Accursed: Bone and Barrow is for sale! Have some bonus material!

I think my part even got the cover illustration!

My latest piece of freelancing is now available for purchase! 

Accursed: Bone and Barrow is the final book to emerge from the Accursed: World of Morden Kickstarter. Expanding the setting beyond the brief region descriptions available in the core book, each World of Morden volume details two of the nations struggling to fight back against the conquering Witches. Bone and Barrow is split between setting creator Ross Watson's chapter on Cairn Kainen and my chapter on the Outlands.

From DriveThruRPG:

Bone and Barrow

Cairn Kainen and the Outlands were the first casualties of the Bane War. Neither could mount an effective defense against the Witch Armies, though for very different reasons. In both cases, their early collapses provided the Witches with the resources they needed to push the battle into Morden's other surviving nations. 

Now, both regions suffer under tyranny, long after the Witch Council dissolved. Hecate's Oubliette remains in the foothills of the Darkwall Peaks, and her banes prowl the Outlands. The Morrigan has made a new home in Blackroot Wode and collects a steady tithe of new souls to feed her cauldron.

Bone and Barrow provides additional information about the nation of Cairn Kainen and the Outlands that provide a barrier between the Darkwall Peaks and Morden's more stable nations.  It includes a broad range of different adventure hooks for GMs and players looking to explore these specific regions. It also introduces new banes as well as Hindrances and Edges specific to these cultures.

Accursed provides additional details about the setting used in this scenario, and is required to fully make use of the game mechanics presented. Savage Worlds and the Savage Worlds Horror Companion are also required. 

Bone and Barrow is a really special project for me. If Savage Insider was where I broke in and Steamscapes: Asia was my big break (HUGE!), then Bone and Barrow is the project that let me know I really made it. It was a blast unraveling the threads Ross and John Dunn wove the original Outlands description out of, weaving in my own ideas, and finishing a chapter they both enthusiastically approved (and which required minimal editing). I would eagerly return to write for Accursed again.

In fact, I enjoyed the project so much, I overwrote by a few hundred words. Therefore, to celebrate the book's release, here's some bonus material I couldn't fit into my word count!

from the Seaharrow section

Child of War [Minor}

The Bane War lasted for decades. Some children were born into the war, growing to maturity and dying in battle without ever knowing a day of peace. Some of these children even became Accursed.

A character with the Child of War Hindrance may be the child of foreign mercenaries or of native Morden blood. As long as he can remember, he has held a weapon in his hands, slept in the caves of refugees or the trenches of soldiers, and dined amidst the dead and dying. He is an outsider among outsiders – uneasy with open laughter, unwilling to make friends, unable to accept peace.

The character suffers a -2 penalty to Charisma. This penalty can stack with the penalty from Outsider or the optional penalty imposed on all Accursed when dealing with normal humans. 

from the Riverspring section

Riverspring Hindrance

Ash Sickness [Minor]

The ash juniper is an evergreen tree pervasive throughout Riverspring and spreading far into the surrounding lands. While its berries are used for flavoring distilled alcohols and pickled cabbage, the tree is generally considered pernicious because of how quickly it grows and the disease it brings. The Springfolk burned the forests to keep the ash juniper away from their villages, but the devastation of the Bane War means the tree now grows rampant everywhere.

From early autumn to late spring, the fine, ash-like pollen of the juniper hangs heavy in the air of Riverspring. Characters who suffer from ash sickness must make a Vigor roll every day they are exposed or gain a level of Fatigue. A dose of the Alchemical power rejuvenating draft banishes the Fatigue for an entire day. 

from the Deepshadow section

The Legend of the Lingerer

Some say that only five hundred ninety-nine Shadow Riders died during their last charge. One knight – rumored to be the youngest scion of the mac Cavendish clan – lingered in bed with her sweetheart, reluctant to go to her death. She arrived on the battlefield in time to see her companions swallowed by the fog, but reached the enemy too late to join them. Instead, she was captured by Hecate’s forces and transformed into a Shade.

The Lingerer survived the Bane War and won her freedom. The Lingerer has utterly embraced her Witchmark, becoming a wrathful specter riding a ghostly pale horse. Now she hunts her former companions across the blighted plains of Deepshadow, bringing justice to the quick and the dead.

Deepshadow Edge

Swift Tracker

Requirements: Seasoned, Riding d6+ or Survival 6+, Tracking d6+

Years in the saddle chasing bandits or following wild wisnetski herds have taught this character how to keep a sharp eye out while on the move. Watching for dust clouds and listening for vibrations in the earth allow the hero to follow a trail for at least five miles before needing to make another Tracking roll.  

It's pretty cool to see monsters I made up illustrated so deftly!