Tianxia and the Nine Provinces

Since the coming of the Great Emperor of Jade and the appointment of the first Imperial Son of Heaven, Tianxia has been divided into Nine Provinces. These were ruled by the same legendary individuals, blessed by the Great Emperor of Jade, who founded the Imperial Bureaus and whose descendants still rule and enjoy those blessings.

• First was Zhang Dúsù, the Witch-Alchemist, who founded the Imperial Bureau of Alchemy and ruled Zhang Province among the Yĭnmì Peaks, and was given by the Great Emperor of Jade the gift of Cinnabar.
• Second was Qhulā Nèn, the Seer-Exorcist, who founded the Imperial Bureau of Divination and ruled Qhulā Province upon the Daĭgāna Plateau, and was given by the Great Emperor of Jade the gift of Yao-Grass.
• Third was Wōuhún Dénja, the Spirit-Walker, who founded the Imperial Bureau of Celestials and Spirits and ruled Wōuhún Province around solitary Mount Nèizài, and was given by the Great Emperor of Jade the gift of Five-Stone Powder.
• Fourth was Fēng Hánwá, the Five-Agent Adept, who founded the Imperial Bureau of Five-Element Movements and ruled Hánwá Province upon the Jáohi Steppes, and was given by the Great Emperor of Jade the gift of Xirang.
• Fifth was Yǎnguā Ruicao, the Soul-Sage, who founded the Imperial Bureau of Qigong and Neijia and ruled the Ruicao Province in the Fùráo Valleys, and was given by the Great Emperor of Jade the gift of Lingzhi Fungus.
• Sixth was Duān Zhèn, the Pure Censor, who founded the Imperial Bureau of Exorcism and Oversight and ruled Duān Province among the Tōushōu Hills, and was given by the Great Emperor of Jade the gift of Jade.
• Seventh was Chēn Gōngjī, the Battle-Scribe, who founded the Imperial Bureau of the Exquisite Arts of War and ruled Chēn Province within the Dài Basin, and was given by the Great Emperor of Jade the gift of Steel-Silk
• Eight and Ninth were the siblings Shǔlún Jīnbì and Shǔlún Báiyín, who founded the Imperial Bureau of Making and Mending that straddles the Provinces that they ruled. Shǔlún Jīnbì ruled Jīnbì Province through the Mùcǎo Wetlands, and was given by the Great Emperor of Jade the gift of Gold. Her brother, Shǔlún Báiyín, ruled Báiyín Province around the Shǎnyào Delta, and was given by the Great Emperor of Jade the gift of Silver.

Hexcrawl Movement Rules, Pt. 3

Finding Locations

Prominent or visible locations are automatically found, as are locations positioned along a road/river/trail the party are using. Familiar locations can be found with a DC 12 Survival check if the party is in the same hex.

Unfamiliar locations can be found with a DC 25 Navigation check (History, Investigation, or Perception) if the party have access to very good directions or a quality map. Otherwise they can only be found with the help of divination spells or as the result of encounter checks.

Getting Lost

Whenever the party are traveling off of a road, track, or trail then one member must make a DC 12 Survival check each watch to see if they head in the right direction. Access to a map or directions grants advantage, while inclement weather imposes disadvantage. Access to a lodestone compass or direction-finding magic doubles proficiency bonus but travelling at night halves it.  

If the party fail this check they begin to veer away from their intended direction of travel as determined by a 1d10 roll (1-4 veer to the left; 5-6 no veer; 7-10 veer to the right). When the party exit the hex, they exit through the face indicated by their new direction of travel. Should a lost party fail another navigation check their veer can increase but not decrease.

Lost Parties

Each watch, one member of a lost party can attempt a DC 12 Survival check to recognize that they are no longer certain of their direction of travel. Due to the close attention to their surroundings that this demands, they suffer disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks and all other Wisdom (Survival) checks during the watch. Should they spot a known landmark or clear change in terrain they can make an additional check to realize that they’ve become lost.

A lost party has several options for re-orienting themselves:

• They can follow their own tracks, making a DC 15 Survival check each watch to stay on the trail and successfully identify the point where they went astray.
• They can use natural signs to determine true north with a DC 20 Nature check and re-establish their position from there.
• They can work out their new position and then chart a new course that will take them to their original destination with a DC 25 Investigation or Perception check.

Wild Seas Under Heaven Regions

The campaign is currently centered on a lowland area below the mountainous border of the Zhang Province. More information on the Nine Provinces of Tianxia is forthcoming.

The party are currently deep in the heart of Gǔlǎo Forest.

Gǔlǎo Forest

A thick and fog-cloaked conifer forest that grows at the foot of the Yĭnmì Peaks, enclosed in a slight hollow between the mountains. Talking beasts swollen to huge and terrible size roam through the damp undergrowth, and it is said that the trees there can hunt and even move.

Nírón Fens

A muddy stretch of wetland around Lake Bōdòng, fed by several rivers running from the south and thick with lampreys and leeches. It is fished cautiously by the townsfolk of Fáchuán, who fear the titanic salamander that lives in the heart of Lake Bōdòng and its children.

Jílǐng Ridge

A range of mountains where geothermal springs and lakes that are dangerously hot and alkaline abound. Goats and ibex roam the slopes and feast on the copious natural salts, and are preyed on by the various avian and air-borne predators that nest up in the heights.

Tuōpí Hills

A jagged stretch of hill-country divided from nearby mountains by the Shétou River, supposedly carved out by the dragon-god Yu the Great. The area is equally well-known for rampant banditry and for the presence of pangolin, useful creatures in traditional medicine.

Āoxiàn Plains

A stretch of dry grassland home to large herds of wild horses which are skittish and watchful to an extreme degree. Malevolent animal spirits walk in large numbers, leading to rumours that the roof of the Underworld comes close to the surface in the area.

Huāngdì Fells

A bare and dusty stretch of high country, poisoned by chemical run-off from the workshops and mines of the Zhang witch-alchemists higher up in the Yĭnmì Peaks. Vultures and toads are among the few animals that have survived here, along with a bare few pathetic humanoids.

Chóngshé Woods

A large stretch of virgin forest, unfelled since the days of the Dragon-Emperors. Tree-choked ruins litter the undergrowth and valuable herbs sought by the townsfolk of Tuánjié are abundant, but the native elephants and snakes mean that caution is required.  

Hexcrawl Movement Rules, Pt. 2

(Credit goes to Steven Lumpkin of Rollplay: the West Marches for the original mechanics that inspired the version presented here).

Modes of Journeying and Journeying Checks

The party chooses a mode of journeying: Exploring (Survival), Sneaking (Stealth), and Travelling (Athletics). One member makes a Journeying Check by rolling the appropriate skill and the result determines the number of journeying actions they can take. Which skill they use determines which set of journeying actions they can choose from, and the bonus action they get to take.

The store of actions gained from a Journeying Check lasts until the party decide to change their mode of journeying or until the beginning of the next journeying day. The party may only change their mode of journeying at the beginning of a new watch.

A roll of 25+ also gives a special bonus, depending on the used skill.

Travelling Journeying Actions

• Endure: Spend 1 Journeying Action to give your party advantage on saves against weather.
• Keep Pace: Spend 1 Journeying Action to increase your pace, gaining 1 hour of movement.
• Motivate: Spend 1 Journeying Action to give your party advantage on Athletics and Acrobatics tests for 1 hour.

Bonus Action:

• Forced March: Gain 1 march of movement at the cost of 1 level of Exhaustion.

Sneaking Journeying Actions

• Camouflage: Spend 1 Journeying Action to halve the chance of an Encounter for one march.
• Hide Camp: Spend 1 Journeying Action to locate a hidden camp site for resting.
• Ambush: Spend 1 Journeying Action to set up a surprise attack on an encounter.

Bonus Action:

• The Long Route: Spend 1 day to avoid an enemy’s notice.

Exploring Journeying Actions

• Find: Spend 1 Journeying Action to gain your bearings, and avoid becoming Lost.
• Make Camp: Spend 1 Journeying Action to locate a secure camp site for resting.
• Scout: Spend 1 Journeying Action to double the chance of an Encounter for one march.

Bonus Action:

• Forage: Spend 1 day to give your party advantage on tests to hunt and forage for food.

Coming up next: Finding Locations and Getting Lost

Hexcrawl Movement Rules, Pt. 1

Keeping Time

The day is divided into 6 watches, each of which is 4 hours long.

The average journeying day is a march that lasts for 2 watches (8 hours), with the remaining watches dedicated to maintaining proper shelter and nutrition and getting adequate rest. Further exploration beyond this limit counts as a forced march, and each hour of forced marching requires a Constitution save (DC 10 + 2 per extra hour [cumulative]). On a failure the character suffers 1 level of Exhaustion.

Rates of Encounter

The party rolls a d100 to determine their chance of an encounter, with a 12% chance to run into something. If the hex is “significant”, check to see if the encounter is a Location. If not, check to see if it is Tracks. If not, check to see if it is a Lair. If not, it is a wandering encounter. Ignore Location encounters while the party is resting. Ignore and reroll Tracks encounters while the party is resting.

In an ‘occupied’ hex the party rolls once per hour while journeying and once per watch while resting. There is a 50% chance that encounters here correspond to the current hex’s keyed location, otherwise the encounter comes off the appropriate Random Encounter Table.

In an ‘empty’ hex the party rolls once per watch while journeying and once while resting, and all encounters come off the appropriate Random Encounter Table.

Rates of Speed

Coming up next: Modes of Journeying and Journeying Checks

Instinct, Bonds, and Inspiration

(I have problems with the way that D&D 5E handles Alignment, Personal Characteristics [Personality Traits, Ideals, Bonds, and Flaws], and the awarding of Inspiration for good roleplaying. The system presented below is intended to replace all of those features.)

Instinct

Instinct is a statement of your character’s mostly deeply-held belief, an impulse towards a certain course of action that reflects your core values. It concretely expresses the ideals that you aspire to and can guide you when you’re not sure what to do next. Instinct replaces the standard D&D 5E concept of alignment: morality is about the habits you cultivate and the actions that seem to flow most naturally from your world-view, not about a narrowly defined set of categories.

Example 1: Huan is a proud and haughty Noble whose uncle usurped the leadership of his family and sought to control him. He seeks power so that he will never have to be ruled again. Huan’s Instinct is: Defy an attempt by authority to exert power over you.

Example 2: Xi Leng is a curious and somewhat amoral Wizard who worked for years with a ruthless and power-hungry group of other magic-users. He is more interested in improving his knowledge and skills than in applying that knowledge and skill to help others. Xi Leng’s Instinct is: Better yourself or your skills through new knowledge.

At the end of every session, each player should remind the group of their character’s Instinct. If the group agrees that they fulfilled their Instinct then the character gains experience equal to a level-appropriate Deadly encounter. 

Bonds

Bonds are statements which bind a character to their fellow characters, to other people they know, or to larger groups or concepts. A character may have up to three Bonds at a time, which may be dropped or altered at the GM’s discretion (usually because of a development in the fiction).

At the end of every session, each player can nominate one Bond that they feel has been resolved (completely explored, proven or disproven, no longer relevant, or otherwise). If the player of the other character the Bond concerns (the GM in the instance of Bonds connected to concepts, NPCs/organisations, etc.) agrees that it has been resolved then the character gains experience equal to two level-appropriate Deadly encounters. 

Inspiration

The question of how to define good roleplaying is one of near-infinite difficulty, with the answer varying greatly depending upon the goals, themes, and premise of a given campaign. In the case of an open-ended sandbox campaign (like Wild Seas Under Heaven), the story and the action is entirely player-driven and therefore good roleplaying is that which produces bold and decisive attempts to interact with and change the surrounding world. 

Inspiration is intended as a mechanic to reward and encourage good roleplaying, but this requires that the players know the criteria. Players who know that there is a reliable source of Inspiration are more likely to use it rather than conserving it like a scarce and unpredictable resource. 

The GM should reward characters who engage with the setting through their goals, and who take decisive action towards achieving those goals. At the end of every session the GM should assess whether each character has:

• Established a new goal that is bold, decisive, or shows a real sense of purpose and agency. If the answer is yes, the GM should award Inspiration at the start of the next session. (Good judgement applies here: do not reward goals that are petty or meek, and do not continue to reward players who constantly set goals and make no meaningful effort to fulfil them).
• Taken a meaningful step towards achieving a goal – reaching a significant milestone, discovering vital information, or taking concrete and tangible steps. If the answer is yes, the GM should award Inspiration at the start of the next session. (Once again, good judgement applies. When in doubt, seek the opinions of your group as to whether or not real progress has been made towards achieving the goal in question).

Wild Seas Under Heaven, the Setting

Tianxia

An enormous island, centremost of all the lands under Heaven, which was shaped by the Dragon-Emperors in a time long since forgotten from clay dragged up from the seabed. Tianxia is a rugged land of extremes, with high mountains and plateaus giving way to sweeping valleys and rolling grasslands. Rivers abound, with their original courses often said to have been cut into the land by the tail of the dragon-god Yu the Great.

The time of the Dragon-Emperors is long gone, with the Great Emperor of Jade having ruled over Tianxia for ten thousand years.  The serpent-aspected humanoids that once inhabited the continent have all gone extinct, interbred, or retreated to the wilderness; Tianxia is now a land ruled and tamed by human beings.

Duitan

To the north of Tianxia lies Duitan, home to the turtle-aspected humanoids known as Biē. Duitan is an archipelago of tiny rocky islands separated by such narrow stretches of water that swimming is a common mode of transport. Reefs and shoals abound, and a number have been landscaped into suitable sites for occupation in preference to the bare and barren islands. The islands of Duitan are cold and stormy, and grow increasingly arctic in the northern reaches until large islands of largely-unsupported ice will form around a reef or tiny islands.

Duitan is the traditional heartland of the worship of They-Who-Awakened, a noble of unknown species and gender who dedicated their life to the understanding the causes and nature of suffering and found their answer and a solution while meditating for forty-nine years in an underwater grove of sacred kelp. The other patron god of the region is dark and fearsome Xuan Wu, who is master of the storm and sea and a tutelary-deity for warriors.

Rao

To the west of Tianxia lies Rao, home to the cat-aspected humanoids known as Rén. Rao is a large island with a number of mountain ranges running down its eastern side and clusters of islands continuing those lines into the sea. A fearsome reef called Tiger’s-Claw served as a natural barrier against occupation from Tianxia until they were able to launch fleets from colonies off the mainland and bypass it. Veldt-like grasslands and deciduous forests cover much of Rao and the surrounding islands, save for the north-western chain of bamboo-covered and wind-swept atolls often called Zōukow after the pirate fleet that anchors there.

Rao is a land haunted by spirits, with spectral ghost-tigers whose eyes burn with emerald fire continuing to fight a guerrilla war against Tianxian occupation. The region’s patron god is Bai Hu, the brash albino god who rules over metal and mining and is the tutelary-deity of lovers, horsemasters, and craftsmen.

Luhai

To the south of Tianxia lies Luhai, home to the bird-aspected humanoids known as Guàn. Luhai is an archipelago of crescent-like islands where steep slopes and cliffs plummet down from the central ridge of each island to meet the sea below. Tropical and humid in climate, the islands are covered in lush and verdant vegetation that forms a tangled jungle wherever there is enough flat ground to support more than one plant. Monsoons and torrential rains are common here, grounding for days the numerous birds that soar on the thermals that rise off the sea.

The patron god of Luhai is Zhu Que, the bright and far-seeing goddess who is keeper of the three-legged sunbird and ruler of the rain and spring warmth that allow crops to grow. She is a tutelary deity of artists and nobles, and is often linked to Kwan Yin, the Awakened-One whose worship and teachings of boundless compassion have spread most outside her origin in Luhai.

Shúhon

To the east of Tianxia lies Shúhon, home to the ape-aspected humanoids known as Mín. Shúhon is a chain of large mountainous islands covered in dense coniferous forests. Sinkholes and hidden inlets are common, and are used for refuge by the raiders and pirates respectively who still hold out and rebel against Tianxian occupation.

The patron god of Shúhon is Qing Long, the capricious and wily god of scholarship and high-stakes palace diplomacy who is the only Serpent-King to rule the elements above the waves. Shúhon is also the birthplace of the Monkey King, a notoriously disrespectful trickster-god whose martial feats are legendary.