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For a one-shot that might lead on to other adventures:
The town of Noxmore (Village; Qualities acedemic, prosperous; Government secret syndicate) is currently afflicted with a disease referred to as the Black Breath - it drains Cha until the vic hits 0 at which point they're transformed into a horrible monster called a Void Child.
Academic: a girl's finishing school called the Noxmore Akademie; a place of higher learning, dance and art for young ladies run by a strict, wierd but otherwise innocent headmistress Madame Helene Gambol
Secret Syndicate: the Poisoner's Guild, a group of experts led by a ruthless "apothecary" (Alchemist 2/Rogue 2) Named Malignus Bane. They are extorting the wealth from the otherwise slave labor of the villagers under the auspices of gentrification. Malignus chooses to operate through the puppet-government of a town council of merchant guild masters
Church: There is a modest churh dedicated to a deity referred to as the Moon Caller - an aspect of Desna displayed as a somber woman with butterfly wings holding up a full moon and seemingly crooning to it. This deity is worshipped here with the domains of chaos and luck; the faith began as a way to honor a rare kind of butterfly that descends from the Shadow Plane each year on the night of the fist full moon of Summer. When they come to the material they absorb the moonlight and glow. The tale says that the goddess was the one butterfly left behind and she called to the moon who granted her a new body and life immortal and their coming is seen as a blessing each year. This year they didn't come. The priest here is Luniev Fortuna
Plot: the party comes to town for some premise. While there they learn that the Black Breath has infected some of the townsfolk; the priest claims it only afflicts the wicked who have denied treatment saying they are resigned to their fate. Malignus wants to cut a deal to put a stop to it but evidence points to him as the culprit. Headmistress Gambol is also a suspect b/cause she's constantly railing against Malignus and the guild, threatening to expose them. Meanwhile the townsfolk honestly don't care if the disease goes away since only the "bad" people are suffering.
right after the party learns all of this a young girl (innocent) comes down w/the Black Breath at the Akademie. She goes under the care of the priest but he claims not to be able to do anything for her. Meanwhile the townsfolk blame the party for the disease targeting a "good" person and try to take them out. Then the Void Children make themselves known for the first time, as they come to town to "feed". They do so by trapping a victim, turning on an aura which is the witch's spell Call of the Void, and then they drink the breath stolen from the victim.
After dealing with the Void Children the party should notice that they are humanoid figures with roughly butterfly wings. The priest offers them asylum in a cabin in the woods (homage to Evil Dead) where they find that it was the priest all along and that the other monsters are in/around the cabin. They have to fight their way out with the evidence.
The party will also realize that tonight (full moon) the priest is going to use a weaponized canister of the Black Breath to wipe out the whole village (cleansing) under the auspices that he's going to perform a ceremony to bring back the Mooncall Butterflies and preserve their fortunes. At this point it all comes down to what kind of players I have: if I can tell they can take a little horror they get there just in time to see the square filled with choking victims rapidly becoming monsters; if they don't enjoy horror then they have the chance to interrupt the event.
Finally it comes down to confronting the priest. There's a chance at a cure in the church - again, if it's a horror game then they have to fight through the little girl/monster and the priest to get it. Otherwise they just have to defeat the priest or grab it and administer it to the afflicted. In the end they're left with a town with a shattered faith and an evil syndicate no matter what they do. Still they can either continue the adventure to take out the Poisoner's Guild or set up a new faith, or they can just leave.
What do you think? Is this too obvious/cliche'?
sounds fun
perhaps cliched, but whatever cliches are cliches because they work
Cannot delete a post. Sorry.
Interrupt the ritual and all the people doing the ritual turn into void children and attack! Ironic and lots of XP.
Yes, very cliche.
But cliche doesn't mean bad.
Though "Malignus Bane", seriously?
Are you still DM-ing for your 8 year old/s? Because that's just as obvious for a kid, unless "Obvious bad guy" was what you were going for.
oh wow, someone got up on the wrong side of the bed! I personally enjoyed it this quite a bit
I didn't say I didn't enjoy it, but Malignus Bane is like the pseudo-latin equivalent of "Badguy Mckillface".
I'd have fun playing that I reckon :)
Although I agree that most of the names could do with a change, but that's a minor detail. A more important thing could be that your players, being players, might decide they don't want to go to the cabin in the woods. I'd have a backup plan ready for that possibility. Something to entice them there if they won't take the bait of a friendly offer of sanctuary.
Thanks for all the commentary so far! Ironically it's the name, not the double red herring/meek cleric is behind it the whole time plotline that people are picking out as cliche.
As to the names: Yes, I was getting a little Harry Potter on them. Helene (Hell; strict; LN align) Gambol (synonym for Dance; she's a bard/dance school headmistress), Malignus Bane (malignant, baneful; both synonyms for poisonous). Ok, so those aren't that far off from Sirius Black or Bellatrix LeStrange.
@Ryn: my girls have decided, sadly, that PF just isn't the game for them. Still there's hope: my older one has taken to writing fantasy stories for her creative writing class, still seems a little interested, and her cousin got her into playing Magic. Fortunately she's content with using Dad's cards right now but I'm sure the onslaught is coming...
But coming back to the actual adventure - is it trite or overdone? I see it in literature all over the place but its been since an old Dungeon mag where I've seen the "disease turning people into monsters" bit. The twist in this one is that I really want to play up the angle that not even the infected want to be cured since they know they're corrupt and this is their penance.
@ Goth: thanks for the suggestion. As I'm writing this I'm thinking of my current players who are a tad squeamish and though they can go dark they don't particularly like the outright horror. One of those players actually said to me "I always want at least the chance to win or save the innocent" so I can't imagine running the "they all become monsters" scenario for those players.
But then as I've been on these forums the prevailing audience I've seen here has often taken adventure plots to the horror extreme - ghosts that refuse to be saved; monsters that won't die; horrific necromancy or summoning an eidolon by ripping open a womb...truly graphic or horror-genre stuff. So I figured I'd leave that option for those kinds of players.
Please if you've got any other feedback let me know.
Aww, sorry to hear about that. =(
But anyway, the adventure looks fun, no doubt. If your players are squeamish, yeah I'd be wary of the no-win scenario, but overall it's the kind of cheesy (but still with mondo potential for scary if done right) horror I love.
How about Ron Weasley. I'm sorry he never learned to turn into a weasel.
:) And Snape. If you were looking for a bad guy, he was a Snipe hunt.
If you come up with a backstory how they got that family name, it won't be as silly.
Dot.
Noxmore
CN village
Corruption +1; Crime +2; Economy +2; Law -7; Lore +1; Society -1;
Qualities academic, prosperous
Danger 0
Demographics
Government Secret Syndicate
Population 138 (124 humans, 12 half-elves, 2 half-orcs)
Notable NPCs
Master Poisoner Malignus Bane (CE male human alchemist 6/rogue 2)
Headmistress of the Dance Academy Madame Helene Gambol (LN female half-elf Bard 8)
Mondgeist Wirrwarr Dusel (CN male human cleric of the Moon Caller 8)
Marketplace
Base Value 650; Purchase Limit 3,750 gp; Spellcasting 4th
The rustic façade of the Piper’s Mantle is not just decorative; the ramshackle cobblestone and timber frame has definitely seen finer times. The door squeals open to reveal the dimly lit gloom of the main floor. To one side is a curved bar stocked with tapped kegs and earthenware while scattered throughout are an unkempt collection of round and straight tables, benches and chairs. Over the front entry rises a rickety stair to the apartments above.
Directly opposite the bar on the other wall is the piece for which the place might be named. A massive, oblong mantle as tall as a man and seemingly cut from the living granite dominates the fieldstone. A warm blaze crackles in its depth yet the light is swallowed by the sheer mass of the hearth. Surrounding this are a dozen patrons on stools, in chairs or merely reclining against the stone, all of whom toke an eclectic mix of pipes. The combined brume in the air from the fire, the pipe smoke and the smoldering sconces and lanterns keeps any attempt of bright light from succeeding.
The proprietor of the bar, Dragathur Ippavyr, is a half orc though he obviously favors his human parentage. He is handsome, with a swarthy complexion and bushy sideburns and goatee. His hair is pulled back in a tail to reveal a darkened glare in his hazel eyes. But as he barks back at a belligerent patron at the near table a short pair of pinhead tusks can clearly be seen in his lower lips. Despite his looks Dragathur’s demeanor, size and carriage denote a man clearly capable of rousting more than the occasional drunk.
From the far end of the main floor comes a hearty laugh, a loud slap and a crash. Leaving the source of the din comes Bagza, Dragathur’s wife. She is similarly comely to her mate, though her skin is a creamy shade of green complimenting her touseled red locks. She is storming out of the shadows one hand bearing a tray of empty mugs with the other dragging an unconscious lout behind her. The woman is curvaceous, gifted by her maker with ample assets; as she lumbers through her unsavory tasks she can’t help the occasional jiggle or bounce in all the right places. It doesn’t help matters that her uniform merely suggests modesty without actually achieving it.
The barman and his wife begin at Indifferent to the party. Both are young and strong, used to surviving in a human-dominated society fraught with corruption. They appreciate directness and abhor effrontery. If the players are bold and state themselves well grant them a +2 to any attempts at Diplomacy. They are however 2 of the only holdouts against the worst of the Poisoner’s Guild, paying their “tithe” only out of necessity. They are not easily intimidated so any attempt made to do so while they are within their own bar is done at a -2.
Thoughts/comments?
Ha! Not too bad at all.
And my next bad guy will be named "Badguy McKillface" or perhaps "Stabby McStabbalot".
Why did I immediately think of 8-Bit Theatre.
Void Child
An emaciated humanoid frame wheezes before you; a nightmare of fleshy gray tendrils and claws with a dark cloak on its back of membranous skin like a moth’s wings. Pallid pits in its skull illuminated by sunken beads of dull red light cast about while a pair of long whipping proboscis tests the air about it. From its sputtering gasps exudes a shadowy fume to dissipate into the air.
Void Child
CR 3
XP 800
N Medium aberration
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., scent; Perception +9
DEFENSE
AC 15, touch 12, flat-footed 13 (+2 Dex, +3 natural)
hp 27 (5d8+5)
Fort +2, Ref +3, Will +6
Weakness light sensitivity
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft., climb 20 ft., fly 50 ft. (average)
Melee claw +4 (1d4+1), tentacle –1 (1d4+1 plus Grab)
Special Attack Black Breath; Kiss of the Void
STATISTICS
Str 12, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 5, Wis 14, Cha 3
Base Atk +3; CMB +5 (+7 to Grapple); CMD 16
Feats Agile Maneuvers, Improved Grapple, Skill Focus (Perception)
Skills Climb +5, Fly +7 Perception +9, Stealth +10; Racial Modifiers +4 stealth
Languages Aklo (cannot speak)
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Black Breath (Su)
The Void Child is constantly sputtering out a toxic substance into the air around it; this is the disease which helps these creatures reproduce. Victims within 5 feet of the creature must make a DC 13 Fort save or suffer a weakened version of the disease: Black Breath –inhaled; Save Fortitude DC 13; Onset 1 day; Frequency 1/day Effect 1d6 Cha; Cure 2 consecutive saves. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Kiss of the Void (Su)
If the Void Child begins its turn grappling an opponent, it can attempt to suck the breath out of its victim’s body to gain sustenance. On a successful grapple check it pins the opponent and also deals 1d4 Con damage. In addition to these effects the victim cannot speak and is considered Fatigued for every round under the effect or the next round following their release.
Please critique it all; the math, the RAI, the fluff, etc. Let me know if it's good, overpowered, killable in a round, whatever. Also please understand the adventure is based on APL 3-5.
Frankly I think 75% of fantasy RPG set-ups could be called cliche. It doesn't matter though, because every time you run it, you've got different characters and/or players going through it to make it a special, unique experience.
As a red herring, have an NPC come down with lung cancer. They desperately seak magical healing thinking they are becoming a Void Child.
You might want to give Kiss of the Void a Save or such.
Say on a DC XX Save they only take 1 Point of Con Damage.
You might also reword the Effects.
Ok...but does the Void Child seem ok for a CR 3 monster? Or does having 2 special abilities put it at a higher CR?
I thought when they're first "born" like real moths they can't fly yet. But as they survive past 24 hrs they learn to fly and therefore employ this tactic:
If they get surprise, then grapple. Next round either Kiss of the Void or use the "move with opponent" to lift them up off the ground into the air. Then finally while aloft they then utilize the Kiss to drain the victim of breath for them to feed on.
For that reason should I change Grab to Constrict?
You might want to give Kiss of the Void a Save or such.
Say on a DC XX Save they only take 1 Point of Con Damage.
You might also reword the Effects.
Kiss is based on the witch spell Call of the Void: Ref save for 1/2 damage, otherwise AoE aura that deals 2d6/round, 1 round/level. So you're saying Fort DC 13: success = 1pt of Con damage, fail = 1d4 pts of Con damage?
Also how should I reword the effect? What am I trying to clarify?
Grab fits better. That said I would probably make it 2 Claws.
Seems in line. Save for the fact that most low level Stat Damages usually have a Save. At least IIRC...
EDIT:
Kiss of the Void (Su): If the Void Child begins its turn grappling an opponent, it can attempt to suck the breath out of its victim’s body to gain sustenance. On a successful grapple check it pins the opponent and also deals 1d4 Con damage (Fort Save DC XX). On a successful Save the target takes 1 Point of Con damage. In addition to the victim cannot speak and is Fatigued for every round under the effect and the round following their release. The Save DC is CON Based.
Thanks AF. 2 claws would be 2 primary attacks, so both at +4? Also is it 2 claws AND the one tentacle, or do I nix the tentacle and say if the claws hit, then Grab?
I would do the 2 Claws only... Maybe a Bite Attack as well...
I don't want them to have mouths. They breathe in and out through their facial tentacles. So their revised offense would look like this:
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft., climb 20 ft., fly 50 ft. (average)
Melee 2 claws +4 (1d4+1 plus Grab)
Special Attack Black Breath; Kiss of the Void
Their revised Kiss looks like this:
Kiss of the Void (Su)
If the Void Child begins its turn grappling an opponent, it can attempt to suck the breath out of its victim’s body to gain sustenance. On a successful grapple check it pins the opponent and also deals 1d4 Con damage (Fort Save DC 13). On a successful save the target takes 1 Point of Con damage. In addition to the victim cannot speak and is Fatigued for every round under the effect and the round following their release. The save DC is Con-based.
Thanks again AF for this and everything. I think this adventure is coming along. Cliche or not; I think my players will enjoy it.
It is not a Problem.
By Bite I was thinking of something more akin one of the Cthulu Beasties bites. The Tentacles each have a Fang and the Tentacles are Long and Thin and the all writhe and rip the targets Flesh.
I like it. It uses butterfly anatomy to make something monsterous.
Remember: APL 3-5.
GM: A void child is descending toward you.
Wizard: I hurl a scorching ray at the son of a...
GM: Everyone give me a Perception check (DC 21; folks roll...)
Wizard: 19
GM: Ohh...sorry. The other one drops from the sky behind you. You are attacked; (rolls) both claws hit, you take 7 HP...
Wizard: that's like, over a third of my HP...
GM: and you are grabbed (rolls...) and successfully grappled. Continue with Scorching.
a round of combat passes...
GM: sorry fighter, you DIDN'T manage to dislodge the creature. Wizard, give me a Fort save (vs DC 13)
Wizard: (rolls and looks up sheepishly) umm...12?
GM: sorry; you take an additional (rolls..)2 Con damage. And you're fatigued. And you can't cast any more spells. And you're pinned. And you need to give me a second Fort save (vs DC 13 - Black Breath)
Wizard: with Fatigue...11?
GM: (smiling) I can't wait to see what YOU look like in gray. Next?
I think piling on a bite seems...excessive for a CR 3 monster. Now, if I gave it Constrict damage instead of the kiss, left in the Fatigue if save is failed, and used THAT to simulate the Kiss of the Void, that might be better. But imagine the above PLUS an additional 4 more HP on that first attack; there wouldn't be that many creatures that would survive long enough to feed the Void Child.
I wouldn't have black breath have a reduced version...
Heck you could make it that any creature killed by their Kiss becomes a Void Child in 1d3 Days and remove Black Breath entirely.
I like it. It uses butterfly anatomy to make something monsterous.
Thanks G-thing!
Next up: why would the party suspect the head of the Poisoner's Guild or the Headmistress of the Noxmore Akademie?
"Noxmore" immediately indicates to me there's some kind of plague in the village, so I find the village name to be a bit cliche. You might consider something more innocuous unless you want to foreshadow the story with the town name. (Not to mention the NPC names already pointed out.)
I have a mayor in my town named Barovan Sweetwater who I plan to have become a werewolf in the plot. My players could care less about his name, when I said the mayor wanted to talk to them, they said out-of-character "don't trust him, he could be a werewolf!" I was like "What?" There was one werewolf (the former head of the town guard) captured and executed by NPCs during the first session (back in September) so my PCs are convinced the NPCs got the wrong guy, even though they made it through the full moon with no werewolf attacks reported. They haven't fought any werewolves YET, though there is a cultist of the demon patron of werewolves (Jezelda, Mistress of the Hungry Moon) as an NPC. She's already been exposed. (The NPCs didn't get the wrong guy, BTW. The villain who hasn't arrived on the scene yet is a vilkacis [incorporeal werewolf undead] that can spread lycanthropy while possessing someone. He was executed in the first session.)
I do have a burning skeletal champion undead lord antipaladin in my campaign named Theodore Pyreborn, which is an obvious reference to the fact that he's on fire, but his real name is Ludovic Teodorescu and people just corrupted his last name as Theodore and added "Pyreborn," and it stuck.
Anyway, I guess my point is the players don't necessarily need to be led by the nose, they'll jump to conclusions all on their own.
@ Wulf that looks (in the avatar) like a ravenous wolf: I get it with the names but frankly, here's the players I have RIGHT NOW, regardless of future groups that MIGHT play this game:
1. Every statue in ANY dungeon is a trap or gargoyle or animate or whatever; it needs to be destroyed.
2. Any NPC with a name is nothing more than someone who's going to either try to kill us or wind up a victim. Period.
3. Never enter a building with more than a sentence worth of descriptive text - it's either a trap or an intro to a named NPC (see #2).
I'm serious. These are paraphrases of ACTUAL statements made, in character, at our gaming table. When I've tried to reign in the metagaming they still work it in. I KNOW that players will jump to these conclusions...because they tell me they will. However with the builds and tactics they employ, it really doesn't matter because when the fight breaks out they'll either win or lose; there's really no third option with these guys.
So if I instead named the town Happyville, gave the headmistress the name Betty Bigrump and so on, it really wouldn't matter. They will metagame the idea that BECAUSE the town has a name at all, they will be attacked here by something; BECAUSE the headmistress has a name she will either be a killer or a victim.
I'm REALLY not concerned with the names. My chief question revolves around the plot. If you and three other players walked into this town, found out there was a disease, an evil syndicate, a shifty school marm and a kindly cleric in town, and were then attacked by a monster, would you INSTANTLY put together the cliche that the syndicate and the marm were both red herrings, show up on the doorstep of the church, and as soon as the kindly cleric opened the door you'd gut him like a fish?
Well? Wouldja?
Any other comments so far?
An NPC named Sally Sweetwater makes Holy Water, Healing Potions, or both.
If they don't see every NPC as a possible resource, maybe they are the cliche.
Use of cliche and reliance on cliche are totally different. Cliche or not, it seems like you've put a lot of thought into this. Go for it.
I really want to play in this game Mark...
I really want to play in this game Mark...
This is the one of the kindest things anyone's said to me on these boards. This means a lot coming from you AF.
...Not sure what to say to that...