TEXT: Chap
  
  WE LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE SUSPICION HAS DISPLACED TRUST, A
  world where belief in the strange is replacing belief in the normal.
  When pressed, most laugh off such claims, or at least ignore the
  greater implications of such beliefs. But every now and then,
  something unexplainable occurs—something that shouldn’t have
  happened the way it did, or that surely can’t mean what it seems
  to suggest. It is at precisely those moments when the facade of
  comfort drops, and we can’t help but wonder:
  What if it’s all true?
  What if the crackpots are right? What if the strangeness really
  is out there? And what if it’s getting worse?
  Welcome to a world of the peculiar and unexplainable, a world
  where the “can’t be true” has been replaced by the “anything is
  possible,” a world where mysterious players weave a drama of se-
  crets and disinformation. A
  Dark Tide is rising, and danger
  and intrigue lurk in every
  shadow. The only weapon capa-
  ble of holding back the dark-
  ness is knowledge: knowledge
  of what’s out there, what it’s
  trying to accomplish, and how
  to stop it.
  Welcome to the world of DARK•MATTER™.
  A World Like Our Own
  The DARK•MATTER campaign setting takes place at the dawn of
  the twenty-first century. On the surface, Earth appears much the
  same as it does today. Nations, corporations, and famous individ-
  uals are all the same—at least at first glance. The world is as fa-
  miliar as the one outside your own window, but with subtle twists
  just beneath the surface.
  Of course, that’s the whole point. The DARK•MATTER setting
  isn’t about grandiose visions of the future. It’s about what you
  already know—or what you think you know. Strange things lurk
  at the fringe of societal awareness, and the DARK•MATTER setting
  falls firmly within that fringe.
  Heroes of DARK•MATTER
  Unlike many other science fiction roleplaying games,
  DARK•MATTER heroes are, to a large extent, just like the people
  around you. They’re teachers and cops, scientists and business-
  men, reporters and soldiers. They are otherwise normal individu-
  als who have been awakened to the realities of their world and
  thrust into decidedly abnormal circumstances.
  DARK•MATTER heroes do have one thing in common: the Hoff-
  mann Institute. For reasons perhaps known only to itself, this
  private organization (detailed in Chapter 2: Welcome to the
  Hoffmann Institute) has sought out the heroes and gathered
  them together to learn about the growing darkness and, if pos-
  sible, to stem the tide. 
  For more information on how to create heroes for the
  DARK•MATTER campaign setting, consult Chapter 3: Heroes of
  DARK•MATTER. In addition, the Gamemaster may allow players
  (especially those playing heroes wielding occult powers) to read
  Chapter 4: Arcana.
  Keeping Secrets
  As with any roleplaying game, someone must take the role of
  “keeper of secrets”; that is, the Gamemaster. DARK•MATTER
  Gamemasters can learn what they need to know about the sig-
  nificant events, people, and places of the campaign setting by
  reading Chapter 5: History of the World; Chapter 6: The Illuminati;
  and Chapter 7: Places of Interest. Chapter 8: Xenoforms details
  some of the strange creatures that walk the Earth—creatures of
  myth and legend, creatures of dream and nightmare. 
  Chapter 9: Running a DARK•MATTER Campaign helps the Game-
  master get a handle on all the information in the book in order to
  run a first-rate game of mystery and strangeness,
  while Chapter 10: Campaign Options presents some in-
  teresting optional rules for experienced Gamemas-
  ters to consider. Finally, Chapter 11: Raw Recruits
  provides an appropriate starting adventure for the
  Gamemaster’s DARK•MATTER campaign.
  Players should resist the temptation to read these
  chapters. After all, once you know the secrets, ex-
  ploring the mysteries isn’t much fun. Anyway, a
  canny Gamemaster will just twist the truth, render-
  ing your so-called “secret knowledge” into useless—even dan-
  gerous—falsehoods and lies.
  What Is This Book?
  The DARK•MATTER campaign setting is a specific world designed
  for use with the ALTERNITY science fiction roleplaying game. The
  book you’re reading right now is divided into two parts. The first
  section (Chapter 1) consists of a set of fast-play rules to intro-
  duce you to the basics of the ALTERNITY science fiction roleplay-
  ing game and the DARK•MATTER setting. If you’ve never played a
  roleplaying game before, or if you don’t know the ALTERNITY game
  system, you’ll want to try out the fast-play rules first before you
  try to figure out the rest of the book.
  The chapters following Chapter 1 describe the DARK•MATTER
  campaign setting. Much of the material in the rest of the book as-
  sumes that you’re familiar with the ALTERNITY game. You can read
  through the rest of the book anytime you want, but some of the
  game rules might not make a lot of sense to you if you haven’t
  played the fast-play game first. 
  7
  If you’ve never played the ALTERNITY roleplaying game before,
  continue reading this chapter. If you’re familiar with the
  game, skip to Chapter 2: Welcome to the Hoffmann Institute.
  ter 1
  an introduction to
  dark•matter
  
  What Is ALTERNITY?
  The ALTERNITY science fiction roleplaying game is the game
  system or set of rules that the DARK•MATTER setting was de-
  signed to use. In computer terms, the ALTERNITY rules are the
  hardware, and the DARK•MATTER setting is the software. While
  the ALTERNITY game system embraces a variety of science fiction
  genres, ranging from super-spy technothrillers to far-future space
  opera, the DARK•MATTER game places you in a more specific
  role—you’re a modern-day ghosthunter, criminologist, conspir-
  acy theorist, or UFOlogist investigating the weird and disturbing
  world of paranormal events.
  By learning how to play in the DARK•MATTER setting, you will
  learn how to play the ALTERNITY game. In fact, when you finish
  the fast-play adventure in Chapter 1 of this book, you’ll probably
  want to check out the ALTERNITY Player’s Handbook and Game-
  master Guide before you try to play your own DARK•MATTER game.
  The fast-play rules can get you started, but you won’t enjoy all of
  this book until you have the ALTERNITY Player’s Handbook.
  What Is a Roleplaying Game?
  So, how is this a game? Basically, it’s a game of imagination. For
  an hour or two, you will pretend you’re someone else—in this
  case, an investigator of the paranormal.
  When you were young, you probably played games like “Cops
  and Robbers” or “Cowboys and Indians.” You created props and
  stories out of nothing more than your imagination. It was lots of
  fun, but it was totally free-form. Sometimes you’d disagree about
  what happened next, and the game would be over. After all, there
  aren’t any rules to say who’s right and who’s wrong.
  You’ve probably played console games or computer games,
  too. You decide where the character in the game goes, which en-
  emies he or she fights and what weapons he or she uses against
  them. You might even solve puzzles or have a couple of menu-
  driven conversations with story characters. The computer defi-
  nitely has rules in a game like this. But the computer doesn’t
  have any way to respond when you want to do something the
  game designers didn’t plan on, like trying to bribe or bluff a tough
  enemy when you’re out of ammo.
  A roleplaying game like ALTERNITY combines the best features
  of a game of Make-Believe and a good computer game. You’ve got
  enough rules so that you can figure out what happens in most
  situations, but you can improvise to your heart’s content. If you
  can think of it, you can try it. Better yet, you’re not just playing
  to win. You’re playing to have a good time and to tell a story.
  Getting Started
  Here’s what you need to do to start playing:
  • Read through the next few pages of the fast-play rules, but
  stop when you get to the Gamemaster section on page 20.
  • Find a few friends to play with. You’ll need one person to be
  the Gamemaster, and anywhere from two to six players to
  make up heroes and play them in the game.
  • Find a set of polyhedral dice—four-sided, six-sided, eight-
  sided, twelve-sided, and twenty-sided dice. Most hobby stores
  sell sets of polyhedral dice pretty cheap. 
  • Find a good place to play. You’ll want someplace you can stay
  for a couple of hours.
  • Pick a hero from the hero templates in this fast-play chapter.
  You can photocopy the hero sheet if you like.
  • If you’re the Gamemaster, take some time before the game to
  read the Gamemaster’s fast-play rules, beginning with “So You
  Want to Be the Gamemaster.”
  The Player’s Role
  As a player, your primary job in any ALTERNITY game is to portray
  one of the heroes in the story your group decides to play out. The
  heroes are the stars of the unfolding adventures that make up a
  Gamemaster’s ongoing DARK•MATTER campaign.
  To do this, you need a hero—an imaginary character who
  serves as your “connection” with the Gamemaster’s setting and
  the other players’ heroes.
  Your hero starts out as a collection of numbers and descriptive
  terms; from then on it’s up to you to make that hero come alive
  through roleplaying. By reacting as you think your hero would
  react and interacting with the other characters using your hero’s
  voice and opinions, you’re doing your job as a player. You need to
  be clever, resourceful, and more than a little bit paranoid if your
  hero is going to discover the truth about what’s going on.
  Key Concepts
  Let’s take a look at the key concepts behind the ALTERNITY game.
  These concepts include basic game mechanics, fundamental
  character information, and a few special terms that players need
  to become familiar with.
  Hero: An imaginary character controlled by a player.
  Gamemaster: The participant in the game who acts as the
  moderator, narrating adventures and representing other charac-
  ters in the adventure who aren’t controlled by the players.
  Supporting Cast: These are the aforementioned “other char-
  acters,” including the heroes’ friends and enemies, as well as any
  other characters the heroes come into contact with. Although the
  heroes are the stars of the show, it’s possible for members of the
  supporting cast to be just as powerful as the heroes—or some-
  The Gamemaster
  One player in the game acts as a referee, or Gamemaster.
  Everyone else takes on the role of a character (a hero) in the
  story the Gamemaster tells. The Gamemaster narrates the
  story, creates the challenges the other players must face, and
  plays the role of every other character or creature the player-
  controlled heroes interact with during the adventure.
  It’s a big job, but it’s a lot of fun, and every roleplaying game
  needs a Gamemaster. If you think you’d like to be the Game-
  master, finish reading the fast-play rules for players—which in-
  cludes everything up until the hero templates on page 13—and
  then read through the section titled "So You Want to Be the
  Gamemaster" starting on page 20.
  
  times even more powerful. Villains, supernatural monsters, and
  dangerous alien creatures are supporting characters who may
  defeat the heroes outright in a game confrontation.
  Adventure: A scenario in which the heroes interact with the
  supporting cast to create a group story. Every adventure is built
  around a situation (typically a mystery the heroes need to solve),
  and it concludes when the heroes have either achieved their goal
  or failed to do so. When you sit down to play the scenario de-
  scribed in the Gamemaster section of these rules, you’re playing
  an adventure. It might take an hour of the players’ time, or it may
  take several play sessions.
  Campaign: Just because the heroes solve one mystery or
  defeat one villain, their story isn’t over. In a roleplaying game, the
  heroes may undertake a number of adventures. A campaign is a
  series of adventures in which the same group of heroes take on
  new challenges. As long as the Gamemaster keeps running new
  adventures for the same heroes in the same imaginary world, he
  or she is running a campaign.
  Setting: The backdrop against which an adventure or cam-
  paign takes place. The fast-play adventure presented in the
  Gamemaster’s fast-play rules section takes place in a rest stop in
  the mountains of Idaho during a winter storm.
  Profession: Every hero in the ALTERNITY game is built around
  a profession. A profession is an overarching occupation that de-
  scribes in general terms what the hero is good at. It’s the first
  defining concept associated with a hero. The four basic profes-
  sions—Combat Spec, Diplomat, Free Agent, and Tech Op—are
  introduced in these fast-play rules.
  Abilities: All characters (heroes and members of the support-
  ing cast) have six Abilities. These are Strength, Dexterity, Con-
  stitution, Intelligence, Will, and Personality. 
  Ability Scores: Each Ability is expressed as a number, called
  the Ability Score. A high score (11 or better) means that a char-
  acter excels in that area; a low score (6 or less) indicates that a
  character is definitely below par.
  Skills: Ability Scores represent a hero’s natural aptitudes, but
  skills tell you what your hero has been trained to do. Think of
  your hero’s skill list as a summary of his or her education and
  professional training. Skills are based on your hero’s Ability
  Scores, just as training adds to a person’s natural talents. A
  hero’s proficiency with a skill is expressed as a number, which is
  known as the skill score.
  Actions: When a hero wants to use a skill or an Ability to ac-
  complish something, he or she attempts an action. There are dif-
  ferent types of actions, each involving the use of different skills
  and characteristics.
  Dice: When the outcome of an action is in doubt, or when the
  Gamemaster needs to measure a character’s degree of success, dice
  are rolled. The ALTERNITY game uses two kinds of dice: a single con-
  trol die and situation dice of various sizes. The control die and a sit-
  uation die are rolled together to determine the outcome of an action.
  Note: The lower the roll, the better the chance that the hero
  succeeds in what he or she tries to do. The following section con-
  tains more information on how to use the dice.
  Playing the Game
  The basic rule at the foundation of the ALTERNITY game is a simple
  one. Your hero has some important game statistics, including
  Ability Scores, skill scores, and an action check score. In
  many cases, when your hero attempts to accomplish some-
  thing, the Gamemaster asks you to roll dice. You then try to
  roll a number that’s equal to or less than the appropriate score.
  If you roll higher than your hero’s score, your hero fails.
  Whenever a hero tries to do something that might fail, this
  dice roll determines if he or she succeeds.
  As you read through this section, refer to the hero tem-
  plates in this chapter. You’ll see how a hero’s characteristics
  work in the context of the game system.
  Rolling Dice
  The ALTERNITY game system uses a set of polyhedral (many-
  sided) dice. The set includes four-sided, six-sided, eight-sided,
  twelve-sided, and twenty-sided dice. These are almost always
  abbreviated as d4, d6, d8, d12, and d20. If you don’t own a set
  of dice like this, you can pick up a set at your local hobby
  store or game store. The illustration on this page shows what
  these dice look like.
  Sometimes, you may need to roll several dice and add the
  results together; in this case, you’ll see an abbreviation such
  as 2d4 (roll the four-sided die twice, adding the results) or
  2d6 (roll the six-sided die twice, adding the results). If you
  have enough dice, feel free to roll both six-siders or four-
  siders together.
  Finally, you’ll also run across die modifiers, such as d4+2
  or d6–1. All you have to do here is roll the appropriate die and
  then modify the result by adding or subtracting the given
  number. For example, you’re rolling d4+2 wound points be-
  cause your hero shot a werewolf with a silver bullet. If you roll a
  3 on the d4, the result is 5 wound points.
  CHAPTER1 A N  I N T R O D U C T I O N  T O  D A R K • M A T T E R
  9
  
  Skill Checks, Action Checks, and Feat Checks
  In a roleplaying game, dice determine the outcome of a character
  action with uncertain results. In the ALTERNITY game, there are
  three types of common die rolls: skill checks, action checks, and
  ability feat checks.
  Skill Checks: When your hero attempts to use a skill in play,
  you must roll a skill check. You’ll roll a d20, and you may add or
  subtract a penalty or bonus die assigned by the Gamemaster. If
  the total on the dice is equal to or less than the appropriate skill
  score, your hero succeeds at the skill check.
  Action Checks: During combat scenes or fast-paced chal-
  lenges, it’s important to know which character goes first. This is
  resolved by an action check. When the Gamemaster tells you to
  make an action check for your hero, you should roll a d20 and
  compare it to your hero’s action check score. The lower you roll,
  the faster your hero acts.
  Feat Checks: Sometimes you may want your hero to try some-
  thing that doesn’t have any real skill or training associated with
  it. For example, you might want your hero to pry open a crumpled
  car door to help an accident victim, or wriggle through a small
  space to escape from a pack of slavering ghouls. The Game-
  master may ask you to make a feat check using one of your hero’s
  six Ability Scores to determine success or failure. 
  The Most Important Rule: Not every action requires a dice
  roll! Gamemasters call for rolls only in dramatic situations to de-
  termine the success of an action whose outcome is in doubt, or
  when they need to judge the degree of an action’s success.
  If your hero wants to walk across a street or carry a small
  pack, no dice rolls are necessary. But if she wants to cross the
  street carrying a wounded companion, while being shot at by
  snipers, then the situation is dramatic, and dice should be rolled.
  A pilot hero trained to fly a spacecraft and read star charts
  doesn’t need to roll dice to perform the normal duties associated
  with his or her area of expertise. But when these actions go
  beyond the call of duty and lives hang in the balance, the Game-
  master may call for skill checks or feat checks.
  The Control Die and Situation Dice
  The ALTERNITY game uses two kinds of dice: a control die and a
  situation die. Whenever the Gamemaster calls for a roll, you roll
  one control die and one situation die. The sum of the die results
  indicates a success or a failure.
  When you roll the dice, in game terms you’re making a check
  for your hero—in effect, “checking” to see how the dice roll com-
  pares to one of your hero’s scores. In any case, you’re looking to
  get as low a result as possible—the lower the roll, the better the
  chance that your hero succeeds at what she is trying to do.
  • The control die is always a 20-sided die (d20).
  • The situation die for any particular check is one of the follow-
  ing: a four-sided die (d4), a six-sided die (d6), an eight-sided die
  (d8), a 12-sided die (d12), or a 20-sided die (d20). There is also
  a d0, a placeholder to represent the situation die in a case
  when success is determined only by the roll of the control die.
  Further, the situation die on any check is either a plus die or
  a minus die. A plus die, such as +d4, is bad for the roller, because
  it tends to produce a higher result. A minus die, such as –d6, is
  good for the roller, because it helps to achieve a lower result.
  Add or subtract the situation die from the control die as in-
  structed by the Gamemaster. If the result is equal to or less than
  the score related to the hero’s action, the action succeeds. If the
  result is greater than the score, the action fails. The degrees of
  success are explained on the next page.
  Example: Your hero wants to make a quick repair to his mo-
  torcycle so he can stay on the trail of the fleeing criminals. For-
  tunately, he’s carrying a small tool set in his backpack. This
  action is a skill check using your hero’s Technical Science–juryrig
  skill score. The Gamemaster tells you to roll the control die and
  a –d4 (the hero has the right tools for the job, so the Gamemaster
  decides that the situation is moderately favorable). Your hero’s ju-
  ryrig skill score is 13. 
  You roll the dice, and these numbers come up: 14 on the con-
  trol die, 3 on the situation die. The result is 11 (14 – 3), which is
  lower than your hero’s juryrig score. The action succeeds!
  Situation Die Steps
  The Situation Die Steps Scale can help you quickly determine
  what situation die to roll with the control die. It’s printed on this
  page and on the templates that appear later in this chapter. 
  Your Gamemaster tells you what bonus or penalty applies
  when you roll to see if your hero can perform a certain action.
  A +1 step situation penalty means you start with your hero’s
  base situation die (see the sidebar on this page) and move one
  step in the “Penalty” direction to find the die you’ll be rolling. For
  instance, if your hero’s base situation die for an action is +d4,
  then a +1 step situation penalty changes the die to +d6.
  A –2 step situation bonus means you find your hero’s base sit-
  Base Situation Die
  Before you can slide up or down on the Situation Die Steps
  Scale, you need to know where to start. That starting point is
  called the base situation die.
  • For an action check, the base situation die is +d0, or no mod-
  ifier to the control die.
  • For an ability check, the base situation die is +d4. Roll the
  d20 and add a d4, adding the results together.
  • For a skill check against a specialty skill, the base situation
  die is +d0.
  • For a skill check against a broad skill, the base situation die
  is +d4.
  If the Gamemaster tells you to apply a bonus or a penalty to
  your hero’s roll, start at the base situation die and move the
  proper number of steps in the appropriate direction to determine
  which situation die to roll.
  SITUATION DIE STEPS SCALE
  BONUS
  PENALTY
  –d20
  –d12
  –d8
  –d6
  –d4
  +d0
  +d4
  +d6
  +d8
  +d12
  +d20 +2d20 +3d20
  
  uation die on the scale and move two steps in the “Bonus” direc-
  tion. For example, if your hero’s base situation die for an action
  is +d4, then a –2 step situation bonus changes the die to –d4.
  Degrees of Success
  Every dice roll has one of five possible results: Critical Failure,
  Failure, Ordinary success, Good success, or Amazing success. The
  lower your dice roll, the greater the degree of success your hero
  achieves. The three numbers associated with every skill score and
  action check score (the base score and two smaller numbers) rep-
  resent the dividing points between the degrees of success.
  Regardless of what number comes up on the situation die, a
  roll of 20 on the control die always produces a Critical Failure.
  Generally, this means that bad luck has befallen the hero, and no
  matter how high his or her skill score or Ability Score is, this
  action doesn’t succeed.
  A result greater than the score is a Failure; equal to or less
  than the score is an Ordinary success; equal to or less than the
  second number is a Good success; and equal to or less than the
  smallest number is an Amazing success. For example, if your
  hero has a skill score of 12/6/3, a roll of 1 to 3 is an Amazing suc-
  cess; a roll of 4 to 6 is a Good success; a roll of 7 to 12 is an Or-
  dinary success; and a roll of 13 or higher is a Failure.
  On the hero templates, the “Action Check Score” line begins
  with a number that represents a Marginal result. A hero can’t get
  a Failure or a Critical Failure outcome when making an action
  check; if the dice roll yields a number greater than the action
  check score, the “Failure” is a Marginal result instead.
  Scenes
  Every adventure your Gamemaster sets up is built out of scenes.
  A scene is a distinct episode that has a beginning and ending. The
  three types of scenes are combat, encounter, and challenge. A
  combat scene lasts from the start of a battle to its conclusion. An
  encounter scene lasts from the moment characters meet to when
  they part company. A challenge scene lasts as long as it takes the
  heroes to identify the challenge, and then overcome it or be de-
  feated by it.
  Action Rounds
  For the purpose of determining who acts when in a scene, every
  scene is divided into action rounds. During an action round, every
  hero performs one action.
  A round is divided into four phases. Each phase relates to one
  of the degrees of success that are achievable on an action check:
  Amazing, Good, Ordinary, and Marginal, in order from the first
  phase to the last. Heroes can attempt only one action in a round.
  To determine who acts first in a round, every participant
  makes an action check by rolling a d20 and comparing the result
  to the hero’s action check score. The result determines the earli-
  est phase in which a hero can act. So, if a hero rolls a Good action
  check, the earliest phase he or she can act in is the second, or
  Good, phase.
  All actions in a phase occur simultaneously, with the results
  of those actions being applied at the end of the phase.
  Example: Your hero has an action check score of 11. At the be-
  ginning of a round, the Gamemaster calls for action checks. If you
  roll a 5 (a Good success for a score of 11), the earliest phase
  in which your hero can act is the Good phase. He can’t do any-
  thing in the Amazing phase since his action check wasn’t low
  enough, but he can take one action in the Good phase. If you
  roll a 13 (a Marginal result), your hero can’t act until the Mar-
  ginal phase (the last phase of the round). 
  Damage
  Heroes lead dangerous lives. Eventually, your hero will suffer
  damage. As indicated on the hero templates, damage comes in
  three forms: stun, wound, and mortal.
  Stun Damage
  Stun damage is the lightest type of damage your hero can sus-
  tain. It represents shocks and bruises that rattle a hero but
  don’t result in lasting injuries. When your hero suffers stun
  damage, mark off one stun box for each point of stun damage
  she sustains.
  Knockout: When all of her stun boxes are marked, your hero
  is knocked out and can perform no actions until she recovers.
  Wound Damage
  Wound damage is more serious than stun damage. It repre-
  sents injuries that cause lasting harm to the body. When your
  hero receives wound damage, mark off one wound box for
  each point of wound damage he sustains.
  Secondary Damage: Wound damage causes secondary
  stun damage. For every 2 points of wound damage inflicted on
  your hero, he also receives 1 point of stun damage.
  Knockout: When all of his wound boxes are marked, your
  hero is knocked out and can perform no actions until he recovers.
  Mortal Damage
  Mortal damage is the most severe form of damage. It represents
  massive injuries to vital body parts. When your hero receives
  mortal damage, mark off one mortal box for each point of mortal
  damage she sustains. 
  Secondary Damage: Mortal damage causes secondary stun
  damage and wound damage. For every 2 points of mortal damage
  inflicted on your hero, she also receives 1 point of wound and 1
  point of stun damage.
  Dazed: Mortal damage takes a toll on a hero immediately. For
  every mortal box marked, your hero receives a +1 step situation
  penalty to any actions she attempts.
  Death: When all of your hero’s mortal boxes are marked off,
  she dies. Don’t worry; you can always make up another hero and
  rejoin the adventure when the Gamemaster deems it appropriate.
  Recovery
  How heroes recover from damage depends on their condition
  (conscious or not) and the type of damage they have suffered.
  Stun Damage: Stun damage is fleeting and disappears at the
  end of a scene. It can be repaired during a scene by the use of
  Knowledge–first aid, Medical Science, or some other form of med-
  ical treatment.
  CHAPTER1 A N  I N T R O D U C T I O N  T O  D A R K • M A T T E R
  11
  
  Wound Damage: Wound damage remains until it is healed by
  rest and/or medical attention.
  Mortal Damage: Mortal damage requires the use of the Med-
  ical Science–surgery skill and medical attention to repair. 
  Knockout: In the fast-play rules system, assume that if a hero
  is knocked out from stun damage, he remains unconscious for the
  rest of the round in which he was knocked out and all of the fol-
  lowing round. At the start of the round after that, he recovers 1
  stun point and awakens. If a hero is knocked out from wound
  damage, he can’t awaken until at least 1 point of his wound
  damage is healed through medical attention.
  The Hero Templates
  Take a look at the hero templates in this chapter. The compila-
  tion of numbers and game terms on these one-page descriptions
  makes up a hero template. All the information that you need to
  know about the hero to play the ALTERNITY game is listed here.
  The ALTERNITY Player’s Handbook contains extensive rules for
  creating your own hero from scratch. In fact, Chapter 3: Heroes of
  DARK•MATTER in this book is all about using the rules in the
  Player’s Handbook to build a DARK•MATTER hero. We’ve taken the
  liberty of creating six characters for you. All you have to do is
  pick one that you’d like to play in the game.
  Flip back and forth between the hero templates and this sec-
  tion as we explain what these terms and numbers mean.
  1 Name and Gender
  We’ve come up with names, genders, and personality notes for
  each hero in the template section. You don’t have to use any of
  this material if you don’t want to. Feel free to think up a new
  name for the hero you want to play, change the gender indicated
  on the sheet, or play the hero with a different personality than the
  one suggested on the template.
  2 Profession
  Four distinct hero professions are available in these fast-play rules.
  • Combat Specs (short for specialists) are gunmen, brawlers,
  martial artists, and soldiers who rely on physical power and
  endurance to supplement their training in the tactics and tech-
  niques of battle.
  • Diplomats are negotiators, managers, deal-makers, mer-
  chants, clergy, and any others who use interaction skills and
  personal resolve to accomplish their jobs.
  • Free Agents are troubleshooters and field operatives who rely
  on agility, interaction skills, and natural independence to get
  a job done. They’re agents who may be for hire, or they may
  have ties to a specific government or organization.
  • Tech Ops (technical operatives) are skilled in the use of par-
  ticular equipment or have been specially trained to create or
  maintain high-tech equipment. They rely on natural genius,
  agility, and expert training to accomplish their goals.
  Pick a profession that fits the kind of hero you want to play,
  then select one of the corresponding fast-play hero templates in
  this chapter. 
  3 Career
  The career entry on the hero template is a description of what
  kind of professional the hero is. During hero creation, the career
  guides your selection of skills appropriate to your hero. In these
  fast-play rules, the entry is nothing more than a tagline to iden-
  tify what your hero does for a living.
  4 Abilities
  The six Ability Scores rate your hero’s natural aptitude or capa-
  bility for meeting physical and mental challenges. These scores
  range from 4 to 14; 10 represents the average for a hero. 
  • Strength (STR) defines a hero’s physical power and prowess.
  Donna Truitt, one of the hero templates, has a Strength score
  of 9, which is slightly below average for a hero.
  • Dexterity (DEX) measures the quality of a hero’s agility, co-
  ordination, and reflexes. Donna’s Dexterity is 12, so she’s sig-
  nificantly more agile than the average hero.
  • Constitution (CON) describes a hero’s overall physical fitness
  and toughness. Donna’s Constitution is only 8, which is lower
  than that of an average hero, so she’s not very tough.
  • Intelligence (INT) indicates a hero’s mental quickness and
  learning ability. Donna’s Intelligence of 12 means that she’s
  pretty sharp.
  • Will (WIL) gauges a hero’s mental fortitude and intuitive ca-
  pacity. With a Will of 9, Donna’s slightly less strong-willed
  than an average hero.
  • Personality (PER) indicates a hero’s social abilities and
  charisma. Donna’s exactly average here, with a Personality of 10.
  Untrained: The “Untrained” score is equal to one-half of the
  full Ability Score, rounded down. This is your hero’s skill score
  when she attempts an action that requires a skill she doesn’t pos-
  sess. For example, Dr. Akens doesn’t have the Unarmed Attack
  skill, which is based on Strength. If Dr. Akens tries to throw a
  punch, his skill score is half his Strength—4, in this case.
  Resistance Modifiers: Resistance modifiers affect the type of
  dice your hero’s opponents roll when confronting your hero. Pos-
  itive modifiers (such as a +1 step penalty) are good for your hero,
  because they provide a penalty to the opponent; a negative mod-
  ifier (such as a –1 step bonus) is bad, because it makes it easier
  for your hero’s opponent to succeed. These modifiers apply when
  the opponent is using a skill that your hero could resist because
  of her natural aptitude in one particular ability score. Refer back
  to “Situation Die Steps” in the previous section.
  Example: A hero with a Dexterity score of 11 has a +1 step re-
  sistance modifier for that Ability. If an opponent fires a pistol at
  her, that +1 step is applied as a penalty to the opponent’s chance
  of successfully hitting his target.
  5 Action Check
  The action check is a game tool for determining when your hero
  gets to go in the course of an action round. See the section called
  “Skill Checks, Action Checks, and Feat Checks,” above.
  6 Durability
  The “Durability” section of each hero template provides a means
  for keeping track of any damage your hero might sustain over the
  
  course of an adventure. Your hero’s stun and wound ratings equal
  his Constitution score. Your hero’s mortal rating equals one-half
  this score, rounded up.
  As your hero suffers damage during an adventure, mark off
  open boxes to keep track of how much damage he has sustained
  and how much more he can afford to take.
  7 Skills
  Each hero template has a selection of skills printed on it. There
  are two kinds of skills: broad skills and specialty skills. Specialty
  skills are printed in italic type to differentiate them from broad
  skills. Think of a broad skill as general training in a particular
  field (medical school). A specialty skill, on the other hand, repre-
  sents a particular task or focus (surgery or internal medicine).
  A character must possess a broad skill to learn a specialty
  skill associated with it. 
  Rank: Rank is the amount of advanced training the hero has
  in a particular specialty skill. If a hero possesses a specialty skill,
  she automatically has a rank of at least 1 in that skill, but some
  heroes may have 2 or even 3 ranks in skills they’re very good at.
  Broad skills don’t have ranks, since they represent more general
  education and training.
  Skill Score: The skill score is the total of a character’s natu-
  ral aptitude—her Ability score—and any special training she
  possesses in a particular skill—her skill rank. Broad skills have
  scores equal to their associated Abilities, since they don’t add
  ranks. The higher the skill score, the more likely it is the hero
  will succeed when she attempts to use that skill.
  All skill scores are presented with the full score, half that
  score, and one-quarter that score. This represents the numbers
  needed to achieve an Ordinary, Good, or Amazing success when
  the Gamemaster asks you to make a skill check for your hero.
  If a hero wants to try something but doesn’t have the proper
  skill, she must use her untrained score for the associated Ability. 
  8 Combat Information and Equipment
  Each hero template includes a selection of equipment the hero
  has access to—weapons, tools, body armor, and other gear. 
  The numbers identifying a weapon indicate how much damage
  the weapon inflicts on an Ordinary, Good, or Amazing success.
  This damage is either stun (s), wound (w), or mortal (m) damage.
  On the next line, “Range” gives the distance at which a
  weapon can strike a target, either “Personal” if physical con-
  tact is necessary, or a series of numbers representing short/
  medium/long range (in meters) for a gun.
  “Type” refers to the kind of damage a weapon inflicts,
  either low impact (LI), high impact (HI), or energy (En). Fists,
  knives, clubs, and other muscle-powered weapons are low
  impact; firearms are high impact; and energy weapons dis-
  charge electricity or some other form of energy.
  For armor, the die ranges preceding “LI,” “HI,” and “En”
  indicate the amount of damage the armor stops when the
  wearer is hit by a weapon that does this type of damage. If a
  subtraction from a die roll produces a result less than 1, the
  armor failed to block any damage on that attack.
  Ready to Go?
  Now that you understand the basic structure of the ALTERNITY
  game, you’re ready to send your hero into action.
  You’ll probably play through the adventure presented in
  the Gamemaster’s fast-play rules (the rest of Chapter 1), but
  if your Gamemaster has experience in designing original ad-
  ventures, she may have something else planned for you and
  your companions.
  Is there something that doesn’t seem as clear as it should?
  Sometimes you can solve a problem by simply rereading the
  section of text that’s giving you trouble. Often, an even easier
  way to clear things up is to jump right in—sit down with your
  friends, get an adventure under way, and start rolling dice.
  What Do I Do First?
  If you’re new to roleplaying games, you might be wondering how
  things get started. Basically, it’s pretty simple: After you’ve cre-
  ated a hero and gotten together with the rest of your group for
  your first adventure, your Gamemaster presents a situation—
  maybe something like this:
  You’re viewing an exhibit in a museum when a man you’ve never
  seen before staggers through the entryway. He stumbles around the
  room until he reaches you. “Help me, please. You can’t let them get
  this,” he whispers, pressing some kind of amulet or pendant into your
  hand—then he collapses to the floor, a knife sticking out of his back.
  In the hallway outside, you can hear running footsteps, and the
  click of someone pulling back the action of a gun . . .
  After the Gamemaster sets the scene, she asks, “What do you
  want to do?” In game terms, doing something is known as taking
  an action. You might know right away what your hero’s action
  will be, but don’t just call out an answer. Wait for the Game-
  master to say it’s your turn. 
  What can heroes do? Almost anything! A hero can say some-
  thing, move, use a skill, use a piece of equipment, look for clues,
  duck beneath a table, or anything else you can think of.
  After all the heroes have performed their actions and the
  Gamemaster has had the members of the supporting cast take
  their actions, the process starts again. Now the situation is dif-
  ferent from what it was when the scene opened, and the next ac-
  tions the heroes attempt might also be different.
  Skill Descriptions
  This fast-play chapter doesn’t have enough space to contain
  details of what a particular skill enables a hero to do. Those
  details are provided in the ALTERNITY Player’s Handbook. How-
  ever, for the purpose of learning how the game system works
  (and for putting heroes through the fast-play adventure), com-
  plete skill descriptions aren’t necessary. You and your Game-
  master should have little trouble determining when a certain
  skill comes into play.
  In most cases, the name of a skill is a pretty strong clue to
  how the skill can be used. For example, a hero with the Manip-
  ulation broad skill is talented at performing actions that require
  a high degree of eye-hand coordination, such as picking a lock.
  CHAPTER1 A N  I N T R O D U C T I O N  T O  D A R K • M A T T E R
  13
  
  Name: Jane McDermott
  Profession: 
  Combat Specialist
  Career:
  Law Enforcer (state trooper)
  Ability Scores
  Ability
  Score
  Untrained
  Resistance
  Strength
  11
  5
  +1 step
  Dexterity
  10
  5
  Constitution
  9
  4
  Intelligence
  9
  4
  Will
  12
  6
  +1 step
  Personality
  9
  4
  Action Check Score:
  13+/12/6/3
  1–3
  Amazing
  7–12
  Ordinary
  4–6
  Good
  13+
  Marginal
  Durability
  Stun 9
  H H H H H H H H H
  Wound 9
  H H H H H H H H H
  Mortal 5
  H H H H H
  Skills
  O/G/A
  Skill
  Rank
  Ability
  Skill Score
  Athletics*
  —
  STR
  11/5/2
  Climb
  1
  STR
  12/6/3
  Unarmed Attack*
  —
  STR
  11/5/2
  Power martial arts
  1
  STR
  12/6/3
  Ranged Weapons*
  —
  DEX
  10/5/2
  Pistol
  2
  DEX
  12/6/3
  Rifle
  1
  DEX
  11/5/2
  Vehicle Operation*
  —
  DEX
  10/5/2
  Land (car)
  1
  DEX
  11/5/2
  Stamina*
  —
  CON
  9/4/2
  Endurance
  1
  CON
  10/5/2
  Knowledge*
  —
  INT
  9/4/2
  First aid
  1
  INT
  10/5/2
  Law*
  —
  INT
  9/4/2
  Enforcement
  1
  INT
  10/5/2
  Awareness*
  —
  WIL
  12/6/3
  Perception
  1
  WIL
  13/6/3
  Interaction*
  —
  PER
  9/4/2
  Intimidate
  1
  PER
  10/5/2
  *Broad skill checks carry a +1 step penalty.
  Combat Information
  Range
  Damage
  Weapon
  Score
  (S/M/L)*
  (O/G/A)
  Type
  Martial arts
  12/6/3
  Personal
  d6+1s/d6+3s/d4+1w
  LI
  9mm pistol
  12/6/3
  6/12/50 m
  d4+1w/d4+2w/d4m
  HI
  Shotgun**
  11/5/2
  6/12/30 m
  d4w/d6w/d4m
  HI
  *Attacks at medium range suffer a +1 step penalty; attacks at long range suffer a +2
  step penalty.
  **The shotgun inflicts double damage at short range and half damage at long range.
  Armor
  Kevlar vest
  d6–3 (LI)
  d6–2 (HI)
  d4–2 (En)
  Equipment
  Kevlar vest*, 9mm pistol with 15 rounds, flashlight, handcuffs (two
  sets), personal radio, police cruiser with 12 gauge shotgun* and 20
  shells*, police radio, toolkit.
  *The vest is stored in the trunk of her car and can be worn under her uniform. The shot-
  gun and ammunition are also in the trunk.
  Background and Personality
  Jane McDermott grew up in Boise, Idaho. After attending a local
  community college for two years, she took the Idaho State Trooper
  exam and passed with flying colors. She’s been out of the academy
  for about a year and a half now, which is long enough that her peers
  don’t call her “rookie” anymore unless they’re trying to get under her
  skin. In fact, her fellow officers made a point of giving her a necklace
  with a silver bullet on it to commemorate the time she saved a man
  from a rabid coyote that attacked him while he was changing his tire
  on the roadside.
  Officer McDermott is tall and athletic. She has always enjoyed
  physical challenges, and she spends a lot of her off-duty time rock
  climbing and working on her tae kwon do. She’s very stubborn and
  self-reliant, and strongly inclined to handle situations by herself
  instead of calling in help if it’s at all possible. That might get her into
  trouble someday. . . .
  SITUATION DIE STEPS SCALE
  BONUS
  PENALTY
  –d20
  –d12
  –d8
  –d6
  –d4
  +d0
  +d4
  +d6
  +d8
  +d12
  +d20 +2d20 +3d20
  ALTERNITY and DARK•MATTER are trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. ©1999 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission granted to photocopy for personal use.
  
  Name: Will Wheeler
  Profession: 
  Combat Specialist
  Career:
  Militiaman
  Ability Scores
  Ability
  Score
  Untrained
  Resistance
  Strength
  12
  6
  +1 step
  Dexterity
  11
  5
  +1 step
  Constitution
  12
  6
  Intelligence
  10
  5
  Will
  8
  4
  Personality
  7
  3
  Action Check Score:
  14+/13/6/3
  1–3
  Amazing
  7–13
  Ordinary
  4–6
  Good
  14+
  Marginal
  Durability
  Stun 12
  H H H H H H H H H H H H
  Wound 12
  H H H H H H H H H H H H
  Mortal 6
  H H H H H H
  Skills
  O/G/A
  Skill
  Rank
  Ability
  Skill Score
  Athletics*
  —
  STR
  12/6/3
  Climb
  1
  STR
  13/6/3
  Jump
  1
  STR
  13/6/3
  Throw
  1
  STR
  13/6/3
  Unarmed Attack*
  —
  STR
  12/6/3
  Ranged Weapons*
  —
  DEX
  11/5/2
  Pistol
  1
  DEX
  12/6/3
  Rifle
  2
  DEX
  13/6/3
  Stealth*
  —
  DEX
  11/5/2
  Sneak
  1
  DEX
  12/6/3
  Vehicle Operation*
  —
  DEX
  11/5/2
  Stamina*
  —
  CON
  12/6/3
  Endurance
  1
  CON
  13/6/3
  Survival*
  —
  CON
  12/6/3
  Mountain
  1
  CON
  13/6/3
  Winter
  1
  CON
  13/6/3
  Knowledge*
  —
  INT
  10/5/2
  First aid
  1
  INT
  11/5/2
  Animal Handling*
  —
  WIL
  8/4/2
  Horse riding
  1
  WIL
  9/4/2
  Awareness*
  —
  WIL
  8/4/2
  Interaction*
  —
  PER
  7/3/1
  *Broad skill checks carry a +1 step penalty.
  Combat Information
  Range
  Damage
  Weapon
  Score
  (S/M/L)*
  (O/G/A)
  Type
  Unarmed
  12/6/3
  Personal
  d4+1s/d4+2s/d4+3s
  LI
  .38 pistol
  12/6/3
  6/12/40
  d4w/d4+1w/d4m
  HI
  Assault rifle**13/6/3
  60/120/300
  d4+2w/d6+3w/d4+1m HI
  *Attacks at medium range suffer a +1 step penalty; attacks at long range suffer a
  +2 step penalty.
  **The assault rifle can be fired in full automatic mode. This lets you roll three
  attacks instead of one, at a +1, +2, and +3 step penalty.
  Equipment
  Lighter and pack of cigarettes; .38 caliber pistol with 6 rounds, car-
  ried in an ankle holster; assault rifle with 30 rounds, in lockbox in
  the truck; beat-up 4WD Suburban with police band radio and CB
  radio; 500 antigovernment pamphlets, in truck.
  Background and Personality
  Will Wheeler is a native of Moscow, Idaho. He joined the Army right
  out of high school and served for a four-year enlistment before com-
  ing back home to work on his father’s ranch. When the ranch failed
  and tax collectors confiscated his family’s land, Will decided that he
  didn’t need to support the government with his tax dollars anymore.
  He’s drifted through a couple of militia groups and is currently living
  in an isolated “free haven” run by a group calling itself the Liberty
  Church. Will’s also a little bit wanted by the Bureau of Alcohol,
  Tobacco, and Firearms, but they haven’t posted an APB on him yet.
  Will is a short, broad-shouldered man built like a baby bull. He
  dresses in camo pants, Army boots, and T-shirts, and he wears his
  hair shoulder-length. He’s paranoid and angry, and he’s got a lot of
  guns. But he honestly believes that America could be a better place,
  and he’s willing to do anything to make it all happen.
  ALTERNITY and DARK•MATTER are trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. ©1999 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission granted to photocopy for personal use.
  SITUATION DIE STEPS SCALE
  BONUS
  PENALTY
  –d20
  –d12
  –d8
  –d6
  –d4
  +d0
  +d4
  +d6
  +d8
  +d12
  +d20 +2d20 +3d20
  CHAPTER1 A N  I N T R O D U C T I O N  T O  D A R K • M A T T E R
  15
  
  Name: Dr. Nadine Neary
  Profession: 
  Tech Op
  Career:
  Doctor
  Ability Scores
  Ability
  Score
  Untrained
  Resistance
  Strength
  7
  3
  Dexterity
  11
  5
  +1 step
  Constitution
  8
  4
  Intelligence
  13
  6
  +2 steps
  Will
  10
  5
  Personality
  11
  5
  Action Check Score:
  14+/13/6/3
  1–3
  Amazing
  7–13
  Ordinary
  4–6
  Good
  14+
  Marginal
  Durability
  Stun 8
  H H H H H H H H
  Wound 8
  H H H H H H H H
  Mortal 4
  H H H H
  Skills
  O/G/A
  Skill
  Rank
  Ability
  Skill Score
  Athletics*
  —
  STR
  7/3/1
  Acrobatics*
  —
  DEX
  11/5/2
  Defensive martial arts
  1
  DEX
  12/6/3
  Tumbling
  1
  DEX
  12/6/3
  Vehicle Operation*
  —
  DEX
  11/5/2
  Knowledge*
  —
  INT
  13/6/3
  Computer operation
  2
  INT
  15/7/3
  Deduce
  1
  INT
  14/7/3
  Life Science
  —
  INT
  13/6/3
  Biology
  2
  INT
  15/7/3
  Medical Science*
  —
  INT
  13/6/3
  Forensics
  2
  INT
  15/7/3
  Medical Knowledge
  3
  INT
  16/8/4
  Surgery
  1
  INT
  14/7/3
  Treatment
  3
  INT
  16/8/4
  Awareness*
  —
  WIL
  10/5/2
  Interaction*
  —
  PER
  11/5/2
  Charm
  1
  PER
  12/6/3
  *Broad skill checks carry a +1 step penalty.
  Combat Information
  Range
  Damage
  Weapon
  Score
  (S/M/L)
  (O/G/A)
  Type
  Martial arts
  12/6/3
  Personal
  d4s/d4+1s/d4+2s
  LI
  Gun*
  5/2/1
  by weapon
  by weapon
  HI
  *Dr. Neary does not have any skill with firearms and doesn’t carry a gun. If she picks up
  a gun and tries to use it, she must make an untrained Ranged Weapons skill check to
  attack with the weapon.
  Equipment
  Doctor’s bag, personal alarm in purse, beeper, late-model Volvo with
  cell phone, luggage, road survival kit including 6 road flares, 4 haz-
  ard markers, a space blanket, and a gallon of antifreeze.
  Doctor’s Bag
  Dr. Neary can use her training and the supplies in her doctor’s bag to
  help injured characters. She can make Medical Science–treatment
  skill checks to do the following (with a –1 step bonus because of her
  medical knowledge skill):
  •
  Revive a knocked-out character.
  •
  Heal 2, 3, or 4 wound points with an Ordinary, Good, or Amazing
  success on her skill check.
  •
  Stabilize a character with mortal damage.
  Background and Personality
  Dr. Neary lives in Rochester, Minnesota, where she works at the Mayo
  Clinic. Her specialty is infectious diseases, and she often consults
  with the CDC—the Centers for Disease Control. She grew up in Iowa
  and attended Iowa State on a gymnastics scholarship before she went
  to medical school; she’s still in good shape, and she likes to exercise
  to get her mind off her work. Dr. Neary is currently headed for Seattle,
  where she is scheduled to speak at a microbiology conference.
  Nadine Neary is a small, slender woman with short-cropped hair
  and a friendly, open manner. She has a knack for putting people at
  ease.
  SITUATION DIE STEPS SCALE
  BONUS
  PENALTY
  –d20
  –d12
  –d8
  –d6
  –d4
  +d0
  +d4
  +d6
  +d8
  +d12
  +d20 +2d20 +3d20
  ALTERNITY and DARK•MATTER are trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. ©1999 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission granted to photocopy for personal use.
  
  Name: Donna Truitt
  Profession: 
  Free Agent
  Career:
  Thief
  Ability Scores
  Ability
  Score
  Untrained
  Resistance
  Strength
  9
  4
  Dexterity
  12
  6
  +1 step
  Constitution
  8
  4
  Intelligence
  12
  6
  +1 step
  Will
  9
  3
  Personality
  10
  5
  Action Check Score:
  15+/14/7/3
  1–3
  Amazing
  8–14
  Ordinary
  4–7
  Good
  15+
  Marginal
  Durability
  Stun 8
  H H H H H H H H
  Wound 8
  H H H H H H H H
  Mortal 4
  H H H H
  Skills
  O/G/A
  Skill
  Rank
  Ability
  Skill Score
  Athletics*
  —
  STR
  9/4/2
  Climb
  1
  STR
  10/5/2
  Jump
  2
  STR
  11/5/2
  Acrobatics*
  —
  DEX
  12/6/3
  Defensive martial arts
  1
  DEX
  13/6/3
  Dodge
  2
  DEX
  14/7/3
  Manipulation*
  —
  DEX
  12/6/3
  Lockpick
  1
  DEX
  13/6/3
  Ranged Weapons*
  —
  DEX
  12/6/3
  Stealth*
  —
  DEX
  12/6/3
  Sneak
  1
  DEX
  13/6/3
  Vehicle Operation*
  —
  DEX
  12/6/3
  Stamina*
  —
  CON
  8/4/2
  Knowledge*
  —
  INT
  12/6/3
  Security*
  —
  INT
  12/6/3
  Devices
  1
  INT
  13/6/3
  Awareness*
  —
  WIL
  9/4/2
  Deception*
  —
  PER
  10/5/2
  Bluff
  1
  PER
  11/5/2
  Bribe
  1
  PER
  11/5/2
  Interaction*
  —
  PER
  10/5/2
  *Broad skill checks carry a +1 step penalty.
  Combat Information
  Range
  Damage
  Weapon
  Score
  (S/M/L)*
  (O/G/A)
  Type
  Martial arts
  13/6/3
  Personal
  d4s/d4+1s/d4+2s
  LI
  .32 revolver
  12/6/3
  4/8/30
  d4w/d6w/d4m
  HI
  *Attacks at medium range suffer a +1 step penalty; attacks at long range suffer a +2
  step penalty.
  Equipment
  Break-in bag with lockpicks, grapnel pistol (30 meters of nylon
  rope), night-vision goggles, magnetic card for door locks, black jump-
  suit, .32 caliber revolver with 5 rounds in purse, cell phone, 2001
  Chevrolet Corvette (fire engine red).
  Background and Personality
  Donna Truitt is a professional burglar. She specializes in corporate
  espionage and similar high-security break-ins, stealing research
  data, account information, and similar materials on a contract basis.
  She was recruited and trained by the CIA out of college, but she left
  the Agency several years ago to pursue a freelance career. While
  she’s capable of defending herself if discovered, Donna is very care-
  ful to avoid hurting people; she even refuses to work for people who
  might use the material she recovers to harm innocent people. Donna
  currently resides in Seattle, since many of her jobs take her to vari-
  ous high-tech corridors around the Pacific Rim. 
  Donna is a physically fit woman with long, dark hair and a dis-
  arming smile. She’s very cynical and suspicious of people represent-
  ing business or government interests. She usually tells people that
  she works as a security consultant.
  ALTERNITY and DARK•MATTER are trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. ©1999 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission granted to photocopy for personal use.
  SITUATION DIE STEPS SCALE
  BONUS
  PENALTY
  –d20
  –d12
  –d8
  –d6
  –d4
  +d0
  +d4
  +d6
  +d8
  +d12
  +d20 +2d20
  CHAPTER1 A N  I N T R O D U C T I O N  T O  D A R K • M A T T E R
  17
  +3d20
  
  Name: Dr. Phillip Akens
  Profession: 
  Diplomat
  Career:
  Parapsychologist
  Ability Scores
  Ability
  Score
  Untrained
  Resistance
  Strength
  9
  4
  Dexterity
  6
  3
  –1 step
  Constitution
  8
  4
  Intelligence
  14
  7
  +2 steps
  Will
  12
  6
  +1 step
  Personality
  11
  5
  Action Check Score:
  12+/11/5/2
  1–2
  Amazing
  6–11
  Ordinary
  4–5
  Good
  12+
  Marginal
  Durability
  Stun 8
  H H H H H H H H
  Wound 8
  H H H H H H H H
  Mortal 4
  H H H H
  Skills
  O/G/A
  Skill
  Rank
  Ability
  Skill Score
  Athletics*
  —
  STR
  9/4/2
  Vehicle Operation*
  —
  DEX
  6/3/1
  Stamina*
  —
  CON
  8/4/2
  Knowledge*
  —
  INT
  14/7/3
  Computer operation
  1
  INT
  15/7/3
  First aid
  1
  INT
  15/7/3
  Language (Greek)
  2
  INT
  16/8/4
  Language (Latin)
  2
  INT
  16/8/4
  Parapsychology
  3
  INT
  17/8/4
  Social Science*
  —
  INT
  14/7/3
  Anthropology
  2
  INT
  16/8/4
  History
  2
  INT
  16/8/4
  Linguistics
  2
  INT
  16/8/4
  Awareness*
  —
  WIL
  12/6/3
  Perception
  1
  WIL
  13/6/3
  Investigate*
  —
  WIL
  12/6/3
  Research
  2
  WIL
  14/7/3
  Search
  2
  WIL
  14/7/3
  Lore*
  —
  WIL
  12/6/3
  Occult lore
  1
  WIL
  13/6/3
  Psychic lore
  1
  WIL
  13/6/3
  Interaction*
  —
  PER
  11/5/2
  Interview
  1
  PER
  12/6/3
  *Broad skill checks carry a +1 step penalty.
  Combat Information
  Range
  Damage
  Weapon
  Score
  (S/M/L)
  (O/G/A)
  Type
  Unarmed
  4/2/1
  Personal
  d4s/d4+1s/d4+2s
  LI
  Gun*
  3/1/–
  by weapon
  by weapon
  HI
  *Dr. Akens does not have any skill with firearms and doesn’t carry a gun. If he picks up
  a gun and tries to use it, he must make an untrained Ranged Weapons skill check to
  attack with the weapon.
  Equipment
  Tape recorder; camera; specimen collection kit; laptop computer with
  cellular modem, database of paranormal activity patterns; blessed
  silver crucifix; luggage; VW Microbus with 150,000 miles on it.
  Background and Personality
  Dr. Akens has been studying paranormal activity for more than twen-
  ty years. He started out by investigating alleged haunted houses and
  psychic phenomena as a graduate student, and he’s become one of
  the foremost experts on ghosts, hauntings, and occult traditions in
  the Midwest. Most academics don’t take him seriously, of course, but
  Dr. Akens is one of the more reputable specialists in his field. He
  teaches anthropology and linguistics at Marquette University in
  Milwaukee in order to maintain some credibility with the college
  administration and to fund his occult investigations.
  Dr. Akens is a tall, dignified man forty years of age, with a
  thoughtful manner and a deep, pleasant voice. He always takes peo-
  ple at their word and assumes that they’re telling the truth about
  their experiences until hard evidence proves otherwise.
  Dr. Akens is currently traveling to Portland to look into a report-
  ed haunting. He’s accompanied by Doug Nichols, a photojournalist.
  SITUATION DIE STEPS SCALE
  BONUS
  PENALTY
  –d20
  –d12
  –d8
  –d6
  –d4
  +d0
  +d4
  +d6
  +d8
  +d12
  +d20 +2d20 +3d20
  ALTERNITY and DARK•MATTER are trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. ©1999 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission granted to photocopy for personal use.
  
  Name: Doug Nichols
  Profession: 
  Free Agent
  Career:
  Photojournalist
  Ability Scores
  Ability
  Score
  Untrained
  Resistance
  Strength
  10
  5
  Dexterity
  11
  5
  +1 step
  Constitution
  10
  5
  Intelligence
  9
  4
  Will
  11
  5
  +1 step
  Personality
  9
  4
  Action Check Score:
  13+/12/6/3
  1–3
  Amazing
  7–12
  Ordinary
  4–6
  Good
  13+
  Marginal
  Durability
  Stun 10
  H H H H H H H H H H
  Wound 10
  H H H H H H H H H H
  Mortal 5
  H H H H H
  Skills
  O/G/A
  Skill
  Rank
  Ability
  Skill Score
  Athletics*
  —
  STR
  10/5/2
  Climb
  1
  STR
  11/5/2
  Ski
  1
  STR
  11/5/2
  Unarmed Attack*
  —
  STR
  10/5/2
  Brawl
  1
  STR
  11/5/2
  Stealth*
  —
  DEX
  11/5/2
  Shadow
  1
  DEX
  12/6/3
  Vehicle Operation*
  —
  DEX
  11/5/2
  Movement*
  —
  CON
  10/5/2
  Trailblazing
  1
  CON
  11/5/2
  Stamina*
  —
  CON
  10/5/2
  Endurance
  1
  CON
  11/5/2
  Knowledge*
  —
  INT
  9/4/2
  Awareness*
  —
  WIL
  11/5/2
  Intuition
  1
  WIL
  12/6/3
  Creativity*
  —
  WIL
  11/5/2
  Photography
  2
  WIL
  13/6/3
  Investigate
  —
  WIL
  11/5/2
  Search
  1
  WIL
  12/6/3
  Interaction*
  —
  PER
  9/4/2
  * Broad skills have a base situation die of +d4.
  Combat Information
  Range
  Damage
  Weapon
  Score
  (S/M/L)
  (O/G/A)
  Type
  Unarmed
  11/5/2
  Personal
  d4s/d4+1s/d4+2s
  LI
  Gun*
  5/2/1
  by weapon
  by weapon
  HI
  *Nichols does not have any skill with firearms and doesn’t carry a gun. If he picks up a
  gun and tries to use it, he must make an untrained Ranged Weapons skill check to attack
  with the weapon.
  Equipment
  Professional-grade camcorder; tripod; still camera; tape recorder;
  laptop computer with video editing software; cellular phone; luggage.
  Background and Personality
  Ever since he was a kid, Doug Nichols has loved cameras and jour-
  nalism. He worked on his school paper, served a tour in the Navy as
  a journalism specialist, and started freelancing as a photographer as
  soon as he got out of the service. He’s been all over the world, spe-
  cializing in archaeology shoots and nature documentaries.
  Documentary work pays the bills, but Nichols has another hobby—
  ghost-hunting. When he can find the time, he tries his hand at para-
  normal investigation, hoping to catch an image of something that’s
  never been photographed before.
  Nichols is a rangy, big-boned man in his late twenties. He has a
  laid-back manner, and he enjoys outdoor sports of all kinds. He’s cur-
  rently traveling with Dr. Phillip Akens, a paranormal investigator
  who intends to check out a reported haunting in Portland. But after
  that, Nichols hopes to get in some mountaineering, extreme skiing,
  and hiking around the southern Cascades before heading home.
  ALTERNITY and DARK•MATTER are trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. ©1999 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission granted to photocopy for personal use.
  CHAPTER1 A N  I N T R O D U C T I O N  T O  D A R K • M A T T E R
  19
  SITUATION DIE STEPS SCALE
  BONUS
  PENALTY
  –d20
  –d12
  –d8
  –d6
  –d4
  +d0
  +d4
  +d6
  +d8
  +d12
  +d20 +2d20 +3d20
  
  So You Want to Be 
  the Gamemaster?
  This section of the fast-play rules provides an overview of the
  Gamemaster’s role in an ALTERNITY game. It contains a short
  DARK•MATTER adventure that you can use to introduce your
  players to the game and familiarize yourself with the art of pre-
  senting and moderating a roleplaying game.
  If you haven’t read the earlier fast-play rules presented in this
  book, you should read that section now and then come back here.
  You can’t be a good Gamemaster until you know something about
  how the game works.
  The Role of the Gamemaster
  As the Gamemaster, you have a number of jobs to handle during
  and between game sessions. Unlike other types of games that have
  strict rules and deal with limited situations, a roleplaying game
  such as the DARK•MATTER setting is as wide open as the players’
  imaginations. For this reason, the presence of a game moderator to
  act as referee, story designer, and narrator is essential.
  The players interact with each other and the game environ-
  ment through the actions of their characters, the heroes. The
  Gamemaster describes each scene, directs the action, and plays
  the roles of the supporting cast members—villains, allies, and
  extras who inhabit the campaign world. 
  However, the Gamemaster isn’t competing against the
  players. When the Gamemaster and the players get together to
  tell a fun and exciting group story, everybody wins. That’s the
  power and appeal of a roleplaying game.
  Key Concepts
  Let’s take a look at some of the key concepts behind moderating
  the ALTERNITY game. Some of these terms have also been defined
  in the first section of this chapter, but they’re repeated here for
  the sake of completeness within the Gamemaster section.
  Gamemaster: The participant in the game who acts as the
  moderator, narrating adventures and controlling characters who
  are involved in the story but aren’t directly controlled by players.
  Hero: An imaginary character controlled by a player.
  Supporting Cast: The other characters who appear in every
  story: friends, enemies, and incidental characters with whom the
  heroes interact. The Gamemaster controls members of the sup-
  porting cast.
  Setting: The imaginary context and environment within which
  the heroes operate. The DARK•MATTER game is set in a world very
  much like our own, except that the broad spectrum of paranormal
  and occult phenomena is frighteningly real—to those who know
  what to look for.
  Adventure: A scenario in which the heroes interact to create
  a group story. As Gamemaster, you present an opening situation
  or scene (called the “trigger”). The rest of the adventure unfolds
  through the actions of the heroes (as dictated by their players)
  and the moderation of the Gamemaster (through story events and
  the supporting cast).
  Campaign: A continuing series of adventures that takes place
  in a single setting and focuses on the same group of heroes. A
  campaign can be finite, ending after as many adventures as nec-
  essary to tell the complete story; or it can be an ongoing tale, pro-
  gressing like a television or comic book series.
  Group Story: While a regular story, such as found in a movie
  or a book, features a set beginning, middle, and ending, a group
  story is more dynamic. The Gamemaster has an outline that pro-
  vides a series of encounters and events, and a few possible ways
  the adventure could end. The dynamic comes from the group—
  the players and Gamemaster—who determine the course of the
  story and its outcome through the interaction of their imaginary
  characters. In a group story, no one—not even the Game-
  master—knows exactly how how it all will end.
  Game Session: One distinct period of game play; a time when
  you gather your friends to play the ALTERNITY game. Some adven-
  tures can be completed in a single session; others might require
  several sessions to reach a conclusion.
  Using the Game Mechanic
  The ALTERNITY game is built around a core mechanic that has
  nearly universal application. All heroic actions in the game are
  resolved by rolling just two dice: a control die and a situation
  die. A control die is always a d20; a situation die can be a d4, d6,
  d8, d12, or d20. Depending on how hard or easy a particular task
  is, the result of the situation die is added to or subtracted from
  the result of the control die, as detailed in the player’s fast-play
  rules.
  You can use the dice in varying ways, though the mechanic is
  always the same: Roll two dice, trying to achieve a number that’s
  equal to or less than a character’s appropriate score. If the task
  is associated with a skill, then the skill score is used. If it’s a feat
  check, then the associated Ability Score is used. In all uses of
  dice during a game session—except when rolling for damage—
  low results are better than high ones.
  Use the mechanic to determine the success of an attack, using
  an appropriate combat skill; to overcome a challenge, using a phys-
  ical or mental skill; or to determine the outcome of an encounter,
  using a Personality skill in conjunction with good roleplaying.
  The Most Important Rule
  Not every action requires a dice roll. Repeat this sentence and
  apply it often. When the heroes attempt normal, everyday tasks,
  they should accomplish them without consulting the dice. In
  heroic situations, when the outcome is in doubt and the result
  could mean life or death, then have the players roll dice.
  Situation Die Steps
  The best tool you have as the Gamemaster is your ability to set
  the odds of any given task. You can do this by adding bonuses or
  penalties for given situations and counting in the appropriate di-
  rection on the Situation Die Steps Scale (presented in the player’s
  fast-play rules). Or, if you’re more inclined toward quick resolu-
  tions, simply eyeball it by selecting the modifier that matches
  how difficult or easy you want the task to be.
  
  Putting it Into Practice
  What do you actually do with this information? That depends.
  Here are examples of both methods in action. Use either method
  or a combination of the two, as you see fit.
  The Step-By-Step Method: Michele’s hero, Detective Jones,
  wants to take a shot at the villainous cult leader. Jones has the
  pistol skill, so he has a base situation die of +d0. The cult leader
  is 10 meters away from Jones, which is medium range (+1 step
  penalty) for his weapon, and has light cover (+1 step penalty). In
  addition, because Jones is standing atop a moving train, you de-
  clare that the situation has a Good level of difficulty (+2 steps).
  By counting out the steps on the Situation Die Steps Scale, the
  Gamemaster determines that Jones has a final situation die of
  +d12. Michele rolls d20+d12, hoping to achieve a total that’s
  equal to or less than Jones’s pistol score. If she succeeds, then
  Jones hits his target, scoring either an Ordinary, Good, or Amaz-
  ing success, as detailed in the player’s fast-play rules.
  Eyeballing It: Dave’s hero, Jack Martin, needs to slip past the
  customs official. Since Martin doesn’t have the sneak specialty
  skill, his base situation die is +d4. You decide that the official is
  particularly vigilant today. This makes the situation Hard, caus-
  ing Martin to take a +2 step penalty. Dave rolls d20+d8, hoping
  for a result equal to or less than Martin’s Stealth skill score.
  Running the Game
  You can run a roleplaying game very easily by sticking to this one
  simple formula:
  • Describe a scene to the players that demands some action
  on the part of their heroes.
  • Ask the players what their heroes are going to do.
  • Resolve the heroes’ actions.
  • Determine how the resolution of the heroes’ action af-
  fected the original situation.
  • Describe the updated situation to the players, and start the
  process all over again.
  Don’t worry; you don’t have to make it all up on the fly.
  Usually, a Gamemaster has a script or a set of notes to work
  from that outlines the various scenes and situations that
  make up the adventure the heroes are currently engaged in.
  In this fast-play rules chapter, the adventure is scripted so
  that all you have to do is follow the directions.
  How does this work in practice? It’s pretty easy. Let’s say
  that the heroes are investigating the site of an alien abduc-
  tion. First, the Gamemaster describes a lonely spot on the
  open prairie, marked only by a burnt circle on the ground and
  a set of tire tracks leading away. The Gamemaster then asks
  the players what their heroes are going to do. Each player de-
  cides what action his or her hero takes; one hero may collect
  a soil sample, another might stand guard to watch out for
  anyone else approaching, and a third player may declare that
  his hero will follow the tire tracks.
  Next, the Gamemaster resolves the actions the players
  have declared. Taking the soil sample and standing guard are
  easy—the players don’t have to make any rolls to succeed in
  those tasks. But following the tire tracks requires an Investi-
  gate–track skill check, so the Gamemaster asks the player to
  roll a skill check for his hero.
  Finally, success or failure in the challenges of the scene may
  dictate a new situation—the tire tracks lead toward a distant
  mesa if the heroes can follow them. Now they have a new set of
  decisions to make; they can stay and search the area around the
  circle, or they can follow the tracks into a new scene.
  The Adventure
  An ALTERNITY adventure is nothing more than a series of distinct
  scenes in which the heroes are presented with a situation, decide
  what they want to do, resolve their actions, and deal with the con-
  sequences. Each scene challenges the heroes with enemies to
  defeat, mysteries to solve, or supporting characters to interact with.
  To continue with the previous example, let’s say that the ad-
  venture is simple: The heroes have been assigned to investigate
  an alien abduction. Scenes that might make up this adventure in-
  clude the following:
  • A search of the site where the abduction took place.
  • An interview with the abductee when the victim is found
  again.
  • A hostile encounter with secretive men in black who attempt
  to steal evidence the heroes have collected from the scene.
  • An attack by angry locals who think that the heroes are some-
  how behind the abduction.
  • A scene in which the abductee must be protected from the
  men in black or the aliens who originally kidnapped him.
  Not all of these scenes might be necessary in the adventure;
  maybe the heroes never go out to the site of the encounter, or
  maybe they avoid the locals by driving away from a confrontation
  CHAPTER1 A N  I N T R O D U C T I O N  T O  D A R K • M A T T E R
  21
  Examples of Situation Modifiers
  Weapon Range
  Short
  Medium
  Long
  Pistol
  None
  +1 step
  +2 steps
  Rifle
  None
  None
  +1 step
  Target has Cover
  Light Cover
  Medium Cover
  Heavy Cover
  +1 step penalty
  +2 step penalty
  +3 step penalty
  Situation
  Amazing difficulty
  +3 steps
  Amazing ease
  –3 steps
  Good difficulty
  +2 steps
  Good ease
  –2 steps
  Ordinary difficulty
  +1 steps
  Ordinary ease
  –1 steps
  Marginal difficulty
  None
  Marginal ease
  None
  Eyeballing It
  Situation Description
  Modifier
  Situation Die
  Extremely easy
  –3 steps
  –d8
  Very easy
  –2 steps
  –d6
  Easy
  –1 steps
  –d4
  Average
  None
  +d0
  Tough
  +1 step
  +d4
  Hard
  +2 steps
  +d6
  Challenging
  +3 steps
  +d8
  
  before it gets ugly. And, players being players, the Gamemaster
  may need to respond to their actions with new scenes that reflect
  the course of the heroes’ investigation.
  Many Gamemasters make up adventures for their players by
  thinking up a cool plot, jotting down some notes about the vil-
  lains or challenges the heroes must defeat, and then creating a
  good scene to start the heroes in the story. You don’t have to do
  that right away; for your first time as the Gamemaster, use the
  scripted adventure in this chapter.
  The Scene Structure
  Every time the players are faced by an obstacle, challenge, or
  significant encounter with a Gamemaster-controlled character,
  they’re engaged in a scene. A scene is one piece of an adven-
  ture—a decision box in which the heroes might succeed, fail, or
  sidestep a problem altogether. There are three types of scenes:
  combat scenes, challenge scenes, and encounter scenes.
  Combat Scenes
  Most roleplaying games resemble action movies. The heroes fre-
  quently confront the villains with force and stop the bad guys the
  old-fashioned way. Even if the heroes aren’t willing to use force
  against the villains, their enemies may not feel constrained to
  abide by the same restrictions. Ghosts or hostile entities might
  lash out at investigators; unknown assassins may try to kill
  heroes getting too close to the truth; ruthless agents might try to
  make the heroes disappear before the heroes expose their plots.
  Combat is commonplace in many DARK•MATTER adventures.
  Setting Up the Fight
  The first thing you need to do in a combat scene is set up the
  fight. Decide who’s attacking the heroes, and why they’re doing
  it. Usually, your adventure notes can help you determine the oppo-
  sition the heroes face. 
  For example, if you’ve already decided that a government lab
  is protected by a security team of four guards, it’s pretty clear
  that the heroes must defeat or bypass all four guards to get
  inside. When you play the adventure later in this chapter, you will
  know exactly what the heroes may end up fighting against.
  Decide where the opponents are in relation to the heroes. If
  the heroes just stormed a room full of armed gunmen, it’s pretty
  clear that all the combatants are in the same room. If the heroes
  drive into an ambush on a bridge, you might determine that the
  gunmen are kneeling behind cars parked to block both lanes.
  Then describe to the players where their heroes and the bad guys
  are in relation to each other.
  Finally, some situations may have the potential for surprise. If
  the heroes are relaxing in a hotel room after a long day of inves-
  tigation when two assassins kick in the door, they might not be
  ready for a fight. Have each hero who might be caught off guard
  make an Awareness skill check; if the hero fails, she is surprised
  and can’t take any actions in the first round of the fight.
  Action Rounds
  Scenes in which time is critical—gunfights, chases, disarming
  bombs—need a framework for deciding who goes first. The action
  round organizes the actions of the heroes and the supporting cast
  so that the Gamemaster can tell whose turn it is to act.
  Every action round is divided into four phases: Amazing,
  Good, Ordinary, and Marginal. All characters involved in the
  scene make action checks before each round to determine which
  phase they may act in. Characters with Amazing action checks
  act first, then characters with Good action checks, then Ordinary,
  and finally Marginal.
  Although actions in a phase occur simultaneously, you don’t
  want everyone rolling dice at the same time. Instead, all charac-
  ters who are entitled to an action in the same phase should act in
  the order of their action check scores—highest score first. The
  results of their actions (such as damage) are applied at the end
  of the phase, thus simulating simultaneous activity.
  Example: Jones, Martin, and the cult leader all achieve Good
  action check results. Their action check scores are 13, 10, and
  15, respectively. For ease of play, the cult leader acts first in the
  Good phase, followed by Jones, then Martin.
  Attacks
  There are three basic ways to attack a creature or a character in
  the ALTERNITY game system: bare-handed, with a melee weapon,
  or with a ranged weapon. When a hero chooses to attack an
  enemy character or hostile creature, he must attempt a skill
  check using the appropriate skill.
  • Hand-to-hand attacks use the Unarmed Attack–brawl or power
  martial arts or the Acrobatics–defensive martial arts skills. If the
  character doesn’t have any of these skills, he must make an un-
  trained Strength feat check (use the “Untrained” Strength
  score and add a d4) to attack in hand-to-hand combat.
  • Ranged weapon attacks use the Ranged Weapons–pistol or
  rifle skills. If the character doesn’t have these skills, he must
  make an untrained Dexterity feat check to attack.
  The Gamemaster may add step modifiers to the attack for the
  target’s Strength or Dexterity, or to reflect a tricky situation—a
  long-range shot or good cover for the target. The result of the
  attack roll is a Failure (a miss), or an Ordinary, Good, or Amaz-
  ing success (all hits).
  If a character hits his target, he inflicts damage appropriate to
  the success of his attack. For example, if Officer McDermott
  achieves an Ordinary success with her 9mm pistol, she inflicts
  d4+1 points of wound damage. 
  Damage
  Damage comes in three types: stun, wound, and mortal. If a char-
  acter is hit by an attack or some other damage-causing condition,
  the degree of success achieved by that attack determines the type
  and amount of primary damage suffered by a character.
  • If a character loses all of his stun points, he’s knocked out.
  • If a character loses all of his wound points, he’s knocked out
  and gravely injured.
  • If a character loses all of his mortal points, he’s dead.
  Each of the hero templates in this chapter lists some examples
  of weapons and armor, and includes their important statistics.
  Serious, lasting injuries—mortal damage and wound damage—
  cause secondary damage to the character who is injured. For
  every 2 points of wound damage inflicted on a character, that
  character also suffers 1 point of stun damage. For every 2 points
  of mortal damage a character receives, that character also suf-
  fers 1 point of wound damage and 1 point of stun damage.
  Example: Wheeler fires his .38 pistol at a horrible ice-demon
  and gets an Amazing success on his attack roll. The damage for
  
  an Amazing success with the .38 pistol is d4m. Wheeler’s player,
  Michele, rolls d4 and gets a result of 3. The ice-demon suffers 3
  points of mortal damage (the primary damage of the attack) plus
  secondary damage of 1 wound and 1 stun.
  Armor
  Aliens, paranormal creatures, and some human characters may
  possess armor that protects them from the dangers of battle.
  Armor can reduce the primary damage a hero suffers—but armor
  has no effect on secondary damage.
  Example: Dave’s character, Officer McDermott, is wearing
  her Kevlar vest when a crazed cultist shoots her for 5 points of
  wound damage. That also causes 2 points of secondary stun
  damage, which Dave records on the hero template immediately
  because armor doesn’t stop secondary damage. Now Dave rolls
  to see how well McDermott’s armor protected her from the
  wound damage. The vest blocks d6–2 points of high impact (HI)
  damage. Dave rolls a d6 and gets a result of 4, for a total of 2
  (4–2), so the number of wounds is reduced by 2. Dave marks off
  3 wound boxes on Officer McDermott’s character template
  (5–2=3).
  Challenge Scenes
  Not every threat or obstacle involves a villain with a gun. Heroes
  routinely scale cliffs, search for hard-to-find clues, try to repair
  damaged machinery, or use their wits and training to get to the
  bottom of things. Any time the story hinges on whether or not a
  hero can successfully use a skill in a noncombat situation,
  you’re dealing with a challenge scene.
  Typical challenge scenes include the following:
  • Using Athletics–climb or jump to scale a difficult obstacle.
  • Using Manipulation–lockpick to get around a locked door.
  • Using Stealth–shadow or sneak to trail someone without
  being spotted or slip past a guard without a fight.
  • Using Medical Science–treatment to help an injured char-
  acter.
  • Using Technical Science–repair to fix a piece of damaged
  machinery.
  • Using Lore–occult lore or psychic lore to analyze paranormal
  phenomena and discern a cause.
  • Using Investigate–search or track to glean a clue from a
  crime scene or find someone who doesn’t want to be found.
  In fact, any time the players want to try to use their
  heroes’ skills to advance the story in some way, it’s a chal-
  lenge scene. The adventure in this chapter includes several
  potential challenge scenes with guidelines on how you should
  handle them as they come up.
  The basic procedure for a challenge scene is simple. Ask
  the players what skill they want their heroes to use. Deter-
  mine if there are factors that make the skill check easier or
  more difficult, add the appropriate step modifiers to the skill
  check, and then ask the players to make skill checks for their
  heroes. Evaluate the results and apply them to the situation.
  Many challenges are very short. If a hero is trying to jump
  onto a moving train, she gets one shot at it and succeeds or
  fails. Other challenges may be broken up into a number of dis-
  tinct steps; for example, climbing a mountain may require a
  number of Athletics–climb skill checks to conquer each stage of
  the ascent.
  Example: Tom’s character, Donna Truitt, is trying to slip a
  tracking device into an enemy agent’s pocket in a quiet coffee
  shop. The skill most appropriate to the situation is Manipu-
  late–pickpocket. The Gamemaster decides that, since the place is
  almost empty, it’s hard for Donna to get close without being very
  obvious about it. He assigns a +2 step penalty, and then adds an-
  other +1 step penalty since the enemy agent has a high Will score
  and a +1 step resistance modifier (Will represents how percep-
  tive a character is, among other things). Tom rolls a pickpocket
  skill check on a d20 + d8 and gets a Good success. Not only did
  Donna plant the tracker, but she hid it in such a way that the
  enemy agent isn’t likely to find it for a while.
  Encounter Scenes
  An encounter scene describes a conversation or interaction be-
  tween two characters—a hero and a member of the supporting
  cast. Two heroes don’t make up an encounter scene, since the
  players who control those heroes are free to talk to each other
  any time they like. Similarly, two supporting cast members don’t
  have encounter scenes, since the players don’t necessarily get
  the chance to see what happens when the mob boss talks to his
  underling.
  Not every meeting between a hero and a character under the
  Gamemaster’s control should be construed as an encounter
  scene. Presumably, heroes are real people in a real world. They
  chat with the cashier at the grocery store, they talk to the other
  people taking the train they’re riding, and they pass by dozens or
  CHAPTER1 A N  I N T R O D U C T I O N  T O  D A R K • M A T T E R
  23
  Recovery
  After a character suffers damage, he or she can get back to full
  health in a number of different ways:
  • Stun damage disappears at the end of a scene.
  • Wound damage, but not mortal damage, heals naturally at
  a rate of 2 wound points per week of rest and recuperation.
  • The Knowledge–first aid specialty skill can heal stun
  damage on conscious patients, negating 2, 3, or 4 points of
  stun damage depending on the degree of success achieved
  on the skill check (Ordinary, Good, or Amazing).
  First aid can also revive a character who was knocked out
  due to stun damage, restoring 1, 2, or 3 stun points depending
  on the degree of success. This skill can also be used to heal
  wound damage; any success restores 1 wound point.
  • The Medical Science–treatment specialty skill can be used to
  heal stun damage on conscious patients, as per first aid above.
  Medical Science–treatment can also be used to revive a
  character who was knocked out due to stun damage, restoring
  2, 3, or 4 stun points depending on the degree of success.
  This skill can be used to heal wound damage; any success
  restores 2 wound points.
  • The Medical Science–surgery specialty skill can heal wound
  damage and mortal damage; a success restores 1 point of
  mortal and 2 points of wound damage. This skill can be used
  on a specific patient once every hour. Note that using the
  surgery skill requires the kind of facilities normally found at
  a hospital—anesthesia, monitoring devices, and so on.
  
  hundreds of strangers every day as they go about their business.
  But only a handful of these chance encounters have anything at
  all to do with the story at hand. In fact, an encounter is worth a
  scene only if the hero can learn or do something important in the
  course of that encounter.
  Typical encounter scenes include the following:
  • Deceiving a gate guard by pretending to have a pass to get into
  a restricted area.
  • Convincing a police officer not to take the hero into custody
  under suspicious circumstances.
  • Conversing with a rival agent in a social situation and trying
  to get some information out of him.
  • Interviewing a witness to a UFO encounter.
  • Persuading an authority figure to quarantine an area exposed
  to an alien virus.
  • Convincing a bystander to help the heroes in a dangerous or il-
  legal act.
  There are two ways to resolve an encounter scene. The first is
  the easiest: common sense. If the players say something that
  sounds convincing to you, the Gamemaster, you can simply rule
  that their heroes convinced the character they were talking to.
  Characters in the game should act and react the way real people
  in the same situation would, so use your best judgment.
  The second way to resolve an encounter scene is to ask the
  players to make a skill check using the appropriate Personality-
  based skill—Deception, Interaction, or Leadership. If a hero is
  pretending to be someone else to get past a guard, Deception–
  bluff is probably the best skill to use. If the hero is threatening
  the guard with imminent violence, Interaction–intimidate is more
  appropriate. Ask the player to tell you what his or her hero is
  saying, and then apply a step bonus or penalty to reflect how ef-
  fective the player’s tactic seems to be in the current situation.
  Then call for a skill check and evaluate the results.
  Example: John’s hero, Dr. Akens, is trying to persuade a beat
  cop to let him leave the scene of a murder without arresting him.
  This sounds pretty tough, but the Gamemaster asks John what
  Dr. Akens says to get out of this situation. “I’m telling the cop
  that I saw the murderer run off in another direction just a
  moment ago so that I can leave when the police officer goes to in-
  vestigate,” John says.
  The Gamemaster decides that the skill this reflects is proba-
  bly Deception–bluff, and that Dr. Akens’s approach is weak but
  not too bad—a +1 step penalty to a Deception skill check is rea-
  sonable. Unfortunately, Akens doesn’t have the Deception skill,
  so John must make an untrained Personality skill check for Dr.
  Akens. He rolls a d20 + d6 (a +1 step penalty for the broad skill
  check, and the +1 step penalty for the weak argument) and com-
  pares it to Akens’s Deception skill score. John blows the roll—
  the cop holds Akens and refuses to let him leave the scene before
  he can question the good doctor.
  Supporting Cast
  Each of the players controls only one hero at any given time.
  The Gamemaster controls all the other characters in the adven-
  ture. The most important supporting cast member is the major
  antagonist. A good villain helps to set the mood of a story and
  can even become a more-or-less permanent part of the cam-
  paign—a recurring figure whose plots and agents constantly
  threaten the heroes or whatever it is they hold dear.
  Supporting cast members include the major villain; his or her
  associates and hired hands; the authority figures who command
  or employ the heroes; the informants, witnesses, and shop
  owners the heroes interact with; and the valued friends,
  hirelings, and allies ready to help the heroes at a moment’s
  notice. The Gamemaster needs to be ready to run these charac-
  ters as they are called upon, or to improvise as the need arises.
  It’s important for the Gamemaster to give each supporting
  cast member—especially major opponents and allies—much the
  same consideration players give their heroes.
  Some supporting cast members should be fully developed,
  with a complete set of skills and vital game statistics. Other
  characters, such as minor opponents, experts, and bystanders,
  need only the skill scores and statistics that might come into play
  during a scene. For example, give a common thug a combat skill
  or two, durability ratings, and a weapon; give an expert just the
  skill scores needed to use his expertise on the heroes’ behalf.
  The adventure in this chapter features several supporting
  characters. As the Gamemaster, you decide what these charac-
  ters will do in each scene, and how they will accomplish it.
  Roleplaying 101
  The best part about controlling the supporting cast is that you
  can create all kinds of personalities during the course of play.
  Ham it up, play it straight, or go for the dramatic—depending on
  the mood of the adventure and the personality of the character.
  If you can do it and make it sound good, use a unique voice for
  each character. Try an accent (a French Combat Spec, a Russian
  Diplomat), different styles of speech (a formal-sounding Free
  Agent, a Tech Op who uses lots of slang expressions), or signa-
  ture phrases (such as an informant who always spouts, “What-
  ever you say, Boss, whatever you say . . .”).
  Heroes and Encounter Skills
  Villains routinely threaten, cajole, bluster, or rail at the heroes.
  However, they’re not entitled to make Interaction–intimidate or
  Deception–bribe skill checks to make the heroes back off or
  accept a payoff. When a supporting character wants the heroes to
  do something, it’s your job as Gamemaster to convey the charac-
  ter’s threat or offer—and then allow the players to decide if their
  heroes listen.
  Of course, there may be consequences to ignoring a threat or
  insulting a character who’s trying to deal with the heroes. It’s
  reasonable for you to point out to the players what these conse-
  quences might be, but you shouldn’t ever take control of the
  heroes’ actions.
  Presenting an Adventure
  A roleplaying game’s action takes place in an adventure. Within
  its structure, the participants create the group story. The Game-
  master’s role in the adventure centers around narrating the story,
  portraying supporting cast members, and moving the story along
  at a satisfying pace. Whether you use published adventures (such
  as “Exit 23,” presented in this chapter) or create your own epics,
  the Gamemaster’s role remains the same.
  
  Narration
  The heroes need to be involved in a story during which they act,
  react, and create a riveting tale. A story consists of a beginning,
  a middle, and an end, and each one should be filled with conflicts
  and goals—in other words, obstacles for the heroes to overcome
  and objectives for them to achieve. It’s up to the Gamemaster to
  have the basics of a story ready when the game session begins.
  Remember, though, that the story will be completed by the
  group—through the actions of the heroes and their interaction
  with your supporting cast. The heroes play an important part in
  determining how a story takes shape, and you should make sure
  their decisions play a part in the process.
  You must develop a basic plot (or use a plot from a published
  product), provide motivations and objectives for the heroes, and
  have an exciting idea for the ending. A plot requires enough back-
  ground material so that the story feels like it fits the campaign
  setting. Other elements that make a good basic plot include a
  major antagonist (the villain), the antagonist’s nefarious scheme,
  and motivations to make the heroes want to get involved. These
  elements come together in the adventure’s opening scene—called
  the trigger.
  The “Exit 23” adventure provides an example of how these el-
  ements work together.
  Pacing
  Another aspect of presenting an adventure is the pacing of the
  story. The story shouldn’t artificially push the heroes to meet
  some schedule. Instead, watch how the scenes play out. When a
  scene starts to drag and the fun factor begins to flag, that’s when
  you step in to give the scene a boost. How? By using the re-
  sources at your disposal—maybe have a supporting character
  show up with some tip that gives the heroes a nudge in the right
  direction. If your players don’t know what to do next and the
  story is in danger of stalling, it’s up to you to give it new life.
  Don’t create an adventure outline that’s so complete the heroes
  can’t make any decisions without violating your plot. Start the ad-
  venture with action and have lots of other action ideas ready to
  insert into the flow as the game session progresses. Use combat,
  challenges, encounters, conflict, tension, humor, and mystery to
  keep an adventure moving toward its dramatic conclusion.
  The basic rule for pacing is that as long as the players are
  having fun, stay in the current scene. When the action bogs
  down, then the Gamemaster must help the pacing by getting
  things moving again.
  Moderating the Rules
  The player’s fast-play rules section of this chapter gives you the
  basic facts about how the ALTERNITY game works. That’s all you
  need to introduce your players to the game system and run the
  adventure in this section. In play, it’s up to the Gamemaster to
  moderate the game so that everyone has fun, plays fair, and is
  challenged. Of all these, the emphasis is always on fun. If a rule
  gets in the way of everyone’s enjoyment, change it. But change it
  consistently and after consideration. Don’t change a rule just for
  the sake of change.
  Final decisions are always left to the Gamemaster. Can the
  heroes perform a particular action? Can they even try it? That’s
  up to you. Make your decision based on the need to keep the
  story moving, your interpretation of the rules, and whether or
  not the action fits the story and increases everyone’s enjoy-
  ment of the game. Be fair and impartial in your treatment of
  heroes and supporting characters. Challenge the players and
  their heroes. The players want to see their heroes tested and
  to experience the thrill of competing against the odds and
  coming out on top. Heroes do this sort of thing all the time!
  Just make sure the players have decisions to make and op-
  tions to choose from as the adventure unfolds.
  If someone disagrees with a decision, call a time out and
  discuss it with the group. You still get to make the final call,
  but you can reduce the possibility of hard feelings if you mod-
  erate the game fairly. The goal is to tell a good group story
  and to have fun, not to abuse the heroes.
  Sometimes the dice just fall the wrong way. That’s okay.
  But you might want to give the players a break now and
  then. After all, it’s no fun for a player to lose a hero in a
  stupid and random way. Be lenient when determining the dif-
  ficulty of a particular action, or change the result before re-
  vealing the outcome to the players. This sort of
  manipulation is the Gamemaster’s prerogative, but use it
  sparingly—and always in the interest of keeping the story
  moving and the fun factor high.
  EXIT 23
  An Introductory DARK•MATTER Adventure
  “Exit 23” is a short adventure designed to introduce you to the
  ALTERNITY game and the DARK•MATTER setting. If you’re a
  brand-new Gamemaster, the first thing you need to do is read
  through the adventure before you run your first game. You
  should know how each scene fits into the the adventure so that
  you can present each scene in the best and most exciting
  manner possible.
  Familiarize yourself with the fast-play rules earlier in this
  chapter. The other players expect you to know how the game
  works, so make sure that you at least know where to find the an-
  swers to any questions that come up. Finally, you should take a
  minute to look over the hero templates so that you know what
  kind of heroes your players are controlling in the game.
  When you’re ready to start playing, assign each player one
  of the templates. You can choose randomly, or you can tell the
  players about each hero and ask them which one they want to
  play. Flip a coin if two players want to run the same hero. (We
  recommend that you make photocopies of the hero templates to
  hand out to everyone.) If you have extra templates left over, you
  might consider running these extra heroes as supporting cast
  members.
  Ask the players to read over their templates and answer any
  questions they may have about them. The best way to learn the
  game is by playing, though, so just explain the basics and then
  get on with the adventure. Most players catch on as you go
  along.
  If you’re not the Gamemaster for this game, stop reading
  here. It’s no fun when someone tells you how the movie ends
  before you see it, and it’s no fun to know how the adventure pro-
  ceeds before you play it.
  CHAPTER1 A N  I N T R O D U C T I O N  T O  D A R K • M A T T E R
  25
  
  Adventure Background
  Don’t read this to the players! This is a brief background of
  what’s happening in this adventure. We’ll let you know how to
  start the game for the players on the next page.
  The Hoffmann Institute is an organization devoted to investi-
  gating and understanding all kinds of paranormal phenomena.
  The Institute operates from more than a dozen major offices
  around the world, dispatching professional investigators to check
  out reports of ghosts, hauntings, UFOs, mysterious creatures,
  real magic, and the activities of secret organizations and con-
  spiracies. (You can find more information on the Hoffmann Insti-
  tute in Chapter 2, though you won’t need it for this adventure.)
  Several days ago, agents working for the Institute investi-
  gated an old estate formerly owned by a reputed cult leader and
  diabolist named Michel Galvin. Galvin disappeared about ten
  years ago, and distant relatives finally sold his manor in order to
  wash their hands of the whole business. Hoffmann agent Jonas
  Riley, who’d been keeping tabs on the old Galvin place, heard of
  the upcoming estate sale and visited the site to make sure that it
  was free of Michel Galvin’s sinister influence before it was sold
  to some unsuspecting person.
  Riley and his team examined the place in detail, discovering a
  secret laboratory or conjuration room hidden in the manor’s attic.
  The room was mostly empty, but concealed in a secret drawer
  Riley found an evil artifact—a snow globe with magical powers.
  Neither Riley nor anyone else on his team knew what to make of
  Galvin’s globe, so Riley took it to an Institute expert in Portland,
  Oregon, for a thorough examination and safekeeping.
  Unknown to Riley, other people besides the Hoffmann Insti-
  tute have been keeping an eye on Galvin’s mansion. Galvin’s
  circle of acolytes, Les Trieze Corbins (The Thirteen Crows) still
  exists, and they still watch Galvin’s place. They’d searched the
  grounds several times for the globe but never found the secret
  drawer. When Riley discovered the globe and removed it from the
  mansion, Les Trieze Corbins wanted it back. They sent Jacob
  Dumont, one of their number, after Riley to retrieve the globe.
  Dumont trailed Riley from Galvin’s estate in Montana into the
  rugged mountain country of the Idaho panhandle. But Dumont
  isn’t alone. With spells learned from Galvin years ago, the cultists
  conjured a winter-demon and created a vicious blizzard to close
  the highway and trap Riley at a lonely rest stop in the middle of
  the night. This allowed Dumont to catch up with Riley.
  Overview
  What does all of this have to do with the players? The answer is
  simple: Their heroes are caught at the rest stop along with Riley
  and Dumont, and it’s up to them to stop the sadistic cultist from
  killing everyone and escaping with Galvin’s sinister artifact.
  The beginning of the adventure finds the heroes stranded in a
  rest stop on I-90, near Exit 23 in Idaho. They’re on the road for
  various reasons of their own; for example, Officer McDermott is
  patrolling this stretch of highway, while Donna Truitt is just driv-
  ing back to her home in Seattle from whatever business she was
  engaged in before the start of the adventure. Most of the heroes
  don’t know each other; they’re just travelers stranded by a
  sudden snowstorm.
  The adventure opens when the heroes discover that someone
  or something has attacked several other travelers in another part
  of the building, killing one person and seriously injuring another
  (Jonas Riley, although the players don’t know who he is or what
  he’s doing there when their heroes find him). The adventure
  should proceed through seven distinct scenes, as shown below:
  Scene 1: A Grisly Discovery. The heroes learn that they’re
  not alone in the rest stop and that something waits in the storm.
  Scene 2: Danny Wood. The heroes interview the only witness
  to the winter-demon’s attack and learn something about what
  they’re up against.
  Scene 3: Who Goes There? The winter-demon lashes out at
  anyone who tries to track it into the storm and drives the heroes
  back inside.
  Scene 4: Smoke ‘em Out: The cultist, Dumont, drives every-
  White River Rest Stop
  While truckers and locals know it better as the Exit 23 rest
  stop, the name on the lobby identifies the place as the White
  River Station. It’s located between the eastbound and west-
  bound lanes, and there is a turnoff here for a lonely mountain
  road that runs about ten miles to the closest town, White River.
  At the moment, none of the roads is even close to passable due
  to the accumulation of snow and the lack of visibility.
  The heroes may explore the rest stop anytime they like. In
  fact, since the adventure assumes that they’ve been here for a
  couple of hours before the action starts, you can pretty much
  tell the players anything they want to know about what’s
  where—their heroes have seen the whole place by now.
  Vestibule and Phones: The main entrance. There are two
  phones here, neither of which is working.
  Lobby: A large, open room featuring an information counter
  (never staffed), two wall displays with flyers for local tourist at-
  tractions, and a big wall map of Idaho.
  Women’s Room: A typical rest room.
  Men’s Room: A typical rest room.
  Arcade: This alcove contains six coin-operated video games.
  Convenience Store: A small, cluttered shop loaded with
  knickknacks, caffeine pills, road maps, and souvenirs. The store
  is closed and the lobby entrance is blocked by a roll-down grate.
  Anne Banks, the cashier, is waiting out the storm in the donut
  shop. She’ll open the store if anyone wants to buy something.
  Storerooms: These are typical stockrooms filled with the
  supplies needed by the rest stop businesses. All feature large
  sheet-metal doors leading outside that are currently locked.
  The Donut Shop: A small shop with a counter, stools by the
  counter, and a couple of small booths. The shop serves coffee,
  donuts, breakfast sandwiches, and other light fare. Most of the
  people in the rest stop have gathered here.
  Restaurant: A McDonald’s that is closed for the night. A
  pull-down grate covers the counter window, but the seating
  area is open.
  Kitchen: The kitchen for the McDonald’s. It’s crowded with
  stoves, fryers, and several large refrigerators.
  Fuel Office: The cashier’s stand for the gas station. Ahmed
  Singh, the cashier, has shut down the pumps and the office in
  order to join everyone else in the donut shop.
  
  one in the rest stop outside so that the demon can make short
  work of them. He starts a fire that the heroes must extinguish, or
  they’ll have to abandon the tenuous safety of the rest stop.
  Scene 5: Firebug. The heroes discover that Dumont lit the
  fire, and they capture him.
  Scene 6: Les Trieze Corbins. The heroes question Dumont to
  learn more about what they’re up against and why he’s after Riley.
  Scene 7: Fire and Ice. The heroes determine that the only
  way to survive the storm is to destroy the demon. Arming them-
  selves with improvised weapons, they lure the demon into a final
  confrontation.
  Of course, the adventure may not follow this exact path. Your
  players will think of dozens of things to try that don’t have any-
  thing to do with the script. Your job as Gamemaster is to treat
  each of these improvisations fairly and sensibly, using what you
  know about the plot as a guideline for whether or not the player’s
  idea will work.
  Now you know how the story should go; you’re ready to play!
  Players’ Introduction
  When you’re ready to start playing, read or paraphrase the text
  in the box below to the players. This lets them know where their
  heroes are and what they’re doing when the adventure begins.
  Ask the players to introduce their heroes for the game.
  Have the players state their heroes’ names, describe their
  general appearance, and maybe even say something about
  where their heroes were going when the snowstorm set in.
  Answer any questions the players have about the situation
  or the people around them. Here are a couple of the most
  likely questions you’ll get:
  What does this place look like? It’s an interstate rest stop.
  You can use the map to explain the general layout of the 
  white-out. The snow must be at least fifteen inches deep
  on the highway, and the weather’s showing no signs of
  breaking.
  It’s close to midnight now, but you’ve been stranded
  since sundown in a small interstate rest stop, waiting for
  the plows to come through so that you can get back on the
  road. A half-dozen motorists share your predicament, plus
  four or five rest stop employees who have stayed on to
  serve coffee and food for the duration of the storm.
  Each of you has places to go and things to do, but for
  now you’re all stuck here. No one’s driving anywhere
  tonight, and no one’s coming to get you out. Some of you
  have passed the time with a paperback novel or a maga-
  zine, while others have been chatting with the other mo-
  torists.
  You’ve never seen a snowstorm like this. October in the Idaho
  mountains can be bad, but for hours now it’s been a virtual
  Parking Lot
  Fuel Pumps
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  8
  9
  10
  11
  7
  7
  7
  R
  R
  0
  4
  Meters
  North
  Key
  1. Vestibule/Phones�
  2. Lobby�
  3. Women’s Room�
  4. Men’s Room�
  5. Arcade�
  6. Convenience Store�
  7. Storeroom�
  8. Donut Shop�
  9. Restaurant�
  10. Kitchen�
  11. Fuel Office
  CHAPTER1 A N  I N T R O D U C T I O N  T O  D A R K • M A T T E R
  27
  
  place. The heroes have been stuck here long enough to look
  around a little.
  Who else is here? In addition to the heroes, a number of sup-
  porting characters are at the Exit 23 rest stop. You’ll play these
  characters as the Gamemaster.
  • A balding business executive of about 50, wearing a good suit
  and a conservative overcoat (Jonas Riley).
  • A short, stocky lady truck driver wearing a flannel shirt and a
  sheepskin vest (Norma Thomson).
  • A long-haired college student with John Lennon glasses, an
  Army jacket, and a sketchbook filled with Gigeresque draw-
  ings (John Black).
  • A matronly waitress of about sixty years who runs the donut
  shop (Mabel Adams).
  • A big, beefy truck driver in a cheap parka and a black ball cap
  (Jacob Dumont).
  • A teenage kid with long hair and an apron who does the short-
  order cooking in the restaurant (Danny Wood, the witness in
  Scene 1).
  • A pretty teenage girl who runs the register in the convenience
  store (Anne Banks).
  • A young man with South Asian or Indian features who runs
  the gas station (Ahmed Singh).
  Why can’t I just keep driving? Your players may hail from
  someplace like Georgia or Florida, and they might find it hard to
  believe that a snowstorm could close a major highway. If any hero
  tries it, he or she gets about a mile so down the highway and
  drives into a ditch. It takes a long, cold walk to get back to the
  rest stop, and then you can continue with the adventure.
  Okay, so what do we do now? Tell your players to wait a
  minute while you finish the introduction, and then they can tell
  you what their heroes are doing.
  If any player thinks to ask, tell him or her that the follow-
  ing characters are not in the donut shop at the moment: the ex-
  You’re sitting in the donut shop, nursing a cup of coffee, when
  the lights flicker. "Oh, great," mutters Mabel, the counter
  waitress—and then the lights go out altogether. Somewhere
  on the other side of the rest stop you hear a door slam open,
  followed by a vicious blast of freezing cold air that somehow
  finds its way over to where you sit. The wind howls like some-
  thing alive, scratching and clawing at you with an icy grasp.
  Without even thinking about it, you abruptly realize that
  something is horribly, terribly wrong. Then you hear an awful
  racket from the direction of the rest rooms—violent blows,
  choking cries, breaking glass, and finally one more high-
  pitched scream that makes your blood run cold.
  The wind howls again, more doors slam . . . and then the
  room becomes still again, except for the distant whistling of
  the storm outside.
  "What in heaven was that?" Mabel says in the darkness.
  What do you do?
  
  ecutive, the cook, and the guy in the Army jacket. (The gas sta-
  tion and convenience store cashiers shut down their stations
  and joined everyone in the donut shop.) People have been
  coming and going all night, so it’s not unusual that several
  aren’t here right now.
  If your players don’t know what else to do, encourage them to
  investigate the screams from the rest rooms. Proceed to Scene 1.
  Scene 1: A Grisly Discovery
  When the heroes investigate the screams and sounds of struggle
  they heard earlier, read or paraphrase the text below:
  The dead man is John Black. He’s beyond any help the heroes
  can give. The executive is Jonas Riley. He’s been badly injured,
  impaled through the thigh, upper arm, and side, but by pure
  chance the icicles missed killing him.
  This is a challenge scene, with the following challenges for
  the heroes to resolve: help Riley; make some deductions about
  what happened from the first look at the scene; search the scene
  for hidden clues; and search the surrounding areas. Ask the
  players what their heroes do, but suggest some of these options
  if necessary.
  Helping Riley
  Riley’s game statistics don’t really matter in this adventure. He’s
  sustained several points of mortal damage in the attack, which
  means that he’ll be unconscious and helpless for the balance of
  the adventure. It also means that he dies if he doesn’t get help.
  To stabilize Riley and keep him from dying, a hero must suc-
  ceed in a skill check using one of the following skills: Knowl-
  edge–first aid or Medical Science–treatment.
  Ask the players which of their heroes tries to help Riley. Add
  a +1 step penalty to reflect the difficulty of working on Riley’s in-
  juries in the dark, but ignore the penalty if the heroes provide
  some light for the doctor to work with.
  Remember, to make a skill check, you’ll ask the player to roll
  a d20 and a d0, d4, or d6 (for a +0, +1, or +2 step penalty),
  adding the results together. If the result is less than or equal to
  the hero’s skill score for Knowledge–first aid or Medical Sci-
  ence–treatment, she succeeds in stabilizing Riley and preventing
  his death for now. If the skill check fails, Riley’s condition wors-
  ens. The hero may make one more skill check at a +2 step
  penalty to stabilize the agent, and if this fails, Riley dies. (It’s
  not critical to the adventure for Riley to survive.)
  Depending on which heroes the players chose to play,
  there may not be any heroes present who know first aid or
  medicine. Remember, you can allow a hero to make an un-
  trained skill check using his untrained Intelligence score to
  help Riley. The hero will probably fail, since this is a very dif-
  ficult roll, but at least he can try.
  Checking Out the Scene
  If any player tells you that her hero is just looking around or
  trying to figure out what happened here, ask for an Aware-
  ness–perception or Investigate–search skill check for the hero.
  The result of this skill check indicates which of the clues
  noted below the hero notices. Any hero who looks around the
  scene sees that the stalls are empty, a trash can stands
  against one wall, and a condom dispenser hangs on the other
  wall. The mirror behind the sink has been holed and broken,
  and ice standing in the sink seems to have frozen right out of
  the faucet.
  With a Marginal or better success, the hero notices that a
  fine layer of frost covers the entire room. This was not pres-
  ent the last time one of the heroes visited the facility; the rest
  room is much, much colder than it should be. (Most heroes
  notice this.)
  An Ordinary or better success also allows the hero to note
  that no icicles large enough to kill someone have formed any-
  where on the building, and certainly not in the rest room.
  If the hero achieves a Good or better success, she realizes that
  Riley’s attacker most likely hit him from the front, probably as he
  stood near the sink, judging by the blood splatters on the wall.
  Finally, with an Amazing success, a hero also notices that
  Riley’s coat hangs on a hook on the wall, but no other personal
  belongings from either victim are in sight.
  Hidden Clues
  Heroes who search the scene in detail for anything of interest
  may attempt an Investigate–search skill check.
  An Ordinary success allows a hero to find Riley’s valise
  stashed in the trash can underneath a layer of paper debris. It
  contains some papers (summed up in the sidebar below) and the
  snow globe. If the player indicates that his hero is specifically
  checking the trash can, he automatically finds this. (Riley stashed
  it here when the demon burst in, suspecting that he—or, more
  specifically, the globe—was the target.)
  A Good or Amazing success allows the hero to find a footprint
  in the puddle of blood surrounding John Black’s body. It seems to
  be the print of a large wolf or maybe a small bear.
  Searching the Area
  When the winter-demon attacked Riley and Black, Danny Wood
  was playing video games in the arcade next door. He got a good
  look at the creature, which scared him out of his wits. He’s cur-
  rently hiding behind an Asteroids game at the back of the arcade.
  To find Danny, the heroes need to look around the corridor,
  lobby, and arcade—in other words, they need to look around out-
  The last gust of wind seems to have knocked out power to the
  rest stop. There’s just enough illumination from various emer-
  gency lights to carefully move through the darkened building.
  Wind screams outside, howling past an open door or broken
  window clattering shrilly somewhere out of sight.
  At the rest room, a body is sprawled in the doorway. It’s
  the young man in the Army jacket, and he’s quite dead. Sev-
  eral needle-sharp icicles as long as swords impale the corpse,
  now surrounded by a puddle of slick scarlet ice. He seems to
  have been stabbed through the back as he left the rest room.
  Inside the men’s room, you find another body—the execu-
  tive. Like the guy at the door, he’s transfixed by several ici-
  cles, but while you watch, he groans and stirs. "Help me," he
  gasps. "So . . . cold . . ."
  CHAPTER1 A N  I N T R O D U C T I O N  T O  D A R K • M A T T E R
  29
  
  side the rest room as well as inside it. If a player tells you that
  his hero is examining the hallway, skip ahead to Scene 2.
  If the players don’t think to look around the area, you can
  cheat a little bit by telling the players that the heroes hear a
  clunk or scraping sound in the arcade. 
  Scene 2: Danny Wood
  Danny Wood was playing games in the arcade when the winter-
  demon attacked John Black and Jonas Riley in the room right
  next door. When the heroes check out the hallway outside the
  rest room, read the text below to the players:
  Play this up as a situation that may be dangerous—as far as
  the heroes know, the murderer could be hiding in here. Of course,
  it’s only Danny Wood, hiding in the back of the room. But the
  heroes must go into the dark arcade (or at least call out) without
  knowing exactly what’s in here. A good horror game involves an
  occasional tension-building scene that doesn’t actually endanger
  anybody.
  When the heroes identify themselves, challenge the occupant
  of the room, or just go in and look around, continue with the text
  below:
  This is an encounter scene. Danny Wood is the only conscious
  witness to the killing, but he flees outside to his car and tries to
  drive away if the heroes don’t calm him down and find out what
  happened.
  Keeping Him Here
  The first step is to prevent Danny from running off. Ask the
  players if the heroes let him leave. The heroes can restrain him
  physically (a hand on the shoulder is enough to stop him), or they
  can try to calm him down. 
  Calm Him Down: A successful Interaction or Interaction–
  charm skill check calms Danny.
  Threaten Him: A successful Interaction or Interaction–intim-
  idate skill check scares Danny enough to keep him here. Add a –2
  step bonus if an obvious authority figure (Officer McDermott or
  anybody flashing a gun) makes the attempt.
  Get Him Talking: A successful Interaction or Interaction–in-
  terview skill check gets Danny talking about what he saw and dis-
  tracts him.
  “It’s Out There”: If any hero points out that the killer is out-
  side now, Danny abandons the notion of going for his car. No skill
  check is necessary.
  Finding Out What He Saw
  Even if the heroes keep Danny on the scene, the cook is very
  shaken up right now. The sight of Black’s body by the entrance to
  the men’s room panics him even more. With the first few ques-
  tions the heroes ask, Danny just mumbles things like “I dunno”
  and “Oh, man, it just killed that guy!”
  To get some better information from their witness, the heroes
  need to ask the right questions. Have the hero speaking to Danny
  make a successful Interaction–interview skill check (Dr. Akens is
  good at it) to dig out the following facts. Make one check per
  question, but you can apply a –2 step bonus if the heroes calmed
  him down or got him talking first.
  What happened? “I was over here playing Asteroids when the
  lights went out. I started to walk out of the arcade, and suddenly
  the door flew open in the hallway. A big blast of snow and ice
  came in, and there was something in the middle of the snow—a
  big white wolf or animal or something.”
  What did it do? “It went right past me and into the men’s
  room. I looked around the corner, and I saw the dead guy come
  staggering out, with those icicles sticking in him. I heard some-
  one else yell, and then it came back out again. It looked at the
  dead guy, and then it left.”
  Where did it go? “The wolf-thing stopped right there, there
  where you’re standing, and looked right at me. I think it was
  telling me it coulda killed me if it wanted to. Then it blew apart
  Slowly and carefully, someone dressed in a fast-food uniform
  and apron stands up from behind a video game. It’s the kid
  from the McDonald’s, and he’s obviously scared out his wits.
  "Please tell me it’s gone," he says in a weak voice. "I don’t
  know what it was, but I was sure it was gonna kill me."
  He looks around, panic growing in his eyes, and then starts
  for the door. "Man, I gotta get out of here!"
  The corridor just outside the rest room is dark and cold. At
  the end of the hallway, a door leading outside swings in the vi-
  cious, gusting wind, banging loudly against the wall. Fingers
  of swirling snow already dust the floor near the open door.
  To your right, the building’s arcade is a dark cavern, with
  the normal chatter of video action silenced by the loss of
  power. Suddenly, there’s a small rustling from somewhere
  inside, like something moving around in there.
  What do you do?
  The Snow Globe and Riley’s Notes
  Jonas Riley’s briefcase is stashed in the trash can in the men’s
  room. If the heroes find the briefcase and examine its con-
  tents, they’ll find the snow globe and Riley’s notes about the
  device and how he found it.
  The snow globe is a simple glass sphere about 10 centime-
  ters (4 inches) in diameter. At the moment, it contains a small
  representation of the rest stop where the heroes are sheltering
  against the storm, and the tiny flakes flurry downward with-
  out ever settling—you don’t have to shake the globe to make
  the snow fall.
  The globe is remarkably resistant to breakage and won’t
  crack if dropped, thrown against a wall, or struck a good hard
  blow. (There is a way to destroy the globe, though the heroes
  shouldn’t discover it at this point. See Scene 7.)
  Riley’s notes about the snow globe take about half an hour
  to read. If any hero takes the time to study them, take that
  player aside and sum up the information that appears in the
  “Adventure Background” heading. Omit any mention of Jacob
  Dumont, since Riley doesn’t know that Dumont followed him.
  
  into snow and ice, and it flew back out the door again. It’s out-
  side somewhere.”
  What did it look like, exactly? “I don’t know, mister. It wasn’t
  like anything I’ve ever seen before. It was part ice, part wind,
  part animal. It had claws of ice, and eyes that glowed red. It
  howled, too, just like the wind, but there were a thousand voices
  in it, saying stuff in some language I don’t know. I hope to God I
  never see it again.”
  You can allow the players to grill Danny for as long as they
  like, but the cook doesn’t know anything more.
  Do I Know Anything About This?
  After looking over the murder scene and talking to Danny, your
  players may ask if their heroes have any knowledge of supernat-
  ural entities or murders with this kind of MO (modus operandi).
  Most of the heroes described in the templates simply have had no
  exposure to this kind of happening before. There are two excep-
  tions, though: Officer McDermott and Dr. Akens.
  Officer McDermott: If the player running McDermott asks if
  she’s heard of any similar killings lately, ask the player to make a
  Law–enforcement skill check. If the check succeeds, McDermott
  realizes that there have been no other killings like this in the area. 
  Dr. Akens: The player running Dr. Akens may ask if he knows
  anything about this. Ask him to make a Lore–occult lore skill
  check (add a –2 step bonus if Dr. Akens has read through Riley’s
  notes on Galvin’s snow globe). If successful, Akens can draw the
  following conclusions from the evidence at hand:
  • If Galvin was a diabolist (an evil sorcerer), the creature that
  attacked Riley and Black may have been some kind of demon.
  Such things come in many varieties, and ice-demons or winter-
  demons have been described in some obscure occult texts.
  • Demons or spirits are often bound to specific missions or
  tasks, such as the destruction of a particular person or the re-
  covery of a specific object.
  • Demons may be invulnerable to normal weapons, but some-
  times possess other weaknesses—a susceptibility to silver
  weapons, fear of bright light, and so on.
  Scene 3: Who Goes There?
  At this point, the heroes are probably studying the murder scene,
  examining Riley’s briefcase, talking to Danny Wood, and working
  to make Riley comfortable. The winter-demon realizes that it still
  hasn’t accomplished its mission, and it lures people outside.
  Begin this scene when Scene 2 is starting to finish up. You
  could also start this scene anytime a hero ventures outside into
  the storm.
  The heroes don’t have to do anything, of course. They can
  let the demon outside trash their cars, and no one will get
  hurt. But several heroes have weapons or special equipment
  sitting out in their cars, and they may want to retrieve this
  gear at some point. If the heroes choose to stay inside and do
  nothing, go on to Scene 4 after the winter-demon commits a
  few acts of miscellaneous vandalism to the heroes’ cars.
  Anyone who goes outside to confront the creature or to get
  some gear is in for a combat scene. The demon does its best
  to injure or kill someone. It attacks lone heroes who are far
  away from their companions before it goes after a group of
  heroes.
  Randomly select one of the heroes who is outside for the
  winter-demon to attack and have that hero’s player roll an
  Awareness skill check (Doug Nichols’s player can make an
  Awareness–intuition skill check instead). If the check fails,
  the winter-demon gets a free attack on the hero. Read the fol-
  lowing text:
  Roll the winter-demon’s attack and damage (if it hits) nor-
  mally.
  If the skill check succeeds, the hero senses the winter-
  demon’s presence just before it attacks. Read the following text:
  After the winter-demon gets its free attack, or after the hero
  spots the demon just before it attacks, ask all the players whose
  heroes are outside to make action checks. This means that each
  player should roll a 20-sided die and compare it to his character’s
  action check score to generate a Marginal, Ordinary, Good, or
  Amazing result. Roll an action check for the winter-demon, but
  apply a –1 step bonus to the demon’s action check since it’s in its
  own element. Any heroes who are still inside the building must
  wait until the next action round before they can roll action checks
  and take any actions in the fight.
  Now, count down through each phase of the round. Start with
  the Amazing phase and ask if any players achieved an Amazing
  action check. Then proceed to the Good, the Ordinary, and the
  Marginal phases.
  When a player’s turn comes up, ask her what her hero does. If
  the player wants to attack, ask her to make a skill check using
  Despite the poor visibility and biting cold, you sense an even
  greater cold approaching you. And then you see two points of
  fiery red, like sinister eyes burning into your soul. . . . 
  From out of the storm’s fury, something slams into you like
  a locomotive, slashing and gouging you with icy claws.
  The wind screams and rages all around you as you stum-
  ble out into the snow. It’s surprisingly deep, almost to your
  knees, and you can’t see anything with the snow whipping
  past your eyes. Suddenly, the car horns and alarms fall
  silent.
  The wind howls outside, and the snow continues to fall. The
  building is dark and cold, with icy gusts reaching into every
  corner of the structure. Mabel, the lady running the donut
  shop, has lit a couple of gas lanterns in that corner of the rest
  stop, but it’s still dim and shadowy in here.
  Abruptly, bright light fills the lobby. One by one, the head-
  lights of the cars outside are coming on. Over the moaning of
  the storm, you can hear a cacophony of horns and car alarms
  going off all at once. You can also hear glass breaking outside.
  What do you do?
  CHAPTER1 A N  I N T R O D U C T I O N  T O  D A R K • M A T T E R
  31
  
  Winter-Demon
  Ability
  Score
  Untrained
  Resistance
  Strength
  14
  7
  +2 steps
  Dexterity
  11
  5
  +1 step
  Constitution
  12
  6
  Intelligence
  8
  4
  Will
  12
  6
  +1 step
  Personality
  9
  4
  Action Check Score:
  15+/14/7/3
  1–3
  Amazing
  8–14
  Ordinary
  4–7
  Good
  15+
  Marginal
  Durability
  Stun 12
  H H H H H H H H H H H H
  Wound 12
  H H H H H H H H H H H H
  Mortal 6
  H H H H H H
  Range
  Damage
  Weapon
  Score
  (S/M/L)
  (O/G/A)
  Type
  Claws
  16/8/4
  Personal
  d4+1w/d6+1w/d4+1m LI
  Icicles**
  12/6/3
  4/8/12
  d4w/d4+2w/d6+2w
  HI
  * +1 step penalty for medium range, +2 steps for long
  ** The demon can throw three icicles at one time, making three attack rolls at a +1,
  +2, and +3 step penalty, respectively.
  Armor
  Hide*
  d4+2 (LI)
  d4+1 (HI)
  d4–1 (En)
  * The demon’s armor is of Good quality. Damage rolled from physical attacks degrade
  by one type before secondary damage is assigned or armor is checked. Consequently,
  if a hero inflicts mortal damage on the winter-demon, it becomes wound damage.
  Similarly, wound damage becomes stun damage. If a hero inflicts stun damage (for
  instance, from a punch), the winter-demon ignores the damage.
  Special
  The winter-demon can use its action to dissolve into a cloud of
  ice and snow that can’t be affected by any damage except fire,
  although this prevents the creature from attacking. It can
  resume its physical form by spending another action to do so.
  The demon gains a –1 step bonus to its action checks and
  a +1 step increase to its Strength and Dexterity resistance
  modifiers while it is outside in the snowstorm.
  The demon can use an action to create a minor supernatu-
  ral effect (flickering lights, frightening sounds, gusts of wind)
  within 10 meters. This requires a successful Will feat check.
  Background/Personality
  The winter-demon is a powerful, malevolent entity from an-
  other dimension. Jacob Dumont’s fellow cultists conjured it to
  kill Jonas Riley and retrieve the snow globe, and it obeys
  Dumont’s commands. The creature can shift between two body
  forms at will. The first is a large, wolflike biped with claws of
  ice and a gaping jaw filled with needle-sharp fangs; the demon
  can make physical attacks in this form.
  The second form is a cloud of snow, ice, and wind. In cloud-
  form, the demon can’t attack, but it can’t be harmed by any
  force except fire. In cloud-form, the demon can fly at a rate of
  about 100 kilometers per hour (or 400 meters per round).
  The winter-demon is very resistant to normal physical at-
  tacks, but magical attacks, fire, and silver weapons can harm
  it. Attacks of these types do not downgrade in effect.
  
  the appropriate skill. Add a +2 step penalty to the heroes’ attack
  rolls while they’re outside, since driving snow limits visibility.
  The winter-demon attacks a hero when its turn comes up.
  After you’ve called for heroes to act in the Marginal (last)
  phase of the first round, the first round of combat ends. Ask each
  player to make an action check for the next round and repeat the
  process. The demon attacks a different hero each round.
  Ending the Fight
  Repeat the same process of action checks and Amazing, Good,
  Ordinary, and Marginal actions each round until the fight is over.
  The fight ends when all heroes retreat back into the building,
  after the demon injures three heroes, when the demon suffers
  more than six points of wound damage, or after five action
  rounds. Read the text below when the fight ends:
  It’s very likely that several heroes may be wounded without
  hurting the demon at all. That’s okay—this is a horror game, and
  you want the players to be scared for their heroes.
  Assuming that the heroes retreat or drive off the demon and
  then go back inside, give the players a few minutes to talk things
  over, and then go on to Scene 4.
  Scene 4: Smoke ‘em Out
  While the heroes are occupied with the demon outside, Jacob
  Dumont decides to drive everyone out of the building and into the
  storm. He figures that the best way to do this is to start a fire. The
  demon can pick off individuals one at a time under the cover of
  darkness, and Dumont can search the rest stop for Riley’s valise
  without interference, at least until he’s forced to leave, too.
  (Dumont is more about action than good plans.)
  During the heroes’ investigation of the murder scene and fight
  with the demon, Dumont douses the newspaper stand in the store
  with gas from the gas pump and lights it. When the heroes are re-
  covering from their encounter with the winter-demon, read or par-
  aphrase the following text:
  This is a challenge scene—the heroes must extinguish the
  flames within six rounds, or the store becomes a blazing inferno
  that simply can’t be extinguished with the materials at hand. Six
  rounds after the store goes up, heat and smoke make the
  lobby and the donut shop untenable. Six rounds after that, the
  entire building must be abandoned.
  Each hero can act once per round, but they have no real op-
  position to act against—you can skip action checks. Just keep
  track of how many times each hero has acted.
  To extinguish the flames before they spread, the heroes
  must amass 10 successes with various firefighting tech-
  niques, some of which are listed below:
  Beat Out the Flames: Heroes can use coats, blankets, or
  stomping to fight the flames. Each round a hero tries to beat
  out the flames, have the player make a Strength feat check for
  his hero. An Ordinary success counts as 1 success toward
  putting out the fire, a Good counts as 2, and an Amazing
  counts as 3 successes. If the hero rolls a natural 20 on the
  control die, he catches fire and sustains 1d4 points of wound
  damage! He needs to roll on the ground the next round to put
  out the flames.
  Each round that a hero stays up close to the flames, he suf-
  fers 1d4 points of stun damage (no armor prevents this). If a
  hero passes out in here, someone else must use an action to
  pull him out, or the fire kills him.
  Get a Fire Extinguisher: It takes one action to locate a
  fire extinguisher, and another action to get the extinguisher
  back to the scene of the fire and get it ready for use. In the
  third round, the hero may start fighting the fire. Each action
  with a fire extinguisher requires a Dexterity feat check with a
  –3 step bonus (d20–d8). On a Failure, the hero scores 1 suc-
  cess toward extinguishing the fire; on an Ordinary, Good, or
  Amazing result, she scores 2, 3, or 4 successes.
  Fire extinguishers are located in the restaurant kitchen, the
  storeroom of the donut shop, the convenience store (inaccessible
  due to the fire), and the hallway outside the rest rooms.
  Use Water or Snow: To use water or snow effectively, the
  hero must spend one action to locate a bucket or container. A
  second action fills the bucket and another action gets him to the
  scene. After that, it takes one action to load up and one action to
  get the water or snow on the fire. Have the hero make a Strength
  feat check with a –1 step bonus. He scores 1, 2, or 3 successes
  toward extinguishing the fire with an Ordinary, Good, or Amazing
  result.
  Move Flammables Away: Each time a hero spends an action
  to clear possible fuel for the fire away from the area, she buys one
  more round before the flames spread. For example, if a hero
  spends two actions moving flammable objects away from the
  magazine stand, the fire won’t spread until eight rounds have
  passed instead of six. No skill check is necessary. At best, this
  tactic can buy six additional rounds before the fire spreads.
  Scene 5: Firebug
  The heroes should be able to put out the fire. If you have only one
  or two players in your game, you can make it easier by ruling that
  it takes 5 successes to put out the fire. Wait until the heroes have
  finished putting out the fire, then read the text:
  Well, you’re not cold any longer. Sweat runs down your face
  and stings your eyes, and you’re pretty sure you’ve got some
  You’re keeping an eye open for more strange happenings
  when you become aware of a strange orange glow illuminat-
  ing the dark lobby. At the same time, you smell smoke! Behind
  you, the magazine stand in one corner of the convenience
  store is blazing away, and the flames are spreading fast!
  What do you do?
  Suddenly, the white wolf-thing seems to fly apart in a spray of
  icy shards. A whirlwind of snow and howling wind dances and
  spins where the creature was standing. Dozens of shrieking
  voices seem to gibber and moan in the wind, and the creature
  laughs maniacally. Then it’s gone, flying off into the blizzard.
  But you can still feel it out there, watching you.
  CHAPTER1 A N  I N T R O D U C T I O N  T O  D A R K • M A T T E R
  33
  
  Since the heroes extinguished his fire, Dumont is trying some-
  thing more direct. Any hero in the donut shop sees Dumont draw
  a gun and move out toward the lobby, firing a couple of shots in
  the air to drive everybody else to the ground. If Officer McDer-
  mott is in the donut shop at the start of the scene, the fight
  begins right away as Dumont yanks out a gun and starts shoot-
  ing at her. (Ignore the boxed text below if this is the case.) Oth-
  erwise, he steps into the lobby to confront the heroes.
  Have the players make action checks for their heroes—this is
  definitely a combat scene. Make an action check for Dumont, too.
  When his turn comes up, the cultist shoots at any armed charac-
  ter he can see. If no one is carrying weapons, he shoots at Offi-
  cer McDermott. If Dumont doesn’t see any armed characters out
  here, he shoots at whichever character is standing nearby.
  Dumont doesn’t expect anyone behind him to do anything, so
  if a hero is in the donut shop, he can attack Dumont from behind
  with a –2 step bonus to his attack roll.
  Most of the heroes are probably armed by this point, so they
  should kill or incapacitate Dumont quickly. Remember to apply
  the heroes’ Dexterity resistance modifiers to Dumont’s attack
  rolls when he shoots at them. If the fight goes poorly for Dumont
  (if less than half his wound boxes are left, or he’s suffered mortal
  damage), he surrenders; go to Scene 6. 
  Taking Down Dumont
  Your players might have their heroes tackle or grab Dumont to
  wrestle him to the ground and get the gun away from him.
  If a hero tries to do something like this, have the player make
  an Unarmed Attack–brawl, Unarmed Attack–power martial arts, or
  Acrobatics–defensive martial arts skill check. Instead of inflicting
  damage, the hero puts a hold of Ordinary, Good, or Amazing qual-
  ity on Dumont. If the heroes use a second action to wrestle with
  Dumont while he’s held, the hold turns into a pin—they get him
  on the ground and get him under control.
  Dumont can continue to shoot or act while held, but he suffers
  a +1, +2, or +3 step penalty depending on whether he’s in an Or-
  dinary, Good, or Amazing hold. He can’t do anything while
  pinned, as long as the heroes keep him under control.
  Dumont may use an action to try to break out of a hold, but
  You can hear people screaming and diving for cover in the
  other room. Suddenly, the big trucker in the black baseball
  cap appears in the doorway of the donut shop, pointing a
  pistol in your direction. "I won’t let you meddle with my plans
  any longer," he hisses. He raises the pistol. "Time to die!"
  What do you do?
  minor burns on your hands and face. But it looks like you’ve
  got the fire under control. It’s already dying out. Over the
  smell of smoke, you can make out a different odor—the sharp
  tang of gasoline in the air. That fire wasn’t an accident.
  Suddenly, you hear a couple of loud bangs from the other
  room. A woman screams: "Look out! He’s got a gun!"
  What do you do?
  
  not a pin. To break out, he must make a Strength feat check (add
  the Strength resistance modifier of the holding hero) and match
  or beat the success of the hold. For example, if Dumont were held
  with a Good hold, he would need a Good or Amazing success on
  his Strength feat check to break free. Of course, even if he does,
  he can be tackled again.
  If the heroes defeat Dumont without killing him, go to Scene
  6. If he gets away or the heroes kill him, go to Scene 7.
  Scene 6: Les Trieze Corbins
  You need to run this scene only if the heroes capture Dumont
  without incapacitating him. They can’t talk to him if he runs
  off, is dead, or is unconscious. If the cultist can’t be ques-
  tioned, skip ahead to Scene 7.
  This is an encounter scene. The heroes have a chance to
  interrogate Dumont and find out what he’s up to, what’s wait-
  ing outside, and how they can defeat it. It’s also another way
  for you to let the players in on the story’s background so that
  they’ll understand why their heroes became involved.
  Questions and Answers
  Ask the players if their heroes are replying to Dumont’s
  threat or asking him questions. Determine what topic they’re
  asking about and use the guidelines to determine what they
  can get out of the cultist. Remember, Dumont is contemptuous
  and angry. He’ll spit out anything he says, adding various insults
  as you see fit.
  Who Are You? “I am Jacob Dumont.”
  If the players ask what he does or where he comes from,
  Dumont tells them that he is a powerful sorcerer. He threatens
  them with horrible dooms. “You have meddled with Les Trieze
  Corbins. We shall remember that—always.”
  What’s Going on Here? “Nothing that you should have inter-
  fered with, fool.”
  If the players press harder, call for an Interaction–interview,
  Interaction–intimidate, or Investigate skill check. (If the speaking
  hero doesn’t have any of these skills, an Interaction check is
  fine.) Each successful skill check reveals one piece of informa-
  tion:
  • Dumont’s here to retrieve some artifact.
  • The artifact was in the possession of a man named Jonas
  Riley—the fellow who was injured in the demon’s attack.
  • The demon is helping Dumont.
  What Are You Looking For? “If I tell you, you will keep it from
  me. I am not stupid.”
  If the players press, he adds, “It is something sacred—a work
  of my master’s hand. I will not have you defile it with your touch.”
  What Is the Thing Outside? “A demon of winter—a great and
  terrible demon. I command it. Soon it will destroy all of you!”
  How Do We Beat the Demon? “Hah! Your weapons are almost
  useless. Better to consider how you want to meet your end.”
  If the players continue, have them make skill checks as de-
  scribed above. Each successful skill check reveals a piece of the
  following information:
  The trucker is a big man, with a thin beard and a feverish
  intensity in his eyes. He’s dressed in a weathered old
  parka and wears a black ball cap on his head. Strands of
  unkempt hair cover his shoulders. He looks up at you with
  contempt. "You think I am beaten so easily, eh?" he snarls.
  He’s got a strange accent, maybe French-Canadian, in his
  voice. "I think no. My friend out in the storm will dispose
  of you one by one. When morning comes, I’ll be here, and
  you’ll all be frozen corpses!"
  CHAPTER1 A N  I N T R O D U C T I O N  T O  D A R K • M A T T E R
  35
  Jacob Dumont, Cult Member
  Combat Specialist
  Ability
  Score
  Untrained
  Resistance
  Strength
  12
  6
  +1 step
  Dexterity
  11
  5
  +1 step
  Constitution
  10
  5
  Intelligence
  9
  4
  Will
  12
  6
  +1 step
  Personality
  6
  3
  Action Check Score:
  14+/13/6/3
  1–3
  Amazing
  7–13
  Ordinary
  4–6
  Good
  14+
  Marginal
  Durability
  Stun 12
  H H H H H H H H H H
  Wound 12
  H H H H H H H H H H
  Mortal 6
  H H H H H
  Range
  Damage
  Weapon
  Score
  (S/M/L)
  (O/G/A)
  Type
  Unarmed
  14/7/3
  Personal
  d4+1s/d4+2s/d4+3s
  LI
  Pistol*
  13/6/3
  6/12/50
  d4+1w/d4+2w/d4m
  HI
  *+1 step penalty for medium range, +2 steps for long
  Armor
  Kevlar vest
  d6–3 (LI)
  d6–2 (HI)
  d4–2 (En)
  Skills
  Athletics [12]; Unarmed Attack [12]–brawl [14]; Ranged
  Weapons [11]–pistol [13]; Vehicle Operation [11]; Stamina
  [10]–endurance [11]; Knowledge [9]–language (French) [12],
  language (English) [11]; Awareness [12]–intuition [13]; Lore
  [12]–occult lore [13]; Resolve [12]; Interaction [6].
  Background/Personality
  Dumont is a member of Les Trieze Corbins, the acolytes of the
  modern-day sorcerer Michel Galvin. He and his companions
  have waited for years since Galvin’s disappearance to get their
  hands on his arcane lore. In the current situation, Dumont
  thinks nothing of killing everyone in the rest stop to accom-
  plish his goals and glorify the dark powers he worships.
  Dumont is a large, powerfully built man who dresses like a
  trucker or longshoreman. He speaks with a guttural French-
  Canadian accent, when he speaks at all—he’s normally surly
  and unresponsive to any kind of attempts at conversation.
  
  • The demon won’t give up until it accomplishes its mission.
  • Magical spells may dismiss the creature. (Unfortunately, nei-
  ther Dumont nor the heroes know any magical spells.)
  • Mundane weapons won’t hurt it much, but fire or silver might
  harm it.
  What If We Just Kill (or Hurt) You Now? “I have no fear of
  death or torture. There are more of us. One sacrifice for the cause
  is nothing.”
  Getting Ready?
  While the heroes were interrogating or holding Dumont, they
  may have had some time to make some preparations for another
  confrontation with the demon. Ask the players if they want their
  heroes to do anything while they’re questioning Dumont. 
  Get Weapons: McDermott and Wheeler have some heavy
  weapons in their cars. Retrieving them takes the heroes only a
  minute, but make sure you scare the players by allowing them to
  think the demon may attack at any moment!
  Get Fire: Preparing torches or Molotov cocktails (gasoline-
  filled bottles with rags stuffed into the neck for easy lighting and
  throwing) is a good idea. It takes only a few minutes for a hero
  to pump gas from the filling station, but he or she has to go out-
  side first. Again, scare the players to build suspense.
  Get Silver: Several characters may have silver jewelry, and
  the convenience store includes a few pieces of locally made ster-
  ling silver earrings. It takes only a few minutes to empty the
  buckshot from a shotgun shell and stuff it full of silver. Assume
  that the heroes can put together six shots’ worth of silver.
  Interview’s Over
  Allow the players to question Dumont until they’ve followed up
  two or three lines of inquiry. Then read the text below and go to
  Scene 7.
  Scene 7: Fire and Ice
  If the heroes kill or incapacitate Dumont, or when Dumont de-
  cides the interrogation is over, the ice-demon breaks into the
  building to finish off the surviving heroes. This time the demon
  tries to kill everyone it can catch.
  Outside, the wind howls. You hear glass breaking and the
  sound of a door flying open. A gust of icy wind sweeps through
  the building, as the storm suddenly reaches out for you!
  Screaming in panic, the other people in the rest stop—the
  employees and your fellow travelers—scatter and run, seeking
  shelter. In the confusion, a sharp blast of wind knocks over the
  gas lanterns, which gutter out, leaving you in darkness!
  Dumont suddenly throws back his head and laughs. "I tire of
  this game," he says. “Come to me, my pet!” He gives out a hor-
  rifying shriek, spitting out words in a language you don’t know.
  
  The demon attacks any hero it can catch. Remember that the
  creature is indoors now, so it loses its action check bonus and su-
  perior resistance modifiers.
  If you want to make this fight more dramatic, the demon
  slashes once at a hero and then chases one of the supporting cast
  members. Mabel runs into the storeroom; Anne and Danny flee
  into the restaurant; Ahmed runs for the nearest door; and Norma
  just goes to ground under a table in the donut shop.
  Fight Ice with Fire . . .
  The players may realize by now that guns don’t work extremely
  well against the ice-demon. There are several ways to attack the
  demon with fire, though. Dr. Neary has several road flares in her
  car, and the gas station is nearby. There are three ways to use
  these weapons against the creature.
  Warding: Any open flame or a burning flare deters the demon
  from attacking a hero who specifically tries to keep the flame be-
  tween the creature and herself. The demon must make a suc-
  cessful Will feat at a +2 step penalty to ignore a flare or torch and
  attack the hero carrying the flame.
  Douse and Light: There’s plenty of gasoline around. A hero
  could fill a bucket with gasoline and carry a lighter, torch, or flare
  to light the gasoline fast. Dousing the demon requires the hero to
  get close to the demon (3 meters or less) and make a successful
  Dexterity feat check with a –1 step bonus. Lighting the gasoline
  takes another action. If the demon is set aflame, it suffers d6,
  2d6, or 3d6 points of wound damage on an Ordinary, Good, or
  Amazing success with the dousing attempt.
  Molotov Cocktail: Attacking with a Molotov cocktail requires
  an Athletics–throw skill check (or just Athletics, if the hero has
  no throw skill). The cocktail ignites immediately, without needing
  an action to torch it off. It inflicts d4, d6, or 2d6 points of wound
  damage on an Ordinary, Good, or Amazing success with the
  attack roll.
  Aerosol Sprays: Using fire to light the liquid from a can of
  hair spray, for example, can inflict d4+1 points of stun damage,
  d4 points of wound damage, or d4+2 points of wound damage for
  an Ordinary, Good, or Amazing success.
  . . . or Gunfire
  Wheeler’s assault rifle and Officer McDermott’s shotgun aren’t
  much more effective than pistols, since the damage still down-
  grades before it affects the demon. 
  Silver Bullets: If the heroes loaded any shotgun shells with
  silver, they’ll do much better. The demon is affected normally by
  silver weapons (no downgrading effect to damage), and it re-
  ceives no armor protection against silver projectiles. Since the
  shotgun inflicts double damage at short range, one or two hits
  with silver-filled shells should take care of the demon.
  Occult Knowledge
  Dr. Akens knows enough about the occult to suspect that Dumont
  doesn’t have the skill to control the winter-demon without help.
  During the battle, have the player running Dr. Akens roll a
  Lore–occult lore skill check. If successful, he realizes that the
  snow globe may be some sort of talisman that keeps the demon
  in check. (If Dr. Akens has read through Riley’s notes, give the
  player a –2 step bonus to the skill check.) This successful
  skill check also allows Akens to theorize that the snow globe
  may have the same vulnerability that the demon does—fire.
  Destroying the snow globe requires that it be engulfed in
  fire or great heat for 1 round, then struck with a hard object.
  During the time the globe is heated, the winter-demon is com-
  pletely vulnerable to any attack. If the globe is struck after
  the round of heat, it instantly shatters, at which point the
  demon is no longer tied to this dimension (since it can no
  longer achieve its designated goal). Should this occur, the
  demon must make a Will feat check at the beginning of each
  round. If it succeeds, it remains in the fight. If it fails, go to
  “Victory?” below. 
  Victory?
  If the heroes defeat the demon or destroy the snow globe,
  read or paraphrase the following to the players:
  Or Defeat?
  If the demon is simply too much for the heroes, you can spare
  their lives—just make sure that the demon can reach the snow
  globe. If a hero is carrying the artifact, the demon batters that
  hero into unconsciousness and then steals the globe; if the globe
  is simply lying about somewhere, the demon ignores the heroes,
  seizes the globe, and leaves. If he can, Dumont makes his escape.
  If some of the heroes are in bad shape, the supporting charac-
  ters who work in the rest stop can attempt to save their lives with
  some quick first aid. Use your discretion, but don’t be too harsh.
  Conclusion
  If Jonas Riley survives, he comes to sometime around sunrise. Al-
  though he’s weak and exhausted, he carefully questions the
  heroes about the events of the preceding night. Then he offers the
  heroes his business card, marked with the Hoffmann Institute
  logo. “You handled yourselves pretty well,” Riley tells them.
  “We’re looking for people like you.” This is a great way to set the
  stage for Raw Recruits, the adventure in Chapter 11 of this book.
  If Riley didn’t survive, another Hoffmann Institute agent
  named Mary Carter shows up at the rest stop at daybreak, fol-
  lowing the snowplows. She pieces together the heroes’ story and
  offers the same deal.
  If Dumont made his escape, don’t worry. The bad guys might
  have won the day, but some or all of the heroes probably survived.
  They know the story of Les Trieze Corbins now, and they’ve got a
  reason to go after Dumont. You can use this as a springboard for
  another adventure—perhaps one of your own creation.
  The howling of the wind and the screaming of the winter-
  demon rise to an intolerable pitch. Stinging ice scours your
  flesh, and waves of bitter cold rake your body. Then the
  creature seems to explode into a spray of ice, dissipating
  in the wind. Its chattering howls die with it, slowly fading
  away. The wind relents, and the malign sentience of the
  storm outside seems to vanish as well.
  It’s done.
  CHAPTER1 A N  I N T R O D U C T I O N  T O  D A R K • M A T T E R
  37
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Alternity/1st Edition/Dark Matter/Alternity - Core - Fastplay - DarkMatter.pdf