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 finally wrapped up their business in the Forgotten Lands. This time, they sail back to the continent aboard the Trilobite.
The Fellowship wonders if they can buy the Trilobite from Edna, so they can use it all the time, not just on this chartered voyage to the Forgotten Lands. The problem is, they don’t really have money. Speaking of Edna, weren’t they supposed to get a trade deal for her? One more thing before they leave.
Boris: Is it worth leveraging that we know about that cult to her. “We set fire to one of the cult buildings…”
Yonne: I don’t think we want to talk about that.
The Fellowship and Citrina (captain of the Trilobite and employee of Edna) meet with Portia to discuss a trade deal.
Pierre Speak Softly (+hope from Yonne) 10+ ask 3 questions, get 3 answers
- What do they want and how could we help them get it?
- They can’t mine for rock or metal, because they’re on top of an illusion. If they dig into the ground, they will fall into VolWolkenStadt. They could use more lumber. Everyone likes exotic food from other lands.
- What can they tell us about their exports?
- The Forgotten Land is lush, so they grow a lot of food. They raise sheep and make good wool products, especially sweaters.
- Portia: I can’t promise anyone access to VolWolkenStadt! Lucia is still considering what to do about that.
- What should I be wary of when dealing with the Forgotten Lands?
- Don’t send too many ships, lest you reveal the presence of the Forgotten Lands to the world at large.
The Oolite Mine is working again and Dwarves have re-taken the City of Clay. Any food from the continent is exotic to the Forgotten Lands. Where can Edna get lumber? The fairies in the Fairy Forest would attack any lumberjacks. The forest surrounding the Last Village is extremely dangerous. Rowdy’s Realm (used to be the Drained Forest, used to be the Drowned Forest) needs years to grow. The Fulheim Forest to the north of Port Fennrick is a good choice.
Citrina and Pierre come up with a proposal for Portia.
Pierre Speak Softly (+Sense, explain plan) (+hope, help from Citrina) 10+ they do it.
Portia accepts the proposal. Citrina says that Edna will be very pleased.
Yonne: Maybe she’ll be willing to give us a substantial reward–
Boris: –something ship-shaped?
Yonne: We’ll be ambassadors. We’ll find you cool new places to trade with, if you give us the ship.
Pierre: I–I just quit! You want me to go back and work for her again?
Boris: Maybe we tell her about the back entrance to VolWolkenStadt, “Hey, we’ll give you some cool intel. For the ship.”
The Trilobite leaves the Forgotten Lands and sails north towards Port Fennrick.
Long Journey: The Sapphire Islands imposes a quarantine
The Trilobite plans to stop at The Sapphire Islands to resupply, like it did on the way south. An outrigger canoe, paddled briskly by some Elves, pulls along side. Halidor, their commander, skips across the surface of the water and gracefully climbs the side of the Trilobite.
Citrina: I didn’t give you permission to come aboard!
Halidor: We’re the ones giving you permission to come into our waters. There’s a quarantine. We’ve had invasive species and we must protect our ancient environment. I’m going to search the ship to make sure you’re not carrying certain kinds of plants or animals.
Citrina is annoyed, but this is a procedure she’s dealt with at some ports. The Fellowship didn’t bring any contraband, especially Yonne. She doesn’t really carry things, because things tend to dissolve when she holds them. They let the Elf Commander search the ship. The Elf Commander finds the samples of food that Citrina was bringing back to Edna. The prepared food is fine, but not the fresh fruit.
Halidor: There are seeds in these. They could still grow. We’re going to get rid of them.
Citrina: This is part of a trade agreement between two countries!
Pierre: Halidor, you’re familiar with magical leylines. I am able to manipulate them to make space inaccessible. If I twist off a little loop of spacetime, the fresh fruit will never actually be in the Sapphire Islands. That way Citrina can keep her trade agreement and we keep the Sapphire Islands safe. What do you think about that?
Pierre Talk Sense (+Sense, explain plan) 6- no deal
Halidor: That is the loop-holiest loop-hole. I can’t be sure that your magic won’t expire, or you won’t un-loop it. It’s gotta go.
Boris: Do we have an anchor/buoy that we could leave a decent distance off the coast and retrieve later?
That’s fine with Halidor. He doesn’t care what happens outside the waters of the Sapphire Islands. The crew wraps the fresh food in a waterproof trap, ties it to a buoy, and drops the buoy a safe distance from the islands. The Trilobite is allowed to dock at the Sapphire Islands.
Long Journey: Yonne meets Felenor, whom she hates
The Trilobite docks on the island ruled by Fenelor Ivan. Halidor reported that the Trilobite was carrying trade goods and Felenor assumed the Fellowship wanted to sell those goods on his island. He doesn’t think anything from outside could improve the Sapphire Islands, so this is a serious insult. He wants to seize the ship and scuttle it!
Pierre: This is borrowed, so we can’t let you do that.
Boris: Also, then we would be stuck here, and you don’t want that.
Yonne starts yelling at Felenor and seems like she might escalate to violence at any moment. Pierre takes half a step forward and realizes that he physically can’t hold Yonne back.
Pierre: Yonne, this guy is already starting an international incident by seizing one of Port Fennrick’s ship. We don’t need to make this any worse. He is already causing a problem.
Pierre Talk Sense (+Wisdom, appeal to emotions) 7-9 owe a favor
Fenelor: I won’t seize your ship, but you will not set foot on the Sapphire Islands. Give a manifest to the dock chief and my people will load the supplies onto your ship.
Yonne: That’s fine. We don’t want to set foot on your islands anyway. I don’t even have feet.
Yonne drops overboard into the water and swims around the island, complying with the letter of the law, but not the spirit. Pierre started to give a speech about the co-operation of nations, but realizes that no-one is listening. Boris writes a note to Scintilla, who was very kind to him when they first met. He gives it to a dock worker to deliver. The dock worker is glad to stop carrying heavy objects for a few hours.
Boris: I appreciate our time together. I’m working to accept my current role in the pack. I won’t forget your kindness and I will repay it with the favor you asked.
Fortune to find the buoy with food: 1-3, failure
When the Trilobite leaves the Sapphire Island, riding low in the water from all the supplies, it sails back to the area where the fresh food was left tied to a buoy. Despite a careful search, the crew does not find the buoy.
Long Journey: Pierre unintentionally attacks a whale
Pierre is the gunner on the Luna Penumbra and assumes he knows gunnery better than anyone, so he offers Wat-Wat some helpful tips. The Luna Penumbra uses cannons and the Trilobite throw rocks with articulated arms, so Pierre’s expertise is not as transferrable as he thinks. He sees something floating in the distance and tells Wat-Wat to shoot at it.
- Whale: The largest and most intelligent creature in the sea. An air-breathing mammal, not a fish.
- Large And In Charge: The whale controls their space. Anyone they see coming with intent to cause harm will be shoved away harmlessly.
- Massive Body: The whale cannot be pushed or moved by wind currents, bad weather, or enemy efforts.
- Deliberate Movements: The whale is Slow.
Whale Large And In Charge: shove rock away harmlessly.
Wat-Wat throws a rock at the object. A big fin rises out of the water and knocks the rock aside. More of the whale rises out of the water. It’s longer than the Trilobite! The tail fins slap the surface and the huge creature dives underwater.
Boris: We can high-tail it immediately!
Pierre: Hey, I’m the captain! But the captain does take advice from his crew, and i agree. Full speed ahead!
Long Journey: The Trilobite blunders into an uprain storm.
- Sudden Deluge: The only warning that an Uprain storm is coming is the noise. A sudden sound of rushing water, similar to a waterfall, often precedes an Uprain Storm by as much as a minute, often less. Once someone makes a Move, damage this stat, then the Uprain is here.
Trilobite Get Away (+Engine) 7-9 avoid harm
The trilobite extends its legs and kicks furiously for a bit of extra speed. The whale is slow, so it was never going to catch the ship.
- Initial Blast: The first blast is always the hardest. Everyone who is not bolted down or indoors is blown away from the group, immediately separating everyone. Anyone outside must make an Overcome roll to avoid becoming separated, by taking cover or holding on to something sturdy. After the initial blast is over, damage this stat and move on to Uprain.
Wat-Wat and Pierre are on deck near the arms. Yonne was at the helm. Boris was near Pierre to avise him, so they’re all at risk.
Yonne Overcome 7-9 temporary solution
Yonne holds onto the ship’s wheel, but the uprain is diluting her fluid body.
Pierre Foresight Right Place: Your ally is in exactly the right place.
Pierre sends Wat-Wat below just before the Uprain hits.
Pierre Overcome 6- failure
The Uprain launches Pierre up and over the railing.
Boris Overcome uprain 10+ success
Boris Wallwalker: You can climb along any surface with ease, even the ceiling, and you climb as quickly as you can run.
Boris Overcome Pierre’s fall 10+ success
Boris stand firm, sees Pierre in peril, and, quick as a flash, stands on the side of the ship and grabs Pierre by one foot. Pierre dangles upside-down, just above the water. The rain is coming up, out of the ocean. Boris brings Pierre and himself back on-board.
Pierre: I think I saw another whale down there.
- Uprain: The storm is here, and it is not letting up. Rain constantly blasts you from below, almost malevolently twisting in the wind towards anyone and everyone it can. Once the storm passes, move on to Downrain.
- Torrential Rain: The rain is heavy and constant, for now. People cannot fly through this weather, visibility is very poor, and anyone piloting a ship must do so with Despair. Anyone who ventures into the rain will quickly become lost, if they do not have a landmark or rope to follow.
- Frustrated Tears: Anyone who becomes lost in the rain takes damage. This damage repeats after every roll they make while lost.
Pierre yells over the storm to Yonne, who is barely holding onto the wheel.
Pierre: There’s a whale underneath us! Take evasive action!
Yonne spends 1 Rain
Yonne manipulates her body to have neutral pH in the center and concentrates her acid near the surface, accantuating the difference between her body and the neutral rain blasting it.
GM note: Yonne basically re-invented the AT Field from Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Yonne pilots the ship straight ahead to escape the whale, without considering the wind or other factors.
Uprain Torrential Rain: The rain is heavy and constant … anyone piloting a ship must do so with Despair.
Yonne Get Away (+Engine, +Despair) 6- failure
The whale surfaces under the Trilobite, lifting it out of the water! Yonne deploys the ship’s legs. Boris hopes to spook it, so it bucks the Trilobite off like a bull. He ties himself to the ship with a long rope and descends to menace the whale with his fire. He boosts his fire with his dark magic so the rain doesn’t extinguish his fire.
Whale Large And In Charge: The whale controls their space. Anyone they see coming with intent to cause harm will be shoved away harmlessly.
This whale has more fins than a normal whale, and a smaller fin smacks Boris off the whale’s back.
Boris Overcome 7-9 pay a price
Boris damages Sense
Boris is rattled but hangs on to the rope.
Boris Boogeyman: When your enemies stand outside the light, you may Keep Them Busy no matter how many there are.
Boris swings back and forth above the whale, dodging its fins and distracting it from whatever it was trying to do to the Trilobite. The noise of the storm almost drowns them out, but Pierre barely hears some booming low-frequency noises.
Pierre: There could be a pattern to it. Maybe it’s trying to communicate. If I knew it’s name, I could send it a message. I could do a ritual to learn the whale language, but that takes several minutes and I don’t want to leave Boris hanging.
Boris: I’m at the end of my rope!
Pierre: Pilot, crawl us off of this whale and go, umm, starboard!
Yonne backs up and does a j-turn on the whale’s back.
Yonne Get Away (+Engine +Despair) 7-9 avoid harm
Uprain Torrential Rain: The rain is heavy and constant … anyone piloting a ship must do so with Despair.
- Downrain: The storm has passed. After a few minutes to an hour, a gentle downrain greets you.
- The Eye of the Storm: Before the Downrain arrives, the weather is unnervingly still. The skies are perfectly clear and no winds blow after an Uprain deluge, not until the Downrain arrives. Anyone lost is easy to find now, should anyone go looking for them.
- Second Wind: Anyone caught out when the eye passes takes damage from the sudden onslaught of Downrain. After the initial deluge, however, Downrain is harmless, and will not cause any more damage to anyone. This gentle rain will fall for a few hours, and then the storm is over.
The Trilobite suddenly bursts into calm air. The ocean no longer sends its water skyward. The whale is easy to see in the calm water, and the Trilobite can avoid it.
Whale Deliberate Movements: The whale is Slow.
The other side of the eye-wall approaches. Boris offers Pierre a rope, but Pierre orders everyone below deck. Yonne must stay on deck to pilot the ship.
Uprain Storm Second Wind: Anyone caught out when the eye passes takes damage from the sudden onslaught of Downrain.
Yonne damages Sense
GM note: On a character level, the Fellowship has been blown off-course and they don’t know where the Trilobite is. At a writer level, we get to decide where we want our characters to end up. We decide to download this year’s DLC and go to The Empire.
The Fellowship sees land on the horizon! Yonne steers the Trilobite towards it, but they don’t reach it for a long time. The land they see is the tops of high cliffs that plunge directly into the sea. There’s a hot air balloon floating a good distance from the shore with the Imperial Seal printed on the balloon. The Empire gets its identity from the land. The uplifted terrain makes them literally and figuratively superior to other nations. The docks on the port stick out from the top of the cliffs and have lifted a small ship and a medium ship up with giant cranes. A larger ship is at anchor belows the docks. The dock cranes pull cargo containers out of the ship’s hold, because the ship is too large to lift.
A steam-powered Imperial vessel approaches and hails the Trilobite,
Pierre: I know how this is going to go, guys. There will be some questions to make sure we won’t cause trouble. People with special skills or abilities will have to be licensed. That’s definitely you two. They count my Academy degree. It makes them think I’m a reasonable Wizard.
Pierre signals the Imperial vessel, which sends over a boat with their Commander and a few Marines.
Taylor he/him Halfling Imperial Naval Commander
Taylor: Well, folks, if you want to enter the Empire, you must comply with our licensing and inspection requirements.
Citrina: The Empire? How far west did we go?
Boris looks at Yonne, the pilot, a look. Yonne looks at Atlas, the navigator.
Pierre: I’ve been here before. It’s a cool place. Of course we’ll be licensed and comply with all the regulations.
Taylor: Do you have enough food and money to support yourselves while you are here?
Pierre has 1 Food, 2 swigs of elixir, and no Precious items.
Yonne has a collection of gems, one of which is worth something.
Boris has 1 Food.
Citrina: The ship has enough supplies for the return journey, including this exotic food, which we hope to preserve and deliver. Also, it’s exotic food, so it’s valuable.
Taylor: Is anyone affiliated with a foreign government?
Pierre: Like I told the other border patrol, I’m an Academy graduate. Since part of the Academy is in the Empire, I wouldn’t do anything against the Empire.
Pierre shows his Academy credentials.
Citrina: I work for the mayor of Port Fennrick. This is a merchant ship, so we go back and forth. Captain, exactly how long are we spending in the Empire, and are we going to trade our good for Imperial goods?
Pierre: Uhh, it’ll be fine.
Yonne: No, I don’t think any government knows I am here, or exist. Nope.
Taylor: Those other governments sound sloppy. Your presence here will be precisely documented.
Boris: No, not a one.
Taylor: You’re definitely a Rain, and I’ve never seen someone like you before. Boris, was it? Are you magical, elemental, or physically adept?
Boris: Elemental.
Taylor: We need an Elemental Water badge for this one and an Elemental Fire badge for this one. You must display these at all times.
They offer Yonne an armband, but realize that’s no good and get a metal badge for her to engulf. Boris’ badge is orange for fire, Yonne’s is teal for water. They put a Merchant License on the Trilobite’s prow.
Taylor: Enjoy your stay in the greatest country on the planet.
The hot air balloon signals the Imperial interceptor with a mirror, and the flashes of light are visible on the Trilobite. Taylor and the marines return to the interceptor and sail towards another approaching ship.
Citrina: Hold on, I thought we were going back to Port Fennrick. Do we intend to trade our cargo? Do you want to go ashore and see the sights?
Boris: He said it’s the greatest country in the world. I would like to see the greatest country in the world.
Yonne: I’d like to see the greatest country in the world. Do you think there’s a lot of Rain there?
Boris: I don’t know. Can Rain travel vertically upwards? We just saw the actual rain do that.
Pierre: I’m the Captain, and I say we go in and dock.
END-OF-SESSION MOVE
- Did we thoroughly explore a new location?
- NO.
- Did anyone find what they were seeking?
- NO, Boris already claimed VolWolkenStadt in a previous end-of-session move
- Did we learn something new about the world and its people?
- YES, giant intelligent whales and The Empire.
1 boon: level up Boris and Yonne.