Let’s begin the month with a take a look at an journey launched for Beneath the Seas of Vodari, The Hunt for the Undine. When you haven’t appeared on the setting, The Seas of Vodari is a third-party D&D setting of fantasy pirates and swashbuckling, with all of the D&D-isms inbuilt. Beneath the Seas of Vodari is the growth of the setting that particulars the undersea cultures of the setting. This journey’s hook and places all happen within the undersea realms.
Disclaimer
Brandes Stoddard, who has author/developer credit on this journey, is an efficient good friend of mine. I obtained my copy of this journey as a backer of the Beneath the Seas of Vodari crowdfunding marketing campaign. I’ve not had the chance to play in or run this journey, however I’ve had fairly in depth expertise each as a participant and a DM of D&D 5e.
Beneath the Seas of Vodari: The Hunt for the Undine
Writing/Improvement: Brandes Stoddard
Modifying: Shawn Ellsworth
Artwork Course: Shawn Ellsworth
Graphic Design and Structure: Dave Jumaquio
Illustrators: Mariam Trejo
Cartographers: Kate Woodall and Dave Jumaquio
The Hunt for the Undine is a 24-page PDF. It features a cowl web page and a credit/desk of contents web page, with the remainder being the journey materials, together with NPC stats. The paintings continues with the identical model within the Vodari materials so removed from Mariam Trejo. I’m a simple mark for a setting with a longtime artwork model and a fan of Trejo’s work.
Technical Particulars
That is an journey designed for Fifth-level characters. A bit offers story-based development ideas should you aren’t inclined to trace XP in your video games. There’s a sidebar that makes use of floor characters within the journey. On the very least, they’ll want the flexibility to breathe underwater, and the sidebar summarizes among the different points that will come up if a personality is constructed for dryland adventuring.
The journey was developed for the Beneath the Seas of Vodari crowdfunding marketing campaign, so the stat blocks don’t make the most of the brand new 2024 format, however nothing in regards to the journey could be considerably modified by utilizing the 2024 guidelines. If you wish to see among the preliminary growth of 2024 variations of Vodari parts, there are some previews of this work on the Vodari Voyages Patreon.
The journey does one thing I recognize each time I see it: It features a structured sidebar on role-playing an essential NPC. Greater than participant characters, having an NPC’s persona traits, beliefs, bonds, and flaws may help a DM perceive why the NPC is doing what they’re doing and why.
The Plot
When you’re more likely to play on this journey or wish to be shocked while you learn it for your self, it’s time to get out of the pool.
The journey begins with the PCs discovering an inscribed gemstone that serves as a map to a misplaced piece of know-how: the Undine, a submersible supervehicle. When you’re questioning what sort of superscience is floating across the backstory of this setting, consider the tragically underappreciated Atlantis: The Misplaced Empire to visualise this tech. It’s know-how that has a really arcane really feel to it.
This might simply be a “treasure map that results in a dungeon” however in an underwater setting, and that will make it an attention-grabbing spin on the trope. However along with a treasure map to a misplaced piece of tremendous priceless know-how, a number of factions are on the hunt for The Undine as a result of we’ve acquired a chilly struggle scenario turning sizzling, and a superweapon all brings out the faction brokers.
Whereas exploring the undersea fortress, different factions may need encountered varied traps or travails, leaving useless our bodies or NPCs to work together with, examine notes with, or strike momentary alliances with. The PCs could also be going it alone, or they might have already got hitched their water wagon (?) to one of many present factions.
The key of The Undine’s development is that the ship’s creator struck a take care of a literal undine, an aquatic fey creature who thought it could be attention-grabbing to see what it could be prefer to be built-in into the ship itself, no less than for some time. Meaning to make the most of the ship totally, the crew must be on good phrases with the spirit that’s built-in into it. That shall be essential if the PCs nonetheless have some rivals prepared to take a shot at them as they pilot The Undine away from the fortress.
The Satan (or Fey) is within the Particulars
Your PCs could already be affiliated with a faction by the point they attain Fifth degree, but when not, the included hook defaults to connecting the PCs to the Avalsi League. This undersea nation consists of a mixture of completely different undersea folks. The Avalsi are much less bold than they’re involved that Avalsi will endure if the restoration of The Undine flares a struggle into life.
Whereas there are a number of different factions which might be talked about as being accessible to swap out for the first factions described within the journey, the assumed major powers embrace:
- Taevara–Taevara is a strict anti-pirate theocracy that sends its well-financed knights to safe The Undine and the seas for the Archpriest.
- Veraci–A service provider nation dominated by a queen and serving the wants of the varied service provider homes, they’ve acquired much more cash to throw round than Taevara, and so they need The Undine to safe favorable commerce lanes.
- Xolen–A nation of gnomes, people, and dwarves recognized for its engineers and innovations, Xolen can’t assist however be involved in such a fabled know-how as The Undine.
Along with explaining the factions and describing the groups every faction shall be sending (if the PCs aren’t affiliated with them), every faction has a piece explaining how the journey assumptions change relying on what faction the PCs is likely to be affiliated with, together with what occurs if the PCs break they contract with the faction.
Dungeon Crawling (Swimming?)
The fortress is split into broader sections and extra closely locked-down engineering parts. In contrast to some dungeons, the fortress has varied barracks, and if the PCs take their time exploring, they will use among the barracks as their house base. Nonetheless, even when they get a head begin, finally, different factions arrive and begin to inhabit completely different barracks themselves. There’s a probability that the PCs can encounter different factions and negotiate a truce in order that they don’t battle off traps, sea creatures, and constructs, in addition to rival adventurers.
A number of Problem Rooms places are locked down with puzzles. In case your gamers are having hassle with the puzzles, or in case your gamers simply aren’t puzzle individuals, there are a number of entries for these rooms, together with a extra accessible model of the puzzle and occasion growth, which additionally notes that if the PCs aren’t on dangerous phrases with one other faction, they might work with the PCs to unravel the puzzle so that everybody can advance to the following space.
As a result of the analysis on the facility concerned the fey, a gaggle of undersea unseelie fey are ready to be alerted to anybody reaching a part of the fortress. Two teams of those unseelie are looking for the fey working with the engineers, unaware she’s built-in into The Undine itself.
Favorable Seas
I’ve mentioned earlier than that I get pleasure from it when there are adventures accessible for a setting that make the most of what is exclusive about that setting, and this journey matches that invoice. You may adapt this to different marketing campaign settings, and the ideas of an undersea dungeon crawl with rival adventurers and misplaced know-how make the journey robust with out its setting parts. Nonetheless, this additionally does a terrific job of utilizing parts of the Vodari setting to indicate how setting particulars can enrich an expertise. I recognize the inclusion of simpler puzzles and the choice to produce other factions remedy them. I recognize particulars like how allying with factions would possibly change issues, the disposition of NPCs and the way they function, and he full workup of the first’s NPCs persona and motivations.
The Chilly Depths
I’m a kind of uncultured slobs who worries about puzzles in adventures. I’m all the time biased on this as a result of my nervousness makes it arduous for me to interact with puzzles in social conditions. I recognize puzzles once I have interaction with them earlier than my nervousness catches up. As a DM, I fear about not presenting properly sufficient for PCs to have the mandatory data. However that’s not a sound concern for simply this journey. It might be a little bit difficult to juggle all of the factions, even with the rules within the sidebar within the journey, even when it’s definitely worth the payoff. I recognize the effectivity within the presentation of The Undine’s stats, however I’d have cherished to have had its complete stat block as a substitute of the “use this automobile with the next adjustments” method, however that’s been commonplace apply in 5e adventures from the start.
Really useful–If the product matches in your broad space of gaming pursuits, you might be more likely to be proud of this buy.
My major considerations with the journey aren’t main flaws, simply private preferences. It is a strong journey for presenting a singular adventuring situation: an aquatic dungeon with rival adventurers. When you’re within the Vodari setting, this journey highlights its distinctive parts.
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