Stealing Stuff - The Frozen Province (Part 2 of Sekiro)

So I went ahead and did way more than I need to do. I went ahead and made a whole Pamphlet Adventure based on Sekiro and stuff I stole from the internet. You can get it here: http://bit.ly/TheFrozenProvince

Oh my, so fancy...

First and foremost, the biggest thanks to the people have spent their hard earned money on this and for the kind comments!

If you are looking to do something similar, I deeply suggest you check out Gontijo on Twitter, this man shed light on some really nice Stealable resources: https://twitter.com/guilhermedenovo/status/1116848077040697346

Up ahead I will vomit up all the key locations on the map (rough unfinished state) and comment on some of them:

8. River

3d6+4 [Undead Soldiers] stream from the river, attempting to drag the living in. They smell faintly of sakura leaves. {HD 2, AC 14, Sword 1d6, Half damage from normal weapons, can either attack or grapple}

4. Kensei Cave

An [Aging Sword Saint] lives in this cave, seeking a worthy death through a one-on-one duel. He carries the [Rainbow Blade].

• Killing him dishonourably causes his ghost to follow the party, playing pranks and being a nuisance on the worst moments possible. {Fighter level 5, AC 14, Frail body, has half his total HP}

5. Bandit Village

16 orange striped [Bandit Women] live in an abandoned mining village. They are planning to attack [The Village] but are currently being assailed by a plague, which no ritual seems to be able to cure. 1d6-1 of them fall to disease each day;

6. The Tree

Half frozen, half dead [Giant Warrior] cries and moan, swords and spears dotting his back, while circling around a colossal [Sakura Tree]. Hundreds of bodies litter the area, cleaved by the giant’s scimitar. {5HD, AC 13, Scimitar 2d6 damage, can attack people in a circle. Piercing the back of his neck kills it. Short Arms}

• A small desiccated man with a hole on his neck rests near the tree. His red stained clothes are frozen from the stream of cold air, flowing from his neck.

1. Monkey Onsen

9 [Monkeys] have taken over this small house. They bathe and relax in the warmth and ignore all but those who try to enter their waters. One of the monkeys has a rifle. {1HD, AC 13, claws 1d4 damage, Rifle 2d10 damage}

2 .Emperor's Vacation Home;

Abandoned lavish house, surrounded by frozen ponds and ikebana arrangements. Deafening chirping stems from inside:

• A [Giant Cricket] crawls in the ceiling {HD 3, AC 15, Bite 1d6 damage, Can climb and jump great distances};
• A set of [Imperial Ceramic Dishware] {1750SP} can be found throughout the house, alongside [Red Robes of Warmth].

3. Frozen Carp Lake

A [Giant Carp] has been frozen within the lake, only its strangely human face sticking out of the ice. {physically and biologically immortal}

• Its [Scales] glisten like gold {250SP} and plucking them will trigger a scream from the carp, prompting a random encounter roll. Taking more than 10 scales will break the ice;

7. Temple

A simple shrine houses a Budha and 4 [Frozen Monks] are stuck in praying position. Approaching then unleashes the 4 [Centipedes] inside them, who burst through their eyes. {HD1, Bite 1d4, save vs. poison or die. When killed roll 1d6, on 5-6 the centipede goes back to full strength}

• One of the monks holds a scroll for the [Empathy] spell.

First thing would be formatting, with important items and information being bolded (in this rough we have "[]" which really didn't aid the legibility) and the most important stuff up front. That stuff is basically what the DM needs to run this thing. {Items in Blue} are mechanical bits, which are there to support what is going on in the location and include value for treasure and monsters stats. Pro tip: always repeat monster stats when you can to avoid the problem of flipping around searching for it. That sucks. BULLET POINTS are super important, as they break things into digestible bite sized chunks and, in this case, compliment the first paragraph of information (what is there when I look closer?).

Summary:

OVERVIEW OF THE LOCATION, WITH IMPORTANT INFORMATION BOLDED. {Mechanical Bits and Treasure};
                                        - DETAILS OF THE LOCATION, THE "CLOSER LOOK", "WHATS IN THIS GUY'S POCKETS?"


As for the ideas themselves for each location:

A lot of them came from just looking at stuff at https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search#!?searchField=All&showOnly=openAccess&sortBy=relevance&offset=0&pageSize=0

Carp, monkey, crickets and general bugs came straight form Sekiro. The different NPCs and "factions" (if that) came straight from browsing creative common images. I find that I sometimes get hung up on getting something done perfectly like envisioned on my head (a futile struggle), when there is literally free art that does the job better ripe for the taking.

Monkey with a gun came from this

Another cool thing is what causes the unnatural cold. Although not explained on the adventure (the situation and description really lets it up to the DM, so they can create their own thing or leave players dumbfounded as to what actually transpired), the cut in the man's neck is a door to the underworld, in this narrative, a cold desolate land inhabited by terrible bugs. How did that happen, be dammed if I know. This stuff, although useless to the players, helps set the tone for what you are trying to achieve

The real world is a place full of weird and awe inspiring stuff and I used up a lot of that coupled with Japanese mythology. Another thing done was to avoid naming stuff in Japanese, as it:

1. Would sound totally fake;
2. It's real meaning would probably get lost in translation;
3. Easier for the average English speaking DM to handle and use at table without sounding silly;
4. It could be easily slotted into a more traditional setting;

Another design goal, was to create cool unusual magic items:

[Red Robes of Warmth] - These robe generate heat on their own when in contact with skin, making the user feel as though they are in summer. The caveat is that movement and exertion cause the wearer to spontaneously combust, as  physical labour is something best left to peasants;

[Rainbow Blade] - This blade can refract sunlight into colourful hard structures/surfaces, similar in shape to arcs made with a sword. It was once used to create a bridge to the moon;

[Empathy Spell] - When used, everything done to the caster is replicated on the spell's target. To understand others pain is an important stepping stone on the path to enlightenment.

At first, a lot of these can sound dumb, but they allow player experimentation. When you describe an item in too much detail, you end restricting what it can. Some would say certain magic items are "broken". Why? What did they break? A game you play with friends who you probably should like I don't know, trust? Just some thoughts.

Rainbow blade came from some research into the meaning of rainbows and the connection to the moon in Japanese mythology.

The empathy spell I believe was something I had at the back burner for the longest time but couldn't figure it out where to put it. I stole it from Guild Wars (MMO), where it was a perfect defense spell, where everything done to the caster would come back and hit you twice as hard. For more uses outside of combat, I changed up the description to not focus solely on damage. Less than 2 lines and we got ourselves a pretty damm cool spell if I may say so.

Finally the Red Robes, they came from the need to find warmth in the cold harsh winter of the Frozen Province. But as a twist, this is the kinda of really useful item, that has a really harsh restriction as to incentivise out of the box thinking. General thought process when developing these is thinking up:

- What can this item do that would be helpful?

- What it can't do but that is, strangely, closely related to what it does? Or, what would make it extremely unpractical.

Next insight, was to have all encounters have some sort of clue as to what is happening, allowing players to make decisions. Ex.:

- Cricket sounds can be heard before seeing it;

- The area around the Giant is full of cleaved bodies, alluding to it's raw strength;

- One of the monkeys has a Gun;

Other encounters were centred around possible consequences and obvious combinations (obvious might still let your players oblivious to the truth, being obvious is good):

- Bandits are bandits, but are sick. There is a doctor in the village who wants out of there;

- Stealing the Carp's scales attracts enemies and cracks the ice;

- Kensei curses you if you are dick to him;

Final point I'd have to make is layout and presentation:
- A lot of inspiration comes from just searching "cool layout" on Pinterest and trying to copy it!
- Layout also has to help communicate the vibe of the adventure, especially when you only have a pamphlet to work with;
- The nice shots you can see on the product pages, these are just Mock Ups you can find for free online.

MORE NEWS later this weekend.

PS.: If you want, you can follow me on twitter @KnightRamen ;)