Chasing the Sunset is a West Marches-style exploration game using Fellowship 2nd Edition‘s Horizon rules.
The party: Buckle the Beast/Heart of Earth, Stella the Halfling/Hunter
Last time, the Fellowship climbed Sunpeak. The tallest mountain in the world. Former stronghold of the Dragons. Ruined battleground. At the top they found Fafnir, the young Dragon, Buckle’s adopted and estranged daughter.
GM note: Fafnir is a former player character whose player left the game when the pandemic started.
The skeleton of the Archdrake is wrapped around a small caldera. Floating on the lava within is Fafnir, a young Dragon. She stirs when the Fellowship approaches and dunks her head into the lava to wake her self up, like a human might splash water on their face.
Fafnir: Challengers! Have at you!
- Fafnir, she/her. Young Dragon: A childish dragon with a lot to prove.
- Dragonfire: The Young Dragon is Melee, Burning, Ranged, and Piercing.
- Flying Mount: The dragon can fly, so long as it has the room to take off, and it can act freely while someone is riding on top of it.
- Unbreakable Scales: This stat must be damaged twice. When the dragon
would be destroyed, damage this stat instead. - Threat to the World
Buckle sees Fafnir and doesn’t hear anything she says. He runs towards her with his arms open.
Buckle: Fafnir? Fafnir! You’ve grown so much!
Fafnir is the size of a pony now. She collides with Buckle and her momentum carries him backwards. He attempts to hug the closest thing he has to a daughter. She is fireproof, so Buckle’s blazing body doesn’t not hurt him. She does hurt his tail and she pins him to the ground.
Stella tosses her sword (the over-sized sword from King Of The Hill) down the slope.
Stella: You don’t have anything to fear. We’re not here to hurt you. It’s Stella and Buckle! I know that’s hard to believe. He is very on fire right now, but that’s Buckle.
GM note: Unbreakable Scales prevents Fafnir from being destroyed, but a 10+ with Wisdom doesn’t destroy her. It shows the error of her ways. So Stella’s 10+ to Finish Fafnir with Wisdom succeeds and ends the fight.
Fafnir gets off of Buckle and sets him on his feet. He rushes in to hug her and she accepts.
Buckle: It’s been so long! I haven’t seen you in ages. What happened to you?
Fafnir: You ran out on me! We were there at Fight Club, and the cops came. That was more fights, really good fights. I was fighting through them and when I got to City Hall, you were gone! I’m a bit bitter about that.
Buckle: I went to the Fight Club to look for you. Ugg is down the mountain. He’s still with us. I’ve missed you so much!
GM note: These events happened four years ago in real time, so our memories didn’t match exactly and we each checked our notes. That’s fine, because each character could remember the situation differently from their perspective.
Fafnir: I thought the gang was getting back together for that big fight. But we didn’t get back together. You ran away. I thought you had valour.
That’s really stings. Buckle’s eyes glow bright. His fur crackles with electricity and heat. Fafnir sees and smiles a sharp, toothy smile. Buckle controls himself and uses his words.
Buckle: What do you mean it’s my fault? You’re the one that ran off. We came to Swallet to see you can got chased away. Where were you when the cops were chasing us?
Fafnir: If you wanted to find me, you could have. I built a ramp to the surface. There was a sign. I was challenging all comers.
Buckle: Look, it’s been really busy. Maybe you’ve noticed there’s a lot that’s different about me. It’s been quite a journey.
There’s a tense pause. Neither has a good answer. Stella looks back and forth between the two and takes a deep breath.
Stella: What if you’re both right? What if you both left each other? What if you were looking for each other and it just didn’t work out? Are you really going to lose this friendship over that?
Fafnir: First blood! Whoever gets first blood wins the argument and we don’t have to talk about it anymore.
Buckle: How can you say that I left you when I came all the way to this god-forsaken country for you? I would never have boarded the Fairy Ferry if not for you and your desire for adventure.
Fafnir: Wow. That hurts…emotionally. OK.
Archdrake’s spirit still clings to his skeleton and is insulted. A deep voice rumbles from the wind-scoured skull. Lava bubbles out of the caldera.
Archdrake: God-forsaken? Once we reigned as gods over this continent!
Buckle doesn’t move and lets the lava flow around his legs. Stella doesn’t want to be melted into a pile of goo, so she scampers up onto Archdrake’s skull.
Buckle: You were gods. I brought your progeny back to this place. If there are gods here, it is because of me. I nurtured the Dragon that is still present on this land. the rest of you are ghosts!
Stella doesn’t want to antagonize a powerful ghost. She pets the skull gently.
Stella: It’s OK, buddy.
Archdrake: Yes, this one. For that you have the gratitude of the Dragons. What of the other, far to the south?
Buckle: Fafnir, did you know about this?
Fafnir: I was going to check it out, but I hadn’t gotten around to it.
The Fellowship can ask each Dragon’s spirit one question, which they will answer with whatever wisdom they have. Stella doesn’t want to waste it, so she consults with Buckle.
Stella: The obvious question is for more sources of power. We could also ask about vampires and the war. That whole vibe.
Buckle thinks all this business about Dragons and Vampires is nonsense. He’s mad that none of them like him.They’re all mean. He wants to end the conflict.
Buckle: How can the conflict between Dragons and Vampires end without destroying one side? Is there any way to live in peace?
Archdrake: After the Vampire’s cowardly assault, there was no more blood to shed. Surely that’s not what you want. I want to destroy the Vampires like they destroyed my people.
Buckle: Then how are you going to make it so that no more Dragons die?
GM note: They didn’t really get an answer to the previous queston, so I’ll give them this answer.
Archdrake: If you finish the Moon and get it to work properly, that will get rid of the Vampires.
Buckle: An orbital super-weapon? That’s your answer? An ORBITAL SUPER-WEAPON? The scientific improbability of using an orbital weapon to eliminate only one species–no wonder they killed you!
Buckle rants at the old skull, but there is no response. Archdrake is dead. He doesn’t have to deal with this.
Buckle: Answer, you coward!
Buckle uses the Medallion of Cleft Sky to send a lightning bolt through the skull, providing life force for Archdrake to return and answer another question. Stella jumps off the skull, shrinks, and lands on Buckle’s shoulder. From there she can give good advice.
Archdrake: (Hmmm, that reminds me of Rubithorn.) How dare you disturb me? What more would you have me say?
Fafnir: I’ve never seen him so riled up! He’s usually pretty boring.
Stella: When someone has decided that the death of another group is the only path forward, trying to change their mind might not be possible. It might be more helpful to understand why it happened. Sometimes people fight and they don’t even remember why they’re fighting.
Buckle: Archdrake, what precipitated this conflict? What were the stages along the way?
Archdrake: The evil, sneaky, cowardly Vampires…
Stella: Yes, yes, we know, Archdrake.
Archdrake: …were jealous of our glorious empire which spread its wings across the planet. In secret, they conspired against us. Instead of issuing their challenge from the sky, like honorable warriors, they secretly moved agents into position and struck from the shadows. They killed half of us outright. We found ourselves losing, so we quickly put into motion our ultimate weapon. We were unable to complete it before the Vampires overran Sunpeak.
Buckle: Dragon Empire sounds pretty Dragon-centric, maybe Dragon supremicist. Fafnir, do you go in for this spreading your wings over the planet?
Fafnir: Swallet was kind of a pain. People were always bothering me with their stupid problems. It was kind of a relief when that Vampire assassin came in and I had an excuse to take off after her. It’s nice being respected, but running a city seems like a drag.
Buckle: Fafnir, you have a lot of growing up to do.
Fafnir: But I’m so much stronger than I was!
Buckle: So am I, and what has it brought us?
Fafnir: Here we are on top of the world. We’re champions!
Buckle: Yes, and what does that benefit us?
Fafnir scratches her head, sparks flying from her unbreakable scales.
Buckle: My fiery daughter, maybe someday you’ll understand the weight of being all-powerful.
Fafnir: I can lift so much! At least four times my weight and I’m only going to get bigger. Look at Archdrake here.
Buckle: It doesn’t matter what you can do. It matters what you do do. Hey, do you want to see my bird that can eat fire?
Fafnir: YES!
Fafnir dives off the vertical edge and flies up to Ichabod. She spits fire and he eats it. Adorable! Like when two dogs meet and instantly get along.
Buckle slides down to the ground and returns to normal size.
They gain the Fellowship of the Dragons. Fafnir offers to burn down one location of their choice, causing uncontrollable destruction. They can only call in this favor once, using one of her scales which she offers.
GM note: This is a great option to give these characters because in general they are good people who don’t kill without good reason, but also Buckle is impulsive and might use it against his (and Stella’s) better judgment.
Fafnir is inspired to action. She decides to fly south and seek out the other dragon that Archdrake sensed. The Fellowship considers how they will descend Sunpeak. There’s a third Dragon skeleton they could talk to.
Stella: Buckle, do we need to ask the last Dragon a question?
Buckle: I don’t have any questons for any Dragons. I’m sick of Dragons right now.
Stella shrinks to ride on Buckle’s shoulder, and Buckle rides on Fafnir’s back. Ichabod and the Little Lights fly alongside. They quickly descend to the rest of the Fellowship. Fafnir greets Ugg, whom she met in Cloorick’s Fight Club.
SUNPEAK MESSAGE BOARD
Buckle: Dangerous path! The Dragon skeletons tell you things but might be useless. Fafnir was here but flew south to meet another live Dragon.
Stella: Archdrake really hates Vampires. He wants them all dead despite being dead themselves. The dragons on the peak were killed by Vampires prior to Moon.
Buckle wants to learn about the Moon, its history, and the Dragon Empire. The Hidden Library was hidden before the Moon was created, so there’s no information about the Moon, but the Ghost Librarian remembers the Dragon Empire. There’s also that teleporter that Buckle blew up that probably went to the Moon.
Every Platyperson town has someone dedicated to keeping forbidden technical knowledge and educating young Platypeople about the technical knowledge that they will never use because of how awful it is. This isn’t the town elder. That’s a respected position. This person, the Technician, is seen as a looney and isn’t respected. Buckle wants to find that person in Bogden. Maybe they know about teleporters. The Lazy-I Ranch is on the way south to Bogden, but the Fellowship left a bad impression last time they were there.
Buckle: Should we tell the Kobolds in that mountain about the second Dragon? Will they want to know?
Stella: That might put them in more danger until we figure out what’s actually going on.
Lazy-I Ranch is surrounded by a huge hedge of brambles to keep the dinosaurs inside. It’s night time, so Buckle would be very noticable without his fireproof suit. Stella returns it to him, with the Abyssal Beast’s scales still attached. It looks cool.
Stella: We should interact minimally with Lazy-I Ranch. While we’re not direct enemies of these Vampires, they would not be thrilled that we just came from the Dragons.
The Fellowship skirts the bramble fence between Lazy-I Ranch and the slope of the Table of Famine. Far away in the night sky they see dark shapes and bursts of fire. Fafnir is hunting bats.
Next they pass through the Singing Hills. There’s a high-pitched screech that’s not part of the harmony of the singing stones. Stella is scooped up into the mouth of a giant pelican!
Buckle: Elektra, dive bomb!
Elektra is a large Eagle, but the Pelican is even bigger. She smacks the giant Pelican in the head and Stella falls out.
Buckle: Hey, hey you! What are you doing here in Aku’s domain and why are you trying to eat my friend?
The giant Pelican pauses to listen to a strange creature that speaks its language.
- What are you doing? What will you do next?
- I was fishing in the rapids near Lichenton when I overheard a mesmerizing sound that brought me here.
- What do you want? How can I help you get it?
- I’m really hungry and I want to find food.
- What should I be wary of when dealing with you?
- The Pelican doesn’t have a chance to answer.
The giant Pelican falls over dead! A large metal needle is imbedded in its body. Two seconds laler, the Fellowship hear a pop from far away, like a very large bottle being uncorked. Stella thinks she may have seen a metal spike like this before.
Stella: What just happened?!
- Tell me about the pop. How could it hurt or help me?
- The pop is what propelled the supersonic projectile that killed the giant Pelican.
- What is going on here? What do my senses tell me?
- The Singing Hills are an idyllic grassland. Long grass blows in the wind as puffy white clouds float across the blue sky. Standing stones on hilltops produce pleasant tones as the constant wind blows through precisly carved notches. No large trees grow here. The small trees are bent over by the wind. More common are small shrubs. Aku is visible far off in the sky. There’s a rumble coming from the lake where the Fellowship exited the underground waterways long ago.
- What will happen if I stay her and continue to inspect this bird?
- Nothing happens. There’s no obvious movement from Aku or whatever fired that spike.
Stella takes three Pelican feathers. Not the primary wing feathers. Those are as long as she is tall.
Buckle: Stella, how do you feel about eating Pelican?
Buckle sets up a campfire and moves to butcher the giant Pelican. He’s struck in the hand by a supersonic metal spike! Electricity from the Medallion of Cleft Sky arcs through his body as he pulls the spike out.
- Roddie, he/him, Human Sharpshooter: No one can shoot more true than this sniper.
- Eagle Eye: The Sharpshooter can see you coming from a mile away, and attack from great distances. The Sharpshooter’s first attack against the group is always a Hard Cut.
- Trick Shot: The Sharpshooter can damage this stat to make a player fail a Finish Them attempt.
- Social Anxiety: The Sharpshooter is no good at social situations and runs
from people trying to talk to them.
There’s a note wrapped around the spike that reads: “Please don’t. I spent hours tracking that.”
Stella: Oh, maybe they just got hungry.
Stella figures that this Sharpshooter has mouths to feed, so she leaves Gus’s special spices, and a note that reads: “Thank you for saving us. Have a nice meal. –Stella, Buckle, and friends” Stella would like to be friendly in case she encounters this being again.
Buckle: What is that? You, hey you! You shot me in the hand! Where did you go?
A bush two hills over shifts and there’s the flash of a rifle scope. Buckle marches towards the bush. The bush retreats over the crest of the hill, breaking line of sight. Buckle marches over the crest of the hill. Roddie was ready to fire at anyone who came over the hill, but his gun explodes! Roddie just runs. He’s wearing a ghillie suit, so he wasn’t hiding behind a bush. He was the bush. As he runs, he drops a gadget that breaks when it hits the ground. A high-pitched note descends from ultrasonic range and gets lower and lower until it stops. Buckle lets him go and waddles up to examine the gun. It’s a hand-built gun, completely customized by Roddie. It uses negative air pressure to fire spikes. The back end exploded and the bellows have spilled out. Buckle picks it up by the leather bellows, avoiding the metal barrel, and returns to Stella.
Buckle: That jerk was shooting us with this thing.
Stella: It’s beautiful!
Stella respects craft, even though she’s not a gun expert. She takes the broken vacuum gun. She leaves the giant Pelican and spices, hoping Roddie will return for them eventually. Buckle adds to Stella’s note: “Thanks for the gun.”
SINGING HILLS MESSAGE BOARD
Buckle: Beware vacuum gun sniper.
The Fellowship reaches Bodgen without further incident. The Champ comes to bother them. Stella sighs and rolls her eyes.
The Champ: Once again you over-promised and under-delivered. Your feast was puny. Port Fennrick is sending a pallet of food every week.
Stella: You had nothing. We brought something. Now you have more. Good job!
Buckle: Remember when we beat you at Fluming? I just saw the Dragon that helped us.
The Champ: Hey! That game was never completed. It’s a draw.
Buckle: Remember when we beat the Werewolves together?
The Champ: Yes, I saved the town.
Stella: Champ, I want to give you a little lesson in pronouns. When more than one person is involved, we use “we”.
Buckle: Say, where’s your town Technician?
The Champ: Ugh, why would I care about that loser? But I bet I can find her before you do!
“Technician” is a bit derogatory, but that’s what Platypeople call them. Buckle looks around, but he’s not hurrying. He’s happy to let The Champ do his work for him. The Champ pushes an middle-aged female Platyperson forward. This is Baffle, the town technician. She looks like a Steampunk, which is very unfashionable in Platyperson. There’s a proper ceremony for asking about cursed technology that acknowledges that it’s not a proper thing to do.
Buckle: Oh, auntie, come over here and tell me about your wild theories.
They move away and talk quietly about technology, like they are doing a drug deal.
Buckle: Do you have any manuals about repairing teleporters?
Baffle: Why do you want that knowledge? Don’t you know that teleporters can be dangerous?
Buckle: Oh trust me. I know tehcnology can be dangerous. I was shot with a vacuum gun. Don’t get me started.
Baffle: That does sound interesting, and probably safer than a teleporter.
Buckle: The last teleporter than I ran into, I blew it up…
Baffle: Good boy!
Buckle: …but I need to repair it.
Baffle’s expression hardens. That’s like asking to buy the amount of drugs that push dealing from a misdemeanor to a felony.
Buckle: Look. The Moon is a Dragon super-weapon. We have to get up and there and figure out how to get rid of it that doesn’t involve orbital deconstruction and the absolute cataclysm that would bring the planet. As far as I know, the only way up there is a teleporter.
Baffle: This seems very dangerous. I can’t let you do this unsupervised, and I must prevent technology from falling into the wrong hands.
GM note: There’s a “Moon Shot” obstacle in the book. Let’s use that as a base for this adventure. We could repair the teleporter, or modify the Anti-Moon Weapon, or use Lantern technology to make a extra-dimensional light bridge.
- Reaching The Moon: The massive orb that lights up the night sky is a beautiful wonder to all who see it. Is there any who have not wished they could go there? Is there a hero who could be the first?
- Prepwork: A journey of this magnitude requires a magnificent means to get there. You must build a ship capable of reaching the moon, whether that is through powered flight, being shot out of a cannon, a space elevator, or some other wild invention. Building this Invention requires a Long Journey to find three things: an inventor to make it, the parts to build it, and a place to assemble it. Once all three have been found, move on to The Launch.
- The Launch: Now you need to actually reach it. Your vehicle can make the trip, but only barely, and the fellowship will need to work hard to keep it together every step of the way. This is another Long Journey scene, but each scene someone sets must involve a problem with the vehicle, with the path ahead, or between the crew onboard. Once this journey is complete, you have made it to the moon.