Wulf Ratbane
Adventurer
Re: Tuerny vs Seasong
Geez, I can't even serve as a decent cautionary example.
Wulf
incognito said:
Geez, I can't even serve as a decent cautionary example.
Wulf
-
The VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
IRON DM revival!
- Thread starter incognito
- Start date
Ha ha,
If you insist incognito.
Actually I am not sure what exactly inspired me to write the adventure. The main thing that jumped out at me were the pair of elemental type creatures so I thought it would naturally have to be in some sort of elemental region.
The rousing music sounded like it leaned towards some sort of party.
The Xorn was half-fiend and anything that had a throne of human fat obviously would be something created by an evil force. Since I as already planning on making the plane in the elemental planes, I decided to make the Midnight Earth King an evil elemental ruler, with the salamander couriers, being his servant in some sort of mixed-elemental party.
To be quite honest I am not sure where my idea for the usage of the clock came from. Inspiration is a fickle muse and that she is purely responsible for my choice in this case.
The betrayal were the hardest part to work into the adventure. In my earlier versions of the adventure the Midnight Earth King was genuinely trying to revert to good, and the dao was going to betray him by ambushing the PCs. However, as I worked on it, it occured to me that it would be a much more rewarding and dastardly adventure if things weren't so clear-cut for the poor, unfortunate PCs. When I am GMing I like to make things as multi-layered and obscured as possible so I thought I should carry that over into this adventure as well, since the betrayal ingredient seemed to scream for it so.
Seasong, I was also highly impressed with your scenario. It was set-up in a manner similar to how I usually write up my own personal adventures with a location, some important NPCs that I know really well, and a vague idea of how I want things to go. Most groups I have been with have been a bit too unpredictable to really be able to write a structured adventure for, so I just go from the basis I have written.
I did think you sort of fell short in using the rousing music aspect of the scenario but otherwise I am suitably impressed in the implementation of the ingredients.
Does that work incognito?
If you insist incognito.
Actually I am not sure what exactly inspired me to write the adventure. The main thing that jumped out at me were the pair of elemental type creatures so I thought it would naturally have to be in some sort of elemental region.
The rousing music sounded like it leaned towards some sort of party.
The Xorn was half-fiend and anything that had a throne of human fat obviously would be something created by an evil force. Since I as already planning on making the plane in the elemental planes, I decided to make the Midnight Earth King an evil elemental ruler, with the salamander couriers, being his servant in some sort of mixed-elemental party.
To be quite honest I am not sure where my idea for the usage of the clock came from. Inspiration is a fickle muse and that she is purely responsible for my choice in this case.
The betrayal were the hardest part to work into the adventure. In my earlier versions of the adventure the Midnight Earth King was genuinely trying to revert to good, and the dao was going to betray him by ambushing the PCs. However, as I worked on it, it occured to me that it would be a much more rewarding and dastardly adventure if things weren't so clear-cut for the poor, unfortunate PCs. When I am GMing I like to make things as multi-layered and obscured as possible so I thought I should carry that over into this adventure as well, since the betrayal ingredient seemed to scream for it so.
Seasong, I was also highly impressed with your scenario. It was set-up in a manner similar to how I usually write up my own personal adventures with a location, some important NPCs that I know really well, and a vague idea of how I want things to go. Most groups I have been with have been a bit too unpredictable to really be able to write a structured adventure for, so I just go from the basis I have written.
I did think you sort of fell short in using the rousing music aspect of the scenario but otherwise I am suitably impressed in the implementation of the ingredients.
Does that work incognito?
incognito
First Post
much obliged Tuerny!
seasong: I also have Friday off coincidentally...
I can either given the keywords sometime Saturday/Sunday, or simply wait until Monday morning.
when we see who the winner of today's round is, we can resolve scheduling conflicts - as Vaxalon (the defending champ), is only available next week as well!
seasong: I also have Friday off coincidentally...
I can either given the keywords sometime Saturday/Sunday, or simply wait until Monday morning.
when we see who the winner of today's round is, we can resolve scheduling conflicts - as Vaxalon (the defending champ), is only available next week as well!
Wicht
Hero
Dog Days and Kobold Knights
“Dog Days and Kobold Knights” is a 3e adventure for a party of 7th to 8th level PCs. It features an enigmatic message from the gods, a princess kidnapped by kobolds, a drought and a noble sacrifice. There are two distinct parts to the story involved in this adventure. While the main text of the adventure devotes itself to the second half of this story, creative DMs can easily introduce the PCs to the events of the story during the first half and some ideas are presented later to help do just that. The Kingdom of Klusky, featured in the adventure, can be easily changed to suit any campaign. The three gods involved should be a lawful evil deity worshiped by kobolds, a chaotic good deity worshiped by elves and a lawful good deity worshiped by humans.
Synopsis
A severe drought has hit the land, lasting through the spring, summer and now into autumn. As hope fails, a divine message is sent, a noble sacrifice at the right time will bring rain. A sacrifice is prepared and the PCs are hired by the king to carry out the sacrifice at the proper location. Before the PCs can do that, the kings daughter is kidnapped by kobolds who intend to use her as a “noble” sacrifice to bring rain. The king sends the PCs to rescue the princess. The PCs descend through a deep well, giving chase to the kobolds who are in fact heading to same spot the PCs were hired to make sacrifice at. Events come to a head when, upon arriving at the Table of Water, the PCs find that a group of Elves has arrived to sacrifice their high-priest in order to bring rain. Which group will end up making a noble sacrifice? Only the actions of the PCs will decide.
Background
The Kingdom of Klusky has been experiencing an extended drought. Not a drop of rain has fallen since the winter snows melted. Furthermore, a strange sign has been noticed in the sky. The dog constellation, normally seen only during the dry summer months, has been prominent in the sky during the whole course of the drought. This has caused many to speculate that the drought is of divine origin. Perhaps the gods are displeased with the people for some reason. The clerics of Klusky’s primary deity, a lawful good god of sun and rain, has been silent throughout the spring and summer.
The Kingdom is not alone in its problems. The drought has affected two other kingdoms near to Klusky. The first is the elven kingdom north of Klusky. Like Klusky, the elves are unable to discern the reason for the drought, though they too have recognized the divine hand at work. The second kingdom near Klusky to be affected is a large underground kingdom of kobolds. These kobolds are sometimes a minor nuisance to the people of Klusky, but few suspect its true size. The kobolds in question have developed a rigid society, held together by a respect for law and a devotion to their god. The drought has affected them as well for the water table has almost vanished and the underground springs are drying up.
In fact the drought is a test, arranged by the mutual consent of the three deities in question. Each noticed their devotions had decreased of late and each wished to spur their followers on to greater adoration and respect. Therefore they arranged a drought. But they have also each agreed to a contest to see which has the more devoted and wiser followers. As autumn began, each sent a vision to every single one of their clerics, asking for a noble sacrifice to bring rain. They are testing, first, how their followers will interpret a “noble sacrifice,” and secondly, which will be the one to actually offer the sacrifice at the proper location.
The kobolds have decided that the sacrifice of the virgin daughter of the King of Klusky will fit the bill. They have made arrangements for their best soldiers, knights in service to their own king, to kidnap the girl and transport her to the Table of Water where they will offer her to their god for a bride. The marriage ceremony will unfortunately include the death of the girl.
The elven high priest has decided that the most noble sacrifice possible is himself. He therefore plans to travel with a small group to the Table of Water where he will lay himself on the table and call down pillars of fire upon himself, giving his life for that of his people.
The humans have decided… well that’s where the PCs come in
Plot Hooks
The DM can introduce the PCs to this scenario in a number of ways. If the PCs possess a cleric of one of the deities in question, then he will receive the vision like every other cleric in the realm. The vision will come at the first full moon of the fall, giving the people three full weeks to come up with their sacrifice. The vision is simply that of a night sky above a strange stone table (the Table of Water). The constellation of the dog is reflected in the water as is a gibbous moon. A voice then intones, “When gibbous shines the harvest moon and arid stars linger, Rain will come with sacrifice: Noble, Pure and Good.”
If the DM desires to bring the PCs into the plot at this early stage, they can be commissioned by the king to search for a proper sacrifice. Visiting different sages will give the PCs different answers to the sacrifice. Some ideas for the sacrifice are as follows:
1) A young gold dragon
2) A vessel of pure water
3) A holy sword
4) A flawless diamond
DMs should feel free to expand on any of these ideas but must remember that the PCs will only have two weeks to fetch the item in question. In truth, the gods are more interested in how their demands are interpreted than the actual sacrifice (with an exception, as noted in the conclusion.)
If the DM decides to bring the party in after the item has been chosen, the king and his advisors have decided to offer up the king’s holy sword, a relic from his ancestors. It is in fact a +5 holy sword. Ideally, the PCs (assuming they are good aligned) will be called by the king who wishes for them to carry his sword to the Table of Water where they are to offer it up as a sacrifice. The king offers to richly reward them if the rains come.
If the DM wishes to not have the PCs be the party making the sacrifice for the kingdom, then the kidnapping of the princess by the kobolds can introduce the PCs to the events of the story. In such a case the DM should arrange for a party of Clerics sent by the king to also be at the Table of Water at the climax of the adventure.
A Kidnapping
However the DM arranges it, the PCs should be at the kings castle when the events described hereafter unfolds.
In the courtyard of the castle of Klusky is a deep well which has never gone dry. Even now, there is still a small amount of water in its depths. However the water table has been so lowered by the drought that the depth of the water at the bottom of the well is only about a foot deep. The kobold knights, sent by their king, have found the well to be the perfect way into the castle of Klusky, for there is now a passage at the bottom, where once there was a swift underground stream. A week before the gibbous moon, fourteen days after the vision, a squad of kobolds ascends into the castle, sneaks into the princesses’ chamber and kidnaps her, carrying her back down the well.
An alarm is raised, and the king, now more mindful of his daughter than of the drought, demands the PCs descend down the well and rescue her. The demands are of course laced with offers of rich reward mixed with dire threats for failure.
The chase
The kobolds have planned well and have left numerous challenges for any pursuers. Tracking the kobolds through the underdark should not be difficult, but the kobolds should always be at least a few hours ahead of the PCs (no matter how slow or fast the PCs move they should have a constant sense of being just behind the kobolds.
Some of the encounters should include:
1) An umber hulk left at the bottom of the well to slow down pursuit. This brute has been “tamed” and trained by the kobolds and a kobold handler (Rog 3, Exp 2) gives orders to the umber hulk. Should the PCs kill the handler, there is a good chance the umber hulk will grow confused and either falter or flee (or it might attack in rage).
2) A corridor with a series of wire triggered traps (falling rocks, etc.). A group of three kobold knights is at the other end (Rog 3, Fgt 2), waiting to pepper PCs with arrows as they attempt to cross the corridor. DMs should take care to present the kobolds as a dichotomy of values. On the one hand these particular kobolds see nothing wrong with stabbing their opponent in the back. On the other hand, they are well trained and will meet death with honor, even saluting their opponents as they die or as they kill them. They are evil, but they are also extremely lawful honoring the three concepts of Land, Law and Lord.
3) Two basilisk in cages. The cages are rigged to open when the PCs trip a wire.
4) A huge earth elemental. This is not a trap and the encounter can be made more interesting by the addition of a few kobold bodies, suggesting the kobolds themselves fought the elemental as they passed. The elemental will attack anyone in its territory, until either they flee, take away half its hit-points, or manage to get around it.
5) A great gulf (a hundred feet across and just as deep that must be crossed. The kobolds had a rope bridge they used, but they cut it after crossing.
6) A mass of 20 to 30 goblin warriors waiting to ambush the party. These goblins are servants of the kobolds, but they are thirsty as well and having been told that the PCs will prevent water from coming again, they will fight fanatically. If captured, the goblins will talk (unlike the kobold knights) and will relate the fact that the kobold clerics received a vision calling for sacrifice
The PCs should be underground for a week, following the kobold trail through mile after mile of tunnel and obstacles. Eventually the Kobolds will surface at a cave near to the Table of Water. The PCs should exit the cave just as the sun is setting and the real fun should start.
Sacrifice at the Table of Water
The Table of Water is an ancient and sacred place. It is a large stone table, slightly concaved, in which there is always a thin layer of water. The table top rest upon a large rock engraved with ancient and unknown letters. Legend says that one can sometimes see the future reflected in the water. Others say that the water upon the table is sacred to the gods and can sometimes cure disease. One interesting fact not often noticed is that the table never reflects the sun or moon, though it reflects the stars and the clouds with mirror like clarity.
The table is located in a clearing at the very peak of an old hill. PCs should be able to follow the kobold tracks to the table even if they do not recognize their locale. As the PCs approach the table, the kobolds already have the princess dressed for her “wedding” to their god and have her bound upon the table. At the same time, a group of elves is approaching from the north.
The ten kobolds (8 of which are knights (Rog 3, Fgt 2)) are led by a 6th level cleric and a 5th level sorcerer. The elves, a party of five, are led by a cleric (8th level). The high priest of the elves wears a Medallion of Thoughts and also a Ring of Truth (operates as a detect lies spell). This makes it hard for people to lie to him (which may be important in any negotiations with him.) With the priest are two of his fellows (5th level clerics) and two bodyguards (6th level fighters).
Though one can never tell exactly how these things will play out, the elves will likely assist the PCs in fighting the kobolds. The kobold priest will attempt to sacrifice the girl while the others fight. It will take him 6 uninterrupted round to complete his ritual. If the girl dies, rain will come immediately and the remaining kobolds will attempt to flee back to their caverns.
If the PCs and the elves defeat the kobolds, the elvish cleric will demand they allow him to offer himself. The PCs may or may not agree to this. If they try to stop it, it will take intense diplomacy to get the cleric to agree to let them offer an alternate sacrifice first. If they do not stop him, he will die upon the altar, calling a pillar of fire upon himself and the rain will come, but with disastrous results.
Conclusion
The best outcome is, of course, the PCs being allowed to offer up whatever sacrifice they have prepared or been given. Doing so will bring rain if the sacrifice fits the three qualities required. When the rain comes, the dog constellation will vanish from the sky, returning the following year only at its normal time.
Should the sacrifice made by either of the good aligned groups (the elves or the humans) involve a sentient being, the rains will bring with them great floods that will destroy many villages and homes in both the elven and human kingdoms.
If the rain comes, the king will handsomely reward the PCs and even more so if they save his daughter. The reward can be whatsoever the DM decides is fitting but can easily include land and titles. If the PCs prevent the high-priest from sacrificing himself and manage to bring the rain, he will be embarrassed and ashamed and will offer the PCs either his medallion or his ring out of gratitude for the lesson learned.
“Dog Days and Kobold Knights” is a 3e adventure for a party of 7th to 8th level PCs. It features an enigmatic message from the gods, a princess kidnapped by kobolds, a drought and a noble sacrifice. There are two distinct parts to the story involved in this adventure. While the main text of the adventure devotes itself to the second half of this story, creative DMs can easily introduce the PCs to the events of the story during the first half and some ideas are presented later to help do just that. The Kingdom of Klusky, featured in the adventure, can be easily changed to suit any campaign. The three gods involved should be a lawful evil deity worshiped by kobolds, a chaotic good deity worshiped by elves and a lawful good deity worshiped by humans.
Synopsis
A severe drought has hit the land, lasting through the spring, summer and now into autumn. As hope fails, a divine message is sent, a noble sacrifice at the right time will bring rain. A sacrifice is prepared and the PCs are hired by the king to carry out the sacrifice at the proper location. Before the PCs can do that, the kings daughter is kidnapped by kobolds who intend to use her as a “noble” sacrifice to bring rain. The king sends the PCs to rescue the princess. The PCs descend through a deep well, giving chase to the kobolds who are in fact heading to same spot the PCs were hired to make sacrifice at. Events come to a head when, upon arriving at the Table of Water, the PCs find that a group of Elves has arrived to sacrifice their high-priest in order to bring rain. Which group will end up making a noble sacrifice? Only the actions of the PCs will decide.
Background
The Kingdom of Klusky has been experiencing an extended drought. Not a drop of rain has fallen since the winter snows melted. Furthermore, a strange sign has been noticed in the sky. The dog constellation, normally seen only during the dry summer months, has been prominent in the sky during the whole course of the drought. This has caused many to speculate that the drought is of divine origin. Perhaps the gods are displeased with the people for some reason. The clerics of Klusky’s primary deity, a lawful good god of sun and rain, has been silent throughout the spring and summer.
The Kingdom is not alone in its problems. The drought has affected two other kingdoms near to Klusky. The first is the elven kingdom north of Klusky. Like Klusky, the elves are unable to discern the reason for the drought, though they too have recognized the divine hand at work. The second kingdom near Klusky to be affected is a large underground kingdom of kobolds. These kobolds are sometimes a minor nuisance to the people of Klusky, but few suspect its true size. The kobolds in question have developed a rigid society, held together by a respect for law and a devotion to their god. The drought has affected them as well for the water table has almost vanished and the underground springs are drying up.
In fact the drought is a test, arranged by the mutual consent of the three deities in question. Each noticed their devotions had decreased of late and each wished to spur their followers on to greater adoration and respect. Therefore they arranged a drought. But they have also each agreed to a contest to see which has the more devoted and wiser followers. As autumn began, each sent a vision to every single one of their clerics, asking for a noble sacrifice to bring rain. They are testing, first, how their followers will interpret a “noble sacrifice,” and secondly, which will be the one to actually offer the sacrifice at the proper location.
The kobolds have decided that the sacrifice of the virgin daughter of the King of Klusky will fit the bill. They have made arrangements for their best soldiers, knights in service to their own king, to kidnap the girl and transport her to the Table of Water where they will offer her to their god for a bride. The marriage ceremony will unfortunately include the death of the girl.
The elven high priest has decided that the most noble sacrifice possible is himself. He therefore plans to travel with a small group to the Table of Water where he will lay himself on the table and call down pillars of fire upon himself, giving his life for that of his people.
The humans have decided… well that’s where the PCs come in
Plot Hooks
The DM can introduce the PCs to this scenario in a number of ways. If the PCs possess a cleric of one of the deities in question, then he will receive the vision like every other cleric in the realm. The vision will come at the first full moon of the fall, giving the people three full weeks to come up with their sacrifice. The vision is simply that of a night sky above a strange stone table (the Table of Water). The constellation of the dog is reflected in the water as is a gibbous moon. A voice then intones, “When gibbous shines the harvest moon and arid stars linger, Rain will come with sacrifice: Noble, Pure and Good.”
If the DM desires to bring the PCs into the plot at this early stage, they can be commissioned by the king to search for a proper sacrifice. Visiting different sages will give the PCs different answers to the sacrifice. Some ideas for the sacrifice are as follows:
1) A young gold dragon
2) A vessel of pure water
3) A holy sword
4) A flawless diamond
DMs should feel free to expand on any of these ideas but must remember that the PCs will only have two weeks to fetch the item in question. In truth, the gods are more interested in how their demands are interpreted than the actual sacrifice (with an exception, as noted in the conclusion.)
If the DM decides to bring the party in after the item has been chosen, the king and his advisors have decided to offer up the king’s holy sword, a relic from his ancestors. It is in fact a +5 holy sword. Ideally, the PCs (assuming they are good aligned) will be called by the king who wishes for them to carry his sword to the Table of Water where they are to offer it up as a sacrifice. The king offers to richly reward them if the rains come.
If the DM wishes to not have the PCs be the party making the sacrifice for the kingdom, then the kidnapping of the princess by the kobolds can introduce the PCs to the events of the story. In such a case the DM should arrange for a party of Clerics sent by the king to also be at the Table of Water at the climax of the adventure.
A Kidnapping
However the DM arranges it, the PCs should be at the kings castle when the events described hereafter unfolds.
In the courtyard of the castle of Klusky is a deep well which has never gone dry. Even now, there is still a small amount of water in its depths. However the water table has been so lowered by the drought that the depth of the water at the bottom of the well is only about a foot deep. The kobold knights, sent by their king, have found the well to be the perfect way into the castle of Klusky, for there is now a passage at the bottom, where once there was a swift underground stream. A week before the gibbous moon, fourteen days after the vision, a squad of kobolds ascends into the castle, sneaks into the princesses’ chamber and kidnaps her, carrying her back down the well.
An alarm is raised, and the king, now more mindful of his daughter than of the drought, demands the PCs descend down the well and rescue her. The demands are of course laced with offers of rich reward mixed with dire threats for failure.
The chase
The kobolds have planned well and have left numerous challenges for any pursuers. Tracking the kobolds through the underdark should not be difficult, but the kobolds should always be at least a few hours ahead of the PCs (no matter how slow or fast the PCs move they should have a constant sense of being just behind the kobolds.
Some of the encounters should include:
1) An umber hulk left at the bottom of the well to slow down pursuit. This brute has been “tamed” and trained by the kobolds and a kobold handler (Rog 3, Exp 2) gives orders to the umber hulk. Should the PCs kill the handler, there is a good chance the umber hulk will grow confused and either falter or flee (or it might attack in rage).
2) A corridor with a series of wire triggered traps (falling rocks, etc.). A group of three kobold knights is at the other end (Rog 3, Fgt 2), waiting to pepper PCs with arrows as they attempt to cross the corridor. DMs should take care to present the kobolds as a dichotomy of values. On the one hand these particular kobolds see nothing wrong with stabbing their opponent in the back. On the other hand, they are well trained and will meet death with honor, even saluting their opponents as they die or as they kill them. They are evil, but they are also extremely lawful honoring the three concepts of Land, Law and Lord.
3) Two basilisk in cages. The cages are rigged to open when the PCs trip a wire.
4) A huge earth elemental. This is not a trap and the encounter can be made more interesting by the addition of a few kobold bodies, suggesting the kobolds themselves fought the elemental as they passed. The elemental will attack anyone in its territory, until either they flee, take away half its hit-points, or manage to get around it.
5) A great gulf (a hundred feet across and just as deep that must be crossed. The kobolds had a rope bridge they used, but they cut it after crossing.
6) A mass of 20 to 30 goblin warriors waiting to ambush the party. These goblins are servants of the kobolds, but they are thirsty as well and having been told that the PCs will prevent water from coming again, they will fight fanatically. If captured, the goblins will talk (unlike the kobold knights) and will relate the fact that the kobold clerics received a vision calling for sacrifice
The PCs should be underground for a week, following the kobold trail through mile after mile of tunnel and obstacles. Eventually the Kobolds will surface at a cave near to the Table of Water. The PCs should exit the cave just as the sun is setting and the real fun should start.
Sacrifice at the Table of Water
The Table of Water is an ancient and sacred place. It is a large stone table, slightly concaved, in which there is always a thin layer of water. The table top rest upon a large rock engraved with ancient and unknown letters. Legend says that one can sometimes see the future reflected in the water. Others say that the water upon the table is sacred to the gods and can sometimes cure disease. One interesting fact not often noticed is that the table never reflects the sun or moon, though it reflects the stars and the clouds with mirror like clarity.
The table is located in a clearing at the very peak of an old hill. PCs should be able to follow the kobold tracks to the table even if they do not recognize their locale. As the PCs approach the table, the kobolds already have the princess dressed for her “wedding” to their god and have her bound upon the table. At the same time, a group of elves is approaching from the north.
The ten kobolds (8 of which are knights (Rog 3, Fgt 2)) are led by a 6th level cleric and a 5th level sorcerer. The elves, a party of five, are led by a cleric (8th level). The high priest of the elves wears a Medallion of Thoughts and also a Ring of Truth (operates as a detect lies spell). This makes it hard for people to lie to him (which may be important in any negotiations with him.) With the priest are two of his fellows (5th level clerics) and two bodyguards (6th level fighters).
Though one can never tell exactly how these things will play out, the elves will likely assist the PCs in fighting the kobolds. The kobold priest will attempt to sacrifice the girl while the others fight. It will take him 6 uninterrupted round to complete his ritual. If the girl dies, rain will come immediately and the remaining kobolds will attempt to flee back to their caverns.
If the PCs and the elves defeat the kobolds, the elvish cleric will demand they allow him to offer himself. The PCs may or may not agree to this. If they try to stop it, it will take intense diplomacy to get the cleric to agree to let them offer an alternate sacrifice first. If they do not stop him, he will die upon the altar, calling a pillar of fire upon himself and the rain will come, but with disastrous results.
Conclusion
The best outcome is, of course, the PCs being allowed to offer up whatever sacrifice they have prepared or been given. Doing so will bring rain if the sacrifice fits the three qualities required. When the rain comes, the dog constellation will vanish from the sky, returning the following year only at its normal time.
Should the sacrifice made by either of the good aligned groups (the elves or the humans) involve a sentient being, the rains will bring with them great floods that will destroy many villages and homes in both the elven and human kingdoms.
If the rain comes, the king will handsomely reward the PCs and even more so if they save his daughter. The reward can be whatsoever the DM decides is fitting but can easily include land and titles. If the PCs prevent the high-priest from sacrificing himself and manage to bring the rain, he will be embarrassed and ashamed and will offer the PCs either his medallion or his ring out of gratitude for the lesson learned.
Rune
Once A Fool
Figments of Thought
Ingredients:
This scenario is designed to be played with four low level characters, anywhere between levels 1 and level 3 should provide a good game, depending on the degree of challenge that the players and the DM prefer.
History:
A simple, seemingly innocent medallion passes through history in the hands of children. This bauble is small and most curious; its origin is unknown. It is also cursed; it feeds on the thoughts of people, but children especially. When in the possession of this medallion, the child will begin to have wildly fantastic dreams and daydreams, far more so than is characteristic to even the most imaginative child. Unfortunately, this is only a secondary power of the item. This medallion also has the ability to create reality out of thought. More specifically, it takes the thoughts (fantasies, usually) and creates real, physical representations of them somewhere in the local vicinity. Once created, these fantasies are completely uncontrolled, save for an inexplicable desire to possess the medallion. They are their own entities--and they may well be malevolent. This would be but a minor problem, if it was known, but the medallion has, thus far, never been connected with the presence of these "living fantasies." Part of the reason for this is that it has the unusual ability to avoid detection by any adult who is not specifically looking for it.
No records exist that indicate that an adult might ever have possessed the medallion; in all cases, the child in possession of the medallion has perished well before reaching maturity. Upon the death of the child, all of the manifested figments of imagination resulting are snuffed out of existence with the thought of the child and the medallion, once again, becomes lost to history, until it is found by another child.
Background:
Two days ago, one such boy has found the medallion while out "adventuring" in the fields near his village, a six-year old boy named Halel. His head was always full of fantastic stories of the "heroes of yore," but now his every waking--and sleeping--moment is consumed by fantasy. This wouldn't trouble the villagers so much, except that, currently, these fantasies, fairy-tales and bedtime threats seem to be coming to life.
These are not the village's only problems, of course. Because of a slight drought and subsequent poor harvest the year before, the villagers have found a druid who agreed to aid in calling forth rains during the planting and growing seasons. In exchange, he set forth this price:
When fat the moon,
but not yet full,
abundance soon
will call its due.
Rain-saved fields
drown through and through
when harvest gold
calls for its fool
When fields yield well,
your dead shall rise
in a lake not here,
yet welling from the grave.
By this, the druid meant to say that the extra rains that he has called forth will cause the water table to rise to such an extent that the graveyard in the lower valley is going to be covered up by a lake. He has no idea that the dead really would rise; he merely meant that they would float to the surface of the lake (which, strictly speaking, isn't even true, as they are buried). Clearly, the druid is no master wordsmith; his obfuscated jumble of imagery falls short of the wit and wisdom that his inflated ego insists exists. His confusing riddle only points out the natural consequences of bringing too much rain into the region.
The villagers, however, believe that he has caused the lake to form on the graveyard and caused the dead to come forth from it. The dead, as a matter of fact, have begun to crawl forth from the lake. In reality, these are the medallion’s undead, they are not the deceased ancestors of the villagers. Last night, in frustration with Halel's over-active imagination, his parents told him that the zombies from the graveyard would come eat him, if he did not go to bed--a common enough bed-time threat in the village. Halel dwelled on that prospect for a period of time that was far too long to be healthy; now, unfortunately, they actually are coming to eat him.
Of course, these are not the only legends walking the land. In the short period that Halel has possessed the medallion, he has thought into existence both the Elite Kobold Knights of the Lizard King and the Valiant Prince Wurger and his Lady, Hals, for whom he sacrificed his life, as the fairy-tales tell, so that she might live happily ever after.
Hooks:
This adventure takes place in Autumn (day or night), while the (or, at least a) moon waxes beyond the half-full state, that is, it is gibbous and waxing, nearly full. It is the eve of a night holy to the druids in the region and observed in wild revelry in the village; the first full moon of the harvesting season is a very important night. If the PCs are to encounter this village, they will need to be traveling in an area with rolling hills, for this is where the village rests. As the PCs descend into the valley, they will see a cluster of cozy houses just above a beautiful lake, both in the midst of lush vegetation. It is harvest time and the village clearly has a plentiful crop.
However the PCs happen upon the village, they should soon realize that a mystery (or, perhaps several mysteries) confounds the village.
Any time spent in conversation with the villagers will reveal that they are very nervous about something, however peaceful their surroundings may appear. Apparently, many of them believe that certain common legends have been coming to life. The PCs may even have heard of some of these legends. The two most prevalent ones follow:
Once, many a year ago, in a land not too distant, lived the great and powerful Lizard King. He was a brother to the dragons, similar to them, but bound to the land, for he had no wings. His kingdom was great, for it was wealthy and strong, but Lizard King was lonely. His life lacked love. One day, he gathered together his greatest warriors, his elite kobold knights--the cousins of the dragons--to search the land far and wide for a bride for the Lizard King. But no bride was to be found. In disgrace, the knights returned to the Lizard King and trembled at his feet. The Lizard King knew then that he must die alone. But the knights would not have it. They said to the king, “We will find a magician and he shall make you a bride.” And they went to find a magician. And, lo! The knights did find a magician, but the magician said that he could only make a bride for the Lizard King with the draconic blood of the knights. For days the knights deliberated, but finally, they decided that they should sacrifice themselves that their Lizard King might have a mate. Some say, however, that they have seen the elite kobold knights of the Lizard King of late.
Not so long ago, but still within the days of yore, Valiant Prince Wurger fell in love with the most beautiful maiden in the world, Lady Hals. It came to pass that Lady Hals was once kidnapped by Prince Wurger's wicked brother, who intended to force her to marry him. Prince Wurger knew that his brother was jealous of the Prince and desired the throne, which was Wurger's inheritance. He, therefore, went before his brother and begged him to free the Lady Hals. He made his brother sign an oath of blood that stated that Lady Hals could go free, safely and untroubled, if Prince Wurger stayed in her place to be dealt with as his brother wished. The brother agreed and became king, while Prince Wurger spent the rest of his life rotting in a dungeon cell. Rumor implies that both Prince Wurger and Lady Hals are at last reunited in this time and place.
Most of the villagers have yet to add the zombies from the graveyard to their list of walking fantasies, but a few of the villagers that have been down by the lake may tell the PCs that they've seen people climb out of it. Should the PCs go down to the lake, they will possibly encounter a group of 1-6 zombies either climbing out of the lake, or milling about on the edge. They will certainly fight if provoked, but do not even notice the PCs, or anyone else, for that matter, otherwise. They are being drawn toward the medallion that created them and are slowly, almost sporadically, making their way toward it.
If the PCs are not sufficiently swayed by any of these tales to stay within the village and snoop around, an encounter with Halel might well change their minds. The PCs should be able to immediately tell from conversation with the boy that his mind is overactive--his thoughts feverish. He speaks of the living legends almost as if he has gone out and seen them all; if the PCs later encounter these legends, they may chance to notice that the boy's attention to detail is uncanny, particularly since Halel has yet to encounter any of the legends, himself. They are coming, however, as the PCs may discover.
The trouble with thinking:
While in (and around) the village, the PCs may:
Concluding thoughts:
At some point, the PCs may figure out that there is something about this boy that is, in fact, causing the fairy-tales to manifest themselves. If they think to ask Halel about any unusual things that have happened to him lately, Halel will not think to mention his discovery of the medallion, unless the PCs very specifically lead him in that direction. If they think to query him on any unusual items he may have found, he will readily remember the medallion, at which point, the PCs will be able to notice it hanging around his neck. This, of course, is only half the solution.
Somehow, in order to spare the boy's life (whether they know it or not), the PCs will have to convince the boy to part with the medallion. They don't have long to act, in two nights' time, the kobolds will raid the town, riding in on ponies, and generally smash up the town as they seek for the boy with the medallion. The kobolds are not being discrete, nor particularly discerning; any innocents that they come across during their raids are systematically tortured with typical kobold cunning and, ultimately, killed. There are five kobolds, each with 3 levels of Fighter. The village has no real guard to oppose them, but can call forth men in defense when necessary. It can, within 2d4 rounds of the start of the raid, produce a standing force of fifteen level 1 warriors and one level 3 warrior, all equipped with farming tools. If the Elite Kobold Knights find the boy (which should not take too long, as the village has less than two dozen homes), they will kill him, claiming that that is the only way to get rid of the advancing host of undead and future monstrosities from the mind of the child. They are fully aware that they will cease to exist when the boy is dead; they consider it a noble sacrifice (despite the fact that the undead are not actually being destructive...unlike the reptilian knights). They little know that the medallion is calling its creations to it.
Prince Wurger and Lady Hals (both level 3 rogues) will choose this time to descend upon the boy, preferring to do so before the kobolds arrive. They have been watching him for some time and know exactly where he is to be found. The two will attempt to steal the medallion, for they do not wish to be destroyed when the boy is killed (as they assume is inevitable) and believe that, if the medallion passes into their possession before he his killed, they will have control over it. If it becomes clear that the kobolds (or the zombies, steadily approaching) will kill the boy before they can retrieve the medallion, Prince Wurger and Lady Hals will engage the enemies. Before the arrival of the other foes, if no other tactic has worked, Prince Wurger will (quickly) tell Halel the following fairy-tale, while Lady Hals watches in stony silence:
"Once upon a time, there was a Valiant Prince, named Wurger, who was betrothed to the most beautiful Lady Hals. Regrettably, the Prince had an evil brother, who kidnapped the beautiful Lady Hals and wed her. In a righteous fury, Prince Wurger stormed his brother’s castle and caught the two in the throes of lovemaking. Prince Wurger’s brother was already running for the nearest exit as Wurger strode to the beautiful Lady Hals, wrapped his strong hands about her precious throat, and strangled the life out of her. Now, give me that medallion, or the same shall happen to you!"
The threat is, of course, an empty one, as killing the boy would certainly not advance their plans. If the PCs are present during this encounter, the boy will have just enough courage to refuse. The Prince and the Lady will have no compunctions about attacking the PCs. If the PCs are not present, the boy's decision will be delayed by the entrance of the kobolds, if they are still alive.
When the zombies finally show up, within half an hour of these events, they arrive in packs of 2d4. There are a total of thirty zombies that might show up. They have only one desire in their mindless heads; to destroy the bearer of the medallion.
If the boy is successful in surviving all of these assaults, as he will surely only be with the aid of the PCs, he will only think of more fantastic characters as time goes on. Eventually, he will perish, quite possibly, along with more of the villagers. If the boy does perish, all creations of the medallion will instantly cease to exist and the medallion will likely be lost until the next child comes across it (unless this happens in the presence of adults who are specifically aware of the medallion).
If the PCs realize this, they may attempt to:
Ideally, the best that the PCs can hope to accomplish is to take the medallion and study or destroy it. Study of the item will actually be necessary before the item can be effectively destroyed. Any adult character in possession of the medallion will find that 1d3 figures (or groups of figures) from his or her thoughts will physically manifest somewhere in the local area every week. Any child in possession of the medallion will create double that number. The effects of this can easily be negated by constantly passing the medallion back and forth between possessors.
If the PCs are successful in saving Halel and the rest of the villagers, they may be rewarded with an abundant supply of harvested food and will be welcome in the village at any time in the future, but if they are now in possession of the medallion (and if the villagers know about it) they will be asked to move on before the upcoming festival.
Ingredients:
- Water table
- Gibbous moon
- A noble sacrifice
- Autumn
- Elite kobold knights
- Medallion of thoughts
This scenario is designed to be played with four low level characters, anywhere between levels 1 and level 3 should provide a good game, depending on the degree of challenge that the players and the DM prefer.
History:
A simple, seemingly innocent medallion passes through history in the hands of children. This bauble is small and most curious; its origin is unknown. It is also cursed; it feeds on the thoughts of people, but children especially. When in the possession of this medallion, the child will begin to have wildly fantastic dreams and daydreams, far more so than is characteristic to even the most imaginative child. Unfortunately, this is only a secondary power of the item. This medallion also has the ability to create reality out of thought. More specifically, it takes the thoughts (fantasies, usually) and creates real, physical representations of them somewhere in the local vicinity. Once created, these fantasies are completely uncontrolled, save for an inexplicable desire to possess the medallion. They are their own entities--and they may well be malevolent. This would be but a minor problem, if it was known, but the medallion has, thus far, never been connected with the presence of these "living fantasies." Part of the reason for this is that it has the unusual ability to avoid detection by any adult who is not specifically looking for it.
No records exist that indicate that an adult might ever have possessed the medallion; in all cases, the child in possession of the medallion has perished well before reaching maturity. Upon the death of the child, all of the manifested figments of imagination resulting are snuffed out of existence with the thought of the child and the medallion, once again, becomes lost to history, until it is found by another child.
Background:
Two days ago, one such boy has found the medallion while out "adventuring" in the fields near his village, a six-year old boy named Halel. His head was always full of fantastic stories of the "heroes of yore," but now his every waking--and sleeping--moment is consumed by fantasy. This wouldn't trouble the villagers so much, except that, currently, these fantasies, fairy-tales and bedtime threats seem to be coming to life.
These are not the village's only problems, of course. Because of a slight drought and subsequent poor harvest the year before, the villagers have found a druid who agreed to aid in calling forth rains during the planting and growing seasons. In exchange, he set forth this price:
When fat the moon,
but not yet full,
abundance soon
will call its due.
Rain-saved fields
drown through and through
when harvest gold
calls for its fool
When fields yield well,
your dead shall rise
in a lake not here,
yet welling from the grave.
By this, the druid meant to say that the extra rains that he has called forth will cause the water table to rise to such an extent that the graveyard in the lower valley is going to be covered up by a lake. He has no idea that the dead really would rise; he merely meant that they would float to the surface of the lake (which, strictly speaking, isn't even true, as they are buried). Clearly, the druid is no master wordsmith; his obfuscated jumble of imagery falls short of the wit and wisdom that his inflated ego insists exists. His confusing riddle only points out the natural consequences of bringing too much rain into the region.
The villagers, however, believe that he has caused the lake to form on the graveyard and caused the dead to come forth from it. The dead, as a matter of fact, have begun to crawl forth from the lake. In reality, these are the medallion’s undead, they are not the deceased ancestors of the villagers. Last night, in frustration with Halel's over-active imagination, his parents told him that the zombies from the graveyard would come eat him, if he did not go to bed--a common enough bed-time threat in the village. Halel dwelled on that prospect for a period of time that was far too long to be healthy; now, unfortunately, they actually are coming to eat him.
Of course, these are not the only legends walking the land. In the short period that Halel has possessed the medallion, he has thought into existence both the Elite Kobold Knights of the Lizard King and the Valiant Prince Wurger and his Lady, Hals, for whom he sacrificed his life, as the fairy-tales tell, so that she might live happily ever after.
Hooks:
This adventure takes place in Autumn (day or night), while the (or, at least a) moon waxes beyond the half-full state, that is, it is gibbous and waxing, nearly full. It is the eve of a night holy to the druids in the region and observed in wild revelry in the village; the first full moon of the harvesting season is a very important night. If the PCs are to encounter this village, they will need to be traveling in an area with rolling hills, for this is where the village rests. As the PCs descend into the valley, they will see a cluster of cozy houses just above a beautiful lake, both in the midst of lush vegetation. It is harvest time and the village clearly has a plentiful crop.
However the PCs happen upon the village, they should soon realize that a mystery (or, perhaps several mysteries) confounds the village.
Any time spent in conversation with the villagers will reveal that they are very nervous about something, however peaceful their surroundings may appear. Apparently, many of them believe that certain common legends have been coming to life. The PCs may even have heard of some of these legends. The two most prevalent ones follow:
Once, many a year ago, in a land not too distant, lived the great and powerful Lizard King. He was a brother to the dragons, similar to them, but bound to the land, for he had no wings. His kingdom was great, for it was wealthy and strong, but Lizard King was lonely. His life lacked love. One day, he gathered together his greatest warriors, his elite kobold knights--the cousins of the dragons--to search the land far and wide for a bride for the Lizard King. But no bride was to be found. In disgrace, the knights returned to the Lizard King and trembled at his feet. The Lizard King knew then that he must die alone. But the knights would not have it. They said to the king, “We will find a magician and he shall make you a bride.” And they went to find a magician. And, lo! The knights did find a magician, but the magician said that he could only make a bride for the Lizard King with the draconic blood of the knights. For days the knights deliberated, but finally, they decided that they should sacrifice themselves that their Lizard King might have a mate. Some say, however, that they have seen the elite kobold knights of the Lizard King of late.
Not so long ago, but still within the days of yore, Valiant Prince Wurger fell in love with the most beautiful maiden in the world, Lady Hals. It came to pass that Lady Hals was once kidnapped by Prince Wurger's wicked brother, who intended to force her to marry him. Prince Wurger knew that his brother was jealous of the Prince and desired the throne, which was Wurger's inheritance. He, therefore, went before his brother and begged him to free the Lady Hals. He made his brother sign an oath of blood that stated that Lady Hals could go free, safely and untroubled, if Prince Wurger stayed in her place to be dealt with as his brother wished. The brother agreed and became king, while Prince Wurger spent the rest of his life rotting in a dungeon cell. Rumor implies that both Prince Wurger and Lady Hals are at last reunited in this time and place.
Most of the villagers have yet to add the zombies from the graveyard to their list of walking fantasies, but a few of the villagers that have been down by the lake may tell the PCs that they've seen people climb out of it. Should the PCs go down to the lake, they will possibly encounter a group of 1-6 zombies either climbing out of the lake, or milling about on the edge. They will certainly fight if provoked, but do not even notice the PCs, or anyone else, for that matter, otherwise. They are being drawn toward the medallion that created them and are slowly, almost sporadically, making their way toward it.
If the PCs are not sufficiently swayed by any of these tales to stay within the village and snoop around, an encounter with Halel might well change their minds. The PCs should be able to immediately tell from conversation with the boy that his mind is overactive--his thoughts feverish. He speaks of the living legends almost as if he has gone out and seen them all; if the PCs later encounter these legends, they may chance to notice that the boy's attention to detail is uncanny, particularly since Halel has yet to encounter any of the legends, himself. They are coming, however, as the PCs may discover.
The trouble with thinking:
While in (and around) the village, the PCs may:
- ...investigate the newly risen lake. If they actually go to the lake, they will surely encounter some zombies on the way toward the town and still more crawling from the lake. These zombies do not attack them, or even seem to notice them, unless provoked, at which time, they will fight as they normally would. The PCs may assume that the presence of the zombies is linked with the rising of the lake, especially if they manage to hear an account of the druid's "prophesy." Even more misleading, the only accurate account of the "prophesy" will come from the village's mayor. The rest of the villagers will say things like, "That druid cursed us in return for the rains. He told us he’d make the dead rise from his lake and he did. If everybody would have listened to me, we never would gone to him with our problem in the first place." If the PCs, for some reason, actually swim to the bottom of the lake, they will see that a graveyard does, indeed, rest in the center of it.
- ...seek out the druid. It is possible for the PCs to find the druid who helped the village to prosper during the planting and growing seasons in the local countryside, though it would not be easy. Their best course of action would be to hire a tracker, although a druid in the party might be able to find the other druid with a successful wilderness lore check at DC 20. The druid, of course, knows nothing about the living legends, nor does he know about the undead. If the PCs can stand talking to the obnoxious man long enough, they may learn that the rain-summoning ceremonies were actually rituals requiring a full dozen druids. These other druids are not to be found locally, but will be back in the vicinity during the full moon.
- ...do a little investigating to discover the cause of the rumors of living fairy-tales. Their best source, as many will tell them, is to speak with the town historian, a withered old man who has memorized much of the local oral lore. In fact, while the recent events are shocking, the historian will inform the party that they have happened at least thrice before. In each case, the events culminated in the death of a single child by legends--even, in one case, a good legendary figure. The historian has no clue why this may be and he has absolutely no records that the medallion even exists.
- ...try to find the living fairy-tales. The zombies should be fairly easy to come across, should the PCs go looking for them, but the kobolds, Prince Wurger, and Lady Hals are all actively (and seperately, in the case of the kobolds) avoiding detection and would be exceedingly difficult to locate in the surrounding countryside. A successful track check at DC 25 might locate one of the two parties, but they will certainly not stay to converse with the PCs if they are found.
- ...speak with the children of the village. It will not take long for the PCs to learn that one of the children in town, Halel, has had an uncharacteristically over-active imagination lately. Many of the children--and not a few of their parents--believe that the child is cursed and wonder if his imagination might have something to do with the walking legends. Their tone is generally superstitious and generally incredulous.
- ...speak with Halel. If this is the first time that the PCs have encountered Halel, they will discover that he is, apparently, quite a bright kid with a hyperactive imagination. He is constantly chattering about various different legends and fairy-tales, but often comes back to the tales of the kobold knights and of Prince Wurger, two of his favorites.
Concluding thoughts:
At some point, the PCs may figure out that there is something about this boy that is, in fact, causing the fairy-tales to manifest themselves. If they think to ask Halel about any unusual things that have happened to him lately, Halel will not think to mention his discovery of the medallion, unless the PCs very specifically lead him in that direction. If they think to query him on any unusual items he may have found, he will readily remember the medallion, at which point, the PCs will be able to notice it hanging around his neck. This, of course, is only half the solution.
Somehow, in order to spare the boy's life (whether they know it or not), the PCs will have to convince the boy to part with the medallion. They don't have long to act, in two nights' time, the kobolds will raid the town, riding in on ponies, and generally smash up the town as they seek for the boy with the medallion. The kobolds are not being discrete, nor particularly discerning; any innocents that they come across during their raids are systematically tortured with typical kobold cunning and, ultimately, killed. There are five kobolds, each with 3 levels of Fighter. The village has no real guard to oppose them, but can call forth men in defense when necessary. It can, within 2d4 rounds of the start of the raid, produce a standing force of fifteen level 1 warriors and one level 3 warrior, all equipped with farming tools. If the Elite Kobold Knights find the boy (which should not take too long, as the village has less than two dozen homes), they will kill him, claiming that that is the only way to get rid of the advancing host of undead and future monstrosities from the mind of the child. They are fully aware that they will cease to exist when the boy is dead; they consider it a noble sacrifice (despite the fact that the undead are not actually being destructive...unlike the reptilian knights). They little know that the medallion is calling its creations to it.
Prince Wurger and Lady Hals (both level 3 rogues) will choose this time to descend upon the boy, preferring to do so before the kobolds arrive. They have been watching him for some time and know exactly where he is to be found. The two will attempt to steal the medallion, for they do not wish to be destroyed when the boy is killed (as they assume is inevitable) and believe that, if the medallion passes into their possession before he his killed, they will have control over it. If it becomes clear that the kobolds (or the zombies, steadily approaching) will kill the boy before they can retrieve the medallion, Prince Wurger and Lady Hals will engage the enemies. Before the arrival of the other foes, if no other tactic has worked, Prince Wurger will (quickly) tell Halel the following fairy-tale, while Lady Hals watches in stony silence:
"Once upon a time, there was a Valiant Prince, named Wurger, who was betrothed to the most beautiful Lady Hals. Regrettably, the Prince had an evil brother, who kidnapped the beautiful Lady Hals and wed her. In a righteous fury, Prince Wurger stormed his brother’s castle and caught the two in the throes of lovemaking. Prince Wurger’s brother was already running for the nearest exit as Wurger strode to the beautiful Lady Hals, wrapped his strong hands about her precious throat, and strangled the life out of her. Now, give me that medallion, or the same shall happen to you!"
The threat is, of course, an empty one, as killing the boy would certainly not advance their plans. If the PCs are present during this encounter, the boy will have just enough courage to refuse. The Prince and the Lady will have no compunctions about attacking the PCs. If the PCs are not present, the boy's decision will be delayed by the entrance of the kobolds, if they are still alive.
When the zombies finally show up, within half an hour of these events, they arrive in packs of 2d4. There are a total of thirty zombies that might show up. They have only one desire in their mindless heads; to destroy the bearer of the medallion.
If the boy is successful in surviving all of these assaults, as he will surely only be with the aid of the PCs, he will only think of more fantastic characters as time goes on. Eventually, he will perish, quite possibly, along with more of the villagers. If the boy does perish, all creations of the medallion will instantly cease to exist and the medallion will likely be lost until the next child comes across it (unless this happens in the presence of adults who are specifically aware of the medallion).
If the PCs realize this, they may attempt to:
- ...talk the boy into giving up the medallion. If they do this, the boy will surely protest, unless they can make a convincing argument that this is for the best. He very much likes his medallion and cannot understand how any of the living fairy-tales or bedtime stories are related to the medallion. If the PCs do somehow convince him to be rid of the medallion, any and all of these figments of thought will cease to exist, but the new possessor will find that his or her thoughts will also trigger the item and will be no less controllable.
- ...take the medallion by force. This may be a fairly simple task, but the results would be as described above, save for the additional enmity of the boy, the boy's parents, when they find out, and some members of the village.
- ...kill the boy, or convince him to kill himself. If the PCs believe that this is truly the best course of action for the village, they may attempt to see it through. If the PCs try to kill the boy, his thoughts will be panicked and may create some truly terrifying creatures, but this will only matter if the boy survives for long. If the PCs attempt to convince the boy to kill himself (informing him, for instance, that it would be a noble sacrifice), they will have to be very persuasive, as Halel cannot make the connection between the fantasy people and the item.
- ...leave the village. If the PCs take this somewhat less than heroic approach, they will surely doom the child to death at some point, if not many more in the village, as well.
Ideally, the best that the PCs can hope to accomplish is to take the medallion and study or destroy it. Study of the item will actually be necessary before the item can be effectively destroyed. Any adult character in possession of the medallion will find that 1d3 figures (or groups of figures) from his or her thoughts will physically manifest somewhere in the local area every week. Any child in possession of the medallion will create double that number. The effects of this can easily be negated by constantly passing the medallion back and forth between possessors.
If the PCs are successful in saving Halel and the rest of the villagers, they may be rewarded with an abundant supply of harvested food and will be welcome in the village at any time in the future, but if they are now in possession of the medallion (and if the villagers know about it) they will be asked to move on before the upcoming festival.
Vaxalon
First Post
This isn't your father's Iron DM
After reading that epic post, I'd like to point out that Iron DM was always supposed to be an OUTLINE, for a SHORT adventure that would be done in a session or two. The entries have changed a good deal since it was instituted, and I'm not sure it's a good thing.
I mean, part of the challenge was always elegance. Getting all the ingredients in, and well mixed, without diluting them too much.
I mean, if you were watching Iron Chef, and the ingredient was "Squid" would you feel that the Chef had cheated if he put a single drop of squid ink in a soup, and said that the soup therefore included squid?
I feel that the current trend towards verbiage is NOT a good thing, and that's not because it threatens my ability to hold onto the office, I could really care less whether I retain it or not, but because it values other things besides skill, such as the lack of social obligations or outside employment.
After reading that epic post, I'd like to point out that Iron DM was always supposed to be an OUTLINE, for a SHORT adventure that would be done in a session or two. The entries have changed a good deal since it was instituted, and I'm not sure it's a good thing.
I mean, part of the challenge was always elegance. Getting all the ingredients in, and well mixed, without diluting them too much.
I mean, if you were watching Iron Chef, and the ingredient was "Squid" would you feel that the Chef had cheated if he put a single drop of squid ink in a soup, and said that the soup therefore included squid?
I feel that the current trend towards verbiage is NOT a good thing, and that's not because it threatens my ability to hold onto the office, I could really care less whether I retain it or not, but because it values other things besides skill, such as the lack of social obligations or outside employment.
Similar Threads
