The Net Book of Plots Volume VI
The Net Book of Plots
Volume VI
Editors Note:
The plots of this book were collected by Phil Scadden
and edited by Phil, Tom Zunder and Alexander Forst-Rakoczy, that's
me
The complete collection of the Net Book of Plots is available at
http://www.complang.tuwien.ac.at/alex/Handbooks/index.html
All of the plots are tagged, see the file "plot-tags.txt" or go to the
HTML version of the Net Book of Plots at
http://www.complang.tuwien.ac.at/alex/Handbooks/WWWPlots/index.html
You can also find submission guidelines there at
http://www.complang.tuwien.ac.at/alex/Handbooks/WWWPlots/submission.html
We have permission of Qubrak Shata
to include the adventure ideas from his AD&D.com web pages in this book.
The plots are marked with "(AD&D.com)" in the title. The AD&D.com site is
located at AD&D.com
(1) and AD&D.com (2)
Another set of plot ideas (namely non-monster wilderness encounters) was
posted to the newsgroup "rec.games.frp.dnd". These plots are marked with
"(News)".
I hope all enjoy this new collection and
dont forget to tell the authors how it went if you run a plot.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Musketter Land
William
william@duvi.eskom.co.za
Long
Any
Fantasy
Quest
Campaign
On the Island of Ro, there are four countries - the Olven Woods - inhabited
by the Olden Elves, Arabica - a nation based on arabian culture, Arthuria
- a culture based on Arthurian Culture and Musketterland - based on the Three
Musketeers - just no muskets :-)
Olden Elves - these are a bunch of stuckup elves that would love to
destroy all the other races on the island and recover all the elven
territories.
Normal Elves - these are elves that live freely amongst the humans.
Dwarves - dissapeared hundreds of years ago into their mountain
strongholds - after defeating the elves in battle - basically giving the
humans space to conquer the world.
Gnomes - allied with the dwarves - nobody knows where they now are.
Halflings - very secretive and seldom seen - similar to leprechauns.
About 50 years ago the Arabics and Arthurians were at war - by the time
they stopped fighting the arabics had conquered one of the arthurian
provinces (neighbouring the Olven Woods). The elves have now decided it
is time to recapture the lost territories - so how to do it :-)
Decimian - High Priestess of Elventia (The goddess of Elves) has
undertaken a journey with a few followers to get the Arthurian and
Arabics to go to war - their first stop was in Arthuia where they managed
to steal a missive from King Arthur to a fellow. They then proceeded to
Mussketter land where they aim to get a letter copied by a scribe, the
letter will be forged in King Arthur's script, the letter will be
addressed to Sir Lancelot - Captain of the Arthurian Army - and be an
order to attack the captured province in full force. - Decimian is hoping
that this will spar a war between Arthuria and Arabica.
Dacimians idea is then to get Arabica to attack Musketterland as well so
that all the enemy cultures are at war.
Initial adventure
The party is in Musketterland when they are approached by the local
Parchment Maker and asked to find his daughter - she disappeared the day
before while looking after his shop - without leaving a note or anything
- and taking only her brushes and parchment with her....
This becomes a detective adventure where the party need to find her
In the same street as the parchment maker are a Pottery - Potter and
Apprentice, and a blacksmith.
If asked what they saw - the blacksmith saw
1. 10:00 A hunched up man in a brown cape - went into the shop and came
out after 30minutes
2. 12:15 A young woman - also about 30 minutes
3. 16:45 A Knight (Soldier of the Cardinal) - stayed only 5 minutes
If asked the Potter saw
1. As above
2. As above
3. did not see the knight
(The potter is very difficult and insists that he never left the front
desk - if pushed he admits going out for lunch at about 13:00, when the
apprentice was in charge)
The apprentice saw - a beautiful elven woman go into the shop - but never
saw her leave. By description the elven woman is obviously an Olden Elf -
rarely seen in these parts - but the Apprentice swears she never left.
The man in the brown cloak is in fact the girls boyfriend and (could be
carrying flowers) just came to visit her.
The young lady came to have a love letter written for her boyfriend. Her
money - 1sp is actually in the till - she will be coming back the next day
to collect her note - only the girl knows this.
The Knight - a soldier in the cardinal's guard (the bad guys - allied
with the Arthurians) - he was also coming for a love letter but there was
nobody in the shop and he left without placing his order.
The Olven Lady - you guessed it - Decimian - she offers the girl 100gp to
copy the note - (an elf can't copy the note - elves cannot forge human
script well enough - and also it could be scried by magic that it was
touched by an elf). Decimian has taken the young girl to an ancient olven
temple about 50 miles outside of town, where she will do the work
Notes : The elves do not want to hurt anyone and would rather let the
party see what they are doing before hurting them.
The girl will want to finish the note - and earn her 100gp - (5 years
income) so will insist on staying - the best the party will be able to do
is to let her father know she will return soon.
Clues to where she has been taken - going out the back entrance there
are two sets of prints, an olven foot and the girl's bare feet.
Decimian is wearing the symbol of her church (a red circle) seen by the
potters apprentice and with research it can be found that an old temple
exists in the woods....
Future Adventures
* The Party must warn King Arthur and Lancelot....
* But too late - Arthuria has invaded Arabica
* Now the party must make peace....
* But too late, an Arabican noble has been assassinated - by an Arthurian
Arrow
* Who killed him......? An Olven Assassin, An arthurian Archer
* NO! - A Musketter - a member of the cardinals guard
* Arabica threatens Masketter
* Musketter King Louis wants peace
* The Cardinal tries to kill the king....
Sound Fun
Well this is my current campaign - the first adventure laid out above has
just been done :-)
Any more detail you want let me know :-)
The Quest For The Magnus Lexrota (summary)
Richard
newsies@mindspring.com
Short
Any
Fantasy
Quest
Campaign
Here's a little bit about my campaign: I call it THE QUEST FOR THE
MAGNUS LEXROTA.
The characters get word that an ancient evil is about to come back out
into the world after being asleep for about 500 years. At the same
time, they stumble into an old mage lair and find a triangular piece
of decorated gold with a curved bottom. It turns out to be part of an
ancient holy relic called the Magnus Lexrota or Great Wheel of Law.
There are seven other pieces the characters have to find to put it all
together. Since this ancient evil being possesses the Talisman of
Chaos, they must put it together in order to even combat him.
The seven other pieces are really just a thread that you can use to
string together a series of otherwise unrelated dungeons and
adventures. But at the same time, you can throw in some intrigue from
other groups who want the Magnus Lexrota for their own, and will do
anything to get it.
In my world, the Holy Imperial Church of Hyperion wants the MLR to
validate itself. Many of the great Orders of Paladins want the MLR to
launch a crusade against its enemies. Minions of the Great Evil want
it so their master can take over the world. The gods of Mondalith
want the MLR back so they can restore order to the world.
You get the picture. It's really an easy way to use existing dungeons
and adventures without going to much trouble. All you need to do is
plug in extra-curricular interplay....
Hope that's some help!
The Quest For The Magnus Lexrota (Campaign)
Richard
newsies@mindspring.com
Long
Any
Fantasy
Quest
Intrigue
Campaign
"The Magnus Lexrota.
So long destroyed.
Find it and bind it.
His next reign avoid..."
- poem by Brother Askalon of Callanmay Abbey
The QUEST FOR THE MAGNUS LEXROTA (or the Q4MLR for short) is really
nothing more than a thread. It is a simple yet effective device you can use
to string together a series of otherwise unrelated dungeons and adventures.
Depending on your personal needs, the Q4MLR can be a simple adventure to
last your player characters only a short time, or, in my case, can become a
huge campaign around which your PC's lives revolve. The only thing you need
to create to make the Q4MLR more interesting is an aura of mystery and
intrigue surrounding it as more and more NPC's become aware of its existence
and in turn desperately want it. You will also need a pantheon of gods to
make this work, but which one is entirely up to you.
Here's a quick look at how I plug in the Q4MLR into my campaign.
First, here's my background. This is subtext that the players get in a
handout before the game begins:
More than 2000 years ago, the kingdom of Abydos flourished and
prospered on the banks of the Great River which wound its way through the
vast deserts known as the Tempest Wastes. Its ruler, Cheops the Mighty,
however was not content. He eyed the rich coastal city-states of the Great
Crescent Sea with greed and lust. Though there was little doubt his
charioteers could win the small city-states, victory would not come without
great price. So Cheops ordered his court magicians to create a device
which, when wielded by his army, would crush its enemies. They created a
device called the TALISMAN OF CHAOS (TOC for short). Through its most
powerful magic, the talisman created chaos and turmoil wherever it went.
But what they didn't know is once unleashed, no man, not even a great
pharaoh, could reign in the unrelenting chaos. Cheops' enemies did indeed
fall, but the magic was so powerful, it also eventually destroyed Abydos as
well, and cast all of the world of Mondalith along with it.
For 500 years, chaos reigned supreme until a new pantheon of deities
decided to take action. The pantheon of Zeus arrived on the slopes of
Olympus. They quickly and easily dispatched the old abydosian gods and
began plans to restructure the world. One day, Zeus looked down from
Olympus and ordered his blacksmith Haephastus to construct something to
reign in the rampant chaos.
The great misshapen god fired his forges deep underground. He and
his minions fashioned a wheel made of gold and mithril. It was called the
Magnus Lexrota, or Great Wheel of Law (I use a barely passing form of Latin
as my ancient language. I think it gives my campaign an authentic feel).
Worn around his neck with an adamantite chain, Zeus was able to halt the
chaos and begin the rebuilding of society. That rebuilding took form
primarily in the Imperium.
The Imperium sprang from the city of Myrrh. Its borders stretched
far and wide across the world, and its culture formed the basis of life in
Mondalith. At its height, Imperium centurions patrolled from outposts as
far north as the Clywiddan Mountains and as far west as the Rhyder Pass.
Imperium engineers brought water to deserts, elaborate villas to the
frontier and strongholds to wild lands. The Imperial drachir became the
standard coinage. And most importantly, imperial judges issued imperial law
with a cold and impartial hand. "All roads lead to Myrrh," the old saying goes.
But just as Rome, Myrrh too grew fat and complacent. Perversions
and greed chewed away at the empire's foundations. With most of the
frontier under the imperial standard and few lands left to conquer, the
Circus Maximus became the favorite of the mob. Gladiatorial games and brutal
executions seemed the only way to satiate the hunger of the people. Zeus
himself grew fat and perverted; known then as Obese Zeus.
Into this mix, a small cult began to form on the streets of Myrrh;
the church of Hyperion. Hyperion the Lionhearted was a noble figure of
goodness, honesty and chivalry. He attracted a mix of other deities and
together formed the basic tenets of their religion: Paladur, god of
knighthood and noble combat, Azariah, god of learning and justice, Ulfyn,
god of the harvest, etc. These gods and others in the new religion appealed
to the a populace weary of a constant diet of dessert without ever having a
main course. Soon Hyperion and his pantheon of noble gods challenged Zeus
upon the very slopes of Olympus. The War of the gods had begun. It raged on
for years on Olympus until Hyperion came to a realization.
The only way to defeat Zeus was to snatch the MLR off his neck and
cast it down Olympus. In a great final pitched battle, Hyperion ripped the
MLR off Zeus' neck and threw it down the mountain where according to legend,
it smashed into eight equal pieces and vanished into Mondalith and history.
Hyperion was victorious. He and his pantheon took their rightful
places as the deities of Mondalith. But with the MLR destroyed, the evil
gnawing chaos began creeping back into the world. Despite Hyperion's
valiant efforts, the Imperium, just as Abydos, collapsed into anarchy and
despair.
During the empire's death throes, a man named Viriditus Acies, third
son of a Myrrh noble, sailed with some companions and formed a kingdom far
away from the collapsing land. Joining with the native clans of Gaels,
Vajars, and Goths, he conquered the land later known as the Kingdom of
Argandel. The kingdom seemed to be mankind's last best hope in the face of
the dead empire and rampant anarchy.
But not more than 100 years after Acies, his descendant, King Robert
III, hired a court magician named Tallok. Tallok lived with Robert and his
family in the king's magnificent underground palace called Green Castle.
Built by dwarves, Green Castle was the envy of dukes, sultans, emirs and
archbishops. But Tallok was a schemer and conniver, and unknown to anyone,
has obtained the long lost Talisman of Chaos. Soon, "Bloody" Tallok used it
to usurp the throne and grip the land in an iron fisted reign of terror. He
ruled without mercy for 11 years, using his demons to destroy villages,
churches, tribes, and the all-important knowledge of the past centuries.
Finally, an army of Robert's former knights and men-at-arms defeated
Tallok's dark minions and forced him back into the castle.
They sealed off Green Castle with Tallok inside, but they never
could recapture the glory of the House of Acies. Each succeeding king was a
more impotent shell of a monarch than the last. 23 years ago, the last one,
Thomas the Weary, abdicated the throne leaving no heir.
Chaos has once again asserted its hold. Without the MLR to reign in
the TOC, anarchy grips the world again. The once grand Kingdom of Argandel
has been reduced to a chaotic mishmash of duchies, counties, diocese and
principalities. No one recognizes anyone except the Holy Imperial Church
of Hyperion.
Here's how things begin in my campaign:
The characters meet on a rainy night at a small but very cozy little
inn called the Virtuous Knight at the crossroads of the Southguard and
Callanmay roads. It's located in-between the Duchy of Ulwyn and the
Diocese of Callanmay Abbey in the old Kingdom of Argandel. There they meet
a hospitable innkeeper named Dorin Tavernmaster.
After they go to sleep, they hear a commotion in the common room
below and the stable area outside. A band of marauding orcs has attacked
the inn. They characters fight valiantly, but the orcs make off with the
innkeepers horses and life savings.
He begs the characters to retrieve the things, offering a lifetime
of free lodging at the inn in return. The characters agree. Dorin tells
them he thinks the orcs are based in a dungeon located in the nearby hills
of Tors Brendyrs. Sure enough, the marauding orcs are from there.
This is where you can insert any dungeon (low-level if this is part
of a large campaign, or any dungeon if this is a small diversion). I
created my own called Delvingrim; an old sanctuary for a group of wizards
called the Grim Alliance. The orcs killed them all and decided to move in
some years ago. The lair is a series of rooms built around a great hollow
cylindrical cavern.
Whichever dungeon you use, you need to insert two things: Piece #1
of the MLR and a mysterious letter. The letter is written in a strange and
ancient tongue which needs to be deciphered by a sage in a nearby
village. The letter orders the orcs to carefully guard the piece. It goes
on to state that within five years he will be ready to leave Green Castle
and re-conquer the world.
So begins their quest to find all eight pieces of the Magnus
Lexrota. At barest minimum, all you really need to do is place pieces of
the MLR in a string of dungeons (handmade or mass produced). You could make
the quest last a short time (reducing the number of pieces to six or four),
or do as I have done and turn it into a full fledged campaign.
Each piece found bestows a powerful gift to its user and grows even
more powerful when used in conjunction with the other pieces. I'll leave it
up to you to describe those powers. Only when completed can the wielder
attack Tallok and his Talisman of Chaos. Otherwise, Tallok remains
impervious to assault.
But with that power comes ultimate responsibility. It will not take
long for the characters to realize just how coveted the MLR is. I try to
shroud it in ancient mysteries and wrap it in enough court intrigues to make
the entire campaign more interesting.
In my Q4MLR campaign, the following groups try everything from
begging to bargaining, bribery to thievery, chicanery to murder to separate
the MLR from the characters: Fishtown Rats Thieves' Guild, Chivalric Order
of Paradigms, Holy Imperial Church, Druids of the Darkling Vale, Duke
Aethelred of Ulwyn, Archbishop Germanicus of Beechanmoor, and the gods
Paladur, Morvidus, and Demetia.
In Mondalith, I have built my whole campaign around the idea of the
MLR. Try to imagine the Holy Grail turning up in Medieval Europe in the
10th or 11th centuries, and you have an idea how I handle the MLR.
At the end, of course, the characters must fight Tallok. Once they
are finished and wind up at the end of the campaign, they return to the
Virtuous Knight and Dorin Tavernmaster. Dorin, as it turns out, is really
Hyperion. He was testing his world and his own pantheon. He takes the MLR
from them, granting them wishes in return. It is up to them to decide what
to do next. The possibilities are endless.
I hope this is what you need. If not, just let me know and I'll
revise it. By the way, my new e-mail address if newsies@mindspring.com
Thanks again for your interest. If you hear of anyone using it, let me
know. I'd love to hear about it.
Richard
You drank what?!
Michal Szokolo
msz@ternet.pl
Short
Urban
Any
Investigation
Unknowingly to anyone, supply of drinks (or water) was poisoned with
unknown substance. Anyone who drinks this drink/water is intoxicated
(PCs may be more resistant). The substance causes acute paranoia and
xenophobia - victims believe that everyone is plotting to
kill/destroy/hurt them and take "protective measures", including killing
the "enemies".
The party is hired/ordered to investigate a number of strange incidents:
crazy killers, sudden suicides, people locking their houses shut and
shooting at anyone getting too close. These incidents should be
unrelated and seemingly random.
Every time there is a clue, that killer, suicidal person (etc) drank one
specific brand of drink (e.g. Old Joe's Lemonade).
Cause of poisoning may be changed to fit campaign or be simply strange,
e.g.: drink manufacturer built new installation and didn't clean it -
artificial colors used in drink reacted with remains of anti-corrosive
paint solvent creating highly active neurotoxin.
Copyright 1996 Michal Szokolo. Free for noncommercial use.
Old Notes
Gabriele Ferri
fif3336@iperbole.bologna.it
Short
Any
Any
Exploration
Quest
Hi there!
I come back with a nice plot idea!
In the last campaign, my DM let us find people travelling in the desert.
It was an expedition sent by the Arch-Mage for investigate about some
strange magical accidents. Our PCs joined the expedition, but 2 days
after we realized that the people we met was evil and they weren't sent
by the Arch-Mage, but by someone else (we haven't discovered it yet). We
had a nice fight, we won, and found some papers in a box. Here come the
genial idea: the DM really gave us about 7 papers. They were a previous
group's notes about some different dungeons, maps of forests and
inventories with notes about how to use some powerful magical items; and
he burned them a little, put part of them in the water and also put some
red paint on them. So that papers weren't completely readable because
of that treatment but also because they were just notes written during a
game session by another group. We continued our quest, we eventually
found the other party's skeletons (very old) and other papers. The DM
treated them like the others, but they were written in another alphabet
(probably he wrote those papers with his computers and then he changed
the normal letters with Greek letters). Obviously the mysterious papers
contained vital information about traps, monsters and so on..., so we
translated them (it took 1 hour and an half)
This adventure was really beautiful and it passioned all of us (we spent
hours examining the papers... it was exciting!).
bye bye
Gabriele Ferri - fif3336@iperbole.bologna.it
Uh, sorry for my bad English! I'm sure I've made a lot of mistakes!
Beast Law
Keith Davies
ct94015@camosun.bc.ca
kdavies@pinc.com
Long
Any
Fantasy
Quest
Campaign
My current campaign (Draekera) consists of the following (I think I've
already posted this in another thread, but...). Startup information
is first, followed by some campaign background.
Kalah Shadar is a Sargothi nomad (horse tribes); her tribes has been
virtually flooded with Landmar refugees (Germanic-type tribe from the
south) bearing tales of tall, vicious man-like creatures that have
been attacking their villages, killing and eating all the dead (even
their own). Kalah was part of a group of Sargothi tribesmen from
different tribes sent to investigate. After reporting back to their
tribes, it was decided that they should be sent to neighboring nations
to pass the word and ask for military assistance against the Beastmen.
Kalah was sent to du'Chade, where the Chadian command decided to send
a team led by Stage (Bandisalian scout 'doing jobs' for Chadian command)
to investigate. Jadow (desert mercenary) had been traveling with Stage
and hired on for the job. Hayden is a Chadian crystalmancer sent along
for communications support.
The party is going to examine the Beastmen, transmit the information
back to du'Chade and be told to investigate further; they will find
that the Beastmen were caused by the corruption of the Beast Law
upon the defeat of the Beast Lord (more about that below). The
party will then have the task of restoring the Beast Lord to power.
So far we've had two sessions and they are about half-way to the keep
nearest the pass to Landmar. Stage was fairly seriously wounded, but
was about half-healed by some salve.
CAMPAIGN WORLD
Dwarves haven't been seen in this area of the campaign, although they
are present in the Northern Mountains (near the Norse culture). There
are Logston elves (much like wild elves) in the forest of Tirebanil,
although only the Followers of Saint Laris get to see them; other
people entering the forest tend to sprout arrows. There are Pini elves
in the forest and mountains to east of Sargothian Plains. The Sindaar
(high elves) haven't been seen in forty or fifty years. To the best of
my knowledge there are no halflings or gnomes. This is a very
humanocentric campaign.
When the world was created, the gods bound the Land Law into Great
Dragons. On each continent there is one Dragon that maintains a
particular Law - there are Sun, Storm, Beast, Wood/Forest, Sea, Sand,
Shadow, Magic, Faerie (these last two are probably the same) and
probably others. The Beast Lord was defeated in combat by a human
warrior about forty or fifty years ago (hmmm....;). Normally when
a Beast Lord is defeated his power goes to the one who bested him;
the human was unable to handle to power and was destroyed. The Lord
regained some of the power but is in a coma, unable to restore the
Beast Law. The party is going to gain possession of his mind crystal
and will have to travel to the other Lords to repair it.
There are several possible endings to this. The first is that the
party restores the crystal and returns it to the Beast Lord, enabling
him to rebuild the Beast Law (although the Beastmen will remain
afterward - they are now part of the world). The second is that the
party will restore the crystal and one of the members will take on
the mantle of Beast Lord by using the crystal - there are currently
two characters that this option may appeal to. The third is that the
party fails, in which case the Beast Lord will be replaced by another
from another continent - probably a hundred years from now, after the
continent has been more or less overrun by Beastmen and the cultures
drastically changed. There are other dragons on the continent, but
they tend to be much smaller and weaker than the great dragon; they're
kind of like the great cats of the reptile world.
Get Out of Town!!
Keith Davies
ct94015@camosun.bc.ca
kdavies@pinc.com
Medium
Urban
Fantasy
Startup
Affliction
To actually get characters together, I'll tell about another campaign
I was running:
The original party went into the Temple of the Snake Demons (yuan-ti),
where a couple of the characters died while cleaning the place out.
They limped back to town to recover. While in town a couple of the
slaves they had freed asked to join their rescuers. Dave was really
unhappy playing a ranger, so I allowed him to restart with a mage.
The ranger was found face down in an alley, obviously robbed. Seamus
(I forget his character's name) was a thief who wanted to get in some
practice, so he went to rob a house - incidentally, the house of Therat
(Dave). He was captured, apparently blood-cursed, and released. He
went back to his inn, where Ramirez (6'4" Moorish Blade (bard)) was
sitting in the common room and thinking about joining a game of dice.
This fellow coming through the door with a bloody and a rune drawn
on his forehead in blood looked interesting, so Ramirez followed him and
tried to talk his way into their (Seamus and Mike (warpriest)) room.
He failed and was walking back to his table when the innkeeper passed
him in the hall - obviously going to check on his guest. The different
voice saying he was the innkeeper got Mike's attention - there was
obviously something wrong. In order to protect his interests, Ramirez
threw a dagger and killed the innkeeper.
Other events occurred that involved lots of running around, getting
picked up by the guard (Seamus lost three sets of lockpicks to the
guards in two days :), and being 'encouraged' by the Thieves Guild
to leave town the party was high-tailing it for the hills - not to
avoid the guard but to escape the guild - Ramirez killed one of the
Guild representatives escorting Seamus out of town.
In short, arrange things so that the party (even the innocent members)
end up fleeing the city with the law/guild behind them. They will
be forced to work together in order to stay alive...
Mandolin
Ray A. Reaux (rayzer)
rreaux@vt.edu
Medium
Any
Fantasy
Affliction
I ran a short plot that works well for low level characters,
say below 3rd level, went like this:
A bard or minstrel PC wanted to purchase a new musical instrument.
When he gets to a shop, he looks them over and sees a really
nice one in the back of the shop made by a well known instrument
maker. He asks the shop keeper how much and the shop keeper
asks for a price, which isn't very high for one of such quality,
especially one made by an instrument maker of such repute. Anyway,
the shop keeper really wants to sell the instrument, and at any price
(should play this out so the player gets that hint but it isn't too
obvious), for his own peace of mind.
After the player gets the instrument and gets it home, he should
be happy. Then after a few days (you might want to make this after
some intervening adventure to not make things too obvious to the
player), he starts having bad dreams. He dreams of a fat man with
a knife in hand who is laughing down at him, as he experiences the
vertigo of falling. Of course, he never hits the ground but always
wakes up before he hits the ground. You'll want to start these dreams off
murky, but elaborate on them as you go. You might also have another PC
wake up one night to see the PC playing the instrument (let's say a
mandolin) and singing in a totally different voice. When the player
wakes up, he remembers nothing. Then one day, the other
characters in the party will find the PC is missing. They should find
him walking down the road, singing in that foreign voice.
The mandolin is the focal point for a ghost, not really a malevolent
ghost but one that wants revenge and restitution from the burghermeister
of a nearby town. The ghost was once a chaotic good bard who liked
to poke public fun at corrupt people and who was a little too free
with women, especially married women. He died when fleeing from the
bedchamber of the irate and corrupt burghermeister, who caught him
with the burghermeister's wife. Now his death was really an accident
since the burghermeister did not knife him, and the bard fell from
the window and broke his neck. But the ghost wants to humiliate him
nevertheless and drive him from his comfortable office. He isn't
interested in killing the burghermeister, just
wants to show him up for what he is, a corrupt and petty man.
That's why he "borrows" or possesses the body of the owner of the mandolin
to lead him to the town to exact his revenge on the burghermeister.
Hopefully, the other PCs of the adventuring group would be drawn in
to this effort.
Since the ghost is not evil, a detect evil would not show the mandolin
as evil. Destroying the mandolin would destroy the link with the ghost,
but any attempts to do so would make the ghost extremely angry.
Staggered Time Startup
Christian
christian544@clubhouse.email.net
Short
Any
Any
Startup
Investigation
I'm doing something new with my player characters...I'm starting them at
different times. The first players village is raided by Death Knights,
and the townsfolk pack up and get out. The players parents and family are
killed, and the player is stuck with a group of soldiers travelling to
Cormyr to speak to King Azoun.. The player REALLY wants to find out why
the Death Knights raided their village after they'd been gone for a
couple hundred years, so he enlists the aid of player 2, maybe player 3.
They set out, hired hands, with player 1, and end up meeting player 4 in
an adventure. Player 4 joins them after MORE Death Knights show up, this
time led by Gondegal, who I've recreated as a Doom Knight after his loss
at Arabel, and they flee, only to get to WaterDeep, and meet players 5
and 6. Seven, a drow psionicist, will join them when they venture into
Menzoberranzan.
*Lord Xian of Silverblood*
On the Run
Brent G. Davis
bgdavis@vnet.ibm.com
Long
Urban
Wilderness
Fantasy
Startup
Affliction
This adventure was originally created to bridge the retirement of some
rather munchkinish high-level characters with a starting party. The players
had been playing good characters for a long time, and wanted to try evil.
This is the result, and IMHO it turned out quite well. If you need an
intro for a new party with evil characters this may work:
A group of high-level good characters arrives in a town known for its seedy-
side. In short order, they end up wiping out the Thieves' Guild, Assassins'
Guild, and all the evil temples and magic schools there. They also replace
the former puppet government.
As this is going on, the new characters (who were members of those guilds,
temples and schools) escape. (It is possible that some of the characters are
friends or relatives tagging along - this allows for some non-evil characters
in the group.) This is where the adventure begins - with them "on the run"
from overwhelming forces. They join up after fleeing from the city.
Where do they go? They aren't prepared for overland adventures or the
dangers beyond the city walls. Yet returning to the city means possible
capture by the new government. Rewards are being offered, so former contacts
might very well turn them in.
The party may resort to stealing some horses and equipment. After a while,
some bounty hunters will pick up their trail. It is easy to turn some of
these bounty hunters into recurring characters that almost catch them between
various adventures. (In the original campaign, one known as The Inspector
was always hot on their trail. The players never realized he was just an
illusionist using his spells to appear as a large garrison tracking them
down.) With prices on their heads, the party will need to be extra cautious
when dealing with shopkeepers who will eagerly turn them in for a quick
profit. All those things that good characters normally take for granted
now pose huge risks for this group.
The surrounding territory is heavily populated by humanoids and other beasts
which makes escape from the city quite difficult. Just because they may
have a common enemy doesn't make these creatures any less likely to view the
fleeing party as food. If they do make deals with the monsters, word of
this may get back to the city further ruining their reputations. As the
characters become more powerful, their names and faces will appear on
wanted posters in the towns they visit. Other adventurers may also try to
track them down to make a name for themselves. Rumors of the party's
evil-doings can get wildly exaggerated to the point that orders for their
capture keep coming from higher places of office and further away.
>From a DM stand-point, it is easy to convert and use any common adventure
type with this ongoing plot. For example, instead of the typical
dungeon-delve, the party explores and secures a new hideout. Instead of
guarding the caravan, they attempt to steal goods from it undetected.
Many DM's will likely have a blast converting parts of their old adventures
for this one...
Port of Death (The Plague: Part 1)
Brent G. Davis
bgdavis@vnet.ibm.com
Long
Urban
Fantasy
Investigation
Affliction
The party hears rumors of a plague that is ravaging a nearby seaport.
No healing methods have been successful at treating its effects. Some
say it may be the result of a magical curse while others suggest that it
is a plague sent by the gods.
Obviously, the party probably will need to be lured into the city - possibly
some of them have relatives there, or they are hired by someone to rescue
family members from the city. (Otherwise, they might just as well stay away
to avoid contracting it themselves!) As they approach, they encounter a
few of the dying attempting to flee from the city. They have lost motor
skills, they sweat profusely and are completely disoriented - hallucinating.
As they die, the party's efforts to help them will be unsuccessful.
It is interesting to note that the farms just outside of the port city have
been mostly untouched, with only a few young males that frequented the city
having been afflicted.
In the town, the party will encounter more plague victims. Most seem to be
from the seedier parts of town, but there are also a number of high-ranking
officials and shopkeepers that have died. With the number of dead bodies
piling up, there have been a number of problems such as giant rats and
ghouls feeding on the dead along with the problems of burying them all.
(These can be turned into mini-adventures.)
As the party investigates, they learn that the plague started within the last
month. None of the clerics or healers have found a way to treat the dying.
Plus, spells that raise the dead don't even bring them back. Priests are
convinced that this is a sign, and that "The gods are punishing us."
One of the main links appears to be money: many victims are thieves, harlots,
shopkeepers and city officials while the poorer people in the same areas
(beggars, workers, etc.) have been largely untouched. If they pursue this,
they will learn of a mage in the port that believes this is due to some
cursed coins being passed around the city. (He's wrong, but it can lead to
some rather interesting side adventures.)
While the records are a bit sketchy, the party will find that most of
the early deaths occurred close to the docks, and have since spread
throughout the rest of the city. The party will also discover that a few
of the once popular taverns near the docks are fairly deserted. Many of
the former patrons have been hit by the disease. If they check these
places out, they will notice that one particularly rich-looking fellow
frequents most of these places. He stops in, talks to a couple people
briefly and then leaves. If watched carefully, he will be seen exchanging
small pouches under the table with those people.
He's was once a thief, but is now a rich drug-dealer. If confronted by
the party, he will try to bribe them to leave him alone. If searched and
then pressed about the drugs, he will reveal that he received a new type
of drug "Drax" from a ship that arrived about a month ago. It has been a
big seller for him, but recently a number of his distributors in the city
have fallen victim to the disease. Thus, he has been forced to leave his
fancy dwelling and go back onto the street to do the dealings in person again.
He's been having to lower his price, for it seems that the drug's demand has
been dropping off. (This is because the customers are dying, but he doesn't
realize this.) His greed and low wisdom prevent him from making any kind
of connection.
If the party convinces him that the drug is causing the disease, he will be
very upset and try to help them as best he can to avoid a certain death at
the hands of the local officials and populace. (He is chaotic, but not
evil.) He will turn over all the Drax he possesses and a fair amount of
gold to the party. He will also provide them with the names of the ship
and his contacts, but then he will attempt to slip out of town permanently.
The drug does tremendous damage to the brain producing a spectacular high
and hallucinations in the process. Eventually the entire brain is destroyed
preventing any type of healing or raising from working.
Note: If this adventure were placed in modern day, the characters would
probably figure out the drug source very quickly. Staging it in a fantasy
campaign creates many more "believable" dead ends for the investigation
such as cursed coins or a god-sent plague. DM's should feel free to take
advantage of this by possibly spinning off various mini-adventures before
the true source is determined.
Dragon Island (The Plague: Part 2)
Brent G. Davis
bgdavis@vnet.ibm.com
Short
Ocean
Fantasy
Investigation
The party can bribe a dock agent to see a list of ships that arrived about
a month ago. The ship identified by the dealer came from a small island.
They will either be sent or feel obligated to put a stop to this operation.
A ship can be hired to take them there. (DM's can use this as an opportunity
for a sea battle with one or more of the drug-lords ships.)
Drax is made from the dragon flower which is only found on Dragon Island.
The drug-lords know its effects, and hope to use it to build income and at
the same time wipe out the mainland population.
The drug-lords are non-human but employ human operatives for distributing the
drug. DM's are free to use whatever creatures would best fit the party and
the campaign. Originally, this adventure was used for a low-to-mid level
party and had ogre magi as the head of the operation with a number of
humanoids (mostly hobgoblins) in their employment. For higher level parties,
the head drug-lord could easily be a dragon. (This is Dragon Island
after all.)
The dragon flowers can be wiped out using a variety of methods. However,
completely eliminating this species may be frowned on by any druids in the
area, as the flower does have other beneficial uses and is quite beautiful.
Raid on Rokin (The Rokin Chronicles, Part 1)
Brent G. Davis
bgdavis@vnet.ibm.com
Long
Urban
City
Wilderness
Castle
Dungeon
Fantasy
Investigation
Intrigue
Beginning: The party hears tales of a large humanoid attack on Rokin, the
capitol of Drucinia, a lawful nation. The raid included flying creatures
such as griffins, hippogriffs and even a blue dragon along with a humanoid
army. For a tie-in, one of the characters or NPC's should have ties to
Rokin, thus leading the party to investigate. The rumors make it sound
like the city has been burned to the ground and all the people are dead...
After the party gets to the city, it becomes apparent that the rumors of
Rokin's near-destruction are greatly exaggerated. In fact, to someone
unfamiliar with the city, they might not even know that an attack occurred.
There are only a few damaged buildings, but the townsfolk are really rattled -
so rattled that their tales are already ballooning way out of proportion.
"I swear it was 5 dragons." "No, it was 10 if not more." "And 500 orcs."
"More like 5000." "We're just lucky to be alive."
In fact, the force was only about 100 creatures total...
In Rokin, posted notices and town criers announce that the King of Drucinia
died a few weeks earlier leaving no heirs. In his place, the acting regent,
Agral Tymart has been convening with the Rokin council to select the next
ruler. However, as this was transpiring, a powerful warrior, Dreth Caldan,
and his forces raided the city, and stole the Drucinic Crown and Scepter.
Until these are returned, the next king cannot be appointed. After
consulting the Law Scrolls, the council has selected the next king, a
half-elf (who is neutral and a strange choice as most Drucinic kings have
been extremely lawful). Agral Tymart has offered a reward for the return
of the royal items as well as the capture of Dreth Caldan.
Arrange a meeting between Agral and the interested party. He will give as
many details as he can. He knows the force wasn't that large, but he
doesn't know why Dreth stole the items. Agral knows Dreth somewhat and
pleads with the party to capture him and bring him back for judgement as
opposed to killing him. Agral suspects that Dreth had a good reason to
take the items. He will explain that Dreth believes humanoids and other
monsters are acceptable forces; they just need more supervision. These
views are part of what makes him evil. His troops consist mostly of orcs,
hobgoblins a handful of giants along with his flying mounts: griffins,
hippogriffs and his personal blue dragon steed. These forces are extremely
well disciplined due to Dreth's skilled leadership.
One of the councilmen, Akelor, will also meet the party as they are leaving.
He will be much more vindictive saying, "This man must be punished. He has
defiled the throne, sitting upon it as if he were the king. Do not hesitate
to kill him." (Akelor is the only one to witness Dreth's throne room visit.)
The party will presumably set out to deal with Dreth. His base is a
mountain keep at the eastern edge of Drucinia. It is heavily defended.
The mountain terrain along with the defenses make a frontal assault nearly
impossible.
During the overland trip, the party might catch glimpses of a grizzled old
woodsman that might be following them. If they investigate, no trace of him
will be found. If and only if a party member is seriously injured, he might
emerge suddenly from the nearby trees and heal them. He will just as quickly
vanish into the growth. He will not do anything else. This character is an
addition to the original 1st adventure and will return in various forms
throughout the Rokin Chronicles.
Near the mountains, the party will meet a (very) helpful elf who knows of a
secret way into the keep. Below it is an ancient crypt occupied by
various undead. Dreth knows about this, and has left them there as guards.
He doesn't care if the party wipes out the undead. Once they get past the
crypt, either allow the party to be captured or fight their way through
Dreth's forces to meet him. His guards have orders to capture first, and
kill only if necessary.
Dreth is powerful, and should be difficult (even impossible) for the party
to defeat in combat. But, if they role-play the situation instead, he can
be talked into returning to Rokin. He is somewhat evil, but he is also
extremely lawful. His raid on Rokin was extremely selective, as he
targeted the 2 items (which he believes are rightfully his). He is upset
that some minor damage occurred during the raid. The guilty humanoids have
been punished. He insists that he left a scroll on the throne explaining
his actions. In fact, one of the councilmen was there...
According to Dreth, The Law Scrolls in Rokin prove he is the next king.
(And he is right! This is due to a number of obscure laws and the order
of titles in the situation of a king leaving no heirs.) One of Dreth's
agents in Rokin notified him that something was amiss. But, the agent was
discovered and killed before learning more. Dreth seized the crown and
scepter to avoid losing the rightful title, since if another was crowned
first, he would lose the claim. He returned to his keep to wait for vital
information from other agents throughout Drucinia that will hopefully
expose the plot. Fearing the party might be part of this, he will not
reveal any information concerning the plot or his agents. However, he
trusts Agral Tymart, so he is willing to accompany a group sent by him.
(The crown and scepter are hidden in his keep, and he will not reveal their
location. This is his only insurance at the moment.)
At some point after Dreth has agreed to return with the party, the elf NPC
will attempt to kill Dreth. He is really an assassin, and part of an
elaborate elvish conspiracy to seize the Drucinic throne. He will make an
attempt on Dreth when the opportunity presents itself (i.e. he is alone
with Dreth or with only 1 other party member plus Dreth). It is up to the
DM whether the attempt succeeds. Regardless of the outcome, the elf will
escape.
If the party returns to Rokin, and then questions Akelor via truth spells or
similar means, the truth will come out. Akelor removed Dreth's scroll as well
as hid and forged the Law Scrolls that would prove Dreth is the rightful
king. If pressed, Akelor will reveal that he did not act alone, but doesn't
know all of the people involved. He does know that the half-elf king-to-be
is aware of the conspiracy. The death of the former king was also
orchestrated by someone involved (the elf the party met earlier).
The conspiracy also involves some of the elvish ambassadors in Rokin.
If Dreth was killed, he will be raised from the dead by priests in Rokin.
Dreth will send messengers to his keep and his dragon mount will return with
the crown and scepter. Then he will be crowned as the rightful king.
Note: Both the Crown and Scepter of Drucinia are artifacts. Their true
nature will be revealed in Part 4.
Words of War (The Rokin Chronicles, Part 2)
Brent G. Davis
bgdavis@vnet.ibm.com
Long
Urban
Fantasy
Investigation
Much to the chagrin of the neighboring elvish empire, Dreth Caldan is now
the King of Drucinia. After uncovering the plot to seize Drucinia's throne,
Dreth has ordered all of the elvish ambassadors out of the country. In
response, the elves have done likewise. Both have also increased their
patrols along the Drucinic/Elvish border. The situation is very tense.
Then Councilman Akelor escapes. (He is aided by the elvish assassin.)
He also steals some important defense plans. Fearing invasion, Dreth Caldan
summons a large humanoid army from the east. All the pieces are set for
war...
In Rokin, the people are turning on anything elvish. "Elf-compatriot.
Even if you say you're half-human, you're still half-elf." Two thugs are
seen beating up a helplessly obvious half-elven shopkeeper.
Agral Tymart sends for the party. There might be another way to avoid this
war. In his research, Agral has found notes from an ancient elvish prophecy
about an "evil" warlord wearing the Drucinic Crown and the war that would
follow. The prophecy also mentions a specific event that will stop the
fighting, but its translation is unclear. There are only a few other notes,
but they seem to fit closely with current events. The original text is
somewhere deep in the elvish kingdom.
What follows is a difficult infiltration into the now-hostile elvish
kingdom. After the party sets out, they learn that the original prophecy
is carved into stone in a sacred vale tended by a reclusive order of elven
priests. Along the way, you can allow the party to encounter Akelor & the
elvish assassin. They will attempt to kill the party rather than capturing
them. Very few elves know the truth about the former conspiracy, and they
don't want to risk the party spreading it around the kingdom. As it stands
now, most elves view the human claims of a conspiracy as rumors meant to
cover their real goal of conquering the elves. If the party does try to
expose the truth, they will be laughed at by most elves.
This is an extremely difficult adventure to undertake. However, with the
help of some allies they will encounter (which includes some druids and
the elven priests) they can make it. Not all of elves want to fight this
war either. A few fights are likely, but the majority of this adventure
should involve role-playing. (One of the druids that will aid them is the
same person as the grizzled man from part 1, although in this adventure he
looks much different, so the party will have no idea...)
The text on the stone is quite lengthy, and it is written in an ancient
tongue (even older than elvish, but somewhat related to modern druidic).
A few of the elvish priests that tend the vale can provide a loose
translation. All of the text up to this point fits exactly with the current
events (albeit, in that wonderful "prophet-speak"). In various places the
text refers to an ancient land in the far east where a star once fell. That
land is now a vast desert! The text near the end is difficult to translate,
but it seems to indicate that this war will end when a star falls on the
battlefield. It also mentions something about Havoc's Day (the apocalypse?).
Star of the Prophet (The Rokin Chronicles, Part 3)
Brent G. Davis
bgdavis@vnet.ibm.com
Long
Wilderness
Desert
Dungeon
Fantasy
Exploration
Quest
The party returns to Rokin with the texts from the ancient prophecy.
Meanwhile, the situation is getting worse in Rokin. The humanoid army
is camped outside the city, and everyone expects a battle will soon occur.
Dreth has calmed fears of the council about the humanoids turning on
them after the battle. "With their ancient hatred, the humanoids and
elves will attack one another first leaving our forces nearly untouched."
With the impending battle, Agral urges the party to go to the ancient
eastern land to look for help. He is able to convince Dreth to spare some
of his winged mounts for transport.
The party reaches the desert and soon finds ruins amidst the sand. In one
of the buildings is a detailed map showing the once lush land. There is a
great pyramid shown in the map that has a star-like symbol. A nomad will
emerge from the sands as the party finds this map. He will not speak, but
will drop a number of wooden staves and clubs along with suits of plant-
based armor in front of the party (one for each member). He will turn and
leave, vanishing as the sands pick up in the desert. (This is once again
the grizzled woodsman & druid from parts 1 & 2.) The party will be pretty
perplexed about where these came from - certainly not from this desert!
The plant-based armor may not be worn with other armor.
With some searching, the party locates the pyramid indicated on the map.
Within the pyramid, the party encounters strange skeleton-like creatures
that have the abilities of mid-range fighters and mid-range mages.
Inside each ones skull is a glowing gem. Anyone that touches this gem
is charmed into placing it against their head. The gem burrows into
their head and the creature is turned into another of these skeleton-like
creatures within 1 turn. Before that time expires various magical methods
may be used to stop the process.
When a gem-skeleton is hurt and about to die, if there are none of its
kind nearby, the gem explodes sending out tiny fragments (equivalent to
a 6-dice fireball). Bystanders killed this way rise up as similar skeleton-
like creatures within 1 turn due to the shards that are embedded in them.
The gems appear to be alive and growing, and each skeleton is able to
produce basically unlimited number of shards from their skulls to create
more from fallen or captured enemies. The gems do not affect plants or
plant-based creatures, and weapons made from plants (wood or otherwise)
such as staves or clubs do extra damage against the skeletons. Plants are
also immune to the gem-detonation. In fact, any plant material nearby
seems to make the gems cringe. If the party is wearing the plant-based
armor that the nomad dropped, they are immune to gem-detonation, and they
will notice that the shards bounce off of it. The gems and shards can
easily be crushed by the staves and clubs, turning to dust.
The pyramid is filled with various traps, both magical and mechanical,
plus a few other creatures besides the skeletons. There are also odd piles
of treasure, metal bands and locks, but no wood. In fact, there isn't any
wood in the entire pyramid, and any that once was here is completely gone!
The gem-skeletons have destroyed all of it over the years.
Along the way, the party will find more ancient texts. These are a warning,
but the party won't be able to translate them. The party will encounter a
small "harmless" creature that can speak to them. It claims to be an agent
of their deity sent to witness this blessed event. It will lead them to a
room where an object glows brightly (like a star) and beautiful singing
is heard. The glowing object is a sword (sunblade), hanging in the air
above a magical circle. The creature will urge the party to take the sword to
complete their destiny. It is arranged as part of an ancient magic circle,
and unfortunately disturbing it will have nasty effects (but that won't be
revealed until later). As the sword is grasped, the little creature will
vanish (teleport away). The creature is actually a powerful demon that was
trapped here. It uses various magical means to conceal its identity.
The sword is lawful good and will be in telepathic communication with
anyone grasping it. The sword will reveal that the demon has just been
freed, and be very upset. This type of spell will never work against this
demon again and so the sword will feel that its purpose has ended.
Returning to Rokin by air at night, the party sees the battle fires raging
below. If the character with the sword explains the situation to it, and then
hurls it down, it will blaze brightly and sing a loud chorus in elvish,
destroying itself in the process. From the ground it appears as a
falling star.
Clerics among the warring elves will call back their forces upon seeing this
sign. It fulfills an ancient prophecy handed down for generations.
For now they must join this enemy to defeat an even greater one...
Havoc's Day (The Rokin Chronicles, Part 4)
Brent G. Davis
bgdavis@vnet.ibm.com
Long
Any
Fantasy
Quest
The texts copied from the pyramid are translated by one of the elven priests.
They indicate that a powerful demon was imprisoned there. It also notes
the gem-skeletons and tells of a huge controlling master gem that fell from
the sky.
Far to the east, a great cloud rises up. The demon that was freed by the
party in the previous adventure has summoned the godstorm - basically a
huge growing cloud of acid rain that continues to grow outwards. This
is what turned the lush land into desert before. At the front of the
storm, marches an army of gem-skeletons. Both are swelling...
In Rokin Castle, the party once again meets with Agral Tymart and Dreth
Caldan. All appears hopeless. "Havoc's Day is upon us!"
A hawk will fly into the throne room window, and suddenly change into an old
man, a man that the party almost recognizes. He combines features of the
grizzled woodsman, the druid and the nomad from parts 1-3. "It is time."
He is one of an ancient order of heirophant druids that were in hibernation
for thousands of years. He will tell the story of the ancient land. The
demon came to them as a god hiding behind his illusions and promises. The
demon tricked the mages and priests to cast a great spell that caused a
star to fall - the gem. Once it began to work its evil, the demon loosed
the godstorm. This was a 2-pronged attack: the gems to wipe out animal
life, and the storm to destroy all plant life. The demon sought the
destruction of the planet. But a group of priests, mages and druids were
able to trap the demon in the pyramid and stop the menace using the
sunblade that they crafted. The price was terrible. That land was
destroyed along with most of the people. Worse, the demon was only
trapped, and the location of the master gem was unknown.
The survivors set out to find it, and did, but were unable to penetrate its
defense. The wards the demon placed on it were meant to prevent any but an
evil druid king from touching it. Druids can't be evil, so this was an
apparently fool-proof ward. However, the wording on the ward was not
perfect, and as a result, the survivors from the old land devised a plan.
The druidic nation of Drucinia would need to be slowly transformed. They
would make it a lawful nation, and one day, when a lawful evil king was on
the throne (they didn't trust any other type of evil king to help them),
they would have their evil druid king. For the ward implies a Drucinic king
as opposed to a true druid king, but at that time, ages ago, the two were
synonymous. They also crafted the crown to prevent the terrible mind-
influencing affect of the gem. The scepter is a living tree transformed
into a pointed scepter which can penetrate and destroy the gem. Eventually,
the nation would be transformed and these items would be given to its kings.
However, their plan would take thousands of years to reach fruition...
The surviving heirophants went into hibernation. Their prophets revealed the
dates when they would need to awaken, and now they have. The druids have
methods to halt the spread of the godstorm using various weather spells.
But they need the humanoid, human and elvish armies to halt the gem-skeletons.
To prevent the gem-detonations from turning these armies into more skeletons,
he reveals that the gems cannot penetrate plant-based armor. And weapons
made from plants deal extra damage to them as well. Realizing there would
be no time to craft enough of these items, their agents have been secretly
stockpiling them over these thousands of years and putting them into stasis
all over the world - a cave here, a grove there, etc. The armor and weapons
will be delivered to the armies shortly.
To put an end to it all, both the demon and the gem must be destroyed. It
is up to the DM where they are hidden - could be another continent or even
another plane. The heirophant will take Dreth and the party there. The
defenses consist of more gem-skeletons as well as a few lesser demons and
other creatures as well as many tricks and illusions placed by the demon.
The party will likely want to wear the plant-based armor to ensure that
they don't succumb to gem-blasts. It can't be worn effectively with other
armor. Also, it is much less effective compared to other armor vs. other
creatures, so the battles will be difficult. Eventually, they will reach
the hall where the gem is kept. Only Dreth can reach it, but when he gets
to it, the demon will be gated there too. The party will need to engage it
while Dreth sinks the scepter into the living gem. As he does, it will
revert into a tree and its roots will consume the cracking gem. When the
gem is destroyed, all the gem-skeletons everywhere will fall to dust.
The demon will be hard to defeat. The ancient druids, mages and priests
were unable to kill it last time. It is up to the DM if he wants to give
it an Achilles' Heal that the heirophants learned over time, or if he just
wants the party to be heroic enough to defeat it on their own. When the
demon is defeated, the godstorm will also end. The heirophant will return
them all to Rokin and again vanish (perhaps until his next calling...)
The Cost of Doing Business
Wayne J. Rasmussen
wjr@netcom.com
Long
Castle
Any
Quest
Scenario Requirements
This scenario can be adapted to any level or size of group. Just adjust
the opposition accordingly. I feel it would be best for 4-6 characters
of lower-middle to mid-middle level.
Scenario Description
A family member of a noble, Lord Ansi, has been kidnapped and held for ransom.
Lord Ansi needs a party to deliver the ransom and return the family member.
The kidnapper Reaver is very greedy and is only out for money. Reaver
has gotten a better offer from an enemy of the noble lord. The enemy, Lord
Takemiya, has given the kidnapper a bonus to mislead the would-be ransom
droppers. The party must figure it out.
Places in the scenario
Lord Takemiya's Tower: This tower is located east of the Kidnapper's Keep.
A mounted party would take 3.5 days to travel there while Lord Takemiya's party
would take 7 days.
Lord Ansi's Castle: A modest castle where the good and noble Lord Ansi lives.
It should take the party around 10 days to travel from this castle to the
Reaver's Keep.
Reavers's Keep: The central point to this adventure. Never will you find a
more wretched hive of scum and villainy. It is the home of brigands, bandits,
and thieves.
Eastern Road: The Eastern road is the road that heads East from the
Kidnapper's Keep. This is the route that Takemiya's party takes.
Southern Road: The Southern road is the road that heads South from the
Kidnappers Keep. This is the route that kidnapper will say the Takemiya
Lord headed off in with the kidnapped family member.
Western Road: The Western road is the road that heads west from the
Kidnapper's Keep. It continues to the Noble Lord's Castle.
NPCs in the scenario:
Lord Ansi: A good and noble man who loves his family as well as his subjects.
This love has been perceived by the Lord Takemiya as a weakness to exploit.
Currently, the two lords are vying for power and it is a critical point in
the situation.
Lord Takemiya: A repulsive man who will use almost any means to achieve his
ends. Unfortunately this tendency often forces Takemiya to do the job
himself out of fear or distrust. He will use the Lord Ansi's family
member to gain political advantage over Lord Ansi.
Reaver: A former bandit, brigand, and professional thief, Reaver has now
gone "ligit". Instead of shaking down merchants for protection, Reaver
has gone into the insuring "noble person's safety" industry. This includes
returning kidnapped family members, stopping blackmailers, safeguarding
merchant caravans. When he does this, he extracts a toll from those he is
"Helping". Recently, a member of Lord Ansi's family got kidnapped and
conveniently found their way into the Reaver's hands.
The Adventure:
Rumors are a buzz around the castle. Some say that Lord Ansi's son has been
kidnapped by brigands. Others say that Lord Ansi's son has run away after
a long lost love. And even more say he has gone off to join the war. In
any case, you are talking old times with some of your friend's when you get
the message. Lord Ansi would like to speak with you.
1) If the party doesn't accept the offer then perhaps some other adventure
will drop in their lap. If they accept, goto 2.
2) Castle: When players arrive at the castle, they treated very well and
with great respect. They are offered food and wine while servants fuss about
their persons (Brushing off clothes, polishing the old boots, combing hair,
etc...).
3) The meeting: The setting for the meeting will be very formal yet
very personal. I recommend describing the castle as having good quality
trappings and many items are simple yet elegant in appearance. Quality
over appearance. Lord Ansi is polite but frank with party. His son has been
kidnapped by the scumbag Reaver. He demands 10,000 gold pieces for the safe
return of the son. Lord Ansi can't dare to send official troops or ranking
members of the clan to "ransom" the son. Therefore, Lord Ansi is asking if
you are willing to answer the call. Character's volunteering for the
expedition will be given a excellent light war-horse to carry out the mission.
If player's haggle, the Lord will almost be forced to submit. He doesn't have
magic to give to the players, but, gold, weapons, horses, land, and rank are
available. Players may be much better off volunteering as word will get out
about their demanding payment. Lord Ansi will extract a vow from each
character as follows: "I, your name, vow to return Lord Ansi's son at
whatever the cost." After the vow has been made, a chest containing 10,000
gold pieces will be given to the character's to pay off the Reaver. The
character's will be asked to leave right away. Lord Ansi will warn the party
to be careful in the Reaver's land. The Reaver considers himself a Lord.
Reaver's Keep is east of Lord Ansi's castle.
4) The Reaver's Land: While in the outskirts of the Reaver's territory, the
party may run across the local "watch". They will approach that party and
demand a "toll" to cross the land. This should be 10-50 gold pieces per
head. The idea is to get the party use to paying through the nose for
everything in the Reaver's land. Every watch the party runs into will make
this demand.
5) The Reaver's Town: There is a modest town surrounding the Reaver's Keep.
The town is surrounded by a tall stone wall. Nobody is let into the town
unless they have a pass that has been signed by the office of the gatekeeper.
The gate guard's will say they can't come into town without permission and
will charge the party 100GP+ to tell them how to get permission. It will
cost 200-300GP to have the guard arrange to get the gatekeeper to see them.
The gatekeeper will charge 500GP for the pass.
6) The Reaver's Keep: Once inside the town, the party must arrange to see
the Reaver. It should take the paying of several officials to arrange the
meeting. The meeting will be scheduled for the next morning.
7) The Meeting with the Reaver: The Reaver will have a large entourage
escorting him everywhere. When he enters his throne room many horns blow
tribute to the king of thieves. Many servants run about performing small
duties and unimportant tasks. The character's will be allowed to sit on the
floor while the king towers above in his tall throne. Finally, the Reaver
will announce that Lord Ansi's son is no longer visiting the "castle". If
asked for information, he will uncharacteristically give the party free
information. He will say something like, "I really shouldn't tell you
where the son went to, but, you may find it interesting to take the road
South of town." Now this is not a lie or a deception in the sense that he
really isn't saying anything specific. He doesn't know that the party won't
find the road going South as interesting. Also, it is truthful that he feels
that he shouldn't tell the party where the son went to without getting paid
for it.
Note: The Load Takemiya has paid the Reaver 15,000 gold pieces for Lord
Ansi's son and an additional 2,000 gold pieces to misinform the party about
heading South to get the son. The Reaver will keep this promise unless
offered at least 5,000 gold pieces or more. An observant party should quickly
reason that the information could be false and offer money for the real deal.
Note: I highly recommend describing the Reaver's Keep as gaudy looking and
fake. The Reaver and his servants where brightly colored clothing which is
of poor quality. Basically, the Reaver isn't royal and is projecting what
he thinks a king should look like. He is smart enough to know when people
are sucking up to him. He loves it! If the party tries to trick him into
giving up information by catering to his ego, he will still give the false
information.
Movement: Lord Takemiya's party will move at a rate of 1 movement factor (MF)
per day. The party should have horses and no wagons, and will get 2 MF per
day. Lord Takemiya is one day ahead of the party in the Eastern direction.
It takes 7 MF to get from the Reaver's Keep to Takemiya's tower. So Takemiya
will arrive at his tower in 6 days from today. If the party takes the South
road, they have to travel back to Reaver's Keep if they want to head East.
This is due to the mountain location of Reaver's "kingdom". If the party
wants to travel over the mountains, cut their movement to 1/4 to 1/2 MF per
day.
Before leaving the Reaver's Keep, the party can find out the following
information if they search for it and pay for it.
Rumors found in Bars:
1) Lord Ansi's son left town yesterday (alone).
2) Lord Ansi's son was taken by an enemy of Lord Ansi.
3) Lord Ansi has sent an assassin to kill Reaver. He is a member of
a supposed "ransom" party.
4) Someone who recognized Lord Ansi's son saw him shackled to a wagon
yesterday. Not sure which direction they were going.
Rumors found in Reaver's Keep:
1) For a LARGE amount of gold a staff member will reveal that Lord
Takemiya took Lord Ansi's son and made some sort of secret deal with
the Reaver.
2) A staff member will sell the party a map to the location of where Lord
Ansi's son is held hostage. NOTE: This is a false map that could lead to
either a building within Reaver's Keep or somewhere outside of town.
Rumor found by asking the Guards at the South Gate:
The guards don't remember anyone leaving the South gate recently who matches
the description of Lord Ansi's son, Lord Takemiya, or the wagons.
Rumor found by asking the Guards at the East Gate:
The guards do remember someone leaving the East gate recently who matches
the description of Lord Ansi's son, Lord Takemiya, or the wagons. For an
additional sum of gold they will say that this happened yesterday.
Closing notes and possible outcomes:
1) The party goes South and doesn't figure it out until it is too late.
Lord Takemiya arrives safely to his tower. The party may try to assault
the Tower or try negotiation. The GM should choose the best ending to either
situation. Lord Takemiya will want assurances and concessions from Lord Ansi.
Remember, Lord Takemiya is not trusting and can't be trusted.
Assault should be very tough.
2) The party catches Lord Takemiya and his party. A fight may/will happen
unless they can convince Lord Takemiya to give it up. The fight should not
be too difficult for the party. You should figure out what to do if the
party captures or kills Lord Takemiya. Perhaps Takemiya has a trick up
his sleeve to escape capture or death. If the players manage to kill the son
watch out. Lord Takemiya will use this to his advantage and against the party.
He may go as far as mending the fences with Lord Ansi in order to appear
innocent. He may imply that the party was working with the Reaver and even
offered to ransom the son to Lord Takemiya.
Conclusion:
Should the party save the son, Lord Ansi will be grateful. He will follow
any commitments he made to party members, but, the word will get out that
they forced him. Party members who volunteered get to keep the light
war-horse and are given letters of mark against the Reaver and his kingdom.
A Mission in Late December
Martin Krauel
m.krauel@rendsburg.netsurf.de
Long
Castle
Fantasy
Quest
To Be Played in Late December
In December the characters are contacted by a mysterious stranger, a contact
from an anonymous person wanting to hire them. He takes them on a half
mystical journey through the polar ice to the North Pole. Here they meet
their employer between his fairy staff and toy making facilities. It is,
well, Santa Claus himself.
The gentle, old, but powerful entity has a quest for them to accomplish. He
needs a small Christmas present delivered to Eridian Rashor, also known as
The Blood Red (or take some infamous villain of your world, a Warlord and
evil Sorcerer. The self-proclaimed rules of Eastern Skandia (or some very
distant province of your world) currently resides in the High Castle, an
ancient fortress he seized from the elves. He is known for some of the
vilest acts in recent history, like the Massacre of Wingholm, where he had
2000 elves slaughtered during negotiations, the Unholy Tuesday, on which he
had 200 nuns performing sexual acts in public or the Midsummernights
Sacrifice, during which he sacrificed 300 children to attract the Dark God
Daimor only to trap him and relieve him of his powers. You get the idea. He
is the natural enemy of anything that breathes in Skandia.
The idea behind this quest is, as Santa explains, that if there is someone
who is not likely to get any presents, like the Blood Red, but another one
desperately wants to give him one and absolutely cannot, it is Santa's duty
to bring him one or he hires others to do so, when he has no time to deal
with customers as difficult as the Blood Red, like this year. The present is
a shoebox sized case in plain white silk paper with a nice, red ribbon (it
is also immune to scrying magic) and they have to deliver it exactly on
Christmas eve (or on Julfest, as it is called in Skandia). He wont tell what
the present is or who the subconscious donator is. Of course, when you work
for Santa Claus, you are allowed to write a Christmas list with a present
for yourself and presents for other characters and NPCs as well. They are
allowed to use Santa's reindeer sleight to fly to Skandia and, of course,
also some magical red and white cloaks if they want.
When they reach Skandia, they have to realize that their mission is much
more difficult than it might have sounded. Unfortunately, the High Castle is
under siege by the combined forces of order. Gathered in five camps around
the fortress are an army of the Brotherhood of the Ring, Paladins, the
Seventh Imperial Legion, including some silver dragons, an army of Elves
from Eldylon, including griffin riders, the army of Iron Fist, a dwarven
thane, with lots of siege engines and, if you like cannons and the army of
the Duke of Skandia. Neither will be happy about some strange guys who
deliver goods into the besieged castle and will shoot down any reindeer
sleight trespassing their siege. On the other hand, they will probably
welcome a group of adventurers willing to aide in the attack.
The castle is held by the Blood Red himself, who doesn't expect any
deliveries, his guard of well equipped and experienced Black Ogres, the
weird Necromancer Tuchlon and his undead legion, Chim One Eye, a savage and
cruel barbarian and his men, the dark elven Weapon Master Tridon Talass and,
last but not least, the enslaved god Daimor and his priesthood. His orc and
human troops have deserted before the siege began. Only two human servants
are still in the castle, Dai, the old butler and Irina, a kitchen maid. She
is secretly in love with the Blood Red (don't ask ME why) and is, though
unknowingly, the cause for the present.
The player succeed if they get the present (a musical clock with a romantic
tune from the Blood Reds childhood) to the Rashor on Christmas eve, but they
could also get him to flee with the kitchen maid (Hey, a Christmas adventure
HAS to be romantic !) and thereby crushing the evil alliance and winning the
war for good.
The following celebration and especially the exchange of presents should be
nice ("Huh, what a nice sword ! I hope its more magic than my old one.",
"Hey, isn't that my old lance, that my character lend to yours 3 years
ago?", "A book? Who of you ****** expects my Assassin to read a book?",
"What a nice statue. What do you think is its retail value?", "Warm
socks? MAGES do not wear warm socks! ", "Oh no. Not more magic ginger bread!")
Martin Krauel
Kolonnenweg 120
24837 Schleswig
Germany
m.krauel@rendsburg.netsurf.de
Also look for SNOWBALL on IRC and don't forget to visit #Gurps !
Ambush at the Toll Bridge
Jusinski
jusinski@coin.csnet.net
Short
Road
Building
Fantasy
Quest
Guarding
Startup
This adventure is very good to use as a startup, and to show
overconfident PCs that they can be beaten.
The party is hired to deliver some important object (sword, tome,
whatever) to a guy in a nearby city or town. On the way, they must cross
a wide river. When they arrive at the bridge, they are stopped by 2 men
with weapons, and asked to pay a toll (a big toll.) While they are
getting the money, or if they refuse, they are ambushed by about 10 more
thieves hiding in the woods surrounding the bridge. The 2 tollmen also
attack. The enemy's weapons are poisoned so that the victims will fall
unconscious very quickly. When the PCs awaken, they are at the bottom of
a deep pit in the forest. All their possessions are stolen. Once they
get out (it shouldn't be too hard), they are lost. After a lot of
searching, have them come to a path. If they follow it, it will lead to
a ruined cottage. The men who ambushed them are there, either sleeping
or awake (depending on whether it's day or night.) The PCs will
recognize them and (hopefully) plan to ambush them to get their stuff
back. This time they outnumber the bandits, and have the element of
surprise, but are unarmed. If the bandits are asleep, there is only one
on watch, and the party should win.
Wyvern Hunt
Jim Garrett
JEGarrett@msn.com
Short
Wilderness
Fantasy
Quest
Wyvern
This is a short fantasy adventure for a low level group of characters,
preferable low-level. This adventure works best is most of the players have
nature loving characters, like elves, druids and rangers. As the players pass
through a small village they are asked to help hunt down a wyvern in the area.
The wyvern has lived in a nearby forest for decades, but has recently started
hunting cattle. Unknown to the PCs, a dam has been built nearby and has flooded
the wyvern's hunting grounds. The wyvern's lair is behind a waterfall.
Campaign Ideas For Middle-Ages Europe
Jay Knioum (The Mad Afro)
Short
Any
Fantasy
Startup
Campaign
MadAfro wrote:
Mike Rhoads saith:
>Just wondering if anyone could give me some good campaign ideas in the
>middle ages, with very limited magic and human NPC's. I'm stuck,
>thanks
Assuming it's middle-ages Europe that you're after, there are plenty of
things to draw adventures from....
Problems of Feudalism: Nobles rule the serfs, exploit them mercilessly.
The serfs could be tired of this crap, and the PCs may find themselves in
the middle of an insurrection.
Intrigue: The middle ages were rife with all sorts of intrigues, both
between nobles, and with the Church. There was backstabbing, jealousy,
infidelity, infighting, inbreeding, and all sorts of other nasty behavior
going on.
Crusades: The Church is powerful, and needs to get rid of a few nobles.
Send 'em on some religious errand with huge armies and the Grace of God
behind them!
Plagues: It's the Dark Ages! Disease is rampant, and makes one hell of a
backdrop for PCs to get stuck in! I did this once, and it was a very cool
game, and the players actually had fun! ;)
War: If all else fails, go William Wallace on their ass! ;) Wars offer
all sorts of adventure hooks, and they happen for an infinite variety of
reasons.
Land: Ties in nicely with War, as it tends to be the prime reason for
violence. Perhaps one or more of the PCs inherited (or shall inherit) a
title and the lands to go with it. Since, in the Middle Ages, land =
power, the PC will probably want to do everything in his/her power to keep
it.
Social Injustice: The Mid-ages were not a fair time. Women were
frequently treated like dirt, as were ethnic minorities, pagans, children,
the underprivileged, etc.
Incidentally, I read a very good book (entitled "Shield of Three Lions,"
by Pamela Kaufmann), in which a girl disguised herself as a boy in the
hopes of keeping hold over her father's land, after he is brutally
murdered. The whole thing takes place during the Crusades, and I highly
recommend it for the historical backdrop, as well as the excellent
dialogue she writes. The girl is trying to reach King Richard to
validate her claims to the land. However, this girl is far from worldly,
and the reader learns about all the "interesting" facets of medieval life
as she does.
Also, I don't know if White Wolf's World of Darkness games are your thing,
but the Vampire: the Dark Ages main rulebook may be worth at least a
cursory thumb-through for ideas. You'd have to decide for yourself how
useful it is, though. Other games, such as Pendragon by Chaosium (IIRC),
and Ars Magica make use of the time period, as well. V:tDA and Ars
Magica are a bit more magically-inclined than you seem to want, though.
There is a historical AD&D supplement called "Charlemagne's Paladins" that
may be of some use, and the "Celts" supplement may also be a fun read,
even if a bit before the time period you want. These supplements may be
out of print, these days, however.
Finally, if you keep on being stuck, you may want to give some thought to
changing campaigns. Think about it. Are you fresh out of ideas PERIOD,
or only for this particular campaign?
Run for your life!!!!!!!
Renaud
renaudbe@total.net
Medium
Urban
Castle
Fantasy
Exploration
Your players are in a small inn when a group of priest (good) are
yelling to everybody:"If you want to save your life run outta here!".
The adventurer, curious see that an army of skeletons, death knights,
ogres, orcs and evils giants are starting to enter in the city. After
their observation the small group of priest are starting to go in the
melee when skeleton enter in the inn.
Skeleton are arriving from everywhere, the priest are starting the
battle with them but after a little time all of them are dead or
seriously injured. The players have a chance to exit by the window,
now they are obligated to make a saving throw vs. magic. If they failed
they are staying if success they can go out of the window with another
who failed.
When they are out of the inn it, skeleton are running after them to
make sure they go out of the town after 30 minutes the town is burning
when they are out of the town they see a small fortress that was not
already there yesterday so they were wondering how to enter when the
portal open wide to let them enter...
After they enter in the small castle they see a pile of dead warrior
weapon, armor, helmet and blood are everywhere. If they lost a weapon they
find out in the pile. The most intelligent in the party see a large trace
of coagulate blood crossing all over the piece and ending at a large
stairway were two humans are there he see that their blood has been
sucked by a huge creature because of a teeth live there by the
monsters. After that a very big shadow enter in the piece :"A blood
sucker worm". After the battle they enter the stairway to the next level.
After 3 hours pass in the dungeon (where you can put monsters to make
fun) a Skeleton in armor is looking at them on a pile of bone. "You
little worm cross my territory in the 400 years I've pass killing people
to make my valorous army your the only one who see mee..." A huge sword
(two handed) appears in his hands by magic, the final combat starts.
Here his stats:
Hit points: 46
Magic resistance :90%
Special power: disintegration once by three rounds
Damage: sword +5 (1d100 / 3d6)
special defenses: -2 to enemy attack roll (if good alignment), +2 or
better magical weapon to hit.
If the party survives one of the group member can take the sword +5 and
the fortress explode so every group member receive 1d6 point of damage.
After that they see that nothing have been passed and the town is like
when you entered the inn...
Hijack
Lance Berg
emporer@success.net
Long
Ship
Sci-Fi
Quest
Affliction
This synopsis is available for the use of private
individuals, anyone wanting to make a profit off it should contact Lance
Berg regarding some sort of reimbursement...The characters are recruited
to do a job, but the job screws up and dumps them in the middle of a
hijacking. They are on their own as to whether they try to stop the
'jack, go along, try to join, or take over (the last is what my players
ended up doing...)
This mission is designed for a group which doesn't have a ship of their
own. Other than that, it's fairly adaptable. It would really help when
you are asking for this sort of thing if you could be more specific,
although perhaps you are really looking for a campaign starter, and don't
have any preconceived notions to work with.
1) Getting hired. Make up a job involving a covert government operation
which needs deniable assets to perform a scouting mission. The
characters are to board a luxury liner, travel several jumps down the
line, then take over a very stealthy small craft being shipped on board,
use it to travel to a moon of a separate planet in one of the liner's
destination systems and do their mission, then return to another liner
going the opposite way for pickup. This should be attractive to the
characters on a variety of levels. The job itself pays well, which may
be enough. It involves a weeks long cruise on a luxury liner, which is a
nice fantasy. They can easily expect to jump ship and dump the mission
at any point along the route; if you start them out down and out, stuck
on a hellhole planet with no way off this itself could be sufficient.
They might reasonably expect to get away with keeping the stealth
craft...
2) Getting sent out. They meet their employers at a shipping terminal in
the local port, before it opens for the day. There they find their
contacts pulling open some large shipping crates. Inside are autodocs,
and nearby are some smaller crates. They are instructed to put their
luggage in the smaller boxes and affix labels off a sheet, then to get
into the autodocs. Examining the sheets show stickers with a bogus
passenger bio and address down the route past their destination. The
autodocs seem perfectly functional, a model without 'glass port, all
slick chrome exterior. Once someone gets in (and it turns out one of
their contacts is going along, so he'll go first if that's what it takes)
one of the party may notice that the "occupied" light and all the
monitors seem to be malfunctioning, the 'doc shows condition nominal.
Turns out that the group is being smuggled in low berth, using the
autodoc freezer capability. These units are marked as being transshipped
from a high tech planet, with plenty of routing detail available to
anyone checking up on them; they are posted as replacements for emergency
systems aboard the liner they are traveling on. This may confound those
who were looking forward to the luxury ride or to jumping ship, if they
figure out that they are going to be kept frozen the entire voyage (not
every group of players will...) and your plot may even fall apart at this
point. If you have set up sufficient back story, you may have the germ of
a new plot line, in which the party tries to figure out what was really
going on, or the employers try to eliminate the party as "knowing too
much..."
3) Rude awakening. The autodocs open, releasing the PCs from freeze into
an emergency bay, with lights blaring and an general order to go to
lifestations running. Their contact knows nothing about this, it was not
part of the plan. They were supposed to be awakened slightly before
coming out of Jump space while everyone was in their quarters or at duty
stations for the transition, make their way to the cargo bay, and pick up
their things and get into the small craft, preparing to launch just after
coming out into normal space. They seem to be where they were supposed
to, in a large room full of other freezer bays. All the others seem to
be occupied, though, and the alert system is cycling through a variety of
languages announcing life support failure... All the berths except their
own read full, if anyone takes a look.
4) Another Jolt. There are two exits from their chamber, taking the one
they were supposed to leads them through a double lock (door, space, door
door space door) into a corridor. The other door has large labels
reading Crew Only. Oddly, although anyone familiar with the anti-hijack
programming on shipboard knows how difficult it would be to get through
it, and probably disregards it, they will open easily, to reveal a
cramped small craft flight deck, unoccupied, view ports showing the
roiling gray of hyper space. Too, characters who are interested can
easily get full access to the ships computers through access points along
the wall or so forth. A list of running software will not include an
anti-hijack program... At any rate, hopefully the party will (perhaps
with prodding from the NPC) get moving too quickly to get seriously
involved. They have a tight schedule, after all, have to make it across
the ship to their craft and ready to launch, which is going to happen at
a specific time unless someone overrides it; less than half an hour form
now... The message on the intercom will change to "transition eminent"
warnings and then the group will go through jump transition, a very bad
one. Their contact will go completely useless at this point, a victim of
transition lapse. Shortly after this, the warning will go to "abandon
ship, catastrophic drive failure eminent!" Hopefully the group will be
through the locks by now, as there will be a shudder, and the lifeboat
they were in (probably unawares) will launch, along with others along
their corridor. At this point (although they don't know it) they and the
hijackers are the only people on board the liner. If they stayed on the
boat, the scenario is going to go differently of course, you are on your
own here...
5) Now What? Here the party really takes control of its destiny.
You'll need maps of the ship, locations and schedules of the hijackers,
and so forth; but there is no knowing what they'll try. They may even
manage to ignore things completely and make it to their craft, which is
really there and set up for their mission. Since you'd rather they deal
with the scenario you worked on, try to make sure they encounter at least
one hijacker on the way... The idea here is to engender a "Die Hard" or
"Under Siege" scenario. Have fun
6) What really happened. The "government" which hired the group was
really an interplanetary corporation. They arranged through other
disreputable contacts to have the anti-hijack program aboard the liner
sabotaged, and for the experimental stealth craft being shipped to a
government testing area to likewise be hijackable. Unfortunately, the
agent they set up to actually insert the Anti-hijack disabler decided that
this would be the perfect opportunity to take over the ship for himself.
He brought aboard a number of confederates as passengers, and when the
Anti-hijack routine shut off, they put in place the emergency alerts,
planted false reports and readouts, and generally got the entire crew and
all passengers into emergency freezer bays. Once the ship breaks out of
jump, it launches all lifeboats and transmits a distress signal, with
full (doctored) logs and telemetry indicating runaway drive failure, and
consistent with what the occupants of the boats believe was happening...
All the people in on the plot are listed as being on one of the boats,
along with the purser who started everything. This boat floats nearby,
drive apparently malfunctioning. In reality, the hijackers have loaded
it with explosives and scrap pieces identifiable as being from the liner,
including the "black box." They are busy ramping up the capacitors to
jump as soon as they can. When able, they plan to dump more explosives,
and have everything go off just as they jump. When authorities arrive,
they should find debris, the hijackers all lost in the explosion,
everyone else safe in their lifeboats headed for the main planet in the
system. A very close investigation may eventually show insufficient
mass/energy to account for the liner itself, but that could take months,
if it happens at all.
7) Hijacker's plans. Part of a separatist movement, they plan to take
their entire group on the liner along with colonization gear, and head
out for a distant colonizable world, there to use the liner as their
first home. This is a complex plan, with clandestine fueling stations,
the pickup of the group, and all sort of other details which need to be
worked out, if things ever get that far. Since the scenario revolves
around the PCs and the hijacking itself, I've never had to go into too
much detail as to what will actually happen, but it is important that you
have some ready answers as to what the plan is, since the PCs may very
well try to find out. Who knows, they might even decide to go along!
A Missing Heir (AD&D.com)
Mike Hamilton
Mikehamil@aol.com
Long
Urban
City
Fantasy
Affliction
Investigation
The PC's are traveling to a major city, housing the main temple to a high
standing church. On the way they are ambushed by three to six bandits or so.
They can be of whatever level or skill the DM chooses, but the players
should be able to defeat them without too much trouble, but still get
dinged up in the process. If the PC's take a prisoner, then they might be
able to influence him to take them to their hideout--an old abandoned watch
tower a few miles into the woods. They might be able to find some nice
treasures. On the leader they will find a brass necklace with a strange
twisted symbol, and will also find that the leader has a extremely
expensive and ornate sword. The players will obviously take this, and
should for the adventure to work.
When the PCs reach the city, then they learn rumors that a high standing
lord, high in the church hierarchy, has had his ten year old son abducted.
A detachment of royal guards sees that the players have the sword (which
really belongs to the lord) and ask them (or force them) to accompany them
to the church. They take him before the lord and they discover that the
lord's stepson was believed to have abducted his true heir, also escaping
with the sword. The bandit leader was in fact the lord's stepson. If he
is still alive (escaped or the players left him tied up if they were not
the slaughtering types) then they can return him (preferably alive, but
acceptable if dead) for a reward. (and of course the lord will want his
sword back, which is a +2 magical weapon.
If the players apprehend the stepson efficiently, the lord hires them to find
his missing heir. They will have to question the stepson and other
person's involved if they are still alive, and do some probing around in
the lords manor (the DM can think up details, but don't make it too
difficult. When they start making headway on the investigation, they are
attacked in the street by black-robed clerics with magical picks 1d4+1. If
these picks even touch bare skin, the character must role a save vs. magic
or suffer 1d4 points a round until cured with a Curse Disease spell. If
the hitpoints fall to zero then the character only falls unconscious. They
loose one point of constitution an hour until it reaches zero and they
die. If they are cured then they regain a point of Con a day.
If they kill the clerics, then the discover they wear necklaces identical
to the one the lord's stepson wore. The necklaces are the symbol to an
evil order of spell casters (mages, priest, and their henchmen) and they
magically serve to protect the wearer from the touch of the
disease-enchanted items of the order. They also serve to locate
each other. Priests and mages above fifth level in the order, can sense
each other when they wear these. Which could add some complications for the
players if they wear them. If they have any mage of cleric identify the
necklaces, they will learn its powers, and the identifier will be able to
sense a large concentration of the order half a day's journey away from the
city at an abandoned temple.
To basically sum it up, the evil order is attempting to sacrifice the
lord's son to their god during a holy night that will increase their power
and doom the church based in the city. Many things could happen now. The
players can rush in a save the day, maybe with the help of some of the
lord's troops, and gain a huge reward... Whatever you do, give the players
a chance to save the heir, but also make it a huge challenge. If they fail
to stop the sacrifice, it doesn't necessarily mean they are dead. When I
used this adventure, the character's success depended on an initiative
roll. They failed, and the heir was sacrificed. It turned out that the
Second hand Priest of the church participated in the ceremony, and the evil
order invaded the city through ancient hidden tunnels, and took the whole
church, capital, and palace.
Basically, they took the whole city. The lord died as well and the players
got to keep his sword. I took this little adventure and even turned it
into a huge campaign, where the forces of the church had to flee from the
capital, and seek help from other nations to regain the city. The evil
order was also in league with a nation of orc's in the north that had been
warring with the nation for years. The order would weaken the nation, while
the orcs rushed into attack. In exchange, the orcs would give the leader
of the evil order a powerful artifact that they possessed, which could cause
major problems for the players latter on...
Of course, the DM can take this wherever he wants, and there are plenty of
options and other adventures that can spring from this. Hope you like it.
A Squire's Message (AD&D.com)
Richard Bitting
rbitting@shore.intercom.net
Short
Urban
Fantasy
Affliction
Startup
One day some PCs are just relaxing in a Inn (dm's choice) and a squire
rides into town. He nails a message up all through out the city/town.
The PCs see the page and quickly rush outside to take a look at the
message. It's a invitation for all elves to King Krondin's Keep.
Note: if the PC/PC's aren't elven then this adventure can't be played. Once
everyone is in the keep's Banquet hall, King Krondin begins his speech
about how the elven race is the best among the hole world. But later into
the speech, his eyes start to glow bright blazing blue and he then commands
for the guards to block the exit and then to kill them all. The guards rip
their helmets off and reveal their razor sharp teeth that they later on use to
rip the elves limb by limb. The King sees the PC's and orders the guards to
capture them and keep them for the next meal. That's where the DM has to get
creative and make the rest up because I am tired.
Adventure (AD&D.com)
David Winzer
narfumboob@hotmail.com
Medium
Any
Fantasy
Affliction
Magic
You know that very fine line between reality and fantasy that we're not
supposed to cross? This adventure crosses it. Before playing, find out
exactly who will be playing. Make up a character sheet for each of the
players that represents the player him/herself. Don't roll their ability
scores; just assign what you think is fair. Remember that they will have
lower scores than regular characters--especially Strength. Don't worry
about gear; whatever the players have at the table is their gear, including
dice--I'll explain the importance of dice later. Proficiencies are
important, however. Whatever the player knows, his/her character will know
(however, languages like French and Spanish, or knowing how to change a
car's tire won't be too useful, unless trying to impress NPC's with stories
of the future). You'll have to use discretion with this.
Start the adventure by sending the party on some quest, like recovering the
Amethyst Orb of Karnin Daganh or something. Be creative. Have them
recover it and get it to where it's supposed to go. Just when they think
that they've found out what the Orb does and the adventure's over, have an
NPC wizard get into a fight with them and cast a spell on the Orb (or
whatever creation you have come up with). Something will happen to it--it
glows, vibrates, sings, whatever. Then there will be a bright flash of
light, and presto! Now is when you bring in the new 'player' characters.
Each one will be standing with their respective 'regular' PC's. Tell the
group that there are some people with them now. The people are dressed
funny, and look weak--they have no weapons or armor (unless one of the
players actually was wearing armor. I doubt it, though. . . ). Describe
them as looking like the people gathered around your table. If someone
asks if they do anything, reply by saying, "I don't know. Do they?"
There will no doubt be tensions between the two groups of PCs. They will
probably form two groups, and one will tag along behind the other.
Here's where the dice come into the game. Suppose the normal PCs get into
a fight. The new ones will probably hide behind a tree or something. The
normal PCs will miss every attack they make, unless the new guys get smart
and realize the connection between the game rules and the game world--they
must roll the dice in the game world to make the regular PCs attack! Same
goes for ability checks, saving throws, etc. So, to recap: if the regular
PCs (the ones that started the adventure) want to do something, the new PCs
must roll dice IN THE GAME WORLD! You (the DM) can roll to determine the
outcome. If the new (player-specific) PCs want to do something, the player
rolls for real, in the real world, just like it always used to be.
Now the adventure really starts. The wizard who attacked the Orb in the
first place has it. With it, he can take over the world. Then the Prime
Material planes. Then the Ethereal, the Astral. . . you get the idea. The
group must stop him. If he manages to get control of something, all the
creatures living there become his personal slaves, and will sacrifice
themselves and others to stop the PCs. Sounds like fun, eh? An adventure
like this could span months of playing time, so be ready.
Zombie City (AD&D.com)
Julien Many
manyj@acces-cible.net
One-line
Urban
Any
Startup
Horror
Investigation
The players would start in the inn the heal their wounds when the inn
peoples begin to act strangely. As they look around they would find
peoples acting like zombies and the whole city would be roaming with
undead! The leader could eventually be a spectre or a lich depending of
the characters strength.
A Rocky Start (AD&D.com)
B Michael Bevins
mikebevins@worldnet.att.net
Short
Rural
Any
Startup
Guarding
Quest
I was reading the adventure ideas section of the page and I thought I
would send one of my favorite adventures for begging characters.
Okay, so the characters grew up around each other in a small farming
village. They have known each other all their lives. Make one of the
characters the son/daughter of the town leader. Anyway, an evil army is
slowly creeping over the land, destroying and burning cities etc.,
slowly moving from the north. One day, a maimed and bloody hunter
returns to the village after a weekend trip and states that the rest of
his friends were killed by the army (the army could be any evil race, or
a bunch of races) and they are within 3 days march of the town. The town
leader summons his/her son/daughter and tells him/her to head south with
the other characters to reach another town and bring back the militia
while the village tries to hold off the army. The DM could put anything
between the characters and the town, and make anything happen to the
village while the PC's are gone.
The Ghost House (AD&D.com)
pandrade
pandrade@riosoft.softex.br
Short
Building
Horror
Exploration
The characters are wandering in a desert road when it starts raining. As the
raining gets worse, the road is turning into mud and the characters can't
continue. In the distance they see a great house standing, where lights can
be seen... As they knock the door, a sinister voice answers: "Enter!" (or
something like). But when they pass through the door, it closes. In the
first room, sits a round table with five candles (these maybe impossible to
light off) forming a pentagram on it... So there's apparently no one in the
house. The master should select some undead to inhabit the house, and some
sinister plots like this: A spirit locked in a lantern, a amputated arm in
the bathroom...
A Summoned Party (AD&D.com)
Jeremy Fife
compjam@ricochet.net
One-line
Any
Fantasy
Magic
Affliction
A high level wizard on a different plane uses a monster summoning spell and
captures the party. Instantly the party is transported to their new master
involuntarily for a time. As per the monster summoning spell the entities
which are summoned (the players) have to obey every command the wizard
gives. This twist could be used and adapted very easily to any campaign.
A Dangerous Cave (AD&D.com)
Bryan Birckbichler
bricklik@isrv.com
Short
Cave
Fantasy
Exploration
Startup
You come to a town after a long walk through some dry lands. Inside are some
people roaming the street. You walk in and hear a couple people talking
about a cave up north a couple miles. They say there's gold and stuff
inside (up to the DM) but anyone who went in never came out! It starts to
get dark. The inn is to the right. In the tavern part (down stairs) of the
inn, they can get something to eat/drink. When they ask for a room the inn
keeper calls for his/her assistant, and they take you to your room. On the
way the assistant tells you they are going to the caves the next day and
would like some company, or something like that. The rest is up to the DM to
figure out. I use this adventure for new people and call it "intro to D&D".
In mine, the cave goes into a large circular room about 30" in diameter. It
can have an open, or closed ceiling. (I prefer open) and the treasure/items
are in chests around the room. You can put traps or undead or whatever on
the way in/out. something to make it challenging. You can also follow the
cave through the mountain and end up god knows where!
Magical Item-Stealing Cult (AD&D.com)
Kevins
kevins@netins.net
One-line
Urban
Fantasy
Magic
Affliction
Investigation
I have been toying with the idea of a cult that goes around stealing magic
items. They are draining the items to power a portal that will allow their
demon (deity, whatever) into our realm. They hit a town where the pc's are
staying and naturally everyone accuses the thief with the party. I think it
could be turned into something interesting but have never had time to
develop it.
Dragon Strike (AD&D.com)
Samuel Franco
dustin@pacific.net
Short
Any
Fantasy
Quest
I recently tried to put a friend of mine on a little quest sponged from
Dragon Strike (a truly exceptional learning game). He was hired to kill the
wizard named Teraptus, I gave him the first name of Shion, by his son,
Gilmar, who was teaching at a wizards school. But the whole thing is as
follows:
They were hired to kill him by some strange man. They had to find a weapon
that could kill Gilmar and then go kill Shion, but when Shion is dead, they
find that Gilmar is quite well and wants them dead, because he is now going
to ascend the throne of Havis (The dragon strike planet).
Adventure Anthology (AD&D.com)
Bruce Freeby
bfreeby@toto.csustan.edu
Medium
Any
Fantasy
Quest
Guarding
Affliction
How about the PC's are hired to garrison some piddly little outpost on the
border with a neighboring kingdom when A) that neighboring kingdom decides to
come through that area on a raid/conquest/other B) hostile monsters in the
area attack the outpost, looking for loot/revenge/some item or artifact
rumored to be somewhere in the outpost but never found by previous
explorers. Catch: The obvious catch would be that whatever the situation,
the PC's would have to be either high enough levels to face it, or have
enough diversity of characters/terrain/options for magic.
How about the pc's are hired to pilfer a certain item, any item that could
have a real or perceived value to the pc's or their employer. When they get
there, the item is already being stolen or they've been set up and now must
try to get out of the situation without losing face or their lives. Catch:
Having a thief in the party would be really useful, but parties that don't
have thieves can have and npc thief come along, which could make for a more
interesting plot twist if it turns out the ambush is set up to catch only
the thief, and the rest of the party shows up!
How about the pc's are implicated in the destruction of some item with real
or perceived value and now must get out of town or find the real culprits
before time runs out. Catch: Players can get disgruntled real quick if this
happens more than once or twice.
How about the pc's, while sent on a mission (could be almost any)
accidentally come across an item which takes them into a labyrinth or maze
of some sort. For higher levels, the maze could be some sort of reality
displacer, taking the through time at various points, or perhaps space. They
exist at that point in time though they are not from it. However, they do
not exist in that SPACE in time. They are still in the maze, and it'll take
cunning to figure the trick out and get themselves home. Catch: Besides not
being able to do this very often, a plain maze can bore players quickly. Add
a minotaur or a Gorgon for flavor.
How about the pc's are hired to guard a caravan that carries a secret item
which becomes subject to several raids and more subtle inter-caravan
subterfuge. It may turn out that members of the caravan are also out to get
the item. Catch: This has to be played for flavor. If the item has real
value, make sure the players can only get their hands on it if it turns out
Competition! (AD&D.com)
Martin Grimes
Martin@luxcs.demon.co.uk
Short
Coastal
Fantasy
Intrigue
The PCs arrive at a small town on an island in the middle of a lake. The
distance around the lake makes it a pain to go around. However, during a
particularly nasty storm, one of the bridges that links the town to the
other side of the lake has been destroyed. The mayor has launched a
competition to find the first group to operate a crossing to the other side
of the lake. He asks the PCs to ensure fair play in the competition. There
are several groups.... the dwarves are building a tunnel, the elves are
building a boat, the gnomes a brid