Making Radiants: Skybreaker

The individuals who join the Skybreakers generally believe in following a strong moral code. They wish to prevent both anarchy and tyranny. To do so, they enforce the law on everyone... They used moral codes and legal structures to fight for justice and causes they believed in.
- Coppermind, Order of Skybreakers

Start your journey

This resource is designed for game masters looking for inspiration to start their players on their path to swearing the ideals of an order of the Knights Radiant. For each Order, there is a scenario that you might use in your campaign to help inspire your budding Knights Radiant to further their journey.

Scenarios include a basic setup to bring your party into the conflict, recommended skill checks to engage your players, and possible outcomes for you to plan for. Where appropriate, there are potential opportunities and complications to blend these events into the tapestry of your campaign.

Here are some quick reminders, which I explained in more detail in my previous post on Dustbringers.

• Make it your own: Use these prompts as kick-starters for your campaign.
• Complimentary and conflicting viewpoints: Scenarios in which your whole party participates may play out differently when viewed through the lens of different orders.
• The journey or the destination: Whether it’s the pivotal moment where a player swears their first (or next) ideal or a simple skill challenge, you will find plenty of inspiration to keep your players engaged with the storyline.
• Further reading: I recommend the Coppermind to any game master who is not well-versed in each Order's lore.

Scenario: The merchant’s wagon

Traveling along a road, the party spots a large plume of smoke boiling off in the distance. They discover a large hill between them and the potential fire as they approach. If a party member ventures to investigate from the hillside, have them roll a perception check. Give that player all the information they rolled for and that of the ranks below it (a roll of 16 would grant the knowledge from 10 and 14, but not 18 or above).

The party can use an additional skill check to see if they can make sense of the situation as they have observed it or as a means to begin their intervention. Doing nothing and watching things play out is an option, but the potential Skybreaker’s spren would show disapproval. 

The party will have to decide how to intervene.

There are four main groups of people in this engagement, not counting the party:

• The wounded: A scattering of four people, two wearing the garb of each side. Upon further inspection, the party might discover they are not truly injured.
• The well-armed guards: Three remaining guards appear to be forming around an unarmed merchant.
• The attackers: Four rougher-looking individuals appear to be the aggressors and are attempting to corner the guards.
• The merchant: well dressed and unarmed, the one you presume to be a merchant of some kind, and the leader of this wagon, who is terrified and cowering behind their guards.

If the party chooses to dive in, consider these skill checks to provide them with more information or direction:

Once the party is in a position to start talking, you can direct them to start unraveling the plot.

The truth

The assault on the wagon has been staged. The guards and the attackers are both members of a thieving guild who have discovered an incredibly lucrative ploy. They will take on caravaning and escort jobs from city to city; one group signs on as the guards, and the other waits to ambush. At some point during the route, there will be a staged clash: sometimes, the thieves win and ransack the goods, leaving the employer and a few select guards “alive” while the others fake death or fatal injury. Other times, the guards will win the day and earn a bonus for the defense of the goods. 

Depending on your party's success at ending or interrupting conflict, the would-be thieves may be more inclined to flee. They are cowards at heart, taking the lazy way out of guard duty, and don't have much experience with real conflict.

Resolution

Be creative based on how your party chooses to engage with this conflict:

• Perhaps the party intervening will cause both sides to cast away their deception and assault the party outright.
• One side may panic and earnestly start the engagement to cut their losses.
• A clever party may uncover the plot and bring justice to the whole band.

In any case, the potential Skybreaker will have to dispense justice based on the information they have. While their spren will be the most pleased if they can uncover the plot, saving the merchant and turning the thieves to authorities will be enough to gain favor.

More to come!

You can check out all of the Orders in this series by clicking the Making Radiants tag. I post somewhat infrequently, so the best way to keep up with the latest is to subscribe!