FB05: Introduction
The Ruby Fish is a treasure-hunting adventure intended for fourth level characters. In the scenario, characters will be tasked with finding a lost oasis on a large desert island. Next to this oasis is a long-forgotten monastery rumored to contain the Ruby Fish, a valuable artifact held sacred by some Seakin (Sea Elves). While facing the challenges of traveling through a desert wilderness, the characters may run upon several landmarks and encounters of various types. Upon reaching the oasis, they will find some unexpected residents that must be dealt with before being able to explore the monastery ruin and learn its secrets.
While this adventure scenario is written within the Fortunebound Campaign Setting, it is purposefully designed to be easy to use within any official or homebrew Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition setting. Specific campaign setting mentions and tie-ins are very few, and where they do exist they are clearly marked. For example, { Fortunebound }, would indicate a reference to the setting-specific city of Fortunebound. Feel free to replace any such references with equivalent entities within your own game setting.
What is Fortunebound?
The scenario is designed to grant roughly 1000 experience points if completed, allowing 4th level characters to progress approximately 1/4th of the way to level 5.
The Fortunebound World Building Project is creating a detailed, interactive, Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition campaign setting. In a way, this scenario (and others like it) is a part of that project. The scope and detail of the campaign setting is always expanding and all of it (in full or in part) is always available for DMs and players alike to use as they see fit. Follow us here on WorldAnvil to keep up with all of the latest developments.
Synopsis
The scenario begins with an antiquarian having hired the characters to seek out a rumored lost oasis and the monastery that was built nearby. They are to find and recover an artifact of religious significance, called the Ruby Fish. Characters begin with their arrival on Spire Isle, a desert island on which the antiquarian believes the oasis is located. The first portion of the adventure will focus on both exploration and survival as characters traverse the island in search of their destination. Several points of interest may or may not be found, but weather and food will certainly play a factor. Further, in the evening of the first day the characters spend on the island, they will be attacked by a roving band of orc raiders. Eventually, the characters will find the oasis and its nearby monastery. A pair of giant scorpions have made their home under the building, but nothing else of danger resides here. In exploring the monastery itself, the characters will simply find the remains of a sect that died from some mysterious circumstance and was then forgotten to history. If they manage to find the secret door to the underground level, the characters will face a puzzle and trap in the chamber that holds the Ruby Fish.Running the Adventure
The Ruby Fish is a scenario focused on exploration and survival, with a strong "man vs nature" theme. As such, it is recommended that you track both food and water for characters throughout the adventure. Further, it is strongly recommended that you openly say that food and water will be tracked before starting the adventure and grant your players the ability to buy supplies if they wish. Additional components that will factor in to the man vs nature character of the scenario are the weather and the potential for exhaustion. If you are not familiar with the exhaustion rules, it is recommended that you read up on them before running The Ruby Fish. There are several points of interest labeled on the map of Spire Isle. Each of these are optional encounters provided to add flavor to exploration. If your players are exploring the island and growing frustrated that they have not found anything, pick one of these optional encounters and place it into the next hex that they explore. It will liven-up the game and there is no particular reason why one of these encounters must absolutely be in the location that it was originally placed. You can do this even with the main goal of finding the oasis if you wish. The important thing is to observe the actions and interest of your players and determine whether they are enjoying the exploration or not. If not, speed up the scenario by helping them to find areas of interest. However, if exploration is something that the players are enjoying, let them go at it! While there is an official story of why the monastery being searched-for exists and what happened to it and its inhabitants, that story is rooted in the lore of the Fortunebound Campaign Setting (if you are interested in this lore, it is summarized in 8 - Hall of Murals). If you are running your own campaign setting or any of the official campaign settings that are available, this monastery and its sect of worshippers can be tied in to any water or ocean related deity. Something happened to drive them all to ritual suicide and therefore disappear in history, with the monastery forgotten until now. I sincerely hope that you and your players will all enjoy this adventure scenario. Thank you for trusting me enough to include my content at your table. Fortune be with you!Table of Contents
Introduction The Adventure Begins Desert Encounters Interactive Map - Spire Isle Interactive Map - Monastery Scenario EndFind Us Online
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The Ruby Fish PDF
| > Exclusive Commissioned Cover Art |
| > Styled PDF Format |
| > VTT and Print-Ready Maps |
 by Adam Scythe |
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