Once once more, I come to you a number of days after the newest subject of Arcadia has already been launched, as a result of, wow, has there been lots happening. I don’t know if this, however there have been a number of issues happening with D&D currently. But right here we’re, able to dive into this month’s subject.

Disclaimer

I used to be offered a evaluation copy of Arcadia Issue 19, as I’ve been for the reason that journal first began publication, nonetheless, I’ve additionally been a Patreon backer for all the run, which implies I simply get my evaluation copy a number of days sooner than my Patreon copy. I’ve reviewed a number of MCDM merchandise up to now, and whereas I haven’t used any of the fabric on this article, I’m aware of D&D 5e each as a participant and as a DM.

Arcadia Issue 19

Managing Editor: Hannah Rose
Lead Developer: James Introcaso
Production and Playtest Director: Lars Bakke
Editors: Scott Fitzgerald Gray, Sadie Lowry
Authors: Justice Ramin Arman, Anthony Joyce-Rivera, Jacky Leung, Amber Litke, Sadie Lowry
Layout: Jen McCleary
Cover Art: Patrik Hell
Title Logo: Tom Schmuck
Accessibility Consultant: Chris Hopper
Community Coordinator: John Champion
Customer Support: Bobby McBride
Sensitivity Readers: Raffael Boccamazzo, PsyD (Take This) and Nathaniel Kreiman

Between the Covers

This month’s subject of Arcadia is 35 pages lengthy, together with a credit web page, a desk of contents, the letter from the editor, a useful resource web page with hyperlinks to varied maps, an creator bio web page, and an OGL assertion web page.

Every subject of Arcadia has regarded nice. This one isn’t an exception. The cowl is superior, the inner artwork is superior, the format seems to be nice.

This Month’s Content

This month has the next articles:

• Cursed Treasures (Magic Items)
• Divine Trials: Shadows of the Moon (Adventures)
• Break in Case of TPK (Encounters)

Cursed Treasures

The focus of this text is to current cursed gadgets as gadgets that may present story parts for a marketing campaign. Part of that is achieved by making a danger versus reward dynamic, making gadgets harmful however helpful, however this text additionally introduces the thought of redeeming cursed gadgets. Items created utilizing these ideas might have a method of cleaning them, which removes detrimental results and should change the powers of the merchandise.

There is a couple of web page of dialogue about how you can design an merchandise with this sort of curse. This consists of detailing the merchandise’s historical past, objective, the way it was cursed, and what can elevate the curse from the merchandise. While a participant character that has been cursed to wield the merchandise is likely to be freed by a take away curse, the method of eradicating the curse from the merchandise itself is a extra detailed course of.

As it introduces these ideas, the article makes use of examples pulled from the three magic gadgets launched:

• Scepter of the Unanointed (Legendary)
• Boots of Tartarus (Rare)
• Amulet of the Seer’s Eyes (Very Rare)

The Scepter of the Unanointed is an merchandise used to imprison a demon. The demon can talk with the wielder, and infrequently twists spells solid by the scepter. It additionally (shock) lies about its nature when speaking with a brand new wielder. The demon makes an attempt to trick a wielder into destroying a number of particular websites that may permit the demon to flee, and cleaning the merchandise entails visiting these websites and meditating on 15 totally different virtues.

The Boots of Tartarus grants their wearer resistance to warmth and the flexibility to journey to the Ethereal Plane, however had been used to lure a gaggle chain satan in a demiplane. There is an opportunity that the customers are transported to the demiplane jail once they use the flexibility to journey to the Ethereal. The solely solution to take away this risk and unbind the devils is to trace them down within the jail and destroy them.

The Amulet of the Seer’s Eyes permits the character to solid varied divination spells, along with permitting the wearer to look by means of the amulet to see with darkvision. The curse of the merchandise is that it gleans info from a number of realities, the place the data offered by the divinations is simply barely unsuitable for the caster’s present actuality. The consumer can solely cleanse the merchandise by touring to the Oracle Engine and liberating themselves from their destiny, and if the caster fails, they’re haunted by time wraiths, trying to maintain realities separate and free from tampering.

The idea of this text is nice, and the instance magic gadgets are all sturdy. If there’s something I might have somewhat seen, it could have been a number of extra “generic” examples of curses and purification rituals, however I additionally assume the examples are clear sufficient for a DM to work from.

Divine Trials: Shadows of the Moon

A pair points again, we noticed the primary article on this sequence, which offered The Sun Trial. That trial was all about humility. The Moon Trial, in contrast, is about isolating your flaws and mastering them.

To use this trial, the DM and the gamers have to isolate one thing that feels just like the PCs most necessary flaw. The journey itself provides the next examples, and whereas it permits for folks designing flaws exterior of this record, the DM shall be a bit of extra on their very own for offering particulars in a few of these encounters:

• Cowardice
• Greed
• Recklessness
• Wrath

To be sincere, that’s most likely an excellent record to start out from relating to adventurers.

The trial consists of three rooms, every with its personal take a look at. One trial entails dealing with stained glass photographs representing a personality’s particular person flaws, which triggers a private scene for every PC to be shortly resolved. The second a part of the trial entails touring by means of a darkish maze, whereas being stalked by a brand new lunar themed monster. The monster’s assault has a unique impact based mostly on the flaw of the person being focused. The closing trial entails the PCs dealing with variations of themselves which were totally given over to their flaws. This trial entails a lair motion based mostly on 4 phases of the moon, with the moon revolving by means of its phases every spherical.

The reward for dealing with this trial, along with studying extra about their private flaws, is a hoop that’s themed for phantasm and moon magic. If the DM is utilizing the entire trials, the celestial that introduces the trial might reference the opposite trials, with out describing when or the place these trials will happen.

I loved the Sun Trial, though I felt prefer it was simpler for the PCs to overlook what was being examined with a number of reminders. I actually like this trial. It feels a bit clearer and extra targeted on the PCs coping with their shortcomings. After seeing each of those trials, I’m very to see what the Star Trial seems to be like, in addition to the framing narratives that may accompany that article.

Break in Case of TPK!

This article presents three encounters that should assist mitigate the marketing campaign ending penalties of a complete social gathering kill. Each of those encounters permits the PCs to return to life by taking part in by means of the encounter and navigating the trials they’ve been offered.

These embrace the next:

• Beet a Hag’s Bargain
• Blood for Blood
• How Do You Plead?
• Soul-Loving Flurgnob

The first encounter sees the PCs with their souls gathered by an evening hag, who reincarnates them as beets. She turns souls into sapient beets to make use of in her cooking. There are numerous gadgets within the PCs cage that will permit them to flee, however they will additionally cut price with the hag by agreeing to do issues like bringing her information or components for her cooking.

The second encounter finds the PCs souls captured by a lich who’s keen to return them to life, as long as they bear his Nine Lives stealer into the mortal realms and accumulate souls for him. If they handle to flee with out making the deal, they find yourself being free roaming ghosts till they will discover some our bodies to inhabit.

The third encounter entails the PCs souls having been collected by brokers of Hell, and placed on trial. The course of is mostly a farce, however the judges are open to being bribed, giving the PCs a number of choices for escape. They can pledge themselves to tackle the Illrigger class (mainly changing into an agent of Hell), signal a contract (normally forfeiting their soul as quickly as they die subsequent time), or bribe the court docket with a certain quantity of treasure, granting them a continuance that lasts 666 years.

The closing encounter entails creatures created by a trickster deity to seize souls and retailer them in a diamond fortress within the Astral Plane. PCs can persuade the unfamiliar beings to allow them to return to life, since as adventurers they are going to be sending extra souls for the creatures to gather.

I like all three of those examples. I’ve, in my very own campaigns, used marketing campaign parts to work together with PCs which have died, for instance, having devils within the Fugue Plane cut price with participant characters which have died in Forgotten Realms campaigns I’ve run. Some of those encounters are begging to have observe up adventures, as properly. For instance, a trickster god gathering souls earlier than they attain the afterlife looks like it would find yourself being a giant deal of different deities determine this out, and what occurs if the satan’s courtroom is overstepping its bounds within the hopes of gathering a number of extra offers or no less than tons of treasure based mostly on their granted continuances.

It is a bit of bizarre to me that the flurgnobs, touring by means of the Astral and gathering souls, clearly able to reasoning and better ideas, are given the beast kind.

Final Thoughts

This subject has lots for folks to make use of of their ongoing campaigns. It’s a bit of exhausting for me to provide you with a favourite article this time round, as a result of all of them are sort of neat throughout the purview of what they imply to deal with.

My solely actual be aware is that Arcadia is nice at developing with ideas, and as a part of their desk prepared focus, they make it very easy to implement encounters or journey parts, however in a number of circumstances, I might love a number of extra rules-based instruments exterior of the offered examples.

Future Wishes

I might be pleased with sequels to any of those articles. I do know we’re already getting yet one more trial and a few framing materials for them, so I don’t know if that counts as a want, because it looks like a executed deal. I might truly like a full observe up journey coping with the trapped souls within the diamond fortress talked about within the TPK article.

Less immediately associated to those specific articles, I might like to see extra templates, monsters, participant dealing with choices, and spells. I do know which you can flood the fanbase with these issues, however they’re additionally a number of the gadgets that flare my creativity greater than absolutely anything else.

See you all subsequent month. Well, for Arcadia opinions. I may even see you sooner in any other case.