Help me Flesh this Out?


3.5/d20/OGL


I'm midway through a somewhat sponataneous adventure (though a lot of the background is developed).

Basically a paladin and her followers (level ten paladin, a lower level cleric, ranger, bard and about 40 mercenary soldiers, 20 commoners) had been sent to reinforce a fort. The fort however has been sacked (hastily) by some party that gained entrance without damaging walls or without obvious magic. Having buried the dead and explored the place a bit they found the commander of the fort who appears insane and incoherent. They also encountered a naked woman in the woods nearby who claimed to have been robbed.

I have to admit I'm not quite sure where to go from here. I had mentioned rumors of a powerful group of bandits or raiders who have been attacking local villages. The region is part of a duchy wherein there is some dispute about the succession.

Any thoughts? I realize this is kind of vague...


Maybe the naked woman is actually a powerful lycanthrope, but is unaware of it? Perhaps she was turned by a group of lycanthropes in a subtle way (tainted blood in a drink or something of that nature) and she opened up the fort gate once she changed the first time? The lycanthropes came in and ransacked the place, abandoning their new pack member as a disposable tool while also causing the fort's commander to snap under the strain of watching his command be shredded by immense beast men? The woman would have amnesia about her time as a lycanthrope, and the pack of lycanthropes could also double as a typical bandit band.

Just off the top of my head


I originally had something I thought would work, but THE FRAKKING BOARD ATE MY POST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

*ahem*

Just had to vent.


The fort was taken down because the enemy managed to taint the water supply. The ruler of the fort realized what happened after everyone had been poisoned or disesed and chose to slay him men rather than letting them suffer. The commander attempted to slay his wife in bed (which is why she doesn't have any clothes) but she managed to escape. The commander went insane afterwards as he didn't want to kill anyone but rather did it as a mercy killing. The party responsible for sacking the castle in the first place will be returning soon and the PCs will have to deal with them as well. There is some great treasure that lies below the castle which is what the party sacked the castle for in the fist place.


Gained entrance without obvious magic and without damaging the walls? Like, perhaps, something came up from underground? The fort wiped out? The survivors driven mad?

Sounds like you've got yourself and umber hulk infestation!

Spoiler:
The party obviously missed the tunnels at first because debris had fallen and covered it; but their second and more thorough examination will reveal the holes beneath the fortress.

Scarab Sages RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

Patrick Curtin wrote:

Maybe the naked woman is actually a powerful lycanthrope, but is unaware of it? Perhaps she was turned by a group of lycanthropes in a subtle way (tainted blood in a drink or something of that nature) and she opened up the fort gate once she changed the first time? The lycanthropes came in and ransacked the place, abandoning their new pack member as a disposable tool while also causing the fort's commander to snap under the strain of watching his command be shredded by immense beast men? The woman would have amnesia about her time as a lycanthrope, and the pack of lycanthropes could also double as a typical bandit band.

Just off the top of my head

Damn Pat, you truly are a genius!

I was gonna go with an Old Ones kinda vibe. Aberrations from another Plane that came and went via Planar Portals and left the Commander Insane as result of seeing what shouldn't be seen.
The woman could either be an Abberation trying to lead more people to destruction, or she could also have lost her mind and not know what she is talking about.

Dark Archive

I like the idea of the fort being opened up to the enemy from an inside traitor (or someone being black mailed into it) for the raiders. The raiders are in turn controlled by the true masters of the multiverse the mind flayers! The comander was then tortured for secret information using powerful mind raping magic wich left him bereft of his sanity.

Liberty's Edge

Why not fuse Pat's and Eileen's ideas together? The woman is the Commander's wife, and also an unwitting lycanthrope.

The lycan pack contaminated the water, and the wife would disappear at night, feeding on one or two soldiers a night.

The commander figured out the contamination, and began to suspect one of his men were the lycan(but not his wife).

He then began quietly killing his men who he suspected as lycans, while rationing what little clean water they had left. Bodies began to pile up and everyone suspected everyone. Riot ensues. Commander has to put down many of his men in plain view.

Tensions run, bodies keep stacking. Then the moment of revelation when there's nobody left but the Commander and the Wife. They both snap, him from the grief of murdering and not trusting his men; her from the partial realization of what she is and denial of the truth.


Cato Novus wrote:

Why not fuse Pat's and Eileen's ideas together? The woman is the Commander's wife, and also an unwitting lycanthrope.

The lycan pack contaminated the water, and the wife would disappear at night, feeding on one or two soldiers a night.

The commander figured out the contamination, and began to suspect one of his men were the lycan(but not his wife).

He then began quietly killing his men who he suspected as lycans, while rationing what little clean water they had left. Bodies began to pile up and everyone suspected everyone. Riot ensues. Commander has to put down many of his men in plain view.

Tensions run, bodies keep stacking. Then the moment of revelation when there's nobody left but the Commander and the Wife. They both snap, him from the grief of murdering and not trusting his men; her from the partial realization of what she is and denial of the truth.

Excellent idea.


I concur!


I like the idea of the woman having amnesia as a werewolf, being the secret ally of the fort's attackers. I'm going to keep that one. I'm also going to keep the idea of the poisoned well, not before the pcs arrived but after that...

Thanks very much for all the help and advice. I think what I'll have as well is the idea that the woman's family is in a way also held hostage to her curse.

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