Blackfort

A setting for Into The Odd by MSantaro

What is Blackfort?

Blackfort is one of the failed cities, whose name comes from the black stones used to build the Black Palace, it’s
located between Bastion and the Golden Lands. It was a rich city before a terrible period of famine that left the city
abandoned. Then it became a den of thieves and cultists until a group of knights came and liberated the city.

People in Blackfort

Sir Darius De Vantery – STR: 12, DEX: 7, WIL: 14 Hp: 8.

Crutch, dirk 1d6, tabard, pouch with 2g.
Darius is a bitter hunchbacked man that rules Blackfort, he was the leader of a group of knights that seized control of
the city. Blackfort was in ruins and populated by marauders and cultists before their attack.

Darius has a secret: while his men conquered the ruins of Blackfort to rebuild the city, he was defeated by a creature
that was served and worshipped by the bandits: the Surgeon.
This creature is (or, better, was) a white skinned humanoid, with round black eyes and a piranha maw. The hands
have scalpels for nails and his blood is dark green, thick and with cicatrizing properties. This creature was nearly cut
in half by Darius, it was able to wound Darius back and enter into his body. This is when Darius grew the hunchback
that hides the monstrous creature.
The Surgeon was severely wounded and now it has only the right arm, the head and part of the torso. He can
emerge from Darius’ body whenever he wants, but doing so he can be targeted and wounded (has 4 hit points and
10 in all stats, attacks for 1d6 with scalpel hand).
The Surgeon has a partial control of Darius mind, that fears him, and he’s desperately looking for a way to end his
curse. Sir Darius resides in the Black Palace.

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The Surgeon – STR: 10, DEX: 10, WIL: 10 Hp: 4. Scalpel hand 1d6.
The ugly creature that lives inside Darius’ body was severely weakened by the combat sustained with the knight. The
stats will improve significantly as soon as he’ll have a real body. Unfortunately every attempt to create a body from
captured travellers and vagabonds failed, creating a large number of failed experiments that now roams the lands
near Blackfort. The Surgeon is sure that someday his experiments will work.

The Surgeon claims he’s the heir of the Lifemancers, an ancient group of
mad scientist and craze doctors that tried to improve humans and animals
conditions with bizarre surgery operations. They viewed themselves as
artists and they affirmed their sect is responsible of creating the Mockra
and many other monsters (legend says that they controlled the monsters
they created). Their laboratory in Blackfort is under the Black Palace.
What is not clear is if the Surgeon is really a descendant of the Lifemancers
or merely one of their creations and servants.

Jorrol – STR: 12, DEX: 13, WIL: 5 Hp: 9.

Hatchet 1d6, lucky bone.
Jorrol is a dwarf and the last surviving cultist that knows the dungeons
under the city very well, He worships and helps the Surgeon because the
creature told him he’ll create a body for him too, after making his own.
Unfortunately for Jorrol this is a lie, since the Surgeon can enter other bodies
but he cannot transfer personalities or do other similar miracles that affect
other people. Jorrol has a blind faith in the Surgeon and he helped him
concealing his identity having Doctor Robert killed. Now he’s monitoring
Eloise. He created the poison that killed Dr. Robert from some of the local
herbs.

Eloise Hendell – STR: 11, DEX: 11, WIL: 9 Hp: 6.

Hairpin (1 point of damage), empty vial of poison.
Eloise, or widow Hendell, as most people call her, is a simple woman that was tricked by the Surgeon not unlike
Jorrol: he promised her to resurrect his husband Harold in exchange of some services and one of these was poisoning
Doctor Robert, the only man who noticed something wrong in Darius De Vantery. Unlike Jorrol, Eloise has understood

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that the Surgeon tricked her but he never met him in person (they communicated exchanging letters, thanks to Jorrol)
and she knows she is responsible of the doctor’s death… but her remorse grows each day.

Eloise is probably going to confess her murder someday. Jorrol fears she’ll mention the whole affair and plans to hire
some thugs to silence her. On the other hand the doctor’s murder caused some tumult in the community, and
another death could cause more problems.

Captain Tobias Connelly – STR: 13, DEX: 12, WIL: 13 Hp: 12, Armour 1.
Cavalry sword 1d8, modern armour, plumed hat, steed.
Tobias Connelly is a mercenary knight that commands the guards of the
city. He’s a professional but also a mercenary and he’ll probably flee if
things go bad.

Black Shield Company soldier – STR: 10, DEX: 9, WIL: 7 Hp: 5, Armour 1.
Musket 1d8, bayonet 1d6, modern armour.
A member of Tobias’ little army.

Militiaman – STR: 8, DEX: 9, WIL: 6 Hp: 3.

Hatchet 1d6.
A member of the militia that Tobias and his men are training.

Kurt Beninvolt, old coot – STR: 14, DEX: 3, WIL: 11 Hp: 10

Sword 1d6, tabard, wheelchair.
An old bitter man, one of the knights that liberated Blackfort from the
marauders. He continued exploring the surroundings after Sir Darius start
ruling the city, unfortunately recently a Sand Dragon ate his legs, ending
his years of adventuring.

Kurt is willing to pay 10g to anyone that will recover his legs and the
elegant red boots that the Sand Dragon ate. Actually the bounty is to
have that Sand Dragon dead, but the red boots had also a sentimental
value.

Gabriela Nicomet, nurse – STR: 4, DEX: 11, WIL: 12 Hp: 5.

Nurse dress, first aid supplies.
Gabriela is the nurse that worked with the deceased dr. Robert. She fears for
her life but she knows that she’s the only healer in town and she’ll stay true
to her duties.

Dr. Robert Barsow, dead doctor

He’s dead, but examining accurately his body with you can find a small
wound (done with a hairpin) on his neck, where Eloise punctured him to
inject the deadly poison.

Edgan Roys, hunter - STR: 11, DEX: 13, WIL: 8 Hp: 12.
Harpoon gun 1d10, skinning knife 1d6, furs and traps.
Edgan is a red headed and red bearded crazy hunter. He’s in Blackfort to find
and kill the King Lizard, a huge legendary Sand Dragon.

Erresea Barlington, alchemist – STR: 8, DEX: 10, WIL: 13 Hp: 4.

Bag full of tonics and potions, weird purple hair.
- Erresea is back with some new products to sell. She is an alchemist but not a good one. The hair become of a pink
colour after a failed experiment.

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White sticky cream (10S): it’s a sort of superglue, perfect to repair items. Unfortunately works only 50% of times.
Smoke in a bottle (10S): Bottled smoke from Bastion. Always works: if the glass bottle is opened or broken the
smoke comes out, good for escaping from pursuers.
Sound bomb (10S): A glass bowl filled with grey gas. When shattered it produces a loud BANG, but it is harmless.
Hair Growth Tonic (10S): Makes your hair grow long and beautiful. Sometimes it also makes you too hairy (and
bearded even if you’re a woman).
Blinding Powder (20S): A purple dust that produces a blinding flash when burned. DEX roll to avoid the effect, that is
losing a turn, and having a -1 penalty for any attack done in the next two rounds.
Weapon enhancer (20S): A vial with reddish pasty liquid. Makes the metal of your weapon harder and sharper (+1
damage, ignores 1 point of armor) for three attacks. Then there’s a 50% probability that the weapons becomes
brittle and shatter on the fourth use.
Strongman Elixir (20S): A vial containing a green liquid. After drinking it, for a
scene or combat the user gets a +2 to STR and +1 to armour and melee
damage. Unfortunately after the scene or combat he loses these bonus and if
he doesn’t pass a STR roll he takes 1d8 damage. More uses of the elixir the
same day gives a penalty to the STR roll of 2 (cumulative) and the damage gets
worse (1d10, 1d12, 2d8, 2d10, 2d12 and so on).

Olef Gunderson, merchant and killer - STR: 13, DEX: 11, WIL: 7 Hp: 9.
Fine razor 1d8, boring clothes.
Olef owns a shop in Blackfort: he sells supplies and tools to explorers, but he
has a dark secret. Since he knows that many explorers never come back to
civilization (well, some of them disappear because they are victim of the
Surgeon’s experiments) he sometimes robs and kills them, dumping the bodies
in the dungeon below his shop. He never explored the dungeons below the city
but he’s one of the few persons that know of the existence.

Guiller Mink, innkeeper - STR: 8, DEX: 14, WIL: 12 Hp: 6.

Wooden bat 1d6, apron, cigar.
Guiller is a large man that runs the Black Cat Inn with his wife Petulia. There are gossips about the couple: some says
that Guiller is an ex bandit with lots of contacts with criminals in Bastion, and still hunted by some of his vengeful
victims, other says that Petulia is a witch that cooks rude guests. So far nobody has proved if these rumours are true.

Dan Zeller, blacksmith - STR: 16, DEX: 8, WIL: 9 Hp: 10.

Hammer 1d6, pistol 1d6, pocket watch with sister’s picture.
Dan is a young blacksmith, but he came to town only because he’s trying to
find his missing sister. He doesn’t trust Blackfort citizens.

People outside Blackfort

King Magnus the Enlightened – STR: 6, DEX: 1, WIL: 18 Hp: 16

Crown and ancient clothes, two random arcana.
King Magnus was the original founder of Blackfort, at the time called
Athlankathan. He was buried with his army after his death, but when a
group of explorers entered his tomb, he and his servitors came back to
life. Unlike Magnus, his servitors became mindless undeads that he
can control.

Magnus isn’t your typical evil undead, provided that you treat him with the
respect he thinks he deserves. He believes he’s still the king of Blackfort, so
he’ll try to reclaim his throne and rule his city. Nothing more, no human
sacrifices or evil plans of conquest… but Sir Darius (and even the evil

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Surgeon) abhors undead creatures and will probably start a war to prevent that.

Skeleton Soldiers – STR: 10, DEX: 12, WIL: 11 Hp: 5, Armour 1.

Broadsword 1d6, shield, helmet.

Bertie Felling, diplomat – STR: 13, DEX: 8, WIL: 10 Hp: 8.

Rapier 1d6, elegant clothes and cloak.
Bertie was one of the first living humans King Magnus met after his awakening, besides the looters that were
executed for entering his tomb.
Magnus realized that he needed a living diplomat to learn about the changes of the world and to make new vassals
join him. His goal is simply returning on Blackfort throne, but Bertie knows that this is impossible, at the same time he
cannot discuss Magnus’ orders

Random Encounters (d20)

1-5: no one.
6: a small group (1d3) of mutants
7: a medium group (1d6+1) of mutants sitting around a bonfire.
8: a camp with a large group (1d8+2) of mutants
9: some mutants (roll 1d6 1,2 small group, 3,4 medium group, 5,6 large group) fighting 2d6 travellers/bandits.
10: a hairy giant (STR: 15, DEX: 9, WIL: 4 Hp: 12, Armor 1, large tree branch 1d8).
11: a hairy giant fighting another creature (roll 1d6: 1-3 another giant, 4-6 1d6 mutants)
12: a fake hairy giant (just a man who wears a costume and stilts). Will try to flee if attacked.
13: a group of 2d6 travelling ock Fellows looking for a Mock Village that is located somewhere nearby.
14: a Sand Dragon (large lizard, STR: 14, DEX: 12, WIL: 9 Hp: 14, Armor 2, bite 1d6). Normally travels burrowing
beneath the earth, before emerging to attack. Armor is 4 when tunnelling to approach the prey.
16: Bertie Felling, King Magnus and his army. Bertie will try to enlist the Pcs and King Madnus will promise honour
and gold if they agree to help him return to his throne.
17: a lone wounded explorer returning to civilization (STR: 8, DEX: 12, WIL: 10 Hp: 6, Musket 1d8, old relics and
precious items for 1d4-1g, 0 means nothing or only useless junk).
18: 1d4+1 bandits trying to ambush travellers (STR: 10, DEX: 11, WIL: 8 Hp: 4, Musket 1d8, cutlass 1d6).

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19: a wandering gunslinger (STR: 14, DEX: 15, WIL: 12 Hp: 11, Pearl handled pistol 1d8, hat, poncho). Roll 1d6: 1-2 =
looking for someone you already know, 3-5 = looking for someone you don’t know, 6 = looking for one of the Pcs
and hired to capture/kill him/her.
20: a huge Sand Dragon (huge lizard, STR: 17, DEX: 12, WIL: 10 Hp: 18, Armor 2, bite 1d8). Normally travels
burrowing beneath the earth, before emerging to attack. Armor is 4 when tunnelling to approach the prey. Probably
the King Lizard… or maybe not!

Involving the players

These are some suggestions to make the players arrive in Blackfort:

1 – Players are sent to investigate on Dr. Robert’s death.
2 – Players are sent to investigate someone’s disappearance (a relative, a friend or someone hired them to do that)
that was captured by Jorrol on the Surgeon’s orders to become part of his experiments/was killed by Olaf
Gunderson/was killed by bandits/disappeared during an expedition/was recruited by King Magnus… or something
else.
3 – Players are going to explore the Golden Lands and stop in Blackfort to buy supplies. Soon they attract Olef/the
Surgeon attention…
4 – Players are Edgan Roys’ admirers and want to join him on his monster hunts.
5 – Players are on the run, pursued by a large horde of mutants that will besiege Blackfort (they probably remember
what the Surgeon did to them and want revenge).
6 – Players are invited to Blackfort by Sir Darius that heard about their adventures and wants to hear their stories.
Unfortunately this is a trap: the Surgeon desire to make experiments on them and tries to have them kidnapped.
7 – Players are friends/relatives of Eloise that will send a letter telling she needs help. She wants to confess her crime
and have both her and the instigator punished.

Maps

The second map shows in red the underground tunnels, while the circles are the different to surface.
The Surgeon’s laboratory is directly under the Black Palace, and besides the laboratory itself there are three cells and
a hole to a deep underground river, where the failed experiments, or better, the mutants, are dumped (the river
goes south, far from the city, to a cave where is the mutants’ den).

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 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0
International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/.
 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0
International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/.