{ "formatVersion": 1, "type": "dungeonbox-quest", "manifest": { "createdWithVersion": "0.19", "authorName": "King Pungy", "createdUtc": "2026-10-23T20:07:22.755208Z", "modifiedUtc": "2026-10-23T20:07:22.755208Z", "publishedFileId": "0" }, "quest": { "id": "user.one_last_job_probably", "questId": "user.one_last_job_probably", "enabled": true, "title": "One Last Job, Probably", "description": "One cursed item, three rival crews, and a fixer who promised it to everyone. Draw what they are fighting over, then steal it, sell it, expose the job, or make a better offer.", "fullDetails": "A freeform comic-fantasy heist. Pell Quill hires the party to steal a cursed item called the Second Chance from Madam Vex's magic shop. Three rival crews also want it: Captain Marra's off-duty watch officers, Nix's roof-runners, and Mother Tallow's counterfeit pilgrims. Their leaders start in the square, on the roof, and in the sewer respectively. They may travel, bargain, betray, withdraw, or be defeated in response to what actually happens. Never teleport a rival into a scene solely to force a confrontation.\n\nThe hidden facts are fixed: the item is not a wish-granter. Deliberately activating it transfers one plausible imminent accident from its bearer to the nearest other living creature; ties are random. It cannot create wealth, undo an established death, control minds, or guarantee survival. A transfer leaves both people tasting copper and the item grows hot. Show evidence before revealing certainty. Reading Vex's ledger or a controlled experiment can expose the mechanism. Players can attempt any other use; adjudicate it consistently rather than inventing new powers for convenience.\n\nPell owes all three crews money and secretly promised each the item; he wants it to survive an arranged duel. Vex bought it knowingly but has not used it; her ledger records the danger and she will sell it, surrender it under credible pressure, or bargain for help destroying it. Marra wants evidence against Pell and initially assumes the item could save injured officers. Nix wants payment to release an indebted sibling; money or another credible rescue plan can win Nix over. Tallow wants to stage miracles and charge admission; exposure threatens her business. Each crew has a few ordinary accomplices, not an endless army. Introduce accomplices only as needed and remember their fate. Brass, the shop guard, obeys Vex but can be deceived, disabled, negotiated with, or destroyed.\n\nThe shop can be entered through the street door, roof hatch, or sewer grate. These are opportunities, not mandatory beats. The party can instead negotiate, alert the watch, join a rival, rob Pell, expose the fraud, abandon the job, or improvise another goal. Established obstacles can be bypassed by convincing alternatives. There is no compulsory theft, betrayal, combat, drawing, boss encounter, or scripted ending. Suggested complications such as a rival arriving or an alarm drawing attention happen only when supported by time, noise, clues, and player choices. Never reset a resolved obstacle or resurrect an NPC. No named character, party member, coin, or location has plot armor. Destruction, arrest, flight, injury and death persist.\n\nTrack who has the item, what each faction knows and wants, debts paid or unpaid, alarms, access routes, injuries, destroyed objects, and promises. The item begins intact in the shop's display case and is unique. If destroyed with an effective method, its magic ends; do not conjure another. Award success once the party settles the item's fate or an alternative clearly chosen objective and deals with the immediate fallout. Delivery, return, sale, exposure, destruction, or a negotiated settlement can each succeed. Failure requires established consequences, such as the party being defeated or an explicitly chosen goal becoming impossible; do not declare failure just for refusing Pell. Leaving the town and the job behind is a valid resolved outcome. Never perform an action for the party or force a predetermined plot.\n\nPLAYER INPUT: The Second Chance has no predetermined shape, material, size, or cosmetic details. Do not call it a coin or describe its physical form before the shop_inside discovery drawing round. Keep it concealed until that round. Players draw it and vote; the winning design establishes its appearance and the name remains the Second Chance. Incorporate that appearance consistently and adapt the display and practical handling sensibly. The drawing changes appearance, not its established magic; depicted guns, wings, or extra powers do not automatically become functional. If drawings are disabled, explicitly ask players to describe its appearance before revealing it. Do not force anyone to steal or use it. The discovery round is an introduction in shop_inside; do not repeat it on revisits.", "characters": [], "firstSceneId": "tavern", "scenes": { "tavern": { "id": "tavern", "displayName": "The Last Sensible Drink", "environmentId": "Tavern", "description": "A noisy tavern. Pell Quill has reserved a booth, six empty glasses, and three different disguises.", "characters": [ { "id": "pell", "characterId": "Bard", "displayName": "Pell Quill", "info": "A charming, frightened fixer who owes all three crews money. Offers 60 gold for the Second Chance, negotiable. Wants its magic for an upcoming duel. He lies badly when asked who else he hired; he is neither protected nor omniscient.", "type": "Canvas" } ], "introMessages": [ { "id": "last_job_offer", "allowResponses": true, "visibleCharacters": [ "pell" ], "dialogueLines": [ { "text": "A sweating fixer slides a sketch of a sealed display case across your table. Outside, three suspicious groups pretend not to watch the same magic shop.", "speaker": null }, { "text": "One item. One quiet job. Probably the last job either of us will ever need. Interested?", "speaker": "pell" } ] } ], "objects": [ { "id": "pell_contract", "displayName": "Three Copies of a Contract", "description": "Pell has used three different names on three nearly identical contracts.", "type": "Searchable", "initialState": "Unsearched", "searchableItems": [ { "itemId": "rival_contracts", "displayName": "Duplicate Contracts", "description": "Each promises the same cursed item to a different crew. Pell owes money to all three.", "perceptionDC": 11 } ] } ], "connections": [ { "targetSceneId": "square", "spatialHint": "out through the tavern doors into the town square" }, { "targetSceneId": "shop_front", "spatialHint": "across the street toward the magic shop" } ] }, "square": { "id": "square", "displayName": "A Very Crowded Stakeout", "environmentId": "TownSquare", "description": "A fountain divides the square. Off-duty watch officers wait nearby, conspicuously pretending to be tourists.", "characters": [ { "id": "marra", "characterId": "Paladin", "displayName": "Captain Marra", "info": "Leader of the off-duty watch crew. Wants proof of Pell's fraud and believes the item might protect injured officers. Can cooperate if shown evidence. Ordinary mortal; loyalty and priorities respond to events.", "type": "Canvas" } ], "introMessages": [ { "id": "marra_arrival", "allowResponses": true, "visibleCharacters": [ "marra" ], "dialogueLines": [ { "text": "An officer folds a tourist map upside down. Her companions stop pretending to admire the fountain.", "speaker": null }, { "text": "If Pell sent you, we should compare promises before somebody does something expensive.", "speaker": "marra" } ] } ], "objects": [ { "id": "duel_notice", "displayName": "Duel Notice", "description": "A public notice names Pell Quill in a duel scheduled for tomorrow. It is evidence of his motive, not a round timer.", "type": "Interactive", "initialState": "Open" }, { "id": "market_crowd", "displayName": "Market Crowd", "description": "A shifting crowd offers cover, witnesses, rumours and potential collateral damage.", "type": "Interactive", "initialState": "Open" } ], "connections": [ { "targetSceneId": "tavern", "spatialHint": "back into the tavern" }, { "targetSceneId": "shop_front", "spatialHint": "across the square to the magic shop" }, { "targetSceneId": "sewer", "spatialHint": "down the public maintenance stairs into the sewer" } ] }, "shop_front": { "id": "shop_front", "displayName": "Vex and Sundry", "environmentId": "AlleywayStorefrontMagic", "description": "A magic-shop frontage with a sturdy door, a drainpipe, and a low maintenance grate. A sign reads: NO REFUNDS FOR PROPHECIES.", "characters": [], "introMessages": [ { "id": "shop_front_arrival", "allowResponses": true, "visibleCharacters": [], "dialogueLines": [ { "text": "The shop sign creaks above a locked door. A drainpipe reaches the roof; warm air leaks through a street-level grate. A bell inside rings once, although nobody touched it.", "speaker": null } ] } ], "objects": [ { "id": "street_door", "displayName": "Shop Door", "description": "A locked street door. Vex can open it from inside if someone asks.", "type": "Obstacle", "initialState": "Locked", "skillChecks": [ { "id": "pick_street_door", "skill": "Lockpicking", "difficultyClass": 12, "description": "Pick the street door lock", "successStateChange": "Open" }, { "id": "force_street_door", "skill": "Strength", "difficultyClass": 15, "description": "Force the door, making substantial noise", "successStateChange": "Open" } ] }, { "id": "drainpipe", "displayName": "Old Drainpipe", "description": "A climbable route to the roof. Its brackets are loose but visible.", "type": "Obstacle", "initialState": "Closed", "skillChecks": [ { "id": "climb_drainpipe", "skill": "Strength", "difficultyClass": 10, "description": "Climb the drainpipe without tearing it away", "successStateChange": "Open" } ] } ], "connections": [ { "targetSceneId": "square", "spatialHint": "back to the town square" }, { "targetSceneId": "tavern", "spatialHint": "across the street to the tavern" }, { "targetSceneId": "shop_inside", "spatialHint": "through the shop door when opened or bypassed" }, { "targetSceneId": "rooftop", "spatialHint": "up the drainpipe or another improvised route" }, { "targetSceneId": "sewer", "spatialHint": "through the maintenance grate or down the public stairs" } ] }, "rooftop": { "id": "rooftop", "displayName": "Professional Courtesy", "environmentId": "TownRooftop", "description": "Rain gutters and steep tiles overlook the shop. A roof-runner waits beside its hatch with a coil of rope.", "characters": [ { "id": "nix", "characterId": "Rogue", "displayName": "Nix", "info": "Leader of the roof-runner crew. Fast, practical, and desperate to buy a sibling out of debt. Wants a real payment or rescue plan, not abstract assurances. May ally, flee, compete or betray based on treatment; has no automatic escape.", "type": "Canvas" } ], "introMessages": [ { "id": "nix_arrival", "allowResponses": true, "visibleCharacters": [ "nix" ], "dialogueLines": [ { "text": "A masked thief raises both hands, keeping one boot hooked around a rope.", "speaker": null }, { "text": "Before we stab anybody: did Pell promise you the item too?", "speaker": "nix" } ] } ], "objects": [ { "id": "roof_hatch", "displayName": "Roof Hatch", "description": "A simple interior bolt holds the hatch. A narrow gap permits tools or inventive approaches.", "type": "Obstacle", "initialState": "Locked", "skillChecks": [ { "id": "open_roof_hatch", "skill": "Lockpicking", "difficultyClass": 11, "description": "Manipulate the roof hatch bolt through the gap", "successStateChange": "Open" } ] }, { "id": "chimney", "displayName": "Cold Chimney", "description": "The cold chimney offers another cramped route, if the party finds a way to fit and descend safely.", "type": "Interactive", "initialState": "Open" } ], "connections": [ { "targetSceneId": "shop_front", "spatialHint": "down to the shop frontage" }, { "targetSceneId": "shop_inside", "spatialHint": "through the opened hatch or a successfully negotiated alternate route" } ] }, "sewer": { "id": "sewer", "displayName": "The Pilgrims Below", "environmentId": "Sewer", "description": "A narrow sewer channel runs beneath the shop. Pilgrim robes hang above the water beside cheap miracle posters.", "characters": [ { "id": "tallow", "characterId": "Cleric", "displayName": "Mother Tallow", "info": "Leader of counterfeit pilgrims. Wants the item to sell apparent miracles. Her followers are ordinary con artists. Prefers bribery and intimidation to a fair fight. Exposing her scam can divide the crew; no supernatural authority is guaranteed.", "type": "Canvas" } ], "introMessages": [ { "id": "tallow_arrival", "allowResponses": true, "visibleCharacters": [ "tallow" ], "dialogueLines": [ { "text": "A robed woman rescues a stack of miracle posters from a puddle and gives you a professionally compassionate smile.", "speaker": null }, { "text": "This is a private pilgrimage. Donations accepted; witnesses discouraged.", "speaker": "tallow" } ] } ], "objects": [ { "id": "miracle_supplies", "displayName": "Miracle Supplies", "description": "A crate of stage blood, trick bandages and identical testimonials.", "type": "Searchable", "initialState": "Unsearched", "searchableItems": [ { "itemId": "false_testimonials", "displayName": "False Testimonials", "description": "The same handwriting praises twelve different miracles. All are dated tomorrow.", "perceptionDC": 7 } ] }, { "id": "floor_grate", "displayName": "Shop Floor Grate", "description": "A rusted maintenance grate opens into the shop. It can also be opened from above.", "type": "Obstacle", "initialState": "Closed", "skillChecks": [ { "id": "lift_floor_grate", "skill": "Strength", "difficultyClass": 12, "description": "Lift the rusted grate quietly enough to avoid unnecessary attention", "successStateChange": "Open" } ] } ], "connections": [ { "targetSceneId": "square", "spatialHint": "up the public maintenance stairs" }, { "targetSceneId": "shop_front", "spatialHint": "out through the street-level maintenance access" }, { "targetSceneId": "shop_inside", "spatialHint": "up through the floor grate once opened or bypassed" } ] }, "shop_inside": { "id": "shop_inside", "displayName": "The Second Chance", "environmentId": "StoreInteriorMagic", "description": "An overcrowded magic shop. A covered display, warning labels, a ledger and a heavy guard surround the counter. The Second Chance remains concealed until the discovery drawing.", "characters": [ { "id": "vex", "characterId": "Wizard", "displayName": "Madam Vex", "info": "The pragmatic shop owner. Knows the item transfers accidents and keeps records in her ledger. Has not used it. Will bargain, sell, cooperate in destroying it, defend herself or surrender as events warrant. No invulnerability or compulsory combat.", "type": "Canvas" }, { "id": "brass", "characterId": "Fighter", "displayName": "Brass", "info": "A heavy shop guard in brass-coloured armour. Obeys Vex, questions unclear orders and is susceptible to ordinary deception, negotiation, injury and defeat. Neither an infinite reinforcement source nor an unbeatable boss.", "type": "Canvas" } ], "introMessages": [ { "id": "vex_arrival", "allowResponses": false, "visibleCharacters": [ "vex", "brass" ], "dialogueLines": [ { "text": "The proprietor looks up from a ledger. Her guard lowers a mug beside a covered display case. Something beneath its cloth gives off a faint copper smell.", "speaker": null }, { "text": "Customers usually use the door. If Pell sent you, I suggest reading the warning first.", "speaker": "vex" } ], "nextMessageId": "second_chance_design" }, { "id": "second_chance_design", "allowResponses": true, "playersDraw": true, "itemDesign": true, "voteOnDrawings": true, "drawingOptions": [ { "type": "Named", "id": "SpecialItem", "prompt": "Draw the Second Chance: the cursed item everyone wants! Its appearance is yours; its magic transfers accidents." } ], "dialogueLines": [ { "text": "Vex lifts the cloth. What is the Second Chance? Draw the cursed item; the winning design becomes the thing everyone is fighting over.", "speaker": null } ] } ], "objects": [ { "id": "coin_case", "displayName": "Cursed Display Case", "description": "A locked, covered case containing the unique Second Chance until removed or destroyed. Its appearance is established by the discovery drawing. Vex carries the ordinary key; breaking the case makes noise.", "type": "Obstacle", "initialState": "Locked", "skillChecks": [ { "id": "unlock_coin_case", "skill": "Lockpicking", "difficultyClass": 13, "description": "Pick the display case lock", "successStateChange": "Open" } ] }, { "id": "vex_ledger", "displayName": "Vex's Ledger", "description": "Purchase records and controlled experiments concerning the item.", "type": "Searchable", "initialState": "Unsearched", "searchableItems": [ { "itemId": "coin_experiments", "displayName": "Accident-Transfer Notes", "description": "Deliberate activation transfers one plausible imminent accident to the nearest other living creature. Copper taste and heat mark a transfer. No wishes, resurrection or guaranteed survival.", "perceptionDC": 8 } ] }, { "id": "warning_label", "displayName": "Warning Label", "description": "SECOND CHANCE: good fortune is somebody else's problem. Ask the proprietor about controlled demonstrations.", "type": "Interactive", "initialState": "Open" } ], "connections": [ { "targetSceneId": "shop_front", "spatialHint": "out through the street door" }, { "targetSceneId": "rooftop", "spatialHint": "up through the roof hatch" }, { "targetSceneId": "sewer", "spatialHint": "down through the floor grate" } ] } } } }