A game of eldritch, homespun horror set in the shadow of 1930s Appalachia, based on the acclaimed podcast and using the new TTRPG just released by Monte Cook Games. "There's no such thing as neutral. You have to be on one side or the
other. Some people say, 'I don't take sides – I'm neutral.' There's no
such thing. In your mind you're on one side or the other. In Harlan
County there wasn't no neutral. If you wasn't a gun thug, you was a
union man. You had to be." - Florence Reece, folk singer, 1931 You were born with coal in your blood. The mountain called to your ancestors, held them close to her dark breast, nursed them on her secret and forbidden milk long before your bare feet ever touched the bluegrass.
You know the old ways is the old ways for a damn good reason. But then the company cut wages. Some fancy lady from the B&L office in Pittsburgh said it was "for the good of all", which sure is bitter medicine for those folks with children already lookin' all hollow from hunger, or the grannies who passed before their time for want of a warm room in the winter.
Everyone knows somebody on strike. Hell, you're probably one of them. Ain't nobody wanted to strike, not really... until Sheriff Blair and his boys came with their dogs and their guns. And the men from the North came in with worse. Men in cheap suits and bowler hats with dead eyes, the kind of eyes that let you know the moment you meet 'em that they wouldn't flinch at hurtin' a woman or a child. "Gotta stop them Communists," those Blair boys say when they laugh and swing their clubs and shoot their pistols. Weren't no Communists in Harlan before, but there sure are now.
Your folk are a stubborn folk, a vengeful folk, and this is your home. You know things the outsiders and the city folk don't. You know Old Granny Evarts can draw out copperhead venom from a fresh bite just using a rusty nail and drop of blood. You know that even though Bill Holloway came back from the war blind, he can tell if someone's lyin' just by turnin' his dead eyes on 'em. You know them Beasleys up in the holler grow tobacco so strong you can see your fate in the smoke. And you know what's under Black Mountain, why no sane person should ever dig too deep there.
Them outsiders don't know that. Or maybe they do. And that is much, much worse. It's time to pick a side: the Union or the Company. Tradition or "Progress". The Green or the Inner Dark.
Welcome to the war, family. This game will require
payment to the Game Master at a rate of $20.00 USD per session through
StartPlayingGames. Roll20 is not responsible for any payment
transactions and cannot enforce any private arrangements. Roll20 LFG Listing: <a href="https://app.roll20.net/lfg/listing/378402/old-gods-of-appalachia-the-harlan-county-war" rel="nofollow">https://app.roll20.net/lfg/listing/378402/old-gods-of-appalachia-the-harlan-county-war</a>