TEXT: The Haunted Straits
  A Tale from the Great Lakes
  By Matthew J. Hanson
  
  2
  Written by: Matthew J. Hanson
  Edited by: Craig Hargraves
  Art by: Joyce Maureira
  Title and Icons: Hart Rieckhof
  Broken Earth: The Haunted Straits published by Sneak Attack Press, Copyright 2014.
  Sneak Attack Press and the Sneak Attack Press logo trademarked by Sneak Attack Press.
  www.sneakattackpress.com
  www.facebook.com/sneakattackpress
  This game references the Savage Worlds game system, available from Pinnacle Entertainment Group at 
  www.peginc.com. Savage Worlds and all associated logos and trademarks are copyrights of Pinnacle 
  Entertainment Group. Used with permission. Pinnacle makes no representation or warranty as to the quality, 
  viability, or suitability for purpose of this product.
  The Haunted Straits
  A Tale from the Great Lakes
  
  3
  In the wake of the Great War, a band of hardy survivors came 
  together along the St. Mary’s River between Lake Superior 
  and Lake Huron. With national boarders destroyed, Sault 
  Ste. Marie, once divided between Michigan and Ontario, 
  became a single city.
   
  Like all communities they struggled with food, disease, 
  bitter cold, and attacks from other survivors. The last 
  problem they solved in an unconventional way. Among 
  the survivors were a stage magician and a special effects 
  supervisor in the Canadian film industry. They decided to 
  keep raiders away through fear. Not fear of war, or fear of 
  vengeance, but fear of the dead.
   
  They drew on dozens of tricks, from tiny music players 
  and projectors set up throughout the area, to eerie 
  wind chimes, and hundreds of children’s dolls that they 
  hung throughout the forest. The net effect convinced 
  everybody who came to the region that it was haunted. 
  The survivors nicknamed themselves the Ghost People, a 
  title that eventually became their primary identity.
  The Haunted Straits
  A Tale from the Great Lakes
   
  The illusion was further enhanced when the second 
  generation of Ghost People came of age, and many 
  discovered they had telekinetic powers. Those really brave 
  souls who made it past the strange lights and noises could 
  not deny the presence of spirits when the rocks started to 
  move on their own.
   
  For decades the town passed down the techniques 
  of the Ghost People, and the fear of spirits kept strangers 
  away. They failed, however, to keep out Captain Blood 
  Eye Jones. The pirate was determined to move into Lake 
  Superior, and his crew was more scared of him than they 
  were of the ghosts. To bypass the rapids, Blood Eye had 
  his crew hoist the ships onto land, and then rolled them 
  on logs until they were safely clear of the dangerous 
  water. The process took weeks, and while the pirates were 
  foraging, they discovered some of the Ghost People. Blood 
  Eye approached them under a flag of truce and pretended 
  to desire peace, but just before his ship departed, he 
  and his pirate crew attacked one of the settlements and 
  ransacked everything of value they could find.
  
  New Tortuga
  Haunted 
  Straits
  Wright 
  Town
  4
   
  Since the pirate attack, the more militant members of 
  the Ghost People have gained influence. They argue for 
  more than just scare tactics. They have set booby traps 
  both on land and in the river, and even attacked people 
  who wander too close.
  Life Today
  The Ghost People live mostly in the ruins of Sault Ste. 
  Marie, on both sides of the river. Keeping with their 
  reputation as “ghosts,” they try to prevent their homes 
  from showing signs of habitation on the outside, letting 
  the exteriors decay, while still tending the interiors as best 
  as they can. 
   
  The Ghost People almost all forage for food from the 
  river and the nearby woods, however there are a few small 
  greenhouses tucked within the ruins, and they developed 
  an orchard that they hope looks like a natural copse of 
  trees.
  Defenses in Detail
  The Ghost People use many different tactics to frighten 
  people. The most basic tools are the wind chimes and dolls 
  that they hang from the trees and throughout the ruins. 
  The dolls almost all come from before the War, though the 
  chimes are a mix of pre-War metal chimes, and post-War 
  chimes made of wood, scrap, or bone. 
   
  They also employ several more high-tech solutions. 
  The most common are sound players that are rigged up 
  to motion detectors powered by solar collectors (some 
  of which still function). They are connected such that the 
  motion sensors activate noises that are some ways away, 
  but still within earshot. When the heroes pass by a motion 
  sensor, they might hear a child calling for its mommy fifty 
  yards away, but when they reach the spot they will be far 
  enough from the original motion sensor that the voice 
  has stopped. The devices are all well hidden, so that the 
  heroes must actively search for any electronics and suffer 
  a –4 penalty to their Notice test to do so. 
   
  Though rarer, there are also several lights and even 
  two projectors that are still in working condition, and that 
  are set to activate in a similar way to how the noises do. A 
  few of the dolls were the kind that moved or made noise 
  on their own, and some of these also have motion sensors 
  attached.
   
  Lately the Ghost People have used an increasing 
  number of booby traps. They tend to favor those that 
  seem at least somewhat natural, or that could be the 
  work of ghosts, such dead fall traps, or pitfalls. They have 
  trapped the water as well, including stringing chains just 
  below the water line.
  Entering the Haunted Straits
  The first time that the characters enter the Haunted 
  Straits, they encounter the dolls and hear voices calling 
  for their mothers. Have the characters make a Spirit test. 
  Those who fail suffer a –2 penalty to Trait tests as long as 
  they remain in the Haunted Straits.
   
  Every hour they spend in the area afterwards, 
  they have a 50% chance of encountering a booby trap. 
  Whichever character is on point can attempt a Notice test 
  to spot the trap. Otherwise they encounter one of the 
  following.
  
  5
   
  Covered Pit: The Ghost People dug a pit and then 
  covered it with a layer of thin twigs and dead leaves that 
  give way with just a little weight. The character in the lead 
  must succeed at an Agility test at –2 or fall into the pit, 
  taking 2d6+2 damage.
   
  Deadfall: The character trips a line that topples a tree 
  or drops a pile of rocks. This deals 3d6 damage in a Cone 
  Template (tree) or a Medium Burst Template (rocks). A 
  successful Agility test reduces the damage by half. 
   
  Underwater Chain: A sturdy chain stretches from 
  bank to bank. It sits just below the surface of the water. 
  The vehicle stops and takes 1d6 damage for every 5” of 
  its current speed. Whoever was steering the ship must 
  make a successful Boating test or the vessel capsizes. The 
  characters must cut the chain (10 Toughness) or portage 
  their ship to pass the chain. 
   
  If characters keep exploring, there is a 10% chance 
  each day of encountering a Ghost Person foraging the 
  hexes adjacent to Sault Ste. Marie, or a 40% chance of 
  encountering somebody if the heroes are within the city.
   
  The first time the heroes camp for the night in Sault 
  Ste. Marie or any adjacent hex, a group of two poltergeists 
  sneak close to the camp and try to scare the heroes.
  Navigating the Straits
  Lake Superior has a water level about 23 feet (7 meters) 
  higher than Lake Huron. This, and the underlying geology, 
  causes a series of rapids in the St. Mary’s River. A canoe can 
  attempt to travel through the rapids with a Boating test at 
  –2. Failure indicates that the boat suffers 3d6 damage. A 
  critical failure means that the boat takes damage and also 
  capsizes, tipping all its cargo, including the characters, 
  into the river.
   
  Large vessels automatically run aground on their way 
  down the rapids, and no vehicle can go up them. 
  Locks
  To make it navigable, the American and Canadian 
  governments constructed several locks that could 
  raise and lower the water level within them so 
  commercial ships could travel from one water 
  level to another.
   
  Of course the locks are no longer 
  functional, and after decades of neglect 
  and the constant flow of a river, some of 
  the locks are damaged beyond repair, but 
  others can be saved. The best bet is the 
  remains of the Canadian Lock, which is still 
  in decent condition and easier to repair 
  because of its smaller size. While it could 
  not accommodate the super freighters 
  that once sailed the Great Lakes, it should 
  be just fine for the heroes’ needs.
   
  Repairing the lock requires 20 Build and 20 weeks of 
  labor, and requires somebody with technical knowledge 
  to oversee the project (a hero with Knowledge 
  [Mechanics], or the Engineer Community Edge). If the 
  players’ characters insist on repairing one of the larger 
  locks, it takes 60 Build and 72 weeks.
   
  Operating the lock is easier and faster if it is connected 
  to a source of electricity (most likely a refurbished 
  hydroelectric power station), however the essential 
  function of opening the doors and opening and closing 
  valves can be converted to manual power. The actual 
  filling and emptying of the lock has always been done by 
  gravity, the proper valves just need to be open or closed. 
  Hydro Power
  Before the War there were three different hydroelectric 
  power stations along the St. Mary’s River. Now they 
  are all in various states of decay. The Francis H. Clergue 
  Generating Station is in the best condition to be repaired 
  (see Broken Earth page 42 for more on repairing ruined 
  buildings); a single power station will provide far more 
  electricity than the surrounding community needs. 
  Important People
  Rebecca Nolan
  Rebecca was born the child of two poltergeists, psionicists 
  who were responsible for scaring away  the small number 
  of explorers who ventured too close to the Ghost People’s 
  settlements. With such parents, the community had great 
  hopes for Rebecca’s psychic potential; hopes that were 
  boosted when she started moving small objects with her 
  mind at a young age. Alas these hopes never materialized. 
  Despite her years of practice, Rebecca never developed 
  more than the ability to move a few ounces, and worse 
  the powers sometimes fail her altogether. 
   
  Her early failure to live up to the Ghost People’s 
  expectations pushed her harder to prove her 
  worth in other ways. She became a skilled 
  hunter and forager, sometimes spending 
  days in the wild, venturing further and 
  further from home. Before long, she traveled 
  beyond the realms traditionally haunted by 
  the Ghost People, and there, for the first time, 
  she discovered other humans. She hid at first, 
  watching them from afar. Eventually she concluded 
  that they were not dangerous, and approached 
  them. Things went well, the other travelers 
  traded with her, and they shared stories 
  of their journeys, including Rebecca’s 
  warning to them about the ghosts that 
  haunt the straits area near what was 
  once Sault Ste. Marie
  
  6
   
  Rebecca returned to her people and told them all she 
  experienced. This caused a stir among the Ghost People. 
  Some, including Rebecca, thought they should explore 
  more and maybe even establish contact with other 
  settlements. In the end the group favoring the status quo 
  won out and the community remained isolated.
   
  Rebecca continued to venture out on her own, and 
  sometimes encountered other humans, though she made 
  sure to warn them away from the Haunted Straits. As she 
  got older, she journeyed less frequently and took more 
  of a leadership role within the community. Eventually she 
  settled down, married, and now has two young girls.
   
  When the sailors led by Captain Jones arrived, Rebecca 
  was among the ones who advocated peaceful talks, and 
  this time her arguments won out. When the pirates looted 
  the area and fled, she was devastated by the betrayal as 
  much as by the destruction they reaped. 
   
  Since then, Rebecca has recanted on her own 
  ways, and has taken charge of setting up booby traps 
  throughout the woods. Despite her new-found resolve, 
  she still harbors a tiny sliver of the explorer she used to be.
   
  Rebecca is a woman in her mid-forties with copper 
  skin and raven-black hair. She wears her hair in a single, 
  long braid, from which she hangs feathers. 
  Rebecca Nolan
  Race: Human
  Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d8, Strength d6, 
  Vigor d6
  Skills: Fighting d6, Knowledge (Battle), d6, Notice d6, 
  Persuasion d6, Shooting d6, Stealth d6, Survival d8, 
  Swimming d6, Tracking d8
  Charisma: —; Pace: 6; Parry: 5; Toughness: 6(1)
  Hindrances: Cautious, Vengeful (Minor)
  Edges: Dodge, Woodsman
  Gear: Bow (Range 12/24/48, Damage 2d6), Spear (Str+d6), 
  Leather Armor (+1)
  Poe Bondar
  Like all children among the Ghost People, 
  Poe Bondar learned their ways of stealth and 
  trickery at a young age. The trickery part 
  fascinated him the most. He soon became the 
  most promising apprentice to what the Ghost 
  People call “zappers,” the people who maintain 
  the delicate electronics that power some of the 
  Ghost People’s scare tactics. 
   
  He learned much from his teachers, and 
  sought out more information in the remains 
  of Sault Ste. Marie. He dissected every 
  mechanical 
  or 
  electronic 
  device 
  he could find, and made extensive 
  technical drawings of them, trying and 
  often succeeding to understand how 
  they worked. Having worked as a zapper for decades, he 
  now leads the team and has taken on apprentices of his 
  own.
   
  Though Poe never sought the limelight, his position 
  means that people respect his judgment and look to him 
  for answers, even when it’s on a subject that he knows 
  nothing about. He’s uncomfortable with this authority 
  and would rather just focus on his technical work. The 
  clearest example of this was when Captain Jones and his 
  crew came through the area. Poe supported talking to 
  the “sailors” (not knowing they were pirates), a decision 
  he later regretted. When the pirates sacked his town, they 
  killed his wife of thirty years, plunging him into a month 
  of despair.
   
  Poe has five grown children. His youngest daughter 
  is an apprentice zapper, and it looked like she was going 
  to carry on the family tradition, but things have been icy 
  between father and child since the pirate attack.
   
  Poe is a fair-skinned man in his mid-fifties. Both his 
  hair and full beard are turning gray and he is starting to 
  bald. He walks with a cane after a bad fall from a tree in 
  which he was repairing a motion detector.
  Poe Bondar
  Race: Human
  Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d10, Spirit d8, Strength d4, 
  Vigor d4
  Skills: Boating d4, Knowledge (Electronics) d8+2, 
  Knowledge (Mechanics) d8+2, Notice d8, Repair d10, 
  Stealth d4, Swimming d4
  Charisma: —; Pace: 4; Parry: 2; Toughness: 4
  Hindrances: Cautious, Lame
  Edges: McGyver, Scholar (Mechanics, Electronics)
  Gear: Staff (Str+d4), toolkit.
  Poltergeists
  The poltergeists are those lucky and skilled enough to 
  develop telekinetic powers. They are held in high 
  regard among the Ghost People, and enjoy special 
  privileges. 
  Ghost People Poltergeist
  Race: Human
  Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d8, Spirit d6, 
  Strength d6, Vigor d6
  Skills: Boating d6, Fighting d6, Notice d6, 
  Psionics d8, Stealth d8, Survival d4, Swimming d4
  Charisma: —; Pace: 6; Parry: 5; Toughness: 5
  Edges: Arcane Background (Psionics), 
  Extra Power, Power Points, Teek 
  (Broken Earth page 17).
  Gear: Axe (Str+d6), personal goods
  Powers: 15 Power Points, bolt, 
  deflection, entangle, telekinesis.
  
  7
  Ghost People
  Most Ghost People focus on the foraging skills they need to 
  survive. They have statistics similar to Axe Tribe members 
  in Broken Earth (without the Illiterate Hindrance), but the 
  statistics are reprinted here for convenience.
  Ghost People
  Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d6, 
  Vigor d6
  Skills: Boating d6, Fighting d4, Knowledge (Nature) d6, 
  Notice d6+2, Shooting d6, Survival d6, Swimming d6, 
  Tracking d6
  Charisma: —, Pace: 6; Parry: 4; Toughness: 5
  Edges: Alertness
  Gear: Bow (Range 12/24/48, Damage 2d6), Axe (Str+d6), 
  personal goods
  Plot Points
  Characters beginning in the area near Wright Town 
  can get involved with the Haunted Straits through the 
  Northeast Passage  adventure plot point, which may then 
  lead to negotiations or war.
  The Northeast Passage
  Where: Begins in Wright Town
  When: After Pirate Troubles (Broken Earth page 109)
  The Wright family has heard of Geneva and Scrap City 
  and want to open up a permanent trade route with the 
  cities on Lake Michigan. From the pre-War maps they’ve 
  salvaged, they know that the sea beyond Wright Town 
  eventually connects to Lake Michigan. Boat trade should 
  be easy, at least once they’ve dealt with the Haunted 
  Straits.
   
  The problem of course, is that everybody knows the 
  straits are haunted. It says so right there in the name. 
  Nobody from Wright Town has ever stayed long enough 
  to really investigate the area. If they had they would have 
  discovered that the larger problem is the rapids. 
   
  Wright Town offers 5,000 Trade worth of company 
  credit to anybody who can make their way to Scrap City 
  or Geneva and back, and that can demonstrate that travel 
  through the Haunted Straits is commercially viable. Given 
  the heroes’ effectiveness at stopping the pirate attacks, 
  Jed Wright seeks them out personally, confident they are 
  the right people for the job. 
   
  If the heroes enable Wright Town to move into the 
  area, the company establishes a small trading outpost. 
  Their initial plan to deal with the rapids is to unload cargo 
  on one end, then ship it by land to the other end, but they 
  hope to eventually repair one of the pre-War locks that 
  once made shipping much more practical.
  Negotiating with the Ghost People
  Where: The Haunted Straits
  When: Any time
  The Ghost People never liked outsiders, and after suffering 
  at the hands of Captain Blood Eye and his crew, they like 
  them even less. Characters who seek a peaceful resolution 
  with the Ghost People face several hurdles.
   
  Characters who stay in the area haunted by the Ghost 
  People will eventually be discovered. When the Ghost 
  People detect invaders, they usually dispatch a team of 
  two to five poltergeists to scare the group away. They 
  approach at night, and try to remain hidden while they 
  telekinetically manipulate objects in the heroes’ camp, 
  encouraging them to move on. If the characters look for 
  somebody moving the objects, they can make a Notice roll 
  opposed by the poltergeists’ group Stealth test. Because 
  they use cover and hide in darkness, the poltergeists have 
  a +4 bonus to their Stealth roll. If the heroes confront the 
  poltergeists, they try to flee, but if unable they fight back.
   
  Poltergeists (One plus one per two PCs): See page 6 
   
  Captured poltergeists do their best to keep their 
  secrets, and heroes who attempt to use Persuasion or 
  Intimidation on the poltergeists suffer a –2 penalty.
   
  If the heroes continue to explore the area and have 
  not already encountered people living in Sault Ste. Marie, 
  the Ghost People send out a band of fighters to drive the 
  heroes away. They too approach the heroes under the 
  cover of darkness. They warn the heroes that they “have 
  angered the ghosts that haunt these lands,” and the party 
  must leave the area or die. Heroes who try to talk their 
  way out of the situation suffer a –2 penalty to rolls to do 
  so. If the characters refuse to back down, and don’t talk 
  their way through the conflict, the Ghost People attack.
   
  Wild Card Poltergeist: See page 6.
   
  Ghost People (One per PC): See page 7.
   
   
  Heroes who actively search for people in the area 
  might find the Ghost People before the Ghost People find 
  the group. If they search the ruins of Sault Ste. Marie and 
  pass a Notice or Tracking test, they find either a home 
  occupied by a group of 1d6 Ghost People, or find a group 
  of 1d4 Ghost People traveling about their daily business. 
  These Ghost People most likely try to flee from outsiders, 
  but will fight if cornered. Talking to the Ghost People 
  suffers a –2 penalty to rolls as described above.
   
  Ghost People (1d6 or 1d4): See page 7.
  
  8
   
  If the heroes successfully talk to the any of the Ghost 
  People, they are eventually brought before Rebecca Nolan 
  for questioning. She demands to know who they are and 
  what their intentions are. She is initially skeptical and 
  distrusts the heroes, but if they succeed at a Persuasion 
  test with a –2 penalty they can convince her that their 
  intentions are honest (they negate the penalty if they can 
  demonstrate that they killed or captured Captain Blood 
  Eye). If the characters fail, she imprisons them indefinitely. 
   
  If Rebecca can be mollified, she allows the group to 
  present their case before other prominent leaders in the 
  community. Run this as a Social Conflict (see the Savage 
  Worlds core rulebook). Though several members of the 
  group argue against the heroes, for purposes of rules, 
  use Rebecca’s Persuasion skill to argue the opposing side. 
  Characters suffer a –2 penalty to their Persuasion test for 
  this conflict, but if they can demonstrate that they killed 
  or captured Captain Blood Eye, they negate this penalty.
   
  After you determine who won the challenge and by 
  how much, consult the table below. If the heroes net 1–4 
  successes, the Ghost People ask for material compensation 
  for their help. There are two values separated by a slash. 
  The first value is for a relatively minor request, like letting 
  them (and only them) pass through their land. The second 
  value is for larger requests, like allowing the Wright 
  Trading Company to conduct trade through the area.
  War with the Haunted People
  Where: Sault Ste. Marrie
  When: Any time
  If the heroes want to control the locks on the St. Mary’s 
  River, and cannot—or choose not to— negotiate with the 
  Ghost People, their only option is to take the area by force. 
  The Ghost People of course resist. They employ guerrilla 
  tactics rather than meeting an opposing force on an open 
  field, but you can still use the Mass Battle rules found in 
  the core rulebook to run the conflict. Each round of the 
  battle in this case represents three days of fighting. 
   
  In such a battle, all able-bodied Ghost People join the 
  fight, fielding an “army” of 150 people. Because they know 
  the land so well and have booby trapped the surrounding 
  area, they have a major terrain advantage.
   
  If the Ghost People lose half or more of their fighters, 
  they decide to cut their losses and leave the area as if 
  making an orderly retreat.
  Different in Successes
  Result
  5 against the PCs
  The Ghost People decide to execute the heroes.
  3–4 against the PCs
  The Ghost People imprison the heroes.
  1–2 against the PCs
  The Ghost People allow the PCs to leave, but warn them never to return.
  Tie
  The Ghost People say they need time to discuss the issue. They allow the PCs to leave 
  and ask them to return in one moon cycle. Repeat the Social Conflict, but the PCs have 
  only a –1 penalty.
  1–2 for the PCs
  The Ghost People agree to help the PCs if provided 1,000/20,000 worth of Trade, at least 
  half of that in firearms.
  3–4 for the PCs
  The Ghost People agree to help the PCs if provided 500/10,000 worth of Trade. 
  5+ for the PCs
  The Ghost People agree to help the PCs with no compensation.
  
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SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Savage Worlds System (SWADE) [multi]/Broken Earth/Savage Worlds - Broken Earth - The Haunted Straits.pdf