STORMHAVEN: Maw of Zephyros
A gritty maritime emergency-management & political fantasy adventure for Levels 5–9
EM Game Stormhaven - Digital Download
A storm-god stirs beneath the sea.
Stormhaven is a coastal powerhouse built on shipyards, sea-trade, and hard bargains—until the water turns wrong. The air tastes like iron. The docks begin to fail. Factions blame each other. And from the alleys and temples, a hidden cult whispers the same promise: let the Maw open.
In Stormhaven: Maw of Zephyros, players aren’t just monster-slayers—they’re stabilizers. Each choice can save lives, fracture alliances, or push the city toward collapse as a catastrophic storm entity rises to reclaim the coast.
What makes this module different
A “gamified ICS” structure (without feeling like homework):
The adventure mirrors real emergency-management phases—Preparedness → Response → Recovery → Mitigation—translated into a fantasy crisis with clear operational beats, escalating consequences, and hard tradeoffs.
Three-track pressure system:
• Morale Points (MP): hope, unity, public trust
• Disaster Tokens (DT): chaos, loss, cascading failure
• Influence Points (IP): faction loyalty & political leverage (Guild, Temple, Guard, Dockworkers)
Skill challenges that matter:
Most scenes run on a simple outcome engine (typically 3 successes before 2 failures)—and failure always changes the situation, not just the dice result.
Global condition markers (crisis wear-and-tear):
Examples include Shaken, Exhausted, Bloodied, Broken, Corrupted—representing panic, fatigue, trauma, and prolonged storm exposure.
Adventure structure
• Chapter 1: The Calm Before the Maw — early warning signs, dock panic, strange omens
• Chapter 2: Response — The Storm Breaks — floods, breaches, lightning-tower escalation
• Chapter 3: Recovery — The Tide Recedes — governance fractures, shelters, corruption in the ruins
• Chapter 4: Mitigation — Building for Tomorrow — seawalls, supply depots, drills, sabotage
• Chapter 5: The Breath of Zephyros (Final Confrontation) — cult champions, storm elementals, the Avatar’s arrival
Included content
• A complete playable module with escalating scenes and clear round-by-round beats
• Appendix A: NPCs (leaders, operators, faith figures, fixers)
• Appendix B: Monsters (storm-touched threats + risk-profile flavor)
• Appendix C: Printable pre-generated characters (ready-to-run team)
• Map of Stormhaven (faction districts & key locations)
What you need to play
Core: dice, paper, imagination, and a GM (screen/notebook recommended).
System: written to run cleanly with 5e-compatible play (PHB/DMG/MM optional for expanded support).
Tone & themes
Storm-tossed realism. Political friction. Hard choices.
This is a city-on-the-edge story where “winning” often means choosing what to save—and living with what you couldn’t.