Chasing the Sunset is a West Marches-style exploration game using Fellowship 2nd Edition‘s Horizon rules.
The fellowship: Boris the Remnant, Ol’ Jardiner the Harbinger, Yonne the Rain.
Last time, the Fellowship travelled to VolWolkenStadt, the original homeland of the people who know live in the Forgotten Lands. This time, they meet several groups of inhabitants, each with their own culture.
The Fellowship moves past the World Flayer to an overgrown area that the great machine was not able to harvest. In the distance, a plateau rises above the trees and the wreck of a fallen sky city slumps against it. It’s a mile across and hundreds of feet tall. Plants have invaded the edges, but the center is still all metal. The Fellowship examines the scene.
- Is something hidden or out of place? If so, what looks suspicious?
- Some small figures are scaling the walls of the city. Birds circle overhead, and when one of the figures shoots a bird, it explodes!
- What will happen if we approach the crashed city?
- It is still defended by robots.
- Tell me about the intruders. What are they doing? What will they do next?
- There are three humans kitted for combat. Their armor is made of metal and plastic, probably looted from robots or their machine cities. As the gunner shot down the surveillance drones, the other two stood ready. Fire Droids emerged from inside the crashed city and the humans attacked them. They intentionally provoked the robots by destroying a sentry.
Yonne: They trapped it! Tricksy!
Boris: Fire? That’s good for me. Just stand behind me.
Ol’ Jardiner: It looks like they’re picking fights. I don’t think those are the sorts of people we want to mingle with.
Boris: Should we talk to them from a distance? Is that something you think is advisable, or should we just leave them alone?
Yonne: They’re very interesting. Let me go ahead first. Their attacks will go right through me.
Ol’ Jardiner: I guess we could see if they survive the robots they’ve drawn in to fight.
Yonne:I think we should help them not die to the robots.
Ol’ Jardiner: If it turns out we have to fight them, then the robots are pre-fighting them for us. That’s just efficient.
Boris: If they start dying, we should run in.
The Fellowship advances to the border of the city. The battle between the warriors and guards is high above the ground. The Fellowship could gain height by climbing trees, scaling the cliff, or going inside through some breach and finding stairs. Yonne can fit through any gaps. Boris can climb any surface. Ol’ Jardiner is a short old man.
Yonne: Why don’t we just climb our way up from the inside?
Boris: But what if we trigger more robots?
Yonne: I want to see what the inside looks like.
Ol’ Jardiner: Speaking of triggering more robots. Doodle took impressions of signs that we saw on that first giant machine. I know an Elf who’s old enough to read them. It was stuff like “No unathorized personnel” and “KEEP CLEAR AT ALL TIMES” so I think it would be very good for me to learn to read this language. Which I could do, but it would take a while, so I really should have thought of this before we decided to intervene in the fight. Let’s just hope none of those signs are important right now.
The others stare at him.
Ol’ Jardiner: I should have brought that up either earlier or not at all.
There’s a big doorway leading into the city from a platform that snapped off when the city fell centuries ago. Large letters are printed above doors which were wrenched from their hinges and scattered in the jungle..
Ol’ Jardiner: I hope that says “Welcome”!
Boris: I’ll go first. I don’t want you getting cooked.
The doorway leads into an atrium. Without an arborist to control it, a large tree outgrew the airy space assigned to it, then died, because 800 years is a very long time. An access stairways is less convenient since one of its flight of stairs collapsed. Ol’ Jardiner climbs on Boris’ back and clings to his muscular neck. Yonne flows up through spider-webbed channels in the ancient bark. She meant to draw no attention, but Ol’ Jardiner’s extra weight makes a branch snap loudly when Boris steps on it. Boris is agile enough to scramble onto a platform without falling.
Across the platform, the three warriors fight a group of Fire Droids. One wields a big shield to block the flames. Another uses a gun. The third uses multiple knives. One Fire Droid breaks off to investigate the Fellowship.
- Fire Droid: This humanoid war machine is equipped with high powered flame throwers, and is designed to destroy and eliminate fleshy enemies.
- Flamethrower: The Fire Droid sets fire to the areas it has been told to burn down, and it will keep them burning until there is nothing flammable left. Its attacks are Ranged, Burning, and Dangerous.
- Fireproof: The Fire Droid is not harmed by heat and fire.
Ol’ Jardiner hops down. He doesn’t want to be attached to the vanguard. Indeed, Boris gets right in the Fire Droid’s face. The Fire Droid blasts him with a high-pressure jet of flammable liquid, ignited en-route by a pilot light. Boris walks through the flames like they aren’t there, but Ol’ Jardiner and Yonne must avoid the splashing liquid fire. Ol’ Jardiner hides under a collapsed wall panel. Boris bites the end off the flamethrower, extinguishing the pilot light. The Fire Droid beeps unhappily and flees.
Boris: Do we follow it?
Yonne: We don’t want to be near those things!
Boris: Should I break the thing that repairs them?
Boris follows the damaged Fire Droid down a hall flanked by decorative columns. One of those columns unfolds and spins, revealing a shotgun and a targeting laser!
- Hidden Turret: A gun disguised as a prop of some kind, like a potted plant or a lamp post. It walks around on hidden tripod legs when no one is looking.
- Ordinary Object: This threat is Secret while it remains immobile.
- Open Fire: The hidden turret is a Ranged weapon.
Boris dashes to walls, floor, and ceiling, faster than the Hidden Turret can track it. When he lands behind it, the Hidden Turret picks itself up on little tripod legs and scurries to reposition. Boris thinks about biting off the targeting laser, but it doesn’t seem sentient, so he just smashes it instead.
Back on the platform, the warriors are winning against the Fire Droids. Only two Droids remain.
- Connor he/him human Gunner: A sharpshooter whose home-made weapon favors power over reliability.
- Powder Keg: If this stat is damaged, the gunner explodes, causing collateral damage.
- Sturdy Rifle: When the gunner has an open shot, they may damage this stat to immediately deal damage to anybody. If they can get some time and safety, they heal this stat.
- Erik he/him Ogre Berserker: The strongest and most aggressive hunter.
- Blind Rage: The attacks of a Berserker on the rampage are very difficult to defend against. If your Grace is damaged, you cannot defend against the attacks of a Berserker.
- Reckless Valor: A Berserker can damage this stat to damage an enemy they are fighting.
- Hilda she/her Human Brave: A more loyal and earnest warrior you will never find.
- Loyal Beyond All Reason: Enemies must damage this stat before they can damage the Brave’s allies.
- Get Right In There: A Brave fighting someone cannot be ignored. When you are the Brave’s opponent, you are in Despair when trying to do anything except deal with the Brave.
Yonne starts towards the Warriors to assist them, but hesistates, not wanting to abandon Ol’ Jardiner.
Ol’ Jardiner: I’m hiding under this thing. It’s reasonably safe.
The Fire Droids’ attention is on Hilda, so Yonne has an opportunity to blasts one with debris propelled by high-pressure jets of water. Fire is one thing that actually scares Yonne, so she aims to destroy it. Her projectiles barely miss the Fire Droid, but from Connor’s perspective, they barely missed Hilda.
Connor: Reinforcements!
Connor swings around and blasts a big hole straight through Yonne’s body. She needs a moment to collect herself, but is otherwise unharmed.
Ol’ Jardiner: Yikes, these people are scary! That was a kind thing for you to do, but I don’t think they want our help. Maybe we should follow Boris.
Yonne: I think that’s a great idea. I’m sorry you can’t ride on me, though.
Ol’ Jardiner: I’m pretty good at moving through hallways.
Ol’ Jardiner and Yonne follow Boris, who follows the damaged Fire Droid. A smaller robot with a flat body and many leg meets the Fire Droid and climbs into it. The back of the Phalanx Drone opens up and projects a shield of force. The shield pivots back and forth, anticipating danger.
- Phalanx Drone: These spider-like robots protect other machines with their lives, using an energy shield canopy to negate damage entirely. A Group or Gang of Phalanx Drones can make a vital Machine nearly invulnerable.
- Energy Shield: The Phalanx drone clings onto and protects its allies. When an ally a Phalanx Drone is riding on takes damage or is destroyed, destroy the Phalanx Drone instead.
Boris runs at it and pushes against the shield. He reaches one way, then the other. The shield matches his movements. Boris sprints in a circle around the Fire Droid until the Phalanx Drone can’t keep up, then moves in and takes a bite out of the Phalanx Drone. The energy shield pops as circuits short out and fail.
A door closes in front of the Fire Droid. A voice comes over the loudspeaker, speaking the language of VolWolkenStadt. It’s as foreign to the Fellowship as Beowulf is to English speakers in the 21st century. Even people in the Forgotten Lands don’t speak it anymore. The tone of voice and a few cognates let them get the sense: the door is closed because it’s not safe. Boris destroys the Fire Droid. The voice on the loudspeaker sounds angry now. Boris wonders how to say “Sorry”
Angering the boss increases the Reponse Level to 3
New Response move: Separation.
An emergency bulkhead closes across the hallway. Boris and Ol’ Jardiner are inside. Yonne is outside. Yonne tries to slip through the buklhead, but she’s prevented somehow.
Harming the local wildlife (robots count) increases the Reponse Level to 4.
New Response move: Guardian
Light flicker down a side passage. Sizzling and crackling compete with the angry voice on the loudspeaker. Arcs skittering around the metal archway herald the approach of the Lightning Wyrm.
- Lightning Wyrm: A metallic, wingless dragon. The power from its up-rated generator is more than its metal body requires. The excess spills out through mouth and claws as weaponized lightning.
- Dragon’s Thunder: The Lightning Wyrm is Melee and Ranged. When it attacks, anyone hit by the attack is electrified, and drops whatever they hold.
- Electric Discharge: The Lightning Wyrm can damage this stat to electrify the Area around it. Everyone hit is damaged and drops whatever they hold.
- Unbreakable Scales: This stat must be damaged twice. When the Lightning Wyrm would be destroyed, damage this stat instead.
Ol’ Jardiner pulls a big glowing seam-ripper from inside his vest and presses it against the bulkhead, separating the local ley-lines and creating an escape route.
Ol’ Jardiner: Boris, we should go!
Ol’ Jardiner goes through without waiting for Boris, who follows close behind.
Yonne: Oh, hello. Are we going the other way then?
Ol’ Jardiner: There’s some sort of lightning monster coming for us. There’s a loudspeaker–we’ve made the city angry.
Yonne: We did? Not the people fighting the robots?
Boris: I think both, but mostly us.
Ol’ Jardiner: It’s coming for Boris, not them. Maybe they are being attacked by a different lightning monster.
Yonne: OK. Do you want to go back down, or go up more?
Boris: Down. Out. Leave the city.
The Fellowship returns to the platform and the overgrown tree. Erik starts towards then, but Hilda holds him back. The Fellowship doesn’t understand what she says to him. Ol’ Jardiner climbs on Boris’ back again and they descend the tree and leave the city.
Ol’ Jardiner: This language barrier is bad. I’ll consult my Endless Scroll and the samples Doodle has taken to create a magical ritual to speak and read this language.
Yonne: That scroll is amazing.
Ol’ Jardiner learns to speak the language, but the spirit of an evil magician trapped inside Endless Scroll starts speaking as well.
Ol’ Jardiner: I merged in some knowledge from Von TIll’s books. It seems he cursed one of his magical rivals, who is now in here.
Yonne: So the guy Von Till wrote some books and you took that information and put it into your book, but also it came with one of his rivals?
Boris: Can we decommision a robot to give that rival a body to go into?
Evil voice: Almost anything would be better than this. I don’t know that I trust you with that task.
Ol’ Jardiner: Hey! These are my friends. They’re very competent in a surprising number of fields.
Yonne: It’s true. Mostly in eating things that shouldn’t be eaten.
Boris: I could always eat the scroll and it will stop.
Ol’ Jardiner: No!
Evil voice: No!
Ol’ Jardiner: Hold on. Right now we might get shot by weirdoes or eaten by robot dinosaurs. Using the translation feature is very important, so don’t butt in all the time.
Evil voice: Easy for you to say, with your friends, able to talk to people at all times.
Yonne: You’re talking to us right now.
Evil voice: And he’s trying to stop me! If I could perform the magic of my youth–Oooooo I’d show you!
Boris: Alright. Do it.
Yonne: Why are you trying to fight this guy? Jardiner is trying to work here.
Ol’ Jardiner can read the words over the entrance. The city’s name is LuftSchloss Ettlingen.
Ol’ Jardiner: How can I contact the warriors from a safe distance? They didn’t notice me, so my friendly face should work.
Yonne: You could send my little Rain Flibby. He’s amorphous and winged.
Ol’ Jardiner: I could attach a note. I think they’d shoot at him.
Boris: What about your magical thought bubbles?
Ol’ Jardiner: I need to know a person’s name to deliver a message by mysterious means, but I can speak, look, and listen as if I was somewhere else that I can see.
The Fellowship waits until the warriors leave the city. Ol’ Jardiner throws his voice near them.
Ol’ Jardiner: Ahoy, there, friends! We got off to a bad start in the city. I’m on the ground. I’m throwing my voice. It’s a trick–I mean, it’s a skill. I’m not tricking you.
The Fellowship waves. The Warriors cautiously approach to regular shouting distance, which is also shooting distance.
Ol’ Jardiner: It’s nice to see other people in this rough and dangerous place. We just got here and are still finding our way around, so we’d be grateful for any help you could give us.
These warriors are from a fiercely independent people who came to this dangerous land to test their mettle and succeed where others have failed. Every member of the society excels in facing a challenge, but different people take on different challenges. It’s a bad sign that the Fellowship needs help and expects strangers to give it.
Erik: Help you? If you can’t help yourself, it’s not worth the effort.
Ol’ Jardiner is as surprised and displeased by Erik’s response as Erik is by his request. He doesn’t know what to say. One of the few social rules Yonne has learned is that she doesn’t like when people are rude to her friends.
Yonne: He killed all the Vampires! With the Moon!
Ol’ Jardiner: I went to the source and solved the problem for everyone everywhere, so I don’t have any trophies of vampires I have personally slain. I was at a great distance when they all died.
Boris: If I can beat one of you guys in an eating contest, you have to help us out.
Erik agrees. He’s a 17-foot-tall Ogre, and Boris is only 5 feet tall. It’s unthinkable that Boris could win. The Fellowship and the warriors share a meal together. Boris annihilates anything that goes into his mouth, so there’s no limit to the speed or volume of what he can eat. While Boris shocks and humbles Erik, Ol’ Jardiner chats with Connor and Hilda.
- What should I be wary of when dealing with the Cartae (the Warriors’ culture)?
- You have to know their specialization to avoid stepping their toes. They’ll see it as a challenge. There are multiple villages that share the same cultures but compete with each other. The Fellowship might be a new competitor, or they might join a village and bolster its strength.
- There’s a two-step process to join a village.
- Succeed at a challenge to get the opportunity to try out
- compete against a villager
- What can they tell us about LuftSchloss Ettlingen.
- It’s an uncharted city full of hostile robots. It hasn’t been dominated in the 200 years since the Cartae arrived.
Hilda: Boris has proven himself. You two still need to prove yourself.
Boris: I’m the weakest in the group.
Ol’ Jardiner: I killed all the Vampires.
Yonne: You can shoot me with a thousand guns and I’d survive.
Connor: Really?
Boris: I’m going to stand back because I’m the weakest in the group.
Connor fires his weapon and half of Yonne’s mass splatters and sizzles across the ground. Yonne reforms herself and absorbs a piece of food. The Cartae watch it dissolve inside her transparent pseudopod. Yonne has impressed Connor. Hilda stares at Ol’ Jardiner.
Evil voice: Do you have anyone in your village who is good at magic?
Ol’ Jardiner: Don’t listen to that guy. We don’t really like him. If I understand your culture correctly, if we accomplish a great feat, like defeating the Lighting Wyrm in Luftschloss Ettlingen, we’d be worthy of joining your village?
The Cartae warriors smirk at each other.
Erik: I’d say so.
Hilda: Yeah, do it.
Ol’ Jardiner: When we do have the head of the Electric Wyrm, where should we deliver it?
Hilda: Starting from the Luftschloss, go east to a black rock. It’s in the middle of a sandy area. It stands out. Head south through the dead forest. Once you escape the line of dead trees, you’ll see a shining gleam. As you get closer, you’ll realize that it’s a metal floor in the middle of the desert with little pistons. Once you’re there, go east again and you’ll reach our village.
Ol’ Jardiner: Great. To make sure we’re at the right village, we’ll say we are the ones who out-ate Erik in an eating contest.
Yonne: We’d love to avoid the other villages. Where are they? so we can give them a wide berth.
Connor points out three other villages. The Fellowship and the warriors go their separate ways.
Ol’ Jardiner: I do have that big spell that hurts a lot. If we get something really scary to come after us for the village I can just kill it. Instantly. And mostly die, but not completely die. That will be really impressive, right?
Boris: That is true, but that worries me for your safetly, plus with you in a weakened state, I don’t know what that wizard in your scroll might try.
Ol’ Jardiner pits Endless Scroll in his pack and sits on it to prevent the Evil voice from hearing their conversation.