In a variety of modern and futuristic settings, characters may well encounter hackers, even if they never meet these hackers in person. Here are ten different hackers, with their handles and general behaviour, to encounter.
4NN1H11470r: 4NN1H11470r is a hacker who just likes breaking stuff and causing trouble. They have no real goal beyond hurting other people, and if that leads to deaths, so much the better.
H1 7H3r3: H1 7H3r3 just does it for the challenge; the more secure the system, the bigger the challenge. Once into a system, H1 7H3r3 leaves comments in supposedly secure file locations offering their services to fix the security problem.
5113NC3: 5113NC3 is a hacker that is after money, but not one that goes for the big scores. Instead, 5113NC3 just siphons off bits from many different transactions; a few pennies here, a dollar there. Over thousands of transactions, these amounts add up.
J0K3r: J0K3r likes pulling pranks by breaking into systems and getting things to malfunction. These are not malicious pranks, overall, but they are often embarrassing.
5H0W M3 7H3 M0N3Y: 5H0W M3 7H3 M0N3Y is a purely mercenary, and completely amoral, hacker. They will do whatever it is they are paid to do, and are not bothered by such outdated notions as ethics. 5H0W M3 7H3 M0N3Y will work for anyone who can pay, no matter how objectionable.
M07H3r 6414: M07H3r 6414 is an environmental hacktivist who specialises in breaking into the files of companies, especially those engaged in greenwashing to make them look good, and exposes the dirty secrets they’d rather keep hidden.
8r34K 7H3 5Y573M: 8r34K 7H3 5Y573M is an anarchist. Their sole goal is the undermining and destruction of existing systems; political, social, monetary, whatever. 8r34K 7H3 5Y573M doesn’t seem to have anything they want to replace those systems with either.
1NQU15170r: 1NQU15170r is a political hacker. They seek to uncover the secrets politicians try to hide and release them to the press in order to remove from office those politicians that 1NQU15170r finds objectionable.
CH4r17Y: CH4r17Y breaks into local government systems and diverts money away from those areas. CH4r17Y instead moves the monies through a complex web of transactions until they are received by local charities and other causes.
1UN471C: 1UN471C gives no impression that they’re rational at all. What they do changes from week to week, day to day and sometimes even hour to hour. They can go from participating in a crime, to shopping the others to the police, to supporting a politician to undermining their campaign with no apparent logic.
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Numenera is a game published by Monte Cook Games. Its setting is the Ninth World, and this list has six rumours for that setting. The rumours, which are similar to the Hearsay that can be found in the official books, can be used as adventure hooks or as simple misinformation.
“Iyene Who Knows” is a broker of knowledge in Norou outside the Clock of Kala. She trades information and is known to many, from criminals to the law-abiding to those in distant towns. Iyene is always increasing the amount of information she has, and there are rumours that she has also amassed a stock of blackmail material that means she is the true power in the city.
Lord Abellor is the tyrannical despot of Norou, the trade city that serves as the last waypoint for people heading through the Clock of Kala. Abellor has soldiers, but his brain is also encased inside a powerful automaton, meaning that defeating him is extremely difficult. There’s a rumour, though, that the automaton needs certain specialised compounds in order to keep functioning and that, if it was deprived of those, Lord Abellor would become powerless.
The circular mountain range known as the Clock of Kala gains its name for its resemblance to a clock face, when viewed from above. There’s a rumour that this name is not merely because of the range’s resemblance to a clock, but it is a clock, one constructed by a prior civilisation for an unknown reason and purpose. It’s said if the clock starts ticking again, it will be the herald of the end of the Ninth World and the start of the Tenth.
The Ghostis is the ruler of Wislayn in the Clock of Kala and behaves as if the town is her own private home and that others are only there as her guests. She is said to have the ability to eject people from the extradimensional space, and it’s rumoured that some of those ejected don’t end up back in the normal world.
The Sheer is a clearly artificial path cut through the Clock of Kala and, despite years of geologic activity, it has remained in almost the same shape as when it was first cut. There’s a rumour, though, that rockfalls have been more common of late; usually, they are so uncommon that it’s possible for none to happen in a human lifetime. Why this should be happening, if true, isn’t known.
Wislayn is in the middle of the eastern end of the Sheer of the Clock of Kala, and is a strange artefact that appears to resemble a living thing made of violent crystal, perhaps a polyp, tree or tentacled sea creature. About a thousand people use this artefact as their home, living in an extradimensional space inside the artefact. There’s a rumour that Wislayn doesn’t merely resemble a living creature, it is one, though one that is currently in some form of stasis. What might happen to the people inside should this turn out to be true, and the stasis broken, isn’t known.
The Strange is a game published by Monte Cook Games. It is, at least in part, set in the normal world, but there are other worlds out there, in the Strange. This list has eight rumours for that setting, similar to the various different adventure hooks in the books, and these can be used as adventure hooks or simple misinformation.
Several groups from out of the area have recently set up in Kryzoreth, and have the same sorts of charms as the cliffwalkers that suppress dreams. The groups seem to be martially inclined, and appear to be looking for something specific. It’s rumoured that a number of their members have been turning up dead in the mornings.
The caravansaries that the Iron Road maintains around Ardeyn are rumoured to be places where unusual experiences and odd items can be rented or found. Some claim that these experiences and items would cause trouble if they were discovered, as the Iron Road is providing things that are illegal in most places.
The cliffwalkers of the Long Way Down guild regularly climb down the edges of Ardeyn to see what they can recover there, especially as cyphers are far more common than they are in the Borderlands. The work is dangerous, with not only the risk of falling to their deaths, but also the extreme weather of the Borderlands and dangerous creatures. Recently, though, it’s rumoured that the guild headquarters is investigating what appears to be a larger than normal percentage of cliffwalkers being killed or simply failing to return.
The Hulks of Kryzoreth are partly stone and partly alive, being sentient entities that form a series of rounded hills. It’s not known what the hulks are, only that they haven’t stirred. Recently, though, there have been some reports in the area of the ground shaking; perhaps an ordinary earth tremor, or perhaps what happens when a hill-sized creature starts to move.
The Iron Road is a caravan and courier guild that connects Kryzoreth to the rest of Ardeyn, but it’s rumoured that recently a number of their caravans have disappeared in the vicinity of the Hulks of Kryzoreth. It’s said that not that many have gone missing, but the Iron Road still wants the disappearances investigating.
The Long Way Down Guild, whose members are known as cliffwalkers, keep their headquarters in Kryzoreth, though they wear dreamstone charms to keep the dreams of the area away, as they find them disturbing, not being natives. There are rumours that the natives of Kryzoreth strongly dislike the use of these charms and are planning to kill the soul sorcerer who creates them, as well as destroy as many of them as they can.
There are hollowed out cavities in the Hulks of Kryzoreth in which those who claim noble blood live. It’s not known how deep the cavities run, with rumour claiming that they connect to the land of dreams. Some outsiders claim that what the cavities connect to is far worse than anything as tame as a dream realm, and that they may even lead to Lotan’s nightmares.
Those who sleep near the Hulks of Kryzoreth have strange dreams; the residents of the area gain special contentment from the dreams with the most gifted dreamers claiming noble blood. Transients, though, find the dreams to be nightmares beyond description and take measures to keep sleep away. The natives seem to share contentment, tranquillity and peaceful ways, but there are rumours that this is just what shows on the surface, and that the dreams have a much deeper and darker effect on them, one that outsiders never see.
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10 Hooks and Rumours for Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0.’s Night City
This list has ten hooks and rumours that can be heard in or about the Corporate Plaza in the Corporate Centre district of Night City. Whether or not they are true is up to the GameMaster. They can be used as background colour or as potential adventure hooks.
Arasaka Plaza & Tower in Night City’s Corporate Plaza is the main office of the American division of the company, and has some of the toughest security around. It’s rumoured that Arasaka will anonymously hire freelancers to attempt to break into the tower for a lot of money, physically or electronically, to test their own defences. It’s also said that no-one has succeeded at this and those that have failed have been killed by Arasaka.
It’s rumoured that there was very nearly a nasty accident at the Orbital Air tower in Corporate Plaza. It’s said that an AV-4 came very close to crashing into the tower rather than landing on the pad. Furthermore, there are claims that this was caused by sabotage in a deliberate attack against the company, possibly by a competitor or possibly by someone just trying to cause trouble.
Microtech Center in Night City’s Corporate Plaza already has high security on the building, but it’s rumoured that the company has been increasing it even more, primarily by hiring more human security guards. There are suggestions that perhaps some of the electronic security systems were compromised in a digital attack recently.
People in Corporate Plaza for whatever reason have reported an increase in traffic to and from Merrill, Asukaga & Finch, more than would be expected from the employees and those clients who would have occasion to visit the company. Reputedly, a lot of the increased traffic is in limos, expensive hire cars and other vehicles suggesting that the visitors are wealthy, important, out of towners or a combination of these.
Petrochem International has only a relatively small office in Night City’s Corporate Plaza, with the only public access being to a small museum along with the gift shop and public relations department. Security is high in the building, yet apparently someone managed to scrawl anti-oil graffiti inside the museum without anyone witnessing it. Petrochem is apparently keeping the matter close to the chest whilst they find out what happened.
Raven Microcybernetics’ global headquarters is in Night City’s Corporate Plaza, which has a small manufacturing area as well as a large R&D section. It’s rumoured that the building’s manufacturing area is where the company tries out some new designs that are being kept very tightly held, whether this be to stop corporate espionage or because the designs might skirt, or even dance right over, the law’s limits.
The Infocomp Building in Corporate Plaza has only one public facility, a huge digital research library that can only be accessed from within the building, due to the sensitivity of the material. However, it’s rumoured that, despite the tight security, a netrunner and their team managed to briefly link up a connection from the research library to the outside, stealing a lot of information before most, but not all, of the team was caught.
The main office for Euro Business Machines, International’s American division is in the Corporate Plaza of Night City. Also located in the Plaza are the regional offices for Microtech International, and it’s rumoured that the two companies have a quiet war of netrunners going on, as each attempts to breach the security of the other. It’s not known if this is a series attempt to attack the other company, or just employees of the two having fun and sharpening their skills.
The West City Tower in Corporate Plaza is full of hundreds of different businesses and outlets of all types, some catering directly to the public, but more not, unlike the Plaza Business Tower. It’s rumoured that quite a few organisations, criminal, governmental and others that have activities they wish to conduct in relative anonymity rent spaces in the tower where they are lost as just one amongst many, unless something gets out of hand and calls attention to them.
There have been reports of a trade in counterfeit tickets for Network News 54’s shows that are filmed before a live audience. Though those with the counterfeit tickets don’t tend to get in, because there are more tickets than there are seats to the shows, the counterfeits are good enough to get past security and ill will is building in people who have been turned away after buying what they thought were genuine tickets. It’s rumoured that Net 54 is planning to hire some specialists to permanently deal with the problem at its source.
D10: Night City Rumours – Corporate Plaza is unofficial content provided under the Homebrew Content Policy of R. Talsorian Games and is not approved or endorsed by RTG. This content references materials that are the property of R. Talsorian Games and its licensees.
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Some artwork copyright William McAusland, used with permission
For one reason or another, characters can spend quite a bit of time in graveyards and cemeteries. One way of making this time more interesting is with some random encounters in them. Here are ten encounters, some odd, some potentially useful, to have in a graveyard.
A freshly dug grave, with the damp soil still piled next to it. The grave clearly hasn’t been dug long, and the shovel used to dig it has been plunged into the pile of soil. If the spade is pulled out, the blade of it bears slight traces of fresh blood.
A gravestone has been damaged so that only the very stub remains. Bits and pieces of broken stone lie around the grave, together with an abandoned sledgehammer. The grave itself has also been attacked, and by the smell and looks of it, someone has urinated and defecated on it.
A ghostly white figure is seen flitting amongst the gravestones in the distance. If pursued, the ghostly figure can easily be caught up with and turns out to be just a woman in a flowing white dress who is looking for a specific grave.
Covering a grave is a thick iron mortsafe, a device created to prevent bodysnatchers from digging up coffins. The mortsafe is clearly damaged, with its iron bars bent and twisted. However, it looks like the damage came from below, as if something was prying its way out from the grave, not above.
Flowering plants cover this very well kept grave and the headstone itself practically gleams. A small compartment at the base of the grave contains various tools used to maintain it, and now and then, or if the grave is interfered with, the implements fly out of the compartment to keep the grave in perfect shape.
Kneeling at the end of a grave is a hooded figure dressed in black. They appear to be mourning the one whose grave it is, and the grave looks comparatively recent and fresh flowers have been laid on it. The person will refuse to respond to anyone who speaks to them. If pressed, they turn, lift their hood revealing a horrifying visage and then vanish.
Mushrooms and other fungi are growing in unusual profusion over one grave. Even the headstone is nearly hidden under a mass of mould, which will need scraping away to read the inscription. As night, all the different fungi glow with an unsettling blue light.
One grave stands out from the others because it is completely enswathed in cobwebs. For some reason, it looks to be attracting spiders, who can be seen within the webbing, and either the grave hasn’t been cleared in some time or the spiders are spinning the webbing back at a very fast rate.
Standing at the head of a small grave is the statue of a small girl, posed as if in dance. The next time that the characters pass the grave, the statue of the little girl is no longer there.
Two gravediggers are sitting at the side of a grave they are in the process of digging. They have stopped for a break and are sitting on the pile of soil they’ve dug out so far. They are naturally talkative and will willingly chat to anyone who stops about the graveyard as a whole.
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Numenera is a game published by Monte Cook Games. Its setting is the Ninth World, and this list has ten rumours for that setting. The rumours, which are similar to the Hearsay that can be found in the official books, can be used as adventure hooks or as simple misinformation.
As people from the Steadfast have moved south into Matheunis to get away from kings and empires, so too has the attention of said rulers and realms moved south as well, to eye up the lands. It’s rumoured that the Empress of Pytharon is preparing to start building outposts in the region of the Cold Desert south of the Sadara River, in preparation for the empire moving to start taking control of the land.
Gayv-oreth is the ruler of the First Tier of Nihliesh in Matheunis and is generally a kind and compassionate ruler, though sometimes he becomes a dangerous, insatiable monster when his appetites get the better of him. So far, his people have forgiven him each time this has happened, but it’s rumoured that these instances are happening with increasing frequency and it could be that Gayv-oreth will eventually become the monster all the time.
Mada-liviss, the ruler of the Third Tier of Nihliesh in Matheunis, has been seen in public less and less in recent times. In fact, there are rumours that she hasn’t truly been seen in public for many weeks, with claims that her apparent appearances are, instead, some sort of numenera-created illusion or hologram.
Matheunis is, for some reason, home to a larger number of mutants than other regions, especially margr and murden. There’s a rumour that the reason for this is that there’s a machine from a prior world somewhere deep within the Cold Desert, a machine that, somehow, created mutants, perhaps by changing humans into abhumans.
Ni-chodoss, the ruler of the Second Tier of the city of Nihliesh in Matheunis, is whispered to exert a large amount of influence on the city as a whole, with a network of spies, thieves and assassins, something that has allowed her to become far wealthier than those she rules. There are rumours, though, that inhabitants of both the Second and First Tiers are growing tired of Ni-chodoss and would depose her if they could do so.
Nihliesh in Matheunis is a city built atop a half-buried ancient machine, using a material called churn, an orange-brown fluid created by two mechanisms inside the city that dries harder than stone. There’s a rumour that the flow of churn has become more sluggish recently, meaning that less is available for expanding or building the city in any way.
The Foundation Stones in Matheunis, the Cold Desert, are said by some to be the foundations of the sky. They float above the surface of the desert, but there’s a rumour that the stones have been gradually growing closer to the surface over the years. Some say if the stones ever reach the ground, the sky will fall down.
The inhabitants of Matheunis, the Cold Desert, domesticate a species of fly called the drakka, which grows up to a foot in length. Drakka are fairly intelligent, but some think they are even more intelligent than they let on. Many people keep drakka as pets or to herd or watch animals, which means a lot of households have drakka in them. There are claims that this is deliberate on the part of the drakka, though whether this is being done by an intelligent creature looking to be cared for, or one infiltrating a potential enemy, is another matter.
The Symbol Stone, one of the seven Foundation stones in Matheunis, the Cold Desert, has a symbol floating above it, easily visible at night, and has four separate streams of water pouring down its sides onto the desert, the source of a small river. There are rumours that, sometimes, the colour of the symbol changes, and when that happens, the water takes on strange properties.
Up until now, the residents of the First Tier in Nihliesh in Matheunis have been perfectly happy living in the tainted air of churn production for, despite how it shortened their lives, there was always a chance their offspring could become Fahat, the most revered people, all mutants, in the city. It’s rumoured, though, that changes have been made that still keep the First Tier’s lives short, but greatly reduce the chance of Fahat being born, which could cause the residents to rebel.
The Strange is a game published by Monte Cook Games. It is, at least in part, set in the normal world, but there are other worlds out there, in the Strange. This list has ten rumours for that setting, similar to the various different adventure hooks in the books, and these can be used as adventure hooks or simple misinformation.
Bands of the Betrayer’s homunculi have been reported to have been spotted in the Borderlands close to Megeddon, though it’s said the creatures have not been attacking anyone, just watching them carefully. Those who have come upon the homunculi unawares claim that the beings appear to be searching for something in the Borderlands.
Megeddon is inhabited almost entirely by homunculi, copies of the Betrayer in three colours, green, red and clear. There are rumours, though that there are other colours of homunculi, ones that are even rarer than the clears. It’s said these are homunculi created with unusual abilities that the Betrayer creates for specific reasons, though it’s not known what either abilities or reasons might be.
Much of Megeddon is empty, as the fortress is capable of holding many more people than it currently does. It’s rumoured that the number of homunculi in the fortress has been increasing over the years, mostly slowly but more recently the numbers have been rising much more rapidly. It could be that the Betrayer has discovered a way of creating homunculi faster, or that he has an upcoming need for larger numbers of them.
Part of the fortress of Megeddon is known to be out of bounds for everything but the Betrayer’s homunculi. There are many rumours about just what might be found within that area, with treasures of different types being the most common theory, but there are rumours of strange beings held prisoner, vast machines of unknown origin and purpose and visitors from dimensions that have little in common with Ardeyn.
The Betrayer continues to oppose Lotan, as he did when he was War, and it’s rumoured that those that follow him, homunculi or otherwise, have started to take a more active role against Lotan. Though most would appreciate Lotan’s forces being countered by the Betrayer’s, few would consider the Betrayer to be much of an improvement over Lotan.
The Fortress of Megeddon is topped with metal towers that look out over the Borderlands. Though metal may make an improved defence, it’s said that’s not the real reason for its use in constructing the towers. Some say energy can be seen sometimes arcing between the different towers, with bolts occasionally darting out into the Strange.
The symbol of Megeddon is a black circlet of spikes, called by most the Traitor’s Crown. There are rumours that this symbol keeps appearing in the Borderlands near Megeddon itself, causing some to wonder if the Betrayer is intending to expand Megeddon, the land or the fortress itself, to take control of more of Ardeyn.
The White Zone is the part of Megeddon set aside by the Betrayer for those who visit him, with embassies from various nations and powers, even though they don’t outwardly show their allegiance, as well as others who trade in goods that Megeddon needs or wants. It’s rumoured that some parts of the White Zone are out of bounds for regular visitors, suggesting that the Betrayer has people, or things, residing there that even he doesn’t want others to know about.
There are few entrances on the side of Megeddon that faces into Ardeyn. but it’s rumoured that there are more facing out into the Strange. The fortress’s appearance is suggestive of it being a much larger fortress that was lost in the Strange, and some say that the gates on the Strange-facing side still connect, through unknown means, to the rest of the fortress.
There is a belief that the fortress of Megeddon may once have been an ancient qephilim city that was taken over by the Betrayer for his own purposes. It’s rumoured that there still are some relics of the qephilim deep within the fortress, and perhaps these relics might be connected to the Betrayer’s homunculi in some way.
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10 Hooks and Rumours for Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0.’s Night City
This list has ten hooks and rumours that can be heard in or about the Corporate Center district of Night City. Whether or not they are true is up to the GameMaster. They can be used as background colour or as potential adventure hooks.
Ben Feinberg, C.P.A., is an accountant in the Balinger Building in the Corporate Center, and works as an accountant for many local celebrities. It’s rumoured that for a few of these celebrities, he has set up offshore corporations that are perhaps less than entirely legal for them to funnel money through that they don’t wish to bother the taxman about.
Kuramoto Galleries is an exclusive gallery in Corporate Center specialising in modern and classical art of all kinds, with frequent invitation-only auctions. It’s rumoured that sometimes what’s for sale in these auctions isn’t being sold by the genuine owner of the item being sold.
Night City Towing and Storage in Corporate Center tows away vehicles across Night City, giving owners 24 hours to claim them, after which the towing company sells them off. It’s rumoured that the company will also dispose of other vehicles, for a price, seemingly towing a car off then selling it as scrap, or even having it crushed. Such vehicles are those that connect to a crime in some way, and this allows criminals to destroy the evidence in a surreptitious manner.
Red Cab is the largest private transport company in Night City, though it is well behind Aerocab, and its headquarters are in Corporate Center. There are rumours that Red Cab has been the target of a number of attacks recently, ones that seem oddly coordinated. It’s rumoured that Aerocab might be behind them, not to eliminate the competition, as Red Cab isn’t real competition, but to buy them out cheaply and extend their domination of the sector.
Robbie, the proprietor of Robbie’s Monster Subs in the Corporate Center, is a 300lb ex-sumo wrestler form Hawaii and is capable of maintaining order singlehandedly should things got out of control when Rainbow Nights customers get a bit out of hand. It’s rumoured that Robbie, after he retired from wrestling, had some work done to make him even more formidable; not anything overt but some enhancement of his normal abilities and some subdermal armouring.
The Cavalier is an expensive clothing store in Corporate Center that those without money, and lots of it, shouldn’t even try to visit. Most of what they sell is high-end imported items, primarily clothing but also some luxury household items. It’s rumoured that if you really have money to spend, additional lines of clothing are available, more expensive and quite possibly illegal.
The Chatworth Tower in Corporate Center is home to luxury town-houses and apartments, though not quite at the top end of the market. The tower uses armed guards hired from a local security firm who are generally effective enough. It’s rumoured, though, that the Chatworth is looking to either increase the number of guards, or hire some who are of better quality; there have been suggestions of a number of “incidents” that the residents feel they should be protected from.
The Kuroshita Hotel in Corporate Center is known for its discretion, as well as its elegance, and it’s rumoured that the staff can be truly discrete if the client is wealthy or powerful enough. Not only will they be able to get anything that said client desires, they will also be able to ensure that any unfortunate “incidents” are covered up and never trouble anyone else, such as the NCPD.
The L’Etranger bar is a night spot in Corporate Center with a European theme to its decor and is favoured by corps who are working late and white-collar security personnel. The clientele who visit the bar have a fair amount of inside knowledge on their companies, and it’s rumoured that L’Etranger can be a place where corporate espionage is being carried out.
The Rainbow Nights Dance Club in Corporate Center is a popular spot that once a month gets a big headliner to appear, which results in a large increase in the number of criminals and rowdy individuals, as well as a commensurate increase in police and crime. Rumour has it that on such nights some people always end up dead, and not necessarily by accident; various elements take advantage of the crowds to carry out a hit.
D10: Night City Rumours – City Centre is unofficial content provided under the Homebrew Content Policy of R. Talsorian Games and is not approved or endorsed by RTG. This content references materials that are the property of R. Talsorian Games and its licensees.
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The town of Cat’s Crossing, from Towns of Sundara, is known for the symbiotic relationship the inhabitants have with the many different cats that also live there. The cats sometimes behave in unusual ways, and here are ten strange behaviours travellers may notice from the feline inhabitants of the town.
A cat is sat behind a neat row of dead rodents, which are being examined by another cat that is walking up and down the row.
Bridger stares fiercely at the bridge, almost perfectly still with only the end of his tail twitching. The bridge is currently empty.
Cats are perched on fence posts around the town.
Eight cats are clustered in a circle; all of the cats are facing inwards.
Every cat within earshot cries out at the same time. They do this three times in a row, then stop.
One cat follows a character around perfectly quietly, stopping when they do. This continues until the cat is given a treat they consider appropriate.
Six cats march one behind the other, keeping the same distance apart. They disappear down an alley.
Three cats are carefully examining a newly-arrived visitor from a distance.
Two cats are engaged in what looks like a staged fight as two others sit and watch.
Whenever a character, a cat comes out of it or around from the other side and watches them until they pass, then the cat disappears again.
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Just because the characters are in a village doesn’t mean that none of the inhabitants has anything unusual in their homes. Here are ten items that range from probable heirlooms to oddities that have been found for different villagers to own, some of which might be dangerous, others valuable.
A gold signet ring that is normally kept hidden away in this villager’s home, due to its value, if examined proves to bear the coat of arms of a noble house that’s believed to have died out generations ago after being targeted by assassins. The current owner doesn’t know that, and certainly doesn’t believe they are descended from nobility. They may not be; they may be descended from a thief, or even an assassin.
A shield whose symbol appears to have been carefully removed at some point hangs on a wall in the villager’s house. Despite the removal, the shield itself is in good shape, highly polished and bearing neither dent nor scratch. The villager doesn’t know much about the shield’s history, only that it is an heirloom that has been in the family for generations. Given how long it’s apparently been owned, its current condition is impressive.
A strange lump of stone is being used as a doorstop at this villager’s house. The stone has a strange greenish hue to it, is oddly heavy and looks like it was at least partially shaped in the past, though only barely. It was brought up when a field was being ploughed and has since resided in its current place as a curiosity. Some of the other villagers find the rock slightly disturbing, but not greatly so.
A wood and iron chest stands out in this villager’s home for both its sturdiness and condition, though this is because it isn’t a chest. Instead, it’s a creature known to disguise itself as such, but one that was put into a semi-permanent slumber many decades ago, though the villager doesn’t know this. In its current condition, the creature can be used just like a normal chest.
An extensive herb garden surrounds this villager’s home, and inside, if an individual knows what they are looking for, a number of different poisons can be found. The villager is an amateur herbalist with an interest in poisons, though they don’t go around advertising this fact, as it could lead to problems. This doesn’t mean they won’t be willing to sell poison for the right price.
Hanging over the fireplace in this villager’s home is an unusually well-maintained longsword. It clearly has pride of place, though the mounting for it is rather amateurish and the blade isn’t positioned as well as it could be. The sword looks to be worth far more than anything else in the house, and perhaps more than the house itself. The villager stumbled across a dead body whilst out in the woods one day and, amongst other things, found the sword.
In pride of place in this villager’s home is a stone idol, though not of any known religion. Nor is it a religion that the villager follows; they don’t pray to the idol, they just think it’s a nice ornament. The idol is made from a pure white stone and is almost formless, being roughly humanoid in shape but with little in the way of features. There seems to be a large sword held point down from the figure’s chest to its feet.
In this villager’s shed is an enormous siege ballista. The ballista is currently non-functional, and the villager tinkers with it when they have time as a hobby. They found it in pieces in a ruined building, where it had evidently been stored for years, and brought it back home to try to fix it as a hobby. The villager hasn’t truly tried that hard yet, just enjoying the tinkering, but someone who knows what they are doing could easily get it working.
This villager does some of the gardening in their vegetable and herb patch with a tarnished sickle. The sickle doesn’t look like much, as it is stained and the handle has clearly been replaced at some point with a crude one made from a couple of pieces of wood bound with twine, but a knowledgeable eye will notice that the blade is silver and, if cleaned, a druidic symbol can be found. What is most notable about the villager’s garden is how lush the plants in it are.
This villager never has any problems with fresh water, as they have a magic item that regularly produces it on demand, which has been linked up to various plumbing fixtures. Even in the driest seasons, they always have enough, and will often share it. The villager won’t say where they got the item, which is clearly worth quite a bit, but it was found outside a recently-plundered tomb that they blundered across.
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In a variety of modern and futuristic settings, characters may well encounter hackers, even if they never meet these hackers in person. Here are ten different hackers, with their handles and general behaviour, to encounter.
