OUT OF THE ASHES - QUICK START

CREDITS
Concept and Writing: Paul Mitchener Lloyd Gyan, Julian Hayley, Simon Martin Jensen,
Art and Layout: Handiwork Games Udo Kaiser, Ed Kiernan, Adam R Kitch, Rick
Editing: Tim Gray Knott, Guy Milner, Tore Nielsen, Dave Paterson,
Proofreading: Shane Mclean, Ian Stronach Mike Persival-Maxwell, Steve Ray, Nick
Reynolds, Samuel Rostved, Charlie Runeberg
Special Thanks and Playtesting: All Kickstarter Kristiansen, Chris Runeberg Kristiansen, Jeremy
Backers and Supporters, Ozzy Beck, Neil Benson, Short, Kat Simmons-Smith, Matt Thomas,
Howard Bishop, Jahmal Brown, Carl Clare, Frank Trampedach
Joanthan Cockram, Martin Cookson, Alison
Cybe, Mikkel Gaardsvig, Tim Gray, © Paul Mitchener, 2022

CONTENTS
1: Introduction.............................. 4 Group Tests................................................... 24
Heroes in a Fallen World................................ 4 The Structure............................................. 24
A Roleplaying Game....................................... 5 The Chase.................................................. 24
A Fantasy World............................................. 5 The Formal Audience................................ 25
Dice and Rolls................................................. 6 Combat.......................................................... 25
The Nature of a Skirmish.......................... 25
2: The Community..........................7 The Melee.................................................. 26
Communities in the Game.............................. 7 Attacks...................................................... 26
Ursos............................................................... 8 Skirmish Options.......................................... 27
History........................................................ 8 Charge!...................................................... 27
Locations..................................................... 8 Manoeuvres............................................... 27
People........................................................ 10 Magic and Countermagic.......................... 28
Connections.............................................. 10 Escaping Combat...................................... 28
Recovery.................................................... 28
3: Characters................................ 11 Expeditions.................................................... 29
Galiene Sky................................................... 12 Legs and Hazards...................................... 29
Guernon........................................................ 14 Supplies..................................................... 30
Leontios Laskaris.......................................... 16 Expedition Actions.................................... 31
Valdis of the Eisen Clan................................ 18 Resting Places............................................ 31

4: Playing the Game.................. 20 5: The Aegis of Ursos.................32

The Structure of the Game............................ 20 Background................................................... 32
Quests and Scenes..................................... 20 Part 1: Pursuing Earl Runar.......................... 33
Game Sessions........................................... 20 The Journey............................................... 33
Downtime................................................. 20 The Snowstorm.......................................... 33
Tests.............................................................. 21 The Dead................................................... 34
Basic Tests................................................. 21 The Smaragd.............................................. 34
Critical Successes....................................... 21 Earl Runar’s Band..................................... 37
Failure and Complications......................... 21 To Deepcastle................................................ 37
Assistance.................................................. 22 The River Xarides...................................... 37
Opposed Tests........................................... 22 Accessing Deepcastle................................. 39
Spirit and Drives........................................... 22 The Source................................................. 39
Uses of Spirit............................................. 22 In Deepcastle............................................. 41
Drives........................................................ 23 Conclusions................................................... 43
Downtime................................................. 24
Running out of Spirit................................ 24 Index............................................................. 44
Despair...................................................... 24

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 CHAPTER ONE

1: INTRODUCTION
My purpose is not just adventure, though I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like seeing new places and
meeting new people. My purpose is helping people and communities. And I’ll stay in a community as
long as I am needed before I move on.

— Galiene Sky, Storm Rider

HEROES IN A FALLEN WORLD

The world was ruined over the course of the Third Age through a devastating war with the Nameless
Emperor and his forces. Now the Emperor has fallen and the Fourth Age has begun. Most of the
people of the world are scattered, dwelling in small communities, often made up of several different
cultures.

The evils of the Nameless Emperor still remain. The Ministers, once the Emperor’s senior followers,
now vie for control of the world. The desecrators, who came into the world with the Nameless
Emperor, still remain. They have twisted people and animals into tainted monstrosities, and vast areas
of the land itself are corrupted.

Those communities that remain need people to go on quests to protect them and to help them grow.
The world needs those willing to adventure to unite different people, to free the oppressed. The players
in this game portray such people — heroes of their community.

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 INTRODUCTION

The heroes the players portray are capable and powerful – certainly more than ordinary people – but
are not superheroes or demigods. The dangers they face are sinister, strange, and sometimes terrifying.
Most people cannot brave the dangers they do.

A ROLEPLAYING GAME
Out of the Ashes is a roleplaying game about heroes and community in the world after the Nameless
Emperor’s defeat, and the dangers they brave.

Everyone involved in the game except for one person is known as a player. Players each portray a player
character, or PC, determining their actions and creating their background. Play involves the decisions
and activities of the player characters, and events they take part in. There are dice mechanics to resolve
actions where success is uncertain, or when there are moments of danger or drama. Generally the game
works well with between three and five players.

If you’re a player, your player character is your alter ego in the context of the game. Indeed, in this book
we will sometimes use ‘you’ to refer to you as a player character as well as you as a player. What is meant
should be clear from the context.

What about the one person who’s involved but not a player? They’re the game moderator, or GM.
They’re in charge of everything apart from the player characters. They describe the world, both the
environment and, most importantly, the people in it apart from the player characters — the GM
characters or GMCs. Assuming you’ve played a roleplaying game before, you know the drill.

A FANTASY WORLD
The free people of the world are human. Two cultures, the Ekeli and Alari, live far longer than other
people, but that does not affect their fundamental humanity. Few Alari now remain in the world,
and most Ekeli have withdrawn into their homes in the hollow hills of the forests. Other cultures
include:

• The Kethians, once truculently independent, but now in large part enslaved by the Minister of
Chains;
• The Mountain Clans, nomadic traders exiled from their homes in the mountain peaks and
tunnels beneath;
• The Nisians who repented of their service to the Nameless Empire, and now send people out to
serve other communities in a ritual called renewal;
• The Vespans, who once ruled an empire, and who now seek to rebuild it.

The enemies of humanity include the tainted, beings who were once human or animal, now twisted
into agents of evil. Worse than the tainted are the desecrators, malevolent beings from the void who
came into the world with the Nameless Emperor, and who served him. There are other, older monsters,
from previous ages of the world. The war in the Third Age, and the ruin of civilisation, mean they pose
more danger than ever before.

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It’s a magical world. Magic is not usually flashy, but it’s present everywhere. There is magic in the
landscape. There is magic in songs and poetry. Player characters can all make use of some personal
magic, if only in a minor way. The desecrators are magical beings, though their magic is that of the
void rather than the world.

Magicians can channel magic, both to fight the minions of the Nameless Emperor, and to aid people’s
everyday lives. Magic by itself is not something to fear, though it can be a source of wonder. Most
communities have at least one magic worker, though those who wield real power are rare.

DICE AND ROLLS

We use dice notation typical for RPGs, where d4 indicates the result of rolling a four-sided die, d6
the result of rolling a six-sided die, and similarly for d8, d10, and d12. Notations such as 2d10 indicate
rolling two ten-sided dice and adding the numbers together. To play Out of the Ashes, you need
4-sided, 6-sided, 8-sided, 10-sided, and 12-sided dice. Having three 10-sided dice is useful, as is a set
of dice for each player.

The core dice mechanism is the skill test, where a player rolls 2d10 and adds the rating for a skill. A
result that equals or exceeds the difficulty of the test, which is 15 by default, is successful. Some game
mechanisms add a bonus die: roll an extra die (usually a d10) and add its result to the total.

Other dice are used for various things in the rules. Damage, which is a measure of lethality in personal
combat and massed combat between armies, is rated as a dice type. Supplies in an expedition are also
rated as a dice type, which goes down as supplies diminish. See chapter 4 for a full explanation of the
rules.

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 THE COMMUNITY

2: THE COMMUNITY
Ursos has many secrets, and I’ve been able to uncover a few of them. They provide opportunities, not
just for our new community of scholars, but to reclaim the whole of the north. I’m not too old to hope
for this, but I know I’m too old to see what ultimately comes of this hope.

— Niobe Argyres, senior scholar

COMMUNITIES IN THE GAME

A community is a group of people living together with shared resources, shared values and shared
dangers. The concept is at the heart of Out of the Ashes, where the player characters share a
community they call home — a struggling settlement surrounded by dangerous wilderness, with
looming threats. The player characters brave dangers for the sake of their home, trying to build it
up and help it survive.

The home community shapes play. A community has dangers and opportunities that generate quests
the player characters pursue. It could be considered the main character in the game — the game can
carry on if a community continues, even if individual player characters depart. A series of quests is a
story about the community.

In the full rules for Out of the Ashes, communities are described with some mechanical detail, and a
procedure given for a group to create their community. Here we centre things on one particular sample
community, and a single quest that involves the community’s background and surroundings.

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 CHAPTER TWO

URSOS
History
Ursos was once an important city of the North Vespan Empire, a port on the west coast just far enough
south that the harbour was seldom inaccessible due to ice in the winter months. As well as a commercial
port, Ursos was a hub of knowledge, documenting the history of the Second Age, the geography of the
world, and alchemical and scientific discoveries; at its peak, it rivalled the library of magic at Aquilon.

Unlike Aquilon’s library, which burned to the ground, a good number of the texts and records in Ursos
still survive. Further, Ursos rather than Aquilon was the centre of book production, and by the end of
the Second Age had operational printing presses, though they had little time to print books before the
arrival of the Nameless Emperor and the ruin of the north. Like so much else, how printing presses
work has been forgotten in the Fourth Age.

Ursos even survived the catastrophe at the end of the Second Age largely intact. People remained
in the city, though over the course of the Third Age they became tainted under the influence of the
Nameless Emperor. But no Minister assaulted the city; for much of the Third Age it was still under
some manner of magical protection.

Now the Nameless Emperor is gone, a group of scholars have set out to explore Ursos and learn its
secrets. They are mainly a mix of Vespans, from the empire of the great southern city of Vesper, and
people of the Eisen Clan, from the mountain clans who still roam the north. Ursos was once allied to
the mountain clans, and some in the Eisen Clan have as much of an interest in the city as Vesper does.

But with people again in Ursos, the tainted in the area gather to assail them, and the scholars have
almost nothing in the way of a military force. The community’s defence, and the exploration of the
surrounding land, belongs to the player characters.

Locations
Today Ursos is a city of crumbling domes, never ruined by war, but not maintained for centuries. The
scholars have made a handful of buildings in the old District of Records inhabitable, though there are
no fortifications. This could be a problem should forces gather in the future to threaten the new colony.

THE INKWORKS
The Inkworks was a set of workshops dedicated to the manufacture of different coloured inks for the
purposes of calligraphy and printing. The scholars who came to Ursos in the Fourth Age have put the
Inkworks to a new purpose. Making use of the equipment and alchemical texts, they can purify the
local water, something not only vital for those who now live here, but a useful resource for trade in this
tainted area where the river water is not safe to drink.

THE XARIDES BRIDGE

The tainted river Xarides flows through the centre of the Ursos ruins, polluting the surrounding land
and threatening the soul of anyone who drinks from it. Over the course of the Third Age, all but one
of the bridges over the Xarides collapsed. One survives and has even been reinforced by the Fourth
Age settlers. It is vital as a way across the tainted river.

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 THE COMMUNITY

XARIDES WATER
Anyone who drinks unpurified water from the River Xarides immediately loses d6 Spirit. The
nature of the tainted river, and its role in the fall of Ursos in the Third Age, is explored in the
scenario The Sunken Fortress later in this Quickstart.

THE ASTRONOMY TOWER

The tallest building in Ursos, above the lights of the city — even higher than the lighthouse that once
stood in the harbour — the astronomy tower was once a place for observation of the heavens, useful
for both navigational and divinatory purposes. Now the equipment, including elaborate timekeeping
devices, is ruined, and the scholars so far lack the knowledge to repair it.

The astronomy tower has a new purpose. It was easy to make secure, and houses the half-dozen
soldiers based in Ursos, as well as providing a safe place for people to withdraw to should the city be
threatened.

THE GREAT BEAR

Ursos was once known as The City of the Northern Bear. Ancient statues of bears and bear-headed
warriors abound. The significance of these statues was forgotten even before Ursos reached its peak as
a place of knowledge. Perhaps the oldest records say something.

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 CHAPTER TWO

The central square in the District of Records features a statue of a bear-headed warrior, twice human
height, in a defensive pose. The statue holds no weapons, and looks like it once held a shield in both
hands, but if so there is no sign of it. The new settlers in Ursos refer to the statue as the Great Bear.

People
Besides the player characters, there are fifty people in Ursos, including a dozen scholars and half as
many warriors. The scholars are not magicians, but can provide useful insight. Prominent individuals
include the following.

LORD CALIMYDES BOREAS

Lord Calimydes is the official ruler of Ursos, appointed from the lesser nobility of Vesper. He takes
his job seriously, and likes to know everything that is going on, but sadly he is both pompous and not
particularly competent. He is easily flattered and talked into a particular position by others, acting as
if a decision is his own idea. Calimydes is more an obstacle in Ursos than a leader; he is chiefly needed
for good relations with Vesper and Northeim, the Vespan fortress in the north.

ULA OF THE MOUNTAIN CLANS

Ula, of the Eisen Clan, leads the six soldiers of Ursos. She is a capable and reliable commander, loyal
to Ursos, who commands loyalty in her troops, but has one major issue — a blinding hatred of the
Smaragd Clan. They killed her parents in a raid, and Ula’s desire for revenge could get in the way of
her duties. The small number Ula commands are too few to go out into the field except with careful
planning, and Ula does not want to leave Ursos defenceless. Hence she does her best to make use of
the player characters as scouts.

NIOBE ARGYRES
Niobe is over a century old, and still in good health. It’s said that her longevity is due to her knowing
some of the secrets of the Ekeli, but her age is now becoming obvious. It’s remarkable that Niobe was able
to travel so far from home to Ursos, and she’s the honorary chief of the scholars in the new community,
though she wields no formal authority. The old scholar has been correlating records involving the history
of the north; she knows more about local secrets in the area around Ursos than anyone else, and is finding
opportunities for the community — opportunities that need the player characters’ attention.

Connections
EARL RUNAR
Earl Runar is chief of a nomadic group of Eisen Clan members active in the north. They thrive through
trade between the sparse settlements of the North, though they include some capable warriors — as
needed for the environment. They and the Ursos scholars are on friendly terms; indeed Earl Runar is
the second cousin of Ula, who leads the warriors based in Ursos. There are two things Ursos can trade
with the merchants — knowledge, and water guaranteed to be free of the taint, unlike the River Xarides.

NORDHEIM CASTLE
Nordheim Castle, at the edge of the Northern Wastes, is the centre of Vespan activities in the North.
There is an obvious connection with the colony of Ursos. Corinthia Valetza, the captain of the rangers
in Nordheim, is particularly interested in new information coming from Ursos, and inclined to help
when there are difficulties, though the Castellan of Nordheim will oppose sending any aid.

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 CHARACTERS

3: CHARACTERS
The magic I know comes from a desire for knowledge, and the desire to put my knowledge to good
use. It’s a responsibility. It’s also highly satisfying.

— Leontios Laskyrus, Lore Master

The characters in this chapter are examples of starting player characters in Out of the Ashes. Feel
free to use them or modify them as you see fit. All four characters have ties to the community of
Ursos described in the previous chapter, and are suitable for the quest in chapter 5, The Aegis of
Ursos.

As a guide to understanding the characters’ strengths, a skill of 4 is competent and 7 is an experienced

professional. Other elements such as keys and drives are explained in the next chapter.

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 CHAPTER THREE

Galiene Sky
Culture: Nisian
Concept: Storm Rider
Physical Skills: Athletics 5, Fight 5, Shoot 7, Survival 4
Mental Skills: Battle 3, Notice 3
Social Skills: Conviction 4, Persuade 5, Deceive 3, Song 6

Keys: Change, Storm, Wilderness

Drives: To prove how useful I am to Ursos.
To see new places.
To atone for my people once serving the Nameless Emperor.
Connections: Haldor, one of the soldiers of Ursos, who has travelled a great distance

Damage: d12 spear, d10 bow

Protection: 3 (Light Armour)
Endurance: 16
Spirit: 12
Despair: 0

TALENTS
Lightfoot Run: You have a +2 bonus to Athletics for the purposes of acrobatics. When you use this
Talent to charge into battle you have a bonus d10 to the Athletics skill. Further, for the cost of a point
of Spirit, for as long as you are running and jumping you’re almost weightless — you can perform
remarkable feats of acrobatics, and any surface can support you, even the ends of tree branches or the
surface of water.

Speed of the Wind: You can move quickly, and have a +3 bonus to Athletics for a chase, race, or a
charge into battle. You have a +1 bonus to Athletics and Fight for defence in combat.

Further, in combat, you always go before an enemy, even if your side outnumbers theirs. If they
outnumber you, you can still choose your opponent in melee.

Song of Power: You can use your Song skill as a defence against magic, or to prevent an effect of a
magical style from taking place. You can also spend a point of Spirit and make a Song skill test to
disperse a magical effect.

MAJOR POSSESSIONS
Light armour, Two-handed spear, Bow, A small but exceptionally melodious lyre.

CULTURAL BACKGROUND
The Nisians are stereotyped by others as impulsive and hedonistic, and hold material possessions lightly.
In the Final War, the Nisians were far away from the worst of the ravages of the Nameless Emperor, and
many even fought on his side. By the end of the Final War, though, the Nisians fought with the other
Free People. Now, in the Fourth Age, they seek to atone for their role in the first part of the Final War.
Many Nisians, on reaching adulthood, join another community to serve it, in a custom called Renewal.

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 CHARACTERS

PERSONAL BACKGROUND
You’ve served not just one but a series of communities in the custom of Renewal. Each time, you move
on when the community is more secure, when you’ve accomplished a significant task. You can’t settle,
and always want to see something new — there are deeds to perform, and wonder still in the world.
For now, you’re in Ursos, and there are things to do and people who need you.

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 CHAPTER THREE

Guernon
Culture: Kethian
Concept: Champion
Physical Skills: Athletics 5, Fight 8, Shoot 3, Vigour 4
Mental Skills: Battle 4, Craft 4, Heal 4, Notice 5
Social Skills: Conviction 4, Taunt 4

Keys: Community, Death, Storm

Drives: To free the land from the grip of the desolators and tainted.
To show off my martial prowess.
Connections: Alard one of the scholars of Ursos, who is passionate about freedom

Damage: d10 (sword)

Protection: 6 (Light Armour, Shield)
Endurance: 32
Spirit: 10
Despair: 0

TALENTS
Chosen Foe: Spend 2 Spirit to invisibly mark an enemy against whom you have already made an
attack, whether or not you were successful. This does not require an action, but you can only mark one
enemy at a time. For the rest of the combat, any attack you make against that enemy does an extra d6
damage. Even if you fail a test you make to attack them, you still inflict d6 damage.

Great Strength: You have a bonus of +2 to Vigour for feats of brute strength. Further, in close combat
when an attack succeeds and any dice show 9 or 10, it is a critical success.

Truth Speaker: Truth is part of your strength. When you say something you absolutely know to be
true, spend a point of Spirit to ensure everyone who hears you also believes it. Further, once per quest,
you can swear an oath before witnesses to gain d6 Spirit. Should you break such an oath, or spend a
month not pursuing it, you lose 2d6 Spirit.

Work the Crowd: You’re trained in the way of the old Kethian heroes. When you are in a one-to-one
fight in front of witnesses, you gain the following benefits.

• When you fail an attack, you can spend 2 points of Spirit to reroll the dice. You can only do this
once per attack.
• At the start of a fight, make a Taunt test to work the crowd. Once you have succeeded at this,
you inflict an extra d6 damage each time you successfully attackyour opponent for the rest of
the fight.

MAJOR POSSESSIONS
Sword, Shield, Light Armour, A particularly fine hat

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 CHARACTERS

CULTURAL BACKGROUND
The Kethians were almost all wiped out or enslaved by the Nameless Emperor and his forces in the
Final War. The Minister of Chains still occupies the Kethian homeland. Now few Kethians are free.
Kethians were once known for their truculent independence, bravery, and romantic ideals of heroism.
Some of these virtues still remain among the free Kethians, but they have learned bitterness and hate.

PERSONAL BACKGROUND
You’re Kethian, your family lost. You seek to free the land from the desolators and tainted, and by being
a part of a larger community. You were once a part of the Roadwardens, a group of other Kethians
protecting the old Imperial Road linking north and south, until went north with a group of scholars
travelling to Ursos, where you felt you could accomplish more.

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 CHAPTER THREE

Leontios Laskaris
Culture: Vespan
Concept: Lore Master
Physical Skills: Athletics 3, Shoot 3, Sneak 3, Vigour 4
Mental Skills: Heal 6, Investigate 4, Lore 8
Social Skills: Conviction 6, Persuade 3, Song 5

Keys: Calm, Light, Life, Community

Drives: Bring back knowledge to my community
Fascination with knowledge of the world’s history
Connections: Niobe Argyres, a very old woman, informal chief of the scholars of Ursos

Damage: d10 (bow)

Protection: 0
Endurance: 20
Spirit: 13
Despair: 0

TALENTS
A Story Told: You can make a Song roll to give someone an epithet or nickname that sticks, or ensure
a story you tell spreads. People don’t necessarily believe a story you tell, but they pass it on anyway.

Words of Power: Spend 2 points of Spirit and make a Lore roll opposed by the Conviction of another
being. If you succeed, the one you affect must obey a simple command you give, flee your presence, or
spend d6 Spirit to resist; the GM chooses which.

Words of Courage and Terror: You can speak words that fill your allies with courage or your enemies
with terror. You can only affect the living and those of this world; spirits of the dead and desecrators,
for example, are unaffected. The effect costs 1 point of Spirit per ally or enemy affected. Courage gives
one who benefits from it a +3 bonus to all close combat attacks for a scene, and immunity to magic
involving fear. Terror requires a Lore test opposed by each target’s Conviction. A victim of terror must
flee or lose d6 Spirit; the GM makes the choice.

Word of Wrath: Choose one or more enemies to target. Make a Lore test opposed by each target’s
Conviction, and spend 2 or 3 points of Spirit per target. If successful and you spent 2 points of Spirit,
each enemy suffers 2d6 damage; if you spent 3 points of Spirit each enemy suffers 3d6 damage.

MAJOR POSSESSIONS
A bottle of fine wine, a bow and arrows, a map of the Vespan Empire in the north (+3 to relevant skill
tests), a gold ring indicating your family heritage

CULTURAL BACKGROUND
The Vespan Empire once spanned much of the world, but it divided and the north fell when the
Nameless Emperor came into the world. The remaining Vespans are still proud of their history and
traditions, and retain a society more stratified than most. They hope to reclaim the world.

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 CHARACTERS

PERSONAL BACKGROUND
You’ve always been curious, and always read everything you could cram in. This talent for learning
led you to magic, and you were permitted and able to learn some words of power. Craving more
knowledge, you volunteered to travel to Ursos, an old Vespan city and once a centre of learning. There
you can learn more of the mysteries of the world, and regain lost knowledge that might enable the
north to thrive again.

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 CHAPTER THREE

Valdis of the Eisen Clan

Culture: Mountain Clans
Concept: Delver
Physical Skills: Athletics 4, Fight 5, Sneak 6, Survival 5, Vigour 3
Mental Skills: Craft 5, Investigate 5, Lore 3, Notice 5
Social Skills: Conviction 4

Keys: Darkness, Change, Wilderness

Drives: To recover lost treasures.
Vengeance upon the Smaragd Clan.
To show you are unafraid of terrors.
Connections: Earl Runar, leader of a band of Mountain Clans traders

Damage: d12 (battleaxe)

Protection: 3 (Light Armour)
Endurance: 19
Spirit: 13
Despair: 0

TALENTS
Always Prepared: At the cost of a point of Spirit, you can have any inexpensive item you want ready
to hand. There’s a little magic about you. Further, when you embark on an expedition, increase your
group’s Supplies resource by a dice step.

Sense the Unseen: You can sense the presence of magic or a magically enchanted item, tell when a
creation is a magical illusion, sense openings to otherworlds, and see spirits before they manifest.

Fearless: You’re immune to all forms of fear, whether natural or supernatural, and to intimidation
based on danger to your person.

Tread Where I Tread: You can make a Stealth roll at +3 difficulty for the roll to apply not just to you,
but to a small group of people with you, such as the other player characters.

Words of Opening: You know the ancient words of opening of the Mountain Clans. When you say
them, any door opens, no matter what the lock, and any bond, shackle, or rope will release or untie.

MAJOR POSSESSIONS
Light armour, Battleaxe, Digging tools, A pair of ancient but still sturdy black boots

CULTURAL BACKGROUND
The Mountain Clans once lived in high places or cities beneath the ground. Now the underground and
mountaintop cities of old are no more, and the Mountain Clans are nomadic traders and mercenaries.
There are but three surviving Clans — the Feuerstein, Eisen, and Smaragd Clans. War between the
Smaragd and the other two Clans is the norm, for the Smaragd Clan served the Nameless Emperor
and continues to serve his cause now he is defeated.

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 CHARACTERS

PERSONAL BACKGROUND
You’re cousin to Earl Runar, leader of a roaming band of traders belonging to the Eisen Clan. You left
the band to settle in Ursos, for it is there you have the greatest hope of recovering the treasures of the
Mountain Clans from the past; Earl Runar has no interest in going back to the Eisen Clan’s ancient
and now haunted homes. The one thing you feel guilty about is not being there when Earl Runar’s
band suffered heavy losses at the hands of Smaragd Clan raiders. You will gain revenge.

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 CHAPTER FOUR

4: PLAYING THE GAME

My people are dead or enslaved. But I am a part of Ursos, and more than willing to fight for them
against the same enemies as those who ruined the world and destroyed my entire culture.

— Guernon, Kethian Champion

THE STRUCTURE OF THE GAME

Quests and Scenes
Gameplay in Out of the Ashes consists of a series of quests, with downtime between them. The player
characters undertake quests on behalf of their community. This quickstart contains a single quest.

During a quest, keep time in the form of a series of scenes. During a scene, one or more player
characters can take one or several actions.

A scene could be a fight, a party, an encounter with a GMC, or a debate. A scene ends when it is
resolved, and there is no further drama, information to be gained, or tension. Scenes should flow
organically from one to the other, as decided by the actions of the players and events coming from
the GM.

Some game effects, in particular magic, last for a scene. This means the duration of such an effect is
somewhat fluid, but less than an hour is typical. There is generally no need to keep precise track of
how long a scene lasts. The duration of a magical effect need not, by the nature of magic, be completely
consistent.

Game Sessions
A game session is the time when the players and GM sit down together and play a game. It typically
lasts from two to four hours. The amount of time that passes in the fictional world of the characters
during a game session varies immensely. It might be hours, days, weeks or even months if downtime
features.

A quest can last for one or several game sessions, depending on both scope and the speed of play.

Downtime
Downtime is the period between quests, or sometimes within a quest if there is a natural break. It
lasts for weeks or months, but is covered quickly at the table. During downtime, a character heals
all damage and recovers any Spirit spent. Both player characters and communities improve during
downtime; for details see the full rules.

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 PLAYING THE GAME

TESTS
Basic Tests
When you face a challenging situation, or success is uncertain, pick a relevant skill, roll 2d10, and add
the skill score. This is called a skill test. If the result beats the difficulty, you succeed; otherwise you fail.
Every rule in the game revolves around this principle.

For something quite straightforward, but which still merits a test, the difficulty is 15.

A factor that makes a check more difficult is called a complication. There might be several complications.
Each complication adds 3 to the difficulty.

Sometimes a skill will be plausible but not quite the right skill for a task. This counts as a complication.

Critical Successes
A successful skill test becomes a critical success if the two dice have matching digits, or if the result is
10 or more higher than the required difficulty. A critical success gives you one of the following special
effects.

• In a group test, your success counts as two successes rather than one. In a general situation, a
fellow PC trying the same thing as you can automatically succeed with your help.
• You gain extra information.
• You accomplish the task far more quickly or subtly than could be expected.
• You really impress a GMC who sees you.

Critical successes in combat have particular special effects; see below for details.

Failure and Complications

Sometimes failing a skill test means just that — you fail. There are often specific consequences for
failure coming from the other rules in the game. Normally, once you’ve failed, that’s it — you can’t try
again until circumstances change.

That said, failing a skill test does not have to mean progress is simply blocked, but more often means
there is a complication or consequence. Here are some examples of what can happen in the event of
failure.

• You take a long time or attract attention; hostile or potentially hostile GMCs turn up to see
what you are doing. If there is a monster in the area, it may now notice you and start to take
action.
• You don’t have the information you need to accomplish the task, but you do know where it
could be found. It’s nowhere convenient.
• You suffer damage in the process but still get past an obstacle, or in the worst case suffer
damage, but can then reattempt the test.
• You succeed, but aggravate an important GMC in the process, where you had hoped things
would go smoothly.

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In combat, which takes the form of lots of individual skill tests to attack and defend, a failed attack test
simply means an attack fails in that particular round; you can try again next round. A failed defence
test means you suffer damage. For details, see below.

Assistance
One other character may assist you in a task. They need a skill of 4 or higher to do this. In this case, you
roll 3d10 rather than 2d10 when you make your skill test. Add all the dice. Assistance is not allowed
in group rolls (see below).

In this and any other test where you have extra dice of the same type, you only need any two of the
dice to match to achieve a critical success.

Opposed Tests
Sometimes two characters will be competing in the use of a skill. If the roll is a player character against
a GMC, the player makes a roll with a difficulty of 10 plus the GMC’s skill. The GM does not need
to roll.

If two player characters oppose each-other, both roll; the higher roll wins. In the event of a draw, the
result is a temporary deadlock; settle for an unresolved situation or roll again. There are no draws when
a player character opposes a GMC.

Player character vs player character rolls will be rare. The player characters are on the same side,
working for the same community, after all. But there may be moments of tension; player characters
do not always agree.

SPIRIT AND DRIVES

Uses of Spirit
Spirit is a measure of a character’s innate magic. Any character can channel Spirit to aid their skills
and resist harm. It looks like pure talent or convenient coincidence.

• Boost the results of a test. You can decide to spend Spirit to boost your result after a dice roll.
When you boost, roll a bonus d10 and add it to your result. This costs 3 Spirit.
• Survive being killed or incapacitated, instead being reduced to 1 Endurance. This costs d6
Spirit.
• Use a key for a minor boost to the effects of a test. If a key applies, roll a bonus d4, and add it to
your result. This costs 1 point of Spirit.

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 PLAYING THE GAME

A NOTE ON KEYS
Any player character has access to several keys, with which they channel magic instinctively.
You can employ petty magic related to a key, at a cost of 1 point of Spirit, to gain a bonus d4 to
a skill test. You may spend for this bonus after you’ve seen the result of the test. You can only
draw on one key to boost a test.

The keys occur in opposed pairs; nobody can have both opposed key in a pair.

• Calm/Storm: Use the calm key when you want to calm down tense emotions, for
defence in combat, and to seek shelter, whether actual or metaphorical. Use the storm key
for tests involving braving bad weather, sudden movement including attacks, and stirring
up strong emotions.
• Light/Darkness: Use the light key for tests involving perception, knowledge, and
discovery. Use the darkness key for tests involving stealth, deception, and secrecy.
• Life/Death: Use the life key for tests involving healing, and helping the natural world.
Use te death key to boost attempts to harm, including combat. Both the life and death
keys can aid attacks against the undead.
• Change/Stability: Use the change key to adapt to an environment, and to craft or shape
things. Use the stability key to resist change, including mental influences and Spirit loss
in tainted areas.
• Community/Wilderness: Use the community key to boost formal interactions, and
dealing with groups of people. Use the wilderness key to aid interactions with nature.

GMCS AND SPIRIT

GMCs cannot use Spirit to boost their results or survive being killed or incapacitated. Most GMCs
do not have keys. They can still spend Spirit to resist social influence.

Broader uses of Spirit give player characters a definite edge over opposition, and enable them to
survive and even triumph when outmatched.

Drives
Drives are things that really matter to characters and push them onward. If you engage a drive within a
quest, you gain d4+2 points of Spirit; just say the drive applies, and add the points if the table approves.
You can go above your initial total.

However, the maximum number of times you can engage a drive over the course of a quest is equal
to the number of drives you have. You can engage different drives, or the same drive more than once.

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Downtime
When the group takes a period of downtime between quests, everyone recovers all spent Spirit. If your
Spirit is above your starting score, you lose any excess.

Running out of Spirit

You can spend Spirit as long as you have points left. If you have no Spirit remaining, you obviously
cannot spend it, whether on improving skill rolls or magic. You’re also especially vulnerable to magic
and special abilities that cause loss of Spirit. Some actions, like throwing off a penalty from a social
skill, cause a random amount of Spirit loss; if you take these actions when you have little Spirit, you’re
also at risk.

The risk is being reduced to zero Spirit or below — and you can spend yourself to zero Spirit. You
don’t have to track negative Spirit scores, just recognise that you’re past the end of your hope and
determination. Once that happens, you’re out of control for the rest of the scene: perhaps falling
unconscious, perhaps frozen or mindlessly running with fear and despair, or perhaps mindlessly
attacking an enemy as if you’re incapable of retreat. How you react is up to you.

At the end of the scene, you recover to reach d6+2 Spirit, but you gain a point of Despair.

Despair
Despair is bad news. You can never rid yourself of Despair, and once you have accumulated 5 points
you give in to the ruin of the world, becoming one of the tainted.

The complete Out of the Ashes rules contain details on how Despair may manifest in different ways.
For the purpose of this quickstart, it simply weakens you: each point of Despair gives you a –1 penalty
to all rolls.

GROUP TESTS
The Structure
In a group test, everyone involved has to make a relevant skill test at a given difficulty.

An ordinary success counts as one group success. A critical success counts as two group successes.

If the total of group successes is at least equal to the number of characters taking part, the overall result
is a success. If the result is lower, the overall result is failure.

Group tests are a useful tool for resolving many different situations. Two examples follow.

The Chase
A simple chase is a group test. If the player characters succeed as a group, they get away; if they fail,
they are caught, which probably means a fight. Or conversely, they might be pursuing an enemy and
either catch up to them or lose them.

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Over a short distance, Athletics and Vigour are the most suitable skills, but others might be plausible,
for example Survival for a long-distance outdoor chase, or Stealth if hiding features. A player should
narrate how a skill helps, and the GM is free to veto it or increase the difficulty.

The Formal Audience

In a formal audience with a ruler, when all player characters speak, use a group test. This could occur
when the player characters are requesting action from an entire community. Most social skills are likely
to be suitable, and potentially the Lore skill. A player should narrate what they are doing or play it out,
speaking as their character.

COMBAT
The Nature of a Skirmish
A skirmish is a battle with a few participants per side — often the player characters as a group facing a
group of enemies. It’s a dose of excitement and danger, with lethal consequences for failure. A skirmish
is divided into a series of rounds of a few seconds each. Each round, everyone in the combat gets a
single action, such as making an attack, using magic, or making a manoeuvre.

The very first round of a skirmish is special, in that combat takes place at a distance, and the only
attacks possible are ranged attacks and charges. After the first round, participants have closed to melee
range.

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Each round, the side with the smaller number of combatants goes first. Ties go to the player characters.
All the characters on the first side act, in whatever order they choose, and then all the characters on
the other side do the same.

NOT ALL ACTIVITIES ARE ACTIONS

Some activities are a part of combat, and do not count as particular actions. These include:

• Speaking or shouting a few words

• Drawing or changing a weapon
• Ordinary movement within combat; changing adversaries if you outnumber the enemy;
or moving between ranged and close combat at the end of the round.

The Melee
The second round onwards is the part of combat known as the melee, where most participants fight
in close rather than ranged combat. At the start of each round, the side with the greater numbers
involved in close combat can decide who they fight. There are two conditions:

• Everyone on the smaller side engaged in melee must be faced by an opponent

• A maximum of three people can face a single opponent.

Normally GMCs, not knowing everything about the PCs, will spread out as evenly as possible among
those engaging. Who engages whom can change freely each round. It is also possible for one or more
participants to stay out of close combat, and so not engage in melee as long as one of the following
conditions holds:

• There are at least as many people in close combat as those who stay at range, or;
• The number of people in close combat already matches or exceeds the enemy numbers in close
combat.

If the above conditions apply, you may move out of the melee at the end of a combat round, after all
other actions, to make a ranged attack or to charge the next round.

You cannot, however, use ranged weapons in close combat. You can still use magic if you don’t manage
to stay at range, but you will be the target of close attacks in melee before you get the chance to use
aggressive magic.

Attacks
When a player character makes an attack, they make a Fight or Shoot test, opposed by Fight or
Athletics respectively. If they are successful, they deal damage depending on their listed damage rating,
which depends on the weapon used and possibly their talents.

A critical success does maximum damage on one die: do not roll that die, but pick the maximum
possible value.

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Subtract damage from an opponent’s Protection, followed by Endurance. Once Protection is reduced
to zero, it has no further effect within a fight; it is ablative.

When a GM character makes an attack, the player character makes a Fight or Athletics test opposed by
the GMC’s Fight or Shoot skill. If the PC fails the opposed roll, they suffer damage. If outnumbered,
they might have to defend themselves several times over the course of a combat round.

A critical success in a defence test allows an immediate counter-attack against that opponent, in
addition to the character’s usual actions. Resolve this extra attack as normal.

Certain talents give further options for attacks and damage, either in close or ranged combat, and
defensive bonuses.

ATTACKS AND OPPOSED ROLLS

As mentioned above, an attack is an opposed roll. In an opposed roll, only the player rolls. So
if a player is making a melee attack, they roll Fight at a difficulty equal to 10 plus the Fight
score of the opponent. If they are defending against Fight, roll at a difficulty equal to 10 plus
the Fight score of the attacker. Similarly, for ranged attacks, roll Shoot at a difficulty of 10 plus
the opponent’s Athletics to attack, or Athletics at a difficulty of 10 plus the opponent’s Shoot
to defend.

SKIRMISH OPTIONS
Charge!
You can charge in the first round of combat, or when you are otherwise at range and move into close
combat. Make an Athletics roll at difficulty 15. If you fail the Athletics roll, you cannot attack this
round. If you succeed, you can immediately make a close combat attack; on a critical success, the attack
roll has a bonus d10.

Manoeuvres
A manoeuvre is a way of setting up an advantage in combat. Some manoeuvres take place at the very
start of a combat, instead of a ranged attack or charge. Others take place during the melee phase.

Manoeuvre options include the following. Talents may give further options.

• Aim. A character at range can opt to take this manoeuvre instead of attacking. Make a simple
Notice test. If the test is successful, next round you get a bonus d10 on a ranged attack. On a
critical success, you gain a second action this round, so you can immediately aim and fire. You
can only get a single bonus d10 from aiming.
• Defend. You devote all your energy to defending either yourself or an ally. Any rolls you or the
protected ally make for defence get a d10 bonus for the round. You gain no other action, but
can automatically retreat at the end of the round if you want to.

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• Tricks and Feints. Name an opponent, and narrate what you are doing to interfere with their
attacks. Make a simple Battle or Taunt test. If the test succeeds, the next attack against that
opponent has a bonus d10. On a critical success, you can immediately make an attack with the
bonus. An attack can only gain a single bonus d10 from a trick or feint.

GMC TACTICS
The GM has more to keep track of than a player, meaning GMC tactics are likely to be simpler
than PC tactics. GMCs do not gain bonus dice; they do not roll. However, a group of GMCs
fighting one PC can optionally make just a single attack at a bonus. The bonus is +3 for two
opponents, and +6 for three opponents. This option can prove especially deadly when relatively
weak opponents support a tougher opponent.

The full rules contain more manoeuvre options.

Magic and Countermagic

Magic in combat obeys the usual rules, and may need a relevant test according to what you do. Some
spells allow a defence, meaning an opposed roll applies. A character can also employ countermagic, if
they have the Song of Power talent. This replaces the usual opposed roll to defend against a spell, and
does not count as an action.

As an action, a character can also employ countermagic to shut down an ongoing magical effect.

Escaping Combat
At the end of a combat round, escape may be possible, regardless of earlier actions. Escape is not
possible for a group that has been ambushed or caught in a chase, but otherwise any character can
attempt to get away.

• A character at range, or who has just taken the defend manoeuvre, may escape automatically.
• A character in close combat can make an opposed Athletics test to escape.
• A group roll will allow the whole group of characters in close combat to escape.

A retreating group may be pursued by some or all of the enemies, meaning a chase follows.

Recovery
RECOVERING ENDURANCE
As long as your Endurance is positive, and you’re not suffering from a continuing condition, you can
recover it quite quickly. You have not suffered a serious wound. Naturally, recovery cannot raise your
Endurance above the base level.

After suffering damage, if you have a rest of 30 minutes or so, you immediately recover d12 Endurance.
If a healer helps you, and makes a Heal skill test at standard difficulty, roll d12 twice and choose
the better result. A full night’s sleep in a place of safety – which means finding a Resting Place, as
described below for Expeditions – restores all lost Endurance.

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If you’ve been reduced to zero Endurance or below, you’re in more trouble because you won’t recover
naturally. A Heal skill test at standard difficulty restores you to 1 point of Endurance. From that point
you heal normally, and you’re again able to act, though obviously vulnerable until you get a full night’s
rest somewhere safe.

You recover all lost Endurance in a period of downtime.

RECOVERING PROTECTION
During a rest period of 30 minutes or so, you can attempt to repair damaged armour or a damaged
shield. Make a Craft test at the standard difficulty to restore its Protection to its maximum value. If the
test fails, you cannot repair the armour in the field, nor can you repair any further damage.

You can also have armour and shields repaired or replaced in a period of downtime.

RECOVERING SPIRIT
You can recover Spirit by making use of a drive to recover d6+1 Spirit, which you can do a number
of times per quest equal to your number of drives. You recover all Spirit in downtime. See page 24,
above, for full details.

EXPEDITIONS
Legs and Hazards
An expedition is an exploration of a dangerous area, or a long overland journey. Each expedition is
divided into legs, depending on its length and variety of terrain. Between each leg is a hazard , which
could be an environmental obstacle to overcome with a group test, or a dangerous encounter, meaning
a skirmish. Hazards may or may not be known in advance of the expedition.

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A typical expedition has from three to six legs. Each leg has an associated difficulty — easy, standard,
or difficult. An easy leg takes place in relatively safe terrain, with plenty of resources. A difficult leg
involves an exceptionally inhospitable or dangerous area.

EXAMPLES OF HAZARDS
• An outpost of tainted and desecrators. They could be fought. Make a group test to
sneak around the outpost, with failure meaning the heroes run into a patrol of tainted
with a desecrator leader.
• A nasty natural obstacle that needs a group test to overcome. Failure means finding an
alternative path; at the very least, it adds another leg to the expedition. What precisely
happens depends on the geography. If this occurs on a mountain pass, for instance,
backtracking and then following a different and longer route might be necessary.
• Hostile weather: a test is needed to reach safety or everyone suffers minor (d12)
damage.
• A corrupted magically hostile area, twisted by the magic of the Nameless Emperor.
Present are the angry unquiet dead.
• A tiny settlement, previously unknown, that is beset by a monster. A cult worshipping
one of the Ministers makes sacrifices to keep the monster at bay.
• A tainted area, a corrupt place of polluted air and poisonous waters. Going through
means minor (d12) damage for everyone and loss of a dice step of supplies, or perhaps
no damage and all supplies. An alternative route might be possible, but adds another
leg to the journey.

Supplies
A group of travellers on an expedition has a shared resource, Supplies, with an associated die.

• Begin Supplies at d4 under ordinary circumstances, including some preparation.

• Begin Supplies at 0 if the group has for some reason taken off without full preparation.
• Begin Supplies at d6 if the group has made extensive preparations.

For each leg of the journey, make a Supplies spend: roll the die to see whether the resource is reduced
by a die step.

• If the leg is easy, reduce the die on a roll of 1.

• If the leg is standard, reduce the die on a roll of 1 or 2.
• If the leg is difficult, reduce the die on a roll of 1, 2, or 3.

If the Supplies die has previously been reduced to zero, instead of rolling, everyone in the group suffers
d6 damage to Endurance. This damage is a condition coming from exhaustion, and cannot be healed
while on a journey unless the group raises Supplies to at least d4 and finds a safe resting place.

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Expedition Actions
For each leg of a journey, each player character can choose an action. This is not absolutely necessary;
failure at an action can be hazardous. But success in an action can help. A character can only take one
action per leg of the journey.

Rolls for expedition actions are at difficulty 15 if the leg is standard. For a difficult leg, raise the
difficulty to 20; for an easy leg, lower it to 10.

• Find a Safe Resting Place. Make an Investigate test. If you succeed, you find a place where
everyone can rest and recover (see below). On a failure, make an extra Supplies spend. You can
only find a safe resting place on a boat journey if you can stop ashore or on an island; travelling
by boat is always gruelling. In this age, the seas are never completely calm.
• Gather Supplies. Make a Survival test. If successful, increase your Supplies score by one die
type. On a failure, you run into problems; take d6 Endurance damage. This is an exhaustion
condition: you will not recover this damage while on the expedition.
• Navigation. Make a Lore test. If successful, reduce the difficulty of the leg by one step. On
a failure, make an extra Supplies spend for the leg. If Navigation is made successfully for an
easy journey leg, no Supplies spend is needed. Only one person can undertake this action. You
cannot take this action on a journey by river or road, or when there is otherwise no choice of
route.
• Pilot. This action is only possible on a journey by boat. Make an Athletics test. If successful,
reduce the difficulty of the leg by one step. On a failure, make an extra Supplies spend for the
leg. If Pilot is made successfully for an easy journey leg, no Supplies spend is needed.
• Stay Alert. Make a Notice test. Success either negates the effects of one failed action on this leg
of the journey, or reveals the hazard at the end of a leg before you get there, giving you time to
prepare.

Resting Places
If you find a safe resting place and stay there for a few days, you take a break from the journey. You
must make a Supplies spend in the same way as on the leg of a journey.

You may take the Gather Supplies and Navigation actions from a resting place. Some other actions
are possible too.

• Recover. If you have a positive Endurance score, you recover all Endurance. As long as you
have Supplies remaining, you can recover damage gained from exhaustion.
• Heal. If you succeed in a Heal test on another character reduced to zero Endurance or below,
reset their Endurance to a score of 1. They can take no action while recovering.

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5: THE AEGIS OF URSOS

I don’t hate the Smaragd Clan. But I have a duty to claim vengeance for the wrongs they inflicted on
my kin.

— Valdis of the Eisen Clan

BACKGROUND
The Aegis of Ursos was an artifact the people of the Mountain Clans gave to the city of Ursos in the
Second Age. In form it was a vast shield, too big for a human-sized warrior to use, and was held by
the statue that the new settlers call the Great Bear. Legends said that the city would not fall while the
Aegis remained there, in its place of honour.

This may be an exaggeration, but it is believed the Aegis had powerful magical protective properties.
Certainly the Aegis remained at the end of the Third Age, when the rest of the north fell, but Ursos
endured.

Yet Ursos did eventually fall into ruin, and the Aegis is no longer there. Now the scholar Niobe
Argyres, informal chief of the researchers in Ursos, has found a document indicating where it might
be, and it’s potentially fairly nearby.

The document indicates that the Aegis was taken by a man called Earl Thorvald to the Mountain
Clans refuge of Deepcastle. He paid the few people still in Ursos with arms and armour to better
defend their city, in exchange for the great shield. Thorvald felt that the Aegis could be used to protect
Deepcastle, and Ursos was doomed in any case.

All free people were gone from Ursos within ten years.

As for Deepcastle, it was a secret — it is believed to be by the banks of the River Xarides, but is not
shown on maps. Yet further researches by the scholars have unearthed a connection between the
family of Earl Runar, chief of a roaming band of Mountain Clans traders, and those who lived in
Deepcastle.

Earl Runar visited Ursos four days ago, and the trail the traders took is clear. Perhaps the player
characters can learn from him the location of Deepcastle, and go there to retrieve the Aegis for
Ursos.

If even a hint of its legend is true, it could prove vital for Ursos’s defence. Even if it is not, it is still
a potent symbol, capable of boosting the community’s prestige and morale.

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A NOTE ON MONSTERS
Some of the enemies encountered in this adventure are too minor to require a complete lists of
skills; they simply have a Skill Level notes. Use the Skill Level for all tests of all skills the enemy
could reasonably attempt, including combat.

The GM does not roll dice for opposed rolls against the player characters; rather when facing an
enemy, players make a skill test with a difficulty equal to 10 plus the enemy’s skill. This includes
attacks in combat (if the player character succeeds, they cause damage) and defence (if the player
character fails, they suffer damage).

PART 1: PURSUING EARL RUNAR

The Journey
Earl Runar’s band headed south, veering away from the coast across the chill plains, heading for the
gap to the west of the Howling Mountains. Catching up to them is an expedition at standard difficulty.
The player characters have time to gather Supplies at a rating of d4.

For each leg of the expedition, roll the Supplies die and reduce it on a 1 or 2; if Supplies is at 0,
everyone instead suffers d6 damage. This damage cannot be healed until supplies are restored.

As usual, on each leg, any player characters who wish can undertake expedition actions, including
gathering supplies. See page 30, above, for details.

At the end of each leg is a hazard.

The Snowstorm
At the end of the first leg the heroes run into a snowstorm. One player character must succeed in an
average Investigate test to find somewhere to wait out the storm, which involves an extra Supplies die
roll, or make a hard Survival test to make it through the storm. Failure means everyone suffers d12
damage.

Only one character may make a test for each possibility, though another character may assist according
to the rules on page 24.

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The Dead
The second hazard is more severe; the player
characters encounter six shambling corpses.
One of these corpses is pierced by two raven-
feathered arrows; the others died of axe
wounds.

THE DRAUGAR
Skill Level: 3
Damage: d6
Spirit: 4
Endurance: 9

Unliving: Immune to fear and morale attacks.

Unless a draugr dies as the result of magic or a critical
wound, an action must be taken to specifically dispatch
it, else it rises again after being out of action for one
round.

One who knows the Mountain Clans, in particular

the Smaragd Clan, can make a test to know that the
raven-feathered arrows are a sign of Earl Hafni the
Raven, a vicious Smaragd raider. Any who knows Earl
Runar’s band will potentially (with a suitable test)
recognise one of the bodies as Aslaug, Runar’s sister.

A search of the area reveals a mass grave, which

once held six bodies. No test is needed. The
revenants clawed their way out. The search does
not reveal any tracks, whether of Earl Runar’s band
or that of Earl Hafni.

However, it is clear that a recent storm has hidden the tracks, and the storm has passed to the south-
east. One with the Sense the Unseen talent (Valdis among the sample player characters) can sense
traces of magic there. This provides something to track.

The Smaragd
Heading south-east requires another Supplies roll — it counts as a further leg of the expedition. At
the end of the trail, the player characters discover the Smaragd raiders just as they are making camp.
There are two dozen of them — too many for the player characters to take on in a direct fight. Six
stand guard, looking back at the trail in case there is pursuit, and all are armed and ready, though
apart from the guards they will sleep for the night. They have several tents; Earl Hafni’s tent flies a
raven banner.

The Smaragd raiders have taken three captives from Earl Runar’s band as thralls.

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There are various things the PCs can do. They could mount a lightning or stealthy raid to free the
captives, or attack the earl or his sorceress. They might call out the earl to a duel: this will require
persuasion and a careful set-up with social skills.

The players are likely to have imaginative ideas of their own; it is up to them how they attempt to
tackle the Smaragd.

Among the Smaragd raiders are two notable individuals: Earl Hafni the Raven, and his sorceress. Earl
Hafni is a stocky but burly man with curly midnight black hair, and eys that seem to faintly glow in
the dark. The sorceress is a tainted once-human hag, who has long since forgotten any name she once
held. Hafni believes the sorceress serves him; the reverse is true. She still appears human at first sight,
but has a corpse-like pallor to her skin.

EARL HAFNI
Drive: A successful raid
Physical Skills: Athletics 7, Fight 10, Shoot 7,
Survival 4, Vigour 7
Mental Skills: Battle 7, Investigate 7, Lore 7,
Notice 7
Social Skills: Conviction 7, Deceive 7,
Persuade 4, Insight 4,
Taunt 7
Damage: d12 (axe), d10 (bow)
Spirit: 11
Protection: 4
Endurance: 23

Killer Strike: Spend 2 Spirit to inflict

maximum damage on one die.

Second Attack: Spend 2 Spirit to make a

second attack in the same combat round.

Words of Opening: Utter a magical word to

open doors and locks.

Night Vision: Earl Hafni can see perfectly in the

dark.

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THE SORCERESS
Drive: To corrupt with magical secrets
Physical Skills: Athletics 7, Fight 7, Sneak 7, Vigour 10
Mental Skills: Heal 10, Investigate 10, Lore 13, Notice 10
Social Skills: Conviction 10, Deceive 10, Persuade 10,
Insight 10, Song 7, Taunt 10
Damage: d8 (long knife, made of ice)
Spirit: 13
Endurance: 26

Call Shade: For a cost of 1 Spirit, at the place of death,

or with a body, the sorceress can call up a shade to answer
questions. It only knows what it knew in life.

Create Draugr: For a cost of 2 Spirit, the caster animates

a corpse as a draugr (plural draugar).

Hail and Snow: By spending 2 points of Spirit, the

creature calls down an initial onslaught of hail followed
by a blizzard lasting for d6 hours. Anyone caught
in the initial onslaught of hail without special
protection suffers d12 damage: countermagic
opposing the caster’s Lore skill can prevent
this. The blizzard covers tracks and impedes
movement severely. One exposed to the
blizzard who does not find shelter again
suffers a further d12 damage over
a period of an hour in the
elements.

Key (Death): Spend

1 point of Spirit for a +3 bonus to a
skill test related to death. The GM has to decide to add
the bonus before any dice roll.

Sense the Unseen: Sense the presence of magic or a magically enchanted item, tell when a creation
is a magical illusion, sense openings to otherworlds, and sense spirits before they manifest.

Strike Blind/Deaf: Spend 3 Spirit and make a Taunt test opposed by Vigour to strike a character deaf
or blind for a scene.

Song of Power: Use Song as a defence against magic, or prevent an effect of a magical style from
taking place. Spend a point of Spirit and make a Song skill test to disperse a magical effect.

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 THE AEGIS OF URSOS

OTHER SMARAGD RAIDERS

Skill Level: 4
Damage: d10
Spirit: 5
Endurance: 10

Charge: In the first round of a battle, attacks at the end of the ound
r with a +3 bonus instead of
making a ranged attack. Note that these rules are different to those for a player character who charges.

Earl Runar’s Band

Reaching Earl Runar’s band is another journey leg, and so another Supplies spend, either from the
Smaragd raiders, or from the draugar. The band has thirty adults, and half as many children. They
have several sturdy horses drawing carts loaded with the band’s belongings, goods, and supplies. Apart
from young children, and those incapacitated by injury or illness, the band go on foot rather than in
the carts. Although constantly on the move, they travel slowly.

In normal circumstances, Earl Runar is a cheerful and generous man with a reddish hue to his skin.
Now, since the Smaragd raid, he is fuming. He would have liked to pursue the Smaragd raiders, but an
onslaught of hail and widespread blizzards prevented immediate pursuit. Now he will travel with his
warriors and lead his people unprotected. Morale is low in the camp, with tears and no laughter, and
Runar feels he has failed as a leader.

So he is not necessarily pleased to see the player characters, and needs to be convinced to help them
with a group skill test. If the heroes have freed the captives or carry a sign of striking a significant
blow against the Smaragd raiders, it is a different matter — their exploits are celebrated with food and
drink, and as if a dam bursts, the band’s tension eases, and they can mourn properly. No skill test is
needed to convince the Earl to help. Runar will be horrified to hear his people were raised as draugar;
and grateful on a personal level if the heroes have laid his sister back to rest.

If the player characters make a good impression on Earl Runar and ask for the information they
seek, he tells them that Deepcastle lies up the tainted River Xarides, and the exact location of its
hidden entrance by the south banks of the river.

Part 2: TO DEEPCASTLE
The River Xarides
Travelling towards the river Xarides, and upstream, is difficult, as the tainted nature of the river has
made the land hostile. This means two difficult legs of an expedition, so Supplies fall on a roll of 1,2,
or 3 on the Supplies die, and expedition activities such as gathering supplies or finding shelter have
difficulty 20.

There is fortunately just one hazard, where the river needs to be crossed. The issue is that its waters
have a sickly green-white sheen, a tell-tale sign its waters are tainted; simply wading across is possible,
but anyone crossing must succeed in a Conviction test or lose d6 Spirit.

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 THE AEGIS OF URSOS

Possible solutions include clever uses of player character talents, or taking time and succeeding in a
Craft skill test to make a raft. The river is a good 40 paces wide at the narrowest point, and the waters
are shallow; only those with magical athletics skills, such as the player character Galiene Sky in this
quickstart, have a chance of leaping across.

Accessing Deepcastle
The entrance to Deepcastle lies within a hidden cave. With the directions from the Mountain Clans it
is easy to find, but otherwise would be almost impossible. The cave tunnel quickly turns to something
clearly artificial, with steps leading down. There are empty torch-holders, which once held magical
lights, but now the way is dark. At the bottom of the steps is a cavern with a lake full of tainted waters,
almost oily black in colour, more intense than the taint of the river Xarides. Beyond the lake are the
doors to the stronghold of Deepcastle.

Crossing the lake is even more dangerous than crossing the river Xarides. It must be swum across,
requiring an Athletics test to avoid d6 damage from exhaustion. Further, a Conviction test is needed
to avoid gaining a level of Despair. Even a successful Conviction test means the loss of d6 Spirit. The
GM should make the danger clear to player characters: such obvious concentrated corruption is bound
to have an effect on their souls. Any player character with the Sense the Unseen talent can feel the
sick aura of the water.

Taking time to observe, or asking for a Notice test and succeeding, reveals the tainted water flows in
through a gap in the walls to the north. It comes from the surface; outside, a successful Investigation
test will allow the stream to be found and from there tracked back to its source.

If they cross the tainted lake they can take a moment to recover before the descent into a lost Mountain
Clans stronghold. But like other cities there is darkness here.

The Source
Following the stream is another leg of the expedition, at the same difficulty level as before. The stream
flows from a pool, in which sits an amorphous monster twice the size of horse. The monster constantly
changes colour and shape, and appears as much liquid as solid. It can extrude limbs to act or simply
engulf an opponent, but changes in shape are unstable.

A Lore test reveals the monster is a shug — a desecrator that pollutes its environment — and the
source of the corruption. Everyone knows that desecrators are no small thing, and the Lore test tells
them this one will be a significant opponent.

Should combat occur, the creature’s unearthly aura means every player character involved must make
a Conviction test at difficulty 19. A victim who fails should choose one of the following three options:

• Flee
• Freeze in place for the ranged combat phase of the battle and the first melee round, able to
defend themselves, but not take any other action
• Act normally but lose d6 Spirit.

39
 CHAPTER FIVE

SHUG
Drive: To pollute the landscape
Physical Skills: Athletics 12, Fight 9, Vigour 12
Mental Skills: Craft 9, Heal 6, Investigate 6,
Lore 9, Notice 6
Social Skills: Conviction 6, Deceive 9,
Persuade 6, Insight 9, Taunt 9
Damage: d12 (tentacle)
Spirit: 11
Protection: 4
Endurance: 28

Corrupting Touch: The creature’s

touch causes a loss of d6
Spirit. It can attempt a
touch instead of making an
ordinary attack; in this case
add a +3 bonus to the creature’s Fight
skill. Alternatively, with a successful attack by
the creature in close combat, if any d10 in the
defence test is a roll of 1 or 2, the victim loses d6
Spirit in addition to any physical damage.

Grab: Whenever the creature makes a successful attack, if it chooses to, it grabs hold of a victim
and does not easily let go. A held victim cannot act except to attempt to break free. The creature
automatically does damage at the start of each round, but cannot attack any other target. To break
free, the victim can make an opposed Athletics test as their action. If they get a critical success, they
immediately gain another action; otherwise, they must wait until next round.

Phase: The being can move through solid objects. Phasing costs 1 point of Spirit.

Second Attack (natural form only): For a cost of 2 Spirit, such a monster can make a second attack
in a combat round.

Sweep: When the being faces multiple enemies in close combat, for a cost of 2 Spirit it can make a
melee attack against all of them. The shug cannot grab with a sweep attack.

Should the heroes defeat the shug, it bubbles quickly away to nothingness, and the corrupted waters
of the pool start to clear. Over the next few days, the water of the river Xarides begins to clear as well,
and the underground lake outside the gates of Deepcastle will be safe to cross by the time the player
characters return.

Once a month has passed, the waters of the Xarides are even safe to drink.

40
 THE AEGIS OF URSOS

In Deepcastle
Beyond the cavern lake, Deepcastle itself is empty. Within are numerous halls and corridors, armouries
and barracks, personal quarters and banqueting halls, making up an underground complex the size of
a small town — but there are no people or even bodies, and nothing of value. It feels bare and bleak.

Yet when they reach the main armoury there is one thing of interest: upon a stone plinth, a vast steel
shield, twice the size of one a human warrior would wield, bearing the symbol of a bear-headed
warrior — the symbol of Ursos. This is the Aegis.

The Aegis is protected by the spirits of four deceased inhabitants of Deepcastle. They only have the
vaguest memories of their old lives, but their leader is Queen Aslaug, last ruler of Deepcastle. Earl
Runar’s sister was named after her.

The spirits will address the player characters and insist that the Aegis keeps Deepcastle safe from the
tainted river. The player characters can of course try to convince the spirits to let the Aegis go. For one
thing, there are no people in Deepcastle any more to protect. For another, they may have dealt with
the source of the corruption, and purified the water.

Convincing the spirits is a group skill test. The test is of average difficulty if the shug, above, has been
dealt with — otherwise things are hard. If the heroes fail the group test, the spirits attack, though they
will not pursue should the heroes flee.

If the player characters have not successfully traced the source of the tainted waters of the lake but
offer to help with the problem, the spirits will give them directions. They will not themselves leave the
armoury. Perhaps they cannot.

Should the spirits attack, every player character involved must make a Conviction test at difficulty 18.
A victim who fails should choose one of the following two options:

• Flee
• Act normally but lose d6 Spirit.

41
 CHAPTER FIVE

SPIRITS
Drive: To guard the Aegis for all my undead existence
Physical Skills: Athletics 5, Fight 8, Vigour 8
Mental Skills: Investigate 5, Lore 5, Notice 5
Social Skills: Conviction 8, Persuade 5
Damage: d10 (ghostly weapons? talons?)
Spirit: 12
Endurance: 24

Immaterial: The creature is by default immaterial. It cannot be affected by purely physical attacks or
be seen by ordinary senses, and can pass through solid objects. It can be harmed by magic. The spirit
can also materialise to make physical attacks; when it materialises, it is visible, and ordinary attacks
damage it normally.

Killer Strike: If the monster attacks successfully in combat, it can spend 2 Spirit to inflict maximum
damage.

42
 THE AEGIS OF URSOS

CONCLUSIONS
Should the heroes successfully take the Aegis, the spirits of Deepcastle can rest in peace. It is probably
best to handwave away the journey back to Ursos with the Aegis, unless the GM wants to foreshadow
further adventures with hazards, but you can narrate how they struggle through the landscape with
the bulky thing.

Ursos is strengthened by the presence of the Aegis, and further strengthened if the heroes dealt with
the shug. Over time, the entire river Xarides will become pure, something affecting the whole region.

The heroes have scored a victory, and substantially helped their community.

Of course, something less than complete victory is possible. Perhaps the heroes can make another
attempt at the Aegis, or purifying the waters, but it will be more difficult next time. Deepcastle has
now been exposed, and other malevolent entities can enter, with only the guardians of the Aegis
keeping any of it safe. And if the shug was confronted but not defeated, it will gather tainted servitors
and move downriver, ultimately to make a strike against the settlers in Ursos who troubled it.

The Smaragd raiders are also the tip of a larger threat, and once they know that Ursos has a new
community that opposes them, they will seek its destruction before it grows. There are ample
opportunities for further adventure should the group want to use Ursos as the community for an Out
of the Ashes series.

43
 INDEX

E P
INDEX Earl Runar.................................. 10
(Recovering) Endurance............. 28
People......................................... 10
Playing the Game....................... 20
Expedition Actions..................... 31 (Recovering) Protection.............. 29
A Expeditions................................. 29
(The) Aegis of Ursos................... 32 Q
Background.......................... 32 F Quests and Scenes...................... 20
Conclusions.......................... 43 Failure and Complications.......... 21
(The) Dead........................... 34 (A) Fantasy World........................ 5 R
(To) Deepcastle.................... 37 Fearless....................................... 18 Recovery..................................... 28
(Accessing) Deepcastle......... 39 (The) Formal Audience.............. 25 Resting Places............................. 31
In Deepcastle........................ 41 (A) Roleplaying Game................. 5
(The) Draugar....................... 34 G
Earl Hafni............................ 35 Galiene Sky................................ 12 S
Earl Runar’s Band................ 37 Game Sessions............................ 20 Sense the Unseen....................... 18
(The) Journey........................ 33 GMCs and Spirit....................... 23 Skirmish Options....................... 27
(A) Note on Monsters.......... 33 GMC Tactics.............................. 28 Song of Power............................ 12
Part 1: Pursuing Earl Runar.. 33 (The) Great Bear.......................... 9 Speed of the Wind..................... 12
(The) River Xarides................ 37 Great Strength............................ 14 Spirit and Drives........................ 22
Shug....................................... 40 Guernon..................................... 14 (Recovering) Spirit..................... 29
(The) Smaragd....................... 34 (Running out of ) Spirit.............. 24
(Other) Smaragd Raiders...... 37 H (Uses of ) Spirit........................... 22
(The) Snowstorm................... 33 (Examples of ) Hazards............... 30 (A) Story Told............................ 16
(The) Sorceress....................... 36 Heroes in a Fallen World............. 4 (The) Structure........................... 24
(The) Source........................... 39 History......................................... 8 (The) Structure of the Game...... 20
Spirits..................................... 42 Supplies...................................... 30
Always Prepared......................... 18 I
Assistance................................... 22 (The) Inkworks............................. 8 T
(The) Astronomy Tower............... 9 Introduction................................. 4 Tests........................................... 21
Attacks....................................... 26 (Basic) Tests................................ 21
Attacks and Opposed Rolls........ 27 K (Group) Tests............................. 24
(A Note on) Keys....................... 23 (Opposed) Tests.......................... 22
C Tread Where I Tread.................. 18
(Lord) Calimydes Boreas............ 10 L Truth Speaker............................. 14
Calm/Storm............................... 23 Legs and Hazards....................... 29
Change/Stability........................ 23 Leontios Laskaris....................... 16 U
Characters.................................. 11 Life/Death.................................. 23 Ula of the Mountain Clans........ 10
Charge!....................................... 27 Light/Darkness.......................... 23 Ursos............................................ 8
(The) Chase................................ 24 Lightfoot Run............................ 12
Chosen Foe................................ 14 Locations...................................... 8 V
Combat....................................... 25 Valdis of the Eisen Clan............. 18
(Escaping) Combat.................... 28 M
Communities in the Game........... 7 Magic and Countermagic........... 28 W
(The) Community......................... 7 Manoeuvres................................ 27 Word of Wrath........................... 16
Community/Wilderness............. 23 (The) Melee................................ 26 Words of Courage and Terror..... 16
Connections............................... 10 Words of Opening...................... 18
Critical Successes....................... 21 N Words of Power.......................... 16
(The) Nature of a Skirmish......... 25 Work the Crowd......................... 14
D Niobe Argyres............................ 10
Despair....................................... 24 Nordheim Castle........................ 10 X
Dice and Rolls.............................. 6 Not All Activities are Actions.... 26 (The) Xarides Bridge.................... 8
Downtime.............................20, 24 Xarides Water............................... 9
Drives......................................... 23

44
Adventures in a Broken World
The war has been won, the Nameless Emperor defeated,
his legions scattered or destroyed. But now the land is
corrupt, and tainted monsters roam and seek prey. Yet
hope still remains. Can you keep your community safe,
help it grow, and rebuild civilisation?

This Quickstart for the full Out of the Ashes game

contains pre-generated characters and details of their
community, and a quest for a lost artefact that could
ensure the community’s security, as well as the rules
needed to play, and outlines for further quests.

ISBN 978-1-9160902-4-8