Fall '03 Iron DM Tournament -- Wulf Ratbane is Iron DM!
- Thread starter Pielorinho
- Start date
Berandor
lunatic
As someone who has neither read Cthulhu nor that other book mythago was supposedly stealing from...
I absolutely agree with the judgement. Mythago's entry sounded more like a story than an adventure, and while it was a cool story, I was sorry for the PCs, coming in after alll the interesting stuff had happened.
Wulf, on the other hand, gave the means to tie several adventures together into a campaign. Perhaps not really an adventure, as well, but much better suited to incorporating the PCs. What I would have liked, however, would have been a better description of the city and the shifting battlefield (for example, why the aboleth wouldn't be spilled overboard when the waves flooded the area).
That said, Wulf also incorporated the ingredients in a very convincing manner. After the rather mediocre showing of mythago, I had no doubts in Wulf's victory. Two more of these and I might even buy his books
And now...
On with the show!
Berandor
looking forward to matching his wits with the illustrous contestants next spring
I absolutely agree with the judgement. Mythago's entry sounded more like a story than an adventure, and while it was a cool story, I was sorry for the PCs, coming in after alll the interesting stuff had happened.
Wulf, on the other hand, gave the means to tie several adventures together into a campaign. Perhaps not really an adventure, as well, but much better suited to incorporating the PCs. What I would have liked, however, would have been a better description of the city and the shifting battlefield (for example, why the aboleth wouldn't be spilled overboard when the waves flooded the area).
That said, Wulf also incorporated the ingredients in a very convincing manner. After the rather mediocre showing of mythago, I had no doubts in Wulf's victory. Two more of these and I might even buy his books
And now...
On with the show!
Berandor
looking forward to matching his wits with the illustrous contestants next spring
Wulf Ratbane
Adventurer
Pielorinho said:
Come on! How about the mind flayer that extracts his own friggin brain!
That was MY favorite part. That happens to my PC, frustrating or not, I gotta give the squid his props.
I shouldn't have taken that nap this afternoon without looking at the ingredients first... definitely should have slept on 'em... Now all I got for inspiration is beer...
Wulf
Wicht
Hero
This idea is just begging for expansion with dungeon maps, more prophecies, and a host of vampire NPCs. Unfortunately time and space dictate it remains as is for this venue.
Iron DM: Wicht vs. the Bane of Rats
Ingredients:
Oubliette The prison for a mighty half-fiend vampire sorcerer, Slarcyx Hellsmaw. His evil was legendary and his prison was supposed to be eternal. Long has he cursed within his oubliette but now he is about to be freed.
Vampiric Bard Kiel Trafican, steeped in dark lore, this fallen bard knows exactly where the stars are about to fall and what it means. Many have cursed his name but still his evil goes unchecked.
Chaos Beast Trapped for eons within a heavenly prison, these accursed monstrosities are about to land, bringing chaos in their wake.
Falling Stars The result of a heavenly collision, three pieces of an ancient prison are about to come crashing to earth. Its not exactly a divine curse but many will think the end has come when the final star falls.
Olfactory Clue The smell of death will lead the PCs to their first clue, the coffin of a vampire. The smell of sulfur will lead the PCs to their final confrontation with Kiel Trafican.
Hysteria When the third star falls, the good people of Slar’s Gate who are still alive will be in hysteria as they trample each other (and possibly the PCs) trying to get out of town.
Until the Stars shall fall…
When the heavens collide,
The stars shall fall
And darkness will cover the land.
The dead shall rise,
The dark one calls,
And blood will flow like sand. – verse from the Song of Blood
Until the stars shall fall is an adventure for PCs of approximately 12th level. It involves a small amount of detective work, some dungeon delving, lots of vampires, an ancient prophecy and frequent opportunities for Bards to check concerning their knowledge of ancient lore.
Summary An ancient half-fiend vampire sorcerer, Slarcyx Hellsmaw, lies buried beneath the city of Slar’s Gate in a long forgotten Oubliette. Another vampire, a bard steeped in dark and erudite lore, has put together several pieces of ancient prophecy and correctly believes the time for Slarcyx to be freed is at hand. Three falling stars[/b] are going to strike the earth. The first of these missiles will strike near the ancient home of Slarcyx. The second will strike over the secret location of the hidden key to Slarcyx’s prison. The third will strike in the city of Slar’s Gate, bringing death and hysteria. It will also open the way to the door to the ancient prison. Kiel Trafican, the vampire bard, hopes to use the key to free Slarcyx and unleash a time of great evil on the world.
The PCs enter the adventure when they encounter a vampire in a country inn who recites a fragment of ancient prophecy to them before being killed. His clue points them towards the first falling star, which struck the earth the night before. The pieces of rock falling through the atmosphere are pieces of an ancient prison. Chaos beasts in stasis in Mithral prisons are freed and begin to roam near where the rocks fell. At the site of the first falling star, the PCs meet both the chaos beasts and Kiel, who taunts them but has no interest in fighting them. PCs, lured either by Kiel’s taunts or by the promise of great wealth in the forms of pure mithral, can follow the trail to the second falling star. Here, above an ancient dungeon, more chaos beasts now roam. Kiel is underneath, with vampire spawn henchmen seeking the key. Whether Kiel or the PCs get the key is irrelevant. Either way Kiel will head to Slar’s Gate where the third falling star will fall.
Background: Many years ago, an evil vampire terrorized the known world. Finally a band of adventurers buried him in an inescapable oubliette and built a fortress atop it. They named their fortress Slarcyx’s Gate. Through the years the vampire was forgotten and the City that grew up in place of the ruined fortrees was named Slar’s Gate, though only ancient loremasters remembered why.
At the time of his imprisonment, a prophecy was intoned stating that Slarcyx Hellsmaw would not be freed until the stars would fall. And thus divine plans were set in motion.
Fast forward to today. High above the world, in the cold heavens, an ancient prison for beasts of chaos has collided with another heavenly body, causing the prison to fragment. Three pieces, guided by dark providence, are about to crash to earth, each one landing three days apart.
Though mankind has largely forgotten the evil of Slarcyx, there are some who still remember. One who has pieced together ancient prophecies and is therefore fairly informed about Slarcyx and his prison is a vampire bard by the name of Kiel Trafican. He knows that the first falling star will land somewhere near the sight of Slarcyx’s ancient home, now mere ruins. He knows the second will show him the exact site where the ancients hid the key to Slarcyx’s prison. He also knows that the third will land in the city of Slar’s Gate, opening a passage to the door of the ancient vampire’s prison.
Even now Kiel waits in the hills near Slarcyx’ ancient home, waiting for the first star to fall.
PC Introduction: The PCs enter into this drama when they arrive at an inn in which they are already known. A pair of mysterious guests have aroused the suspicions of the innkeeper and with good reasons. The Innkeeper smells something strange coming from the coach of these guests who are now asleep (during the day) in a room upstairs. The two guests are actually the servant of a vampire who is sleeping in the bottom of the coach and whose bug infested coffin dirt is the source of the Olfactory Clue. PCs who investigate and subsequently confront the vampire (who is a low-level vampire and easy prey for the PCs), likely during the day, the vampire will quote the following line of prophecy hysterically before dying:
When the heavens collide,
The stars shall fall
And darkness will cover the land.
Bards may be able to know that this is a section of an ancient prophecy concerning the resurection of a forgotten vampire. The clue within the verse, “Stars shall fall,” will prompt the innkeeper to mention that a star did fall the night before, landing in the nearby hills. PCs who wish to investigate will easily find the site of the first fallen star. PCs who fail to investigate may be still drawn into the adventure if they witness the fall of the second star and seek to investigate.
The First Falling Star
Four chaos beasts roam the hilly region around the site of the first fallen star together. These creatures will attack anyone they see. In addition to these dangers PCs who investigate immediately after confronting the first vampire will arrive there after dark and will encounter Kiel and several of his vampire spawns at the site. If they arrive on subsequent nights they will encounter other vampires who have followed in Kiel’s wake. If the PCs miss Kiel then they can glean some of the same info from these vampires. PCs who arrive during the day will miss the vampire’s clues but may still see the second star fall and thus investigate.
If the PCs encounter Kiel, he will not personally attack them, but if engaged in conversation, he will arrogantly inform them of their impending doom and will tell them to watch the night skies for a sign of where the key to their doom lies. He will at some point fly away, leaving his spawn to attack the PCs.
In addition to the chaos beasts (tracks of which clearly come from the impact spot), PCs who investigate the broken fragments of rock at the site will find 7000 gp worth of pure Mithral just lying around on the ground in chunks.
The Second Falling Star
The second falling star is clearly visible if the PCs keep an eye out for it. If they don’t anyone the PCs meet can tell them of its rumor. PCs who have not met Kiel will likely be driven by the prospect of more Mithral into investigating. This rock has struck near an ancient dungeon, inhabited by many fell beasts. Just as dangerous, outside the dungeon are more chaos beasts. There are also tracks indicating that a party of humanoids entered the dungeon the night before. There is once more, Mithral lying around on the ground around the crater in chunks.
Kiel and some more of his spawn are in the dungeon (the tracks were theirs) when the PCs arrive, assuming they arrive within a day of the star falling. Kiel will find the key two nights after the impact if not stopped. If the PCs thwart him and beat him to the key, he will tell them that they have wonand that the key unlocks vast riches, riches to be found in the nearby city of Slar’s Gate. Again, Kiel will not fight the PCs, hoping to instead lure them to Slar’s Gate where he can deal with them at his leisure. If Kiel gets the key and the PCs still confront him, he will again brag before setting his vampire spawn once more on them. He will tell them that destruction awaits them at Spar’s Gate and then once more use his powers to flee.
Within this dungeon are various clues about Slarcyx, including wall writings that mention the smell of sulphur as it is associated with the ancient vampire (turns out he reeks of the stuff). Bards should find plenty within these dark halls to jog memories of forgotten prophecies and vampire lore.
The Third Falling Star
The third falling star crashes into the middle of Spar’s Gate, making a huge crater and creating mass hysteria. The eight chaos beasts now roaming the streets of the city do not help matters. PCs who arrive within 24 hours of the impact will meet a mob of people fleeing the city, mass looting and burning within the city. Over the city, smoke and dust have created a thick cloud casting the whole city into darkness. The vampires who have come with Kiel to free Slarcyx Hellsmaw can move freely and are feasting on people as they move towards the crater.
The Oubliette lies at the end of a series of catacombs, the opening of which has been revealed at the bottom of the crater. PCs with the key will be lured by Kiel down into the catacombs where he tries to trick them (or just allow them) to open the door that will free Slarcyx. Alternately vampire rogues will try and steal the key and vampires in general might try and kill the PCs for the key. If Kiel has the key, the PCs should arrive in time to see Kiel hold it aloft and descend down to free Slarcyx. In this case vampires will fight to slow the PCs from following Kiel. As the PCs follow the right trail in the catacombs, the smell of sulphur will grow stronger and stronger. The area around the actual door of the prison fairly reeks with the stuff.
Conclusion: The Crater in Slar’s Gate is dripping with chunks of Mithral. If the PCs stop Kiel and Slarcyx remains imprisoned then they may find the rewards to be great (unless looters beat them to the stuff). If Kiel survives the PCs he can return to be a thorn in their side or else try other schemes to release the ancient evil buried beneath Slar’s Gate.
If the PCs fail, this is a great adventure with which to herald a new reign of evil in the DMs world. Slarcyx will arise in unholy anger and begin to slaughter and dominate all he meets. Hopefully the PCs can survive an initial encounter with him so they can try and stop him later.
Iron DM: Wicht vs. the Bane of Rats
Ingredients:
Oubliette The prison for a mighty half-fiend vampire sorcerer, Slarcyx Hellsmaw. His evil was legendary and his prison was supposed to be eternal. Long has he cursed within his oubliette but now he is about to be freed.
Vampiric Bard Kiel Trafican, steeped in dark lore, this fallen bard knows exactly where the stars are about to fall and what it means. Many have cursed his name but still his evil goes unchecked.
Chaos Beast Trapped for eons within a heavenly prison, these accursed monstrosities are about to land, bringing chaos in their wake.
Falling Stars The result of a heavenly collision, three pieces of an ancient prison are about to come crashing to earth. Its not exactly a divine curse but many will think the end has come when the final star falls.
Olfactory Clue The smell of death will lead the PCs to their first clue, the coffin of a vampire. The smell of sulfur will lead the PCs to their final confrontation with Kiel Trafican.
Hysteria When the third star falls, the good people of Slar’s Gate who are still alive will be in hysteria as they trample each other (and possibly the PCs) trying to get out of town.
Until the Stars shall fall…
When the heavens collide,
The stars shall fall
And darkness will cover the land.
The dead shall rise,
The dark one calls,
And blood will flow like sand. – verse from the Song of Blood
Until the stars shall fall is an adventure for PCs of approximately 12th level. It involves a small amount of detective work, some dungeon delving, lots of vampires, an ancient prophecy and frequent opportunities for Bards to check concerning their knowledge of ancient lore.
Summary An ancient half-fiend vampire sorcerer, Slarcyx Hellsmaw, lies buried beneath the city of Slar’s Gate in a long forgotten Oubliette. Another vampire, a bard steeped in dark and erudite lore, has put together several pieces of ancient prophecy and correctly believes the time for Slarcyx to be freed is at hand. Three falling stars[/b] are going to strike the earth. The first of these missiles will strike near the ancient home of Slarcyx. The second will strike over the secret location of the hidden key to Slarcyx’s prison. The third will strike in the city of Slar’s Gate, bringing death and hysteria. It will also open the way to the door to the ancient prison. Kiel Trafican, the vampire bard, hopes to use the key to free Slarcyx and unleash a time of great evil on the world.
The PCs enter the adventure when they encounter a vampire in a country inn who recites a fragment of ancient prophecy to them before being killed. His clue points them towards the first falling star, which struck the earth the night before. The pieces of rock falling through the atmosphere are pieces of an ancient prison. Chaos beasts in stasis in Mithral prisons are freed and begin to roam near where the rocks fell. At the site of the first falling star, the PCs meet both the chaos beasts and Kiel, who taunts them but has no interest in fighting them. PCs, lured either by Kiel’s taunts or by the promise of great wealth in the forms of pure mithral, can follow the trail to the second falling star. Here, above an ancient dungeon, more chaos beasts now roam. Kiel is underneath, with vampire spawn henchmen seeking the key. Whether Kiel or the PCs get the key is irrelevant. Either way Kiel will head to Slar’s Gate where the third falling star will fall.
Background: Many years ago, an evil vampire terrorized the known world. Finally a band of adventurers buried him in an inescapable oubliette and built a fortress atop it. They named their fortress Slarcyx’s Gate. Through the years the vampire was forgotten and the City that grew up in place of the ruined fortrees was named Slar’s Gate, though only ancient loremasters remembered why.
At the time of his imprisonment, a prophecy was intoned stating that Slarcyx Hellsmaw would not be freed until the stars would fall. And thus divine plans were set in motion.
Fast forward to today. High above the world, in the cold heavens, an ancient prison for beasts of chaos has collided with another heavenly body, causing the prison to fragment. Three pieces, guided by dark providence, are about to crash to earth, each one landing three days apart.
Though mankind has largely forgotten the evil of Slarcyx, there are some who still remember. One who has pieced together ancient prophecies and is therefore fairly informed about Slarcyx and his prison is a vampire bard by the name of Kiel Trafican. He knows that the first falling star will land somewhere near the sight of Slarcyx’s ancient home, now mere ruins. He knows the second will show him the exact site where the ancients hid the key to Slarcyx’s prison. He also knows that the third will land in the city of Slar’s Gate, opening a passage to the door of the ancient vampire’s prison.
Even now Kiel waits in the hills near Slarcyx’ ancient home, waiting for the first star to fall.
PC Introduction: The PCs enter into this drama when they arrive at an inn in which they are already known. A pair of mysterious guests have aroused the suspicions of the innkeeper and with good reasons. The Innkeeper smells something strange coming from the coach of these guests who are now asleep (during the day) in a room upstairs. The two guests are actually the servant of a vampire who is sleeping in the bottom of the coach and whose bug infested coffin dirt is the source of the Olfactory Clue. PCs who investigate and subsequently confront the vampire (who is a low-level vampire and easy prey for the PCs), likely during the day, the vampire will quote the following line of prophecy hysterically before dying:
When the heavens collide,
The stars shall fall
And darkness will cover the land.
Bards may be able to know that this is a section of an ancient prophecy concerning the resurection of a forgotten vampire. The clue within the verse, “Stars shall fall,” will prompt the innkeeper to mention that a star did fall the night before, landing in the nearby hills. PCs who wish to investigate will easily find the site of the first fallen star. PCs who fail to investigate may be still drawn into the adventure if they witness the fall of the second star and seek to investigate.
The First Falling Star
Four chaos beasts roam the hilly region around the site of the first fallen star together. These creatures will attack anyone they see. In addition to these dangers PCs who investigate immediately after confronting the first vampire will arrive there after dark and will encounter Kiel and several of his vampire spawns at the site. If they arrive on subsequent nights they will encounter other vampires who have followed in Kiel’s wake. If the PCs miss Kiel then they can glean some of the same info from these vampires. PCs who arrive during the day will miss the vampire’s clues but may still see the second star fall and thus investigate.
If the PCs encounter Kiel, he will not personally attack them, but if engaged in conversation, he will arrogantly inform them of their impending doom and will tell them to watch the night skies for a sign of where the key to their doom lies. He will at some point fly away, leaving his spawn to attack the PCs.
In addition to the chaos beasts (tracks of which clearly come from the impact spot), PCs who investigate the broken fragments of rock at the site will find 7000 gp worth of pure Mithral just lying around on the ground in chunks.
The Second Falling Star
The second falling star is clearly visible if the PCs keep an eye out for it. If they don’t anyone the PCs meet can tell them of its rumor. PCs who have not met Kiel will likely be driven by the prospect of more Mithral into investigating. This rock has struck near an ancient dungeon, inhabited by many fell beasts. Just as dangerous, outside the dungeon are more chaos beasts. There are also tracks indicating that a party of humanoids entered the dungeon the night before. There is once more, Mithral lying around on the ground around the crater in chunks.
Kiel and some more of his spawn are in the dungeon (the tracks were theirs) when the PCs arrive, assuming they arrive within a day of the star falling. Kiel will find the key two nights after the impact if not stopped. If the PCs thwart him and beat him to the key, he will tell them that they have wonand that the key unlocks vast riches, riches to be found in the nearby city of Slar’s Gate. Again, Kiel will not fight the PCs, hoping to instead lure them to Slar’s Gate where he can deal with them at his leisure. If Kiel gets the key and the PCs still confront him, he will again brag before setting his vampire spawn once more on them. He will tell them that destruction awaits them at Spar’s Gate and then once more use his powers to flee.
Within this dungeon are various clues about Slarcyx, including wall writings that mention the smell of sulphur as it is associated with the ancient vampire (turns out he reeks of the stuff). Bards should find plenty within these dark halls to jog memories of forgotten prophecies and vampire lore.
The Third Falling Star
The third falling star crashes into the middle of Spar’s Gate, making a huge crater and creating mass hysteria. The eight chaos beasts now roaming the streets of the city do not help matters. PCs who arrive within 24 hours of the impact will meet a mob of people fleeing the city, mass looting and burning within the city. Over the city, smoke and dust have created a thick cloud casting the whole city into darkness. The vampires who have come with Kiel to free Slarcyx Hellsmaw can move freely and are feasting on people as they move towards the crater.
The Oubliette lies at the end of a series of catacombs, the opening of which has been revealed at the bottom of the crater. PCs with the key will be lured by Kiel down into the catacombs where he tries to trick them (or just allow them) to open the door that will free Slarcyx. Alternately vampire rogues will try and steal the key and vampires in general might try and kill the PCs for the key. If Kiel has the key, the PCs should arrive in time to see Kiel hold it aloft and descend down to free Slarcyx. In this case vampires will fight to slow the PCs from following Kiel. As the PCs follow the right trail in the catacombs, the smell of sulphur will grow stronger and stronger. The area around the actual door of the prison fairly reeks with the stuff.
Conclusion: The Crater in Slar’s Gate is dripping with chunks of Mithral. If the PCs stop Kiel and Slarcyx remains imprisoned then they may find the rewards to be great (unless looters beat them to the stuff). If Kiel survives the PCs he can return to be a thorn in their side or else try other schemes to release the ancient evil buried beneath Slar’s Gate.
If the PCs fail, this is a great adventure with which to herald a new reign of evil in the DMs world. Slarcyx will arise in unholy anger and begin to slaughter and dominate all he meets. Hopefully the PCs can survive an initial encounter with him so they can try and stop him later.
Fanog
First Post
I wanted to comment on Wulf's story. Just a minor question, overal I really liked the idea, great work.
What's to stop the PC's from using comprehend Language? This seems to conflict with the adventure's premise that there is no one left alive who can decipher the strange language.
Also, was I the only one thinking there would probably be an actual tongue (as in the thing sitting in your mouth) in one of the adventures? From reading the ingredient, I immediately saw a group of grave robbers or something who were supposed to take some body parts from something/someone, and had forgotten to take the tongue as well. Ah well...
Great competition, I'm looking forward to round 2. Good luck to all competitors.
Fanog
What's to stop the PC's from using comprehend Language? This seems to conflict with the adventure's premise that there is no one left alive who can decipher the strange language.
Also, was I the only one thinking there would probably be an actual tongue (as in the thing sitting in your mouth) in one of the adventures? From reading the ingredient, I immediately saw a group of grave robbers or something who were supposed to take some body parts from something/someone, and had forgotten to take the tongue as well. Ah well...
Great competition, I'm looking forward to round 2. Good luck to all competitors.
Fanog
humble minion
Legend
I was thinking a bit along the same lines. Fanog. In my frustrated state of alternate-dom I've been scribbling 'what I would have done' type notes for each set of ingredients, and in this group I was immediately struck by the obvious link between the Forgotten Tongue and the Magic Mouth. I'm still surprised that nobody submitted some kind of orally-themed adventure...
Berandor
lunatic
I don't want to comment too much already, so I'll leave it at a comment regarding the prophecy, which is minor dressing after all:
"...blood will flow like sand."
I get that it rhymes, and all, but: How exactly does sand flow?
That's nothing that should interfere with the judgement too much, I guess, because it's minor dressing written under severe time constraints. Also, maybe I just don't get it after alll
Berandor
anxiously awaiting Wulf's entry
"...blood will flow like sand."
I get that it rhymes, and all, but: How exactly does sand flow?
That's nothing that should interfere with the judgement too much, I guess, because it's minor dressing written under severe time constraints. Also, maybe I just don't get it after alll
Berandor
anxiously awaiting Wulf's entry
MerakSpielman
First Post
I was linking the forgotten tongue with the crippled Aboleth. I'd certainly consider myself a cripple if I didn't have a tongue.humble minion said:
