I am three scenarios into Burnt Offerings at this point, and I'm curious as to how the game might benefit from a little more narrative. In this adventure, one player takes on the mantle - though it is, at best, a loose mantle - of GM. The adventure is a sort of proof-of-concept. If people like it, maybe I'll expand it for more players.
Feel free to ask questions and give advice. It's my first attempt at making a customer adventure, so God knows I need it.
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Villains/Henchmen: None, but keep the Werewolf close to hand. The final boss is the custom character "Werewolf Sire" described below.
Goal: Investigate and resolve reports of unlawful activity at the Farmhouse and the Apothecary. (The game ends when the Werewolf Sire is defeated.)
LOCATIONS AVAILABLE AT SCENARIO START
(Read these descriptions aloud as the game begins. The players have been recruited to resolve these two problems.)
Apothecary -
Description: There were two thefts reported this week - not exactly unusual for a shop in these parts - but yesterday, witnesses observed somebody requesting to speak with the alchemist concerning an urgent matter. This person became violent when he was turned down. He threatened to harm
the clerk and damaged a significant amount of the apothecary's inventory before he left. It is thought that the week's thefts and this incident may be connected.
Farmhouse -
Description: There have been multiple reports of livestock vanishing - one effected farmer claims that the same thing happened to her a few weeks ago, too, but she had assumed the missing cattle had merely escaped. Now that there have been multiple similar cases reported within the span of two days, you have been sent to investigate.
**The players may move between The Apothecary and The Farmhouse, but the two hidden locations are currently inaccessible, as the Player Characters do not know that they are relevant to the investigation.
HIDDEN LOCATIONS (Keep these secret, in the box, but with their decks made up in advance)
Deeper dungeon-
Prison.
During This Scenario:
Add one additional ally to each location after you have built the location decks as per their respective cards.
For any allies encountered, the content of those encounters is based on how many hidden locations have been revealed. Only one successful investigation is permitted per location. If an ally is encountered at a location where successful investigation has already taken place, roll 1D6 to determine if ally is hostile as below. If ally is not hostile, roll normally to acquire ally and banish as normal if unsuccessful.
When encountering an ally:
0 locations revealed: Roll 1d6 to "investigate" the location. If 4-6, the ally gives info referring to "Deeper dungeon" location as indicated under “Narrative Elements” below, and that location is revealed, and can now be visited as normal. If 1-3, fight ally at difficulty to acquire ally +3. For added flair, explain that on investigating his or her corpse, it is evident that the fallen NPC has teeth too long and pointed for a human, and sharp, hard, tapered nails.
1 location revealed: Roll 1D6. If 3-6, the ally gives info referring to "Prison" location as indicated under “Narrative Elements” below, and that location is revealed, and can now be visited as normal. If 1-2, fight ally at difficulty to acquire +4.
2 locations revealed: Rolls 1D6. If 4-6, follow the following instructions: if player is not at the prison, player is directed to the prison as indicated under “Narrative Elements” below, and The Werewolf Sire is shuffled into the prison location deck. If player IS at the prison, player is directed to the cell containing The Werewolf Sire as indicated under “Narrative Elements” below and encounters it immediately. If roll is 1-3, summon and fight a werewolf regardless of where you are.
If the Werewolf Sire is not revealed by an ally investigation, then he is revealed when all of the cards in the prison deck are explored. The justification for this is that after a thorough examination of the prison, the cell with the Werewolf Sire is found.
**Do not close locations. Instead, finished locations are "investigated". They remain open, and their remaining cards are not auto-banished. The "When closing" requirements become "When investigating" requirements instead, and they only apply to locations with no cards remaining on them. Success implies that the party has successfully figured out what the ally would have told them, merely by applying their own intellects to the available facts.
**The Werewolf Sire will escape to one of the four locations with the usual blessing-shuffle rule if undefeated. Remember, none of the locations are actually closed. If the Werewolf Sire escapes to a location that still has cards on it, shuffle him (or the appropriate blessing) into those cards.
Stats for The Werewolf Sire;
Werewolf card is used as foundation for this monster, but with the following alterations;
Before the encounter, each player at this location must roll 1D4. If a 1 or a 2 is rolled, take 1D4+1 slashing damage.
AND
Examine the top card of the blessings discard pile. If the card is a blessing of the gods, the difficulty to defeat is +3. If Blessing of Torag or Lamashtu, difficulty is +4. If neither, the difficulty is +6.
NARRATIVE ELEMENTS:
After encountering all cards in a location deck, that location is 'investigated' and a hidden location is revealed.
The following information can be revealed as a description of the findings of successful investigations:
FIRST SUCCESSFUL INVESTIGATION: You learn that an adventurer (or the ally) was foraging in the deeper dungeon for mushrooms when he encountered a cloaked figure who moved and cried out as though in great pain. When the adventurer tried to speak to it, the figure fled deeper into the dungeon than the adventurer was willing to go. (Reveal the Deeper Dungeon)
SECOND SUCCESSFUL INVESTIGATION: You learn that a villager (Or the ally) visited a relative in the prison, who told her a rumour: once in a while, the inmates complain about the sound of a horrible scraping, snarling sound vibrating through the walls.
THIRD SUCCESSFUL INVESTIGATION:
*If the successful player is in the deeper dungeon, the players find a set of manacles with the insignia of the prison (or else they encounter an ally who already found the same inside the deeper dungeon.)
**If the player is at the prison, they locate the cell containing The Werewolf Sire and encounter it immediately.
Once The Werewolf Sire is defeated, the investigations are resolved and the scenario is complete.
Explain that the following may be concluded – the man who caused trouble in the apothecary was one of the werewolves that you have faced, who was desperately seeking a cure to his lycanthropy and became violent when he was snubbed. The cattle at the farmhouse were similarly dispatched by the hungry animal instincts of the werewolves. A few weeks ago – or four, to be precise – this had happened before, but it had gone largely un-noticed. More werewolves have been sired locally since, hence the upswing in cattle vanishings.
The Werewolf Sire had locked himself in his cell for the three days of the month that he was subject to his curse.
