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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 9599345" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/Rh00Bko.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />In today’s post we’re covering the second half of Ports of the World.Massalia is a Roman city where a PC who knows Thieves’ Cant can find a sign indicating a hidden safe house. Inside are two bodies of Roman soldiers, and a looted chest containing only a note hinting at the beginning of the Four Corners Map sidequest.Maynila is a port that specializes in exporting jade jewelry, and is home to a fearsome monster known as an Aswang (ghast stats) that lives in the nearby forest. The people of Maynila also know the coordinates to the island of Liuqiu, home to an isolated tribe known as the Siraya whose home whose ample jade deposits help fuel Maynila’s economy. The Siraya are menaced by a weretiger known as the Tigress Witch. In both cases, defeating the monsters can remove 1 level of Infamy, and in Liuqiu the PCs can gain a lot of jade as a reward.Minnagara is the capital of India’s Satavahana Dynasty, an expansive metropolis with many canals allowing for riverboat traffic. The PCs will likely visit here as part of Princess Shamitra’s sidequest. In addition to her rewards exposing the wicked satrap’s guilt for that quest,  the Maharaja will reward the party with a Rod of Rulership.Muziris is an Indian trade hub where people from all over the world congregate. Here, one can buy a periplus for any region in the setting, and rolls on the Indian Contracts table are made at +3 and advantage. But there is one specific quest here involving Thomas the Apostle. He is converting many people to Christianity, and the local port authority is fearful that this new religion will upset their power. PCs who are known to be of a vicious bent (sufficient Infamy Level) will be hired to assassinate Thomas. Alternatively, PCs who are on good terms with Christians or have an appropriate patron will gain an offer to help smuggle him out of the city. However, Thomas is reluctant to abandon his new followers, and will need some convincing in order to leave.Nakoku is the capital city of Japan at this point in time, and is relatively scenic and peaceful in comparison to other port cities. While here, PCs can engage in a wrestling match that is the precursor to the sport of sumo, and get hired by Emperor Suinin to locate and return his daughter Princess Yamato. Here, they can learn that she departed Japan on a mission to build a shrine to the sun goddess.A Pirate’s Cove isn’t a singular unique location, but rather three areas on the world map where pirates congregate. PCs will most likely visit such a place if captured alive by pirates, are allied with them, or hunting them down after finding out one of their locations. PCs who are brought in alive will have the Pirate Queen make an offer for them to swear allegiance to the pirate code and join her fleet. Refusal will be met with execution or being marooned.Rome is the capital of the Empire of the same name, and PCs who have Nero as a patron can expect to come here on a regular basis. Even on a first impression it will become clear that he’s an egocentric manchild, and PCs who refuse to accept his patronage will turn their status with Rome to hostile as he pretends to accept their decline with grace before putting the word out. His d8 missions tend to be grandiose vanity projects or having the party act as agents of violence, such as hunting down one of the sea monsters attacking Roman ships, assassinating Boudica or Nero’s mother Agrippina, or competing in a boat race in the Olympics with Nero betting on them.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/NDZ3Emi.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Silla is the capital of a Korean kingdom, and its main quest is part of obtaining a clue to the Island of the Jewel. A Wayfinder named Talhae has fallen in love with Princess Ani, and she seeks to nominate him as the next king. Talhae has no desire to be a ruler, but is pushed to do so given that the other nominee is the less suitable Duke Yong. Without an heir, the other common means of leadership resolution is a tournament where contestants demonstrate their magical skills. Talhae is expected to enter as team leader, with the PCs as his teammates. Opposing them is Duke Yong, who in addition to two acolytes will have his pet cockatrice as teammates. This is in fact one of the most involved side-quests ruleswise, where the tournament is separated into four courses, each with their own challenges and methods of resolution. For example, the first course involves finding ways to maneuver through impassible barriers such as a Wall of Fire or a 6-inch wide crack in a stone wall. The fourth course takes place after a long rest, and is set in an arena where each team fights over a crown. The team leader must wear the crown for at least 1 minute in order for his team to win. Winning the tournament lets the PCs claim a Wand of Polymorph as a prize, and Talhae will reward them with a clue to the Island of the Jewel if the party’s in search of it.Siraf is the Parthian Empire’s most prized possession for Silk Road trade, and the government is run by a merchant’s guild. Lydia of the Society is here, and can hire the PCs to return to her glands from murexes (giant snail-like monsters) whose venomous glands can be used to produce purple dye. The monsters are known to congregate in the city of Ommana, who are also a troubling infestation in that port’s sea coves. In addition to payment or an enchanted item as a reward, PCs who don’t already have her as a patron can get the opportunity upon completing this quest.The Sudd is a gigantic stretch of swampland that prevents riverbound traffic on the Nile from going any farther south. One of Nero’s missions involves finding the heart of the Nile, and crossing through the Sudd is an involved skill challenge. Once again, the book notes that particular spells and special abilities of the PCs can either auto-pass or grant a bonus of some kind. For example, an appropriate 1/short rest feature or a spell of up to 3rd level can grant advantage on a check, while a 1/long rest feature or a 4th level or higher spell automatically succeeds on a check. Should the PCs accumulate 3 failures before 7 successes, their ship will gain a Critical Mishap and most likely end up destroyed or stranded, forcing the party and crew to venture on foot. A success lets them reach the other side of the swamp and gain a +1 bonus on all future checks for passing through the Sudd.Venta Icenorum is the headquarters of Queen Boudica, and from here the party can gain side-quests from her. While the table reads 1d8, there’s only 4 such options. They involve attacking Roman soldiers or finding ways to reinforce the Celtic economy to better resist Rome.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/VGYtDp8.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Xi’an is the economic heart of China, and was the former capital city before Emperor Guangwu transferred that status to Luoyang. The city’s defenses are supplemented by Terra Cotta Warriors patrolling the streets, and the palace is home to Fangshi, the Emperor’s court wizard, and a silver dragon by the name of Yinlong. PCs who earned a reputation for themselves might be hired by the dragon and mage to find the Temple of the Tidekeeper and place a magical device that will allow them to scry on the angel. Needless to say, Sahariel will not appreciate this and be hostile to the PCs should they be caught in the act or found out later.Zanzibar is an island that doesn’t get much maritime traffic due to the locals being fluent in Bantu and not the Common (Greek) tongue. The major trouble here is a monster known as a popobawa (shadow demon stats) that attacks people along the coast at night. PCs who kill the popobawa will receive modifications to their ship as a reward: either a free Hull upgrade, repairs, or an equivalent good or service.Thoughts So Far: The second half of the main setting chapter continues to offer a variety of interesting locations and potential side quests. Quite a few of them are based on real-world folklore, tales, and even historical events, which the History Check sidebar illustrates when appropriate. I also like how a lot of the locations and quests tie into each other or provide hooks to visit other places. This further helps guide PCs with options beyond just the patron-based missions and Contracts tables, and gaming groups should rarely be starved for choices of what to do next.For this chapter overall, my main criticisms are that the side quests involving Christians can get rather samey: the majority of the time they involve protecting an Apostle and/or members of their flock from being hunted down by those in power. While that’s certainly a persistent aspect of early Christian history and makes sense in the context of the setting, doing too many of them too close together can risk the idea growing stale. Similarly, there’s quite a few locations menaced by a single monster (or group of monsters in the murex case) as the main method of conflict. This runs the risk of being too easy, as PCs can blow all of their daily and long rest-based resources on the challenge. Given that this style of campaign rarely has a lot of conflict encounters back to back within 24 hours, my concern is that such monsters won’t be very tough unless the party is underleveled.Join us next time as we finish up this book by covering the Appendices!</blockquote>

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