Introduction
This module is an introductory adventure in the Horizon setting. Unlike many modules which are targeted at Narrators (or Game Masters, or Storytellers, or equivalent), this module is playable without a dedicated Narrator. To that end, one or more players without a Narrator should feel comfortable reading from it without the fear of spoilers. But if your group has a Narrator, great! They’re on book duty!
When referring to the world, Skyline modules will use Horizon to mean any canon from the video games, and Skyline for anything extra we’ve added.
This adventure takes place shortly after the final events in the Horizon: Zero Dawn video game. If you haven’t completed that game, getting you up to speed is beyond the scope of this module, sorry! You should play the video game first! You can probably play through this module without that context, but the module doesn’t go out of its way to explain events, locations, or people from the video game — it might be confusing.
This module also assumes you already know the basics of playing a tabletop RPG, and that you have a specific system with which you’re already familiar. To that end, this module is split into two parts: the first part is system-agnostic narrative (the adventure), while the second half contains a set of adapters for a number of tabletop game systems. Take a moment to find your system in the Adapters section. If your favorite system isn’t there, there isn’t a fallback system, sorry!
Still here? Great!
One more thing: to help groups without a Narrator avoid accidental spoilers, and to get everyone used to the non-linear narrative of open world gaming, the adventure has been chopped up into numbered entries, and scrambled into a random order. Maps and other references will use these entry numbers which are not the same as page numbers. To help with this, entry numbers start at 100, which will be the first one you read. After that you’ll jump around quite a bit.
Don’t try to read through the entries in order! You’ll spoil the story, and it won’t make any sense!
Like similar branching narrative systems, you will occasionally be faced with choices which direct you where to go next. Here’s your first branching point:
If this is the group’s first time playing a tabletop Skyline module, continue on to Starting Out. Otherwise, since you’ve played before and already have characters, skip ahead to Hooks.