First and foremost, a huge congratulations to Steven Helt on winning being this year's RPG Superstar!
In the tradition of the Round 2 almost-ran thread, I thought I'd open up an avenue for writers who created a submission (whether for purely academic purposes and practice or for almost-rans of the Top 4) for the adventure proposal to air their ideas and open a line of discussion and conversation among fellow writers.
Feel free to offer constructive criticism and comments on proposals submitted here and consider them for near year's round of RPG Superstar. Maybe you'll be in the Top 4 next year, and a little practice can go a long way!
When intrigue and plague threatens the people of Nex, a group of adventurers unassociated with the political dealings of the country are pulled into a web of political intrigue and other-worldly threats that may well consume them. Here, the PCs uncover a long forgotten weapon of mass destruction crafted during the Spellblight War between Nex and Geb, ready to be unleashed on the world again. The PCs are tasked with entering the dangerous Mana Wastes to find and destroy this weapon before the drums of war can sound again. But, can the PCs discover the truth behind the weapon in time, and the sinister plot behind its return?
Legacy of the Spellblight War is an adventure designed for 5th-level characters. By the end of the module, characters should be 7th-level.
Over four thousand years ago, a war between the greatest archmages of their era -- Nex and Geb -- nearly destroyed two entire nations and left a scar on the world where magic itself was destroyed. Referred to as the Spellblight War by historians, this conflict was defined by the out of control escalation of the conflict. Among the countless horrors of war engineered by both sides, a terrible and virulent disease engineered by fleshcrafters of Nex and stolen by Gebbite spies was perhaps the most insidious. Designed by the alchemist Jalovair Sairsing, this magically engineered artifact-level disease called fleshwrack was intended to be the weapon that would end the conflict. The disease targeted living humanoids and rapidly twisted and mutated their physical forms, diminishing their minds and their perceptions of reality until they became ravening beasts and infected others around them. Fleshwrack could effectively turn an entire nation's populace into a living weapon. Specifically, it was designed to target Geb's humanoid workers and their "food stock" of subservient cattle, depriving the upper echelon of undead that subsist on the essence of living creatures their nourishment and an intelligent workforce.
When the fleshwrack was presented to Nex by its creator, however, the danger posed by its contagious nature to not only the people of Nex but also the whole of Golarion was simply too great to risk. Jalovair was ordered to destroy the weapon that he had spent decades developing. Before he could follow through with this, Jalovair's lab was raided by Gebbite spies and the urns of completed Fleshwrack were stolen. In a last-minute bid to prevent Geb from getting his hands on a weapon that could devastate all of Nex, the spies were tracked down and the Gebbite border fortress they had brought the fleshwrack to was destroyed in an assault of arcane spellcasters that rendered the structure little more than molten stone and slag.
Evidence of fleshwrack's creation was wiped out and all knowledge of its creation expunged with great prejudice to prevent it from ever being created again. Only a handful of individuals ever knew of the weapon's creation, and those that did took the secret to their grave leaving behind only partial records that it ever existed, tucked away within vaults of ancient lore in Quantium. Now, four thousand years later, a strange plague spreads across the wastelands of Nex among its tribal villages beyond the walls of Quantium.
The PCs are recruited by Sungam Mihavarsti, a member of the Nine and child of the Mihavarsti tribe within the Nexian wastes. As a member of the Nine, Sungam has less political clout than the Quantium-born members of the Seven and has been unable to find alliances among the other eight tribal members of the council, each seeming more content to worry about their own tribe's lands and troubles than to cooperate as a whole.
Sungam's request to the PCs is based on a personal matter, not official council business and as such is kept out of the eyes of the other council members. Sungam's birthplace, the village of Sûmbahn, has gone silent and no traders have come from the village in days. Worried that something has befallen his people and unable to rally aid from the other councilmen, Sungam hires the PCs to investigate and report back with their findings.
Adventure Hooks
• An old friend or former patron of the PCs recommends them to Councilman Mihavarsti.
• PCs with ties to the Pathfinder society learn that a scholar of the Pathfinder society, Rudal Aeoghr has been living with the Mihavarsti tribe in Sûmbahn to learn their culture, history and legends and that the village has gone silent.
• Spellcasters would be interested in visiting Quantium for an opportunity to study in its prestigious academies of arcane magic.
• An oracle or other PC thematically tied to prophetic visions or dreams of a wasteland shrouded in thick, oily fog humming with the sound of buzzing insect wings and echoing with screams of agony. A bloodstained flag bearing the sigil of Nex blows limply in the wind from a ruined tower.
Councilman Mihavarsti has called for the PCs to meet him at the Ars Simulacra, a museum of animate statues and effigies of heroes and historic figures from Quantium's past. Amidst the living displays of historical events accentuated by spells like minor image and ghost sound the PCs bear witness to some of the major historical events of Nex on their way to the wing of the museum where the councilman waits.
Here, Sungam tells the PCs of the plight of his people and gives them a brief rundown of the political structure of Nex and how the Council of Seven and Nine operates. He then tells them where to find the village of Sûmbahn and pays them a fronted stipend to purchase travel supplies with promise of more on their return with detailed information. The PCs are given time to ask Sungam questions regarding what he knows and explore Quantium. Delaying longer than a day in the city affects the timetable of survivors in the village.
From Quantium, the PCs travel west across the wasteland of Nex towards the Ustradi river, encountering native mutants of the wastes and entities that have crossed over from the Mana Wastes. When the party arrives at Sungam they discover the village shrouded in a bank of thick yellow fog and are attacked by fleshwarped villagers who have been exposed to the deadly fleshwrack disease. Here, the PCs risk infection as they battle the creatures. If the PCs left Quantium the day they met the councilor, they discover two survivors: Rudal Aeoghr, an elderly human Pathfinder who specializes in anthropology, studying the history of the Nexian tribes and their genealogical links to present-day tribes in the Mwangi expanse and Krivista Shio, a young female tiefling villager with natural sorcerous ability.
Fleshwrack is a virulent contagion that attacks the body and mind. The concept is that it is an artifact-level disease with a remarkably high DC to remove, mitigating typical contagion removal methods. The disease's onset time can vary greatly, and the GM is recommended to use it as a dramatic tool, gradually warping PCs if they are infected as a reminder of the urgency of the mission, but never to give them a hard-defined "timer." A chart of suggested deformations would range from cosmetic to mechanical with upsides and downsides.
Rudal has been infected by fleshwrack for weeks and is deformed in hideous ways, barely able to move or speak. He is being tended to by Krivista, whom as a native outsider is immune to the disease as it specifically targets humanoids. They have hidden themselves in the root cellar of Krivista's home and are trapped by Krivista's human parents who turned into fleshwarped creatures. If they are rescued in time, Rudal explains to the PCs that the fog started to appear a month ago when a merchant brought a collection of sealed clay pots into the village in a wagon. They were sold to villagers as alchemical incense wards against scavenging animals of the wasteland. A few villagers purchased and opened them to ward off predatory creatures from their farmlands. When people began getting sick no one connected it to the urns, though Rudal was suspicious. Taking an urn from a farm for inspection, he exposed himself to the plague contained within and began to grow sick.
Rudal recommended the villagers burn the urns, but by then it was too late. Rudal had been staying with Krivista's parents for his research and soon he began to notice them turning as well. Two days ago the first villager became violent and murdered another and overnight the remaining infected began to change. The disease's incubation seems to vary wildly and unpredictably, as Rudal was exposed early but has still not yet turned, though he fears it will happen soon.
With Rudal's information the PCs can learn that the merchant headed south, likely to the next village along the river trade route and given his slow traveling speed with his wagon they may be able to catch him. Rudal then requests that the PCs end his life before he completes the transformation fully. Krivista offers to accompany the PCs so that she may avenge her family's death. Krivista could easily become a PCs cohort or an apprentice to a higher level spellcaster.
If the PCs did not leave Quantium on the first day, Rudal is dead, having been euthanized by Krivista who remains trapped in the basement. Instead of learning their information from the Pathfinder, they instead may receive information from Krivista but without benefit of knowing what Rudal learned from his research into the disease.
The PCs are possibly now carriers of the plague due to their exposure in Sûmbahn and can potentially spread the fleshwrack infection where they travel.
Following the Ustradi river south the PCs come to the village of Turgan to find the death merchant having set up his stall to sell the urns, though has had no takers yet in this rural fishing community. The PCs are able to confront the merchant and discover that he is suffering from a form of possession and is compelled to perform this task and is accompanied by a pair of hooded, fleshwarped bodyguards. Depending on how they resolve the encounter, the PCs can learn more information about the urns and the sickness from the merchant if he survives and is broken free of his possession.
The merchant is actually Lorvis Clearfield a treasure-hunter of the Aspis Consortium who disappeared in the Mana Wastes two years ago while raiding ruins from the spellblight war. His memory of the last two years is spotty, recalling only fragments of caves, ruins and the buzzing of insect wings. Strangely, the merchant has not shown any signs of infection and is immune to the disease despite being a human. Lorvis agrees to travel back to Quantium to help however he can provided the PCs assure him he will not face a tribunal for what he caused while dominated. If the PCs can give him no such assurances (lies or otherwise) he will fight to the death for his freedom.
If the PCs are unable to save Lorvis from his possession or are otherwised forced to kill him before he explains his situation, fragmented travel records contained in a journal in Lorvis' possession indicate his history as a treasure hunter in the Mana Wastes and dates in the journal end two years prior to the current events.
From here the PCs will travel back to Quantium to relay what information they have discovered to Councilman Mihavarsti.
Returning to Quantium, the PCs make contact with Councilman Mihavarsti and arrange for another meeting in the Ars Simulacra. Passing over what information they have, Mihavarsti believes that this information is proof that Geb is planning to initiate another war and seeks to bring this information to the rest of the council to warn them of a danger that threatens all of Nex. He requests the PCs accompany him to the council chambers as he arranges for an emergency summit.
In the meanwhile, the forces that manipulated Lorvis into exposing Nexian villagers to the fleshwrack have become aware of the PCs actions and have sent a spy into Nex to observe their actions.
When the PCs go to reunite with Sungam at the council chambers, they find him under arrest and are confronted by the remainder of the council and their guard. Sungam apologizes for the situation and it is revealed to the PCs that they are potentially infected by the fleshwrack. The PCs are screened by the council and if any test positive, they too are threatened with arrest and execution for endangering the entirety of Nex. The PCs will need to plead their case to the council, though they will be detained in quarantine regardless. While the PCs are quarantined, the city falls into chaos as the Council attempts to contain possible infection spread unwittingly by the PCs and the council considers the possibility of renewed hostilities with Geb and another war.
They are eventually met by a representative of the Seven, Councilor Arshanan Rivah who listens with a more open mind regarding their situation. Arshanan explains that it was not legal for Sungam Mihavarsti to recruit them to investigate internal matters that could affect all tribes, but understands his frustrations in going through official channels. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Arshanan tells the PCs that attempts to remove the disease from them have been unsuccessful and he believes that this disease is something spoken of in ancient records from the spellblight war. Arshanan explains that records of the disease were destroyed save for a handful available only to the council. In these records, mention of a destroyed Gebbite fortress in what is now the Mana Wastes is mentioned, which coincides with where Lorvis' memory and his journal conclude.
Arshanan has arranged for an option for the PCs to exonerate themselves for their unintentional crime by looking more deeply into this possible connection. The Council would send more with them, but with the city in chaos from the outbreak and quarantine efforts, the council has been unwilling to part with any loyal soldiers, and given the sensitive nature of the knowledge are less inclined to hire out help. The fewer who know about the fleshwrack the better.
If the PCs accept the deal, Arshanan will give them clearance to leave the city, but they may not re-enter Quantium. Instead, they must leave their prison via a sewer passage to avoid exposing themselves to others who could contract the disease. He returns the PCs gear to them and explains how they should navigate through subterranean Nex to leave the city. From here, the PCs and their companions make their way out of Quantium underground through a series of ancient and now unused aquaducts and sewer passages, exiting through drainage pipes on the coast.
To expand on the scope of the city of Nex, the PCs could discover a location accessible through a fissure in the sewer tunnels that connects to a subterranean city residing directly below Quantium called Tzovarith, a city populated by ancient inhabitants of Nex prior to the foundation of the nation by the archmage Nex himself. This city in what is considered the darklands region of Nar-Voth is populated by dark folk that have been poisoned gradually over centuries by magical "sewage" running off from Quantium's forges and arcane laboratories. These dark folk bear similar aberrant mutations to other creatures typically seen in and around Nex and the Mana Wastes, but are immune to diseases (such as fleshwrack).
Tzovarith gives the impression of great age with its cavernous chambers bristling with strange black towers that reach from ground to ceiling, fluorescent fungis that lights cavern walls and steets. It would be suggested that the dark folk moved in to Tzovarith, and that its actual inhabitants may have been far older, but now gone, much like the ruins at the north pole of the crown of the world.
The PCs could use Tzovarith as a place to catch their breath and resupply, as the residents of this undercity have frequent traffic from other darklands races coming in from bordering nations of Katapesh and the Mana Wastes. All manner of unusual magical items, spells and supplies are available here, either as refuse cast off by Quantium or salvaged from regions beyond.
While the PCs are away from Quantium, an enslaved spy sent into Nex by the azshmaradi infiltrates the council and assumes control of Sungam, abandoning the current slave.
From here the PCs must travel south from Quantium into the Mana Wastes, avoiding towns and settlements to contain the spread of the fleshwrack they carry. During this time, the PCs begin to exhibit the first signs of fleshwrack mutation, granting them an assortment of minor cosmetic changes and mechanical effects.
On the way through Nex and the Mana Wastes, the PCs encounter spellwarped undead, "radioactive" hot spots of magical damage in the wastes and endure a mana storm. Eventually, they reach the ruins of Ulaor Tavad where the fleshwrack was supposedly destroyed ages ago. This Gebbite fortress is a heap of once molten stone and metal inhabited by twisted denizens of the Mana Wastes and horrible mutants.
Deep below Ulaor Tavad the PCs discover passage to Nar-Voth and evidence of an incursion from the Darklands. Here, they find hives of the azshmaradi, horrific organic structures belonging to an ancient spacefaring race of insectile creatures loyal to the Dominion of the Black. Having turned the dark below of Ulaor Tavad into a terrible laboratory, the azshmaradi seek to refine the fleshwrack in preparation for the arrival of their masters in the Dominion.
The azshmaradi are a race of spacefaring insectile creatures native to a distant world beyond Golarion's solar system. Their people were enslaved by the Dominion of the Black aeons ago and now serve the Dominion as advanced scouts and spies, infiltrating organizations and influencing them in ways that support the Dominion's goals.
Azshmaradi are vaguely humanoid with supplemental limbs, chitinous exoskeletons and light-emitting, feathery antennae. They utilize living magical items known as "symbiotes" to augment their combat capabilities and routinely practice the art fo fleshwarping on their people to enhance or specialize them to specific tasks. With their ability to see in the dark, a typical adventuring party first hears the trilling clicks of an azshmaradi in the dark, then sees the glow of energy filiments woven into their carapace and the writhing undulations of their luminous antennae. By that time, it is typically too late to avoid what will likely be a harrowing encounter with servants of the Dominion.
An azshmaradi's most insidious ability is Enslavement, a supernatural power that allows the azshmaradi to supplant the consciousness of a humanoid with their own mind, gaining control of the victim's body and manipulating them similar to a ghost's malevolence ability, save that the azshmaradi's enslavement is not limited in duration and the azshmaradi may use the victim's class abilities as their own. azshmaradi utilize this ability to influence factions and nations from afar, blending in to terrestrial societies as spies and saboteurs.
The PCs must face off against a terrestrial contingent of the azshmaradi, their fleshwarped creations and uncover their research and the designs for a potential cure for the fleshwrack as well. With this bastion of the azshmaradi defeated, the PCs can return to Quantium with research that can create a cure and hopefully prevent Nex from launching a retaliatory attack against an unwitting Geb. Within this azshmaradi hive the PCs can gain access to unusual enhancements in the form of living symbiotes that act like equipment.
Instead of traditional magical items, the azshmaradi have used fleshwarping to create living symbiotes that duplicate effects akin to magical items, such as enhancing ability scores or serving as armor. In return the symbiotes sustain themselves on their host's life essence in the form of small amounts of permanent hp damage allocated daily to the symbiote. Symbiotes take up slots as if they were magic items but their effects cannot be dispelled or suppressed by antimagic fields. Creation of symbiotes is outside of the PCs capabilities.
When the PCs return to Quantium through the sewer passage, they meet with Councilor Arshann Rivah who receives them and their information. The PCs learn that Sungam broke free of his detention cell and murdered three council guards before fleeing the city, an act that seemed entirely out of character for Sungam. With knowledge of a cure for the fleshwrack delivered to Arshanan, he informs the PCs that Quantium's top alchemists will get to work immediately on developing the cure to be administered to the populace.
As they are having this conversation, word reaches the council that Sungam has been spotted in the Windcaller Spire, a location in Quantium that generates and controls the weather in and around the city, one of the many facets that allows Quantium to be such a resplendent bastion amid such harsh wastes. The Council guards report that Sungam was accompanied by insect creatures the PCs will recognize as azshmaradi. Fearful what the implications of the attack on the spire could mean, Arshann sends the PCs int the tower in order to forestall the council from calling an expunging order to contain the threat, which would destroy not only the entire spire, but also neighboring residences at its base.
The PCs must assault the Windcaller Spire and battle enslaved members of the Quantium guard, constructs under their command, and azshmaradi forces until they reach the top of the spire where Sungam awaits. Here, possessed by an overlord of the azshmaradi, Sungam speaks of the coming of the Dominion and that under their guidance Nex will rise to become a power like Osirion of old did. But in order to accept the Dominion as saviors, the people of Nex must be taught obedience and be stripped of their pride, brought low and to desperation where they would accept any savior, no matter how dark. Sungam plans to inject the fleshwrack plague into the Windcaller Tower to poison the entire city, culling the weak and terrifying the survivors.
Enslaved by a distant azshmaradi, Sungam's mental faculties are greatly increased, enhancing his oracle abilities. Sungam is ordinarily an oracle with the Dark Tapestry mystery but he also gains a host of azshmaradi supernatural and spell-like abilities thanks to the entity possessing him. Sungam is also aided in the conflict by a pair of flesh golems that serve the council's orders.
Since the encounter occurs within the Windcaller Tower the encounter can be made more dynamic by the PCs and Sungam vying for control of the tower itself by means of a control crystal at the center of the encounter map. PCs manipulating the crystal will have the option of generating (or suppressing) a number of wind-related effects to help control the battlefield.
If the PCs fail to defeat Sungam the Council of Seven and Nine authorizes the expunging order, directing a group of Arclords to raze the tower. The entire structure is destroyed in a bombardment of arcane power, but the fleshwrack still manages to escape into one of the city's wards from the ruins. Barely able to create the cure in time, Quantium suffers deaths in the thousands before all is said and done, significantly weakening the city and its people.
If the PCs successfully defeat Sungam, the azshmaradi possessing him is cast out of his body and returns its focus to its physical body deep within the Dark Tapestry. This azshmaradi could become a recurring threat to the PCs, cropping up in possession of whom they least expect. A cure for the fleshwrack is manufactured from the remaining urns of the disease and those afflicted that can be saved are over time. Those already turned by the ravaging mutations are executed within the quarantine zones, quietly.
With Quantium saved, the PCs are rewarded for their service to Nex in a private ceremony held by the surviving members of council, though the people of Nex may never fully know the identities of their saviors, as the council seeks to cover up the true scope of the disaster that was nearly averted for the sake of national morale and security. The council will keep a close eye on the PCs from here on out to ensure that the secret is kept.
RPG Superstar 2013
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Dedicated Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka Steven T. Helt
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First, thanks for your kind words. This has been a great ride.
I don't wanna spoil what could be a fun thread, Lucent. But I wouldn't post an idea here. I'd polish it up and send it to a publishing company that seems right for the submission. Posting ideas here means someone can swipe them, a company can just change a few things around and not pay a contributor, a developer could send a similar concept (maybe they even had a similar idea already) to a writer in their stable, or competing first-time authors might have similar ideas. I think the contest serves to help people learn about design or what publishers expect, but I wouldn't give away for free what you might be able to sell.
Now, that's just my opinion as an aspiring writer with ideas to pitch. If you or anyone else thinks it's better to sacrifice one adventure idea on the altar to get some growth so the next idea is better, that's totally up to you or anyone else.
Thanks for the kind words, Steven. It's good advice to everyone else as well. The notion of the idea being taken or being similar to something already in the works is something I considered when posting this suggestion, but the sacrificial idea on the altar of refinement was definitely what I had in mind. There will always be more ideas, better ideas, but the venues for constructive criticism and discourse aren't always as focused as they can be here on the tail end of RPG Superstar.
Hopefully everyone and anyone who posts to this thread takes your advice to heart, though!
IF my proposal for the Pathmaster contest doesn't take I'll post it here (though its 400 word format)
An adventure proposal in 400 words? That would be a thing to see, for certain.
It was definitely difficult. I'd be willing to share mine here as well, assuming that doesn't conflict with contest rules in any way.
Its enough word count for the gist... and that's about it. Kobold press ran Valhalla Calling with the same word count restrictions
Got some great responses in PMs from a few people, hope to see more and other contributions :)