Bath Imaginable

You can still download a Free Demo of the Fading Coast on itch.io, the demo includes the larger setting surrounding my upcoming location-based adventure, the Balcony Cliffs.

The finished adventure will be published on May 1, 2026.

FACTIONS
The Old Guard. Possessed by their work, retreated from the Lab to the Balcony Cliffs many years ago.

The Scabs. Less committed to the goals of the Lab, still naive enough to think the situation can be salvaged (or at least, capitalized on).

Subjects. Born of Mother. “Why do the subjects attempt to imitate Balcony Cliff residents upon hatching? It’s as though the caterpillar wraps the entire terroir of the building into its cocoon before it beds; what is born is an assimilation of both Mother and the entire environment, including our thoughts, our fears.”

Main (Buried Underground)

Entrances/Exits. Steep descent from outside (tight, sand-filled hallways). Warped wooden stairs rise from the lobby to each floor.

101. Open doorway (crushed by fallen sediment). Brittle growths on the wall (in the shape of people). Sticky webbing covers the kitchen (secret tunnel to 103). The television plays a Deep Country town hall meeting intercut with advertisements for Chimp’s.

102. Locked apartment (completely quiet inside). Opaque, glass balcony door. The resident, John, has covered the walls in pillows and upholstered furniture (he demands absolute silence).

103. The entrance is buried under debris. Inside, a pool of salty water and a beach of eroding building materials. A sticky Egg Cluster grows in web on the surface of the water (inside each egg is a writhing caterpillar).

104. Collapsing into the parking garage below (the rubble can be easily climbed down to Parking).

CONDUCTORS’ NOTES
What Else Is On? If the Players want to change the station on the television set in 101, I recommend rolling for a result on this fantastic blog post. You could also use the TVs to deliver lore about the Balcony Cliffs or foreshadow potential encounters.

John 3 HP
Driven to live quietly and get paid (on Stress Leave).
STR 8, CHA 8
Kitchen Knife (d6)

Eggs Cluster HP 10
Filled with growing caterpillars psychically connected to their Mother.
Psychic Scream. Summons Mother in d6 Rounds.

Level 2/Ground Level

Entrances. 203 and 204 face the sea, and are battered with waves and salty winds. The whole building leans toward the south. From the north side, a muddy descent leads toward the buried Main Entrance.

201. Empty apartment (everything is dusty). Yellowing files on the table offer insights into the Lab’s history (Bastion’s greatest industries have all contributed to the Lab’s funding; weapons, pharmaceuticals, and telecommunications companies alike).

202. Locked apartment (shattered balcony door). Furniture tipped over in makeshift barricade (rigged with explosives: 2d12 BLAST). A ladder rises to a recently constructed trapdoor in the ceiling (climb to 302).

203. Shattered windows/balcony door, wet, salty soil. A makeshift camp (moldy couch, tattered tarps) with a fire pit and a well in the floorboards (rusted; built decades ago). A young duo, Sophia and David, camp here (they claim to be brother and sister, but are secretive about where they’re from).

204. Collapsed apartment (unstable floor and missing ceiling), blocked with chain-linked fence. Rubble can be climbed to 304 above (a one-way, distant drop to Parking below).

David 6 HP
Driven to get Sophia away from her family.
STR 11, DEX 11, CHA 8
Switchblade (d6) or Sawed-off Shotgtun (d8, BLAST, last shell)

Sophia Byron HP 3
Driven to keep her telekinetic powers a secret.
STR 7, DEX 11, CHA 11
Brain Zap. -d6 CHA, at 0 CHA head explodes.
Telepathy. Can hear the hostile thoughts of others.

VENTURE MC HP 7
Werner Industrial’s more affordable combustion bike.
Seats 2 ,Trunk Space 2
Lightweight. Ignore d6 HP loss for Speeding.

CONDUCTORS’ NOTES
David is like an older brother to Sophia, but he’s not actually her brother. She paid him (very little) to get him as far away from her family at the Old House as possible. His first plan was to take her to Bastion, but he got turned around. He doesn’t want Sophia to know he’s feeling desperate.

Level 3

301. A Subject is locked behind a locked chain-link gate (requires an M2 Key). A television is faced toward the one-way mirror (blasting loud static).

302. Brightly lit, Dr. Narang performs an autopsy on a villager from O’Lane on his kitchen table. His apartment has been retrofitted with makeshift showers (for decontamination) and a trapdoor (ladder down to 202).

303. Cluttered workspace, d6 +1 Scab-Scientists study the Subject in 301 through a one-way mirror. They take turns not looking and record their results (there’s a secret, hidden door into 301). Among their files on the table is an M2 Key.

Numerator. Calculates the odds of outcomes, but takes several days to do so.

304. Collapsing, treacherous climb. The apartment above (404) is gone (a trapdoor into 504 is visible high up, out of reach).

Dr. Narang HP 4
Driven to understand how the Clear Ruin of the Land assimilates its victims.
CHA 12
Scalpel (d6)

CONDUCTORS’ NOTES
Locks and Keys. The stairs are quarantined on the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth floors. The Players will need an M2 Key or a clever solution to get through the chain-link fence and explore these floors.

Level 4

401. The door has been smashed off its hinges. Flooded apartment (slick, oily water). Two barrels of fuel have been left in the kitchen (burns for d6 damage per round).

402. A massive piece of salt-stained driftwood lit by floodlights (huge sections have been carved away). A collection of mock-scientists in progress are neatly arranged (made of the same driftwood). The Chief of Personnel, Carlile, applies pungent lacquer to his most recent Mock Scientist.

403. Dusty apartment. 2d6 +1 Mock Scientists take samples of the environment (and act keenly curious about the Players).

404. The door is difficult to open (strong winds). The apartment is inexplicably absent. The ruins of Apartment 304 are visible below (and a trapdoor leading to 504 is only a treacherous climb away).

Carlile, Chief of Personnel HP 3
Driven to replace scientists on leave.
STR 12, CHA 12
Industrial Drill (d10, Bulky)

Mock Scientist HP 6
Driven to be perceived as making scientific discoveries.
STR 8, DEX 6, CHA 6
Laboratory Glassware (d6)

Level 5

501. Empty file storage. Piles of brittle husks in the corner (covering a crawlway to 503). The living room has been renovated into a stairwell (climbs to 601).

502. Spotless reception area (stairs to 602). Hamlin, the Receptionist, sits behind a large desk (the Old Guard are not to be disturbed).

503. Drafty, empty apartment (shattered balcony door). Piles of brittle husks in the corner (crawlway to 501).

504. Slug lab. A scab-scientist named Eli mixes chemicals and fillers with harvested eggs to produce a powerful and addictive hallucinogenic. Among greasy napkins on the desk is a E8 Key.

Hamlin, the Receptionist HP 4
Driven to prevent the Old Guard from being disturbed.
CHA 12
Tranquilizer Gun (STR Save or fall unconscious)

Eli HP 9
Driven to collect sample of Strobing Caterpillars and turn them into drugs for the Ferrymen.
STR 9, CHA 11
Hand Torch (d6)

CONDUCTOR’S NOTES
The drug they call slug is made from the Strobing Caterpillars born of Mother. They hatch from the eggs laid around the Balcony Cliffs and for the first few months of life they absorb electromagnetic energy and psionic waves from their environment. Eventually, the caterpillar beds and forms a cocoon. What hatches is a Subject: a facsimile of the people and environment in which the caterpillar was born. If someone interrupts this process, though, and cuts the caterpillar with chemicals and cheap fillers, you got yourself some slug–a powerful hallucinogenic that lets you experience the dreams and subconscious experiences of others (those unfortunate minds drunk by Mother).

Level 6

Bridge. A rickety, makeshift bridge was built between the balconies of 601 and 602.

601. Neatly organized home office. Watson, the Acting-Director, lives and works here. The living room has been renovated into a stairwell (descends to 501). An E8 Key is stashed in one of the desk drawers.

Fluid Tank. Milky blue fluid and a floating, pallid woman (waxy-looking, but identical to Emily, Executive Assistant).

Control Panel. Measures vital signs and provides life support for the clone (draws a lot of power).

602. Ransacked apartment (constantly leaking ceiling). The living room has been renovated into a stairwell (descends to 502). The kitchen has been retrofitted into a chemistry lab (the walls are covered in crude murals of people transforming into rodents). Whitby, the Lead Scientist, obsessively washes a mouse over his kitchen sink.

Moth sanctuary. A glass container filled with hundreds of mundane moths (nearby files indicate Mother was grown from one of these).

Chemistry Lab. Contains acid and chemical neutralizers (many unlabeled chemicals).

603. Clean, warmly lit, frilly sheets and curtains. A stack of files on the desk and an A1A Key. A stuffed bear on the bed (stitched into its foot: MORD). Emily, Executive Assistant, rests here (she is tired and overworked).

604. Sunken living room. Walls stripped of copper wiring, Murphy, R&D Director, believes the Clear Ruin of the Land is electromagnetic, not physical. Well-used workstation (Mirrorhelm).

Mirrorhelm. Fight without looking. Welded with copper and adjustable mirrors. The copper wiring protects the wearer from psychic attacks, and the mirrors allow allow them to approach dangerous subjects with their back turned, negating hypnotic effects.

CONDUCTOR’S NOTES
Adventure Hook #5 involves convincing Emily to go home to Bastion, but which Emily is the real one? Watson won’t say, and the Emily in Apartment 603 doesn’t know.

Watson, Acting-Director HP 6
Driven to win against the Clear Ruin of the Land at any cost.
CHA 13
Enhanced Hand Torch (d8), target is incinerated on Critical Damage

Whitby, Lead Scientist HP 4
Driven to save himself from being assimilated by the Clear Ruin of the Land.
CHA 11
Acid Splash (d6 per round until neutralized with the proper formula)

Emily, Executive Assistant HP 3
Driven to get away from her parents in Bastion.
Pen (d6)

Murphy, R&D Director HP 6
Driven to find a technical solution to the Clear Ruin of the Land.
Energy Pistol (d6, BLAST)

Level 7

701. Overgrown apartment. Water trickles in from above. Brittle growths on the wall (in the shape of people).

702. Heavy leaking from above forms a large puddle. Eden, Communications Director, sits in front of a television blasting static into the room.

Filing Cabinet. Contains old communications about the Lab’s work (all of it corporate propaganda and lies). On top of the filing cabinet are the keys to an SC Mudviper (underground in Parking).

703. Large vault, organized desk and files. Aubrey, Chief Cashier, lives and works here.

Combination Vault. Top of the line (designed by Silver Mountain Private Security), contains unredacted records and a wet pile of rotting new pounds.

704. Locked apartment. Six Bulky rifles (d8), three grenades (d10, BLAST), and a Neon Visor are kept behind a chain-link fence (locked, requires an M2 Key). A ladder rises to a trapdoor in the ceiling (climbs to 804).

Eden, Communications Director HP 3
Driven to hear messages in the static.
Kitchen Knife (d6)

Aubrey, Chief Cashier HP 6
Driven to maintain orderly financial records.
CHA 12
Pistol (d6)
A1A Key. Carries a master key (opens every unit) on her person.

Level 8

801. Waterfall from the cracked roof forms a large pool in the room. Brittle growths cover the walls (in the shapes of people). The television set to static. A Subject sits comfortably in its glow.

802. Flooded apartment, a sticky Egg Cluster grows in a web on the surface of the water (inside each egg is a writhing caterpillar). 1d6 +1 Subjects guard the eggs.

803. Brightly lit by massive, custom-made incandescent lights (drawing lots of power). 2d6 Subjects admire the lights.

804. Cluttered workspace. Tools for collecting bugs (nets and cages). Quinn, Biologist works here (collecting Strobing Caterpillars for research and for profit, selling 1-in-10 to Eli from Apartment 504). Left on the table between boxes of samples is a M2 Key.

Subject HP 8
Driven to blend into the Balcony Cliffs and serve Mother.
STR 11, DEX 11, CHA 11
Bite (d8)
Eye Stalks. Sees perfectly in the dark, but prefers the light.

Quinn, Biologist HP 3
Driven to collect samples of Mother’s offspring.
Net (d8, Bulky)

Roof

Entrances/Exits. The doorway to the roof is locked (requires an E8 Key). Skylights are built over the apartments on the eighth floor.

Roof. The entire roof slopes to the south, toward the sea. Pools of oily water gather in the depressed tar on the northern side. A sticky Egg Cluster grows in a web on the surface of the water (inside each egg is a writhing caterpillar).

Mother nests on the roof where she can keep a close eye on her eggs. She will take any opportunity to feed so she can provide nutrition for her burgeoning young (but if she is overwhelmed she will flee to elsewhere in the building).

Mother 12 HP
A giant moth with tender human hands and the face of an aged matriarch. Driven to feed and care for its young.
Armour 2 (Exists on Multiple Planes)
STR 15, DEX 12, CHA 12
Wing Buffet (d6, BLAST) or Bite (d10) and Hypnotic Wings (-d6 CHA, stupefied at 0 CHA)*
*Recover ABILITY on REST
Mind Milk. Mother drinks the mind of a stupefied target (effectively killing them) and converts that energy into milk for its burgeoning young.

CONDUCTOR’S NOTES
Mother’s arrival should feel cursed: nauseating visions precede Mother’s arrival, like vivid waking nightmares. The air becomes acrid with her chemical messages. She can climb into any apartment through the windows and retreats to the roof if overwhelmed.