Dave Turner
First Post
Looks like Nemm's broken out of the "mundane ingredients" rut! I can't tell you how happy I was to read "slaughter of halflings"!nemmerle said:
[IRON DM] Winter '04 Tournament (IRON DM ANNOUNCED!)
- Thread starter el-remmen
- Start date
nemmerle said:I thought Wulf was the one who liked to make excuses. . .
Quit yer yapping and post your entry. . . damn
You want it - you got it. Complete with new nickname.
Winter Iron DM 2004 Tourney
Round One – Fourth Match-Up:
Enkhi-“frickin’”-du vs “Nice Try” Noskov
The Ingredients:
Foggy Moors
Venerable Paladin
Hobgoblin War Party
Blinding Snow
Hangman Tree
Burned Corpse
The Adventure:
Frost on the Moors
Adventure Notes:
This adventure is a short sidetrek, and is meant for characters of 4th to 6th level. It is best placed during PC “downtime,” either between adventures, or while traveling from one place to another. In any case, the adventure will begin in or near the village of Darromoor, and the whole of the adventure will take place within a few leagues.
Background
Life in Darromoor is – for lack of a better term – moist. On the nights it doesn’t actually rain, the village is blanketed in a mist so thick that the moorfolk call going out for a midnight errand as “going out for a swim.” Appropriately, the people of Darromoor are a somber and melancholy people used to dealing with their clammy lives with a longsuffering air.
However, things are not well in Darromoor.
Over the past few months, several of the outlying farms have had sheep go missing. At first, the shepherds thought it was simply a wolfpack, but when a handful of frightened and wounded stragglers made their way back into the village one misty morning with tales of raiders, they knew it to be much worse. Many of the farthest farms were abandoned, and the drovers moved their herds closer to the village and began competing for sparse pasture. Even then, whole herds of sheep have turned up missing, shepherds and all.
Worse, the weather has grown considerable colder over the past few weeks – unnaturally colder, some villagers say. Some say they have seen it snow, something that hasn’t happened in 15 years.
NPCs and Items of Interest
Amaranth: Venerable Paladin (Paladin 9)
Amaranth is one of the elder members of the Knights of the Vault, a loose organization concerned mainly with finding, sealing, and serving as the caretakers for objects they deem too dangerous for mortal man. It includes wizards, bards, and paladins who would like nothing more than to find and seal away all manner of evil magic – permanently if possible. (Aside: if you have ever seen Friday the 13th, the Series, you have a fairly good idea of what the Knights of the Vault do).
As a senior member of the order, Amaranth “manages” one of the safeholds of the Knights (one located only a week’s travel from Darromoor in the dungeons of Amaranth’s ancestral keep) while more junior members attend to the business of obtaining these dangerous items. Recently, another of his order offered to transfer an item – the Riming Stone – into Amaranth’s care. Amaranth accepted and sent a small group of competent retainers to serve as the courier for the transfer. When they did not return, Amaranth conferred with this counterpart, found that the item had been retrieved, and immediately set about finding them, leaving the relative comfort of his keep.
Advanced age has taken a toll on Amaranth, and his combat skills have suffered because of it – while Amaranth is higher level than the PCs, his strength, dexterity, and constitution have been significantly reduced (how reduced is up to the DM, but Amaranth should have significant ability penalties to overcome if he ends up in combat for some reason). His non combat abilities are still quite potent.
Stehk: Hobgoblin Fighter 6
Stehk leads a renegade Hobgoblin War Party. This tightly knit group of hobgoblins is well trained, well outfitted, and well commanded (in fact, if the DM has access to the Miniatures Handbook, Stehk is a Marshall 6). Stehk has multiple lieutenants, including a Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, and Cleric, all of 3rd to 5th level (the rest of his War Party is made of Warriors).
Stehk has his eye on Darromoor, and would like nothing more than to take it for himself (as a stepping stone to greater things). He is aware of Amaranth’s keep, and the livery of its soldiers, but has given it wide berth so far. However, when he saw a handful of men in Amaranth’s livery, he took a chance and ambushed them. To his surprise, he ended up with the Riming Stone.
Since Stehk has found the Riming Stone, he has grown bolder in his attacks. He plans on stepping up attacks on the outlying farms to congregate the villagers and take them all in one fell swoop.
The Riming Stone: (Possibly intelligent and definitely malignant Stone of Weather Control)
The Riming Stone is a stark white fist sized stone encircled with childish sounding, yet mildly disturbing, rhymes and limericks about cold, ice, frost, and the like. While in the possession of an Evil character, it automatically begins to affect the weather around it, gradually making its surroundings colder and colder (this effect is similar to control weather, but it happens far more gradually, covers a 20 mile radius circle, and cannot be directly controlled by the bearer). Additionally, it provides both Energy Resistance (Cold) and the ability to “freeze” a number of victims (identical to mass hold person) once per day. Finally, the Stone is capable of a very localized version of control weather that can provide a blizzard effect at one tenth of its normal range and duration.
The Riming Stone may have other properties (at DM’s discretion), but they are not necessary in this adventure.
The Hangman Tree: CR7 Hangman Tree
This creature sits in a copse of trees atop a hillock on the moors. Because of the chill caused by the Riming Stone it has gone dormant.
Adventure Hooks
PCs can get involved with the Riming Stone in a number of ways:
-Darromoor might be one of the PCs hometowns, a base of operations, or the like. This hook works best if the adventure is scaled downwards in level and it is an adventure that kicks off a campaign.
-The PCs might be either members of, or affiliated with, the Knights of the Vault. In this case, Amaranth’s colleague in the Knights asked them to search for the missing courier (though whether they are told of the Stone or not would be determined by how close they are to the Knights). Conversely, the Knights might be a rival organization to the PCs and actively oppose them – in fact they may be in Darromoor to take the Stone from the Knights and the hobgoblins beat them to it.
-The PC’s might be following the Hobgoblin War Party. If this is the case, they will meet Amaranth if they stop through Darromoor, or failing that, as a “random encounter” while traveling through the fog covered moors.
-Of course, if the DM desires, this adventure can use less mundane and more campaign specific methods to hook the PCs. This is the suggested method.
About Combat in the Moors
Fighting in the peat bog ridden and Foggy Moors surrounding Darromoor is difficult at best. The thick fog covers the land so completely that the DM is encouraged to use the recommended circumstance penalties for visibility (from the SRD/DMG). In addition, there are patches of fog so thick that they have an effect identical to fog cloud. In addition, the DM is encouraged to add numerous patches of both shallow and deep bog to most combat areas. Some of the shallower bogs might freeze over (and some cruel DMs might place seemingly safe but really thin patches of ice over deeper bogs…).
The hobgoblins are by now familiar with the safe trails in the moors. As such, they choose advantageous terrain whenever possible – feel free to put the PCs at a significant terrain disadvantage at the beginning of any combat the hobgoblins can prepare for.
In addition, this adventure includes a magically induced blizzard. As with the foggy moor, the DM is encouraged to use the full array of circumstance modifiers to skill checks and ranged attacks during this time.
Events
Events described below assume that the PCs arrive in Darromoor approximately two weeks after the first attack on the village’s outlying farm, about three weeks after Stehk captures the Riming Stone, and less than a week after Amaranth leaves his keep to search for the missing couriers.
-In Darromoor
How Amaranth approaches the PCs for help depends largely on how the PCs have been hooked into the adventure; however, Amaranth will definitely attempt to contact the PCs at some time if they come through Darromoor. He will be cautious of strangers, and will use his ability to detect evil on the PCs before asking them to accompany him. In any case, if the PCs come to Darromoor, while they are there they will receive news that another one of the outlying farms – this one not so outlying – has just been attacked, and at least one of the raiders was seen wearing the Amaranth’s livery.
At this, Amaranth will want to leave immediately and, if alone, will do just that. If he can, he will bring the PCs with him, but will leave alone if he must.
-The Not-So-Outlying Farm
The fog will be thick around the farmstead, and if the PCs investigate they will find it ransacked and empty, but basically intact. Upon inspection, the PCs can see (with the appropriate skill checks) evidence of a combat that ended with the farmsteaders being lead/carried/dragged off into the fog. If the PCs investigate the trail, it will lead them to the raiders encampment, atop a tor that peeks out over the fog.
The raiders are led by one of Stehk’s lieutenants (the Ranger), and are adept at hit and run tactics. They will fight until about half strength and then cut their losses and run, using pathways with which they are familiar. Once the hobgoblins become aware of the PCs, they will attempt to fight them from within the fog (the fog banks here fall into the fog cloud category if thickness).
Assuming the PCs win and investigate the hobgoblin’s camp, they will find the survivors of the farmstead raid, along with a number of wrapped corpses that are stacked like game. At least one of the survivors will have picked up enough from the hobgoblin’s conversation to know that this group was supposed to meet “the butcher” near a copse of trees to the west – those familiar with the area (most certainly Amaranth, and possibly homegrown PCs) will know where this is. The copse is less than a league away, over boggy ground.
-The Hanging Trees
The copse of trees rests on a lone hillock that rises above the moor. Camped among and right outside the copse are a group of hobgoblins – those that aren’t actively on watch are involved in helping the “Butcher” at his work, eating, sleeping, etc.
The “Butcher” (the hobgoblin cleric) has recently (two days ago) secured this copse of trees to serve as a base of operations for the raids that Stehk is planning. He has regular patrol and a handful of camouflaged bogs to trap intruders, as well as a few rockfall traps that can be easily triggered to rain stony death on PCs unlucky enough to be in the way.
One of the “Butcher’s” main tasks is to stockpile supplies collected from the raids. Thus the trees hang heavily with curing and drying carcasses (in various states of dressing), and while some of those carcasses are sheep, a few are human. A close inspection will reveal that the human carcasses look to have been cooked and charred, and when the PC’s arrive, the butcher will be have dressed some of the Burned Corpses.
Unbeknownst to the butcher, the copse of trees is also the home of a Hangman Tree. Because of the cold weather, the tree had gone into dormancy, and as such was indistinguishable from a normal vine covered tree. However, with the number of fires and bodies around the copse, the tree is awakening.
If combat results (as it probably will), the Butcher will support his troops with spells as best he can, drawing the PCs into the trees. If the PCs enter the copse of trees, he will set fire to several he has coated with pitch in order to trap them there and then flee if the battle goes against him. He has no compunction about leaving his troops behind (and indeed, his troops are likely to fight to the death once engaged). If necessary, he will use his scroll of animate dead (cast at 10th level) to animate as many zombies from the fallen as possible before he runs.
If the trees are fired, the Hangman Tree will awaken and attack everything in sight as it moves (very slowly) away from the fire. The Hangman Tree will not be one of the pitched trees.
If any of the raiders from the previous encounter survived and escaped, they will likely have gotten to the Butcher before the PCs. If this is the case, the hobgoblins will attempt to hide in a ravine and the PCs will find an empty but intact campsite. If the PC’s enter the copse, fire arrows will be used by the hobgoblins to light the trees, the Hangman Tree will awaken, and zombies (some likely still hung from tree branches) will animate and attack. The hobgoblins will charge to flush the PCs into the trees if possible.
-A Final Confrontation
If the PCs escape from or defeat the hobgoblins, they have a variety of ways to find Stehk’s headquarters (such as interrogation, tracking, etc).
Stehk’s camp lies in a small valley; it is a tented encampment and has a number of fortifications (halfwalls, wooden spikes, etc). This will be the largest force of hobgoblins the PCs have faced so far, and this battle should be the toughest they have to fight.
The hobgoblins’ chief, if any hobgoblins escaped from either of the two battles, is expecting the PCs. If not, the PCs will end up running into at least one patrol before they find Stehk himself, as Stehk has seen the fire from the copse and is on alert. In either case, if Stehk knows the PCs are coming he will be ready for them.
If Stehk has a chance, when the PCs begin their attack, he will call down a Blinding Snow on them in the form a blizzard using the power of the Riming Stone. Thus, ten rounds after the PCs begin an assault (or are spotted) they will be in the middle of a blizzard (see the SRD/DMG for modifiers caused by such a storm) that will last for another ten rounds. During this time, the hobgoblins will hunker down behind the stone walls built specifically for this occasion, lessening the effect of the storm, and cast spells, heal if possible, and generally make ready for a counter assault.
Stehk will attempt to command from safety (this is especially true if he is a Marshall) if possible, and when the PCs are in range he will hit them with a mass hold person from the Stone (freezing them in their tracks, so to speak). These hobgoblins will fight to the death or attempt to retreat. They will not surrender.
Aftermath
If the PCs recover the Riming Stone, Amaranth (or, if Amaranth dies, the Knights of the Vault) will want it returned. Depending on the way the PCs handle this situation, they could end up with either an ally or an enemy. In either case, the PCs will quickly realize that the Riming Stone is thoroughly Evil and growing in power (though if the Stone does not have an evil bearer, then the artificial winter it was creating will quickly abate).
Moreover, those familiar with hobgoblins will wonder why an apparently renegade band was in the moors – could it be part of a larger force?
Scaling the Adventure
While this adventure was written with PCs of 4th to 6th level in mind, the adventure can be easily scaled upwards (by increasing both the level and number of the hobgoblins and either advancing the Hangman Tree or having multiple such creatures in the copse). However, since this adventure is also suitable as a springboard for a campaign, it can also be scaled downward. Simply lower the numbers and levels of the hobgoblins, lower the number of total HD animated by the animate dead scroll.
********
Quick Ingredient Recap:
Foggy Moors: The countryside around Darromoor
Venerable Paladin: Amaranth, Knight of the Vault
Hobgoblin War Party: Stehk’s band of hobgoblins.
Blinding Snow: The blizzard caused by Riming Stone
Hangman Tree: A dormant creature awakened by fire in a copse of trees hung with corpses
Burned Corpse: The aforementioned corpses, possibly animated as hanging zombies as part of a hobgoblin trap
Quickbeam
Explorer
Cstyle:
Nice job, with what I felt were very difficult ingredients given their rather ordinary nature. I'm used to Blind Dire Apes and Frozen Waterfalls, not Evil Wizards and Haunted Roadside Inns.
Good luck as the wait for judgment begins...
Note to Enkhidu -- I feel your pain with regards to keeping the word count around 2,500.
Nice job, with what I felt were very difficult ingredients given their rather ordinary nature. I'm used to Blind Dire Apes and Frozen Waterfalls, not Evil Wizards and Haunted Roadside Inns
.Good luck as the wait for judgment begins...
Note to Enkhidu -- I feel your pain with regards to keeping the word count around 2,500.
Noskov
Explorer
nemmerle said:
Wanna be a hero? - A poor title for a long story for 1-4 PC's levels 1-5.
Backstory
Between two mountains on the edge of the foothills lies a beautiful, forested valley. Below the valley, where it pours below into the foothills, sits the town of Morton. Morton is a very isolated town, hundreds of miles from the nearest major city and any kind of government presence. In fact, the majority of residents are completely unaware or uncaring about who the current government, country, or passing monarch making claim to their town is. Rarely are they taxed and even more rarely do they pay. However, one thing the folk of Morton do know and care about is that, since its humble beginnings, Morton has always defended itself. That is, until the hobgoblins came.
Years ago, about 28 years to be exact, a tribe of hobgoblins began to make raids on the town. Now, having defended themselves against other invaders in the past, the people of Morton were far from easily defeated. However, they had never come up against anything like these hobgoblins before. They were organized and tactful. They planned far ahead and used strategy never before seen by the townsfolk. In truth, unbeknownst to the villagers, these hobgoblins were more then just a disjointed tribe. They were militaristic nomads from the desert regions whose way of life was to travel from town to town and plunder their living from other people. They were destructive and efficient in their professions and left very little in their wake.
Through the first few raids, the townspeople were able to hold their own with only a few casualties. However, they knew they could not withstand the siege long. For the first time in its history, Morton had to enlist the help of another. Truly unsure whom to turn to, they happened upon what could only have been a gift from the gods. A powerful paladin, Lord Vendor Pox, was making his way through their lands. They ask him for his help in defeating the hobgoblins and he gladly offered. He went into the town and strengthened the defenses and trained some of the adept to fight. On the sixth night, when the moon was in its fullest, they advanced on the hobgoblins. They charged and took them by such surprise, the fiends fled into the valley before they were able to organize a counter attack. The battle lasted long and was more gruesome then any the people had ever known. By next morning, the townsfolk didn’t know if they were to expect the triumphant return of their heroes, or the wrath of the hobgoblins to fall upon them. Fortunately, the latter was the case.
After the battle with the hobgoblins, the ageing paladin decided that his time adventuring had been long and fruitful. He was getting tired and it seemed that only his god’s divine intervention could have brought him to such a wonderful place. The people of the town loved and respected him and he had found a wonderful place a couple of miles off in the forested valley, where they had slain the hobgoblins, to make his home and start a temple to his god.
For the next few years, all was back to normal. The people of the village helped Vendor build his temple and a cozy home in the valley above. At first, he was seen often in the village and was very involved with the townsfolk. The children sat on his lap and listened as he shared stories of his adventures through the lands and of his vast achievements. Most of the single women did what they could to get his attention, though they never received more then polite refusals. Through the years, he came around less and less. The townsfolk, forever indebted to him, decided that he was living out his years and to do nothing more then leave him in peace.
Nearly a year passed after Lord Vendor stopped showing around town and most thought he died happily in his wooded home. They decided that, in his honor, they would write texts and pass oral histories of the savior of Morton. Such stories were being told to the children one night when a shriek came from the valley above. The noise was so inhuman and terrifying that the entire town thought only a slain god could make such a noise. Soon after, an enormous snow storm began to onslaught the town. However, it was soon discovered that it was not snow that was befalling them but rather ash from a forest fire that had erupted in the valley. Soon the entire town was consumed in blinding ash. The fire raged for days and soon everyone in Morton was wondering if the town was going to be destroyed in flame. They began packing their things and getting ready to move the entire town when suddenly a figure in blackened armor came bursting from the woods into the town. There was no question as to who it was, they recognized him immediately. The paladin whispered only one word before collapsing to the ground in front of them. There has never been a consensus as to what he said that day, but most say to look in his eyes from that day on was to look into the empty eyes of the dead.
Soon after the arrival of the paladin, the ash subsided and, although covered in mud and slightly flooded from the snow runoff from the mountains that doused the flames of the fire in the first place, the town was intact and eventually went back to the way is was before. Lord Vendor Pox, though occasionally speaking to some residents, never spoke of what happened in his home. He took residence in a house near the edge of town and lived off the food and resources the people provided him.
Setup
The adventure takes place nearly a quarter century later. The town has been mostly returned to normal since then. The paladin is still alive and the town can be treated as any small town with a population of about 500 or so with the following exceptions:
1.Everyone knows the legend of the hobgoblins and the paladin.
2.The story of the fire is known, but rarely talked about. The part about scream is not so well know.
3.The word whispered by the paladin has no real relevance unless you want it to. You may make it what you want to enhance the story if you so choose.
4.No one, under any circumstance, travels into the valley above. Since the fire, it has been a foggy swamp that is considered very haunted.
5.No one has actually spoken to Vendor in years. He is considered by most to be fairly unstable. Although indebted to him, most feel uncomfortable with him.
Hooks
There are two possible scenarios that can be used to hook the PCs into the adventure:
1.The PCs are residents of the village and grew up with all the legends and folklore that come with it. (This works best if one PC is in love or engaged to some local lady.)
2.They are traveling through the area somewhere near the village, the scenario below happens, and they go to the village for help.
Either way, one of the PCs has been having strange dreams of a ghostly woman lately. She is graceful and beautiful in every way. She never speaks, but the dreams are always accompanied with numerous, soft, female whispers that cannot be made out. The dreams are puzzling and draining on the PC and get to the point of not allowing sleep. Eventually, while walking through town with the other PCs, a ghostly figure appears in front of the PC. He instantly recognizes her as the woman in his dreams and all are shocked to the point of immobility. She whispers to him “You are blind to all others. Come to me and cleanse your eyes in the black pond.”, then opens up her hand in front of his face and reveals a handful of soft, powdery snow. She blows the snow into his eyes and disappears before them. From that point on the PC is slightly blinded (apply -2 to whatever things you may think apply), also, if the PC looks at any female, they instantly begin to look as though they are being burned alive without flames. The skin first shows redness and boils, then begins to split and burst showing the flesh below. All the while blackening and charring. In his mind, the PC hears her screams and tortured cries. He may look as long as he wishes, eventually he will see nothing but a burned corpse before his eyes, gurgling and convulsing in pain. If he looks away and then back to the same female, the process starts all over again.
At this point, the legend of the fire may come to mind for some of the PCs if they grew up in the village. It may be best to correlate the screams the PC hears to the scream in the legend before the fire broke out. Either they can find this out (and about the legend if they are out-of-towners) by talking to someone who mentions the scream for them, or they figure it out for themselves if they happened to know that part of the story.
Eventually (hours at most), it should begin to make its way around town about what’s happened. Not much is know or can be done about the situation on that particular day, so the PCs retire to the town infirmary to take care of their poor friend.
The Meat
Later that night, while sleeping (or not if you want) the door burst open. In walks the now venerable paladin (Although, whether from the village or not, they may not recognize him). There is a light in his eye that pierces like daggers and he seems more animated then any that may have known him since the fire have seen. He quickly grabs up and begins inquisitioning the unfortunate PC. What the PC says is mostly irrelevant as long as he tells him what she said. Upon hearing this, the paladin collapses into a chair and begins to sit quietly. At this point, the PCs may notice how disheveled and poorly kept the man is. He looks as though he hasn’t slept in days or even weeks and he has sores and bruises allover his body.
After some thought, the man jumps up and tries to straighten himself out in what can only be described as a pathetic attempt to seem cordial before the group and introduces himself as Lord Vendor Pox, paladin of (enter chosen god here). He asks the group to forgive his appearance because he has been lacking sleep for the same reason as the PC. He tells them that he knows the meaning of what the woman said and offers to guide the PCs to where they need to go to heal their friend. He mentions, of course, that the afflicted PC must come too because he needs to be bathed in the pond to heal his malady. (If any PC asks why the paladin doesn’t heal him, have him reply that it’s simply out of his realm of expertise.) Any PCs that grew up in the town are very likely to look well upon this man. Even though he has been an enigma as of late, he is a hero to the people and a legend in his own time. If the PCs are not of the town, I guess they can choose not to go with him, but, even if they find what they are looking for, nothing will happen without him there.
The PCs are rushed to get moving immediately by Vendor. He says that they only have a small amount of time to catch her before the condition in his eyes is permanent. (PC’s may start asking questions about why he knows so much. He’ll ignore them and brush them away for the most part. What information he does give is usually ambiguous.)
Vendor begins to take them towards the valley into the haunted moor. Any PC that notices (they must be locals) are encouraged by Vendor. He’ll tell them that it is the only way to heal their friend and that the woman is the haunt of the swamp and she has shown through her actions that she is weak and it’s his duty to smite her now, etc. Just keep them moving toward the swamp.
Once they reach the swamp, they immediately begin to hear drumming. The drumming is very loud and rhythmic and seems to have no source except in their heads. They also begin to hear female whispers coming from what seems like the mist around them. They are particularly intense for the PC who was “blinded”. Some of the PCs start to think they are seeing things from the corner of their eyes, but never a solid look….except for the blinded PC, who catches whispy glimpses of the women throughout the mist. She seems to be leading him.
I suppose it may be possible for any or all of the PCs to be having second thoughts. The place is quite obviously haunted and not putting off good vibes. If, at any time, one of the PCs stops moving for too long or attempts to turn back, the drumming increases in volume and tempo and the mist before his eyes takes the shape of an angry, slightly decayed, ghostly hobgoblin, with only his waste up discernable from the mist. The hobgoblin will quickly appear about 5ft in front of the PC and make the face of an angry roar and charge through the PC in a blinding white streak of frost, dissipating as it hits. The PC hit suffers the damage and affects of a chill touch spell as well as temporarily blinded (1d6 rounds). The hobgoblin spirits refuse to allow the PCs to leave the swamp and are moving them in the same direction the woman is leading them. There is no way to fight the hobgoblins and to escape, they must suffer and live through one attack per round as they flee. Keeping in mind that Chill Touch reduces strength, this could easily kill them if they are not close enough to the border. If the PC’s flee, the paladin, who is ignored by the hobgoblins (he explains it’s because of his holy status) comes back and continues to beg them to help him destroy this evil. The PC has no chance of fixing his affliction unless they fulfill the quest.
If the PCs continue forward without ever looking back, they will eventually notice that they are being ushered by disembodied hobgoblins all around them. If they ever stop to look, they are affected as above. If they are continuing along their way, but look at one too long, it will appear threateningly near them and attack if they stop or turn around.
Eventually they reach a clearing in the swamp where a burned out, but still standing temple beside an enormous, charred tree near a pond. At the base of the tree they can see the burned remains of a humanoid with a silver sword through its body, as well as another charred corpse still hanging from a noose in the tree. Once in the clearing, the hobgoblins can only be seen in the mist surrounding the clearing. They will attack anyone who tries to leave at any time.
The blinded PC, however, collapses to the ground in a comatose-like state. He begins to see visions of the clearing before the forest fire. The tree and everything around is in full bloom. There’s soft grass in the clearing and the women is more beautiful then he could ever imagine. She’s there with a man. After looking harder, he realizes, it’s Vendor. They are embracing each other and smiling blissfully. Then, another man enters the scene and Vendor’s look immediately gets grim, while the woman’s face brightens. Images seem to flash and progress for some time until we come to a scene where Vendor is confronting the women near the tree. He is accusing her of having eyes for the other man and walking toward her menacingly. The other man steps up and gets in the three begin to argue. Vendor saying they are together against him and they pleading they are not. Eventually the argument turns sour as Vendor moves to strike the woman. The man steps in the way and Vendor pulls his sword and pins him to the tree. The woman lunges for him, but Vendor easily subdues her. Flash to nighttime scene of woman standing on log below the tree with the rope around her neck. She’s pleading for her life and cursing Vendor. She tells him he cannot kill a creature of the forest (dryad) and that she will haunt him forever. Vendor removes the log and she hangs from the tree. Moments later, she is still trying to yell to Vendor (with much more difficulty this time). Finally, the (now ex) paladin staggers from the temple cursing the women for making his god disavow him. He hurls a lantern at the tree and it explodes into flame. The women lets out the most horrid scream the PC has ever heard as her flesh begins to burn from her body, even though she is not being touched by flame. The forest around the area begins to burn and the paladin flees in panic. After a couple seconds of darkness, he finds himself standing face to face with the dryad and she says to him. “Take me into the black pool and wash the death from your eyes, my love.”
As the PC is having this vision, the other PCs may do as they wish, aside of leaving the area. The paladin is moving toward the tree and asking for help removing the body from the rope. The PCs may or may not help. If the PCs try and stop him, he will attack them. (Make him a decent challenge for the PCs, however keeping in mind he is old). If they do not attack him, they can attend to their companion. At the same time, the PC having visions will wake up. What he takes from the visions is up to him. It is up to him/them as to what happens at this point.
They can:
1.Let the paladin go and just watch.
Vendor will eventually get the body down. When he does, he will take her into the temple and place her upon the alter. After some dramatics, the body will be reanimated and will look like her former self. She will attack Vendor and try and drag him into the black pool with her. While by the tree, the other body will reanimate as well and help. If the PCs choose to attack her and/or the other body, run the battle accordingly. The woman is a dryad and the man can be any type of undead you wish to use, based on the level of the group. Once they are slain, the afflicted PC can douse his eyes in the water and will be cured. The curse on the swamp is lifted and all is back to normal. Vendor can go insane, kill himself, or attack the party, it’s up to you. If they choose to help the dryad, go to the next option.
2.Stop Vendor and do what they will with the bodies.
At this point, hopefully it’s clear that the PC who was blinded needs to take the dryad’s body into the water and douse his head to have his curse lifted. In order to do this, they must kill Vendor. If they do the PC can then take the dryad into the pool. Once in there, she will turn into her former self and try and charm the PC to stay in the pool with her (“forever, my love”). If the charm fails, she will just try and keep him there and drown him. Either way, the other PCs will eventually notice. They can do whatever they like at that point. Either the PC will drown and the curst of the swamp is lifted and no longer haunted, or they kill the dryad and the same effect happens. If the PC survives, he can douse his eyes in the water to heal them.
Wrap up
The townspeople should be awful mad at them for killing the paladin, unless they can really convince them of the truth. If they do convince the town of the truth, which should be no easy task, they can be heroes or whatever.
All battles can be easily upgraded or downgraded accordingly to fit the level of the PCs.
Foggy Moors - Foggy, haunted swamp and very obscure use as the hobgoblins being from a desert region and being nomads. (Moor is the name for nomadic Arabs)
Venerable Paladin - Lord Vendor Pox
Hobgoblin War Party - War party attacking city before being killed by Vendor and their ghostly apparations that the swamp haunted by the dryad used to force the PCs toward the hangman's tree.
Blinding Snow - Blinding ash coming from forest fire. Snow blown into PC's face to "blind him to other women" and the effect of the hobgoblin spirits when they attack.
Hangman Tree - Next to the dark pond and the paladin's temple. Dryad's life tree and place where she was hung and her accused lover killed.
Burned Corpse - what all women who PC looks at turn into and the two bodies the paladin killed.
el-remmen
Moderator Emeritus
Judgment: Round One - Fourth Match-Up: Enkhidu vs. Noskov
There are times when I really dread writing up these judgments. I read (or almost finish reading) both entries and I just want to declare one the winner and not bother with all this damn expostion because it just seems so damn ponderous to pick the things apart. But I have my duty as IRON DM judge so I must endeavor to get past this inertia and get my hands dirty.
Okay, first of all I am going to say this very plainly so that everyone understands and while i have made the same mistake in the past as a contestant - as a judge it so damn painful to witness that I plan to be extra careful about it from now on - but SEVEN PARAGRAPHS OF BACKGROUND IS TOO MUCH FOR AN IRON DM ENTRY. But the truth is that Noskov's 3500 words of IRON DM entry was exhausting for me to get through, and more than once my eyes glazed over and I just wanted to stop because it seemed so fractured and poorly put together.
There were seven paragraphs of background, but never once was the dryad mentioned in it, and yet she is what the PCs are supposedly going to quest for and save. When you've had that much expostion and there are still things that have yet to be explained in the "meat" of the adventure you have clearly done something wrong.
But there are a ton of questions and short-comings with Noskov's entry:
- There is no attempt to explain why the particular PCs is affected by the curse.
- The paladin finding out about the cursed PC is dependent upon word of it going around town, which is not guaranteed - though I guess PCs are likely to go seek out the paladin for advice and aid if they know or learn about him.
- Why did the hobgoblins become ghosts? As far as I can discern from the Tolstoy-esque introduction, their destruction had nothing to do with the dryad and the paladin's fall from grace. And do I even need to add the fact that the ingredient was "Hobgoblin War Party", not "Hobgoblins Ghosts" and they are not much of a war party when the PCs get to interact with them?
- The hobgoblin ghosts are nothing more than a means of rail-roading the PCs, and seem like quite a near impossible challenge to overcome for any group - even a 5th level group, which this adventure is supposed to be balanced for at the upper end.
- A hangman tree is a monster, not just a tree someone was hanged from. Though the ingredient need not have been the monster, it could have simply have been a tree someone liked to hang people from - but that was not quite the case either.
- Why does the dryad want to drown the cursed PC? What does that have to do with anything? Why does destroying her or having the PC be drowned have the same effect of lifting the curse? Should it not be the paladin?
But, I have not mentioned Enkhidu's entry at all yet, how does it stack up against Noskov's?
Well, simply put, it's better. Enkhidu has a great knack for creating a location PCs can interact with and using the adventure as a tool of simulationist style of play - that is, where interaction with and discovery of the setting is a fun activity in an of itself.
Though, I have to say before I go any further I could not help but snicker like Beavis when I read "Riming" stone. I guess that is supposed to be pronounced like "rhyming", but you know where my mind went, you dirty bugger!
Enkhidu does a good job of intertwning both a broader mystical aspect to the adventure and a local and humanistic concern of the farmers/shepherds and the hobgoblin attacks. It is that kind of concise and cohesive thinking and presentation that makes an IRON DM entry a joy to read, even if some of the individual elements are not as strong as they could be.
But Enkhidu's ingredient use ranges from adequate to strong - which is always good. the venerable and wise paladin as part of an order that seeks to destroy and/or hide away evil or corruptive magical items is a great idea, and the ambitious hobgoblin leader with his war party who takes his opportunity to strike a blow against the Knights of the Vault (have I mentioned that i am a fan of adventures that introuduces unique orders and cabals and organizations?) and get ths magical stone that will bring the blinding snow (which I am glad was actual snow as opposed to ash - Yep, that was an example of Noskov being too clever for his own good) al lworked well.
Enkhidu also does a good job of breaking up the war party into various camps that accomplish various tasks, which sets up the opponents as strategically savvy, and allows the PCs an opportunity to come up with their own counter-tactics. The dormant hangman tree was also a nice touch that would sow chaos in one of what are bound to be great combats.
And of course, the description of the Foggy Moors, was a good use of environment to affect fights and the search for the hobgoblins. Too many DMs ignore or forget about environment which is a shame - it makes the difference between a boring trade off of blows until the person with the least hit points and worse armor class falls and an actual intriguing and engaging fight.
And while the Burned Corpses were naught more than window dressing, they were good window dressing that sets the tone for the savagery and cruelty of the hobgoblin foes.
And thus, it is pretty clear that
The winner goes on to face C-style in the next round.
There are times when I really dread writing up these judgments. I read (or almost finish reading) both entries and I just want to declare one the winner and not bother with all this damn expostion because it just seems so damn ponderous to pick the things apart. But I have my duty as IRON DM judge so I must endeavor to get past this inertia and get my hands dirty.
Okay, first of all I am going to say this very plainly so that everyone understands and while i have made the same mistake in the past as a contestant - as a judge it so damn painful to witness that I plan to be extra careful about it from now on - but SEVEN PARAGRAPHS OF BACKGROUND IS TOO MUCH FOR AN IRON DM ENTRY. But the truth is that Noskov's 3500 words of IRON DM entry was exhausting for me to get through, and more than once my eyes glazed over and I just wanted to stop because it seemed so fractured and poorly put together.
There were seven paragraphs of background, but never once was the dryad mentioned in it, and yet she is what the PCs are supposedly going to quest for and save. When you've had that much expostion and there are still things that have yet to be explained in the "meat" of the adventure you have clearly done something wrong.
But there are a ton of questions and short-comings with Noskov's entry:
- There is no attempt to explain why the particular PCs is affected by the curse.
- The paladin finding out about the cursed PC is dependent upon word of it going around town, which is not guaranteed - though I guess PCs are likely to go seek out the paladin for advice and aid if they know or learn about him.
- Why did the hobgoblins become ghosts? As far as I can discern from the Tolstoy-esque introduction, their destruction had nothing to do with the dryad and the paladin's fall from grace. And do I even need to add the fact that the ingredient was "Hobgoblin War Party", not "Hobgoblins Ghosts" and they are not much of a war party when the PCs get to interact with them?
- The hobgoblin ghosts are nothing more than a means of rail-roading the PCs, and seem like quite a near impossible challenge to overcome for any group - even a 5th level group, which this adventure is supposed to be balanced for at the upper end.
- A hangman tree is a monster, not just a tree someone was hanged from. Though the ingredient need not have been the monster, it could have simply have been a tree someone liked to hang people from - but that was not quite the case either.
- Why does the dryad want to drown the cursed PC? What does that have to do with anything? Why does destroying her or having the PC be drowned have the same effect of lifting the curse? Should it not be the paladin?
But, I have not mentioned Enkhidu's entry at all yet, how does it stack up against Noskov's?
Well, simply put, it's better. Enkhidu has a great knack for creating a location PCs can interact with and using the adventure as a tool of simulationist style of play - that is, where interaction with and discovery of the setting is a fun activity in an of itself.
Though, I have to say before I go any further I could not help but snicker like Beavis when I read "Riming" stone. I guess that is supposed to be pronounced like "rhyming", but you know where my mind went, you dirty bugger!
Enkhidu does a good job of intertwning both a broader mystical aspect to the adventure and a local and humanistic concern of the farmers/shepherds and the hobgoblin attacks. It is that kind of concise and cohesive thinking and presentation that makes an IRON DM entry a joy to read, even if some of the individual elements are not as strong as they could be.
But Enkhidu's ingredient use ranges from adequate to strong - which is always good. the venerable and wise paladin as part of an order that seeks to destroy and/or hide away evil or corruptive magical items is a great idea, and the ambitious hobgoblin leader with his war party who takes his opportunity to strike a blow against the Knights of the Vault (have I mentioned that i am a fan of adventures that introuduces unique orders and cabals and organizations?) and get ths magical stone that will bring the blinding snow (which I am glad was actual snow as opposed to ash - Yep, that was an example of Noskov being too clever for his own good) al lworked well.
Enkhidu also does a good job of breaking up the war party into various camps that accomplish various tasks, which sets up the opponents as strategically savvy, and allows the PCs an opportunity to come up with their own counter-tactics. The dormant hangman tree was also a nice touch that would sow chaos in one of what are bound to be great combats.
And of course, the description of the Foggy Moors, was a good use of environment to affect fights and the search for the hobgoblins. Too many DMs ignore or forget about environment which is a shame - it makes the difference between a boring trade off of blows until the person with the least hit points and worse armor class falls and an actual intriguing and engaging fight.
And while the Burned Corpses were naught more than window dressing, they were good window dressing that sets the tone for the savagery and cruelty of the hobgoblin foes.
And thus, it is pretty clear that
ENKHIDU wins handily. I felt he squeaked by in the Holiday IRON DM Newbie Tournament, but if he continues with such strength I can see him making the finals easily. As for Noskov, he needs to examine his entries with a more critical eye if he hopes to get past the first round next time he plays and to be less wordy.
The winner goes on to face C-style in the next round.
Last edited:
Wulf Ratbane
Adventurer
Warning:
Judgement is uber-nemmerlesque.
Judgement is uber-nemmerlesque.
