It’s taken me just a few additional weeks to get again to this one, however earlier than the month is up and the following installment is out, I wished to check out this month’s installment of Fables from Ghostfire Gaming. We’re as much as episode 4 of the most recent marketing campaign, with solely two extra installments to go.
Disclaimer
I used to be not offered a overview copy, and this overview is predicated alone subscription to the Fables collection. I’ve not had the chance to run this journey, however I’m conversant in D&D 5e, each as a participant and as a Dungeon Grasp.
Spoiler Warning
As a result of there are some specifics of the plot I wish to handle, we’re going to go closely into spoiler territory, so if you’re more likely to be enjoying this journey, please cease studying my weblog. These are very painful phrases to say. Additionally, I simply imply, please cease studying my weblog, at this second, not sooner or later, after I put different issues on my weblog. Okay?
Episode 4: Misplaced to the Aether
Written by: Anne Gregersen, Kat Kruger, Jen Vaughn
Head of Fables: James J. Haeck, Joe Raso
Story Design: James J. Haeck
Artwork Administrators: Marius Bota, Zoë Robinson
Pirates of the Aetherial Expanse Writers: H.H Carlan, Anne Gregersen, James J. Haeck, Gabe Hicks, Alison Huang, Anthony Joyce, Kat Kruger, Sadie Lowry, Sarah Madsen, Sam Mannell, Joe Raso, Jess Ross, Jen Vaughn
Managing Editor: James J. Haeck
Editors: Michele Carter, Matt Click on, Ashley Lawson, Joe Raso
Graphic Design: Martin Hughes, Scott Fraser
Cowl Design: Christine Fozler
Finish Web page Design: Abby Zweifel
Inside Illustrators: Kristian Agerkvist, Ridell Apellanes, Carol Azevedo, Luke Beaber, George Bennett, Bethany Berg, Allie Briggs, Josiah Cameron, Stephanie Value, Kent Davis, Nikki Dawes, Alex Drummond, Christine Foltzer, Tony Foti, Quintin Gleim, Doruk Golcu, Ashley Hankins, Matt Hubel, Andrei Iacob, Maggie Ivy, Josh Ketchen, Diana Khomutina, Kate Laird, Tatii Lange, Carson Lowmiller. Damien Mammoliti Jake Murray, Brian Patterson, Karina Pavlova, Pixoloid Studios, Mihai Radu, Caio Santos, Elisa Serio, Janna Sophia, Katariina Sofia, Kai Stevens, Kelly Toki, Philipp Urlich, Brian Valenzuela, Jacob Walker, Sam White, Abby Zweifel
Cartographers: Luke Beaber, Damien Mammoliti, Brian Patterson
VTT Asset Design: Joshua Orchard
The Charts
This month’s PDF is 82 pages lengthy, together with finish pages, a title web page, a credit web page, a desk of contents, two pages of handouts, a 4 web page pronunciation information, and a full web page OGL assertion.
As with earlier installments, the preliminary six pages are the recurring introduction of the product line and this explicit marketing campaign, together with summaries of every of the adventures. Whereas there are new monsters, a number of are reprinted from earlier adventures the place they’ve appeared already within the marketing campaign.
As for the remainder, it’s a two web page engaging format that’s similar to the official formatting utilized in D&D merchandise, however with distinctive colours and fonts. There may be a number of full shade artwork, with atmospheric makes use of of blues and purples.
Journey Time
The journey is split up into the next sections:
- Welcome to Fables!
- Chapter 1: Hell or Excessive Aether
- Chapter 2: The Misplaced Warden
- Chapter 3: Fallen Afoul
- Appendix A: New Monster
- Appendix B: New Objects
- Appendix C: handouts
- Appendix E: Pronunciation Information
The Sistren of the Constellation Isles, a faction launched within the earlier journey, are the first focus of this journey as effectively.
The Job Provide
The journey begins with an NPC from the earlier journey providing a reward if they’ll discover the legendary artifact often called the Mermaid’s Tears earlier than much less scrupulous treasure hunters can discover the merchandise. The very first thing the PCs are anticipated to do is to collect extra data on the situation of the Tears from a member of the Sistren on the Constellation Isles.
This follows the sample of the opposite adventures on this collection, the place the PCs can encounter varied NPCs and monsters on the way in which to their assembly, and in the midst of these encounters, might decide up some aspect missions to barter or struggle with a dragon turtle, or lay some ghosts to relaxation.
Gathering Data
As soon as the group has reached the Constellation Isles, the PCs can as soon as once more encounter a bunch of places with NPCs which will ask the PCs to undertake some duties for them. They might additionally earn an honorary signal of the Sistren, which not solely makes getting provides on the island simpler, it could additionally make later components of the journey easier.
If the PCs discover the island past their assembly with Eldari, they’ll additionally latch on to a different sub-plot within the journey. Whereas the Astral Merrow are seen as a menace all through the Aethereal Expanse, the PCs have the chance to satisfy with a much less outwardly aggressive Merrow chief who may be keen to assist them of their quest.
The Sistren operative Teagan is aware of extra in regards to the Mermaid’s Tears, however she is being held in a close-by Astral Merfolk settlement, and the PCs will both have to interrupt her out of jail or negotiate for her launch so as to acquire her assist. Teagan has her personal motives for retrieving the Tears past simply returning them to the Sistren.
This part of the journey ends when the PCs attain the Bathroom Graves in Equino Minor and navigate by way of passages often called The Pipes, whereas coping with a wide range of creatures from Aether Crocodiles to Sea Hag covens.
Artifact Retrieval
As soon as the PCs attain the Sunken Palace, they’ll encounter characters like Ren the Coutl and Akora the Sphinx, and be taught among the historical past of the Pearls and the older civilizations that have been native to this area of the Expanse. The Tears themselves have been used to punish Merfolk traitors and switch them into Astral Merrow, and the Tears could also be used to reverse the curse placed on them.
Finally, because the PCs discover the Tears, Teagan places them on, and makes use of them to awaken an enormous Feathered Star (an infinite starfish like celestial creature), which she instructions to go on a rampage. At this level, the PCs can attempt to free Teagan, struggle her, take management of the Feathered Star, or kill it. The PCs might have discovered how you can use the Tears to take away the curse on the Merrow, which doesn’t change any present Merrow, however retains future generations of Merrow from being born.
Journey Twists and Turns
One facet of this journey that’s unusual is that the assembly with Eldari is taken into account optionally available. The PCs can go in search of Teagan and head off for the Sunken Palace with none of the additional data or provides they could in any other case have. I don’t have an issue with this, a lot as the truth that there actually isn’t something pointing the PCs to visiting the Merrow to seek out out that perhaps among the assumptions in regards to the Merrow are overly broad, and to offer the PCs some sense that the Merrow have a hand in their very own potential destiny.
There was quite a bit much less “arduous framing” of conditions on this collection of adventures, however the journey appears to be written assuming that Teagan will get to the Mermaid’s Tears earlier than the PCs to ensure that the ultimate climax to unfold as anticipated.
There’s something that feels sort of uncomfortable within the Astral Merrow story the place we now have been launched to 2 separate Merrow NPCs that aren’t senseless killers, however it additionally appears as if the story doesn’t contemplate it a nasty factor if the PCs wipe the Merrow out as a species by ensuring no extra of them are born. And that’s one other downside with the Astral Merrow story . . . these aren’t simply Astral Merfolk who have been cursed, these are the youngsters of kids of Astral Merfolk who have been cursed. It looks like this part of the story might have used just a little extra thought, and perhaps pulled Ronen into the story as an energetic participant in her folks’s destiny.
Closing Ideas
It’s fascinating to me that we’re 4 adventures into this marketing campaign, and I’m unsure that the brand new ship guidelines are integral to enjoying on this marketing campaign. There may be some commentary at first of the journey that the group may be pirating on their very own between adventures, however it’s not an assumption of the journey. The ship is especially a way of getting the PCs from one journey website to a different.
I’m comfortable that this marketing campaign has maintained the mission + website based mostly journey construction that the sooner adventures have. I like that this offers the PCs the chance to resolve some duties within the order they need, and that they might have some optionally available duties and rewards in the event that they spend time exploring. I do suppose that among the “optionally available” encounters could also be higher in the event that they weren’t optionally available.
Future Needs
That is going to sound horrible, but when I’ve one massive want, it’s that the brand new ship guidelines will stay to be basically optionally available to resolving most of this marketing campaign. They’ve solely been calmly touched on up thus far, and it feels prefer it may be simpler for folks to undertake this marketing campaign with out studying an alternate ship fight system. I’ve a sense that the ultimate journey, no less than, will interact with these guidelines in a much less optionally available method. We’ll see.
