Sargolis
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There is a grassland - not quite a prairie¸ nor quite a savanna¸ where shaggy beasts graze under a wide sky. There was a river across the land once; now there is only a stream in a wide bed. There was a smooth highway of pale stone; now if you skip¸ you can travel by jumping long jumps from one gently slanted stone to another. Where the river met the highway on this grassland¸ there was a great city called Sargolis.
Under Sargolis¸ there lie caverns¸ where ten thousand generations of bats left their droppings¸ where fungus grew in near-forests. Here many of the people of Sargolis toiled¸ once¸ bringing these things to light and market¸ and creating a great bustle of trade.
The finest merchants of this trade became the nobles of Sargolis¸ and sneered down at the workers of the deep caverns¸ the delvers of the deeps¸ risible figures on the stage and ones to be avoided in the street.
Under the regimes fostered by this division¸ it should be no wonder that the delvers came to be driven to overwork¸ that the deeps were neglected¸ that monstrous rats were let to breed in their corners¸ that cults grew up in the deeps¸ until eventually they began to raise the dead in the dark below.
Mighty Sargolis was raided¸ again and again¸ by the dead and the cults beneath it¸ and went to war against itself - and both sides lost. The wealthy fled or were cut down¸ the warriors died in hosts¸ until the fighting stilled.
They say a potent lich still lurks in the deeps¸ much-depleted from the war¸ and coming no more to raid¸ likely rebuilding its strength. Certainly where the dead are not burned¸ they rise as undead¸ and go below¸ and all manner of vermin make their way to city to breed under it.
The armies are gone. But the deeps remain¸ and someone still has to finish the job.
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Sargolis is an Adventure RPG¸ using only six-sided dice.
The game takes its mechanical cues from Tunnel Goons by Nate Treme (on which it is based)¸ from Darkest Dungeons (stress and breakdowns limit your exploration of procedurally-generated depths)¸ and from the Roleplay Book of Warhammer Quest (the world above as time management and places to visit until town becomes untenable).
It is quick to play¸ and easy to make characters for. It's also made heavily out of parts you can steal and take elsewhere if you feel the urge to do so.
