I’ve needed to dig into extra Midnight: Legacy of Darkness journey content material for some time. The setting is so stylized, and has such clearly communicated grim tones, I need to know the way you retain the pure oppressiveness of the setting, whereas nonetheless encouraging the PCs to battle in opposition to the darkness, and to provide them victories that don’t undermine the conceits of the setting.
Till I’ve time to dive into the bigger journey Crown of Shadow, I’m going to have a look at a smaller providing, A Single Spark. This began as a conference state of affairs and has been developed to function a beginning journey for the setting. The pregenerated characters are all 2nd degree, however the journey itself says that you may begin at 1st degree, advancing the PCs to 2nd degree after the primary act.
That is going to be a primary impression article as a result of . . . nicely, it’s free. I can’t actually calibrate the potential worth of a purchase order you don’t need to make. Now that we’ve received all of that established, let’s dive in.
Disclaimer
It is a free journey. Whereas I’ve learn third version Midnight materials, in addition to reviewing the 5e SRD model of the marketing campaign setting, I’ve by no means performed or run within the setting. Whereas I haven’t had readily available expertise with the setting, I do have a number of expertise with D&D 5e, each as a participant and a DM.
A Single Spark
Enlargement Design and Growth Matthew Broberg-Moffitt and Sam Gregor-Stewart
Proofreading Tim Flanders
RPG Supervisor Sam Gregor-Stewart
Graphic Design Paco Dana
Artwork Director Antonio Maínez
Cowl Artwork Antonio Maínez
Inside Artwork Yunir Bagautdinov, Javier Charro, Paco Dana, Antonio Maínez, Adrián Prado, Unreal Studio, Bram Willemot, and Ting Xu
Growth Managers Curro Marín and Luis E. Sánchez
Editorial Supervisor Croc
Studio Coordinator Stéphane Bogard
Head of Studio Michael Croitoriu
Care Package deal
The journey itself is a 28-page PDF. That features a title web page, 5 pages of NPC stat blocks, and an OGL assertion. Along with the journey, the bundle of sport materials consists of three battle maps that you may use on a VTT, in addition to six pregenerated participant characters with two pages of data. The pregens embody the next characters:
- Human Paladin
- Human Rogue
- Gnome Sorcerer
- Halfling Ranger
- Orc Fighter
- Elf Fighter
Setting Reminder
For those who haven’t encountered the Midnight setting earlier than, and you’re of a thoughts to do a little analysis, I’ve a overview up on Gnome Stew wanting on the 5e SRD model. The fast model? What if Sauron gained the Battle of the Ring and lower the world off from the opposite Ainur. Or in D&D phrases, the one god left on the earth is the God of Evil.
The one therapeutic magic within the setting comes from the “primal” lessons, or from bards. There are not any clerics, warlocks, or monks within the setting, and the participant character species are restricted to people, halflings, elves, dwarves, gnomes, and orcs. Legates, the clerics of Izrador, the God of Evil, search out spellcasters. It’s unlawful to learn or write, and solely the forces of Izrador can bear arms. There are few lands that aren’t underneath the thumb of the Night time Kings, essentially the most highly effective servants of Izrador.
The Journey at Hand
There are darkish whispers of spoilers, drifting on the corrupted wind. For those who’re planning on taking part in on this journey, or need to be stunned, run, run for all you’re value to flee the veil earlier than it closes!
As a result of this can be a conference state of affairs that’s meant to rapidly introduce the tone and themes of the setting, this one jumps proper into the hearth. The PCs had been within the village of Karez when the villagers had been punished for harboring rebels and failing to correctly tithe. We begin with everybody in a caravan, taking the survivors of Karez (together with the PCs) to be offered into slavery, or executed (rebels are too harmful to be left alive).
The wagon hauling the PCs is attacked by “bandits,” who kill the troops of the native Legate. This provides the PCs the chance to flee. In the event that they draw an excessive amount of consideration to themselves, they have to cope with among the troopers, however in any other case, the PCs will discover the troops slaughtered by the creatures that raided the caravan. It seems that the attackers are former bandits who died and are trapped on the mortal airplane as Fell. The Fell are undead that quickly lose their bloodlust after they’ve fed.
The PCs have the chance to speak to the Fell to get extra data, particularly concerning the bandit chief to whom the Fell reported once they had been nonetheless alive. The Fell doesn’t need to kill the PCs proper after it has fed, but when they speak to it too lengthy, it’s going to warn them that it’s beginning to get hungry once more, they usually can’t vouch for the PCs security.
The cart carrying the villagers has moved on, and if the PCs need to save the innocents from their destiny, they might want to monitor down the remaining wagon and free the villagers. There are a number of troops, which suggests it could be very unwise for the PCs to mount the assault on their very own.
Pursuit and Choices
The following part of the journey will rely on the place the PCs need to go. Along with the bandits, the PCs might keep in mind that there are additionally freedom fighters within the space (the rebels that they’ve been accused of being in league with). They may resolve to go to both the rebels or the bandits. Whereas the PCs are touring to 1 location or the opposite, they might want to keep away from or defeat a band of goblin trackers making an attempt to hunt them down.
If the PCs don’t know concerning the bandits as a result of they didn’t speak to the Fell, once they monitor down the rebels, the rebels will let the PCs know concerning the bandits. The rebels may even let the PCs find out about one other potential mission, their plan to trace infiltrate a city and kill the legate of this area.
The bandit chief is sympathetic to arguments about releasing the villagers. It’s attainable to persuade the rebels to desert their plans for the assassination to assist with the trouble to free the villagers. In some way, the PCs might want to resolve what job they need to accomplish, and what faction they’re trying to persuade to assist them. In the event that they persuade the bandit chief to assist them, her second in command quits for concern of calling down the forces of Izrador upon all of them.
Penalties
The journey doesn’t present for what occurs if the PCs try to avoid wasting the villagers with out recruiting both faction, apart from to notice that it must be an especially tough job for them to perform. The GM might want to decide what that opposition appears to be like like, partly as a result of the precise variety of troops is saved summary, for the reason that allies they carry with them are supposed to cope with the majority of the troopers.
If the PCs go after the villagers, they might want to face numerous waves of troops, and the way these troops are affected by the defenses the PCs arrange. For instance, in the event that they block off a part of the bridge, the troops have a tougher time transferring into the camp en masse. They will try to burn down the bridge, however it’s moist and immune to makes an attempt to take action, that means it’s going to take a bit effort. A lot of this part of the journey is about planning an ambush and organising defenses.
Sadly, the PCs can’t accomplish each aims. The bandit’s second in command sells out the PCs to the legate that the rebels had been planning on assassinating, that means he’s not susceptible and the PCs might want to get a transfer on to keep away from the legate’s forces.
If the PCs as a substitute go after the legate, they should infiltrate his headquarters. They will try to sneak in, or batter down the entrance door, and the journey addresses each. Just like the caravan with the villagers, if the PCs don’t have any allies, it’s assumed there are considerably extra troops between them and the legate. In any other case, their allies are assumed to be drawing off vital numbers of troops that will in any other case stand within the PCs approach.
After sneaking by means of or slashing by means of the troops within the legate’s tower, they will lastly face him, interrupting him in prayer at his altar to Izrador. If the PCs kill the legate, the rebels and bandits loot the placement, and achieve an abundance of provides and weapons. They’ve additionally broken Izrador’s forces on this area, giving everybody some respiratory room, and time to fortify the settlements. Nonetheless, if the PCs went this route, the bandit’s second in command offered them out to the troops headed to the slavers, warning them to go away rapidly, and eradicating the PCs choice to avoid wasting the villagers.
Accountability
I like loads about this journey, however there are just a few open-ended objects that don’t fairly line up for me. I want there was both a consequence for not recruiting each teams earlier than they set off on no matter mission they select, or that it’s simply assumed that the bandits will solely go on the mission to avoid wasting the villagers, and the rebels will solely go on the mission to assassinate the legate, though in that case, it removes the PCs’ capacity to attempt to negotiate for extra allies.
There are additionally some assumptions that the journey makes, after it introduces the likelihood that these assumptions might not come to cross. For instance, the best way the journey communicates that the PCs can solely accomplish one goal is by having the bandit chief’s second promote them out. Nonetheless, in the event that they don’t recruit the bandits, there is no such thing as a purpose for him to abandon or promote anybody out.
I feel it’s completely affordable to “gate” the information of the bandits behind the choice to speak to the Fell, but when that’s case, as a substitute of creating the PCs make an Intelligence (Historical past) test to know concerning the rebels, they need to simply begin off figuring out that they’re a faction within the area.
Ultimate Ideas
I actually needed to see how this journey was framed contemplating the setting’s assumptions. I feel there are a number of issues this journey does nicely to bolster the concept that the PCs are heroes combating a massively uphill battle, whereas nonetheless giving them some feeling of accomplishment.
Speaking with the Fell reinforces the tragedy of the undead within the setting, by reminding the PCs that one thing of the human they had been stays. Somewhat than presenting the PCs with an unimaginable job to bolster how determined their state of affairs is, making them select between two completely different missions, and reinforcing that they will’t accomplish the whole lot they need to accomplish, is alongside the strains of what I hoped to see. It creates stakes with out making it too irritating for the PCs to really feel like their characters matter.
I do know this can be a free journey transformed from a conference state of affairs, however I might have liked to have seen what it might need meant to recruit one faction, and never the opposite, in a extra concrete method. Whereas I might have favored a bit extra in the best way of layering issue and exploring what it means to have one ally over one other, I nonetheless suppose this has helped to show what adventures ought to appear to be within the setting. Smaller successes, laborious selections, sufficient progress to maintain the heroes from feeling helpless or ineffective. This makes me very to see how Crown of Shadow unfolds.
The journey, by itself, leans closely on orcs and goblins because the henchmen of evil forces, and whereas the marketing campaign setting guide does an honest job of explaining how there are lots of orcs trying to interrupt away from their conscription, and that they’re no extra liable to evil than another species, apart from having a pregenerated orc PC, this setting element isn’t communicated within the journey.
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