The Ironfang Invasion: Fangs of War

Game Master vayelan

In the war-torn nation of Nirmathas, far from the battlefront, the sleepy little town of Phaendar is rocked by the sudden appearance of an overwhelming foe! The heroes must flee their homes, saving whatever friends and supplies they can, as the monstrous Ironfang Legion and their insidious General Azaersi begin carving out an empire of monsters from the dregs of Nirmathas and Molthune alike. The heroes must guard their band of survivors in the wilderness, challenge a troglodyte tribe for safe haven, and face the brutal bounty hunters dispatched to end their flight to freedom!

Provision Points and Survival:

The resources you and the refugees need to survive are abstracted as Provision Points.

Food:

One Provision point sustains a person for one day (and consists of fluid and stable food). Consuming only half a Provision Point per day sustains a character, but leaves that person distracted and irritable. A person who eats only a half portion takes a -2 penalty on attack rolls, damage rolls, ability checks, and saving throws until they consume a full portion. A person who consumes half provisions for more than three days a week must begin making Constitution checks each day to avoid taking nonlethal damage.

Shelter:

A character can construct a temporary shelter sufficient for one Medium-sized creature with a successful DC 15 Survival check and one hour's work. For every 2 points by which this result exceeds 15, the shelter can accommodate one additional Medium creature. Sleeping without shelter leaves a person fatigued. Sleeping without shelter a second day leaves a person exhausted, which persists until the person can get a good night's rest.

Each day, an NPC can be assigned to perform one task around camp or generally employ skills on your behalf. The most useful such projects include:

Assist: NPCs can assist you or another NPC with any skill they are trained in.

Craft: With access to the necessary tools, NPCs can craft finished goods for you upon request, using normal Craft skill rules.

Forage/Hunt: If you spend a full day hunting/gathering and succeed at a DC 10 Survival check gain 1 Provision Point. For every two by which you exceed 10, you provide a single additional Provision Point.

Herds: NPCs can recover a single goat or sheep with a successful DC 16 Handle Animal Check. Then, captive animals can be maintained with a single successful Handle Animal check (DC = 10 + the number of animals) per day. A captive animal generates 1 Provision point every three days in the form of milk (and eventually cheese or butter), or can be butchered to immediately provide 2 Provision Points.

Scouting: NPCs trained in Survival or Stealth can scout the area for you.

Standing Watch: An NPC can stand watch, attempting Perception checks.

Support: One or more NPCs can follow you to assist you on your tasks.

Using Skills: NPCs can use any of their listed skills on your behalf.

Named NPCs:

Jet (Aristocrat 2): Jet keeps the resources maintained, making sure the refugees use the most perishable items first and helping people pack balanced loads. She knows many stories and songs that she shares with the others. So long as Jet oversees the cooking, the camp generates 1 additional Provision Point each day.

Kining (Expert 2): The stolid dwarf keeps everyone’s weapons sharp and true, and though she grumbles, she trains the refugees how to fight so they don’t panic. All the refugees gain a +1 bonus on initiative rolls while Kining remains with the group.

Oreld (Expert 2): Oreld gathers materials from the woods to make rudimentary potions. Every day, he can make 1 dose of bloodroot poison, one tanglefoot bag, or one vial of antitoxin, but doing so prevents him from working on any other tasks that day.

Over the course of this adventure, you will be able to promote certain NPCs. This will allow you to retrain an NPC to another NPC class or an additional level in their class. Increasing the NPC class gains them an increase in their attack and skill bonuses by 1 and adding 3 hit points.