Adventure Three · Player Packet

The Shadowed Tide

Everything players need before the docks. Safe to share: it contains no GM secrets.

Open the printable Player Kit

Where the story stands

The summit in Boca Serena continues. In public it speaks of trade, custody, and security. Outside the conference hall, the DeSauros mission has found reason to suspect that people are disappearing through protected commercial routes around Porto Sombra, and that respectable trade papers are part of how it happens.

A network calling itself the Shadowed Tide has reached out. Who is responsible for the route, and how far it goes, is not yet known to your characters.

If your group played Masks at the Table, carry your characters, their promises, their Position, and what they learned forward.

Your mission

  • Protect people. The people inside the route come first.
  • Investigate the route. Learn how it works and who it serves.
  • Choose how evidence is used. Every record, letter, or testimony can protect someone or endanger someone. Deciding which is part of the work.

How this adventure plays

There is no fixed order of scenes. Your characters will find several possible operations and choose which to pursue, in what order, and with whom. You will not need all of them. Noise, haste, and open accusation have consequences; so does waiting.

Position

Position is the DeSauros delegation's political standing at the summit, from 0 to 6. It carries over from the previous adventure. What happens at the docks can reach the summit, and a rescue may cost negotiating advantage. The table decides whether that price is worth paying.

People you will meet

  • The Shadowed Tide: the network whose message reached you. Its people introduce themselves as trust is earned.
  • Captain Huan DeSauros: your chief negotiator, still working the summit.
  • The Convener: the authority who summoned the delegations.
  • Willem van der Zee: Stroomdijk envoy at the summit.

New to the campaign? Choose a role

Continuing characters need nothing new. A group starting here can build characters in any system around one of these campaign roles:

  • Envoy or legal aide: Procedure, rhetoric, rank, and public access.
  • Naval officer or marine: Command, discipline, violence, and shipboard authority.
  • Investigator or intelligence operative: Surveillance, documents, covert contacts, and inference.
  • Engineer, physician, or scholar: Technical knowledge, care, evidence, and specialist credibility.
  • Local guide, dockworker, or survivor: Routes, communities, memory, and practical legitimacy.
  • Free captain, smuggler, or privateer: Mobility, deniable access, criminal contacts, and flexible loyalty.

Table safety

This adventure involves trafficking, captivity, and coercion, including of children. It is handled with restraint: no graphic detail, and the focus stays on protecting people rather than describing harm. Agree on lines and veils before play, use whatever check-in tool your table prefers, and anyone can pause or redirect a scene at any time.

Handouts, map, and rules