The Fine Print

Walkthrough

Getting the quest

This is Kip Smudgewick's personal quest (the Tiefling Warlock with the Fiend patron). It starts by itself at the very beginning on The Old Svalich Road: when you look back into the mist at its east end, or, if you never do, when you reach the wolves in the narrows, with Kip in the party. A custom hero in his place never gets it. Every beat needs Kip in the party, and most of them happen at the campfire after a Long Rest. Only one companion's camp talk can be taken per rest, so Kip's talks come one at a time, in order, after any Strained or Doubtful talk of his.

There's no level or approval gate on starting it. The signature itself comes from Strahd, so the quest runs the length of the campaign. The dinner invitation only arrives at level 9.

Step by step

1. The assessor calls. After a Long Rest, "Kip wants a word". Mister Quillon stands exactly where the firelight stops, reminds Kip the contract runs "to the end of the final harvest", and repeats his offer: a signature of the lord of this land. "Leave him alone" is +3. The quest moves to The Assessor.
   
2. Read the small print. You have two ways:
   • At camp (next Long Rest). Kip unrolls the contract. If Ratatouille, Wren or Liriel is in the party, they read the clause out for him. Otherwise Kip can try Investigation DC 14 himself, or you can say you'll find someone who reads contracts. This talk only plays once. If Kip fails the check, he works at it a line a night, and after the next Long Rest with him in the party he has it: "Kip wants a word" again, he says he thinks he's got it, and he reads the clause out himself. That second reading is its own talk, and it's only offered while the quest is still at The Assessor, so it won't come if Master Vosk has read the contract for you in the meantime.
   • Master Vosk in The Amber Temple: the Library. In your first conversation with him, pick Kip's Ask him to read Kip's contract. The quest has to be at The Assessor already. For his fee, offer an apricot (Kip), pay 50 gold, or tell him you never agreed a fee (he lets it go).
     

   Either way, the clause says "a signature of the lord of the land of mists, freely given, in his own hand." Not a soul, just a signature, on anything. The quest moves to The Small Print (+3).

3. Get Strahd's signature. Any one of these will do, and you can collect it before or after reading the contract:
   • His first letter. From the third day, once you've seen Strahd watching you from a ridge, a Vistani rider hands over a letter sealed with a Z. This happens once, when you arrive somewhere outdoors. With Kip in the party, he asks for it. Pick Give Kip the letter (+4); burning it loses this way.
   • The dinner invitation. From level 9, a driverless black carriage brings it, up to three times. Pick Kip's Take the letter, then get in, decline or tear up as you like.
   • At dinner. At Strahd's table (Dinner at Castle Ravenloft), with the quest at The Small Print, pick Ask Strahd to sign something. Kip offers him an apricot and asks for a receipt. Strahd also offers to buy the contract himself. Just the signature, please, sir gets a tall Z signed in wine (+6, and Heroic Inspiration for Kip), and the quest moves to Signed.
4. Settle up. At the next Long Rest after you have both the small print and a signature, "Kip wants a word". He calls Mister Quillon to the fire and hands it over. Quillon reads his own contract three times, and it burns in his hand. The quest ends at Free (+8, and Heroic Inspiration for Kip). The next apricot Kip takes out has a bruise on it.

Optional, Madam Eva: Kip's truth (he signed behind his father's back) gives +3 and Heroic Inspiration, but then his later talk about writing home doesn't come. Spending the one question on "Is there a way out of my contract?" is +3, and her answer is "Read it".

Choices and endings

• Free (success): the contract burns, and the apricots start to rot. If Kip is Close or better (approval 25 or more), he carves the first pit off a free tree into a charm that actually works, a Stone of Good Luck (Luckstone). If he's Strained or worse (-25 or lower), he won't call Quillon with the party watching, and the talk isn't offered until his approval recovers. His Strained camp talk can give up to +10.
• Strahd's Debtor (failure): at dinner, (Let him buy the contract.) hands it to Strahd. That's -6, and it's final.

What it changes later: if you settled up with the first letter, Strahd's invitation laughs about the letter you gave to a devil. If you're free before dinner, Strahd greets Kip as "the merchant who paid his devil with my name"; otherwise he smells "ink on his soul". After Free, Kip has a camp talk about the letter to his dad.

If you're stuck

• Don't put the reading off. The camp reading only comes once. A failed Investigation check is fine (Kip reads it himself after the next Long Rest, as long as he's in the party), but if you pick "We'll find someone who reads contracts", the only other way to The Small Print is Master Vosk, and only in your first conversation with him in the library. He goes down to the vaults afterwards, and his later scenes there don't offer it. So bring Ratatouille, Wren or Liriel to that rest, let Kip try the check, or save the temple for after Quillon has called.
• The first letter only comes once. If Kip isn't in the party when the rider arrives, use the invitation or the dinner instead.
• The dinner option only shows from The Small Print on. Have the contract read before you sit down with Strahd.

Rewards

• Stone of Good Luck (Luckstone)

What your companions think

• Kip Smudgewick: +3 you told me I was nobody's stock; +2 you said we'd keep watch in pairs; +10 you asked me to hold you to account; +5 you told me you were sorry; -6 you told me nobody asked me; +6 you said we'd be more careful

Journal

Related

• People: Mister Quillon, Master Vosk, Strahd von Zarovich, The Wolves
• Places: The Amber Temple: the Library, Castle Ravenloft, the Main Floor, The Old Svalich Road
• More in Companions: A Knight, More or Less, A Seat at the Table, Aurel's Last Chapter, Carry the Dawn, Cold Prayers, Count Off, Grandda's Trail, The Last Lesson