Now that we’ve already regarded on the setting materials for Fables: Brokers of the Empire, it’s time to have a look at the preliminary journey for the marketing campaign. The marketing campaign begins at third degree, however there are missions within the appendix to this one that may will let you begin at 1st degree, performing “try-out” missions to see if The Company will choose you up full-time.
Disclaimer
I’ve my very own subscription to Fables, and was not supplied with a assessment copy for this journey. Whereas I’ve not had the chance to play by this journey or to make use of any of the fabric, I’m very acquainted with D&D 5e as each a participant and a DM.
Episode 1: Razorfin
Written by: JVC Parry
Head of Fables: Joe Raso
Story Design: Joe Raso
Artwork Director: Marius Bota
Brokers of the Empire Writing Crew: Leon Barillaro, Chad M. Lensch, JVC Parry, Joe Raso, Erin Roberts, Carl Sibley, Jeff C. Stevens
Managing Editor: Joe Raso
Editors: Matt Click on, Shawn Merwin, Christopher Walz
Graphic Design: Martin Hughes
Cowl Design: Martin Hughes
Inside Illustrators: Isabeau Backhaus, Zoe Badini, Ivo Campelo da Silva, Brent Hollowell, Katariina Sofia Kemi, Diana Khomutina, John Derek Murphy, Laura Marie Neal, Mihai Radu
Cartographers: Kristian Agerkvist, Andrei Iacob, Damien Mammoloti
Comedian: Brian Patterson
VTT Asset Design: Joshua Orchard
Mission Briefing
This month’s journey is 98 pages lengthy. This features a abstract of the six adventures within the marketing campaign, a desk of contents, a title web page, an editor’s message, 18 pages presenting eight pre-generated third degree characters, a two-page pronunciation information, a full-page OGL assertion, a one-page advert for the following journey, and a one-page advert for different Ghostfire Gaming merchandise.
I’m just a little stunned at a few of the repeated content material within the journey since they’re bundling the Setting Information with every journey. The setting information already incorporates one of many automobile stat blocks, the mishaps desk, three of the monster/NPC stat blocks, and the pronunciation information. I do actually just like the inclusion of the level-appropriate pre-generated PCs with the journey.
Construction
The journey is damaged up into the next sections:
- Welcome to Fables
- Fabled Follies
- This Fable’s Story
- Introduction
- Chapter 1: Extraction
- Chapter 2: Gathering Intelligence
- Chapter 3: Towards the Reachers
- Appendix A: Monsters
- Appendix B: New Autos
- Appendix C: New Tools and Magic Objects
- Appendix D: Introductory Encounters
- Appendix E: Participant Characters–Degree 3
This concern introduces Fabled Follies, a full-page, full-color comedian by Brian Patterson. This month’s is a pleasant, two-panel, concise abstract of the villain’s plan, and the possible aftermath.
Getting Began
Just like the earlier Fable, there’s a part on this journey that spends a while describing what must be launched in a session zero for the marketing campaign, in addition to find out how to pitch the general theme and tone of the adventures.
Along with the high-level overview, this part offers you some content material that you may share with the gamers to ensure it doesn’t cross over into any of their boundaries, and touches on character creation strategies and the elective Company division guidelines.
The Mission
The PCs are being despatched to a location to rescue 4 captives from a location secured by a toddler of an influential household. The start of the journey features a transient that explains the PCs major and secondary aims, which embrace liberating the captives and capturing the inheritor for questioning.
The primary mission is pretty easy, and many of the “spy” components of the journey revolve round checking for various magitech alarms and traps that should be disarmed, in addition to avoiding patrols on the grounds. There’s a clue to the larger plot occurring within the Empire, when the PCs encounter an odd infernal bug in a corpse outdoors of the ability.
As soon as the PCs full this mission, they’re given three places to seek for clues, which they’ll strategy in whichever order they need. Every of those places provides just a few extra particulars to the first plot of the villains of the journey. Characters discover graffiti that implicates a neighborhood group, discover out a few compromised engineer that’s being blackmailed, and have the chance to chase down an operative for the group.
Along with the three places, there are encounters to run within the metropolis, in addition to another random encounters that may be sprinkled in between the aims. Certainly one of these encounters additionally introduces a unique group collaborating in native uprisings, probably complicated the PCs’ means to pinpoint the locals concerned within the plot.
The 2 organizations which are lively within the metropolis embrace one that’s pushing for Raalian independence, whereas the opposite is an anti-technology group. The anti-technology faction can also be violently against the sapient automatons which were launched into the area, and the PCs can have the chance to avoid wasting automatons in peril.
As soon as the PCs accumulate all the clues, they’ll monitor down the villains of their lair, the place they’re trying to construct a large zeppelin to steal a high-tech submarine touring the Empire, which is at present on the docks. The villain’s lair incorporates a ton of magitech, together with some spinebreakers (bikes) and a self-destruct mechanism. That signifies that the PCs might must resolve between preserving proof by defusing the self-destruct, attempting to board the zeppelin because it takes off, or chasing it from the bottom.
If the PCs fail to cease the zeppelin, it doesn’t handle to get away with the sub, nevertheless it does explode, destroying the zeppelin and the submarine and embarrassing the Empire. The tip of the journey hints {that a} mysterious operative referred to as the Spider is stirring up and organizing native factions for some unknown functions.
Company Missions
There are 4 missions introduced that may enable PCs that begin at 1st degree to progress to third degree, to start out the primary journey introduced on this quantity. The assignments are as follows:
- Shield Delegate (1st)
- Extract Data (1st)
- Retrieve Asset (2nd)
- Seize Gang Boss (2nd)
It’s as much as the DM to find out in the event that they need to require the gamers to carry out all 4 missions to succeed in third degree, or if the DM will enable the characters to degree up after every. Every of those missions incorporates the identical mission briefing construction from the primary journey, which incorporates the next elements:
- Mission Primer
- Tactical
- Major Goal
- Secondary Goal
Not like the first mission, every of those missions is resolved in a single scene, often one which has 4 to 6 duties that should be achieved to achieve success.
Pregenerated Characters
One of many issues I like in regards to the inclusion of those characters is to indicate what sorts of characters are anticipated to be brokers of The Company, because the paradigm of this journey path could also be just a little totally different than what gamers could also be anticipating. The characters embrace:
- Dach (third degree Life Area Dwarf Cleric), Personnel Division
- Fej (third Degree Thief Gnome Rogue), Logistics Division
- Hajuso (third Degree Hunter Half-Elf Ranger), Data Division
- Jehpso (third Degree Champion Halfling Fighter), Logistics Division
- Larc (third Degree Manner of the Open Hand Human Monk), Operations Division
- Olen (third Degree Faculty of Evocation Tiefling Wizard), Data Division
- Omair (third Degree Fiend Dragonborn Warlock), Operations Division
- Rein (third Degree Faculty of Lore Half-Orc Bard), Personnel Division
Additionally helpful for these nights when somebody exhibits up for a sport that isn’t a part of the common group.
Optionally available Guidelines in Motion
This journey has a number of sections the place it calls out that elective guidelines can be utilized. What’s fascinating is that it doesn’t say “listed here are the elective guidelines, choose one,” however as an alternative, it mentions why you may need to use one possibility over one other, and the way it may change the encounter. This primarily entails the chase mechanics for 2 totally different encounters.
There can be some interaction between how the PCs work together with magitech with a purpose to get a few of the bikes/spinebreakers up and working with repairs.
Essentially the most emphasis is positioned on the chase timer mechanic, which is basically simply setting the variety of rounds that the PCs must efficiently full a chase, so it doesn’t go on indefinitely. It’s easy and I’m a fan.
Ultimate Ideas
That is most likely the strongest begin to all three of the Fables thus far. It looks as if the crew at Ghostfire is getting a greater concept of how they need these adventures to work, and find out how to inform their tales, with every “season.”
I do want there have been a manner for the participant characters to get a greater really feel for the native factions and circumstances earlier than they run instantly into them in play, however I’m positive the easiest way to do that that doesn’t really feel like an info-dump. I feel the faction symbols that the PCs discover whereas investigating really feel just a little compelled since they’re successfully leaving a calling card on the scene of a criminal offense with no motive to take action.
It’s fascinating to see talent check-like encounters working their manner again into 5e and not using a standardized presentation. The one which seems on this journey is much like the “gated” challenges that I’ve seen in video games like Star Trek Adventures, the place you could do X variety of issues, and narratively, you could do these issues in a set order.
The primary factor I want they’d managed to work into the journey would have been a Bond-like opening scene the place the PCs do one thing excessive to resolve a earlier mission, even when it’s only a “hand off the narrative” description of obstacles much like the thirteenth Age montage journey guidelines.
We’ve seen sneaking, gathering proof, and chases thus far. I’m to see different espionage tropes coming into play, like attempting to show brokers of different factions or working undercover.
