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[Let's Read] Unbreakable Volume 1
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<blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 8091751" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/Z2u4ahZ.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><strong>The Last Guest</strong></p><p></p><p>This adventure is designed for 4 PCs of levels 18 to 20 and marks the final chapter of Unbreakable. The Jade Hermit, a legendary monk and long-time friend of the PCs, is aware of his final hours and seeks to bring his old friends together for one last “going away” party before he must depart from this world. Beyond our heroes, twelve of the Jade Hermit’s animal friends are ascended godlike exemplars of their animal species who correspond to the Chinese Zodiac. There’s also Peydan, the Lord of Cats. Said Cat Lord was pranked by the Prince of Mice and Rats some time ago, which caused him to be unable to achieve the same vaunted status as the other animals. This has made Peydan very resentful, and over the years he’s sabotaged things from behind the scenes to break up their friendships and prevent anyone besides himself from attending the Jade Hermit’s final celebration. The PCs must visit with as many animal lords as they can, handling their problems in order to help them attend the party.</p><p></p><p>The PCs do not have an infinite or vague timeframe in order to complete this task. The Jade Hermit will pass away in 4 days once the adventure begins, and visiting the various zodiac animal realms, completing their challenges, and failing checks on said challenges eats up a predetermined amount of hours in addition to the ones the PCs spend doing rests, casting lengthy spells, and so on and so forth. We even have a Fate Clock handout to keep track of time, divided into 4 12-piece circles with each piece representing 2 hours. There is no binary success/failure in regards to the zodiac animals’ recruitment, but the more animals that attend the banquet the more magic items the party can get from them as a reward.</p><p></p><p>When the PCs come to the lonesome monastery in which the Jade Hermit resides, he’ll exchange pleasantries and treat them to hospitality. He’ll then tell them of how much time he has left in the mortal world, as well as his relationship with the various zodiac animals and the Lord of Cats. Most of the monastery’s students have long since graduated, leaving the monastery in a state of disrepair over the years, and the relationships between his animal friends grew more bitter over a series of small arguments and disputes that blew up over time. As a favor he asks the PCs if they can reach out to the animals and convince them to come together for a banquet one last time. To make good on this, the Jade Hermit gives the party a Zodiac Compass that can manipulate a portal in the monastery’s garden to lead them to the Misty Wilds. In this extraplanar realm of beasts and nature, the compass can direct the party to the twelve zodiac realms in any order they please. As for the Lord of Cats, he’s been visiting the Jade Hermit frequently and should be coming soon to help with preparations according to him.</p><p></p><p>Peydan, the Lord of Cats, is a recurring foe in this adventure. He’ll appear initially as the PCs enter the Misty Wilds and then two more times after they complete 4 and 8 of the zodiac animals’ tasks, his efforts subtle at first but growing more desperate and confrontational along the way. There’s also a d12 table of random encounters the PCs can come upon, although thankfully said encounters do not take up any time on the Fate Clocks regardless of their resolution. There’s even sidebars for how to roleplay each zodiac animal, as well as a table of what Peydan has said to each animal in order to keep them preoccupied in their realm. Peydan’s words become more spiteful, abusive, and harmful after the aforementioned 4 and 8 marks pass. This serves as a gradual revelation that the Lord of Cats is a terrible person.</p><p></p><p><strong>The Snake Realm</strong> is home to Bailel, who is afflicted with a powerful toxin that prevents her from reincarnating. If she dies she will be forever slain. Her apprentice can brew a cure but they’re currently estranged from each other, so the PCs will have to track her down and win her over to save Bailel. As for the party using their own magic and skills...there’s no information given on this route even though they can very well have access to the best spells in the game. :/</p><p></p><p><strong>The Boar Realm</strong> is home to Chengfu, who is searching for a mythical golden truffle to present as a gift to the Jade Hermit. Payden fed him the idea to keep him on a perpetual hunt for an item that most certainly could not exist, although said truffle does indeed exist if the PCs get really good at finding it on a skill challenge. Alternatively they can convince the boar to abandon his quest, making him realize that being at the banquet is a gift all its own.</p><p></p><p><strong>The Dog Realm</strong> is home to the hound Gin, an elderly canine who worked with the zodiac rabbit Tourou on building a rocket ship to go to the moon together. But arguments and accusations of sabotage made the project a failure. Upon hearing rumors from Peydan that her friend completed the rocket without her, she found little motivation to do anything else besides living day to day. The PCs can resolve this via helping build a rocket ship as a skill challenge, instilling a sense of hope in her and lifting her spirits to attend the banquet.</p><p></p><p><strong>The Ox Realm</strong> is home to the bovine Po, who perpetually rages on a stormy flat plain. He’ll charge and attack the PCs, and can be subdued via combat as well as a variety of spells and other similar features that can bring reason to his addled mind. Once subdued he’ll apologize for his behavior, explaining that his rage stems from failing the Jade Hermit in an important task. Eve since Po’s been unable to look him in the eye. Role-playing and Charisma skills can help convince him to let bygones be bygones, although failing a check causes him to angrily attack the character (a shove that’s damaging due to his strength, not outright combat).</p><p></p><p><strong>The Rooster Realm</strong> Is a beautiful tower with innumerable hallways and chambers. The fully-staffed palace has workers and guards who will escort the party to the owner of the house, the Rooster Mei (who is female but the zodiac title of Rooster can be held by those of all genders). She is afflicted with a terrible curse and will not meet the party unless they consent to being blindfolded in her presence (a skill check convinces them to look upon her to help her), and is thus too ashamed to visit the monastery. The PCs can help her out via a combination of skill checks and appropriate spells, with more powerful healing magic removing more layers of the curse. See, something like this could’ve been helpful game design in the Snake Realm!</p><p></p><p><strong>The Dragon Realm</strong> is the dominion of Fou Long, a magnificent specimen of dragonkind afflicted with a years-long illness. Like the snake realm the only cure is gathering local herbs to brew into a potion which is done via a series of skill checks. Although said checks have some rather trivial set-ups that can easily be overcome via a trifling spell or low-level solution: berries growing on a tree jutting out from a sheer cliff face? Have your familiar fly up and pluck them off!</p><p></p><p>The other dragons of the realm are starting to be affected from their lords’ illness and are losing their sense of reason, and as such are why they could not do this task themselves for Fou Long. The PCs can try to drag the dragon’s body to the monastery in his sick state (which he’ll consent to), but this will cost more time than finding a cure and the local dragons will attack what they view as a kidnapping.</p><p></p><p><strong>The Rabbit Realm</strong> is home to Tourou the hare. He’s fallen into a depression from the loss of his friendship with Gin, and Payden has been telling him lies to make things seem more hopeless than they are. As such he has no inclination to visit the monastery. The party can help alleviate Tourou’s depression by looking around and finding items symbolizing happier times and good old-fashioned Persuasion checks. Failed results will only draw him further into his shell.</p><p></p><p><strong>The Horse Realm</strong> is a rather strange island dotted with mirror-like crystal shards and surrounded by a sea of acid. Jie the zodiac horse has fallen in love (platonically) with his own reflection and is trapped in a prison of his own ego. He will be spooked by the party and dash off at a fast gallop or cast teleport if they can keep up. He will also do this if they try to break the crystals, but they can snap him to his senses by using Charisma skills. But in order to do this they will first need to bait him into a trap (using pretty and rare items as bait helps).</p><p></p><p><strong>The Tiger Realm</strong> is a flight of stars stretching infinitely in both directions amidst a starry void. Zhen Yao the tiger is stumped on a riddle which will help her reach the top, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunk_cost" target="_blank">and although she’s stuck on it for years she feels that at any moment she’ll solve it.</a> Physical travel in either direction will cause one to loop back eventually should they not solve the riddle: “Journey without it and you will never prevail, but if you have too much of it you will surely fail.” An Insight skill check can help decipher the riddle’s answer as confidence if the PCs cannot guess it on their own. The climber of the stairs needs just enough confidence to undertake the seemingly impossible trek, but not enough to the point that it blinds them to their own failures. Thus, completing the riddle requires a Charisma saving throw to climb the stairs to the end, although failing this check imposes disadvantage on all ability checks and saving throws until someone reaches the top of the steps. An Amulet of the Planes awaits as the reward, and Zhen Yao lets the party keep it now that she can go to the banquet.</p><p></p><p><strong>The Monkey Realm</strong> is appropriately a rainforest filled with stone ruins. Monkey statues pointing in specific directions lead the PCs to a rather strange court proceeding. The zodiac monkey Demao is arguing against copies of himself, as judge, jury, defendant, and plaintiff. The PCs are asked to represent the Accused as a neutral third party, and the charges revolve around the situation of the ends justifying the means. In fighting a greater evil, the Accused resorted to evil acts themselves, including property damage and unintentional deaths. Without such actions the greater evil would’ve won and done more harm in the long run. The trial is conducted via opposed skill checks, and Charisma saving throws are done during cross-examination to avoid disadvantage on future checks.</p><p></p><p>When the trial ends Demao will thank the party for ensuring that justice is done regardless of the outcome, but if he’s been found guilty then a Charisma ability check will be needed to get him to attend the banquet instead of performing a centuries-long self-penance for his wicked ways.</p><p></p><p><strong>The Sheep Realm</strong> is a scenic grass field which can induce sleepiness even in those immune to such bodily functions. The zodiac sheep Bo is in a deep dream somewhere in the field, and the party must find her either physically or contact her via a shared dreamscape. Skill challenges are performed to find her, and failing a check still makes progression but takes more time on the Fate Clock and forces a fight with a nightmare balor demon. Bo will apologize for the inconvenience once found and awakened, giving them a Mantle of Spell Resistance for their troubles.</p><p></p><p><strong>The Rat Realm</strong> is strangely bereft of its zodiac animal, Hao. The rat is unable to escape an intricate dungeon-trap constructed by Payden, for he’s the most aware of the Lord of Cat’s bad behavior and our feline friend didn’t want him blabbing his mouth off to the other animals. The dungeon is a small 3-room course: each room has a puzzle and accompanying trap and guardians necessary to overcome to progress further, and Hao is held in an adamantine cage at the end. Once freed he’ll reveal the reason for the Lord of Cat’s enmity with him and not to trust Peydan if they’re still in need of recruiting the other zodiac animals.</p><p></p><p>Once the final hours are nearly upon the party and they recruited as many zodiac animals as possible, Payden confronts them in the monastery’s garden. He’s angry at their interference and gives them a set of demands: leave the monastery and don’t inform the Jade Hermit the reason for their departure, give Payden the Zodiac Compass (so that he can destroy it), and destroy the portal in the garden so the rest of the animals cannot arrive. How the PCs deal with Payden affects the outcome of the ending.</p><p></p><p>The PCs can comply with Payden’s demands, which will leave the Jade Hermit a saddened, hopeless man as he realizes he will die alone (if told the truth) or be happy that at least Payden and the PCs are there and begins the festivities (if lied to about the animals’ being unable to come)...which kind of makes Payden’s threat empty if he doesn’t do anything and the PCs stay. Probably doesn’t want to murder them while within the Jade Hermit’s vicinity is my guess.</p><p></p><p>If the PCs trick Payden into thinking they’re on his side in order to get past him or otherwise are able to inform the Jade Hermit of the Lord of Cats’ treachery without violence, then the Jade Hermit will banish Payden from the world of mortals forever via calling upon the authority of spirits. If the PCs manage through some clever role-playing to get Payden to realize the error of his ways and at least try to hope that he’ll be forgiven, he’ll come clean to the Jade Hermit and Zodiac Animals of his bad behavior. He’s forgiven, and everyone’s happy.</p><p></p><p>If the PCs take the violent option and fight Payden, then the last zodiac animal the PCs helped will join them in battle, capable of taking a special lair action on behalf of the party dependent upon their specific animal form. Payden also has his own lair actions, ranging from summoning distracting ethereal cats imposing disadvantage on attacks and saves, a psychic AoE screaming meow, and a sphere of concealing darkness. Once defeated, the rest of the zodiac animals will have mixed feelings upon hearing the news of his death, but will understand that Payden brought this on himself. The Jade Hermit hopes that his next life is pleasant and gives him a proper funeral.</p><p></p><p>The adventure also has a stat block entry for Zodiac Nobles representing the pinnacle of said animals, and Payden also uses this stat block even though he’s not part of the vaunted order. They’re very tough CR 23 fey whose lowest ability score is an 18 Constitution, and they have a powerful primary slam attack for melee and an elemental bolt that can deal a variety of damage types for ranged. They also have a variety of druid and nature-based innate magic with a focus on utility and AoE elemental damage. In addition to Legendary Resistance they also get Legendary Actions: there’s the typical bonus Attack and Teleport, but they can also burn a spell slot to cast Dispel Magic or regain a spell slot of 3rd level or lower which is really nice. Each specific zodiac animal also has a short entry of minor unique abilities, from proficient skills and saves to movement speeds and immunities. Snake has a rather peculiar ability, for she can use sorcerer metamagic to enhance her spells, which makes me wonder if snakes are associated strongly with magic in Chinese folklore or something.</p><p></p><p><strong>Thoughts So Far:</strong> I really like this adventure. The use of time tracking really lines up nicely with 5th Edition’s rest-based system and D&D’s resource management as a whole. I also like how there’s no binary win condition, where PCs can get more rewards the more animals they recruit. I cannot honestly see most groups complying with Peydan’s demands, and I can also see a lot of them going straight to violence. The open-ended nature of how to accomplish the various challenges is something I like, although the snake and dragon felt a bit samey and oddly railroady. The other zodiac lairs that leave things open-ended are the best means of adventure writing when it comes to high-level campaigns.</p><p></p><p><strong>Concluding Thoughts:</strong> Unbreakable is a great book. The adventures have a lot of variety and can be fun for one-shots or a short arc. The authors and artists do a great job in bringing their own personal touches to the product in a way that any single person would not be able to so easily replicate. For the first volume of a larger project this is a very promising start, and I look forward to seeing what else the Unbreakable Anthology has to offer us in the future.</p><p></p><p>As for what I’ll review next, I have several ideas but I’ll have to think about it. For the next few days I’m going to relax and see what inspires me.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Libertad, post: 8091751, member: 6750502"] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/Z2u4ahZ.png[/img] [b]The Last Guest[/b][/center] This adventure is designed for 4 PCs of levels 18 to 20 and marks the final chapter of Unbreakable. The Jade Hermit, a legendary monk and long-time friend of the PCs, is aware of his final hours and seeks to bring his old friends together for one last “going away” party before he must depart from this world. Beyond our heroes, twelve of the Jade Hermit’s animal friends are ascended godlike exemplars of their animal species who correspond to the Chinese Zodiac. There’s also Peydan, the Lord of Cats. Said Cat Lord was pranked by the Prince of Mice and Rats some time ago, which caused him to be unable to achieve the same vaunted status as the other animals. This has made Peydan very resentful, and over the years he’s sabotaged things from behind the scenes to break up their friendships and prevent anyone besides himself from attending the Jade Hermit’s final celebration. The PCs must visit with as many animal lords as they can, handling their problems in order to help them attend the party. The PCs do not have an infinite or vague timeframe in order to complete this task. The Jade Hermit will pass away in 4 days once the adventure begins, and visiting the various zodiac animal realms, completing their challenges, and failing checks on said challenges eats up a predetermined amount of hours in addition to the ones the PCs spend doing rests, casting lengthy spells, and so on and so forth. We even have a Fate Clock handout to keep track of time, divided into 4 12-piece circles with each piece representing 2 hours. There is no binary success/failure in regards to the zodiac animals’ recruitment, but the more animals that attend the banquet the more magic items the party can get from them as a reward. When the PCs come to the lonesome monastery in which the Jade Hermit resides, he’ll exchange pleasantries and treat them to hospitality. He’ll then tell them of how much time he has left in the mortal world, as well as his relationship with the various zodiac animals and the Lord of Cats. Most of the monastery’s students have long since graduated, leaving the monastery in a state of disrepair over the years, and the relationships between his animal friends grew more bitter over a series of small arguments and disputes that blew up over time. As a favor he asks the PCs if they can reach out to the animals and convince them to come together for a banquet one last time. To make good on this, the Jade Hermit gives the party a Zodiac Compass that can manipulate a portal in the monastery’s garden to lead them to the Misty Wilds. In this extraplanar realm of beasts and nature, the compass can direct the party to the twelve zodiac realms in any order they please. As for the Lord of Cats, he’s been visiting the Jade Hermit frequently and should be coming soon to help with preparations according to him. Peydan, the Lord of Cats, is a recurring foe in this adventure. He’ll appear initially as the PCs enter the Misty Wilds and then two more times after they complete 4 and 8 of the zodiac animals’ tasks, his efforts subtle at first but growing more desperate and confrontational along the way. There’s also a d12 table of random encounters the PCs can come upon, although thankfully said encounters do not take up any time on the Fate Clocks regardless of their resolution. There’s even sidebars for how to roleplay each zodiac animal, as well as a table of what Peydan has said to each animal in order to keep them preoccupied in their realm. Peydan’s words become more spiteful, abusive, and harmful after the aforementioned 4 and 8 marks pass. This serves as a gradual revelation that the Lord of Cats is a terrible person. [b]The Snake Realm[/b] is home to Bailel, who is afflicted with a powerful toxin that prevents her from reincarnating. If she dies she will be forever slain. Her apprentice can brew a cure but they’re currently estranged from each other, so the PCs will have to track her down and win her over to save Bailel. As for the party using their own magic and skills...there’s no information given on this route even though they can very well have access to the best spells in the game. :/ [b]The Boar Realm[/b] is home to Chengfu, who is searching for a mythical golden truffle to present as a gift to the Jade Hermit. Payden fed him the idea to keep him on a perpetual hunt for an item that most certainly could not exist, although said truffle does indeed exist if the PCs get really good at finding it on a skill challenge. Alternatively they can convince the boar to abandon his quest, making him realize that being at the banquet is a gift all its own. [b]The Dog Realm[/b] is home to the hound Gin, an elderly canine who worked with the zodiac rabbit Tourou on building a rocket ship to go to the moon together. But arguments and accusations of sabotage made the project a failure. Upon hearing rumors from Peydan that her friend completed the rocket without her, she found little motivation to do anything else besides living day to day. The PCs can resolve this via helping build a rocket ship as a skill challenge, instilling a sense of hope in her and lifting her spirits to attend the banquet. [b]The Ox Realm[/b] is home to the bovine Po, who perpetually rages on a stormy flat plain. He’ll charge and attack the PCs, and can be subdued via combat as well as a variety of spells and other similar features that can bring reason to his addled mind. Once subdued he’ll apologize for his behavior, explaining that his rage stems from failing the Jade Hermit in an important task. Eve since Po’s been unable to look him in the eye. Role-playing and Charisma skills can help convince him to let bygones be bygones, although failing a check causes him to angrily attack the character (a shove that’s damaging due to his strength, not outright combat). [b]The Rooster Realm[/b] Is a beautiful tower with innumerable hallways and chambers. The fully-staffed palace has workers and guards who will escort the party to the owner of the house, the Rooster Mei (who is female but the zodiac title of Rooster can be held by those of all genders). She is afflicted with a terrible curse and will not meet the party unless they consent to being blindfolded in her presence (a skill check convinces them to look upon her to help her), and is thus too ashamed to visit the monastery. The PCs can help her out via a combination of skill checks and appropriate spells, with more powerful healing magic removing more layers of the curse. See, something like this could’ve been helpful game design in the Snake Realm! [b]The Dragon Realm[/b] is the dominion of Fou Long, a magnificent specimen of dragonkind afflicted with a years-long illness. Like the snake realm the only cure is gathering local herbs to brew into a potion which is done via a series of skill checks. Although said checks have some rather trivial set-ups that can easily be overcome via a trifling spell or low-level solution: berries growing on a tree jutting out from a sheer cliff face? Have your familiar fly up and pluck them off! The other dragons of the realm are starting to be affected from their lords’ illness and are losing their sense of reason, and as such are why they could not do this task themselves for Fou Long. The PCs can try to drag the dragon’s body to the monastery in his sick state (which he’ll consent to), but this will cost more time than finding a cure and the local dragons will attack what they view as a kidnapping. [b]The Rabbit Realm[/b] is home to Tourou the hare. He’s fallen into a depression from the loss of his friendship with Gin, and Payden has been telling him lies to make things seem more hopeless than they are. As such he has no inclination to visit the monastery. The party can help alleviate Tourou’s depression by looking around and finding items symbolizing happier times and good old-fashioned Persuasion checks. Failed results will only draw him further into his shell. [b]The Horse Realm[/b] is a rather strange island dotted with mirror-like crystal shards and surrounded by a sea of acid. Jie the zodiac horse has fallen in love (platonically) with his own reflection and is trapped in a prison of his own ego. He will be spooked by the party and dash off at a fast gallop or cast teleport if they can keep up. He will also do this if they try to break the crystals, but they can snap him to his senses by using Charisma skills. But in order to do this they will first need to bait him into a trap (using pretty and rare items as bait helps). [b]The Tiger Realm[/b] is a flight of stars stretching infinitely in both directions amidst a starry void. Zhen Yao the tiger is stumped on a riddle which will help her reach the top, [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunk_cost]and although she’s stuck on it for years she feels that at any moment she’ll solve it.[/url] Physical travel in either direction will cause one to loop back eventually should they not solve the riddle: “Journey without it and you will never prevail, but if you have too much of it you will surely fail.” An Insight skill check can help decipher the riddle’s answer as confidence if the PCs cannot guess it on their own. The climber of the stairs needs just enough confidence to undertake the seemingly impossible trek, but not enough to the point that it blinds them to their own failures. Thus, completing the riddle requires a Charisma saving throw to climb the stairs to the end, although failing this check imposes disadvantage on all ability checks and saving throws until someone reaches the top of the steps. An Amulet of the Planes awaits as the reward, and Zhen Yao lets the party keep it now that she can go to the banquet. [b]The Monkey Realm[/b] is appropriately a rainforest filled with stone ruins. Monkey statues pointing in specific directions lead the PCs to a rather strange court proceeding. The zodiac monkey Demao is arguing against copies of himself, as judge, jury, defendant, and plaintiff. The PCs are asked to represent the Accused as a neutral third party, and the charges revolve around the situation of the ends justifying the means. In fighting a greater evil, the Accused resorted to evil acts themselves, including property damage and unintentional deaths. Without such actions the greater evil would’ve won and done more harm in the long run. The trial is conducted via opposed skill checks, and Charisma saving throws are done during cross-examination to avoid disadvantage on future checks. When the trial ends Demao will thank the party for ensuring that justice is done regardless of the outcome, but if he’s been found guilty then a Charisma ability check will be needed to get him to attend the banquet instead of performing a centuries-long self-penance for his wicked ways. [b]The Sheep Realm[/b] is a scenic grass field which can induce sleepiness even in those immune to such bodily functions. The zodiac sheep Bo is in a deep dream somewhere in the field, and the party must find her either physically or contact her via a shared dreamscape. Skill challenges are performed to find her, and failing a check still makes progression but takes more time on the Fate Clock and forces a fight with a nightmare balor demon. Bo will apologize for the inconvenience once found and awakened, giving them a Mantle of Spell Resistance for their troubles. [b]The Rat Realm[/b] is strangely bereft of its zodiac animal, Hao. The rat is unable to escape an intricate dungeon-trap constructed by Payden, for he’s the most aware of the Lord of Cat’s bad behavior and our feline friend didn’t want him blabbing his mouth off to the other animals. The dungeon is a small 3-room course: each room has a puzzle and accompanying trap and guardians necessary to overcome to progress further, and Hao is held in an adamantine cage at the end. Once freed he’ll reveal the reason for the Lord of Cat’s enmity with him and not to trust Peydan if they’re still in need of recruiting the other zodiac animals. Once the final hours are nearly upon the party and they recruited as many zodiac animals as possible, Payden confronts them in the monastery’s garden. He’s angry at their interference and gives them a set of demands: leave the monastery and don’t inform the Jade Hermit the reason for their departure, give Payden the Zodiac Compass (so that he can destroy it), and destroy the portal in the garden so the rest of the animals cannot arrive. How the PCs deal with Payden affects the outcome of the ending. The PCs can comply with Payden’s demands, which will leave the Jade Hermit a saddened, hopeless man as he realizes he will die alone (if told the truth) or be happy that at least Payden and the PCs are there and begins the festivities (if lied to about the animals’ being unable to come)...which kind of makes Payden’s threat empty if he doesn’t do anything and the PCs stay. Probably doesn’t want to murder them while within the Jade Hermit’s vicinity is my guess. If the PCs trick Payden into thinking they’re on his side in order to get past him or otherwise are able to inform the Jade Hermit of the Lord of Cats’ treachery without violence, then the Jade Hermit will banish Payden from the world of mortals forever via calling upon the authority of spirits. If the PCs manage through some clever role-playing to get Payden to realize the error of his ways and at least try to hope that he’ll be forgiven, he’ll come clean to the Jade Hermit and Zodiac Animals of his bad behavior. He’s forgiven, and everyone’s happy. If the PCs take the violent option and fight Payden, then the last zodiac animal the PCs helped will join them in battle, capable of taking a special lair action on behalf of the party dependent upon their specific animal form. Payden also has his own lair actions, ranging from summoning distracting ethereal cats imposing disadvantage on attacks and saves, a psychic AoE screaming meow, and a sphere of concealing darkness. Once defeated, the rest of the zodiac animals will have mixed feelings upon hearing the news of his death, but will understand that Payden brought this on himself. The Jade Hermit hopes that his next life is pleasant and gives him a proper funeral. The adventure also has a stat block entry for Zodiac Nobles representing the pinnacle of said animals, and Payden also uses this stat block even though he’s not part of the vaunted order. They’re very tough CR 23 fey whose lowest ability score is an 18 Constitution, and they have a powerful primary slam attack for melee and an elemental bolt that can deal a variety of damage types for ranged. They also have a variety of druid and nature-based innate magic with a focus on utility and AoE elemental damage. In addition to Legendary Resistance they also get Legendary Actions: there’s the typical bonus Attack and Teleport, but they can also burn a spell slot to cast Dispel Magic or regain a spell slot of 3rd level or lower which is really nice. Each specific zodiac animal also has a short entry of minor unique abilities, from proficient skills and saves to movement speeds and immunities. Snake has a rather peculiar ability, for she can use sorcerer metamagic to enhance her spells, which makes me wonder if snakes are associated strongly with magic in Chinese folklore or something. [b]Thoughts So Far:[/b] I really like this adventure. The use of time tracking really lines up nicely with 5th Edition’s rest-based system and D&D’s resource management as a whole. I also like how there’s no binary win condition, where PCs can get more rewards the more animals they recruit. I cannot honestly see most groups complying with Peydan’s demands, and I can also see a lot of them going straight to violence. The open-ended nature of how to accomplish the various challenges is something I like, although the snake and dragon felt a bit samey and oddly railroady. The other zodiac lairs that leave things open-ended are the best means of adventure writing when it comes to high-level campaigns. [b]Concluding Thoughts:[/b] Unbreakable is a great book. The adventures have a lot of variety and can be fun for one-shots or a short arc. The authors and artists do a great job in bringing their own personal touches to the product in a way that any single person would not be able to so easily replicate. For the first volume of a larger project this is a very promising start, and I look forward to seeing what else the Unbreakable Anthology has to offer us in the future. As for what I’ll review next, I have several ideas but I’ll have to think about it. For the next few days I’m going to relax and see what inspires me. [/QUOTE]
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