Sailing
The PCs were promised an absurd sum by a shipping magnate to serve as protection aboard a solar sail ship shipping a herd of Maiasaur. Especially strange since so many of the beasts already roam the West.
Pirates!
Out of nowhere, pirates attack! While the main body armed with six-shooters, repeating rifles, and sabers distracts, the pirate captain severs the mast with his laser sword and an elite band raid the dinosaur hold. When they return carrying a small wrapped bundle, all the pirates immediately withdraw to their nuclear turbine steamship and sail away.
Rogue Wave!
Out of nowhere, a huge rogue wave hits and its all the PCs can do to keep aboard the ship and keep it intact until the ship's driven onto a beach.
Shipwrecked
The shipwrecked PCs and sailors find and cut down a tree to replace their mast. Wild beasts, hostile natives, poisonous plants and animals plus limited tools to aid in the task increase the challenge.
In the distance, the pirate steamship lies reefed. If any PCs take the time to investigate, they find all the crew dead, many from laser slash burns, their slagged sabers and wet, non-functional guns strewn about the broken deck. The ship's steam-turbine life raft is gone. If the PCs don't investigate, they see the life raft drop free and chug away.
Pursuit
While the mast is being cut, dragged ship-wards, and erect, the ship's captain reveals the herd of Maiasaur was merely cover for the Lithovorisaur egg in the hold. The bizarre, ultra-rare rock-munching beasts lay eggs whose shells contain veins of pure gold. The eggs alone are worth small fortune, a living Lithovorisaur worth a large one.
Chasing after the life raft, the PCs find it beached near a small herd of saddled Maiasuar, several sets of tracks heading inland. Mounting up, they soon see the pirate captain riding on the distant horizon with several spare mounts.
Dino-chase
The pirate captain is wily and cunning, leading the PCs through a maze of sharp rocks, narrow defiles, and steep cliffs. Falling rock, rattlesnakes, and a flash flood complicate the pursuit.
If they catch up to the captain, he finds high ground, slays all but one of his beasts for extra cover, and tries to force them into laser sword range. If losing the ensuing fight, he leaps onto his last mount and rides it to death if need be to make his lair.
After the close-range fight, the PCs recognize him as notorious bandit leader Burncut McSlash. This must have been a brief jaunt into piracy upon somehow gaining word of the Lithovorisaur.
Bandit Lair
The approaches to the lair contain quicksand, dynamite traps, rusty barbed-wire triplines, and the like. Inside the lair, Burncut lets loose with his Gatling gun until it runs out of ammo, then takes the fight into the narrow, dark, twisting tunnels full of dead-ends and pitfalls which he knows intimately.
Victory?
When defeated, Burncut's dying action is to cut the Lithovorisaur egg open to deny it to the PCs. The suddenly-hatched Lithovorisaur - in spite of it's sudden transition to the real world - is fully functional, mean, hungry, tiny, fragile, crazy-hard to catch, and can bite through almost anything.
The attempts to catch it without killing it in the depths of the dark, wet, sprawling, unstable, trap-laced bandit cave will likely become a mini-adventure on its own.
Aftermath
PCs have several options afterwards in addition to selling the still-valuable broken egg.
Raise Lithovorisaur, an extremely challenging and dangerous task on its own compounded by attacks, thefts, and raids by bandits, Lithovorisaur magnates hostile to new competition, and the like.
Sell the baby Lithovorisaur to the magnate for the promised payment plus a bonus round of hazard pay.
Sell the baby Lithovorisaur on the open market - if they can keep it alive, contained, and not stolen until then
The Island Time Forgot (A D&D adventure - but easily adaptable to a few different systems/settings)
Ship Mast
Dinosaur Bandits
Lone Survivor
Golden Egg
Rough Transition
Laser Sword
Dinosaur Island exists in mostly uncharted south seas of the setting. Shrouded in literal mist and proverbial legends, it has been visited on and off for nearly a century by adventurers and poachers seeking to explore the island’s mysteries and/or capture dinosaur specimens for sale for exotic zoos or to populate the weird dungeons of paranoid wizards and the like.
While the island was cut off from such dinosaur bandits by the emperor’s navy for many years, the crumbling empire has shortened its reach, and while soon lost, when recently rediscovered only natural obstacles to approaching the islands (sea monsters, shoals, whirlpools, etc…). For a time, Captain Esmerelda Konti, a buccaneer leader and acclaimed hunter, was regularly leading her crews to the island and exploring more and more deeply and returning with more dinosaurs and strange artifacts, but recently she and her crew have not returned.
Hooks:
The PCs are hired to hunt down and arrest Esmerelda Konti by some agency of the empire trying desperately to maintain economic and social control in the imperial periphery (mostly hiring mercenaries to do state work).
Alternatively, some other politician may make a separate deal with the PCs to bring back some specimens for sale to inflate the imperial coffers (or their own).
The PCs are dinosaur bandits themselves, sent by a rival poacher hoping to get rid of Konti’s organization and open up a new dinosaur pipeline.
After a bunch of sea encounters from a random list (or DM choice) leading to the island, upon arrival the PCs by whatever nautical means they have of arriving will have to find a way to carefully survey the waters around the island because of hidden rocks and sandbars and some aquatic dinos. If they do not, there is a significant chance of running aground and maybe also ending up trapped on the island. Of course, they may have magical means of getting on shore without the ship getting too close or the need of a launch.
If they do a full circuit of the mountainous jungle isle, they will find a ship’s mast sticking up out of a lagoon, where the water is deep enough to have swallowed all of Konti’s ship. Atop it in the crow’s nest is Sid Sackville the lone survivor of Konti’s crew. He is half-mad from starvation and will have run out of water the day before the PCs arrival.
He explains that he and the others tried to flee after Captain Konti was killed or captured (stories among those who fled varied, and Sid was not there) while exploring another ship discovered half-buried atop a distant hill. He explains that a group of dinosaur-like creatures emerged from ship and attacked. Their leader seemed to be able to control or command dinosaurs and a great Mosasaurus scuttled the ship from below before they could escape. All the rest of the crew is dead unless there are some survivors on the island. Sid does not know and will try to convince the party to leave immediately and take him with them. He will even surrender to arrest, if they agree. He is so maddened and fearful from his experience, however, that he will (ineffectually) fight or flee if not the PCs do not agree. He will not want to guide the PCs to the mountain, but will do his best to point it out and draw a map if sufficiently calmed and brought somewhere safe (like the ship the PCs arrived on, anchored way of shore).
If the PCs have a way of getting some height or a spyglass, they may be able to spot where the other ship is by itsmast sticking out of the rocks.
The island itself should be something Jurassic Park or Skull Island (from King Kong), with a harrowing journey of two to three days to the ship where Konti may be beset by dinosaurs and dire beasts of various kinds.
Expedition to the Peaks
The ship itself is an ancient spelljamming galleon (or if the DM wants, just some one off unique magical ship meant for traveling between world/planes). Its entire crew also died on impact, but the lone survivor—Ashrozo—is a dinosaur-man, the returned evolved descendants of the island (which are probably not native to this world anyway). The DM can use draconian, dragonborn, lizardfolk, of some other related creature type for represent these - but they should look like different dino species, but humanoid. He was in suspended animation until accidentally awaked by Konti on one her missions, but she did not notice until she returned and found him ready.
By recovering The Golden Egg, an artifact of his people through which they were supposed to accomplish their original mission, Ashrozo has been able to continue. The egg, when placed in a clutch of other dino-eggs make them hatch into the evolved dino-men. The egg itself does not hatch but goes dormant until re-fertilized by one of the evolved kind in an elaborate and weird sexual ritual.
The ship is buried beneath centuries of dirt and rock, but the entire is mostly intact, creating a mini-dungeon.
As they approach the top of the peak, they will begin to encounter the fast-evolved dino-men. However, they have not gotten the same kind of training and exposure to the egg as is usual, thus have had a rough transition. They sometimes spontaneously and painfully transform back, leaving them angered and aggressive. Even when remaining in evolved form, their intelligence seems dim compared to Ashrozo.
Captain Konti is still alive and is a captive of Ashrozo. Ashrozo is kind a dino-monk - part of a religious order sent out to shepherd his people and ready the cosmo for their ascendance. He wields the Sol Blade, a laser sword of radiant power that works like a light saber (so he is a dino-Jedi).w
Ashrozo is not necessarily evil and will negotiate for help to free his ship or communicate with his people. However, if he is helped and allowed to go his own way (agreeing to let the PCs take Konti, though he originally hoped to bring her back to his people for punishment for selling their legacy), eventually groups of intelligent dinosaur bandits will begin popping up in places around the world, beginning their slow take over and beginning to establish their own nation and recruiting other draconic creatures to their side. And eventually, the world will have another rough transition when more evolved dinos return as reinforcements—filling in for the collapsing human empire.
My dog decided that between 2pm and 3pm was the perfect time to start running around and barking wildly - getting herself worked up to the state where I am the only one who can calm her. sigh.
I recorded it. ~36 minutes is where I hit the wrong key, wipe everything, and start retyping it all. One hour wasn't short enough to be a challenge I guess?
Guess I shouldn't be surprised that with such a crazy list of ingredients, the entries are quite zany as well. And I like it!
I am especially surprised how large in scope both adventures are. These are not short 1 session adventures, but campaign material, both of them. And there are a lot of locations and encounters too!
I like how central the golden egg is to the plot in Lithovorisaur, plus I love the word Lithovorisaur. The adventure is very varied and crazy, but comes across a bit linear in places, and I'm not sure if I like the ending. I do like that there are multiple choices in the aftermath of the adventure.
The Island That Time Forgot comes across as less linear. What I like best about it, is the more coherent plot, the multiple plot hooks, and the ending that leaves some interesting choices for the players. I tend to have a bias towards plot and sandboxy stuff, and this one feels more suitable for an open exploration focused campaign.
For a full three minutes I was gonna write an adventure for a Thundarr the Barbarian RPG (the laser sword and dino-bandits felt fitting), but then I realized developing a whole setting/game - even the few sentences necessary in this format - was too much.
I also considered making it another Spelljamming adventure and making it a dinosaur planet!
I forgot to include so much because I didn't get a chance to go back and add it. For example, the sol blade was supposed to be connected to sun worship and the dinosaur need for hot sun-filled environment. Oh well.
Judgement for Round 3, 3rd-Place Match: el-remmen vs. Iron Sky
Well, this was fun. With one-hour, you know you’re in for a different form of adventure, for sure. Most likely a first draft. Ingredients that are less developed than they otherwise might be. And, dare I say, likely a tendency toward more cinematic adventures over richly-complex and socially-in-depth ones.
Do these assumptions hold true in this match? Let’s take a look:
Ingredients:
Ship Mast
In “Lithovorisaur” (“Lith”), we have a ship mast which is intentially destroyed by the main villain in furtherance of his schemes. It is a necessary step in the movement of the adventure.
In “The Island Time Forgot” (“Time”), we have two ship masts, both echoing each other’s purpose; they are essentially signposts to point out where the adventure is. I think their implementation here is better for the adventure than the one in “Lith,” but the actual ingredient is probably not as strong, so “Lith” 1, “Time” 0.
Dinosaur Bandits
“Lith” gives us a dino-riding bandit who is trying to steal a dinosaur. This is the primary antagonist and, thus, a significant presence in the adventure. Pretty good.
“Time” gives us some dinosaur-poachers who are the basis for adventure, but only present in parts. It also gives us some dinosaurs that are trying to dominate the world, which is nice, but they, too, are only a part of the whole.
Usually, I’m pretty wary of ingredients that get multiple forms. Unless they are trying to reinforce a theme, it usually comes off as a lack of conviction on the part of the author that their ingredient is well-used. And that’s usually a well-placed concern.
So, are the two uses in “Time” establishing a theme? What would that be? Let’s see. The poachers are taking dinosaurs (that already don’t belong, though the poachers can’t know that) and taking them elsewhere. And, in so doing, activate the threat of the evolved-dinosaur infiltration.
If the theme is “banditry leads to bad things” we would expect to see that the evolved dinos’ efforts also lead to something worse, but we don’t. If the theme is “everybody is a bandit in one way or another” I think the first of the three hooks suggests otherwise. Maybe there’s something there, but I’m not seeing it. “Lith” 2, “Time” 0.
Lone Survivor
“Lith” gives us a lone survivor of a wrecked ship who is the primary (lone) antagonist of the adventure. I’m not so sure how important it is that the survivor has no living allies, but the survival part is enhanced by the fact that the wreck happens during the course of the adventure.
“Time” seemingly gives us two lone survivors. The minor NPC, as it happens, is not actually the lone survivor of his scuttled ship, but that gives room for the actual lone survivor, the dino-Jedi, to fill the role more comfortably. He’s a great NPC. Part antagonist, part ally, and all concealed villain. It is important that he is a survivor of his ship’s wreck, but the fact that he is the only one seems less so. Further, that wreck happened (long) before the events of the adventure, so I have to lean toward “Lith” again. “Lith” 3, “Time” 0.
Golden Egg
“Lith” has an egg that’s actual value is tied in with it’s material and the fact that it is an egg very much matters to the shape of the adventure. This is good.
“Time” has a very flavorful macguffin. The imagery really fits in with its role, but its color/material is of no import. And neither is its form, really. Why not have a nutrient bath do the evolving? Classical music? Mad science(!)? “Lith” 4, “Time” 0.
Rough Transition
“Lith” provides us with a rough transition in the form of a rogue wave that wrecks the PCs’ ship. It comes out of nowhere (being a rogue wave) and pretty much just moves the adventure along to the next part. Which is, in itself, a rough transition.
The missed opportunity, here, is that the adventure had already established that the steamship has a nuclear turbine. Its destruction (by some means, ideally brought about by the PCs’ actions) could have caused the wave and help tie things together (also hint that the steamship is wrecked), but the adventure seems to indicate otherwise.
“Time” has two rough transitions. The first of these is the unstable evolution of the dino-mobs that the PCs need to get through. The second is the take-over of the world through them. I think these two are sufficiently linked to say they support each other. “Lith” 4, “Time” 1.
Laser Sword
“Lith” gives the laser sword to its antagonist, who uses it to quickly cut through the PCs’ ship-mast, and in a cinematic climactic battle. This is very cool. And, yet, it contributes to a pretty big problem that this adventure has, but I’ll get back to that.
“Time” has a laser sword that, as far as I can tell, has no importance in the adventure at all. “Lith” 5, “Time” 1.
That looks pretty one-sided, but I will note that a few of the better ingredients in a pair were only marginally so. My initial assumptions are so far pretty well supported.
Adventure TIme:
Hooks and Stakes:
The most interesting thing about the hook in “Lith” is that it isn’t true, and the PCs don’t find that out for a while (although, they may have a hint at the start, if they know enough about the world). The stakes of the adventure come about incrementally with each new turn of events.
“Time” gives three varied hooks that are each pretty good and lay out initial stakes pretty well. Unfortunately, the actual stakes of the adventure probably aren’t going to be known until long after it concludes. I find that very intriguing, but it’s probably not all that great for the DM running the game.
It would be better if there were ways for the PCs to find out parts of the dinos’ plans along the way, both to increase the uncertainty of how to interact with the villain, and just to enhance a sense of investment in the outcome. Still, probably better than “Lith” in this area.
Adventure Shape:
“Lith” is an action-packed, cinematic adventure that takes its PCs from one set-piece to another. It looks, at least on the surface, like a lot of fun.
That checks out with my initial assumptions.
I also really like the options laid out in the aftermath section.
“Time” has some of that, but it doesn’t really detail any of it. Instead, it gives us opportunities to explore, some interesting NPCs to interact with (through diplomacy, other social means, or, possibly, violence). And it gives us an unexpected twist that changes the assumptions of the world. There is some surprisingly complex and rewarding gameplay, here.
Which is better?
”Lith” is uncharacteristically linear for @Iron Sky. This isn’t necessarily a problem, in the right context, but I think there are a few things that are working to enhance the problems that its linearity is going to introduce.
First of all, this adventure’s unique setting assumptions seem to want it to be a one-shot, which is fine. But those same assumptions make me think that it wouldn’t really work unless it also used pre-generated characters.
Here’s why: In a world with laser swords and gatling guns, if the PCs can choose the equipment that they start with, they are going to choose those things!
What happens if the pirate captain and/or the elite squad get killed while raiding the PCs’ ship?
What happens if the pirates’ steamship gets shot to bits with a gatling gun?
Or the life raft?
Or the dinosaurs?
The answers to each of these questions could be a lot of fun, but the adventure completely fails to help the DM figure out what those would be.
On the other hand, “Time” is pretty solid in form and function. I do think it could use some tightening, but, despite initial appearances, I think it would be far easier to run than “Lith.”
Well, maybe not, but that’s only because I’m confident in the improvisational skill that I’m pretty sure “Lith” would require of me. Unless, as indicated earlier, all of the PCs start without the nifty weapons.
@el-remmen gets my recommendation for 3rd-place in this tournament. But I want to point out that, despite my criticisms, 1-hour is an insane challenge (which I have never personally faced, by the way — I suspect that I would be far too slow a writer/thinker to manage it).
I am genuinely impressed with the quality of both of these entries, and, in Iron Sky’s case, the 25-minute rewrite makes his entry all the more impressive.
