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Robindaybird posted:I really feel like you could do a riff off of Legends of the Hidden Temple if you play your cards right The Temple Guards actually get to snap your neck.
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Jan 29, 2025 20:08
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YOU WILL FIND THE HEAD OF VECNA IN THE SHRINE OF THE SILVER MONKEY
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Jan 29, 2025 20:12
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It's a DC 35 Intelligence check to put together the statue in the SHRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE! of the Silver MONkey.
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Jan 30, 2025 02:02
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Libertad! posted:
Yeah, Jesus and Jehova probably still exist, and you can use the open-ended nature of the Messenger class to cobble something together. The God of the Old Testament does not say that He is the only God, only that those Jews better not worship any other ones or else. Islam and Christianity are offshoots of Judaism so they also require exclusivity to Jehova, a notoriously vengeful Middle-Eastern storm god. Islam says there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His Prophet, of course, so that would have to be different somehow. One could, if one wanted, sort of conflate Jehova with Zeus, and Jesus with Dionysus (or Mithras.) I'm not sure what Christianity or Islam would look like, certainly very different from the real-world versions. A more present Jehova might have stepped in when Martin Luther, or someone like him, dared to nail demands to a temple door, for instance... TL;DR: lots of
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Feb 3, 2025 00:37
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Might as well just have JHVH-1 from the SubGenius mythos.
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Feb 3, 2025 00:41
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CAPT. Rainbowbeard posted:Yeah, Jesus and Jehova probably still exist, and you can use the open-ended nature of the Messenger class to cobble something together. The God of the Old Testament does not say that He is the only God, only that those Jews better not worship any other ones or else. Islam and Christianity are offshoots of Judaism so they also require exclusivity to Jehova, a notoriously vengeful Middle-Eastern storm god. Islam says there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His Prophet, of course, so that would have to be different somehow. Or you know you could go with the Korean system apcolypse route by having the fantasy elements being from a different dimension and inexplicably work on (astecally) JRPG rules.
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Feb 3, 2025 02:36
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Ghost Armor 1337 posted:Or you know you could go with the Korean system apcolypse route by having the fantasy elements being from a different dimension and inexplicably work on (astecally) JRPG rules. The only limit is our imaginations!
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Feb 3, 2025 03:17
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 Official store page. While the most popular 5e adventures are longer campaigns, a significant amount of gaming groups cannot commit to such lengthy endeavors. Be it testing the waters with new players, giving people the opportunity to try out alternate PC builds, or just a short change of pace, one-shot adventures are popular due to requiring little investment. However, even shorter products rarely advertise themselves as being one-shots, much less offering over a hundred such modules ranging across all levels of play. One Shot Wonders is the first major sourcebook of Roll and Play Press, a company that specializes in physical aids for tabletop games. Beyond just a collection of quick adventures, the product is optimized for ease of use in actual play. First off, every NPC and monster detailed in this book uses stats that are freely available in the 5th Edition Basic Rules. Second off, each one-shot comfortably fits within 1-2 pages, and applies clever use of formatting to convey relevant information in the minimal amount of space. Here’s one such adventure, Hostage Hoax, as an example:  Here’s a two-page adventure that’s a bit more detailed, Fight At the Museum:  (the black bar is censoring my email address, it’s not a graphics error). Both one-shots include the general overview, boxed text to start the adventure, brief write-ups and parenthetical stat blocks for NPCs, a suggested progression of events, locations and clues to forward the plot, and the sample level range along with modifications for different levels of play. Additionally, the text boxes for different information, such as Quick Stats, Suggested Stories, and level range all use different formats and colors to make them easily pop out in the reader’s eyes. There are no widowed or orphaned lines of text, either, and the book comes with two PDFs, one in a single-page format and another in a two page side-by-side spread format. Which makes it all the more surprising that neither PDF has bookmarks, which makes navigation a bit more difficult. Otherwise, that’s my only criticism formatting-wise for One-Shot Wonders. The book begins with an Introduction from one of the authors as to their primary rationale for creating the book: to serve as a third option besides lengthy pre-written adventures and the additional time and effort from homebrewing everything. The followup pages go over the standard formatting and key info points that the book uses, along with a one-page What To Play selection of particular adventures united by strong themes, such as roleplay-heavy scenarios or ones set entirely within a dungeon. Each chapter of One-Shot Wonders has 17 adventures sharing a common type of terrain or region, ordered by increasing levels of experience to a maximum of 8 to 9th level. Six of the adventures are more vague hooks than complete encounters and scenarios, with 3 of those ones fitting on a page, and one of the “full” one-shots includes a map with keyed rooms. The exceptions are the last two chapters, with Legendary Adventures focusing on high-level play, and Running Your Game connects all the adventures in this book as part of a single setting along with miscellaneous DMing tips. Chapters 5 and 6, Down Underground and Around Town, have two map-based adventures each. I will not be covering every adventure here for reasons of brevity, instead highlighting the more novel and interesting ones.  Chapter 1: Out in the Cold This first chapter quite predictably covers adventures set in wintry and arctic locations. Our opening adventure, The Cat’s Mother, involves the PCs escorting a halfling conservationist to watch over some endangered sabre-toothed tigers who are at risk of being poached. The mapped adventure, Trial and Error, takes place in a remote research station inhabited by scientists, who due to experimental serums ended up changing into monsters. There are notes in the compound that can reveal the monsters’ weaknesses and possibly return them to normal. One of the cozier one-shots is Snow Angels, a Christmas-themed adventure where a pair of angels hires the PCs to deliver gifts to villagers in their stead, as their current duties keep them occupied in healing a sick mayor. Needless to say, delivering the gifts involves breaking into peoples’ houses, which contain personal defense traps and guard animals/constructs. In Too Deep is an investigation-based Lovecraftian scenario taking place in an isolated seaside village. Many of the townsfolk are brainwashed by an aboleth, and the various sidebars provide clues and encounters so that the PCs can piece things together. The final encounter is with the aboleth under a frozen lake, who is guarded by cultists and gibbering mouthers. The final one-shot of this chapter, Ice Trials, is a light-hearted, combat-lite festival where the PCs can take part in three contests against Erikk in a village. He is the only other contestant, whose years-long winning streak caused others to stop competing. The contests involve herding mammoths, a luge track race, and felling a tree and chopping it into as many smaller logs as possible. During the final contest, a wandering frost giant attacks the PCs and Erikk.  Chapter 2: On the Coast The next chapter has us depart for sunnier, saltier pastures out by the sea. Our first adventure, Down at the Docks, involves helping a terminally unlucky gnome sailor finish a variety of tasks before her ship’s next voyage in order to avoid being kicked out of the navy. Such tasks will involve things going catastrophically wrong and require PC intervention, such as the gnome accidentally knocking over a barrel full of grey oozes while swabbing the decks. The next adventure, Wave of Destruction, involves preparing a town for defense against a plesiosaurus that has been attacking settlements up and down the coast. Minor preliminary encounters and tasks the PCs participate in can give them an easier or harder time against the final battle, such as catching enough quippers to use as bait to distract the beast. Fishy Business, whose goblin chef is Kaz Kardwall and the character on the cover of this book, has his restaurant sabotaged by a sea hag seeking to ruin his business. The adventure begins when she uses magic to polymorph anglers into octopi and giant crabs and orders them to attack patrons and break things. The follow-up encounters involve the PCs tracing the hag’s lair to a boat known as the Sandpiper, and while there discover that she was hired by a disgruntled employee seeking revenge against Kaz for putting her family’s cafe out of business. The Sunken Crown is a classic underwater treasure hunt, where a research team hires the PCs to retrieve a cursed crown last reported in the contents of a shipwreck. But the crown has already been found by a merfolk gang leader who is planning to use the treasures found within to mount a raid on a nearby underwater city. Wedding Crashers has the PCs acting in the role of peacekeepers at a wedding between two pirate captains whose ensuing political alliance has brought its share of would-be assassins and rowdy saboteurs. The final adventure, Blackout Bay, takes place in a multi-level lighthouse complete with a keyed map, where the PCs are hired to investigate the lighthouse’s projection of magical darkness which is devastating for maritime travel. The culprit is an elven vampire who feeds on sailors whose ships crash into the shoreline. Thoughts So Far: The first two chapters have a good diversity of content. You have more whimsical and silly adventures like Down at the Docks and Snow Angels, you have your monster hunts like Wave of Destruction and In Too Deep, and you have mini-dungeon crawls like Blackout Bay and Trial and Error. The only shortcomings are a relative lack of adventures involving deeper investigation and political intrigue. The ones we do get are rather simple and straightforward, but given that these kinds of adventures are much harder to fit in a 1-2 page format, much less a pick up and play oneshot, this isn’t as big a mark as it otherwise would be if other adventure types were found lacking instead. Join us next time as we explore more regional one-shots Under the Sun, Into the Woods, and Up in the Hills! Libertad! fucked around with this message at 10:53 on Feb 12, 2025 |
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Feb 12, 2025 09:22
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The idea of a lighthouse that suddenly switches to broadcasting darkness is weirdly appealing.
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Feb 13, 2025 00:08
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quote:a Christmas-themed adventure where a pair of angels hires the PCs to deliver gifts to villagers in their stead, as their current duties keep them occupied in healing a sick mayor. Needless to say, delivering the gifts involves breaking into peoples’ houses, which contain personal defense traps and guard animals/constructs. 
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Feb 13, 2025 00:46
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  Chapter 3: Under the Sun Sandy deserts, rocky badlands, and various other kinds of desolate wastelands, these one-shots take place in areas where the environment itself is a deadly threat all its own. Some of the more notable adventures include Flower Power, where a druid hires the PCs to retrieve a single flower petal from a legendary plant (any more and the plant will die) in order to brew a year’s worth of healing potions, overcoming wild animals and rival scavengers who would take the entire plant itself; No-Horse Race, where the PCs compete in a racing tournament where the vehicles are magical crystal-powered wagons, complete with three separate rolls so that multiple PCs can do interesting things other than drive, such as repairing the power crystals and shooting competition as the gunner; The Tomb’s Tome is our mapped dungeon crawl, where the PCs need to return a stolen book to the mummy within so that the undead reverses a dire curse placed upon a local village; Law and Disorder, an escort mission where the PCs need to safely transport whistleblowers aware of poor safety and labor standards at a mine as its corporate owners arrange them to be assassinated by an oni that stalks the party overland; and Chasing Dreams, where a missing girl believed kidnapped by a monster actually went of her own accord to find a couatl in order to receive its tutelage to obtain divine powers. This consists of a linear dungeon crawl with puzzle rooms that test virtues such as a Trial of Respect where knocking on a locked door opens it but attempting to force one’s way in unleashes a damage-dealing trap.  Chapter 4: Into the Woods Stories centering on forests are an ever-popular element of Western fiction, from foreboding lands home to wicked fey and vicious beasts to scenic realms of primeval beauty. The one-shots within run a diverse gamut of adventure types and themes. Curtain Call is a murder mystery where a member of a theater troupe of traveling satyrs find one of their number dead, and the PCs need to piece together various clues to find out the killer and their motivation. Unhappy Birthday is a more comedic adventure where a friendly ogre pleads for the PCs to find replacement birthday presents for his pouty son, and is an open-ended time-based mission where the party can visit different locations in the woods to retrieve gifts, such as a jar of glowing beetles that are dangerous in a swarm and honey mushrooms that grow nearby poisonous fungi that act as a proximity-based trap. Welcome Home is a map-based dungeon crawl where a farmer hires the PCs to clear out a neglected mansion they inherited, and is filled with the legacy of a married couple, whose wife turned to dark magic in order to revive her deceased husband. Trouble Brewing is a magical distillery that is suffering a series of dangerous disasters as the PCs arrive, and they need to act quick to safe bystanders and the facility from a variety of hazards such as haywire constructs, scalding steam vents, and overflowing cider making the floors slippery. And two adventures see the PCs fighting alongside good-aligned monsters against threats to nature. The first is Foes In the Foliage, where the PCs are aided by a treant to stop the plot of wicked dryads who seek to gain mastery of the rainforest by assassinating a sapling treant next in line as the jungle’s caretaker. The second is Nightmare Glade, where a group of nightmares are corrupting a holy glade, and the PCs have to overcome magical traps and insane wildlife to get to the glade and fight the nightmares, where the guardian unicorn arrives to help the PCs fight once they kill all but the last nightmare.  Chapter 5: Up in the Hills From gently sloping ridges to vertical snow-capped peaks, this chapter covers adventures where the earth meets the sky. The first adventure, Hilltop Herd, is your tpical low-level stakes “fetch quest,” where the PCs rustle up escaped mountain goats to bring back to a village farm. The goats must be rescued from hairy situations such as a hungry bear to a villager mistaking the PCs for being cattle rustlers. But the Wizard and Oz stands out, where the PCs are hired by a mage to rescue her kidnapped pseudodragon from a rival mage as part of an escalating (yet non-violent) feud, and in addition to the rescue can raid the other wizard’s tower for treasure. Come Home to Roost is our mapped dungeon crawl, where a group of exhausted and frustrated travelers accompanying the PCs are displeased to find out that the only inn for miles has been overrun by a family of cockatrices, and must be cleared out if the PCs hope to and a nice reward from the inn’s owners…to say nothing of getting shuteye outside the elements! Up In Smoke involves a group of reactionary azers and salamanders known as the Firebrands seeking to destroy a gnomish village by triggering a volcano, and the PCs are given an iron golem mecha to pilot as they attack a legion of Firebrands. Aerial Outlaws involves the party taking to giant eagle mounts in order to dispose of some wyvern-riding bandits menacing a mountain pass. Thoughts So Far: One Shot Wonders continues to provide us with creative and offbeat adventures. I particularly like how several of them incorporate good-aligned monsters into encounters, particularly Aerial Outlaws in the use of aerial combat. I do feel that having the unicorn cavalry show up only when there’s one enemy left in Nightmare Glade can feel a bit disappointing if one’s player groups are the types to feel as though their glory is being hogged or stolen. My favorite adventures in these chapters are No-Horse Race and Up in Smoke; the former in that you don’t see many racing mini-games in 5th Edition and one that has more involved tasks than seeing whoever maintains the highest movement speed. And I like Up in Smoke due to the novelty of the PCs piloting a golem mecha. Join us next time as we depart for classic dungeon-delving setpieces Down Underground and head into civilization in Around Town! Libertad! fucked around with this message at 01:20 on Feb 15, 2025 |
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Feb 15, 2025 01:16
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Over on RPGnet, a reader of this Let’s Read asked how the iron golem mecha works, and I figured others might be interested as well. It uses the stats as per the monster, but multiple PCs can climb inside. It still absorbs fire damage, but those inside take half the amount of said damage due to the golem internally heating. Should the mecha be destroyed, it explodes as per the Shatter spell. Finally, there’s a gap inside the golem that PCs can fire through in order to do their own ranged attacks. The Suggested Story sidebar says that a roll must be made each turn in order to properly operate the golem and use one of its actions. There’s no sample skill/tool check or DC given, which is the sole oversight of this one-shot.  Chapter 6: Down Underground The iconic environment for dungeon delves, the vast majority of campaigns will see the PCs going six feet under, and not necessarily once they drop to 0 hit points. Our first adventure, Ashes to Ashes, is a clever subversion of a haunted graveyard where the PCs investigate the family crypt of ghostly activity. In reality a magical fire ring interred with one of the deceased is malfunctioning, summoning creatures of elemental fire into the tomb such as magmins and steam mephits. The first of our two map-based adventures is Forging a Future, where the PCs are hired by a duergar artisan to relit a long-abandoned forge now inhabited by subterranean monsters. The other is Spectator Sport, which is a demented carnival secretly run by a spectator (beholderkin) whose dungeon rooms are a series of dangerous games, such as a Wheel of Fortune which can trigger poison dart traps on bad results and a maze with Mirrors of Life Trapping inhabited by Doppelgangers. Web Search has the PCs venture into the city sewers to rescue kidnapped people from a dangerous colony of ettercaps, with additional quest rewards from various NPCs: the sewer company pays the party for killing the ettercaps, the clerk who hired them gives additional gold if they rescue her brother, and the rare peaceful drider who was being harassed by the ettercaps will gift Slippers of Spider Climbing. State of the Art has a noble hire the PCs to retrieve priceless works of art from a gang of bandits, but the bandits were in turn waylaid by a stone giant. The giant is known to be an art critic with nigh-impossible standards who lives in a nearby cave, and will destroy the art by feeding it to his ooze pets if not retrieved in time. The PCs can nonviolently resolve the encounter with the giant by trading for objects of sufficient value, or finding ways to appeal to his aesthetic sensibilities.  Chapter 7: Around Town These adventures take place entirely in urban population centers. Our introductory low-level adventures are light on violence: Hidden Gems is a mystery where the PCs must track down a group of invisible thieves stealing sewing equipment and gems from a local business. The thieves are actually a group of sprites living in the building, and can be peacefully resolved where the fey are allowed to live on the premises if they return the gems. Making a Scene has no combat encounters by default, where the PCs take part in a last-minute talent show at a theater when the original performers all come down with food poisoning. There’s also a baboon that gets loose in the auditorium as an encounter, and is at risk of breaking things. It’s one of the two adventures with a map, with the other one being The Baker’s Dozen. That one-shot involves the PCs rescuing a noblewoman’s son from an underground fighting pit which uses a bakery as its front. School Spirit employs the PCs as unconventional exorcists at a magical academy, when a student’s prank goes out of control and summons the ghosts of dead teachers. The spirits can be put to rest via a variety of tasks in addition to combat, such as polishing the trophy of a dueling instructor or reading aloud from a ghost librarian’s novel. The Last Resort is a spa run by succubi and incubi, who will steal the party’s equipment while they relax, and PCs can pick up clues by looking around the spa. The fiends will attack the PCs once they locate the room holding their equipment, and should the battle turn against the monsters they will beg the party to spare their lives and offer a percentage cut of profits from the spa to sweeten the deal. Not Your Vault is a heist adventure where the PCs need to break into a bank vault to find some vital evidence to expose political corruption. It’s a rather straightforward series of traps and encounters, such as an arcane laser grid (no stats are given), an Arcane Lock on the Vault Door, and a final fight against a stone golem in the lobby as toxic gas that functions as Cloudkill floods the area. There’s no map for this final adventure, which I feel is a bit of a downer for a heist-based mission.  Chapter 8: Legendary Adventures The one-shots in the prior chapters take place solidly within the first two Tiers of play, from 1st to 9th level. Not tied to any particular environment, this chapter specializes in challenges beyond these tiers. Given the relative dearth of high-level monsters in the 5th Edition SRD, there’s only 9 one-shots detailed here, with 3 of those being vague hooks. About half of the full adventures are similar in being overtly war-themed, where the PCs are helping conventional humanoid armies against monstrous forces. Contract Terminated has the PCs racing against time to defend a city from an ongoing devil invasion, where they must retrieve a Scroll of Earthquake from the palace vaults to cast during tonight’s meteor shower. As part of an infernal deal, the devils would invade the city “until the earth rises, and the stars fall” if the inhabitants didn’t give up one of their own to Hell every 40 years, with the current would-be offering being a child. Cosmic Crossfire sees the party in a war zone, helping soldiers fight against an extraplanar invasion of aberrations, such as nothics manning eldritch cannons that shoot Fireball spells. The monsters are led by an androsphinx on the other side of the portal, who offers to stop the invasion in exchange for the PC’s souls. If they fight the sphinx, the portal will begin closing upon his death, and the PCs must escape or be trapped forever. Lastly, Creatures of the Deep involves an arcane sea wall battered by aquatic creatures such as giant sharks and storms, with a kraken as the climactic fight. The sea wall has AC and hit points to track, so its destruction is also a loss condition. As for the non-war one-shots, The Dragon’s Cage is our only mapped module in this chapter. It’s a prison break taking place in a trapped maze, and the overlord is an adult blue dragon with a variety of draconic-themed minions such as wyverns and a half-red dragon veteran serving as warden. Teacher’s Pet has a necromancer archmage as the main villain, who turned the villagers of her former hometown into undead. Games of the Gods is a multiversal tournament where the PCs take part in a variety of games, such as searching for a star ruby that triggers a Divine Word trap hidden in thick jungle underbrush, a rapidly-shrinking battlefield where Walls of Force push fighters closer and closer, and ascending a wall of ice to plant a flag up top as a pair of rocs harass climbers.  Chapter 9: Running Your Game The final chapter of One-Shot Wonders contains a variety of tips and resources for running and customizing the adventures within the book. The Realm of Mirabilis introduces a hexcrawl map and sample mini-setting connecting all of the one-shots together. Plotting a Campaign and Connecting Stories shows how one might turn the one-shots into a larger full campaign, with suggestions of linked adventures grouped by environment, theme, and related villains/enemies. Making a Character, Playing a Session, and Running Combat are more generic advice which are actually beginner-level tips for 5th Edition, like what steps to take during character creation or when a GM should conceal rolls vs rolling out in the open. The remainder of articles are for more situational things, like tables of treasure for Rewarding the Party and sample Riddles and Puzzles (really just Riddles) talking about the most common types of puzzles. Our book ends with a pair of Indexes that group all of the adventures by Theme and Objective. Thoughts So Far: I’d have to say that the adventures in Down Underground are my favorite of the latter chapters here, although several of them don’t feel specific to subterranean travel so much as being vaguely “indoor dungeons.” Spectator Sport stands out in particular, as technically speaking the concept of a dangerous carnival isn’t really locked into any specific region or climate. Around Town was more of a mixed bag: having a full-page theater map might be appreciated by some, but as the default adventure is the kind where initiative isn’t going to be rolled and most likely will be pure improv, I would’ve preferred if another adventure in that chapter had a map. Like Not Your Vault. I have no problem with the Legendary Adventures chapter being lighter on content given the rarity of high-level challenges in the system, but having half of the one-shots involve active wars/invasions felt too monotonous. Additionally, these adventures rely a bit too much on hordes of low-level monsters that will be effortlessly taken care of by adventurers at this tier. This can be an acquired taste, as for some groups it can let the PCs revel in being powerful champions while still keeping the high-level threats as genuine challenges. But on the other hand, some groups may find the idea of their Tier 3-4 PCs taking on a bunch of zombies, kobolds, and giant sharks to be unexciting roadblocks. As for Chapter 9, my favorite part was the Realm of Mirabilis in that it helps tie together the one-shots into a more cohesive whole. Having a distinctly artistic yet still usable hex map helps as well. The other articles are a bit too simplistic for my tastes. Final Thoughts: One-Shot Wonders is an invaluable product for DMs on the go, and its scenarios can be incorporated easily enough into longer-running campaigns. It’s also a great example for writers in how to design a visually appealing and easily readable sourcebook, and the fact that there aren’t many products in its league is a shame. There are a few cases where the one-shots cannot be run right out of the box due to lacking certain things, but overall they require minimal prep and are very easy to understand and digest from a quick read. For these reasons, I cannot recommend One-Shot Wonders enough!
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Feb 17, 2025 02:24
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 Drive-Thru RPG Store Page. Back around mid-late 2022, Red Panda Publishing came onto the scene with a rather daring product: the Adventurer’s Guide to the Bible. Taking place during the life and times of Jesus Christ, it was an open world historical fantasy sandbox. Drawing heavily from Christian theology as well as contemporary legends and folklore, it made for a surprisingly detailed and intriguing adventure path. Red Panda would later on write a sequel set during the End Times, a Biblical cosmic horror campaign known as Azrael’s Guide to the Apocalypse. With no signs of slowing down, Red Panda Publishing quickly began work on their third sourcebook, the Silk Road Guide to Seafaring. This campaign is markedly different from its predecessors: despite taking place in the same fictional universe as the other two and containing some religious themes, it is more “secular” for lack of a better term. Like Adventurer’s Guide to the Bible, it is an historical fantasy sandbox adventure taking place in the 1st Century and is designed for levels 1 to 10. But instead of having a major “main quest,” it is closer to the design sensibilities of OSR modules. This product presumes that the PCs will be up-and-coming maritime explorers and traders across the ports of Africa, Europe, and Asia. There is no true “starting point” or linked set of adventures to take PCs from 1st level onwards, but there are plenty of detailed locations, encounters, missions, NPCs, factions, references to real-world historical information in sidebars labeled “History Check,” and a few linked quests that can build towards a larger plot. Introduction goes over the primary aims of the sourcebook, that it is less of a traditional plot-based adventure and more of a toolbox for the DM to create a seafaring historical fantasy sandbox set in Afro-Eurasia. This section also talks about the default design mechanisms of 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons, and whether various rules need to be changed or taken into consideration should they trivialize challenges or render popular character concepts underpowered. We have an alternate interpretation of “Advance Milestones” to the standard Tiers of play, noting how spells and class features at particular experience levels will drastically change the feel of the game. For instance, certain spells gained at 7th level are tactical game-changers in naval combat, such as using Dimension Door to rapidly teleport onto enemy ships, and Control Water’s applications are self-evident. The Guide thus places the “level cap” for seafaring campaigns at 11th to 13th, where even noncasting classes get abilities that would be “out of bounds” even for a low-magic campaign. As for ideal “starting points,” the Introduction briefly talks about the Patron system, where a political power player in the campaign provides funds for the PCs to purchase and customize their own ship and crew. This obviates the need for having to pay for such services directly, but comes with the attached strings that the PCs will take on missions that act in their patron’s best interests. As an example “starting adventure,” the campaign might begin in Ostia, where Emperor Nero hires the PCs to embark on a series of increasingly-farfetched missions. Eventually the party gains the opportunity to escape his grasp when he sends them on a mission to find the source of the Nile. A runaway African princess (and new patron) is also on the run and can help them set up a new life in the east. Another sample campaign carrying on Red Panda Publishing’s Christian themes might begin in Ephesus, where the PCs are hired by the Apostle Paul as a patron. After the party stops an assassination attempt against him, Paul reveals vague news that the other Apostles are in danger, and is in need of skilled people to smuggle them to safety. Thoughts: I have a fondness for open world/sandbox adventures, provided that they’re done well. As someone who reviewed the prior two major sourcebooks by Red Panda Publishing, I was a big fan of Adventurer’s Guide to the Bible but was not as impressed with the very linear and railroady Azrael’s Guide to the Apocalypse. The pivot away from overt religious themes to PCs being explorers and merchants building a maritime enterprise is a major change, but the historical fantasy setting and sample campaign beginnings make for intriguing hooks that I don’t mind the difference scope and focus. I also appreciate that the designers discuss 5th Edition’s potential shortcomings for maritime campaigns, acknowledging that they can only work within a given level range. Setting Overview talks about some broad facts about this more fantastical version of Earth. Set during 56 CE, Silk Road does touch upon several characters and places from Adventurer’s Guide to the Bible. But besides a few call-outs of certain mechanics and NPCs, that module’s content isn’t needed to be owned in order to use this book. Generally speaking, the international superpowers are the Roman Empire, the Parthian Empire, and the Han Dynasty, with the former two empires now openly at war. The various Celtic tribes in northern and western Europe are being pushed back by Rome, and are preparing for a desperate final confrontation. On the economic front, the Indian subcontinent is home to the world’s wealthiest kingdoms, but internal struggles prevent them from putting up a united front and their trade routes thus suffer from piracy attracted to the region’s bounty. Meanwhile, the African kingdom of Sheba and the Parthian Empire control vital port cities throughout Arabia. Coinage is the primary means of trade, and is broken up into denominations of copper, bronze, silver, and gold, which correspond to 5e units. It may be an oversight, but we get no mention of where bronze coins fall into things value-wise. A fiat currency known as a “talent” is equal to 650 gold pieces, which represents the collective value of owed favors, social connections, and physical valuables for making large purchases. The patron system and various missions in this book hand out talents to the PCs as reward, and thus serve as the primary means for purchasing ships and ship upgrades. PCs can still buy these same things with currency, provided they have the cash on hand. Unlike the real world, magic and monsters are a fact of life across kingdoms and cultures. While the tolerance of mages can differ depending on environment and what kinds of magic they use, someone casting a spell in and of itself is not cause for panic on the streets. Many rulers even make use of court mages to advise them on supernatural matters. That being said, the setting is still humanocentric in that there are no dwarves, elves, or demi-human equivalents openly rubbing shoulders with passersby in busy marketplaces. Monsters who are immersed in human society tend to be shapeshifters and users of deceitful magic, such as an oni serial killer encounter in Japan as an example later in this book. Despite being set in distinctly pre-medieval times, there are no real restrictions on equipment from the “standard 5e rules.” This is in marked contrast to Adventurer’s Guide to the Bible, which had restricted and missing equipment for a more period-appropriate feel. Such as polearms being the only heavy weapons of note, and crossbows being expensive cutting-edge technology produced only in China. Another interesting departure from the prior Adventurer’s Guide setting is more implied than explicit, but one which I feel is still worth pointing out: the presence of divine casters belonging to non-Abrahamic faiths. Although we still have many such NPCs who are holy Christians and Jews, this book details Buddhist monk NPCs in some Asian locations who use Priest stat blocks. Additionally, the upcoming Circle of the Wayfinder Druidic subclass is noted as originating among the South Islanders, the book’s collective term for Malay-speaking people. We also have Celt Druid and Island Wayfinder stat blocks that make use of Druidic spells. This section rounds out with a list of 16 major Languages and language groups, with Greek being the setting’s “Common” tongue, and we also have a Vocabulary of common real-world naval terminology. In the latter case, the book notes that it’s making use of English terms for ease of use for readers, given that trying to be “historically accurate” to the many languages of the time would bog things down. Thoughts: As evidenced in their prior sourcebooks, the designers draw from real-world research to make their setting feel more plausible while also highlighting lesser-known facts. I really appreciate the History Check sidebars in showing their homework. While the book does make mention of potentially using its contents for “low-magic/low-fantasy” campaigns, this isn’t the default state. As such campaigns don’t work well with 5th Edition as it stands, this is for the best in my opinion. As for the opening up of divine magic to non-Abrahamic sources, this does contradict the canon of earlier books. But as this product is more comparatively standalone, and parties have a much higher chance of starting play in cultures that don’t have significant contact with the Jewish and Christian faiths, it’s likely done more for easy inclusion of PC archetypes. For example, a Cleric or Paladin PC in a party starting out in China or India can easily be a practitioner of the local faith, as opposed to requiring them be a Jewish/Christian convert or immigrant.  A Life at Sea goes over brief sub-systems created for this book’s adventures. Fitting comfortably within 7 pages, we actually have a dense amount of material that is nevertheless easy to read through. We start out with 9 roles for Officers and Crew, where the PCs and/or hired NPCs take charge of important duties on the ship such as Navigator, Chief Steward, and Captain. Encounters and events will regularly call out said roles, along with relevant rolls in order to perform tasks and avoid hazards. Given that most gaming groups have 3-6 people, it’s presumed that a PC can take on multiple roles, usually no more than 2. But the hiring of Crew as part of a ship Upgrade (detailed later in this post) can free up a PC to focus on the roles best suited for them. The Silk Road campaign is an open world sandbox, and travel time is hex-based where every hex is 500 miles or 800 kilometers. We have an accompanying World Map in both the book and as its own PNG file for digital purchases, and a table shows us how many days it takes a ship to move a single hex based on its movement speed. As a sailing ship continuously moves by default, even minor differences in movement speed can make a big difference. However, past 65 feet the “miles per day” clearance requires larger increments. For example, a ship with a movement speed of 30 to 35 feet moves 96 miles per day, and thus 5 days to traverse a single hex. A nimble ship with a movement speed of 60 feet moves 175 miles per day, and thus needs only 2.5 days to traverse the same hex. A ship’s Navigator must make a navigation check whenever a new hex is entered in order to avoid getting lost, with the DC increasing the longer the ship has been out at sea. Should they become lost, the ship begins moving in a random direction as determined by a d6 and has this status until it reaches a port city. Abilities that prevent the Navigator from becoming lost, such as the Ranger’s Natural Explorer class feature, obviate the need for Navigation checks. An independent d100 roll is also rolled upon entering a new hex to determine a random Seafaring Encounter. The next several sections involve combat and tense encounters, such as conducting a chase (Lookout and Helm roles are primary actors, are opposed Water Vehicles tool checks modifier by Dexterity and a ship’s Terrain Modifier,* whoever gets 3 successes first outruns or catches up to the other ship as appropriate), determining damage for a ship ramming into a target (1d6 bludgeoning for every 10 feet the ship moved since its last turn, Constitution save halves the damage), and general-purpose ship combat. *Certain ships perform better and worse in different bodies of water. Ship-based combat is conducted in much the same manner as regular combat, but with a few exceptions. The Captain role determines a ship’s initiative, with Dexterity and Terrain Modifier* applying. Instead of marching order, PCs take “battle stations” where they occupy particular roles, such as manning a siege weapon or the ship’s rigging, which thus determines what actions they can take on their turns. Tracking events on a character-by-character basis is not necessary save when PCs are boarding an enemy ship or being boarded themselves, at which point combat can “zoom in” to focus on individual crew members. In fact, the book notes that at levels 1 to 4 most ship combat will focus between one or two enemy ships given the lack of inherent long-range, mobility, and AoE effects. A table is provided for determining the Challenge Rating of all the ships in this book for encounters, for when the primary danger comes from the ship and its ordinance rather than the stat blocks of its crew. Regarding the risk of Total Party Kills should the PCs’ vessel break down, the advice boils down mostly to DM Fiat. Such as having them stranded on a nearby island, or surviving PCs clinging to the rudder of an enemy ship. This section ends with discussion on Finding Work and relevant rules (listing common activities PCs can do to make money, such as taking nobles on pleasure cruises or making maps of uncharted territory), tracking the party’s Infamy Level (a broad number representing the amount of enemies the PCs have made from 1 to 7 with accompanying social-based penalties and even some benefits), and Downtime activities based on a PC’s role (making repairs to the ship, Bosun’s role, Looking for Work as the Captain’s role, resupply as the Quartermaster’s role). The book does note that some activities can be sped up or obviated with proper class features or magic, such as using magic to create food and items for the Resupply activity. Thoughts: I do like how the new subsystems take advantage of existing rules and proficiencies. I also like how important the roles of a ship’s crew are, from navigation to combat to certain downtime activities. This makes assigning PCs and NPCs to such tasks deliberate decisions and has consequences for rolls, rather than something to do once and never think about again. While I do appreciate that the Silk Road Guide to Seafaring acknowledges that class features and spells should have an impact on roles, that there’s so many ways to avoid getting lost specifically that it brings up the question of whether to include it in the campaign in the first place. Particularly given the fact that the penalty is so punishing, I imagine that most gaming groups will be finding ways to avoid it.  It wouldn’t be a setting sourcebook without some new Character Options! The following are Backgrounds, Subclasses, and Feats specializing in roles and archetypes to enhance maritime exploration campaigns, along with two subclasses that aren’t distinctly such but reflecting fighting traditions common to the cultures of the time. We start out with five culture-neutral Backgrounds, along with recommended ones from the core rules and Adventurer’s Guide to the Bible. Barring Northlander, every Background in this book is notable for having 2 Features rather than 1, in addition to the typical bonus equipment and skill/tool/language proficiencies. All of the backgrounds have skills, languages, tools and Features relevant to the adventures and new rules in this campaign. For example, Cartographer’s Features include adding one Periplus (map of a large region such as continental Europe) to starting equipment and gaining Keen Mind or Observant as a bonus feat. Or Ship Builder, whose features include rolling advantage to repair or end a Mishap* on a ship, also restoring 2d6 hit points to a ship when successful in doing so, and can restore twice as many hit points when restoring damage to a vehicle or structure as they’d normally do. None of the Backgrounds have tables of sample Personality Traits, Ideals, Bonds, and Flaws, but as those are rules-free roleplaying guidelines their exception doesn’t make them incomplete. *A table that determines a negative effect against the ship and the DC to repair it, such as a cracked hull reducing its Armor Class or a damaged sail halving its speed. We then move on to five Subclasses for the Barbarian, Bard, Druid, Monk, and Warlock. The Barbarian’s Path of the Pict represents Celtic warriors who cover their skin with blue tattoos, and the subclass’ name is from the Romans referring to all such Celts as Picts and thus can represent many other European tribes. The subclass’ features are primarily defensive, such as starting out with a magical tattoo that grants resistance (and eventually immunity) to a bonus energy type chosen from a list on top of their regular rage resistances as they level up, increased climbing and jumping distances while raging at 6th level, and spending a reaction to grant advantage on a saving throw Proficiency Bonus/per long rest at 10th level. The College of Shanties Bard represents magical musicians who use folk songs to help members of a ship’s crew act with increased coordination and endure longer. They initially get a set of bonus features such as proficiency with Thieves’ Cant, drums, and the Guidance cantrip, along with being able to sing a minute-long sea shanty that can incorporate a secret message in Thieves’ Cant. This last one can grant a variety of social-based boons, such as advantage on Charisma checks made while in a tavern or a free roll on the Black Market contracts table for determining a random mission. At 6th level they can spend bardic inspiration to grant bonuses for one of two types of activities: either to everyone participating in a group check or a single person’s check relevant to operating a vehicle.  The Circle of the Wayfinder represents Austronesian Druids who learned how to navigate safe passage by studying the sea. Their bonus spells hew strongly towards water and wind themes, and their initial features include things like never getting lost while traveling on the open sea or being able to Wild Shape into beasts with swimming speeds at lower levels than usual. At higher levels they can craft a stick chart, a navigation tool fashioned from pieces of driftwood, shells, and coral to serve as a nautical map. The stick chart can help them avoid natural encounters from nonmagical beasts and weather-based hazards, serves as a druidic spellcasting focus, and grants bonus spells such as Breeze and Find the Path. There is one ability that can be pretty exploitable: whenever they cast a spell that creates or manipulates water, they regain one expended spell slot that cannot be higher than 5th level, and must be of a lower level than the spell that they cast. It doesn’t grant infinite spell slots as eventually the “lower level” requirement will eventually force them to run out of high-level slots, but with some creative casting the Wayfinder can get a few bonus castings of several low-level spells. Way of the Jian is a Monk tradition that originated in China, representing warriors specializing in the use of the Jian sword which is considered one of the “big four” weapons in the Han Dynasty. Practitioners of this Way are highly respected in Chinese society and serve in high-ranking military positions. A jian is a d8 weapon (doesn’t specify damage type) which uses Dexterity for its attack and damage rolls.* At 3rd level the subclass grants proficiency with the jian, treats it as a monk weapon, the wielder choose whether it deals slashing or piercing damage every time they make an attack with it, and gains a specially-crafted one for free. Whenever the Monk misses on an attack roll with it, they gain a bonus to their AC equal to their Martial Arts die until the start of their next turn or are disarmed of it, and also add their Martial Arts die as a bonus to Charisma checks when the Jian is visibly worn. The subclass is pretty frontloaded, given that you get all this initially at 3rd level. But its higher-level features are rather respectable, such as treating the jian as a magic weapon and being able to transfer the magical properties of other magic swords into it at 6th level, gaining blindsight out to 10 feet at 11th level, and dealing extra damage equal to their Martial Arts die on the first attack made with a jian during their turn at 17th level. *The book doesn’t have rules for a jian on its own. Thus it’s not clear if it has the Finesse property, and the rules text heavily implies that you must use Dexterity as opposed to choosing either Strength or Dexterity. The Leviathan Warlock Patron represents a mage who entered into a deal with the powerful sea serpent of the same name who lays dreaming at the bottom of the ocean. The creature is the setting’s equivalent to a doomsday cosmic horror, for it primarily speaks to its servants via dreams and it is prophesied that one day it will awaken on the day of Armaggeddon to bring destruction to the world. There is a bit of rather un-Biblical D&Dism thrown in, where God is stated to have separated the Elemental Plane of Water from the Material Plane during the second day of creation, which ended up trapping the Leviathan in its dormant state. The subclass’ expanded spell list centers around weather-based magic such as Gust of Wind and Call Lightning, but also includes other thematic options like Black Tentacles and Conjure Elemental (water only). Its initial 1st-level feature represents fearful respect among sea creatures, such as being able to telepathically communicate with and gain advantage on Intimidation checks against any creature that has an innate swimming speed, and such creatures must succeed on a Charisma save to target the warlock with an attack roll. Higher-level features include expanded benefits from their particular Pact boon, such as Pact of the Chain granting their familiar the ability to breathe underwater, a swim speed, and a permanent Freedom of Movement spell. At 6th level they can call upon the Leviathan’s favor to reroll a random outcome once per long rest and choose which result to use. At 10th level they are able to cast Legend Lore at will without the need for material components and a spell slot, but each use risks the Leviathan taking control of the caster’s body. This last part is represented as the warlock making a Wisdom save whenever they are returned to life by a spell, with the DC starting out at 12 and increasing by 1 each time they cast Legend Lore in this way. A failure has the Leviathan taking control of the body instead, and will restore the warlock’s soul to their original body should the rest of the party help it out via a service as determined by the DM. Their 14th level capstone lets them summon an Avatar of the Leviathan for 1 hour, and uses the stat block of a Tanifa, a monster detailed later in this book. But to sum up that creature, it’s a Gargantuan aquatic monster with a fire-based steam breath weapon, a Bite attack, and legendary actions it can take to Detect, Hide while in water, or force a Mishap upon a ship by slamming its tail. Thoughts: The backgrounds are all appealing options, and I agree with the book’s suggestions for backgrounds from other sources save for one exception: the Outlander’s feature from the core rules is heavily implied to work for land-based wilderness exploration, which will be of limited use in comparison to the Sailor background and the ones in this book. As for the subclasses, the Pict Barbarian’s tattoo-based resistances are easily outshone by the Bear Totem, and its purely-defensive (and movement speed) based features don’t feel as exciting as other existing Barbarian subclass options. As for the Shanties Bard, it feels like it’s trying to be a pseudo-Rogue, and its initial Tavern Song is more based upon DM Fiat which makes it a harder sell in comparison to the more explicit benefits of other subclasses. The Wayfinder Druid’s abilities are effective and appropriate to the campaign at hand, and by focusing on water-based magic they can cast quite a bit more extra spells between long rests. The Jian Monk is a very front-loaded subclass, with many of their best features coming into play at early levels rather than later. They can make for a respectable party face which is nifty but not unbalancing, although their AC bonus which is triggered by missing an attack is a little too good given that they’re probably going to be fighting with their jian all the time and they’re bound to roll low if they make liberal use of Flurry of Blows. I also would’ve liked to see default weapon properties for the sword, for those PCs who want to use a jian but aren’t taking this subclass. The Leviathan warlock looks fine by my initial estimations, and its hold over aquatic creatures and long rest-based reroll (which explicitly calls out things like Mishaps and random encounters) are going to be relevant to many sea-based encounters. However, the warlock risking possession by their patron from 10th level onwards is my main criticism. Beyond reliance upon an open-ended DM Fiat side quest to return the original warlock’s soul, it can be even more of a penalty if the DM interprets it to mean that the actual player is “out of commission” as though their PC was still dead. And by the way the class feature is worded, this sounds to be the case. A more lenient DM may still grant the possessed warlock’s player control, but with the roleplaying restriction of a malevolent entity. But as the book doesn’t explicitly spell this out, it is something worth bringing up for DMs and players to ask about. We end this section with 8 Feats designed to aid PCs for common roles as part of a ship’s crew and related nautical activities. All feats here grant +1 to an ability score, so there’s no concern on having to give up a tangible bonus to ability checks/attacks/saves in order to take one of these feats. Two of these feats are on the higher end of the power spectrum, where the benefits they grant are broad enough to be helpful for a wide variety of character concepts. As our first example, Cook grants proficiency with cook’s utensils, but its signature ability lets the PC cook a meal for multiple creatures (4 + Proficiency Bonus) as part of a short rest, and those who partake in the meal gain advantage on ability checks for a score chosen by the Cook for a number of hours equal to the Cook’s proficiency bonus. The Commander feat’s benefit is more immediate, where they gain an at-will bonus action ability to give an instruction to a target who can hear them within 60 feet. Said target can add 1d4 to a single attack roll or saving throw until the start of the Commander’s next turn. The other remaining feats aren’t as broad, but still strongly improve a PC’s ability in a limited range of activities relevant to the book’s campaign. For instance, Repairman grants proficiency with one set of tools, the Mending cantrip, can attempt to end a ship’s Mishap as a bonus action rather than an action, and once per long rest can spend 1 hour making repairs to an object to give it hit points equal to 5 times the repairman’s Proficiency Bonus. Explorer grants proficiency with navigator’s tools ,and the PC can only become lost by magical means as long as they have such a tool in their possession and they can see the sky. Treasure Hunter is more DM-fiat reliant, where proficiency/expertise in Investigation is nice but not earth-shattering. However, its most appealing feature is that the PC finds 50% more gold than they normally would should the money be discovered via an Investigation check, and they roll twice and choose the more desirable outcome on tables for generating treasure and discoveries. Freediver helps a character swim better, granting a swimming speed, can hold their breath much longer than usual, and ignores natural negative effects from diving deep underwater. Pilot grants proficiency with all vehicles the character has seen before, can gain proficiency with a newly-discovered vehicle by studying it as part of a short rest, and add their Proficiency Bonus to a piloted vehicle’s Strength and Dexterity checks and saves if they’re in the Helm role. Siege Weapon Master grants proficiency with all siege weapons, crits on a 19 or 20 with such weapons, and when scoring a critical hit with a siege weapon they can force the target to roll on the Mishap table if applicable. Thoughts: I can see most gaming groups scrambling for Commander and Cook. Cook particularly for when they know that an upcoming task or challenge is going to need a d20 roll. Commander is especially attractive for PCs who don’t have many uses for their bonus action, and as it can stack with Bless, Bardic Inspiration, and other such buffs it can really up the effectiveness of a party. The remaining feats are more situational, but none look underpowered or highly situational for the book’s intended campaign style. For use in non-nautical adventures they may be much more situational. Thoughts So Far: The Silk Road Guide to Seafaring opens up with a strong start. Its immediate pitch is obvious and stands out from the crowd, its new rules are easy to understand and strongly reinforce the setting themes, and it’s clear that the authors dedicated a good amount of research into the history of this particular time period. My biggest criticisms at this part in the book would be that it’s really easy (too easy in some cases) for wilderness and exploration-based class features and magic to obviate common challenges. Additionally, quite a bit of the subclasses have features which are unappealing in comparison to existing options (like Path of the Pict) or lacking information (such as stats for a normal Jian sword and whether a Leviathan-possessed warlock is under player control). I also think that letting PCs start play with any kind of equipment without restriction makes the setting lose some authentic flavor. It makes me wonder why they didn’t just import the outlines in Adventurer’s Guide to the Bible, given that module takes place a mere 30 years ago. Join us next time as we get into detail on how to build our own vessels and meet the power-players of the setting in Ships, Upgrades, Factions, and Patrons! Libertad! fucked around with this message at 12:17 on Feb 22, 2025 |
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Feb 20, 2025 07:16
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  First off, I’d like to note that the four sections I’m reviewing are not done in order with how they’re presented in the book. The reality is that the sections most relevant to each other are located quite far apart. The entry on Ships starts at page 27, but their Upgrades are way back in the Appendices on page 177. As for Factions, they immediately follow Ships on page 58. But the Patrons who supply talents to purchase the prior ships and upgrades, and several of whom are tied to the Factions, are way back on page 169. The 100 or so pages between Factions and Patrons are taken up by Tools & Tables and Ports of the World, which details the sandbox proper. Having relevant entries located so far away results in a lot of unneeded page-flipping, which is a minus against the book. Ships are the most valuable piece of equipment a party can own in the campaign, and the vessels vary widely in stats, function, and customizability. We have 12 major Ship types and 7 Small Vessels. The former are vehicles designed to hold large amounts of people and cargo like the dhow or trireme, while the latter are things that can hold only a few tons or people at most. Every Ship makes use of slots, upon which upgrades can be installed. Most Ships come sold with Upgrades already installed, such as the Veneti’s infamous Dragon’s Breath siege weapon, and removing upgrades costs time and gold but at half of the original cost. Ships and Small Vessels have stat blocks which closely correspond to creature stat blocks, having hit points, armor class, movement, speed values, damage and condition immunities and vulnerabilities, features, and Action Stations. But the new stats include Creature Capacity and Cargo Capacity, which are self-explanatory. Terrain Modifiers represent how well or poorly a ship handles on a particular body of water and are separated into Sea, Coast, and River. They apply to rolls made during chases, determining initiative order in combat, and the d100 Seafaring Encounter table. Generally speaking, Ships are damage sponges, where ones even unoptimized for warfare have hit points in the triple digits as well as “damage threshold” values where they outright ignore damage below a certain amount. Besides two exceptions and the Fireproofing Hull upgrade, ships are vulnerable to fire damage and suffer the Burning Mishap automatically when taking such damage. Another weakness of ships is that, unlike typical creatures, they cannot move without restriction in terms of grid-based positioning. Most ships can only turn up to 90 degrees every turn, with some particularly unwieldy and nimble ships having 45 or 120 degree limits respectively. And without a tower upgrade, siege weapons have to be installed on a ship’s front, sides, or rear and can only fire in that particular range. This makes facing an important aspect of naval combat. On the positive side, most ship siege weapons have very high range increments, and in terms of movement speed all but the slowest ships are on par with or outrun the average human speed of 30 feet. PCs making use of a Ship against conventional enemies have a massive advantage in long-range attacks, provided they have a large enough body of water on which to move. One major thing to note is that the costs of Ships and Small Vessels don’t evenly match up between gold pieces and talents. It’s always cheaper to buy Ships with talents rather than paying the cost in raw gold. Small Vehicles are the exception: such vehicles are always 1 talent, but 4 out of 7 are cheaper than 650 gold, meaning that buying them with talents is a loss. Small Vessels are easy and straightforward to make, meaning that they can be found and purchased worldwide. However, 9 out of 12 Ships are restricted for purchase in particular regions. For example, the Veneti is only available in Celtic territory, while the speedy Lanong is only found in the eastern seas of India, Sheba, and the South Islands. The Alexandrian is Greek in origin but its popularity means that it can be found worldwide. It was designed as a merchant vessel for long sea voyages, and its slow speed and lack of sturdy defenses are made up for holding an unparalleled amount of cargo space. The vessel has the largest number of upgrade slots in the book, with 5 out of 12 used to boost cargo capacity. Due to this, it’s the most customizable Ship, but in being the second-most expensive it cannot be bought at the start of the campaign. It also has a terrible River Terrain Modifier at -10, meaning that PCs will need to rely on either another Ship or a Small Vessel should they wish to go inland. The Corbita is our other worldwide-available ship, originally designed as grain transports in the Roman Empire and quickly became one of the most popular trade ships. They have ample cargo space, but are much cheaper to acquire than the Alexandrian. They’re also faster and handle relatively well on Sea and Rivers, but are optimized for Coasts. The Corbita only has one open upgrade slot and no in-built weapons, making them rather vulnerable against pirates and tax-loving law enforcement who can catch up to them. The Dhow is another cost-efficient boat optimized first and foremost for speed. They are thus favored for light cargo and message delivery. Despite being common and legal, smugglers are fond of using them, so law enforcement sometimes is suspicious of unrecognized vessels in the area. The dhow has the fastest movement of all ships in this book at 120 feet, is able to turn up to 120 degrees, its Armor Class of 20 is only matched by the Turtle warship, and its Sea and Coast Terrain Modifiers are decent at +2 and +3. Its major weakness is being quite fragile at only 85 hit points, having only a single upgrade slot, and no built-in weapons. The Houseboat is designed for form over function, being comfy ships favored by those with money to spare. They come built-in with Passenger Expansion and Dining Room upgrades as well as Comfortable Quarters, the last of which is usually an upgrade but is a free built-in feature for a Houseboat. To briefly sum it up, passengers transported on this ship will pay more gold to the PCs, taking long rests removes 2 exhaustion levels rather than 1, and the vehicle adds 1d8 to initiative rolls. Needless to say, this is a very good upgrade for just about any vessel. The low points of a Houseboat are its sluggish 20 foot movement speed and having only 2 open upgrade slots.  The Kun-lun Po is a boat of Austronesian origin, its name deriving from Chinese who made first contact with traders from the Southern Islands. Over time, these riverboats incorporated technology from both cultures, becoming a reliable, versatile ship that can work well in all types of aquatic terrain. It is very much a “jack-of-all-trades” vehicle, having good Terrain Modifiers in all three bodies of water, a fast 60 foot movement speed, carries a decent amount of cargo and passengers, and even has a Smuggler’s Hole upgrade for hiding things from casual inspection. It has 4 upgrade slots allowing for some degree of customization, and its reasonable cost of 4 talents puts it within purchasing range of a low-level party beginning play in China or the Southern Islands regions. The Lanong is the first of our warships, a swift vehicle that was first designed by pirates in the Philippines for hit-and-run raids. Cultures across the Indian Ocean reverse-engineered the lanong to use it for a wider variety of non-piracy purposes, and is the iconic ship of choice for the navy of India’s Three Crowned Kings. The ship holds up well in combat and has no real weaknesses to speak of: with 4 open upgrade slots, a movement speed of 80 feet, and an above-average Armor Class of 17, it can weather quite a bit of enemy fire. It comes automatically equipped with a Harpoon Ballista, and a Restraining Mast designed to fall onto enemy ships to slow down their movement and allow them to be boarded. The Liburna is the third and last of our worldwide-availability ships, and at 1 talent is effectively a very large rowboat reinforced with a breaching ram upgrade. It is a popular choice among the criminal element, originating among farmers and fishers turning to piracy. Its 18 Armor Class and 100 foot speed are its only real positives besides its cheap cost. Its low Creature and Cargo Capacities make it a poor fit for long-term exploration and merchant enterprises, and having only one open upgrade slot means that it can’t really be modified outside of its role. For naval combat, it’s really only good for swarm tactics or getting the PCs quickly from point A to point B. The Louchuan is the pride of the Han Dynasty, a fortress ship that even the most bloodthirsty pirates would think twice about engaging. Its primary use is for transporting VIPs, and the expense in their cost along with their fearsome reputation means that they haven’t actually seen much use in warfare. It comes equipped with a siege tower, a pair of thunder-throwers (trebuchets), can hold a lot of Cargo and Creatures, has 6 open upgrade slots, and the largest amount of hit points at 626. Besides being exclusively sold in Chinese territory, the louchuan’s great size and slowness are its main weaknesses, having a meager 10 Armor Class and 25 feet movement speed. It is optimized for operating on the Sea, and its River Terrain Modifier is an atrocious -20. It’s also the most expensive ship in the game, and is unlikely to see play until the later levels of Tier 2.  The Quinquereme is the Roman Empire’s signature warship, akin to a larger, sturdier Trireme. The Quinquereme is a common sight in Roman ports, frequently on the lookout for merchant vessels they suspect of transporting illegal cargo and outlaws. The Quinquereme can only be purchased in Roman territory and has no open upgrade slots. Its 9 slots are dedicated to seating for a crew of oarsmen, siege towers with catapults, and a cleaver ram with a huge blade that inflicts great damage on ships it crashes into. It has a slow movement speed when using only its sails, but with oarsmen it can move much faster. The Quinquereme’s major weakness is slow movement speed and Terrain Modifiers, particularly for Rivers. The book notes that the Trireme is the most common warship in the world, which makes me wonder why it’s listed as only purchasable in Rome and Parthia rather than being worldwide. It is of Greek origin and primarily powered by a crew of oarsmen, and comes with a built-in catapult and oculus ram (minimizes damage to the ship when it crashes into another creature or vehicle). Like the Quinquereme it has no open upgrade slots, and while it performs better in Rivers it is not optimized for the open Sea, with a -3 modifier. The ship also doesn’t have much room, having low Creature and Cargo Capacities. The Turtle ship is noted as originating among military engineers of the Han dynasty. However, amateur Googling by me points to it being invented in Korea much later, making its inclusion in the setting quite anachronistic. The turtle is designed for transporting soldiers and goods through dangerous territory, optimized for defense and weathering enemy fire. With an Armor Class of 20, 200 hit points, and immunity to fire damage, it is the sturdiest ship in the book if one judges it for overall defense rather than pure hit points. While the Turtle does have 3 open upgrade slots, it doesn’t come with any weapons by default unlike other warships, and its 30 foot movement speed and average Terrain Modifiers makes it less maneuverable than travel-based ships. Like the Louchuan, it is only for sale in Chinese territories. The Veneti is the final Ship, restricted for purchase in Celtic territory. It was designed by a seafaring tribe of the same name and in addition to the advantage in fighting in their home terrain, veneti ships are tougher than triremes which gave the Celts a distinct advantage. Rome was only able to overcome them via superior numbers. The Veneti’s a warship, with high defenses of 375 hit points, 16 armor class, immunity to cold and fire damage as well as resistance to damage from being rammed by another ship. It has 3 open upgrade slots and comes equipped with the Dragon’s Breath siege weapon, which is a long-range ballista whose ammo is coated in naphtha that lights on fire when exposed to air. While it handles relatively well in the Sea and Coast with +2 Terrain Modifiers, its overall low speed of 40 feet and Creature and Cargo Capacities makes other ships better for long voyages and transport. Small Vessels ends our section on Ships with brief write-ups for smaller boats. The book suggests that they can make for “starter ships” for PCs who don’t want to take on a patron, or for scouting purposes by transporting the party as they leave their main vessel. Beyond being smaller and cheaper, these Vessels can be latched to the side of a larger ship for 10 tons of Cargo Capacity, and they all have some kind of specialization. For example, Fishing Boats come with equipment that grants advantage on Survival checks to forage for food in bodies of water, a Peddler’s Boat has an appealing storefront that lets goods be sold on it at 125% value, and a Scavenger Vessel has a jib crane which can salvage 1 ton worth of cargo for every 10 minutes spent scavenging a wreckage site. Thoughts: There’s a good amount of ships with distinct mechanics and benefits here. Even the ones designed for combat have different enough actions and defenses to stand out for different types of tactics. Like other aspects of this book, I do feel that certain ships are going to be more appealing than others. The Alexandrian, while ideally gained at the middle to higher end of Tier 2, is going to be purchased by a majority of gaming groups due to its sheer customization and broad use. I can see most groups also purchasing ships with a decent Sea Terrain Modifier. While one can feasibly stick to the coastal regions and still visit many ports, going across the open ocean can help cut down on travel time, particularly in the Pacific Ocean.  Upgrades are customizations one can make to a ship. They can be purchased either via gold or talents, although unlike ships there are some upgrades which are cheaper to get via gold and others cheaper to get via talents. The former tends to be inexpensive purchases, while the latter tends to be more costly and involved projects. Additionally, some upgrades can take up multiple slots on a ship if they represent a large addition or comprehensive change to a ship’s foundation, while upgrades that require no slots tend to be small or seamless enough to be installed without any trouble. Unlike ships, upgrades aren’t limited by region in regards to where to buy them barring DM Fiat, but certain Patrons can give particular upgrades for free or at a reduced cost. There’s 36 upgrades in this book, with several of them grouped into related categories. For instance, Crew upgrades add NPCs with special skills and roles, Hulls modify the ship such as increasing its Armor Class or altering Terrain Modifiers, and Rams are affixed to the bow of the ship and are designed for frontal assaults. Most upgrades grant something substantial, although there’s a few which I regard as being broad or powerful enough to be of interest to most gaming groups. I mentioned the Comfortable Quarters above in the Houseboat entry already, and is particularly useful for combat as initiative bonuses can be game-changers. Cargo Hold Sealant applies multiple coats of resin and airtight hatches to a ship’s cargo hold, making anything stored inside immune to random encounters that would damage or destroy it. It goes without saying that such an upgrade is vital for PCs leaning into the merchant captain angle of this campaign. The other broadly-useful upgrade is Crew: Marines, which supplies 5 NPCs who are experienced in combat and seafaring. Their stat blocks are drawn from a faction to which the PCs are allied or neutral, and have a hard limit of Challenge Rating ½. The only downside is that there’s a risk of mutiny if the PC’s status of their parent faction turns hostile. In such a case, they need to make a DC 20 Persuasion check to earn the marines’ loyalty. Besides the advantage of action economy, at higher levels the marines can be commanded to take charge of siege weapons and pilot other vessels, so they can still deal out respectable amounts of damage in ship-to-ship combat. The third such upgrade is Sail: Mainsail Improvement, which grants the Bosun a new action to “full sail.” This increases a ship’s speed by 5 feet while on a River, 10 feet on the Coast, and 25 feet while on the open Sea. As mentioned earlier, speed modifications can really cut down on overland travel times, particularly for slower-moving ships. When it comes to siege weapons, there are six such weapons that can be installed on a ship. The more cost-efficient ballista and scorpion (basically a mounted crossbow) can be purchased in sets of 2 and 4 per talent respectively, and are single-target ranged attacks. Scorpions are functionally heavy crossbows in terms of mechanics, but they can swivel 360 degrees so they don’t have to worry about which way the ship’s facing to target others. The catapult is longer-range and stronger, but needs a two-person crew to reliably load and fire it. Dragon’s Breath is a ballista that fires burning bolts that can set an enemy ship on fire, but sets fire to its own ship on an attack roll of natural 1. The Naphtha Siphon is a bellows-powered device that expels a flammable solution as an AoE cone attack. Finally, the Thunder-Thrower is the most powerful siege weapon here, with the longest range as well. There’s also three kinds of rams, but they modify the damage suffered and taken when making the ship make a charge attack, as opposed to adding a new offensive option. Generally speaking, the more longer-range and damaging a siege weapon is, the more expensive it is and the more upgrade slots it requires. Barring the Scorpion, they also cannot attack someone within a certain range and can only fire from the side of the ship to which they’re attached. So while it might seem appealing to attach a Naptha cannon to your ship’s front or a Thunder-Thrower as your main damage-dealer, enemies who approach the vessel’s blind spot or get safely within range can avoid their attacks. Ideally, a combat-ready ship will have two such weapons to reliably defend themselves with in addition to the PC’s own capabilities. Thoughts: I find most of the upgrades to be interesting and innovative, and some of the larger siege weapons deal enough damage at a high enough range to be relevant for the levels of play in this campaign. I do feel that the fire-based weapons are going to not be as appealing: while they can really damage enemy ships, PCs of the more murderhobo/pirate types are going to at least want to get what cargo they can from enemy vessels, to say nothing of potential hostages and allies trapped onboard. Barring a few exceptions, most upgrades are cost-efficient enough that PCs of 5th level and higher can afford to trick out their ships provided that they have the slots to spare. In fact, by that level most parties with multiple patrons are likely going to have enough spare talents left over to purchase additional ships. Split Into Two Posts Libertad! fucked around with this message at 11:50 on Feb 22, 2025 |
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Feb 22, 2025 11:35
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 Factions represent geo-political groups and international organizations that hold sway in the setting. In fact, the system originated in Adventurer’s Guide to the Bible, and more or less imports the core mechanics here but with some new additions like Contracts Tables. Simply put, the PCs can have one of three Statuses with a Faction: Allied grants them benefits due to the goodwill and trust engendered, Neutral is the default state for parties new and/or unknown to the Faction, while Hostile imposes penalties in the forms of hardship, harassment, and most commonly that Faction’s NPCs hunting the party down while in their territory. There are 11 Factions in the Silk Road Guide to Seafaring, and all follow the same format. Each entry details the common languages and belief systems, geo-political groups and organizational structure, common trade goods, a pair of stat blocks for NPC types common to the Faction, what other groups are their Allies and Enemies, what ships they use in their navy if applicable, common food and beverages found in a typical tavern for geo-political groups, and a Contracts Table for generating missions for PCs to take while visiting a city where that faction holds sway. Contracts range from 1 to 20, but the Contract Die rolled is dependent upon the PC’s level: at 1st level they roll with a meager d4, working their way up to a d20 at 9th level. Higher results net riskier but more profitable missions. Missions consist of 2-3 lines of text outlining the goals, rewards, and relevant opposition/dangers. The latter group are usually ships, monsters, or NPCs whose titles are bolded to reference a stat block from the 5e SRD or this book. Some contracts are straightforward enough to do with little to no prep, while others (particularly the higher-level ones) might need the DM to do some prep ahead of time. It’s also at this point that one notices a peculiar convention in this book: notably the Proficiency Bonuses of monsters and NPCs don’t line up in regards to the standard Challenge Rating in 5th Edition. For instance, a Parthian Shahbed is CR 3 but has a Proficiency Bonus of +3. I’m a member of the Red Panda Discord server, and the writer’s explanation is that a Proficiency Bonus represents something more immutable than Challenge Rating, which can differ depending on other factors. An archmage is used as an example, who would be a much lower CR than 12 if they changed out their default prepared spells to less combat-centric ones. While I don’t necessarily agree with this kind of game design, I figured that it’s worth highlighting for people who would also notice this while reading the book. Celts are not a single people, but a coalition of European tribes opposed to Roman expansion. Their greatest figure is Boudica, who operates out of Britain and is mustering a counter-offensive against the Roman Empire. She is the leader of the Iceni tribe, but the other notable groups include the Gaesatae who are infamous for charging fearlessly into battle naked, the Picts whose warriors bear blue tattoos, and the Veneti who form the Celt’s navy. In spite of being at war with Rome, both sides trade a lot of goods between each other due to physical proximity, and the Celts are the largest producers of mead and cider in the known world. Celtic societies are also known for druids, a specialized social class of priests who derive magical powers from nature. China is the undisputed military power of the east and home to the world’s greatest navy. Once a collection of feuding warlords, Emperor Guangwu’s successful campaigns united their territories under a single throne. China is too far away from Rome for regular contact, and thus war between the two is unlikely. Most contact between the superpowers is via trade on land and sea, and the city of Xi’an is the beating heart of the Silk Road. China’s chief exports are silk, yarn, and rice, and imports glassware from Rome and jade jewelry from the Southern Islands. Christians are a new religious movement originating in the Middle East but is rapidly spreading across the Roman Empire and beyond. Originally calling themselves Followers of the Way, members of the religion adopted the term Christian in the city of Antioch, which was quickly picked up by others. Their emphasis on monotheism and exaltation of the poor and meek over the rich and powerful resulted in their persecution in Rome. It is due to this persecution that Christians have been driven into the criminal underworld, making use of Thieves Cant to use secret markings such as the Ichthys symbol to identify each other. After Jesus’ death, Christianity’s earthly leaders are his original surviving followers known as Apostles, who gather together in councils to make decisions for the faith as a whole. Unlike the other factions here, there are no negative consequences for becoming Hostile to them, for they prioritize secrecy and survival over revenge. Jews are an ethno-religious group whose greatest number live in the Roman province of Judea but can be found across the world due to generations of war, displacement, and oppression forcing groups of them elsewhere. Like Christians they are persecuted by the Romans due to their religious beliefs, but unlike Christians they are greater in number and have more established groups to resist the Empire. The Zealots are the most notable, being a paramilitary group who conduct violent operations against Roman officials and their allies.  India is the world’s foremost economic superpower, benefiting greatly from all sides of international trade and having friendly relations with every other faction besides Pirates. But unlike other Empires, India’s political structure is more malleable, with independent kingdoms ruled over by Rajas and Satraps. The Satavahana Dynasty’s Maharaja is supposedly the foremost authority, but the exercise of this power has not been put to practice yet. India’s primary exports are spice and textiles, but its geographic position makes it a hub for global seafaring, which at this point in history is its greatest asset. Islands of the Southern Sea represent the many peoples of the Pacific Ocean south of mainland China, from cultures as far flung as Malaysia to the city of Maynila in the Philippines. More so than any other cultural group here, seafaring is an intrinsic way of life to the average citizen, and they are no strangers to sailing for weeks or months in search of new islands should they run out of resources in their old homes. They have many unique languages, but Malay is the lingua franca of this region. Most seafarers in the Southern Sea can get by with just this tongue. Parthia is an Empire east of Rome that holds sway over much of the Middle East and Central Asia, with key ports in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea. It is currently under control of Gotarzes the King of Kings, a wicked monarch who ascended the throne through back-stabbing and kinslaying. His brother Verdanes having gone into hiding as the only other contender. Parthia has not prospered under Gotarzes’ rule: military losses against Rome, increased resentment by citizens, and squandered wealth on grandiose and impractical projects caused his kingdom to lose much of its sway in world politics. Parthia’s navy is weak, focusing mostly on land trade routes along the Silk Road. Pirates are those who use violence and the threat of it to exploit other seagoing people for material gain. They come from all sorts of cultures and walks of life, and in recent times they’re coalescing into a larger alliance governed by a Pirate Queen who is modeled after the real-world Queen Teuta of Illyria. The confederation fought several bloody battles against Rome, and in 66 BCE the pirates’ raid on the city of Ostia caused the Empire to declare war on them. Officially the Romans swiftly ended the menace of piracy, but in reality Nero brokered under-the-table deals with pirates to let them operate without interference. Provided that they don’t attack Roman ships and regularly supply Rome with slaves, Nero and his supporters will let them do as they please. Rome is the western world’s greatest superpower, and its most prominent enemies are Sheba, the Celts, and Parthia. As for Sheba, their kingdom is too far away across the Sahara to be directly invaded. As for the latter two, they are both still holding the line although it looks to be a losing struggle for them. At this point in time Emperor Nero is newly crowned, and commoners and nobles alike hold him in high regard. However, Nero’s worst nature is beginning to show, and his increasingly authoritarian and paranoid attitude marks a dark future. Rome is the leading producer of wine, olive oil, and glassware, and they’re the purchasers of most of China’s exported silk. Sheba is a southern kingdom holding territory in eastern Africa and parts of the Arabian peninsula. Its people worship the Abrahamic deity, but their religion is distinct from both Christianity and Judaism. Sheba still sees these groups as spiritual brethren, helping them escape religious persecution by providing them safe haven in the kingdom. Princess Ephigenia would be the inheritor of the throne, but she has run away and her current whereabouts are unknown. Hirtacus is the current King, who sought Ephigenia’s hand in marriage in order to cement his legitimacy in ruling the country. In reality, Ephigenia fled to avoid being forced to marry him. Hirtacus has also proudly announced to the world that Sheba has the Ark of the Covenant in their possession, guarded in the city of Aksum.  The Society is our final Faction. They are an international alliance of merchants operating out of the Silk Road, reigned over by the Vox Collegii. This council of 12 elders make decisions that affect worldwide trade, and they use masks to keep themselves anonymous from each other when meeting. The Society’s first and foremost goal is financial prosperity irrespective of political divisions. They’re more than willing to resort to illegal methods to further trade, such as evading embargoes and taxes. Every port city has its own local Council of Elders, although the closest thing the Society has to a headquarters is a nomadic fleet of ships forming a city known as Blackhaven. It is so named for functioning as a black market where anything can be sold, and where members of the Vox Collegii assemble to vote. The Society is willing to do business with anyone, and frequently makes use of persecuted Christians and Jews to facilitate underground trade. When it comes to hostilities, they only consider Pirates to be their enemies. When it comes to Allied/Enemy benefits and hindrances, earning Rome or China’s ire is quite debilitating given how much territory both groups cover. Christians can grant a free roll on Black Market tables in addition to Open Contracts, which ironically makes them a great faction for criminal-minded PCs. An Allied Society can do the same thing, but also halves the cost of upgrades and repairs to one’s ship (and double the cost if hostile), meaning you don’t want to get on their bad side. Allied Jews can supply a single Zealot to help the PCs safely navigate in a city controlled by a hostile faction, while being Allies with India lets them use their financial influence to shift one other faction of the PC’s choice one step better (hostile to neutral, neutral to allied) and the converse if one makes an enemy out of the subcontinent’s kingdoms. Other factions have more specialized benefits and penalties. For instance, Allied Celts grant free food and lodging to the PCs and their crew when visiting a tavern in their territory, while Hostile risks a 50% chance of encountering an enemy Veneti ship when in Celtic waters. Sheba is similar, but its Allied status has 2 dhow ships whose crew will fight alongside the party during a combat encounter while in Sheban waters. Parthia’s Allied status grants free repairs to the PC’s ships when they dock in the Empire’s port cities, but Gotarze’s vengeance knows no bounds and becomes a Hunting Faction* should the PCs become hostile. Pirates are unique in that they’re the only faction who might attack Neutral PCs during travel, but only if the PCs look to be a profitable and/or easy mark. Becoming hostile makes it personal, and they become a Hunting Faction.* Hunting Faction and Wronged Patron are two types of random encounters which add various kinds of enemies to harass the PCs. Thoughts: Thanks to clever use of tables, each Faction entry packs a lot of information in 2-4 pages each. Beyond just the immediate benefits and penalties of being Allies or Enemies, the stat blocks do a good job of representing general low-level NPC archetypes the characters are likely to encounter and fight alongside or against, and the overview of political organization and trade goods are immediately relevant to the campaign. The tavern menus and cultural traditions help liven up the setting while making regions feel distinct, and the Contracts Table entries are full of adventure hooks. I do feel that said table should be rolled in between sessions, as some entries might require some level of preparation that the DM cannot easily wing, which is the major minus side to this chapter.  What Factions are to groups, Patrons are to individuals. There’s 16 patrons in this book, and 13 of them are affiliated with one of the earlier Factions in some fashion. Patrons are wealthy and well-connected people who might take an interest in the PCs, offering to provide them with goods and services in exchange for the party furthering their goals. Most importantly, patrons are the primary suppliers of talents, and each patron automatically grants talents to the party at certain levels of experience. These are granted every odd-numbered level up to 7th, and then a final amount at 10th. King Gotarzes is an exception, where he gives 8 talents up front but no further talents can be gained, as his nature means that he inevitably plans to betray and murder the party. Talents are retroactively gained; if a 5th level party gains a new patron, they will get the talents from 1st and 3rd level as well. However, talents from multiple patrons cannot be combined for large singular purchases. For example, a party who has 5 talents each from 2 patrons cannot combine the two to buy a ship worth 10 talents. In addition to talents, patrons also provide unique benefits known as Boons, and Conditions reflect prerequisites or initial penalties/consequences the party takes on when accepting the patron. Ongoing Services reflect the patron calling in favors, requiring the PCs to conduct a mission or take on some task or else fall out of favor. Finally, Consequences of Betrayal explain what happens if the PCs act against the patron’s interest or fail to uphold their end of the bargain from Ongoing Services. Several of the patrons are NPCs who made earlier appearances in the Adventurer’s Guide to the Bible: Balbillus, Gotarzes, the Apostle Paul, and the Witch of Endor, to be specific. Of those four, Gotarzes is the likeliest in that adventure to be killed or otherwise thwarted by the PCs should the Silk Road be played as a sequel. In such a case, the book suggests continuing the story in whatever way fits the narrative, and that none of the other plots in this book are affected by his absence. I have noticed that several entries here give out an equivalent or similar number of talents. Balbillus gives out the most at 90 in total, but as his Ongoing Services require PCs to spend half of those to improve his quality of life at sea they come with a short leash. Nero and Teutana give out the second-most, each at 70 each over a 10-level career, while Emperor Guangwu has a lower yet still significant 62 total talents. Boudica, Felix, Kaha’i, Paul, and the Witch of Endor make up our “mid-tier” at 46 talents each, with Princesses Ephigenia, Shamitra, and Yamamato at 50, 54, and 56 respectively. As the aforementioned Princesses require undertaking quests to gain their patronage, they make for nice bonuses and rewards. Lydia gives out 51 talents which is decent, but as being Allied with the Society cuts costs to install ship upgrades and repairs in half, her purchasing power in talents are a far higher value. General Corbulo and Melchior the Magi give out the least with 35 talents each. Thus, they’re best taken on as secondary/auxiliary patrons rather than the first or primary for a campaign. Gotarzes is a special exception in only ever giving out 8, given that he’s less of a conventional choice and more of a “trap” option. Prefect Balbillus is the caretaker of the world-famous Library of Alexandria, and his position has led to a swelled head. He hopes to become a famous explorer despite having no talent for the vocation, and is more than willing to fund the PCs and make them do all the hard work. He is a great patron for PCs who want lots of talents, but he demands to be made part of the ship’s crew and half of all talents must be spent on directly improving his quality of life while at sea. He is also a nationalist elitist, and is unafraid to tell non-Romans how much nicer Roman ports are and has the delusional belief that everyone in the world is fluent in Greek. Queen Boudica is Europe’s foremost leader of resistance against Rome. Currently she is fighting a defensive front, building up alliances and resources for an eventual assault against the Empire. Taking her as a patron lets the PCs purchase a Veneti ship for 3 talents instead of 7, and also gives them 1 level of Infamy. While Boudica understands that “business is business” should PCs still trade and do missions for Rome, her patronage comes with the expectation that when she orders the PCs to do a mission, they must immediately do it without question. General Corbulo is a Roman soldier who is growing aware of and disgusted by his Empire’s secret deals with the pirates. While he cannot defy orders without suffering consequences, he is eager to find middlemen to strike out at the pirates and fight against his civilization’s corruption. Accepting his patronage puts the PCs on the warpath against Pirates, who become Hostile and they’re expected to attack pirate ships on sight as an Ongoing Service. In exchange, PCs can buy the Crew: Marines upgrade at 1 talent instead of 3. Princess Ephigenia would be ruler of Sheba were it not for King Hirtacus’s manipulations. On the run, she is willing to become a patron if the PCs can keep her safe as a crew member, but will give them 2 levels of Infamy and Hostility with Sheba as the party is publicly accused of kidnapping her. Her Boon lets the PCs spend talents in any port city, even with a hostile faction, due to her spotless reputation and connections. Felix is a Roman crime lord more properly known as Bulla Felix (“the lucky charm”), and is a folk hero among the common people while being hated by authorities. Accepting him as patron saddles the PCs with 2 levels of Infamy, but they gain a Banner of a Smuggler (unique upgrade that can only be granted, not bought, lets the PCs roll on the Black Market Contracts table any time they’d roll on the Open Contracts table). For an Ongoing Service, there’s a 10% chance every time the PCs dock at a port that Felix will give them a mission generated by the Black Market Contracts table they’re expected to complete. King of Kings Gotarzes is a paranoid and vindictive man, much like Emperor Nero. But unlike Emperor Nero, his alliance with the PCs is doomed to be short-lived. He will pay an impressive 8 talents up front in exchange for a list of 3 missions, and plans to betray them as soon as the tasks are complete. His betrayal basically adds 1 Infamy and Parthia/Gotarzes as a Hunting Faction and Wronged Patron result. Emperor Guangwu is a skilled military tactician and politician who is ruthless to his enemies, but good-natured to those who are loyal to China and its people. PCs who seek his patronage must undergo questioning by him and his resident court Xiezhi (a lie-detecting celestial) in order to determine their worth and intentions. In addition to giving out a good amount of talents, Guangwu’s major boon is that PCs can hire Terra Cotta Warriors with the Crew: Marines upgrade if they’re in the port cities of Luoyang or Xi’an. As said constructs are CR 3, they’re a notable increase in power over the default upgrade’s CR ½ limitation!  Wayfinder Kaha’i is a famous monster hunter from the Southern Islands. After slaying a sea creature that killed his family and tribe, he vowed to wander the waters and rid the world of other dangerous sea monsters. He will give the PCs a Conch of Summoning as a boon, which can be used to summon one of four unique sea monsters from this book depending on the region they’re in. Said sea monsters are much more likely to attack the PCs as random encounters as part of Kahai’s Condition. His patronage comes with the expectation that should they run into him as a random encounter, they must accompany him on a monster-hunting side quest. Vox Collegii Lydia is one of the 12 elder members of the Society. Working for her is simple: the PCs must install a Smuggler’s Hole upgrade onto any ships they purchase. Her boon is that they add 1d4 to any roll on the Open Contracts Table, but their Ongoing Service requires the PCs to accept the job if it involves shipping cargo and they have the room to spare on their ship. Magi Melchior is a senior member of the magi, a reclusive order of spellcasters. Operating out of the Parthian city of Teredon, he favors explorers first and foremost. PCs who wish to take him on as a patron must showcase their proficiency in either Calligrapher’s or Cartographer’s Tools, and need to document their oceanic voyages through journals and maps which can be sold to Magi conducting research in most major cities. In fact, selling such discoveries earns twice as much gold as normal when a Magi is the buyer. Princess Shamitra is next in line of northern India’s Satavahana Dynasty. In order to gain her as a patron, the PCs must complete her personal quest in the city of Barbarikon. Upon doing so, PCs can install Cargo Hold expansions for free, although they still take up upgrade slots. Her family is focused on gaining more reliable means of shipping India’s surplus of goods, and thus her Ongoing Service requires the PCs to take on a job that involves shipping cargo every time they pass within 1 hex of an Indian port. Emperor Nero is a man who demands much, but can give much to people who manage to meet his exacting standards. Those who take on his patronage must submit a vial of their blood to his resident archmage, but his boon lets the PCs purchase Quinqueremes and Triremes at half price. Their Ongoing Service requires them to return to Nero in Rome to receive a new mission from him whenever they enter Roman territory. Those who betray Nero not only add Rome and Nero as hostile factions/wronged patrons, the archmage places a Blood Curse on the party. This imposes disadvantage on random encounter rolls until the curse is removed or they retrieve their vials. Apostle Paul is one of the foremost figures in Christianity at this time, and much weighs on his shoulders when looking after his people. Given that Paul and Christians in general are viewed as rabble-rousers by most governments, PCs taking him on as a patron get 1 level of Infamy. But their boon is that they get an Ichthys fish symbol on the bow of one of their ships, working as a Banner of the Smuggler. Paul’s Ongoing Service requires the PCs provide aid to any Christians they encounter while traveling. Pirate Queen Teutana the closest we’ll get to a villainous patron who will either not betray the party (Gotarzes) or has increasingly high standards that it’s inevitable that the party will “betray” them (Nero). Teutana is straightforward in what she wants and demands: for the PCs to attack passenger ships and steal their cargo, where they can sell their ill-gotten gains at pirate coves for double their market price. Her boon grants the PCs a Banner of Piracy (ignore random encounters that involve enemy pirate ships, AoE fear based effect to those who see the banner, captains of ships affected will order their ship to retreat or surrender), but her Conditions boost the party’s Infamy Level to 5. The Witch of Endor is a mysterious woman of unknown goals and allegiance. What is known is that she’s a powerful mage who is always looking to the future. She will ask for a vial of blood from every party member as a condition, and as a boon her network of artisans can halve the cost of repairs for the PCs’ ships. If met as a random encounter, she will send them on a quest she expects them to do immediately. Betraying the Witch imposes a blood curse in the same fashion as betraying Nero.  Princess Yamato is a Japanese woman who gave up a life of nobility to become a traveling adventurer, and thus she can only be gained as a patron by finding her as part of a quest and convincing her to return to Japan to fulfill her oath. As China and Japan are allies at this point in time, her boon is that the PCs’ status with China cannot become hostile unless they fall out of favor with Yamato first by betraying her, which imposes hostility as well as 1 level of Infamy. Unlike the other patrons listed she has no Ongoing Service, for completing Yamato’s quest earns the party her friendship. She’s thus willing to help them with no strings attached. Thoughts: There’s enough patrons here to cover a variety of campaign styles and quests. While some patrons will automatically set certain factions to hostile, this is a rare exception. In most cases it’s possible for PCs to take on patrons who would be at odds with each other. This can become a delicate balancing act, for should an Ongoing Service generate a mission that would put them at odds with the other patron, this can force the group to please one patron at the expense of betraying the other. Some patrons feel more encouraged to be picked by the book than others. For instance, Melchior has no real downsides or onerous tasks, and as exploration is going to be something all PCs do in this campaign there’s no real reason to not take him on if they have the right proficiencies. Vox Cellegii Lydia and Princess Shamitra lean in heavily on the trade empire aspect of Silk Road, with mandatory cargo shipping missions a minor price to pay for some very good benefits. Additionally, Emperor Guangwu is the most reasonable of the high-talent patrons. His territory covers a wide base, and Terra Cotta Warriors are very handy to have in a fight. Nero’s benefits are balanced out by his negative personality traits and demanding nature, while Balbillus forces PCs to spend said talents in particular ways. He’s also a cultural faux pas waiting to happen when visiting non-Roman territories. Conversely, certain patrons are less appealing. Pirate Queen Teutana is “hard mode” for most campaigns, as Infamy Level 5 turns all other factions hostile and will most certainly put PCs out of reach of most patrons. Her generous number of talents may not outweigh this Faustian alliance for most gaming groups. Additionally, while the Apostle Paul is given as a sample starting patron for a campaign’s beginning, his meager number of talents is going to strongly encourage parties to obtain other patrons to gain better and more customizable ships. As an example, Paul only gives out 2 talents at 1st level, and a party can only buy a Corbita, Dhow (which cannot be purchased while in Rome), or Liburna with this amount. Thoughts So Far: The rules for ships, factions, and patrons are well-detailed and provide much in the way of customization and personal progression. I can see players having fun picking from the list of ships and upgrades to fine-tune their fleets and maritime bases of operations. The contracts tables are great ways to generate encounters and mini-adventures, which combined with the upcoming Ports of the World chapter really fleshes out the setting’s sandbox nature. Join us next time as we take a deep dive into the sandbox with Tools & Tables and the first half of Ports of the World! Libertad! fucked around with this message at 07:12 on Feb 24, 2025 |
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Feb 22, 2025 11:44
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 A good sandbox is in need of ways for the DM to generate all sorts of treasures, encounters, and adventure hooks, and Tools & Tables is dedicated to this purpose. Seafaring Encounters is the first and most in-depth section of the chapter. It draws from a d100 table, separated by columns of the three different terrain types of sea, coast, and river. An encounter is usually rolled whenever the PC’s ship enters a new hex, but the DM can call for a roll to liven up the story. Many of the encounters have no connection to the larger world, but some of them tie into various patrons, factions, and quests and thus can have consequences in how the PCs deal with them. Or change the aspects of the encounter depending on earlier decisions made in the campaign. We have 44 unique encounters. They include your typical combat scenarios, such as Titan of the Deep where one of the 4 legendary sea monsters threatens the PC’s ship,* a pirate fleet appearing on the horizon, or NPCs with stat blocks from an appropriate Faction representing a Wronged Patron or Hunting Faction. But we also have less conventional (but still risky) encounters such as underwater hazards like coral reefs threatening to shipwreck the PC’s vehicle, deadly weather from monsoons to hail storms that deal different types of damage which can be reduced or avoided with the proper skill/tool checks and saving throws, or a stowaway sequestered in the ship and on the run from a faction’s agents. *The book notes that such encounters are deadly for parties below level 8, and that in such a case the monster should be used to foreshadow its danger rather than directly going into combat. There is one encounter that is unique in being a reference to Red Panda Publishing’s Biblical adventure paths. The Temple of the Tidekeeper is a magical underwater structure that is magically watertight and can be safely entered to those who swim below and pass through a permeable barrier. It is presided over by Sahariel, one of the angels known as the Watchers who defied God’s orders of observant non-interference in mortal history. Sahariel has a scrying pool in the Temple which he uses to spy on various influential mortals, and will recruit the PCs to search the lands for fragments of the Nachazor Tablet. This is a magical item that was created by the Watchers in order for them to magically communicate with each other. The other fragments can be located in locations and missions elsewhere in the module, and when reunited can let one cast the Sending spell at will by uttering the name of one of the Watchers and thus enable communication with them. Returning all the fragments results in being rewarded a DM-determined magic item or the Blessing of the Moon, where they can cast the Moonbeam spell at 2nd level once per long rest. As for what purpose Sahariel has for the tablet, the book cryptically notes that this will be revealed in a future product. Four other encounters involve potentially meeting a Patron or potential Patron. There’s Kaha’i, who will explain his backstory if the PCs are respectful of him, and thus fill them in about the four legendary sea monsters. Or the disguised Princess Yamato, posing as a bounty hunter who the PCs can help in tracking down outlaws. Finally, the floating ship-city of Blackhaven is a place where the PCs can conduct trade and pick up Black Market Contracts, and possibly meet Lydia as a tour guide. The Witch of Endor is the patron-based encounter with the most replay value. She is first met in a houseboat, disguised as a helpless woman with valuable gold and magical items as a secret test of character. PCs who prove themselves to be honorable earn the Witch’s trust, revealing her true nature and thus be offered her patronage. Whenever the Witch is encountered again this way, she will have a new mission for the party taken from a d8 table, such as recovering the captain’s log from a sunken ship in the Maluku Islands which can detail where to find and harvest magical Sandalwood trees. Or tracking down a shedim demon in Africa who is a threat to the Witch’s plans. The rest of the chapter consists of five different Random d20 tables which are much shorter in description. Random Discoveries, Cargo, and Treasure generates a variety of items, such as a sealed vault containing preserved Terra Cotta Warriors who form a loyal telepathic bond with whoever first unearths them, trade goods that can be sold at higher values in certain ports, or a book of Indian myths and folklore that can teach the reader about the Nishi Daak undead monster. In fact, there’s one legendary magic item, the sword Zhanlu, that can only be obtained as a Random Treasure result. It’s a sentient Lawful Good sword that was forged in the Elemental Plane of Fire and makes creatures of elemental fire more positively inclined towards the wielder. Random Passengers is an NPC generator for quick names and personality traits of someone onboard a ship, and all of them are strictly noncombatants. The Random Fugitives table represents a variety of stowaways, outlaws, and persecuted people who have bounties out for them. We get a table for recommended bounty values based on the average party level, and the d20 table provides a variety of names and backstories, such as a spy wanted by various factions for blackmail material or a serial killer who’s been hopping between the Southern Islands to avoid staying in one place for too long. In regards to stat blocks, we have a generic non-combatant Fugitive entry that is good at stealthy skills but has no combat capabilities to speak of. The book recommends using other stat blocks if they’d be more appropriate, particularly for those fugitives who would have combat training. Thoughts: I enjoy the mixture of combat and noncombat random encounters, and there’s easily enough to provide variety over the course of a campaign. Barring the four legendary sea monsters, most of the encounters are low-level in terms of threats, with the largest determining factor of difficulty being rolls that determine the total number of enemy NPCs/monsters. Unlike the Open Contracts table whose results are heavily mitigated by level, the Random tables have no such guardrails and it’s entirely possible for PCs to hit paydirt on a particularly lucky haul. And given that gold can be a direct enhancement to the party’s power in the form of better ships and upgrades, a Silk Road campaign has much more of a variable risk/reward factor than the typical 5e adventure with pre-determined encounters and treasure.  Ports of the World covers 88 distinct locations, and in spite of its title includes everything from dungeon crawls to inland cities. The entries are organized in alphabetical order, and have a common list of bolded topics of campaign-relevant information, such as relevant tables and modifiers to roll on when Looking for Work, Points of Interest that hold notable encounters and locations, and Culture and Society which highlights the most common languages and tavern tables along with general societal details. Each entry also details what factions hold sway over the area if applicable, and thus advises the DM to be aware of the party’s current status when they visit. Quite a few of these locations tie into related quests, but one of the potential longer-running ones involves the Island of the Jewel. Given as one of the six sample starting campaign ideas, it is a classic “treasure hunt” where the PCs visit various locations piecing together clues in search of an island bearing wealth beyond one’s wildest imagination. The Island can be initially doled out either as a quest from Emperor Guwangwu, or by an anonymous party on a high enough result on the Black Markets Contracts table. From there the party can set forth on a variety of mini-adventures leading them to the next clue, from overcoming a set of trials beneath a Buddhist temple to gain access to its Forbidden Archives, helping resolve a political succession crisis in the Korean kingdom of Silla via a competitive tournament testing a variety of abilities, and access to a floating fortress owned by a naga who will finally reveal where the Isle of the Jewel is and how to access it. The Island itself is on its own demiplane that can only be accessed via the PC’s ship being shrouded in magical darkness in a certain stretch of sea. Once there, the party must overcome the island’s guardians, with sample monsters given out based on average party level. The treasure is…3 rolls on the Random Treasure Table, as opposed to something truly unique. That can be a bit of a let-down, particularly if the rolls are low. We’ll only cover the first half of this chapter in this post, and even then I’ll only focus on a fraction given how many entries there are. Alexandria is famed as the epicenter of scholarly learning, but the Roman occupation has seen its status begin to dwindle. Particularly so given that the current caretaker of the Library of Alexandria is the selfish and underqualified Balbillus. But the Library is still a gold-mine of knowledge, where the PCs can buy a Periplus for various regions of the world as well as find one of the Nachazor Tablets on display, whose true nature is unknown to Balbillus. Barbarikon’s location at the Indus River mouth makes it the gateway to the Satavahana Empire, and there’s always more demand for cargo ships. This is where the PCs can run into Princess Shamitra, who is horrified at the level of chaos and mismanagement of the port. But earning her as a patron requires a higher-stakes quest than bureaucratic skills, for she is secretly in love with Ushavad, a commoner. He was falsely accused of stealing her family’s signet ring, and went into hiding for fear of arrest and execution. The signet ring was actually stolen by a satrap who seeks to marry Shamrita himself, and proving Ushavad’s innocence will reward the PCs with Shamritra’s patronage and a promissory note worth 2 talents. Cattigara is a river city located in what would be present-day Vietnam. Trung Trac and Trung Nhi were a pair of famous sisters who led the rebellion against a Chinese invasion less than a decade ago, and despite their capture and execution their deeds caused the Han Dynasty to withdraw. The PCs can visit a monument tomb erected to the Trung sisters, which is guarded by a pair of stone elephant statues that will attack any intruders. The tomb holds a fragment of the Four Corners Map, a treasure part of a side quest to find the treasure hoard of a now-dead Roman officer. The other three map fragments can be found in a floating bottle in the middle of the ocean as part of a random encounter, in a trapped buried treasure chest on the island of Chagos, and in a cave in the Levantine city of Petra. For this last place, the PCs will need to overcome a poisonous cloud trap and treacherous cliffs in order to obtain the map fragment. The map, once assembled, leads to the island of Ti-Wu in the Southern Sea, whose sandalwood trees emit a powerful anti-divination ward. The hoard is 100 tons of treasure in the form of coins, gems, and art worth tens of thousands of gold pieces and a promissory note that can be redeemed for 2d10 talents. A pretty good haul for the end of a side quest, which makes me wonder why the Island of the Jewel doesn’t have a result of this magnitude.  Deva is a Celtic city that would be yet another unremarkable pastoral village were it not for two things: the first is a red dragon by the name of Dewi who acts as the village’s guardian since the locals worship him as a god and regularly leave him offerings in the form of choice livestock. And the second is a group of Christian refugees led by Aristobulus. A Roman general by the name of Nepos is willing to kill anyone who he suspects of harboring the refugees. While Aristobulus’ people have been allowed to stay in Deva, Dewi is worried that their monotheistic teachings will cause the Celts to stop worshiping him. The PCs can resolve this a number of ways: by evacuating the Christians by sea to the town of Höfn, or fighting the Roman fleet as they make landfall. Dewi can be convinced to safeguard the Christians and fight the Romans via Persuasion, with lower DC and/or advantage if a meat pie is baked either by the PCs or the Christians. Gaza is one of the busiest cities when it comes to the Silk Road. Hundreds of ships arrive and depart here on a daily basis, and there’s always work to be found. In fact, one particular mission here comes from both the Society and Christian community: smuggling the body of James, one of the 12 Apostles, to his family and friends for a decent burial. James was assassinated recently in an attempt to demoralize the Christians, but Emperor Nero won’t be satisfied until his body is recovered so he can put the corpse on display in Ostia. Thus, the PCs can aid either the Christians or Rome and thus gained Allied status with that faction if they weren’t already. Leptis Magna is a Roman city that is a key trading route to various sub-Saharan African kingdoms, including Sheba. Thaddeus, one of the 12 Apostles, is here in hiding, and will pay the PCs if they safely transport him to Colchis. He won’t readily share his identity with the PCs, but he’ll promise to pay them double if they avoid any Roman patrols. The other figure of consequence here is Liza, a demon known as a Shedim* disguised as a beloved elderly woman who is collecting all manner of information passing through town under the orders of an archdevil in order to locate the Witch of Endor. It is possible that the PCs may be tasked with killing Liza as one of the Witch’s missions, which will earn them 2 Infamy if they can’t prove to the community that this sweet old lady is actually a dangerous monster. *The monster’s stats are in Adventurer’s Guide to the Bible, and not present in this book. Londinium is a Celtic city under Roman occupation, and the Centurion in charge of it is a vile man by the name of Catus Decianus. Decianus’ seizure of wealth given to the Celtic people by the prior Emperor as a peace offering, and killing Boudica’s entire family, set in motion a series of violent rebellions. Now Decianus fears for his life, and seeks to escape back to Rome. But in order to do that without looking like he’s coming back with this tail between his legs, he will hire the PCs to assassinate Boudica in exchange for half of the gold if they’re Allied with Rome. Should the PCs instead return his stolen gold to Boudica, she will redistribute it back to the Celtic people, earning the party a promissory note for 5 talents.  Luoyang is the capital city of the Han Dynasty. It is a walled metropolis and few others can compare with its impressive architecture. While in town, the PCs might undergo questions to determine their intentions, such as when first docking or being interviewed during a meeting with the Emperor. Such processes are conducted by celestial beings known as Xiezhi, lionlike creatures of unknown origin but whose ability to knowingly see through lies and cast Zone of Truth makes them valued enforcers of the law in major Chinese cities. There are two locations that can provide quests to PCs. The first is the Spiritual Terrace, the personal residence of the magi Wu Mei who is actually an NPC from Adventurer’s Guide to the Bible. She was last seen in Teredon, and locals are worried about her as she was supposed to return to Luoyang several months ago. Wu Mei is currently in the border village of Turpan, which has been taken over by a gang of bandits and thus the magi is being held prisoner. If rescued, she will reward the PCs with a free casting of the Divination spell once per week whenever they visit her at the Terrace, and recommend them to Melchior if they’re not already acquainted with the man. The other location is the Twin Palaces, home to Emperor Guangwu. After undergoing an interview process and finding their answers satisfactory, PCs can gain him as a patron. Every 2nd level of experience, the Emperor will deliver them a new quest from a d8 table via messenger falcon. If the PCs reach 10th level and are still in China’s good graces, they will receive a Sword of Imperial Command as a reward, a +1 weapon with the finesse property that can let the attuned wielder telepathically command Terra Cotta Warriors. Maelstrom is a particularly stormy and cold region of the Northern Sea, modern-day North Sea and Norwegian Sea. The people who live here are isolated from the outside world and are fluent only in Norse, but will be welcoming (if a little gruff and confused) to see the PCs visit. Beyond the dangers of icebergs, ship graveyards which might contain random cargo and items, and the cold weather, there’s also a vicious monster known as the Bäckahäst which is known to destroy passing ships. It is a giant kelpie, being a stronger version of the monster of the same name in this book, complete with Legendary Actions. Killing the Bäckahäst will earn the PCs the locals’ gratitude in the form of an ancestral sword that uses the stats of a Frost Brand magic item. The Maluku Islands are located in the far southeast of the Islands of the Southern Sea. Its people live in isolated tribal villages, with most being semi-nomadic family units who move between islands every few years. One tribe, the Maro, is hated and feared by the others for their practice of head-hunting. The Maro believe that they can gain magical powers from beheading people, and are willing to kill entire villages to gain more heads. PCs risk running into a Maro war party as a random encounter, whose ships use modified Quinquereme stats that are equipped with ballistae and harpoons instead of catapults. Defeating the raiders lets the PCs remove one level of Infamy due to engendering goodwill from the local islanders. Thoughts: There’s a good amount of material here to make every region feel sufficiently lived-in and full of adventure hooks. The brief outlines for missions both randomly-generated and pre-existing help reinforce the sandbox style of play, where the DM has an existing blueprint to work off of rather than being told to make everything up on the spot. I also like how several otherwise independent quests tie into each other, like the Apostles and other Christians in hiding, the Four Corners Map and clues to the Isle of the Jewel, and the various patron missions outlined here and in the prior chapter. Additionally, the implementation of areas with local troubles that can be either a short encounter or a fuller adventure, like the villages of Deva or the Maelstrom region, are favorites of mine in that they can make for good “monster/villain of the week” style sessions. My main criticism of Ports of the World is that in casting such a wide net, the individual entries are very bare-bones. In comparison to Adventurer’s Guide to the Bible, that product maps for local cities, dungeon crawls, and small regions, as well as detailed write-ups on specific areas and NPCs in a single place such as Jerusalem or Teredon. It was thus easier for a DM to have several sessions/adventures in a single area. Silk Road, by comparison, has entries small enough that two-and-a-half can fit on the average page, so you’re getting a lot more of a bare-bones blueprint. It thus favors a much more mobile mode of play, where the PCs might stop briefly in an area for the night, get a mission and/or do a quest, buy and sell some goods, and then head off elsewhere. So in a way, a DM can actually have more work to do if the PCs decide to visit/stay at a particular place for more than a long rest. A smaller criticism is that while not frequent, there are a few cases where the product makes reference to the other Red Panda Publishing products for a game mechanic or stat block, but doesn’t supply the needed information in the book itself. I mentioned the shedim monster as an earlier example, and while it wouldn’t be hard for the DM to swap in a more appropriate creature, this is a tad inconvenient in not supplying an appropriate guideline or level of power for a character the party meets. Thoughts So Far: This section of the book truly embraces the freeform play of an open world sandbox in a way few other 5th Edition modules do. In fact, it can be too wide open, as running it by the book can put the plot at the whims of the dice as less decisive players might be faced with options paralysis. I feel that the implicit linked quests, such as the Isle of the Jewel and the persecuted Christians, are an attempt to help fashion a framework for a “main quest.” But even those bear vague enough links that the DM would still need to make more explicit links between them, unless it’s made clear during Session Zero that the PCs will be expected to be needing to go out and find adventure for themselves at times rather than waiting for a hook. Join us next time as we finish up the rest of the Ports of the World!
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Feb 24, 2025 06:18
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Glad to see Xcrawl is back, the artwork evokes Paranoia.
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Feb 24, 2025 07:31
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I had no idea they were trading so much testosterone and growth hormone along the Silk Road.
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Feb 24, 2025 15:35
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UNKNOWN ARMIES 3E BOOK FIVE: MINE PART 13: PARAGON PLACES PART 2 Some rear end in a top hat in Trad Games Chat said he stopped reading this thread because of my Unknown Armies reviews. Nothing motivates me quite like spite, so let’s get this show back on the road. If you forgot where we left off, you can always check the directory to review prior posts. In brief: last time we went over Paragon Places, a new category of magickal location introduced in Book 5. Like Avatars, but for places instead of people. In this post we’ll check out a couple examples. PARAGON PLACE: THE SOMETIMES BAR The Sometimes Bar is the archetypal bar “where everyone knows your name”. It represents the best and worst that the concept of “bar” has to offer. It’s a third place where you can experience companionship and social connectivity, and a hole in the wall where you can drink up your wages and descend into alcoholism. The decor and the location match your expectations of what a perfect bar is. It’s there when you need it, but that doesn’t mean it’s good for you. Powerful magick users in the world of Unknown Armies have “theme music”, minor supernatural phenomena that accompany them wherever they go. A flight of doves when you open the door. Iron filings turning to face you. A rime of frost on surfaces you touch. It’s called theme music because it fits with whatever kind of caster you are (firearms mage, gambling mage, sex freak, self-mutilator, necessary servant, ultimate warrior, etc). Paragon Places have Set Dressing which is the same type of deal. Little magickal effects that thematically fit the place. The Sometimes Bar has a jukebox that plays you a song that nobody has ever heard before, just for you, but only if you have some kind of gnawing despair eating away at you inside. It’s also got a cigarette machine which sells cigarettes from other times and realities. If you smoke all but one of the cigarettes in a pack and keep the last one on your person, you get a tiny buff to your max HP. I like both of these but I would love them if they had some cool alternate reality cigarettes and songs as examples. Finally, we get an associated NPC. Paragon Places have Caretakers and the Caretaker of the Sometimes Bar is the barkeep Samantha Mankiller. She’s been the Caretaker since 2009, when she entered the bar to hide from the law. The bar erased her identity from all databases when she took it over, and also allows her to drink as much alcohol as she wants without suffering any ill-effects. It didn’t occur to me until now that the guy who runs a Paragon Place being the Caretaker and magickally slurped up into it and erased from outside reality is an obvious riff on The Shining. At the end we get the same block of properties as the other examples. Resonant Avatars, symbolism, alternate names… Finally every hour spent in the Sometimes Bar you get a cumulative 2% chance that either the magick jukebox or an NPC will give you a solution to a riddle you’re pondering. I like the Sometimes Bar but I don’t think it’s a very good example of the Paragon Place concept. All the other examples I went over were specific locations, whereas this one is a floating location that can be anywhere anytime but never the same place twice. We don’t get a stat block for Sam or any indication of how she keeps the peace with all the wizards running around trying to capitalize on the magickal resonance of the bar, other than inflicting a Level 4 Self test if you hit on her. Including a way for the players to get unstuck if they’re completely lost is nice, but if the players are stuck then I don’t believe you should leave the solution up to chance. Inflict a cost, sure, but don’t leave it up to a die roll if they get to continue playing the game.  PARAGON PLACE: THE DRIVE IN The Drive-In movie theater is a dying Paragon Place, anachronistic even in the original 1990s edition of Unknown Armies and doubly so in the 2010s when UA3 was released. The author included it because decrepitude and hanging on to outdated symbols are core to the Unknown Armies milieu, and because of the paradox. In the popular consciousness the Drive-In move theater is strongly associated with Americana from the 1950s, an era slathered in conformity and bland wholesomeness. But when Drive-Thrus were actually popular, they were strongly associated with sex. Premarital sex, teenage sex, extramarital sex… So let’s say you find a surviving drive-in in the present day. Chances are it’ll be a paragon place, and you’ll be able to capitalize on that push-pull between crusty nostalgia and crusty drive-in sex. The text gives examples of how the general categories of a Paragon Place’s Weird Adjunct (IE its magick powers) manifest in the Drive-Thru specifically. 1-50%: When you watch a movie at the Drive-Thru, you get a hunch. That means you roll a D100 and save the result. You can break out the saved result to sub for a die roll next time you need to solve a problem related to entertainment or travel. 51-70%: While in the car with another person, you can use the Therapeutic ability to heal psychological damage off their character sheet, even if you don’t have it as an identity feature. 71-90%: As befits the dual themes of wholesome family togetherness and illicit sex, this channel lets you buff your character’s mechanically defined relationship scores if you bring that person to the Drive-Thru and watch a movie. You can create new Relationships at a higher starting level than normal, increase an existing relationship, or improve your odds of success when rolling against the relationship to convince the other person to help you. 91-98%: While watching a movie, shout a question to a character. They’ll answer you truthfully and factually as long as the question is relevant to that character’s role in the story. 99%: Play the favorite movie of a dead person you had a relationship with. That person’s ghost shows up for the duration of the film. This could mean a bunch of things. Unknown Armies generally takes after the work of Tim Powers, where "ghosts" are degraded remnant psyches held together by demonic urges. The ambiguity of whether these demons are actually what's left of the original person, or just a spirit pretending to be them and trying to con you into doing their bidding, is a central question of Unknown Armies. The Drive-In's powers are generally benevolent and reinforce your Relationships, so the last channel summoning a trickster spirit who could possess you or trick you into doing something evil is out of step with the rest. But that makes it more effective as a trap. And people who desperately want to talk to a loved one again, or desperately need a piece of information, might do it anyway even though they know it may not be the real thing. Most of the Drive-In's powers are about Relationships. I might have mentioned a few updates ago that the Relationship system in Unknown Armies 3e doesn't generally get a lot of use. As a refresher, you have five mechanically defined Relationship slots, and by putting characters or groups of people into those slots you gain the ability to leverage your connection with those people for mechanical benefit, either for you or them. In practice, players are happy to befriend, romance, mentor or learn from NPCs, but they don't bother with the numbers on their character sheet. I think it's because four out of the five predefined Relationships are some variant of teacher/student, and you fill in half of your empty Relationship slots at chargen by linking to other player characters. Having all the Relationships be gurus and mentors and so on is fine on a thematic level because Unknown Armies is a game about mystical revelations and people who struggle to just get through an ordinary working day. But with rare exception it does not reflect how players actually build cabals and relate to other player characters. So you have a bunch of Relationships that don't actually reflect how the characters relate to one another and to the world, and you start with enough of those slots awkwardly prefilled that on the off chance something comes up which actually fits, you've already got it assigned. The one case where it really works is if you make a group of pregenerated characters for a specific adventure. Then you can handcraft connections that actually make sense for whatever's supposed to be going on with the pregens. But even then the players typically use the Relationships as roleplaying tips and don't lean on the mechanical benefits. ANALYSIS Last post I said we would get two fully statted Paragon Places. I was actually wrong, because these two examples are missing some stuff that the examples in the previous section had. Neither has an example Omphalos, which is the actual physical place that currently holds the maxed out Paragon Place rating. One of them has a top level channel but no lower level channels, one of them has no Caretaker. Normally I try to give a breakdown of how something works in the book versus how it works in actual play. I can’t do that here because in about five years of UA3 I’ve never run or played a game that involved Paragon Places. I didn’t think of it last time, but an obvious use is to enhance locations added to the board during the corkboarding process. Typically the players add a bar to congregate at, but I’ve seen coffee shops, food trucks, fast food restaurants, theme parks, hot air balloon rides… A prebaked system for adding magickal flavor to something people are going to do anyway is way more useful than I gave it credit for. I’m happy I picked up this review again for that reason alone. Next time we’ll explore some new Otherspaces and wrap up Book 5. mellonbread fucked around with this message at 21:55 on Feb 24, 2025 |
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Feb 24, 2025 18:36
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mellonbread posted:It's not that hard to run an "evil campaign" if you're awarding XP for treasure. The players are already strongly motivated by greed and self interest. It could be a problem if they start killing each other for a bigger cut of the loot, but I've never seen that happen even when the players were willing to participate in other atrocities. I also got off my rear end and painted a Dark Creeper.  25mm Medusa and Dwarf for scale. I recently learned that Kabuki Kaiser did a solo adventure called Ruins of the Undercity. It's the polar opposite of Castle Gargantua.
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Feb 24, 2025 20:00
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So, I feel like getting back to reviewing weird Japanese TTRPGs that have been somewhat recently made available in English, and am doing a quick informal poll on what people are interested in seeing. I've gone through Silver Vine Publishing's currently available translations, so I will be looking at the catalogue of LionWing Publishing and their various products. Do people want to see a F&F of:
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Feb 25, 2025 04:06
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Picaresque Roman because I've been considering getting it, or Convictor Drive, IMO.
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Feb 25, 2025 04:13
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I'm a big fan of Fledge Witch and it's a system simple enough for a quick review... hell, if you don't pick it up, I might.
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Feb 25, 2025 04:23
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Fledge Witch sounds interesting from someone completely unfamiliar with all of these.
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Feb 25, 2025 05:12
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I admit I'm curious about the SMT game and wonder if it'll fall into the same trap other TTRPGs go when trying to emulate Mons-style games.
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Feb 25, 2025 05:41
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I am sorry there's a loving SMT TTRPG? How the actual hell can that work? I imagine badly tbh so I'd love to see it.
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Feb 25, 2025 12:00
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CONVICTOR DRIVE
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Feb 25, 2025 12:52
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Hattie Masters posted:I am sorry there's a loving SMT TTRPG? How the actual hell can that work? I imagine badly tbh so I'd love to see it. there are several, but this is the one that's got an english translation
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Feb 25, 2025 14:31
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Jeez, it's like a three-way tie. Okay, next vote decides
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Feb 25, 2025 15:00
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Shin Megami Tensei seems like a weird thing to try to emulate on tabletop so I'm interested in seeing how that works out.
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Feb 25, 2025 15:04
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I've never actually played SMT. I have only played a fanpatch of the original Digital Devil Story on Famicom. So SMT gets my vote.
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Feb 25, 2025 15:16
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I’ve only played SMT spin-offs like Persona and Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army or even SMT: Strange Journey. Mainline satanic Pokemon remains a mystery to me.
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Feb 25, 2025 15:47
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I vote Fledge Witch, it sounds like an interesting premise.Pvt.Scott posted:I’ve only played SMT spin-offs like Persona and Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army or even SMT: Strange Journey. Mainline satanic Pokemon remains a mystery to me. Being a Persona/SMT fan, the big thing with SMT is how dour and self-serious it is. It's all "the world is ending/has ended and now you have to kill God" stuff, but not, like, in a fun way.
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Feb 25, 2025 15:51
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Mirage posted:I vote Fledge Witch, it sounds like an interesting premise. Maybe this is where the “all jrpgs are about killing god” came from. That and illiteracy
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Feb 25, 2025 16:25
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Okay sounds like SMT TRPG is the winner! Of course it had to be the longest most technical most fiddly one. Time to attack and dethrone God, I guess
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Feb 25, 2025 16:41
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Is there a consensus on the best Final Fantasy RPG now, or is it just Fabula Ultima? SaGa deserves its own RPG where killing God is built-in, like the final confrontation in My Life With Master but on a longer timeframe.
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Feb 25, 2025 18:10
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I'd say it's Fabula Ultima (though the writer takes care to emphasize that Fabula Ultima is a game meant to emulate ps1-2 jprgs in general and not just FF) unless you want something specifically Final Fantasy (in which case ???) or something more narrative (in which case: Fellowship). I've found that the deliberate choice to empower players to establish narrative, both through the shared worldbuilding and later through the use of Fabula Points, is something GMs can struggle with, though.
Leraika fucked around with this message at 19:58 on Feb 25, 2025 |
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Feb 25, 2025 18:35
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UNKNOWN ARMIES 3E BOOK FIVE: MINE PART 14: OTHERSPACES AND WRAPUP It’s time to polish off the the Unknown Armies 3rd edition core set. In this update we’re going to finish Book 5 with two new Otherspaces. Otherspaces are little pocket dimensions. They can be deliberately designed by magick users, or they can occur naturally. If you followed Down With People’s Campaign Starter Kit reviews you’re already familiar with All Mart, the most fleshed out Otherspace in Unknown Armies 3e. THE BINGE The Binge is a predatory psychic realm that swallows the dreaming minds of victims during half-waking moments of compulsive media consumption. It extends them an invitation when they’re at their weakest, in a half-asleep state when they’re unable to distinguish it from a waking dream. If they accept, their mind is pulled into the Binge and their body is left comatose. Getting sucked into the Binge is like dreaming about your favorite show, or video game, or whatever, both consuming it and experiencing it as a character. Since the Binge is a psychic realm it’s possible for minds trapped there to interact with each other. The realm does everything in its power to prevent this from happening, since meeting another real person would break the illusion. The Binge tries to keep its victims from realizing that they’re in a dream, redirecting their attentions or introducing new plot elements to distract them. If you do figure it out, leaving is as easy as making a conscious decision to reject the endless fantasy. You wake up back in your comatose body like nothing happened. Unless your body died while you were in the Binge, then your mind dies too. The Binge reminds me of one of the early Constantine comics, the one where the guy gets his mind sucked into a computer and his body gets fried in real life. I love Constantine, the setting metaphysics are very different but tonally it’s exactly what I want out of Unknown Armies. The challenge here is that The Binge is a solo activity for one character. It deliberately stops victims from interacting with other trapped minds, or with the outside world. In the Constantine story the real action happens in the real world as the eponymous wizard solves the mystery. That sounds like the primary use of the Binge in Unknown Armies. Someone’s mind gets trapped there while their body lies catatonic, and the players have to get them out. SPITSTONE Unlike The Binge, Spitstone is a physical space that you reach deliberately by performing a ritual. Unknown Armies 3e Book 5, Mine Page 82 posted:To get there, the would-be visitor needs to hold a copy of a specific guidebook to England in their left hand, recite a phrase that is thought to be in a debased form of Latin, and pass a Self (5) check to resist a wave of self-revulsion. Then the next time that person walks one circuit clockwise round an oak tree, touching the bark of the oak with their right hand throughout, they find themselves at the start of a small, leafy lane that leads into the village. Anyway, Spitstone is a mix of Shadow Over Innsmouth and Wicker Man. It’s a little seaside town surrounded by a sea of trees. It has a pub and a couple stores, a lot of copypasted residential neighborhoods and a ritual where two women are periodically rowed out into the ocean beyond line-of-sight to be married to the King-Under-The-Sea. They come back a couple hours later, alive and “strangely exultant.” This stuff is par for the course with Otherspaces. The ones deliberately created by mages are built according to the creator’s aesthetic preferences, and that usually means slapping something together based on media they liked. Seaside town, strange rituals, Deep One sex, mysteries that seem cool and evocative but actually have no answer… The book doesn’t say if Spitstone is created or naturally occurring, but I’m betting it’s the former. To leave, you just go into the bathroom in the pub and reemerge in the real world. The main reason to visit Spitstone is the Lost And Found. You go in there and ring the bell, and a creepy monster-man with too many joints comes out to greet you. You can store any item there and he’ll give you a ticket for it, in exchange for a memory of his choosing that he yanks out of your skull (5% hit to a relationship or identity). Stored items can’t be detected or stolen by even the most powerful mages in the Unknown Armies setting, but anyone who returns with the ticket can reclaim them. Reclaimed items come out in the exact condition they went in. Spitstone has something the Binge lacks: a reason for the players to go there voluntarily. The town and its spooky rituals are just spooky set dressing, the kind of thing that impresses novice mages but hardened casters just ignore - like the guy walking past all the bullshit side quests in Westworld. The Lost And Found is a place for players to store dangerous items where they can’t harm anyone, or retrieve mysterious goods left by other people if they get their hands on the tickets.  ANALYSIS Otherspaces are tough to pin down. It’s cool and fun to explore strange realms, but Unknown Armies is a game about the real world colliding with the hidden magickal one. Dungeon crawling in a secret pocket dimension takes you away from the core Unknown Armies experience, both physically and metaphorically. The best Otherspaces are the ones that give you a way to exploit them, with some degree of risk attached. The neverending flooded pool tunnels let you travel great distances quickly if you have a form of magickal navigation. The Twilight Zone apartments at Disneyworld can house all your friends rent-free, if you’ve got a plan to run off the rent-a-cops hunting mages in the park. The Mirror of Narcissus lets you explore the psychic terrain of the mind to debug your friends’ psychological problems, but draws the attention of the parasites clinging to their souls. Graded on this criteria, Spitstone is a success while the Binge falls short. There’s no way to voluntarily get inside the Binge, nor any reason you’d want to, nor anything of consequence to do there but leave. The best and most fully realized Otherspace I’ve ever seen that colors inside the lines of Unknown Armies’ tone and setting is Ricketyland. My personal favorite is the Jungles of Kled. WRAPUP What’s Book 5’s place in the Unknown Armies 3e lineup? Everyone I know only cares about the magick schools, if they even think of Book 5. Of those, they like the ones ported forward from previous editions best. If people know anything about Unknown Armies it’s usually Pornomancers and maybe Entropomancers/Epideromancers. All those guys are in here rather than the corebook. The caster schools in Book 1 of 3e get a lot of poo poo for not being weird enough compared to 2e. A clothing mage who gets power from wearing clothing, a camera mage who gets power by taking pictures, a gun mage who gets power from carrying a gun and not doing anything dangerous or antisocial… Book 5 brings back the weirdness by literally bringing back the weird mages from prior editions. Rereading the whole thing (not just the caster schools) for the first time in half a decade, I think Book 5 is better than I gave it credit for. The new stuff does not get as much attention as the recycled 2e content, nor is it as popular as the new stuff from Book 4, but there are some strong entries that I wish I’d bothered to read in-detail when I was running my Brethren of the Curb game several years ago. And remember that half of Book 4 by pagecount was Greg Stolze’s media reviews, while Book 5 only has a couple pages of non-playable content. Let’s give Book 5 a final grade. mellonbread’s ultimate Unknown Armies 3e Book Five: Mine Tier List posted:Invisible Clergy Tier SO WHAT'S NEXT? I got a few things I could do.
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Feb 25, 2025 19:51
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I would love to see an after-action perspective on His Majesty the Worm. It often seems like you can’t really get a complete sense for a thing until you sit down and play it for a bit, unless it’s very similar to something else you’ve done that for.
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Feb 25, 2025 20:07
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Pvt.Scott posted:I would love to see an after-action perspective on His Majesty the Worm. It often seems like you can’t really get a complete sense for a thing until you sit down and play it for a bit, unless it’s very similar to something else you’ve done that for. Yeah same
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Feb 25, 2025 22:06
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