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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 8683370" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/3FcAv3m.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /><a href="https://www.dmsguild.com/product/338862/Amongst-Thou" target="_blank">DM’s Guild Page.</a>From the same creators as King of the Road, <a href="https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Wizard%20Sleeve%20Studios" target="_blank">Wizard Sleeve Studios</a> has reimagined several popular franchises as minigames for 5th Edition. Amongst Thou is obviously based on Among Us, a one-shot that takes place on an airship where the PCs are adventurers en route to their next destination. But one of the PCs is actually a monster in disguise known as the Deceiver who seeks to murder the other PCs. In this adventure, the Dungeon master is basically the referee/arbitrator and the majority of conflict is between players.There’s a lot of advice for running this in both online and offline games, offering advice in keeping the rest of the group in the dark about the Deceiver’s identity given that foreknowledge will ruin the point of the adventure. Using mobile devices, private messaging, subjective lighting and fog of war effects for virtual tabletops, and private rooms for things like Discord are suggested for online games. For in-person games the classic “pass note cards to the players” and “take each player into a separate room” are suggested.The adventurers must go about the airship doing maintenance and repairs in order to ensure that they reach their destination, and Captain Frocktor (who’s the sole NPC who doesn’t do anything else) assigns individual PCs various tasks to perform which take the form of ability or tool proficiency checks. The Deceiver, in addition to hunting and killing the other PCs, can also sabotage tasks which can impose negative consequences for the survivors. We have a gridded handout of the ship map for both the upper and lower decks, and the game is separated into combat rounds for the purposes of movement and time. Rolls for tasks (or sabotage) normally take an action, although the DC of the checks start at 10 and increase by 1 every round (the starting DC is higher at other Tiers of player). There’s no negative consequences for failing a check besides time wasted.There are six forms of Sabotage the Deceiver can do, each with their own complications. For example, breaking an engine part in the Engine Room means that a PC must first repair the broken part in the Blacksmith room as its own task before being able to work on the Engine Room task (repairing the engine as a whole) on its own. Poisoning food in the kitchen gives the Poisoned condition to any PC who eats the snacks prepared during an Urgent Assembly.The Deceiver, in addition to sabotage, has the ability to murder a PC by taking an action if they’re both in the same room. The Deceiver’s nature is vague although a few monsters are suggested for the DM (lycanthrope, possessing ghost, doppelganger). But instead of resolving it as a typical combat, the murder attempt auto-succeeds with no means of resistance. PCs who die come back as ghosts, and can continue performing tasks on the ship albeit with disadvantage, and they’re also incapable of interacting with or cluing in the other PCs as to the nature of their murder.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/pvKOXF1.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />When a dead body’s discovered or a PC calls for one by visiting the meeting room on the third round or later, an Urgent Assembly can be gathered where all tasks are stopped and every living PC puts a vote as to who they believe is the Deceiver and thus thrown overboard. Votes can be openly cast or tallied in secret. If the Deceiver’s correctly chosen, then the surviving PCs “win” the adventure. If an innocent is selected, they come back as a ghost. The PCs can also win the adventure if every task is successfully completed, at which point the airship reaches its destination. The Deceiver wins if they either murdered all other PCs or avoid being thrown off the airship. There’s also a mention that the Deceiver technically wins if there’s only one other PC alive, “as they won’t have enough votes to vote the Deceiver off the airship.” This raises the question, then, on what happens if the votes result in a tie? There’s also no mention of what happens if all the tasks are completed (adventurers win) but the Deceiver’s still alive (Deceiver wins). Wouldn’t that be a draw, then?A short epilogue is given, which can differ if done as part of a larger campaign rather than a one-shot. In such a case, the captain can give the party a Monocle of Revelation as a reward, a new rechargeable magic item which can expend charges to grant the wearer truesight (no duration specified) or gain advantage on their next Insight check. Additionally, less-lethal alternatives for losing are given, such as accused PCs being put in a magical dream-like state or correctly identifying the Deceiver allows the PC to be turned back to normal from whatever state which caused them to become a monster.Thoughts: Although I haven’t played Among Us, the inspiration and mechanics of that game are quite clear in Amongst Thou, albeit reflavored for a fantasy airship setting rather than a sci-fi spaceship. I will say that it cleaves a bit too heavily to the game, and while the handling of secret information for games is useful, the adventure fails to discuss or consider the myriad ways 5e PCs have of discerning the murderer. A Zone of Truth cast during an Urgent Assembly can put the Deceiver in a tough spot, although on the other hand one can argue it encourages clever wordplay for the monster’s player. Additionally, a PC with a familiar can have it shadow another PC and use telepathic communication to keep each other aware of their surroundings. Furthermore, monsters aren’t exactly brimming with skill proficiencies, so unless the DM has everyone make die rolls in secret (a tall order) an observant player might notice that the Deceiver pretending to be a Wizard is rather lacking in tool and lore-related proficiencies. Of course, none of these things can break the adventure on its own, but it would’ve been nice to see the book touch upon such subjects.</blockquote>

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