Overview

Frontier towns are supposed to be simple: drink, gamble, and pretend the West isn’t dying under the sun. In Dry Gulch, humor and violence share the same stage. A traveling carnival, The Jest Club, rolls in with a grin and a mask, stirring up trouble and crowds. The club’s charismatic leader, Mirthmaker, isn’t content with coins—he seeks control. Rumors tell of a relic called the Mask of Laughter that makes crowds bend to will, and Dry Gulch is ripe for the taking.

Setting and Tone

Western tropes collide with dark comedy. Honest-but-flawed lawmen, crooked bankers, and desperate folks all trade jabs and guns for survival. The humor is biting, the danger real, and every joke hides a hint of rot underneath the dust.

The Main Quest

The party must uncover and dismantle The Jest Club’s plan before the town falls under mind-control. The Mask of Laughter is not merely a prop—it’s a fusion of illusion, memory, and charisma. To break its hold, the party must locate three relics scattered across the region, disrupt the club’s performances, and confront Mirthmaker in Dry Gulch’s climactic showdown.

Act Structure

• Act I — Arrival and Clues: The Jest Club performs a show that leaves townsfolk abbbed in fits of giggles and fear. A kidnapped townsperson and a frayed marshal hint at a larger machine. The party investigates saloons, the rail yard, and the junkyard theater to uncover the first clues and the location of the relics.


• Act II — The Relics: The three components of the Mask must be recovered:


• The Iron Spur of Resolve (found in the Rail Yard, guarded by rust-wraiths and bored train crews).


• The Whisper Box (hidden in the Graveyard of Wheels, a puzzle-filled mausoleum with restless tinkers).


• The Dust Mantle (concealed in a wind-swept canyon fort, guarded by a trickster ranger and mirages).
  Each relic grants a clue to dismantling the mask’s power and reveals a piece of Mirthmaker’s past—and a weakness.


• Act III — Showdown in Dry Gulch: With the relics in hand, the party disrupts The Jest Club’s performance during the town’s Harvest Festival. They can reroute the crowd’s will, reveal Mirthmaker’s true motive, and end the mask’s control once and for all. The final confrontation tests wit, steel, and the players’ moral choices: save the town, claim the relics as loot, or bind the club to face justice.

Hooks and Side Quests

• A busted bank ledger hints at a larger scheme and a hidden safe.


• A rumor about a “laughing debt” tied to old sheriff’s secrets.


• A missing performer who knows the mask’s true origin and bargains for a pardon.

Key NPCs

• Mirthmaker (Charismatic human Bard/College of Satire)


• Sheriff Calderon (Inept but well-meaning; secretly protecting a shady patron)


• Lark, the Relic Hunter (Halfling rogue with a bad pun habit)

Challenges

• Social manipulation and crowds control


• Gambler’s traps, deadpan humor, and moral choices


• Environmental hazards: dust storms, sun, and treacherous canyon routes

Rewards

• Gold, reputation, and unique Western-themed magic items (Guns that hum with sarcasm, Boots of Laughter that grant advantage on performance checks, a Cowl of Dry wit).


• After the climax, Dry Gulch opens to new opportunities: a rail spur, a rebuilt saloon, and a town that finally laughs with truth, not through fear.