The Safehouse

A Campaign Arc Starter Encounter

Fantasy Setting

Introduction: When exploring "Ruins" the party comes across a locked vault/room. When opening it,
they find a child inside, in stasis. Suddenly, it is apparent that some group is looking for this child as well
- and they're coming. Now.

by Busy Wyvern
BusyWyvern@gmail.com

Version 1.0

This product is an independent production and is not affiliated with Monte Cook Games, LLC. It is published under the Cypher System Open License, found at
http://csol.montecookgames.com.

CYPHER SYSTEM and its logo are trademarks of Monte Cook Games, LLC in the U.S.A. and other countries. All Monte Cook Games characters and character names, and the
distinctive likenesses thereof, are trademarks of Monte Cook Games, LLC.
 Introduction Page numbers in this section refer
to the Cypher System Rulebook
This short adventure is meant to help GMs ease into the Cypher System, as well as provide a (CSR)
compelling start to a Campaign Arc. The Players will hopefully latch onto the mystery and be-
gin a longer adventure.
This scenario can be dropped into just about any fantasy setting. Make it yours. Tie it into
your own Non-Player Character (NPC) factions, or use this as an opportunity to create ones
that will be available to the characters in the future.
Place this locale somewhere in the wilderness, off the beaten path.
Things for you to Prep
What the GM Needs to Know
Inside the vault at the end of the safehouse is a child being held in a magical stasis. She is the NPC Parent Factions
daughter of parents from two opposing families – nobles, merchants, criminal – up to the Identify setting’s God of Protection
GM and the setting. She is being protected by an Order of Monks devoted to your setting’s Protector Monk Order
God of Protection. A group of bandits (The Brass Bulls) is out to find her, intending to ransom
her to the highest bidder. Information on the Brass Bulls can
be found on page 3 of this
The Safehouse encounter.

A small stone house suddenly appears out of thin air in the landscape before you, here,
in the middle of nowhere. It seems somewhat off-kilter, sunken into the ground at one
corner. The wind creaks through the rafters of the shingled roof...but no other sounds
are heard.
The front door stands ajar, hanging lazily from one hinge. Someone has broken in here,
maybe recently.

The Entry Room

The door swings awkwardly open, still hanging from one hinge. The entryway shows
signs of a desperate battle. The walls are gouged, there are scorch marks in one corner.
Low, makeshift barriers stare at you from across the front door, pockmarked and pitted.
They appear to be what’s left of a table and a bookcase. Someone made a last stand
here. In fact, there is a boot sticking out from one side of the barriers. Behind them, the
entryway leads to a larger room.

Everything is quiet. The only sounds are of the wind blowing through the door. The char-
acters may advance carefully, but there’s nothing moving.
ANGELIC WARD
The fallen combatant wears loose, flowing green and white clothes with a yellow sash. Level: 1d6 + 2
Their head is shaved and tattooed with strange, swirling patterns. Form: Tiny figurine of a winged
The body is of a priest or acolyte of the God of Protection – whatever fits best for your angel
Effect: Once activated, the figurine’s
setting. The priest is clutching a gold and emerald figurine depicting an angel. This is an ar-
spirit emerges and becomes
tifact – an Angelic Ward. semisolid as a glowing, human-sized
winged angel. It follows within 3
If any characters are skilled in Historical or Religious knowledge of the setting, they may feet (1 m) of the figurine owner.
use them to ease the following tasks: Anything within long range that
• Succeeding at a level 4 Intellect Task will reveal the person to be an adherent of attacks the owner is attacked by the
the God of Protection. angelic ward, which sends out a bolt
• Succeeding at a level 5 Intellect Task will reveal that this person is a member of a of flesh-rotting energy, doing
fanatical group of monks devoted to your campaign’s God of Protection. They are damage equal to the artifact’s level.
Once activated, it functions for a
sworn to keep safe those that beg for their asylum.
day.
Depletion: 1 in 1d10

The Safehouse 1
 Cooking Area
A cookfire burned here recently, but not anymore – only ashes and stale air remain.
Food in a pot still sits on the iron rack, clearly spoiled but not yet rotten. The smell is
unpleasant but not overpowering. Plates and eating utensils are strewn about, along
with some half-finished meals. This supper ended in a hurry. This area connects to
another large room.
If a character has any skills pertaining to Cooking, Nature or Medicine, they may use them
to ease the following task:
• Succeeding at a level 4 Intellect Task reveals that the food has been sitting out for
2 days, maybe 3 days at most.

Barracks
Sets of bunk beds and small desks line the stone walls of this room. It smells “lived-in” –
many people spent time here. Some of the beds are neatly made, others appear to have RING OF GOLEM CONTROL
been hastily left unkempt, their occupants long gone and seemingly not to return. Dust Level: 1d6
hangs in the air, caught in a ray of light shining through the window. A folded paper Form: Gold ring with an inset black
horse lies on the floor, knocked over and forgotten in someone’s haste. opal stone.
One bed, in the corner, is noticeably smaller than the rest. A few well-loved stuffed Effect: Allows the wearer to issue
animals sit next to the pillow. A door, standing open, leads to a small office. simple commands to a single
golem, paired at the time of
The beds aren’t warm. The desks are not locked, and any searching finds small trinkets, creation.
holy symbols, writing implements and paper. Some paper has been folded into assorted
Depletion: Permanent until the
animals, some recognizable, others entirely strange and foreign. destruction of the paired golem.
A thorough search, success on a level 4 Intellect Task, will yield a Ring of Golem Control.

Office
A small room stands off to the side of the barracks – just a lamp, a chair and a desk.
Swirling patterns, similar to the tattoos on the corpse, adorn the walls – painted in
yellow and greed. There seem to be several layers of paint, as if the pattern is always
evolving. In one wall there is a heavy stone door.
A vault key is hidden in this room, in a false leg of the chair. A player skilled in GM Intrusion: If the character fails
Investigation, or something related, may ease the following task: the search task, or does not initiate
searching – offer XP and have the
• Succeeding at a Level 5 Intellect Task will allow the character to find the vault key
Brass Bulls arrive now.
hidden in the false leg of the chair.

The Locked Door

A heavy stone door blocks your way. It shows no damage, no sign of forced entry. In fact
– the door has two heavy bars...on this side. This door not designed to keep you out, it’s
designed to keep something in…
If a character attempts to listen at the door, it is a Level 5 Intellect Task to hear something
quietly shuffling inside.

The Safehouse 2
 The Guard Room
The door swings open into a room with faintly glowing white swirls painted on the
walls. The residue of magic permeates this room, as if a powerful spell or ward has been
discharged. The smell of ozone hits your nose. A podium with a lever stands near the
back wall, which is dominated by a large metal door. Lightning-like patterns of scorch
marks radiate from the lever’s housing. Another monk is slumped over the lever, holding
it in the “down” position. A golem stalks the room, shuffling along the walls.
The Golem will attack anyone who sets foot in the room, but will not pursue out of the Golem, p336 CSR
room.
Once the characters have dealt with the Golem, read the following:

A huge metal door? Here in this little house? Thick, Cold Iron stands in a black square,
set into the stone wall. The door is peppered with locking mechanisms – levers,
keyholes, combination locks and even some push-buttons. Scarring the door are blast
marks, scoured circles and some (failed) drilling attempts.
Opening the vault door will take some work – succeeding at both a Level 5 Speed Task and
a Level 6 Intellect Task. The locks are complicated, but can be worked out eventually. If the
characters found the vault key in The Office, it counts as an Asset on both rolls. Asset, p209 CSR

Because getting past this door is essential to the adventure, failure isn’t really an option.
The degree of success or failure is mostly to guide you, the GM, as to how long it takes the
party to open the vault. Anything less than complete success should trigger a GM
Intrusion to have the Brass Bulls arrive, if they haven’t already.

Inside – a monk struggles to stand up as you open the door, attempting a defensive
posture. She fails, slumping back down. “Help her...save her...Take her to the Monastery
of the Protector. Don’t let anyone else take her. They will hurt her again. Please…” The
monk collapses, dead.
Examination of the monk reveals wounds and a green fluid around them. A Level 3
Intellect Task, eased by any Medical Skill, identifies the green fluid as poison.
The crystal sarcophagus holds a small girl of any ancestry appropriate to your campaign.
Opening the sarcophagus is up to the creativity of your players and what you feel is
appropriate as a GM. Let them feel creative here, even if they just end up smashing it.
The child is largely unharmed but has two distinguishing characteristics:
• A strangely patterned tattoo sleeving her entire left arm
• A surgical scar behind one ear, long since healed
Upon waking, the child only knows their name and maybe a general location in your
campaign where they “come from” – no other details. This would correspond to a human
of age 4 or 5.
If the Brass Bulls have still not yet shown up – now is the final chance for them to arrive as
a GM Intrusion.

The Brass Bulls

The Brass Bulls are a group of street Thugs that are looking for the child. They intend to
ransom her off to the highest bidder. Use as many Thugs as you feel is appropriate, though Thug, p376 CSR
at minimum there should be one Thug per character.
The Brass Bulls fight dirty and have no intention of sharing the ransom. However, they will
negotiate in bad faith, double-crossing the characters at the earliest convenience.
Poison (Mind Disrupting) - L3
They are armed with poisoned weapons. p394, CSR

The Safehouse 3
 GM Intrusion – The Brass Bulls
When the Brass Bulls finally arrive is up to the GM and the players’ actions. Things may
progress immediately into combat or there may be negotiation and betrayal. The Bulls are
confident, brash and unwilling to compromise – they will resort to force at any sign of
deception from the characters. The only negotiation that will end in no harm coming to
the characters is if they turn over the child to the Bulls, no strings attached.
If the Bulls show up before the vault is opened, they will happily negotiate in bad faith for
the characters to do the hard work of opening the vault. However, as soon as the vault is
opened, they will look for any opportunity to eliminate the characters from the equation.
No matter what, at least one Bull will escape back to report to their employers. Who is
that employer? It’s up to you as the GM. That will be your opportunity to involve a faction
in your game. The default suggestion is one of the noble families searching for the child.

What’s Really Going On

The child is the product of an unsanctioned liaison between members of opposing noble
families (or merchants, or crime families).
The child has some special power or quality valuable to both sides:
• Could be as simple as next in line of succession to both families (a joint heir),
their progeny must remain secret.
• Could be something like rare magical or psionic powers, the child is a weapon.
• Could be an “impossible” offspring – some sort of experiment.
• Could be a politically explosive offspring – perhaps the parent factions are at war.
Really, anything that fits your campaign goals best.
Someone (perhaps an NPC the party meets down the line) placed the child in the care of
the monks so that neither family could capture her. Unfortunately, someone found out
where she was being hidden, and there was a violent attempt to capture her. The monks
were unable to hold them off, and they tripped the panic switch – teleporting the entire
safehouse to its current location. Something went wrong and it didn’t go far enough
afield, and the Brass Bulls were able to track the location down.

Further Adventure
If the characters choose to give up the child to the Bulls, you have a hook on them for
future repercussions in the campaign. Perhaps:
• The Brass Bulls hunt the characters down to eliminate witnesses
• Monks of the protector faction will be hostile to the characters – the Brass Bulls
talk in taverns of how they fleeced the party and score a big payday.
• The noble family whom did not acquire the child may approach the party with a
quest to retrieve the child.
If the characters choose to keep the girl with them, they have a lot of questions to answer
– and so do you!
• What is the origin and nature of the tattoo?
• What is the nature of the surgical scar?
• Who dropped her off with the monks?
• Which family will find her first?

The Safehouse 4