Arden Vul - Dungeon World - Session 4

 Arden Vul Session 04

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Room

Date: April 20, 2026

Party: Florian (bard), Lorez (wizard), Cedric (Fighter), Johannes (cleric), Runner (Ranger)

See the whole thing on my Arden Vul campaign page.

"Pull up a chair, mate. You missed a right proper tale last night. Those five, Cedric, Phlorian, and the rest of that lot, were down here nursing their bruises and arguing over who ran the fastest in the wrong direction. Sounds like they’ve finally poked the nest in Arden Vul.

From what I gathered, they were stuck in this massive, roofless hall. Imagine gargoyles circling overhead like vultures, just waiting for a slip-up. They had some beastman officer named Skleros barking orders at them from behind a barricade, telling them the goblins they were hunting were off to the southwest. Apparently, there was magic humming all over the place, invisible bridges and terraces way up high, but the lads decided they weren't paid enough to scrap with stone monsters.

They made a break for the west doors. Now, you’d think adventurers would be quiet, right? Not this lot. They spent so long shoulder-checking the door that by the time it finally gave way, it sounded like a mountain falling over. Every horror on that level must’ve heard 'em coming.

---

The Room of the Scream

They get inside this junk-filled chamber, thinking they’re safe. Cedric takes about three steps in, and then? This roar hits them, not just a sound, mind you, but a proper, soul-shaking shriek.

It was pure chaos. Iohannes and Cedric bolted one way into a throne room; Runner dived into a dead-end alcove covered in goblin graffiti; and the rest were left standing there, hearing something heavy shuffling toward them in the dark.

The Three Boxes

The ones who fled found themselves in this grand, semicircular hall with an ivory throne. But it’s the sarcophagi that’ll give you the shivers.

• There was a red basalt one, nailed shut with brass nails that had eyes carved on the heads.

• One was just open with a giant centipede making itself at home.

• The third was the real prize, or should’ve been. Ornate carvings of a dragon rider, some old war hero named Pilcher. Phlorian recognized the history, but when they looked inside? Nothing but two dusty, empty wine skins.

Naturally, Phlorian decides that’s the perfect moment to go and sit on the ancient throne like he owns the place.

---

The Unseen and the Scale

While they’re messing about with tombs, the thing that roared caught up. It was invisible, just a cold weight moving in the air. Cedric charged back in to play the hero, but the thing started draining the very life out of him just by touching him.

Phlorian starts chanting a battle hymn to keep their spirits up, and it works, except the magic was so thick it started shielding the monster, too! Then, just to make a bad day worse, the creature reaches into Cedric’s mind and pulls out a nightmare. A cobra, thirty feet long and thick as a man's waist, comes slithering through the door.

Iohannes saw that snake and didn't even pretend to be brave, he just turned tail and hid behind the stone coffins.

The Retreat

It ended in a proper mess. Two of them were half-shriveled from whatever that invisible thing was doing to their life force, and the party was scattered to the four winds. They managed to scramble back into the room with the sarcophagi to lick their wounds and plan a way out.

But the kicker? As they’re sitting there in the dark, trying to catch their breath, they hear it. A slow, rhythmic scritch-scritch-scritch coming from inside that red basalt box. The one with the eyes on the nails.

Safe to say, I don't think they’ll be getting much sleep tonight."

It's Easier to be Hard on Myself

I remember running a game for some friends a long time ago, long enough that we were playing a new Judges Guild adventure. There was a TPK.  The PCs came to a crossroads and could go left or right. They went left. The module said "800 orcs attack the party. There are no survivors." This was after a couple of summer vacation months of building them up from first level. It was ugly. We were playing in a friend's basement. He was hurt worst of all. He started crying and ran up the stairs. 

His mom came down shortly thereafter and said, "Maybe we should all go home today and find something else to play tomorrow." She didn't understand what had happened. He didn't understand what had happened. None of us understood what had happened. We just knew that it hurt.

Forty years later, I'm still pointing at the horizon instead of letting the rocks fall.

Earlier this year, every time our Wizard rolled a complication when casting a spell in our Dungeon World demo game preceding Arden Vul, I had a choice. I kept making the wrong one. He would choose “You draw unwelcome attention or put yourself in a spot.” Instead of putting unwelcome attention on the doorstep, I kept pointing at the horizon.
I record and transcribe our sessions, and I kept seeing myself doing it. I wanted to stop. 

Promising myself to “do better” wasn’t going to work. I needed a plan. I thought about how I could practice promising danger and delivering. I settled on some games that I thought would put me in that position repeatedly. Helping me to build the muscle memory that meant I didn’t let my players off the hook. If it worked, it would take my games up a notch. If it didn’t, I’d feel like I was cheating the table out of the experience they deserved.

In CfB I (and everyone at the table) had a little shiver each time I replied to a player's fear of how failing a move would turn out with, "It's worse than that! . . ." The game was tooled to take it out of my hands. People think of CfB as a mystery system. It's not, it's a pressure system.

I realized that there were other games that focused on pressure, too. GMless games and diceless games meant learning how to negotiate pressure and bring it to fruition together. When the head of our academy humiliated the Backalley Duke and threatened to upend his petty fiefdom in the market district, we had to decide together what that meant. Kingdom made it a pressure classroom: what escalated a crisis, what resolved a crossroads, and how to make consequences feel earned rather than arbitrary. (I've written about another thing I learned from Kingdom here.) I also leaned on solo games to help me steward pressure and consequence.

I grabbed Thousand Year Old Vampire because the whole point of the game was to watch things go sideways. I would roll for my prompt and start writing, then I'd stop and think, "No, I can do better than that." And, I'd try again. At first, TYOV was a Kata, like It's Worse Than That!, but pretty soon I learned something else. I learned that it was easier to be hard on myself than on others. 

There's an asymmetry between GMs and Players, but that didn't exist when I occupied both seats. I realized that it's mechanically reduced in CfB and FitD. In CfB’s Night Move, the player describes an action and the Keeper calls for the move, saying, “What are you afraid will happen if you fail?” The player describes the outcome they fear and the Keeper responds, “It’s worse than that …” After the Keeper describes how, the Player chooses whether or not to go through with the action or to try something else. 

Mechanics like that make it easier to keep the promise of pressure in those games. And the players enjoyed it. Heck, they even laid into it. I've never seen players lean into steep odds and bad ideas like they did in my Public Access campaign. 

“It’s worse than that Javi, if you fail, your girlfriend won’t die, her mouth will unhinge like a snake's revealing row after row of sharp, tearing teeth. She’ll join the monster you were already fighting and make it a two-on-one brawl.”
“Yeah, that sounds right. Let’s do this!”

All of a sudden, pressure was fun. 

But it was still easier to throw myself to the wolves than any of my friends gathered around the table with me.

TYOV also taught me that “all teeth, all the time” isn’t sustainable. I love me some bleak doom spiral as much or more than most folks, but I found that I needed to step away from my vampire's journal for a bit. As I looked at the games that hit my table I realized that I did it at a broader scale too. It’s not a mistake that Toon did so well in my Sweet Sixteen, or that Crash Pandas made it into the mix. Absurd comedy and other forms of pressure relief are a lot of fun, and they help the horror land harder when it’s time for that. Besides, Friend Computer from Paranoia has teeth too, even if they’re hiding behind the slapstick.

So, where have I landed? I’m looking for negotiated consequence in pursuit of catharsis. I want to promise players real risks, a game with teeth, and I want to deliver. We talk about it at the beginning of a campaign, we show it during sessions. It’s not cheap shots like that 800 orc ambush, it’s deserved consequences that land. 

Shadowmaster realized the nuclear device was about to explode. He stepped into the shadow and carried it with him. The other heroes waited for him to reappear. He didn't. There wasn't time, and he knew it. The action promised a consequence. When it delivered, the table went quiet.

There may be asymmetry between GM and Player, but there can also be agreement. When players knowingly participate in the possibility, when they see the risk, then not feeling the agony of failure also means not tasting the sweetness of success. 

What have you learned about letting the world be honest and letting things fail when that’s what should really happen? Even better, what taught you that?

Arden Vul - Dungeon World - Session 3

Arden Vul Session 03 Meeting Mother

Date: March 23, 2026

Party: Florian (bard), Lorez (wizard), Cedric (Fighter), Johannes (cleric), Runner (Ranger)

See the whole thing on my Arden Vul campaign page.

Report of the Comes Skleros, Taxiarch of the 4th Kentarchia

Addressed to Count Georgik and Count Nikeos, for the archiveCopy retained for Mother's consideration, should she wish it

---

To my colleagues of the Comital Command:

I submit the following assessment of the surface party currently operating under provisional contract to the Tagma, for your judgment and that of the record.

Contact and Initial Assessment

The party was encountered on the road below the Stair by the 2nd Banda of Dog Company, under Sergeant Aulos. Five individuals. The engagement was handled correctly; Aulos brought them in rather than turning them away, which I consider the right decision. They had already been watching the patrol. The fighter — a retired man of the 4th Legion, name of Cedric — heard Mother's name in passing and used it before Aulos could set terms. Quick thinking. I have spoken to Aulos's men about what circulates on a circuit.

The five: Cedric, the fighter; Johannes, cleric of Hessius Ban; Runwald, a hunter with a wolf; Lorez, a mage of unstated school; and the fifth, Phlorian, a bard.

I will note that Cann — Runwald's wolf — gave our people no trouble on the escort. Some of the younger dog-men found this notable. I found it interesting.

The Audience

Mother received them well. She fixed immediately on Phlorian, as I had expected from Trisko's report. The bard conducted himself with considerable grace — the bow was elegant, the compliment offered without servility. When Mother brought the goblet to him, I signaled my reservations. He declined smoothly, on the pretext of a personal vow. I do not know whether the vow is real. It does not matter. The instinct to decline was sound, and the execution preserved his standing with Mother rather than diminishing it. She was pleased.

The fighter's response when Mother named the goblin problem — finally, some action — was unpolished but genuine. She smiled at it. I made note. There is a type of soldier who means exactly what they say, and Cedric appears to be that type. This is either an asset or a liability depending on what they encounter below.

I answered the fighter's tactical questions at the barricade honestly. Fourteen confirmed, with the usual caveat about what one goblin implies. I did not volunteer information about why the Tagma does not press further west. That is not their concern yet.

Deployment

I brought them to the outer edge of our line and left them to it. They are on their own in the Hall of the Great Columns. Whatever comes of it will tell us more than any further conversation.

Preliminary Assessment

Against my usual caution, I find myself provisionally favorable toward this group. The fighter is experienced and direct. The cleric is quiet — more dangerous, in my estimation, than he appears. The bard has charm and, more importantly, discipline behind it. The mage concerns me; Lorez says little and watches everything, and mages who are careful with their words are either very confident or very cautious. I have not yet determined which.

The wolf I consider an intelligence asset pending further observation.

Recommendation

If they clear the goblin incursion, I recommend we extend provisional operating rights in the outer sections of the Thothian precinct, subject to the usual conditions. Information-sharing, no mapping in the inner compound, no approach to the Mother's hall without escort. Standard terms.

Should they prove unreliable, the Hall of the Great Columns is a sufficient sorting mechanism. Thoth's sentinel work has not diminished.

I will advise further when they return — if they return.

In discipline and in service to Mother and the Tagma,

SklerosComes, 4th Kentarchia, 3rd CohortImperial Tagmata

Arden Vul - Dungeon World - Session 2

 Arden Vul Session 02 What Came Up Through the Wood

Date: March 16, 2026

Party: Florian (bard), Lorez (wizard), Cedric (Fighter), Johannes (cleric), Runner (Ranger) 

See the whole thing on my Arden Vul campaign page.

---

 

They moved above him.

He knew them the way he knew most things now, not by sight, not by sound exactly, but by the pressure of their being. Weight on stone. The quality of attention that living things carry with them like a smell.

One of them had found the door.

He had not meant to speak. But the one above him had paused, not stepped back, paused, and he had felt the shape of that pause the way you feel a hand held near a flame without touching it. The man had heard him. The distinction between hearing and feeling mattered less than it once had.

Where is she? Come back, Nyema.

The rubble had come back. Stone by stone.

They were going up the stair. He could feel it through the old bones of the place. Going into Arden Vul, where she had gone. Where she had not come back from.

The one with the sword had heard him, and had paused, and had, he was almost certain, remembered.

That was more than he had had in a very long time.

 

 

Two of the Beastmen, talking in the barracks - Aulos is reporting the contact to Trisko:

 

---

 

AULOS: About a hundred yards out, one of them stepped onto the road. Alone. In armor, good armor, not adventurer-scrap. He gave a formal salute. Correct form, or close enough. I called the halt and he spoke first.

TRISKO: What did he say?

AULOS: He gave his name. Cedric. Said he was retired Legion, 4th, and that he was leading a party of adventurers intending to ascend the Stair.

TRISKO: Fair. What was your read on him?

AULOS: Experienced. Calm. The salute wasn't perfect but it was confident, a man remembering, not performing. He knew to speak first and he knew what to say when he did.

TRISKO: The others?

AULOS: A cleric, young, quieter than I expected a cleric to be. Kept his hands visible. The hunter barely looked at us, but the wolf did. The wolf was fine. (small pause) That surprised the men a little.

TRISKO: And the mage?

AULOS: Watched everything. Said nothing the entire time. Stood where he had a line on Kemnes and probably thought I didn't notice.

TRISKO: You noticed.

AULOS: I noticed.

TRISKO: The fifth.

AULOS: (a slightly different pause) Young. Well-dressed for the road. He came out of the treeline last and stood slightly back from the others. He looked at us the way people look at things they're deciding whether to find interesting.

TRISKO: And did he? Find you interesting?

AULOS: I think he found Kemnes interesting. The young one looked at him for a while and then smiled.

TRISKO: Smiled.

AULOS: Not mockingly. Just, pleased. Like something had confirmed something.

TRISKO: (writing) Any hostile indicators from any of the five at any point during the escort?

AULOS: No, sir. The hunter's hand was near his bow on the climb. I'd have done the same.

TRISKO: Anything else I should know.

AULOS: The fighter, Cedric, looked at the barracks when we passed through. Just a glance, but he was counting bunks.

TRISKO: Of course he was. All right. That's sufficient, Sergeant. Send Demi in on your way out and remind him that what circulates on a patrol circuit stays on a patrol circuit.

AULOS: Yes, sir.

TRISKO: And Aulos. You handled it correctly. The decision to bring them in was sound.

Arden Vul - Dungeon World - Kicking off the Campaign

Arden Vul Session 01

Arrival in Gosterwick

Date: March 9, 2026

Party: Florian (bard), Lorez (wizard), Cedric (Fighter), Johannes (cleric), Runner (Ranger)

See the whole thing on my Arden Vul campaign page.

---

The Road In

The party arrives on the old Imperial road from Thorum, the cracked stone still serviceable after centuries. The Cliff of Arden Vul is visible ahead, enormous, the carved figures of Arden and her companions rising from the plateau face, the Long Stair switching back and forth between them. The azure-tiled roof of the Keep is visible on the Ridge line above town.

A small patrol of[Knights of the Azure Shield, knights in banded mail, squires in surcoats, intercepts the party on the road and demands their business. Florian speaks for the group, presenting as a performer with an entourage. The knights direct them to check in and get licensed before proceeding.

---

The Arcane Practitioners' Club

The party detours to the four-story granite tower on the edge of town that Lorez recognizes as a private club for arcane practitioners. Two guardsmen at the door admit Lorez alone to meet the proprietor, while the rest of the party waits outside. Florian plays a pointed little tune on his lute that earns a grudging apology from the door guards.

Inside, Lyssandra Astorion receives Lorez at her desk, an Archontean woman past middle age with the manner of someone assessing everything she sees. Lorez secures a six-month membership (30 gp) and purchases one potion of healing (150 gp) and a collection of books on the history of Burdock's Valley and Arden Vul (50 gp).

Campaign note: Lorez is now a member of the Arcane Practitioners' Club. Lyssandra knows Lorez's face, his budget, and where he's headed.

---

The Out, Misdirection, and Guards

The party makes for the Rarities Factor in the Outs. Johannes asks a local for directions and is pointed into a cul-de-sac, whether by mistake or design is unclear. A group of city guards from the Kettles Barracks comes up behind them and blocks the exit, sizing up the group with obvious suspicion.

Johannes steps forward and identifies himself as a cleric of Heschius Ban. The guards' posture changes immediately; they stand back, offer actual directions, and let the party pass without further incident.

Campaign note: The City Guard has taken note of the party. They are not hostile, but they are watching.

---

The Rarities Factor

The Rarities Factor occupies a three-story wooden building in the Outs. The ground floor is busy; Imperial goblins, Archonteans, and a handful of Thorcins working at small tables. A nattily dressed goblin approaches and opens negotiations.

The factor was founded by Wicktrimmer, an Imperial goblin and former Arden Vul adventurer who made his fortune on the Cliff. He maintains offices in Gosterwick, Newmarket, and Narcillian. The party opens a group account (minimum deposit 150 gp, rate .75%/month), receiving a letter of credit redeemable at any of the three offices.

Campaign note: The party's banking relationship is with the[Rarities Factor, the institution least connected to the Empire and most sympathetic to non-Archonteans.

---

The Outs, Provisioning

Florian works the neighborhood for supplies and makes a genuine friend of Wegnar, a provisioner in the Outs who deals in dried meats, hard cheese, and biscuits. Wegnar takes a liking to him and gives fair prices.

Campaign note: Wegnar the Merchant is friendly toward the party and will remember them.

---

The Falls

The party leaves Gosterwick and follows the road toward the base of the Cliff. The roar of the falls builds over the last mile until conversation requires effort. Everything is mist. The bridge at the river crossing is visible, and beyond it, straight out from the foot of the carved figure of Arden, stands a ruined tower alongside the road to the Long Stair.

The Long Stair itself is not subtle, it climbs and climbs, switchbacking up the full height of the Cliff. The party will not make it to the top tonight.

---

Camp, The Ruined Tower

The tower's upper floors have collapsed inward, leaving a single intact ground-floor space, 50 by 50, broken doorway, dry inside despite the spray. The party decides to shelter here rather than camp in the open.

Session ends: Party at the ruined tower, preparing to search it before settling in for the night.

---

Open Threads

• Search the ruined tower at the base of the falls

• Ascend the Long Stair

• The city guards are watching — first impressions matter going forward

• Wegnar is a friendly contact in the Outs worth cultivating

• Lyssandra knows the party's wizard and his budget

---

Rumors

"There's a bard in town — Archontean, travels with a mixed crew. Played something at the door of the Tower and the guards just... apologized to him. Make of that what you will."

 "A cleric of Heschias Ban came through the Outs with a bunch of outsiders. Walked right into Kettrick's Alley — you know, where the Catalyst boys like to linger — and just named the god at them. They folded like wet paper. Somebody's either very brave or very stupid."

"Word from the Rarities Factor is a company of adventurers, mixed, Thorcin among them, banked together before even reaching the Cliff. Wick says they're organized. Probably means they're either serious or they've seen too many parties fall apart over coin."

"Wegnar's saying some travelers bought him out of two weeks of rations in one go. Headed for the Long Stair. He liked them well enough, but that's a lot of food for people nobody's heard of yet."

---

On the back of a provisioner's invoice, in a cramped mercantile hand:

Mixed company, on foot. Thorcin went straight for the Factor, no prompting. Joint deposit, correct minimum. Wicktrimmer took it without comment. Wizard spent down to nearly nothing at the Tower. Disclosed his total funds during the transaction. Bard is something. Door guards at the Tower had words with the group and then didn't. Couldn't get close enough. They're at the ruin tonight. Worth another week.

---

A folded note on dress-pattern linen, the handwriting careful and small:

He plays in the old tradition. I would not have known except I was close enough to hear him tune. What he played at the Tower door was short and deliberate and I do not think the guards understood what they were apologizing for. He has the accent well hidden. I caught it once, in a word to the Thorcin. I don't know if he knows what he carries.

---

Torn from a longer letter, military paper, belt-worn:

Walked into the wrong alley. Kettles boys had them boxed. The cleric named the god and they folded. Lucky, not skilled, but the rations they bought say somebody's thinking. Ten days a head. Camp in the ruin, no fire visible from the road.

---

A single line at the bottom of a club ledger page, in a precise academic hand:

Lorezl, Archontean. Six month membership, 30gp. One potion, one Vale history. Disclosed full funds unprompted. Lyssandra's word: earnest. Headed for the Cliff. Will report on return, if.

---

A brief memo on chapter house stationery, the tone careful:

The cleric of Heschias Ban made no contact with this office. He is aware of our presence here, or he is not. I cannot determine which reading is more concerning. Await your guidance.

Kingdom as Faction Infrastructure: A Gedanken Experiment

I've been running faction play in various games for a while now, and I keep circling the same problem: most faction tools either track resources or narrate vibes, but they don't generate consequences. So when I sat down to test Kingdom 2nd Edition as faction infrastructure for the campaign, I expected to find a decent tracker with good flavor.

What I found was something considerably more interesting. And also something I can't use every session, for reasons that have nothing to do with the game's quality.

The Setup

If you haven't encountered Kingdom, here's the short version. It's a GMless and Diceless game about people in charge of something: a town, a crew, an institution. Players take one of three roles. Power makes the final call on the Crossroads question (the session's central decision). Perspective makes a prediction that becomes true in the fiction. Touchstone reflects what the people feel, which shapes cultural drift.

For my experiment, I ran a simulated playtest with four personas: two pro-integration, two opposed, playing leaders of the Children of Deino. The Beastmen are a disciplined military faction descended from Archontean soldiers transformed by an enchantress named Deino. Their Crossroads: do they accept a group of outsiders as auxiliaries, gaining operational reach but risking structural impurity?

I expected a useful conversation. I got a faction that made a decision, paid a real price, and came out different.

What the Tool Does Well

The role separation is the system's strongest feature. Because Power, Perspective, and Touchstone have different authorities, they can't simply outvote each other. They have to engage. The Perspective player issued a hard prediction early: if auxiliaries are accepted, goblins will exploit the integration seam and the Beastmen will lose a hall. That prediction became true. The faction accepted the outsiders, the goblins adapted, and the hall fell. No negotiating around it.

That mechanic produces narrative causality in a way that most faction tools can't touch. Decisions have downstream consequences that bind future play.

The Touchstone role surprised me more. I expected it to function as emotional color, a kind of cultural weather report. Instead, the two Touchstone players didn't just reflect sentiment. They redefined what success meant. The Beastmen went from debating whether to accept risk, to treating the loss of the hall as proof that they needed to expand aggressively. Touchstone isn't a mood meter. It's a strategic ideology engine.

The depth of what came out of this experiment genuinely surprised me. The Beastmen feel like a faction now, not a stat block. They have a position, a wound, and a changed worldview. That's hard to get from a spreadsheet.

What It Costs

Here's where the honest evaluation lands, and it's important. The richness Kingdom produces comes at a real price in time and logistics.

To run it properly, you need multiple players willing to sit down and engage seriously with a faction they probably don't control at the table. That's a hard ask. Alternatively, you run it yourself, playing all the roles: holding competing positions simultaneously, arguing against your own conclusions, trying to keep Power, Perspective, and Touchstone genuinely distinct. That's possible, but it's cognitively demanding and the seams show. 

Neither of these options is lightweight. Neither of them is something you want to do every week. Kingdom also generates motion, not equilibrium. A successful decision still produced structural loss, increased pressure, and a faction that felt different at the end than at the start. That's genuinely exciting when you want a faction to evolve. It's too much torque for a faction you're checking in on between sessions.

There's also a translation layer required. "Hall loss" as a Kingdom outcome has to map to something in Dungeon World terms: a location clock ticking down, a threat activating, a front escalating. Without that work, the outcomes stay abstract. Rich and interesting, but floating.

Where This Fits

I'm thinking of Kingdom as a strategic session tool, not a session-by-session tracker. Use it when you want a major faction at a genuine crossroads, when you're willing to do the work, and when the outcome should reshape how that faction operates going forward. The Children of Deino came out of this experiment more alive than they went in, and that's worth something.

For Arden Vul, this probably fits best at inflection points: big political moments, major alliance decisions, the kind of shift that changes a faction's posture for the rest of the campaign. I'm also watching it with one eye on my Fracture Radius SWN campaign. Stars Without Number already gives you faction mechanics with real teeth, but Kingdom might serve as a deep-dive tool for the moments when you want to get inside a faction's head, not move its counters.

I wrote about Kingdom during the Sweet Sixteen bracket series, and it made the final rounds for a reason. This experiment confirmed why. It's a serious tool that rewards serious engagement.

Go Play It

If faction depth is something you want at your table, pick up Kingdom. Ben Robins built something genuinely worth your time. I'll be reporting back on how it fits into Arden Vul once the Beastmen finish licking their wounds.

State of the Mountain - 2026-05-01

The structural reorganization of Beneath Ahknoor is done. Parts Four and Five are in the document, the bones are where they need to be, and the game is ready to go into playtest. That's the headline.

Before playtests start, two pieces are going into the document that have been implicit in the design for a while. One is a player-facing reference: the four phases, the core moves, how Conditions and Scars work. The other is a plain-language overview of the campaign engine: how Sagas, Clues, the Unlocking Move, and the Reckoning connect into the loop that drives the whole game. Both of these have been living in the design. Time to say them out loud.

After that, two playtest groups with different audience profiles and different arc lengths. I'll have more to say when those are underway. You can follow the project on itch at https://mountainfoot.itch.io/beneath-ahknoor, and the current devlog has the structural details.

The reorg took most of my writing bandwidth for the past month. With that done, I'm turning attention to the rest of the pipeline. It's Worse Than That! Vol. 3 is next in the zine series, and Fell Beasts and Foul Lairs is on the horizon after that: a return to the OSR content that brought a lot of you here in the first place.

At the table

I ran Session 0 of my Stars Without Number campaign today. The setting centers on contested reality following a corporate incident at Emberfall, and the players have a faction landscape that's going to make them work for every alliance. More on that as it develops.

Arden Vul has been relentless: the group narrowly survived a Con-draining invisible stalker, a scratching sarcophagus, and a room so ominous they shut the door immediately. Most recently, they downed a mechanical dragonfly mid-flight. Its wreckage revealed azurite eyes, metallic cabling, and a shattered vial of red fluid, but no maker’s mark. One thing is certain: whatever sent it knows their location.

There's a connection to the Kingdom-as-faction-infrastructure post I'm drafting, since I've been testing that framing against Arden Vul. Watch for that one.

I also wrapped my Tuesday game of Kingdom and the Thursday campaign a friend ran ended as well. This opens the door for my two Beneath Ahknoor playtests.

On the blog

The Sweet Sixteen bracket series wrapped April 28. Sixteen games, four lanes, one final: Public Access over OSE. I'm still turning over what that result actually says about where I want my table to sit.

My reading review of Something Tookish! went up yesterday: a reading review of Gord Sellar's cozy halfling mystery game, following an interview with Gord. It's a well-realized game with a clear design voice, and it's left some marks on the Beneath Ahknoor work.