BENEATH THE BANSHEE TREE PREVIEW

Beneath the Banshee Tree, our first free module for Sertorius, is ready. It should be available in PDF quite soon. Today I want to give a brief preview of the Banshee Tree mystery adventure and talk about its contents. 

As we promised, Sertorius will be supported with free supplements. Beneath the Banshee Tree is an investigative module where the players explore the city of Talyr for clues to hunt down a malignant presence. We have a passion for mystery adventures (most of our modules for Terror Network were investigative in nature) and we thought it would be an ideal structure to bring to Sertorius as an introduction for people new to the system and setting. 

More than an adventure
I believe very strongly that the best modules are one part adventure and one part setting supplement. With that in mind we included a lot of information on the city of Talyr in this book, enough that you could easily ignore the actual mystery and just use that material alone for a regular urban campaign. There is a chapter dedicated to the city of Talyr, it describes the local culture, important power groups like criminal organizations and provides details on key places in the city. The book also contains a map of a Talyr and a regional map. 

A great mystery
The mystery adventure has a unique structure that will cause a few surprises for even the GM. The players can freely search for clues and interview suspects as they navigate the politics of Talyr and work to gain favor with the king. They also face a deadly threat which could turn its claws on them if they don't solve the mystery in time. 

A terrifying villain (or two)
At the heart of every great mystery is a villain and the Beneath the Banshee Tree is no exception here. There is a chapter dedicated to the villain and thorough descriptions of all the villain's accomplices. 

Characters, characters, characters....
While hunting for clues is important, one of the main sources of information in any good mystery is the cast of characters. Beneath the Banshee Tree has thirteen major characters fully described with stats and motives. The PCs can gain clues by interrogating them and find useful allies among their ranks if they are clever. 

Clearly presented clues
The areas of investigation are all clearly organized and the clues arranged in an easy to find format for the GM. 

A bit of horror
The players will face supernatural horrors as they unravel the heart of the mystery. The module not only provides a useful introduction to the setting, it also demonstrates the dangers of spell casting and highlights how spells can be used to achieve terrible ends. 

I am personally quite proud of this module and pleased we are able to offer it at no cost to gamers. Even if you are not a Sertorius GM, this module can easily be adapted to any fantasy setting. Feel free to check it out and decide how good it is for yourself when it becomes available in the coming days.