The Cold Ruins of Lastlife A Chaos World by Brendan Conway
Credits Written by Brendan Conway Developed by Brendan Conway and Mark Diaz Truman Edited by Eric Mersmann, Mark Diaz Truman, and Sally Christensen Proofreading by Shelley Harlan Art by Juan Ochoa Layout by Sarah Richardson Based on Dungeon World (http://dungeon-world.com/), the work of Sage LaTorra and Adam Koebel, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/3.0/). All text and images for The Cold Ruins of Lastlife are copyright 2015 by Magpie Games. All rights are reserved. First Printing: March 2016 The text was set in Lexington High, Ambrosia, and Adobe Garamond Pro.
Table of Contents Chapter 1 - Introduction Chapter 2 - Moving Through the Ruins Chapter 3 - Broken Castles and Shattered Statues Chapter 4 - Struggles in the Dark Chapter 5 - The Cold Creatures Chapter 6 - Champions of Lastlife Chapter 7 - Relics of Bygone Days Chapter 8 - Bringing the Dead to Life Closing Thoughts Appendix 3 6 17 33 72 108 121 138 144 145
Introduction
The Cold Ruins of Lastlife What Is The Cold Ruins of Lastlife? Imagine grand cathedrals. Spires scraping the heavens. Statues of alabaster and silver. A song echoing through stone corridors. The light of hope ensconced in a thousand torches, keeping the darkest nights at bay. Then imagine it all fell. Grand cathedrals, silent and empty. Spires, crumbling and broken. Statues dirty and tarnished. Song, forgotten and lost. A thousand torches, cold and dark. That is the world of Lastlife. This book along with Dungeon World itself provides you with everything you need to run a game in the ruined setting of Lastlife. Players take on the roles of the undead citizens, caught in an endless limbo of cold death. They, and they alone, can restore the world s glory...or begin a new world in the shattered remains. The Cold Ruins of Lastlife provides details on the broken, fragmented pieces of a once great world. Here you ll find monstrous denizens. Relics that have survived past the end, or have been created since. Paths to power open to any who would take them, paths that may lead to greater darkness or newfound light. You ll also find tweaks to the base Dungeon World rules to better reflect the tone and nature of Lastlife. Inspiration The Cold Ruins of Lastlife is inspired by many different sources, but none more directly than the video game Dark Souls by From Software. Dark Souls has a unique flavor and tone, and while The Cold Ruins of Lastlife isn t exactly the same, it carries much of Dark Souls s soul, as it were. The Cold Ruins of Lastlife also owes debts to numerous other works, including but not limited to: The Gormenghast trilogy, by Mervyn Peake Shadow of the Colossus, by Team Ico The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, by H. P. Lovecraft Pan s Labyrinth, by Guillermo Del Toro Roadside Picnic, by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky 3 Introduction
The Cold Ruins of Lastlife Overview of the Book Here s what you can expect to find in The Cold Ruins of Lastlife. In Moving Through the Ruins, you ll find the major rules changes for Dungeon World that make the system work for The Cold Ruins of Lastlife, including tweaks to the basic moves, bonds, alignments, and the individual classes. In Broken Castles and Shattered Statues, you ll find setting information; descriptions of locations and places that you can use to assemble a unique mix of ruins for your own game, with questions about what secrets the ruins may hold; and special moves to make them matter. In Struggles in the Dark, you ll find the fronts for a campaign in The Cold Ruins of Lastlife. These fronts describe the overarching threats and issues in Lastlife, and give you the tools to make the setting matter to your game. In The Cold Creatures, you ll find the denizens and monsters of the ruins, each with stats, moves, an instinct, and a description. In Champions of Lastlife, you ll find the compendium classes of Lastlife, detailing many of the paths to power open to the PCs in the ruins. In Relics of Bygone Days, you ll find the artifacts of Lastlife, relics of great and terrible power, waiting to be found in the ruins. In Making the Dead Ruins Come Alive, you ll find all the Game Master (GM) tips and rules you need to run a game of the The Cold Ruins of Lastlife. With all these pieces, you ll be equipped for your own forays into the dark, shattered husk of this undead world. Good luck on your delves into the mists you ll need it. Introduction 4