DRYH: The Raven King

The Raven King is an alternative pre-industrial imagining of the Mad City for the Don't Rest Your Head RPG (Fred Hicks/Evil Hat). This is the Mad City that was before the Mad City that is. Or one of them, anyway. For those familiar with the Mad City that is, some of the Nightmares and Quarters of the city will be recognizable for what they will one day become, but younger, less refined versions of themselves. Some will feel utterly alien, Nightmares at the height of their power, Quarters as solid as bulwarks in the Mad City that was - but no longer known powers or places in the Mad City that is.

HOUSE RULES

Below are some supplemental rules that I use when running DRYH games in the Raven King setting. Otherwise refer to the rules as written in the DRYH core book.

Beacon [pp 2]

When a sleeper Awakens his presence is felt and known by the major Nightmares of the Mad city. They become aware of the Awake. This is somewhat more specifically defined in the Raven King setting. Boss Nightmares can sense an Awake from anywhere within the Mad City (even if the Awake is in the City Slumbering). Lieutenants can typically sense the Awake within their own Quarter of the Mad City, and Minions can sense them only when actually confronting the Awake.

The Call - Some minions in the Raven King setting can be briefly manipulated as outlined in their description and the Awake are able to call local minions to them by 'flashing' their beacon within the Mad City. This will summon the nearest minion type to the Awake's location. If multiple minions are clustered together, they all come calling. The Awakened must defeat the Minion(s) to make use of them (as per their description). Pain is low for minions as a general rule, but should Pain dominate the Awake's Beacon flares to the heavens, alerting every Nightmare in that Quarter to their exact location.

Helping [pp 24-25]

Discipline Cap - The rules-as-written allow any character to lend their 3 discipline dice to the main protagonist's roll, affecting the total number of successes but not the strength of the roll. In the Raven King setting, the total number of donated discipline dice cannot exceed the the combined number of Exhaustion and Madness dice in the main protagonist's pool for that roll (the main protagonist's discipline dice are not counted against this comparison, only donated dice). So if the main protagonist has two exhaustion dice in his pool and three madness dice the most discipline dice he is able to make use of from other players would be five. Individual characters are still limited by their total number of discipline dice as to what they can individually contribute.

As per the rules-as-written, anyone who helps is subject to the consequences if Pain, Madness, or Discipline dominate.

Coins of Despair - When Pain dominates, the GM gains a Coin of Despair for each protagonist participating in the action. [Note: This hack is primarily in place to escalate the coin currency and ensure the players end up with enough Coins of Hope to keep their characters from prematurely teetering over the edge].

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NIGHTMARES BY QUARTER

In the time of the Raven King, the Mad City is divided into Quarters, and each Quarter is Ruled by a major Nightmare and its various lieutenants and minions. The following section describes each region and details those who might be encountered there, their Pain ratings, and any special talents they might have.

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The Black Keep

The Keep and the 12 Hours of Night

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The Raven King - Pain 12

The Raven King confines himself to no Quarter. The whole of the Mad City is his domain, and he rules it with a ruthless passivity that is unfathomable. At a distance, the Raven King is seen as the silhouette of a tall, gaunt man swathed in robes of blackness and starlight, and from the vast cowl of his vestiments the silhouette of a great black beak can be seen jutting forth. Until he approaches or allows himself to be approached, at which point the great black beak will pull away, revealing itself to be the dripping blade of a great scythe in scarred bone hands, his revealed face a bare human skull, bleached white within the black robes, with venomous green flames flickering in the empty eye sockets.

Only from his throne in the Black Keep does he wear his full Raven visage where all can see. The gaunt fingers that clutch the arms of that throne are covered in black feathers and end in vicious black talons.

The Raven King only rarely approaches or allows the approach of the Awakened, and he never speaks with them directly. It is said his very voice is death to mortal ears [Pain 15]. Instead he watches from afar, interacting only through his lieutenants and minions. If pressed, the Raven King can open portals anywhere within the Mad City that open at any other location(s) he chooses within the Mad City [Pain 15 to force a creature into the portal unwilling].

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The Raven King's Court

The following Nightmares answer to the Raven King directly and faithfully. If the Raven King is holding Court within the Quarter of the Black Keep, they will typically all be present, but otherwise might be found anywhere within the Mad City unless their description indicates otehrwise. When Pain shows 2 numbers for one of the court, the first number is for when they are encountered at large in other Quarters of the Mad City, and the second number is for when they are encountered within the Black Keep itself.

The Fool - Pain 5/7

The Fool is a thin androgynous figure in black and white motley and an oval mask, half black, half white with only a bare rectangular slit for each eye and the mouth. Like many of the Raven King's court the Fool does not speak, but can communicate quite fluidly through pantomime. In certain light, with certain movements, the observer would swear the Fool to be a lean young man under that mask, while in other light with certain other movements, the observer would be equally certain the mask hides a slim young girl.

The Fool is the Raven King's primary means of communicating directly with the Awake when he wishes, though the Fool will often set forth on its own agenda.

While at the Black Keep the Fool is often seen juggling fire, dancing, tumbling, performing pratfalls, and otherwise amusing the court, but by all accounts the Fool is the Raven King's chief adviser.

The Castellan - Pain 4

The Castellan never leaves the Black Keep, so only has one pain rating, but he only rarely faces anyone on his own, able to call Doorkeepers to his side with but a word. The Castellan is responsible for the Black Keep itself, its running, its defense, its upkeep, and the needs of its Lord and its Guests.

The Castellan himself appears as a stocky man in a smart black uniform of military cut, practical and severe. His face is swarthy and dark. So is his other face. And the third one too. Each face is strong and severe and set side by side in a triangle around his head. He has no beards, nor hair, nor ears, though he seems able to hear just fine.

He controls access to the rooms and corridors of the Black Keep absolutely.

Unlike most of the rest of the Court, the Castellan speaks just fine. Deferentially to his betters and special Guests. Barked orders to most others.

The Doorkeepers - Pain 5

Like the Castellan, the doorkeepers never leave the keep and they always appear in pairs (Pain 5 is for the pair of them) and if defeated will vanish in pairs. Guests of the Keep will typically see only two Doorkeepers at any given time, standing one on each side of the nearest door, in black chain mail and tabard, bearing a black pike with a sharp, curved blade at its tip. Each Guest will perceive each Doorkeeper's face as identical to their own. Long observation will show that the Doorkeepers never move away from their doors. They do not traverse hallways or move into the rooms they guard. They can, however, use any doorway as a portal to any other doorway within the Black Keep.

Only when attacked by a Guest or summoned by the Castellan do they move into a room or hallway to fight. Otherwise, their only function seems to be to stand aflank their particular doorway or in front of it, pikes crossed, barring entry.

Doorkeepers never speak.

The Willow Women - Pain 1

The Willow Women also answer to the Castellan. They are the maids, cooks, and servants of the Black Keep. Lithe and flexible and tall, the Willow Women are fair skinned with extremely long limbs and hands and feet and toes and fingers and their hair drops down all about them in a curtain of fine pale braids, like the hanging branches of the willow tree, hiding their faces and most of their form. The Willow Women will not willingly move aside their braids and look directly on a Guest of the Black Keep and tend to keep their heads down and their faces hidden, but if a guest were to part those pale braids, stark black eyes with no color or whites would stare back. Anyone caught in that naked gaze faces Pain 6 in a confrontation that cannot be avoided. In this special encounter all 6s rolled for Pain count towards Madness instead when determining dominance.

Not only do the Willow Women never speak, they have no mouths to do so.

Special: The Willow Women cannot be 'called' unless they are already outside the Black Keep. But when they are successfully called and defeated they (each) add one madness die to the character's next roll. This die does not count against the total madness dice allowed and does not add to the strength of the roll in any way. The Willow Women die when the roll is made.

Note: Even if other characters help defeat the Willow Women, only the main protagonist in that confrontation gets the extra die.

The Chainforger - Pain 8

Rarely seen, the Chainforger seems to double as the Black Keep's Gaoler and Armorer. Fleshless, the Chainforger is made entirely of intermeshed and interlocking plates and chains of blackest iron. Human in shape, the Chainforger is faceless, but eyes of every shape and color wink from within every link of chain in and on his body.

Guests who catch a glimpse of the Chainforger are probably already bound for his special care.

Legend has it that if one were to peel back the great iron plate over his heart a pair of Raven eyes would stare back.

Though the Chainforger shares the Court's general moratorium against speech, when he wishes to communicate, he can make his voice heard in anyone's mind like rust being scraped off of old iron. Pain 2 to communicate in this fashion. It cannot be blocked out.

The Eyeless

The Eyeless Occupy the cells beneath the Black Keep. They are denizens of the Mad City, rather than actual Nightmares, and so have no Pain rating, but in their own ways can cause trouble if they think it will inch them closer to freedom. As their name implies, these men and women have no eyes, but sallow amber flames flicker in their empty eye sockets.

The Huntsman - Pain 5/3

The Huntsman is the one member of the Raven King's Court who is considerably more powerful outside the keep than he is within. Inside the Black Keep, the Huntsman is little more than a glorified kennel master. But out in the Quarters he Hunts with the Raven King's own authority.

Clad in tough fighting leathers and loose cowl, the scent of old blood clings to the Huntsman. His face jutting from the cowl is the bare white skull of a great wolf with an eerie blue flame dancing in the empty sockets - a flame that drifts closer to red as the Huntsman closes with his prey.

Despite his appearance, the Huntsman can and does speak, though usually only to his Hounds.

The Huntsman only hunts on the order of the Raven King, sending his Death Hounds out ahead of him, but keeping two at his flanks at all times outside the Keep.

Minion level Nightmares, except his Death Hounds, will avoid the Huntsman, fleeing from his presence. Lieutenant level Nightmares outside the Raven King's court will viciously and immediately attack him on sight. When being attacked by other Nightmares, the Huntsman's Pain increases by 2 + 1 for each additional Nightmare beyond the first to a maximum Pain rating of 12. If a Boss level Nightmare attacks the Huntsman, he will blow his Horn to summon the Raven King.

The Huntsman's Horn

The Huntsman bears a great hollow ram's horn which he can blow to summon the Raven King. He will only do so under conditions set by the Raven King.

Death Hounds - Pain 2

Large and lanky dogs, pale and furless with bare skulls for heads, the Death Hounds are usually found hunting at the Huntsman's behest, running ahead of him to bring his prey to ground or at his flanks as guardians. Like the Huntsman, their eye sockets glow a cold blue until they near their intended prey, then they begin to glow violet, and ultimately crimson as they get closer. Like the Huntsman, the scent of old blood clings to them.

When in sight of their prey the Death Hounds will howl - Pain 5 - which has the effect of triggering the Beacon of their prey to flare if not successfully resisted. It also summons the Huntsman.

Death Hounds don't always hunt with or for the Huntsman, however. Packs of them can be found roaming the quarters, their eye sockets empty of light, though the smell of old blood still clings to them.

Special: Feral Death Hounds (those not of the Huntsman's pack) can be 'called' and if defeated can be sent to interfere with the Huntsman's Hounds actively out on the hunt.

The Headsman - Pain 6

The Headsman is the Raven King's Executioner. When fulfilling his office add 2 to his Pain rating.

Clad in black with a great halberd, the Headsman towers over the tallest men. And has no head of his own. This doesn't seem to keep him from hearing or seeing just fine, but like many of the Raven King's Court, he does not speak.

The Headsman is almost exclusively encountered at the Raven King's shoulder awaiting an order of execution.

Inklings

Hands in the dark . . .

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The Black Cathedral

The Cathedral and the 13th hour

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The Spires

The Nightling Gale

Brutal Black Wind

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The Catacombs

The Guardian

minotaur