Act Five: The Ward Renewal

THE WARD RENEWAL

ACT FIVE // PART ONE

The Open Vale

Read the following aloud:

Speak to the players as the Arcanist, describing the Open Vale as a place used for strong ritual magic. It’s where she first forged the ward pillars that reside on all four corners of Hush, keeping the village safe. She almost died in that ritual, but is reluctant to say more for fear of angering the Forgotten Gods. Engage the PCs in conversation, then when you’re ready, read the following:

A Short Rest

Tell the PCs that they will now take a short rest. During a short rest, a PC may choose up to two of the following options. They may choose the same option twice.

TEND TO WOUNDS

Describe how you patch yourself up and clear 1d4+1 hit points. You may also tend to an ally instead.

CLEAR STRESS

Describe how you blow off steam or pull yourself together, and clear 1d4+1 Stress.

REPAIR ARMOR

Describe how you spend time quickly repairing your armor and clear 1d4+1 marked Armor Slots. You may also repair an ally’s armor instead.

PREPARE

Describe how you prepare yourself for the path ahead and gain a Hope. If you choose to Prepare with one or more members of your party, you may each take two Hope.

GM PREP DURING REST

While the PCs are resting, take 1d4 Fear as your downtime benefit, then review the stat blocks for adversaries located below and on the next page. These will be used in the final battle. Ancient Skeleton (Reference) Tier 1 Standard Rusted Sword: Melee - 1d6+1 phy Thresholds: 7/none ATK: +0 HP: 2 Difficulty: 12 Stress: 1

FEATURES

Group Attack - Action: Spend a Fear to choose a target and spotlight all Ancient Skeletons within Close range of them. Those creatures move into Melee range of the target and make one shared attack roll. On a success, they deal 4 physical damage each. Combine this damage. Ancient Skeleton #1 HP: O O Stress: O Ancient Skeleton #2 HP: Stress:

O O O

Ancient Skeleton #3

HP: O O Stress: O Ancient Skeleton #4 HP: Stress:

O O O

ANCIENT SKELETON BATTLE GUIDE

Because the skeletons have no attack modifier, roll a d20 and ask if it hits the target’s Evasion. On a success, deal 1d6+1 physical damage. If the ancient skeletons take 6 or less damage, they mark one hit point. Otherwise, they are defeated. Their Group Attack Feature allows you to activate several skeletons at once to make a powerful attack. When you use this action as your GM move, you must spend a Fear to activate the group attack, then move all skeletons in close range of a target into melee with them. Make one attack roll with a +0 modifier against the PC's Evasion. On a success, deal 4 phy damage per skeleton. Add all of this damage up before dealing it to the PC.

THE WARD RENEWAL

ACT FIVE // PART TWO

The Ritual Begins

Read the following aloud:

Then place the Whitefire Arcanist standee at the center of the table. Ask the players to also place their standees in the scene. Finally, place four Ancient Skeletons within close range of the Arcanist and two Forest Wraiths within far range, then read the following aloud.

Grab a d8 and set it on the table with the 8 facing up. This is a countdown die. It will tick down one number every time an adversary is defeated. It will tick up every time the Whitefire Arcanist is hit with an attack. When the countdown reaches 0, the ritual is complete and the fight will end.

ENVIRONMENT FEATURE

Environments can have their own features that let you utilize them in a unique way. For this encounter, you have an environment feature called Vengeance of the Vale. The Open Vale Tier: 1 Type: Exploration

FEATURES

Vengeance of the Vale - Action: Spend a Fear to summon two additional ancient skeletons from the ground within very close range of a PC.

ENCOUNTER GM GUIDANCE

The countdown progresses every time an adversary is defeated, so if it's not moving quickly enough, use Vengeance of the Vale to spawn more skeletons, as they're easy to take down. Have adversaries target the Whitefire Arcanist if no other PCs are within attack range. Her difficulty is 11. She doesn't mark Hit Points or Stress, any damage done to her should be purely narrative.

FOREST WRAITH BATTLE GUIDE

Forest Wraiths can attack from far range with a +3 attack modifier. On a success, they deal 2d6+8 magic damage. They have resistance to physical damage, meaning any incoming physical damage is cut in half (rounded up). Their Memory Delve move makes the target Vulnerable, which means all rolls you make against them are at advantage (roll an additional d20 and take the highest result). This condition doesn’t stack. Pass-Through should be used sparingly to avoid incapacitating the whole party at once. Because this move knocks a PC out of their body and stops them from acting until an adversary is taken down, using the Vengeance of the Vale Encounter Move can be a useful way to generate new, easily defeatable adversaries to avoid this from happening. Forest Wraith (Reference) Tier 1 Bruisers Lifedrain - Far - 2d6+8 mag Major 7 | Severe 14 Attack Modifier: +3 HP: 6 Difficulty: 13 Stress: 3

FEATURES

Spectral Body - Passive: The Forest Wraith has resistance to physical damage.

Memory Delve - Action: Make an attack roll against a close target. On a success, the Forest Wraith flies into Melee and places their hand upon the target’s cheek. Ask the player to describe a terrifying moment from their character’s childhood. Then deal 3d4+9 magic damage and make them Vulnerable until their next rest.

Pass-Through - Action: Spend a Fear and make an attack roll against a target in Melee. On a success, the Forest Wraith passes through the target, pushing their soul from their body momentarily, making them Untethered. They cannot act again until the Ritual Countdown ticks down, clearing this condition. If the entire party becomes Untethered at the same time, they all mark 2 Hit Points and their souls return, clearing the condition. Forest Wraith #1 HP: Stress:

O O O O O O O O O

Forest Wraith #2

HP: O O O O O O Stress: O O O

DEATH MOVE

If a PC ever marks their last hit point, they make a death move. For the purposes of the Quickstart Adventure, they fall unconscious until they are healed or the danger passes.

The Ritual Ends

When the Ritual Die ticks down to 0, move to the Epilogue.