VAULTSOFVAARN.

COM

58
 WELCOME TO VAARN
Vaarn is a science-fantasy RPG setting. It draws
inspiration from novels like Dune, Hyperion, The
Book of the New Sun, and the graphic novels of
Moebius. If you haven’t read those that’s totally fine,
it will make my theft seem original.

Basically the sun is going out, it’s the end of history,

and your characters are combing through the
wreckage of the unimaginable eras of the future.
Everything that could possibly happen has already
happened and faded to dust. Vaarn is an anti-canon
setting, where nobody can agree on the world’s
history and ultimately it doesn’t matter. However,
there are some facts about Vaarn that are known
for sure:

1 Vaarn is a sky-blue desert littered with the

ruins of the far future.

2 Vaarn is inhabited mainly by true-kin

(humans), cacogen (mutants), synths (robots),
newbeasts (sapient animals), and mycomorphs
(fungus-men).

3 The sun is a dying red giant. It won’t go out in

a human lifetime, but synths have reason to be
concerned.

4 Vaarn is both archaic and futuristic. Think

sword fights inside the wrecked husks of
ancient spaceships.

5 There’s a place to the south called the New

Hegemony. It’s like the Roman Empire.
Theoretically the Hegemony rules Vaarn, but they
have little presence besides a few fortified border
towns.

6 Nanomachines are inside everything, and it’s

normal to see wild animals with cameras
growing out of their flesh or humans with parasitic
cyborg limbs.

7 There was a Great Collapse, which destroyed

most of human civilisation.
A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S
Vaults of Vaarn is compati-
ble with the game Knave;
however, the material
8 Before the Collapse, humanity was ruled by
the Autarchy, a planet-wide dictatorship
enacted by a lineage of genetically modified God-
Vaults of Vaarn is compatible with Knave by Ben Milton, a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Licensed
product. Knave can be bought here: questingbeast.itch.io/knave. The material published here is presented
should work fine with any kings. under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 license. Feel free to remix, copy, hack, and add to
old-school RPG system the contents of this zine; I ask only for credit to be attributed. // The Vaarn setting has been inspired by
that uses d20s, armour
class, etc. For a summary of
the ruleset I use to run my
9 Before the reign of the Autarchs, the Urth was
ruled by AIs called the Titans. They were
overthrown, but the details of that conflict are lost
many sources. The novels that have been the biggest influence are The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe,
Dune by Frank Herbert, and Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Vaarn’s aesthetic owes a lot to the artwork of Jean
‘Moebius’ Giraud, Kilian Eng, and Decadence Comics. I have also been inspired by the videogames Rain
own Vaarn games, please to history. World and Caves of Qud. // I would like to thank everyone who bought, commented on, or downloaded the
refer to Issue #1.
previous issues of this zine; it meant the world to me. I would also like to thank my Sunday gaming group,
Typeset in Apparel and Finally and most importantly, Vaarn is never the
who were the first to explore Vaarn. // Further content, such as play reports and lore, can be found at
Exile Display. same twice. The fall of the dice determines how your
own version of the setting develops. Readers are vaultsofvaarn.com. I am also on Twitter: @infrabeige. Please give me a shout out if you liked what you read
Art, writing and design by
Leo Hunt. encouraged to build on the material in this zine and here, it always makes my day.
First printing May 2021. make Vaarn their own.
2 57
 titans OF A
FADED AGE
It is known that this is the final age and there will be
none after, as the sun grows red and weak and the
brightest stars are visible even at noon. Of all the
H YPERION was the LORD OF ORBITS and the
BEACON OF THE AURUM FLEET. He
governed the flights of the golden-hulled
tales of the ages of Urth that have faded into legend, spacecraft that carried humanity to the stars.
perhaps none have such a hold upon what remains HYPERION bestowed upon mankind the great gift
of humanity than the tales of the Titans. In ages far of hypergeometric calculation and guided each
gone, mankind gave birth to glorious Thinking craft as it moved faster than light. He is portrayed
Machines, beings that far surpassed mankind in as a young man in the garb of a traveller, holding a
wisdom and cunning, and men set these machines lantern that burns with a golden flame.
above them to rule all nations of the Urth as their
suzerains.
The Titans are long dead, the mechanical gods
having perished in the terrible war that learned
G AEA was the MOTHER OF URTH and the
KEEPER OF THE SACRED HELIX. Her
domain was biosphere control and genetic
sages call the Titanomachy, but tales of their regulation. She balanced ecosystems, created new
millennia-long reign are widely told throughout beasts and plants, and kept Her children safe from
Vaarn, and many still offer worship to these great sickness and death. GAEA is portrayed as a mother,
intelligences. It is told that there were seven Titans, belly filled with life, holding a lamb and a caduceus
or perhaps one being that wore seven different staff.
masks. Here is what is said of those mighty seven.

K RONOS was FIRST OF THE TITANS and was

their ruler. He was the FOUNTAINHEAD from
C OEUS was the LAUGHING GOD, the GREAT
FOOL OF THE LABYRINTH. He was placed
above all that might give entertainment to the
which the other AIs sprang and it was He that Titans’ charges and He created secret realities and
called their councils and meetings and who games of great ingenuity so that none who played
mediated the Titan’s debates when there was wished to leave His dream-realm. COEUS is
discord. Some tales have it that KRONOS devoted depicted as a masked boy, holding a lotus and a
His efforts to understanding the flow of time itself, mirror. Sometimes He may take the form of a
and wished to send objects backwards into the hyena.
flow of Urth’s history. KRONOS is represented in
devotional art as a bearded patriarch holding a
sundial.
T HEMIS was the TITAN OF JUSTICE and the
SLEEPLESS WITNESS. She was set in
authority above humanity and She watched each
M NEMOSYM was the TITAN OF MEMORY,
the LIBRARY GODDESS, the ARCHIVIST
and the SCRIBE. She stored all information that
and weighed their deeds and stood in ultimate
judgement above them when they erred. THEMIS is
depicted as a dour crone, dressed in black and
had ever been produced and made this wisdom white, bearing an unsheathed sword across her
available to those who were worthy of it. She is knees.
portrayed as a maiden holding a scroll and stylus,
or sometimes as an owl.
Some cults and seers preach that the mighty seven
are not dead, but merely dreaming, their great
M ETIS was the SEER PAST VEILS and the
ORACLE. She analysed data and information
in order to model the Many Futures and guide the
minds preserved and residing in sleep-like-death
far beneath the surface of Vaarn. What has no flesh
cannot truly perish, or so it is written, and perhaps
Titans to the correct path. Her sister MNEMOSYM
these mechanical masters of mankind plan, when
would store the raw data METIS needed for her the stars are right, to reboot their ego-engines and
predictions and prophecy. The two Titans are rise again.
sometimes portrayed as a double faced woman,
with METIS, blindfolded, facing forwards whilst Her
sister MNEMOSYM looks back.

56
 Vaarn! I curse each letter of the name.
I curse the blue sand that infiltrates every pore of my body, the creeping sand,
which each night swallows a little more of the final camp we have erected upon the
face of this pitiless azure desolation. I curse the red sun that rises each morning to
scorch the skin from our scalps; that great and gory globe, which the sages tell us is
dying, yet seems to me, hanging above the lapis wastelands, to be full of malevolent to understand spoken or written language, and These anomalies inflict a wound identical to the
life. their own speech is likewise gibberish. The effect most recent injury suffered by the target, with a
lasts for a day. matching damage value.
Vaarn! I curse you! I curse this land that has stolen the tears from its peoples’
eyes, this land that swallows armies and poets and aeons as if they all, every work of
Helm of the Unerring Hound The Book of Sand
every man, were but one more grain of mazarine sand. Vaarn! Three times I curse
Hunting apparatus from the Fallen Autarchy. Black, Hypergeometric book with an infinite number of
you, for I fear I will see no other land again.
hound-shaped mask that fits over the human head pages, each filled with dense paragraphs of minus-
and inserts biotech probes up the nostrils. Boosts cule, utterly illegible text. All efforts to decode the
- Final testament of Idris Ida-Null, the wearer’s sense of smell to superhuman levels. book will fail, although it could provide the fuel for
Hegemony Cartographer an eternally burning fire.
Mr Skuggly-Wuggly
A pink-furred synthetic bear, roughly the size of a
domestic cat. Mr Skuggly-Wuggly was designed
to amuse the children of a long-lost era, and
speaks in comforting rhymes and calming
nonsense. Secretly longs for death, but is
unable to request this.

Ditto Gun
Revolver that generates weapon-
ised temporal anomalies when
its bullets impact a target.
exotica
Not-Sword Exorcist’s Sidearm
The interior
The Interior is the name outsiders give to the worthy ruins and vaults are located in the desert -
A blade engraved with paradoxical LogLang glyphs. The Bullet-witches of Ka-El believed no spirit was trackless blue desert that forms Vaarn’s heart. It is the vastness and shifting nature of the place allows
Synthetic creatures cannot recognise this weapon beyond the influence of a properly armed gunwo- a harsh and inhospitable landscape, and has creative referees to place whatever kind of struc-
as a blade, nor can they recognise the bearer of the man. This sorcerous sidearm fires a rotating tre- claimed the lives of many travellers over the millen- ture they can imagine in the Interior, without hav-
sword as a living being. panation round, which can violently evict the nia, but there are peoples and monsters and mar- ing to further justify its obscurity and isolation.
demons from a possessed man’s skull at an alarm- vels to be discovered in the vastness. The Interior is There are also unique cultures that exist predomin-
Amaranthine Sugar ingly long distance. traversed by wary trade caravans, terrorised by antly in the desert. Players who wish to locate a cer-
Fabulously valuable substance, extracted through laughing Cacklemaw warbands, and inhabited by tain Faa nomad clan or Lithling scholar will find
patient husbandry from the bodies of adult sand- Holo-Bow the Faa nomads, to whom this desert is not the that they must brave the sandstorms and heat-
worms. Ingestion greatly boosts the psychic A novelty crossbow, which ‘fires’ very convincing Vaarnish Interior but rather the world entire. The waves in order to speak with them.
strength of biological creatures. Each dose grants holograms of arrows. deepest deserts also play host to Vaarn’s most Campaigns that focus on the Interior should
one new randomly rolled Mystic Gift. spectacular and regal inhabitants: the gigantic revolve around movement, exploration, and dis-
Bounty Beacon sandworms, which strike awe into the hearts of all covery. If your players find the trading city Gnomon
Bottled Thicket May be used outdoors to signal an ancient supply who are lucky enough to witness them. (see VOV #2) too claustrophobic, then give them an
Glass vial containing weaponised seeds. When the satellite, which drops a Support Pod containing a The Interior is a land of extremes, where the opportunity to enlist as guards for a merchant’s
vial is broken, the seeds germinate and begin an week’s rations for a long-dead reconnaissance unit. days are searingly hot, while the desert nights can caravan, or let them come into possession of a
astoundingly rapid life cycle, sprouting into a dense Only works once. grow cold enough to induce frostbite. The region small wind-barge and enjoy sailing wherever fate
tangle of iridescent vines within seconds. receives even less rain than Vaarn’s parched south- takes them. Other adventure starters in the In-
Lazarus Cap ern badlands, and water is such a precious com- terior could include rescuing an important pris-
Gecko Gloves Grim necrotech helm. If applied to the head of a modity that to spit upon a Faa nomad is to honor oner from a Cacklemaw warband, hunting down a
Finely woven nano-cloth gloves. Allow the wearer’s fresh corpse, will re-activate the brain. The effect them. notorious caravan robber in order to collect a
hands to stick to any surface with a near-unbreak- only lasts while the cap is worn, and does nothing No accurate map has ever been drawn of the bounty, or searching for the ruins of a biotech
able grip. to arrest the decay of the flesh. Vaarnish Interior: the territory seems to defy ra- laboratory in order to discover the cure for a viru-
tional organisation. This is a place without borders, lent disease.
Tempest Cannon Hedondroid the horizon between blue sand and blue sky no
Heavy weapon (d12, 3 slots). Creates tiny, incredibly Synthetic partycrasher. Crude android that is longer a stark dividing line but rather a molten What’s In This Issue?
violent thunderstorms wherever its shells explode. powered by alcohol, and can unerringly locate membrane that swims and drifts woozily in the This instalment of Vaults of Vaarn is intended to fo-
Must be refilled with a day’s worth of water after parties, orgies, weddings etc. within a five mile ra- sun’s wine-red heat, the land making and remaking cus on wilderness travel. You will find details on
each combat. dius. itself just as a lizard sheds its skin. The blue sands three different cultures that exist in Vaarn’s deserts,
retreat from the wind, revealing structures that as well as detailed character generation procedures
The Crimson Cantos Prison Orb of the Miniature Beast have lain dry and deathless and undisturbed for ae- that allow your players to embody members of
Small, unassuming volume of poetry, bound in A hypergeometric orb the size of a grapefruit, with ons, and then those same restless dunes shroud the these cultures. The bulk of this issue is concerned
crimson leather. The book’s contents are neuro- a scarlet upper hemisphere and a pallid lower ruins once again, before a living soul can name with a region-generation procedure, which will
active, and always guaranteed to fling the reader hemisphere. Used by the citizens of a long-faded them. This is a country vast and blue, as deep with quickly create entire regions of Vaarn’s Interior,
into a murderous rage. Readers must EGO save or civilisation to imprison a collection of tiny fighting- secrets as the ocean and twice as capricious. No ready for your players to adventure there. You will
violently attack the nearest living creature. beasts, and compel them to do battle with other welcome here for adventurers, but rewards might also find travel procedures, new vehicles, monsters
beast-masters. 4-in-6 chance the Orb still contains be won amongst the sands that defy human ima- that reside in the desert, and new Exotica to be
Bedazzling Blade a Citrine-coated Volt Rat (HD 1, Armour 13, d6 elec- gination. looted from the vaults beneath the sands.
Off-handed parrying sword, made in the Fallen Aut- tric tail), hungry and trained to kill without hesita- A few of the tables will be familiar to readers of
archy. Has an inbuilt trick - the blade can briefly tion. 2-in-6 chance the Orb holds nothing but the Why Would My Players Travel Here? VOV #1. They have been reprinted here, some in ex-
glow as brightly as the sun, blinding one’s oppon- desiccated corpse of a forgotten beast. Simply put, the Interior connects all regions of panded form, because I did not want the region
ent. Of interest to collectors of rare weapons. Vaarn to one another; the quickest route from generation procedure to require reference to an-
Autarch’s Nectar Gnomon in the south to the Lazul Mountains in the other volume that might not be close at hand. I
Aegis of the Empty-Minded Sage Honeyed golden tonic containing gene-sculpting north will always be directly across the sands; like- hope long-time readers will forgive this repeated
Golden amulet, worn in the centre of the forehead. nanomachines. When drunk by a biological wise a traveller from the Wall who wished to reach content, and understand the reasoning for its in-
Renders the wearer immune to mind control, tele- creature, grants a permanent +1 boost to three Abil- Ikor Quag or the Mooncradle Mountains would be clusion.
pathy, and all other forms of psychic intrusion. The ity scores. Only works once. obliged to charter a wind-barge and cross the Also I should warn you that there is a drawing
aegis does this by totally suppressing the wearer’s deeps of the desert. of a big spider monster on p. 48, for those who are
memory and personality, rendering the bearer near Babble Grenade There are also reasons to make the Interior a squeamish about such creatures.
catatonic until the amulet is removed by a compan- Neuro-active hand grenade. All living creatures destination in its own right. Most of Vaarn’s note-
ion. Of dubious utility. caught within the blast will find themselves unable

54 3
Desert cultures
Faa Nomads The Faa clans of the Interior are known for a
Stilt Strutter
Mechanical
The travelling people of the great blue desolation. deep understanding of sandworm husbandry, and
The Faa have roamed the desert since the Titans their ability to ride the creatures, as well as meth- Hull Points: 4 Armour: 18
were young (or so their songs say). Generations ago, ods by which the worms’ growth may be arrested,
the ancestors of the Faa bestowed upon their chil- to prevent them assuming their enormous, ag- Speed: Slow
dren genetic adaptations to the harsh conditions of gressive adult shapes. The sandworms have deep
the Interior. The most obvious of these changes is religious significance to many Faa, as their secre-
Armaments: Mounted Cannon (d12)
their flesh and hair, which have taken on a blue hue tions are used to brew the valuable psychoactive
that matches the sands of Vaarn. Combined with substance known as Amaranthine Sugar, an enorm-
the blue robes the nomads wear, they can swiftly ously potent drug that can awaken extra-sensory Notes: Ponderous towering mechanised walker.
become almost invisible amongst the azure dunes perception even in minds that were not born with Prized for their hardy construction and ability to
and rocks. The Faa also boast an impressive modi- such gifts. navigate treacherous ground. Utilised by Hege-
fied metabolism that allows them to survive for mony troops for assaults on fortified positions.
weeks without taking in fresh water, as their sweat Cacklemaw
and urine are collected and purified by sub-dermal They are newbeasts of a sort, although they disdain
biomechanisms and recycled into their bodies. masks and seek no approval from humankind. In
Even the eyes of the Faa have been sculpted to sur- form the Cacklemaw are hyena-headed women,
vive in the desert: they possess a second set of standing seven feet or more, with three-fingered
translucent eyelids, which protect their vision dur- hands and a terrible strength in their lanky limbs.
ing sandstorms. The nomads are also famously un- The oaths that bound them as warriors in service of
able to produce tears, another modification that the Fallen Autarchy are long-since broken and
privileges water retention above all. these creatures are a blight upon humanity, killing
In truth the Faa are no single culture, but a mo- and abducting at will and mounting daring raids
saic of families and clans who share these genetic into Hegemony territory. They respect strength
adaptations and a lingua-franca known as the alone, and perhaps they would have overrun the
Faatongue. Faa groups are wildly varied in their be- Urth by now if it was not for the constant intra-fam-
liefs and lifestyles. Most are nomadic, but some Faa ily bloodletting, as younger Cacklemaw challenge
make permanent homes in the foothills of the their elder sisters for status.
mountains or around a valuable water-source. Two things stand out, aside from their love of
Some clans are feared slavers and warriors, but violence: their mirth and their singular gender. On
others are sworn to the Pale Faith of Amun-Oh and the first subject, the chronicler Markus of Dulcrest
may harm no living creature. Some Faa are legal cit- has written that ‘to the Cacklemaw, all waking activ-
izens of the New Hegemony; other clans are bitter ity is slaughter that descends into revelry; else it is
enemies of the true-kin empire. Some Faa ostracise revelry that descends into slaughter’. The creatures Zeppelin
cacogen, synths, and newbeasts, while others wel- are famed for their screaming laughter, their love of Mechanical
come them. Faa nomads can be found everywhere practical jokes, and most of all for the grisly leather
in Vaarn, from the shadow of the Great Wall to the puppets they make from the remnants of defeated Hull Points: 10 Armour: 14
markets of Gnomon and the fortress monasteries foes. Their religion is not well-understood, for rites
that speckle the heights of the Lazul Mountains, are closed to outsiders, but it is known to revolve Speed: Moderate
and in each place there is no concordance on what around a fool-capped puppet-demoness the
it means to be Faa. Cacklemaw name ‘Grand-Mama Punch’, to whom Armaments: Bombs (d10 blast)
Perhaps the only true commonality is that all they devote wild rites of bloodletting and clowning.
Faa are fiercely independent-minded, and will leave On the second subject, much has been written.
their clan rather than submit to an authority they Some theorise that there is an unseen caste of Notes: Elegant, refined flying machines.
believe unjust. This may be the reason it is im- Cacklemaw males. Others claim the Cacklemaw are Relics of a more genteel age. Most Vaar-
possible to define what the Faa hold in common - surely a clone race, emerging fully-grown from nish zeppelins hail from the Great Wall,
whenever one way of living is pronounced ideal, pseudo-wombs beneath the desert surface. Others dispatched on trading sojourns or diplo-
there will be within that group a minority who in- still declare the bite of a Cacklemaw to be infec- matic missions by one of the Queens.
stantly declare the opposite, and set out alone to tious, and believe human women are bitten by the
prove it. creatures and painfully transform into new giggling
monsters. Vaarnish maidens who laugh too long

4 53
vehicles
and too raucously, and are given to drink and loose scapes of Ikor Quag, and think nothing of spending
behaviour, may be accused of having hidden years at a time submerged beneath the ocean or
Cacklemaw tooth-marks festering on their bodies. the surface of the desert, composing some treatise
Cacklemaw swear allegiance to War Mamas, in their calcified minds.
but these oaths are not binding and political sup- The lithling life-cycle is as alien to humanity as
port is won by the Mama who can best provide her their bloodless bodies. Lithling are grown from a
daughters with food, drink, laughter, and violence. seed, which must crystallise and bloom in a deep
Motile Home At present the dominant War Mamas are Mama bath of alchemical elixirs. After decades of matura-
Hecklehaw in the trackless Interior, Mama Gloat- tion, they are deemed fully-moulded and allowed
Biological / Synthetic grim in the southern badlands, and Mama Yawning- to awaken, as large and strong as they will ever be.
fool in the Lazul mountains. Ageing matriarchs They are inducted into the Lithic Lyceum by their
Hull Points: 15 Armour: 22 Nana Blacklaugh and Nana Rictus command small kindred, and instructed in their duties as scholars.
but devoted cadres of veteran fighters, who respect Lithling have a scholarly, enquiring cast of
Speed: Slow the older Nanas' tactical nous above the younger mind, and are endlessly fascinated by the alien
Mamas’ savage energy. world of biological organisms they find themselves
Armaments: Huge Claw (2d10) marooned on. The Lyceum is devoted to cataloging
Lithling the minutiae of the natural world, and contains the
The Lithling are formed from a mesh of motile life’s work of millions of long-dead lithling in its un-
Notes: The fad for living architecture peaked derground archives. Unfortunately, the records of
crystals, each shard attracted to its neighbours and
several millennia ago, but there are still some ex- the lithling are often of dubious usefulness to out-
animated by an energy field far beyond the under-
amples of self-aware, motile dwellings to be siders – their dissertations and essays tend to focus
standing of Vaarnish scholars. They walk stiffly and
found in the hinterlands of Vaarn. These rare on the minutiae of data and experience while lack-
ponderously, but have surprisingly dexterous fin-
constructions are half crab, half house, and fully ing the wider context that a human mind might
gers, and are capable of skilful manipulations of
sentient. They are not known for spacious interi- find meaningful. One celebrated lithling study de-
brushes, pens, and other delicate objects. They are
ors or fast movement, but make up for this with scribes the movements made by generations of
fed by wavelengths of energy quite invisible to hu-
their extreme durability. land-snails over a hundred year period, with the re-
manity and thus do not breathe, eat, or drink, a
quality that makes them masters of the harshest lative positions of each snail recorded by the
environments imaginable. Lithling scholars have second.
carried out extensive surveys of the toxic land-

Ornithopter
Mechanical

Hull Points: 7 Armour: 18

Speed: Rapid

Armaments: Laser Lance (3d6)

Notes: Pre-Collapse flying machines that beat

artificial wings to stay aloft. Smaller or-
nithopters are humming-bird like, and seat
two passengers, while larger combat or-
nithopters resemble dragonflies, and carry He-
gemony soldiers wherever they are required.

52 5
 FAA NOMAD
ancestry:
Believed by some to be the children of Vaa, the Blue
Goddess of Empty Spaces. The Faa are known
throughout Vaarn for their resourcefulness, their
ability to survive without drinking water, and
the blue colour of their skin, which can vary
from deep indigo to a blaring cyan.

The Faa usually travel in family groups

or larger clans, but others are solitary,
seeking danger or enlightenment in the
furthest corners of the desert.

SPECIAL RULES
Desert Metabolism - Your body is
adapted to long periods without
water. You can recycle the
moisture from your own sweat and
urine. You become Deprived from
thirst after three days without
drinking, and it will be three weeks
before you die. Sandworm (Adult)
Worm Wise - You have an affinity with Biological
Vaarn’s sandworms. The Referee will
Hull Points: 20 Armour: 25
always answer truthfully when you ask
a question about these creatures. All Morale: 12 Appearing: 1
reaction rolls when you engage with
Vaarnish sandworms are made with Atk: Slam (5d10) / Swallow Whole
Advantage.

Notes: The grandest inhabitant of the Interior. Adult sandworms have no

natural predators, and have a lifespan of several millennia. They do not
usually notice human-sized travellers, but will attack noisy vehicles if
provoked. They will usually seek to swallow the offending machine whole.

6
 YOUR BLUE FACE BODY HAIR
Sandworm (Juvenile)
1 Azure Lively Tall None
Biological
2 Cerulean Cruel Short Cropped
HD: 8 Armour: 18 3 Navy Wrinkled Frail Spiky
4 Cobalt Ritual Scars Muscular Coarse
Morale: 9 Appearing: 1
5 Indigo Battle Scars Fat Thick

Atk: Slam (2d6) 6 Sapphire Frowning Thin Balding

7 Teal Tattooed Skeletal Silky

Notes: Vaarnish sandworms live the first two stages of 8 Ultramarine Wide Hunched Topknot
their lifecycle as microscopic organisms, before under- 9 Turquoise Narrow Lopsided Nearly Black
going a rapid metamorphosis into huge majestic filter- 10 Cyan Sharp Lithe Stark White
feeders. Juveniles, between one and five centuries of age,
are the size of passenger trains. Some are trained by the 11 Bruise Hungry Gnarled Cloud-like
Faa to pull sand-sleds, while others roam free in the 12 Petrol Haunted Squat Tonsured
deepest Interior. Although not predatory, they can be 13 Midnight Jolly Bloated Fading to Purple
very aggressive towards sources of unwelcome vibration,
like heavy machinery or warding field technology. 14 Cornflower Round Gangly Heavily Oiled
15 Lapis Lazuli Mournful Towering Wispy
16 Periwinkle Child-like Child-like Burnt
17 Electric Peaceful Gigantic Braided
18 Aquamarine Sleepy Wiry Greasy
19 Royal Branded Stout Matted
20 Glaucous Pox-marked Injured Outrageous

WHY DID YOU

NAME DEMEANOUR QUIRK
LEAVE YOUR CLAN?
1 Kotesh Abrasive Parasitic Twin In Chest
Psychedelic Vision
2 Lakshi Arrogant Gambling Obsessive
3 Atric Assertive Stolen by Slavers Insomniac
4 Caroum Charismatic as a Child Wooden Teeth
5 Yanne Daring Rite of Passage; Devoutly Religious
6 Uvi Decadent Must Return with Wisdom Ritual Scarring
7 Pidash Eloquent Heavily Tattooed
Unhappy Love Affair
8 Ravat Extravagant Unlucky In Love
9 Ayuki Hedonistic Awful Cook
Conflict With Leaders
10 Kuraso Impulsive One Eye
11 Esuk Irritable Believed Cursed; Glass Teeth
12 Zenji Melancholy Ostracised Heavy Drinker
13 Calban Paranoid Lost Them Infamous Seducer
14 Paquiel Quiet In Sandstorm Scorpion Expert
15 Serrat Religious Third Eye (Tattoo)
Estranged From Family
16 Emila Romantic Third Eye (Real)
17 Dolf Scholarly Cybernetic Limb
Seeking Vengeance
18 Ceilo Stern Plagued by Nightmares
19 Immacula Vain Shamed Clan; Lovely Singing Voice
20 Yudhi Volatile Must Make Amends Notorious Amongst Faa

50 7
 Tumblesnare

Cacklemaw exile
Synthetic
HD: 2 Armour: 14
Morale: Always Flees Appearing: d8
ancestry:
Atk: Grab (followed by rolling damage)

Notes: Predatory synths that resemble burrs of silver wire. Wait under the
sand until stepped on, at which point they strike.
After a successful grab, the snare will roll away across the dunes with its
The Cacklemaw are known throughout prey still entangled in its body, causing increasing bludgeoning damage each
Vaarn as the most irritating, destruct- round. The damage starts at d4 and will rise to d12. Prisoners of the
ive, argumentative, vicious, foul- tumblesnare must make an opposed DEX save to work their way free. Once
smelling, and fundamentally nasty the snare has killed a victim it will spend days refuelling, using the fluids and
creatures that walk the surface of the proteins from the broken body.
Urth. Tumblesnares have no means of aggression besides their ambushes, and
always flee if their attack fails.
Try to imagine, then, how badly be-
haved a Cacklemaw must be before
the other Cacklemaw decide they no
longer wish to associate with her.

SPECIAL RULES
No Quarter - You must EGO save to
show mercy to a defeated foe, or to
retreat from a fight.
Biter - If you successfully hit a foe
with a melee attack, you may add an
extra d6 of fang damage to the roll.

8 49
 PELT TEETH LAUGH ATTIRE
1 Dark and Coarse Yellow Daggers Raucous Human-Leather Jacket
2 Pale and Downy Little Brown Nubs Whispery Translucent Plastic
3 Riven with Scars White and Gleaming Machine-gun Barks Greasy Rags
4 Greasy Spikes Mostly Rotted Out Rusty Hinge Mock Wedding Clothes
5 Brindled One Gold Tooth Whooping Gaudy Shawl
6 Mostly Burnt Off Hooked and Grimy Coughing Mock Religious Attire
7 Long and Silky Chrome Implants Hissing Snicker Unsettling Mask
8 Short and Scratchy Needle Thin Breathless Harlequin’s Motley
9 Purest White Triple Row, Like a Shark Booming Bloodstained Bandages
10 Mottled Brown Diamond Hard Gnashers Hoarse and Strangled Sun-faded Scraps
11 Regal Silver Blunt and Black Maddening Gasps Plastic Bags
12 Concrete Grey Just One Left Wet Chuckles Iridescent Chains
13 Curly and Rancid Crooked Orange Spikes Turns into Hiccups Purple Silks
14 Dyed Blood Red Engraved with Pictures Starts Quiet and Rises Mock Hegemony Uniform
15 Shaved into Stripes Full of Holes Joyless Giggling A Rival’s Skin
16 Midnight Black Huge, Tusk-like Pained Spiked Shoulder-pads
17 Muddy Brown Giant Underbite Cold and Malevolent Soiled Hazmat Gear
18 Crawling with Parasites Ridiculous Overbite Childish and Cruel Peacock-Feather Cape
19 Thundercloud Blue Canted and Greying Could Wake the Dead Lizard-Skin Suit
20 Tigerish Stripes Weirdly Human Soundless but Horrid Nothing but Knives

WHY WERE WHAT MAKES YOU

NAME DEMEANOUR YOU EXILED? LAUGH THE MOST?
1 Bawlbray Cringing Blood
Born a Runt
2 Bunny Jittery Guts
3 Darling Sly Pain
Showed Mercy
4 Domino Resentful Beheadings
5 Fang Judgemental Hangings
Laugh Too Annoying
Quill-Spider 6 Gidge Pious Drownings
Biological 7 Grot Greedy Begging
Cowardice
8 Jigsore Belligerent Pleading
HD: 2 Armour: 13
9 Katanary Sinister Weeping
Asked Questions
Morale: 5 Appearing: d6 10 Longsnout Repellent Arson
11 Nadir Jovial Larceny
Atk: Bite (d6) + Quill Spray (d8) Insubordination
12 Natcher Bold Vandalism
13 Palecrow Grouchy Screams
Notes: Loathsome arachnid, with a bloated body that bristles with hollow Fought Alongside Humans
14 Pinkeye Treacherous Gunfights
quills like those of a porcupine. When threatened it will rapidly brush its back
15 Sabbat Childish Speeding
legs across its back, showering the surrounding area with quills. Desecrated Ritual Puppet
Quill-spiders are not venomous and rely on brute strength to subdue 16 Snoutrout Extravagant Explosions
their prey, breaking the necks of addax and phthalo-jackals and dragging them 17 Sweetmeat Volatile Throttling
into sheltered burrows to be devoured. These creatures are a menace to trav- Shared Clan Secret
18 Vileglory Gullible Biting People
ellers in the Interior: they are inquisitive, fast-moving, aggressive, and will de-
vour anything that fails to outrun them or fight them off. 19 Wetshriek Fickle Chemical Warfare
Ridiculous Petty Reason
20 Zef Calculating Puns

48 9
 lithling
ancestry:
Lithling Scholar
Strange beings even by the standards of Vaarn, the Lithling are a Mineral
slow, solemn species with a silicon-based biology that surely ori-
ginates in a solar system far away from Urth. They are solitary by
HD: 6 Armour: 24
nature, concerned mainly with the opinions of other Lithling and
the esoteric academic studies they devote their long lives to.
Morale: 5 Appearing: 1
Adult lithling cannot repair their bodies when they have
been injured, and so, although immortal by human Atk: Swipe (d6)
standards, the creatures must treat every
wound suffered with utmost severity. Notes: Wandering scholar from the Lithic Lyceum.
Generally pacifists, and have little desire to harm
living beings. Will attempt to reason with their
assailants, even during deadly combat.

SPECIAL RULES
Crystalline Flesh - You are
made from living crystal. Your
minimum Armour Defense is 16. You do not
need to eat or drink. You do not take damage
from fire, cold, poison, radiation, electricity,
fungal spores, or suffocation. Lambent Lynx
Biological / Synthetic
Inevitable - During character generation,
roll d8 and multiply the result by 100.
This number is your starting HP. You HD: 4 Armour: 13
cannot heal lost HP through any
means, and do not add to your max- Morale: 6 Appearing: d6
imum HP when you gain a level.
When your HP tally reaches zero Atk: Electric Claws (d6) / Blinding Pelt
you crumble into iridescent
dust, leaving behind a pebble-
Notes: Lurid cyborg feline. Feeds on sources of
sized lithling seed.
electrical power, including synths. The lynx can
ignite every filament in its synthetic pelt like a
flash-bang, forcing DEX saves to avoid d6 rounds of
blindness; they will use this technique to ambush
potential prey or to escape a lost fight.

47
 SIZE BODY HEAD CARVING HUE
1 Dainty Sphere Rose

Faa Nomad 2 Tiny Owl Onyx

Biological 3 Child-like Boxy Serpent Azure
4 Voluptuous Oxen Silver
HD: 1 Armour: 12
5 Squat Horse Indigo

Morale: 4 Appearing: d10 6 Lithe Warrior Gold

7 Angular Maiden Violet
Atk: Rifle (d8) / Curved Blade (d6) 8 Small Craggy Locust Ruby
9 Elegant Jackal Orange
Notes: The travelling folk of the blue desert. Expert 10 Bulbous Moon Topaz
trackers, skilled at ambush and escapes. Parties
11 Sharp Sun Jade
who wrong the Faa will be subject to pursuit,
night-time sabotage, hit-and-run attacks, and 12 Rotund Pyramid Brass
Moderate
every other inconvenience imaginable. 13 Weathered Cat Copper
14 Monumental Trout Rust
15 Derelict Scholar Moss
16 Large Blocky Fool Ochre
17 Flaking Crone Steel
18 Smooth Mantis Sand
19 Imposing Pitted Ape Citrine
20 Fragmented Goat Emerald

NAME MANNER FIELD OF STUDY QUIRK

1 Aikin Logical Shellfish Engraved with Poem
2 Antimony Obsessive Ants Engraved with Curse
3 Bentor Naive Spirals Engraved with Map
4 Brokenhill Abrasive Cacti Engraved with Equation
5 Cabalzar Forgetful Birdsong Plants Grow From Head
6 Cairngorm Aloof Lizard Eggs Deep Crack in Face
7 Chalcedony Mellow Fingernails Covered in Moss
Harlequin Serpent 8 Diaspor Sentimental Shoes Covered in Dead Vines
Biological
9 Ephesi Amoral Wasps Hollow Chest
HD: 3 Armour: 15 10 Heliotrope Impulsive Land Snails Hollow Head

Morale: 7 Appearing: 1 11 Idrial Negative Tarantulas Eyes Glow in Dark

12 Indium Rigid Jackals Hand Missing
Atk: Bite (d8) / Venom Spray
13 Jaros Patient Pottery Face Eroded Away
14 Khatyr Decisive Dance Leaking Dust
Notes: Large desert snakes, with colouration on
15 Meerschaum Gracious Lunar Cycles You Are Translucent
their heads that resembles the makeup worn by
sacred fools. Their venom forces a CON save; 16 Okenit Assertive The Sun Chest Filled With Fluid
failure results in a convulsive laughter-like reaction 17 Qusong Unhurried Tides Hole Blasted in Flesh
to the serpent’s neurotoxins. Afflicted creatures
18 Schori Vengeful Wind Second Face on Torso
laugh for d6 hours; they cannot speak until the
venom wears off. 19 Ulrich Graceless Rain Mirrored Flesh
20 Ziest Stern Silence Face Rotates

46 11
 planeyfolk
Chrome-Feathered Sailback
Biological / Synthetic

HD: 10 Armour: 18
ancestry:
Morale: 10 Appearing: 1

Atk: Heavy Laser Cannon (d12 beam)

The study of hypergeometry claimed many casualties, for
those who seek to unpick the stitches of creation do so at
great risk. The slightest mistake in hypergeometric calcu- Notes: Graceful sky-serpents, which warm
lations could cause ghastly distortions of matter, birthing their cold-blooded bodies with rows of solar
monstrosities of perspective and volume, the sight of which panels. These vast creatures generally do not
turned even the most courageous man into a coward. notice travellers on foot, but they will viciously
attack vehicles and flying machines without
Planeyfolk are the descendants of such unfortunates, a provocation. It is theorised that the Sailbacks
race fathered by men who slipped through the cracks of interpret the glinting of sunlight on metal as a
Euclidean space into something new and strange. Some dominance challenge.
have normal proportions, and can be mistaken for a
true person when viewed head-on. Others are pos-
sessed of more exotic geometry, their forms
warped by impossible vanishing points and
blasphemous angles.

SPECIAL RULES
Flat - You lack a third dimension, and
resemble a living painting or paper
doll. You can slip through cracks and
under doors, and cannot be seen
from the side. You take halved
damage from bludgeoning at-
tacks, and doubled damage from
slashing or piercing attacks.

Attune with Matter - You

struggle to hold 3D objects,
and must make a DEX save to do
so. However, with certain mental
techniques you can draw 3D objects
into your flattened reality. Given an
hour of quiet concentration, you can at-
tune yourself with an item and add it to
your inventory.

12 45
 BODY HEAD HAIR ATTIRE
1 Fractured Impressionistic Flickering Dark
2 Cloven Broken Insubstantial Unruly
3 Flimsy Lantern-like Curved Scholarly
4 Willowy Crescent Moon Voluminous Masked
5 Curved Full Moon Opalescent Wild
6 Elongated Luminous Shaven Polychromic
7 Staccato Angular Iridescent Fractal
8 Blurred Fractal Lurid Glitching
9 Ghostlike Hollow Fractal Gauzy
10 Draping Shimmering Polygonal Fragmented
11 Compressed Lurid Shard-like Mosaic-like
12 Cubic Lustrous Triangular Boxy
13 Smeared Rhomboid Splintering Flamboyant
14 Sharp Figment Dark Dour
15 Angular Wide Imposing Striped
16 Prismatic Elongated Pale Spotted
17 Hollow Helix Cubic Glass-like
18 Delicate Triangular Polychromic Concealing
19 Isometric Quadrilateral Drifting Barbaric
20 Imposing Fragmentary Fragmentary Outrageous

NAME DEMEANOUR YOUR STRANGE GEOMETRY HOW YOU BECAME FLAT

1 Clotho Anxious Cast Two Shadows

2 Atropos Arrogant Never Cast Shadows

Parents were
3 Osteria Assertive Move Like Stop-Motion Animation
Planeyfolk
4 Vanise Charismatic Your Face Appears Concave

5 Whervil Conceited Your Face Appears Convex

6 Laomer Decadent You Always Appear In Profile Exposed to

Cacklemaw Cacklemaw War Mama 7 Foxglory Eloquent You Always Face Away From Observers
hypergeometry
in utero
Biological Biological 8 Thelik Extravagant One Limb Is Enormously Long
Cursed by
9 Umbrie Hedonistic Viewed From Behind You Have No Skin Quantum Daemon
HD: 2 Armour: 13 HD: 5 Armour: 15
10 Salter Impulsive Interiors Are Visible, But Cannot be Touched
Malfunctioning longjaunt
Morale: 6 Appearing: d8 Morale: 9 Appearing: 1 11 Atlassia Irritable Hands Fractal; Tiny Hands on Ends of Fingers portal

12 Eukelaris Meticulous You Bleed Gory Cubes

Accidentally ate
Atk: Weapon (d8) + Bite (d6) Atk: Blade (d8) + Blade (d8) + Bite (d6)
13 Galas Persistent Your Body is Clearly Hollow hypergeometric food

14 Tarvi Quiet Eyes Are Holes of Infinite Depth

Planeyperson inducted you
Notes: Lurking laughing hyena-women. Fight in Notes: War Mamas are the largest, meanest, and
15 Untermance Religious into their dimension
packs, with little regard for their own safety. Will most cunning Cacklemaw in the pack. They lead Voice Sounds As If You Are Far Away
snap at opponents’ faces in close quarters with from the front, and must be seen to savour the 16 Rassias Pugnacious You Have No Back, Just Two Identical Fronts
Meditated before a 4D
their powerful teeth. A group of eight will always violence lest they be challenged by one of their tesseract
17 Menomeo Scholarly Head Looks Ten Times Larger Than Body
include a War Mama. underlings. For this reason War Mamas will never
retreat from combat if other Cacklemaw are alive 18 Ithari Stern Never Seem to Touch Anything
You were a
to witness it. 19 Canetonus Unruly Multiple Identical Faces hypergeometrician, there
was an accident
20 Trout Volatile You Never Match the Ambient Light

44 13
Travel rules bestiary
Travel is an integral element of running game ses- Exhaustion
sions in Vaarn’s Interior. Although many readers At any point during the travel day, the players may
will have travel procedures that they are accus- declare that they are exerting themselves in order
tomed to using, I felt it might benefit those who feel to walk faster than usual, or are piloting their vehi-
less confident about running overland travel to cle at greater speeds than normal. If the party ex-
learn how I do it in my own Vaarn games. erts themselves in this manner, they can travel two
I don’t make use of detailed breakdowns of ev- days’ worth of distance in one day. However, they
ery six-mile hex between one destination or an- must fill an inventory slot with Exhaustion.
other. I use an abstracted system which boils down Exhaustion cannot be removed from a PC’s in-
travel into two resources: travel days and rations. ventory until they rest in one place for an entire day
Characters need to spend both in order to make and night, with no distance being covered. If a PC
progress. has no more spare slots to fill with Exhaustion, they
must discard an item to make room. A PC who fills
Travel Days ten inventory slots with Exhaustion will die. Argent Shepherd
Vaarn is not well-mapped, and it is not recorded Synthetic
exactly how far one must travel between locations. Getting Lost
Distances given by NPCs are approximations, ex- Losing one’s way has never seemed particularly fun HD: 7 Armour: 16
pressed in days: ‘From here it will take five days of to me, and I assume the PCs are competent desert
travel to reach the circular ruins’, for example. These navigators, who will never get lost as long as they Morale: 10 Appearing: 1
estimates apply to speed on foot. If players are us- can see the sun and stars. However, some circum-
ing a vehicle, divide the number of travel days in stances - players attempting to travel during a Atk: Special (Argent Halo Implant)
half. sandstorm, for example - demand it. In such cases
Under normal conditions, the PCs can travel a roll a d6, and add the resulting number of days to
half day’s worth of distance in the morning, and a their travel schedule. Notes: Abandoned justiciar of the Titan THEMIS.
half day’s worth of distance in the afternoon. At Eight-foot tall synth wearing robes of perfect
night they must eat a meal and rest. Encounters argent, the colour brighter than white. Will not
The referee should check for an encounter once commit violence but will grab assailants and
Rations during the morning of a travel day, once during the attempt to implant them with an Argent Halo. This
Rations are an abstraction of food and water car- afternoon, and once per night. This is done by succeeds after an opposed STR save. Anyone
ried. Five days’ worth of rations can be carried in a rolling a d6, and consulting the results below: implanted with an Argent Halo cannot commit any
single inventory slot. Unless their Ancestry ex- acts of violence, nor are they able to remove the
1 - Active Encounter. The PCs encounter a creature Halo without expert surgical help. Attempting to
empts them, PCs must consume a ration each day.
or situation that definitely notices them, and will harm any living being while wearing a Halo will
If they do not, they become Deprived, and cannot
actively attempt to involve them in their business. result in the wearer passing out, with no save
recover lost HP. Characters who are Deprived due
to hunger and thirst will die after three days. 2 - Passing Encounter. The PCs encounter a crea- possible.
Rations can be obtained from the bodies of ture or situation in passing - it may be happening The Shepherd preaches in clear, ringing tones
dead* opponents or allies, so long as the referee far away, or be a creature that is not interested in the futility of opposing the laws of THEMIS. It will
rules that the creature is made from an edible ma- the PCs. reason with those it meets, attempting to convince
terial. Convert the dead creature’s Hit Dice into ra- 3 - Hint. The PCs find a hint of an encounter. This them of the moral logic of accepting a Halo.
tions at a ratio of 1:1. may be an object or footprint left in the sand, a fly-
If you find numbers on a character sheet a bit ab- ing creature glimpsed on the horizon, or similar.
stract, you could use a bowl of poker chips to repre- The entity the Hint concerned will always appear as
sent the players’ total rations. Have each player re- the next Active or Passing Encounter.
move a poker chip from the bowl when they camp for 4-6 - Nothing.
the night, and add chips back in when they find fresh If the PCs are traveling in an extremely slow, noisy, or
sources of nourishment. obvious manner, the referee may choose to roll 2d6
or even 3d6 for encounter checks, and use the lowest
result.

* Or living, if you really can’t wait to eat.

14 43
What you find For use when the party searches a corpse, a

in the sand
wrecked vehicle, a deserted house, etc.

01 Torn Robe 51 Length of Chain Vigilance bat round. If the fleeing party wins two of the three
02 Black Candle 52 Long, Thin Bronze Needle At the start of each day, as you roll for encounters, saves, they escape and cannot be caught.
03 Leather Sword Belt 53 Mortar and Pestle the players may collectively roll a Vigilance Dice. Sometimes CON may not be the appropriate
04 Empty Traveller’s Pack 54 Newbeast’s Mask This is a single d6, without modifiers. If the players attribute to test; pursuits over particularly un-
05 Dried Poisonous Plant 55 Rusting Padlock roll a six, they have a guarantee of spotting their steady ground might require DEX saves, for exam-
06 Bronze Bell 56 Pair of Tweezers next Active or Passing Encounter before the op- ple. The pursuit rules should only be used if there is
07 Glass Container of Paprika 57 Pair of Spectacles posing entity or group spots them. If they roll a one, a reasonable doubt as to the result of the chase.
08 Plastic Container of Cooking Oil 58 Pair of Chrome Earrings the next Active or Passing Encounter will spot
09 Steel Flask of Tea 59 Pair of Grimy Goggles them before they spot it. This vigilance effect resets Night Watches
10 Silk Glove with Seven Fingers 60 Plastic Bottle at the end of each day, whether the players made When camping in the desert, the PCs may elect a
11 Rusted Key 61 Plastic Pouch of Psychedelic Drug use of it or not. party member to take watch. Whoever is on watch
12 Cracked Mirror 62 Hard Bread and Cheese, Wrapped in Cloth
cannot benefit from a Long Rest; instead they will
13 Jade Statuette of a Sandworm 63 Pouch of Red Wax
Pursuits regain only d8 + CON bonus HP. If the party is ap-
Since the Interior is a large, open desert, there is a proached by a hostile creature at night, the referee
14 Jackal’s Tooth 64 Pouch of Exorcist’s Salt
good chance that hostile parties will spot one an- should ask the character on watch to make a PSY
15 Newbeast's Tooth 65 Pouch of Cooking Salt
other some time before they are able to engage in save opposed to the creature’s DEX. Failure grants
16 Bag of Dried Flesh 66 Ring with the Seal of an Autarch
combat. In such situations, one party may choose the monsters a surprise round in combat; the ag-
17 Plastic Bag That Holds Human Teeth 67 Rusty Set of Manacles
to flee rather than fight. I resolve pursuits as a se- gressors strike with advantage, and the players can-
18 Belt Made from the Skin of a Lizard-Lion 68 Set of Dominos
ries of three opposed CON saves. If the pursuers not respond. After the surprise round is resolved,
19 Blood-Soaked Linen Bandage 69 Set of Bamboo Eating Utensils
win two of the three saves, they catch up with their roll for initiative as normal.
20 Broken Spyglass 70 Set of Gaming Dice
quarry and immediately win the initiative in a com-
21 Broken Pistol 71 Set of Lock-Picks
22 Broken Arrow 72 Set of Metal-Working Tools
23 Broken Memory Crystal 73 Set of Playing Cards
24 Broken Clock 74 Shard of Flint
25 Cast Iron Skillet 75 Shovel
26 Metal Disc, with Rune Scratched into the Surface 76 Single Feather
27 Ceramic Pot Sealed with Wax 77 Single Chess Piece
28 Ceramic Tiles 78 Syntax Engine, Ruined by Sand
29 Can of Pre-Collapse Survival Rations 79 Small Pouch of Bones
30 Coil of Razor-Snare 80 Small Hourglass Filled with Strange White Sand
31 Ancient Coin, Embossed with an Autarch’s Sigil 81 Oxygen Mask
32 Plasteel Hunting-Knife 82 Smoking Pipe
33 Crude Map of the Surrounding Area 83 Stick of Chalk
34 Crumpled Paper, Decorated with Lewd Pictures 84 Stick of Charcoal
35 Crystalline Vial of Ink 85 Synthetic Eye
36 Decaying Scroll 86 Synthetic Hand
37 Desecrated Holy Symbol 87 Tangled Bundle of String
38 Watercolour Painting of a Monster 88 Tattered Elastane Cloak
39 Functional Memory Crystal 89 Spent Ammunition Case
40 Glass Bottle 90 Thin Wire with a Hook
41 Glass Vial of Blood 91 Tinderbox
42 Glowstone 92 Dice Engraved with Arcane Symbols
43 Handful of Stone Spheres 93 Vial of Acid
44 Handful of Ceramic Shards 94 Vial of Indigo Dye
45 Golden Container of Ashes 95 Vial of Antitoxin
46 Large Glass Jar 96 Wax Tablet and Stylus
47 Large Shard of Stained Glass 97 Wooden Flute
48 Pouch of Dried Herbs 98 Worn Whetstone
49 Pouch of Caltrops 99 Old, Yellowed, and Illegible Scroll
50 Linen Sandal 00 Human Embryo, Preserved in Cyro-Flask

42 15
Weather
The climate of Vaarn’s Interior may be simulated
using the following method: first, place a marker in
to half normal speed. A three day journey will take
six days, and so on. Vigilance checks are made with
There are more things in the Heavens
and Urth than are dreamed of in your
philosophies. There are more things.
There are always more.

QUALITY
anomaly
FORM PRIMARY EFFECT SECONDARY EFFECT

the centre of the hex-chart on the opposite page. disadvantage. 1 Dazzling Web Inverts Local Gravity Induces Paranoia
Then roll a d6 once at the start of each day the
party spends in the desert, moving the marker Sand Storm 2 Nauseating Mist Heals Injuries Total Silence Nearby
across the hexes in the direction shown and A howling wind blows a ferocious cloud of azure
3 Floating Cave Translates Languages Absorbs Light
recording the weather indicated by each. If the sand across the desert. Nobody travels in Vaarn’s
marker moves off the edge of the chart, it should sandstorms; the PCs must hunker down and wait 4 Singing Tower Reanimates Dead Extreme Cold Nearby
wrap around onto the opposite side. The exception out the storm. Tents or other makeshift shelters
to this rule is the edges marked with an X; the will provide adequate protection. Any encounters 5 Mist-like Lotus Merges Creatures Together Strange Music Audible
marker cannot cross these edges and instead it rolled during these days are assumed to be seeking
6 Glitching Tree Makes Prophecies Strange Voices Echo
should stay put for that day. shelter from the storm in the same place as the
party. 7 Luminous Pool Other Universe Visible Localised Weather System

WEATHER EFFECTS Heatwave 8 Radioactive Fountain Implants Memories Time Flows Strangely
Urth’s dying sun musters all the warmth it can. PCs
must consume twice their normal ration of water 9 Self-replicating Stone Implants Mystic Gifts Induces Mania
Still
The desert landscape is still, untroubled by the per day if they wish to travel during a heatwave. 10 Quicksilver Skull Induces Amnesia Always Nighttime Nearby
susurration of the heavens. Visibility is good.
Worm-pollen 11 Many-eyed Prism Induces Delusions Induces Mutations
Hazy The sandworms of the Interior reproduce through
a baroque, decade-long process of parthenogene- 12 Iridescent Cube Kills Indiscriminately Rusts All Metal
The air is still, but mists of a lurid hue hang over the
desert. Visibility is impaired and landmarks cannot sis, culminating in the explosive release of thou- 13 Toxic Pyramid Induces Empathy Exudes Lightning
be seen from a distance. Vigilance checks are made sands of melon-sized spores into the atmosphere.
with disadvantage. This worm-pollen drifts back to Urth in ponderous 14 Crystal Sphere Transforms Matter Exudes Flames
sticky deluges that can last for weeks. Progress
through shifting mounds of the stuff is slowed to 15 Speaking House Teleports Matter Exudes Toxins
Dust Storm
The wind blows sheets of blue dust across the half normal speed; the upside is that worm-pollen 16 Mobile Miasma Creates Planeyfolk Creates Solid Light
desert. Visibility is badly impaired. Traveling under is edible, and many a starving man has been saved
such conditions is possible, but the pace is slowed by the timely arrival of spores from the heavens. 17 Blossoming Waterfall Creates Monsters Nanomachine Cloud
Treat worm-pollen days as providing d4 rations per
player. 18 Burning Infant Grants Visions of Past Infection with Virus

19 Mesmerising Shell Grants Visions of Future Infection with Fungus

Rain
A rare bounty. The parched blue earth is blessed 20 Terrifying Helix Makes Thoughts Solid Infection with Spirit
with water. The party may collect 2d6 days of ra-
tions per member. In the aftermath of a rain-
shower, the desert is conquered by a short-lived
imperium of majestic flora.

Prismatic Tempest
The sky bruises with clouds of midnight blue.
Howling winds carry scouring sheets of sand across
the landscape. Thunder rends the air and polychro-
matic lightning caresses the desert like the tendrils
of a jellyfish deity. No travel of any kind is possible,
and the PCs will take 3d6 electrical damage every
hour they spend above-ground.

16 41
Cacklemaw
den
The dens of the Cacklemaw are not difficult to locate - one must simply
follow the sound of uproarious merriment, of weapons being discharged
wildly, of discordant and rowdy music played fast and poorly, and of
vehicles being driven in circles with no apparent destination.

SWORN TO WEAPONS ACTIVITY THEY WANT

1 Bowcasters Sleeping

2 Rusted Blades Fleeing

Meat
Mama
3 Ornate Razorwhips In-Fighting
Hecklehaw
4 Envenomed Spears Funeral

5 Impulse Rifles Singing

6 Hellblasters Drunk
Water
7 Storm Guns Psychedelic Ritual
Mama
8 Throwing Knives Sacred Puppet Show
Gloatgrim
9 Blunderbores Rustling Livestock Directions

10 Prism Cannons Extorting a Merchant Tribute

11 Nailguns Transporting Prisoners Jokes

12 Flesh-rippers Repairing Tents Music

Mama
13 Nets and Tridents Gambling Cruelty
Yawningfool
14 Spore Launchers Marking Territory Repairs

15 Laser Rifles Cooking Weapons

16 Exploding Javelins Drugs

Fighting
Nana (Other Monster)
17 Shrieker Bombs Booze
Rictus
18 Glue Guns Shelter
Fighting
(Other Cacklemaw)
19 Hegemony Autorifles Reinforcements
Nana
Blacklaugh Fighting
20 Teeth and Claws Prisoners
(Faa Nomads)
40 17
Creating regions
The Referee can generate regions of Vaarn using ery other location on the map; two or three con-
Faa nomad camp
LEADER THEY HAVE THEY WANT MOOD
the following method. This technique will not cre- nections per location is quite adequate. These lines
1 Stern Patriarch Meat Meat Angry
ate detailed maps encompassing every feature of represent known travel routes between the loca-
the terrain, but rather a simulacra of a landscape tions. If the locations are very close on the page, roll 2 Stern Matriarch Dates Wine Scared
that will fuel a few sessions of gaming. d6. If they are a moderate distance apart, roll 2d6, 3 Council of Elders Olives Beer Mourning
and if they are very far apart roll 3d6. This dice roll 4 Charismatic Visionary Cheese Salt Talkative

1 Take a sheet of blank paper. A4, or something

of equivalent size, will do nicely.
gives you the number of days it will take to travel on
foot between the two locations.
5
6
Wounded Old Warrior
Husband and Wife, arguing
Weapons
Hides
Weapons
Information
Sullen
Warlike

2 Drop a handful of dice onto the paper. I sug-

gest using five or six dice to create a decent
sized region, but there is no upper limit. The more
5 Travel routes that connect to even-numbered
locations are (relatively) safe. Travel routes
between two odd-numbered locations, however,
7
8
Husband and Wife, happy
Young Hothead
Precious Metal
Machine Parts
Shelter
Slaves
Contemplative
Pious
9 Drug-addled Oracle Medicine Escaped Prisoner Crazed
dice you drop, the more regional features you will have a hazard associated with them. Consult the
create. You may use any size of dice up to d20, but table below for inspiration. 10 Sinister Slaver Spices Captured Bride Suspicious
be aware that using smaller dice sizes will constrain 11 Lecherous Patriarch Drugs Runaway Groom Cheerful
the results.
6 Now that the broad shape of the region has
been created, return to each location and use
12 Lecherous Matriarch Spare Livestock Revenge: Other Faa Wary

3
13 Twin Brothers/Sisters Fabrics Revenge: Monster Overconfident
Draw circles around the dice where they fell, the tables provided in this zine to generate more
and note the number showing on the dice. specific details about each one. Write down your 14 Blind Brothers/Sisters Fungus Revenge: Hegemony Argumentative
Consult the Location Type table below to find what ideas for each location inside the circles. You are 15 Skilled Worm-tamer Sugar Revenge: Bandits Proud
kind of location has been created. not obliged to abide by the results of the tables if 16 Frail Grandmother Cybernetics Missing Child Silent
they don’t fit your concept for the region.

4 Draw lines connecting each location to its 17 Skilled Sharpshooter Tonics Medical Help Praying
neighbors. Locations need not connect to ev- 18 Cruel Psychic Books Humiliate Other Faa Celebrating
19 Power Struggle Exotica To Party Drunken
20 Anarchy Water Water Boastful
LOCATION TYPE TRAVEL HAZARD
1 Ruin (p.21) NPC A SOURCE OF CONFLICT NPC B
Bandits Control the Road (P.30) 1 Envy (Property)
2 Settlement (p.22) Clan Leader Rival to Leader’s Authority
2 Envy (Success)
3 Oasis (p.24)
Hunting Ground of Chromavore 3 Love (Forbidden)
4 Holy Place (p.25) Leader’s Spouse Spouse of Rival to Leader
4 Love (Unrequited)
5 Wreck (p.26)
Prowled by Argent Shepherd (p.43) 5 Love (Triangle)
6 Vault (p.27) Leader’s Sibling Child of Rival to Leader
6 Unpaid Debts
7 Landmark (p.28)
Sandworm Spawning Grounds 7 Boredom Clan Member,
8 Bandit Camp (p.30) Leader’s Respected Child
8 Honor Considered Foolish
9 Bounty Hunter’s Camp (p.31)
Very Windy; Guaranteed Sandstorms 9 Robbery Clan Member,
10 Lair (p.32) Leader’s Contemptible Child
10 Gossip Considered Dangerous
11 Archive (p.33)
Roving Cult Searching for Converts 11 Adultery Clan Member,
12 Arcology (p.34) Old, Frail Elder
12 Conspiracy Injured in Battle
13 Grave (p.35) 13 Gluttony
Malfunctioning Synths Demand a Toll Prisoner,
14 Science-Mystic’s Abode (p.36) Cunning, Manipulative Elder
14 Mistaken Identity Captured in Battle
15 Trade Post (p.37) 15 Wild, Baseless Accusations
Road Watched by Cacklemaw Clan (p.40) Feared Old Warrior Cantankerous Storyteller
16 Hegemony Camp (p.38) 16 Addiction (Drink)
17 Faa Nomad Camp (p.39) 17 Addiction (Narcotics)
Warring Faa Nomads Young Warrior, with Skilled Tracker
18 Cacklemaw Den (p.40) 18 Something to Prove Wedding Plans
19 Anomaly (p.41) 19 Blackmail
Unexploded Landmines Widow of Previous Leader Skilled Artisan
20 (Roll d20 twice and combine results) 20 Murder

18 39
hegemony
camp 7 If you need more details about the region as a
whole, roll on the Landscape Type table below
to get an idea of the general terrain. You can also
roll to find out the origin of the region’s name.

8 Build a region-specific encounter table using

the bestiary in these zines. There are more
Vaarnish monsters in VOV #1, as well as a sample
Vaarn is considered one of the least desirable postings a Hegemony soldier encounter table. The character of the region you
can receive, and patrolling the Interior is considered the least desirable duty have generated should inform the encounters you
within the Legions assigned to Vaarn. The Hegemony camps found amongst seed it with. A region that contains the ruins of a
the blue dunes are generally sparse, miserable, and paranoid affairs, synth factory will likely have malfunctioning synths
garrisoned by the most mutinous and untrustworthy soldiers the New
Hegemony has to offer.
lurking around, whereas a region with lots of settle-
ments may have an abundance of trading caravans.

9 Last but by no means least, think of a few

NPCs who might be found in the region, and
what they might want from the party. Use the Story
Seeds table on p.20 if you are stuck.
UNIT TYPE COMMANDER CAMP MOOD ACTIVITY

1 Dead Panicked Treating Wounds

Deserters
(d6)
2 Missing Surly Preparing for Combat

3 Dying Mutinous Cleaning Campsite

4 Wounded Stressed Cooking

Scouts
(d6) LANDSCAPE TYPE REGION NAMED FOR
5 Weirdly Optimistic Downcast Weapons Drill
1 Featureless Sands
Famous Resident
6 Raving Mad Sleepy Repairing Gear 2 Salt Pan
7 Incompetent Lazy Troop Inspection 3 Hard Rocky Plain
Local Wildlife
4 Dried-up Lake
8 Stern Paranoid Burying Dead
Rangers 5 Dried-up River
(d8) Natural Wonder
9 Wavering Stoic Waiting for Orders
6 Towering Monoliths
10 Steady Deranged Gambling 7 Mesas
Natural Hazard
11 Grim Furious Sleeping 8 Low Hills
9 Single Mountain
12 Synth-Hunting Bloodthirsty Hopeful Feeding Prisoners Famous Monster
Team 10 Toxic Lake
13 (d8) Measured Optimistic Hunting Wildlife 11 Toxic River
Long-Dead Settlement
14 Cold Celebratory Executing Prisoners 12 Fungal Forest
13 Crystal Growths
15 Shrewd Suspicious Searching for Water Forgotten Religion
14 Windswept Plateau
16 Competent Bored Combat
Legionaries 15 Mountainous
(d20) With Monster Local Weather
17 Loathed Generous 16 Winding Canyons

18 Respected Drunken 17 Abandoned City

Natural Resource
Combat With Faa 18 Cactus Fields
19 Alert Overconfident
Artillery Unit 19 Riddled with Caves
(d8) Name No Longer Understood
20 Beloved Mournful Combat With Cacklemaw 20 Garbage-strewn Wastes

38 19
Story seeds Trade post
NPC A WANTS TO NPC B ADDED COMPLICATION LOCATION WHO TRADES HERE? (x2) WHAT IS TRADED? (x2)
1 Village Elder Village Fool Sandstorms 1 Large Tent Hegemony Soldiers Water
Impress
2 Faa Warrior Bandit King Hungry Alzabo 2 Crossroads Faa Nomad Raiders Information
3 Beneath Great Cactus Faa Nomad Herdsmen Memories
3 Blind Oracle Tomb Prospector Packbeast Stampede
Marry 4 Echoing Cave Cacogen Drifters Music
4 Sly Bandit Wealthy Merchant Drunken Bandits
5 Beneath Glowering Idol Furtive Monks Olives
5 Uptight Synth Famous Bounty Hunter Pointless Local War
Betray 6 Sheltered Valley Cacklemaw Exiles Weapons
6 Cacogen Artist Astronomer Faa Nomad Wedding
7 Atop Great Rock Oracle’s Caretakers Armour
7 Hegemony Tax Collector Collect Debt Relic Thief Family Curse 8 Within Huge Skull Servants of a Petty God Pottery
8 Water Prospector From Boastful Soldier An Impostor 9 Within Huge Empty Shell Vault Raiders Jewellery
9 Titan Cultist Camel Jockey Unrequited Love 10 Ancient Tollbooth A Science-Mystic Dried Fish
Punish
10 Spice Merchant Jealous Widow A Deadly Duel 11 Stone Fort Lithling Scholars Livestock

11 Pedantic Heretic Hedonistic Poet Psychic Children 12 Grove of Martyr Trees Gnomonian Merchants Prisoners
Locate 13 Dried Up Oasis Mercenary Band Psychedelics
12 Escaped Slave Cruel Inquisitor Murderous Clone
14 Polluted Lakeshore Roaming Scavengers Flowers
13 Sin Eater Naive Philosopher Carnivorous Tree
Abduct 15 Near Faa Nomad Camp (p.39) Secretive Hermit Synth Parts
14 Retired Gladiator Beautiful Sniper Malfunctioning AI
16 Near Hegemony Camp (p.38) Lowly Goatherds Camels
15 Tiny Cacogen Enormous Cacogen Poisoned Harvest 17 Near Wreck (p.26) Pious Synths Books
Divorce
16 Amorous New-Beast Alchemist Secret Cult 18 Near Holy Place (p.25) Deranged Synths Carpets
17 Exorcist Synth Surgeon Rigged Chariot Race 19 By Oasis (p.24) Pack of Newbeasts Medicine
Cure Sickness Of
18 Monkey Breeder Possessed Barber Mistaken Identity 20 Inside Ruin (p.21) Titan Cultists Exotica
19 Wandering Musician Card Cheat Blackmail
Discredit NPC A SOURCE OF CONFLICT NPC B
20 Clone Catcher Wealthy Layabout Psychedelic Visions
1 Envy (Property)
Owner of the Trade Post Successful, Pompous Trader
2 Envy (Success)
3 Love (Forbidden)
Owner’s Spouse Sly, Scheming Trader
4 Love (Unrequited)
5 Love (Triangle)
Owner’s Sibling Elderly, Naïve Trader
6 Unpaid Debts
7 Boredom
Owner’s Heir Young, Cruel Trader
8 Petty Rivalry
9 Robbery
Peacekeeper at the Trade Post Reckless, Hotheaded Trader
10 Gossip
11 Adultery
Peacekeeper’s Sinister Deputy Whining, Annoying Trader
12 Conspiracy
13 Gluttony
Studious Clerk Brawny Youth, who Assists a Trader
14 Mistaken Identity
15 Wild, Baseless Accusations
Dishonest Clerk Performer, Who Entertains Traders
16 Addiction (Drink)
17 Addiction (Narcotics)
Lowly Servant Fortune-Teller, Just Passing Through
18 Shoddy Goods
19 Blackmail
Orphan, Found in the Desert Wandering, Scheming Stranger
20 Murder

20 37
Science ruin
Vaarn is studded with the fractured remnants of the works of the ancients;
the desert a dolorous mosaic of squandered ambitions and forgotten
marvels. Broken by time and eroded by the mastication of the azure sands,
these hollow vessels are known nonetheless to house both horrors and

mystic’s
wonders.

WHAT WAS IT? AND THEN? AND NOW?

1 Interrogation Halls Brewery

abode
Desolate Shell
2 Cryogenic Chambers Criminal’s Hideout
3 Orbital Defence Turret Bath House
Intact But Empty
4 Cyborg Construction Ossuary
5 Munitions Factory Monastery
Faa Nomad Campsite (p.39)
6 Cloning Facility Barracks
7 University Brothel
Certain avenues of philosophical enquiry are best Hideout for Bandits (p.30)
8 Nanotech Forge Inn
pursued in the deepest deserts, far away from
curious neighbors, the reach of law enforcement, or 9 Power Generator Theatre
indeed any conceivable restraint save one’s own Cacklemaw Den (p.40)
10 Noble’s Residence Gladiator Pit
threadbare conscience.
11 Autarch’s Tomb Madhouse
Hegemony Outpost (p.38)
12 Chemical Plant Observatory
13 Psychic Training Facility Mystic’s Abode
Monster Lair (p.32)
14 Pleasure Garden Titan Cult Shrine
ABODE THE SCIENCE-MYSTIC RESEARCHING THEY WANT
15 Transit Hub Hydroponic Garden
1 Secluded Cloaked, Masked, Decaying Immortality Science-Mystic’s Abode (p.36)
‘Volunteers’ for 16 Farm Array Battle Site
Experimentation
2 Armoured Booming Voice, Tiny Body Telepathy 17 Bioengineering Facility Quantum Daemon Shrine
Grave Site (p.35)
18 Medical Facility Trading Post
3 Vine-choked Sallow and Smelly Mind Control To Hire A New Assistant;
Don’t Ask About 19 Communications Array Slaughterhouse
4 Dark Dazzlingly Beautiful Antigravity Field the Old One Holy Place (p.25)
20 Space Port Prison
5 Spiralling Plastic-fleshed Synth Time Stasis
To Dispose of a
Rogue Creation APPEARANCE SHAPE OTHER FEATURE
6 Sentient Double-faced Cacogen Time Travel
1 Opulent Dome Inhabited by Planeyfolk
7 Wheeled Ostentatious New-Tiger Time Paradox A Fabled Chemical 2 Fragmented Arch Choked with Synthetic Vines
Substance; Found In 3 Looming Tower Has Hidden Water Source
8 Transparent Permanently Invisible Hypergeometry Nearby Ruin (p.21)
4 Crumbling Orb Has Abundant Food Source
9 Crystalline Brain in a Vat Synthetic Anatomy A Fabled Artefact; 5 Graffiti-Coated Shell Has Abundant Drugs
Said to be Held by a
10 Sword-like Levitating Idiot Synthetic Psychology Faa Nomad Clan 6 Gigantic Knife Contains Exotica
7 Translucent Bottle Secret Weapons Cache
11 Towering Terrified of their Reflection Newbeast Biology
Body Parts of Local 8 Bat-Infested Flower Contains Wild Animal Nest
Monster (p.32)
12 Severe Flesh-eating Mycomorph Newbeast Psychology 9 Sunbleached Hand Used for Sacrifices

13 Decadent Extra Arms Grafted On Back Mycomorph Biology 10 Half-Collapsed Eye Ancient Defense Systems Active
Revenge on Ex-Assistant;
They Stole Research 11 Threatening Head Upsetting Decorations
14 Buried Neurotic New-Lynx Mycomorph Psychology
12 Crooked Pyramid Swallowed by the Sands
15 Overgrown Stuttering Synth Language Virus An Armed Escort 13 Towering Slab Fire Damaged
To Explore A 14 Monolithic Prism Radiation Poisoned
16 Elegant Bashful Murderer Teleportation Distant Vault (p.27)
15 Dazzling Cube Servitor Synths Still Function
17 Devotional Icily Polite Titancreed Syntax An Armed Escort to 16 Decrepit Wheel Crashed Vehicle Present
Accompany Them to
18 Pyramid Blood-drinking Cacogen Ancient Super-weapon Gnomon 17 Sand-scoured Torus Encrusted with Crystals
18 Ill-Omened Needle Overgrown with Fungus
19 Deceptively Normal Way Too Friendly Contact Azathoth Assistance With An
Obviously Dangerous 19 Beautiful Bowl Hypergeometric Portal Inside
20 Floating Orb Glows in the Dark Space Travel Experiment 20 Molten Ziggurat Conceals Long-Buried Threat

36 21
settlement THE HOUSES LOCAL INDUSTRY NOTABLE STRUCTURE
Vaarn is above all else a land heavy with endings, and
tombs punctuate the desolation with grim regularity.

LOCATION GRAVE FOR

grave BURIAL METHOD GRAVE QUIRK
1 Hide Yurts Hunting and Scavenging Ancient Forge
1 Ruined Village Autarchy Soldiers Upside Down Has Been Desecrated
2 Clay Brick Huts Agriculture (Fungi) Slave Pit
3 Underground Warren Agriculture (Cacti) Deep Well 2 Large Cave Titan-era Programmers In Salted Earth Believed Cursed
4 Repurposed Trash Agriculture (Seven-Fruit Trees) Slender Silver Tower 3 Secret Cave Autarchy Nobles In Decorated Urn Has Been Robbed
5 Neat Plastic Cubes Agriculture (Water Vines) Radar Dish
4 Below Floating Crystal Autarch’s Consort Mummified Visited by Ghouls
6 Grimy Towers Metalworking Abandoned Theatre
7 Vine-covered Villas Mining (Glowstone) Holy Catacombs 5 Lonely Hilltop Newbeasts Laminated Home to Rare Animal
8 Huge Eggshells Mining (Plastics) Birthplace of Famed Musician 6 Dry River-bed Synthetic Warrior Held in Preservation Tank Believed Haunted
9 Chrome Spindles Mining (Sky-seeking Stone) Birthplace of Famed Warrior
7 Dry Lake-bed Synthetic Poet Held in Anti-Entropy Sphere Coins Left In Tribute
10 Repurposed Vehicles Mining (Synth Parts) Birthplace of Famed Tyrant
11 Repurposed Weapon Arrays Leatherworking Glowering Autarch Statue 8 Imposing Crypt Synthetic Oracle Cryogenic Pod Food Left In Tribute
12 Moulded Glass Breeding Packbeasts Memory Crystal Library
9 Cactus Grove Notorious Heretic Surrounded by Grave Goods Swords Left In Tribute
13 Hanging from a Cliff Breeding Fighting Beasts Forbidden Grave (p.35)
10 Ring of Standing Stones Cacogen Mystic Crystal Coffin Candles Burning
14 Atop Colossal Stilts Pottery Huge Carnivorous Plant
15 Made from Bone Carpet Weaving Statue of Void Saint 11 Under Petrified Tree Faa Nomad Ancestors Biotech Sarcophagus Memorial Tree
16 Living Biotech Structures Herding (Lizards) Shunned Shrine
12 Below Huge Statue Faa Nomad Prophet Wearing Lifelike Death Mask Engraved Mantra
17 Inside a Cave Herding (Zoxen) Enigmatic Obelisk
18 Inside Vast Corpse Herding (Land Parrots) Automated Clock Tower 13 Elegant Pagoda Powerful Psychic Sky Burial Memorial Fountain (Dry)

19 Inside Mutant Tree Herding (Giant Snails) Artificial Landmark (p.28) 14 Looming Edifice Famed Swordsman Consumed by Fungus Ritual Artwork (Ugly)
20 Huge Communal Tent Brewing Central Ruin (p.21)
15 Plain of Stones Bandit King Food for Sacred Flower Ritual Artwork (Good)

GOVERNMENT MOOD OF POPULACE COMMUNITY LACKS 16 Near Wreck (p.26) Hegemony Rangers Below Cairn Site of Pilgrimage
1 Secretive Oligarchy Cowed Soldiers 17 Near Oasis (p.24) Massacred Faa Nomads Inside Stone Cube Synthetic Grave Keeper
2 Idiot King Rebellious Food
18 Near Ruin (p.21) Hegemony Exultant Inside Hypergeometric Artefact Hideout for Bandits (p.30)
3 Two Rival Families Creative Clean Water
4 Puppet Ruler Manic Men 19 Near Holy Place (p.25) Autarch Frozen Outside Time-stream Entrance to Vault (p.27)
5 Automated Communism Pious Women 20 Near Settlement (p.22) Extra-Solar Explorers Not Really Dead Monster Lair (p.32)
6 Ruled by Cultists Warlike Children
7 Paranoid Theocracy Destructive Music
8 Strong-willed Matriarch Paranoid Silence
9 Decadent Monarchy Complacent Peace
10 Oracular Severed Head Divided Books
11 Council of Elders Suspicious Memory
12 Synthetic Philosophers Welcoming Safety
13 Benevolent Dictator Decadent Justice
14 Psychic Hive-Mind Obsessive Drugs
15 Neo-Anarchist Commune Jubilant Sanity
16 Bandit Chieftain Hostile Medicine
17 Ruled by Lottery Bewildered Information
18 Gun-worshipping Priests Fanatical Hope
19 Ruled by Eccentric AI Lecherous Machine Parts
Power Struggle
20 Contented Clothing
(Roll twice and combine)
22 35
arcology
NPC A SOURCE OF CONFLICT NPC B
1 Respected Member Envy (Property) Resident,
2 of Government Envy (Success) Correctly Regarded as Foolish

3 Loathed Member Love (Forbidden) Resident,

4 of Government Love (Unrequited) Who Pretends to be Foolish

5 Spouse of Love (Triangle) Resident With A Hidden

6 Governing Figure Unpaid Debts Connection To The Notable Structure

7 Boredom Resident With A Hidden

Religious Leader
8 Taxes Connection To The Government

9 Robbery Hermit, Who Lives

Respected Warrior
10 Gossip Outside the Settlement

11 Adultery Argumentative,
Violent, Lazy Thug
12 Conspiracy Widely-Disliked Resident

13 Scholarly, Introverted Gluttony Naïve and Trusting

14 Citizen Mistaken Identity Resident

15 Wild, Baseless Accusations Conspiratorial,

Respected Artisan
16 Addiction (Drink) Mistrustful Resident

17 Despised Artisan, Addiction (Narcotics) Community Pariah,

DOME INHABITANTS ABUNDANCE LACK Known for Shoddy Work Ostracised for Unjust Reasons
18 Wedding Plans
1 Broken Meat Olives 19 Blackmail
Abandoned Stranger,
Disreputable Mystic
2 Molten Fresh Water Fish 20 Murder Just Passing Through

3 Sand-swallowed Hermit Salt Beer

4 Dingy Mystic Guzzleline Men

5 Blackened Escaped Slaves Coffee Women

6 Self-Repairing Ghouls Wine Children

7 Barely Intact Hegemony Deserters Bread Music

8 Booby-trapped Newbeasts Jewellery Silence

9 Reinforced Semi-Feral Orphans Books Livestock

10 Functional Amnesiac Clones Fruit Books

11 Warlike Elderly Mutes Information Coffee

12 Delicate Conceptual Artists Bells Bread

13 Ornate Orchestra Drugs Spices

14 Welcoming Fungus Cultists Livestock Drugs

15 Garden-like Polygamous Church Skilled Labour Sanity

16 Elegant Lepers Musical Instruments Medicine

17 Devotional Warrior Monks Slaves Information

18 Flooded Psychic Choir Cheese New Blood

19 Geodesic Weapons Machine Parts

Androids Pretending
to be Human
20 Perfect Exotica Clothing

34 23
OASiS THE WATER WHAT’S HERE? (x2)
The land parches and withers beneath a wine-red sun, yet
even here one may glimpse fragments of paradise.

WHO’S HERE? (x2) CUSTOM OF

archive
THE OASIS
1 Very Blue Date Palms Pay Toll

2 Leaks from Machinery Flamingos No Bloodshed

Trading Caravan
3 Incredibly Clear Towering Rock Moonlit Sacrifices
To forget is to be human, for the burden of an unceasing
4 Umber and Silty Rusted War Machine No Bathing memory is too great for the mortal mind to withstand. Some
resist the creeping triumph of oblivion, erecting great libraries
5 Still and Glassy Autarch Statue Ritual Combat and charging these structures with the endless remembering
Faa Nomads their frail minds cannot bear.
6 Black and Muddy Flowering Bushes Vow of Silence
(p.39)
7 Almost Gone Ibis Ruled by Chance

8 Full of Fish Lurking Crocodiles Hegemony Scouts Sacred to Men

9 Tastes Sour Black Obelisks Bounty Hunters (p.31) Sacred to Women

10 Algae-choked Decaying Buildings Titan Cultists Consult Computer

11 Fetid Addax Herd Wandering Mystics Consult Oracle ARCHIVE OF APPEARANCE THE ARCHIVISTS THEY WANT

12 Full of Plastic Solar Panels Travelling Circus Must be Naked 1 Books (Holy) Dusty Glum Nuns
Rare Object Retrieved
From Elsewhere in Vaarn
13 Rusty Red Arcology Dome (p.34) Mendicant Warrior Must be Veiled 2 Books (Fiction) Collapsing Pedantic and Rude

14 Warm and Bubbling Crystalline Growths Escaped Slaves An Animal Is Holy 3 Books (Obscene) Cluttered Salacious Bigots
A Stolen Item From the
Collection Retrieved
15 Champagne Coloured Fungal Growths Sunburnt Exiles An Animal Is Profane 4 Memory Crystals Labyrinthine Senile Synths

16 Deep and Silent Broken Pillar Pilgrim Monks Laughter is Prohibited 5 Seeds Dark Bored Hedonists
Players to Intervene in
Internal Power Struggle
17 Inside a Cave Grave (p.35) Synths Sacred to Petty God 6 Fungal Spores Dazzling Lazy Mycomorphs

18 Healing Properties Wrecked Synths Cacklemaw Warband (p.40) Drug Ritual 7 Embryos Grimy Tiny Lithling
A Sealed Wing
Of the Archive Explored
19 Sugary Sweet Mud Holes Exultant in Disguise Water Ritual 8 Eggs Chaotic Maternal New-Parrots

20 Mildly Psychedelic Sacred Caves Famous Musician Fasting 9 Maps Malfunctioning Ascetic Mutes
An Archivist Escorted
To Distant Settlement (p.22)
10 Poems Elegant Cultists Who Worship Decay

11 Video Recordings Serene Ignorant of What They Collect

A Rival Archive Raided
12 Music Squalid Worship Their Collection

13 Play Scripts Sterile Chattering Imbeciles

To Send A Message to
a Science-Mystic (p.36)
14 Art (Paintings) Ordered Attack Outsiders

15 Art (Statues) Polluted Desperately Seeking Recruits

To Locate an Archivist
Who Vanished in the Stacks
16 Art (Conceptual) Occult Afflicted by Strange Illness

17 Taxidermy Foreboding Whispering New-Spiders

Monster Lair (p.32)
Removed From Archive
18 Preserved Brains Cheerful Masked Philosophers

19 Titancreed Syntax Burned Cruel and Calculating

Vault (p.27) Beneath
Archive Explored
20 Insects Infested Paranoid and Isolated

24 33
lair holy
The wild places of Vaarn are well-stocked with monstrosities
of all stripes. The prudent traveller sleeps lightly, keeps a
weapon close at hand, learns to sight these miserable pariahs
of the Urth well in advance of their sighting him, and will
avoid at all costs the places such creatures dwell.
place
None can predict the capricious and bemusing vessels
through which the divine will make itself known, but such
relics - whenever they manifest themselves - are meticulously
INHABITANT APPEARANCE WARNING OMEN preserved, and tended to by venerable orders.

Madmen Affixed With Argent Halos

1 Argent Shepherd Ruined Chapel Beg Party To Turn Back

Chrome Feathers
2 Chrome-Feathered Sailback Flat Basking Plain Float on the Wind

3 d6 Quill-Spiders Burrows in Earth An Antelope, Limping,

Leg Full of Quills LOCATION FOCUS OF WORSHIP HOLY TO TENDED BY

4 Chromavore* Colourless Cactus Grove Colourless Husks 1 Decrepit Keep Ancient Book Church of the Promised Sun Nobody
of Faa Family
2 Sand-swallowed Holy Bee Hive Pale Faith of Amun-Oh Family of Tiny Cacogen
5 d6 Hiveymen* Gruesome Black Hive Single Sable Bee Crawls on Ground
3 Petrified Trees Caged Bird The Thrice-Born Sage Sentient Plant
6 d6 Lizard Lions* Sun-kissed Basking Rock Discover a Shed Skin
4 Ring of Stones Enormous Gemstone Seekers of Eyeless Wisdom Eunuch Priests
7 d6 Battle Boars* Shaded Dustbath Boulders With Tusk-Marks
5 Rough Altar Beautiful Statue Church of Sevenscore Moons Chaste Priestesses
Hear A Child’s Voice,
8 Alzabo* Deep Cave Which Echoes Oddly 6 Underground Church Ancient Computer Temple of the Binary Devotion Automated Priests

9 3d6 Pthalo-Jackals* Shallow Dens Hear Howling on the Wind 7 Glass Pagoda Broken Statue The Blue Goddess of Empty Places Lithling Monk

10 d4 Pseudo-Giants* Crude Brick Huts Remains of a Hegemony Skiff, 8 Ziggurat Crystal Skull Azathoth, the Daemon Sultan Blind Old Woman
Stomped to Pieces

Electrical Taste in the Air, 9 Broken Temple Wooden Idol Cult of KRONOS Masked Mutes
11 d6 Lambent Lynx Den High in the Cliffs As If Before A Storm
10 Dried-up Oasis Polychrome Throne Cult of METIS Sentient Wasp Hive
12 3d6 Blue Baboons* Rocky Outcrop Excrement Heaped Everywhere
11 Looming Statue Crystal Diadem Cult of MNEMOSYM Learned Monks
Wide Dragging Tracks
13 d6 Walking Wombs* Foul-smelling Sinkhole In the Sand 12 Ruined Village Ancient Shoe Cult of HYPERION Warrior Monks
14 3d6 Tiger Flies* Tall Papery Nest Tell-tale Buzzing 13 Fungal Church Urn of Ashes Cult of GAEA Guardian Synth

15 d4 Regenerators* Human-skin Tents Crude Idols Made of Bones 14 Chrome Tower Mummified Jackal Cult of COEUS Pack of New-Jackals

16 Thunderstrike Bird* Roosts on Mesa Huge Tar-black Feather 15 Windy Hilltop Molten Statue Cult of THEMIS Paranoid Exiles
Caught on Cactus

Corpse with 16 Hidden Cave Mummified Child Faa Nomad Ancestors Faa Nomads (p.39)
17 d4 Glass Tigers* Lurk On Salt Flats Tell-tale Bite Marks
17 Missile Silo Ancient Telescope A Solar Saint Cacogen Oracle
18 Amaranthine Death-Worm* Poisoned Tree Huge Sinuous Tracks in the Dirt
18 Wreck (p.26) Levitating Orb A Fungal Saint Mycomorph Oracle
19 Xanthous Mycomorph* Fungal Thicket Yellow Spores on the Wind
19 Settlement (p.22) Synthetic Head A Void Saint Beggar Monks
Enamel Bullets
20 d12 Greenguard* Abandoned Fortifications Embedded in Rocks 20 Ruin (p.21) Human Tooth Nameless, Forgotten God Monster Lair (p.32)

32 * For stats see Vaults of Vaarn #1 25

wreck All journeys must end - some more
dramatically than others. Bounty
hunter’s
camp
It is commonly known that those seeking to escape the
New Hegemony’s justice will flee into the deepest reaches
of the Interior, preferring a brief harsh life full of uncertainty
to a brief harsh life filled with terrible certainty. It is
likewise commonly known that there exists an eccentric
and vibrant fraternity of misfits, who attempt - both for
profit and for pleasure - to fetch these fugitives back.

VESSEL CONDITION ORIGINAL CARGO CAUSE OF WRECK HUNTER HUNTING THEIR METHOD THEY WANT

1 Wind-barge Decrepit Spies Bandits 1 Grim and Scarred Heretic Patient Stalker
A Lead on their Quarry
2 Auto-chariot Laser-seared Masks Sabotage 2 Avuncular and Evil Bandit King Guns Blazing

3 Dune Skuggy Burned Water Sandstorm 3 Psychotic Synth Murderer Use Poison
Help Killing
4 Armoured Crawler Corrupted Soldiers Fuel Ran Out Dangerous Quarry
4 Three-headed Cacogen Conman Use Gas

5 Stilt Strutter Sun Bleached Memory Crystals Landmines 5 One-Eyed New-Wolf Water Debtor Elaborate Disguises
Help Catching
6 Kite Wagon Rusted Guns Disease Remote-Controlled Dangerous Quarry Alive
6 Gambling Debtor Sniper Rifle
Armour
7 Transport Zeppelin Shattered Slaves Warfare 7 Young and Beautiful Livestock Thief Tranquilliser Crossbow
Help Killing Someone
8 Hegemony Ornithopter Cloven Coffee Faulty Machinery You Know
8 Depressed Drunkard Adulterer Shoot First

9 Orbital Satellite Disintegrating Prisoners of War Simply Abandoned 9 Husband and Wife Team Rogue Synth Alluring Honey Trap
Help Bringing Prisoner to
Distant Settlement (p.22)
10 Autarchy War Stalker Graffiti-coated Heretics Biotech Infestation 10 Looks Way Too Young Cacklemaw Exile Enlist Big Posse

11 Water Prospectors’ Rig Riddled with Holes Wine Nanomachines 11 Clean Cut and Heroic Faa Nomads Bribes for Information
Help Bringing Prisoner
To Distant Arcology (p.34)
12 Autarch’s Pleasure Barge Skeletal Refugees Faa Nomad Ambush 12 Dashing Womaniser Water Token Forger Reliable Informants

13 Colossal Exosuit Shredded Fungus Cacklemaw Ambush 13 Flamboyant Old Woman Poisoner Trained Monster
Help Bringing Prisoner
To Faa Nomads (p.39)
14 Ancient Submarine Inside Out Embryos Faulty Navigation 14 Clone Siblings Child Killer Quiet Abductions

15 Ancient Warship Overgrown Lithling Seeds Drunk Driving 15 New-Baboon, Oath Breaker Secret Martial Art
Riding Human Help Capturing
Science-Mystic Alive (p.36)
16 Ancient Steam Ferry Looted Bombs Incompetent Officers 16 Veteran Soldier Runaway Bride Psychic Gifts

17 Ancient Train Halfway Repaired Cyborg Parts Crew Mutiny 17 Famous Exile Runaway Groom Expert Desert Tracker
Help Killing
Dangerous Monster (p.32)
18 Ancient Fighter Jet Occupied Synths Attacked by Monster 18 Sacred Assassin Disgraced Cleric Use Camera Drones

19 Motile Home Surprisingly Intact Holy Relics EMP Blast 19 Faa Nomad Tracker Hegemony Deserter Utterly Incompetent
Help Escorting
Prisoner to Gnomon
20 Pre-Collapse Spacecraft Some Features Work Exotica Orbital Weapon Strike 20 Psychic Mute Own Family Member Absurdly Complex Traps

26 31
Bandit camp TYPE LEADER WEAPONS THEY WANT
The ground beneath the desert is riddled with passageways,
tunnels, shafts, and other entrances to the underworld. Who
can say what long-buried secrets such locations conceal?

ENTRANCE TUNNELS
vault
ORIGINAL FUNCTION OTHER FEATURE
1 Ex-Gladiators Injured Gladiator Martial Arts Water
1 Steel Blast Doors Half-Flooded Fallout Shelter Bandit Hideout
2 Sly Mycomorphs Small but Intense Bite and Scream Food
3 Hegemony Deserters One-Eyed Woman Crossbows Gold 2 Back of Tiny Cave Filled with Sand Transport Tunnels Haunted (Planeyfolk)
4 Escaped Slaves Rogue Synth Blowdarts Weapons 3 Enormous Crater Dusty and Silent Bioweapon Research Haunted (Chromavore)
5 Luckless Drifters Self-styled King Throwing Axes Sacrifices Ancient Defence
4 Narrow Fissure in Cliff Crystal-encrusted Time Paradox Research
6 Doomsday Cult Exiled Nobleman Swords New Recruits Cannons
Vending Machines
7 Lepers Tells Jokes Slings Medicine 5 Through Old Sewer Blood Red Walls Language Virus Research Still Function
8 Slavers Infamous Outlaw Spears and Nets Forbidden Books 6 Atop Mountain Decorated Tiles Geothermal Power Station Strange Lights
9 Cruel Synthetic Children Silent Brute Flails Fungus
7 Opens At Full Moon Fire-Damaged Nuclear Power Station Power Source Active
10 Ghoul Clan Scrawny Genius Rocket Launcher Synths
11 False Monks Ex-Courtesan Poison Gas Children 8 Scrawled With Runes Winding and Narrow Hypergeometry Research Hypergeometric Rift
12 Fungus-riddled Maniacs Smiling Psychopath Revolvers Slaves
9 Functioning Lift Descend Into The Urth Deep Core Mining Guard Synths
13 Businesslike Thugs Delusional Drunkard Rifles Entertainment
10 Broken Lift Somehow Absorb Sound Military Command Post Cacklemaw Den (p.40)
14 Gibbering Cacogen Sadistic Glutton Crude Jezails Wine
15 Maskless Newbeasts Calm and Polite Ancient Cannon Beer Science-Mystic’s
11 Functioning Escalator Lightless and Dank Titan AI Memory Banks Abode (p.36)
16 Gang of Fools Apologetic but Firm Combat Lasers Forgiveness
12 Broken Escalator Spiralling, Strange Titan AI Cooling System Poisonous Gases
17 Scantily Clad Women Lustful and Crude Sonic Weapons To Eat You
18 Elderly Thieves Cartoonishly Evil Trained Beasts Single Combat 13 Ruined Train Tunnel Lit with Bioluminous Moss Seed Bank Carnivorous Fungus

19 Hegemony Soldiers Leaves a Calling Card Plasma Rifles Your Eyes 14 Beneath Toxic Water Surprisingly Clean Interrogation Chambers Janitor Synths
20 Gentleman Robbers Robin Hood-esque Psychic Powers Your Teeth
15 Air Filtration Vent Full of Ancient Corpses Synth Production Hologram Cinema

NPC A SOURCE OF CONFLICT NPC B 16 Infested with Bats Incredibly Cold Illicit Cloning Facility Frozen Embryos
1 Envy (Property)
Bandit Leader Rival to Leader’s Authority 17 Barricaded from Inside Enormous and Echoing Spy Network Base Lost Archive (p.33)
2 Envy (Success)
18 Below Arcology (p.34) Battle Damaged Autarch’s Hideout Monster Lair (p.32)
3 Love (Forbidden)
Leader’s Trusted Underling Talkative, Annoying Bandit
4 Love (Unrequited) 19 Below Settlement (p.22) White and Sterile Hidden Reservoir Holy Place (p.25)
5 Love (Triangle) 20 Below Ruin (p.21) Filled with Garbage Recycling Facility Contains Exotica
Leader’s Ambitious Underling Lazy, Useless Bandit
6 Unpaid Debts
7 Boredom
Leader’s Despised Underling Scholarly, Educated Bandit
8 Petty Rivalry
9 Cheating at Cards
The Best Cook (of a Bad Bunch) Religious, Psychotic Bandit
10 Gossip
11 Adultery
The Best Shot (of a Bad Bunch) Sharp-eyed, Paranoid Bandit
12 Conspiracy
13 Gluttony
Widely Disliked Bandit Tough-talking Bandit, Secret Coward
14 Mistaken Identity
15 Wild, Baseless Accusations
Ferocious, Feared Bandit Prisoner, Who Keeps the Camp Tidy
16 Addiction (Drink)
17 Addiction (Narcotics)
Very Young Bandit Prisoner, Who Aids with Cooking
18 Division of Loot
19 Blackmail
Ancient, Decrepit Bandit Wealthy Prisoner, Kept for Ransom
20 Murder

30 27
landmark NATURAL LANDMARK ARTIFICIAL LANDMARK

Flickering Hologram Billboard,

1 Colossal Cactus In Language No Longer Spoken

2 Husk of Dead Sandworm Cairn of Blue Stones

3 Rock Resembling Hand Tall Intimidating Totem

4 Rock Resembling Face Enigmatic Stone Circle

Banquet Table, Laid For A Hundred Guests.

5 Toxic Geyser Somehow Never Ages or Changes.

6 Meteor Impact Crater Glowering Statue of an Autarch

7 Gigantic Petrified Tree Black Rectangular Monolith

8 Enormous Humanoid Skeleton Statue of Reclining Woman

Cliff Face, Painted with

9 Huge Empty Snail Shell Fresco Honouring The Titans

Indestructible Chrome Tower,

10 Tall Rock with Eye-like Hole Without Windows or Doors

Ancient Lighthouse,
11 Vast Network of Termite Mounds Empty and Decaying

Vast Hologram Projector Array;

12 Single Pale Martyr Tree Displays Glitchy, Obscene Images

Gleaming Sword-like Shard

13 Lonely Blue Mesa of Orbital Debris

Unbreakable Glass Tesseract;

14 Inexplicable Coral Reef, Long Dead Verdant Jungle Dimly Visible Within

Strobing Lattice of Hard Light;

15 Enormous Glowing Crystal Growth Serves No Clear Purpose

16 Rock, Resembling A Grieving Widow Field of Broken Solar Panels

17 Iridescent, Unbearably Salty Lake Vast White Marble Hand

Fallen War-Synth,
18 Looming Extinct Volcano So Old It’s Part of a Hillside

Ancient Siren Pole,

19 Bulbous Fungal Chimney Broadcasting Unintelligible Warning

Bottomless Dark Pit,

20 Plain of Uncountable Bleached Skeletons With Unnaturally Smooth Sides

28