THE CROSSING BEFORE RAIN
A website extra for The Book of Ekrius by Joel Lomnick

A system-neutral adventure prompt. Separate from the novel's events.
Bring your own characters and rules. Set difficulty for your own group.
No balanced combat encounter or complete stat blocks are included.

READ TO THE PLAYERS
Rain is rising beneath a narrow bridge. You carry medicine to a traveler
on the far bank. A ridge path avoids the crossing but adds hours to the
journey. A small queue is waiting for someone else to decide.
What do you do first?

GAME MASTER'S PREPARATION
Decide the bridge's condition and the patient's needs before play.
Make worsening conditions observable. Offer information from inspection
and conversation. Call for checks using your own rules when uncertain
outcomes matter; don't require a roll to learn every ordinary detail.

PEOPLE WITH SOMETHING TO OFFER
A ferryman knows the current but needs to keep his boat intact.
A cart driver can spare rope but fears losing a day's wages.
A child has watched rainwater spill onto the ridge path.
No one knows everything. Each has a reason for the advice they give.

OPEN APPROACHES
Inspect the bridge. Divide the work. Ask for help. Improvise a delivery.
Take the longer path. Support another plan the players invent.
Discuss the visible costs: time, cargo, effort, and obligations.

AFTER THE CROSSING
Record who received the medicine, who carried a cost, and who helped.
Leave a concrete next task: a repair, a returned favor, or a delivery.
Ask each player what their character noticed that another person missed.

Continue exploring: https://www.lomnickpro.com/ekrius