Fantasy Game Notes

 Returning evil

Encroaching doom

Castle among the mountains at the end of the world

A need for a quest to gain an advantage

A secret sea entrance to the castle

#RPGaDay2023 Day 3: 1st purchase this year

 My buddy Dave Chapman is a comedian. For today's #RPGaDay2023 entry, he wants to know what the first game I purchased this year was. Dave doesn't realize that I spend a lot of money on games. Yes, my wife knows. No, I don't need to go to meetings (unless those meetings involve more playing more RPGs!). 

The first corebook I ever bought was probably the Rules Cyclopedia or 1st Edition AD&D. It's been so long, I don't remember. My first GM, Aaron, had the Basic D&D core book. 

My big purchases have been the following. First up, Alien. 

Then, there's Korg and Korg Slayer. It's a solo-ttrpg game.

For Bronze Age love that isn't Runequest, I picked up Jackals.

And I purchased my first dice tower from Fyre & Ashe. It's a hollow, wooden book with tentacles on the cover. The tower is inside looks like it is a castle wall.

The big deal this year is Wasted Lands: The Dreaming Age (still available for pre-order). It's the new game from Elf Lair. The setting post-apocalyptic fantasy where the characters have a spark of something different to them. I wrote the quick start for it (free, $0).

So, there you go. 

Visit Scenic Lake Manitou! part one of an All Flesh Must Be Eaten Deadworld

 

Photo 150347386 | State Park © Ej Rodriquez Photography | Dreamstime.com

Chapter One: Visit Scenic Lake Manitou

History

This Deadworld is designed to be set in an Upper-Midwest USA state after the zombies have risen and consumed most of the locals. The Cast Members are likely normal people who have escaped the town in which they lived and are now living out of a lodge in the local state park. They are led by the woman who managed the state park’s lodge before the rise of the zombies. She assigns duties as needed, oversees supply management, and does her best to keep everyone alive.

Six months ago, the dead rose and began eating the living. People who were bit, but not killed by the zombies were contagious. Some left the area and went home, where they spread the love to those communities. As the situation grew more dire, military and law enforcement units gathered and eventually went rogue, while citizens either banded together or went full-on everyone-for-themselves.

At the local level, the governor activated the National Guard, who had an armory near the town of Lake Manitou. They assembled and were preparing to travel to the state capital when they received a command to stand down. Nearly an hour later, an Air Force wing consisting of a B1-Lancer, two AC-130 gunships, and two F-16 escorts destroyed the capital.

The commanders within the Lake Manitou National Guard unit tried to maintain command and control of their units. However, more than half of the soldiers deserted to return to their families within days of the airstrike. Those who remained eventually teamed up with surviving local law enforcement officers (of all departments), the mayor, and city council in an effort to protect the area.

Major Amy Abrahms of the National Guard, Mayor Stacey Sherman, and State Police Lieutenant Denise Dysktra established the National Guard Armory as their command center. The location has become a pop-up city. Not only are these three groups active, there is also a tent city of civilians and a large marketplace.

In an effort to keep out as many zombies as possible, the de-facto government has installed fencing along the edge of the tent city. It isn’t perfect and there are ways through the fence line if one knows where to look. A combined force of law enforcement and National Guard soldiers patrol the fence line, dispatching zombies and repairing any damage they find.

Other Locales

In addition to the community surrounding the National Guard Armory, there are camps of civilians, LEOs, and AWOL military personal strewn throughout the county. Some people are surviving on their own without outside assistance, but not very many. There is constant strife among the communities.

“The Parlor” is an area unofficially considered neutral ground for non-government types. The big attraction is the bar with its various stills and barrels of the good stuff available for purchase, but you can also find bullets, weapons, food, drugs, or sex work. Many of the camps who do not get along meet here for accords.

The Pleasant Place Trailer Park was a vice den before the fall of man. Now that the zombies are large and in charge, it’s only become more entrenched in criminal behavior. The hardest drugs and cheapest prostitutes can be found here.

The old Jenkin’s family farm has existed for as long as anyone can remember. Today, the farm is more of a commune run by several families, including the Jenkins. They still produce food and are willing to trade it for supplies they need. They aim to trade fair with everyone, but anyone who crosses them will not be treated so well on their next visit.

Sunset Falls State Prison is ten miles south of Manitou. It is run by former inmates and the worst of the former prison guards. More details on the prison can be found in One of the Living.

Lake Manitou State Park is to the north of town. The community is a blend of those with survival training and those without. The only built-in residents that came with the park are a few employees. Everyone else is from outside the park. This is the default starting point for Return to Lake Manitou.

Lake Manitou State Park

Lake Manitou State Park is located 4 miles north of the town of Manitou. The park is bound by the lake on the west side, highway on the east side, Manitou Creek to the north, and farms to the south. The state park covers nearly 4,100 acres with less than one-quarter of that developed. The rest is forest. The terrain is hilly with the lowest elevation near the lake and the highest in the southeast where the lodge resides.

The park offered activities such as swimming, canoe and bike rental, day camps for children and at-risk teens, and winter activities such as snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. There is a boat launch near the beach to accommodate water vessels under thirty feet.

The Lake Manitou State Park Lodge has 120 guest rooms, a banquet hall capable of serving up to 140 people, and an outdoor seating area for 80. The guest room portion of the building is four stories tall. The kitchen is under the banquet hall. The park’s combined administration office and nature conservatory building is nearby, as is the motor pool garage containing one pick-up truck, one wheelchair accessible van, and four ATV/quad bikes. At the moment, all six vehicles are full of fuel.

Park Personalities

There are approximately fifty people living in the Lodge. There is enough room on site that people who do not get along, can keep their distance.

Linda Gehrig was the lodge manager. She is a fit woman in her fifties. She is a divorce’ whose children are grown with families of their own. Linda lived on property before the rise of the zombies. In the prior world, Linda was a charming person who appeared to love everyone and always had a kind word. Today, she can still do that, but usually saves it for children. To everyone else, she is very business-like. She sees it at her duty to keep everyone who resides at the lodge alive.

Jeannie Dover was a short order cook at a diner before the fall of man. She is currently the “chef” at the lodge. Jeannie, Tre Smith, and Angela Montaine are the regulars of the kitchen crew. Dishes duty floats among the other residents of the lodge – everyone gets their turn. Jeannie’s team does their best, but it seems like more and more their job is to safeguard the clean water and dry food against thieves. They are constantly running out of something and substituting whatever is on hand.

Dana Sterling was a police officer when it meant something. Law enforcement lost its appeal when zombies became the primary source of crime. She moved her family to the lodge sooner than most of the other people who came to live there. Linda asked her to take on the job of security chief and Dana agreed, noticing no one else at the time had experience. Dana keeps a close eye on those residents who own firearms.

Tony Flowers and their family were camping onsite when the world went sideways. Instead of trying to return to their home in Minneapolis, they decided to stay in the park and make a go of it. After meeting Tony and learning they were a mechanic by trade, Dana invited them to come stay in the Lodge. Tony’s children are outspoken, but polite. They tend to be the first to volunteer for chores, but dislike babysitting the younger children of the community. Tony’s spouse is not adjusting well to the new world and spends most of their time in their Lodge guest room.

Sarah Barclay has zero skills for survival. A retired bank teller, she has the ability to sit in place for hours on end. She has taken it upon herself to listen to both a law enforcement radio and an amateur band radio most days. She often plays solitaire or knits while doing so. The Lodge has solar power it routes to the radio and the two freezers in the kitchen. When residents of the lodge leave to go to the National Guard Armory or the Parlor, she sends them with a radio to stay in contact with the lodge.

Park Resident
Supporting Cast / Adversary

Attributes: STR 2, DEX 2, CON 3, INT 3, PER 2, WIL 2, LPS 36, EPS 26, SPD 10, ESS 14

Qualities and Drawbacks: Hard to Kill 2, Honorable 1, Recurring Nightmares -1, Resistance (Fatigue) 2, Resistance (Poison) 1

Skills: Brawl 1, Bureaucracy 2, Climbing 2, Craft (Seamstress) 2, Craft (Woodworker) 2, Dodge 2, Drive 1, Engineering (Civil) 2, First Aid  2, Guns (Rifle) 1, Hand Weapons (Choice) 1, Notice 2, Sciences (Biology) 2, Stealth 2, Survival (Forest) 3, Traps 2, Unconventional Medicine (Herbal) 1

Gear: ATV, backpack, gallon of water, large baggie of trail food, lawn mower blade with a duct tape wrapped handle (D6 x 2 piercing), park map with animal traps marked, radio, rifle (D4 x 4 piercing) or shotgun (D6 x 5 piercing)

Art Direction: someone who looks completely out of place that has had to adjust to survive; maybe they have on what were nice clothes and now the clothing and person are covered in dirt and cuts, they’re holding a makeshift weapon that is a lawn mower blade with duct tape wrapped around one end for a handle

Sunset Falls Copyright Eden Studios and used without express permission

Copyright 2023 Derek Stoelting

Tomb of the Vampire Queen map

 I did a thing. I bought Campaign Cartographer 3 years ago via Humble Bundle or some other deal. The process of making maps with the software is not intuitive to me. This has led to ne not using it that much.

When the Coronavirus pandemic started, my Deadlands game moved from in-person to online. I alternately used Campaign Cartographer and Photoshop to create town and territory maps for the game. The process would go like this: 

1-start map in CC3

2-try to remember how to make it look not god aweful

3-get super frustrated with CC3

4-make a map in Photoshop last minute

Now, years later, I think I’m making headway. I’m somewhat determined to make the software work for me. After all, I spent money on it and several supplements. 

My friend Tim Brannan is doing a “dungeon room a day” exercise over at his blog. The Other Side. You can find it here: http://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/?m=1 Tim is working up a Temple of the Vampire Queen dungeon. 

The other day, I decided it was time to try using CC3, again. I don’t need it for my current game (Fallout 2D20). Instead, I took Tim’s first level and plotted it out in CC3.

It worked, but wasn’t great. However, I couldn’t get the map to export properly. Cue frustration after hours of work. I shut down the old laptop, moved on to learning how to play Azul, and taught the wife how to play. 

Today, before losing 2 of 3 games of Azul, I had an idea for re-making the map in a way that might work out, i plotted out the structure and came up with this:

Then, I went through and added creatures, treasure, and other bits of scenery. That resulted in this map:

They aren’t great big awesomeness, but they are s heckuvalot better than what I was makinh back in 2020. Maybe, just maybe, I can make this program work for me.

Zombie Mall

Zombie Mall
copyright 2023 Derek Stoelting

High Concept: Dawn of the Dead meets Stranger Things

The Pitch: a two page (?) handout Zombie Masters can use to create a mall for use in their AFMBE games. The handout includes the mall map, guide to the shops in the mall, and notes on how to use this product with your game.

"The mall?" asks Maddie

"The mall. The mall has it all," replies David.

- Moonlighting

Even since Dawn of the Dead, gamers have dreamt of invading a mall, clearing it of opponents, and using it for a base of operations in a post-apocalypse setting. This small handout provides you everything you need to fulfill those dreams.

As presented, GMs can use the mall map provided (still in development) and roll on the Mall Directory table to determine which type of stores are present and where they are located. The stores are not named by brand. This allows for the GM to cater the game to the locale and time period in which the game is set. Instead, a generic description of the type of store is listed. For those GMs with a different style of mall in mind, this handout can be used to randomly generate the store types of that mall. For example, an outdoor, outlet mall will have a completely different layout, but many types of stores will be the same. 

Each area has a die type associated with it. Those are the number of random zombies or other opponents in that area. For GMs not certain of the type of opponent, roll 1d6. On a 1-4, there are zombies. On a 5, raiders. On a 6, teenagers up to no good who may or may not be willing to fight the player characters. 

Some areas of the mall are static and do not have a random chance of occurring. Those areas are the back hallways, stair wells, elevators for patrons of the mall, food court seating area, service elevators for employees and delivery personnel, the parking lot, the parking garage, and escalators. There is also the promenade space of the mall. These areas can have their own number of opponents waiting for the player characters or present different opportunities to interact with the scenery.

Unless there is power available in the mall, the various elevators and the escalators will not function. Interior elevators will be very dark if there is no light source. Elevators have two entrances and both are accessible in a power outage. The first is a roof access. Depending on state law, these may be required to be locked shut or not. If you don’t know your state law, roll a d6. On a 1-2, it is unlocked and will open. On a 3-4, it is unlocked, but will not open without a struggle. Maybe the door is rusted shut or perhaps there is a dead body laying on top of it. One a 5-6, the hatch is locked shut from the outside and either a key or bolt cutter is needed to open the hatch. 

The second entrance is the door. In the event of a power outage, there are ways to open the door. The first is the use of the fireman’s call box. Using this requires a special key that is not likely to be found near the elevator. The other is a small pen-sized hole providing access to a release lever. If tripped, this lever unlocks the doors. The doors do not open on their own and the player characters will need to push them open. 

The back hallways of the mall connect to the various stores. They may also connect to the patron bathroom areas, mall offices, security office

Before you scold me for one of the sections with 14 locations, you can buy 14 sided dice and you can type roll 1d14 into your Google search bar and it will provide a result.

Random Items in the Concourse
1. Planter
2. Bench or Seating Area
3. Trash Can
4. Empty Kiosk
5. Dead Body
6. Fountain

Mall Directory

Department-Anchor Stores
d20

1) Low End Department Store
2) Mid-Tier Department Store
3) High End Department Store
4) Sporting Goods

Roll 1d6, on a result of 1 or 2, the anchor store connects to a parking garage.

Clothing
d6 

1) Women’s General Clothing 1
2) Women’s General Clothing 2
3) Women’s General Clothing 3
4) Women’s Business Clothing 1
5) Women’s Business Clothing 2
6) Young Women’s Clothing 1
7) Young Women’s Clothing 2
8) Teen Girls Clothing 1
9) Teen Girls Clothing 2
10) Men’s General Clothing 1
11) Men’s General Clothing 2
12) Young Men’s Clothing 1
13) Young Men’s Clothing 2
14) Men’s Business Clothing
15) Little Kids Clothing
16) Blue Jeans
17) Alternative
18) T-Shirts
19) Underwear / Lingerie
20) Pop Culture

Clothing Accessories
d6

1) Tennis Shoes 1
2) Tennis Shoes 2
3) Dress Shoes
4) Women’s Dress Shoes
5) Kid Shoes
6) Hats
7) General Jewelry Store 1
8) General Jewelry Store 2
9) General Jewelry Store 3
10) Watches
11) Purses and handbags
12) Young kid jewelry and ear piercings

Electronics and Entertainment
d4

1) Movie Theatre
2) Comedy Club
3) Book Store 1
4) Book Store 2
5) Music Store
6) Electronic Media
7) Cell Phone Cases
8) Comics
9) Toys
10) Video Games
11) Make-a-Toy
12) Pop Culture
13) Cell Phone Repair
14) Board Games

Food Court
d4

1) Sushi
2) Chinese
3) Cold Sub Sandwiches
4) Hot Sandwiches
5) Chicken
6) Candy
7) Italian
8) Gyros and Falafel
9) Fast food burgers
10) Shakes
11) Pretzels
12) Cookies
13) Snacks
14) Coffee

Other
d8

1) Arcade
2) Carousel
3) Conference Center
4) Cosmetics
5) Halloween Store
6) Hair Salon
7) Pets
8) Pharmacy
9) Rest / Seating area
10) Sporting Goods, smaller than the anchor store
11) Tobacco / CBD
12) Vitamins

Mall Management
d4

1) Mall Offices
2) Security Offices
3) Bathrooms

Restaurants
d10

1) Steak
2) Sushi
3) Burgers
4) Italian
5) Mexican
6) Large franchise with too many food choices

Coyote and Crow rpg

www.coyoteandcrow.net

tl/dr at the end

The game was written and produced by people indiginous to the Americas. That right there is why I backed the book on KS. 

The game System is a dice pool system using d12s. It's like WoD on crack. There are some nice nuances to it, but nothing you wouldn't see in many modern rpgs. 

The science of the setting is 10 minutes into the future, maybe 20 minutes. There are cyberpunk elements like robotic hands.

The setting itself is, "What if white man never showed up in the Americas, because of some sort of global event?"

Now let's discuss what the book needs: a product developer, an editor, and a smaller font size.

I don't know what the deal is with using large fonts in rpgs, but I am not a fan. Yes, it's an aesthitic thing, but my preference is for smaller, cleaner fonts.

The book lacks the focus an individual developer, or even a duo. Everyone is having their say and quite often, that "say" is repeated throughout the book an inordinate number of times. Everytime technology is mentioned, they remind us that many things in the world are created on their version of 3d printers. I don't need this mentioned every single time. Work it into flavor the text once per chapter at most and then go whole hog in the Equipment or History chapter. 

The authors of the book spend a good amount of time telling the reader how horrible our world is. I mean, they aren't wrong, but I would say it is mentioned on average once per four pages.

They spend a lot time reminding the reader how much different the game's world is to ours, but that it is exactly the same. There is no form of currency, but there is. They aren't going to provide in-depth background on the monetary/trade system, but do so for several pages. 

The authors make sure they tell non-indigenous what they are not allowed to do in game at every opportunity. "Hey indigenous people, work in your people's culture here. White folk, don't do anything related to indigenous people. Insert some white folk stuff that isn't too racist and use that." This occurs often enough, that I am reminded I am a racist, horrible person and I helped enslave/destroy/continue to destroy indigenous culture. 

Newsflash! I'm third generation born in the USA. My people came here because the same people that ruined the Americas were also ruining Europe and they were looking for a better place to live. To the best of my knowledge, they did not do anything to harm the indigenous people of the Americas (including those in Canada and the USA). My grandmother's sister would answer "human" when asked about her race. I'm sure there is/was racism in my family. I know I've made mistakes in my past. An rpg is not the place I want to hash out my personal and familial issues.

I understand that indigenous people were proper fucked by non-indigenous people and that current laws are still fucking them over. However, the people responsible for that are highly unlikely, in my opinion, to buy this book. I guess they might, but why? Also, take their money and use it to fight them. 

Apparently, I'm not the only one with this opinion, because the company's website has an article on allowing white people to play the game. The producers are quite tired of how white people are reacting to the book. It looks like not only are the standard white people an issue, but so are the woke white people, as well. Look, more double speak.

I didn't expect this book to teach me about indigenous cultures. I have books on that. I expected this book to teach me about the cultures in this setting. I didn't get that. Instead, I got "no white man stuff" and "work in your own culture's material". Again, a lack of focus to provide me a solid place to build from. 

tl/dr: I didn't care for the book and I'll sell it to you for $60 with media mail shipping. Or you can get just the .pdf from a white man website for $25.

Locations: The 'Burbs

 The Burbs

The following are cities and towns are designed as backgrounds to your ongoing campaign. 

Location: Rivertown

Theme: Facing Evil

Population: 55,000

People

1. Sheriff Lucas Coal: power hungry, Infernal of some sort, sees himself as an Old West sheriff who is the town and the town is him; signed a contract with Evil that gives him control of the town as long as he fullfils his part of the bargain and Evil tests him at every turn. He sees himself as saving the town from certain doom

2. Samira Amani: young, Persian, develops an accent when angered or overly excited, opposes Sheriff Coal every chance she gets, active in the community

3. Dr. Burgandy

Places

1. Grand River shoreline, forestry, and park

2. Downtown shopping area: antique stores, local artists, restaurants

3. New development community in an old part of town

Things

1. Something in the antique shop

2. Something buried in the old Indian burial mound in the Grand River County Park

3. Contents of Dr. Burgundy’s safe: Sheriff Coal’s contract, millions of dollars, or something more nefarious???

Conflicts

1. Critters that live along the river and in the forestry of the area hunting visitors and occassionally locals, if they have no choice

2. Sheriff Coal versus Samira

3. Sheriff Coal versus the Evil with whom he signed the contract

Location: Lanark

Theme: Death and Rebirth 

Population: 35,000

People

1. The Council: members include a relative of Miss Campbell, a Warlock who desires control of the Campbell farm, and others 

2. Morganne Campbell: leader of the current witch coven in the town

3. Malcolm Booth: Director of the Easter Village, cousin to the director of the local hospital (a sorry, one story affair)

Places

1. Campbell family farm: said to be home to witches in years past, includes where the two rivers come together which is a place of power

2. Highland Marsh Trail: raised boardwalk through an inland marsh, named for the nearby (uphill) Highland Cemetary, along the eastern river and somewhat north of the city

3. Easter Village: retirement community of good quality, along the western river

Things

1. Shambling Mound (Night Companion) in the Highland Marsh

2. The number of deaths in town is equal to the number of births in the hospital, many employees at Easter Village are related to those in the Lanark Hospital

3. New Moon Whirlpool: whirlpool forms where the rivers meet on the new moon

Conflicts

1. Evil warlocks versus good witches

2. Shambling Mound eating visitors to the march

3. Booth is sending old people to die as sacrifices on the Campbell farm

Location: Fogwarren

Theme: Mystery

Population: 62,000

People

1. Mystical Martial Artist

2. Werecreature

3. Monster hunter

Places

1. Dojo

2. Fogwarren Pizza Palace: featured on several food travel shows

3. State Park

Things

1. Blade of Jowangshin is on display at the dogo: it is a blade that will “flame on” if placed in a lit hearth

2. Daedalan Cube (Night Companion)

3. Satanic circle of stones in the state park

Conflicts

1. Werecreature is guarding the Daedalan Cube (in the pizza palace?)

2. Monster hunter is hunting creatures from the state park

3. People randomly die if caught out in the fog

Location: Haven

Themes: Power & Corruption, Man vs. Society, Justice

Population: 120,000

People

1. Head of a gang

2. Street doc

3. Corrupt police officer (psychic gunslinger?)

Places

1. Warehouse

2. Nightclub

3. Casino

Things

1. Film / Video proving something for the players

2. Lucky casino chip

3. Cursed weapon

Conflicts

1. Gang on gang violence (or mobsters on mobsters)

2. Corrupt police doing / allowing bad things to happen

3. Politicians trying to push around innocent people

Location: Beaver City, a quaint upper midwest town

Themes: Survival, Power & Corruption, Hubris

Population: 46,000

People

1. Scientist trying to get away from an evil corporation

2. Spirit Rider 

3. Retired actress

Places

1. Native American reservation

2. Large agricultural university

3. Closed military base

Things

1. Native American statue in the middle of town

2. Locked gate under an old building, but near train tracks; no one knows where it goes and there is no way to find it from inside the old building

3. Toxic waste in the local water

Conflicts

1. Spririt Rider protecting the land from the evil corporation

2. Evil corporation’s control of the town

3. Animals encroaching into human living areas: bears, coyotes, buffalo, etc.

Copyright 2021 Derek Stoelting

Night Shift: Veterans of the Supernatural Wars copyright 2021 Elf Lair Games, LLC and Jason Vey

The Abyss Group: Enemy Faction

The Abyss Group: Enemy Faction

The Abyss Group is a collection of vigilantes who believe it is their right to kill the supernatural and anyone they deem “evil.” 

The group started as individuals hunting down specific supernatural creatures for revenge. However, they each continued to hunt and kill monsters after completing their initial goals. As they continued on their individual journeys, they eventually met each other and formed a collective. They still operate more like a group of individuals than a team, but they all realize the importance of working together when hunting a foe.

The Abyss Group are not good people. At best, one might consider them anti-heroes, since they fight supernatural creatures and have tragic backgrounds. They are driven by emotions related to anger, hate, and revenge. Their goal is to put a stop to the supernatural creatures in the world and they are willing to use innocents as bait to achieve that goal.     

The Abyss Group takes its time investigating potential targets. They know they are only human and the supernatural creatures they are hunting are far from it. They follow, they stake out, they do their research, and when it is time for a showdown, they do everything they can to exploit their opponents’ weaknesses. 

No tactic is too cruel, no technique is off limits for this group of vigilantes. They have burnt down buildings, exploded gas mains, and flooded cellars to achieve their goals. Their planned attacks use a high amount of lethality to ensure a successful mission. While they do their best to not harm innocents, anyone in the wrong place at the wrong time has a higher than average chance of dying. 

The group survives by taking everything they can use from their targets: money, weapons, food, and even shelter by living in their victims’ homes.

Members

Darren Overmeyer knew his fiance was cheating on him with his best friend, Andrew. One night when Darren was supposed to be at work, he drove by Andrew’s apartment to see if she was there. She was and Darren decided to wait outside the friend's apartment to confront her. 

As Sarah left the apartment, Andrew walked her to the car. A long kiss goodnight drove Darren over the edge. He exited his car, retrieved a replica sword from the trunk, and rushed up on the couple. Sarah heard him and screamed. Andrew turned around just as Darren swung his cheap replica sword. Andrew threw his arms up to protect himself from the sword. The force of the blow knocked Andrew to the ground. As Darren prepared to take another swing at Andrew, Sarah screamed for him to stop. Darren flicked his sword in Sarah’s direction in an attempt to force her back. Instead, the sword slipped from his hand and penetrated one of Sarah’s carotid arteries. 

Darren stood in shock as his fiance began to bleed out in front of him. Andrew yelled for Darren to help him try to save Sarah. Darren, however, was in shock. He realized what he had done. He knew she would not survive. Darren chose to save himself and ran. 

He drove home as quickly as he could manage. He packed everything he could not live without into two backpacks and left town. He eventually ditched the car in a very bad neighborhood of the City.  

The following night, Sarah visited Darren in his dreams. The night after, she began to haunt him. He read everything he could find on ghosts. He networked with ghost hunters. He eventually met Casey Nottingham, a theosophist and learned there may not be an answer for how to drive away the ghost. However, Ryan did introduce him to the rest of the supernatural world. A world that Darren would pillage in his attempt to discover the knowledge needed to rid himself of Sarah’s ghost. He has yet to banish her from the mortal realm. 

Darren is of the opinion that all supernatural creatures are evil and should be destroyed. Since forming the Abyss Group with the others, he has learned how to use firearms and fight with real swords. He should be used as a 10-15 level Survivor. His preferred weapons are heavy caliber pistols, shotguns, and real swords, but is proficient in all civilian firearms. 

Image: approximately 28 years old, stocky male, wire rimmed glasses with small, round lenses, blonde hair, moustache and goatee, blue eyes, 5’10” and 190 pounds, black pants, military boots, and black, long sleeve  shirts. At the time of the death of his fiance, he had long hair in a pony tail and no facial hair. 

Casey Nottingham is mentally not well. He was on several antidepressants before his wife and kid left him. This began a long slide to desperation and degeneration. He immediately switched his prescribed medications to illicit drugs and alcohol. He became violent when out drinking. He lost his driver’s license when he drove his truck into a pond while driving under the influence. He beat to death several drug dealers who were, according to him, “charging too much” for their product. 

It didn’t take long for him to lose his job. His drug use, bad behavior, and finally, fighting on the job helped promote him to customer. He would return to the chemical plant to exact revenge on his employers after closing. He beat and placed two of his superiors in vats of acid. While doing so, a splash of sulfuric acid hit him in the face. He now wears clothing and masks to cover the disfigured half of his face.

Soon after he received the scarring, he began to see dead people. He cranked up his drug use to try and shut them out. When that didn’t work, he changed drugs. When that didn’t work, he tried using drugs to gain a better understanding of his newfound necromantic ability. He eventually reached out to other necromancers and dark warlocks he found online and through bookstores. He learned more about his abilities, himself, and how to grow his power. 

Casey rose in power and fame quickly. He embraced his new life as a Theosophist, or as he prefers to be called, a necromancer. He killed several of the people he trained under in an effort to gain their power, control their souls, or because they owned something he wanted. Along the way, he met Peter Nixon and Darren Overmeyer. They helped him focus his learning on hunting evil creatures for power and artifacts, more so than evil people. When not using his powers to kill, his preferred weapons are a heavy pistol and a dagger with a wavy blade. He knows it is a stereotype and he leans into it.

Casey should be used as a 12-15 level Theosophist. 

Casey’s wife has since divorced him and the legal system has removed all parental rights from him. 

Image: approximately 32 years old, long, blue hair, no facial hair, many body piercings, 6’2” and 160 pounds, black or blue jeans, black high-top shoes, black metal band t-shirts, and aviator sunglasses. 

Peter Nixon’s parents died in a car accident when he was a baby. His paternal grandparents took him and tried to raise them as their own. Before the boy turned three, his grandparents died in an airplane crash. This brought the young man to his maternal grandmother. 

Mamaw Amthor’s husband had died years prior and she lived off his meager pension and governmental aid. While the state did provide her with additional benefits for taking the boy in, their life together was not one of luxury. The electricity was not always on and the water was not always hot. However, they got by and Peter knew no better until he started school. He quickly learned about money and social cliques, being poor and having very few friends.

When Peter started puberty, he also started developing psychic powers. Unbeknownst to Peter, Mamaw Amthor was a psychic, as was her daughter, Peter’s mother. Mamaw was not a strong psychic, but she knew enough to recognize the signs as Peter developed. By his senior year of high school, Peter was a functioning empath and had started down the path of an esper.

Peter moved to the City to attend a liberal arts college with high hopes of earning a teaching degree. He met other psychics at the college, including the woman he would later marry, Dawn Carlyle. His new friends and acquaintances introduced him to more of the supernatural world. He danced at clubs that catered to creatures of the night and made friends with Sages and Theosophists. 

Peter and Dawn volunteered at a soup kitchen near campus. It was there that he met Jacinto Garcia, a psychic gunslinger. Jacinto was living on the street, on the run from Sinaloa Cartel assassins. Peter’s easy going nature and Jacinto’s sarcastic side made the two fast friends. The two began spending time together outside of the soup kitchen, whether sharing information on their supernatural abilities, sharing a meal, or Peter and Dawn buying Jacinto new clothing. Eventually, Jacinto would move into their home. 

Jacinto’s past eventually caught up to him in the City. The assassins found him and the Nixons. They came at night, blasting their way through the home with semi-automatic rifles and grenades. The Nixons and Jacinto were caught unawares, but managed to survive the attack. All three were severely injured, but Dawn’s ability with Bio-Feedback made short work of the injuries.

Jacinto disappeared into the night. The police would have questions and he had zero interest in being deported to Mexico. The Nixons told the police that the hitmen broke into their house to try and kill Jacinto. They didn’t deny the fact that Jacinto shot and killed the assassins. Nor did they deny that they had met him via the soup kitchen and were trying to help him improve his life. They cooperated insofar as they could, without discussing the supernatural aspects of the case or the fact that they knew he was wanted by the Sinaloa Cartel. 

Six months later, Jacinto returned and asked Peter to help with a child trafficking ring that was kidnapping children who ate at the soup kitchen. Soon after, Peter and Dawn disappeared off the grid. 

The Nixons joined the rest of the Abyss Group after busting the child trafficking ring. In addition to their psychic abilities, both of the Nixons typically go armed with medium caliber pistols. After a run in with a pack of werewolves last year, Peter carries a semi-automatic shotgun in the trunk of his sedan. It is loaded with silver flechette rounds. Peter should be used as a 10-15 level Psychic and Dawn as a 8-12 level Psychic.

Dawn does not participate in their activities, but does provide healing when needed. Dawn spends most of her days picking up after the guys, cooking meals, and looking for new places to live. This isn’t the life she wants, but law enforcement officials want her just as much as they want the men. She simply sees no way out of her current life. If there is a weak link in the Abyss Group, it is her.

Image:  Peter is a stocky male with short cropped brown hair, thick glasses or contacts, green eyes, blue jeans, t-shirts, work boots with steel toes, and a beard-moustache combo that would make Dusty Hill proud. He is 5’10” and 210 pounds. Dawn goes about in simple clothes like blue jeans, t-shirts, and tennis shoes. She has short-cropped, black hair, blue eyes, and tattoos. She doesn’t care for Peter’s beard. She stands 5’3” and weighs in at 120 pounds.

Jacinto Francisco Vargas Garcia is an illegal immigrant from Ciudad Juarez. He developed his Psychic Gunslinger abilities in his late teens. At 19, he stood up to the cartel’s local henchmen, refusing to pay them insurance money for his aunt and uncle’s safety. Naturally, this didn’t sit well and Jacinto needed to learn a lesson. The cartel leader sent a posse over to rough him up. Jacinto shot and killed each member of that posse. 

The cartel leader and fifty men came looking for Jacinto. Killing the posse was an affront that could not go unpunished. Jacinto had gone into hiding and when they couldn’t find him, they visited his aunt and uncle. The couple had no idea where their nephew had gone or how he managed to kill the well-armed posse with just a single action revolver. After torturing them for several hours, the leader had them hanged and left as an example.  

Jacinto came out of hiding for revenge. He snuck into the cartel’s local complex and murdered every single person he found on the premises. The next day, he used their fake USA passports to cross the border into the United States. He took one of their cars, brought along their money, and enough bullets to last for some time. Recognizing the vehicle and his fake passport, the corrupt border guards let him into the country without so much as a glance.

Jacinto wandered north, trying to put distance between himself and the hunters he knew would be coming. By the time Jacinto reached the City, he had spent all of the money, shot most of his bullets, and was driving his fourth car since arriving in the country. He eventually found a shelter and soup kitchen. The same one where he would meet John and Dawn Nixon. The same one that brought Jonathan James into his life. 

Jacinto has made it his purpose to pick fights with bad people. Since arriving in the City, he has killed every member of the L Street Bloods, put several prostitution rings out of business, and dusted a master vampire. His bravado will eventually catch up to him. Jacinto should be used as a 10-15 level Pscychic Gunslinger.

Image: approximately 26 years old, 6’1” and 200 pounds, long, black hair pulled back in a pony-tail, black dress pants, white, wrinkled dress shirt, dress shoes, and black trench coat. 

Jonathan James’ wife was killed by a religious fanatic possessed by a djinn. The fanatic targeted a shopping mall in the suburbs where Jonathan’s wife happened to be with friends. More than 30 people, including Jonathan’s wife, were killed in the mass killing. The fanatic was stopped by an off-duty police officer who shot and killed him. 

Jonathan believes he can see the djinn leaving the body of the fanatic in close captioned tv and recorded video from cell phones. Casey Nottingham has stated he sees the soul of the fanatic leave. No one else will confirm they can see the djinn leave the body. 

Jonathan was serving as the leader of a local coven of witches and warlocks when his wife was murdered. Following her death, he took a step back from the leadership role to try and heal from his loss. Her loss proved to be too great and Jonathan turned from a path of light and helpfulness to a path of darkness and selfishness.   

Jonathan has since dedicated his life to exposing the evil side of religious fanaticism. He has ousted money launderers, exposed rapists and drug dealers, and used his spellcasting abilities to destroy those who traffick children. His work requires knowledge not only surrounding the evils of man, but also those creatures who would help man do his worst to others. His favorite targets to hunt are people within religious organizations who hurt children and the demons who benefit from the suffering.

Jonathan met Jacinto Garcia, a Psychic Gunslinger, while investigating the goings on at a soup kitchen. Jacinto was a regular at the kitchen. Teaming up with Jacinto, they were able to identify the local leaders of a child trafficking organization. The organization was kidnapping children who frequented the soup kitchen and trading them to evil creatures for power, money, and supernatural artifacts. The organization was not only active in the City, but also several other metropolitan areas across the country. They had ties to politicians, megachurches, crime syndicates, and social organizations like QANON. Clues found in cell phones and laptop computers suggest they have ties to other countries.

Realizing they would need more firepower, Jacinto brought in Peter and Dawn Nixon to assist them. Jonathan contacted Casey Nottingham for assistance, who then brought Darren Overmeyer. Their combined effort destroyed the trafficking organization, destroyed the careers of several religious leaders, and exposed child exploitation groups. They fought their way through class I and II demons, banishing several class III demons before they were done.  

Prior to this case, Jonathan had stayed out of the sight of law enforcement. He turned over the cell phones and laptops of criminals. He sent in anonymous tips. He worked through social services. He banished demons. This case revealed the true depth to which other men will go for power. He bore witness to acts unimaginable and crimes so heinous, no jail sentence would be enough punishment. He broke during this case. No actions were off the table. He baited criminals, murdered rapists, blatantly stole from the rich, and mentally justified it all. 

His fingerprints were found by the police and there is now an active warrant for his arrest. The others were already sought by the law for their crimes. When he isn’t using magic to stop his enemies, Jonathan has found he likes using a medium submachine gun with silencer (use stats for medium caliber pistol) to encourage people and creatures to change their ways. He isn’t too good with the gun and tends to use too many bullets to accomplish his goals. 

Image: approximately 30 years old, average build, 5’10” and 180 pounds, black eyes, brown hair, beard, and moustache, and wears boring clothes that help him blend in with society

Legal

The Abyss Group: Enemy Faction is copyright 2021 Derek Stoelting

Night Shift: Veterans of the Supernatural Wars is copyright Jason Vey and Elf Lair, LLC 2020 and is used without express permission.

No challenge to the copyright owners' rights is meant or implied.