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Divided Village

Environments Designed by Doj0
Tier
1
Type
Exploration
Difficulty
10
Impulses
Under Scrutiny Sporadic Sympathy On the Brink

Environment overview

A small village undermined by a separatist faction

Potential adversaries

Guards Bandits

Features

Passives

passive
  • You're Being Watched

    After first meeting with an important NPC or visiting a social hub (like a tavern or marketplace), a spy will watch the party at all times. They can spot them with an Instinct Roll (13), or you may reveal the spy in a scene, gaining 1d4 Fear on a successful escape.

    If caught, the spy will fight until first hit, then try to negotiate. Information can be obtained by an action roll, depending on the level of success:

    Difficulty 10: A local rumor relating to the party's arrival in the village

    Difficulty 15: The identity of the person that hired the spy

    Difficulty 17: A hint about an important NPC that antagonizes the party

    Critical: A detail connecting an important NPC to the local rumor

    With Hope: There is a faction within the village, working towards a goal (e.g. royalists, separatists, cultists)

    With Fear: The spy breaks free and throws a smoke bomb, becoming Hidden

    Questions
    • What kind of danger can be found in or around the village?
    • Who in the village is involved?
    • Can the spy be turned?
  • We're Good People

    Whenever a PC succeeds on a social roll with Hope trying to find the truth about a rumor or trying to help the community to stay connected against the antagonizing faction, a simple villager approaches them and asks them for help:

    • no one is following up on a rumor

    • there is a location nearby to be investigated

    • there are secret meetings of a faction

    • strange dangers started appearing in the village/outskirts/... since a few days/their arrival/...

    • an important NPC is disloyal to the community (e.g. corruption)

    • an important NPC cannot be trusted (e.g. antagonizing party goals)

    • an important NPC is directly linked to the main conflict in the village

    Increase the difficulty by 2 for every information gained.

    Questions
    • What is the community struggling with?

Actions

action
  • We Think You Should Leave
    Fear 1

    Spend a Fear to ambush the party in an alley after they gathered information. Summon two Jagged Knife Snipers in Very Far range, two Jagged Knife Bandits and one Jagged Knife Shadow in Far range.

    If the PCs do not succeed an Instinct Roll (13), all of the ambushers are Hidden and you may reveal any number of them, gaining 2 Fear and immediately spotlighting one of the revealed ambushers. Any later reveals do not generate Fear.

    Questions
    • Who sent them?

Reactions

reaction
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About this environment

This environment more or less fuses parts of the environments “Local Tavern” and “Ambushed”. Furthermore, features of the adversary “Spy” (Tier 2) were added.

Use this environment as guidance to build a mystery storyline in a village. There should be several social encounters. If the party causes problems in the village, consider running a guard encounter.

Divided Village

Tier 1 Exploration

A small village undermined by a separatist faction

Impulses: Under Scrutiny, Sporadic Sympathy, On the Brink

Difficulty: 10

Potential Adversaries: Guards, Bandits

Features

You're Being Watched - Passive: After first meeting with an important NPC or visiting a social hub (like a tavern or marketplace), a spy will watch the party at all times. They can spot them with an Instinct Roll (13), or you may reveal the spy in a scene, gaining 1d4 Fear on a successful escape.

If caught, the spy will fight until first hit, then try to negotiate. Information can be obtained by an action roll, depending on the level of success:

Difficulty 10: A local rumor relating to the party's arrival in the village

Difficulty 15: The identity of the person that hired the spy

Difficulty 17: A hint about an important NPC that antagonizes the party

Critical: A detail connecting an important NPC to the local rumor

With Hope: There is a faction within the village, working towards a goal (e.g. royalists, separatists, cultists)

With Fear: The spy breaks free and throws a smoke bomb, becoming Hidden

  • What kind of danger can be found in or around the village?
  • Who in the village is involved?
  • Can the spy be turned?
We're Good People - Passive: Whenever a PC succeeds on a social roll with Hope trying to find the truth about a rumor or trying to help the community to stay connected against the antagonizing faction, a simple villager approaches them and asks them for help:

  • no one is following up on a rumor

  • there is a location nearby to be investigated

  • there are secret meetings of a faction

  • strange dangers started appearing in the village/outskirts/... since a few days/their arrival/...

  • an important NPC is disloyal to the community (e.g. corruption)

  • an important NPC cannot be trusted (e.g. antagonizing party goals)

  • an important NPC is directly linked to the main conflict in the village

Increase the difficulty by 2 for every information gained.

  • What is the community struggling with?
We Think You Should Leave - Action: Spend a Fear to ambush the party in an alley after they gathered information. Summon two Jagged Knife Snipers in Very Far range, two Jagged Knife Bandits and one Jagged Knife Shadow in Far range.

If the PCs do not succeed an Instinct Roll (13), all of the ambushers are Hidden and you may reveal any number of them, gaining 2 Fear and immediately spotlighting one of the revealed ambushers. Any later reveals do not generate Fear.

  • Who sent them?

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