Kickstarter Manuscript Preview © 2019 White Wolf Entertainment © 2019 Onyx Path Publishing Introduction We are a plague on the Earth. — David Attenborough The world is sick. It’s an acceptable proposition. The less acceptable part is where we — and in particular, you and everyone you care about — are the cause. In the Chronicles of Darkness, it would be easy to give mortals a free pass and say “the vampires are the true plague on humanity” or “Created bring ruin to the world with Disquiet,” but all things, living, unliving, spiritual, and machine, contribute to the peeling of the world’s surface and the exposing of its innards to Contagion. Contagion comes in many forms. In one chronicle it might be the rotten reflection of the God- Machine, though the God-Machine is hardly an entity of purity and goodness in its own right. In another, it may be an antivirus out of control, attempting to purge our world of all sick elements. Some chronicles may have the Contagion as a mundane plague, but one that afflicts supernatural beings as easily as it does frail mortals. Other stories might present the Contagion as a weapon, a concentrated blight on a specific populace, or a mutation in the blood, the soul, or the words one speaks. The Contagion may be many things, but it is tearing the world we know from underneath us, and it may be the fault of you and yours — the vampires, the werewolves, the hunters, the changelings, and all their other dark kin. If it isn’t stopped, our world may change irrevocably, becoming poisonous to its inhabitants; its elements may be dragged into another plane; or corrupted regions from an interstitial dimension may replace parts of our own world. The Contagion Chronicle is the fight to understand, weaponize, or prevent this plague. Some creatures may use Contagion as a bludgeon, while others desperately try to suture the wounds and prevent further infection. It affects every creature capable of perceiving and interacting with the supernatural, thereby making it the central element of this, the first book dedicated to crossover stories in the Chronicles of Darkness. System The Contagion Chronicle uses the core system from Chronicles of Darkness for all mundane interactions, and the rules from respective game lines for when a vampire needs to use their Disciplines, a werewolf fights their rage, and so on. Additionally, the Contagion Chronicle presents new rules for playing in crossover games, where, for example, one player might portray a mummy, another takes on the role of a mage, and a third plays a changeling. In these crossover games, characters join factions known as the Sworn and the False and have access to new powers known as vectors. Vectors encourage crossover play and are demonstrably stronger the more diverse the crew of characters. Therefore, a coterie of vampires who belong to the Sworn group known as the Rosetta Society will gain access to vectors, but to gain access to those vectors’ full capabilities, it would be even better for one of those characters to be a Promethean and another one to be a hunter. Setting This book presents 12 individual locations with each continent represented and each acting as its own Contagion Chronicle campaign setting. The Contagion in each setting varies. While some have commonalities, most exist as petri dishes ripe for experimentation and devastation. Many are on the brink of collapse due to Contagion insidiously or overtly corrupting the individuals who call these places home. Each setting presents multiple supernatural creatures and their relationship with Contagion and each other. While some have a focus, such as Edinburgh’s blood-centric Contagion affecting vampires more keenly than a Beast or Sin-Eater, every setting presented in this book has been laid bare for protagonists of every origin to explore, investigate, research, and potentially combat the Contagion. Every setting comes with advice on how the different factions of Sworn and False might operate in this area, presenting different options for every setting. Each setting is connected — sometimes strongly, other times loosely — to another setting, fostering the ability for players to create a global tour chronicle. The Contagion Chronicle provides a toolbox of settings, powers, story hooks, and antagonists for use not just in games centered on Contagion, but also in focused games. Plumb this book’s depths and you will find sufficient material to last months or years of gameplay. Theme and Mood The Contagion Chronicle presents a different theme and mood in every setting chapter, as different forms of plague — from emotional to physical, spiritual to verbal, mutative to alien, and more — influence themes, moods, and concepts for each game you play. Contagion alters the world we know, making “change” the core theme of this game. Questions arise in this book, such as: • What if the blood you need to drink now burns like acid? • What if your Touchstones no longer recognize you? • What if a mundane preacher’s words carry as much power as a mage’s grandest spell? Many more enigmas arise as a result of Contagion. Worlds bleed between each other. People disappear. Known locations change form. Change is frightening, and while it offers hope to some, for our protagonists, it threatens the rules and laws they’ve come to rely upon. An Introduction to Crossover The Contagion Chronicle presents features on every core Chronicles of Darkness protagonist at some point throughout the book’s length, but it cannot provide everything needed to play every creature. Therefore, players will still need a copy of Demon: The Descent to play a demon, Mage: The Awakening to play a mage, and so on. What this book does is provide system benefit and setting justification for demons, mages, and more to work together. It doesn’t answer what mage power x does to demon y when they’re using z power to defend themselves, as much as allow for players to have the most fun and generate the most enthusiasm from having these creatures work together. Whether your characters use Contagion to justify a single chronicle in each other’s company, perhaps defending a home city or group of people mutually important to each, or instead use Contagion as justification for getting into the politics and deeper mysteries of the Sworn, the False, and the Contagion itself, is up to you. SNAFU Part One Searchlights pierced the thick darkness of the polar night. Fierce winds blasted across the Antarctic plains, but the helicopter speeding towards Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station flew steady. A bubble of calm, stable air enveloped the machine as it approached its destination. This little eye of the storm had been with the helicopter from the moment it left McMurdo Station. It was nothing less than a miracle. For Aliento, it was no miracle, just a simple spell. She sat in silence, her eyes closed. Mender-of- Ways sat next to her, chanting prayers under her breath. Agma was across from them, watching the two, occasionally breathing into her palms to keep her fingers warm despite the thickness of her gloves[MC1]. Walker moved the searchlights over the snow below. Luca, the pilot, notified her passengers through their headsets, “We’re clear to land. Cut the magic crap.” “Are you sure about that?” Agma asked. “Not all of us have easy access to our resources, should we crash and need to repair our bodies. We’re not like you, Mr. Santori. We can’t simply ‘top off’ before we leave.” The Beast inside Luca stirred for a moment. “We can’t afford any unnecessary questions. I can land this thing.” Aliento opened her eyes. The helicopter lurched as the raging, howling winds slammed into the machine. *** [PLEASE CENTER ASTERISKS] “This is Luca Santori,” the Prince of Milan told the room. “He is my childe’s childe, and one of the best pilots I know.” There were four individuals attending in the Prince’s audience. The man was an American. With him were three women: a Guatemalan, an Iranian, and an Italian. They weren’t Kindred. Luca could hear their heartbeats. Some were slower than others. The American extended a hand. “Good to meet you. Jeremy Walker, Zero Hour. I’ll be leading this mission.” Luca did not take his hand. “Mission? Nonna, you said you had a job for me. What is this?” “He doesn’t know?” Walker asked the Prince. Luca’s grandsire shook his head. “I hoped I would never need to tell him.” “Tell me what?” Luca took a step back towards the door. “What’s happening here?” “When my bureau received the call,” the Prince continued, “we agreed that it wouldn’t be safe for any one of us to go. So, I chose to offer someone precious to me, as a sign of the Cryptocracy’s good faith.” Luca reached for the doorknob. The Guatemalan woman shot a glance at the door. When he grasped it, the knob burned his hand as if it was fresh from the smelter. Luca cried out in surprise and discomfort. He whipped around, intent on lashing out in ire, and saw the Iranian — taller now, somehow, stronger — snarling in the face of the Prince. He stared at the woman, agape. How dare she? What was going on? “Do you believe you can wash your hands of this?” she growled. “That you can ignore the wages of sin for one last time?” Walker put a hand on her shoulder. “Stand down, Mender. We can argue over morality on the way. We’ll take him.” Mender-of-Ways locked eyes with Luca.