I'm going to start off a new adventure with my playing group and I have this idea for an adventure I'm working on. If it turns out well I might upload a PDF document of it later.
The basic idea might sound like it's ripped from a certain movie but the basic concept has nothing to do with that movie. Some stuff later in development is borrowed, though. I got the idea when I flipped through some Call of Cthulhu rulebooks.
In order for this adventure to work I introduce an original rule rewrite. This might not be popular with very experienced players, who might recognize that I've actually changed the rules of a particular monster. The change: If a Hound of Tindalos is seen by any person, that person will be attacked by it in 1d6 days. This is regardless of whether they see it in person, or if they see a drawing of it.
The premise:
There's this village out in the countryside, far from where interesting stuff generally goes on. Near the village there's a hangout for a bunch of druids. The druids are VERY anti-civilization, but they generally won't give a crap about the village and the villagers leave the druids alone.
People have been dying. Obviously killed by some monster who leaves few tracks. (oh yes Brotherhood of the Wolf. Yep it was THAT movie).
The players are called there by a letter from a man calling himself Pegleg (sounds cooler in Swedish, but I provide the English name here) who wants them to investigate and see what they can find out. Pegleg is the descendant of a very wealthy family who built an extremely unusual house in the area. Their wealth was built upon weapon sales and they believed themselves to be haunted by the ghosts of those slain by their weapons, so they built a house to confuse any potential unwanted guests. Not only is the house hallowed and whatnot, the architecture is bizarre and labyrinthine as each room has several different entrances, only one of which is unlocked at any one time. A complex piece of machinery in the basement makes this possible. Every ten minutes another the unlocked door is randomly replaced. Pegleg dresses intentionally, like a pirate. Eye patch. Hat with crossed bones and skull. Beard.
Someone is murdering people by showing them a drawing of the monster. Of course they have no reason to suspect that seeing this will end up killing them. The murderer, a half orc wizard named Andaegur (modified anagram of Gévaudan hehehe) is using the monster as a means of revenge against his brother for some reason. Haven't thought of why he wants his brother murdered yet though...
Andaegur himself didn't find the picture, though. In fact Andaegur is just a pawn of Pegleg who is the one who gave him the picture in the first place and told him how it could be used. It was obviously not given to him in person. Andaegur doesn't know it was Pegleg who gave it to him.
I don't know yet how Pegleg came to possess the drawing, but I believe the best origin for the drawing itself is that it was a page ripped out of an old book. How Pegleg got it is still left to figure out hmmm...
There will be lots of red herrings here, such as hints that the druids are causing the deaths. Several of the villagers will also have various theories as to what is happening. Many of the red herrings will lead to encounters. Though it will generally not be an adventure heavy on combat.
I'm open to any suggestions how I could improve this. Maybe things to think about too.
Some cool ideas in here, but I have a couple of questions.
Why would Pegleg pass the murder-picture on to someone else? What is his plan?
Why would Pegleg call the heroes if the murder-picture is part of his plan?
How does Andaegu show the picture to people without ever seeing it himself? If all it takes is a glance to summon the monster to kill you, how has he not been attacked?
What happens when the monster is slain? Once the PCs defeat Andaegu and search his body, they will find the picture. They should be attacked 1d6 days later. Once they kill the monster, is that the end? Or is the picture summoning new Hounds each time someone views it?
IMO, the best part of this is the room changing mansion. Especially if the layout of the mansion changes each time the mechanism "clicks." You could have some fun with the PCs opening a door into a completely different area of the mansion.
I don't have an issue with the rules change. These kinds of things are what adventures are built on.
Just the things that popped into my head on a first read.
OT
Thanks for the reply!
Why would Pegleg pass the murder-picture on to someone else? What is his plan?
Why would Pegleg call the heroes if the murder-picture is part of his plan?
Right now my current idea is that Pegleg is doing the whole thing to interrupt some kind of business deal. This is his way of making sure more people know about the killings. His intent would be simply to get them there and look around, maybe investigate and spread the word, then he'd have them killed too. Instead of blatantly advertising the disappearances he's trying to use the heroes to his advantage. He's not expecting them to be able to cope with it anyway. He's convinced the hound is too strong for anyone to deal with it.
Those were good questions, though. I might have to think some more about this.
How does Andaegu show the picture to people without ever seeing it himself? If all it takes is a glance to summon the monster to kill you, how has he not been attacked?
I have the actual murders written in more detail elsewhere, but in general: Andaegur uses disguise self to change appearance, then uses various excuses to make people look at the drawing. He makes sure NEVER to look at the front of the drawing itself. He's only seen the blank side of it.
What happens when the monster is slain? Once the PCs defeat Andaegu and search his body, they will find the picture. They should be attacked 1d6 days later. Once they kill the monster, is that the end? Or is the picture summoning new Hounds each time someone views it?
If the hound is slain it disappears for good and the image MIGHT become safe... I'm not actually sure myself... Maybe another dog replaces the old one, but it is certain that IF someone is being "hounded" and they slay the hound, they will be safe until they look at the drawing again...
IMO, the best part of this is the room changing mansion. Especially if the layout of the mansion changes each time the mechanism "clicks." You could have some fun with the PCs opening a door into a completely different area of the mansion.
Thanks. Yeah the house is basically a more extreme version of the Winchester Mystery House (google it).
Here's some intrigue to back the general plot:
There are two druid groups in the area, the Ashbound and the Greenguard. The Greenguard are relatively peaceful and moderate while the Ashbound are quite fanatic (though not violent unless provoked).
The House of Phiarlan wants to buy land from the reluctant Greenguard because they've found a small manifest zone to Mabar on the land. Half of the manifest zone is on Pegleg's land.
Pegleg can get a lot of money for his land, but he can get even more money from it if he can convince House Phiarlan that the Greenguard will be impossible to negotiate with.
House Phiarlan wants the land because the main manifest zone of the gloaming (which is north of this place) is far too big and far too expensive, and they want to research a potential connection between Mabar and their own Dragonmark.
In short: Pegleg expects to make a crapload of money by preventing House Phiarlan from negotiating with the Greenguard. By causing the attacks and spreading rumours House Phiarlan might decide that the only reasonable seller is Pegleg. Especially since the Ashbound already have a bad reputation.
Pegleg is rather wealthy from the start and so he could use other means of disrupting the sale, but this method ensures that it is impossible to pin it on him.