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Back around mid-late 2022, Red Panda Publishing came onto the scene with a rather daring product: the Adventurer’s Guide to the Bible. Taking place during the life and times of Jesus Christ, it was an open world historical fantasy sandbox. Drawing heavily from Christian theology as well as contemporary legends and folklore, it made for a surprisingly detailed and intriguing adventure path. Red Panda would later on write a sequel set during the End Times, a Biblical cosmic horror campaign known as Azrael’s Guide to the Apocalypse.
With no signs of slowing down, Red Panda Publishing quickly began work on their third sourcebook, the Silk Road Guide to Seafaring. This campaign is markedly different from its predecessors: despite taking place in the same fictional universe as the other two and containing some religious themes, it is more “secular” for lack of a better term. Like Adventurer’s Guide to the Bible, it is an historical fantasy sandbox adventure taking place in the 1st Century and is designed for levels 1 to 10. But instead of having a major “main quest,” it is closer to the design sensibilities of OSR modules. This product presumes that the PCs will be up-and-coming maritime explorers and traders across the ports of Africa, Europe, and Asia. There is no true “starting point” or linked set of adventures to take PCs from 1st level onwards, but there are plenty of detailed locations, encounters, missions, NPCs, factions, references to real-world historical information in sidebars labeled “History Check,” and a few linked quests that can build towards a larger plot.
Introduction goes over the primary aims of the sourcebook, that it is less of a traditional plot-based adventure and more of a toolbox for the DM to create a seafaring historical fantasy sandbox set in Afro-Eurasia. This section also talks about the default design mechanisms of 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons, and whether various rules need to be changed or taken into consideration should they trivialize challenges or render popular character concepts underpowered. We have an alternate interpretation of “Advance Milestones” to the standard Tiers of play, noting how spells and class features at particular experience levels will drastically change the feel of the game. For instance, certain spells gained at 7th level are tactical game-changers in naval combat, such as using Dimension Door to rapidly teleport onto enemy ships, and Control Water’s applications are self-evident. The Guide thus places the “level cap” for seafaring campaigns at 11th to 13th, where even noncasting classes get abilities that would be “out of bounds” even for a low-magic campaign.
As for ideal “starting points,” the Introduction briefly talks about the Patron system, where a political power player in the campaign provides funds for the PCs to purchase and customize their own ship and crew. This obviates the need for having to pay for such services directly, but comes with the attached strings that the PCs will take on missions that act in their patron’s best interests.
As an example “starting adventure,” the campaign might begin in Ostia, where Emperor Nero hires the PCs to embark on a series of increasingly-farfetched missions. Eventually the party gains the opportunity to escape his grasp when he sends them on a mission to find the source of the Nile. A runaway African princess (and new patron) is also on the run and can help them set up a new life in the east. Another sample campaign carrying on Red Panda Publishing’s Christian themes might begin in Ephesus, where the PCs are hired by the Apostle Paul as a patron. After the party stops an assassination attempt against him, Paul reveals vague news that the other Apostles are in danger, and is in need of skilled people to smuggle them to safety.
Thoughts: I have a fondness for open world/sandbox adventures, provided that they’re done well. As someone who reviewed the prior two major sourcebooks by Red Panda Publishing, I was a big fan of Adventurer’s Guide to the Bible but was not as impressed with the very linear and railroady Azrael’s Guide to the Apocalypse. The pivot away from overt religious themes to PCs being explorers and merchants building a maritime enterprise is a major change, but the historical fantasy setting and sample campaign beginnings make for intriguing hooks that I don’t mind the difference scope and focus. I also appreciate that the designers discuss 5th Edition’s potential shortcomings for maritime campaigns, acknowledging that they can only work within a given level range.
Setting Overview talks about some broad facts about this more fantastical version of Earth. Set during 56 CE, Silk Road does touch upon several characters and places from Adventurer’s Guide to the Bible. But besides a few call-outs of certain mechanics and NPCs, that module’s content isn’t needed to be owned in order to use this book. Generally speaking, the international superpowers are the Roman Empire, the Parthian Empire, and the Han Dynasty, with the former two empires now openly at war. The various Celtic tribes in northern and western Europe are being pushed back by Rome, and are preparing for a desperate final confrontation.
On the economic front, the Indian subcontinent is home to the world’s wealthiest kingdoms, but internal struggles prevent them from putting up a united front and their trade routes thus suffer from piracy attracted to the region’s bounty. Meanwhile, the African kingdom of Sheba and the Parthian Empire control vital port cities throughout Arabia. Coinage is the primary means of trade, and is broken up into denominations of copper, bronze, silver, and gold, which correspond to 5e units. It may be an oversight, but we get no mention of where bronze coins fall into things value-wise. A fiat currency known as a “talent” is equal to 650 gold pieces, which represents the collective value of owed favors, social connections, and physical valuables for making large purchases. The patron system and various missions in this book hand out talents to the PCs as reward, and thus serve as the primary means for purchasing ships and ship upgrades. PCs can still buy these same things with currency, provided they have the cash on hand.
Unlike the real world, magic and monsters are a fact of life across kingdoms and cultures. While the tolerance of mages can differ depending on environment and what kinds of magic they use, someone casting a spell in and of itself is not cause for panic on the streets. Many rulers even make use of court mages to advise them on supernatural matters. That being said, the setting is still humanocentric in that there are no dwarves, elves, or demi-human equivalents openly rubbing shoulders with passersby in busy marketplaces. Monsters who are immersed in human society tend to be shapeshifters and users of deceitful magic, such as an oni serial killer encounter in Japan as an example later in this book.
Despite being set in distinctly pre-medieval times, there are no real restrictions on equipment from the “standard 5e rules.” This is in marked contrast to Adventurer’s Guide to the Bible, which had restricted and missing equipment for a more period-appropriate feel. Such as polearms being the only heavy weapons of note, and crossbows being expensive cutting-edge technology produced only in China.
Another interesting departure from the prior Adventurer’s Guide setting is more implied than explicit, but one which I feel is still worth pointing out: the presence of divine casters belonging to non-Abrahamic faiths. Although we still have many such NPCs who are holy Christians and Jews, this book details Buddhist monk NPCs in some Asian locations who use Priest stat blocks. Additionally, the upcoming Circle of the Wayfinder Druidic subclass is noted as originating among the South Islanders, the book’s collective term for Malay-speaking people. We also have Celt Druid and Island Wayfinder stat blocks that make use of Druidic spells.
This section rounds out with a list of 16 major Languages and language groups, with Greek being the setting’s “Common” tongue, and we also have a Vocabulary of common real-world naval terminology. In the latter case, the book notes that it’s making use of English terms for ease of use for readers, given that trying to be “historically accurate” to the many languages of the time would bog things down.
Thoughts: As evidenced in their prior sourcebooks, the designers draw from real-world research to make their setting feel more plausible while also highlighting lesser-known facts. I really appreciate the History Check sidebars in showing their homework. While the book does make mention of potentially using its contents for “low-magic/low-fantasy” campaigns, this isn’t the default state. As such campaigns don’t work well with 5th Edition as it stands, this is for the best in my opinion.
As for the opening up of divine magic to non-Abrahamic sources, this does contradict the canon of earlier books. But as this product is more comparatively standalone, and parties have a much higher chance of starting play in cultures that don’t have significant contact with the Jewish and Christian faiths, it’s likely done more for easy inclusion of PC archetypes. For example, a Cleric or Paladin PC in a party starting out in China or India can easily be a practitioner of the local faith, as opposed to requiring them be a Jewish/Christian convert or immigrant.
A Life at Sea goes over brief sub-systems created for this book’s adventures. Fitting comfortably within 7 pages, we actually have a dense amount of material that is nevertheless easy to read through. We start out with 9 roles for Officers and Crew, where the PCs and/or hired NPCs take charge of important duties on the ship such as Navigator, Chief Steward, and Captain. Encounters and events will regularly call out said roles, along with relevant rolls in order to perform tasks and avoid hazards. Given that most gaming groups have 3-6 people, it’s presumed that a PC can take on multiple roles, usually no more than 2. But the hiring of Crew as part of a ship Upgrade (detailed later in this post) can free up a PC to focus on the roles best suited for them.
The Silk Road campaign is an open world sandbox, and travel time is hex-based where every hex is 500 miles or 800 kilometers. We have an accompanying World Map in both the book and as its own PNG file for digital purchases, and a table shows us how many days it takes a ship to move a single hex based on its movement speed. As a sailing ship continuously moves by default, even minor differences in movement speed can make a big difference. However, past 65 feet the “miles per day” clearance requires larger increments. For example, a ship with a movement speed of 30 to 35 feet moves 96 miles per day, and thus 5 days to traverse a single hex. A nimble ship with a movement speed of 60 feet moves 175 miles per day, and thus needs only 2.5 days to traverse the same hex.
A ship’s Navigator must make a navigation check whenever a new hex is entered in order to avoid getting lost, with the DC increasing the longer the ship has been out at sea. Should they become lost, the ship begins moving in a random direction as determined by a d6 and has this status until it reaches a port city. Abilities that prevent the Navigator from becoming lost, such as the Ranger’s Natural Explorer class feature, obviate the need for Navigation checks. An independent d100 roll is also rolled upon entering a new hex to determine a random Seafaring Encounter.
The next several sections involve combat and tense encounters, such as conducting a chase (Lookout and Helm roles are primary actors, are opposed Water Vehicles tool checks modifier by Dexterity and a ship’s Terrain Modifier,* whoever gets 3 successes first outruns or catches up to the other ship as appropriate), determining damage for a ship ramming into a target (1d6 bludgeoning for every 10 feet the ship moved since its last turn, Constitution save halves the damage), and general-purpose ship combat.
*Certain ships perform better and worse in different bodies of water.
Ship-based combat is conducted in much the same manner as regular combat, but with a few exceptions. The Captain role determines a ship’s initiative, with Dexterity and Terrain Modifier* applying. Instead of marching order, PCs take “battle stations” where they occupy particular roles, such as manning a siege weapon or the ship’s rigging, which thus determines what actions they can take on their turns. Tracking events on a character-by-character basis is not necessary save when PCs are boarding an enemy ship or being boarded themselves, at which point combat can “zoom in” to focus on individual crew members. In fact, the book notes that at levels 1 to 4 most ship combat will focus between one or two enemy ships given the lack of inherent long-range, mobility, and AoE effects. A table is provided for determining the Challenge Rating of all the ships in this book for encounters, for when the primary danger comes from the ship and its ordinance rather than the stat blocks of its crew.
Regarding the risk of Total Party Kills should the PCs’ vessel break down, the advice boils down mostly to DM Fiat. Such as having them stranded on a nearby island, or surviving PCs clinging to the rudder of an enemy ship. This section ends with discussion on Finding Work and relevant rules (listing common activities PCs can do to make money, such as taking nobles on pleasure cruises or making maps of uncharted territory), tracking the party’s Infamy Level (a broad number representing the amount of enemies the PCs have made from 1 to 7 with accompanying social-based penalties and even some benefits), and Downtime activities based on a PC’s role (making repairs to the ship, Bosun’s role, Looking for Work as the Captain’s role, resupply as the Quartermaster’s role). The book does note that some activities can be sped up or obviated with proper class features or magic, such as using magic to create food and items for the Resupply activity.
Thoughts: I do like how the new subsystems take advantage of existing rules and proficiencies. I also like how important the roles of a ship’s crew are, from navigation to combat to certain downtime activities. This makes assigning PCs and NPCs to such tasks deliberate decisions and has consequences for rolls, rather than something to do once and never think about again. While I do appreciate that the Silk Road Guide to Seafaring acknowledges that class features and spells should have an impact on roles, that there’s so many ways to avoid getting lost specifically that it brings up the question of whether to include it in the campaign in the first place. Particularly given the fact that the penalty is so punishing, I imagine that most gaming groups will be finding ways to avoid it.
It wouldn’t be a setting sourcebook without some new Character Options! The following are Backgrounds, Subclasses, and Feats specializing in roles and archetypes to enhance maritime exploration campaigns, along with two subclasses that aren’t distinctly such but reflecting fighting traditions common to the cultures of the time. We start out with five culture-neutral Backgrounds, along with recommended ones from the core rules and Adventurer’s Guide to the Bible. Barring Northlander, every Background in this book is notable for having 2 Features rather than 1, in addition to the typical bonus equipment and skill/tool/language proficiencies. All of the backgrounds have skills, languages, tools and Features relevant to the adventures and new rules in this campaign. For example, Cartographer’s Features include adding one Periplus (map of a large region such as continental Europe) to starting equipment and gaining Keen Mind or Observant as a bonus feat. Or Ship Builder, whose features include rolling advantage to repair or end a Mishap* on a ship, also restoring 2d6 hit points to a ship when successful in doing so, and can restore twice as many hit points when restoring damage to a vehicle or structure as they’d normally do. None of the Backgrounds have tables of sample Personality Traits, Ideals, Bonds, and Flaws, but as those are rules-free roleplaying guidelines their exception doesn’t make them incomplete.
*A table that determines a negative effect against the ship and the DC to repair it, such as a cracked hull reducing its Armor Class or a damaged sail halving its speed.
We then move on to five Subclasses for the Barbarian, Bard, Druid, Monk, and Warlock. The Barbarian’s Path of the Pict represents Celtic warriors who cover their skin with blue tattoos, and the subclass’ name is from the Romans referring to all such Celts as Picts and thus can represent many other European tribes. The subclass’ features are primarily defensive, such as starting out with a magical tattoo that grants resistance (and eventually immunity) to a bonus energy type chosen from a list on top of their regular rage resistances as they level up, increased climbing and jumping distances while raging at 6th level, and spending a reaction to grant advantage on a saving throw Proficiency Bonus/per long rest at 10th level.
The College of Shanties Bard represents magical musicians who use folk songs to help members of a ship’s crew act with increased coordination and endure longer. They initially get a set of bonus features such as proficiency with Thieves’ Cant, drums, and the Guidance cantrip, along with being able to sing a minute-long sea shanty that can incorporate a secret message in Thieves’ Cant. This last one can grant a variety of social-based boons, such as advantage on Charisma checks made while in a tavern or a free roll on the Black Market contracts table for determining a random mission. At 6th level they can spend bardic inspiration to grant bonuses for one of two types of activities: either to everyone participating in a group check or a single person’s check relevant to operating a vehicle.
The Circle of the Wayfinder represents Austronesian Druids who learned how to navigate safe passage by studying the sea. Their bonus spells hew strongly towards water and wind themes, and their initial features include things like never getting lost while traveling on the open sea or being able to Wild Shape into beasts with swimming speeds at lower levels than usual. At higher levels they can craft a stick chart, a navigation tool fashioned from pieces of driftwood, shells, and coral to serve as a nautical map. The stick chart can help them avoid natural encounters from nonmagical beasts and weather-based hazards, serves as a druidic spellcasting focus, and grants bonus spells such as Breeze and Find the Path. There is one ability that can be pretty exploitable: whenever they cast a spell that creates or manipulates water, they regain one expended spell slot that cannot be higher than 5th level, and must be of a lower level than the spell that they cast. It doesn’t grant infinite spell slots as eventually the “lower level” requirement will eventually force them to run out of high-level slots, but with some creative casting the Wayfinder can get a few bonus castings of several low-level spells.
Way of the Jian is a Monk tradition that originated in China, representing warriors specializing in the use of the Jian sword which is considered one of the “big four” weapons in the Han Dynasty. Practitioners of this Way are highly respected in Chinese society and serve in high-ranking military positions. A jian is a d8 weapon (doesn’t specify damage type) which uses Dexterity for its attack and damage rolls.* At 3rd level the subclass grants proficiency with the jian, treats it as a monk weapon, the wielder choose whether it deals slashing or piercing damage every time they make an attack with it, and gains a specially-crafted one for free. Whenever the Monk misses on an attack roll with it, they gain a bonus to their AC equal to their Martial Arts die until the start of their next turn or are disarmed of it, and also add their Martial Arts die as a bonus to Charisma checks when the Jian is visibly worn. The subclass is pretty frontloaded, given that you get all this initially at 3rd level. But its higher-level features are rather respectable, such as treating the jian as a magic weapon and being able to transfer the magical properties of other magic swords into it at 6th level, gaining blindsight out to 10 feet at 11th level, and dealing extra damage equal to their Martial Arts die on the first attack made with a jian during their turn at 17th level.
*The book doesn’t have rules for a jian on its own. Thus it’s not clear if it has the Finesse property, and the rules text heavily implies that you must use Dexterity as opposed to choosing either Strength or Dexterity.
The Leviathan Warlock Patron represents a mage who entered into a deal with the powerful sea serpent of the same name who lays dreaming at the bottom of the ocean. The creature is the setting’s equivalent to a doomsday cosmic horror, for it primarily speaks to its servants via dreams and it is prophesied that one day it will awaken on the day of Armaggeddon to bring destruction to the world. There is a bit of rather un-Biblical D&Dism thrown in, where God is stated to have separated the Elemental Plane of Water from the Material Plane during the second day of creation, which ended up trapping the Leviathan in its dormant state.
The subclass’ expanded spell list centers around weather-based magic such as Gust of Wind and Call Lightning, but also includes other thematic options like Black Tentacles and Conjure Elemental (water only). Its initial 1st-level feature represents fearful respect among sea creatures, such as being able to telepathically communicate with and gain advantage on Intimidation checks against any creature that has an innate swimming speed, and such creatures must succeed on a Charisma save to target the warlock with an attack roll. Higher-level features include expanded benefits from their particular Pact boon, such as Pact of the Chain granting their familiar the ability to breathe underwater, a swim speed, and a permanent Freedom of Movement spell. At 6th level they can call upon the Leviathan’s favor to reroll a random outcome once per long rest and choose which result to use. At 10th level they are able to cast Legend Lore at will without the need for material components and a spell slot, but each use risks the Leviathan taking control of the caster’s body. This last part is represented as the warlock making a Wisdom save whenever they are returned to life by a spell, with the DC starting out at 12 and increasing by 1 each time they cast Legend Lore in this way. A failure has the Leviathan taking control of the body instead, and will restore the warlock’s soul to their original body should the rest of the party help it out via a service as determined by the DM. Their 14th level capstone lets them summon an Avatar of the Leviathan for 1 hour, and uses the stat block of a Tanifa, a monster detailed later in this book. But to sum up that creature, it’s a Gargantuan aquatic monster with a fire-based steam breath weapon, a Bite attack, and legendary actions it can take to Detect, Hide while in water, or force a Mishap upon a ship by slamming its tail.
Thoughts: The backgrounds are all appealing options, and I agree with the book’s suggestions for backgrounds from other sources save for one exception: the Outlander’s feature from the core rules is heavily implied to work for land-based wilderness exploration, which will be of limited use in comparison to the Sailor background and the ones in this book. As for the subclasses, the Pict Barbarian’s tattoo-based resistances are easily outshone by the Bear Totem, and its purely-defensive (and movement speed) based features don’t feel as exciting as other existing Barbarian subclass options. As for the Shanties Bard, it feels like it’s trying to be a pseudo-Rogue, and its initial Tavern Song is more based upon DM Fiat which makes it a harder sell in comparison to the more explicit benefits of other subclasses. The Wayfinder Druid’s abilities are effective and appropriate to the campaign at hand, and by focusing on water-based magic they can cast quite a bit more extra spells between long rests.
The Jian Monk is a very front-loaded subclass, with many of their best features coming into play at early levels rather than later. They can make for a respectable party face which is nifty but not unbalancing, although their AC bonus which is triggered by missing an attack is a little too good given that they’re probably going to be fighting with their jian all the time and they’re bound to roll low if they make liberal use of Flurry of Blows. I also would’ve liked to see default weapon properties for the sword, for those PCs who want to use a jian but aren’t taking this subclass. The Leviathan warlock looks fine by my initial estimations, and its hold over aquatic creatures and long rest-based reroll (which explicitly calls out things like Mishaps and random encounters) are going to be relevant to many sea-based encounters. However, the warlock risking possession by their patron from 10th level onwards is my main criticism. Beyond reliance upon an open-ended DM Fiat side quest to return the original warlock’s soul, it can be even more of a penalty if the DM interprets it to mean that the actual player is “out of commission” as though their PC was still dead. And by the way the class feature is worded, this sounds to be the case. A more lenient DM may still grant the possessed warlock’s player control, but with the roleplaying restriction of a malevolent entity. But as the book doesn’t explicitly spell this out, it is something worth bringing up for DMs and players to ask about.
We end this section with 8 Feats designed to aid PCs for common roles as part of a ship’s crew and related nautical activities. All feats here grant +1 to an ability score, so there’s no concern on having to give up a tangible bonus to ability checks/attacks/saves in order to take one of these feats. Two of these feats are on the higher end of the power spectrum, where the benefits they grant are broad enough to be helpful for a wide variety of character concepts. As our first example, Cook grants proficiency with cook’s utensils, but its signature ability lets the PC cook a meal for multiple creatures (4 + Proficiency Bonus) as part of a short rest, and those who partake in the meal gain advantage on ability checks for a score chosen by the Cook for a number of hours equal to the Cook’s proficiency bonus. The Commander feat’s benefit is more immediate, where they gain an at-will bonus action ability to give an instruction to a target who can hear them within 60 feet. Said target can add 1d4 to a single attack roll or saving throw until the start of the Commander’s next turn.
The other remaining feats aren’t as broad, but still strongly improve a PC’s ability in a limited range of activities relevant to the book’s campaign. For instance, Repairman grants proficiency with one set of tools, the Mending cantrip, can attempt to end a ship’s Mishap as a bonus action rather than an action, and once per long rest can spend 1 hour making repairs to an object to give it hit points equal to 5 times the repairman’s Proficiency Bonus. Explorer grants proficiency with navigator’s tools ,and the PC can only become lost by magical means as long as they have such a tool in their possession and they can see the sky. Treasure Hunter is more DM-fiat reliant, where proficiency/expertise in Investigation is nice but not earth-shattering. However, its most appealing feature is that the PC finds 50% more gold than they normally would should the money be discovered via an Investigation check, and they roll twice and choose the more desirable outcome on tables for generating treasure and discoveries. Freediver helps a character swim better, granting a swimming speed, can hold their breath much longer than usual, and ignores natural negative effects from diving deep underwater. Pilot grants proficiency with all vehicles the character has seen before, can gain proficiency with a newly-discovered vehicle by studying it as part of a short rest, and add their Proficiency Bonus to a piloted vehicle’s Strength and Dexterity checks and saves if they’re in the Helm role. Siege Weapon Master grants proficiency with all siege weapons, crits on a 19 or 20 with such weapons, and when scoring a critical hit with a siege weapon they can force the target to roll on the Mishap table if applicable.
Thoughts: I can see most gaming groups scrambling for Commander and Cook. Cook particularly for when they know that an upcoming task or challenge is going to need a d20 roll. Commander is especially attractive for PCs who don’t have many uses for their bonus action, and as it can stack with Bless, Bardic Inspiration, and other such buffs it can really up the effectiveness of a party. The remaining feats are more situational, but none look underpowered or highly situational for the book’s intended campaign style. For use in non-nautical adventures they may be much more situational.
Thoughts So Far: The Silk Road Guide to Seafaring opens up with a strong start. Its immediate pitch is obvious and stands out from the crowd, its new rules are easy to understand and strongly reinforce the setting themes, and it’s clear that the authors dedicated a good amount of research into the history of this particular time period. My biggest criticisms at this part in the book would be that it’s really easy (too easy in some cases) for wilderness and exploration-based class features and magic to obviate common challenges. Additionally, quite a bit of the subclasses have features which are unappealing in comparison to existing options (like Path of the Pict) or lacking information (such as stats for a normal Jian sword and whether a Leviathan-possessed warlock is under player control). I also think that letting PCs start play with any kind of equipment without restriction makes the setting lose some authentic flavor. It makes me wonder why they didn’t just import the outlines in Adventurer’s Guide to the Bible, given that module takes place a mere 30 years ago.
Join us next time as we get into detail on how to build our own vessels and meet the power-players of the setting in Ships, Upgrades, Factions, and Patrons!
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