Introduction WHAT ARE THE WESTERN REACHES? The Western Reaches are a place of dangerous fantasy adventuring where heroes can strike out to explore the land, find incredible treasures, and make a name for themselves. This official Shadowdark RPG setting combines all the world building material from Cursed Scroll zines 1-6 (CS 1-6) into a regional setting that can be traversed from top to bottom. The Player's Guide to the Western Reaches (PGWR) works with the Game Master's Guide to the Western Reaches (GMWR) to outline what players and GMs need to know to run and play in games in the Reaches. If you're a player, you'll want to avoid the spoilers in the GMWR. This book is all you need — it will orient you to the Western Reaches and help you build a character ready to explore them! HOW DO I PLAY IN THIS SETTING? Check out the Overview chapter first (pg. 11) to learn some everyday knowledge about the Western Reaches. You as the player will know what a typical character in the Western Reaches knows about the world. That is, not much! The Reaches are meant to be explored and discovered using sandbox style gameplay. That means the Game Master will supply you and your adventuring party with rumors, leads, and mysteries. But it's up to you to decide which threads to pull. In the Reaches, your fate is in your own hands. Will your story eventually become a legend? The later chapters of this book contain character building rules. You can also use the official, free Shadowdark RPG character builder, shadowdarklings.net! Introduction

H ail, adventurer! Welcome to the Western Reaches. You've found yourself in a land of fragile civilizations, majestic landscapes, and secrets lost to the dark. This realm of mystery and wonder is yours. It is a place for bold explorers who dare to lift a torch high in the face of an overwhelming night! The Western Reaches will be shaped by your hands. Warriors and witches, mystics and mages. You who are true seekers. You who follow a hawk across the burning desert, who chase a river from its humble wellspring to its mighty crash into the sea, and who watch the dawn break from atop the mountains. You will discover who you are as you explore this realm. Will you become the land's protector, its conquerer? Will its people sing ballads or dirges of your deeds? There's only one way to find out, of course. There are many unknown paths that lie before you, and there is but one thing to do: Find your way. Within these pages, you'll meet your beginnings. What you will become is being written even now as you read these words and grasp your destiny. So light your torch, though it is a small flame in the dark, and let it be known: You are here, o fabled land! -Kelsey Dionne, Feb. 2025 Forward Foreword