Dungeon Title: Random Adventure #1
V 1.0 Last update 28 Sept 16.
Before we get too far. Yes this adventure needs a proper name, but is the first in a series of adventures that utilize a bunch of random tables to generate. It also need maps. I'll correct that as soon as I figure out a way that I like the look of.
A fantasy adventure.
A fantasy adventure.
For levels 4-5. This is due primarily to the presence of a succubus. Without that battle the adventure could be completed by a 1st level party with some smarts and good luck.
This adventure was designed using random tables as much as
possible. Starting with the idea of a
tavern, a dungeon, and some treasure it went from there, with me filling in
story to connect the randomness. As a
result I provide background on several of the people and locations that will
not and should not be explained to the players.
The information is provided for Dungeon Masters (Mistresses?) to have
enough information to paint a full picture in their mind for those eventual
twists that players throw at you that I didn’t anticipate answering. For the
players though this is a wizard’s tower, if anything it should be odd, and
terrible. There will be things that the
players just don’t “get” and that is ok.
There will be treasures that aren’t found, that is Ok. Since this is the wizard’s inner sanctum it
is a place of both study and exploration.
It is recommended that if you add additional treasure that is not part
of a story hook for a future adventure, that it comes from random tables as
there is very little rhyme or reason to what has piqued a wizard’s interest for
whatever reason. The majority of this adventure will consist of
exploration, and will largely depend on how the players choose to interact with
the various NPCs in the villa and what arrangements they can agree upon. The adventure is designed to be system
neutral, but will generally refer to Dungeons and Dragons style rules.
Background.
Foriosphere of the Owl’s Bridge was a very old and powerful wizard. At one time she had aspirations for
power. Both dominion over the mortal
world around her, and power through the reaches of time and space. To this end she had established her base of
power and studied, and plotted. What she
did not expect was to achieve enlightenment.
She achieved an understanding of the universe that transcended that of
mortal men, and dipped into the realm of the gods. Her previous ambitions she realized were
petty, beneath notice even. And turned
herself toward reflection and contemplation, no longer interested in the material
things that had occupied her attention for so much of her life. Old enemies don’t go away though. With her attention on things so far beyond
the realm of reality and her defenses lowered, one of them found an opportunity
to destroy her. She has been dead now
for almost a week. The town below knows
that she is gone, but is in fear, for with her passing what horrors have been
released?
The hook: You know
you’re players best and the way to get them to adventure. If you’re strapped for ideas though:
Foriosphere’s apprentice has been sending out both magical and non-magical
requests for help. Or the party could
also be hired as guards for a caravan transporting supplies to the town. Or the adventurers could just walk into town
on their way somewhere else, of course then any of the village people can
inform them of the wizard’s passing.
Contents:
Surrounding lands.
The town of Ransweiler
The Villa of Foriosphere
Main
Wing
East Wing
West
Wing
Grounds
Dungeon
1st Level
Dungeon
2nd Level
Dungeon
3rd Level
Dungeon
4th Level
Personalities
Foriosphere of the Owl’s Bridge
The Overseer of Craft
The Chief Linener
The Apprentice
The Champion
Guards
The headless men
The Deamons
Surrounding lands.
This adventure takes place nestled in the grazing lands of
the Bison men (or other generally inhospitable group). They are a xenophobic group that despises
foreigners. They are afraid of
Foriosphere and avoid her villa, as well as the nearby town, viewing them as
places of taboo. They believe the wizard
and the town as a cruel and decadent place of amoral license. They will not bother anyone who stays to the
road through their land, but will attack anyone who leaves the path. They haven’t noticed that anything has
changed and still assume that both the tower and the town are occupied and
powerful. The town sits on the outside
of a dark thick forest. The forest is
filled with a brown mold that causes a bronchitis like illness if in its
presence for 48 hours. A single path
leads through the forest to the villa which sits next to a cliff face
overlooking a large body water (huge lake or ocean, at least big enough for
ship travel).
The town of Ransweiler
When Foriosphere first came to these lands her workforce
consisted of a small army of Dwarves and halflings. After constructing her villa and dungeon she
had them all slaughtered to keep her secrets.
The Halflings were buried and the dwarves were kept (see Dungeon level
1). That unmarked burial site was later
colonized as Ransweiler as the Villa brought the opportunity for business. The town served as the housing for the staff
of the Villa and business grew up to support that. It has become a very profitable place despite
few natural resources because the combination of distance from other
settlements and the power of the Wizard leave the town free from governmental
influence. No taxes is always a very big
incentive. Now very few directly work at
the villa (the staff having been slowly reduced and not replaced over the past
few decades), the majority of the town view the villa with a mix of
emotions. They fear the wizard for her
power, and stories of horror, but they love the protection and autonomy that
being in the villa’s shadow provides.
They view the death as an impending disaster, but hold faith that the
wizard isn’t permanently dead and will return somehow. Law enforcement is very laissez-faire with policing
being only done on issues being brought directly before the mayor and enforced
by the town’s sheriff and his one deputy.
As long as something doesn’t affect someone else it is tolerated. Unofficial power lies with those employed by
the Villa as the threat of bringing Foriosphere’s personal attention to an
issue is the greatest threat possible (though very few staff actually would
dare to address her, let along make good on the threat). The townspeople have taken to warding
themselves from her magic by carefully tending a certain variety of green mold
that they grow on the sides of their buildings and have grown on their clothes
in decorative patterns. In reality, magical experiments have caused
the excessive growth of both a green mold and a brown mold. The brown mold is slightly toxic and will
cause illness if inhaled for a long time (2 days+), the two molds grow
exclusively however, so by raising the green mold, the townspeople keep the
brown mold at bay in the forest.
The inn: Scorned Crow
Every inn has a shadowy character in the corner. This town’s shadowy character is Nigel. Nigel is really just weirded out on black
Lotus and is full of unsubstantiated rumors and conspiracy theories. He can also hook you up with a couple of
grams of the stuff if you’re hip.
The bartender’s pet ferret has gone missing recently and he
is very distraught about it.
The Villa of Foriosphere:
The
villa sits on an overlook to the water. It
is composed of three squat buildings with roof terraces, connected by walkway
bridges. The villa’s exterior are covered
in small deep purple and blue tiles making up a mosaic of spirals and
vortexes. The effect is ruined however
by the growth of green mold about 2/3s of the way up the side of each
building. There are several doors to the
various buildings all of which are uncomfortably low and narrow to anyone but a
halfing or smaller. Only one window is
present in the entire complex (on the East Wing), each of the buildings have
large skylights in the roof however. Each
room with a skylight (unless stated otherwise) has two small half bowls affixed
to a wall one above the other. In one dish sits a wooden marble. When the marble (or any other object) is in
the upper dish the skylight will show daytime (each time is selected to provide
good lighting to the room without having the sun directly overhead), when the
marble is removed the skylight shows the nightsky. The lower dish has no properties and is just
a holding place for the marble.
Grounds. The front of the villa is decorated with
grand opulence. The path leading to the
villa opens to a grand round-about for carriages. A large bronze statue (with no tarnish) of a
beautiful woman (Foriosphere) dressed in a draping toga exposing one of her
breasts stands in the center of the round-about. Several smaller marble statues of toga
wearing men and women circle the round-about.
Leading down from the roof of the main building two grand staircases
curve down framing the double door in the center. In the courtyard between the man building is
a large basin of pure clean water. The
grounds have a lawn of clover that surrounds the villa for 2 yards before the
forest starts. Creatures from the forest
do not enter the manicured grounds of the villa. The villa’s grounds are the home of an
immaterial predator at night. It feeds
of the pure virtue of virginity. There
is a 1 in 4 chance that the creature attacks when a virgin is on the grounds at
night. If attacked, the person senses a
loss, but can’t quite place it and just isn’t a virgin anymore. Sorry, loose the status without the sex. Vows of chastity are broken, the person is no
longer good as a virgin sacrifices, etc.
All the buildings have a roof just
over 6 feet tall. Most characters will
be able to walk through the building but have a feeling of unease because their
head is almost scraping the ceiling.
This does impede combat and all attacks with slashing or bludgeoning
weapons for anyone over 4 foot tall are at a -2 penalty since all overhand
attacks end up hitting the ceiling first.
Main
Wing. The decor is all of the finest
material, rich silks and velvets, teak and redwood, gold, silver, and
orichalcum metalwork etc. The wood of
the walls is expertly carved with images of nature and Foriosphere. The main wing consists of four rooms:
Entryway/ foyer. This room is notably taller than others in
the villa with a ceiling 10 feet high. This
is where immediate business was handled, messages received or dispatched etc.
and it was meant to impress and intimidate. Any business taking less than 20 minutes it was
handled here by the staff. There is no
skylight in this room. A stairway leads to the roof on the east side. A pair of grand doors to the north lead to
the dining room, the heads of ferocious animals are carved over the doorway and
look down on anyone in the foyer like
prey. A door with the design of a beehive opens to the west to the clerks
office.
Clerks office. A
clerk’s office which houses a seat for a guard, a clerks table and bookshelf
for records. A second table and several
more chairs are here for any business with guests that would take over 20
minutes. The furniture is very old, but
solid and of very good quality. The
skylight permanently shows day. A search
of the bookshelf’s records will contain invoices, etc. One in particular stands out as it is an
invoice for 3000gp for an ebony rod with gold endcaps with very specific instructions
regarding its construction.
Formal dining room. A large table that can seat 10 sits
here. The skylight “day” shows twilight,
if switched, the nightsky shows the starts of Summer solstice 74 years
ago. A pair of glass double doors on the north
lookout over the courtyard (always showing true time), a door on the east leads
to a short passageway passing underneath the stairs and connecting to the
ballroom.
Ballroom. The room
contains a small raised stage for an orchestra, with chairs and music stands. The floor is a latticework of ebonywood and
white ash. The skylight night sky shows March 7th 21 years ago.
East Wing. The east wing consists of the living
quarters. The decor here is mixed. The
majority of the building is plain though several rooms are furnished in vast
opulence both in architecture as well as furnishings and decorations, the
opulent rooms are be cluttered with art, fine rugs, etc. in contrast to the
plain practicality of other rooms. There
is no middle ground in their design. A (P)
will preface plain rooms a (O) will preface opulent rooms. Any opulent room will easily contain 1000 gp+
worth of art, but most of this should be extremely large, heavy or fragile. Foriosphere went though a brief stage of aestheticism
upon being enlightened and started to distain the luxury items she had acquired. This was later followed by complete
detachment from physical things and she didn’t care if something was “nice or
not” just that it was.
(P) Foriosphere’s quarters. The room consists of a single bed, a desk
vanity with a water dish filled with pure water with a hibiscus flower floating
in it, a chair, and a single wardrobe with three dresses. Foriosphere’s corpse
has been placed in the bed. A knife
wound in her abdomen has been packed with cloth. All the dresses are of a very fine make. One is a large poofy hoop dress with plunging
neckline made of iridescent green with deep purple accents (hoops and bustle
are stored at the bottom of the wardrobe), another is a kirtle with a deep blue
top and a red plaid dress. The third is
a sleek black cocktail dress of modern cut (will be assumed to be odd underwear
by pretty much anyone). A white robe of
silk with a grid pattern of red threads stained in blood lies on the
floor. The room is otherwise barren,
with no art or rugs. Though there is
evidence that other furniture used to be in this room, and a larger bed was
here. The skylight of the room shows the night sky of December 28, 1000 years
ago.
(O) The Kitchen and pantry. Unlike the rest of the house the kitchen
pieces are intricate works of art as well as being practical. A large double stove with ovens dominates the
room, butcher knives and other cutlery are crafted for beauty as much as
practicality (all are considered masterwork).
A great chandelier illuminates the room.
There is a pump with the handle crafted to look like a bird and a spigot
looking like a frog within the kitchen that pumps clean well water into a
trough sculpted to look like a lily flower.
The pantry is full of the richest and finest foods, the spice rack
contains many exotic and rare spices (valued at 500 gp). The skylight shows day, if switched to
nighttime it shows a cloudy night with no stars.
(P) A private dining area. The dining room contains a plain pantry
filled with fine china (in excess of 1500 gp, but breaks with the slightest
mishandling, did the party bring packing straw and crates?). Full silver cutlery sets for 4 (250 sp) A
small table that would at best seat 4 but has only two chairs. The skylight shows day, if switched to
nighttime it shows a night 400 years ago, when the full moon appeared very
large in the sky.
(L) A bathroom. A Giant low and wide copper cauldron placed
upon the back of a jade turtle dominates the center of the room. Two hand pumps shaped like angels can be used
to pump hot water into the cauldron. In
one corner of the room is a steam room, and the other a sauna. The wood of these rooms is carved withy
images of dancing naiads and vineyards. A pedestal of ice flakes sits in the
room between the steam room and sauna.
The interior of the room is tiled with a mosaic that depicts the ocean
depths with giant horrible sea monsters with many eyes and fangs. Only at the very top of the room do familiar
ocean life like wales appear, and they appear tiny compared to the other
creatures. The skylight shows March 30th
of this year.
(L) A guest bedroom. This room is decorated is scarlets and
golds. A wardrobe and vanity are in the
room as well as a large couch and coffee table.
On the coffee table sits a gold and ivory music box with miniature
statues of dancing nymphs and sprites.
The music box can play any song (and will do so beautifully), if
activated without a specific song in mind it plays a unique composition that
will be beautiful to the listener. The
box’s music will also grab the attention of any farie folk within a mile who will
attempt to find the music’s source as long as it plays. A mural across the celling depicts a
beautiful woman (Foriosphere) half dressed, bathed in blood striding through a
lush green garden filled with white marble statues of elves and humans in poses
of terror and agony. This room has no skylight, and is lit instead with small
white stones with light permanently cast on them kept behind smoked glass.
(L) The guards barracks. This room
contains 4 armor racks and 4 large buckets carved of ivory with depictions of
battles carved on their face. Gold
framed mirrors cover the walls reflecting images into eternity. The one space not covered by mirrors there
are three hooks. On one hook hags a
golden circlet. On the other two hang
silver circlets. If the gold circlet and
at least one silver circlet is worn at the same time the wearer of the silver
circlet is transformed into an ooze with complete loyalty to the wearer of the
golden circlet (if an ooze wears the silver circlet it is still an ooze, but it
is loyal to the wearer of the golden circlet).
On the floor are two levers. The
lever on the left changes the view in the skylight between the saved date and
the current time. The level on the right
resets the saved date of the skylight with the current time date. The skylight shows the currently saved time
of the night sky of 5 January, 20 years ago.
The saving of the date was used as part of the ritual marking the last
creation of ooze men guards.
(L) Reading room. Every wall of this room contains a bookshelf
except for the section with a reading nook.
The books are of a variety of languages and topics both for reading
pleasure and study. There are several
empty gaps in the bookshelves. There are
no books in this library that address medicine, botany, astrology,
biology. A reading nook has the only
window in the building which perpetually shows 11:35 pm on May 20th
when the light is at the perfect brightness and angle for reading and provides
just a hint of comforting warmth through the glass.
(L) Linen and laundry. A great vat for washing linen boils and
bubbles in this room. Wardrobes filled
with linen and lace are on the wall, along with a loom, yarn and thread
supplies, tailors dummies, and a half finished dress. The skylight shows day, July 7th
100 years ago.
(L) Observatory. This room has a dome rising up it making the
ceiling much higher. On a large
turntable sits a huge brass telescope that looks out through the dome. Two pedestals are mounted on either side of
the telescope’s eyepiece. One contains a
large book with scribblings and writing notes regarding astrological observations,
an inkpot and quill. The other contains
a large book that is bound with iron and chained to the podium. This magical book with no title grants +1 to
the effective caster level for spells and makes the user undetectable by
divination spells for a time equal to two times the time it is studied.
West Wing. All rooms
in the West wind have fine engravings along the walls of vistas of sea and
space. Regularly depicted on columns and
molding are images of Foriosphere. Every
room is flooded with 1 foot of water.
This entire wing was kept pristinely organized and clean until very
recent events flooded it.
Garden. The garden is filled with high vine-like plants
that climb on trestles that reach up to the sky. Many of these are in blossom with over large
fragrant blooms. The flowers very slowly
move (at a speed that is noticeable when someone has left the room for a time
and returned). Someone with advanced
astrological knowledge can realize that the movement of the largest bulbs
mirrors those of the stars in the sky and the smaller flowers rotate those
bulbs as would planets and moons. A carefully maintained path of gravel makes a
design of two wavy semicircles emanating from the center. At the center of the garden grows a gigantic
plant with three pods the size of a large sow. Two of the pods are closed, one
of the pods is split open, the inside is empty except for dried orange
residue. It appears a fourth pod was
once there but has been cut off. Stacked
just inside the door to the adjoining room are several neat stacks of books
piled waist high.
Library. This library is overflowing with books. The shelves are full and there are more neat
piles of books everywhere: on the floor, on the chair, blocking the door open
and spilling out into the adjoining rooms (the garden and the workshop). The books are of many esoteric, arcane, and
scientific topics. In addition there are
several journals written that reference the various books, but the writing is
an obscure collection of jargon, half thoughts, and code. In addition to books there are several
specimen jars in the library, all of which are unlabeled, and should generally
look like plant or anatomical subjects.
If players persist in identifying them some items are: a dainty
dissected forearm and hand of a nymph, the reproductive system of an elf, the
internal organs of a niad, and myconid eyes.
In addition there are three hearts in specimen jars, and several jars of
similar size that used to contain hearts but now only contain liquid chemical. A few random books have been scattered around
the room contrasting the otherwise neat (if overfull) layout.
Craftroom: Here there
are three workspaces. On one lies the
autopsied remains of a dryad, still open, with several internal pieces removed
and specimen jars with fluid sitting on a shelf nearby. Books from the library are nearby, open to
various images of anatomy or alchemical lore. A woodworking bench with tools
neatly hung, a couple partially complete wooden cubes with metal binding sit on
top of the workbench. The third is a
small forge and anvil with tools, there is a small table with jeweler’s tools
as well. The freshly dead body of a
slightly overweight, bald human in grey robes with knotwork embroidered on them
is laying face down in the water dead from drowning. Upon any closer inspection they will find that
the robes are his skin.
The cube: This room’s
walls and floor are inlayed with thin copper wires that run in geometric
patterns throughout the room. In the
center of the room is a 6’x6’x6’ cube made out of a single piece of
granite. The cube is bound in silver and
iron, and etched in copper with arcane symbols. One side has a door that is
heavily re-enforced and has three very complicated locks (in fact magical) and
a large cross beam to lock the door from the outside. The locks are open and the door is slightly
ajar. On the floor of the rooms lies an
ebony rod with gold endcaps (grants +1 to all saves when held in the left hand).
If the door is shut the locks will
activate and seal the cube. The cube may
be unlocked only by touching the rod to each of the locks. If opened, behind the door is a curtain of
white silk with a red grid similar to the robe in F. Any being who enters past the silk is
transported to a realm of pure knowledge and magic. Where their mind leaves their body and is
bathed in astral truths.
Entering the cube has the following effects:
If entered without wearing the white and red robe from Foriosphere’s
bedroom, make a save vs. parilyzation.
If unsuccessful all non-biological* items worn/carried become
permanently melded to the character. The
character will appear exactly the same as they did when they entered.
Protection from armor is still retained, but items held in hands are
permanently held being fused with the hand, items hanging on belts, in
scabbards can no longer be removed (as the item and holder are now one with the
character). Any magical items lose their
properties, but the character gains them as an at will ability, any items with
charges become a 1/per day ability.
Additional complications may present themselves as some biological
functions may be removed. This
transformation is not a curse, and cannot be removed, it is their new natural
state of being and any magical healing will return them to this state.
*biological items are anything in their natural state, an
animal or plant living or dead. Non- biological
items are things that have been treated: Leather, metal, cloth etc.
If entered without the rod of ebony (on the floor of the
room) make a save vs. breath character’s mind does not return to their body,
and after 1 hour the body will stumble out of the cube a mindless shell. The mind/spirit of the character permanently
resides in the realm of space/time in a state of pure knowledge.
If entered without a heart of a sentient being the character
must make a saving throw vs. magic (or other relevant mental save). If successful the character permanently gain
1 intelligence modifier, 1 wisdom modifier form expanded consciousness and
permanently lose 1 charisma modifier as you disconnect from social concepts.
If unsuccessful the character’s mental attributes are
tripled as their mind fills with pure knowledge and truth, and their charisma
drops to 3 as they lose all understanding of social constructs and
interpersonal relations. In addition a
wave of pure magic exits the cube and is immediately transformed when it enters
our reality. There is enough “volume” of
the element to fill the room. Roll for
its form: 1 Water, 2 Earth, 3, fire, 4 air, 5 electricity, 6 fire, 7 time (roll
d6 1-3: time in the room accelerates
1d100 years, 4-6 time decelerates d100 years), 8 radiation.
If the cube is entered with all three items, the character
gains one level, and can received the answer to any three questions (either in
character or out of character) that must be asked while in the cube.
While unlocked the cube slowly radiates magical flux into
the world. This flux has already opened
a small tear in reality in the 4th level of the dungeon below the
villa. If left open the tear will
continue to open. After a month of being
open additional tears to other dimensions will start to open.
Dungeon
1st Level. This level is a
workshop forge manned by undead dwarves that mass produces weapons and armor. 20
skeletal dwarves are actively smithing weapons and armor, 5 guard the entrance
to level 2. The skeletons will not
attack unless they are attack or instructed to by the overseer. If the overseer is present all skeletons gain
a +1 attack and damage bonus. If the
overseer is present and not personally in combat the skeletons will attack with
perfect coordination and advanced tactics.
Dungeon
2nd Level. Level 2 of the
dungeon is a natural cave, with iron deposits being mined by 10 skeletal
dwarves (all now destroyed) The dungeon
level is abnormally hot and uncomfortable (treat all encumbrance levels as one
higher) One nook contains the apprentice’s chambers (currently abandoned). One pathway leads to level 3 and another
connects to level 4. The headless men destroyed the skeletons and now two
groups of 2d6 headless men are roaming the area.
Apprentices
Room: The apprentice’s room contains
basic room furnishings a single bookshelf, with a few personal books, and a few
from the library. There is an alchemical
bench with 200gp worth of magical components as well.
Dungeon
3rd Level. The dungeon level is
abnormally hot and uncomfortable (treat all encumbrance levels as one higher). A
large storage area of mined out iron veins.
Headless men were kept in stasis until being released by Foriosphere’s
death. The room is now empty
Dungeon
4th Level Shipping point, great underground lake, and fissure to the
land underneath.
Dock: A small ship is docked here ½ full of weapons
made by the dwarves on level 1. The ship
is manned by a skeleton crew (literally).
When full it takes the weapons to a market where human employees of
Foriosphere pose as crew as sell the weapons.
Underground
lake. A black sand beach surrounds the
deep lake that opens up to the water outside.
The lake is occupied by giant jellyfish.
While the Jellyfish normally prey on fish in the lake. They are aggressive and will breach the water
to attack any creatures on the beach.
Tear in
reality. Far in the cave from the dock,
a tear hovering 4 feet in the air opens to a realm of pain and debauchery. Right now humanoid sized creatures can
squeeze through the tear, but over time it will continue to grow and larger
creatures can pass through. Hestia and
her followers have come through the portal, others will eventually follow
unless the portal can be closed/destroyed.
As the players enter the dungeon Hestia and 4 of her followers are
exiting the tear to explore this new realm.
Foriosphere of the Owl’s Bridge: Foriosphere was an
ambitious and ruthless wizard. She had
already accumulated much wealth and power before she constructed her personal
base of power. She carved out her domain
with blood and necromancy, and no one other than those she lured with promises
of power or wealth came to her. She was
incredibly vain and had many works of art continuously commissioned of her
person. She was possessed of incredible
youth and beauty making it impossible to determine when pieces were
commissioned or how old she really was. An
incident prior to building her home left her permanently changed however. Her eyes and skin were changed to those of a
snake and her bones become mutable allowing her to squeeze through nearly any
space. Despite this change she was still
beautiful with a slender build, a handsome face, and wild hair kept up with
jeweled hairpins. She always wore the
most immaculate finery and spared no expense on her appearance. She sought after true immortality and more
knowledge and power in her domain.
During the course of these studies she was successful, not in the way
she expected though. She started to
transcended her own vanity and vices and slowly started to eschew material
things. In an exponential acceleration
of success she expanded her mind, abandoned her quest for immortality, and
became at peace with the universe throughout time and space, having no
ambition, but instead pure clarity. For
days she merely existed in her domain until she was murdered by an old
rival. Her rival, Othios the Bald, had
snuck into town polymorpherd as a ferret that had been sold to the tavern
keeper. He observed the town and the
keep from hiding for several months. When
he saw an opening in Foriosphere’s defenses he struck, sneaking into her
residence. Upon finding her completely
passive, he murdered her in cold blood.
He then started to loot her residence only to die after entering the
cube without the appropriate items, stumbling through the rooms an idiot and
drowning in the craftroom.
Derek, The Overseer of Craft: 0- level human: A willowy old
man with scars on his back from time as a slave and a sagging face with puffy
full lips and bloodshot eyes. The
overseer of the undead smiths on the 1st level. He speaks a unique language that lets him
fully communicate with and understand the undead minions he manages, but cannot
speak any common tongue (though he does understand common). As a result he can give complex and multiple
commands to the undead that will be followed to include any intended nuance. Only Foriosphere and her apprentice can speak
this language besides Derek. the the spell speak with undead can give a basic
understanding of what he is saying.
Seeing no reason to stop work after Foriosphere’s death, his plan is to
continue to make and sell the weapons from the forges and keep the profits for
himself.
Mary: 0-level human. Mary is a stocky olive skinned woman
with a permanent scowl on her face. She
is in charge of the cleaning staff and personally sees to the washing, folding
and arrangement of the households linens.
Despite being blind she performs her job perfectly, knowing every inch
of the East wing and Main wing by heart.
Having no family or other prospects, she is digging in and continuing
her job despite the chaos and plans of others around her. She is taking it one day at a time.
Sevenine of the Owl’s.
1 – level magic user. Foriosphere’s
Apprentice, she is a slim woman with smokey-brown skin, close cropped hair and
bloodshot eyes from the long nights of works and study. She has been Foriosphere’s
apprentice for nearly 5 years, and has mostly been given only menial tasks and
minimal instruction despite Foriosophere initiating her into her order. She lives in a room on the 2nd
level of the dungeon. She normally wears
just her underwear, a one piece combination chemise and bloomers, as her dress
or robes aren’t practical due to the heat and the cramped quarters of the
dungeon tunnels. She is very worried
about what has occurred on the 3rd and 4th levels of the
dungeon and has retreated up to the 1st level to try to hold back
any further encroachment. She has been
sending out messages for aid of others, but is grasping at straws as she
doesn’t really know anybody.
Spells known: hypnotize, find familiar, feather fall.
Gwen. 1 – level
thief. A 6 year old girl with spindly
legs, sallow skin, and white eyes like a blind person (but can see fine.) Gwen is the rebirth of a great champion from
long ago. She can’t quite recall though.
She has the general knowledge, and mental capacity of a full grown adult, but
no memories (or muscle memories from skills).
She is the product of a failed experiment, six months ago she was
birthed from the (now open) pod in the garden.
She has decided to make the villa her permanent residence and is planning
on being its master after she has dealt with the issue in the dungeon. She currently lives in the guest quarters in
the east wing.
Guards. +2 attack, 16
hp. (gives exp as a 4HD monster) 1d6
damage attack or 1d8 with sword.
Breastplate and helm. Special
powers: They emit a sulfurous gas. They can be smelled within 250’, when the are
within 50’ any open flame begins to burn blue wit the tip of the flame
sparking. If an open flame gets within
10’ then the air around the guard explodes causing 6d10 damage to everything
within a 10’ radius, 3d10 damage from 10’ to 30’ radius, and 1d10 damage from
30’ to 50’ radius (save vs. breath for ½ damage). The
guard’s form is utterly obliterated with the explosion, spraying bits of the
guard everywhere (and the armor and helmet like shrapnel) within a 50’ radius
of the explosion. The guard loses no hit
points in the explosion, but must spend 3d6+3 rounds reforming itself. They take double damage from psionic attacks.
4 pale yellow transparent oozes in the shape of men with
smooth muscled skin. They are normal
human intelligence and fanatically loyal Foriosphere. In her absence they listen to the apprentice
and then the household staff. Their
chief concern is guarding the villa. One
is stationed at the clerks office, two do a roaming patrol across the grounds,
and one patrols the west wing attacking anyone except Foriosphere or her
apprentice (or anyone with them).
The headless men. As
unarmored human, +1 to attack, 2d6+3 damage (greatsword with strength bonus) A
6’ man’s body with no head and a body builder physique. They have no armor or
clothing, and will attack the nearest thing with reckless abandon. These have been grown from Foriosphere’s
garden and kept in stasis for future military use. The magic sustaining the stasis field was
broken upon Foriosphere’s death.
3 Giant Jellyfish.
90hp AC as unarmored, # of attacks: 4, tentacles 1d6+poison (in water),
or 1 breach. Immune to bludgeoning
weapons. Poison: Save vs. paralysis. If
successful, 1 con damage (recovered in 1 hour), if failed paralyzed for 1
hour. Breach: If someone is within 10 feet of the water,
the jellyfish launches itself out of the water onto land to cover its
victim. Save vs. breath. If failed the character is covered and
automatically paralyzed. The jellyfish
then slowly drags the victim into the water to digest returning to the water
takes 1d4 rounds.
The Deamons
Hestia- Powers and stats as succubus. She has retractable spikes in her abdomen
that can strike within 1 foot (as a bonus attack). If successful they heal her for ½ the damage
done. She takes double damage from fire
attacks. Hestia has hidden herself from the headless men by hiding in the
apprentices room.
Hestia’s followers- as unarmored human (worth 2x xp as human). They can manipulate gravity within 5’ of
themselves allowing them to jump incredible distances or walk on any
surface. In combat, if they affect the
gravity of their opponent, treat opponent as prone for the combat. These are women with flower wreaths in their
hair and the lower body of a hound. Each
carries a wine skin and is prone to revelry.
As a result they can always be snuck up upon or distracted as they will
turn to dancing, singing, or other forms of entertainment after about 10
minutes unless being actively supervised or in combat.
So what about closing the portal? The answer lies with player ingenuity. There is no answer given as part of this
module. The cube leaks magic which
created the portal. Shutting the cube will stop it from growing but not reverse
what was done. I didn’t leave any
solutions laying around in the module, because it is fun to see what players
can come up with (or if they will have to leave the problem and return later,
which could mean more creatures coming through the portal).
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