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Chasing the Sunset is a West Marches-style exploration game using Fellowship 2nd Edition‘s Horizon rules.
The fellowship: Dryden of Conwall the Collector/Hunter, Averiela the Elf/Elven Elite, Markus the Squire, Ol’ Jardiner the Harbinger
Last time, the Fellowship survived a village full of Werewolves and failed to open a portal to the Moon. After Ol’ Jardiner killed the Strange Entity that came through the portal, the Fellowship is ready to try again
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.
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 killed the Vampire Lord leading the invasion of the Hidden Library, but hostile forces occupied the library. The Fellowship locked them in and set out to find someone who can tell them how to put down an Undead Dragon permanently.
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 explored the Dwarven Waterways under the Treacherous Mountains and emerged in the Singing Hills and immediately gained the ire of Aku, the Sky Serpent.
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 made a number of deals in Lichenton, then set out to find a flying turtle by exploring underground tunnels. Continue reading “Chasing the Sunset & retcon”
Chasing the Sunset is a West Marches-style exploration game using Fellowship 2nd Edition‘s Horizon rules.
The fellowship: Vestri the Dwarf, Yuri the Outlander
Last time, the Fellowship saved the world by slaying a Dragon and disabling a doomsday weapon!
Chasing the Sunset is a West Marches-style exploration game using Fellowship 2nd Edition‘s Horizon rules.
The party: Vestri the Dwarf, Yuri the Outlander
Last time, the Fellowship climbed a mountain, were almost eaten by Stoss the great Cloud Eel, and sent Stoss rampaging down the mountain to threaten people below. Now they must work with Stoss’ guardians (who tried to feed them to it) to contain it. Continue reading “Chasing the Sunset & Ranch”
Chasing the Sunset is a West Marches-style exploration game using Fellowship 2nd Edition‘s Horizon rules.
The party: Dryden of Conwall the Collector, Averiela the Elf, Lucia the Brave the Heir
GM note: A player had been recounting stories from our adventures to a relative for a while, so I invited that relative to join.
Introducing Averiela the Elf. Her name means “Truth Seeker”. She’s 1,300 years old and lives in an ancient realm hidden in the deep forest. She’s 5’10” and has deep eyes, like looking into time itself. Those eyes, and her braided hair, are hidden under the hood of her color-changing cloak. Usually the change in color is decorative, but she can empower it with her Elven magic to perfectly match the surroundings and make her invisible. She travels with a pet wolf, Nose-Too-Much, and a unicorn whose true name is untranslatable, so she calls it Whitesand. She and her people only venture from the forest rarely, but on a previous outing, Whitesand met Dryden when he was coming to this continent and searching for Lucia. Dryden took a mold of Whitesand’s hoofprint in the clay of a riverbank, and Whitesand touched the hoofprint with its horn, adding a sparkling star-shape to it.
GM note: 1,300 years old? I don’t have notes that go that far back, but I have to reveal the obvious things that happened 100 years ago that even a secluded Elf would notice, like the disappearance of the Dragons, and the appearance of the Moon.
Last time, Lucia and Dryden stumbled into a hunting expedition which spread into a confused melee, but everyone retreated and they were left alone on the battlefield. Dryden and Lucia search for the pieces of Dryden’s flying disc, which was destroyed with a flick of Haku’s powerful tail.
Lucia Look Closely 6-
Lucia sees a piece near the lake that Roddy retreated into, but she kicks it down the hill in front of her and chases it until it falls in the water and disappears. Out in the middle of the lake, she sees bubbles rise to the surface. The bubbles stop, but reappear after a few seconds. Their timing is regular. Suspicious. Now that she’s down by the shore, she’s on the other side of a chest-high boulder and sees a hole in this side of the rock that leads down into the ground.
Averiela is over the next hill. She sensed a deep evil and set out to make it right. Nose-Too-Much indicates that familiar people are nearby! She and her pets come over the hill and see Dryden and Lucia. Averiela greets them from afar. Dryden returns the traditional hunter’s greeting. (It’s the Vulcan salute)
GM note: Seeking a deep evil? I have several to choose from! Please integrate your personal quest into my lore!
Lucia explains that they were just in an interesting battle. Averiela heard that battle from across the Singing Hills. Unfortunately, the pieces of the flying disk are lost. Dryden will have to start from scratch to build a new one.
Lucia: That flying disk has gotten us out of many a sticky situation.
The three humanoids have gathered at the mysterious boulder.
Dryden: There’s a poorly misguided but very talented sniper down this hole.
Dryden explains the battle, and the unicorn sword he recovered from Lady Elizabeth Eleanor Eadwynn. Making a weapon from the healing horn of a peaceful creature is an atrocity, so Dryden has to be careful about how he shows it to people. Whitesand is right there! Dryden explains that he unlocked the healing potential in the horn, so it can be used for good now.
Dryden: In order to heal the wrongs of the world you must pierce something!
The hole in the boulder leads to a stone spiral staircase that goes down into darkness. The humanoids and the wolf can fit easily, but it would be a tight squeeze for Whitesand. Averiela tells Whitesand to wait in a nearby forest. She can Whisper On The Wind to tell Whitesand where to meet up with her later.
Dryden Strange Curios (useful) – light sources
None of them can see in the dark, so Dryden reaches back into his cloak and pulls out some simple items that he made when he was a young boy. Wands were popular back then, so he made several different kinds of luminous wand: a narrow spotlight, an all-around glow, even some that flash or change color. Now they can see their surroundings. A room cut out of the rock. Ten by twenty feet, and six feet high. Low stone benches. The wall opposite the staircase is open to the side of a round tunnel that’s as wide as a two-lane road, and half full of water. Pointing the wand one direction down the tunnel, they see water flow in from above at the same interval as the bubbles in the lake above. Pointing the other way, the tunnel stretches a long way into the darkness. This looks like a bus stop, but everything seems old and disused. It’s mostly stone, so decay is very subtle and slow.
Averiela Look Closely 10+
Averiela Touch The World Lightly
Averiela takes a wand and walks on the surface of the water down the tunnel a ways. She feels the motion of a large underwater creature through her feet. It does not notice her, and she returns to report to her companions. Despite the threat of the large hidden creature, they all want to continue down the tunnel.
Averiela: Is there anything for you mortals to float on?
Dryden is excited. He’s just figured out a problem that he’s been working on for three and a half months! When he reaches back into his cloak, he’s not pulling objects out of hidden pockets. He’s actually teleporting items from his collection back home. So far he’s only been able to bring magical items through, but he’s cracked the puzzle of safely bringing living creatures through his cloak.
Dryden Strange Curios (useful) – flotation device
Dryden reaches into his cloak and pulls out a giant pond turtle! In the turtle’s language, his name is “Ancient One” Dryden and Acnient One have developed a system over the years. Dryden stands on ancient One’s back and skips a stone in the direction he wants Ancient One to go. Ancient One will go to the stone and retrieve it. Dryden can tap on Ancient One’s shell to signal him to continue in that same direction, or he can skip the stone somewhere else. Lucia and Dryden ride on Ancient One’s shell. Averiela walks on the surface of the water, carrying Nose-Too-Much across her shoulders, because he doesn’t like getting wet.
As they travel down the tunnel, the underwater creature reveals itself, rising up and blocking the whole width of the tunnel. It’s a huge armored crocodile. It’s helmet comes to a sharp point at the end of its snout, perfect for ramming ships,
Armored Crocodile, Boss of Underground Waterways
Dryden: There’s not much meat on me!
A man emerges from an armor-plated howdah on the Crocodile’s back to challenge them.
Brainiac, exiled Vizier of Thaumatown
Brainiac: I am the ruler of this subterranean labyrinth!
Dryden counters by hyping up Lucia’s royal status.
Lucia Royal Treatment: rulers will offer a room and a meal
Brainiac bows formally and asks them to come aboard. The Armored Crocodile lowers its head so they can step up to it. Lucia and Dryden go to the armored howdah, but Averiela prefers to stay outside with Nose-Too-Much and Ancient One. The Armored Crocodile sniffs Ancient One in an uncomfortable, but not immediately threatening manner.
Brainaic’s quarters inside the howdah are simple, but high-tech. It’s lit by softly glowing cylinders. Brainiac knows protocol, and treats Lucia how royalty should be treated.
Lucia Speak Softly 7-9
In the conversation, Brainiac reveals that the underground tunnels are a secret transportation network. He is not from here originally, but is on a quest to regain his former position. He must claim a Source Of Power. From the way he talks about his quest, and his determination to fulfill it, Lucia gets the sense that Brainiac is ruthless, and if he determines that they have something that is useful to him, he’ll take it by force! Dryden tries to make friends.
Dryden: You know, I’m trying to collect magical artifacts as well!
Brainiac is very interested in what Dryden has found. Dryden backpedals, saying he hasn’t had much success. Dryden wants more information from this guy.
Dryden Talk Sense (+Grace, dazzle) 10+
Dryden asks for more information about the quest Brainiac was sent on, and commiserates about difficult quests. Dryden himself was sent on a difficult by a vampire! Brainiac reveals that he was sent out as punishment for not handling a crisis to his master’s satisfaction. His master is the great Wizard Allan A Zham! That name doesn’t mean anything Lucia or Dryden. He was sent to find a Source of Power under a volcano, but there are two volcanoes! Lucia and Dryden share a worried glance. They found a lost library from the Forgotten Lands inside an extinct volcano. They don’t want this ruthless, intelligent person to get his hands on all that knowledge.
Dryden Finish Them (+Wisdom) advantage, relating to his experiences 7-9
Dryden commiserates. The vampire that sent him on a quest also didn’t give good information, so he wasn’t able to find what the vampire wanted. He can only tell Brainiac where not to go. Brainiac wants to do something nice for his guests, so he prepares milkshakes. He opens a small metal box that releases fog like it’s very cold, and puts the ingredients in a little electric blender. He flavors the milkshakes with fruit from crates that show signs of violence. The machines are no doubt his, but he stole all this food from other people. Brainiac asks if they know about the two volcanoes. Lucia says there’s a dragon living under the smoking volcano.
Brainiac: Aha! Great! Useful!
He makes ready to set out, and grants the group free passage through his realm for their help. Lucia and Dryden return to Ancient One, and the Armored Crocodile sinks under the water and disappears. They recount their conversation to Averiela.
Averiela: I’m a little concerned about the information you youngins passed along.
Lucia: We didn’t tell him about the library.
GM note: No end of session move. I checked in with Averiela’s player to make sure they didn’t feel left out, since most of the action was a conversation that Averiela was not present for. They assured me that they are an observer, so low participation is OK. I’ll continue to check in, since they are such a new player. I want them to have a good experience!
Chasing the Sunset is a West Marches-style exploration game using Fellowship 2nd Edition‘s Horizon rules.
The party: Dryden of Conwall the Collector, Lucia the Brave the Heir
Last time, the party came over a mountain pass into the Singing Hills, and were formally but violently told to get lost by a note delivered via high-speed projectile. This just makes them curious.
Dryden takes the projectile, a long metal spike like a thick knitting needles, and hides it back in his cloak. They know roughly where the shot came from, since they heard a sound like a giant cork popping a few seconds after Lucia was hit. Lucia waves a white flag and they head towards the sound. They don’t see anyone in that direction. They go down into a valley, and when they come up the next hill, they see a shining figure ahead of them on top of the next hill, near one of the singing stones. It’s a knight in shining armor standing proudly and waiting for them to approach. As they get closer they get a better look at the knight. Her armor shines like chrome, and is unicorn themed. The visor above her face is shaped like a unicorn’s snout, there’s a unicorn horn on her forehead, and a bubblegum-pink mane on the back of the helmet. Her helmet leaves her face uncovered, and it looks like those artists’ references for ideal proportions. She’s as conventionally attractive as possible.
Lady Elizabeth Eleanor Eadwynn: Oh, you are bold!
Lucia detects that she is evil. Dryden & Lucia introduce themselves. The knight introduces herself as Lady Elizabeth Eleanor Eadwynn. And also Roddy. She points over her shoulder at one of the scrubby bushes on the hilltop. A different bush shifts and gets taller. It’s a person wearing a ghillie suit to disguise his shape. He’s holding a long tube connected to his back with a pipe, probably the weapon that fired the metal spike.
Dryden: You stand in the presence of a queen!
Lucia: Are you the ruler of this place?
Lady Elizabeth Eleanor Eadwynn: No, that is!
She points to the white line in the sky that has been visible since the party came down the mountain, twisting and wandering across the sky. Taking a closer look, Dryden and Lucia can tell that it’s a flying snake: a Sky Serpent. EEE explains that she is here for the glory of hunting and killing that Sky Serpent. She’s cut the Singing Stone next to them to change its pitch and confuse the Sky Serpent. Dryden says he doesn’t see much glory is killing such a little thing. Roddy hesitantly speaks up, avoiding eye contact even though his wide-brimmed hat has a mesh veil that makes his eyes hard to see at the best of times.
Roddy: It’s, uh, actually quite large but it looks small because, uh, it’s, it’s so far away.
Dryden thanks him for the explanation and congratulates him on his excellent shot to deliver EEE’s message.
Roddy’s Social Anxiety make him flee people who talk to him
This makes Roddy very uncomfortable and he shrinks away. The Sky Serpent does seem to be swerving more than usual. Snakes curve back and forth all the time while they move, but these turns look less regular and intentional.
EEE’s Arrogant stat lets people Keep Her Busy by praising her.
Dryden tells EEE that she’s thought up an ingenious plot! A brilliant plot! Surely the bards will sing songs of this day for generations! EEE eats up the attention and starts explaining more details about her plan when a knife lands in the ground between them! It’s clearly a throwing knife, with its hollow hilt and pinky loop, but it’s three feet long!
Lady Elizabeth Eleanor Eadwynn: Such trinkets won’t work on me!
EEE looks up and draws her sword. It’s a rapier, but the blade is a unicorn horn! Unicorns are known to be peaceful creatures with healing powers, so turning one’s horn into a weapon is perverse! No time for that right now! Look up! Somoene has jumped from the back of the Sky Serpent overhead and hurls another throwing knife while plummeting downward.
EEE’s Counter Spell makes her immune to ranged and magical damage
EEE strikes the second throwing knife with her sword, and the knife explodes into pink feathers. The figure lands in a shockwave of debris, because she’s a 20-foot-tall giant!
Fee, giant
Dryden Get Away 10+ (avoid harm, bring Lucia along)
Dryden tackles Lucia out of the way, so they avoid being injured by Fee’s dynamic entry.
Fee: How dare you tamper with Haku’s Singing Stones?!
Fee flings more throwing knives at EEE, who turns them into feathers, dust, glitter, with flicks of her wrist. Dryden gets out the mirror shard (most recently used to kill some vampires) and holds it up so EE can see herself in it. He yells about how glorious this battle is, and how tales will be told.
Lucia goes over to Roddy, who is preparing to fire on Fee, and starts asking a bunch of questions.
Lucia: Why does Triple-E want to hunt this snake anyways? So you’re a marksman, huh? What’s in this for you? What are you getting paid?
Roddy flees.
GM note: At this point, I thought I’d made it too easy. EEE is a jerk and obviously evil from using a unicorn sword, even without Lucia’s special power. Of course the party will fight her. Also the Sky Serpent’s forces will fight against her too. And both EEE and Roddy has easily exploitable weaknesses, which my party is exploiting! This will be so one-sided.
EEE is only half paying attention to Fee’s attacks. She looks over to watch herself in the Dryden’s mirror, striking proper fencing poses as they magically deflects each of Fee’s attacks. Dryden keeps up a running commentary of EEE’s greatness. Lucia sneaks up from the other side, hoping to disable EEE, but at the same time, Fee realizes that the throwing knifes won’t work, and she is 64x EEE’s size, and charges in to grab her. by focussing too much on avoiding EEE’s notice, Lucia has unknowingly put herself in Fee’s path!
EEE’s Mage Knight forces those who get close to her to pay a price (put on the spot)
Lucia Finish Them (sense, knock her out) 7-9 damage Arrogant
Lucia lands a solid blow, and EEE realizes the folly of listening to flatterers. Dryden activates his Flying Disk to rise up to Fee’s eye level
Dryden Talk Sense (wisdom, emotion) 10+
Dryden: Fair giantess! We don’t wish to fight you! Someone so evil as to use a unicorn sword must face justice!
Fee is convinced that Lucia and Dryden are not threats. She shifts her weight as she runs, stepping over Lucia (instead of trampling her) and snatching EEE up in one giant fist. EEE reverses her grip on her unicorn sword and brings it down with both hands into Fee’s wrist!
EEE damages Fee’s Proper Weapons
Fee screams in pain and flings EEE away, down the hill.
Fee damages EEE’s Counter Spell
Lucia has lost track fo Roddy and sends Will, her bodyguard to look for him.
Dryden Scooby Snacks to Overchage Flying Disk, even though Overcharge is marked
Dryden flies after EEE and throws his gravity-warping knockout-gas bolas!
Dryden Finish Them (sense, knock out) advantage: thrown down a hill 6-
Roddy fires his weapon just as Dryden is about to throw. The sudden noise disrupts Dryden’s aim, and the bolas land beyond EEE. Roddy does not miss. He just shot Haku!
Haku, Sky Serpent, Boss of The Singing Hills
Roddy damages Haku’s Mostly Peaceful
Haku bellows with rage and dives towards the ground.
Lucia’s Symbol Of Royalty grants her an audience with whoever she shows it to.
Lucia holds aloft the brooch in the shape of a silver flower that proves she is Queen of the Forgotten Lands. She starts to formally great Haku.
Fee: You fool! He’s blind!
Haku can’t recognize the Symbol of Royalty, so Lucia can’t claim Royal Treatment!
Fee blows a whistle around her neck and runs away from Haku’s projected impact point. EEE recovers and targets Dryden for tricking her. He mocks her for thinking she can fight a great Sky Serpent when she got tossed like a piece of trash by a Giant. Haku crashes to the ground, knocking over the Singing Stone at the top of the hill. He’s 100 feet long, and his coils are so thick that Dryden and Lucia can’t see over them.
Dryden Get Away 10+ avoid harm, bring Lucia along
Dryden swoops in and carries Lucia away from the shackwave. A second giant dismounts and heads towards Roddy. This giant wields two ship anchors, and has ship chains wrapped in a an X over both shoulders. EEE switches to fight Haku, now that he is within reach.
Lucia: We could leave.
Dryden: We need to take out Triple-E.
They turn to Fee. Dryden floats at her eye level.
Dryden: We want to stop the crazy pink knight and not die.
Lucia: We are but peaceful-ish travelers. We have no ill will towards you. We have no desire to fight and bring violence.
Fee explains that Haku is blind and uses the sounds of the Singing Stones to navigate. This Singing Stone was altered to sing the wrong note and disorient Haku. Now he’s furious, and you little people should stay out of reach.
Dryden: Keep to the air, right.
GM note: I need to make sure that Dryden’s player knows his spells and gadgets are limited-use resources. He sure uses that Flying Disk often.
Dryden flies over the fight between Haku and EEE and fires his Ranged Rope at EEE’s left ankle
Dryden Finish Them (sense, disable) advantage: fighting a giant Sky Serpent 7+
The rope grabs EEE’s leg and trips her up. She faceplants and drops her sword. Dryden attaches the rope to the Flying Disk and tells the Flying Disk to drag EEE into the gas cloud from the bolas. Since the Flying Disk can only carry one person, he drops to the ground near Haku, who has not calmed down.
GM note: See? Can the Flying Disk be Overcharged and Autonomous at the same time?
The Flying Disk drags EEE across the ground in a most undignified manner, one leg up in the air, head dragging on the ground. Her helmet comes off, revealing that only half of the pink mane was built into the helmet. EEE has long, beautiful bubblegum-pink hair, which is now full of dirt and grass.
Roddy’s Trick Shot causes a Finish Them roll to fail
Roddy shoots the rope holding EEE to the Flying Disk, so she stops short of the knock-out gas. She had to think hard about her situation. All stats damaged. Her Sharpshooter is still active, but harried by a giant. Her quarry is on the ground and injured, but Fee, Lucia, and Dryden are all between her and him. She flees.
Lucia sees that Dryden is in danger from Haku’s lashing and writhing. She thinks about reasoning with Haku, but he’s just been disoriented, led into a trap, and shot. Seems like a bad time to talk. She scoops up EEE’s helmet instead of helping Dryden. Dryden is slammed to the ground by one of Haku’s coils. He lands on EEE’s Unicorn Sword, but his innate magic and good character activate a bit of the healing magic within the sword. He gets up and pulls the sword out and the Unicorn Sword heals his wound as it leaves.
Fee tries to calm Haku, and Dryden does too. Since Haku can’t see, he’ll use other senses. He holds the Unicorn Sword and tries to imitate the nuzzling motion that Unicorns use when healing with their horns. Long ago, when testing out his Flying Disk, Dryden broke both is legs, but he met a Unicorn foal. The foal used this motion and both Dryden’s femur and tibia healed perfectly.
Pay a price to roll against Threat To The World: Flying Disk
Finish Them (Wisdom, show error of fighting) advantage: assistance from Fee 6-
Haku is unconvinced. He lashes out with his tail and hits Dryden’s Flying Disk. Dryden hears a crunching sound, and his soul crunches within him. Haku bellows a signal, and Fee jumps on his back. Fum is across the valley swinging her anchors on the end of chains at poor Roddy. She hears the signal and blows a whistle in response.
Lucia wants to call out to Fee before she leaves, but doesn’t want to yell because that’s anxiety-inducing, and she wants Haku to be calm.
Lucia: Fee, I hope we meet again under better circumstances!
Haku flies towards Fum and she also jumps aboard. Haku flies into the sky to disengage. Roddy, abandoned by EEE, doesn’t continue the fight and runs down the hill and disappears into a lake in the valley. Suddenly the only sounds are the constant humming of the Singing Stones. Did they win? EEE did not achieve her goal of killing Haku, but she got away. Haku survives, but has no good memories of them. they do have EEE’s sword and helmet. The three-foot horn used for the sword was clearly from a full-grown Unicorn. The smaller horn on EEE’s helmet is not he tip of a larger horn, but the full horn of a young Unicorn. What a terrible person. The Unicorn Sword has turned the healing horn into a weapon of destruction, but the healing powers are still present, just suppressed. Dryden uses the vials of Living Water and Living Ice he collected from the mountain spring to bring these powers forth.
Unicorn sword: melee, piercing, healing (2 uses) Good people who know about unicorns will hate anyone who carries it.
GM note: End of Session move. Heal, restore Gear (food, for more healing), level up. The characters reached level 5. I explained Destinies, but the players chose to advance in their Playbooks instead of taking Destinies, at least this time.
When the battle heated up I thought it would be a one-sided stomp, but no side definitively won. No one was Taken Out.
Chasing the Sunset is a West Marches-style exploration game using Fellowship 2nd Edition‘s Horizon rules.
The party: Dryden of Conwall the Collector, Lucia the Heir
Last time, Lucia & Dryden fought Doctor Diana MacLeod, the mad scientist vampire who spent 60 years turning a mountain into an anti-moon weapon. It was the first time that Lucia & Dryden ever killed a person. They fled after striking her down to avoid fighting every single person employed on the mountain.
GM note: Lucia’s bloodline ability “Make people forget the past five minutes” proved too powerful and useful. Lucia’s player suggested adding some limitation, like limited uses or a cooldown, but I demanded a completely different ability. Lucia’s player decided on reinstating an ability that Lucia lost in the transition from Dungeon World to Fellowship. She can pause for a moment and ask, “What here is evil?”
Now they catch their breath and wonder what they are trying to do. Stopping MacLeod’s schemes was good, but how did they get mixed up in all this? Long ago they found evidence of a werewolf attack in a small farming village, and one thing led to another. They aren’t welcome back in that village, and they didn’t figure out how to stop werewolves either. They really don’t have anything to follow up on. The world is open to them. Dryden quotes a famous adventurer who said, “Adventure is out there!” He wants to strike out in a direction and see what they find. From their high vantage point they look around.
To the north, the foothills that MacLeod’s mountain rises above grow steeper and higher, becoming an imposing snowy mountain range. To the east, Lady Evelynn’s estate. To the south, the village that was attacked by a werewolf, and the hot springs inhabited by “trickster demons” who just don’t realize that not everyone is immune to heat. To the west, two forests. The northwest forest is huge and old. The southwest forest looks sickly. After some consideration, they decide to head north and cross the treacherous mountains.
Travelers know that mountain ranges usually have high passes and low tunnels. Dryden figures that a river’s path up a mountain will be easy to follow, and uses his flying disk to scout for such a river.
Dryden Look Closely (+hope for good plan) 12
He finds the river that eventually flows through Sugar’s Crossing. It’s much smaller up here in the mountains, of course. The finds a path for them to follow. The mountains are very high, reaching into the clouds. It gets cold and snowy. The path will be dangerous, with steep drop-offs on one side and unstable snow everywhere. Dryden also spots some beast dens, although he doesn’t see the beasts that live there. They may face hungry predators along the path.
With the path ahead scouted, Dryden, Lucia, and their companions start walking. Eventually they reach the headwaters of the river. A spring burst from the mountain into a dish-shaped depression, so it forms a small pool. One side of the depression has a spout shape to it, releasing the river to flow down the mountain, join with rainwater and other streams, and eventually become the mighty river that carries so many people and goods through Sugar’s Crossing. The spring is so high and cold that most of the circular pool is frozen over, but the motion of the spring keeps the center of the pool melted, so there’s a ring of ice with a hole in the middle where water bubbles up. Such a location is special, perhaps magical. Dryden reaches back into his cloak and pulls out two vials: one for water, one for ice. He can’t walk out on the ice to reach the liquid center of the pool. The ice gets thinner and thinner towards the center, so he’d break through before reaching the open water. He gets a long branch from a nearby tree and secures the vials to the end, using the branch to extend his reach. He scoops up some spring water, then waits for a piece of ice to break off and flow towards the pool’s spout so he can grab that too. He won’t disturb this sacred place by breaking a piece of ice off.
Lucia: You’ve learned much in your travels.
When they were growing up together in the palace together, Dryden was more impulsive and less respectful. They stop to eat a meal and rest before moving on. Dryden bends the branch that he used to grab the water into a circle, applies some secret material, steps back with a flourish, and the branch bursts into flame. It provides all the heat & light of a campfire from only one branch.
They continue uphill. This was a trail at one point, but it hasn’t been maintained in a long time. Here a log props up a dangerous overhanging rock. There a few flat stones are placed to form a stable road surface. These signs of civilization are few and far between ,and most have succumbed to the assaults of the elements. Lucia & Dryden are walking on a narrow path on the side of a mountain: steep rocky slope rising above on their left. On the right, a steep descent with occasional trees. If they fell off this path, instead of plummeting hundreds of feet to a sudden rocky stop, they’d slide and tumble over rocks and gravel, and perhaps manage to stop themselves on a tree. Ahead, the path turns a sharp corner around a ridge. A chunk of the ridge is missing and the path goes through the gap. Two logs should hold up the overhanging rock, but one had fallen down, and the other is weakened: chewed and scratched by sharp teeth and claws. Lucia & Dryden check their gear for items that might help in this situation. Lucia has piles of cash, but the mountain does not accept money. Dryden defers to “your Highness.” It’s a chance for her to build her leadership skills.
Lucia approaches the overhang to get a better look, very wary of falling rocks.
Lucia Look Closely 7-9
She notices a traveler’s pack on the far side of the fallen log, but a section of trail gives way under her feet and she starts to slide off the edge!
Lucia Get Away 6-
She grabs for something to catch herself and grabs the remaining support log! It falls over and now the overhang begins to come loose. Lucia is still sliding off the path, but now Dryden is also in danger! Dryden reaches into his cloak and retrieves his Dwarf-made hammer, a two-handed weapon with a long, unbreakable handle. He moves in to the base of the crumbling overhang to prop it up with the unbreakable hammer.
Dryden Overcome 2
Most of the overhang is still unsupported & continues to collapse. A smaller rock strikes and injures Dryden, and a rock the size of couch completely flattens the traveler’s bag. Lucia pulls herself up and runs through the overhang to the far side.
Lucia Get Away 6
She isn’t struck by falling rocks, but a rock that rolls down onto the path trips her and she falls again. But she’s around the corner, and on the path ahead she sees about 15 hungry wolves.
The wolves notice her and start to approach. They are a fair distance away, so there’s still time for the party to be crushed flat or thrown down the mountain before the wolves have a chance to eat them.
Dryden Get Away 12
Dryden uses his flying disk to grab Lucia and zoom out away from the slope as the overhang totally collapses. He must return to the path quickly, since the flying disk only works for a short time. They have escaped the danger of the collapsing overhang, but now it’s a wall behind them and the pack of wolves approaches from the front!
GM note: Dryden’s player selected the option “bring someone else with you” for Get Away. Dryden’s Flying Thing gear option allows him to fly, and can be Overcharged to double the effect. Did Dryden need to Overcharge the Flying Thing to Get Away with Lucia? I ruled that the Get Away move let Dryden carry Lucia and Overcharge wasn’t needed.
Treacherous Mountain: The Narrow Path defeated.
Dryden sets a bear trap on the path in front of himself. The wolves see him do it, so they know where the trap is, but it’s still area denial, and on this narrow path, that’s important. Lucia throws rocks at the wolves, which just angers them, so they target her.
Lucia Keep Them Busy. automatic failure against Group
Some approach on the path, some clamber on the slope above. Dryden uses the harpoon gun he stole from Lady Evelynn to grapple some rocks on the slope above and pull them down on the wolves.
Finish Them with Courage (advantage: unexpected rockslide) 7-9 damage Pack Hunter
The small landslide disrupts their formation and knocks a few down the slope, but the remaining wolves don’t flee. A large rock lands on the path, and Lucia climbs it so the wolves will have trouble reaching her. She succeeds in making herself a hard target, so the wolves switch to Dryden. He tries to evade them, but is grabbed and dragged to the ground.
Dryden Get Away 5
Lucia leaps off the rock with a battle cry!
Lucia Finish Them with Courage (advantage: Plunge Attack) 10+
Her plunge attack kills one wolf and sends most of the pack fleeing! Two wolves stop and return, determined to get a kill. As individuals, they are easier to fight. Dryden remembers some literature he once read and places something on the path in front of him. A wolf carefully steps over the bear trap and lunges at Dryden. Just as Dryden expected. The object he placed just in front of himself is a “mirage” prank weapon, which appears to burst into sudden flames! The wolf stumbles back in shock, right into the bear trap. Snap! The wolf is immobilized.
GM Note: The Distraction spell let Dryden Get Away or Keep Them Busy with 10+ Given the fictional situation, I offered Dryden’s player another option: the wolf steps in the trap. That damages the wolf and gives the characters advantage over it (it can’t move) so it’s more powerful than the options in the rules, but Dryden planned & spent resources to create the opportunity, so it seemed appropriate.
Meanwhile, Lucia keeps the other wolf at bay with her sword.
Lucia Keep Them Busy 7-9
Dryden looks around to see how he can assist Lucia. His prank weapon is spent and his Dwarven hammer is buried in a landslide, but Dryden is Fully Armed and carries an entire arsenal. He selects his multi-cursed gladius. Why carry lots of cursed weapons when one weapon can contain several curses? The gladius has a flat disk built into the crossguard. Dryden rubs his thumb across the disk in a counter-clockwise motion, then taps the symbol on the left side of the disk to select the Curse of Bees. Collecting the Curse of Bees is a painful memory.) He strikes the wolf fighting Lucia with the sensation of a thousand stings and the wolf flees in panic, sliding down the steep gravely slope with all four legs pushed forward to try to keep its speed down to a survivable level.
Dryden Finish Them with Courage (advantage: Lucia Keeping Them Busy) 7-9
All the wolves have been vanquished, except the one caught in the bear trap. Dryden approaches with soothing words, but the wolf snaps and growls at him. Dryden offers it some food from his pack. He remembers the wisdom of several people he met on his journeys who were good with animals. The Druid Gleador, and expert on animals because he had become so many of them, said to look the wolf in the eye and tell it it’s a good boy. Mr London says that the deep desire of all dogs is fire, so Dryden reaches in to his cloak and pulls out a heat ball. This is another way to quickly make a camp fire. He ignites it and tells the wolf that if it sticks with them, it will never be cold again. Dryden carefully pulls the jaws of bear trap open, releasing the wolf in a third show of good will.
Dryden Finish Them with Wisdom (advantage: spend food, spend Useful item, wolf is immobilized & must listen) 7-9
Alas, the wolf flees as soon as it’s free. Lucia & Dryden sit down for another meal before moving on.
Treacherous Mountain: The Creatures Above defeated.
Now they are past the highest mountains and can look out over the location they are approaching. The mountains flatten out into rolling hills. When the wind blows up from the hills they can hear faint constant tones, like musical notes. There’s also a tiny white line curving around on the hills. As they continue to walk down out of the mountain range, the musical tones get more constant and louder. Different tones seem to come from different directions. The hills are grassy, with no trees because of the constant winds. There are some scrubby bushes, and rocks protruding from the grassy hills. Now that they are lower, they realize that the white line is moving through the air, but they were so high earlier that they were looking down on it. They stop for another meal.
Treacherous Mountain: The Long Road defeated.
Treacherous Mountain Setpiece defeated.
Lucia investigates the source of these constant musical tones.
Lucia Look Closely 6-
Standing stones on top of some hills have slits carved through them, and the wind whistling through the slits produces the different notes. Lucia walks up to one such stone, which is about 12 feet tall. The stone was placed and carved intentionally. Up close some decorative engraving around the slit is visible. Yet care was taken by the unknown creator to keep most of the stone’s natural shape, and to place the stone so it fits with its surrounding. While pondering this, Lucia is knocked to the ground and injured! Two seconds later, they hear something like an enormous bottle being uncorked, far away across the valley. There’s something stuck in Lucia’s metal armor: a metal spike about a foot long, like a thick knitting needle. There’s a piece of paper wrapped around the projectile. Lucia opens and reads the note.
Stay away. This hunt and its glory are mine.
-EEE
GM note: We end with the introduction of a new location and a new threat. The Singing Hills are actually one of the first locations I created when I started Chasing The Sunset in July of 2019, and I’ve been hoping for my players to find it for over a year. I’m excited for them to meet EEE and the other characters that live here.