The Honest and Plain Village of Scio
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A picaresque romp through an ordinary town gone bizarre- The Honest and Plain Village of Scio is an OSR adventure mini-setting for low level parties¸ levels 1-4. Inspired by weird historical primary sources¸ it takes the players on a journey to the f*cking absurd.
This is an adventure of precarious setups¸ not scenes. There is no plot¸ no ending or beginning. Random encounters and events make the Village feel busy and urban¸ faction events keep the Village from feeling static.
The Village is part of the Ouaricon setting (Mythic False Oregon) for your Northwest American Fantasy needs. However¸ it is compatible with most standard medieval fantasy campaigns.
Highlights for your Players:
Finding immensely powerful¸ but not entirely useful relics that no low level party should possess. Meeting a treasury of knaves and confidence artists. Learning new spells and feats¸ advancing the characters abilities in-game. Exploring a small tomb where an ancient mummy yells long-forgotten expletives. Getting drunk on soil beer¸ which is a bad idea. Drinking teas with mystical effects (some are ultra-hallucinogenic and cause visions to become reality). Way too many factions! Buying a home¸ and learning the struggles of homeownership in a fantastic setting. Playing a tennis match using a board game simulation. Getting caught in the middle of bizarre local festivals. Rolling on a custom magical mishap table¸ a missed session table¸ tables¸ more tables¸ and sub-tables. Looking at full page player illustrations¸ Barrier Peaks style. Getting arrested and going to trial facing the Rooster Judge (while the GM guides the process using a Metaphorical Dungeon). Fighting allegorical beasts! Mad libs!
Compared with the overall complexity¸ it requires little preparation; one read through with a pencil or pdf markup software is sufficient. Areas to write in game stats and pages to rip out for handouts give it a workbook feel (POD softcover in the works). It is campaign-friendly¸ meant to be used as a base of operations for a dungeon crawl¸ but works as a stand-alone town adventure. There are multiple points that lead to undefined areas where the GM can plug-in other adventures.
Sources:
The Book of Charlatans¸ Jamal al-Din ?Abd al-Ra?im al-Jawbari¸ 13th century Natural History¸ Pliny the Elder¸ 77 Faerie Queene¸ Muiopotmos¸ Edmond Spencer¸ 1590¸ 1591 Till Eulenspiegel¸ unknown¸ 1515 The Fraternity of Vagabonds¸ John Awdeley¸ 1561 The digital PDF version includes two files; one for printing US letter and use on a large screen¸ one optimized for tablet use with simplified layout and 12 point fonts. Sample of accessibility version below.