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<blockquote data-quote="Water Bob" data-source="post: 6583131" data-attributes="member: 92305"><p><strong>-- SUNLESS CITADEL CONVERSION --</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Area 3. Crumbling Courtyard</strong></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>It's as if the earth opened and swallowed a keep. There is a Citadel that is extremely ruined that has seemed to fall into a sink hole, retained much of its original design. But, the PC's light will reveal enough destruction, fallen walls, and sideways towers that it is obvious that the place didn't resist the fall whole.</p><p></p><p>How could this have happened? Describe it with wonder. Maybe it sunk slowly? It's a real miracle. Was...um....sssa..sa...sorcery involved??</p><p></p><p>Outside the small "courtyard" (used to be a roof level--remains of battlements can be made out) is easy to get to, but the cavern is filled with large and smaller boulders. Traveling across this area is precarious at best. Even the rats, who nest here, move at 25% speed across this debris field.</p><p></p><p>If a PC leaves the courtyard and attempts to move across the debris field, then he moves a 10' per round, and each round he must make a DC 15 Balance check or fall in between the larger pieces of rock and masonry pieces. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>PCs take no damage from a fall, but they do have to make a DC 15 Climb check (attempt takes a round) in order to get back into a position atop the debris to keep on moving. For a character that can't climb (Armor check penalty but possibly Blindness penalty), this could take some while. And, there is a 10% chance, ever time a PC falls, that a desert rat will be attracted to the sound from the nest. If a rat is indicated, it will arrive 3 rounds later, possibly gaining surprise on the character.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Pit Trap!</strong></p><p></p><p>At one time, there was a wooden door in the "floor" of the battlement that led to the floor below via a wooden ladder. Of course, that door and ladder have been gone for a long, long time. Someone, though, has taken the time to clean out the debris from the hole so that it now forms a hole that is about 7' square and 10' wide. Then, someone has thrown light piece of wood and sticks and other long pieces of debris over the top of the hole, disguising it. Anybody who walks across it will fall into the pit. The only way not to fall into the pit is to go around it and slip in behind it.</p><p></p><p>But, why go there anyway?</p><p></p><p>Because rising on the far side of the "courtyard" is a tower that raises up into the darkness--at least 40' high, maybe more. Scaling the outside of the tower can be done but will get the climber no where. The only entrance from this place into the Citadel interior is through the door. So, any character in the courtyard will walk right over the pit unless it is detected first.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>This trap will mostly likely only catch the first person to cross to the door, unless two or more PCs are walking close together (and they could be, holding each other, if there is no light).</p><p></p><p>Detect the trap? DC 21 Search. Must have light. Success means that the PC noticed how "clean" it was around the area (from dragging debris to lay on top). Someone did a great job doctoring this to look like the rest of the courtyard (which is why it's a DC 21). Further investigation will catch partial footprints going around the trap (showing how to get to the door without stepping on the pit).</p><p></p><p>In the adventure, the trap resets itself. But, as I've described it here, that doesn't happen. "Resetting" the trap is done manually, by a person doctoring the site.</p><p></p><p>Anyone who falls into the trap gets one saving throw: Reflex DC 16. Success means that the person instinctively jumped to the side of pit (or backwards) just as that person was starting to fall. If this happens, the trap top layer may not fall through completely. But, the gig is up. Parts of the topping will fall, and it will be obvious that the "floor" is a false covering for the pit.</p><p></p><p>Falling into the pit means 1d6 damage.</p><p></p><p>At the bottom of the pit are 2 desiccated bodies. They've been there so long that they don't even stink anymore. On top of these is a third body. This is one of a young boy, about 15 years of age. He probably died yesterday. </p><p></p><p>Inspecting him will reveal him to be a Jaren. These are local people--a gypsy like race who have both Argossean and Shemite blood. The Shar (this region of Argos) has been conquered by Shem in the past, and being so close to the border, has a large Shemite population to this day. The Jaren are the result of the mixing of races, the Hyborian Agrossean and the Sons of Shem. One racial feature of the Jaren is that they have high foreheads. See the picture below of the warlord Khalar Zym and his Witch daughter Marique. They are Jaren.</p><p></p><p><img src="http://wir.skyrock.net/wir/v1/resize/?c=isi&im=%2F1403%2F59521403%2Fpics%2F3018240357_1_3_jVSt3na0.jpg&w=760" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>If the boy had anything of value on him, it's gone now (probably taken by whomever reset this pit trap yesterday). Two things of value can be gained, though. First, if the PCs have had a hard time keeping their makeshift torches lit, then they now have better materials for making torches. The boy's clothes can be tightly wound around a length of debris.</p><p></p><p>The second item isn't much, but it can be very useful if the party has no way of making fire. On a rope belt (the boy was probably a peasant--the Jaren are typically very poor people), the boy has a horse-hair belt pouch. The pouch is empty except for a piece of flint and a piece of steel. Whomever reset the trap probably thought little of leaving it, and it was obviously of no value to him. There's plenty of tinder around to get a fire started, and the boy has a long, brained pony tail that can be used (but probably the dryer, brittle hair from the desiccated corpses will work better).</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Attack of the Rat!</strong></p><p></p><p>In the adventure, the rat is in the bottom of the pit. But, that doesn't fit with the way I've described the pit. So, what happens is that a desert rat is attracted the noise made with the pit and all the rumbling around. It'll move in to investigate, but, remember, there are plenty of ways for the party to shoo the rat away. They don't have to fight everything they come across. Reward good play and good thinking by giving the party XP for defeating the rat even if they just shooed it away. Either way, they avoided or conquered the obstacle.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Water Bob, post: 6583131, member: 92305"] [b]-- SUNLESS CITADEL CONVERSION -- Area 3. Crumbling Courtyard[/b] It's as if the earth opened and swallowed a keep. There is a Citadel that is extremely ruined that has seemed to fall into a sink hole, retained much of its original design. But, the PC's light will reveal enough destruction, fallen walls, and sideways towers that it is obvious that the place didn't resist the fall whole. How could this have happened? Describe it with wonder. Maybe it sunk slowly? It's a real miracle. Was...um....sssa..sa...sorcery involved?? Outside the small "courtyard" (used to be a roof level--remains of battlements can be made out) is easy to get to, but the cavern is filled with large and smaller boulders. Traveling across this area is precarious at best. Even the rats, who nest here, move at 25% speed across this debris field. If a PC leaves the courtyard and attempts to move across the debris field, then he moves a 10' per round, and each round he must make a DC 15 Balance check or fall in between the larger pieces of rock and masonry pieces. PCs take no damage from a fall, but they do have to make a DC 15 Climb check (attempt takes a round) in order to get back into a position atop the debris to keep on moving. For a character that can't climb (Armor check penalty but possibly Blindness penalty), this could take some while. And, there is a 10% chance, ever time a PC falls, that a desert rat will be attracted to the sound from the nest. If a rat is indicated, it will arrive 3 rounds later, possibly gaining surprise on the character. [b]Pit Trap![/b] At one time, there was a wooden door in the "floor" of the battlement that led to the floor below via a wooden ladder. Of course, that door and ladder have been gone for a long, long time. Someone, though, has taken the time to clean out the debris from the hole so that it now forms a hole that is about 7' square and 10' wide. Then, someone has thrown light piece of wood and sticks and other long pieces of debris over the top of the hole, disguising it. Anybody who walks across it will fall into the pit. The only way not to fall into the pit is to go around it and slip in behind it. But, why go there anyway? Because rising on the far side of the "courtyard" is a tower that raises up into the darkness--at least 40' high, maybe more. Scaling the outside of the tower can be done but will get the climber no where. The only entrance from this place into the Citadel interior is through the door. So, any character in the courtyard will walk right over the pit unless it is detected first. This trap will mostly likely only catch the first person to cross to the door, unless two or more PCs are walking close together (and they could be, holding each other, if there is no light). Detect the trap? DC 21 Search. Must have light. Success means that the PC noticed how "clean" it was around the area (from dragging debris to lay on top). Someone did a great job doctoring this to look like the rest of the courtyard (which is why it's a DC 21). Further investigation will catch partial footprints going around the trap (showing how to get to the door without stepping on the pit). In the adventure, the trap resets itself. But, as I've described it here, that doesn't happen. "Resetting" the trap is done manually, by a person doctoring the site. Anyone who falls into the trap gets one saving throw: Reflex DC 16. Success means that the person instinctively jumped to the side of pit (or backwards) just as that person was starting to fall. If this happens, the trap top layer may not fall through completely. But, the gig is up. Parts of the topping will fall, and it will be obvious that the "floor" is a false covering for the pit. Falling into the pit means 1d6 damage. At the bottom of the pit are 2 desiccated bodies. They've been there so long that they don't even stink anymore. On top of these is a third body. This is one of a young boy, about 15 years of age. He probably died yesterday. Inspecting him will reveal him to be a Jaren. These are local people--a gypsy like race who have both Argossean and Shemite blood. The Shar (this region of Argos) has been conquered by Shem in the past, and being so close to the border, has a large Shemite population to this day. The Jaren are the result of the mixing of races, the Hyborian Agrossean and the Sons of Shem. One racial feature of the Jaren is that they have high foreheads. See the picture below of the warlord Khalar Zym and his Witch daughter Marique. They are Jaren. [img]http://wir.skyrock.net/wir/v1/resize/?c=isi&im=%2F1403%2F59521403%2Fpics%2F3018240357_1_3_jVSt3na0.jpg&w=760[/img] If the boy had anything of value on him, it's gone now (probably taken by whomever reset this pit trap yesterday). Two things of value can be gained, though. First, if the PCs have had a hard time keeping their makeshift torches lit, then they now have better materials for making torches. The boy's clothes can be tightly wound around a length of debris. The second item isn't much, but it can be very useful if the party has no way of making fire. On a rope belt (the boy was probably a peasant--the Jaren are typically very poor people), the boy has a horse-hair belt pouch. The pouch is empty except for a piece of flint and a piece of steel. Whomever reset the trap probably thought little of leaving it, and it was obviously of no value to him. There's plenty of tinder around to get a fire started, and the boy has a long, brained pony tail that can be used (but probably the dryer, brittle hair from the desiccated corpses will work better). [b]Attack of the Rat![/b] In the adventure, the rat is in the bottom of the pit. But, that doesn't fit with the way I've described the pit. So, what happens is that a desert rat is attracted the noise made with the pit and all the rumbling around. It'll move in to investigate, but, remember, there are plenty of ways for the party to shoo the rat away. They don't have to fight everything they come across. Reward good play and good thinking by giving the party XP for defeating the rat even if they just shooed it away. Either way, they avoided or conquered the obstacle. [/QUOTE]
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