It’s taken me a bit longer to get again to taking a look at this month’s Fables journey, Come Sail Away. I’ve had some hearty opinions on the docket currently, plus, working for a faculty district, for some purpose, it will get busy when college students come again to highschool. Go determine.

This month’s Fable continues the Pirates of the Aetherial Expanse storyline. The PCs are adventurers crusing the magical waters of a particular portion of the Astral airplane. This is and isn’t much like Spelljammer, in that it takes place within the Astral airplane, however entails a bit extra conventional crusing, even when you’re crusing on distilled magic in fluid kind.

This marketing campaign introduces alternate ship administration and fight guidelines, which are supposed to be layered into the marketing campaign over time. We’ll be seeing a few of these guidelines at play on this journey, though it’s nonetheless a comparatively gentle engagement with the brand new guidelines.

Fables–Pirates of the Aetherial Expanse

Episode 2: Come Sail Away 
Written by: Alison Huang 
Head of Fables: James J. Haeck, Joe Raso 
Story Design: James J. Haeck 
Art Directors: Marius Bota, Zoë Robinson 
Pirates of the Aetherial Expanse Writers: H.H Carlan, Anne Gregersen, James J. Haeck, Gabe Hicks, Alison Huang, Anthony Joyce, Kat Kruger, Sadie Lowry, Sarah Madsen, Sam Mannell, Joe Raso, Jess Ross, Jen Vaughn 
Managing Editor: James J. Haeck Editors: Michele Carter, Matt Click, Ashley Lawson, Joe Raso Graphic Design: Martin Hughes, Scott Fraser 
Cover Design: Christine Fozler 
End Page Design: Abby Zweifel 
Interior Illustrators: Kristian Agerkvist, Ridell Apellanes, Carol Azevedo, Luke Beaber, George Bennett, Bethany Berg, Allie Briggs, Josiah Cameron, Stephanie Cost, Kent Davis, Nikki Dawes, Alex Drummond, Christine Foltzer, Tony Foti, Quintin Gleim, Doruk Golcu, Ashley Hankins, Matt Hubel, Andrei Iacob, Maggie Ivy, Josh Ketchen, Diana Khomutina, Kate Laird, Tatii Lange, Carson Lowmiller. Damien Mammoliti Jake Murray, Brian Patterson, Karina Pavlova, Pixoloid Studios, Mihai Radu, Caio Santos, Elisa Serio, Janna Sophia, Katariina Sofia, Kai Stevens, Kelly Toki, Philipp Urlich, Brian Valenzuela, Jacob Walker, Sam White, Abby Zweifel 
Cartographers: Luke Beaber, Damien Mammoliti, Brian Patterson 
VTT Asset Design: Joshua Orchard

This Month’s Installment

This month’s installment of Fables is 88 pages lengthy. This features a title web page, credit web page, desk of contents, a 4 web page pronunciation information, and a full web page OGL assertion. There are full web page items of artwork dividing the totally different sections of the journey, in addition to a number of portraits and illustrations of NPCs, monsters, and areas. As with earlier volumes, it’s fairly slick wanting.

What’s Inside

This quantity is split into the next sections:

• Welcome to Fables
• Chapter 1: Island Bound
• Chapter 2: Maladell Island
• Chapter 3: Fosfior Island
• Chapter 4: Caldere Island
• Appendix A: New Monsters
• Appendix B: New Spells
• Appendix C: Pronunciation Guide

Like earlier installments of Fables, many of the introduction is similar as earlier installments, with the ultimate web page summarizing the occasions of this explicit journey.

The Adventure Unfolding

This journey assumes that the celebration goes to take their partially assembled and technically practical ship to the politically impartial Isle of Drakes. This is supposed to be a comparatively brief journey for the ship, and the prompt adventures have toned down penalties for sea journey, in order that the celebration’s model new (kind of) ship doesn’t get carried out in by a random encounter.

Most of those encounters both do minimal harm to the ship, contain monsters that aren’t a risk to the ship as an entire, and even encounters that permit the PCs to start gathering sources, comparable to amassing rainwater in barrels.

The Isle of Drakes really consists of 4 islands, Maladell, Fosfior, Caldere, and Velstarron Island. As the PCs strategy the island, they run afoul of well-known ship and pirate captain, Charleston Kriegler of the Apocalypse. This is the place the journey introduces the chase mechanics, as Kriegler successfully bets them that they’ll’t make landfall on an island earlier than he catches them. He’s doing this for sport, so if he wins, he’s simply going to whole their ship.

Velstarron Island is assumed to be their vacation spot, because it’s the closest island. Because the ship is understaffed, one of many main causes to go to any of the islands, past getting provisions for the ship, is to recruit new crew members. 

I actually like this as a arrange for the journey, however I feel there are 4 potential pitfalls on this chapter:

• If the PCs didn’t calm Markhoff within the earlier journey, you could not have had an NPC to level them in direction of the Isle of Drakes
• PCs most likely aren’t going to take too kindly to mechanically having their ship destroyed by boxed textual content in the event that they lose the race
• While this chapter says that Velstarron is the very best place to get a brand new ship if theirs is destroyed, there is no such thing as a observe up on this data, like solutions of how one can signal on to a brand new crew or how one can steal or win a brand new ship
• Beyond needing to recruit extra crew than is offered on Velstarron, or choose up extra provides than they’ll get, nobody particularly factors them in direction of the opposite islands

While I don’t have an important repair for getting a brand new ship for the PCs, I feel having Kriegler take the PCs below his wing to nudge them in direction of the opposite islands works as long as they win the race.

Island Hopping

The construction for the remainder of the journey is selecting an island from Maladell, Fosfior, and Caldere, speaking to the NPCs there, and discovering out what jobs can be found and what hassle is brewing. In a number of cases, characters from one island could have one thing that must be transported to a different island, or individuals from one island will want one thing that may solely be picked up on a selected island. There can also be an NPC that may be recruited from one other crew to fill a job on the ship.

There are jobs obtainable at totally different ports, and finishing these jobs in numerous methods provides to the characters popularity, as does their interactions with the islands. Working for authorities bumps your legislation popularity. Helping the locals bumps your good popularity. Stealing or failing to carry out some job may bump your chaos popularity axis, and harming others to your personal revenue bumps your evil popularity. In addition to those jobs and their results in your popularity, taking totally different jobs will increase the possibilities that you’ll discover varied island rumors that may lead the PCs to different islands to analyze.

Maladell is an island whose most notable inhabitants are a reasonably laid again crew of druid-pirates, who do extra “grocery shopping” than bloodthirsty raiding. Your potential new crew member asks them to assist ship some produce in alternate for water, which helps to get the journey between islands going. There can also be a chance for the PCs fortune to be advised whereas on the island.

Fosfior Island has a pure conduit to the Elemental Plane of Water, placing it in a robust commerce place with the opposite islands. The jungles on the island embody harmful crops that may trigger hallucinations, and if the PCs attempt to snag water from sources apart from the Wellspring, that water could have uncomfortable side effects, like poisoning the characters, or introducing them to the hallucinatory properties of the crops on the island.

Caldere is an island with a magical conduit to the Elemental Plane of Fire, and it mines a fabric that can be utilized for firearms and gunpowder like substances for cannons. Because the native mountain generally erupts creatures from the airplane of fireside, there’s a militia organized to guard the residents. There can also be stress between the Mayor and the top of the native militia, and the PCs also can discover out why elementals are more and more attacking the island inhabitants.

Overall, I actually love the hub construction of this journey. The PCs have latitude to discover the place they need, and may observe up on the roles they need. The solely actual drawback I can see with the construction is that if the PCs don’t observe up on the clues on the totally different islands and don’t resolve the first challenge, however there are sufficient NPCs to nudge the PCs into motion in the event that they stall out.

Since it appears evident that a component of later adventures on this collection will contain attempting to unify the islands towards a risk, I like that this offers you a tour of the islands, tells you what every one is understood for, in addition to establishing the symbiosis between them, after which layers in a number of the native politics. Assuming the NPCs the PCs will work together with sooner or later adventures as those who’re necessary to this journey, it does job of laying the groundwork, whereas creating an in depth sandbox with inner inertia.

Monsters

There are a number of reprinted monsters from the primary journey within the type of the Aetherbeasts, however we additionally get the ship mimic (CR 6), in addition to varied harmful crops from Fosfior, starting from CR ½ to CR 5. There are additionally new Volcanic Elementals in numerous types, from CR 2 to CR 5, representing hearth tinged creatures from the airplane of Air and Earth. The remainder of this part contains stat blocks for varied NPCs discovered within the journey. 

New Spells

The new spell launched is Aetherial Rift, which opens a gate for transporting objects as much as 10 miles away whereas holding open a ten foot tall portal, which can’t be utilized by the caster. This is principally a utility spell for transportation of products.

Circling Back on the Ship Rules

Except for a number of the factors I made within the first chapter, I actually like how this journey comes collectively, and I appreciated the earlier journey as properly. The island journey hub is a good design selection for low degree choices in this type of setting. That stated, I’m nonetheless not likely comfy with the ship guidelines.

My largest complaints are:

• They run towards the grain of how different D&D 5e guidelines work
• They appear to be attempting to create a Master and Commander really feel in a Pirates of the Caribbean setting

While there are a number of locations the place popularity may begin to have an effect on NPC reactions, for probably the most half, the one new mechanics that basically get engaged on this journey are the chase guidelines. Honestly, the chase guidelines have been the brand new side of the principles that concern me the least.

That stated, a part of what I wished to do with this collection is to take a look at the flexibility to run this with out adopting the brand new subsystems for the setting. Up thus far I feel it’s nonetheless pretty simple to take action. You may deal with the chase simply as a gaggle talent problem with or with out the extra data offered in Ghosts of Saltmarsh. Additionally, Seas of Vodari features a chase desk much like the chase tables that exist within the Dungeon Masters Guide that can be utilized for sea chases.

Final Thoughts

Despite beginning off with the PCs shipwrecked on an island collectively, I feel this marketing campaign, thus far, feels much more open to PC freedom and company than the earlier Fable. From an journey construction standpoint, I actually like each of those adventures, and I’m wanting ahead to future installments.

Future Wishes

I feel designing guidelines that sit on high of what already exists in D&D 5e when these guidelines emphasize the theme of a setting or an journey is nice. I’m not as enthusiastic about guidelines that change decision mechanics or reframe recreation guidelines which can be extra international into contextual guidelines (for instance, ships having their very own measurement classes).

While I feel it’s unlikely, I’d like to see these adventures proceed to be pretty simply transformed “back” to straightforward ship fight assumptions, and in the long run, I actually hope that future guidelines modules circulation extra naturally into the core D&D 5e expertise. I like experimentation, however the ship guidelines really feel a bit too far afield for my tastes.