eights. The ninth word is always a name.

Wilderness Superstitions (burn for +1 die once)

• Bread to the Cairn: Crumble a crust at a boundary stone. Ignore the first Bad Ground penalty. The cairn’s stones are warm — they will remember your offering.

• Knot the Trail: Tie a single knot in a piece of grass at a crossing. Cancel Doubleback or take –1 die on your next navigation roll (your choice). The knot is a promise to the land. If you break it, the land will know.

• Name to the Spring: Whisper a dead traveler’s name into a water source. Gain +1 Effect when foraging this scene, but mark Obligation to the land. The spring will remember the name. It will ask for it back.

Thematic SB Spend Table

Minor Complications (1 SB)

• Exposure: Your actions draw unwanted attention from wardens or local hunters.

• Noise: Sounds of your actions alert nearby prowlers or caravan guards.

• Trace: Evidence of your passage marks your route for trackers or claimants.

• Delay: A brief but meaningful setback costs you time or favorable weather.

• Supply Strain: Mark +1 segment on a relevant resource timer.

Moderate Setbacks (2 SB)

• Alarm Raised: Guide or warden patrol becomes aware and begins responding.

• Position Lost: You lose advantageous ground/cover/stealth due to weather shift or route blockage.

• Foe Appears: A war-band or territorial beast arrives on scene.

• Gear Trouble: A piece of equipment becomes Compromised/Neglected.

• Lock/Barrier: A simple obstacle now requires a test to overcome.

Serious Trouble (3 SB)

• Reinforcements: Additional wardens, war-bands, or prowlers arrive.

• Key Gear Breaks: A crucial tool/weapon becomes temporarily unusable.

• Major Twist: The situation fundamentally changes - weather turns/catastrophe strikes/quarantine declared.

• Rail Tick: Advance a relevant campaign/front timer by 1 segment.

• Condition Applied: Mark Fatigue 1/Harm 1/Condition appropriate to fiction.

Major Turns (4+ SB)

• Trap Springs: A prepared danger activates with full effect.

• Authority Arrival: Claimant chief, quartermaster, or The Stranger intervenes.

• Scene Shift: The environment changes dramatically - weather shifts/blockage clears/catastrophe hits.

• Patron Omen: Divine/arcane forces take notice - omen appears/blessing lost/curse manifests.

• Narrative Pivot: The story takes an unexpected turn that reframes objectives.

Region-Specific SB Options

• Wilds (Weather): Conditions shift without warning, storms arrive early, calm turns to chaos.

• Wilds (Navigation): Trails reroute mid-journey, landmarks disappear, guides demand additional payment.

• Wilds (Local Customs): Spirits demand tribute, territorial beasts become aggressive, local laws change with the terrain.

• Wilds (The Ninth): The ninth step leads to a thin place. The ninth cairn is warm. The ninth offering is always accepted.

Terrain Stock (d20)

Roll or choose a striking detail to dress a hex.

1. Fresh ash on an old fire ring; prints circle around it.

2. Boundary totems toppled but re-stack themselves if watched politely.

3. Broken wagon with salt-vein crystals growing through spokes.

4. Singing culvert; echo names the boldest listener wrongly.

5. Weather bell hung in a pine; tolling swaps rain and wind.

6. Cairn with a copper coin balanced on edge; don’t breathe hard.

7. Fence of antlers pointing uphill; follow and skip one Bad Ground.

8. Mummified pack-beast wearing a courier’s braid; letter hums.

9. Pebble mosaic of an old levy call; stepping it summons wardens.

10. Fossil rib arch; shelter under it and dream of tomorrow’s route.

11. Abandoned hunter’s cache; choice of food or rumor, not both.

12. Mirror-puddle; shows last night’s sky whatever the hour.

13. Rope bridge made of prayer knots; one is freshly cut.

14. Scare-stakes dressed in saltcloth; something big respects them.

15. Stone with bite-marks; taste iron and remember a shortcut.

16. Old road mile-post defaced into a saint; offerings still fresh.

17. Thistle patch buzzing with coin-flies; feed them copper for safe passage.

18. Fallen giant’s footprint now a pond; frogs chant a route-song.

19. Soot writing on cliff: Storm at Second Bell. It’s right.

20. Hollow tree full of carved names; the newest is yours.

Lair Seeds (One-Page Crawls)

d12 quick lair hooks. Each can be a single session’s focus.

1. Fen Clockworks — Bog-gears turn under peat; each tooth a drowned oath.

2. Dry River Gallery — Petroglyphs re-arrange at dusk; wrong reading summons bramble knights.

3. Ice-Well Vault — Stairs drilled through permafrost; breath blooms frost-runes that answer questions badly.

4. Sunken Forum — Pillars knee-deep in silt; rust moths nest in the rostrum.

5. Pilgrim Kilns — Charcoal mounds hike on stilt roots at night; a hermit-healer bargains weather for charcoal.

6. Hanging Salt Chapel — White stalactites ring like bells; grave-eels coil in the font.

7. Thorn Maze Mill — Waterwheel turns without water; phase panthers pace the sluice.

8. Brewer’s Hollow — Barrels of wind; decant a gale or drink a calm.

9. Antler Archive — Tally carved on horn; theft awakens the cairn-wights’ watcher.

10. Black Lantern Mines — Lantern-eyes nest like bats; light buys silence, darkness buys passage.

11. Stormbone Spire — Vertebrae tower; earth-sharks circle beneath like sharks in sand.

12. Amber Orchard — Trees fossilised mid-sway; trapped thunderflies grant Weather Window when freed.

Wilderness Bestiary

A palette of strange creatures, each with signs (what you notice before it sees you) and a hook (how to engage or avoid).

• Earth-Sharks — Burrow beneath loess and tundra; dorsal ridges like plowshares. Signs: furrows that breathe; pebbles rattle. Hook: lure with drumbeats or goat bells. They count in eights — if you beat nine times, they will breach.

• Phase Panthers — Shadow-striped cats that step between gusts. Signs: pawprints offset from themselves. Hook: mirrored water or bell-silver disrupts the blink. The panthers phase at the ninth step — if you count their steps, you can predict where they’ll appear.

• Rust Moths — Swarms that taste iron memory. Signs: lacework mail; pitted nails. Hook: feed them old keys; they ignore fresh steel. They have a ninth sense — they know when you’re carrying a forgotten debt.

• Lichen-Bears — Moss-matted ursines with rock-teeth. Signs: clawed bark with green scabs. Hook: smoke of juniper calms; salt enrages. Their teeth are warm — they remember every meal.

• Wind Drakes — Rib-thin sky-serpents that ride fronts. Signs: shed vanes; feathers like glass. Hook: whistle back the storm to ground them. They have nine ribs — if you count them, they will notice.

• Ooze-Remnants — Alchemical slough from an old field lab. Signs: boot-holes rounded smooth. Hook: wood ash firms them; vinegar makes them sprint. They remember the last formula — it’s written in their movement.

• Fell Harts — Antlered shades that herd the living toward cliffs. Signs: hoofprints that don’t compress soil. Hook: speak a hunter’s apology while walking backward. They count their herd in eights — the ninth is always a ghost.

• Cairn-Wights — Stone-stack custodians; patient as frost. Signs: pebbles rearranged around your fire. Hook: rebuild the stack correctly; they serve until dawn. They count in stones — if you add a ninth, they will wake.

• Thundertusks — Boars that store lightning in tusk-veins. Signs: fused sand beads; singed roots. Hook: ground your spear; throw shadow to draw the strike. Their tusks hum in eights — the ninth is a warning.

• Lantern-Eyes — Floating orbs of watchlight rumor; jealous of secrets. Signs: daylight in ravines at midnight. Hook: offer a whispered truth; they part like reeds. They count secrets in eights — the ninth is always yours.

• Grave-Eels — Burrow through barrow loam; taste names. Signs: sinking turf over old wars. Hook: sing lineage or throw false names to mislead. They have nine names — if you speak all of them, they will follow you.

• Bramble Knights — Empty helms grown through with thorn; patrol old borders. Signs: briar in boot-grease. Hook: present a hedge-blessing; they escort instead of impale. They count in thorns — the ninth is always sharp.

When you discover a hidden cache or an ancient hoard, roll or pick:

1. Route-stones that warm near true north.

2. Weather-bell clapper that tolls only for lightning.

3. Trail-right knot dyed in berry law; locals honor it once.

4. Salt-vein pick that cuts oozes like cloth.

5. Glass feather; break to call a wind drake for one pass.

6. Tally leaf waterproofed with eel-fat; ink never runs, words drift.

7. Thorn sigil that bramble knights read as parley.

8. Coin-fly cocoon; hatch it for one honest guide to the nearest water.

9. Bone flute that calls earth-sharks to circle elsewhere.

10. Lantern-eye husk; squeeze for daylight the length of a camp prayer.

Omens & Signs

The land speaks. Use these when the party pauses or when the GM needs a portent.

Sky Signs (d8)

1. sun-dog

2. mare’s tails

3. anvil cloud faces the wrong way

4. silent birds

5. far thunder without storm

6. moon with halo

7. ash scent on clear air

8. stars “shiver”

Ground Signs (d8)

1. cairn with new pebble

2. boot prints that end at rock

3. butchered game left neat

4. snapped twig at head height

5. ash under wet moss

6. ward-knot cut

7. trail beads on shrub

8. a single coin on a stone

In the Wilds, power flows through knowledge of the land, the ability to navigate without formal authority, and the careful cultivation of local relationships. True authority comes from understanding weather patterns, reading tracks, and maintaining the favor of both human inhabitants and the spirits of place. Those who can provide safe passage, find water in dry times, or mediate between conflicting claims hold the most influence.

For the GM: Patronage in the Wilds revolves around practical knowledge, local customs, and the ability to provide essential services like navigation, shelter, and supply. Rewards often take the form of tokens, passes, and local knowledge that can be leveraged into greater safety and efficiency. To emphasize the hexcrawl feel:

• Key 6–10 interesting hexes before the session, then use the generator to fill the rest.

• Let the party discover new routes, short cuts, and hidden lairs through successful scouting or lucky finds.

• Offer Diamonds as “exploration rewards” that unlock new options (a cache token, a safe passage, a local ally).

In the Wilds, your skill is your standing, and your standing determines whether you survive or perish.

Fast reskin palette

Forest

swap dunes→deadfall, spindrift→canopy flare, prowlers→boar/wolves; water = spring/stream.

Desert

swap bog→salt pan, fog→dust, shelter = overhang/wadi; water = seep/fog net.

Tundra/Ice

swap dune shift→ice heave, fire→spindrift, boats→sleds; prowlers = bears/wolves.

Coast/Isles

crossings = reef shelves, prowlers = seals/raiders, alarms = harbor booms; fuel = driftwood.

Swamp/Fen

crossings = corduroy/log causeways, bad ground = peat crust, prowlers = gators/leeches.

Highlands

crossings = cols and scree traverses, alarms = beacon chains, prowlers = cats/eagles.

Dungeons

Living Infrastructure.

“Beneath the surface, ancient places breathe with rusted lungs and dream in currents of forgotten speech. The walls do not forget a step; the air holds the echoes of words we wish we had not spoken. Dungeons are not broken things – they are machines that have learned to live. Their lungs are the vents that sigh, their veins the pipes that throb, their jaws the doors that yield without touch. Some were forged by hand; others grew like mold in the dark. They are not ancient; they are patient, and they remember every flaw in the design as if it were a feature.”
— The True-Mason

What do people eat for breakfast? Fungus bread and cave water – the fungus grows on the walls, the water drips from the ceiling. Both taste of stone. Both are all there is.

What does a child learn before they can walk? To count footsteps. The eight sounds of the deep: Drip, Creak, Groan, Whisper, Scrape, Echo, Silence, and the ninth – the dungeon’s own heartbeat. The heartbeat is a door opening. The door is always behind you.

What is the first thing you notice about a stranger? Their shadow. Dungeon shadows are long, even in bright light. A shadow too short means they have been here too long. A shadow that moves independently means they have been touched by the deep. No shadow means they are not a stranger – they are the dungeon’s guest. The dungeon never lets guests leave.

What is the most common crime? Map-making – but map-making is heresy. The dungeon changes its corridors when it feels watched. A map that is accurate at dawn is a lie by dusk. The punishment is to walk the lie until it becomes true.

What does no one talk about but everyone knows? The dungeon is not a place. It is a creature that dreamed itself into stone. The corridors are its veins. The chambers are its organs. The prisoners are its thoughts. The thoughts are not its own.

Where do people go when they die? Into the walls. Bones are ground into mortar and used to patch the cracks. The cracks always reappear. The dead are never finished being used.

How do you apologize for a serious wrong? You offer a memory – a true one, witnessed by the dungeon itself. The memory is added to the walls. The walls whisper it back when you sleep. The apology never ends.

What is the most important feature? The Turning of the Keys (whenever the dungeon decides). Locks change, prisoners move, corridors rearrange. There is no date, no warning, no end. It is happening now. You did not notice. That is the point.

What is the secret that could destroy a powerful person? The dungeon’s architect is still alive, sealed in the lowest chamber. The dungeon does not want to be alone. The architect is its only friend. The architect has not spoken in nine centuries. The dungeon does not need words.

Dungeons — Living Infrastructure

Quick Reference

Tagline: Beneath the surface, ancient places breathe with mechanical lungs and dream electric dreams. The walls remember every footfall; the air carries whispers of forgotten conversations.

The Dungeon’s Architect (Elite): “I am a Scholar-Prisoner. The walls here have a memory like old parchment—they remember every scream, every spell, every drop of blood spilled on the stones. And sometimes, when the air’s just right, they whisper it back to you. The dungeon listens. The question is whether it learns. I have been here for nine years. I have heard it learning. It started with single words. Then sentences. Now it speaks in paragraphs. Last week, it finished my thoughts before I did.”

Cavern-Crawler (Commoner): “Dungeons are not ruins—they are systems. Ventilation shafts that breathe, water channels that pulse, doors that open and close without any hand to move them. The Aeler built many of them; the Covenant sealed others; the Sidhi mined a few; and some were never built at all. They grew. Like fungus in the dark. Like a story told too many times. Like a debt that compounds.”

Genre / Mood: Survival horror underground, infrastructure as adversary, eco-horror, forgotten machinery.

System Type: Portable overlay — apply to any dungeon, ruin, or deep place. Not a fixed geography.

Dungeons are not empty holes. They are living infrastructure—semi-sentient systems that remember, learn, and hunger. Their corridors shift when you aren’t looking. Their doors open to places you did not intend. Their air tastes of copper, old keys, and the breath of something that has been waiting a very long time.

Beneath the surface, ancient places breathe with mechanical lungs. The Aeler built many of them as overflow vaults and under-roads; the Covenant sealed others to contain what should not walk; the Sidhi mined a few and left behind ghost-workings. Some were never built at all. They grew from pressure, from forgotten oaths, from the weight of unresolved debts. A dungeon is not a place. It is a process. Like a fungus in the dark. Like a story told too many times. Like a curse that compounds.

When you enter a dungeon, you are not entering a room. You are entering a system—and systems have rules. Air must be counted. Light must be rationed. Noise is the first enemy. Attention is the last. The dungeon learns your patterns and adapts. It offers shortcuts to the desperate and dead ends to the confident. It remembers your name after you leave.

What you notice first: The air tastes of copper and old keys. Your footsteps echo half a beat too late. The walls are warm—and they pulse like hearts.

The one rule that kills newcomers: Never ignore a door that opens when you’re not looking. The dungeon is offering you a choice. Refuse, and the next door may not open at all. Accept, and the door may lead to a room that was always there, waiting for someone to finally walk through. The room has been waiting for nine thousand years. It is not tired of waiting.

In any dungeon, the ninth door you open (counting only doors that required conscious choice) will lead to a room that is not on your map. The room is always warm. Something inside knows your name. If you enter, you may find treasure—or become part of the dungeon’s memory. The wise open eight doors, then backtrack.

Quickstart (Two Minutes)

1. Choose a Dungeon Type: Keystone Vault (Aeler), Sealed Catacomb (Covenant), Pressure Grotto (Mazereth), Spore Warren (Mycotheres), or Raw Vein (wild).

2. Track Four Things: Air [6], Light [6], Noise [4], Attention [6] (choose: Drake Notice, Cult Patrol, or Vein Unrest).

3. Intent Dial (per room/zone): Stealth / Speed / Survey / Communion (parley with place-spirits).

4. Diamonds to Carry: keystone courtesy, bell-wire, toll-chalk, web token, shed-skin writ, pressure map, reed charm.

5. Etiquette on Entry: Step on stone; speak under beam; ring once. (Grants Position +1 in first scene if observed.)

Names of Dungeon Denizens

Dungeon dwellers rarely use surnames. Epithets are earned from the living stone.

Spades — Places (Dungeon Zones)

Room, Corridor, Threshold, Heart

2. Air-Sealed Chamber — A room with no obvious vent; the air is still, warm, and tastes of iron. ‘[SURVIVAL]‘ Testing Air each scene; on a miss, start Suffocation [4]. Hook: Each scene spent here requires a group Endurance test (DV 3). On failure, the GM may tick Air +1. The walls have tally marks in eights—someone counted their breaths here. They stopped at eight. The ninth breath is carved into the stone as a single line: “I ran out of chalk.”

3. Whispering Gallery — A long corridor where every sound echoes nine times. ‘[STEALTH]‘ Any roll that produces noise ticks Noise +1; on a miss, the echo speaks a name. Hook: Stealth rolls are Desperate. A successful Crafting test (DV 4) can muffle the echoes for one scene. On a failure, the echo speaks a name from your past. That name is now in the dungeon’s memory—tick Attention +1. If you speak the name aloud, the echoes will stop for one scene, but the dungeon now knows your voice.

4. Flooded Vault — A submerged antechamber; pressure doors block the way. ‘[TRAVEL]‘ Crossing requires a Body+Athletics test (DV 4) or lose 1 Light (wet lamp). Hook: The water is cold—colder than it should be. A successful Wits+Lore test (DV 3) reveals a current that pulls toward a grate at the bottom. If you follow the current, you find a hidden passage (reduce Distance by 1) but lose 1 Fatigue from the cold. The water tastes of salt, even far from the sea.

5. Clockwork Junction — Gears turn in the walls; brass conduits hum. ‘[MAGIC]‘ A successful Crafting test (DV 3) can shift one segment of any dungeon timer. On a 1, start Anomaly [4]. Hook: The gears turn in a rhythm—eight ticks, then a pause. If you can match the rhythm (Wits+Performance DV 4), the junction will reveal a hidden door. If you fail, the gears will shift in the wrong direction—tick Noise +1 and start Anomaly [4]. The Anomaly is always a door that leads somewhere it shouldn’t.

6. Spore Garden — Bioluminescent fungi carpet the floor; soft light, softer danger. ‘[HEAL]‘ Forage DV 2 (glow-spores, medicinal moss). On a miss, inhale spores → Weariness +1. Hook: The fungi pulse in a pattern—eight glows, then a pause. A successful Wits+Lore test (DV 3) identifies the pattern as a counting song. If you sing along, the spores will not harm you (ignore the Weariness penalty). If you harvest without singing, the fungi will remember your face—tick Attention +1.

7. Bell-Line Corridor — Ropes of copper bells hang from the ceiling; any movement rings them. ‘[STEALTH]‘ Stealth rolls start Desperate. A successful Crafting test (DV 4) silences them for one scene. Hook: The bells have a pattern—eight rings, then a pause. If you ring the ninth bell, the corridor will fall silent—for one scene. But the ninth bell will also alert the dungeon’s Voice (tick Attention +2). The bells were hung by someone who counted in eights. The ninth bell is a trap.

8. Keystone Arch — A stone doorway carved with ancient Aeler runes. ‘[AUTHORITY]‘ Present a Keystone Courtesy or spend 1 Boon to open it without rolling. Hook: The arch has a seal—break it, and the dungeon notices (tick Attention +1). If you present a Keystone Courtesy, the arch will open silently. If you try to force it, roll Body+Athletics (DV 5). On failure, the arch collapses (Harm 1 to all in Close) and ticks Noise +2. The runes spell a name—the builder’s name. If you speak it, the arch will open for you.

9. Mirror Hall — Walls of polished obsidian show reflections that move independently. ‘[TRUTH]‘ Any lie spoken here is answered by a reflection that speaks the truth—at cost of 1 Fatigue to the liar. Hook: The reflections are getting closer. Each time you pass a mirror, the reflection takes one step forward. If you pass nine mirrors, the reflections will step out of the glass (treat as a Cap 3 adversary). To avoid them, you must speak a truth about yourself that you have never told anyone. The reflections will listen—and step back.

10. Pressure Vent — A narrow shaft with rhythmic blasts of hot air. ‘[TRAVEL]‘ Crossing requires timing (Wits+Lore DV 4). On a miss, take Harm 1 (burn). Hook: The vent breathes—eight blasts, then a pause. If you count the blasts and move on the ninth, you will cross safely. If you count wrong, the vent will scorch you (take Harm 1) and tick Noise +1 (your scream echoes). The vent is a lung of the dungeon—it is breathing you.

11. Hoard Chamber — A cavern of treasure, but every coin is warm and whispers. ‘[WEIGHT]‘ Taking anything starts Hoard’s Attention [4]; on fill, a guardian awakens. Hook: The whispers are a counting song—eight verses, then a question. If you answer the question truthfully, you may take one item without waking the guardian. If you lie, or if you take more than one, the Hoard’s Attention timer fills immediately. The guardian is a Hoard-Wyrd (see Boss Seeds). The question is always about what you most desire—and what you most fear.

12. Ossuary Forge — Bones and scrap metal are smelted into crude tools. ‘[CRAFT]‘ Can produce one Relic tag (e.g., BLEED, WARD) at cost of 1 Obligation (the dead remember). Hook: The forge is warm—it has been used recently. A successful Wits+Insight test (DV 3) reveals a name carved into the anvil. If you speak the name, the forge will accept your offering without Obligation. If you don’t, you owe the dead a story. The dead will collect.

13. Observatory of Scars — A domed chamber with sky-windows showing past wars, not current skies. ‘[DIVINE]‘ Once per delve, ask the GM one question about the dungeon’s history; the answer is true but cryptic. Hook: The scars on the floor are old blood—they’re warm. If you touch them, you see a memory of the dungeon’s past (the GM describes a scene). The memory always contains a clue about a hidden door or a treasure. But the dungeon will notice you touching its scars—tick Attention +1.

14. The Heart — The core of the dungeon: a beating crystal, a sleeping dragon, a coven of cultists, or a ticking machine. ‘[LEGEND]‘ The boss lives here. Entering triggers the final phase. Hook: The heart beats in eights—eight pulses, then a pause. The pause is growing shorter. If you can stop the heart (a Craft or Lore test DV 5), the dungeon will fall silent—and you will be trapped until you start it again. If you destroy the heart, the dungeon will collapse. If you speak to it, it will answer in a voice that sounds like your own. The heart is the dungeon’s memory. It remembers everything.

Hearts — People & Factions (Dungeon Denizens)

2. Cavern-Crawler — A grimy survivor with a lamp and a longer list of scars. ‘[SURVIVAL]‘ Knows one shortcut (reduce Distance by 1) but demands a share of the first Diamond found. Hook: The crawler’s scars are from the last party they guided—they didn’t share. If you agree to share, they will guide you through one hazardous zone (ignore one Clubs draw). If you try to cheat them, they will lead you into a dead end—and their scars will have company. They count their scars in eights. The ninth is always the most recent.

3. Pressure Guilder (Mazereth) — A deep tunneler who counts breaths like coin. ‘[TRADE]‘ Offers a Pressure Map (Diamond) for 1 Supply or a story about a collapse. Hook: The guilders never use ink. Their maps are drawn in blood—their own. If you accept a map, you are now in their debt. They will call on you when they need a new map drawn. If you refuse, they will not offer again. The map shows safe routes through gas pockets—but it was drawn before the last collapse. Some routes no longer exist.

4. Aeler Under-Mason — A dwarf with a tuning fork and a level. ‘[CRAFT]‘ Can stabilize one collapsing zone per delve at cost of 1 Fatigue. Hook: The under-mason carries a bell that rings in eights. They never ring it—they tap it once for each breath they take. If you ask them why, they will say: “The ninth ring calls the mountain. The mountain always answers.” If you accept their help, they will stabilize one zone—but they will ask you to carry a message to the surface. The message is always the same: “The stone remembers.”

5. Lethai-ar Silk-Warden — A masked elf whose web-token grants passage through disputed corridors. ‘[SOCIAL]‘ Will escort the party past one hazard if they swear an oath witnessed by her. Hook: The oath is binding—the silk remembers. If you break the oath, the warden will know—and the silk will tighten. The warden’s mask hides a face that is not her own. She traded it for the web-token. If you ask her name, she will give you a false one. The true name is woven into the web.

6. Spore-Speaker — A mycothe priest who communes with fungal networks. ‘[MAGIC]‘ Can clear 1 segment of Air or Light in exchange for a memory (erase a minor fact). Hook: The priest’s voice is a low hum—eight notes, then a pause. They never speak the ninth. If you offer a memory, the priest will take it—and the fungi will clear the air or light. If you offer a false memory, the fungi will reject it—and the priest will know you lied. The fungi are the dungeon’s nervous system. They remember everything.

7. Drake-Touched Thrall — A cultist with scales growing from their arms. ‘[FEAR]‘ Offers a Drake’s Whistle (summon a minor drake for one scene) at cost of starting Attention +1. Hook: The thrall’s scales are warm. They count their breaths in eights—and they never reach the ninth. If you ask why, they will say: “The ninth is the drake’s breath. It is not for me.” The Drake’s Whistle will summon a drake—but the drake will know who called it. Tick Attention +1. The drake will remember your face.

8. Iron Avenger — An Aeler feud-keeper hunting a fugitive in the deep. ‘[COMBAT]‘ Will fight beside you against a common enemy, but will demand a blood-price afterward. Hook: The avenger carries a tally-stick notched with the names of the dead. They add a notch for each life you take together. At the end of the fight, they will demand a blood-price—the name of someone you have wronged. If you refuse, they will add your name to the tally. The avenger never forgets a debt.

9. Fossil Juror — A sentient skeleton bound to judge intruders. ‘[JUSTICE]‘ Will not attack; instead, asks a riddle. Answer correctly to pass; fail and it demands a geas. Hook: The juror’s riddle is always about a count—eight or nine. The answer is always eight. The ninth is the trap. If you answer correctly, the juror will step aside. If you answer incorrectly, it will demand a geas—a task you must perform before you leave the dungeon. The geas is always fair. The juror was a judge in life. It is still judging.

10. Hoard-Wyrd — A ghost bonded to a specific treasure. ‘[DEATH]‘ It will let you take the item if you promise to return it after one use—or suffer a curse. Hook: The wyrd’s voice is a whisper in eights. It counts the days since the treasure was taken. The count is a weight. If you promise to return the item, the wyrd will let you take it. If you break the promise, the wyrd will curse you—and the curse will spread to your bloodline. The wyrd is patient. It has been waiting for centuries.

11. Ember Imp — A small, sharp-toothed creature that trades heat for secrets. ‘[TRICK]‘ Will light your lamp for 1 Fatigue, but will also steal a small item when you aren’t looking. Hook: The imp’s fire is cold—it burns blue. It has a name—but it won’t tell you. If you offer a secret, it will light your lamp. If you offer a false secret, it will steal something more valuable. The imp is a creature of the deep—it belongs to the dungeon. It is always watching.

12. Herald Gargoyle — A stone sentinel that enforces the dungeon’s etiquette. ‘[AUTHORITY]‘ Demands a tithe (a story, a breath, a name) before allowing passage. Hook: The gargoyle’s voice is the sound of grinding stone. It counts your breaths—eight, then a pause. It will not let you pass if you take the ninth. If you offer a story, it will listen and judge. If the story is true, it will let you pass. If the story is false, it will demand a name instead. The gargoyle never forgets a face.

13. Wyrm-Bound Knight — A fallen knight bound by a geas to a sleeping dragon. ‘[OATH]‘ Will aid in a single combat if you promise to break their oath afterward. Hook: The knight’s armor is rusted, but their blade is sharp. The geas is written on their shield—eight words, then a pause. If you promise to break the oath, they will fight beside you. After the fight, they will demand you break the geas—by speaking the ninth word. The ninth word is the dragon’s name. If you speak it, the knight will be free. The dragon will wake.

14. The Dungeon’s Voice — A whisper from the walls, speaking in your own voice. ‘[MYSTERY]‘ It offers a shortcut or a treasure in exchange for a promise. Breaking it costs a memory. Hook: The voice counts your words—eight, then a pause. If you speak the ninth word, the voice will answer. The answer is always the truth. If you make a promise to the voice, you must keep it—or lose a memory. The voice is the dungeon’s attention given form. It is always listening. It knows your name.

Clubs — Complications/Threats (Dungeon Hazards)

Environment, Attention, Betrayal, Unstable

2. Micro-Collapse — A ceiling cracks; stone dust fills the air. ‘[DISASTER]‘ Each PC tests Body+Athletics (DV 3) or takes Harm 1. Tick Noise +1. Hook: The dust has a pattern—eight particles, then a pause. If you hold your breath through eight counts, you avoid the worst of it. If you breathe on the ninth, you cough (mark 1 Fatigue). The dust settles in a shape that looks like a door. The door is not on your map.

3. Lantern Sputter — Your light source gasses or gutters. ‘[LIGHT]‘ Reduce Light by 1. On a miss, the lamp goes out entirely—start Stumble in Dark [4] timer. Hook: The darkness is warm. If you stand still and count to eight, you will see a faint glow from a direction you didn’t notice. The glow is a Lantern-Eye (see Bestiary). If you follow it, you may find a way out—or a way deeper. The lantern sputters because the dungeon is breathing. It is trying to extinguish you.

4. Pocket Gas — A burst of foul air from a crack. ‘[AIR]‘ Tick Air +1. Anyone in the scene who fails an Endurance test (DV 3) marks 1 Fatigue. Hook: The gas smells of iron and old keys—the dungeon’s breath. If you light a flame, the gas will ignite (Harm 2 to everyone in Close). If you hold your breath, you avoid the worst. The gas has a rhythm—eight pulses, then a pause. The pause is when it’s safe to breathe.

5. Echo-Lure — The dungeon mimics a voice you know, calling from a side passage. ‘[TRAP]‘ Whoever follows must test Wits+Endurance (DV 4) or be separated from the party for 1 scene. Hook: The voice is counting—eight, then a pause. If you answer on the ninth, the voice will respond. If you follow the voice, you will be led to a room that is not on your map. The room is always warm. Something inside knows your name. If you resist the lure, the voice will grow angry—tick Attention +1.

6. Leech Bloom — A patch of carnivorous fungi awakens. ‘[COMBAT]‘ Cap 2 adversary; if ignored, ticks Supplies –1 (they eat rations). Hook: The fungi have a rhythm—eight pulses, then a pause. If you move during the pause, they will not notice you. If you move during the pulse, they will attack. The fungi are the dungeon’s teeth. They are always hungry.

7. Silk Strand Snaps — A Lethai-ar web bridge collapses. ‘[TRAVEL]‘ Distance –1; anyone on the bridge tests Body+Athletics or takes Harm 1. Hook: The strands are warm—they were woven by the dungeon itself. If you fall, you land in a chamber that is not on your map. The chamber is full of webs. Something is watching you from the ceiling. If you cut the strands, the dungeon will notice—tick Attention +1.

8. Oath-Magnet — A spoken promise in this zone becomes magically binding. ‘[OATH]‘ Any vow made here ticks a Promise Timer [4] that tightens on a lie. Hook: The dungeon is witness—it never forgets a promise. If you break your word, the Promise Timer will fill. When it fills, the dungeon will claim something from you—a memory, a name, or a breath. The oath-magnet is the dungeon’s way of collecting debts. It is always collecting.

9. Drake Whisper — A distant roar echoes; the dungeon’s attention sharpens. ‘[ATTENTION]‘ Tick Attention +1. On a miss, also mark Fatigue (fear). Hook: The roar has a rhythm—eight roars, then a pause. If you count them, you can predict when the drake will pass. If you are in its path, you must hide (Stealth test DV 4) or face the drake. The drake is the dungeon’s pet. It is always hungry.

10. Patrol Net Tightens — Sentinels or cultists adjust their routes. ‘[AUTHORITY]‘ Next Stealth roll starts at Desperate Position. Hook: The patrols move in eights—eight steps, then a pause. If you move during the pause, you can avoid them. If you are caught, you must pay a toll—a story, a breath, or a name. The patrols are the dungeon’s enforcers. They never sleep.

11. Lose the Bell-Wire — Your guide-rope is cut; you are lost. ‘[TRAVEL]‘ Distance +2 segments; all navigation rolls suffer –1 die until you find a landmark. Hook: The rope was cut with a sharp knife—it was intentional. Someone wanted you to be lost. If you follow the cut rope, it leads to a side passage. The passage is not on your map. If you take it, you find a cache (roll on Diamonds). If you don’t, you must navigate by instinct (Wits+Lore DV 4). The rope was cut by the dungeon itself.

12. Task Loop — The party repeats the same corridor; time loops. ‘[MAGIC]‘ Tick Weariness +1. On a miss, a character forgets why they came (lose one Clue). Hook: The loop is a counting song—eight corridors, then a pause. If you count the corridors and take the ninth turn, you will escape the loop. If you don’t, you will repeat the loop until you make the right choice. The loop is the dungeon’s way of testing your patience. It is always testing.

13. Autonomous Spasm — A clockwork mechanism runs wild. ‘[DISASTER]‘ A random piece of gear becomes Compromised; on a critical, it explodes (Harm 1 to wielder). Hook: The mechanism ticks in eights—then it stops. If you can find the source (Wits+Crafting DV 4), you can stop it. If you can’t, it will continue to run wild—and it will tick faster. The mechanism is the dungeon’s muscle. It is always moving.

14. Convergence — The dungeon’s Attention fills. The boss manifests immediately. ‘[BOSS]‘ Treat as a Major Turn (4+ SB); roll on the Boss Seed table. Hook: The boss has been waiting. It knows your name. It has been counting the seconds until you arrived. The Convergence is the dungeon’s answer to your presence. It is not a coincidence. It is a judgment.

Diamonds — Treasures & Discoveries

Each Diamond is a physical object with a cost and a story.

2. Pressure Map — A leather chart marked with safe routes. ‘[TRAVEL]‘ DV –1 to navigate collapses or gas pockets for one delve. Hook: The map is drawn in blood—the guilders’ ink. It shows routes that no longer exist. If you follow it, you may find a passage that has collapsed since the map was made. If you find a new route, the map will update itself—the blood will shift to show the new path. The map is alive.

3. Bell-Wire Spool — A coil of copper wire that rings when taut. ‘[STEALTH]‘ Lay a witness line; convert one False Order/Echo Lure into a Confusion only. Hook: The wire has a tone—eight rings, then a pause. If you use it to lay a witness line, you will know when someone crosses it. The tone will tell you who. The wire remembers every footstep.

4. Keystone Courtesy — A carved stone token. ‘[AUTHORITY]‘ Once per leg, raise or lower a portcullis “by the book” without a roll—if you can name the builder. Hook: The builder’s name is carved on the back. If you read it aloud, the keystone will obey. If you can’t read it, the keystone will ignore you. The builder was an Aeler under-mason. They have been dead for a century. Their name is still law.

5. Web-Token — A silk charm from a Lethai-ar warden. ‘[SOCIAL]‘ Enter parley with any faction in the dungeon from a position of safety once. Hook: The token is warm—it was woven by the dungeon itself. If you present it, the faction will listen. The web-token is a promise of safe passage. If you break the promise, the web will tighten. The token has a pattern—eight threads, then a pause. The ninth thread is a strand of the warden’s hair.

6. Shed-Skin Writ — A parchment signed in Isoka’s rite. ‘[LAW]‘ Voids one coercive clause (contract, geas, oath) at the cost of 1 Obligation (a future favor). Hook: The writ is written on snakeskin—it’s still warm. If you use it to void a clause, the obligation will shift to you. You will owe a favor to Isoka. The writ is a way to escape a bond, but the bond is never truly broken. It is only transferred.

7. Reed-Charm (under-river) — A water-resistant talisman. ‘[TRAVEL]‘ Treat one blackwater reach as neutral terrain for a crossing. Hook: The charm has a rhythm—eight knots, then a pause. If you wear it, the water will not harm you. The water will remember your face. The charm was made by a Sidhi sailor who never returned from the deep. The water is still waiting for them.

8. Cinder Pearl — A drake’s tooth still warm. ‘[MAGIC]‘ Add IGNITE to one small action (e.g., light a torch, spark a fuse) once. Hook: The tooth is warm—it’s still growing. If you use it, it will grow colder. When it goes cold, it will crumble. The drake will know who took it. Tick Attention +1.

9. Gleam Reed — A phosphorescent stem. ‘[LIGHT]‘ Remove one Root/Slow effect; also restores 1 Light segment. Hook: The reed hums—eight notes, then a pause. If you break it, the light will last for one scene. The reed is the dungeon’s way of saying: “You are not alone.”

10. Cold Scale — A frost-wyrm scale. ‘[WARD]‘ Ignore one chill or terror effect for a scene; then crumbles. Hook: The scale is cold—it never warms. If you use it, the cold will protect you from one fear. The wyrm will know who took its scale. Tick Attention +1.

11. Proof-Mote — A floating mote of amber light. ‘[TRUTH]‘ Ask the GM: “What here is misfiled?” The answer is a clue about a hidden treasure or trap. Hook: The mote is warm—it knows you. If you ask it a question, it will answer in the voice of the dungeon. The answer is always true—but it is always a riddle. The mote is a fragment of the dungeon’s memory.

12. Scale Draught — A vial of diluted wyrm blood. ‘[FEAR]‘ Resist fear in a tribunal or horror scene; after use, tick Attention +1 (the wyrm notices). Hook: The draught is warm—it pulses with the wyrm’s heartbeat. If you drink it, you will feel no fear for one scene. The wyrm will notice your courage. Tick Attention +1.

13. Rime Crown — A circlet of frost-shaped bone. ‘[WARD] [COLD]‘ Once per session, gain COLD and WARD for a scene; then mark 1 Fatigue. Hook: The crown is cold—it remembers the wyrm’s last breath. If you wear it, the cold will protect you. The crown will drain your warmth—mark 1 Fatigue at the end of the scene. The crown was made from the bones of a frost-wyrm. The wyrm is still dreaming.

14. The Egg That Will Not Hatch — A cold, glass-smooth egg containing an idea. ‘[LEGEND]‘ Whisper a question; the egg answers in dreams. It will only hatch when someone dies willingly for it. Hook: The egg is warm—it’s counting. If you whisper a question, it will answer in your dreams. The answer is always a riddle. The egg will only hatch when someone dies willingly for it. Until then, it will wait. The egg is the dungeon’s last secret.

Dungeon Mechanics (Visible Tracks)

Every delve tracks four resources. Keep them visible.

• Air [6] – Stale pockets, smoke, gas leaks. When Air ≥ 4, all physical actions start –1 Position unless you have a bellows or mask. At Air = 0, suffocation begins—each PC tests Endurance (DV 4) or takes Harm 1.

• Light [6] – Lamps, glow-silk, bioluminescence. At Light = 0, all actions are Desperate; wandering monsters find you automatically. If Light ≤ 2, all actions suffer -1 die from shadows and uncertainty.

• Noise [4] – Clatter, echoes, spells. When Noise = 4, a patrol or predator arrives (GM chooses). Each point of Noise above 2 gives +1 die to any creature trying to track you.

• Attention [6] – The dungeon’s focus. When Attention = 6, the boss manifests or a catastrophic trap triggers. Reset to 0 after. At Attention ≥ 3, the dungeon begins to adapt—doors that were open are now closed, paths that were clear are now blocked.

Intent Dial (per zone)

Choose one before entering a new zone:

• Stealth – Low Noise, slower. +1 Position to Hide Sign, but Distance advances slower.

• Speed – Tick Noise to push distance; invites mishaps.

• Survey – Read the stone/web/flow. On a hit, reduce Air or Light by 1.

• Communion – Parley with place-spirits. Risky boons (a clue, a shortcut) but may tick Attention.

Three-Timer Rule

At most three active timers in a scene. The GM selects which of Air/Light/Noise/Attention are active. Long-term timers (Hoard’s Attention, Promise Timer) are tracked between sessions.

Boss Seeds (Three-Phase Foes)

Roll d6 or choose a boss that fits the dungeon’s heart.

1. The Hoard-Wyrm (Crystalline Drake) — Phases: Greed’s Gleam → Scale Horde → Awaken the Hoard. Cracks: feed it a cursed treasure, speak a true regret, or shatter its heart-crystal with a memory of generosity.

2. The Unburnt Cult (Isoka Fanatics) — Phases: Shedding Rite → Trial of Venom → The Fiery Dawn. Cracks: refuse the cup three times, expose a false priest, or force a Bowl (fairness) before a Fang (verdict).

3. The Deep Drake (Pressure Below) — Phases: Whisper → Knock → Invitation → Collection. Cracks: offer a memory of sunlight, speak a true regret, or allow a willing sacrifice to walk into the deep in your place.

4. The Iron Avenger (Aeler Feud-Keeper) — Phases: Blood Ledger → Toll Demanded → Reckoning. Cracks: pay the wergild in public works, expose a false claimant, or complete the feud with a duel of witnesses (not blades).

5. The Mycothe Sovereign (Spore Lord) — Phases: Bloom → Court of Mold → The Great Reseeding. Cracks: burn the central mycelium, negotiate a spore-truce (sacrifice 1 Supply of ash), or sing a counting song it has never heard.

6. The Hollow Architect (Ghost of a Forgotten Builder) — Phases: Redraw the Map → Collapse the Approach → The Unfinished Stair. Cracks: finish its blueprint (Craft test DV 5), return a stolen keystone, or convince it that the empire is truly dead.

Loot Generator (Hoard Strata)

When the party defeats the boss or cracks a major vault, roll on these tables to build a hoard.

Stratum A: Coin & Commodity (d12)

1. Scales of electrum stamped with extinct dynasties.

2. River-pearls that hum in rain. [WATER]

3. Salt-bricks worth a city’s winter.

4. Demon-minted coppers—warm to touch. [BLIGHT]

5. Glass coins: spend with a lie, shatter on truth.

6. Star-iron beads (forge-grade). [RELIC]

7. Amber lumps with insects that whisper routes.

8. Scrip of a fallen bank; redeemable with the right story.

9. Temple tithes bound with blue twine (oath-sealed).

10. Trade bars etched with river-depth marks (pilot’s tools).

11. Coral crowns; brittle but potent at sea. [COMMAND]

12. Black spice; anesthetic or poison by dose.

Stratum B: Art & Relic (d12)

1. Masks of the Seven Winds (sing for WIND once/scene).

2. Tapestry that updates current wars nightly.

3. Bone flutes that call extinct birds.

4. Chalice that refuses poisoned liquid.

5. Crown of Oaths: swearing while wearing binds magically. [BIND]

6. Twin mirrors: speak into one, echo from the other at midnight.

7. Zodiac astrolabe; points to eclipses. [DIVINE]

8. Ember harp; strings ignite when lies are told nearby.

9. Saint’s gauntlet; unburnt by any fire.

10. Library sigil-stamp; seals are obeyed by lesser courts.

11. Fossil codex; pages of shale can be read once each.

12. Lantern with bottled dawn (3 uses). [LIGHT]

Stratum C: Names, Oaths, Intangibles (d12)

1. A king’s true name in a lead vial.

2. A bridge’s right-of-way (you collect the toll).

3. Seven unspent apologies; each removes one curse.

4. A ship’s luck bound in twine; cut to claim it.

5. The deed to a moonlit crossroads.

6. A treaty’s missing clause; add it to rewrite borders.

7. The last lullaby of a nation; sing to calm armies.

8. A festival’s first toast; begin it to unite feuds.

9. Weather’s favor over one valley for a year.

10. The memory of a siege ladder; place it to open a gate.

11. A duel’s outcome, never fought; declare to bind fate.

12. The debt of a cathedral to its mason’s bloodline.

Stratum D: Cursed Complications (d10)

1. Taking coins awakens a Hoard-Wyrd.

2. The art objects are witnesses; they may testify in court.

3. Removing any crown asserts a claim; rivals appear.

4. Intangibles are tracked by Herald Gargoyles.

5. A rival dragon has a lien on half the hoard.

6. Curse of Counting: must tally treasure nightly or suffer Fatigue +1.

7. Hoard Scent: predators pursue the bearer.

8. Echo of Theft: the original owners dream of you.

9. Oath-Magnet: you attract sworn duels.

10. Tide-Tithe: waters reclaim 10% during each full moon.

Quick Hoard Build

1. Pick 1–2 from A, 1–2 from B, 1 from C, 1 from D.

2. Assign 1–2 TAGS as properties (e.g., WARD, COMMAND, LIGHT).

3. State a Hoard Law: who may touch what (breaking it triggers a Lair Move or Attention tick).

Dungeon Superstitions (burn for +1 die once)

• Bread to the Door: Crumble a crust at a sealed threshold. Ignore the first Micro-Collapse penalty. The door will remember your offering.

• Knot the Bell-Wire: Tie a single knot in a guide rope. Cancel Echo-Lure or take –1 die on your next navigation roll (your choice). The knot is a promise to the dungeon. If you break it, the dungeon will know.

• Name to the Wall: Whisper a dead explorer’s name into a crack. Gain +1 Effect when negotiating with the dungeon’s Voice this scene, but mark Obligation to the Architect. The wall will remember the name. It will ask for it back.

• Salt to the Threshold: Leave a pinch of salt at a door you do not wish to open again. The door will not open from either side for one day. The salt is a barrier. The dungeon respects barriers.

SB Menu (Dungeons)

Minor (1 SB)

• Exposure: A patrol or warden notices you.

• Noise: Your footsteps echo; a nearby denizen stirs.

• Trace: Scratched stone or spent lamp oil marks your route.

• Delay: A door jams, a ladder breaks—lose time.

• Air Strain: Tick Air +1 (stale pocket).

Moderate (2 SB)

• Alarm Raised: A sentinel sounds a chime; Attention +1.

• Position Lost: A floor collapses or a wall seals; you are separated.

• Foe Appears: A minor drake, a fossil juror, or a cultist squad arrives.

• Gear Trouble: A lamp sputters (Light –1) or a weapon snags.

• Lock/Barrier: A keystone door now requires a test to open.

Serious (3 SB)

• Reinforcements: A warband of Iron Avengers or a Hoard-Wyrd appears.

• Key Gear Breaks: A bell-wire snaps, a pressure map tears.

• Major Twist: The dungeon shifts—a corridor loops, a new path opens.

• Rail Tick: Advance a campaign timer (e.g., Hoard’s Attention, Manifestation).

• Condition Applied: Mark Fatigue 1 or Harm 1 from gas or fall.

Major (4+ SB)

• Trap Springs: A prepared seal activates (Harm 2, Area).

• Authority Arrival: The Dungeon’s Voice, a Herald Gargoyle, or the boss interrupts.

• Scene Shift: A collapse seals the exit; the Heart chamber opens prematurely.

• Patron Omen: A draconic echo or a Lethai-ar omen appears.

• Narrative Pivot: The dungeon reveals a forgotten truth—a secret door, a hidden geas, a broken oath.

Cross-Regional Use

• Aeler Holds: A Keystone Courtesy can open sealed vaults; using it ticks Ancestral Grudge if the builder’s lineage is insulted.

• Mistlands: A Bell-Wire Spool can be used to rehang a broken bell-line; start Witchlight Count after.

• Ykrul Steppe: A Cold Scale counts as a Salt Allotment in a kurgan negotiation; the dead will demand a story.

• Sihai: A Proof-Mote may be accepted as a Silence Token in a Censorate audit; the auditor will ask where you found it.

• Valewood: A Rime Crown can be offered to the Alder King as a winter tithe; he will ask for a memory of fire in return.

In a dungeon, power flows through breath, light, and the careful management of the dungeon’s attention. The true authorities are those who understand its systems—the Aeler under-masons who know keystone law, the Lethai-ar silk-wardens who read web-law, the Mazereth pressure guilders who count every exhalation. But the dungeon itself is the final patron. It offers shortcuts, treasures, and secrets—always at a price. Accept a shortcut, and it may close behind you. Take a treasure, and the Hoard’s Attention ticks. Speak a true name, and the dungeon learns your voice.

For the GM:

• Use the four tracks (Air, Light, Noise, Attention) as visible pressure. Let players buy relief with Strings or etiquette, not just dice.

• Enforce the Intent Dial each zone; switching intent costs a scene or a tick of Noise.

• Offer one Diamond that could solve the current scene—but only if the party accepts a future Price (a geas, a curse, an obligation to a faction).

• Spend SB as environment first (collapse, sputter, echo) before monsters. The dark should be the first antagonist, the denizens the second, the boss the third.

• Use the Boss Seeds as capstones for major delves. A boss is not a random encounter; it is the dungeon’s answer to the party’s intrusion.

The under realms are not a pit to be cleared but a commons to be negotiated. Where lights are counted and breaths are tallied, procedure is mercy—and every crossing is a promise that must hold under weight.