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. -,.~::;.,: ........... ...I.__I.. ......... Sa m ple file ~ ep series. Take your adventures ady your resolve and roll GLORYA W A ~ Updated for 3.0 and 3.5 .~e.... :;+, . ~+ .._ ,. www.alderac.com .... Sa mp le file ADVEnTURE I1 whether or not he believes in himself. 0 2004 Hderac Entertainment Group, Inc. All rights reserved. INTRODIJCTION LINE DEVELOPER COMPILATION jim pinto Jeff Ibach MANAGING EDITOR WRITING Jeff Ibach A. A. Acevedo, Kat Figueroa, Marcel0 Figueroa, Scott Fitzsimmons,Andrew Getting, Travis Heermann, Sean Holland,Chris Hussey, Jeff Ibach, Lori Lane, Mlke Meads, jim pinto, Ree Soesbee,Eric Steiger, Douglas Sun, Ken Villars, Rich WuK John Zinser DZO RULES MAVEN Sean Holland PLAYTESTING AND ADVICE ART DIRECTION Royce Groff, Sean Holland, Dawn Ibach, Rob Longmuir, Mike Leader, Jen Ly, Zung Ly, Kevin Millard, Ed Morris, Laura Moms, Darlene Rosero, Edgar Rosero, Angelo Sargentini, Charlene Sharkey, James Sharkey, Janet Thomas, Scott Thomas, Cheryl Van-Mater Miner, Phil Van-Mater Miner jim pinto COVER DESIGN Steve Hough and Mark Jelfo COVER ILLUSTRATION SPECIAL THANKS William O’connor INTERIOR DESIGN AND LAYOUT Nate Barnes and Mark Jelfo mp Jeff Ibach, jim pinto, Katie Yates Sa EDITING le Liz Danforth, Cris Dornaus, Carl Frank, Darren M. A. Calvert, Jonathan Hunt, Lisa Hunt, Amandine Labarre, G. W McKee, Matt Morrow, Michael Phillippi, Mike Sellers, Ethan Slayton, Jeff Wright jim pinto would once again like to thank Jeff Ibach and Sean Holland for all their efforts with this book. 1would also like to thank Erik Yaple for 6 years of hardwork at AEG. He moved on, but is missed everyday If anyone sees him, sock him in the eye for us. More thanks to Nate Barnes and Justin Lawler who put up with all my #%$!. You guys should be dipped in that Han Solo stuff for preservation. file INTERIOR ILLUSTRATIONS DEDICATION Everyone else. ...... . --_I_ ~- ~~ INTRODUCTION .......................................... 4 Chapter 13: The Daisho and the Ninja ..................... City Adventures ......................... DM Background ................................................... The Adventure ..................................................... Adventure Hooks ................................................. Adventure Map .......................................... . IS 17 . . . . . . . . . . . .1 9 Adventure Hooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NPCs .......................... Adventure Map .................. DM Background ....................... Show Me the Way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adventure Hooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NPCs ................. Adventure Map ........ 7 8 ........... 19 Chapter 2: The Caravan City of Azul DM Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chapter 3: The Ogre City of Drahk'Sul 7 ............28 ...............29 ...............3 1 ...................... 33 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35 ................39 ....................... 40 ....................... 41 Chapter 4: the Prison City of Hell's Deep .................... DM Background .................................................. Locations and Important Individuals ............................... Current Situation and Developments ............. Adventure Hooks ........................................ Adventure Map., ................................. New Deities .................................... Chapter 14: Treachery's Reward .......................... d . , ............................................... .................................................. .................................................. Angry Mob ...................................................... KyudenTara Mura ............................................... Adventure Map .................................................. 141 141 144 149 151 151 152 152 153 154 157 Chapter 15: Blood on White Petals ....................... 159 ............................................ 159 ............................................ Adventure Map .................................................. ......................... ................................ ................................ ........................ 43 ........................ 43 46 160 167 169 169 170 174 175 Tomb Adventures Chapter 17: Tomb rseers ....................... ...................................... DM Background Adventure Map .................................................. 177 177 185 Chapter 18: The Temple of Eternal Flame ..................187 Dragon Adventures ................................ DM Background ....................................... The Fall of Osell ....................................... Adventure Map., ................................................. Chapter 6: I n Cold Blood ................................ DM Background ............... ..................... A Prophet ............. ............................ The Church of Slavation ........................................... ............................................ dness............................. ............................................ ............................................ The Way to the Lair ............................................... Adventure Map ................................................... Chapter 8: The Harbinger ................................ ....................................... ................................... ................................... DM Background ................................................. No Choice But One .............................................. Adventure Map .................................................. 55 55 56 63 ron Codex ..................... Ch ........................................ on Codex ............................... ........................................ mp Chapter 5: Bitter Waters DM Background ................................................. The Investigation ................................................ Adventure Map ........................................ file Chapter 1: The Caravan City of k u l 65 65 67 68 75 Chapter 20: The Heart of Amun Khonshu 77 78 79 85 87 87 88 95 DM Background .................................................. 97 Adventure Map ...................................... r's Dagger....... ......... 107 ............. 107 ............. 108 ............................... I 1 5 Chapter 1I: Fall From Grace ............................ I17 DM Background ................................................. 117 The Divine Tragedy ................................... The Hunt Is On........................... ........ 120 The Temple of the God-King Adventure Map . . . . . . . . . . . . ....................... 127 ................................. DM Background ............................................. Beginning the Adventure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adventure Map ... ................................. 129 139 199 199 200 207 209 211 217 Undead Adventures Chapter 21: That Which Does Not Die ..................... DM Background ....................... The Adventure .............................. Message In the Dark ...................... Bailan's Maze ............................. Adventure Map ........................... Chapter 22: Covenent H i l l 97 187 188 197 ..................209 ....................................... ....................................... ....................................... 77 Evil Adventures Chapter 9: The Gauntlet ................................. Chapter 12: No Mercy Oriental Adventures le Introduction Sa - ......... 220 . . . . . . . . . . 221 . . . . . . . . . . 224 . . . . . . . . . . 227 .............................. DM Background ............................ Player Introduction ......................... Adventure Map ........................ 229 ......... 229 ......... 230 ............ 239 Chapter 23: The Flesh i s Weak........................... DM Background .................................... The Town of Alstand 219 ............................... Chapter 24: Gottheit .................................. 241 242 249 DM Background ................................ Running the Adventure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .251 ................................ 258 AppendixA Magic .................................... 261 Appendix B Monsters 269 OGL ................................. ........................................... 288 New Spells .......................................... ... 261 .................... 264 New Magic Items ................... INTRODUCTION I NTRODUCTIO N Welcome to Adventure 11, a collection of d20 Fantasy scenarios from Alderac Entertainment Group. These modules were first released at the dawn of the d20 movement under the ‘Adventure Keep” title, providing Dungeon Masters with ready-to-play adventures: one-shot stories or links to home grown campaigns. For this collection, we retooled all of the game rules to comply with the new 3.5 Edition of the d20 System. In addition, we added dozens of options for running the adventures, expanded advice for the DM, created random encounter charts, helped with PC knowledge and information regarding the adventure, made bardic knowledge more useful, and added (new) improved encounters that are sure to make the adventures stellar. In some cases, the plots themselves are reworked to get the most drama out of your game and to keep internal logic consistent. ADVENTURE CONDITIONS RANDOM ENCOUNTERS Nearly every adventure has a random encounter table. These encounters are to extend the adventure by providing encounters the PCs would have en route to the adventure. Very rarely are these to be used while actually partaking in the adventure itself They can represent hunting creatures, NPCs with information, or encounters with creatures with clues as to what the adventure has in store. Unless otherwise instructed, don’t use them once the actual adventureplot is underway;use them for the journey there. City and town adventures are a different matter, however. Frequently the adventure begins with the PCs already in the adventure setting, and there is no set path of action as there is in a dungeon setting. In this case the random encounters are more like incidental mishaps the PCs will naturally run into throughout the adventure, as the city won’t sleep or cooperate with the PCs for convenience’ssake! Sa mp le file Naming conventions are universal. If the adventures are worked into an ongoing campaign, replace any NPC or settlement name with one suitable to your campaign environment. Replacing an important NPC in the adventure with one the PCs have a relation with adds verisimhtude to the adventure and raises the interest level quite a bit. Throughout these adventures, some items are standard. All doors, for example, unless specifically noted in the text have the following statistics: and royalty) when dealing with kings, lords, and nobles, and Knowledge (arcana) when magical lore would be in question.) These were specifically written in order to detail what lore would be readily available, what would be told to other passing bards, or what could be known within reason. Just because a bard can take 20 on his Bardic Knowledge check doesn’t mean he gains access to knowledge that simply has never been relayed. Telling him “thesecret of the adventure”takes a lot of the mystery away from game play, which would effectively make this book useless, the monster stats aside. Basic Wooden Door: hardness 5;hit points 10; break DC 13; locked DC 15. Not all doors may be locked. Make individual determinations depending on the circumstances or simply roll 1d20 (1-10 it’s locked, 11-20 it’s open). For lighting conditions, ifthere is constant activity with creatures capable of producing their own light (either with torches or lanterns), consider the lighting normal. Some kind of light is still required for creatures with low-light vision. On less-traveled pathways or personal rooms, the PCs should produce their own light-sources. BARDIC KNOWLEDGE A majority of the adventures have sidebars included specifically for the Bardic Knowledge special ability. This presents DCs for bards using their special class ability to gain information or obscure knowledge relating to the adventure at hand, giving PCs helpful information once they have a basic idea of what is involved.These also double as Information Gathering skill checks, or other “in the know” skill DCs at the DMs discretion (Knowledge (local) for rural town information, Knowledge (nobility SCALING THE ADVENTURES Every adventure is intended for a level range of PC participating, and gives basic advice on the types of skills or classes that will be useful. In each case there is a 3-level spread of suggested PC levels. This is intentional. Take this example from the adventure Covenant Hill: “This adventure is designed for four to six PCs of levels 5 to 7. Wilderness skills are invaluable in this adventure.” If you have four or five PCs, the optimal level of the PCs participating is 6th. If you have fewer than four PCs, the ideal level for the party is 7th. If they have more than five PCs, the ideal level should be 5th. A cleric or any PC with skills and powers to combat the undead will be a worthy addition to any party tackling this adventure. Noting a cleric or any PC with skills and powers to combat the undead should clue you in that rangers, druids, clerics and paladins would be a benefit to a party undertaking the adventure. These aren’t strict requirements, and not having a cleric or paladin for this adventure does not make it impossible for a party not so INTRODUCTION equipped to complete it, although many times undead are a special situation. A party tackling an adventure featuring a majority of undead without any special way of combating them will have a tougher time in general, and you may need to make minor adjustments in the encounters. If your PCs are of a level simply unsuitable for the level range suggested,there are s d ways to retool the adventures. Sa file mp Combat Variety: These types of adventures feature an array of encounters with classic D&D monsters of all types. Without rewriting the adventure or spending hours reworking stats, there are some easy fixes you can implement. If your group is having an easy time of the adventure, add an additional creature or two to the encounter. Don’t do this abstractly, simply consult the DMG for the consequencesof adding creatures with differing CRs to an encounter and the overall effect it has on the challenge to a group of Pcs. At its most basic, taking I or 2 creatures away makes a combat easier, while adding I or 2 could make it nearly impossible. In either case, simply adjusting the stats on the fly can make all the difference in combat. Each creature or NPC with weapons, armor or tools has them listed in their stat blocks. Replacing a guards chain mail with leather armor and retrofitting him with a short sword instead of a battleaxe can make a difference. A creature could be wounded, having just fought a battle with another monster not in the adventure. In this case, it confronts the PCs with less hit points, perhaps one-third or even more off its total. And for spellcasting encounters, not every monster with spell-like abilities or NPC sorcerer will have saved all its powers especially for the PCs.. . For monsters,there is excellent, easy advice in Chapter 4 of the Monster Manual detaihg how to “levelup”monsters to make them more challenging. Do not try to equip NPCs with magic items outside of their range just to get an edge on the PCs. Every magic item you introduce for your foes is generally going to find its way into your PCs’ hands, eventually. Don’t equip an NPC with anything you don’t want your players to take advantage of. le Mostly Roleplaying: In this instance the adventure features a healthy mix of roleplaying and investigative skills. There is usually one specific threat monster and it’s not encountered often. In this case it would be wise to simply replace the major creature with another monster of the appropriate challenge rating to your group. For example,the medusa in the adventure Dawn of the Serpent is a CR 7 creature. If you have a group of 3rd to 4th level PCs, replace the medusa with another stone-making creature, a basilisk, which is CR 5. If you have a group of loth level PCs you could instead use a greater abyssal basilisk, which is CR 12. encounter. Don’t do this abstractly, simply consult the DMG for the consequences of adding creatures with dlffering CRs to an encounter and the overall effect it has on the challenge to a group of PCs. At it’s most basic, taking 1 or 2 creatures away makes a combat easier, while adding 1or 2 could make it more difficult indeed. Mostly Roleplaying: In this instance the adventure features a healthy mix of roleplaying and investigative skills. There is usually one specific threat monster and it is not encountered often. In this case it would be wise to simply replace the major creature with another monster of the appropriate challenge rating to your group. For example, the necromancer in the adventure Covenant Hill is a CR 8 creature. If you have a group of 3rd to 4th level PCs, take three levels off the necromancer and even consider doing away with his familiar. If you have a group of loth level PCSyou could instead add 3 levels of necromancer of consider if he qualifies for a prestige class to really give the PCs a run for their money. Combat variety: These types of adventures feature an array of encounters with classic D&D monsters of all types. Without rewriting the adventure or spending hours reworking stats, there is some easy fixes you can implement. If your group is having an easy time of the adventure, add an additional creature or two to the NEW MAGIC ITEMS AND MONSTERS Each of the adventures features a new magic item or spell and a new monster. These have been collected for handy reference in the appendices (magic in appendix A and new monsters in appendix B). An abbreviated stat block of the monster’s abilities are in the adventure where it appears, but for a full description, refer to the appendix. DIVINATION AND MAGICAL ANSWERS For adventures of 5th level on, take the time to be aware of the possibilities (and limitations) of various divinatory spells in your game. In particular, the spells arcane sight and gveater avcane sight, auguq commune, contact other plane, detect chaos/evil/good/law, detect thoughts, discern lies, discern location, legend lore, scrying and greatev scyying, true seeing, vision, and zone oftmth can wreak havoc with mystery and suspense if your PC spellcasters are of high enough level to cast them. Taking a little time to brush up on exactly how they work can save lots of headaches when running the game. At the same time, these powers are a part of the game. Just finding the spell or ability that foils the spell and equipping an NPC thus makes the PC spellcaster feel useless (especially if divination is a specialty). Find mundane reasons to avoid relying on the spells. How a specific NPC is portrayed goes a long way towards who PCs to target with divination spells.
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