The City Phase

“Of that Byzantine Empire, the universal verdict of history is that it constitutes, with scarcely an exception, the most thoroughly base and despicable form that civilisation has yet assumed.... They possessed knowledge; they had continually before them the noble literature of ancient Greece, instinct with the loftiest heroism; but that literature, which afterwards did so much to revivify Europe, could fire the degenerate Greeks with no spark or semblance of nobility. The history of the Empire is a monotonous story of the intrigues of priests, eunuchs, and women, of poisonings, of conspiracies, of uniform ingratitude, of perpetual fratricides.”

– History of European Morals, William Edward Hartpole Lecky

The City is the center of the Wide World; the navel of creation. It is at a crossroads, twin-faced, staring east and west. It is equidistant to Alfheim, the Steppes of the Dragons, and the mountainous Delvings of Eight Cities. In majesty it is unmatched. In wealth, unequaled.

Anything can be bought in the City for the right price. The most skilled craftsmen in the Wide World perfect their arts in the City. For the very rich, even the powers of the Underworld might be traded. These wealthy patrons tempt guilds of adventurers to brave life and limb for the treasures hidden underneath the great metropolis.

The City has been claimed by many kith and kin, but today it is the seat of humanity. A handful of powerful human houses struggle continuously for power. Enclaves of distant powers and races seize toeholds in the City and pursue their strange designs in their embassies.

Like skin, it is made of folded-over layers. Each era of the City can be found buried below the others. Dig down into your cellar and find the potsherds, runestones, idols, rusted machinery, diaries, lamps, and bones of those who came before. Like skin, it has scars. Terrible pits boring holes into the Underworld—blighted cankers on a beautiful face.

When the guild returns to civilization, laden with treasure and light on supplies, the City Phase begins. The City Phase is an opportunity to pursue long-term goals, research the next steps of the quest, and restock supplies before returning to the Stygian depths. This chapter details what players need to know about the City Phase. Advice for the GM for running the City Phase is found in chapter 10. Procedures for the GM to flesh out a City are found in Appendix D: City Creation.

Here is the summary of the City Phase:

1. Death and taxes

Each player turns in 50% of carried gold coins to the black-armored All-Watch as guild tax.

2. Noteworthy deeds

Erase the oldest deed on your roster. As a group, write the most notable accomplishments from your last Crawl on your guild roster.

3. City Events

The GM draws for a random event on their City Event table.

4. Turn in contracts

The guild turns in their contract (if any). Successfully completed contracts provide a monetary reward and 1XP.

The City is social

The City contains an untold multitude of factions, social clubs, hierarchies, royal families, anarchist collectives, sports teams, mystery cults, underground scenes, crime syndicates, etc. They want what the guild has: treasure, expertise, and a lack of self-preservation. The guild wants what these organizations have: influence, power, wealth…sure, but also fancy clothes, useful rumors, interesting friends, cool home bases, etc.

5. Upkeep

Each player pays for an upkeep tier.

• If you pay no upkeep, you are destitute for this City Phase. You do not refill your pack.

• Impoverished upkeep costs 25 gold.

• Refill your pack with impoverished-level gear from the Omphalic Market.

• Common upkeep costs 50 gold.

• Refill your pack with common- or impoverished-level gear from the Omphalic Market.

• Burn charges to heal Wounds and clear conditions as per step 4 of the Camp Phase (Recovery) (End of Camp Phase).

• Luxurious upkeep costs 100 gold.

• Refill your pack with any gear from the Omphalic Market.

• Heal all of your Wounds and refresh all your Resolve.

6. City Actions

Each player performs a City Action.

7. Plan the next Crawl

The guild reassembles to talk over next steps as a group. The GM provides a list of possible contracts. Sign up for a contract (or two).

8. Restock the Underworld

Before the next session, the GM restocks the Meatgrinder tables.

Goddammit, I’m a sovereign citizen!

Truth be told, the 50% tax was included in playtests merely as a lark. However, it evoked such a strong response in the playtesters that it was obvious that it had to be kept in the core game. Despite the fact everybody was only moving around imaginary numbers on paper, the players were very keen to avoid taxes. And, in a meaningful way, taxes made going back to the City unappetizing. The City Phase should be rare. High taxes mean that players view returning to the surface as a last resort.

When you return through one of the gates of the Underworld, the All-Watch—elite warriors who serve the lord of the City—demand 50% of your guild’s liquid assets as guild tax.

Liquid assets mean “gold coins.” The Underworld is full of golden coins marked with pentacles.

Non-liquid assets are items of art and extravagance, such as paintings, statues, gems (uncut and cut), books, decorative weapons, jewelry, etc. These are not taken by the All-Watch.

This tax was established by the City to pay for the frequent calamities associated with the adventuring guilds. The taxes go into a fund to pay for tavern fights that become fires, engorged slimes brought back to the surface as babies, and the salaries of the All-Watch (to keep them unbribable).

Historical note

You know the song Istanbul by The Four Lads (famously covered by They Might Be Giants)? The question of why the city is called Istanbul has an answer: it is derived from the Greek εις την Πόλιν (istanbulin), which simply means “the city.” Constantinople was the place to be in the ancient world, so you needn’t even call it by its formal name. It was simply the city.

The name of the city in His Majesty the Worm is merely “the City.” This is its common name (if not its official one). It had other names in the past (even as Constantinople did—Byzantium, New Rome, and Augustus Antonia to name a few), but “the City” is how people refer to it now. What are the City’s past names? Has the current government always been in power? What ancient powers once dwelt here? That’s up to your group to decide.

When you return to the City, erase the oldest noteworthy deed on your guild roster. Then, review if your guild has done anything noteworthy since the last City Phase. Everybody at the table can suggest a few things that might qualify as a noteworthy deed. This might include a dungeon lord slain, a new path through the Underworld forged, a piece of prominent architecture destroyed, or a potent relic reclaimed. The GM is the arbiter for what is considered actually noteworthy.

A guild’s Fame equals the amount of active noteworthy deeds. Your Fame affects the way the GM’s characters treat you: more famous adventurers are given more attention, wanted or unwanted.

from the Greek εις την Πόλιν

A guild can have up to five active noteworthy deeds at a time. If you would have more than five, choose whichever five seem the most praiseworthy. See Chapter 3: The Guild for a full description of Fame and noteworthy deeds.

If you return to the City and have accomplished nothing since your last visit, you erase the oldest deed on your roster and lose 1 Fame accordingly.

The City is never dull. When you stagger back to the surface, you enter a chaotic metropolis with all its intrigues, politics, and spectacle.

Before play, the GM should construct a City Events table, detailing potential events that frame the guild’s visit. During this step, the GM draws a major arcana card, consults this table, and interprets the result.

The results need not happen instantly. For example, if the GM draws a rumor on the City Events table, they might have a contract-giver or shopkeeper deliver the rumor to the guild through the course of playing out the City Phase.

The City Events table should have twenty-one entries and follow this formula:

Curiosities (I–V): Curiosities are moments of serendipity. GMs, use these events to inject color into the game. Curiosities create a sense of realness, and are opportunities to demonstrate what kind of City exists in your game. Are curiosity events dark portents like raving madmen calling for repentance under the blood moon or are they bucolic affairs with Punch and Judy puppet shows?

Happenings (VI–X): Happenings are events that frame the lives of the residents of the City. These are the saturnalia, feasts, and holy days that break up the wheel of years. Happenings should make the City Phase feel different to the players.

Visiting the City during a religious festival is much different than visiting during the normal drudge of days.

Rumors (XI–XV): Rumors hint at the contents of the Underworld: treasures, monsters, traps, hazards, and history. Rumors are opportunities to tell lore and define the “story” of the dungeon.

Travel events (XVI–XX): Travel events are often things that go wrong in a trip to the City, or a chance to confront the players to make a hard choice.

Signs and Portents (XXI): Signs and portents are special events wherein weirdness has spilled out from the Underworld and complicates life in the City. When drawing this result, the GM looks at the top card of the minor arcana discard pile and then consults the Signs and Portents table.

Like the Meatgrinder table, the GM should keep the City Events table tidy and fresh, swapping out used entries with new content (see step 8).

The next page has an example City Events table to serve as a starting point.

Refer to this table when the City Events table yields a XXI result.

Turn in any contracts completed during the Crawl Phase. Visit your quest-givers, report your successes (or failures), and receive any due rewards. This often gives you the coin you need to pay for upkeep.

Turning in a contract gives 1XP per contract fulfilled. If there were no contracts completed, skip this step.

As part of this step, adventurers may sell items of art and extravagance, such as gems, paintings, and jewelry. The GM determines the value of the items being sold when creating the Underworld; see How much treasure?. The seller receives any payments prior to paying their upkeep.

Life in the City isn’t free. Upkeep pays for your food and lodging and refills your pack with adventuring gear.

The cost for equipment isn’t itemized. Buying into a given upkeep tier buys you as much gear of that particular tier (or lower) as you can waddle away with. See the Omphalic Market for a list of adventuring gear.

There are four upkeep tiers: destitute, impoverished, common, and luxurious.

Destitute - 0g

If you can’t (or refuse) to pay upkeep, you sleep on the street. Dogs lick your wounds. You have nothing to eat and begin your next adventure Stressed.

You cannot buy any new gear when you are destitute.

Impoverished - 25g

If you’re impoverished, you sleep in the poorhouse or in the common room of a cheap inn. You gain neither special benefits nor penalties.

You can purchase as many pieces of gear from the impoverished item list as you can carry.

Common - 50g

Common lodgings afford you a stay in a decent inn. During this step, you may burn charged Bonds to heal Wounds and recover Resolve, just like step 4 (Recovery) of the Camp Phase (End of Camp Phase).

You can purchase as many pieces of gear from the impoverished and common item lists as you can carry.

Luxurious - 100g

If you live in luxury and stay in the most high-class establishments, you fully heal every Wound and begin the Crawl with full Resolve.

You can purchase as many pieces of gear from the impoverished, common, and luxurious item lists as you can carry.

When you visit the City, you have some downtime in which to pursue your own interests. You might relax in the hot springs, track down the answers to thorny questions, or feed the poor. These activities are represented by City Actions. During each trip made to the City, each adventurer can perform one City Action.

A list of common City Actions should be provided to the players by the GM. In general, the GM will assemble this list by combining the standard list of actions (found below) with a unique list of actions based on the districts of the City discovered by using the rules in Appendix D: City Creation, see The Districts.

It would be impossible for the list of City Actions to be exhaustive. The City is the largest metropolis in the Wide World and, as such, just about anything is possible. Players, if you have a weird idea, ask your GM if it’s possible. GMs, use your common sense and this list to model new actions for your players.

Note that most every action except for Beg and Busk requires lump sums of cash to initiate.

Banking

Put that money away for a rainy day. Store your extra items and coin in Cult-run banks.

• Every City Phase, your total gold investment has a 2% return on investment.

• Your gear is safe.

Build

Invest your money to build something that will last. Something that will calcify and become the bones of the City itself.

• Use this action to build statues and fountains, start a tavern, buy a house, or create other permanent structures in the City.

• Talk to your GM about what you want. If it’s reasonable, the GM will tell you which artisan can design it for you.

• Describe your project in a few words. The price for a building project equals 50 gold per syllable of the building’s description. Examples: buffoonish gargoyle that looks like your rival (550g), statue in a busy square (350g), church bell (100g), extravagant monastery (400g)

Camp Action

Though somewhat smaller in scope than City Actions, any Camp Action (Camp Actions) can be performed as a City Action, e.g., Use a Talent, Use an Item, etc.

Commission Craft

Is there something you want that can’t be found in the Omphalic Market? Commission a bespoke version, all shiny and new.

• Talk to your GM about what you want. If it’s reasonable, the GM will tell you which merchant can craft it for you.

• Describe it in a few words. The price for a commissioned craft is as follows:

• 1 gold per syllable of the commission if it’s something a farmer might have. Examples: scrimshaw pipe (3g), tricorn hat (3g), pan flute (2g), wooden dentures (4g)

• 5 gold per syllable of the commission if it’s something an adventurer might have. Examples: helmet with a candle holder (40g), imp trap (10g), silverthread bug net (25g)

• 10 gold per syllable of the commission if it’s something a noble might have. Examples: mirror masquerade mask (60g), cloth of gold gown (40g), lion-themed parade armor (70g), bespoke clothing (40g)

• 25 gold per syllable of the commission if it’s something that nobody has—something brand new. Examples: prosthetic leg (100g), manticore saddle (125g), decorative harpy wings (175g)

The fewer details you provide, the more details the GM will supplement. If you have a clear picture in mind, articulate what you want using the name of the item. No fair saying you want a “set of ten-foot mechanical articulate tongs” by just saying “Long tongs.”

“Reasonableness” is up to the GM. We don’t really truck with steampunk machinery or firearms or whatever, but maybe your table is different.

Assuming that the adventurer has an appropriate motif that establishes them as a craftsman, the adventurer can be the one actually making the item. The prices are the same: the gold is spent on renting a workshop and supplying raw materials.

Hold a Funeral

Haul your dead friends out of the Underworld and say some nice words over them.

• That player’s new adventurer retains a portion of their previous adventurer’s XP.

• Each 1XP reclaimed by the new adventurer costs 100 gold worth of funeral expenses.

Prepare Components

Barter with talismongers, engage in midnight rituals, and venture outside the City to gather herbs in the darkness of the new moon. When you use this action, fill your pack with as many spell components from Appendix A as you wish. Each component takes up one pack slot.

Research

Investigate a topic of your choice by spending money to pay bribes to librarians, buy coffee to stay awake during long reading sessions, and get people drunk enough to talk.

• Spend 50 gold to test Cups.

• On a success, you can ask the GM one question about any subject.

• If you have a great success, you can ask three.

Support

Some actions are one-and-done, e.g., you go gambling and lose your hard-earned coin all in a night. In contrast, Support involves taking one step on a long road. Use this action to represent long-term scheming on large, multistep projects.

• Large projects are broken up into several steps. How many steps a project requires is determined by its complexity, as determined by the GM. The more complex a project, the more steps that it takes.

• Complexity usually ranges between 2–8. Simple projects might only need two or three steps to complete, whereas complex ones need as many as eight.

• You make one step toward project completion by spending money in a way that supports your goals. Players must suggest a way that they would spend their coin to benefit their goals. The GM must agree that this action will move the needle on their long-term project and set an appropriate price.

• Once a player has fulfilled a number of steps equal to the project’s complexity, the project is complete.

Long-term projects

The Support action is the main tool that players have to pursue longterm projects.

If you speak Apocalypse World jargon, think about complexity like “clocks.” You can also think about it in terms of “hit points” that you need to tick off of a project before you’re successful.

Each Support step is filled by spending gold. • 25 gold is enough to make a small impact. For example, a 25g donation to an orphanage may buy all the orphans a batch of new toys. • 50 gold can make a humble but meaningful impact. For example, 50g can patch the orphanage’s leaky roof. • 100 gold can make a significant impact. For example, 100g might be enough to make sure the orphans have enough to eat for a month. • 1000 gold is needed to make a truly dramatic statement. If you want to adopt all the orphans and provide for their care personally, you might need to spend up to 1000g.

Train

Seek out an expert and study under them. Talk to the GM about what talent you want to learn. The GM will tell you who is available to train you.

• Spend 50 gold per 1XP you want to invest on the new talent.

• Prepare as many uses of that talent as you have XP invested.

• See Talents for full details about training talents.

Sing for coin in streets and winesinks.

• Draw from the minor arcana deck. You gain gold equal to the numerical value of your draw + Wands attribute.

Spend everything you earned on drinking and whoring.

• If you spend 50% of the gold you brought back, you get 1XP.

• If you spend 100% of the gold you brought back, you get 2XP.

• In addition, the GM draws a major arcana and consults the Hangover table on the next page to see if there are any complications later.

Carousing is an easy, micro-math way to get a meaningful benefit. It emulates genre staples of heroes like Conan or Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser frittering away last adventure’s booty and starting each story dead broke.

Anything in brackets [ ] refers to the top card of the minor arcana discard pile. Sometimes brackets provide numerical values—for example, “[value] in gold coins” provides a number of gold coins equal to the value of the card. Sometimes brackets provide a random result within the table’s entry based on the suit of the card.

Once every player has resolved their City Action, the GM sets a role-playing scene in a tavern where the guild comes together to debrief, drink, and determine their next steps.

Taverns have job boards where contracts are offered to guilds. These are jobs that characters in the City offer to guilds, with rewards of coin, peerage, rare items, or favors. During this step, the GM provides four to six potential contracts for the guild to consider. A guild merely needs to affix their seal to the contract to start pursuing it (Current Contracts).

Role-play the conversation with your guild-mates and decide collectively what you want to do next. Did you complete your previous quest? What quest will you pursue next? Did you complete your previous contract? Are there any current contracts you want to pursue?

Some example contracts are offered on the next page.

The Underworld grows and shifts. Between the end of the City Phase and the start of the next session, the GM revisits their Meatgrinder and City Events tables and replaces any entries that the players have already encountered. If an ogre is slain, a hidden room looted, or a rusty trap sprung, replace those entries with something new.

GMs should ask themselves: How has the Underworld been changed by the player’s actions? Factions will refill their posts. Other factions will move into cleared rooms. Other guilds meet with success or failure. The Underworld is dynamic, not static. Reflect the changing Underworld by adding new content to the Meatgrinder tables.

Advice for Exploration-based Games

“The adventure is in the wilderness, not the town. As per the discussion of NPCs [non-player characters] … be careful not to change the focus to urban adventure instead of exploration. You can have as many NPCs as you want in town, but remember it’s not about them. Once players start talking to town NPCs, they will have a perverse desire to stay in town and look for adventure there. ‘Town game’ was a dirty word in West Marches. … You find things by exploring, not sitting in town — someone who explores should know more about what is out there than someone in town.”

• “Great Experiments: West Marches,” Ben Robbins

Example Contracts

Here are a few contracts that might be on a job board at your local tavern. Draw ~5 cards to create a job board.

No tale tells what ancient power minted the ubiquitous star-marked golden coins that sit in the treasure hoards of the Underworld. But all know that these coins have become the de facto standard of the City. Coinages of lesser metals have become worthless. As guilds have hauled back vast quantities of glittering gold, merchants of the great Omphalic Market will only accept Underworld gold as payment.

“In the Plaza of Dark Delights, which lies seven blocks south of the Marsh Gate and extends from the Fountain of Dark Abundance to the Shrine of the Black Virgin, the shop-lights glinted upward no more brightly than the stars glinted down. For there the vendors of drugs and the peddlers of curiosa and the hawkers of assignations light their stalls and crouching places with foxfire, glowworms, and fire-pots with tiny single windows, and they conduct their business almost as silently as the stars conduct theirs.”

– “Bazaar of the Bizarre,” Franz Leiber

During step 5 of the City Phase (Upkeep), you determine what you purchase for your next adventure. These prices are abstracted. You don’t tally your money for each torch, each ration, or each dagger. Rather, you fill your pack—as much as it can hold—based on your upkeep level (or lower): impoverished, common, or luxurious.

Gear tiers

• Impoverished items are things you can find inside a cotter’s kitchen.
• Common items are things you might find in a wealthy merchant’s house.
• Luxurious items are things owned only by the clergy or nobility.

Just about anything can be purchased at the Omphalic Market. Players, ask your GM if there’s a normal, everyday object that you want but can’t find listed here. The GM will set its price level (impoverished, common, or luxurious). If the item you’re looking for is unique, use the Commission Craft action during step 6 of the City Phase instead. See Pack space and gear for rules about your pack, belt, slots, and carrying capacity.

Replacing and repairing gear

Notched or Destroyed items can be repaired in the City. The upkeep level needed to repair a damaged item is equivalent to buying a new item. For example, if your heirloom silver sword is Destroyed during a Crawl, you may repair it by buying the luxurious upkeep level (which is required to purchase a silver weapon).

Here is a basic list of gear commonly used by adventurers. All items are 1 slot unless otherwise specified. Rules for carrying gear are given in Pack space and gear.

Alchemy kit

Alchemy kits are used to mix reagents into alchemical substances (bombs, potions, oils). They are a required tool for the Alchemy talent (Cups talents). (2 slots)

Animal feed

Animal feed works like rations for animals. Each Camp Phase, you must feed each animal companion feed or they will become weak and stop following commands. Animal feed is specific to a particular animal (hound, falcon, horse, etc.).

Armor

Armor is all that’s between a sword and your soft, soft organs. Armor comes in a variety of styles, constructions, and materials. Its appearance is up to the adventurer who commissions and wears it.

Armor is separated into light armor, iron armor, and steel armor. You can Notch armor instead of taking a Wound. Each type of armor can take a certain number of Notches before it is Destroyed. Because armor is bulky and heavy, it takes up a number of belt slots while worn.

Light armor is designed for movement and comfort; it can typically be worn under normal clothes—or may have the appearance of fine garb. Common forms of light armor include leather jerkins, orcish furs, or bone armor. Light armor can absorb 1 Notch.

• Light armor takes up 1 belt slot.

Iron armor consists of a coat of iron mail worn over a padded gambeson. Iron armor can absorb 2 Notches.

• Iron armor is the bane of sorcerers—spells cannot target anyone wearing iron armor; however, you can still be hurt by the effects of spells (e.g., burned by a wall of fire).

• You cannot cast spells if wearing iron armor.

• Iron armor takes up 2 belt slots while worn.

• Due to iron’s weight, it is impossible to swim or sneak while wearing iron armor.

Steel armor is a full set of steel plate. Steel does not provide the same protection against magic as iron, but provides an ideal defense against the blows of sword or mace. Steel armor can absorb 3 Notches.

• Steel armor takes up 3 belt slots while worn.

• Due to steel’s weight, it is impossible to swim or sneak while wearing steel armor.

• Even though steel armor does not cancel targeted spells, you cannot cast while wearing it due to the latent iron content in the metal.

Bedroll

Bedrolls consist of blankets and bedding materials. Without either a bedroll or a tent, sleeping on the cold ground makes you Stressed. (2 slots)

Bezoar

Bezoars are stones composed of hair, vegetable material, and bile found in the stomachs of goats. If swallowed, a bezoar acts as a powerful anti-poison. It counts as 8 burned charges for the purposes of curing an affliction while Resting and Recovering (Rest and Recover).

Blank book

Blank books are useful for taking notes or even composing a memoir for later publication.

Booze

Booze is any alcohol that’s nice, strong, and expensive. This can be traded to Underworld denizens, given as a gift to a noble, or opened for a special occasion. Weak alcohol like small beer, cider, or watery wine is considered to be part of a ration.

Caltrops

Caltrops are nails designed to be scattered on the ground. They deny areas to your foes, especially cavalry. When scattered, any unshod creature walking in the zone takes a Wound.

Candle

Candles provide bright light for the person carrying them, but don’t provide any light for those nearby. As such, they are used when the guild—as a whole—prefers stealth. Candles can be snuffed out and relit (whereas torches cannot be). Candles go out when dropped. Candles can flicker 2 times before they’re used up (Flickers).

Chain

Chain comes in 10’ lengths per slot. Chain is useful for all sorts of bindings and haulings.

Chalk

Chalk can make marks almost anywhere—useful for plotting your way around a maze, warning fellow adventurers about traps, or making crude drawings of your rivals’ mothers.

Clothes

Clothes come in several varieties.

• Rags preserve your basic dignity, but make you look like the worst sort of peasant.

• Common clothes won’t make you popular at parties, but they’re serviceable and good for dirty work.

• Finery sets you apart from the general rabble. Be careful, though; adventuring has a tendency to make you dirty and bloody.

The clothes that you’re wearing aren’t in your pack and don’t take up any slots. Spare sets of clothes take 1 slot in your pack.

Cooking gear

Cooking gear is needed to prepare hunted game into edible food during the Camp Phase.

Crowbar

Crowbars are used to pry open doors and chests by testing Swords. Less subtle than a lockpick, doing so breaks the door in question.

Falconry gear

Falconry gear includes gloves, tethers, hoods, and everything needed to enjoy the royal sport of hawking.

Fishing gear

Fishing gear is needed to fish and gather food on bodies of water—like in the deadly Boundless Moat.

Firewood

Firewood allows you to build campfires even when in the deepest dungeon.

Flint and tinder

Flint and tinder let you start fires.

Garlic

Garlic wards away certain types of undead and impure spirits. If brandished, test Wands. If successful, Displace one affected creature. In a Challenge, brandishing garlic is a Wands action.

Grappling hook

Grappling hooks, when combined with rope, let you climb sheer surfaces without testing fate. A grappling hook takes up its own slot, separate from the rope.

Hammer

Hammers are used to drive in spikes and pitons, break things that don’t want to be broken, and are generally useful tools. It should be noted that trying to smash things open with weapons generally results in a Notched or Destroyed weapon.

Hatchet

Hatchets are used to fell wood, cut ropes, and smash open doors. It should be noted that trying to smash things open with weapons generally results in a Notched or Destroyed weapon.

Helm

Helms can turn aside deadly blows. A helm can absorb 1 Notch before being Destroyed. (1 belt slot)

Hermetic bottle

Hermetic bottles keep alchemical reagents fresh and potent. They are used to hold alchemical substances like bombs, oils, and potions. An essential tool for the Alchemy talent (Cups talents).

Hourglass

Hourglasses are one of the best ways to track time in the strange Underworld. Even then, adventurers will notice that time flows curiously. An hour in the Underworld might be a day in the City.

Iron spike

Iron spikes can be used to wedge doors closed, serve as pitons for climbing, or be driven through the heart of the undead. (Stackable 6 per slot)

Lantern

Lanterns provide bright light to the person holding them and dim light for everybody else in the guild. Lanterns are lit by oil, which must be carried separately. Lanterns shatter when they are dropped. You can tie a lantern to your belt, but if you take a Wound the lantern shatters and you’re covered in oil. A lantern can flicker 4 times before their oil is used up (Flickers).

Lard

Lard is the fat of a pig. It burns well, can be used as a grease to lubricate tools and surfaces, and can even be used as soap. You can also eat it like a ration in a pinch to keep from starving.

Lockpick

Lockpicks can be used to pick a lock with a successful test of Pentacles. If you fail, one of your lockpicks breaks. (Stackable 6 per slot)

Manacles

Manacles are used to restrain people, usually to haul them back to the City for a reward.

Mirror

Mirrors are kept by those still trying to keep up a semblance of hygiene, or just to reflect a monster’s dread gaze back onto itself.

Musical instrument

Musical instruments are often carried by adventurers, as song keeps campfires merry in a dark and oppressive environment. These could be lutes, harps, flutes, viols, drums, or anything else found in the Wide World.

Oil

Oil, usually carried in a flask, is used to fuel lanterns. It can also fuel other fires, or be used as lubrication. A flask of oil provides 4 flickers to a lantern.

Pick

Picks are tools used for digging. (Oversized)

Pipe and pipeweed

Pipe and pipeweed are a great way to relax, clear your mind, and make the camp smell nice. Smoking all of your pipeweed clears the Stressed condition.

Pole, 10’

10’ poles are helpful, too-long walking sticks that you can use to prod and poke for traps and hazards. (Oversized)

Poultice

Poultices are bandages infused with healthful herbs. They have a few different uses:

• You can expend a poultice to try and save a character at Death’s Door. The injured character test Wands; this test has favor if the person applying it has a medical motif. If successful, the Death’s Door condition is cured and the character returns to consciousness. If it is a failure, the character dies. See Death’s Door for the full rules.

• Poultices are also necessary for the use of the Chirurgeon talent (Cups talents).

Quill and ink

Quill and ink are necessary tools for the journey into literary fame.

Ration

Rations consist of hardtack, dried fruit, and dried meats. It might not be delicious, but it’s better than starving. Each ration contains a canteen with a day’s worth of water or swill alcohol.

Religious paraphernalia

Religious paraphernalia is a catchall term for the icons, amulets, or rosaries used to ward away certain types of undead or spirits. If brandished, test Wands. If successful, Displace one affected creature. During a Challenge, brandishing a religious icon is a Wands action.

Rope

Rope comes in lengths of 50’. Every adventurer worth their salt carries a bit of rope on them.

Salt

Expend a slot of salt to turn hunted game into rations. Salt also dries out oozes and jellies if thrown at them. This is treated as an Attack, and inflicts two Wounds to ooze monsters on a success. Every adventurer worth their rope carries a bit of salt on them.

Shield

Shields come in a variety of styles and methods of construction, but are considered either light or heavy. Shields take one of your hand slots.

• Light shields are made from wood. They can absorb 1 Notch.

• Heavy shields are made of metal or similarly sturdy materials and can absorb 2 Notches.

In a Challenge, ties go to the attacker unless the defender carries a shield.

If you have a shield, you may replace your Initiative with any card from your hand as a miscellaneous action. Your old Initiative is discarded.

Shovel

Shovels are tools used for digging. Like picks. But different. (Oversized)

Spyglass

Spyglasses magnify things up to five times.

Tent

Tents provide shelter and comfortable sleeping for up to two people. Without a bedroll or tent, sleeping on the cold ground makes you Stressed. (Oversized)

Tinker’s kit

Tinker’s kits are metal-working tools and scrap metal. You can repair damaged equipment with a tinker’s kit by performing the Use an Item Camp Action to remove 1 Notch. Destroyed equipment cannot be salvaged in this manner. (2 slots)

Torch

Torches provide bright light to the person holding them and dim light for everybody else in the guild. Torches have a 50% chance to go out when dropped. Torches that are extinguished are almost impossible to relight. Torches can flicker 3 times before they’re used up (Flickers).

Wand of archwood

Wands of archwood are ritual implements that allow sorcerers to focus their magical potential. If you have the Gramarye talent (Wands talents), you may use an archwood wand as a missile weapon to create blasts of magical energy up to a zone away.

Weaponry

Weaponry includes any basic arms and ammo listed in the Weapons section on the following page.

• Silver weaponry is expensive, but silver is often useful against lycanthropes, spirits, and certain types of undead. Silver weaponry is soft and easily damaged, however. Silver weapons can only absorb 1 Notch before being Destroyed.

Wolfsbane

Wolfsbane repels wolves and lycanthropes. If brandished, test Wands. If successful, Displace one affected creature. During a Challenge, brandishing wolfsbane is a Wands action.

“To train with the sword, first master sweeping. When you have mastered sweeping, you must master the way of drawing water. Once you have learned how to draw water, you must split wood. Once you have split wood, you must learn the arts of finding the fine herbs in the forest, the arts of writing, the arts of paper making, and poetry writing. You must become familiar with the awl and the pen in equal measure. When you have mastered all these things you must master building a house. Once your house is built, you have no further need for a sword, since it is an ugly piece of metal and its adherents idiots.”

– Kill Six Billion Demons, Tom Parkinson-Morgan

Leeches draw out bad blood and let good yellow phlegm and bile reign in your poisoned body. You can apply leeches to another adventurer with the Use an Item Camp Action. If you do so, draw a card. If you draw a Swords or Pentacles card, nothing happens. If you draw a Cups or Wands card, the leeched adventurer counts as having burned 2 charges to cure an affliction (Afflictions).

Weapons come in a variety of flavors. Each weapon has a special property during a Challenge based on its type.

Most weapons are 1 slot items except for polearms (which take 2 slots). All melee weapons can be wielded two-handed for the purposes of the Two-handed Focus talent except for daggers.

The weapon types are:

• Axes
• Daggers
• Blades
• Flails
• Bows (Arrows stack 12 per slot)
• Hammers and maces
• Crossbows (Bolts stack 12 per slot)
• Polearms (2 slots)

Axe

Axes include all types of chopping weapons, such as battle axes, bardiches, or mattocks. When an axe Attack takes down an enemy, you may use the same Attack value against another opponent in the same zone.

Blade

Blades include all types of swords, from short swords to longswords. When you successfully Riposte with a blade, you deal 2 Wounds instead of 1 Wound.

Bow

Bows are ranged weapons that use arrows. When wielding a bow, you gain access to the special Aim Challenge Action.

• Aim is a Swords action. Declare who you’re targeting and play your card facedown. When you next Attack with your bow, you may reveal the card and add its value to your total Attack.

If you are attacked with a melee weapon while wielding a missile weapon, the attacker has favor against you.

Crossbow

Crossbows are mechanized ranged weapons with a locking mechanism to keep the bowstring taut. All Attacks with a crossbow deal Piercing damage. However, your crossbow must be reloaded and cranked as a miscellaneous action after firing.

If you are attacked with a melee weapon while wielding a missile weapon, the attacker has favor against you.

Arrows and bolts

You must keep track of your arrows and bolts. They come in quivers of 12 per slot. Any arrow that hits a target is Destroyed (your opponent breaks off the shaft in combat, the bolt head is blunted on bone, etc.). Any arrow that misses may be recovered after the Challenge. Use the Fletch Arrows Camp Action to replace Destroyed arrows/bolts.

Dagger

Daggers are short, bladed weapons that include stilettos, gladiuses, and dirks. Daggers deal Piercing damage against targets who are unarmed, Rooted, or Tripped. Daggers may be thrown to Attack targets in your zone without engaging them.

Flail

Flails include any flexible weapon, such as morning stars or ball-and-chain. Flail Attacks cannot be absorbed by shields and always win ties with Initiative.

Hammer or mace

Hammers and maces include any type of smashing weapon. When your Attack value is at least twice that of your opponent’s Initiative, your hammer deals 2 Wounds instead of 1 Wound.

Polearm

Polearms are long-hafted weapons that include spears, halberds, and quarterstaffs. Ripostes are interrupts when wielding a polearm. (2 slots)

Muddy and bloody, the Four Aces stagger back to the surface. The guild consists of Weela Longtoes the bug keeper (gnome, Path of Cups), Alisander the morbid necromancer (human, Path of Wands), and Lucind the archaeologist (troll, Path of Cups). They are well aware that there’s only three members of the Four Aces—they think it’s funny.

Step 1. Death and taxes

GM: As you return topside, you are met at the gates of the Underworld by the All-Watch. By this point, you’re familiar with the red painted eye on their full-face helms. Do you all pay your taxes?

Weela is carrying 120g total and an elephant idol statue. She erases 60g from her adventurer sheet.

Alisander is carrying 26g, six rubies pried out of the elephant idol, and a variety of dire whale scrimshaws depicting a profane ritual. He erases 13g.

Lucind is carrying 51g and an old, torn-up book titled Ye Gorgonic Ecstasies. She erases 25g.

After pausing for a moment for everybody to do their bookkeeping, the GM continues to facilitate the rest of the phase.

Step 2. Noteworthy deeds

GM: OK, where’s your guy’s guild roster? What noteworthy deeds did you accomplish this delve?

At the start of the City Phase, the guild has 2 Fame. When the guild arrives at the surface, the GM picks up the guild roster and erases the oldest deed accomplished (reducing their Fame to 1). Each guild member brainstorms a little.

Weela: Well, we successfully stole the eggs from that basilisk, which is pretty impressive.

GM: Definitely.

Weela updates the guild roster. This sets their Fame back to 2.

Alisander thinks a little bit and doesn’t have anything meaningful to contribute.

Lucind: We learned about the primordial elephant people by investigating the ancient elephant shrine. I don’t think anybody in the City knew anything about the elephant people before us.

GM: Hmm. I mean, I agree that this is interesting lore and new information, but it’s probably not noteworthy.

The guild remains at Fame 2.

Step 3. City Events

The GM draws from the major arcana deck and consults the City Events table. They draw the Hanged Man [XII], which gives a rumor:

A fallen star dwells on an island in the Boundless Moat, and his daughter came with him into exile. Both star-beings struggle adorably with human culture. The star wishes for someone to marry his daughter. As a dowry, the star will grant a wish to anybody who marries her. However, the daughter will interpret the wish. It would be wise to keep her happy unless you want the wish to go sour.

The GM makes a mental note of this.

Step 4. Turn in contracts

GM: OK, step 4—contracts. You have the eggs you were hired to get. Are you going back to Hugo Underhill, the master of the Malign Menagerie?

Weela: Yes! Absolutely. I have the eggs in hand and grin real big when we see him.

The guild delivers the six basilisk eggs they managed to procure and are paid 50g per egg. Per their guild roster, the guild splits the loot evenly—a cool 100 gold apiece.

The GM role-plays Master Underhill’s delight at this new addition to his menagerie. Master Underhill goes on to tell the guild about a rumor that he’s heard concerning a fallen star and star-daughter dwelling in the Underworld, and their purported wish-granting capabilities.

Because they fulfilled a contract, each guild member gains 1XP.

Step 5. Upkeep

GM: OK, you just got paid. What upkeep level is everybody going to get?

Alisander: I have some things I want to sell first.

GM: Sure.

During this step, each adventurer tries to liquidate their assets by selling them at the Omphalic Market.

Alisander: I have six rubies and some dire whale scrimshaw.

GM: Remind me where you got the rubies?

Alisander: From the elephant idol.

GM: Right, right.

The GM had noted the prices these treasures would bring in their notes, and quickly looks them up.

GM: OK, Alisander the scrimshaw goes for 20 gold and the gems are 30 gold each. That’s, uh…

Alisander: 200 gold.

GM: Thanks. Anybody else?

Weela: I want to sell the elephant idol.

GM: A merchant will give you 150 gold for it.

Lucind: What about this book I got? I’ll sell it.

GM: A bookseller appraises this as a modern volume merely meant to look ancient. She offers you 3 gold in a condescending way.

Lucind: Eh. I’ll just keep it. Maybe I can sell it to someone stupider later.

GM: OK. Upkeep?

Weela: Common.

Weela pays 50g for common upkeep. She refills her pack with items from the impoverished and common equipment lists.

Alisander: Alisander is flush with cash. He’s going to live the life of luxury that he’s accustomed to.

Alisander pays 100g. He refills his pack with anything from the Omphalic Market’s lists.

Lucind: I’m just going to save my money. I’m not spending anything on upkeep.

Alisander: I’ll pay for you if you want.

Lucind: No, that’s okay. I’m in pretty good shape, actually.

Lucind doesn’t pay anything so is destitute. She starts the next Crawl Phase Stressed and buys nothing during this phase.

Step 6. City Actions

GM: What City Actions does everybody do?

Weela has been cultivating a species of dream moths in the City. She has brought back some rare flowers that she wants to feed the dream caterpillars. This has been an ongoing Support action. The GM has (secretly) determined that hatching the dream moths requires six steps of Support.

Weela: I want to feed the flowers I found in the Spires to my dream caterpillar colony.

Using flowers found in the Underworld is clever, but the GM thinks that some gold should also be spent. They lower the cost of the Support action as a reward for the flowers.

GM: OK! Sure. The flowers are a good idea. You’ll also need to spend 10 gold for basic maintenance in terms of water, care, and space.

Weela pays the cost and adjusts her gold totals. The GM updates their notes that Weela has taken another Support step on her moth project.

Lucind: Because I’m destitute, I’ll Beg and Busk.

GM: What does that look like for you?

Lucind: Well, I’m primarily an academic, so I’m going to stand on the City’s squares and rant and rave about academic subjects.

Everybody has a pretty good laugh at this image. Weela and Alisander both have the ally Bond with Lucind, so Lucind’s player charges her Bonds with those two characters.

Lucind draws from the minor arcana deck and gets a Knight of Swords. Since knights have a value of 12, she adds her Wands 1 for a total of 13 gold in donations from her public performance.

GM: Alisander?

Alisander: I’m going to Prepare Components.

Alisander chooses the spells Brainfever, Control Undead, and Necromancy. He writes these components down on his adventurer sheet, with each component taking a slot.

Step 7. Plan the next Crawl

GM: OK, so everybody has their actions done. Uh, let’s see. You all meet back up at a tavern. Do you want to go back to the Rat Cellar?

Weela: Ha ha, yes yes.

GM: OK, you descend the familiar crumbling stairs down into the basement bar. You get your cups and pull yourself a draft of the terrible, licorice-smelling liquor called rat’s milk. The same unsavory characters as always are there—arm wrestling, getting in spitting contests. There’s a job board in the corner. A big rat is gnawing on the cork of the board. What do you all do?

Lucind: I go over, try and pet the rat, then read the job board.

The GM has pre-constructed a table of contracts. They draw 5 cards and read the corresponding contracts to the guild.

The guild role-plays together. None of the contracts sound particularly appetizing to them for one reason or another. They did not complete Alisander’s quest last Crawl, so they will continue pursuing that goal. They briefly discuss what they think their leads are. The guild decides to try to go towards the Sepulcher of Titans dungeon.

Step 8. Restock the Underworld

After the session, the GM opens up their notes document and goes into their random tables—specifically, their Meatgrinder table and their City Events table.

They delete the entries on the Meatgrinder table that have been drawn. After thinking a little about how the factions in the Underworld have changed because of the guild’s actions, they write some new Meatgrinder entries.

They delete the old City Event rumor about the star-daughter. They write a new rumor based on the Meatgrinder entries they just wrote.

The GM looks over their maps and makes sure they’re all up to date.

In general, the GM doesn’t create new “plot.” They just think about the environment and make notes about potentially interesting consequences that could arise from the adventurers’ actions.