Design: Jasyn Jones
Inspired by: David Oakes
Commentary: Dominick Riesland

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There is a place where the unspeakable is real. There is a place where every monstrous abomination is given form. There is a place where nightmares come to life.

Orrorsh.

To live here is to know fear, intimately and personally. It greets you upon waking, follows you all day, kisses you goodnight, then lingers on in your dreams while you sleep.

In Orrorsh, the days seem colder, the nights seem darker. Alleys are dirtier and more threatening. People seem less cheerful, less helpful, less friendly. Distrust grows like a weed, people withdraw from one another, and turn a blind eye to each other’s pains. Alone, they are vulnerable to depression and fear.

Horrors live here, creatures dark and powerful and malignant. They wait in the darkness and prey on the innocent and helpless. These victims are hunted, they are haunted, and in the end they are slain.

After, people tell stories, stories of the Horrors. And they believe.

By light of day they may deny it, yet they believe. The stories cannot be true, yet they believe. The Horrors simply cannot be real. Yet they believe. And they know in their hearts that it could happen to them.

They could be terrorized. They could be tormented. They could be slain.

And they know fear.

They leave the lights on at night. They bolt their doors tightly. They shop during the day. They tell themselves it’s meaningless, it’s nerves, it’s nothing.

It’s not "nothing". It’s fear. And this reality feeds off of it.

Hope.

Hope is the key to defeating fear. Hope is a beacon in darkness, solace to the suffering, and the quieter of fears. Where people hope, fear has no hold.

There are those who fight the reality of Orrorsh, who slay the Horrors and spread tales of hope and inspiration. The stories of glory these heroes tell have power over fear.

As these tales spread, people learn that all is not lost, that the horror is not boundless, that it can be defeated. They feel hope, and the reality of horror loses power. Its realm grows smaller and its Horrors grow weaker and if enough stories of hope can be told, the reality of fear may disappear altogether.

Orrorsh is the reality of horror, and fear is the essence of horror. Fear is intrinsic to all humans everywhere, no matter the time or place. Similarly, the horror genre is not limited to any one setting; it can appear in Victorian London, an abandoned space colony, or on everyday Earth. Fear is everywhere, and so horror can be. Yet in Torg Orrorsh is a single static reality, a single static type of horror.

This article depicts a different vision of Orrorsh, a vision of Orrorsh as the cosm of Fear, the universal reality of horror. Under these rules, Orrorsh can invade anywhere, layering its reality of fear atop the native reality. Orrorsh can invade Earth, the fantasy world of Aysle, the cyber-religious Cyberpapacy, or any other reality, melding its genre of horror with the genre of the native reality. Because horror can be anywhere, so too can Orrorsh.

The information in this article is general, containing only an overview of how the insidious reality of Orrorsh operates within the Possibility Wars.

An expanded version is currently in development, which will provide more details as well as new mechanics and other information to allow gamemasters to use this version of Orrorsh in their games.

As with all projects under development for this site, there is no projected completion date other than "as soon as time, circumstance, and inspiration allow." Hopefully this also means "soon", but there are no guarantees.

The ruler of Orrorsh is the mysterious Gaunt Man. As High Lord, he has the power to mold its reality to his liking. For centuries, he shaped the reality of Orrorsh until it fulfilled his vision: horror everywhere.

The Gaunt Man has labored to craft a reality whose power is created and sustained by fear. Fear is what drives this reality and fear is what spreads this reality. Like the other invaders, believers in the horror reality help it to spread, and anyone can feel fear and believe in horror. As fear spreads, Orrorsh grows in size and power. From a single invasion point, it can expand to consume an entire cosm, draining it dry of possibilities. This reality knows no bounds.

When Orrorsh invades a cosm, the Gaunt Man sends powerful beings called Nightmares to establish realms on its surface. He carefully crafts each unique Nightmare, varying their capacities and nature so as to be able to create- and savor- many different varieties of fear. Some Nightmares are mystical, others spiritual, others electronic, mechanical, or biological. All of them exist to spread fear.

The Nightmares are empowered to create Horrors. The Horrors each partake of the nature of their Nightmare, and so further the type of fear he is intended to create. Each is unique, utterly unlike any other Horror before or since.

For Storm Knights, each Horror is a mystery that must be unraveled. The characters must discover the nature of the Horror and learn its weaknesses and True Death, otherwise killing it is useless (if it is even possible), as it will just reform shortly thereafter.

Nightmares are also empowered to create a special artifact called a locus. A locus is a building, an object, or a location that has been invested with the power of Fear. It is a Horror and has a Fear Rating, Horror Powers, and True Death. It is also a potent artifact of Orrorshan reality, capable of inflicting the horror reality upon an invaded cosm.

A locus is similar to a hardpoint, in that it creates a circular area of Orrorshan reality, and it is similar to a reality tree, in that this area of Orrorshan reality is a stable, storm free mixed zone, in which both Orrorsh's reality and the native reality hold sway.

Within this realm, called a domain, the reality of the invaded cosm is overlaid with the reality of fear. The reality of the invaded cosm isn’t altered at all, its axioms and world laws function exactly as before, but Orrorsh's world laws operate alongside those of the native reality (Orrorsh’s axioms do not ever manifest).

Unlike the other realms, the reality of horror is imposed without reality storms, without wide scale transformations of person or place, without towering maelstrom bridges, without invading armies, and without disrupting the lives of everyday people.

Such invasions are subtle, stealthy, and secret. The realm of fear simply insinuates itself into everyday life in small and subtle ways that usually go unnoticed. This makes it hard to find and hard to fight.

The reality of Orrorsh, like the other invading realities, is supported by belief. Unlike the other invaders, Orrorsh doesn't need to provide believers- all people believe in fear. The more fear, the stronger Orrorsh becomes.

Storm Knights tell glories, stories of great triumphs against the invaders, stories that spread hope and inspire others to fight the invaders. Orrorsh thrives on similar, but opposite stories to spread fear.

Like glories, they are a tale that is empowered by possibility energy (in this case, the energy is provided by the reality of Orrorsh). Unlike glories, these are not tales of triumphs, but are stories of suffering and terror, stories of horror. The Horrors of Orrorsh terrorize the innocent, and stories of these events spread and are told and retold and each telling spreads fear.

Most Horror stories are, when viewed rationally, simply unbelievable- the Horrors in the tales simply cannot exist in the real world. Yet the possibility energy that infuses the tale causes it to be believed, even if the details of the story seem improbable or the monsters involved simply cannot exist. By believing the story, the listener comes to believe that supernatural Horrors are real, and that they are at risk. They feel fear, and the reality of Orrorsh grows stronger.

A domain is intimately linked to the Nightmare who created the locus. Its size varies in direct proportion to the amount of fear the Nightmare causes in the local populace.

Each Nightmare can only create a limited number of Horrors, and only by expanding his domain can the Nightmare create more (and the larger the domain, the more powerful the Horrors and the Nightmare become). The True Death of a Horror is a real blow to a domain, as each horror is essentially irreplaceable. Hunting for Horrors is the primary activity of heroes in Orrorsh.

The locus drains off possibility energy from the domain, to channel back to the Gaunt Man. As fear spreads, the domain grows in size, allowing it to encompass more people and thus drain more possibility energy.

Unlike other High Lords, the Gaunt Man is not limited to stelae triangles or a gradually expanding realm. From one invasion point, Orrorsh can spread to engulf an entire cosm (though this takes a long time, and multiple invasion points are more effective).

As Orrorsh's reality is a mixed zone, it doesn't transform Ords, and thus an Orrorshan realm can leech possibility energy indefinitely, each conquered cosm becoming a perpetual source of possibilities for the Gaunt Man to consume.

The unique nature of the Gaunt Man's reality gives him a decided edge over other Possibility Raiders. He is freed from many of their constraints and can accomplish much that no other High Lord can.

Orrorsh’s domains can be established anywhere, even within those areas invaded by other High Lords. (In fact, domains of Orrorshan reality have appeared in both Louisiana and the GodNet.) The Gaunt Man can invade and consume their realities, and there is little they can do to stop him. In the face of Orrorsh, even High Lords know fear.

Orrorsh's invulnerability to the machinations of other High Lords has not come without a price. Its single greatest advantage is also its chief weakness: only Storm Knights can defeat Orrorsh.

Despite being modeled after glories, Horror stories are not as powerful: hope is still more powerful than fear. When Storm Knights fight the Horrors of a domain and succeed gloriously, they can plant a glory seed within that domain. This seed is a story of their victory over the Horrors that is empowered with possibility energy.

It spreads through the populace from person to person, counteracting the influence of the Horror stories and lessening fear. Fighting the invasion requires glories, just as with any High Lord, but only glories that were achieved against Horrors of the same domain are effective.

Storm Knights can defeat the spread of horror. They need not tear up stelae, nor worry about the deaths of transformed Ords, only tell their tales of glory, and they can achieve victory (though the odds are not in their favor).

By spreading stories in which the Horrors are defeated, the populace begins to feel hopeful instead of fearful and Orrorsh is weakened. The domain shrinks, the Nightmare and Horrors become weaker, and the Nightmare is prevented from creating more Horrors until he can cause enough fear to increase the size of the realm again.

If the Storm Knights can visit True Death upon the Nightmare or the locus, the domain collapses. This is the only way to destroy the invading reality.

Horror stories can be told about any victims. However, Horror stories about Storm Knights cause more fear than stories about ordinary individuals. The more well known the Storm Knight, the more fear a tale of his demise will cause.

Nightmares are cognizant of these facts. Whenever Storm Knights enter their realm, Nightmares take great pains to target them. By killing or driving off the cosm's defenders, the Nightmares secure their domain and ensure the spread of fear.

Most Nightmares establish locations of safety within their domain, called lairs. These lairs are usually well guarded by the Nightmare's human servants, the Servitors (below).

Earth has one other advantage- the Gaunt Man has only recently perfected his reality of fear. Until the invasion of Earth, Orrorsh was just as destructive as other invading realities. Even now, the last world it invaded is a barren and blasted husk, burned free of all life. Though he can conquer whole cosms, perverting their native reality to the reality of fear, as of yet the Gaunt Man has not done so.

Earth, and the cosms of the other High Lords, are the first opportunities he has to spread his reality of horror. If defeated here, a very real possibility, his nascent empire will be snuffed out, its campaign of eternal invasions aborted, and the reality of horror destroyed.

This must not be allowed to happen, and so he has planned very carefully, very closely, and controlled every possible variable. The one variable he cannot control is the defenders of this reality- Earth's Storm Knights. With determination, intelligence, and perseverance they may yet defeat him. The fate of Orrorsh- and Earth- is in their hands.

Mortals who succumb to the Corruption of Orrorsh are altered spiritually, their very souls twisting into inhuman and horrific forms, which forms can be seen by certain specially trained mystics. Corruption is seeping and gradual, but when complete the person becomes a Servitor, a mortal servant of the dark powers of Orrorsh. A Servitor sees their true form in every mirror and reflective surface, a constant grim reminder of their debased and Wicked nature.

Servitors act to further the goals of Orrorsh in mortal society. A cultist who summons a Horror is a Servitor, as is the corrupt Police Commissioner who covers up the cultist's human sacrifices.

Servitors may not know they serve Orrorsh, but the nature of Corruption insures that their actions forward the interests of the domain's Nightmare. It inspires them to act in general ways that aid the horror reality, by causing fear (such as a Corrupt landlord threatening tenants with eviction or a criminal terrorizing the inhabitants of a neighborhood) or spreading Corruption (the Police Commissioner might offer bribes to those on his force or the cultist might seduce and brainwash people into joining their cult).

Corruption also inspires specific actions that aid the Nightmare, such as prompting the cultist to summon a Horror at the precise moment the Nightmare wishes (when the domain becomes strong enough to allow the Nightmare to create a new Horror). The Servitor may not know why they take action, but their Corrupt nature compels them.

Servitors are empowered by the Power of Fear, which grants them Horror powers appropriate to their nature or the Wicked acts that caused their Corruption. Their Power Rating is usually 1 to 6 and their Fear rating usually 1/2 or 1. Servitors do not have a True Death or a Perseverance Difficulty Number, as they are not Horrors. The actions of Servitors can trigger Perseverance checks, the Perseverance Difficulty Number being that of the key Horror (see the Orrorsh Sourcebook, pg. 61).

Universal Orrorsh is differs in many ways from the canon Orrorsh, though both realities have the same goal: to present a playable horror reality. In this author's opinion, though the Orrorsh Sourcebook was one of the best and most evocative of the Torg sourcebooks, flaws in its conception and execution combine to render it nigh unplayable.

Orrorsh is, as many gamemasters have noted, one of the less popular realms for players (with only the Living Land offering a worse game play experience). In the main, players avoid Orrorsh in preference to other realities. In many ways, this can be blamed on Orrorsh's primary flaw: it's emphasis on the necessity for player character deaths during a module.

From the Orrorsh Sourcebook, pg. 115:

Many of the mechanics of Orrorsh are designed to implement this philosophy (including Marking for Death). Orrorsh is intended to be lethal, and the Sourcebook places a burden on the gamemaster to ensure that it is. According to the quote above, multiple player characters are supposed to die in every module, and if this doesn’t happen, the gamemaster hasn’t done his job.

The most obvious objection to this is that the writer is simply wrong- a monster can kill a dozen player characters, yet fail to inspire fear, and a truly terrifying module doesn't require any player character deaths.

Fear balances hope and peril. To much hope, and the module isn't scary. Too much danger, and the players know their characters will die, and are resigned to their fate. Neither invokes fear. Guaranteed deaths don't foster fear- they foster hopelessness and without fear, there is no horror.

Too, players know (or quickly learn) that Orrorsh is deadly, and intended to be lethal, and hence avoid the realm. Even if they do venture there, they take secondary characters, the loss of which is acceptable.

Cheap, disposable characters are not memorable, and the players are unlikely to invest emotion or concern for their cannon fodder Storm Knights, making their deaths meaningless. The guaranteed loss of a character runs counter to the spirit of Torg, and discourages players from identifying with their characters (an essential component of horror roleplaying).

Yet even the death of player characters could be accepted, were they significant (hence the Martyr card). In Orrorsh, players lose their characters and accomplish nothing.

Orrorsh is dangerous. It has to be. Yet for all this danger, the players get nothing if they win. A dead Horror, even one who has suffered True Death, is a trivial loss and easily replaced. The Storm Knights haven't accomplished anything, and they are no closer to defeating Orrorsh than before.

As written, defeating Orrorsh is impossible. There are a great many stelae triangles and each triangle requires many glories, at the cost of many Storm Knight lives. There is no reason for players to go to Orrorsh because they lose so many characters for so little gain.

Orrorsh is simply an overwhelming reality. Players feel ill-equipped to deal with it, and it is essentially unbeatable.

Universal Orrorsh overcomes these drawbacks by making it possible to defeat Orrorsh, while also removing the focus on killing player characters. Orrorsh is dangerous, and even deadly, but death isn't guaranteed.

At the same time, Orrorsh is also more dangerous for Earth. Unlike the other realities, it can continue to exist alone, and can conquer Earth if but a single locus survives. Orrorsh must be fought to be defeated, and Earth's defeat will mark the beginning of a long, dark night of horror.

Universal Orrorsh also matches the nature of the horror genre better than the original. Horror is a meta-genre, and can exist in any setting. Universal Orrorsh makes it possible to add horror to any reality.

The last design goal was to make the Gaunt Man truly terrifying, especially to the other High Lords. The Gaunt Man is the master of fear, and the nature of universal Orrorsh marks him as a being even High Lords are scared of. High Lords can defeat other High Lords, but none of them can defeat Orrorsh.