Quest Line · Original Adventure · Fate Core
One-shot
A dying merchant has written a detailed confession implicating himself and several powerful figures in a smuggling ring. He's traveling by coach to deliver it personally to the Cardinal in the capital. The players must intercept the confessor on the road, steal the confession before it reaches its destination, and escape with their reputations intact—all while a rival faction races to claim the same prize.
Players should create characters with at least one aspect tied to moral ambiguity, desperation, or questionable alliances. The adventure involves theft, potential violence, and questions about doing wrong for sympathetic reasons. Content warnings include themes of terminal illness, moral compromise, and religious institutions. Players should understand their employer's motives are deliberately unclear—this isn't a straightforward heist.
Choose one approach that fits your table:
The Debt Collector: A mysterious patron named Silvana contacts each character individually about debts owed, favors promised, or secrets she knows. She offers to clear the slate in exchange for one job: steal a confession before it reaches the Cardinal's Palace. She provides a description of the confessor, his route, and a tight deadline.
The Sympathetic Cause: The characters learn that the confession will implicate not just criminals, but also a beloved community figure who got involved in smuggling to feed orphans during the famine three years ago. Someone begs them to prevent this good person's downfall, whatever it takes.
The Auction: Multiple parties hire the group for the same job without coordinating. The players realize mid-briefing they've been hired by competing interests, but the advance payments are already spent. Now they must succeed and decide who actually gets the confession.
The players catch up to the confessor's coach on a forested road two days outside the capital. The afternoon sun filters through oak branches, casting dappled shadows across the rutted track. The coach is a simple black carriage with curtained windows, drawn by two horses and accompanied by four mounted guards in simple leather armor bearing the merchant guild's oak-and-scales insignia.
The confessor, Matthias Vendar, occasionally pulls back the curtain to look out with hollow, feverish eyes. Perceptive characters (Fair +2 Notice) spot that he's clutching a leather document case to his chest even while riding.
The guards aren't expecting trouble but remain professional. They keep a diamond formation around the coach and watch the treeline. Characters attempting to approach openly must overcome a Good (+3) opposition with Deceive or Rapport to get close without arousing suspicion. A successful approach might involve:
Merchant Guild Guards (4)
If combat seems imminent, the coachman will whip the horses into a gallop toward Millford Cross, an hour ahead.
Whether through stealth, diplomacy, or pursuit, the confessor's coach reaches Millford Cross—a small village of perhaps forty buildings clustered around a stone bridge. The village priestess, Sister Calantha, emerges from the chapel when she hears the coach. Matthias calls for the coach to stop.
He's taken a turn for the worse. Sweat soaks his collar, and his hands shake as he steps down. "I must rest," he tells the guards. "We'll stay the night. I need... I need to be strong when I face the Cardinal."
Sister Calantha insists on tending to him personally. She leads Matthias into the chapel's small sanctuary, where she'll give him water, herbs, and a place to rest. The document case never leaves his hands.
The players must make a critical choice: steal the confession now while Matthias is weakened and distracted, or wait until nightfall for better cover but risk him recovering or reinforcements arriving.
Option A—Immediate Theft: Requires creating a distraction and succeeding at a Great (+4) Stealth check to enter the sanctuary without detection. Sister Calantha has Good (+3) Notice. The guards remain outside but patrol regularly (Fair +2 Notice). Characters can invoke aspects like Shadow of Doubt or Desperate Times for bonuses. Failure means confrontation or alarm.
Option B—Wait for Night: Matthias sleeps in the sanctuary. A Fair (+2) Burglary check opens the chapel's side door. However, Sister Calantha keeps vigil in prayer (reduced to Average +1 Notice due to candlelight and meditation). Additionally, a second group of figures—Silvana's other team or rival thieves—arrives at midnight, forcing the players to act fast or compete directly.
Option C—Convince Matthias: Characters might attempt to speak with the dying man directly using Empathy or Rapport against his Great (+4) Committed to Confession aspect. Success requires genuinely compelling arguments about mercy, consequences, or alternative justice. This creates a moral scene rather than a heist.
Sister Calantha
The climax unfolds based on player choices and methods:
Ending One—Clean Escape: The players successfully steal the confession and escape Millford Cross without violence or exposure. However, they must decide what to do with it. Opening the case reveals the confession names not just criminals but also Father Gregor, a priest who distributed smuggled medicine during the plague, saving hundreds. The players must choose: deliver it to their employer, destroy it, or find a third option. This choice defines the adventure's moral resolution.
Ending Two—The Confrontation: If discovered or if rival thieves arrive, the scene becomes a tense three-way standoff in the chapel. Matthias, exhausted but determined, makes an impassioned plea about guilt, redemption, and facing consequences. Sister Calantha protects him physically. The rivals demand the confession at swordpoint. Players must navigate with skills, aspects, and creativity:
Ending Three—The Death: If players delay too long or scenes become especially stressful, Matthias succumbs to his illness before the confession is delivered. Sister Calantha finds the document and must decide its fate. She becomes the new obstacle—one motivated by duty to truth rather than personal gain. Players might steal it from her, convince her of greater good, or escort her to the Cardinal themselves, fundamentally changing the mission.
Each ending should have consequences revealed in denouement: Silvana's reaction, the fate of those named, or news from the capital about investigations beginning or ending.
Silvana the Broker Information merchant and debt collector. Motivated by leverage—she wants the confession to control those named within, not to deliver justice.
Matthias Vendar Dying merchant, mid-50s, gaunt from wasting sickness. Seeks redemption through confession despite knowing it will destroy others. Motivated by making peace with his god before death.
Sister Calantha Village priestess, 40s, warm but perceptive. Protects those seeking sanctuary and believes in redemption through truth. Motivated by duty to the suffering and to divine law.
Captain Wymar Leader of the merchant guards, practical veteran. Will follow contract but won't die for it. Motivated by completing jobs professionally and getting paid.
Father Gregor (mentioned only) Priest named in the confession who smuggled medicine during the plague. Represents the moral complication—someone who broke laws for righteous reasons.
Milestone: Characters should achieve a significant milestone for completing the adventure, reflecting how this morally complex job changes them.
Material Rewards: Silvana pays 200 silver marks per character if they deliver the confession. The confession itself could be worth far more to various parties—or worthless if destroyed. Guards carry simple weapons and 20 silver marks each.
Aspect Rewards: Characters might gain or evolve aspects based on their choices: The Confession Haunts Me, Did What Had to Be Done, Chose Mercy Over Money, or Keeper of Dangerous Secrets. These become plot hooks for future adventures.
Reputation: Consequences ripple based on player choices. Delivering to Silvana earns her favor but potential enemies among those exposed. Destroying it might earn priestly gratitude but Silvana's enmity. Creative solutions generate unique outcomes the GM should develop.
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