The Adventure Outline (Old)

The Chromatic is a medium-sized group adventure designed for 4-8 player characters, starting at low or first level and advancing up through levels 5-8. The story unfolds in three main acts, in which the details of the story change drastically with each crisis.

In the first act, the characters are brought together on what seems to be a simple mission to a remote island that is notoriously hard to find. Emma Haller is looking for her brother James, a biologist who left on an expedition. He left a note and a special isntructions for finding the island. She received this journal only because her brother left it to be delivered if he did not return for over six months. She finds out as much as she can about her brother's destination from local seafarers, gathers a crew and party for a charter ship to find him. It seems he was going after some amazing unique plant and insect specimens that he could bring back to share with the magic and scientific community.

The game-play for first chapter, Setting out is detailed here

The adventure seems very straightforward - adventure party sets off to unknown lands to encounter strange peoples and creatures and rescue the long lost brother. The game-master must do everything in their power to continue this ruse, all the way until the end of act two.

After several months and many (traditional) travails at sea (including the loss of the bulk of their food supplies), the ship approaches the general location indicated by the notes and the compass, but there is a fierce storm ahead. The party may decide to wait it out, but eventually will have to enter the storm to pass through - they don't have enough food for the trip home. Entering the storm was a choice that was almost as bad. The ship is destroyed and the captain and most of the crew died in an attempt to get the party to safety. They wake up spread all along the shore of the island.

Initially, just finding and healing each other and making a survival plan should take a few sessions. Think Lost and Survivor for inspiration.

[The Vu-Koko]

The journal contains a copy of a partial map made by a previous visitor. The indication of a source of fresh water is more than enough to get the party moving inland by the second day. Everything about this island is different. See Map, The Bestiary and The Herbiary for the unique (though classical) encounters the users will have with the nature of the island.

Sometime late in the first or second week of their shipwreck the will encounter their first sentient - a primitive Chromatic, one of the Vu-Koko.

The encounter does not go well, as the players interpret the greeting as hostile. The Vu-Koko are not able to thought-speak with the party, and their grunts are understood as fearful shouts.

(What they don't know is that the primitives Vu-Koko are trying to keep them from going inland, to where the Vu-Yunu live. Their attempts to misdirect and dissuade the party will increase in quantity and magnitude, though most of the attempts will be using their unique Na/No skills, masking that they are the perpetrators.)

As they get closer to the center of the island, they encounter multicolor symbols and writing in a language they do not know, but some of which are copied down in the journal.

Eventually, after many hostile, but not fatal encounters with the Vu-Koko (who also will protect plant and animal life from wanton destruction by the party - if possible) , the Vu-Koko attacks die down for a day - late that day is when they first encounter a Vu-Yunu.

What has happened is that the party has come into the influence of the civilized Chromatic, the Vu-Yunu, as they begin to protect and observe the group.

Nusuvi: “It will be dark soon, we've still got a at least an hour's travel before we're completely safe. Stay close!”

The initial contact is made by Nusuvi apparently a young female - with many features similar to the lion-animals that have been attacking (three-eyes, head-tentacles, and fur), but walking upright and fully clothed in what looks like armor. She is baring a dual bladed weapon in each hand (she has hands!) that have fresh blood on them. She is somewhat out of breath and seems startled to have stumbled into the party. Nusuvi was part of a combat unit that drove off the final Vu-Koko attempt to kill the party - the ultimate solution to preventing their arrival at the Vu-Yunu compound.

She thought-speaks to the party who she is, and explains that she was sent to protect and to escort them to her town(?) to speak with her clan(?) elder. “It will be dark soon, we've still got a at least an hour before we're completely safe. Stay close!”

[The Vu-Yunu]

The civilized Chromatic (Vu-Yunu) have a clean, modern society. Physically similar to the Vo-koko, but they have manners and can thought-speak with the party members, and greet them warmly. They take a deep interest in the magic users in the party, especially mages and druids, because of the mono-chromatic purity of their auras.

The Vu-Yunu leader will talk about their language and culture with the party.

In fact, if the party so desires, the leaders offer to mind-teach the ancient written language: Kinaso to them. “It will own take about an hour”. This will allow the recipient to read & write Kinaso. All who agree to the training can read the journal markings & the tree carvings.

What is also actually happening is a mind-tasting.

They will also explain that the earlier party that they are seeking came through several moon-cycles ago and they will gladly guide the party down the path into the deep interior of the island to follow them. After the rescue the brother, the Vu-Yunu have a method for teleporting people off the island that they will use as long as the all promise not to tell anyone about the island. They'll leave in the morning.

During dinner, there is an attack by the Vu-Koko which is easily repelled, but it seems to have been a diversion, as one of the party members is dragged off. Two Vu-Yunu trackers are immediately dispatched to track them (the party is not familiar with the terrain and couldn't keep up in the dark. Night-tracking must be done without torches.)

Note: the kidnapped member must be from the group that learned to read Kinaso.

Whatever the party decides is the course of action, the Chromatic will agree to help first thing in the morning.

The party awakes early in the morning to the sound of Vu-Yunu thought-chants. It is so early that everyone's head feels like they'd had too much to drink the night before. The word comes down that the kidnapped member has been returned to the group and they can all return to their original mission and they embark on the final leg of the quest - down into the Vault of the Revenant. They will be lead by Nusuvi and accompanied by a powerful young, but somewhat inexperienced illusionist named Vokovi - his phantasm's are particularly convincing and very useful in a scrape.

Vokovi: “Monsters? (gulp!) Where? [whispering to self:] calm down Alright, let me get a good look…“

For 5-10 sessions, the party follows a standard NPC guided trip down into the central valley on the map and into the vault. In every way things seem normal for this kind of dungeon crawl. New creatures, traps, puzzles, and challenges.

The problem is, none of it is true. The party (except the one who was kidnapped) are all in a permanent unconscious state - their minds are all linked via a series of Vu-Yunu who, in rotation are maintaining the illusion while they consume the life-dream energy of the party members. This is the power that makes the Vu-Yunu sentient - they eat brain-energy. The members all completely believe they are still on the quest because they're minds are linked through the Vu-Yunu machinery. Even the player of the kidnapped character must play in the party so as not to give anything way, even to him. Read below about how the game play is adjusted to account for his true state [still kidnapped].

As the party gets closer to their goal, they keep encountering another indication that the group the are looking for has survived and headed off in another direction. Like Xeno's paradox, They are always getting half-way closer to catching up. Everything is normal, except that no party member dies - ever. No matter what crazy things happen in the dungeon, it seems that lady luck is always on their side. A fall that should have killed someone will make a savings throw that was unbelievable. A poison wound will hurt like heck but somehow heal itself. This is because the Vu-Yunu have learned that - to keep the experience real for the victims - they must tie the metabolism to the dream, meaning that if a dream-character dies, the real body dies with it. And they really don't want to lose that source of nourishment.

There is one exception to the No-Die rule. The character that was/is kidnapped. Since the Vu-Yunu are projecting this character into the dream, his dream-body CAN die, since they don't have his real body. When the party starts to suspect that something is happening, the kidnapped character must die in an encounter. This should shift suspicion back to “it's just luck”. At this point, the GM must pull the dead kidnapped characters' player aside and tell him what has been really happening…

This section is for one-on-one play only. It takes place in the past, but is played in parallel while the main party continues in the dream-quest.

For the next session or two, the player of the kidnapped must meet with the game-master separately. He must make an excuse to the other players that he can't play for awhile - but that the GM will have him come back to play an NPC in a few weeks. This is ironic, of course, because he has been unknowingly playing an NPC in the dream-quest for several weeks. Secrecy is key during this period, because it makes for the best story for all concerned, so the GM should pick someone that they can trust.

The kidnapped character was never rescued. He was never in the party after dinner until his supposed death. This also means that he has lost all XP he had gained since then. The Vu-Koko were able to hide him from the hunters, because they are so good with plant energy they sequestered him briefly in a tree. After the search ended they brought him to the Vu-Koko village. There he encounters a much more organized society than he expected, but they are just primitive. Similar in development to the American Indian during the settling of the west in America. The kidnapped is escorted there and released from his bonds and is free to roam the village. They obviously want his trust. He discovers them treating several others who were obviously tortured by someone using a means that caused the third eye to damaged. The villagers don't seem to be the ones who did this.

Since the kidnapped received the Kinaso training, he can read & write in a language the Vu-Koko understand, though at a crude rudimentary level.

He learns that the early attacks were an attempt to keep them away from the Vu-Yunu and that the dinner attack was a desperate attempt to find someone sensitive enough to communicate with them before it was too late.

After learning the truth (that the Vu-Yunu eat the dreams of others and this is what killed those that came before) they decide to attempt an all-out attack and rescue mission.

There are two goals

• Attack the Compound and Enter the Dream Chamber TBD
• Enter the Dream Quest and awaken everyone

When the kidnapped's play leads the character to the Dream Chamber, that session will end when he puts on dream-helm and enter the quest. The very next session will have the player rejoin the playing group.

The GM welcomes everyone as usual to the session “I'd like to welcome back [player]. As promised I wanted him to be able to re-join the group. Welcome back!” The player is waiting for a pre-agreed on cue from the GM to speak - the words he's waiting for are “you finally can just barely make out what [s]he's saying”.

The party resumes the dream quest, and a few moments into the session “Make a perception role. Who made it? OK. You hear shouting ahead from across the hall. Anyone else make the roll? You hear it too, but it's coming from behind that door.” After much puzzlement, it seems that something is urgent going on but it is coming from everywhere. Just as they are starting to get their bearings, all lights go out. It is totally black and silent. No light, no sound, not even of each other breathing. For a moment you start to feel very, very alone and afraid.

“Then a light appears in the distance before you. It is heading your way unnaturally fast. You can see someone carrying it. You can just make out the shape.”

“It's [kidnapped guy]! He's covered with blood and it looks like he's trying desperately to yell something, but you can't hear it. Like a silent movie, he's shouting something and you think you might be able to read his lips, but you can't.It is totally frustrating. After concentrating with all your might, you finally can just barely make out what [s]he's saying.”

Play resumes. After awakening the party, they will see the Dream Chamber for the first time, and several dead Vu-Yunu, bleeding from their 3rd eye. The party is significantly weakened by the experience, is at half HP and has no spells available. There is no time to rest, but some potions provided by the Vu-Koko will enable everyone walk at normal speed and run at a 50% penalty. The kidnapped is now the defacto leader of the group and doesn't have time to explain but they must fight their way out of there and to safety.

The path out will pass through the slave pit, where several Vu-Koko are chained - the Vu-Koko NPCs will definitely want to stop to rescue them. If the party stops to help, they will risk recapture. This is the first of several tough decisions.

Assuming they escape, the party will want to be caught up on what has happened. All of the XP gained by the party during the Dream-Quest is halved, and this will definitely cost the players a level. Expect a lot of confusion - this is the time for the GM to explicate the detail.

Vokovi has become “righteous convert” - which is what Korirava was before the death of Sasu, which began his inevitable slide into anger, self-pity, and his present confusion between revolution and revenge. Much of the third act's main conflict is revealed through the aggressive and even violent arguments between these two pivotal figures.

There is a vision from the old one - a rescue fleet is coming, complete with a well-equipped army! This is BAD BAD news, since Koriava had been held back from attacking with a strategy of “starving out” the Vu-Yunu, now with 100s of people coming they will have enough nourishment for decades. There will be enough to even breed them for food!

The Vu-Yunu don't sit still either - their only food source has escaped. They send some raids in an attempt to locate the Vu-Koko and there has been violence - several have died trying to hide the encampment.

Korirava convinces them to go to war (over Vokovi's protests) to exterminate the Vu-Yunu before the humans arrive and before they are slaughtered themselves. This is a royal mess.

Korirava's war chant [Uprising by Muse]

Muse - Uprising

The paranoia is in bloom,
the PR transmissions will resume
They'll try to push drugs
to keep us all dumbed down and hope that
we will never see the truth around
(So come on!)

Another promise, another scene, another packaged lie to keep us trapped in greed
With all the green belts wrapped around our minds
And endless red tape to keep the truth confined
(So come on!)

They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not control us
We will be victorious

Interchanging mind control
Come let the revolution take its toll if you could flick the switch and open your third eye
you'd see that we should never be afraid to die
(So come on!)

Rise up and take the power back,
it's time that the fat cats had a heart attack,
you know that their time is coming to an end,
we have to unify and watch our flag ascend

They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not control us
We will be victorious

Hey .. hey ... hey .. hey!

They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not control us
We will be victorious

Hey .. hey ... hey .. hey!

There are three possible outcomes and the party (YiRiRu) will tilt the balance:

1) There will be a war in the Green Lands (and the Vu-Koko) will win 2) There will be a war in the Black Lands (and the Vu-Yunu) will win 3) There won't be a war because the party somehow convinces them all to unite (the Vu-Yunu agree tp give up eating dreams)

If 1 - the remnants of the low chromatic will be no match for the human army. Unless the party is able to talk them into not destroying them, it will be genocide, but the party will be rescued.

If 2 - the Vu-Yunu will capture the rescue team and army through mind control. The players will be unable to stop this result and will be lucky to go into hiding. This is a loss for the players.

If 3 - the party can be rescued, and the island will be isolated from human contact for at least 100 years which should be more than long enough for the final evolution of the Chromatic to be complete - no more dream eaters. For this to happen, care must be taken that no Vu-Yunu are allowed anywhere near the beach or the result will the same as for number 2 - some Vu-Yunu will renege on their promise and try to capture the rescuers. This attempt will fail (since there are enough Vu-Koko plus humans to slaughter the Vu-Yunu if the humans are protected.)

In the end, the Vu-Koko and Vu-Yunu are the same species - one lives primitively in harmony with nature, the other is exploitive but more civilized (as well as possessing the only known form of transportation off the island.) The Vu-Koko confirm that, collectively, the Vu-Yunu can teleport people to any location that they have in their memories. And since the entire party has been in the Dream Quest, those locations are now known to the Vu-Yunu. Well, all except The Kidnapped.

The players must now decide on a course of action. Several are possible.

• Destroy the evil @hi@ - and try to build a boat to get home
• Negotiate with the @hi@ for a ride home
• Play the mediators in a reconciliation between all Chromatic - perhaps drawing intellegence/life-force from some renewable source?

The ending of this story is written by the players. Good luck!