Hello, backers—

In our last update we showed off some page spreads from It’s Only Magic. We’re excited to let you know that title is now off to press. We expect to receive it in June and to begin fulfillment shortly thereafter!

But that’s not all. The next book, Adventures in the Cypher System, isn’t far behind. It’s through editing and is now well into the layout phase. To give you a taste of what’s inside, we have excerpt from one of the adventures, “Ghosts of Ironsaddle,” by Bruce R. Cordell.

The adventure begins with the PCs about three days’ ride into sparsely inhabited regions, on the lookout for cursed beasts, hoping to collect on cursed beast bounties. (If you’d prefer an alternate reason for the PCs’ to be out and about and their subsequent encounter with the ghost town of Ironsaddle, update the situation according to your game’s circumstances.)

Cursed Beasts: Cursed beasts are a fusion of two or more different beasts stitched together with dire sorcery, or creatures that time would’ve been better off forgetting. Sometimes called “cryptids” by alchemists, cursed beasts include chupacabras, jackalopes, grizzly bulls, deathtumblers, quetzalsaurs, and nightcrawlers, among others.

Bounties Offered: Most western towns offer a bounty on cursed beasts, sometimes because their parts are useful to alchemists, but more often because cursed beasts are scourges and the fewer of them, the better. 

However, the PCs have a deal with an alchemist named Huyen Reeves, who promised she’ll pay the characters five times the standard bounty for chupacabra quills, nightcrawler egg sacs, grizzly bull pelts, and quetzalsaur wings.

If PCs ask what they know about any specific cursed beast, refer to the following.

Chupacabra: Part huge dog, part crocodile, and quilled like a porcupine. PCs found one as a mummified corpse and harvested what quills they could (see Tally So Far).

Grizzly Bulls: Rumored to be a bison magically crossed with a grizzly bear. Filled with demonic rage. No PC has seen one.

Nightcrawlers: These huge worms are a dozen or more feet (3.6 m) in length. They prey upon those sleeping rough or under scant shelter, pulling them down beneath the ground. No PC has seen one.

Quetzalsaur: Pulled out of time by cursed magic, this giraffe-sized flying monstrosity has an elongated, spike-shaped face and a 40-foot (12 m) wingspan. No PC has seen one, and they probably hope not to.

---

Tally So Far: The characters have successfully gathered the 10 chupacabra quills (from an air-mummified chupacabra corpse), which are carefully stored in a game bag.

Thanks to their deal with the alchemist who’s agreed to pay extra, that’s about $300 (one expensive item’s worth of bounties). To pay off their various debts and/or satisfy their specific needs, they’ll have to do much better.

Harsh Landscape: The dry creek bed beneath PCs’ mounts is uneven, with sandy soil broken up by rocks and boulders. Scents of pine and warmed stone fill the air. To the north, rocky outcrops lead into a series of jagged, bleached badlands. A wide plain of scrub brush and rocky outcrops borders the PCs’ route to the south. Ahead, the storm-wreathed heads of low mountains brood, but the weather in the arroyo is clear and dry.

The PCs see a couple of potentially lucrative signs; this excerpt focuses on evidence of nightcrawlers in the area.

Nightcrawler Castings: Choose a PC; they notice something resembling a termite mound. Ask that character to make a difficulty 4 Intellect-based roll for cryptid lore. A success means they realize the lumpy spire of tubular, compacted soil is probably a nightcrawler casting, given its large size—3 feet (1 m) tall—and it’s sulfuric odor. If PCs investigate directly, the find the texture is crumbly and airy, collapsing with a light touch. This reveals some partly digested animal bones mixed in with the rest. 

Following up, PCs discover that additional castings are visible to the north, popping up with more frequency in the canyons between the jagged, bleached badlands. Given the number of castings visible farther into the canyon, PCs suspect a whole clew of nightcrawlers (4–6 individuals) must have moved through the area recently.

PCs could choose to hunt the nightcrawlers for their egg sacs.

Tracking The Crawlers to their Burrow: It’s a routine task to track the crawlers into a canyon. The canyon sides rise about 50 feet (15 m) high on average, though sometimes much higher, and are topped by scraggly pines. The trail of castings peters out about a mile into the canyon, though the canyon continues. If PCs take a moment to look around, they notice a 3 1/2-foot (106 cm) diameter tunnel on one canyon wall concealed by a thick growth of thistle.

Tunnel in the Canyon Wall

If PCs attempt to determine how recent the castings outside the tunnel are, a successful difficulty 4 Intellect-based roll for cryptid lore reveals the freshest ones are probably from about a half-hour before sunrise. 

If PCs decide to wait outside the tunnel in hopes of ambushing a nightcrawler, a couple emerge when twilight arrives, but they attempt to retreat back into their warren if attacked. 

Nightcrawlers resemble 20-foot (6 m) long earthworms. Their skin is a stitchwork of hide stripped off past prey, all somehow still animate, but voiceless.

GM intrusion:  The bitten character is caught in the nightcrawler’s mouth until they succeed on a Might roll as their action to escape. Caught targets take damage automatically each round and their physical tasks are hindered (including their escape task).

Nightcrawler Warren

The narrow tunnel in the canyon wall descends steeply, curving downward some 40 feet (12 m) into pitch darkness. Human-sized creatures could crawl through single-file, but the narrow confines hinder all their physical tasks. If PCs have light or can see in the dark, they see the tunnel opens into a natural cave some 60 feet (18 m) in diameter. The floor is covered in loose soil redolent of sulfuric acid (it’s made of collapsed castings). Besides the entrance tunnel leading from the canyon the PCs used, four other tunnels lead off toward other subterranean locations.

Warren Defense: At any one time, about four adult nightcrawlers rest in the warren, and (as a GM intrusion) two more adults arrive to reinforce those already in conflict within a couple of rounds. Six voracious nightcrawler young (level 2) are also present in the warren.

The nightcrawlers vigorously defend their warren, chasing after retreating PCs, or if the PCs prove the stronger, defending it to the death (though the last couple attempt to escape through side tunnels).

GM intrusion (group): Two more adult nightcrawlers arrive to reinforce those already in conflict.

Exploring Nightcrawler Tunnels: If the PCs want to explore the warren’s side tunnels (or they feel overwhelmed and need to flee in that direction, and/or you decide the time is right), the characters encounter the wandering ghost town of Ironsaddle in a subterranean vault about half a mile (800 m) deeper; see Discovered by a Ghost Town (found in Adventures in The Cyphers System). Otherwise, they don’t find much and eventually find other exits to the surface.

"Ghosts of Ironsaddle" is one of our Gen Con adventures—so if you’re headed to Indianapolis for the Best Four Days in Gaming, sign up for a session. Or just drop by the MCG room (#132 on Hoosier Concourse—close to the main entrance to the exhibit hall) and say Howdy!

Thanks again for your support!
—Team MCG