Accursed: Dark Tales of Morden

Auth or

Richard Woolcock

System

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Over 40 years ago, the Witch Armies poured down from the Darkwall Peaks, monstrous banes and cruel Tricube Tales <

mercenaries led by the Witches of the Grand Coven, and accompanied by the Accursed—mortal men Settin g

and women forced into servitude, their physical bodies warped and mutated through terrible magic. Accursed <
Ross Watson
After decades of war, the heroes of the Alliance managed to strike down one of the Witches, bringing an Baskerville Games
abrupt end to the conflict. Half of the Grand Coven fled back to the Darkwall Peaks, leaving their creations

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to fend for themselves. Finally freed from their shackles, many of the Accursed stepped forward to defend Story Sym b ols

Delapouite, Lorc, Skoll

the nations of Morden from the tyrannical reign of the remaining Witches. Game-icons.net <
You are Accursed. Once dreaded champions of the Witches, you have joined the Order of the Penitent to
help overthrow the Grand Coven and protect the populace from their monstrous banes.
Illustration

Alberto Bontempi

Ch aracter Creation Resolvin g Ch allen ges G en eratin g th e Q uest

Each player creates a character as follows: If a player attempts something risky, they roll 1-3 Roll on the following tables to determine the latest
1.Select a trait: Agile (covers ref lexes, dexterity, stealth, six-sided dice and must equal or beat a difficulty of quest (see the next page for examples):

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and ranged combat), brawny (used for strength, vitality, 4-6 on at least one die. Succeeding on multiple dice is The Accursed must...
athletics, and melee combat), or crafty (applies to smarts, an exceptional success (narrate a further benefit). A Protect a village D Hunt down a bane
charisma, perception, and mental/social combat). Rolling “1” on all dice is a critical failure (introduce B Explore a ruin E Recover a magic item
2.Choose a witchmark: Dhampir, golem, mongrel, a complication to the scene). C Investigate a threat F Rescue a prisoner
mummy, ophidian, revenant, shade, or vargr. The GM assigns the trait and difficulty for each From somewhere in or on...
3.

4.

5.

6.
Select a concept: Soldier, hunter, assassin, noble,
priest, courtier, or scholar.
Pick a perk: Alert, alchemy, tactician, marksman,
berserker, scavenger, or magical item (describe it).
Choose a quirk: Arrogant, suspicious, impulsive,
stubborn, greedy, curious, or heroic.
Grab 3 karma tokens and 3 resolve tokens.
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challenge, but most should be difficulty 5. Combat
challenges use effort tokens—remove 1 effort token
for each die that succeeds.
Players usually roll 2 dice, but roll 3 dice when a
challenge matches their trait. If the challenge falls
completely outside the scope of their concept (e.g., a
courtier tracking a bane), they lose 1 die.
A A forest or wood
B A hill or mountain
C A bog or swamp
D The wilderness
E A frozen wasteland
F A valley or canyon
While dealing with...
A A rival Accursed
B A deadly assassin
C Angry peasants
D A spy or traitor
E An attack or ambush
F A sinister scheme
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7.Make up a name, and introduce your character to
the group (e.g., “I’m Shaylar, an agile dhampir assassin
who is a skilled marksman but also quite stubborn”). Karm a an d Resolve Run n in g th e G am e

Players begin with 3 karma and 3 resolve. Spend 1 The GM should describe the opening scene, react to
Witch m ark Ab ilities
karma after you roll to reduce the difficulty by 1, if players’ decisions, and assign traits and difficulties
Each character gains an additional perk and quirk you can justify how your perk helps you. Recover 1 for challenges. Offer your players karma in return
based on their witchmark, as follows: karma by increasing the difficulty by 1 before making for complications based on their quirks!
Dhampir: Seductive charm and blood thirst. the roll, narrating how your quirk hinders you. For combat encounters, assign the challenge 2-3
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Golem: Hulking brute and sluggish. If you use a quirk and succeed at the challenge, effort tokens per player. An enemy is defeated once
Mongrel: Animal part body (describe it) and angry. you may recover 1 resolve instead of 1 karma. all their effort tokens have been removed.
Mummy: Sarcophagus armor and hideous visage. For dangerous activities (such as combat), failure Players make all the rolls, narrate the outcome of
Ophidian: Venomous fangs and cold-blooded. costs 1 resolve (or 2 on a critical failure). When a PC their actions, and drive the story forward whenever
Revenant: Undead resilience and vengeful. loses all their resolve, they are eliminated from the possible. They can also spend 1 karma to influence
Shade: Intangibility and aura of ghostly dread. scene—but death is primarily a narrative conceit, the story or discover a clue through the use of their
Vargr: Wolfman form and ravenous hunger. and the PC usually returns later at full resolve. perk, at the GM’s discretion.
 O b j ectives Location s Com p lication s

Described here are example objectives for the quest Described here are example locations for the quest Described here are example complications for the

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generator (first table): generator (second table): quest generator (third table):

1. Toxic Terror 1. Valken h olm 1. O p h idian Agen t

A basilisk threatens a nearby village. This fearsome Once a beacon of civilization, the heavily forested Created by the Witch Melusine, also known as the
bane loosely resembles a crocodile, but the cunning region of Valkenholm is now the Blood Witch’s seat Gorgon, Ophidians are humanoid with serpentine

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beast is massive and incredibly venomous. of power and patrolled by her Redhawk knights. heads, tails, and scales. They often act as assassins,
spies, and covert operatives.
2 . Treasure Hun t 2 . Th e High lan ds

Many ruins lie scattered across Morden, testament The undead banes of the Morrigan patrol the peaks 2 . Murderous Man ikin

to the destructive might of the Witch Armies. Who east of Valkenholm. Her grim consort, the Horned A child’s doll turns out to be a terrifying construct,
knows what treasures they might still contain? King, hunts down anyone who defies his beloved. animated by the Crone and sent on a killing spree.

3. Mystery Killer 3. Th e Sun ken Lan ds 3. Sin s of th e Past

Something is terrorizing a small farming village, To the southeast of Valkenholm lies a series of bogs Many people lost loved ones during the Bane War,

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killing people and livestock. The heroes will need to and swamps. The leech-men and other banes have and the Accursed often face prejudices and distrust
identify the source of the threat and eliminate it. driven out most of the surviving settlers. for their past actions in service of the Witches.

4. Colossus Un leash ed 4. Th e O utlan ds 4. Sn itch to th e Witch

A massive iron construct lumbers aimlessly across The untamed wilderness northeast of Valkenholm The heroes unwittingly encounter a spy, who relays
the land, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.
Witnesses claim it stands at least 60 feet tall.

5. Secrets of th e D ark Q ueen

The Witch Hecate, also known as the Dark Queen,

performed several arcane experiments in a remote
tower. One of her former servants believes she left
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stretches as far east as the Darkwall Peaks. The land
was devastated and mostly abandoned during the
Bane War, but a few hardy souls remain.

5. Step p en grad

The proud people of this cold northwesterly nation

suffered greatly during the war. The current Tsar is
their current activities to one of the Witches.

5. B ush wacked b y B an es

A pack of gorge wolves tracks the heroes, hoping to

ambush them. Baba Yaga bred these massive beasts
during the Bane War—cunning and fearless, their
bloodlust and insatiable hunger are legendary.
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a magical device behind when she last visited. a spineless puppet of Baba Yaga, the Forest Witch.
6. Witch ’ s In trigue

6. Prey of th e Redh awks 6. Ston e’ s E n d

Unbeknownst to the heroes, a Witch is using them
Redhawk knights recently captured an agent of the A massive system of canyons marks Steppengrad’s as a cat’s paw, hoping to undermine her rival. Such
Order of the Penitent. They now plan to escort her southern border. Many people have taken refuge in ploys and machinations have become increasingly
to the Blood Witch for further interrogation. the cave complexes that dot the cliff faces. common among the Witches of the Grand Coven.
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Addin g a Twist to th e Story

For further inspiration, roll two dice on the table below and use the symbol as an improvisational prompt (you don’t need to interpret it literally). For example, B F
might indicate a farm, crops or other plants, or a harvest festival, while rolling E C could mean death or undeath, a sarcophagus or mummy, a tomb or burial site, or
a curse, and F F might represent a werewolf or vargr, a wolf or other predator, a magical transformation, or a bane.
AA AB AC AD AE AF BA BB BC BD BE BF CA CB CC CD CE CF DA DB DC DD DE DF EA EB EC ED EE EF FA FB FC FD FE FF