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| The Incursion Egg |
This adventure has what I think of as 'scuba dive' pacing. The island is meant to be deliberately difficult to explore; only the hardiest of parties will be able to stay inside the dome for long periods of time, at least if you pay attention to sleep and exhaustion. But for those who assess its risks carefully, the rewards are potentially enormous.
As always, a big thanks to my Patrons who have supported making these adventures freely downloadable for everyone.
So much hooks and lore condensed into two pages! Very nice. I see myself using this for a Star Wars oneshot, of all things. Ancient Sith experiment or some such.
ReplyDeleteNicely done ! and a very happy 2020 to you and yours
ReplyDeleteWhat a cool location. Compendium Volume II here we come! Haha
ReplyDeleteCheers from 2020
I'm 3.6% of the way there!
DeleteI agree with Evan, compendium 2 must be on the way. I cant wait for my hard copy of the Compendium to arrive later this year
ReplyDeleteFirst off.. love your adventure locations. They are so intriguing.
ReplyDelete"the white metal ring is staggeringly valuable;" - A little confused by that line. Is the corpse of the Seree sorcerer wearing a ring?
Also... do you have a resource available that details your setting and its history, or are there only snippets of the world's cultures and history popping up here and there in your various adventure posts?
Keep up the fantastic work!
Hey, you're right, that line was confusing. It refers to the white metal ring up on the mesa. I've clarified that and republished a new version.
DeleteSecondly, yes! The compendium collects the adventures, but it also has 60 pages of new material, including some lore about the history (the Martoi, the Seree), but also five two-page spreads that cover regions and a bit of modern politics.
You can pick that up at https://store.trilemma.com if you want a hardcover (US/Can), or get the PDF from DriveThruRPG.
Very cool. Question: if the Nuss egg is so vulnerable, how come the gods didn't just have someone smash it?
ReplyDeleteIt's a good question. The answer probably depends on your setting. In mine, the actual gods are very remote from people (they don't have names, for instance). The demigods are occasionally directly involved—they warred against the Seree, for instance, but that was probably retaliation (see "Chains of Heaven"), not geopolitical meddling.
DeleteSo, a grab bag of other possibilities:
- The demigods aren't omniscient and/or don't understand the Nuss, they simply don't know it's there or the role it plays.
- Maybe it WAS once much better protected, but in the thousands of years since the incursion arrived, whatever guardians it had have either.
- Perhaps the demigods see the egg's long period of stasis as a kind of punishment. (The egg would have an alien intelligence in this interpretation.)
- Perhaps the dome itself is dangerous to the demigods, being made of so much dark glass. From their perspective, it was made by elder beings beyond them, and is the equivalent of a well marked concrete radiation-containment dome.
- If you find yourself at a Nuss incursion egg, wondering why the gods haven't sent someone to smash it, maybe you're the person they sent!
Who can question the gods and their motives? They work in mysterious ways.
ReplyDeleteThis is remarkable. Thanks for the inspiration - my seafaring campaign will love this setting!
ReplyDeleteI'm loving this! Great scenario. As for "why hasn't it been nuked by the gods"? well, I think you hit the nail on the head with "- If you find yourself at a Nuss incursion egg, wondering why the gods haven't sent someone to smash it, maybe you're the person they sent!"
ReplyDeleteuh question what level would this be?
ReplyDeleteDepends a lot on what game you're using. I'm a fan of non-mechanical difficulty assessment:
Deletehttps://blog.trilemma.com/2014/10/non-mechanical-difficulty-levels-for.html
The threats in this scenario are fast (Nuss harbingers can fly), but also unorganized, few in number, inattentive, and site-bound. Parties can control the degree of danger by leaving the dome.
On the other hand, the thin air makes the place pretty dangerous, like a scuba dive. Being unable to rest easily means that if you're using a system where food and rest are crucial to healing, and/or where characters are heavily penalized by injuries, then a bad injury inside the dome may make retreat impossible.
Good evening,
ReplyDeleteI read this one, liked it and translated it into French, as best I could.
Are you interested in ?
If so, will be pleased to give it to you.
Skyjade
Sure thing, Skyjade—send it over! You can contact me at 'michael' at the trilemma.com domain.
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