Everybody get aboard, as a result of this subsequent journey, Affair on the Concordant Specific, is a railroad. Okay, probably not within the sense that you haven’t any company. Solely within the sense that it’s set on a prepare that travels throughout a number of planes whereas constructing and disassembling its personal tracks because it goes. This journey from Keys from the Golden Vault is for Ninth-level characters.
Spoiler Warning
As all the time when these adventures, I’m going into sufficient element to explain them, and whereas that won’t imply that each twist and switch is examined, it might nonetheless be greater than you need to know in case you going to play this journey. This can be your cease.
The Hook
If the PCs aren’t working for the Golden Vault (however actually, this journey greater than most actually makes me need to use them as a patron for the group), there are a number of offered hooks to get the PCs to take the job. The job, on this case, is to discover a legal named The Stranger, and safe a number of the True Names they realized.
One hook has the PCs recovering the names for a faction referred to as the Fixers, who need the names of some vital Blood Conflict commanders to allow them to preserve the battle between the fiends on a good keel. One other hook includes the Planescape faction the Fated attempting to acquire some True Names that they will use with a purpose to leverage the discharge of a high-ranking member captured by an Ultraloth.
Regardless of how they get the job, they find yourself speaking to a rogue modron named Glitch who give up their job when conflicting orders from their superiors brought on their programming to interrupt. Glitch has tickets ready for them to board the Concordant Specific within the Outlands. In addition they know the format of the caboose, the jail automotive, and the engine automotive of the prepare, however not the three (or extra) random vehicles that the DM provides to the journey.
The Setting
The PCs board the Concordant Specific within the Outlands, the outer aircraft of stability. The motion will probably be going down on the Concordant Specific itself, which is an enclosed surroundings, however you understand each prepare journey finally ends up seeing somebody climb on prime of the prepare, proper?
The Concordant Specific travels by means of just a few different planes, however largely shields passengers from the consequences of these planes whereas they’re contained in the prepare. There are offered results for every of the planes by means of which the Specific could journey on the best way to Mechanus.
Whereas they aren’t places that the PCs will go to within the journey, the Stranger’s backstory is tied to Akharin Sangar from Journeys by means of the Radiant Citadel. As famous, one of many hooks could contain a Planescape faction, the Fated. Along with the planes that function the stops for the Specific (the Outlands and Mechanus), and those who the prepare could journey by means of (Acheron, the 9 Hells, Ysgard, the Seven Heavens, and Elysium), there may be additionally a reputation drop for the Gate City of Excelsior, additionally positioned within the Outlands.
Heist Tropes
This journey combines the tropes of a prepare heist with the tropes of a jailbreak. The PCs have to get data from The Stranger, negotiate what which means (most likely setting them free), navigate across the authorities, and keep away from drawing consideration to themselves whereas transferring from automotive to automotive on the prepare.
However wait, there’s extra! Along with the usual heist tropes, one of many vehicles may drop the PCs in the course of a homicide thriller being investigated by a plane-traveling mind-flayer detective, which incorporates some nice tropes straight out of homicide thriller crime fiction as effectively. In case your PCs aren’t into getting derailed, er, sidetracked, they don’t have to take part on this homicide thriller to finish their job.
Particulars
There are such a lot of personalities to work together with and particular person story beats that may be revealed. The homicide thriller is an entire factor simply by itself, establishing who was the place, and what motives they’ve. A number of of the Modrons on the prepare have their very own quirks that the PCs could have to navigate. The deva standing guard on The Stranger has some quirks that may be exploited so the PCs can get nearer to their purpose. And that’s not counting all the ties to different settings that I discussed above.
For a further little bit of enjoyable, there’s a random True Identify desk, in case you actually need to have some examples to make use of.
Creatures
This journey has a whole lot of selection, though it’s a bit extra slanted towards constructs simply due to the ever-present workers of Modrons that run the prepare. That mentioned, there are celestials, fiends, aberrations, and humanoids to make issues fascinating. Planar journey tends to open up a whole lot of selection.
After Motion
If the PCs help the thoughts flayer detective of their investigation, they ensure to ship the PCs a token of their esteem after the journey wraps up. If the PCs use any of the True Names that they realized from the Stranger to leverage private rewards, the journey notes that they are able to persuade a fiend in disguise handy over a mortal property they personal, or that the True Names may very well be used to make slaying weapons of various sorts.
The Golden Vault kicks in a uncommon magic merchandise as soon as phrase will get round to them that the PCs acquired the job achieved.
Ideas
I’m actually curious to see if any of the remainder of the adventures can supplant this one as my favourite within the guide. Whereas I perceive that WotC has been transferring extra to having adventures happen “within the multiverse,” slightly than tied to a particular D&D setting, I feel this journey does an exceptional job of tying particular person particulars from the multiverse into the general plot. I additionally like that it not solely latches onto some particulars from Journeys by means of the Radiant Citadel, but in addition casts its gaze ahead to Planescape.
I like the Modron shenanigans on this journey. I might hope that anybody that questions why Modrons are a stable inclusion within the lore of D&D would take a while to learn this journey. Moreover, that “glitchling” species they launched in Unearthed Arcana must be a rogue modron, proper? I have to play a rogue modron.
One in all my favourite developments on this journey is the introduction of STEAL, the Syndicate of Terror, Extortion, Assassination, and Larceny, as a rival group to the Golden Vault. There are some solutions on this journey for what NPCs in different adventures is perhaps good candidates to be members of the rival group, and I simply want STEAL had been detailed within the opening with these notes put into these particularly talked about adventures.
Not solely do I have to play a rogue modron, I want extra data on STEAL.
