Chasing the Sunset is a West Marches-style exploration game using Fellowship 2nd Edition‘s Horizon rules.
The fellowship: Edna Crusher-Harcourt the Ogre/Knight, Vestri the Dwarf, Yuri the Outlander/Apex
Last time, the Fellowship settled their deal with Lady Evelynn so that Vestri did not have to break an oath or rob the Hidden Library. But the Hidden Library will soon be invaded, and the Fellowship is determined to protect it.
The Fellowship wants to know as much as possible about the approaching force, so they ask the Librarian.
Edna Speak Softly 7-9 (+hope, Vestri & Yuri’s assistance) ask 3 questions, 1 unhelpful answer
- What can they tell us about the invasion?
- Buckle caused a lot of trouble in the library, but is making up for it. He caught an agent of O’Later, mayor of Port Fennrick. He plans to invade the library and take its knowledge to impress his master. Also, he’s a Vampire. Not sure who O’Later answers to.
- What can they tell us about the library’s defenses?
- A terrible truth! The library had an amazing defense: an impenetrable ceramic shell. The one that Vestri drilled a nice big entrance through. Now it’s easy to enter.
- What would they have us do next?
- Like I told Buckle & Stella, last time the Library was attacked, we had magicians to weave the protective spell, and warriors to give them enough time to complete the spell. They are off presumably gathering such forces. You should do the same.
Yuri and Vestri agree that they should call in their favor with the Giant Heinrich during the upcoming battle. Edna wants to hear about how they know a Giant. Vestri recounts how they freed him from the City Junkyard. Heinrich is powerful but uncontrolled (even more so than Edna) so they do not want to summon him in the Hidden Library.
What communities can the Fellowship ask for help? Bogden isn’t too far, and they have fellowship with the Platypeople for solving their Werewolf problem. Swallet is even closer, hidden under the neighboring volcano, but they don’t like outsiders in general and the Fellowship specifically.
Yuri: I don’t think Swallet would be very helpful.
Vestri: Because they hate us?
Yuri: If we summon the Giant now and it breaks through Swallet’s roof, we could convince them that the Vampires sent him and….
Ol’ Jardiner: Even I think that’s going too far!
The Fellowship thinks of all the towns they’ve gone to, and how many of them are unfriendly. They fled Port Fennrick. Everyone is in their debt for disarming the Doomsday Engine, but no-one knows about that. The Blighted Village where Chloe lives doesn’t like them. They were kicked out of Swallet. Yuri & Vestri were technically kicked out of Templeton, but for a minor offense. They were taken into custody temporarily in Sugar’s Crossing, but they were released with no charges. We could have asked the Remnants for help, but they’re all dead.
Edna: My friends are flying up from the south in an airship, so hopefully we’ll have the skies covered.
Buckle: How much do we trust Buckle to deliver? Possible wild card.
Edna took a class on strategy in finishing school, and suggests some ways to prepare for an attack: gather allies, gather intelligence, set up defenses, counter-attack. Edna want to stand on the rim of the volcano and throw boulders down on the approaching army. When she spots the opposing general, she’ll jump down and defeat him in honorable one-on-one combat, of course. Vestri could talk to the earth and ask for quicksand pits.
GM note: Since there’s no immediate danger, Vestri’s player could use Earthspeaker many times in a row. I would add up consequences for bad rolls and cash them all in during the invasion. That would be un-fun!
The Fellowship remembers O’Later’s powers from their previous meeting. Beasts obey him, but he must flee before sunlight and holy symbols.
GM note: What is a holy symbol in this world that mostly lacks religion? The symbols must be important objects destined for a great purpose. I’m intentionally not including any religions from the real world in this game.
Vestri: Let’s do some research! Maybe we can create a miniature sun inside the library.
Yuri: It would burn all the books.
Librarian: We’ve had problems with patrons generating fire inside the library. We have a fire-proof suit so that fire-based creatures can safely use the library.
Yuri: Interesting. I would if that would work for something water-based.
Librarian: This suit isn’t water-proof. I would like to add accessibility features so that the library’s knowledge is available to as many people as possible, but right now we need to concentrate on the invasion.
Yuri: Right, back burner.
Librarian: No! No burners!
The Hidden Library specializes in creatures of darkness, so the Librarian is able to pull many relevant books for the Fellowship to study.
Yuri Speak Softly (+hope, Edna’s assistance) 10+ ask 3 questions
- What can you tell us about local holy symbols?
- A Symbol of Royalty (like Lucia’s) is a holy symbol. Edna has a Forgotten Lands amulet. Does that count?
- Loyal followers of a particular Dragon are sometimes awarded a scale from that Dragon. For example, Vieraugen on the mountain to the west, could offer a scale, and their follower could use that as a holy symbol. (That’s the Dragon that the Fellowship killed to disable the Doomsday Engine.)
- Unicorns are magical and good. A Unicorn attacking a Vampire with its horn would hurt a lot. Of course, killing a Unicorn and taking its horn creates an evil item, not a good one.
- What can you tell us about sunlight magic?
- The Harbingers invented sunlight magic just to show off. They are blind and see with ESP, so they don’t need light at all.
- What can you tell us about Harbingers?
- They are blind prophets. They can see through other people’s eyes and manipulate objects as if they were somewhere else. They are fond of pronouncing doom, which is somewhere between a curse and a prophesy. They are either revered or shunned by others. They don’t gather together because their magic intereferes with each other.
Yuri: Could we make a portal to somewhere sunny and hit O’Later with that? We’d need a location far to the east or west, somewhere that the sun is still up when it’s night here.
The Fellowship returns to Sugar’s Crossing to get some gossip from Sarah Miller. Colalda, a member of the Elven guards patrolling Sugar’s Crossing, follows them around to make sure they don’t cause trouble.
Colalda Suspicious Glare: Colalda will follow the fellowship around as long as they are in the area they supervise. They keep a close eye on all their actions and moves.
Srah Miller Window Watcher: The nosy neighbor knows everything going on in the neighborhood, and will happily share this information with anyone who asks.
Edna Speak Softly (+hope, Yuri’s assistance) 6- ask 4 questions, 1 unhelpful answer, 1 false answer
- What can you tell us about harbingers coming through town?
- A terrible truth! A Harbinger came through recently. Several adventurers actually, all going to a mountain to the northwest, past Evelynn’s place. I don’t know what they’re doing up there.
- What can you tell us about local holy symbols?
- Sugar’s Crossing is mostly populated by Halflings, who value food and family. Some families have Eternal Soup that are never emptied and washed, only refilled when they get low. Those soup pots are so important that they become holy. Of course, convincing a Halfling family to part with their Eternal Soup Pot would be very difficult.
- Are there any vacant homes?
- Sarah gives directions to an abandoned house just a few streets over.
- What can you tell us about the military forces in the town?
- The guards are here mostly to protect the road and the port, so that the flow of people and foods are undisturbed. This river doesn’t go to Port Fennrick. It comes out of a forest, past the mountain I told you about, turns south at Lady Evelynn’s place, comes through Sugar’s Crossing, and meets the sea at Vieport.
- This month, the Elves are in charage of security .They excel at archery, and stealth in nature. The guards rotate each month. Next month, snakefolk from Vieport will be in charge. They’re great swimmers.
The Fellowship doesn’t think either the Elves or Snakefolk could be convinced to defend the Hidden Library. Instead they follow Sarah’s directions to the abandoned house, hoping to find a holy soup pot. Like many Halfling homes, this is several storeys tall and has a gate leading into a central courtyard.
Edna uncontrollable strength: You are strong enough to uproot trees, smash doors off their hinges, break through wooden walls or supports, and lift just about anything.
Edna rips the gate open, and hears surprised yelps from inside! This house isn’t empty.
Colalda Suspicious Glare: Colalda will follow the fellowship around as long as they are in the area they supervise. They keep a close eye on all their actions and moves.
Colalda: Aha, breaking and entering!
Yuri: What do you mean, “breaking and entering”? It’s an abandoned house!
Colalda: Clearly, it’s not!
Yuri: If you were following us the whole time, you’d know we were told it was empty.
Vestri: We did apologize immediately.
Colalda Rules Are Rules: Colalda cannot be bribed, and refuses to forgive rule breaking. They will always lecture you or arrest you, depending on the severity of the rule.
Colalda: I don’t forgive rule-breaking. You’ll have to come with me.
Yuri: If the door was unlocked, it’s not breaking and entering.
Edna: I didn’t check. I just pulled.
Yuri: Can we do something to make it right instead of going to jail?
Edna doesn’t ask if there’s a fine, because that might seem like a bribe. Paying a cop to stay out of trouble is a bribe if they keep the money, but if it’s written down that you can pay to get out of trouble, and you give money to the cop and the cop gives the money to the city, then it’s a fine. One is legal and the other is not. The law is complicated and subtle.
Edna: Let’s go back to the guardhouse, so you can read us the relevant statutes.
The Fellowship follows Colalda to the guardhouse. Tomay and Soday are worried to see them again. The statutes say that they must pay to repair the damaged door and pay a fine to the city.
Vestri: I could repair the door, but I’d need to look at a similar door to see how it’s contructed.
Yuri: Do you have any vacant houses in the area?
Vestri Talk Sense (+sense, explain plan) (+hope, Yuri’s assistance) 10+
Colalda looks through some records and finds a lot that did not pay property taxes last year because there were no tenants. He leads the Fellowship there and it’s one block down and one block over from the address Sarah gave them. She was almost right.
Vestri: She was trying to be helpful.
Yuri: It’s on us for barging in.
Vestri opens the door and examines it. Yuri slips in and looks around. The former residents did not leave their precious soup pot behind, of course. Yuri thought there might have been a tragedy instead of an orderly departure.
Vestri spends 1 use of Craftsdwarf’s Tools
Edna spends 1 Precious item.
Vestri repairs the door, Edna pays the fine, and once again the Fellowship is free to go.
Edna: I should actually do some of this commerce that I’ve been learning about.
Edna goes to the market and sells some rare items for rolls of gold coins. Since the items aren’t available on this continent, they command a high price.
Edna sells Bolt of Elven Cloth from Elven Lands for 2 Precious Items
Edna sells Tapestry from The Forgotten Lands for 2 Precious Items
Vestri really wants to have sunlight or a holy symbol to fight O’Later. Would Lady Evelynn’s sigil be important enough to become a holy symbol? Is the symbol empowered by the belief of the farmers who use her mill? She doesn’t even run all of this town. She’s not powerful enough. O’Later runs a whole town. Surely his symbol doesn’t become a holy symbol that hurts him.
Vestri: What if I slapped him with his own necklace? Would he die?
Edna: Depending on the necklace, you could try to strangle him.
Vestri suggests returning to the Hidden Library. Edna suggest following the Harbinger that Sarah mentioned. The Harbinger was going past Lady Evelynn’s to some mountain. Vestri extimates that it would take to long to catch up to the Harbinger and return to the Hidden Library. Edna recalls seeing that mountain in the distance when the Fellowship emerged from the City of Clay under the Treacherous Mountain. It looked weird, but they didn’t investigate.
Vestri: I was thinking we could ward the library if we make a circle of holy runes.
Edna: I’m pretty sure that if i hit him hard enough, we won’t need a holy symbol.
GM note: We talked player-to-player about how the invasion will work. Three separate parties will fight one invasion in three separate game sessions. Ideally, the three parties would fight in different areas, so the ficitonal events don’t overlap. Since this party was the first to plan their defense, they got to pick where to fight. They decided to make two plans, so if one plan overlaps with another party’s plan, they can pick the other. It’s very complicated.
- Plan 1: Defend the slopes of the volcano
- Vestri can casuse avalanches with his Drill Tank or with Earthspeaker
- Edna can throw boulders down on the army.
- Yuri has no area attacks, but he has a sword that might be holy and he can jump far, so he could engage O’Later directly.
- Vestri: Don’t forget, Edna wants a one-on-one battle.
- Edna: Maybe he has a general. Oh no, I’ll have to fight Bork.
- Heinrich might rampage towards Sugar’s Crossing or collapse Swallet’s roof, so they won’t call him here.
- Plan 2: Stake out the river and attack the army before they arrive.
- Pick a desolate place to summon Heinrich. Heinrich will arrive much faster than is reasonable, because it’s magic. A matter of minutes
- The Mighty River has low visibility, so we can’t see the flet coming from far away. The mist isn’t thick enough to protect a Vampire from sunlight.
- Make a sandbar or barricade in the river to disrupt the invasion fleet. Wait until sunset to avoid disrupting the non-invasion boats that travel the Mighty River.
Yuri asks the Librarian if the Power Armor or Double Bill were important enough to be Holy Symbols. Snort Goldfarb didn’t believe he was chosen by any mystical power. His weapons are all about science and self-made power. But there were two heroes that fought on that day. Gwideon Greenhanded, the Harbinger, rode a Unicorn, and we have the horseshoes here in the commemorative display.
Yuri: Can I convince you to let me use the horseshoes as pseudo-brass knuckles to fend off a Vampire?
Vestri: He’s very skilled at punching things. He feels resolutely that we must do our best to protect you. We’ve come across O’Later before and he does not show hospitality and deserves to be treated the same way. Also, we’re very very apologetic for the thing our companion almost did, and for opening your library to attack in the first place.
Yuri: Libraries should be funded. Ours are public libraries, where taxes pay for…
Yuri Talk Sense (+Wisdom, emotional appeal) (+Hope, Vestri’s assistance) 7-9
Yuri Fool Me Once: re-roll one die. 10+
Yuri offers one horseshoe to Edna, but she’s confident that she doesn’t need the help. Yuri keeps two horseshoes. Edna does want more allies, so she goes to Sugar’s Crossing to find someone.
Edna we need your help: find an NPC to assist you 7-9 they will help, pick two
- They demand no favors of payment
- You forge a Bond with them
- Ssikila she/sher Snakefolk scout
- Needle Teeth
- Slippery
Edna meets Ssikila, who swam up from Vieport a week before the rest of the Snakefolk guards to asses the situation and co-ordinate with the out-going guards to make sure the main forces bring everything they need. Edna explains the threat to the library, and how Ssikila would be uniquely helpful in watching the river for boats full of invaders, since she’s an aquatic scout. Ssikila needs to compile and send her report back to Vieport, but she’ll be done in time to help with the invasion.
Edna forges a Bond: Ssikila wants to be a hero.
The Fellowship sets up boulders at the rim of the volcano. Vestri and Edna can throw them down at attackers, but the supports holding the boulders in place are easy to remove, so other, weaker defenders can send them rolling down the path. Vestri decides against drilling escape routes through the volcano, because routes that lead out also lead in.
Now there’s nothing left to do but wait for the invasion.