Tipsters

Tipsters and Key Locations

When visiting a town, your party will inevitably chat up the local Tipster. The title, taken from Final Fantasy 15, simply means someone who knows the goings on in and around town. They may be the local tavern owner, a gatekeeper, or even a noble, but they should be someone easy for the party to access.

When your party chats up the tipster, make it clear they can ask for the latest information about the area. This can come at a cost like Zenit, or by way of doing a favor for the Tipster, but Tipsters should generally be free to get information from. You want your players to be able to investigate these goings on after all.

This method assumes you have a map that the players are actively using to travel about. This can be the World Map you designed as part of session 0, a local area map, a hex grid map, etc. The main requirement is that the map is large enough to cover multiple travel days in at least two directions. You don’t want to cluster all your locations together so the party can visit them all in a single day!

Getting Tips

When the party gets the information, roll 6d6. The party will get a tip for every 1 or 6 rolled. If the party has a Wayfarer, you may allow them to apply the effect of Well-Traveled to one or more of the dice, reducing the value by one. Each tip is placed 1~3 travel days away from the location the Tipster is found at.

Optionally, when a tip is placed on the map the Gamemaster may decide that travel into, out of, or through that hex, location, or square on the map won’t require a travel roll. These tips are essentially scouting ahead for the going’s on of that area.

6’s - The Hunt

For each 6 you rolled, the party learns of a Hunt going on for a particualr type of monster. This monster is more challenging than the average hunter team has been able to defeat, which makes it a good target for adventurers like the party. Optionally, choose a die that didn’t result in a tip and use the following table to explain why this monster is so difficulty for others to take down.

Die	Reason
2	The Monster has made a lair for itself that gives it an edge while defending itself. (Perhaps that lair has a clock to remove this advantage?)
3	The Monster is older and more powerful than others of it’s kind, and has learned from it’s experiences. (Use a monster the party fought before, but increase it’s Rank a few notches.)
4	The Monster is native to another region and has entirely different elemental and physical abilities, making it new and dangerous to hunt.
5	The Monster has a large herd or pack, making it difficult to truly eliminate them all.

1’s - The Sights

For each 1 you rolled, the party learns of a useful place in the area. These are effectively discoveries, though they can be somewhat weaker in value to make sure proper discoveries are still exciting events.

When creating a sight, it’s important to think about why it’s still there. You should assume that other adventurers will have heard of this same sight and have visited it, so it shouldn’t be a single item to be found in the woods (unless it has some kind of Guardian, perhaps). Sights are often rooted to a location, preventing them from being taken away.

Similar to above, you can optionally choose a die that didn’t result in a tip and use the following table to spark your imagination.

Die	Reason
2	A cache of resources that would benefit Tinkerer’s, Gourmets, Ritual Casters, or people using supplies as part of Camp Activities.
3	A known camp site or safe haven shared by the local community, so it can be used to rest in the wilderness without paying for a tent.
4	A dungeon or place of danger that might still have treasures to unearth, for anyone brave enough to enter it.
5	A specialist who works outside of town whose services might be helpful, such a blacksmith, biologist, or archaeologist.