SWORD BREAKER ISSUE NO.

3
By Logan Howard

Everything in this zine is for Sage LaTorra and Adam Koebel’s

Dungeon World
www.Dungeon-World.com

Other inspirations include:

● Jason Cordova and David LaFreniere (The Discern Realities Podcast)

◦ http://www.gauntlet-rpg.com/
● The Gauntlet Community
◦ https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/104672702589306017985
● The Gauntlet: Codex
◦ http://www.gauntlet-rpg.com/codex.html
● Joe Banner (Adventures)
◦ http://joebanner.co.uk/category/adventures/
● Marshall Miller (Dungeon Starters)
◦ http://finemessgames.com/
● Mark Tygart (Dungeon Starters)
◦ http://catsoftindalos.blogspot.com/p/dungeon-starter-archive.html
● Ray Otus (Plundergrounds Zine)
◦ www.jellysaw.com
● Chris Sakkas (Grim Portents Zine)
◦ https://grimportents.wordpress.com/
● Sophia Brandt (Die Heart Blog)
◦ http://dieheart.net/
● D. Vincent Baker and Apocalypse World
◦ http://lumpley.com/

Thank you!
 Introduction

My first experience with role playing was in the 1970s. My mom brought me
along to visit some friends of hers and their teenagers were getting ready to
play this mysterious game. After some pestering from the parents, they
agreed to let me join in for the night. I was handed a piece of paper with
some numbers on it and told that was who I was going to be. After a short
time, I figured out what was going on and became enthralled. We were deep
in a maze that formed before my very eyes as one of the players mapped our
progress. Monsters were everywhere. I was actually afraid when all the big
kids took a few too many wounds and retreated to a room where they
pushed a table against the door. On the other side, a mass of bugbears
assaulted the makeshift barrier. I'd never heard of bugbears before but that
night I was terrified of them. I was hooked.

Dungeon World is a modern gamer’s love letter to those classic crawls. The
dungeon is strange and dangerous. Unfamiliar monsters lurk around every
corner. Puzzles and traps force the party to check everything and manage
their resources. It’s dark. It’s a little outlandish. It’s the kind of fun we used
to have before the late ‘80s and early ‘90s brought us more “realistic” or
“serious” games. This issue is my attempt to dive in
headlong to the aesthetic of those earlier times.

Have fun!

-Logan
 A Walk Around Town
A Dungeon Starter

In the misty valleys of Silvercombe, something is terribly wrong. Hamlets that have
enjoyed decades of peace and prosperity are under attack. Some say there is a dragon.
Others tell a strange tale of a mining town that went missing years ago.
The valley communities never trusted the people of Mechenburg with their weird
contraptions and shifty eyes. When a messenger came pleading for men and women to
help dig the old mining town out of a sinkhole, none in the valley towns felt moved to
pitch in. Only old shepherd Brynn left his flock to do what he could. Everyone called him
a fool. He came back with nothing to his name and wasted away at the pub telling any
that would listen that Mechenburg was “just gone.”
Now they say that Mechenburg is back for revenge. It lumbers through the morning fog
on giant metal legs spewing smoke and steam and crushing the towns that refused to
help all those years ago.

Questions

• Why did you agree to help end the march of Mechenburg?

• Which other party member scares the hell out of you and why?

• How are you planning to get into the town that walks?

• Which of you has a long-lost love from Mechenburg?

• What do you know about their loved one that you never told them?

• What are you afraid Mechenburg will do if you can’t stop it quickly enough?

• When did you first notice the sound of thunder getting louder?
 Impressions from the outside

• The sound of trees cracking

• An odd assortment of animals pours out of the woods together

• A dark shape looms up out of the fog

• A shattered wooden gate and a house are the first things to break through the
clouds like the top of a mountain

• Enormous armored legs devastate everything in their path

• The smell of sulfur

• Hot steam scalds the flesh

• It’s a beast. It’s a machine. It’s a nightmare.

Impressions from the inside

• What looked like a town from the ground is a jumble of house-shaped chambers
linked together through a series of stone tunnels where streets and alleys once
were

• Parts of the mines and the town are merged together

with a bit of hell thrown in for fun

• Some doors are gaping holes with teeth of stone and

splinters waiting to chew on anything that attempts
to pass through them

• Blood seeping in through footwear

• Wild swings in temperature and humidity

• Deeper chambers take on a more organic, fleshy

quality
 36 Dungeon Moves

Consider using one of these dungeon moves or roll 2d6 for some good old random action.
1. Change the environment
1. The ceiling begins to slowly descend.
2. Some kind of noxious liquid bubbles up from holes in the floor. It's flowing toward that flame spouting from the bottom
of the wall over there.
3. Mechenburg is on the move. Things tilt, shake, start to accelerate or suddenly stop.
4. A wall springs up and separates the party into two groups.
5. Everyone feels the weight of intense psychic depression.
6. The room is filling up with flies.
2. Point to a looming threat
1. Howls from a nearby passageway.
2. There are charred bodies strewn about the place.
3. The smell of decay drifts in from the next room.
4. Mechenburg speeds up as if eager to destroy something.
5. There is a chill not related to the temperature.
6. A strong desire to turn and run wells up in all the PCs.
3. Introduce a new faction or type of creature
1. 1d8 Eye-shine Skeletons
2. A Skewerbeast
3. 1d10 Hell-mad Mechenburgers
4. 1d12 Hounders
5. A Mold Shambler
6. 1d6 Living Blade
4. Use a threat from an existing faction or creature
1. The hounders are coming back as undead hounders. They have identical stats only now they have: You have to destroy
its brain!
2. One of the Hell-mad Mechenburgers that got away from you came back with a bigger friend. The new guy/gal has the
same stats only +4HP, +4 damage and Forceful.
3. This room looks like it might fall off the edge of the walker. Those eye-shine skeletons that just came in are helping it
along with their picks.
4. The yips and howls of the hounders can be heard from multiple directions.
5. One Hell-mad Mechenburger shows up wearing a powered mining suit.
6. The skewer beast was hunting for food for its babies.
5. Present riches at a price
1. A hope chest is scurrying about the room on spider legs that are tipped with poisoned daggers.
2. You can close the door to keep the monsters out but you noticed something gleaming in there.
3. That skewerbeast’s weapons would make great swords if we could get it to give them up.
4. The remains of the Bishop of Mechenburg are suspended from the high ceiling by some kind of goop. He’s still clutching
an ornate box. It might take a few arrows to knock it down.
5. The spectacular gem is magically bound to the iron statue. Maybe a spell can release it?
6. A library full of interesting books.
6. Present a challenge to one of the characters
1. There is a secret door here but the only way to open it is by magic.
2. Only one of you is strong enough to hold back the huge roller that is going to drop down and crush everything in the
room.
3. You can see the release switch through the gelatinous wall but you'd have to be able to fire an arrow through the wall
and strike it dead center.
4. Living blades begin to dance toward the party to a very specific rhythm. What would happen if a
different song was played?
5. There is a narrow passage to the other side but only a small animal could get through to where the lever is.
6. There is no way through the barrier without getting poisoned. (Fortunately, one of them is not affected by that particu-
lar poison.)
Poisonous Gas

The lower levels have pockets of poisonous gas the party can unwittingly walk into.
• Knock them unconscious
• Suffocate their brains

The Swallowing Hallway

1d4 Damage, ignores armor

This hallway acts like a giant throat. When the party begins to move through it, they will
irritate it, causing it to close up around them and try to wash them back with a putrid,
acidic liquid.
• Restrict their movement
• Throw them out

The Mind Shaft

This was once the elevator for the mines. Now it descends down a short shaft to the
bowels of Mechenburg.

When you close the door of the elevator and press the switch to descend, pass your
character sheets to the right. The perception of each character in the elevator is
switched with another. You now have the body and skills of one of your companions.
This swap will take place every time the door is closed and the switch is pressed whether
it is ascending or descending.

Can the party figure out how to get to the bottom in their right minds?

(For fun, you might have them explain what they learned from the experience of being in
each other’s minds and mark XP.)
The March of Mechenburg

One thing you can do to add tension to this adventure is to put a handful of counters in
the middle of the table to represent the progress of Mechenburg. As the party makes
mistakes, take away counters. When all the counters are gone, crush a town. How many
towns can be destroyed before they fail in their task? What will happen if they don’t stop
it in time?

Maze

This simple two level maze can be intense when wrong turns can lead to the removal of a
counter.
Skewerbeast

Solitary, Large, Cautious

Skewer-antennae (d10+2 damage 2 piercing) Close

16 HP 4 armor

The Skewerbeast looks like an elk that was merged

with some kind of beetle. The two long antennae
protruding from its face are very precise. They
might make a good weapon if you can manage to
get one from it. These bulky stab-happy creatures
are hard to kill because they are heavily armored
from the front. They will do their best to keep their
weak backsides away from enemies.

Instinct: Skewer and feed

• Stab into a vulnerable place

Eye-Shine Skeleton

Group

Mining Pick (d8+2 damage) Close

10 HP 2 armor

Special Qualities: Bright lights flash from the eyes

The miners of Mechenburg were stripped of their flesh and

remade into an amalgamation of their equipment and their
bones. Instead of head lamps, their eyes shine directed beams
of light bright enough to temporarily blind the living.
Instinct: Kill

• Blind them with a look

 Living Blades

Group, Organized

Sharp Edges (d8 damage) Touch

5 HP 2 armor

They look like giant drill bits. When music begins to play, they will dance
around the room slicing into anything that gets in the way.

• Twirl and slice

Mold Shambler

Solitary, Large, Divine, Amorphous

Bash (d10+4 damage) Touch, Forceful

29 HP 1 armor

A mold shambler looks like a gray-green mass of mold. It is

mostly humanoid in shape. It seeks to spread mold spores into
the lungs of living creatures so that they too can become mold
shamblers. It is slow but strong.

Instinct: Spread the wealth

• Spew mold spores

The Hell-Mad

Group, Stealthy

Claw or bite (d8 damage) Touch

10 HP 0 armor

The Hell-Mad are what remains of the "surviving" Mechenburgers. They have become a
band of brutal, psychopathic prowlers who will do shocking things to bring pain to
visitors.
Instinct: Share the suffering

• Do something unpredictable

• Use the environment

Hounders

Horde

Club (d6 damage) Close

7HP 0 armor

Hounders run in small packs. It's easy to think of them as dog men or
some variant of gnoll but they are much more primitive than that.
Their weapons are really anything they can pick up to beat someone
with. They bay and howl, jibber and bark. There is no clear sense of
communication. Most of them are on the edge of starvation. Party
members probably look like a good meal.

Instinct: Eat fresh meat.

• Attack in a rush

• Flee when hurt

The Butcher

Solitary, Large, Terrifying

Cleaver-hand (d10+2 damage) Touch, Messy

16 HP 1 armor

Special Qualities: Butcher's knives for hands,

Bloody carnage incarnate, Weak against fire

The Butcher is a massive, bloody, stack of meat

in roughly the shape of a man. His arms end in
two oversize meat cleavers. When he isn't trying
to cut something up, he's adding a victim to his
collection of carcasses hanging from the ceiling
by hooks.

Instinct: Make meat products

• Hang them on a meat hook

• Patch wounds with meat

The Baker
Solitary, Large, Magical

Crusty fist (d10 damage) Touch

16 HP 2 armor

The Baker looks like an eight-foot-tall loaf of human-

shaped bread. He has a thick hide of incredibly tough
crust. The room will become hotter and hotter as he
defends himself from attackers.

Instinct: Bake everything

• Turn up the HEAT

• The room is an oven at his command

 The Candlestick Maker

Solitary, Large, Amorphous

Splash of scalding wax (d10+2 damage) Close, Near

30 HP 2 armor

Special Qualities: Body of melting wax

The Candlestick Maker is a huge blob of dripping
wax with a flaming wick at the top. He is very
difficult to kill but if the flame goes out, he will soon
become solid and stuck. He will make every effort to
re-light himself with his vast collection of candles.
Instinct: Wax for you, wax for you and wax for you
• Slow them down with hot wax

Mechanical Canary

100 Coins, 0 Weight

This lovely mechanical contraption will mimic the movements of a real

bird. If it encounters poisonous gas, it will fall over and play dead.

Boom Hammer

100 Coins, (+1 Damage) Close, Awkward, Forceful, 2 Weight

The boom hammer is a sledge hammer that delivers a

powerful extra kick on contact.
Skewerbeast Antenna

30 Coins, (2 Piercing) Close, Precise, 1

Weight

Once removed, a skewerbeast’s antenna makes an excellent weapon. It’s light and retains
its point and keen edges exceedingly well. It can puncture all but the hardest armor.

Mining Suit

200 Coins, 1 Armor, Worn, 0 weight (when worn)

Boom Hammer (+1 Damage) Close, Forceful

Spin Drill Close, 3 Piercing

The mining suit is a combination leather garment/machine skeleton.

Large tools (or weapons) like the boom hammer lose their Awkward tag when the mining
suit is worn. A relatively weak character can lift heavy objects when wearing it.

Letter from a Long Lost Lover

0 Coins, 1 use

When you open the letter from your long lost lover, roll+CHA

On a 10+, the message is uplifting. Explain what you have learned and choose 3.

On a 7-9, the message is a mixture of good and bad news. Choose 1.

• Your spirits are brightened. Gain 1d4 HP.

• You have learned something about yourself. Explain what it is and gain 1 XP.
• You learned something important about Mechenburg. Gain 1 Insight.

At any time, while you are still in Mechenburg, you may spend your Insight. Explain what
you learned and take +2 Forward when you act on the information.
 The Mayor of Mechenburg

Solitary, Intelligent

Longsword (d6 damage) Close

6 HP 0 armor

Willard Pryde was a weak man in every way but his bargain with The Beast Bellow
has transformed him into something “more” than human. While his usual form is
quite easy to overcome, he can divide into a variety of beasts. When the party
reaches him, he will split into as many forms as there are party members (each one a
nasty mimic of their PC counterpart)

Instinct: Rise above all others

• Look for an advantage

• Plead for mercy

The Forms of Willard Pryde

Each form has the instinct: Kill enemies of Willard

Towering Crab Man

Large, Terrifying

Two-handed Claw Sword (b2d10+2 Damage) Close, Messy

12 HP, 2 Armor

8 feet tall. Covered in black, crab-like armor. Massive sword that

looks like half of a claw. Towering Crab-Man. Nuff said.

• Get between enemies and weak allies

• Cut things off
Shrieking Stabtail

Terrifying

Knife tail (d10 Damage) Close, 1 Piercing

8 HP, 1 Armor

The Shrieking Stabtail looks like a man, a scorpion, and a gaping toothy mouth. It will
dive into the fray and try to disrupt the party (especially the bard) with agonizing,
high-pitched shrieks.

• Interrupt a song or spell with a painful shriek

• Stab a leg to bring them down

Blood-Spray Mender

Small, Magical

Psychic Club (d6 Damage) Close, Near

6 HP, 1 Armor

The Blood-Spray Mender appears as a swiftly rolling eggplant with a gash of oozing blood
in one side. As the healer of the group, it will attempt to spray healing blood on the
wounds of its companions (heal 1d6 Damage). It may be small and helpless looking but
when threatened, it can unleash a vicious psychic wallop.

• Fix Willards
• Boom the outsiders
Toxic Slayer

Small, Magical, Flying

Withering Talons (d6 damage) Touch, Toxic

6 HP, 2 Armor

The Toxic Slayer is a wretched, festering falcon that will immediately angle for any
animal companions or hirelings. If it manages to successfully wound a PC, they will
continue to take d4 Damage on misses in addition to other damage they are taking.
These wounds must be magically healed.
• Attack a companion animal
• Poison the natural with the unnatural

Crossbow Cloud

Magical, Amorphous

Splinters (d6 damage) Close, Near, Far

6 HP, 0 Armor

The Crossbow Cloud is a spinning cloud of dark smoke that spits out splinters of wood
like darts from a crossbow. Normal weapon strikes do nothing to it.

• Shoot a weapon or tool out of their hands

• Pin them to a wall or each other
Skulking Backstabber

Stealthy, Devious

Dagger Paws (d8+2 damage) Close

6 HP, 1 Armor

The Skulking Backstabber has a body that mimics a dark gray cloak. It will do everything
it can to get behind enemies and stab them in the back with its dagger paws.

• Disappear into a solid wall

• Stab them in the back

Hooded Spellserpent

Magical

Various nasty spells (d6+1 damage) Close, Near, Far

8 HP, 3 Armor

The Hooded Spellserpent looks like a huge viper until it opens its
hood and reveals an additional face, arms and dark magic. When the
hood is closed, its skin is very resilient and hard to cut or damage.

• Cast a spell that incorporates insects, blood or fire.

When all of Willards forms are defeated, he will take his human shape again and beg for
mercy. The PC with the darkest tendencies or the PC with the most hatred for Willard
will hear a tender voice offering to reward them with power if they will kill him with his
own sword.
 Compendium Class

The Deal-Maker

When you kill Willard Pryde with his own sword, the next time you level up, you may
choose this move:

Binding Contract

When you write up a contract and have someone sign it, they will be magically bound to
fulfill their end of the bargain. If they fail to live up to the agreement, they will soon take
3d10+4 Damage. The GM will describe what horrible event takes place to cause them
harm.

When you take Binding Contract, whenever you level up you can choose from the fol-
lowing moves instead of a move from your class.

Let’s Make a Deal

When you are in a tight spot and intelligent foes want to kill or capture you, make
them an outlandish offer in exchange for your life and freedom. roll +CHA.

On a 10+, they accept your offer and believe you will make good even if doing so would be
impossible.

On a 7-9, they accept your offer but will soon be looking for you and will not likely fall for
it again.

A Boon to Give
When you decide that someone is worthy, give them a Boon. Describe the transaction.
Do you mark them in some way? Is there a special word or sign they must give?

They can use the boon at any time to:

• Take +2 Forward

• Deal 1d6 extra Damage

• Change a roll from 6- into a 7-9

If they still have the Boon and they betray you, they take a Debility of your choice. You
cannot give another Boon until the first is used and you can only give 1 per day.
 Oath Breaker

When you break a promise, an oath or a contract, roll +CHA.

On a 10+, all is forgotten. There is no recollection of your agreement.

On a 7-9, they forgive you even if they shouldn’t but suspect something strange is afoot
and may not trust you a second time.

3 Big Bargains

The first three times you roll Last Breath after you take this move are automatically 7-9
results. After that take -1 to Last Breath rolls.

Willard was never popular or respected by the people of his town. He tried, many times, to find a place of
importance among them without success. Eventually, he gave up and moved to Altenbrook, one of the
loveliest villages in the valley. It was even worse for him there. It was as though he didn’t
exist. Altenbrookers spoke right over the top of him and walked away from him in the middle of transac-
tions. He was nothing to them. It was with a bitter heart that he slunk back to Mechenburg where at least
they acknowledged his existence.

Then the stories came. There was something evil in the mines. It came as a sweet voice and tried to bar-
gain with the miners. They nicknamed it “The Beast Bellow” and were quick to steer each other clear of it.
They wrapped themselves in holy protections and did their best to close off the passages where the voice
came to them. They never stopped mining. The mine was all they had. Even when monsters appeared,
they chalked it up to “all part of a day’s job” and got on with it. Here and there, strange things began to
happen in town. Some of the miners went on lucky streaks or won the notice of fancy girls. Well-to-do
men went missing and healthy people got sick.

Willard understood right away what was happening and set his mind to take advantage of the
situation. He stole into the mines after shift’s end and made the biggest bargain of all. Within a month, he
was appointed mayor. He quickly turned on the miners and, accusing them of witchcraft and demon wor-
shiping, had them sealed in the mines. Surrounding himself with the most depraved members of the com-
munity, he held power for a short time. Then it all came crashing down. Mechenburg sank into the mines.
All of the Mechenburgers suffered at the hands of the dark forces there but only Willard was willing to
make yet another bargain. If he could have Mechenburg, he would bring pain and
destruction to surface dwellers everywhere.
 Now that Willard Pryde is dead…

There are some big questions still to answer.

• What happens to Mechenburg?
• Can Mechenburg still be controlled?
• Will the party clean it out and use it as a mobile base of operations?
• What will the party do about the Beast Bellow?
• Will they travel to the original location of Mechenburg and delve into the hole that
was left behind?
• Are there rewards to collect now that the terror of the walk-around town is
ended?
• Is there a lover that still needs to be found?

Behind the Zine

If you like Sword Breaker, you’ll love Plundergrounds!

If you haven’t already, go right now and grab the first
issue, Ape City, from www.jellysaw.com. The second
issue, Kazarak is available now to Patreon supporters.
It’s well worth $2.00 per issue. Ray Otus gives us a
super polished zine full of excellent art and incredible
content for Dungeon World and OSR games.
Beyond the setting, adventure, items and monsters,
Ray delivers some very nifty mechanical ideas to put a
little extra kick into your game. Plundergrounds is an
inspiration for me. I’m sure you’ll see why.