The Road is Dark & Full of Terrors

In this dark fantasy, you play weary travelers seeking shelter on the road. You arrive at the gates of Glenluce, a small village in the swamps of Merovia. You've encountered strange creatures roaming the land and suffered losses. The scent of fresh bread whets your appetite; the road has been long and full of hardship. A wizened watchman peers over the gate, torch in hand, and asks: "Have you been bitten?"

A Mysterious Plague...

Spreads through the Village of Glenluce

Monsters in Merovia centers on the town Glenluce, the source of a mysterious plague that turns its townsfolk into ghouls. Each of the PCs is randomly assigned a secret motivation, known only to the player. You must discover who is behind the infection before it's too late, while uncovering dark secrets of necromantic experiments, occult rituals, and facing hordes undead.

Who Can You Trust...

When the Monsters Are Inside You?

As the danger increases, you receive stress tokens whenever you're affected by the infection; some points of interaction are obvious (a bite! witnessing a horror) but others, the GM keeps secret. Take three tokens, and you fall victim to the plague. Meanwhile, every leader in the town becomes a suspect, as you discover details of their sordid history. Who can you trust in this dark time? Can you even trust your friends?

A Self-Contained Adventure...

Full of Quiet Horror and Lurking Mystery

Monsters in Merovia supports multiple playthroughs: the GM decides who the villain is randomly at the start of the adventure, which sets the stage for the tenor of the mystery. You can run Monsters as a side quest in a larger A Quest of Queens campaign, or a short that's playable in a few sessions.

Who Will You Be?

The Debt

You’re looking for someone who stole from you on the road. What did they take? What do you owe them?

The Cure

You want to cure the disease the monsters spread. Who did you lose on the road? Why do you love them?

The Ransom

Someone close to you was kidnapped by monsters on the road. Who did they take? Why must you find them?

The Fear

You were bitten by a monster on the road. Your gnarly wound grows worse with time. Tell no one.

The Power

You heard of an ancient artifact of great power on the road. Why must you have it? What do you believe it can do?

The Oath

You’ve been away from home a long time on the road. Why did you leave home, and why have you
returned?

Where will you go?

Each location in Monsters in Merovia constitutes a scene in the adventure.

The Tavern

The barmaid Lala offers you a place to sleep.

The Church

The druid Stahl conducts a sermon.

The Bakery

Millner Faolagan offers you fresh bread.

The Docks

The merchant Karn sells potions and poultice.

The Constabulary

Constable Jacob manages the sick in the village jail.

The Old Mill

The grindstone faithfully churns the grain.

About Stress Tokens

When you encounter a horror, you must make a horror check or else accrue 1 stress. Similarly, direct interaction with the plague accumulates stress. Once you accrue 3 stress, you lose control of your character as the disease takes hold.

You can discard stress tokens if you or the GM invoke the token to apply a -2 to your roll. Such invocation represents your attempt to shake off the effects of the plague, or the way in which it has begun to transform you into a ghoul.

Making Horror Checks

Here, the stench of death is overwhelming, yet the sick are not yet dead, their flesh suspended on emaciated skulls as the disease warps what little semblance of life remains.

Make a horror check (TN 9, Deft): “They were once men.” The attribute is Deft, because you’re trying to empathize with the reality that these people are sick and not yet monsters.

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