Hi folks! It’s time for another preview from The Paranet Papers, a “catch up” on a few of the more recent books plus tour of the world for the Dresden Files RPG. As said before, we don’t have a publication date yet! This one’s going to take as long as it takes.
Today we’re sharing the opener for the book’s South America entry, thanks to hitting a stellar 1300 “likes” mark over on facebook. We need to buckle down from here on out, so our next (and possibly last for a while) preview will be at 1500. Thanks!
Chichen Itza—the seat of the Red King in Las Tierras Rojas—is where it all went down.
We went toe-to-toe-to-fang with some of the worst things I’ve ever seen, and I am still surprised we made it out at all.
But when we left, after we were gone, things didn’t get all sunny and perfect. And it wasn’t until I got home and started going through Paranet reports that I realized that things haven’t been sunny and perfect south of the border for a long time.
What follows is a collection of material that I think everyone should read and take some sobering truth from.
MURPHY: Las Tierras Rojas?
BILLY: Alejandra calls all that territory that the Red Court controlled “Las Tierras Rojas” which translates to “The Red Lands.” It’s easier and shorter than “South and Central America, along with parts of Mexico.”
My name is Alejandra Castillo, and thanks to the extinction of Los Tiranos de la Sangre, I am free. But I’m in the minority.
There are still many troubles here; drug cartels are a plague, and predators both mortal and supernatural feed on those who are vulnerable. Worst of all, because of the power vacuum left here, we stand on the edge of what could be the bloodiest and most overt supernatural power struggle in recent memory. The Court may be gone, but the land is still red.
Despite all this, for the first time, we have a fighting chance. We have hope.
Welcome to Las Tierras Rojas.
I remember the moment that it happened. I was in a safehouse outside of Huitzilac with other members of the Fellowship, planning a strike. It happened quickly, but not painlessly. Imagine the fatigue of ten years, the echoes of old injuries, the injuries not yet healed, the gradual decay of your body. Now, imagine it happening within the span of a few seconds.
Though it lasted only moments, it felt like hours…I think. Time was difficult to…
When I checked the clock, fewer than two minutes had passed. My companions had died of old age—some of them had decayed so rapidly that I could not identify the remains.
BUTTERS: I…wow. I can’t even imagine.
MURPHY: Yep. Harry’s actions had a lot of consequences.
Many of the survivors are now too old for active fieldwork and have had to assume purely advisory positions. You may wonder why the Fellowship still exists with the Red Court gone, and this is a valid question.
The answer is simple enough: we cannot stop. Even though the biggest problem in Las Tierras Rojas is gone, there are still many threats to deal with and precious few people who know how to do so. We are a fraction of what we once were, but if not us, then who?
That is why I am writing to you—you need to know what is happening down here. What happens in Las Tierras Rojas will have far-reaching consequences and people must be warned. We are too few to fight all of the threats, but we can report what we know. We can arm you with knowledge.
My friend Eduardo gave me your name. I know what you have done for all of us and I want to thank you for that. I also want to tell you what has been happening since and keep you informed of the situation here as it escalates, because you bear responsibility for it. Before too long, we may have need of your help—perhaps even the help of the entire White Council. I hope that you will give it to us.
MURPHY: Will, where did we get these reports?
BILLY: Um…yeah, I meant to talk to you about this. They were originally addressed to Harry. I guess Alejandra didn’t know…
MURPHY: Did you…you didn’t…Will, what did you DO?
BILLY: It was important!
MURPHY: We WILL talk about this later.
Reading “State of the Hat”, you plan to only cover Changes plus a little. Given there are a couple books beyond that now, is there any chance you’ll expand to cover those new titles as well? I ask since the original RPG books cover 10 books plus some short stories. Seems Paranet Papers will cover a much smaller amount of material.
Cheers
Sorry, let me clarify. You plan to cover up to Changes plus a bit more. Not only.
We’re catching up through Changes, and with Paranet Papers happening somewhat concurrent with Ghost Story. We won’t be including Cold Days for a variety of reasons (avoiding too-current spoilers is one of them, but not the only one by far). I think being at worst 1.5 books behind will be just fine.
Just wanted to say I’m really, really looking forward to more Dresden goodness! I purchased both the books direct from Evil Hat purchased another set in PDF from DriveThru for a player that couldn’t afford his own, and then got other players to buy them as well (well, Your Story at least). We are all 30s and 40s professionals and believe in supporting the hobby and our favorite systems as much as we can.
I am starting a new DF game set in New Orleans after I close a long-running fantasy Fate game over the next few weeks and I really haven’t decided whether to run during the Vampire War or a bit after. I think Paranet Papers may help me decide.
@fred
Yup, I think being a little behind the released books is quite alright.
I dug around a bit more and found a better description of Paranet Papers than I had found previously. Regarding the notes that say it’s a bit of a system update, augmented city creation (via more examples and such): will it actually replace some of the previously released system material from Your World or is it strictly an “expansion” to the existing game system?
From the description, it sounds like it’ll blend Your World and Our World type material into one book. Something that blends focus and will be useful for GMs and players alike. Perhaps new skills, abilities, and city creation for players with new monsters, NPCs, and organization information for GMs.
It’s a bit of all of that.
A very interesting development from the main storyline, I love it! Even though I’m not currently using the RC ‘situation’ in my campaign, I like the direction this book is going.
Looking forward to read it!