This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The illustration of the titan is ‘El Coloso’ by Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (or a student of his), and from Wikimedia Commons. It is in the public domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:El_Coloso_(painting)
Agenda
-
Make the world fantastic
-
Fill the characters’ lives with adventure
-
Play to find out what happens
Questions
-
What did the gods leave behind when they departed the mortal world?
-
What boon were you promised for the feat of slaying a titan?
-
When the shadows encircle your camp beyond the firelight, why do you not despair?
-
Why do the valley folk tattoo their bodies with shimmering ink?
-
Were you forbidden from entering the valley, or welcomed?
-
Why does the Crawling Labyrinth not devour the people who live atop it?
Impressions
-
Startled birds flee a hill that moves
-
A youth tattooed with his first glowing rune
-
A white lizard skittering over an obelisk
-
The lost spear of a mighty angel
-
A serene garden atop a fortress
-
A ray of light from a blade points to a secret door
-
Scythe blades swing in unison over a bridge
-
A village, the houses trampled and flattened
-
Shadowy whisperers lead a vision-seeker astray
-
Wings block the sun. We must lure it close
-
A mossy tomb at the center of a shaded lake
-
The labyrinth that breathes and must feed
-
…and the city built atop it
-
Riders with bows chase a shaggy giant
-
An ancient corpse a mile long
-
Brilliant sunlight on a verdant basin
-
Doors locked tight against tendrils of shadow
-
Glowing eyes high above, passing judgment
-
Rope and grapnel, pitons and cleats
-
An altar, lonely and softly lit
Goals
-
Establish details, describe
-
Use what they give you
-
Ask questions
-
Leave blanks
-
Look for interesting facts
-
Help the players understand the moves
-
Give each character a chance to shine
-
Introduce NPCs
Dungeon Moves
-
Change the environment
-
Point to a looming threat
-
Introduce a new faction or type of creature
-
Use a threat from an existing faction or type of creature
-
Make them backtrack
-
Present riches at a price
-
Present a challenge to one of the characters
Custom Moves
When you hold fast to a titan as it tries to shake you off, roll +Con. On a miss, you fall. On a 10+, choose 2. On a 7-9, choose 1.
-
You are not dashed against anything
-
Your gear stays put
-
You glimpse a weak point
When you eat the flesh of the white lizard, your bones and sinews feel stronger. Take +1 ongoing to Con in your next encounter with a titan.
When you’re on watch and the shadows approach, roll +Wis if you have a fire going; miss automatically if you don’t. On a 10+, you hold your ground and sleep soundly when your watch ends. On a 7-9, you stay put, but you suffer terrible nightmares later; take -1 forward, and the GM will describe what you see. On a miss, you are tempted into the shadows’ midst, where they will exact a price that makes you more like them.
When you approach a titan’s lair, roll +Int. On a 10+, you find the entrance and spot the titan before it spots you. On 7-9, you find the way into the lair, but the titan is aware of your presence.
When you make a move from horseback, you may take -1 to the roll to gain the option of applying consequences to the horse instead of yourself—defend’s attack redirection, enemy damage from hack and slash, etc.
When you slay a titan, take -1 ongoing from exhaustion and the clinging influence of its departing spirit until you have a chance to recover. This penalty does not apply to carouse; take +1 forward for that!
Things
Angelic Sword
Close, +1 damage, 2 weight
This blade emits forth a beam of light when the wielder seeks a titan. If the user follows its guidance, they may never miss on approach a titan’s lair (treat rolls of 6- as if they were 7-9), and any hit on hold fast to a titan always gets the “glimpse a weak point” option as a bonus.
Ambrosia Fruit
75 coins
When you eat one of these delicious red fruit, heal yourself of 10 damage or remove one debility, your choice. If you’re already at maximum HP and free of debilities when you eat, hold 5. Spend these hold 1 for 1 to prevent points of damage to yourself.
Forbidden Fruit
These fruit look like Ambrosia Fruit, but grow in the most sacred of the Valley’s places, and carry the gods’ punishment. When you eat one, take 1d8 damage and -1 forward to physical moves.
Titan’s Blood
100+ coins
A treasure beyond compare. What occult uses might such a substance be put to?
Shadow Salts
3 uses, slow, 20 coins
When carefully sprinkled around an area—each Use represents a typical campsite’s perimeter—these tiny crystals hold shadows at bay like a fire. If someone is lured away and scuffs the circle, the pop and whoosh of its destruction may awaken their comrades in time to save them.
Hunter’s Spear
Reach, Near, thrown, 25 coins, 1 weight
A hunter’s spear must be custom-engraved with patterns matching the wielder’s tattoos. If this condition is met, the wielder takes +1 forward at the beginning of combat.
Services
A tattooing by a skilled artist: 15 coins
A quick, possibly dirty skin-sketch: 5 coins
A guide to the edge of a titan’s land: 25 coins
Monsters
Bauru, Lesser Titan
Solitary, Large, Intelligent
Stone shard (d10+3 damage), 16 HP, 3 Armor
Close, Reach, Near, Far, Forceful
A muscular-looking humanoid creature covered in stone plates, Bauru was a scout on the titans’ side during the war with the gods. Now, without leadership, he strides through the mountains in a ceaseless circle. Smaller and faster than his mighty brethren, he has done more to discourage adventurers from entering the Valley than any petty taboo or superstition. Instinct: to patrol
-
Climb and leap among the heights
-
Break and hurl stones
-
Dash away to alert a greater titan
Creature of Shadow
Horde, Magical
Choking fog (d6 damage, ignores armor), 7 HP
Close
These haunts look like some evil stepmother’s idea of an entertaining shadow play. They wander the Valley at night, their strange whispers luring travelers away from safety to be lost in the dark. They are more numerous where the corpses of titans lie. Instinct: to make more like itself
-
Entice a watcher into the gloom
-
Cause nightmares and hallucinations
Esdreth, Greater Titan
Solitary, Huge, Flying, Intelligent
Tail (d10+5 damage, 1 piercing), 24 HP, 4 Armor
Reach, Forceful
A stone serpent whose tail sweeps the very clouds from the sky, Esdreth is among the most feared of the titans. To defeat it, one would need to figure out how to reach it, much less pierce its skin. Instinct: to defend the Valley from gods and mortals
-
Swoop and rake the ground
-
Silhouette itself against the sun
-
Tear trees and buildings from their roots
Grim Portents 