Saga of the Goblin Horde: Accursed Crossover Adventures

Savage Worlds has a lot of interesting settings, far too many for me to ever reasonably play. Some people like playing one-shots, and those can certainly be fun, but they don't provide much time to explore the setting. That's one reason why I like slottable settings (such as Guild of Shadows or Drakonheim) - they can effectively be combined with other settings. Drop a slottable setting into an established fantasy world and you can explore both at once.

But there's also another option: crossover adventures. Even if two settings can't be merged, it might be feasible to link them, whether through a long journey, a magical portal, or something else. There's even an official adventure called "Shaintar Accursed: Darkest Tides" which explores this concept, serving as a crossover between the Accursed and Shaintar settings.

Where did those goblins go?

In January last year I decided to update my Savage Frost Giants fan supplement, which contains guidelines for an unofficial Witchbreed for the Accursed setting. One of the new things I added to the supplement was a small bestiary of banes, including a snow goblin, which included the following in its description: "Few snow goblins have been seen in Morden since the end of the war, leading to some speculation about where they might have gone."

That wasn't a throwaway comment. I'd already started working on Saga of the Goblin Horde by that point, and I thought the snow goblins might serve as an interesting tie-in for a future (and obviously unofficial) crossover adventure. If the snow goblins escaped through a portal into the same world as Saga of the Goblin Horde, what else might come through the portal? Is the portal still open? Can other goblins travel back through?

Earlier this week I released the Saga of the Goblin Horde Player's Guide, which provides a short overview of each of the six major tribes. The description of the Icerunner tribe states that "This tribe first appeared only a few years ago, heading down from the peaks of the Longtooth Mountains to claim its place among the major tribes. Many of the tribe members sport a rather frosty appearance, which is assumed to be a recent mutation."

The Gods and Magic chapter also mentions that "Members of the Icerunner tribe worship a mysterious progenitor figure called the Snow Oracle, and claim they are not related to other goblinoids. Some among the tribe believe this Snow Oracle abandoned them, others that she freed them to seek out their own fate, or even that she is testing their faith. But whatever the truth, priests of the Snow Oracle possess no magical abilities."

The Snow Oracle is of course the Snow Witch mentioned in Savage Frost Giants, and while the connection might be a bit subtle, the implication for anyone reading between the lines is that the snow goblins fled Morden after the war, and found a new home among the tribes.

And of course this throws the door wide open for crossover adventures!

Goblin Adventure Seeds

Here are a few adventure seeds based on the idea of a portal between Saga of the Goblin Horde and Accursed:

Foreign Food: A strange human came through the portal a few days ago, made his way down from the Longtooth Mountains, and met a sticky end at the hands of the Redfang tribe. A gang of goblins hauled the corpse home for the chieftain's lunch, and he enjoyed the exotic flavor so much that he's demanding more! Now the gangs will have to find out where the human came from, and see if they can stock up the chief's larder with tasty imported treats.

Strange Smells: A large band of stench goblins have found their way through the portal from Morden, and they have decided to claim some territory for themselves, but they don't seem to understand the customs or recognize the established borders of the tribes. And what is that strange smell?

Queen Quest: The Nightsworn tribe have learned of the portal after questioning an Icerunner gang boss, and heard tales of a "Dark Queen" who lives beyond. Could this be their Shadow Queen? They must know the truth! But they don't want to risk provoking the wrath of their divine mistress if they're wrong, so they've bribed the Redfang tribe to investigate.

Big Trouble: A large group of frost giants have come through the portal, and are now busily hunting down Icerunner goblins. The giants seem to be able to magically detect the presence of the Icerunners, which is making it very difficult for the goblins to fight back, so they've called in a favor from the Redfang tribe. Chief Bignose has sent some of his most vicious gangs to help cut these cheeky foes down to size.

Accursed Adventure Seeds

A crossover adventure could also work the other way, with the GM introducing elements from Saga of the Goblin Horde into an Accursed campaign:

Return of the Snow Goblins: Most of the snow goblins mysteriously vanished at the end of the Bane War, but now they've started returning in large numbers, raiding human settlements with renewed vigor - and this time they've brought allies. The snow goblins are frequently accompanied by green-skinned goblins, beastfolk, and other strange creatures.

Dark Gateway: The heroes discover a magical portal leading to an unknown destination (possibly even as a follow-up to one of the scenarios described in Dark Queen's Gambit). Should they enter the portal, they will find themselves in a strange new land, populated by all manner of dangerous and exotic creatures!

The Lost Protégé: The Bonedigger tribe learned the art of necromancy from the swamp hags, a coven of powerful hobgoblin witches living in Whitebone Bog. But what if the first swamp hag was the protégé of the Morrigan, sent to explore a strange new land centuries ago, before finding herself trapped? If she still lives, and learns of the portal, the people of Morden could find themselves dealing with an invading army of goblins and undead.

Summary

While Accursed and Saga of the Goblin Horde obviously have a very different tone, they are both ostensibly dark fantasy settings with non-human PCs, and could work quite well together for crossover adventures. Saga of the Goblin Horde is designed as a mini setting, and is intentionally quite light on fluff, but a GM wanting to run a goblin-centric game in a richer and more detailed world could easily run an entire campaign set partially (or even fully) in Morden.

Dark Queen's Gambit: One Sheet for Accursed

I recently had the opportunity to write a One Sheet adventure for Accursed, the dark fantasy setting by Melior Via, and today it was published on DTRPG. Although I've written a lot of Savage Worlds content over the last few years, including freelance work for five different licencees, it's only recently that I've tried my hand at adventures - first with Sanguine Solstice, then with Bone of Contention. So this is the first time I've had an adventure published.

Dark Queen's Gambit uses a similar approach to my earlier adventures (i.e., the adventure is split into scenes, each highlighting a different game mechanic). It obviously doesn't have the same puns and goblin humor as Sanguine Solstice and Bone of Contention, but if you liked the organizational style of my earlier adventures and you're a fan of Accursed, you should enjoy Dark Queen's Gambit!

The name of the adventure is a combination of "Dark Queen" (one of the witches of the Grand Coven) and "Queen's Gambit" (a classic chess move), and the plot draws inspiration from chess, the movie "Aliens", British folklore, and Greek mythology, although I won't say any more as I want to avoid spoilers. The story takes place in the Outlands, a region covered by Sean Bircher's new source book, which was one of the stretch goals from the recent Accursed: World of Morden Kickstarter.

Savage Frost Giants: Updated Witchbreed PDF

Over the last few months I've been working on my presentations skills, and I've already applied them to the creation of a One Sheet adventure. But I also plan to update my older PDFs and make them look more professional, expanding each supplement as I do so.

With the success of the recent Accursed: World of Morden Kickstarter, and the interest some backers showed in further Witchbreeds, I thought it might be a good time to update my Savage Frost Giants supplement (as it provides rules for a new Witchbreed).

You can download it here:

Savage Frost Giants

As a bonus, the updated document now contains five Banes at the end.

Note that the old version of the document is still available from here, if you're interested in comparing the two.

Accursed: World of Morden

Back in 2013 Melior Via ran their first Kickstarter for Accursed, a dark fantasy setting in which the players take on the role of monstrous antiheroes, seeking atonement by fighting back against the forces of darkness that spawned them.

Since then, several additional adventures have been released, but only one supplement (Sand and Stone) that expands on the world itself. However Melior Via's second Kickstarter attempts to remedy the situation with a set of three new PDFs covering the remaining major nations as well as the Outlands and the Discordian Sea.

So far funding has been reached for the first two PDFs, but they haven't yet reached the $9000 goal for the third supplement (Bone and Barrow). There are only a couple of days left, so if you're a fan of Accursed, or just of the genre, then now is time to jump on board.

Kickstarter project: Accursed: World of Morden

Overview

Although I'm not associated with the project, I am a backer - and as is standard with Melior Via's Kickstarter projects, the draft versions of the documents have been made available immediately to the backers. So I will give a very brief overview of what you can expect from the first two supplements.

Frost and Fang

This is the main supplement, and it focuses on the two nations of Valkenholm and Steppengrad. The majority of the text focuses on culture, geography, history and legends, although there is also some crunch - six new Edges, three new Hindrances, and eight new monsters.

Science and Sea

This smaller supplement focuses the Discordian Sea. It gives an overview of naval history, but mainly focuses on areas and dangers. There are four new Edges, two new Hindrances, four new monsters, and a load of new gear (including ships and weapons).

Accursed Witchbreeds: Dragons and Ghuls

The Accursed setting originally included six witches and their witchbreeds: Djinn (mummies), the Crone (golems), Chimera (mongrels), the Morrigan (revenants), Sanguinara "the Blood Witch" (dhampir) and Baba Yaga "the Forest Witch" (vargr). The shades and ophidians were added later, designed by two of the Kickstarter backers, but before they were announced there was quite a bit of speculation about them.

This lead me to propose three new unofficial witchbreeds of my own. One of them was the jötnar, frost giants created by the witch Skuld, which I turned into the Savage Frost Giants supplement. The other two witchbreeds never made it off the forums, so I've decided to repost my notes here where they're more likely to be found.

Lilith "the Serpent witch" (Dragons)

This proposal was designed to show how my Savage Dragons supplement might be used in Accursed.

A corruptor and temptress, Lilith spawned dragons, serpents, wyverns, hydras, and other such creatures by tainting her victims and warping their form. Her foul children served as living siege weapons during the Bane War, and although most of them accompanied her back beyond the Darkfall Peaks, some remained in Morden.

Acceptance and Defiance of the curse

Stage 1: Acceptance 

Dragons who accept their draconic taint will rapidly grow in size and strength, although this acceptance also brings out the bestial side of their nature. 

Effect: Gain an Age Edge (even if you don't meet the rank requirement; if you've got them all you can take Venerable instead). Gain Bloodthirsty (if you already have the Hindrance then you suffer an additional -4 Charisma instead); you have a strong tendancy to eat enemies and prisoners. 

Stage 2: Acceptance 

As the dragon continues to grow, so does its blind aggression. 

Effect: Gain another Age Edge, as well as the Excessive Greed Hindrance (if you already have it then apply another -2 Charisma). You now always use Wild Attack in melee combat, and rolling 1 on your Fighting die hits a random adjacent target as if you were Berserk (if you're Berserk as well, a 1-2 hits a random target). 

Final Stage: Acceptance 

When the dragon gives in completely to its primal urges, it becomes a devastating force of nature. 

Effect: Gain another Age Edge. You can never assume human form; if you already have Humanoid Form you must replace it with a dragon Edge for which you meet the requirements. If someone flees from you while you're not in combat, you must make a Spirit roll to resist chasing and killing them. If you kill someone and there are no other enemies actively attacking you, you must make a successful Spirit roll, otherwise you spend your next action eating them. 

Stage 1: Defiance 

When the dragon defies the taint, they start to feel more comfortable in their human form. 

Effect: Gain the Humanoid Form Edge (if you already have it, you instead gain +1 benny per session). You now have to make a successful Spirit roll whenever you wish to shapechange into a dragon during combat: unless you get a raise the Spirit roll consumes your entire action for the round. 

Stage 2: Defiance 

As the connection continues to weaken, so does their unnatural lust for treasure, and ease with which they can assume their draconic form. 

Effect: Lose Treasure Hoard. It now takes you even longer to shapechange; use the same rules as the vargr Bestial Form when transforming into a dragon. 

Final Stage: Defiance 

In some cases the character is able to break the connection entirely, becoming completely human. 

Effect: You can no longer shapechange into a dragon. Your Strength is reduced by one die step and you lose your Low Light Vision. If you have any Edges that only apply to your dragon form (other than the free Scourge Edge), you may exchange them for different Edges. If you have the Water Dependancy Hindrance, it should also be replaced with something more appropriate.

The Dream Witch (Ghuls)

One thing I noticed about the witchbreeds was that there were no true doppelgänger-like shapechangers, capable of impersonating different people. I thought that would make a great fit for an espionage/infiltration role, so I drew some inspiration from Yidhra for the witch:

"Yidhra (The Dream Witch or Yee-Tho-Rah) usually appears as a youthful, attractive, earthly female, though her shape may vary ... To survive in a changing environment, she gained the ability to take on the characteristics of any creature that she devoured ... Members of Yidhra's cult can gain immortality by merging with her, though they become somewhat like Yidhra as a consequence."

"One of her avatars is Madam Yi, appearing as a human female dressed in beautiful white and black robes which constantly billow on some unseen wind, on which she may hover or fly. Her beautiful face is like the painted face of a porcelain doll and her bloodred lips and closed almond-shaped black eyes are forever frozen on a smooth and bone-white face. Long black hair is braided into a single ponytail. The avatar’s hands both end in very long, razor-like black fingernails." 

For the witchbreed itself, I drew inspiration from the ghul of Arabian folklore: 

"A ghul is also a desert-dwelling, shapeshifting, evil demon that can assume the guise of an animal, especially a hyena. It lures unwary people into the desert wastes or abandoned places to slay and devour them. The creature also preys on young children, drinks blood, steals coins, and eats the dead, then taking the form of the person most recently eaten." 

Curse Game Mechanics 

Ghuls are the creations of the Dream Witch, they gain the following racial package: 

• Sharp Nails (+1): Ghuls have long black razor-sharp fingernails that inflict Str+d6 damage. 

• Low Light Vision (+1): The eyes of a Ghul gleam in the dark like those of a cat, allowing them to ignore the penalties for Dim and Dark lighting. 

• Face of the Dead (+2): After consuming a relatively fresh human corpse and making a successful Spirit roll, the Ghul can take on the form the corpse had in life. It usually requires about half an hour to consume a corpse (although the Ghul can reduce the time by 10 minutes on a successful Vigor roll, or 20 minutes on a raise), and the new form can be maintained for a number of days equal to the Ghul's Spirit. Observers can make a Notice roll at -4 to detect that something is wrong, or -2 if they're familiar with the original person. 

• Disturbing Diet (-2): The metabolism of a Ghul can only digest blood, bones and raw flesh. Although they devour relatively fresh corpses for the purposes of shapeshifting, they far prefer the taste of decomposing flesh. This gives them -4 Charisma when dealing with those who are aware of their diet, and can have significant consequences if they're caught graverobbing, or a human limb falls out of their backpack while they're in civilised company, etc. 

They also have the following racial Edges:

Dark Dreams 

Requirements: Novice, Ghul 

  As a gift from the Dreaming Witch, some Ghuls have dark and disturbing dreams which can grant them foreknowledge of events yet to come. They gain the same benefits as the Visions Edge. 

Hyena Form 

Requirements: Novice, Ghul 

  Many Ghuls are able to shapechange into the form of a hyena (use the same stats as a dog). This works like the Shape Change power, with Spirit as the arcane skill die. A roll of 1 on the Spirit die causes an automatic level of Fatigue, while a critical failure also causes a wound. Hyena Form doesn't use or require Power Points, but does follow the usual rules for Maintaining Powers and Disruption. 

Poisonous claws 

Requirements: Seasoned, Ghul 

  The claws of some Ghuls can cause paralysis. A victim who is Shaken or wounded must make a Vigor roll or become paralysed, at which point they fall prone and miss their next turn completely. After that they remain paralysed until they next draw a card of the hearts suit for initiative, at which point they can act normally. They cannot roll to recover from Shaken until the paralysis ends. 

Improved Poisonous claws 

Requirements: Veteran, Ghul, Poisonous claws 

  The poison has become even more potent. Vigor rolls to resist paralysis are now made at -2.