Mastodawn

I would like to say that picturing myself at sea, the wind behind me, the sun overhead, would be a calming thing, but I’d be lying. I can’t swim, I don’t like being on boats, and I much prefer overcast days. And yet, I’m a huge fan of nautical swashbuckling stories. I contain multitudes.

Since we’re already on the topic of nautical adventures, I thought today would be a good day to take a look at the first issue of Vodari Voyages, from Angryfish Games’ new Patreon.

If you haven’t heard of the setting yet, The Seas of Vodari is a 5e SRD setting where the continent has been shattered, and nations and city-states exist on islands of varying sizes. There is lots of sea travel, lots of piracy, and lots of aquatic magical mayhem. You can find my review of the campaign setting books here:

Vodari Voyages is an opportunity for Angryfish Games to publish adventures and setting material for Vodari to support the work they have already done. The first issue is an adventure, The Goblin King’s Vault.

Disclaimer

I am a member of the Vodari Voyages Patreon and did not receive a review copy of this adventure. I have not had the opportunity to play in or run this adventure, but I am familiar with D&D 5e, both as a player and as a Dungeon Master.

The Ledger

The first issue of Vodari Voyages is 11-pages long, which includes an introduction, credits, and table of contents page, a four-page gazetteer of the city of Lor’Thak, a handout map of the location of the adventure, and the four-page adventure itself.

The artwork, like much of the art in the core Vodari books, is done by Mariam Trejo, and I hope that remains to be the case in the future. In the past, certain artists created a style that was associated with a particular setting, whether it was Elmore with Dragonlance, DiTerlizzi with Planescape, or Brom with Dark Sun. The product line may not be as broad, but one of its strengths is that it has both a unified and unique look to it.

The Gazetteer

If you own the Seas of Vodari campaign setting, some of the Lor’Thak Gazetteer is going to be familiar from that source. Lor’Thak is the capital of the goblin nation of Ghak, a nation that is trying to expand its influence with other nations. Compared to the description in The Seas of Vodari, the Grand Cathedral, multiple pubs and taverns, an inn catering to travelers from outside of Ghak, and various merchants have been added.

We also have additional characters detailed in the Allies and Adversaries section, including several NPCs that contribute to an emerging story in this product. There is a rebellion against the current king of Ghak that has sprung up, which incorporates an NPC detailed in the setting book, and introduces a new personality that serves as the leader of that rebellion.

If you have preconceived notions of goblins from previous editions of D&D, it’s worth noting that neither the king nor the rebels are evil. King Garhung has mostly been well regarded for increasing trade but has also come under greater scrutiny for the wealth he, personally, has accumulated, and Brobbi Vezz, the leader of the rebellion and a retired adventurer, is at least as motivated by boredom as she is by justice.

There is a secret that is revealed in the core setting book that isn’t repeated in this Gazetteer, but isn’t necessary for running the adventure, and isn’t something that detracts too much from the city if you don’t have the information. I’m glad to see this city being used, because it’s one of the most unique and fun places in the Vodari setting book. Lor’Thak builds up and out, and has many collapsing buildings and industrial mishaps, but it’s not due so much to incompetence or a lack of engineering knowledge, as it is to constant construction. Ghak even has its own national sport, Bobbleball.

Specific merchants and trade outposts called out in the gazetteer include the following:

A trade company specializing in food and medicine
A trade company specializing in cornering trade from a specific region of the setting
A butcher shop
An explosives shop
An apothecary that may also sell nefarious substances (the assassination kind)
A large general store
A place to buy trained beasts and monsters

Some of these may be relevant to the adventure, depending on the preparations made by the PCs. I also appreciate that they help to flesh out the character of the city.

The Goblin King’s Vault

There are going to be some spoilers for this adventure, so if you are planning on playing in this scenario, or just want to be surprised by it, now is the time to jump ship.

The adventure is a heist, where the PCs are hired by Brobbi Vozz, the leader of the burgeoning rebellion, to raid the vault of King Garhung. They are provided with a general map of the location, a way to infiltrate the site, a lead on where to pick up the key to the vault, information on a few of the obstacles, and a warning of the location of a trap, but only sparse details on how it works.

Brobbi wants them ready to go the next day, so whatever planning they are going to do, they need to do it quickly. There are some guidelines for what the PCs could pick up from various local merchants, but the primary encounter that’s detailed is an encounter with General Mugg’dar, who holds a key to the vault. Reading ahead, you don’t need to convince Mugg’dar to give you the key, bribe him, or rob him, it just makes it easier to find the entrance to the vault and open it.

I like this kind of setup for a heist. It’s not too open ended that the players will likely plan their way into oblivion. There is a time limit and there is a specific insertion point provided by the employers. There are a set number of obstacles to which the PCs have been made aware, and nothing they do to plan for the heist is absolutely necessary, but several things will make it easier to pull off. It’s a very similar setup to what we see in the adventures in the Keys from the Golden Vault anthology.

The PCs get smuggled into the location, and have the following to contest with:

Guards that need to be pacified before they raise an alarm
A hidden keyhole to open the vault
A gargoyle that requires a password
A trap that they know exists, but not how it’s triggered or disarmed
A two-headed mutant worg
Locked bars that they won’t have the key for

The wording on the gargoyle encounter confused me a bit, because it states that after you provide it with a password, you then have to convince it to speak a password, which I’m assuming means that it has a separate password from the password you just gave it, meaning you can’t cut the gargoyle out of the equation by using the password on the door, but it’s a little confusing. I love the idea of talking with Bloodpaws, but I wish the encounter had a “default” action that communicated that speaking with the mutated worg is an option.

Because there is a heist, this adventure has a built-in twist, or possibly two, depending on how you look at it. There isn’t actually any treasure, a secret that the King doesn’t want to get out, because he’s been spending beyond his means, although not just on himself, but also on making the city more amenable to outsiders.

Someone that the PCs interacted with betrayed them and sets up an ambush just after they find out there is no treasure. The adventure instructs the DM to determine who betrayed the PCs based on context. For example, if they have come in contact with any of the merchant houses, it could be them. It could be one of the shopkeepers they visited to get their gear. It could be the general from whom they secured the key. It is mentioned that you can make it Brobbi Vezz, but she’s the least likely NPC to use for this. Once the PCs survive this ambush, before they can escape the vault, King Garhung and some guards attempt to stop them.

Brobbi, if you didn’t make her the turncoat, isn’t going to pay them anything additional, because the original terms were 100gp plus 25% of the take, and 25% of 0 is also 0.

Down with the Monarchy

This adventure uses some strong best practices for heist adventures, leaving the PCs open to follow up some leads, but not forcing them to do all the legwork themselves, and constraining the amount of time they have to prepare. Leaving out the details of the trap, while revealing that it exists, is a nice touch that introduces the idea that they don’t know everything. I appreciate that both guardian creatures are framed in ways that facilitate roleplaying them. If you are going to have a betrayal element to an adventure, I really appreciate having some guidelines for adjusting who the betrayer is, rather than presenting a development that may leave the PCs unwilling to trust any NPCs, ever again, for the life of your campaign. Leaving it open to someone that the PCs may already not trust, or that they may have butted heads with, is a much better option than naming a single default NPC.

Waving the Flag

Any time you introduce betrayal into an adventure, especially after revealing that the PCs aren’t going to get additional treasure, you introduce the possibility of discontent, but I think this adventure does it better than most that I’ve seen. I wish there were a little bit more included about King Garhung’s ideology and potential developments that show the nature of the increased hardships on the citizens, to either make it easier to side with the rebels, or to make it easier to realize that neither side may be the faction to sign up with long term. I also wish we had gotten just a wee bit more guidance on making sure Garhung can escape his confrontation with the PCs, in case we don’t want to change the leadership of a major nation in the setting in a 5th-level adventure.

Recommended–If the product fits in your broad area of gaming interests, you are likely to be happy with this purchase.

This adventure does exactly what I want an adventure showcasing a specific setting to do, and that’s to use the elements that make the setting unique. Lor’Thak is a great location to use to showcase what’s unique about Vodari. I appreciate having a dedicated goblin nation in the setting, and I think it’s something to showcase.

The heist format is strong and thematically builds on a relatively recent WotC product, and it provides a format that is both open-ended and constrained, meaning that the PCs can get inventive without the DM suddenly needing to design completely new scenes to accommodate the kind of drift that can happen with too few borders defined for the heist.

This was a good opening salvo to showcase what the Patreon might have below decks, and I’m looking forward to seeing more issues.

If you are interested in checking out The Seas of Vodari products, and you don’t mind helping me buy more games to write more reviews to buy more games, etc., if you use the affiliate links below, I get a bit of the sales. Thank you!

https://whatdoiknowjr.com/2024/07/08/what-do-i-know-about-reviews-the-goblin-kings-vault-5e-srd/

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