Rumors are a useful form of adventure hook that you can drop into your game anytime the

adventurers hit a town or tavern. Alternatively, rumors are just a fun thing to drop in to add some character to the game and give it that realistic verisimilitude. Typically rumors will get more exaggerated and outrageous the farther they get from the source. Weve replicated that by presenting our rumors with three different levels of accuracy. e first entry is the least accurate with each subsequent entry getting closer and closer to the truth. Finally we end with details on the truth behind the rumors. Each rumor also gives details on the person spreading the rumor and any applicable motives the character might have for doing so.

ese rumor chains can be used in a couple of different ways: If your rules set includes skill or ability checks for gathering information from the local populace then you can treat these rumors as three distinct results for any check or roll. e rumor at the bottom of the chain, closest to the truth could be used when an adventurer succeeds handily at her check or roll, the second entry up could be for a marginal success, and the third entry up, the one farthest from the truth, could be given to an adventurer who failed the check or roll. If you prefer to roleplay these kinds of

interactions you can start the adventurers at the far end of the chain, farthest from the truth. ey would have to continue to interact with NPCs until the got to the bottom of things and uncovered the truth. at is assuming they dont simply act on the first false rumors they hear and find themselves on the wrong end of the proverbial stick.

remembers it this way.

e Tale: Mergoss, that poor man His wife tried to kill him, she did. Sure he liked his drink, and Ive heard he liked the women a little too much too, but that doesnt mean he deserved well, that. Poor man is barely clinging to life and that wife of his will hang if he does, you mark my words. THE INN KEEPERS WIFE And now those poor kids have to run that inn all e Tale: Old Mergoss, the one with the by themselves. Im going to give them these apples dropsy, at the inn e Spotted Owl. You know Ive just picked, its the least they deserve. Poor the one. Hes gambled all his gold away and then babies some. He owed a lot of the gamblers round here, e Teller: Helga is a stoop-shouldered old the mean ones, the ones you best not cross, and woman dressed in a slightly dusty dress and is when he couldnt pay well, they beat him to half covered by a blue shawl. She is a grandmother and to death. Ive heard hes holed up at his brothers dotes on anyone in their teens or younger. cabin, hoping those gamblers dont catch up with him again. Lucky for him his brother is handy with e Truth: Mergoss, the owner of the Spotted a bow and blade. But not everyone has someone to Owl Inn recently fell deathly ill after his wife, protect them, eh? e Teller: Serem is tall, lanky man with a wispy Telylluh, poisoned him. Mergoss who despite the beard and shaggy head of dark hair. He is dressed gout and heart problems he suffers from is quite is cracked leather armor and wears a pair of curved the gambler and carouser. Hes consistently lost the daggers on a belt of spotted fur. He is in actuality Inns profits on gambling and recently had an affair an enforcer for a local gambling den owner and is with a woman from a passing caravan of circus using this situation to convince the locals that his performers. His long-suffering wife simply had boss and others like him dont take kindly to those enough and tried to rid herself of the drunken lout. She knew his habits well and poisoned his own that welch on their bets. personal cask of ale with mushrooms she gathered from the woods. Mergoss survived the attempt and e Tale: at woman, Telylluh at the Spotted remains bedridden at the house of his brother, a Owl dangerous, dangerous woman. Harridan local trapper and hunter. His wife was caught and hag. at poor man of hers couldnt imagine is being held by the constabulary pending a trial. what hes had to put up with. It was what, last new e couples children, all in their teens, are running moon I think, she tried to poison half the people the inn in the meantime. at that inn. She put it in the mince pies, couldve killed a lot of people. ey got her locked up. Shell TROUBLE IN THE SEWERS probably swing for that. Mad woman. e Tale: Id stay off that street if I were you. e Teller: Corey Flintwick is a short, stout e sewers, traveler, the sewers. Havent you heard? man with fat, ruddy cheeks, and a nose thats about eyre in danger of collapsing and if they do, that halfway to becoming a gin blossom. Hes dressed in whole street and all the buildings on it will tumble an ill-fitting white tunic with some stains from his into the ground. lunch on it, and brown leather breeches tucked into e Teller: Gann Halifax is a fair-haired woman muddy, laced boots. He was drunk when he heard the tale of Mergoss and his wife and genuinely with a weathered face that makes her look older 2

than she is. She tends a small spice garden and sells what she grows in the market. Her husband, a fisherman, is usually away and her two children, who are remarkably bright, are away at a magical college. She often finds herself lonely and bored and, despite being a private person normally, has become something of a gossip. e Tale: Im not really sure what the real story is, but Ive heard something happened in the sewers. Part of it collapsed or something like that. All I know is that some engineers from the capital are coming to do something about it.

THE HAUNTED ABBEY

e Teller: Parson is a young, bright-eyed e Teller: Kaross is a former soldier turned teenager whos inquisitive and talkative but unsure of himself. He works as an assistant to the towns merchant who travels to and from town along all the trade routes taking goods from the town to sell scribe. at various markets. Hes known a lot of foolhardy people in his life and is now quick and loud with e Tale: Mm, bad news, bad news. e sewers his unsolicited advice. Her heard about the abbey some kind of damn monster down there. e from another merchant along the road whom he watch is beside themselves. at whatsizname from has no reason to distrust. the capital isnt coming after all. ey want to hire some sellswords to deal with it now. e Tale: If you leave town, be very careful on e Teller: Jared is a farmer whos in town the West Road. eres an old abbey there, some selling some vegetables to a local innkeeper. Hes miles outside town. Most of it burned down years concerned that this monster he mentioned is going ago. It well, my friends cousin, he stopped off to escape the sewers and come after his animals. there to get out of the rain last week and he saw something. A tall long-limbed thing with bristling e Truth: A family of giant rats has taken up black hair and a mouth like the abyss itself! Must residence in the sewers beneath town. e watch be an evil spirit or a ghost cause he said he could found out about after a local beggar was looking see right through the thing. He ran out of there as for lost coins down there and was bitten on the fast as he could with that damnable thing hot after leg. e watch kept that covered up and the beggar him. Luckily he got back to town before it caught is recovering at a local temple. But someone in him, but he looks like hes aged ten years and his the watch talked, perhaps to a spouse or friend, hairs gone white! and word got out about some monster in the sewers. A famous hunter, Ransom the Eagle-Eyed, announced his intention of coming down from the capitol to hunt and kill the beast, but when he was told it was only rats, albeit big ones, he called off his expedition. Meanwhile the watch is looking for someone who wont make too much of a fuss to go down there and clear out the nest.

e Tale: Strange doings these days You look like youre used to a strange doing or two, eh? Adventurous sort? Well, theres a difference between adventurous and foolish. You mark my words. e old abbey outside town, abandoned and blackened by smoke and fire. Well, something dark lurks in that place and before you think there might be any treasure left in it, forget about that! Its been picked over by travelers, beggars, and thieves a hundred times over. No, Im only telling you about the place so youll steer clear of it. Its haunted and will spell the doom of any traveler that sets foot in the place.

e Teller: Yorik is broad-shouldered man with a face thats wrinkled with heavy folds of skin like a pug dog. He looks like a tough customer, with heavy workmans hands, but is in fact a gentle soul. He isnt entirely sure who the original story of this ghost is supposed to be attributed to, its a classic friend of a friend story, but he was so unnerved by it that hes passed it on as a solemn warning. 3

e Tale: Ive seen it myself. I told those priests too, told them they should go out there and rid the place of that evil. Bless it or exorcize it or something. ey didnt believe me; said there wouldnt be anything like that out there. Well why not? I saw it, I did. It couldnt tell if it had been a man of woman, it was dressed in a long white gown, had eyes like coal, a big gaping mouth, and I could see right through it. I ran of course, not proud of that, but I reckon most wouldve done the same.

e Teller: Eric Moonsilver is a young man in a puffy velvet shirt clasped with a shiny silver brooch. He wears green breaches tucked into soft brown boots. A bulging leather moneypouch hangs conspicuously off his gray furred belt. Its has only a few pieces of silver on the top with the rest being stuffed with iron and steel shavings from the smithy. Eric is a tout for e Black Swan; he misrepresents e Teller: Renny is a boy thats at that awkward himself as a man of means and talks up the virtues stage, lanky from a recent growth spurt. He looks of the tavern in an effort to send customers their uncomfortable in his own skin. Hes telling the way. truth, he saw something out there at the Abbey and is one of the sources of the original rumor. e Tale: Been a long time, eh? Camped out on the hard ground alone. I can see it in your e Truth: A small group of bandits came across eyes. You have my sympathy. Listen, Ill tell you the abbey several weeks ago and decided it would a little known fact about this fine town of ours. make a perfect hideout from which the could range e Black Swan, tavern on the south end of town, up and down the old trade road. ey set themselves the barmaids there well, beyond being the best up in the abbeys basement but soon find that there looking barmaids in town lets just say a generous was too much traffic from the town, they would be tip will go a long way, my son, a long way indeed! discovered sooner or later. eir leader, a former ere is one front I think I can help on a drink! farmer, likened the townfolk to bothersome crows Here, a free drink token for e Black Swan, but and suggested they make something akin to a remember tip generously my friend scarecrow. One of their members, who had some e Teller: Keloss the Redfaced is a middle-aged artistic ability, carved a suitably horrific face from man with a port-wine stain, a reddish birthmark, wood and painted it. ey then lashed the head to on his face. Hes dressed in worn leather armor and a wooden pole, fashioned a wig from horsehair, and wears a short curved sword on his hip. He too is a put an old diaphanous white nightshirt on the pole. tout for e Black Swan and attempts to appeal to ey rigged up a series of tripwires around the gaps the baser instincts in his efforts to direct customers and entrances in the walls that would pull their to the tavern. ghost into view anytime someone entered the abbey. Afterward they disguised themselves and e Tale: Hmm? Ah, the adventuring sort, I travelers and, on several occasions, told stories in the local taverns and inns about the ghost of the see! Ah me, I envy your sort, I really do. Slaying foul beasts, rescuing fair maids, hauling home chests full abbey. of baubles and trinkets and gold irsty work Im sure What you need is a tall tankard of the towns THE TOUTS finest ale that rich amber fluid with the perfect e Tale: You look like you need a cool draught. head of foam. e Black Swan is what you need, Been traveling? e Black Swan is where you want the best ale, brewed and poured perfectly. Ah yes, to go, no doubt. It has the cheapest and best ale in the pouring is equally important to the experience. town a rare combination, that. Im going there Here then, follow my finger, take this road to the myself as soon as I meet this pretty little thing south end of town, look for the sign of e Black 4

Im waiting for. You know, Ive got this free drink token I dont really need it, here take it.

Swan and there you are. I would imagine your sort might find some work there as well. eres always some noble or another looking for adventurers to retrieve some lost family heirloom or another, yes. e Black Swan, friend, you may find your fortune there Before you go, here, the barkeep is always insisting I take these, but I insist on paying for a skill such as his. Here then, a free drink token e Teller: Batharuss the Well-Heeled is the most talkative of the three touts. Hes a distinguished-looking man despite his lowborn origins and has a magnificent waxed mustache that hes constantly pulling at. Hes dressed in last years fashions from the royal capitol, some castoffs he stole from an old washerwoman while he was in the capital a few months ago. Hell tell you anything you want to hear and will cast e Black Swan in such a favorable light it will sound like something next only to Elysium.

drink with song, vague promises of promiscuous barmaids who then split their tips with Fezwick, and the promise of some of the best ale in town, has all helped keep the dingy little tavern full of travelers and newcomers.

e Truth: is is a case where the grapevine is not a chain of rumors whose veracity becomes more and more diluted as it goes on. All of these rumors are false from the very beginning, and are intentionally spread by the taverns touts.

e Black Swan occupies a rundown old building under a faded sign that once depicted a white swan but was blackened by soot from a kitchen fire years ago. e ale is passable most days and sometimes borders on fairly good, but is not the nectar of the gods its made out to be. e supposedly buxom and eager-to-please barmaids are anything but; theyre well past their prime and covered in heavy makeup and perfume that the tavern owner insists on. e barmaids are all passable singers though. ey know various drinking songs that emphasize taking big draughts of ale during the choruses and will insist the taverns patrons sing along.

GMS COOKBOOK: THE RUMOR MILL #1 By Michael Todd GMs Cookbook: e Rumor Mill #1 is TM and 2008 Michael Todd. Reference to other copyrighted material in no way constitutes a challenge to the respective copyright holders of that material. Some artwork copyright Paul Daly, used with permission. Big Finger Games, the Big Finger Games logo are trademarks owned by Michael Todd. All Right Reserved. is document is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual people, organizations, places, or events is purely coincidental.

e taverns owner is one Fezwick Blackwood. Hes only a passable brewer, a lousy barkeep, but hes a canny self-promoter. He hit upon the idea using touts to bring in patrons to the tavern after seeing a similar tactic in the royal capitol. Working the patrons from a variety of angles, encouraging