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Back in the Preamble thread a few mentioned an interest in my one-session intro to Diamond Lake. Here it is without maps and with truncated stats:
Age of Worms
A Night on the Town
A Free City merchant, Terris Culvert, made the mistake of bringing his sons and two of their friends on a business trip to Diamond Lake. While Terris was dining with Gelch Tilgast and discussing various business matters, the four teen-aged boys decided to leave the estate and check out the night life against Terris’ orders. Several hours later, after the boys failed to return, Terris dispatched a servant of his to find them. The servant returned empty handed, only discovering that the boys had visited several Diamond Lake establishments, but were no longer at any of them.
Terris knows better than to expect anything from Sherrif Cubbin, and follows Gelch’s recommendation to hire some local would-be adventurers to fetch the boys from whatever mess they got themselves into.
The servant, Gulmber Hunder, reports that the boys visited a few Diamond Lake nightspots – someone saw or interacted with the boys at each of the following places; The Hungry Gar, Lazare’s House, The Spinning Giant and possibly The Feral Dog. Gulmber isn’t much of a detective; his investigation was timid and ended at the door of The Feral Dog, he didn’t ask what times the boys were around at any of the locations or who they might have met with.
Terris offers the adventurers 25 GP each and whatever is left of the 200 gp the boys took to find them and return them as soon as possible.
When the adventurers arrive, it’s nearly 1am; the boys left the inn almost seven hours earlier after filching nearly 200 gp from Terris’ traveling money chest. The boys first visited The Hungry Gar, ordered extravagant meals and far too much wine. Two hours later, they left the restaurant and wandered over to Lazare’s House. In less than an hour they were asked to leave, Dannath, the hostess, didn’t want drunken teenagers losing their parent’s money there or the subsequent problems such an event would cause. A brief visit to The Spinning Giant, where they left after one round of ale (a patrol returned and the lads felt both ignored and creeped out by the aggressive advances of Primmith), resulted in a trip to The Feral Dog. It’s likely the adventurers will start at the Feral Dog, but that will lead into an investigative dead end, even though this is where the lads really landed in trouble.
Thurbiss Callahorn, recently fired-miner and thug, saw the boys as an opportunity to get the coin needed to leave Diamond Lake far behind. He was at the Gar when the boys arrived, visiting an ex-girlfriend, L’weeze Hallithel, to ask for money. Seeing the obviously wealthy boys, he hung around until L’weeze left work. When he asked her about the boys, she sensed he was up to no good and refused to help. Thurbiss beat her to unconsciousness, took her tip money (including a 5 gp tip from the boys) and went to fetch his buddies; all miners with aspirations of adventuring careers. They dressed up in their “adventuring gear” and returned to town in time to see the boys heading to the Spinning Giant. Following them, they also managed to order one round of ale before the patrol returned and would have left anyway after a few of the soldiers recognized Thurbiss, but were lucky that the boys took this as a reason to leave as well. Falling into step with the lads, Thurbiss convinced them to go to The Feral Dog, something the boys wouldn’t have done without five tough-looking, friendly men they assumed were associated with the local militia.
Thurbiss got the boys drunker and then led them out to an abandoned shed he and his gang have been calling home for a few months. The boys finally tweaked to trouble as they neared the shed and resisted. Thurbiss and Gulgh launched a sudden attack on the teenagers, Thurbiss using a sap and Gulgh breaking the younger Culvert boy’s arm. One of the gang, Gerzy, was very uncomfortable with this, also only realizing Thurbiss’ plan at this moment. His fear of Thurbiss and Gulgh is such that he goes along with the plot, hoping to free the boys and escape before things get any worse. A short stay in their shed is followed by a trip to the home of local letter-writer, Smialczy (Exp2). They wake the older man up; buy some cheap paper, ink and a pen from his and leave after they let the insistent scribe make a sling for the injured Chezzik. Gerzy “lets slip” that they’re going to Dead Hole. Smialczy isn’t the most grounded individual, doesn’t really get what’s going on and goes back to sleep.
At the point where the adventurers should encounter the gang, Thurbiss is crafting his ransom demand, while the rest of his gang waits and keeps watch. The boys, Nerris Culvert, Berrot Vertist, and Ferlis Derth are scared, drunk and increasingly ill as their hangovers start to kick in. Chezzik Culvert is moaning, hung-over and in pain from his broken arm. Given any opportunity, Gerzy will surrender. Brekk and Sherkel will also surrender if things look bad. Gulgh will fight to the death and Thurbiss will threaten to kill one of the bound and helpless boys unless the adventurers surrender.
Locations:
The Hungry Gar: The lights are still on at the restaurant during the adventure. A knowledge: Local (DC) 5, is enough to know this. The cook found L’weeze behind the building while he was cleaning up. He and another waitress await a healer from one of the local temples when (or if) the adventurers arrive. L’weze will gladly tell anyone what happened after she receives any healing (she’s at -2, 4 of that non-lethal). She knows Thurbiss currently lives in the abandoned shed outside town with his 4 mining buddies. She also knows they want to be adventurers, but the lack of any arcane or divine spellcasters willing to join with them holds them back. She thinks Gerzy probably won’t be with them in this.
Lazare’s House: Trevant and Dannath both recall the boys visit. They were starting to get drunk and Dannath asked them to leave, suggesting The Spinning Giant as a friendlier place for what they wanted to do.
Spinning Giant: Nimiscent vaguely recalls the boys coming in (Silky Free City lads, all their parents’ coin with nothing to show their own worth yet. Aye, I recall them. They bought a round – Primmith served ‘em. Ya got questions, ask her.) Primmith recalls them as well, especially the elder Culvert son, who she thought was quite handsome (and held all the coin). They left too quick for her liking, after a patrol came in. A gold piece or two will remind her that a group of armed miners were in and out as quick as the boys and that one of the soldiers still at the Giant recognized one of the miners. The soldier, Jerch Molownt, will tell what he knows, happily so if he’s bought a drink; Thurbiss and his cronies were here earlier, but left when the soldiers came in. Jerch knows Thurbiss from past experience; a “. . .no-good thug who loves to mix it up in bar fights when he’s got his hulking friend Gulgh around”. Jerch recalls some other soldier once stopped Thurbiss beating up his girlfriend, L’weeze, a waitress at The Hungry Gar.
The Feral Dog: One of the serving girls, Elspeth Malinder, recalls seeing some boys in earlier. She thinks they were drinking with a regular – “…A miner named Gurbass -- maybe Terbiss .. “
The Abandoned Shed: A rather large, but run-down L-shaped shed. A single, smashed rear window is boarded up. The rotting wooden walls seem to have been insulated with a combination of mud, dried grass and rags. The roof looks suspect; a canvass sheet stretched across a hole that might either serve as a chimney or has just rotted through. The front door is boarded shut from the inside. Open Locks attempts will fail, but a (DC 15) Search check will find a trap. Breaking open the door will trigger the trap – a group of stirges (equal to the number of PCs in the party, will be released from their cage on the far side of the room. A Disable Device (DC12) will cut the release rope. Climbing onto the roof is a bad idea and PCs attempting this can make a Knowledge: Architecture & Engineering check (DC 15) to realize that the ceiling can’t hold any weight. Getting the ceiling will immediately cause it to collapse. The collapsing roof will also trigger the stirge trap (by accident, not by design) unless it has already been disabled. Among the shabby furniture, smelly bedding and miscellaneous impoverished living apparatus of Thurbiss and his gang, a Search check (DC 12) will find a small piece of new green silk, probably cut from a shirt (Nerris Culvert’s doing this with a small pen-knife he’s concealed).
Tracking the movement from the shed to Smialczy’s house is made easier(+5) by knowing about Nerris’ shirt – he leaves a slightly trail by cutting small pieces from his shirt as they’re lead there. The DC is 10 to follow the groups’ tracks (apply other penalties as needed -- it’s night and overcast).
Smialczy’s House: A nice stone and mortar house. Smialczy is a bit of an eccentric and will know and be known to anyone with ranks in Profession: Scribe or similar. Although sleeping, Smialczy won’t react negatively to being woken-up. He’ll answer any questions to the best of his ability. He will be surprised to learn that Thurbiss was up to some sort of criminal activity, especially since he was allowed to treat his drunken friend’s (Chezzik Culvert) broken arm. He’ll volunteer that Thurbiss and crew were headed to Dead Hole, if he isn’t asked. Once the PCs leave, Smialczy goes right back to sleep.
Dead Hole is a false start of a mine, less than 100 meters deep, just outside of town. The mine is dug into the side of a hill, descends slightly and the 15’ wide tunnel curves to the left ending an a larger 35 by 40’ chamber. The chamber is closed off by a heavy oilcloth curtain, to keep lights from being seen from outside. Four torches on the walls and a small fire in the center of the room provide quite a bit of illumination. Gulgh waits by the curtain with a torch/club in hand; he’d love nothing better than to ignite the curtain and throw the huge burning sheet over someone (-8 to hit penalty on a ranged touch, as a net, but +1d6 fire damage per round entangled in it).
Thurbiss’ gang:
Thurbiss Rog2, War1, AC 14, HP 17, BAB +3, 1d6
Listen +6, Spot +6, Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +0
(leather, short sword, dagger, thieves tools, silk rope, 35gp, 56sp, 12 copper)
Gulgh, War1, Bar1, AC 16, HP21, BAB +4, 1d8+2
Listen +5, Spot +5, Fort +6, Ref+2, Will +0
(studded leather, Longsword, dagger, wooden shield, short bow, 20 arrows, 2gp, 6sp, 8cp)
Gerzy War1, AC 16, HP15, BAB +2, 1d8
Listen +3, Spot +3, Fort +3, Ref +0, Will +0
(studded leather, Longsword, dagger, wooden shield, short bow, 20 arrows, 2gp, 6sp, 8cp)
Brekk War1, AC 16, HP16, BAB +4, 1d8
Listen +3, Spot +3, Fort +3, Ref +0, Will +0
(studded leather, Longsword, dagger, wooden shield, short bow, 20 arrows, 12gp, 62sp, 38cp)
Sherkel War1, AC 17, HP16, BAB +4, 1d8
Listen +3, Spot +3, Fort +3, Ref +0, Will +0
(studded leather, Longsword, wooden shield, short bow, 20 arrows, 1gp, 16sp, 5cp)
Resolution:
Terris Culvert will pay each PC an additional 50 gp once he learns the mission turned into a rescue, and will gladly have them to his home for dinner if they ever are in the Free City when he is. The heroes will dine free for a week for what they did to L’weeze’s attacker. Gelch will also consider the heroes the go-to guys for anything that comes his way that requires special skills.
Reduce Terris’ bonus to a flat additional 50gp if any of the boys were killed by Thurbiss, without any inclination of interest to meet again in the future. The PCs will get a free dinner at the Gar, and Gelch will still treat them kindly, but he’ll be uncertain of their competence.
I really like your little adventure. I've been looking around for adventures that are less centred around slaughtering everything that moves. I'm keen to see some adventures along the lines of Of Nests and Nations done for 3.5 so we can get a feel for how the skill system interacts with players doing problem solving, mystery and political intrigue type adventures.
My impression is that the system might actually be excellent for such adventures but be labour intensive to make with all the DC checks.
Anyway I felt this was a really good short adventure - I like it more then some of the Dungeon adventures I've read.
Excellent, excellent. I like your style, sir. A nice bit of writing there, and, I must say, the touch with the bits of green shirt acting as a trail was clever. I agree that it's nice to have adventures that don't require you to kill everything that moves but that allow you to do so if you're so inclined. This creates interesting party dynamics if you've got some people that have high Charisma scores and don't like to hack n' slash constantly.
Excellent, excellent. I like your style, sir. A nice bit of writing there, and, I must say, the touch with the bits of green shirt acting as a trail was clever. I agree that it's nice to have adventures that don't require you to kill everything that moves but that allow you to do so if you're so inclined. This creates interesting party dynamics if you've got some people that have high Charisma scores and don't like to hack n' slash constantly.
Don't get me wrong I love a good fight. I'm just concerned hat we are getting to the point where only unusual encounters (say less then 20% of them) involve anything but a viscous fight.
A "viscous" fight would be troubling indeed. I imagine the viscosity would slow everyone down to half-speed at least. :) Now if everything were vicious fights, that could get a little boring. I don't like taking turns with other players rolling dice either.
I've got a question regarding the stats: how do first level warriors gain 16 hp?
I've got a question regarding the stats: how do first level warriors gain 16 hp?
Aha -- I know -- sloppy cut n' paste after editing down the stats for a 4 character party.
The warriors should only have 8-10 hp each. I'm running a larger party, so I made one war2 and the other two war1/rog1.
Thanks RP for the adven... Nice work. So do the PCs just confront Gulg in the abandoned mine and the others elsewhere? It seemed a little confusing to me on these points.
Sorry -- guess it's showing how sloppy I am when I'm primarily writing for myself.
The whole gang and their hostages should be together in Dead Hole when the PCs track 'em down. I tried to do some letter-art to make a map -- just a rough approximation of where I had them placed in the chamber -- but the [ and _ kept disappearing -- prolly due to board code or somesuch. Not sure if I can post images here. . . .
When I ran it, Thurbiss and Gulgh made their listen checks and both kidnappers and PCs spent some time prepping.
Gulgh got ready to do his bit with the curtain while the others drew their short bows and moved to get a better view of the tunnel in hope of getting a shot or two off before melee started.
Any other questions, feel free to ask.
~Richard
I think I'll use this once my party is back in Diamond Lake. One of the players never showed up during the last session and his character is in dire need of XP. So he stayed in Diamond Lake while the rest of the party went on a few sidequests out of town. BAB stands for Base Attack Bonus right?
BAB stands for Base Attack Bonus right?
Yup -- but I've been using it as shorthand for Attack -- I guess I really should have uploaded the tougher, six player party stats for the gang I originally wrote instead of too quickly refiguring while typing them from my notes for a standard 4 player party.
So, the BAB really should read Attack.
Gah -- hitpoints, BAB -- I really need to be able to edit my posts to look a little less like an idiot.
~R
I will be running this side adventure to get some 1st level characters some much needed experience. I already ran 4 PCs through half of the Whispering Cairn where they reached 2nd level, and another 4 are joining them as 1st level adventurers.
Here are the stats for the thugs, notice I beefed them up a bit.
Thurbiss’ gang:
Thurbiss Rogue2/Fighter1, AC 14, +2 Init, HD 3, HP 25, +4 Long Sword (1d8+2) , SA +1d6 Sneak Attack, SQ Evasion, Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +0, AL NE, S14 D14, C14, I13, W10, Ch13 Feats/Skills Weapon Focus (Long Sword), Dodge, Mobility, Toughness / Listen +6, Spot +6
(leather, Long sword, dagger, thieves tools, silk rope, 35gp, 56sp, 12 copper)
Gulgh, Fighter1/Barbarian1, AC 16, +1 Init, HD 2, HP21, BAB +4, 1d8+3 Long Sword, SA +1d6 Sneak Attack, Rage 1xday, Fort +6, Ref+2, Will +1, AL CE, S16, D13, C15, I10, W12, Ch 9 Feats/Skills Weapon Focus (Long Sword), Power Attack, Cleave / Listen +5, Spot +5,
(studded leather, Long sword, dagger, Heavy wooden shield, short bow, 20 arrows, 2gp, 6sp, 8cp)
Gerzy Fighter1/rogue1, AC 16, Itit +2, HD 2, HP15, BAB +2 Long Sword (1d8+1) , SA +1d6 Sneak Attack, Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +0, AL NN, S13, D 15, Ch14, I 13, W10, Ch10 , Feats/Skills: Weapon Focus (Short Bow), Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot / Listen +3, Spot +3
(studded leather, Long sword, dagger, light wooden shield, short bow, 20 arrows, 2gp, 6sp, 8cp)
Brekk Fighter1/rogue1, AC 15/16, Init +2, HD 2, HP19, BAB +5 Glaive (1d10+4) or +4 Short Sword (1d6+3) and Buckler, SA +1d6 Sneak Attack, Ref +4, Will +0, AL CN, S16, D 14, C 14, I 12, W10, Ch10, Feats/Skills: Toughness, Weapon Focus (Glaive), Combat Reflexes, Listen +3, Spot +3, Fort +3,
(studded leather, Glaive, Buckler, Short Sword, 12gp, 62sp, 38cp)
Sherkel Fighter1/rogue1, AC 17, Init +2, HD 2, HP16, BAB +4 Morning Star (1d8+3) , SA +1d6 Sneak Attack, Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +0, AL CN, S16, D14, C14, I12, W10, Ch11, Feats/Skills Weapon Focus (Morning Star), Dodge, Mobility, Listen +3, Spot +3,
(studded leather, Morning Star, heavy wooden shield, short bow, 20 arrows, 1gp, 16sp, 5cp)
Holy crizzap!! These guys are tough! You're DMing a party of 8 PCs!? Dude, for me, that would be living h!!
BAB stands for Base Attack Bonus right?Yup -- but I've been using it as shorthand for Attack -- I guess I really should have uploaded the tougher, six player party stats for the gang I originally wrote instead of too quickly refiguring while typing them from my notes for a standard 4 player party.
So, the BAB really should read Attack.
Gah -- hitpoints, BAB -- I really need to be able to edit my posts to look a little less like an idiot.
~R
Hey man, you're no idiot. You're the one that created this little gem! We're giving you at least some respect here. ;)
Don't berate yourself so- it's a great sidequest. Did you write any others?
Heh -- thanks. . . .
I'm planning another two town-based sessions, one after the party plays through cairn, then 3FoE -- I swap saturdays with another DM, so I'll probably be a while before posting them, but I'll certainly post them!
The notes are very rough right now, but they both look far more scaleable than A Night on the Town, so they can probably be dropped in on higher level parties with some ease.
One's called Afterbirthday Party, the other's Bottle.
~Richard
Holy crizzap!! These guys are tough! You're DMing a party of 8 PCs!? Dude, for me, that would be living h!!
Heh, yeah we have a group maxed out at 9 of us when every one shows up. We play every other Friday, being mostly married and settled down. Having 8 PCs can make for a challenge as a DM since they outnumber many foes. We have gotten used to using flanking maneuvers to take down less numerous foes.
As a player it's rather fun, since there is no pressure to be 'the fighter' and 'the cleric' of the group.Anyway, I really do like the write up for this side adventure. Kudos mate.
Hey, thanks for the adventure. I ran it for my players last night, as a break from Whispering Cairn. They had just gotten their spleens handed to them by Filge, killing two party members, so I wanted to give them a break before they headed into the final room.
Everyone had a great time!
Here is my version of the drug kalamanthis since I did not see it in the overload or anywhere else for that matter.
"Kalamanthis: Perhaps one of Diamond Lake’s most notorious claims to fame-a considerable statement-is the plant Kalamanthis. A potent narcotic cultivated by the monks of the Twilight Monastery outside Diamond Lake, parts of the Kalamanthis Plant can be prepared and used in three separate ways: the raw root can be chewed, the leaf can be dried and smoked, and the sap can be boiled into a concentrated paste and injected".
As per the setup in the book of vile darkness
Type Addiction Fort Satiation Dam
Chewed High 14 2 days 1D6 D,W,C
Smoked EXtreme 25 1 day 1D8 D,W 1D6 C
Injected Vicious 36 1 day 1D8 D,W 1D6 C,S
Initial Effects:
Chewed: 1 point of ability score damage to all abilities.
Smoked: 2 points of wiz damage.
Injected: 2 points of con damage.
Secondary Effects:
Chewed: 1 point of ability score damage to all abilities.
Smoked: 1 point of ability score damage to wis and int.
Injected: 2 points of ability score damage to all abilities.
Secondary Effects:
Chewed: 1 point of ability score damage to all abilities.
Smoked: 1 point of ability score damage to wis and int.
Injected: 2 points of ability score damage to all abilities.
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Both a bump and "shout-out" to RPace for the nice "get together" scenario he presented here. I used it to get three of the four PCs to work together for the first time to aid the elder Culvert and had Gerzy turn against his associates to become the fourth PC (as a rogue). The scenario is ideal for introducing Diamond Lake to the PCs and establishing its major venues which made the Feral Dog/observatory portions of The Whispering Cairn easier for the players to visualize. The "murders" of Thurbiss and Gulgh in freeing the teenagers becomes part of the leverage Balabar Smenk uses to convince the PCs to aid him at the beginning of Three Faces of Evil, allowing me to preserve Kullen and his gang as continuing antagonists. And it's always fun to tie the first thing the PCs did at 1st level to their current plight when they're 4th.
So if you're looking to start an Age of Worms game or need an interlude adventure, try this one out. Thank you RPace!
Thanks -- sorry I missed this until now.
I never got to run Birthday, but Bottle turned out okay.
I added a cavern/abandoned mine secondary entrance to Three Faces that allowed for some classic cavern crawling.
I've also added an (greatly Modified) old Monte Cook 3.0 free adventure from WotC to the city portion of Hall of Harsh Reflections to expand on the Wind Dukes aspect of Whispering Cairn. Given time, I might be able to type those up for sharing here soon.
~Richard
Back in the Preamble thread a few mentioned an interest in my one-session intro to Diamond Lake. Here it is without maps and with truncated stats:
Richard, its possible to obtain these maps and complete info?
GLuca :-)