by TealedFleet

An item RPG: Cosmere Roleplaying Game has been added to the geeklist Character sheets for The First Step (2026 NPI)

by pdzoch

QOTD FEB 10: How do the sciences influence your games? Do they not matter, do you just use interesting scientific things as inspiration, do you have some in-depth in-world taxonomy or physics?

by pdzoch

A question suggested by [user=GrimoireOfJank][/user]:

How do the sciences influence your games? Biology, Zoology, Paleontology, Physics- et cetera. Do they not matter, do you just use interesting scientific things as inspiration, do you have some sort of insane in-depth in-world taxonomy or physics?


Do you have a question you want asked as QOTD? Post here!
And if you want to find an old QOTD: The big QOTD Summary and Subscription Thread Volume 3

by sdonohue

The Fantasy Trip Quick Quest 4: The Caravan Raiders is a 2021 release by designer Howard Kistler. The art is by Rick Hershey and Liz Danforth. This is intended for use with Steve Jackson Games' The Fantasy Trip and is part of the Quick Quest series.

Presentation
This item is available as both a pdf and a printed trifold. The pdf includes two versions; one is 6 pages, one for each panel and the other is a two-page affair with each side of the brochure as one page. The trifold is a single sheet of heavy stock measuring about 8.5 x 16.5". The product is z-folded to create a total of 6 pages. The cover has a single color illustration and the rest of the book is black and white in a two-column layout.

Content
This adventure is intended for 4-5 experienced characters with about 34-46 points each and a wizard is recommended.

The players are hired by Jedric Millerson, the master of the Merchant Guild. He wants them to investigate a band of highwaymen who has intercepted three caravans moving from the Duchy of Kel and the Duchy of Dran. He has two survivors and they report that the band was humans, hobgoblins, and an ogre. He offers $500 for each player plus 10% of the value of recovered items. One strange thing is that some of the stolen goods were recovered in the city of Tro, which is on the other side of Dran, but the goods never passed through Dran.

The guildmaster will encourage them to leave immediately while the most recent robbery is still fresh, but if they talk to some townsfolk, there is a table of rumors, some true and some false. From there, we get character sheets for the main NPCs of the raiding party and of their minions. Once we have those, we're ready for the first encounter, where the PCs find some wrecked wagons. They can easily find where the bad guys took things away in their own wagon. Following that trail, they may be spotted by guards and be forced to deal with them. If the guards escape, the bandit camp will be ready for them.

The bandit camp is in a ruined keep and most of it is in tunnels beneath the ruins. There is s detailed hex map of the tunnels with important areas described in concise but effective ways. There is a chance to find some help in the tunnels, but it's self-serving. If the players survive, they learn the secret of the old keep -- it houses a gate which connects to a warehouse in Tro. The PCs could go through the gate and end up in Tro where they could report to the merchan'ts guild or even spend some time. Apart from the rewards they were offered, they could make extra money if they haven't told too many people about it.

Evaluation
This is a nice adventure with a couple of twists along the way. Finding an ally is one and the gate is the other. The entries for locations in the tunnel are clear and there is no read-aloud. The NPCs are given sufficient information to both engage in combat and to have them react to the pcs and each other in believable ways. The nature of the adventure means it could be dropped just about anywhere people use caravans. There is also the possibility for a continuation if the players decide to keep the secret of the gate to themselves.

by sdonohue

The Fantasy Trip Quick Quest 3: The Unself King is a 2021 release from Steve Jackson Games. It was written by Howard Kistler and features art by Rick Hershey and a map by Dyson Logos. It is part of the Quick Quest series for The Fantasy Trip.

Presentation
This is available as a pdf and as a z-fold brochure. The z-fold features 3 panels of 5.5 x 8.5" and is portrait on heavy stock. The contents is in a two-column layout and the only color is the cover. There are effectively 6 pages here.

Content
This adventure is designed for 4 - 6 staring characters or 3-5 more experienced ones. The Unself King is an ancient figure whose face is said to rob those seeing him of their memories and even their self-awareness. He's a figure of horror who has vanished and only the mad would try to bring him back. In this adventure, the players will be called upon to thwart the efforts of The Deathless Midwives who are planning to do just that.

The adventure starts with some background on the Unself King. The next is a couple of pages on the midwives featuring names, backstories, motivations and character sheets. We get a little background on the Illa Forma, a magic book used by one of the crones to create creatures and extend her life, and then we're on to the adventure.

The players arrive in the village or Parnham which is in an uproar because The Deathless Midwives were recently there and stole a pair of newborn twins. The townsfolk tell them they probably went to Crownless Hill, long the site of rituals and witchery. Once they arrive at the hills, they find tunnels which they must pass through to get to the Hilltop where the adventure takes place. They may miss some of the encounters in the tunnels, but they have to defeat all three midwives and remove the three foci (one of which is the unharmed twins) to stop the Unself King from returning in a ritual called The Becoming. There is an epilogue which covers the consequences of success or failure at stopping the Becoming.

Evaluation
This is a fun and challenging adventure even if it is a little bit of a railroad. The inclusion of the epilogue is a nice touch and even if the midwives are stopped, there's the opportunity for them to become recurring villains and they are interesting enough to make that worth pursuing. As with other adventures in this series, this one is easy to run: there's no read aloud and the scenes are described concisely, making it easy for a GM to absorb and find what's needed. Overall, this is a good adventure and one that could lead to the start of a long story arc.

by Serpentine_C

<div>Table of Contents</div>

by Serpentine_C

<div>Credits Page</div>

by Serpentine_C

<div>Front Cover</div>

by Serpentine_C

<div>Credits Page</div>

by Serpentine_C

<div>Back Cover</div>

by Serpentine_C

<div>Title & Credits Page</div>

by Serpentine_C

<div>Table of Contents</div>