Spoilers ahead . . .You have been warned! A Missing Antiquarian (12 pages, free/pay what you want at DriveThruRPG) is a fantasy mystery adventure for Vaesen, but I used 7th Sea Second Edition. To create my solo engine, I combined a yes/maybe/no oracle with The Adventurer’s Tarot: The Empress Deck Rules (6 pages, free at the same place). I picked out five entry level characters for this fun adventure. The adventure started when the PCs received a letter. It was sent by Erik, from the village of Balsta. Erik’s fiancé (Hilda) is missing and he wants answers. The first thing the PCs do, when they get to the village, is talk to the locals. There is talk that there is a devil involved and that it is in the woods. Next, the PCs talk to Eric at Hilda’s bookshop. He does not believe in the nonsense about a devil. The PCs want to get into Hilda’s personal quarters which are in the back of the shop. No key can be found, so the PCs want to break the door down. Eric stops them from doing that. At this point, the village is hit with a magic fog and the players find themselves in a magic trap. They try to disarm it but fail. Each PC takes one dramatic wound.

After this, the PCs talk to the village leader and start asking him pointed questions. He immediately goes into defense mode and tells them to leave the village (this was the result of a bad dice roll). So, the PCs go to the woods and look for this devil. Instead of a devil, they find a tiefling bard named Chronos looking for a tavern where he can gamble. The PCs explain to him that the village is looking for a devil and that is the last place he wants to be. Juliana uses this opportunity to pick his pocket (a success). Chronos now wanders off in a different direction. The PCs get hungry, so they sit down and eat in the woods. After this they have an encounter with Hilda the ghost. They try to have a conversation with her, but she attacks. Blair the PC takes damage. So, the PCs head back to the village and it is dark when they get there. Juliana is able to pick the lock. They enter the bookshop. She is not able to pick the door that leads to Hilda’s personal quarters. The players break down the door. They search the books for information about ghosts (a pass result). They search the room for hidden stuff (a fail). At this point it is late and they spend the night right where they are.

At dawn they leave the village and head back to the woods. They are convinced that the body of Hilda will be close to where they saw her ghost. They do find the body and a note in her hand. It seems to incriminate Eric. They miss out on some of the clues at this location (a fail). They take the note back to Eric. The PCs show the note to Eric and other merchants. The PCs ask about the writing style. A merchant says, “That is Anders’ handwriting!”. At this point, Anders shows up and tells them to leave the village. Juliana’s reaction is to pickpocket Anders (a success), but there is a witness, “Thief!”. The PCs give the note to Eric and run out of town. They do manage to escape. Well, things certainly could have gone better, but the PCs did gain a total of thirty gold pieces from the two pickpocket attempts. Maybe you will have better luck. :)