World of Meridian
Eight roads radiating from Meridian, a central crossroads-city. Each road is a region, a culture, and a people, born from one elemental thread.
The Compass Wheel
Click a road to learn more
Select a road from the compass to see its details
Meridian
The city at the center of the Compass Wheel. Not a capital, a crossroads. Where all eight roads converge.
The Grand Market
Open-air, roofed in silk. Every good from every road passes through.
The Crossroads Inn
Where caravans stop and stories are traded.
The Turning Wheel
A massive stone wheel at the city center that marks the seasons. Said the world turns because this wheel turns.
The Consulate
Where representatives from each road meet. Advisory, not sovereign.
The Weavers' Hall
Where the Silkborn maintain the world's leylines. Training in Weave available.
The Forge Quarter
Emberborn-run forges. Any weapon or tool can be made or repaired.
The Hollow Library
The world's archive, maintained by Hollowborn archivists. Entrance is free; information costs a story.
Antagonists
The Still
A force of entropy that wants to stop the wheel from turning. Does not destroy, it stops. Things become heavy, slow, eventually motionless.
Motivation: Stasis over change. Entropy. Not malicious, entropic.
The Hollowed
People emptied by the Still. Not killed, but hollowed. Stand motionless, stare, speak in other voices. Folk horror.
Motivation: None. They are hollow. Restored by connection, not combat.
The Weight
The physical manifestation of the Still. Creeping gravity that settles over regions.
Motivation: Entropy made physical.
The Tyrant's Constructs
Bronze automata from the old empire, following orders from a dead king.
Motivation: None. They are machines following dead orders.
The Turning
A generation ago, the old empire that tried to conquer the land was brought low by the Turning. Not an apocalypse, a correction. The land reasserted itself. Now the roads are reopening.
The Still is the old empire's final order: stop changing. The Turning was the world fighting back. The Still is the entropy of that order, still echoing.
The Two Poles
Meridian
The Living Pole
The living pole. The crossroads where all roads converge. The Threads are strongest here. The world connects here.
Where all roads begin. The world is alive here.
Sevren
The Frozen Pole
The frozen pole. The old imperial capital, frozen under the Still. All roads end here. The Echoing Throne sits here. The Tyrant's Hand guards the dead king. The Still started here and spread outward along the roads.
Where all roads end. The campaign's final destination.
Frozen but not dead. The old empire's heart still beats in the deepest levels.
The Pale
The frozen territories between each region and Sevren. Not a region, but the absence of a region. What happens when the Still wins completely. Grey, heavy, draining, silent.
Pale Mechanics
Halved (2 zones per scene instead of per round)
-1d6 to all Cast/Channel rolls
Hollowed gather, the Weight settles, constructs patrol
The Ember Pale
Cold rifts, dead forges, frozen lava flows. The heat is gone. The forge-cities are dark.
The Tide Pale
Still water, frozen tides, silent seas. The rivers do not move. The boats are frozen in place.
The Hollow Pale
Collapsed caves, void spaces, erased archives. The Hollowborn's records are blank. The memories are gone.
The Root Pale
Dead forests, hollow trees, still roots. The root-systems are frozen. The forest does not grow.
The Ash Pale
Grey fields, no regrowth, everything stopped. The recovering land has stopped recovering. The ashes do not blow.
The Dust Pale
Silent deserts, no caravans, no stories. The trade routes are empty. The oral traditions are forgotten.
The Glass Pale
Shattered flats, broken crystal, fractured mirrors. The perfect structures have cracked. The reflections show nothing.
The Silk Pale
Severed threads, slack roads, disconnected leylines. The threads do not connect. The roads do not lead anywhere.
Sevren
The old imperial capital, frozen under the Still. Built at the world's edge, opposite Meridian. The Turning happened here. The Still started here. The Echoing Throne sits here. The city is frozen but not dead.
-2d6 to all Cast/Channel rolls (the Threads are nearly severed here)
The Frozen Streets
The surface of Sevren. Frozen, silent, populated by Hollowed and constructs that still patrol. Buildings intact but motionless. Fountains do not flow. Fires do not burn.
The Imperial Palace
The old emperor's seat, frozen mid-construction. Builders are Hollowed, still holding tools. The throne room contains the Echoing Throne.
The Deep Vaults
Beneath the palace. Archives, armories, treasury. Guarded by Imperial Sentinels. The Cursed Forge is here, still producing constructs.
The Heart
The deepest level. Where the old empire's final order was given. Where the Still originated. Where the Tyrant's Hand stands guard. Where the campaign's final Reversal must happen.
The Frozen Sea
Beyond Sevren lies the Frozen Sea. A vast, still, motionless ocean. No ship has crossed it. No road leads through it. The world's edge, or perhaps its beginning.
Some say the Frozen Sea is the Still's true source, something older than the old empire.
Some say there is a third pole beyond the Frozen Sea, a living center older than Meridian.
The old empire built Sevren at the edge of the Frozen Sea because they were trying to reach something beyond it.
The Turning may not have been the world fighting back against the empire. It may have been the third pole fighting back.
The Ninth Road
When the Still is pushed back from all eight regions, a ninth road appears in the Pale where the frozen territories recede. It leads through the Frozen Sea toward something unknown. It may lead to the third pole.
This is the hook for a second campaign: what lies beyond the world's edge? What is the third pole? And what was the old empire really trying to do?
Campaigns & the Turning World
A campaign is a series of 3-5 session adventures chained together by the Still's progression across the world. Each adventure is self-contained, but the campaign is the throughline: the Still spreading, connections forming, and the world changing because of what the players do, or don't do.
Short
6 to 10 sessions2 to 3
One region's Still resolution. The players save one road.
+2 advancements: characters grow but don't transform.
Medium
12 to 20 sessions4 to 5
Multi-region Still, discovering the Still's source. The players save 3-4 roads.
+4 to 5 advancements: a new Approach, upgraded Aptitudes, Superior gear.
Long
24 to 40 sessions8 to 10
The Still's origin and the truth of the Turning. The players save the world, or fail to.
+8 to 10 advancements: d12 Aptitude, two trained Approaches, Traits, Legendary gear.
Start with a Short campaign (6-10 sessions, 2-3 adventures): enough to teach the system, grow the characters, and resolve a satisfying arc. Extend into a Medium campaign later by adding 2-3 adventures and raising the stakes.
The Four-Act Structure
Act I: The Roads Open
Establish1 to 2 short Caravan or Discovery adventures. Not Reversals yet, the Still isn't bad enough to reverse.
Optimistic, exploratory. The roads are open and the world is waking up.
Whispers (Stage 1) in 0 to 1 regions. The players hear rumors of trouble but don't see it yet.
The party establishes their first Road connection (by completing a Caravan adventure) and their first NPC connections.
1 advancement per completed adventure in this act, not an extra act-ending award.
A rumor arrives in Meridian: a road has gone quiet. The next adventure is a Reversal.
Act II: The Weight
Escalate2 to 3 adventures, mostly Reversals, each in a different region where the Still has reached Weight.
Urgent but not desperate. Each Reversal saves a region, visibly.
Weight (Stage 3) in 2 to 3 regions. The players can see the Still on the map.
Introduce the campaign's antagonist: not the Still itself, but a person, a Hollowed, or a remnant directing it. The players learn this in Act II but don't confront them yet.
Each successful Reversal establishes a Road connection and a Region connection. Each failed Reversal severs one.
1 per adventure, 2 to 3 in this act.
The Still reaches Stillness (Stage 4) in the party's home region, or in Meridian. The stakes are now personal.
Act III: The Stillness
Crisis2 to 3 Reversals: the home region first for personal stakes, then finding the antagonist, then preparing for the final Reversal.
Desperate but not hopeless. The players have connections, allies, and power, if they choose to use them.
Stillness (Stage 4) in 3 to 5 regions, Frozen (Stage 5) in 1 to 2 the players failed to reverse. The map is half-grey.
The antagonist is confronted and their motivation is understandable. The Still isn't evil, it's entropic. The players decide: fight them, or convince them.
The party's connections are tested. NPCs go Hollowed, Road connections are severed, and allies met in Act II return to help.
1 per adventure. Characters approach mastery.
The antagonist retreats to the source, the deepest region, where the Turning happened. The final adventure is set.
Act IV: The Turning
Climax1 epic adventure of 4 to 6 sessions, the deepest and most dangerous of the campaign, with individual Hit Targets on high-stakes encounters.
Climactic. Everything the players have built, connections, gear, skills, and allies, comes together.
Frozen (Stage 5) in the source region. A Legendary Reversal (HT 5) is required at the root.
The Turning was not an apocalypse, it was a correction. The old empire tried to freeze the world in its own image, and the Still is the old empire's final order: stop changing.
Every connection the party has made is tested. NPCs return, roads open, and the world the players built comes to their aid.
1 advancement for completing the final adventure, plus 1 Legendary item from the campaign's final reward.
The campaign is over. The epilogue asks what the world looks like now.
- •Destroy: sever the old empire's threads permanently. The Still stops, but so do the old roads, archives, and constructs.
- •Reconcile: bind the old empire's threads into the new world. The Still stops and the old world is integrated rather than erased, echoes and mistakes included.
- •Replace: use Cast/Channel to establish a new Thread that supersedes the old. The Still stops and the world is new, but the old threads are severed and the new one is untested.
The Still as Campaign Clock
The Still isn't just an in-adventure antagonist, it's the campaign's clock: it progresses across the map, visible to the players. Each adventure pushes it back or lets it advance.
Stage 1 in 0 to 1 regions. The world is mostly fine, with rumors of trouble.
Stage 3 in 2 to 3 regions. The map is getting grey and the players can see it spreading.
Stage 4 in 3 to 5 regions, Frozen in 1 to 2. The map is half-dark and the world is in crisis.
Stage 5 in the source region. The final Reversal. If the players fail, the world freezes.
How the Still Advances
Connection Tracking
Connections are the campaign's real score: not how many monsters the party killed, but how much of the world they kept alive. Each Connection provides a permanent Edge die when relevant, and independently relevant Connections each grant +1d6 Edge to the same action. The same Connection cannot be counted twice for one benefit, and all positive Edge remains subject to the Core maximum of +8d6.
Road Connection
+1d6 Edge when traveling that road
Completing a Caravan adventure on that road, or reversing the Still there.
Region Connection
+1d6 Edge on appropriate social actions in that region
Building reputation: completing an adventure, helping the locals, or being publicly recognized.
NPC Connection
+1d6 Edge when that NPC helps the party
Reconciling an NPC, saving an NPC, or building trust over multiple sessions.
Thread Connection
+1d6 Edge on appropriate Cast/Channel actions involving that Thread
Successfully binding a Thread in a region, or restoring a severed Thread.
Ancestry Connection
+1d6 Edge where knowledge of, reputation with, or connection to that ancestry's culture meaningfully helps
Helping an ancestry community, completing an adventure for them, or being adopted into their culture.
Earned & Severed
Complete a Caravan adventure on a road
+1 Road Connection (that road)
Complete a Reversal in a region
+1 Road Connection and +1 Region Connection
Reconcile an NPC without violence
+1 NPC Connection
Successfully bind a Thread
+1 Thread Connection (that Thread)
Help an ancestry community
+1 Ancestry Connection
The Still advances in a region
Severs the Road and Region Connections there
An NPC goes Hollowed
Severs that NPC Connection
Fail a Reversal
Severs the Thread Connection in that region
Sever a Thread with Cast/Channel
Severs that Thread Connection
The Campaign Scorecard
Downtime Between Adventures
Downtime is a period between adventures, not necessarily a full play session. It's where the campaign breathes: the players recover, shop, advance, and the world changes around them. The usual procedures, including the Still roll, apply once per downtime period.
1. Recover
Apply the normal Vitality and Vigor recovery procedures. Ordinary Wounds require treatment, a healing effect, or normal end-of-Adventure recovery; Permanent Wounds do not heal this way and count toward the Mortal Danger threshold.
2. Advance
Each character chooses 1 advancement from the Advancement Table.
3. Shop
Buy and sell gear in Meridian at the Equipment Catalog prices.
4. Rumors
Roll the d12 Adventure Seed Table for the next hook. The GM presents 2-3 hooks and the players choose.
5. Connections
Review the party's Connections and where those NPCs live. Don't roll for every NPC: when the Still threatens an NPC's region, introduce a concrete danger of Hollowing and give the characters a chance to respond.
6. Still Roll
Roll d6: on 1 the Still advances 1 stage in the home region; on 2-6 it holds. Roll once per downtime period, separate from the end-of-adventure roll.
7. Next Adventure
The GM introduces the hook and the next adventure begins.
Session Types
Adventure Session
3 to 4 per adventure
The structured sessions from the GM chapter: Hook, Investigation, Preparation, Action.
Downtime
Between adventures; session optional
Recovery, advancement, shopping, rumors, and the Still advances.
Hub Session
As needed
Time in Meridian: deeper NPC interactions, Consulate politics, training a new Approach, or crafting.
Building Your Campaign, Step by Step
Choose the length: Short (6-10 sessions), Medium (12-20), or Long (24-40). This determines everything else.
Choose the home region: the road the party starts on, and where the Still will hit hardest in Act III.
Choose the antagonist directing the Still: the Still Speaker, the Dead King's Voice, the Echoing Throne, the Hollow Smith, or one of your own. An NPC with the Faith motivation who serves the Still is a campaign antagonist.
Map the Still's path: 2-3 regions for Act II, the home region for Act III, and the source region for Act IV.
Plan adventures from the Adventure Seed Table: Act I 1-2, Act II 2-3, Act III 3, Act IV 1 epic adventure. Combine act objectives for a Short campaign; the acts are narrative phases, not fixed adventure counts.
Seed Connections: 3-5 recurring NPCs, each with a Motivation and a road. They appear in Act I, help in Act II, are tested in Act III, and return in Act IV.
Place Legendary items: 2-3 of them, each in a different region, each behind a Reversal or a major adventure. The final one is the campaign's climax reward.
Start. Session 1: the players create characters, the GM introduces the world, and the first hook arrives in Meridian.
The Campaign Ending: The Epilogue
The campaign doesn't end with 'you killed the boss.' It ends with the epilogue: what does the world look like now?
1. Count Connections
The party's Connection count sets the world's state on the scorecard.
2. Describe Each Region
Go around the Compass Wheel and describe each region from its Still stage and the party's connections there.
3. Describe Each NPC
What happened to each Connection: alive, Hollowed, or changed?
4. Player Narration
Let the players narrate what their characters do next.
Campaign Geography
I: The Roads Open
Regions near Meridian
Explore the world. Caravan adventures. The roads are alive. The Still is at Whispers.
II: The Weight
Regions further from Meridian
The Still advances in distant regions. Reversal adventures. The Pale begins to form at the edges.
III: The Stillness
Home region and the Pale
The Still reaches the home region. The Pale grows. The players push through the Pale toward Sevren. The antagonist is revealed.
IV: The Turning
Sevren and the Heart
Travel through the Pale. Enter Sevren. Descend to the Heart. Confront the Echoing Throne. Reverse the Still at its source. The final choice: destroy, reconcile, or replace.