Friday Fantasy: The Tower of Six

The true purpose of the Tower of Six is all but forgotten. It was originally built by the mages guild to serve as a watchtower from which they monitored the imprisonment of a monstrous outsider. As the centuries passed, interest in their duty waned and all that the last mage, Stratovarius the Blind, knows is that the watchtower stands over a blind darkness. However, to learn this, the Player Characters will need to find him and that is now a lot more difficult than it was only a few weeks ago. This is because cultists of the god of nightmares have assaulted the tower, believing that what lies below is an avatar of the demigod, the Leviathan, and that it is their sworn duty to release him. To that end they have explored every part of the Tower of Six—above and below—and are now busy preparing a great ritual which will break the bindings and unchain him. The question is, how much of what Stratovarius the Blind knows is actually helpful? Are the nightmares cultists’ beliefs true and is there really an avatar of the Leviathan imprisoned below the tower? And if not, what exactly is imprisoned below the Tower of Six?

This is the set-up for The Tower of Six, a scenario for ShadowDark, the retroclone inspired by both the Old School Renaissance and Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition from The Arcane Library It is published by RPG Ramblings, the scenario is a sequel to Dark Visions, the supplement that introduced rules for and details of some fifteen cults to ShadowDark as well as the new Classes of Cultist and Inquisitor. In particular, The Tower of Six as an adventure is a sequel to ‘In Cultist’s Wake’ and ‘As Above, So Below’, the two adventures in Dark Visions. Together they form a trilogy that can be played in several ways. One is a scenario in which the heroes attempt to thwart the plans of an evil cult. Another is one in which the Player Characters are members of a rival cult, which can be as amoral or as evil as the Nightmares cult, attempt to stop the efforts of the Nightmares cultists or even subvert those efforts and take control of them! Of these options, the first is best suited to a traditional campaign and a long-term campaign, whereas the other options are better suited to a shorter campaign as the tone is neither heroic nor morally good.

The Tower of Six includes not just the scenario. There are four new magical items, such as the Brazier of the Ethereal, which when burning reveals all invisible creatures nearby and the veils between the realms become visible, but it can draw the undead to it when alight, and the paired Wands of Symmetry, each of which contains the spells, Mindlink and Mirror Image, and when one wand is used, it cannot be used again until the other is used. It also introduces three new monsters, the Deep One Fanatic; the Mirrored One which can transform into the mirror of any humanoid of a similar size and gain any of its Class features—if any, and jump into and out of mirrors freely; and the Slavering, which tries to attach itself to the tongues of its victims and replace them, forcing them to speak Primordial and vomit prophecies of doom…

The adventure consists of a four storey tower, including the roof, with a cellar underneath, and then below that, a two-level dungeon. The upper parts are cramped and are really the remnants of a working and living space, ones that have been partially ransacked by the cultists over the previous few weeks. There are cultists and their allies moving about the tower, but the atmosphere is one of a ramshackle building already having gone to seed, which has been given a good going over. Things lurk in the tower, so there is a really creepy feel to the upper parts. This also where Stratovarius the Blind can also be found, so ideally the Player Characters should explore and investigate the tower, hopefully to discover some hints as to what is going on below. What is noticeable about the design of the tower is that the number of combatants and foes in the tower is limited. What this means is that it possible for that number to be  exhausted through random encounters and in terms of ‘Danger Level’, the tower is rated as unsafe, so the Game Master will be rolling for random encounters every three ‘crawling rounds’. This may be higher in the fewer locations in the upper levels that are in darkness.

In comparison, the two levels of the dungeon are in pitch darkness, so normal ShadowDark rules apply for light. Here also, is where the cultists are hard at work preparing for the ceremony that they hope will release the Leviathan. In addition, further clues can be found as what the original purpose of the tower was and what the cultists are planning. The scenario includes a timeline that tracks the cultists’ progress towards the completion of the ceremony. As you would expect, the foes get increasingly tougher and more capable the deeper that the Player Characters go, and there are nasty monsters down there—especially if the cultists succeed and the Leviathan is released. In fact, it is entirely possible for the Player Characters to begin exploring the tower and its dungeons, and if they take too long or leave the Tower of Six and then do not return in time, for the cultists’ plans to come to fruition and the Leviathan to be successfully released. This would have dire consequences on any campaign world, although the Game Master would have to determine exactly what they might be.

However, there is plenty of treasure to loot and some interesting magical items to be found, whether or not the Player Characters are entirely successful. In particular, any Player Characters are probably going to be well-rewarded given the number of spellbooks to be found in dungeon.

Physically, The Tower of Six is well presented. The layout and organisation adhere to the ShadowDark format and so it is easy to read and follow. It helps that excerpts are presented alongside their location descriptions and so make the adventure easier to run. There are issues with the layout, which is untidy in places and not always consistent.

The Tower of Six can be run on its own with some adjustment, but it really is designed to serve as the finale of the trilogy begun in Dark Visions. It forms a creepy capstone and brings the Player Characters up against the head of the cult and his minions, but it is a pity that he is not as well developed as an NPC as the other two NPCs in the adventure, one of whom is actually masquerading as a cultist and may side with the cultists or the Player Characters depending upon their actions. Adding The Tower of Six—along with its previous two parts—to most campaigns is easy. Together they form a solidly engaging trilogy for ShadowDark, but where they have the potential to shine and be more memorable, is if played as mini campaign with the Player Characters as cultists.

Friday Fantasy: Dark Visions

Dark Visions does not waste a lot of time before getting down to brass tacks. Three lines make up the back cover blurb and there is no introduction before it leaps into describing the first of the three Character Classes found in its pages. So, it feels as if it could do with a bit more context and a bit more in the way of guidance for the Game Master as to what it is, what its contents are, and how it might be used. To explain, it is a supplement for ShadowDark, the retroclone inspired by both the Old School Renaissance and Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition from The Arcane Library. Published by RPG Ramblings Publishing, following a successful Kickstarter campaign, it is dedicated to cults and cultists, who and what they worship. In addition to its three Player or Occult Classes and their spells—twenty-five of which are new, it details sixteen cults, twenty-five dark creatures, and more. The more consists of two scenarios, the first two parts of a three-part mini-campaign which culminates in The Tower of Six.

Dark Visions opens with the Cultist Class. The Cultist is an outcast from society because of the taboos broken, dark deeds done, and secretive rituals performed in the name of his patron or deity. With ‘Ashes to Ashes’, he can burn Hit Points to increase damage inflicted and can cast a particular set of spells. The Inquisitor Class hunts for signs of heresy and heretics, and has Advantage when hunting the enemies of his god. He can use the Priest Class’ scrolls and wands and bring down the Judgement of ‘Mark of Hellfire’ or the ‘Mark of Radiance’ on a target. With ‘Mark of Hellfire’, the target is illuminated and if Chaos-aligned, at a Disadvantage for the next round, whilst ‘Mark of Radiance’ gives the target damage resistance and illuminates if they share the same alignment. The Covenant Knight is a Lawful-aligned knight dedicated to the ideals of the Covenant Council, which pass the ‘Final Word’ upon an enemy, inflicting maximum damage several times a day and ‘Resolute in Adversity’, is at Advantage to resist the abilities of devils and demons. At Third Level and above, the Covenant Knight can cast Priests’ spells.

The new Classes are an interesting mix, with the Covenant Knight feeling like a variant of the Paladin-type Class. The other two are potentially more interesting given that much of their flavour will come from the player’s choice of patron in terms of a god, demon, devil, or other entity. Nor are they exclusive, since the Cultist need not be Chaos-aligned and instead linked to the Celestial, the Draconic, Primordial, or Sylvan. With some thought, the three Classes could be found working together, as well as with other Classes for ShadowDark. In addition, there is a table of for ‘Cultists Backgrounds’ and a list of Cultist gear.

The Cultist also has its own table for ‘Cultist Mishaps’ as well as list of its own spells. Some of the spells do come from the ShadowDark core rulebook, whilst a few are taken from the official fanzine, Cursed Scroll 1: Diaberlie!, which does limit the Class’ usefulness. The new spells are grim in nature, such as Inflict Pain, a Tier 3 spell which enables a Cultist to inflict damage on his target by drawing his own blood, essentially exchanging his Hit Points for dice of damage, whilst the Tir 1 spell Misery, floods the mind of the target with guilt from dreadful deeds and ill-fortune, forcing them to roll at Disadvantage. There is also flavour too that the Cultist—whether a Player Character or the Game Master as an NPC—can bring into the casting and application of the spells.

Dark Visions gives simple descriptions of various gods along with their Domains and those of various demi-gods not so detailed. Further, these pale into insignificance in comparison to the attention paid to the sixteen cults described in the supplement. These are archetypes, such as Ash cults, Blood cults, Doom cults, Moon cults, Plague cults, and more, that the Game Master can flesh out and develop. Each comes with a description, a special ability or sacred item, and then tables of rumours, encounters, and plot generator, as well as stats for associated NPCs and monsters. For example, the Gallows cult is Lawful and dedicated to levying capital punishment, its leaders wielding axes and regarding themselves as judge, jury, and executioner. Its holy item is the Axe of the Executioner, a +2 great axe that cannot be wielded by the Chaotically-aligned, has a better chance of rolling critical strikes and when its wielder does, inflicts maximum base damage. Yet at the end of a combat in which it did not inflict a killing blow, the wielder can suffer a loss of Intelligence. The rumours include stories of gallows suddenly appearing in the town squares of every nearby town, the encounters a band of cultists that has broken into a butcher’s shop where it is preparing a chopping block, and the stats are for standard cultists and cultists leaders. Combined with the ‘Plot Generator’ table and there is a decent amount of detail, flavour, and gameable content in all the cult descriptions. It is notable that not all of the cults are necessarily Chaotic (or evil) in nature and that expands the flexibility of the content.

Rounding out Dark Visions is a pair of scenarios that both involve cultists and together form the first two parts of a trilogy of scenarios that culminates with The Tower of Six. The campaign sees the Player Characters discover the activities of a band of cultists and then track it in order to find out what it is that the cultists are planning and try to put a stop to it. The given cult is the Cult of Nightmares, but the campaign suggests alternatives. The first scenario is ‘In Cultist’s Wake’, which is designed for First Level Player Characters and can be played in one or two sessions. They are employed by a farmer to investigate a water-logged crypt that has just opened up. What the Player Characters is a mini-dungeon where the cultists appear to be cleaning up after their activities in the crypt and looting what they can. What is interesting is that the crypt is for a Lawful lord and what that means is that the dungeon has become dangerous because of the cultists’ meddling rather than being a place of evil. It is pleasingly atmospheric, the Player Characters having to slosh through the lower level to find out what is going on.

‘In Cultist’s Wake’ ends with a map taken from the cultists and in the Player Characters’ hands. It is marked with locations that the cultists are also interested in and one of these is detailed in ‘As Above, So Below’. It is designed to be played in two to three sessions by Player Characters of Second and Third Level, either as direct sequel or another adventure or two afterwards. It details a partially collapsed dome structure that was once used by druids and mages to study the power of ley lines. Again, the cultists are clearing up after investigating the site, so are busy and going about their duties, which gives the Player Characters the opportunity to sneak in and strike. Things are complicated by the interest of a rival cult, which has sent thieves to steal what the Cult of Nightmares has found so far. It gives the adventure an energetic dynamic that plays out at dusk as the Player Characters discover what the cultists are doing, what they have been looking for, and what happened at the complex to cause its collapse.

Physically, Dark Visions is cleanly and tidily presented. It is a good read and although lightly illustrated, the artwork is good. Both dungeons are very clearly presented so that they are easy to run from the page. The maps do have slightly fuzzy feel.

Of course, cultists can be any Class or even none, but Dark Visions gives the cultist focus and role and causes and masters to be fervent over, as well as rewards for their service and devotion. Which can be as Player Characters or NPCs, and the fact that there are multiple cults described means that the Game Master can return to Dark Visions again and again for inspiration and opponents—or even use to set up a campaign in which the Player Characters are cultists fighting other cultists. Certainly, the two scenarios in that supplement can be used in fashion as well as with normal Player Characters. Dark Visions will not suit all campaigns given its nature, but for those it does suit and those with more mature themes and players, it is an excellent supplement, bringing a grimmer, darker tone to a ShadowDark campaign.