Steal This Side Quest: Smuggler's shipment goes missing [Augury]

[@DannyboyO1]

I love the "You chose to be paid in coin, and he chose wrath." line.

[@aspenmavera9904]

I want it on a T-shirt so bad

[@XCrawlFan]

I was thinking "Pain" but 'Wrath' is better.

[@ProCrastiVisionJRD]

Big fan of Augury, I love the idea of a crime boss who doesn't even need to fight the party to oppose them if they cross her. You think any shopkeeper in the city will sell to an adventuring party on her shitlist? Corrupt guards to make passage in and out of the gates a hassle every time and being generally unhelpful. Rumours spread about the taverns about their reputation so even the reputable innkeepers are reluctant to put them up for the night. Honestly what can the party do short of openly trying to attack her (unwise), leave the city, or go back and make a new deal?

[@Hedge_Knight_Gaming]

That kind of scenario actually happened in my last campaign, where one of the players ended up pissing off the region's organized crime family and getting a bounty put on them/a black mark placed on their head. As much as the people in the region liked our party, they also weren't willing to risk their families' livelihood by defying orders, with the exception of one innkeeper who we had saved from certain death earlier in the campaign.

[@HookupCulture]

Spending a few levels, working to undermine or find dirt on a crimelord sounds awesome. So they'd probably do just that. Crime is rarely a venture that leaves one without enemies. Surely there are other crimelords who would enjoy extending thier reach, or good guys willing to ensure hardship to clean up this city. This is also DnD, where Good Aligned God's actively work in the world....as do Evil Aligned ones. So much you can do with this.

[@glenndallas7171]

I like how many different directions this can go. A lot of adventures only offer a few options, and this one can swing wildly depending on player choices. Your best one yet!

[@dontorres8037]

Just curious how were were able to reply "3 days" ago when the video was released just yesterday... o_O

[@glenndallas7171]

@@dontorres8037 Patreon backers get early access to videos.

[@dontorres8037]

@@glenndallas7171 OH YEAH! >.< I forgot about that...

[@emmabagley9349]

No kidding, I literally saw Augury's POV video today and thought, "She's one of my favorite NPC's. It would be cool if Ginny used her for a side quest."

[@pavarottiaardvark3431]

Tracks: "I'll split the bounty with you!" My Dwarf Mercenary: "I was hoping you'd say that" Tracks: "So we have a deal?" My Dwarf: "No, it's just that Augury has a standing offer of doubling all attempted bribes....."

[@squidminion3801]

"the only different is that you chose to be paid in gold and he chose to be paid in wrath" damn! I love that you've left it so open, to fit with every and any party!

[@kpiwashalt]

I really like the "Steal This Side Quest" series, especially the setup with them always being built around one of your already well-defined characters. In this particular case I have some issues with Tracks' motivation - if Augury is such a powerful and resentful enemy why would he risk his connection to her on such a dangerous and hard to pull through opportunity; especially if he took the great risk of being her double agent beforehand? In my opinion he needs some additional boost to his motivation. Maybe he is indebted to another big player in the underworld for which he was playing triple agent all along. Or maybe he recently made a pact with Levistos, the Archdevil of Betrayal and is too eager to please his new patron - in this case he could become a first level spellcaster knowing some basic warlock spells (Eldritch Blast, Armor of Agathys, Hellish Rebuke).

[@EvelynFTTE]

With the warlock idea, it would be easy to scale him up by increasing his levels in Warlock, making him a bigger threat to higher level players

[@guybuckridge7326]

Agreed. His behavior was so suspect that I was expecting a Dragon Egg. Another angle too could be an issue with Augury herself. I picture a background where his person is a little too memorable around town and he has spent a lot of time in virtual banishment - and then the incident. Her reprimand for failure was too harsh and set him off to make a deal with the Bandits (identifying a buyer). For me he couldn't have done the deal ahead of time or he would have just left with the bandits after the first raid.

[@euansmith3699]

The Warlock idea is great. Making a pact offers a quick way to power; so it really suits the personality of a dodgy gezzer, like Tracks. Actually, having a Big Bad Fiend who offers out pacts to bad guys could be a great way to establish a champaign; called something like "Against the Cult of the Deceiver God". The PCs keep running in to villains from all sorts of different backgrounds, all with Warlock spells and abilities. It could offer a lot of variety and an escalating threat level, as the PCs sleuth and kill their way towards to Big Bad.

[@evelynnsophia7631]

Another simple alternative if you don't want to go too deep with details is that maybe Augury isn't treating/paying him well currently, and someone saw him with the egg and contacted him offering a lot of gold? Possibly the bandits you meet in the woods are who bought it and he turned to them for help with disposing the party?

[@danielmclellan1522]

My first thought was Glasya being involved, somehow. Tracks was coerced into this situation (possibly with the promise of power, as you speculated, promises of wealth, threats of harm, etc. It doesn't really matter what he was promised by Glasya's Mr. Johnson, just that he couldn't pass up the opportunity) to make Augury paranoid enough to turn to HER (and possibly turn her organization into a cult dedicated to the Daughter of Asmodeus), because clearly Augury's usual pawns are proving unreliable.

[@anthonystike6034]

I love the Momma Wyvern coming looking for her egg. That would actually be funny to run. Especially if she can't find it and goes chasing the party all over your world.

[@merck__]

I recently used two of your elf NPCs/quests for a game that happened to be the day before Valentine's day. Specifically the love potion gone wrong and the dead poet quests. Everyone was raving about how amazing of a session it was afterwards.

[@CrispysTavern]

Tracking makes for surprisingly compelling quests if you know how to flavor the surroundings. If you can make it compelling, the slow burn of hunting down your enemy is pretty damn thrilling. Sidente: I used Augury in one of my games and she was a hit with players to say the least.

[@westaylor1489]

Starting a campaign as DM for the first time in several years (other than 1 shots for children) I might be farming the Steal this Sidequest series for content. These are always so incredible.

[@foxfire7]

Yeah I can totally see one of my player groups grabbing this quest and them getting harassed from the air by the Wyvern after it destroyed the bony bird. (And Augury paying extra if they capture the Wyvern for her instead)

[@annbrookens945]

You're so inventive! You've given a solid basis with a wild range of options, limited only by the individual dm and players! And the ad was absurdly cute!

[@Enn-]

It's good to see more people recognizing your just how brilliant Ginny is.

[@solypoly96]

I just started a homebrewed campaign set in a port city, this couldn't have come in more clutch! Thank you for the excellent side quests as always

[@GinnyDi]

Hey friends! I've gotten a few questions about Tracks' motivations, so I've added a section to the document explaining it in case it comes up: docs.google.com/document/d/1WuSTHm0Lf9Q_KkRDzp5naAJ_KfHY4MIQQoooOCo2maE/edit?usp=sharing Hope this helps!

[@oOPPHOo]

This is perfect! Running an urban adventure soon with a heavy focus on various criminal factions including the thieves' guild itself which acts as a sort of neutral agent between all the more mafia-esque factions. I'll have to tweak the adventure to assure it takes place entirely within city walls, but it seems like such a change should be super super. Thanks a bunch for the hard work!

[@samcole3795]

Oh my god I was literally in the process of planning a quest with a wyvern egg and having trouble with some of the specifics, this had eerily good timing

[@mitchellcarter3547]

This quest is actually perfect for me I had an idea for a quest similar to it but you supplied a great character and more options I’ll definitely use. Great video as always.

[@preacherjohn]

Nice side quest! :) .. Your cosplay as Augury is top-notch, and her voice and mannerisms are just perfect! Such a great baddie! :)

[@shadowvampwolf]

ommmggg thank u ginny. this is a perfect side quest for my Ravnica and Eberron setting Questmarch campaign!! i have a minor story thread this will fit perfectly into!

[@Jasonwfd]

Love this series! That dice set looks really cool, Wisteria is adorable, and Augury has incredible big scary mommy vibes. Keep up the great work!

[@SweetLitzLM]

Now that you mentioned Augury is a lesbian it changed my thought from "My character would have a crush on her" to "my character would actuallt try to make a move on the mafia boss"

[@adele4172]

I love these "Steal This Side Quest" series! Such great inspiration for a new DM like me. Thanks Ginny!

[@CharlieStuff407]

I love how you created Augury's voice!!! It's perfect!!

[@andydamato5357]

Wow I really liked this! I'm working on a Grim Hollow campaign and will use this for the Ebon Syndicate. Thank you for putting this together! It has a good story hook, reward, lots of things that can go wrong, and varied outcome. Perfect quest design!

[@Joanropo]

Honestly, this is my favorite part of your channel. Quality content!

[@Maninawig]

1. "Oh, you want him back alive? Good thing I can cast Spare the Dying" 2. Augery sounds like a powerful ally to have if you need magical or rare items. 3. I did not find it, but do you have/can you make a video on how you made those horns?

[@puglyredpanda4842]

This is such a great plot - thank you very much. This idea fixes a problem I have with the beginning of a campaign I want to play with my players: we normally play pathfinder, but I wanted to try an experiment and add a "Monster Hunter" guild, just like in the video games... And with this plot, I will start the first adventure to bring the characters in the story. Thanks a lot. As I know my players, they will try to make friends with Auguri 😅

[@MRPokePlays_]

This is really good! One of the biggest cities of the campaign I’m planning has two rival bandit gorupes. One of them is led by a guy called Viktor and the other one “Ê Baronês” (in portuguese we have a gendered binary language and I wanted a gender-neutral “baroness” to be the second bandit to be agender, so I invented the word). I figured they could eventually ally with either of them and, even though I had a quest for Viktor, I wasn’t quite sure what to do about the Baronês, since they are considerably more powerful than Viktor. But, their personality is so similar to Augury’s that I might just steal the quest! Thanks!

[@luiseveigel849]

I literally just started hissing happily, dunno what’s happening to me. Anyways, I love this format and am always thrilled about the amazing ideas it gives me. Thank you, Ginny!!

[@Centinull]

Ran this sidequest last weekend. The players loved it. Had them meet the Tiefling Merchant, hired them, and sent them along with the Tabaxi Guard. Tabasxi Guard is shady and betrays them when bandits ambush. They beat the bandits and captured the Tabaxi. On the ride back to town had them ambushed by the Griffon Mama and the Tabaxi rolled a nat 20 and escaped. They tracked him through the woods and were able to recapture him. They delivered the egg and Tabaxi to the merchant and I threw in a little treasure that acts as a story hook for a future adventure. Really hope you make more of these side quests. I plan on adapting and running the "Undead Attack" sidequest in the near future as well.

[@christopherpelech5509]

Next to the pov rp videos your steal this sidequests videos are to me the most useful content you make. Legit can take one and be prepped for a game in a total of like 15 minutes. So useful. Weirdly I found these videos so much more approachable than if it was a written adventure.

[@GinnyDi]

I'm so happy to hear that! These videos don't do very well for me, but the people who like them seem to really like them, at least!

[@greg-1195]

This is great, running a campaign in Wildemount right now and I planned to have Augury replace the Gentleman in Zadash. Between this and Bard Behind Bars it should be a great introduction to her as an NPC.

[@vodostar9134]

Augury is such great villain/quest-giver. Good job on this.

[@zeevorourke6876]

Yes! I've been waiting for another of these videos! You're awesome!

[@LoneWolffanwriter]

Don't know how this ended up on my recommended list, but between this and Augury's interview video, you've earned a subscriber. Love this character, and looking forward to the rest of your videos.

[@eriklundstrom1336]

Yo. I love this! No other DnD KZbinr is doing anything like this! Would also love a "Steal a puzzle" video cause puzzles are freaking hard! Thanks again! You're the best!

[@AnHourOfWolves]

You do a lot of work for these vids. Thanks for sharing!

[@WhatIfBrigade]

Thanks for sharing! This might be a little too basic, but Augury as a character/patron helps.

[@sunborn2477]

This is incredible! I adore Augury and this whole quest is so wonderfully thought out--thank you so much!

[@ourdorkyfamily523]

I really like this one, simple yet impactful. I like the idea of using Augury as a recurring NPC for the right campaign

[@rosascreativeworks5403]

I like the Augury idea, and I like the idea of having the Augury under the control of an Elder Brain when the players are ready to move on.... ooooo. Picked that one up from some comments on other videos. 😜

[@brunoboccardo3358]

This is amazing! Thank you for making it available!

[@shawnwolf5961]

Loving these and appreciate the scale-UP ideas moreso than the scale down ones. In my experience, it is far harder to scale a quest or adventure for a high level party than a low level one, and personally I love higher level gameplay (I say this as a DM. I'm the odd one, I know). Great series so far!

[@Babeatrice]

I’m a simple human.. I see Ginny D as tiefling I click immediately

[@rosascreativeworks5403]

ROFL! Gotta love Ginny! 😍

[@TJennings72]

Ginni, These are amazing, and so is this series. I'd love to see more of this. Thank you so much!!

[@dastard12]

I haven't been a fan of most of your videos I've stumbled upon but this one completely changed my opinion of your content. This is a really cool side story and the premise of these types of video is really helpful/useful for a new dm. Thanks, I'll rewatch your other videos with this new light

[@hollyneal355]

Another absolute diamond! Thanks Ginny! 💙

[@j.a.mallard7826]

Oh my gosh, from the interview POV video I've LOVED Augury. Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to use her in a side quest for our games. I run a futuristic game called Genefunk 2090(which basically takes the world of Shadowrun and puts it in a d20 system) and seeing this video has really given me inspiration for literally the next session. Upon watching this video, I literally was like "Yes, I will steal this side quest....with some tweaks" Thank you Ginny and I can't wait to see what other videos you share with us.

[@j.a.mallard7826]

Update on my campaign, Players freaking loved Augury. I had a blast playing her and everyone loved the mission. She is now a well established character in my game and I can't wait to see how this story evolves. Part of me wishes I had done your 'Bard behind Bars' adventure first but still. Again, thank you Ginny for allowing us to use your original characters. It definitely has made filling my world with people so much easier.

[@monsieurdorgat6864]

A lot of cool twists to this! My only thought is that I generally think it's better to use more passive scores and specify detrimental results if players fail checks. If you don't want players to get a detrimental result from failing the check, use a passive score to determine success/failure. The results of a failed skill check should be just as important and impactful as succeeding.

[@TheNanoNinja]

I used Wisteria Appledackle in one of my campaigns with great success. I have thought about a campaign where the PC's are "couriers." Delivering dubious things to just a dubious people. This fits the theme.

[@AuthoritativeNewsNetwork]

I was waiting for "the wagon was ambushed by bandits...not under my employ." I may have also made Marrow something more akin to a Familiar that allowed Augury to use something similar to the Warlocks Voice of the Chain Master, possible linked to the Amulet of the Auspices. Not necessary telling the Players, a small test on her part.

[@hermitda2640]

Loved it. Augury reminds me of Liz Hurley's devil character in Bedazzled

[@blackdragoness21]

Thank you for the idea! I tried this side quest last session and so far it's going really well. My players discovered Tracks's attempt to decieve the party, and we're going to start combat next week. I can't wait to see what they do! Oh, and I threw a monkey wrench in the quest. Augury's buyer was murdered, and she didn't know it.

[@ragnarrocksoft9096]

I dropped this into my shadowrun game, and with mostly system and cosmetic adaptations it worked out great as a neat short run for a session I hadn't properly prepped for. So thanks a lot

[@PyranhaSmile]

I love this! My players already seem to really enjoy your "Bard behind bars" oneshot (we played it at New Year's Eve) and they managed to be so incredebly bad at Augurys task, that I think they will be afraid to get under her eyes ever again :D Well, in this case, they will have no choice! Thank you so much for your work. You brought us into dnd and we enjoy your content ever since. :)

[@goingpostale]

dang Augury is so intimidating! love that about her!!

[@Eyerleth]

I LOVE this series idea!c Ginny, you're awesome!

[@dhavaram8064]

This is an awesome sidequest and Augury is such a great character! I love her and hate her all at once.

[@7Ddog7]

Augury seems like the exact kind of npc my players will fall in love with

[@American_Mike]

Your Bards for sure!

[@kpurple24]

I used this in my game tonight! My characters needed gold, so the tavernkeeper connected them with Augury. They handled the bandits followed up by a wyvern really easily--I could have bumped up the challenge level for them a bit (4 level 5s). Our halfling monk even ended up accidentally riding the wyvern! Everyone had a great time. Thanks for sharing!

[@rosascreativeworks5403]

Ha! That's great! Go halfling monk!!! 😜😂

[@sithlord1782]

I LOVE these videos. One could probably build an entire campaign with enough of these and some tweaking.

[@davidwatches]

These sidequests are absolute gems!

[@crystinapierce6833]

I really wish there was more of these. They’re so useful for those of us who get discouraged by modules.

[@aaronhobson7674]

I was hoping one of these would come out literally just earlier this morning. Niiiicee

[@henryeowens]

Finally ran this as a one-shot. The party was level five, so I added some Thugs to the bandit group. I also leaned into Augury’s creepy sorcerer aspect. It worked great. Thanks for this. 🙂

[@patkenney7226]

You're simply amazing. So artistic, creative and articulate.

[@1987jaffa]

Very cool quest, i'm definitely going to steal this. One of my players wanted to play a character with ties to a criminal organisation, so i made one with a 'gentleman'-like mob boss for him to report to from time to time. That would basically be my Augury for our campaign.

[@fabianmaulick804]

This is absolutely amazing, I love it and am gonna use it.. maybe after the next session or depending how the party goes soon after. Thank you!

[@cordial001]

I love these types of videos. I'm often a bit concerned that quests I drop into games will fall into a pattern, so "stealing" other people's is great to avoid that.

[@ec1ipse568]

I absolutely love this adventure, I will definitely be incorporating it into my game!

[@MarkWomack11]

This is super helpful. Love the ability to drop this stuff in a campaign.

[@AAAndrew]

I ran a similar one-shot as an introduction to the world I was creating for our next long campaign. The "lost" package was coming by sea, and the party were a "special projects" team of the smuggling captain. (think the criminal version of The A Team) This allowed our party to get some special capabilities. It became a heist caper once they arrived in the port and local contacts had narrowed down to a pair of warehouses where the package could be. They're now in our long campaign playing different characters in the same world, and the smuggling is impacting other lands and what is being smuggled is increasingly dangerous and mysterious.

[@Frederic_S]

I love this series. Would watch a sidequest-video every week.

[@__Rodrigo__]

Ginny im writing a novel... Maybe a book i dont really know yet BUT i inspire myself a lot on you and this " steal this sidequest " is amazing if i ever sell my work and it got famous i'll put a BIG thanks to you

[@texan8580]

Thank you for this! I've just started an evil campaign for my group. It's set in Eberron, but Augury is totally going to be a smuggler in The Crags of Sharn if not the wilds of Q'Bara. I wanted some way to get the group's name out before becoming involved with bigger baddies but still be up to shennanigans. Totally going to see about incorporating this job into the campaign and making Augury an ally to the group.

[@SirGeoGio13]

This is my favorite one yet! I was wondering if the next one could also be similar in nature? I have seen a ton of combat and RP heavy quests, but not a lot that have any level of intrigue, unlike yours.

[@manon4898]

I love really love this series and the thoughts and effort you put to the videos. I already adapted some of the side quest ideas you gave for my Witcher Pen and paper RPG campaign and it was so cool ! Thank you for your work 🥰

[@danielmclellan1522]

Glad to hear I'm not the only one gleefully adapting all the hard work she's done for us, into the Witcher universe! Given the limited (but pretty good considering how little there's been) amount of official stuff that RTS came out with, Ginny has been an absolute life-saver.

[@manon4898]

@@danielmclellan1522 Yes it is ! I totally agree !

[@captianbacon]

I personally love this and honestly It's really inspiring as I'm brewing a rouges gallery style campaign in a vast city with multiple factions that rival eachother...

[@garrettmartin4750]

This is the video that gets my sub. I'm running a Death Race/Madd Maxx style campaign, and I live this smuggling adventure.

[@bluebutler2008]

oooo this is amazing!! im a new dm and im definitely stealing this side quest and using augury as a recurring npc!! im thinking of even making her, not the MAIN villian, but a pretty big baddie :) i will have to mess with her statblock/character sheet since i cant afford the patreon

[@Vampyre_Bytes]

I might just convert this for use in other genres. I already have the case idea for Cyberpunk, which is my most played genre right now. Thank you!

[@maggiedean5691]

I'm using this as base template for the sprawl. It's so cool.

[@Random_Gamer-sh6pf]

The framework of this quest is perfect for the lead up to a major bossfight. I just gotta change Augury to a more story relevant NPC, the wyvern egg to a dragon egg, and add a few extra bandits, and i should be good!

[@New2DM2]

My party JUST did work for her in Bard Behind Bars... and they LOVED it, BTW. Although the very morale Monk in the group did a recap afterwards and was like, "We're going to have to reconsider taking assignments from her in the future."

[@ledhyper4282]

I'll definitely check out those dice, Wisteria is my favorite character of the Ginnyverse

[@yuna_bean]

thank you so much for these 🙏 my players always love these

[@terranmorrow2552]

YESS YOU POSTED ANOTHER SIDE QUEST! IM SOOO HAPPPY!

[@Grinnar]

This is really good. Wyvern momma coming to get the egg back if the party takes Tracks up on his offer, but this is after they fight him a second time and decide to find his fence.

[@blazingphoenixxi2651]

I'm going to use this story and have Augury be a continueing charater in my friends and I campaign. thanks a ton.

[@BelegaerTheGreat]

*This is a quest is great in its simplicity!*

[@hatecake23]

I'm running a Ghosts of Saltmarsh campaign, and both this adventure and Augury's personality would be awesome to assign to Captain Xendros.

[@brucebennett5338]

as both a player and a dm, i luv luv g di's ideas and advice. yay! :)

[@sophiawilliams3558]

This is so awesome! I totally want to use this, thank you x100000000 💕

[@Maverick55Moose]

I think I will use this as a skin for a similar quest. Thanks for this!

[@ronniejdio9411]

This Augry get up ... wow. I never thought I'd see one I liked better than the zantana but this is pretty amazing

[@validtangent]

Another episode of the best series!

[@EclipseAtDusk]

I just realized Augury’s been the baddie in my campaign with my neighbors this whole time - we just stopped you from taking control of a black cave dragon!!!

[@italknonsensefulness]

Giiny D! Love this series! Definitely need more of them

[@tyredsauce]

Whelp, here's another side quest that I'll manage to turn into a major plot point in my campaign somehow.

[@ZachEngelman]

These are my favorite videos you do.