Fight the Power Word, Kill

Setting:
The Land of the Dead, a vast afterlife realm divided into disparate domains ruled over by the mysterious Ministry of Death. Souls newly arrived must find their way through this strange land, navigating cultural mores, malignant forces, and their own inner journeys toward redemption.

Character Creation:
Choose an occupation/backstory, and 2-3 defining personality traits. Spend 5 points total across 3 core attributes: Wits, Charm, Grit.

Gameplay:
Checks are 2d6+attribute vs target number set by GM. Success means progress, failures introduce complications.

Mechanic - Soul Coin:
Each player starts with 1 soul coin, a token representing their fate in the afterlife. (Weren't you supposed to have two? Most people have two.) Spend it to reroll a check, gain an edge in a social conflict, or get out of a tight spot. But once spent it's gone until you earn another through good deeds or service to the Ministry. Having no coins left brings you closer to the landfills...

Advancement:
As players complete scenario missions and develop their character through roleplaying, they gain experience. At milestones, spend XP to improve attributes, learn new skills, or uncover secrets about their past life and purpose in the Land of the Dead.

Tone:
Trying to balance moments of mystery, intrigue, action and humour with darker existential themes of redemption, corruption and the arbitrary nature of fate. Quirky characters, pulpy noir tropes and eccentric bureaucracy.

NPCs:

• Manny, handsome yet world-weary travel agent and reluctant hero
• Gunther, giant skeletal bartender with a heart of gold (and adamantium)
• Mercedes, aspiring singer and dancer trying to land her big break
• Hector, shifty used car salesman with questionably legal inventory
• Salvador, corrupt Ministry of Death bureaucrat on the take
• Hermano, a remnant who remembers nothing but his mission for redemption
• Consuela, kindly yet no-nonsense innkeeper with secrets of her own
• Lorne, decrepit Grim Reaper knockoff who plays by his own rules
• The Proxy, a rep from the Purgatory Players Union, she bargains for souls' rights and fair treatment from the bosses downtown. Players may come to her for aid or information.
• Domino, glamorous Hollywood starlet whose life was cut short, now makes appearances at Club Lazlo while secretly investigating odd goings-on in the underworld.
• Maximo, gruff owner of Maximo's Auto Repair, handy with a wrench and knowledgeable about Mechicana's seedy underbelly. Players can get jobs or intel from him, or unwittingly get embroiled in his schemes.

• Remnants seek redemption by fulfilling missions left unfinished in life, hoping to ascend a domain and regain lost memories.

   

Locations:

• Club Lazlo, hottest underground nightclub in El Tercero
• Puerto Muerto, seedy port town full of scum and villainy. Souls gamble Soul Coins at casinos, hoping to earn enough to bribe demons guarding shortcuts out of the Ninth Underworld.
• Xibalba, volcanic jungle domain on the fringes of the known world
• Entryway to the Ninth Underworld, the final destination
• Mechanica, a place o whirring cogs and machine-spirits. 
• Santa Cecilia - idyllic neighborhood in the fourth domain, seemingly perfect but hiding dark secrets beneath a picturesque surface.
• Mortimo Plaza, sprawling Ministry of Death complex, a confusing bureaucracy maze where souls get lost for centuries trying to navigate red tape.
• The Black Goat, remote cantina near the Nine Spheres, last stop for souls who've lost all hope of redemption or escape. Even the barkeep is afraid to ask what happens to patrons who wander in too deep.

Factions: 

• The proud Calavera crime families run soul trafficking, illegal fighting pits, and hold sway over many businesses.
• The mysterious Aztec Death Gods whisper commands to souls who wander too deep into jungles or ancient ruins.
• Souls' Rights groups like Purgatory Players Union oppose mistreatment and advocate fair trials/passage through domains.
• Secret societies pursue ancient esoteric knowledge and artifacts in hidden temples across domains.#

Contraband Devices:

Soul Siphons - Lattice towers that leech the life force of surrounding landscape
Bloody Throne - Teleportation obelisks that rend flesh and twist souls upon activation
Devil's Lens - Eldritch optics allow viewing alternate realities, but insights come at a cost
Deadlight - Handheld suns, highly radioactive, bringing only ruin to all near their luminance
Slipway Engines - Inter-realm vessels that fold space to other planes of existence, break all who travel

Scenarios:

• Investigate the disappearance of souls from a small town
• Negotiate a deal with capricious River Styx ferryman
• Go undercover at a casino to discover who's rigging the Soul Coin slot machines
• Accompany a remnant on their journey through the Spheres of the Underworld
• Find a way to sneak into the ultra-secure VIP section of the Ministry of Death
• Help smuggle contraband past Domino's nosy new assistant, an overeager rookie Grim Reaper.
• Track down a beloved pet who escaped into the jungles of Xibalba, teaming up with reluctant guide Maximo.
• Infiltrate a high stakes underground Soul Coin gambling ring to discover who's cheating, before the ensuing gang war engulfs all of Mechicana.
• Pose as newly deceased souls to investigate strange vanishings at the paradisaical resort domain of Santa Cecilia. 
• Help a remnant soul piece together their forgotten memories and uncover the mystery of how they died in order to earn passage to the next domain.
• Work with Lorne the mischievous Grim Reaper to sabotage a rival reaper's soul quota and mess with the natural order for fun and profit.
• Go undercover at the annual Death-O-Rama festival to root out counterfeit Soul Coins and black marketeers corrupting the event.
• Escort a lost soul across dangerous territory to deliver their unfinished business request to the Department of Closure.
• Break into the ultra-restricted Hall of Records to uncover a soul's true past life identity stolen by unscrupulous Clerk #19.
• Guide a living person who has slipped into a coma through the Land of the Dead to locate the soul doctor who can return them to the Land of the Living.
• Go on a soul-searching road trip from Puerto Muerto to the Ninth Underworld in a dilapidated hearse, picking up hitchhiking souls along the way.
• Infiltrate the VIP party of ostentatious skeleton Catrina Calavera to steal back a precious cultural artifact plundered from the Land of the Forgotten.
• Work as extras in Domino's latest Aztec Spy musical, but her arrogant new co-star is up to no good behind the scenes.