Goon Deeps of Sargolis

Overview

The Goon Deeps of Sargolis are a rule/setting combo focused on a procedurally generated catacomb haunted by undead and evil cultists.

In our current game the players are thenorm42 and tibbius. We conquered the Deeps, killed/released the arch lich boss, found and spoke with his vampire ex-wife (the "God Queen" Ostienne), looted the throne room, and started exploring the ruined city above the catacomb. Our base camp was partially looted, and Jhula summoned a construct to track down some of the stolen goods. We got into an altercation with a sorcerer who purchased one of our stolen spellbooks and whose front door the colossus broke, made peace, Jhula swapped spells with him, we tracked down the original thieves and punished them. We headed out on the southward road to Saray's indebted demesne, but took a detour to the city Naltis/Nalastis to get more information about how her cousin took over the place and also to gather alchemic ingredients for a potion to free Jhula's boss of his addiction. Now we've entered another labyrinth of twisty passages and ominous rooms, in search of an elder vampire whom we will cajole or threaten into helping us.

In the Vault at Loom Street

Jhula's Sack 2 (containing
a. Book #5. shimmering iridescent fish-scale binding. Serene Mysteries of the Unperceiving Psyche
d. Book #4. tattered green cloth cover, rebound. Enwiddle's Blossoming Cone
c. Book #12. weirdly trifolded parchment pamphlet. Send a Bolt of Tar Afar
)

stakes a silver dagger a sharpened gravedigger's spade box of matches box of matches earthenware jars

Current characters

Jhula: rogueish jack of all trades

Stats: Brute 1, Skulker 2, Erudite 2, Health 11 of 11, Breath 10
Gear: 1. Throwing knives; 2. Vicious, jagged shortsword; droppable 3. Sack 1 (containing a. Lantern; b. Lockpicks; c. Book #7. brown leather with red-inked lettering. Potent Wine of Enervation, d. Book #6. black burlap. The Soul and Other Deceptions, e. Healing potion ), 4. Leather armour, 5. Pillowcase sack (a. containing quantity of Master Sanger's remains in a silver tureen, b. quicksilver, c. smokeweed)'
5 out of 5 fresh Breath.
Combat bonus: +3. Throwing bonus: +3.
Jhula has briefly reviewed numerous books of power.
She's got in her mind
1. The Book of Bones and Flowers
2. cast-iron hinged cover with embossed man-figure. Pursuing Colossus
10. Silent Song of Choking Flowers.
Jhula grew up on the streets of Antali, a city on the coast over a hundred miles from Sargolis. Orphaned young by the last war, she fell in with the local Legitimate Businessperson's Mutually Agreeable Cooperative (a brutally run thieves' guild and crime syndicate also known as the Mackers). She graduated from petty larceny to head-cracking and enforcement, then finally organisation, strategy and problem-solving. She's one of the lieutenants of the First of the Mackers, who is gradually dying from the effects of the spices he's addicted to.
She has been sent to Sargolis in search of anything that might hold back the reaper, whether ancient healing alchemy or blasphemous necromantic tome. Privately, she's happy to be on the road and away from the pressures of her work.
Looking at Ricky's vacant bedroll, she felt guilt, something she hadn't felt in a long time. She resolved to see if she could put another team together in Sargolis and retrieve his body, perhaps even complete their mission?
After much danger, Jhula and her companions Saray and Munson found Ricky hanging up over a grim altar. They got him down, and he rejoined their group as a revenant seeking revenge on the archlich of the Deeps. Eventually that was achieved, and Ricky passed. Jhula, saray, and Munson then found Ostienne, the vampire God Queen of Sargolis, in a gravity-inverted boudoir atop a tower over the Deeps. They parlayed with her, and departed.
Jhula left the Deeps with some books of power, some of which she studied. Others were stolen from their camp. She summoned a Pursuing Colossus to retrieve her stolen property, and it led the group to a sorcerer's townhouse where they encountered the Song of Choking Flowers. Jhula entreated the sorcerer to return her books, and became acquainted. With the sorcerer's good will, the group tracked down the original thieves and punished them.
After settling matters in Sargolis, Saray became the motivator (if not the leader) of the group.

Saray: indebted lady knight

Stats: 9 of 9 Health, 9 Breath, 3 Brute, 1 Skulker.
Gear: 1. backpack(a. Torch, b. gold, c. 2x rope, d. gold, e. gold), 2. mace, 3. shield, 4. Sharpened gravedigger's spade ),

5 out of 5 Fresh Breath.
Combat bonus: +4 with torch, +5 with shield.
Saray is a knight of moderate age, skilled in battle and accustomed to comfort. She's the Lady of House Rannier, an estate south of Sargolis on the northern frontier of the southern city states. Recently rents have been short and her comfortable life (plus a gambling problem) has brought debt. She had planned to plunder the Deeps to get funds to get the lenders off her. Munson looked like a potential patsy, someone she could use and drop ... but she wanted a third to round out a crew. She had heard the Deeps were deadly.

Now after plundering the Deeps under Jhula's leadership, Saray has returned to Naltis with her new crew to learn that her cousin has overtaken her indebted estates.

Entering the city of Naltis in search of more information, and ingredients for Jhula's potion to cure her master's addiction, Saray get the troupe entangled with a coterie of vampires who want them to kill an elder vampire. After depositing some of the group's treasure into Saray's family vault, the group enters a catacomb through a floating blue portal, and wanders about for a while before eventually stumbling upon the Bloodless ("Master Sanger"), killing him, and discovering the unusually large young girl he has been guarding under Vivostasis for the past ninety years.

It turns out the girl is the lost heiress of the royal line, and the Harsh Lady (who took over ruling in Naltis ninety years back) probably would like her to disappear.

Latho

Hireling - stuff-bearer - carrying:

1. Sack (books from Naltis #9-#12) 2. Pillowcase sack (Book from Naltis #6-#8) 3. Sack (Book from Naltis #1-#4) 4. Sack (silver dagger x3, pamphlet #12, book from Naltis #5) 5. Sack (week's rations) 6. Sack (a. Book #8. faded red-pink cloth with oily stains. It's another copy of The Transcendent Beam of Loathsome Oil, b. Book #1. pale grey leather binding with pink and purple flowers and skulls inlaid. The Book of Bones and Flowers, c. Book #3. silver-hinged cover of smoothly polished beech wood. The Ineluctable Movement of Volcanic Glasses, d. Packet of green spice)

Munson: down-at-heels adventurer

Stats: 11 Health, 7 Breath, 2 Brute, 1 Skulker, 1 Erudite.
Gear: 1. Breastplate, 2. axe, 3. backpack (a. torch, b. 2x matches), droppable . droppable, 5. Tired

6. Sack (containing
a. rope
b. stake
c. gold
d. gold
).

2 Fresh Breath.
Combat bonus: +2 Brute +2 (breastplate, axe) = +4 total.
Munson is an adventurer with a dented breastplate, a notched axe, and a sound shield. He spent a while loitering in Sargolis, waiting for someone with whom he could enter the Deeps - he was wise enough to know it was suicide to go down there by himself. After encountering Jhula and Saray, he assisted the two ladies in plundering the catacombs, dispatching the lich king, and interviewing the vampire God Queen of ruined Sargolis. Then he guided the group to his old home village, where they visited with his ghostly parents. Now they're in Naltis, exploring an ancient vampire's Catacombs.

Rules

In addition to the basic rules of Life and Breath and so forth, here's a few specific ones about combat and magic and loads.

Combat

Multiple opponents: When fighting multiple opponents, roll once against each opponent.
Advantage / Disadvantage: When otherwise at an advantage, you suffer injury on a failure only if you rolled doubles. Conversely, if disadvantaged, you inflict injury on a success only if you rolled doubles.

Magic

Most spells are hard to learn (DS 10). But if you want to have a little less certainty, roll to learn the difficulty of a spell: 2-5: DS 8 6-9: DS 10 10-12: DS 12 You may roll +Erudite once per day to get a spell into your head. Learning takes hours equal to the total of the roll. Once it's there it usually stays ...

When you cast a spell you try to make the world be different than it was. Roll against the DS of whatever you're casting at. Most physical stuff has DS 8, but tough opponents have more mana and use their DS instead. Some spells (e.g., illusions) get a DS = to what you roll, and anyone with higher DS dispels them when they see them.

If you fail the roll to cast a spell, there is a backlash that pops the spell right out of your head. If you succeed, the spell takes effect. (rolls for illusions never fail.)

Loads

Each container counts as one item and can hold any four items at no cost. So a backpack could hold a sack of gold, rations, a book, and a torch. ((The GM is ambivalent about this rule.)) Only items that are worn or held in hand can add to rolls. It takes an action to remove an item from a container.

You can carry

World

Sargolis

The ancient ruined and partly-rebuilt city under which the Goon Deeps are delved.

Antali

The somewhat distance city whence Jhula came to Sargolis in search of a cure for her boss.

the Mackers are the criminal bosses of Antali, and Jhula's spice-addicted boss is <insert>was</insert> boss of bosses. He never woke up from a spice dream.

Now the boss is Obseth, rotund and jovial, direct in dealing with those who offend them. His meaty hands have crushed an unknown number of windpipes. DS 12

Also,there's Arbun, a scheming and scrawny thugmaster, usually carries a rapier and prides himself that his wit's sharp as his blade. DS 10

And Vinzay, she of the lavender-dyed curls and the pale rose veil, is in hiding. It's said her face was disfigured by the spite of an alchemist she bedded - once. It's also said she's a poisoner, but there's no solid proof. DS 8. She and Jhula were the old boss's favorites. Rumor has it that Vinzay was the one who got the boss his spice.

And several others, less important in the intrigues of Antali, much less dangerous in combat.

Louras

is one of the western principalities, in among the dozens of city states that vie for dominance over on that side of the mountains.

The southern city states

a few decades ago, fought a vicious war with the merchant cities of the northeast. The war ruined Sargolis.

Nalastis or Naltis

is the southern free city nearest to Saray's demesne.

the Harsh Lady Gang run rackets in Naltis.

Master Sanger guarded the princess Yuwia in a catacomb deep under Naltis.

Saray's indebted demesne (House Rannier) is in the northern frontier of the southern city states.

House Kendos is the demesne of Saray's cousin Hania, a gullible younger woman under the thumb of her husband and Saray's former seneschal Albert.

Narm is the general region where all these places are found.