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About
At the end of the Master of the Heavenly Yard novel, Adam, Eve, Irina, and Gammon are sent to a repeat of the Third Period, reincarnating as themselves during the days of the Magic Kingdom. Following the novel’s release, there were headcanons that various characters from the story would travel into the alternate world and try to redeem the four members of the Court End, breaking them out of the cycle; these characters were dubbed Loop Breakers.
This module is meant to be a guide for people who want to run their own tabletop campaigns based on the Loop Breakers headcanons. It will be referencing the Bloom homebrew system, and is suited for a game with 4-5 players.
A Note About Canon
This module establishes an alternate version of canon for the sake of narrative simplicity and ease of play. Relevant changes to Evillious canon are detailed in different parts, but users of this guide are free to edit and reinterpret canon as they see fit.
Choosing Your Loop Breaker
Ideally, you would be playing as someone with a deep bond to the members of the Court End. Said bond would motivate them to make the perilous journey to OSS times.
Below are some suggestions on who to play as:
- For Adam - Yukina Freezis, Keel Freezis, Riliane Lucifen d’Autriche, Arkatoir Marlon, Mikina Freezis, Germaine Avadonia, Ney Marlon, Catherine Derais
- For Eve - Michelle Marlon, Mikulia Greeonio, Michaela, Gumillia, Held, Gilbert Calgaround, Platonic’s thief mentor, the Demons of Sin, Marx Felix, Kaspar Blankenheim
- For Irina - Mayrana Blossom, Gallerian Marlon, Kaidor Blankenheim, Lemy Abelard, Kai Miroku, Mikhail Asayev, Phoebe Aymieux, Amostia, Jahime Hatsune
- For Gammon - Nyoze Okuto, Nemesis Sudou, Lukana Octo, Anan Okuto, Kayo Sudou, Gast Venom, Sarah Octo, Gatt Coulomb
Your Character Sheet
After you choose your Loop Breaker, you can set about to building their character sheet. This is discussed in further detail in the Bloom reference document, but in a nutshell:
- Assign a total of 8 points to your stats (Agility, Heart, Might, Poise, or Wits), with each stat starting at 0 and no stat going above 3.
- Come up with traits, short descriptions for your Loop Breaker: their Main Trait summarizes who they are, their Weakness is a recurring problem, and their Bonus Traits are details about them that can be either good and bad depending on the situation.
- Come up with abilities for your Loop Breaker. You can follow the examples below, but generally abilities entail giving you +1 on doing certain things, or being able to do something fantastical once a scene or session.
If you’re already itching to play, here are some premade character sheets:
Yukina Freezis
Main Trait: Intrepid Evillious Author
Weakness: Snoops Around Too Much
Bonus Traits: Observant Overthinker, Childlike Cuteness
Stats
Agility: 1
Heart: 2
Might: 0
Poise: 2
Wits: 3
Abilities
Travel Journal: You have extensive notes about Evillious’ various countries, including their culture, landscape, and locations. Once a scene, you can make a Wits roll to find something relevant to the situation.
Seen It Before: You’ve gotten into danger numerous times, and gain +1 at talking yourself out of trouble.
Legacy of Seth: Thanks to your ghoul child lineage, you can intuitively operate Black Boxes and similar technology without having to make a Wits roll.
Michelle Marlon
Main Trait: Geeky Judge’s Daughter
Weakness: People Pleaser
Bonus Traits: Contracted with Eve, Prodigy Student
Stats
Agility: 0
Heart: 3
Might: 0
Poise: 3
Wits: 2
Abilities
Bookworm: You excel at academics, and gain +1 to learn new things. You also have photographic memory, and can perfectly recall any visual information you’ve seen before.
Sleep Princess: Once a scene, you can spread a cloud of Gift. Anyone present who fails a Might roll will fall Fast Asleep.
Hypnosis: Make a Heart roll against someone’s Poise. If successful, you can hypnotize them into doing anything that does not cause them direct harm; the spell holds for the rest of the scene.
Mayrana Blossom
Main Trait: Criminal Sorceress’ Apprentice
Weakness: Obsessive Devotion
Bonus Traits: Magic Studies, Cutthroat Demeanor
Stats
Agility: 1
Heart: 0
Might: 2
Poise: 3
Wits: 2
Abilities
Fire Spell: You can summon fireballs and lob them as far as you can throw a baseball. The resulting fire will keep burning for (Poise x 10) minutes and cannot be extinguished without a counterspell.
Inscription Runes: Once a session you may carve runes into an item, imbuing it with a single magical ability you devise with the Game Master.
Criminal Background: You gain +1 at going unnoticed and stealing things, and once a session can procure a contraband item.
Nyoze Okuto
Main Trait: Former Fugitive Soldier
Weakness: Extremely Forgiving
Bonus Traits: Police Work Experience, Venomania Descendant
Stats
Agility: 2
Heart: 2
Might: 2+1
Poise: 1
Wits: 1
Abilities
Tracker: You gain +1 on Wits tests to follow trails or find people in hiding, and can make such rolls even when abilities would make those you’re looking for impossible to notice or follow.
Sensing Danger: You always have a few seconds’ warning when something bad is about to happen such as an ambush or falling tree, and gain +1 to get out of the way of danger.
Military Training: You gain +1 Might, and can survive in the wilderness with minimal supplies.
[For more character ideas, you can view the Evillious Character Sheets page.]
Running the Game
Dice Rolls and Doing Stuff
- When the outcome of an action is uncertain, roll 1d6-1d6, then add the relevant stat (Agility, Heart, Might, Poise, or Wits). A +1 or higher is counted as a success, unless the action is difficult.
- You can apply your relevant traits to add +2 to your roll. For example, Michelle’s Prodigy Student trait would help if the roll involves her speedreading a textbook. Whenever you apply a trait, it will cost you 1 boon. Everyone starts the campaign with 3 boons, carrying over between sessions. You can earn boons by having rolls of +4 or higher.
- During combat, everyone involved makes an Agility roll to determine turn order. During a character’s turn, they can make a roll to attack; their opponent must make a roll to defend. If the attack roll is higher, the opponent logs that number of Hits. Your Loop Breaker can take up to 15 Hits’ worth of damage before being taken out of the conflict.
The Starting Plot
Following the creation of the Fourth Period, Kiril has gathered the Loop Breakers to Angolmois, a realm existing outside of time, and briefs them on their mission. As Game Master, you can choose what Kiril says, how long the Loop Breakers have to save the four Court End members, and whether or not the Loop Breakers can contact Kiril during their mission.
Thanks to Kiril’s Black Box Type K, the Loop Breakers will be transported to a point in the OSS era; once there, their physical bodies will be reconstructed, giving them access to all the skills and magical abilities they had during their life. The Game Master can then choose where in Evillious the Loop Breakers will be dropped in, which forms an initial plot hook.
The Loop Breakers are transported to…
- The outskirts of Alicegrad, where they’re soon after arrested by the Security Forces for not having any IDs and being out past curfew.
- Merrigod Plateau, where they encounter the forces of Apocalypse - either Meta’s Red Paraders or Raisa’s Eastern Brigands.
- Nemu village, presided over by Eve. Eve could either be hospitable to them as travelers, or suspicious of them as outsiders.
- Outside the Royal Research Institute, where Seth tries to capture them as possible experiment subjects.
- A back alley in Welvya, full of pickpockets and other shady folk. Lucky Eights brothel, where Milky works, is close by.
- In front of Lighwatch Temple, where their injuries are treated by the shrine maidens Zellana and Elluka. This scenario could also involve the Loop Breakers being captured by Yegor, who suspects they’re HERs.
- The grounds of the Li estate, where they encounter the patriarch Irta and one of his daughters Ly. This scenario can be changed to the estate of another senate clan, such as the Loop Octopuses or Asayevs.
Developing the Plot
Over time, the plot of OSS will continue: Adam and Seth will travel to Nemu to recruit Eve into Project Ma, and Gammon will launch his coup against Miroku. The Game Master will determine the course of events; they can also introduce one of the other plot hooks above to push the story forward.
The core of the campaign would be having the Loop Breakers meet the members of the Court End and try to steer them towards the path of change and redemption. After a certain amount of time, the Loop Breakers will be transported back to Angolmois, where they will learn from Kiril if they were successful in saving Adam, Eve, Irina, and Gammon. Possible scenarios include saving all four, saving some of them, or not saving any of them and having to start over.
Below are some characterization notes that could serve as a guide for the plot:
- Adam is focused on revenge and will do anything to achieve that goal. Focusing his anger at Miroku for depriving him of a family and childhood, he’ll stoop to any means necessary, forever focused on his singular objective. However, he’ll eventually realize that revenge would only bring emptiness, and this actions have hurt other people.
- Eve lives in denial: her greatest source of heartache is how she refuses to confront the truth of her unhappiness. She desperately wants to see the world, but feels she has to stay and protect Nemu. She’s insecure, doubting if she can fill her father’s shoes as chief. Eve is also extremely self-sacrificing, putting the wants of others over her own needs; she feels trapped in her life.
- Irina doesn’t know what to live for. She’s angry and bitter after the abuse she endured as Queen, and maybe she’s also out to take revenge on Seth for casting her aside as a failed ghoul child. She greatly needs a goal, and when faced with only the possibility of spreading malice and enacting chaos, she will jump on that motivation in order to give her life meaning.
- Gammon bears the weight of the world on his shoulders. He believes that the only way to set things right is to do everything himself. He believes that violent revolution is the best way to get what he wants, and maybe he desires control over every situation. Gammon is strongly bound to his ideals, and will stubbornly carry them out even at the expense of himself.