C ore Book

v.1.11

B y Marco Leon

A rtwork by Adam Isailovic and Jesús García

May 30 2012

Shadowside Canon #001

© Marco Leon - All Rights Reserved
 Dedicated to Carlos, Yunuen, Hector, Edgar, Ulises, Gerardo, Bicho,
Osvaldo, and many other friends who shared their vision with me
while playing Fantasya nearly twelve years ago. They were my
players and I was their StoryHost.

One day they had a surprise for me:

Dedicated to Tia, Joe, Flamespire, Plasma, Pathfinder, Steffen, Her-

on, Mirudan, Tommy, Bob, Will, Tanya, Debra, Nick and so many
other friends who shared their vision with me while playing Vaxia
online.

These were the happiest of times.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are Note: For simplicity, I've used "he", "his" and
products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance "him" where needed, but feel free to replace with
to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. "she", "hers" and "her"; nothing is gender-specif-
ic.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
P
rologue--------------------------------------- 5

D
anni's Hierogamy------------------------------ 8

C
haracter Creation----------------------------- 24

O
rganizations---------------------------------- 34

M
echanics------------------------------------- 61

S
toryHost Reference---------------------------- 69

N
ewfriend's Guide to the Shadowside-------------- 74

T
he Shadowside and You------------------------- 79
 PROLOGUE
A few words Out Of Charac-
ter
T his is a role-playing game, and like all games it
aims to entertain. It's fiction. If you enjoy it, if
you share some laughs around the table, if you feel
some thrills while throwing dice, if, some day, may-
be, you even shed a single tear over a particularly
powerful moment in the story, then this game will
have accomplished all that it set out to achieve. We
will be able to say that it was "fun".
I have wondered many times what "fun" truly
means, though. I think tabletop roleplaying games
are a very unique breed of fun -very different from
movies or books or videogames. For one, they are
very much about you -there is something very per-
sonal about making and playing a character. And
then there's the fact that you have others around the
table -usually people you care about- who are also on
their own personal journeys that somehow mix with
yours in a shared experience.
You see, I think "fun" is the result of learning. Yes,
really. A funny punch line is totally unexpected, but
at the same time it makes perfect sense. Think about
it. Joy is just your brain going "Aha! Now I know a
new way in which the world works, something I did-
n't see coming mere seconds ago, but now I have it
and it's mine and I'm richer for it!".
We learn all our lives. A healthy mind is constantly
building upon and testing its own pillars -seeing
where they go. Whether you are aware of it or not,
the ideas and concepts you will automatically bring
to the table -from the kind of character you make, to
the organization you choose, to the decisions you
take, etc, are all whichever your mind finds the most
interesting to poke around and explore with, at the
moment. Like monkeys we tinker and push and prod
and test all sorts of concepts to see what else can we
learn about how this fascinating world works, and
what makes it tick. In doing so what we are truly
learning about is ourselves. And this is rich, and
worthy and rewarding, and makes us better at the
whole sentience business.
You won't find too many tables in this book; I would
rather give you item-making guidelines than item
lists, and few but flexible generic rules over many
scenario-bound ones -the mechanics for Combat for
instance, all fit in one page including every variation
(ranged, grapple, defens-
ive, etc)
It is my humble role to try
and facilitate that experi-
ence for you by offering
this simple canvas, and
perhaps by sharing a cer-
tain spark of curiosity to
send you on your way.
Happy trails, pilgrim.
A few words In Character
L ife is a resistance to what came before it, and to
what comes after. The universe of things is the
illusion, as is the sense of our birth as the beginning
and death as our end.
At a primal level you know this to be true: the dull-
ness of this world sends your mind wandering, and
in dreams you've been given glimpses of elsewhere.
You remember what this elsewhere felt like, because
that's where you came from. Think back of when you
were a child: late at night you'd wake up for nor
reason, and your eyes would go to the closet, and the
dark. Remember what that felt like, what you
thought lurked there. The details don't matter -the
details are gone. But the scent stayed with you.
Others disregard it. Maybe you tried to, and can't.
Know this: you suspected right. The hidden wars do
rage all around you; and you suspect right every
time you feel their echoes whispering down the back
of your neck.
Take the next step. Let Belief be your key, your door
and your doorknob. Let it guide you back to the
place where you could will anything into existence
by simply hoping (or fearing) it was already there.
Because it most certainly was. Dreams and night-
mares- Cogito Ergo Mundi Est - the Shadowside.
5
W hat can you expect out of
this game?
Story First: Our use of "StoryHost" is telling:
A Game Master, like all Masters, owns his Game
and can sometimes be an adversarial figure whose
job is to challenge and occasionally defeat the player-
s. Also, Games can be "won".
A Story Teller emphasizes Story over Game, but
there's still one Teller of it, and he's it.
A StoryHost by contrast, is just there to let the Story
happen nearly by itself. A Host arranges the locale,
invites the guests, turns on the music, (may
occasionally send bouncers to kick out the
drunkards) and then usually just stands out of the
way letting the party goers enjoy themselves. A St-
oryHost is very hands-off when it comes to driving
the story -the world is a sandbox and the characters
will do in it as they will. At the same time the St-
oryHost is very hands-on when it comes to adjudic-
ating consequences to the decisions the characters
make. Both short and long term, the SH's job is to
perceive how the entire world reacts to the charac-
ters' actions, surfacing only the now.
Rules Light: Although the Jacob's Ladder system is
flexible enough to reasonably represent anything,
the emphasis of the mechanics lies in getting a com-
prehensive verdict early in every contest, and then
moving out of the way. Dice are called for only when
truly needed, and even then the mechanics help boil
down every little factor into one single decisive roll.
There are hardly any tables or lists; Enter The Shad-
owside can be a hard game to lawyer.
System: Jacob's Ladder. Instead of tables or formu-
las, Jacob's Ladder uses geometry for conflict resolu-
tion. As such, it has several unique properties, such
as:
-Scalability: Jacob's Ladder can consistently give
you success probabilities for any range of opposed
values. The chances of a 3 vs a 6 are the same as
those of a 30 vs a 60, or a one million vs two millions.
Although this setting discourages astronomical num-
bers, mechanically the system can handle astronom-
ical numbers.
-Portability: It doesn't matter which side of the con-
flict actually rolls the single D20; the probabilities
adjust seamlessly for either. If you pit a 10 vs a 5, you
get the same chances of success as a 5 vs a 10 would
get of failure.
-Significance: There are no guaranteed success rolls,
and there are no guaranteed failure rolls. Even the
gods may stumble; no roll is trivial.
-Comprehensiveness: A single roll of D20 accur-
ately reflects Traits, Skills, Items, situational advant-
ages and a host of other factors. For example: James,
with DEX of 3 and STR of 4, armed with a +2 STR
Knife and enjoying the upper ground, attempts to
stab John with DEX of 2 and END of 5 in the lower
abdomen, where John is wearing a +1 END Leather
Jacket, and not wishing to fight James back but
merely dodge away... it can all be boiled down in
under 5 seconds to a single D20 roll, which either
James or John may do the honors for.
Setting: Enter The Shadowside takes place in our
modern days -using real life locations and taking in-
spiration from real life events. The titular Shad-
owside is a spiritual realm that overlaps our own,
and is shaped by our thoughts, fears, desires and
hopes. Ghosts and deities live there, and play chess
with our mortal selves. Characters switch between
cold realism in the physical world, and surreal sym-
bolism in the spiritual one. The fact that the St-
oryHost plays each character's spirit companion
makes for potentially very intense relationship dy-
namics. The game's dramatic engine lies in the inter-
actions between the seven organizations which
access the Shadowside in service of their own agen-
das and with very different ideologies.
Structure: Roughly, Act I establishes the place of
the characters in the world, only to disrupt it with
some big, destabilizing event. Act II sees a seven-way
race amongst the organizations to come out on top of
said event, which leads to all-out war during Act III.
All Acts are optional -it is perfectly fine to remain in
Act II forever, if you please. Also, great care has been
paid to make it so that each of the seven organiza-
tions can reasonably justify joining one side of the
endgame conflict or another, making it so that each
campaign has different alliances, dynamics and out-
comes -all entirely up to you.
6
T he case for the Shadowside importantly out of) the Shadowside, and have ex-
plored its secrets in pursuit of their various agendas
-some much darker than others.

I t should not come as a surprise for us to learn that

our nobler abilities (our capacity to reason, to
dream, and even to love) are not at all –and have W hether it’s the ancient Malleus Diaboli, born
through Papal Bull out of the Crusades, or
never been- tied to the fleshy grey matter sitting the feared (and often misunderstood) Somosa which
inside our skull-boxes. Our brain, like all of biology, didn’t always stand for the seedy underbelly of
is a product of eons of evolutionary trial and error in society, to the old-world-old-money Greater Thelema
search of a specialization. No, not it’s physiological Society, the pagans of the Sisterhood of Salem, the
role -which is well understood and which we share fallen-guardians-turned-mafia of Fujin’s Blood, the
with all higher life-forms, but rather the “quirk” it ruthless mad-science of Accelletrix or the newest
developed at some point near the dawn of man group of web-savvy thrill seekers, SCaV3NG3R, the
where it started “catching waves” from somewhere Shadowside has always held the promise of ultimate
else. Yes, just like an antenna. power over the minds and hearts of the living, and,
through Hierogamy, over even the laws of physics
Our thoughts, our feelings, our dreams (and if you’re themselves.
the poetic kind, our souls) must mean more than
mere electrochemical reactions and we should not be Hierogamy literally means “Marriage to the Gods”.
so arrogant as to presume they all must necessarily Angels, demons, gods and devils are simply paro-
originate between our ears. Electrochemistry is chial names given to innative entities; beings of pure
simply what we are able to measure with our thought and energy that not only conserve their
primitive instruments at this end of the bridge, and sentience through the maddening whirlwinds of the
should not be confused with the real article. The "id" Shadowside, but have in fact learned to leverage it
that makes us persons hails from elsewhere, even and harness its power. Oh yes, they can show you.
before our brains manage to mangle the translation. Sometimes they need friends, or emissaries in the
This is a realm beyond the current capabilities of flesh. Sometimes just flesh.
modern science to observe and measure, but well
acquainted with certain primal instincts that have Want to know what it feels like? Want to feel the air
served our species well for untold millennia. To crackling inside your fists, the flames whispering in
listen is to see. your ears, the bittersweet surrendering of minds and
souls before you, like open books begging to be re-
The world of spirits overlaps the world of physics; it read and re-written? You can. But know once you
is a realm of pure thought and energy, invisible and take the plunge there will be no going back. The path
yet in constant contact with each and every to the Shadowside is not a bridge. It’s a loop.
ne of
one of us.
us. We
We shape
shape the
the Shadowside
Shadowside with
with
ur intentions,
our intentions, our
our emotions,
emotions, ambitions,
ambitions,
and yes,
and yes, our
our fears.
fears. It
It is
is where
where we
we
ame from,
came from, where
where our
our minds
minds
livee still,
still, where
where wewe visit
visit dur-
dur­
ing our
ing our lucid
lucid dreams
dreams and and
helpless nightmares,
helpless nightmares, and and
where we
where we will,
will, one
one day,
day, all
all
return through
return through unavoid-
unavoid­
able death.

Some come
Some come back,
back, however.
however.
Throughout history
various groups have
found ways to venture
into (and more

7
DAINENRIO'SGAMY
H

8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
 CHARACTER CREATION
L ife Stories Welcome
C ertainly a good character is closer to your
super-ego than to your ego, to use Freudian
terms. “Who do you want to be?” is an easy, self-
indulgent question. “How did I become who I am?”
is much more interesting, storywise, and much better
fuel for your creative engines.
The Flash Method: Start with a single glimpse
-the flash- a single moment that is significant in the
life of your character. You don't know him yet, but
you're about to do a cold reading on him, carnival
psychic style.
Draw a sketch, if you have the aptitude -plenty of
space in the back of the sheet. Start riffing and im-
provising details until a coherent picture emerges
"by itself". He is sitting at a beach bungalow, in some
South American country. It's Sunday, sunset. He
looks thoughtful, why? Because this is the eve before
the big job. What big job? Well, after he finishes his
margarita, he's going to go back to the hotel, plant
evidence that he's just another tourist seeking some
vice before returning to a dull 9-5 life in the states...
he'll carefully load all his tools in a duffel bag and
take a taxi to the nearest nightclub to the Governor's
Mansion, enter it, dance for a while, pretend to get
drunk, make sure he is seen pretending to be drunk,
then disappear in an alley. He will climb up to a roof
he previously scouted and wait for dawn, by the
light of his sniper rifle. But right now, he's just star-
ing at his margarita.
Try to see details. Do I see any tattoos? Yes, an eagle.
Maybe he's military. Do I see any scars? He has one
right under the ear. Looks premeditated. Maybe he
was tortured? How old is he? Looks around 34. He's
been doing this for a while. Does he have a family
waiting for him back home? Anyone calls him
"Daddy"? Oh god, a little girl. But where's the moth-
er? Ah, she left him, of course. She got spooked a
certain night when a drug lord sent some henchmen
to pay him a social visit. He "took care" of them all,
and little Nicky (Nicole?) didn't even wake up, but
her mother left the next day. It was not working out
anyway -he was just a thrill to her, not someone to
grow roots with. Not stable enough. He doesn't
blame her.
His thoughts go to his boss now. What will he do,
once his boss is cut down? Because the hammer is
about to drop. Everyone knows it. He may just have
to freelance. There's nothing else he's good at. Nicky
again. What if he simply... never came back home?
At least she would have a good life with her
grandparents. Dad was a sailor. He suspects what he
does for a living, but says nothing. Mom, god bless
her heart, thinks he's an investment banker,
frequently on business trips.
Etcetera. Allow yourself to be carried away. Let go,
and get used to the feeling of your character at the
steering wheel with you on the passenger seat.
The Biography Method: A little more traditional,
you start at the beginning. Where was your character
born? What was his childhood like? What did he
want to be, growing up? Did he? Why? Why not?
Who got in the way? Does he owe anything to any-
one? Does anyone owe him? What are his goals and
plans?
Avoid becoming satisfied with easy labels, such as
"thief" or "assassin". A good character is not defined
by what he can do but by who he is -which is the
product of having done what he can do over a long
period of time, plus plans to continue doing it. Char-
acters need a goal to pursue right out of the gate.
R
egardless of which method you use, the fuller
you dream up a Life Story up until the point
where the first session begins, the more enjoyable
and exciting the game will be for all, and the closer
you’ll be to experiencing one of the more unique joys
of roleplaying: that feeling you get when the story
seems to be “writing itself” as it goes. This can only
happen when everyone cares for their characters
deeply, and this caring is much likelier to happen
once you’ve invested your creativity into seeing a
truly compelling Life Story.
Good characters are vectors: they have direction and
velocity. Share yours with the group and dare your-
self to care. It's a worthy gamble.
24
T raits and tth
Turtle
he Worlld
or d-

T
will
ke aa moment
ake
self
will notice
moment to
self with
with the
to familiarize
familiarize your­
the World­Turtle:
notice it's
your-
World-Turtle: you
it's built
built out
out of
of two
you
two
rings
rings around
around aa central
central core
core of
of
Soul, Life and Body.

The innerr ring

ring around
around
core has
this core has two
two
sides: the non-
physical one to the
left
left with
with Charisma,
Charisma,
pirit and
Spirit and Mind,
Mind, and
and
the
the physical
physical one
one toto
the
the right
right with
with Endur­
Endur-
nce, Strength
ance, Strength andand
Dexterity.
Dexterity. These
These six six
raits, plus
Traits, plus Life
Life itself,
itself,
are
are the
the seven
seven Core
Core Traits.
Traits.

he outer
The outer ring
ring is
is laid
laid in
in
uch way
such way that
that each
each Surface
Surface
rait can
Trait can be
be said
said toto be
be the
the
mix
mix ofof the
the two
two Core
Core Traits
Traits dir­
The Hiero­
dir-
ectly
ectly beneath
beneath it
it (including
(including Life).
Life). For
The Hiero-
gamy
gamy entity
entity will
For
ple, Mind
Mind and
and Dexterity
Dexterity together
together give
will
have his
have his own
own Traits
Traits and
example, give
and
Skills
Skills which
which combine
combine with
with yours
yours to
you Reflexes.
to
create a stronger whole. The sheet is de-
Finally, Soul is simply the sum of all non-physical
signed so you can write your character Traits in the
Traits, and Body is the simply the sum of all physical
clear side of each pentagon, your companion spirit's
Traits.
in the shaded side, and the sum of both in the
middle.
All together, the Turtle is set so that you only have to

Y
control seven numbers -your Core Traits- and end
ou will also notice a number of formulas for
up with fourteen Traits plus three kinds of "HP"
common actions such as Combat, and
counters.
Paranormal Skills -you will come to discover in the

T
Mechanics chapter that these are very simple sums
here is more. In the next pages (which you
meant to account for every factor that goes into
should print and make photocopies of) you may
determining success or failure for the character's
be puzzled to discover references to an "Entity", and
actions. Readying these right on the sheet is a time-
wonder why each pentagon in the World Turtle has
saver. Finally, you have space for a small inventory
a shaded side and a clear side. The answer is Hiero-
of significant items your character may carry in his
gamy.
person, as well as a list of Normal Skills -all will be
explained.
Hierogamy will be explained at length before this

C
chapter is over, but for the moment simply consider
haracter Sheets are double-sided; you can draw
that your character sheet, after a certain pivotal point
portraits in the back and add brief summaries
in the game, will account for two individuals, your
of your character's life, and when the time comes for
character and his spiritual companion played by the
you to learn it, of your spirit companion's death...
StoryHost.

25
C ore Traits

P hysical Traits add up to form Body.

N on-physical Traits add up to form Soul.

END=Endurance: It represents how sturdy your
body is in general. It’s mostly used to oppose all
forms of physical damage.
STR=Strength: It represents how much force you
can exert with your muscles. It’s mostly used to
inflict bodily damage during Melee Combat, once
you hit, but you can also use it to lift heavy objects,
pry jammed doors open, etc.
DEX=Dexterity: It represents how precisely you
can move, and eye-hand coordination in general.
It’s mostly used to hit (or to avoid being hit)
during Melee Combat, but it’s versatile enough to
baseline your chances at card tricks, darts, piano,
etc.
MND=Mind: Your sentience and reasoning ability.
Mostly used to harness (or defend from) magical
energies, but also important to operate complex
machinery, understand technical concepts, unravel
intricate plots, etc.
SPI=Spirit: Your connection to the Shadowside.
Mostly used to harness (or defend from) magical
energies, but also important for meditation,
manipulating auras, serving as a Medium, etc.
CHA=Charisma: Your aptitude to persuade people.
Mostly used to convince others to do what you want,
perceive dishonesty, win debates, give inspiring
speeches, etc. The main difference with PRE is that
CHA is active and wordy, while PRE is passive and
silent.

LFE=Life: After taking enough Damage, LFE runs out and you may die. Even before it runs out a Damaged
LFE will still result in crippling Penalties to most rolls, and serious, possibly-long-term harm. LFE starts
taking Damage only after Soul or Body have run out.

Surface Traits
HLT=Health: The combination of LFE and END. It governs your resistance to disease and general physical
wellbeing.
CON=Constitution: The combination of END and STR. It represents how well physically built you are and can
sometimes serve as a crude stand-in for weight, mass or volume.
AGI=Agility: The combination of STR and DEX. It represents how fast you can run, how high you can jump,
and in general how acrobatic you can be when your whole body is in motion.
REF=Reflexes: The combination of DEX and MND. It determines how quickly you can react to events. Once
per round you can call to check your REF if you wish to interrupt someone else’s action in progress, even if
you already had your turn that round. This is the only way to have two actions per round; bear in mind you'll
lose your next round's turn if you fail.
AWA=Awareness: The combination of MND and SPI. It means perception of your surroundings: the physical
realm thanks to MND and the spiritual one thanks to SPI. Therefore AWA is associated to premonitions, to
reading the intentions of people, to noticing details out of place in any environment, gut feelings, and a sense
of alertness in general.
PRE=Presence: The combination of SPI and CHA; considered the passive version of CHA. Presence can make
you liked or disliked by complete strangers before a single word has left your mouth. It intimidates your foes
and inspires your friends by your simple act of being there.
BTY=Beauty: The combination of CHA and LFE. It makes you attractive, pleasing to the senses in every way,
and, if greater than CON, overrules all of CON's weight, mass and volume assumptions.

28
S kills
N ormal vs. Paranormal

S kills represent whole categories of actions a

character may be particularly good at, such as
Carpentry, Soccer, Economics, Wrestling, or
Astral Projection. In addition to helping the charac-
ter succeed in their respective domains, Skills also
enable the use of related items -for instance, while
anyone can try random notes on a Piano Item, it
takes someone with a Pianist Skill to make actual
music.
Skills should be ranged properly: Neurosurgery,
although real, is for the purposes of game mechanics
a little too narrow, while Medicine would likewise
be considered a little too broad. Surgery is a happy
medium. A well-ranged Skill is versatile enough to
be applied in a wide variety of situations that never-
theless never fall outside its main domain; you
wouldn't expect a Cook to be necessarily good at
throwing knives; since melee isn't the domain of pre-
paring food.
New Skills can only be learned storywise, that is, as a
result of actually finding a mentor and spending an
appropriate amount of time learning and practicing
-books and theory alone should not be enough. Once
enough roleplay has been invested the StoryHost
will allow you to jot down your new Skill and spend
a single Experience Point in it.
W hile we share a mostly common understand-
ing of how a Normal world works, we have
no such consensus about the Paranormal. Therefore
we need to keep a few differences in mind when
considering Skills:
Any character may attempt any Normal action at any
time with or without a relevant Normal Skill -having
the Skill helps, but it's not required. Paranormal ac-
tions, on the other hand, do require a Paranormal
Skill at a minimum level of 3 points in order to even
be attempted.
Normal Skills should be simple enough to be under-
standable by their name alone (say, Karate).
Paranormal Skills do need a description and specific
instructions on how to rule them.
Normal Skills are simply made up by the players
during Character Creation and all the SH needs to do
is verify that they are neither too broad nor too nar-
row, and that they fit the Life Story. Paranormal
Skills come from official sources such as this book
(but feel free to design your own once you feel ex-
perienced enough to do so!).
Whenever possible (truly compelling life-stories
being a valid exception) Paranormal Skills should
only be the consequence of Hierogamy.

Creating a Brand Joining an Or- Growing with each

New Character ganization session

1.- Come up with a great Life St-
ory, tell it to the group, make
everybody care. This is not op-
tional; this is very important.
2.- Roll a D6 7 times and assign
each roll to a Core Trait OR dis-
tribute 23 points, noting that no
Trait may be higher than 6. Calcu-
late Surface Traits, Soul and Body
as explained in the sheet itself.
3.- Distribute 3 points for Normal
Skills, and add a few items.
1.- Inform the StoryHost which
Organization (if any) you wish
your character to join. The St-
oryHost will keep your wishes in
mind.
2.- Roleplay the developing rela-
tionship with said Organization.
It could take several sessions.
3.- Roleplay the Hierogamy event;
and use that session's Experience
Point(s) towards your first
Paranormal Skill.
1.- Roleplay your heart's best the
entire time. Have a blast.
2.- Receive 1 or 2 Experience
Points for good roleplay.
3.- Apply your point(s) towards
any of your (or your Spirit's) Core
Traits or Skills, noting that no
Trait or Skill may be higher than
8, OR towards a new Skill,
provided you've been roleplaying
the process of learning it story-
wise and the StoryHost agrees.

29
T his is what a typical brand-new character sheet could look like: only 3 points in a single Normal Skill, no
Organization, Hierogamy, nor Paranormal Skills, and only a few items.

30
H ierogamy
I t literally means “marriage to a deity”. To
understand Hierogamy one must understand the
basics of the Shadowside: it is a realm where only
thoughts exists -only feelings, only intentions, hopes
and fears. Our brain can tune-in to these just like an
antenna, and we live our every day lives blissfully
unaware of the place where those very memories,
sentience and personality truly come from. After
death, our minds are thrown into the Shadowside
full-time, and the experience is at the very least
maddening: you could compare it to a sand castle
slowly eroding after the plastic mold has been taken
away. The mold is our physical brain, and the sand
castle is the particular configuration of our thoughts,
feelings and ambitions that make us up as unique
individuals.
Some individuals, through sheer force of will,
manage to literally “keep it together” and make
sense of their new state of being. These entities tend
to become quite powerful over time, but like
everyone else miss and envy those of us who are still
in the flesh.
Hierogamy is a mutually beneficial partnership
where a living person agrees to host a Shadowside
entity -a ghost, if you will- inside his physical body,
while the Shadowside entity agrees to provide a cer-
tain measure of paranormal power and otherworldly
wisdom. This companionship is a double-edged
sword: on one hand you’ll never be alone; on the
other... you’ll never be alone. You will helplessly
listen to the ghost’s thoughts and he will helplessly
listen to yours -having voluntary and involuntary
conversations inside your head. Hierogamy, for all
practical purposes, cannot be undone. Choose well
the person for whom you’ll “hear voices in your
head” for the rest of your life.
Each organization has different methods to enact
Hierogamy but nearly all are irreversible. Major per-
sonality changes for both partners in the
arrangement are common -and frankly to be
expected.
Some organizations (such as the Sisterhood of Salem)
see the Hierogamy partners as equals and allow for a
"Dating" period; other organizations, (such as Accel-
letrix) purposefully neuter the individuality of the
spirit half, reducing it to a mere "power source". Fi-
nally some others (such as the Somosa) expect the
spirit to be "on top" and calling all the shots.
The StoryHost is expected to roleplay the spirit in
Hierogamy with the character, and is expected to be
agreeable in general to anything the character may
want to do. Ultimately, the character is in control of
his own body -even the spirit disagrees. Being in a
“bad marriage” is not impossible but it should be
extremely rare and only done if the player consents,
for story purposes. In all organizations, the
metaphysical union is only possible to begin with
when the two souls are essentially compatible; a
reliable sign that the individuals are likely to get
along well together –or as well as could be expected
in the unusual circumstances.
Save extremely rare circumstances, the Hierogamy
spirit cannot be harmed nor forcibly exorcised out of
his host. It is a thinking entity however, as a such is
vulnerable to madness -that's likely a big part of the
reason why it agreed to enter Hierogamy.
M echanically the Traits and Skills of the spirit in
Hierogamy add together with those of the
Character (you may be surprised to learn spirits have
physical Traits, but this is why “possessed” people
typically appear to have superhuman strength and
endurance). Furthermore, this is a reliable way to ex-
ecute anything paranormal -when both the character
and the spirit possess a Paranormal Skill- by allow-
ing you to exert your joint will out of the Shad-
owside, twisting “fate” and defying reality. This is
the core of the Belief Points system; which is detailed
in the Mechanics chapter.
The StoryHost is tasked with Character Creation for
the Hierogamy spirit -the process is virtually the
same as the one for Player Characters except for the
possibility of starting with certain Paranormal Skills
out of their respective organizations' lists. Life Stories
are just as important for these spiritual entities.
Although the StoryHost is tasked with roleplaying
them, it is the player who decides how to allocate
experience points onto them, since after all they
come from his character's own pool.
31
W hat do Hierogamy spirits
look like?
T heir appearance, like everything else in the
Shadowside, is driven by their own perception.
Most entities who were once human will remain
roughly humanoid to various degrees -but keep in
mind not all inhabitants of the Shadowside were
once people, and not all who were once people like
to still remember it.
Some of the Fujin Blood's spirits, the Burnt, are still
smoldering in radioactive fire. Frequently the So-
mosa Abuelos will bear broken bracelets and chains,
while the GTS partners have a penchant for mytholo-
gical beasts and the fantastic. Big Sis has a dispropor-
tionate share of animal-looking spirits, while
Scavenger typically finds monstrous or otherwise
unsettling partners. Each entity is unique and limit-
less in its capacity to represent his inner self out-
wardly, even if most of them started as humans, once
upon a time.
In the real world, most spirits are invisible to all but
the mortal whom they're in Hierogamy with -who
can see them only if he "searches" for them, with his
eyes closed. Clairvoyant or otherwise psychically
sensitive individuals may detect the presence of Hi-
erogamy spirits, and on occasion, even visually dis-
cern their features.
H ow powerful can a Shad-
owside spirit be?
I nfinitely so. Some spirits can and are called deit-
ies, by every right. This, however, does not mean
they would necessarily make good Hierogamy part-
ners. To understand why, we must study the typical
process of devolution in a ghost -without a physical
brain to literally keep his thoughts in order, a
ghost's mind will slowly but surely drift into demen-
tia -even as it continues to accrue power.
1.- For his first century or so, a ghost will remain
mostly his own individual person. As time goes on,
however, and as the world that birthed him is slowly
buried in the past, entities tend to seek (and find)
comfort in their own memories. Unfortunately, due
to the nature of the Shadowside which adjusts itself
to one's thoughts and ideas, living in one's own
memories can establish a dangerous feedback loop.
At it's worst, ghosts can forget that they are ghosts,
and re-live their favorite days endlessly -every itera-
tion a little bit closer to some made-up ideal and a
little bit farther from what actually happened in real-
ity. Details are lost, until that is left is raw emotion,
then vague "moods". This is the true death of a
Shadowside entity: entropy.
2.- Without being necessarily aware of it, Shad-
owside entities strive to avoid this fate by consuming
fresh energies to replace the ones they wear out.
Artists haunt museums, or other artists, politicians
hang around in the halls of Congress, soldiers seek
battlefields. The fresh energies do stave off entropy,
but also replace the original configuration that made
the ghost his own particular person. Spirits who have
been doing this for centuries have drifted, unknow-
ingly, into becoming caricatures of their former
selves -composites made up of thousands of stolen
details and memories, which nevertheless they'll
treasure and defend as if they were their own. While
considerably more powerful, Hierogamy with an
Archetype is extremely dangerous. The Archetype
cannot help himself from trying to consume you, like
he has consumed so many others before. People in
the real world will notice you going slightly mad,
until one day there are no longer two distinct voices
inside your head, but just one, which is slightly mad.
You become part of the caricature.
3.- Some "caricatures" may grow to be extremely
complex and powerful, with intricate thought pat-
terns, and very unique personalities. After half a
millennia or so, the pendulum starts to swing the
other way, and if the Entity has resisted the tides of
Entropy so far, a new unique personality starts to
emerge. For all practical purposes this is an actual
person, wise from the years, and incredibly power-
ful. Madness remains, but it is now utterly subjective
and undistinguishable from Genius. These are the
deities of our times -and of all times- and they
scheme grandiose designs for the world of the mor-
tals, where things are blissfully still and teasingly
solid. Some call these Mythos. You don't enter Hiero-
gamy with a Mythos, anymore than you sign a con-
tract with the clothes you're about to wear. It is a
great mercy that Mythos are limited from exerting
their considerable power in our physical world. At
least to some degree. At least so far.
32
T his is an experienced character in Hierogamy: his Traits are in the clear area, the Entity's in the shaded
area, and the sum in the center. We see plenty of skills too, and stronger items.

33
 ORGANIZATIONS
S ooner or later (preferably no later than the third
or fourth session) characters will enter in
Hierogamy with some entity from the Shadowside.
own organizations (refer to the StoryHost Reference
chapter).

There are mainly seven organizations that can

facilitate this event, in return for life-long allegiance.
They aren’t the only way to enter in Hierogamy of
course, and once you have a firm grasp of what your
universe is like you are welcome to dream up your
T he top-left and bottom-right organizations are
Endgame related. It is best if you save them for
last -for when your campaign is mature, and even
then mostly as NPCs. Beginners should ignore these
altogether.

Altruistic Neutral Egoistic

Orderly

Neutral

Anarchic

34
F UJIN’S BLOOD: Asian mafia, dirty
money, honor-codes and hierarchy. Assassin-
ations, torture, blood and wind magic.
A fter a full day of sailing the cries of agony had
finally subsided. Still the corpses hanged,
staked by their hands and feet to the hulls of the
invading ships… four thousand five hundred of
them –the world would not see a fleet this large
again until D-Day, for such was the blood lust of
Kublai Khan. The year was 1281, and Japan was
doomed.
In a temple’s garden near Kyuushuu, cherry
blossoms gently fell on the red-stained water of the
pond. The old man laid face-down with a sword
through his chest. His most beloved disciples knelt
around him; with tears in their eyes they had seen
him push the blade in with his own hands. But he
had died smiling –Fujin was with him, it was said,
and his sacrifice would call upon the Divine Winds
once again.
And it did. Not a single ship from Khan’s fleet
survived the two-day typhoon that followed. Japan
now had guardians perpetual, and they would stand
watch from the spirit realm, forever and in honor.
Or so they thought: the old Cult of Fujin burned at
Hiroshima. The Bomb was too sudden, too cruel –too
definitive. For years no mortal Chimamire could
survive the maddening cries of the Kogeta, the
Burned, as they rose eternal in radioactive fire. The
elders had been driven mad or silent, and Fujin
himself was gone. It was the end of a 600-year
legacy, but the start of something much more
dangerous, something new. Out of the glowing
ashes emerged Fujin’s Blood, started by the inner
circle of surviving lieutenants who swore revenge
against the West even if the entire world had to burn
too, like Japan had.
T hey bide their time. Fujin’s Blood today is the
ultimate Mafia; a taut web of crime-lords and
blindly loyal henchmen which stretches through the
entire Asian underworld. They sell arms, drugs, and
people. They wear business suits over full-torso
tattoos, and drive luxury cars. They harvest Belief
from Pain -usually through torture- and their magic
is about Blood and Wind. They are still driven by
tradition. They still have a strict code of honor, and
they haven't forgotten their guardianship duty to
Japan, despite the recent tentative alliances with
Eastern-European and Mediterranean Mafias. But
now they destroy, too, and relish a revenge that
burns brighter than hope.
If you ever find yourself in Tokyo or Shanghai, and
hear whispers in the breeze: beware. When it starts
blowing red it may already be too late.
H ierogamy: Typically Fujin’s Blood Ashigaru
are paired up with the spirits of the recently
deceased members of the clan in a first-come-first-
served basis. This prevents the spirits from
“eroding” in the Shadowside for too-long, and
dispels the fear of death from the still living. It is a
great honor to die for Fujin, and it is rewarded by
being promptly given a fresh new host as soon as
one becomes available. The ceremony resembles the
infamous self-immolation of Master Fujin himself:
sitting in the Lotus position and surrounded by the
elders, one must drive a blade into one’s own heart.
If the Ashigaru has Kasai enough, faith enough to
give his life for Fujin and resume service in the after-
life, the blade will not come out the other side, but
rather be absorbed into the Shadowside inside the
Ashigaru’s body. It is then that the ghostly entity
rushes in, in a fury of whirlwind and blood. The
wound heals in a minute and ghostly petals fall
gently to the floor. The Chimamire rises, imbued,
and his eyes subtly change to the color red.
35
P aranormal Skills

K yofu Zei (Fear Tax) (MND) – "Please don't kill me. I'll pay you... I'll pay you anything, say a
number -just let me go!" "Mr. Harris, we will most certainly not kill you. And eventually we will
let you go. But please..." said Red Tiger as he produced a switchblade and a lighter "don't you ever
insult us again by offering us money."

Roll: Belief
Roll: Belief Points
Points VS
VS Target’s
Target’s PRE
PRE on on line
line of
of sight:
sight: A
A spiritual
spiritual blood-
blood­
wind link is established between n the
the Caster
Caster and
and the
the Target.
Target. For
For every
every
int the
point the Target
Target loses
loses in
in any
any Trait
Trait for
for any
any reason,
reason, the
the Caster
Caster wins
wins one
one
elief Point,
Belief Point, and
and vice
vice versa.
versa. Storywise
Storywise the
the Target
Target suffers
suffers some
some meas-
meas­
ure of fear. Used mostly for torture; the link lasts for as long as there
is a continuous stream of air between Caster and Target or until the end
of the storywise crisis.

S asayaki (Whispers) (MND) – "It comes, Mrs. Priscilla..."

"Get out of my head! Sabu, how are they in my head?!"
"Sabu can't save you. He can't save himself." "Where are
you?! Where the hell are you?!" "Behind you. Behind you
again. Yes. Turn around. Turn around again."

Roll: Belief Points vs Distance. The Caster may whisper

several short sentences into the wind, and have them
supernaturally carried only to the Target's ears across very
long distances at the speed wind travels. It is useful to se-
curely communicate with allies, and to covertly harass or
intimidate enemies.

K aze No Te (Wind’s Hand) (SPI) – "We who command

the Divine Winds. Ours is the breath that rolls down the
mountain, and the whisper of typhoons that cast their shadows
over the sea. Have you flown like the eagles, have your hands
reached into the tempest? And yet here you are, with your guns
and your trinkets. Disrespecting us and disrespecting our house."

Roll: Belief Points - Distance VS Difficulty of STR/DEX/END-able ble task.

task.
ubtract between
Subtract between 11 to
to 88 Belief
Belief Points
Points for
for Distance.
Distance. Split
Split the
the remainder
remainder
between STR,
between STR, DEX
DEX and
and END
END forfor whatever
whatever task
task that
that requires
requires them
them
uch as
(such as punching
punching people,
people, shielding
shielding people,
people, lifting
lifting weights,
weights, blow-
blow­
drying blood
drying blood off
off one’s
one’s hands,
hands, etc).
etc). Example:
Example: the
the Caster
Caster wishes
wishes toto
punch h someone
someone 1010 feet
feet away.
away. He’s
He’s harnessed
harnessed 20
20 points.
points. Subtract
Subtract
3 for distance and split the remaining 17 as 7 DEX and 10 STR.
Now you can rule it as a regular Melee -noting of course that
Target cannot
the Target cannot counter-punch
counter­punch aa wind
wind gust.
gust. More
More than
than just
just
attacking, Kaze
attacking, Kaze NoNo Te
Te can
can transport
transport items,
items, push
push or or pull
pull
objects or perform any task where the STR/DEX/END of
the wind could conceivably be involved, including
transporting oneself –which makes this viable as a flying
skill. For flying use the Caster’s CON -representing his
weight/volume- as Difficulty VS the virtual AGI.

36
C hi No Ha (Blade of Blood) (MND) – "Very well, in that case I shall honor the rules of this temple.
But please know this: if you double-cross me you will wish you had let me keep my gun."

Roll: No further roll required. All the spilled blood around the Caster will congeal into a bladed shape around
his hand, which he may wield it as a weapon applying Chi No Ha itself as it's own weapon-related Skill. For
every point of LFE that has been lost by anyone within eyesight (including the Caster) during the storywise
crisis, the Blade gains a corresponding point of STR as an Item. The Caster
m
may use this Item in Melee in the same turn in which it is cast. The Blade will
rem
remain solid for 1 turn for every 10 Belief Points spent during Casting.

K etsueki Zei (Blood Tax) (SPI) – "You have challenged

me, and I accept. You may take my life today, or I may
take yours. But one thing is for certain: your precious
Kashmir suit is going to be ruined forever."

Roll: No further dice re-

quired. Once
quired. Once harnessed
harnessed the the Belief
Belief Points
Points
remain
remain inin stand­by
stand-by untiluntil the
the Caster
Caster wins
wins step
step 11 of
of Melee
Melee
Combat
Combat atat some
some future
future turn,
turn, at
at which
which point
point they
they add
add to
to STR
STR for
for step
step 22.
Ketsueki
Ketsueki Zei
Zei calls
calls for
for direct
direct Body
Body Damage,
Damage, as as the
the Target’s
Target’s blood
blood swea
sweats
out
out of
of his
his nostrils,
nostrils, eyes,
eyes, ears,
ears, and
and every
every pore.
pore. Non­magical
Non-magical items
items (such
(such as
as
regular
regular armor)
armor) oror Normal
Normal Skills
Skills (such
(such as
as conventional
conventional martial
martial arts)
arts) won’t
won’t
help
help defend
defend the
the Target
Target during
during step
step 2.
2. The
The blood
blood near
near the
the Target’s
Target’s eyes
eyes
and
and ears
ears will
will also
also penalize
penalize all
all future
future AWA
AWA rolls
rolls until
until cleaned,
cleaned, and
and being
being
drenched
drenched in in blood
blood can’t
can’t bebe all
all that
that good
good forfor CHA
CHA nornor PRE
PRE either.
either.
Example:
Example: once
once the
the Caster
Caster has
has won
won step
step 11 of
of Melee
Melee Combat
Combat and and then
then
requires
requires aa roll
roll of
of 10
10 during
during Step
Step 2,
2, rolling
rolling aa 15
15 will
will result
result in
in 55 points
points of
of
(bloody)
(bloody) Body
Body Damage.
Damage.

C hi No Kiri (Blood Mist) (SPI) – "It is said, if you are killed

while inside the Blood Mist, you will not know the exact
moment you enter the Shadowside." "Because both are red and
filled with things that want to hurt you?" "Actually it's because of the
paranoia that will make you see things that aren't there. Now follow
me close and let me do the talking -I know these japs."

Roll:
Roll: No
No further
further dice
dice required.
required. Blood
Blood Mist,
Mist, resembling
resembling aa reddish
reddish fog,
fog, is
is not
not
actually
actually real
real but
but merely
merely inside
inside the
the minds
minds ofof all
all Targets
Targets ­which
-which is is everyone
everyone
within
within line
line of
of sight
sight of
of the
the Caster
Caster atat the
the time
time the
the Skill
Skill is
is cast.
cast. Each
Each Target
Target must
must
individually
individually dispel
dispel his
his own
own MistMist by
by succeeding
succeeding aa roll roll of
of AWA
AWA vs vs Belief
Belief
Points,
Points, and
and until
until they
they dodo so,
so, they
they will
will suffer
suffer proportional
proportional penalties
penalties toto all
all
actions
actions which
which require
require visibility,
visibility, including
including Combat.
Combat. Critical
Critical failures
failures result
result in
in
hallucinations.
hallucinations. Example:
Example: ifif aa character
character needed
needed to to roll
roll 14
14 or
or better
better toto dispel
dispel the
the
Mist,
Mist, and
and only
only rolled
rolled aa 10,
10, hehe now
now has
has aa 44 point
point penalty
penalty to to any
any action
action that
that
requires
requires use
use of
of his
his eyes
eyes for
for that
that turn.
turn.

37
M ALLEUS DIABOLI : Elite Catholic
Knights and Priests. Dogma, self-righteousness,
history, tradition and a higher-calling.

T he Kingdom of Jerusalem had fallen; the

crusades had been for naught. But the first
words out of Pope Gregory VIII’s mouth were not of
concern for its people nor king: “The head of John
the Baptist?” “Fear not, your Holiness.” replied the
messenger “The Poor Knights of Saint John defended
King Solomon’s Temple to the last man. Through
their sacrifice a group of Hospitaliers managed to
save all of the Relics, and see to their safe passage to
Antioch”. “Did they tell Angelus?” “No, your
Holiness. They felt it wouldn’t have been…
prudent”. “As wise as they are brave. Bring these
men to me, and the Relics”. The year was 1187, and At the same time, tragically few know that Malleus
The Holy Order Of The Thirteen Devil’s Hammers Diaboli single-handedly saved the world as we know
was consecrated in secret as the ultimate elite force it from the fires of Belial not once, but twice -in 1650
serving the Lord through the Adversary's own paths, and 1862. Diaboli todays prepares for the third and
a Hidden Hand carrying His Holy Will wherever His final battle.
Word alone wouldn’t suffice.
Handsomely financed, with potential bases of
Over the centuries they learned the magic of their operations in every Catholic church, and powered by
vanquished foes: the necromancy of the Egyptians, the blinding belief in the righteousness of their vause
the divination of the Gypsies, the body-and-soul bal- as well as their proud history and legacy, the Diaboli
ance of the Hindus. Everything impure through fire today does God’s Work. Or Work, in any case.

they purified, everything profane through blood
they consecrated. They were at their finest for the
Inquisition.
Their quest to find, deconstruct and ultimately flip
the tools of Darkness into the service of Light earned
the Malleus Diaboli a vast and nuanced
understanding of the Shadowside -which they refer
to as Limbo -and the know-how to leverage it’s only
rule of “Belief Creates Reality” –which they refer to
as Faith.
H
ierogamy: Communion with the Saints is
the ultimate reward given to exceptional
members of the organization, usually after many
years of service from both parties. The Saints, that is,
the Shadowside entities, are carefully picked “in the
wild” by Missionaries, chosen for their virtue and
loyalty, converted and indoctrinated for years and
finally awarded the Breath of Life once again.
The ceremony is themed after Jesus’ fabled re-
surrection: the Acolyte is locked in a cave to

I t takes more than faith, however, to still believe in

their core tenet –that one may use the tools of evil,
the Devil’s Hammers, and still remain immaculate.
Evil is what evil does. After WWII, when their
association with Nazi Germany’s Thule Society
nearly cost them their survival, a small splinter of
morally-troubled individuals left the Order, were
branded Apostates, and have been ruthlessly hunted
ever since.
meditate with a single candle, and a heavy stone is
rolled to block the entrance. What happens inside the
cave for the following three days is a mystery, but
most assume the Acolyte is imbued with the guest
spirit at some point during his meditation (and
before dying of thirst), and then, likely using Virtus
Domini is able to roll the rock back to the side and
emerge from the cave a Deacon, to the cheering cries
of “Lazarus! Lazarus!”.

38
P aranormal Skills

R ecreatio Sanctus (Holy Restoration) (SPI) – "It's just a flesh-wound. It's a scratch." "Are you
mental?! That... thing nearly ate my goddamn foot off!" "In The Eyes Of The Lord it is but a flesh-
wound. Now rise, and watch your language."

Roll: No
Roll: No further
further dice
dice required;
required; line
line ofof sight.
sight. The
The Belief
Belief Points
Points can
can restore
restore any
any damaged
damaged
rait of
Trait of any
any Target
Target inin sight
sight (including
(including the the Caster's)
Caster's) atat aa 1:1
1:1 ratio
ratio for
for the
the first
first Trait,
Trait,
2:11 for
for the
the second
second Trait,
Trait, and
and so so on.
on. ItIt can
can heal
heal Body
Body and/or
and/or Soul.
Soul. Example:
Example: thethe
arget has
Target has lost
lost all
all 66 CON,
CON, andand isis down
down to to just
just 22 out
out of
of his
his 66 LFE.
LFE. The
The Caster
Caster
harnesses 12
harnesses 12 points:
points: 66 are
are used
used toto heal
heal the
the CON
CON entirely,
entirely, and
and the
the remaining
remaining 66
are used
are used to
to heal
heal 33 points
points of
of LFE
LFE at at aa cost
cost of
of 22 to
to 1.
1. The
The Target
Target isis left
left with
with full
full
6/6 CON and 5/6 LFE.

F ulgor Solis (The Sun’s Radiance) (SPI) – "He showed up

right in the middle of the shitstorm. No one saw him until
he was just there. And all the heads turned at the same time.
He had not spoken a single word. I remember his eyes were
stern, I couldn't look at him and I couldn't look away from him
either -know what I mean? And his face... seemed like those
old statues. He opened his arms... and next thing I hear is the
noise of everybody's switchblades hittin' the floor..."

Roll: No further dice required from Caster. r. Once

Once activated
activated Fulgor
Fulgor
olis remains
Solis remains inin effect
effect until
until the
the end
end ofof the
the storywise
storywise crisis
crisis or
or until
until
cancelled.
cancelled. All
All characters
characters who
who attempt
attempt to to harm
harm the the Caster
Caster inin any
any
ay must
way must first
first overcome
overcome their
their awe
awe atat the
the Caster's
Caster's Majesty,
Majesty, byby
pitting their
their MND
MND or or SPI
SPI (whichever
(whichever is is higher)
higher) against
against thethe
Caster’s
Caster’s Belief
Belief Points.
Points. Once
Once they
they succeed
succeed (or (or if
if they
they fail,
fail, once
once
they
they manage
manage toto harm
harm the
the Caster
Caster regardless)
regardless) Fulgor
Fulgor Solis
Solis will
will
er work
never work onon them
them again
again for
for the
the rest
rest of
of the
the storywise
storywise crisis.
crisis.
Otherwise
Otherwise they
they will
will suffer
suffer Penalties
Penalties toto any
any adverse
adverse action
action inin
the
the amount
amount of of points
points that
that they
they were
were short
short of. of. Example:
Example: to to ov
ov
ercome
ercome Fulgor
Fulgor Solis
Solis the
the Target
Target had
had to
to roll
roll aa 15
15 or
or better
better He
He rolled
rolled aa 12.
12.
Therefore
Therefore he
he has
has aa 33 point
point penalty
penalty inin his
his attempt
attempt to to Melee
Melee the
the Caster.
Caster.

E vangelize (MND) – "He comes. I cannot promise you your

lives, for only the Lord knows the time and the hour. I
cannot promise you your souls, for only the Lord knows the
final balance of your hearts. But behold, my fists are closed.
My eyes are open. My heart yet beats and may the Holy
Ghost render the flesh from my bones, shiver the sinew and
crush the marrow -may my blood boil like the Lake of Fire
before I let the Despoiler cross through this door! ARE YOU
WITH ME?!"

Roll: No further dice required. d. All

All of
of the
the Caster's
Caster's allies
allies within
within
audible range
audible range of
of the
the speech
speech gain
gain an
an equal
equal share
share of
of the
the Belief
Belief
ints the
Points the Caster
Caster invested.
invested. If
If targeting
targeting enemies,
enemies, all
all those
those who
who
fail
fail aa MND
MND vsvs Belief
Belief Points
Points roll
roll lose
lose an
an equal
equal share
share of
of the
the
Belief Points the Caster invested.

39
V irtus Domini (The Lord’s Strength) (SPI) – "Padre Nuestro que estas en los cielos..." begun
Padre Castañeda, his eyes shut tight and his hands bound behind his back by the same heavy
chains as all the rest. "Santificado sea Tu Nombre." "Oi Royce, your boy is going mental on us again."
"Are we going to die?" "Shut up all of you wankers. That's not what he's doing." "Venga a nosotros Tu
Reino. Hágase Tu Voluntad..." Two levels up, the guard thought he heard a commotion. He rushed
downstairs but it was too late -"El Señor Es Una Sombra Sobre Mi Mano Derecha!"- was the last
thing he heard, as the frail old man threw the entire cell door at him.

Roll:
Roll: No
No further
further dice
dice required.
required. TheThe Caster’s
Caster’s Target
Target (or
(or himself)
himself)
receives
receives aa Bonus
Bonus equal
equal toto Belief
Belief Points,
Points, toto aa chosen
chosen Trait.
Trait. This
This Bonus
Bonus
remains
remains onon stand-by
stand­by and
and isis used
used whenever
whenever the the Trait
Trait is
is next
next used;
used; not
not
necessarily
necessarily in
in the
the same
same turn
turn asas the
the Caster’s
Caster’s spell.
spell. Example:
Example: the
the Caster
Caster
wishes
wishes toto help
help anan ally
ally land
land aa final
final blow.
blow. Applying
Applying Dominus
Dominus
Virtutem
Virtutem withwith Belief
Belief Points
Points of
of 1515 to
to DEX,
DEX, the
the ally
ally now
now has
has 15
15
Bonus
Bonus forfor step
step 11 of
of his
his Melee
Melee combat.
combat. After
After aa successful
successful
REF
REF check
check the
the Target
Target may
may spend
spend Dominus
Dominus Virtutem
Virtutem in
in
the
the same
same turn
turn as
as it
it is
is cast.
cast.

V
erbum Dei (God’s Word)
(MND) – "Stop. All of you.
There will be no more discussion. No
more negotiation. For truly the Scripture said there
would be weeping and gnashing of teeth... it is time
for you to bow before the Lord. It is time for you to
KNEEL AND CRY."

Roll: All
Roll: All Targets
Targets within
within audible
audible range
range must
must roll
roll with
with their
their
Soul vs
Soul vs Belief
Belief Points.
Points. Those
Those whowho fail
fail this
this roll
roll will
will obey
obey
–clearly
–clearly against
against their
their will­
will- any
any two­or­three­word
two-or-three-word command
command
heard
heard live
live from
from thethe Caster,
Caster, for
for one
one turn.
turn. Storywise,
Storywise, the
the
Targets
Targets are
are fully
fully aware
aware of of the
the fact
fact that
that they
they are
are being
being
coerced.
coerced. Example:
Example: If If the
the command
command is is “Kill
“Kill yourself”
yourself” skip
skip the
the
first
first Step
Step of
of Melee
Melee (the
(the blow
blow automatically
automatically lands)
lands) and
and rule
rule
damage
damage directly
directly asas Target’s
Target’s STR
STR ++ Weapon
Weapon + + Skill
Skill VS
VS his
his
own
own END
END + + Armor,
Armor, no no Skill.
Skill.

T ransmutation (MND) – "The Lord is sharper

than thy sword and heavier than thy hammer.
The Lord is stronger than thy armor and faster
than thy arrows. For him who believeth, all things
are possible."

Roll:
Roll: The
The Target
Target mustmust roll
roll with
with thethe value
value ofof all
all
positive
positive modifiers
modifiers of of the
the Item
Item being
being transmuted
transmuted
against
against Belief
Belief Points.
Points. IfIf the
the Item
Item fails
fails this
this roll
roll for
for three
three
consecutive
consecutive turns,
turns, the
the Item
Item is
is transmuted
transmuted into into the
the "Body
"Body
of
of Christ",
Christ", that
that is,
is, actual
actual human
human flesh,
flesh, and
and the
the StoryHost
StoryHost
must
must re­arrange
re-arrange the
the Item's
Item's modifiers
modifiers accordingly.
accordingly. Using
Using
this
this Skill,
Skill, an
an expensive
expensive sniper
sniper rifle
rifle can
can bebe turned
turned into
into
basically
basically meat.

40
SOMOSA : Third world voodoo, tribal religions,
folk magic. Underworld crime. Curses, corpses
and possession.
“
Somos Santos” (We’re Holy) aka “La
Somosa” is a loose network of third-world
houngans, witch-doctors, shamans and other
animistic magicians hand-picked from a variety of
African-influenced religions, such as Haitian
Voudou, Brazilian Candomblé, Cuban Santería, etc.
Surprisingly they don’t argue much on doctrine,
choosing instead to focus on their similarities, and
above all things their common cause: the fight
against oppression, racism, poverty and colonialism.
They believe their organization started in 1862
simultaneously in West Africa, Louisiana, South
America and the Caribbean, organized from the
Shadowside by barbarously slain ancestor spirits.
The Somosa is the spirit world's response to the
brutal raping of Africa, the institutionalization of
slavery in America and the pain of the poorest
third-world countries.
The Somosa believe the End Justifies the Means, and
so it has little remorse about financing its operations
through criminal activities such as drug trafficking,
arms dealing, kidnapping and assassination –and
whenever a pang of guilt surfaces (usually in the
more junior members) it is quickly sublimated
through the mantra: “They did worse to us”. They
donate a large portion of their profits to their
communities in the third world: building hospitals,
schools and churches, and occasionally raining 100-
dollar bills upon street urchins. Only one other
group, “Big Sis”, forms bonds as close as Somosa's;
all brothers and sisters are there for each other, and
as long as slums exist one is never far from a warm
bed and a hot meal in a Somosa Cuartel.
A las, few other organizations are so utterly
dominated by the Shadowside. Los Abuelos,
the angry and powerful ancestor spirits who died
themselves as slaves, will frequently “ride” their
mortal descendants to make their wishes known, to
remind them of the historical horrors they endured,
and occasionally, to force the hand of the hesitant in
enacting heinous acts of butchery. The rank-and-file
live in a mix of awe and fear, and some secretly
worry that no amount of revenge -no matter how
brutal- will ever be enough to sate the hunger of the
Abuelos.
As a group the Somosa is extremely well attuned to
the Shadowside (called Fén Nwa Bó) and it has built
a reputation for powerful magical curses, lack of
moral qualms, and a penchant for necromancy and
possession. In reality, they are a source of both hope
and vengeance for many of the forgotten and humil-
iated peoples of the world, and in this dichotomy
they hold the key to either their own division and
destruction, or synthesis and evolution.
H
ierogamy: The Bride Ride is the climax to a
very, very intense night-long party. Drums.
Intoxicating substances, mind-numbing chants,
frenetic dances, animal sacrifices; an entire trip. For
some it’s a nightmare that they go through while
high as a kite. Somosa likes to marry half a dozen
recruits or more at a time, and they don’t know
which spirits will choose which brides (as they call
the uninitiated) but trust that the Abuelos know
what's best. For their first night back in the world of
the living, the returning spirits are given license to
ride hard on their new hosts and indulge every single
desire (carnal or otherwise) that they may have held
bottled up in their years wandering the Shadowside.
Most Somosa hold only vague memories of the bar-
barities they committed during their Maiden Night,
and all they know is that they wake up hung-over,
extremely sore, and are then are warmly welcomed
into their new family as brothers and sisters. And
they shall never again be homeless... nor alone.
41
P aranormal Skills

S omos Santos (We’re Holy) (SPI) – "Yeah, but that's not how it works with us, sister. When you
roll with us, we're all one, you know what I mean? No more Ms. Collins -just Somosa now. See,
that's all the Man does, you know, selling you on the bullshit of individualism so that they can divide
and conquer. Not us, Sister. We done wise up to that bull, long, long ago."

Roll: No further dice required; line of sight. Until cancelled by the Caster, the Target (or the Caster himself)
receives a Bonus equal to the Belief Points to one chosen Trait, while the Caster suffers the same as Penalty to
two other chosen Traits. It is the opposite of De Pou Yon (Bonus instead of Penalty) except that no challenge
roll is required. Somosa packs will usually choose a champion to represent their collective holiness.

M ontado (To be riding another as a horse) (MND) – "So mi say the guy,
mi say, you gonna tell I and I what to do? You gonna stand there and
yapyap your mouth and tell mi bullshit? Mon, my Pierre had his barking
like a dog, remember Pierre? Ah haha, remember? Bad man was
humping legs now!"

Roll: Belief
Roll: Belief Points
Points VS
VS Target’s
Target’s Soul.
Soul. The
The spirit
spirit in
in Hierogamy
Hierogamy with
with
Somosa Caster
the Somosa Caster will
will temporarily
temporarily possess
possess the the
Target.
Target. The
The Target
Target will
will remain
remain possessed
possessed until
until hehe
succeeds
succeeds aa roll
roll of
of MND
MND or or SPI
SPI (whichever
(whichever is is
higher)
higher) against
against the
the spell’s
spell’s Belief
Belief Points,
Points, or
or until
until
ancelled. Possessed
cancelled. Possessed Targets
Targets whowho resist
resist will
will
ove unnaturally
move unnaturally and
and be
be driven
driven like
like twisted
twisted
puppets
puppets against
against their
their will
will ­frequently
-frequently they
they
ill vomit,
will vomit, andand soso they
they suffer
suffer great
great
penalties to
to every
every action
action the
the spirit
spirit forces
forces
them toto attempt.
attempt. At
At the
the same
same time
time the
the
Caster
Caster doesdoes not not benefit
benefit from from
Hierogamy in any way until his
partner spirit has returned from the
possessed Target.

F én Nwa Bó (The Dark Side) (MND)

– "You sure you wanna see it? It's not like a movie,
you know. It's not like your videogames, or your little
drug trips in college, or your lucid dreaming you
heard about in Yoga class. Man, it's the Dark Side.
Once your eyes are open they never close no
more."

Roll: Belief
Roll: Belief Points
Points VSVS Target’s
Target’s SPI
SPI on
on close
close
rters. The
quarters. The Caster
Caster sends
sends the
the Target
Target
sly away
helplessly away to to any
any nearby
nearby point
point in
in the
the
Shadowside.
Shadowside. Typically
Typically this
this is
is delivered
delivered by
by
wing aa special
blowing special powder
powder known
known as as
Cemetery Dust off off the
the palm
palm ofof the
the
Caster’s
Caster’s hand.
hand. Other
Other organizations
organizations which
which
learn this
this skill
skill rely
rely on
on slightly
slightly different
different
substances or methods.

42
M emento (MND) – "Sure, he beat my ass, but I got us a souvenir, brothers." "A tooth. Nice." "So...
are you thinking what I'm thinking?" "Sister, I was thinking what you're thinking even before
you thought about thinking what you're thinking."

Roll: A two-step ritual is required, and the Target must be within eyesight of the Caster operating the object.
After fashioning part of a Target's body (such as blood, hair, skin, or teeth) into an inanimate object (such as a
cloth doll) and investing Belief Points in it, the object becomes a sympathetic link to the Target, magically
communicating all
communicating all physical
physical sensations.
sensations. The
The object
object can
can be
be punctured,
punctured, crushed,
crushed, cut
cut or
or
burned resulting
burned resulting in
in excruciating
excruciating pain
pain to
to the
the Target,
Target, which
which the
the Target
Target
can
can only
only overcome
overcome through
through aa roll
roll of
of MND
MND or or SPI
SPI (whichever
(whichever is is higher)
higher)
vs
vs Belief
Belief Points,
Points, at
at the
the beginning
beginning ofof the
the turn.
turn. Failing
Failing this
this roll
roll will
will result
result in
in
aa corresponding
corresponding Penalty
Penalty toto that
that turn's
turn's action.
action. Repeat
Repeat every
every turn
turn for
for as
as long
long
as
as the
the object
object exists
exists and
and is
is being
being operated
operated on on within
within eyesight
eyesight ofof the
the Target.
Target.

Z ombi (SPI) – "You went to Louisiana, didn't you? Tell me

something, did you see a Nonm Kwokodil?" "A what?" Take a
spirit from the Astral Plane, one that barely remembers his own
name, but is angry. Seriously truly well angry, and needy. Put it in
a dead alligator. Watch the aberration twist and try to talk, before
turning murderous against anything and anyone. Nonm Kwokodil."

Roll:
Roll: AA two­step
two-step ritual
ritual and
and aa corpse
corpse are
are required.
required. For
For every
every Belief
Belief Point
Point
invested,
invested, the
the corpse,
corpse, imbued
imbued withwith aa barely
barely conscious
conscious spirit
spirit from
from the
the
Shadowside,
Shadowside, willwill "live"
"live" one
one more
more turn.
turn. Belief
Belief Points
Points can
can be
be distributed
distributed
between
between multiple
multiple corpses,
corpses, if
if multiple
multiple corpses
corpses are
are available.
available. What
What the
the freshly
freshly
risen
risen corpses
corpses do,
do, and
and what
what their
their Traits
Traits are
are is
is left
left entirely
entirely up
up to
to the
the SH,
SH, as
as the
the
spirits
spirits within
within are
are barely
barely sentient
sentient to
to begin
begin with
with (no
(no sentient
sentient spirit
spirit would
would
willingly
willingly take
take this
this kind
kind of
of Hierogamy
Hierogamy deal).
deal).

D e Pou Yon (Two For One) (SPI) – "Thing is, these people like
being ugly. They trade their looks to weaken you -no they do!
Bro, you've never seen them, so you don't know. Let me tell you: I
was there. San Juan. Like fucking dogs. Nearly pissed myself run-
ning back to Ops."

Roll:
Roll: Belief
Belief Points
Points VSVS Target’s
Target’s Trait
Trait (as
(as chosen
chosen byby the
the Caster)
Caster) on
on line
line of
of
sight.
sight. The
The Target’s
Target’s Trait
Trait (as
(as chosen
chosen by by the
the Caster)
Caster) and
and two
two of of the
the
Caster’s
Caster’s own
own Traits
Traits (also
(also chosen
chosen byby the
the Caster)
Caster) will
will all
all suffer
suffer negative
negative
penalties in
penalties in the
the amount
amount of of Belief
Belief Points
Points for
for every
every turn
turn until
until the
the
Target succeeds
Target succeeds in in aa roll
roll of
of his
his affected
affected Trait
Trait (at
(at nominal
nominal value
value of
of
course) VS
course) VS the
the Belief
Belief Points,
Points, or
or the
the Caster
Caster voluntarily
voluntarily lifts
lifts the
the
curse. Like
curse. Like Montado,
Montado, thisthis means
means the the Target
Target could
could potentially
potentially be
be
cursed for
cursed for aa very
very long
long time.
time. Example:
Example: The The Somosa
Somosa houngan
houngan is is
facing aa powerful
facing powerful warrior.
warrior. HeHe curses
curses him
him with
with 1313 Belief
Belief Points,
Points,
sacrificing his
sacrificing his own
own PREPRE and
and BTY
BTY (which
(which he he doesn’t
doesn’t need
need at
at
the moment) to sink the warrior’s STR. Until the curse is
the
lifted, the
lifted, the warrior
warrior will
will have
have aa crippling
crippling penalty
penalty ofof 13
13 points
points
to all tasks involving STR (while the houngan suffers the
to
same to all tasks involving PRE and BTY).

43
T HE SISTERHOOD OF SALEM:
Wicca, nature-loving do-gooders, gypsies, lovers.
Lairs, vampires, werewolves and freaks.
I t started as a response to the madness of the In-
quisition: a haven for the hunted, for the freaks
and the forsaken… but you wouldn’t know it
looking from the outside in. To outward appearances
the Sisterhood of Salem is simply a super-group of
like-minded pagans, a loosely-Wicca organization
made out almost exclusively of outcasts of one kind
or another; gypsies, hippies, goth kids, freaks.
Anyone rejected by society, anyone prone to run
away with the circus, anyone sick of the Us-Vs-Them
game humans like to play so much is bound to run
into “Big Sis” in some forest sooner or later, in some
county fair, in some 10-dollar-psychic-reading shop
and like Dorothy, leave Kansas. And then be in for a
surprise when Oz is composed of vast underground
caverns hidden under remote ranches and farms,
labyrinthine towns in the sewers of most major cities,
ancient manors in the forest where large inhuman
figures are sometimes glimpsed coming in and out
of, always near midnight.
Big Sis embraces everybody and judges no one; its
only rule is “Do unto others” (which granted, goes
both ways). Some tormented souls have lived for
hundreds of years in Hierogamy with blood-thirsty
spirits they cannot understand, and are some-times
prisoners to their primal animalistic rage, regardless
of the state of the moon. Not all of the medieval
legends about vampires and werewolves ought to be
disregarded: many did devolve into beasts -but those
who found the Sisterhood in time finally understood.
The Sisterhood arranges for them what is necessary
to sate the hunger of their inner demons, and then
teaches them to gradually regain some measure of
control. These so-called “vampires”, “werewolves”
and "freaks" are amongst the most loyal forces any
organization could ever have: for when they fight
they fight for the only home and family they've ever
known.
N ot all members suffer from animalistic-
Hierogamy of course; Big Sis has plenty of
regular mages and witches, and it’s agnostic as to the
various doctrines and beliefs of their practitioners
–in fact it benefits from their diversity. As a result of
its ancestral (though waning) feud with Malleus, Big
Sis' Covens are still built to withstand assault, ranging
from old castles in Europe, remote cattle ranches in
Brazil, or well-equipped and camouflaged sewer
towns under most cities. Each major Coven has a
Leader, and the Council of Leaders, lead by a rotating
head Sophia, meets once per year, usually in Necroto-
pia (their capital city beneath Los Angeles with a
population in the tens of thousands), to discuss the
progress of the Quest: their mission to literally heal
the world. Some say, however, that such idealism
will be the downfall of the Peace and Crossbones (or
the Siete-Trece as it is known in Latin America). Only
time will tell.
H
ierogamy: Most members of Big Sis were
already in Hierogamy –usually against their
will- before even hearing about the organization; in
these cases Big Sis teaches the “monsters” how to live
with themselves and eventually find peace. However
voluntary inductions do occur: the Sisterhood of
Salem is the only organization that believes the guest
spirit and the mortal host must actually be in love in
the fullest sense of the word; and won’t proceed with
the union otherwise. A Moon Marriage resembles a
traditional Wicca wedding: think of being
surrounded by all your friends and loved ones in
their best attire at some picturesque chapel in the
woods, saying your vows, having a Priestess con-
secrate your union under the moonlight, cheering,
dancing, drinking, etc. And later that night the union
is consummated as one would expect.
44
P aranormal Skills

A stral Travel (SPI) – "I understand this is going to be your first time to try this." "Y-yes, yes sir."
"You don't have to call anyone 'Sir' around here. Call me Jake". "Yes... Jake." "You're nervous.
Don't be. It's not like Summerland, where everything changes all around you. You will still be in this
physical world, and no one will be able to touch you, no one will be able to harm you."
"No one? Not one?" Jake looked away for a second. "No one near."

Roll: The Caster's spirit may leave ve its

its body,
body, like
like aa ghost,
ghost, for
for as
as many
many turns
turns as
as Belief
Belief
Points were
Points were invested.
invested. While
While in
in Astral
Astral form,
form, the
the Caster's
Caster's body
body (which
(which appears
appears to
to be
be
sleeping)
sleeping) is is vulnerable
vulnerable to to physical
physical harm,
harm, and
and the
the Caster's
Caster's spirit
spirit (which
(which is
is invisible
invisible to
to
all
all but
but other
other spirits)
spirits) is
is vulnerable
vulnerable to
to spiritual
spiritual harm.
harm. TheThe Caster
Caster may
may fly
fly and
and travel
travel
att the
the speed
speed of of sight,
sight, focusing
focusing on
on any
any visible
visible point
point inin the
the horizon,
horizon, then
then zooming
zooming inin
until
until arrival,
arrival, once
once per
per turn.
turn. The
The Caster
Caster may
may go
go through
through solid
solid objects,
objects, and
and enjoy
enjoy
usee of
of all
all five
five senses,
senses, but
but may
may not
not interact
interact with
with thethe physical
physical world
world ­only
-only
with
with other
other spirits
spirits and
and only
only in
in harmless
harmless ways.
ways. The
The Caster
Caster may
may return
return to
to
his Body by following the Silver Cord back back to
to it's
it's physical
physical location.
location.

H omebrew (MND) – "And for the love of Gaia don't confuse

the bottles. Red cap helps you fight, Blue cap helps you
use your Marks, Green caps will make you feel better if you
get hurt, and Black caps are poison. Think you can handle
that?" "Why not just label them?" "Son, I ain't the FDA. Chug."

Roll: A two-step p ritual

ritual isis required
required forfor each
each potion,
potion, in in addition
addition to to
ients, aa container,
ingredients, container, and and atat minimum
minimum some some basic
basic means
means of of cooking.
cooking.
Belief
Belief Points
Points areare distributed
distributed between
between the the number
number of of days
days thethe potion
potion should
should
remain
remain potent,
potent, andand if if the
the potion
potion is is ingested
ingested during
during this this period,
period, itit will
will add
add or or
ubtract one
subtract one point
point per per turn
turn toto aa chosen
chosen Trait
Trait until
until it it reaches
reaches itsits maximum
maximum effect effect
apped at
(capped at double
double the the Trait's
Trait's nominal
nominal value),
value), after
after which
which it it will
will begin
begin to
to wane
wane also
also
at
at aa rate
rate of
of 11 point
point perper turn.
turn. Example:
Example: 30 30 Belief
Belief Points
Points cancan create
create aa potion
potion which
which
grants
grants 10 10 points
points of of STR
STR if
if ingested
ingested within
within 33 days
days ofof its
its creation.
creation. When
When ingested
ingested it it
ill add
will add 11 point
point to to STR
STR on
on the
the 1st
1st turn,
turn, 22 points
points onon the
the 2nd
2nd turn,
turn, 33 points
points onon the
the
3rd
3rd turn,
turn, and
and soso onon until
until it
it either
either adds
adds 1010 points
points onon the
the 10th
10th turn
turn or
or twice
twice the
the
rait's value
Trait's value ­whichever
-whichever comescomes first.
first. After
After that
that it
it will
will begin
begin to to wane,
wane, adding
adding
only 99 points
only points in in the
the next
next turn,
turn, 88 points
points inin the
the turn
turn after
after that,
that, and
and soso on
on until
until
the effect
effect is
is over.
over. Importantly,
Importantly, TraitsTraits will
will not
not wane
wane back back below
below their
their
minal value,
nominal value, so so potions
potions areare aa viable
viable way
way toto permanently
permanently heal heal damage,
damage,
or restore penalized Traits.

E nlightenment (MND) – "Yes, I feel better now. I guess just

had to meditate for a bit, you know? Just think. Everything
is clearer now, really. And... thanks for covering for me while I
was laying on the floor."

Roll: No
Roll: No further
further dice
dice required.
required. Caster
Caster gains
gains Belief
Belief Points
Points Bonuses
Bonuses toto
MND, SPI and CHA but equal Belief lief Points
Points Penalties
Penalties to
to STR,
STR, DEX
DEX
and END.
and END. Storywise
Storywise the
the characters‘
characters‘ trance
trance can
can be
be so
so strong
strong that
that
Aura becomes
their Aura becomes brightly
brightly visible,
visible, acting
acting as
as aa light
light source.
source.
haracters with
Characters with zero
zero STR
STR may
may find
find themselves
themselves unable
unable toto even
even
walk. It ends at will.

45
P rimal (SPI) – "Oh, it'll be the best sex you've ever had, in your entire life, bar none, guaranteed.
But just two caveats: one, you may not survive it, and two, if you do, you may not remember
much of it. Wear protection. As in, armor."

Roll: No further dice required. When the Caster goes Primal he gains Belief Points Bonuses to STR, DEX and
END but equal Belief Points Penalties to MND, SPI and CHA. Storywise the Caster enters an animalistic state
which
which is is incredibly
incredibly useful
useful for
for melee
melee combat
combat (or
(or for
for any
any physical
physical task)
task) ­at
-at the
the
cost
cost ofof sentience.
sentience. Depending
Depending on on the
the degree
degree of of intensity,
intensity, the
the Caster
Caster may
may
manifest
manifest certain
certain physical
physical changes
changes such
such as
as enlarged
enlarged fangs,
fangs, claws,
claws, or
or vellum.
vellum.
Characters
Characters with
with zero
zero MND
MND willwill exhibit
exhibit intelligence
intelligence nono better
better than
than that
that of
of aa
feral
feral beast.
beast. The
The only
only way
way toto return
return to
to normal
normal is is by
by rolling
rolling nominal
nominal MND
MND VS VS
Belief
Belief Points.
Points. Give
Give Penalties
Penalties to
to this
this roll
roll if
if the
the Caster
Caster isis wounded,
wounded, forfor aa
wounded animal
wounded animal is
is that
that much
much closer
closer to
to the
the psychic
psychic surface.
surface.

E mpathy (MND) – "I'm not sure I want to do this. I'm

not sure I want to know." "We have to, Mary. He's
still out there. He could do it again." "I know that. But...
do you realize what it's going to feel like?" The group
held their silence for a moment, as Mary held the torn
and bloodied underwear in her hand.

Roll: Belief
Roll: Belief Points
Points VSVS Target’s
Target’s SPI
SPI on
on contact
contact with
with Target,
Target, or
or
with an
with an object
object that
that is
is highly
highly significant
significant toto Target.
Target. The
The Caster
Caster
will
will receive
receive inin aa few
few seconds
seconds (as
(as if
if during
during aa flashback)
flashback) the
the
total
total input
input ofof the
the Target’s
Target’s senses
senses andand feelings
feelings for
for the
the last
last
few
few hours. Pain, pleasure, fear, anger, plus whatever the
T
Target saw, heard, smelled, etc, will become an instant vivid
memory; it
memory; it can
can be
be overwhelming.
overwhelming. SomeSome invoke
invoke Empathy
Empathy after
after
having
having the
the Target
Target reminisce
reminisce first;
first; this
this way
way the
the Caster
Caster can
can peer
peer
into
into long­past
long-past events.
events. Empathy
Empathy works
works with
with animals
animals and
and plants,
plants, too.
too.

V ampire (SPI) – "At first I would do it for the thrill. I tried to

quit it, but then I started doing it because I was hungry.
Hungry. You don't know... it... it's not a normal hunger. I..." "Go
on, Lydia. We're listening." "It's just so hard. I mean, she cared
for me. She was my best friend -I'm sorry is just-" "It's okay to
cry..." "-is just... the night she came over, it was because of a
text message I had sent her, telling her... I needed help."
"Lydia..." "I woke up the next morning... there was much
blood..." "Lydia. We understand. No one else can say that to
you. Look at me now. We. Understand."

Roll: No
Roll: No further
further dice
dice required.
required. Once
Once harnessed
harnessed the
the Belief
Belief Points
Points
remain in
remain in stand-by
stand­by until
until the
the Caster
Caster wins
wins step
step 11 of
of Melee
Melee atat some
some
future turn.
future turn. At
At this
this point
point consider
consider aa storywise
storywise grapple
grapple with
with Belief
Belief
Points
Points replacing
replacing STR,
STR, and
and with
with any
any Damage
Damage dealt
dealt to
to the
the Target
Target
simultaneously
simultaneously beingbeing used
used toto heal
heal any
any damaged
damaged Trait
Trait of
of the
the Caster,
Caster,
including
including Body
Body and/or
and/or Soul.
Soul. Some
Some self­identifying
self-identifying “vampires”
“vampires” will
will feel
feel
the
the urge
urge to
to bite
bite into
into the
the Target’s
Target’s neck
neck at
at this
this point;
point; some
some avoid
avoid Melee
Melee step
step
11 altogether
altogether by
by tricking
tricking their
their Target
Target into
into aa consensual
consensual embrace.
embrace.

46
GREATER THELEMA SOCIETY:
Occult secret society, conspiracies, rituals, old--
world-old-money, power and debauchery.
O rdo Templi Orientis applied for tax exemption
in 1982. The Freemasons publicly donate to
charity, and host conferences. The Rosicrucians have
disowned all of their more interesting rites, and even
the Templars have become, at least in popular cul-
ture, a faint mockery of what they used to be. Enter
The Greater Thelema Society, recruiting the best (and
usually the most disenchanted) from every other
occult organization, and promising a vision as bold
as any Crowley himself could have dreamed of:
unlimited knowledge, unlimited power, and the
good sense to keep occult matters occult.
Tracing the genealogy of what eventually became
the GTS would be a complex exercise in religious
fragmentation, but suffice to say they trace their
initial spark to Sir Francis Dashwood’s Hellfire Club,
and believe themselves to be the true heirs of
Aleister Crowley’s legacy. They recruit and groom
within the old pillars of power in our civilization:
mayors, deans, captains of industry, old money.
They are in every sense a secret society: united by
their sense of superiority and thirst for occult know-
ledge, unafraid of morals yet respectful of tradition,
they live and die by the golden motto of Thelema:
“Do as you will”.
You can’t join GTS unless you are already at the top
of your game in the ‘unlit’ world (to use their ter-
minology). Their very exclusive membership allows
them to wield disproportionate economic, political
and cultural power: picture 12 black Cadillacs all
arriving at midnight at some venerable hilltop
mansion in the historical heart of Boston. Usually
that is all anyone can picture, for what happens
behind closed doors is a dearly guarded secret. There
are rumors of devil worshipping, of bacchanalia and
orgies, of human sacrifices and pentagrams drawn in
blood over expensive hardwood flooring, chants in
latin and hooded men wielding ceremonial knives,
etc. Their relic collection is said to rival both Malleus'
and the Vatican’s.
B ut modern society, being what it is, is changing
too fast. GTS has been accused of being too slow
to adapt, too stuck in their neo-victorian mindset of
class warfare and conspiracy. GTS wants a New
World Order where the Deserving have total control
over the Undeserving. In the meanwhile knowledge,
thrills, and the personal satisfaction of conquering
domains beyond the mortal coil makes do. They
have a reputation for manipulating world events be-
hind the scenes, and when dealing with them, one
should never let one's guard down. There are wheels
within wheels and meanings within meanings. It is
rumored it was GTS which lead Malleus astray to-
wards its ill-fated alliance with the Thule Society, for
instance, and that they had a hand in situating the
original Fujin deity in the path of the A-bomb as a
means of destroying the ancient Cult of Fujin entirely
-which they certainly did. That said, the Society can
be a formidable ally (or foe!), provided one is worth
their time.
H
ierogamy: The ritual includes all the classical
trappings: runes drawn on the floor, latin-
chanting robed figures, black candles, mirrors, and
most certainly a sacrificial knife -which is soon
plunged into the inductee’s chest, and left there. The
inductee is then buried in private land, inside a
luxurious coffin. His spirit has two days to wander
the Shadowside looking for a suitable companion. If
successful, the new Thelemite wakes up inside the
coffin, removes the knife, and pulls a rope connected
to a bell up in the surface. Within days the club will
celebrate the inductee's successful rite of passage
with an entirely mundane –and decadent– private
party.
47
P aranormal Skills

S ervitor (SPI) - "Have you met our majordomo, Mr. Welldone?" inquired Harris, cheerfully, as the
grisly apparition resembling a charred skeleton draped in thick black smoke picked up the guest-
s' luggage and merely flew to the balcony. "Good help is so hard to find these days."

Roll: A
Roll: A two-step
two­step ritual
ritual is
is required.
required. TheThe Caster
Caster manifests
manifests hishis will
will in
in physical
physical form
form
creating a servant sustained ined byby his
his life
life force.
force. This
This spirit
spirit has
has approximately
approximately half half the
the
aster’s Belief
Caster’s Belief Points
Points inin all
all Traits,
Traits, can
can fly,
fly, talk,
talk, and
and will
will remain
remain present
present until
until
ismissed or
dismissed or destroyed.
destroyed. TheThe Caster's
Caster's Soul
Soul and
and Body
Body are
are diminished
diminished by by thethe same
same
elief Points
Belief Points amount
amount and and may
may notnot be
be restored
restored for
for as
as long
long as as the
the Servitor
Servitor exists.
exists.
The specific
The specific shape
shape of of the
the Servitor
Servitor is is up
up toto the
the Caster’s
Caster’s imagination
imagination (even(even
personating anyone
impersonating anyone the
the Caster
Caster can
can vividly
vividly imagine)
imagine) but
but may
may not
not be
be bigger
bigger
than
than aa man.
man. Servitors
Servitors maymay talk
talk with
with any
any voice
voice the
the Caster
Caster imagines,
imagines, but
but
knowledge hails
their knowledge hails directly
directly from
from the
the Caster’s
Caster’s own
own -their
­their sentience
sentience isis
thereforere an
an illusion.
illusion. Example:
Example: withwith 1010 Belief
Belief Points
Points the
the Caster
Caster may
may
onjure aa black
conjure black dog
dog with
with burning
burning redred eyes
eyes and
and average
average traits
traits of
of 5,
5, but
but
Soul Trait
his Soul Trait goes
goes from
from 1212 to
to 2,
2, and
and his
his Body
Body Trait
Trait goes
goes from
from 1010 to
to 00
ing him
leaving him quite
quite vulnerable.
vulnerable. Soul
Soul and
and Body
Body Traits
Traits may
may not
not gogo below
below
zero from
zero from this
this skill
skill even
even if
if the
the Belief
Belief Points
Points are
are greater.
greater. Servitors
Servitors have
have
same Skills
the same Skills as
as the
the Caster
Caster -including
­including thethe ability
ability to
to create
create Servitors
Servitors
of their own.

T he Eye of Isis (MND) - "I'll tell nothing!" the crook vowed. "Oh
hush now and close your eyes, son. When I ask my questions,
you're not going to want to see what answers."

Roll: Belief
Roll: Belief Points
Points VS
VS Target’s
Target’s MND
MND within
within audible
audible range.
range. Take
Take thethe
quired roll
difference between the required roll and
and the
the actual
actual roll;
roll; this
this is
is the
the
aximum number
maximum number ofof Yes/No
Yes/No answers
answers thethe Caster
Caster will
will intuit
intuit (even
(even
against the
against the will
will of
of the
the Target)
Target) provided
provided the the Target
Target merely
merely hears
hears the
the
tions. Typically
questions. Typically the
the Caster
Caster will
will stare
stare atat his
his Target
Target with
with one
one eye
eye
ugh aa triangle
through triangle shaped
shaped with
with his
his fingers.
fingers. Caster
Caster may
may askask up
up to
to three
three
questions per turn.

T he Damascus Working (SPI) - "Everything is in balance. What

comes up must come down, night follows day, yadda yadda -y-
ou understand that?" "Y-yes, yes sir I think I do." "Good. As such there
is no such thing as true 'healing'. Come, let me show you how it's
done."

Roll: Belief
Roll: Belief Points
Points VSVS any
any Target’s
Target’s Trait
Trait (as
(as chosen
chosen by
by the
the Caster)
Caster) on
on
uring contact.
enduring contact. TheThe difference
difference between
between the
the required
required roll
roll and
and the
the actual
actual
ll, if
roll, if positive,
positive, is is the
the maximum
maximum number
number ofof points
points the
the Target
Target loses
loses and
and the
the
aster (or
Caster (or aa chosen
chosen ally
ally in
in contact
contact with
with the
the Caster)
Caster)
gains
gains in in the
the challenged
challenged Trait,
Trait, including
including Body,
Body, Soul
Soul
orr LFE,
LFE, until
until the
the Target
Target either
either dies
dies or
or recovers
recovers ­at
-at
hich point
which point allall gains
gains over
over nominal
nominal value
value disap­
disap-
pear.
pear. Since
Since itit requires
requires prolonged
prolonged physical
physical contact
contact
the
the Target
Target must
must be be willing
willing or
or otherwise
otherwise defenseless
defenseless
to be exploited.

48
H ex (MND) - "It's just not my day today, I guess. I never miss a shot. And it was just 10 feet!
What's wrong with me!?" The agent was just too preocuppied to notice the incoming bus-

Roll: Belief Points VS Target’s MND and SPI combined on line of sight. The difference between the required
roll and the actual roll, if positive, is the Penalty the Target will suffer to his next roll, representing the
temporary curse.
temporary curse. Large
Large numbers
numbers may may bebe split
split across
across several
several turns
turns if
if desired.
desired.
The Caster
The Caster may
may quietly
quietly Hex
Hex anyone
anyone within
within eyesight
eyesight without
without their
their
knowledge. Example:
knowledge. Example: rolling
rolling 17
17 on
on aa required
required roll
roll of
of 11
11 yields
yields 66 points:
points:
enough to
enough to Hex
Hex aa target
target 33 points
points per
per turn
turn for
for 22 turns.
turns.

P entagram (MND) - "Step into my parlor", said Alissandra with

a wide smile and open arms. James had never been one to shy
away from a challenge, but no sooner his foot touched the in-
side of the strange star drawn on the floor he felt the strength
drain out of his limbs. "Clearly," smiled the stunning beauty
as she produced a sacrificial knife out of her purse "you were
not an English major, were you?"

Roll: A
Roll: A ritual
ritual of
of at
at least
least two
two steps
steps is
is required.
required. The
The Caster
Caster draws
draws aa
pentagram on
pentagram on the
the floor
floor and
and imbues
imbues itit with
with his
his choice
choice ofof positive
positive
or negative
or negative energy
energy applicable
applicable to to his
his chosen
chosen Trait.
Trait. Any
Any person
person
(friend or
(friend or foe)
foe) who
who stands
stands inside
inside the
the pentagram
pentagram will
will receive
receive aa Bo-Bo­
nus (or
nus (or Penalty,
Penalty, as as chosen
chosen by by the
the Caster)
Caster) to
to the
the chosen
chosen Trait
Trait for
for
the amount
the amount of of Belief
Belief Points
Points the
the Caster
Caster invested
invested until
until the
the end
end ofof the
the
storywise crisis.
storywise crisis. The
The number
number of of people
people who
who fit
fit inside
inside aa pentagram
pentagram
correspond to
correspond to the
the number
number of of turns
turns the
the Caster
Caster spent
spent in
in its
its ritual.
ritual. A
A
Caster may
Caster may draw
draw several
several overlapping
overlapping pentagrams
pentagrams to to target
target more
more
than one
than one Trait
Trait -each
­each isis considered
considered aa separate
separate application.
application. Penta-
Penta­
grams may
grams may be be drawn
drawn on on aa ceiling.
ceiling.

S ummon (SPI) - "So I hear you're an Elvis fan, Mr. Ros-

encraft?" The elderly statesman sighed softly. "Am I
supposed to be impressed that you know this?" he retorted
"Is this the extent of the research your organization prom-
ises, Ms..?" "Dear Mr. Rosencraft, my organization does
expect you to be quite impressed. But not by our research
-you see, if it pleases you... we can arrange for you a little
audience with the king... and it's Ms. Lawrence, by the
way."

Roll: A
Roll: A ritual
ritual of
of at
at least
least two
two steps
steps is
is required.
required. The
The Caster
Caster must
must
know the
know the Entity's
Entity's True
True Name.
Name. The The Entity
Entity must
must come
come voluntar-
voluntar­
ily. For
ily. For every
every 10
10 Belief
Belief Points
Points thethe Caster
Caster invests
invests he
he may
may open
open aa
one­way bridge
one-way bridge toto the
the Shadowside
Shadowside that that allows
allows aa named
named Entity
Entity to
to
visit our
visit our real
real world
world for
for one
one turn
turn (or
(or 11 minute
minute ifif not
not cast
cast during
during aa story-
story­
wise crisis).
wise crisis). The
The Entity
Entity is
is fully
fully capable
capable of of interacting
interacting with
with our
our world.
world.
There is
There is no
no guarantee
guarantee that
that the
the Entity
Entity will
will be
be agreeable
agreeable to to the
the Caster's
Caster's
desires; it
desires; it remains
remains hishis own
own individual,
individual, with
with his
his own
own motivations
motivations
and plans. A wise Caster will prepare something to bargain
with before bringing such powerful party to the table.

49
A CCELLETRIX: Corporate ruthlessness, men-
in-black, high-tech, mad science. Big profits and
low scruples.

I t started as a simple matter of efficiency. Scientific

tests performed at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology conclusively demonstrated the existence
of a “psychic layer”, theorizing it as the true source
of human sentience. Nobel-worthy findings indeed,
if only they hadn’t quickly so been hushed up.

The “formal” discovery of the Shadowside (Psychic

Tempore) was seen by many corporate interests in
the same way Europe saw the New World after
Columbus: a brave new frontier to mine and
conquer. A conclave of corporate interests decided it
made little strategic sense to tackle the “paranormal
opportunity” through the traditional governmental
channels –too many wildly diverging budgets,
political ideologies and national interests would be
getting in the way, and truly Men-In-Black are
expensive. Above all: they needed secrecy.
And so the stage was set for the rise of Accelletrix;
headquartered in Moscow but truly international,
able to aggressively recruit the best operatives of
every three-letter agency, and discreetly centralizing
all research and development under a single
umbrella. Revenue comes via third-party channels
which commercialize proprietary R&D (mostly phar-
maceuticals and military technology) and "security
services" -an euphemism for their private army.
Whether providing armament and field expertise in
the Middle East, or developing bold new cures using
human trials out of sight from regulators in the heart
of China, Accelletrix delivers. They maneuver
outside of the public eye; the last thing they need is
to be slowed down by politics, laws, or ethics.
Machine; you will grind until obsolescence at which
point you’ll retire and be replaced. All great human
achievements are built upon thousands of small
sacrifices like this. Everything has a price tag.
Despite their focus on short-term gains, Accelletrix
has the long view. They realize that while paranor-
mal organizations have always existed, content with
merely prodding around in the dark, Accelletrix is
the only one dissecting the Shadowside with actual
science, turning the paranormal into normal, and
making progress that benefits the species as a whole.
H ierogamy: After passing an exhaustive
battery of physical and psychological tests,
candidates for Psychic Tempore Enablement are
whisked away to an undisclosed location. Heavily
sedated and surrounded by state-of-the-art
technology, they are kept in large vats of a classified
ectoplasmic substance (colloquially known as goop)
while robotic surgeons install several sub-dermal
implants –one per Skill, plus an additional one
designed to keep the spirit in Hierogamy sedated

G etting hired by Accelletrix is a one-way-street.

Once “in” you will be provided with the best
hardware, military-grade training, and the most
competitive pay in either the private or public sec-
tors. You will be garrisoned in modern, self-sufficient
complexes at strategic locations around the world,
and every day the Blue Ascent logo will remind you
of Mankind's glorious future as we merge Science
and Spirit. You will be a Gear in the proverbial
and mute (in fact in all training documentation the
spirit is never referred to as a person, but rather as an
amorphous Psychic Tempore Energy Source, and
turning off this implant to engage one’s spirit in con-
versation is considered a serious breach of policy,
and a liability). After the procedure, newly enhanced
agents still go through various training courses and
acclimation, after which they are finally ready to be
deployed back on the field.

50
P aranormal Skills

A ctive Biological Denial (MND) – "What the- are you out of your goddamn mind, Jones? Do you
have any idea how much it will cost to clean this up?" "But you saw how he was coming at me!"
"Then you should have remembered your goddamn training, son. We have options for this kind of
shit. ABD ring any bells? Jesus Christ. I'm telling you, the paperwork for this? All
yours."

Roll: Belief
Roll: Belief Points
Points vs
vs Target’s
Target’s STR
STR oror DEX
DEX (whichever
(whichever is is lower)
lower) on on line
line of
of sight.
sight. The
The
difference between the required d roll
roll and
and the
the actual
actual roll,
roll, if
if positive,
positive, is
is how
how many
many points
points the
the
arget loses
Target loses from
from Belief
Belief Points,
Points, then
then either
either DEX
DEX oror STR,
STR, then
then Body,
Body, then
then LFE.
LFE. Upon
Upon STRSTR or
or
DEX reaching
DEX reaching zero,
zero, the
the Target
Target falls
falls to
to the
the floor,
floor, unable
unable to to move.
move. Provided
Provided LFE
LFE isis
untouched losses
untouched losses are
are not
not permanent,
permanent, andand disappear
disappear byby themselves
themselves at at aa rate
rate of
of 11 point
point per
per
turn. ABD feels both numbing and painful.

P acifier (MND) – "Wow, I... these must be some strong Margaritas, will
you excuse me for a moment?" "Of course, baby!". The pretty lady
walked away, trying not to stumble, towards the ladies room. "I cannot
approve of what you are doing, Omar." "What's it to you ghosty? You were
gay in life, or something?" "Why I... no! It is simply
wrong. You are not supposed to-" "To what? To
turn off the mute button on your PT Module
there? Wanna go nighty-night again?" "... No..."
"Good. So just chillax, and enjoy the ride then,
okay?"

Roll: Belief
Roll: Belief Points
Points VS
VS Target’s
Target’s MND
MND or or SPI
SPI (whichever
(whichever isis lower)
lower) on
on line
line of
of sight.
sight.
tween the
The difference between the required
required roll
roll and
and the
the actual
actual roll,
roll, if
if positive,
positive, is
is how
how
any Belief
many Belief Points
Points the
the Target
Target loses.
loses. Once
Once aa Target
Target is
is out
out of
of Belief
Belief Points,
Points, Pacifier
Pacifier
begins to
to reduce
reduce either
either SPI
SPI or
or MND
MND until
until the
the Target
Target loses
loses consciousness,
consciousness, thenthen
Soul,
Soul, then
then LFE.
LFE. Provided
Provided LFELFE isis untouched,
untouched, the
the Trait
Trait damage
damage is is not
not permanent,
permanent,
and healsls by
by itself
itself at
at aa rate
rate of
of 11 point
point per
per turn.
turn. Victims
Victims describe
describe the
the effect
effect as
as aa
sudden
sudden heat
heat wave
wave that
that makes
makes them
them feel
feel dizzy,
dizzy, disoriented
disoriented and
and aa little
little drunk.
drunk.

N ull Field (SPI) – "Yeah, I see them, too. Hold your positions." "6
o'clock too, sir!". "Copy. Just stay cool and get those Null Fields
going. Maintain unit formation for maximum AoE. After the first wave
fizzles we come out guns blazing towards Alpha, understood?" "Yes sir!"
the six men replied. "Good. Maybe you monkeys do get to live forever."

Roll: No further dice required; d; line

line of
of sight.
sight. Once
Once harnessed
harnessed the
the Belief
Belief Points
Points
ain in
remain in stand­by
stand-by until
until used
used toto counter
counter any
any Paranormal
Paranormal Skill,
Skill, point
point for
for
point.
point. Null
Null Field
Field can
can bebe cast
cast over
over any
any Target
Target within
within eyesight,
eyesight, including
including the
the
aster himself.
Caster himself. Example:
Example: The The Caster
Caster protects
protects himself
himself with
with 10
10 Belief
Belief Points
Points
off Null
Null Field.
Field. Later
Later on,
on, when
when anan enemy
enemy applies
applies aa Paranormal
Paranormal Skill
Skill that
that
would
would normally
normally hithit with
with 15 15 Belief
Belief Points,
Points, Null
Null Field
Field kicks
kicks in
in and
and only
only 55
make
make it it through.
through. Note
Note thatthat Null
Null Field
Field will
will negate
negate any successive
successive
paranormal
paranormal effect
effect on
on thethe Target
Target ­not
-not only
only the
the negative
negative ones.
ones. After
After aa
successful
successful REFREF check
check the the Caster
Caster may
may issue
issue Null
Null Field
Field in
in the
the same
same
und as
round as the
the effect
effect it's
it's trying
trying to
to nullify.
nullify. AA Caster
Caster may
may only
only have
have one
one
Null Field in stand-by at a time.

51
P otentiator (SPI) – "Science, bitches." crowed McReady, as he emerged out of cover to find all 24
assailants suddenly asleep all around the plaza. "But... but I don't understand" replied Father
Garcia "I expected at least a few of them would defy the Holy Word..." "Yeah, I gave you a little assist
there, Padre. Like I said, Science."

Roll: No further dice required; line of sight. Once harnessed the Belief Points remain in stand-by, and the
Caster
Caster may
may atat any
any time
time add
add them
them toto the
the Belief
Belief Points
Points of
of any
any Paranormal
Paranormal Skill
Skill in
in
progress
progress within
within line
line of
of sight.
sight. Example:
Example: one
one Accelletrix
Accelletrix agent
agent is
is casting
casting Pacifier
Pacifier
against
against aa Target
Target with
with 12
12 Belief
Belief Points.
Points. The
The Caster
Caster applies
applies Potentiator
Potentiator for
for 10
10 more
more
points,
points, and
and the
the resulting
resulting Pacifier
Pacifier hits
hits with
with aa force
force of
of 22
22. After a successful REF
check,
check, the
the Caster
Caster may
may issue
issue Potentiator
Potentiator even
even inin the
the same
same round
round as
as the
the effect
effect it's
it's
trying
trying to
to strengthen.
strengthen. AA Caster
Caster may
may have
have only
only one
one Potentiator
Potentiator in
in stand­by
stand-by atat aa
tim
time. Potentiator can only be applied to Targets other than the Caster and
effec
effects other than Potentiator.

A ttitude Adjuster (SPI) – "Alright, we want some action out of

these 'peaceful' protests, okay? Hermann, you take Alpha;
Carrillo, Beta; Sandoval, Gamma, and I'll be in the center. Do not
retaliate for the first few minutes. Take a few punches; you're all
big boys and girls. As soon as the cameras get what they came for,
team Bravo rolls in with the cavalry, everyone got it? Okay. Let's get
this party started."

Roll: No
Roll: No further
further dice
dice required;
required; all
all individuals
individuals within
within aa 90
90 degree
degree cone
cone and
and
in line of sight of the Caster are Targets. Attitude Adjustment encourages
in
peac
peaceful Targets to become aggressive, and aggressive Targets to become
peac
peaceful. Targets must roll MND or SPI (whichever is higher) against Belief
Points. Failing
Points. Failing this
this roll
roll will
will result
result in
in aa corresponding
corresponding penalty
penalty toto all
all actions
actions
contrary to
contrary to the
the Attitude
Attitude Adjustment.
Adjustment. Targets
Targets must
must repeat
repeat this
this roll
roll every
every turn
turn
until they
until they succeed,
succeed, atat which
which point
point they
they break
break free
free from
from the
the Skill's
Skill's influence.
influence.

T .S. Relocation (MND) – "A Decoy is leaving through the back

door; all the media is waiting there already, as well as the fake
sniper. While that whole show goes on, you are to cover Mr. G.C.'s
eyes and direct him to the T.S. Relo entry point in the hallway
northeast of the presidential suite. It syncs with an exit point a few
blocks away, where the car is waiting. If he asks anything, just parrot
some bullshit about security and be extremely polite. Understood?"

Roll: No
Roll: No further
further dice
dice required.
required. T.S.
T.S. Relocation
Relocation (where
(where T.S stands for Time-
involves using
Space involves
Space) using the
the Shadowside
Shadowside as as aa shortcut
shortcut between
between twotwo locations
locations inin
our real
our real world.
world. ItIt is
is usually
usually fashioned
fashioned out
out of
of existing
existing doors,
doors, windows,
windows,
manholes, or
manholes, or any
any other
other element
element which
which can
can be
be understood
understood to to "open",
"open", "close"
"close"
and "let
and "let people
people through".
through". Belief
Belief Points
Points open
open the
the first
first entry
entry point;
point; opening
opening thethe
corresponding exit
corresponding exit point
point in
in any
any future
future turn
turn has
has no
no further
further costs.
costs. The
The system
system is is
simply not
simply not usable
usable unless
unless both
both entry
entry and
and exit
exit points
points are
are set,
set, but
but once
once set
set then
then
communication can
communication can go
go both
both ways.
ways. For
For every
every 10
10 Belief
Belief Points
Points invested,
invested, the
the Portal
Portal
will remain
will remain open
open 11 turn.
turn. All
All who
who travel
travel through
through must
must all
all aa D20;
D20; if
if the
the die
die falls
falls on
on
1, the
1, the traveler
traveler does
does not
not come
come out
out through
through the
the matching
matching exit
exit point,
point, but
but instead
instead
becomes lost
becomes lost in
in the
the Shadowside.
Shadowside.

52
SCAV3NG3R : Internet subculture, geeks, punks,
nihilists, rebels and anarchs. Folk and stage magic
meets Fight Club / Anonymous.

“
#!SCaV3NG3R” was the "tripcode"
originally used by the movement’s
founding figure in some backwater internet image
board known only as "/x/". People who followed
him in retracing the steps of “creepypastas”
eventually took to calling themselves “scavengers”
(or “scavs” for short) and started contributing their
own findings online. The “legit” ones would be
endlessly re-posted, resulting in that many more
thrill-seekers joining the fad and in turn creating new
“creepypastas”. While /x/ itself would eventually
fall into grievous disrepair, other specialized forums

T
and blogs started popping up everywhere, manuals
hey are also a bunch of nerds. Expect “newfags”.
were written, comics were drawn, infographics were
Expect no better headquarters than cybercafés or
charted and just like that in the space of a few years a
comic book shops and basements. Expect people
whole new subculture had been born.
“doing it for the lulz”. Expect offers to flood the
enemies with pizzas, or “dox” them. Expect
It was all fun and games at first. For many it still is.
brotherhood. Expect loyalty and lifelong friendships,
But many “oldfags” have been trying to organize
and a cause greater than any you could find in a
into something more coherent. Scavengers are in the
cubicle. They are the ultimate Joker card; the last
unique position to know exactly what each and
representatives of an honest humanity in all of its
every other organization represents for the
raw beauty and raw ugliness.
Shadowside, They don’t gel with the medieval

dogma of Diaboli, the gang zealotry of Fujin’s Blood,
or the brutality of Somosa. They don’t buy into
Thelema’s claims of a New World Order, and see
right through the fascist P.R. BS of Accelletrix. As for
Big Sis, they consider their ideals noble at best, but
naïve. They know the Shadowside (a term they
coined) holds the key to more than just freedom in
this life or salvation in the next. But no one listens.
It would be a mistake to underestimate SCaV3NG3R
simply because they lack the money of Thelema, the
hardware of Accelletrix, the numbers of Big Sis, the
relics of Diaboli or a vendetta to run them ragged
like Somosa or Fujin’s. SCaV3NG3R is an internet
consciousness lead by all but ruled by none,
powered from a million connected points of light
and impervious to corruption. They are the bane of
Accelletrix -and of any other group who gets too big
for its britches. They are the infinite-headed hydra of
the Information Age, living Chaos Theory, and all of
our youth facing the final days of a much harsher,
darker world.
H
ierogamy: Being the most anarchic organiza-
tion, Hierogamy in SCaV3NG3R occurs on a
case-by-case basis, and sometimes almost by random
chance. Scavs are frequent visitors to the Shadowside
–often following urban legends and “creepy pastas”-
and sooner or later are bound to cross paths with
interesting individuals there. Words may be
exchanged, agreements and proposals discussed.
Sometimes all it takes to seal the deal is a handshake;
sometimes the host spirit demands much, much
more (and "forever-alone" "newfags" are often made
fun of for falling for the first succubus they find). Out
of all organizations, Scavengers are at most risk of
being taken by Skinstealers, malicious spirits who will
utterly absorb the sentience of their host. One way or
another, Scavengers are rather prone to enter the
Shadowside alone and return accompanied. Unlike
all other organizations, Scavengers can break
Hierogamy (albeit with great difficulty), and
sometimes this leads to a debatably-deserved re-
putation of spiritual “promiscuity”. They're under-
dogs... but they live free.

53
P aranormal Skills

S igil (MND) – "Damnit, it's barred from the inside! What now?" "Relax. You know, Malleus is right
about one thing... and if you're gonna' roll with us you might as well get it right... " "And what is
that?" "Kids, man..." said t-daun as he produced a can of spray paint from his jacket and started to
shake it "Fucking kids today, so disrespectful..." "Wait, seriously? You're just
gonna draw a dick there and go? Fucking graffiti-that's the big mission?"
"Follow the letters I'm tracing, new-friend: W-E-A-K-S-A-U-C-E all in one
space-make it artsy". t-daun contemplated his handiwork for a second,
grinned, then gave the heavy church door a kick: it snapped cleanly in two.
"Tango Down."

Roll: No
Roll: No further
further dice
dice required.
required. ByBy drawing
drawing aa particular
particular symbol
symbol on on any
any object,
object,
Caster may
the Caster may temporarily
temporarily endow
endow or or weaken
weaken the the object
object with
with aa one-time-
one­time­
usee Trait
Trait sustained
sustained byby his
his harnessed
harnessed Belief
Belief Points;
Points; this
this Trait
Trait remains
remains
in stand-by
in stand­by until
until spent.
spent. This
This isis particularly
particularly useful
useful for
for creating
creating traps
traps
or one-time-use weapons. Example: the enemiess are are about
about toto break
break
through the door, so the Caster draws a HARDEN Sigil Sigil on
on it,
it,
imbuing
imbuing it it with
with 20
20 Belief
Belief Points.
Points. That
That door
door now
now has
has an
an additional
additional
20
20 points
points of
of END
END forfor the
the next
next turn
turn when
when the the enemies
enemies trytry to
to
break it. Example: the Caster draws SURESHOT on on an
an ally's
ally's
rifle
rifle for
for 15
15 Belief
Belief Points
Points on
on DEX.
DEX. Next
Next shot
shot fired
fired by
by that
that rifle
rifle
ill have
will have aa 15
15 DEX
DEX bonus
bonus toto hit.
hit. Sigils
Sigils may
may only
only be
be applied
applied
to
to inanimate
inanimate objects,
objects, and
and take
take one
one turn
turn toto draw.
draw. Digesting
Digesting
an imbued object has no effect.

T rue Purpose (SPI) – "It doesn't work too well on

brand new monitors -you see, they just display
garbage. It needs to have had a life, you know, learned it's
reason to be. And this baby here, well... its a three-year
veteran from the Accelletrix HealthPlus security ops, courtesy
of your friendly scavvy replacement program. Oh yeah. Behold
brothers, every username and password, ever!" Right on cue the
monitor came to life and lit up the room with hardcore pornography.

Roll: No further dice required: The Caster ster can

can whisper
whisper into
into and
and imbue
imbue
inanimate ate objects
objects with
with magic
magic (allotting
(allotting his
his Belief
Belief Points
Points into
into Traits)
Traits) so
so that
that
they can
can “come
“come to to life”
life” for
for aa few
few hours
hours to to perform
perform whatever
whatever role
role they
they
ere designed
were designed to to represent.
represent. Mirrors
Mirrors tell
tell the
the truth
truth about
about people
people gazing
gazing into
into
them,
them, toy
toy cars
cars race,
race, empty
empty suits
suits of
of armor
armor gear
gear up
up to
to fight,
fight, doors
doors open
open (or(or
lose), etc.
close), etc. All
All objects
objects require
require at at least
least 11 LFE
LFE and
and 11 MND
MND and and won’t
won’t
essarily obey
necessarily obey thethe will
will of
of the
the Caster
Caster but
but rather
rather decide
decide on
on their
their own
own (as(as
een by
Seen by the
the StoryHost)
StoryHost) what what their
their “True
“True Purpose”
Purpose” is.
is. Example:
Example: Using
Using 20 20
elief Points
Belief Points to to imbue
imbue aa large
large stuffed
stuffed dinosaur
dinosaur toy
toy with
with 55 STR,
STR, 55 DEX,
DEX, 55
END,
END, 44 LFELFE andand 11 MNDMND (secondary
(secondary Traits
Traits derived
derived asas normal)
normal) creates
creates aa
indless little
mindless little plush
plush monster.
monster. Imbuing
Imbuing aa bookbook with
with 66 MND
MND and and 11 LFE
LFE
allows
allows thethe book
book to to have
have aa conversation
conversation with with the
the Caster
Caster about
about its
its contents
contents
(note that not all animated objects may talk; the reason son this
this works
works with
with
media
media is is that
that it
it can
can bebe said
said it's
it's “True
“True Purpose”
Purpose” is is to
to communicate).
communicate).

54
H unch (SPI) – "Yeah, well, ain't no party like a Somosa party, cuz' a Somosa party don't stop.
Like, ever. The Abuelo grabs you by the nuts and rides you around until you get killed for the
cause, then grabs another. Trust me you don't want to attend that little soiree tonight; your cousin is
lying and there are safer ways to get laid, anyway."

Roll: Belief Points vs Target's MND or Story-Host difficulty for objects/places, on line of sight: If successful,
the Caster receives an accurate "gut feeling" about the intentions of the Target, or the likely outcome of
proceeding into a certain location or using a certain object. The Story-Host will not give specifics but will
describe positive or negative feelings to his best Seeing ability.

P resto (MND) – Toshiro wiped the blood off his bottom lip, and aimed his gun at ManDraKe... the
scavenger had nowhere left to run. "Sayonara, gaijin". Click. Nothing happened. Toshiro pulled
the trigger again -click, click. Nothing. Confused, he checked the gun’s chamber and found... a tooth?
Only then did he realize something was sloshing inside his mouth... and spit out a bullet. Presto.

Roll: Belief Points vs object’s CON on medium-to-close quarters: Provided both objects are loose enough,
reasonably small and out of sight, the Caster may make them swap places -like a stage magician.

M edium (SPI) – "Why... why can't I move?" "Because this body doesn't belong to you." "W-where
am I?" "If you must know, we're in the basement of Tony's Pronto Pizza, in Weehawken, New
Jersey." "But, my wedding... the estate... Baron Rothschild will-" "That was all a long, long time ago,
sweetheart. Right now though, it would help us a whole lot if you could remember where you left your
engagement ring. You weren't buried with it. You remember it right? Big,
shiny thing?"

Roll: A
Roll: A ritual
ritual of
of at
at least
least two
two steps
steps is
is required.
required. The
The Caster
Caster must
must know
know the
the
Entity's True Name.
Entity's True Name. For For every
every 1010 Belief
Belief Points
Points the
the Caster
Caster invests
invests he
he may
may
channel the
channel the Entity
Entity forfor 11 turn
turn (or
(or 11 minute
minute if
if not
not cast
cast during
during aa storywise
storywise
crisis),
crisis), allowing
allowing it it to
to talk,
talk, but
but not
not much
much more.
more. There
There is
is no
no guarantee
guarantee
that the
that the Entity
Entity will
will be
be agreeable
agreeable toto any
any conversation;
conversation; Medium allows
it
it the
the capability
capability to to speak
speak through
through the
the Caster,
Caster, but
but doesn't
doesn't necessarily
necessarily
compels
compels it it to.
to.

C reepypasta (MND) – "Holy shitballs, bro, you did it!

It's a Servitor! You actually pulled off a goddamn
Servitor! Hey bro... bro? You
okay?"

Roll: A ritual of at least two

steps is required. Provided he
has detailed instructions to
follow, the Caster may perform
any Paranormal Skill from any
organization even if he doesn't
formally have
formally have it,
it, but
but paying
paying double
double the
the Belief
Belief Points
Points cost.
cost. Detailed
Detailed
instructions are
instructions are not
not always
always easy
easy to
to come
come by,
by, and
a must be referred
to every time.
to every time. Example:
Example: aa 10
10 point
point Kaze No Te must be cast in two
turns or
turns or more,
more, and
and will
will cost
cost 20
20 points.
points.

55
W hat does the
look like?
Shadowside
D o we leave
behind?
our bodies

I
We do not. Seeing the Shadowside is not ex-
t looks like whatever most people think it looks
traordinary by itself -many people experience
like. Just like in a dream, where we recognize loca-
glimpses of it through premonitions, dreams, or
tions even if they are not exactly accurate to their
simply "hearing voices". Entering the Shadowside,
real-life counterparts, the aggregate of most
on the other hand, involves bringing our entire
people's memories and feelings about a
fleshware along for the ride, and this is what gives
particular place will give that place it's particular
organizations an edge over most lost and demented
appearance.
Shadowside natives.

As a rule of thumb, the older the location the greater

Going in full-bodied is not without risk, however
the chances of it having reached a strong consensus
-wounds received in the Shadowside are never ima-
-harder for a traveler to overpower alone. Mental
ginary. But from the point of view of an observer
hospitals are particularly dangerous (few can wield
staying in the real world, the Shadowside traveler
Belief like mad men can), and certain historical loca-
simply vanishes into thin air.
tions -such as the Tower of London, or Alcatraz- are

W
places where few would wander willingly.
hat can a living person
Ordinary places may seem fundamentally not that
do in the Shadowside?
different from our real world -perhaps merely
Once inside the Shadowside physical distances be-
dreamlike. But the greater the intensity of the men-
come subjective, and trained individuals may will
tal energies projected (consciously or unconsciously)
themselves to locations either too distant or too se-
onto a location, the more it will morph into it's own
cure to reach via the real world. Accelletrix makes a
singular world; some becoming the true stuff of
fortune transporting goods and people this way, and
nightmares with leather-skin walls pierced by bones
infiltration becomes a distinct possibility, as Somosa
and dripping of blood. Others may resemble the
and Fujin's Blood know only too well. The Shad-
classical Judeo-Christian heaven, with warm lights
owside is also useful to observe and influence the
and an overwhelming, flooding sense of peace.
minds of the living at their peak of honesty and vul-
Every place has a meaning and a message.
nerability -usually via their dreams- and GTS has

H
mastered this art through its use of Mentors, Muses
ow does one enter the
and Rivals. If knowledge is what you seek the Shad-
Shadowside?
owside is the ultimate living record of every single
event in history since the dawn of sentience, albeit
It is important to understand that we are all already
twisted and corrupted in parts. In search of God Di-
in the Shadowside. The Shadowside overlaps our
abolis has been gathering these parts, and in mock-
reality, feeds on our perceptions and grows to match
ing Him Scavenger has been putting them together.
their intensity. When we sleep all of our dreams take
Ultimately the Shadowside holds the scent which
place in the Shadowside, and our ideas, inspiration,
makes us both divine and mortal, and the key to our
fears, hopes -our very sentience- all have their genes-
survival. This is the Sisterhood of Salem's quest.
is there. Entering the Shadowside is more about fine

W
tuning our awareness to match the consensus that
already surrounds us, than it is about actually trav-
hat do organizations ul-
eling to a different physical location -although fre-
timately want?
quently the two elements reinforce one another.
Fujin wants revenge against the West. Malleus wants
to return to prominence as world-saviors. Somosa
Therefore, the common factor in all means of entry is
wants both a better life for its oppressed people and
conviction: the belief that in following a certain pro-
revenge against its oppressors. Big Sis wants world
cedure one will surely make us pass through the
peace. GTS wants to rule a New World Order; Accel-
looking glass.
letrix too, but through science. Scavenger wants lulz.

56
H ow do different organizations enter the Shadowside?

Fujin's Blood: They are infamous for casting Kyofu Zei on a victim, then gorging on the link via psycholo-
gical torture until they reach a drunken-like stupor. The Chimamire will remain in the Blood Web until Ky-
ofu Zei is broken.

Malleus Diaboli: Supplicants are given a holy relic from the vast Malleus collection, and, clutching it tightly
to their chest, pray with every fiber of their being. The true believers open their eyes in Limbo, and return
back to our world in the same way.

Somosa: Through Cemetery Dust -an intoxicating powder prepared by their Shamans- and ingested like a
recreational drug. It is also the only method that can force an unwilling victim into the Fén Nwa Bó. A second
dose brings them back.

Sisterhood of Salem: Through water -preferably running water such as rivers or streams, and preferably
through full submersion, although on occasion Speakers have been known to make do with a quiet bathtub.
The Speaker will hold his breath, close his eyes, submerge, believe, and then re-emerge into Summerland.
Same procedure for exit -most travelers carry a vial of water around their neck as a fallback.

Greater Thelema Society: GTS uses Hermetic rituals, which require at a minimum the drawing of chalk
lines on the floor, and candles. They exit the Astral Plane through whispering an agreed-upon secret pass
phrase, which is inscribed on the floor together with the pentagram.

Accelletrix: PT-Enabled individuals simply enter a password into a bracelet-mounted device, which then
pumps measured doses of goop into their implanted modules. The effect is temporarily intoxicating, and ab-
use may lead to renal malfunction. They follow the same procedure for exit.

SCaV3NG3R: Through following creepypastas, or through any of the other methods used by any other or-
ganization, save of course Accelletrix. Exit is much less reliable, and happens on a case by case basis.

57
T erms and Lingo

Fujin's Malleus Somosa Big Sis GTS Accelletrix Scavenger

Blood Diaboli
Hierarchy -Ashigaru -Acolyte -Zombi -Friend -Mole -Probie -Lurker, Creep-
Light Feet -Missionary -Solda* -Speaker*, -Intrigue -Agent* er or Hacker
-Chimamire -Deacon* -Coyote or -Leader, (Mentor, Muse -Special Agent -Janitor*
* Indicates Hi- Bloodstained* -Knight Shaman -Founder (13) or Rival)* (SA)
erogamy start- -Chimamire no -Sheppard -Manbo (female) -Sophia (1) -Conductor -Operative
ing point Keiken aka -Beggar Father or Houngan (Monarch or -Special Operat-
Keiken (7) -The Shadow (male) Steward) (30) ive (SO)
Experienced Bishop (1) -Konseyev -The Great Beast -Director
Bloodstained Councilor (8) (1) -VP/Board (9)
-Kariudo -Abuelo -CEO (1)
Hunter Grandparent
-Omotedai -El Alto
Steward The Tall (1)
-Sensei Master
(5), -Fujin (1)

Shadow- KK, Ketsueki Limbo Fén Nwa Bó Summerland Hyper-uranium Psychic Tem- Shadowside

side Kumonosu or Astral Plane pore (PT)

Blood Web

Belief Kasai Faith Fós Strength Heart Will Temporal Bio- Voluntas or

Points Fire Plasma (Goop) Balls

Paranor- Kiritsu Signs Konpetans Marks Arts P.T. Modules Powerz

mal Skills Discipline Skill

Ghosts Yurei, Kogeta, Souls, Saints, Loas Ghosts, Souls, Astral Forms P.T. Entities Ghosts, Spooks,
Restless, Angels, Demons Spirits, etc Skinstealers, etc
Burnt
Kamikaze
Divine Wind

Transition (No particular Purgatory Ni Aquí ni Allá To be Homeless The Great Depersonaliza- Euphoria

Period term exists) Here nor There Search tion

Hierogamy Kizu Bound Saint Abuelo (Referred to by Guardian P.T. Energy Casper

Entity Scar Grandparent personal name) Source

Hierogamy Shizou Sasu Breath of Life Riding Moon Marriage Grand Hosting P.T. Enablement Hierogamy
Stabbing the (Vatting)
Heart

Crisis of Kanbatsu The Great The Sufferation The Long The Withering Zasukha Cancer
Faiths Drought Tribulation Winter Drought

The End of Chi no kozui The Apocalypse Armageddon The Void Endgame Protocol Omega Longcatnaröck
the World To Flood with
Blood

58
 Fujin's Malleus Somosa Big Sis GTS Accelletrix Scavenger
Blood Diaboli
Skill Fear Tax Binding Mercies As You As Me. Solidarity Psychical Inter- P.T. Entanglement Handcuffs
twining
Names Whispers Gift of Omens Cat's Ball of Yarn Windwords Projection of Mind Telepathy Ghost-mail

Wind's Hand Hand of God Spirit of the World Force of Gaia Projection of Telekinesis Spoon-bending
Any character Might
Blade of Blood Blood of the Lamb Butcher Blade of Pain Sanguinaries Shaped Organic Carnage
can learn any Weapon
Blood Tax Sacrament Sacrifice To Turn Inside Exsanguination Supracutaneous Messy Mendez
skill from any Hematomy
Out
organization Blood Mist Veil Fog Shadow of Sum- Tenebrae Tactical Area Fog of War
merland Concealment
provided he Inner Strength Holy Restoration Second Breath Healing Mending the Flesh Accelerated Biolo- To Life up
gical Recovery
finds a willing Royal Presence Sun's Radiance Respect Majesty Projection of Right Psychological De- Bluff
terrence
tutor. Skills in
War Notice Evangelize Good Word Power of Truth Projection of Will Non-ectoplasmic Braveheart
italics denote P.T. Recovery
Tiger Spirit Lord's Strength Big Punch To have One's Spiritual Might Tactical Trait En- Short Buff
organization of Heart in his Fists hancement
Decree God's Word The Law Final Truth Compel Psychical Coercion Simon Says
origin and
preference. Clay Transmutation * Sticks and Stones Turning Carnifection Material Mutabil- Nerf
ity
War General Martyrdom We're Holy Champion Concession Attribute Trans- Long Buff
ference
Fujin's Blood, Posession Lower Visitation To be Riding Uninvited Guest Forced Hosting External Sentience NPC
Another as Horse Override
Malleus Di- Spider Trap Jacob's Ladder The Dark Side Diving Through Janus' Gate Involuntary P.T. Either Dakota
aboli and So- Insertion
To Hold by the False Idol Memento Soul-Anchor Reverse Homun- Anchor-based Voodoo Doll
mosa's Skills Hairs culus Sympathetism
Flesh Demon Lesser Lazarus Zombi Aberration Incarnation Depersonalized Carpenters and
are usually in life-form Romeros
Noble Sacrifice Flagellation Two for One Entrustment Tribute Tactical Trait De-buff
Japanese, Latin Degradation
and Creole or To Fly Over The Revelation Fleshless Astral Travel Astral Projection Psychical Loco- Ghosting
Web motion
Spanish, re- Old Wives' Brews Holy Waters Medicines Homebrew Lower Alchemy P.T. Consumables Powerups

spectively. Correctness Divine To See as the Loas Enlightenment Muse Gamma State Going Hawking
Inspiration
Rage Leviathan All Muscle No Primal To Channel the Frenzy To Tank up
* The Trans- Brains Beast
To Query the Scrying of Souls To Read the Bones Empathy Hera's Mirror Extra-Temporal Gypsy
mutation Skill Wind Perception
Blood Drinker Eucharist of Wine Soul Eater Vampire Venice Working Attribute Absorp- Leech
results in ma- tion Alpha
House Demon Angel Pet Inner Child Servitor Simulated P.T. Puppet
terials other Entity
than flesh for Contract Arts Sight of St. Paul Truth-getter Honest Hearts Eye of Isis Cognitive Extrac- Snake Eyes
tion
some organiza- Spirit Drinker Eucharist of Bread Dog Eat Dog Ghoul Damascus Attribute Absorp- Cannibal
Working tion Beta
tions. Four and Nine Damning Evil Eye Curse Hex Concealed Jinx
Degradation
Cobweb Mene, Mene, Tekel To Enter the Loas' Place of Power Pentagram Preassembled P.T. Sweet Spot
u-Pharsin Backyard Effect Area
Honored Guest Higher Visitation In The Flesh Summerland Gate Summon P.T. Entity Mani- Hellgate
festation
Castration Smiting Painmaker Weakening Hamstring Active Bio Denial Body Crip

Slow Gardening Condemnation Peacemaker Disheartening Shattering the Will Pacifier Mind Crip

Spirit of Rock Shield of Faith Turtle Shell Sidestep Shield of Ozman- Null Field Nerf Wall
dias
Brotherhood Sword of Spirit My Brother's Unity Synchronization Potentiator Assist
Brother
Herding of Hardening / Hot or Sleepy Anger and Peace Eris Working Attitude Adjuster Aggro
Pigeons Softening Hearts
Sacred Gates Chariot of Fire To Fall up a Well Bridges of Gaia Mystical Portals T.S. Relocation Spawn Points

Paper Prayers (O- Scripture Deadman's Writ- Runes Sacred Geometry P.T. Focal Glyph Sigil
Fuda) ing Points
Playful Spirit To Imbue Living Toys Animistic Homunculus Pseudosentient True Purpose
Objects
Ominous Paths To Mind the Signs Guts' Wise Prescience Mystical Anticipa- Extra Sensory Per- Hunch
tion ception
Children's Trick Cantrip Hustler Switch Parlor Trick Minor Transloca- Presto
tion
To Solicit Audi- The Act of Endor Chatter Channeling Minor Hosting P.T. Channeling Medium
ence
To Step in Elder To Follow the Writ Recipe Rituals True and Accep- Empirical Pro- Creepypasta
Footsteps ted Wizardry cedures

59
60
 MECHANICS
A t its core everything comes down to this: Difficulty: Difficulty is issued by the StoryHost as
objectively as possible. It shouldn’t change
depending on who’s making the attempt –that’s
Every time a character tries to do
something which realistically may or may what we have Might for.
not succeed, a die needs to roll.
To aid in visualizing Difficulties as fairly as possible,
imagine what each action would feel like to a regular
To emphasize: not every single action requires a roll
Joe (and we define “regular” here as having a Might
-only those actions which realistically could fail, do.
of 7, which you can picture as 3 Trait plus 3 Skill plus
The die will tell us whether the attempt succeeds or
1 for either Item or Bonus). If something would feel
fails, and by how much –but there are two things the
Very Difficult to Joe, then Very Difficult it is to all.
die needs to know first: Might and Difficulty.
Sometimes, when two characters go against each
Might: At the bare minimum Might can be a single
other (typically for Melee, as you will soon see), the
Trait; there’re 14 of them so one is bound to be the
Difficulty for one is the Might of the other, and vice
best fit to whatever is the action being attempted.
versa. Try your best to map Difficulties to reality as
we know it (and for anything paranormal do stick to
Might is the sum of all the forces in favor of
the official Skills in this book, at least until you gain a
success and Difficulty is the sum of all
grasp of what “normal” really means in your
forces in favor of failure.
paranormal universe).

Dice: It's time to break out Jacob's Ladder:

For instance, swimming is a perfect fit to AGI. Now,
some characters may be not just agile by nature, but Using a ruler connect the character's
perhaps also experienced swimmers, and this would Might on the left with the Difficulty of the
be represented by a Swimming Skill. Also the action being attempted on the right. The
character could be using an Item that helps him spot where the ruler crosses the
swim, such as Fllippers. And finally there is the cir- diagonal line tells you the Minimun Dice
cumstance: maybe it’s a race taking place in the Roll the character must make on a D20
character’s hometown and the whole crowd is to succeed.
cheering for him: for that you’d give a discretionary
Bonus.
Example: Jane is shooting a three-pointer in the fi-
For Each Attempt: All four things put nal seconds of her high school basketball tourna-
together -Trait, ment. It's a task that requires both strength and
Trait, always there + Skill, Item and Bo- finesse, so we'll base it on AGI as that considers both
Skill, if any applies + nus- make up the STR and DEX. Now Jane is an average girl, so her
Item, if any applies + Might, and of AGI is 3. She's been playing since middle school, so
SH's Bonus/Penalty these four only Skill is 2. And finally, her old man is watching, and
----------------- Trait is always this is the game-winning shot, so we'll throw in 2
= Might there; the rest may more points for Bonus: that's a total Might of 7. Scor-
or may not be, de- ing the three-pointer is "Difficult", so we'll call it a 10.
pending on the Matching 7 vs 10 in the Ladder tells us she needs to
situation. Refer to the character sheets for some fre- roll a 14 or better in the D20.
quently used Might-Combat and Might-Magic tem-
plates.

61
Now remember: Rolling a 14 is a different kind of
success than rolling a 20; the former has the ball hes-
itate around the rim for a few suspenseful seconds
while the latter is a clean shot that bounces on the
rival's head for good measure. A good StoryHost will
interpret not just the binary win/fail, but it's mag-
nitude too, and craft it in the story.
D ice can be ruthless sometimes –which is part of
what makes all chance-based games exciting-
but there are times when chance is overrated; there
are times when certain outcomes deserve to happen
even if the roll wasn’t quite there. For that we have
Belief Points.
63
B
to hit that chandelier with 10 points worth of STR?
elief Points
That will cost you 10 Belief Points -and in the process
of casting it chances are you will recover a few. It is
possible to invest less points in a paranormal Skill
The Shadowside is a realm composed entirely of
than you will gain from successfully executing it.
psychical energies and “Belief Creates Reality” is its
only rule: you can literally dream anything into
Forcing the Hand of Fate: Say, for example that
existence if you believe in it hard enough. Belief
you needed to roll a 7 or better to succeed but you
Points represent your conviction, and for characters
actually rolled a 2: right off the bat this means you
in Hierogamy this conviction is key for two things:
lose 3 points (10-7=3). Now, before the StoryHost
1) Accessing the You gain Belief Points gets started describing exactly how you failed (for
paranormal -read by succeeding at rolls that would instantly make it canon) you could
as "casting spells" that needed 11 or choose to spend another 5 points to turn your roll of
more, and you lose Be- 2 into a 7. Announce it quickly. You won’t get back
2) Forcing the
lief Points by failing at the 3 Belief Points you already lost of course, so your
Hand of Fate -read
rolls that needed 10 or net point loss is 8, but at least you succeeded story-
as “fixing failed
less. wise, and sometimes that’s worth it.
rolls”.

This is a great opportunity for the StoryHost to nar-

In other words, your conviction grows when others
rate how your character experiences some sort of
see you succeed despite the odds being against you,
brief vision or gut feeling -a glimpse into some par-
and it shrinks when others see you fail despite the
allel universe where the action did fail. Too much of
odds being in your favor. It always needs others.
this can't be healthy to a character's psyche (nor to
his Hierogamy spirit) and abuse should have con-
How much it grows or shrinks depends on how fa-
sequences which the StoryHost can best handle
vorable or unfavorable were your odds. For ex-
through the sanity of the Hierogamy spirit...
ample, if you needed to roll 16 or better, and you
actually did, that will earn you 5 points (16-11=5).
Notice that whenever you use Belief Points to "Force
You proved you can prevail where others would fail!
the Hand of Fate" you don't get any new points from
On the other hand, if you needed to roll 6 or better,
the endeavor. If you needed to roll 16 or better,
and yet managed to fail it, that will cost you 4 points
rolled a 14, and then spent 2 points to turn it into a
(10-6=4). You were seen dropping an easy ball.
16, you will not get the 5 points you would have
normally gotten if you had naturally rolled a 16.
You don't lose
Gaining or Losing BP points when you
Conviction Turns: Characters can choose to take a
fail rolls that
Win Hard Roll : Gain turn or two steadying their conviction in the eve of a
needed 11 or more
Lose Hard Roll: N/A major challenge by simply rolling with their MND or
-after all, wit-
Win Easy Roll: N/A SPI Trait (as they prefer, representing either mental
nesses may tell
Lose Easy Roll: Lose or spiritual resolve) against whichever is the Diffi-
themselves it was
culty the SH assigns to the concern in their minds.
very difficult to
begin with and failure was to be expected. It doesn't
Taking a deep breath before shooting a 3-pointer in
modify your conviction. Likewise, you don't gain
basketball, for instance, should feel easier than paus-
points for winning rolls that needed 10 or less -you
ing to think of your children one last time before
were supposed to succeed so no one is surprised if
descending into a demonic maw. Storywise, this
you do. All characters begin with as many Belief
conviction turn can take the form of a prayer, a rally-
Points as their Soul; maximum cap is five-times-Soul.
ing speech, remembering "what the old man used to
say", rubbing the old lucky rabbit's foot, etc. Suc-
Accessing the Paranormal: Say, for example,
ceeding will yield Belief Points as normal -and nat-
that you want to use your Kaze No Te Skill to create
urally the greater the challenge the greater the die
a gust of wind to knock over a chandelier. You want
needed to succeed, as well as it's payoff.

64
A Complete Example
T he powder envelopes her face; she closes the book shut
but it’s already too late; she has smelled this before:
it's Fén Nwa Bó. Instantly she feels dizzy. All three doors
slam shut, a sudden gust of freezing air snuffs all the
candles and the table starts trembling. "They’re sucking
you in, woman!" cries the voice of Demetrius The Unborn
inside Meridian's head, barely audible above the rising
chorus of disembodied whispers. Was that fear in the old
ghost's voice? She had never heard him sound quite like
this before in the six years since they merged in
Hierogamy.
Meridian rises, opens her arms and, infusing her voice
with as much authority as she can muster, declares:
"Spirits of the Abyss! Leave us!".
Will she succeed? Let's rule it:
S he is being the target of spell (Fén Nwa Bó is a
Somosa spell which can drag a target, kicking
and screaming, away to some nasty pre-determined
place in the Shadowside). The question her dice are
about to answer is whether it will work on her or
not.
First let’s figure out her Might: take her SPI Trait of
7, and add the SPI of Demetrius –whom she's spir-
itually merged with- for another 8. She has no relev-
ant Skill to use in her defense, but let's throw in the
powerful +5 SPI Third Eye Amulet she's wearing
for another 5. That's a Might of 20 in all, and it's
considerable –she’s an expert after all. But the trap
set by the Somosa houngan is equally fearsome: 28
Belief Points worth of sucking her down into the
Shadowside’s version of a nearby abandoned
asylum.
We could have the Somosa houngan’s player roll on
28 vs 20, or we could have Meridian roll on 20 vs 28
–either way the chances are the same, but whoever
rolls the dice is the one whose Belief Points are at
stake. Let's let Meridian do us the honors, then: using
Jacob's Ladder we find she needs to roll a 14 or bet-
ter.
* Say she rolls a 20: Critical Success! Her voice
thunders like the Rock of Lazarus, and for a moment
her very aura manifests into the visible spectrum
-searing golden light which seals shut the vortex
with such force that stepping into the Shadowside
from this location will be nearly impossible in the
future, willingly and not! This lodge is now safe as a
lock-box, no matter how hard the Somosa blood-
lures around it. She wins 3 Belief Points.
* Say she rolls a 14: Bare Success: The whispers
turn into screams that rise into a cacophonous
crescendo –then the table breaks in four and
Meridian collapses out of breath, nearly unconscious.
But there is silence -blessed silence; she has
succeeded, barely, and even Demetrius feels faint.
The Somosa lose their connection. They will try again
some other day. She still wins 3 Belief Points.
* Say she rolls a 13: Bare Failure: Meridian's eyes
fill with darkness, and the whispers fill her ears until
nothing else can be heard. She passes out for what
seems like a minute. But it couldn't have been a
minute. She knows this, because when she opens her
eyes again she is no longer in the old cultist's lodge.
The peeling-stained walls, the dark pool of liquid
under the door, the moldy smell --all in a washed-
out, misty black-and-white... it’s the asylum. She has
shifted into the Shadowside. At least old Demetrius
is still with her, standing by her side in his old 50’s
raincoat and hat.
* Say she rolls a 1: Critical Failure! Instantly the
room "flips" into a large cell full of lunatics in
straitjackets. There are surgery tools strewn about,
blood stained. The crazies grin at her and stare with
bulging eyeballs -they seem to want her to start
laughing?! Panicked, Meridian instinctively looks for
a mirror, or any reflecting surface –quick, that grimy
window! But her reflection is wearing a straitjacket
too... and it's starting to smile. Demetrius bangs the
door from the outside, unheard... as the twisting
figures begin to close in and down on him...
T he heart and joy of a roleplaying session lies in
giving creative and descriptive interpretations
to the cold numbers the system throws at us. It's cer-
tainly okay to say "you get hurt for 5 points of dam-
age" but don't let that be the only thing you say.
Describe how did it happen. Did the damage come
out of Body or Soul? Describe how the character
heroically avoided what would have been tragic and
got lucky with just a scratch. Did it come out of Life?
Describe the very tragic event and it's implications.
65
D amage
and
Death

A ll sorts of perils
(but
Combat and Magic)
mostly

can hurt the

characters. Damage
is subtracted first
from Body or Soul,
depending on
whether it's physical
or psychologic-
al/spiritual in
nature. When either

Items
Body or Soul runs
out, then Damage is subtracted from LFE.

Damage to Body or Soul is considered minor and
doesn’t impact the character’s abilities in any way
(think of minor “flesh wounds” in firefights, or
scrapes, cuts and bruises in melee brawls, headaches
for psionic attacks etc). This Damage goes away
relatively easy (rest, first aid kits, wound dressing,
medium level healing spells, etc).
Damage to LFE on the other hand means serious
harm –the kind that normally requires immediate
professional attention, is usually long-term-lasting
and causes penalties to nearly all rolls. If LFE reaches
zero, the character passes out, and it would be reas-
onable to expect some permanent consequences even
after the character is revived -limping, for instance,
or a mild loss of sanity, if due to Soul damage.
Death comes at the StoryHost’s discretion once LFE
starts dipping into the negative numbers.
Although traumatic and pivotal, Death is the end of
the character -just the start of his spirit journey. First
he will be thrown full-time into the Shadowside, and
will experience the maddening period known as Eu-
phoria -this translates in constant challenges to his
MND Trait, and loss of sanity for failrures. Eventu-
ally he will stabilize, and after a session or two
should be able to come back as the Hierogamy spirit
of another mortal -one played either by the SH or an-
other player.
Regular Items simply pile on to your Might. You
may hit hard with your fist, but you hit harder with
a hammer; you may go fast on your feet, but you go
faster on a bike, etc. For example, a +7 END Bullet-
proof Vest adds 7 points to your END when you’re
taking a bullet. Refer to the Combat section, ahead.
Skill Based Items only help you if you already
have a relevant Skill. Lacking a relevant Skill doesn’t
mean you cannot attempt the action; it just means
that you don’t have what it takes to use the Item the
way it was meant to be used, and therefore it helps
you very little, if at all. For example, a +3 MND
Chemistry Reference Book adds 3 points to your
MND for the task of making a chemical compound,
but only if you already know enough basic chemistry
to read it.
Fixed Might Items replace your Trait with theirs,
whether is the punching STR of a firearm, the
running speed AGI of a motorcycle, the BTY of a
disguise, etc. Your Trait doesn't become part of
Might. With a 12 STR Sniper Rifle, for example
(notice lack of a plus sign) the bullet will always hit
with 12 STR no matter how muscled is the guy
pulling the trigger.
Encumbrance: The Story-Host will exercise com-
mon sense in letting you carry only what you could
realistically carry -refer to the inventory section of
the character sheet.

66
C
-grant these sparingly as a reward for good roleplay
ombat
as opposed to rule-play or roll-play.

I
Step 2 – How much it hurts: This is a STR vs
t calls for two rolls; one based on DEX vs DEX to
END contest.
see who hits who, and one based on STR vs END
to see how much it hurts. Damage dealt is the difference between
the required roll and the actual roll, if
Step 1 – Who hits who: It goes for everything positive.
from fist fights, sword fights, grapples, gunfire,
chair-swinging at a bar, etc. A losing roll means it’s
For example, if a roll of 10 or more was required and
the opponent who lands the blow instead of the at-
the character rolled a 16, then 6 points of Damage are
tacker (this goes for ranged combat too if the
dealt. Get creative with the descriptions; optionally
opponent is armed with a ranged weapon). The fact
you may let Criticals (natural 20 rolls) in step 1 by-
that losing this roll doesn't simply mean "you didn't
pass Body and go straight for LFE in step 2.
hit" but actually "you get hit by the person you were
just trying to hit" means that it doesn't really matter
Weapons modify STR and armor modifies END.
who starts the attack and it doesn't really matter
Both characters may benefit from the same Skill bo-
who rolls the dice (feel free to let the defendant do
nus they relied on during Step 1. Bonus, once again,
the honors, if he prefers). In the end, which person
should be situational and rare.
hits which person is determined only by this roll.

Notice most melee weapons are “Skill Based”, while

Add to each combatant's DEX any applicable Skill,
most firearms are both “Skill Based” and “Fixed
Item or Bonus: Skills can be any form of martial art,
Might” –replacing STR entirely.
boxing, etc. Weapons typically grant STR bonuses
(used in the next step) and DEX penalties (meant to
Notice most forms of armor will penalize AGI (not
be countered through Skill mastery), and for Bonus
that it applies to this step, but keep it in mind for
you could consider factors such as who has the
AGI actions) and mind the location of the hit: a blow
higher ground, who is using the environment in any
to the head, for example, cares little about the de-
creative but feasible way, who has earned a psycho-
fendant's +3 END boots.
logical advantage, etc. Not every roll needs a Bonus

Variations:
If Then

The opponent is unaware or unable to defend Take out the opponent's Trait and Skill from the Diffi-
himself… culty of both steps.

The opponent doesn’t want to hit back but would Wish granted: just double the Difficulty to hit.
rather focus on dodging or blocking…

The attacker wants to hit a specific body part (usually Double the Difficulty to hit (unless the opponent is
done in order to to bypass the armor bonus of other also hoping to hit a specific body part in return –in
body parts during step 2)… which case they cancel one-another).
The attacker wants to sacrifice accuracy in favor of raw Penalize DEX in step 1 in exchange for an equal bonus
power, or wants to sacrifice raw power in favor of to STR in the step 2, or vice versa (obviously this
accuracy… wouldn't apply to Fixed Might Items).
It’s a ranged attack (arrows, bullets, throwing knives, Increase Difficulty to hit proportionately to the
etc)… distance -one point per every 5 feet works.
It’s a grapple/submission hold or throw move... No +STR from weapons, replace END with CON.

67
P aranormal Skills / Magic
M agic also calls for two rolls; one SPI or MND
vs the Belief Points, and one with those Belief
Points vs whatever the situation calls for, as the per
ruling of the Skill.
Step 1 – Harnessing the power: From minor
prestidigitation, to channeling the apocalypse.
Each Skill specifies whether it's MND or SPI based.
Some magicians have years of practice and study of
arcane books –they would have low SPI but high
MND- while others are naturals and phenoms; they
don’t know exactly what they’re doing but can feel
the power flowing instinctively –they have high SPI
and low MND. Then, of course, some enjoy both.
Add to whichever is the needed Trait the value of the
Skill itself, as well as any applicable Items and a situ-
ational Bonus.
For Skills, remember that unlike nearly every other
action, when it comes to the paranormal a Skill is
actually not optional. You must have one, and it
must sum at least at 3 points between yourself and
your Hierogamy spirit. Also, both of you must have
at least 1 point.
Relevant Items are those which modify the Trait you
are using, or the Skill itself. Most organization treas-
ure relics for this purpose -think of medallions,
bones, voodoo dolls, etc.
For Bonus consider: is the attempt well described
and in character? Is the Caster of sound mind and
able to concentrate and focus? Does he have faith?
Reward good roleplay.
The Difficulty in Step 1 is the arbitrary number of
Belief Points the Caster wishes to spend for step 2.
Literally this is “how big of a boom you want”.
(Notice that succeeding this step by itself yields a
certain number of new Belief Points).
Failing this roll results in Out of Control Magic:
whichever amount of Belief Points the Caster was
trying to harness will now be acting on their own as
free energy -as the StoryHost sees fit, which makes
for a chaotic, but fun step 2.
Step 2 – Unleashing the power: The energy is
now here and under the Caster’s control: now it does
what it was meant to do.
Each Skill includes ruling instructions detailing how
the Belief Points harnessed during step 1 may be
used. Some Skills require no further dice -typically
those that provide Trait Buffs or other benefits, since
they face no opposition and hence no need for an-
other roll to resolve a contest.
Some Skills require a ritual. Mechanically speaking,
a ritual is simply a process that repeats step 1 for a
number of times before moving on to step 2, and is
done in order to harness more power with less risk of
Out of Control Magic -with only a single turn's
worth of points at stake. Two consecutive Out of
Control incidents, however, will cause the entire ac-
cumulated pool to go haywire.
A ritual is For example:
simply Turn 1: 10 pts. Pool: 10 pts.
several Turn 2: 10 pts. Pool: 20 pts.
turns of Turn 3: 10 pts. Pool: 30 pts. Turn
careful 4: 10 pts -roll fails! 10 points are
harnessing out of control, 30 remain safe in
(step 1) the pool. Turn 5: 10 pts -the
before un- roll fails again! Now 40 points
leashing are out of control (the whole
(step 2) pool plus that turn's points).
To reduce the risk of Out of Control Magic even
more, several Casters may coordinate to pool their
Mights together, sharing the resulting Harnessed
power through one of them. This is called pooling.
Both rituals and pooling should receive bonus from
the SH if enough attention has been paid to the
formalisms of the arcane -this is where the candles,
incense, drum beats or whichever other parochial
trappings come into play.
Magic is incredibly flexible; you’ll have to rely on
your common sense and experience when translating
numbers into story; this is both an art and a science.
By all means, you are welcome to create your own
Paranormal Skills once you feel you are experienced
enough to do so; refer to the StoryHost Reference
chapter.
68
 STORYHOST REFERENCE
At a value Traits are considered...
of...
1 or 2 Challenged
3 or 4 Average
5 Gifted
6 or 7 Extraordinary
8 Perfect
Notes Most people's Traits hover
around 3. Top athletes and
celebrities in their respective
fields have around 7. Only
legendary people have 8’s.
Part of the reason why Hi-
erogamy is appealing, in ad-
dition to the paranormal
Skills, is that the Traits of the
partner spirit effectively sum
together with the character's
for Might.
Examples Some people you may have
heard of who’d probably
reach 8 in a given trait: Neil
DeGrasse Tyson for MND,
George Clooney for CHA,
Angelina Jolie for BTY.
Skills are considered...
Familiar
Proficient
Expert
Master
Eminence
Skills shouldn’t be too broad
nor too narrow. Firearms is
too broad, Colt .45 is too
narrow, and Small Arms is
just about right, if it covers
just operation and mainten-
ance. Except for paranormal
Skills, you can always
attempt any action even
without a Skill. New Skills
must be learned through the
story -from a mentor.
Anybody can try to swim
across a river using AGI
alone, but if you have an
actual Swimming Skill you
can add it to your Might.
On the other
hand, without a
Hex skill you
simply may not
magically curse
people.
Items are considered...
Disposable
Ordinary
High Quality
Best
Legendary
Normal items add themselves to
Might, Skill-based items do too,
if the character has the relevant
Skill, and Fixed Might items re-
place the character's Trait en-
tirely.
StoryHosts can create items on-
the-fly based on the table above,
but should double the value of
Fixed-Might items to account for
the fact that they replace Traits.
Your typical switchblade would
add 2 to STR, 3 for a baseball
bat, 4 for a bowie knife, 5 or 6 for
a sword, and 7 or 8 for particu-
larly vicious blades. Double
these values for firearms
(since they are Fixed Might), and
you get 4 points on the low end
for a Taser and 14-16 on the high
end for a Sniper rifle. Ordinary
clothes won't provide any armor
benefits to END, but a good
leather jacket may start at 1 or 2
(and as "armor" it would be
"disposable").
69
C ampaign Structure
F irst a preface: Enter the Shadowside is the kind
of game that rewards commitment, and it is best
to approach it with a long view: all the more since
death, while traumatic, is not always the end of a
character. A campaign could introduce the Endgame
as early as the seventh session, and as late as... never.
Try to go with the flow. Don't plan much. Characters
with Life Stories will naturally do what they are
driven to do; be happy to follow along illuminating
the consequences of their own choices. Make clear to
the players that the burden of developing the story
-and enjoying it- is on them, not you. Embrace the
sandbox.
That said, a campaign could have three acts:
Act I - Where characters learn the balance of
the world and their place in it: Hierogamy will
typically come in the second or third session, and by
the sixth or seventh characters will be familiar with
all seven organizations, having interacted with all of
them. Act I can be filled with one or more short-term
objectives meant to show the interaction -and con-
flict- between the various groups and their ideolo-
gies.
For example: a child is discovered in some third--
world orphanage who is capable of speaking in per-
fect Aramaic. Through their various means of
investigation, the organizations learn the child is in
Hierogamy with an ancient spirit who had been
dormant in the Shadowside since the time of Jesus
Christ. Wait, it's John the Baptist! Getting this child
suddenly becomes Diabolis' number-one priority, ex-
cept GTS wants him too, for it is the greatest bargain-
ing chip since the Grail! Now Fujin wants the kid
dead, as an act of defiance against the west, and Big
Sis, of course, wants to save the poor child from all
this peril, etc, etc.
Organizations will form different alliances under dif-
ferent circumstances, and most conflict will arise or-
ganically out of the natural friction between very
powerful entities with very different viewpoints
competing for very similar resources. Eventually,
one will prevail, and Act I will end with a big, dis-
ruptive event -which launches Act II.
Act II - Where characters strive for a new
balance: Whichever the Big Event at the end of Act
I was, the various organizations must now react to it
in successive, escalating attempts to gain the upper-
hand. Act II can typically be twice as long as Act I,
and the Endgame may be introduced at any point. It
is during this time that organizations will pick sides.
The Endgame dichotomy is designed so that neither
side is unambiguously "good" nor "evil", just like no
organization is. All organizations will have strong
arguments for and against joining either philo-
sophy, so no two campaigns should be exactly
the same. The conflict between organizations, which
started as mere competition and rivalry in Act I, will
now have escalated into full, obliterating war.
Act III - Endgame: While Acts I and II can be
prolonged indefinitely, Act III is a point of no-return.
Organizations will destroy one another -some utterly
so. The effects on the world will be irreversible. Refer
to the last chapter in this book, when the time comes.
Epilogue: A last session, to say goodbye to our
characters after they have forged themselves a new
balance. Don't introduce new questions; let them ride
into the sunset -they earned it.
Y our first session
S
pend half-an-hour getting everyone's characters
made. Listen to everyone's Life Stories -this is
paramount. Life Stories are vectors: they have direc-
tion and velocity, and all you have to do is pay at-
tention and follow them.
Seek no-turn zones -turns are only necessary during
combat, or when characters are not physically to-
gether and you must divide your time attending
them. Getting all your PCs in the same place is half
the battle. "But what if one character hates another?"
Not your problem. Let them fight it out if they want
to. "But, the story?" Not your problem. You're not in
a rush to take them anywhere; they must understand
that the burden of moving forward is on them.
Relax. Put the burden of life on your players, where
it belongs, sit back, and enjoy the ride.
70
R
are the same as of those of a 60 vs 30, or a four mil-
ules Cheat Sheet
lion vs two million. The probabilities are also transit-
ive to whoever rolls the dice: a 10 vs 5 has the same
chances of success as a 5 vs 10 has of failure. Only he
Character Creation: Let your players roll a D6 7
who dares roll the dice, however, may actually earn
times and assign each roll to a Core Trait OR distrib-
or lose Belief Points from the attempt.
ute 23 points between the 7 Core Traits, noting that
no Trait may be higher than 6. Calculate Surface
Combat: Most battles should feel like PvPs: high-s-
Traits, Soul and Body. Distribute 3 points into
takes strategic conflict between opposing forces
Normal Skills. Allow them an item or two. For the
which are nearly equal. This is because most conflict
love of all that's holy: don't skip the Life Story step.
in the setting arises between members of different
Follow this same procedure yourself for your NPCs,
organizations; unique individuals with particular
including the spirits that may eventually join the PCs
motivations and Life Stories, as opposed to generic
in Hierogamy (yes, Life Story too!). Typical spirits
"monsters". Therefore it should be rare to find com-
distribute 3 points into Paranormal Skills from their
batants willing to fight to the death, like in video-
organization's list, and 3 more on Normal Skills.
games. Rational NPCs will either retreat, surrender
or negotiate long before their lives are in true risk,
Hierogamy: This is a big deal in the life of a charac-
just like PCs would. Also, dead bodies carry with
ter: save it for the second or third session to give that
them all the implications we would expect of our real
character the chance to become an "insider" in his
world -the police will get involved, for starters.
own organization first -which is what makes the
Keeping your NPCs alive will feel more natural to
most sense storywise and should probably be part of
you as SH as you create Life Stories for all of them.
the Life Story, during Character Creation. Play the
No NPC should ever be made simply to be dispos-
Hierogamy spirit in such way he mostly gets along
able.
with his PC yet remains his own individual -with his
own debts to pay and collect. The relationship
Belief Points: All characters begin with as many
between a PC and his spirit is, emotionally, one of
Belief Points as their Soul Trait, and Belief Points are
the strongest aspects of this game. Mechanically, the
capped at five-times-Soul. Every single roll may earn
PC may merge the two World Turtles as shown in
or lose Belief Points: they are earned by succeeding at
page 33.
hard rolls, and lost when failing at easy rolls. Certain
dramatic events, at your discretion, can modify Belief
Character Progression: Players earn one or two
Points even without dice rolls. Characters can also
points per session, and are able to spend them in any
spend Conviction Turns trying to grow their Belief
Trait or Skill of their own character, or of the spirit in
Points pool.
Hierogamy with them. No Trait or Skill can ever be
above 8: unlike merely spending points (vertical
Number Keeping: The onus is on the players to
growth), acquiring new Skills (horizontal growth) re-
keep track of their own character's frequent Buffs
quires roleplay in the form of a mentor and an edu-
and Debuffs. Trust must exist so that the SH is able
cation process. This should help promote roleplay
to query (as opposed to tracking or memorizing) the
over powergaming, and should make it easier for
current value of any Trait or Skill at any time and get
new characters to join even late in a campaign. Strive
a truthful answer. This releases the StoryHost's busy
to avoid demigods, PC and NPC alike.
mind to focus on the Story alone, which is truly what
is best for everyone at the table.
Dice checks: A D20 is called for whenever anyone
(PC or NPC) attempts something which may realist-
Your Job: You will be, by far, the busiest person at
ically fail. The roll always follows the same structure:
the table. For every character, your first job is to ro-
the sum of all forces in favor on one side of Jacob's
leplay the corresponding Hierogamy spirit -that in
Ladder versus the sum of all forces against on the
itself can be as exhausting as it is rewarding (and
other. If either side is bigger than 30 points try halv-
useful). Job number two is to simply react to the mo-
ment from one roll to the next; and job number three
ing both sides -the probabilities on the dice will re-
main stable. In other words: the chances of a 30 vs 15
is to keep track of the entire world, long term. Enjoy.

71
C
you will, in such way that anyone can tell, intuit-
reating your own Skills
ively, when something "feels off" and when
and Organizations
something "fits". If your new organization has a

E
strong archetype then you'll never be entirely in the
nter the Shadowside has two core dynamics: the
dark when trying to feel what's in and what's out.
interaction between the character and his Hiero-
Same applies to Skills: they need to have a theme to
gamy spirit at the personal level, and the interaction
help us instinctively feel which tasks are within or
between the seven organizations at the environment-
without their range.
al level. Making new Paranormal Skills and
Organizations can greatly enrich both, but also risk
2.- Flaw them: make the organization seriously
their delicate balance.
flawed, make it so that joining it is a controversial
decision that has to be weighed carefully since the
1.- Seek archetypes and themes: the seven original
pros matter as much as the cons, and in the end it
organizations are intentionally based on concepts
comes down to personal preference and style. Same
already embedded into our cultural subconscious if
for Skills: if joining the new
organization or learning the new
Skill is a "no brainer", mechanic-
ally or storywise, then the
balance has been lost.

3.- Fit it in the Big Picture:

consider their interactions of
your new organization with the
existing ones, and try to
visualize your new group along
the axis of Altruism/Egoism and
Order/Anarchy. Each or-
ganization should be interesting
on its own but it's the interac-
tions between them what brings
flavor... the disdain of GTS for
Somosa, the cool confidence
with which Accelletrix "sub-
contracts" Fujin's, the amused
semi-friendship Scavenger offers
Big Sis, etc. Orgs are meant to be
played with, against and towards
each other. Same for Skills,
contrast your new Skill to
everything else that already
exists. Consider how they
combine -how they play
together.

C reating good Skills and

Organizations comes with
experience, give yourself a
campaign or two before trying it
for the first time, and enjoy!

72
T
whatever rough skeleton you do have. It seems the
ips and Advice
ideal balance, therefore, is to plan only at the Macro
level, if at all, and leave the right-here-right-now to

T
sort itself out how it may.
he most fluid values in a session will be the
character's Belief Points, Mind, Soul and LFE:
For example, you may know that Malleus has issued
it's a good idea to keep track of them in a table on a
a Sacred Hunt for a member of your party. You know
dry-erase board.
why, too, and you know the places where Knights
and Missionaries are prone to be looking. What you
You don't need a map grid to play, but it's a good
don't know -and shouldn't- is exactly who will spot
idea to have another dry-erase board ready to
the guy, nor when, nor where, nor how. You are
quickly sketch the character's relative positions and
ready for it to happen, but at the same time you are
other relevant features of their location. This usually
aware that it never might, and that is as it should be,
only matters during crises: a crisis is a period of time
and does not worry you. Let the story flow organic-
where the order of the actions matter so much that
ally, and make sure your players understand the
players must take them in turns. All combat situ-
burden of moving it forward is on them, not you. Let
ations are crises, for example. A rule of thumb to end
them understand that you, the person, doesn't even
a crisis is simply this: ask yourself "could any charac-
exist in this fictional world. Only their characters
ter survive a 15 minute nap, now?" If the answer is
exist there, and only their characters may influence
yes, the crisis is over.
it. Your job as Host (not Master, not Teller) is to
simply adjudicate consequences.
In general you want to keep most of your party in
no-turn zones for most of the time. No-turn zones
StoryHosting Enter the Shadowside can leave you
are the valleys in a story where characters talk
drained -physically, emotionally and mentally.
amongst themselves, plan, reflect, and in general live
There's a reason you shouldn't burden yourself with
their lives. Valleys are wonderful for roleplay, but if
excessive planning or excessive shepherding, and it's
your session has nothing but valleys it may become
simply that your three core jobs are draining enough
stale (think of a soap-opera). Crises (signified by
on their own. If you try to leash it all by force, like
their reliance on turns) are the peaks of the story,
one would a wild horse, it will consume you. In-
where characters struggle valiantly in the face of im-
stead, learn to embrace uncertainty. Learn to be okay
posing odds. Peaks are much more mechanical and
with not knowing what will happen next. Make
tactical than valleys, and if your session has nothing
peace with the fact that the story is out of your
but peaks it might as well be a videogame. Empiric-
hands, and into your players' (or more properly,
ally speaking, a good session is a balance of about 70
their characters'). Divest yourself from the concept of
percent valleys and 30 percent peaks, with the peaks
credit when things go well, and from the concept of
increasing in frequency and intensity towards the en-
guilt when they don't. Relax. If you ever feel over-
d. It goes without saying: do not keep track of these
whelmed here is a simple trick to help you find your
percentages during the session. Analyze them in ret-
footing again: narrow your vision to only the present
rospective, if you wish, but do not concern yourself
moment and current location. Surface only the right-
during session time with anything else other than
here-right-now, and expand gradually, as con-
your three jobs: 1) roleplaying the NPCs (notably the
sequences and events manifest themselves naturally.
Hierogamy spirits), 2) being a fair arbiter of the
It's okay if your players know that you don't know.
rolling of dice, and 3) keeping track of the world and
In fact, roll plenty of "finding out dice" right in front
all who love in it, long term, then surfacing only that
of them, and announce how you'll interpret the res-
which is relevant to the right-here-right-now.
ults them before the die hits the table. Let them un-
derstand that even though you're driving the bus, it
Feel free to plan as much detail as you like about
doesn't mean you know the curves ahead.
your campaign, but understand that the more de-
tailed your designs are the less likely the players are
Enter the Shadowside is about experiencing an in-
to follow through them. The opposite is also true: the
teresting story together with people you care about.
less you plan, the more the story will follow
Let everyone play it to feel, not to win.

73
 NEWFRIEND'S GUIDE TO THE SHADOWSIDE
certain altered states) our brain has a grip on it all
(Note: the following is written -and crudely illus-
automatically, and we continue to see and experience
trated- by Jason Vree, a scavenger)
only the physical world and only through our

S
physical senses.
cavengers (or scavs, for short) are a bunch of
neckbeards who go in and out of the Shadowside
But at the moment of death however, what we call
for fun or for profit. Some have magical lolpowerz...
the flash, all physicality is stripped from us -we lose
the fleshare- and only our mind and personality
The Shadowside, in turn, is where ghosts live... that's
remain -that is: those thoughts and wants and drives
that made you a person are all that's left; the rest
how they told it to me the first time and that's how I
tell it to you now. There's more to it, obviously. But
goes to the worms. And without a brain to keep
baby steps.
emotions in check people typically go ape-shit for a
while, usually in whichever direction they were
First: the Shadowside is where ghosts live, yes, but
leaning to, to begin with. We call that euphoria, the
it’s also where you live too, and me and everyone
rough realization that you can still think without a
else -is just that most of us don't know it yet (and
brain, just messier.
trust me that's a good thing). Then we all die one
day, and surprise: the Shadowside becomes our
We continue living, in a way, the differences being
everything.
that we are now seeing and experiencing the
Shadowside overlapping (and eventually overtaking)
Don't misunderstand me; this doesn't make any of
the physical world and, that we no longer have a
the knowledge you gain here moot. Far from it: the
direct way to interact with solid matter (emphasis on
better prepared you are, the better your chances are
"direct").
to keep your personhood when the flash comes and
the winds of Gehenna burn the tiny hairs of your ass.
Oh, and another detail: we've just been through a
But again, let's not get ahead of ourselves.
little nugget of mindfuck affectionately referred to as
"death". It would be reasonable to expect some
Physical vs Spiritual
psychological repercussions.

W hile our world is composed primarily of

physical matter -things you can touch, eat or
fuck, the Shadowside is composed primarily of
I've been told by spooks (who got better) that the
whole ordeal feels somewhat like a bad dream that
keeps on making less and less sense as it goes -until
thoughts and feelings. There are fancier ways to say
you nearly forget how it begun or what you were
this: basically everything that makes you you makes
supposed to do in it.
the Shadowside it. You wouldn't say your skin and
bones make you you -everyone has fucking skin and
Unless you keep your shit together through euphoria
bones (and everyone will lose them too). It's your
somehow and come out at least a little bit sane the
personality, your dreams, your passions --the stuff
other side, you'll end up an Omen -a shapeless
that's unique-- what remains after the flesh is gone
clusterfuck of contradicting passions with hardly any
and makes you a person, and these personal energies
traces of personhood left.
shape the reality of the Shadowside.

Your fleshware makes a difference though, the brain.

You see, for as long as we live our thoughts and
feelings, our desires, memories, hungers, fears,
hopes, etc-etc are all neatly organized (not exactly
inside, but) through the agency of our physical brain,
like an antenna, and (except during dreams and

74
How Ghosts Work
As far as thoughts and
feelings and concerned,
possessing a physical host
brain is either an
advantage or a crutch
depending on who you
ask: the fleshware acts as
an automatic, always-on
force of order keeping the
mental energies cohesive
and focused (aka keeping
your shit together). There
are beings who never had one, and so they natively
know how to keep their focus in other ways -ways
most of us need to learn in a hurry once we die and
before euphoria sets in.
So, after death, when our brain is no longer there to
rein them in, those mental energies gradually start to
spread too thin and become unorganized -sort of like
a cup overflowing- and you become an Omen.
Another analogy because this is important: think of a
sand castle that keeps its shape for as long as the
plastic bucket is in place. Now suddenly yank away
the bucket and what happens? Well, depending on
how rough the yanking was (this is death, the flash)
maybe you just lost a chunk or two but your whole
castle is unlikely to just collapse instantly. It'll keep
its shape for a while, depending on many factors,
and will only deteriorate slowly unless a new bucket
comes along (Hierogamy, as you will soon see), or
unless the sand magically hardens up by itself (we'll
talk about both scenarios later). If neither occurs, the
castle will eventually erode back into featureless
sand, to be re-used again in a
different mold for a different
castle.
The core is the last to dissipate
-that is: our strongest ideas and
feelings will survive the
longest after all other more
menial thoughts are gone. A
ghost may forget what year it is
sooner than who did him in (or
whom he has to kill back).
This is why older ghosts, after decades (or
sometimes centuries) of wandering the Shadowside
gradually lose all nuance and complexity and end up
as shapeless manifestations of their basest remaining
components: rage, sadness, love, anger, etc. When
the process happens quickly we call those Omens.
When it finally gets at them after centuries (or
sometimes millennia) of bucking the tides, we call
them Primordials. Even without their personhood
primos are still pretty powerful and won't dissolve
into ether for another thousand years or so. Very
valuable; very dangerous - highly sought by those
craving the powers of manifestation without the
commitment of Hierogamy. But I digress again.
S
o let's get back on topic with an example: say a
certain John Doe is killed while trying to cross
the border with his family to escape war somewhere
(happens more often than you'd like to think and this
is why I hate airports).
For the first few years the ghost of this John Doe will
try to protect his family and haunt the specific
soldiers who killed him. But after 20 or 25 years be-
ing mostly ignored (other than your typical dreams,
perhaps) the details will become blurrier and blurrier
and the ghost of Doe will start protecting all generic
border crossers or haunting all generic soldiers.
After 50 or 60 years Doe will be stuck simply re-
living his fatal night in an endless loop, oblivious to
the real world outside what’s left of his mind.
Awareness of the present is lost, along with all of his
sense of time-linearity, and after a hundred or more
years nothing else is left of Doe anymore -but his
shapeless anger, his pain and some sort of generic
regret which only the good psychics can still smell
(hence the term, omen).
After half a millennia or more there’s nothing left at
all but some amorphous, impersonal vague energy, a
"bad hunch" feeling for the living that enter the area,
and nothing more.
Not all ghosts suffer this fate though. Like I said:
some learn to make-do without a brain -still others
never had one to begin with. Both kinds retain per-
sonhood and, given enough time, they rise as the
kings and queens of the Shadowside. Dangerous
folk. Strong. We call them Mythos.
75
Dreams as Entrances to the
Paranormal
It's easy enough to feel what it’s like to exist as a
being of pure-thought-and-feeling -in fact we go
through this most nights because that's exactly what
dreams are, when our brain rests.
This is why we act strangely during dreams, and
why dreams are forgotten so quickly in the morning
when the brain returns to sheppard our scattered
mental energies back in the corral. Yup, all dreams
are body-free visits to the Shadowside -somewhat
safer than other more comprehensive incursions.
Keeping this in mind will also help us understand
why several decades of a non-stop, dream-like
mental state would deteriorate anyone's psyche and
eventually disintegrate the sense of self.
In our dreams locations seem strange and people act
strange, but it feels normal at the time. This is not
only because the conscious part of our brain is
asleep, but also because the Shadowside exists
purely as a world of thoughts and feelings -indeed,
in the Shadowside Belief Creates Reality.
Cogito Ergo Mundi Est.
Remember that, kiddies. Belief Creates Reality: that's
the number one thing you gotta know about the
Shadowside, that is it's main engine, it's entire
ontology; the little clockwork core at the center of the
machine -at the center of everything!
Belief Creates Reality is the ONLY real rule of the
game.
Therefore, the Shadowside can be described as a
"subjective reinterpretation" of the real world: drawn
from the memories and experiences of its
inhabitants; a place where, absent all "real" matter,
perception alone translates into truth.
Heaven and Hell
And so this is why people who've had peaceful,
fulfilling lives, enter death in a state of mind that
causes them to experience "heaven", that is, a reality
of their own creation (although they don't
necessarily know that!) that is mostly positive and
pleasant. All your loved ones are there, yadda,
yadda. Not all processes of euphoria have to be scary
and painful.
By the same token the opposite is true: tortured
minds will create tortured worlds to live in, and as
you might have guessed we call those "hell".
This is why all Near Death Experiences report back
pretty much along sectarian lines; you never hear
about Muslims seeing Saint Peter, or Christians
meeting Shiva (but hold that thought though -we'll
discuss divinity soon).
The
Monster
Under the
Bed
Important to know:
it is impossible to
"go" to the
Shadowside
because we are
already in it: it already surrounds us and it already
overlaps us just as much as the real physical world
does -is just that we don't see it, therefore we don't
believe in it, therefore it doesn't affect us. Mostly.
This is a good thing.
What is possible though, is to tune one’s own mind
in such way that the Shadowside becomes visible: it's
all about striking the right note and matching one's
perception with the Shadowside's overall
interpretation of the location where we’re at. It’s all
about priming up our minds to see the invisible, to
feel what’s not physically there, to hear what’s not
audibly being said. "Suspension of Disbelief" is a
crude but effective way to describe the process
-"Faith" works too if you're religious (not for long!),
but if you want it in scav lingo it's Voluntas.
Voluntas -your capacity to believe things- is your
only currency in the Shadowside; your only
bargaining chip, your only real power.
T hus it follows that scary places and situations do
not necessarily infuse fear in us; it's the other
way around, with our fear giving birth to scary
places and scary situations. Certain locations reach
consensus: they are what most think they are.
76
To exemplify: a dark
corner in a derelict
building at midnight
may not necessarily
contain monsters, that is,
at least not to begin with.
It's not until we start
staring at it, and keep on
imagining the kind of
creatures it could
contain, and start
wondering which shapes
are what and how much
did they move while
breathing and whether
its a single pair of eyes or
two, that the engines of
the Shadowside kick into
gear. For all practical
purposes monsters will
in fact have been
summoned, made to
order and in proportion
to our degree of belief or disbelief. Keep this You can't. You just can't -it doesn't matter what
mechanic in mind as we're about to explore it much you want to believe; the way it works is that beliefs
more deeply very soon. aren't optional. You can't really choose them. Wheth-
er we want it or not, we are simply forced to
Becoming aware of the Shadowside is a one-way- automatically and unavoidably believe whatever
street: once you've seen it you can't unsee it. We seems the most likely representation of truth. It's just
scavs call it paraphrenia and yes, it is a mental dis- how it works (and why lunatics are the most dan-
ease; dreams don't really count as paraphrenia -after gerous foes in the Shadowside).

all you do wake up, eventually. But the hardcore
have developed more invasive means. We scavs do a
lot of things regular people shouldn't do. We don't
only see ghosts; we break in their houses, empty
their fridge and come back as buddies. At least some
of us do. Others get skinned. But maybe I'm scaring
you. Baby steps, Jason. Baby steps.
Y
ou can't fool yourself, but you can still be
fooled. See? And you can fool others. That's
how the game is played. It doesn't matter who does
the believin' as long as some believin' gets done. Get
enough suckers to believe you're king, and step up to
collect your free crown.

The Shadowside Belief Games
If you're one of the sharp ones and you've been
following along this mechanic of "Belief Creates
Reality", then probably your first thought was "great!
I only have to wish myself to be a king and blammo
it shall happen". But son, it just doesn't work that
way.
This dynamic favors games of persuasion, bluffing,
and naked manipulation. You can't will yourself to
wield Lucifer's Own Shaving Knife, but if someone
else seriously thinks you got it... and the opposite is
also true: being caught as a liar and losing face
makes you literally weaker -the worst fate for an
outlander (which is what we all are until we die) is to
be known as a weakling and a bluffer.

Look: try it. Convince yourself that you can levitate Are the gears in your head spinning yet? Ready for
one inch off the floor, right now. Do it. Close your the biggest scam of all time?
eyes and give it your hardest. Believe. Give up yet?

77
Carlin was Right
Ghosts have existed since the beginning of time. This
game has been played continuously, ruthlessly, since
the dawn of civilization, son.
Looong ago entities in the Shadowside became
aware of the Cogito Ergo
Mundus mechanics. Indeed,
some of them postulate that the
Shadowside and it's dynamic of
belief is the real universe, the
Hyperuranium Plato talked
about, while the physical world
of matter we perceive during our
short existence is the anomaly,
the hiccup -the exception. In any
case, long ago it became clear
that the best road to power went
through large masses of people
believing you were powerful, and indeed, the more
devoutly so the better. If you are a Mythos, you want
the world to know it.
So what do you do? A freak storm destroyed the
crops of a non-believer? Give a dream/vision to your
favorite prophet/priest and take the credit. A family
member who was ill suddenly got better? Take the
credit. Even when it doesn't works it works: say a
man has been praying to you non-stop for some
impossible wish, and then he fails anyway: claim he
didn't have true faith after all, then take the credit.
Faith. Sacrifices. Rites. Prayers. You see where I'm
going. You see what that does -you see for whom.
And the gravy train doesn't end when the devout die
-rather if you did your job well as a deity (there, I
said it) then your followers will go either to a
"heaven" or a "hell" of your choosing. By their own
making, true, but their dreams before and their
reality today were your machinations. You planted
the ideas. They believe what you told them to, and
now in the afterlife they can't help but to perpetuate
its reality and see everything confirmed, and thus
put even more of their voluntas into your service.
It's a pyramid scheme, I tell you. And it goes all the
way down from the highest Mythos to the lowliest
tarot-stacking schmucks as long as their mind is
capable of holding a thought. It comes from the
beginning of history, and all the way up to these, our
sickly final days.
As you can imagine, these beings, these Mythos,
directly benefit from having believers both alive and
dead bestowing them with power, and will try to
manipulate perceptions towards
this goal -either by speaking
through appointed emissaries
(sensitive people who can
experience the Shadowside in
visions or dreams -call them
"prophets" if you're feeling
classical), or on rare occasions, by
projecting actual paranormal
power into the physical world, at
a cost (call these "miracles").
There are angels, and there are
demons. You could become one,
through Hierogamy, and most orgs do. They do war,
and they do compete for souls both up here and
down there. For believers. That's what religion is.
That's all it is.
The "gods" are only as powerful as the number of
their faithful, and the intensity of their faith. All
rituals and ceremonies -from mainstream
Christianity to tribal witchcraft in fucking Africa- are
nothing but institutionalized means of channeling
the faith of as many minds as possible into forming a
coherent reality for the benefit of particularly ancient,
greedy little entities inside the Shadowside.
The major orgs you may have heard of: Malleus on
Yahweh's side (Islam is a whole different ballgame
-don't go there), Fujin's Blood working for Fujin, the
Somosa for a ragtag association of tribals, Big Sis has
an assortment of pagan has-beens (Dagon's a decent
guy though) and GTS for goddamn Aleister Crowley
(luckiest fucker ever, imho), etc.
They have agents -we call them Avatars -they call
themselves all kinds of things- and usually through
Hierogamy they manifest all kinds of supernatural
powers. It's a brutal drive for the most precious
resource in the universe: faith. We scavs don't pick
sides, at least not without a good goddamn reason.
--Jason Vree
78
 THE SHADOWSIDE AND YOU
I
even kill your character. This is not what Enter the
left this section for last (and I tell it in first-person)
Shadowside was designed to be.
because it is in fact very personal. I speak as just a
guy who enjoys the hobby, not as "Game Designer".
The unspoken contract of this game is that the play-
ers, by virtue of their caring, will "See" their charac-
Different people look for different things out of
ters just as the StoryHost will "See" the world, and,
roleplaying games; some are happy to see fair and
together, through us, a compelling story will be dis-
well thought-out mechanics so they can formulate
covered rather than created -sometimes despite us
strategies and “win”, like a sports-event-with-a--
and our egos and our papers and our dice.
back-story. Others are intrigued to see a realistic

T
simulation that translates complex life scenes into
here are risks of course, apathy being the main
workable formulas and mathematical
one. What do you do, as StoryHost, with char-
representations, like a documentary-with-dice. And
acters who passively sit around the bar all day wait-
yet others are looking for narratives and compelling
ing for something to happen? Players who won't take
stories, dramatic characters and scenes, like improv-
the initiative, and merely wait for you to lead them,
table-theather. While I certainly care about all three
as if through videogame cut-scenes between levels of
aspects -perhaps the last one more so than the first
mostly combat? The problem is two-fold, and part of
and the second- over the years I've realized you can
the responsibility to fix it lies with you. First, your
never have one exclusively without the others, and
players haven't internalized the concept that in a
furthermore, that neither of the three, by themselves,
Seeing game they are the ones doing the driving, and
suited me perfectly. Over time, I found a combina-
not you. The more veteran your players, the greater
tion which I came to call Seeing, and the name stuck.
the risk of them being used to seeing your role as
I’ll try to explain Seeing to you here:
that of an antagonist who has elaborate plans that

H
can be resisted to a point but must ultimately be fol-
as it ever happened to you, usually during a
lowed. Talk them out of this self-sabotage, privately
particularly intense game, that your character
and one-and-one. Confide in them that you're just a
suddenly does something you didn’t expect him to
passenger, and that the fate of the story is in their
do? Maybe something that you, as a player, think it’s
hands, or more appropriately, their characters'. And
a terrible idea but at the same time you understand
second, never allow toons at the table. Toons are the
it’s what the character "has chosen"? It’s a funny
result of skipping the "Life Story" step during char-
feeling, isn’t? To see that this character, this sup-
acter creation: disposable and mostly faceless collec-
posed creation of yours, this fictional product of
tions of traits who tend to sit around all day waiting
your imagination, this puppet, is now surprising it's
for quest-givers. Characters are vastly different.
creator and "making his own choices"... somehow.
Characters have a past and a future, debts to pay and
to collect, dreams and fears, and, most important of
As a StoryHost, Seeing is an entirely liberating ex-
all, a blissful ignorance of us, the players, with our
perience. I no longer plan, nor do I take credit nor
dice and our papers, watching them, as if in an ant-
blame for what happens in the story. I am an observ-
farm through our little game. They wouldn't believe
er, a faithful witness of events which are out of my
it, and if they did they wouldn't care. They've things
hands, happening in a plane made real by virtue of
to do with or without us. They don't need us.
our collective respect. This frees me as an individual
to actually root for my friends when challenged, cel-
If your players truly invest themselves in the "Life
ebrate with them when victorious, fear for them
Story" portion of character creation (and this is a gi-
when in peril, and mourn with them when tragedy
ant act of trust on their part -please never take it for
strikes. It's weird at first, particularly if you come
granted), then you will have characters instead of
from a background where the "Game Master" is seen
toons, and Seeing will feel not just like an easier al-
as an adversarial figure whose actual job is to some-
ternative, but more like the only one that really does
how make your journey difficult and, one good day,
them justice. Nothing else feels more rewarding.

79
O pen Canon

Y
to.
ou can
ou can contribute
owside
contribute to
owside canon,
canon, and
to the
and we'd
the Shad­
we'd love
Shad-
love you
you

Join us at

reddit.com/r/shadowside
and post to your heart's content.
Post about your characters,
about your sessions, about
things you have seen in your
campaign -anything.
I do reserve just one right
alone and it's this: to be able to declare whether
There are other books written by other members of
something is "canon" or not. All you have to do is
the community; books written for each of the organ-
come to the subreddit and start a conversation. We
izations for example, detailing their history, lingo,
have Official Writers there, for each organization,
additional Paranormal Skills -and most enjoyably-
and we pride ourselves in our capacity to play ball
stories which can inspire you. Great care and atten-
with others and reach common ground. The subred-
tion has been paid not to make these books into be-
dit is a community -conversations take place in pub-
all-end-all authoritative "Bibles", but rather guides to
lic and we do everything in the open. If you're not a
simply point you in a certain direction and let you
jerk, I promise you we'll get along. And once your
and your party actually explore and discover your
work is granted canon status, you get to use the offi-
own truths.
cial logo above, artwork, and everything else we can

W
offer.
hat is that? You want to formally write for the
Shadowside? You have an amazing story to
This book would not have happened without the
tell and want to write a novel? You have an en-
support and effort of these people. In no particular
semble of NPCs which did wonders for your cam-
order, I thank you most sincerely:
paign and you can't wait to share them? You
developed awesome locations which exist in the
gt5snake and Owlmandius - Fujin's Blood
Shadowside, awe-inspiring artwork, whole new or-
OfADyingBreed - Malleus Diaboli
ganizations perhaps, or found an incredible twist to
Palhinuk - Somosa
your Endgame and the Muse commands you to put
flamespire - Sisterhood of Salem
it down on paper? And sell it? Go for it.
HeirToPendragon - Greater Thelema Society
elrundir - Accelletrix
I, Marco Leon, won't charge you any royalty whatso-
paintings_of_fire - SCaV3NG3R
ever for doing so. Whether you choose to give your
kingbirdy - Tian-Shi
work away for free, or sell it online, or even if you
Jagadaishio - Adversaries
strike a deal with a traditional publisher: you'll find
goatsgomoo - Jacob's Ladder
in me nothing but encouragement and zero demands
Huzzah107654 - Editing
for money. It doesn't mean I'm transferring to you
RecapGuy - Promotion
my copyright -for that would prevent me from creat-
rednightmare - Sage advice, huge help
ing new work down the road- it rather means you
trollitc - Sage advice, huge help
can create your own derivative works and freely
profit from them without having to ever pay me a
dime. It's your work.

80
A bout
Book
This

I believe copyright-
enforcing techno-
logies such as DRM
are deeply mis-
guided because they
ultimately punish
the legitimate con-
sumer with an in-
ferior product. I
believe organizations
such as the RIAA are
counterproductive
and stifle innovation;
I feel the same way
about draconian le-
gislation such as
SOPA, ACTA, PIPA
and CISPA. And
most important of
all, growing up in
Mexico I learned
what it feels like to
really want
something and not
be able to afford it.
I priced it like a sandwich at the mall, and opened up
So yes, I'm sure you could torrent this whole thing in the canon so that anyone who really cares can pro-
a heartbeat if you really wanted to. I did not water- duce derivative works and even sell them without
mark it, nor did I set the PDF to prevent copy-past- owing me a dime. I also won't make you buy it twice:
ing, nor printing -nor did I do anything else that as corrections, additions and even new editions be-
could possibly cripple your experience in any way. come available I'll simply continue updating this
PDF file at DriveThruRPG so that you can just

B ut before you fire up your favorite sharing sys-

tem, I just want you to consider one thing: I'm
just one guy. I'm not Accelletrix. You're not standing
download it again.

If you really want to share, please write us a review

up to "the Man", but just "a man". A guy, like you,
who likes to daydream and create. A guy who spent
his college years drawing character sheets and refin-
ing rules about grapples and ritual-magic with his
friends -for years. I left those friends when I moved
to the US in the year 2000 -and the more time goes by
the more I cherish and miss those Saturday evenings
eating Ramen and throwing dice to the soundtrack of
Batman Returns and Enigma.
and link to the subreddit community; word of mouth
is our everything. Even better, join us there! A lot of
feedback has made this book what it is, and will con-
tinue to. We originally released the book with only
70 pages, but this version you are reading already
has 90... because of your feedback, your ideas, your
questions. We make it better together.

This book is my effort to capture even a little bit of

A ll I want is to share what it feels like to See.
And if you really cannot spare five bucks, trust
me I've been there: just email me at
that magic. blacksmith@fableforge.org

81
StoryHost Certificates 1.- Describe a certain location in the Shadowside.
What do you see for its history? Who lives there?

I f you are a StoryHost, I'd like you to do something

for me, if you would. Open your favorite email cli-
ent and enter blacksmith@fableforge.org in the To:
How does it work?

2.- Describe a certain entity in the Shadowside. Who

line. Then enter "StoryHost Cert" in the subject line, was he in life? Was he ever human, to begin with?
and answer three questions in the body of the email: How did he end up there? What does he want?

3.- Tell me about

your party. How is
the campaign going?
What is the story
about? Any high-
lights or cool mo-
ments you want to
share?

As a token of my
gratitude for your
time, I will email you
back a StoryHost
Certificate; similar to
what you see in this
page.

What will I do with

your answers? I'll
feel good, primarily.
I won't publish them
without your con-
sent, for certain. In
fact, I'd be more
likely to recommend
you to publish them
yourself, as explained
in the Open Canon
page. Nothing would
make me happier
than seeing plenty of
Shadowside short
stories and novellas
floating out there.
Same for artwork, or
any other kind of
media -just go for it!

E njoy! May you

experience many
awesome lives and
stories!

82
D O NOT READ
ANYTHING BEYOND
THIS POINT UNLESS
YOU ARE A STORYHOST
AND HAVE RUN AT
LEAST SIX SESSIONS!!

83
S hadowside: Endgame
E ndgame: the ultimate goal, the final state of a sys-
tem that has run its course, and sometimes, the
necessary destruction that allows a new cycle to be-
gin.
Every universe needs polarity: every conflict, even-
tually, can and must be framed in terms of an even
bigger conflict, which sooner or later will bring us to
a certain fundamental duality -an existential struggle
between two opposite and universal Endgame
Forces. Traditionally we've heard of it in terms of
"Good" vs "Evil", "Light" vs "Dark", or "Order" vs
"Chaos". None of these terms are nuanced enough to
neatly describe the crisis happening in the Shad-
owside -even as the forces themselves are as distinct
and opposite as night and day.
T he Crisis of Faiths is the term given to the mod-
ern struggle that pits our reality against the
Shadowside's. To understand the Crisis of Faiths one
must remember that the Shadowside is a realm of
spiritual energies forged by our dreams, our hopes
and our fears, a place fueled by (and ruled by) our
beliefs, memories and feelings, and which, in return,
hosts and governs our sentience and personhood.
This symbiotic relationship which existed since the
Dawn of Man, gave rise to certain figures in the
Shadowside who eventually came to be worshipped
as gods.
And they were most certainly gods, for they acted as
such. These were the Biblical times, when the com-
bined Faith of millions of believers and worshippers
gave these beings enough power to actually reach in-
to our physical realm and inspire our prophets, give
our kings visions and their people miracles. These
were the days of fire raining from the sky, and rivers
turning into blood. Angels and demons walked the
earth, and the sun could hold still, glorious, for
battle. These days are gone.
Faith in the supernatural is quickly disappearing
from the modern world. In ever increasing numbers
we turn away from the "gods" of old and spend our
mental and spiritual energies in pursuit of empty
currency, mundane diversions, and vice. The old en-
tities which were once all-powerful and ever-present
are now pale, bitter shadows of their former selves.
They weaken as belief in them wanes; their very ex-
istence is in jeopardy. They are desperate to act, and,
most importantly, they have a plan. In fact they al-
ways did.
T he end of Times is a common prophecy across
most deity-based religions. While the specifics
vary between "Ragnarök" and "Armageddon", the
basic premise is one of divine comeuppance levied
against a fundamentally rotten system. Doomsday is
a hard-reset, a wiping clean of the sickness that en-
velops this ailing world and the necessary setup for
the rebirth of a new one; humanity's proverbial
second chance to start over and build things right,
from the ground level up. This is the other common
theme in the old religions: Paradise. This is gods be-
ing gods again. This is humans -at least a chosen
few- becoming gods. This is the first of the
Endgame Forces.
Weakened as they are the old gods can only act
through agents and emissaries, and offer (what is
still considerable) power and certainly the hope of a
better world to all who act on their behalf. But not all
agree to hasten the End of the World. Some of us ac-
tually like it here, ugly as things are, and would
rather the System continued. Some of us are doing
rather well in the current setup, and some of us think
we don't really need to kill nearly everyone else in
order to do better. This is the other Endgame
Force.
N either side should be easily labeled as "good"
nor "evil". Is it "evil" to destroy an evil world?
Is it "good" to try to save it? Can you weigh Mercy vs
Justice? At which point is it worth it to start over?
How low must the current System sink before it's no
longer worth rescuing?
W hich side the seven organizations take will be
up to you to gradually realize through the
course of your campaign -and there are perfectly
valid rationales for each of the groups to support
either one. Each campaign can have different alli-
ances. Some organizations may be exterminated en-
tirely -others may change into new forms, like Fujin's
once did. There are no "good" nor "bad" guys. There
are only stark choices between saving this sick world
or starting a new one over. It will be up to you, and
you alone, to choose wisely.
84
L ongcatnaröck
(Note: this, once again, is Jason's particular take)
W ell, not even the best scams last forever. Reli-
gion worked well and good up until the
Renaissance or so, and the Mythos entertained
themselves by pitting their followers against one
another in various Crusades, Jihads, Inquisitions,
Colonizations and other Holy Wars.
Today however, the secular world is taking hold and
religion is being beaten back to its dark corner: it's
not just the rise of hip atheism amongst the online
crowd, it's the utter hopelessness of the downtrod-
den, when even the poor and uneducated start to
wise up to the fact that prayers have a bad response-
ratio. People the world over simply have less faith
-which means less power for most of these ancient
entities, and they've begun to panic.
Not like they're surprised: they knew it'd come.
They're not going quietly into the night -if you had
warred for millennia to become what you've become
you wouldn't give it away for nothin', either.
Turns out they have a plan B -turns out they always
did. For you and me it's known as "The End of the
World", "Judgment Day", "Armageddon", "The
Apocalypse", etc. We scavs call it "Longcatnarök", be-
cause the Norse version at least kills several deities
off in lulzy fashion. Most religions have this in one
way or another though; most religions need it. Kill
the goose that lays the golden eggs.
For the Mythos this is their last charade, their last
hurrah before the "blimp" that is our physical
existence goes to hell and we all return to the
Shadowside where we existed since time
immemorial and from where, some say, we should
have never left in the first place (but go pick that
bone with Yahweh).
I said at the beginning that some scavengers tour
the Shadowside for fun or for profit, and this is
true. What I didn't say is that some of us do so to
stop or to hasten the End of Days, also. Some of us,
and some of the ghosts with us, have taken sides,
and unlike the other orgs, we don't monolithically go
swing for one team or another as a whole group.
Team Save The World typically has none of the
major Mythos but rather your middle-management
types (Angels, Demons and other Avatars), or maybe
washed up deities (think of Tlaloc for example, or
Dagon, or various other Greek legends) who are still
in touch with their humanity and favor more discrete
methods of perpetuating the sucker's game without
killing us fucking all in the process.
Team Kill'em Fucking All In The Process, on the
other hand, is more likely to line up heavy hitters
like Yahweh, and it's a newfag mistake to automatic-
ally think they must be "evil". For all we know, their
new reborn world is in fact going to be an awesome
Golden Age of nutella and blowjobs and we're the
assholes for delaying it. There's something to be said
about justice too, and giving every jerk what they
richly deserve.
It's a sliding scale, is what I'm saying. Can't fault
them for wanting to keep their power, or at the very
least their Personhood. Some deities are frankly
scratching for survival. And I don't blame the other
organizations either for taking the sides they've
taken, surprising as it is at times, as the choices have
been. The brass goes where it wants and the herd
doesn't know better. Most orgs deal with rebellions.
Myth, kiddies, is dying. This is a jaded age, a
technological, secular bum rush into cacophony, a
wild frontier where the old methods of keeping the
Shadowside masters fed just no longer work.
It is our time. We scavengers can flip this war either
way. We can gain untold power while doing so. And
most importantly, and as fucking cliché as it sounds,
we can save the world before the ancients
cannibalize it, or we can beat them to it and live like
kings in the new server instance.
Tread carefully, my little grasshoppers. Until further
notice (and who the hell knows who gives notices
these days) we're officially in the End of Times.
But now at least your eyes are open.
--Jason Vree
85
T IAN SHI: Ancient oriental wisdom passed
from Master to Apprentice, harmony with the
Tao, universal balance, martial arts and mysticism.

T o this day historians still have no idea what

message did Cui Hao carve across 77 stone
tablets near various Altars To Heaven in northern
China, 450 AD. What is known is that the response
from Emperor Taiwu was to order the immediate
execution of the entire Cui clan: 125 souls including
women and children. The tablets were destroyed but
the 125 souls -the Celestial Masters- are still with us
today. The Tian Shi never grow nor shrink their
ranks: 125, no more and no less, spread across the
entire globe in Hierogamy with descendants of the
original Lu, Guo and Liu families which fled the
wrath of the Emperor to spread Taoism. and shelter, and simply trust the flow of the universe
to provide whatever is needed whenever it’s needed.
Up until now the way of the Tian Shi had always Yes, they are homeless, and free like the wind, with
been the way of the Universe; the way of the Tao their entire time available for study. They learn about
which flows as a force of order and balance, as the the Shadowside’s unique symbiosis with our reality:
source of all that is and all that isn’t. The Tian Shi’s what we pay with faith in exchange for sentience,
role so far had been to simply keep all Shadowside and the unsustainable crisis that is disrupting this
organizations in equilibrium, preventing any single balance. They also learn about the flow of qi, and the
one from dominating the rest. Understanding the making and unmaking of time and reality.
Tao used to require a lifetime of meditation, and it
was the tradition of Tian Shi Masters to only take Eventually, when the Master feels the time has come
Apprentices among the most devout to the Tao Te for both, the Apprentice enters in Hierogamy.

Ching -even after years of preparation and cere-
mony.
All that changed with the Crisis of Faiths. It begun
when certain individuals, apparently at random,
begun experiencing brief moments of enlightenment
which could be felt through the Shadowside like
ripples in a calm pond. For a brief instant these
people would comprehend the True Nature of the
Universe, and lacking the means to express
themselves or put their visions in context, would
immediately fall into a deep coma. These days a Tian
Shi Master –usually of the opposite gender- will
appear at the comatose individual's doorstep within
days and, after waking him up, will politely invite
him to basically leave his entire life behind and
become an Apprentice.
H
ierogamy: The Joining of the Breaths, while
sweet, causes the death of the Master, and
after passing his entire jing to the Apprentice his soul
goes to rest in peaceful realms in far corners of the
Shadowside. The Celestial One however, one of the
original 125 Tian Shi souls who was in Hierogamy
with the Master, becomes now bonded to the Ap-
prentice, making him the new Master and tasking
him, in turn, with fulfilling the vision -that original
glimpse at the gates of faith and madness that started
it all.
This is the same vision Cui Hao carved in the 77
stones of Pingchang. It’s the final Tao of the world.
The Endgame. The Tian-Shi's ancestral task of keep-
ing the balance amongst all powers earthly and
heavenly is now disrupted. Sides are taken.

T he life of the Tian Shi Apprentice is relatively

simple: the first thing they are taught is to
disregard the mundane pursuits of food, warmth
But first things first: the Master must now follow the
Tao and find himself an Apprentice.

86
P aranormal Skills

W ei Wu Wei (Action through Inaction) – Roll: No further dice required. The Master does not know
how exactly, but trusts the flow of universe will deliver whatever is necessary. The StoryHost
distributes the Belief Points to the relevant Traits of any serendipitous event or "accident" that somehow favors
the Master.
the Master. InIn effect
effect it
it looks
looks like
like the
the Master
Master isis merely
merely standing
standing still
still when,
when, for
for
instance, aa random
instance, random drunk
drunk driver
driver suddenly
suddenly happens
happens to
to clip
clip aa lamp
lamp post
post which
which
in turn
turn falls
falls down
down on on thethe Master’s
Master’s assailants
assailants with
with STR
STR equivalent
equivalent to to Belief
Belief
Points.
Points. It
It was
was the
the way
way of of the
the universe
universe for
for this
this to
to happen.
happen. The
The Caster
Caster does
does not
not
specify
specify which
which outcome
outcome he he desires;
desires; he
he merely
merely chooses
chooses an
an amount
amount of of Be­
Be-
lief
lief Points
Points to
to throw
throw to
to the
the wind
wind andand put
put at
at the
the service
service of
of the
the universe
universe ­in
-in
game
game terms
terms this
this means
means the the StoryHost.
StoryHost. The
The StoryHost
StoryHost must
must use
use those
those
ints before
points before the
the storywise
storywise crisis
crisis ends,
ends, but
but not
not necessarily
necessarily in
in the
the same
same turn
turn
-or even in the same round.

T
by
ao Te (Power of the Way) – Roll:
SPI.
SPI. If
by aa Target
If successful,
Target or
successful, whichever
or the
the Caster
whichever action
Caster himself,
Roll: Belief

himself, regardless
Belief Points
action currently
regardless of
Points VS
currently being
VS Target’s
Target’s
being attempted
of actual
attempted
actual Might
Might and
and
ifficulty, will
Difficulty, will succeed
succeed on on aa roll
roll of
of 11
11 or
or higher
higher and
and fail
fail on
on aa roll
roll
off 10
10 or
or lower.
lower. The
The flow
flow ofof the
the universe
universe has
has determined
determined thethe
chances
chances forfor this
this event
event to
to be
be even.
even. The
The Caster
Caster may
may apply
apply Tao
Tao
Tee to
to any
any action
action yet
yet to
to roll
roll dice
dice in
in the
the same
same round
round or
or in
in the
the
next round.

P
the
u (Simplicity) – Roll:
lastt successful
the aura­like
successful Might.
aura-like guides
guides of
Roll: Belief
Might. By
of every
Belief Points
By visually
every actor
Points VS Target’s
VS Target’s
visually observing
observing how
actor extend
extend into
how
into the
the
future, the Master can effectively ly anticipate
anticipate and
and
modify
modify any any short­term
short-term outcomes.
outcomes. If If the
the Caster’s
Caster’s
Belief
Belief Points
Points prevail
prevail over
over thethe Target’s
Target’s last
last
uccessful Might,
successful Might, the
the Caster
Caster isis allowed
allowed oneone
action which storywise occurs before the
Target’s.
Target’s. Through
Through this this new
new intercessory
intercessory
ction the
action the Caster
Caster may
may attempt
attempt to to prevent
prevent
the
the success
success of of the
the Target
Target from
from taking
taking place.
place. If
If he
he
lso succeeds,
also succeeds, storywise
storywise it it is
is like
like the
the Target
Target never
never did
did actually
actually succeed.
succeed.
n game
In game termsterms itit is
is the
the functional
functional equivalent
equivalent of of time­traveling
time-traveling one
one turn
turn
into the past.

T
Master
ongii (Spirit-medium) – Roll:
hrough deep
Through
aster spirit
deep meditation
spirit in
meditation the
in Hierogamy
Hierogamy withwith him
oll: Belief
the Caster
him to
Belief Points
Caster may
Points vs
may issue
to connect
connect with
vs Target’s
Target’s Soul.
issue forth
forth the
Soul.
the Celestial
with another
Celestial
another spirit
spirit in
in
Hierogamy
Hierogamy with with someone
someone else,
else, willingly
willingly or or unwillingly.
unwillingly. This
This allows
allows the
the
Caster
Caster to
to intuitively
intuitively use
use any
any of
of the
the paranormal
paranormal skills
skills belonging
belonging toto the
the hostage
hostage
pirit (albeit
spirit (albeit powered
powered byby the
the Caster's
Caster's ownown Belief
Belief Points).
Points). Tongii
Tongii is
is broken
broken when
when
the Caster
Caster is
is shaken
shaken out
out of
of his
his meditative
meditative state
state either
either through
through motion,
motion, damage
damage
orr other
other means
means (use
(use the
the Master’s
Master’s AWA
AWA to to face
face any
any challenges)
challenges) or
or until
until the
the Target
Target
breaks free
free through
through succeeding
succeeding inin aa roll
roll of
of Soul
Soul vs
vs the
the Caster’s
Caster’s Belief
Belief Points.
Points.

87
A DVERSARIES: Lunatics and butchers, serial
killers, lone wolves and criminal masterminds.
Nihilism, theatrics and corruption.
T hey are damned but more importantly they
know the world is damned with them, for they
have seen it end. They all received the same vision as
the future Apprentices of Tian Shi: a glimpse of the
ultimate fate of the universe sending tremors out of
time through the Shadowside. But unlike Tian Shi
their circumstances were usually far from random:
gun in mouth, noose around neck, bottle of pills in
hand, one drink away from the final blackout. They
are the war veteran who sees the eyes of a murderer
staring back in the mirror. The former CIA
interrogator whose nightmares let him sleep no
more. The rapist whose crimes never seemed real
until he looked into the eyes of his victims' families
in court. It happens in an instant -they say- the Big
Joke. Some have described it like curtains opening in
a theater exposing the dirty backstage. Some have
collapsed in hopeless laughter and tears. In that split
second before the trigger is pulled, the chair kicked,
the mouthful swallowed... their goals in life are
radically and irreversibly changed.
Adversaries rarely work together and have no
structure nor organization. Some go mad within
days -banging their heads to silence the voices. Many
reach brief infamy as serial killers or warlords, others
end up in institutions or proceed with suicide all the
same. About the only thing they all have in common
is their penchant for doodling spirals to pass time.
Despite appearances their work is never random.
Every murdered victim, every firebombed building,
every act of mayhem can all be traced to a single
overall plan -a plan related to every other
Shadowside organization, namely, their utter de-
struction. Anyone in Hierogamy is a target, and no
collateral damage is too costly to reach a target.
H ence their name, Adversaries, for they gladly
burn their lives to the ground if they think
they can catch others in the flames.
They don't talk under torture, but when they talk on
their own they usually say they are merely playing
the villain to have others rise as big damn heroes.
They say they do what they do to save humanity,
and that if that is not in the cards, then to spit it in
the face at least, and have one last laugh before it all
goes to hell. Be it as it may, they are Hunters and
Killers, and they target all organizations equally.
They don't negotiate nor compromise, in their view
killing every single person in Hierogamy is a noble
act that will save millions, when the End comes. This
is not to say they all act like rabid animals. Some Ad-
versaries can be cunning, charismatic and self-con-
tained. Methods, efficiencies. Their goal is the same.
H
ierogamy: Adversaries host spirits which
were once in Hierogamy with someone else,
felt that someone else die, and promptly consumed
them upon arrival to the Shadowside, going mad as a
result. These spirits no longer seek to make sense of
any mystery, nor experience anything resembling
peace. Destruction is all they want, and know no
patience nor boundaries. Some can be calculating,
however, and by far the most dangerous Adversaries
are those who manage to keep a veneer of calmness
bottling up their newly found urges and biding their
time for maximum effect.
Hierogamy takes place over several nightmares
beginning the night of the Big Joke -the revelation
which sets them on their path of chaos. Not all
survive the cruel and personal nature of these night-
mares -some eventually escape to the quiet rest of
death. But the rest find themselves quite committed
and quickly get to work... for there is much, much to
do.
88
P aranormal Skills

A stronomy Domine – Roll: Belief Points vs Target’s MND or SPI; whichever is higher. The Adversary
can infect a Target with an unmanageable portion of his own doomsday knowledge in the form of an
evil suggestion, causing him to stop in his tracks and deal with nightmarish thoughts every turn until he
succeeds in a roll of MND or SPI vs Belief Points. Every turn the Target fails to break the Domine, he must roll
aa second
second time
time to
to keep
keep himself
himself from
from giving
giving in in to
to these
these evil
evil thoughts.
thoughts. Should
Should he
he
fail this
this second
second roll
roll for
for two
two turns
turns in
in aa row,
row, hehe will
will in
in fact
fact attempt
attempt whichever
whichever is
is
the
the evil
evil deed
deed the
the Caster
Caster suggested
suggested and
and hehe had
had been
been battling
battling with.
with. Should
Should he
he
fail
fail for
for four
four turns
turns in
in aa row,
row, he
he will
will enjoy
enjoy it.
it.

R age – Roll:
an
istributes it
distributes
Roll: No
n amount
amount of
it as
No further

as bonuses
further dice
of points
points from
bonuses to
dice required.
from his
to STR,
STR, DEX
required. The
his Soul
Soul equal
DEX and
The Adversary
equal to
and END
END for
Adversary subtracts
subtracts
Belief Points,
to Belief
for the
Points, and
the rest
rest of
of
and

the storywise
the storywise crisis.
crisis. It
It is
is quite
quite aa sight
sight to
to melee
melee anan enraged
enraged
Adversary who
Adversary who hashas no
no regard
regard for
for self­preservation
self-preservation nor
nor
collateral damage.

M oot – Roll:
Points
Points vs
lastt successful
Roll: Belief
Belief
vs Target's
Target's
successful Might.
Might. The
The
entropy
entropy of of the
the universe
universe
manifests through the
Adversary and negates
whichever was the last
success achieved by the
Target. Unlike Tian Shi's
Pu,
Pu, actions
actions of
of the
the Caster
Caster do
do take
take place,
place, only
only to
to be
be reversed
reversed the
the
next turn
turn apparently
apparently due
due toto bad
bad luck.
luck. Although
Although storywise
storywise the
the
successes
successes are
are turned
turned into
into failures,
failures, the
the Belief
Belief Points
Points acquired
acquired
from
from those
those successes
successes do
do not
not disappear.
disappear. Moot
Moot can
can only
only reach
reach one
one
turn into the past.

E nter The Shadowside – Roll:

hoever kills
Whoever
arkness that
darkness
kills the
that had
had driven
the Caster
Caster will
driven the
the Adversary
Roll: No
will take
Adversary to
No further
further dice
take within
within him
to madness,
madness, as
dice required.
him part
as well
required.
part of
well as
of the
the
as part
part
of
of the
the answer
answer to to the
the question
question of of what
what happens
happens in in the
the End
End of of Days,
Days,
the
the understanding
understanding of of the
the Big
Big Joke.
Joke. Belief
Belief Points
Points vs
vs the
the Soul
Soul ofof the
the
aster's killer
Caster's killer determine
determine the the level
level ofof the
the spiritual
spiritual taint.
taint. Example:
Example: if if the
the
aster's killer
Caster's killer needed
needed to to roll
roll 13
13 oror better
better toto defend
defend from
from contamination,
contamination, but but
actually
actually rolled
rolled aa 10,
10, then
then hehe accrues
accrues 33 points
points of
of corruption.
corruption. TheseThese points
points
neverer decrease,
decrease, andand will
will manifest
manifest in in the
the form
form ofof depraved
depraved nightmares
nightmares ­ever
-ever
more
more intense
intense asas they
they grow.
grow. IfIf at
at any
any point
point the
the spiritual
spiritual corruption
corruption rises
rises
above
above thethe nominal
nominal value
value of
of his
his Soul,
Soul, the
the character
character will
will finally
finally understand
understand
the Big
Big Joke
Joke (not
(not that
that hehe could
could explain
explain it),
it), will
will shift
shift his
his views
views andand person­
person-
ality
ality to
to the
the Adversaries'
Adversaries' point
point ofof view,
view, andand after
after aa few
few last
last wrenching
wrenching
ares, will
nightmares, will eventually
eventually become
become an an Adversary
Adversary himself
himself as as he
he invests
invests
any
any successive
successive experience
experience points
points into
into Adversary
Adversary Skills,
Skills, inin addition
addition to to
ny other
any other Skills
Skills deemed
deemed useful
useful for
for the
the job.
job. The
The Hierogamy
Hierogamy spiritspirit goes
goes
madad too
too ­this
-this was
was inin fact
fact the
the source
source ofof the
the nightmares.
nightmares.

89