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My group started the HoH on Pharast 16, so the following weekend was the Firstbloom fstival. I wrote up the following handout (in nice script on vellum) but I do not have any accounts to post pdfs, so I thought I would offer the text here. A big thanks goes to my friend Jeff Ibach and his Ultimate Toolbox for some inspiration.
The PC's had a great time on Fireday and then Starday before the zombies attacked. This was much more interesting than the town hall meeting.
Firstbloom Festival
Hear Ye, Hear Ye,
Citizens of Ravengro, come one, come all to the Annual FirstBloom Festival, 20-22 Pharast, 4711.
Schedule of Events
Fireday, 20 Pharast
4pm - Wedding of Erlantz & Iskra, Presided by Father Grimburrow, Central Gazebo
5pm - 9pm- Open Air Market and entertainers
6pm - Rooster Fights, Dragomir Farm
6pm - Cake bake Off, Bastista's Bakery
9pm - Performance of "Legend of the Shudderwood" by the Tamrivena Players
Starday, 21 Pharast
7am - Service, Temple of Pharasma
8am - 4 pm - Open Air Market and entertainers
10am - 12pm - Seed trading & harvest yield planning, Ravengro Grain Exchange
1pm 2 pm - Canterwall County Quilt Display, Town Hall
5pm - Ale Tasting and Brewing Competition, The Laughing Demon
7pm - Pharismin Candle Ceremony, Father Grimburrow, riverside
9pm - Battle of the Bards, Outward Inn basement tavern
Sunday, 22 Pharast
9am - Service, Temple of Pharasma
11am - Sausage Cook-off, Outward Inn Beergarten
12pm - Awards Presentation, Town Council, Central Gazebo
Best Cakes
Best Sausage
Best Flower Arrangement
Best Quilt
Best Ale
1 pm - Apprenticeship Announcements, Central Gazebo
Jorfa, smithng, Ravengro Forge
Luramin Taigh, Jeweler, The Silk Purse
Lau Feng, rope and netmaking, Master netmaker
Gabon Jasone of the Cooper's Guild of Ravengro
Alendru Ghoroven, wizarding
2pm:-Closing Remarks, Councilman Hearthmount, Central Gazebo
Also, I loved what some of the other posters did with the books (Spacelard I think was one) so I am throwing out the haunt research my players did. I esentially cut/pasted most of the lplayer friendly info with some basic flavor thrown in:
With the knockings of restless spirits erupting around us, I raised my hand and snapped my fingers thrice, loudly. The raps paused, then responded back in unison. As we called out questions to the dead lord of Montalov Manor, the knocks responded, and we began to unravel the mystery of Arno Montalov’s murder. Suddenly the temperature dropped to a deadly chill, and a pair of spectral hands seized my throat in an iron grip, just as they had seized the estate’s lord some eighty years before.
—Joseffy Cagliosamo, retired ghost finder
What follows in our notes is a summary of information based on our groups’ research into this often menacing occurrence commonly referred to as a “haunt.”
While decrepit asylums and rotting ancestral estates are the most obvious places for haunts, folklore is filled with ghostly encounters along lonely country roads and fog-shrouded moors, and even thriving inns and taverns are reliable receptacles for supernatural presences. In short, any location where unjust death, murder, and deceit have taken place is fair game for unquiet spirits. – Rudolph Van Richten, famed Varisian Vampire hunter
Haunts are quite difficult to detect, since they cannot be observed until they actually manifest. Luckily, the perceptive hunter will notice some change in the environment, whether their skin prickles due to a sudden change of temperature, or perhaps an odd smell suddenly wafts into the room, that will warn them and give them a moment to act. Professor Petros Lorrimar, “Famous Hauntings of Vieland”
Luckily an indoor (ruins or otherwise) haunt’s size is usually limited to the room in which it is located. More disturbing are the haunts of outdoor areas, which can be of truly frightful size and preponderance. It must be noted, however, that even an entire building may comprise a single haunt. - Ailson Kindler, “Memories”
Haunts hate the living, and it seems as if they can detect nearby life sources. The thing then triggers as a result of the approach of or contact with living beings. I postulate that some haunts may be tricked by effects such as “hide from undead” or perhaps “invisibility.” - Van Richten
The effects of a haunt are as varied as the effects in a Master Wizards grimoire. A haunt might cause a room to explode into f lames, infuse a chamber with fear, or even frighten a poor victim to death . There are recorded cases of smashing walls, icy chills, fungal growth, and much worse. – Yaoveh Iddusia, “On Borrowed Lives”
Much to our dismay we discovered that a neutralized haunt is not actually destroyed, and can manifest again after a period of time. To destroy a haunt, a specific action must be taken in the region to end the effect forever (such as burning a haunted house to the ground or burying the bones of the slaves who died on the site to create the haunt). This specific act is different for every haunt , although a number of nearby haunts often share the same destruction act. – Orpeum Kindler, “The Phantom of August House”
Tobin’s Spirit Guide described some of the more common haunts-
Rapping Spirit - The most common haunts are rapping spirits: unquiet dead with just enough substance to produce cacophonous knocking and loud bumps in the night.
Slamming Portal - Mysteriously locked or slamming doors usually indicate a supernatural presence protesting intrusion, and serve as stern reminders that explorers are unwelcome in the realm of haunts. These frivolous spirits are fond of not only locking the living out of rooms, but also locking them in, usually with deadly dungeon denizens.
Orbs - Common signs of ghostly infestation, these sentient spirits manifest as a lazily drifting cloud of translucent, glowing orbs. Scholars speculate that they represent minor animal spirits, ghosts who have faded into the ether with time, or even the souls of children.
Cold Spot - Cold spots occur at the sites of the traumatic deaths of creatures that lack the psychic fortitude to persist as true ghosts. These common supernatural indicators are known to roam within large complexes, continuously seeking relief from the chill of death by drawing warmth from the living.
Choking Hands - Whether lingering embodiments of lynched serial stranglers or the traumatic psychic manifestation of a hysterical public, these dangerous spectres lurk in dark alleyways seeking vengeance on the living.
Mad Monk - Often found haunting ruined monasteries, apparitions of monks are among the most commonly reported haunts. Stories of the enigmatic spirits are conflicted, as some report offers of chalices of healing elixir, while others tell of poisonous betrayal from the seemingly benevolent ghost’s gift.
Baleful Apparition - Bile seeps up from floorboards while horrific images of bloody claws or the gasping faces of drowned victims fade into view and back out again. Such are the haunts that infest torture chambers, ruined castles, and secluded, swampy groves.
Restless Spirit - Mysteriously moving furniture, flying objects and invisible attacks are common indications of haunts in noble villas and dank dungeons alike. Restless spirits typically manifest to protest the intrusion of mortals onto forgotten gravesites or the sacred grounds of a lost indigenous people.
Ghastly Whispers - Those driven insane by delving into dark and terrible secrets, as well as the ghosts of mad wizards who journeyed too deeply into the black essence of the Dark Tapestry, often manifest such haunts after departing the mortal realm.
Finally, I began (halfway through HoH) creating handouts for the treaure items the group found. I will continue to do this and post these when I have the opportunity:
From the bottom of the Lopper's Oubliette:
120 pieces of gold minted in Magnimar
Masterwork heavy crossbow, though the trigger mechanism seems broken, Lastwall
Masterwork longsword bearing Jorfa's trade mark, Ustalav
Masterwork heavy mace bearing an unknown trade mark, Five Mountains (Dwarven)
A small granite block, about four fingers square and polished to a dull sheen
Brass key ring, attached to a piece of ripped leather, with about 20 keys
From the Secret Alcove in the Guard Captain's Office:
6 suits of masterwork chain mail, Varisian design
6 suits of masterwork studded leather, Lastwall
4 masterwork longswords from the Damenhof Metalworks in Caliphas
2 masterwork heavy crossbows, Lastwall engraving
120 crossbow bolts, unremarkable
A polished wooden case bearing 10 high quality crossbow bolts with yellow fletching that look brand new
A wand of ash, polished with a bluish substance and tipped in brass
4 metal vials marked with a double red cross
60 foot rope of tightly woven tan and green fibers
Found in the skeleton in the torture chamber:
Tarnished brass key ring with about 20 keys
Tarnished brass metal disk, about a handspan in size, marked with swords crossed over a block and the words "Honorable Warden of Harrowstone Prison" inscribed in block script and stamped with the Seal of Ustalav
Found in the Splatter Man's Oubliette:
Masterwork longsword bearing no makers mark; this perfectly balanced weapon has the sharpest edge you have ever seen on a blade.
Masterwork dagger made of a silvery, lightweight metal, Lastwall
Silver ring inscribed with an Andoran Shield
....
From the Secret Alcove in the Guard Captain's Office:
6 suits of masterwork chain mail, Varisian design
6 suits of masterwork studded leather, Lastwall
4 masterwork longswords from the Damenhof Metalworks in Caliphas
2 masterwork heavy crossbows, Lastwall engraving
120 crossbow bolts, unremarkable
A polished wooden case bearing 10 high quality crossbow bolts with yellow fletching that look brand new
A wand of ash, polished with a bluish substance and tipped in brass
4 metal vials marked with a double red cross
60 foot rope of tightly woven tan and green fibers
...
Oh I do like the deatiles...good Idea.
Treasure from Clover's Crossing:
In the sinkhole:
A rotted leather backpack contains:
262 gold crowns minted in Lastwall
Silver Holy Symbol of Pharasma, damaged
Oil wrapped masterwork dagger bearing an inscription in Varisian: “To whom bleedeth the skulken dogs”
Cracked leather bound journal inscribed with “Balthazar Grimburrow” inside the cover.
The journal begins with dates 12 years ago and contains notes and thoughts regarding weapons and armor training. The next section contains detailed notes on the anatomy of orc kind, tactical information regarding combat with orcs, followed by notes of many battles the writer described in awful detail. Reading the journal further, you realize that the writer spent several years in Lastwall fighting with the orc hordes.
The writing style changes, however, and becomes more erratic and sloppy after one particular incident: “I survived. I do not know why or how. My entire host was wiped out, though only a few bodies remain on the blood soaked hill where we made our stand. I try to remember details, of the things with gray skin…fangs everywhere…why am I so hungry? Why am I alive? Why have I not been allowed my peace in Pharasma’s Boneyard? Burning with hunger, and the only meat nearby still wear the standards of Lastwall, my hosts. Perhaps just a little meat, to ease my starvation…”
“I need to go home…my father will help. Answer my question-why has Pharasma forsaken me? The meat was so good, so filling, I must eat my fill before the long road back to Ravengro.”
“Father turned me away! The haunted look in his eyes…he had no answers for me! I have nothing now. Why did he not help me? Damn you Pharasma! Still so hungry…”
“These caves…feel safe here, in the dark. Had more meat today…couldn’t eat it fresh, it needed to sit for a day first, so sweet. I suppose the farmer’s wife might miss him, but he will sustain me for weeks…”
“Hatred of Pharasma burns as hot as the hunger…I will have my revenge. The caves…lead under the town. I will bring them all to me. Show them their folly, that their god cares not for them…and I will feed…”
“Took months but their church is no more…my feeding is plentiful, and now I have a host again, troops for my bidding! I hear the word of my father in the fat old priest here, but he can help-magic that restores flesh to bone…sweet rotted meat for my troops…forever!”
Recovered from various standing buildings:
Most of the standing buildings were vandalized for the sake of destruction, but a careful search of the town reveals the following useful items:
Damaged teak box, lined with velvet, hiding a ceramic teapot, white with blue Tian designs
377 gold coins of various minting
422 silver coins of various minting
Assorted jewelry, damages, but still valuable for the stones and metal
6 foot tapestry depicting the Death of Aroden, stained, but of high quality
Masterwork net
A few notes from the caverns under Clover's Crossing:
Cavern Areas:
Entry: The entry cavern is the area at the bottom of the sinkhole. A DC20 Knowledge Engineering check will reveal that the natural cavern was worked to cause the collapse.
Tunnels: The tunnels are tight and claustrophobic. There are numerous cracks and crevices that provide a +5 circumstance bonus to creature’s stealth checks.
Fortification: This large room is used by the ghouls to trick and trap any creatures unfortunate enough to travel into their underground realm. (I used a camoflaged pit trap, a spiked pit trap, and a wall scythe.
Abattoir: The smell of rot and decay is overwhelming in this area. A large pit contains the gnawed skeletal remains of the townsfolk of Clover’s Crossing. Dried blood covers almost all surfaces, and Balthazar likes to write in the blood. His ravings are everywhere, describing his eternal hunger, his torment in the darkness, his pain of being turned away by his father, and incoherent ramblings of hate toward humankind.
Priest’s room: What remains of the former Priest of Pharasma exists in this room. The man is chained by hands and feet. The priest is allowed to create food and water for himself and heal to keep himself alive. However, the door is trapped. If a secret catch is not flipped (Perception DC 25) before the door is open, gears will begin to pull the leg and arm chains apart. If this happens, the PC’s will have 2 rounds to either break the chains (Hardness 10, HP 5, Break DC 26) or pick the locks (Superior lock, DC40) before the priest is torn asunder, killing him.
I was not sure how the rescue was going to play out, but the gnome oracle had a potion of reduce person and saved the old priest.
Items found in the bog on the road to lepidstadt:
• A blue glass bottle, sealed with wax marked “Vorkstag & Grines Chymic Works” is labeled “Drink for the cunning of a fox”
• A magnifying glass with a gold handle
• A small wooden box containing a set of brass weights. A plaque on the box reads "Albius Cantershrum, Moneychanger." The box still seems heavy when the weights are removed.
• A walnut traveling case with a pair of superior locks and their keys sealed in wax.
• A jar of pickled garlic cloves
• Skeletal remains
Mr. Pett does a fantatic job with details so there was not much to add here.
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I just realized that Google Docs allows PDF's. I slapped together a couple of anti-orc posters that my group will see on the gates to Tamrivema tonight. There is a half orc in the party, so that could be interesting...
Here is the link...
Go to this link.
I hope I pasted the link properly...
Oh, I used images from a Google images search for orcs, so if any of the art is copyrighted then I will take them down.
I just realized that Google Docs allows PDF's. I slapped together a couple of anti-orc posters that my group will see on the gates to Tamrivema tonight. There is a half orc in the party, so that could be interesting...
Here is the link...
Go to [url=https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B56ASfNXDAyCODdmMTM4MDAtZjA3OC00ODdjLWFmMzgtZDhmYzZlZDA4NWMx&hl=en[/url].
I hope I pasted the link properly...
Oh, I used images from a Google images search for orcs, so if any of the art is copyrighted then I will take them down.
Wow - wish I'd had these a month or two ago when my troop went through there. Great stuff. Sadly I'm already 1bout half-way through TotB, so most of this is water under the bridge for me, but the Clover's Crossing stuff gives me some good ideas (my group has been saying they want to go check it out eventually).
Go to this link.
Fixed for you. The "s" after http was causing it not to link.
Thanks for your hard work. It will come in handy.
Fixed for you. The "s" after http was causing it not to link.
Thanks for your hard work. It will come in handy.
Thanks for fixing the link. I will continue to post stuff as I get to it. We only play for a couple hours each Wednesday night, so our movement through the adventures is pretty slow.
Sure!
It was a surprise to see this link back up there....
I did not really have time to be creative with the item lists in TotB but here is a letter that answers the "how was Count Caromarc overpowered in his own home?"
This letter was discovered near the mummy's sarcophagus
My Dear Count,
I have enjoyed our most recent discourse on the nature of the spontaneous creation of certain types of undead. In my many years of study on the subject, I have also attempted to discern the secrets from my own study of Osirian remains, those hulking mummies so prevalent in that desert environ. Perhaps when I travel back to the north country I will regale you with stories of my exploits in that dusty land. It has been a long time since I have enjoyed your company in person. Although I have grown greatly from the student I once was, the time I shared with you and Petros in study and event disagreement is one I shall always cherish.
However, I digress from the purpose of this current missive. Some retainers of mine have business in Lepidstadt in the coming weeks, and I was hoping to impose upon your intellect and unique point of view. They will be carrying a rather curious Tome, and I would love to have your learned opinion of it. If it is not too much of an imposition, please expect visitors toward the end of the month.
Regards,
Adivion Adrissant
I use the Printina font for stuff from Adrissant and I print everything on parchment papers.
Also, there are some great threads here including Windspirit's GM aids and Evil Paul's scripts and magic item handouts. I have been using their stuff in my campaign.
I am working on a full conversion of Carrion Hill that I hope to post in the next couple of weeks.
OK, may as well post everything else currently in hand...
Again, I must stress, that I used the magic item card handouts created by Evil Paul and please use the material created by Windspirit.
Recovered from the body of Estovion Lazarov:
After defeating the crazed conjurer at the Stairs of the Moon, you recovered the following from his person:
Metal potion vial, stoppered with cork and marked with a double red cross
Hard leather scroll tube, containing a parchment with the spell dimension door
A thin wand wood, tipped in glass, and inscribed with the words “arturium acidae plunim”
A thick bronze chain around his neck bore an amulet stylized like the scales of a dragon
An highly polished ash crossbow bearing a makers mark from Lastwall, radiating faint magic
A high quality masterwork longsword with the mark of Damenhof Metalworks in Caliphas
Ring – simple iron band
Three clear glass vials containing a reddish powder that smells of iron and blood.
Small stone jar carved as a wolf fetish; appears to be very old
Ascanor Lodge master keys
130 Ustalavic gold crowns
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Estovion Lazarov Spell Compendium
A worn spellbook of black leather, smelling faintly of earth and wet dog, contains the following entries:
From the Fourth Cycle of Power: Conjure Tentacles of the Void
Charm Monster
Control Conjured Creature
Dimensional Escape Door
Conjure Monster
From the Third Cycle of Power: Assume Misty Form
Stroke of lightning
Summon Cloud of Sulfurous Odor
Conjure Monster
From the Second Cycle of Power: See In Darkness
Read Mind
Dust of Twilight
Alhadard’s Lazer Finger
Conjure Phase’s Webbing
From the First Cycle of Power: Hasty Feet
Protection of the Mage
Alhazard’s Energy Dart
Veiling Mist
Wizard’s Shield
Yes, they are just different names for the spells in the book...
Picked off the corpses of the Vollensag Stalkers
After defeating several of the werewolves from the Vollensag tribe, you collected the following from the bodies after they reverted to human form:
High quality steel dagger with a Lastwall hilt
High quality steel greatsword with markings from Magnimar
Black leather bracers with steel pegs and gold filigree, radiating faint abjuration magic.
Looted from the Corpse of the Whispering Way Agent
Iron Ring with the gagged skull symbol of the Whispering Way
Beat brown leather satchel containing a number of onyx gemstones
Rolled Map of Ustalav
This was the corpse in the Stairs of the Moon.
Looted from the adytum (secret room)
Lacquered wood case containing silver surgical tools, no markings
Thick black wand inscribed with silver strands of webbing
3 dirty glass jars containing herbs that smell of wolfsbane
[b]Taken from the Body of Mathus Mordrinacht[b/]
Metal flask marked with 3 red crosses
4 ceramic vials, sealed with red wax, marked Argentum
Intricately wrought medium chain shirt crafted of the most delicate, yet strong, metal you have ever seen.
Bastard sword from Lastwall, inscribed with sigils
Finely crafted dagger with a small red gem in the pommel
Fine dark blue cloak that gives off an aura of faint abjuration
163 Ustalavic gold crowns
I use the whole red cross thing on all the healing potions.
Taken from the body of Cybrisa Dorzhanev
Wooden flask sealed with wax. The contents smell of forest.
Metal flask marked with 3 red crosses
Wooden flask containing a restorative elixir
Wooden tube containing a scroll of summon nature’s ally of the third tier of power
Body Armour of deer leather that smells faintly of beeswax and radiates faint abjuration magic.
Intricately carved wooden holy symbol of Desna
Smooth, polished club of darkwood with a leather wrapped handle
Small bag containing various magical components
235 Ustalavic gold crowns
Brodyz, I love and am *ahem* "borrowing" several of your ideas and props for my group. Thanks for posting them!
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Brodyz, I love and am *ahem* "borrowing" several of your ideas and props for my group. Thanks for posting them!
Thanks for the bump. I created cards when I was doing my Carrion Hill conversion, and I continued with Wake of the Watcher, which is where my group is at the moment. I print them on cardstock and cut them out. When they discover something or "loot the body" I had out the parchment looking general description, but as they examine and identify items I hand them the individual ones.
Also, I was very much inspired by Evil Paul's thread here for making individual handouts. I had actually created this batch before he posted his Wake of the Watcher set, and I think many of his descriptions are really worth checking out.
So, here are my Wake of the Watcher handouts:
Temple of the Indomitable Sea 1
Temple of the Indomitable Sea 2
Mi Go caverns 3 (Dark Rider items)
The Book of Abstruse Geometries
This may be my last batch as, sadly, my players don't really read or appreciate them. They just zero in on the "functions as..." line.