Game Creator: Jamie HardyAuthor: Philip A. LeeAdditional Material: Jamie HardyEditing & Layout: Jamie Hardy

Cover Art: Lorinda TomkoInterior Art: Cathey Osborne, MichaelDashow

©2013 Perilous Journeys Publishing. Allrights reserved. Reproduction, exceptfor character sheets is strictly forbidden.Owners of the PDF version are permittedto print the PDF for personal use only.SteamCraft, AetherCraft, and PerilousJourneys are trademarks of PerilousJourneys Publishing. All rights reserved.

A Few Spare Sprocks 3How to Use This Product 4

Scene Breakdown 4Gamemastering the Adventure 4

Adventure Overview 5Dramatis Personae 6Scene 1: Constabulary Office 10Scene 2: Alley, West End District 11Scene 3: Streets, West End District 14Scene 4: The Jaunty Grommet Pub, West End District 16Scene 5: Abandoned Warehouse, West End District 21Scene 6: Graveyard, West End District 24Aftermath: Constabulary Office, Central District 27

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At the busy street corner, the young boywaited for his marks to wander on by.For the past few hours, he’d kept an eyeon the alley, the one now swarming withthe bobbies in their ridiculous hats. Nowhe was loitering near a paperboyshouting headlines like “Harpers FerryAttacked by Orcs” or “ExpeditionaryForces Face Setbacks” and other suchnonsense.

All Thomas cared about was what peoplehad in their pockets. Every singleperson wandering throughout the WestEnd District had an item or three theydidn’t need and a few spare sprocks theywould never miss. And Thomas, well,that was where he came in.

Tick. Tock.Tick. Tock.

He found himself fumbling his fingersaround the pocket watch in his corduroyjacket’s pocket. Even buried beneathlayers of fabric, he could still hear theconstant reminder in his head. To tuneit out, he stared up at the airshipscoming in to the port, watched theclockwork-horse carriages passingthrough, breathed in the scents offactory smoke and freshly caught fish—anything but that dreadful ticking.

Back in the alley, he’d seen the marks heneeded to tag. Now, he just needed towait for the right time …

And right on cue, the lot of ’em marchedout of the alley like they were on someidealistic crusade. They certainly lookedlike nice enough people, but he knewthat didn’t mean anything. Even thenice ones could have some kind of

terrible secret hidden up their sleevealong with their money. Secrets, like theone in his coat pocket.

Tick. Tock.Tick. Tock.

The sound was enough to drive someonemad. Assuming it hadn’t done soalready.

He waited for the marks to pass thenmoved away from the building, alwayskeeping one-step behind the group so hecould gauge the best method forapproach …

Tick. Tock.Tick. Tock.

A single glance identified the bulge in thepocket of the nearest mark. So simple.

Tick

Eyes focused,

Tock

he darted down the cobbles,

Tick

reached a hand in the mark’s pocket,

Tock

and kept right on running, like his lifedepended on it.

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Welcome to Wake the Dead, theinaugural SteamCraft adventure! In thisadventure, players will have to maneuverthrough some of the seedier parts of NewArcadia to deal with a forbidden menacecapable of threatening the entire city.Included in this product are a number ofsections designed to help gamemastersrun a story set in the world of SteamCraft.

Gamemastering the Adventureprovides some advice on how toapproach the adventure and run asuccessful and engaging game.

The Adventure Overview section willgive a brief capsule overview of the entireadventure’s story. The gamemastershould read this section to get a sense ofwhere the whole plot is heading and howall of the individual pieces fit together.

Dramatis Personae lists severalimportant non-player characters (NPCs)that will interact with the playercharacters (PCs) throughout theadventure. The bio and stats theseentries provide will give gamemastersideas on how to use them in the game.

Finally, the adventure is presented inseveral Scene sections, each of whichhelp advance Wake the Dead’s plot, andthe Aftermath section provides closureto the story.

Each scene is divided into severalsmaller sections.

Full Steam Ahead provides an overviewof the scene and offers direction on howthe scene can unfold, giving thegamemaster several different options touse in guiding the players through thescene.

This Just In … should be read to playersto set the scene. Some of the parts inthis section should only be read when acertain condition has been met.

Behind the Curtain gives thegamemaster all the under-the-hoodinformation she will need to run thescene, including such things as scene-specific rules, NPC/creature stats,location maps, and so on.

Even the most prepared gamemasterscan be thrown for a loop by unexpectedplayer actions, so the Spanners in theWorks section provides suggestions forgetting the story back on track in theevent that players derail the narrative.

If the gamemaster wishes to extend thescene or add additional layers of depthor complexity to the adventure, FurtherExploration outlines additional optionsa gamemaster can pursue.

Running a roleplaying game can be adaunting experience, so here are a fewthings that might make gamemasteringWake the Dead — or any SteamCraftadventure — an easier and morerewarding task.

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Read the whole adventure first.Knowledge of the plot is invaluable inensuring that things stay on track, sofamiliarizing yourself with the adventurebefore starting the game will go a longway towards keeping things at a steadypace.

Tinker to suit gameplay style. Don’tfeel obligated to play out the adventureexactly as written. If it’ll better suit yourgroup’s play style, feel free to addanother NPC, switch out a scene, or goin a different direction. This adventureis meant to serve as a guideline ratherthan gospel.

Come prepared. Make sure you haveNPC stats readily accessible, and havelocation maps ready to go. This sort ofpreparation will keep the game moving.

Write things down. Odds are yourplayers might undertake an action in ascene that will affect a later scene. Tohelp you keep everything straight, besure to take some notes as you go.

Have fun. This is, of course, the mostimportant rule of roleplaying.

In SteamCraft, many player groups willconsist of problem solvers andspecialists that will take on the kinds ofjobs that the average person wouldn’t,either due to the unsavory nature orperceived mercenary aspect of the job.Because of this, specialists who performthese kinds of jobs are calledmuckrakers—“muckers” for short—asthe general public believes they focusmore on getting paid for these dirty jobsthan they spend on higher pursuits. ForWake the Dead, the gamemaster will beguiding a team of muckers that

responded to an advert in the NewArcadia Post. The PC team doesn’t haveto be a group of muckers if thegamemaster doesn’t wish to go thatroute, but this is a straightforwardjustification for assembling such adisparate team of individuals.

In the first scene, the PCs meet withChief Inspector Alfred Billingsworth ofthe New Arcadia Constabulary (NAC).Billingsworth is looking to hire a team ofinvestigative consultants and securitypersonnel to approach a case that hisconstables are not equipped to deal with.Billingsworth also wants to keep thematter under wraps in order to keep thepublic from panicking. As declaringmartial law to address the problem is anunacceptable solution, the NAC hasturned to other options.

Billingsworth tells the team about a rashof disappearances occurring in the blue-collar West End District of New Arcadiaand takes the characters to a crimescene he believes may shed some lighton the case. Amongst the factories andwarehouses, the players find a corpsethat has been altered with technology,which indicates strong evidence oftechnomage activity. Fortunately, thetechnozombie wasn’t prepared properlyand thus didn’t manage to wreak anyhavoc before collapsing. Billingsworthwants the team to find out who wasresponsible for this unholy abominationand deal with the suspect before he canstrike again.

The team investigates the scene andstart questioning the locals. An intrepidyoung reporter for the Gritty Gossiptabloid catches wind of the situation,corners the team, and asks themprobing questions.

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While doing some investigation aroundthe district, the PCs discover that ayoung pickpocket named ThomasWilloughby has lightened their purses.Thomas is actually an informant for thetechnomage the PCs are trying to find,and he either helps or hinders the teamdepending on how he is treated.

Through the course of investigation, theteam wanders into a pub called theJaunty Grommet in order to nail downthe technomage’s whereabouts. The pubclientele doesn’t like having nosymuckers mucking about. Since some ofthem are under the technomage’sinfluence, they attempt to make theteam’s trail go cold.

The team pierces through themisdirection and finds an abandonedwarehouse at the edge of the West End.After breaking inside, they discover theworkshop of Zarda L’lanir, an Elventechnomage who has been experimentingon the local population in order to perfecthis technomantic abominations. Zardaarrives at the warehouse and immediatelybolts upon seeing the team.

The team trails Zarda to a graveyard atthe outskirts of the West End, where heis digging up several fresh graves.Thomas the pickpocket emerges from theshadows and reveals the experimentsZarda did to him, and the team contendswith Zarda and his small army oftechnozombies.

The team almost defeats Zarda, but hisaccomplices in an airship hoveringoverhead drop him a rope, and heescapes the city. Due to clues foundafter the battle, the team finds possibleevidence of an important and influentialorganization lending its support theforbidden magician.

The following provides a look at thenotable NPCs the players will interactwith throughout this adventure.

Alfred Billingsworth

Bio: As chief inspector of the NewArcadia Constabulary (NAC), Mr.Billingsworth is a proper and by-the-book policeman more accustomed todealing with the occasional murdersuspect, workforce riots, gang activity,and so on. Unholy and forbiddenpractices such as technomancy fall wellout of his realm of expertise.

Billingsworth is a rather nervous manand has a tendency to tug at hismustache when presented withsomething that perplexes or scares him.He is prim and proper to almosteveryone, so to earn a harsh rebuke fromhim means someone did somethingincredibly wrong. He will go out of hisway to protect his constables, butsomeone not under his authorityshouldn’t expect the same kind oftreatment when the manure strikes thefan.

Using Billingsworth: As the chiefinspector of the NAC, this paper pusherrefrains from engaging in combat exceptwhen absolutely necessary. If he doessee action, he will not needlesslyendanger himself unless other NACconstables are involved in the fight. Hewill target whoever is attacking the PCs,but he won’t endanger himself to defendthem.

Str: 30 Fort: 40 Agil: 40 Pres: 50Perc: 60 Know: 50 Will: 40 Spd: 36HP: 63 AF: 6

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Abilities:Melee Weapons 20Ranged Weapons 20Scrutiny 30Investigation 30Language 20Liberal Studies 20

Attack: by weapon

Equipment: Noringco SAR (18 bullets),club, short dagger, trench coat, NACbadge, handcuffs

Tessa Haversham

Bio: An Elven reporter for New Arcadia’sthe Gritty Gossip tabloid; Tessa is new tothe New Arcadia scene. She recentlyrelocated to the city from Newport, soshe’s desperate to fit into big cityjournalism. She will do just aboutanything to chase a good story.

Tessa has a knack for always showingup in the wrong place at the wrongtime—at least for the people she is tryingto hound. Part of her success atrecording incredible events involves oneof her best-kept secrets: she has asmidge of magical ability. Though she’snot very good at it, her magic helps hereavesdrop on unsuspecting targets.

Tessa’s stories always border on thesensational and unbelievable, so theGossip is the only Arcadian newspaperwilling to pay for anything with herbyline. Unknown to the people of NewArcadia or even the Gossip’s editorialstaff, every story Tessa has written hasbeen 100% true.

Using Tessa: This reporter, though anantagonist for the players, shouldn’tengage in active combat against the PCs.The gamemaster should strive to make

each of her appearances as annoyingand ill timed as possible. For example, ifthe PCs are chasing down a suspect,Tessa might show up right then, shove arecording device at them, and ask themprobing questions. Tessa should beportrayed as bubbly, motivated, andflirtatious, but her presence and timingshould annoy the PCs to no end, even ifthey invite her to tag along. If theplayers would consider killing her to ridthemselves of her, the gamemastershould inform the PCs that theconstabulary would be happy to stringthem all up on murder and complicitycharges.

The gamemaster can opt to bring Tessainto a scene at pretty much anytime shewishes. However, to keep the players ontheir toes, the gamemaster can insteadrandomly determine whether Tessaappears at any given time. To determinethis, Tessa makes an Investigation roll;if successful, she will appear andbombard them with as many questionsas she can before they either elude her,successfully shoo her away, or invite herto join them.

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