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[Let's Read] Vault 5e: Uncharted Journeys
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<blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 8865445" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/RXQ8Qlq.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>While the Journey Encounters chapter has plenty of scenarios to generate NPCs, the result of the sheer volume means that they’re described in very brief terms. People Along the Way is designed to flesh them out, hewing to die table chart generation of traits accompanied by general advice: use the flora and fauna listings for the Region Types along with time of day to set the scene; dividing NPCs into general types of Locals, Villains, and Strangers, with the last being more wondrous and bizarre characters that can be useful for expanding on your setting beyond the adventure’s immediate confines; and how to handle game balance for Journeys if NPCs decide to join the party as traveling companions. This last part is pretty brief, saying that they shouldn’t outright make rolls for the PCs but providing advantage to the PCs can make them feel helpful rather than dead weight.</p><p></p><p>The chapter gives us 12 Sample Encounters, which provide a location, background of the NPC(s) in question, and a general description of what they’re up to. They include things such as a dragonborn teacher testing to see how well her young students can live off the land, a gnome scavenger sifting through the ruins of a manor he claims once belonged to a mighty mage, and an elderly halfling praying at a shrine to turn around his fortunes after being forced to flee his hometown.</p><p></p><p>The tables are good enough, although this chapter’s brevity combined with the very generic information makes it less useful than the others.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/2tX9BfI.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>As People Along the Way dealt with fleshing out NPCs, Ancient Ruins involves fleshing out…not generic locations, but ruins specifically. Uncharted Journeys takes the assumption that the setting is a typical fantasy one, where many elder species built great works before falling to disaster and now their legacies dot the wilds of the world.</p><p></p><p>This chapter divides ruin creation into 5 steps: Who built it? How old is it? What was it originally? What does it look like now? What is it used for now?</p><p></p><p>The first two steps are pretty short and rely heavily on die tables and generation. We have brief write-ups on the more common kinds of fantasy races and monsters and what they’re likely to incorporate into their art and architecture. Interestingly dwarven ruins are on average older than elven ruins, owing to the former race’s knack for lasting durability, and giants are presumed to be an elder race on par with dragons so the ages of their ruins range in results by millennia and not decades or centuries as is common with the others.</p><p></p><p><strong>What was it originally?</strong> is the longest and most significant section, with a d12 table of Purposes that come with unique results and rewards. Each Purpose has sample Points of Interest that provide treasure or some kind of benefit for PCs who manage to find or overcome the ruin’s obstacles or defenses, with the DC equal to the Journey Difficulty. Some interesting results include an Archive with Forbidden Knowledge that contains a spell scroll of Very Rare rarity, an Inn with a functional hearth that can let the party take a Short Rest and earn Inspiration by using the time to reminisce on their past, and a Place of Worship whose Sacred Ground can restore one use of Channel Divinity to a Cleric engaged in prayer.</p><p></p><p><strong>What does it look like now?</strong> is a simple d6 table of the ruins’ general outer appearance and how it got beaten down by the test of time (or how it’s been restored from new occupation), while <strong>What is it now?</strong> is a d12 table giving general descriptions of groups who may be using it today, such as animal-intelligence monsters infesting it as shelter or a curse holding dark powers imprisoned within its walls.</p><p></p><p><strong>Thoughts So Far:</strong> These two chapters are more flavor-based than the prior two’s hard crunch. The NPC and ruin generation isn’t anything we haven’t seen in other “DM Advice” products on the market, although the Ancient Ruins do have the benefit of Points of Interest which can impart useful benefits for PCs willing to delve into them. However, Ruins aren’t generated as the result of Journey Encounters by default, so they’re the kind of things a DM may make from inferred descriptions of said Encounters. But even then, as they don’t have tools for generating an entire mini-dungeon’s worth maps and threats* they can’t be used on the fly like the other features of this book. And probably shouldn’t, given how limited rests are during Journeys.</p><p></p><p><strong>Join us next time as we cover the final and largest section of the book in Chapter 5: Journey Encounters!</strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Libertad, post: 8865445, member: 6750502"] [CENTER][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/RXQ8Qlq.png[/IMG][/CENTER] While the Journey Encounters chapter has plenty of scenarios to generate NPCs, the result of the sheer volume means that they’re described in very brief terms. People Along the Way is designed to flesh them out, hewing to die table chart generation of traits accompanied by general advice: use the flora and fauna listings for the Region Types along with time of day to set the scene; dividing NPCs into general types of Locals, Villains, and Strangers, with the last being more wondrous and bizarre characters that can be useful for expanding on your setting beyond the adventure’s immediate confines; and how to handle game balance for Journeys if NPCs decide to join the party as traveling companions. This last part is pretty brief, saying that they shouldn’t outright make rolls for the PCs but providing advantage to the PCs can make them feel helpful rather than dead weight. The chapter gives us 12 Sample Encounters, which provide a location, background of the NPC(s) in question, and a general description of what they’re up to. They include things such as a dragonborn teacher testing to see how well her young students can live off the land, a gnome scavenger sifting through the ruins of a manor he claims once belonged to a mighty mage, and an elderly halfling praying at a shrine to turn around his fortunes after being forced to flee his hometown. The tables are good enough, although this chapter’s brevity combined with the very generic information makes it less useful than the others. [CENTER][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/2tX9BfI.png[/IMG][/CENTER] As People Along the Way dealt with fleshing out NPCs, Ancient Ruins involves fleshing out…not generic locations, but ruins specifically. Uncharted Journeys takes the assumption that the setting is a typical fantasy one, where many elder species built great works before falling to disaster and now their legacies dot the wilds of the world. This chapter divides ruin creation into 5 steps: Who built it? How old is it? What was it originally? What does it look like now? What is it used for now? The first two steps are pretty short and rely heavily on die tables and generation. We have brief write-ups on the more common kinds of fantasy races and monsters and what they’re likely to incorporate into their art and architecture. Interestingly dwarven ruins are on average older than elven ruins, owing to the former race’s knack for lasting durability, and giants are presumed to be an elder race on par with dragons so the ages of their ruins range in results by millennia and not decades or centuries as is common with the others. [B]What was it originally?[/B] is the longest and most significant section, with a d12 table of Purposes that come with unique results and rewards. Each Purpose has sample Points of Interest that provide treasure or some kind of benefit for PCs who manage to find or overcome the ruin’s obstacles or defenses, with the DC equal to the Journey Difficulty. Some interesting results include an Archive with Forbidden Knowledge that contains a spell scroll of Very Rare rarity, an Inn with a functional hearth that can let the party take a Short Rest and earn Inspiration by using the time to reminisce on their past, and a Place of Worship whose Sacred Ground can restore one use of Channel Divinity to a Cleric engaged in prayer. [B]What does it look like now?[/B] is a simple d6 table of the ruins’ general outer appearance and how it got beaten down by the test of time (or how it’s been restored from new occupation), while [B]What is it now?[/B] is a d12 table giving general descriptions of groups who may be using it today, such as animal-intelligence monsters infesting it as shelter or a curse holding dark powers imprisoned within its walls. [B]Thoughts So Far:[/B] These two chapters are more flavor-based than the prior two’s hard crunch. The NPC and ruin generation isn’t anything we haven’t seen in other “DM Advice” products on the market, although the Ancient Ruins do have the benefit of Points of Interest which can impart useful benefits for PCs willing to delve into them. However, Ruins aren’t generated as the result of Journey Encounters by default, so they’re the kind of things a DM may make from inferred descriptions of said Encounters. But even then, as they don’t have tools for generating an entire mini-dungeon’s worth maps and threats* they can’t be used on the fly like the other features of this book. And probably shouldn’t, given how limited rests are during Journeys. [B]Join us next time as we cover the final and largest section of the book in Chapter 5: Journey Encounters![/B] [/QUOTE]
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[Let's Read] Vault 5e: Uncharted Journeys
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