The Hero's Gambit - Episode 3

Sun, 30 Nov 2025 03:35:00 GMT

Here’s the next episode of the Taken Token arc of the Hero’s Gambit campaign!The Hero’s Gambit, after hearing a distant yelp before sleep, wakes up in Hand’s Folly to a luxurious brunch before attending a ritual service as the Church of Ien’s Faithful. They continue to pursue what’s not feeling right about this town, while grappling with the pressing need to find a way to the Abyss to rescue their dear friend Token.

See below for PCs/voices, some session-related art and maps, and music credits.

Enjoy!~ the GM, Bryan

Music credits (in order of appearance)**Music found/played thanks to Soncraft**“Nightfall – Silence” by Francis Bonin (https://francisbonin.bandcamp.com/)“Arrivederci Roma” from Romance in Venice by Jack Jezzro“O Sole Mio” from Romance in Venice by Jack Jezzro“Mala Femmena” from Romance in Venice by Jack Jezzro“Non Dimenticar” from Romance in Venice by Jack Jezzro“The Godfather/Speak Softly Medley” from Romance in Venice by Jack Jezzro(https://www.discogs.com/release/17952556-Jack-Jezzro-Romance-in-Venice)“Mead, Meat, and Millet”, from City Streets, by Borough Bound (https://boroughbound.bandcamp.com/)“Ale and Anecdotes” by Darren Curtis (https://soundcloud.com/desperate-measurez)“Dockside” by Ian at Tabletop RPG Music (https://www.patreon.com/tabletoprpgmusic/)“A Thousand Lights” from Hegelburg at Night by ASKII(https://askii.bandcamp.com/album/hegelburg-at-night)“Enchanting Presence” from Arcane Anthems (https://www.patreon.com/c/arcaneanthems/)“Re-Raveling” from Elseridge Academy by Borough Bound (https://boroughbound.bandcamp.com/)

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit herosgambitpodcast.substack.com

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The Hero’s Gambit – Episode 2

Sat, 29 Nov 2025 03:36:00 GMT

Here’s the next episode of the Taken Token arc of the Hero’s Gambit campaign!

Forgive my own mic on this one – I cut out a lot and didn’t realize it until after. Edited for clarity to the best of my ability!

En route to Hand’s Folly, the Gambit’s attacked by an Earth Elemental, and then finds the town under an uncharacteristic level of guard. They’ve made their way in and settled down to dinner, that is until their peace is interrupted by a large crash out in the street…

See below also for NPC art (the ones intro’d in this episode) and music credits.Enjoy!~ the GM, Bryan

Player characters:

Imagery of the episode

New NPCs!all made by me via Hero Forge unless otherwise credited

Music credits**Music found/played thanks to Soncraft**“Guts Match (Pre-battle)” from City Streets, by Borough Bound (https://boroughbound.bandcamp.com/)“Guts Match” from Gruuk Jit’Jit, by Borough Bound (https://boroughbound.bandcamp.com/)“Stalled Negotiations” from Gruuk Jit’Jit, by Borough Bound (https://boroughbound.bandcamp.com/)“The Sixth Exodus”, from City Streets, by Borough Bound (https://boroughbound.bandcamp.com/)“Mead, Meat, and Millet”, from City Streets, by Borough Bound (https://boroughbound.bandcamp.com/)“Nightfall” by Francis Bonin (https://francisbonin.bandcamp.com/)“Twilight” by Francis Bonin (https://francisbonin.bandcamp.com/)“Moonlight” by Francis Bonin (https://francisbonin.bandcamp.com/)

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit herosgambitpodcast.substack.com

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The Hero's Gambit - Episode 1

Fri, 26 Sep 2025 04:33:13 GMT

Shortly after the Gambit saved the prosperous Greene River from certain doom, their teammate Token was kidnapped. Meli, a new friend who’s brother was similarly taken not long ago, has joined them to help in pursuing Token to get him back. They determine he’s been taken to the Endless Maze of the Abyss, the realm of the demon lord Baphomet.

Their pursuit of him has led so far through a ruthless druid warrior fort bent on ferocity, and now to the north, to find a cave which should offer a gateway into the Abyss. This road north leads them through the town of Hand’s Folly...

See below also for NPC art, music credits, and some extra world details, since this is our first ‘episode’, but not the campaign’s first session. (it’s session #13 overall)

Enjoy!~ the GM, Bryan

Player characters:

Imagery of the episode

New NPCs!

all made by me via Hero Forge unless otherwise credited

Music credits“New Horizons” by Francis Bonin (https://francisbonin.bandcamp.com/)“Ale and Anecdotes” by Darren Curtis (https://soundcloud.com/desperate-measurez)“The White River” by Jeremy Soule (The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: Original Game Soundtrack, 2013)“Ambush in the Wilds” by Francis Bonin (https://francisbonin.bandcamp.com/)“Nightfall” by Francis Bonin (https://francisbonin.bandcamp.com/)

World backgroundOrigin Story (in brief)Ien composed a symphony. An offspring of the primordial god of creation, for millenia, they filled cosmic fields with a shifting tapestry of five equal ‘voices.’ Through Fire, Water, Air, Terra, Essence, they aimed to entertain and delight. They weaved these voices into song for all godkind to enjoy, but eventually the novelty grew thin. The audience drifted apart, drawn away by their own needs and circumstances, and Ien was left alone with their orchestra, without an audience to entertain.Hoping to ignite more universal appeal for their work, they split the voices into two part eachs; positive and negative twin pairs. Fire now warmed and burned, Water nourished and drowned, Air carried and tore, Terra grew and crushed, and Essence gave and took. The Five voices were split into Ten keys. The nature of their music changed dramatically, and finding the boundless cosmos too risky a venue, Ien established a contained realm within which their symphonies could twist and turn in harmony. Ensal was birthed - a world of seas, islands, and a large continent to serve as the stage. Completing the opus, all voices struck a chord to fill Ensal with creatures of every shape, size, and category. The performance revolved on with all the world’s inhabitants, flora and fauna, as the players. All were given one thing in common - an innate connection to hear and speak the voices from which they were created.As creating an entire world is quite the undertaking for a single divine entity, Ien tired after the first few millenia. They decided to rest until new inspiration struck. They rested in the mountain, and have not woken since.

How the Voices shape Ensal This is a world crafted in elemental forces and polarities of the Voices of Ensal - as a result, the forces are uniquely pronounced throughout its geographies and ecosystems.In some parts, the voices sing in unison, creating normalized regions. In others, as few as a single voice find a home, resulting in geographical and ecological extremes.Given most creatures, flora, and fauna are not built to withstand such extremes, most are found among the ‘harmonic’ regions, with less diversity in ‘tuned’ regions, and only the most uniquely built and hardy in ‘discordant’ regions.

Information HighwaysNewspapers are the dominant source of local and regional news - a consistent Ensalan-wide news source hasn’t quite succeeded yet, although it’s been rumored to be in the works for decades.In ‘tuned regions’, and some ‘discordant’ ones, unique tech has been crafted, often in tune with the elemental voices of those lands, to adapt to living amidst more extreme forces.In select and rare circles, an experimental system of arcane connections has begun to proliferate. Officially, these Distributed Relay Root Conduits are managed among a fledgling network of wizards and artificers, who have weaseled enough influence into their respective courts and nobility enclaves to eke out meager funding for the physical supplies, and only just enough so far. There are around a dozen of them so far since first debuting a few years ago.Thus far, “The Relay” has provided inconsistent levels of risk/reward.Mainly they’ve been used to communicate important news, but aren’t always reliable as rogue agents have plagued them with rants, pranks, or malfunction, so they’re treated with much skepticism.

A few additional points about Ensal- Ensal’s the name of the world, Vandesse is the continent- Ensal’s inhabitants have spiritually always had access/contact with the deities of the Torillian world (e.g. Faerunian, etc.) - hence why Strix can connect with Kelemvor, etc.- That said, Aurumean is the most popular faith system/deity, with about half of religious people following it (so about a third of Ensal’s inhabitants) - she’s an offspring of Chauntea of the Faerun pantheon, and offers the same kind of domains (life, day, bounty, nature, etc.)

Map of Vandesse, the sole continent of the world Ensal:

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit herosgambitpodcast.substack.com

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