The Harvest

Walter Kovacs (Order #46286161)

HOME BY

™
 PI1014 - The Harvest
Written by
Jason Olsan

Edited by
Alison J McKenzie

Art
Seth Rutledge

Playset of the Month for September 2017

Home by Dark is copyright © 2017 by Jason Olsan. All rights are reserved.

If you’d like to create additional materials for use with Home by Dark, we’re
all for it! Contact us at hbd@protagonist.industries.

www.protagonist.industries

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Walter Kovacs (Order #46286161)

 Warning: This playset deals with child abduction, child harm, pet harm,
and other horrific imagery. Please use your best discretion in determining
whether your group should consider playing this playset.

Welcome to the small town of Surrey, Massachusetts. It’s a little community

with less than 3000 people. Most people leave the town for college and never
return. Surrey’s lasting population is made up of everyone else—those who
never left.

It’s the fall of 1987, a beautiful time of year in Surrey. The leaves change color,
and the air has a little nip on it. This year feels a bit colder than usual, though.
The adults seem to recall a similar chill gripping the town when they were
kids, but they don’t remember much else about back then.

Children have returned to school. Some, however, seem to have disappeared

and the most unsettling part is that the town seems to not even notice. Every
day, another child or two disappear. Families become distraught. Then,
within a day or two, they seem to just go on with their lives, forgetting they
even had a child.

The disappearances seem to have begun about the time that the annual
Harvest Fair began. The farmers bring their crops to the fair, which has all
sorts of enticements: candy, rides, sideshows, clowns, and more.

Children have claimed to see a circus ringmaster on the outskirts of town.

Adults don’t pay any attention to these rumors, considering them figments of
the kids’ imaginations.

You’ve seen him, though. He calls himself Metzger. He wears a long-tailed

jacket, pantaloons, and a top hat. His words are welcoming, yet he fills you
with fear.

“Fall is harvest time,” he barks, “and you reap what you sow, kid.”

You reap what you sow.

Walter Kovacs (Order #46286161)

 Variant Rule: The Epic
In some sessions, you may want to tell the story of how a childhood Pursuer
has continued to haunt the players’ characters through to adulthood. This can
be represented as an epic. There are a few changes to the rules if you decide
to play an epic.

Create the Story Pillars

When creating the Story Pillars for the epic, keep the scope of the game in
mind. The Secret, Pursuer, and Danger are all going to last across multiple
years, if not decades. Each should have a long-lasting effect on the setting and
the players.

Determine Belief

In the epic, a player’s initial choice of Belief Dice is fixed. Each player will
receive 2 Hope Dice for Act I. They will all play children during the first act.
Supporting the Secret and investigating the Danger will be the focus of the
players during Act I.

During the setup of Act II, players will switch out their two Hope Dice
for two Responsibility Dice. The children from Act I have grown into the
adults of Act II. Their innocence has been replaced with the responsibilities
of adulthood. Some may have completely forgotten their role in the fantastic
danger that afflicted their childhood. The focus of Act IIs scenes will be about
confronting the Pursuer and the continuing investigation of the Danger.

There are no wild dice when determining belief during the epic.

Character Growth

Players can earn a third Belief Die in the same way as in the basic rules. This
die will not be lost when moving to Act II.

For example, a Player in Act I starts with two Hope Dice. During Act I, that
player spends Character Points to purchase a third die. They choose another
Hope Die. When Act II begins, they’ll replace their two Hope Dice with two
Responsibility Dice. This means that the Player will have two Responsibility
Dice and one Hope Die during Act II.

Walter Kovacs (Order #46286161)

 Determine Relationships

During the setup of Act II, briefly describe how your Player Character has
remained connected with the other Player Characters throughout the years.
This connection does not have to be limited to the Player’s Characters on your
left or right, as your Player Character already has a childhood relationship
with all the others. If the group does not wish to do this, they can choose one
of the Player Characters to have sought out everyone in adulthood.

Character Name and Description

During the setup of Act II, rotate your tented name card around and write
your character’s name and a descriptive element about your character as an
adult.

Setting

In both acts, the location of the Setting should remain the same. The season
and eras for Act I and Act II should be considered before the initial setup of
the game. This will help the Players understand the direction of the game.

Create Asset Cards/Create Location Cards

Assets and Locations have a greater narrative impact in the epic than a normal
game. Assets from a character’s childhood can have a strong emotional
significance during adulthood. They become totems that represent certain
memories or events that forged who they are.

Locations also become more meaningful with age. The decay of a location
can signify the inevitability of entropy. A location that hasn’t changed can
represent the strength of memory and the eternal power of traditions.

In both cases, consider the potential impact of these choices in your future
narrative. Choose iconic, simple items as Assets such as “flashlight” or
“baseball card,” and personal spots for Locations such as “the sandy river
basin” or “my dark bedroom closet.”

Walter Kovacs (Order #46286161)

 Act I Scenes

The scenes in Act I are progressing towards a resolution at the end of Act I.
This is the first major confrontation with the Danger. The end of Act I will
mark the end of the Player Characters’ childhood adventures.

Act II Scenes

The scenes in Act II are of the same Player Characters from Act I as adults.
These scenes will explore the resurgence of the Danger and the threat of the
Pursuer.

Secret: Control over Fear

This playset utilizes the variant rule The Secret as a Goal from the Backwater
playset. The one thing that can defeat Metzger is a person’s ability to control
their fear. He has a talent to amplify the darker impulses within people and
a perverse passion to do so. He will tighten his hold on his victim’s mind
by wearing them down with terror and helping them commit the darkest
acts their minds can think of. The more evil his victims commit, the more
darkness he will offer. As Metzger says, “You reap what you sow.”

To stop his control over the kids of Surrey, they need to grow in confidence
about themselves. They must learn that the only way to truly defeat pure evil
is to show that its weapons of terror do no harm.

Obstacles
• Dark Temptation – Everyone has that little voice in the back of their
head that tells them to do bad things: steal that candy bar; punch
that jerk; play hooky. Metzger listens for those temptations and
amplifies them by whispering your id’s darkest desires, until you finally
succumb to those desires or worse. That yearning to steal a candy bar
may become a need to rob a convenience store. Your desire to punch
someone may end with you stabbing them in the chest with a pair of
scissors. Your desire to play hooky may end up with you slaughtering
the entire office so that no one minds you playing hooky.

Walter Kovacs (Order #46286161)

 • Questions of trust – Metzger enjoys toying with his prey. He will make
them question what is true and what is safe. He could convince a
character that their friends conspire against them. They could believe
they are alone in the world and no one can protect them from the
insane ringmaster’s plans. The more alone the character feels, the
stronger Metzger becomes.
• Terrorizing imagery – Trust isn’t the only way that Metzger can grow
stronger. He will immerse his chosen targets in realms of the most
depraved images to thrust his prey over the brink of insanity. A child
under his watchful eye may slide out of bed and find their bare feet
pressed upon the crusty carapaces of millions of writhing bugs. A
student may be sitting at their desk in class as a fellow classmate asks to
sharpen their pencil, but instead chooses to jamb their finger into the
sharpener and giggle as blood splatters everywhere from the slow groan
of the sharpener rending the flesh of their finger. These images may be
real. They may be only visions. But they will wear a child down.

Pursuer: Metzger the Ringmaster

Metzger looks as though he stepped out of an archaic photo of a circus. He
is a rotund man that stands nearly six feet tall and wears a moth-eaten black
top hat, dark pantaloons that bow outward from the thighs, and a long-tailed
jacket that was once purple but is now so stained that it could be confused for
charcoal. His face is pale and jaundiced, with each contour of his face defining
deeper shadows than should be possible. His eyes are almost impossible to
see within those shadows, though they glow a sickly amber when he reveals
himself to be a true predator.

His voice is deep and gravelly, with a thick German accent. His voice is
loud and boisterous when enticing children, but oily and froglike when he
whispers the ghastly truths of what will happen to them now that they are his.

Walter Kovacs (Order #46286161)

 He will appear when children are at their most vulnerable. If a child is alone,
he’ll attempt to draw them to him with promises of eternal fun and freedom
from their boring life. No more school. No more parents. They can do
whatever they wish. All they need to do is go with him. He’ll offer the child
his hand. If they take it, it becomes a claw and he runs, dragging the child
behind as they shriek. They’ll both disappear out of view, whether it’s running
around a corner or running past a tree out of view for a moment. All that will
be left is a blood stain just around the corner from where they lost sight of
the child.

In truth, Metzger is an ancient primordial creature that lives deep within the
bowels of Surrey. It is too large to leave, which makes its lair a prison as well.
It projects itself as a physical form in the upper world to draw its prey. It can
take any form it wishes, but prefers the guise of Metzger. He was the last
person to see it before it became too large to leave its home.

Motivation

Metzger hungers. Every thirty years, it awakens to feed upon fear. Their flesh
fuel its body and their terror fuels its power. The ancient creature is ravenous
after its three decades of rest and must feed to regain his strength.

Goal

Metzger has only one goal: power. He revels in terror to control people. Terror
is exhilarating. It strengthens him. He wishes to control Surrey with its terror.
Eventually, he intends to control the world. Perhaps even beyond.

Danger: Metzger’s Corruption

Metzger is a terrible creature that haunts children, but his influence upon
Surrey is more pervasive. His corruption has bent the souls of all who live in
town.

The adults of town may not mention Metzger, but they know he’s real. Those
that have survived to adulthood have spent an entire life of witnessing his
visions. They know what must happen to the children when they disappear.
This has left the adults of Surrey broken, exhausted, and unwilling to fight
back. Instead, they choose to ignore the evil around them.

Walter Kovacs (Order #46286161)

 Abuses, traumas, and fears run rampant behind the closed doors of this idyllic
New England town. Children hide from their parents who practice secret
depravities. They hide from the bullies who translate their own neglect from
family by lashing out against others. Meanwhile, neighbors will look the other
way rather than engage in helping those they see in harm’s way.

Under the reign of a creature that can cast a web of nightmares across the
entire town, no one has truly ever slept. It is a hamlet of the exhausted and
subdued. It is a community of tacit madness.

Manifestation
• Mrs. Janicek likes to foster stray cats. Lately, they seem to disappear
once she brings them home.
• A small pack of miscreant kids wander around the common after school
hangouts, looking to pick on and beat up any stragglers that don’t run
at the sight of them.
• There’s a girl in your class named Stephanie Nordling. Her parents
constantly fight. A couple of days ago, Stephanie didn’t come home
after school. Yesterday, Stephanie’s mother disappeared. Today, there’s a
moving van in front of Stephanie’s house.

Setting: Surrey, Massachusetts. Fall,

1987/2017
1987

At a glance, the Surrey of 1987 looks a lot like almost any small New England
town. To a visitor, Surrey doesn’t look any different from any other small
town. It doesn’t have any big box stores. All the businesses have been in
town for at least a generation, most of them having been handed down from
parents. This life is the only one most of them have known. That is what
allows Metzger’s corruption to seep into everyone’s world. The sky is usually
overcast, and clouds can often be seen in the distance threatening rain. It’s
a rare day when the sun fully comes out. It’s as if the ennui of the collective
population is constantly on the verge of weeping from the heavens but rarely,
if ever, gets such catharsis.

Walter Kovacs (Order #46286161)

 2017

Even 30 years later, the town looks pretty much the same. Sure, a few new
apartment buildings have gone up and a few new fast food joints can be
found on the outskirts of town, but it’s pretty much the same town as before.
There seem to be fewer children than there were three decades before. People
also seem to be out less. Instead, they peer from their windows, choosing to
ignore anything uncomfortable that they witness and retreating within their
homes. Surrey is the same, only worse.

Character Creation
This playset focuses on characters that have something missing from them.
As children, that missing something has been taken from them by living
within the domain of Metzger. They will all come from broken families:
missing children, abusive parents, victims of bullying, neglected orphans. The
ringmaster’s corruption has tainted everyone who lives in Surrey.

Focus the character insecurities around these broken backgrounds. Define

their stories with them. Their strength will come from confronting them.
Even as adults, these holes in their lives will need mending.

Example Locations
• Old Abandoned Library
• Surrey Elementary School
• Metzger’s Lair
• Rundown Playground
• Riverbank

Example Assets
• Kid’s Bicycle
• Branch of Wood
• Sling Shot
• Lucky Baseball Bat
• Favorite Paperback Novel

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Walter Kovacs (Order #46286161)

 Example Questions
The example questions below will suggest storylines. Use any that you like,
and feel free to add your own.

Example Secret Questions

The Secret questions focus on helping the players progress towards their goal.
The following are starting examples to inspire your group with their Secret
questions.

• “Can I convince myself that my friend wouldn’t abandon me?”

• “Do I keep calm as my parents appear to flay each other in front of
me?”
• “Am I able to convince my teacher that I’m not a lowlife scum failure
not destined for anything but dying in the gutter like my old man?”

Example Pursuer Questions

The Pursuer is attempting to control the Secret. Pursuer questions focus on

characters avoiding and distracting the Pursuer. They may also learn more
about the Pursuer.

• “Do I avoid being tempted by Metzger’s words to go with him?”

• “Can we hide from Metzger as he searches for us in the cemetery?”
• “Can we avoid being drawn into Metzger’s lair?”

Example Danger Questions

The Danger is centered around the corruption of Surrey by Metzger’s presence.

The questions about the Danger will focus on how the people of Surrey have
been twisted by Metzger’s visions and torments.

• “Do we discover what Mr. McCreedy is doing within his garage at

night?”
• “Can we convince Mrs. Donovan to protect little Jessie from the pack
of bullies?”
• “Can I convince my parents to admit that they just saw the same
terrible hallucination that I saw earlier?”

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Walter Kovacs (Order #46286161)

 Final Confrontation Table
This table is slightly modified from the one found in the Home by Dark book.
It gives more specific descriptions of the results of the final confrontation for
this playset.

The Pursuer

Pursuer loses by 5+: Metzger has been slain for good. His nightmares will no
longer torment the characters or the town of Surrey again.

Pursuer ties or loses by 1-4: Metzger was wounded, but he survived. He has
fled to safety and now heals in slumber. The town is out of danger for now,
but he will awaken someday. And he will probably be angry…

Pursuer won by 1-4: The characters are not successful in stopping Metzger.
His harvest succeeds. Some of the characters may succeed in surviving the
final battle, but not all of them.

Pursuer won by 5+: Metzger’s harvest is a complete success. He consumes all

of the characters after defeating them. He has now grown strong enough that
his influence grows. Soon, all of Massachusetts shall be under his umbra of
fear. Eventually, the world.

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Walter Kovacs (Order #46286161)

 The Danger

Danger loses by 5+: The characters have managed to successfully free the
town from Metzger’s curse. It will take time for years of terror to fade from
their minds, but many will survive intact.

Danger ties or loses by 1-4: Metzger’s influence has waned some. Many, once
they realize what they’ve done under his persuasion, choose the immediate
relief of suicide. Some finally breakdown from the trauma. Some will survive,
but they will never be “normal.” For all involved, their actions aren’t what
make healing impossible. It’s that they were actions they were already willing
to commit. They just needed a little push. They willingly reaped what they
had sowed.

Danger won by 1-4: Metzger’s influence grows. What was once anger has
now become rage. Fights have become attacks, and disappearances have
become gruesome tableaus of gory art. Surrey, a town that you’d be afraid to
wander through at night, is just as dangerous during the day.

Danger won by 5+: The corruption has reached saturation. Resistance to

the terror has been replaced with a complete abandonment of humanity. The
residents of Surrey worship the depravity that comes from Metzger’s visions,
forming a vicious cult that embraces their darkest desires. Some of their
“missionaries” move to neighboring towns and cities, hoping to spread the
“Word of Metzger.” One of the traditions they bring with them is that of the
Fall Harvest: a festival to celebrate the reaping of their crop, which every year
grows larger.

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Walter Kovacs (Order #46286161)