What Waits in Darkness

Experience the Exploration, Intrigue,  and Mythos Horror inspired by Sci-Fi adventure movies and the writing of H.P. Lovecraft.

Based on the Chaosium Basic Roleplaying Universal Game Engine,

Gateways into Madness is a complete tabletop role-playing game that immerses players in a dark,

twisted universe where madness and the faint hope for humanity collide.

In this episode, What Waits in Darkness, a Gate Survey Team is dispatched to San Francisco, 1915,

to investigate a deadly fog that has overtaken the Panama-Pacific International Exposition.

Along the way, they must save themselves—and the people trapped within an unnatural fog that hides a deadly secret.

Can the team navigate the dangers of an ancient evil when they cannot see the threat?

Find out in this chilling episode of Gateways into Madness.

Hate Calls to Thee!

As the Underworld swelled with the souls of the dead, Lord Death sent forth his four daughters to serve on his behalf. The most violent and bloodthirsty of them, Hate, donned the war god’s mantle to spread discord and violence across the world.

Inside Mysteries of the Old Gods: Hate, the God of War, you’ll find:

• Details on the Daughters of Death and their relationship to their father.
• Lore about Hate, including her game rules.
• Two war cults with membership benefits, details on sacred sites, and sample cultists.
• A selection of new hateful servants you can use to terrorize the characters.
• New trinkets and items of power.
• New magical rites.
• A selection of new spells designed specifically for Hate’s priests.

Continuing the series that began with Mysteries of the Old Gods: Lord Death, this supplement offers an extensive look at one of the more sinister figures in the pantheon. Whether the characters pledge their souls to serving Hate or find themselves fighting against her deranged followers, this offering expands on and enriches the world of the Weird Wizard!

The Diaru do not conquer only with fleets and legions. Those are instruments for the obvious wars—the kind remembered by monuments and censored histories. The truer victories are quieter. They are seeded, cultivated, and allowed to ripen until an enemy collapses beneath the weight of their own indulgence, paranoia, and ambition. Thus was born an elite order whose existence is denied even in whispers. They call it the Gilded Blight—a doctrine masquerading as decadence, an art of corruption refined to ritual precision. Its initiates are chosen not for loyalty alone, but for beauty sharpened into a weapon, intellect honed to surgical cruelty, and patience measured in centuries. To them, corruption is not chaos; it is architecture. Each vice is a brick. Each secret, mortar. Each betrayal, a keystone placed at precisely the right moment. The Diaru are uniquely suited to this work. Their bodies burn through poisons as if insulted by the attempt, their muscles sculpted by relentless metabolism, their long lives granting them the patience to watch rot bloom slowly. Where others succumb to excess, the Diaru observe it—study it—weaponize it. Only the most dangerous indulgences can truly touch them: magically infused liquors, pleasure distilled with arcane intent, delights capable of unraveling even a Diaru will. Such risks are not avoided. They are catalogued, controlled, and sometimes embraced, for nothing corrupts more convincingly than sincerity. The Gilded Blight does not assassinate leaders. It makes them ungovernable. It does not shatter alliances. It ensures they decay from within—through envy, obsession, desire, and the quiet certainty that someone else is being favored more. When the final collapse comes, it appears organic. Inevitable. Tragic. Within the Diaruvarn Empire, the order is celebrated in secret and feared in equal measure. Their successes are retroactively mythologized as proof of Diaru superiority—evidence that the old dynasties did not fall, but merely shed unnecessary territory. Their failures are erased along with the witnesses. You are newly inducted—or newly unleashed. Your charge is not merely to infiltrate, but to reshape. To step into rival courts and councils adorned in terrible beauty, to let others desire you, trust you, resent you, and ultimately damn themselves through proximity. Every smile is a stratagem. Every pleasure offered is a probe. Every alliance is temporary. The Diaru believe dominance is justified by legacy. The Gilded Blight exists to ensure that legacy is uncontested—not by crushing resistance, but by ensuring no rival remains pure enough to oppose them. This is not war. This is cultivation.

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In this Solo Adventure you assume the role of an adventurer in the shadow-stained expanse of the Known Galaxy. You will require the Haven Fallen Core Rulebook (CRB) and any associated Expansions you wish to use. The world responds to you—your interpretations, your fears, your ambitions—and you will act as both Character and Storyteller. The Actions you take should depend on who and what you meet, what horrors cross your path, and how you choose to engage with them.  Record the outcomes. Evolve the world. Allow rumours, consequences, and scars to reappear later. As you progress, you will become your own Storyteller, shaping a living cosmos that remembers what you do. The outcome of Actions in Haven Fallen is determined by:

The Diaru have never trusted alliances. They remember too well the ages when lesser powers swore unity beneath Diaru banners—only to fracture the moment the empire bled. Memory is the Diaru’s sharpest weapon. It tells them that coalitions are not forged from hope, but from fear; not sustained by loyalty, but by necessity. And yet, even the Diaruvarn Empire understands that some disorders metastasize beyond the reach of a single blade. Thus, an accord was signed in shadows. An inter-faction concord—unnamed in public, uncelebrated in legend—binding the Diaru to an external power whose methods are cold, systemic, and relentless. Where the Diaru rule through legacy, terror, and terrible beauty, their counterparts govern through structure, doctrine, and the erasure of chaos by regulation. The alliance is uneasy, transactional, and razor-thin. Each side believes it is using the other. You are the instrument of this agreement. Chosen for your capacity to endure compromise without weakening, you stand at the junction of two incompatible philosophies. The Diaru see you as a necessary contamination—an envoy who can move among outsiders without diluting Diaru supremacy. Your allies see you as a weapon barely leashed, beautiful and lethal, tolerated only because the disorder you hunt is worse. The Diaru physiology marks you as something apart. Your body burns fast and clean—muscle wrought without excess, toxins rendered meaningless. You cannot drown yourself in indulgence as others do, yet you are not immune to the more dangerous temptations: arcane liquors and psycho-reactive pleasures capable of unraveling even a Diaru will. Long life has not softened your kind; centuries merely sharpen grudges, refine ambition, and perfect the art of betrayal. The coalition’s mandate is simple in language and infinite in complication: root out disorder. Piracy that has become religion. Cultic insurgencies nesting within trade networks. Rogue polities whose instability threatens the sector’s fragile equilibrium. Each operation is justified as preservation. Each success leaves behind ghosts. The Diaruvarn Empire frames this concord as proof of its inevitability—others must bend to Diaru participation if order is to be restored. Privately, the court fears contamination: that proximity to rigid systems may erode Diaru fluid dominance, that cooperation may dull the knife of intrigue. Your counterparts fear you for different reasons. They see an immortal-adjacent species whose rulers still speak of ancient glories as if they were yesterday’s victories. They do not understand Diaru aesthetics—how beauty, pain, and war are entwined; how despair in an enemy is considered mercy. Every joint operation is a performance. Every briefing is a negotiation. Every battlefield victory conceals a political loss somewhere else. You are expected to succeed without embarrassing the alliance, to dominate without appearing imperial, and to betray only when it can no longer be proven. This is not a war of conquest. It is a war for control of entropy. And the Diaru intend to ensure that when order is restored, it will remember who made it possible.

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In this Solo Adventure you assume the role of an adventurer in the shadow-stained expanse of the Known Galaxy. You will require the Haven Fallen Core Rulebook (CRB) and any associated Expansions you wish to use. The world responds to you—your interpretations, your fears, your ambitions—and you will act as both Character and Storyteller. The Actions you take should depend on who and what you meet, what horrors cross your path, and how you choose to engage with them.  Record the outcomes. Evolve the world. Allow rumours, consequences, and scars to reappear later. As you progress, you will become your own Storyteller, shaping a living cosmos that remembers what you do. The outcome of Actions in Haven Fallen is determined by:

They say the Diaru were never meant to chase—only to be pursued by envy, by fear, by the slow erosion of lesser empires. Yet now the hunters run beneath dead stars, their silhouettes carved from elegance and violence alike, their armor etched with genealogies older than most civilizations’ memories. Each Diar moves with lethal grace, muscle coiled tight beneath obsidian skin, metabolism burning so fiercely that poison becomes nourishment and fatigue a foreign myth. Where others would falter, they endure—beautiful, terrible, unyielding. The Diaruvarn Empire no longer spans the vastness it once claimed, but its pride remains unbroken. It lives on in curated legends, in carefully preserved accounts of triumph and annihilation, in whispered boasts recited before war. The Diaru remember everything—and what they do not remember, they invent until it becomes truth. Their rulers understand this well. Legacy is not inherited; it is enforced. Now a fugitive moves beyond the reach of law and prophecy alike—an entity that should not exist, carrying knowledge torn from imperial vaults and scars that defy Diaru blades. It leaves behind broken alliances, emptied strongholds, and rumors that make even ancient warriors uneasy. Some say it has learned to wound Diaru immortality itself. Others claim it is proof that the Diaru can still be hunted. To answer this insult, an elite cadre has been unleashed: bounty hunters chosen not merely for skill, but for pedigree, cruelty, and ambition. Each carries personal grudges sharpened by centuries, and each knows that success will earn them more than favor—it will earn them a place in the next age of Diaru myth. Failure, however, will see them erased from history with surgical precision. Across the cold expanse, through shadow-markets and sanctified kill-zones, the hunt tightens. Contracts overlap with vendettas. Truth fractures into propaganda. And somewhere ahead, the quarry waits—watching, learning, preparing to turn the Diaru love of war against them. This is not justice. This is not duty. This is the hunt as the Diaru were always meant to wage It—beautiful, merciless, and eternal.

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In this Solo Adventure you assume the role of an adventurer in the shadow-stained expanse of the Known Galaxy. You will require the Haven Fallen Core Rulebook (CRB) and any associated Expansions you wish to use. The world responds to you—your interpretations, your fears, your ambitions—and you will act as both Character and Storyteller. The Actions you take should depend on who and what you meet, what horrors cross your path, and how you choose to engage with them.  Record the outcomes. Evolve the world. Allow rumours, consequences, and scars to reappear later. As you progress, you will become your own Storyteller, shaping a living cosmos that remembers what you do. The outcome of Actions in Haven Fallen is determined by:

What is Happening in Hex 5-C:
Years ago a protector of the region was murdered by a troll who was then put to sleep beneath a bridge. Now Hex 5-C has the following struggles that must be resolved:
Two small villages are in constant conflict (with one creating a fake troll to harass and steal from the other).
A troll sleeps because of a magic item in a waterfall.
The troll possesses the means of healing a mystical obelisk.
The new protector of the region lives in caves flooded by a geyser.
An abandoned monastery holds the secret of all these threads.
The interconnected threads need to be unknotted (by a group of 3-5 PCs of roughly 5th to 10th level).
The adventure includes unique magical items, mystical locations with challenging impacts, a troll sleeping beneath a river, a reluctant hero living in flooded caves, and two villages that are unwilling to work together.

Emberland is a town, a jungle, and a region. More importantly, it is a sandbox filled with opportunities for adventure. Designed for emergent gameplay, the Emberland setting will provide adventure hooks, NPCs, factions, monsters, and adventures which will allow the adventurers to discover what they care about, who they want to stop, and how to go about it.
This zine (yes, the very zine you are reading right now!) focuses on hex 5-C: The Cursed Stone Bridge.
For more information about the Town of Emberland (including factions, history, NPCs, shops, trades-people, etc) check out the EMBERLAND SETTING GUIDE (available for free) on DRIVETHRURPG or HANGRYDWARFPRESS.COM.
Each zine will include a detailed breakdown of one hex in the Emberland Region. The breakdown will include additional rumors, random encounters, and new creatures or NPCs for that region. Points of interest will be mapped out and adventure hooks planted.
The “point-crawl” style of the hexes will identify points of interest that adventurers may wish to explore, and GMs are free to expand upon these points of interest as they see fit. They may drop adventures from other sources into a hex, or create their own, or rely on the random encounter tables and random dungeon generation.
Emberland is a region with hooks, rumors, and interlocking pieces (NPCs, histories, and factions) that will give an emergent adventure setting for players. As the players explore, they’ll find ways to make allies and enemies.

Designed to represent a fantasy-style tower in rocky terrain.

Core hex base tile designed by Stephen Pritchard and designed to complement paper printable hex tile base maps for SeaLion Supremacy, TayanaRPG and FSpaceRPG, or any other similar-sized hex map system.

Presented as a one-piece item for printing. Paint them as you like to bring them extra life. A great project for the avid tabletop miniature painter. Check out the lighthouse tile counter for inspiration, as this could be used in a coastal setting - as it used the same base terrain.

These tiles also fit into Stephen's HexLock carrier system, creating an interlocking hex-based game board.

Presented as a one-piece item for printing. Print in a colour that suits as a counter if you don’t want to paint them, or paint them as you like to bring them extra life. A great project for the avid tabletop miniature painter.

It can be printed in a range of materials. Print in green, brown or grey for immediate impact, and/or paint to suit your individual style.

The Frontier Play Framework explains the core structure behind Saloons & Outlaws.

It covers:

• What Frontier Jobs are and how they create pressure

• How Frontier Stories escalate and leave lasting consequences

• What Frontier Seasons are and how long-form play works

• The philosophy behind consequence-driven design

• How the game supports both outlaw life and working the land

This document is written for:

• Players

• Arbiters (GMs)

• Retailers

• Collaborators

It exists to clarify expectations and explain why the game works the way it does.

What This Is Not

This is not:

• A rules preview

• A quickstart

• An adventure

• A Weird West or supernatural game

There are no monsters.
Danger comes from people, distance, debt, and attention.

Who This Is For

This document will resonate if you enjoy:

• Grounded Western play without fantasy elements

• Meaningful consequences that do not reset

• Social pressure, reputation, and institutional response

• Stories where violence works — but is never clean

• Characters who survive, endure, and adapt rather than ascend into myth

Upcoming Support (2026)

• Frontier Outlaws — Outlaw gangs, tiers, and fence networks (January 15, 2026)

• Working the Land — Homesteads, livelihood, and permanence (January 30, 2026)

• Territories of the New Republic — Towns, economy, and regional play (Early Q1 2026)

Pieces of eight… different… cadavers all sewn together and given a second, really unpleasant semblance of life. It’s like Frankenstein, only on a smaller budget. And this image will be easy on your art budget! Perfect for any Gothic or modern horror or fantasy project!

Subject to the included license information. Printed size will be up to a monstrous 4400 x 4700 pixels (7.3 X 7.8 inches) as a 600 ppi Tiff... enough to be used as a cover illustration! Included is a lo-rez version for easy online advertising.

You can use this image in commercial or fan projects, however, you may not publish it as clip art. Any company that uses images from 'Clip Art Critters' is required to place the artist's name amongst the credits.

In the heart of the Bavidirian Mire, legends are born—and tested in blood.

For generations, the Saurians have thrived in secret, their society woven from ancient magic and the wisdom of the swamp. However, when a horde of orcs, twisted by demonic power, invades their sacred homeland, the Saurians must face the world. The orcs burn villages, desecrate traditions, and make hope flicker as annihilation looms.

Out of the ashes rises Z’Rath, an outcast whose mastery of the earth’s hidden depths may be the key to survival. The Saurians rally behind new defenses and forgotten magic, using the Mire itself as a weapon, where roots ensnare, spirits awaken, and war forges unity.

But victory comes at a cost. Scarred and changed, the Saurians must rebuild not only their homes, but their spirits. With ancient enemies defeated and new alliances forged, the dawn brings a promise: the legend of the Mire will endure, a testament to resilience, courage, and the magic that binds a people to their land.

The Saurian Defiance is an epic tale of survival, transformation, and the unbreakable power of unity. Step into the mist—where every shadow hides a secret, and every survivor shapes the future.

This stock art piece by David Ellis depicts a Tripod Alien with an unusual, ovoid head atop a bulbous torso from which sprouts many tentacles. The being carries itself on three of those tentacles that extend from the base of its body.

This image is presented at 8 x 8 inches in size.

This black and white purchase includes one JPG and one TIFF version, each at 300 dpi. Includes a TIFF version with a transparent background.

All art files are bundled in a ZIP file.

David Ellis is a freelance illustrator who specializes in fantasy and science fiction. He works primarily in pen and ink (and the digital equivalent) and has a particular fondness for drawing wizards. David is currently based in Murray, Kentucky but frequently dreams of ditching his day job and disappearing into the forest to become a full-time hermit/illustrator/cartoonist.

All stock art is licensed for use in professional publications. David Ellis retains ownership of the work, meaning you cannot resell the art in your own art packs or the like, and may be required to post an artist credit. There are limits regarding how this art may be edited for use.

You must include the artist's copyright statement in all publications using the art under certain terms and conditions. You obtain a license to use the art, but do not own any rights to it beyond that.