Iron DM 2012 -- R2 complete, Finals in Progress

[Shoe]

The Ghost Voice Whisperers

Your ingredients are:

- Pious Pawn-Broker
- Puzzled Nobility
- Dying Jungle
- Pursued by Pirates
- Blink Dog
- Ghost Voice Helmet

The Ghost Voice Whisperers

The Ghost Voice Whisperers is an adventure for 2nd Level characters in D&D 3.X/Pathfinder, but can be easily adapted to any system with marginal effort.

Intro:
Among the Tarratur archipelago lies the mostly uninhabited tropical island of Saheela. The only city of note on this Island is a trading hub specializing in foreign fruits such as coconuts and bananas, known as called Kahld. Kahld is home to a single family of noblemen who control almost 100% of the exports of the city. And the the coconut and banana crops are largely tended to by the majority of the city's population. Lately a strange “disease” seems to have affected the townsfolk and puzzled the nobility and their healers. Many villagers have been driven to a hollow madness, first becoming distant, then wandering aimlessly… left mostly mindless, and finally wandering off, never to return. Their crops have been poor lately as well, the jungle seems to be dying from the inside out!

Background:
A Pawn-Broker named Dorigon recently purchased an ancient helm from a shady character that was in a hurry to be rid of the item because he was being chased by pirates (from whom he had stolen the item). The item is an ancient artifact called the Ghost Voice Helmet. (See the Ghost Voice Helmet section below). The Pious Pawn-Broker, Dorigon is the sect leader of the cult who created the Helm long ago, called the Ghost Voice Whisperers. The Ghost Voice Whisperers have a temple in the center of the Saheela Jungle and they are using the Ghost Voice Helmet to draw spirits out of the local flora, fauna and inhabitants to perform a ritual that will bring about the Apocalypse, purging every one of their tainted fleshy forms, and freeing the spirits of all living things (an unpleasant side effect of which is everyone and everything being dead). The process is slow with just the Ghost Voice Helmet, and can be sped up by focusing the item through a conduit. The conduit must have some sort of interdimensional link (be an outsider with the ability to connect to the ethereal plane). Dorigon has kidnapped a Blink Dog to use as a conduit to bring souls through from the ethereal plane and into the material plane.

Adventure Hooks:

- Dorigon is being chased by pirates: (whom the Ghost Voice Helm was stolen from by the man who sold it to him) and will actively try to hire any adventurers passing through for protection. When the PC’s enter Kahld, Dorigon will hear about it almost immediately, he is a large proponent of gossip and will seek the PCs out within the first 1d4 hours of game time. If they decline to aid him, he will offer money to the tune of 25 gold pieces for each of the heads of the pirate crew (25 men in total) that seeks him out. The pirates will dock by nightfall; 2d4 days after the party has arrived on Saheela. He is aware that the pirates want the Ghost Voice Helm, but will deny knowing what the pirates are after if questioned. If the PC’s interfere, the pirates will be out for them as well. They assume that Dorigon still has the Ghost Voice Helmet (information they received by capturing and torturing the thief who stole it from them and promptly sold it to the pawn shop).

- Investigate the Madness that infects Kahld: citizens of Kahld have been slowly but surely going mad. First they seem distant and uncaring, then they seem to space out (as per the Confusion spell), and finally they find themselves wandering off into the jungle at random times never to be heard from again. If the players follow someone with the “disease” when they wander off, they will be led to the temple kept by the Ghost Voice Whisperers in the jungle.

If the PC’s inquire further, they find a large pile of dead bodies in front of a cave that houses the Ghost Voice Whisperers’ temple. Their bodies will reanimate within a few days of their death as zombies, but they do not bother to move or stand up unless something living comes near, in which case they will attack. At any given time, there are 2d8 zombies in front of the temple.

- Investigate the dying Jungle: The jungle is slowly dying off because the souls of the trees and other wildlife are also being drawn out by the Ghost Voice Helmet. The spirits are being drawn to the temple of the Ghost Voice Whisperers in the center of the Saheela jungle. The closer to the temple, the more dead the wildlife and trees. Players are likely to encounter zombie panthers, tigers, monkeys, and even villagers.

The Ghost Voice Helmet:
The Ghost Voice Whisper: Any living creature of any type must make a WILL save (DC: 15/moderate difficulty) or become Confused (as the spell Confusion) as long as they are within a 5 mile radius of the Ghost Voice Helmet. Members of the Ghost Voice Whisperers cult have undergone a special ritual that make them immune to the effects of the Helm until they desire to leave their disgusting fleshy shells. After the effected target becomes listless and distant they must succeed another WILL save (DC: 20/ hard difficulty), or they are drawn to the Ghost Voice Helmet. Once they come within 100 yards of the Helmet, the spirit of the creature leaves the body, and the target dies, returning as a Zombie in 1d4 hours. Their spirit becomes a ghost, and haunts the current location of the Ghost Voice Helmet until the Helmet is moved or destroyed. After moving the helmet, the ghost is bound to its current location, and if the helmet is destroyed all spirits removed in this way return to their bodies (as if a True Resurrection were cast on the host body, this works even if the host body is now an undead). This effect is controllable by the wielder if the Helmet is worn.

Contact Spirits: When the Ghost Voice Helmet is worn, it gives the wearer the ability to contact the spirit of any living or dead creature within speaking distance and communicate with them directly regardless of language or intelligence in a previous life. The wearer can also make physical contact with creatures on the ethereal plane as per the Ghost Touch ability.

Allegiance: It also seeks out the nearest member of the Ghost Voice Whisperers of the highest level.

The Temple of the Ghost Voice Whisperers:
Inside the temple, the Ghost Voice Whisperers always have 2 guards just beyond the mouth of the cave. They are 1st level acolytes of the Ghost Voice Whisperers, and have prepared a Darkvision spell so they can see in the cave and outside of it without penalties to their actions. Inside the cave is filled with traps to protect the Ghost Voice Helmet, these traps are magically set and never trigger for a member of the Ghost Voice Whisperer. Whenever a Ghost Voice Whisperer becomes unconscious or dying, their spirit immediately leaves their body and moves to the location of the Ghost Voice Helmet. The Ghost Voice Helmet is on an altar in the center of the Ghost Voice Whisperers’ temple. The room is full of Ghosts (as per the Monster Manual/Bestiary), but they will not attack unless provoked. All they can perceive is the Ghost Voice Helm and it has transfixed them to focus on only it. There are also 2d4+1 Cultists (Level 1 Clerics). If it is after business hours, Dorigon is also here. Dorigon is a 3rd Level Cleric with the Death and Liberation domains. The Blink Dog is also here, trapped in a cage (good lock, DC: 20 strength check or open locks check) with runes of Teleport Trap (as per the spell). If the players free the Blink Dog, he will aid the adventurers in slaying the cultists and continue with them as a loyal companion as long as the party will have him.

After the PC’s recover the Ghost Voice Helmet, if the wear the Helmet, they can hear the spirits in the room all begging for the PC’s to destroy the helmet. When the PC’s leave the cave mouth, they will be confronted by the remaining pirates (2d8 Lvl 1 rogues, 1d8 Lvl 2 warriors, and 1 Lvl 2 warrior/Lvl 2 rogue - the captain) who believe the Helmet to be of great value and want to try to sell it. They will confront the party with a volley of arrows that will be a sneak attack all of the rogues ( hidden in the dead foliage) and the warriors will be on foot, swords drawn.
If the pirates win the combat, they take the Ghost Voice Helmet and any liquid valuables the party has (gold, gems, jewelry, ornate weapons…etc) and flee to their ship. The party may pursue them, but that is beyond the scope of this adventure.

If the PC’s defeat the pirates and destroy the Helmet, the island returns to normal. The Puzzled Nobles with offer the PC’s 500 GP per person for solving their problems, and an additional 25 GP for the whole party if they can explain what exactly happened in a manner in which the noblemen can understand.

 

[Shoe]

There it is, my monstrosity...I hope everyone enjoys!

 

[Waylander the Slayer]

A Dog’s Best Friend A D20 Adventure for 7th- 9th level Characters

[/u]Ingredients:[/u]
Pious Pawn Broker- Olivar Redd; formerly unscrupulous, but now a devout, and possibly the only human worshipper of Cannubus, the dead god of the Blink Dogs
Puzzled Nobility- Alisha Thorne, among others, who are confounded by the strange behavior of their dogs- namely, they have all run off and camped out outside Olivar’s house.
Dying Jungle- The floating asteroid/ body of the Dead God, Cannubus, in Wildspace; also home to the Githyanki Pirates
Blink Dog- Omega Pax, Blink Dog Sage, seeking to reserruct the dead god Cannubus
Pursued by Pirates- The PCs are pursued by the Gith Pirates through the asteroid belt and then through the Dying Jungle.
Ghost Voice Helmet- Spelljamming Helm containing the Ghost of the High Priest of Cannubus

The grey muzzled canine looked up at the night sky, as it did daily, as it’s ancestors had for centuries; studying the Constellations and pathways. There it was, after centuries, a small green twinkle, marring the usual patterns in the night sky. Omega Pax growled, knowing that the Day prophesized was upon them…
--------------------------
Few, if any, in the port town of Liberty noticed the appearance of the green meteor in the distant wildspace. However, the sudden disappearance of the nobility’s favorite pets- the highly intelligent hairless poodles worth thousands caused a more pronounced reaction. Will the PCs rescue be able to save the favored pets and uncover who would commit such cruelty, or will they become doggie chow?

Synopsis: The PCs investigate the sudden disappearance of the nobility's dogs. Their investigations lead to the house of the ill liked pawn broker Olivar Redd where they uncover the pawnbroker under the influence of a strange helm. They will also encounter Omega Pax who might help the PCs uncover what’s going on, including how to use the strange helm, leading to a fun filled ride through wildspace, evading the Gith Pirates, and finally to reserruct the dead god.
Background:
The Blink Dog histories speak of a time long ago, when Dog and Man lived in harmony with nature; a place where the planet itself was a living god known as Cannubus. The world came under attack from Mind Flayers. In a last ditch effort to save his people, Cannubus released most of his life force; destroying the invaders and himself, for the most part. Miyala Shorn, the high priestess, was gifted a small piece of the godspark- a tiny sapling. She and others escaped the shattering world using a Spelljamming Helm. The came to the current world and over time, much was forgotten by the humans, yet the Blink Dog traditions held fast, as the wise sages passed on their histories, from one to another, awaiting a time prophesized, when the body of their dead god would be close. A time when the godspark can be replanted to resurrect the dead god yet again.
Hooks:
- The PCs are hired by the nobles, distraught over their missing pet(s), who offer a considerable sum of gold.
-One of the PCs pets goes missing.
Where is Fluffy?
A distraught and confounded Alisha Thorne approaches the Party to ask for their assistance in discovering the fate of her dog Fluffy. A quick discussion with Alisha reveals the following:
- Fluffy is a special breed of Poodle, bred to be highly intelligent and sensitive to their masters
- Fluffy is quite loyal and has never been disobedient or run away
- Alisha may point to other “enemies” if asked; the GM can use these as a red herring as seen fit.
Developments
A Gather Information or Similar Check reveals that:
- All of the specific breed of poodle are missing; the PCs may leverage this into additional $$$. (DC 15)
- The breed is very empathic and has been known to be very in tune with their masters. (DC 15)
- All of the dogs appear to have disappeared around the same. (DC 20)
If the PCs talk with Alisha’s staff, a sense motive check (DC 15) reveals that one of the staff appears very nervous. Further diplomacy or intimidation check (DC 15) gets the staff member to spill the beans. Namely that she saw the dog literally look both ways and “blink” out.
The PCs can use divination spells or further investigation to ferret out the dog “disappearance.” If the PCs specifically enquire about “dog disturbances” they will be able to triangulate to the house of Olivar Redd.


Part 2- The Dog Priest
The PCs can observe Olivar, as well as inquire about him. Inquiry reveals that Olivar is an unscrupulous Pawn Broker, however, recently both his appearance and his behavior has taken an odd turn (Gather information check). Locals inform the PCs that Olivar is always seen wearing a strange helm, and has recently also been preaching about some odd god or some such. Most believe the pawn broker to have lost his mind. He’s also been observed yipping and yapping with dogs on the street, and has recently started purchasing large quantities of meat.
Development
Olivar came upon the helm a while ago- it was pawned to him by a local noble down on his luck. The item had remained unsold and without any apparent magical ability until recently. The appearance of the Asteroid reawakened the Ghost of the High Priest of Cannubus, Myala Shorn. The Ghost Voiced helm compelled the pawn broker to wear the helm, and has possessed/compelled Olivar, both in his new found faith, as well as in trying to rediscover the godspark. To this end, the ghost voiced helm has:
- Reached out to canine minds, trying to find those who would know of the godspark, compelling the nobility’s dogs to blink to where he is, and is still looking for Blink Dogs. This has also awakened latent abilities within the noble dogs (limited blinking).
- Slowly started imprinting on Olivar’s mind, where the pawn broker has become pious, and has now started preaching, and taking on Myala’s personality.
The PCs has a few different options; they can confront Olivar directly, try to take the helm or break in and rescue the dogs.
If they do choose to rescue the dogs without fully understanding what is going on, the dogs continually blink back to where Olivar/Myala is.
If they choose to attack Olivar, the dogs come to his defense, attacking the PCs.
If they choose diplomacy in their dealings with Olivar and succeed in convincing him of their intentions they might be able to glean that the helm is indeed commanding/possessing him. Alternatively, the GM may, if feeling kind enough, reveal the nature of the Spelljamming helm. It will take a high diplomacy check/RPing to convince Olivar to take off the helm. Alternatively, the helm may reach out to the wisest PC, it’s ghostly and clearly feminine voice asking the PC to don the helm.
If bonded with a stronger mind, the Helm/PC can directly reach out and find Omega Pax, who is also looking for the helm.
If Olivar continues to wear the helm and the PCs fail to convince him to take of the Helm, Omega Pax will eventually find the PCs.

Part 3- Dogs in Wildspace
Omega Pax, once he meets the PCs, tells them of the godspark and the need to take it to the dying jungle before it’s too late to revive the dead god. He (and other blink dogs at the GMs discretion) The Ghost Voiced Spelljamming Helm can direct the PC wearing it, how to navigate through wildspace.
The GM may have the PCs adventure to recover the original “Ship” or have the PCs use a regular ship and via the Spelljamming helm, be able to use it for space travel.
The Noble Poodles refuse to leave the side of the PCs and will travel into wildspace with them.
Some optional encounters in wildspace include Neogi, Giant Space Hamsters, and the Giff. A fun and wild ride through wildspace with the ghost voiced helm continually trying to preach the ways of Cannibus to the PCs.
The Dying Jungle
The Dead God and the nearby asteroid belt is the home of Gyth Pirates who are xenophobic and will attack and pursue the PCs. The best tactic here is to avoid direct confrontation and to evade as much possible.
The asteroid itself looks to be forested with the trees slowly dying. In some ways, the dying jungle can be a safe haven for the PCs, as the Blink Dog’s Blinking ability, now enhanced by the godspark, will help the PCs “teleport” along with Omega Pax to wherever they desire. The PCs can also use this ability to make tactical strikes against the Gyth Pirates pursuing them.
The dying jungle itself consists of what at first glance appears to be an antediluvian jungle. However, once they land, they will realize that the jungle itself is dying slowly, with the remnant “life” of Cannubus slowly withering away.
The Pirates will also send a landing party to pursue the PCs through the dying jungle. Deep within the forest, the Ghost Voiced Helm will lead the PCs to the “heart” of the dead god where the godspark needs to be planted.
The planting process requires the helm wearing PC to infuse the ground with a bit of his own life force as well while his comrades battle the pirates. The Poodles will intervene and also fight to the death for the PCs.
Conclusion
Victory results with the godspark taking hold, rejuvenating the dying jungle and resuscitating Cannibus. Once brought to life, Cannibus will assist the PCs in returning to their home, and will also offer the helm wearing PC the option of being it’s high priest.

 

[Waylander the Slayer]

Apologies for the formatting! It sucks to have to work at work.

 

[Pour]

Soo bummed I missed this! Good luck all.

 

[Nifft]

There it is, my monstrosity...I hope everyone enjoys!

Thanks for getting your entry in.

Apologies for the formatting! It sucks to have to work at work.

5:59 PM. You might've made it with seconds to spare. That's the closest I've ever seen this contest cut.

Now I'll get myself a glass of scotch and start reading.

"Pouring, then poring", -- N

 

[Waylander the Slayer]

Thanks for getting your entry in.

5:59 PM. You might've made it with seconds to spare. That's the closest I've ever seen this contest cut.

Now I'll get myself a glass of scotch and start reading.

"Pouring, then poring", -- N

Pretty much; the clock on my laptop had ticked over to 6.01 when the post finally took. One of those work days where random meetings kept popping up.

 

[Nifft]

Something came up, I was unable to finish judgement tonight.

Will post tomorrow evening. If the suspense kills one of you, that will count as a concession.

"Mua-ha-ha!", -- N

 

[Nifft]

Here's how I usually do my judging: 30 points for ingredients (5 each), 20 points for other factors: usability, evocativeness, originality, and following the rules. I'll discuss ingredient use first.

Pious Pawn-Broker: Both of these entries focused more on the "pious" than on the "pawn-broker". In Shoe's entry, the pawn-broker was a standard insane doom cultist, albeit without an explicit divine patron. He is linked to the ghost voice helm element. In Waylander's entry, the pawn-broker was a normal working stiff prior to the events of the module, so score a point for usability there, since his role could be played instead by someone they've done business with before (and the change in personality would then be more evident). Strong linkage to the helm and the dogs.
Shoe 2/5
Waylander 3/5

Puzzled Nobility: Shoe's entry showed the nobles no more puzzled than anyone else in the vicinity would have been. They could be easily replaced, and have no particular links to other elements. Waylander's entry used them as the opening act (mildly integral), but the strong linkage to the blink poodle element -- which is used in all acts -- makes them significantly stronger.
Shoe 0/5
Waylander 3/5

Dying Jungle: It seems easy to forget that D&D is basically an animist setting, what with dryads and such. So, the idea that a spiritual malady could affect plant life strikes me as both evocative and somewhat original. Shoe also gains points here for tying the dying jungle to the helm. Waylander's jungle felt tacked on. If the ingredient had been "Dying Demigod's Astral Body" he would have gotten full marks, but the jungle could have been removed entirely without diminishing the story.
Shoe 3/5
Waylander 0/5

Pursued by Pirates: In both adventures the pirates felt tacked on, just another opponent who could be easily replaced. Neither entry showed strong links to other elements. Shoe's pirates were actively suicidal -- they were chasing an artifact which would destroy them unless they towed it behind their ship with a five mile long rope -- while Waylander's pirates had a motivation that was not original, but at least plausible.
Shoe 0/5
Waylander 1/5

Blink Dog: Shoe's link between the ethereal ghosts and the blink dog's planar phase ability was both interesting and original, and tied the blink dog to the helm element. Waylander's blink dogs were tied to several elements: the nobles, the helm, and the pawn-broker. This is how you win, by making elements irreplaceable. For example, it's the fact that they were Blink Dogs which caused the puzzlement of the nobles ("How did our expensive puppies escape?") -- that means they would be difficult to substitute, and that means they were used well.
Shoe 2/5
Waylander 4/5

Ghost Voice Helmet: Shoe has made this the MacGuffin item. It has links to the dying jungle and pawn-broker, though the latter strains my credulity -- if I were the high priest of an insane doom cult, and my unholy artifact were stolen, my strategy would not be to open a pawn shop and hope someone brought the artifact back. I'd like to include the pirates here, since they're supposed to be pursuing the helm, but I can't really see how they could have survived their first contact with the helm, nor why they'd want it back if all it would do is confuse them and then make them zombies. Waylander's helm has a reason why it must be a helm (Spelljamming Helm is a bit of word-play, but it's sufficient). It has ties to the blink dogs and the pawn-broker.
Shoe 2/5
Waylander 4/5

Usability: Shoe, as I mentioned above, I found the pawn-broker and pirates to have motivations which hindered their use. I also feel that the five mile radius zone of "your PC is now not under your control" isn't particularly useful.
Waylander, between the intro act and the NPCs in general, I could see a number of ways to adapt this adventure to my games.
Shoe 2/5
Waylander 3/5

Evocation: Shoe, I really liked the idea of the spiritual depopulation of the jungle. That's a good image which I'm totally going to steal. Waylander, you had some evocative NPC personalities. You left lots of room for a DM to add his own evocative images, and the locations certainly could be evocative, but you didn't draw it out for me.
Shoe 3/5
Waylander 2/5

Originality: Shoe's setup is a very standard insane death cult, albeit one where the high priest has a day job. Waylander's scenario brings us blink dog religion and a portentous comet which the PCs actually end up visiting.
Shoe 1/5
Waylander 3/5

Following the Rules: Neither entry was too long for me to read. You both get the full 5 points here.

Total Points
[MENTION=89612]Shoe[/MENTION]: 20/50
[MENTION=1830]Waylander the Slayer[/MENTION]: 28/50


Congratulations to Waylander.

 

[Waylander the Slayer]

Thanks Nifft. Your points are all well taken. I agree fully with your criticisms. I fully expected to loose this round since my writing and adventure were very underdeveloped; the last half of the adventure was done in about 15 minutes. The dying jungle, astral pirates, and even the pious pawn broker all needed further development. The writing was also very flat; there was more telling than showing since I was running out of time.

Shoe, I think your writing was stronger than mine, and I loved your death cult. I wouldn't have been surprised if you had won.

Now where is [MENTION=67]Rune[/MENTION]?

Oh wait.