Each time I see a sport or setting, I wish to see an instance journey to point out how the designers supposed to see the setting used. Even when the buyer decides to make use of the product another way, it gives a baseline from which to make an knowledgeable deviation.
After I wrote my assessment for The Star-Shaman’s Tune of Planegea for Gnome Stew, I famous that the setting materials does a extremely good job of offering examples of plot hooks and marketing campaign frameworks. These are executed in a fashion that really feel extra desk helpful than lots of marketing campaign settings that I’ve seen. However it didn’t embody an instance journey.
Haven’t any worry, nonetheless, as a result of there’s a beginning journey obtainable for the setting. At this time on the weblog we’re going to check out Within the Lair of the Night time Factor, an journey for 4 to six 1st degree characters.
Disclaimer
I used to be a Kickstarter backer for The Star-Shaman’s Tune of Planegea, and acquired this journey as a part of the achievement. I used to be not offered a assessment copy of this journey. I’ve not had the chance to run this journey, however I’m acquainted with Dungeons & Dragons 5e each as a Dungeon Grasp and participant.
In The Lair of the Night time Factor
Writer: David Somerville
Builders: Adam Beckwith, Avalon Palmer, Daniel Gable, Fin Prindle
Cartography: Brian Patterson
Format: David Somerville and Michelle Nephew
Producer: Justin Alexander
Publishers: John Nephew and Michelle Nephew
Particular Thanks: Woody Eblom, Jenae Floerke, Jackie Sue Lozano, Heather O’Neill, Travis Winter, Justin Woodall, Casey McDonough, Nicole Ketz, Chris Martin, and our Kickstarter backers who made this e book doable!
Artwork: Daniel Mallada, Cory Trego-Erdner, Douglas Deri, Michelle Nephew, Ari Ibarra
The (Digital) Manuscript
Within the Lair of the Night time Factor is a 38-page journey. This features a title web page, a credit web page, and a desk of contents. There are a couple of reused photographs from the setting e book, however this journey accommodates a number of items of unique artwork depicting characters and conditions from this journey, in addition to maps of the areas detailed inside.
Unfurling the Scroll
The journey is damaged up into the next sections:
- Introduction
- Summons of Skarna
- Whispers of Nod
- The Two-Axe Clan
The final ten pages of the journey is basically a sourcebook on the Two-Axe Clan. It gives a gazetteer of their present encampment, NPCs which might be prone to be encountered, however not essential to the plot, and native gods and supernatural occasions.
The Journey
The spoilers are going to come back fairly shortly, so if you’re prone to be taking part in on this journey, it’s possible you’ll wish to skip this abstract. Now on with the present.
Skarna Two-Axe is the dwarven lady who leads the Two-Axe Clan, a clan composed of many various kinships working collectively as a neighborhood. Her son was not too long ago killed by a marauding monster, and her daughter was injured within the assault. As a result of Skarna should observe the standard days of mourning for her son, she wants somebody to search out the Night time Factor earlier than it may well hurt anybody else within the clan.
Sadly, there’s a lot that Skarna doesn’t know. Elves from the Nightmare facet of Nod are working with a hag to eradicate the management of the Two-Axe Clan. The elves have made a take care of Adaki, Skarna’s daughter, who’s making an attempt to kill her household. To this finish, the elves and the hag have helped Adaki remodel into the Night time Factor. The wounded Adaki that’s current within the camp is a disguised elf, ready to assassinate Skarna.
Whereas the Dread Elves are working with the hag, the hag has her personal agenda. In monitoring down the Night time Factor, the PCs could encounter the hag, who’s doubtlessly prepared to assist them discover the path to the Night time Factor. It’s a doubtlessly harmful negotiation, however she’s performed her half on this scheme, and her actual allegiance lies away from the Throne of Night time that the Dread Elves serve.
The Dread Elves guard a portal to the Nightmare facet of Nod, the land of desires, and the origin level of elves. Of their lair, the PCs will encounter waking nightmares, manifestations of creatures which have crossed over from the opposite facet of the gate. They could additionally discover out about Adaki’s duplicity, and sq. off in opposition to the Night time Factor.
Whereas the journey is pretty simple, I don’t suppose that’s a nasty factor on condition that this can be a 1st degree journey that’s introducing distinctive parts of a setting. There are lots of particulars for the PCs to work together with that appear like they’ll present lots of enjoyable, just like the hidden path to the hag’s lair, and the torches that negate invisibility within the Dread Elves lair. Whereas the PCs can have an opportunity to rescue Skarna from the murderer both manner, the PCs can discover a strategy to take the tentwing dinosaurs that the Dread Elves use as mounts to fly again to the Two-Axe Clanfire extra shortly and provides themselves extra respiratory room to disclose the murderer.
The most important potential points within the journey are the locations the place the PCs have to keep away from attacking every little thing on sight. There’s a T-Rex that’s manner out of their league, however the journey gives a strategy to entice it, in addition to a strategy to escape it. If the PCs escape it, it may well present up later to do the T-Rex versus Raptor Jurassic Park final minute savior transfer. It’s additionally pretty vital for the PCs to a minimum of try to barter with Mom Hush to assist them alongside their path.
There are two plot particulars I like on this. Within the unique draft of the setting e book, Dread Elves had been equated with drow. This journey introduces that the elves which might be affiliated with the darkish are cut up between these making an attempt to grant ascendency to Nightmares and people making an attempt to make the darkness a safer place. There may be additionally the chance to attach Mom Hush with one of many huge marketing campaign villains offered within the setting e book, making this much more of a gateway to the setting materials.
The Sourcebook Materials
The part on the Two-Axe Clan could be very comparable in presentation to what we acquired within the marketing campaign setting e book. By that, I imply that we don’t simply get an inventory of individuals and locations within the territory, but in addition plot hooks tied to totally different NPCs, random occasions and actions that is likely to be taken by totally different NPCs, and what the camp seems like at totally different components of the day. We see who’s gathered across the Clanfire at what time, and why they’re there.
In different phrases, just like the setting parts within the marketing campaign setting, all of these things have an excessive amount of desk prepared content material connected to them. There are few entries on this part the place a DM will examine one thing and surprise how that might be utilized in an ongoing marketing campaign.
Pleased Searching
This journey introduces the setting very properly, and in addition gives a robust reply to “what does this setting seem like in play.” Not solely does it use parts of the setting in a manner that highlights them, nevertheless it additionally ties into the bigger marketing campaign arcs talked about within the setting e book. It additionally gives materials for the DM to make use of earlier than and after working this journey within the type of the Two-Axe Clan data.
Lengthy Chilly Winter
I like the thought of introducing a T-Rex early within the marketing campaign, however this might go mistaken actually shortly, and moreover, utilizing the T-Rex to save lots of the PCs in the event that they want it later within the journey might be superior, however some DMs could not pull it off in addition to others. All of it is determined by how properly the DM can body this as a setup/payoff scenario. It’s doable for PCs that basically wish to “go it alone” to have a tough time discovering the trail to the Dread Elves, and Adaki might have used just a little extra backstory detailing how she went from “typically agreeable however susceptible to jealousy” to full on “I have to homicide my household for energy.”
Really useful–If the product matches in your broad space of gaming pursuits, you’re prone to be proud of this buy.
That is a simple suggestion for anybody that picked up The Star-Shaman’s Tune of Planegea. Although it touches on lots of setting parts, I believe the Two-Axe Clan materials within the again fleshes out the place to begin for this setting properly sufficient {that a} group might simply use this journey to check out the broader setting, somewhat than getting the marketing campaign setting e book first (so long as they are saying their stuff is made out of rocks and bone and such to suit the aesthetic).
