#RPGaDAY2026: Day 31 Edge

The witch lives on the edge. 

You will find it to be the case in Jackson, IL. There, teenage witches separate the town’s older, darker undercurrents from the everyday business of school, football, the local diner, and homework with friends. They are still girls, yet they are the ones who know where the monsters can be found. And they are the ones to stop them. 

The same holds for Advanced Witches & Warlocks. A witch is never a simple thing; she occupies the space between the arcane and the divine, as much a scholar or village healer as a priestess or an object of fear. That is the whole point.

In Yog, the edge is all the more pronounced. Here the witch is positioned between survival and rebellion, the old gods and a world on its last legs, between being put to the hunt and turning into something the tyrants would dread in the dark. Yog has no use for comfort; it gives the witch fire and blood and will, and makes her choose.

That is why “Edge” feels like the right place to end RPGaDay.

The witch is invariably at the boundary, be it between mercy and vengeance or the world as it is and what it could be, between girl and monster. It is up to her to decide what gets across.

And what doesn't get back up.

Multiversal NPC

It is Monday, so a new week, but the only one of this week. Ability and Fair of Face. And since this is the last one, lets have someone from all the worlds. 

Selene Marr. A beautiful, unsettling witch-adjacent woman who appears in Jackson as the new Instructor at Beecher College everyone notices, in Carbon Vale as a folklore department assistant who knows too much for her age, and in Yog as a veiled oracle whose "ability" is seeing the version of you that survives. In Iriandor, she is a temple witch in the first year of her temple administration. She can see the best in everyone. 

In every world, she knows something about the PCs and sometimes something about one of their Shards. She is also looking for her younger sister Tessa.

Jackson Soundtrack

Really, for Jackson there is only one song for Edge.

--

And that’s a wrap on another #RPGaDAY! Huge thanks to David F. Chapman (Autocratik) and Anthony Boyd (Casting Shadows Blog) for keeping this tradition going year after year. It’s been a great excuse to reflect, reconnect, and rediscover why I love this hobby so much. Whether you joined in with every prompt or just caught a few along the way, I hope you found something that inspired you.

It has been a great year talking about my various campaigns from West Haven to Jackson and Carbon Vale to Yog and Iriandor. All these worlds are a lot of fun, and I hope to keep bringing you more.

I hope you all enjoyed the soundtrack as well. I have been playing it while I work on all of these posts.

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#RPGaDAY2026: Day 30 Pride

 Today is Pride.

I am proud of Jackson, West Haven, Yog, and Advanced Witches & Warlocks. But for this prompt, Pride means something more specific.

With Jackson and Carbon Vale I draw heavily on Monsterhearts. Not so much the mechanics as the emotional core of it. Teenagers are a mess. So is desire. So is figuring out who you are. The horror and the magic lie in who you love and want, who makes you afraid, and who is watching you become something new.

Take Larina in Jackson: she is bisexual in this version and not particularly fazed by this. She has made out with Grant, Stephanie’s older brother, and with Candy. Faye is a lesbian, but there is more confusion and conflict about it; after all, it is 1985-6 in the Midwest. Candy and Denise are probably what we would call poly now, but that still does not quite explain them (and let's be honest, what DOES explain them??). But Denise does not like anyone touching her, and yet she and Candy are in love in ways that are both platonic and romantic. They do figure it out, after a couple of failed marriages, spectacularly bad divorces, and some ex-husbands they no longer talk to. They finally get married to each other when they are 50. But they belonged to each other long before that.

Vera Rook is what you could term "hetero-flexible," simply because Vera does as she wants and is happy to put someone on edge if the occasion calls for it. Roderick Morgan appears to have little interest in anyone. Andy and Rowan are soulmates, and the model Jackson Public High Couple. They are also an interracial couple, not a big deal today, but in 1985 small-town Midwest, this was still rare.  

You find a supporting cast all over the spectrum around them, just like you would in real life. And they all are not confined to the student body.

Teacher Thomas Avery knows the perils of a rumor in a small-town high school in the mid-80s. He is cautious, and he listens for what is left unsaid. Elaine Bellweather is no front-line warrior; she teaches her music and keeps an open eye, allowing the students some space to breathe.

It is important.

You do not have to be swinging a sword or working a spell to be heroic in a horror game. There is heroism in making sure a kid has a room where he is safe for five minutes.

Queer characters in horror should not be reduced to subtext, a joke, or some kind of cautionary tale. Yes. That is exactly what often happened in horror movies in the 1980s but I can do better. They can be witches, scholars, jerks, saints, monsters, parents, teachers and everything in between. In short, people. And in a game of witches, those on the fringes of society are exactly where they ought to be: in the middle of the action.

Jackson NPC

We are at Day 30, Sunday, Emotion and Blessed. 

Andrea Thompson is Andy and Rowan’s future daughter, blessed because Andy and Rowan never thought they would be able to have children after so many failed attempts. Why am I talking about her even though she isn't born until the 2000s? She makes an appearance in my games where she is also Jackson's Spirit Rider. In a town where everyone says they want Andy and Rowan to succeed but wishes they would fail behind their backs, Andrea was wonderful proof that they make it and do well. 

Jackson Soundtrack

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#RPGaDAY2026: Day 29 Labor

Magic is labor.

One can be forgiven for forgetting that magic is work. In many games, a spell goes off simply because the character sheet has a box for it. Yet for a witch it ought to be felt as labor, as work. The genuine article, with all the time and attention and repetition it entails, not to mention the sweat and the errors and the practice.

Consider what a witch does. She is copying spells, mixing oils, gathering herbs and learning names. There is cleaning of ritual tools and study of the moon. She prepares charms, sits with those who are ill, makes tea, and keeps her notes. If something does not go to plan, she starts over. She will listen to the dead or watch a candle burn itself out.

For Advanced Witches & Warlocks, this is significant.

A witch is more than a pointy hat and a list of spells. She is one who puts in the work. It may be mystical or emotional in nature, but there is also the physical side to it. Carrying books, hauling water, digging where others would not, or just staying up when one wants to sleep.

In Jackson, IL, such labor could mean a bit of research at the library, a dark walk home, or seeing to a friend. Or perhaps dragging someone from an abandoned building before whatever is in the basement has a chance to wake up. Or it could be bartering bits of your soul for knowledge so dangerous that there is no other way.

Again, it is Saturday, and Zatanna is still a good example. In the comics, she speaks backward, and the magic happens. But as an example, try reading this sentence backward...while you are getting someone to try to hit you. Not that easy now. She puts in the work to practice this. 

Magic is built on the labor.

People tend to notice the magic. But it is the labor that makes it possible.

Jackson and Carbon Vale NPC

Today is Day 29, Saturday, Emotion and Works Hard. And I have the perfect NPC.

Lars Nichols: Larina's father, trying to hold a family together while pretending he does not see all the impossible things. Trying to be both father and mother to a teenage girl is hard enough; trying to do that for a teenage witch? While still grieving your recently passed wife? One would be forgiven for thinking I hate Lars.

Jackson Soundtrack

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#RPGaDAY2026: Day 28 Devotion

Devotion is more than just belief. 

It is a distinction I make with my religious characters, the witches in particular. Take Stephanie and Faye; they are witches in every sense of practice. They put in the work, they learn their craft, they take their place in the circle as required. But Larina is not so simple. While she is a witch by trade and practice like Steph and Faye, you will find her more often in the role of a Wiccan priestess. For Larina, it is not simply an activity but the lens through which she views the world. She is as devout as any cleric or paladin I have played (and I have played a lot of clerics and paladins).

Étaín Moonshadow takes that even further. Her commitment to the Threefold Goddess is absolute. The Maiden, Mother and Crone represent mystery and unity in equal measure, and Étaín’s whole existence revolves around that. It is in her scholarship and her discipline, in her strength and even her blind spots. To Étaín there is no grater mystery, and no better way to live, than this.

Consider also Kyra Bellamy in Jackson. As a preacher’s kid, faith was something done to her, explained and enforced, at times like a cage. Yet what Kyra has is not her father’s faith. She believes with all of herself, only to also believe that God and Jesus have more to offer her than her father can put into words. In time, she demonstrates as much, putting down roots as a minister with a congregation and a calling of her own. Her faith is even stronger than that of her father's, which is saying something.

This is what I mean by devotion in a game. It is not a matter of alignment or some box to be ticked on a character sheet. A character gives herself to it, and it demands a price in return.

They are devoted to what they believe is true. It colors everything they see and everything they do. And it can produce surprises. Kyra is a Jackson girl, and she knows her cross can protect her from various monsters. What she doesn't understand is why Larina's triple moon pendant works the same way.

So sometimes the greatest act of magic in Jackson is saying "I believe."

Iriandor and West Haven NPC

Day 28, Friday, Emotion and Loving & Giving. 

Aurelian "Auri" Starling. A seraph-born child of an angel and a witch, moving between Iriandor and West Haven with a devotion so gentle it looks like kindness until someone threatens the people under their protection. 

Jackson Soundtrack

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#RPGaDAY2026: Day 27 Hunger

 Hunger is not always about food.

In the realms of horror and fantasy, it is usually the subtext, the want that remains once the polite explanations have been put aside. The thing under the thing.

Roderick Morgan is driven by a need for order. He has no use for justice or peace in the abstract; he wants a Jackson that will behave, a town in its place, and a world where the dead are left in their graves, and the witches do not make needless noise. Nothing supernatural is to be allowed to encroach on what is his.

Then there is Larina and her voracious appetite for knowledge. She is after the book, the hidden name, the story behind the lie. It is what makes her brilliant, but also puts her in the way of trouble since some truths have a way of biting back. If there is knowledge to be gained, she will leap long before she looks.

Veyra Shadowraven hungers for vengeance, which is easy enough to fathom on Yog. Perhaps too easy. Vengeance will keep one going when grief would have you rooted to the spot, but it is a poor meal and never quite fills the void. 

Amaranth in West Haven is another matter. Being a half-succubus, hunger is inherent to her, yet it is not the sum of who she is.  That distinction is what makes a character like Amaranth compelling; the hunger is as real as the person who has to live with it. Even when she is trying to hide it or deny it, but it is always there. If Amaranth were in NIGHT SHIFT or Wasted Lands, she would have a "Feed" option. 

Over on the other side of the spectrum, you have Étaín Moonshadow with a hunger for truth. It can be a noble pursuit, even holy, but it is ruthless as well. Étaín has no other attachments, especially no other romantic ones that would keep her from her mission and goal. Everything else isn't secondary. They don't even make her list.

Hunger is a handy tool in a game for that reason. Get to the bottom of what a character is hungry for, and you will have your answer as to which door they will open.

Jackson and West Haven NPC

Another special one today for Day 27. Though she has been more than just an NPC. It is Thursday, so Emotion and Far to Go. 

Taryn Nichols is Larina’s daughter, always between worlds, always further from home than anyone would like. In this version, Taryn is sent back in time by her mother (or maybe one of her mother's Shards) to help out Larina, Faye, and Stephanie in 1986.

Jackson Soundtrack

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#RPGaDAY2026: Day 26 Regret

Every witch has some form of regret and her own way of bearing it.

It is Witchcraft Wednesday as well, so the word regret seems apt.

Ash Witch died with regret on her lips. In the course of leading refugees from Yog to West Haven, she had done much, but at the end what was of any consequence were the ones she failed to save. Her dying words were an apology. "I'm sorry."

Veyra Shadowraven’s regret is of a different order. She chafes at not being as great as the Ash Witch, or perhaps kind enough. One could say she is simply not enough. Such feelings have a way of sharpening a person, though they can leave you hollow if you allow them to. Veyra is very nearly hollow now.

And in Jackson, there is Larina, who for years has been defined by the fact that she did not save her mother. Even if there was really no way for her to have known. It made her brilliant and driven, angry and impossible to deal with at times. But that sort of emotional intensity has a way of crossing over into other universes. When she spoke to her "shard" in Carbon Vale of how things had gone, she found a version of herself there who had been able to see her mother survive.

Larina of Carbon Vale has no such regrets. Or at least none of that.

You find that in a multiverse, regret is a curious matter. 

In one place it is a wound, in another a warning, and in some cases it is what keeps a person alive. For a witch, it is perilous because it puts the same question before you: what would you do differently? And then you are left to wonder whether you would come to regret the change, or the fact you did not make it sooner.

Jackson NPC

It is Witchcraft Wednesday, so let's do someone special for Day 26, Wednesday, Emotion and Full of Woe. 

Mai Voss: Faye Thorne's (original name "Fiona Voss") mother, a ghost of grief, love, regret, and everything stolen too soon. Her husband, Arthur Voss, traded them to the Blackthorne Hags for power, but they killed him and Mai and kept baby Fiona instead. Renamed her Faye Thorne and raised her as their "niece."  Faye does not discover this for many years. 

Jackson Soundtrack

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#RPGaDAY2026: Day 25 Familiarity

 There is a familiarity to Jackson, IL, and for good reason. The town is rooted in the reality of Jacksonville, Illinois. 

I have not made an exact copy of it; my version of Jackson is fictional, put through the wringer and bent toward horror. But the underlying structure is genuine. You will find the same old buildings, the streets and parks and schools, the small-town cadence and the way folks know one another all too well. The names have been changed, but sometimes only just enough.

Such details are what make or break a game.

I put that to the test at EGG Con with my Jackson game. What struck people was how much the town seemed lived-in. It was one of the best compliments I could have gotten, really. Jackson ought not to come across as mere scenery. It has to be a place where lives were started and ended, where love and terrible errors and unfinished business have taken their course.

Horror needs that kind of weight.

Give me a haunted castle, and I am all for it. Yet there is something more unsettling about a haunted library or school, or a haunted house just three blocks from your friend’s. That is what gets under the skin.

Jackson is effective because it could be somewhere you have been.

It is somewhere I have been, if only in my nightmares at first, but now at my game table. 

Yog/West Haven NPC

It's Tuesday, so today is Emotion and Full of Grace. 

Satha of the White Veil, a former temple attendant from Yog who moves with impossible gentleness, even after escaping the Priest-Kings, and can soothe panic with a touch. She attends to the spiritual needs of the Yogian refugees; she is a cleric and not a witch, though she really isn't that anymore either since losing faith in her gods and the Priest-Kings. Someone or something is still answering her prayers.

Jackson Soundtrack

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#RPGaDAY2026: Day 24 Distance

I have two modern horror campaigns. They let me play with similar ideas under different assumptions and even different rules. My oldest calls this "save scumming." It is from video games: if you don't like a particular outcome, you go back to your previous save and start back from there. For me, I think it is more about having two separate but equally enjoyable outcomes.

Jackson, IL, and Carbon Vale, IL, are about 220 miles apart. That is their physical Distance.

That is not nothing, but it is not exactly the other side of the world either. You could drive it in an afternoon. Different roads, different towns, different exits, but still Illinois. Still the Midwest. Still close enough to feel familiar, but still far enough to be different. I know, I drove to and from their real-world counterparts many times. 

Except they are not in the same world.

For me, Jackson and Carbon Vale are separate universes. They even use different game systems, which makes the distance between them feel larger than any map can show. They are not just separated by miles. They are separated by rules, histories, assumptions, and the kinds of monsters waiting in the dark.

And yet magic makes them closer.

A mirror, a spell, a book, a dream, or the right impossible moment can cross a distance no highway can. That is what I like about using both settings. They are far enough apart to be different worlds, but close enough that one girl can still reach for the other.

In this case, it is a battered-up copy of "A Wrinkle in Time." Notes left in the pages are transported to a similar book 220 miles and a universe away. I talked a little about this back on Day 12.

So what is the difference between Jackson and Carbon Vale?

More than distance, honestly. But also less than distance.

Jackson, IL and Carbon Vale, IL NPC

Today is Emotion and Fair of Face.

Siân Nichols is Larina’s mother in the worlds where she lives, beautiful, warm, and emotionally central in ways Larina does not always admit. Siân died in the Jackson, IL campaign, but thanks to Nix and Creepy communicating via "A Wrinkle in Time," she is alive in the Carbon Vale, IL campaign.

There will likely be some repercussions to this act, but I am not sure what they are going to be yet. But I know they will happen.

Jackson Soundtrack

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#RPGaDAY2026: Day 23 Fortune

 By all accounts, Stephanie Vale, Andy Thompson, and even Roderick Morgan all have fortunes. 

But each one chooses to ignore that to do what they feel is more important.

There are fortunes to be had in Stephanie Vale, Andy Thompson, and Roderick Morgan. Though one would not call them the same kind of fortune.

Stephanie has her family’s money and a name that is enough to open any door in Jackson, along with the social standing to match. Andy enjoys his comfort and reputation, and was well enough raised to put a value on decency. Then you have Roderick Morgan with his old money and property and old grudges, and the unshakable notion that since it is his town, Jackson ought to behave.

I am more interested in how they put their respective fortunes to use.

Take Stephanie: she will not sit idly by in the face of injustice. If there is something amiss, she is going to do something about it. She will organize, argue, protect, and interfere until the matter is resolved, making herself a problem for everyone in the process. If Steph was a teen in a modern (2026) game she would say something like "I am not part of the problem, I am the whole fucking problem now!" 

Andy has an eye for potential. He can see what good a person could do, or the better version of themselves they might yet be, and he has a way of making them want to rise to the occasion. He cares only enough about his family's wealth insofar as what good can he do with it. 

Roderick is another story. To be frank, he is a bit of a jerk. Ok. He is a huge jerk. Yet he does not simply sit on his hands. He has no patience for disorder and finds the supernatural encroaching on "his" town to be a personal affront. He is not exactly noble, but he is driven. Which has its uses in my game. 

One should not think of fortune as mere treasure. 

It is also influence and opportunity; it is being in a position of comfort and having people believe in you. The real question is what a character makes of it. Will they be an inspiration or a protector? Or will they set about forcing the world into the shape they deem proper?

In Jackson, IL, a little fortune will not keep the monsters at bay. All it does is give you more options when they show up.

Thankfully, in the cases of Stephanie, Andy, and Roderick, they do show up.

Jackson NPC

Today is Day 23, Sunday, Instinct and Blessed. 

Father John Mallory is a Jackson priest whose faith is sincere enough that even witches sometimes trust him. He is aware of the supernatural, but because these sorts of creatures avoid him, he thinks they are largely contained. He is not a Theophist, just a normal but kindly priest.

Jackson Soundtrack

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#RPGaDAY2026: Day 22 Grit

Candy Mercer and Denise Carver do not have magic.

You will not see them using any spells or a witch’s mark on them, nor do they have an ancient bloodline to call their own, let alone a familiar. To my knowledge, Denise can't even do a card trick, though I suspect Candy can.

It is 1986, and the two of them are still some way off from being the nurse and social worker they will one day be (spoilers!). For now, they are simply two teenage girls living in Jackson, IL, making it through high school as best they can with all its bad rumors and worse adults, while living with the unpleasant fact that monsters are very real.

They stand up anyway. That is grit.

And no one is more surprised than me!

They were designed just to be two silly but sweet party girls whose main job was "monster bait." But at some point Denise picked up a crowbar, and Candy started stitching people back up. And very soon the saying "Denise fucking Carver shows up" became something heard at my table a lot. Because when there is trouble, and people need help, there she was, and Candy right behind her, ready to stitch up whoever needs it.

They are not Chosen Ones with a secret destiny or a Witch with a shelf of occult tomes. But they make themselves present. They protect one another, and when faced with horror, they determine that flight is not the answer. In a place like Jackson, there is plenty of reason to turn a blind eye, but they don’t.

So the witches can have their magic; People like Val and Rowan can have their mystical connections. But Candy and Denise have something of equal importance. A kind of ordinary, stubborn courage that keeps them standing. 

And when things get really bad?

Candy Mercer and Denise Carver fucking show up. 

Jackson, IL NPC

Saturday, Instinct and Works Hard. 

Mick Tully, a teenage (17 years old) stock boy at the IGA who works closing shifts, notices every strange pattern in town, and quietly keeps a notebook of who buys salt, candles, batteries, and sage by the pound before bad things happen. He is another good potential contact. 

Jackson Soundtrack

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Tales of Jackson, IL: Val and Ami

 I have not done any NPC profiles in a long time. I wanted to do this because at EGG CON I had a player play Val, and he did such a great job bringing my "dumb jock" to life. I just had to revisit him. 

Ok, calling Valentino "Val" Michele Moreno a dumb jock in not fair. He is not the smartest guy in the room, but he has a lot of things going for him besides being on the football and baseball teams. I also want to talk about his other best friend Ami. It takes Val a bit, but he realizes that Ami is in love with him. 

Both Val and Ami are here for the "High School Jock" stereotypes, and honestly, if this were a horror movie, they would be among the first to die. But this is a game, and they both are really good kids and a lot of fun, so far they have lived and even taken some serious hits. Well...every hit is serious in this game.

Valentino "Val" Michele Moreno

Val has been Andy Thompson's best friend since 1974, when Val brought a Nerf football to preschool, and they played with it all recess. Val's family never had the money the Thompsons did, but Andy LOVED staying with Val because of his huge family. It is Val and his four younger sisters. Val was almost sent to St. Michael's Catholic School, but he convinced his parents that his chances at a football or baseball scholarship would be better at Jackson Public High School. He was right, of course. 

At the start of the game, Val is dating Stephanie Vale. Naturally, the captain of the football team is dating the head cheerleader. They break up when Stephanie discovers all the supernatural dealings in town. Plus, Stephanie can see that Ami is the one who loves Val. 

Val is a Divine Warrior, from the NIGHT SHIFT: Night Companion. He was originally just going to be a survivor, but something in him awakened when the Bell rang in Jackson. He was already a fairly devout Catholic boy with very strong opinions. Also, the idea of a monster preying on girls in his town was deeply offensive to him. Yes, this is me being political. So when he discovered that his ex-girlfriend and her friends were fighting monsters at night, Val did what Val always does; he grabbed a baseball bat and went to help, whether they wanted him to or not. Turns out that Val's moral compass is so true his bat actually damages supernautral creatures.

Valentino "Val" Michele Moreno
2nd-level Divine Warrior, Human

Background: Jock

Base Abilities

Strength: 16 (+2) A
Agility: 17 (+2) n
Toughness: 15 (+1) n
Intelligence: 11 (+0) 
Wits: 12 (+0) 
Persona: 14 (+1) 

Vit: 10 (2d6)
DV: 8
Fate Points: 1d6

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +2/+1/+0
Attack bonus (base): +2
Melee bonus: +4  Ranged bonus: +2

Saves: +1 to Wits and Persona-based saves, +1 to Toughness-based (Jock)

Languages: English
Skills: 

Divine Warrior Abilities
Danger Sense 1 (1d8), Heal injury 1d6 ("walk it off"), Supernatural Attack +1

Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown
Height: 6'1"
DOB: 1/12/1969

Archetype: The Jock
Quote: "It's not trash-talk if I am right."
Quirks: Is a lot more observant than he lets on.
Theme song: "Centerfield" by John Fogerty

His middle name "Michele" is a variant of "Michael," his patron Saint. St. Michael the patron saint of those who hunt demons. He wears a Saint Michael medallion, and Larina swears it glows when he is fighting. She is not a fan of Val, but knows he is good in a fight. She also knows that whatever makes his medallion glow doesn't particularly care for witches.

One day at school, Valentino was walking down the hall when someone shouted, "Hey Val!"  Both Valentino and Valerie Beaumont said "What?" at the same time, and both laughed. The next day, she said, "Hey Val!" to him, and he said, "Hey Val!" back. It became their thing until graduation and long after. The Assistant Principal, Glenn Daniels, wanted it stopped, but Valerie told him to pull the stick out of his ass. 

Spoilers: Val goes on to the U of I with Ami on that scholarship. He played ball for the minor-league Cardinals for a couple of years but injured his elbow. He ends up teaching at St. Michael's Catholic School and serving as its football coach. 

In 2019, Andy (head football coach at JPHS) and Val decided to do a charity game at the end of their seasons between JPHS and St. Mike's to raise money for local charities. They called the "Crosstown Classic," and it became a weekend-long celebration before the Thanksgiving break. 

Typically, the Hope Center, a place for women and children seeking assistance built by social worker Denise Carver, gets its funds. 

Ami Beth Reed

Ami Beth Reed is on the track team, the girls' basketball team, but most importantly (to her), the girls' softball team. Ami is tough, a little loud, and easy to spot. She stands nearly 6' tall and has short cropped black hair. She is attractive, but her rough exterior tends to intimidate most high school kids. She drives a beat-up '79 Chevy C/K truck that constantly blares Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and the Scorpions.

Also, everyone thinks Ami is gay. Everyone is wrong. Despite her rough exterior, Ami doesn't really know how to talk to guys. That is, except for Val. Val and Ami have a natural chemistry that people find "odd."  Val was known as the guy who was dating Stephanie Vale, and now he hangs out with Ami all the time. Val tells people that Ami is a great workout partner; they go running every morning. Plus Val will proudly say, "Hey, I am maturing. I have a girl as a best friend."

Ami is hopelessly in love with Val.

Well...not hopeless. In an early playtest adventure, Ami gets hurt when a monster claws her stomach, leaving deep wounds. This established a few things. First, Ami has this cool scar on her side. Secondly, it solidified Candy as my go-to medic, but most of all, it awakened Val's inner Divine Warrior. Ami got hurt, and Val went psycho on the monster. 

Ami Reed
1st level Survivor, Human

Background: Jock

Base Abilities

Strength: 14 (+1)
Agility: 13 (+1) 
Toughness: 14 (+1) n
Intelligence: 13 (+1) 
Wits: 16 (+2) A
Persona: 15 (+4) n

Vit: 5 (1d4)
DV: 8
Fate Points: 1d6

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +2/+1/+0
Attack bonus (base): +0
Melee bonus: +0  Ranged bonus: +0

Languages: English
Skills: 

Saves: +3 to death saves, +1 to Toughness-based (Jock)

Survivor Abilities
Improved defense -1, Open Locks 20%, Bypass traps 15%, Sleight of hand 25%, Move silently 25%, Hide in shadows 25%, Climb 55%, Danger Sense 1-2 (1d6), Perception 40%, Sneak attack +4

Hair: Black
Eyes: Blue
Height: 6'0"
DOB: 2/14/1969

Archetype: The Tough Girl
Quote: Rolls shoulder and points with her bat, "Dibs on the big one."
Quirks: Likes to think she is invincible and takes the hits the "little witches" can't. There is truth in this, but she is not indestructible. 
Theme song: "Invincible" by Pat Benatar

 Ami is from the "bad side" of town on the northeast side. She is not a bad kid, quite the opposite, really, but she has had to learn how to hold herself. She has been in some fights, but has learned that intimidation often stops most fights before they start. Consequently, she always has one of her bats handy. 

In truth, Ami doesn't really care for basketball, but as the tallest girl in the school, she felt kind of obligated to join. She does, however, really enjoy softball and often teases Val that she can outhit him. They spend a lot of time together at the batting cages. Only much later in life will they agree that those nights were in fact dates.

Much like Val, supernatural monsters preying on the helpless offend her sensibilities of right and wrong. 

Spoilers: Ami and Val did get together at the Senior Prom. They then went to the U of I together. Where they stayed together (minus a dramatic "break" their junior year that was short-lived) the whole time. 

Ami got her degree in physical therapy and does weekend sports casts on the local radio station (minor in Radio and Television Media). 

Years later, as married couples, Andy and Rowan, along with Val and Ami, get together on Sunday to watch whatever game is on. Rowan asks questions about what is going on, often just to get a rise out of everyone. 

She had gotten so much grief for her height and jock appearance in high school that when Playboy came around U of I for one of their college girls specials, she submitted pictures. She made the issue representing the University of Illinois. Later, when she shows the issue to Denise and Candy, Candy is pissed off that they airbrushed out her scars. But otherwise, they are thrilled to be friends with a certified "Fucking Amazon Goddess." Val is also pretty thrilled with the issue as well. 

Real-world influence: I went to college with Jenny McCarthy. No, I did not know her well. Her younger sister, Joanne, was one of my students, though. Interestingly enough, that was two different universities on opposite ends of the state. 

Night Shift^® is a registered trademark of Elf Lair, LLC.

#RPGaDAY2026: Day 18 Directness

 Sometimes subtlety is overrated, and the direct approach is needed.

One must have tact. There is a time for patience and for choosing one’s words with care, for the sake of hidden meanings or to let another arrive at the truth in his own good time.

But then there are also monsters.

In Jackson, IL, the characters know where directness is warranted. But at times it is necessary to put it bluntly: "That house is haunted." "Your boyfriend is no good for you, he is dangerous." "What is in the basement is not your grandmother." "That skeezy motel is built on a forgotten graveyard." 

Let people go on dancing around the facts and the horror will have all the time in the world to put in its appearance and get comfortable. Or worse, it will have the time to harm or kill someone.

Witches are well aware of this.

They can be as subtle as they like; half their art is in the silence, the symbols, and the timing. Yet a witch also knows when there is no room for subtlety, when a name must be spoken, a warning made plain, and the circle drawn. Some threats are answered with a quiet ritual; others have to be dealt with fire and fury.

To be direct is not to be rude. It is mercy without the frills. And if a witch can be kind about it, she will tell the truth before the screaming has a chance to begin.

Again, or worse, when the screaming has stopped.

Yog NPC

Today is Day 18, Tuesday, Instinct and Full of Grace. 

Sable Reed: A young Yog scout who moves like smoke and always knows which way the hunters are coming. She is tall for her age, but she is also one of the fastest runners around. She has avoided the Slavers and now acts as a scout, lookout, and messenger of the Liberation Front. 

Jackson Soundtrack

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#RPGaDAY2026: Day 17 Intensity

 Witches are intense.

That is fairly obvious at this point. Whether it is my Jackson, IL setting, my Yog setting or even (especially) my Advanced Witches & Warlocks.

 A witch does not take the things of consequence casually. She has a tendency to believe and see and feel and remember far more than most. There is an intensity to her that is the source of her power.

And her danger as well.

You will not find that kind of intensity in Jackson, IL, in the form of parlor tricks with candles or dramatic pronouncements made under the moon. It is more likely to be a young girl holding someone’s gaze in a school corridor. Or Larina, who will not let a matter rest because she can tell something is amiss even if the rest of them are content to feign ignorance.

Such intensity is capable of saving people. Of frightening them too.

This is what I look for in my Advanced Witches & Warlocks class. I do not want a student to come across as some sort of dispassionate technician of magic, merely ticking off a spell from a list. The witch brings her whole self to the circle: her will and devotion, yes, but also her anger, fear, and desire.

Intensity is focus with a certain heat to it. And when a witch puts her mind to something, heavens help anything that gets in her path.

Jackson NPC

Back to Monday, so Instinct and Fair of Face. Dana Marlowe is a beautiful Jackson Public High senior with a dangerous talent for knowing who is lying, who is lonely, and who is about to make a terrible mistake. She doesn't know, but suspects, that she might have fae background. Her grandmother used to have stories about how her own grandmother once spent an "evening" that turned out to be many years with an unearthly handsome "Gentleman Caller."

Jackson Soundtrack

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#RPGaDAY2026: Day 16 Composure

 Composure is not the same thing as calm.

There is a difference between having composure and being calm. Calm is the absence of fear. Composure is when you are terrified, angry, heartbroken, or worn out, yet you are aware of all the eyes on you. So you take a breath, put your back straight, and level your voice. You get on with what has to be done.

I would say that is very Jackson. 

In Jackson, IL, one needs composure to survive. It is what the cheerleader puts on her face for something truly awful. It is the witch in class after she has made eye contact with a ghost. The child who can tell the teacher is not being honest but has no way of putting it into words. Or the friend who insists "I’m fine" because a tear now could set off a flood.

Witches find it to be a form of practical magic as well. You need focus for your rituals and attention for your wards; panic will break a circle. A witch may be in a right fury or grieving or frightened half to death. But once the candles are going and others are looking to her, she has to hold the line. The same is true for the Spirit Riders, Divine Warriors, and other supernaturals who take up the fight against the darkness. And more importantly, it is true for the scores of normal people who do what needs to be done even when they have no chance of winning.

Composure is not about pretending there is no problem. It is seeing that everything is wrong and deciding not to let it have the upper hand.

Jackson NPC

Another Sunday for Day 16, Sunday, Associates and Blessed. Miriam Kestrel is a West Haven altar girl at St. Mark's Lutheran Church and novice herbalist who seems blessed mostly because frightened people calm down when she enters the room. She enters Jackson Public High School in the Fall of 1986.

Jackson Soundtrack

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#RPGaDAY2026: Day 15 Endurance

Endurance is not glamorous, but it is what is needed.

It's not in the dramatic speech before the monster makes its entrance, or in the final fight and the big spell. It is in the aftermath. The next morning comes, and one has to get up for school or work, field questions, and put on a poor show of lying to adults, all while making an effort not to let on that the sound of something scratching at the window last night is still ringing in one’s ears.

Jackson, IL is a town made of such stuff.

Its old buildings that still hold their secrets; the town puts up with its ghosts. The children have to make do with the fact that the grownups will not believe them. And the witches, they endure the price of seeing and knowing more than they should, and yet are expected to be there on Monday as if they had not.

In a game, this is what counts.

A character does not become interesting just because they survive one terrible night. If it was just about the fight, well, I have plenty of combat-focused games for that.  No, they become interesting because they keep going after it. They carry the scars, the memories, the bad dreams, the unfinished business, and somehow they are still there when the next bad thing happens.

Endurance is not the same as being invulnerable. It is simply standing your ground after you have been worn down. 

So for me, winning the fight is not enough. It is how they walk away from the fight that matters. Sometimes it is more important than the fight itself.

Irianador NPC

Today is Saturday of Week 3, so Associates and Works Hard. 

Rourke Flint is an Iriandor blacksmith who repairs weapons for heroes of the Last War and listens to their stories. He sometimes will do the work for free if the story is a good one. 

Jackson Soundtrack

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#RPGaDAY2026: Day 14 Regard

 Vera is a character I keep seeing differently with regard to the world she is in.

Take Jackson, IL for instance. There you have Vera Rook as a rival; she is sharp and selfish, with a dangerous edge to her because she will do as she pleases. Yet Jackson allows for some development. When, in the future, she becomes Megan’s adoptive mother and uses the name Vera Connors, my view of her shifts. The bad girl act is gone in favor of someone who has made a choice for love and protection. But to become Vera Connors, divorced mother of two and now adoptive mother of Megan Connors, she had to be Vera Rook first.

Or did she?

We get a slightly different Vera Rook in Carbon Vale. Here, one thing was changed. Vera's mother left her father and traveled south to finish her degree, taking teenage Vera with her. This Vera Rook saw her mother stand up for something better than what she had. Instead of becoming bitter and sullen, this Vera became open to the idea that better things happen because you can make them happen. I am not sure of what her future holds, but it is likely she will not become Vera Connors in this world.

And in Yog, she is Veyra Shadowraven. You see her through the haze of sword and sorcery and the light of a dying world there. A darker figure with more shadow and a name to match. Where Vera in Jackson has to improve herself, Veyra in Yog is left to make of her legend what she will.  The ruling class of Yog calls her a terrorist and a subversive. An "evil witch." She agrees with all of those and keeps on doing what she has always done, working to improve the lot of witches everywhere in Yog.

That is the nature of regard in gaming. 

It puts a different light on the same girl under a different set of rules, altering the character while leaving the core intact.

Each Vera shard is real and as valid as the other. She is just shaped in regard to her world. 

West Haven/Yog NPC

Friday, Associates and Loving & Giving: 

Constance, no last name, is a West Haven caretaker who welcomes Yog refugees with soup, blankets, and no questions. She is a former Yogian slave and now refugee who escaped to West Haven. Katrina of West Haven removed her brand with powerful healing magic, and now she spends her days trying to show the same kindness to others.

Jackson Soundtrack

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Tales of Jackson, IL: Jenny, Jenny Who Can I Turn To?

 Today is Jenny Everywhere Day!

I make no excuses for it. I love Jenny Everywhere. 

I love the character, I love the concept, and I love how and why she was created, and just all of it really. Today is the day we celebrate Jenny in all her multitudes. And we celebrate by contributing to her lore.

First and foremost, I must include her license. I don't do this because I have too, I do because it is also part of what I love about her.

"The character of Jenny Everywhere is available for use by anyone, with only one condition. This paragraph must be included in any publication involving Jenny Everywhere, in order that others may use this property as they wish. All rights reversed."

I felt like it was also a great day to finally introduce Jenny, the Shifter, to NIGHT SHIFT. I mean, really. A multi-genre game system needs equally multi-genre NPCs. Jenny can be in every Night World, every Solar Frontier, and by both her own logic and the logic of the Dreaming Age, Jenny was found in the Wasted Lands.

Jenny in Jackson, IL

Jenny: "This town is so weird, and so much more dangerous than any of you know. Seriously, you should all move out, like, now. You are all absolutely bonkers for staying here. But I can’t help it. I love it here."

Larina: "That...is not very reassuring."

Of course, Jenny would end up here eventually. Her "eventually" and our "eventually" are not really the same thing at all, but that is fine. I imagine the characters see her reflection in the glass of Paula's Bookstore one day. She is waving at them, but they can't see her standing inside the store or behind them. She walks through the glass and stands out on the sidewalk. She knows the characters and some of their details, but they are also out of order. Some details are from the future; others may deal with other versions of the characters. So questions like "wow, when did you start wearing glasses?" to characters who have always worn glasses, and so on.

She will exclaim with much pride that today is her birthday and that she was born on this day in 2002. Or will be. Hard to keep timelines straight when you are a Shifter.

Here is how I am planning to use her. Jenny is not a fighter. She is not a harbinger. She is not a warning or even a cautionary tale. Jenny is just fun. Now that doesn't mean something weird isn't happening. But her appearance should feel like the first episode after Sweeps Week or a slightly silly Monster of the Week one. BUT she can be used to move the adventure forward or provide some clues.

For example. In Jackson, the "Big Bad" is the Hollow King. He is trying to absorb special items and then people to fill the emptiness, sorry, Emptiness, inside. His ultimate targets are Candy and Denise. Why? They are "mirror shards," and while they seem to be just two party girls, they actually have connections to all their alternate universe selves. Candy even says all the time, "I contain multitudes." She says it because she thinks it makes her sound cool and deep. But in reality? She could not be more correct. She and Denise have enough to make the Hollow King whole again. And that is bad. Not just "in bringing back a very powerful Necromancer" bad (where the most powerful witch right now is only 2nd level), but because two very sweet and mostly innocent girls would be dead.

Jenny: "Yeah, the data plan is great, but I have to wait 35 more years for decent 5G."

Jenny is like a shard as well. But Jenny is aware of all her "shards," and they are aware of her. The Hollow King could no more consume her than I could eat all of the food in Chicago right now. It would destroy him.  BUT Jenny knows the importance of Denise and Candy. She knows their other shards. 

Now...she might not know why they are important to what is going on in THIS Jackson right now. And she might not even know they are part of the larger seasonal arc; she just knows they are important.

Because of course they are.

Jenny Everywhere
The Shifter

4th level Sage, Human (mostly)

Background: Multiversal traveler. 

Base Abilities

Strength: 11 (+0)
Agility: 13 (+1) 
Toughness: 16 (+2) 
Intelligence: 17 (+2) A
Wits: 13 (+1) N
Persona: 16 (+2) N

Vit: 22 (1d6)
DV: 7 (leather jacket)
Fate Points: 1d6

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +3/+2/+0
Attack bonus (base): +0
Melee bonus: +0  Ranged bonus: +1

Languages: All
Skills: A little bit of everything

Saves: +3 to spells and magic-based saves

Sage Abilities
Survivor Skills, Mesmerize ("Fast Talk"), Lore, Languages, Spells

Survivor Skills
Open Locks: 25%
Bypass Traps: 20%
Sleight of Hand: 30%
Move Silently: 30%
Hide in Shadows: 20%

Read Languages: 20%

Spells*
First-level: Bless ("Motivation Speech"), Command
Second-level: Knock

*Note about spells: Jenny doesn't actually cast spells. Her 'magic' allows certain disruptions of the local reality. She can talk to give someone an emotional boost ("Bless") or get them to do something else ("Command"). She also has an affinity for locks...or more to the point, she has an affinity for getting into places she really shouldn't, and locked doors are not going to be an obstacle ("Knock"). 

Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown
Height: 5'1"
Weight: 101 lbs

Archetype: The Shifter
Quote: "I’m not lost. I’m just taking the scenic route through reality."
Quirks: Travels the multiverse or "shifts" to different realities.
Theme song: She tells everyone it is "867-5309/Jenny" by Tommy Tutone, because she loves seeing people's reactions. (I have to admit I always think it is "Donna Everywhere" by Too Much Joy, but she doesn't fit the girl in the song at all.)

Heroic Touchstones
1st Level: Psychic Power: Tele-empathic link (to other selves) 
3rd Level: Aura Sense/Sight (Mirror Shard Awareness)

The Mirror Shard: Mirror Shard Awareness

Jenny Everywhere does not see the future. Not exactly. She sees versions.

She has made the acquaintance of people before they were born and after they were dead. She has been in worlds where they are famous and in ones where no one remembers them; worlds where they made every wrong move and, impossibly, where they got it right. Jenny does not always have the wherewithal to tell which version is from which reality or which of her memories will be of use. But she will remember a face, a name, and the particular shape a soul has when you run into it more than once.

Jenny calls it her sight. I call this Mirror Shard Awareness.

It is not mind-reading, nor is it prophecy. Call it a multiversal memory. When she comes across someone of consequence, she might well recognize another version of them. Some days this makes her helpful, some days funny, and on occasion it makes her exceedingly careful.

In the course of play, this awareness lets Jenny know things about a character that she ought not to. A nickname that has yet to be used. A scar this world has not put on him. A debt, a rescue, a funeral, or a betrayal that never took place here. Her asides will sound like jokes or mistakes, but there is nothing random about them.

Take Larina Nichols in Jackson. Jenny will notice the glasses first. Many Larinas don’t wear them, but the one in Jackson does. And the one for the Mage RPG does. Jenny puts two and two together: the ones with the glasses are usually the sort who have seen too much and found a way to live with it. The magic they see all the time is just too much.

Or when she calls Faye "Fey." The rest of the room won’t catch it, but Faye will. It will land wrong, or perhaps too right. Jenny isn’t mispronouncing Faye Thorne's name; she is recalling a version of her for whom the name was something older.

The immortal Valerie will get a smile and an inquiry as to where the ten dollars she owes her are, even though Valerie has no recollection of owing Jenny a thing.

"Not yet," Jenny will say, unbothered.

When she sees Candy and Denise are together, Jenny goes quiet. 

"Oh," she’ll say in a low voice. "There they are." She doesn't know why they are important, just that they are. 

That is the awareness at work. Jenny has known Jacksons without them. Jacksons where only one of the pair made it, or where they never met, and the town was all the colder for the absence of two ordinary, impossible girls. She knows their futures. The daughter Denise adopts. The Hope Center that Denise and Candy built/will build in the 2010s to help families in need. 

People's pasts and futures are in her head, but they do not always belong to this world. This is one of the reasons she can't be trusted as an oracle. She is telling the truth; the problem is you can never be sure which truth applies here. She isn't psychic (normally); she just has a lot of incomplete histories and futures.

Game Use

A scene may warrant a comment from Jenny about an important NPC or PC by way of Mirror Shard Awareness. Let the GM make of it what they will: a clue, a warning, an emotional complication, or a jest. It should hint at a possible truth without writing the character’s future for them.

Examples:

"Still here. Good. That matters."

"You wrote the song already? No? My mistake."

"Wait, the scar isn’t there yet? Good. You want to stay off the gym roof in November."

"You are so much harder to convince in this version."

The GM is free to decide if such remarks are true, partly true, true in another timeline or merely symbolic. Jenny is not lying. She is just carrying around too many maps.

Limit: Too Many Truths

Jenny has trouble separating one world’s truth from another. If the players put her on the spot for a straight answer on the future, the GM can rule one of three ways: it is true here, it is true in another world, or it is true only if the characters make it so. Jenny is aware of this and would rather be irritating than put words to a possibility and turn it into a cage.

Edited to Add: This past weekend, I ran a "Next Generation" game in Jackson to see if the setting works outside of the 1980s time frame. It does, but I like the 1980s vibe better. But it does give me a new idea for when I use Jenny later on.

Jenny: "Oh! And say hi to Taryn for me!
Larina: "Who is Taryn?"
Jenny: "Oh. Sorry. Spoilers. Say hi to her in 2012."

Special Limit: Larina's Mirror

You will not catch Jenny looking in Larina's mirror. Not safely. 

While she has passed through a train window, or a comic panel, even a particularly judgmental snow globe to cross universes, Larina’s mirror is different. It doesn’t just show you alternate worlds; it throws back too many shards of Larina Nichols at once: the Witch Queen, the librarian, the schoolgirl, the red-headed girl with the black fingernails and a notebook, the woman with blood on her hands, the psychic storm that still uses her name.

If forced to look, she must save vs. magic (or equivalent). Fail, and she is stunned for 1d6 rounds, unable to shift and unsure of which Jackson she is in. Succeed, and she still sees one impossible Larina with too much clarity and will have nothing more to do with it.

"Nope. Uhn-uh. Absolutely not. That is a Larina-shaped traffic accident across twelve dimensions."

And if she is feeling less flippant:

"That thing doesn’t show you who you are. It shows you who you might be mistaken for. All of them."

She will describe this as akin to multi-versal feedback. Jenny can already see more than most people; she avoids objects that allow others to do what she can do naturally.

Links

• Her page at Public Domain Super Heroes

HAPPY JENNY EVERYWHERE DAY!

#RPGaDAY2026: Day 13 Strain

Strain is what happens before something breaks.

In Jackson, IL, everyone is under some kind of strain. The students are trying to act normal. The parents who know less than they think, or the ones who know more than they let on. The teachers pretending the old building is just old. The witches holding wards, secrets, friendships, and bad dreams together with both hands.

It is good for horror gaming. Fear is the easy part to come by. Strain is more subdued. It is in the poor grades and the lack of sleep, the tremor in one’s hands or a hallway argument born of exhaustion and fear for which there is no ready explanation.

For a witch, this strain takes on a magical quality. There is a price to be paid for every spell, a demand for focus with each ritual. Hold onto a secret for too long, and it begins to weigh on the soul. A witch has her limits; one can bear much, but not indefinitely.

Eventually something has to give. In Jackson at least, it tends to happen at the worst possible moment.

In fact, "the worst possible moment" for the characters is often the best possible moment for the game.

I have an adventure outlined, but not developed yet. Something to get all the characters in the game to distrust each other to distract them from the problem of my big bad, The Hollow King, attacking Rowan. It's an old trope, but an effective one. I am ratcheting up the stress and strain. These are teens. Sturm und Drang. The idea is to have them confront their personal demons before confronting actual demons. 

Jackson, IL or Carbon Vale, IL NPC

Still in Associates Week, and today is Thursday Far to Go. 

Tessa Marr: A runaway from Jackson who keeps turning up in towns where witch trouble is about to start. She has traveled most of Southern Illinois and so far has avoided becoming a sad statistic. This is because of her uncanny ability to avoid trouble and be where she needs to be. 

Her older sister Selene, a woman with pre-cognitive gifts of her own, has been looking for her.

Jackson Soundtrack

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#RPGaDAY2026: Day 12 Loss

Another Witchcraft Wednesday. Let's talk about my favorite witch. 

In most versions of Larina, she has lost both of her parents.

I have used that for nearly forty years now, and honestly, I have come to realize it is a little lazy. Dead parents are easy character development. Too easy, sometimes. They explain the pain, clear the stage, and give the hero a wound without making the writer work too hard. And gives them a reason to be away from their homes. I mean it works, and everyone does it.

But loss has defined Larina for a long time.

So now I am experimenting with it. In Jackson, IL, Larina has lost her mother, but not both parents. In my Carbon Vale, Illinois setting, she still has both. The question becomes less "what did she lose?" and more "who is Larina when that loss changes?"

That is the useful part for gaming.

And since this is all about occult associations, there is another thing to consider. Jackson Larina, aka "Nix," and Carbon Vale Larina, aka "Creepy," communicate back and forth via notes slipped into a copy of "A Wrinkle in Time." And Nix warned Creepy what was going to happen. So Creepy stopped it from happening. There will be a debt to be paid here; I am not sure what, and I am not sure when or even who will need to pay it.  

But it will come due.

A character’s loss can be canon, variant, rumor, retcon, or alternate timeline. What matters is not whether every version has the same tragedy. What matters is what the loss taught her, what it cost her, and what she refuses to lose next.

Jackson, IL NPC

Still in Associates Week and Wednesday's Child is Full of Woe. 

Evan Harrow is a Jackson teen descended from a family everyone whispers about, but no one confronts. Evan is from a long-suspected witch family, which is true, but not for a generation or two. It is not something they are happy about, and they still get a lot of grief in Jackson, but no one quite remembers why.

Jackson Soundtrack

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#RPGaDAY2026: Day 11 Tact

Tact is not lying.

That is worth remembering in Jackson, IL, where everyone is keeping secrets, everyone knows more than they are saying, and half the adults in town have perfected the art of saying nothing with a pleasant smile.

But for a witch, the definition changes.

Tact is in the knowing; it is understanding when the truth is of service and when it will do nothing but wound. It means a character can inform someone their home is haunted without adding that their grandfather had it coming. Or put a friend on notice of some peril without having them feel like a fool for their fear.

Stephanie possesses this quality naturally. Larina has to work on it. Faye has heard something like it exsits, but has never had much use for it. Which is why they are all so well suited to each other.

A horror game can't always afford being blunt. The truth has a way of being unclean. There are real monsters and old curses and family histories that are thoroughly rotten, and the one asking for help may not be in a position to take it all in at once.

A witch will tell the truth, of course. She is only expected to know how sharp to make it.

Iriandor NPC

Today is Day 11, Tuesday, Associates + Full of Grace. Maelin Three-Strings is an Iriandor bard whose kindness opens doors faster than any lockpick. He is always welcome and tells stories of the heroes of the Last War.

Jackson Soundtrack

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