Story

By Ryan Dallaire - Nov 2025

1. Scene 0: Arrival At The Town Of Cheeks
2. Scene 1: Meeting with the town leaders
3. Scene 2: asking around, find more clues
4. Scene 3: following up, stake out
5. Scene 4: cultist hideout
6. Scene 5: fight the big monster
7. Scene 6: rewards back at the town

The Old World
No one knows exactly what caused the end of the old world. But ever since then, life has been a struggle. Ruined buildings lie everywhere, great storms circle the planet, never ending but always moving. Changes began to happen to the things still living here. Some mutated, others gained strange powers. The robotic machines that once kept the old world running have sentience and now wander the world looking for a new purpose.

The Great Desert
The great never ending storms that circle the planet have created a large desert wasteland stretching across most of the continent. Only small plants can grow there. Water is scarce. Few animals live above the ground. Across the wasteland are settlements. Such as in the mountains that provide a supply of metals. Trading posts are your last chance to resupply if you are trying to cross these inhospitable lands.

Our story begins at one such trading post. The only place nearby to prepare for expeditions into the wasteland, it is considered neutral territory and the local factions don’t fight within eyesight of the town. So when people in the town started disappearing, everyone was unsure of who to blame. Over the past month, three people have gone missing. Leaders of each faction have met up, but it always ends in finger pointing and arguing.

As outsiders who have never been to the town before, you have been invited to come and help solve the mystery. You have no connections to any of the factions in this area, and are therefore trusted more than the locals. The reward is a lucrative trading deal for the settlements you come from.

Scene 0: Arrival At The Town Of Cheeks

As you crest a rocky crag, the great desert expands to the horizon as far as you can see. The trail leads to the trading post at the base of two hills. As you approach, you see a small group leaving and heading out into the desert.
The trading post stands weathered but sturdy against the backdrop of a desolate landscape, nestled near the base of a couple rugged hills. The aptly named “Cheeks”, due to the way the two hills look from afar. Salvaged metal sheets patched together form its walls, adorned with faded graffiti. Tattered banners flap in the wind, marking the town as neutral territory.

As you enter the town, you are greeted by a group of representatives from local factions. They direct you through the streets to a building in the center of town. A diverse array of individuals bustle about the narrow streets, their faces weathered by hardship, yet marked with a resilience borne of survival. Traders haggle over goods salvaged from the ruins of the old world, while craftsmen ply their trade, fashioning crude tools and makeshift weapons from scrap metal and salvaged parts. Nomadic wanderers seek refuge, exchanging stories of their travels.
Despite the dangers lurking beyond the safety of the trading post’s walls, its inhabitants try to find solace in the bonds of community.

The Factions
The Metals Guild - buy, sell, trade metals, both ores and scrap metals.
The Ramblers - travel very far, make maps, bring news & stories.
The Land Pirates - dress like pirates, bury their “treasure” in other locations, sometimes steal from other traders on the road.
The Storm Worshipers - religious group that thinks they can influence the path and strength of the storms.
The Dirt Farmers - simple hard working people, control most of the food production in the area.

Scene 1: Meeting with the town leaders

They take you through the town to a large building built from the hull of an ancient fishing boat. They tell you:
The kidnappings have been happening for the past month. So far 3 people have disappeared. No trace of where they went. Buildings in the town have been searched. Nothing has been found. People now stay inside at night. The people being taken must have been taken somewhere else, outside the town.
We can’t lock the town down, it’s a trading post. People need to come and go.

We need you to find out who is responsible and hopefully rescue the people who were taken. The people of the town have been told about this plan, so feel free to explore the town and talk to the locals. Maybe even catch the kidnappers in the act.
Random townsfolk names:

Scene 2: asking around, find more clues

A player can talk to one of the merchants or traders and ask them about what they might know. Have them roll a Social check to persuade someone to talk to them. The TN for this check is 13 for normal results and 15 for better results. If they fail the roll they get a not helpful result. You can check off the results to remember which ones the players have already received.

FAIL:

• “My grandmother used to tell me stories about people going missing long ago. She said the only trace of them were their faces on the sides of drink containers.”
• “People should stay indoors at night, it’s their own fault they go missing.”
• “I think people are just running away. They are all fake news!”
• “There’s too many people in this town anyway!”
• “There was a shooting star 17 days before the first kidnapping.”

SUCCESS:

• “People are going missing at night, but only when they walk alone.”
• “Strangers come through town all the time, even at night. The walls should be closed at night!”
• “Some think the kidnapped people are already dead, and we should just move on. But what reason would someone have in killing random people?”
• “I saw a fire burning in the distance the other night. Way out into the desert. They must think it is safer out there than in town.”

HIGH SUCCESS:

• “Maybe it is because everyone is nervous, but more people are wearing hoods and covering their faces now.”
• “At least 2 of the kidnapped people had green eyes.”
• “So far, no one from the Storm Worshippers or Dirt Farmers have gone missing. They must be next!”
• “Everyone is scared of each other. I asked a Storm Worshipper to trade for some liquor he had, and he wouldn’t even take an offer!”

Scene 3: following up, stake out

Players can then follow up the info they gathered. Either by talking to certain groups or by trying to set up a stake out, possibly with a person being bait for the kidnappers.

The Storm Worshippers:
If players ask them to act as bait for a stakeout, they should roll Social vs TN15. To convince them to go with the plan. A Clever roll vs TN13 also lets them notice that the Worshippers don’t seem interested in the idea.
“The Storm always makes things disappear. People disappearing is nothing new.”

The Dirt Farmers:
If the players ask them to act as bait for a stakeout, they should roll Social vs TN11. To convince them to go along with the plan. If the players heard about kidnappees having green eyes, they can have someone with green eyes to be used as bait.
If they didn’t get that clue, they can roll Clever vs TN15 to notice that one of the farmers (who has green eyes) seems nervous. If they press them, they admit that they are nervous because they have noticed someone trying to follow them the last couple nights. They don’t know why, but they feel like they have been targeted. Players can roll a Social vs TN13 (or TN11 if players have already convinced the faction to help) to convince him to act as bait.
“No one would dare kidnap the people who feed them.”

Other green eyed people:
If needed, the players can find another person with green eyes in the Ramblers faction. They might also hear about a member of the Storm Worshippers who has green eyes, but no one has seen him for a while.

Stakeout: (requires bait with green eyes)
Players should try to spread out and hide in the town along a path. Have them roll Deft or Clever checks vs TN12 and roll 1d6 effort for each success. Their stakeout will resolve differently based on the amount of effort they got as a group. NP is the number of players.

• Bait doesn’t have green eyes. Nothing happens to them but players hear that a farmer with green eyes went missing during the night.
• Effort < NP * 2. The players are noticed by the figure before he approaches the bait. And he tries to run. If caught, they will claim they were spooked by the players hiding in the shadows.
• Effort < NP * 4. The players see the figure approach and talk to the bait and offer him a drink. The figure then notices them and leaves.
• Effort > NP * 4. The figure never notices the players hiding. They see him talk to the bait and offer him a drink. Then when he passes out, they see him drag the bait away. They can either follow them or intervene.

If players follow the figure, they can follow him to the secret hideout in the wasteland. They easily follow him to a rocky crag in some sand dunes. There is a camp set up on the crag. Once you crest the sand dunes you can easily see the burning fires of the camp.

If players capture the figure, they can interrogate him. Do an effort test of NP * 2 total effort vs TN of 13. Each player gets one roll. If they succeed, the figure tells them how to get to the camp. If they fail, they will likely be forced to release him. But they can try to follow him after releasing him.

Scene 4: cultist hideout

After cresting the sand dunes, the camp comes into sight. A campfire burns on a rocky crag. A handful of tents are set up around it.

Gather Info: Have each player that is approaching the camp roll a Deft check vs TN13 to avoid being seen as they take a look around. Whether or not they are spotted they see the following in the camp:
A few simple tents enclose one side of a large campfire. Between two of the tents you see a wooden cage with 2 people in it. Moving around the camp you see several small devils-like creatures. Only about 3 feet tall but with sharp claws. The campfire doesn’t have a fuel source and seems to burn from some otherworldly power.
Not spotted: The player avoids any trouble.
Spotted: 2 of the devil creatures follow them back to the player group and attack.

Sneaky Rescue: Have each player make a Deft or Clever roll based on the way they are hiding. The TN of the enemies are what they need to beat. They can try to open the cage and free the prisoners by doing a Might check vs TN13. But the prisoners are in bad shape and will need help to escape.

Attack the cultists: There are 4 human cultists and 3 devils. As the players fight to free the prisoners, the leader of the cultists will eventually sacrifice himself into the fire and cause the big creature to spawn out of the flames.
Once the Beast is summoned, the other cultists run away.

Scene 5: fight the big monster

“Out of the flames a large form appears, made mostly of tentacles. The beast rises up and lets out a horrible sound as it prepares to strike.”
The beast heads towards the prisoners and anyone else who has green eyes. It tries to grab them and throw them into the fire.

Because it needs the fire to burn the victims, the players can distract the beast by putting out the fire. It will have to relight the fire using a special ability with its tentacles on its next turn.

Scene 6: rewards back at the town

Each player is given a special tax exemption for the town or faction they represent. Also, the Cult of the Storm building in Cheeks is emptied and the players are allowed to use it as a home base.