Pass Lupa’s Tests to Enter Nova Roma
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The Wolf HouseThe Gate YardThe Old Shrine
Roleplay EncounterDND5E 2024Party L3 · 4 PCs
Pass Lupa’s Tests to Enter Nova Roma
Read Aloud
Perseus wakes on wolf-skins beneath a roof of black timber. A great she-wolf rests beside the open gate, then rises into the form of an armored woman with silver in her hair. “You know your name,” she says. “Tell me why the city should learn the rest.”
The Scene
NEUTRALTRIAL BEFORE ADMISSIONBase DC 13Stakes Perseus may gain a home, a place in the legion, and the first lead to his missing past, or be marked as an unknown threat before he reaches the city.
20 to 30 minutes
NPC Goal
Lupa wants to know whether Perseus will become a loyal citizen, a useful soldier, or another danger wearing a borrowed name.
Leverage
Perseus’s need for a place in Nova Roma, plus the broken legionary clasp found with him.
Player Approaches
- Offer an honest uncertainty instead of inventing a memory.
- Protect the frightened stranger Lupa brings into the room.
- Respect the wolf pups and the milk bowl as symbols of Rome’s first mother.
- Ask what service Nova Roma needs before asking what Nova Roma owes Perseus.
NPC Gambits
- Answer Lupa’s question with a personal vow, not a boast.
- Place a hand on the cracked shrine and name one law the party will obey.
- Challenge Lupa’s judgment without insulting the city.
- Ask for a task that can prove worth through action.
NPC Reactions
- A brave truth earns Lupa’s quiet approval and one success on the clock.
- A polished boast makes her shift toward HOSTILE unless followed by a concrete promise.
- A defense of the helpless earns immediate respect, even if the argument is clumsy.
- A lie about memory makes the wolf pups growl and adds one failure.
- An insult to Rome makes Lupa return to wolf form and end the conversation.
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