Ill Gotten Gains

Overview

This adventure is designed for a party of 5 first level adventurers and aims to be 2 to 4 hours in length. The adventure is designed with newer players in mind who may not have much experience with DnD 5E or Final Fantasy XIV. It has been written to make session preparation as simple as possible by providing references and maps where possible. As always, this module is a framework and can be adjusted as you see fit to fit your table and play style.

Recommended Resources: DnD Player's Handbook (5e), Monster Manual, and FFXIV Player's Handbook

Adventure Summary (Player Safe)

Welcome to Ul'dah! The City of Gold offers enticing opportunities for adventurers of all walks of life. One rumor in particular is making the rounds in the bustling streets. A caravan has been ambushed en route to the city, its drivers and valuable cargo lost somewhere in the Sagolii Desert. Anyone able to find out the whereabouts of the missing, and who is responsible for their disappearance, would certainly prove their merit. Can your party of adventurers get to the bottom of the mystery and earn a reputation in the City of Gold?

GMs please proceed to the next page for a breakdown of the adventure and its scenes.

The rest of this page is left intentionally blank to avoid spoilers for players.

Legal Disclaimer

This module is an original fan creation and does not assert any rights, permissions, or copyright over any Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy XIV, or Dungeons and Dragons property. Square Enix retains the rights to all Final Fantasy assets and screenshots used. No FFXIV story or dialogue is utilized directly from the game and is a work of fiction based loosely in the FFXIV world. If any of the content in this document infringes on any copyrighted or trademarked material please contact the author at deahfel.pharasma@gmail.com so the infringing material can be removed from this document to comply with any and all applicable laws.

Special Thanks

I wanted to give a special thanks to SilentSoren for their dedication to bringing these two passions together of DnD and FFXIV and for creating the FFXIV PHB. After the hours spent building this adventure I respect your hard work even more. Seriously, you rock and were a large inspiration for getting this project off the ground.

I would also like to thank Sayyida Mol (Balmung) for their editing talents and endless support in completing this module. Additionally, thank you to Khatoa Qott (Balmung) and Kasi Nebuko (Balmung) for always inspiring me. Last but certainly not least, thank you to everyone in the FFXIV RP community and DnD community for keeping this awesome hobby going!

Version Tracking

This module is currently in its 1.0 phase. If you have any constructive feedback please feel free to reach out to the author at deahfel.pharasma@gmail.com with "Feedback" in the subject.

Adventure Summary (GM)

The party begins in Ul'Dah where you can utilize one of the provided plot hooks or devise your own to direct the party to the Quicksand Tavern where they will meet the quest giver 'Red'. Red provides the group with background information about the caravan that was ambushed and sets them to the task of recovering two employees who were escorting the caravan, Roaring Wave and Osgar, along with some of the stolen weapons from the caravan. Roaring Wave and Osgar are being held as forced labor by the group responsible for attacking the caravan, The Golden Sashes, who are working to forward a deeper plot put into motion by the Syndicate.

The Party is pointed towards the bustling Sapphire Avenue Exchange where they will interact with merchants and food vendors to get a lead as to Roaring Wave's whereabouts and get a little bit of a feel for the city and its denizens.

The lead will guide them deep into the questionable neighborhood of the Goblet, a suburb of Ul'Dah where many of its citizenry live. There they will find the Oasis Apothecary, a shop the Golden Sashes use as a front to move their illicit goods. In the shop they will have an encounter with the gang and recover the first of the missing persons. After some discussion with Roaring Wave, or interrogating any surviving gang members, they will be told about the Golden Sashes' main hideout.

Following the information provided leads the party to the concealed entrance of the Golden Sashes' true hideout, the Goblet Sewers. In the hideout they will navigate challenging terrain and encounters, making their way to the back storeroom. There they will encounter the Golden Sash boss and recover Osgar. Investigating afterwards they will uncover more of what is occuring in the city, and learn that the Syndicate are the puppetmaster pulling the strings of something much larger. The party will then have to decide what to do with this knowledge, and with the stolen goods found in the hideout.

This should provide a spring board for future adventures and act to get the party interested and involved in the events that are/or will transpire in Ul'Dah.

Adding Context

This module was designed to focus on the adventure itself and seeks to provide a minimal context for the locations, people, and events it utilizes from the FFXIV universe. It is recommended to check out any of the locations you are unfamiliar with in game or to do additional research so you can adequately describe and improvise events or interactions appropriately.

Gil to Gold Conversions

This module assumes a 1:1 equivalence between Eorzean Gil and Gold. Any prices of goods can be referenced from the PHB.

Locations

• The Quicksand. A busy tavern in Ul’Dah where adventurers often come to find work.
• Sapphire Avenue Exchange. A large open air marketplace where many goods are exchanged.
• The Goblet. A suburb of Ul'Dah where many of its citizens live in neighborhoods ranging from manor houses to hovels.
• Oasis Apothecary. A small potion shop in the Goblet. Thought to be a front for the golden sashes .
• Goblet Sewer. A labyrinth like system of tunnels and passages that run underneath the Goblet.

Notable NPCs

• Red. Secretive information broker working on behalf of Glittering Sands Trading Co.
• Roaring Wave. Captive Roegadyn employed by the Glittering Sands Trading Co. Bonded to Osgar.
• Osgar. Captive Hyur employed by the Glittering Sands Trading Co. Bonded to Roaring Wave.
• Nanabe. Lalafell merchant on sapphire avenue selling a variety of wares.
• Katherine. Hyur street food merchant who has seen someone matching description.
• Golden Sashes. An up and coming street gang that has been getting into increasing trouble.
• Syndicate. An extremely wealthy shadow organization ruled by the elite of Ul’Dah society. They often clash with leaders of state and seek to improve their own wealth and status.

Plot Hooks

• One of the characters happens across a missing poster on one of the many marketboards of Ul'Dah. There appears to be a sizeable reward for tracking down two individuals. The notice mentions asking for someone named Red located at the Quicksand.

• Upon entering the city, one of the guards asks the party if they have any information about a missing caravan. The authorities haven't been able to make any headway with the investigation yet and are seeking leads to provide to an information broker in the Quicksand named Red.

• The party is tasked by the local authorities, the Brass Blades, to look into a missing persons case that has been filed. The Blades have other priorities to handle, and the party would be doing them a favor if they are able to find the missing individuals. They should seek out a red headed Hyur who normally hangs out in the Quicksand.

The Quicksand

The Information Broker

After a moment the party would notice their contact, the information broker referred to by one of the plot hooks.

Interacting with Red:

• Red is the information broker tasked with recovering the missing caravan guards, Roaring Wave and Osgar, and the stolen weapons. When asked about work or the missing persons he mentions the below read aloud text. (See missing poster on page 9).
• His client is offering a 400 gil reward for finding and safely returning Osgar and Roaring Wave along with a 100 gil bonus for the stolen weapons.
• He is a gambler and will gladly gamble on simple dice games with the party for up to 25 total gil.
• He is a Ul'Dah local and well connected with shadier dealings of the city. He will gladly give general information about the area or state of things, but charges for lucrative secrets.
• If the group offers at least 20 gil in payment for additional information, gambles for additional info, or succeeds in a DC12 persuasion check he will provide the following additional detail.

Sapphire Avenue Exchange

Potential Leads

See how the party is looking to investigate and allow them to follow natural conclusions to guide them towards the lead holding NPCs. Feel free to improvise or add interactions as you see fit. Below are some examples if the party needs some additional guidance:

• A DC 10 investigation check reveals that many people are walking around with skewers of meat from a covered stall down the avenue. The line for food is still long and they likely have seen many people who come through the area. Perhaps a good place to ask about the missing poster.
• If the players try to stop any of the local people in the market they are largely ignored as people hurry about their business. A DC 10 Persuasion or Intimidation check would have the locals pointing out Katherine’s Kebab stand as a good place to ask about seeing anyone due to the amount of people they serve.
• A DC 10 History or Perception check reveals that coin is king in Ul’Dah and if the players offer to pay for information (10 to 25 gil) from locals or bribe the street children with food they can likely receive information leading them to the above.

Katherine's Kebabs

The party will have to quickly explain their intent, or purchase an order if they hold up the line asking questions. If they are able to successfully describe the missing individuals or show the missing poster to Katherine read the following:

Nanabe's Emporium

Interacting with Nanabe:

• Nanabe is glad to sell the adventurers any supplies they need and would gladly assist them with any information once they have made a purchase from her.
• She mentions that she had an unusual encounter with someone trying to sell a large amount of weapons in the market. It was unusual because the client, to her knowledge, works as an apothecary brewing potions. Why would they be selling weapons? She is able to provide the name of the shop, Oasis Apothecary, and its general location in the Goblet.

Optional Encounter: Street Children

Small packs of roving street children wander the marketplace looking to pickpocket a few gil to get a meal. Have a few children run up to one of the characters and distract them while the other children pick their pockets for coin. Make an opposed sleight of hand check against the affected character (Sleight of hand d20+2), if they are suspicious or taking some kind of preventive measure give them advantage on the check. The children attempt to run off with the coin if they succeed or fail. If the character manages to stop or detain the attempted theif they could be a source of information. If the character's wish to get the Brass Blades involved, the authorities would act indifferent and dismiss it as an everyday occurence. Unless of course the party is convincing or offering coin to remove such 'criminals' from the streets. Pressing things further could lead to an altercation with the Brass Blades and complicate things further as desired.

Oasis Apothecary

Approaching the Apothecary

• The guards will question anyone attempting to enter the shop and will be suspicious of anyone approaching to purchase wares as the shop is largely a front for the Golden Sashes.
• They will only permit one person inside if they are making a delivery for Katherine’s Kebabs unless convinced by other means, DC 10 Persuasion/intimidate/Deception. Failing the check the guards will tell the group to get lost or they will attack.

Inside the Shop

• The shelves are nearly bare and it is obvious that this place doesn’t serve as an actual potion shop.
• A sullen lalafell, Ashur, confronts anyone entering with a gruff demeanor, demanding they state their business and then begone. Ashur is suspicious of any attempted contact with Roaring Wave and will call for the guards to attack if anything is mentioned regarding missing weapons or the missing employees.
• The party would immediately recognize a roegadyn woman nervously moving and organizing crates of unknown goods as Roaring Wave, from the missing poster. If they approach her, she will awkwardly deny being missing while trying to covertly signal that they are in danger.

The Encounter

• Ashur (Scout MM p349, swapping the long bow for a short bow)
• He is protected by 3 Golden Sash Guards (Guard MM p347)
• Roaring Wave is friendly and will try to avoid the conflict and take cover as best as possible
• See page 9 for an encounter map

The Spoils

• Store Shelves: 2 potions of healing
• Guards: 3 short swords and 3 Golden Silk Sashes
• Ashur: 75 gil, short bow, 1 short sword
• Storage Room: 25 gil worth of potion reagents, several empty crates

Aftermath

Roaring Wave is thankful for the adventurers’ intervention. She or any captured enemies provide information on the following:

• She has been held captive and forced to work or her husband will be executed by their leader.
• She just moved all of the stolen goods to the Golden Sash’s hideout. It is located behind a waterfall in the goblet that leads to the sewers.
• Ashur was the one who led the attack on their caravan in the Thanalan desert where they were ambushed. They killed the guards, but said they had other plans for her and Osgar.
• She begs the group to please hurry and find a way to save Osgar from the Golden Sashes. They are planning something big soon and it sounds dangerous.

Milestone: Level 2

At this point the group should advance to level 2 and may want to rest before advancing their investigation to the next location.

Goblet Sewers

Entering the Sewers

Hidden behind the rushing water is a narrow access tunnel that leads deeper under the sandstone of the goblet. This area is dimly lit unless otherwise stated. Following the access path around the corner leads to a rushing river with a steep falloff. See room 1 on the Goblet Sewers Map on page 10

1. Drawbridge Room A raised drawbridge on the other side of small channel of running water presents a challenge to continuing further along the path. There is a turning lever used to raise and lower the drawbridge that the party may be able to hit or magically manipulate. Trying to swim across the fast moving water channel would be a DC12 athletics check, with a failure resulting in the character being swept and held against a grate at the edge of the room taking 1d4 bludgeoning damage. This is a good spot for characters to creatively problem solve a solution to getting across.

2. Guarded Bridge Three Golden Sash guards (3 Thugs MM p350) are standing guard around a lowered drawbridge as they loudly discuss how to spend their share of the coin from this job. They will be alert if the group makes too much noise in their approach and will attack anyone who does not appear to be carrying supplies or wearing a golden sash. The enemies will use the bridge terrain to their advantage as best they can (Blocking the path, attacking from range, shoving anyone who tries to cross into the water, etc). Page 11 has a zoomed battle map for reference.

3. Makeshift Barracks This dark room has several metal holding tanks, filled with water, interspersed throughout. The Golden Sashes appear to have been using this as a makeshift barracks with bedrolls strewn about. Searching the room would reveal a small medical kit and healing potion which were leftover from healing one of the crew after the initial caravan attack.

4. Corridor The long corridor is well lit and well travelled. It leads to a pair of unlocked wooden double doors. If the party approaches stealthily they may be able to eavesdrop on the following conversation:

5. Storeroom The double doors open up to reveal a large store room with stacks of crates arranged about. A few workers are hurrying about moving and organizing the crates. In the far corner, a dark robed Hyur wearing a golden sash berates Osgar next to charred remains. The party would recognize Osgar from their missing poster. Once the party is discovered the robed man and his two bodyguards attack. See page 11 for a battle map.

The Decisive Battle

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Golden Sash Thaumaturge (Hyur)

Dark Robed, wielding a staff

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• Armor Class 11
• Hit Points 16
• Speed 30ft.

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|DEX +1 |CON+1|INT+3|WIS+1|

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Cantrips/Use at Will:
Fire Bolt/ Fire (D20+5 to hit, 6 fire damage) Frostbite/ Blizzard (DC13 Con Save, 4 damage and disadvantage on next attack roll)

1st level spells (2 spell slots):
Witch Bolt/ Thunder (D20+5 to hit, 7 lightning damage + spell effect)
Burning Hands/ Fire II (DC13 Dex save for half damage, 10 fire damage) Sleep (5d8 HP of creatures in effect fall asleep)

Consumeables:
Potion (Restore 6 hit points as a standard action)

Two Golden Sash Guards (2 Thugs MM p350) will defend their leader to the death.

• Tactics: The thaumaturge will use cover and attack from range. He has a single potion and will heal if injured. The bodyguards will attack or take a hostage as a living shield trying to prevent the party from reaching their thaumaturge. They would set up to attack anyone running past them with an attack of opportunity.

The Spoils (Storeroom)

• The thaumaturge is carrying an important looking letter that says the following:

• The store room contains about 10 crates filled with various weapons of basic quality.
• There are also 4 smaller crates packed with Somnus, an illegal drug that causes visions and deep sleep. It is known to have a high value in the black market of Ul’Dah.
• In addition, one of the crates contains a finely crafted Cloak of Protection (+1 to AC and Saving throws).

The Aftermath

• Osgar and any other surviving laborers are thankful for the rescue. He would ask where Roaring Wave is and that she is safe. Once he knows the way is clear he will leave with the party or depart on his own to find his wife.

Goblet Sewers (continued)

6. Sludge Holding Pool The sludge and waste of the sewers seems to be siphoned into this room giving it an atrocious smell. A few small platforms are linked by metal grates a few fulms above the wastewater that surrounds them. A bright green mold seems to be flourishing on the moist air and fetid water. The algae floats in patches on the water’s surface and grows up along some of the moist walls. A DC10 perception check has the party notice that there appears to be something moving under the water, 3 Green Flans (3 Grey Oozes MM243) go about their business unless the party disturbs the water or the algae they feed on. A DC12 nature/medicine check shows that the algae has some medical properties and could be used to craft a healing potion with acid resistance.

Optional Room

A ladder hangs slightly out of reach above the final platform of room 6 leading to another room. This is a place for you to add an encounter or room of your own design to the dungeon. Hopefully it isn't filled with a secret society of tonberries or anything else sinister.

7. Rusty Gate A rusted iron grate blocks the length of this tunnel. On closer inspection the bars are able to be bent or easily knocked away from their rusted holds. The party would notice the stench of sewage emanating from further down the tunnel.

Conclusion

Returning For Reward

• The party can now report back to Red at the Quicksand to receive their payment for rescuing Roaring Wave and Osgar. If they decide to bring the weapons back with them they would receive the additional payment as well. If the party decides to sell the weapons on their own or turn the weapons into the Brass Blade authorities they would be responsible for negotiating their own rewards. The street value of all the weapons would be around 150 gil considering they are stolen.
• The party can decide to handle the Somnus however they wish. It is branded with the Syndicate symbol and would likely attract retribution if they were caught trying to sell it or dispose of it. Turning it into the authorities would likely lead to it ending back out on the street as the corruption in the Brass Blades would see that it vanishes back to its rightful owner.

Next Steps

• The party could seek out more work in Ul’Dah or journey to other city states after demonstrating their ability to handle challenging work.
• The Syndicate could have gotten word that their plans were disrupted and seek to find out who is responsible as the party learns about the powerful organization in the shadows of the city.
• The party could buy into a life of crime by taking over the operations the Golden Sashes began and negotiate their place within the Syndicate.

Appendix

Missing Poster

Oasis Apothecary Encounter Map

Goblet Sewer Map (Full)

Goblet Sewer (Bridge Encounter)

Goblet Sewer (Storeroom Encounter)