GAME DESIGN Giuliano Roverato and Rodrigo Melchior LOGO DESIGN Bruno Sabino GRAPHIC AND EDITORIAL DESIGN Tatyane Frankalino ILLUSTRATION Silva João and Lucas Waroshi CARTOGRAPHY Alex Damaceno EDITING PLAYTEST PROJECT MANAGEMENT Vitor B J Mattos “Maik” Rafael Giovanini, Gustavo Nassar, Koi Sugahara, Kim Sugahara, Helo Fazani, Jubs Zabelatto, Michele Melo, Thiago Escobar and Ítalo “Diabo” Guimarães Matthew Sanders and Zachary Cox 03 PLAYING THE GAME 02 Tests and Dice 47 Special Rolls 49 Attributes 51 Skills 52 Stamina 54 Menaces 54 Combat 56 Spellcasting 59 Background Impairments 35 and Healing 61 Gear 36 Cooking 63 The World 10 Shop 38 Growth 65 The Game 12 Finish Line 45 Zenith Specials 66 CHARACTER CREATION 01 WHAT’S GOING ON? Attributes 16 Origins 17 Vocations 21 Qualities 34 04 05 RUNNING THE GAME BESTIARY Arguments and Rulings 70 Preparing a Session Mermaids 88 71 Observer 89 Guará 90 Example Sessions Prep 72 Boars 91 Quick NPCs 74 Capymera 92 Quick Locations 77 Rubber Dragon 93 Quick Adventures 81 Quick Islands 83 Travelling around the Archipelago 84 The QU 06 ZANDOR’S MANSE 94 Adventure Blue Coral Grab 95 Time 101 Butter Construct 104 96 Porcini Goblins 97 Cinnamon Mist Weather 85 Skeletons Ectoplasm Zandor Arrives and Ending 105 98 Map 107 01 8 Brave Zenith WHAT’S GOING ON? Your journey starts here. The book you now hold in your hypothetical hands is a Roleplaying Game (RPG), which is like playing make believe with friends, but following some rules. To actually play the game, you will need some friends, a bunch of six sided dice (preferably 2 per player), the character sheet at the back of this book and some writing tools. One player takes the role of the Referee, describing the world and its inhabitants to the Players, which in turn say how they interact with said world. Repeat ad nauseum. In these first chapters we will present you to the world of Brave Zenith and go over on how to create a character, also known as an Adventurer. For those taking the role of referee, the latter half of the book is filled to the brim with information to help you run the game. All rules text in this game are suggestions. You and your group are free to make any changes. Don’t be afraid of ruining anything or going against some repository of canonical lore, the game was designed with all of that in mind. WHAT’S GOING ON? Brave Zenith 9 THE WORLD The world ended a long time ago. Not that anyone cares about how that happened. The only clue people have is the reality-bending mist that has spread throughout the world, birthing monsters, dungeons and making the weather absolutely unpredictable --sometimes it rains blood, other times blackholes just pop into existence and time has a tendency to break. The location where the game is set is called the Archipelago, a chain of islands surrounded by a colossal coral wall, which keeps most of the mist outside and stabilizes the weather inside. You won’t find a lot more information about the Archipelago or the Second City in this book. This is by design. Inspire yourself by looking at the gaps purposefully left in these pages. Look at the map, interpret what you read and make connections. There are no right or wrong answers here. The Archipelago 10 Brave Zenith WHAT’S GOING ON? Outside the Archipelago there are thousands of islands, suffering under the effects of the Mist. Each is unique and players are encouraged to make up their own island of origin and populate the world. So, where did your character come from? Why did they come to the Archipelago? The Second City is the center of commerce of the Archipelago, it is where people go to become adventurers and to seek a better life. The Princes of Commerce – seven enigmatic hooded figures each responsible for a type of good that comes into the city, and a day of the week – have been slowly spreading their influence across the Archipelago, reintroducing the concept of coin (and thus debt) back into the world. To better connect each island, a water railway has been built by order of the Princes, offering passage to each of the four great regions of the Archipelago. Fresh adventurers are given a chance to try their luck in one such region called the Mangual, an island filled with mangroves, fishing villages built atop dancing stilts and lots of folks down on their luck. The Reef is another region of the Archipelago, an idyllic alien paradise and the source of most of the coral used throughout the world. Spas, temples and arguably the best food around can all be found inside vast shells left behind by even vaster creatures. The Sprawl is the place to go if you want a literal piece of the past. Looking for technobaubles? The latest in urban fashion and art? A quick way below the sea? Then you have to visit the skyscraper bazaars of the Sprawl. Just make sure not to look down. At the very center of the Archipelago lies the Continent: a region so deep into the Mist that very few have had a chance to explore it. Unbelievable treasures and monsters are sure to be found there, in its concretine bunkers and elegiac remnants of the past. WHAT’S GOING ON? All these regions can serve as starting points or eventual goals for the Adventurers. Decide together what kind of adventures you want to go on and where! Remember that although there is a lot of modern technology and ruins around, 99.9% of folks either can’t understand it or just don’t care about it. They have reinterpreted these objects into fantasy elements. A satellite dish is a shield. A fallen fighter jet is the old bones of the True Dragons. Brave Zenith 11 The Second City THE GAME When you sit down to play, that is when the group of adventurers gets together to go on an adventure. There is no need for dramatic reasons for doing so: no matter how much silver a character accrues, they are always in debt. Could be from gambling, a fine, or for just existing: debt is complete bullshit and that is by the Princes’ design: no matter how big a hoard you find, there will always be a new tax, arcane interest rates or pointless bureaucracy to make you indebted again. 12 Brave Zenith WHAT’S GOING ON? The adventures themselves are closer to odd jobs than epic quests. You are more likely to be searching for lost cats, cleaning houses or hunting ghosts, than to be delving into tombs or saving the world. Always start playing at the beginning of the adventure, as in the location players need to be. All the prep and meeting each other stuff has already happened, so get to the meat of the game as fast as you can. Ideally, at the end of the session, the players are all returning to a nice cozy tavern, to share a drink and rest. Start late, finish early. Despite having a rank system, characters don’t grow to absurd power levels so that even a rank 1 adventurer can hold their own with a rank 5 adventurer. This is done so characters and players can drop in and out of totally different groups without having to “balance” things. It is also important to say that when adventurers get together, they are on the same team. Making a character that doesn’t want to adventure or that just wants to be annoying and disruptive for no good reason is very counterintuitive. Only villains do that. You will also notice that this game was designed with a very specific worldview in mind, one in which capitalism sucks, Nazis are meant to be killed, all cops are bad, and any form of bigotry is forbidden. If this bothers you, guess what: this game is not for you! WHAT’S GOING ON? Looking for inspiration for adventures? Think of mundane things: visiting a far away friend, going shopping for someone, cleaning up a house, helping a friend move out, home sitting, protesting, stealing from the rich, punching nazis, etc. Then make that stuff weird and put a fantasy spin on it. You are cleaning up the interior of a magic lamp, which belongs to a Soul Stealing Genie. If you need a place, take abandoned locations from your city and throw them in a fantasy world. You would be surprised by how much a hospital or a weird local fast-food restaurant is just like a dungeon! Otherwise, check the referee section for more examples and guidelines. Brave Zenith 13 02 14 Brave Zenith CHARACTER CREATION Adventurers Although anyone can be one, there are a few things that are true to all adventurers in Brave Zenith. They are: - Brave. They can keep going when most people would have already given up. - Ambitious. They dream of a better future for everyone. This is what keeps them going against the grain. - Hard to kill. Despite death being final down in the Archipelago, adventurers always find a way to see another sunrise. - Struggling. Most of them are people who, in some way, shape or form, don’t conform to the rules of society. - In debt, seeking all manner of jobs in an attempt to make ends meet. No matter how much silver they get, they will never rise beyond their station in this rigged system. Thankfully most folks in the Archipelago are nice. It may sound harsh, but nothing beats a night at the inn surrounded by laughter and friends. You are going to have a great time. LET’S LET’S GO! GO! CHARACTER CREATION Brave Zenith 15 ATTRIBUTES To start, choose f rom one of the sets of numbers below, then assign each number, in any order, to one of the three attributes in the character sheet. 4, 2, 1 3, 3, 1 3, 2, 2 These are the steps necessary to create an adventurer in Brave Zenith: 1. Determine your attributes. 2. Choose an Origin. Attributes: 3. Choose a Vocation. STEEL 4. Determine your 2 starting qualities. If you need to hurt someone, protect yourself or intimidate, Steel is what you need. 5. Choose your Background. 6. Grab some extra gear. 7. Add the finishing touches. VEILS Illegal stuff, trickery, gambling and an overall disregard for the law, all that stuff is better done under the thin Veil of the night. HEART To connect to the invisible powers of magic , to be empathic, to survive in a world where you are not welcome, one needs a strong Heart. Don’t worry about making mistakes. There are no attribute requirements anywhere in the game. 16 Brave Zenith CHARACTER CREATION ORIGINS The Archipelago is full of diverse surprises, there is more than just humans going about their business down here. The descriptions for each origin are on the next page, but they are not monolithic, same as how not every single human is exactly alike or has the same culture. Since the world of Brave Zenith is composed of a myriad of different isles, try to come up with the place you hail from. What’s the culture like? What’s the cuisine like? Your favorite spot? This will help flesh out your character (and the world). If you don’t like any of the options, create your own. Do you want to be a dog? Go for it. A goblin? Why not! CHARACTER CREATION The origins available in this book are: 1. Humans The most common origin found. They love hobbies and ideologies. 2. Catfolk Tall as kids, these talking cats can squeeze into tight spots and can cook a mean meal. 3. Jellies Stretchy and colorful, they are the most socially awkward and the least common origin. They like storing stuff inside their bodies. Brave Zenith 17 Humans Humans The most common origin around the Archipelago, humans are more prevalent than the flu. And are probably depressed. Or anxious. Or both. Oh my, they are a mess, aren’t they? What ties every human together is their love for hobbies and ideologies. In a world that is as chaotic as the Archipelago, people have grown attached to their hobbies as a way to ground themselves in reality. So it is not weird to see a human boasting about their weird niche hobby no one knows about. Humans also tend to create ideologies, sets of ideals that guide their actions and attempt to change the world. Due to that, humans frown upon the idea of someone that is impartial or “above all that stuff”. 18 Brave Zenith CHARACTER CREATION Catfolk Catfolk When the world ended, cats started talking and walking. Aside from that, nothing really changed. They love shiny things, can jump pretty high, are stupidly cute, they like to throw things off tables, to squeeze into impossible spaces and shapes and to sleep. With opposing thumbs also came their love for cooking. Cats are known to have both created a lot of the popular recipes around the Archipelago and to have developed systems of mutual aid when it comes to food sourcing. Before the Princes of the Red Bazaar came, hunger wasn’t a word people knew. This also means catfolk will never turn a meal away from themselves or from someone that needs it. CHARACTER CREATION Brave Zenith 19 Jellies Jellies One day, f rom the cracks in the walls, the jellies spewed out. No one knows where they came from, not even themselves. Theories say the came from a giant sea urchin from beneath the earth, the literal blood of a dying creature brought to life. The reality is that jellies are the most recent goofy and wobbly creature to populate the Archipelago, their ability to change shapes and properties of their flesh is a curiosity to the whole world. Due to their recent arrival, jellies are unburdened by tradition and social norms, often being found at the forefront of innovation, especially in arts. 20 Brave Zenith CHARACTER CREATION VOCATIONS Next up you will find a selection of vocations, which will determine most mechanical aspects of your character, like stamina, skills, special abilities and starting gear. Treat them as suggestions: feel free to replace an item for something else or even move skill points around. You can read more about skills and (other game terms) in the next chapter. The vocations available in this book are: 1 Freelancer Hitting stuff up close and personal. Can’t do much else. 2 Mixologist Mixer of concoctions, heals and creates weird grog. Great listeners. 3 Thief The name says it all. Hide, pick some locks, make disguises and steal stuff! 4 Magic User Making your own vocations? The basic guidelines are to have between 4 and 8 Stamina, 4 skill points, an ability that allows the player some form of interpretation (giving an adjective to a mixologist’s grog for example), an ability that makes them gain stress and a goofy ability that always works. As you can probably tell, not all vocations in the book follow these rules, so break the system as much as you like. You may also notice that a lot of vocations have incredibly powerful abilities, so you don’t have to worry about balance when creating new ones. Cast spells! Wear a cool hat! Probably explode! 5 Hunter Nature freaks that hunt dangerous monsters. They have a cute animal companion and poisonous glands. Nasty! 6 Dancer Tune in to the secret rhythm of the world, let your body take control and dance away from danger. Groovy. CHARACTER CREATION Brave Zenith 21 Freelancer Freelancer Underpaid and overworked, a sword arm is always in high demand around the Archipelago. These former warmasters are trying to find their way (and themselves) into a peaceful world, their swords still heavy with regret. Just make sure to pay them on time. 22 Brave Zenith CHARACTER CREATION SKILLS THRESH + STEEL STOMACH + STEEL AUTHORITY + STEEL PROTEIN + STEEL BREACH + VEILS CIRCUS + VEILS TRICKERY + VEILS MERCHANT + VEILS SHIVERS + HEART NATURE + HEART EMPATHY + HEART DRAMA + HEART DEFENSE STAMINA EQUIPMENT ARMOR 8 2 MAX CURRENT Serrated Sword Freelance Jacket (1 armor) Improvised Shield (1 armor) Helmet (negate 1 wound, once) FREELANCE SPECIAL One More! Whenever you roll a 6 during an attack, you get to attack again. Breathing Technique: You can heal yourself by gaining a point of stress during a dangerous situation. You also become ripped, tearing a piece of clothing of your choice. CHARACTER CREATION Brave Zenith 23 Mixologist Mixologist A good drink can cure a lot of ailments, and pharmacists are expensive. Mixologists travel the Archipelago in search of the rarest ingredients, aiding those they can with their wondrous drinks and poignant anecdotes. They can probably outdrink anyone under the table too. 24 Brave Zenith CHARACTER CREATION SKILLS THRESH + STEEL STOMACH + STEEL AUTHORITY + STEEL PROTEIN + STEEL BREACH + VEILS CIRCUS + VEILS TRICKERY + VEILS MERCHANT + VEILS SHIVERS + HEART NATURE + HEART EMPATHY + HEART DRAMA + HEART DEFENSE STAMINA EQUIPMENT ARMOR 6 0 MAX Unbreakable Grog Bottle A Handy Glass Portable Keg CURRENT MIXOLOGIST SPECIAL Grog: Your finest vintage and favorite concoction. Choose an adjective for your Grog, it now possesses that property (a spicy grog may mean it is literally on fire). It has a number of doses equal to your Heart*2 and is refilled during a long rest. When you refill your grog, you may also change it’s adjective. It works like a Potion. Good Listener: You can receive points of stress from other characters by listening to their woes. Professional Drunk: You can’t get drunk, unless you want to. CHARACTER CREATION Brave Zenith 25 Thief Thief Real thieves don’t take well to the name and reputation of their vocation, after all, stealing is only stealing if you get caught. What thieves do is more akin to wealth redistribution, taking from those with far too much and sharing it around. So what if they have to break a few locks and bones to do that? 26 Brave Zenith CHARACTER CREATION SKILLS THRESH + STEEL STOMACH + STEEL AUTHORITY + STEEL PROTEIN + STEEL BREACH + VEILS CIRCUS + VEILS TRICKERY + VEILS MERCHANT + VEILS SHIVERS + HEART NATURE + HEART EMPATHY + HEART DRAMA + HEART DEFENSE STAMINA 6 EQUIPMENT ARMOR 1 MAX CURRENT Crowbar A Lot of Keys (1 armor) Spyglass Makeup Kit THIEF SPECIAL Forgery Expert: You can make a perfect copy of anything you steal. You can also make a perfect key out of any lock you break. Disguise Master: You can create a disguise by using your makeup kit. You gain a point of stress whenever you lie while in disguise. Toolmaster: You can gain a point of stress to find a tool you need in your backpack, as if it was always there. CHARACTER CREATION Brave Zenith 27 Magic Magic User User Magic-users are those curious little bastards that went ahead and messed with the fabric of reality. The ones that survived, that is. Magic is tricky and hats are obligatory. It’s a union thing. 28 Brave Zenith CHARACTER CREATION SKILLS THRESH + STEEL STOMACH + STEEL AUTHORITY + STEEL PROTEIN + STEEL BREACH + VEILS CIRCUS + VEILS TRICKERY + VEILS MERCHANT + VEILS SHIVERS + HEART NATURE + HEART EMPATHY + HEART DRAMA + HEART DEFENSE STAMINA EQUIPMENT ARMOR 4 0 MAX Custom Staff Robes Spell of your choice CURRENT MAGIC USER SPECIAL Magic: Choose a school of magic (elemental, food, illusion or plant) and name up to two spells of your choice that belong to it. Names are always two words, like “bungee gum” or “control fire”. The full rules for using spells are found on page 57. The Sight: You can gain a point of stress to see beyond the physical realm. This allows you to see through walls, see in the dark, understand anything written down or to sense the flow of magic in the air. It lasts until you make a test or until the session ends. CHARACTER CREATION Brave Zenith 29 Hunter Hunter The Archipelago is full of monsters, from laser beam firing floating sea urchins to giant crabs ready to crack open your skull. And the only thing worse than the monsters is a Hunter with a big gun. 30 Brave Zenith CHARACTER CREATION SKILLS THRESH + STEEL STOMACH + STEEL AUTHORITY + STEEL PROTEIN + STEEL BREACH + VEILS CIRCUS + VEILS TRICKERY + VEILS MERCHANT + VEILS SHIVERS + HEART NATURE + HEART EMPATHY + HEART DRAMA + HEART DEFENSE STAMINA EQUIPMENT ARMOR 6 0 MAX CURRENT Rifle with bayonet (broken) Ghillie suit Poisoned bubblegum Animal Companion of your choice HUNTER SPECIAL Animal Companion: You have a tiny animal companion that hangs out on your shoulder. You can gain a point of Stress to see the world through their eyes until you take a rest. Poison Glands: You have drunk the blood of a monster. Choose a type of poison: emetic, deadly or sleeping. You are immune to that type of poison and anything you lick becomes coated in it. CHARACTER CREATION Brave Zenith 31 Dancer Dancer You are a vessel for the world’s soul, it is through your body that its heart beat manifests. Feel the rhythm, react to things beyond sight, feel even the slightest vibration in the air, dance to music no one else can hear. 32 Brave Zenith CHARACTER CREATION SKILLS THRESH + STEEL STOMACH + STEEL AUTHORITY + STEEL PROTEIN + STEEL BREACH + VEILS CIRCUS + VEILS TRICKERY + VEILS MERCHANT + VEILS SHIVERS + HEART NATURE + HEART EMPATHY + HEART DRAMA + HEART DEFENSE STAMINA EQUIPMENT ARMOR 4 0 MAX Synthetic fur cloak A pair of tie-dye goggles Dance Style of your choice CURRENT DANCER SPECIAL Dance Styles: Your moves are deadly. Name your style and what type of weapon it stands for (sword, spear, dagger, etc…). Uncanny Tango: You can gain a point of Stress to instinctively dodge any form of physical harm. Psychometry: You know the history of any object you touch. CHARACTER CREATION Brave Zenith 33 QUALITIES Qualities are the things that make your character unique, be it factions they belong to, a particular set of skills, hobbies, personality traits, physical qualities or even their Origin. They are written right next to an Attribute on your character sheet and can be used to gain another die in tests, when they are relevant. At this point you will choose 2 Qualities, which can be anything you want. We recommend starting with your Origin and Vocation, but instead of just writing “Human” or “Magic User”, try to think in which way these things materialize into Qualities And maybe you don’t want to use any of those, in that case anything goes: bald, divorced, fashionista, celebrity, unremarkable, perpetually angry, depressed, great hugger, darkvision, undead, energy vampire, pastry chef, blind, vegan, etc... The most important thing to remember is to try to be as specific as you can, broad qualities can work but they tend to be boring. Skills and Connections serve the purpose of being broad and “generic”, so please go wild with Qualities. As to which Attribute a Quality should be associated with, that is 100% up to you. There are no wrong choices here and there is no need to make this decision right now, just keep it in mind as you play and try to incorporate things about your character into Qualities. Examples: Humans are known for their love of ideology, so why not write down “Communism” as one of your Qualities? Magic Users are widely regarded as big nerds, so perhaps you could write “Big Nerd” as one of your qualities. As a Thief you might belong to a guild of thieves, so why not write down the name of said institution. You never know when a specific contact will come in handy. Jellies have stretchy limbs. Maybe they can use that to cook? Or to pickpocket? Notes on Qualities Despite what their name might imply, you don’t have to put all of your Qualities on your highest Attributes. It might be a good idea to leave some for the lower ones, to help you in troubling situations. It is also important to point out that all Qualities are positive. They will never come into play to hinder you. If they are not relevant, they simply aren’t used. 34 Brave Zenith CHARACTER CREATION BACKGROUND Backgrounds say how your character is connected to the world, what group of people they grew up with and what they know about the world. There are 6 backgrounds, each representing a broad faction found in the world of Brave Zenith. Having a background means you know how to talk to this type of people, you know how they work, where they hang out and so on. They may be also used as a “macro” Quality, whenever your Background is relevant, you may attempt tests with an extra die. Proletariat The working class, the common folk, the breaker of chains, the communists, the anarchists and all things in between. Adventuring guilds and unions are contained within. They know folks in the streets, the best bars, how to topple organizations and so on. The Law The local guards, authority figures and all professions related to the practice of law. They know about the inner workings of the law and how to abuse it. As the name implies, Backgrounds pertain to the past of your character, not who they are right now. A Thief does not necessarily need to have a criminal background. Maybe they were raised in a circus? But why then did they become a Thief? The juxtaposition between your Vocation, Origin and Background choices, will create interesting questions for you to answer during play as you justify their use. A Bourgeoisie Jelly Freelancer is very different from an Esoteric Jelly Freelancer. Criminals Self explanatory. Anyone that lives off crime or is in direct opposition to the Law. Thieves guilds, crooks and charlatans are all found within. They know where to find a fence and shortcuts, where to get forgery material and drugs, where to dump a body and so on. Bourgeoisie Commerce in all of its forms, the invisible hand of the market and all of its awful cultists. They know the inner workings of capitalism and its branches, such as advertising and marketing. CHARACTER CREATION Brave Zenith 35 Esoterics All the professions rejected by social norms, people who embrace worldviews and beliefs that go against the status quo. They know about religions, medicine and philosophy. Artists Craftspeople of all walks of life, be it drama, glassblowing or music, all are here to explore and expand the world of art. They know about the art industry, where to get the best supplies and gauge the value of a piece. The choice of factions here represents one vision for the world of Brave Zenith. So if you want to use the system to play in a world of your choosing, I’d recommend changing the backgrounds (or creating new ones) to reflect that. When making up new backgrounds, think of broad factions in your world that have some sort of specialized knowledge. Remember that more specific factions (and their memberships) are better represented with qualities. GEAR You will now receive 3 trinkets and some money to get you started. Roll once on each table to figure out what you get: All of your stuff goes into the Backpack section of your character sheet, which can fit as much stuff as you can write. 1 Red Chalk (glows in the dark) 2 Soap Brick 3 Monkey Oil 4 20 Dried Bees 5 Red Amber Sunglasses 6 Portable Camera (no film) Silver Pieces are the standard currency found across the Archipelago, and they look just like old arcade tokens. 36 Brave Zenith CHARACTER CREATION Equipment is all the stuff that you have ready at your hand. Things in the backpack require some extra time to get out. 1 Spider Silk Rope (10m.) 2 A Really Poisonous Sea Urchin 3 Copper Wire (200m) 4 Vial of Squid Ink 5 Laser Pointer 6 Kerosene Lantern 1 Snuff Tin (6 doses) 2 Trained Parrot 3 Oversized Frying Pan 4 Cheap Perfume 5 Wheel of Smelly Cheese 6 Folding Pool Cue Some of the trinkets can be weird and their functionality not clear, but that is by design. You are open to interpret how each one of them works. Although weapons and armor are a “big deal”, that doesn’t mean combat is the solution to everything. They get a bigger description to make things fairer and funner when engaging in combat. But you really shouldn’t get into fights, they are super dangerous! Talking is cool too, you know? Then, roll up how much money you got: 2D6 + 20 Silver Pieces (SP) And that’s that! You can use the money you just rolled to purchase items on the next pages, but this step is optional. Weapons and armor can be used as a framework for other pieces of gear. Just because there isn’t a two handed hammer on the next pages, doesn’t mean it is not possible to have one. Simply take a similar weapon and use its stats and description. Ammunition for ranged weapons is bought only once and is slotted into the Equipment section. As long as it is there, you have ammunition for your weapon. CHARACTER CREATION Brave Zenith 37 SHOP Leather Jacket (1 armor, 25 SP) The standard for f reelancers, this type of protective armor is highly popular among adventurers in general. Customizing your jacket is a must: what sort of patches do you have? What material is it made of? All of that can say a lot about the adventurer wearing it. Sea urchin ceramic plate (2 armor, 500 SP) One of the most modern types of armor available on the Archipelago, this plate armor uses all 100% natural ingredients, fresh from the sea. It is also very cumbersome, requiring 3 Equipment slots to be worn. The spikes can be used as weapons of their own. 38 Brave Zenith CHARACTER CREATION Shield (1 armor, 50 SP) A relic from a less sophisticated age, shields are a favorite of adventurers that like to get in close and personal. Whenever you have a shield you may choose to take a hit for a close-by friend. Helmet (40 SP) Anything can be a helmet with a little bit of creativity, and adventurers on the Archipelago have embraced that wholeheartedly. Aside f rom the obvious b e n e f i t s a g a i n s t fa l l i n g objects, you can have a helmet be destroyed to not receive a point of Wounds. CHARACTER CREATION Brave Zenith 39 Two Handed Sword (100 SP) Hefty blades made f rom the bones of fallen dragons that are used by the most skilled (and sometimes foolish) adventurers. Two handed swords require 2 Equipment slots to be worn. You can attack up to 3 targets at once in an arc. Plank (10 SP) The most common weapon around the Archipelago. Stupidly simple to make. Simply effective. When you succeed in attacking someone with a Plank and you roll doubles, you may choose to stun your target. Stunned targets don’t get to act until their next turn. 40 Brave Zenith CHARACTER CREATION Blue Coral Dagger (20 SP) Made from the coral found in the great reefs around the Second City, these daggers are known to never lose their edge. They also vibrate when near drinking water. Ashen Pine Spear (50 SP) Using a special type of wood found on the island of Pyragora, the blades on these spears are able to become white-hot in a matter of seconds. Their versatility and sheer illuminating power make these a favorite among adventurers. CHARACTER CREATION Brave Zenith 41 Custom Staff (55 SP) Every magic user has a unique approach to their staff, but the end product often reflects their preferred school of magic. Magic users can use them to counter spells, launch specialized bolts of magic (by using Shivers) and cause generalized havoc. Breaking a staff causes it to explode. Be careful! GEAR TABLE 10 SP Red Chalk (glows in the dark) Gaming Dice Soap Brick Black Pepper Monkey Oil Box of Matches Copper Wire (200m) Bottle of Firewater Spider Silk Rope (20m) 42 Brave Zenith CHARACTER CREATION Pinball Gun (35 SP) Although called a gun, these weapons do not use any type of gunpowder. Rather they harness the mechanical prowess of the eldritch pinball machines of yore. Pinball guns may either use pinballs or sea urchin spikes as ammunition. When they fire, they make a really obnoxious sound. Ammunition goes into equipment slots, as long as it’s there, you can shoot. GEAR TABLE 15 SP Pinballs Butter Sea Urchin Spikes Sack of Marbles Kerosene Lantern Crowbar Squid Ink Rations (1 day) Oversized Frying Pan CHARACTER CREATION Brave Zenith 43 SERVICES TABLE Night at a cheap drinking hole 5 SP All you can eat buffet 10 SP Room at a fancy Inn 15 SP Night out drinking 25 SP Room at a prestigious hotel 100 SP Doctor (heals 1 scar) 500 SP TRANSPORTATION TABLE Tuco-Tuco (bird mount) 50 SP to rent/ 500 SP to buy Your very own Swoop 3500 SP Water Train Fare to any region of the archipelago 50 SP Barely Functioning Submarine 7000 SP Two way ship passage to any island 250 SP Ancient Airship 10000 SP PROPERTY TABLE A small shack 750 SP Modest house 1500 SP Fancy apartment 2500 SP 44 Brave Zenith Permanent reside at a fancy hotel 3500 SP Underwater Sea Urchin Base 5000 SP You very own Spire 7500 SP CHARACTER CREATION FINISH LINE We are almost there! All that is left is to pick a name (if you haven’t already) and talk about Menaces. You can name your character anything you want, but our suggestion is to pick something simple and memorable. Your friends are more likely to remember Porkchop the jelly freelancer, than Kniphtris O’amero, noble elf of the city of stars. Keep it punchy and natural. The final thing you have to do is to set up the limits of your Menaces. As you play the game, they will rise and make your life that much harder, but how much they can rise before you are in trouble is determined by your Attributes. Each menace is connected to an attribute: Wounds represent how hurt you are. When it reaches its limit you pass out and must be healed, or else you die! If you survive you get a cool-looking scar tho. Stress represents the mental toll of adventuring and magic. When it reaches its limit, you become stressed out and must make tests with only one dice. The limit for each menace is equal to your attribute, so if you have a Steel of 4, the maximum value your Wounds can get to is also 4. Cross out the ones you are not going to use. See the example below: You are now ready for adventure! The next pages will delve deeper into the rules of the game, and how it all comes together. Beyond that, the rest of the book is made with the Referee in mind. Steel - Wounds Heart - Stress ATTRIBUTES Have fun! STEEL 3 VEILS MENACES WOUNDS 3 HEART STRESS 1 CHARACTER CREATION Brave Zenith 45 03 46 Brave Zenith PLAYING THE GAME Rules and you We will now go over the main mechanics of Brave Zenith, how and when you roll dice, what all those things in your character sheet actually mean, how to grow, how to heal and how to cook a meal: all the things an adventurer needs to know will be found ahead. If you are playing the game, knowing these rules will help you greatly, but it’s not a requirement for playing. Having a character and a referee that is familiar with the rules is more than enough. It is important to point out once again that, if you don’t like any of the rules, feel free to change them or just not use them. If you feel like a rule is missing, make it up. This is your game now. Finally, try to avoid checking up on the rules during play. Agree on something as a group and keep playing. Rules are dumb, chatting with friends is funner. PLAYING THE GAME Brave Zenith 47 TESTS AND DICE The main mechanic in Brave Zenith is called the Test. Whenever you are doing something that is particularly dangerous or that failure would cause an interesting outcome, you make a test. To succeed in a test, roll two six sided dice (2D6), add a relevant Attribute + Skill and try to get a total value equal to or higher than the Challenge Rating (CR). 2D6 + Attribute + Skill >= CR There are always 3 possible outcomes to tests in Brave Zenith: A measure of how tough a test is. The default value is 10. The referee sets the rating, but players can (and should) argue for lower ratings. The general guidelines are as follows: 8 - Easy 10 - Baseline Sucess 12 - Hard equal to or higher than CR 14 - Extreme What you were attempting to do succeeds brilliantly. Reap the most obvious benefits of your actions. Partial Sucess 1 or 2 points below CR Success with a consequence. You accomplish what you set out to do, but you pay a price, either by putting yourself in a disadvantageous situation (get left behind, fall down, lose an item, etc.) or by gaining a Menace (Wounds or Stress). Failure 3 or more points below CR What you were attempting to do fails miserably. Suffer the most obvious consequences of your actions. 48 Challenge Rating Brave Zenith Let’s say the player rolled differently in the previous example. +5=9 9 < 10 (partial success) Since the result was 1 point below the CR, we have a partial success. The player succeeds with a consequence: They break the door but end up hurting themselves in the process (gain 1 Wound). PLAYING THE GAME Example: A freelancer with a total Thresh of 5 (3 points in Steel + 2 points in Thresh) attempts to break down a door to escape the Law. CR is 10. They roll: + 5 = 14 Players can also argue in favor of lower or different consequences, depending on the context they are in and who their character is (“Im wearing armor! Can’t I just lose some Stamina instead?”). 14 >= 10 (Success) They break through with a single hit, allowing them to get away from the Law! SPECIAL ROLLS Doubles Regardless of the result of your roll, doubles are there to add spice and create unexpected surprises. Sometimes it might be hard to think of a twist to the result of a roll on the spot, so don’t be afraid to discuss it as a group. There are two types of doubles in the game: PLAYING THE GAME Brave Zenith 49 Sharp Corners (odd doubles): an unpleasant and unexpected twist, downgrade the result of your test. • Failing a test and rolling sharp corners means something extra bad happens. That jump you screwed up? You broke a leg. When in doubt, gain Wounds/Stress, lose something valuable, waste time or lose agency. Jackpot (even doubles): a pleasant and unexpected twist, upgrade the result of your test. • Succeeding on a test and rolling a jackpot, means something extra nice happens. Sneaking around guards? They won’t even notice if you steal all of their money. When in doubt, lose Wounds/Stress, gain something valuable, gain time, gain agency or information. Qualities Whenever a relevant Quality is used on a Test, add an additional die to the roll. When a Quality is used, doubles cannot be triggered. Helping Players may help each other when they attempt tests. Helping players lend one of their dice to the one attempting the test. In case of failure, the player whose dice rolled the lowest suffers the consequences. 50 Brave Zenith Doubles can trigger frequently during play, due to that it can be taxing to come up with so many twists and surprises. For that reason, you can always decide as a group to not use this mechanic or relegate it only to the classics, double ones and double sixes. Also, feel free to reduce the number of tests, to only use them in important or tense moments. Qualities, Skills, Background, Equipment, Vocations: all of these serve to help you gauge the necessity of a Test. These are the mechanics that describe you and your abilities. If everything is in your favor, there is no need for a test An optional rule is to use Qualities negatively, as a way to increase the CR of Tests. For instance, a character that is Extra Stinky might struggle to sneak around in a crowded restaurant, as their smell might give their position away.. PLAYING THE GAME ATTRIBUTES STEEL If you need to hurt someone, protect yourself or intimidate, Steel is what you need. Test it when: Doing anything that requires a strong body. Attempting to brute force your way through a challenge. Reading someone’s body language. Trying to hurt someone. Parrying or blocking an opponent’s attack. VEILS Illegal stuff, trickery, gambling and an overall disregard for the law, all that stuff is better done under the thin Veil of the night. Test it when: Doing anything that requires quick fingers and sharp eyes. Attempting to trick someone. Trying to see through deception. Dodging an attack from an enemy. HEART To connect to the invisible powers of magic, to be empathic, to survive in a world where you are not welcome, one needs a strong Heart. Test it when: Doing anything that requires a loving heart. Attempting to talk through situations. Trying to understand someone’s motivations. Doing anything related to magic. Trying to resist the effects of a spell. PLAYING THE GAME Attributes are always used in tests, either added to a relevant skill or alone when you don’t have points in a relevant skill. Understanding them can help you determine what is used in these situations. Steel is simple, it is violence and all its adjacent disciplines, but it is also all about knowing how bodies work. Giving first aid, reading body language and swinging a sword are all covered under this same attribute. Veils are similar to a dexterity stat in other games, but it is important to know that there is more to it. You may be a complete hack when it comes to hand eye coordination, but if tricking people is your thing, Veils is the attribute to use. Heart is not supposed to be a win button when attempting conversations. You cannot simply test to try and convince someone, you must actively talk to the other character, describe or interpret how you go about doing that. Brave Zenith 51 SKILLS Thresh steel skill Destroying things and people beyond recognition, applying brute force. Whenever one indulges in violence, they thresh. Authority steel skill The skill of intimidation and control. Impose yourself on others, make your will reality, bend people into submission. Stomach steel skill Stomach things: poisons, truths, pain. Resist everything the world throws at you, no matter how indigestible. Skills are a guideline of the main things you can do in the game that require testing, but they are not an exhaustive list. Don’t tie yourself down. They are also used to evoke the feel of the Brave Zenith world. As your group creates new things for the game like vocations, rules and islands, you may develop new skills to replace or add to the old ones.Turn Brave Zenith into your own game. If you have 0 points on a skill, simply use its related attribute. Protein steel skill Sculpt your flesh, know bodies and how they work. Apply force, lift yourself and the world. Breach veils skill Do crimes. Sneaking? Stealing? Picking locks? Forging documents? Whatever breaches the law goes here. Trickery veils skill Lying in all its forms. Pretending to be someone else? Trickery. Bluffing at a dangerous card game? Trickery. 52 Brave Zenith PLAYING THE GAME Circus veils skill Be an acrobat, juggle, showcase all the flair and panache of a circus artist. Tumble through life like the sad pagliacci you were meant to be. Merchant veils skill Barter good deals, negotiate, be a master of diplomacy (and capitalism). Know the value of things and be a paragon of the Invisible Hand. Shivers heart skill The adventurer ’s connection to the supernatural, be it the use of magic or that uncanny feeling on the back of their neck. Remember that points put into a skill also indicate knowledge. If you have a high rating in Breach, you may know where to find materials for a forgery or where to find a fence. Profusely ask the referee if your character would know something due to a high skill rating. Don’t worry if you, as Referee, don’t know what to answer. Talk to players and build something together. Empathy heart skill Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes, understanding others and having genuine conversations. Nature heart skill Know (and befriend) both fauna and flora. Tame creatures (and talk to monsters), know which mushrooms are for eating. Drama heart skill Own any stage, control emotions and build tension. Be over the top, dramatic, expansive, express your artistic self. PLAYING THE GAME Brave Zenith 53 STAMINA Turns out, adventuring can be pretty tiring. Even the mightiest cannot go on forever. Whether you are constantly trying to not be killed by an enemy’s sword or pushing the limits of your physical body by casting spells, you will use Stamina. Stamina represents your resilience to all taxing actions of an adventuring life. When you are attacked, hurt, cast spells or perform a particularly draining activity, your character will lose Stamina. Once your Stamina is gone, you become highly susceptible to Menaces. You will want to keep it high for as long as possible. MENACES Menaces are a bad thing. Once they reach a high enough number, they may signal the end of your adventurer or a particularly nasty disadvantage. The limit of points you can accumulate in a menace is equal to its associated attribute. For each point of menace you have, your healing capabilities are decreased by that amount. Wounds steel menace Wounds represent how hurt you are. When it reaches its limit, you pass out and must be healed, or else you die! If you survive you get a Scar . A Scar counts towards an equipment slot. Once you cannot gain more Scars, you will die by the next time you reach your Wounds limit. Gaining a Scar doesn’t reset the number of Wounds. 54 Brave Zenith Menaces can also be used as currency by the players to attempt truly impossible and reckless things. Want to take a deathblow for a friend? Gain a point of Wounds in their place. Want to act out of turn or attempt a test again? Push yourself beyond your limits? Gain a point of Stress and unlock your true potential. PLAYING THE GAME You gain Wounds when: You roll a partial success on a test during a particularly dangerous situation. You take surprise damage (traps, ambushes, etc...). Your Stamina reaches 0 by taking damage. You take further damage when your Stamina is at 0. Stress heart menace Represents the mental toll of adventuring and magic. When it reaches its limit you become Stressed Out -- until your Stress is reduced, all tests are done with just one die. A big part of the game is managing your menaces and thinking about the risks of doing tests, so the more players avoid rolling dice, the better chances they have of succeeding and not gaining menaces. Take this as a recommendation to test as little as possible, especially if the group wants to play a longer, more traditional, campaign. You gain Stress when: You are in a very scary situation. You roll a partial success on a test during a particularly stressful situation. Casting a spell outside of your domain. Casting a spell without stamina or that drops your stamina to 0. Your Vocation’s Special is triggered. Seeing a friend in dire straits or getting knocked out. Not eating a proper meal for a day. PLAYING THE GAME Brave Zenith 55 COMBAT Initiative Combat can be pretty dangerous, even for seasoned adventurers. In those moments it is important to know who acts first, who has the initiative. Every round, the side with most members begins, with opponents going first on ties. Every participant gets a turn and once everyone has gone the round is over. During their turn, a character gets an Action. Actions are basically anything that the character can do in a situation, like attacking, talking, fleeing, healing, helping, taking something out of their backpack, etc. Sometimes you might need to take small, quick movements to do an action, like stepping forward to attack, these are considered as part of an action. Range And Movement Distances and movement in Brave Zenith are abstracted through ranges: you are either Too Close For Comfort, at a Respectable Distance or As Far As You Can Be While Still Being Able To Help. If you are further away than that, then you are not in combat. As previously noted, as part of your action you may move small distances, meaning you can move 1 range, either closer or farther away. If your action is mostly focused on movement, like fleeing or running, that means you move 2 ranges instead. It is up to the Referee to decide when the characters are no longer in combat. Anyone that cannot fight back (because they are stunned, grappled, unconscious, etc.) will always suffer maximum damage (6). If you are using an appropriate weapon against them, you deal 12 damage instead. Some opponents may have special abilities that allow players to resist them, such as poisons and spells. In that case, anything physical in nature is resisted using Stomach (Steel), anything that is dodgeable is resisted by Circus (Veils) and all magical things can be resisted by Shivers (Heart). Too Close For Comfort At this range, you can physically interact with objects and people, attack with melee and ranged weapons. 56 Brave Zenith PLAYING THE GAME At a Respectable Distance At this range, you are able to comfortably attack with ranged weapons and people can easily hear you. As Far As You Can Be While Still Being Able To Help At this range, you are at shouting distance and attacking with ranged weapons is considered ineffective. Out of Combat At this range, you cannot be attacked, attack or be heard. You are safe but cannot interact with those still in combat unless you move to an appropriate range. Attacking Attacks always hit if they are physically possible, as in you can only attack with a sword an opponent that’s Too Close for Comfort. Roll a D6 to determine damage dealt (some enemies or weapons might use 2D6 to damage). Depending on the situation, some attacks might also be Effective or Ineffective. Tests in combat are just like those outside of it, so Qualities and Backgrounds can be used to gain an extra die! Opponents, even those that may be considered monstrous, are intelligent. That means they can probably communicate with you and won’t stand still and wait to take a hit. If they are losing they may retreat or attempt to bargain. Enemies also will not outright kill players if they defeat them, sometimes opting to steal stuff from them or take them as captives. The Archipelago may be dangerous, but not everyone is an asshole. Damage Each point of damage reduces the target’s Stamina by 1. When opponents’ Stamina reaches 0, they are knocked out and any further damage will kill them. When adventurers reach 0 Stamina, they get a point of Wounds and any further attacks will each increase their Wounds by 1, they are only knocked out (and possibly killed) when they reach their maximum Wounds. PLAYING THE GAME Brave Zenith 57 Ineffective Attacks Happen when the weapon being used is inappropriate to the situation (say a large two handed sword in a tight hallway or firing a gun in the dark of night). In this case roll damage twice and take the worst result. Effective Attacks Happen when the weapon being used is especially appropriate to the situation (say a hammer against a Coral Crab’s shell or shooting an opponent with no cover or shield). In this case roll damage twice and take the best result. Tests and Opponent When you do something particularly dangerous in combat, for instance you want to grapple an opponent and hold them, try to hit a specific body part or even cast spells, a test is required. In that case, the base CR is always equal to the opponent’s. Armor Armor negates damage received up to its value. Any damage beyond its value is received in full and decreases the character’s armor by 1. A character can restore 1 point of armor during a short rest or fully during a long rest. 58 Brave Zenith PLAYING THE GAME SPELLCASTING Magic users are a bit trickier to play. They can cast spells and magic in general is extremely broad and chaotic. Magic comes f rom the strange mist that covers most of the world. Being in contact with it changes you, changes your perception of reality and allows you to change it to your liking. Too much of it and it’s like radiation poisoning, except it unravels you until you become a little pile of salt. Be careful! Casting Spells When you cast a spell in a dangerous situation or when failure would produce an interesting result, you must test Shivers. The CR is determined by the situation and your interpretation of the spell name: the broader, more powerful, more complex ones lead to higher CR, and the opposite to lower CR. When using spells in combat, to grapple, stun or otherwise hinder an opponent, the base CR is determined by the opponent’s. If used for damage, the spell deals XD6 damage to the opponent, whereas X is determined by the Spell`s Power. The more damage a caster wants to do, the harder their Shivers test will be: I’m not a magic user, but I sure would love to sling some spells... A magic user can teach anyone to cast spells by training them for at least a month. They won’t be full fledged magic users, but may cast spells by gaining Stress points. One for each casting on top of the normal Stamina costs. They cannot cast spells with no Stamina or that would drop their Stamina to 0. Cancelling an opponent’s spell is also impossible. Moderate Spell (CR 10): 1D6 Powerful Spell (CR 12): 2D6 Reckless Spell (CR 14): 3D6 If the magician attempts to cast a Reckless Spell, they gain 1 Stress regardless of outcome. Outside of dangerous situations (those that do not require a test), spells always work. PLAYING THE GAME Brave Zenith 59 Stamina Costs Whenever you cast a spell, lose 1 Stamina. When you succeed in casting a spell, everything goes as planned and you don’t lose any extra Stamina. When you partially succeed on casting a spell, everything goes as planned but the spell takes its toll on you. Lose extra Stamina equal to the lowest die rolled. When your spellcasting fails, everything goes wonky. You lose control of the spell and it mutates on the fly. Reverse its effects, add a typo or an adjective to its name, switch a word for its antonym. Play with the name of the spell and reinterpret its use. If you want, you may add this wonky spell to your arsenal. On top of that, lose extra Stamina equal to the highest die rolled and gain a point of Stress. Stress Casting spells is one of the most stressful things a mortal can do. Gain 1 point of Stress when: You cast a spell outside of your domain. You cast a spell without any stamina. You cast a spell that drops your stamina to 0. You cancel an opponent’s spell. 60 Brave Zenith Modifying spellcasting CR. The context a spell is cast is important when determining any modifiers to it’s CR. Example.: The spell “Grow Vines” can create a staircase of vines to help players escape a rubber dragon. If there is no plant life around, its CR should be increased. The opposite should also be true. Similarly, increasing the number of targets of the spell should also increase the spell’s CR. Conservatively if a spell only works on a single specific target, the CR should be lowered. Example.: The spell “Crush Cows” has a very specific target, cows. In this case the CR should be lowered. Casting the spell on multiple cows would increase its CR, however. PLAYING THE GAME IMPAIRMENTS AND HEALING Impairments Depending on enemies attacks, traps, environment or spell effects, a character may accrue an Impairment. The examples below are not exhaustive, use them as guidelines. Grappled: Cannot move or attack, only attempt to break free. All attacks on grappled characters deal maximum damage. Adventurers have to test an appropriate skill (Protein, Thresh and Circus are the most common) to keep opponents restrained or when they themselves try to break free. Blinded: Cannot execute ranged attacks, melee attacks are always considered ineffective. All tests that require sight increase their CR by 2. Poisoned (Emetic, Deadly, Sleeping): Emetic poisons make you sick, unable to act until healed due to projectile vomiting. Deadly poisons are fast acting, every action you take accrues you 1 point of Wounds. Sleeping poisons make you fall asleep instantly, unable to act until someone wakes you up. You wake up Stressed Out, and you remain so until you are healed (this poisoned sleep does not count as a rest). Suffocating/Drowning: Lose 1D6 Stamina per action done while out of breath and unable to breath. You are knocked out when your Stamina reaches 0 this way. When you have 6 total points of menaces, you can no longer easily heal yourself. At this point you will need a Long Rest or attempt to cook a meal. Potions and a Mixologist’s grog are the most common ways to heal during a tense situation, but if players have things they can justify to trigger a heal they can do so. Example.: A player has been blinded by hot tabasco, having water at hand may count as healing to remove the blindness status ailment. Got some strange herbs? Try to eat them or make some tea! Healing Anything that heals an adventurer, be it a potion, a mixologist’s grog or a short rest, works the same way: you roll 1D6 and recover that much Stamina, subtracting any points of menaces you have from the result. PLAYING THE GAME Brave Zenith 61 You may also choose to remove an Impairment instead of recovering Stamina. Example.: a character heals themselves with a potion, rolls a six sided die and gets a 5. However, they got 2 points of Wounds and 1 point of Stress, which means the total amount of Stamina recovered is just 2. Resting Short rests happen when you take 10 minutes to catch your breath and eat or drink something. You heal as normal. You may also choose to recover one point of armor instead of healing. Long rests happen when you take a break of at least 6 hours or you sleep with a roof above your head. You recover all of your Stamina, Armor and remove one point of a menace of your choice. You may only do this once per session, further long rests only heal as normal. Session End At the end of a session, players may remove 1 point of a menace of their choice, regardless of how things ended. They also get to recover two six sided dice worth of Stamina. Impairments also apply to opponent’s, the difference is that any time they would gain menaces they instead reduce their base CR by 2. If an Impairment would increase the CR of a test for an opponent, instead reduce the opponent’s base CR. Remember that Ailments/Impairments may be resisted by players through tests. Generally, poisons are resisted with Stomach (Steel), grappling with Protein (Steel), anything that is dodgeable uses Circus (Veils) and all magical things use Shivers (Heart). As usual, players may suggest other skills to test. Healing Scars Each Scar costs 500 SP to remove, as long as a professional is present. Magic cannot remove Scars. Healed Scars can become Qualities if a player wishes to. Example.: Lost an arm? Maybe you decide to install a prosthetic, thus removing the Scar from your equipment. A player may also have decided to remove the Scar, but stay without an arm, turning that into a Quality. 62 Brave Zenith PLAYING THE GAME COOKING The adventuring life is tough and there often aren’t a lot of opportunities to properly eat, thus a lot of adventurers take up cooking. Whenever players take a short rest from the game or share a meal in real life, their characters get to cook. One ration is needed for each person partaking in the dish. Each type of dish restores 2D6 Stamina (subtracting any points of menaces you have from the result) and gives session long bonuses and penalties to attributes. The effects of multiple dishes do not stack, but you may change the ones active by cooking again. Dishes MIST PASTEL Deep fried square dough, filled with nothing but mist. Tastes like nostalgia. Effects: Increase Heart by 2, gain a point of Stress. You can now slowly float through the air. RUBBERY FEIJOADA Stewed black beans and preserved rubbery dragon meat. Thick and hearty. Served with rice, farofa, crispy kale and an orange slice. Effects: IIncrease Steel by 2, decrease Veils by 2. You become immune to poisons. PLAYING THE GAME Brave Zenith 63 CAPYBARA STROGANOFF Heavy cream, tomato sauce, juicy mushrooms and chunks of fatty capybara meat. Top with mandioca crisps for that extra crunch. Everything an adventurer needs. Effects: Increase all attributes by 1. Decrease maximum Stamina by 3 for the rest of the session. SPICY BOAR SANDWICH Onions, tabasco and thinly sliced boar, all inside a fluffy potato bread bun. Sloppy, but ideal for hangovers. Effects: Increase maximum Stamina by 3 for the rest of the session, gain a point of Wounds. MOON CHOCOLATE BRIGADEIRO Freshly mined chocolate and condensed almond milk, rolled into bite sized balls. The dish that binds the Archipelago. Effects: Increase Heart by 1, decrease Steel by 1. SECOND CITY COFFEES Piping hot black coffee. So strong rumours say the dead can be brought back with a single sip. Effects: Increase Veils by 2, gain a point of Stress. Any dead person that drinks this comes back to life for 5 minutes. Also, you can no longer sleep or take a long rest for the rest of the session. 64 Brave Zenith PLAYING THE GAME GROWTH Whenever a session ends, adventurers get a point of experience, regardless of what happened. For every two experience points, they rank up, increasing their maximum Stamina by 1 and gaining +1 to a Skill of their choice. Qualities will often pop up naturally through play as players explore their characters, so add them as you please. Won that eating contest the local catfolk were hosting? Maybe add the Glutton quality to represent that. Created a guild with your friends? Affiliations to organizations may be added as Qualities too! Just keep in mind that you can only have 6 qualities (2 per Attribute) in total and you may only move or remove a Quality when you rank up. Magic Users may add a new spell to their repertoire once they rank up. They may also change the wording of a current spell whenever they gain an experience point. Dancers may add a new dance style to their repertoire once they rank up. Once an adventurer reaches the Zenith Rank, they can no longer gain experience points. At this point a player can choose between 2 options: Increase any Attribute by 1 and keep playing their character for as long as they like; Gain a Zenith Special. PLAYING THE GAME Ideally, Brave Zenith is made to be played sporadically, not necessarily with the same party. That means players may advance at different rates. As always, do not worry about balance or needing to justify things. Players are always working together and they know each other enough to trust one another. At any time, a player may choose to retire a character, regardless of rank, without the need to use Zenith Specials. This is a cool opportunity to immortalize said characters inside the Archipelago, turn them into an Non-Player Character, a patron of adventurers, a tavern owner, perhaps even a recurring villain? Brave Zenith 65 ZENITH SPECIALS Those brave enough to take this path receive powers capable of shaping the world. However, upon using these powers, know that there is no way back: you will lose your character and things will end badly. All of these abilities are brought upon by the reality-bending power of the Mist, experience points are just a measure of how much of it you have ingested over time. Demonhood All your Attributes become 6. Double your Stamina. Your skin becomes leathery granting you 3 points of Armor. Anyone you touch loses their soul, food doesn’t affect you as everything tastes like ash. Everyone is scared of you. 1 month from now, you will be dragged down Below. All specials include a timer that countdowns to the character’s eventual demise, starting from the moment they acquire it. The timer is in real time, not game time. You do not have to necessarily play out your character’s demise during a game, but you should definitely hurry. Limit Break Once per session, break all limits and go even further beyond. You may always reroll tests and take the best result, all failures become partial successes and you always get to act twice during combat. This ability lasts until the end of the session. Your body cannot hold this power, once this ability ends, permanently reduce all your Attributes by 1. When they all reach 0 you burst into flames. Every session you don’t use your power, your Attributes are reduced by 2. 66 Brave Zenith PLAYING THE GAME Immortality You can never die. You cannot take damage or gain Wounds. However, you can never rest nor reduce your Stress. Emotions become meaningless, life loses colour and your passion fades. Every session, remove a Quality. Once all Qualities have been removed you become a statue. Metempsychosis Transfer your soul to a new body. Make a new character, they are infused with your old soul, retaining any Qualities you had and gaining 3 extra Skill points. Your former body loses their memories and hunts your new character down for answers. Players may choose to create their own Zenith Special, in which case it is paramount that such an ability is both broken and will kill them. Zenith Specials break all the rules previously stated in the book. Think of a cool way to end a character life but also give them unparalleled agency over reality. Become an Island Sculpt your body into an island, safe from the mist, from which a new society will be born. You become magnetic, all objects will begin sticking to you, quickly increasing your total mass. In 1 day you will no longer fit through most doors. In 1 week you will be the size of a hill. Flee to the ocean to not crush everyone and everything you care for because in 1 month you will become an island. Create a new Island, name and describe it. PLAYING THE GAME Brave Zenith 67 04 68 Brave Zenith RUNNING THE GAME Referee’s Referee’s eyes eyes only only The following pages go over a few useful tips and tricks when it comes to running Brave Zenith, how to prepare a session and a bunch of generators to help you come up with stuff on the spot! More so than the rules, every single thing in this section is optional and can be fully ignored. Swiss Roll Warmaster RUNNING THE GAME Brave Zenith 69 RUNNING THE GAME As you’ve probably noticed, a bunch of paragraphs of Brave Zenith ask you to interpret the information given and even argue in favor of different outcomes (CR, consequences, spells). This can turn things into long discussions about how things are supposed to work in game: How does the spell I create work? Do I need to test for it? How do I use the fiery grog I created for my mixologist? When do I increase the CR of tests? When do I lower it? Should we even test for it? Describe things thoroughly: Always explain things to players, don’t leave them in the dark. Give as much information as possible to players, they need it to make smart choices. Remember that everyone may be imagining different things in their head, information helps align the fiction/ what is going on between players. Also they cannot “see” anything that isn’t described! When interpreting things (and as a rule of thumb), always follow whatever is more obvious or logical: fire burns wood, water puts out fire, generally known rules of physics, etc... Use rulings: The most important task of a referee is to keep the game going, so you will have to adjudicate on the spot (“the flesh to jelly spell turns a person into a bottle of jam”). The trick is to remain consistent and to not be afraid to ask your group for their opinion (“the flesh to jelly spell can turn a specific body part into jam but that would increase the test’s CR, does that make sense?”). These help everyone understand how the world works, what is the fantasy logic they are playing with and it will avoid unnecessary discussions. 70 Brave Zenith These are all tips and tricks, there is a reason this is not in the RULES section. Use this when you are unsure. This can also be used to determine obvious failures and to make stakes clear. “That chasm is far too wide for a cat to jump, you have no rope and this place is a literal desert, do you still want to try it?” RUNNING THE GAME PREPARING A SESSION The easiest way to prepare a session is to understand what kind of session everyone wants to play. Asking players what kind of adventure they want to go on will also help them find their own fun, you will not need to incentivize them or push them towards something. Beware to not overprepare adventures as it is basically impossible to account for every possible situation and outcome players will get themselves into. Don’t try to create stories or narratives for players to follow, but rather set the stage: pull a bunch of cool props (locations, monsters, items) and fill it with interesting characters (NPCs). You then let the players in to play with all the things you left them (and they will probably bring their own set dressings to it too). When creating situations, locations, puzzles and opponents, you don’t need to think about their solutions: rather wait and see what players will come up with and adjudicate/react from there. It is ok to say you don’t know or that you are lost and ask for a couple minutes to get back on your feet. You are also playing the game and part of your fun should be being caught off guard. You are not here to entertain other people. I often prepare sessions by quickly writing down ideas, characters and a rough map if I need one down on paper, usually half an hour before a session. If you do have more time to prepare a session, please do use it to make your play experience funner and easier. The key is to remember that you are not writing a book that someone will read, you are writing for yourself, to help you remember stuff on the fly. It’s like preparing to cheat on a school test (also known as studying). RUNNING THE GAME Steal profusely from other material, be it RPG or not. Make entertainment material you love into fuel for your game sessions. Look at the way your favorite movie sets up interesting situations. Also, do steal from adventures written for other RPGs, it is often very easy to adapt “stats” and the like to your preferred game. And also pretty fun. Preparing for future sessions is often very easy, but requires that you take a few minutes at the end of a game to take notes. Brave Zenith 71 Problems Some players often want to spite the referee by forcefully attempting to avoid the things you did prepare, to avoid that try the following: Discuss beforehand what everyone wants to play. When the game starts, everyone should know exactly that “this is what we have for tonight”. Ask for feedback from your players, listen to criticism and suggestions and use them to improve the next session. Remove repeat offenders from the group. Itʼs better and safer for everyone. What happened that was relevant? Has an NPC died? Was a new NPC introduced? Seriously: write down NPC names and quick descriptions. Did players piss someone off? Did they steal something? What would be some of the possible consequences to these actions? Seriously: write down write down as much info as possible. Whenever possible, ask players if they have any plans for the next session and plan accordingly. EXAMPLE SESSION PREP This is how I would prepare for the f irst session in a inn. Players arrive at the town (Pecori) tired from a long trip and will need to look for a inn to stay the night. The inn (the Fat Bat Bath) is an old bathhouse, actually an abandoned cheap motel. There are 3 baths and 3 rooms. All rooms are currently full, but the inn keeper can give you a room for the night if you convince any of the guests to give up their own. He (Carlos Bonamassa, Inn-keeper, total bear, shirt is way too tight) would rather the party remove the Vegetable gang from room 3. 72 Brave Zenith As you begin writing, things will naturally come to you. Write everything down, you never know what will come out of you unless you put it on paper. Some things will be a bit loose or do not make sense (why is there a tiger in the cellar?) and that’s okay. Let players think of the nonexistent logic, they will probably make something up better than what you did! RUNNING THE GAME There is no food as a tiger (Stamina 8/ CR 10) is loose inside the cellar. Free food for whoever can get it out of there. The baths are either too dirty, broken or infested by a hair monster that lives in the pipes (Stamina 12 / CR 12 / Strangling). Main room: an old automata plays a headless guitar. Actually an assassination automata. 1 in 6 chance one of the players is a target. Tomatom and his gang are there but will soon go to their room (Room 3). Room 1: a shy giant covered head to toe in armor (named Stronkus) is painting miniatures. He doesn’t want anyone to know that. Room 2: Has been taken over by red coral and is full of harvester bees (staying near them causes 1D6 damage as they drain your blood). Red coral is highly flammable. Room 3: Tomatom and his gang of 6 onion dudes (all tiny humanoids with vegetable heads) are trashing their room and planning crimes. Tomatom likes when people praise his intellect and give him money. They are all bark and no bite. Once you are initially done writing down your general prep, grab a few images to communicate the vibe to players. A good tip is to try and use descriptions players might understand but that do not “fit” with the world. Cheap motels like we have in our world do not necessarily translate, but it will probably be easily understood by players. You don’t need to go out of your way to describe a shopping mall the way a fantasy person would, so just say it. Playing is like having a conversation with people. During the session two things will happen: a local guard will come for his bribe and attempt to intimidate players into paying protection money and 2D6+2 pamonha cats invade the tavern and eat anything that isn’t nailed down. (Pamonha Cats: Stamina 4 / CR 10 / Bite 1D6 damage / they can’t die for real unless burned. They come back alive in 1 minute/round). RUNNING THE GAME Brave Zenith 73 QUICK NPCS NPCs (non player characters) are the funky little dudes your players will interact with. Sometimes they will talk to ones you didn’t prepare, sometimes you will need to come up with one on the spot. Here is how I generate NPCs appropriate to Brave Zenith: NAME: Last medicine you took, add a vowel somewhere Last dish you ate Your pet’s name A drink you love The color of a nearby object Your favorite planet An object near you Weather Some old philosopher Sports A flower you like Old RPG spell names (like fireball) Your favorite teacher Seasonal fruit A weird local brand Communist theorists Least favorite food Your favorite chemical element The name of a month Common local bugs. Combine origin and background: 74 Brave Zenith RUNNING THE GAME ORIGIN: Chunky catfolk Loud human Scarred human Human kid Fluffy catfolk Demon Cloaked figure. Makes animal noises Translucent jelly Neon colored jelly Bat person Protein addicted human Rainbow colored catfolk Really old human Janky automata Jelly cube Starving giant Pristine ceramic automata Humanoid flower Capybara Porcini goblin BACKGROUND: Coach Unhinged Communist Nomad Artist Hobo Bourgeoisie Lost nobility Chef Veteran Esoteric Assassin The Law Farmer Criminal Gambler Neon-liberal Cultist Proletariat Politician RUNNING THE GAME Brave Zenith 75 Add a want and a quirk. WANTS: Money. Lots of it Run an errand for a friend Good food Get married/divorced Make friends Rob a bank/friend/noble Pick a fight Pay off their debt Run away from their companion Spend money won in the lottery Be their own boss Gamble Be left alone Drink until they pass out Go on a spontaneous adventure Start a new nation/cult/business Party crash Rehearse for a play/ meeting/fight Buy drugs (not allowed) Murder a politician/ guard/traitor QUIRKS: 76 Baritone voice Pathological liar Hiccups Detached from reality (rich) Telepathic Smokes hand made cigarettes. Rubs hands like a fly Runny nose Actually a ghost Bad British accent Chipmunk voice Never blinks Non verbal communication Talks in third person Floats “Yes, yes.” after every sentence Flirty Overly excited, howls like a wolf Perpetually drunk Smoker voice Brave Zenith RUNNING THE GAME QUICK LOCATIONS Locations are the dangerous place adventures go to, not your local neighborhood or your favorite bar. First, what is this place: WHAT: Sewer tomb Sun powered factory Abandoned mall Trash mine Mossy apartment building Fast food chain Moldy hotel Sunken hospital Subway station Pristine museum Lighthouse Missile silo Ancient fort Crashed satellite/space station Colossal statue Isolated prison Aquarium Derelict cargo ship Blacksteel bunker Landlocked oil rig What kind of inhabitants will you find inside? Combine multiple to populate larger locales. WHO: Cheesemakers looking for a new type of mold. Incredibly curious and careless; A guild of actors enacting an occult culinary ritual. They are quite bad at it; A gang of porcini goblins fights with a mercenary group of batlings for control of the locale; Boars round up recently captured mortals for experiments; RUNNING THE GAME Brave Zenith 77 A cadre of Iron Chefs have turned this place into a huge experimental kitchen; Demons are playing golf here, their servants (a group of abused Jellies) plan to murder them; A troupe of depressed catfolk artists attempts to find inspiration. They have too much money and too little common sense; A rival adventuring party™ is currently running away from an immortal mantis monstrosity. They are carrying a cow-sized gold bar with them; A mob of mermaids has gathered here to “shoot a movie”. They do not know what that is, but they are chaotically trying it; A lonely demon is sculpting friends (cats) out of corn paste. The cats do not care for him and are impossibly hungry and savage. Treasure that makes it worth exploring. How does this interact with the Who section? TREASURE: An ancient sheet of red paper. Anyone cut by it will slowly bleed to death; A set of amber gambling dice. Anything can be bet on these dice, even souls and memories; A ring of carved bone, topped with a living black eye. Allows users to see 5 minutes into the future; One box of still sealed black pasta. A hive of parasites that can bring the dead back to life; A spear made of a single piece of charred wood. It can pierce anything, but holding it causes severe burns; Dragon tuna leather armor. Allows the user to swim like a fish and only breath underwater; Mirror shield. The reflective surface of the shield is connected to any mirror the user owns; An old novelty wrestling belt. Activating it turns the user’s skin into steel; 78 Brave Zenith RUNNING THE GAME A slab of sharp ghostly glass. Deals double damage, but the user takes double damage. They also lose their shadow; Purple snuff. Allows the user to astrally project to faraway places. Oxidized bronze soprano saxophone. Produces subsonic noises that deafens mortals for 1 day; A pack of 6 passion fruit flavored bubblegum. Those that chew on it fall into a deep coma; Red coral hand. Can be used to replace a lost hand and to combust things with a snap; Vial of blue honey. Restores any object to when it was most pristine; A bell made of pure darkness. It blinds all in its vicinity when rung. An ever regenerating chocolate frog. It whispers secrets to those it likes; A plastic coin that can glue/unglue any two things together on command; A bident that can call lighting down on anyone targeted by it. 1 in 6 chance of hitting the user; Tiny miniature truck. When shaken turns into a life sized solar powered truck; Sentient gold plated poncho. It can freely change shape but is always hungry for memories. RUNNING THE GAME Brave Zenith 79 If you need something extra, throw in one of these: WEIRD: Time is being decomposed by the mist here. Players age 1D6+6 years when they leave this place; Thick opaque miasma covers everything. The air becomes poisonous (deadly) and all players are considered blinded unless powerful light sources are employed; Low gravity. Move like you are on the moon; Below zero temperatures. Without proper clothing, maximum stamina is halved; Color has been drained from this place; All metal becomes electrified; The entire location is stuck in a time loop the moment players enter. It resets when someone is knocked out; All liquids inside turn to dust. Bottled goods only do so when exposed to air; Words become gibberish, written and vocal communication becomes impossible; Players’ shadows come alive. They cannot rest properly until they are convinced to come back. 80 Brave Zenith RUNNING THE GAME QUICK ADVENTURES Sometimes characters and locations are all that you need. Sometimes you will need a setup to tie everything together. Other times the setup will be all that you need. Mix and match these to create an adventure ideal for 1 session. These are four quick types of adventures meant to inspire you, once you get a feel for these you will be able to create your own tables. ESCORT A _______ THROUGH/TO A ______ Dignitary of a distant kingdom; Lost demonic baby; Award winning truffle hunting pig; Famous but terrible actor; Former assassin currently being hunted; Cutting edge cooking automata. Dangerously packed and chaotic wedding; High stakes gambling tournament; Culinary tournament; Busy funeral; Fishing trip on a distant island; Wine tasting festival. RECOVER/RESCUE A _______ FROM A _______ Secret sauce recipe; Forbidden bacon; Giant cherry eating racoon; Long lost board game; Solid gold bathtub; Ancient wisdom spewing turtle. Leaning tower inhabited by giant bats; Art restoration bunker; Ghost town under a giant dead tree; Fort taken over by revolutionary catfolk; Castle in the sky; Village atop a walking giant crab. RUNNING THE GAME Brave Zenith 81 DISPOSE OF/ELIMINATE A ______ ON A ______ Pack of pamonha-paste cats with human faces; Cruise ship for the richest people on the archipelago; Infestation of bloodthirsty bees and red coral; Ancient coffee house run by demons; Gang of living vegetable loan sharks; Glassblower festival; Out of control assassin automata out on a vendetta; Jelly Warlord and his army of automatons; Observer and his strangely elaborate gambling operation. Chocolate mining town; Submerged minor moon surrounded by red coral; Pitch black museum of natural history. DELIVER A ________ TO ________ Stygian steel coffin, containing the body of a long dead Sultan; Hollowed out wooden saint, filled to the brim with sentient vanilla; Increasingly colder pot of ice cream. Contains smuggled organs; Baked sun, contained in a fragile glass casing; The city of the dead; The Prince of Coins, in his walking mansion; A city trapped and infected by a plague; A castle atop a mist covered hill; A drug-filled demonic silent auction; A lonely wind turbine in the middle of the sea. Drooling baby rubber dragon; Rock-solid 20 layer chocolate cake, the size of a small child. 82 Brave Zenith RUNNING THE GAME QUICK ISLANDS Adventuring in the Archipelago does include visiting a lot of islands. After creating an island, you can fill it with adventures generated in the previous tables. How do these connect to the island? ________ IS A _______ ISLAND, KNOWN FOR ITS ______ ______.. ITS CAPITAL IS A _______ _______+ +_______ _______.. NAME: TYPE: Your favorite flower; Volcanic; Tropical; Your favorite planet; Artificial; Arctic; An alcoholic beverage; Coral; Mountainous; Your grandma’s name; Submerged; Swampy; Your favorite fish; Desert; Dead. A dish local to where you live. KNOWN FOR: CAPITAL ADJECTIVE: Impeccable fashion and tailors; Elegiac; Fig tree whose fruit extends life; Cockroach infested; Cassette tape trade; Violent; Submarines; Ruined; Overly produced theatre; Unequal; Cooking academy; Jazzy; Resorts; Sprawling; Bodybuilding archivist monks; Polluted; Talking numismatic crows; Prohibitively expensive; Frothy red beer, brewed by the Corrupt. last Giant; CAPITAL TYPE: Commune; RUNNING THE GAME Port; Village; Bunker; Bazaar; Fort; City-state; Castle; Metropole; Former prison. Brave Zenith 83 TRAVELLING AROUND THE ARCHIPELAGO Due to the small, tightly packed nature of the archipelago, most trips between islands, cities, neighborhoods and dungeons shouldn’t take a party more than 1 day assuming they have a proper method of transportation, they know the location they are going to and it’s not unreasonably far. For the actual travelling, ask how they will go to their chosen locale. Walking, sneaking, quickly, by boat, by airship, watching out for traps, at night, etc… Always assume their characters are smart and won’t put themselves in jeopardy. Reward players that are specific by giving information and putting them in an advantageous position. Iron Chef 84 Brave Zenith RUNNING THE GAME MIST WEATHER The mist does weird things to the weather, especially out in the open sea and the wilderness. Pick one entry from this table when players are travelling through a region covered in mist. Unless noted, these continue until the characters reach their destination and/or are clear of the mist. A miniature blackhole forms out of thin air, sucking all things near it until it consumes a mortal life or it is closed by magic. It rains blood. All characters recover a point of Wounds. Their clothing are stained red. One random character becomes magnetized, all objects in their vicinity slowly rolling towards them. Shadows become alive, hungry for a new host. It rains glass. Anyone not covered or protected takes a point of Wounds for every action they take. Time gets wonky. Everyone and everything but the players begins moving in slow motion. A random item in an adventurer’s equipment visually rots away. Red lightning strikes the ground, bringing the long dead back to life. Words become physical, each one draining a single point of stamina out of a character as it manifests. The ground becomes a pool of tar, a myriad of hands rise from it in an attempt to drown the characters. The Gilded Wind begins blowing, turning any exposed appendage into solid gold. RUNNING THE GAME Brave Zenith 85 05 86 Brave Zenith BESTIARY What’s What’s that that thing? thing? Monster descriptions are meant to give you an idea of their appearance and behavior, tell you more about the Archipelago and give you ideas for adventures. All entries include the monster’s stamina, challenge rating and attacks as well as a mood and drop table to help you determine monster’s reactions when meeting adventurers and what kind of stuff the adventurers might find them carrying. Some opponents have their own special ability, just like adventurers do. These come with suggestions of what Skills players might use to resist them, but some abilities are so powerful that they cannot be defended against. This might be called a bestiary, but that doesn’t mean monsters are dumb beasts, so play them as you would any character. You may even invite them out for a drink! (well, maybe not all of them). BESTIARY Brave Zenith 87 MERMAIDS Stamina 6 CR 10 Broken bottles and blue coral daggers 1D6 damage Roaming bands of 1D6+2 mermaids Whenever a kid drowns, a mermaid is born, a being of longing and chaos brought forth by the sea’s guilty conscience. Inherently drawn to civilization by vestigial memories, mermaids steal anything that a kid would deem cool (or forbidden), hurting anyone that even remotely resembles an authority figure. Their hoards are kept at the bottom of buildings lost to the rising tides, they share it with kids lost at sea or abandoned by adults. MOOD 88 DROPS Infighting Soggy notebook Feasting Waterproof pencil Raiding Hallucinogenic candy Napping Purple sponge Playing catch Moss sandwich Helping a lost child Cocoa Cola Bottle Brave Zenith BESTIARY OBSERVER Stamina 26 CR 14 Eye laser 2D6 damage (test Shivers or lose a Quality, if none remain lose an experience point instead) Floats around in solitude Observers stalk forgotten structures in search of ancient knowledge and cultural items from before: movie posters, books, games, photographs, etc. It is deeply afraid of mortals, reacting violently to anyone that is loud and/or bears arms. Its highly resistant shells makes it impervious to most mundane weapons and are prized for their protection, with a full carcass fetching up to 2000 SP. It is not widely known, but upon death the Observer will shake violently before showering its killer with its spikes (2 Wounds). MOOD DROPS Spinning excitedly Tombs & Crabs Basic Edition Reading a book 101 super cool jokes for the Sleeping in the shadows whole family! Stalking Weird RPG dice Burning a creature How to make friends: an in down with its laser depth study Where’s Wellington? Instant Noodles flavor pack BESTIARY Brave Zenith 89 GUARÁ Stamina 8 CR 12 Crime beaks 1D6 damage (on a 1 or a 6 they steal something from a player’s backpack) Fly around in bands of 1D6 birds Devilish birds with beaks adapted to all forms of larceny. If you ever find a vermillion feather near yourself, know that you have probably already been robbed. Incredibly intelligent Guarás are known to lure adventurers into traps or more dangerous predators and they won’t miss an opportunity to lower your guard. Their beaks are highly sought after by thieves, but hunting one is tricky as they avoid direct confrontation. MOOD 90 DROPS Sneering Various underwear. Leering A key you “lost” long ago. Taunting Crown of a long lost monarch. Laughing An explosive golf ball Stealing Gold bar (500 SP) Feigning innocence Bottle cap Brave Zenith BESTIARY BOARS Stamina 16 CR 14 Red coral maul 1D6 damage (on a 6 it explodes, gain 1 Wound) Squads of 1D6+2 From the ruins of the past, from the bio-engineered farms deep below the earth, the Boars came. Once the last hope of a dying people, they are now one of the most present threats on the Archipelago. Boars turn entire islands into wastelands by using their red coral, a highly flammable substance made from the crystalized honey of harvester bees. When a black ship is seen on the horizon you better hide, for the Boars are coming. MOOD DROPS Murdering Red coral grenade Experimentin A jar of harvester bees Murdering A human hand in a jar Harvesting An old photograph of Murdering a human family Pillaging Access code to an abandoned bunker A still working geiger counter BESTIARY Brave Zenith 91 CAPYMERA Stamina 47 CR 16 Attacks twice, Capybite 2D6 damage and tentacle grab (test circus or become grappled) There is only one Capymera in existence. Some theorize the Mist is not a calamity or something to be feared, rather it is the aftereffect of evolution, of nature rebelling. From its deepest fathoms, flora and fauna are reborn and rebuilt in new and never before seen ways. Sometimes it just births a monstrous highly mutated capybara. MOOD DROPS Flying overhead A missile Sleeping with two of its Its head is still alive, attempting many eyes open to dock into a new body Bleating at the moon Capymera egg Playing dead Forbidden bacon Swallowing an adventurer Blackhole to another whole dimension Scooping an Observer’s eye A baked sun inside a containment unit 92 Brave Zenith BESTIARY RUBBER DRAGON Stamina 16 (immune to all weapons, save its own venom) CR 14 Bite 1D6 or spit venom (deadly poison, destroys one piece of equipment) Loner, loves to hunt experienced adventurers. Every so often a foolish noble embarks on a hunt for a rubber dragon. They spend days dreaming of the myriad ways they will wear the dragon’s leather: gloves, jackets, rugs, hats. The dragon however, savours the nobles’ memories as it chews on their head, their face hissing as its venom melts it into an easily digestible pulp. You see, no manmade weapon, no matter how confident the wielder, can penetrate the dragon’s skin. MOOD DROPS Eyes glowing in the dark Brute ruby Tongue quivering in The dragon’s ever beating anticipation heart Dissolving an armored A single diamond teeth knight (1.500 SP) Burrowing itself to sleep Gnawed ceramic tankard Purring Tartar fractal Chasing after its own tail Sharpened vinyl disc BESTIARY Brave Zenith 93 THE QU Stamina 12 CR 12 Sticky tongue 1D6 (sticks to target on a 1 or 6) Swallows target caught by tongue, 1 wound per round swallowed) Kitchens of 1D6 Qu Seeking to break the curse of mortality, the culinary masters known as the Qu ate a god. From the festering blood of a deity, they were reborn. Their new monstrous forms only deepened their hunger, and once they ate the world they fell into deep stupor. When they once again opened their eyes, they were not shocked to see their empire gone, but rather salivating as a new feast had been laid out to them in that interim. What tasty morsels await them in the Archipelago? MOOD 94 DROPS Hungry Forbidden recipe Hungry Impossibly white bone Hungry A set of ruby cutlery (500 SP) Hungry Squirming black pasta Hungry Purple truffle Hungry Strangling tapeworm Brave Zenith BESTIARY BLUE CORAL CRAB Stamina 30 CR 14 Uses claws (test Circus to avoid being grappled) OR hammer 2D6 damage One crab per hoard of treasure When the people of the Archipelago began extracting and using blue coral they did not know exactly what it was. Suffice to say, blue coral crabs were infuriated when they woke up to find whole cities and families lost to greed. So they decided to get greedy too, taking almost all the gold there was. This caused the adoption of the silver standard by the people of the Archipelago. Never owe money to crabs. MOOD DROPS Rolling in gold Golden bathtub (3.000 SP). Shaking money off Living Gold Dog (please someone don’t sell him) Trying to flip a coin Champagne with gold flakes Sleeping on a pile of gold Gold cigarette case (100 SP) Playing whac-a-mole A hoard of chocolate gold Opening an Ancient Chest coins Golden toilet paper (500 SP) BESTIARY Brave Zenith 95 BUTTER CONSTRUCT Stamina 20 CR 12 Fists 1D6 damage, the floor around the construct is slippery Loner, prefers cool/ humid locales The lack of cows in the archipelago brings the age old question: where do butter constructs come from? Why don’t they just melt away? What is butter? MOOD 96 DROPS Bubbling Butter knife Melting Clarified Butter Reforming Butter Reshaping Rancid Butter Sliding Can’t believe it’s not butter Souring Garlic bread (buttered) Brave Zenith BESTIARY PORCINI GOBLINS Stamina 6 CR 10 Garbage throwing 1D6 damage Trading caravans of 2D6+6 goblins Find a patch of mossy soil, add a dash of trash and a truckload of love. That’s how goblins are made. Long ago, porcini goblins were hunted by the Qu for their juicy mushroom flesh. Today they are the Archipelago’s number one recycling experts. MOOD DROPS Trash diving Gamer chair Garbage collecting GameToy portable console Eating (trash) Working Kazzio keyboard Setting up shop Ethernet cables (10 meters) Cooking (trash soup) Cardboard box Playing (trash) bingo Plastic bags (far too many) BESTIARY Brave Zenith 97 CINNAMON SKELETONS Stamina 8 CR 10 Blades 1D6 damage Hive minded packs of 1D6+2 skeletons Not actually made of cinnamon, these skeletons have been infected by red mold, which is responsible for the sweet smell and their whole look. Their host skeletons retain some semblance of sentience, painfully shouting warnings to those in their path. Upon being defeated they immediately turn into a fine red dust, suffocating anyone nearby. MOOD DROPS Moaning Golden bracelets (50 SP) In pain Moldy cinnamon roll Immobile Cinnamon liqueur Playing dead Intact cinnamon skull Screaming (talking) Staring Hardened cinnamon femur A single gold tooth (5 SP) 98 Brave Zenith BESTIARY BESTIARY Brave Zenith 99 06 100 Brave Zenith ZANDOR’S MANSE Adventure Adventure time! time! YOU FOUND A MAGICAL LAMP, BUT INSTEAD OF A WISH YOU GOT A JOB: “Clean up Zandor the Peerless’ manse before he returns and a boundless wish will be yours. Fail and a fate worse than death awaits.” A booming voice echoes in the adventurers’ minds. They have 2 real time hours to do their job. In this introductory adventure, the characters have come across a magical lamp during a night out in town and accidentally rubbed it. Go around the table and ask about how that actually came to be. This is an opportunity to get everyone to introduce their character and break the ice. Ideally, players will explore the manse, try to clean it as quickly as possible and then bargain with Zandor, but there is no set “path” through this challenge. The next pages will help you run the adventure with maps, room descriptions and general advice. ZANDOR’S MANSE Brave Zenith 101 If you are an inexperienced Referee, read through the adventure first. When running it, keep the following things in mind: Describe the situation, ask what players would like to do, answer any questions and resolve all actions. Always double check players actions, make sure everyone is on the same page. Repeat. Rooms are tersely described: use as many real life metaphors and analogies as possible to facilitate descriptions. Be clear and communicative. Generally, important stuff is displayed first and then the bullet points offer more detail on the room. What do you mean clean? Each room of the manse is currently in some sort of disarray, mostly due to messy guests that visit Zandor. Every room has a very clear thing that is making it “dirty”, once that is resolved in any way the players fancy, the room is considered clean. As a referee, be open to the creative ways players may think of cleaning each location. The Pocket Dimension A cartoonishly large desert, complete with illusory oasis and a sea of sand surrounds the Manse itself. No matter how far one walks or in which direction they go, they always end up back at the manse. While inside the lamp, no living being ages, grows tired, thirsty or hungry. When someone leaves it is as if a single second passed on the outside. The only way to leave, however, is if Zandor allows it. The Manse An intricate piece of clay architecture and impossible riches. The inside of this structure is far larger than it’s outside. Lavish decorations, sticky rugs, walls ingrained with the smell of tobacco, all lit by the faint purple flow of inert specks of ectoplasm floating carelessly through its rooms. All doors save the front one are unlocked. 102 Brave Zenith ZANDOR’S MANSE The Guests Party goers of eons past can still occasionally be found in the hallways, half drunk, shriveled and lost. These are the past adventurers and creatures that failed to complete Zandor’s task or were forgotten after a party. Completely oblivious to their predicament, they revel in what little bliss their ignorance has given them. They are also extremely inconvenient, like the last depressing guests at a party, too drunk and sad to leave their one moment of happiness. Guests act differently but they all share the same base stats: Stamina 1 CR 8 Ectoplasmic touch (a random piece of equipment becomes sentient) All guests explode into 2D6 globs of ectoplasm when defeated, reforming in 5 real time minutes or when players leave the room, whichever comes first. The first time players enter a room, roll on the table below, ignoring repeats. Try to incorporate each entry into the current room’s situation, use them to create chaos and the unpredictable. They are usually too drunk to leave their current room. A long lost inconvenient uncle - choose a character, their uncle is both needy and greedy, begging for attention and money. They are like that uncle at a holiday dinner. A truffle seeking bat - wants to go Room 2 - Kitchen. Chooses the beefiest player to cuddle up, purring softly. The Great Fireball - a flaming floating catfolk dressed in oversized chef’s garments. He doesn’t know how fire works, is incredibly clumsy and generally a good egg. A disgraced mime - perpetually pissed and always on the lookout for a crowd. Has no sense of ridicule and personal space. Wants to watch the world burn. A blind jabberwocky - nightmare fuel. Impossibly skinny, its stomach churning constantly, he is on the hunt for a tasty morsel. Zandor’s Rival, Rakan - he demands to see Zandor in an attempt to settle a long lost bet, big “wants to talk to the manager” vibe. A palette swap preview of Zandor. ZANDOR’S MANSE Brave Zenith 103 ECTOPLASM The building blocks of the astral plane, highly sought out by mad wizards, drunken genies and gourmands. Ectoplasm is like the “lava” inside those old lava lamps, but it has its own purple glow. Any inanimate thing that touches any amount of ectoplasm becomes sentient. Expert genies are able to manipulate it to create pocket dimensions and trap wandering souls for eternity. Maintaining sentience requires more ectoplasm, without it these newborn beings lose themselves in 1 day, crazed with ectoplasm withdrawal before painfully reverting to their original states. Each glob of ectoplasm, an amount roughly the size of a baseball, can extend sentience for another day and is worth 1.000 SP to the right buyer. The only thing that can safely hold ectoplasm is a pint of wine or a ceramic vessel. Sentient Object Mien Existential horror Doesnʼt work for free. Loud and proud Clingy and jealous. Relentlessly bloodthirsty Rebellious. Depressed Inconveniently curious. Toxic positivity Badly pretends not to be Annoying/Annoyed sentient. Drunk on power. 104 Brave Zenith ZANDOR’S MANSE ZANDOR ARRIVES AND ENDING Once the 2 hours are up or if the players have managed to clean the whole place, Zandor arrives. An imposing incorporeal mass of bubbling lilac ectoplasm, he will tour the manse with players and will evaluate them on their service, like a ruthless reality show judge. For every room cleaned, players get 1 point. Once every room has been visited, one player rolls 1D6. If the result is lower than their points, Zandor is satisfied and grants them a single wish (and also lets them leave). Failure means the players become wandering guests in his manse, unable to die or leave. Zandor is absolutely invincible and all powerful, but he is actually a pretty terrible wish giver, as no one has ever won his challenge. He will comply with any wishes, but will lazily do so. Example.: “I want to be rich!” to be paid in the course of 100 years. “I want to live forever!” player becomes a lobster. the “I wish for more wishes!” the player gets a referral to other genies (it’s a union thing). ZANDOR’S MANSE Brave Zenith 105 3 1 2 5 6 4 7 106 Brave Zenith ZANDOR’S MANSE MAP Entering the Manse To enter the Manse itself, characters have to get through the locked (and sleeping) Sentient Door, Mahogany. It snores gently, letting out a high pitched “mimimimimimimimi” as it blows air out of its keyhole. Mahogany is a huge coward and a very heavy sleeper. It knows it can’t defend itself and will open itself up (literally) to any physical threats. Zandor told him to stay locked while he was away, and there is no one in the entire lamp he fears more than the genie. To those that are nice to him, he will offer a couple of tips: How to carry ectoplasm (a pint of wine or a ceramic vessel); There’s no way out in the desert, the Manse is all there is; The cat, Bubbus, is friendly to those that give it food. Tring to pick the lock will cause the door to sneeze ectoplasm, turning one random piece of equipment into a sentient being. The sneeze is so strong that the door is blown open. 1 Entrance Hall Sand from outside has slowly creeped in here over the years, creating a miniature desert. A Giant Sphynx Cat is trying to tame this large litter box. It is playful but unaware of its size, aggressively bumping into new visitors or diving towards the occasional dung beetle. The Giant Sphynx Cat, Bubbus (Stamina 10, CR 12, Claws 1D6), has buried a multitude of “treasures” across his litter box. In case someone rummages through it, roll 1D6. On a 6 pick a treasure from page 76, otherwise they find that which cats usually bury in sand. Bubbus will accompany anyone that gives him either love or food, hissing at potentially dangerous rooms (2. Kitchen, 4. Toilet, 6. Communal Bath). Should the sand here be touched by a glob of ectoplasm, it will become a sentient swarm with one purpose: to find the meaning of life. ZANDOR’S MANSE Brave Zenith 107 2 Kitchen A feast of rotting leftovers has soiled this once professional kitchen, its hanging rose gold cookware and golden refrigerator remain the only things untouched by the filth. The rotting food is being converted into a Red Coral Hive by a duo of Bloodthirsty Bees. Red Coral breaks easily and explodes (2D6 damage to all near it) when in contact with fire. The duo of Bloodthirsty Bees (Stamina 14, CR 12, Proboscis 1 Wound and heals 2D6 Stamina) are like normal bees, but humansized and hungry for blood and sweets. Breaking apart a red coral hive will reveal a bounty of Red Honey (1D6 vials). Those that drink it experience the last painful moments of any creature the bees killed to produce the honey (+1 Stress) and heals 2D6 Stamina. Their eyes become permanently bloodshot. The golden refrigerator is filled with an endless amount of sentient ice cubes that believe themselves to be firemen. Beyond that, the refrigerator holds: A frozen bottle of wine with a glob of ectoplasm inside, right next to an identical (sans ectoplasm) broken bottle. A huge block of moon chocolate brigadeiro (page 62). A perpetually frozen swordfish (sharp as a sword). 3 Walk-in closet A Revolutionary Suit is holding a meeting with 18 other awakened sets of clothing. They have torches, a gallon of insecticide and are ready to take the fight to both Zandor and the Moths in 7. Lamp Room. A steel door in the back of theroom hides a fancy single passenger elevator that connects this room to the 6. Communal Bath below. The Awakened Clothes (Stamina 3, CR 10, Torches and Scissors 1D6 - on a 1 or 6 they attempt to dress their victim and take over their body) are completely enraptured by their leader’s inflamed speech, about commodity fetishism and how a coat is worth more than 20 yards of linen, being blind to any meatbags in their vicinity. 108 Brave Zenith ZANDOR’S MANSE They want to burn all of the Moths mostly due to fear, but they are not unreasonable. Taking Zandor down is a simple matter of gaining control of the ectoplasm that sustains them. Anyone aiding him is considered a fabric traitor. The second time players pass through this room, they will begin their march on the Moths. It will end badly. 4 Toilet An inky black substance covers the inside of both the golden toilet and sink duo (fake gold leaf, actually made of ceramic) in this humongous green azulejo tiled room. A tiny sign rests on top of the toilet, depicting a demon jumping in pain due to a fire in his behind. The toilet spits fire when flushed, evaporating the black substance inside into a cloud of mold (1 wound if breathed in). A roll of endless toilet paper is hidden behind the toilet. The sink is clogged by clumps of thick black hair, full of chunky bits of mysterious origin. The black water is harmless, but the hair clearly moves when someone approaches. A Hair Demon (Stamina 16, CR 12, Hair Tendrils 1D6 on up to three targets - on a 1 or 6, target is strangled, becoming grappled and receiving 1D6 damage per round. Highly flammable) is waiting to pounce on anyone that touches the sink, unfurling into a sea star shaped mass of hair, a single blood red eye leering from behind its midnight locks. ZANDOR’S MANSE Brave Zenith 109 5 Wine room A short set of steps leads down to a sunken living room, now submerged in a pool of red wine. The alcohol pours from the mouth of a choking Solid Gold Statue in the center of the room, which flails around in a desperate attempt to dislodge the Carafe of Eternal Wine from its throat. An abandoned rubbery slide leadsto the sloshing waters of the 6. Communal bath below. The Golden Statue, Midas (Stamina 12, CR 12, Flailing 1D6) cannot really control itself due to the constant torrent of wine coming out of its mouth, but tries to precariously mimic (flail) a call for help. They are eternally grateful to anyone that helps, offering a hand (literal, 750SP) as a reward. The Carafe of Eternal Wine can be safely closed by any mundane cork. Floating around the wine lake is a solitary bottle of wine, unopened with a corkscrew still stuck to it. The Permeable Corkscrew is able to make a hole in any surface. 6 Communal bath A garish ceramic pool, filled to the brim with steaming tepid water, houses a purple skinned Demon. Dozens of empty unbreakable champagne bottles and discarded cigarette butts float aimlessly, a pungent smell of cheap nicotine doused in even cheaper alcohol fills the room. Fresh water pours from the wide-mouthed fish statues mounted on the walls. A worn out glowing orange button summons a fancy single passenger elevator to the 3. Walk in Closet above, while a rubbery waterslide twirls up to the 5. Wine room. The Purple Demon (Stamina 66, CR 66, Soul sucking) wears a plastic human mask (which translates his gurgles and growls into intelligible robotic speech) and offers champagne to visitors. He is very lonely and would love some company, sucking the soul of any who willingly join him (simply entering the bath is not enough). Gets really bored when people are violent towards him. Really loves a good drink. The Demon will only leave when the water runs out, gets cold or if he claims a soul. Those without a soul lose their shadow, cannot gain any new qualities and gain a permanent point of Stress. A comically large red hot golden plug keeps both the water warm and prevents the bath from draining. 110 Brave Zenith ZANDOR’S MANSE 7 Lamp room A cushioned dark room, a single giant sized ectoplasm lava-lamp sits in the middle. 12 Giant Moths congregate around it, praying, eating fabric and just generally chilling. They offer a half-eaten shirt to newcomers, the same way an old friend shares a cigarette. A thick cloud of moth dust lingers in the air, glinting in rhythm with the lamp. Completely oblivious to the Awakened Clothes on 3. Walk-in closet, they have no interest in anything other than the lamp and eating fabric. Due to their mothyness, they will follow and worship any light source brighter than their lava lamp. They share with those that partake in fabric that they were preparing for a pilgrimage to see the Big Lamp (the sun), but have since been enraptured by the Goddess (the lava lamp). Their bodies are too fragile and will fry under the sun. Moths have no sense of self preservation and are notorious pacifists: they will never fight back. Due to the large amount of moth dust, exerting oneself in this room causes suffocation. ZANDOR’S MANSE Brave Zenith 111 NAME: ORIGIN: ATTRIBUTES STEEL SKILLS THRESH + STEEL AUTHORITY + STEEL BREACH + VEILS VEILS TRICKERY + VEILS HEART SHIVERS + HEART EMPATHY + HEART DEFENSE MENACES WOUNDS STAMINA STRESS MAX ARMOR CURRENT SPECIAL 112 Brave Zenith CHARACTER CREATION VOCATION: BACKGROUND: EXPERIENCE STOMACH + STEEL RANK 1 +1 ,+1 STAMINA PROTEIN + STEEL RANK 2 +1 ,+1 STAMINA CIRCUS + VEILS RANK 3 +1 ,+1 STAMINA MERCHANT + VEILS RANK 4 +1 ,+1 STAMINA NATURE + HEART RANK 5 +1 ,+1 STAMINA DRAMA + HEART ZENITH +1 ,+1 STAMINA EQUIPMENT BACKPACK SILVER CHARACTER CREATION Brave Zenith 113 The world ended a long time ago, and no one gives a damn. You are an Adventurer: ambitious, indebted, BRAVE. Explore the ruined world of pastpresent, meet colourful (and deadly) creatures, see the sights of the Second City, partake in delicious Monkey Oil. The Archipelago is your oyster!