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Post by wilowisp on Jun 25, 2010 23:27:01 GMT -5
I wrote this up for my current campaign, and liked how it turned out. Feel free to use it of course, and I heartily welcome feedback. It uses the mutation rules I posted some time ago:
BAD MEDICENE
Scene One: Entrance And Guardian
Larkspur (from CityBook 1) approaches the PCs as night falls. He’s dirty and sweaty and covered in bruises. He tells the PCs he was treating a wealthy young man for “body degeneration” who could not be cured by normal means; so he surgically implanted a small sliver of Orichalc- a mutagenic magical metal left over from Atlantis' lost golden age.. The predictable has happened; the young man has gone insane and begun to mutate. Larkspur tried to restrain him, but he got away and fled into the city park....... Unbeknownst to Larkspur, vampiric servants of Demos have been watching all this (since Demos just recently learned he had acquired a bit of Orichalc) and they are hovering VERY nearby!
As the PCs investigate the park, they encounter the following (the Ref determining numbers in accordance with the PCs):
1. Lovers trysting
2. Dead lovers formerly trysting; now, their bodies are twisted and disfigured, and they are missing their livers.
3. Mutant rose bush plants with a hungry attitude: MR 50, throw thorns 3d6 Dex 17
4. Maddened mutant street children, hungry for livers: MR 30, clever and ambush-minded; they might be able to be magically saved.......
5. A camp of homeless people
6. Mutant Trees: MR 100, Armor 8
Scene Two: Puzzle Or Roleplaying Challenge:
While searching the park, the party comes upon a member of the city guard named Wren, who is in the process of mutating. He is the last survivor of a team of 4; they encountered the mutant and tried to stop it from chasing some children........ He is mutating slowly; quick magical aid might stop the transformation. If saved, he can take the party to the site of the attack; there the liver-less bodies of the guardsmen still lay, with their gear still about. One has a Dwarven made pocket watch gripped in his dead hand. This watch, once a day can stop time for its user for 2 minutes if the command word “bottle” is spoken while holding it. Things frozen in time can’t be affected, but whatever the user is holding at the time enters the warp with him. The magic is unstable however. Each time it’s used, the user must make a luck roll; failure means the watch permanently ages or de-ages (50% chance of either) the user 3d6 years!
Scene Three: Trick or Setback
Through the trees, the PCs spot a glimmer of greenish glow. As they approach, they see a man in the uniform of the Blood Moon School (from Citybook 4) pick up the piece of Orichalc and fly off with it. He is a vampire, in service to Demos the Unpleasant- the vampire gang lord of the city. Anyone near the Orichalc is in a field of Lvl 2 magical radiation; vampires and other undead are immune. Two other vampires of a similar nature remain behind to harass the PCs. Vampires- MR 50, only affected by magic, wooden pointy things and fire; able to turn into mists, bats, or wolves; can summon bats, wolves, or feral dogs; Lk 15, Dex 20; able to mesmerize; armor 8. They have a variety of weapons, as they are warriors as well as vampires.
Scene Four: Climax, Big Battle or Conflict
After the battle with the vampires (or during it.......), some PC hears a scream- the mutant is attacking lovers nearby. It’s up to the PCs to rescue this pair of armorist minded teens........ The mutant’s name was Reid LoveJack, but he is mindless now and hunting human livers (the only food he can live off of now). He can’t see (his face is “melted” and is now a triangular maw of huge fangs), but his sense of hearing and smell is uncanny (heightened hearing and smell). Those in near contact must make a Chr save each round or go berserk due to the psi energy flowing from the mutant (see the rule book: 3.8). It is not intelligent, per se, but VERY clever, and will use tactics against the PCs. Reid has the mutation of “Life Leech”: this is the power to drain life energy from all semi-intelligent or intelligent beings, friend and foe alike, within 30 feet of the mutant. Life leech will drain away 1 con point or MR point per melee turn (i.e., cause 1 point of damage) from each being in range and add a like number of con points to the mutant's total. If the mutant with life leech takes damage, the points are first subtracted from those points leeched. Those leeched points that are not destroyed in combat dissipate after 24 hours. This mutation lasts for as long as one combat (however long that may be), and then cannot be used again for 24 hours. It has an unreasonable fear of Bats. MR 150, Lk 20. There is a sucking hole in Reid’s chest where the Orichalc has burned its way out.
Scene Five: Reward, Revelation, Plot Twist
When the mutant is dead, three more vampires like that in Scene three descend to take the mutant’s body. They will demand it as a trophy for their master. For what nefarious purpose could Demos want with it? They will summon clouds of bats to try and disorient the PCs while the seize the body. One vampire fights with 2 gold inlaid and bejeweled hand axes worth 250 gp. each (which he can throw.........)
Rewards: If the teens are saved in Scene Four, it is likely their influential families will send the PCs 400 gp. as a reward; and they might also seek their help in some future matter.............
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Post by wilowisp on Jun 26, 2010 17:22:32 GMT -5
I guess I'm feeling particularly creative............ Adventure 2:
I *HEART* CATS
Room One: Entrance And Guardian
Gillian’s (see Citybook 1, pp. 32-34) cat has been stolen! When she and Cera returned to work this morn, the candle shop she owns had been violated, and its magical wards extinguished. A note left around a bottle of perfume left in the candle shop reads:
Dear sister;
We found dear Shinjaru out wandering, and could not bear the thought of her out in the dangerous city. Therefore we have taken her into the shrine, that she might be well cared for. Send Cera if you wish to retrieve her; otherwise, we shall have to “dedicate” your dear pet upon the coming Lover’s Moon……….
Your sisters ever,
The Priestesses of Aphrodite
Gillian cannot send Cera (for obvious reasons- Cera has been promised to the priestesses, although she doesn’t want to be with them and that’s why Gillian is protecting her), and it would be the height of illegality to KILL anyone over a cat. Besides, the priestesses have much greater legal rights than the average citizen; therefore Gillian needs sneaky heroes that can enter the shrine and make off with Shinjaru without being caught or shedding blood. She would also like the altar of sacrifice used in the temple destroyed or profaned. She is willing to negotiate payment; although, it’s likely she has some favors she can call in with the PCs……….
Gillian will describe the layout of the shrine to the PCs. It lies just out of town within sight of the city, on a sacred hill in a grotto of trees. It consists of three rectangular wings (east, west, and north), all meeting in a hexagonal domed middle section with a great likeness of the goddess in the center. Great bronze doors lead to central halls in each wing. Open arched entrances are at the nw, ne, sw, se, walls of the central dome. These are usually guarded by 2 male warriors each. There is an entrance to the grotto of Pleasure and Pain somewhere on the 30’x30x15’ base of the statue, but Gillian doesn’t know where. It is in this grotto that sacrifices are made to the goddess on the sacred altar, and animals are kept.
Unfortunately, the entrances are NOW guarded (unknown to Gillian) by two Amazons each; one a first level warrior and one a first level wizard. These have been contracted by the shrine to capture Gillian and Cera, and they are EXPECTING trouble and looking to capture trespassers (particularly Gillian), so they are quite vigilant. These must be bypassed without bloodshed. There is also always 0-15 others about the shrine (priestesses, worshippers, Etc. MR 15). If the PCs blow their stealthiness and an alarm goes through the temple, 6d6 reinforcements will arrive to attempt to help capture them (1d6 per combat turn, beginning on turn 3), and at least two runners will be sent for the city guard.
Warriors (4) Con 15, Str 18 Dex 15 LK 10 Adds 9/12 Armor 8 (bamboo), Spear & Net Wizards (4) Con 15 Str 18 Dex 15 IQ 13 LK 10 Adds 9/12 Armor 6 (leather) Spear and Necklace Charm (like a staff) All 1st lvl Spells Room Two: Puzzle Or Roleplaying Challenge:
The entrance to the grotto is through a set of ivory double doors at the southern base of the great statue, but it is not currently “there” (although magic will be detected in the ghostly outline of dainty and delicate double doors where the doors will appear if summoned). Omnipotent Eye will reveal that doors can be summoned, and give this riddle:
“Why is it unlawful to allow the burial of anyone within a cemetery that lives within a stadium of that cemetery?”
The answer:
“Because they are still alive”
Must be at least whispered audibly to the doors to make them appear (with a slight magical “whoosh” sound and brief flash……). The doors will remain for 10 min. before disappearing again. They are however physically locked as well (dif 4) and only the high priestess has the key- and it would be a BAD idea probably to get it from her……… Lock picking or KnockKnock most likely are needed here.
Within the base of the statue is a marble circular stair with brass handrails, lit from below by an eerie pink light. This stairwell descends 40’ underground.
Room Three: Trick or Setback
The stairwell opens up to the north into a naturally irregular cavern generally kidney shaped 30’/80’/12’ with a broken floor, stalagmites and stalactites, and at least one deep stony pool the party might fall into. An exit into a much larger cave is in the northeast corner. None of this can be seen however as a glowing pink mist obscures all vision (except for magical sight perhaps) except for true worshippers of Aphrodite. The PCs will have to feel their way across the room somehow.
The mist is home to 6 Seducing Spirits. These ghostly spirits can read minds, and take the form of the perfect lover of their victims. They feed off the life essence of their victims. If seen as a “perfect lover”, the victim must roll an IQ save at lvl 2 or believe the image; although once seen through, they are immune for the rest of the encounter.
Seducing Spirits: MR 50, immaterial (but may not feel that way due to mental illusion), only hit by magic. No real damage is done by their dice, but for every “6” rolled, they drain a pt. of Str; count a kiss as a roll of all 6s. These return like from spell use. Those drained to 0 Str turn insubstantial themselves and disappear forever with the Seducing spirit that drained them.
Room Four: Climax, Big Battle or Conflict
The much bigger cave is roughly rounded, with a circumference of 120’ and a ceiling of 25’. Many stalagmites and stalactites, and the majority of the room is taken up by a series of interconnected green water pools (crossed by wooden bridges) that somewhat magically glow and light up the grotto. Cages of animals are all about of the sacrificial kind, and crates and barrels of feed are stored in the ne corner. The altar made of pink and black marble is on an island (reachable by a wood bridge) in the middle of the largest pool and covered in rose petals. The brass cage that holds Shinjaru is on the altar (Armor 8 “Con” 15, Lock Dif 4).
The Grotto is haunted by the ghost of the first priestess to bring Aphrodite worship to the city. Her name is Mara, and she will appear to the PCs and try to “convert” them. It is she whom the priestesses trust to care for and feed the sacrificial animals. Her speech is magical, and listeners must make a lvl 2 SR on IQ or fully believe whatever she says (onlookers can “snap a victim out of it” with a lvl 3 SR on CHR, but the victim can be ensorcelled yet again). She can also give off a mournful wail that causes hearers to make a lvl 2 SR on Chr or flee in terror for as many combat turns as they failed their roll by. Mara: immaterial (but may not feel that way due to mental illusion), only hit by magic, MR 150 able to do damage to the living.
Room Five: Reward, Revelation, Plot Twist
The altar (Armor 15, “Con” 50) is difficult to destroy; as far as profaning it, the Ref will have to decide if the party’s efforts accomplish that. There is a secret compartment in the top of the altar (requiring a lvl 2SR on luck to find; it’s also locked at dif 3). Within is a key that unlocks all the various cages, a blood encrusted but bejeweled dirk worth 600 gp. And a magically still living human heart. This is Mara’s heart; she can only be permanently “killed” by destroying this heart; otherwise, she will just reform/return within 10-60 min.
Hopefully, the PCs will remember that they need to be just as sneaky LEAVING the shrine as they were entering it……….
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Post by mahrundl on Jun 26, 2010 22:33:06 GMT -5
Nice work, wilowisp! Have an Exalt!
One question: what happens to the characters if they do shed blood in Adventure 2?
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Post by wilowisp on Jun 27, 2010 7:27:13 GMT -5
One question: what happens to the characters if they do shed blood in Adventure 2? That's always the danger of a city-based campaign, isn't it? What PCs can do in the underworld can get them arrested, incarcerated, and/or executed in civilized surroundings........ If the party kills human guards just fulfilling a lawful contract (or worse yet, mere idol worshipers and "clergy" at the shrine) then the priestess-hood will have at their disposal to prosecute the PCs to the fullest extent of the city's law. Of course, there aren't any laws in the city about slaying other-worldly spirits or the already dead.............
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Post by cartomancer on Jun 27, 2010 11:30:45 GMT -5
The mist is home to 6 Seducing Spirits. These ghostly spirits can read minds, and take the form of the perfect lover of their victims. They feed off the life essence of their victims. If seen as a “perfect lover”, the victim must roll an IQ save at lvl 2 or believe the image; although once seen through, they are immune for the rest of the encounter. Psi-rens?? :0)
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Post by mahrundl on Jun 27, 2010 15:22:33 GMT -5
One question: what happens to the characters if they do shed blood in Adventure 2? That's always the danger of a city-based campaign, isn't it? What PCs can do in the underworld can get them arrested, incarcerated, and/or executed in civilized surroundings........ If the party kills human guards just fulfilling a lawful contract (or worse yet, mere idol worshipers and "clergy" at the shrine) then the priestess-hood will have at their disposal to prosecute the PCs to the fullest extent of the city's law. Of course, there aren't any laws in the city about slaying other-worldly spirits or the already dead............. Ah, so the 'no bloodshed' rule is just a mundane law consequence if they are caught? I was thinking more along the lines of a curse from Aphrodite. All sorts of interesting possibilities there... ;D
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Post by wilowisp on Jun 27, 2010 19:58:37 GMT -5
That's always the danger of a city-based campaign, isn't it? What PCs can do in the underworld can get them arrested, incarcerated, and/or executed in civilized surroundings........ If the party kills human guards just fulfilling a lawful contract (or worse yet, mere idol worshipers and "clergy" at the shrine) then the priestess-hood will have at their disposal to prosecute the PCs to the fullest extent of the city's law. Of course, there aren't any laws in the city about slaying other-worldly spirits or the already dead............. Ah, so the 'no bloodshed' rule is just a mundane law consequence if they are caught? I was thinking more along the lines of a curse from Aphrodite. All sorts of interesting possibilities there... ;D That's certainly a possibility. When I run this tomorrow, there will be a few campaign specific wrinkles: 1. One of the PCs IS an Amazon warrior. How will she react to her sisters guarding the shrine? Especially since the Amazons consider Aphrodite a disgrace at best........ 2. Two of the PCs are elves. IMC, the demi-humans are completely opposed to the pagan human gods, and require a Chr roll to even bring themselves to step onto such unholy ground. Of course, this hostility is known to the priestesses; elves without some disguising are going to stick out like a sore thumb. 3. One PC used to be a slave concubine owned by a powerful wizard; how she'll react to such an environment might be interesting. This model of adventure writing is just a step up from outlining. That's one of the reasons I like it; it leaves plenty of room for GM adaptation or alteration on the fly.
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Post by mahrundl on Jun 28, 2010 15:25:05 GMT -5
Oh indeed, you'll get no argument from me there.
It sounds like it should be fun. Let us know how it goes.
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Post by wilowisp on Jun 28, 2010 17:37:38 GMT -5
I *HEART* Cats, Play Synopsis: Gillian and Cera arrived at the PCs home as the workday within the city was beginning, and the PCs agreed to help them. Cera and Gillian stayed at the home protected by a powerful friend of the PCs- Orion, a half mortal son of the god of the same name, while the 2 PCs (a human 4th lvl rogue and a elven 3rd lvl wizard with the "chameleon" mutation) and an NPC (elven 3rd lvl wizard) investigated the shrine. All went well; at first...... Using Hidey Hole, they slunk past the Amazon guards, found the doors, used Omnipotent Eye to get the riddle- and became completely stumped. They invisibly wandered about the shrine for awhile, until they clobbered a slave boy in a storeroom and used Yessa Massa on him. He didn't know how the doors worked- being an illiterate slave child- but he DID get the riddle (I allowed a PC to make a LK SR). The elf NPC made a commotion in the shrine to distract everybody, and the two PCs slipped down the stairs. Once in the pink mist, they used a combo of spells and magic items to kill one of the spirits and keep the others at bay, until they entered the grotto. In the grotto, all did not go so well. Mara ripped one PC (the elf) limb from limb, but the other grabbed the cat, a hand of the dead elf, and a powerful magic item the dead elf was carrying, and high tailed it out of the shrine. She used the item to blow away harmlessly the guards at the entrances- but, they did see who she was........ Back home, Orion had a magic powder he owned that could regenerate recently dead flesh, and from the disembodied hand grew............ a dwarf (random roll ;D). I let the player keep the old PC's mental stats, but roll again all the physical ones. She lost A LOT of stuff and the cool mutation, but now has a bran' spakin' new dwarf wizard PC. The priestesses are ticked off, of course, Mara is still "alive", and the altar is in a fine shape. They took the slave boy; I have no idea what they plan to do with him..............
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Post by wilowisp on Jun 29, 2010 23:59:59 GMT -5
SICK DAY Room One: Entrance And Guardian The PCs are all going about their business in a typical evening’s fashion at their local “diner and watering hole”, when there erupts from a glowing runic symbol now appearing on the floor of the tavern’s storeroom a hideous beast. This takes place when one of the establishment’s workers are within making a supply run, so that their screams and struggles alert at least some of the PCs that something is afoot. It turns out there has been for quite some time a hidden magical gateway in the floor of this room (the GM is encouraged to invent a plausible reason), and a hungry extra-dimensional horror has emerged. This looks like a flying giant chitinous spider with tentacles instead of legs, and large membranous bat-like wings, and sounds like an enraged jungle bird. MR 80, CON 50 Armor 10. It is ravenous and looking to feed. Once through in the storeroom, it will come forth (smashing open the door) and enter the tavern proper- and if not stopped there, it will move onwards into the city’s streets…….. Unbeknownst to all but those who cast an Omnipotent Eye spell on the creature (or its like equivalent) It is also the carrier of an extra-dimensional magical plague- those who have close contact with it will, within 1d6 hours, begin to develop symptoms of a rotting disease causing them to lose 1 Con, 1 Chr and 1 Str each 1d6 hours (roll for each separately). Sick individuals also become transmitters, so that those in contact with them must make a Con SR or also become infected in like manner. This disease is not affected by known magic, physic or alchemy, and lost points cannot be regained until a cure is found (at which point they return 1 per day, and can be healed by other magical means if available). Sages and such will know that the cure must be found “elsewhere”……. Anyone stepping upon the glowing rune vanishes in a flash of greenish light, sinking quickly into the floor (and into an awaiting dimensional vortex tube beyond). Room Two: Puzzle Or Roleplaying Challenge: Those taking the plunge emerge from the tube moments later (after seeing HUNDREDS of different dimensional versions of themselves in the tube, all “flowing” off in different directions) on a floating rock island in the dimension of Pandemonium. The rock is a football-field in outer volume and round with jutting rocky crags, and gravity is such that the PCs can walk all around on all sides of the floating rock without falling off. Other floating rock islands can be seen far off in the distance; all set against a pinkish-red gaseous background, with sickly greenish stars all about. The air is breathable but thin, and smells vaguely of kettle corn and rubber. The only two significant features on this “island in space” is a great black marble obelisk carved in Balrog runic script (these runes tell stories “mortals were never meant to know”; if a reader persists in reading them for any length of time, they will lose 1d6 Chr points, but gain 3d4 IQ points), and various patches of other-worldly neon-colored glowing flowers (sixteen odd varieties in all, all growing intermingled). Anyone who deeply smells these flowers must make a lvl 2 CON SR or become intoxicated as from the finest of wines for 1d6 hours. Those becoming intoxicated must make a lvl1 CHR SR or become addicts, never wanting to leave these glorious flowers; this roll must be made EVERY time a PC becomes intoxicated………… Those who EAT a flower have one of the following effects take place: 1. Permanently gain 1d6 STR 2. Permanently gain 1d6 DEX 3. Permanently gain 1d6 IQ 4. Permanently gain 1d6 SPD 5. Permanently gain 1d6 CHR 6. Permanently lose 1d6 STR 7. Permanently lose 1d6 DEX 8. Permanently lose 1d6 IQ 9. Permanently lose 1d6 CON 10. Permanently lose 1d6 LK 11. Skin is turned permanently a glowing neon a. pink b. green c. purple d. yellow e. orange f. a swirl of 1d3+1 of the former colors 12. Character gains the ability to become intangible for up to one full turn three times a day- only affect-able by magic and such-like . Only one effect will happen to any given character; any further eating will cause the imbiber to take 1d4 poison damage to his CON. The obelisk is a conscious entity able to communicate (in Balrog if one of the PCs has that language- the REF should make them feel special after all- or simply a pompous roaring Common if not). Its name is Reginald the Fairly Child-Like, and it will act the part of offended godling when the PCs first begin to mess with it (after reading it, if they seem so inclined), demanding to be worshipped, being arrogantly uncooperative, Etc. all the while talking like an excited Jerry Seinfeld. It’s very lonely however, and it will soon degenerate into whining for affection if the PCs don’t seem to like it. It has Great Powers (t.m.), and is in no danger from the PCs. Ultimately, if one of the PCs agrees to play it a game of 3-D chess (it makes a floating board appear, a game takes 1d8 hours and Reginald’s IQ is 30) it will agree to help the PCs with their quest. At the end of the game, it will cause a great stone vault to rise from the rock, with massive iron airlock-like doors. Beyond the doors is a metal stairway going down, lit by strip electrical lighting. Room Three: Trick or Setback At the base of the stairs there is a lit metal hallway, running 45 SPD lengths to another airlock-like door. All along this hallway however is thin beams of laser-like light criss-crossing this way and that beamed from little indestructible glass eyelets, so that characters will have to make a lvl 2 SR on the average of their DEX and LK each segment they cross- a segment being the length of their personal SPD. Failure means a character has touched one of the beams. The beams are four different colors, and they do different things: 1. Blue- 1d6 cold CON damage, armor doesn’t count 2. Red- 1d6 heat CON damage, armor doesn’t count 3. Yellow- 1d6 electrical damage; metal armor doubles the damage, non-metal halves it. 4. Green- One random magical item is dispelled of its magic Room Four: Climax, Big Battle or Conflict Beyond the airlock type door is a well furnished alchemy lab, which is lit with electrical lights. There are three other doors in this room- one on each wall. One leads to a Spartan bedroom, one to a modern bathroom, and one to an electrical generator room. This room is rickety and unstable, and anyone in here for any length of time must make a SR on LK each round or damage the generator, taking 6d6 electrical CON damage as above and plunging this bunker into total darkness (and shutting down the beams in the entrance hallway). Any attempt to actively destroy the generator probably will work. In the lab itself is an alchemist book lying on a table. Its pages are made of a floppy metal unknown on the PCs world. It is an Ecology- once again written in Balrog if one of the PCs has it- of the type of creature that came through the dimensional rift in the tavern’s floor (the horror is called a Gerballing), and also contains an alchemical formula for brewing the plants outside into a cure for Gerbalpox- the plague the PCs are most likely carrying. This Cure potion will cure most ANY sickness; and if a fit PC is given 3d6 hours in a well-equipped lab, they can use the flowers outside to brew 5-20 doses. The book itself is worth 100-400 gp. To the right buyer. In the bedroom is a treaded robot that looks much like a prop from a cheesy sci-fi TV show, that will emerge from there into the lab and attack the PCs, fighting to the death- all the while politely requesting that the PCs leave until its master returns; in Balrog, of course. It has multiple robotic arms and tentacles, all ending in something sinister. It can also fire a laser beam for 4d6. MR 76 CON 76 DEX 15 ARMOR 12 As the PCs fight this robotic monster, they will have to take great pains, or the fight will totally destroy the lab. The robot runs off broadcast power from the generator room, so destroying it will shut down the robot; although, without the aid of Omnipotent Eye spells, it’s likely the PCs won’t know anything about this electronic stuff; although, it should be noted that all the technology here is of a techno-magical hybrid nature. Room Five: Reward, Revelation, Plot Twist When the PCs reemerge, Reginald will be overjoyed to see them and whine and beg them to stay with him and play games- forever. If they refuse, he will begin to summon up Hungry Ghosts to “Make them PAY!!” ( 2-6 per round, MR 25 intangible, only harmed by magic). He will keep summoning these ghosts until they flee; and the only way to successfully flee is to jump back into the glowing rune. This will suck them back to their own world in a reversed-mirror type trip back through the vortex; at which point Reginald will seal the rift out of anger. How long he continues to pout, and what happens if he decides to open it again, is up to the GM and fodder for another adventure.
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Post by ProfGremlin on Jul 27, 2010 19:53:05 GMT -5
More Google Cache Rescued -
<< Edit 1 - I need to double-check my info and pull the date on this post. 'Yesterday' just doesn't cut it. Edit 2 - Found the date and inserted where appropriate below. >>
wilowisp Re: 5 Room Dungeons- Bad Medicine/I HART Cats/Etc. « Reply #10 July 18, 2010at 1:02pm »
THE GREAT GOBLIN HUNT
This scenario is for a starting party of fairy PCs. It is likely important that at least one or two of the fairies be Wizards.
Scene One:
The day has come! It’s the Annual Fairy Goblin Hunt in the Wild Woods- that day when the Fairies search out and destroy all the goblins they can find, so as to keep the woods- and the human, elf and fairy communities within it- safe. Small bands of fairies gather this morning to hunt out goblin warrens; the PCs comprise just such a group. It is expected of them to return with goblin heads. On the fairy mound, a fairy Star-Searcher lectures the groups about this day and its sacred trust, and then sends them out into the woods.
Searching the woods will require a tracking SR- it takes an hour per point failed to find any evidence of goblins (but at least a half hour even with a successful roll). Once a trail is found, it will take 1d6 hours to follow it to a small cave near a swampy pond in the woods. All along this path, the party will see signs of the goblin’s voraciousness and greed; dead, tortured small animals (and perhaps an elf child!) only partly eaten, small trees uprooted for no good reason, tree bark carved with goblin profanities, Etc.
Scene Two:
The cave is a twisting rocky hole in the ground, descending into the earth for 120 yards, finally opening up into a large, stalagmite filled cavern, with a splashing waterfall that falls into a cave pool. The pool has a natural ledge running all around it, and on this ledge and in the pool are several clay jars, bowls, and vials. These will detect of residual magic, and the pool of magic proper. In olden days, an alchemist used to wash her vessels here, and over time this gave the pool a slight magic. Anyone extensively bathing in the pool will be healed of 1d4 Con of damage- although, the pool can only heal 40 points before its magic is used up. The magic is in the pool itself; taking water from the pool will only result in possessing a vessel of odd tasting spring water.
The walls of the cave are smeared with goblin graffiti- most of it personal insults against fairies….. There is also a painting of a double set of doors on the east side of the pool, which doesn’t seem to be the crude work of goblins; indeed, a detect magic spell will reveal it to contain magic. Painted on the left side of these doors is a male dog animal-man in sheer white robes, and on the right is a female cat animal-man in similar attire. Both are in stunning physical shape (in regards to both the paint and their physique) and also radiate magic. Each holds a large frond which drapes over the painted doors. If a male kisses the female image, or a female kisses the male, there will be a flash of magic and the doors will become real. These are unlocked, and lead into The Alchemist’s Laboratory (see below). Omnipotent Eye spells will reveal:
1. This is an actual portal 2. The painted guardians are keys 3. The doors aren’t really “there” until summoned via the keys 4. The guardians “are lonely”. Nothing else will be revealed.
Hidden in the shadows of the roof is a giant sentient spider named Bertha. Bertha speaks Common and Goblin, and her webbed nest is all over the ceiling of the cave out of sight. Bertha will trigger a rock slide over the tunnel entrance once all the party is within and exploring, which will take at least 30 Str and 1d6 x 10 Min to clear, and then attack the party, taunting them on how the clever goblins lured the silly fairies into a trap! Bertha has a MR of 15 X the number of party members present, and on a roll of a “6”, one random member of the party may have been webbed (requiring a SR on the average of Dex and Spd- or LK, if Spd isn’t being used- to determine), and must make a successful Str SR to escape the bonding (and can accomplish nothing otherwise). Bertha will not fight to the death, but will flee back to her lair in the stalagmites above; but if pursued there, she will take back up the fight and fight to the death.
Bertha’s webs are sticky, and those who find a way to search them must make a LK SR each turn or become stuck, requiring the help of others to become unstuck. Dead drained deer, goblins, and one human bow hunter are cocooned here; and there is a LARGE egg sack stuck to the cavern roof……. On the Human is a carved wooden scroll case; within is a yellowing scroll in the Common Tongue from which a Wizard can learn Omnipotent Eye. He also has a quiver of 13 arrows and a short bow.
Scene Three:
Behind the magical painted doors, another 60 yards of descending tunnel lies. This opens up into a large cave with glowing fungus growing all along its walls, with two small sub-caves; one an old bed chamber with a straw pallet and many strewn books, now decayed to un-usability; and the other filled on either side by two cave pools; one of which is steaming because it is a hot spring. These pools spill out onto the floor, and fall down a 3’ crevasse in the floor into darkness; although a splash can be heard FAR below……… Hidden in the straw is a bone scroll tube. This contains a scroll written in an appropriate ancient language for your campaign (in mine its Old Slave’s Cant) from which a Wizard can learn Magic Fangs.
The main cavern proper is vented to the world above via a small tunnel in the ceiling, which small creatures like fairies could possibly find and use to escape. It is filled with a dusty alchemical lab. Tables, beakers, bowls, pestles, chairs and many pots and bottles of alchemical materials are strewn about the chamber, in somewhat of disarray. A skeleton of a half-woman/half cat lies in the middle of all the dust covered material. Her name was Hisshea, and she was the alchemist who lived in this hidden laboratory. Anyone disturbing the lab or her remains summons her ghost from the skeleton, which rises insubstantial as a chill fills the chamber and demands them to leave in the same Old Tongue as the above scroll is written in; if the party does not, she attacks. Her MR is 10 x the number of the party, and she can only be hit by magic. She can fly, and is able to pass through solid objects. She has an icy breath, and for every “6” she rolls one random party member must make a SR on LK or be frozen in place. Frozen characters can be thawed by putting them in the warm pool in the cave of pools.
All around the lab, valuable items can be found, each in various bottles and jars:
1. 9 drams of Adder’s Tongue 2. 6 drams of Flax Weed 3. 3 drams of Pegasus Blood 4. 2 drams of Nymph’s Hair 5. 14 drams of Balm 6. 14 drams of Basil 7. 5 drams of Lavender 8. 4 drams of Yarrow 9. 6 drams of Black Ash
(Obviously, the GM will have to determine the value of these ingredients; they are taken out of The Arcanum).
Scene Four:
Once the party escapes these caves, they will hear nearby a drunken revelry taking place; a band of goblins are frolicking nearby, celebrating the party’s demise. They are tapping three oaken barrels of Goblin Grog (horrible stuff for non-humanoids; SR on Con or wretch) and sitting around a fire where they are roasting a still living doe tied to a spit. There are as many goblins as party members plus 3, and they all have short bows and elk-horn stabbing knives. They are distracted however, and the PCs can likely ambush them unless they do something really dumb……. MR 15, Missile Adds 3, Dex 10. The leader of the goblins fights with an enchanted bich’wa dagger which does 3d6 +3, and also allows its wielder to see in the dark like the spell Cats Eye (in combat he rolls an extra 1d6 +3). Each of the goblins has 1d6 gp, 2d6 sp, and 3d6 sp. Upon their persons.
Rewards:
In the evening, when the PCs return to the Fairy Mound, the fairies themselves will have a great celebration, and the Star Searcher will reward each hunter that took a goblin head with a wreath made from an abandoned robin’s nest. These will be adorned with one bright red robin feather for each head they brought. These wreaths are badges of honor among the fairies, and the more feathers, the more honor.
mahrundl Re: 5 Room Dungeons- Bad Medicine/I HART Cats/Etc. « Reply #11 July 18, 2010at 9:07pm »
More good work, wilowisp! It's Exalt time again.
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Post by ProfGremlin on Jul 28, 2010 9:14:15 GMT -5
Ok, more rescued posts this time from Bing's cache:
Note: I had to edit this slightly to remove some funky symbology replacing apostrophes in the cached version. If something doesn't read properly perhaps Wilowisp could clarify?
wilowisp Re: 5 Room Dungeons- Bad Medicine/I HART Cats/Etc. « July 23, 2010 at 10:19am »
A Day in the Bazaar
This adventure is for a party of first level Fairy PCs, and takes place all within the grand tunnels and caverns that lay below a great fairy mound. These tunnels are so extensive, they really could be described as a city of Fey-kind, located below the surface of the earth. In the author’s campaign, this is the PCs home.
Many of the dark fairies in this scenario have been taken from the book ‘Good Faeries/Bad Faeries’ by Brian Froud, Simon & Schuster, 1998.
Scene One: Entrance And Guardian
Lady Jennifer knew she shouldn’t have taken off her ring there in the crowded concourse of the Grand Circuit, but her friends and sisters were so eager to see it. Lord Edwin- that dashing fairy prince- had just given it to her a fortnight before, and she just had to show it off. But she was bumped by a clumsy cornish pixie, and the ring flew out of her hands. She tried to retrieve it; but the feet of many fey folk upon the Circuit kicked it this way and that, and finally to her horror she watched as some brownie accidentally knocked it down the Dark Stair- that more darkened passage which descends to the Darker Dominions. Once she fought her way to the stairs, she looked down them just in time to see a gnarled furry brown hand reach out of the darkness and spirit it away. The Dark Dominions are the great cavernous chambers that house the bad fairies; a dangerous and lawless section of the Fey Domain. Bad fairies come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, but the two things they all have in common is their surly attitudes and their love of tormenting good fairies, elves, and men.
Lady Jennifer has turned to the PCs- only they of her more aristocratic other acquaintances might be brave enough to descend the stairs and enter the Dark Dominions. Lord Edwin will surely this night enquire of the ring; they were scheduled to meet this eve on the Roundelay, and join in a procession together. Before this rendezvous she MUST have back that ring! Otherwise, true love may be lost. Lady Jennifer offers in payment a delicate gossamer fairy parchment on which is written the instructions of how to cast the spell Yessa Massa. The PCs being old friends of the noble lady may take it in advance; study of this parchment will allow wizards to learn the spell. This will take an hour of intense study, or three of more disturbed reading. The good lady will be waiting anxiously in her chambers.
The ring is a silver setting with an emerald stone. It is engraved with a tender love poem on its inner circlet from Edwin to Jennifer, and it is enchanted; to wear the ring is to gain (temporarily) and extra 3d6 Charisma. It is an heirloom of Edwin’s noble family, and irreplaceable.
The jagged stone steps are sinister looking, and have the requisite cobwebs, small skull and other assorted bones, and scurrying rats and mice one would expect. However, the Dark Stairs are actually a frequently travelled passage; non-noble fairies lower born trade with the Dark Realms all the time- and indeed, most fairies know the stairs lead to a great cave that contains The Bizarre Bazaar; a great never-closing tent city of Dark Fairy merchants. Many fairies will be coming and going as the PCs descend the 400 yards of twisting stone steps. They may even spot men going back and forth. The stairs are lit by the occasional swarm of fire beetles that cling to the stone walls and ceiling, which emit a sickly reddish glow here and there.
Nevertheless, the trek down the steps will not be uneventful. A gang of small winged Red Rager fairies hiding in the dark shadows along the stairs will pounce upon the PCs attempting to bite them. There are as many of these wicked fairies as party members plus 2. Each is MR 15, but their dice don’t actually do damage (although their numbers count for defense); rather, each ‘6’ they roll indicates a successful bite. For each bite a victim must make an IQ SR; failure means they are overcome with a petty rage at their own companions and will attack them, complaining bitterly about former slights and insults. Such victims must be fully restrained in some way for a full combat turn to have the rage leave them. The Red Ragers will hardly fight to the death; if serious wounds are caused, or if the party falls to fighting among itself, they will flee. What they wish to do is watch the party fight and destroy each other. Other travelers up and down the stairs will see the attack and watch, but won’t lift a finger to help. Once the fracas is over, they will simply shrug and continue on their way.
Each bad fairy has a purse of 2d6 gp. The leader of the Red Ragers- a truly scarred and tattooed old fellow with broken yellowed teeth- has a fire opal worth 50 gp. In his purse as well; and a bag of Magical Powder of Emotional Influence. This dust, if blown is a victim’s face and they breath it in, will cause them to become totally apathetic for an hour. His bag holds another 5 handfuls.
Scene Two: Puzzle Or Roleplaying Challenge:
At the bottom of the stairs is a huge cavern with many tunnels in its walls, leading into the Dark Realms. The cavern itself is filled with a town of its own; a flowing tent city of Bad Fairies selling every sort of stimulant, pleasure, curiosity, food stuff, vice and lust imaginable; with men, hobbits, fairies and trolls all shopping for who knows what. A maze of sentient beings, sights, smells, and sounds greets the party. This cavern is lit by glowing ‘stars’ in its ceiling; it has been ensorcelled so as to have the illusion of a bright night sky always. Also, an underground river flows through the midst of the tents, winding this way and that, crossed by many rickety wooden bridges. These look very ill equipped to deal with all their traffic, but somehow, they still remain standing.
The trick here is to find someone who might know who could have grabbed the ring. After much bantering with slimy locals, the party will be directed to Vinnie the Blade; a notorious Abductor Fairy (they steal mortal children and exchange them for changelings, and then raise the children to be slaves for the Dark Fey). Vinnie can be found seated at an umbrella table out front of a tent labeled ‘The Rebellious Unicorn’- a Dark Fairy bistro famous for its 31 flavors of highly intoxicating fruit wines. Vinnie knows EVERYTHING; but the selfish little fairy will have to be manipulated somehow into telling the PCs who has the ring. Vinnie will meet with the PCs in his tent, and try and get them to pay way too high a price for the information they want. He can be tricked by flattery or threatened into obedience however; although both things- unless done with extreme care, and perhaps an offer of some kind of payment as well- stand a good chance to make Vinnie extremely mad, and the PCs will have made an enemy. If done well however, Vinnie will even describe the thief in detail. MR 25, Chr 8. Vinnie doesn’t have wings.
Vinnie knows that Danny-Boy the Rat grabbed the ring, and he’s now in the market place using it to charm all the Dark Fey ladies. Danny is a rat pooka, with a snaggle tooth capped with gold, and an ability to turn invisible at will; although, he can’t fly. He’s known to frequent a dance-hall tent known as ‘Tink’s Shame’; an establishment not too far away which Vinnie knows the way to. If for some reason Vinnie is very well disposed to the PCs, he may suggest they pick up a bag of flour from a merchant to counter Danny’s invisibility.
Scene Three: Trick or Setback
On the way to Tink’s, the party will be ambushed by a large gang of Red Ragers like those in Scene 1, looking for revenge for what happened on the steps- 4 per member of the party, MR 15. These have clubs, ropes and nets, and will be striking to subdue- though not kill- and not attempting to bite. Their goal is to knock out the PCs, bind them in their nets with rope, and toss them into the black river at a fairly secluded spot. If this happens, the PCs will awake bound and tussled when they hit the water, and will have to make SRs the GM deems appropriate to escape and avoid being drowned. This should be a stressful situation; but given its pretty much GM fiat that they end up in the water, the ref ought to see they don’t really drown- unless they really do something really stupid.
As the PCs thrash about on the river bottom, they will bump into two human skeletons already nestled down among the silt. Amongst the bones is a stoppered potion of Immunity to Influence or Control (lasts 40 + 1d20 min.), and a still working stiletto. Let the PC with the highest LK make a SR on it; if made at Lvl 1, the stiletto is found and within useable reach; if it’s made at Lvl 3, the potion is also felt and obtainable.
Scene Four: Climax, Big Battle or Conflict
Tink’s is a great big tent which is used as a Dark Fairy burlesque house. 6 hairy and drooling goblins serve as bouncers (MR 20), and every kind of fairy, man and troll is within, socializing and watching the dancers. PC pockets could be picked here (SR on LK to avoid; SR on IQ to notice), and other uncomfortable social interactions may await the PCs as they snoop out the place. Danny Boy isn’t here when the PCs arrive, but ‘he’s always expected in’ and will arrive in 1d6 x10 min. after the PCs.
Danny shows up with a dark fairy girl on each arm. One is a flying Pixie Pincher (MR 10, damage scored is also done to the Chr stat) and the other a flying Jilu (MR 16, can create mental illusions within any victim she makes eye contact with). These lovely dark ladies aren’t necessarily given to fighting the PCs, but they will if they feel drawn into a fracas. Danny Boy (MR 20, can turn invisible at will, no wings) is a slimy guy with a lusty eye for female flesh; but he doesn’t really want to fight. He is wearing the ring however, and has no intention of giving it up. He’ll fight, flee, make a commotion, or whatever else seems effective to him at the time. This would be a great place for a confused ‘barroom brawl’ of fairies to break out, as the PCs try to get control of the ring; and remember those goblin bouncers!. All fairies here have a purse of 3d6 sp. And 1d6 gp.
Scene Five: Reward, Revelation, Plot Twist
Once on the way back, the Party has one more ambush to endure if they have the ring: a Slippery Fairy will confront the PCs, and demand they surrender the ring. This will most likely happen on the stairs on their way back up. This bad fairy was hired by a romantic rival of Lady Jennifer’s to cause the ring to be lost, and she intends for it to STAY lost! MR 28, wings, Armor 3, this fairy has an aura of slipperiness about her so that all those fighting her must make a SR on Dex each combat round or have one of the following effects take place:
1. Trip and fall (or hit a wall while flying, Etc.) ; losing this rounds attack 2. Bump another party member, causing them to fall as above 3. Have weapon or whatever is held in the hand slide out of grip 4. Bump head; make a SR on Con or be stunned this round
Rewards:
Once beyond the Slippery Fairy, the PCs are free to return the ring to Lady Jennifer. They will have aided a friend, and have now won a loyal ally for the future.
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Post by wilowisp on Sept 1, 2010 10:41:44 GMT -5
Thanks for rescuing these Prof! This thread may be on hold for a bit; for the next semester I'm now both a full time pastor and a college professor. After the deluge though I plan to add a few more.
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machfront
11th level Troll
Stalwart of the Trollbridge
"Let's go dark!"
Posts: 2,147
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Post by machfront on Sept 2, 2010 5:17:33 GMT -5
This thread may be on hold for a bit; for the next semester I'm now both a full time pastor and a college professor. Huh. I didn't know you did either one of those things. I mean, I was well aware of your faith, but yeah, I had no idea... ....uumm...speaking of which...do you...do you know something we don't know?
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dekh
5th Level Troll
dekh by Grumlahk
Posts: 622
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Post by dekh on Sept 2, 2010 5:38:34 GMT -5
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