Bound by Duty
A 4 Hour Convention Created Content for Tier 2 Released on July 1, 2017
Civil disorder threatens to throw the leaderless town of Ylraphon into chaos. You find respite from this political strife when the Chiang Emporium hires you for an escort mission. The task: sail south to accompany a Chiang Emporium envoy on a return voyage to Ylraphon, where her wedding is to take place upon her arrival. The voyage is perilous, but not nearly as complicated as what awaits when you finally make it back to town.
Part Three of the Whispers Over Ylraphon series.
Available on Dungeon Masters Guild.
Items
- Oath Basin of Alyolvoy (Bowl of Commanding Water Elementals) Rare
- 1 x Potion of Greater Healing Uncommon
- 1 x Potion of Heroism Rare
Story Awards
Boon of the Sea Hags
You bargained with sea hags, trading lives or goods for the benefit of those wicked creatures. They promised you a boon of luck, and the hags deliver on that promise: you have received a boon of bad luck.
The next time you receive a point of Inspiration, it works in reverse, forcing you to roll with Disadvantage when you spend that point of Inspiration. As per the usual rule, you cannot have more than one point of Inspiration at a time, so you must spend any Inspiration you receive before you can get another one.
Once this happens three times, this boon loses its effect, but the story award remains.
Chiang Enmity
Whether willful or not, your actions have somehow subverted the Chiang Emporium. Word of your deeds travels fast between the Chiang’s numerous mercantile posts. From there, your ill reputation spreads among Shou communities throughout the Sword Coast and beyond.
You gain disadvantage on Charisma-based ability checks that involve interacting with individuals from House Chiang. Additionally, you gain disadvantage on those same checks that involve Shou individuals who are friendly or neutral towards House Chiang and the reigning Shou empire.
You lose this story award and any of its effects if you ever earn the Chiang Goodwill story award.
Chiang Goodwill
Your service to the Chiang Emporium has earned you their respect. Word of your deeds travels fast between the Chiang’s numerous mercantile posts. From there, your reputation spreads among Shou communities throughout the Sword Coast and beyond.
You gain advantage on Charisma-based ability checks that involve interacting with individuals from House Chiang. Additionally, you gain advantage on those same checks that involve Shou individuals who are friendly or neutral towards House Chiang and the reigning Shou empire.
You lose this story award and any of its effects if you ever earn the Chiang Enmity story award.
Guild Delving Downtime
Immediately before or after an adventure set in Ylraphon, you may spend up to 30 downtime days (minimum 10) to attempt to research, find, and explore some of the ruins of Outer Ylraphon in search of treasure. In the presence of the DM, roll percentile dice and add the number of days spent on this downtime activity, comparing the total to the Treasure Seeking Results Table on this page.
| d100 + Downtime Spent | Result |
|---|---|
| 1–35 | A fatiguing and fruitless cavern exploration. You spend 10 gp on expenses and gain 4 levels of exhaustion. For each downtime day you spend recovering before your next adventure, you remove one of these exhaustion levels. |
| 36–50 | A difficult and taxing trudge through the Flooded Forest. You gain 2 levels of exhaustion. For each downtime day you spend recovering before your next adventure, you remove one of these exhaustion levels. |
| 51–65 | A strange and discouraging affair. You make only enough to recuperate half of your lifestyle expenses. |
| 66–79 | A lengthy but unremarkable overland trip. You recuperate half your lifestyle expenses and gain 2d12 gp. |
| 80–89 | A profitable expedition to the Underdark. You recuperate half your lifestyle expenses and gain 1d4 x 10 gp. |
| 90–99 | An exciting delve into a lost dwarven tomb. You recuperate half your lifestyle expenses and gain 1d6 x 10 gp. |
| 100–109 | An unexpected discovery of a long-lost merchant house compound. You recuperate all your lifestyle expenses and gain 1d8 x 10 gp, as well as a book on the history of a Sword Coast city or town. (Have your DM select a title for it.) |
| 110–119 | A lost shrine. You recuperate all your lifestyle expenses and gain 1d10 x 10 gp as well as a holy symbol for a deity of your choice. |
| 120 or Higher | Altar of the Ghost Hound. You find a millennia-old shrine to a god you cannot identify, with treasures laid upon an altar deep beneath the ground. You recuperate all your lifestyle expenses and gain 1d12 x 10 gp as well as a potion of healing. If this is the first time you have rolled this result: You also gain a shining copper cloak-pin bearing the image of a flaming spirit hound. Write down “Copper Pin of the Spirit Hound” as a separate story award on your logsheet. |
Local Pursuit: Monster Hunting Downtime
You hunt a certain type of creature in the local wilderness during your spare time in Ylraphon. Choose one of the following: black puddings, hags, fire giants, shambling mounds, dinosaurs, umber hulks, beholders (and beholder-kin, such as gauths or mindwitnesses), yugoloths, golems, zombies, red dragons, or hell hounds. (If you have the Favored Enemy feature, you may instead choose one type of humanoid that is your favored enemy.) Record your choice as part of this story award (“Local Pursuit: Monster Hunting (Creature Type)”). Immediately before or after an adventure set in Ylraphon, you may spend 5 downtime days hunting with experienced trackers. Once during your next game session after this activity, you may inform your DM you are using this benefit to gain advantage on a single attack or initiative roll against a creature of the type you chose for this story award, or on one Wisdom check.
Local Pursuit: Preaching the Faith Downtime
You take on an important role at a local temple or shrine. Choose a deity you worship. If you do not already worship a chosen deity, you must choose one worshiped by a fellow member of your party. Record your choice as part of this story award (“Local Pursuit: Preaching the Faith (Deity)”). Immediately before or after an adventure set in Ylraphon, you may spend 5 downtime days participating in or leading religious rites (such as weddings, funerals, ordinations, or rituals recognizing holy occasions). If you do so, you gain the benefits of having spent 3 days performing the Recuperating downtime activity (as described in the Player’s Handbook), and you begin your next game session with Inspiration.
Local Pursuit: Shadowcloak Specialist Downtime
You have become an influential member or ally of the Shadowcloaks, Ylraphon’s thieves’ guild, and they rely on you for your expertise in a particular illicit activity. Choose any one tool. Record the chosen tool as part of this story award (“Local Pursuit: Shadowcloak Specialist (Tool)”). Immediately before or after an adventure set in Ylraphon, you may spend 5 downtime days performing illicit activities with the Shadowcloaks in town. Once during your next game session after this activity, you may inform your DM you are using this benefit to gain advantage on a single ability check with the tool you chose for this story award or on a single initiative roll.
Local Pursuit: Town Watch Training Downtime
You help to train the new Town Watch. Choose a type of simple or martial weapon that you and your comrades train with and record it as part of this story award (“Local Pursuit: Town Watch Training (Weapon)”). (If you wish, you may choose Unarmed Strike as a weapon for this purpose.) Immediately before or after an adventure set in Ylraphon, you may spend 5 downtime days training Town Watch members or recruits. Once during your next game session after this activity, you may inform your DM you are using this benefit to gain advantage on a single attack roll with the weapon you chose for this story award or on a single social interaction check with members of a law enforcement organization (such as the Ylraphon Town Watch).
Ylraphon Adventurers Guild
The Adventurers Guild of Ylraphon is a loose-knit league of “dungeoneers, tomb-robbers, errant crusaders, swashbuckling mercenaries, and sundry formidable scalawags of all races and vocations” (according to its charter). It represents adventurers’ interests in town and helps regulate the profitable exploration of the surrounding ruins.
To initially join the Adventurers Guild of Ylraphon, a character must speak to Jotan Silverhammer, lieutenant guildmaster and volunteer sergeant of the Town Watch. There is no cost if you discovered the cause of the illness affecting the Old City, or if you obtain one of the Local Pursuit story awards, due to your substantial contribution to prosperity of the Old City. Otherwise, initial dues are 50 gp, with additional payments of 12 gp a month. These costs are waived, however, for volunteers either who work three shifts a month for the Town Watch. In game terms, this means a character must spend 50 gp to join, and to remain a member, whenever they spend downtime, they must spend an additional 4 gp for every 10 downtime days they spend (though you may be able to substitute downtime for this cost, see below).
If a character who owes these dues fails to pay them as soon as they spend downtime, they must pay them by the end of their next game session or they lose all benefits of guild membership, and must pay the 50 gp initial dues again to regain them.
Members of the Adventurers Guild may delve local ruins in search of treasure. They gain access to the Guild Delving downtime activity before or after any adventure set in Ylraphon.