For Cathy,

Who fanned my dreams back to life.

Written by
Dariel R. A. Quiogue

VIVID RPG System by

Dariel R. A. Quiogue

With great thanks to:

Cathy L. Quiogue, Marc Reyes, Victor Cabazor, Gelo Bautista, Bots Velez, Derek Tan, Joey
Alvero, Meloy Taa, Augs Cabazor, Barry Billano, JJ Mijares, Josh Sazon, Alex Osias, Dennis
Ching, Daniel H. Boggs, Fredrik Ekman, Trey, anarchist, Dangerous Brian, Howard Fielding,
Keith Davies, Sir Timothy of Kent, Johnn Four, S. John Ross for his excellent Risus system,
Daniel Pond for Wushu, Clinton R. Nixon for The Shadow of Yesterday, and Steffan
OSullivan for FUDGE.

Thanks also to Rob Lang for his enthusiastic review of Gondwanes spiritual predecessor,
Lost in Smaragdis, and his encouraging me to expand on the idea.

VIVID Core Rules by Dariel R. A. Quiogue

GODS OF GONDWANE by Dariel R. A. Quiogue
VIVID Core Rules and GODS OF GONDWANE are released under the
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
or send a letter to Creative Commons, 444 Castro Street, Suite 900,
Mountain View, California, 94041, USA

All images used from the Wikimedia Commons or public-domain works, and/or digitally
modified by Dariel R. A. Quiogue. Various dinosaur illustrations by Nobu Tamura, Arthur
Weasley, Steve oc86, and Tim Bekaert, all from Wikimedia Commons and used under the
GNU Free Documentation License v 1.2.

1
 Gods of Gondwane
Legends of the lost land
Introduction
Over a hundred million years ago, the wisest of an ancient
and incredibly advanced race looked into their future and
discovered their people were extinct. Vanished, without
a trace. Their proud place had been taken over by the
descendants of apes. And so they who would be called the
Shapers began their Great Experiment.
Casting their nets through space and time, the Shapers
captured primitive hominids and accelerated their evolution,
to find out how and why Man had supplanted them. When
they failed to find the answer, they destroyed the cities their
subjects had built, wiped them out, and tried again. Still the
answer eluded them.
And so the Shapers cast their nets further up the time
stream into that place that we call the Bermuda Triangle,
in that time we call the 20th century. The Eighteenth Cycle
of the Great Experiment has begun and you have been
summoned to be part of it.
Welcome to Gods of Gondwane, a science-fantasy role
playing game of swords, sorcery and super-science,
lost civilizations and dinosaurs!
Gods of Gondwane is set on a fantastic, alternate-
history version of Jurassic Earth, some 180 million years
in the past. Mankind occupies the supercontinent of
Gondwana, which they have come to call Gondwane,
sharing it with dinosaurs, the remnants of civilizations
destroyed by past Shaper experiments, and the
secretive alien Shapers. There are many tribes and
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petty kingdoms scattered across the continent, each
with a culture secretly engineered by the Shapers for
some experimental purpose of which the people are
totally unaware.
Among these experiments are the many living gods,
monstrous alien or mutated creatures, sometimes
machines, which the Shapers set up for their subjects to
worship and drive them into constant strife with each
other. Deliberately made to sow chaos, the living gods
are best collectively described as insane. As a result
armed conflicts, witch hunts, and deadly intrigue are
commonplace on Gondwane.
In this game you will play a hero, either a native of
Gondwane or a modern person snagged in one of the
Shapers time-nets, exploring this dangerous primeval
world and leading the fight to liberate Man from the
oppression of the Shapers. Think Spartacus meets Flash
Gordon in The Land That Time Forgot, and youre rolling!
For those of you whove seen my Lost in Smaragdis
setting, consider this the bigger, badder, bastard child
of Smaragdis.
What is a Role Playing Game
Remember those Lets Pretend games you used to
play as a kid, where you and your friends would act
out the parts of your childhood heroes doing daring
deeds? Thats basically what roleplaying game is, in a
more developed form.
Roleplaying games, or RPGs for short, are storytelling
games where two or more players build a story together
by taking turns narrating what happens to their
imaginary characters and their imaginary world. The
object of the game is to get an ending you like for your
character - for example, in an adventure that revolves
around a perilous treasure hunt, the best ending is to
get home with the treasure. Its like creating a movie
together inside your heads, with you and your friends
in the starring roles.
One player takes the lead in making the story and
managing the game; this player is called the Game
Master. All the other players then create their own
characters, and play them through the game by taking
on the challenges presented by the Game Master.
Much of the game revolves around various challenges
given by the Game Master, which you try to solve and
so move toward your desired ending by using your
wits and your characters most appropriate abilities.
What is Needed to Play
Gods of Gondwane is played using the Vivid 4.0 rules
system, which is incorporated into this document.
You will need to provide yourself paper, pencils, about
a dozen six-sided dice (the standard cubical die you
3
find with many family board games), and any kind
of handy counting token such as poker chips, plastic
stones, or even small coins. You can play using only
3 or so dice, but its much more convenient to have
plenty.
How to Use This Book
Players should at least skim over the next section,
the World Overview, before diving into Character
Creation. Game Masters should read everything.
Bibliography
To acknowledge my inspirations for this game, and to
help give you some idea seeds for playing this game,
let me point you to the following:
Cinema & TV
The Land That Time Forgot, Kevin Connor, 1975
At the Earths Core, Kevin Connor, 1976
The People That Time Forgot, Kevin Connor, 1977
Warlords of Atlantis, Kevin Connor, 1978
Flash Gordon, Mike Hodges, 1980
The Lost World, Stuart Orme, 2001
10,000 B.C., Roland Emmerich, 2008
 Land of the Lost, Sid and Marty Krofft, 1974
The Scorpion King, Chuck Russell, 2002
Short Stories & Novels
Pellucidar series, Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1914
Tarzan series, Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1912
Barsoom series, Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1911
The Land That Time Forgot, Edgar Rice
Burroughs, 1918
Saga of the Pliocene Exile series, Julian May, 1981
The Face in the Abyss, Abraham Merritt, 1923
The Lost World, Arthur Conan Doyle, 1912
Almuric, Robert E. Howard, 1939
Conan stories, Robert E. Howard, c. 1930
Thongor series, Lin Carter, c. 1970
Tschai aka Planet of Adventure series, Jack Vance,
1968
Comic Books
The Warlord, Mike Grell, DC Comics, 1975
Killraven, Roy Thomas/Neal Adams, Marvel
Comics, 1973
Flash Gordon, Alex Raymond et al, 1934- 2003
Turok, Rex Maxon, Western Publishing/Gold
Key Comics/Valiant Comics, 1954
Arn, Jean Pierre Dionnet & Jean-Claude Gal,
Metal Hurlant, 1980
Nonfiction
Chariots of the Gods, Erich von Daniken, 1968
The Bermuda Triangle, Charles Berlitz, 1974
Of these, I would probably have to point to Mike
Grells classic creation, The Warlord, as my main
creative seed.
World Overview
First Impressions
Whats it like to be in the world of Gondwane? Read
on, and let your minds eye play out these scenes:
4
The heat of the jungle is oppressive. You are in
a jungle the likes of which you have never seen
before, for there are no trees here, only giant
ferns and cycads, and some of the humming
insects are as big as crows. Somewhere behind
you, you can hear the scrunch of something big
stalking through the undergrowth. Something
is hunting you. Then, through a break in the
ferns, you catch a glimpse of teeth the size of
steak knives, and a mad yellow eye
A herd of enormous sauropods strides across
a hot and dusty plain, their heads held high on
towering necks and swaying from side to side,
their booming calls shaking the sky. Smaller
creatures scatter from their path like the bow
waves from a great ships prow. Only when
the sauropods get closer do you notice the
colorful pennons fluttering atop large howdahs
on their backs, and in each howdah, the glint of
sunlight on helmets and spearheads of bronze
A hurled stone axe flashes past your ear. The
air is filled with inhuman hoots and yowls
as the Golgar hunting party moves in for the
kill. Though they are squat and misshapen
by the standards of modern man, though
their low brows and heavy jaws give them
the appearance of dumb beasts, you can still
recognize their kinship to you. But as they bare
their big yellow teeth at you, you come to the
sick realization that the Golgars are man-eaters
You have begun to realize that this cave you
entered was never formed by nature. Beneath
the encrusting minerals laid on by the eons is
cut stone and metal, and when you hold your
torch higher you realize the cobwebbed walls
on either side of you are pitted with vertical
niches. Each is taller than a man and covered

with a pane of what seems to be the purest
quartz. Suddenly the cover of the one you are
looking into slides away, and a gaunt, strangely
elongated hand extends from the darkness
and gestures at you, sending a chill numbness
through your spine
You are taken to a sprawling temple-city, thick
with the smells of smoke and incense and
burning flesh, ringing with the music of brass
gongs and the chanting of the crowds. At the
very center of the city, guarded by cyclopean
statues of armored warriors and snarling
dragons, is a low, wide ziggurat where masked
and hooded priests are offering the sacrifices.
And at the top of the ziggurat, chained with
massive bronze links to a basalt throne, is a
creature that could never have been born on
this Earth
Man on Gondwane
Man on Gondwane did not evolve naturally, but was
bred by the Shapers in a continuing experiment to find
out why human civilization survived and the Shapers
did not. This experiment has been repeated many
times, each time allowing mankind to reach a height
of technology equal or greater than Modern Earth,
then wiped out as the experiment was reset. This
means the human population of Gondwane consists of
both the current batch and the scattered, often secret,
Remnants of previous experiments.
Differences from Modern Man
Because of the artificial origin of man on Gondwane,
and the many batches so created, there are some
interesting differences between them and Modern
Earth humans. First, the coloration: while all the
skin and hair colors of modern man are known on
Gondwane, there are additional variants and unusual
combinations, such as green or blue hair, or green
eyes and dark skin. Second, a small yet significant
percentage of Gondwane humans are also born with
psychic talents.
The third difference is psychological; the Gondwaneans
5
have always lived with the notion of immanent, active
and demanding gods, and are conditioned to accept
their commands whatever the consequences. However,
there are those few who do question the status quo and
the motives of their supposed deities, those who have
made contact with Remnants and discovered their
fates and thus have begun to rebel.
Civilizations
The civilized Gondwaneans are scattered thinly across
the supercontinent, in small city-states. There are a
few empires comprising more than one city. Between
these pockets of civilization are the barbarian tribes,
comprising both those races that had never been
civilized and some remnants from previous cycles.
Visually, many Gondwanean civilizations are
reminiscent of Ancient Greek, Babylonian, Phoenician
and Persian culture they have chariots, crested
bronze helms, tall spears, corselets of scale or leather,
all the trappings of a Hollywood sword-and-sandal
movie, but with dinosaurs! Most city states are ruled
by kings and secretive cabals of priests, and some are
ruled directly by their gods.
This flavor is carried throughout in the visuals walled
cities, great square, blocky palaces and broad, towering
ziggurats and in the names, which Ive made pseudo-
Greek sounding, along with a mix of pseudo-Latin and
pseudo-Babylonian and Phoenician.
Technology
The majority of Gondwanes peoples have a High
Bronze Age technology. Many barbarians are even
lower on the scale, having only Stone Age technology.
From time to time, however, fantastic technologies
from Remnant civilizations show up, are fought over
for their power, and then mysteriously disappear
again
Themes
Gods of Gondwane is about:
The discovery of a lost world. Gondwane is
removed from our modern world in time, and
by all we know it shouldnt exist. This sets up
the mystery of why man exists in the age of
the dinosaurs, apparently for a very long time
 already, and why traces of an ancient super-
science are all over the place.
The fight for freedom; the civilized races
oppress the barbarians, the rich oppress the
slaves, and the Shapers oppress and conspire
against all mankind. Your character is caught
in the middle of all this -- what are you going
to do about it?
Survival in a primeval, dangerous world;
with dinosaurs and other large, ferocious
beasts on land, water and air, and every
Gondwanean nation against all the others, it
takes extraordinary ability to travel the wilds
of Gondwane.
False religions; in classic pulp tradition, the
Gods of Gondwane are not deities at all but
monsters, their priesthoods either fanatically
violent or cynically murderous, with agendas
hostile to freedom and peace.
Exploration of the strange and wonderful;
Gondwane hides many strange and wondrous
secrets for the brave adventurer to find, what
with thousands of years of civilizations cast
into ruins with every Shaper experiment.
The wonder and terror of magic; against all
known laws of science, magic is a real force on
in Gondwane. Though practitioners are rare,
they are known and feared, for their powers
have a very real impact on the worlds stage.
Worse yet, practitioners of magic seem to have
attracted the attention of inimical visitors from
other planes
The degeneration of people and civilizations
after a cataclysm. Gondwane abounds with
isolated, secretive and deranged remnants of
past civilizations, each warped in a different
way by their fall and desperate circumstances.
Character Creation
Gods of Gondwane lets you make characters from
any of three very different worlds Modern Earth,
Gondwane of the 18th Cycle, and the Remnants of the
previous cycles.
Adventuresome pulp archetypes such as explorers,
hunters, archaeologists, bush pilots, journalists,
soldiers, seamen, scientists, travelling dilettantes, and
the like make for good Modern Earth characters.
6
If you want a Gondwanean character, you cant go
wrong with a gladiator, escaped slave, soldier, tribal
warrior or hunter, noble, or thief. If you want a
character with weird powers, you could make a mind-
controlling mystic, an energy-manipulating wizard, or
a demon-summoning sorcerer, very possibly from one
of the Remnant peoples.
Character Creation Procedure
Creating a character is a simple 7-step procedure.
1. GM Briefing
2. Concept
3. Assign Roles
4. Purchase Assets
5. Assign Hooks
6. List Outfit
7. GM Review
Step 1: GM Briefing
The first step in any game is for the GM to brief
everyone on the game. You want to know what the
game will be about, the desired tone serious, light-
hearted, dark and gritty, wacky, etc. etc. and what
kinds of characters are appropriate. Feel free to ask the
GM any questions you want about the game and for
help in making your character.
Gods of Gondwane is written to be a cinematic,
pulp-style action-adventure game. The game favors
Hollywood action movie over strict physics in its take
on realism, and violence is frequent but the messier
details are glossed over in favor of highlighting the
heroic aspects of conflict. If you want to run your
game differently, let your players know. Better yet,
talk about it with everybody and get a consensus.
Step 2: Concept
Your concept should consist of a name, a role or
occupation, and a goal. Characters may come from
a wide variety of origins and so have widely varying
background knowledge, attitudes, and abilities.
Characters in Gods of Gondwane basically come in
three flavors:
Anachronists
Anachronists are those who have been transported to
Gondwane from modern Earth. Anachronists may
come from any time-period in history, but taking the
1920s to the 1940s as your characters point of departure
is most appropriate given the pulp feel of this game.
Anachronists will likely possess one or more pieces of
modern technology that can act as their ace-in-the-hole.
If the technology requires some kind of consumable to
work, however, such as ammo for a gun, chances are
all youll ever have will be what you brought with you.
Gondwane will be a strange and almost unexplainable
place to you, specially with its traces of ancient super-
science and its living gods not to mention men living
with dinosaurs!
Sample Anachronist Concepts:
Airplane Pilot, Big Game Hunter, Explorer, Playboy
Sportsman, Reporter, Soldier, Sailor, Scientist/ Scholar
Gondwaneans
Gondwaneans are of course people born and bred in
Gondwane. Gondwaneans are human in every respect
and look quite ordinary save for variations in skin,
eye and hair color. The most common racial type in
Gondwane stands 5.5 6 feet tall, is red-skinned, dark-
haired and dark-eyed.
Most Gondwaneans come from civilizations that are
roughly on par with the civilizations of the Classical
Era i.e. Greco-Roman, Persian, Phoenician, etc. etc.
Some Gondwaneans are born with psychic powers,
and go on to develop these as mystics, wizards or
sorcerers. All these weird disciplines are considered
as unnatural and malicious witchcraft in most
Gondwanean societies.
Gondwaneans of course suspect absolutely nothing
is odd with their world, since theyve known nothing
else. They know nothing about the Shapers, the Great
Experiment, or the time-nets.
Most Gondwaneans will come from places where a
living god is worshipped. They see this as perfectly
natural and absolute obedience to the god as
unquestionably right. Player character Gondwaneans
7
however may be exceptions, with reasons to question
the mysteries and dogmas of their world.
Sample Gondwanean Concepts:
Warrior, Hunter, Barbarian, Noble, Escaped Slave,
Gladiator, Dinosaur Tamer, Thief, Sailor/Pirate,
Mystic, Sorcerer, Wizard
Remnants
Remnants are people who have somehow escaped
the Shapers efforts to exterminate mankind at the
end of previous cycles of the Great Experiment. As
such, Remnants should be very rare. Remnants may
have appearances that vary quite far from the modern
human norm: some are very tall, some are dwarfs,
some sport strange coloration, some may even have
non-human genes. There could be winged Remnants
that fly, Remnants capable of living underwater, and
so on.
Quite a few Remnants will also have psychic powers in
fact a higher proportion than modern Gondwaneans,
because of course these are the more likely ones to
survive the Shaper exterminations.
Most Remnants will look strange enough that they
are readily identifiable in Gondwanean society unless
they take steps to disguise themselves. Moreover
most Remnants would not have been exposed to
Gondwanean society and so are ignorant of many
customs and conventions.
Because Remnants may contaminate the current
experiment, Shaper policy is to eliminate them
whenever they are found. This is often done through
secret agents, who simply have to plant suspicions
of witchcraft against the Remnants as the Remnants
appearance and strange ways make them stand out.
Remnants who travel only know that they are marked
for persecution in Gondwanean society.
 youll be allowed to
assign those free dice once
youve found a suitable
Role in Gondwane. For
example, Rick Brandon
is an American Soldier
of Fortune 3; after a stint
in a Zyran arena, he also
becomes a Gladiator 4.

Two-fisted
Heres a fun pulp-y take on
characters; adding Two-
Fisted to any otherwise
mundane Modern Earth
role indicates that your
character can do basic
action stunts with it, such
as brawling or running
and jumping. So yes,
you can run a New York
Socialite 4/Two-Fisted
Reporter 3 if you want to!
Remnants may possess knowledge and/or technology
the majority of Gondwaneans do not. Some Remnants
may even have a glimmering of the truth that
mankinds presence here is engineered, and may have
doubts about the living gods.

Sample Remnant Concepts:

Scientist with Weird Knowledge, Innocent Lost in
a Strange World, Escaped Slave, Bearer of a Terrible
Secret, Mystic, Wizard, Sorcerer
Step 3: Assign Roles
Roles define what your character is, and thus what your
character can do. When you have to make rolls to see
if your actions succeed, your minimum number of dice
to roll is equal to the rating of your most appropriate
Role for the task. If youve no Role for it, and it can be
done by any ordinary human, you get 1 die.
You have 7 dice to divide between your Roles,
maximum of 5 dice to any Role. One Role should be
your Primary Role, which is what your character is
best known for. You should also have one or more
Secondary Roles. You may create and define your
Roles yourself; in fact you can translate your concept
directly into Roles, for example Escaped Gladiator 4,
Antilian Peasant 3.
Open Roles
You also have the option to make only one Role, and
leave some of your Role dice unassigned for starters;
8
Weird Roles
Gondwanean and Remnant characters, specially the
latter, may have access to weird powers through a
combination of Roles and Assets. Characters with
weird powers must beware, for most Gondwaneans
fear such powers and consider them evil, while the
Shapers are also wary of them and may try eliminate
any who seem to be endangering the experiment.
Espers are untrained psychics, all raw talent and
energy. Espers are prone to spontaneous displays
of their talents, a dangerous defect as Gondwaneans
consider such things evil.
Mystics are those who have harnessed their psychic
talents, usually through intense training and mental
discipline.
Wizards are those who fuse psychic talent not
necessarily their own with strange technology and
extraplanar energies to produce wondrous devices:
wands that blast forth beams of energy, flying
machines, automata, artificial life, and so on.
Sorcerers are those who have learned to contact
extraplanar beings and call them up to do their bidding.
This is a rather dark Role, because of the requirements
for obtaining and keeping extraplanar servants; some
GMs may prefer to reserve this Role for villains.

Step 4: Purchase Assets

Assets describe a wide range of personal qualities,
knowledges, and significant possessions, from physical
attributes like being stronger than most, mental
attributes like being quick-witted or perceptive, to
armor or nifty gadgets. To denote that something is an
Asset, write its rating between square brackets, thus [
]. You have 15 dice to distribute among your Assets.
Guts
Guts is the most important of all Assets in the Vivid
system. It is a measure of that X-factor that makes you
a hero courage, determination, confidence, physical
and mental energy and so on. You must invest 1-4 dice
in Guts.
Attributes
Attributes describe physical and mental characteristics
that make you better at some things than the average
person. This includes being tougher, stronger, faster,
more intelligent, perceptive, persuasive, etc. etc. You
may invest 1-4 dice in each Attribute. Note that you
dont need to take any Attribute unless you want to be
exceptional at it; human average in Attributes is 0.
Knacks
Knacks are talents and special skills that make certain
activities easier for you. Roles that dont exactly
qualify as wholly physical or wholly mental, like being
a Crack Shot, Hard to Kill, or Femme Fatale fall under
Knacks. You may invest 1-4 dice in each Knack.
Weird Powers
Weird powers such as pyrokinesis the ability to
generate fire with just the mind, telepathy, ability to
summon extraplanar beings, and the like are taken like
special Knacks. You may invest 1-4 dice in each power.
Characters can only work weird power effects for
which they have the necessary Knack. For example, if
you bought Telekinesis 4 for your character, thats all
you can do.
Esper and Mystic Knacks
Espers and Mystics may take Knacks describing mind-
on-mind powers such as telepathy or truthreading,
mind-on-body powers such as healing, or mind-on-
9
matter/energy powers such as pyrokinesis. Esper
and Mystic Knacks are refreshed by rest or meditation.
Some possible Esper Knacks include:
Dominate
Allows you to compel another to do your will by mental
pressure alone. Variant: Beast Master only allows you
to dominate animal intelligences.
Energy Blast
Zap! Your blast can take the form of lightning, flames,
intense light, or even sound.
Healing
You can heal wounds and diseases by the power of
your mind.
Mind Shield
You can tap this Knack for dice to resist telepathic
attack.
Obfuscate
Allows you to mask your presence by making your
target unable to register you in his mind. Also works
in hiding objects. Can you say Jedi mind trick?
Telepathy
Allows you to communicate with others at a distance.
Anyone not prepared to receive you is considered to
have a closed mind, and you must win a contest vs.
whatever your target can resist your mind with.
Wizard Knacks
Wizard Knacks take the form of arcane technology
wands that shoot destructive energies, crystals that
produce barriers of force, and so on. Wizard Knacks
are refreshed by recharging the arcane devices; some
use sunlight for this, others use the ley lines of the
Earth. Some possible Wizard Knacks include:
Cloaking Amulet
Tap this Knack to make
yourself effectively
invisible. The amulet affects
the minds of all onlookers
and makes them incapable
of registering your presence.

Energy Wand
A wand of metal with a
crystal at one end. Allows
you to shoot bolts of energy
from the crystal end, with
the same effective range
as a bow. Tap this Knack
to make more powerful
attacks with it.

Flying Servitor
A small bird-like or insect-
like automaton that can
fly, talk, deliver messages,
maybe even do some simple
manipulations or carry
whatever is revealed or commanded in the dream is
things if you gave it some kind of grasping ability.
real and urgent.
Shielding Gauntlet
Codex Phasmaidae
A metal gauntlet that can be tapped to create a
You have a copy of the Codex Phasmaidae, which
protective shield against physical damage.
grants you access to a plane of insectoid intelligences.
Sorcerer Knacks You can summon, among other things, warrior
phasmids, armored, clawed, insect-like beings who
Sorcerer Knacks revolve around knowledge of
can phase through matter at will.
extraplanar beings and how to contact and summon
them or make them alter reality in some way; often this Void Wraith Servant
takes the form of a Grimoire, a listing of beings and the
Void Wraiths are nearly-invisible, incorporeal beings
requirements to obtain their services. Grimoires are
of human-like intelligence. Though unable to interact
mostly copied from Remnant sources. Sorcerers may
with matter on our plane, they are natural telepaths.
bind one or more extraplanar beings to their service,
Often used for spying, guarding, and assassination.
effectively making them into Followers.
Arms and Armor
Sorcerer Knacks are refreshed by study of the occult
Weapons do not have set damage ratings in the
and by feeding their extraplanar contacts or servants;
Vivid system. However if you want a more powerful
very often the required food of these creatures is
weapon, you may invest up to 4 dice in a special
life-force, obtained by sacrificing animals or people.
weapons qualities. This is completely optional.
This makes sorcerers rather easy to find out, and adds
to their often deservedly evil reputations.
You will have to invest dice in any armor or shields,
Some possible Sorcerer Knacks include:
however, as these determine how much protection
Wisdom of the Sleeping Gods they will afford you. Again, you may invest up to 4
You have a copy of, or parts of, the Wisdom of the dice in each item. 2 dice can represent a suit of light or
Sleeping Gods. Grants you access to the plane of the partial armor such as gladiators belly guard; 3 dice
Dream Eaters, beings who feed by consuming the is medium armor, like a lacquered leather cuirass; and
energy of human dreaming, or can insinuate dreams 4 dice is very good armor, like a bronze cuirass.
into a sleeping mind, and make the sleeper believe that
10

Followers
Followers may also be bought as Assets. Your
follower could be a loyal dog, a servant or assistant, a
bodyguard, or even a small party of henchmen. You
may invest up to 4 dice in any single follower or group
of followers.
Step 5: Assign Hooks
Hooks describe qualities and relationships that
complicate the characters life. These serve as tips to
the GM for creating stories that involve the character
more in the game, and also as a means to refresh Guts
or earn Fate Dice.
Whenever your character engages in interaction with
NPCs mentioned in his Hooks, you get to refresh Guts
back to your original rating; if your Guts is at full, you
earn a Fate Die instead. Yes, this does mean you get a
concrete game benefit for giving your character family
or a significant other!
Whenever you take an action that complicates life for
your character by following one of his Hooks, you get
to refresh Guts back to your original rating; if your
Guts is at full, you earn a Fate Die instead.
When you take an action thats against one of your
characters Hooks, you have to pay the GM 1 Guts or
1 Fate Die.
You can take as many Hooks as you like; a minimum
of one, three to five is good. Too many though could
make your character a bit unwieldy. Hooks are unrated.
Vices, phobias, enemies, romantic entanglements, even
chronic ailments can make for interesting Hooks.
11
Example
Well give Carse the following Hooks:
Deathly Afraid of Snakes (you know where this
came from!), Unreformable Gambler, Gentlemans
Honor, Enraged by Abuse of Weaker Folk
Ill have to pay Guts or a Fate Die when Carse takes an
action that resists his fear of snakes, but I regain Guts
whenever I roleplay Carse as wanting to flee or avoid
snakes. Similarly Ill regain Guts or earn Fate Dice
when I get Carse into trouble gambling, and Enraged at
Abuse is going to get him into lots of trouble with the
slave-owning societies of Gondwane.
Step 6: List Outfit
Your character can have anything that a person of
his conceived occupation and circumstances would
reasonably have. This include clothes, minor personal
effects, even weapons and armor if theres a good
reason to have them. The GM may always veto any
item that seems too powerful for the game, or require
you to buy it as an Asset.
Firearms
Firearms do Armor-Piercing (AP) damage. That
is, guns ignore armor, and give you +1 bonus die to
attacks vs. creatures that have natural armor (see
Hardened, below).
Example
Ill give Carse the following gear: Khakis, Boots,
Battered Fedora, Revolver, Ammo, and a Hunting
Knife.
Step 7: GM Review
Show your finished character sheet to the GM. The GM
can help you polish up the details, suggest additional
Assets or Hooks that could be useful or interesting,
and check if the character fits the game.
Fate Dice
Fate Dice are a resource given as reward for entertaining
role-play and accomplishing adventure goals. They
have two important functions; first, they can be spent
to improve your chances in a roll by adding bonus dice
(1 Fate Die = 1 bonus die), and second, they can be spent
to improve Assets or acquire new ones. Characters
start play with 0 Fate Dice, and should accumulate
some with every game session.
Renown Hooks
Tracking Renown is an optional rule in Gods of Deathly Afraid of Snakes
Gondwane. At the GMs option, characters may be Gentlemans Honor
awarded Renown for accomplishing great deeds. Unreformable Gambler
Renown can influence the reactions of NPCs, usually Enraged by Abuse of Weaker Folk
for the better, but may also create complications.
Renown is most useful when playing a campaign, Fate 0
where characters have a prolonged presence in the
game world and have more opportunities to change it. Outfit
Khakis, Battered Fedora, Boots, Revolver,
Sample Characters Hunting Knife, Canteen
Here are some sample characters with complete Roles,
Assets, and Hooks. You will note that character stats Arthur Rice Haggard
will handily fit into a 5x7 index card, which is the Ageing but still hawk-eyed big game hunter from
recommended character sheet for this game. Durban

Jonathan Carse Roles

Archaeologist and ex-star athlete gone to a life of crime Ageing but Hawkeyed Hunter 5 (Guns,
Tracking, Bush Travel)
Roles Amateur Palaeologist 2 (Knows a bit about
Ex-Star Football Player 4 (Brawling) dinosaurs)
World-trotting Field Archaeologist with Shady
Assets
Dealings 3
Instinct for Danger 3
Assets Ishu, Wise Old Pygmy Tracker 3
Ruggedly Fit 3 Stubborn Will 3
Perceptive 3 Veteran of the East African Campaign 3
Roguish Charm 3 Guts 3
Knows a bit of Judo 2
Guts 4
12
Hooks Gladiators Manica 2
Weakening Heart Slave Grapevine 2
Old-fashioned Imperialist Guts 4
Fascination with Dinosaurs
Ive Never Hunted That Before! Hooks
Wanted Leader of a Slave Revolt
Fate 0 Honoria, the Slavegirl I Left Behind
Valanus, Violator of Honoria
Outfit Python, My Strait-laced Brother
Rugged Bush Clothes, Hat, Boots, Rifle (custom Volcanic Temper
Rigby .457), Machete, Canteen; Ishu has a Rifle
Fate 0
and Hunting Knife

Professor Nigel Farquhar-Botham Outfit

Absent-minded scholar of antiquities and oddities Gladiators Manica, Sandals, Axe, Bronze
Buckler
Roles
Former Professor of Medicine 3 Python
Scholarly Gentleman Adventurer 3 Ex-Imperial Guardsman
(Guns, Riding, Fencing, Living Outdoors,
Archaeology, World Mysteries, the Occult) Roles
Fancies Himself a Linguist 1 Ex-Imperial Guardsman 4 (Sword, Shield,
Spear, Athletics, Security)
Assets Streetwise and Suspicious of Everything 3
Medical Supplies Bag 3
Custom-Built Rigby .457 Rifle 3 Assets
Wealthy, Cultured Aristocrat 2 Bronze Armor 4
Read a Bit of Everything Once 3 Hoplite Shield 4
Guts 4 Imperial Court Connections 2
Veteran of the Barbarian Campaigns 3
Hooks Guts 4
Absent-Minded
Growing Obsession with the Occult Hooks
Addicted to Luxury Areius, My Black Sheep Brother
Valanus, My Former C.O. and Father of My
Fate 0 Betrothed
Lydia, My Betrothed
Outfit Wanted for Rebellion and Treason
Khakis, Pith Helmet, Boots, Rifle, Sword Cane,
Medical Bag, Bottle of Brandy Fate 0

Outfit
Bronze Armor (cuirass, helm, greaves), Hoplite
Areius Shield, Sandals, Pair of Spears, Sword, Dagger
Ex-gladiator and freedom fighter
Rhalina
Roles Remnant mystic with a terrible secret
Escaped Gladiator 4
Former Captain in the Legion 3 (Command, Roles
Tactics) Thousand-Year Old Mystic 4 (Read Minds,
Heal)
Assets Scholar of Remnant Civilizations 3
Agile 4
Bronze Buckler 3 Assets
13
 Furtive Survivor 3 your actions in greater detail; the how of an action
Inhumanly Beautiful 3 becomes really important, as this is how you claim
Mind Reading 3 Advantage for your character and work in other ways
Healing 3 to get bonus dice.
Guts 3
Dice Rolls
Hooks
The core of all Vivid mechanics is the Contest Roll.
The Secret History of Khalmyrium Every action that is important enough to be rolled is
Wanted Dead by the Shapers considered a contest against something.
Abhors Violence
Can Only Touch Human Minds In a Contest Roll, you roll your dice from your most
applicable Role, and your opponent does the same.
Fate 0 Look for your highest die, and compare that with your
opponents highest die. If the number showing on
Outfit your highest die is higher than your opponents, you
Dagger, Pilgrim Disguise win the Contest Roll.

Contests come in two varieties, Simple and Extended.

Simple Contests are over as soon as a winner has been
decided. Extended Contests are played out until one
side can no longer continue, or one side has achieved
the condition necessary to end the contest, such as
reaching the finish line of a race.

Opponents
Any person, creature or force of nature can be an
opponent in some way. Even groups of people or
creatures acting as one can be treated as a single
opponent. We simply rate the power of that opponent
to oppose your character with dice.

In the course of your adventures, you could run across

opponents like an Ancient Crocodile 5, Raging River 4,
or a even Skilled Orator 6, just to give a few examples.

Basic Mechanics Outcomes

Gods of Gondwane is played using the Vivid RPG
system, a very light and easy to use set of rules made
for cinematic-style play.
Declaring Actions
Playing an RPG consists mostly of declaring actions
for your character; you want your character to achieve
something, so you declare what your character does to
attain that goal.
When declaring actions, state what you want your
character to do and what you want to achieve with
the action. If theres no opposition, or negligible
opposition, your action simply happens; if theres
significant opposition, however, the GM will call for
dice rolls.
For dramatically important actions, try to describe
14
Three basic outcomes are possible in a Contest Roll;
Victory, Defeat, or a Stay.
Victory
A Victory happens when your highest die is higher
than your opponents. In simple contests this means
youve already won, and you get what you want; in
an extended contest, this means youve gotten the
upper hand and inflicted some kind of effect on your
opponent, such as damage. You usually get to narrate
the results of a Victory.
Defeat
A Defeat happens when your highest die is lower than
your opponents. This means your opponent achieved
what he wanted, at your expense. Defeats are usually
narrated for you by your opponents player, which
usually means the GM.
Stay
A Stay happens when you and your opponent rolled
the same highest die. This represents a tense stalemate,
with emphasis on the tense; Stays cost you time and
resources, without getting you closer to your goal. The
classic image of a Stayed result is of two swordsmen
grinding blades in a vicious corps-a-corps, neither able
to get free to strike.
On the other hand, a Stay means the opponent made
no progress either, and may be the minimum desirable
result for example in combat, this means you werent
able to hit your enemy, but you werent hit either.
Chains
Multiple sixes make a Chain; gather your sixes and
count them. Longer Chains beat shorter Chains and
any lesser roll result. Victory with a Chain is described
as a Crit: a special, spectacular outcome that exceeds
normal expectations.
Bonus Dice
The more dice you can roll, the more likely you are to
win the roll, and to gain that all-important Crit. Half
the fun of the game is in finding ways to roll more dice.
Advantage
You want to look for circumstances and environmental
conditions that, properly used, can give you some
15
kind of advantage vs. your opponent. For example,
in combat a spear has greater reach than a sword;
Advantage to the spear-wielder. When climbing a
cliff, you can claim Advantage if you have a rope, as
opposed to climbing without aids.
Advantage gives you +1 bonus die.
Risk Dice
Risk Dice are bonus dice representing you taking risks
that could backfire on you, even as you succeed. For
example, going deeper into the jungle will give you
bonuses to a hunting roll; but dangerous encounters
with monsters are also more likely. In combat, Risk
Dice can represent taking greater chances but at the
possible cost of getting your weapon stuck or losing it,
or even taking an injury.
Risk Dice are represented by dice of a different color.
You may opt to take 1-3 Risk Dice if the GM allows it.
Risk Dice should be rolled as dice of a different color,
to distinguish them from the other dice. If any Risk
Die rolls a 1, a complication happens. The more Risk
Dice that roll 1, the more serious the complication!
Tapping Assets & Guts
Various Assets may be tapped to increase your dice
pool for a roll, depending on what youre trying to do.
As long as it makes sense that the Asset you named

could help in your action, you can tap it. Guts can be
tapped for just about anything, as this heroic quality
can affect a lot of actions.
Tapping an Asset lowers its rating by the number of
dice you take from it. Thus an Asset rated 3 dice can
be tapped once for all three dice, three different times
for one die at a time, etc. etc.
When an Asset is tapped out reduced to 0 dice
you cannot tap it again until it has refreshed. Assets
refresh when you take appropriate actions mental
and physical attributes are restored by simple rest,
arms and armor are restored by cleaning and mending,
and so on.
Guts is best refreshed by taking actions that engage
your characters passions; interacting with a loved
one, indulging in a hobby or vice, or anything that is
pleasurable and relaxing for the character. A few hours
of such pleasure-seeking will regain all the characters
Guts. At the lowest end of this scale is simple rest
spend enough time doing nothing, without any major
exertions or danger, and Guts is fully refreshed after
24 hours.
Victory Points
Extended Contests are played for Victory Points. When
one side has achieved the requisite number of Victory
Points, the contest ends with that side winning. The
action in Extended Contests can thus be paced by the
number of Victory Points required to end it.
If there is no other obvious measure of how much it
16
takes to finish an Extended Contest, the rule of thumb
is that itll take 3 Victory Points.
You normally gain a Victory Point every time you
score a Victory; but you get Victory Points equal to the
number of sixes rolled if you rolled a Crit. Again, this
makes Crits very desirable.
Combat
Combat is simply an elaboration of the Extended
Contest mechanic. The rules presented here are
built for fast-paced, cinematic combat, with plenty of
opportunity to have cool moments, satisfying triumphs
and hair-raisingly close shaves.
Procedure
Resolving combat is a matter of four simple steps.
Combat is played in rounds lasting several seconds
each, or long enough to perform a sequence of related
actions. Every round, players should get a chance to
have their characters act, as long as the characters have
the capacity to do so.
1) GM sets the scene
2) Deployment of characters into Sets
3) Each player gets a turn to make a Riff and
resolve it
4) If any combatants are still in the fight and want
to continue, begin another round
Actions between a Set are resolved simultaneously; the
winner is considered to be the one who finished all his
actions successfully, thus imposing his will upon the
loser.
Each player is given their chance to act in turn; usual
procedure is to proceed clockwise from the GMs left
until all players have gotten their actions.
Setting the Scene
The GM begins the combat by describing the scene
whats going on, what the characters can see or
otherwise sense, and giving the players an idea of
what the combat environment is like. In fact the best
way to set the scene is to draw a map on paper, or use
tokens of some sort to indicate items of interest and
their locations.
Deployment
The next step is for player characters to be matched
up with opponents. Each pair, or group, of player
character and his opponent/s is a Set.
Ordinarily, players get to decide who their characters
will engage. If two or more players want to engage the
same target, they may do so freely; be aware, though,
that any opponents who are left without opponents are
free to range the field and strike as they will.

If the player characters are caught unready, however,

it is the GM who decides the deployment.

Riffing
Actions in combat are declared interactively to make
an entertaining action sequence, in a procedure called
Riffing. This is where all the cool stuff in combat
happens, like a Hollywood action movie, so pull out
all the stops and let your creativity loose!

To begin a Riff, narrate an action that defeats

your opponent in some way; your action could
be to strike with a weapon, kick him over a
cliff, trip him up and immobilize him, etc. etc.
Your opponents player will then narrate a
counter-action that defeats your characters
first action, and turns the tables around.
At this point, any player, including those not
part of the action, may call for the roll. The roll
may be called at any from this point forward,
so the Riff only continues so long as its
entertaining.
If the roll wasnt called for, you get to narrate
a counter-counter-action that trumps your
opponents and turns the tables again.
You want to play the Riff until a suitably climactic
image is achieved. The Riff ends when the roll is called
for. The players involved must now roll their dice and
determine the outcome. When you roll, you must also
determine how many dice you get to use.
Advantage
Advantage is of major importance in combat. You want
to find ways to gain and keep Advantage, so you have
more dice to roll. Only one side in a Set can roll with
Advantage; if both sides have different Advantages,
they cancel out.
Either side can claim Advantage; the side with the
Advantage rolls a bonus die. If its a GM character
that has the Advantage, the GM rolls the bonus die.
Surprise
Catching your target unawares is one of the best ways
17
to gain Advantage, giving you +2 dice. However, the
advantage of surprise only lasts for one round.
Numbers
Superior numbers gives +1 die Advantage.
Elevation
Having the higher ground counts for a lot in melee,
as you can reach farther and strike harder from high
ground.
Reach
Reach is very important. Spears are longer than
swords, and swords are longer than knives.
Shield vs No Shield
If you have a shield and your opponent does not have
either a shield or a weapon in the off-hand, you have
Advantage. Of course, it works the other way around
too. This makes your opponents shield a worthwhile
target.
Armed vs Unarmed
The armed have advantage against unarmed humans.
Beasts however are always considered armed. And
yes, a human unarmed vs. a beast is the same as a
human unarmed vs. an armed human the beast will
have the Advantage.
Combat Options
Characters are not made of stone. When struck, they
bleed. When struck hard or often enough, they die.
Thus it helps to fight intelligently. These are some of
the things you can do in combat to better avoid defeat,
and make victory more likely.

Back to Back
Outnumbered heroes often stand back to back, the
better to cover each other. When fighting back to
back, you negate the enemys Advantage of numbers.
Take a Breather
If you are not engaged by any opponent, you may Take
a Breather; every round that you are doing so, you may
restore one die to any Asset that you have tapped for
use in combat. This represents catching your breath,
fixing the fit of your armor or your grip on your shield,
or focusing and relaxing your mind so you can once
again use a Knack. You cannot bring any Asset to a
rating higher than what you started the fight with.
Support Other
You may, instead of engaging an opponent on your
own, spend the round supporting another character.
The character you support will roll with +1 bonus die
from your supporting actions. You do not roll any
actions yourself this round.
Shield Other
You may, instead of engaging an opponent on your
own, spend the round covering another character with
your shield. If this character is defeated, you must
soak the damage on your own shield.
Tag Team
You fight as a team with another character. If you take
a defeat, you may immediately tag your partner to
take over the fight for you. The round continues, this
time with your partner engaging the foe.
Call Support
You may, instead of engaging your opponent yourself,
you call in your Followers to take over the fight for
18
you. You may then spend that round taking a breather,
while others are doing your fighting.
Take Losses
If you take a defeat, you may use your Followers
to soak the damage instead of paying from your
Attributes, shield, or armor. This represents your men
intervening and saving you, at the cost of casualties
among themselves. This is not allowed in a duel!
Damage and Saves
Losing a combat roll, by default, is considered to end
the combat; the loser has been killed, crippled, knocked
out, or otherwise put out of the fight. Heroes of course
wont accept this lying down, so you get a chance to
Save your character if you lose a roll. The same goes
for your opponents.
Saves come in two flavors, the Escape and the Soak.
You must choose one or the other when dealing with
damage; they cannot be combined.
Escape
Escaping damage means being able to avoid the hit at
the last moment, thanks to your agility, perceptiveness,
or a technique (Knack) that can be used in defense. You
must tap this Asset, or a combination of Assets that
allow Escape, equal to the Victory Points won by your
opponent, and narrate how your character avoided his
fate. You may also spend Guts to Escape.
Soak
Soaking damage means absorbing the force of the
attack, thanks to armor, a shield, strength, toughness,
and, for many warriors, sheer Guts. You must tap this
Asset, or a combination of Assets that allow the Soak,
equal to the Victory Points won by your opponent, and
narrate how your character avoided his fate.
Character Death
If you do not have any Asset to Save with, or not
enough dice to pay the Save cost, your character is
Finished mortally wounded, knocked out, subdued,
etc. etc. If this happens when taking a lethal attack,
you have three choices:
Blaze of Glory
You accept your characters demise, but not before
making one last strike! You may attack your foe again
with +2 bonus dice. Your character expires as soon as
you finish your last action.
Gift of Fury
You accept your characters demise, and gain 5 dice
to distribute to your friends; they must use the dice as
soon as possible to avenge your characters death by
attacking the same foe that got you.
Left for Dead
Your character is left for dead by his foes. If your allies
win, your character is recovered and may be kept alive,
or revived, if the proper resources can be found a
healer, an item that can revive the dead/dying, etc. etc.
GMCs
GMCs are Game Master Characters or Game Master
Creations any character or creature run by the GM,
usually as a challenge for the player characters. GMCs
are usually described in a shorthand style, simpler
than player characters, for the GMs convenience.
Some important adversaries however are described as
full characters.
T/R Ratings
The typical GMC is described simply with a Threat/
Resistance, or T/R rating. Threat is how much of a
challenge it is to the PCs, while Resistance is how well
it can take punishment, and is what the GM uses to
Save the GMC when its defeated.
For example, a Wild Boar 3/2 means the GM rolls 3
dice for the wild boars actions, and can Save this
creature from defeat twice.
Mooks
Many GMCs are run as Mooks minions and cannon-
fodder types who pose only minimal threat to the
player heroes. Individual Mooks have a Threat of
1 die, and no Resistance. You only need to defeat a
Mook once.
Multiple Mooks, however, may combine into Mobs.
A Mob is stronger, with a higher Threat, but still no
Resistance. Whenever a Mob is defeated, its gone,
poof! Theyre all dead, running away, or cowering,
demoralized.
The typical villain has several Mobs of minions ready
to fight for him. This is expressed as an Asset, from
which he may take varying numbers of dice to hurl
at his foes as Mobs. Note that when a single hero
fights a Mob, the Mob has +1 die of Advantage from
outnumbering the hero.
Special Abilities
Some monsters and characters have special abilities,
marked with letter codes after their traits.
19
Eldritch Damage (E)
This indicates the monster has a magical or psychic
attack, usually made to dominate its prey. If the
monsters attack is victorious, the victim has to Soak
the effect using Guts, or Mind Shield, or something
similar.
Gigantic (G)
This indicates the monster is sufficiently large that
it can soak Massive damage on a 2-for-1 basis. That
is, you must pay 2 Resistance for every Victory Point
scored against this monster with a Massive damage
attack.
Hardened (H)
This indicates the monster has a hide or shell so tough
it cannot be pierced with human-scale weapons. The
monster is only vulnerable in a few soft spots, such as
eyes, mouth, or belly; hits to these are possible if won
with a Crit. Hardened creatures soak Massive damage
as though it were normal.
Incapacitating (I)
This indicates that an attack is not lethal, but instead
incapacitates the victim somehow; it may be a
paralyzing poison, an entangling effect like a giant
spiders web, etc. etc.
Massive Damage (M)
This indicates the monster does damage beyond the
human scale to absorb. For example, the bite of a Shoal
Lurker can break a ships hull; theres no way human
flesh or a shield could stop it! Victorious attacks from
such monsters cannot be Soaked, only Escaped.
Poison
The creatures attack carries poison. There are two
ways to deal with poison attacks; Escape or Soak.
Escaping the attack means the attack never landed,
and the poison can be ignored; Soaking the attack,
however, has a cost equal to the attacks Victory Points
plus the poisons rating.

Terrifying
A Terrifying creature takes an extraordinary effort of
will to face, and will usually send lesser men fleeing
or cowering away. To reflect this, there is a levy of
Guts equal to the creatures rating in this ability just
to be able to face it. This levy must be paid on first
encountering this creature. This means that most of
the time, only heroes can stay to fight the creature.

Weird Powers
A character with weird powers may only use those
abilities detailed as Knacks. The basic mechanic for
using a weird power in dramatic situations is to roll the
appropriate Role rating like any other Contest. Victory
means the power worked as desired, Defeat means Example: Rhaeya Commands a Strider
something else happened, and a Stay means your Rhaeya is an Esper 3, with the Knack: Animal Empathy
attempt was somehow stymied, but you may continue 3. While trying to escape some Antilian Inquisitors, she
next round. You may spend from the appropriate decides to take telepathic control of an officers Strider
weird power Knack or Guts for bonus dice. (a domesticated dryosaur) so she can ride away.

Combat with Weird Powers
Using a weird power in combat is mechanically just
like making any other attack; describe what you want
to do, and call for the roll when you want to resolve the
action sequence. If your opponent declares an action
that would evade your attack, simply call for the roll to
see whose action went through.
Weird Power Effects
If your weird power attack was to create a physical
effect bolts of energy, flame, force, etc. and you win
the roll, your opponent may try to Soak or Escape the
effect as though it was a normal physical attack.
Its a War Strider 2, vs. Esper 3 + 3 for Rhaeyas tapping
all shes got in Animal Empathy. The GM rolls 4, 5 for
the Strider, but Rhaeyas player gets 3, 2, 6, 6, 4, 1
two sixes! The GM decides this Strider cant resist, and
comes to Rhaeya as commanded despite its training to
obey only one master.
Summoning
Summoning an extraplanar being is considered to be
magical combat. You must the being you want to
contact and bring to Earth; the GM then either looks
up the beings stats, or makes them up on the fly. The
psychic combat is then joined.

If the attack was meant to affect the mind, however, the
damage is cosidered Eldritch damage; the target must
Soak using Guts or a device that protects vs. magical
domination. No other Asset can be used to Soak, and
no Escape is possible.
When is Using a Weird Power Combat?
Note that any attempt to use a weird power to
dominate a character or creature is treated as combat.
This applies as much to flinging a bolt of energy as it
does to trying to make an NPC tell the truth. Even if
the target is doing nothing consciously to resist you,
the mind is always considered to try to resist any form
of psychic domination.
Each Defeat of your sorcerer costs 1 Guts; you may stop
at any time if you want to, aborting the summoning.
Victory for your sorcerer means the targeted being has
been compelled to travel from its plane to the Earth, and
accept your bidding. This happens instantaneously as
soon as the sorcerer has won the summoning contest.
Taking Risk Dice during summoning means youre
trying to do it quick and dirty, possibly leaving the
extraplanar outside your control. If a complication is
rolled, the being may do whatever it wants follow
your orders, attack you, or follow your orders then do
something it likes.

20
Quick Extraplanar Creation
GM and player can collaborate to create an extraplanar
on the fly. The player provides the concept for what he
wants to summon; it should be in line with the theme
of his grimoire or knowledge. The GM rolls 1d6+1
for the extraplanars Threat, and 1d6+1 again for its
Resistance.
The concept may be further refined by transferring
dice from Threat to Resistance or vice versa. Another
1d3 of dice may be distributed between Threat and
Resistance if the player gives the extraplanar a Bane
an inability to resist a certain kind of attack. Banes
may be to substances, like silver, or natural forces like
sunlight or fire.
Example: Zolgarn Calls a Dreameater
Zolgarn is a Sorcer 4, and possesses the coveted tome,
The Wisdom of the Sleeping Gods 3. Pursued by
mysterious assailants through the streets of a ruined
Remnant city he was exploring, Zolgarn decides to hit
back with a summoned being. Im going to summon
a Dreameater, the player says.
Whats a Dreameater? I ask back. The player quickly
describes it as a being that likes to enter the minds of
men and leave them vegetables. Sounds good to me. I
roll up a Dreameater 3/3. My players not too happy
with that, so we roll 1d3 and get 3, which my player
uses to make the Dreameater 6E/3E. In exchange he
gives it a Bane: its banished by its own reflection.
The summoning begins. Zolgarn has 4 dice from
Sorcerer, and can tap 3 more from his grimoire, plus
his Guts if he wants to. I have 6 dice. Zolgarns first
roll is a Defeat; he loses 1 Guts. Next roll, a Stay; the
Dreameater still resists leaving its plane, but causes
no harm either. Third roll and already the pursuers
can be heard coming closer. But this time Zolgarn
wins! Next round, the Dreameater will be attacking
Zolgarns pursuers.
Altering Reality
The other great attraction for sorcerers to take up
their mad art is the ability to alter reality. Various
extraplanars may be compelled to make reality on
some part of Earth bend to the sorcerers wishes. This
might take the form of changing the weather, blighting
vegetation, putting fear into an animals mind, or even
causing a character or creature to mutate.
To do these things, the sorcerer contacts an extraplanar
being and petitions it for the changes he wants to be
made on Earth. Again, this takes the form of a contest.
21
The opposition is equal to the strength of the effect
desired, so if you want a Storm 6, you have to contest
vs. 6 dice. Victory means you get the effect you want,
Defeat means you have to give up 1 Guts.
Example: Zolgarn Preserves a Friend
Lets go back to our antihero Zolgarn; he may be a cold
and incomprehensible half-madman, but it seems he
still retains enough humanity to want to save a friends
life. Unable to save a dying friend himself, Zolgarn
has decided to put the body into suspended animation
until he can find a way to revive her.
Why suspended animation? Because the effect seemed
to be in agreement with Zolgarns source of magical
ability, The Wisdom of the Sleeping Gods. The GM
says this is going to be a 4-die Threat, and the player
accepts. Fortunately, he wins on the very first throw.
The GM declares that Zolgarns friend is now in a sort
of enchanted sleep, unwakeable by normal means, but
in this state she will not die.
Creating and Improving Arcane Devices
Arcane devices may be improved, or new ones bought,
between games simply by spending Fate Dice as you
would increase any other Asset.
If you wish to create or improve on an arcane device
during the course of the game, however, you must
work on it in an arcane forge. Arcane forges are
laboratories or workshops with certain kinds of
Remnant technology, and may be found in Remnant
centers.
Roll a contest of your Wizard Role vs. the desired
power rating of your device. If you want multiple
powers, you must roll separately vs. each power.
Victory means you were able to create or modify the
device as desired.
A Defeat, however, means your imperfect
understanding of arcane technology has destroyed
the device you were working on. The GM may also
rule that you have to Soak 1d3 explosion damage
appropriate if the device was a weapon, vehicle, or
similarly powerful item. Rolling a complication means
the device is flawed in some way unknown to you
until you use it!
Example: Tymarus Builds a Planar Barrier
Tymarus the wizard is anticipating a showdown with
his old rival Zolgarn, the sorcerer. Thinking to cut
Zolgarn from his source of power, Tymarus decides to
build a planar barrier that will prevent any extraplanar
from coming to Earth within a certain radius of the
device. Tymarus wants it to have a strength of 7.
Are you sure? the GM asks. Tymarus has Wizard 3,
and hes got nothing at this point to help him but sheer
Guts. The player says yes, so we roll. Not surprisingly,
Tymarus loses the roll even after spending 2 Guts for
2 extra dice and taking 2 Risk Dice. The GM rules that
Tymarus will have to Soak 1d3 explosion damage, and
rolls a 2. Ouch.
Lands and Peoples of the 18th Cycle
Much of Gondwanas interior is arid, with only patches
of scrubby vegetation. Just like the Australian Outback,
simply being at the center of a huge landmass, with
few rivers, makes the land far from the sea a mostly
dry wasteland.
Along the rain-washed coasts and major rivers,
however, the warm tropical climate and availability of
water spurs the growth of vast, thick tracts of jungle.
These jungles are made up of pines, cypresses, giant
ferns, cycads, and horsetails; there are no flowering
plants of any kind yet, so there are no fruit trees,
grasses, or flowering shrubs.
Most settlements are thus on the coastal plains and near
rivers, save where water is easily available by other
means. Another factor affecting settlement patterns
is the migration routes of the great dinosaurs. The
earlier settlements avoid these routes, hugging steep
mountains and other barriers, while later settlements
are always heavily protected by walls.
Because the dietary staple in Gondwane is the
breadcrown cycad, a tree, the cultivated lands are
forests, not open fields so the wilderness is never far
22
away.
Antillean Empire
One of the most highly developed civilizations in
Gondwane, the Antillean Empire occupies the Antillean
Islands and the mouth of the Saharic Sea. It is made up
of twelve city-states, each ruled by its own prince, that
have been unified under the rule of the Antillean High
King in Tython. The wealthiest Antillean cities are the
island cities, from which all large dinosaurs have been
cleared to allow extensive farming.
Antillea has an ongoing war with an offshoot state, the
Zyran Empire, that has been going on since Zyra split
off from Antillea. So far Antillea, though less powerful
than Zyra, has kept its rival at bay through its sea
power. Its galleys are the best-built in Gondwane, and
it leads in technologies such as catapults. On land,
Antilleans fight as armored hoplites, supported by
Strider-mounted javelineers and archers on stegosaurs,
or Oarbacks.
Antilleans consider themselves to be seekers of
knowledge, eager to learn more of the world and
find ways to outfox Zyra. Though Antillea practices
slavery and delights in gladiatorial games, the High
Kings rule is a light one and people here are more free
than most other places in Gondwane.
Perhaps this is because the Antilleans overthrew their
old gods, the Dragon Kings, and follow a home-grown
religion honoring the Unconquered Sun. The Dragon
Kings are not dead, however, but merely sleeping in
their caves beneath the islands. There is a constant
battle between various dark cults and the Antillean
Inquisitors to keep the Old Gods down and Antillea
free.
Arwe
Arwe is a great kingdom in the south, and consists of
three cities carved into the flanks of the Arwe Mesa.
The rich farms and pastures of Arwe all lie on the great
mesas top, free from the ravages of the dinosaurs from
the plains below.
Arwe warriors fight exclusively on foot with axes and
spears, wearing no armor but covered by large shields
and wearing bright plumes on their heads. They
worship their Sleeping Kings, the dead kings they have
kept mummified in an ice cave high on Mount Tomba.
A family of near-immortal priestesses, the Spirit
Speakers of Gangul, claim to speak for the Sleeping
Kings, but actually work for the Shapers; their task
is to regularly purge Arwe of any free thinkers,
whom they accuse of being witches, and to prevent all
strangers from entering the Plain of Arwe at the top of
the mesa.
The Desert Kingdoms
The Desert Kingdoms are a widely scattered group of
city-states with a mostly Belsharian population, and
occupying oases in the Zahuran Desert. Because of their
positions, they are used by caravans leapfrogging from
water source to water source on the long journey across
the supercontinent. Why go overland through desert
rather than sail around by sea? Because the Jurassic
weather can be much harsher and more unpredictable
at sea than Modern Earth has ever known. With all
the land on one side of the Earth, storms from the vast
ocean are stronger. Despite dinosaurs and hostiles,
overland travel is safer than a voyage.
Askelos
Askelos is known as the City of Mercenaries, for this
23
is one of the most contested cities on Gondwane, and
so is constantly hiring mercenaries. Askelos was a
Belsharian city conquered by Zyra, which then revolted
and overthrew the foreign yoke, only to be conquered
again, then freed itself again.
Askelos is hanging on to its freedom by a nail, and the
constant bickering among the mercenary factions is
threatening to tear the city apart. The locals worship
Zahur and the Four Lords of Chaos, but there are
also some secret worshippers of Sabellis, the Zyran
goddess. Much of the troubles besetting Askelos have
to do with the rivalries between these living gods.
Dalshur
Dalshur was a former colony of Makkar, but when the
Makkarians turned against their man-god Neyharius,
the Dalshurans declared their independence and
continued to be Neyharites. They declared a holy war
against Makkar, which goes on til now without any sign
of conclusion. Dalshur is ruled by a dynasty claiming
descent from Neyharius himself, and the Dalshurans
revere their kings only a little less than their god.
The Dalshurans, like the Makkarians, are a mostly
cavalry army, their warriors mounted on Shellheads
protoceratops -- and wearing only loose robes
instead of armor, and fighting with lances. Captains
and nobles ride to battle on Thunderfeet, brontosaurs,
hired from the Thunderfoot Nomads whenever there
is a campaign, while Stonebacks, ankylosaurs, are
used as living siege engines.
King Orienus of Dalshur has allied himself with Zyra
in the hopes of bringing down Makkar at last, but is
unhappy with the Zyrans introducing the worship
of Sabellis to his people. There are now rumors
that Orienus has received a vision from Neyharius
instructing him to purge the foreign influence from
Dalshur, whatever the cost, and that the king is only
waiting for the right time to do just that.
Harakpur
A Belsharian city conquered by Zyra, and now shakily
independent too far and too strong for Zyra to assault
again right now, too weak to resist the claims of her
sister cities Samurrad and Tomaria. King Ahriazar
thus tries to keep playing all his enemies against each
other, keeping them off balance by allying with first one
then another. However, Ahriazars power is slowly
slipping away, for while he continues to worship
Zahur, most of his people have been worshipping
Sabellis the Zyran goddess for some time. The people
do not want to go back to the bloody regime of Zahur,
who requires regular child sacrifices.
Makkar
Makkar is a desert kingdom, and is the traditional
enemy of the kingdom of Dalshur. Early in their
history the Makkarians revolted against and killed the
Shaper-dominated immortal Neyharius and turned to
a religion of worshipping tribal ancestors. This has
now come to the attention of the Shapers, who are
sending in Watchers and agents to either re-establish
the Neyharite religion, or bring Makkar under either
the Zyrans or the Dalshurians.
Makkarians are known for the extreme heat of their
homeland, an outward dedication to austerity they
always wear plain white or brown robes, and no
personal adornments but a love for opulence and
luxury in their homes. Makkarian stoneworkers,
mosaicists, painters and other artisans are often
brought to Zyra to help build the mansions of Zyras
nobility.
Because of Makkars ongoing holy war with Dalshur,
the Makkarians have become a military power,
augmenting their already formidable forces with many
foreign mercenaries. The Makkarian warriors ride
Shellheads, a type of protoceratops bred for fleetness
and ability to endure without water for days, and fight
mainly with lances. They use Stonebacks, ankylosaurs,
as living tanks and as mounts for the royalty.
Samurrad
A sister-city of Harakpur, Askelos, and Tomaria, like
them a Belsharian city but conquered by the Zyrans.
Samurrad is now ruled by King Attalus, the grandson
of the Zyran general Atreus One-Eye who refused to
leave his conquest and instead raised his own kingdom.
The Atreian dynasty is well-regarded in Samurrad,
having ended the bloody worship of Zahur there; the
new state religion is worship of Atreus, now deified as
the citys patron and protector.
Unlike the other Belsharian cities on the Zyran
border, Samurrad sits not in the desert but high on a
mountainside. This, together with its great mineral
wealth as a source of precious tin essential for making
bronze and its position on the trade routes from the
east, give it the power to withstand its enemies. The
Atreians have successfully resisted Zyran sieges twice,
and were able to hire enough mercenaries to stop a
massive Belsharian army from Dur az Zahur.
There are rumors that Atreus and his descendants
received some form of divine guidance in taking and
24
making themselves the masters of Samurrad. There
are also whispers, though, that Atreus is a false god,
and that the Atreians practice sorcery. The truth is far
worse; the Atreians are dupes in a Shaper experiment,
in this case the effects of deifying a man from recent
history, then destroying his myth.
Tomaria
Another Belsharian city that was conquered by Zyra,
it was liberated by an army from Dur Ashrak whose
commander then declared himself independent, and
seized the throne. Tomaria now groans under the
despotic rule of the Barashtan dynasty, who mean
to make this city the capital of a great empire. The
current king of Tomaria is Zaarish Barashtan, and he
is reputed to be mad madder than his sire Zoardun,
who was madder than his grandsire, General Zokar of
Dur Ashrak.
The Barashtans are obsessed with warfare, hunting,
and the threat of assassination, to the point that their
behavior has become atrocious and wholly unnatural.
General Zokar was known to have had many of his
staff murdered on the merest suspicion that they were
out to assassinate him, King Zoardun several times
executed his enemies by hunting them from a chariot,
and King Zaarish has declared that he will hunt the
Horned Devourers ceratosaurs -- using the Zyran
legions as beaters he just has to conquer Zyra first.
This, from the ruler of a city with less than 4,000 people.
Tomaria used to be a rich trade city, standing as it did
along the caravan route from east to west, and blessed
with fertile fields protected from dinosaurs by mud-
brick walls. Now, however, the people are being
reduced to beggary by the Barashtans conscriptions
and taxes.
Eshkorian Theocracies
The Eshkorian theocracies were founded by a people
from northern Gondwane, who, finding three Remnant
sites quite close to each other and still livable, moved

in and grew prosperous on scavenged wealth. The
Eshkorians, Omnorians and Zakkarians however came
to worship the builders of their cities, and then elevated
themselves to divine status as well. They have some of
the strangest societies in all Gondwane.
Eshkor
The Eshkorians recolonized the Remnant city of Eshkor
and assumed the mantle of its original inhabitants,
whom they considered to be gods. Eshkor is ruled
by a Priest-King and a cabal of warrior-priests, whose
sworn duty is to preserve the supposedly divine status
of the Eshkorian ruling caste.
The people of the city are divided into the Chosen, who
claim divine descent, always wear masks in public,
and number many Espers and Mystics; and the slaves,
taken in raids from neighboring tribes and kingdoms.
The Eshkorians are perpetually at war with the
Zakkarans, who settled a nearby Remnant city
and also assumed the mantle of living gods. The
Chosen go to war on chariots drawn by Striders, and
command packs of ten-foot-long, carnivorous Rushers,
or megapnosaurs.
Omnor
Omnor is a hermit kingdom bordering Eshkor and
Zakkar, and peopled by the same race. It is ruled by
a Priest-King, also called the Crystal-Speaker. This
hereditary ruler, whose face may never be seen by any
man on pain of death, keeps contact with some kind
of entity through a great yellow crystal in the depths
of the royal palace. By the express command of their
deity, the Omnorians allow no strangers into Omnor,
save as captured slaves, and let none out alive; all
contact with other peoples is forbidden.
The city of Omnor occupies an entire mountain, the
exterior being terraced and the mountainsides walling
25
each terrace honeycombed with deep tunnels and
chambers. The Omnorians grow all their food on
these terraces, and live in the upper, outer chambers;
they rarely venture into the depths of their own city
a Remnant site, of course and live in great fear of
the things said to haunt the tunnel depths. Because
of its isolation, most of what is known about Omnor
comes from the failed attempts of Eshkor and Zakkar
to besiege it.
Zakkar
Zakkar is said to have been a breakaway colony of
Eshkor, though the Zakkarites deny this. Like the
Eshkorians, the Zakkarites occupied a Remnant city
and took upon themselves the mantle of the former
inhabitants, whom they considered gods. Zakkar is
ruled by a God-King, by whose favor all Zakkarite
nobles are considered the elite servants of god,
wearing beaten gold masks and faux wings to show
their status. The rest of the populace are slaves.
Zakkar often buys female slaves, for it is the custom of
all the noble houses, from the royal house on down, to
demand a new bride every year, and to sacrifice those
brides who fail to conceive after three years. Only the
king can now compel Zakkarite noblewomen to marry
him, for the promise of his power; all other noble
houses tend to rely on slave brides, for many Zakkarite
women would rather remain unwed than risk being
sacrificed.
Like the Eshkorians, the Zakkarites fight on chariots,
but instead of hunting packs of theropods, they use
stegosaurs Oarbacks as living tanks and siege
engines.
Golgars
Short, squat, hairy, carnivorous hominids, either the
Remnants of a previous civilization or the result of
some wizards breeding experiments. Golgars are
cunning hunters, strong and savage in combat, but
totally unable to learn speech. Packs of them haunt
the wilds of Gondwane, hunting with clubs and spears
tipped with flint or dinosaur bone.
Hargath
Large, hairy hominids occupying the Hecatoncheiros
Mountains and the Dragon Plains north of Zyra.
They descend on the lowlands from time to time in
surprisingly large numbers to raid and pillage, stealing
weapons, livestock, children and women, who are
adopted into their tribes and used as breeding stock.
In this fashion the Hargath have been steadily
upgrading themselves, so that they now understand
how to use metal weapons, understand Zyran speech
and speak it, though atrociously, and organize into
tribes led by warrior-priests. They worship the
Devourers the allosaurs -- of the great plains.
Invaders from the North
Two tribes have invaded northern Gondwane from
Malgeol, the supercontinent of Laurasia, and are
currently causing the Zyran Emperor a big headache.
Urdryks
The Urdryks are a barbarian tribe from southern
Malgeol, who have established themselves on the
northern border of the Zyran Empire. They say
they were fleeing from volcanic eruptions that have
destroyed much of their homeland. Despite their
simple, savage hunter-gatherer culture, the Urdryks
know the secret of forging iron, and combined with
their great physical size and strength, they have used
this power to carve themselves a bloody swath through
northern Gondwane.
The Urdryks worship the Kraken and Aegir, two great
sea gods locked in eternal struggle with each other.
They periodically sacrifice captives to ensure the
victory of Aegir, as they consider themselvs the Sons
of Aegir. For this reason, they are perpetually at war
with the Valkheirs. Recently, the Zyrans have recruited
Urdryks into their legions, with mixed results; the
barbarians are notoriously hard to discipline into the
phalanx, but have also won several battles with their
ferocity.
Valkheirs
The Valkheirs are a barbarian tribe from southern
Malgeol, who like the Urdryk have been forced by
volcanic eruptions to migrate into Gondwane. Like
the Urdryk, the Valkheir are of great size and strength,
know the secret of forging iron, and worship the Kraken
and Aegir. They consider themselves the Sons of the
Kraken, however, and so are at perpetual war with the
Urdryks. Valkheirs drown their sacrifices in the sea,
and if the sacrifice survives, he or she is accepted back
into the tribe as an elite Krakenborn.
The Krakenborn are given the best weapons and armor,
and it is from them that the kings of the Valkheirs
are chosen. Recently a Zyran general recruited all
of a Valkheir villages Krakenborn into his legion.
They did very well, until they came into contact with
another generals Urdryk troops and sparked a battle
that wiped out both legions.
26
Kingdom of Belshar
The kingdom of Belshar consists of those cities founded
by Belsharians and holding to the worship of Zahur,
the Belsharian war god. Each city has its own king, but
all acknowledge the primacy of the High King at Dur
az Zahur. The Belsharians are known as charioteers
and archers.
Dur Ashrak
Dur Ashrak is a wealthy city on the Aramzar River, and
by an ancient compact, the City of Queens. Every High
King of Belshar must wed a princess of Dur Ashrak,
and the city celebrates a rite unknown elsewhere in
Belshar, the Wedding of Zahur and Astaris. Now
that Zahur has decreed the persecution of all other
religions, however, the Zahurite priests have ordered
the worship of Astaris stopped on pain of death. This
is bitterly resented by the people of Dur Ashrak, who
have always been fervent Astarites, and many of the
wealthiest families have migrated to Tartesh. It is now
whispered that the Zahurite priests in Dur az Zahur
are planning to march the armies of Belshar on Dur
Ashrak.
Dur az Zahur
This Belsharian city is the holy city of Zahur, the lion-
headed, armored war god. Though this is the seat
of the Kings of Belshar, the true power in the city is
the Brotherhood of the Red Harness, the warrior-
priests of Zahur. From here, the Grand Master of the
Brotherhood directs the Belsharian kingdoms mighty
armies, and polices the sacred city with an iron hand.
Zahur has three simple commands, which the
Brotherhood will lay down their lives to fulfill: first,
tolerate no gods but Zahur; second, conquer all non-
Zahurite peoples and make them worship Zahur; and
third, keep Zahur fed with the blood of children. The

heavy demands and harsh rule of the Brotherhood,
however, has turned many Belsharians away from
Zahur toward the worship of seemingly kindlier
deities, like Astaris and Sabellis. The Brotherhood in
turn reacts to this with even harsher repression.
Unknown to the Brotherhood, one of the greatest
centers of dissatisfaction lies within Dur az Zahur itself.
King Nabushadur has had enough of the Brotherhood,
and is plotting to destroy the order without drawing
Zahurs wrath, if possible.
Dur Shumukin
Dur Shumukin is the most easterly and isolated of the
Belsharian cities, and while it continues to play the
role of a dutiful tributary to the High King, the truth
is very different. Dur Shumukin is no longer ruled by
the Dythalla dynasty that was placed there by the High
King, but by an adventurer from Modern Earth. This
man, known to his subjects only Kalarn the Wizard,
somehow got the queen to have an affair with him,
murdered the king, and took his place.
Kalarn takes pains to hide his origins, even from fellow
anachronists, while at the same time engaging secret
agents to track down any anachronists within their
range and secure their valuable Modern Earth artifacts.
Kalarn has quite a gun collection in his secret storage
vaults, among other things. Kalarn is also fascinated
by the presence of living gods all over Gondwane,
and the fact that similar beings ruled the Remnants of
previous Cycles.
Of all the humans living on Gondwane, Kalarn may
have the best hypothesis as to whats really going on.
However, Kalarns only interests are to keep from
being noticed by any hostile powers, and to keep
27
increasing his own power.
Semirathis
Semirathis is the southernmost of the Belsharian
cities, and was founded, unknowingly, atop the ruins
of a Remnant site. Lythalos, king of Semirathis, is
supervising the digging of this site, having discovered
an enormous idol which he believes will give him
power. Already the Zahurite priests of Semirathis
have all been murdered, to prevent their bringing
the news to Dur az Zahur, and no Semirathians are
allowed to leave. In the meantime, Lythalos has been
trying to communicate with his new god. He will soon
be answered.
The idol is in fact the god of a Remnant civilization,
thought to have been destroyed when the previous
Cycle was wiped out. It is in fact a Shaper-made
machine, and it is slowly repairing itself. Should it
complete its repairs, it will try to carry out the last
command it received from the Shapers destroy
mankind.
Kingdoms of the Inland Sea
The Inland Sea on the northeastern corner of Gondwana
used to open onto the Eastern Ocean, but has since
been closed by siltation and earthquakes. Just east
of this region is a largely uninhabited waste that is
particularly rich in Remnant ruins.
Alharrash
Known as the Corsair Kingdom, this city-state
dominates the Inland Sea and levies tribute from nearly
everyone else along its shores. The kings of Alharrash
proudly admit that their wealth and power are founded
on successful piracy, and offer victims from their raids
to a supposedly immortal Shoal Lurker, or dakosaurus.
This reptile, named Bel-Kornos, is Alharrashs living
god.
Ornathor
The city-state of Ornathor is located on the northern
coast of the Inland Sea, and is a rival of Alharrash,
the Corsair Kingdom. The Ornathorians worship the
Dragon-Bird, a legendary monster or living god that
dwells on the top of Mount Bel-Gaura. To show their
devotion and identity as Ornathorians, warriors from
this kingdom wear feathered capes and bronze helmets
fashioned into the likeness of the Dragon-Birds head.
Priests of the Dragon-Bird make regular pilgrimages
to the sacred mountain, and either come back with
messages from the god, or not at all, having been
taken as sacrifices. Becoming a priest in Ornathor is
considered a great honor, but for readily apparent
reasons, they prefer to recruit strangers and the poor
for the job! Not long ago, Bel-Zarthus, a young priest,
came back from his pilgrimage to The Eyrie with
stupendous news: the Dragon-Bird has laid eggs.

Tartesh
Famed as the Purple City, Tartesh is considered the
wealthiest city-state on the Inland Sea. It is the only
source for a valuable purple dye, and moreover is the
home to the Oracle of Astaris, the most venerated shrine
in the east. Pilgrims come from across Gondwane to
offer treasure to Astaris priesthood and consult the
Oracle. This trade and pilgrim traffic, in turn, form the
prey of the corsair kingdom of Alharrash. Ornathor and Tartesh all claimed to have been
commanded by their respective cities gods to do
Such is the volume of the trade and pilgrim traffic, exactly thus, as punishment for Theriandors apostasy.
however, that Alharrashs depredations dont seem The ruins were left as a warning for all who dared
to hurt Tartesh at all. In fact the kings of Tartesh and disobey the gods.
Alharrash are both good friends, and cousins several
times over, for the ruling dynasties of both often Lately, however, there have been rumors that a cult is
intermarry. Though Tarteshan galleys are quick to trying to resurrect Thamogorgos, who has been calling
attack any independent pirates, they are under orders men in their sleep to return to Theriandor and rebuild
never to oppose the ships of Alharrrash. As for the his temple there. This is actually a belated attempt
Tarteshans, they cheerfully fleece all pilgrims and by the Shapers at damage control, for the example of
traders with a wide array of vices and luxuries, thus Theriandor sets a very dangerous precedent unless
adding even more to the citys wealth every year. Thamogorgos can be shown to have survived, as a god
should.
The price for this happy state of affairs, however, is
keeping Astaris pleased. Deep in the underground Mottled Folk
chambers of her ziggurat, Astaris must have a man
The Mottled Folk are a race of primitive humans
every night and no man has lasted her more than
marked by mottled yellow and brown skin, and often
a few nights. Scented and oiled gladiators, sailors,
called the Snake People for this reason. They claim they
soldiers, and strangers are led into Astaris chamber
used to have a great civilization, but their neighbors
every midnight, and are usually brought back out
destroyed their cities and drove them far from their
before dawn swaddled in a burial shroud.
original homelands on the suspicion that they were of
Theriandor reptilian descent and had sinister plans for humanity.
The Mottled Folk now occupy the Bonestrands, a
Theriandor is a ruined city on the Inland Sea. It was long stretch of desert on the southwestern coast of
once the most powerful city-state in that region, until Gondwana. They are now divided into many small
its people rebelled against Thamogorgos, its living tribes such as:
god. It was said that Prince Arkaneus was in love with
the temple maiden who was chosen to be sacrificed The Crab People
to Thamogorgos, and in his efforts to try to stop the
The Crab People found a cache of Remnant armor,
sacrifice, discovered a terrible secret. Arkaneus
made of some material that seems to resemble chitin
disappeared, only to return years later with Remnant
but never rots or cracks. Arming their elite warriors
weapons that he and his rebels used to destroy
with this, they have wiped out the Stingray People and
Thamogorgos, a giant of bronze.
enslaved the Stonefish and Lizard People.
The walls of Theriandor were destroyed in the battle
The Crab People now rule a small, primitive state
with Thamogorgos, and mere days later, the combined
centered on The Tower, a Remnant ruin that they
forces of Alharrash, Ornathor and Tartesh descended
scavenged and rebuilt as a primitive fort. Like all the
on Theriandor and wiped its people out. Not one
Mottled Folk, they worship the Horned Devourers
Theriandoran was spared. The kings of Alharrash,
the ceratosaurs that prey on them, often sacrificing
28

slaves or captive strangers to the ceratosaurs.
The Lizard People
A tribe of Mottled Folk that specialized in hunting the
giant marine iguanas of the Bonestrands. They have
recently been enslaved by the Crab People, and chafe
at their humiliation. They would welcome any help in
overthrowing their masters.
They hate and fear the Stonefish People, their
companions in bondage, believing the Stonefishes are
toadying up to the Crab People and will betray their
conspiracies to the Crab People.
The Stonefish People
An impoverished tribe of fishermen and shellfish
gatherers, who poison their blowgun darts with
stonefish venom. They were quickly overwhelmed by
the Crab People, and quite a few Stonefishes believe
they now live better, under the Crabs, than they ever
did independently.
Thus many of the older Stonefishes are willing slaves
and collaborators of the Crabs. Some of the youths,
however, are not so enamored of this life especially
since the proud Crabs often take the Stonefishes most
beautiful women into The Towers and keep them there.
The Shark People
The Shark People migrated south to escape the attacks
of the Crab People, and sometimes still skirmish with
Crab and Stonefish parties exploring the southern
Bonestrands. The Sharks have found a complex of sea
caves in a rocky area of the coast, and now live in the
caves inner chambers. The Sharks wear clothing of
sharkskin and use weapons tipped with shark teeth.
Because there is so little wood to be found in their area,
29
they have reverted to eating all their food mostly fish,
and that mostly shark -- raw.
Pelshaurian Kingdoms
The Pelshaurian kingdoms are a group of city-states
on the eastern Saharic Sea, and are populated by the
Pelshaurian people. They did not build all of these
cities, however, some of them having been conquered
from an older and now vanished race.
Elgabal
Elgabal is an ancient city-state on the eastern Saharic
Sea that is now a Zyran protectorate. Elgabal considers
itself the mother city of Sarkoris and Melkarth, and
craves its ancient honor of Queen of the Saharic Sea.
In this the kings of Elgabal there are always two at
a time are at loggerheads with the citys Council of
Oligarchs, for the Oligarchs only want to continue
trading, while the kings want to ally with Antillea to
throw the Zyrans out. The tension between the factions
is so high that both are hiring mercenaries openly, and
civil war seems imminent.
There is a Zyran legion stationed in Elgabal, but the
Emperor seems to have picked the wrong man for
the job; General Gorgas is planning to make himself
warlord of the eastern empire, an independent king
if possible, and so is playing the Royalists and the
Oligarchs against each other. But there is a fourth
force in Elgabal, the Yaggas, who originally built the
city and are now its slave class; under the guidance of
their sleeping god, Buri-Yagga, they are preparing a
surprise that will shake the ancient kingdom.
Melkarth
The city of Melkarth is a wealthy trade city, funneling
the goods of the southern supercontinent to the Saharic
Sea and into the ships of the Antilleans and Zyrans.
The Melkarthi overthrew their kings long ago and
replaced the monarchy with a Council of Oligarchs,
elder merchants who bought their positions in a yearly
auction. Anything and everything, it is said, can be
bought in Melkarth, no questions asked.
The people of Melkarth are also said to be ready to sell
anything, even their mothers if the offer is high enough.
The Oligarchs sell out the citizenry, either directly as
slaves or by cheating them of their wages, while many
of the citizenry sell out anyone they can just to survive.
Thieves, beggars, harlots and charlatans swarm the
streets of Melkarth, and the only way to survive their
depredations is to play along, or be a guest of an
Oligarch.
Fittingly, the Melkarthi worship Mardammor and Bel-
Maloch, plutonic gods who promise prosperity, luxury
and decadent pleasure in return for a simple price
child sacrifices.

Sarkoris
Sarkoris is a wealthy city-state on the eastern Saharic
Sea, inhabited by the Pelshaurian race like Melkarth
and Elgabal, and like Elgabal, is a Zyran protectorate.
The city is nominally ruled by Queen Zainab, who
succeeded to the throne after the Zyrans executed all
male heirs; the real ruler of the city is Styphos, the
Zyran resident general.

On the surface, Sarkoris seems content to accept Zyran

domination, and in fact Queen Zainab has invited
Emperor Mezentius to be her personal guest when he
next visits his eastern realms. What Mezentius doesnt
know is that Zainab and General Styphos plan to
enspell him and rule the Zyran Empire through him
as their puppet.
Thunderfoot Nomads
The Thunderfoot Nomads are the only peoples who
regularly cross the Dragon Plains and the Zahuran
Desert, being uniquely equipped to do so by their
lifestyle. The nomads have attached themselves to
the great herds of Thunderfeet, the brontosaurs, that
migrate constantly through Gondwanes vast, arid
hinterlands, protecting and doctoring the beasts while
using them as transportation and food.
The nomads diet consists mostly of Thunderfoot eggs,
culled from the nesting grounds which they protect
against predators, and the meat of juvenile Thunderfeet.
By increasing the successful hatching rate of the great
dinosaurs, the nomads ensure themselves of enough
excess that they can easily harvest many of the eggs
and juveniles.
The nomads also offer the safest method of
transportation across the plains, for hardly anything
will bother a herd of healthy Thunderfeet; and if a
Devourer or a human enemy were foolish enough
to try, the nomads ride in well-protected howdahs
and fight with a wealth of bronze-tipped spears and
javelins. The nomads also have another great source
of income; they are mercenaries. They and their titanic
steeds are in great demand wherever there are wars
and sieges to be fought.
Not surprisingly, the nomads also worship their
brontosaurs. Offerings are made to the Thunderfeet
and the Great Thunderfoot who was ancestor to them
30
all, while execrations are poured upon the Devourer
and the Horned Devourer, the latter specially being
seen as the god of evils representative.
Zyran Empire
The most powerful nation on all Gondwane, Zyra
boasts great bronze-clad armies of hoplites, elite cavalry
mounted on heavy striders, and walking fortresses,
stegosaurs and brontosaurs bearing armored howdahs
full of archers. The Emperor of Zyra is also the high
priest of Zyras living god, Sabellis the Dragon Queen.
Zyra is known for being a slave state, with a large
proportion of its people being slaves. Slave tend the
great plantations that feed the empire, slaves man the
fishing boats and hunting expeditions, and slaves tend
to every want and comfort of its decadent noble class.
The Zyrans are forever rivals with the Antilleans,
always trying to contain and chip away at Antillean
power however they can; stealing technological secrets,
fomenting revolts, and raiding for slaves.
Remnants of Earlier Cycles
Theres a wealth of possibilities for dungeon crawling
and lost-race themed adventures in Gods of Gondwane,
because of the way the Shapers treated their great
experiment. Civilizations would rise, reach a certain
stage at which the Shapers were no longer interested
in them, and be wiped out. Despite the efforts of the
Shapers secret servants, traces of these civilizations
can still be found, with no few treasures and dangers
Creating Remnants
The Shapers have been at their experiment for tens,
maybe even hundreds of thousands, of years. No one
knows. There have been seventeen previous cycles,
each one covering all of Gondwana and Laurasia,
each supercontinent having several civilizations. In
addition to the sample Remnants described below,
youre encouraged to come up with your own for your
games.

You may use the guide questions below as a framework

for building your own Remnant sites and civilizations:

1) Name
2) Location
3) What makes them different from modern man?
4) How did they escape the scouring of their
cycle?
5) What are their motivations?
6) What are their strengths?
7) What are their weaknesses?
8) What is their secret?

For example: Ive come up with The Pale Ones,

a degenerated race of humans who now live
underground in the buried ruins of Termarrax.

1) Name The Pale Ones

2) Location the buried city of Termarrax; I

thought of white termites, so I made the
location name a play on that word.

3) The Pale Ones are tall, gaunt, deathly pale of Ankyros

skin, with only scant and scraggly hair, and
dead white eyes that can only sense light but
no longer form images
4) The few that remain in Termarrax are descended
from slaves of the original inhabitants, kept
in the deepest bowels of the city; thus they
escaped the nuclear blast that destroyed upper
Termarrax
5) The Pale Ones will kill and eat any male
humans, but want to capture female humans
for breeding purposes they want to revitalize
their race with new blood
Ankyros is a Remnant city high in the Haunted
Mountains that survived the scouring of the 16th cycle,
and is thus incredibly old. Its inhabitants are actually a
people from the 17th cycle who found the city and took
it over, massacring the 16th cycle survivors there.
The current Ankyrans are furtive, vicious xenophobes
who believe the world is still in chaos from the last
scouring, and that any visitors mean to do to them as they
did to the original inhabitants. Though they are truly
human, the Ankyrans have a rodent-like appearance
through years of mutation and interbreeding; they are
hairy, have rather pointed faces and projecting jaws,
small eyes, and always walk stooped.

6) The Pale Ones can operate in total darkness,
since they dont need to see, and they know
their tunnel complexes perfectly
7) Their eyes are badly hurt by bright light
8) There is a cache of arcane technology hidden
inside Termarrax
Because the Ankyrans captured and were able to the
citys food synthesizers operational, they have never
needed to go outside, and maintain a surprisingly
large population. They will have the advantage of
numbers against anything but an army. Because they
fear losing their home and resources to invaders, the
Ankyrans will do all they can to capture and kill any
who find their city.

31
 its warrior, priest and engineer castes, leaving only a
fraction of the warrior and laborer castes to survive the
scouring.

On the outside, the Ghormyrians maintain a high

standard of civilization, the warrior caste having
lives of luxury and ease, with many comforts and
sophisticated entertainments. However the lack of
an engineer caste has made them unable to repair
the citys machines, and so Ghormyr is actually and
inexorably falling apart, the actual inhabitable area
decreasing yearly.

The kings of Ghormyr know this, and plot to use what

high-tech weapons remain to them to conquer a new
home soon. Until then, any contact with the outside
world is to be limited and kept secret, and any who
find out Ghormyrs existence must be silenced.

Gofannen
The Gofannen are a people who have vanished from
Gondwane, but remain renowned for their smithcraft.
The Gofannen knew a way to treat bronze that would
keep it from corroding and gave it an incredibly sharp
edge. Gofannen weapons, specially swords, are thus
Beastmen
considered treasures all over Gondwane.
The beastmen are an artificially created hominid race,
with the strength and appearance of apes, but the ability Gorunghast
to walk erect, talk and think like man. They may have
Gorunghast is a Remnant city from the 15th cycle whose
been created only within the current cycle, for they are
water supply has been contaminated by mutagenic
so successful now that had they been created earlier,
substances. The enormous, crumbling structures,
there should be many more of them.
hidden from the rest of the world by Gorunghasts
location inside a dead volcanos crater, are inhabited
The beastmen believe themselves to be the future
mostly by bands of miserable, savage mutants.
master race of Gondwane, considering mankind to be
weak and unfit to rule the world. From their hidden
However, the elite Purebloods maintain a fortified
bases, converted from Remnant cities in the Nuban
enclave near the center of the city. Purebloods and
Jungles, they launch savage raids against all humans
mutants are at constant war with each other, the
around them, bringing back captives to use as slaves
Purebloods avowed to destroy the contaminated
and as meat animals.
ones, while the mutants want the Purebloods women
and wealth. The root of this war is the Purebloods
The beastmen have a militaristic society ruled by a
claim to being the only pure, unchanged humans in
Warlord, and have forced their slaves to teach them
Gorunghast a claim that is unwittingly false, for the
how to work bronze. The Warlord maintains a
Pureblood too are mutants, their altered genes reflected
breeding program meant to increase their numbers as
in their growing horns.
rapidly as possible for his campaign of conquest. The
beastmen worship Kangulah, carving huge gorilla-like
The mutagenic waters are a Shaper creation, affecting
idols of him in the rocks and mountainsides of their
the single spring from which all Gorunghasts water
jungle domain.
comes from, and all the springs outlets all the
pools and fountains scattered across the city, even the
Ghormyr
underground cisterns under the Pureblood Citadel.
Ghormyr is a Remnant city lying in a hidden vale The Pureblood are immune to further mutation. The
north of the Inland Sea. Once the seat of a high-tech Mongrel Folk, as the Purebloods call the mutants, are
civilization, it was devastated by a civil war between not, so new mutations keep appearing. The only way
32
for the Mongrels to ensure their children are born more
human-like is to breed with a Pureblood.

Megastyros
Megastyros is the City of the Dreaming Lords, with
dark legends about the psychic vampires ruling it.
The lords of Megastyros are actually normal humans,
but they do have an abnormal vice; they are addicted
to dreaming, and in their dreams they like to play
lethal games. The Dreaming Lords use their android
servants to capture people for them, whom they press
into joining them in their dreams.

The dreams are created using a combination of drugs

and arcane technology. In their dream worlds the lords
can interact with the minds of their captives, forcing
them to undergo nightmare scenarios and horrifying
false memories, until the captives die of shock.
Somehow word about this practice has leaked out, and
the area around Megastyros is rife with rumors of the
vampires, but no one knows the exact location of the
city, nor the truth of how the vampires victims die.

Megastyros is of course a great treasure trove of arcane
technology, particularly of devices having to do with
the mind.
Pale Ones
The city of Termarrax lies buried amid what seems to
be an ordinary range of hills. Underneath those hills,
however, is a labyrinth of tunnels and chambers, all
that is now left of a once high-tech civilization. The
Pale Ones are descendants of the slaves of Termarraxs
builders, and were spared the nuclear blast that
obliterated the upper city by their assignment to the
deep mines and tunnels. They are now degenerate
savages.
The Pale Ones are tall, gaunt, deathly pale of skin, with
only scant and scraggly hair, and dead white eyes that
can only sense light. They no longer remember how
to use their technology. They have incredibly acute
hearing and sense of smell, and so are able to operate
in complete darkness. Their motivation toward
strangers is to kill the men and eat them, but to capture
any women for breeding purposes they want to
revitalize their race with new blood.
The Pales Ones do not know it, but they are sitting on
a treasure trove of arcane technology.
Swampfolk
The Swampfolk are a degenerate race of hominids, a
failed breeding experiment of the Shapers, who inhabit
33
the Bahanadon Swamps. They are small in stature,
tailed, hairy, and very strong for their size. So low
have their mentalities sunk that they no longer know
how to use tools and weapons, instead relying on brute
force and numbers to secure their prey.
The Swampfolk are carnivores, ready and willing to
attack any creature that they think they can overcome.
Their typical attack is to simply swarm the prey,
bringing it down with many bites, until they can
devour it. They are very good swimmers and climbers,
and will use these abilities to attack from unexpected
directions.
Xavathor
Xavathor is a Remnant city that may be hidden
somewhere in the Archaean Mountains. The
Xavathorians all style themselves as Princes, or
Princesses, each one possessing a retinue of apeman
slaves. Believing themselves part-divine, the Princes of
Xavathor consider themselves so high above man that
the only food fit for them is human or other anthropoid
flesh; anything less is merely for beasts.
The Xavathorians thus exist primarily on a diet of their
own apemen slaves, making the wretches butcher one
of their own every day; they far prefer the meat of
human captives, though, and lead hunting parties into
the jungles as far as Melkarth and Arwe.
The Xavathorians appear to be ordinary humans at first
glance, though more beautifully built than average, and
very tall, as much as 7 feet; close inspection however
reveals that their teeth are fangs, and their irises are a
dark blood-red.

The apemen servants of Xavathor are very short, but

stocky and powerfully built, and rapidly gaining in
intelligence. Only generations ago the apemen could
only communicate by sign language; now some of
them can speak broken Xavathorian. Its possible that
theyve grown intelligent enough to start questioning
the dominance the Xavathorians have over them.

Secrets of the Shapers

Gods of Gondwane revolves around the unnatural
deeds performed by the Shapers. As a Game Master,
you can keep them in the background as the shadowy
source of Gondwanes mysteries, never to interact with
the PCs directly, or you may want a campaign that
ferrets out the Shapers identity and ends their regime
of playing with man once and for all. Its up to you.
Who are the Shapers
Just who and what are the Shapers, anyway? Again,
Im leaving this mostly up to you. As Ive got a love-
hate relationship in my dreams with cephalopods -- I
dream of eating calamari, and shudder at the thought
of meeting a giant octopus in its element and because I
just have to do my homage to SFs greats, in my minds
eye I imagine the Shapers to be the very same octopoid
creatures from H.G. Wells War of the Worlds.
The Shapers came from Mars millions of years ago,
relative to Gondwanes timeline, hoping to found a
colony on Earth because Mars was, even then, already
drying up. Because they quickly discovered that they
would not survive in Earths atmosphere, they set up
their bases deep under the sea. There they continued to
develop new technologies, until at last they discovered
their own extinction in the future, and decided to take
up the Great Experiment to find out how to avert it.
Shaper Powers
All Shapers have the following psychic Knacks:
Telepathy, Obfuscation, Domination, and Energy
Blast.
Shaper Technology
Shaper technology is based on knowledge of
phenomena still not understood even by 21st century
science, crystals, and telepathic control. No human can
truly master a Shaper device, as the Shapers just think
and build too differently from humans. The Shaper
34
artifacts that mankind most commonly interacts with
on Gondwane are:
Time-Nets
Time-nets are field projectors that can capture creatures
and objects in a target space-time frame and bring them
back to the Jurassic. Apparently one of these time-nets,
and the most productive so far, is located at, or is keyed
to, a geographical area in the Atlantic bounded by the
Bahamas, the Florida Keys, and Bermuda. Anything
captured by the time-nets may be deposited anywhere
on Jurassic Earth, as the Shapers desire.
Tripods
Should the Shapers ever have reason to leave their
underwater cities, they will do so in Tripods. A
Tripod is a saucer-shaped vehicle that can fly through
the air or water, or walk on land by means of its three
legs. There are several kinds and sizes of Tripods,
from worker/fighter types crewed by a single Shaper,
to large command types carrying many Shapers plus
their android troops.
All Tripods are armed with a disintegrator ray
mounted on a flexible arm extending over the top of the
saucer; this arm may fire forward, to either side, up, or
down. All Tripods are armor-plated in a material that
would only be vulnerable to a 20th century battleships
main guns or something equally powerful. They are,
however, vulnerable to their own disintegrators.
Oracles
The Shapers have provided some locales with Oracles
as part of their experiment. Whatever the outward
appearance of the Oracle, its true function is to serve as
a means of communication with the Shapers. Through
these the Shapers can give directives to their subjects,
and at the same time keep tabs on whats going on in
the human realms by analyzing the questions made to
the Oracles.

Living Gods
Each of the living gods is unique. Some may be actual
Terran creatures, genetically modified and implanted
with Shaper devices to protect it and let it interact with
its worshippers. Others are mechanical constructs, for
example a gigantic humanoid idol of bronze. And yet
others are merely interfaces with extraplanar beings,
to see how mankind reacts to contact with Those from Lizardhawk (Pterosaur)
the Outer Voids. Lizardhawks are ubiquitous in Gondwane, inhabiting
all environments seacosts, jungles, mountains,
Watcher Androids deserts, etc. All lizardhawks are both scavengers
The Shapers use androids constructs that look exactly and predators, some of them hunting in flocks. The
like living humans, but far stronger and tougher to Greater Lizardhawk has a body no larger than a thin
help them keep tabs on their experimental subjects dogs, and usually will not attack anything man-size
and to initiate necessary actions, such as rubbing out that looks healthy; however it will follow the smell of
a Remnant pocket that may reveal unwanted secrets to blood, and attack those obviously weak or dying.
the current cycle.
Lizardhawk 3, Resistance [0]
The only sure way to distinguish an android from
a true human is to open its body up. Some earlier
android types had green ichor instead of blood in their
circulatory systems, but the Shapers have since learned
to be more subtle, and most Watchers will now be of
the red-blooded type. However, the internal organs
and specially the brains of Watchers are very different
from those of humans.

Creatures of Gondwane
Heres a sample of the creatures you may encounter in
a Gondwane adventure.
Common Dinosaurs
Under Common Dinosaurs are listed the smaller
species, those one might encounter as domesticated
animals or in a typical hunting trip.
Strider (Dryosaurus)
The Strider is one of the most common dinosaurs you
will encounter in Gondwane, since its used as a mount
almost everywhere save in the dry Zahuran Desert,
where the Shellhead is better adapted. Striders graze
on all fours, but get up on two legs to run. In running
position, the Strider stands 5 feet tall at the shoulder;
its total length is 13 feet, of which nearly half is tail.

Strider 3, Resistance [1]

Darter (Dromaeosaur)
The Darter is a small theropod (bipedal, carnivorous
dinosaur), only 3 feet long and standing only knee
high. However it is a vicious scavenger and predator
of anything it thinks it can overpower and its a pack
hunter with a poisonous bite.
Darter 2, Poison [1], Resistance [0].
35
Shellhead (Psittacosaurus)
The Shellhead is a light-bodied dinosaur with an
armor-plated, beaked head that gives it a parrot-like
appearance. Like the Strider, it grazes on all fours, but
stands on two legs to run. Shellheads are the preferred
mount of the Makkarans and Dalshurans, and are
also kept by some Thunderfoot Nomad clans for their
ability to withstand long periods without drinking (up
to 6 days). Shellheads stand about 6 at the shoulder
when in running position, and measure about 14 long.

Shellhead 3, Endure Thirst [3], Resistance [1]
Runner (Agilisaurs, Othnielia)
Runner is a generic term for a wide range of small
herbivorous dinosaurs that fill a niche similar to gazelles
and deer on Modern Earth. Theyre everywhere,
theyre relatively easy to hunt, mostly harmless and
they taste like chicken.
Devourer 9M, Resistance [8G]
Doomwing (Giant Pterosaur)
The Doomwing is the largest flying animal in
Gondwane, with a wingspan of 39 feet. It normally
feeds on small animals and carrion, but will sometimes
attack lone humans, or single out an injured person
from a group. For all its power, it cannot lift prey the
size of a man into the air for great distances, so it prefers
to attack only in situations where may feed afterward
in peace. On the ground, doomwings walk on their
hind legs and the knuckles of their wings, and can be
surprisingly agile.
Doomwing 8, Resistance [5]

Runner 2, Burst of Speed [2], Resistance [0]

Rusher (Megapnosaurus)
Rushers are relatively small theropods, only about
ten feet long and standing 4.5 feet tall. They are pack
hunters, and have been domesticated by the Eshkorians
to serve as hunting hounds.
Rusher 2, Burst of Speed [3], Resistance [0]
Great Dinosaurs
These are the giants, the true rulers of Gondwanas
wilds.
Horned Devourer (Horned Devourer)
The Horned Devourer, known to modern man as the
Ceratosaurus, is a large theropod like the Devourer,
but somewhat lighter in build. It favors the dry areas of
the Zahuran Desert and the Knifewind Desert, though
its range overlaps with the Devourers in some areas.
Horned Devourers typically measure about 16-20 feet
long, and stand 8-10 feet tall.

Horned Devourer 7M, Resistance [6G]

Devourer (Allosaurus)
The Devourer is the best-known, most widespread and
most feared of the big land predators. Adults measure
25-40 feet long, and stand 15 to 24 feet tall. With their
power, its no wonder many of the barbarian tribes
worship them as gods.

36
Stoneback (Ankylosaurus)
The Stoneback is a placid herbivore, but armed and
armored like a living tank; its head and body are
protected by heavy bone plates, giving it a turtle-like
appearance, and its tail ends in a heavy bone club.
Stoneback 5M, Resistance [12H]
Oarback (Stegosaurus)
The Oarback is the preferred beast of war in many
kingdoms; large, strong, well-armored, and too dumb
to know how to refuse orders! This huge dinosaur is
unmistakable, with its back lined with big, oar-blade
like plates and a powerful tail studded with foot-long
spikes. Oarbacks are typically ridden to battle with
blinkers over their eyes, and when correctly goaded
will charge anything. Domesticated oarbacks have
some of the oarblade-like plates on their backs cut
away to admit a howdah for archers and spearmen.
Two drivers are required; one in front to steer the
creature, and one at the back to guide its tail attacks.
Oarback 6M, Resistance [9H]
Thunderfoot (Brontosaurus)
The Thunderfoot is a huge sauropod dinosaur, and one
of the most easily recognizable; small head on a long
neck, equally long tail, huge arching body on column-
like legs. The Thunderfoot is a peripatetic nomad,
37
criss-crossing vast swathes of the supercontinent in
its migrations to feeding grounds. The Thunderfoot
Nomads did not change this behavior, but instead
adapted themselves to it.
Thunderfoot 10M, Resistance [12G]
Monsters of the Depths
These gigantic creatures haunt the seas and lakes of
Gondwane, and understandably make Gondwaneans
averse to open-water baths.
Long-jaw (Pliosaur)
The Long-jaw is an aquatic reptile, with a huge,
powerful head on a streamlined body, propelling itself
through the water with large flippers and a powerful
crocodile-like tail. Its bite can sheer right through a
triremes hull.
Long-jaw 9M, Resistance [8G]
Long-neck (Plesiosaur)
The Long-neck is a huge but normally inoffensive
aquatic reptile. It has a body resembling a fat, shell-
less sea turtle, but has a very long neck. Its head and
mouth are too small to prey on large animals like man,
but instead it ambushes fish with fast, sideways strikes
of its snake-like head and neck. They are dangerous to
swimmers and sailors only when disturbed, specially
during mating and giving birth.
 Long-neck 7, Resistance [7G]
Shoal Lurker (Teleidosaur)
The Shoal Lurker is an ancient crocodilian that has
gone the way of the seal; from a legged, amphibious
predator, it has become fully aquatic, its limbs turned
to flippers and its tail acquiring a crescent fluke for
faster swimming. Add to this a crocodiles jaws, and
you will know the reason why few Gondwaneans
know how to swim.
Shoal Lurker 5, Resistance [6]
Shoal Terror (Dakosaurus)
The Shoal Terror is a relative of the Shoal Lurker, but
much larger. With the most powerful bite of all the
marine terrors described here, it can prey on anything
it wants from enormous fish and sea turtles to Long-
necks and, of course, ships and their crew.
Shoal Terror 11M, Resistance [7G]
Stonebiter (Dunkleostus)
The Stonebiter is an enormous fish, actually a living
fossil in this time, but still to be found in the Inland
Sea and some lakes. With its armored head and the
blade-like bone jaw plates that serve it instead of teeth,
it can attack just about anything and be sure to cause
great damage.
38
Stonebiter 10M, Resistance [6H]
Shaper Servants
Here are some examples of Shaper servants and a
Shaper pilot and his Tripod.
Watcher
An android made to look just like a normal human
being, but totally different inside. The typical Watcher
android has the following stats, but special ones may
be encountered:
Watcher 6, Mind Shield [5], Inhuman Strength
[5], Resistance [3]
Gozairion, Living God
Gozairion is one of the Antillean Dragon Kings, a
living god in the form of a titanic theropod dinosaur.
Gozairion is asleep in a cave under one of the islands,
kept in that state by a pacifying arcanotech device.
He is all too aware that he was betrayed by his own
worshippers, and his wrath, if he wakes, will be
catastrophic.
Gozairion (Titanic Carnivore) 12M, Telepath
8E, Fire Breather 7M, Terrifying 3, Armor [25H];
Mind Reader [4], Obfuscate [3], Dominate [6];
Betrayed by the Antilleans
Tripod, Work/Scout Type
This is a single-passenger craft such as might be used
by a Shaper making a secret visit to shore perhaps
to offload or pick up a Watcher, or to investigate an
unusual incident, specially one that is caused by
advanced technology. Stats are given for both the pilot
and the Tripod.
Watcher Scientist 5, Telepath 9, Mind Shield
[8], Obfuscate [9], Dominate [6], Resistance [3];
Aquatic, Cannot Survive in Air
Tripod, Armor [8H], Disintegrator Ray [8M]

Sample Adventure: Lost City of Xavathor Chapter 1: A Savage World
This sample adventure is meant for a party of PCs
mostly from Modern Earth. Gondwanean PCs can
be introduced into the adventure once the party is in
Gondwane. As an introductory adventure, this one is
very linear and is meant to be so; it gets the players
started with a bang,
The Setup
It is sometime in the 1930s. The player characters are
on a luxury airship crossing the Atlantic when a freak
storm hits, and their airship crashes into a jungle.
When the sun rises, they find theyre in the Jurassic,
with the ancient and evil city of Xavathor as their only
refuge.
The challenge for the players is to keep their characters
alive. Your task as GM is to lure them into Xavathor,
then trap as many as possible for the Princes
cannibalistic feasts and breeding experiments!
This adventure was designed for a party of at least 4
PCs; if you have less, shave off a die or three from some
of the threats listed below. If you have more, however,
add a few more dice to the threats here and there.
Prologue: the Storm
The luxury passenger zeppelin Graf Von Horst is
en route from Madrid to New York, with a pleasure
stopover scheduled in Havana. You may engage in a
little introductory role playing here, to get the players
warmed up if you wish. The day proceeds normally,
with fun for all, then the ship lifts off in the calm after
midnight.
But as they are crossing the island of Bermuda, a sudden
storm strikes the airship. Captain Ernst is helpless to
steer the zeppelin, and its all the passengers can do to
avoid getting hurt.
Have the players roll any Role against a Storm 6; this
39
is a test of sure-footedness and dexterity, to avoid
banging into something. Anyone who fails must pay
to Soak or Escape the damage. If your players have
shorter attention spans, the storm is the better point
at which to begin the adventure it lets you confront
them with a challenge immediately.
At this point, Captain Ernst announces that the ship
may go down, and that everyone should prepare
emergency supplies. The captain says he believes
Were going down in the Everglades, so you may
want to bring something for the gators.
The wild nights ride culminates in a crash over
jungle. This can be gentled if the PCs think to lighten
the zeppelin as much as they can. Its quite a luxury
vessel, so there are lots of heavy things inside even a
grand piano!
The Crash
When the crash finally occurs, in 1d3 rounds, have
every player again roll a test of sure-footedness or
strength:
Impact 6 if the PCs did not lighten the zeppelin;
those who lose the roll must again Soak or
Escape 1 damage.
Impact 3 if the PCs lightened the zeppelin, and
those who lost the roll must Soak or Escape 1
damage.
Welcome to the Jurassic
Now introduce the player characters to the world
of Gondwane. As the sun rises, they discover
themselves in a setting thats very different from what
the Everglades should look. Remember that grand
scene from Jurassic Park I where the kids first see the
dinosaurs? Thats what youre aiming for.
Find out what the players want their characters to
do. The airship crashed at the foothills of a mountain
range, and the PCs now see that beyond the jungle
to the south is desert, to the north and northeast are
forested mountains, and to the west, the sea.

a place to hide to make the appropriate rolls. You want

Dinosaur Attack!
At this point, a Devourer appears and starts chasing the
likeliest prey! If the party is well-armed or numerous,
you may even want to sic a hunting pair of Devourers
instead of just one. If you used the hunting pair, they
will try to do a pincer move on their chosen target. If
anyone was injured in the crash, the Devourers will go
for that character.
If any players made Gondwanean characters, this is
probably the best place to introduce them. Have their
characters coincidentally be in the exact same patch of
jungle, in the grand old pulp tradition, and let them
help escape or beat off the Devourers.
Should the PCs somehow manage to kill the Devourer/s
instead of escaping it, have a pack of Darters appear
soon after, intent on either claiming the Devourer
carcasses, or bagging a wounded character.
to watch out for the first player who rolls a six. This
player s character not only succeeds in finding what
he wants, he either discovers the entrance to Xavathor
or meets a Xavathorian hunting party.
The Xavathorians will be kindly and welcoming, and
quickly invite the PCs and all the other survivors to
shelter inside the city.
The Princes of Xavathor
As guests of the Xavathorians, let the PCs explore and
refresh themselves with the wonders of Xavathor.
They will be taken in as the personal guests of Prince
Arzonis, First Prince of Xavathor. Elements the PCs
could engage with include:
The wealth of Xavathor
Remnant technology that no longer works
The juxtaposition of grandeur and decay
The great age of Xavathor and its long history
The long isolation of the Xavathorians

Chapter 2: The Hidden City Any PCs who are injured or still have Assets to refresh
get them refreshed at this point. The Xavathorians tell
The PCs should realize by now that the mountains are
the PCs they will make separate arrangements for the
far safer and more survivable than any other direction
passengers and for the crew once they have seen how
they could go. The advantages of seeking higher, more
the crew try to serve the former. If any of the PC are
broken terrain will be safety from the bigger predators,
non-officer members of the crew, theyll be taken with
which of course cant follow where they cant even
this batch too.
walk, and the chances of finding food and water.
If any PC transgresses against the Xavathorians rules,
Finding Xavathor
like trying to wander around the city unaccompanied, or
The best way to have the PCs find Xavathor is to stumble trying to get out, or monkeying with the Xavathorians
on it as they look for their survival needs. They want Remnant tech items, that PC is brought to the slave pits
shelter, water, and food, and if any are injured or have where the crew now are.
spent Assets, tell them these survival needs must be
met for them to refresh their Assets.

Ask every player who wants to look for water, food, or

40
Peril in Xavathor
As rich and beautiful as the city is, however, you should
start dropping hints of Xavathors sinister side once all
the PCs have fully refreshed their Assets. Clues and
sparks to this peril could include:

A female PC; the Xavathorians will want to

keep her
Guns; the Xavathorians will be obsessed with
them
The obstinate secretiveness and isolationism of
the Xavathorians
The racism of the Xavathorians and their claims
of divinity
Other Gondwaneans aversion to the
Xavathorians
The Xavathorians insist on the PCs staying, and
give reasons not to leave
The Xavathorians refuse to let the PCs leave if
they still want to
The PCs find out the Xavathorians have eaten a
passenger or crewman of the airship!

Once youve sprung that last item, its a sure bet the
players will want to get their characters out of there!
This sparks the climactic sequence.
Chapter 3: Escape from Xavathor
The stage is now set for the climax. Let the PCs plan
how they will get out of Xavathor, but at this point
emphasize to them that events are moving very
quickly.
Slave Pits of Xavathor
The crew and any PCs who were put into the slave pits
will need to get out. The Xavathorians are running low
on food, after entertaining so many guests, so its time
for them to restock the larder and the prisoners are
providing the meat. The slave pits are located in the
subterranean vaults beneath the city, and are guarded
by a small gang of apemen armed with swords.
Apemen Guards [6]
Even as the PCs deal with the guards, another bunch
of apemen appears in 1d3+1 rounds; the butchers
assigned to turn the captives into hams!
Apemen Butchers [4]; these are armed with
swords too, as well as big clubs and cleavers.
Apemen of Xavathor
Any disturbance caused by the PCs will raise the rest
of Xavathors apemen. They will move to seal off the
exits from the slave pits to the surface. If there are
enough PCs, and they are well-enough armed, they
just might break through the apeman cordon. In that
case, they will have to contend with the Xavathorians
themselves.
Apemen Soldiers [24]
Sorcerer of Xavathor
If the PCs break through the apemen, they will be
confronted by Prince Arzonis, who is now revealed as
the Sorcerer of Xavathor. Prince Arzonis will summon
a Dreameater to attack the PCs minds.
Prince Arzonis, Xavathorian Sorcerer 7,
Swordsman 4, Wisdom of the Sleeping Gods
[4], Armor [3], Apemen Bodyguard [6], Hard
to Kill [3]
Arzonis will raise a Dreameater with the following
stats in 1d3 rounds; in the meantime, Xavathor will
deploy his apeman bodyguards, drawing sword only
if he really has to.

Dreameater 8E, Resistance 4E

41
In the Bowels of the Mountain
The other way out is deeper into the tunnels, where
an older slave says he has heard the rushing of an
underground river. Perhaps it empties somewhere
outside. If the apemen have not been completely
defeated, the survivors will chase the PCs into the
tunnels.

Roll the apemen vs. the PCs efforts to get away. The
PCs need three victories in a row each to get to the river
before the apemen. Alternatively, some PCs could
hold off the apemen, and all the other PCs can make it
to the river without having to roll vs. the apemen.

Once at the river, though, theres one last roll for

each player to make, vs. the Underground Rapids
3; on a Victory, the players character slides through
the twisting, frothing chute and out into a sunlit
mountainside!

42
Contents
Introduction 1
What is a Role Playing Game 1
What is Needed to Play 2
How to Use This Book 2
Bibliography 2
Cinema & TV 2
Short Stories & Novels 3
Comic Books 3
Nonfiction 3
World Overview 3
First Impressions 3
Man on Gondwane 4
Differences from Modern Man 4
Civilizations 4
Technology 4
Themes 4
Character Creation 5
Character Creation Procedure 5
Step 1: GM Briefing 5
Step 2: Concept 5
Anachronists 6
Sample Anachronist Concepts: 6
Gondwaneans 6
Sample Gondwanean Concepts: 6
Remnants 6
Sample Remnant Concepts: 7
Step 3: Assign Roles 7
Open Roles 7
Two-fisted 7
Weird Roles 7
Step 4: Purchase Assets 8
Guts 8
Attributes 8
Knacks 8
Weird Powers 8
Esper and Mystic Knacks 8
Wizard Knacks 8
Sorcerer Knacks 9
Arms and Armor 9
Followers 10
Step 5: Assign Hooks 10
Example 10
Step 6: List Outfit 10
Firearms 10
Example 10
Step 7: GM Review 10
Fate Dice 10
Renown 11
Sample Characters 11
Jonathan Carse 11
Arthur Rice Haggard 11
Professor Farquhar-Botham 12
Areius 12
Python 12
Rhalina 12
Basic Mechanics 13
Declaring Actions 13
Dice Rolls 13 Ornathor 26
Opponents 13
Outcomes 13
Victory 13
Defeat 13
Stay 14
Chains 14
Bonus Dice 14
Advantage 14
Risk Dice 14
Tapping Assets & Guts 14
Victory Points 15
43
Combat 15
Procedure 15
Setting the Scene 15
Deployment 15
Riffing 16
Advantage 16
Combat Options 16
Damage and Saves 17
Escape 17
Soak 17
Character Death 17
Blaze of Glory 17
Gift of Fury 17
Left for Dead 18
GMCs 18
T/R Ratings 18
Mooks 18
Special Abilities 18
Eldritch Damage (E) 18
Gigantic (G) 18
Hardened (H) 18
Incapacitating (I) 18
Massive Damage (M) 18
Poison 18
Terrifying 19
Weird Powers 19
Combat with Weird Powers 19
Weird Power Effects 19
When is Using a Weird Power Combat? 19
Summoning 19
Quick Extraplanar Creation 20
Altering Reality 20
Creating and Improving Arcane Devices 20
Lands and Peoples of the 18th Cycle 21
Antillean Empire 21
Arwe 22
The Desert Kingdoms 22
Askelos 22
Dalshur 22
Harakpur 22
Makkar 23
Samurrad 23
Tomaria 23
Eshkorian Theocracies 23
Eshkor 24
Omnor 24
Zakkar 24
Golgars 24
Hargath 24
Invaders from the North 25
Urdryks 25
Valkheirs 25
Kingdom of Belshar 25
Dur Ashrak 25
Dur az Zahur 25
Dur Shumukin 26
Semirathis 26
Kingdoms of the Inland Sea 26
Alharrash 26
Tartesh 27
Theriandor 27
Mottled Folk 27
The Crab People 27
The Lizard People 28
The Stonefish People 28
The Shark People 28
Pelshaurian Kingdoms 28
Elgabal 28
Melkarth 28
Sarkoris 29
Thunderfoot Nomads 29
 Zyran Empire 29
Remnants of Earlier Cycles 29
Creating Remnants 29
Ankyros 30
Beastmen 31
Ghormyr 31
Gofannen 31
Gorunghast 31
Megastyros 32
Pale Ones 32
Swampfolk 32
Xavathor 32
Secrets of the Shapers 33
Who are the Shapers 33
Shaper Powers 33
Shaper Technology 33
Time-Nets 33
Tripods 33
Oracles 33
Living Gods 34
Watcher Androids 34
Creatures of Gondwane 34
Common Dinosaurs 34
Darter (Dromaeosaur) 34
Lizardhawk (Pterosaur) 34
Strider (Dryosaurus) 34
Shellhead (Psittacosaurus) 34
Runner (Agilisaurs, Othnielia) 35
Rusher (Megapnosaurus) 35
Great Dinosaurs 35
Devourer (Allosaurus) 35
Doomwing (Giant Pterosaur) 35
Horned Devourer (Ceratosaur) 35
Stoneback (Ankylosaurus) 36
Oarback (Stegosaurus) 36
Thunderfoot (Brontosaurus) 36
Monsters of the Depths 36
Long-jaw (Pliosaur) 36
Long-neck (Plesiosaur) 36
Shoal Lurker (Teleidosaur) 37
Shoal Terror (Dakosaurus) 37
Stonebiter (Dunkleostus) 37
Shaper Servants 37
Watcher 37
Gozairion, Living God 37
Tripod, Work/Scout Type 37
Sample Adventure: Lost City of Xavathor 38
The Setup 38
Prologue: the Storm 38
Chapter 1: A Savage World 38
The Crash 38
Welcome to the Jurassic 38
Dinosaur Attack! 39
Chapter 2: The Hidden City 39
Finding Xavathor 39
The Princes of Xavathor 39
Peril in Xavathor 40
Chapter 3: Escape from Xavathor 40
Slave Pits of Xavathor 40
Apemen of Xavathor 40
Sorcerer of Xavathor 40
In the Bowels of the Mountain 41

44
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