Nessus: City of Decay by Robert J. Schwalb is a role playing game supplement published by Schwalb Entertainment for use with Shadow of the Demon Lord. This is part of the Lands in Shadow series that further details parts of the official Urth setting.
This is a 21 page PDF that is available from DriveThruRPG for $4.99 but was purchased at the reduced price of $3.34 during a sale. Around half the first page is an illustration and a quarter is the Credits and one page has ads for other supplements.
It starts with the typical few paragraphs giving a general overview then moves on to A History of Riches. Nessus was founded by one of the Edene generals during the Edene conquest as a base of operations and later expanded into a city, partly from the use of slave labour imported from Dis, the Kingdom of Sails and the Pirate Isles. When the Witch-King conquered Edene in his own turn, the autarch of Nessus swore fealty and offered tribute, sparing the city and gaining some autonomy. The Witch-King used Nessus as a template and founded several other cities in what would later become the Confederacy.
When the Kalasans arrived, Nessus assisted them and supplied their forces. Once the Witch-King was defeated and the Empire founded, Nessus expanded more in wealth and power. Until one day when a ship drifted into harbour with everyone on it dead. Scavengers got on the ship before it was quarantined and spread a plague to first Nessus, then the rest of the Empire. Around a third of the Empire died but about 5/6 of the population of Nessus did. There were insufficient people left to supply needed labour, those who could flee took most of the city’s wealth with them and merchant ships stopped coming. Nessus, compared to what it once was, was now dead and was treated as such.
An Overgrown Ruin starts by describing the city itself and the peninsula it is built on. The city itself is, as the title suggests, overgrown with vegetation and ruined. It is also haunted by the spirits of those who died in the plague.
Nessus is comprised of three main areas. The Verge is the forested hills and mountains on the landward end of the peninsula. These are inhabited by a variety of dangerous creatures, including a powerful witch, troops of bandits and a dragon, and are largely avoided by Nessus’ current inhabitants. There is a random table for exploring the Verge.
The Skirts are where the city’s current inhabitants dwell. They are cultivated lands and settlements surrounding the ruined city and this is where most of civilisation is. Nessus was once the primary city of the Order of Light, which largely changed into the Cult of the New God. Now it is still the major base for the much-reduced Order. A port town called Seaside is the largest settlement and is also home of the current ruler of Nessus, Urian, the Beggar Autarch. Urian is a fisherman whose family saved up enough money to buy the crown. He now travels to the other cities of the Confederacy seeking support in his attempts to reclaim Nessus. Seeing potential profit, Kem and the Vault have contributed funds and other cities have joined in as well for the same reason. The effort, called the Reclamation, operates out of a fortified camp.
The Decayed City describes Nessus itself. There are no normal inhabitants in the city, but plenty of dangers, as well as several points of interest. Exploring Nessus for wealth is a popular, and often lethal, pastime for adventurous types. There is also a citadel created by a representative of the Dark Lady, the ruler of the Kingdom of Skulls, who is preparing for the Witch-King’s return. There are a series of random tables that can be used to generate the city as it is explored and a method of randomly mapping it.
Nessus Returns is on the reclamation of the city, something which caught many by surprise. It lacks much in the way of an effective government or military. Mercenaries have been imported by some of those funding the city to help.
Order of Light explains this original religion of the Kalasans, including their belief in the Radiant One. When the Kalasans attacked the forces of the Witch-King, the Order provided needed magic to defeat demons and undead. With success came corruption and the Order’s eventual fall and conversion into the Cult of the New God, although parts still remain.
Adventures in Nessus is a list of potential adventure hooks and Nessan Characters has a new background table for those hailing from the region. There is also a new path, Priest of the Radiant One, which are the priests of the Order of Light.
Nessus: City of Decay in Review
The PDF lacks bookmarks and is long enough that these would have been useful. Navigation is poor. The text maintains a full colour two column format and no errors were noticed. There are a variety of colour illustrations, including a map of the city, that appear to be custom. Presentation is very good.
By its very nature as a ruined city, Nessus is an ideal adventuring location. There are plenty of places to explore in the city and beneath it, as well as the dangers of the Verge. The method of developing the city randomly as it is explored is interesting, although doesn’t have as much depth as it could. The table of locations is only d6 and of discovers only d20. There are also three d20 encounter tables for Novice, Expert and Master levels. A GM could flesh out this system a lot more, and there are other supplements that could help here. As well as the traditional aboveground dungeon that is the ruined city to explore, there are also the various political factors that are going into its reclamation and dealing with problems in the Verge. Nessus: City of Decay is a useful location that could provide a lot of gameplay and it can be found by clicking here.
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