Two centuries ago, the dreaded secret society of assassins were buried in their mountain fortress. But now a group of miners have uncovered this ancient stronghold, unleashing the evil held within. The shadows of the assassins have been waiting patiently for their freedom to come, and now it has. With their fingers like knives and their hearts calling out for vengeance, they emerge once more into the world.
Knives in the Dark is a short adventure module for both (or either of) the Dungeon World and Labyrinth Lord fantasy role-playing games.
Instead of wandering monsters, this module utilizes intelligent enemies, with their own plans and agendas that follow the PCs even after they leave the dungeon. That’s what it borrows from Dungeon World, but what about the Labyrinth Lord part? Both the dungeon and the wilderness around it are all mapped out, ready for your PCs to rampage through them like the rambunctious murderhobos all hopped up on magic potions that they are. If they don’t already have a reason to do so, this module gives you some help, with the church and the governor as possible patrons, and procedures for giving out tasty rumours and other interesting pieces of information.
You can see a short preview of Knives in the Dark HERE.
Knives in the Dark is available from DriveThruRPG in pdf for US$5 and in print, as a perfect-bound, softcover book in B&W with white pages, for US$12.
Knives in the Dark is also available from Lulu, as a softcover, staple-bound booklet in B&W with cream-coloured pages, for US$12.
See a 17-page PREVIEW of the book HERE.
If you are uneasy about improvising everything, this module provides you with a fully-stocked dungeon of no small size. This being Dungeon World, there’s also fronts and dangers. Some of the monsters wait around in rooms underground, but only until the PCs find them—then they are free!
If you want your players to contribute more but don’t know what to ask them, this module gives you customized lists of questions. Use the answers they give you to add new elements to the adventure that will actually mean something in the context of the dungeon and the town nearby. These setup procedures are written to help you get the PCs and the setting to mesh together, so the world makes sense to everyone at the table, while still preserving that sense of going into the unknown to confront dangerous things.
If you’re worried that my monsters won’t be bizarre or exciting enough for your game, there is also a section with procedures to create new monsters that will surprise your players.
And of course, this isn’t a linear plot—there’s no story here. There’s lots of little stories, characters, agendas, secrets, and dangers, which all add up to an overpopulated dungeon environment, bursting at the seams with opportunities for adventure. You can leave out or add as much as you want, drop pieces here and there into other games, or use this module as the starting point for a longer campaign.
You can buy Lair of the Unknown in print from Lulu, for US$15. B&W, softcover, cream-coloured pages, full-bleed.
You can buy both the print and pdf from DriveThruRPG. The pdf is US$7, print is US$15. B&W, softcover, white pages, not full-bleed.