KETHOSSAVAGE WORLDS - PLAYERS AND GAMEMASTERS GUIDE

By Andrew Benton

Copyright © 2020 Kethos Project. All Rights Reserved. This game references the Savage Worlds game system, available from Pinnacle Entertainment Group at www.peginc.com. Sav-age Worlds and all associated logos and trademarks are copy-rights of Pinnacle Entertainment Group. Used with permis-sion. Pinnacle makes no representation or warranty as to the quality, viability, or suitability for purpose of this product.

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Written and Designed by Andrew Benton

Art Direction by Zach Spivey

Cover Art by John Peckham

Interior Art by Andrew Benton, Carlos de la Garza, Mattias Nyström, John Peck-ham, Cristobal Puga, Sleight, Jason Spivey, Zach Spivey, Diogo Yoshikawa, and the CC0 All-Stars.

Maps by Ken Hinxman and Kris McDermott

Action Deck Adventure Design System is borrowed and adapted from “Beasts and Barbarians”, with gracious permission from author Umberto Pignatelli and the publishers, Gramel Justyna Korys. System developed by Tomasz Z. Majkowski.

Playtesters and Contributors: John Atkinson, Jen Atkinson, Kevin Blouin, Brian Cooklish, Aleah Crouch, Brandon Crouch, Jason Crouch, Pam Crouch, Bobby Dean (Interlude Fiction), Cortney De Angelo (Interlude Fiction), Jon De Angelo, Meighan DeHart, Phil DeHart, Jeremy Duke, Leo Duran, Edmond Gagnone, Liam Gordon, Claire Grasso, Aaron Guerra, Clint Hill, Dixie Hill, Ken Hinxman, Tammy Hinxman, Ryan Huth, Scott McKinlay, Dave McWhorter, Jennifer Reichlein, Carrie Simmons, Jason Spivey, Sean Stang, Ryan Stange, Jay Stretton, Eric Stolle

This book is dedicated to my family and friends who have been so supportive through this whole process.

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Table of ContentsChapter 1: Player’s Guide 3Basic Character Creation 3Racial Packages 5Edges, Hindrances, and Traits 11New Edges 11New Hindrances 14New Skills 15Optional 17Character Traits 17Characters with Infernal Ancestry –“Demon Spawn” 17Human Regional Traits 18

Kehler Groups 18Groups of the Ascendant Kehler Empire 20Groups of the Northlands 22Groups of the Perashdan Empire 22Groups of the Southern Reaches 24

Chapter 2: Technology and Equipment 27Common Equipment 28Traditional Weapons 33Weapon Quality 33Gunpowder Weapons 36Firearms Descriptions 36Firearms Options 38Armor and Shields 39New Armor Types 39Vehicles 41

Sailing Ships and Galleys 41Ship Types 41Ship Design Options 43Cloudships 44Cloudship Types 45

Heavy Weaponry 48Types of Heavy Weapons 49

Chapter 3: Arcane Powers 53Alchemy 53Alchemical Substances 54Bardic Magic 55Enchantment of Magic Items 56Minor Workings 59Ritual Enhancements 61Ritual Casting 62Penalty Reduction 62

Sacrifice of Sentient Beings 63New Powers 64

Chapter 4: Game Master’s Section 76Dynamic Backlash 76Gritty Damage 76Multiple Languages 76No Power Points 77Metal and Magic 77Magic and Circumstance 77Magical Instability 78The Salamander Curse 78Planar Travel 79Crew Quality and Ship Actions 81Intrigue and Factional Conflict System 82

Setup 82The Intrigue Roll 83Morale 83Characters in 84Factional Conflict 84Character Intrigue Results 84Endgame 85

Chapter 5: Adventure Generator 87First Card’s Suit – Setting 87Second Card’s Suit – Adversary 88Third Card’s Suit – Conflict 89Fourth Card’s Suit – Reward 90Presentation 91First Card’s Value - Getting Into the Action 91Second Card’s Value - Atmosphere 93Third Card’s Value - Plot Twist 95Fourth Card’s Value–Climax 97Final Elements 98Plot Example 99

Chapter 6: Kethos Bestiary 102Creatures of Kethos 102People of Kethos 133Kethos Personal Names and Place Names 135

Chapter 7: Adventures 137Adventure #1 – Secret Mine of Suthlundt 137

The Wyvern Skull 137The Interested Party 139

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Montverten 140Up The Mountain 140The Secret Silver Mine 141Unexpectedly Chaotic Caves 142Resolution 145

Adventure #2 - A Matter of Some Import 148Talking with Tarun 148The Relic 149The Opposition 150The Imbrugli Compound 152Imbrugli Mansion 153The Imbrugli Warehouse 154Resolution 155

Adventure #3 - Hertigon's Folly 158The Legend of Hertigon’s Folly 158Getting to Hertigon’s Folly 159The Uncanny Valley 159Hertigon’s Tower 161The Gatehouse 161The Dungeon 162Tower Entrance 164First Floor 165Second Floor 166Third Floor 167Fourth Floor and Roof 168Resolution 168

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Welcome to Kethos, a world of adventure, exploration, and intrigue!

This book covers the rules necessary to create characters and play a campaign using the excellent "Savage Worlds" game system by Pinnacle Enter-tainment Group. It includes character generation, magic systems, setting rules, magic, equipment, and an extensive bestiary. This book requires the Kethos World Guide and a copy of the SWADE Core Rules to use.

Kethos is a fantasy setting designed for use with any game system. This core book contains no ruleset-specific content, though following system guides will provide extensive details for running a Kethos-based campaign using several popular RPG game systems. The setting is designed to produce a unique, sophisticated game setting for all sorts of campaigns, while still containing enough familiar elements to be accessible to most kinds of gamers.

Kethos differs from many fantasy RPG settings in a few important ways. First, it is strongly hu-manocentric - while other races exist, Orcs, Elves, Dwarves, and so forth, it is the interactions be-tween human nations, groups, and religions which drive the plots and setting. Second, Kethos has gunpowder weapons - muskets and cannon exist, though they are limited by our historical standards thanks to the mysterious "Salamander Curse". Third, Kethos is relatively low magic - while mag-ic is not actually uncommon, there is less of it in evidence compared to most RPG settings. This is explained in the setting's history. Finally, Kethos has little direct interaction with other planes of existence - they certainly do exist, but they are dis-tant, mysterious, and poorly understood.

Kethos is shaped and defined by struggle, strife, and war, as well as by the interactions between the many races and cultures. Humans dominate the world, but share it with Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, and many other races. The ancient ruins of past civili-zations dot the landscape, holding both forgotten knowledge and ancient horrors best left undis-covered. There are both teeming cities filled with beings of all races and vast empty wildernesses,

home to small tribes and dangerous beasts. Swords and sailing vessels operate side-by-side with magi-cally powered airships and black powder firearms. The arcane arts are both powerful and dangerous, and practitioners are feared by some and respected by others. The Gods are real, though they interact upon the world through their faithful and clergy rather than directly.

Kethos is loosely influenced and inspired by Earth’s own history and conditions between the 1400’s to the 1600’s, the period around Europe’s Renaissance and the Age of Exploration. Several civilizations are reaching out into the world at the same time, mak-ing for an exciting international climate. The true appeal of the Kethos setting lies in the influence of history, religion, and political tensions rather than simply ancient relics or dangerous dungeons existing in no context. Adventures are as likely to be about the conflicts between gods, priests, and kings as by a desire for treasure and glory. The ac-tions of player characters can reshape borders and alter the balance of power. Essentially, the setting can often make its own adventures.

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Lucky, one of the few Half-Elves in the Kehler Lands of Smallfolk blood, smelled like cupcakes… At least that’s what Kragak always said. Probably the Astral Elf side of her ancestry. She missed Kragak. The

enormous Half Orc who had been her traveling companion of so many adventures, he was part Ogre. He smelled like… Well, that’s not important. Lucky was the only name she’d ever gone by, except for all the other names.

Lucky was lounging in an oubliette at the moment, deep in the basement of Castle Sarras. She was an unrepentant thief, caught red-handed after her favorite gambling hall burned to the ground. Rumors among the guards claimed that the ground on which the little gambling den had stood still smelled like sulfur. Never in their experience had such a tiny person been such a giant problem for those charged with maintaining order in the Kingdom of Sarradastros. The little Half-Elf stood about 4’10” in her stocking feet, which was most of the time as she hated shoes. Her cropped blonde hair hung over her green eyes, which constantly sparkled with mischief. Lucky had the most nimble hands the city guards had ever witnessed.

Emptying the giggling thief ’s pockets, they found almost too many pockets, pouches, and hiding spots to

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count concealed in Lucky’s simple garb. The search had divulged the oddest assortment of items that the guards ever witnessed: coins, letters of commendation from Duram, a notice of pardon from Duram, feath-ers, pen knives, a few precious gems, carefully folded wanted posters with her face, even a few small magic items of unknown origin.

Somehow, Lucky had stolen the dagger off the watch commander during her arrest. When confronted about the theft of the dagger, she had giggled, almost maniacally, and smiled the most innocent smile he had ever seen. But perhaps the most disturbing thing about her was the touch of feral madness that lurked around those sparkling eyes and innocent smile. The guards dropped Lucky into the oubliette, usually re-served for enemies of the kingdom, because they knew from reputation that a simple cell would only delay her a minute or two. Lucky giggled to herself on her small shelf of rock, hanging one arm and one leg over the edge. She was bored.

SO bored.

The giggle drifted up to guards over the oubliette, who sighed audibly at the noise. The watch captain, seat-ed at a table by the door, stomped to the oubliette’s grating and shouted “Shut up, you!”, then returned to his seat to fume. “Gods curse her!,” he muttered, “I’ve never been so damned busy over an oubliette! These things are supposed to escape-proof and she WON’T STOP TRYING!”

His voice landed on Lucky, whose eyes snapped open wide. The giggle stopped. And if anyone had been able to see her clearly, they might’ve been truly nervous. That look of determination didn’t happen often, but when it did… Those around her had reason to be frightened. She sat up straight, held out both hands in front of her, and concentrated. What was it that Suran, her dear pyromancer friend from Sarras Keep, had taught her? Ah yes.

“If you get in trouble, start a fire.”

Lucky looked up at the light coming through the grate and began to concentrate. Across the table from the watch captain, a carefully folded wanted poster began to smolder.

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Chapter 1: Player’s Guide

Building a character is perhaps the most im-portant step in getting a roleplaying game up and running. Good characters can make for a mem-orable game, while weak ones can easily ruin it no matter what the referee has set up. As a play-er, your responsibility is to create an interesting and relevant character, one that fits the theme of the planned campaign. On the other hand, some referees prefer to allow the players to make what they want and build the campaign around what the players come up with. While challenging, this ap-proach can make for a unique game. Just remember to ensure that everyone (referee and players alike) are on the same page before starting.

For a Kethos campaign, remember that the overall feel is usually going to be “gritty”, and “pulp” rather than high fantasy or epic. The battles will be tough and realistic, the enemies will often be shadowy conspiracies hiding terrifying conspira-

cies. Heroes will often be rough, shady, and morally ambiguous. A Kethos campaign is more likely to feel more like “Fafrhd and the Grey Mouser” than like “King Arthur”. Keep this in mind as you think about your character concept.

Basic Character Creation

Once you’ve figured out what kind of charac-ter you’re going to play, it’s time to figure out your character’s statistics. Character sheets are available at the end of this book or online.

1) Race

First choose a race. The player character races of Kethos, a brief description of their history and cul-ture, benefits (edges) and drawbacks (hindrance) to the race, and the rules for playing them are presented on the pages following this section. Read through these and choose a race now. It’s a good idea to read over all the races. Besides the fact that your character should have a working knowledge of the other primary races and ethnicities of Kethos, there are some significant bits of information nes-tled within the racial descriptions.

2) Traits

Now it’s time to figure your hero’s attributes and skills. Unless a racial description says other-wise, your character starts with a d4 in each of his five attributes: Agility, Smarts, Spirit, Strength, and Vigor. You then have 5 points to distribute among them as you choose. Raising an attribute a die type costs 1 point, and you may not raise an attribute above d12 (though some races might be exceptions to this, Ogres for example).

There are five core skills that all adult adventur-ers are assumed to have. These are Athletics, Com-

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mon Knowledge, Notice, Persuasion, and Stealth. Unless a Racial Ability, Edge, or Hindrance says otherwise, you start with a free d4 in that skill. You also have 12 points to buy your skills. Raising a skill by a die type costs 1 point as long as it’s no higher than the attribute it’s linked to. It costs 2 points per die type to raise a skill over its linked attribute. The skills below are available in Kethos. See the rest of the Characters section, as well as the Savage Worlds core rules for complete information on the skills and how to use them.

Skill List• Academics• Athletics• Battle• Boating • Common Knowledge• Driving • Faith• Fighting • Focus• Gambling • Healing • Intimidation • Intrigue• Investigation • Language • Notice• Occult• Performance• Persuasion• Profession• Psionics• Repair• Riding• Science• Shooting• Spellcasting• Stealth• Survival• Swimming• Taunt• Thievery• Weird Science

Languages

Kethos has a vast number of different languages in common use. Therefore the “Multiple languag-es” rule is in effect for the Kethos setting. Your character knows their cultural, racial, or national language, plus an additional number of languages equal to half his Smarts die, at a d6 level of pro-ficiency. Thus, a Nyremian peasant with a d4 in Smarts might speak “Auld Nyremian” as his free native language, “Kehler Common” for talking to those pesky foreign adventurers, and enough “Or-cish” to conduct trade or war with the occasional Orcish bands that move through his area. Addi-tional languages can be purchased as a Knowledge skill.

Derived Statistics • Pace is equal to 6”. • Parry is equal to 2 plus half your Fighting. • Toughness is equal to 2 plus half your Vigor.

3) Special Abilities

Now decide if you want any Hindrances to customize your character further. For the Kethos setting, any from the core rules are acceptable. You may also choose some from the list of new Edges and Hindrances. Regardless of what race you in-tend on playing, it is worthwhile to revisit the racial packages before you pick your character’s personal edges and hindrances. That way you can avoid re-dundancies. If you choose any hindrances, you may now use the points from them to gain one of the benefits below. You may take one Major Hindrance (worth 2 points) and two Minor Hindrances (worth 1 point each) as a starting character to pay for char-acter improvements.

For 2 Hindrance points you can:• Raise an attribute one die type, or• Choose an Edge.

For 1 Hindrance point you can:• Gain another skill point, or• Gain an additional $500

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The most common Arcane backgrounds on Kethos are Arcane Background (Magic) for spell-casters, Arcane Background (Invocations) for Cler-ics and Druids, and Arcane Background (Gifted) for Bards and those with unique magical powers. It should be noted that druids, priests, and Clerics of Kethos are not merely arcanists with a theme, they are conduits of divine power and often lead-ers of their religious communities. As such, they are better designed with fewer “Powers” and more supernatural and social Edges that reflect their particular faith. Arcane Background (Psionics) is only appropriate for a few special cases, such as monks who cultivate intense mental discipline or strange entities from other dimensions. Arcane Background (Weird Science) applies to First Elven “technomagic” and those who understand it well enough to manipulate it directly, such as Shaper Elves. The particulars of the various forms of magic are covered in detail in their own section.

4) Gear

A hero typically starts with the clothes on his back and $500 worth of equipment. You’ll want to spend some of that now on armor, weapons, and whatever other equipment you want. You’ll find lists of available equipment in the core rules and in the gear section of this book. The Fantasy Compan-ion may also have some useful items as well. Armor and especially weapons are slightly different in the Kethos setting, so consult the “Gear and Tech-nology” setting when selecting gear. If the referee wishes to avoid the complexity of tracking money and prices, the “Wealth” option in the core rules are especially useful.

5) Background

Finish up by filling out your hero’s background. Think a bit about where they came from, how they came to be an adventurer, and what are their moti-vations.

Racial PackagesThe various races of Kethos which are suitable

for use player characters are a bit different, and in some ways more powerful, than the similar pack-ages in the core rule book. The templates here supersede the templates in the core rules. All races are built in the standard manner, with 2 points of “Positive Racial Abilities” for free, and additional abilities being paid for and balanced with Hin-drances or Negative Traits as described in the core rules. The individual racial packages are itemized so you can see how they were constructed.

Humans

Humans dominate Kethos in the current era and have for millennia. They can be found in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, exhibiting more physical diversity than any of the major intelligent species on Kethos. Humans of Kethos all share the same racial template regardless of ethnic group. Humans divide themselves into a myriad of dif-ferent societies, again exhibiting far more cultural variety than any of the other races. There are cur-rently four great civilizations on Kethos, each dom-inated by one of the major Human groups – Kehler and Perashdan on Faradath in the north, and the Uthman and Taohuan on Hyaras in the south. Ev-ery ethnic group brings certain stereotypes to mind – in the popular imagination, the Perashdan are master archers and horsemen, the Gemiri and Uth-man are famous sailors and hagglers, the Noladen are often at home in the wilderness, the Sevastin are scholarly and reclusive, and so on. It is up to the player to decide if these are true for their character.

Human Edges and Hindrances

• Adaptable (+2): Humans possess a bewil-dering diversity compared to other races. All humans get one free Novice Edge of their choice, due to the innate variety that hu-mans seem to share in comparison with the other major races of Kethos. A human char-acter might instead choose to take a free d6 in a skill, or even a free d4 in one Attribute.

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Elves

There are three primary varieties of Elves on Kethos, but none exist in large numbers. All Elves possess several edges and hindrances, some com-mon to all varieties, and some which are specific to the lineages. All Elves of every sub-race share the following Racial Traits, Edges and Hindrances related to their physical attributes.

Elven Edges and Hindrances

• Agile (+2): Elves are graceful and agile. Their Agility increases by one die type.

• Lightly Built (-1): Elves are usually willowy, thin and lightly muscled. This gives them a -1 to Toughness.

• Low Light Vision (+1): The character’s eyes amplify light like a cat’s, allowing him to see in the dark. He ignores attack penalties for Dim and Dark lighting.

Each of the major subgroups of elves has their own cultural Traits, which are added to the phys-ical Traits above. These subgroup packages bal-ance out to a net +/-0 cost when tallying up Racial Traits, Edges and Hindrances.

“Shaper Elves” (“Iteskyi” in Elven) are those Elves who claim a connection to the lost civiliza-

tion of the First Elves. They reside in or near First Elven ruins, but also associate freely with Human civilizations in their area as scholars and nobles.

Shaper Racial Traits, Edges and Hindrances

• Cautious (-1): Being immortal and intel-ligent, Shaper Elves refuse to hurry into a situation. Instead they will carefully gather all available information before acting.

• First Elven Arcane Science (+2): Shaper Elves retain some of the gifts of their an-cestors, and are able to will pseudomatter into existence from the shimmer, and then shaping it to their will. This is modeled as Arcane Background (Weird Science) in the core rules. They start the game knowing two “artifacts” and having 15 Power Points to spend on them.

• Refinement (-1): Shaper Elves maintain an elegant and stylish demeanor at all times, even in combat, and will never fail to re-mind others of their ancestry.

“Tribal Elves” (the “Kowedyi” in their language) claim to have descended from a group of Elves who long ago rejected the arcane madness of the Elves of yore, and instead followed a more rustic path. They are the ones most commonly encountered by Humans.

Tribal Racial Traits, Edges and Hindrances

• Innate Archer (+1): Tribal Elves have an affinity for archery, and start with a free d4 in Shooting.

• Racial Enemy – Orcs (-2): Tribal Elves have a long and unpleasant interaction with the Orcish lines, their primary competitors and enemies in the modern era. All social inter-actions with Orcs and Half-Orcs are at a -4, and bloody conflict is the usual outcome of their meetings.

• Thin-Skinned (-1): Tribal Elves tend to be a proud, prickly people, quick to take of-fense to insults, and thus are at -2 to resist a Taunt.

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