Forbidden Waters

Introduction
The songs of the minstrels say that
time turns on a spinning wheel that
passes through cycles that come and
go and come again. Each cycle heralds
a time of change, but time itself spins
on, its thread carrying many colors.
History spins through centuries of
peace and strife, enlightenment and
venality, leaving tracks written in
books stretching back to the dawn of
the world.
Now, five hundred years of history
wind to a close. The world is ending,
folk say, the rules of the world thrown
upended as it spins wild on its axis. A
new world must begin, born from the
chaos and change of the last.
Kavarian Jal, the Sovereign of Ruin,
has taken it as a personal mission to
twist the axis of time, and to shape
the world’s coming form. The
Sovereign’s armies sweep across the
land, bringing fire and destruction
everywhere they touch. The Eastlands
are conquered; the Sovereign’s
inhuman minions sweep south and
west and no place is safe. All is
turmoil.
The glittering islands of the Trackless
Sea sparkle like jewels in the sun, but
the ships of the Sovereign spread
across the world to engulf them all.
Only uncharted waters on the edge of
the world offer any sanctuary.
Ages Past And Ages
Ahead
If the Sovereign of Ruin is victorious,
the shape of the new world will follow.
In the past, each cycle of centuries
brought change from the turmoil at
the end of an era. The gods retreated
to slumber and the elves to the mists
of dreams. Magic and artifice forged
an uneasy peace, and the world was
stable for a time… but now it may be
thrown into chaos and a new era of
turmoil, or of unending torment under
the heel of an immortal tyrant.
Gods and Dreams
Though gods formed the world from
the plasm of their own flesh and
blood, their violence and their
passions were too great for the world
to survive. Over time, the gods
retreated to sleep fitfully, coming only
rarely to visit the world for their own
pleasures. They left behind the world
to the fragile creatures of simple
bodies and liminal souls—elves,
humans, dwarves and other kin.
As the gods retreated, ambitious
leaders sought to replace them with
proud kingdoms of their own. Warfare
erupted as rulers clashed for
supremacy. Fueled by sorcery and
vengeance, these wars ended with the
retreat of elf-kind to the dreamlands
of the gods. Afterward, the sundered
veil of dreams let in creatures from
the void beyond, sowing cults and
kingdoms of nightmares. Eventually
these ruinous abscesses were
banished by great magic and the
ordering of the Lords of Law, who
fought against the unraveling of the
world with potent sorcery and deep
knowledge of the secrets of the
cosmos. Time led to the fall of the
decadent Lords of Law, who in their
quest to order and enumerate the
cosmos became rigid and unable to
change with the turning cycle. Now at
last their towers are tumbled and the
cycle comes to an end, with all the
rules of Creation on the table to be
overturned.
The Gods of the Jeweled Isles
You are strongly encouraged to
make your own gods for your game,
but if you want a few for your use:
Aenghar, the Lawgiver, is the
goddess of creation, order, and
civilization. She smoothed the
waters and raised land so that
people might live upon it.
Olusho, the Keeper, is the holder of
knowledge, magic, and secrets. He
created sorcery and gave knowledge
of writing, and oversees the dead.
Parath, the Agitator, is the wild
force of storms, chaos, and chance.
They created monsters, but also
formed the treasures of the deep.
The Trackless Ocean
With the Sovereign of Ruin sweeping
across the known world, the Jeweled
Islands are all invaded and besieged.
The war, it seems, is already lost. A
new cycle is ready to begin, but the
armies of the Ebon Cataphract trample
underfoot all resistance and the
priests of the Sovereign proclaim a
new cycle, an unending cycle of the
deathless tyrant. Survivors from the
navies of the conquered world, and
refugees from the taken cities, flee
across the seas into the beyond,
hoping to find a lost paradise, a
hidden respite, or a civilization
untouched by the reach of the
Sovereign.
Survival on the ocean is perilous. The
trackless ocean is uncharted, so ships
must make landfall whenever they can
to replenish their supplies. Fresh
water is scarce. Dangerous storms and
reefs can capsize a ship, leaving the
crew helplessly floating on jetsam or
sinking into the depths. Yet there is
nowhere else to go.
And Beyond…
If the Sovereign of Ruin succeeds in
claiming the world, the new cycle will
be one of tyranny and despotism. All
will chafe beneath the chains of
oppression.
But there is no strength left in the
world to oppose the Sovereign. The
great cities and nations of the world
are fallen, their vigor spent.
If a new era is to dawn, the only hope
can come from seeking the unknown,
striking forth to discover some way to
unseat the Sovereign and spin the
wheel of Fortune once more.
Who is the Sovereign of Ruin?
The details of the Sovereign of Ruin
are left deliberately vague, for you
to fill in for your game. The
Sovereign is a mighty figure with a
fearlessly loyal army, the Ebon
Cataphract, and a powerful navy
bolstered with sorcery. The
Sovereign could be…
… a forgotten god who remained in
the world instead of retreating to
dreams.
… a human sorcerer who has
discovered the secret of immortality,
but must conquer the known world
to enact its spell.
… a Malformed demon-spawn bent
on driving the world into an age of
abyssal darkness.
… a ghost of a pirate, returned from
the dead and determined to sail the
length and breadth of the world as a
pirate king or queen.
… a vengeful follower of the god of
chaos, who wants to open the
floodgates of change and reshape
the world.
… an ancient elf, convinced that the
younger kin have ruined the world,
determined to destroy them all in an
attempt to reset everything.
… three goblins in a long sea-coat
and tricorne hat.
Glossary of New Terms
Artificer: A Profession focused on
creating intricate devices, strange
chymicals, and black powder weapons.
Battery: A set of 10 cannons, used on
a ship for naval combat.
Mariner: A Profession focused on
ships and sea travel.
Merrow: A sea-dwelling Kin of people
with fish-like features and strong tail
flukes instead of legs. Merrow can
sometimes transform to walk on land,
though they are obviously different
from other Kin.
Nautical Maneuver: A move made
by a seacraft, such as coming about or
slowing.
Nautical Round: One nautical round
represents about 10 individual rounds.
A nautical round is the time necessary
to maneuver a ship, fire batteries of
cannons, and perform emergency
damage control.
Naval Damage: Ships that take hits
from cannons, or from running
aground, roll for special naval
damage.
Priest: A Profession focused on
interpreting and calling for the will of
the gods.
Psychic: A Profession focused on
harnessing strange mental powers to
see distant times and places, move
objects with invisible forces, and read
minds.
 Your Adventurer
The Kin of the Jeweled
Isles
During the time of the Lords of Law,
great cities rose up, and civilization
spread across many lands. In time,
though, this civilization became
corrupted by greed and avarice. The
grasping claws of the vainglorious and
pretty seized at the thrones of power,
and what rose in glory fell into
ignominy. Humans and dwarves alike
succumbed to this cycle of decay, so
that none had the means to stand
against the rise of the Ebon
Cataphract when they issued forth
from the volcanic isles of the southern
oceans.
The Kin of the Jeweled Isles function
as described in the Forbidden Lands
Player’s Guide, except as described
here.
Human
Humans of the Jeweled Isles are a
varied lot, many swarthy and with rich
brown skin and curled hair, though the
rare children of the hoarfrost are
strangely pale, like cloudy ice. Their
homes are now sacked and ruined, so
whether from distant places or local,
they share a common bond: They
have become refugees in a world on
the edge of the blade. The cunning
artificers of Kypesh, the mystics of
Zil-Kyn-Kane, the boastful
swordmasters of the Perilous Spire,
the ragged ruffians of the Pearl
Coast—all have been displaced by war.
Despite their many cultures, humans
share the signature adaptability that
aids them in turning tasks toward
their areas of expertise, and use this
adaptability to their advantage.
Farmers become soldiers, scribes
become magicians, and ruffians
become spies.
Key Attribute: Empathy
Kin Talent: Adaptability
Typical Professions: All
ElF
Elf-kind were created from the stuff of
dreams and given life, but after their
heyday in an earlier age, many of
them retreated back to the land of
dreams—the world of Faerie. Few
elves wander the Jeweled Isles now,
usually as lone travelers, sometimes in
small troupes that keep to
themselves. Ageless and graceful,
they have learned much from their
watch over the more vibrant and
mortal kin, but with the cycle bearing
to a close, many choose to make their
final exit.
Elf-kind remain only because they
have a strong connection to someone
or a burning need to complete some
task. A few seek vengeance against
the Sovereign of Ruin for wrongs
done, or hope to shape the coming
Age, even though they can escape to
the land of dreams and leave the
world of mortals behind.
Key Attribute: Agility
Kin Talent: Inner Peace
Typical Professions: Druid,
Minstrel, Hunter
Elf-Kindred
Elves and humans have always had
complicated relationships, with elves
drawn to the vigor of humans and
humans to elves’ longevity and grace.
Offspring of their rare trysts usually
live among one people or the other,
bear some of the characteristics of
both kin.
Key Attribute: Wits
Kin Talent: Choose either
Adaptability or Inner Peace
Typical Professions: Druid, Rogue,
Sorcerer
DwarF
Forged by the gods at the dawn of
time, dwarves were made to create.
Their gift is the gift of making: To
forge tools that will shape the world,
to craft art that will shape thoughts, to
build legacies that will last through
history.
Like the stone and metal from which
they were initially given life, dwarves
are tough and strong, and they favor
that which endures—that which is
material, which is tangible, which lasts
beyond the breath of a day. Thus they
have always had strife with elvenkind,
who are creatures of dreams, fancy,
and whimsy, who flit away like a
vanishing mirage at the touch of
dawn’s light.
Key Attribute: Strength
Kin Talent: True Grit
Typical Professions: Artificer,
Fighter, Priest
Halfling
In earlier times, halflings were simple
folk who lived among bucolic lands far
from strife. With the turning of the
ages, some have moved into the cities
of other folk, while a few remain as
tillers of soil and simple people who
treasure handicrafts and a slow pace
to life. Despite their rustic
homesteads, they have somehow
remained a bastion against the
changes of the world, a reminder of a
different era and a pastoral life.
Key Attribute: Empathy
Kin Talent: Hard to Catch
Typical Professions: Minstrel,
Peddler, Rogue
Merrow
All along the sunny coasts of the
tropical isles, merfolk sun themselves
and sing to passing ships. Living
simply in small communities beneath
the ocean, they have always been a
gentle people, though some are
rumored to lure sailors to watery
graves. Now, though, the Ebon
Cataphract threatens them as well;
merrow are hunted and slaughtered
wherever they are found. In turn,
some have allied themselves with
other kin, in hopes of forming bands
that can survive the coming
onslaught.
Key Attribute: Agility
Kin Talent: Sea Legs
Typical Professions: Druid,
Mariner, Minstrel
Orc
In earlier ages, orcs waged war
against humans and elves and
dwarves. Now, they have lands of
their own, satrapies and fiefdoms and
even republics where orc-kind live in
dark mountains and deep forests and
bitter taiga. Always wary of their
former enemies, orcs have turned
their hands to their own way of life, a
way based on challenges and oaths,
upon an uneasy blend of utility and
piety. Their culture is that of the
survivor, those who have outlasted
war and famine to forge new destinies
for themselves.
Key Attribute: Strength
Kin Talent: Unbreakable
Typical Professions: Fighter,
Hunter, Rogue
 Goblin
At the edges and borders, in the
spaces between night and day, goblins
lurk at the places where humans fear
to tread and even orcs reject as
worthless. Like elves they
creatures of Faerie, made
dreamstuff, but shaped by nightmares
and malevolent whims. Thus they are
the small shadows that huddle just out
of sight, sneaking forth to play tricks
and steal livestock, or living in twisting
caves and bramble-filled crevasses.
Key Attribute: Agility
Kin Talent: Nocturnal
Typical Professions: Hunter, Rider,
Rogue
Orc-Kindred
Though orcs and humans co-exist only
uneasily, their shared borders and
cities do give rise to people who hail
from both stock. Orc-kindred often
find orcish society more accepting
than humanity, where they are
sometimes judged by their
appearance, but they seek to blend
their strengths to claim a birthright
from both heritages.
Key Attribute: Strength
Kin Talent: Choose either
Adaptability or Unbreakable
Typical Professions: Fighter,
Priest, Rogue
are
of
Professions
The people of the Jeweled Isles are
varied in their talents, and many skills
have been passed down through the
ages. Even as the rules of the world
change from cycle to cycle, people
adapt and find new ways to make
their talents useful.
The professions described in the
Forbidden Lands Players’ Guide still
function unchanged, and the following
additional professions are practiced
among the people of the Jeweled
Isles.
Artificer
Throughout the last century, sages
and tinkers sought to codify the rules
of creation. The Lords of Law passed
down knowledge, which spread to
every corner of the lands, in hopes of
spreading practical wisdom and useful
learning. From such knowledge came
a way of understanding the properties
of reagents, the shaping of elements,
and the crafting of cunning and clever
devices. Though the fall of the Lords
of Law and the burning of the world
has cast much knowledge into
obscurity, you have retained what you
can in hopes that the future will still
know the light of learning.
Key Attribute: Wits
Skills: Crafting, Healing, Lore,
Marksmanship, Might
Typical Nicknames: Book-Sage,
Soot-Hand, Tinkerer
Pride
Choose an option below or create your
own:
● Your knowledge of the Laws of
Creation is greater than any
magic.
● Your creations are stronger than
the weaknesses of flesh.
● You will keep the secrets of the
world from this Age to the next.
Dark Secret
Choose an option below or create your
own:
● You accidentally destroyed the
defenses of your hometown and
let in the troops of the
Sovereign of Ruin with a
misbegotten invention.
● You don’t actually believe that
the gods exist (any more).
● You realize that your true scope
of knowledge is feeble and you
hope to discover lost secrets
before people learn that you are
a fraud.
Relationships
Choose an option below or create your
own:
● … doesn’t really appreciate your
inventiveness.
● … has the aptitude of a good
apprentice.
● … is always trying to steal your
ideas and must be closely
guarded against.
Gear
Hammer, flintlock pistol, one item of
your choice from the list of trade
goods (see page 182 of the Forbidden
Lands Player’s Guide), one set of tools
relating to your chosen Profession
Talent (chymist’s tools, gunsmith’s
tools, or tinker’s tools), D8 silver.
Resource Dice: Food D6, Water D8,
Bullets and Powder D10.
Mariner
The waves call to many people, and to
see the Jeweled Isles, one must sail
between them. Every land has a
coastline and every sea has a horizon.
You have sailed many, learning the
ropes of ships, the ways of the ocean,
the scent of storms and the strange
sights far from land.
Key Attribute: Agility
Skills: Crafting, Endurance,
Marksmanship, Move, Scouting

Typical Nicknames: Deckhand,
Pirate Petey, Old Salt
Pride
Choose an option below or create your
own:
● You’re as much at home in the
salt spray as any landlubber on
the ground.
● You’ve seen so many things on
your journeys to the far ends of
the world that nothing can
surprise you now.
● Nobody can tie a knot, batten
the hatches, or deliver a
broadside like you.
Dark Secret
Choose an option below or create your
own:
● You love to use nautical terms
just to confuse and befuddle
landlubbers.
● You are terrified of the deep
sea, and fear that some day it
will take you, because it always
claims its own.
● You once saw something that
shouldn’t exist out beyond the
horizon, and you’ve never been
quite the same.
Relationships
Choose an option below or create your
own:
● … is just too gullible for their
own good.
● … reminds you of a young sailor
who didn’t make it through the
wars.
● … seems to understand how
much the sea moves you.
Gear
Knife, your choice of one of: falchion,
scimitar, short sword, or trident; one
item of your choice from the list of
trade goods (see page 182 of the
Forbidden Lands Player’s Guide), D8
silver. Resource Dice: Food D8, Water
D8.
Priest
Though the gods slumber, they do so
fitfully, and sometimes they sleepwalk
in the waking world. Through dreams
you can communicate with them and
know their will. Supplicate the gods
and they will gift you with their favor;
ignore their prophecies, and peril will
surely follow. You speak for the gods,
and through their words you guide folk
in moral and upright behavior, and
give wisdom and comfort to the
bereaved.
Key Attribute: Empathy
Skills: Healing, Insight, Lore,
Manipulation, Performance
Typical Nicknames: The Devout,
God-Botherer, Scourge of the
Faithless
 Pride
Choose an option below or create your
own:
● Your compassion is great, and
you will always help the
suffering and downtrodden.
● The gods answer your prayers
and you walk with their favor.
● Your moral scruples are strong,
and your philosophy
impeccable; you can evaluate
the consequences of any act, no
matter how difficult.
Dark Secret
Choose an option below or create your
own:
● You secretly doubt the will of
the gods, and are not sure if
your dreams and visions come
from them.
● You are a zealous follower of
only one god, and hope to make
that god ascendent in the new
age.
● You seek to awaken the gods to
walk the world once again.
Relationships
Choose an option below or create your
own:
● … needs to spend more time
praying.
● … is clearly favored of the gods.
● … must realize that community
and service to people are
important, too.
Gear
Holy symbol, staff, vestments, one
item of your choice from the list of
trade goods (see page 182 of the
Forbidden Lands Player’s Guide),
D8 silver. Resource Dice: Food D8,
Water D8.
Psychic
Strange phenomena have followed you
since you were a child. Yet the words
of magic are not yours: Instead, you
have flashes of insight, strange senses
of the thoughts and moods of those
around you, an intuitive ability to tug
on invisible threads of the unseen
world. Your heritage is neither magical
nor divine, but the gift of an opened
mind that senses—and controls—an
ethereal tapestry draped across the
material realm.
Key Attribute: Empathy
Skills: Endurance, Insight, Lore,
Manipulation, Scouting
Typical Nicknames:
Ghost-Speaker, Starmind, Visionary
Pride
Choose an option below or create your
own:
● No sorcerer or priest can match
your talents.
● Your gift of foresight will allow
you to change the world to suit
your vision.
 ● Because you are sensitive to
others, you have a powerful
wellspring of empathy.
Dark Secret
Choose an option below or create your
own:
● You know others better than
they know themselves.
● Your abilities stem from a dark
place and a foul memory deep
in your mind.
● You secretly enjoy shocking and
controlling others.
Relationships
Choose an option below or create your
own:
● … needs to stop thinking about
That Thing.
● … is your only comfort when the
pressure of your strange talents
causes you pain and grief.
● … makes you feel unappreciated
and insignificant.
Gear
Staff or knife, two items of your choice
from the list of trade goods (see page
182 of the Forbidden Lands Player’s
Guide), D6 silver. Resource Dice: Food
D6, Water D6.
Talents
The kin and professions of the Jeweled
Isles have their own special talents,
relating to the strange devices of the
artificers’ academies, the workings of
the slumbering gods, and the deeps of
the ocean.
Kin Talents
The Merrow Talent: Sea Legs
Merrow spend much of their lives
underwater, and they are well-adapted
to the cold depths of the ocean.
Merrow can breathe underwater and
can Move freely while swimming. Due
to ancient magic, merrow can also
shift their form to have legs, like a
bipedal land-dweller. The merrow’s kin
is still obvious—they retain their gills,
finned ears, and scales—but they can
walk, run, climb, and fight just like
other people. Transforming in this
way, or back again, is a Slow action. It
costs you one Willpower Point to shift
to a bipedal form, but does not cost
WP to change back.
The Artificer’s Talents
As an Artificer, you can learn the
following three profession talents. The
Artifier’s talents reflect knowledge of
the Laws of Being and the ability to
create cunning devices that take
advantage of this knowledge. You get
rank 1 in one of these talents at
character creation.
Path of the Chymist
You study the combination of various
essential forms to create marvelous
tonics, elixirs, and powders.
 ● Rank 1: You can create
chymicals by using special
formulae and materials with
your CRAFTING skill. See the
Chymicals listing of the new
Trade Goods table. Creating a
chymical costs one Willpower
Point, as you must dig deep into
the wellspring of inspiration.
● Rank 2: You can spend a
Willpower Point when you craft
a chymical to make two doses
instead of one, from the same
raw materials.
● Rank 3: You can spend a
Willpower Point to craft a
chymical on the fly. This allows
you to make your CRAFTING
roll as a Slow action, regardless
of the normal construction time
for the chymical in question, so
long as you have the necessary
raw materials at hand.
Path of the Gunsmith
You have turned your talents to the
most dangerous weapon of the
age—the way of the gun.
Having any ranks in the Path of the
Gunsmith allows you to use
MARKSMANSHIP with firearms and
cannons, and you can repair them and
make powder horns and powder
barrels.
● Rank 1: You can use your
CRAFTING skill to make guns,
cannons, and black powder with
the appropriate tools and
materials. Crafting a firearm
(but not a powder horn or
powder barrel) costs one
Willpower Point, as you must
dig deep into the wellspring of
inspiration.
● Rank 2: You can make firearms
with a Weapon Bonus that is
one point higher than normal.
This takes twice as long, and
your roll is modified by -2.
● Rank 3: You can make firearms
with a Weapon Bonus that is
two points higher than normal.
This takes four times as long
and your roll is modified by -4.
Path of the Tinker
You make whimsical, fanciful, and
clever devices that can perform
unusual tasks.
● Rank 1: You can use your
CRAFTING skill to create any
Cunning Device for which you
have the appropriate tools and
materials. Crafting a Cunning
Device costs one Willpower
Point, as you must dig deep into
the wellspring of inspiration.
● Rank 2: By spending a
combination of the appropriate
materials and time, you can
combine two Cunning Devices
into one. Spend one Willpower
Point to use your CRAFTING
skill to create the device, which
has the functions of two
Cunning Devices of your choice.
The GM may disallow
nonfunctional combinations.
● Rank 3: With tinker’s tools, ten
Iron, five Wood, and one
Leather, you can spend one
week to craft a clockwork
animaculum. Pick an animal
type from page 126 of the
 Gamemaster’s Guide, and give
your animaculum a name. As a
Slow action, you can handle the
animaculum to set it to perform
an action of your choice; you
must use another Slow action to
change the animaculum’s
action, which it otherwise
performs until stopped. The
animaculum does not require
food, water, or sleep, nor does
it have a mind, but otherwise
has the same traits as the
animal that it was created to
resemble.
The Mariner’s TalenTs
As a Mariner, you can learn the
following three profession talents. The
Mariner’s talents enhance their bond
with sailing and the sea. You get rank
1 in one of these talents at character
creation.
Path of the Cannoneer
Though you may not know the
artificer’s craft, you understand
cannons and how to fire them. You are
no stranger to the roar of the ship’s
guns.
Having any ranks in the Path of the
Gunsmith allows you to use
MARKSMANSHIP with firearms and
cannons, and you can repair them and
make powder horns and powder
barrels.
● Rank 1: Spend one Willpower
Point to cause a successful
attack with a cannon battery to
inflict two Naval Damage hits.
● Rank 2: Once per nautical
round, you may spend one
Willpower Point to immediately
load a battery of guns, without
using an action.
● Rank 3: Spend one Willpower
Point when you hit a target with
a ship’s cannon battery. You
may roll twice on the Naval
Damage table and choose the
result.
Path of the Sea Dog
You have sent merchant vessels to a
watery grave and buried treasure on
sandy islets. You’ve lived by a code
with fellow buccaneers, working with
the crew according to a charter that
you agreed upon in your search for
booty and plunder.
● Rank 1: When you KEEP
WATCH at sea, you can succeed
automatically by spending a
Willpower Point. You can roll
first and spend the point if you
fail.
● Rank 2: If you aren’t wearing
metal armor, you may spend a
Willpower Point to automatically
succeed on an ENDURANCE roll
to swim.
● Rank 3: You can spend a
Willpower Point to go through
your knapsack for a treasure
map. Use the random legend
generator to create the history
of the map. At each roll of the
random legend generator, you
may roll twice and take the roll
of your choice.
Path of the Ship’s Captain
Serving as an officer aboard a ship
has taught you the ways of command
and the means to motivate mariners
on your vessel.
● Rank 1: While at sea, you may
spend a Willpower Point to KEEP
WATCH and LEAD THE WAY at
the same time. Doing so grants
you a +2 bonus to both actions.
● Rank 2: You may spend a
Willpower Point in naval combat
to perform two fast Naval
Maneuvers in the same nautical
round. You gain a +2 bonus to
both actions.
● Rank 3: When you LEAD THE
WAY at sea, you can succeed
automatically by spending a
Willpower Point. You can roll
first and spend the point if you
fail.
The Priest’s Talents
Priests serve the slumbering gods,
who sometimes shift fitfully to cause
miracles, or even awaken briefly to
intercede in the waking world.
Through prayer and supplication,
priests can call for miraculous
intervention. You get rank 1 in one of
these talents at character creation.
Note that priestly talents do not use
the rules for magic; they are granted
by the gods, and the costs—and
risks—are different from those of
sorcery. Prayers made by priests are
Slow actions.
Path of Orthodoxy
You have learned to chastise
unbelievers and smite the wicked,
whether with words or with weapons.
The gods guide you against those who
stand in their way.
● Rank 1: You draw upon obscure
scripture to make an angry
outcry against a foe. Make a
LORE check and spend a
Willpower Point. If you succeed,
your target suffers one Empathy
damage for every X you roll.
Once you fail, you cannot use
this ability again in the same
encounter.
● Rank 2: You pray for the gods
to curse your foe. Spend one
Willpower Point and make a
LORE check. If you succeed,
your target takes a –1 penalty
on all of their die rolls for the
remainder of the encounter.
Once you fail, you cannot use
this ability again in the same
encounter.
● Rank 3: You pray for the gods
to smite your foe. Spend two
Willpower Points and make a
LORE check. If you succeed,
your target immediately suffers
a Critical Injury as if from a
blunt force attack. Once you
fail, you cannot use this ability
again in the same encounter.
Path of Prophecy
The gods gift you with dream-visions
that warn you of dangers and tell you
of things not yet come to pass.
● Rank 1: When you meet a
stranger, you might remember
seeing them in a prophetic
dream. Make an INSIGHT roll
and spend one Willpower Point
 to determine the stranger’s engaged in combat with you, or
Pride, Dark Secret, or one one that cannot understand
Relationship, if any. Scoring you.
multiple X on your roll allows ● Rank 2: If you are Starving,
you to glean multiple pieces of Thirsty, Cold, or Sleepy, spend
information. one Willpower Point to pray.
● Rank 2: You make a cryptic Make a MANIPULATE roll. If you
utterance about an ally’s past succeed, one of these
and future. Spend one conditions (your choice) is
Willpower Point and make an removed by divine providence.
INSIGHT roll. If you succeed, This may simply be a sudden
your ally may immediately surge of energy, or may
change their Pride, or choose a represent your deity presenting
new one if they have lost their you with a sudden tiny spring of
Pride. water or simple food from the
● Rank 3: When you Push a roll, heavens.
make a separate INSIGHT roll ● Rank 3: Pray for assistance
to spend two Willpower Points when you or an ally are
and negate all 1s rolled on the critically injured. Spend two
Pushed roll. You remember a Willpower Points and make a
glimpse of the future and act MANIPULATE roll. If you
accordingly to avoid succeed, the injury is
catastrophe. The energy miraculously healed. The divine
drained from you by this causes power channeled in this fashion
you to immediately become causes you to immediately
Cold if the prayer succeeds. become Sleepy if the prayer
succeeds.
Path of Succor
By calling to the gods for aid in The Psychic’s Talents
desperate times, you can gain their
You can focus your inner energies to
protection.
perform various mental feats, but
● Rank 1: By making a plea with
often at a cost. The following three
a bit of divine guidance, you
profession talents are available to
spend one Willpower Point and
psychics. You get rank 1 in one of
attempt to MANIPULATE a
these talents at character creation.
creature so that it does not
Note that psychic talents are not
attack you. You need not offer
magical, and do not function according
anything in return, and if you
to the magic rules.
succeed, the target cannot
attack you or your allies. You
Path of Clairvoyance
can’t use this ability on a
creature that is already
You sometimes receive premonitions,
and with concentration you can cast
your senses abroad.
● Rank 1: When you defend
against an ambush or sneak
attack, you may voluntarily take
one point of Wits damage and
spend one Willpower Point to
automatically win the opposed
SNEAK roll. You can roll first
and then take the damage if
you fail.
● Rank 2: You can cast your sight
and hearing out over a great
distance. As a Slow action,
make a SCOUTING roll and
spend one Willpower Point. Each
X on the roll allows you to cast
your senses one range segment
away, and to see and hear as if
you stand at that location. You
do not need a clear line of sight
to the location—you can see or
hear on the other side of a wall,
though this power doesn’t allow
you to see through darkness.
You may maintain concentration
on this with a Slow action each
round. Once the power ends,
you suffer one point of Wits
damage.
● Rank 3: You can LEAD THE
WAY to scout an adjacent hex
without spending a Quarter to
do so—you send your senses to
explore the area. After you
complete the SURVIVAL roll and
spend one Willpower Point, you
suffer two points of Wits
damage.
Path of Mentalism
You are sensitive to the thoughts and
feelings of other minds, sometimes
without even trying. By reaching out,
you can even hear others’ thoughts or
alter their memories.
● Rank 1: You can spend one
Willpower Point to sense the
wants, needs, and desires of a
thinking creature up to Short
range. You do not necessarily
understand the context of what
they want, only what it is.
Animals generally have very
simple needs (food, shelter,
mate). You also sense whether
the creature is friendly or
hostile. After doing so, you
suffer one point of Empathy
damage.
● Rank 2: You can spend one
Willpower Point to sense what a
target up to Short range is
thinking, so long as you can see
or touch the target or you have
some significant link to it (such
as a lock of hair or a beloved
childhood toy), as a Slow
action. You can continue to
sense the target’s thoughts as
long as it remains in range and
you use a Slow action on
successive rounds. In addition,
you can attempt to
MANIPULATE such a target by
sending confusing thoughts and
impulses. If you defeat the
target in an opposed roll against
the target’s INSIGHT, it is
unable to act on its next round.
If you fail the roll, the target is
aware that someone tried to
tamper with its mind. After you
 finish concentrating on this
talent or attempt to confuse a
target, you suffer one point of
Empathy damage.
● Rank 3: With a Slow action, a
Willpower Point, and a Point and use MANIPULATION
MANIPULATION roll opposed by
the target’s INSIGHT, you can
alter the memories of a thinking
creature at up to Short range,
so long as you can see it, touch
it, or have a significant
connection to it. You can draw
the memory of an event up to
15 minutes long to the surface
and experience it in a moment,
and you may also choose to
alter that memory or erase
some or all of it. If you choose
to strike out at the target’s
mind, each X by which you best
the target on the opposed roll
inflicts one point of damage to
the target’s Wits or Empathy
(your choice). If you fail the
roll, the target is aware that
someone tried to tamper with
its mind. After you perform this
action, you suffer two points of
Empathy damage.
Path of Telekinesis
You can tug upon strings of etheric
force to manipulate objects at a
distance and to batter creatures.
● Rank 1: You can spend one
Willpower Point to manipulate
any Light or Normal object up
to Short range, as if operating it
with one hand. Doing so is a
Slow action, and when you
complete the action, you suffer
one point of Strength damage.
● Rank 2: You can mentally
Shove a creature up to Short
range. Spend one Willpower
instead of MELEE. Additional X
each cause one point of damage
if you successfully Shove the
target. After you attempt the
Shove, whether it succeeded or
failed, you suffer one point of
Strength damage.
● Rank 3: You can mentally
GRAPPLE an opponent as a Slow
action. Spend one Willpower
Point and use MANIPULATION
instead of MELEE. You do not
fall to the ground while doing
so, and you do not need to be
unarmed. You can maintain the
GRAPPLE as a Slow action and
squeeze the target to perform a
GRAPPLE ATTACK as a Fast
action. You may still perform
other Fast actions while
maintaining the power, if you
choose. When you release the
target or it escapes, you suffer
two points of Strength damage.
General Talents
The following additional general
talents flesh out the kinds of special
training that adventurers in the
Jeweled Isles might learn.
Diver
You spend almost as much time
underwater as on land, and you are a
strong swimmer, able to hold your
breath and wrest treasures and ENDURANCE roll, and it counts
bountiful food from the sea. as a REST for you.
● Rank 1: Your MOVE roll is
modified by +1 when you DIVE
during journeys.
● Rank 2: You gain a D8 Artifact
die when making ENDURANCE
checks to hold your breath.
● Rank 3: When you DIVE for
SEAFOOD, you come up with
twice as much.

Speed Loader
You have learned a few tricks to
greatly increase the speed at which
you can reload handheld firearms.
● Rank 1: Reloading a handheld
firearm only takes you two Slow
actions.
● Rank 2: Reloading a handheld
firearm only takes you one Slow
action.
● Rank 3: Reloading a handheld
firearm only takes you one Fast
action.

Strong swimmer
You swim like an otter, gliding through
the water with ease.
● Rank 1: You modify your
ENDURANCE rolls to swim by
+1.
● Rank 2: If you sink while
swimming, you can make an
ENDURANCE roll on subsequent
rounds to regain your bearings,
without needing someone else
to save you.
● Rank 3: You can SWIM for up
to a Quarter Day without
needing to make an
 Nautical Journeys
Sailing into unknown waters, nobody
can say what you might encounter.
Your look-outs will spot shorelines,
shoals, whale-spouts, and pirate
ships. Your only hope is to find some
distant place, far from the Sovereign
of Ruin, where you can live without
fear, perhaps even form a new
resistance to strike back against the
tides of the Ebon Cataphract.
The Map
Unlike other Forbidden Lands settings,
the Jeweled Isles use a are extremely scarce, and the sand
randomly-generated map. The map is
still measured with 10 kilometer
hexagons, but the contents of these
hexes are unknown until you explore
them!
Types of Terrain
In addition to the terrain types
described in the Forbidden Lands
Player’s Guide, you will cross a variety
of other places while sailing the
Trackless Sea.
SHALLOW WATER usually occurs
around coastlines. Shallow water often
teems with fish, seaweed, and other
aquatic life. Sometimes you can see
ruins beneath the waves.
DEEP WATER is the open ocean, vast
and formless. You must cross deep
water to reach distant shores, but it is
dangerous in stormy weather, and it is
harder to acquire supplies of fresh
water and food—for the most part,
you will only gain water from rain, and
food from fishing. Monsters and
hostile ships also roam these waters.
ATOLLS are islets formed by a ring of
coral surrounding a lagoon. Atolls can
be hazardous to navigate, as the coral
can destroy a ship’s hull, but the
lagoons often support great varieties
of life and sometimes have water.
Atolls are surrounded by water, and
thus reached by sailing.
SANDY DESERT consists of rolling
dunes and little else. Water and game
makes travel slow and difficult.
SCRUB DESERT is rocky, dry terrain
that receives very little water. In cold
climates, it may be frozen plains or
tundra. Small bushes and twisted
trees grow here, and water is a
precious commodity.
JUNGLE terrain boasts a riot of life:
flowers, trees, and many animals.
Hunting and foraging is easy here, as
there are many edible plants and
creatures, and water is common, but
the dense undergrowth and the
stinging insects often make travel
difficult.
The other kinds of terrain described in
the Forbidden Lands Players’ Guide
form the islands that you will discover
while sailing. Small islands might
consist solely of desert or plains, while
larger islands may have forests,
mountains, jungles, even volcanoes!
 New Terrain Types
Type Movement Forage Hunt Fish

Shallow Water Requires — — +1

watercraft

Deep Water Requires — — +1

watercraft

Atoll Requires +1 –1 +2
watercraft

Jungle Difficult +2 +2 —
terrain

Sandy Desert Difficult — –3 —

terrain

Scrub Desert Open terrain –2 –2 —

clouds, rain, and heavy waves. After

Wind and Weather
While at sea, wind is very important,
as it’s impossible to sail completely
against the wind except by tacking (a
very slow process). Weather, too, can
be difficult, as storms may cause ships
to flood and founder.
At the start of each Quarter, roll once
to determine the wind direction: 1 =
from the north, 2 = from the
northeast, and so on, proceeding
clockwise around the hexagon.
Roll once to determine wind strength
at the start of the game: a roll of 1-2
= 1, 3-4 = 2, and 5-6 = 3. At the
start of each successive Quarter, roll
one die. On a 1, the Wind Strength
drops by one, to a minimum of 0. On
a 6, the Wind Strength increases by 1,
up to a maximum of 6. High Wind
Strength (4+) indicates stormy
conditions and usually comes with
you roll Wind Strength, roll one more
die. If it is less than the Wind
Strength, or on a roll of 1 in any case,
it is also raining. Rain allows the
characters to refill their waterskins
with fresh water to a Water die of
D12.
A watercraft can only SAIL if the Wind
Strength is 1 or more, and it can only
SAIL up to its own Speed or the Wind
Strength, whichever is lower. A vessel
that SAILS into the direction from
which the wind is blowing must tack,
and has a Speed of 1.
If the Wind Strength is higher than a
vessel’s speed, or when a vessel with
a shallow draft moves across deep
water, the skipper must make a
MANIPULATION roll to command the
crew to safely guide the ship. (A lone
person on a ship makes a MOVE roll
instead.) Failure means that the vessel
suffers a Foundering Mishap, as shown
on the associated table.

Foundering Mishaps
Roll Mishap

1 Overboard! 1d6 people fall overboard and must be rescued

before they drown or are attacked by sharks.

2 Taking on water! The ship’s Speed is reduced by 1 until the

crew make a successful CRAFTING check to plug holes and
bail out water.

3 Cargo lost! 1d6 items or boxes of cargo are lost overboard.

4 Capsized! The ship flips sideways and cannot move except to

DRIFT. The ship can be righted if the Wind Strength drops to
0.

5 Mast broken! The ship’s Speed is reduced by 1 until the mast

can be replaced, which cannot be done at sea. A new mast
must be built on land with 10 units of WOOD and a saw and
hammer.

6 Hulled! The ship takes on water below decks and will sink in 1
turn (15 minutes) unless it is repaired with a CRAFTING
check. Even if repaired, the ship is Crippled (see
STRONGHOLDS AND SHIPS chapter for information about ship
damage).

Weather Magic Quarters of the Day

The druid spell of Weathermaster can
While you sail, you will take the same
instantly change the current weather.
actions that you do on land, but there
With Power Level 1, the Wind Strength
are some complications. Weather
and direction can both be shifted by
greatly affects your speed and
one point. Power Level 2 allows
direction. Storms can blow your ship
shifting them by up to three points,
about, force you aground, or even sink
and Power Level 3 allows the druid to
your vessel if you are unlucky.
set them to any desired value
When you are aboard a watercraft,
instantly.
instead of HIKING, you will ROW or
SAIL into other water spaces. When
you reach a coastline, you will
disembark from the vessel and then
resume HIKING on land, for which you
follow the procedures for overland
travel laid out in the Forbidden Lands
Players’ Guide.
Row
You can row while on the water, if you
have enough people aboard your
vessel. Rowing is slow and tiring, but
the only way to move when the
weather is becalmed.
When you spend a Quarter to ROW,
you can only move one hexagon per
Quarter Day. Every rower makes a
MIGHT roll. Failure causes the rower
to take one point of Strength damage.
SAIL
A ship with a working sail (or multiple
sails) can travel several hexagons in a
Quarter Day, as determined by the
ship’s Speed. The drawback is that
you cannot SAIL against the direction
of the wind, and you cannot SAIL at
all if there is no wind.
Drift
If you have no oars, no sails, and no
anchor, and your ship is not tied down,
you must DRIFT each Quarter on
water. Your ship moves with the
current in a random direction. This can
take you into hexagons that you
haven’t explored!
Night Navigation
You can ROW or SAIL at night, but the
pathfinder and lookout both take a –1
penalty to their respective checks to
LEAD THE WAY and KEEP WATCH, as
it’s harder to spot other ships, land
masses, or rocks and shoals.
Weigh Anchor
Instead of MAKING CAMP, when you
choose to stop traveling on a
watercraft you WEIGH ANCHOR. This
generally means dropping a heavy
weight overboard, attached by a rope
or chain, so that the vessel does not
drift away in errant currents or run
aground at night.
Because your watercraft has all the
space and amenities available for you,
you do not need to spend a Quarter
Day to WEIGH ANCHOR. This affords
you much more travel time, but there
are other drawbacks.
It is risky to have fires aboard a
watercraft made of wood, sealed with
pitch, and sailed with cloth. If you do
not make a fire, anyone who does not
sleep in a ship’s cabin or hold suffers
the effects of cold (see the Forbidden
Lands Player’s Guide p. 111). If you
do make a fire, you take a –2 modifier
to your Survival check to WEIGH
ANCHOR.
If you do not have an anchor, you
must DRIFT. When you DRIFT, roll a
number of Base Dice equal to the
Wind Strength. If you score any 1, you
suffer a Sea Travel Mishap (see the
Forbidden Lands Player’s Guide p.
156). A result of “Navigational Error”
causes you to drift randomly into an
adjacent hexagon.
Dive
When you are in SHALLOW WATER or
an ATOLL, you can DIVE to harvest the
bounty of the sea—clams, oysters,
abalone, crabs, lobsters, urchins,
seaweed, sea cucumbers, and other
tasty morsels. You cannot HIKE, SAIL,
or ROW while you DIVE, but several
people can DIVE at the same time.
To DIVE, you only need a knife or
dagger (so that you can remove
shellfish from rocks) and something to
carry your findings in (your knapsack
or a net will suffice, as will a piece of
clothing, in a pinch). You can’t DIVE
effectively while wearing metal armor.
Make a MOVE roll modified by the
DIVER talent and any Gear Bonus
from your diving gear.
Success means that you come up with
a number of units of SEAFOOD equal
to the number of X you rolled. The
SEAFOOD can be cooked by a CHEF
(Player’s Guide p. 74) or at an INN
(Player’s Guide p. 168), and is then
turned into an equal amount of FOOD.
You can eat SEAFOOD raw—you then
consume a unit of SEAFOOD instead of
rolling your Resource Die for FOOD.
You need to do this within a day, or
the SEAFOOD will be spoiled.
If your roll fails, you don’t bring up
any SEAFOOD and you also suffer a
mishap. Roll on the accompanying
table.

Diving Mishaps
D6 Mishap Effect

1 Dropped Knife Your knife or dagger is caught in a rock while you are
running out of air. You must make a MIGHT roll to pull
it free. If you fail, it is lost.

2 Gash You accidentally cut your hand or leg on a sharp rock,

shell, or your own blade. You suffer one point of
damage to Agility.

3 Broken Knife Your knife or dagger snaps. You need to repair it (a

CRAFTING roll) or replace it.
4 Jellyfish You are stung by the tentacles of a large jellyfish,
which is both annoying and painful. This is an attack
with four Base Dice against your Empathy.

5 Entangled You become caught in rocks, coral, or seaweeds. You

must make a MIGHT check to tear yourself free. Each
time you fail a MIGHT check, you must also make an
ENDURANCE check to hold your breath (see Forbidden
Lands Player’s Guide p. 113).

6 Attacked A vicious fish, reef shark, eel, or octopus attacks you.

You suffer one point of damage to Strength.
 Strongholds and Ships
Since you must sail the Trackless Sea
to escape the dangers behind you,
your ship is your home. A small boat
might provide only enough space for a
few tools and a chance to reach a
nearby island, but with time, luck, and
the right resources, you may be able
to build, buy, or claim a larger ship, or
even a fleet.
Boats and Ships
In simple parlance, a boat is a small
watercraft with limited carrying
capacity, while a ship is a larger vessel
designed for transporting passengers
and hauling cargo over long distances.
A boat usually has a shallow draft that
allows it to navigate rivers and shoals,
while a ship must anchor in deep
water and send crew to land in a boat
that’s carried aboard the larger vessel.
Your Starting Vessel
Because your adventure begins when
you sail into the unknown, your
expedition group automatically starts
with a watercraft. The type of craft
depends upon the size of your group.
If your group numbers only one or two
members, your starting craft is a
dinghy; with three or more, your craft
is a sailing boat.
Effects of a Vessel
A watercraft gives you a place to REST
and SLEEP while you are on water, and
you can move by ROWING or
SAILING, if your vehicle has oars or
sails. Otherwise, you must DRIFT.
Having a vessel doesn’t give you
bonus Willpower Points, nor does a
vessel tend to have facilities like a
stronghold. You don’t upgrade a vessel
by adding new functions; instead, if
you want a better ship, you must build
it. You can, however, apply certain
improvements to your sails and
cabins.
New Stronghold
Functions
To build and support ships, your
stronghold must have new facilities.
LightHouse
A lighthouse illuminates the coast and
helps to prevent ships from running
aground in fog or darkness while it is
attended.
● REQUIREMENT: FORGE, the
BUILDER talent
● RAW MATERIALS: 100
STONE, 10 IRON, 10 GLASS
● TOOLS: Sledgehammer,
pickaxe, saw, hammer
● TIME: Two weeks
● EFFECT: While a lighthouse is
active, its beam is visible in
adjacent water hexagons. A
watercraft in an adjacent
hexagon does not suffer
penalties for darkness or fog.
 Shipyard Sailor 5 copper
Boats such as canoes, catamarans,
Shipwright 1 silver
and dinghies can be built with just an
axe, a knife, and an ample supply of
wood, but ships require pitch, cloth,
iron fittings and nails, and a large Lighthouse Keeper
space designed for naval construction. Staffs a lighthouse and provides its
To build a ship, you need a shipyard, benefits to ships off the coast.
which is a function that you can build ● SALARY: 8 copper
at a stronghold that is in a hexagon ● SUPPLY: Uncommon
adjacent to water. A stronghold can
support one shipyard for each
Marine
adjacent hexagon of water, but certain
ships can only be built in a deep water Soldiers trained for ship boarding
shipyard (as described in the Ship actions. Marines are used to cramped
section of Gear)—a shipyard quarters and bad food, which
constructed at the edge of the motivates them strongly in
hexagon adjoining a deep water area. hand-to-hand combat when swarming
● REQUIREMENT: FIREPLACE, aboard enemy ships.
FORGE, the BUILDER talent ● SALARY: 1 silver
● RAW MATERIALS: 200 WOOD, ● SUPPLY: Common
20 IRON
● TOOLS: Saw, hammer, shovel Sailor
● TIME: One month Trained crew to serve on a ship. Large
● EFFECT: You can build various ships often require more crew than a
kinds of ships, as listed in the small adventuring group can provide,
Gear tables. especially in battle.
● SALARY: 5 copper
New Hirelings ● SUPPLY: Common

You can bring on new kinds of

Shipwright
hirelings to assist your shipbuilding
and sailing adventures. Can craft ships with a shipyard. A
Shipwright’s CRAFTING rolls succeed
List of Hirelings automatically, with one X.
● SALARY: 1 silver
Hireling Salary ● SUPPLY: Uncommon
Lighthouse 8 copper
Keeper

Marine 1 silver

Ship Combat and Damage
Naval vessels will engage in battle and
boarding actions, which proceeds in a
fashion similar to melee combat. Ships
engage at the same ranges shown for
Combat & Damage in the Forbidden
Lands Player’s Guide, which means
that most ships engage at Short,
Long, or Distant range until boarding
actions occur.
Naval Initiative
Initiative in naval battles uses cards as
described on p. 83 of the Forbidden
Lands Player’s Guide, but each boat or
ship itself acts on its skipper’s
initiative order.
Naval Actions
Characters can undertake various
actions on ship, but the skipper is the
ultimate arbiter of what the ship does
for the round. Individual adventurers
may still cast spells, fire weapons, or
use skills, but the ship as a whole will
also take one Slow Action and one
Fast Action on its indicated turn.
Ship combat happens at a different
rate of speed, called nautical rounds,
as ships make large, sweeping
maneuvers, cannons are reloaded and
aimed, and sails are adjusted. Thus,
one round of naval combat takes
about ten times as long as one round
of personal combat. During naval
combat, most characters are busy
avoiding shrapnel, trimming sails,
loading cannons, and performing
damage control, so characters only
have time to perform one set of
personal actions in a nautical round. A
character undertaking a naval action,
such as firing guns or directing the
crew for a maneuver, performs those
tasks as their actions.

Slow Naval Actions

Action Prerequisite Skill

Grapple At Near range Melee

Fire Guns Cannons —

Load Guns Cannons —

Ramming Speed At Near range Move

Release Volley Ranged weapons Marksmanship

 Load Guns
Grapple Load the cannons to ready for firing
The crew throw lines and hooks to again. The crew must be led by
another ship nearby. If this attempt someone trained in the use of cannon
succeeds, the two ships become (either the skipper or a gunner).
entangled. If this succeeds, a ship can
only escape with a BREAK FREE slow Ramming Speed
action, which is an opposed MELEE
The ship attempts to come about and
action. While grappled, ships may
smash into a nearby vessel. This is an
conduct boarding actions against each
opposed check of the skipper’s MOVE
other.
skill against the target ship’s MOVE
Use the mass combat rules from
skill, with a bonus die for each point of
fortresses to conduct shipboard battle
the ship’s Speed. On a hit, consult the
actions.
naval damage chart and roll once for
each X.
Fire Guns
If the ship has cannons loaded, it may Release Volley
fire those cannons at a target. The
The skipper orders the crew to fire
crew must be commanded by
missile weapons such as arrows or
someone trained in the use of cannon
spears. Each X on the
(either the skipper or a gunner). Roll
MARKSMANSHIP roll indicates a hit
one die for every battery fired, and
that incapacitates a crew member on
roll on the naval damage chart for
the target vessel. Players who are hit
each X.
by volley fire take damage to Strength
as normal.

Fast Naval Actions

Action Prerequisite Skill

All Ahead — Move

Close Range At Short range or further Move

Come About — Move

Damage Control Hulled Crafting

Disengage — Move

Narrow Profile — Move

Reduce Speed — —

All Ahead
If successful, increase the ship’s
Speed by 1, up to its maximum.
Close Range
You attempt to move closer to another
ship. Your roll is contested by that
ship. If you succeed, move the ship
one range band closer to you.
Come About
Turn the ship to gain tactical
advantage. If successful, you gain a
+1 bonus to FIRE GUNS in the same
round.
Disengage
Attempt to flee the engagement and
evade an enemy ship. Your roll is
contested by that ship. If you succeed,
move the ship one range band more
distant from you. If you are already at
Distant range, the ship is removed
from the engagement.
Narrow Profile
Bring the ship about to minimize its
profile to the enemy’s broadside. Roll
MOVE, and for each X, you eliminate
one X from a single attacker’s roll. You
cannot Fire Guns in the same round
that you Narrow Profile.

Reduce Speed
Damage Control
Cease rowing or furl the sails. Reduce
If the ship has taken a hit below the
the vessel’s speed by 1.
waterline, use Damage Control to
patch the hull. Damage Control
requires one cargo unit of Wood. Naval Damage
Failure to do so means that the ship
A ship struck by cannon barrages,
begins to sink.
rams, or running aground rolls on the
accompanying table to determine the
severity of its damage.

Naval Damage Table

Roll Effect

1 No effect! The damage is cosmetic and does not impede the ship.

2 Stores hit. D66 crates of cargo are destroyed.

3 Deck hit. 10 crew are lost, and each character on the deck takes an
attack with a strength of 5 dice. If no crew remain, the ship takes a hull
hit instead, as #6 below.

4 Sails hit. The ship loses 1 point of Speed. If the ship has a speed of 0, it
takes a hull hit instead, as #6 below.
5 Guns hit. The ship loses the use of 10 cannons. If the ship has no
remaining cannons, roll one die: on a 1, the powder magazine is hit.

6 Hull hit. The ship suffers minor damage below the waterline, which must
be repaired with damage control, or the ship begins to sink (see
Sinking).

Sinking
When a ship takes damage that
indicates sinking, the ship’s speed
immediately drops to 0. The ship will
sink beneath the water in 2d6 rounds.

Crippled Vessels
A vessel that has had to use Damage
Control three times is Crippled. The
ship’s speed is reduced to 1 until it
undergoes an overhaul in a shipyard.
A Crippled ship that takes damage
again immediately begins sinking,
regardless of the results of the table.
Powder Magazines
A ship with cannons has a powder
magazine where cannonballs and
black powder barrels are stored.
During combat, these are brought on
deck as needed. On rare occasions, a
hit may land in the powder magazine.
In such a case, the ship takes one
automatic roll on the damage table for
each cargo unit of powder stores. For
most ships, this will immediately sink
them.
Ship Cargo
Large ships can carry significant stores
of cargo, and trading is certainly one
of the principal goals of a ship laden
with cloth, jewels, dyes, and valuable
metals. Cargo is stored in boxes and
barrels; one unit of cargo is equivalent
to ten individual items, so a cargo
crate of iron ore holds 10 individual
pieces iron ore, while a cargo crate of
field rations holds 10 units of field
rations. Cargo crates and barrels are
large and bulky and weigh
approximately 100 pounds, so a
character can only haul one at a time
and always counts as
over-encumbered while doing so.
Many trade goods pass through the
ports of the Jeweled Isles, and
merchants keep ledgers and tallies of
them all. Some are valuable for
manufacturing, while others are used
by artificers to make their strange
devices and chymicals, and some are
valued simply for their rarity and
decorative beauty.
 Laying In Provisions
Ships have food and grog dice, just
like an adventurer’s food and water
dice. At the end of a day, roll the
ship’s food and grog dice, just as you
would for an adventurer. A ship that
runs out of food or grog cannot supply
its crew, which will eventually lead to
a mutiny.
Ships can carry extra cargo units of
field rations and grog in order to
extend their supplies. A cargo unit of
field rations increases the ship’s food
provisions by one die step, while a
cargo unit of grog increases the ship’s
grog provisions by one die step.
A newly-constructed ship has no
provisions; they must be laid in by
hunting, foraging, bringing in fresh
water, and so on. Since ships are built
at well-developed fortresses, this
usually won’t be a problem.
Food STores
Food stores aboard a ship are field
rations: dried, salted, and smoked
meat, flour for making hard biscuits,
and sometimes pickled vegetables.
One cargo unit of food increases a
ship’s food rating by one die.
Grog
Ships store barrels of grog for sailors
to drink. Grog is a weak alcoholic
beverage; the alcohol helps to keep it
palatable on long journeys and
prevents the water from going bad
due to miasma or algae. One cargo
unit of grog increases a ship’s grog
rating by one die.
Powder
A ship’s guns use large quantities of
gunpowder and cast iron cannonballs.
Both are stored in barrels, which are
kept in a ship’s powder stores. Only
artificers and mariners who specialize
in the cannon know the secrets of
their manufacture.
A ship has a Cannonballs & Powder
rating, much like a character’s Arrows
rating. After any engagement in which
the ship fires its cannons, roll this die;
on a 1, it decreases by one step. A
ship without Cannonballs & Powder
cannot Fire Guns.
Wood
Ships use wood to make repairs, and
sometimes to construct rafts or
launches for exploration. Most large
ships carry a small amount of extra
timber in case they need to replace a
mast or repair damage below the
waterline.
Other Cargoes
You can crate up other non-perishable
goods, such as metal ingots, bolts of
cloth, pelts, leather, oil, glass, spices,
tools, and so on for trade. Ten items of
the same type boxed and barreled up
become one unit of cargo.
 Gear
The tables here include new kinds of
supplies that you’ll use while sailing
the Trackless Sea.
Nautical Vessels
The Trackless Seas are home to a wide
range of watercraft, from tiny humble
rowboats to massive galleons sporting
multiple sails and powerful cannon.
Nautical vessels include notes about
their crew and carrying capacity, but
also have additional important notes.
Crew: A vessel can hold the listed
number of people. A skeleton crew
(the minimum number of people to
operate the vessel) is 1/10th of this
value (minimum 1).
Any vessel with a deep draft or with
the ability to carry 10 or more people
includes cabins and decking to shelter
against the elements.
Cannons: The amount of cannon that
a ship can mount. Small vessels have
an item limit instead; a vessel of this
size cannot safely fire a cannon
(though it could carry one as cargo).
Ten cannons make up one battery,
fired as a volley in naval combat.
Note that constructing a ship does not
include constructing cannons for it!
Speed: A nautical vessel’s Speed
indicates the number of hexagons that
it can move in a Quarter Day. Rowed
vessels move with a Speed of 1.
Sailing vessels move at the listed
Speed or at the current Wind
Strength, whichever is lower.
Draft: Vessels are listed as having a
shallow draft or deep draft. This
determines the kinds of water
hexagons that they can enter. A vessel
with a shallow draft can enter any kind
of water hexagon, including rivers and
atolls. A vessel with a deep draft may
only enter deep water hexagons.
Vessels with a shallow draft are at risk
of foundering in deep water.
Cargo: A ship that does not list an
item capacity can carry crates of cargo
equal to the number of people that it
can carry. A crate of cargo represents
roughly 100 pounds of material, and is
an abstraction for carrying food, water
barrels, treasure, cloth, and so on.
Ships use cargo space to carry
supplies for their crew, black powder
and shot for their cannons, and
materials for repairs.
Remember, you can find rules for
canoes, rowing boats, and sailing
boats on pp. 190-191 of the Forbidden
Lands Player’s Guide. Canoes and
rowing boats have a Speed of 1, while
sailing boats have a Speed of 2. All
three have shallow drafts and cannot
mount cannons.
Nautical Vessels
Vehicle Price Supply Raw Time Talent Tools Notes
Materials

Caravel 400 gold Rare 100 6 Builder, Forge, 40

Wood, months Sailor, needle people,
300 Cloth, Smith and 10
10 Iron, thread, cannons.
30 Rope saw and Speed 4,
hammer, deep
shipyard draft.

Carrack 3,000 Rare 800 8 Builder, Forge, 300

gold Wood, months Sailor, needle people,
300 Cloth, Smith and 30
80 Iron, thread, cannons.
30 Rope saw and Speed 1,
hammer, deep
shipyard draft.

Cata- 1 gold Un- 25 Wood, One Builder, Saw and Two

maran common 10 Cloth Week Sailor hammer people,
(optional 20 items.
for sail), 1 Speed 2,
Rope shallow
draft.
Sail
optional.

Corvette 500 gold Rare 150 6 Builder, Forge, 40

Wood, months Sailor, needle people,
300 Cloth, Smith and 20
15 Iron, thread, cannons.
30 Rope saw and Speed 4,
hammer, deep
shipyard draft.

Dinghy 2 gold Un- 40 Wood, One Builder, Saw and Four

common 10 Cloth, Week Sailor hammer people,
1 Rope 50 items.
Single
sail and
oars.
Speed 1,
shallow
draft.

Fluyt 2,500 Rare 600 1 year Builder, Forge, 10

gold Wood, Sailor, needle people,
300 Cloth, Smith and 10
60 Iron, thread, cannons.
 30 Rope saw and Speed 2,
hammer, deep
shipyard draft.

Fly-Boat 2,000 Rare 400 10 Builder, Forge, 200

gold Wood, months Sailor, needle people,
200 Cloth, Smith and 10
40 Iron, thread, cannons.
20 Rope saw and Speed 2,
hammer, shallow
shipyard draft.

Galleon 5,000 Rare 700 18 Builder, Forge, 300

gold Wood, months Sailor, needle people,
300 Cloth, Smith and 70
70 Iron, thread, cannons.
30 Rope saw and Speed 2,
hammer, deep
shipyard draft.

Lugger 300 gold Rare 150 3 Builder, Forge, 30

Wood, months Sailor, needle people,
100 Cloth, Smith and 10
15 Iron, thread, cannons.
10 Rope saw and Speed 3,
hammer, deep
shipyard draft.

Ship of 8,000 Rare 1,000 18 Builder, Forge, 700

the Line gold Wood, months Sailor, needle people,
300 Cloth, Smith and 70
100 Iron, thread, cannons.
30 Rope saw and Speed 3,
hammer, deep
shipyard draft.

Xebec 4,000 Rare 400 6 Builder, Forge, 200

gold Wood, months Sailor, needle people,
300 Cloth, Smith and 30
40 Iron, thread, cannons.
30 Rope saw and Speed 3,
hammer, shallow
shipyard draft.

Caravel Carrack
A relatively small, three-masted vessel A massive three-masted ocean-going
suited to ocean voyages and cargo vessel with high fore and aft castles.
transport. Difficult to steer into the wind, thus
being replaced by galleons.
 Catamaran
A two- or three-hulled canoe or sailing
vessel. Usually used for sailing around
archipelagoes, atolls, and near coasts.
Easy to build, quick, and with a good
cargo capacity for its size.
Corvette
A small, lightly-armed warship with
three sails. Fast and maneuverable,
built to intercept other ships and
provide support fire for fleet
engagements.
Dinghy
A rowboat with the addition of a sail.
Fluyt
A three-sailed, high-hulled,
square-rigged merchant vessel
designed to carry large amounts of
cargo with a minimal crew. The small
crew and number of cannons makes it
unsuited to naval combat and best
used to carry large cargoes in safe
waters. Despite its small crew, the
fluyt can carry 200 crates of cargo.
Fly-Boat
A high-hulled, broad-backed, one- or
two-masted flat-bottomed boat with
good agility for coastal travel. Often
used as a small warship, though it is
quickly being replaced by the fluyt for
cargo and the ship of the line for war.
Galleon
A three- or four-masted square-rigged
ship with multiple decks and
substantial cargo capacity. Has a low
forecastle to improve maneuverability,
but can mount significant guns and
carry a large complement of crew and
cargo. Often used for war—the
monarch of the sea.
Lugger
Two-masted sailing vessel with a low
profile, sometimes used for
smuggling.
Ship of the Line
A large, three-masted vessel designed
definitively for war. A development of
the carrack and the galleon into a slow
but stable firing platform for many
cannons, with three decks stacked
with guns and room for many
marines.
Xebec
A fast, maneuverable coastal ship with
three masts and oars. Often used for
interception or piracy. The xebec’s
shallow draft makes it unsuited for
long ocean voyages.
Ship Improvements
With the appropriate tools and
facilities, you can upgrade ships to
improve their capabilities.
A ship can only carry these
improvements if it has a cargo
capacity (that is, if it does not have a
listed item capacity in its notes). A
ship may have two improvements. An
improvement may be removed and
replaced at a shipyard; the old
improvement may be removed at the
same time that the new one is
installed.
Copper Sheathing
The use of copper plating on the hull
below the waterline provides
resistance to corrosion and improved
hull strength. When the ship suffers a
Hull hit, roll one die. On a 5 or 6, the
hit is negated.
● Raw Materials: 100 Copper
● Installation Time: One Month
● Talents: Builder, Sailor, Smith
● Tools: Forge, hammer, shipyard
Expanded Cargo Hold
The cargo hold is enlarged and
support beams moved to arches to
provide more open space. The ship
can carry an extra 20 crates of cargo.
● Raw Materials: 50 Wood
● Installation Time: One Month
● Talents: Builder, Sailor
● Tools: Saw and hammer,
shipyard
Gun Deck
Extra gun ports and an additional deck
cut below the upper deck provide
room for additional cannons. This ship
can mount an additional 20 cannons.
● Raw Materials: 200 Wood, 50
Iron
● Installation Time: One Month
● Talents: Builder, Sailor, Smith
● Tools: Forge, saw and hammer,
shipyard
Jibs and Staysails
The addition of small sails fore and
between masts improves tacking
performance. Jibs and staysails allow
a sailing vessel to maintain a Speed of
2 while tacking against the wind, so
long as the vessel normally has a
Speed of 2 or more.
● Raw Materials: 30 Cloth
● Installation Time: One Week
● Talents: Builder, Sailor, Tailor
● Tools: Needle and thread, saw
and hammer, shipyard
Luxury Cabins
Luxurious accommodations are
suitable for important guests or
decadent captains. Anyone traveling
aboard this craft gains one Willpower
Point, once per game session.
● Raw Materials: 50 Wood, 30
Cloth
● Installation Time: Two Weeks
● Talents: Builder, Sailor, Tailor
● Tools: Needle and thread, saw
and hammer, shipyard
Surgeon’s Board
A large cabin is set aside and
furnished for emergency medical
treatment, including purging,
bleeding, and amputation. A surgeon’s
board grants a +2 Gear bonus to
Healing rolls aboard ship.
● Raw Materials: 50 Wood, 20
Cloth
● Installation Time: One Week
● Talents: Builder, Sailor, Smith
● Tools: Forge, pliers, saw and
hammer, shipyard

Firearms and Cannons
Artificers and mariners trained in the
use of black powder use pistols,
muskets, and cannons, which create
devastating swaths of destruction.
Hand-held firearms are easy to aim
and fire even for the untrained, and
are fired with the MARKSMANSHIP
skill. Those who are not trained in the
special techniques of gunsmithing
cannot build or repair them, though.
Cannons are more difficult to use, due
to the vagaries of artillery fire,
especially on the ocean. The
MARKSMANSHIP skill only applies to
rolls with cannons if the firer is trained
in the special Talents for use of
cannons, such as the artificer’s Path of
the Gunsmith or the mariner’s Path of
the Cannoneer.
The Secret of Black Powder
Mixing black powder is a tricky
business, mastered only by artificers
and occasionally by ships’ gunners.
Ingredients for black powder are not
difficult to come by, but they are
volatile if mixed carelessly, and inert if
mixed incorrectly. Thus, only those
with the proper talents can
manufacture black powder.
Black powder has many drawbacks. It
creates a great plume of smoke and
crack of noise when detonated. It
becomes completely inert when wet,
making guns useless if they are
exposed to rain or submerged. And it
risks detonating if struck by fire, which
can be very dangerous to someone
carrying a powder horn.
Despite these drawbacks, black
powder occupies an important place
on the battlefield. Artificers with their
pistols and muskets can fell an
armored knight at range, and cannon
fire can ruin a fortress or ship in short
order.
Unless purchased directly from an
artificer or private collector, firearms
are always Rare on the open market.
Unfortunate Detonations
Adventurers carrying black powder are
at risk of detonations when they are
struck by fire. Even if a fire attack
inflicts no damage, the unfortunate
powder-handler must roll their Bullets
& Powder die. On a 6 or more, their
powder detonates. Roll a number of
dice equal to the Bullets & Powder die
type—that is, with a D8 Bullets &
Powder, roll 8d6. Each X indicates one
wound to Strength. This explosion also
destroys all of the adventurer’s Bullets
& Powder stores and any Powder
Horns they may carry.
Black powder stores on ships are even
more dangerous. If a barrel of powder
is detonated on a ship, it automatically
inflicts a roll on the Naval Damage
Table. A detonation in the powder
stores causes all cargo units of black
powder to explode, with one damage
roll per cargo unit. This is likely to be Repairing Firearms
enough to sink any ship.
Firearms and cannons are tricky
devices, and when one is damaged, it
Reloading can’t simply be repaired with
Reloading a black powder firearm is a CRAFTING. Only someone with the
slow and laborious affair. While most Talents of the Path of the Gunsmith or
firearms can be fired with one hand, the Path of the Cannoneer (Rank 3)
reloading always takes two hands. can repair firearms.
Firearms have the feature
muzzleloader, which indicates that Armor Piercing
reloading takes three Slow actions.
Most firearms have the Armor Piercing
This can be hurried with the Speed
feature, which means that armor
Loader talent.
applies no defense against it, but
Reloading of cannons takes 10 Slow
conversely a hit with a firearm does
actions if used in personal combat.
not damage the armor.
Ship combat proceeds on a different
time scale, and thus reloading
cannons in ship-to-ship or
ship-to-shore combat instead requires
one Slow naval action.

Firearms and Cannons

Weapon Grip Bonus Damage Range Cost Features

Blunder- 1H +2 2 Near 250 Muzzleloader. Strikes

buss 2 targets.

Derringer 1H — 1 Near 150 Armor piercing, light,

muzzleloader

Flintlock 1H +1 2 Short 120 Armor piercing, light,

pistol muzzleloader

Double 1H +1/+2 2/3 Short 280 Armor piercing,

flintlock muzzleloader

Flintlock 2H +1 4 Short 450 Armor piercing,

musket heavy, muzzleloader

Cannon — 0 10 Long 1,500 Armor piercing,

counts as 10 items.

Powder 1H — — — 25 One unit of Bullets &

horn Powder. Increases
the Bullets & Powder
 Resource Die one
step.

Powder — — 10 — 500 One cargo unit of

barrel powder and
cannonballs.
Increases the
Cannonballs &
Powder Ship
Resource Die by one
step.

Firearms and Cannons—Crafting

Weapon Price Supply Weight Raw Time Talent Tools
Materials

Blunder- 240 Rare Normal 3 Iron, 2 One Path of the Forge,

buss silver Wood Week Gunsmith gunsmith’s
tools

Derringer 150 Rare Light 1 Iron, 1 One Path of the Forge,

silver Wood Week Gunsmith gunsmith’s
tools

Flintlock 120 Rare Light 2 Iron, 1 One Path of the Forge,

pistol silver Wood Week Gunsmith gunsmith’s
tools

Double 280 Rare Normal 3 Iron, 2 Two Path of the Forge,

flintlock silver Wood Weeks Gunsmith gunsmith’s
tools

Flintlock 450 Rare Heavy 4 Iron, 2 One Path of the Forge,

musket silver Wood Month Gunsmith gunsmith’s
tools

Cannon 1,500 Rare 10 15 Iron, 5 One Path of the Forge,

silver items Wood Month Gunsmith gunsmith’s
tools

Powder 25 Rare Normal 1 Wood or One Path of the Gunsmith’s

horn silver animal Day Gunsmith tools
horn or Path of
the
Cannoneer

Powder 500 Rare 1 cargo 10 Iron, 2 One Path of the Gunsmith’s

barrel silver unit Wood Day Gunsmith tools
or Path of
the
Cannoneer
Gun- 5 Rare Light 4 Iron, 2
smith’s silver Wood
tools
Blunderbuss
A stubby firearm with a flared barrel
and a hefty stock, made to fire
anything that can be shoved down its
gullet. Because a blunderbuss fires a
large cone of fragments instead of a
single bullet, it is not armor piercing,
but it can strike two targets at Near
range with one shot.
Derringer
A small, snub-nosed flintlock pistol,
easily concealed and easy to handle
but only effective at very close range.
A derringer is unlikely to kill except
with a lucky shot.
Flintlock Pistol
A smoothbore, muzzleloading
single-barreled pistol with a hammer
and trigger mechanism. A flintlock
pistol is the most common kind of
firearm, often seen in the hands of
pirates and sailors. Even so, they
require special skills to make, as each
is manufactured by hand, so they are
still rare.
Double Flintlock
A pistol with two barrels side-by-side,
each with its own hammer and trigger.
A double flintlock can be fired twice
before it must be reloaded, or both
barrels can be fired in one Slow
action. If both barrels are fired at one
Two Path of the Forge
Days Gunsmith
target, increase the Bonus to +2 and
the Damage to +3.
Flintlock Musket
A long-barreled, smoothbore
muzzleloader. Though it is inaccurate
at long ranges, it has the power to
penetrate even heavy armor. Firing
effectively requires both hands due to
its weight and length.
Cannon
A large-bored artillery piece, typically
placed on a wheeled carriage and
hauled by horse or pushed by multiple
crew on a ship. A cannon counts as 10
items, so it is too heavy for most
people to carry, and it cannot be held
like a weapon (except perhaps by a
giant…). Cannons are usually used
against fortifications, but a cannonball
hit against a creature is usually fatal.
Powder Horn
A hollowed horn or container holding a
supply of black powder and extra
bullets. Use this to increase one’s
Bullets & Powder Resource Die by one.
Powder Barrel
A cargo unit of black powder and
cannonballs. One unit has sufficient
cannonballs and powder to increase a
ship’s Cannonballs & Powder rating by
one die type.
Powder barrels can also be used as
explosives, placed against a structure
and detonated with a fuse or a shot
from a firearm. A detonated powder
barrel inflicts its damage against all
creatures within Near range.
Chymicals
Artificers who study the physical
properties of substances work with
chymicals, through which they can
create draughts, lacquers, and alloys
with special properties. These rely on
alembics, distillers, droppers, beakers,
and stranger devices to create strange
mixtures or to coax forth unusual
properties from base materials.
Unless seized or purchased directly
from an artificer, chymicals are always
rare on the open market. Most
chymicals come in a small stoppered
ceramic vial of Tiny size. 5 vials count
as one Light object, 10 as one Normal
object, and 20 as one Heavy object.
Of note, many chymical recipes use
raw ore, rather than smelted metals.
Other raw materials are often refined,
mixed, melted, distilled, or used for
filtering.
Multiple doses of chymicals cannot be
used or consumed to provide additive
benefits. For example, one cannot use
several applications of Skin-Hardening
Salve at the same time to gain a
greater Armor bonus.
Consuming or priming a vial of
chymicals is a Fast action, unless
otherwise noted. Throwing one as a
weapon is a Slow action. Non-artificers
can use these chymicals, unless
otherwise noted.

Chymicals—Crafting
Chymical Price Supply Weight Raw Time Talent Tools
Materials

Bear 3 gold Rare Tiny 3 Herbs, Three Path of Chymist’s

Sark’s 3 Tallow, Days the tools, fire
Pigment 3 Wood Chymist

Bottled 5 silver Rare Tiny 1 Herbs, One Day Path of Chymist’s

Summer 1 Tallow, the tools, fire
1 Wood, 1 Chymist
Iron ore

Chymist’s 15 Rare Tiny 2 Herbs, Two Path of Chymist’s

Fire silver 2 Tallow, Days the tools
1 Cloth, 1 Chymist
Wood

Chymist’s 5 silver Rare Light 2 Glass, 2 One Day Path of Forge

Tools Iron, 2 the
Leather, 2 Chymist
Wood

Draught of 15 Rare Tiny 2 Herbs, Two Path of Chymist’s

Might silver 2 Meat Days the tools
Chymist

Eater- 15 Rare Tiny 2 Herbs, Two Path of Chymist’s

Water silver 2 Iron Days the tools, fire
ore, 1 Chymist
Glass

Hunger- 15 Rare Tiny 2 Herbs, Two Path of Chymist’s

Biter silver 2 Grain Days the tools, fire
Chymist

Imper- 3 gold Rare Tiny 3 Herbs, Three Path of Chymist’s

vious 3 Iron Days the tools, fire
Lacquer ore, 1 Chymist
Cloth

Marvelous 15 Rare Tiny 2 Herbs, Two Path of Chymist’s

Ointment silver 1 Gold ore Days the tools, fire
Chymist

Moon- 3 gold Rare Tiny 3 Herbs, Three Path of Chymist’s

Touch 3 Iron Days the tools, fire
Drops ore, 3 Chymist
Glass

Pelagic Ink 5 silver Rare Tiny 1 Fish or One Day Path of Chymist’s
Seafood, the tools
1 Herbs Chymist

Phospho- 5 silver Rare Tiny 1 Herbs, One Day Path of Chymist’s

rescent Oil 1 Cloth, 1 the tools, fire
Gold ore Chymist

Quick- 5 silver Rare Tiny 1 Herbs, One Day Path of Chymist’s

Glue 1 Iron ore the tools
Chymist

Skin- 15 Rare Tiny 2 Herbs, Two Path of Chymist’s

Hardening silver 2 Iron ore Days the tools
Salve Chymist

Silver- 3 gold Rare Tiny 3 Herbs, Three Path of Chymist’s

Tongue 1 Tallow, Days the tools, fire
Elixir 1 Cloth Chymist

Wake- 15 Rare Tiny 2 Herbs, Two Path of Chymist’s

Draught silver 1 Cloth Days the tools

Bear-Sark’s Pigment
When this paint is applied to the face
and body, the wearer quickly becomes
reckless and primed for violence. For
the duration of one encounter you
gain the additional Pride: “I will
wantonly strike down any who oppose
me in battle.” You also suffer one point
of damage to Empathy.
Bottled Summer
This compound consists of two
separate chymicals that are mixed
when needed. The resulting
combination gives off warmth
sufficient to grant a +2 Gear bonus to
resist Cold for four Quarters for one
person.
Chymist’s Fire
This volatile solution must be properly
primed, shaken, and then hurled.
When it contacts air afterward, it
bursts into ferocious flame. This
counts as a thrown weapon with
Weapon Damage 1, inflicting fire
damage. Only a character with the
Path of the Chymist can use this
safely—anyone else attempting to
prime such a vial simply causes it to
explode in their hands.
Priming a vial of chymist’s fire is a fast
action.
Draught of Might
The drinker gains one point of
Strength for the duration of the
Chymist
current scene (battle, hazard, etc.).
Afterward, this Strength fades and the
drinker suffers one point of Strength
damage.
Eater-Water
A concentrated acid that burns
through wood, metal, or flesh,
eater-water can be very dangerous to
handle. Eater-Water inflicts one point
of Strength damage to an object or
creature to which it is applied, and
continues to do so every round for a
total of three rounds. Eater-Water has
no effect on ceramics or glass, nor
does it affect most Artifacts. A
creature splashed with Eater-Water
can wash or scrub it off with a Slow
action to avoid taking additional
damage. Eater-Water can be used as a
thrown weapon; if it strikes an
armored target, it damages armor
before it damages the target.
Eater-water is also a slow but reliable
means to defeat metal locks.
Hunger-Biter
Hunger-biter is an appetite
suppressant. Consuming one dose
causes you to ignore the penalties for
the HUNGRY condition for four
Quarters. This does not prevent you
from taking damage or dying due to
starvation, though.
Impervious Lacquer
Applied to a rigid object such as a Tool
or a Weapon, this lacquer prevents the
object from suffering damage and
wear due to use for four Quarters. It
cannot be applied to objects that
require movement or flexibility, such
as paper, rope, or armor.
Marvelous Ointment
When spread on bandages or
unbroken skin that is applied to an
injury, this oily substance promotes
speedy healing. Using a dose of
marvelous ointment allows critical
injuries to heal in half the normal
time. This benefit stacks with the
reduction in time granted by the
Healing skill (see the rules for Care on
p. 109 of the Forbidden Lands Player’s
Guide).
Applying marvelous ointment properly
requires the use of bandages if the
injury involves breaking the skin.
Otherwise, it can be applied directly to
the body. This takes about 1 minute,
so it cannot be done in combat.
Moon-Touch Drops
Drizzled on a single piece of iron ore,
this amazing concoction transmutes
that ore permanently into silver ore
instead.
Pelagic Ink
This blue-black ink is permanent on
most surfaces, and will not run or
wash out once it has dried. One vial is
sufficient to copy one spell or one
treasure map.
Phosphorescent Oil
Smeared on an object, this oil causes
the item to glow with a heatless eerie
green light equivalent to a torch for
one Quarter.
Quick-Glue
Applied to a damaged item, this
quick-setting adhesive repairs one
Gear Die for four Quarters.
Silver-Tongue Elixir
After consuming this draft, you may
attempt to Manipulate a target once
without offering the target anything in
exchange. The effects fade rapidly, so
you must make an attempt within a
minute.
Skin-Hardening Salve
Rubbed onto bare skin, this provides
the subject with an Armor rating of 1
for one Quarter. This adds to any
armor worn.
Wake-Draught
Wake-draught banishes the SLEEPY
condition for four Quarters, after
which you immediately fall asleep for
one Quarter.
Devising New Chymicals
Artificers are constantly testing
different combinations of materials
and on the lookout for new and
different amazing chymicals.
Experimentation usually works best in
a controlled environment (e.g. a
fortress) and requires access to tools
and a ready supply of many materials.
Chymical experimentation requires at
least one month of work and a
subsequent LORE roll. Failure can
result in a variety of inconvenient
hazards, such as a fire, poisoning a
test subject, or accidentally polluting
the local water supply.
It is ultimately up to the Gamemaster
to decide what sorts of new chymicals
are possible, what materials they
require, and how difficult they are to
manufacture. Chymicals typically do
not rival magic in potency, but can
improve skills, enhance Talents, and
temporarily suppress weaknesses.
Cunning Devices
Artificers who study gearworks,
mechanisms, and springs focus on the
construction of all manner of cunning
devices. These devices perform useful
functions, but they are quite fragile
and very susceptible to wear.
Repairs to damaged cunning devices
are only possible with the Path of the
Tinker and Tinker’s tools.
Some cunning devices require fueling.
These use precise units of fuel
because the fuel is often expensive or
something that must be made as a
chymical formula.

Cunning Devices—Crafting

Device Price Supply Weight Raw Time Talent Tools

Materials

Adjustable 5 Rare Light 1 Copper, Two Path of Tinker’s

Goggles silver 2 Glass, 2 Days the tools
Iron, 1 Tinker
Leather

Automated 15 Rare Tiny 2 Iron, 1 Two Path of Tinker’s

Lockpick silver Leather Days the tools
Tinker

Auto- 5 Rare Tiny 1 Cloth, 1 Two Path of Tinker’s

suture silver Iron Days the tools
Tinker
Claw Line 5 Rare Light 2 Iron, 1 One Path of Tinker’s
silver Rope Day the tools
Tinker

Clockwork 5 Rare Light 1 Cloth, 1 One Path of Tinker’s

Pet silver Copper, 1 Week the tools
Glass, 1 Tinker
Iron, 1
Leather,
1 Wood

Collapsible 15 Rare Normal 2 Cloth, 1 One Path of Tinker’s

Tent silver Copper, 1 Week the tools,
Leather, 1 Tinker needle
Wood and
thread

Compound 15 Rare Light 1 Cloth, 1 Two Path of Tinker’s

Bow silver Leather, 1 Days the tools
Short Bow Tinker

Filter 15 Rare Normal 4 Cloth, 1 Two Path of Tinker’s

Manifold silver Copper, 1 Days the tools,
Wood Tinker needle
and
thread

Mechan- 3 Rare Heavy 1 Cloth, 2 One Path of Tinker’s

ized gold Copper, 2 Week the tools,
Defender Leather, 1 Tinker forge
Glass, 4
Iron, 1
Wood

Mechan- 15 Rare Heavy 2 Cloth, 1 One Path of Tinker’s

ized Game silver Copper, 1 Week the tools
Glass, 4 Tinker
Iron, 2
Wood

Mechan- 3 Rare Fortress 100 One Path of Tinker’s

ized gold function Copper, Month the tools,
Smelter 100 Iron, Tinker forge,
500 sledge-
Stone, hammer
steam
engine
 Pyro- 15 Rare Light 1 Copper, Two Path of Tinker’s
technic silver 1 Iron, 1 Days the tools
Blade Leather Tinker

Spring 15 Rare Light 1 Copper, Two Path of Tinker’s

Gun silver 3 Iron, 1 Days the tools
Wood Tinker

Steam 3 Rare Normal 4 Copper, One Path of Tinker’s

Engine gold 4 Iron, 1 Week the tools,
Wood Tinker forge

Tinker’s 5 Rare Light 3 Iron, 2 One Path of Forge

Tools silver Leather, 1 Day the
Wood Tinker

Volcano 3 Rare Heavy 2 Copper, One Path of Tinker’s

Fount gold 1 Glass, 4 Week the tools,
Iron, 1 Tinker forge
Leather

Adjustable Goggles Autosuture

Designed with several lenses that can
have their focal points adjusted with
simple levers or wheels on the side,
these goggles grant 2 Gear dice on
Scouting rolls.
Automated Lockpick
When placed in a lock and triggered,
this device unwinds as it attempts to
turn the lock and set the pins. Using
the automated lockpick is a Slow
action that automatically attempts to
pick the lock with four Gear dice. If it
fails, it will continue attempting to pick
the lock on successive rounds until the
user stops it, the device breaks, or it
is removed from the lock. Rewinding
the device for use takes three Slow
actions.
Applying this spiked, clamp-like device
and twisting it causes it to
immediately close on a wound and
stitch it, as a Slow action. This applies
the Healing skill with four dice. Once
used, the device must be left in place
while the wound heals, and then
carefully removed several days later,
which destroys it.
Claw Line
A simple embedded cable in this rope
attaches to a spring-clamped claw at
one end, which allows it to be opened
or closed simply by tugging on threads
at the other end of the rope. This
grants an additional Gear die to
climbing checks.
 Clockwork Pet
This contrivance resembles a small
animal such as a squirrel, sparrow,
ferret, snake, or fish. Through
intricate mechanisms, it imitates the
behaviors of such creatures, though it
is obviously artificial. Clockwork pets
primarily serve for amusement value,
but they can carry one Tiny object. A
clockwork pet has Strength and Agility
scores of 1 each, and cannot initiate
skill tests (including attacks).
A clockwork pet runs for 15 minutes,
after which it must be rewound, a
process that takes another 15
minutes.
Collapsible Tent
Designed with slim supports and a
clever system of cables, this tent is
lighter than a typical large tent, but
still hosts up to six people and it can
be erected or disassembled quickly
and easily. Gear bonus +2 to Make
Camp during journeys.
Compound Bow
Pulleys on this short bow give it Long
range.
Filter Manifold
This complex filtration device
separates seawater into drinkable
water and a slurry of silt and salt.
Using this device provides one unit of
water, which can be consumed
immediately, stored in a jug, or used
to increase a character’s Water Die.
After usage, the device cannot be
used again until the filters are
replaced, which uses one unit of
CLOTH and requires 15 minutes of
work from someone with the Path of
the Tinker.
Mechanized Defender
Each artificer builds these sorts of
gearwork battle companions in a
different form: some resemble
spiders, some little soldiers, some
rolling balls with blades. A mechanized
defender is a bulky contraption
capable of making crude but
dangerous attacks. Treat a
mechanized defender as a creature
with Strength 2, Agility 2, and Melee
2. The weapons of the mechanized
defender typically inflict 2 damage,
and the creator may specify whether
they are blunt, edged, or piercing.
A mechanized defender runs for 15
minutes, after which it must be
rewound, a process that takes another
15 minutes.
Mechanized Game
This bulky contraption is designed to
automatically play a specific game,
such as chess, a card game, or a
simple game of manual dexterity.
Some artificers craft these with a
simulacrum of a person who “plays”
the game. The mechanism plays the
game with a total of four Gear dice.
A mechanized game runs for 15
minutes, after which it must be
rewound, a process that takes another
15 minutes.
 Mechanized Smelter
Powered by a steam engine, this large
device serves as a foundry, crushing
up ore that is shoveled into one end
and automatically smelting it down,
removing impurities, and pouring out
pre-measured quantities to cool into
ingots from the other end. A
mechanized smelter allows a fortress
to process six units of ore in a Quarter
without needing a Smith or a Forge.
Pyrotechnic Blade
The addition of a pressurized container
of Chymist’s Fire (see Chymicals)
allows an edged weapon to carry
flames with its strikes. Activating or
deactivating the pyrotechnic blade
takes a Fast action. The flames persist
for one round per dose of Chymist’s
Fire loaded into the device, up to five.
This inflicts an additional point of fire
damage on a successful strike. The
first time that the weapon takes
damage, the device is automatically
damaged and disabled instead. The
weight of the device is added to the
weapon’s weight.
Spring Gun
A simple but powerful coiled spring
serves to propel a spike loaded into
this single-shot weapon. Use
MARKSMANSHIP to fire the spring
gun. Once fired, it must be rewound,
which takes three Slow actions. A
spring-launched spike has Short
range, 2 Gear dice, and inflicts 2
damage. Metal spikes can be made
with 1 Iron and a forge.
Steam Engine
Practical large-scale power is still
some ways off among the Jeweled
Isles, but a steam turbine the size of a
shield is possible. Steam turbines
principally serve for amusement value,
such as by making a model boat
putter about in water, but they can
serve as power sources for certain
other cunning devices. A steam
turbine requires 1 unit of Wood, Oil, or
Coal per Quarter to run.
Volcano Fount
A pressurized canister fires blasts of
flame using Chymist’s Fire (see
Chymicals). This launches the fire with
+2 Gear dice using MARKSMANSHIP
skill. The canister can hold up to five
shots, which must be manufactured or
purchased separately. Reloading the
canister is a tricky operation that
requires about 15 minutes.
New Raw Materials
In addition to the trade goods in the
Forbidden Lands Player’s Guide, your
players may encounter goods such as
cotton, copper, tin, and pearls.
Raw Materials
Raw Price Shelf Life Raw Talent Tools
Material Materials

Bronze 5 silver — Copper Ore, Smith Forge

Tin Ore

Cloth, 8 copper — Cotton Tailor Tailor Shop

Cotton

Coal 5 copper — — — Mine

Copper Ore 4 copper — — — Mine

Copper 1 silver — Copper Ore Smith Forge

Cotton 4 copper One Month — — Field. Only

grows in
tropical or
subtropical
climates.

Tin Ore 16 copper — — — Mine

Tin 4 silver — Tin Ore Forge

Bronze
An alloy of copper and tin, bronze is
useful for making inexpensive tools or
weapons, or when iron is not
available. Bronze gear and weapons
have one fewer Gear dice, because
they are not as durable as iron ones.
For example, a bronze shortsword has
a Bonus of +1 instead of +2. Bronze
cannot be used to make Heavy
weapons.
Copper
Copper deposits are not uncommon on
the isles. Copper is valued both for
manufacturing cookware and for
sheathing the hulls of ships to help
resist corrosion and barnacles. Alloyed
with tin, copper produces bronze,
which is useful in making tools and
weapons when iron is not available.
Most large trading polities also strike
copper coins and ingots.

Coal
Lumps of this black, slightly oily stone
serve as fuel for steam engines and
can also be burned in fireplaces or
campfires in place of WOOD.
Cotton
Cotton grows only in tropical and
subtropical climates, so it is not found
far north or south. Cotton can be spun
into thread and woven into cloth,
which can be used just like wool or
silk cloth.

Silver
Silver mines are uncommon among
the Jeweled Isles, and dangerous to
work because the silver is often mixed
with lead. This makes smelting it
hazardous, because the fumes from
the smelting process are poisonous.
Still, silver is valued for its beauty, and
is used to make coins and precious
jewelry.

Tin
Tin alloys with copper to make bronze,
which is its principal value, but it is
also easy to melt and work with, so
traveling tinkers use it for spot repairs
on metal items such as cookware. It is
also alloyed to make pewter, which is
used for mugs and flatware.
 Gamemaster’s Tools
History
Long, long ago, all was chaos, a
churning and roiling abyss of water
and lava. In that chaos danced the
god Parath, born of the wild extremes,
reveling in the constant change. Living
things spawned from the boiling
morass, spreading across the deep.
From this chaos erupted a great mass
of volcanic rock, which broke open to
reveal Olusho, the keeper of secrets.
The fragments of stone surrounding
the god floated to the surface and
became islands. Olusho rose to the
surface with the volcanic stones and
stepped out into the black night, for
no sun or stars yet filled the sky.
As the keeper of secrets, Olusho knew
all the secrets of time, both past and
future. Knowing what he must do to
bring about the world, he drew forth a
front of kelp from the sea and made of
it a staff, which he blew upon until it
dried. He plucked the leaves from this
staff and spread them upon the
ground, then twisted the staff until the
leaves caught aflame. Sparks from the
leaves flew up into the sky and
pierced the veil of night, becoming
stars; at last the staff burst into
flames, and he hurled it into the sky,
where it exploded into light.
From the light in the sky came
Aenghar, the Lawgiver, formed of fire.
Out of the flames she descended,
leaving behind the sun, and the heat
from the sun caused the seas to warm
and rain to fall. Aenghar looked upon
the world, its islands and seas, its
night and day, and she chose to bring
order out of chaos.
Diving into the deeps, Aenghar
entered the realm of Parath. There she
struggled with the primal chaos until
she wrenched from it a great morass
of soil and detritus, fallen bits of
matter and remains of the dead. She
brought this back to the surface and
from it formed figures of its clay,
leaving them out in the sun to dry.
Finally, she asked Olusho to imbue
them with the spark of life, and he
spoke certain words over them and
gave them souls.
Aenghar placed her figurines on many
isles across the world and they
awakened to life as human and elf,
dwarf and merrow.
Time of the Gods
In the earliest of days the gods walked
the islands and moved among the
people. Aenghar taught people law,
craft, and order; she gave the
understanding of time and the
calendar, the working of stone and
metal, and the ways to organize cities.
Olusho whispered his secrets to a
chosen few, giving them the power of
sorcery, teaching them how to connect
to the mystical world, and giving the
knowledge of writing, mathematics,
and the secrets of alchemy and
brewing. A few he touched in strange
ways, giving them gifts to see the
invisible world and to guide unseen
forces. Parath continued their frenzied
dance of creation and destruction,
making new life, spreading discord,
and sending storms and quakes that
destroyed settlements but also
revealed hidden riches and inspired
new ideas.
The titanic strides of the gods could
not go on without a price. Aenghar
taught mortals to make walls and laws
with the hope of hedging in the world
and binding Parath into a prison of
rules, but Parath created orcs, goblins,
and monsters to destroy any who
would assail them. Olusho sometimes
aided Aenghar and sometimes Parath,
pursuing his own inscrutable goals.
Eventually the struggle between the
gods became too great. Devastation
wracked the face of the entire world.
In a final confrontation, Aenghar
raised Parath to the surface, and with
a host of elves and merrow, she
fought through the constant waves of
creatures that Parath created and
bound them with mighty chains forged
by the dwarves. Yet the cost was
terrible: Aenghar herself suffered a
wound that would not heal, and the
host of elvenkind was shattered and
their strength lost.
Time of Dreams
To prevent the world from breaking
under the constant thrashing and
wailing of Parath, Aenghar and Olusho
chose to leave the world behind.
Taking the chained god of chaos and
creation, they stepped beyond the
waking world and into the world of
dreams, bringing with them many
among elvenkind who were so
distraught and broken by the war that
they had no wish to remain behind.
The gods disappeared into places that
could not be reached by walking or
sailing. From this distant realm they
only touched the dreams of the living,
to give them inspiration, or hope, or
fear.
With the gods gone—and most of
elvenkind with them—the scattered
lands of the world came under the
dominion of humans and orcs, who
spread most prolifically and explored
without fear into faraway places. The
dwarves dug ever deeper into their
volcano-island homes, while halflings
stayed on idyllic sprinklings of islands
in sunlit lands, and goblins skulked
and spread on crude catamarans
wherever they could thrive in places of
darkness and refuse.
In this age, priests became
intercessionaries for the gods. Those
gifted with prophetic dreams, or divine
insight, spread their teachings. The
first clergy were druids, who taught
ways to understand the natural world
and its creatures. Later, the clergy of
Aenghar created rules and rites to
formalize their roles, leading to the
rise of priesthoods. Priests in service
to Olusho and even Parath sought to
commune more closely with their gods
via prescribed rituals, and many
priests pursued what wisdom they
could glean from all three.
 The Lords of Law
Guided by the oracular wisdom of
priests, the people of the Shining
Archipelago worked to form
increasingly sophisticated societies.
Trade between the island led to
constant development of increasingly
advanced shipbuilding, which in turn
made more exploration possible.
Climate Zones
Merchant vessels from the Shining
Archipelago traded with insular Your players will start in one of the
dwarf-holds in the Misty Isles and four climate zones: Tropical,
clashed with the orc-tribes of the subtropical, temperate, or cold. You
Steaming Boscage. Remote travelers decide the width of a climate zone,
brought back treasures and stories of and whether the players start near a
monsters, prompting further boundary between zones; on Earth, a
exploration… and pirates that preyed climate zone is roughly 5,000
upon such ships. kilometers (500 hexagons) across, but
Skilled sorcerers and wealthy you could make them smaller if you
potentates forged an alliance between want players to be able to sail across
several of the island city-states, with them in the course of a short
the goal of promoting further trade campaign.
and organization. Over generations, Climate zones affect the generation of
the most powerful (and ruthless) terrain.
among them established widespread
influence over the islands. They called Random Ocean Generation
themselves the Lords of Law, as the
self-proclaimed arbiters of social order. The Jeweled Isles do not have a set
For hundreds of years the Lords of map. Instead, you generate the map
Law dictated norms and shaped policy. randomly as you travel.
New Lords were chosen from the most Each time the players explore a new
diligent graduates of the finest hexagon, roll on the sea exploration
academies, to succeed their table to see what they discover.
predecessors. The Lords of Law sought
not only to bring order to society, but
to exhaustively elaborate the very
rules by which the world itself
functioned.
 A large island is 1d6+1 contiguous
Sea Exploration hexagons. Each hexagon in a large
island is a different terrain type.
2d6 Terrain
Generate a large island by starting at
2 Small island* the first discovered hexagon, then
rolling one die for each facing of the
3 Small island*
hexagon away from the discovered
4 Atoll side. On a 1-3, that hexagon is
shallow water; on a 4-6, it is part of
5 Deep water the island. If no spaces generate land,
then the hexagon directly across from
6 Shallow water
the discovery side is automatically
7 Deep water land. Roll again for each land hexagon
until you have completed the size of
8 Shallow water
the island.
9 Small island* The terrain of each hexagon of an
island depends upon the climate zone.
10 Small island*
Tropical Terrain
11 Large island*
D6 Terrain
12 Large island*
* When you roll an island, roll one die. 1 Dark forest
On a 1-4, the explored hexagon is 2 Mountains
shallow water, and the island starts at
the next hexagon directly across from 3 Mountains
it. On a 5-6, the island directly abuts
4 Sandy desert
the existing hexagon.
5 Jungle
Islands
6 Quagmire
Islands in Forbidden Waters come in
two sizes: small islands and large
islands. Both are typically surrounded
by shallow water, except in the case
that one was discovered directly
adjacent to a deep water hexagon.
A small island is one hexagon. Small
islands are of one random terrain
type. Small islands in adjacent
hexagons are typically separated by a
kilometer or two of shallow water.

Subtropical Terrain
D6 Terrain
1 Dark forest
2 Forest
3 Mountains
4 Scrub desert
5 Plains
6 Hills
Temperate Terrain
D6 Terrain
1 Dark forest
2 Forest
3 Mountains
4 Lake/river
5 Marshlands
6 Plains
Cold Terrain
D6 Terrain
1 Plains
2 Forest
3 Mountains
4 Forest
5 Marshlands
6 Hills
On any mountain terrain, roll 1d6: On
a 1, that hexagon includes a volcano.
Settlements and Ruins
For each island, roll 1d6: On a 1, the
island has a ruin; on a 6, it has a
settlement.
Small islands will only have a village if
a settlement is indicated.
Large islands with a settlement will
have one as indicated: 1-3, village; 4,
town; 5, city; 6, roll twice and place in
different hexagons of the island. A
large island can have multiple
settlements but no more than one per
hexagon at most.
Continents
The base conceit of Forbidden Waters
does not include continents; the game
assumes that the only land masses
are scattered islands. You can, of
course, change this if you wish. A
continent becomes a major source of
resources, a hotly-contested port
where the players will want to
construct a fortress and then build a
naval force so that they can take the
fight back to the Sovereign of Ruin. A
continent can easily measure 50
hexagons across, but make sure that
the players still have reasons to go
sailing even if they find one!
The Edge of the World
Though the Trackless Ocean may
seem to go on forever, in truth it
reaches an edge. It’s up to you
whether the world is a flat circle, or if
the ocean ends in impassible cliffs, or
suddenly bends upward like the edges
of a bowl. Place the edge wherever
you feel it will set the size of your play
space appropriately.
Sailors will, of course, tell tales of the
edge of the world. Perhaps you can
sail off into the night sky, or you will
fall off the edge and into the depths of
chaos. The players won’t know what is
true unless they go there!
Bestiary
Ghost Ship
Ships that sink at sea while under
great duress, especially with crews of
scalawags and ne’er-do-wells, may
rise again from the depths to haunt
the seas by dark. Ghost ships only
appear at night, and they are resistant
to mortal weapons, so for many
Siren
Distant cousins to the merrow, sirens
do not shapeshift to live on land.
Instead they rest on shoals and rocks
near the coast and lure ships to their
doom with a hypnotic song.
Attributes
Strength 2, Agility 3
Monster Attacks
vessels, the only recourse is to outrun
them and hope that the sun rises
before the ship is able to close and
commence boarding actions.
Attributes
A ghost ship uses the attributes of a
ship of its type, with the following
modifications:
● The ghost ship does not require
powder stores to fire its
cannons, and cannot suffer a
powder stores hit.
● Hull hits have no effect.
● The crew are all skeletal pirates
with Strength 2, Agility 3, Melee
2, Move 2, and armed with a
variety of rusty hand weapons.
● Anyone killed by the crew of a
ghost ship is sentenced to
become one of them, and to
prowl the seas for eternity!
● A defeated ghost ship carries
2d6 cargo units of
plunder—usually gold, silver,
cloth, and wood.
Movement: 1
Swimming: A siren may freely move
through or under water without
making MOVE rolls or risking
drowning, but cannot move onto land.
Armor Rating: 2. Sirens have tough
skin to survive diving in the ocean,
and scaly flukes.
D6 Attack

1-2 Drowning Kiss! The Siren attempts to grab one person within ARM’S
LENGTH and dive under to fill their lungs with water.

3-4 Siren Song! Everyone who is not already within ARM’S LENGTH of the
Siren must attempt to move as close as possible on their round.

5-6 Water Wall! The Siren raises a magical wave that splashes out to the
closest target up to Short range. This is an attack with six Base Dice and
Weapon Damage 1 (blunt force). Anyone who takes damage from it is
also knocked prone.
 The Adventure Sites included here
Adventure Sites give you a broad range of places for
players to visit; many are isolated
You can co-opt adventure sites from
spots that are not interconnected by a
other Forbidden Lands campaigns
specific story thread.
easily, but the backstory of how places
(TBD)
were founded and what kinds of
organizations occupy them will require
updates to fit the history of the
Jeweled Isles.
 Inspirations
The following works all inspired the The Pirates of Dark Water: An
creation of Forbidden Waters in some animated fantasy pirate/sailing
way. adventure cartoon from the early ‘90s.
One season of action and dark magic,
7th Sea: A swashbuckling roleplaying as a princely sailor discovers that he
game with pirates, politics, and must save the world by hunting down
powerful magical families, all set lost artifacts.
against the backdrop of a Restoration Treasure Island: The famous Robert
era world similar to but divergent from Louis Stevenson classic with pirates
our own. hunting for buried treasure. The
A General History of the Pyrates: forerunner of most pirate fiction
Yes, that’s spelled correctly. An tropes.
historical book from the 18th century
by Daniel Defoe, recounting the
historical stories of many pirates.
A Wizard of Earthsea: Ursula K.
LeGuin’s masterful fantasy story,
which takes place on a world of islands
with no continents.
Captain Blood: An upstanding doctor
is accused of treason, sentenced to
serve on a naval vessel as a conscript,
becomes part of a mutiny, and
becomes the ship’s captain. A wild
adventure story in the Age of Sail.
Master and Commander: The
signature adventure saga of the
sailing era, with naval ships hunting
pirates and enemies of their country.
Available in both novel and movie
form.
Stormbringer!: The end of the Elric
saga, in which the evil sorcerous
emperor Jagreen Lern sails forth to
conquer the known world and is only
defeated when the antihero Elric
sacrifices everything to stop him—and
in the process ushers in a new age for
the Earth.