Friday Fantasy: Desperate Measures

Desperate Measures is a scenario for Shadow of the Weird Wizard, the roleplaying game from Schwalb Entertainment set on the world of Erth in the Borderlands between the remnants of once great empires and the realm of the Weird Wizard greatly changed by his magics. The unexplained disappearance of the Weird Wizard allowed all manner of creatures and strangeness to flood into the empires and kingdoms causing strife and civil war, as refugees fled into the borderlands and adventurers ventured into the Weird Wizard’s lands into explore its strangeness, hopefully stop any dangerous threats, and perhaps return with treasures both magical and mundane. Player Characters progress from Level One to Level Ten, their progress divided between three Paths—Novice, Expert, and Master, gaining greater ability, skill, and specialisation. A Novice Path begins at Level One, an Expert path at Level Three, and a Master Path at Level Seven. Adventures for Shadow of the Weird Wizard are tailored to these three Paths. Desperate Measures is designed for Novice Heroes and can be run as a beginning scenario for Shadow of the Weird Wizard. It confronts the players and their Heroes with one of the consequences in Shadow of the Weird Wizard of pushing too far from civilisation and into the unknown.

Desperate Measures takes place far beyond the reaches of civilisation, across the Salt Barrens and the western territory of the borderlands in the ruins of an old abandoned village on the grassy plain between the Mudwaters and the Sentinel Wood. A band of Milenites has decided to make the village their home far from the old country in order to escape religious persecution (though some would call them dissenters, or worse, heretics). Although not necessary to actually run the scenario, the supplement Glory to the High One will provide the background to the ‘heresy’. When the Player Characters come across the village, the settlers are tired and barely beginning to make the repairs to make it properly liveable. Yet there are signs if the Player Characters look for them that is not all is well in the village and there remains the question of where the previous occupants of the village are.

Then out of the night monsters steal into the village and abduct several of the settlers! This is when the scenario kicks up a gear and turns into a rescue mission. It also takes a darker turn as the trail leads to a charnel house in a small cave network. The Player Characters need to move quickly to save the abducted settlers, but the caves are quite tight and in places, they will have to squeeze through potentially leaving them open to attack by the voracious abductors. This should be a really quite scary, desperate encounter in the caves.

The scenario can end here with the Player Characters hopefully having rescued the settlers and returning them to the village, but Desperate Measures suggests an optional threat as well. This is the Blue Raiders, a group of raiders that has been robbing and plundering settlements along the frontier. The raiders might even be the reason why the Player Characters are in the area when they come across the village and its new settlers. Of course, as with other scenarios for Shadow of the Weird Wizard, the Sage will need to supply the necessary stats from Secrets of the Weird Wizard for the scenario’s named monsters and may want to draw a map of the village if the Blue Raiders attack or occupy the village. Otherwise, the scenario is straightforward and easy to run, playable in a single session without the appearance of the Blue Raiders, two if they make an appearance.

Physically, Desperate Measures is cleanly and tidily laid out. It is well written, but the map of the tombs below the temple could have been easier to read.

Desperate Measures offers a good mix of action and interaction, as well as some scary moments that feel just a little Lovecraftian. (In fact, Desperate Measures could easily be adapted to any frontier setting, whether that is the weird west of Down Darker Trails: Terrors of the Mythos in the Old West or the mysteries of the frontier in Colonial Gothic.) Overall, Desperate Measures is a solid starting scenario for Shadow of the Weird Wizard.