Gorgoldand's Gauntlet Expanded

[Ry]

So today I'm going to be running Gorgoldand's Gauntlet (admittedly using it as a springboard for an RPG system I've designed). But I've changed a lot about the dungeon and was wondering what others had done.

Here's my contribution:

The big change is switching the 3 signs puzzle to a series of riddles. The door to the coin room now features a thick stone door with several cavities. Over each cavity, there is a riddle, and there is room for a small item to be placed in the cavity. Players have to go BACK through the dungeon to collect the answers to the riddle (there are snails near the entrance, the jermlaine use a needle as a repelling grip sliding over the Merrow's pit). So I've expanded the dungeon slightly to allow for more PC exploration.

I'm getting my riddles from here.

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=147880&page=1&pp=20

 

[Richards]

Sounds cool, rycanada. Let us all know how it went.

Johnathan

 

[Ry]

This will be my 6th time running it (or parts of it). The Gauntlet is an absolute classic.

 

[Ry]

I wish there was more to report; I was second billing to a game of Universalis, which was quite lengthly. The PCs fought some hobgoblins on the way TO the dungeon, and we called it a night.

 

[Ry]

For anyone looking to use Gorgoldand's Gauntlet as a lauchpad for a campaign:

Gorgoldand was poisoned by agents of the Red Dragon Ashardalon, but managed to transfer his consciousness to the Hoardmasters (they had been designed both as a adventurer-monitoring device and as a backup plan for the gold dragon). The Hoardmaster in the Gauntlet is the last of the Hoardmasters Snooky has access to.

The Hobgoblin witch Jibigi has discovered that Gorgoldand is in the Hoardmasters and has sent a small riverboat of hobgoblins to retrieve it for her. She intends to use it in a nefarious ritual. When the players near the area of the Gauntlet, the Hobgoblins are attacking a small village to steal supplies for the last leg of their mission.

This is a quick way to establish a long term conflict (Gorgoldand vs. Jibigi) that can be used for a lot of different hooks. Until the players discover that Gorgoldand is in the swords, he can act as a compass pointing towards evil that needs a-thrashin'. I would say that Gorgoldand can manifest as greater and greater Coin Dragons as the Hoardmasters are collected. To foreshadow this, just have the Coin Dragon bow before disintegrating in the first fight, and have Hoardmaster detect as good.

Jibigi I picture as morphing through different hag forms over time, extending her powers and machinations as she collects Hoardmasters. She has a few hobgoblin warrior-chief sisters, Murigi and Kigi, and the hobgoblins under her have lots of access to ships and riverboats.

 

[Ry]

150 views in 4 posts? Bump.

 

[Richards]

Sounds pretty cool, rycanada! So Jibigi is currently a female hobgoblin, and will start turning into a hag over time? That sounds like an interesting way to keep a recurring villain.

Johnathan

 

[Ry]

Yeah, she's great. Basically, she's a female hobgoblin now, and as the campaign progresses she'll become worse and worse (annis, half-troll annis, night hag, and so on and so on). Because I'm using a different system keeping her upgraded is a cinch - but just reporting to players how she looks will freak them out (i.e. seeing hobgoblin idols to her as her cult gains force).

 

[Ry]

Oh, and she has a few "backup plans" - one is a green dragon egg that she has corrupted so she will hatch as a Tiny hag from it if she's killed. Another backup is some kind of aberrant demon that keeps near her spirit on the Ethereal plane, ready to pick her up if she's killed and whisk her off to a specially prepared Treant corpse. She's a crafty one.

 

[Mistwell]

Oddly - I made almost the same change to this adventure 5 years ago!

Very strange. Glad someone else is going that route (with the riddles).

See:

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=6112