Periodicals and Other Products

This issue opens with Last Resort, a new science fiction short story (with new item stats for Final Frontier or Orbital Decay) by Roger C. Jones. Venger As’Nas Satanis returns with The Venger Satanis Method of TTRPGs and Game Mastering – previously published on his blog -, another article on his approach to tabletop roleplaying and game mastering. Mark Brooks contributes The Resurrection Lottery of Harrowvale, a folk-horror adventure for Savage Swords, along with Sundown in Lonesome Wells, a new location and scenario for Blood and Dust. The Red Room presents Devil in the Machine, a scenario for our modern horror RPG DARKER, and The Chorus Mystery, a new adventure for Final Frontier. Brendan Davies joins us with Shattered Porcelain, an adventure for Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate (which made this issue’s cover). Charles Miller expands on The End of Innocence with another collection of monsters ready to haunt your next game. Finally, Steve Miller’s short story Sunbather Noir, from the Ghost of Hong Kong series.

In this issue you will find The Abandoned Temple of the Veiled Sun, a one-shot scenario for Savage Swords written by Mark Brooks, who also wrote A Red Vision of an Alternative Retro-Future. Roger C. Jones contributes The Price of Silver, a crossover adventure he first wrote for Wretched Country and Wretched Darkness, now adapted to the western game Blood and Dust and his short story, Brides of Darkness. The Red Room team presents Absolution of Flesh, a 19th-century investigative horror adventure built for Gothic. We have also updated Blood in the Arena, a scenario that first appeared for Wretched Bastards in a Wretched Verse release and now features Savage Swords statistics. Also in this issue, Lost in Emulation an article by Venger Satanis and Why Run Your RPG Like a Soap Opera, by the Red Room. Finally, you will find a selection of new monsters for The End of Innocence, by Charles Miller.^*

This free bundle includes character sheets for all the games in the Red line (printable and fillable versions), and a generic sheet for the Wretched line of games.^*

A short scenario for Wretched Bastards or other OSR fantasy games. In the Stinky Weed Valley, a merchant approaches the characters with a job: A group of marauding orcs have absconded with his cherished abacus, a sentimental heirloom of little monetary value but great personal worth.^*

Few institutions have dared to venture into the unknown realm of the paranormal and occult with the same fervor and determination as the Warden Foundation. This remarkable organization was born from the vision of an eccentric American millionaire, Bertrand Warden III, who passed away in 1982, leaving his vast fortune to fund its creation. This sourcebook details the Foundation’s harrowing missions into the Beyond, a dimension of inscrutable power and danger, where the boundaries between reality and the supernatural blur and includes information on other Wretched factions, under surveillance by the Wardens. Perfect for those who relish supernatural mysteries and interdimensional adventures, the Warden Foundation is your gateway to narratives filled with intrigue, danger, and the unknown.^*

This Wretched Verse is the first in a series dedicated to exploring the factions within the Wretchedverse, consolidating scattered information from various setting books and enriching it with further detail.^*

Gangs of Avalidad is your guide to the underbelly of a city caught between the dazzling heights of technological advancement and the depths of ancient vices. This Wretched Verse presents a glimpse into the urban fauna that operates in the crevices of Wretched New Flesh’s society. Avalidad is more than just a city; it’s a living entity, a melting pot of cultures, ideologies, and, most notably, conflicts. In this short sourcebook you will find the most prominent street gangs of Avalidad, detailing their territories, sizes, leadership structures, motivations, criminal activities, aesthetics, reputations, and unique traits. Dive into the descriptions of each gang to understand their place in Avalidad’s ecosystem. Use the detailed information to create campaigns that intertwine with the gangs’ ambitions and conflicts, or draw upon the aesthetic and thematic elements to design encounters and plotlines that reflect Avalidad’s underworld.^*

In the far reaches of space, where corporate greed stretches its talons, lies KFC1952 Poultry Production Planet, the hub of MEGA CHICKEN, a subsidiary of GENETECH. Here, in a bizarre twist of fate and science, an unassuming poultry planet becomes the stage for a thrilling and peculiar adventure in the Wretched Space universe.^*

Explore the dark and morally ambiguous world of the Wretched with this definitive guide, your passport into a realm where anti-heroes thrive, but only if they survive. From gritty medieval fantasy and wild west settings to post-apocalyptic wastelands, cyber dystopias, space opera, and supernatural horror, the Wretchedverse offers a vast array of twisted tales perfect for role-players who dare to embrace the sinful, the savage, and the sinister. Find out about our unusual alignment system, varied character classes, lifepath systems, perks and drawbacks, deadly combat, and expansive worldbuilding across over a dozen fully fleshed-out RPG settings bursting with engaging plot hooks, unique factions, new technologies, dark magic, thrilling mysteries, and so much more.^*

This new addition to the Wretched Bestiary plunges you into the depths of The Beyond, the nexus of the Wretchedverse. In this issue you will encounter demons and devils from the darkest recesses of imagination, entities feared and revered across various cultures and religions, each boasting distinct and spine-chilling powers, challenging players to rethink their strategies. Issue 7 of Wretched Minions also includes information about the Deva, the fallen angels of the Wretchedverse.^*

An introductory scenario for Wretched Interbellum, the wretched setting for adventures in the interwar years:^*

Experience the glitz and glamour of early 1930s Berlin, the decadent playground of cabaret singers, expatriates and occult thrill-seekers. Rub elbows with the local elites in underground jazz clubs. Get swept up in riveting romantic encounters that could lead to red-hot passion or red-handed murder. But behind the dazzling Art Deco exterior lurks murder and ancient forces. Survive this treacherous world of police informants, ruthless criminals and demonic cults to unravel an occult mystery. Then set a course across the South Pacific to the sun-soaked paradise of Fiji. Sail between pristine tropical islands and discover ancient island cultures. Just beware the alluring Dragon Lady, whose far-reaching criminal empire has its claws in every port, and her eyes set on you!

Uncover the mysterious creatures lurking in the shadows. This new bestiary entry reveals over 50 legendary cryptids from folklore and myth across the United States and around the world. Learn about infamous cryptids like Bigfoot, Nessie, and the Chupacabra. Discover bizarre regional oddities like the Fresno Nightcrawler, the Beast of Bray Road, and the Ojai Char Man. Dig into lesser-known global cryptids from the Almas of Central Asia to the Dobhar Chu of Ireland. This bestiary entry provides everything you need to incorporate these elusive creatures into your games. Just beware, some cryptids are benign curiosities, but others are truly Wretched.^*

This issue is oozing with over 50 types of slimes, fungus, and plants to torment your players. From the classic brown slime to the terrifying cordyceps fungus that turns your heroes into zombies, we’ve got all the slimy, mushy, creepy-crawly creatures you need. Our minions come in all shapes, sizes and colors – translucent, black, green, even waffles! Each has unique abilities to blind, poison, paralyse and plague your player characters. We’ve got slimes that explode into acid, even a kaiju-sized blob It’s not just slimes either. This issue features a whole underground ecosystem of fantastic fungi and deadly plants. Giant pitcher plants that hypnotise and digest heroes, corpse flowers that vomit poison and reanimate the dead, vines that grab and hang adventures for their fertiliser.

Let’s be real, these critters are the stuff of nightmares! Sure, you might have a soft spot for butterflies, but how do you feel about ants swarming your picnic? Or the idea that for every human, there are millions of insects? Welcome to a world where bugs aren’t just annoying, they’re Wretched. In this entry, we’re diving deep into the creepy-crawly realm, covering everything from the benevolent to the malevolent, the minuscule to the monstrous. With over 10 quintillion insects on Earth, making up 95% of its biosphere, there’s a lot to unpack. But don’t worry, we’re not covering all 5 million species; we’ve narrowed it down to the ones that’ll make your skin crawl. Get those safety tools ready!^*

Reptiles have captivated the human imagination since the dawn of time. From ancient myths and legends to modern movies and games, these cold-blooded creatures fascinate us with their exotic appearances, mysterious behaviors, and links to the prehistoric past. This latest bestiary entry for the Wretched Role-Playing Game celebrates the limitless variety of reptiles across fiction and folklore. Within these pages you’ll find deadly vipers and giant constrictors inspired by nature itself. Mythological beasts like the frost serpents and fire serpents await to test even the most seasoned parties. And let’s not forget the dinosaurs – no bestiary is complete without the terrible Tyrannosaurus Rex or the clever velociraptor pack.^*

Issue two of Wretched Minions covers the undead.^*

The goblin, perhaps the quintessential minion in fantasy lore. Known for their diminutive size, exaggerated features, and unquenchable work ethic, goblins take center stage in the first volume in the Wretched Minions bestiary series, by Michael L Straus. While often dismissed as dumb or silly, goblins possess a clever industriousness that makes them perfectly suited as cheap labour for nefarious overlords.^*

For those seeking an even more “realistic” and less powerful magic system than the standard Wretched rules, these alternative conjurer rituals provide a further departure from its Vancian roots. These rules also appear in Wretched Époque Second Edition and Wretched Darkness Second Edition.^*

An alternative way of introducing Vampires, Werewolves and their hunters into a Wretched game^*

This issue of Wretched Verses contains the first part of a series of fictionalized accounts of a Wretched New Flesh game, a more detailed description and a random table of encounter for the Mediouna high-class neighborhood of Avalidad and additional information about Holovision Prime and its shows.^*

Every adventure needs a setting, and cities are the most interesting from our Wretched point of view. From the highest towers to the deepest underbelly,
cities are ripe with intrigue, danger, and opportunity. Whether it’s a medieval metropolis, a futuristic cityscape, or something entirely unique, the tables in this book are meant to guide you through this process, helping you craft a detailed and dynamic city. With categories ranging from size and population to technology level and economy, this sourcebook tries to cover the major aspects of city design.^*

The pinnacle of anguish, where existence for many is a barren, winding path of dust. The Borderline is a realm teeming with an elusive energy that can contort and deceive its inhabitants without their knowledge. The corruption you sense is deeply internal, manifesting in subtle physical transformations that often go unnoticed. As you traverse this domain, you’ll encounter bizarre sights, but the true horror lies within the tumultuous inner beasts residing in those who dwell along the Borderline. A torrential dance of energies emanates from two intertwined souls: Verkin and its enigmatic counterpart, Ershey. These entities embody a tempest of wrongs, a maelstrom of darkness.

This energy holds no meaning for some, and they remain oblivious to its extraordinary power. Yet the Borderline, once ventured into, has the potential to irrevocably alter you, granting rewards or exacting terrible costs. Your fate hinges on how you navigate the trials concealed within this boundless desert, replete with shadowy enclaves, caverns, and mysteries. This guide offers insight into this desolate expanse. You will discover its settlements and denizens, most of whom regard outsiders with distrust and hostility.

To provide players and game masters with a dynamic and nuanced approach to character alignment, we present the Sins and Virtues Alignment System, based on the Wretched Transgression mechanics. This system offers a different perspective on character motivations, going beyond the traditional good versus evil, chaos versus order dichotomies. Naturally, the Sins and Virtues can also be combined with a traditional alignment system.^*

Vitulya Reborn is a scenario – which could easily be developed into a whole campaign – for Wretched Bastards, inspired by HBO’s series Rome, centered on the
the plans of Gaius Vitulius, who is plotting to invade the neighbouring kingdoms of Helvetii and Riget.The player characters are mid-level army officers
within the Vitulyan forces who will face the challenges of executing the invasion under the command of their superiors while dealing with the political intrigue and military strategy involved.^*

Press The Flesh is a one-shot scenario for Wretched New Flesh that serves as an introduction to the Mass 2 Orbit campaign, centering around the goals of Hagashira Aerospace and its inner turmoil over technologies developed using alien technology and telekinetic propulsion.^*

In this scenario, the PCs take the roles of agents of the Criminal Brigade tasked with investigating a sensitive case: The abduction of a wealthy family’s young and only child. It should take place in late 19th century or early 20th century Paris, as in most Wretched Époque scenarios.^*

Blood in the Arena is a Wretched scenario inspired by the TV show Spartacus, where the players take on the roles of gladiators in the Rutilus Ludus, a training school for gladiators in the Vitualyan city of Nervea. As slaves, they have no choice but to fight and entertain for the pleasure of their wealthy Roman masters. As tensions between the slaves and their lanista, Gaius, simmer and eventually boil over, the players will find themselves caught in the middle of a rebellion that could change the course of history. They will need to navigate a world of political intrigue, backstabbing, and cutthroat combat in order to survive and achieve their freedom.^*

Opium dens, once prevalent across the globe, embody the distinction between drug use and abuse. These establishments were deeply woven into the fabric of the Belle Époque, with opium’s widespread acceptance and romanticization particularly resonating among poets and artists.

Wretched Verses is a series of small digital titles for the Wretched line of OSR role-playing games originally published by the Red Room: Wretched Bastards, Wretched Country, wretched Époque, Wretchploitation, Wretched Space, Wretched Apocalypse and Wretched Darkness. The first issue includes a guide for Avalidad and tables of encounters and locations in the city where New Flesh takes place. It can be also used as a ready location for other near-future biopunk/ cyberpunk settings.^*