Poison Earth: Act One

It's been decades since the Empresses—the three immortal giantesses who forged the empire with fire, blood and steel—set foot in the Old Capital, decades since they shut themselves into their summer palace half a continent away.  Most of the city moved with them, leaving the monolithic manors and temples to sink slowly into the loosening permafrost. Those who stayed behind, either out of faith the Empresses would one day return to the cradle of their conquest or for lack of the means to leave, have cobbled together a life from what the others left behind.  They build their villages against the leaning walls, under the crumbling arches with their peaks lost in the clouds. They stitch their clothes from the elegant sills and furs of the old regency long since taken by rot. And they burn their dead for fear that the twisted poison bubbling up from the very earth itself will make them rise again.

Lorn, a small village deep in the heart of the Old Capital, has sent out a Writ of Crisis.  Wracked by a wave of Corruption unlike any they've ever seen and stalked by a massive creature that seems to melt in and out of the shadows at will, they have turned to the Imperial bureaucracy as their last desperate hope.  Weeks on, and the empire has answered the call. One can only hope it's not too late.

Poison Earth is an adventure pack for the Byways roleplaying game.  It will be released in three acts, each including new lore, new explorations, and new challenges for your players to face.  Buy the adventure packs one act at a time as they come out, and stop whenever you want to take the story in your own direction.

Act One includes:

• Two explorations, including one new kind of exploration designed to represent short, high octane pursuits.
• A new system for generating character motive along with the character's other stats, including five fleshed out backstories.
• Six Basic Challenges to teach introduce your players to the rules.
• One Significant Challenge sure to decimate unwary characters.
• A new setting complete with pre-made NPCs and flavor text: trek through the Old Imperial Capital, a cursed, monolithic mega-city slowly rotting from neglect in the century after its divine rulers abandoned it.  Travel between the bustling border town of Red Tol to the beleaguered frontier village of Lorn.  Tempt fate by delving into the dark powers that twist and torment the very soil of the Old Capital, or deepen your faith by walking in the ancient footsteps of the god-empresses.

Each act of Poison Earth will be released for a price of $2.99, leading to an eventual price of $9.97 for a full three act story.  Buy as many acts as you want, and stop when you want.  Each act includes a section at the end to help game masters plan where to take their game if they want to break away from the planned arc of the adventure pack.