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<blockquote data-quote="chutup" data-source="post: 5907191" data-attributes="member: 6690844"><p>For this post I'm going to make use of some cool random idea generators I found. First, the <a href="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxxIbZkFu4wdMDAxZjYyMTgtYTQ3YS00NTgwLWEyYWItNWEyNjI0OGFlMjA0/edit?hl=en&pli=1" target="_blank">Bag of Problems</a> from Roles, Rules and Rolls (<a href="http://rolesrules.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank">Roles, Rules, and Rolls</a>) which lets you generate a quest for the PCs. I'm going to make it a quest given by Cliffar Seutonian of Farnsfall Holding, but other than that I have no idea what will come up until... I... roll...</p><p></p><p>The goal is to <strong>enter</strong> a <strong>road or passage</strong> and the complication is <strong>under time pressure</strong>. Hmmm...</p><p></p><p><strong> The Mouth of the Dragon (10.01)</strong></p><p></p><p>Near the lands of the Zoar Rajak there lies a large wooded range of hills which has long been known as the Dragon's Spine. Although it does vaguely resemble a sleeping dragon, its name almost certainly comes from the overactive imaginations of local peasants, combined with the profusion of wormroot that grows here, which in earlier times was called <em>wyrmroot</em> and believed to be related to dragons and dragonfire.</p><p></p><p>One old legend about the place is true, however: that every hundred years or so, a narrow passage opens in the rock, where the dragon's mouth is supposed to be. This cleft leads deep into the hillside, and is unnaturally warm and steamy. The elders say that this passage contains a rare strain of subterranean wormroot, more powerful than that which grows under the sky. But the Mouth of the Dragon only stays open for about a month before closing again.</p><p></p><p>Cliffar Seutonian (11.03) will pay good money for anyone who can retrieve this 'Greater Wormroot' from the tunnel, especially if it can be cultivated in the cellars below his keep. However, the Zoar Rajak goblins (11.01) have their own beliefs about the cavern. They perform a ritual outside it to prevent 'evil fire' from escaping, for their oral traditions recall a time long ago when the oak forests were wreathed in flame and the 'dragon's plant' burst forth from the ashes to strangle goblinkin to their deaths. The Zoar Rajak will not allow any humans to enter the Mouth of the Dragon if they can help it.</p><p></p><p>Hooks:</p><p>- What is the connection between dragons and wormroot?</p><p>- How much of the Zoar Rajak legend is true? Are their rituals really preventing anything?</p><p>- What is the nature of the Greater Wormroot? What properties does it have that make it so valuable?</p><p>- Why does the Mouth of the Dragon open and close?</p><p></p><p>Next, I'm going to the <a href="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxxIbZkFu4wdNTcyNmExMGYtMTJmOC00ZjVmLThjZmItZmFkOWMyZGQ2ZjQw/edit?hl=en" target="_blank">Bag of Tricks</a> generator from the same site, used to create weird Gygaxian puzzles. This would probably be perfect for something inside the Temple of Seven Shadows, so here goes (this is a bit more complicated):</p><p></p><p>After much rolling, I ended up with: Fancy Benches, which have a Handle attached to them with no actions (but may produce a clue). Also in the room is a Rope or Vine, which when Cut gives a key to another area, and when Assembled deals minor avoidable damage (which is by challenge level, so it might still be quite high in the Temple of Seven Shadows.) Now it's time to interpret the results (this is fun, it's like divination!)</p><p></p><p><strong>The Chapel of the Golden Cord</strong></p><p>Additional information about hex 37.01.</p><p></p><p>Inside the Temple of Seven Shadows are many strange rooms and weird dangers. This room is a beautiful chapel lined with gilded benches. At the front of the chapel is an altar, previously suspended in the loops of a golden cord tied to the ceiling. However the altar has fallen and the cord been chopped into several pieces by one of the men from the Furhoof expedition (17.05). The secret of the chapel is that the altar is not important; the object of devotion is the cord. This is the original Cord of Binding that was used to lasso the Tarrasque when it was first captured at the founding of Bergolast. It was not strong enough to hold the beast for long, but it gave the hunters the opportunity to pierce the Tarrasque with the six spears.</p><p></p><p>The magical power of the Cord was all but destroyed by the thrashings of the Tarrasque, and it is now very fragile. If it is cut, it will unleash a magical shock capable of killing an unwary human, but probably not an experienced adventurer. However, if it is reassembled and the altar is suspended again, a pyramidal stone will appear on the altar which is a key to the inner shrine door. (The problem all started when Devin Furhoof tried to get the keystone by cutting the altar down from its hanging.)</p><p></p><p>The benches have handles on them which can be used to tilt them up and down. Close examination will reveal a golden mark on the hinges that reveals the correct tilt of the benches. When one is seated on a correctly tilted bench and the altar is suspended at the correct height, the altar will shield the supplicant's eyes from the light that shines through the back wall.</p><p></p><p>Hooks:</p><p>- Where did the Cord of Binding come from, and who wielded it in the battle with the Tarrasque?</p><p>- What's in the inner shrine? Is it the Seventh Spear, or something else?</p><p>- Where does the light shine from? Isn't the Temple only open during the Long Night?</p><p></p><p>(You'll not that I switched around the results of the two actions to make it fit better; the Bag of Tricks guide itself encourages you to do that, so it's not 'cheating'.)</p><p></p><p>Lastly, I found <a href="http://www.worldofalshain.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/unwelcome-guests.html" target="_blank">this</a> generator to create monsters with interesting weaknesses and grievances. I'll roll on those tables, and just for extra fun I'll roll in the SRD Monster Index to see what the monster actually is. The hook will be that it's a monster that's threatening Thring and being targeted by young bravos hoping to pay their blood-debt.</p><p></p><p>I rolled a Bodak, who has absconded its sacred duty to threaten the humans, and who is angered because someone broke a deal with it, possibly while it was in disguise. Hmm...</p><p></p><p><strong>The Gravewatch Moors (21.12)</strong></p><p></p><p>On this desolate stretch of land near Castle Steadfast, there lies a sunken barrow which dates back to pre-Thringish times, when the House of Stodfost was known for its staunch defense against the predations of the Unseelie elves. Each lord of the Stodfost line was interred here, and their ghosts remain, ever watching the north for sign of invasion. After the rise of Thring, Stodfost became Steadfast, and many of the old ways were lost, but this tradition continued.</p><p></p><p>Then came Lord Cameron Steadfast, the cuckolded count. After leaving his ancestral home, he travelled far and wide before finally meeting his death in a dreary and forgotten place, at the hands of a being of purest evil. The manner of his death made of him a bodak, a vengeful spirit tainted by darkness. He returned to Castle Steadfast, intending to slay the usurper Charles and his treacherous wife. However, the power of the old foundations of the castle prevented him from entering. Instead, he spends his time haunting the smallfolk who live around the castle. Some Thringmen have tried to slay it for glory or blood-debt, but they have failed, and besides they will be disappointed to learn that bodaks cannot bleed.</p><p></p><p>Charles the Cuckold knows of the bodak and is shrewdly avoiding leaving his castle. However, he is unaware that the third floor privy is in fact built out beyond the original foundations. The bodak would like to trick Charles into going to the privy, which is usually used for servants, but he knows not how.</p><p></p><p>Deep down, the bodak of Cameron Steadfast remembers his ancient calling to guard the barrow with his forefathers. The ghosts in the barrow are extremely displeased with this turn of events and will do anything in their power to bring their descendant back in line. If the bodak is forced to face up to his own betrayal, he will choose to give up his revenge and go to the barrow. For him to find true rest, however, his body must be found and interred, and the taint of evil must be cleansed from his ghostly soul.</p><p></p><p>Hooks:</p><p>- Why did the Unseelie Elves threaten the Stodfost lands? Were they exempted from the contract with the Prince of Men, or was this before the Prince of Men existed?</p><p>- Where are the Unseelie Elves now?</p><p>- What terrible evil slew Cameron Steadfast, and where?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="chutup, post: 5907191, member: 6690844"] For this post I'm going to make use of some cool random idea generators I found. First, the [URL="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxxIbZkFu4wdMDAxZjYyMTgtYTQ3YS00NTgwLWEyYWItNWEyNjI0OGFlMjA0/edit?hl=en&pli=1"]Bag of Problems[/URL] from Roles, Rules and Rolls ([url=http://rolesrules.blogspot.com.au/]Roles, Rules, and Rolls[/url]) which lets you generate a quest for the PCs. I'm going to make it a quest given by Cliffar Seutonian of Farnsfall Holding, but other than that I have no idea what will come up until... I... roll... The goal is to [B]enter[/B] a [B]road or passage[/B] and the complication is [B]under time pressure[/B]. Hmmm... [B] The Mouth of the Dragon (10.01)[/B] Near the lands of the Zoar Rajak there lies a large wooded range of hills which has long been known as the Dragon's Spine. Although it does vaguely resemble a sleeping dragon, its name almost certainly comes from the overactive imaginations of local peasants, combined with the profusion of wormroot that grows here, which in earlier times was called [I]wyrmroot[/I] and believed to be related to dragons and dragonfire. One old legend about the place is true, however: that every hundred years or so, a narrow passage opens in the rock, where the dragon's mouth is supposed to be. This cleft leads deep into the hillside, and is unnaturally warm and steamy. The elders say that this passage contains a rare strain of subterranean wormroot, more powerful than that which grows under the sky. But the Mouth of the Dragon only stays open for about a month before closing again. Cliffar Seutonian (11.03) will pay good money for anyone who can retrieve this 'Greater Wormroot' from the tunnel, especially if it can be cultivated in the cellars below his keep. However, the Zoar Rajak goblins (11.01) have their own beliefs about the cavern. They perform a ritual outside it to prevent 'evil fire' from escaping, for their oral traditions recall a time long ago when the oak forests were wreathed in flame and the 'dragon's plant' burst forth from the ashes to strangle goblinkin to their deaths. The Zoar Rajak will not allow any humans to enter the Mouth of the Dragon if they can help it. Hooks: - What is the connection between dragons and wormroot? - How much of the Zoar Rajak legend is true? Are their rituals really preventing anything? - What is the nature of the Greater Wormroot? What properties does it have that make it so valuable? - Why does the Mouth of the Dragon open and close? Next, I'm going to the [URL="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxxIbZkFu4wdNTcyNmExMGYtMTJmOC00ZjVmLThjZmItZmFkOWMyZGQ2ZjQw/edit?hl=en"]Bag of Tricks[/URL] generator from the same site, used to create weird Gygaxian puzzles. This would probably be perfect for something inside the Temple of Seven Shadows, so here goes (this is a bit more complicated): After much rolling, I ended up with: Fancy Benches, which have a Handle attached to them with no actions (but may produce a clue). Also in the room is a Rope or Vine, which when Cut gives a key to another area, and when Assembled deals minor avoidable damage (which is by challenge level, so it might still be quite high in the Temple of Seven Shadows.) Now it's time to interpret the results (this is fun, it's like divination!) [B]The Chapel of the Golden Cord[/B] Additional information about hex 37.01. Inside the Temple of Seven Shadows are many strange rooms and weird dangers. This room is a beautiful chapel lined with gilded benches. At the front of the chapel is an altar, previously suspended in the loops of a golden cord tied to the ceiling. However the altar has fallen and the cord been chopped into several pieces by one of the men from the Furhoof expedition (17.05). The secret of the chapel is that the altar is not important; the object of devotion is the cord. This is the original Cord of Binding that was used to lasso the Tarrasque when it was first captured at the founding of Bergolast. It was not strong enough to hold the beast for long, but it gave the hunters the opportunity to pierce the Tarrasque with the six spears. The magical power of the Cord was all but destroyed by the thrashings of the Tarrasque, and it is now very fragile. If it is cut, it will unleash a magical shock capable of killing an unwary human, but probably not an experienced adventurer. However, if it is reassembled and the altar is suspended again, a pyramidal stone will appear on the altar which is a key to the inner shrine door. (The problem all started when Devin Furhoof tried to get the keystone by cutting the altar down from its hanging.) The benches have handles on them which can be used to tilt them up and down. Close examination will reveal a golden mark on the hinges that reveals the correct tilt of the benches. When one is seated on a correctly tilted bench and the altar is suspended at the correct height, the altar will shield the supplicant's eyes from the light that shines through the back wall. Hooks: - Where did the Cord of Binding come from, and who wielded it in the battle with the Tarrasque? - What's in the inner shrine? Is it the Seventh Spear, or something else? - Where does the light shine from? Isn't the Temple only open during the Long Night? (You'll not that I switched around the results of the two actions to make it fit better; the Bag of Tricks guide itself encourages you to do that, so it's not 'cheating'.) Lastly, I found [URL="http://www.worldofalshain.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/unwelcome-guests.html"]this[/URL] generator to create monsters with interesting weaknesses and grievances. I'll roll on those tables, and just for extra fun I'll roll in the SRD Monster Index to see what the monster actually is. The hook will be that it's a monster that's threatening Thring and being targeted by young bravos hoping to pay their blood-debt. I rolled a Bodak, who has absconded its sacred duty to threaten the humans, and who is angered because someone broke a deal with it, possibly while it was in disguise. Hmm... [B]The Gravewatch Moors (21.12)[/B] On this desolate stretch of land near Castle Steadfast, there lies a sunken barrow which dates back to pre-Thringish times, when the House of Stodfost was known for its staunch defense against the predations of the Unseelie elves. Each lord of the Stodfost line was interred here, and their ghosts remain, ever watching the north for sign of invasion. After the rise of Thring, Stodfost became Steadfast, and many of the old ways were lost, but this tradition continued. Then came Lord Cameron Steadfast, the cuckolded count. After leaving his ancestral home, he travelled far and wide before finally meeting his death in a dreary and forgotten place, at the hands of a being of purest evil. The manner of his death made of him a bodak, a vengeful spirit tainted by darkness. He returned to Castle Steadfast, intending to slay the usurper Charles and his treacherous wife. However, the power of the old foundations of the castle prevented him from entering. Instead, he spends his time haunting the smallfolk who live around the castle. Some Thringmen have tried to slay it for glory or blood-debt, but they have failed, and besides they will be disappointed to learn that bodaks cannot bleed. Charles the Cuckold knows of the bodak and is shrewdly avoiding leaving his castle. However, he is unaware that the third floor privy is in fact built out beyond the original foundations. The bodak would like to trick Charles into going to the privy, which is usually used for servants, but he knows not how. Deep down, the bodak of Cameron Steadfast remembers his ancient calling to guard the barrow with his forefathers. The ghosts in the barrow are extremely displeased with this turn of events and will do anything in their power to bring their descendant back in line. If the bodak is forced to face up to his own betrayal, he will choose to give up his revenge and go to the barrow. For him to find true rest, however, his body must be found and interred, and the taint of evil must be cleansed from his ghostly soul. Hooks: - Why did the Unseelie Elves threaten the Stodfost lands? Were they exempted from the contract with the Prince of Men, or was this before the Prince of Men existed? - Where are the Unseelie Elves now? - What terrible evil slew Cameron Steadfast, and where? [/QUOTE]
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