Houses of the

Blooded:
Secrets of the Spider

#4

PLAY DIRTY
Other Side of the Screen
(Part 2)

Lliosgad,
The Treeless Elves

Orkworld
Love Your Dowmga

Cover Art and Logo

Inga Indrait

A MAGAZINE FOR THE DISCRIMINATING GAMER

A MAGAZINE FOR THE DISCRIMINATING GAMER#

JUNE 11, 2014

John wick Presents

Magazine
Welcome Aboard!
Hello and welcome to the
fourth issue of Wicked Words
Magazine! Our goal (and by
our, I mean, my) is to
provide players and game
masters tools that enhance
your gaming experience. This
issue has a whole ton of articles
for your perusal.
The first is our standard
Play Dirty column, providing
you with unorthodox GM
advice. This issue is Part 2 of
the Other Side of the Screen
series. I got to play in a Weird
Wars Rome game run by Shane
Hensley. It was a ton of fun.
This time, we come to the
conclusion of the game and
take a look at some of the
things Shane did to make the
game... interesting.
Next, over on page 6, we
have a Story Engine Q&A. I
answer a few questions we got
about The Story Engine and
how GMs can use it.
Then, on page 7, we have
Secrets of the Spider, a look at
the veiled House of the Spider
from Houses of the Blooded.
Not only does this article have
new Family Aspects and new
Suaven, but a new mechanic:
Rumors!
On page 10, we have the
second installment of Return to
Orkworld! We talk about

cannibalism, black magic and

all sorts of fun stuff.
On page 13, theres new
Dueling Rules for Houses of the
Blooded. They are brand new,
the ink is fresh and they need
testing. Get to work on it!
Page 16 has a new
adventure for Cat: A Little
Game about Little Heroes. Can
you save the animal shelter
from evil boggins?
And finally, Jill presents
the Lliosgad, elves who have
lost their Trees for Wicked
Fantasy.
This issue is JAM PACKED!
Of course, were always looking
for your feedback for new
articles and columns. Let us
know!
Enjoy the magazine, take
care and KEEP GAMING!

Wicked Words
Magazine Issue #4,
Volume #1
Wicked Words Magazine is
published by John Wick Presents,
LLC and is and 2014 by John
Wick. Logo by Jessica Kauspedas.
You can find out more at
www.johnwickpresents.com. This
Magazine is made possible by
pledges made by contributors via
www.patreon.com. As always, we
want to thank all those who helped
us reach our goals and hope that if
you find this magazine useful,
youll spread the word. Thank you,
and lets get on with the show!

CONTACT US!

Email: johnjwick@gmail.com
Website: johnwickpresents.com
Facebook: facebook.com/
johnwickpresents
Twitter: @wickedthought

THIS ISSUE!

Page 3: Play Dirty: Other Side of

the Screen
Page 6: The Story Engine Q&A
Page 7: Secrets of the Spider
Page 10: Return to Orkworld!
Page 13: Revised Duels for HotB
Page 16: Lost Heroes for Cat
Page 18: Lliosgad for Wicked Fantasy

PAGE 2

A MAGAZINE FOR THE DISCRIMINATING GAMER#

JUNE 11, 2014

Play Dirty:
Other Side of the Screen
I got the chance to play Weird Wars Rome at the home of Shane Hensley. It was a fantastic night
full of fun, drinks, snacks and werewolves. Heres the continuation from last month.
You can get your own copy of the collected columns (and bonus stuff) at DrivethruRPG:
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/85816/Play-Dirty

So, weve got us who are Roman soldiers

wandering through a foreign land filled with alien
gods and hostile natives. Weve got our job, which
is finding a lost patrol and the way we do that is
checking out the villages north of the fort.

Then, I pointed at the village elder. And now,

you are a Roman, too. I nodded. And if so asked,
I would kill or die for you. Because we are all the
same.

Then, I made my roll. And if that little die

None of us want this job. Wed rather be home. didnt explode and explode and explode. Like ten
But this is what we must do. Were Romans. So,
tons of TNT, that thing just blew right up to the
lets get doing it.
moon.
The key to this adventure is the way the
soldiers (PCs) interact with the villagers. Shane set
it up so each village reacted to us differently. The
first village hated us, the second village had
surrendered to the idea of occupation, and the
third village... they had a different idea about us.
And it came from a really damn good roll. From
me. And that almost never happens. I have the
Curse of the Dice Gods on my head. If I roll more
than a 3 on a d20, its a damn miracle. But in this
case, I made an amazing diplomacy check and I
won over the village elders hard core.
Essentially, I appealed to the idea that all of
us were Romans. The elders said there was
trouble and they didnt want us involved. They
wouldnt say what kind of trouble it was and they
asked us to just go away. Prepare for the end of
the world, they said.
I pointed at myself. I am a Roman, I said.
Then, I pointed at one of my fellow soldiers. Hes
a Roman. And each subsequent soldier. Roman.
Roman. Roman.
I said, I would die for them. I would kill for
them. Because we are all the same. We are all
Romans.

Shane looked at that roll and he improvised.

He has something else in mind for us, but the roll
changed his mind. And this, my friends, is the key
to being a great GM: allowing what happens on
the table to trump what youve got behind the GM
screen.
Heres what I mean. Shane had a plan for the
third village. I dont know what that plan was, but
when I made my roll, he looked at the dice and
said, Well... that changes things.
You see, Shane knows really well that it isnt
enough to just pay attention to the dice. You have
to make changes. You have to adapt. You have to
improvise.
His original plan involved the villagers telling
us nothing and letting us all die. And by all, I
mean every man, woman and child in the world.
That kind of all. But instead, because of my roll,
the village elder and his lads took us out beyond
the village and led us to a cave.
Now, you might ask, What was in the cave?
We wondered the same thing. We thought it was a
trap. No. It was worse than a trap.

PAGE 3

A MAGAZINE FOR THE DISCRIMINATING GAMER#

Inside, we found the bodies of our fellow
Romans. They were torn to shreds. We looked at
their wounds. Our tracker told us, These are like
the wounds a wolf makes, but theyre the size of
bear claws.
We looked around the cave they led us to and
we discovered it was a mine. A silver mine.
What was going on here?
Thats when we started hearing the howling
sounds.
The parts we hadnt figured out yet, the village
elder filled us in on. This was a mine the natives
used to fight off the horror from the woods. The
horror that raised up once a month and they put
down with silver weapons.
Unfortunately, the corrupt captain of the other
patrol (the one who beat people up, stole from
them, killed them, etc.) found out about the mine
and took all the silver, thinking the stories the
villagers told him were just superstitious
nonsense.
Now, were stuck out in the middle of the
forest with the moon coming up. All our swords
are made of iron. And the howling is getting
closer.

JUNE 11, 2014

Were hosed.
And this is where you want your players.
Exactly where you want them. You want them in
situations where they have to rely on their wits.
We immediately started breaking apart beams
to cover up the opening of the mine. Then, we
started making torches. We figured that all of
Gods creatures understand the Universal
Language of Fire (thank you Jessie Foster), so we
decided to make some. We used a couple bennies
(kewl points) to add a few buckets of pitch inside
the cave (the miners used it to keep the beams
together and for other things), and that allowed us
to make torches. We also put down a thick layer of
it behind us, just in case we needed to retreat.
Wed back up, set the pitch on fire, and hope the
things wouldnt jump through it.
The howls were so damn close, they sounded
like they were in our ears. It was going to be one
long, hard night.
Of course, we had a showdown with the
beasts. We told Shane our goal was not to kill
them, but to make it so damn hard to kill us that
the things would go look for easier prey. Playing
on the outrunning the bear cliche:
You dont have to kill the werewolf, you just
have to convince him to go kill the other guy.

Okay, now with all that in mind, lets think

about this situation for a moment.

Our plan worked. We held off a couple of the

things, burned a few others. By the time they
started getting through our makeshift wall, they
First, Shane has put us in a circumstance
decided to go elsewhere. We stayed up all night
where our character sheets are useless. All our
fighting and intimidating and charming wont help waiting for another attack. None came.
us against beasts who just dont care. And our
When morning came, we ran to the fourth
weapons wont do a thing.
village. It was deserted. No sign of anything. No
This is horror. This is helplessness. In an RPG, blood, no nothing.
your character sheet is supposed to protect you
Confused, we went back to the fort. We
against the GM and his machinations. Shane gave
us a situation where none of that mattered. He led learned some of the villagers and soldiers came
into the fort that morning with bite and claw
us along through the first village and the second
marks. We knew from the old barbarian wise man
village, up to the third village, making us think
what that meant.
the problem was a barbarian revolt. Well, there
was a barbarian revolt brewing, and we took care
of it, but that was just a symptom of what was
I looked at my men. This place will be dead
really going on.
tonight, I said. Im deserting. Going back to
Rome. Anyone want to come with me, get your
This whole area depended on silver weapons to stuff.
deal with the horror from the forest. We, the
Romans, took that away from them. Now, theres
Nobody wanted to stay.
no way to protect ourselves or the barbarian
villagers.

PAGE 4

A MAGAZINE FOR THE DISCRIMINATING GAMER#

JUNE 11, 2014

The Story Engine

Q&A

I got a few questions about The Story Engine from last episode.
I hope these answers clear them up.

What Kind Of Dice Do I Roll For The

Story Engine?

mechanic for experience points. You can,

however, add more Trait Cards.

The Venom Advantage Says You Roll

9-10. What Does That Mean?

You may, if you wish, ask the Narrator to

switch out your Strength Card for a new Trait
Card (characters change, after all). Just
remember: every character may only have one
Strength Card, so the old one gets demoted to a
Trait Card.

Is There A Finite Pool For Story

Points?

Can You Explain Flaw Cards?

You roll d6s.

Its a typo. Roll 5-6 on a d6.

No: the Narrator may continue to offer Story

Points as rewards to the players from an infinite
pool. He does not give them Story Points from his
own pool.

I'm Not Sure When Rolling Dice

Occurs. Between Rule #3, Overcoming
Complications, Significant Actions,
Narrator Additions, Risks, Narrator
Insist, I'm Lost.

It occurs after the player refuses Story Points

from the Narrator. Then, the Narrator can call for
a roll.
For example, the Narrator offers you a Story
Point to accept the outcome of a risk. You refuse.

Theres a word missing at the end of the third

paragraph under Invoking the Flaw on page 12.
That paragraph should read:
Your Flaw card has five check marks at the
bottom. When someone invokes your Flaw, check
off one of those boxes. When you have checked off
all five boxes, the Flaw goes into your Past.
Also, that section should include the sentence:
When a Flaw goes into your Past, the Narrator
may bring it back from your Past with a Story
Point.

Questions!

He offers you two Story Points. You refuse.

Then, the Narrator may insist, and thats when
the player and Narrator roll dice.

If you have any questions about any article,

be sure to send them in. Ill do my best to
answer them in a timely manner.

For Trait Cards, You Give Example Of

Thief 4, But Nowhere Else You
Mentioned "leveling Up" Trait.

That was a typo. Strength Traits always give

you 3 dice and other Trait cards only give you
one. Currently, the Story Engine does not have a

PAGE 5

A MAGAZINE FOR THE DISCRIMINATING GAMER#

JUNE 11, 2014

Houses of the Blooded:

Blooded of the Spider

This is the first of an on-going series. Ill be taking an extended look at each of the ven Houses,
starting with one of the most mysterious and dangerous.

Apology

The House of the Spider is one of the most

obscure in all of ven literature. It has only a single
mention and even that has ven scholars debating
its veracity. Some claim it is interpolation (or
wishful thinking) while others go so far to say it
is a blatant forgery. Regardless, I include the
House of the Spider because of its elusive nature
and because of its rather curious motto...

No More Crowns

Intrevia Rex. No More Crowns (more

traditionally translated as, Cast Away the
Crowns) is a phrase that appears a few times in
ven literature, almost always spoken by
characters who are either unblooded or their
House lineage remains unclear. In The Great and
Tragic Life of Shara Yvarai, the character who
speaks it also has the tattoo of a spider on the
palm of his hand. When Shara sees the tattoo, the
author never explains her fearful reaction. This
encounter would probably communicate more to a
ven reader than us--we miss the context--but the
effect of seeing the tattoo and hearing the phrase
are enough to break Sharas carefully crafted
demeanor.
Combining Sharas fear with the motto has
lead many ven scholars to suppose the existence
of a veiled House of the Spider. But who were the
Spider? Why were they veiled? What does their
motto mean?
I propose a solution to these questions in the
following essay and provide you, Dear Reader,
with ways to include the mysterious Ashka family
in your own Houses of the Blooded campaigns.

History

With so little to go on, an actual history of

the House is difficult to discern. However, we can
use the few scarce notes we have to outline what
may have happened to the House of the Spider.
We know that at the time of Jaymen Steele
there were ten Houses. After the Betrayer War,
four of those Houses were veiled and removed
from sight on the Senate floor. We know for
certain the crests of two veiled Houses--the Boar
and the Rat, for example--and we know of one
unspeakable House. But many scholars argue
the fourth was quite possibly the Spider.
After the fall of Jaymen Steele, the Houses
reacted to his reign in different ways. For
supporting the Emperors reign and fighting at his
side, the Senate veiled the Spiders heraldry,
forever silencing their voice in that sacred hall.
But the Spiders plans are secretive and
shadowed. So they have always been. What if the
veil was their plan all along? What if they had
some other goal and the veil was part of it.
There is no need to ask. Were talking about
the Spider. Of course there was a plan...

Veils And Webs

When Jaymen Steele went mad, the Spider

knew the outcome of the Betrayer War. That is
why they sided with him. They wanted to be on
the losing side. It was all part of their scheme.
Once they were veiled, the Spider disappeared
from the court, forever unmentionable. Out of
sight, out of mind. Out of mind... invisible.
They took control of Shanris cities,
establishing themselves as the true masters of the

PAGE 6

A MAGAZINE FOR THE DISCRIMINATING GAMER#

urban centers. From there, they could build a
network of information and covert action for a
very specific task...
... keeping anyone from claiming the the title
of Emperor. For that is the true purpose of the
House of the Spider: to keep Jaymen Steeles
Wounded Throne empty.
They manage this through espionage and
assassination. Their veiled heraldry (out of sight,
out of mind) makes this possible. If a ven seems to
be making moves to claim the Throne, his
servants find him poisoned, or hes forced into a
duel, or shes lost during an ork hunt or she
simply vanishes from sight. The Spider are
deliberate and quiet. And, above all other things,
patient.

Kings of the Cities

When they fled the Senate, the Spider sought

the best place to hide. They picked the Cities.
No proper ven ever pays too much attention to
the veth, and very few ever visit the dirty,
cluttered and violent streets of the City.
In other words, a perfect hiding place.
But the Spider are Blooded, and being such,
remaining in the shadows is no easy task. The
Blooded are born to rule. Thus, the Spider are
Kings of the Cities.
The Spider rule the Cities through clever
planning, intimidation and power. Greed is a
powerful motivator for the poor and the Spider
know how to use it. In the City, even the smallest
luxury is worth a cut purse or a cut throat.

JUNE 11, 2014

The Wounded Throne

When Jaymen Steele claimed his title,
he constructed a throne made of
orichalcum and placed it in the center of
the Senates Great Hall. When asked why,
he said, So I may see and hear all the
plots against me.
Now, decades after his defeat, a sword
pierces the Throne, jutting through the
seat. Obviously, this prevents anyone from
sitting in the Throne... unless they
withdraw the sword.
The sword belonged to one of the
heroes who defeated Steele, although each
House believes one of their own struck the
sword into the Throne, the Spider know
which hand it was.

Families

The four families of the Spider make up what

the House calls its Web of Whispers. Each family
is a strand, serving a specific purpose in the
Houses goal of keeping anyone from sitting in the
Wounded Throne. Each family has its own
character, advantages and role within the House.

Ashka (From The Shadows)

The Ashka family are experts at

impersonation, infiltration and espionage. Each
member has at least three different identities, all
serving in different Houses, gathering information
for the web. They are the tendrils of the web,
reaching out from the hub, clinging to different
surfaces, providing the true strength of a House
who treats information as a resource.

Using the resources of the City puts the Spider

Family Aspect From the Shadows: When
in a specific advantageous spot. Most of the
impersonating someone who is not themselves,
Blooded do not consider a City a useful tool. At
this character receives three bonus dice.
best, it is a fountainhead of resources.

Ranjin (No Whispers)

But the Spider know different. They know
Sometimes called the Sword of the Spider,
Cities are growing and those who control the
those
who are Blooded under the shadow of the
Cities have real power in their hands. While the
Ranjin
are deadly combatants, serving as
Blooded throw lavish parties in their palatial
bodyguards
and assassins.
estates, the veth have built themselves true
empires. Currency and trade. The new currency. A
Family Aspect: No Whispers: When this
wise Blooded ven would take possession of that
character gains surprise, he gains three bonus
power and keep it. And thats exactly what the
dice.
Spider are doing.

PAGE 7

A MAGAZINE FOR THE DISCRIMINATING GAMER#

Ybal (The Web Reveals)

The Ybal (ee-bawl) family are the keepers of

secrets, those who find patterns in the
information gathered by others. They are most
adept at putting together diverse facts to see a
larger picture.

JUNE 11, 2014

Illysia Ranjin, The Lady Of Whispers

Blessings: The Delicate Whisper

Illysia Ranjin (posing as Illysia Yvarai) was one

of the most influential Spiders ever to infiltrate the
Senate. Her false identity allowed her to wreck the
reputations of those seeking to heal the Wounded
Family Aspect The Web Reveals: This
Throne and keep others from getting close. Those
character gains three bonus dice when attempting who revere Illysia Ranjin know the power of
to gain information during a scene.
secrets, especially when they are revealed to the
right people at the wrong time. Her whispers
destroyed reputations, started secret wars and
Zirin (The Past Is Today)
even toppled Earls. All with nothing more than a
The Zirin family are the archivists and
rumor.
historians of the House of the Spider. They see
history as not something that happened long ago,
but something that is happening today. Using the
lessons of the past, they solve problems in the
present and predict problems in the future.

New Blessings

Family Aspect The Past is Today: Gain

three bonus dice when coming up with solutions
to puzzles or problems.

1,000 Masks

Yes, the House of the Spider has its own

suaven. Listed below are two of the most
prominent suaven of the Spider.

Spend a Style Point and you can change your

identity to someone else for as long as you can
hold your breath. If you speak or take a breath,
your true identity becomes known. You can only
do this a number of days equal to your Patience
Virtue rank. You may only imitate someone if you
know. In other words, you must know their name.
If you know their true name, you may imitate
them without holding your breath.

Jiju Askha, The Lady Of Masks

The Delicate Whisper

Jiju Askha was personal attendant to the

Emperor Jaymen Steele. Many say it was her
blade that ended his life and not the sword of
Jonan Drax as popular history would have us
believe. At least, thats what the Spider believe.
And what they teach their children.

New Rule: Rumors

Suaven of the Spider

Blessings: 1,000 Masks

Spend a Style Point to add a Rumor on any

other character. To determine the rank of the
Rumor, make a Beauty risk. If successful, the
Rumors rank is 1+your wagers.

Rumors are like Aspects, except instead of

having
an invoke or compel, they only have a tag.
She not only served as his attendant, but as
That
is,
if you want to get someone to believe a
his spy and assassin. Her skill at murder was so
Rumor
about
someone else, the rank of the
precise, many suspected her a devotee of Ikhalu.
Rumor
gives
you
a number of bonus dice to get
One of the most popular stories tell of Jiju making
them
to
believe
you.
her way through a high cost brothel, posing as a
different lady in each room, bringing the knife to
For example, Shara has a rank 3 Rumor:
every man and woman who laid down in a bed
Hates
Count Kether. When you try to convince
that night. Followers of Jiju go through an
another
character the Rumor is true, you gain 3
elaborate ritual that murders their own identity.
Using a sacred blade, they cut off their own faces. bonus dice.
The agony is both a test of fidelity and allows the
Removing a Rumor is a Beauty risk. You must
follower to regrow their face in a new way.
gain equal or greater wagers than the Rumor to
get rid of it.
Once they have proven themselves, they are
allowed within the inner echelons of Jijus
hierarchy of assassin-spies.

PAGE 8

A MAGAZINE FOR THE DISCRIMINATING GAMER#

JUNE 11, 2014

Return to Orkworld
Culture (Part 2)

In this second part of Return to Orkworld, we continue talking about culture. This time, we start with
why orks love their mommies.

Motherhood and Birth

Trouble from the real mother. A trusted friend, or

even the mother of the seethoo, takes the role of
the thudowmga; a dangerous position considering
she is actually trying to lure Trouble.

At the end of the five months, dowmga take

the seethoo out into the woods where they assist
in the delivery. Only daughter warriors are
allowed near the site, although they cannot view
it; they stand guard on the fringes and prevent
any interference.

Transformation

As mentioned in the last article, the ork word

for maiden is dayla. In ork terms, a maiden is a
woman who has not yet become pregnant. As soon
If complications arise during birth, orks can
as she shows signs of pregnancy, she must
cut the baby from the seethoos womb. The
undergo the dowmshay: the ritual of motherhood. procedure is risky (about a 65% chance of killing
When a femal ork becomes pregnant, she is no
the mother and/or child).
longer a maiden, but a seethoo: an expectant
mother.
Infants weigh six to eight pounds, measuring
ten to twelve inches long. Mothers usually bear a
During the day, no male ork may touch the
single child; twins and triplets are very rare. If the
seethoo. Orks believe she is a connection between seethoo survives the birth, the other dowmga
two worlds: the real world and the spirit world. A accept her as one of their own. If she does not, the
seethoo also wears a veil over her face so no ork
dowmga bring her back to the village for death
may look into her eyes. While she is pregnant, she rites (see below).
is a vessel of incredible power that could burn an
ork alive.
The new dowmga names a daughter. The
grandmother or a sister names the child if the
The gestation period for orks is five months.
mother did not survive. A first-born daughter is
Every night, dowmga take the seethoo to the
always named after the dowmga who birthed her,
woods and teach her downshay: mothers
even if she died during the birth. A son is carried
wisdom. They teach her how to raise children,
back to the tribe and the new dowmga chooses a
what to feed them and how to cure ills. This
male to name him. It is ork tradition to name a
wisdom is not imparted on any ork but those
boy child after a beloved friend.
expecting children.

Dowmga instruct the seethoo to make as little

noise as possible while a thudowmga (false
mother) lies nearby, screaming and crying as loud
as she can while pretending to give birth. Orks
believe the thudowgma distracts any wandering

Somewhere between the ages of seven and

nine, a child reaches the proper age for gooleeala,
or the rite of transformation. Until an ork survives
gooleeala, it is neither a son (plahn) or daughter
(flahn), not yet an adult and not responsible for
their actions.
Mothers let their village bard know when a
child is ready. Gooleeala always takes place on

PAGE 9

A MAGAZINE FOR THE DISCRIMINATING GAMER#

bakharala, the longest night of the year. The
bards of many villages gather together and
prepare for the ritual. They paint their skin black
and wear large masks made from oak and go from
village to village, collecting children for the
gooleeala. Mothers prepare their children from a
young age, telling them stories of the tall, slender
dark spirit known as Afrihl and his terrible
servants, the goosha: monsters who steal children
from their mothers. They walk the world once a
year, on the longest night of the year, and when
the bards come with their black skin and
terrifying masks, the children run to their
dowmgas for protection. The bards burst into each
home and rip the children away from their
mothers. The mother pretends to protect her
child, but the goosha are too strong. One by one,
all the children are taken away and into the
darkness.

JUNE 11, 2014

the cave, but those who do not didnt have teh

strength to become thraka anyway.
A harsh ritual, but in the orks eyes, a harsh
one.
When the children make their way out, the
bards emerge from the cave, remove their masks
and congratulate the children. They are children
no more. They are orks. They are thraka.
The bards and new orks go out into the woods
and perform the next step in the ritual:
scarification. Because they are no longer children,
orks receive their adult names. They do not
choose these names themselves, but are given a
name by those who go through the gooleeala with
them. The bards tattoo that name on the orks
body and they are re-introduced to the tribe and
given to a dowmga with whom they establish a
new household within the tribe.

The ritual takes place in a mountain cave

prepared by the bards. The children are taken
deep into the cave where sunlight cannot reach
them and given tilta, a meal made from
mushrooms that have powerful psychedelic effects
on the ork nervous system. They are then told
The ork word for death is dracha. But before
they must keep each other awake and if even one we talk about death, lets spend a moment or two
of them falls asleep, all of them will be killed.
talking about the Otherside, a place orks call
Noodeema.
For the rest of the night, the children sit in
absolute darkness with the horrors of their
Orks believe the world is flat and the gods live
imaginations come to life, coupled with the
on the other side of the world. Thus, earthquakes
looming threat of death if they fall asleep. the
are Bashthraka riding on his reindeer, the sun
bards watch them carefully, not only to see if they rises from the Otherside every day and falls back
stay awake, but also to see if any of the children
down into it every night and the deeper you go
suffer a vission--evidence the child has the
into the ground, the closer you get to the land of
potential to become a bard. The experience either the gods. Trees grow up from the ground because
binds the group together or tears them apart.
they gain nourishment from the Otherside and

Noodeema & Dracha

In the morning, the bards emerge from the

darkness. One of them has covered his hair in
animal fat and set it on fire; the only source of
light in the cave. Shadows play off the walls,
showing paintings of stories. Some of these
stories, the children already know. Others are
stories they hear for the first time. Finally, the ork
with the flaming head (taltoomo: the flaming one)
tells the children they must find their way out of
the cave. If they do not, they will die there. Then,
the bard disappears and the others watch the
children from the darkness.
By the age of seven, all orks know how to
build a fire. The bards leave enough resources for
the children to do so. If the children panic, they
wont find the wood, flint and tinder they need and
they will die. Most children make their way out of

creatures who dig deep holes in the earth can

actually travel between both worlds, bringing
messages and news. With that in mind, lets talk
about death and the soul.

Because an orks soul is made of spirit-stuff, it

wants to return to where it belongs; it is the body
that keeps it here in the material world. When a
body dies, it no longer has the strength to hold on
to the spirit, and it departs quickly. Orks believe it
is the soul that keeps a body warm, so when a
body gets cold, it is because the soul has left the
body.
Orks also believe a great toad named Gorlam
awaits them at the gates of the Otherside. The
gods of the other races--humans, dwarves, elves
and halflings--put Gorlam there after Pugg tricked
them out of the afterlife (something well discuss

PAGE 10

A MAGAZINE FOR THE DISCRIMINATING GAMER#

JUNE 11, 2014

later). Gorlam eats any ork who tries to enter the

Otherworld. No ork has yet defeated him.

its bodys death, haunting the spot until its told

that it must move on.

When an ork dies, his tribe does everything

possible to keep his body warm (thus keeping the
soul here in the material world); the usual
technique involves burying it with hot coals. Then,
the tribe performs and elaborate ritual over the
body using herbs and other plants. Finally, in
order to keep the soul from passing on to Gorlam,
the tribe devours the warm body. Orks believe this
passes the soul on to those who eat the flesh of
their fallen friend, taking on his virtues, vices and
aspects of his personality, depending on which
part of the anatomy was eaten.

Orks cant see ghosts, but they can smell

them. Ghosts smell like rotting flesh and worms.
Whenever orks smell such a stink and cannot find
a source, they call upon a shaman to help the
ghost find peace. A shaman can communicate
with ghosts, but only while dreaming. It is a
dangerous understanding for the ghost can harm
the bodalays spirit while he dreams.

The immediate household usually performs

the ritual of dracha, although friends from the
households are sometimes invited. The body-called the drachan--is divided up, depending on
who was closest to the deceased.

Lineage & Boasting

Cannibalism changes another important

element of ork culture: lineage. Orks dont believe
that virtues are passed down from father-to-son
(obviously; because they dont know what a
father is) or even mother-to-child. Children come
from Keethdowmga the way she made them. So,
instead of boasting, I am the son of... or My
grandfather was..., orks boast of who they ate.
The blood of Booeealdah runs in my veins! is a
common boast, as is I do not stand alone--the
heart of Szalzhootha stands with me! This is not
considered a way to attract Trouble, as it shows
respect for the honored dead.

Black Magic

Ork black magic is called doodom. Those who

practice it are called doomla (witch). Witches are
insane dowmga who live far away from other orks.
Dowmga warn their children to stay far away from
the woods and never go off with any orks they do
not know. However, unlike humans, orks have the
capacity to know strangers theyve never met.
Youll learn more about that in Anatomy, below.
Doomla are capable of many strange magics,
all empowered by the body parts of children.
Listed below are some of the more spectacular
powers doomla are known to have.

False Love

To make an ork fall in love, doomla mix milk,

honey and ten pinches of mandrake on a virgin
plate (a plate thats never been used). Then, they
burn the mixture while speaking the targets
name over and over again. The ritual usually
takes three nights to complete.

After battle, orks always spend time to bury

Flying
the bodies of their fallen enemies. They dig deep
Doomla fly by mixing the stomachs of children
trenches, fill them with red-hot coals and bury the
into
a gruel and smearing it on their feet. This
corpses on top of the coals. If the enemies were
gives
them the power of flight until the next
orks, they spend the rest of the night eating their
sunrise.
conquests. If they were humans, dwarves or elves,
they leave them in the ground. That way, the
bodies stay warm and the soul never leaves for the Hatred Between Lovers
To cause hatred between lovers, the doomla
Otherworld.
takes a handful of child entrails and mixes them
with the dirt of a mans grave. Then, while walking
If orks dont have time to bury non-ork
enemies, they leave them on the battlefield for the between them, she shakes out the dirt, whispering
the lovers names. The ritual must be done three
birds to eat. That way, they still dont make it to
times on three consecutive nights.
the Otherworld, but instead, rest in the bellies of
crows.

Ghosts

Glamour

Doomla can change their appearance by

wearing a necklace of childrens teeth.
Sometimes, an orks death is so violent, his
soul is doowampa (knocked stupid) and does not
realize that its dead. The soul wanders the site of

PAGE 11

A MAGAZINE FOR THE DISCRIMINATING GAMER#

Invisibility

Doomla can make themselves invisible by

cutting out a crows heart with a knife made from
a childs bone, then eating a bite of the heart and
burying the rest. As long as it is buried, the
doomla remains invisible.

Dead Hand

A hand cut from a living ork child then

preserved in his blood gives a witch great power.
She can command any ork who the hand touches
and cause infertility in dowmga it touches. An ork
must burn the hand to break the curse.

JUNE 11, 2014

Thraka can do little to help a fellow ork gain

control of his tangodo; thats something he has to
learn on his own or learn the skill from a shaman.
The Otherworld is not a safe place for ork
dreamers. The Otherworld is full of all sorts of
horrors including demons, monsters and spirits of
departed dwarf, elf and human heroes. Also, just
as an ork can visit the gods, so can he stumble on
the gods that monsters worship.

Thwarting The Doomla

Doomla cannot cross running water, nor can

they enter any household without being invited in
first. The only thing that can kill a dowmla is a
spear from a rowan tree that was struck by
lightning. The branch used to make the spear
must be from a limb that has not touched the
ground. Orks can also keep themselves safe from
doomla and their magic by cutting ten blades of
yarrow, throwing one into a river and putting the
rest in their right boot.

This is the end of Part 1.

Next month, well talk about ork
households, tribes, diet, eetalday
(winter structures) and the best
food in the world... sooeeta!

Dreaming

If you have any questions, please

send them on. Ill do my best to
answer them.

As mentioned earlier, dreaming is an

important part of an orks life. In fact, children are
taught their dream life is just as important as
their waking life. An orks dreams are voyages to
the Otherworld where he encounters threats and
dangers just as real as the monsters he
encounters during the daytime. However,
dreaming is just like every other skill that
demands practice and patience to master. As an
ork grows in experience, he gains greater control
over his dream life.
An ork does not walk through the Otherworld
in his body (although that is also possible).
Instead, his spirit travels through the Otherworld.
But unlike the immaterial spirits that visit the
Wakingworld, an orks spirit is very tangible. The
word for his spirit as it walks through the
Otherworld is tangodo (walking spirit).
When they visit the Otherworld, orks can also
visit the gods. However, because most orks are
unskilled dreamers, they gain little from the visit.
Instead of waking with clear visions if his
nocturnal journey, an ork is left with only vague
impressions and half-understood visions.

PAGE 12

A MAGAZINE FOR THE DISCRIMINATING GAMER#

JUNE 11, 2014

Houses of the Blooded:

Revised Duels
Ive never been entirely happy with the dueling rules in HotB, and after talking to a lot of fans, I
discovered they werent very happy with them, either. So, its time to fix them. These are new rules for
dueling in Houses of the Blooded. Check them out, try them out and let me know what you think!
Special Thanks to Mike Curry for helping me out with this.

A Violence Scene is a special kind of scene

with its own rules. A violence scene begins as
soon as any character says so. I attack! or I
draw my sword are good verbal cues to alert the
Narrator and other players that you want a
violence scene.

your third Feint, your opponent starts to learn

your tells.)

Step 1: Declaration

A Duel begins when one character challenges

another to a ritual of violence. The challenged
character must agree. When that happens, you
have a Duel.

In most cases, a character can dispatch

opponents with a Prowess risk. In fact, I suggest
as much. If violence breaks out and it isnt
important or the players dont want to waste time Step 2: Initiative
Violence begins with the first player to
on it, have them make Prowess risks. A successful
announce
an attack. This is typically the person
risk navigates the scene.
who declared the attack. However, in the case of a
formal Duel, both duelists make a Prowess risk.
On the other hand, duels are an important
Whoever rolls higher gets to attack first.
part of ven literature, signifying the climax of the
story. When the protagonist and antagonist cross
swords, its time for a Duel.

Maneuvers

Maneuvers are special moves characters use

in Violence Scenes and Duels.
A character knows a number of Maneuvers
equal to his Prowess rank. Thus, if he has a
Prowess of 4, he knows 4 Maneuvers and may
choose them at character creation.
Characters may learn more Maneuvers with
Season Actions. Each Season Action gains the
character a new Maneuver.

Step 3: Maneuvers

Duels are broken down into beats. A beat

consists of a number of Maneuvers. The beat
begins with the first duelist declaring one of his
Maneuvers. This could be any Maneuver in his
arsenal.
Then, the second duelist must respond with a
Maneuver of his own. Followed by the first duelist,
then the second, and continuing.
If a duelist cannot respond (or chooses not to
respond) to a Maneuver, the attacker rolls a
Prowess risk. If he succeeds, he delivers one
Wound. Every wager he makes is an additional
Wound.

Characters may learn a Maneuver multiple

times, thus giving that character a number of
After a successful strike, the next beat begins
Ranks in that Maneuver. For example, a character
with
the second duelist calling a Maneuver.
could have Riposte 3 or Feint 4. Each Rank of a
Maneuver is the number of times a character can
Of course, the individual rules in Maneuvers
use that Maneuver effectively in a Duel. (After
have precedence over these rules.

PAGE 13

A MAGAZINE FOR THE DISCRIMINATING GAMER#

Maneuvers
Strike

JUNE 11, 2014

Cancelled by: Block

Cancels: N/A

Requirement: N/A

Effect: Causes opponent to drop his weapon.

Cancelled by: Parry, Defend

Feint

Effect: Causes a Wound.

Defend

Requirement: Cunning, Riposte

Cancelled by: Recover

Requirement: N/A

Cancels: N/A

Cancelled by: Riposte, Press

Cancels: Strike

Effect: Duelists make a contested Cunning Risk.

If you win, you may immediately play an
Advanced Maneuver and your opponent cannot
block it. Gain a Style.

Riposte

Lunge

Requirement: Strike, Defend

Requirement: Courage, Step

Cancelled by: Parry

Cancelled by: Dodge

Cancels: Defend

Cancels: N/A

Bash

Effect: Causes Wounds equal to Strength. User

must spend three Maneuvers to invoke this
Maneuver.

Requirement: Strength
Cancelled by: Block
Cancels: N/A

Press

Requirement: Prowess, Parry

Effect: Duelists make a contested Strength risk.

Loser falls to the ground and must use the next
beat to get back up. Winner gains a Style.

Cancelled by: N/A

Bind

Recover

Requirement: Parry

Cancels: Recover, Defend

Requirement: Wisdom, Parry

Cancelled by: Parry

Cancelled by: Press

Cancels: N/A

Cancels: Bash, Disarm, Feint

Effect: Both players refresh their Maneuvers.

Effect: Both players refresh their Maneuvers.

Block

Step

Requirement: Dodge

Requirement: Dodge

Cancelled by: N/A

Cancelled by: N/A

Cancels: Bash, Blind, Disarm

Cancels: N/A

Disarm

Effect: You may refresh an invoked Maneuver.

Requirement: Beauty, Parry

PAGE 14

A MAGAZINE FOR THE DISCRIMINATING GAMER#

JUNE 11, 2014

Cat:

Lost Heroes
Based on an Adventure by Charlotte Bethel
My friend Charlotte ran this adventure for another friends birthday. I asked her if I could use it in
the magazine. She agreed, and so here it is. Ive included notes that tell how the adventure changed
while she ran it as well as some notes on the characters we played. When we made characters, I
decided I wanted to play a huge cat. So, I consulted the Mighty Google and discovered the Norwegian
Forest cat. Now, I want one. And Ill call him Siegfried.
If you dont have a copy of Cat: A Little Game about Little Heroes, you can get one using this link
(Pay What You Want): http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/92647/Cat-Revised--Expanded

Cat: A Little Game about Little Heroes has a

simple premise: cats protect us from monsters
we cant see. These monsters are called boggins
and they turn good people into Mean People who
abuse each other and animals. Cats protect us
from boggins. Thats why Mr. Whiskers jumps at
invisible things, acts crazy from time to time,
and otherwise acts like theres something in the
room that isnt really there.
Its there: you just cant see it.
I designed Cat as a game for both grown-ups
and kids. So, if youve got a youngster you want
to teach how to roleplay, go download a copy of
the game (its Pay What You Want, remember?)
and use this as a starting adventure.
***
Charlotte designed this adventure to take
place in an animal shelter. Our characters--all
cats, of course--were animals in the shelter, using
the place to help other kitties find homes.
We were kind of like the feline version of
Hogans Heroes. (I am really showing my age.)
This was her introduction:
Not every cat spends the night in a warm bed.
Some are born on the streets. For some, their
owners passed from old age. One way or another
they have all found their way to Heaven's Hope

Animal Shelter. It is a nice place, warm and

comfortable, designed to give kitties a place to be
safe until they find a new home.
Ms. Heaven runs the shelter and spends every
moment of her day getting as many cats as she can
good homes. And because there is so much love
there, even if there is tragedy in a cats life, very
few have turned "bad".
However, it is also a heartbreaking place for
cats. Every day, they see people come in and out of
the shelter. Cats can smell the boggins waiting for
them at home. If these people dont adopt a kitty,
theyll be helpless to stop those boggins.

PAGE 15

A MAGAZINE FOR THE DISCRIMINATING GAMER#

Every night, a group of cats sneaks out of
Heaven's Hope. They travel the city at night
protecting those who have no one to protect them.
They fight the Boggins the world can not see and
the cats bound to houses are not able to fight
against. And then, every sunrise, they return home
to Heaven's Hope without Ms. Heaven or any of the
other staff being any of the wiser.
You are one of these cats
When we made characters, Charlotte had
guidelines.
First, everybody had to play a good cat. No
bad cats. We were kitties who cared that humans
were haunted by boggins and we all wanted to do
something about it.
Second, we played experienced cats, so we
had some bonus points.
Once we made our characters, she let us
spend some points to help define the world
around us. Heres what we came up with.

Truths

Theres a new kind of boggin called the

Apathy. Charlotte already had some new
boggins she wanted to throw at us (as youll
see), so she just added this one to the list.
The Apathy boggins is the main reason
people abandon their kitties.

New Bogins

For the adventure, Charlotte had a bunch of

new boggins. We threw in the Apathy boggin
(which changed her plans a little, but also added a
whole lot of drama to the Final Showdown, seen
below.)

Allergies

Charlotte changed this one to Apathy. She

thought it was a stronger boggin.

Sickies

Sickies are boggins that make people feel

yucky. They typically appear (to cats) as large
germs who attach to the skin and suck away the
victims health.

Sorrows

Sorrows live in mirrors. They show the person

sad memories of the past (like Mr. Heaven passing
away) and make the victim feel awful.

Greeds

Greeds appear as butterflies made of dollar

bills. They fly around a persons face, making
them oblivious to anything but acquiring more
money.

Olds

Olds appear as chains made of flesh. They grip

the person by the limbs and slow them down,
making them feel tired all the time, reminding
them, Youre going to die.

One of the girls working at the Heavens

Hope is a woman named Beth. Beth was a
freshman at college studying to be a vet. She
loved animals and we loved Beth.

NPCs

Beth is dating a guy named Troy who is a

paramedic. He also loves animals and hugs us
whether we like it or not. (Some of us do, some
of us dont.)

Rebecca Heaven

Ms. Heaven is sick because there is a boggin

in her house.
Ms. Heaven has been trying to get the funds
to make a room especially for kittens because
they tend to get bullied by the older cats.

JUNE 11, 2014

While Charlotte started with a number of

NPCs, we added a few.

Ms. Heaven owns and operates Heavens Hope.

After the untimely death of her husband (caused
by boggins), she has been overcome with grief and
sadness and illness.
Her shelter is a no kill shelter and big enough
that she needs help. She has a staff of six: two for
the cats, two for the dogs, and two for the
critters and front desk.

(I added a tarantula that nobody wants to

Finally, we are coming up on the anniversary adopt but Troy the Paramedic loves. His name is
of the death of Mr. Heaven.
Logan and he has a sign on his cage that says, I
am not friendly.)

PAGE 16

A MAGAZINE FOR THE DISCRIMINATING GAMER#

Ms. Heaven usually comes in every day to see
the animals one-by-one, but lately, shes been
coming in less and less.

Craig Heaven

Craig showed up at the beginning of the

adventure. We never saw him before. We saw his
name tag and thats now we knew his name. But
we did know he smelled like boggins. A lot of
boggins.
Craig gave us generic brand cat food and
didnt say a word to us. He only showed up to give
the animals food and make sure no one is dead
and leaves.
We knew something was wrong.
Behind the scenes: Turns out Ms. Heaven is
independently wealthy. Craig, her estranged
nephew, has moved in and wants to inherit his
Aunts fortune. Hes taking care of his sick aunt,
but instead of helping her, hes pulling tricks on
Ms. Heaven to make her think shes going crazy.
(The original plan was to have the lawyer also
involved, but for us, he never came up.)
Craig has also been poisoning her slowly,
making her weak enough for the boggins that
followed him in to multiply.
Yes, Craig is haunted by boggins. A lot of
them. He has Greed boggins mostly, but others
have attached to him as well.

What Happened To Us

You now have everything you need to run the

adventure. How your characters respond to the
danger that Craig poses. He doesnt really care
about the shelter, he only wants his Aunts
money. Once he gets the money, he plans on
shutting down the shelter or selling it.

JUNE 11, 2014

can give you, Mr. or Ms. GM, is to reward your

players for creative thinking. If they come up with
a clever way of finding out facts, let them. It
moves the plot forward, rewards their initiative
and keeps things moving.
Our next decision was to sneak out after
hours and go find out whats happening with Ms.
Heaven. Obviously, if Craig smelled like boggins,
she had boggins in her house and we had to do
something about that.
We snuck out and went to Ms. Heavens
house. We found the address in her address book.
Others may try to find her through dreams or
follow Craig home or even sneak into his car.
When we got to the house, we found it full of
boggins. They were in the mirrors, in the
bathroom, in the kitchen... everywhere. The worst
one was in the bedroom, a thick black thing that
seemed to be made of ink. It covered Ms. Heaven
completely and it took all our strength to kill it.
Then, we had to deal with Craig.
Now, I can see a lot of ways of doing this.
Craig is a Mean Person (for rookies, thats a
monster in the game) and he cant get away with
what hes been doing. We decided to handle it a
few ways.
First, we went into Craigs dreams and
terrified him.
Then, we went into Beths dreams and told her
to call the police. Craig is killing Ms. Heaven! we
told her. She woke up and came to the house to
investigate. She found the place a mess (we did
that) and Ms. Heaven in her bed, close to death
from poisoning. She called the police and Craig
went to prison.
We visited Ms. Heaven in her dreams and told
her to give the shelter to Beth and Troy. She
agreed, petted us all and snuggled us. Then, we
went back to the animal shelter.

We decided to find out what was going on. We

used a few distraction techniques and got into the
main office. We used the offices message machine
Thats how we handled the adventure. Of
to find out Ms. Heaven had been calling in sick for
course, your players may handle it differently. Use
almost a week, leaving messages for Craig. We
Charlottes trick of allowing each of us to say one
also heard a message from her lawyer talking to
thing thats true about the set-up and see where
Craig about plans to sell the shelter.
your players take you!
We could have found this information out a
bunch of different ways, and your players will
Special Thanks to Charlotte for running this
probably be clever enough to figure out different
adventure for us and allowing me to publish it.
ways to find out whats going on. The best advice I

PAGE 17

A MAGAZINE FOR THE DISCRIMINATING GAMER#

JUNE 11, 2014

Wicked Fantasy:
Lliosgad, The treeless elves
Mechanics by
gillian fraser
While making Wicked Fate, Mark Diaz Truman asked us a question. What happens if an elfs Great
Tree burns down?
Jill and I talked about it, and this was our answer.
The fate of the iron-bound elves is the cause
of sad and tragic songs, there are also tales of
those who have lost their Trees: the lliosgad.
When an elfs Tree is burned and dies, the elf is
a lost soul, a wandering ghost. Different than
the iron-bound elf, but doomed to the same fate,
the lliosgad, both hope the story of true love
saving them from death may be more than a
story...

Racial Traits

Fleeting Ghost: Lliosgad elves cannot be

magically aged. The GM should roll 1d6 x 300 to
determine how many days a lliosgad has.
Echoes of the Great Tree: Lliosgad elves
keep one racial trait from the cyffathellen they
were originally bound too.
Passion: Lliosgad elves can invoke their
passion once a day. Passion grants a bonus to
any one roll equal to their total character level.

Lliosgad Feats
Bloodfire Passion: Unlike their seemingly
cold-blooded cousins, the lliosgads blood runs
hot. Boiling hot. Their lives have been cut short,
and that realization gives them a passion that
rivals even the most ardent uvandir.
Prerequisite: Elf, Passion Racial Trait

by Aaron Acevedo

Benefit: You can use your passion racial trait

a number of times a day equal to your Charisma
modifier.
Normal: You can only use your passion racial
trait once a day.

PAGE 18

NEXT ISSUE!
If youve seen this pic on my Facebook
page, then you know this is my palatine
from Wicked Fantasy, Mariccella Velox.
My friend Alan Venable is running a
Wicked Fantasy campaign and next issue,
Ill be writing up his adventure (like the
Cat adventure in this issue... just more
stats).
Tune in for A Favor for King Rat!

Im also starting something Im calling The Savage Worlds Trilogy. Its three fully detailed game worlds for
use with the Savage Worlds system. Well start with a world called FULL DARK. Imagine a our own world with
no electricity. And when that goes away... something comes back. Its action, horror and adventure using the
Savage Worlds system!
Of course, well also have Play Dirty, more Return to Orkworld and some other goodies as well. I may even
give you a sneak peak of what Jill and I have been up to... but if you cant wait for that, check out the next
page.
See you in 30 days!