Ka'rel's Creation

Corion is an isolated world in the fifth edition multiverse, with vast mountain ranges separating sprawling grasslands, interspersed by meandering oceans with magnificent island archipelagos.

The natives of Corion grind out a meager existence in this truly massive plane, largely unaware of the war that destroyed their creator.

Before the long peace, Ka'rel the Ancient formed the massive plane of Corion from fragments of shattered realms and breathed life into its unique races. Ka'rel's creations included humans and halflings who build bastions and villages amid the towering mountain peaks, deer-like bipeds known as zantir who spread their peaceful communities among the tall grasses of the plains, small elves known as chelli, floating undying spheres called orbyx, and the beautiful perlu of the archipelagos with their scintillating skin.

But this idyllic realm, so far removed the war-torn planes of the multiverse, was eventually discovered by the edar, a race of world-conquering elves.

The Death of a God

Overwhelmed by the sheer numbers and monstrous arcane power wielded by the edar, the great Ka'rel made a fateful decision. Drawing on the song of creation, Ka'rel wove a complex magic that shifted the foundations of the multiverse, drawing divine power into one everlasting curse, erasing edar from Corion's past, present, and future.

The edar on Corion were banished, cast across the astral sea into the Far Realm, scattered so widely that few would ever live to find another. Corion was left in peace, but without its creator and protector.

The great working ripped the mind of Ka'rel apart.

Yet, as the edar who tried to return to Corion eventually discovered, the mind of a god is difficult thing to destroy. The curse remained in effect, banishing any edar who tried to enter the plane. As their great astral empire fell to ruin, the long-lived edar did not forget the cause. With one undying purpose fixed in their minds, the edar seek what was denied them: the fields of Corion.

Storm Holds

Meanwhile, scattered across Corion, great obsidian spires stand out monument-like against the horizon. In stormy weather, the spires draw lightning from miles around. No one on Corion now remembers how these "storm holds" came to be. Like great astral fortresses, the dark towers stand silent, undiminished by time, keepers of secrets long forgotten.

Within the towers are long corridors with glowing markings in cyberunic, a symbolic language of pure logic, unreadable by any race on Corion, save the pale shambling predators that lurk within: crel.

A human-like race kept too long in cryostasis chambers within the storm holds, crel now exist in a state between sleep and wakefulness, able to hibernate for years, but rousing instantly at the scent of prey.

Were these crel once armies of minions brought by the edar to conquer Corion, but never unleashed? Or, are they of entirely different origin? The only answers lie within the storm holds.

Crel rarely venture outside their dark havens, perhaps fearing the light. Or, perhaps they are driven by another purpose: to protect what resides deep within the storm holds. Those few Corioni who have researched the lore know what lies at the heart of each storm hold: fragments of the mind of Ka'rel.

Campaign Overview

This is a player-friendly overview. See the DM's Guide that follows for detailed campaign instructions.

Ability Scores

Races on Corion other than human have ability score increases as described in Mordenkainen's Monsters of the Multiverse: +2 to one ability and +1 to another ability, or +1 to three abilities, except Dwarfken which has +1 to two different abilities.

Age

Unless otherwise specified a race's typical maximum age is similar to humans.

Crel

Caretakers

Perhaps because of their unimposing size, but even more so for their empathy, chelli share an innate closeness with nature and especially animals. Possessing deep elven magic, chelli are legendary for their ability to heal, and to divine secrets about the world around them.

Bridge builders

Chelli are friendly with both humans and zantir, often forming a cultural bridge between the species.

Elvish heritage

Strangely, chelli share more traits with elves of other realms than with the other races of Corion. It is not known whether chelli descended from elves of other planes or were created by Ka'rel in the image of other races.

Chelli Traits

Creature Type. You are humanoid. You are also considered an elf for any prerequisite or effect that requires you to be an elf.

Size. You are small.

Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray.

Fey Ancestry. You have advantage on saving throws you make to avoid or end the charmed condition on yourself.

Natural Affinity. Your fey connection to nature gives you an intuitive connection to the natural word and the animals within it. You therefore have proficiency in one of the following skills of your choice: Animal Handling, Medicine, Nature, or Survival.

Magical Caretaker. Using this trait, you can cast any of the spells animal friendship, beast bond, or cure wounds (target must be a beast). You can use this trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus. You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest. You can also cast any of these spells (any target for cure wounds) using any spell slots you have of the appropriate level.

Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for this trait (choose when you select this race). None of these spells require spell components when you cast them with this trait.

Dwarfken

The dwarves of Corion are not native. Dwarves first arrived during the edar invasion, as servants bound to edar overlords, working as crafters, laborers, apothecaries, maintenance crew, armorers, and artificers. At the time of the great banishment, the dwarves were simultaneously liberated, and marooned on Corion.

World Conquerors

Before the banishing curse took hold, edar were both feared and revered as conquerors of worlds and rulers of a great multi-planar empire. With their greatest army cast into the far realm, the edar lost their grip on many worlds and the empire disintegrated into chaos and ruin, fading from all but the longest memories.

Twisted Forms

Edar are tall, elegant, with a nothing-to-excess physique, aquiline features, and piercing deep-set eyes. They are the picture of a ruling race. But many of edar that return to Corion have been altered by their long banishment in realms unknown, with savage traits, glowing eyes, shadowy auras, or voices that ring the echoes of lost souls.

Cursed

Still bound by remnants of the banishing curse, each edar must fight to remain on Corion. To withstand this oppressive curse, elite edar are bred and trained for mental fortitude and then sent to Corion as a vanguard. These operatives seek to find and destroy what remains of their ancient enemy, that the curse might finally be broken and their ancient empire that once ruled all of Corion be restored to its former glory. But, what these edar scouts discover on Corion may bring their avowed purpose into question.

Creatures of Legend

Few dare to approach an orbyx, for fear of what it might do. Others spend their entire lives following rumors, seeking a boon from the ethereal orbs. Most simply walk past them without realizing orbyx can take forms very much like our own: a curious child; a watchful grandmother, a soldier forming in the place of fallen comrade, sealing the gap in the line, when the fate of all rests in the hands of the pure of heart.

Watchers

For the orbyx, existence is one of watching and waiting until they find a higher purpose, a reason to cut short their eternal solitude to change the fate of mortals.

Orbyx Traits

Creature Type. Celestial

Size. Your size is small.

Speed. 0 ft, fly 30 ft, hover (10 ft. height or less)

Celestial Orb. In your natural form you are a solid glowing orb of 2-3 feet in diameter (medium size) that hovers up to 10 feet in the air, casting dim light to radius of 10 feet. In Celestial Orb form you appear to be filled with placid sky, shifting clouds, crackling lightning, or even roiling flames, reflecting your mood. In celestial orb form only, the following traits apply

• You are mortal, but do not age.
• You have the senses of a humanoid and can generate sounds similar to a humanoid. You have no need to eat or breathe and you are immune to fall damage and the prone condition.
• You fall at a rate of 60 feet per round until you are within 10 feet of the ground.
• You can telekinetically manipulate objects within 5 ft. of you up to a weight that your size and strength can push, pull, or carry, such as a pack, torch, tool, or weapon. You may also divide this weight among as many objects as you desire, though, similar to a humanoid, you can only manipulate two objects at a time with dexterous precision or damage-dealing force.
• You cannot benefit from wearing armor, though you can benefit from a shield if you are proficient. You cannot grapple or restrain other creatures in this form, though you can make unarmed strikes and shove attacks by ramming. You have advantage to avoid or end the grappled condition due to your spherical shape.

Temporal Incarnation. As an action your can take on the form of a humanoid that you have seen, up to large size, including their clothing and nonmagical items on their person at the time you saw them, up to a value of 100 gp times your level.

While using this trait, your movement speed is that of the creature’s race, and you eat, sleep and breathe according the traits and needs of the race.

You also gain the creature’s voice if you witnessed them speaking and interacting with other humanoids for at least 10 minutes. Otherwise, you are mute. You gain all of that race’s traits. You retain your current ability scores and benefit from armor for which you have proficiency. If you make an attack or skill check with the weapons or tools the creature bore, with which you are not proficient, you may apply half of your proficiency bonus.

Items created by this trait have the same physical properties as the originals, though they begin to fade into ethereality immediately upon leaving your possession and vanish completely after 1d4 rounds. You can reform a vanished object as an action.

If you retain the same form for one year, having discovered your chosen purpose and identity, you can no longer return to orb form and assume the life span remaining to your chosen form.

Otherwise, you can revert to your original form as a bonus action or reaction to falling. When you do so, items created by your transformation to humanoid form vanish immediately. Once you use this trait, you cannot do so again until you finish a long rest.

Elemental Affinity. Starting at 3rd level, you can cast the absorb elements spell using this trait while in celestial orb form. You can use this trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus. You recover all uses when you finish a long rest. You can also cast this spell using any spells slots you have, regardless of your form.

Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for this trait (choose when you select this race).

Unknown origin

Zantir are a seeming amalgam of human and beast. Human settlements of Corion are uncertain whether zantir are humans cursed with a corrupted form, or merely a highly-advanced beasts. Cultural mistrust between humans and zantir is strong on Corion, with their respective cultures remaining largely independent and settlements following tradition tribal boundaries.

Since space on Corion is abundant, conflicts over territory are rare. Many humans and zantir will live out their entire lives without seeing any of the other species.

Natural Protectors

Elkorn zantir are the tallest, striding head and shoulders above even the tallest plains grasses, often taking the role of leaders, warriors, protectors, and laborers.

Grassland Striders

Antelon zantir are slender and fleet, often seen bounding across rocky slopes and through meadows on nimble legs. Antelon are natural messengers, watchers, and gatherers. Their energy tends to ward jubilant expressions, and some wonder if their smaller size makes them more eager to gain attention for their skill.

Natural Wisdom

Erudorn zantir are rarer than the other types and the birth of a silver-eyed Erudorn is an event celebrated by entire territories. Erudorn grow slower than their kin, often outliving their siblings by many decades. Erudorn have a reputation for thoughtfulness and wisdom. Gazing into their shimmering silver eyes is said to inspire pure awe. It is not known whether zantir are advanced beasts or humans blessed (or cursed) with bestial traits. This uncertainty engenders mistrust between humans and santir, and their cultures are largely distinct, following ancient tribal boundaries.

Zantir Traits

Creature Type. You are Humanoid.

Size. You are Medium.

Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.

Watchful. Zantir are naturally wary of predators. When you roll initiative, you gain the benefits of the dodge action until the start of your first turn: you gain advantage on Dexterity saving throws and attackers have disadvantage to hit you.

Fending Antlers. When you are targeted by a melee attack that you can see and are not incapacitated, you can use your reaction to attempt to fend off the attack with your antlers. Roll 1d4 and add the result to your armor class, potentially turning a hit into a miss. You can use this trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus. You recover all uses when you complete a long rest.

Zantir legacy. When you choose this race, select a Zantir legacy.

• Elkorn Constitution. Starting at 1st level and each time you gain a level, you gain an additional hit point. You can additionally use your Fending Antlers as a reaction to an ally with 5 feet of you being targeted by a melee attack. If you roll initiative with no uses of your Fending Antlers remaining, you regain one use.
• Antelon Fleetness. Your speed increases by 10 feet. Your venturing nature grants you proficiency in one skill of your choice from the options Acrobatics, Animal Handling, Performance, or Survival.
• Erudorn Sagacity You gain proficiency in one skill of your choice from Arcana, History, Investigation, Medicine, Nature, or Religion. You also know one cantrip of your choice from the abjuration, divination, enchantment, or transmutation schools of magic. Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for this trait (choose when you select this legacy).

Warlock Patron: Royal Guardian

You are descendant of royal heritage. Whether raised in a castle or perhaps recently discovered your noble bloodline, you have bound your soul to the land and people your family defends, protects, and serves–and rule. That's part of it, of course. As the heir of this bloodline, your pact gives you access to a Royal Guardian such as fairy godmother, dragon spirit, ancestral pantheon, or powerful artifact that is bound to the same purpose. It guides you, protects you, and impels you to fulfill your destiny.

You gain the following 1st Level features and additional features as you gain levels in this class.

Defiance

Enchantment cantrip

• Casting time: 1 action
• Range: 60 ft.
• Components: V, S, M (a bit of sinew)
• Duration: Instantaneous

You turn a portion of creature’s body against itself. A limbed, winged, finned, or tentacled creature in range must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or one of its limbs you choose falls out of its control. If the limb is a leg or wing, the creature it falls prone. If the creature has a swim speed and the limb is a fin or tail, it has its movement speed reduced by half until the end of its next turn. If the limb is arm or tentacle, it drops any object it was holding with that limb and the next attack against the creature has advantage.

Spell lists. Bard, Cleric, Warlock, Wizard

Flash step

Conjuration cantrip

• Casting time: 1 action
• Range: self
• Components: S, M (a sprinkle of black powder)
• Duration: Instantaneous

Provided your movement is not zero, you move 15 feet in a flash of light to an unoccupied space that you can see. This distance cannot be reduced. Although this movement is not teleportation, it can be in any direction. Your movement creates a loud cracking sound audible to a distance of 120 feet. If you take movement of at least 15 feet in a line before casting flash step, immediately after casting the spell and before taking any additional movement, you can you can use your bonus action to make a shove attack. The attack deals an additional 1d6 bludgeoning damage on a hit.

At higher levels. This spell’s damage increases by 1d6 when you reach 5th level (2d6), 11th level (3d6), and 17th level (4d6).

Spell lists. Artificer, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard

Meld

Illusion cantrip

• Casting time: 1 action
• Range: self
• Components: S, M (skin of a chameleon)
• Duration: Concentration 1 minute.

While lightly concealed, or in dim light or darkness, you change to match the color of your surroundings. You are heavily obscured for the duration. This spell ends if until you attack, move, or cast a spell.

Spell lists. Bard, Druid, Ranger

Puff of Smoke

Conjuration cantrip

• Casting time: 1 action
• Range: 5 feet
• Components: S, M (sprinkles of ashes or black powder)
• Duration: 1 round

You conjure a burst of thick, dark smoke in a 5 foot square within range. The area is heavily obscured until the beginning of your next turn. As determined by your DM, the smoke may grant advantage to Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) checks to conceal a tiny object within reach and Dexterity (Stealth) checks to hide.

Spell lists. Artificer, Bard, Warlock, Wizard

Thunder punch

Evocation cantrip

• Casting time: 1 action
• Range: 5 feet
• Components: V, S
• Duration: Instantaneous

Make a melee spell attack against a creature or object. On a hit, the target suffers 1d8 thunder damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a Strength saving throw or be pushed back 5 feet.

At higher levels. This spell’s damage increases by 1d8 when you reach 5th level (2d8), 11th level (3d8), and 17th level (4d8).

Spell lists. Artificer, Warlock, Paladin, Sorcerer, Wizard

Charged Spell

As an action you can spend a sorcery point and hold concentration to create a charge. On a subsequent turn, when you cast a spell of duration instantaneous, you can spend one or more charges to increase the spell one level per charge above the level of the spell slot you use (including to levels above your maximum spell level). This can be used with other metamagic options.

Intensified Spell

When you cast a spell that can be cast at higher levels and which requires concentration, on subsequent turns as an action you can spend one sorcery point (per turn) to increase the level of the spell (including to levels above your current maximum spell level). This can be used with other metamagic options.

Edar

Player races include races that are nominal enemies, such as edar and Corion humans. A possible reason for an edar to be a seeker is that they had a fall out with their leadership, or experienced a shocking massacre that caused a crisis of conscience. Players should not be expected to abandon in-grained mistrust of edar characters, and, in fact, this can be rich fodder for roleplaying.

Orbyx

Orbyx are exceptionally rare on Corion. Perhaps one has attached itself to a creature it feels has an important destiny or purpose, or perhaps it is simply less reclusive. Possibly, the character may want to seek to hide their identity as an orbyx for their own protection. Regardless, orbyx have a powerful desire to find their purpose, which is a strong source of roleplay interaction, that goes far beyond their useful ability to change forms.

Perlu

Aquatically-adapted Perlu are uncommon inland, but wandering traders, outcasts, and ambassadors seeking allies are encountered on the vast continents of Corion.

Dwarfken

Dwarfken are often obsessed with their own discoveries, wealth, or creations, so it is not surprising to find them mingling with adventurers, not the least because
adventurers are willing to pay a high price the rare
artifacts Dwarfken discover in lods.

In fact, a Dwarfken can often be the catalyst in
forming a company of seekers.

Humans, Zantir, and Chelli

Inland species in the tropics are not particularly rare as shipping and trade are the source behind much of the wealth of many of Corion's influential nobles. There is, however, friction between perlu, which typically occupy small regional holdings, and the more powerful navies and merchant fleets of inlanders. Some perlu settlements are closed societies with harsh punishments for trespassers. Others admire and seek to emulate the expansive and gregarious inland societies.

Crel

Crel typically remain in the storm holds, driven by instinct to wait, wait, wait, only rising to sate their need for food when the scent of prey wakes them. However, crel are not mere slaves to instinct. Crel are not only sentient, but capable of reason, with some even learning to speak common, or common sign language. These few might seek answers (or food) beyond the confines of the storm holds. Though, without the protection of allies, they would not survive the fear-wrought violence of backwoods Corion communities.

Deities of Clerics and Paladins

For example, a Corion Peace Domain cleric may have a relic that houses a mind fragment of Ka'rel obsessed with peace, or a Death Domain cleric's soul may have bound a remnant of Ka'rel's mind which has its own unique identity, calling itself whatever name the player wishes. It may speak to their mind, urging them to help others to the afterlife.

Warlock Pact Entities

Corion Warlocks may choose to make a pact with an off-world entity, but a pact with a mind fragment of Ka'rel is likely to be far more interesting, as conflicts of interest may arise between mind fragments, as though they were adversarial deities. Warlocks may also encounter or contact patrons via lods (planar fragments).

Other casters

Other arcane and primal casters work as usual in D&D worlds like the Forgotten Realms.

What about Draconic bloodline sorcerers, genie warlocks? Are there dragons and Djinn on Corion? Short answer: if a player chooses those subclasses, apparently there were at some point or still are. Let the player come up with an explanation!

Q: Can my 10th level character be a different class?

Yes, but... Before trying to play a different class at high level, consider how your role change might affect the team. That said, campaigns take a long time, and this can be a shameless excuse to try out two different classes.

Q: If I lose hit points in the mindspace, does it affect my lower level character and vice-versa? What about spell slots?

Keep the character sheets separate, just as you would different characters' xp, spell slots, items–everything is separate, unless your DM decides a particular malady or ability traverses from the mindspace into the material plane character, and vice-versa. Valid exceptions include knowledge, inspiration, an alignment change, or a divine boon that manifests in the material plane as well.

Q: How does XP work?

If the DM uses XP for advancement, it is suggested that material plane and mindspace characters advance separately, as if they are in different campaigns so advancement follows campaign action.

Q: Does my material plane character advancement have to lead towards the 10th level character's abilities?

No. You can do whatever you want. If it seems to create a paradox, and that keeps up at night, then don't.

Q: What sort of abilities will be valuable for my (low level) material plane character ?

Skills and tool proficiencies!

Q: What sort of abilities will be valuable for my (high level) mindspace character?

Really freaking powerful and useful ones. Make sure your team has a lot of strengths and can cover for each other's weakensses. Teamwork is critical at higher levels.

Q: How much time passes in Corion material space while in the mindspace?

You'll never know. Time could synchronize, pass slower, or more quickly. You could Rip Van Winkle or Calypso's Isle yourself in the wrong mindspace. It's all to your (merciful?) DM's imagination.

Q: Do spells and abilities that contact other planes reach the mindspace?

Yes. And that's a hint for finding out how quickly time is passing without having to leave. Although, any mindspace items acquired may also have barter value in other mindspaces.

Q: How does money work in mindspaces?

Each mindspace has tokens of value useful only in that space. Mindspace items stay with you between mindspaces and can be sold or bartered as usual. (They are parts of your soul.)

• Drubbin's Rest. A DC 12 History check will reveal that Drubbin is a well-known bird lover, who studied eagles in particular. The "rest" is not a campsite, but some eagle's nests in the branches of the ponderosa pines. If it is night, wolves begin howling. Players will need to avoid the wolves either by keeping a large fire going or climbing trees (no long rest either way). To start a fire quickly enough to frighten the wolves before they attack is a DC 13 Survival check, unless players can produce magical fire such as create bonfire while they build a real one.
• Devil’s Key. Devil's Key appears to be a dolomite spire, though if viewed from the opposite side, for instance if players explore beyond Devil's Key rather than turn toward Rojborn's Bastion, an exposed face of obsidian can be seen. This is, in fact, a half-risen storm hold, which should lead players to conclude at some point in the campgain that the storm holds did not descend from space, but rather sprung out of Corion itself. On the opposite side of Devil's Key lies a small, abandoned heretic temple built into caves. It is also an egress point for Crel (entrance to storm hold).
• Seven Springs. Refer to Discovery 6: Natural Spring.
• Birch fell. A forest of aspens with sections logged intermittently in the past, in one of Rojborn's failed ventures leaving the forest uneven. Shaded, protected. Plentiful wood and game. Refer to Mountain Geography 6: aspen slopes if players ever spend any considerable time here. This is also a chance to hunt. See Mountain Geography 1: rolling foothills for the hunting game skill check if players want to hunt.

Jrem

Jrem is a 17 year old male "apprentice" (all-purpose errand boy), and Jrel's older brother. Jrem is possessed by wanderlust and excels in all wilderness activities (Survival). While he's exceptionally bright (high Int) and speaks quickly using big words he shouldn't know, he lacks the natural physical strength (low Str) of so many others living in the frontier. Especially as weather worsens and chances for exploring wane, Jrem is desperate to get out of the fort. He wears overalls and a ranger's hat.

Jrel

Jrel is a 13 year old male stable boy (Animal Handling) and younger brother of Jrem. He wants nothing more than to prove that he's not a child, but deeper lies a need he doesn't see: to be loved by a mentor or parent figure. He and his brother are orphans and wards of Robjorn until they reach their majority. Able to work as long as a man twice his age (high Con), Jrel's chip on his shoulder and brusque manner are off-putting (low Cha). He wears an (oversized) leather blacksmith's smock that it makes him look tougher.

Quartermaster Coonts

As the person in charge of handing out work orders and trading completed orders for goods and meal tickets, Quartermaster Coonts is a revered (and hated) figure in Rojborn's Bastion. A long-time trusted confidant and employee of Rojborn, Coonts has been with Rojborn through thick and thin, and if you get him a drink at Lenna's Cafe he will regale you with countless tales. Coonts is a widower, and he doesn't share many stories about that. What remains of his tragic marriage are his two daughters.

Colaine

Colaine is the younger of Coonts' daughters. She is an enterprising girl and willing to invest in trade ventures, exploration, or anything that sounds interesting. If you need money and you have an idea, Colaine is the first person to see. Though, she often has to see her father to foot the bill. Bright in personality and wit, Colaine is seen as the ideal replacement for her father.

Merhys

Merhys is Coont's eldest daughter. She remembers her mother and seeks above all to emulate her piety and poise. If you're in trouble or need advice, seek Merhys. Her only problem is late nights, when she is silly tired. That's when her suppressed anger and hurt, and a heavily-repressed wild side can show.

Starky's Cove Setting

Sailing into the harbor at Starky's Cove is unlike anything you have ever experienced on the sea. Shipping vessels crowd loading docks. The stench of fish guts, sewage, and salty brine mingle in your nose, meeting a wave of nausea that rises at the sight of the squalor in which beggars live in shanty huts crammed into every nook of the bustling streets of Duke Garishan's barely governable city.

Smoke rises from rows of chimneys at industrial factories to the south. The harbor itself seems equally choked with an almost gritty mixture of smoke and fog. The haze intermittently reveals human trading ships anchored through the harbor. Along the marina, you can find boats for any job: patch a hull, pillage a wreck, a quick getaway. You can hire willing mercenaries for a nighttime raid or a crew for a dirty deed that needs doing quick–though the fee will be enough to make you rethink your finances for the next decade.

Artisan's District. if there is something custom you have in mind, you can find a skilled crafter of any sort in the city. Though not exactly a window-shopping destination, there are plenty of shops with a trademark you can trust.

Merchant District. Proper shops line the gridded streets of the merchant district. This area is well guarded by both city police and private security. That's no surprise given the number of shops dealing with gold and jewels.

Rallying Call. Reports of increased edar activity in the Vendmar Islands have drawn seekers to Starky's Cove to counter the threat. On arrival near the end of the business day, players can be greeted by any of the marina storefront owners such as Billy the barber, who can introduce them to the waterfront area.

Roll to determine the store owner's disposition. Then choose a complication from the complications table that follows.

Loyalties for Sale. The threat of edar-funded gangs (or political leaders) interfering with seeker activities hangs over everything the PCs try to accomplish in Starky's Cove.

Marina and Waterfront District

The waterfront is the first place most visitors get to see at Starky's Cove–if they arrive on their own ship, and if and aren't hauled away immediately for unpaid debts to EZ Loans and Mortuary. EZ runs a tight ship. But if you need money, she's your first chance–often your last as well.

If you need a boat for a day, stop by Fickle's Fishing Supplies. He doesn't care if you are fishing for gold from a rich noble's yacht anchored out in the harbor, as long as you bring the gear back in good order. By "gear", I mean the grappling hooks, diving suits, enchanted noise makers for distraction, lock picks, crowbars–you get the idea.

Most folks have been out to sea too long and need to clean up before trying to get into Starky's nicer establishments. No better place than Billy's Barbershop, where you can get the latest gossip, checkout the bounty on your wanted poster, and sneak out the back if you are getting strange looks from people glancing from you to your remarkably well-drawn likeness on the poster. That Billy is the best looking girl in town, has nothing to do with why sailors come here. Nothing at all.

Got time to kill‐'er, I need another way to phrase that... Spend your downtime (and coin) at tourist-oriented Suvee's Collectibles, or else Drouble's Dice and Games. Of course, gambling is legal here. Though, many things that aren't still happen anyway. Drouble is old codger, but he's good for digging up dirt on folks if you grease his palm–and I'm not talking about slapping a turkey leg from Mougan's House of Meats and Pies into his greedy hand. Speaking of, Mougan's is the one place you will be guaranteed to leave full. If you pay, you'll leave full of enormous amounts of rich, savory food that will leave your mouth watering and have you waking in the night from dreams of culinary ecstasy. And if you don't pay, you'll leave full of holes. Mougan keeps a blunderbuss loaded with buckshot under the counter.

Slake your thirst at Agor's Alehouse or Ginny's Gin. But don't let them see you walking from one bar to the next. The dwarfken barkeeps Agor and Ginny had a fallout long ago over a sordid affair, and a guest leaving one marginally-respectable establishment only to walk into the nextdoor dive is grounds for shouting match between heavy-fisted dwarfken, with you in the middle.

Tavern Row

Every establishment on Tavern Row has its own backstory sopping with sad tales, misdeed, and above all mystery.

Most locals know the inns and eateries by name, and in order from Hanna's House near The Pointe where sailors catch a penny ferry to cross, to The Sunken Sloop nearest the toll bridge where sailors engage in all manner of excuses to avoid having to pay the exact same fee to walk across on their own two feet.

The offering of excuses at the toll bridge is high art in Starky's Cove. Only the funniest of reasons will elicit a laugh from the guards and win a free passage. The best excuses for each year are added to a printed book which can be purchased at any of the taverns. The book is titled "Free Crossings: A Compendium of Compelling Excuses". The forward begins, "Some wonder why Starky's Cove continues to demand a toll at the Skull's River bridge. This book is the answer."

For hint of the flavor, the last excuse of the latest (ninety-fifth) addition ends with, "Only, she wasn't my wife...she was the duke's!"

For good home cooking you can't beat Hanna's House. It might be the first tavern on tavern row, and one of the oldest–a bit worn down and worse the for the wear, and nobody even remembers who Hanna actually was, but you can settle down with a huge bowl of steaming cllam chowder, and stuff hot fresh biscuits until you are ready to pop. That's when one of Hanna's lovely helpers like Linsey Lakefort (what time does she get off anyway?) loads up your plate with a huge slice of carrot cake dripping with frosting. And well, you just have to eat that, too. That stuffed, you'll sleep well, regardless of whether your mattress has any stuffing in it...and dream of breakfast.

If you like something a bit more eccentric, drop in at the Winking Star. It's proprietor Starbret Henk is a lover of anything mysterious or magical. His collection of bizarre artifacts and trinkets lines the walls and there's always something interesting to drink: a tea made from herbs or an exotic bird for dinner. Seats for supper fill up fast in the small tavern, especially couples and business folk who like the quiet atmosphere. Farnir Suites (another misspelling?) is an affiliated tavern focused on high-end accommodations.

Tavern Row Random Encounters

Southbanks Shops Encounters

Temple District

Though bordering on comical in a place as grim and choked by greed as Starky's Cove, the Temple District is a thriving part of the city. Clerics and priestesses recruit acolytes, always competing for the best-looking ones who can stand out in front and direct traffic into the sanctum for expensive services. But the temple district is more than just a place to go for greater restoration at Exorcism Experts when your business partner got himself turned to stone so he wouldn't have to pay you back for the loan you gave him which he squandered gambling. Because there is help for every vice here, starting with The Better Way Reformery and Condominiums where you can lead a lavish, laid-back life away from pressing issues while you detox and let your inflamed relationships simmer down.

Nearby, you can check out the latest weirdos registering their cult at the CRO (cults in Skull's Gate pay taxes to avoid getting shut down). The Knights of Ka'rel paladins' lodge is great place to swap stories and hire divine help. Paladins are respected bringers of justice. Though they operate outside the duke's control, the Knights of Ka'rel are without reproach, and the most respected organization in the city by a wide margin. You can pick up holy water, incense, votive candles, diamond dust for warding, silvered weapons, and vestments of all kinds at Incensed clerical supply.

For just a good time, drop a copper in the tin and join the chorus at Love is the Answer Sing-a-Long Worship Center. You'll be guaranteed to leave in better spirits, which is why it is so popular. Though, if you have real problems, they'll still be waiting for you at the door. A more serious take on clerical ministry is It's Not That Bad which focuses on psycho-behavioral ministry, and occasionally electroshock therapy. Let's Talk Arbitration is a great place to avoid a bloody confrontation. Check your weapons at the door.

Monk Way is a quaint (vibrant) clerical village south of the Merchant's District, where accolytes and priests live their quiet humble lives, and it is totally not a place for great after-services parties. Like, totally. Not. Er, yeah. Okay, it's pretty hip and happening.

Artisan's District

Behyond Tavern Row, and past the footbridge, in a calmer, quieter section of town lies the quaint and curious Artisan's District. It's a hodgepodge of crafter's workshops with a mix of minimal to extravagant window displays. Typically with upstairs residences above the workshops, this district is colorful and glows with unique character.

A visitor's first stop is often Milly & Sons Midwifery and Convalescence. Named with more of Starky's Cove tongue-in-cheek humor, Milly's quarantines sick sailors and has nurses on hand to things get severe clerics can be called from the temple district, but those sorts of healing services don't come cheap. The hospital complex spans a group of several small buildings where different types of illnesses can be kept somewhat isolated, though patients will often sneak out due to sheer boredom to go get inked at No Regrets Tattoos which offers both traditional Perlu tribal tats and anything goes human-style tattoos. For magical tattoos, you'd be best to find a vendor in The Backstreets, though results are never guaranteed. Whole Cloth Weavers on the other hand always guarantee their cloth to be defect free, though if you return something, they'll always claim you caused the defect or it came from somewhere else.

Wandering through the alleys of the Artisan's District leads you through Tinkertown, a collection of fixit shops, handyman carts, trinket vendors and so on. Children often wander this district gazing in wonder at mechanical toys and animated objects. If they get enough pluck they'll wander past Cluck's Fletchers to Bangles & Co. Piercings to get their first earrings. With so much perlu influence, earrings here are almost sacred and the experience of getting your first piercing is one that involves an interview with a mystic, soul searching, and not a little shopping with your friends for just the right set.

Furs are always in style in Starky's Cove and there is no better place to find something uniquely you than Furocious. Absent any form of grammar police, the cringe-worthy name remains a fixture in Starky society.

Finishing your loop of the back alleys you reach the shoe shop where most folks get their worn soles and uppers replaced: Cobbled Together.

Starky's Cove NPCs

Some of the most frequently met residents of Starky's Cove on Tavern Row and the Southbank include the following NPCs.

At Silver & Steel players can meet many of the younger blacksmiths working the forge, pumping the bellows, shoeing horses, and polishing, grinding and sharpening tools. The most bombastic of the bunch is the proprietor's nephew Vorpit, a blond dwarf with a beard he keeps tightly braided for safety in the forge. Vorpit hates being watched by the local chelli girls who constantly comment on how "cute" or "adorable" he looks, likening him to a "giant kitten that you just want to squeeze." This, while his bulging muscles pound iron with increasing ferocity. Vorpit is a frequenter of the taverns and likes to swap tales. He is a useful source of information.

Vorpit's coworkers include the youngest apprentice, the wiry but able Droove, a human boy just shy of sixteen who pours cast iron fittings, makes nails, and generally assists Vorpit. His straight chin-length brown hair parts in the middle, for a classic "floppy-haired Disney boy" look that ladies can't take their eyes off for some inexplicable reason. It doesn't help that Droove has a disarmingly charming smile, and knows a good number of ballads and often sings at work, which only draws a larger crowd. The side of the forge that shoes horses is open air and everyone from children to old men gather at the fenced enclosure to watch the fascinating smithing.

Clearly, the finest specimen of the bunch is the black-skinned, dreadlocked, and typically shirtless journey-level crafter Malenk.

Despite her prickly outward demeanor, those closest to her know Murcine is a fierce and loyal ally. And, on rare occasion, if Armon dips in his purse to dispense a silver and finds none, Murcine is there with a coin before anyone can notice. Appearances are everything and Murcine cares for those of her friends perhaps even more than herself.

Fayla is a curious woman. Quiet and reserved, she plays the viola to Armon's fiddle and Murcine's horn, literally. They have been known to perform chamber music as a trio, and to broad acclaim. Though, the musicians in the crowd did not miss Fayla's outstanding talent. Brilliant, wealthy, and striking, Fayla is a prize like no other. It's no wonder her friends guard her so zealously. Yet for all her ability, Fayla lacks confidence. In public, Fayla is often seen looking from Armon to Murcine for a cue. She will take a hand in greeting, or curtsy, blushing as she does so in spite of the efforts of her socialite friends to make her more comfortable mingling with those of high station.

Fayla has many academic pursuits and will often beg her friends to leave off shopping for clothes to drop into a book store like Haden's Book Haven tucked just behind the more famous stores on the Southbank, which her friends are happy to oblige as it gives them a good excuse to people watch at the window, have a cup of tea, and read the news stamps and wanted posters on the bulletin. Haden is always quick to serve a complimentary slice of cake to any who accompany Fayla into the store. For those with intellectual proclivities, Fayla is easy to engage in conversation. Though her voice is as timid as a mouse, her ideas are well-thought out and well-spoken.

There is one other who makes this trio a foursome as regularly as his vices allow: Gavert. The life of the party, Gavert is also tragically inconsistent. Staying up to all hours, sleeping in, getting ill from too much food or drink, hiding from his gambling debts, or escaping on a pleasure cruise with his latest crush, the black-haired and moderately portly Gavert is an endless source of gossip on the Southbank.

Falira's Landing Setting

Mindspace Realms

Mindspace realms take inspiration from the outer planes of the multiverse, Freudian psychology, and contemporary and classic films and literature in order to resonate deeply with players and provide exciting, unexpected variety and challenges, but above all, to allow players to experience something fantastical, without requiring excessive suspended disbelief.

The mind fragment that houses the mindspace may be a humanoid that the PC's must touch, a teleportation circle like a star trek beaming station that the characters must activate while standing in position, a pulsing crystal relic, a roving void, a ghost-like phantasm, or a shimmering portal.

Each mindspace has its own unique environment and challenges. Choose or roll to determine the nature of the mindspace fragment. See Mindspace Realms descriptions for details.

Super-Ego

The super-ego is the place of conscience, where all actions have consequences. In mindspaces from super-ego fragments accountability is required. This realm may be a great hall of justice. Players may be required to recount or even revisit past encounters and repeat them to correct their error. Guilt arises from the super-ego. An over-active super-ego is the source of anxiety in an over-indoctrinated, self-criminalizing individual. Players may be judged, or forced to debate their standing, adopt or champion specific values to be weighed, or attempt to bring icons or creatures representing these values into balance. This realm likely takes inspiration from upper planes like Mount Celestia, a court room, or Scrooge's encounters with the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future from Dicken's A Christmas Carol. In a super-ego run amok, creatures representing disconnected values like avenging angels, grim reapers, executioners, tormentors and so on may roam uncontrolled. Or, the scales of justice may be imbalanced. Sacrifices may be required to pass certain gates, in order to approach the supreme judge. But there may also be beneficent angels who reward the heroes and remind them of their good deeds and encourage them on their way.

Subconscious

This realm is rich for roleplaying, and a chance to delve into the character's pasts. If you have seeded your players with dark secrets in their backstories, this is a fantastic opportunity to have shocking revelations.

This realm is a place of dreams, chaos, aberrations, nonsense, and whimsy, drawing inspiration from crossover realms like Limbo, Pandemonium, and Ysgard, but particularly the Feywild and Shadowfell, and even the Far Realm. Take inspiration from Lewis Carrol's Alice in Wonderland, Jaberwocky, the adventures of Dr. Who or Dr. Strange, or Gulliver's Travels, and anything else "trippy" or psychedelic.

In this world, things are unbound by reason or purpose, such as the arbitary nature of the laws withing an Archfey's realm, or hopeless, like the dreams in which you cannot speak or feel stuck, represented by a curse imbued by an archfey or binding effect in the Shadowfell.

Each subconscious fragment should feel like an episode of a dream, with a particular feel, such as a haunted cabin, ghostly manor, or even a Saturday morning cartoon like the Smurfs gone horribly wrong, such as players shrunken to tiny size in a world of giants, or being trapped behind glass walls, or having their mouths sealed, hunted by a terrible predator, or introduced to something utterly bizarre and inane like tea at the Mad Hatter's. Have fun creating new rules that players must adapt to.

D&D published resources for subconscious encounters include The Curse of Strahd, The Wild Beyond the Witchlight. Out of the Abyss, and Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel.

Discovery Table

Detailed descriptions follow.

A young, but fiercely determined edar heiress, Valae is privileged and she knowns it. (And she will let you know it.) Not getting her way puts her in a foul mood and she is liable to order "off with their heads" if invitees to a tea party do not show up.

Velae is attended by personal servants, daunting personal guards, and has a loyal lieutenant Aja who is as large as some half giants. She is curious about Corion and its peoples and customs as much as she is curious about the storm holds.

For now, Velae is happy to allow Corioni to take the risk of finding the mind fragments and assessing their state. So long as she is kept informed and entertained, she is quite agreeable, perhaps even intoxicating. Velae keeps her personal powers a secret, though it is likely she is very good and very dangerous at something. Perhaps enchanting magic. Or perhaps something far more sinister.

3. Executor Mebda of the Vretik

A stern executive officer of the powerful Vretik clan, Mebda's lips are drawn as tight as her purse strings. With her network of expert spies and potent divination spells, Mebda learns far more than her enemies believe.

While her time in the far realm granted her powerful telepathic abilities, Mebda bears warping deviations from which she may never be free, though that won't stop her from trying to re-perfect her body. The mind fragments of Ka'rel will give her all the power she needs.

4. Dukahn the Hunter

More hands-on than most commanders, Dukahn is an expert of stealth and a deadly hunter. He is not afraid to track down and question at spear point, in their bed, in their locked chamber, in their fortress, for those who do not answer his summons immediately.

Having come to Corion via the upper planes, the edar husband Guya and wife Bellis are as loyal to their principles as they are to each other. Bearing the unmistakable touch of the divine, Bellis and Guya are among the oldest edar to have returned to Corion.

While other edar required generations of eugenics to produce offspring with sufficient mental fortitude to endure the banishing curse, perhaps their connection to the divine has transformed Bellis and Guya to the point that they are not truly edar, but something else entirely.

Dignity, justice, equity, magnanimity–these are the hallmarks of Bellis and Guy's rule, and of their forces. Among the Corioni who know them, none doubt that if Bellis and Guya were to rule this planet, it would be far better off that with the petty warring nobles that cause so much suffering.

Bearing divine clerical magic, Bellis has been known to heal life-long cripples, while Guya is capable of banishing almost any creature that dares bring chaos into his presence.

7. Portia and Glenny

Portia and Glenny could be mistaken for their grandparents at a first glance. But where Bellis and Guya glow with the divine, Portia and Glenny have a distinct air of simple, common connection. They're just normal...except for being inordinately long-lived and impossibly beautiful.

Portia and Glenny are half edar, half human. Born on the distant realm of Toril as mixed breeds, the curse has far less hold on them. But what the curse doesn't claim, seemingly every lusty person on Corion does.

Portia is alleged to be the most beautiful woman on Corion, bar none, a fact for which she is detested among edar, who view themselves as the ultimate race. Glenny is not far behind among the eligible Corioni women.

Their political influence grows as talk of possible unity between edar and Corion humans takes hold in the minds and hearts of hungry, greedy peasants gazing at future glory.

For all their seeming innocuity, Portia and Glenny defer not a hair to any other edar, not even to their own grandparents. This is their world to take as much as it is the purebreds. And though they lack magic entirely, they have legions of loyal and well-trained soldiers at their aid. And dragons.

Yes, they brought dragons from Toril, just in case.

8. Arkaz the Devastator

Arkaz does not keep dragons. Rather, he has become one. Able to shift his form into a great blue dragon, Arkaz is a force of pure destructive might. Did he make a pact, or is there a bloodline connection? Nothing is clear beyond the Arkaz's drive for power. Can he assimilate even more from Ka'rel's fragments? His loyal minions would like nothing more.

This father-daughter duo comes to Corion via the regimented ranks of the reborn Edar Astral Navy.

Captain Kyrone's outpost is his astral ship. And while he retains command, he cannot remain indefinitely on Corion. He was born one generation before the perfected ranks of edar able to fully bear the banishing curse.

His spirited visits provide both motivation and stress for Vora, who does her best to carry out her father's goals and wishes, but without the clout that he amassed through centuries of combat and duty in astral sea. Though her father could, and has, stared an astral dreadnought in the face as he rammed his spelljammer through the creature's skull, Vora has less taste for combat and more interest in intellectual pursuits–including boys, which she is never allowed to investigate when dad is around.

11. Tsua the Many

Having broken her way into the Feywild, Tsua remained for many centuries, changing her identity like the seasons. Tsua is able to alter her form and voice at will and spends as much time disguised among the people she will one day rule as an archfey, as she does among her own forces.

Tsua has alternate egos for any occasion, an unanticipated byproduct of a mind fractured by the far realm.

She could be your friend, or your boss. Or both.

The only certainty with Tsua is her caprice. She lives to drop uncertainty into people's minds, and won't hesitate to wreck a relationship by impersonating a lover, or sell out an ally to an enemy for the sheer pleasure of seeing the shock on the face of the newly doomed, former ally.

12. Kumat the Confounder

Kumat is a reclusive genius. His plans not even his closest confidants know. Kumat traversed many planes in search of arcane secrets. Many edar believe Kumat will be discover the means to end the banishing curse.

Kumar is a scribes wizard of the highest order and his machinations are kept within his sentient spellbook whose female persona is known as Megra the Compiler. Some believe Kumar captured the spirit of another edar, perhaps even his wife, in order to bring his spellbook to life.

Rumors abound. But facts as far more fleeting the one certainty about Kumat: he is to be feared.

Discovery 1: Edar Forward Post (cont'd)

Discovery 5: Lod (planar fragment)

Hidden across Corion are isolated pockets of other realms. The closed spaces loop back on themselves, ranging in size from a few dozen yards across, to several miles, lods retain the characteristic flavor of their original realm. Native plants and species thrive inexplicably. The lighting and weather may be different, the air richer or leaner, or even toxic. Many are underground, and some can be found underwater. A few exists as floating chunks of earth, like islands in the sky, or bits of temperamental cloud charged with arcane lightning.

Finding a tiny lod tucked away in the great expanse of Corion requires the right sense, which dwarfken uniquely possess. Once a small group of dwarfken find a lod, they are loathe to abandon it, for fear another might find it and claims its discoveries. Many choose to make their homes in the lod, almost as if living apart from Corion assuages some suppressed need or instinct in the race of astral refugees.

One remarkable feature of lods is the surprisingly high concentration of magical artifacts found within. Did Ka'rel specifically choose fragments of worlds with strong magic, or were they naturally drawn into Corion? Nobody knows. But, everyone knows a lod is a veritable treasure horde. Dwarfken manage to recover magic items of varying rarity, scrolls, potions inexplicably preserved against the passage of time, and of course magical traps, dangerous books of magic, and tomes and treatises from worlds so far away from Corion that none have ever manage to contact those planes. And few on Corion would ever want to, especially after the first war with the edar.

Lods, with their smorgasbord of samples from other realms, make the isolated world of Corion a kind of great cosmic museum for those who will never leave.

Natural Spring Encounters

Discovery 11: Government Operation

Always around when you don't need them, never around when you do. Roll for your government/military discovery.

Discovery 12: Valuable Resources

What a find. This could be exactly what you needed. Roll to determine the nature of your discovery.

Skill checks (in order)

Pathfinding. Make a Wisdom (Survival) check for navigating in a desired direction, and for avoiding dangers.

*If you are not doing these extra checks and discoveries, alternative rewards for good navigation might include: an encounter with a wandering trader or traveler with news from the wider world, or finding a campsite location with sufficient cover for a long rest now or in the future.

Lookout. Make a Wisdom (Perception) check to spot dangers, settlements, followers, abandoned gear, etc.

Hunting game. Make a Wisdom (Survival) check to find game to hunt.

Make a Stealth check to approach, otherwise shoot from distance at disadvantage.

Make an attack roll to hit. A second shot has disadvantage. On a hit, small game goes down. Game that doesn't go down on one hit will need to be tracked: DC 12 Survival or DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check. After tracking successfully a second shot will bring it down.

Skill Checks

River crossing. Make a Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check for crossing a river.

Fishing. For each 4 hours spent fishing make a Wisdom (Survival) check to catch trout.

Skill Checks

Ascending or descending a cliff can be the defining challenge of an entire session. This terrain may consist of two climbs, such as a long dry climb, and a short wet climb, or a "warm-up" climb and a final climb under pressure. Recall, fall damage is 1d6 bludgeoning per 10 feet of fall.

Athletics Checks. In the ideal case, the team has rope, climbing harnesses and pitons. The lead climber must make a Strength (Athletics) check to ascend or traverse each 10 foot section, then make a Wisdom (Survival) check to hammer a piton as an anchor.

Climb points. Each player has a number of "climb" points equal to their Constitution modifier which they can use to (1) grant another player advantage on climbing a section by either pushing from below (within reach), or by hauling on the rope from, or to (2) attempt to redo a section of climb that they failed. Once all climbing points are gone, players make Strength (Athletics) checks with disadvantage, until they set a piton and rest.

Climbing points are recovered on a short rest.

Doing the climb.

1. Climb a section. DM sets the climb DC for each 10 foot section of the climb, for example DC 15 for the crux, but DC 5 or 10 for the easy parts. The climber can attempt to climb a section as an action. If the climber fails, the DM can attribute this to either the climber lacking the requisite strength, flexibility, or technique, or fault a piece of the cliff rock coming loose. If a climber fails a section, they can spend a climbing point to try again as an action. Once all points are gone, all further climbing attempts with disadvantage.
2. Place pitons. Each time a climber succeeds to climb a section, they can attempt to place one or more pitons as anchors as an action, rest briefly as an action, and then attempt the next section without disadvantage as their next action. However, they do not recover any more "free redo" climbing points until they finish a short rest. Record the Survival skill check total for each piton placement. (Players can place more than one per section if they have them.) This is the piton's "rating", which is distance in feet the piton will support a medium creature's fall. (Double it for small creatures. Half it for large creatures.)
   If the fall exceeds the piton's rating, the piton rips out, but the creature's fall height for damage calculation is reduced by the piton "rating". For example a piton placed with a Survival check total of 12 can support a medium creature fall of up to 12 feet. If the creature falls 20 feet, the piton reduces the effective fall height to 20 - 12 = 8 feet.

Climb DC Modifiers.

• Add +5 to the DC for wet rock.
• Add +3 to the DC for downclimbing.
• A player has disadvantage to climb if hit by an attack or forced to make a saving throw while climbing.
• If a character is using a rope to follow the lead climber, reduce the climb DC for each section by 5.

Descent Check.

If a creature with a climbing harness is lowering another creature or lowering itself, it must succeed on a DC 5 Wisdom (Survival) belay check to successfully lower a creature. On a failed check, the creature it is lowering suffers a short fall, taking 2d6 bludgeoning damage. If a backup rope is tied to the creature, grant advantage on the check and half any damage.

If a creature is downclimbing with the aid of a rope, it must make a Strength (Athletics) downclimb check. If a backup rope is tied to the creature, it gains advantage on this check and halves any fall damage.

Skill Checks

Nature check. Attempt to discern what is in the brush.

If the players do nothing, the mountain lion will haul off the faun into its dens.

If the players decide to intervene to attempt to frighten the mountain lion, make a DC 14 Intimidation or Animal Handling check. On a success the mountain lion flees. The doe also flees, though it is clear that mother will return for the faun hiding in the grass.

If the players follow the mountain lion or kill the mountain lion, they will discover it has its own cubs. Hence, it was best to do nothing.

Survival check. Find edible plants.

Skill Checks

Crafting. Each player can make a suitable skill check to devise a use for aspen wood. (Like Dude Perfect's "get crafty" segments.)

Sledding.

The shaded slope just above the forest has snow leftover from the last storm. It looks perfect for sledding. Make an acrobatics check to slide as far as possible. Roll with advantage if you have a toboggan or shield to ride.

Skill Checks

It's quiet. Too quiet. Be aware of your surroundings. Make a Wisdom (Perception) or Wisdom (Survival) check.

Sneak Around. If the players decide to circumvent what appears to be an ambush, make a group stealth check with a DC appropriate to the average passive perception of whatever enemy or ally you choose, for example DC 10+(party level/2)

Shelter. If the players seek to find or make shelter, make a Survival check.

Tall tales and Backstories. Nobody is going to sleep well tonight anyway. The weather is too nasty. Why not take turns telling stories. Make a Performance check. The best performance can grant inspiration to any other player of their choosing. This is a great chance for players to expound on their backstories.

Getting through the barrier reef

Like most archipelagos, these islands formed when a volcanic caldera sank just below the surface and the rim has become a coral reef. Beyond the reef, waves pound against the sharp volcanic rock and corals. Boats must find a way through the barrier reef to get into the sheltered lagoon. As a DM, you can run this check several ways: (1) not at all, (2) as a simple Water Vehicles piloting check, (3) a Perception check to find a gap in the barrier, or (4) as a full-blown team challenge peril.

Check DC and Roles

Set the challenge DC for each skill check to 8+player level. Add +4 for night and +4 for stormy waves.

The boat starts out in the center of the approach to the passage. Players can choose team roles including:

• Lookout makes Perception checks for hazards such as rocks, predators, or hostile natives
• Pilot make a water vehicles navigation check to either turn the boat left or right or stay straight.
• Crew: can choose to paddle normally (15 ft.) or aggressively (30 ft). One or more crew can also elect to be a helper.
• Helper(s): can choose to help the lookout, help the pilot, handle hazards, make a hasty repair, or take another action.

Combat/check order

1. The helper can choose to grant advantage by helping the lookout, the pilot, or balance (advantage to Dex saves to stay on board if the boat hits an obstacle. The helper can also throw a rope to someone overboard, pull them back, or pull someone on board (3 separate actions), or choose to attack whatever monster the players come across during the passage.
2. Lookout makes a perception check for hazards (disadvantage in dim light). If successful the player is told either there is a hazard such as a rock or predator to the (d4): (1) left, (2) center, (3) right, or (4) no hazard. Tip: the passage does not have to be straight. 3.The crew declares whether they will row regular or aggressive. If aggressive, crew attempt Constitution saving throws. On a fail, that crew member takes one level of exhaustion which goes away after a round of normal paddling.
3. The pilot declares whether they are turning turn left, straight, or right and makes a Water Vehicles skill check, which can either use Strength (storm weather) or Intelligence (tricky currents). On a success the boat turns 45 degrees or stays straight accordingly. On fail the boat's prior course is altered randomly (d4): (1) 45 degrees left, (2) surges ahead 10 ft., (3) 45 degrees right, (4) pushed back 10 ft.
4. Resolve actions: the boat moves in the resulting direction 15 ft. plus and an additional 15 ft. aggressive), plus or minus any current-driven movement.

Rock

If the boat (e.g. 50 HP) hits a rock it suffers 2d10 damage and everyone on the boat must succeed on a DC 12 Acrobatics (balance) or Athletics (hold on) check or fall overboard.

Flooding

If a shore boat takes 20 HP of damage from rocks, it is leaking. Each round of leaking the flooding level increments by 1, which increases the check DCs by the same amount and reduces speed by 5 ft. If a helper takes the pitch and bail action they can prevent flooding that round only. If another helper is bailing the flood level decrements. Flood stage 5 is sunk.

Attacks

Choose a few hostile creatures along with obstacles to turn the skill check into a challenging combat. If the boat comes within reach or range of hostile creature, it may attack or if the creature spots the boat it may move on its turn to attack. All these creatures will attack to bite or grapple prey and drag them away, especially if there is a character in the water. A creature may also try to tip the boat (Acrobatics save against challenge DC versus falling in.)

Roll 1d10: (1) giant constrictor snake, (2) reef shark, (3) giant octopus, 4) crocodile, (5) hunter shark, (6) chuul, (7) Swarm of natives with shortbows. Scale according to challenge rating (CR):(AC 13+CR/3, 15+CRR*15 HP, +4+CR/2 to hit, (CR d10's)+5 damage (half damage if below half hit points), Dex save +3+CR/2)–these may be on a sand bar near the channel or on a boat, (8) merrow.

Coral Reef History check

Once inside the lagoon, have a player make a History check to determine what they know about this area. This important check largely determines the type of activities they will get to do within the reef.

2. Barren Island

Cursed by nature or geography, this island is barren waste. Surrounded by water on all sides, its ground is a parched desert. You have reached this place hoping for a source of fresh water to replenish your stores. Now, hope turns to despair and panic as those in party begin to realize the danger of running out of water.

The ceaseless breeze is hot and dry. Your voice seems to vanish in the wind. The tang of the salt air only mocks your thirst as the sun rises every higher into the sky, blanching the colors the rock. Lips chap. Eyes ache from the reflection of the sun off the sand. Tongues swell from dehydration. Your vision swims as mirages appear on the horizon. How much longer can you survive without water.

Shallow Basin

The interior of the island has a wide shallow basin that looks perfect for collecting rainwater. Perhaps the center will be a good location to dig a well.

Once the players reach the center of the depression, the sand begins to slide. Each turn players move 15 feet toward the middle and must succeed on a Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) DC 13 saving throw to avoid falling prone. The sand is difficult terrain. After the second round, a great mouth appears in the sand.

Use the roper stat block from the monster manual.

If the players manage to kill the sand creature, it falls back into the ground, revealing a large cavern with an underground lake from which the sand monster drank, as well as plenty of plunder from the bones of previous visitors to the well.

Ridge with Cave Entrances

The caves along this ridge appear to be lava tubes that lead downward. It is possible there is a subterranean source of water. In any event, the caves are the only source of shade on this Ka'rel-forsaken rock.

Navigating the winding, intersecting and frequently dead-ending lava tubes is a tedious task. Make an Intelligence (Investigation) or Wisdom (Survival) check to map the cave network and the find the deepest tube.

Keeping your sanity in the dark, winding places is difficult. Characters must succeed on a DC 13 Charisma saving throw or lose their cool. See DM's Guide to Better Roleplay through Stress Effects for fun ways to roleplay stressed out characters. Or cause a level of exhaustion that goes away after a short rest outside the caves.

3. Volcanic Island

The smoke rising from this island is visible for more than day, guiding you towards an island rising steeply out of the ocean into a towering volcano. Greenery fueled by the rich volcanic soil climbs the black volcanic slopes, reaching toward the steaming barren rock that punches out of the jungle like a smoldering torch. At night, a red glow reflects off the bottom of ash clouds from active lava flows cascading languidly from one side of the peak.

Sure volcanoes are dangerous, but look at this island. The trees have been growing here for decades, maybe even a hundred years. And what a chance to see lave spurting from the mouth of the earth!

And hot springs. There have to be hot springs near a volcano, right?

Stormy Seas

There are three (or more) rounds of skill checks during the storm. The storm DC starts at 12 (or higher as appropriate per the characters' advancement) and increases by 2 each round.

As the storm grows it becomes critical to keep the ship heading into the waves so it is not capsized by a wave. The pilot at the helm must make a Wisdom (Perception) or Dexterity (Sleight of Hand or Water Vehicles) check to stay workways with the waves. But in order for the helm to control the ship, the sails must be properly trimmed or furled. It is all hands on deck now to manage the sails before the storm gets out of hand. The PCs will make a group skill check against storm DC 12. Each player makes an individual check using using whatever skill they possess for aiding the ship such as a Strength check to hold a rope, or a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to climb a mast and tie down a sail, or perhaps a Wisdom (Perception) check to spot a rope on a sail coming loose.

If the majority pass, they grant advantage to the piloting check. If they fail, the pilot has disadvantage. If the piloting skill check fails, roll on the mishaps table.

Managing Submersible Mishaps

The mishap DC is 15 or half the amount of damage taken in the attack that cause the mishap, whichever is higher.

1. Flooding. If the submersible develops a leak, this can be repaired with shoring action (Strength check to brace a pole between on a patch panel and the other side of the hull) versus the mishap DC. If shoring fails, each round the ships takes on another level of flooding per the Common Sense Ships and Airships rules. If shoring fails, players can try hasty repairs with using transmutation wizard's minor alchemy, a conjuration wizard's minor conjuration (Arcana check vs. flood DC), or smith's tools check together with a magician using the spell heat metal spell. However, a failed repair using tools may cause the heat to further damage the hull (mishap). The team could prepare extra panels ahead of time which they could attach over a leak.
2. Station Broken. If a station broken mishap is rolled, the DM determines which station is broken, presumably the one closest to attack or the point of damage, or rolls 1d6:
   (1) Fin. There are two fins. The ship suffers -4 to Dex for each broken fin.
   (2) Tail. When the tail is broken, the only means of propulsion is the gust fan (speed 5) and disadvantage on Dex saving throws.
   (3) Lights. There are four lanterns: fore, port, starboard and ventral (bottom). When a lantern is broken, that area becomes darkness.
   (4) Gust fan. If the gust fan is broken the ship can no longer clean debris from salvage or operate the backup propulsion system. Claw operations may have disadvantage if an object if it remains partially buried in silt.

2. (cont'd) (5) Manipulator claw. If the claw is broken, players can no longer manipulate objects outside the submersible using the claw and would have to rely on magical means such as summoned creatures or mage hand.
   (6) Collector basket. The first mishap renders the collector basket unable to receive additional objects. A second mishap detaches the basket completely.
   Repairing stations: An Investigation check versus the mishap DC must be performed. On a success, the nature of the failure has been identified. Roll 1d6: (1-3) the cause is external; (4-6) the cause is internal. If the cause is internal it can be repaired from inside the submersible with appropriate tools and a skill check of the same DC.
3. Power failure. The arcane conduits must be repaired. This requires a tool check versus the mishap DC, and costs an amount of valuable gold or platinum pieces equal to 150 GP or five times the damage taken in the attack that cause the mishap. The money is used up in the repair and cannot be recovered.
4. Smoke. In a confined space, smoke is deadly. Players have 3 rounds to put out the source of the smoke before they must hold their breath. At the start of the next round, the interior becomes lightly obscured. At the start of the following round, the interior becomes heavily obscured. An Perception check against the mishap DC reveals the source of the smoke. Any suitable tool check or magical ability such as mage hand, prestidigitation, control flames, gust, shape water, etc.) can extinguish the source of the smoke. At the start of the each round after the cause the source has been stopped, the level of obscuration decreases by one. Once the level of obscuration returns to lightly obscured the air is again breathable.
5. Shaking. The submersible tilts to one side. Each character must make an Athletics or Acrobatics save versus the mishap DC or become stunned (no actions, bonus actions, or reactions) for one round as the must spend their turn attempting to reorient themselves and reach their station.

Deep Sea Encounters.

The search for the spelljammer wreck is 2x2 grid pattern. Roll 1d4 to determine the quadrant the wreck and permute the other encounters clockwise.

5. Contrary Winds

Safe Anchorage: Mishaps

If the boat hits an obstacle roll for a mishap.

Click the gmbinder "view source" button to find the links for the below images to download the file for VTT, or print.

Monk NPC Interactions

To create a memorable connection with the players, consider a more specific, and non-mission critical interaction with an NPC, or NPCs. Monks can be met doing the following (d12): (1) daily chores like hauling water from the well (why don't monks believe in plumbing?), chopping firewood, or Karate-kid type activities like painting the fence or sanding the floor design to enhance their martial prowess, (2) working in the kitchen, (3) fishing or meditating alone in the woods or on a bluff overlooking the ocean, (4) combat training, (5) sneaking into the pantry late at night for an unauthorized snack and having a tussle with whomever else was there (possible doing the same thing) or running into someone at the bathhouse or washing clothes, (6) calligraphy/painting class or both sneaking away from a boring cultural performance like an oration, play, or concert, (7) dance training/practice, (8) hiking, (9) doing ship repairs, (10) entertaining children, (11) bartering for supplies, (12) sparring.

Determine the NPC "role" (d8): (1) cultural ambassador–explains to the clueless PCs things about Halatu culture, food, clothing, etc. A good example is a precious child, (2) a cryptic guru/mentor with whom PCs can discuss their personal issues, (3) a love interest. This NPC can either show interest in one of the PCs, or more than one. Make a love triangle. Create complications that prevent this NPC from being with the PC, such cultural (foreigners) or situational (already promised to a noble on another isle), (4) a tag-a-long such as a teen wannabe seeker who wants to see the wider world, and peppers the PCs with questions about their adventures and plans, scars, equipment, etc., (5) a counter-culture character who sees the downsides of Halatu culture and believes revolution is the only way to free a repressed populace.

Sunken Storm Hold Breathable Area

Once in the space with air, PC's find a partially open door which has the alarm spell on it, alerting 2d8 Crel to the presence of intruders. The alarm creates a green pulsation which should tell the players that they have activated something. This is a classic 5e chase. Pursuers start 90 feet away. The area is a grid of 60 feet corridors. Roll 1d10 for complications each round. When a PC reaches the end of a corridor they can use an action to make a DC 12 Wisdom (Perception) or Intelligence (Investigation) check into the next corridor segment: left, right, or straight. (3 characters can do 3 simultaneous checks.) A successful check reveals that corridor's hazard. Otherwise, characters can barge ahead down their chosen corridor without sacrificing a turn.

Shipwrecked

The ship you are travelling on has foundered. Reasons abound (1d8): (1) sabotage: developed a leak, (2) old ship, poor maintenance, (3) unseen shoal/reef, (4) capsized in storm waves, (5) attack by pirates, (6) took on too much water in rough seas, (7) bad/inexperienced work at the helm cause it to capsize in a strong wind, (8) sea monster attack.

The survivors make are able to swim to a nearby island which is uniquely:

As survivors, you have several priorities. Each of them could lead to roleplay drama and skills checks. As a DM, choose the most interesting/exciting activities for your party.

• Find water. Finding water can involve searching for a water barrel, or any kind of barrel, from the ship, as well as improvising a rain collection system, searching for a spring or creek, or digging a well (last resort).
• Get help. A sending stone or sending spell could do it. Message in a bottle is another way. But first you'll need to know where you are. Make a DC 12 Navigators Tools or Surveyor's Tools check. If you don't have the tools, including a sextant and a wound clock to get longitude, the DC is 16. On a success you are able to ascertain your general direction relative to Starky's Cove. On a fail, your numbers are off, and help will not arrive.

Jungle Cruise

Your travels have brought you to the jungle island of Kovatu, famous for it's ancient ruins and impenetrable jungle.

Beyond that are the tales of powerful magical entities that haunt the jungle ruins. It sounds and awful lot like free-roaming mind fragments. Since most mind fragments of Ka'rel are associated with storm holds, the rumors are promising for seekers. If edar are in the area, there may be a race to the mind fragment.

Sailing into the port city of Banadan on the arid leeward side of the island, the steep rocky slopes are bare and the port entry is narrow, a harbinger of the harrowing passage upstream.

Outfitters and river guides abound, some with less than ideal reputations. Your eye is drawn to several of the smaller tour boats. Based on your knowledge of this island's geography, the smaller boats will be able to get further upstream. Against the current you'll want a good strong set of muscles. Your gaze stops at Makanaw's Ruins Ride–for more than one reason. A skilled pilot in Mackanaw himself, a strong porter and deck hand in the tall, dark and handsome Jukes, and an unforgettable tour guide in Mackanaw's daughter Coriona.

When you describe your purpose in coming, it's clear you made the right choice. Mackanaw explains the ruins you want to see are away from usual tourist area. He knows the way, though it's bit of an adventure. The capable tour guide takes your pay and agrees to depart within the hour. Coriona can show you around the waterfront to get a bite to eat, pickup some gear, or look for creepy souvenirs. Then you are all piling into the riverboat, it's tiny steam engine, so new an unreliable on Corion, chuffing away as you head upstream.

A half hour into the ride, the air grows dense and you make a turn to the windward side of the island.

Everything changes. Greenery closes in around the river, roots and vines grasping at the boat, insects buzzing hungrily, large fish swimming in the water, eying you like some kind of catch-worry find. Jukes stops playing banjo and sits down lower beside the gunwale. Coriona climbs to the front of the boat, takes her seat as low as possible and beckons you to do the same.

"Keep an eye out for trouble," she says. "These are not the friendliest waters." You notice Machanaw's hand is on the handle of his pistol.

Something is agitating the wildlife. Roll 1d6.

Ruins of the Broken Storm Hold

The thunderous roar of the falls fades as the river widens at the base of steep-sided canyon. Emerging from the mist the canyon walls reveal themselves to great stone buttresses of an ancient fortress, towering stone structures still splendorous after thousands of years of neglect. This hidden valley, nestled between two terrifying cascades is truly a place apart from time.

On the shore a bipedal lizard dashes from view. It seems even dinosaurs survived here.

A cove with a beach is your first place for a takeout. With light fading quickly, you'll have to make camp and explore the ruins in the morning.

At night, a strange cry calls from further into the jungle. It sounds as those someone is screaming, terrified. If the PCs go searching for the sound, they will find nothing. It was made by feral crel attempting to lure the adventurers into a trap. There are two traps in the area, a pit trap covered by large leaves, and net snare that hauls anyone standing on the net up twenty feet into the air. Both traps are large size and can hold up to 4 creatures. There are two routes to the sound, on is along a small tributary, the other is along a ridge and then down a small ravine. The pit trap is along the tributary. The net is in the ravine. The traps can be discovered (disadvantage without darkvision) a DC15 Perception check. The pit trap is 15 feet deep and the sidewalls are set with downward facings wooden spikes to discourage climbing out.

If the players do not fall for the crel's attempts to lure them from their camp, dinosaur-riding crel attack. A strider from the monster manual is effectively a dinosaur mount. For a higher-level challenge include flying mounts.

Daily Drama

What is adventuring life without a little drama? (These are smaller, lighter issues than community troubles.)

Trail Encounter 1: Interesting NPCs

You encounter a number of NPCs of size (1d4):

1. one person
2. two people: friends, relatives, or couple
3. Small group of 1d4+2 people who are (1d4): (1) friends, (2) a family, (3) coworkers, (4) motley crew of unlikely allies thrown together by chance or misfortune.
4. A family : 2d4+2 people
5. Multiple families: 2d6+2 people
6. Large group: 2d12+2 people

For each of the NPCs that they players interact with, use the "interesting NPC" tables that follow the encounters to add fun quirks and roleplay prompts.

Trail Encounter 2: Traveler Washing

You encounter a traveler who is washing (1d8): (1) themselves, (2) dishes, (3) clothes, (4) blood off themselves or their clothing, (5) a fish they've gutted, (6) their child, (7) a wound, (8) animal pelts

Trail Encounter 3: Wounded Traveler

You encounter a traveler grieved by a wound or medical condition (1d12):

1. hobbling injury such as a sprain angle, blister or broken leg
2. a head injury,
3. heat exhaustion or hypothermia–depending on the weather
4. starving
5. dehydrated,
6. broken arm/hand/collar bone
7. spinal injury,
8. infected cut or bite
9. shot by an arrow or bullet
10. face injury such as mauled by an animal attack
11. poison such as poison ivy or stinging nettle of spider/snake venom
12. allergy (bee sting, pollen, food)

Trail Encounter 4: Runaway

You encounter a runaway from (1d10):

1. a child labor mining camp
2. a prison inmate work crew doing trail/road maintenance
3. a religious site or revival encampment
4. a horrible step parent
5. a job site
6. a boarding school
7. a seeker or adventurer group or community
8. a trade caravan
9. an arranged marriage, or else eloping for love
10. the military (deserter).

Trail Encounter 5: Stowaway or Sneak

You encounter (1d2):

1. somebody who followed you from where you set off
2. somebody who went out ahead attempting to scout. The results of finding may be (1d4): (1) supremely annoying, (2) mercifully lucky for both your group and the sneak, (3) tragic for the sneak, (4) doomed to give away your position or cause an impediment to your progress or immediate situation.

Trail Encounter 6: The Authorities

Somebody tattled on you to a (1d8) a:

1. sheriff
2. ranger
3. local land owner
4. trade route/guide enforcer
5. edar commander
6. community governing noble (like Rojborn) or one of his agents
7. somebody you owe a debt to
8. a relative (and now they have found you)

Trail Encounter 7: Traveler Cooking

Either by chance or following your nose, you have found a traveler cooking up... (1d8):

1. Vermin they’ve caught
2. Some soup or stew and it looks like they have enough to share
3. A roast beast such as a deer or pig–the smell travels for a half mile,
4. Bread or pies to sell or trade
5. Dried fruit, roasted nuts, and hard tack biscuits for trail rations
6. a pot of warm tea or cocoa,
7. Aa meal for other travelers who were supposed to have arrived already, but haven't,
8. Their last meal (out of food, dying, etc.), (10) something that smells absolutely awful, but which they insist you try.

Trail Encounter 8: Doo-doo

Some days are crappier than others. Roll (1d6) for what you find.

1. You have stepped in a pit toilet dug by previous campers
2. You have stepped in cow manure.
3. The seagulls, ravens and magpies here are into target practice.
4. You find unidentified droppings, but clearly from some kind of monstrosity, judging from the size and crunched bones
5. Some dookies flung by an adolescent monkey with a bad attitude and something to prove.
6. You really gotta go but there’s not a good place to drop the donation except for a toll toilet: convenient, clean, but pricey.

Trail Encounter 9: Roadside Merchant

Traveling merchants hawk their wares from the roadside. Roll 1d12 to see what's for sale.

1. A street vendor is selling steaming hotcakes, donuts, scones, or fry bread drizzled with honey.
2. Local "crafters" are selling dream catchers that are supposed to look like authentic native crafts but were clearly made in a sweat shop in the city
3. A tailor trailer on the roadside offers patching, darning, hemming, embroidery, fitting and alterations
4. More halfing hippies selling really bad bead necklaces.
5. An artist offering cliché landscape paintings targeted at tourists, or caricatures that exaggerate your worst feature
6. Fortune telling and (unlicensed) psychiatric therapy from a totally not creepy (white van) tent

NPC Quirks

Random tables for adding depth to your NPCs for when you need new ideas for something interesting.