Let’s Play Dragonbane! The Lantern of Solitude, part 1

Meet Gil Burgundy and Warren Bragat, the frogfolk adventuring in the haunting village of High Cradle

Table of Contents

Intro

I’m finally breaking out my Dragonbane core set. Let’s have some mirth and mayhem, shall we?

Dragonbane uses an intuitive roll under d20 system for skill checks, and has a pretty sweet solo module called Alone in Deepfall Breach, that doubles as a mini solo campaign. I won’t be using any external tools, except for Just One Dragon, a fan made solo toolkit with random tables and additional procedures.

I think Deepfall Breach has been extensively covered online, and I might get to it some other time, but for now I wanna play a different adventure. I picked The Lantern of Solitude, written by Moses Boyajian from the

Wilonas Cave

Youtube channel.

The format is very similar to Alone in Deepfall Breach. I’m sure Moses used it as the template for Lantern.

I will cover mechanics and concepts as we go. The game isn’t complicated, but I’ll explain things so even if you’re not familiar with it, you won’t be lost.

Characters

I’m playing with two characters: Gil Burgundy, a bard, and Warren Bragat, a knight. Both are Frog People, a new playable kin introduced in the Bestiary book. Here are their sheets:

Besides their class and kin Heroic Abilities, I’ve added Army of One to both of them. It allows a character to act twice in a turn.

You might think that these froggies are extremely heroic veteran swashbucklers, but that’s not it. The stats and abilities don’t make them Conan the Batrachians, but represent the lightheartedness of the adventure. I’m doing this low stakes and fun rather than deadly and tense.

Gil and Warren are childhood friends from Three Ponds, a frogfolk village in the Misty Vale. Gil’s weakness is wanderlust. He can’t resist visiting unknown places and discovering new things.

Warren’s weakness is a fear of abandonment and loneliness. He’s very attached and protective of Gil.

Weaknesses are mostly for narrative purposes. The core book has a few to choose from, but I came up with my own.

I will develop the characters a bit more during play. That’s enough for now, let’s get into it!

The Lantern of Solitude

Gil and Warren are visiting the village of High Cradle. Once known for its singing peaks and whispering valleys, it’s now shrouded by an unnatural quiet. In the center of that silence lies the Lantern of Solitude, an ancient beacon that holds back the ghosts of the Lost War.

The Lantern shattered, and its light went out. Phantoms of battles long past creep in demanding silence: spectral soldiers, fallen beasts, and tormented sorcerers.

Villagers report hearing their past loved ones call to them from the mountains, though none return from following the voices.

We meet Branwyn after following the trail of smoke curling above the frost. Once a famed ranger of the high paths, she now wears a blindfold. “Ever since the Lantern shattered,” she mutters, “my visions are not quite of this world. The silence shows me things I shouldn’t see.”

She’s been waiting since the last winter thaw for someone bold or foolish enough to take up the Lantern’s path.

Branwyn tells us that the Lantern broke into five shards when the Ghost General tried to extinguish it. “I’ve mapped where the shards lie. Restore it, and the silence will recede. Leave it, and we’ll all forget the sound of our own voices.”

The setup is simple: we must recover the shards in 5 locations, each with 6 waypoints, then restore the Lantern of Solitude and confront the Ghost General.

Each location has a unique threat that starts at 1 and activates on 6. This is basically a story clock that goes up when we fail rolls or take too long in a place. We track those with a d6.

Besides those, the campaign also has a threat die that activates on 10. It increases when we rest, visit Mirewake, or a mission threat hits 6. When it activates:

The silence overwhelms the land: all AWARENESS and Charisma-based skills suffer a Bane, and allies/NPCs cannot speak aloud.

Note: The CTD does not reset, it is continuous.

Terrible for a bard character, so I’ll do my best not to activate it.

Mirewake is a setting created for the campaign, and High Cradle is a short distance from it. We have many points of interest, NPCs, and services in Mirewake, but visiting the place increases the Campaign Threat, so we must consider if it’s worth it.

I’m actually going to start at Mirewake. I don’t have the gold for most services, but Gil and Warren can spare a few coins for a drink at the tavern to gather some info.

The Broken Breath Tavern sits at the edge of High Cradle, half-buried in snow. Its sign hung by a single nail, creaking in the whispering wind.

Gil went inside and took a deep breath. “Old fish and stagnant water. Just like home.”

Warren followed close behind. “Not really.” He indicated the woman behind the counter. “Humans,” he said with disgust.

“This is mostly a human city, so please behave.”

“I will if they do.”

They sat on stools, and the barkeep greeted them with a smile. “Now there’s something I haven’t seen in a while. Welcome, Master frogs. Are you lost or just mad?”

Gil smiled back. “Lost and mad are states of mind. We are perfectly fine. I just couldn’t resist the rumors about a village where sound is dying. That’s very compelling to a bard. And tragic.”

“Just mad, then,” she said. “Drink?”

Gil looked at Warren, who shrugged. He turned to the woman. “Something refreshing and energetic, please.”

-2 silver coins (18)

She came up with two wooden cups. The drinks fizzled and foamed. They tasted it cautiously at first, then widened their eyes as it tickled their sensitive tongues and the sweet and tart liquid popped inside their mouths. Warren tried to contain himself and look serious, but couldn’t resist giggling.

“Not bad, eh?” the barkeep said. “I call it the Mireroot Fizz. It’s a mix of mountain berries, sugarroot, and a dash of herbs.”

Gil licked his lips and gulped some more. “Well, it made my grumpy friend unfrown, so color me impressed.”

“I’m Olma, by the way. I take it you’ve heard of the Lantern?”

“We have. I’m Gil, and this is Warren. The Lantern of Solitude kept our marshes safe from spirits. When strange hauntings began near our home, we learned of the shattering.”

Warren turned sharply. “Don’t mention our village! You’re hinting at its location to a human.”

“Humans tend to ruin everything, don’t we? I promise, however, that your secret is safe with me, Master Warren. I’ve listened to hundreds of them, and they’ve never left this tavern.”

Warren grumbled, but dropped it. When they finished their drinks, Olma retrieved the mugs and looked them in the eyes. “A piece of advice now. Leave this place. It’s too dangerous for you, and I’d hate to have served your last drinks.”

“That we cannot do, Olma, but I appreciate your concern,” Gil replied. “There are incredible and memorable locations calling my name in these highlands, and I won’t ignore them. Besides, the Lantern must be restored, so we might as well take a crack at it.”

She sighed and shook her head. “Well, I shall have no part in this terrible business.”

I’ll try to get some information from Olma to help me in the first mission. I’ll roll with a Boon, since her sheet says she’s compassionate. Besides, she seems to like us.

Boons and Banes in Dragonbane are basically advantage and disadvantage rolls, and they stack. Add 1 or more dice to the check and keep the best or worst result.

2d20 Persuasion check (14): 15, 6, success!

Gil leaned in toward her. “Olma, we’re doing this come what may, so you could help us a little and improve our chances. This is for the sake of Three Ponds, but also for High Cradle.”

Olma considered the request, then dropped her shoulders. “The silence in the hills should have driven you away, Master Gil. I’m sad it didn’t. The Whispering Cairn is where adventurers go first, and where most give up and return with tales to tell. It’s the place where clans laid their champions to rest. The entrance is marked by loose stones underfoot. Watch your step for a safe passage.”

He smiled at her. “Thank you, Madam Olma. I will return and tell you more of the Cairn, perhaps with a song of my own to pierce the silence.”

“I hope you do.”

Gil Burgundy stood and made his way toward the door. Before leaving, Warren nodded to Olma. “Thank you, human woman. You are not as obnoxious as most of your kin.”

“I’ll take it, Master Warren. Safe journeys. Another round of Mireroot Fizz will be waiting for you.”

The thought of the sparkling bubbles dancing in his mouth made Warren clumsily muffle a smile, then he turned away and darted after Gil.

Now I have a Boon for the first Waypoint of the first mission! And that’s it for this introductory part 1. I hope you enjoy reading the adventures of these two lovely frogfolk.

Until next time!

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Check out Dragonbane on the Free League site and wherever RPGs are sold near you.

The Lantern of Solitude is available on DrivethruRPG.

Just One Dragon is available on Itch.io.

Frog images created by Artcher.

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