This is a beginning adventure describing how our adventuring party meets.

Characters:

Flower Possum: a Rai-Neko that is followed around by a young Shaggy Bumpo called Brokkoli.

They are patient and don’t often take No for an answer.

They have come from a farm in the Blazing Garden’s Pride Coast where most of the Rai-Neko live.

They have a bow that they are quite good with. Their quiver is full of arrows.

They have a pair of shears with which they regularly keep Brokkoli’s tail tidy.

They are wearing patched leather pants and a cloth shirt.

They have a small pack with a woollen blanket, a tin cup and water bottle, a spoon, knife and tin plate, and a woollen vest.

Brokkoli has a harness. And carries Flower’s pack.

Chanaky: a Tenebrate Battle Princess that grew up in the Murk, heard about the sunlight and decided to see it for herself. Having journeyed to the Twilight Meridian she was surprised that the light there was not all there is and decided to journey toward the Blazing Garden. They’ve paid for their passages by being a hired sword on board a ship.

They have a Soul Companion that looks like a Fuzzcoil.

They are a little clumsy but very earnest and honest.

They can summon a Lash that is made of Ash Bronze and glows red and is slightly warm.

They have a small pack containing a tin water bottle, a small metal bowl and a spork.

They are dressed in leather leggings and a simple tunic. They also have a long dark hooded cloak that is made of wool.

Cheery Littlebottom: a Chibi Archive Researcher with a giant backpack. Their job as a Researcher pays very little but they get a bonus anytime they turn in an item.

As a young-un they found a bit of ancient tech near their home in Stahlfeld and managed to not only bring it to an Archive Researcher but they had also managed to make its lamps light up. This led to them being trained and recruited for Archive Field Work. They roam Outer World looking for objects to send back to the Archive and keep taking notes in a small journal. They send a regular report to the Archive. They are great at finding stuff that is in small nooks and wedged in tight places.

They are armed with a Chib Staff Shot and a pouch of water nuts hangs from their belt. They are wearing a wrap tunic and baggy pants. They also wear sturdy boots and a leather helmet. They have a pair of protective goggles and a rebreather. In their huge backpack that is almost as big as them they also carry a woollen blanket, a tin cup and water bottle, a pair of chopsticks and a wooden bowl. They also have a simple woollen capelet that they wear against the cold. A small lantern dangles from their pack. Because they are small all their personal items are small.

Act I

Flower goes to tend his family’s fields and orchards when he notices that one of their fields has been trampled by a large animal. He searches the nearby forest of tall trees to find the culprit. Sure enough he finds a trail of trampled undergrowth and follows it. A slime berry shrub has been chewed on. Flower is puzzled because slime berries are very sticky and raw slime berries make your tongue go numb and nobody likes that. Flower wonders what animal this was. Suddenly there is a loud sniff next to his right shoulder. Startled, Flower jumps and shouts! A young bumpo is surprised by Flower’s reaction. It makes a sound of fear and lies flat on the ground. Flower apologizes to the young bumpo. The bumpo nuzzles his hand and they spend a good half hour sitting there while Flower skritches the bumpo’s head. Flower examines the bumpo and realizes that it is still pretty young and – judging from the absence of a mark on either of its horns – a wild bumpo! This is surprising because the wild herds live several days walk away. Flower decides to name the bumpo Brokkoli.

Act II

Cheery has arrived on the Pride Coast’s shores and has decided to go exploring because they suspect that some ancient technologies might also be found here, given its relative proximity to Stahlfeld. They intend to also visit the Sol Alliance’s libraries and maybe copy out some relevant information. So that is the general direction that they are heading. On foot.

She has just wandered up to a farm house and bartered some sheets of paper for some magno chutney and some crackers. She’s trying to see whether she can rest at the farm rather than having to sleep in unfamiliar wilderness, when Flower returns and announces to his parents that he has been followed home by an adolescent bumpo. Cheery and the Rai-Neko family have a pleasant dinner and talk about bumpos, the Archive, the possibility of technology, and the weather changing: there’s a rain-storm coming.

Act III

Cheery gets a bed in the barn. Brokkoli has been made comfortable in a corner of the barn. Flower helps prepare the bed and cleans and feeds Brokkoli. Flower and Cheery keep talking because Flower is fascinated by the idea of travelling around Outer World and Cheery thinks she would like the company and a bumpo that carries stuff around would really be helpful. The rain-storm arrives. The hayloft is nice and cozy. Flower and Cheery snooze.

There is a loud thunderclap and the barn doors burst open. Chanaky stumbles into the stable and apologizes to the dozing bumpo while trying to close the doors against the howling wind. Brokkoli lumbers over and helps her. Flower and Cheery peer over the edge of the hayloft to see what all the noise is about. They see the Tenebrate and wonder what she is doing wandering around in this weather. Quickly they climb down from the hayloft.They say hello and Chanaky, surprised there are people in the barn, apologizes for bursting in, how wet she is, for waking everyone up. Flower dashes over to the main house to grab some dry clothes and some food.

The three spend the rest of the rain-storm talking to each other about where they are from, what they do, what their plans are. In the end all three are decided: they will set forth together. Cheery could use the help and the other two are up for an adventure.

The next day Flower packs some things, makes a harness from tangle vines, says good-bye to his parents and our travellers set forth with a packet of crackers each and Chanaky and Flower each get to choose one clay pot filled with their choice of

– slime berry jam

– magno chutney

– pickled lamb’s tooth root

(Cheery already has a pot of magno chutney. They have also written down the Possum family’s recipe for crackers and the recipe for the magno chutney.)

* Slime berries grow on a small shrub. They are green and gooey. They are very sour. They make your tongue feel numb when eaten raw. They make a delightful jam, though.

* Magnos are the size of your head and grow on small trees. They are a deep red and have a fist-sized stone-like seed in the middle. The flesh is firm, sweet, and juicy. Magno juice stains. Magno chutney is a great way to preserve the fruit.

* Lamb’s tooth is a hardy weedlike herb with small white pearl-like flowers that are clustered at the end of a long stem . It has a long tap root. The leaves are round, the size of a hand, and lie flat on the ground. All parts of the plant are edible. The leaves are spicy, the blooms fragrant and the root is fibrous and nourishing. Pickled lamb’s tooth root is a popular condiment in the Pride Coast region.

* Water nuts are the seed of an unremarkable prickly bush of the same name that grows along flowing water in the Twilight Meridian regions. The wood is hard and can be made into staffs, handles, and eating utensils. The thorns can be used as a needle. The fruit is sweet but consists mostly of the very round and very hard seeds that are only thinly coated with soft fruit flesh. Because they are perfectly round, water nuts are used as projectiles and in a game popular with children. The rules to this game vary from settlement to settlement and sometimes from generation to generation.

This is a single-player adventure to introduce a Tenebrate Murkdweller to a group. For more information on what a Tenebrate Murkdweller is please see the Break!-RPG Core rules.

All your life you’ve been living in the Murk. There you’ve learned to co-exist with the fairies and other unusual entities. You’ve survived by running small errands for money or food. Most recently you’ve been helping guard a caravan that keeps going from settlement to settlement, selling exotic foods that taste warm and exciting and buying just everyday Wistful Dark items that seem everyday and boring. Your pay will be a modest sum, but it’s an opportunity to see more of the continent and you also get to eat as much of the foods you’re guarding as you want. When you asked the boss about where the pots full of weird jams and other preserves were from they told you about the Blazing Garden and the sunlight. You are fascinated! On your slow trek from the Murk down to Aiden you resolve to go see the Blazing Garden for yourself.

Do an Aura Check

pass: the boss is delighted and tells you they’ll need people defending their ship on their journey back to get more preserves and sell the Wistful Dark items they’ve collected. You are welcome to join the crew!

fail: the boss says good luck paying for your passage on what little money you are getting for this job. A few days later another sword-for-hire suffers from diarrhoea and has to stay behind in a small dreary settlement. When you reach your final port the boss grinds his teeth as he hands people their wages and looks around at the lot of you. He offers you a job protecting his ship on its journey back to the Blazing Garden but he is obviously not happy about it.

Your voyage is uneventful. It’s like all the pirates that have ever existed have decided to go on holiday.

As you travel through the Twilight Merididan you are 

a) delighted by the light and cannot believe it could get any brighter than this.

b) disturbed by the light and cannot believe it could get any brighter than this.

When you dock in a small port on the Pride Coast you receive another modest sum for your service. Now there is nothing to do. Do an Insight check

pass: you see a metal disk on the ground. Someone must have dropped it. You put it in your pouch to investigate later.

fail: this town is empty of anything interesting.

The town is very small, consisting mainly of warehouses, one single inn, and small shops. It doesn’t take you very long to walk through the entire town. Twice. It also seems like there is not much going on at the moment. You decide to go to the inn. There is no-one here either. The innkeeper is a human. They can only offer you some juice and spicy soup. The juice is sweet and sticky. It is also slightly fizzy. Do you

a) like it and order more

b) not like it but don’t tell anyone

As you are eating the unusual but tasty soup (you’ve already forgotten what it is made of and don’t want to ask again), another person walks in. A Rai-Neko. Of course. This is where they have most of their settlements. They see you and decide to sit across from you and order the Day’s Special (juice and spicy soup). They start talking to you and asking where you’re from, what you’re doing, where you’re going. Do you

a) answer them and ask them some things; basically having a really lovely conversation.

b) try to ignore them and all their questions.

After your meal you think of what you could do. The ship won’t be leaving again for a few days. This town is boring and has no sights you haven’t managed to see in the few hours you’ve been here. You could just start walking and see where you end up. Then the Rai-Neko looks at you and tells you that their farm is just a couple of hours walk from here and would you like to come see? Oh, what the hell! There’s nothing better to do right now so you agree to go with them.

On your way the Rai-Neko will not stop talking and tells you everything about their farm and the crops they grow and it is just too much to remember but it passes the time and at least you can’t get lost.

While you are walking the wind picks up and the sky darkens. There’s a rain-storm coming.

The rain-storm is really strong. The wind is howling so loudly that you can’t hear your companion anymore, the rain is pelting down so hard you can hardly see the path in front of you. You realize suddenly that the Rai-Neko is no longer walking next to you. You are wet and alone. All you can see is the path in front of you. So you follow it. Until it ends at a little farm. You go ahead and the first building is a barn. The door sticks a bit but you manage to push it open. Finally you are in a dry spot.

The choices in this adventure did not change the outcome. But they show your attitude towards this part of Outer World and how eager you are to return to the Wistful Dark. You are either all about seeing all these unknown places or you can’t wait to get back home where it is not so bright and the juice is not so weird.

This is a single-player intro to their character. The character is a Rai-Neko Beasthandler. For more information on what that means go to the Break!-RPG Core Rules.

You live on a farm on the Blazing Garden’s Pride Coast.

There are several Rai-Neko farms here. Some people grow plants, others keep shaggy bumpos, everyone is content and peaceful. There is a small port a little more than a day’s walk away where the Rai-Neko farmers will sometimes take their wares, sell them and buy stuff from places further away.

Your family grows fruits and vegetables and preserve what isn’t eaten or sold fresh in small clay pots as jams, chutneys, or pickles.

One day you go out to check on a small experimental field in which you are trying to grow lamb’s tooth plants with much bigger blooms. On your way there you see that part of a field of snug* has been trampled! The trail of destruction leads towards a small wooded area bordering the property. You go to see whether you can find the culprit, likely an escaped shaggy bumpo that will need to be returned to their owner. It’s a good thing you spent several weeks helping out on one of the neighboring ranches: that means you know how to deal with an animal of that size. The ranchers even tried to hire you because you were naturally good with their herd, but your parents needed the help on the farm more.

What kind of compensation do you think you would like when you return the shaggy bumpo to its owner? 

a) Some bumpo cheese would be good.

b) A piece of farming equipment. A saw would come in handy.

c) A new woollen blanket with a cool pattern on it.

d) A day’s worth of help ploughing a field with a bumpo.

While you are thinking about this you look around.

Do an Insight check with two d6

pass: collect some seeds from an interesting looking bush nearby.

fail: continue following the bumpo trail.

As you are standing in a clearing, marvelling at a fallen tree, a loud sniff from behind startles you!

Do a Grit check with two d6

pass: you turn around very slowly and say “Aha!”

fail: you jump and shout!

Your actions have startled a curious young bumpo. It is scared and lies down flat on the ground whining pitifully.

Do you 

a) try and calm it down?

b) scold it for trampling your field?

A: The bumpo loves the way you’re talking to it and pushes its head into your outstretched hand.

B: The bumpo continues whining and rolls on its back to say it is sorry.

As you are talking to the bumpo you look at its horns to see who it belongs to (bumpo farmers will carve a symbol into the horns to mark an animal as theirs). There are no markings. This is a wild bumpo! Now that is a big surprise because the wild herds live more than a week’s walk away. This poor bumpo must have gotten lost or separated from its herd. That would explain why it looks so scraggly. Bumpos are usually very fussy with their pelt but this one is too young to look after itself still. You clean it up a bit, removing the worst of the sticks and sticky bits from its fur. The bumpo answers you talking to it with little grunts. It is more relaxed with you now.

When you get up and start to walk back home it starts to follow you.

Do you

a) shoo it away. You can’t keep a bumpo!

b) smile and keep talking to it. You wonder aloud where you’re going to keep it when you get home.

The bumpo follows you home. Shooing it away and worrying about where you will keep it is no use. This animal has decided to stay with you. It keeps gently pushing its head against your hand. It seems very happy to have found a replacement for its herd. When you get back to the farm you get it settled in an empty barn. It usually holds a large mechanical harvester that your family shares with several other farms but right now it is being used on a farm a day’s walk away. When the harvester is returned you’ll have to come up with a more permanent solution for _______________________________; that’s the name you’ve chosen for your new bumpo friend.

You’ll also have to tell your parents that there is a new addition to the farm. But first you take some hay down from the hayloft and make _______________________________ comfortable. Then you walk back to the farm house where dinner and an encounter that will change your life even more awaits.

The choices you’ve made in this adventure didn’t influence the outcome: you still came home with a big animal that has decided you are its person. But the way you’ve chosen sets the tone for your future relationship to this animal. You are either going to be very patient and loving, or a little rough and impatient with it. Either way the bumpo will be following you around. Better make the most of it. Maybe ask your neighbor for a harness in exchange for some pots of pickled lamb’s tooth root.

Did you collect those seeds from that weird looking bush? You show them to your parents who can’t identify them or the bush from your description. Choose whether you just chuck them or keep them, maybe someone will come along and be able to identify them.

Because we enjoy Hero Kids very much but the aesthetic of D&D is a little too grown-up and scary, I was delighted when I heard about Break! RPG. I backed the Kickstarter and waited. When the preliminary PDF was released I showed my kids, but they have limited screen time and so we didn’t really get into it until the physical book arrived. That lets them sit and browse and go back and forth and admire not just the artwork but also the idea behind the game. Because it is light on rules and the world and its creatures offer many possibilities we have been busy coming up with our characters and an adventure. The campaign will consist (as is our wont) of many single-shot games. We take turns being GM and so far it has been lots of fun. I’ll try and post most of it.
I wrote little single-player adventures for the children’s characters so that they each have a reason for being on this campaign together.
Then we went into a dungeon kid2 designed and on a delivery quest designed by kid1. They’ve asked me to write another adventure so I’m working on that.