Help! Need short adventure for 2 PCs in 8 hours!

[dreaded_beast]

Well, I made the mistake of offering to run another session for my gaming group even though one of the players will be away on vacation for a week, leaving only 2 players and myself, the DM. That wouldn't be so much of a problem, except that last session was the other day and I don't really have anything planned for tonight.

The campaign is set in the Forgotten Realms, around the area of Tilverton and the Stonelands. The group is composed of the following:

7 Swashbuckler/1 Favored Soul, LG Follower of Sune, Human
6 Paladin/2 Marshall, LG Follower of Torm, Human
4 Fighter/4 Tainted PrC, LG Follower of Lathander, Half-Orc (Absent)

The absent player said his character will spend next session mining the small gem mine which is located behind the PCs keep in the Stonelands. That takes care of him while he is gone, but I don't really have anything in mind for the other 2 players.

Some hooks for this session:
1. The paladin received a rusty hilt bearing the symbol of Torm, which appears to be magical. (I don't know what it does yet)
2. The swashbuckler received a long red chord, roughly the length of a whip, wich is called a Strand of Sune's Hair, which appears to be magical. (I don't know what it does yet.)
3. The PCs looked around the ruins of Tilvara's Palace in Tilverton, but were driven away by the Purple Dragons. (I wasn't prepared for them to check that place out)
4. The paladin received followers last session, which have taken up residence in the Keep, but the Keep is also filled with goblin "slaves" who were freed by the PCs when they acquired the Keep. They are helping the half-orc PC mine.
5. Although the Keep is repaired it still needs to be furnished and rooms need to be built.

Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

I just need something to keep my 2 players busy for this session. The absent player will be coming back from vacation in time for the following session.

Thanks!

 

[BiggusGeekus]

7 Swashbuckler/1 Favored Soul, LG Follower of Sune, Human
6 Paladin/2 Marshall, LG Follower of Torm, Human
4 Fighter/4 Tainted PrC, LG Follower of Lathander, Half-Orc (Absent)

I know very little about the FR, however it seems to me you need a EL 6 adventure.

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/oa/20030530b

Hope that helps!

 

[Pielorinho]

Hmm...you could always paw through WOTC's web site for a free adventure of the appropriate level, and modify it for your needs. If you don't want to do that, here's the seed of an idea:

Red thread is associated in legend with binding fairies: for some reason, it renders them powerless. What if the cord the swashbuckler has gotten is like a super-pumped-up rope of entanglement that only works on fey creatures? His possession of it is going to put them in the middle of a fey power struggle, as multiple factions try to get their hands on it.

Start the session out with the PCs handling some castle drudgery, working on the books or something, when the attack comes: two dark-fairy assassins sent to retrieve the thread and kill teh human interlopers who dared to possess it. THe attack should be creepy and confusing: these assassins, strangely, won't be carrying a letter from their boss that says, "Dear Secret Employees: Let me remind you of my name, and the motive for comitting the murder you're about to commit, in a written form that implicatees me directly." They won't have much at all about them to suggest why they attacked.

The next day, a delegation from a nearby fairy kingdom comes, demanding the return of the cord. They'll not even try to mask their contempt for mortals when they demand it back, and they'll be so fast and loose with their insults and their threats (all done in flowery fairyspeak, natch), that there's no chance any PC would comply with the demand. That's the cue for the siege of their castle to begin.

At some point, another faction can show up, offering the PC some ideas on what to do about the siege; perhaps there's a group in opposition to the current fairy duke (or whoever is heading up the bad guys) who sees potential allies in the PCs.

Does that sound like it might work?

Daniel

 

[Mark]

free - http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=2781

 

[knitnerd]

.
5. Although the Keep is repaired it still needs to be furnished and rooms need to be built.

Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

I just need something to keep my 2 players busy for this session. The absent player will be coming back from vacation in time for the following session.

Thanks![/QUOTE]


Sounds like you need Lixor, the gnome illusionist/interior decorator.

 

[Trainz]

free - http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=2781

You beat me to it.

 

[dreaded_beast]

Thanks for all the input everyone!

I may use some of your ideas in future adventure sessions.

Last session, the PCs ended up exploring the sewers of Tilverton. They ended up encountering a large number of trolls under Old Tilverton, running away many times but killing around 3. The next revisited an old Cyric crypt in the sewers, to discover that it had been taken over by new cultists of Cyric, whom they dispatched easily, since they cultists were around 3rd-level. On the 30th of Hammer (January), the PCs discover that once a month, under the ruins of Tilvara's Palace, the Tilverton Rogues hold a "Fight Club", where various people enter to fight for a prize offered by the rogues. (A bit cliche, but my PCs like to fight and they seemed to enjoy it.)

Thanks once again!

 

[Terwox]

As for the magic items that are not defined:

The hilt with the symbol of Torm on it could possibly do some of these things:
Become a powerful, shining weapon, but only when enemies of Torm are nearby, for ten minutes a day. (A +2 flaming if the paladin has a +2 weapon, etc.) Free action or standard action, depending on what you want.

The hilt could act as a powerful holy symbol for the paladin, granting bonus spells (when either worn on a belt or held in the off-hand,) or a wisdom bonus, or perhaps he could lay on hands as if he had +4 charisma. Or even +2.

The hilt could also be part of a broken sword, and the sword could even be part of an old weapon that was used to fight against Torm -- the symbol, when examined more closely, could be shown to be blasphemous, and there could be a large plot to put the sword back together and break it once and for all because it was Standard Fantasy Idea(tm) of scattered but not destroyed.

The hilt could also be a map, a pointer, pointing to the unknown place where an ancient (or not so ancient) champion of Torm died fighting, and his ghost wants the current paladin of Torm to find him, and right the wrongs that he left undone. (Or just fight the pit of hobgoblins that killed him.) If you want to rip off quest for glory 4 entirely, you could free the spirit of a Rusalka at the paladin's request -- a young woman who was drowned, and is now a beautiful undead who exists to lure others and drown them.

The strand of sune's hair could be a sign to the church that the character has done something incredibly worthwhile to the goddess, and they will tell the member of a deeper mystery of Sune -- she is missing, she is dead, she has been imparting weird information, she's on vacation, she needs something done, etc.

Or the strand could simply stack with current swashbuckler abilities... although I'm not sure what those are. Gives two-weapon fighting, gives a whip feat, whatever.

Or it could be your run of the mill +1 or 2 flaming (burst) whip.

Oh well, that's my ideas for your items. G'luck w/ your session, stuff with two people can be incredibly entertaining, if this is your first time running for two people.