The Nightmares Underneath Free Edition From beyond the veil of sleep, inhuman forces invade. The Nightmares nderneath UTTheAn old-schoolh fantasye role-playing game. NNigighhtmaretmares 2016 UnnderneatdernVancouvereath Canada The Nightmares Underneath Written, illustrated, and published by Johnstone Metzger. Vancouver, Canada. November, 2016. Direct Inspirations Apocalypse World, by D. Vincent Baker. Basic D&D, by Frank Mentzer. Basic D&D, by Tom Moldvay. Blacksand! by Marc Gascoigne and Pete Tamlyn. Call of Cthulhu, by Sandy Petersen and friends. Carcosa, by Geoff rey McKinney. Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG, by Joseph Goodman. Dungeons & Dragons, by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. Expert D&D, by Dave Cook. Freebooting Venus, by D. Vincent Baker. Into the Odd, by Chris McDowell. Kult, by Gunilla Jonsson and Michael Petersén. Metamorphosis Alpha, by Jim Ward. Miseries and Misfortunes, by Luke Crane. Th e Rise of Early Modern Science: Islam, China, and the West, by Toby E. Huff . Shahnameh, by Ferdowsi (trans. Ahmad Sadri), illustrated by Hamid Rahmanian. Th e Venture of Islam, by Marshall Hodgson. Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, by Richard Halliwell, Rick Priestley, Graeme Davis, Jim Bambra, and Phil Gallagher. Whitehack, by Christian Mehrstam. Wonder & Wickedness, by Brendan Strejcek. Players Ariel Cayce, Elwood Pudding, Ian Forbes, Jackson Tegu, Jonathan Walton, Legion McRae, Lester B. Portly, and Stephen Wood played this game while it was being written. Th ank you all. Joy is not my profession either. Table of Con tent s Part One 13 Professions 63 Some Words of Introduction Assassin 64 Role-Playing Games 14 Bard 67 Contents 15 Champion 68 Using Characters from Other Cultist 72 Games 17 Abjuration of a Spiritual Enemy 73 Fighter 74 Chapter 1: Alabaster and Scholar 77 Frankincense 21 Th ief 78 Th e Rule of Law 22 Wizard 81 Th e Sources of Law 23 Hit Dice 82 Th e Letter of the Law 25 Primary Attributes 82 Th e Highland Coast 26 Restrictions 82 Highland Names 26 Skills 82 Geth by the Salt Sea 28 Special Abilities 82 Neth-Hadrazzar 30 Spells 83 Shahrazar 34 Alignment 86 Money and Equipment 87 Chapter 2: Beneath the Sunlit Social Class 87 Lands 39 Describing Your Character 88 Th e Th reat of Chaos 40 Motives 89 Th e Realms of Creation 40 Finishing Details 90 A Darkness From Beyond 42 Equipment 93 Th is Age’s Heroes 45 Hauling Stuff Around 94 Random Starting Gear 102 • Advancement 110 Chapter 4: Carousing in the Part Two 49 Kingdoms of Dreams 115 Th e Rules of Play Between Adventures 116 Basic Resolution Rules 50 Down and Out in Pernicious Advantage and Disadvantage 52 Abandon 117 Attribute Loss 52 Living in Style 118 Powers 52 Buying and Selling 120 Saves 54 Special Goods 121 Skills 55 Infl ation 122 Investing Your Money 124 Chapter 3: Brothers and Sisters Creating Institutions 125 in Arms 59 Investing in Social Structures 125 Th e Player’s Characters 60 Druggist 128 Attribute Scores 61 Geographical Society 130 Modifi ers 62 Hotel 131 Necromancers' Guild 132 Combat Rounds 213 Printer 133 Attacking 217 Tea House 134 Combat Situations 220 University 135 NPC Attacks 224 Dealing with People 137 Injury and Death 226 Contacts 139 Recovery 232 Hiring Retainers 140 Th e Taint of Corruption 235 Persuasion 146 Dealing with the Madness 235 Tarnishing Your Reputation 147 Th e Nightmare’s Curses 236 Dealing with Settlements 149 Lifting the Curse 247 Conducting Research 149 Resentment 150 Chapter 7: Wandering the Wastelands 251 Chapter 5: Casting Spells and Travel 252 Other Enchantments 157 Setting Out 253 Th e Nature of Spells 158 Orienteering 254 Magical Formulas 158 Getting Lost 254 Memorizing Spells 159 Return Trips 254 Learning a New Spell 161 Monsters 255 Performing Magic 162 Hunger and Th irst 256 Casting a Spell 162 Sailing the Seven Seas 257 Controlling a Spell 163 Mapping the Unknown 259 Magical Powers 164 Staying on Course 260 Saves Against Magic 164 Exploring Smaller Scale Maps 261 Casting a Spell Quick Reference 165 Th ere and Back Again 262 Spell Formula Quick Reference 165 Th e Magic of the Gods 166 Chapter 8: A World Full of Magic Items 168 Nightmares 267 Spell Descriptions 170 Th e GM’s Job 268 Creating a Nightmare Incursion 271 Chapter 6: Raiding the Step 1: Th e Crown 272 Nightmare Realms 201 Step 2: Th e Anchor 273 Braving the Underworld 202 Step 3: Additional Th reats 274 Dungeoneering 202 Step 4: Th e Map 278 Encumbrance 205 Creating Nightmares 284 Searching 206 Concept 284 Dungeon Encounters 208 Nightmare Fuel 288 Th e Encounter 208 Rules 290 Evasion 210 Beyond the Lair 295 Interaction 211 Running a Nightmare Incursion 297 Harm and Violence 212 Fixed Encounters 298 Before a Fight Happens 212 Random Encounters 299 Th e Countdown to Nightmares 302 Skull-Faced Fiends 357 Th e Growing Danger 304 Th e Stalker 358 Lairs Without Anchors 306 Sun Court Fey 359 NPC Adventures 308 Th aumaturgists 360 Creating the Adventuring Party 308 Th orn Priests 362 Against the Nightmares 308 Tomb Guardians 365 Th e Underfolk 366 • Wasp Riders 367 Wound Men 368 Part Three 313 A Bestiary of Monsters • What Lurks in Darkness 314 Monster Stats 315 Part Four 373 Abductors 318 A Slight Appendix of Adepts of Flame 319 Additional Material Beastmen 320 Why Optional? 374 Blackbirds 323 Troupe Style Play 374 Th e Cavemurdered 324 Mission-Based Experience 374 Changelings 326 Playing Blackjack 375 Crab-Dogs 327 Additional Professions 375 Dragons 328 Berserker 377 Eclipse Wolf 333 Disciple 378 Faerie Nobles 334 Disciplines 381 False Children 335 Fey Knight 385 Frostlings 336 Supernatural Heritage 387 Glass Th ieves 337 Halfl ing 388 Goblins 338 Morphological Features 391 Hellhounds 340 Random Tables 392 Hive Mothers 341 For Monsters 392 Humans 342 For People 394 Illuminators 344 For Places 398 Iridescent Globes 345 For Treasures and Other Th ings 400 Th e Kraken 346 Lamprey Golems 347 • Locust Butchers 348 Poison Trees 350 Part Five 411 Revenants 352 Indices Rittersnakes 353 General Index 412 Shadows of Pain 354 Index of Spells by Level 420 Silent Accusers 355 Index of Tables 422 Th e Simurgh 356 Part One Some Wordsof introduction. 14 Role -Playing Games Th e Nightmares Underneath is a tabletop role-playing game, for two or more players. One player must be the Game Master (GM) who is responsible for the rules of the game and the fi ctional setting. Th e other players portray Player Characters (PCs)— the protagonists of the game—who explore the fi ctional setting. Th is happens primarily through conversation. Other characters in the fi ctional setting are Non- Player Characters (NPCs) and are portrayed by the GM, instead of by any of the other players. To determine the outcomes of certain situations created by your conversation about these protagonists in your fi ctional setting, you roll dice and consult the rules. In many respects, Th e Nightmares Underneath plays much the same as most other old-school fantasy role-playing games, even though it has its own particular setting and some unique rules. What You Need Aside from these rules, you need to be able to draw maps and keep track of numerical ratings that change—pencils and paper work pretty good, but then again, we do live in a golden age of computers and whiteboards—and you need some dice. At the very least, you need 3 six-sided dice (3d6), 2 twenty-sided dice (2d20), 2 ten-sided dice (2d10)—and if one is marked so it can be used as the tens when you roll both together as a percentile die (1d100), that’s great—and 1 each of a four-sided die (1d4), an eight-sided die (1d8), and a twelve-sided die (1d12). If you have multiples of all the dice, so much the better—you’ll be rolling them a lot during the game. You might want to be familiar with the basics of role-playing games before you play this one—at least before you act as GM, anyway—as there is no tutorial section. Th e author assumes that, since we also live in a golden age of internet forums and video recordings, you have easy access to an infi nite variety of far better introductions than these rules can hope to provide. A Toolbox Although this is a complete game, you can also use it as a toolbox. Loot it for interesting rules and monsters to use in other games, use these rules with a diff erent setting, or play this game with your own house rules. 15 Contents Th e Nightmares Underneath is divided into fi ve sections. Th is section, Part One, introduces the game and its setting in two chapters. Part Two contains the rules of play and is the longest section by far, consisting of six distinct chapters. Part Th ree is a collection of monsters for the GM to use, Part Four is a collection of optional rules and material, and Part Five contains the index. Th ese last three sections are not divided into separate chapters. Each part except the index can be used on its own, without reference to the rest of the book, as can individual chapters and even rules. You can read these sections, and the chapters within them, in whatever order you fancy. Th ere is no pressing reason why this book must be consumed from start to fi nish in order, like a novel or a scholarly thesis. In fact, the rules chapters have been arranged alphabetically for ease of reference, not because you need to understand one before reading the next.