There were some minor changes to the map of Agartha in As Above, so Below (pages 94-95) while finishing the print version’s layout. It will be uploaded to DrivethruRPG and Postmortem Studio’s store but, while it isn’t, you can download it here:
Now available on PoD from Lulu.com
FACTIONS FROM AVALIDAD: ZONESEC
A unified security force in charge of enforcing the law in Avalidad, though it really works like a state police. Clayton Reed leads a shady spec-ops team – unofficially part of ZoneSec -, which was already featured in the core setting book. Reed and part of his group (Darius Jefferson, Eva Borges and Marisa Olafson) return in As Above, so Below.
FACTIONS FROM AVALIDAD: LIBRARY OF FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE (AGARTHA)
After the Great Progressive Purge of the 2020s quite a lot of classical and popular books, movies, TV shows and musical albums became unavailable. There were some people who became collectors and curators of all the offensive and unsafe material in physical format, since the erasure had effects mainly over the digital editions. Mad Mike (pictured) is one of those. Through the decades he accumulated a gigantic stash of (previously considered) dangerous stuff, such as cult horror movies, stand-up comedy shows, sitcoms and, above all, 19th and 20th century books.
The Great Progressive Purge was just the way the process was later labelled, though there was never an authority actually doing the “purging”. Concerned “progressive” activists used the increasing power of social media – with the support of concerned traditional media, concerned governments and concerned corporations –, and coerced people to avoid the work of many authors and quite a lot of themes, deemed “problematic” and “unsafe”. Consumers were led to believe that liking that kind of content would turn them into fascists, and they sheepishly avoided “wrongthink”. Authors themselves steered clear of certain subjects, by fear of being deplatformed or cancelled. Companies were afraid to divulge “problematic” works, and those gradually became unavailable, even if they were never prohibited by law.
In fact, The Great Progressive Purge was much more insidious than state censorship, as people would likely rebel against that.The world never quite turned into an Orwellian 1984 dystopia – it was closer to a mix between Huxley’s Brave New World and Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 –, the public shunned thought-provoking art and entertainment, because it made them feel uncomfortable and unsafe. In the end, there were very few book burnings; authors, either led by fear of being cancelled, or goaded by the masses demanding uniformity of thought, self-censored their work, and corporations secured mass stupidity by spewing out inane, fatuous (but “safe”) contents. People in general were happy and comfortable about the end result and sat there consuming, obeying, conforming and watching holovision. Luckily, in this fictional setting, a substantial part of the population eventually became rather bored and dared to seek thought provoking art again. Quoting Kurt Vonnegut (who, obviously, was among the “purged” writers): “so it goes…”
YOU CAN PURCHASE AS ABOVE, SO BELOW HERE
Abraham Zetina (Talking About Games) reviewed Postmortem Studios Giallo volume 2, The Memorial, just in time for Halloween. You can check it here.
“I know this will all sound strange, the ravings of a madman, but I swear on my mother’s grave, everything I’m about to tell you really happened! It was a week ago, I was coming back from a pub…. And before you ask me anything about it, yes, I’d had a few drinks, but I can handle the booze, there’s no way spirits will bring down Pena Rodrigues, my friend! I can call you a friend, right? After all we are fellow countrymen…
Well, I was walking the streets, minding my own business, when I heard a strange voice, whisperin in a metallic tone, very irritating, very unpleasant. “Help me, old man, help me”. In that area I don’t usually stop when someone calls out for me, it’s not advisable, of course, not safe, but that voice sounded so fragile! It didn’t seem menacing… I went to take a look. Behind some garbage dumpster there was… something. Looked like a huge beetle, the size of a dog, with metal legs and pincers.
Okay, okay, I know now this is really sounding like the ravings of a drunken, silly old man, but you must have certainly heard the rumours. There’s talk on the streets about these… these half mechanical, half organic creatures. Supposedly they come from the future and bring some advanced technology with them. They say it’s thanks to these… things… corporations are able to produce miracles like Neuropods and other stuff. Biotechnology, and such!
Anyway, I’m a poor old sailor, I haven no tech knowledge, you probably know better than me what I’m talking about, mister big shot newsman! As I said, the thing, what they sometimes call “Machinatore”, asked for my help. It was injured, said it was involved in a dispute with others like him. Actually in the vicinity, amidst the debris, there were two piles of electronic components mixed with a gelatinous stuff, lying in a puddle of a white substance. Gross! The one talking to me had a slash on it’s carapace, it was dripping white fluid too, I suppose it’s their blood. I don’t know, man… Well, the tiny guy told me that, in exchange for my help, it would give me an “artefact”. Artefact is what it said. I know it meant some kind of technological prototype. This shit is worth a lot of money on the black market. Quite a lot! A brain implant, to boot, man, how could I refuse?
Then it made a very strange request: a pint of blood, a cup of semen, a car battery, some copper wire and a light bulb. Man, I know how this sounds, don’t give me that look, mister! That’s what the thing asked me! I was perplexed too, but it was no trouble at all. I asked it to wait for a few minutes, got the items it asked me for, and came back. But I was suspicious, man, I only delivered what it asked me for when it showed me the goods: a tiny metal thing, wrapped in a rag. Of course I didn’t know what the hell it was, but I pretended that I did, that I knew about these things. I handed it what was asked from me, took the package, and ran away from there as fast as I could!
Then I called a few fencers, explained what I had; the guys showed interest and said we’d probably do business, first thing in morning. Great, some money coming in, man! I went back to the Flesh Café, in Grand Socco, and had a few more drinks. I was nervous, you know? I also had me some Black Meat, because… well there were reasons to celebrate! Shortly afterwards, I went home. Or I was going back home because, in the meantime, somehow, I passed out in the middle of the street. When I woke up, my damn bad luck, someone had stolen the fucking artefact! Life sucks, mister, and I’ve never been a lucky man! Well, now, can you score me some Black Meat, man? I’m having the shakes…”
Pena Rodrigues, an Avalidad denizen, interviewed by Reynaldo Duque, aka Reporter X, for the Gonzo News RealBulletin
You can purchase As Above, so Below on DrivethruRPG or the Postmortem Studios store
Though I used the same “formula” as before, As Above, so Below is slightly different from previous releases: it’s both a micro-setting, Agartha, and a scenario (that’s the similar part), but plays a bit like a “dungeon”, taking place in an underground shantytown and being encounter-based. Player characters can choose from several factions – mostly criminals, but also law-enforcement – who storm Agartha searching for a stolen future tech item. You can purchase the new scenario on DrivethruRPG or the Postmortem Studios store.
Bruno’s RPG Talk ep. 20: we chat about Actual F*cking Monsters, my own published work for Postmortem Studios, his upcoming AFM game setting (Undead Malefactors), the current state of horror #ttrpg, “safety tools”, moral panics and more. Check it here!
In Avalidad there are urban legends about Agartha, an underground town inhabited by mutants and other outcasts. It is not a myth. As Above so Below is an adventure for the Postcards from Avalidad game setting. It includes statistics for Actual F*cking Monsters and *Punk, but usable with any system. Available now from DrivethruRPG and Postmortem Studios.*
*Print version from Lulu.com will also be available soon
The Grumpy Game master goes over the Postmortem Giallo trilogy: Orpheum Lofts, The Memorial and The Sisters of the Seven Sins. Check it out here.
