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Tier 1 Environments (Level 1)

This section contains environment stat blocks for Tier 1, appropriate for level 1 characters.

Abandoned Grove

Tier 1 Exploration

A former druidic grove lying fallow and fully reclaimed by nature.

Impulses: Draw in the curious, echo the past

Difficulty: 11

Potential Adversaries: Beasts (Bear, Dire Wolf, Glass Snake), Grove Guardians (Minor Treant, Sylvan Soldier, Young Dryad)

Features

  • Overgrown Battlefield - Passive: There has been a battle here. A PC can make an Instinct Roll to identify evidence of that fight. On a success with Hope, learn all three pieces of information below. On a success with Fear, learn two. On a failure, a PC can mark a Stress to learn one and gain on the next action roll to investigate this environment. A PC with an appropriate background or Experience can learn an additional detail and ask a follow-up question about the scene and get a truthful (if not always complete) answer.
  • Traces of a battle (broken weapons and branches, gouges in the ground) litter the ground.
  • A moss-covered tree trunk is actually the corpse of a treant.
  • Still-standing trees are twisted in strange ways, as if by powerful magic.

What made this grove special to those? Why is the grove unused now?

  • Barbed Vines - Action: Pick a point within the grove. All targets within Very Close range of that point must succeed on an Reaction Roll or take 1d8+3 physical damage and be Restrained by barbed vines. Restrained lasts until they're freed with a successful Finesse or Strength roll or by dealing at least 8 damage to the vines.

How many vines are there? Where do they grab you? Do they pull you down or lift you off the ground?

  • They Are Not Welcome Here - Action: A Young Dryad, two Sylvan Soldiers, and a number of Minor Treants equal to the number of PCs appear to confront the party for their intrusion.

What are the grove guardians concealing? What threat to the forest could the PCs convince them to oppose in the Dryad?

Ambushed

Tier 1 Event

An ambush is set to catch an unsuspecting party off-guard.

Impulses: Overwhelm, scatter, surround

Difficulty: Special (see "Relative Strength")

Potential Adversaries: Any

Features

  • Relative Strength - Passive: The Difficulty of this environment equals that of the adversary with the highest Difficulty.

Who runs the ambush? What makes it clear they're in charge?

  • Surprise! - Action: The ambushers reveal themselves to the party, you gain 2 Fear, and the spotlight immediately shifts to one of the ambushing adversaries.

What do the ambushers want from the party? How do their tactics in the ambush reflect that?

Ambushers

Tier 1 Event

An ambush is set by the PCs to catch unsuspecting adversaries off-guard.

Impulses: Escape, group up, protect the most vulnerable

Difficulty: Special (see "Relative Strength")

Potential Adversaries: Any

Features

  • Relative Strength - Passive: The Difficulty of this environment equals that of the adversary with the highest Difficulty.

Which adversary is the least prepared? Which one is the threat?

  • Where Did They Come From? - Reaction: When a PC acts to ambush the unsuspecting adversaries, you lose 2 Fear and the first attack roll a PC makes has advantage.

What are the adversaries in the middle of doing when the ambush starts? How does this impact their approach to the fight?

Bustling Marketplace

Tier 1 Social

The economic heart of the settlement, with local artisans, traveling merchants, and eager customers.

Impulses: Buy low, and sell high, tempt and tantalise with wares from near and far

Difficulty: 10

Potential Adversaries: Guards (Bladed Guard, Head Guard), Masked Thief, Merchant

Features

  • Tip the Scales - Passive: PCs can gain advantage on a Presence Roll by offering a handful of gold as part of the transaction. Will any coin be accepted, or only local currency? How want are the PCs playing into this tradition?

  • Unexpected Find - Action: Reveal to the PCs that one of the merchants has something they want or need, such as food from home, a rare book, magical components, a dubious treasure map, or a magical key.

What can beyond gold will the merchant ask for in exchange for this rarity?

  • Sticky Fingers - Action: A thief tries to steal something from a PC. The PC must succeed on an Instinct Roll to notice the thief or lose an item of the GM's choice as the thief escapes to a Close distance. To retrieve the stolen item, the PCs must complete a Progress Countdown (6) to chase down the thief before the thief completes a Consequence Countdown (4) and escapes to their hideout.

What drove this person to pickpocketing? Where is the thief's hideout and how fast is it would exist?

  • Crowd Closes In - Reaction: When one of the PCs splits from the group, the crowds shift and cut them off from the party.

Where do the crowds' movement corner them? How do they feel about being alone but surrounded?

Local Tavern

Tier 1 Social

A lively tavern that serves as the social hub for its community.

Impulses: Provide opportunities for adventurers, nurture community

Difficulty: 10

Potential Adversaries: Guards (Bladed Guard, Head Guard), Mercenaries (Harrier, Sellsword, Spellblade, Weaponmaster), Merchant

Features

  • What's the Talk of the Town? - Passive: A PC can ask the bartender, staff, or patrons about local events, rumors, and potential work with a Presence Roll. On a success, they can pick two of the below details to learn—or three if they critically succeed. On a failure, they can pick one and mark a Stress as the local crowd err on about something irrelevant.
  • A fascinating rumor with a connection to a PC's background or situation.
  • A promising job for the party involving a nearby threat or situation.
  • Local folklore that relates to something they've seen.
  • Town gossip that hints at a community mystery.

Who has what kind of information? What gossip do the locals start spreading about the PCs?

  • Sing For Your Supper - Passive: A PC can perform one time for the guests by making a Presence Roll. On a success, they earn 1d4 handfuls of gold (2d4 if they critically succeed). On a failure, they must mark a Stress.

What piece do you perform? What does that piece mean to you? Where's the last time you performed it for a crowd?

  • Mysterious Stranger - Action: Reveal that a stranger concealing their identity, lurking in a shaded booth.

What do they want? What's their impression of the PCs? What mannerisms or accessories do they have?

  • Someone Comes to Town - Action: Introduce a significant NPC who wants to hire the party for something or who relates to a PC's background.

Did they know the PCs were here? What do they want in this town?

  • Bar Fight! - Action: Spend a Fear to have a bar fight erupt in the tavern. When a PC tries to move through the tavern while the fight persists, they must succeed on an Agility or Presence Roll or take 1d8+2 physical damage from a wild swing or thrown object. A PC can try to activate this feature by succeeding on an action roll that would provoke tavern patrons.

Who started the fight? What will it take to stop it?

Outpost Town

Tier 1 Social

A small town on the outskirts of a nation or region, close to a dungeon, tomb, or other adventuring destination.

Impulses: Drive the shipments to certain doom, profit off of ragged hope

Difficulty: 11

Potential Adversaries: Jagged Knife Bandits (Hexer, Kneebreaker, Lackey, Lieutenant, Shadow, Sniper), Masked Thief, Merchant

Features

  • Rumors Abound - Passive: Gossip is the fastest-traveling currency in the realm. A PC can inquire about major events by making a Presence Roll. What they learn depends on the outcome of their roll, based on the following criteria:
  • Critical Success: Learn about two major events. The PC can ask one follow-up question about one of the rumors and get a truthful (if not always complete) answer.
  • Success with Hope: Learn about two events, at least one of which is relevant to the character's background.
  • Success with Fear: Learn an alarming rumor related to the character's background.
  • Any Failure: The locals respond poorly to their inquiries. The PC must mark a Stress to learn one relevant rumor.

What news do the PCs have that they could pass along to curious locals? What folklore is unique to this place?

  • Society of the Broken Compass - Passive: An adventuring society maintains a Trigonhouse here, where fortune-trade beasts and rumors, drink to their imagined successes, and scheme to undermine their rivals.

What beasts do the adventurers here mine, and which do you think you're up next?

  • Rival Party - Passive: Another adventuring party is here, seeking the same treasure or leads as the PCs.

Which PC has a connection to one of their rival party members? Do they approach the PC first or does the PC want to meet them? What are the group gatherings concealing? What threat to the forest could the PCs convince them to oppose the Dryad?

  • A Storm of Suspecting Happened to Your Favor - Action: The PCs witness an agent of a local crime boss shake down a general goods store.

What trouble does it cause if the PCs intervene?

  • Wrong Place, Wrong Time - Reaction: At night, or when the party is alone in a back alley, you can spend a Fear to introduce a group of thieves who try to rob them. The thieves appear at Close range of a chosen PC and include a Jagged Knife Kneebreaker, as many Lackeys as there are PCs, and a Lieutenant. For a larger encounter, add a Hexer or Sniper.

What details show that party that these people are desperate former adventurers?

Raging River

Tier 1 Traversal

A swift-moving river without a bridge crossing, deep enough to sweep away most people.

Impulses: Bar crossing, carry away the unwary, divide the land

Difficulty: 10

Potential Adversaries: Beasts (Bear, Glass Snake), Jagged Knife Bandits (Hexer, Kneebreaker, Lackey, Lieutenant, Shadow, Sniper)

Features

  • Dangerous Crossing - Passive: Crossing the river requires the party to complete a Progress Countdown (4). A PC who rolls a failure with Fear is immediately targeted by the "Undertow" action without requiring a Fear to be spent on the feature.

How many of the PCs fished rivers like this before? Are any of them afraid of drowning?

  • Undertow - Action: Spend a Fear to catch a PC in the undertow. They must make an Agility Reaction Roll. On a failure, they take 1d8+1 physical damage and are moved a Close distance down the river, becoming Vulnerable until they get out of the river. On a success, they must mark a Stress.

What trinkets and baubles lie along the bottom of the riverbed? Do predators swim these rivers?

  • Poison Hunter - Action: Spend a Fear to summon a Glass Snake within Close range of a chosen PC. The Snake appears in or near the river and immediately takes the spotlight to use their "Spinning Serpent" action.

What treasures does the beast have in their burrow? What travelers have already fallen victim to this predator?