It’s taken me a couple of further weeks to get again to this one, however earlier than the month is up and the subsequent installment is out, I needed to check out this month’s installment of Fables from Ghostfire Gaming. We are as much as episode 4 of the newest marketing campaign, with solely two extra installments to go.

Disclaimer

I used to be not offered a assessment copy, and this assessment is predicated by myself subscription to the Fables sequence. I’ve not had the chance to run this journey, however I’m conversant in D&D 5e, each as a participant and as a Dungeon Master.

Spoiler Warning

Because there are some specifics of the plot I wish to tackle, we’re going to go closely into spoiler territory, so in case you are prone to be taking part in this journey, please cease studying my weblog. Those are very painful phrases to say. Also, I simply imply, please cease studying my weblog, at this second, not sooner or later, once I put different issues on my weblog. Okay?

Episode 4: Lost to the Aether

Written by: Anne Gregersen, Kat Kruger, Jen Vaughn
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

The Charts

This month’s PDF is 82 pages lengthy, together with finish pages, a title web page, a credit web page, a desk of contents, two pages of handouts, a 4 web page pronunciation information, and a full web page OGL assertion.

As with earlier installments, the preliminary six pages are the recurring introduction of the product line and this explicit marketing campaign, together with summaries of every of the adventures. While there are new monsters, a number of are reprinted from earlier adventures the place they’ve appeared already within the marketing campaign.

As for the remaining, it’s a two web page enticing structure that’s similar to the official formatting utilized in D&D merchandise, however with distinctive colours and fonts. There is a lot of full colour artwork, with atmospheric makes use of of blues and purples.

Adventure Time

The journey is split up into the next sections:

• Welcome to Fables!
• Chapter 1: Hell or High Aether
• Chapter 2: The Lost Warden
• Chapter 3: Fallen Afoul
• Appendix A: New Monster
• Appendix B: New Items
• Appendix C: handouts
• Appendix E: Pronunciation Guide

The Sistren of the Constellation Isles, a faction launched within the earlier journey, are the first focus of this journey as nicely.

The Job Offer

The journey begins with an NPC from the earlier journey providing a reward if they will discover the legendary artifact generally known as the Mermaid’s Tears earlier than much less scrupulous treasure hunters can discover the merchandise. The very first thing the PCs are anticipated to do is to collect extra info on the situation of the Tears from a member of the Sistren on the Constellation Isles.

This follows the sample of the opposite adventures on this sequence, the place the PCs can encounter varied NPCs and monsters on the way in which to their assembly, and in the midst of these encounters, might choose up some facet missions to barter or battle with a dragon turtle, or lay some ghosts to relaxation.

Gathering Information

Once the group has reached the Constellation Isles, the PCs can as soon as once more encounter a number of areas with NPCs that will ask the PCs to undertake some duties for them. They may additionally earn an honorary signal of the Sistren, which not solely makes getting provides on the island simpler, it might additionally make later elements of the journey easier.

If the PCs discover the island past their assembly with Eldari, they will additionally latch on to a different sub-plot within the journey. While the Astral Merrow are seen as a menace all through the Aethereal Expanse, the PCs have the chance to satisfy with a much less outwardly aggressive Merrow chief who could be keen to assist them of their quest.

The Sistren operative Teagan is aware of extra concerning the Mermaid’s Tears, however she is being held in a close-by Astral Merfolk settlement, and the PCs will both have to interrupt her out of jail or negotiate for her launch in an effort to acquire her assist. Teagan has her personal motives for retrieving the Tears past simply returning them to the Sistren.

This part of the journey ends when the PCs attain the Bog Graves in Equino Minor and navigate via passages generally known as The Pipes, whereas coping with a wide range of creatures from Aether Crocodiles to Sea Hag covens.

Artifact Retrieval

Once the PCs attain the Sunken Palace, they will encounter characters like Ren the Coutl and Akora the Sphinx, and be taught a number of the historical past of the Pearls and the older civilizations that had been native to this area of the Expanse. The Tears themselves had been used to punish Merfolk traitors and switch them into Astral Merrow, and the Tears could also be used to reverse the curse placed on them.

Eventually, because the PCs discover the Tears, Teagan places them on, and makes use of them to awaken a large Feathered Star (an unlimited starfish like celestial creature), which she instructions to go on a rampage. At this level, the PCs can attempt to free Teagan, battle her, take management of the Feathered Star, or kill it. The PCs might have discovered methods to use the Tears to take away the curse on the Merrow, which doesn’t change any present Merrow, however retains future generations of Merrow from being born.

Adventure Twists and Turns

One side of this journey that’s unusual is that the assembly with Eldari is taken into account non-compulsory. The PCs can go on the lookout for Teagan and head off for the Sunken Palace with none of the additional info or provides they could in any other case have. I don’t have an issue with this, a lot as the truth that there actually isn’t something pointing the PCs to visiting the Merrow to search out out that perhaps a number of the assumptions concerning the Merrow are overly broad, and to offer the PCs some sense that the Merrow have a hand in their very own potential destiny.

There has been so much much less “hard framing” of conditions on this sequence of adventures, however the journey appears to be written assuming that Teagan will get to the Mermaid’s Tears earlier than the PCs to ensure that the ultimate climax to unfold as anticipated.

There is one thing that feels type of uncomfortable within the Astral Merrow story the place now we have been launched to 2 separate Merrow NPCs that aren’t senseless killers, but it surely additionally appears as if the story doesn’t think about it a nasty factor if the PCs wipe the Merrow out as a species by ensuring no extra of them are born. And that’s one other downside with the Astral Merrow story . . . these aren’t simply Astral Merfolk who had been cursed, these are the youngsters of youngsters of Astral Merfolk who had been cursed. It appears like this part of the story might have used a little bit extra thought, and perhaps pulled Ronen into the story as an energetic participant in her folks’s destiny.

Final Thoughts

It’s fascinating to me that we’re 4 adventures into this marketing campaign, and I’m undecided that the brand new ship guidelines are integral to taking part in on this marketing campaign. There is a few commentary initially of the journey that the group could be pirating on their very own between adventures, but it surely’s not an assumption of the journey. The ship is especially a method of getting the PCs from one journey web site to a different.

I’m pleased that this marketing campaign has maintained the mission + web site based mostly journey construction that the sooner adventures have. I like that this offers the PCs the chance to resolve some duties within the order they need, and that they could have some non-compulsory duties and rewards in the event that they spend time exploring. I do suppose that a number of the “optional” encounters could also be higher in the event that they weren’t non-compulsory.

Future Wishes

This goes to sound horrible, but when I’ve one huge want, it’s that the brand new ship guidelines will stay to be primarily non-compulsory to resolving most of this marketing campaign. They have solely been flippantly touched on up thus far, and it feels prefer it could be simpler for folks to undertake this marketing campaign with out studying an alternate ship fight system. I’ve a sense that the ultimate journey, at the very least, will interact with these guidelines in a much less non-compulsory method. We’ll see.