Vaults of Vaarn n°2

The second 48-page issue is a city-based adventure supplement for the setting, expanding on the far-future world outlined in the first issue. The reader can visit the city of Gnomon, a decadent and dangerous trade hub.

Gnomon, the city of shaded markets, at first appears to be this dream made solid. There are taverns with cushioned alcoves, as the traveller sought; also he will find learned conversation and hookah smoke, wide avenues flanked by lemon trees, public fountains and smiling maidens and strangers who greet him as brother. There are many sights in Gnomon, sights beyond the traveller’s dreams: glittering mezzanine gardens and parades of masked hierophants, guild halls where cone-hatted clerks ponder their ledgers of debt, babbling souks where the merchants mutter their bargains like mantras and even memories may be bought for the right price. Truly this was what he sought in a city. 

This issue includes:

• Information and background on Gnomon: what it looks like, how it feels to walk through its streets, and why your players might visit the city.
• Seven major NPCs who influence the city's politics. Brief, evocative information on their appearance, personality, and desires. 
• Guidance on how to use all seven major NPCs as either allies or antagonists for the players. No set narratives - just tools to create conflicts.
• Seven major factions, one linked to each major NPC. They run the gamut from water-hoarding militias and clandestine cannibal cults to sun worshippers and gladiator lawyers.
• Information on how the factions operate, how players might  join them, and guidance on playing the factions against one another.
• Generator tables for creating merchant cartels, noble houses, taverns, pit fighting arenas, philosopher's guilds, gangs of criminals, and religious orders. Each comes with a custom-built drama table that can help you create stories at your gaming table.
• Street encounters, mercenaries for hire, and randomly generated Vaarnish meals.
• Further story hooks to help you flesh out an ongoing campaign set in the city.