Iron DM 2010: All Submissions and Judgments

[Pro-Paladin]

The Attack of the Commie Mushrooms

A Cold War super hero adventure for 2-4 players.

Summary

Soviet super villains are ready to unleash their latest biological weapon on American soil and it's up to the heroes to stop them!


Background

This adventure can take place in any suitably large American City on the east or west coast or Great Lakes. Any date in the 1950s is most appropriate, although an earlier or later date could be used with some modification.

The characters for this adventure are all members of a secret government task force called "The Midnight Riders." Each PC has a special super power that led to their selection. The team should have diverse abilities to do well in this adventure. Some suggested characters are included in the additional material below.

The purpose of the Midnight Riders is dealing with Communist plots that no one else is qualified to handle, especially those plots that involve Bolshevik super villains. The Riders work behind the scenes for the most part, keeping Good Old America safe from the invisible but always present Soviet menace.

The latest mission begins when Candy, the third wife of Industrialist and Import/Export Millionaire C. Thomas Haverton, is brought into the team's HQ and tells her sad story (complete with ample tears, running makeup and much leg shown) to the heroes.

At first she suspected her powerful husband of run-of-the-mill adultery, but his increasingly bizarre and erratic behavior bears more than a passing resemblance to Soviet Mind Control! "I don't know where to turn!"

Clearly, this is a job for the Midnight Riders.


When Good Capitalists Go Bad

Haverton has been seduced by an Evil Communist Seductress and is now acting as her puppet in a complicated scheme to attack America and advance the agenda of the Godless Reds. The PC investigation of Haverton will yield various pieces of information, depending on the success of role-playing, the plans the PC's come up with (put a tail on him, bug the phones, track down his business associates, get the word on the street, try to locate the Soviet Sleeper Cell in the city, etc).

Easy Information that can be acquired with a minimum of effort (watch TV for an afternoon or two, look at some old newspapers, ask the average citizen.) is listed below.

- Haverton is one of the city's most wealthy businessman.
- He is a philanthropist who has done a lot to improve and beautify the city.
- He was a major contributor to the Mayor's reelection campaign.
- He has a weakness for the opposite sex that ruined past marriages.
- He is in the process of converting a decrepit portion of the city's docks into an upscale shopping promenade, complete with beautiful old-style gas lights.
- Many of his recent business decisions were unusual.

Medium Information will require sources closer to Haverton or extended trailing and stake-outs.

- Haverton's latest mistress has a strong hold over him.
- He has been importing unusual items, including foreign plant life.
- There are criminal types on his payroll, working the docks.

Difficult Information will be slow in coming and require extensive infiltration. It should come to light piece by piece as the big picture forms.

- Haverton's mistress is a Soviet super villain called "White Night" with powerful psionic abilities.
- The unusual plant life are dangerous Commie Mushrooms capable of impossibly fast growth and driving decent people insane with their spores.
- The new shopping promenade will be used in the planned fungus attack.
- Several other Red supers are present to assist in the evil attack.

Gradually the same old sordid story becomes clear: selling out Mom and Pa and Country over a Commie Dame. Haverton is completely under the domination of White Night and is using his considerable resources to accomplish her wicked scheme. He has used his import business to bring in the dangerous Commie Fungus and will use the new shopping promenade, complete with old style gas lamps, as an incubation chamber for this menace. Here hundreds of Americans can be exposed to the spores all at once.

Haverton might be captured and interrogated by aggressive PCs. In his present state of Soviet mind control slavery he is of little help. If the mind control he is under is broken, perhaps by hours of exposure to an endless loop of the American National Anthem combined with images of this Great Land, he will alert the characters to the full extent of the looming danger.

White Night might also be caught when she meets with Haverton to keep her psionic control. She will try to flee rather than fight at this point and if captured will attempt suicide (the Soviet villain "The Possessed" can continue her scheme if she dies).


The Bank Job

At some point in the early investigation the heroes will be called upon to stop a bank robbery gone wrong. The robbery is unconnected to the other events of the adventure and acts as both a red (no pun!) herring and an opportunity to get some "clobbering time" in to break up the investigative portion.

The American Super Villain "The Atom Smasher" has used his Super Strength to break into the vault of First Bank and is making off with the loot! The police are going to need a discrete assist from the Midnight Riders to defeat this criminal and his gang of bad elements, which may include another Super Villain or two. The heroes will have to win the fight, protect the innocent, and make sure the credit for stopping the robbery mainly goes to the city police. Achieving all three of these goals should be challenging but resourceful heroes should get the job done.


White Night

The Soviet Seductress behind the planned attack should prove a difficult adversary. In 1943 the Red Army recaptured a village near Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War. To their horror, they discovered only one survivor, surrounded by the mutilated bodies of Nazi soldiers and peasants. This survivor was a fifteen year old girl, covered from head to toe in blood and staring vacantly with dead eyes. She was quickly recruited by the Soviets and molded into a spy and assassin.

In addition to physical charms, intelligence and a total lack of compassion for others, White Night has powerful psionic abilities, including the ability to mentally dominate as well as perform telekinesis. The latter power creates an aura of bright white light and causes small objects to circle around her before becoming dangerous projectiles. Her psionic domination powers allows her to control multiple weak-willed individuals, but to control a stronger willed target (that is, the heroes) she must concentrate her full energies and take no other actions.

If she has a weakness, it's overconfidence. At first she'll simply send her lesser thralls against the PCs, feeling they are not a true threat. By the time she starts deploying her full powers against them, it might be too late.


The Freak Out

After the bank job and some more investigation another event occurs. Two All-American teens are discovered dead near the docks being converted into the shopping promenade. While camping on the beach they apparently suffered "fits of frenzy" and tore into each other to lethal effect. The cause is unknown, but some sort of Red Soviet Bolshevik Mental/Sexual Mind Control Ray, possibly fired from orbit, seems the most likely explanation, according to the newspaper, radio and TV reports. Teens are warned to avoid contact with the opposite sex until this new issue is resolved.

Using their secret government clearance, the PCs should investigate the site. They will find a camp site ruined, complete with a tent torn to pieces and a shattered gas lamp...

Closer investigation near the pier reveals mushrooms, including one that has grown to two feet tall! Before a sample can be obtained, Haverton Security (actually Red spies!) will suddenly appear and demand the characters leave. Disobedient heroes will have to fight these spies, backed up by White Night's mind-controlled slaves as described in the next section.


Deserted Docks

Following the death of the teens the dock area is closed off, both out of respect for the dead and to complete the final, secret touches on the shopping promenade before it is unveiled to the public. Of course, "Stay Out" signs aren't going to stop the Midnight Riders! Past the fence, there is no activity. The promenade looks complete, no workers are present. It seems the delay is mainly motivated by trying to distance the opening from the bizarre deaths.

If the PCs investigate they will get a good look at the new gas lights, the stores ready to open that contain nothing of interest to this case and the mushrooms growing beneath the newly built piers. Any character with knowledge of botany will be able to determine their growth here is highly abnormal. Taking and analyzing a sample will reveal the horrible truth.

When the characters try to leave they will be attacked by thralls of White Night, decent American workers under her mental control! They shuffle forward like zombies, clumsily wielding sledgehammers, chain saws, nail guns and other deadly items from the construction site. These slaves will try to destroy the mushroom sample and kill the characters. These poor individuals are not a serious threat, but killing them would be a major failure on the part of America's defenders. The best plan is to subdue and capture them and then defeat the mental domination, possibly back at the HQ.

If the thralls are released from their mental bondage they will be very thankful and can share some interesting information too, at the GM's discretion.


Stalin's Flower Garden

The PCs should eventually discover the truth behind the mushrooms. The Commie Fungus was harvested from the ruined tundra of the Tunguska "event" and is of alien origin. Normally they lie dormant in a state of stasis, awaiting the perfect conditions for their out-of-control growth.

These perfect conditions of the mushroom's home planet can be replicated by the release of a certain sort of light and chemicals that can be produced by gas lighting. When exposed to such light the mushrooms will begin to grow at a rapid rate, as well as releasing spores that cause hallucinations, fits of frenzy, lack of proper respect for the American Flag, and murderous violence.

The camping teens accidentally triggered one of the mushrooms. Fortunately, the light from their single gas lamp was relatively weak and the lamp was destroyed during the following Commie-induced Freak Out.

The plan of White Night is to trigger the mushrooms at the opening of the new shopping promenade. When the gaslights come on, they will bathe the mushrooms around the piers in their light, causing them to grow to giant size and emit spores. Hundreds are likely to die. The Reds will then offer the antidote to survivors, winning a massive political and public relations victory and putting a little more of a tip on the next domino...unless they can be stopped.


Rush and Attack

At some point, probably after the characters learn the full scope of the threat, White Night will deploy the Heroes of the Soviet Republic against the characters. The Super Villains "Proletarian," "The Red Shadow" and "The Possessed" (described below) will attack. This should be a difficult fight against strong opposition, raising tension as the climax approaches. Protecting good Americans, saving valuable property and beating the Reds is the goal.

Alternately, this attack could give underachieving PCs one last chance to capture and interrogate a no good pinko scum, filling them in on details they have missed and giving them a chance to complete the adventure.

If the characters have done an exceptionally good job of investigating, they might infiltrate the secret Commie headquarters (it's in a penthouse of a hotel owned by Haverton: those Red hypocrites seem to like our capitalist luxuries!) and be the ones to initiate this fight and in this case the adventure ends early. However, White Night and her remaining thralls (possibly even Haverton himself) will join in for a truly epic showdown.


Grand Opening

The PCs will probably end up in a race against time to get to the Promenade opening, shut down the gas lights and stop this insane Bolshevik plot. When they arrive Haverton and the Mayor might be in the process of cutting the ribbon and giving a speech on the triumph of our great Democracy over the forces of fear and ignorance. If Haverton is out of the picture the opening will still occur. All the work was finished weeks ago, his presence is simply ceremonial.

Hopefully crowd control ("Citizens! It isn't safe here!) combined with cutting the gas supply to the lights will bring the situation under control. However, White Night will launch a final desperate attack if it seems the PCs are going to be successful.

This attack will consist of her, some of her mind-controlled slaves, any remaining Soviet Super Menaces still on the loose, and ordinary Soviet spies caring gas lamps. These ordinary Reds will use their gas lamps on the mushrooms, quite possibly dying in the process (the more important Soviet supers have taken the antidote), to try to get them growing and releasing spores. Smart characters will realize this is the greater threat and put all their resources into stopping the lamp-carriers.

If the Mushrooms get enough light to grow to giant size, release spores and multiply the heroes can still minimize the damage with fast action. Simply smashing the mushrooms is possible, but only Super Strength can harm the fungus once it reaches giant size. Fire and lots of it should be useful. The citizens can hopefully be evacuated from the contaminated area. When the spores are released, allow the characters a saving throw to prevent going insane. Ordinary people automatically fail this save.

Defeating and capturing the evil Soviets will give the United States a major victory in the endless secret war of ideologies. It could also open the way for the Midnight Riders to take the offensive, possibly aiding anti-communist factions in eastern bloc nations or even taking on a mission into Moscow itself (I hear it's a big Party Town).

If White Night escapes, stopping her could drive the campaign, as she will continue to target influential but venal men for her nefarious purposes.


Character Profiles

The Midnight Riders (pre-gens)


Brock "The Rock" Johnson

A former football player and U.S. Marine, Johnson came to the attention of the Midnight Riders when his transport plane crashed during the Korean War. Not only did Brock survive, he was completely unhurt! A believer in service, duty and the American Way, "The Rock" now serves as an immovable object for the Riders. He is also from a poor background and maintains contact with the street scene.

Super Powers: Invulnerability to most types of damage.


LB-1776

LB-1776, or "76" to his friends, is a sophisticated government android created for the fight against Communism. 76 is a repository of knowledge and is strong and resistant to damage. Attempts to make it "human" were slightly less successful, the robot tends to limit casual conversation to various patriotic slogans.

Super Powers: Massive computer data bases, robot strengths and immunities.


Mary Evans "The Ghost of Liberty"

The daughter of a senator, Mary came to the attention of the Midnight Riders when she defeated an attempted Commie assassination with her special powers. Young and somewhat immature and mischievous she is nevertheless fully devoted to the Riders and will do the right thing...eventually at least! Her connection to her father will also be useful should the Riders need extra government resources.

Super Powers: Invisibility.


Lazar Janovic "Fixer"

The son of Serbian immigrants fleeing Communism, Lazar may be the world's smartest man. At the age of thirty he holds numerous doctoral degrees, is a wealthy inventor and highly sought after by government think-tanks. The Midnight Riders struck him as the most worthy cause and he awaits the day when his native land is restored. Lazar is optimistic and resourceful and seems to always be tinkering with his latest gadget.

Super Powers: Super inventor, genius intelligence.


Evil Villains, Foreign and Domestic


The Atom Smasher

When this criminal helped the Soviets to steal nuclear material he was accidentally exposed to massive amounts of radiation. As you might expect, this gave him super powers. The Atom Smasher has recently escaped from a federal prison and is determined to use is powers to take what he wants, no matter who gets hurt!

Super Powers: Super strength, resistant to damage.


Proletarian

While visiting Lenin's tomb, Ivan Petrovich was struck by a bolt lightning at the moment he set his hands on the dead dictator's case. When he recovered, he discovered he had the ability to control electricity! A devoted Communist, he eagerly agreed to use his powers to crush capitalism!

Super Powers: Control and direct lightning.


The Red Shadow

Petty thievery was the occupation of Anya Gradinov before she came to the attention of the Soviet government: stealing all the copper wire from a KGB office will do that! The influence of the White Night and a promise of Siberia should she step out of line keeps her nominally loyal to the Red cause. On the other hand, as long as she has a chance to use her talents and fill her pockets, she's happy.

Super Powers: Master thief, greatly heightened speed and agility.


The Possessed

Boris Maskimov was initially thought to be out of his mind, but when he escaped from the asylum, killing dozens in the process, his importance as a Soviet asset was suggested. Boris has the power to assume the personality and super powers of any deceased Soviet, while still keeping overall control with his own evil and manipulative personality. The limitation is he can only assume one persona at a time and it takes a minute or two to switch "identities." For the first battle with the PCs he will assume the powers/personality of "October Glory" a Soviet hero who could fly and fire blasts of pure energy. He may assume other identities, as needed. It's even possible if White Night is slain or takes her own life after being captured that The Possessed will take over for her!

Super Powers: Channel personality and super powers of fallen Soviets.


Ingredient Review

Gaslamp: A gas lamp taken to the beach leads to the death of teens and alerts the heroes to the danger they are facing. In the final battle, Soviets use gas lamps as a last ditch effort to grow the mushrooms. The gaslights installed by the compromised magnate on the promenade also qualify. The Gaslamps are a key part of the evil Commie Plan for unleashing the spores of madness.

Gaslighting: The light from the gas lights contains the correct composition and release of chemicals to awaken the encroaching fungus. The gaslighting is installed by the compromised magnate under Soviet domination.

Deserted Docks: An economic downturn has created deserted docks that Haverton is converting to an upscale walk and shop. In preparation for the attack of the Red Mushrooms and to protect the horrible secret the docks are kept deserted before the grand opening when no one is allowed entry. Entering the deserted docks will be a task for the PCs, and it is the site of much of the action and investigation. The fact that it is a dock allows the partial concealment of the fungus beneath the converted piers.

Compromised Magnate: Haverton, a business magnate, is exposed to disrepute by the control of White Night. As her slave, he is behind the gaslight installation to awaken the Commie Fungus. His role as a powerful business man "revitalizing" the community is key to the plot.

Encroaching Fungus: Fueled by gaslight and gas lamps the Mushrooms threaten to grow out of control and encroach on the entire shopping promenade and beyond, bringing madness and death with them.

The Image: This is White Night, evil Soviet Seductress and master psionic who is behind the entire scheme to attack America with alien mushrooms. Her seduction and control of the Magnate sets the plan in motion.

 

[ajanders]

I'll get my judgment up shortly. In the meantime, here are the ingredients for Round 3, Match 2:

Gaslamp
Gaslighting
Deserted Docks
Compromised Magnate
Encroaching Fungus

and...

Prologue
System
This adventure is written for D&D 4th Edition. It could be adapted to any medieval, Renaissance, or even steampunk setting with rules for magic and amoral fey. PC's should be in the top half of the heroic tier.

Background
Golden Island is not named for its mineral wealth -- there are no mines on the island at all. The gold on Golden Island is the wheat that shines in the constant warm sunshine. All this is due to the master of Golden Island, Richard Greston.

Greston is a wizard and sage: he has some combat powers, but most of his study has gone into rituals for agricultural purposes: improving the weather, repelling pests, boosting yields, and improving storage. His steady use of these rituals makes Golden Island a prosperous farm plantation where nature moves in serene, productive order and where everyone lives well. Greston has taken the money from his farming and invested it wisely in more rituals and more information about farming: his steady improvement of farming practices has made him an wheat magnate. The humans around Golden Island view it as a golden point of light and a valuable breadbasket; Richard Greston shares his rituals and techniques with anyone who will ask, and is a public benefactor.

The Fey disagree. To the Fey neat, orderly fencerows are chains and shackles constraining nature. Irrigation canals are vampire wounds, spilling the lifeblood of the earth. And Greston's carefully bred wheat is an aberrant monstrosity; sterile, deformed, retarded, aberrational. Richard Greston is a corrupt slavemaster, profiting from the cruel toil of the wheat he rules with an iron fist. And when he encourages others to follow his dark path, he is not to be borne.
Unfortunately for the fey, ancient edicts of the gods prevent them for manifesting an army from the Feywild and laying waste to Golden Island. The Fay may return wrongs done to them, but no more. Since Greston only harvests the wheat once it is dead, the punishments the Fay mete out cannot result in death. But they are allowed to cause Greston and the inhabitants of Golden Isle to waste their lives unproductively, to not have children, and to use any dead inhabitants of Golden Island as they see fit.
An eladrin named Xicene was chosen to recruit fay to administer this punishment.

Xicene began with myconids: she felt it was appropriate that since humans consume wheat to sustain themselves, it was appropriate to use the fay of fungus, which consumes animal tissue, to punish them. She recruited a myconid king named Ergot.
Ergot proposed a punishment that fit the crime precisely: his tribe of alchemists could create poisons that, when administered, weakened perceptions and wills. Xicene and her cohorts could then use illusions and charms to change the behavior of the islanders to something more appropriate without killing them. Xicene agreed to this plan.
Ergot, however, has been corrupted by the Shadowfell. Although he intends to keep to the letter of his agreement with Xicene, his spirit is perfectly comfortable with "accidentally" killing the population of the island. After all, a fungus has to eat somehow.

Ergot and his alchemists mixed up a potion that, when burned, emits a cloud of gas that weakens the will. Xicene recruited a few gnomes to help her add the potion to Greston's next shipment of lamp oil. That shipment was delivered a week ago, right before harvest. Xicene and Ergot have moved in to administer then punishment. Then the PC's arrived...

Dramatis Personae
Ergot, an advanced Myconid king...possibly with a class template. Certainly without ethics.
Ergot's tribe, advanced myconids
Xicene: eladrin warlock of vengeance
Xicene's cabal: eladrin/gnome/wilden warlocks and illusionist wizards.

Synopsis
The PC's come to the docks of Golden Isle, which are deserted and filled with traps. The PC's must navigate through the docks to Greston's wheat plantation, defended by Ergot and his tribe of plant-fey. Once Ergot and his fey are driven off, the party must enter the farmhouse, find Greston, free his mind, and placate or drive away Xicene and her cabal of enchanters.


Hooks
1. Greston has standing offers for rituals related to farming and books about Nature and Dungeoneering (he uses the Dungeoneering to help him with engineering projects). PC's may regard him as a depository for otherwise unprofitable materials.
2. PC's may be asked to guard grain barges picking up the grain from Golden Isle.
3. Fay PC's or primal PC's may have gotten word of Xicene's mission. They may be attempting to forestall it -- or support it. But even fay PC's inclined to support Xicene will recognize Ergot has encroached on the ancient edicts and needs to be reined in.


Act 1: The Docks
As the PC's approach the docks, they see nobody about...including the harbor pilot. The harbor is oddly choked with floating logs and with no pilot, the PC's have a terrible time tying up.
Once the PC's get onto the docks, things only get stranger. There should be teamsters and haulers and riggers and all manner of people about: this is a good-sized shipping facility.
It's also a well-trapped shipping facility. Ergot isn't allowed to attack visitors, but he's not responsible if someone steps on a nail or has a pile of badly balanced boxes fall on their heads. Ergot has also made sure all the lamps are full of his doctored lamp oil and constantly lit. The PC's must make a skill challenge to pass through the trapped docks.
This challenge uses:

Thievery (to detect and disarm rough traps) Moderate
Perception (to detect a trap so it can be avoided) Moderate
Athletics (to catch falling crates and such) Moderate
Acrobatics (to leap over sudden hazards) Moderate

PC's may assist one another in these checks. Failure in the checks means the PC and all characters assisting them lose a healing surge. The PC's must succeed in five checks to get off the docks.

Every time a PC makes a check, all PC's in the party must make an Endurance check. Failure means they are affected by the fumes from the lamps and take a penalty of -2 to Perception and Insight checks, plus a -1 penalty to Will saves. These penalties persist until the party takes an extended rest.

If a PC rolls a hard perception check in the skill challenge, not only do they score a success, but they also realize something is wrong with the lamps. A moderate Heal check will reveal the lamps are producing some sort of intoxicating fumes. After that, a hard Arcana or Nature check will reveal this is an alchemical brew using fungus from the Feywild. An exceptional Healing, Arcana, or Nature check will reveal what the fumes do: otherwise, the PC's don't know how or if they've been affected.
Every time a PC makes a check, all PC's in the party must make an Endurance check. Failure means they are affected by the fumes from the lamps and take a penalty of -2 to Perception and Insight checks, plus a -1 penalty to Will saves. These penalties persist until the party takes an extended rest.

Act II: The plantation.

After getting off the docks, the party can move up the road towards the plantation. As they come up to the fields, they see everyone, from farmers to dockworkers to clerks, harvesting grain. The workers are dazed and non-responsive: they've been smelling Ergot's fumes for most of the week and are now stoned out of their minds: they'll believe anything anyone tells them with a DC 5 Bluff check.
After a few rounds of interaction, Ergot will appear. He is badly disguised in a hooded cloak: he'll get a +2 on his Bluff check to pass as human, but anyone with a substantial penalty to their Perception from his fumes may still fail to recognize him as anything else.
Ergot recognizes the PC's as a threat and whips up his work crew to deal with them, shouting loudly "Those newcomers are wheat! Walking, talking Wheat! Reap them!". The work crew will start off after the (bemused) PC's. Treat the drugged work crew as a zombie throng from page 198 of Open Grave, but without any immunities, resistances, or vulnerabilities, a perception of 0, and no darkvision. And they're not undead, they're just alive and stoned out of their mind.
The PC's may fight the work crew using weapons, but a DC 10 Insight check suggests they're so suggestible they'll believe anything. PC's may use a standard action to make a Bluff check against the mob and subtract 10. The result is the number of hit points damage the work crew takes, but it isn't actually damage -- the mob just believes the PC's
when they explain they aren't wheat, so they stop fighting.
The mob will be supported by Ergot and his tribe of myconids. These cannot be bluffed. They will attack the PC's until the PC's are bloodied, then withdraw and let the work crew finish them off.
Ergot will shift as much damage as he can to his guards and run for the house if he gets bloodied.
The guards will retreat to the house if they find they cannot attack the party. The work crew will fight to the death...or confusion.

If anyone in the party takes a moment to examine the grain, they will find it has been infected with a fungus. A difficult nature check reveals this fungus causes hallucinations if it's eaten.

Act III: the farmhouse

This is a large comfortable farmhouse with a magical library and workroom attached. Greston is here, almost as out of it as the work crew outside. Xicene and her cabal of helpers have throughly befuddled him with charms and illusions. He believes Xicene and her cabal are visiting scholars come to discuss and review his work in agricultural magic.
As he shows them his work, Xicene is having her cabal make alterations to it, providing incorrect or dangerous information. She's also corrupting his ritual book: so that instead of containing rituals that enhance agriculture, his rituals will change the plants into plant monsters.

Graston is more in touch with reality than his work crew: he will talk to the PC's cheerfully, if vaguely.
He will be shocked about the condition of his docks, apologize, and send a work crew down to rectify the situation.
He will be even more shocked if he hears his work crew has attacked the PC's: if he confronts the crew and tells them to stop, they will do so immediately.

He will also notice if the PC's have blood on their weapons from his work crew -- and not be happy.
If the PC's show him myconid corpses he will be shocked.
If the PC's reveal Ergot to him in his true form (by ripping off his cloak) he will be shocked -- but Xycene and her cabal will try to Bluff him into believing that Ergot isn't a mushroom, he's just fat and pale and ugly and looks like a mushroom.
If the PC's attack Graston or his guests, he will defend himself and them. The cabal will use any charm or illusion powers they have to get the party to attack Graston.
Fay will attack the party themselves until the party is bloody, then back off and let Graston finish them. The fey will flee if they are bloodied.

If the party can grant Graston a saving throw and he makes it, he will throw off the effects of the charms and change sides. At this point, all the fay will break off: their mission is compromised.

The myconids are angry and desperate now: they will not stop attacking the party if the party is bloodied. As soon as a myconid attacks another party member, however, Xicene and her cabal will be horrified and flee.

The party can also attempt to bring Graston to a realization of his situation.
This can be done using Diplomacy checks, Arcana checks to point out the alterations of his ritual book, Healing checks made to call Graston's attention to the lamps and the fumes they emit, Nature checks to help him identify the monsters in the room.
These checks are at a penalty if the PC's have hurt Graston's employees.
PC's making insight checks during this discussion can realize Xicene is very much alarmed at what Ergot has done. Successful Bluff checks might startle her into revealing damaging information about her plans, giving the PC's a bonus on these checks.
If the PC's succeed in their skill challenge, Grasston will admit he might be under a spell and allow the PC's to cast Dispel Magic, grant him a saving throw, or even go walk outside a little to get the fumes out of his lungs. Once he comes back to himself, Xycene will depart again: the jig is up.

Ingredients

Gaslamp: When fuelled with Ergot's special oil, the oil lamps on Golden Island emit mind-altering Gas.

Gaslighting: Gaslighting is a form of torture whereby the onlookers tell their victims that real changes in their environment are, in fact, imaginary. Grasston will do this unconsciously to the PC's as they try to convince him his guests are hostile fay. PC's badly affected by the gas from the lamps may be Gaslighted by the fay.

Deserted Docks: the opening scene of the adventure

Compromised Magnate: Grasston the wheat magnate is compromised mentally by the fay. Ergot the myconid king is morally compromised by his desire to see people die. Xycene is compromised by Ergot's actions.

Encroaching Fungus: Ergot encroaches on the terms of the fay vengeance pack and also encroaches -- grows into -- Golden Isle

Picture of Zappy Chick: That's Xycene, teleporting away after the party thwarts her mission.

 

[InVinoVeritas]

And, back to business.

[sblock]
We've got Pro-Paladin vs. ajanders this round. First, some discussion about the ingredients:

I threw in "Gaslamp" and "Gaslighting" to see how they got used; only ajanders got the second meaning of Gaslighting. I was hoping to see the insanity-causing second meaning by using Gaslighting, because... you can't really have a gaslamp without gaslighting anyway. So, on that basis, ajanders gets an advantage right out of the gate. Pro-Paladin came close with the use of Commie Mind Control on the Compromised Magnate, but I didn't get the sense that the real use was present.

The photo from Vogue Italia, 2006 (personal design secret: I raid fashion magazines for adventure ideas) was another important element. There were a lot of things that could be picked up on. Pro-Paladin gave us the White Night, describing her halo and whipping up of objects as manifestations of her ability. Xicene is ajanders' submission, an eladrin warlock of vengeance. We didn't get a description of her in the adventure, which is a weakness. She was in a library, though. That's two points for Pro-Paladin and one for ajanders.

Deserted Docks: Both used both parts of the ingredient and made it integral to the action, well done.

Compromised Magnate: Once again, good use in both cases. I like how ajanders combined the gaslighting and the magnate, and used Ergot as a second magnate.

Encroaching Fungus: I very much enjoy both uses. The theme of ergot poisoning was well-executed by ajanders, and the commie mushrooms were beautifully campy and fun to use, too.

Based on ingredient use, ajanders has the advantage.

Originality: Here, Pro-Paladin's writing shines. Every step of the way, you get a sense of the Cold-War-fueled 50s, down to the importance of sexual repression. The prosaic descriptions in ajanders' adventure don't compete, unfortunately.

Playability: Pro-Paladin goes a step further to both spell out more characters and provide sample PCs, probably a good idea given that it's a particular time, place, and style. The generic 4e world of ajanders is easier to use, but lacking in these extra elements.

This round I found tough to judge. Although ajanders did the better job tying the ingredients together, Pro-Paladin went the extra step through breathing life into the scene and providing the DM with potential PCs.

I'm going to cast my vote for Pro-Paladin. I do like research, and so ajanders use of ergot poisoning and the additional meanings of gaslighting are great. But I have to respect the research into geting the feel down for the 1950s as well. This is more of a go-with-the-gut decision. I thought both were good entries. That flair will be important in the final.

[/sblock]

 

[Radiating Gnome]

Attack of the Commie Mushrooms (ACM) by Pro-Paladin vs. Unnamed Entry (UE) by Ajanders

Long weekends are great . . . sorry judgement has been slow coming. I'm still the first judge across the finish line, though.

[sblock]
Ingredients:


Gaslamp - both entries use gaslamps pretty well. No advantage.

Gaslighting - ACM misses the real meaning of the term Gaslighting - which is trying to convince someone they're losing their minds by changing their environment and telling them that it's not changing. UE seems to be a little off the mark, but is closer, so advantage UE.

Deserted Docks - Both entries use deserted docks, but in ACM, the docks are only docks because that's what they're called -- the docks are being converted into an open air shopping mall. They're not really docks in much more than name. Advantage UE.

Compromised Magnate - UE's recap claims three, but neither Ergot nor Xycene are really magnates of any kind, so it's a good thing that Gresston is. ACM has Haverton, who works pretty well. No Advantage.

Encroaching Fungus - again, both entries use fungus as a major threat. No advantage.

[Picture of Zappy Chick] - in both cases, the picture is of the big bad -- well used. I find that Xycene doesn't succeed at capturing the personality of the picture as White Night does, so advantage ACM.

Overall, the ingredients favor UE.

Creativity -

There's a lot to like about both of these entries, and I'm finding it hard to pick one I like better over the other. The formatting and editing glitches (as well as the lack of a name) bother me about UE -- it's hard to read, and that gets frustrating quickly. But the ideas in it are pretty good.

Meanwhile, ACM has the advantage of completeness -- the inclusion of suggested PCs is an interesting touch, and is an example of the sort of polish that serves this adventure well. But beneath the polish, is it as creative and interesting as UE?

In the end, I don't quite think so. I find the commie plot -- which fits perfectly into the genre -- doesn't really surprise me -- it relies a lot on cliche and well-worn tropes. Femme Fatale, commies bent on destroying the US, etc. Meanwhile, UE has shadow-inflused bloodthirsty myconids that are going beyond the agreed-upon bounds of their fey pack with the Eladrin planning to bring down Gresston's big wheat operation. There are layers and things that I don't feel like I've seen quite so many times before.

Playability -

I think ACM has a real advantage here. One major blind spot in UE is the problem of conveying the tension between the Eladrin and the Myconids to the players -- that's one of the most interesting interactions in the adventure, but it will be almost completely invisible to the players. It's also going to be hard to convey the importance of the way the Eladrin are subtly trying to control Gresston. ACM is a nice, neat package and could probably be dropped on the table and played pretty much as written -- it even has an early encounter (the bank job) set up as filler (to complete the session) that is not really tied to the overall plot or an ingredient, but is there to give the session the right sort of shape.

Conclusion -

This is a tough one. I really expected to land on the side of ACM at first glance. The polish and completeness of the entry made it feel like the obvious choice. But a more in-depth look, peeling back the problems with UE's presentation brings me around to casting my own vote for Unnamed Entry by Ajanders, based on the creativity of the entry and stronger use of the ingredients.

-rg

[/sblock]

 

[Pbartender]

And lastly...

[sblock]THE ATTACK OF THE COMMIE MUSHROOMS

Pros:
Appropriately clichéd for the genre. A good mix of action and investigation. Nice formatting. Good info on encounters and NPCs. Sample characters are a nice touch.

Cons:
"Gaslighting" is not, technically, "gas lighting"*. Needs a better twist to spice up the cliché.

Overall:
Good, but not great. It’s a very complete adventure for a non-system-specific super hero adventure. While the clichéd nature of the plot is appropriate for the genre, it’s all a bit predictable.


THE ADVENTURE WITH NO NAME

Pros:
Overall good use of ingredients. An interestingly layered plot.

Cons:
Mind-numbing format. "Oil lamps" are not, technically, "gas lamps"*. Shotgunning "compromised magnate". The plot's layers are almost too subtle.

Overall:
Badly needs copy editing, but within lies a wonderfully multi-layered plot.

Ignoring the formatting, THE ADVENTURE WITH NO NAME has a plot that could be almost Machiavellian with a little work. It it enough to overcome its relatively minor disadvantages, and tip the scales against the well-polished, but fairly pedestrian Cold War camp of THE ATTACK OF THE COMMIE MUSHROOMS.

I vote for ajanders.



*Though, on both counts, I appreciate the interpretive creativity.[/sblock]

 

[CleverNickName]

Woops! Wrong thread...

 

[Radiating Gnome]

FINAL ROUND:

Iron Sky vs. ajanders

Ingredients:

Exquisite Cadaver
Festooned Cabaret
The Girl with the Prefabricated Heart
Dreams that money can buy
Prestigious Urinal
Handkerchief of Clouds

And the bonus tiebreaker ingredient: Three Pieces in the Shape of a Pear

Gentlemen, this was supposed to go up earlier, and I'm sorry that some confusion seems to have caused a delay. You officially have 48 hours to complete this entry. Since this is being posted without much warning, I'm going to go ahead and extend that just a little. The deadline for this will be Midnight PST on Monday, so you have all day sunday and monday to complete your entries.

I'm going to PM both of you now to make sure you get these as soon as possible.

 

[Iron Sky]

The Song of the Prophet
A Star Wars Saga adventure

Glossary
al-Gawym: “Clouds” in the ash-Shtat language. The new home system of the ash-Shtat where the majority of the adventure takes place.
Mrydah: A dying one-year old ash-Shtat girl, daughter of al-Menfa
al-Menfa: The father of Mrydah, ex-Rijil ad-Dyn priest
Shub Fy ash-Shtat: The near-human race the adventure centers around.
Rijil ad-Dyn: The ruling ash-Shtat theocracy whose fundamentalist beliefs restrict technologies, clothing, and strictly govern the lives of the ash-Sthat people.
Zindyq al-Qurash: The splinter group of the ash-Shtat that favors technology and joining the Republic.
Yam at-Thryr: The holy ash-Shtat festival where the Song of the Prophet is told.
an-Nby Kābāryh: The building where the Song of the Prophet is told.

A Father's Sin
The group finds themselves in a cantina on whatever world they are on. The cantina is inhabited by full of tall, slender figures in colorful full-body robes. Strange red-white flowers in long garlands string the room, filling it with a strange sweet smell. The people are dancing to soft, exotic music that has a longing, sorrowful undertone while on a stage, a group of costumed dancers are performing a dance and singing in a soft, rhythmic language. The number seems to be telling a story, something ancient, haunting, and tragic, though exactly what the story is about is aside from some arduous journey is beyond you without speaking the people's language.

When the group enters, a near-human man with a small bundle on his back walks up to the group, pulling back the hood of his strange robe as he does so;

“I saw your ship land earlier and, the Prophet of al-Gawym guide me, I feel you are the ones I have been waiting for, the ones seen in my dreams. Please, come and let me buy you a festival drink, though here they only have imitations of the sweet juice of the mist-pear that saved our peoples when the Prophet led us to al-Gawym, our home. Come, come.”

When the group sits, light, fruity drinks are brought, the near-human sits to join them, removing the bundle from his back to reveal a young girl, only a couple years old. He looks at her with an expression full of love and sadness as she sleeps and he rocks her gently as he speaks.

“I used the last of my faith and the last of the drug of the blossom that I owned to seek the Dreams of the Prophet. He said you would come and lead me and Mrydah back to redemption... salvation. He looks up at the party, soft determination in his eye. I am al-Menfa and I would pay you all that I own if you would help me and my daughter return to my home system of al-Gawym. It will not be easy and there are things we must do along the way, but my daughter is dying and only the will of Prophet al-Gawym will save her where my hubris failed. I will pay you ten thousand credits – in advance – if you will do this.

If the group needs more information before they accept, they can glean the following information from asking al-Menfa or making appropriate knowledge checks:

* The al-Gawym(“Clouds”) system is a forming planetary system around a young star. The system still swirls with rock, dust, and dozens of rocky planetoids. It is in the Outer Rim, at the very edge of Republic Space.

* The system is not part of the Republic, the majority of the Shub Fy ash-Shtat near-humans that live there having rejected membership on religious grounds.

* The ash-Shtat live scattered on marginally-terraformed sections of the largest planetoids, scattered throughout the system.

* A splinter group known as the Zindyq al-Qurash live on the outskirts of the system, running illicit trade and smuggling between the ash-Shtat and the Republic. There has been much violence between the fundamental, conservative Rijil ad-Dyn and the pro-Republic, technologist al-Qurash. Tension remains high between them.

* The Rijil ad-Dyn don't appose all technology, but do appose any technologies not considered “sanctioned” by the Prophet. Their arbitrations as to which technologies fall into these categories reject all technologies not in common use in the time of the Prophet, the Seedships, and the Great Journey hundreds of years ago, its history only held in the Song of the Prophet, a story preserved by the Rijil ad-Dyn and told once a year at the festival of the Yam at-Thryr.

* Several less-than-scrupulous Republic corporations fund the al-Qurash, seeking to gain access to the rare trace minerals and gasses that are found in the al-Gawym system. The Republic itself honors the ash-Shtat peoples' wish to remain isolated and it is technically illegal to travel to the system, though one the far fringes of the galaxy, it is little-enforced.

Once they accept, al-Menfa continues, either there in the cantina or while on the way to the ship, preparing for launch, and/or while preparing to jump to al-Gawym(whose coordinates al-Menfa gives):

“I was once a member of the Rijil ad-Dyn ruling priest-caste that interprets the will of the Prophet, preserves the Song of the Prophet that is the history of our people, and governs the people. When my wife died, I despaired, but believed it the will of Prophet al-Gawym, and focused on raising our daughter. When her little heart began to falter, so again did my faith. I stole a pouch of rare Mist-Pear blossoms and inhaled the smoke so to receive the Dreams of the Prophet, but even these were cloudy and uncertain.

“Lost and watching my little Mrydah dying before she had yet a chance to live, I searched everywhere for other options. The prayers of even the holiest Rijil ad-Dyn seemed to have no effect, even an illicit visit to an al-Qurash doctor did nothing. The al-Qurash said that only in the Repuplic did they have the forbidden technology to save her, but it would cost a great deal. I began to see the Republic hospitals that the al-Qurash described to me in my dreams and I was almost feverish in my determination to somehow buy my daughter's life and health from these Republic doctors.

“I agonized for weeks and, in the end, I committed a grave sin. In desperation, I stole two minor relics of the Prophet, most importantly the waste receptacle used by him on the Seedship he used on the Great Journey that led our people to al-Gawym from our dying system. I sold it to the al-Qurash in exchange for passage to the Republic and enough credits to fund my daughter's operation several times over.

“The al-Qurash left me on a backwater system where I lost much money to charlatans and swindlers. I then moved from system to system, my credits dwindling with my hope, searching for one who could save me daughter. When I finally found an actual surgeon, he removed my daughter's heart in three pieces – he taps a small case with a blinking light on his belt - and replaced it with what I learned later was an artificial heart designed for short-term emergency operations only. My daughter even has a plasti-flesh door in her chest that allows easy removal!

“I came to this world, hearing that there were some al-Qurash here that might help me, he says, gesturing at the people around him. But unfortunately these ones still observe the holy month of Yam at-Thryr, with its prohibitions on travel. I do not know if little Mrydah will survive a month! I must return to al-Gawym. I will face punishment, perhaps death, but if I return the relics to the Rijil ad-Dyn, perhaps they will yet intervene on Mrydah's behalf with the Prophet, even allow her to be placed as the Miracle Child in the Song of the Prophet – rumors say that some who play the part experience similar miracles...”

The Second Relic, Nothing to Sneeze At
Barring any hyperspace mishaps, the group arrives at al-Gawym and finds the system as predicted:

A small yellow sun burns in the midst of a spinning disk of gas and dust. Dozens of rocky planetoids tumble through the swirling clouds along with tens-of-thousands of asteroids and comets. Beyond the edges of the system are massive nebula clouds, strange towering shapes that seem to shift and change as the ship travels through the system.

Al-Menfa says prayers of thanksgiving for several minutes, then points out into the system.

“I hid the other relic, a bit of cloth used by the Prophet for hygiene purposes, in a stasis capsule somewhere in the outer system. It transmits a short-range beacon that we can track, but we have to get near it first. I was afraid that the Rijil ad-Dyn might be pursuing me, so had little time to determine precisely where I left it, but I do have a fixed landmark.

“They call the dust clouds you see out there around the ecliptic of the system the Wings of the Prophet. They are relatively static and, without your sophisticated Republic navigation systems, many ash-Shtat used them as landmarks for navigation. What we need to do is find the spot in the system where three of the clouds align in such a fashion that they make the shape of a Mist-Pear. The resemblance was so uncanny when I notice it that I took it as a sign from the Prophet. Once we have them aligned, we should be close enough that for your ship to detect the beacon."

Achieving this requires the standard array of starship travel skills to navigate the dust and rocks. Added complications include energy storms in the gas, stray comets and asteroids, false navigational readings due to electrical disturbances in the debris of the tumultuous proto-system, and guess-work on trying to align the nebula.

When they eventually detect the beacon, they must then pinpoint it, discovering it deep in a gas cloud full of asteroids. They must either have someone spacewalk between the asteroids to retrieve it or carefully navigate their ship into the murky dust and gas to retrieve it without colliding with anything.

When they eventually retrieve it, al-Menfa secures it in his room.

“They say a drop of the Prophet's blood could heal a thousand diseases, let's hope his other fluids are as potent miracle workers in the hands of the hands of the Rijil ad-Dyn. Now let us meet the al-Qurash.”

The First Relic, Waste Not...
Al-Menfa guides them to a hidden al-Qurash base amidst a jumble of asteroids at the outer edge of the system, saying:

“They have the Prophet's liquid waste receptacle here – assuming they haven't moved it elsewhere since I left – and I need it back somehow if I am to get Mrydah help from the Rijil ad-Dyn priests. Let us not start hostilities unless there is no other recourse.”

Getting there is as difficult as finding the beacon, though heavier on asteroids and lighter on dust. Eventually, they reach the al-Qurash asteroid-base where they are hailed by an al-Qurash corvette that streaks towards them from the tumbling rocks.

If the group opens fire, they face a tough fight with a crude but effective warship, fire from platforms mounted on the al-Qurash base, and a wing of fighters launched from hidden platforms throughout the asteroids.

Otherwise, assurances that they are simply Republic traders (along with easy Persuasion checks) will get them access to the base.

The massive blast doors slide open and your ship enters, docking with a crude but functional airlock once inside. The base is larger than it looks from the outside, ancient-looking trains running the length of the interior, running robed figures back and forth constantly. Most of the robed figures wear flat black robes, but here and there one wears bright red or blue or orange and even a few wear flashy, relatively-revealing Republic styles that draw distasteful glances from the black robed figures. “Not all al-Qurash want the same degree of immersion into the Republic. In fact, if it weren't for their struggle against the Rijil ad-Dyn, they'd probably be fighting each other.”

Once inside, they must first track down whether the Prophet's receptacle is present(it is) and where it is (the base's laboratory). This will likely involve Gather Information or Persuasion checks with the local al-Qurash. Getting the unit is another matter.

If the party wishes to negotiate, they must talk with Tajer Shab, the commander of the base. She is dressed in flamboyant spacer garb and is eager to hear about anything the group is willing to tell her about the Republic. On the matter of the receptacle, however, she is less open. She refuses to give the party the receptacle for anything short of 50,000 credits, claiming their scientists are examining it for trace elements the Prophet may have left behind that will prove “certain theories the al-Qurash have that will help us sway the common ash-Shtat against the Rijil ad-Dyn's brainwashing.”

Tajer Shab will make another deal however: they will trade it for the Prophet's stasis-locked corpse from the center of the Inner Sanctum, the Prophet's high temple in the heart of the temple-city of Prophet's Sepulcher, on the largest planetoid in the system. Al-Menfa seems shocked at the suggestion, but with a glance at the steadily-weakening Mrydah in his arms, his resolve stiffens. “Prophet, let any sins fall upon me and spare her, I will take them gladly!”

If the party simply blasts their way into the base, they face poorly-equipped but determined resistance from the al-Qurash in the base and must fight the corvette and fighters in space outside once they escape from the base (assuming they haven't fought them already).

They might instead sneak into the laboratory, which will involve sneaking in, avoiding security, wandering al-Qurash, and getting the bulky receptacle out undetected. If they are detected and don't immediately blast their way out, they are taken to Tajer Shab, who will then make the corpse-napping offer to them. Otherwise, they must fight their way back to their ship.

If the party negotiated, Tajer Shab offers the group a crude ash-Shtat ship that they can use to travel freely in the inner system without drawing attention to their Republic-built starship. If they didn't negotiate, al-Menfa will suggest they steal a small ash-Shtat ship as they flee or blast their way out.

The Inner Sanctum, Prophet's Sepulcher
Navigating to the Prophet's Sepulcher is easier than the outer system approaches as the ash-Shtat have set up navigational beacons and antiquated space craft travel constantly between the inhabited planetoids of the inner system.

Of course, the group can only use these lanes if they have an ash-Shtat ship, otherwise they will be swarmed by ancient-yet-numerous attack craft and fighters that they can only escape from by diving into the dangerous haze of the accretion disk. If they don't have and/or don't use the ash-Shtat ship, they will have to fight their whole way to the Prophet's Sepulcher or face the daunting and dangerous navigational challenge of trying to fly the whole way there through the dust, gas, and debris.

Regardless, al-Menfa leaves whatever relics he has in the party's ship when they head to the Sepulcher, which is most likely stashed away as far into the inner system as the party could get it.

If they have the ash-Shtat ship, al-Menfa guides them through the space lanes to the Sepulcher. If the party is not trying to get the Prophet's body (i.e. they blasted their way out or stole the Prophet's receptacle from the asteroid base), skip to the next section.

Once there, al-Menfa uses an old but usable Rijil ad-Dyn security code to get them access to the Sepulcher itself.

After landing the ship, al-Menfa produces black robes for everyone (creativity might be required for disguising abnormally large or small characters) and leads them into the heavily guarded and fortified Inner Sanctum of the Rijil ad-Dyn.

There are several checkpoints, at each of which the short interrogations of al-Menfa in the ash-Shtat language that apparently mostly satisfy the guards, though a few seem hesitant and suspicious and argue with each other as the party passes. “Several of us disappeared at the same time, made to look like an accident with our ship – I thought I'd never be coming back here. We probably don't have much time.”

Half-a-dozen temples form a circle in the Inner Sanctum, with a domed structure at the center. Al-Menfa leads them to the central building. “They don't like letting the 'unclean' guards allowed beyond the outer wall, they would profane the place, according to the Rijil ad-Dyn.”

The central building does have a massive blast door with a security panel on the side. Al-Menfa heads straight to the panel and presses his palm against it. If there are any computer or security-proficient characters in the party, the panel doesn't recognize him, giving those party members a chance to shine and get them access. Otherwise, the door accepts his hand-print and the massive blast doors open just enough for the party to file through single file.

The room is massive and round, the lightning dim except for strategically placed lights that spotlight the body floating preserved in the middle of a stasis field. Al-Menfa gestures at the robed figures, many of whom stare blankly, others rocking back and forth chanting, some lying sprawled out sleeping on the floor. “These are the lower priests of the Rijil ad-Dyn, come for their once-a-year imbibing of the sacred Mist-Pear blossom. The Mist-Pears were found growing on a comet stuck in an elliptical orbit of the sun. The Seedship nearly collided with it, its food processing systems failing, and the Pears provided enough food for the Prophet and the rest of my people to survive long enough to set up here. It's so rare and expensive now that only the high-priests can afford it. These ones around us are deep in the Dreams of the Prophet, I doubt we will encounter much resistance from them, though best keep your eyes open."

Presumably, the group sets out to steal the body – a task that could involve disabling ancient but many-layered security systems, hacking computers to lower the stasis field, taking the body in its ancient space suit, perhaps replacing it with one of the semi-comatose worshipers, and maybe chasing down and subduing the few Rijil ad-Dyn coherent enough to see what is going on.

Once they have it, al-Menfa directs some of them to sneak it back to the ship – another challenge in the sanctum full of guards that will vary in difficulty depending on the preparation of the players (if they brought a cart full of food in advance or the like to hide the body amongst for example). It's possible a firefight will break out if the party is caught (or if they don't have a plan when they try to get back through the checkpoints).

The body itself is immaculately preserved, the ash-Shtat was a handsome man and still is despite his age. He retains a sense of elegance and power even in death.

A Father's Demands
In orbit of the Prophet's Sepulcher, al-Menfa hails the Inner Sanctum. Depending on how openly hostile the party ended up being with the Rijil ad-Dyn up to this point, the ash-Shtat in the Sepulcher can vary anywhere from blissfully unaware that the party is there to launching every fighter and ship they have, requiring evasive action on the party's part while al-Menfa (perhaps with assistance from socially-oriented party members) negotiates with the Rijil ad-Dyn high priests that answer his hail.

The main negotiating terms are:
* The party will be allowed to collect the relics unhindered by the ash-Shtat, including going back to the al-Qurash base.
* The Rijil ad-Dyn will allow Mrydah to be the center point of the Song of the Prophet when it reaches the Prophet's miracle in the story. Al-Menfa will be allowed to replace the prefabricated heart in Mrydah's chest with the three segments of her own heart, using a drop of blood from the cadaver, a drop of urine from the receptacle, and a drop of phlegm from the cloth to anoint them as per the ritual in the Song.
* The party will be free to leave al-Gawym after the Song of the Prophet has ended, whether Mrydah's miracle transpires or not.
* al-Menfa will return to the Inner Sanctum, there to await the judgment of the Rijil ad-Dyn.
* Failure to agree to these terms will result in the destruction of the Prophet's relics, and even the body of the Prophet himself.

The Rijil ad-Dyn don't like it, but they will accept, unwilling to lose the relics. Al-Menfa will fly the party to their ship. If they are working with the al-Qurash, al-Menfa will then fly back to the Inner Sanctum to await them. “Don't take too much time, Mrydah has too little left. The Rijil ad-Dyn will keep their word. They are many things, but oath-breakers are not among them.”

If they aren't working with the al-Qurash, they already have all the relics. Jump to the final chapter.

When the group returns to the al-Qurash base with the Prophet's body, it is immediately taken to a lab. An hour later, Tajer Shab returns with the body and the waste receptacle in their stasis pods. She is jubilant and there is a festive air in the asteroid base.

“The Prophet had cybernetics installed, as I suspected; an augmented hip and an artificial lung! This proof makes the Rijil ad-Dyn's interpretations of the Song of the Prophet suspect, we will spread this information and bring the theocracy to its knees.”

The party has other concerns however.

The Song of the Prophet
When the party returns to the Inner Sanctum at the Prophet's Sepulcher, they are escorted brusquely, the relics taken from them even though they are going to the same place, the an-Nby Kābāryh temple where the Song of the Prophet is being recited to preserve the ash-Shtat's oral history.

The temple itself is a large room with scattered tables for the Rijil ad-Dyn. At the front is a stage where the Song of the Prophet is retold in song and dance, an ancient tale of hope, sorrow, loss, courage, and perseverance. Garlands of Mist-Pear blossoms are hung from every pillar. As the party watches, the black-robed figure of a Rijil ad-Dyn high priest picks one of the blossoms and sets it into a small brazier full of coals, leaning close and wafting the smoke into his nostrils.

“The Dreams of the Prophet, each blossom would take a month's pay for the common people to purchase...” al-Menfa says as he notices them staring at the blossoms.

The party is led to a seat with al-Menfa, the Rijil ad-Dyn obviously unhappy with the arrangement, but they endure it. As the Song nears a climax, a figure in an exotic space suit that al-Menfa reverently names “the Prophet al-Gawym” steps forward, hands outstretched. Al-Menfa carries his daughter to the stage, collecting three small black vials from the Rijil ad-Dyn as he goes. As the party watches, he sets down his daughter and takes the small stasis cube that holds her heart from his belt.

The “Prophet” sings a song in the ash-Shtat language, with many gestures to the sky as the other figures on stage sing in chorus, then settle into a meditative hum. The “Prophet” takes the three vials and places their contents into the stasis cube then gestures at Mrydah's chest. Al-Menfa hesitates briefly, then unwraps his daughters blanket, opens the plasti-flesh door in her chest, quickly extracts the three pieces of his daughter's artificial heart, then replaces them with her old heart. The “Prophet” makes a series of elaborate gestures over the girl and a short while later the Song of the Prophet ends.

At this point, what happens is up to the GM, depending on personal preference:

* The Miraculous – Mrydah's heart beats again and the child lives. The Rijil ad-Dyn break out into hallelujahs and al-Menfa weeps at the “Prophet's” feet.
* The Tragic – The “miracle” fails, Mrydah's little heart stops beating, and al-Menfa curses the Prophet, pulling his hair and tearing his clothing.
* The Unknown – The Rijil ad-Dyn evict the party immediately on the Song's end, escorting them straight back to their ship with no delays or hesitation.

Either way, before the party leaves, a stone block is dragged into the room by dozens of armed guards. It should be obvious to the party that fighting them would be a terrible idea. If his daughter lives, al-Menfa gives her to the party, “let her remember me,” then kneels before the block. Before the headsman takes off his head with a giant scimitar, al-Menfa speaks in a whisper barely loud enough for the party to hear.

“When the doctor was going in to remove her little heart, I saw it. He said it was malformed, but I saw in it the shape of a Mist-Pear. A sign from the Prophet...”

The party is banished from al-Gawym regardless, at least while the Rijil ad-Dyn are in power. If they fought the al-Qurash, they will be banished regardless of who wins the escalating conflict between the Rijil ad-Dyn and the al-Qurash.

Ingredients
Exquisite Cadaver – The body of the Prophet, needed by the party to force the Rijil ad-Dyn to negotiate and also for his blood to augment the “miracle” in the Song of the Prophet.
Festooned Cabaret – The an-Nby Kābāryh, the building where the Song of the Prophet is sung, festooned with the Mist-Pear blossoms the bring the Dreams of the Prophet when their smoke is inhaled. Also the initial cantina where the party meets al-Menfa.
The Girl with the Prefabricated Heart – Mrydah, the ash-Shtat girl around whom the adventure revolves
Dreams that money can buy – al-Menfa's dreams of saving his daughter buy buying her surgery in the Republic. Also the dreams brought on by the extremely expensive Mist-Pear blossoms.
Prestigious Urinal – The waste receptacle of the Prophet, needed to force the Rijil ad-Dyn to negotiate and also for a trace of urine to augment the “miracle” in the Song of the Prophet
Handkerchief of Clouds – The Prophet's handkerchief, hidden in the dust clouds of al-Gawym. Also, the Prophet is also known as al-Gawym (“Clouds” in the ash-Shtat tongue) and it's his handkerchief. It's also needed for the Prophet's mucus to augment the “miracle” in the Song of the Prophet
Three Pieces in the Shape of a Pear: The three pieces of Mrydah's heart. The alignment of the nebula that reveals the location of the Handkerchief.

 

[ajanders]

Have a Heart, Please?

Game Notes
This is a Fourth Edition Dungeons and Dragons adventure for characters of the low paragon tier (10th-12th level). Parties will find social and knowledge skills as important as combat power.
The adventure can be adapted to any fantasy system with amoral fae and supernatural evil, such as Pathfinder or D&D 3.0/3.5.
This adventure contains mature material.

Synopsis
A noble disappointed in love receives an invitation from a fae noble inviting him to purchase a clockwork heart, which is immune to the pangs of that emotion. The party discovers this clockwork heart contains an unpleasant surprise. The party must follow him through the strange environment of the Feywild, gathering advice and allies along the way, and convince him to give up his plan. The climax of the adventure includes a tense standoff with the fae noble and the provider of the heart, a devil with his own agenda.

Dramatis Personae

Gaston Murand: A young nobleman disappointed in love.
Lorene: A young woman bringing an unusual offer to Gaston.
Voissand: Steward of Gaston. He hires the PC's.

Menard: Master of a curiously recurring Cabaret in the Faywild.

Cumulonimba Mammata: Enslaved female Djinn dancer and "Student of Love". If freed, she aids the party.
Reynard: A traveling performer and Cumulonimba's master. He must be convinced to release Cumulonimba.
Fey Guests at the Cabaret

Abelard: Undead artists who may fight or aid the party.
Bernard
Claude
Danton
Undead guests at the cabaret.

Legrand, Chevre Degoutant: Leader of a troop of lewd, raunchy satyr comedians corrupted by devils.
Les Chevres Degoutantes (The Filthy Goats): The followers and assistants of Legrand. They will mock and harass the party.
Disguised Devilish Guests at the Cabaret

Abelard Faux: A devil with an agenda of his own for Gaston Murand.
Abelard Faux's retainers: Various demonic muscle, used to advance Faux's agenda when trickery and deception fail.

Le duc L'automne: A fay noble unwillingly enmeshed in a devilish plot. He may be convinced to aid the party.
Le duc L'automne's entourage: Fay creatures that may aid or attack the party, according to the orders of their master.


Prologue
It's not easy being a devil in charged with creating a kingdom of evil in the mortal realm. You have an artifact of evil that will change someone into a cambion and set them off to do evil...but someone would have to implant it in themselves willingly. How can you get someone to do that?
Here's a plan: the fay noble Le duc L'automne owes you a debt. The fay traffic with mortals all the time. Give him your heart of darkness, then let him sell the thing. Not too expensively: you want to make sure someone buys it and uses it. Who exactly? Well, that's the fay's problem.

It's not easy being a fay noble. When you aren't on the side of evil and aren't on the side of good and aren't on the side of the primal spirits, you wind up owing a lot of favors to everyone and having to step quickly to keep your webs of diplomacy straight. Here's a plan: Abelard Faux wants you to broker a device he's made: a clockwork heart in exchange for some gold. He's a devil, so there's probably a hook in their somewhere, but we'll sell it to a mortal. What kind of hook might it be? Well, that's the mortal's problem.

It's not easy being Gaston Murand. It's not easy to have your heart broken by Her, to know that you will never love again. To not wake up at night reaching for Her hair, smelling Her perfume. To know that women are untrustworthy; to know they will always have sweet words and tender caresses for you before they rip your heart out of your chest and dance the can-can on it in stiletto heels.... Better not to have a heart: better to think about your work and seriously study magic. Wait: here's a plan! A letter from
someone offering a heart that will not break or suffer the pangs of love. All they want is some gold, and what is gold compared to a life free of distractions from the great art of magic? You'll need to get some extra gold from the safe: an advance on your allowance. If necessary, you can sell some scrolls when you return to replace the money. You'll only be gone for a week. Voissand shouldn't have any problems handling things for a week.

It's not easy being Voissand, personal steward of Gaston Murand. The family Murand has been worried about their son: he's been badly disappointed in love and a little wild looking. When the woman came to call for him in the closed carriage, you thought she was a wonderful thing for him: a one-night stand to ease the pains of his heart. But he's been gone for over twenty-four hours, and he seems to have cleaned the safe out when he left, so he has a lot of money with him. You'll need to hire some adventurers to rescue him from whatever mad folly he's gotten himself into. It may involve going into some disreputable cabaret somewhere, but that's the adventurer's problem.

It's not easy being a party of reputable, discreet adventurers. Gaston Murand's steward just sent over a message, begging you to come immediately "about a private, intimate matter". It would be nice if this could be someone else's problem...

Hooks
Gaston Murand is a noble wizard and man-about-town recovering from a bad breakup. When he disappears, people take notice.

1. Voissand, Gaston's steward, may hire the PC's to go looking for him. He doesn't have any cash on hand, but the Murand family will back his bills.
2. As a wizard and a member of the nobility, PC's in the low paragon tier may know Gaston and be friendly with him. After his bad breakup, they may be checking on him themselves.

Act 1: Setting Off
Whether Voissand hires the party to investigate Gaston's disappearance or the characters begin to do so on their own, they can make the following skill checks to find information.

Easy Streetwise check: Gaston just had a very bad breakup. He's not handling it well. He was spending most of his time in his study.
Moderate Streetwise check: a girl in a fancy carriage called at Gaston's house. She was veiled, but everyone thinks she was beautiful.
Hard Streetwise check: Gaston left with that girl late that night. They took the road down to the beach.

Characters may be led to investigate Gaston's study by the streetwise check or at Voissand's suggestion.. It's littered with bad emo poetry about despair. The fireplace is full of ashes -- a little study reveals they are love letters.
There is a letter box on the desk: opening it reveals a letter from a fay noble known as Le duc L'automne. The letter speaks flatteringly about Gaston, then sympathizes with him about his heartbroken state. It comments on the perfidy of women and the weakness of the human heart.
"How I know you dream of a perfected heart, free from the arrows of love." The letter then goes on to suggest this is not a vain dream, but one that can be secured with the proper quantity of coin. Le duc L'automne has a steel clockwort heart, proof against all love and allowing a man to look at all things rationally and intelligently. Le duc L'automne finds himself needing to pay a debt, and so will offer Gaston the heart for 15,000 gp.
Le duc L'automne recognizes this is a strange sounding transaction: he has sent this representative to bring him this letter and a drawing of the clockwork heart. If Gaston desires, the representative will be pleased to take Gaston and any gold he may wish to bring safely to the palace of Le duc L'automne and return him safely after they conclude their visit.

Close reading of this letter and some skill checks reveal the following information.

Moderate Streetwise Check: Fey gifts always come with tricks hidden inside.

Moderate Arcana Check: The fey don't value gold or coins. Why is Le duc L'automne offering magic for mere gold -- even if it is a lot of gold?
Hard Arcana Check: Upon examination of the drawing, the workmanship doesn't look fay at all. It looks devilish.

Moderate Religion Check: Placing a devilish relic in one's body would invite possession by evil forces -- the results, predictably, would be dire.

Difficult Perception check: There's tiny writing on the clockwork heart, if this picture is correct.
Easy Religion Check: The clockwork heart is covered with intricately engraved blasphemies and prodies of good. Simply being near the subject of this drawing could turn someone to evil, much less sticking it in your chest.

Moderate Insight: Le duc L'automne is trying too hard in this letter: he really wants to sell this item.

The Le duc L'automne's palace is in the Feywild. A Hard history or perception check or moderate Arcana or Nature check will reveal the location of a gate into the Feywild that opens at dawn and dusk: it's at the beach, and can be passed through by walking or riding with one wheel or foot on sand and one wheel or foot in the water. If the party found out where Gaston and the lady went (making the Hard Streetwise check above) they gain a +2 on either of these checks.
Once the gate is located it's a simple matter to pass through it at dawn or dusk.


Act 2: The First Day
The party passes through the gate and arrives in a lush temperate Feywild forest. The trees are leafy and green, with thick underbrush. A road stretches out before them, rutted with carriage tracks.
The party can make skill checks to determine the following things about the Feywild.

Simple Nature Check: This place doesn't follow the normal laws of geography and direction. Nature checks can't be used to find directions here.

Moderate Insight Check: This place is pure Feywild.

Moderate Perception check: There are things in the woods by the path: it
would be wise not to leave it.

The party can only follow the road one way.
If the party leaves the path, they quickly become lost and confused. They blunder through the woods, apparently for hours, before finally getting back to the path. Judging by the position of the sun, no time has passed, but they are exhausted anyway. Roll 1d4 and deduct that many healing surges from each character.

The Road Less Traveled
At one point along the road, the party can make a moderate Perception check. Success reveals a disused path splitting off from the main path. There are no ruts along this path.

If the party elects to follow it, they will come to a giant pear tree in which roosts a Standard encounter's worth of harpies, which will attack. If the harpies are defeated, they will provide a standard treasure parcel and a single silver pear. A slice of this pear will restore all lost healing surges as though the party had taken an extended rest. The pear is large enough to provide every party member with a slice.

Characters climbing the pear tree will see a building ahead -- this is the Crossroads Cabaret. Characters looking for a coach up ahead will see that too, though upon thought, they will wonder how they saw that far.

The Crossroads Cabaret
This inn is festooned with blue and white bunting. The sign in the front reads : The Southwinds Cabaret -- Live entertainment!
If the party enters, Menard, the host of the cabaret, will offer them food and shelter for the night in exchange for a healing surge from each character. If the characters can't pay that night, they can pay two surges in the morning. There is also entertainment on the stage.

Characters who choose to sleep outside are attacked by enough Firbolg for a Hard encounter...this fight will prevent taking extended rests.

The entertainment at the Southwinds Cabaret consists of the illusionist Reynard, a red-clad gnome. The climax of his act is his "Hankerchief of Clouds Trick": he casts down a handkerchief, from which rises a pink cload that takes the form of a beautiful woman. Sweeping through the audience, she whispers in a party member's ear "Free me and I will help you."

The PC's must engage Reynard in a skill challenge to steal the handkerchief from him.
This is a complexity 1 skill challenge of Hard difficulties.
Primary skills are Bluff, Thievery, Intimidate. Secondary Skills (Gain +2 bonus on the primary skills) are Arcana, Diplomacy, Perception, and Insight.
Reynard will also trade the handkerchief for the silver pear.

If the PC's get the hankerchief, they find it has a female djinn bound into it: Cumulonimba Mammata is a "student of Love". Less salacious then it sounds, she is a personal stylist and relationship counselor. She will travel with the party and aid them. She has no combat skills, but once per encounter or skill challenge she will allow a character to reroll a failed Insight or Diplomacy check with an additional +3 bonus to the die roll.


Act 3: The Second Day
The party leaves the cabaret and steps into a barren forest. The trees are black and bare, the ground hard.The road stretches out before them, rutted with carriage tracks in one direction, marked with the character's footprints and carriage tracks in the other.

The party can make skill checks to determine the following things about the Feywild.
Simple Nature Check: This place doesn't follow the normal laws of geography and direction. Nature checks can't be used to find directions here.
Moderate Insight Check: This place is corrupted Feywild: the party is closer to the Shadowfell here.
Moderate Perception check: There are nastier things in the woods by the path today: it would be much wiser not to leave it.


If the party leaves the path, they quickly become lost and confused, then become attacked. They blunder through the woods, apparently for hours, before finally getting back to the path. Judging by the position of the sun, no time has passed, but they are exhausted anyway. Roll 1d4 and deduct that many healing surges from each character. In addition, the party must fight an easy combat encounter against undead.

The Road Less Traveled
At one point along the road, the party can make a moderate Perception check. Success reveals a disused path splitting off from the main path. There are no ruts along this path.

If the party elects to follow it, they will come to a giant pear tree in which roosts a Standard encounter's worth of advanced accipitridae (Page 184, Open graves). which will attack. If the monsters are defeated, they will provide a standard treasure parcel and a single blood-red pear. A slice of this pear will restore all lost healing surges as though the party had taken an extended rest. The pear is large enough to provide every party member with a slice.
Characters climbing the pear tree will see a building ahead -- this is the Crossroads Cabaret. Again. It looks different, but what the differences are can't be seen from this distance. Characters looking for a coach up ahead will see that too, though upon thought, they will wonder how they saw that far.

The Crossroads Cabaret
This Cabaret is festooned with black streamers. The sign in the front reads : The Final Rest Cabaret -- Live entertainment!
If the party enters, Menard, the host of the cabaret, will offer them food and shelter for the night in exchange for a healing surge from each character. If the characters can't pay that night, they can pay two surges in the morning. There is also entertainment on the stage.
Characters asking Menard if they were there the night before are regarded solemenly, then Menard allows he has a good deal of repeat business.

Characters who choose to sleep outside are attacked by enough ghouls for a Hard encounter...this fight will prevent taking extended rests.

The entertainment at the Final Rest Cabaret consists of the ABCD players. These blasphemes challenge the party to meet them in a game of Exquisite Corpse: each party member and blaspheme writing the line of a story, then reading it aloud.

This is another skill challenge, Difficulty 2. Primary skills are Bluff, Diplomacy, Arcana, Religion, Nature. Secondary skills are Insight and Perception. All primary checks are moderate, all secondary Hard. The successful use of a secondary skill allows the party member to realize the ABCD players will give the party clues about the Feywild and the Autumn Duke if they are given a good prompting sentence.
The ABCD players will reveal the following clues, one per success, once the secondary skill check is made.
1. The Feywild can be corrupted by the Shadowfell or by Hell.
2. The Autumn Duke owes a favor to a devil: he's working to pay it off.
3. The Autumn Duke doesn't like devils: he'd get out of his arrangement if he could.
4. There is a road less traveled: it leads to valuable treasure and dangerous risks.
5. The Autumn Duke is a fay of his word: if he gives a promise, he will keep it. Just watch the loopholes.
6. Beware filthy goats.

Failing this challenge or refusing this challenge causes the party to be attacked by the Blasphemes.
Offering the Blasphemes new wine gives the party a +2 bonus to all Bluff and Diplomacy checks.


Act 4: The Third Day
The party leaves the cabaret and steps into an autumn forest. The trees are covered with blood red leaves.The road stretches out before them, rutted with carriage tracks in one direction, marked with the character's footprints and carriage tracks in the other.
The party can make skill checks to determine the following things about the Feywild.
Simple Nature Check: This place doesn't follow the normal laws of geography and direction. Nature checks can't be used to find directions here.
Moderate Insight Check: This place is corrupted Feywild: the party is closer to Hell here.
Moderate Perception check: Devils lurk in the woods here: take a step and they will attack.

If the party leaves the path, they quickly become lost and confused, then become attacked. They blunder through the woods, apparently for hours, before finally getting back to the path. Judging by the position of the sun, no time has passed, but they are exhausted anyway. Roll 1d4 and deduct that many healing surges from each character. In addition, the party must fight an standard combat encounter against devils.

The Road Less Traveled
At one point along the road, the party can make a moderate Perception check. Success reveals a disused path splitting off from the main path. There are no ruts along this path.

If the party elects to follow it, they will come to a giant pear tree in which roosts a Standard encounter's worth of erinyes. which will attack. If the monsters are defeated,

they will provide a standard treasure parcel and black pear that smells of sulfur. A slice of this pear will restore all lost healing surges as though the party had taken an extended rest. The pear is large enough to provide every party member with a slice.
Characters climbing the pear tree will see a building ahead -- this is the Crossroads Cabaret. Again. It looks different, but what the differences are can't be seen from this distance. Characters looking for a coach up ahead will see that too, though upon thought, they will wonder how they saw that far.

The Crossroads Cabaret
This Cabaret is festooned with what looks like black and red coconuts. The sign in the front reads : The Lusty Goat Cabaret -- Live entertainment!
If the party enters, Menard, the host of the cabaret, will offer them food and shelter for the night in exchange for a healing surge from each character. If the characters can't pay that night, they can pay two surges in the morning. There is also entertainment on the stage.
Characters asking Menard if they were there the night before are regarded solemenly, then Menard allows he has a good deal of repeat business.


The entertainment at the Lusty Goat Cabaret consists of Les Chevres Degoutantes. These fiendish satyrs mix juggling, slapstick, and lewdness for a very rough comedy act.
The climax of the act is the challenge of the Knight of the Golden Lance. Les Chevres Degoutantes bring out an elaborately worked golden chamber pot and invite the company to void their bladders into it at range.
Treat this (if any PC wants to play along) as a ranged basic attack: the PC rolling the highest attack value wins.
Les Chevres Degoutantes will deliberately throw the contest to the party. Les Chevres Degoutantes will then surround the winning party member, singing their praises. They will then "crown" the winner by pouring the full chamberpot over their head. If no PC plays, they will pick a character with the divine power source to crown.

If the PC's start a fight with Les Chevres Degoutantes after this, Menard will have them all thrown out of the inn. Les Chevres Degoutantes will run off, laughing. Later they will return with enough devilish reinforcements to make a hard encounter for the PC's and attack them as they try to sleep.

Act 5: Stop the Sale!
The party leaves the cabaret and steps into an autumn forest. The trees are covered with blood red leaves.The road stretches out before them, rutted with carriage tracks in one direction, marked with the character's footprints and carriage tracks in the other.
The party can make skill checks to determine the following things about the Feywild.
Simple Nature Check: This place doesn't follow the normal laws of geography and direction. Nature checks can't be used to find directions here.
Moderate Insight Check: This place is corrupted Feywild: the party is closer to Hell here.
Moderate Perception check: Devils lurk in the woods here: take a step and they will attack.

If the party leaves the path, they quickly become lost and confused, then become attacked. They blunder through the woods, apparently for hours, before finally getting back to the path. Judging by the position of the sun, no time has passed, but they are exhausted anyway. Roll 1d4 and deduct that many healing surges from each character. In addition, the party must fight an standard combat encounter against devils.

After a few hours, the party comes to the castle of the Autumn Duke. If they state their business is to attend the sale of the clockwork heart, the guards will allow them in, escorting them to the Autumn Duke and Abelard Faux. The Autumn Duke has had a good discussion with Gaston and is about to close the sale of the clockwork heart. New customers are an interesting development, and he will let them speak.

The party has two objectives here, each of which is reached by a separate skill challenge. First, the party must convince Gaston not to purchase the heart. Second, the party must get the Autumn Duke to allow them to leave without a fight. Each of these challenges is Complexity 2.

Convincing Gaston not to purchase the heart has the primary skills Diplomacy and Insight initially, both at Hard DC's.
Showing Gaston either the blood-red pear or the black pear suggests to Gaston he's dealing with more than the fay here: characters gain a +2 bonus on a single diplomacy check for each pear they show Gaston.
Reminding Gaston the fey never take gold in a bargain also arouses his suspicions, giving a +2 bonus to a single Diplomacy check.
Showing Gaston the drawing and pointing out the lack of Fay craftmanship and the Hellish blasphemies written on in gets him to think about what the clockwork heart might be: it opens Arcana and Religion as primary skills.
Revealing Abelard as a Devil opens Religion as a primary skill and makes that skill check easy, not Hard.

Every time the PC's gain a success in this challenge, they should make a free perception check against Abelard's Bluff. If they succeed, they note Abelard is getting more ready to fight.

Convincing the Autumn Duke.to allow the party to leave peaceably is similarly a skill challenge of complexity 2.
The Primary skills are Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate: Diplomacy is an easy challenge, Bluff a moderate challenge, and Intimidate a hard challenge.
Secondary skills include Insight and Perception, with special effects detailed below.
A Successful moderate Insight challenge allows the PC's to realize the Autumn King is looking for an excuse to thwart Abelard: it allows the PC's to work out the hierarchy of interaction skills for this challenge.
If the party notices Abelard is readying his minions to attack, they can point this out to the Autumn Duke. This counts as an automatic success: the Duke does not like devils pulling weapons on him.
The Duke can also be bribed: giving him any one of the three pears gives an automatic success (one per pear). Offering him more money for the hearth than Abelard did will also provide an automatic success.

If the party fails to convince Gaston not to buy the heart, he holds the Autumn Duke to his word and buys the heart. He presses the clockwork into his flesh and is transformed into a cambion. Gaston will join Abelard Faux and they will all attack the party and the Autumn Duke.
If the party convinces Gaston not to buy the heart before they convince the Autumn Duke to let them go peaceably. Abelard Faux loses his temper and commands his entourage to attack the party and Duke.
If the party convinces the Duke to let them go in peace and Gaston not to buy the heart, the Duke will let them go and give them safe passage to the world of mortals.
If the party fails in both goals simultaneously, the Duke and Abelard will attack the party together.

The Duke has enough Fay bodyguards for a standard PC encounter.
Abelard has enough devils for a hard PC encounter.



Ingredients
Dreams that money can buy: what the Autumn King offers Gaston. A subtle clue that all is not as it seems.
The Girl with the Prefabricated Heart: the Autumn King;s messenger
Festooned Cabaret: the cabaret the party just keeps going back to night after night
Exquisite Cadaver: a game played with real cadavers where the PC's win clues about what's going on
Prestigious Urinal: a prop used by the Dirty goats to mock the PC's
Handkerchief of clouds: the home of a potential ally for the PC's.
Three pieces in the shape of a pear. The three pieces of fruit in the shape of a pear (since they are pears) useful for healing or bribery.

 

[Radiating Gnome]

Iron Sky vs. Ajanders

The Dada Finals. Judgement Straight from Doo-dah. Lookout, here it comes =>

[sblock]
The Song of the Prophets (SoP) vs. Have a Heart, PLease? (HaHP)

So, like, this was intentionally one of the weirdest, most esoteric sets of ingredients, all taken from Dadaist art, if you hadn't spotted the theme yet. Sounds like fun, right? Lets see how the ingredients got used:

Exquisite Cadaver - Both used this one pretty well as a prop -- a dingus held ransom, a playing piece in a game. No advantage.
Festooned Cabaret - Again, the cabaret is an important location in both entries. I did like the fey feel of the cabaret that the PCs return to over and over again in HaHP, so I'm going to nod in that direction. Advantage HAHP.
The Girl with the Prefabricated Heart - SoP wins this one, with a much more significant, important application of the ingredient.
Dreams that money can buy - In SoP, the dreams are part of the setting -- and they're a cool element, but they're pretty much backstory only. In HaHP, though, the idea of the dream is more of a desire, not an actual dream . . .and it just doesn't work as well. Advantage SoP
Prestigious Urinal - I have to give an advantage to HaHP on this one. The Gaming Table is, in my experience, the natural habitat of all sorts of dick jokes and other profanities, and the idea of an actual pissing contest is great fun. In SoP, the prophet's recepticle is okay, and works, but I prefer the application in HaHP.
Handkerchief of Clouds - In HaHP, the encounter with the handkerchief feels tacked on -- the adventure doesn't need it to be there, it's just a bit of fluff. In SoP, the handkerchief is one of the items the PCs need to recover . . . it's a dingus, but it's an important one. Advnatage SoP.

And the bonus tiebreaker ingredient: Three Pieces in the Shape of a Pear - Actually I'm going to call this one a wash, too -- both used this one very well.

So, for ingredients, I'm stuck with a slight advantage to SoP.

Creativity

Is it just me, or did everyone readying SoP read "ash-shtat" as "asshat"?

I really liked both of these entries -- this is the finals, and there's a reason these contestants got where they are.

Song of the Prophets has a lot going for it -- it's an interesting story, and there's a whole culture behind the story. Very cool stuff.

Have a Heart, Please, blends together infernal and fey faustian bargains into a complex web that I find very interesting. I especially like the way the adventure evokes the fey nature of the feywild. The infernal-fey concept feels to me like a good, flavorful approach to the ingredients.

It's a very new thing, but I like the flavors in HaHP better.

Playability

Both adventures are very playable, no doubt about that. There is a difference, though, and it goes back to the distinction I made in the creativity above. The fey flavor of HaHP is something that the players will experience and play with in an important way while they play through the adventure. They travel through woods and keep coming back to the same cabaret -- but while it's the same cabaret, it's different every time. And so on. It's not just background flavor -- it's played flavor.

Not that SoP is without flavor, but a lot of that flavor is backstory. The player experience is going to be pretty straightforward -- they get hired to do something to save a little girl, they travel from place to place and either bamboozle, plead, or fight to get the ingredient they need and move on to the next place. It's pretty good, and very playable, but it's just not as strong as HaHP. So, advantage HaHP.

Dadaism

I don't know if this should be considered or not -- certainly I don't think it's a requirement. But all of the ingredients were taken from Dadaist art -- some are the names of art objects, and so on. Dada, as a movement, was intended "to ridicule what its participants considered to be the meaninglessness of the modern world. In addition to being anti-war, dada was also anti-bourgeois and anarchistic in nature." (wikipedia) I am have been interested to see if either entry felt like it was using this philosophy as an influence on the entry. SoP gets close -- at least it has a body of space-amish that eschew technology. But that's not quite the same tone as the Dada stuff has. I don't really think either entry got any sort of advnatage over the other for working with this tone and idea.

Conclusion.

This is a tough call -- I'm glad I'm not the only voice deciding this.

In the end, I find that the fey flavors and textures of HaHP are strong enough to overcome a slight disadvantage in ingredients and put it over the top, but it's a very near thing. So, my vote is cast for Have a Heart, Please.

-rg

[/sblock]