Heart: Quickstart PDF
Preview Heart: Quickstart
QUICKSTART EDITION ABOVEUS,THECITY,SPIRE,STRETCHESINTOTHESKY. BENEATHUS,THECITY,HEART,STRETCHESINTOTHEEARTH. DOWNTHROUGHDIRTANDROCKANDWATER,DOWNINTO THEDEPTHSOFDARKNESS,DOWNINTOMADNESS ANDSICKNESS,DOWNINTOSOMETHINGANCIENT ANDOTHER. FOLKGOINTOTHATPLACELOOKINGFOR SOMETHING.SECRETSOFMAGICLONG-LOSTOR NEVERDISCOVERED.SPELLSTHATITCHINYOURBLOOD. UNKNOWABLECREATURESTOHUNTANDHARVEST. SOMEWHERETOHIDEORSTARTAGAIN. FORGIVENESSFROMAGODTHATCAN’THEARTHEM BEGFORIT. ANDNOW:YOU,THINKINGYOU’VEGOTITALL FIGUREDOUT.WONDERWHATYOU’RELOOKINGFOR. THEHEARTCANSMELLYOU.THEHEART KNOWSYOU’RECOMING.WHENYOUWALK OUTOFTHATDOOR,WHENYOUCLIMB DOWNTHECHASMATTHEENDOFTHE ROAD,WHENYOUCRAWLONYOUR BELLYTHROUGHTHEWRITHING PRESSOFROCK,WHENYOU EMERGEBEATENANDBLOODY, IT’LLHAVEYOU. THEHEARTKNOWSWHAT YOUWANT,ANDBYTHE GODDESS,IT’LLGIVEITTO YOUORKILLYOU TRYING. Heart:TheCityBeneath-QuickstartEdition WrittenbyGrantHowittandChristopherTaylor IllustratedbyFelixMiall Editedby HelenGouldandMaryHamilton LayoutanddesignbyJayIles ProducedbyMaryHamilton Copyright©2020byGrantHowittandChristopherTaylor. PublishedbyRowan,RookandDecardLtd. FirstEdition(2020) Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybe reproduced,distributed,ortransmittedinanyformorbyany means,includingphotocopying,recording,orotherelectronic ormechanicalmethods,withoutthepriorwrittenpermission ofthepublisher,exceptinthecaseofbriefquotationsembodied incriticalreviewsandcertainothernoncommercialuses permittedbycopyrightlaw.Forpermissionrequests,writeto thepublisherattheaddressbelow. Rowan,RookandDecard 15TufnellCourt,OldFordRoad E35JJ,UnitedKingdom www.rowanrookanddecard.com Contentwarnings:Heartisahorrorgame,andassuch,thereare someunpleasantthingsinthetext.Theseincludebutarenot limitedto:violence,druguse,addiction,ghosts,unwantedbodily transformation,andmonstersthatusedtobepeople.Wecan assureyouthatthereisnorapeorsexualassaultinthisgame. 2 INTRODUCTION 5 Running the game 36 WhatisHeart? 6 TheWorldofHeart 8 DROWNED 38 THECHARACTERS 39 RULES 10 TheMap 40 Resistances 10 ClassesandCallings 10 CharacterSheets: SKILLSANDDOMAINS 11 QUINMOREAU,PenitentVERMISSIANKNIGHT 47 CALLINGS 12 LyndVassail,Heartsong-calledWitch 49 SUCCESSANDFAILURE 12 TenacityMalrique,AdventurousHeretic 51 Healing 16 GethinBayn,ForcedHound 53 FALLOUT 18 YnnethDanarian,EnlightenedJunkMage 55 EXPLORATION 24 LANDMARKS 24 COMBAT 26 Tools,weaponsandresources 28 NON-PLAYERCHARACTERSANDADVERSARIES 34 3 4 I n t r o d u c This quickstart pack is designed to get your first CONVENTIONS IN THE TEXT t i game of Heart up and running as straightfor‐ o n wardly as possible. It includes everything you D12:A12-sideddice. need to play a short campaign – roughly three D10:Aten-sideddice. sessions of play, or about nine hours depending D8:Aneight-sideddice. on your group – including the core rules of the D6:Asix-sideddice. game,fivepregeneratedcharacterstosuitdiffer‐ D4:Afour-sideddice. ent types of play, locations and landmarks for youradventure,andlotsofadviceforthegames‐ Thesedicearearrangedinsizeorder,andinsome mastertoo. situationscertainconditionsmightmeanyouroll alargerorsmallerdicethanthebasiconeforthe • If you’d like to find out more about the action.Whenaruletellsyoutomoveupordowna characters in Drowned and get started “step”ora“dicesize”,goupordownthislisttofind runningorplayingtheadventure,turntop.38. the new dice to roll.If you’re already rolling a D4 • Ifyouwanttogetyourheadaroundtherules, you can’t roll anything smaller; if you’re already startonp.10. rollingaD12youcan’trollanythinghigher. • If you’re keen to dive into the setting,start on A single roll can include several dice. When p.8. we’retalkingaboutthenumberofdicerolledfor • If you want to know more about how to run a asingleaction,wecallitthe“dicepool”. greatgameofHeart,gotop.36. • And if you’d like to know it all, just read on SITUATION: A single scene of roleplay. A situ‐ fromhere. ationcanbeofvariablelength;somemightbe moments long,and others go on for hours of WHATISN’TINTHISQUICKSTART? in-game time. A situation can best be This book is intended to give you a taste of the described as “what’s happening right now.” Heart experience as well as teach you the rules, Whenthefocusofthescene–the“thingthat’s step-by-step.Thecorerulebookincludes: happening” – changes, it’s a new situation. • Full rules for character creation and You can cut back and forth between active advancement,allthewaytodevastatingZenith situationstorunmultiplescenesconcurrently, abilitiesthatinevitablydoomyourcharacter. ifyou’dlike,withoutendinganyofthem. • RulesformappingandexploringtheHeart,to makeyourowncampaigns. PRONOUNS: We use masculine, feminine, and • A huge list of dangerous and pitiable non-genderedpronounsthroughoutthisgame. adversaries to make your life in the City Beneathevenmoredifficult. DICE:Weuse“dice”asbothasingularandplural • Details on the geography of the Heart, the term.Werealisethisis,strictly,incorrect. landmarksanddelvesthatpopulateit,andthe peoplewhohavechosenforsomereasontolive PLAYER:Someonewhoisplayingthegame;they there. take on the role of a character whose abilities • AnexpandedlistofFalloutresults,allowingthe are defined using the rules of the game. A GM to really personalise what happens when playerisincontroloftheircharacterandtheir theplayercharactersmessup. emotions and their actions, but should feel 5 I What is Heart? n free to suggest elements of the world around t r themiftheyfeelinspiredto. o Heart is a game about damnation, redemption, d u GAMESMASTER (GM): The person in charge of survival and obsession, set in the Heart – the c t the game – the final arbitrator on all nightmare, unreal labyrinth that pulses and i o decisions. The GM also plays every character writhesbeneaththecityofSpire.It’salsoagame n that’snotassignedtoaplayer,isrefereeofthe aboutbodyhorror,wallsmadeofbreathingmeat, rules,isinchargeofpacingandorganisation, and exploring a possibly-malevolent parasite and is responsible for everyone’s comfort and dimension.It’salsoagameaboutdungeon-crawl‐ funatthetable. ing,atthebaseofit:wewantedtotaketheclassic storyofdescendingintoadangerousunderworld PLAYER CHARACTER (PC): The character andseewhattwistwecouldputonit. assignedtoaplayer.Thesehavemorecomplex TheHeartisarealmofinfinitepossibilitythat rules than non-player characters (see below) reforms itself anew with each generation that which allow for more drama, a finer under‐ explore it,and it can contain most anything you standing of their abilities, and a detailed canimagine.YourHeart,theonethatyoucreate examination of precisely how much trouble with the rest of your gaming group, will be dis‐ they’reinatanyonetime. tinct from every other; there is no map to con‐ strainyousavetheonesyoumakeyourselves.As NON-PLAYER CHARACTER (NPC): A character thedelversventurethroughtheCityBeneath,the playedbytheGM.NPCsaremoresimplethan gamesmaster forms it around them into some‐ PCs,havingonlyahandfulofrulesdevotedto thinggreat,andterrifying,andpersonal. them. You will not be playing normal people. Your characters are strange, broken people, obsessed PARTY:Agroupofplayercharacters. withfindingsomething–freedom,redemption, truth, impossible magicks, excitement – and have sheltered together for companionship. In the endless passageways of the Heart, they can find it – at the cost of their sanity, or their pre‐ conceived notions of reality, or their flesh and blood, or whatever they had left in them that madethemaperson,ratherthanabeast. How to play the game Playing Heart takes the form of a conversation between the players and the gamesmaster – the gamesmaster describes the world, the players describe the actions of their characters, the gamesmaster reacts, and so on. For most of the game,youwon’tbeusingrulesormechanicsatall. However, when a player character makes an actionthat’srisky,dangerousorimportant–orthe gamesmasterthinksitwouldbeinterestingtosee themstruggle–thenyouwillusedicetoseeifthey succeedorfail.Thegamesmastershouldn’taskthe playertorollunlessthere’ssomethingatstake. 6 I When your character performs an action and Characterdeathisnotonlyapossibility,buta n t thegamesmasterasksforaroll,you’llrollatleast likelihood; as you amass injuries and misfor‐ r o one ten-sided dice (a D10). The number of dice tunes,the end will come for your character.It is d yourolldependsonwhetheryouhaveaskillyou your job as a player to make exciting choices, u c canapplytotheaction,oradomainthatapplies push your character into dangerous situations, t i – essentially, whether your character has the anddoyourlevelbesttohaveagooddeath. o n background knowledge they would need to give Although the subject matter of Heart is often themaboost.Youcanalsoaddadiceifyouhave grim and gruesome, the game itself isn’t and masteryovertheaction,skill,ordomain–which shouldn’tbeupsettingtoplay.Peoplerunandplay means you’re good at this specific thing. By horror games for all sorts of reasons –for fun,to defaultyoualwaysrollonedice,butinsomesitu‐ exploresubjectsandexperiencestheywouldn’thave ationsyoumightberollingasmanyasfour. in real life, to bond and to tell engaging stories Thehighertheresult,thebetteryourcharacter aboutpeople.RunningHeartisnotaboutgrossing succeeds,andthelessstresstheyrisktakingasa people out or pushing them outside their comfort resultofattemptingtheaction. zone for no reason. It’s about finding stories that Stress is bad, as it represents all kinds of meet those needs for your players, creating an minor negative effects on your character. The environmentthatfeelssafeandsupportiveinwhich morestressyouaccrue,themorechanceyouhave toexploretheinhumanandhorrifyingthemes,and of it accumulating into something serious – in pacingthegamesothatyourplayershavefun. Heart,thisiscalledFallout.Luckily,therearelots of different ways of removing stress before that Lines, Veils and the X Card happens, but more often than not you’ll find yourself choosing between your own safety and IneveryRPG,andperhapsespeciallyinahorror thesuccessoftheexpedition. game, it’s important that you and your friends arecomfortablewhenplaying. Firstly, before play starts, the GM should ask What kind of stories is the players to share their Lines and Veils.A Line isatopicoractionthattheplayerdoesn’twantto Heart built for? beincludedinthegameatall.AVeilisatopicor Heartisahorrorgame.Itfocuseson:bodyhorror, action that the player is okay with including in which is the fear of your body being changed by thegameaslongasitsdescriptionisvague.Once foreign entities against your will; existential people have outlined their lines and veils,it’s up horror,whichisthefearofyourdeeply-heldcon‐ to the other players to respect them and not victions being proved false; monster horror, includetheminthegame. which features all kinds of horrible creatures; However,noteveryonewantstorevealalistof and violent horror, where there are gruesome thingsthatmakethemuncomfortable-especially consequencesforengagingincombat. ifthey’replayingagamewithstrangers.Inthese It’snotallhorror;there’swondertoo,astheCity cases, we also recommend that the GM places a Beneath reveals strangenesses to the delvers as cardwithan“X”writtenonitinthecentreofthe theymaketheirwaythroughit.There’scamaderie table:theXCard(byJohnStavropoulos).Ifanyone and togetherness; there’s adventure, and excite‐ (GM included) is uncomfortable with something ment; there’s the sense of establishing order over that occurs in the game,they should touch the X chaos. But, at the root of it, this is a game about Card and the group should stop pursuing the upsetting things; of unstable people going into a upsetting element and replace it with something malevolent parasite reality in search of answers else.ThepersonwhotouchedtheXCardisunder theywillprobablynotfind.Itistragic,andironic, noobligationtoexplainwhythetopicupsetsthem andfuninagallowshumoursortofway. iftheydon’twantto. 7 I n There is a wide variety of other safety tools against the gnolls in the lands to the south and t r available online, so we recommend that you expanded their influence. (You can learn more o research them to work out which is the best for about Spire, and the drow plot to overthrow the d u youandyourgroup. aelfirgovernment,intheSpireRPG.) c t The Heart is not an empty place; there are io The World of Heart people here,many of whom are descended from n those who lived in the undercity before the Ver‐ Underneath the mile-high crumbling city of missian Incident - when engineers pierced the Spire lies the Heart: an undercity, a cursed Heart Itself in an attempt to power a city-wide labyrinth, where reality comes unpinned at the transport network - made everything much less seams and a parasite dimension encroaches on stablethanitwasbefore. the surface world through meat, and stone, and The settlement of Derelictus, also known as teeth.It is a realm built and rebuilt on the ruins theCityBetween,functionsasastagingpostfor ofcivilisationsthathaveattemptedtotameit,or delvers who gather here in the run-down bars even understand it, and failed. Temples to dead andmakeplans.TheTempleoftheMoonBeneath gods rot in lightless caverns; city streets built by standsastestamenttotheenduranceofthedrow an unknown hand criss-cross settlements in of Spire who, when their state religion was out‐ nonsensicalpatterns;greatrustedmachines,the lawedbytheaelfir,broughttheirmostsacredsite purpose of which is long forgotten, rumble and brick-by-brick to the Heart and rebuilt it away scrapeinthedarkness. frompryingeyes.TheHounds,arenegademilit‐ ThereistheHeart-theGreaterHeart,theCity aryregiment,functionasasortofinformalmer‐ Beneath-andtheHeartItself.TheHeartItselfis cenarypolice.Illicithallucinogenicfungusfarms the core of the place, and it coruscates with raw sit alongside sects devoted to black magic, quintessence, unalloyed potential, with which it demonology, forbidden gods, or weird philo‐ yearns to remake the world. It siphons dreams sophies. and fears from those who step into its domain But: it is dangerous, too. There are creatures and warps the City Beneath to better suit them. and people that have been marked by the power The closer one gets to the Heart Itself, the less of the place and changed, sometimes beyond sense anything makes. There are great forests recognition; foxes with seven legs of spindled beneath the earth, towering and creaking over bone, swarms of rats that whisper secrets from the heads of cold-eyed hunters, that grow booksthey’veeaten,menwho’veeatenfleshfrom without ever seeing the sun. There are lakes of thered,wetwallsoftheHeartandarenowslav‐ ashwherefisherfolksitonstilt-leggedplatforms ishly devoted to securing more meat for their and hunt with harpoons for the creatures that blind,idiotmasters. swim through the dust sea beneath them.There Be careful. Pack your supplies well. Practice arealienskies,withuncannyconstellations;gods youraim.Learnthestrengthsandweaknessesof and titans imprisoned in cursed caves; intelli‐ yourcompanions.Listentotheworldaroundyou gences from the darkness between the stars; andintuitthechangingstateoftheCityBeneath. doorwaystoheaven,andhell,andanysubsidiary But above all: remember why you chose to come dimensionyoucaretoimagine. down here, and let that obsession burn within ThecityofSpireisthejewelinthecrownofthe youlikealanterntolightyourway. aelfir(orhighelf)empire;afterabloodysiegetwo centuriesprior,thedarkelf(ordrow)rulersofthe city capitulated and handed over control to the invaders.Sincethen,theaelfirhaveusedhuman mercenaries and indentured drow to fight 8 I n THE PEOPLE OF HEART t r o Delvers are generally of one of four ancestries.Although the different people of the world are at one d another’sthroatsinthecityofSpire,theHeartisagreatlevellerinsocialandracialterms,asiterodes u c manyoftheprivilegesofinfrastructureandpowerthatoppressorsrelyontomaintaincontroloverthe t i oppressed.It’snotuncommontoseefolkfromdifferentancestrieswithinthesameadventuringparty. o n DROW: There are more drow than any other type of person in the City Beneath; Spire is predominantly made up of dark elves, and the undercity contains entrancestothetunnelstotheirlandsinthewest.They are largely monochrome, having black, white or grey skin and have a slight, tall build when compared to humans. HUMAN:IntheHeart,mosthumansyou’ll meet will come from the Eastern King‐ doms -a scattered series of principalit‐ ies ruled over by a vagabond Wanderer- King. They have a reputation for unearthingancienttechnologyfromthe cursed arcologies on which their home‐ lands are built and making their own copies - they managed to retroengineer the gun a few hundred years ago and warfarehasn’tbeenthesamesince. AELFIR:Highelves,whoaugmenttheirbodieswithmagic andimplantstolookmorebeautiful,moregraceful,and moreperfect.Aelfirinthecityabove-therulingclass- wear masks to hide their faces from their inferiors; in the City Beneath, only traditionalists wear them. Any aelfirintheHeartisprobablyexiledfrompolitesociety. GNOLL: Hyena-headed people from the southlands who have a reliance on cap‐ turedspiritsandmechanicaldemonology to maintain control of their desert empire.Astheaelfirareatwarwiththem, they aren’t permitted within the city limitsofSpire;manygnollsintheareaare driven into the undercity thanks to this ruling. 9
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