Nick Herold's Pseudo-Set Piece: The Fortress of Ghouls [Long; My Players Stay Out!]


Legacy of Fire

RPG Superstar 2013 Top 8

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So I had a lot of free time today...

I knew I wanted to flesh out the suggestion in Howl of the Carrion King that there was a ruined fort north of Kelmarane used by the Three Jaws clan, crawling with undead in two dungeon layers below. So I started homebrewing. And I drew some maps. And I typed up some encounters. And I used my new scanner.

And I had to share.

Also, to the license-savvy among you, I've included the community use guidelines, but should I also include the OGL? I've used a few critters from the Tome of Horrors in this...

Set Piece—The Fortress of Ghouls

Two hundred years ago, as the war between the efreeti Jhavul and the djinni princess Nefeshti was drawing to a close, the efreeti commander Zakhan abandoned his post, taking with him a small contingent of human slave-soldiers and hiding in the depths of a strange ruined fortress. This fortress had been built into the earth, its barracks underground, making it an excellent point for Zakhan to wait out the war in order to make his escape. As the years passed and the reserves of food grew smaller, Zakhan grew increasingly paranoid and his men grew increasingly desperate for escape. As soldiers died from starvation, their remains were desperately torn apart and consumed by the survivors. By the time Zakhan realized the cannibalism within his ranks and killed the offenders in a rage, it was too late—reanimated as ghouls, they took their revenge on their former master and murdered him.

Ahriman, the enemy of all jinn, was not content to let Zakhan’s torment end there and reanimated the traitorous efreeti as a great ghul. Now, finally, did Zakhan want to reestablish a connection with the outside world—but only to have access to victims in Katapesh. The undead Zakhan and his ghoul servitors forgot the war they ran away from and, until recently, were content to live their lives as mere predators, attracting to their fort a number of like-minded undead eager to spread havoc.

A little over a year ago, Zakhan’s lair was intruded upon by Jawcracker, a leucrotta. Ordinarily, such an intrusion would be met with death, but Jawcracker convinced Zakhan that he could claim more victims with guile than with brute force. Jawcracker had been cultivating the Three Jaws clan of gnolls for several years now, tricking them into believing that he was the voice of Rovagug himself and directing their mayhem into various profitable directions. The latest was to convince them that the Kulldis clan had grown decadent and soft in their occupation of Kelmarane and their service to a non-gnoll, the janni Kardswann. Zakhan spared Jawcracker’s life and allowed him to lair in the underground fort, in exchange for a portion of the sacrifices made by the Three Jaws gnolls. Jawcracker convinced a promising flind of the Three Jaws clan, Narg, that the time was right to move on Kelmarane—and to move his forces into the upper layers of the fortress.

“The Fortress of Ghouls” is a site-based adventure designed for four 5th level adventurers. Although it can be played alone, it is designed to be incorporated into “Howl of the Carrion King”.

In the Adventure Path
“The Fortress of the Ghul” is designed to be incorporated into the Legacy of Fire campaign either shortly before or shortly after the completion of “Howl of the Carrion King”. Although a temporary alliance with the Three Jaws gnolls can be achieved in the course of that adventure, Almah does not trust the humanoids and recommends to the PCs that they kill the gnolls once Kelmarane is liberated and drive the Three Jaws clan from the area. The fortress is the “ruined fort” on the map of the Kelmarane region on page 29 of Howl of the Carrion King and can be discovered by wandering through the hills surrounding Kelmarane, by observing the fires set at night from the ruined monastery, or by following the Three Jaws gnolls’ tracks with a DC 18 Survival check.

Map 1--Level A

A1. Approaching the Fortress (EL 2)

As you crest the hill, you come across the walls of a small ruined fort. A rusted portcullis lies broken in the sole gap in the walls, and a short tower some thirty feet high projects over the courtyard.

The weathered walls have held up fairly well over the centuries, and are ten feet high.

Creatures: Tied to two posts on either side of the entrance to the courtyard are two hyenas, pets of the Three Jaws clan. These hyenas are alert to danger and attack any non-gnoll that approaches the fortress, but none of them are in good health. The Drinker in area B2 has been flying up the shaft of the well every night to feed on their blood, and as such all of the hyenas are fatigued and have reduced Constitution scores.

Fatigued and Drained Hyenas (4) CR ½
hp 9 each
As MM 274, except:
AC 13 (+1 Dex, +2 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 12
Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +1
Cannot run or charge
Attack bite +2 melee (1d6+1)
Str 12, Dex 13, Con 10
Hide +3

Development: The yelping and howling of the hyenas alerts the gnolls within the courtyard and fortress, who fire on the PCs with shortbows from inside the courtyard. They do not engage the PCs in melee unless the PCs enter the courtyard.

A2. The Courtyard (EL 6)

The courtyard of this fortress is paved in cracked flagstones and overgrown with weedy plants. To one side of the courtyard sits a large firepit, and to the other a wide well, its lip slightly raised. To either side of the tower, wooden doors lead into the building itself.

The courtyard is the center of the lives of most of the gnolls here—only Narg is allowed to sleep inside, and so the gnolls sleep near the warm embers of the fire, huddled with their hyenas. Every week, the Voice of Rovagug emanates from within the well—actually the leucrotta Jawbreaker—instructing the gnolls in their actions and demanding the sacrifice of animals and humanoids alike. These “sacrifices” are then retrieved by Jawbreaker and split between him, the ghouls and Zakhan, and the Drinker, who often gets little more than whatever blood spills during butchery.

Both the entrance where the portcullis lies and the firepit count as difficult terrain. The lip of the well is two feet off the ground—high enough to grant higher ground bonuses and to grant a +2 bonus to resist being bull’s rushed into the well (although only if the creature is on ground level, not atop the lip of the well). Anyone falling, pushed or climbing down into the well finds themselves in B2.

Creatures: The gnolls make their stand in this courtyard. Two of the gnolls are on ground level, whereas the other two are in area A5 and firing down on the melee. The gnolls in A5 have the benefit of cover against attacks made on ground level. One round after combat begins inside the courtyard, the flind Narg emerges from inside the tower to challenge the PCs.

Gnolls (4) CR 1
hp 11 (MM 130)
TACTICS
During Combat the gnolls in A2 prefer to gang up on weak-looking opponents and using their Power Attack feat for 1 point. The gnolls in A5 fire on PCs staying out of melee. Any PCs that are knocked unconscious are quickly looted and thrown into the well to appease the Voice of Rovagug.
Morale all of the gnolls believe that the Voice of Rovagug is with them and fight until slain

Narg CR 3
Male unique flind fighter 1
CE Medium humanoid (gnoll)
Tome of Horrors 199
Init
+3; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +4, Spot +4
DEFENSES
AC
20, touch 12, flat-footed 19
(+5 armor, +1 Dex, +1 natural, +2 heavy wooden shield, +1 deflection)
hp 30 (4 HD; 2d8+1d10+15)
Fort +10, Ref +1, Will +1
OFFENSES
Spd
30 ft.
Melee flindbar +10 (1d6+5)
Ranged javelin +5 (1d6+5)
Space 5ft; Reach 5ft
Special Attacks blessed of Rovagug, smite 1/day (+4 attack, +3 damage)
TACTICS
During Combat
Narg pushes into melee, choosing the worthiest looking opponent to battle. If he hits easily the first round, he will use his Power Attack feat for 2 points. If anyone stands within five feet of the well, he will maneuver to bull’s rush them into it.
Morale Narg is the only one of the Three Jaws clan who feats death. If reduced to 5 or fewer hit points, he tries to flee into the badlands
STATISTICS
Str 20, Dex 12, Con 20, Int 12, Wis 8, Cha 12
Base Atk +2; Grp +7
Feats Improved Bull’s Rush, Iron Will, Power Attack
Skills Intimidate +4, Listen +4, Search +3, Spot +4
Languages Gnoll, Common
Gear masterwork breastplate, masterwork flindbar, heavy wooden shield, 5 javelins, ring of deflection +1, 30 gp in jewelry embedded in his flesh
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Blessed of Rovagug (Su)
Although he listens to a false prophet, Narg is indeed touched with a fraction of Rovagug's favor. Narg gains the domain power of the Destruction domain, allowing him to make a smite attack 1/day with a +4 bonus to the attack roll and a +3 bonus to the damage roll. He also gains a +2 bonus on all attack rolls and initiative checks.

A3. Inside the Fortress

This sparse hallway is covered in a thick layer of dust disrupted by dozens of gnoll paw prints, and the tatters of what once may have been banners hang from the walls. A rickety-looking wooden staircase ascends to the tower above.

A DC 15 Survival check notices that the gnoll prints lead from either door to their the staircase or the doorway leading to A4, but a DC 18 Survival check notices a faint set of prints leading to and from the western corner (Narg found the secret door a week ago, but had yet to work up the courage to explore it).

The western corner of the hallway conceals a secret door carved into the rock, which can be found with a DC 20 Search check. If the paw prints leading to the door had been found, this check is made at a +2 bonus.

A4. Narg’s Chambers

Opening this door, you are hit with a stink of animals and rotting meat. The floor is covered with matted hair, animal bones and skins. The walls are covered in strange writing, seemingly scrawled in blood.

Narg is literate, and he spent much of his free time covering the walls of his chambers with the words of the Voice of Rovagug. The text is primarily obscenities describing the deaths and violence caused in Rovagug’s name, and descriptions of monstrosities sacred to Rovagug. A DC 20 Knowledge (religion) check reveals that Rovagug is not known for speaking to his followers.

A5. Tower (EL 0 or 3)

The top of the tower is surrounded by a low crenelated wall and offers a fine view of the hills surrounding the fort.

Creatures: On the unlikely chance that the gnoll archers here are not slain during the battle in the courtyard, they drop their bows and engage intruders in melee

Gnolls (2) CR 1
hp
11 (MM 130)

Levels B and C: The Underground Bunker

Map 2--Levels B and C

All ceilings in Levels B and C are 10 feet high unless otherwise noted, and all floors are made of flagstones. All rooms are dark unless otherwise specified. Level B is 20 feet below ground level, and Level C is 20 feet below Level B.

B1. Underground Entrance

After descending into the darkness, you appear to have emerged in some form of underground bunker. Two hallways branch from this room, and from the end of one of them you can see a glint of sunlight.

Development: It is unlikely, unless the PCs are being stealthy, that their entrance to the underground levels of the fortress goes unnoticed. If they hear the PCs, both the Drinker and Jawcracker begin to make Hide and Move Silently checks, as noted in their statblocks.

B2. The Well (EL 4)

Sunlight streams in from the opening in the ceiling, leading to a well identical to the one below, although this well is full to the brim with water. A motley assortment of algaes grows around the well, ringing it with slime.

All of the squares adjacent to the well are exceedingly slippery, and anyone trying to fight while standing on them must make a DC 12 Balance check or fall prone. The waters of the well itself are calm and still, meaning that only a DC 10 Swim check is needed to navigate them. The water is 10 feet deep.

Creature: The Drinker was once a fiendish harpy that battled intermittently with Zakhan and his ghouls, but was adopted by Zahkan as a sort of pet when it finally succumbed to ghoul fever. Now a ghoul-stirge, the Drinker has to beg for bloody scraps from Zahkan and has such taken to sneaking out of the well at night to drink from the hyenas of the Three Jaws clan above. Needless to say, it jumps on the chance to get a fresh blood meal. A ghoul-stirge resembles a humanoid with the head of a moth and the wings and feet of a massive bird.

The Drinker CR 4
Fiendish Advanced Modified Ghoul-Stirge
CE Medium undead (extraplanar)
Tome of Horrors 148
Init
+3; Senses Listen +8, Spot +8
DEFENSE
AC
15, touch 13, flat-footed 12
(+3 Dex, +2 natural)
hp 45 (7d12)
Fort +2, Ref +5, Will +7
DR 5/magic; Immune undead traits; Resist cold 5, fire 5; SR 12
OFFENSE
Spd
20 ft., fly 50 ft. (good)
Melee bite +6 (1d6 plus paralysis)
Space 5ft; Reach 5ft
Special Attacks blood drain, paralysis, smite good (+7)
TACTICS
Before Combat
the Drinker hides in the corner of the well room, hoping to catch intruders by surprise
During Combat the Drinker seeks to paralyze a single foe and drink him dry before moving onto the next victim. Although it isn’t very intelligent, the Drinker is smart enough to use its fly speed to hover over the slippery mold to protect against creatures hoping to catch it in melee.
STATISTICS
Str 10, Dex 17, Con —, Int 6, Wis 14, Cha 12
Base Atk +3; Grp +3
Feats Ability Focus (paralysis), Stealthy, Weapon Finesse
Skills Hide +9, Listen +8, Move Silently +8, Spot +8
Languages understands Common
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Paralysis (Ex)
The touch of a ghoul-stirge paralyzes a foe for 1d6+2 minutes. A DC 16 Fortitude save negates the paralysis and elves are immune to this effect.
Blood Drain (Ex) A ghoul-stirge can drain blood from a paralyzed or helpless creature. This attack deals 1d6 points of Constitution damage each round.

Treasure: A DC 20 Search check made at the bottom of the well discovers the reason it has remained full for all these centuries—a salamander of endless water

[[SIDEBAR—SALAMANDER OF ENDLESS WATER]]
Aura
faint conjuration; CL 5th
Slot--; Price 1,000 gp; Weight 1 lb
DESCRIPTION
A tiny soapstone carving of a salamander, a salamander of endless water is used to ensure that wells, cisterns and reservoirs never run dry. When placed inside a container, every day at midnight the salamander creates five gallons of water, or enough to fill the container, whichever is less.
CONSTRUCTION
Requirements
Craft Wondrous Item, create water; Cost 500 gp, 20 xp.
[[END SIDEBAR]]

B3. Treasury (EL 5)

Upon opening this door, you are overwhelmed by tendrils of almost solid shadow. Although your light sources cannot penetrate the gloom, you can see as your eyes adjust rows upon rows of rotten bed frames filling the room. Directly across from the doorway, at the far end of the barracks, you see a pile of what could only be coins.

When this fortress was in operation, this room acted as a barracks. Now most of the beds have now rotted away, leaving only the frames. Zakhan uses this room as a treasury; although he cares little for treasure, he and his ghouls often use it as bait while hunting sentient prey.

The room is filled with a deeper darkness spell centered on the wall above the pile of treasure—when the door opens, it expands out into the hallway as well to as much of its 60 foot radius as the hallway permits. Movement through spaces filled with bed frames counts as difficult terrain, but a crouching creature gains the benefits of cover.

Creature: A fear guard followed Zakhan and his pack home from an excursion to Onyx Hall, and Zakhan has placed it here as a guardian for his treasure. The fear guard resembles a robed and hooded human male wielding a mighty greatsword. Only when it touches an opponent or flies through a wall is its incorporeal nature evident. Its hood conceals no face, only a hollow darkness.

Fear Guard CR 5
CE Medium Undead (incorporeal)
Tome of Horrors 2 63
Init
+6; Senses darkvision 60ft, Listen +10, Spot +10
Aura fear 20 ft (DC 16 Will)
DEFENSES
AC
15, touch 15, flat-footed 13; incorporeal
(+2 Dex, +3 deflection)
hp 39 (6d12)
Fort +2, Ref +4, Will +6
Immune incorporeal traits, undead traits; Resist turning +2; Weakness daylight
OFFENSES
Spd Fly 30 feet (good) (6 squares)
Attack Incorporeal touch +6 (1d4 Wisdom damage)
Space 5ft; Reach 5ft
Spell-like Abilities CL 8th
At will—darkness, ray of enfeeblement
2/day—deeper darkness
TACTICS
Before combat
the fear guard casts deeper darkness once every eight days, so that it always fills the room. It is also always hiding within the walls behind the pile of treasure.
During combat the fear guard moves to catch as many creatures as possible in its fear aura, but does not pursue those that flee (although other creatures on this level, like the Drinker and Jawcracker, may find them). Against powerful combatants it uses its ray of enfeeblement, but it otherwise is a straightforward melee combatant. If any PC displays a holy symbol or tries to turn it, it focuses its touch attacks on that character.
Morale bound to fight to the death, the fear guard does not flee.
STATISTICS
Str –, Dex 15, Con –, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 16
Base Atk +3; Grapple
Feats Blind-fight, Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus (incorporeal touch)
Skills Hide +11 (+19 in shadowy illumination or darkness), Intimidate +12, Listen +10, Spot +10
SQ create spawn
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Create Spawn (Su)
any living creature reduced to Wisdom 0 by a fear guard becomes a fear guard under control of its killer within 2d6 hours. If a bless spell is cast on the corpse before this time, the transformation is prevented.
Daylight Weakness (Ex) a fear guard exposed to natural sunlight (not merely a daylight spell) suffers 2d6 points of damage and immediately flees from the source of light. A fear guard caught in sunlight cannot attack and can only take a single move or attack action in a round.
Fear Aura (Su) a fear guard can radiate a 20 foot radius of fear as a free action. A creature in the area must succeed a DC 16 Will save of be affected as though by a fear spell (CL 8th). A creature that successfully saves cannot be affected again by the same fear guard’s aura for the next 24 hours. The save DC is Charisma based.
See in Darkness (Su) a fear guard can see perfectly in darkness of any kind, even that created by spells.
Wisdom Damage (Su) the touch of a fear guard deals 1d4 points of Wisdom damage to a living foe if it fails a DC 16 Fortitude save. A creature reduced to 0 Wisdom dies. The save DC is Charisma based.

Treasure: The mound of treasure contains 40,705 copper pieces, 2,990 silver pieces, a vest made of pyrolisk feathers worth 375 gp, a Large masterwork cold iron falchion and a scroll containing detect thoughts, glitterdust and pyrotechnics.

B4. Escape Tunnel

This low tunnel is much less even than the surrounding hallways, as if it was carved by hand without further modification. It leads off into the darkness.

This tunnel was dug by Zakhan and his ghouls in order to forage among the Pale Mountains for prey, and was used by Jawcracker to enter the fortress complex. The ceiling here is only five feet high. The tunnel continues for about five hundred feet before emerging on a hillside overlooking the Pale River.

B5. Training Hall (EL 5)

This room contains multiple wooden dummies, none of them in very good shape and all of them showing signs of weapon damage. In the far corner sits a pile of cracked bones.

Fighting in the same space as one of the dummies grants a +1 bonus to Armor Class.

Creature: It is unlikely that Jawcracker the leucrotta is actually confronted in this room, but he sleeps here on and off during the day. If the PCs are especially stealthy, they might catch him off guard here. Jawcracker resembles a strange hybrid of a lion with the legs of a stag and the head of a feral badger with rows of bone rather than teeth.

Leucrotta CR 5
Usually CE Large magical beast
Pathfinder 17, pg 82
Init
+5; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent; Listen +10, Spot +10
DEFENSES
AC
18, touch 10, flat-footed 17
(+1 Dex, +8 natural, –1 size)
hp 57 (6d10+24)
Fort +9, Ref +6, Will +4
Immune disease, poison
OFFENSE
Spd 80 ft., climb 50 ft.
Melee bite +10 (2d6+7/19–20) and 2 kicks +5 (1d6+2)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks lure, powerful bite, voice mimicry
TACTICS
Before Combat
Jawcracker shadows the PCs as they explore the underground levels of the fortress, using Hide and Move Silently and generally keeping a corner between himself and the party. Once he learns somebody’s name, he uses his lure ability to separate them from their allies in order to pick them off.
During Combat Jawcracker uses his powerful bite and sharp hooves to tear opponents apart. If he’s hit by the same opponent two rounds in a row, he uses the fight defensively action.
Morale if Jawcracker is reduced to 20 hit points or less, his resolve breaks and he flees the fortress, never to return.
STATISTICS
Str 21, Dex 12, Con 18, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 17
Base Atk +6; Grp +15
Feats Improved Initiative, Skill Focus (Bluff), Stealthy
Skills Bluff +15, Hide +8, Listen +10, Move Silently +11, Spot +10
Languages Common
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Lure (Su)
A leucrotta can use its voice to create a powerful compulsion to approach it if the listener isn’t aware of the danger. At any point that the target is unaware of the leucrotta (such as if the leucrotta is hiding or concealed in darkness), the leucrotta can call out to the target using its voice mimicry. The target must be in line of sight and within 60 feet. When the leucrotta calls out, the target must make a DC 16 Will save or fall under the effects of a suggestion to approach the leucrotta.
This effect functions identically to a suggestion spell with a caster level equal to the leucrotta’s Hit Dice. A creature that saves cannot be affected again by the same leucrotta’s lure for 24 hours. Lure is a language-dependant effect, and if the leucrotta uses the victim’s name during the lure, the victim suffers a –4 penalty on his saving throw. This is a sonic mind affecting charm effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Powerful Bite (Ex) A leucrotta’s bite is powerful indeed, capable of slicing through metal and cutting through bone with terrifying ease. It gains 1.5 times its Strength modifier to all damage rolls made with its bite attack, and threatens a critical hit with its bite on a roll of 19–20. Against objects, a leucrotta’s bite treats the object as having a hardness of 5 less than the object’s actual hardness rating.
Voice Mimicry (Ex) A leucrotta can perfectly imitate the voice of any creature it has heard talking. It makes a Bluff check when using voice mimicry—listeners may oppose this Bluff with Listen checks to see through the mimicry, although if the listener isn’t familiar with the voice of the person being mimicked, he suffers a –8 penalty on his Listen check to oppose the leucrotta’s Bluff. Leucrotta find it difficult to mimic the voices of creatures more than one size category smaller or larger than themselves, and take a –8 penalty on their Bluff checks to mimic the voices of such smaller or larger creatures.
Skills A leucrotta has a +8 racial bonus on Listen and Spot checks.

B6. Dining Hall

This great room features a single massive table and multiple chairs, some of which are strewn about and knocked over. A wide staircase descends further into the depths, and a doorway sits opposite the stairs.

B7. Kitchen

This small room must once have been a kitchen, as empty shelves and counters fill the room. A few tiny holes in the ceiling once allowed smoke to escape from the oven in the corner.

Treasure: Once, before even Zakhan hid here, a wand of heat metal was used to heat the oven in the absence of fuel, but that wand is long since gone. A masterwork kitchen knife (treat as a dagger), however, sits abandoned on a counter.

C1. Lower Hallway

The staircase ends at a T-intersection, with the passage to the right ending in a set of wide double doors and the passage to the left curving off into the darkness. Halfway to the double doors, a side passage blooms with fungus and mold, spilling into the hallway. The smell of humus and decay hangs heavy in the corridor.

The square in front of the passage to C3 is treated as difficult terrain, due to the overgrowth of fungus. A DC 15 Listen check hears the sound of voracious eating coming from C2, and a DC 25 Listen check hears softer, but similar sounds emanating from behind the doors to C4.

C2. Cold Storage (EL 5)

The air temperature drops considerably as soon as you round the corner. You spy four doors, all of them ajar, on the far wall. In your torchlight, you can see brown patches of mold growing from beneath the doors. A faint smell wafts through the air, something like frozen meat.

The four rooms here used to be officer’s quarters when this was an active barracks, but now serve as meat lockers for the ghoul pack—the ghouls take home “leftovers” from their raids for later use. All four rooms are filled with slabs of meat and limbs of both beasts and humanoids, and all four rooms are overgrown with brown mold. The brown mold deals 3d6 points of nonlethal cold damage to any living creature approaching within five feet of any of the rooms. A DC 15 Knowledge: dungeoneering check identifies the brown mold as dangerous, and a DC 20 Knowledge: dungeoneering check recalls that fire damage just makes it grow faster—cold damage is the only way to kill it.

Creature: One of the creations of the ghoul fever spread by Zakhan’s pack is a powerful-but-shunned ghast, and the rest of the ghouls treat the freak with contempt, sending it on unpleasant missions like collecting meat from the lockers. As such, the ghast is distracted from the PCs by its gorging itself on flesh in room C2c, and might not even notice the PCs until they begin to suffer from its sickening stench.

Ghast CR 3
hp 29
, MM 119.

Treasure: Tucked away in C2a is a piece of treasure the ghast has kept for itself—a silver hand mirror studded with lapis lazuli worth 500 gp. A DC 15 Search check finds it, but searching, of course, exposes the PCs to the effects of the brown mold.

Ad-Hoc XP: Give the PCs a CR 2 award if they manage to kill the brown mold.

C3. Guardroom (EL 5)

This small chamber is completely bursting with fungi and molds of all types, forming a veritable underground forest.

Zakhan and his ghouls at first used this chamber, once a meeting room, to dispose of whatever scraps they didn’t wish to consume. Once fungus began to grow here, Zakhan began to tend it like a garden, cultivating a wide variety of fungi that the ghouls use as seasonings for their grim feasts. Two of these fungi have grown ambulatory and toxic, and they serve Zakhan as guard dogs.

All squares in this room count as difficult terrain, from the thick, lush fungal growths.

Creatures: The two animate fungi are weird hybrids between shriekers and violet fungus. Although they are mechanically identical to violet fungus, they shriek as they fight, alerting the ghouls and Zakhan to the presence of intruders.

Violet Fungi (2) CR 3
hp
15, MM 112
ignore difficult terrain created by plant matter

Development: When Zakhan and the ghouls hear the shrieking, they cease their feasting and take up position in C4—two of the ghouls move to flank the doorway, the third hides beneath the table, and Zakhan readies an action to cast greater invisibility when the door opens.

C4. The Dreadful Feast (EL 7)

This room is built like a chapel, although the pews have been shattered and the nave has been filled with a massive wooden table. The altar has also been converted into a table, for both altar and table are laid out with place settings. Serving trays and platters are set with the utmost care, making it all the more shocking that they are piled high with severed human heads, limbs and torsos.

Once a chapel where soldiers prayed to Saerenrae, this room has been converted into the feast-hall and den of Zakhan and his ghouls. Zakhan was once a minor noble among the efreet and so he makes sure to instruct his servitors in proper table etiquette.

Creatures: Although Zakhan and his minions have created many ghouls in their foul exploits, only three of his original slaves have survived all these years, and only those three are allowed to live in the fortress and feast at his table. All four of the monsters drop any pretense of civility at the sight of intruders and attack in the hopes of adding more meat to their larder.

Ghouls (3) CR 1
hp
13, MM 119.

Zakhan, Great Ghul CR 6
CE Medium undead (shapechanger)
Dark Markets, A Guide to Katapesh 62
Init
+6; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +12, Spot +11
DEFENSES
AC 22, touch 12, flat-footed 20
(+2 Dex, +10 natural)
hp 55 (8d12+3)
Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +9
DR 10/cold iron and good; Immune undead traits; Resist fire 10
OFFENSES
Spd
50 ft., climb 20 ft.
Melee bite +10 (2d6+6 plus 1d6 fire) and 2 claws +8 (1d6+3 plus 1d6 fire and bleed)
Space 5ft; Reach 5ft
Special Attacks cursed claws, heat, rend 2d6+6 (whenever it hits with both claws)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 11th)
3/day—greater invisibility (self only)
TACTICS
During Combat Zakhan uses greater invisibility as combat begins, and seeks to distribute bleeding wounds between as many opponents as possible, switching from one foe to another each round of combat if able. He only uses his necklace of fireballs once all of his ghouls are slain. If one of the PCs has Tempest, Zakhan recognizes him as one of the Templars of the Five Winds, and targets him exclusively. “I’m not part of your war anymore,” he cries in battle. “I have forsaken Jhavul and turned away from his plots!”
Morale if nobody in the party bears Tempest, Zakhan flees if reduced to 15 hit points or less under the cover of invisibility. If fighting the bearer of Tempest, he fights to the death in his desperate madness.
STATISTICS
Str 22, Dex 15, Con —, Int 14, Wis 15, Cha 18
Base Atk +4; Grp +10
Feats Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Multiattack, Toughness, Track
Skills Bluff +15, Climb +14, Diplomacy +8, Disguise +4 (+6 acting, +16 when shapechanged), Hide +13, Intimidate +6, Listen +12, Move Silently +13, Search +12, Sense Motive +7, Spot +11, Survival +13 (+23 following tracks)
Languages Common, Ignan, Infernal
SQ change shape, create spawn, genie-kin
Gear cloak of resistance +1, necklace of fireballs (type II)
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Bleed (Ex)
Wounds caused by a great ghul’s claws bleed, causing 1 point of damage per round until the bleeding is stoppedby magical healing or a DC 10 Heal check. This bleed is not cumulative with multiple claw wounds.
Change Shape (Su) A great ghul can assume the form of a hyena or any humanoid as a standard action and does not detect as undead while in hyena or humanoid form.
Create Spawn (Su) A humanoid slain by a great ghul becomes a ghoul on the next moonrise; a janni slain becomes a ghul, and a more powerful genie a great ghul. Destroying the body or blessing it prevents this reanimation.
Cursed Claws (Ex) A great ghul’s claws are considered magic and cold iron for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction.
Genie-Kin (Ex) A great ghul is considered a genie for all effects related to race.
Heat (Ex) A great ghul deals 1d6 points of additional fire damage on a hit, or each round that it maintains a hold while grappling.

Treasure: In addition to Zakhan’s gear, the silverware and porcelain on the tables is quite valuable. The entire set is worth 400 gp, but could probably use a good washing.

Concluding the Adventure

The adventure ends once Zakhan and his pack are slain, but the PCs may certainly leave the fortress before that happens. They may be satisfied with killing Narg and the Three Jaws gnolls, or they may leave the dungeon after looting Zakhan’s treasury. In either case, the antagonists of this adventure may not be finished with the PCs. With the gnolls no longer supplying Jawbreaker and Zakhan with victims, they might leave the fortress in search of prey—and find a newly revitalized Kelmarane ripe for the picking. Perhaps Zakhan and Jawcracker use their change shape and lure abilities, respectively, to pick off Almah’s party one by one and prevent Kelmarane from ever being resettled.

In addition, if Daskhi finds out that the PCs have wiped out the Three Jaws clan settlement, his thoughts could very well turn to revenge. The PCs, by this point, would overwhelm him in a direct physical confrontation (unless Daskhi were to gain levels), but with his abilities of stealth and his close connections to the PC’s allies, Daskhi could do plenty of damage without a fair fight.

This thread uses trademarks and/or copyrights owned by Paizo Publishing, LLC, which are used under Paizo's Community Use Policy. We are expressly prohibited from charging you to use or access this content. This thread is not published, endorsed, or specifically approved by Paizo Publishing. For more information about Paizo's Community Use Policy, please visit paizo.com/communityuse. For more information about Paizo Publishing and Paizo products, please visit paizo.com."

Sovereign Court

Good stuff, thanks for sharing it with us!

Paizo Employee Director of Brand Strategy

Demiurge 1138 wrote:
Also, to the license-savvy among you, I've included the community use guidelines, but should I also include the OGL? I've used a few critters from the Tome of Horrors in this...

Yes, the OGL is needed for anything that is game rules content from an OGC source, and since you're using D&D 3.5 rules and stuff from TOH, that would count. Using Paizo IP such as proper nouns, deities, locations, etc warrants the Community Use Policy (as long as you make no profit on it). So it looks like those two licenses will cover you.

RPG Superstar 2013 Top 8

Then post the OGL I shall!

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How's that look?

The Exchange

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber

This is very nice. I appreciate the sharing as well, and have yoinked it. Thank you much.
Bravo and good job.


Thanks for this, somewhere else for my group to explore in LoF !

I have taken the liberty of recombobulating your maps for more eye candy for my play by boards group.
Annotated Upper Levels
Annotated Lower Levels

Without annotations ( for players )
Upper Levels
Lower Levels

RPG Superstar 2013 Top 8

Jubbly wrote:

Thanks for this, somewhere else for my group to explore in LoF !

I have taken the liberty of recombobulating your maps for more eye candy for my play by boards group...

Awesome! That's really cool, and I'm glad to hear that other people are getting use out of this. My group's approaching the end of Howl of the Carrion King, so hopefully I'll soon be able to report how it turned out in play.


So great!

I'm definitely using this when I pick up LoF.

This is a full-blown side adventure, holy crap!

I love this forum.

Scarab Sages

Jubbly,

The large non-annotated version of Level 1 has an issue displaying. You might want tot ake a look into that. Lvl 2 is just fine.

CC

I do love the blood stain detail in the lower level. Nicely done


CuttinCurt wrote:

Jubbly,

The large non-annotated version of Level 1 has an issue displaying. You might want tot ake a look into that. Lvl 2 is just fine.

Hmm it does ? It looks ok to me. . . what sort of issue ?

Scarab Sages

Jubbly wrote:
CuttinCurt wrote:

Jubbly,

The large non-annotated version of Level 1 has an issue displaying. You might want tot ake a look into that. Lvl 2 is just fine.

Hmm it does ? It looks ok to me. . . what sort of issue ?

When I click on your Players unannotated version of the upper levels, a small version of the map appears. This part is fine. However, when I click on that small version of the map, I get a blank page. When I right click on the "red x" to display the pic that would have been an enlarged version of your map, I get a file not found error with a link to the homepage that website.


Fantastic. Great add-on and superb mapping.

Will certainly use. Was thinking of something similar myself with undead. possibly some form of mummy. However this will do very nicely.


CuttinCurt wrote:


When I click on your Players unannotated version of the upper levels, a small version of the map appears. This part is fine. However, when I click on that small version of the map, I get a blank page. When I right click on the "red x" to display the pic that would have been an enlarged version of your map, I get a file not found error with a link to the homepage that website.

Hmm, ok thanks, I will see if I can kick start it by uploading a new save.

Edit: Done !


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Demiurge 1138 and Jubbly, do you mind if I translate this set piece and the maps and make them available to French-speaking Pathfinder fans? You would naturally be credited - my goal is only to make it possible for DMs who do not speak English to use your work.


Dalvyn wrote:
Demiurge 1138 and Jubbly, do you mind if I translate this set piece and the maps and make them available to French-speaking Pathfinder fans? You would naturally be credited - my goal is only to make it possible for DMs who do not speak English to use your work.

Thats fine by me - its Demiurge's baby tho, I just made some pretty illustrations !

RPG Superstar 2013 Top 8

Yeah, how does one translate maps?

If you do a translation, two things--one, make sure everyone gets credited properly, which you're already clearly considering. Two, post a link to it here!


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Well, maps have annotations and titles too! :)

And I'll make sure to post a link, certainly!

Thanks.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

It's still being proofread and all that, but you can see a first version here.


Thanks for sharing, guys. Nice work to enrich a great (soon-to-say, award winning) piece.

Grand Lodge

Awesome work! I will definitely be adding this to my campaign.


Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

Awesome indeed! I will certainly use this in my LoF campaign I just started a few weeks ago!

RPG Superstar 2013 Top 8

Well, my PCs went through this adventure and (mostly) survived, so I thought I'd throw out some notes on my playthough of it.

I placed The Fortress of Ghouls in my campaign just after my PCs cleared out the battle market but before descending into the crypts to fight Xulthos--they needed some XP to get to 5th, after all. One wrinkle--Daskhi went with the Three Jaws gnolls and didn't come back.

The gnoll fights were pretty easy. The PCs pretty much stayed outside of the fort but close to the walls, making the archers less useful. Narg hung back to do his bull-rushing-into-a-well trick, but was almost killed by spells before anyone actually entered the courtyard. Finally, when the PCs entered, Narg got his bull's rush off on the wizard... and failed to actually push him into the well. The wizard looped back around, avoided the attack of opportunity and used his ring of the ram (thanks, Undrella!) to bull rush Narg into the well, killing him. The irony was enjoyed by all.

Dashki still wasn't upstairs, but the party found human footprints leading up to the secret door. They opened it and descended into the dungeon, saw the well and avoided it--my PCs are pretty paranoid about water. As such, they took a "wrong" turn and found the leucrotta before it had time to start sneaking around and watching them! If I were to do this adventure again, I'd have Jawcracker out hunting and coming back when the PCs arrived, to give him ample opportunity to stalk them. Jawcracker went down with only minimal effort, but the Drinker snuck up behind the party, paralyzed the cleric, and drained a considerable amount of Con before being chased away, but not killed. Nobody had any idea what he was--all Knowledge checks were failed, adding an air of mystery.

The PCs found the dark room and entered with some trepidation. The wizard was panicked by the emergence of the fear guard and was grappled and pinned to prevent him running off and getting lost/triggering more encounters. The ranger pulled the ring of the ram off of the wizard, and was pretty much the only one capable of doing any damage to the fear guard. Again, the cleric took the brunt of ability damage.

Downstairs, the party set off the alarm with the shrieking violet fungus and dispatched them with little difficulty... in time for the ghast to skulk around the corner and attack the ranger. Adding to his bad day status, the cleric got into melee, was paralyzed and dragged off to the cooler before the dragon shaman's breath weapon finished off the ghast. In the cooler they found Daskhi, his leg bitten off, who was awoken via healing and who gave some useful exposition about the team-up between a leucrotta and ghul in order to exploit the Three Jaws. Dashki's loyalties are now pretty firmly with the party, but he's pretty useless without his leg.

The party took a long enough time there that Zakhan and his ghouls emerged to investigate. Zakhan sees the ranger wielding Tempest and starts freaking out. The ghouls attack but are easily dispatched, while Zakhan goes invisible and lobs a necklace of fireballs. Because of his ludicrous DR (10/cold iron and good for a CR 6!), I allowed Tempest to do full damage to the ghul... not that this mattered for how well the ranger was rolling. A breath weapon to the face and some magic missiles finally finished off Zakhan... but not before he successfully rended the cleric, killing him.

It was then that I fudged things a little and held a previously-rolled-for-House-of-the-Beast random encounter. A pride of lammasu, who rewarded the PCs for their service to the gods with (among other things) a scroll of raise dead.

So my players had a good time, but Zakhan might be a bit too lethal for a CR 6 (especially with that damage reduction). However, thanks to this set-piece, the Refuge of Nethys set-piece and some random encounters, they're almost to level 8 before finishing House of the Beast (they're also grateful for this, as that adventure's a grinder). I'd recommend that if you want to keep your PCs on the path's recommended level progression, to run either this or the Refuge of Nethys, but not both.

Sovereign Court

I ran your adventure in my campaign as well, and we had a lot of fun playing it. Thanks again for taking the time to write it and sharing it with the rest of us!

You can read how it went in my campaign journal.


My group have just gone through this - they are on the last fight with Zakhan Map in Action and have enjoyed it so far. They were utterly mistrusting of the treasury - they deemed it too obvious a trap and simply walked away !
As there are six of them I beefed up the gnoll numbers above ground and threw in a lieutenant. The halfling barbarian ( with spider slippers ) and halfelf rogue went on a stealth assassin mission, and ended up climbing the back wall, and up the tower unseen, whilst everyone else waited for the go signal. A slaughter in the tower, chasing the last gnoll down the stairs, and straight into.... Narg. Party hopelessly split, the (weak) rogue smack talks the gnoll boss, badly fails a diplomacy check, and with some smiting ends up dying to Nargs axe ! The halfling barb decides grouping up would be a good idea and runs off where the full party quickly clears out the upper levels.
They went home to bury their dead, and came back to tackle the lower levels...
The drinker has caused them to be somewhat jumpy. They spotted it sneaking up on them and tried engaging it in conversation - they werent sure what it was or what it was doing. It fled off into the darkness only to reappear during a battle with Jawcracker, and managed to almost pick off the groups cleric standing at the rear who succumbed to its paralysis. When the tables turned the drinker fled again, this time up the well. They have been on the lookout for it ever since...

Thanks for writing the adventure !


Thank you for this !!!

My guys just made 3rd level (5 PCs) and they decided after clearing the monastery, the Nethys temple, and the graveyard in Kelmarane that they are not good enough to take on the battle market yet so they decided to do the old fort where they saw fires for two nights.

*sigh* I am going to have to on the fly change it from 4-5th level characters to 5-3rd level characters. I will probably remove the C level, or at least tone it down.

-- david
Papa.DRB


I've also added this to my virtual tabletop (maptools) Legacy of Fire game. My players have not gotten here yet (still exploring lower Kelmarane), but I'm looking forward to it. Thanks Demiurge and Jubbly!


Thinking of running this when I run my Legacy of Fire game (PFRPG)


Ditto here. I want to add some extra set pieces and this works brilliantly.


This is super cool. I was just trying to figure out what I'd do if my players got fixated on the ruined tower (as I think they're reasonably likely to do) and here's a great ready-to-go answer.

Thanks for sharing!


Thanks so much to Demiurge 1138 for this highly useful set piece and to Jubbly for the most useful maps. Again the Paizo community comes through. This will come in very handy.

Now, I only need to find a good reason to have my PC's head there before the Battle Market. This may not be easy, as they have already been lectured once by Almah for worrying to much about the hills north of town and not doing the job they were contracted to do. Any suggestions?


Halidan wrote:

Thanks so much to Demiurge 1138 for this highly useful set piece and to Jubbly for the most useful maps. Again the Paizo community comes through. This will come in very handy.

Now, I only need to find a good reason to have my PC's head there before the Battle Market. This may not be easy, as they have already been lectured once by Almah for worrying to much about the hills north of town and not doing the job they were contracted to do. Any suggestions?

You could have the PC's or anyone else on guard duty notice some kind of activity coming from the fort - and Garavel uses that information to fret about what other threats are in the surrounding area, not wanting a surprise third party force turning up behind the PC's to take Kelmarane from them. Basically its an intelligence issue - you have no intelligence on whats going on at the fort other than there's activity there. Which of course may impact the plan of taking Kelmarane back. No good commander passes up an opportunity to gather intelligence, especially when it can impact The Plan ...

So perhaps you can use Garavel against Almah here, after all Almah is no tactical expert, the major-domo can advise her that it may be wise to scope out a possible threat as it poses a risk to the operation, Almah can see the sense of the argument and changes her mind to set the PCs off to investigate. But to do it quietly.

Alternatively you can have the problem of security bubble around the camp, have Garavel or others think its a good idea to scope out the threat, but Almah digs her heels in, obsessed by taking back Kelmarane - you then have an opportunity for the PC's to "do the right thing" and scope out the fort, but cause conflict with Almah for disobeying her.

You could also split the mercs here as well, perhaps the mercs dislike what the PC's do, and think they are causing trouble and making the job harder by creating a ruckus at the fort.

Depends what kind of strife and complexity you want to have at home plate.

If the PC's are reluctant to hoof out to the place, make sure you drop some hints about seeing gnolls creeping around the ruins, and float the doubt in their head that this may be another outpost of hostile gnolls that are supporting Kelmarane. Play up the fact any such outpost could pose a flanking threat, or rally forth to defend the town in time of need. See if the player's figure out it may be an idea to neutralise it first before Kelmarane.

Finally, if none of that floats your boat, if Dashki is still around, have him followed out to the Fort, and then kick off a round of suspicions, finger pointing and a skirmish at the ruin. And Or, have one or some of the mercenaries overcome whilst out on patrol, and their tracks lead back to the ruined fort...


Jubbly wrote:
So perhaps you can use Garavel against Almah here, after all Almah is no tactical expert, the major-domo can advise her that it may be wise to scope out a possible threat as it poses a risk to the operation...

I like this idea. It gives me a good reason for thePC's to head to the fortress and also fits in with they way they have been playing their contract for the last few sessions.

Jubbly wrote:
Alternatively you can have...Garavel or others think its a good idea to scope out the threat, but Almah digs her heels in, obsessed by taking back Kelmarane - you then have an opportunity for the PC's to "do the right thing" and scope out the fort, but cause conflict with Almah for disobeying her.

This is even better (you must have been listening in to my kitchen after Almah chewed the PC's out for not focusing on the village). Most of the players all thought Almah was more than a little "off balance" and they speculated that the Pactmasters of Katapesh were putting a lotof pressure on her to retake the village. They'd have no problems beleiving that the village is her "irrational" obsession.

Jubbly wrote:
You could also split the mercs here as well, perhaps the mercs dislike what the PC's do, and think they are causing trouble and making the job harder by creating a ruckus at the fort.

That's already happened. The three mercs who have to remain at camp are really angry, both at their former partners and at Almah for letting the others go out and gather both treasure and power (i.e. exp)

Jubbly wrote:
Depends what kind of strife and complexity you want to have at home plate.

The more the better. :-)

RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32

What an excellent idea for a side adventure and really well delivered! I just discovered this thread and its perfect timing for my group, I will definately be using this. Great work on both the fort and the maps and I really enjoyed the thought that went into the background. Nice work, Nick and Jubbly, thanks!

RPG Superstar 2013 Top 8

1 person marked this as a favorite.

I'm glad to see that people are still enjoying this!


Adventure Path Charter Subscriber

This is the kind of stuff I hope to find in the Adventure Path forums, glad someone shared the work that they did to flesh this out!

Thanks Demiurge 1138.

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