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Iron DM 2012 -- R2 complete, Finals in Progress
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<blockquote data-quote="Deuce Traveler" data-source="post: 5923378" data-attributes="member: 34958"><p>Round 1: Deuce Traveler vs Rune</p><p></p><p>Name: Danse Macabre</p><p></p><p>Author: Deuce Traveler</p><p></p><p>Danse Macabre</p><p></p><p>Game Engine: Meant for DnD 3.5 or Pathfinder</p><p></p><p>Ingredients</p><p><strong>Tattered Rug</strong>: The rug is an ancient artifact necessary for summoning dance rituals of the undead and belongs to the Watchful Eyes over Zargon. It is currently being used by the baker as a rug in his room.</p><p></p><p><strong>Pitiful Baker</strong>: He and some fellow brigands murdered the cleric and his acolytes in their sleep. The mining town of Lago is too small for a dedicated inn, so the baker has created lodgings in the giant downstairs cellar.</p><p></p><p><strong>Itinerant Cleric</strong>: Was supposed to complete the Gothic Reunion ritual. Was placed in baker’s stew meant for sheriff’s hounds. Hand is all that is left. </p><p></p><p><strong>Cheerful Cellar</strong>: Downstairs lodging area where parties are held in Largo. Cleric’s group was killed in adjoining rooms.</p><p></p><p><strong>Maimed Hand of Vengeance</strong>: A hand from the cleric’s body which animated and escaped the pitiful baker’s grinders. Seeks revenge on the town.</p><p></p><p><strong>Gothic Reunion</strong>: The name of the Watchful Eyes ceremonial Danse Macabre.</p><p></p><p>The party is approached by the <em>Watchful Eyes over Zargon</em>. It seems that an <strong>Itinerant Cleric</strong>, his acolytes, and their <strong>tattered rug</strong> artifact that they traveled with had all been lost while traveling for a mission outside of the distant mining town of Lago. The contact explains that the cleric was to use the artifact to complete an important ceremony during the night of the new moon in the cemetery of an abandoned monastery outside of Lago, and that a failure to do so will spell disaster for the people of Lago and the surrounding area. He will pay the party to ensure that the ceremony is completed. Bonus pay will be offered for the return of the <strong>tattered rug</strong> artifact, the saving of Lago, and the safe return of the cleric and his four acolytes.</p><p></p><p>A moderate Religion check reveals that the Watchful Eyes of Zargon is a legal religious order, historically distrusted because of its members’ tendency to dance in graveyards and their frequent communions with the dead.</p><p></p><p>A hard Religion check will also reveal that the members are dedicated, though few in numbers. Zargon is a soul-swallowing deity of abominations and evil spirits. The Watchful Eyes are not worshippers of Zargon, but instead are dedicated to stopping his corruption and his attempted return through the use of the dead.</p><p></p><p>The PCs should arrive at the town of Lago two calendar days before the night of the new moon. Of course the PCs may find a clever way to arrive earlier. It should be noted that many in the town of Lago will radiate as evil, such as the sheriff and his six deputies, the <strong>pitiful baker</strong> along with his son and two barmaids, and the owner of the general store. Being evil is not a crime, and the party should realize that these are the town leaders and pass for the law in the area. The town leaders are actually brigands that took over years ago, and the few decent people who resisted were made examples, along with their families. A moderate Sense Motive check will tell the party that the townsfolk are eager to be done with any conversation and are choosing their words very carefully. The other townsfolk live in fear of the brigands and will be wary of what they tell the adventurers.</p><p></p><p>The sheriff and deputies would like to speak with the characters, but the exhausted, <strong>pitiful baker</strong> is eager to approach them first, to the chagrin of the sheriff. The baker wants to sell his poorly made meat pies, and offers the group rooms at his downstairs establishment, the Cheerful Cellar, where he makes his pies and bread. He admits being a lousy salesman and being desperate for coin.</p><p></p><p>Everyone in town will claim that they have not seen the <strong>iterant cleric’s</strong> group, though a moderate Sense Motive check will show that this is a lie. The sheriff and his deputies are very much on edge and insistent that the party move on and investigate elsewhere.</p><p></p><p>There are other indications that something in the town is not right. A moderate Knowledge Ride or Handle Animal or Nature check on the sheriff’s horses reveals that some of the horses are not native to the area, and instead seem to come from a number of places (they are from previously murdered travelers).</p><p></p><p>A moderate appraise or craft check will show that some of the goods being sold at the general store are second hand goods with labels and other identifying marks removed. A few also seem a bit expensive for such a backwater town (also from previous travelers). A moderate religion check will allow a character to notice the <strong>iterant cleric’s</strong> holy symbol on sale as cheap jewelry.</p><p></p><p>If any of the PCs eats a meat pie from the <strong>pitiful baker</strong> while in public they should make a moderate Perception check. A successful roll results in the PC noticing a handful of townsfolk stopping to watch. A further successful moderate Sense Motive check will reveal that the watching townsfolk are attempting to conceal expressions of horror. An examination of the meat pies will reveal nothing unusual.</p><p></p><p>If for any reason the party brings accusations of criminality to the sheriff along with solid evidence, he will arrest the suspect in lieu of a trial (that will never occur) and thank the party. Then he makes plans with the other former brigands to kill off the heroes before they can discover more about the town. If the party tries to take justice into their own hands, the sheriff will intervene if able and remind the heroes that there is a legal system and vigilantism is a punishable offense.</p><p></p><p>If the heroes stay at the Cheerful Cellar inn, they are welcomed by the <strong>pitiful baker</strong> and his son. Although the heroes are the only guests, there is a festive atmosphere as the baker and son bring a timid minstrel to play music for them, and the two men ply the group with heavily discounted ale, give free food and ask the heroes to tell tales of their bravery. Their two luscious barmaids flirt heavily and dance for those in the group who show interest, also challenging them to down drink. If the party focuses on the minstrel and makes a hard Perception check, they will notice that he seems scared and misses a few notes. If there is a bard in the group, he may make a moderate local or nobility check to recognize that the protagonist of the bard’s songs, Lord Magoo, is an elderly aristocrat who is often oblivious of the danger and dastardly nature of those around him and only seems to survive his encounters through luck. When the festivities are over, the group is offered single rooms with small, comfortable beds adjacent to the Cheerful Cellar.</p><p></p><p>The Cheerful Cellar inn and its adjoining rooms have been reconstructed to include secret passages which can be found with moderate Perception checks against the walls. The upstairs section of the building is where the baker and his son sleep, as well as the store front for his goods which rarely sell. The <strong>pitiful baker</strong> has been unable to get any of the townsfolk to purchase his foods as they wrongly suspect he has turned travelers into meat pies, nor will they go to his cellar inn for drink. In actuality, the baker has been turning his victims into dog food and feeding them to the sheriff’s large hounds in order to destroy evidence of their prior presence. The baker is unaware that one of the chopped pieces of the <strong>itinerant cleric</strong> (the maimed remnants of a hand) became animated and escaped his grinder in order to enact vengeance, due to Zargon’s growing influence enhanced by the town’s recent murders.</p><p></p><p>The tired, impoverished baker has been killing off travelers more frequently, and selling their gear off through the black market run by the general store clerk in an attempt to make coin. He plans to murder and rob the party, but first decides to take a quick nap and asks one of his accomplices to wake him late at night when their guests will be in deep sleep.</p><p></p><p>If the party catches and threatens a former brigand without interference from the brigand’s allies, the truth about the town and the ultimate grim fate of the cleric, his acolytes and previous travelers will come to light. The sheriff has the <strong>iterant cleric’s</strong> horses, the baker has the <strong>tattered rug</strong>, and the general store owner has a religious tome and other goods. The brigands have been on edge, as three of their number have recently been found strangled in their sleep and the <strong>pitiful baker</strong> is having nightmares and has been hearing strange noises outside his bedroom door at night, but the exhausted man can’t find the cause.</p><p></p><p>During the first night that the party arrives, the <strong>pitiful baker</strong> is strangled to death, causing one of his murderous barmaids to scream when she goes to wake him and finds his body. The general store owner is also found murdered. If the party was suspicious and decided to stake out the outside of the general store or baker’s store/inn, a hard Perception check would allow them to notice a small crawling hand unlock and enter each of the respective bedrooms from the outside, and then leap out to land into nearby brush and disappear. If the PCs investigate the bedrooms, they will find the <strong>tattered rug</strong> on the floor in the baker’s bedroom and the religious tome on a table next to the general store owner’s bed. If the baker or general store owner are in prison, the <strong>Maimed Hand of Vengeance</strong> will go through the bars and kill them there instead.</p><p></p><p>At this point the sheriff will continue to declare innocence, though he will allow the party to continue their investigation as he fears for his own life and hopes the party might stop the <strong>Maimed Hand of Vengeance</strong> from killing again. The religious tome details instructions on the danse macabre called the <strong>Gothic Reunion</strong>, a cemetery summoning causing the restless dead to rise at the command of the dancer. Zargon finds locations where evil men have been buried en masse or innocents brutally murdered. The restlessness of such souls draws him, allowing him to claim such spirits as his own to feast upon and their bodies to control. Zargon uses the dead to kill others, which grows his influence in the hopes of laying claim to the world. The <strong>Gothic Reunion</strong> siphons his influence from the bodies of the dead, until it is exhausted, rendering the dead inert and Zargon’s tether broken. The <strong>tattered rug</strong> is used as the summoner’s focus and must be brought to the center of the cemetery. It weighs over a hundred pounds and is seven feet long when rolled up, so one person cannot carry it a significant distance because of its bulk. The cemetery is an hour’s walk from Lago.</p><p></p><p>A massive battle occurred centuries ago where thousands of soldiers from the evil and forgotten Lunien Empire were trapped and slaughtered. A group of well meaning monks buried the thousands of dead and built a monastery here. Once at the cemetery, the characters will find that some of the skeletal dead have risen thanks to Zargon’s influence. There are a handful of armored skeletal warriors wielding rusting weapons as well as an armored knight on skeletal horseback, making for a hard encounter.</p><p></p><p>Once the threat is dealt with, the character who will be performing the summoning ritual needs to unfurl the <strong>tattered rug</strong> in the middle of the cemetery (general approximation is necessary), strip down and paint himself as a skeleton to fool the undead (unnecessary, but kept in the tome for rituals sake), and attempt to perform the <strong>Gothic Reunion</strong> with a successful Hard Perform check. Failure results in Zargon expending some of his power to send another moderately difficult wave of skeletal undead at the party, but the party can try again. Success results in the unusual sight of all the nearby dead rising from their graves and mimicking the summoner’s dance for ten minutes. After these ten minutes, Zargon’s influence will be broken and the exhausted dead will lay back down to rest in peace. The <strong>Maimed Hand of Vengeance</strong> won’t kill again.</p><p></p><p>The sheriff and his men will be waiting in ambush for the party outside of the cemetery. The party has seen too much and cannot be allowed to escape. A hard battle should ensue, but if the party is victorious the remaining brigands will flee and the cowardly townsfolk will welcome them as saviors and regale them with tales of the brigand’s wickedness.</p><p></p><p>The party could be delayed in a number of ways from solving the quest in time. If so, the army of the dead will rise and descend upon Lago, indiscriminately attacking civilians, heroes and brigands while the hand continues to kill those asleep.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Deuce Traveler, post: 5923378, member: 34958"] Round 1: Deuce Traveler vs Rune Name: Danse Macabre Author: Deuce Traveler Danse Macabre Game Engine: Meant for DnD 3.5 or Pathfinder Ingredients [b]Tattered Rug[/b]: The rug is an ancient artifact necessary for summoning dance rituals of the undead and belongs to the Watchful Eyes over Zargon. It is currently being used by the baker as a rug in his room. [b]Pitiful Baker[/b]: He and some fellow brigands murdered the cleric and his acolytes in their sleep. The mining town of Lago is too small for a dedicated inn, so the baker has created lodgings in the giant downstairs cellar. [b]Itinerant Cleric[/b]: Was supposed to complete the Gothic Reunion ritual. Was placed in baker’s stew meant for sheriff’s hounds. Hand is all that is left. [b]Cheerful Cellar[/b]: Downstairs lodging area where parties are held in Largo. Cleric’s group was killed in adjoining rooms. [b]Maimed Hand of Vengeance[/b]: A hand from the cleric’s body which animated and escaped the pitiful baker’s grinders. Seeks revenge on the town. [b]Gothic Reunion[/b]: The name of the Watchful Eyes ceremonial Danse Macabre. The party is approached by the [i]Watchful Eyes over Zargon[/i]. It seems that an [b]Itinerant Cleric[/b], his acolytes, and their [b]tattered rug[/b] artifact that they traveled with had all been lost while traveling for a mission outside of the distant mining town of Lago. The contact explains that the cleric was to use the artifact to complete an important ceremony during the night of the new moon in the cemetery of an abandoned monastery outside of Lago, and that a failure to do so will spell disaster for the people of Lago and the surrounding area. He will pay the party to ensure that the ceremony is completed. Bonus pay will be offered for the return of the [b]tattered rug[/b] artifact, the saving of Lago, and the safe return of the cleric and his four acolytes. A moderate Religion check reveals that the Watchful Eyes of Zargon is a legal religious order, historically distrusted because of its members’ tendency to dance in graveyards and their frequent communions with the dead. A hard Religion check will also reveal that the members are dedicated, though few in numbers. Zargon is a soul-swallowing deity of abominations and evil spirits. The Watchful Eyes are not worshippers of Zargon, but instead are dedicated to stopping his corruption and his attempted return through the use of the dead. The PCs should arrive at the town of Lago two calendar days before the night of the new moon. Of course the PCs may find a clever way to arrive earlier. It should be noted that many in the town of Lago will radiate as evil, such as the sheriff and his six deputies, the [b]pitiful baker[/b] along with his son and two barmaids, and the owner of the general store. Being evil is not a crime, and the party should realize that these are the town leaders and pass for the law in the area. The town leaders are actually brigands that took over years ago, and the few decent people who resisted were made examples, along with their families. A moderate Sense Motive check will tell the party that the townsfolk are eager to be done with any conversation and are choosing their words very carefully. The other townsfolk live in fear of the brigands and will be wary of what they tell the adventurers. The sheriff and deputies would like to speak with the characters, but the exhausted, [b]pitiful baker[/b] is eager to approach them first, to the chagrin of the sheriff. The baker wants to sell his poorly made meat pies, and offers the group rooms at his downstairs establishment, the Cheerful Cellar, where he makes his pies and bread. He admits being a lousy salesman and being desperate for coin. Everyone in town will claim that they have not seen the [b]iterant cleric’s[/b] group, though a moderate Sense Motive check will show that this is a lie. The sheriff and his deputies are very much on edge and insistent that the party move on and investigate elsewhere. There are other indications that something in the town is not right. A moderate Knowledge Ride or Handle Animal or Nature check on the sheriff’s horses reveals that some of the horses are not native to the area, and instead seem to come from a number of places (they are from previously murdered travelers). A moderate appraise or craft check will show that some of the goods being sold at the general store are second hand goods with labels and other identifying marks removed. A few also seem a bit expensive for such a backwater town (also from previous travelers). A moderate religion check will allow a character to notice the [b]iterant cleric’s[/b] holy symbol on sale as cheap jewelry. If any of the PCs eats a meat pie from the [b]pitiful baker[/b] while in public they should make a moderate Perception check. A successful roll results in the PC noticing a handful of townsfolk stopping to watch. A further successful moderate Sense Motive check will reveal that the watching townsfolk are attempting to conceal expressions of horror. An examination of the meat pies will reveal nothing unusual. If for any reason the party brings accusations of criminality to the sheriff along with solid evidence, he will arrest the suspect in lieu of a trial (that will never occur) and thank the party. Then he makes plans with the other former brigands to kill off the heroes before they can discover more about the town. If the party tries to take justice into their own hands, the sheriff will intervene if able and remind the heroes that there is a legal system and vigilantism is a punishable offense. If the heroes stay at the Cheerful Cellar inn, they are welcomed by the [b]pitiful baker[/b] and his son. Although the heroes are the only guests, there is a festive atmosphere as the baker and son bring a timid minstrel to play music for them, and the two men ply the group with heavily discounted ale, give free food and ask the heroes to tell tales of their bravery. Their two luscious barmaids flirt heavily and dance for those in the group who show interest, also challenging them to down drink. If the party focuses on the minstrel and makes a hard Perception check, they will notice that he seems scared and misses a few notes. If there is a bard in the group, he may make a moderate local or nobility check to recognize that the protagonist of the bard’s songs, Lord Magoo, is an elderly aristocrat who is often oblivious of the danger and dastardly nature of those around him and only seems to survive his encounters through luck. When the festivities are over, the group is offered single rooms with small, comfortable beds adjacent to the Cheerful Cellar. The Cheerful Cellar inn and its adjoining rooms have been reconstructed to include secret passages which can be found with moderate Perception checks against the walls. The upstairs section of the building is where the baker and his son sleep, as well as the store front for his goods which rarely sell. The [b]pitiful baker[/b] has been unable to get any of the townsfolk to purchase his foods as they wrongly suspect he has turned travelers into meat pies, nor will they go to his cellar inn for drink. In actuality, the baker has been turning his victims into dog food and feeding them to the sheriff’s large hounds in order to destroy evidence of their prior presence. The baker is unaware that one of the chopped pieces of the [b]itinerant cleric[/b] (the maimed remnants of a hand) became animated and escaped his grinder in order to enact vengeance, due to Zargon’s growing influence enhanced by the town’s recent murders. The tired, impoverished baker has been killing off travelers more frequently, and selling their gear off through the black market run by the general store clerk in an attempt to make coin. He plans to murder and rob the party, but first decides to take a quick nap and asks one of his accomplices to wake him late at night when their guests will be in deep sleep. If the party catches and threatens a former brigand without interference from the brigand’s allies, the truth about the town and the ultimate grim fate of the cleric, his acolytes and previous travelers will come to light. The sheriff has the [b]iterant cleric’s[/b] horses, the baker has the [b]tattered rug[/b], and the general store owner has a religious tome and other goods. The brigands have been on edge, as three of their number have recently been found strangled in their sleep and the [b]pitiful baker[/b] is having nightmares and has been hearing strange noises outside his bedroom door at night, but the exhausted man can’t find the cause. During the first night that the party arrives, the [b]pitiful baker[/b] is strangled to death, causing one of his murderous barmaids to scream when she goes to wake him and finds his body. The general store owner is also found murdered. If the party was suspicious and decided to stake out the outside of the general store or baker’s store/inn, a hard Perception check would allow them to notice a small crawling hand unlock and enter each of the respective bedrooms from the outside, and then leap out to land into nearby brush and disappear. If the PCs investigate the bedrooms, they will find the [b]tattered rug[/b] on the floor in the baker’s bedroom and the religious tome on a table next to the general store owner’s bed. If the baker or general store owner are in prison, the [b]Maimed Hand of Vengeance[/b] will go through the bars and kill them there instead. At this point the sheriff will continue to declare innocence, though he will allow the party to continue their investigation as he fears for his own life and hopes the party might stop the [b]Maimed Hand of Vengeance[/b] from killing again. The religious tome details instructions on the danse macabre called the [b]Gothic Reunion[/b], a cemetery summoning causing the restless dead to rise at the command of the dancer. Zargon finds locations where evil men have been buried en masse or innocents brutally murdered. The restlessness of such souls draws him, allowing him to claim such spirits as his own to feast upon and their bodies to control. Zargon uses the dead to kill others, which grows his influence in the hopes of laying claim to the world. The [b]Gothic Reunion[/b] siphons his influence from the bodies of the dead, until it is exhausted, rendering the dead inert and Zargon’s tether broken. The [b]tattered rug[/b] is used as the summoner’s focus and must be brought to the center of the cemetery. It weighs over a hundred pounds and is seven feet long when rolled up, so one person cannot carry it a significant distance because of its bulk. The cemetery is an hour’s walk from Lago. A massive battle occurred centuries ago where thousands of soldiers from the evil and forgotten Lunien Empire were trapped and slaughtered. A group of well meaning monks buried the thousands of dead and built a monastery here. Once at the cemetery, the characters will find that some of the skeletal dead have risen thanks to Zargon’s influence. There are a handful of armored skeletal warriors wielding rusting weapons as well as an armored knight on skeletal horseback, making for a hard encounter. Once the threat is dealt with, the character who will be performing the summoning ritual needs to unfurl the [b]tattered rug[/b] in the middle of the cemetery (general approximation is necessary), strip down and paint himself as a skeleton to fool the undead (unnecessary, but kept in the tome for rituals sake), and attempt to perform the [b]Gothic Reunion[/b] with a successful Hard Perform check. Failure results in Zargon expending some of his power to send another moderately difficult wave of skeletal undead at the party, but the party can try again. Success results in the unusual sight of all the nearby dead rising from their graves and mimicking the summoner’s dance for ten minutes. After these ten minutes, Zargon’s influence will be broken and the exhausted dead will lay back down to rest in peace. The [b]Maimed Hand of Vengeance[/b] won’t kill again. The sheriff and his men will be waiting in ambush for the party outside of the cemetery. The party has seen too much and cannot be allowed to escape. A hard battle should ensue, but if the party is victorious the remaining brigands will flee and the cowardly townsfolk will welcome them as saviors and regale them with tales of the brigand’s wickedness. The party could be delayed in a number of ways from solving the quest in time. If so, the army of the dead will rise and descend upon Lago, indiscriminately attacking civilians, heroes and brigands while the hand continues to kill those asleep. [/QUOTE]
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