TEXT: ~Credits~
  WRITING AND DESIGN: Matt Forbeck
  Editing and dEVELOPMENT:
  rOBERT j. sCHWALB
  Proofreading: Kara Hamilton
  ART DIRECTION: 
  hal mangold and rOBERT j. sCHWALB
  LAYOUT and Graphic Design: kara hamilton
  ILLUSTRATION: Jack Kaiser, Bob Schwalb, and
  Todd Wilson
  The Last Train to Darksville is ©2016 Schwalb Entertainment, LLC. 
  All rights reserved.
  Shadow of the Demon Lord, The Last Train to Darksville,
  Schwalb Entertainment, and their associated logos 
  are trademarks of Schwalb Entertainment, LLC.
  SCHWALB ENTERTAINMENT, LLC
  PO Box #12548, Murfreesboro, TN 37129
  info@schwalbentertainment.com       www.schwalbentertainment.com
   An Adventure for Master Characters
  A rail caravan from Devil’s Breach to Darksville 
  has failed to show up for three days running, and 
  no one in Devil’s Breach can ﬁ gure out why. It’s 
  up to the player characters to investigate what’s 
  keeping the trains from running on time as they 
  ride what may well be the last train to Darksville. 
   “Last Train to Darksville” is an adventure 
  designed for master characters. Lower-level 
  characters had best not apply. I wrote this as the 
  fulﬁ llment of a stretch goal for The Shadow of 
  the Demon Lord™ Kickstarter drive, and I’ve 
  enjoyed every bit of it. Thanks to Rob for letting 
  me fool around in his world—and for him 
  tinkering around in mine as he handled much 
  of the heavy lifting for my Shotguns & Sorcery™ 
  roleplaying game.  
   An Adventure for Master Characters
  
  Background
  Devil’s Breach is a dark little town on the edge of an 
  empty land, somewhere on the continent of Rûl. The 
  people there don’t have much to oﬀ er the world other 
  than the geographic location of their home, which 
  makes it an excellent stopping point for travelers making 
  their way to far-ﬂ ung locations. Wagon trains used to 
  stop at the town for supplies on their way in and out of 
  the wastes, and the new railroad that goes through town 
  follows the long tradition. 
   While the wagon train managed to slip through the 
  wastes without drawing too much attention, the loud 
  steam engines belching soot into the sky are another 
  matter entirely and have recently roused a dragon from 
  his slumber in the nearby badlands. The monster makes 
  regular ventures from his lair to prey upon the iron 
  machine, its precious cargo, and its ill-fated passengers. 
   So far, the dragon has taken out two trains along this 
  desolate stretch of track. The Darksville Railway only 
  has three trains in total. The third leaves from Devil’s 
  Breach tomorrow at dawn. 
  Getting Started
  The adventure’s setting is intentionally vague to help 
  you weave the story into your campaign. The ideal place 
  to set it, however, is the stretch of rail between Sixton 
  and Foundry. Darksville and Devil’s Breach could be 
  the unnamed towns shown on the Northern Reach 
  map shown on page 166 of Shadow of the Demon Lord.
   To become involved, the player characters need to 
  ﬁ nd out about the Darksville Railway’s plight. They 
  could manage this by passing through Darksville, of 
  course, but if they happen to be elsewhere, a railway 
  agent, Johann Heevey, can track them down where they 
  happen to be and hire them to guard the train caravan 
  as it makes its next attempt to reach Darksville. If they 
  agree to help, the agent oﬀ ers them free passage to 
  Devil’s Breach. 
   In any case—whether the player characters start in 
  Devil’s Breach or elsewhere—the railway agent is happy 
  to oﬀ er them a reward of 250 gold crowns to split among 
  themselves — and another 250 if they return with the 
  train intact.
   Once in Devil’s Breach, the player characters may 
  wish to investigate what’s happening. No one in Devil’s 
  Breach has any idea. The train used to run between 
  Devil’s Breach and Darksville like clockwork. The 
  railway company has taken great pains to protect the 
  train, and it makes no stops along the way.
  Catching 
  the Train
  At dawn the day after the player characters arrive in 
  Devil’s Breach, the train embarks for Darksville. While 
  the train is normally packed full of people, no one 
  outside of the railway’s employees is willing to ride the 
  train today. 
   Each train car has a single guard (as a veteran) who 
  also doubles as a braker. The engine carries two workers: 
  Vilma Hersson, the engineer who drives the train and 
  handles the mechanical ends of things, and Simon 
  Kauss a magician to keep the engine rolling and handle 
  all mystical matters. The only other person on the 
  train, besides the player characters, is the railway agent, 
  Johann Heevey. 
   There are six cars on the train. In order from front to 
  back, they are: 
  • The engine, as the locomotive engine described in
  the Demon Lord’s Companion
  • Two passenger cars, each a Size 8 object with a 4 
  10 space, with seats for 32 passengers, windows on
  each side, and doors on either end
  • Two freight cars, each a Size 8 object with a 4  10
  space, cargo 20, and large doors on either side, and
  ladders leading up to the roof
  • The caboose, a Size 6 object, with a 4  6 space, with
  a doors at either end, a ladder leading up to the roof,
  and several bunks for the workers and guards
   The passenger cars are empty, but the freight cars are 
  packed full of things being shipped to Darksville. One 
  holds crates of dry goods, while the other is packed 
  with cows and pigs, each at separate ends of the car. In 
  the caboose are six exceptionally clean pigs kept in a 
  makeshift pen. They appear ordinary except they closely 
  watch anyone who enters the caboose (see Pigs in the 
  Parlor for details).
   The workers usually rest in the caboose in shifts 
  during the long ride to Darksville, but they’re all on 
  high alert for this trip. They know they’re likely riding 
  oﬀ  to their deaths, and none of them are all too pleased 
  about it. 
  oﬀ  to their deaths, and none of them are all too pleased 
  about it. 
  2
  
  The Railway Agent
  Johann Heevey is a dark, slim man who’s worked for the 
  railroad his entire life. His great-uncle Wilver Heevey 
  founded the Darksville Railway, and Johann went to 
  work on it as soon as he was able to walk the aisles. 
  Despite this, he hates his current job as a railway agent, 
  mostly because he’s lousy at doing anything other than 
  working as a conductor. He just doesn’t have the mental 
  capacity to do more than that. 
   Johann knows his family expects big things of him, 
  and he’s just as certain he’s going to disappoint them. 
  He sees this last train to Darksville as an opportunity for 
  him to either redeem himself or die trying—and he’s not 
  sure which one he hopes for the most. 
  JOHANN HEEVEY 
  DIFFICULTY 1
  Size 1 human
  Perception 9 (–1)
  Defense 10; Health 11
  Strength 11 (+1), Agility 10 (+0), Intellect 9 (–1), Will 9 (–1)
  Speed 10
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Sword (melee) +1 (1d6 + 2)
  Pistol (medium) +0 (2d6)
  The Engineer
  Vilma Hersson knows trains better than anyone in the 
  Darksville Railway’s employ. She’s been working on 
  them since she was in her teens, and she’s dedicated her 
  life to making them run faster, better, and safer. 
   Vilma believes the two trains went missing due to 
  operator error. Perhaps the tracks were torn up and the 
  trains derailed. Or maybe the other engineers simply 
  went too fast around one of the route’s few curves. Either 
  way, she’s sure it’s a normal—if horrible—problem and 
  one she can solve, given the chance. 
  VILMA HERSSON 
  DIFFICULTY 10
  Size 1 human
  Perception 12 (+2)
  Defense 11 (soft leather); Health 21
  Strength 11 (+1), Agility 10 (+0), Intellect 12 (+2), Will 11 (+1)
  Speed 10
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Wrench (melee) +1 with 1 boon (2d6)
  The Magician
  Unknown to Johann, the train’s magician (as a 
  cultist)—a smarmy man known as Simon Kauss—is 
  part of a doomsday cult that worships creatures like 
  the dragon. 
   Once Kauss ﬁ gured out what happened to the ﬁ rst 
  two trains—he believes them to have been  destroyed 
  by a monstrous dragon sent by the Demon Lord—he 
  demanded to be allowed to help escort the third train on 
  its journey to Darksville. He believes that the only way to 
  appease the beast is to sacriﬁ ce three trains to it.
   Kauss is a power-hungry madman, but he also cares 
  about the people of Devil’s Breach. He believes giving 
  the trains to the dragon is the only way to ensure the 
  town’s safety. He also harbors some hope that if the 
  dragon recognizes him as the one delivering the train to 
  him that it will not only spare him, but also grant him 
  greater magical power. 
   Fearing the group might upset his plans, he bargained 
  with a devil to gain an incantation that would hide 
  his fellow cultists. By bargaining away a piece of his 
  soul, he gained access to a single casting of a spell that 
  would transform six cultists into pigs. He slipped the 
  transformed swine onto the train and intends to undo 
  the magic to take out the player characters before the 
  dragon attacks. 
  SIMON KAUSS 
  DIFFICULTY 25
  Size 1 human
  Perception 14 (+4)
  Defense 10; Health 25; Insanity 12; Corruption 2
  Strength 9 (–1), Agility 10 (+0), Intellect 14 (+4), Will 14 (+4)
  Speed 10
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Wrench (melee) +0 (1d6)
  MAGIC 
  Power 3
  Fire control ﬂ ame (4), ﬂ ame missile (4), ﬁ re blast (2), 
  ﬂ ame ward (2) 
  Magician sense magic (4)
  Protection magic lock (4), secure site (4), force ﬁ eld (2), 
  protection from spells (1)
  Technomancy jury rig (4), magic wrench (4), bolt thrower (2), 
  mend (1)
  Telltale Signs
  After setting out, the train passes through a blighted, 
  seemingly empty landscape. Johann comments on 
  how quiet it seems. “Often you can spot wild animals 
  roaming the lands out there, with even an occasional 
  monster or two. Today, though? Nothing.”
   The reason for the emptiness becomes clear the longer 
  the characters travel. The countryside bears patches of 
  burnt forests, the burned and mostly devoured bones of 
  large creatures, and a few tendrils of smoke rise in the 
  distance. No one on the train has any idea what these 
  signs portend.
  Find the First Train
  After four hours, Vilma sounds the whistle,s and the 
  train slows to a halt. On the north side of the tracks, train 
  cars lie scattered across the landscape as if ﬂ ung there by 
  a gigantic child. 
   Investigation reveals the engine and three passenger 
  cars still stuck together. They are all blackened on the 
  top, as if someone on the roof had set them on ﬁ re. 
  They’re smashed on whatever side they rest on, as if 
  they were dropped from a great height. Everyone inside 
  them—dozens of people in each car—is dead, killed by 
  the impact. 
  its journey to Darksville. He believes that the only way to 
  appease the beast is to sacriﬁ ce three trains to it.
  3
  
  The freight cars are all missing. The connector to the last 
  passenger car was sheared oﬀ , leaving only a gaping hole 
  in the back of the car. If there was a caboose—which 
  Johann conﬁ rms should have been there—it’s missing 
  as well. 
   The discovery shakes most of the crew, and they all 
  want to turn back. Johann insists they move forward, 
  however. Vilma grows concerned, but she continues to 
  try to puzzle out a rational explanation for the disaster. 
  Simon enthusiastically agrees with Johann and exhorts 
  them all to press on. 
   Allow the players to make the decision here. If they 
  accede to Johann’s wishes to press on, the rest of the crew 
  has no choice but to comply. If they refuse to continue 
  on, Johann cannot stand against them. Simon, however, 
  refuses to go back, even if ordered to. He quietly gives in 
  if he must, but the ﬁ rst chance he gets, he subdues Vilma 
  and sets the train to charge forward into the wastes. 
   The train, of course, was attacked by the dragon, who 
  ripped it from its tracks. Once it had the train in the air, 
  the beast shook it until the front part separated from 
  the rest. It then ﬂ apped oﬀ  toward its lair 
  with the freight—and the workers in the 
  caboose—which it disposed of at its 
  eisure. 
  If the player characters wonder 
  loud about the second missing train, 
  ohann reveals it would have been 
  oming from the opposite direction, 
  eturning from Darksville. The one 
  hey found was the ﬁ rst train that 
  isappeared, and it left from Devil’s 
  Breach. 
  Pigs in the Parlor
  Not long after the group comes upon 
  the wreckage of the ﬁ rst train, the 
  magician makes for the freight car 
  holding the enchanted swine under 
  the auspices of going to bed down 
  in the caboose. There he hopes to 
  reverse the magic so the cultists 
  can ambush the characters just as 
  the dragon attacks. If not prevented, 
  he crawls up one of the ladders 
  and drops in through a hatch in the 
  roof. There, he speaks the phrase he 
  learned from the devils and watches as 
  the swine return to their human forms. 
   Unfortunately, the devil’s magic left 
  these cultists with a nary curse, turning 
  them into 6 skinchangers stuck in a weird 
  hybrid form, part human and part pig. 
  They don’t respond to Simon’s orders and, 
  in fact, turn against him. The characters might hear 
  his screams and come to his aid. If not, Simon ﬂ ees the 
  car and heads to the characters, shouting about how 
  there are monsters on the train. In desperation, and if 
  pressured by the characters, Simon babbles all he knows 
  about the dragon in order to save his life. He’s hard to 
  understand, as the skinchangers are intent in wreaking 
  havoc and pursue him with no regard for their own lives.
  The Dragon Attacks
  The dragon has found taking the previous two trains 
  to be simple. So simple, it decides to toy with the latest 
  noisy contraption chugging across its lands. First, it 
  swoops close to the train, causing the whole thing to 
  rock on the rails. An hour later, it swoops down again to 
  snatch one guard screaming oﬀ  into the night. Finally, an 
  hour after that, the dragon snatches the caboose, taking 
  a section of the rails and another guard with it.
  An hour after that, the dragon attacks. 
  the rest. It then ﬂ apped oﬀ  toward its lair 
  with the freight—and the workers in the 
  caboose—which it disposed of at its 
  leisure. 
   
  If the player characters wonder 
  aloud about the second missing train, 
  Johann reveals it would have been 
  coming from the opposite direction, 
  returning from Darksville. The one 
  they found was the ﬁ rst train that 
  disappeared, and it left from Devil’s 
  Breach. 
  Pigs in the Parlor
  Not long after the group comes upon 
  the wreckage of the ﬁ rst train, the 
  magician makes for the freight car 
  holding the enchanted swine under 
  the auspices of going to bed down 
  in the caboose. There he hopes to 
  reverse the magic so the cultists 
  can ambush the characters just as 
  the dragon attacks. If not prevented, 
  he crawls up one of the ladders 
  and drops in through a hatch in the 
  roof. There, he speaks the phrase he 
  learned from the devils and watches as 
  the swine return to their human forms. 
   Unfortunately, the devil’s magic left 
  these cultists with a nary curse, turning 
  them into 
  hybrid form, part human and part pig. 
  They don’t respond to Simon’s orders and, 
  4
  
  ELDER DRAGON 
  DIFFICULTY 750
  Size 8 horrifying monster
  Perception 19 (+9); truesight
  Defense 23; Health 160
  Strength 17 (+7), Agility 13 (+3), Intellect 14 (+4), Will 16 (+6)
  Speed 16; ﬂ ier (swoop)
  Immune damage from ﬁ re; charmed, dazed, frightened, 
  sleep, stunned
  Spell Defense A dragon takes half damage from spells and 
  makes any challenge roll to resist a spell with 1 boon. A 
  creature attacking the dragon with a spell makes the 
  attack roll with 1 bane.
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Claws (melee) +7 with 3 boons (2d6)
  Teeth (melee) +7 with 3 boons (3d6 plus 1d6 from ﬁ re)
  SPECIAL ATTACKS 
  Flurry of Attacks The dragon attacks twice with its claws 
  and once with its bite.
  Spew Fire The dragon sprays ﬂ ames in a 10-yard-long cone 
  from a point it can reach. Everything in the area takes 
  8d6 + 10 damage and ﬂ ammable objects catch ﬁ re. Each 
  creature in the area must make an Agility challenge roll 
  with 2 banes. A creature takes half damage on a success, 
  or also catches ﬁ re on a failure. After using Spew Fire, 
  the dragon must wait 1 round before it can use it again.
  END OF THE ROUND 
  Epic Recovery The dragon removes one afﬂ iction from 
  itself.
  Epic Adversary Roll 1d3 +1 to determine how many actions 
  the dragon can use during the next round. It can use 
  these actions during any turn and can do so before its 
  enemies act. Each time it would use an action, it can 
  move up to its Speed before or after the action.
   The dragon comes at the train from the darkness 
  in the east, to the front of the line, where it blasts the 
  train with ﬁ re from one end to the other in the hopes of 
  slowing down the train or even stopping it, which will 
  make snatching the freight cars that much easier. 
   Unless the player characters order a halt, though, 
  Vilma increases the train’s speed, pushing it to its limits 
  in the hopes of outrunning the creature. That may be a 
  doomed eﬀ ort, but it’s the only plan she has. 
   Simon, on the other hand, wants to slow down the 
  train to make it easier for the dragon to snatch it. He 
  attacks Vilma and they ﬁ ght for control of the engine. 
  If Simon defeats Vilma, he depowers the train’s engines 
  and then climbs atop the engine car to shout out his 
  obeisance to the dragon. 
   Either way, the dragon is fast enough to keep up with 
  the train at full speed, and it blasts it with ﬁ re again. On 
  its third pass, it snatches at the freight car closest to the 
  passenger cars, and uses an action to haul it into the sky. 
  It takes the dragon two actions to accomplish this. 
   Once the dragon grabs hold of the freight car, it hauls 
  the entire train into the sky. Even for such a mighty 
  beast, this is a challenging feat. If the player characters 
  can disrupt its eﬀ orts, the dragon drops the freight car, 
  but there’s only a 3-in-6 chance for the train to remain on 
  its tracks. Otherwise, it derails and crashes. Everything 
  in the car when it lands takes 6d6 damage from being 
  thrown about. A success on a Strength challenge roll 
  halves the damage.
   If the dragon manages to get the train into the sky, it 
  carries it about a 50 yards into the air and then shakes 
  the freight car like a vicious terrier with a ﬁ lthy rat until 
  the front part of the train separates and crashes to the 
  earth, at which point all occupants take 12d6 damage. A 
  success on a Strength challenge roll with 1 bane halves 
  the damage.
   If the player characters manage to seriously harm the 
  dragon, it turns its attention to them. The dragon is not 
  used to experiencing pain, and it moves quickly to make 
  it stop. While this might keep it from tearing the train 
  from the tracks for a time, they face the dragon’s full fury.
   Once Simon deals with Vilma, he tries to hamstring 
  the player characters at opportunity. If they turn against 
  him, he screams to the dragon for help. The creature, of 
  course, does not care one whit for him, and it is all too 
  happy to immolate him in the same ﬁ re it blasts at the 
  player characters. 
  Aftermath
  If the player characters manage to defeat the dragon, 
  Johann is all too happy to pay them their fee the 
  moment they return with him to Devil’s Breach. He 
  doesn’t care if the train was destroyed or not. The fact 
  they triumphed over the beast and saved the railroad is 
  enough for him. 
   If Johann didn’t survive the battle with the dragon, his 
  family can be convinced to pay the reward when they see 
  some kind of proof that the dragon has been defeated. 
   The people of Devil’s Breach are thrilled with the 
  player characters, too. Their money is no good at local 
  inns for the next week. They receive the same kind of 
  reception should they ever make it to Darksville as well. 
   Ambitious player characters may realize a dead 
  dragon means there’s an empty dragon’s lair somewhere 
  out there. If they can  ﬁ nd it before anyone else, they 
  should be able to loot it at will. Nothing’s ever that easy, 
  of course, but that’s a topic for another adventure. 
   Either way, the dragon is fast enough to keep up with 
  the train at full speed, and it blasts it with ﬁ re again. On 
  of course, but that’s a topic for another adventure. 
  5
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Shadow of the Demon Lord/Adventures/Master/SotDL - Last Train to Darksville (master).pdf