KNIGHT

The year 2034 was when everything changed. Anathema came as a blight upon our world, its roiling dark-
ness flowing over huge swaths of the globe, swallowing cities, countries, entire continents. From its black
depths unspeakable creatures surged forth, capturing innocent people, murdering families, and spreading
Horror. Through this Horror despair came to grip Humanity’s heart and, piece by piece, the world lost its
colour, its artists, and its will to live.
Fortunately, thanks to a group known as immortals, part of the world did not succumb to the dark.
These 24 men and women, all former political and economic power players, welcomed into their arks those
surviving citizens who wished to find a safe haven from the encroaching darkness. There, in winding cities
huddled under massive domes of light, Humanity staves off the Anathema as well as it can.
And then in 2036 one man came to Dublin and single-handedly fought back the pitch black pall smoth-
ering the city. Garbed in technologically advanced raiments, a meta-armour of breathtaking engineering
prowess, the man who came to be known as Arthur now stands as a paragon of strength and virtue for a
beleaguered Humanity fighting for its survival.
With the support of the immortals, Arthur now leads a force of a thousand meta-armor-equipped
warriors in a merciless battle against the Anathemas. This force is now called The Knight.
You stand with him in those massed ranks of brave fighters.

Welcome to Knight!

CREDITS TABLE OF CONTENTS

Writing Coline Pignat et Simon Gabillaud What is Knight ? 3
Graphic design William Bonhotal, Simon Gabillaud, Introduction to the world of Knight 4
Guillaume Herlin et Coline Pignat
Knight 5
Proofreading Simon Gabillaud, Guillaume Herlin,
Cédric Lameire et Mathieu Tortuyaux Game Mechanics 7
Interior Art Deemoes, Nicolas "Aper" Dujols, Introductory Scenario : An Ark in the Dark 11
Revolver, Rudy Crus, Simon Labrousse,
Meta-armour Technology 21
Ugo, William Bonhotal
Translator Richard Hawkes Pre-made characters 22

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 QUICK START

WHAT IS KNIGHT ?
1 – THE END OF A WORLD 6 – AN EXTENSIVE,
Knight is an apocalyptic game setting that takes place during
CUSTOMIZABLE ARSENAL
the invasion of the Anathema. The darkness’s influence can
be felt the whole world over: artists vanish, colours fade, ob- As multifaceted as Knight may be, action sequences are cer-
jects and nature seem to age at preternatural speeds and tainly a major element of game play. Each character there-
chilling temperatures seep into even the warmest parts of fore has access to a wide range of weapons and modules
the Earth. While the planet and reality itself slowly decay, with which to outfit their meta-armour and perform stun-
Humanity weathers the assault of monstrous creatures ning feats of strength and skill. As a knight’s tales of glory
flowing forth from the darkness. Only the Knight seems able expand, so does the equipment available to them.
to stem the tide.
7 – UNBRIDLED ACTION
2 – EPIC HORROR Knight’s style can be summarized as epic action with a dash
Knight is a game of epic horror. Against a nerve-wracking, of horror. The player characters are fundamentally good
horrific, and terrifying backdrop stand the chivalrous deeds people battling creatures of the Anathema in action se-
of extraordinary knights. While the world around them suf- quences worthy of the Avengers or Pacific Rim. To highlight
fers the brunt of the despair, the atrocities, and the Horror this, each character can obtain Heroism Points which can be
brought on by the Anathema, our heroes are the only ones spent to improve on individual actions or temporarily make
who can fight off these calamitous events and change things them the focus of an entire scene.
– often heroically and in brutal fashion.
8 – INTRIGUE AND SECRECY
3 – MODERN KNIGHTS Knight is a game of secrets with a heavily occult slant to
Heroes of Knight are members of a chivalrous order, follow- it. Over the course of their adventures, players are able to
ing a code of honour and bringing light and hope in their uncover the many truths behind the actual nature of the
wake. To aid them in their battle they wear latest-generation Anathema and those at the helm of the tenebrous invasion.
combat suits called meta-armour, enabling feats of super- They may go so far as to discover the roots of the legends
human prowess and even defying the laws of physics. surrounding the creation of their world and the titanic battle
of light against darkness.
4 – DIFFICULT CHOICES
Knight is not a clear-cut world. One of its underlying princi-
9 – ADVENTURE SETTINGS
ples is that the Knight’s chivalrous code of conduct is often at Knight game masters have access to detailed backdrops
odds with the reality of the world that hey are trying to save, detailing the mood of specific areas, with descriptions of
at odds with the immortals’ whims, and even sometimes at locations of interest, notable characters, adventure hooks.
odds with the necessities of Humanity’s struggle against the
darkness. Difficult choices and sacrifices constantly need to
be made for the sake of Humanity’s salvation.

5 – IN-DEPTH CHARACTER
CREATION
Creating a knight character means knowing or choosing
their past. Drawing 5 Tarot major arcana determines both
a background for the character and their characteristics,
strengths,and weaknesses. In addition to this the player
chooses an archetype, a Great Deed which afforded
the character entrance to the Knight, a division in the
organization,and a blazon or coat of arms representing their
main motivations.

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 KNIGHT

INTRODUCTION TO THE WORLD OF KNIGHT

Knight takes place in the year 2037, following a series of events having radically changed the face of the world.

IMMORTALITY AND Humanity was fighting a losing battle against the Anathema
and its monstrosities, especially given that a bizarre
THE RED PLAGUE phenomenon simply known as despair seemed to take over
In 2029 a scientist in South Africa made a discovery which the minds of whole populations, driving them to suicide or
could change the future of all Humanity: he unlocked a path loodthirsty violence. As Humanity was at its most desperate
to immortality. Fearing the implications of this technology, 24 people revealed themselves to the world as immortals
he decided to destroy his research before the rest of the willing to help save and protect whoever willingly came to
world was made aware of it; unfortunately, it was already them. 24 arks were established on the largest cities of the
too late. The United States was already willing to go to any world, such as Los Angeles and London, and whenever the
lengths to acquire it. A few scant months later a bacteriolog- darkness crept close to these havens giant domes of light
ical bomb fell on the East Coast, bringing about an unprec- would flare up and push it back.
edented epidemic: the red plague In an attempt to combat
the terrible illness, the country chose to cut itself off from A WORLD DIVIDED
the rest of the world. Of course, not all of Mankind chose to flee to the arks. Many
refused out of fear of giving up their freedom in exchange
THE DRAGON AND THE NODACHI for barely veiled slavery. Those who chose to live outside the
That same year every country in Asia banded together to arks, numbering in the millions, are now known as dregs.
form a union commonly known as the Asian Dragon. Only They strive to survive in a forsaken world, some going as far
Japan refused to join them and, a few years later, the Dragon as to live in the darkness itself.
imposed an economic blockade on the island under false Free territories are the last type of surviving faction.Some
pretences. The blockade didn’t last long, however. The regions in the Southern hemisphere and close to the equator
Nodachi – a hi-tech Japanese security company with agents suffered less from Anathema’s arrival. Since these aeras were
strategically placed all over the world – decided to take mostly underdeveloped countries, the immortals deemed
action. Over the course of one night during the winter of them beneath their notice and were therefore not invited to
2033, every single head of state of the Asian Dragon was join the arks. Spread out across the globe and quite unlike
abducted and its president dragged before Japan’s emperor. each other, these free territories are the last type of surviving
A short while later the Dragon declared Japan to be under its faction and have banded together by necessity in order to
protection, and the Nodachi its official standing army. survive.

ANATHEMA AND THE ARKS

Everything changed in 2034. An unnatural darkness ap- Some sources of inspiration to get to grips with the
peared on Earth; a phenomenon known as the Anathema. world of Knight :
Wherever it appeared, the world was radically transformed:
In the Near-East, a tangible night-time settled upon A rough estimate of meta-armour strength: Iron
the land out of which no living soul has ever managed Man (both film and comics), Pacific Rim (Guillermo Del
to escape. Toro), Guyver (Yoshiki Takaya), Apple Seed (Masamune
In the Asian Flesh Dominion, from Korea to Malaysia, Shirow).
the local populace has been replaced by a kind of veg- General ambiance: Judge Dredd (the latest film and
etation made of flesh, organs, teeth, bones, and nails.
the comics), the Chromazone cycle (Stéphane Beauver-
In the central European Beast’s Dominion, the line be- ger), Last Man Standing (Dan Luvisi), Equilibrium (Kurt
tween man and animal has started to blur, both be-
Wimmer), Sin City (Frank Miller), the Mutant Chronicles
coming twisted predators relying on their most primi-
role-playing game .
tive survival instincts.
On the East coast of North America lies the Domin- Knight (the organization): The whole of the Arthu-
ion of the Machine. Void of life since the red plague, rian legend, SHIELD (the Marvel organization created
all manner of machines havesprung to life and whole in Strange Tales #135), Warhammer 40,000 Space Ma-
towns seem to move of their own accord. rines.
In the Lady’s Dominion in the Sahara Desert profound
The darkness and its denizens: Blame!, Biomega, and
darkness is paired with impossibly low temperatures,
preventing anyone from uncovering the place’s Knight of Sidonia (Tsutomu Nihei), Princess Mononoke
secrets. and Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki), novels by Clive
Barker and Stephen King, horror films ranging from
Slightly more diluted stains of darkness have appeared
here and there, with glimpses of creatures bearing white The Exorcist to Rec.
masks just visible within – elusive servants of the Mask.

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 QUICK START

KNIGHT

The Knight is one of the few effective ramparts against the Other seats at the Round Table remain vacant, waiting only
forces of the Anathema and all the Horror accompanying for capable knights to prove by their valorous deeds that
it. The organization’s members are generally viewed by the they are worthy to lead their own section.
people of the arks, the free territories and even by the dregs
as saviours, bearers of light and hope. Some valourous knights are chosen to become squires, op-
erating outside of the divisions and directly under the orders
HISTORY OF THE ORGANIZATION of a Knight of the Round Table. The PCs are part of this elite.

The Knight is the result of the efforts of two men known

most commonly by their assumed names: Merlin and Arthur. THE KNIGHT’S CODE
The former created the famed meta-armours and the latter
Knights are for the most part fundamentally good
demonstrated their effectiveness by single-handedly put-
people whose fondest wish is to save Humanity. They
ting an end to the darkness hanging over Dublin.
must adhere to a strict code of honour containing
This great feat allowed the two to acquire the support
principles such as respecting one’s superiors, relent-
of the immortals. Arthur and Merlin founded Knight in Lon-
lessly opposing the Anathema and all its servants, and
don’s Westminster Palace and named it Camelot. They re-
ceived enough funding to create first a hundred and then protecting the innocent.
a thousand meta-armours. There was no lack of candidates
and now only the most heroic of aspirants have the honour
of donning one of the 14 armour models devised by Merlin.

STRUCTURE
Knight is currently made up of a thousand combatants in
meta-armour and around 15,000 civilian personnel. The
paramilitary group has a hierarchy relying on honour, respect,
and principles based on the Arthurian legends of old. Arthur
leads Knight as its liege, with Merlin as his advisor.

Knights of the organization are sorted by Divisions, each of

which is under the orders of a knight of the Round Table:
Kay leads Ogre division, specializing in bringing the
fight to the darkest corners of enemy territory.
Gawain is the head of Giant division, producing and
maintaining both meta-armours and their arsenal
while researching and developing new techniques to
battle the darkness.
Lamorak is responsible for Gargoyle division, praetori-
an guards tasked with protecting valuable members of
the Knight, public figures and civilians alike.
Lancelot heads Dragon division, focused on despair
and those who have succumbed to it.
Palomydès is the head of Korrigan division, the intelli-
gence branch of the Knight.
Dagonnet founded Cyclops division in an attempt to
understand the Anathema’s inner workings.
Bohort leads Griffin division’s ace pilots and fighters
specializing in high-speed, vehicular combat.
Sagramor is in charge of the hotheaded recruits of
Tarask division, who make up the recklessly brave
assault team of the Knight.
Last but not least, Bedivere leads the Kraken section’s
elite warriors to battle against incarnations of the
Lords of the Anathema.

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 KNIGHT
META-ARMOURS
There are currently 14 different types of meta-armor (with
even more to be discovered in the Knight campaign),
designed to complement each other:
The Warrior meta-armour provides its wearer with
great versatility, being able to adapt to any situation.
The Paladin meta-armour is capable of sustaining a
higher rate of fire with ranged weaponry than any
other armour and can protect teammates and civil-
ians with localized force-field dome
The Priest meta-armour is able to repair other armours
and create both simple and complex structures out
of thin air thanks to the use of nanomachines.
The Warmaster meta-armour can generate impulses
enhancing the performances of other armours and
can pinpoint enemies’ weaknesses.
The Rogue meta-armour allows its wearer to turn
invisible for short bursts of time.
The Bard meta-armour manipulates holographic
fields allowing its wearer to look like anyone or
anything.
The Ranger meta-armour sports a polymorphic
rifle capable of producing any type of ammuni-
tion with all kinds of devastating effects.
The Wizard meta-armour creates blinding
waves of light and remotely manipulates
plasma.
The Barbarian meta-armour can grow to
be several additional metres taller, gain-
ing fearsome strength and destructive
power.
The Psion meta-armour can eavesdrop on
communications between creatures of the
darkness and take control of them.
The Monk meta-armour can use the
substance called element alpha found
originally in the darkness to create beams
and waves of dark destructive energy.
The Sorcerer meta-armour has a metamor-
phic body and can phase, stretch, and rein-
force itself at whim, changing its own limbs
into weapons.
The Druid meta-armour uses nanomachines
to surround itself with mechanical
companions.
Rumours of a Necromancer meta-armour
abound but so far no proof of its existence or
purpose has been found...

In addition to the impressive suits of armour, each knight

has access to a range of weapons and modules which allow
them to fill as many roles as necessary: combat, protection,
infiltration, etc.

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 QUICK START

GAME MECHANICS
Knight’s game mechanic, called the combo system, is straightforward and easy to grasp, relying on player descriptions of
their actions.

ASPECTS AND COMBO SYSTEM

CHARACTERISTICS
COMBOS
Each character is defined by 5 aspects, each of which
To perform an action with an uncertain outcome, the player
governs 3 characteristics, for a total of 15 skills. Aspects are
character (hereafter referred to as PC) must combine two
the major defining traits of a given player character, whereas
different characteristics. The first of these, known as the base
characteristics are more specific skill sets.
characteristic or base is usually chosen by the Game Master
Flesh: This aspect represents vigour, the body’s health, (hereafter referred to as GM). The other characteristic
strength, and physical attractiveness, appearance. is chosen by the player, who may (or should) justify their
choice by describing how they intend to perform the action.
Movement: General mobility and speed, how fast and
The resulting pair of characteristics is known as the combo.
gracefully a character moves.
Depending on how hard the action is, the player’s description
Strength: Brute force, muscle mass and how much a and how applicable the GM judges the combo to be, the GM
character can lift. then decides on a Difficulty for the skill check.
Endurance: A character’s resistance to fatigue, illness,
DICE ROLLS
poisons, rough climates, etc.
Once the combo has been chosen, the player rolls a number
Beast: This aspect represents a character’s instincts, reflexes, of six-sided dice equal to the sum of the two characteristics
and the sharpness of their senses. used. Even numbers are successes, to which may be added
Aggressiveness: A character’s fighting spirit and cour- automatic successes from overdrives (see page 9).
age when faced with adversity.
OPPOSITION
Combat: Used for all manner of hand-to-hand and
melee combat. In the case of a skill check against an opponent, the GM does
not choose a difficulty; rather, they select a base score from
Instinct: A character’s intuition, reflexes, and orienteer-
the NPC’s stat sheet, choosing an appropriate aspect for the
ing skills.
test (NPCs do not have individual characteristics). Once the
Machine: This aspect represents cold calculation as well as aspect has been selected, the GM divides it by two (rounded
detached planning and memorizing. up) to determine the test’s difficulty. In a combat situation,
Ranged: How skilled a character is with ranged or the Defence (for melee) or Reaction (against ranged weap-
thrown weapons. ons) values are used without halving.

Knowledge: Academic knowledge and facts at a char- CRITICAL FAILURE

acter’s disposal, as well as their skill at tending wounds.
If a player fails to get a single success on their dice roll, even
Tech: A character’s technological savvy and general if they have automatic successes via overdrives then, the
skill with machines. action fails automatically – often in a tragic or disastrous
manner. It is up to the GM to decide what the dire conse-
Lady: This aspect represents charm, charisma, and the ability
quences of a critical failure may be.
to attract others or speak eloquently in front of a crowd.
Aura: Magnetism, the sheer charisma and charm of GREAT FEAT
a character. A great feat is the opposite of a critical failure. When all the
Eloquence: Loquaciousness, fast-talking, banter – a dice thrown for a test are successes, the PC may roll them
character’s ability to convince with words. again (but only once) and add any further successes to their
Composure: A character’s willpower and how tight a previous result. (Overdrives, however, are only ever added
grip they have on their emotions. once).

Mask: This aspect represents the ability to demonstrate du-

plicity, deception or stealth.

" No success is ever small

Stealth: The ease with which a character hides objects
or themself.
Dexterity: How nimble-fingered a character is, and the No failure ever irreparable "
precision of their hand-eye coordination.
Acuity: The ability to spot small details and analyse Arthur
them, also a character’s empathy.

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 KNIGHT

DIFFICULTY LEVELS
To succeed at a skill check a PC requires a higher number
of successes than the difficulty set by the GM. To set the
difficulty level the GM can take into account the conditions
surrounding the action, how appropriate the chosen combo
is, and the player’s description of their attempt.

Easy Difficulty 1
Simple Difficulty 2
Normal Difficulty 3
Tricky Difficulty 4
Trying Difficulty 5
Difficult Difficulty 6
Complex Difficulty 7
Very Difficult Difficulty 9
Insurmountable Difficulty 12
Impossible Difficulty 15

COOPERATING
For most actions the PCs can choose to help each other
in order to improve their chances of success. Once the PC
performing the action has decided which characteristics are
going to be used for the skill check, one or several help-
ers (3 at the most) can roll a number of dice equal to one
(and only one) of their own characteristics. No characteristic
can be used more than once in the skill check, either by the
PC or the helpers. Any additional successes that the helpers
roll are added to the success total of the PC attempting the
check. Cooperation is always subject to GM approval and
may be considered impossible in certain situations.
SCENES AND CONFLICT PHASES
A Knight game session is divided into scenes and conflict
Phases. Scenes are units of time and places during which
CALCULATED SCORES
the PCs can act freely, in whatever order they wish. A conflict
phase, on the other hand, can happen at any point during a INITIATIVE
scene, or between scenes. Conflicts are the moments when Initiative represents how quickly a character acts in a risky or
opposition arises between PCs or PCs and one or several crucial situation. At the start of a conflict phase initiative is
NPCs, and the need for solving matters with dice rolls arises. determined by adding the total of 3D6 (three six-sided dice)
three to the character’s initiative score.
TURNS
Should a PC wish to delay their action they may, but their
Unlike relatively free scenes, conflict phases always happen
whole turn must be played at the same time (both actions at
in a turn-based manner, each actor involved in the action
once). Once the next turn starts, the character can act at the
taking turns at their initiative, starting with the highest and
initiative they determined for this scene.
ending with the lowest, until the conflict is resolved.
On average a turn lasts 6 to 10 seconds and each PC DEFENCE
may, in this time frame, perform one move action and one
In melee combat, Defence is the score that must be beaten
combat action.
in order to strike an opponent and deal weapon damage
A move action can be at best a supplementary action, to them. This score represents all types of actions such as
such as moving around, using small items, waving and ges- parrying, dodging, etc.
turing, or activating some armour modules and effects.
Combat actions are actions aimed at solving the phase’s
REACTION
conflict. This can mean attacking in battle, making an im- In ranged combat, Reaction is the score that must be beaten
portant point in an argument, or performing a complicated in order to hit an opponent and deal weapon damage to
activity. combat actions always require a dice roll. A PC may them. This score represents all types of actions such as
choose to downgrade their combat action to a move action. dodging, seeking cover, and so on.

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DAMAGE AND SURVIVAL META-ARMOUR

When a PC or an NPC scores higher than their opponent’s Meta-armour is what turns a character from a regular person
Defence or Reaction value, they inflict damage in the form of into a superhuman defender of Humanity. Each suit has spe-
one of two types. cial abilities and specific overdrives, and may be equipped
with a wide range of modules.
DAMAGE
ARMOUR POINTS (AP)
A weapon’s damage value is an indicator of the direct
physical harm it inflicts on a PC or NPC target. Damage is Armour points represent an armour’s general sturdiness.
subtracted from the health of the target or their armour When these points reach 0 the armour folds. When that hap-
points (if they have any). Damage is usually the sum of a pens, it retracts into its wearer’s Guardian bodysuit, a kind of
number of D6 plus an occasional fixed bonus. dry suit with a rudimentary force field and a framework for
worn armour to latch onto. APs are comparable to addition-
VIOLENCE al HPs in that, any damage taken is subtracted from the AP
Violence is a more abstract form of destruction caused by a pool first. Armour points can be restored vie armour nodes
weapon or module, and is an indicator of its ability to cause and the Priest meta-armour’s special ability.
widespread mayhem and fear in large groups of enemies While APs afford a great deal of protection to a character
(also called bands). Violence is subtracted from a band’s co- they do not render them entirely immune to trauma. When-
hesion value. Violence is usually the sum of a number of D6 ever damage is received, for every 5 points inflicted to their
plus an occasional fixed bonus. AP pool the wearer also reduces their HPs by 1, to reflect the
character in the suit taking part of the blow.
HEALTH POINTS (HP)
ENERGY POINTS (EP)
When a PC reaches 0 health points, they are at death’s door; in
this state the most they can do is crawl to safety. If no med- Each meta-armour has an energy point pool. These points
ical assistance is given to them in the next 3 turns, they suc- are spent when activating most modules and special abil-
cumb to their wounds and die. ities. If an armour’s energy points equal 0, the PC can no
longer use any modules or gain advantages linked to their
HEALING overdrives. EPs recharge at a rate of 6 per hour’s rest or by
Health points are regained at a rate of 1 point every 6 hours’ using energy nodes.
rest while away on a mission. They can be recovered much
FORCE FIELD (FF)
faster thanks to injections from a health nod (a type of au-
tomatic syringe). An armour’s force field is subtracted from all damage a PC
takes. If damage inflicted is reduced to 0 thanks to a force
field then it is simply ignored.
FIGHTING WITH
IMPROVISED WEAPONS OVERDRIVES (OD)

In appropriate locales (city streets, factories, etc.) An overdrive in a characteristic provides one automatic
characters in Barbarian armour or equipped with success in any skill check the characteristic is used for
Strength overdrives can fight using pieces of the (whether it is the base characteristic or part of the combo).
If both characteristics of a skill check have an overdrive, two
scenery. Wrenching free a piece of scenery to serve as
automatic successes are added to the success total of the
an improvised weapon takes a move action, and hitting
check. Should a character have more than one overdrive in a
something with it takes a combat action. The bigger
given characteristic the successes are added up.
the item used, the higher the damage or violence
(anywhere from 2D6 to 12D6) at the GM’s discretion.
A knight cannot use both his regular weapons and an
improvised weapon simultaneously.

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 KNIGHT

HOPE
A character’s hope score can fluctuate due to a variety of Caution : Bear in mind that the GM can have an enemy
factors (fear, depression, Horror, substance abuse, solitude, attack with any aspect, so long as it fits the description of the
a mission failure, etc.). When the GM deems it necessary, he attack. White-masked creatures striking from the shadows
may ask for a hope check symbolizing a character’s stead- can use the Mask aspect, for instance.
fast or faltering determination when faced with particular- EXCEPTIONAL ASPECTS
ly gruelling situations. This skill check always uses the Ag-
An NPC’s exceptional aspects are the enemy equivalent of
gressiveness and Composure characteristic combo against a
overdrives, adding automatic successes to any dice rolls
difficulty that the GM choses (depending on how likely a
using the appropriate aspect. They can have additional ef-
given situation is to sap the PC’s reserves of inner fortitude).
fects depending on their strength; these are explained in
If the PC succeeds at the check then all is well and nothing
detail in the NPC stat blocks.
happens. On an unsuccessful check, however, they lose 1D6
hope points (or more at the GM’s discretion). ABILITIES
When a PC’s hope score drops below 10, they use one NPCs may have one or more abilities, some of which are
fewer die per score below 10 in all rolls they make. shared by several NPCs and others unique to a specific NPC.
If a PC loses all their hope points then they become a All NPC special abilities are explained and detailed in their
black knight, a hopeless. The GM proceeds to take control stats block.
of them as they face their former allies.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF NPC
There are four distinct types of NPC in Knight: bands, brutes,
HEROISM badasses, and bosses.
OBTAINING HEROISM Bands are enemies that fight in large numbers and cannot
be considered individually. They always act at initiative 1
Each individual PC can stock up to 6 Heroism points. They
(with no additional dice roll). Furthermore they have two
start with none, but the GM can reward particularly brave
unique scores:
and spectacular actions and initiatives by giving points as
they see fit. Cohesion: A band’s general hardiness (life, morale…).
The only way to lower a band’s cohesion is to deal it
SPENDING HEROISM weapon violence. When a band’s cohesion reaches 0,
A Heroism point can be spent by a PC in one of the fol- it is considered to be eradicated or routed.
lowing ways: Overrun: Bands never attack, instead, they automati-
Shrug off a death’s door effect by going back up to cally deal their overrun score when it comes to their
1 HP. The heroism point must be spent just as the turn. Each subsequent turn the band’s overrun score
character loses their last health point. adds to its previous amount of damage dealt: for ex-
ample, a 5-point overrun score deals 10 damage on
Ignore the loss of a character’s last hope point, in the
the second turn, 15 on the third, and so on.
same manner as ignoring their last health point.
Immediately reroll any dice roll they make. Brutes are individual enemies of relatively weak strength.
Inflict maximum damage or violence on a given attack. Attacking mostly in groups of 3, 6, or 12, tThey can only be
Add a third characteristic to a combo (including OD wounded by weapon damage.
bonuses if applicables). The heroism point must be
Badasses and powerful NPCs, usually capable of going toe-
spent before any dice are rolled.
to-toe with a knight for several rounds. There are 1 to 5 ba-
PLAYING AN NPC dasses in most battles (depending on how challenging the
fight is and the number of PCs). They can only be wounded
ASPECTS AND CALCULATED SCORES by weapon damage.

NPCs, like PCs, have both aspects and calculated scores. Bosses are particularly strong NPCs. They are usually unique
However, they do not have characteristics – when they need beings capable of neutralizing one or several PCs. They can
to perform a skill check the GM should choose the most only be wounded by weapon damage.
appropriate aspect and use a number of dice equal to the
aspect score. Calculated scores are used in the same way as
PCs’ scores with two notable additions:
Shield: Shield value is similar to a meta-armour’s force " Our Hope dwells
field value, but can be bypassed by weapons with the
anti-Anathema effect. even in our Tears "
Weak Point: An enemy’s weak point indicates which
Palomydès
characteristic to use in a combo in order to halve the
enemy’s Defence and Reaction ratings for that attack.

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 QUICK START

INTRODUCTORY SCENARIO
AN ARK IN THE DARK

Hey players, if you’re not running this scenario then stop reading here!

SCENARIO DESCRIPTION OUTLINE

Lancelot, one of the Knights of the Round Table, sends a
Mission type: Investigation, atmospheric, action group of squires – fresh recruits – to investigate an elabo-
Influences: This scenario’s setting is liberally inspired by Pete rately staged murder in Lifehold 287 at the far north of the
Travis’ film Dredd (2012). That film’s entire soundtrack can London ark, in the Cambridge area. The corpse of one Emily
be used to add a sordid, cyberpunk, and militaristic tone to Jones, an employee of the lifehold’s Byrdmart, was found in
the mission. her apartment, her body horribly lacerated. A white mask
was sewn to her face, and nine hooks and black wire stuck in
This straightforward scenario serves as an introduction her back suspended her from her ceiling.
to Knight, allowing the PCs to get to grips with the game News of the crime has started to ripple through the life-
system as well as the main thematic elements of the game. hold and across the ark itself.
The events of An Ark in the Dark take place in the London To keep despair from taking over the inhabitants of the
ark, Humanity. In an urban setting steeped in future tech hold the squires need to race against the clock, solve the
and occult ambiance, our heroes will have to investigate sin- mystery behind Emily’s murder, and confront the killers. It
ister crimes in a dilapidated lifehold, fight shadowy cultists, soon becomes clear, however, that Lifehold 287 has its share
and prevent a bloody ritual from opening a gateway to dark- of secrets and houses a gang whose activities serve to fur-
ness in the heart of London. ther the Anathema’s interests...

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 KNIGHT

OPERATIONS ORDER
(Read this to your players)

Esteemed squires,

The general administrator of the London ark and the manager of Lifehold 287, located in
Cambridge, have requested our assistance. A despicable murder has been committed in
the lifehold, that of a young woman by the name of Emily Jones, an employee of the local
Byrdmart. Your orders are to find those guilty of this heinous crime and bring them back to
Camelot to be tried and judged. You must also find out what led to this terrible act. The local
militia have been instructed to aid you to the full extent of their ability. You have free rein to
undertake any and all actions necessary to accomplish your endeavour.

Be swift and merciless.

Lancelot

WHAT IS A LIFEHOLD?
London’s lifeholds are huge buildings built when the
capital became an ark. 300 lifeholds were established
NES
S ABOU T EMILY JO to shelter the large number of people requiring living
A FEW WORD l space; lifehold 1 is in London’s city centre and number
in a potentia
w o m an is the first victim 300 is the farthest away.
o ld
This 25-year-
o f m ur ders. reat note – Each lifehold rises a staggering hundred floors
se ri es
ai ns nothing of g
Her backgro
un d co nt parents died spanning 700 to 1000 square metres, its ground
w hi ch to speak (her d
she has no fa
m ily o f incursions) an floor crowded with shops, bars, and clubs and the
in g th e fir st Anathema er al st o re ).
in Dublin dur (t he lif eh old’s gen upper floors housing average citizens. Richer, more
Byrdmar t intance f o
works at the r, sh e m ad e the acqua influential citizens have the luxury of living in the city
y for he 7’s lowlife th
ugs.
Unfortunatel
o ne of Lifehold 28 ed centre. Each lifehold also has around four sub-levels,
Marty El lio t, a drug nam
g o t he r hooked on r th at th e basements crammed with tiny apartments for the
The man convince he
ce ed ed to o re impoverished.
d pro d theref
penombra an anity’s only
salvation an
s w as H um o n. D espite the Every lifehold has a few militia stations with
darknes ed to in vade Lond of
needed to b
e al lo w ined his crew
e m an ’s ra vings Emily jo nd al s, an d hundreds of combat and surveillance drones as well
th eers, va
madness of b ra d ealers, racket as state-of-the-art security systems. Unfortunately,
en o m
around 50 p
nths ago. ty’s the further one travels from the city centre the less
pimps 10 mo began to real
ize that Mar
se d , Em ily p p in g the well maintained the lifeholds seem to be, with fewer
As time pas worshi
fa ct a cu lt dedicated to fin d a w ay militia or maintenance personnel.
gang was in tried to
o f th e A na thema. She , to o ho o ke d
dark forces herself in b ut
e ha d g o t ho ld
ess sh arty’s
out of the m to escape M PENOMBRA
o m b ra , ne ver managed
on pen The drug penombra is a fine black powder. When
on her.
inhaled, it gives the user vivid hallucinations, making
them believe for a time that they are another person or
creature, often a predator and an incredibly powerful
one at that. There are rumors that it might come from
the darkness itself.

- 12 -
 QUICK START

ACT 1
THE WOMAN IN APARTMENT 133
The player characters arrive at Lifehold 287 at the close of
the day, just as night is falling. They are greeted in the dingy,
poorly maintained entrance hall by Chief Barnes, head of the
THE ATMOSPHERE OF
local militia. Barnes is a cold, hard, and unfriendly man who
LIFEHOLD 287
seems to not take kindly to the knights’ presence. Flanked This huge edifice was built barely a year ago and was
by four members of the militia, he leads the PCs along a presented as an example of cutting-edge modernity.
maze of winding corridors, through a few poorly guarded Today it almost exclusively houses poor residents,
security checkpoints, and to a rusty service elevator. Stop- employees, or the penniless and destitute. In a dismal
ping on floor 13, the group swiftly proceeds to apartment state of disrepair and prematurely aged due to its
proximity to the darkness outside of the ark, Lifehold
133, the scene of the crime.
287 is bathed in a horror film ambiance. These include
pallid flickering neon lights, dreary whitewashed
THE MURDER SCENE
walls, loudspeakers sputtering with intermittent static,
Once in front of the apartment, Chief Barnes explains that gurgling drainage audible through the walls, and so
the body was found by the neighbour from across the hall, on. Broken security cameras and drones go unfixed
who immediately contacted the militia. The man, Alex Camp, and ignored, and the AR (augmented reality) system
was on his way to work – as a bartender in a club called has followed suit. This is why, unlike most other places
the Black Jack – two hours ago when he noticed the door to live, the inhabitants are barely supervised, and a
was ajar. Taking a look inside, he came face-to-face with the criminal element has developed in this gloomy and
horrible scene within. The knights can interrogate Alex after dangerous underground world.
visiting the crime scene, should they wish. Its inhabitants seem fearful and skittish, trying as
best they can to stay out of trouble and believing
As they step into the living area, the knights are greet-
themselves forsaken by the powers that be in London.
ed by an abominable tableau. A young woman stands, arms
This is neither completely true nor false: Lifehold 287
raised, in the middle of the living room. Her face is covered
has been left unattended because it is considered
by a white mask and her naked body is drenched in blood
cursed, as if everything in it were dysfunctional, be it
that has flowed from nine deep gashes. The fatal wound,
the people or the infrastructure. Despite repair teams
however, appears to be a knife cut to her throat. From her
and inquiries into the problems plaguing the lifehold,
back and the rear of her arms nine thin dark wires travel the source of this curse has yet to be found.
from hooks in her body to hooks on the ceiling, keeping her
upright. Dried blood covers the entirety of the front of her SIZE DOES MATTER
body, from neck to toe, and has pooled around her feet on
the dark brown carpet. Remember that in the confines of the lifehold the
PCs cannot use their Leap modules as easily as if they
Scattered all around her are dozens of red candles,
were outdoors. Also, the Barbarian meta-armour’s
burned almost to nothing, bathing the scene in an ethereal,
Goliath mode cannot be used to its full potential in
almost mystical light.
the upper floors since the ceiling height is usually
around 4 metres.
HOPE CHECK
Witnessing apartment 133’s macabre contents is a
perfect opportunity to test the PCs’ hope. In Knight a
character’s willpower, mental fortitude, and resistance
to despair are always represented by one simple skill
check: an Aggressiveness and Composure combo. This
one of the few instances when the players have no
choice in the matter of which skills to use.
" A man who tames Horror
Additionally, depending on how horrific or is in truth a Hero "
demoralizing a scene is, it is up to the GM decide
on the difficulty of the skill check. In case of failure, Lancelot
a character loses 1 to 1d6 hope points. GMs, bear
in mind that in Knight most horrible, sad, and
demoralizing scenes allow you to freely test the PCs’
hope! Do it as soon as possible.

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 KNIGHT

Once the knights have got over this horrific spectacle, Listed below are the clues the PCs can find by rummaging
they can inspect the apartment and its contents. It is rather through the victim’s apartment and belongings, as well as
small, with the cramped living room housing the grisly the base skill required to do so:
murder scene and leading to an open kitchen on one side.
At the rear end of the living room stands a door leading to a With Acuity-based checks, difficulty easy (1) to normal (3):
bedroom and a small bathroom. A lone window in the bed- The front door is intact, showing no signs of forced
room peers out over the car park at the back of the lifehold.
entry. The victim may have known her murderer and
The window is shut tight and bears no particular markings.
willingly invited them in.
Listed below are the clues the PCs can find by inspecting Two glasses, smelling faintly of alcohol, are in the sink.
the victim’s body, as well as the base skill required to do so: There are around fifty candles in total. In a bin in the
With Knowledge-based checks, difficulty easy (1) to normal (3): corner are five empty plastic packaging sleeves for ten
Byrdmart candles each. Byrdmart is the lifehold’s gen-
The young woman has only been dead for a matter of
eral store.
hours. The blood may have dried but there is no rigor
mortis and necrophagous insects have yet to find the In a bin in the bathroom is a small, empty vial con-
body. taining trace amounts of a fine black powder. An easy
The neck wound is ostensibly the fatal blow. A large (1) Knowledge-based check identifies the substance
amount of spilled blood stems from that one cut. as penombra, a powerful madness-inducing narcotic
substance.
The nine other slashes seem to have been made to
inflict as much pain as possible.
With an Instinct-or Acuity-based check, difficulty normal (3)
The hooks in her back and arms are quite clean. They to trying (5):
have been screwed into the bone, two on her spinal
One of the apartment’s air vents has been pried loose;
cord, one in the neck, two in the shoulder blades, one
behind it is a small pouch containing four vials filled to
in each shoulder and one per elbow, with a quasi-
surgical precision. the brim with more penombra.

With Acuity-based checks, difficulty easy (1) to normal (3): Once the knights are ready to leave the apartment, Chief
The white mask on the victim’s face is made of porcelain Barnes asks them what they should do with the body. It’s up
and black fabric. It has been tightly sewn to her flesh with to the PCs to decide – usual procedure is to have the militia
fine white thread. The needlework is very precise. contact the local morgue and the victim’s family (which is
A recent tattoo of a rose intertwined with the name not an issue in this instance).
"Marty " can be seen on the young woman’s shoulder. The PCs now have several leads: question the neighbours,
One of her arms bears a small needle mark, suggesting try to find out more about the candles at the hold’s Byrd-
she may have been injected with something. mart, and set out to find "Marty".
There are no defensive wounds or blood on her nails or fore- See the following for optional scenes for each of these
arms. No bruising indicating restraints of any kind, suggest- possibilities. Bear in mind that the knights must investigate
ing that she may not have struggled and was not tied up. This the old-fashioned way, given that the lifehold’s drones and
means she was likely drugged while arranged in this fashion cameras are mostly out of order.

- 14 -
 QUICK START

OPTIONAL SCENE: OPTIONAL SCENE:

DOOR-TO-DOOR INQUIRIES WITH THE MILITIA
The PCs may wish to question the apartment’s neighbours, The knights may, of course, approach the militia and Chief
particularly Alex Camp. In addition to Alex, the people living Barnes for any information they might have. The main militia
station is in the lifehold’s entrance hall on the ground floor.
in apartments 132 and 134 have a little information to share.
Although he may not like the PCs’ presence on his turf and
make that fact blatantly obvious by being as disrespectful
Jane Olson, number 132:
as he feels he can get away with, Chief Barnes does abide
This forty-year-old woman lives here alone and works as by his hierarchy’s orders. He grudgingly cooperates with the
cleaning lady in a nearby hospital. She seems sad and tired, knights, giving them information about the Black Jack and
like everyone else on this floor, but has no idea why. All she Emily. The militia itself, despite being woefully understaffed,
knows about Emily’s apartment is that she had a lot of vis- can also provide some backup in a pinch.
itors coming and going, all men, sometimes in groups. She The Black Jack is a club located on the ground floor of
did not know Emily well, and has nothing more to offer. the lifehold. It doesn’t have a good reputation, due to
a strong criminal element – several organized gangs
Mike and Gina Hammond, number 134 : of thougs and dealers – and the militia has been called
there to break up brawls quite frequently of late.
This elderly couple, as tired and sad as the other inhabitants
The militia lacks up-to-date information on the inhab-
of the lifehold luckily (for the PCs) have a tendency to spy on
itants of Lifehold 287, since very few people here have
their neighbours. They have some gossip to share:
access to technological devices which would allow for
First, they heard quite a bit of noise coming from Emi- monitoring. The augmented reality network has been
ly’s apartment these past few days, mainly loud music offline for months and with the cameras’ state of dis-
and raised but unintelligible voices. repair the militia has very little means other than pa-
trolling to keep an eye on the citizenry.
Then they saw a fair-haired young man wearing jeans
and a brown leather jacket (Marty Elliot, but they don’t Despite their lack of files on specific groups in the
hold, the militia is aware of weapon and drug traffick-
know his name) come by increasingly often, some-
ing, especially in the lower levels.
times in the company of several other young men.
If asked, Barnes reluctantly admits that his militia only
The last they heard from the apartment was several
has fifty members. A dangerously small number for
men leaving a few hours ago, late in the afternoon. such a large lifehold.
They heard a few voices, but nothing more.

Alex Camp, number 143:

OPTIONAL SCENE:
The young Black Jack barman is short, brown-haired and BYRDMART INVESTIGATION
slightly paunchy. He’s emotionally distraught and seems in-
timidated by the knights. He lays out how his discovery hap- If the PCs decide to head to the Byrdmart they can ask the
cashiers or the manager, Samuel Bass, for information. De-
pened quite simply – he was leaving his apartment for his
spite willing cooperation on their behalf, these people have
evening shift, saw the door across the hall was open, peeked
little light to shed on the situation. The best they can do is
inside and saw the terrible sight inside. He called the militia
retrieve an invoice for a large number of red candles with a
immediately. Should the PCs choose to question him further, delivery address: the Black Jack club.
ask for an Eloquence-based skill check difficulty easy (1) to
normal (3), to find out the following:
Alex had fallen in love with Emily and sometimes went
to her place to chat with her.
Emily was hanging with a rough crowd, in particular a
bunch of young thugs Alex has seen in the Black Jack.
Their leader apparently knows his boss, Avi Hausman.
One of them tried to threaten him to get him to stay
away from Emily. Alex doesn’t know the man’s name,
but what he can say about him – young, blonde, brown
leather jacket – fits description the Hammonds gave.
He doesn’t have an alibi, apart from the fact that he’s
the one who called the militia.

- 15 -
 KNIGHT

ACT 2
THE DRUG DEALERS
By now, the PCs should be headed for the Black Jack in an MEETING AVI
attempt to follow up on their leads.
As they near the club in one of the lifehold’s wide open If the PCs openly show they are knights, or if they talk to the
halls (number 9 to be precise) the lights above suddenly bouncer or the barman, they are swiftly be approached by a
flicker, dim then go completely out for a few seconds. The man who wishes to talk with them in his office. Avi Hausman,
only sound is a steady, rhythmic thumping coming from the owner of the club, seems to be around fifty years old, has
inside the club and some indistinct speech almost complete- a friendly way about him, and is dressed in elegant clothes
ly drowned out by the music. The lights come back on after that seem rather out of place in the club. He also looks tired
a few seconds – probably just a typical power failure, but and very worried. If the PCs follow him to his office they find
the kind that must prove a nuisance at best for the people themselves in a small, unremarkable room past a door at the
having to live with it daily. end of a short stairway.
A small, red, reinforced door in one wall is the only
way into the Black Jack. Unsettling posters dot the surface Avi can tell them quite a few things :
around it, depicting a laughing white mask floating above a His club, once a select sort of cabaret, is now run by
pile of corpses – advertising a group called the Children of a gang calling themselves the 13 Masks. Violent and
the Mask. A small shutter at eye-level allows the bouncer to dangerous, they deal in several illicit activities, their
see out. main focus seems to be peddling penombra. In Avi’s
Should the knights introduce themselves in their official opinion they appear to actively try to spread it to as
capacity, fully decked out in their meta-armour, the bouncer much of the lifehold as possible. The gang is based in
spends a minute or two in hurried, whispered conversation the basement levels of the hold and use the club as a
with someone on the other side before opening the door distributing base for the upper floors.
to the club. Avi is worried sick and just wants to be rid of the 13
Masks, and will plead with the knights to handle
As soon as they enter the premises, the knights are struck them for him.
by the sinister mood inside. Deafening music, dirty walls, The gang is run by a Marty Elliot, who lives on the
sticky floor and carpets, all sparsely lit with flickering lights, fourth basement floor. The lifehold’s militia hardly
the only brighter light source being a large strobe light illu- ever goes down there, given how few they are. Fur-
minating the dance floor in intermittent bursts. In short, the thermore, Avi has heard the 13 Masks are well armed,
Black Jack feels more like a squat than a nightclub. toting at least some military-grade weapons.
Passing through an entry hall with a cloakroom to one
side, the PCs get to the main room of the club. A bar runs An Eloquence-based skill check, difficulty easy (1) to normal
along the right wall and a raised stage at the rear end of (3), gets him to reveal further information:
the room is home to a performance by the group adver- Two to three times a week, the gang has things
tised outside, the Children of the Mask. Four young men and shipped to the club. The latest deliveries included 60
one young female singer wearing a white porcelain masks metres of strong black wire, three boxes of 20 metallic
are playing very loudly and also very poorly. Of course, the hooks, dozens of candles, and nine porcelain masks.
PCs will note the resemblance between the girl’s mask and Avi, fearing for his safety, reluctantly lets them use the
that of Emily Jones. Between the knights and the group is back room of the club to store their belongings until
a churning mass of bodies, 500 people dancing, or more they come and pick them up. The back room is cur-
accurately writhing, to the beat. Despite the loud music and rently empty, the gang having picked up the delivery
the strobe lights the PCs can notice that they are eyed sus- this morning.
piciously, as if they were clearly identifiable as outsiders. If
The gang’s leader, Marty Elliot, spent three years in
their meta-armours are deployed then this comes as no sur­
Cambridge’s mental institution following severe hal-
prise – if any are trying to blend in, however, the ease with
lucinations. Avi doesn’t know anything more than that
which they are spotted is a lot more unsettling.
on the matter.
The PCs may opt to question dancers but will soon find
that they either get no answer at all or strange, garbled, or Once they have finished talking and are getting ready to
non-sequitur ramblings. “We are all masks, and the mask is leave the office, Avi tries to warn the PCs about the 13 Masks
us,” “You see the light as I see the dark,” “My skin burns like and the goings-on in the lifehold. He is convinced that the
porcelain,” “My face is not mine! My face is that of another!” hold is a wretched, cursed place, and that people living in it
are typical. have a tendency to disappear or commit suicide. He admits
A Knowledge-or Acuity-based check, difficulty normal (3), that these are mostly rumours and has no actual proof, but
reveals that a vast majority of the people in the club are to- his state of anxiety and that of most people in the hold is
tally out of their mind, intoxicated on penombra. clear: they are relatively close to hopelessness.

- 16 -
 QUICK START

CLUB WARFARE INTERROGATING THE

Once the knights leave the office for the club’s main room, « CHILDREN OF THE MASK »
two strange things become apparent:
Once the fight is over, if the musicians are still alive (or at
The music has stopped and the group, especially the
least the singer) they can be interrogated, albeit not easily.
singer, is turned to face the PCs.
The young lady seems to have trouble articulating words,
The people dancing and slamming into each other are never mind whole sentences. Despite being drugged up
now all standing still, facing the PCs, eyes wide and to her eyeballs with penombra, her mask can be (carefully)
manic smiles on their lips. removed revealing the face of a twenty-year-old who would
be quite pretty were it not for the black veins around her
A few seconds pass. Then the singer lets out a spine-chilling eyes and mouth, a direct consequence of excessive use of
laugh, the group starts playing again and the crowd erupts the drug.
in mad cackling as they hurl themselves at the PCs. The
Eloquence-based skill checks of normal (3) to difficult
knights now have to fight a huge band of hopeless.
(6) difficulty can allow the PCs to glean some information
As long as the musicians on stage keep playing, the hope- from the singer. Her name is Sonia, and she was a tempo-
less band’s cohesion rating regains 6D6 points each round. If rary worker in a nearby office block up until very recently.
the PCs manage to get the music to stop, by incapacitating This interrogation should be described as quite arduous and
or killing the musicians, destroying their equipment, (which long-winded, with her answers often veering off into ram-
should only take a couple of shots or blows) the band of bling, dreamlike rants. Many of the things she says mirror
hopeless begins to automatically lose 3D6 cohesion points those said by the club patrons earlier. With patience, some
per turn. The Children of the Mask should therefore be neu- information can be sorted from the chaff:
tralized in order to take care of the band in optimal fashion
The drug is being distributed throughout all social
– once the Children’s cohesion hits 0, most of the hopeless
strata of the lifehold, thanks to cafes, bars and clubs
flee the club.
handing out free samples to its regulars.
Bear in mind that if the PCs disperse the crowd without in- The point of origin of the drug trade in the lifehold is
terrupting the Children’s music, it means they will have had the gang the 13 Masks.
to resort to killing a large number of hopeless citizens. If The 13 Masks’ leader is Marty Elliot.
this is the case then the players should have to attempt a Marty’s visions have turned the 13 Masks into a full-
difficult (6) hope check and lose 2D6 + 1 hope points should blown cult, complete with its own arcane rituals. Marty
they fail. writes sheet upon sheet of cacophonous music which
seems to resonate with the drug penombra, letting
whoever plays the song give those under the drug’s
BAND STAT BLOCK influence orders. The Children plays the music Marty
tells them to play.
Name: Black Jack hopeless
Marty organizes bloody rituals following directions
Type: Band
straight from his hallucinations. He claims a strange
Tactics: The hopeless rush the group of knights with creature called the Mask revealed a means to open the
no real plan or discernible strategy. They only cease way to let darkness inside the lifehold.
their attack if they can no longer hear the group’s
While drugged, Sonia claims that wearing the mask
music.
gave her the feeling of being inhabited by a unearthly,
Defence 1 higher presence.
Reaction 1 Marty and his gang have a hideout on the fourth floor
Initiative 1 underground. Getting in will prove difficult, since the
whole floor is now their turf.
Cohesion 100
Overrun 7
Flesh 6
Beast 8
(other aspects are not needed)

Abilities
Despair: If a PC kills individuals of this band they must
perform a normal (3) hope check (Aggressiveness +
Composure) or immediately lose 1D6 hope points.

- 17 -
 KNIGHT

ACT 3
4TH FLOOR UNDERGROUND
If the PCs killed the singer they venture to the underground
floors without the additional information. They’ll need to
ferret out the nuggets of truth out by other means, either by 13 MASKS STAT BLOCK
questioning Marty at the end of the scenario or by extract- Type: Brute
ing information from one of his goons Tactics: The empty husks that were formerly the 13
Before heading down, the knights may request backup. Masks attack from a distance, emptying their clips
and clumsily reloading. If they have to fight hand-
Should they ask the militia for help, a score of peacekeep-
to-hand, they try to attack whoever has the lowest
ing personnel are be sent to close off the exits to the upper
current armour points or the lowest hope. Since they
floors, but by now it should appear clear to the knights that are on their turf they can try to hide in apartments,
militia members are scared witless by the 13 Masks and hidden nooks and crannies, or take the PCs unawares
going into the deepest underground floors is somewhat from concealed side passages.
akin to storming the gates of hell for them.
Defence 3 Flesh 3
THE 13 MASKS’ TURF Reaction 4 Beast 4
Initiative 3 Machine 6
To get into the 4th underground, the PCs can opt either for
Health Points 20 Lady 2
a service elevator or to take the stairs. If they choose the
stairs, they will run into a small hurdle: the third floor has Mask 6
crumbled to almost nothing and the knights have to jump
at least three metres down. The fall can easily be absorbed Abilities
by their force fields, but anyone not wearing a meta-armour Spray and pray: When this NPC attacks with a ranged
will have a harder time. Rubble and detritus litter the hall- weapon they add 1 automatic success to their skill check.
ways, the power seems to be out, and the only light comes Despair: After the battle, if the PCs have won they
must succeed at an easy (1) hope check or lose 1D6
from red candles lining the walls. Most of the apartments
hope points.
are uninhabited or locked, and a deathly silence reigns over
High on penombra: The NPC is a more resilient
the whole floor.
human than usual, shrugging off wounds which would
fell an ordinary person. They therefore have quite a
BARBARIAN ABILITIES bit more health than they should.
The 3rd floor having fallen away, the ceiling height Ranged weapon Assault Rifle
on the lowest floor is a roomy 8 metres, allowing a
Damage 3D6 + 6 Range Long
Barbarian armour to fully deploy and pick any number
of large reinforced concrete slabs off the ground. Contact weapon Iron pipes, knives, bats
Damage 2D6 + 3 Range Contact
As they make progress along the corridors, all the candles
surrounding the PCs are suddenly blown out at once. Total They number two per PC. The gangers stay far enough
blackness surrounds the knights; if their armour is deployed, away to use their assault rifles, only fighting hand-to-hand if
it will automatically switch to low-light vision and lamps can they have no other choice.
be turned on. A few seconds later loud gunfire rips through
the air as a hail of bullets comes tearing through the dark. Once the enemies have been defeated, the PCs can continue
The players are under attack by members of the 13 Masks exploring the floor. As they go further along the winding
corridors, the mood gets darker and darker: distant screams
gang. They are more than just drugged out of their minds on
of pain bounce off the walls and the flickering, sputtering
penombra, they are literally hosts for otherworldly demons
candlelight lends the place a nightmarish tone.
– as such, they are dangerous enough to classify as brutes.

- 18 -
 QUICK START

THE 13TH MASK

Once the PCs have explored the floor a little, they arrive in ENTITY OF THE MASK STAT BLOCK
front of a large, dirty, dilapidated apartment. Mattresses and Type: Boss
litter are strewn about on the floor and strange, unsettling
Tactics: This swift creature likes to teleport and rain
stains cover the walls and along the frame of an open door-
multiple blows on whichever PC seems most badly
way. A glance inside, even from afar, is enough to see an
wounded or damaged. Brutal and quick, it is hard to
identical scene to that in apartment 133 and Emily’s ritual
hit in melee combat but has a harder time avoiding
murder: a young man is dangling from nine black wires at-
ranged attacks.
tached to his back by metallic hooks, a white mask sewn to
his face, nine deep cuts marring his body and blood flowing
from his recently sliced neck. The cut was made mere mo- Defence 7 Flesh 6
ments ago – the wound flows freely and the man’s body still Reaction 3 Beast 10
shows up on thermal sensor modules, his heartbeat gradu- Initiative 9 Machine 6
ally slowing to a stop on Heartbeat sensors.
Health Points 80 Lady 2
If they enter the room the PCs see someone matching Mar-
Shield 6 Mask 10
ty’s description, a bloody knife in one hand and a porce-
lain mask on his face, surrounded by a number of 13 Mask
gangers equal to twice the number of PCs getting ready to Abilities
open fire on the knights. Mask, exceptional, minor (2): The NPC adds its
Before battle can begin, however, something unexpected exceptional Mask score to its Defence score (this
happens. The dead man’s body starts to writhe, he begins adjustment is already taken into account above).
to scream and laugh. The wires suddenly let his body drop, Short-range teleportation: Once per turn the
hooks popping out with nine sickening small crunches of creature may teleport into melee range with any
bone splintering, as his skin turns dark as night. This is a chosen PC. If it attacks right after teleporting, the PC’s
creature from the darkness incarnate, an entity of the Mask. Defence rating is halved (rounded up, and only for this
To top it all off, a dark mist similar to the depths of blackest one attack).
night seems to radiate from the creature, quickly filling the Claws of Darkness: Once per turn, the NPC may
whole floor. Here and there, small, barely tangible beings ignore armour points and deal its damage directly to
wearing white masks seem to materialize, sidling out from a single PC’s health points. (Force field still apply to
the shadows. Seeing all this, Marty starts to run towards the damage dealt).
rear of the apartment while screaming maniacally, "At last !
Multiple actions (1): The NPC has 1 extra combat
He is finally in our midst !"
action, in addition to its move action and standard
The PCs have several choices, the most obvious being combat action. It must use this additional action at its
fighting the being and its lackeys, but they can also try to initiative phase.
capture Marty. If a PC runs after him, he is easily caught as
he tries to take a small hidden passage out of the apartment Contact weapon Alpha element claws
into the maze of corridors beneath Cambridge. This takes
Damage 3D6 + 6
time, though, and that knight won’t be able to return for
several rounds to join the fight against the entity and its Effect Spread 3: This weapon’s
lackeys. damage applies to 3 PCs close
to each other.
The fight is the most complex so far, with a boss-type
creature, several brutes (13 Masks members, the same as
previously encountered) and a band of lackeys. The lackeys’
and entity’s stat blocks are as follows.

MASK LACKEYS STAT BLOCK

Type: Band
Tactics: These creatures pour out of supernatural Defence 3 Flesh 6
darkness on all sides of their foes. Semi-solid, they Reaction 2 Beast 10
are particularly vulnerable to bright light. Initiative 1 Mask 10
Cohesion 100 Overrun 12
Ability
(other aspects are not needed)
Light Sensitive: Attacks with the keyword light or
accompanied by a strong light source inflict 2D6
additional points of violence to this NPC band.

- 19 -
 KNIGHT

If the PCs manage to kill the Entity it crumbles into a pile

of black slag, its lackeys disappear, and any surviving gang
members try to flee. The basement (and the rest of the
lifehold) seems a little less dark and a lot less oppressive.
If Marty hasn’t already been captured, tracking him down
proves a relatively simple task. An Acuity-based check of
easy (1) difficulty picks up his trail through the apartment’s
wide open hidden passageway and along a couple of corri-
dors, which turn out to be an old, abandoned sewage system
leading out of the lifehold’s boundaries.

INTERROGATING MARTY
Once Marty is caught, PC can interrogate him and search his
apartment. The young man is unstable and strangely joyful.
With Marty safe in hand, Eloquence-based skill checks of
easy (1) to normal (3) difficulty yield the following important If pressed as to where he obtains the drug, Marty resist quite
information:
a bit – he is apparently more terrified of whoever his suppli-
The young man has had visions and heard voices ever er is than of the knights. The PCs have to either rough him
since the Anathema came to Earth. These voices tell up or be very persuasive with an Eloquence-or Aura-based
him to do things, the visions show him where to go. skill check of trying (5) to difficult (6) difficulty to learn the
The voices and visions enabled him to found his gang following:
and acquire the penombra they were distributing.
Marty’s supplier is a man named Clay. He lives in a
The voices wanted Lifehold 287 to become a vessel for small village north of Cambridge called Cottenham.
the darkness. By killing young people according to a
The man wears a meta-armour, just like the knights
very specific rite, he was able to invoke servants of a
being called the Mask. In Marty’s deluded mind, this
questioning Marty now.
Mask is a veritable deity, and its envoys are angels Unlike them he bore no crest and his armour is in dis-
of redemption. repair. GMs, let your players make of this what they
Emily was supposed to be a perfect host, but somehow want.
the ritual failed. His men kidnapped another young
addict and brought him here – and this time, it worked. If Marty is to be believed, his supplier is a dark knight who
meets with him somewhere close to Cambridge. Once the
Penombra is supposedly a drug created by the Mask
itself. It brings those who take it closer and closer to
young man has been escorted back up to the upper levels,
the Mask and its servants until they finally turn into Lancelot contacts the PCs for a mission update. If they tell
fully fledged creatures of darkness. The drug alos him they have caught the culprit and, wiped out his gang of
reacts to certain sounds and melodies, allowing those cultists, their superior will ask a couple of questions before
addicted to it to be controlled like rats following the requesting that they return to Camelot with Marty in tow.
Piper of Hamlin.

With Eloquence-or Aura-based skill checks of normal (3) to

EPILOGUE
difficult (6) difficulty, the following can be learned: When they get back to Camelot, the PCs are debriefed by
Lancelot and may explain the goings-on in Lifehold 287. If
The drug is manufactured outside of the lifehold.
they go into enough detail, several teams of knights are sent
The lifehold itself isn’t cursed, just ignored by the ad- out to secure and cleanse the huge building. Marty is swiftly
ministrators of the ark who choose to concentrate their
judged and jailed in the Knight’s holding cells.
resources on buildings nearer the heart of London.
If the PCs tell Lancelot about the man Marty called Clay,
Many of the lifehold’s inhabitants partake of the drug
the Knight of the Round Table ponders this for a moment
on a regular basis.
and decides that a squad must be sent to Cottenham to in-
Now that Marty has managed to bring the dark into
vestigate the place and the potential renegade knight with
the lifehold, the voices and visions plaguing him finally
all haste.
abate and he can now live in peace.

THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES IN THE FIRST MISSION

OF THE KNIGHT CORE RULEBOOK !

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 QUICK START

Geolocation maps

Lowlight vision module Zoom X 40 Squire-model AI

Helps provide wearer with full
mastery of their meta-armour
Augmented reality HUD
Allows wearer to view outside world even
Communications array
with visor sealed shut
Allows wearer to remain in
contact with Camelot and the rest
Pack of their team
Small reinforced backpack with discrete
compartments, each hermetically sealed Beacon
and bathed in UV light Continually transmits wearer’s
position to the Knight
Fold module
UV lamps
Can deploy or retract meta-armour from
the wearer’s Guardian bodysuit
Hermetic seal, oxygen
regulator and filters
Kinetic force field Allows the meta-armour to be-
First rampart against enemy blows come completely airtight with 6
hours’ oxygen supply

RACK module Ceramic mesh,

cooling circuit, and
Stores weapons in the shape of com-
heat diffuser
pact rectangular objects with handles
attached to belt Resists flames and both extreme
heat and cold

Alpha element chronometer Painkiller injectors

Accurately keeps time, even in sur- Delivers measured amounts
natural darkness of suitable painkillers in the
event of serious wounds
Distress signal
Can be activated to send a Ablative shielding
distress signal to Camelot and
nearby Knight outposts

Underwater survival
system
Small underwater propulsion
reactors for submerged
manoeuvrability

STANDARD KNIGHT
META-ARMOUR TECHNOLOGY
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 KNIGHT

PRE-MADE CHARACTERS
You will find in the following pages five premade characters, each one with their own unique approach to solving challenges
encountered in a typical Knight scenario. They are individually outfitted and armed, but they also each have the equipment
listed below and many shared ability descriptors. We recommend each player have a copy of pages 22 and 23.

WEAPON AND • One Turn: The module takes a full turn to activate, re-
placing both movement and combat actions of its user
MODULE CHARACTERISTICS in a conflict phase. If used when not involved in a conflict
phase, activation time is around 6 to 10 seconds.
Damage: Weapon damage inflicted to an enemy’s health
points or armour points (if any).
WEAPON AND
Violence: Widespread damage inflicted to a band’s cohe-
sion points. MODULE EFFECTS
Range: For weapons and some modules, range is the ef- In Knight, weapons and modules have effects. Unless oth-
fective distance at which a target can be hit without attack erwise specified, all effects of a weapon apply at the same
penalties. time.
• Contact: Almost all melee weapons have a range of two Anti-Anathema: This weapon ignores shield and exceptional
metres or less. Flesh aspect values of the creatures or bands of the Anath-
• Short: 2-15 metres. ema it targets.
• Medium: 15-50 metres. Anti-vehicle: When this weapon is used against a vehicle or
• Long: 50-300 metres. a colossus it inflicts regular damage rather than having its
• Far: Farther than 300 metres. damage divided by 10 as is the rule against huge enemies.

Energy: This value indicates how many energy points are Armour-piercing X: This weapon ignores X amount of
consumed upon activation or use of a weapon, meta-ar- armour when attacking. If this value is higher than the ene-
mour ability or module. my’s armour points, damage is immediately inflicted on the
target’s health points.
Duration: Duration is how long a module remains active
Assisted aim: When a skill check is made to hit a target with
after being activated. Modules can be deactivated during a
this weapon, each success rolled in excess of those required
player’s turn, unless it is specifically stated otherwise.
to hit deals 1 additional point of damage or violence.
• Instant: The module is active for the duration of one
action during the turn in which it is activated. Barrage X: Instead of attacking the user of this weapon may
forfeit their combat action and choose to lower the Defence
• X Turns / X Seconds: The module is active for X turns
and Reaction score of an enemy NPC or band by X until the
during a conflict phase or for X seconds out of conflict
phases. Once the X seconds or turns are up, the module start of the user’s next turn, allowing their allies to hit the
deactivates automatically. target with less difficulty. No attack skill check is required;
the effect is automatically applied to the target. Several bar-
• One scene / one conflict phase: The module remains
rage effects can be stacked on a given target.
active for the duration of an entire scene of conflict phase.
It deactivates once the scene or conflict phase ends. Clip X: This weapon or module has a limited number of uses
• Until deactivated: The module remains active until the per mission, as indicated by X. Once this number of uses has
knight decides to deactivate it. been reached, the weapon or module can no longer fire or
be activated.
Activation: Using a weapon always requires a combat
Destructive: If this weapon inflicts damage to a target’s
action; many modules have specific activation action re-
armour points, 2D6 additional points of damage are imme-
quirements as well.
diately added to the total damage dealt. So long as at least
• None: The module never consumes an action to be acti-
one AP of damage is dealt, destructive immediately takes
vated. This does not allow the module to be used more
effect.
than once in any given turn.
• Move action: The module may be activated by using a Finecrafted: When this weapon is used, the PC adds their
move action in a conflict phase. If used when not involved Dexterity characteristic (+1 point per overdrive) to it’s
in a conflict phase, activation time is around 1 to 3 sec- damage, on top of any existing modifier.
onds. Interference X: The target of this weapon loses its next X
• Combat action: The module requires a combat action in actions. This effect only applies to enemies made of or rely-
order to be activated. Outside of conflict phases activa- ing primarily on technological components; multiple inter­
tion time is around 3 to 6 seconds. ference and stun effects do not stack.

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 QUICK START

Light X: When a character strikes an Anathema NPC or band from each other. X is the number of enemies the weapon
with this weapon, its Defence and Reaction values are low- can harm in one attack. Only one skill check to hit is re-
ered X points until the end of the attacker’s next initiative quired against one of the enemies. Nearby targets take all
round. This effect cannot stack multiple times on a given the damage and other effects the weapon may deal, so
enemy.
long as the skill check exceeds their Defence or Reaction (for
Marking: This weapon can mark a target (not a band) once melee or ranged weapons, respectively). Beware, though,
per turn. Its wielder and their allies gain 1 automatic success that should this weapon be used against enemies in melee
on any skill check made to hit the marked target and ignore combat with an ally, they may also take the damage.
any critical failure results on these checks. No skill check is
required to mark a target and its range is that of the weapon Stun X: If the skill check to hit with this weapon is higher than
used. The target remains marked for the whole scene or the target’s Flesh aspect (divided by 2 for NPCs), then they
conflict phase. This effect cannot stack. lose their next X actions. This has no effect on bands. This
Ongoing damage X: This weapon inflicts X damage each effect cannot be applied to a target that is already stunned.
turn for 1D6 turns. These points of damage ignore Force Under certain circumstances a stun effect may be automatic
field and shield. The effect only ends if appropriate mea- as long as the skill check to hit succeeds.
sures (antitoxins, dousing flames) are taken or if the effect
Twinned (akimbo): When two identical weapons with
runs its course. Ongoing damage X effects do not stack.
twinned (akimbo) are used with the akimbo combat style,
Penetrating X: This weapon ignores X force field points. If
the penalty to attack checks is reduced by 2 (only 1 die pen-
X is higher than the force field strength of the target, its
alty instead of 3).
force field is simply ignored and damage is dealt straight
to armour or health. This effect does not bypass anathema Two Hands: The character must use both hands to wield
shield values. this weapon. Using a weapon with this effect one-handed is
Precise: When this weapon is used its wielder adds their simply impossible.
Ranged characteristic (+1 point per overdrive) to their
Ultraviolence: When this weapon is used against an enemy
damage, on top of any existing modifiers.
with a Flesh score of 10 or lower, its violence is increased
Safe shot: This weapon’s wielder may fire it without incur- 2D6 points.
ring any difficulty penalties due to hiding behind cover.
Weighted: When using this weapon, its wielder adds twice
Silence: The character using this weapon cannot be located
their Strength characteristic (without adding overdrives) to
because of its use. If this effect is present on a weapon used
damage rather than just their Strength.
during a surprise attack or if the user is in Ghost mode, they
add their Stealth characteristic (+1 point per overdrive) to Wounding: If this weapon inflicts damage to a target’s health
their damage. points, 2D6 additional points of damage are immediately
Spread X: This weapon can hit and deal damage to several added to the total damage dealt. So long as at least one HP
enemies, so long as they are no farther than 2 metres away of damage is dealt, wounding immediately takes effect.

STANDARD EQUIPMENT
N O D S
Activation Duration Range Effect
Movement action Instant Contact Clip 3 (each type)
These injection syringes allow their user to regain points depending on the type used:
• Healing node: +3D6 health points
• Armour node: +3D6 armour points
• Energy node: +3D6 energy points

S M A R T G R E N A D E S
Damage Violence Range Effect
Short (may be increased with
3D6 3D6 Clip 5 / ignores cover bonuses
Strength overdrives)
Smart grenades can be set to any of the types below before they are thrown.

Type Shrapnel Flashbang Armour-piercing EMP Explosive

Stun 1 (automatic) / Anti-vehicle / against
Destructive / Interference 2 /
barrage 2 / light 2 / inanimate objects and
Ultraviolence / armour-piercing 20 / spread 6 / EMPs do
Effect spread 6 / flashbangs vehicles, +3D6 damage
wounding / spread 6 penetrating 6 / not deal damage or
do not deal damage or increase / spread 3 /
spread 6 violence
violence stun 1

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 KNIGHT

Meta-armour: Barbarian Peter Waitts

"Tempest
Tempest""
Initial division: Tarask
Crest: Lion
Archetype: Outlaw
Great deed: Clash of titans

Advantages: Lucky: Once per game session the PC may reroll all dice on a failed skill check.
Hardboiled: The character has 5 additional health points.
Disadvantages: Convict: Until the character completes their main motivation, that of
becoming a free citizen once more, they cannot regain any hope points.
Menace to society: The character automatically dies if they drop under 10
hope points.

Main motivation: Win back their freedom.

Lesser motivations: Never flee from an enemy if innocent lives are at stake, make up for past
misdeeds, protect teammates.

C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S
FLESH BEAST MACHINE LADY MASK
5 5 2 3 2
Movement OD Aggressive-
ness OD Ranged OD Aura OD Stealth OD

3 5 1 1 3 2
Strength OD Combat OD Knowledge OD Eloquence OD Dexterity OD
5 1 4 1 1 1 1
Endurance OD Instinct OD Tech OD Composure OD Acuity OD
3 1 3 1 3 1

C A L C U L A T E D S C O R E S
HEALTH CONTACT HOPE
POINTS DEFENCE REACTION INITIATIVE POINTS POINTS
45 6 1 2 3 50

Peter always was a scoundrel. When he was a young boy, he stole for his uncles in the Irish
mafia, as a teenager he became a lookout for them, then, when he reached adulthood, he
became one of their enforcers. His fearsome build and natural proclivities for brawling and
knife-fighting meant he never had much trouble roughing up those he was told to.
Most people who meet Peter come to the conclusion that he was born a few centuries too
late. He would have been right at home on some ancient battlefield or in medieval tourneys,
would have been an acclaimed hero, would maybe even have won a title thanks to his skill with arms.
Unfortunately, one day Peter killed a man with his bare hands and, even more unfortunate for him, he was
apprehended by the police. Peter spent a dozen or so years in jail. Even in the dangerous prison in which
he was placed his powerful fists commanded respect from the other inmates. Then one day, the Anathema
swept over the city, jail and all. Peter and his fellow prisoners were left to rot by the jailers who fled for safety.
Shut in, they had to face the darkness and its monsters on their own.
Had it not been for Peter, none would have survived. Cornered in the dark by a huge obsidian-bodied
creature wearing a white mask, the inmates were cut down by the dozens until Peter stepped in. With his
bare fists and unbridled rage, he smashed the monster into pieces and gave the men around him a chance
to escape.
The Knight noticed this feat of strength and bravery. He is still considered a dangerous convict and to
make sure he doesn’t try to escape the Tarask division implanted a remote-controlled micro-explosive in his
brain, allowing them to terminate him if he ever steps out of line. Peter doesn’t mind, though – even without
the bomb he wishes for nothing more than to make up for his past misdeeds.
Now that people have started seeing him as a hero, Peter seems to have found a new goal in life. He
may still be a bit of a brute, relying less on words than on his fists, but he will do his utmost to protect his
teammates and do his bit to keep Humanity safe.

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 QUICK START

meta-armour Barbarian
This armour’s bearer can increase their upper body size and density to gain extraordinary power in
record time. Because of this, knights in Barbarian meta-armour typically become skilled at close range
combat capable of bending steel girders in two and smashing vehicles on their hapless opponents’
puny frames.

60 60 12

Armour points Energy points Force field

Meta-armour ability GOLIATH MODE

Activation Duration Energy
Move action 6 turns / 1 minute 2 per metre gained
Effect
The PC may grow one metre for every 2 energy points expended
(up to 6 metres maximum, keeping in mind that a base Barbarian armour starts off 2 metres tall)
Bonus per metre gained: Penalties per metre gained:
+1 auto. success on Strength and Endurance checks -1 Defence point (minimum = 0)
+5 tons lifted -2 Reaction points (minimum = 0)
+1D6 to damage and violence in melee When it reaches 6 metres, the armour can no longer
+1 force field wield conventional weapons. Its regular weapons auto-
When it reaches 6 metres, the armour’s attacks all gain matically shrink back onto the wielder’s Rack.
the anti-vehicle effect. No Strength checks are required
to tear away small, medium or large bits of scenery (lamp
posts, water towers, boulders...)

Melee weapon HEAVY CESTUS X2

Damage Violence Range
Melee
2D6 + Strength x2 (weighted) 1 Melee

Effects Weighted / twinned (akimbo)

When twin cestuses are used (akimbo), -1D to attack rolls, x2 damage dice

MODULES
H E A D - M O U N T E D A T T A C K
Activation Duration Range Effect
None Instantaneous Melee Clip 6
Character inflicts +1D6 damage points in melee combat.

L E A P
Activation Duration Energy
Move action Instantaneous 3
Allows the user to jump to a height equal to short range and to a distance of medium range. During the same turn
as the leap the user can also perform a combat action as per usual. If a leap module is used to jump into melee
range and attack an enemy with a melee weapon, the user deals +6 damage.

G R A P P L I N G H O O K
Activation Duration Range
Move action Until deactivated Medium
1 automatic success to climb 50m or less surfaces / The grappler allows user to ignore critical failures on climb
checks / The user may drag an enemy with Flesh aspect lower than 8 one range category closer (from medium to
short range, for instance.) If an enemy has a Flesh aspect of 14 or higher, the user may pull themself closer with
the grappler.

The character’s full arsenal is not included and limited to just rules needed to play this introductory scenario.

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 KNIGHT

Meta-armour: Rogue Toshiro Kaiji

"Yurei
Yurei""
Initial division: Ogre
Crest: Wolf
Archetype: Nodachi Agent
Great deed: War hero

Advantages: Animal Instinct: The PC always keeps their full Defence, Reaction or initiative values.
Professional Liar: Any Eloquence+Stealth combo skill check difficulties are lowered by 1.
Disadvantages: Nightmare: Whenever they sleep, the PC has a 50/50 chance of losing 1 hope point
and not regaining any health points.
Marked by the Darkness: The PC suffers a 2D penalty when talking with humans
other than his teammates or Ogre division members.

Main motivation: Eliminate Kenji Oda, a Nodachi samurai.

Lesser motivations: Protect endangered knights, solve murders, maintain his honour.

C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S
FLESH BEAST MACHINE LADY MASK
3 5 2 2 5
Movement OD Aggressive-
ness OD Ranged OD Aura OD Stealth OD

3 1 4 1 1 4 1
Strength OD Combat OD Knowledge OD Eloquence OD Dexterity OD
2 5 1 1 1 5 1
Endurance OD Instinct OD Tech OD Composure OD Acuity OD
1 3 1 1 4

C A L C U L A T E D S C O R E S
HEALTH CONTACT HOPE
POINTS DEFENCE REACTION INITIATIVE POINTS POINTS
28 6 1 6 1 50

Until recently, Toshiro was a soldier with the Nodachi. He was an exemplary member of the organization, a skilled
fighter, loyal to the shogun and the 88 samurai. As darkness spread across the world, the Nodachi’s policies and
its activities became harsher. Military action was more violent and any man, woman, or child showing signs of
despair were ruthlessly murdered.
As a former soldier, Toshiro never truly came to accept the Nodachi’s metamorphosis into an impartial terror
machine. He was much more inclined to defend Humanity and all it stood for than to follow orders blindly and
destroy it.
One fateful day the 88 samurai member Kenji Oda gave Toshiro an order: to kill an entire family touched by
despair. Toshiro wrestled with his conscience but ultimately did his duty by obeying his superior. That decision
had a profound impact on the young man. Toshiro went from model soldier to cold, cynical, and almost rebel-
lious agent in short order. He has also had terrible nightmares ever since, reliving and seeing himself from the
outside putting the innocent family to death.
A few weeks later, the samurai Kenji Oda gave Toshiro another order to kill a group of innocent people. This
time, rather than commit what was in his mind another unjustifiable murder, Toshiro gave his targets time to
run and hide. This act brought the samurai’s wrath on Toshiro, who was swiftly judged guilty of disobedience
and disloyalty then tortured and beaten – but he never gave up the hiding place of the people he had let live.
Surprisingly, against all expectations, the Knight was made aware of Toshiro’s bravery and defiance.
Before Toshiro could be put to death Arthur, leader of the Knight, requested he be exiled from Japan and
entrusted to his organization. The Nodachi accepted despite Oda’s vehement protestations.
Now, Toshiro serves the Knight. Though he may be among the bravest warriors against the darkness, he
wishes more than anything else to get his revenge on Kenji Oda. He knows that while the samurai still lives,
his nightmares shall not cease to haunt his every sleeping moment.

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 QUICK START

meta-armour Rogue
The Rogue meta-armour’s main module, the Ghost invisibility field, is a kind of second epidermis
distorting light and rendering the armour invisible to the naked eye. It is further enhanced by the judi-
cious application of noise dampeners. By activating their Ghost mode, a knight in Rogue meta-armour
essentially becomes an undetectable spectre, silently haunting the Knight’s foes.

50 70 12

Armour points Energy points Force field

Meta-armour ability GHOST MODE

Activation Duration Energy
None 1 turn or 1 minute (out of battle) 2 per turn / 6 per minute
Effect
Ghost mode renders the user invisible to the naked eye and almost completely silent.
When Ghost mode is activated, the character becomes invisible and inaudible to characters without a major
exceptional Machine aspect.
When the PC attacks in melee or at range, the Ghost effect immediately stops. Attacks in melee or at range
(with ranged weapons with the silencer effect and all melee weapons apart from those with the light effect) re-
ceive a bonus in number of dice to the skill check and a fixed damage bonus equal to the Stealth characteristic
of the user. If the attack check already uses Stealth then the value may be added again, and the same applies to
weapons with silencer, adding the user’s Stealth as bonus damage twice in total. This bonus only applies to the
first attack of the user’s turn.
Warning: Ghost mode may not be deactivated and reactivated in the same turn.

Melee weapon COMBAT KNIFE X2

Damage Violence Range
Melee 3D6 + Strength + Dexterity
1D6 Melee
(finecrafted)
Effects Finecrafted / twinned (akimbo)
When these twin knives are used (akimbo), -1D to attack rolls, x2 damage dice

MODULES
H E A D - M O U N T E D A T T A C K
Activation Duration Range Effect
None Instantaneous Melee Clip 6
Character inflicts +1D6 damage points in melee combat.

L E A P
Activation Duration Energy
Move action Instantaneous 3
Allows the user to jump to a height equal to short range and to a distance of medium range. During the same turn
as the leap the user can also perform a combat action as per usual. If a leap module is used to jump into melee
range and attack an enemy with a melee weapon, the user deals +6 damage.

H E A R T B E A T V I S I O N M O D U L E
Activation Duration Energy
Move action One scene / one conflict phase 2
This module allows its user to detect the heartbeats of living creatures through obstacles. It act as a sonar, cancel-
ling any environmental effects negatively affecting the user’s sight when it comes to attacking living creatures with
beating hearts.

The character’s full arsenal is not included and limited to just rules needed to play this introductory scenario.

- 27 -
 KNIGHT

Meta-armour: Warmaster Marco Orlanda

"Padre
Padre""
Initial division: Dragon
Crest: Stag
Archetype : Religious
Great deed: Guide

Advantages: Radiant: If the PC is helped with a skill check, the assisting PCs add +1D to their roll.
Magnetism: The PC get one automatic success on all Aura-based skill checks with
humans NPC.
Disadvantages: Fanatic: The PC is a devout believer. They have a tendency to preach and hold to their views.
Humanist: Should the PC suffer the despairing effect, they lose 1D6+6 hope points.
Main Motivation: Spread the word of God throughout the Knight.
Lesser Motivations: Obey orders from both knights and Arthur, battle despair whenever possible,
ease tensions and defuse situations.

C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S
FLESH BEAST MACHINE LADY MASK
2 2 5 6 2
Movement OD Aggressive-
ness OD Ranged OD Aura OD Stealth OD

1 2 5 6 1 1
Strength OD Combat OD Knowledge OD Eloquence OD Dexterity OD
1 1 1 3 4 1
Endurance OD Instinct OD Tech OD Composure OD Acuity OD
1 1 1 4 5 1 1

C A L C U L A T E D S C O R E S
HEALTH CONTACT HOPE
DEFENCE REACTION INITIATIVE
POINTS POINTS POINTS
16 2 5 1 6 50

Without a doubt the eldest of Lancelot’s new knights, Marco Orlanda was, up until a few years ago,
a Catholic priest in a small church in Mexico. His almost palpable faith and incomparable charisma
earned the forty-year-old preacher his followers’ adoration, and in return he gave his whole life for
them and god.
A dark secret lurked under this friendly surface, however. Marco used to be an officer in the American Army,
where he faced the red plague on the East Coast of the USA and witnessed the death of millions. He never fully
recovered from the trauma this caused and left the Army a few weeks later to reunite with his family south of
the border.
Even with the plague and the arrival of the Anathema, Marco never lost faith in God. Though he may be a
soldier, an officer, and a capable fighter, he is first and foremost a priest of unwavering faith. When darkness fell
across the world, Marco knew neither despair nor fear. Whole neighbourhoods of Mexico City were flooded with
inky blackness and indescribable horrors. Through all the chaos and death Marco strode, however, leading first
dozens and then hundreds of refugees out of the black, his pure faith acting as a shield against the darkness
around them.
This act of bravery, as a guide for his people, a leader facing down danger not for himself but for the faithful
he had sworn to shepherd, drew the Knight’s attention and led to his being recruited to the organization. Others
might sometimes see him as a bit of a delusional fanatic but all acknowledge that his faith has armoured him
against darkness.
He may be a bit preachy at times and spend much of his spare time head bowed in humility and prayer, but
his teammates nevertheless appreciate his dogged optimism.
Marco has taken it upon himself to protect his banner of knights, whom he considers to be the key to de-
feating the forces of the Anathema. He believes his teammates have a great destiny ahead of them and that
the safeguard of the human race relies in part on their survival. If Marco is to be believed, this knowledge was
bequeathed to him by God himself.

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 QUICK START

meta-armour Warmaster
The Warmaster meta-armour is the only armour capable of fine-tuning other meta-armours and
weapons on the fly via electronic impulses. Its true edge, however, comes from its inbuilt Falcon-
designation analysis mode, capable of rapidly analysing enemies’ strengths and weaknesses

90 50 8

Armour points Energy points Force field

Meta-armour ability WARLORD MODE

I M P U L S E S
Improves target meta-armours. Impulses all have Far range. The Warmaster meta-armour’s wearer may choose to
also receive any benefits from impulses targeting allies at a cost of half the energy required to activate it (rounded
up) without having to perform an additional action.
Action impulse Dodge impulse Force impulse
Effect: One ally chosen by the user Effect: Allies’ meta-armours grant an Effect: Allies’ meta-armours grant
gains an additional combat or move additional 2 Defence and Reaction an additional 2 force field points.
action. points. Energy: 2 per ally (+2 per additional
Energy: 3 per ally (+2 per additional
Energy: 4 round)* round)*
Activation: Move action Activation: Move action Activation: Move action
Duration: 1 turn Duration: 1 turn* Duration: 1 turn*

*No additional action is required to prolong an impulse effect.

Meta-armour ability FALCON MODE
Activation Duration Énergy
Move action Instantaneous 6
Effect
The Warmaster can detect enemies’ strengths and weaknesses.
Effect : The character can detect (once per use) : • An NPC’s weak point(s)
• All of an NPC’s aspects • An NPC’s weapons (and their statistics)
• An NPC’s Reaction and Defence scores • An NPC’s health, armour and shield values
• All of an NPC’s exceptional aspects • An NPC’s abilities
• A band’s aspects and calculated values

Ranged weapons TWIN SUBMACHINE GUNS

Damage Violence Range
Melee
3D6 4D6 Medium
Effects Wounding / ultraviolence / twinned (akimbo)
When twin SMGs are used (akimbo), -1D to attack rolls, x2 damage dice and x1.5 violence dice

MODULES
L E A P
Activation Duration Energy
Move action Instantaneous 3
Allows the user to jump to a height equal to short range and to a distance of medium range. During the same turn
as the leap the user can also perform a combat action as per usual. If a leap module is used to jump into melee
range and attack an enemy with a melee weapon, the user deals +6 damage.

F L A R E R O C K E T P O D
Activation Duration Energy Effect
Move action 1D6 turns 2 Clip 3
Humans without adequate eye protection suffer a -1D to all their rolls. Creatures of the Anathema suffer a -2D to
all their rolls as well as light 2 effect. Flare rockets deal no damage or violence.
Firing several at once has no added effect.

The character’s full arsenal is not included and limited to just rules needed to play this introductory scenario.

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 KNIGHT

Sergueï Ilianov

"Forge
Forge""
Meta-armour: Priest
Initial division: Giant
Crest: Raven
Archetype: Genius
Great deed: Designed the first Meta-Armour
Advantages: Astute: The PC gets one automatic success on skill checks to see if they are being tricked.
Good Memory: Once per game session the PC can ask the GM for one piece of academic
knowledge or for one memory.
Disadvantages: Too Cautious: The PC rolls 2D6 instead of 3D6 when determining initiative.
Bookworm: The PC automatically suffers critical failure results due to NPC fear effects.

Main motivation: Design a new meta-armour.

Lesser motivations: Learn the Anathema’s secrets, solve crimes, promote the Knight organization.

C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S
FLESH BEAST MACHINE LADY MASK
3 2 6 3 3
Movement OD Aggressive-
ness OD Ranged OD Aura OD Stealth OD

3 1 6 1 1
Strength OD Combat OD Knowledge OD Eloquence OD Dexterity OD
1 1 1 4 1 2 2
Endurance OD Instinct OD Tech OD Composure OD Acuity OD
2 1 1 6 2 3 3

C A L C U L A T E D S C O R E S
HEALTH CONTACT HOPE
POINTS DEFENCE REACTION INITIATIVE POINTS POINTS
28 1 8 3 3 50

Sergueï was a student and teacher’s assistant at Johannesburg university in the UAN (United Afri-
can Nations) right up until darkness swept across the face of the Earth.
A Russian ex-pat living in South Africa with his parents, young Sergueï managed to get scholarship
after scholarship thanks to his sharp mind and ever-expanding knowledge of chemistry, physics, and mecha-
nics. Well-known and very popular at university thanks to his involvement in many clubs and extracurricular
activities, Sergueï was also one of Professor James Niakate’s assistants – Niakate, the man who would one
day be known as Merlin. The man who would design the technological marvels known as meta-armours and
become the co-founder of the Knight.
When the Anathema came, Sergueï travelled the world over with Merlin, studying the darkness. He was
one of the first to lay eyes on Excalibur - the very first meta-armour, now worn by Arthur.
Sergueï does not know all of Excalibur’s inner workings and secrets but he helped reverse engineer some
of its parts. He later became one of the lead technicians in charge of the Warrior meta-armour project.
He joined Giant division and remained at the side of the knight of the Round Table known as Gawain for
a long time before finally taking up arms himself. More than just a young prodigy, Ilianov is also light on
his feet and an apt combatant. He chose to go into the field and follow Gawain’s orders, both to help the
helpless and ferret out the Anathema’s most hidden secrets.
Studying and understanding creatures of the dark would allow him to design a meta-armour capable
of adapting to their foes and of better shielding its wearer from their blows.
Sergueï is young, friendly, giving, and has a pure heart. His teammates view him as the banner’s rookie,
the new guy who’s always in need of protection and has a lot to learn about righting.
Sergueï doesn’t mind. He is naturally cautious, and willingly lets others face danger head-on.

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 QUICK START

meta-armour Priest
The Priest meta-armour is the only armour equipped to deploy swarms of nanomachine construction
robots (nanoC) capable of repairing allies’ meta-armours. The nanoCs are also able to build simple or
complex objects of varying size depending on the quality of the Priest armour and its wearer’s skill.

70 60 10

Armour points Energy points Force field

Meta-armour ability MECHANIC MODE

Activation Duration Energy
Move action Instantaneous 4
Effect
When at contact range, Mechanic mode allows the user to repair meta-armour, vehicles, or other equipment.
These repairs restore 3D6 + 6 armour points.
Activation Duration Energy
Move action Instantaneous 6
Effect
Up to long range, Mechanic mode allows the user to repair meta-armour, vehicles, or other equipment. These
repairs restore 2D6 + 6 armour points.

Meta-armour ability NANOC MODE

Activation Duration Energy
3 for a basic shape, 6 for a detailed
Move action, combat
10 turns / 1 minute object, 9 for a mechanical or
action or 1 turn
technological item
Effect
NanoC mode allows the user to create items from nanomachines.
The PC may create simple geometric shapes from swarming metallic nanomachines, up to a size of 3 cubic metres.
They may also create detailed objects, up to 2 cubic metres.
Finally, they may create electronic or mechanical equipment of up to 1 cubic metre.
The GM has final say on the mode’s limitations.
In order to create an item, the user must succeed at a Tech-based check – difficulty at the GM’s discretion depending
on how intricate or complex the item is.
All constructs last 1 minute or 10 turns in combat before disappearing. This duration can be prolonged by spending
an additional 2 energy points per minute. An item’s durability and usefulness are also at the GM’s discretion.

Ranged weapon SNIPER RIFLE

Damage Violence Range
Melee
4D6 + 6 + Ranged (precise) 1D6 Far
Effects Safe shot / precise / assisted aim / marking / two hands

MODULES
L E A P
Activation Duration Energy
Move action Instantaneous 3
Allows the user to jump to a height equal to short range and to a distance of medium range. During the same turn
as the leap the user can also perform a combat action as per usual. If a leap module is used to jump into melee
range and attack an enemy with a melee weapon, the user deals +6 damage.

S M O K E L A U N C H E R
Activation Duration Energy Range
Move action One scene / One conflict phase 2 Short
The user and all PCs and NPCs at short range gain 2 Defence and 2 Reaction points, but also -3D to ranged attacks
that they make. This bonus is cancelled out by NPC exceptional Beast, Machine and Mask aspects.

The character’s full arsenal is not included and limited to just rules needed to play this introductory scenario.

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 KNIGHT

Meta-armour: Wizard Rosa Diakité

"Muse
Muse""
Initial division: Gargoyle
Crest : Bear
Archetype : Ex-secret service
Great deed: Defender of the arts
Advantages: Creative Talent: The PC has an additional minor motivation, to create works of art.
Confident: The PC gains one automatic success on Eloquence-based skill checks when
talking to humans.
Disadvantages: Mortal Enemy: The Collector. This enemy will do everything in its power to harm the PC.
Overprotective (Sergueï): If their ward is reduced to Death’s Door, the PC loses 1D6+3
hope points. If their ward is killed, the PC loses 2D6+6 hope points.

Main motivation: Eliminate the Collector.

Lesser motivations: Create works of art, prevent human deaths, locate missing works of art,
protect Sergueï.

C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S
FLESH BEAST MACHINE LADY MASK
4 4 2 5 2
Movement OD Aggressive-
ness OD Ranged OD Aura OD Stealth OD

4 3 1 4 1 2
Strength OD Combat OD Knowledge OD Eloquence OD Dexterity OD
3 4 1 1 3 1
Endurance OD Instinct OD Tech OD Composure OD Acuity OD
2 3 1 1 4 1 1

C A L C U L A T E D S C O R E S
HEALTH CONTACT HOPE
POINTS DEFENCE REACTION INITIATIVE POINTS POINTS
34 4/5 1 2 4 50

Formerly a member of the Monna-Molelo (also known as the Burning Men), the UAN’s (United Afri-
can Nations) secret service, Rosa was, a counter-smuggling operative specializing in art and forgeries.
Born in a small village in Botswana, Rosa loved creativity in all its forms and was an accomplished singer
by the time she joined the Burning Men.
When the Anathema came Rosa was conducting an investigation into missing artwork all over the UAN.
Unassuming local creations and renowned masterpieces alike were disappearing all over South Africa.
She came to suspect something unnatural was afoot since the works of art simply vanished from museums
and private collections without a trace, as if by magic.
Thus it was that Rosa came into contact with one of the very first creatures of the Anathema to appear on
Earth. The thing, called the Collector, had been sent by its powerful, dark master to steal artwork all over Africa.
As she was keeping watch over the Johannesburg Modern Art Gallery one moonless night with three other
Monna-Molelo agents, Rosa came across the Collector in mid-heist. The tall, thin wore a laughing white mask,
and brutally attacked and killed her colleagues. Gravely wounded, Rosa barely managed to fight off the creature
and save the paintings it was stealing.
This act of bravery brought her to the attention of the Knight. Rosa’s brush with the Collector had a lasting
impact, and her colleagues’ deaths have made her a little more solitary than most.
Her deepest desire is to find and destroy the thieving creature. Rosa is a true protector of art and light in all
their aspects. Although she may have a laconic and distant attitude, she is a true knight and pure of heart. She
sees Sergueï as an adopted younger brother and will do everything in her power to protect him.

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 QUICK START

meta-armour Wizard
The Wizard meta-armour allows the knight wearing it to create wreaths of incandescent plasma and
manipulate them with localized Force field. It can also conjure a powerful burst of light capable of
inflicting grievous wounds on creatures of the Anathema.

40 80 14

Armour points Energy points Force field

Meta-armour ability BOREALIS MODE

Activation Duration Energy
1 turn One scene / one conflict phase 6
Effect
An ally at short range or less (or the user themself) gains the anti-Anathema effect. Several allies may be targeted
at once for an additional 2 EP cost per ally after the first.

Damage Violence Energy Range Effects

Anti-Anathema /
4D6 4D6 2 per attack Short
ongoing damage 3
Description
Wreaths of plasma may be used to damage nearby enemies at the cost of a combat action.

Activation Duration Energy

1 tour 6 tours / 1 minute 6
Effect
The armour’s plasma can be shaped into various forms, such as a globe of floating light, an incandescent key-
shaped tool to melt locks, or a pool on the ground to start a wildfire.

Meta-armour ability ORIFLAMME MODE

Damage Violence Energy Range Duration Activation
6D6 + 6 6D6 + 12 12 Short Instantaneous Move action
Effect
Anti-Anathema, only affects creatures of the Anathema.
Upon activation, the meta-armour produces a short-range luminous field. Any creatures of the Anathema caught
within it take damage (or violence if a band); those at medium range suffer half damage (or violence). No skill
check is required to hit, but enemies in cover take no damage.

Melee weapon BASTARD SWORD

1 Hand damage 2 Hands damage 1 Hand Violence 2 Hands Violence Range
Melee 4D6 + Strength + 4D6 + Strength x2
2D6 3D6 Melee
Dexterity (fine-crafted) (weighted)
Effects One-handed : Fine-crafted
Two-handed: Weighted / two-hands

MODULE
L E A P
Activation Duration Energy
Move action Instantaneous 3
Allows the user to jump to a height equal to Short range and to a distance of Medium range. During the same
turn as the Leap the user can also perform a Combat action as per usual. If a Leap module is used to jump into
melee range and attack an enemy with a melee weapon, the user deals +6 damage.

The character’s full arsenal is not included and limited to just rules needed to play this introductory scenario.

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KNIGHT

- 34 -
QUICK START

- 35 -
 KNIGHT

www.antre-monde.com
www.knight-jdr.fr

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