Welcome! This is an introductory adventure to our sci-fantasy setting -- Ethnis, and the TTRPG system which underpins it: Encore. It is designed for up to 6 players and one Narrator.
You will need a deck of cards and a character. You may create your own character, but we suggest playing as one of the six premade characters listed ahead.
Gameplay will be explained as you go, but you can find the ongoing rules document here and coming soon to WorldAnvil and Kickstarter
Prologue
Welcome to Moulrun City, capitol of the frontier planet of BřvaGishani, also known as Gishani. Gishani is owned by the ValuSelu Pact, and is close to its border with the Andromeda Syndicate.
As on all Pact worlds, Moulrun city is maintained by a conscript workforce organized by career officers and specialists. Collectively, this workforce is called the Jhoutigari, and has branches ranging from military to science to civil servants. You are a member of the Reserves, called upon during emergencies such as the one about to befall the city.
Now, each player chooses a character to play as. The animated carousel provides an overview for each character; their full bio and character sheet is listed at the bottom of their slide.
There could not have been a worse day for disaster. The Founding Day Celebration is an attraction which draws visitors from all across the city and around the planet. Despite a heavy downpour, the covered arcade Broadway throngs with spectacle and festival — every tavern
Among the commotion, few notice the tremors underfoot until it's too late. The official term is rupture fault break, but the layman term is the one which carried up and down the streets and comm lines as it broke:
"Coral Quake!!"
Backstory
Ask the players what they were doing when the quake happened. Discuss. Feel free to nudge them. Based on their responses, expand the related option.
You were injured by the collapsing of your block, and again in the crowds of people trying to escape the bounds of the ever-growing crevasse. A street medic patched you up, identified you as a member of the Jhoutigari Reserve, and gave you a few extra Regen Gel to handle the rest of your damage.
Player starts with 12 damage
Player starts with 5 Regen Gel packets
Player starts with 4 Fatigue and +2 SDR
Player starts with one of the following:
- Firecracker Chain: Loud and Incendiary. You were just about to light them when the quake happened.
- Alcohol Flight: Antiseptic, Flammable, Clarifiying. Small bottles, free samples, various flavors.
- Crystal Eye Pendant: Calming to the touch Shoved into your hands by insistent missionaries from Earth. They claim it protects the wearer from bad spirits.
Player takes 6 Fatigue and 2 Stress
Player starts with Security Pass Level 2
Player starts with a Stasis Wand
The call to mobilize the Jhoutigari Reserves came scant minutes after the chaos began. Over your CommLink came the order to rendezvous at the address of one of the undercity access points.
Despite the nickname embroidered onto the shoulder of his envirosuit, Grime is immaculate. Once a full time paramedic, Grime transferred to the reserves after the commercial success of his self-picking fruit tree.
Mantras
More nimble than I look, aren't I?
It's okay to make a mess, just don't abandon one.
Equipment
- Comms HUD
- Armored Envirosuit
- Trauma Bag
- Stun Jitte
Alrun is built like a tank and fights as fiercely as one. Despite that, the Ral-mi is a friendly soul, known for their contagious laugh and bright smile. With that combination of skills, they have risen to the rank of officer.
Mantras
Fuck with my friends, and I will rip you limb from limb.”
It pays to be strong, but a smile gets you further.
Equipment
- Gauntlets of Rage and Ruin - Flame and Kinesis
- Anti-Inertial Barrier
- Megaphone Vox
Serving as one of the colony mechanics, Vernon never leaves the house without their backpacked tool kit. They are always ready to take apart or put together something. Even when they are sitting idle, they’ll have a trinket or a tiny project in their hand.
Mantras
Good enough for state work.
Plan twice, develop once.
Equipment
- Spider Drone
- Hacker's Deck
- Diffusion Barrier
A Nasyk with a sharp spear and an even sharper icy blue gaze. Killa has worked as one of the few exterminators for the colony. They are an expert of the native life, and how to dispatch it efficiently. They are reliable, efficient, and calculating.
Mantras
“Nothing like a good fight to get the blood pumping.”
“Keep your wits about you, and we’ll be okay.”
Equipment
- Pneumatic Spear
- Shellbreaker Maul
- Anti-Inertial Barrier
Cave has always been small and nimble, even for a Hiserabi. They made a promising career out of it. They spent their entire lives exploring places no one else could go. Running goods through the corralum is a lucrative side hustle, even if those goods might have been of questionable legality.
Mantras
Sciřa — It's not yours if you're not using it.
Treasure is common, if you look high with low standards
Equipment
- Guide Staff
- Prehensile Rope
- Bait Ball x5
A Chea who found comfort outside the colony's walls, Aelida took a healthy paycheck as a forward scout and cartographer for the city, charting the progress of the rapidly expanding continental coral upon which the city is founded. Her time within nature has hardened her.
Mantras
Preparation is key.
Keep vigilant in every direction.
Equipment
- Quadrotor Drone
- Ensnaring Bloom x 5
We Begin
Ground - Street Access
Outside
A collection of city workers gathered around a large flatbed truck tells you that you've found the right place. Through the wide and tall open doors of the access, you see a crane drone with legs curled up to its body and treads rolling over the floor.
The commander gestures you to join, and begins debriefing.
"Headquarters is deploying reserves all over the city to scout out the damage done to the underground and to extract anyone in danger. This access point also has a critical geodata collector on its abyssal floor, which will help is to know which direction the fractures might open next."
He raised a small satchel of fist-sized, pipe-shaped objects with antennae.
"One of you will take this. The city cut power to this region to prevent any potential fires caused by the quake, which includes all the comm-extenders. Your signal won't be able to reach us once you leave the range of the elevator shaft. Leave these in your wake, each with direct line of sight to the previous, and you'll be able to maintain contact with anyone up-top. Otherwise, you're on your own — it will be days after your return before anyone else is sent down."
Workers are coordinating now to use that crane to lift and lower the elevator, since the power's down. Help them finish, then get down there.
How many people are down there?"This district is still being developed, so this access point is used mostly for moving construction materials through the subway. We don't expect you'll encounter more than a couple maintenance staff."
All channels eventually lead to the abyss, even in the event of overflow.
Before long, another transport, this time a quick and low-flying airship, sweeps down from above to pick up the commander. He excuses himself, but not before sweeping over those gathered with an emphatic stare.
A - Entryway
Polluted stormwater runoff washes into the access tunnel's entryway . envirolock leading to the elevators. All are wearing environmental suits, and door guards urge you to do the same. The air smells musty, and that could mean fungal spores.
You see the flow of wisps of spores coming through the storm drains, distinct from the spray of the water gurgling into the storm drain underfoot. There’s a bitter, moldy stink coming up from below.
Biology Check - Identify the smell
[Check] Biology 8: Rasmine Mold is never a good sign, especially in the storm drain. Some molds bore right through the coral, ruining the delicate ecosystem in their wake and fracturing foundational stone coral. The undercity is supposed to have systems to prevent that.
B - DeCon Chamber
The decontamination room has a recessed floor awash with floodwater and urban storm debris, as well as scattered pools of thin green fluid fed by a poorly maintained grid of novels on the ceiling.
The rubberized floor is slick, exacerbating the task of the city workers trying to unjam the door from the decon into the undercity access elevator. The doors are open just enough for thin or petite bodies to squeeze through.
The door into the undercity is jammed partially open, the workers are having difficulty getting it the rest of the way, preventing them from setting up the machinery to work the elevator again. A couple of workers are leveraging a massive crowbar to get the jammed door back on its tracks, to no avail.
By the door, a glowing interface flashes a series of warnings:
#A1375-8-82
INNER LOCK JAMMED
Contact the Moulrun City Bureau of Mechatronic Engineers for repairs
OUTER LOCK OBSTRUCTED
Clear track of any debris or tools
Lockdown in effect
[Passive] UBS 2+ && LBS 2+ :“Hey, you, can you help us get the door back on its tracks?”, asks a tired man.
If anyone has Engineering tools : “Hey, you, can you help us disable the security lockdown?”, asks a woman in a hazard suit. “It’s using older protocols I’m not familiar with.” She seems to be a Jhoutigari cadet.
There are several ways forward.
Pass: Squeeze through with a contortion check [PC Size * 2] and carry on. On a failure, they get stuck and tear their suit and someone has to grapple them free with a check of 8.
Force: Replace someone on the crowbar. Each round, the Targets are a Grapple Check of 4 and a Brawn check of 20. Up to 2 NPCS will help. One boosts the Brawn check by 10, the other by 6. Any single player with no bonuses can succeed on a two pair of six or greater. Hopefully, there is a strong character in their party. :)
Hack:Solve: Prevent the water from entering the envirolock by completing level 2 or fixing the grating
D - Elevator Shaft
Looking down, it appears to be (ACU >= 2?6 Spaces/30ft:A ways down) from the ledge.
The few allowed to mill around the elevator are working on rescue efforts, high-visibility plating denotes their purpose and many carry repair equipment. The elevator appears broken, but you watch as a technician secures a rappelling line.
Another technician with tired eyes comes stumbling in
There are a few options: rappel down, or help repair the elevator.
Rappel down the crane line20 spaces to travel
Taking the Rappel requires passing a Grapple Checks to accelerate and move, Brawn or Stomp checks to slow.
Grapple check of 2 to increase speed by 1.
A Corallum Aftershock hits the shaft while travelling, causing a fracture that the players must stop for or a crumble they must outrun.
Players must control their descent speed near the end.
The dampener and winch under the elevator broke on its last ride up during the quake. If it's not fixed, the elevator isn't moving.
Requires two mechanical projects and several salvaged parts.
Some can be made with mecha scrap.
Others will need to be found in the local area. Ask engineers around the lift and they’ll point the party to the collapsed elevator service room.
It’ll require some strength to lift or move the rubble.
The Elevator will run down until the space between the overflow chamber and the fungal infested corridor before breaking and tilting
Requires a check not to fall and take an injury.
B2 - Fungal Janitorial
According to the signs on the wall, this next floor is dedicated to the storage and dispersion of fungicide. One sign points towards Storage, and the other points towards Dispersal. They go in opposite directions.
As you climb down from above, a muffled cry greets you from below, in the direction of Dispersal. The words are indistinct, but the sentiment is clear: someone is in need of help.
B3 - Storm Cistern
Once the group realizes they won't be able to return easily, they will be told to wait at the abyssal docks when they reach the bottom. There is already ships going dock to dock in the most-affected zones to clear out any gathered survivors. You will be prioritized if you can send out a distress signal.
B4 - Metro Station
B5 - Abyssal Access
Equipment
Aempian sweetwine with a spicy Kataioan Kail afterburn. Flammable.
Hand-sized gelatinous globs that, when squeezed, activate a population of nutrient-rich strobing plankton which most cave-dwelling Rutas and Slimes cannot ignore. To sticky to throw. Lasts until eaten. Can be eaten to restore 1 Stamina.
20 Pierce Damage. Pierce your target and trigger the cavitation switch to inject compressed gas into the wound, blowing it wide open with 35 Explosive damage. Refills passively within 5 minutes, or can be triggered to refill across two turns, creating an explosive shriek that deals 10 sonic damage (double in enclosed spaces) to all nearby as it sucks in and compresses the air required.
Rugged workwear issued to the Jhoutigari Reserve. Includes: 20 Armor - Comms HUD - Sealed Envirosuit - 3 Minute Air Reserve
A blessed charm circulated by missionaries of the Somnolent. Hides your presence from passive Echoes.
A flexible screen of hologram emitters rolled into a scroll storage. Useful for sharing intricate data and coordinating groups.
A deployable barrier that up to two people can hide behind. Creates a visual and thermal mirage that helps to camoflage the people behind it, though it doesn't hold up to scrutiny.
When collapsed, looks like a metal plank with a flat fins of metal spanning the longest two edges. Extends up to 15 feet as a ladder, a plank, or a ramp.
Restores 10 Health, Stops Bleeding, cannot be used in combat, you must wait 10 minutes between doses.
A staff-length hammer with a 12-face hammer designed to shatter the shells of larger rutas. 30 Impact Damage
Eight-legged multi-surface drone which can remotely plug itself into a device and connect it to a Hacker's Deck.
Generates a single-space Level 3 Kinetic Direction barrier spell around a single space. Costs 1 Soul per round, has 30 armor. Play a Royal to activate.
A baton with 5 nonlethal electrical charges.
All the tools needed for analysis and triage of minor and major wounds.
This was so much fun!