September Short Adventures 30: Other Mother

Preamble

A September of Short Adventuresis an OSR Challenge initiated by Matt over at the Asshat Paladinsblog. You can click on the Moustache Dragon over on the right-handside-bar (just above Features) to learn more about all of this stufffrom Matt directly. All of our 25 (possibly more...) entries areformatted along the lines of what Matt calls the Get Ready, GetSet, Go! format. In a nut-shell, this approach breaks eachadventure into a Title, Three escalating sections of adventuredetails (the Ready section is limited to an elevator pitch only 2sentences...), and a final catch-all section for any NPC notes/stats.The idea is to keep it short, simple, easy to read without any maps,drawings, diagrams or 8X10 glossies. Keep description to a minimum,avoid lengthy exposition, and no casts of thousands -- unless it's aninvading horde of three-eyed orcs or goblins riding purple wombats.

We're also going to aim to keep thingsgeneric, setting agnostic and thus portable or adaptable to anycampaign/setting using the particular rules-set we'll be using in anygiven September Short Adventure such as Mutant Future,Labyrinth Lord, Swords & Wizardry (White Box), etc.

FreeRules

Labyrinth Lord:http://www.goblinoidgames.com/labyrinthlord.html

Mutant Future:http://www.goblinoidgames.com/mutantfuture.html

Swords and Wizardry (White Box):http://www.swordsandwizardry.com/whitebox.htm

September Short Adventure Number 30

Title: Other Mother

Rules: Swords and Wizardry (WhiteBox)

Ready

Manfred Urdrangibar, former student of the ethically-impaired madman Doktor Morbius has continued his explorations into the blackest arts known to science. But to what nefarious end?

Set

Evidence will continue to pile-up like bodies that something very, very wrong is going on out at the ancestral Keep of the Urdrangibar family. The local worgs are seeing to it. They are dragging corpses of missing persons back to the village and leaving trails that lead clearly to the lands of the Urdrangibar family, including the secret clearing where the Loyal Retainers have traditionally done their sordid hostage-buying business with the local bandits. (see Short Adventure 28: Skin Trade)

The elders of the Urdrangibar family have become increasingly concernedand now quite upset at having their secrets revealed. They do not know yet that it is the worgs behind it, and instead might be likely to blame things on the mucking-about of those Player Characters, especially since they are undoubtedly foreigners, not from around these parts, vagabonds and probably have had dealings with those mountain nomads. (see Short Adventure 27: Burning Hatred.) The worgs have used any/every opportunity to help foster this suspicion, going to great lengths to 'help' the PCs with their investigations.

Theghouls of the Lost Valley have put two and two together after interrogating their erstwhile ally Herr Doktor Morbius and they are themselves concerned that Manfred Urdrangibar is up to no good. The kind of 'no good' that could adversely impact them. However, they are an unknown quantity until the events of Short Adventure 29: Sour Note play themselves out.

Go!

First-off the LoyalRetainers of the Urdrangibar family will deliver an invitation to thePlayer Characters. If they pay the family a visit, they will be addressed by Baron Urdrangibar himself and charged with clearing his good family's good name. The baron will use all his guile, wiles andsome rather impressive blandishments, minor titles, trinkets, a few scrolls of obscure but low-level spells and other bribes and inducements to convince the Player Characters that all the disappearances and bad things going on are the fault of Herr DoktorMorbius. If they aren't buying it, the Baron will reveal that Morbius is working with the ghouls of the Lost Valley, going so far as to produce one of Morbius's own misshappen henchmen whom the PCs can interrogate at-will—at the end of the questioning the Baron will insist that the pitiful thing will be destroyed, of course.

The Baron will maintain all pretense of polite behavior and observe all the niceties, including the provision of sumptuous suites for each guest for overnight.

Should the PCs decide to attempt to go exploring the old Keep, they will find ample opportunity to do so just after Midnight as all hell breaks loose and the Keep is attacked first by one group, then another.

In the ensuing chaos the PCs have roughly an hour or two to go exploring the old Keep, to get embroiled in its defense, or to make an escape--or just about anything else they care to do.

The worgs have sent in a team of Prowlers and the ghouls have sent in some agents (with a new and improved flesh golem courtesy of Morbius) to find out just what Manfred Urdrangibar has really been up to...but none of them arefully prepared for the horrible truth.

Whether the PCs join forces with the ghouls or worgs or go it alone is entirely open.

What is inevitable is that these ancient rivals and enemies are going to discover what is going on in Manfred's laboratory, one way or another.

The laboratory is huge, having been carved out of a natural cavern hundreds of years ago to form something akin to a chapel for one of Manfred's ancestors. At the very center of the dimly red-lit chamber is a colossal, writhing mass of flesh that resembles a bizarre combination of a gigantic Venus of Willendorf and the Diana of Ephesus...it is a living, breathing, faceless mass of human flesh that produces copious amounts of fresh, sweet blood for the Elders of the Urdrangibar family who have been vampires for a long, long time.

Manfred adapted the methods he learned from Herr Doktor Morbius to fashion a living amalgamation of parts, pieces and even whole bodies in order to create the huge fleshy abomination that he has taken to calling the 'Other Mother.'

The pseudo-golemic 'Other-Mother' is Manfred's crowning achievement, and it might have enabled his family to forgo their predatory ways...but alas the Keep is under attack and the ghouls and worgs will quickly realize that this blasphemous perversion of flesh and blood could over turn everything if it is not stopped immediately. They will probably do everything possible to make sure that one of their team gets out to carry word to their faction, the rest will attack the abomination with everything they can bring to bear.

Will the ghouls cooperate with the worgs or PCs to destroy the 'Other Mother?'

This is a perfect time for some well-rolled and well-played Reaction checks, charisma usage, and convincing arguments on the part of the Player characters...

Manfred will hide behind the towering tumorous body of his unholy creation and not engage the PCs in combat. He instead will spend his time gathering up his notes and papers to keep them away from the intruders. The Other Mother will defend him with Her bulk, tentacles, tumorous masses, and those nasty clone-spawn that She can disgorge from time to time after swallowing a victim or two. She is possessive and very dedicated to Manfred's well-being and will do everything in Her considerable power to protect him from the intruders and especially those unwashed and ill-mannered Player Characters.

Every 2d4 turns another group of 1d4 random attackers will enter the chamber and join the fight until the 'Other Mother' is finally destroyed once and for all. You can also throw in an Angry Mob of villagers, if you like. This is a climactic show-down and the culmination of all too many plots, schemes and nefarious plans all going down in flames at once.

Once the ersatz group of 'heroes' are on the verge of destroying the 'Other Mother,'it will use its last dying breath to extrude a winged polypous spawn that will envelop Manfred in a gooey embrace and attempt to carry him away from here on buzzing almost hummingbird-like wings. If the group manages to trap or kill the flying polyp-thing, it will disgorge 2d4 clone-spawns of Manfred that will run away in different directions, each one using secret passages, trap doors, or whatever else is within reach to beat a hasty escape.

Some version of Manfred Urdrangibar will most likely continue...as will a new and improved form of the Other Mother...but that is a problem for another day.

After Destroying the Abomination
Once the Other Mother is destroyed, it's just a matter of cleaning-up a few dozen vampires and their minions. Killing-off the remaining Loyal Retainers who will never surrender, never flee, never give-up. Sorting out the ghouls, dealing with the loot-crazed bandits, avoiding the torch-wielding Angry Mob, and noticing that the worgs are gone -- or are they?

If the flying polyp-thing escapes, just where will it take Manfred?

Will he continuehis blasphemous experiments? Almost certainly...

Will any of his clone-spawn also escape? Will they then take up his insane experiments as they slowly come into possession of Manfred's memories and warped genius? Almost definitely...

What comes next? I shudder to think...

Loose Ends

The Urdrangibar Family Elders are all vampires (there are approx. 2d6 of the things), and they didn't get this old and powerful without knowing when to cut losses and wait out a temporary set-back, and for a practically immortal undead, even the sacking of their family's Keep is just a momentary inconvenience. It is very likely that at least one of the Elders foresaw some of what is happening and has prepared contingency plans. These are very old vampires, and they each have at least ten levels in at least one class, probably a spell-casting one...so they are not going to be easy to take down and will not submit to this accumulation of rabble and opportunists. They will withdraw, abandon the field and bide their time so that their revenge will be all that much more sweet and terrible when it comes...so now the Player Characters have made enemies of some nigh-immortal undead sorcerers with a real grudge against them...


And you thought that the worgs could get spooky and manipulative...

The rest of the family are most likely to pretty much get killed by all these enemies in one place at one time, though you might have 1d4 survive just to keep the family name alive...


The elders might have some sort of back-up plan for this particular contingency as well, and they still have loyal agents and allies in the surrounding regions, so this could get interesting and complicated as still more rivals and former allies seek to profit from the Urdrangibar family's fall, while supporters and followers try to restore them or protect them until they can rally those forces still loyal to them for a come-back...this is just the start of all sorts of fun stuff!

The Baron Urdrangibar will never surrender despite the odds, and most likely fall in the midst of defending his beloved Keep. If so, then it is suggested that his body will not be recovered and some small group of 1d6 Loyal Retainers carry away their beloved Baron to some secret crypt out in the mountains, perhaps in another hidden valley where the rest of the Urdrangibar family have their tombs, etc. He will not be taken prisoner, as the few personal guards he has will make sure that his body never falls into enemy hands. At least one of his personal retinue is a full vampire, so in a worst case situation, the vampire will assume gaseous form or change into a bat-form large enough to carry off the Baron. If however, the PCs are able to prevent this from happening, they will find that having the Baron's body on their hands will prove a dire challenge in its own right--it will serve as a weirdness magnet, attracting all sorts of sycophants, followers, minions, slaves, and followers, even cultists will arise who worship the Baron...all of them intent on recovering the body and resurrecting the Baron. So, if the PCs do succeed in preventing the Baron's removal from the scene...it won't be an easy victory, and it will lead to a lot of skullduggery, conspiracy and worse.


But then, that makes it all that much more fun...

Notes / NPCs

GhoulAgents(3d4) [HD 2; HP 12; AC 6[13]; ATK 1 claw; Move 9; Save 17; CL/XP:3/60; Special: Immune to Sleepand Charm,Save or be paralyzed for 3d6 turns.] Note: Each wears a bone ring thatallows it to move about in daylight under the guise of its mostrecent victim. These agents of the ghouls have infiltrated the Keepand are seeking answers that they are not prepared to discover.

Flesh Golem Mark II(1d4) [HD 12; HP 88; AC 7[12]; ATK 2 axes; Move 10; Save 9; CL/XP24/2,000; Special: Only lightning(which heals the thing), fireand cold spells (onlyslow it down) affect it, and you need a +1 or better weapon to harmit.] This is one of Morbius's new-models and wields a pair ofscythe-bladed war axes and obeys any command from the ghoulscompletely and literally.

WorgProwlers (1d4)[HD 4; HP 20,20,18,18,16,15,14,12; AC 6[13]; ATK 1 Bite; Move 18;Save 15; CL/XP: 4/120] Note: These creatures are supernatural andhave been trying to steer the PCs toward some sort of confrontationat the Keep in order that they might disrupt Manfred's work on theflesh golems.

WorgHybrids (2d4)[HD 4; HP 20,20,18,18,16,15,14,12; AC 4[15]; ATK 1 weapon/spell; Move9 (14 mounted); Save 15; CL/XP: 12/220] Note: These creatures aresupernatural and are the elite shock troops that the worgs have beendeveloping in order to face the threat of Manfred's flesh golems.They are all equipped with a random variety of +2 weapons and cast1d4 random spells.

LocalBandits (4d6) [HD 3; HP 14 on average; AC 6[13]; ATK 1 weapon;Move 10; Save 15; CL/XP: 4/80; Special: +1 to hit worgs, move withouttrace through the woods, move silently as a thief.] The bandits areextremely upset over the way that the Urdrangibar family have cut themoff from any further dealings, so they have come to raise trouble andmake mischief. It is a matter of pride to them – they've served thefamily well and loyally for centuries. Now they are drunk, angry, andstirred-up by worg-cultist agitators.

TherioclastTroopers(6d10) [HD 3+1; HP 12 on average; AC 6[13]; ATK 1 weapon; Move 12;Save 16; CL/XP: 4/80; Special: +2 on Saves vs lycanthropy] Grim anddour warriors who might be either Humans, Dwarves, Elves orHalflings. Studded-leather armor, crossbow (with a mix of silver andiron headed bolts), silver-headed hand-axe or blessed scythe,rune-engraved short-sword and skinning-dagger. These are hard-bittenprofessionals who exterminate shapeshifters and each one has a 10%chance to spot one outright. Someone has delivered incontrovertibleevidence to Somber Jill that the Urdrangibar family are up tounspeakable things and she is not losing a single minute in attackingthem all out...

SomberJillis their leader. She is a 10^thlevel Fighter/Magic-user of indeterminate descent and no tolerancefor shapeshifters whatsoever. She wears blessed chainmail, carries aflaming sword and the silver-headed hand-axe and crossbow (withsilver-headed bolts). Adjust her stats to best present something of achallenge to your players, but not an overwhelming one. Her CHAR isat least 15, otherwise her other stats are all open to yourinterpretation. (We might further develop her if there isinterest...)

OtherMother(1) [HD 12; HP max. (regenerates 2 pts/turn); AC 9[10]; ATK 1Slam/Engulf/Spew; Move 0; Save 7; CL/XP: 14/26,000; Special: Slamattack has 25% chance of adhering for follow-up Engulf attack, Saveor be swallowed and be cloned within 1d4 turns, Spew does acid damageas per Black Dragon, spawn minion-clones from swallowed opponents.]Every opponent swallowed by the Other Mother serves as a template forit to clone fresh minions, each new clone that gets spawned causes3d6 damage to the victim until they reach zero hp at which point theyare absorbed/digested and no longer clonable. The clone-spawn servethe Other Mother with complete disregard for their own well-being andemerge completely naked, but will have spells available to them ifthe swallowed victim had spells memorized or available. Theclone-spawn only have 3 HD unless they are able to survive longenough to better integrate the memories/abilities of the victim, aprocess that takes several days but produces an exact replica of thevictim that serves the Other Mother with total loyalty.

ManfredUrdrangibar(1) 6^thlevel wizard with a focus on golem-making, flesh-working, and veryfew (if any) attack spells. This isn't his fight. He never reallywanted to do things quite this way. They made him do this, or sohe'll loudly declare. The Other Mother will see to it that he gets toescape and carry on his work elsewhere, away from his family'smeddling and all these enemies who don't appreciate his genius.

Other Mothers' Little Helper (Flying Polyp-Spawn) (1) [HD 6; HP 36 (regenerates 1/turn); AC 9[10]; ATK 1 sting; Move 120 (extremely maneuverable flight); Save 13; CL/XP: 12/600; Special: requires +1 or better to hit due to speed and agility in the air.] Sting can either cause 3d6 damage, paralysis for 2d6 turns, or impregnate victim (irregardless of gender) with a clone-cyst that will grow rapidly (in about 3d4 turns) into a full-grown clone that serves the Other Mother with complete loyalty (unless they make a Save and are Confused for 1d4 turns after which they have some really difficult identity issues...). The clone-cyst will cause 2d4 damage per turn until it is killed, removed or gives birth. All damage to the cyst is shared with the host on a 1 for 1 basis. Removal of the cyst takes 1d4 turns and inflicts double damage on the host and they must make a Save or have a small fragment of the thing lodge inside them and go dormant for 1d100 days...

Clone-Spawn of Manfred (2d4) [HD 3+1; HP 14; AC 9[10]; ATK 1 fist/weapon/spell; Move 9; Save 16; CL/XP: 4/80; Special: has 2d6 random spells, casts all spells as though 6th level despite current hit dice, carries all of Manfred's memories and a few 'upgrades' courtesy of the 'Other Mother,' including regeneration (1 hp/turn) and a form of parthenogenic reproduction as well as the seed-spores of a new Other Mother...] 

LoyalRetainers (3d4) [HD 6; HP 36 on average; AC 4[13]; ATK 1 weapon;Move 10 (30 when mounted); Save 13; CL/XP: 4/80; Special: +2 on Savesvs magic, regenerate 1 HP per turn unless burned, freely cast Charmin place of an attack.] Tall and emaciated-looking, the LoyalRetainers are elegant in their traditional finery and carry +2 curvedlong swords and an array of secondary weapons includingcuriously-crafted composite short bows dating back to thesemi-mythical hordes of an ancient conqueror who once dominated thisarea as part of a vast, now vanished empire that is credited withhaving driven-out the serpent people. They are old, very old andsmell like catacombs even in the brightest daylight. Most suspectthat they are not really human...

TheLoyal Retainers will arrive every 2d4 turns until a total of 120 have beendestroyed. None of them will retreat, surrender or parley.

September Short Adventure 29: A Sour Note

Preamble

A September of Short Adventuresis an OSR Challenge initiated by Matt over at the Asshat Paladinsblog. You can click on the Moustache Dragon over on the right-handside-bar (just above Features) to learn more about all of this stufffrom Matt directly. All of our 30 entries areformatted along the lines of what Matt calls the Get Ready, GetSet, Go! format. In a nut-shell, this approach breaks eachadventure into a Title, Three escalating sections of adventuredetails (the Ready section is limited to an elevator pitch only 2sentences...), and a final catch-all section for any NPC notes/stats.The idea is to keep it short, simple, easy to read without any maps,drawings, diagrams or 8X10 glossies. Keep description to a minimum,avoid lengthy exposition, and no casts of thousands -- unless it's aninvading horde of three-eyed orcs or goblins riding purple wombats.

We're also going to aim to keep thingsgeneric, setting agnostic and thus portable or adaptable to anycampaign/setting using the particular rules-set we'll be using in anygiven September Short Adventure such as Mutant Future,Labyrinth Lord, Swords & Wizardry (White Box), etc.

FreeRules

Labyrinth Lord:http://www.goblinoidgames.com/labyrinthlord.html

Mutant Future:http://www.goblinoidgames.com/mutantfuture.html

Swords and Wizardry (White Box):http://www.swordsandwizardry.com/whitebox.htm

SeptemberShort Adventure Number 29

Title: A Sour Note

Rules: Swords and Wizardry (WhiteBox)

Ready

Young Willy comes stumbling into thevillage. Miraculously the young boy has made it through the woods tocollapse at the feet of the local guards.

Set

Covered in scratches and dried blood,the boy is weak, starved and extremely frightened. He is taken toMamam Grenka's hovel where the aged crone ministers to the boy'sfragile health. But for all her poultices, potions and powders, theold woman can do nothing for the child's nightmares.

He raves in his feverish state of alost valley, dark tunnels, and prisoners. In his tightly clenchedleft hand is a crumpled scrap of parchment (but it's not goat-hide)on which has been scrawled a note and a simple set of directions(sorry—no map!) leading to what appears to be the lost valley thatWilly claims to have escaped from...and it is signed by Herr DoktorMorbius. (see Short Adventure 21: A Pound of Flesh)

However, Mamam Grenka is a gossipy oldwife and she tells several of her usual hangers-on and visitors allabout the note. Within an hour of his arrival, someone has snuck intoMamam Grenkas' hovel and stolen the note from Morbius.

Go!

The 'Lost Valley'mentioned in the note is the same one mentioned in Short Adventure28: Skin Trade.

Isthe Note Genuine?

• Or is this all somesort of elaborate scheme that Morbius is using to double-cross hishosts?
• Was it actuallypenned by the ghouls as a gambit calculated to draw-out their rivalsand implicate them as it leads to a secret pasture maintained by theUrdrangibar Family for centuries...
• Who else could havewritten this note?
• Does it lead to theactual Lost Valley of the ghouls, or is it a trap that leads insteadto someplace far, far worse?

If the note islegitimate, then what is going on between Morbius and the ghouls?Perhaps Morbius is growing fearful and distrustful of his 'allies,'and desperately wants to escape from their Lost Valley before theydecide to eliminate him. It is possible that Morbius has finallydiscovered a way to strike back at his former pupil and this is justthe start of some overly convoluted and devious schemes aimed atdiscrediting Manfred. This could be the onset of a nasty and brutalpersonal vendetta or even all-out war between two mad scientists...

WhoStole the Note?

• Was it the worgs?If so, then will they see to it that the Player Characters receive itso that they can potentially mount an expedition to rescue the Doktorfrom the clutches of the ghouls? Or are they more inclined to keepthe note from the PCs so that they don't get side-tracked from beingsteered into a conflict with the Nobles of the Urdrangibar Family andtheir ancient brooding Keep overlooking the winding gorges of theVillustichanna River? It is well-known that there is something goingon over there. People are beginning to mutter and whisper rumorsbased on the offhand comments of certain informants who are allied tothe worgs...
• Was it the LoyalRetainers of the Urdrangibar Family? They are long-time rivals of theghouls from the Lost Valley and perhaps they have their own plans forattending to Herr Doktor Morbius and his duplicitous undead allies.
• Was it one of LordRupprecht's agents seeking some clue as to who robbed him of hisfavorite artworks? (see Short Adventure 22: Art Thieves).
• Was it the ghoulsof the Lost Valley? They don't like drawing attention to themselvesand they could very well have sent someone to recover young Willy, orat least eliminate any evidence or trail that could lead back tothem. If so, why did they not kill Willy? Perhaps they wereinterrupted by all the activity at Mamam Grenka's place and are stillthere, biding their time and waiting to strike later...which meansthat the young boy is in peril. Does Mamam Grenka sense the danger?Whom will she ask for help if she does?
• Perhaps the localbandits have someone working with them in the village who snatchedthe note thinking that it could be useful to them. Will they then take it to the Loyal Retainers or someone else?
• It could have beenone of the Therioclast Troops from Somber Jill's growing army ofmonster-killing fanatics...(see Short Adventure 23: A Snowy Evening.)

EveryoneKnows...

Seemingly everyonein the village knows about the feud between Morbius and his formerpupil Manfred Urdrangibar. Rumors that the note was stolen atManfred's command in order to foil any plans to rescue Herr DoktorMorbius has people asking 'Why?' and making some wonder just what isgoing on and why the Urdrangibar family is involved anyhow...

What only Morbiussuspects (so far) is that Manfred has continued his own experimentsinto the secrets of death and life and all things in-between at theexpress behest of his elders and family members. But what are these experiments? What sinister things have been going on out at the Urdrangibar Keep? 

Wouldn't you like to know?

Notes / NPCs

Willy(1) [HD 2; HP 4 (heals to 10); AC 9[10]; ATK 1 fist; Move 9; Save 17;CL/XP 2/30; Special: should he survive, Willy will grow up to betainted by his time among the ghouls and will find himselfincreasingly drawn to their hidden tunnels where they will welcomehim as an agent working on their behalf amongst the humans...]

MamamGrenkais a 6^thlevel spell-caster with a lot of experience with potions, powders andherbal lore. She focuses on healing, restoratives, mid-wifery andsuch things but certainly knows how to shrivel-up portions of theanatomy of those who incur her wrath...no one asks her about herbackground. People overlook that she might have ties to the mountainnomads because she has been a fixture in the village for generations.And she knows more gossip and dirty secrets than anyone else.

GhoulAgent(1) [HD 2; HP 12; AC 6[13]; ATK 1 claw; Move 9; Save 17; CL/XP: 3/60;Special: Immune to Sleepand Charm,Save or be paralyzed for 3d6 turns.] Note: wears a bone ring thatallows it to move about in daylight under the guise of its mostrecent victim.

WorgProwlers (1d4)[HD 4; HP 20,20,18,18,16,15,14,12; AC 6[13]; ATK 1 Bite; Move 18;Save 15; CL/XP: 4/120] Note: These creatures are supernatural andhave some measure of human in their ancestry due to unspeakable ritesperformed by demented cultists long, long ago...they are consideringjust how far they can manipulate the Player Characters into doingtheir dirty work and will leave them clues as to the terrible thingsgoing on at the Keep.

LoyalRetainers (1d4) [HD 6; HP 36 on average; AC 4[13]; ATK 1 weapon;Move 10 (30 when mounted); Save 13; CL/XP: 4/80; Special: +2 on Savesvs magic, regenerate 1 HP per turn unless burned, freely cast Charmin place of an attack.] Tall and emaciated-looking, the LoyalRetainers are elegant in their traditional finery and carry +2 curvedlong swords and an array of secondary weapons includingcuriously-crafted composite short bows dating back to thesemi-mythical hordes of an ancient conqueror who once dominated thisarea as part of a vast, now vanished empire that is credited withhaving driven-out the serpent people. They are old, very old andsmell like catacombs even in the brightest daylight. Most suspectthat they are not really human...

LocalBandits (1d6) [HD 3; HP 14 on average; AC 6[13]; ATK 1 weapon;Move 10; Save 15; CL/XP: 4/80; Special: +1 to hit worgs, move withouttrace through the woods, move silently as a thief.] Cunning andclever, the bandits in these parts have an understanding with certainof the local Nobles and they are in cahoots with anyone who will paythem gold. They fear the Loyal Retainers and serve them faithfully asthose who do not have a tendency to disappear under troublingcircumstances. Banditry is a way of life for them, something thatthey have done for generations. It's in their blood.

TherioclastTroopers(1d4) [HD 3+1; HP 12 on average.; AC 6[13]; ATK 1 weapon; Move 12;Save 16; CL/XP: 4/80; Special: +2 on Saves vs lycanthropy] Grim anddour warriors who might be either Humans, Dwarves, Elves orHalflings. Studded-leather armor, crossbow (with a mix of silver andiron headed bolts), silver-headed hand-axe or blessed scythe,rune-engraved short-sword and skinning-dagger. These are hard-bittenprofessionals who exterminate shapeshifters and each one has a 10%chance to spot one outright.

September Short Adventure 28: Skin Trade

Preamble

A September of Short Adventuresis an OSR Challenge initiated by Matt over at the Asshat Paladinsblog. You can click on the Moustache Dragon over on the right-handside-bar (just above Features) to learn more about all of this stufffrom Matt directly. All of our 25 (possibly more...) entries areformatted along the lines of what Matt calls the Get Ready, GetSet, Go! format. In a nut-shell, this approach breaks eachadventure into a Title, Three escalating sections of adventuredetails (the Ready section is limited to an elevator pitch only 2sentences...), and a final catch-all section for any NPC notes/stats.The idea is to keep it short, simple, easy to read without any maps,drawings, diagrams or 8X10 glossies. Keep description to a minimum,avoid lengthy exposition, and no casts of thousands -- unless it's aninvading horde of three-eyed orcs or goblins riding purple wombats.

We're also going to aim to keep thingsgeneric, setting agnostic and thus portable or adaptable to anycampaign/setting using the particular rules-set we'll be using in anygiven September Short Adventure such as Mutant Future,Labyrinth Lord, Swords & Wizardry (White Box), etc.

FreeRules

Labyrinth Lord:http://www.goblinoidgames.com/labyrinthlord.html

Mutant Future:http://www.goblinoidgames.com/mutantfuture.html

Swords and Wizardry (White Box):http://www.swordsandwizardry.com/whitebox.htm

SeptemberShort Adventure Number 28

Title: Skin Trade

Rules: Swords and Wizardry (WhiteBox)

Ready

For the last three weeks a number ofyoung people have been disappearing from the surrounding countryside.Many believe it is the work of the worgs, the cultists, the mountainnomads, or worse villains.

Set

Even before the local authorities canpost a reward or bounty, let alone hire anyone to investigate, aterrible explosion rocks the area and a massive ball of flame eruptsfrom what was supposed to have been a deserted old ruin up on one ofthe sides of a scenic mountain overlooking the village.

Go!

Chaos ensues. Thelocals are in a panic. Someone should go investigate the explosion atthe ruins. Someone should investigate the missing persons. Rumors andgossip will fly fast and furious. There is a mob-in-the-making amongthe villagers, but so far they do not have a target or a ring-leader.Yet.

This is a volatilesituation indeed.

The old ruin up onthe nearby mountain was Herr Doktor Morbius' secret laboratory wherehe was conducting research into various forms of reanimation andrevivification such as the manufacture of flesh golems. His misshapenand demented henchmen have taken a few 'specimens' from among thelocals, but not very many as they prefer to collect bodies and pilfergraves which they consider a safer bet. Or at least they used tothink it was safer, before they ran into a pack of ghouls who tookexception to their raiding the ghouls' larder.

The heist ofvaluable artworks from Lord Rupprecht's salon in Short Adventure 22:Art Thieves was in response to an agreement between Herr DoktorMorbius and the ghouls. He was to deliver the loot to the ghouls, andthey would become senior partners in the body-snatching trade with anespecial interest in Herr Doktor's research.

The ghouls comefrom a hidden colony of humans descended from prisoners and 'lost'children that the ghouls have maintained in secret for centuries. Theonly way to access the valley is via a series of extremelytreacherous tunnels that the ghouls guard with ancient traps andarchaic sorcery. They have allied themselves to Morbius in order togain access to his work on flesh golems as that might give themimproved defenses against more modern opponents who do not run awayin fear from a few stacked skulls, foul stenches or wicked pit traps.

Whether the minionsof Morbius were successful or not, and whether they were able tosuccessfully return to Morbius' lair is something of an openquestion. If Morbius was able to cement his alliance with the ghouls,then there is a distinct chance that he not only survived theexplosion but he has been taken away by his 'friends' to the hiddenvalley to continue his work in safety. If the minions have failed orhave been thwarted by the Player Characters, then the ghouls mighthave taken Morbius prisoner. Poor old Franz or one of his brethrenmight even be setting out to try and rescue their master...

Meanwhile, theworgs watch everything and will make sure that a few clues reach thePlayer Characters regarding those disappearances and how they do notlead back to the exploded ruins, but rather to a rather imposing andancient Keep maintained by a rich and aristocratic family that havedwelt in this region for practically ever. One of the younger scionsof this noble family was once a student, even a protege of HerrDoktor Morbius, before they had a falling-out.

Everyone in thevillage knows about the feud between Morbius and his former pupil.

What they don'tknow is that the student has continued his own experiments into thesecrets of death and life and all things in-between at the expressbehest of his elders and family members. Instead of looting graves,this man of science has instead used his families' wealth to acquirespecimens from the woodsfolk who are rarely seen outside of thewoods, and the local bandits who have been happily selling theircaptives as hostages for ransom to what they regard as 'the gullibleand sanctimonious nobles' without realizing that those hostages havenever been seen ever again.

There is a secretrendezvous site for the Loyal Retainers to meet with the Bandits andto carry out their customary business. This clandestine trade inhostages has been going on for the better part of centuries, but hasonly lately been made available to the young scientist. The banditsdo not question easy gold, those that do grow too curious disappear.

Examining the ruinsof Herr Doktor Morbius' former laboratory will produce all sorts ofevidence that he was in fact up to no good. The Therioclasts will becalled back from their anti-monster campaign in the woods andexpected to secure this area, but it will take 2d4 days before theycan get the message and respond.

Should the PlayerCharacters arrive before the mob, they have a 30% chance of runninginto a very grim and determined Franz who is going to rescue hismaster. Franz might try to bribe or even hire the PCs to help him onhis mission. If they let him go or he escapes, Franz will make hisway to the entrance of the ghoul's tunnels, but should he enter themwithout the PCs all knowledge of their location will be lost withhim.

There could be afew other red herrings or actual clues scattered in the ruins. Theremainder of Morbius' minions will be scattering except for a fewconfused misshapen monstrosities who will be squabbling over who ismore free or who will lead now...

Herr DoktorMorbius' journals will be missing from the ruins. However, uponreturn to their lodgings, the Player Characters will find theJournals sitting on a table or bed in one of their rooms. No one willhave seen a thing. This is a gift from the worgs, and there is a 50%chance that they will leave some sign that this is the case. Aparticular section of one of the diaries has been marked with ablood-soaked handkerchief as a book-mark. The passage so notedconcerns Herr Doktors' former student and casts vague, darkaspersions upon the Noble Family and for some reason there is a loosesheet of foolscap upon which there is an exceptionally detailed andwell-done anatomical sketch of a bat signed by the student. Thesketch is worth a few gold pieces to anyone who collects art, but asit is the work of the scion of a Noble family with deep roots in thecommunity, no one will buy it. Everyone will insist that it bereturned to the former student and in fact if this is not attemptedwithin 1-2 days, someone will alert the family and they will sendtheir Loyal Retainers to pay the PCs a visit and offer to buy thesketch and any of Herr Doktor's things that they might havediscovered. The Loyal Retainers will offer an exorbitant amount,hoping to use the Player Character's greed against them. They havealso alerted the local bandits, so the gold will most likely not gettoo far before it is recovered, at least according to the Noble'splans.

The worgs know toomuch about what is really going on over at the Keep and they want itstopped before it goes much farther...but they cannot come out andsay anything without stirring-up too much trouble for themselves.They are inclined to attempt to work through guiding the PlayerCharacters as cats-paws and dupes, as that is their way. The worgsmight foul-up any ambush by the local bandits in order to get theplayers to reconsider leaving and they will keep dropping cluesbefore the Player Characters in hopes of manipulating their inquiriesso that the PCs begin to see the Nobles as a real threat that needsto be dealt with...a threat that they might not be able to run awayfrom.

Of course, theNoble family might just hire-on the Player Characters and send themoff to find the lost valley of their long-time rivals the ghouls. Orthey might instead try to have them killed by assassins, but thatsort of thing rarely works and will only get the PCs riled-up...whichmight get the worgs to attempt to make it look like the Noble familytried to kill them all...

The intrigues andbetrayals, revelations and implications should start flying fast andfurious now...

Notes / NPCs

Franz theFaintly-Singed Flesh Golem (1d4) [HD 12; HP48 (will heal to 78); AC 5[14] (wearing chainmail); ATK 1 fist/battleaxe; Move 7; Save 9; CL/XP 12/2,000; Special: Only lightning(which heals the thing), fireand cold spells (onlyslow it down) affect it, and you need a +1 or better weapon to harmit.] (S&W[WB]Bk III p. 19)

Misshapen Squabblers(2d4) [HD 3; HP 16,16,14; AC 9[10]; ATK 1 fist; Move 6; Save 16;CL/XP: 5/240; Special: Only lightning (which heals them), fireand cold spells (only slow them down) affect it, and you needa +1 or better weapon to harm them.] Note: These brutish masked loutsare of minimal intelligence and no longer obey Franz or anyone else.They are free now, no more slaves, but are confused easily if anyonetries to talk to them and this can provoke them to go mad or toattack as they are emotionally and mentally unstable in the extreme.

Mob at the Ruins(4d6) Dwarves, Halflings and a few Humans. Mostly unarmored, withmaybe a pitch-fork or bill-hook for weapons. All have torches andthey are looking for trouble.

WorgWatchers (2d4)[HD 4; HP 20,20,18,18,16,15,14,12; AC 6[13]; ATK 1 Bite; Move 18;Save 15; CL/XP: 4/120] Note: These creatures are supernatural andhave some measure of human in their ancestry due to unspeakable ritesperformed by demented cultists long, long ago...they are consideringjust how far they can manipulate the Player Characters into doingtheir dirty work and will leave them clues as to the terrible thingsgoing on at the Keep.

LoyalRetainers (1d4) [HD 6; HP 36 on average.; AC 4[13]; ATK 1 weapon;Move 10 (30 when mounted); Save 13; CL/XP: 4/80; Special: +2 on Savesvs magic, regenerate 1 HP per turn unless burned, freely cast Charmin place of an attack.] Tall and emaciated-looking, the LoyalRetainers are elegant in their traditional finery and carry +2 curvedlong swords and an array of secondary weapons includingcuriously-crafted composite short bows dating back to thesemi-mythical hordes of an ancient conqueror who once dominated thisarea as part of a vast, now vanished empire that is credited withhaving driven-out the serpent people. They are old, very old andsmell like catacombs even in the brightest daylight. Most suspectthat they are not really human...

LocalBandits (6d6) [HD 3; HP 14 on average.; AC 6[13]; ATK 1 weapon;Move 10; Save 15; CL/XP: 4/80; Special: +1 to hit worgs, move withouttrace through the woods, move silently as a thief.] Cunning andclever, the bandits in these parts have an understanding with certainof the local Nobles and they are in cahoots with anyone who will paythem gold. They fear the Loyal Retainers and serve them faithfully asthose who do not have a tendency to disappear under troublingcircumstances. Banditry is a way of life for them, something thatthey have done for generations. It's in their blood.

TherioclastTroopers(2d4) [HD 3+1; HP 12 on average; AC 6[13]; ATK 1 weapon; Move 12;Save 16; CL/XP: 4/80; Special: +2 on Saves vs lycanthropy] Grim anddour warriors who might be either Humans, Dwarves, Elves orHalflings. Studded-leather armor, crossbow (with a mix of silver andiron headed bolts), silver-headed hand-axe or blessed scythe,rune-engraved short-sword and skinning-dagger. These are hard-bittenprofessionals who exterminate shapeshifters and each one has a 10%chance to spot one outright.

Short Adventure 27: Burning Hatred

Preamble

A September ofShort Adventures is an OSR Challenge initiated by Matt over atthe Asshat Paladins blog. You can click on the Moustache Dragon overon the right-hand side-bar (just above Features) to learn more aboutall of this stuff from Matt directly. All of our 25 (possiblymore...) entries are formatted along the lines of what Matt calls theGet Ready, Get Set, Go! format. In a nut-shell, thisapproach breaks each adventure into a Title, Three escalatingsections of adventure details (the Ready section is limited to anelevator pitch only 2 sentences...), and a final catch-all sectionfor any NPC notes/stats. The idea is to keep it short, simple, easyto read without any maps, drawings, diagrams or 8X10 glossies. Keepdescription to a minimum, avoid lengthy exposition, and no casts ofthousands -- unless it's an invading horde of three-eyed orcs orgoblins riding purple wombats.

We're also goingto aim to keep things generic, setting agnostic and thus portable oradaptable to any campaign/setting using the particular rules-setwe'll be using in any given September Short Adventure such as MutantFuture, Labyrinth Lord, Swords & Wizardry (WhiteBox), etc.

FreeRules

LabyrinthLord: http://www.goblinoidgames.com/labyrinthlord.html

Mutant Future:http://www.goblinoidgames.com/mutantfuture.html

Swords andWizardry (White Box):http://www.swordsandwizardry.com/whitebox.htm

SeptemberShort Adventure Number 27

Title: BurningHatred

Rules: Swordsand Wizardry (White Box)

Ready

There is smoke upahead. Something is burning.

Set

A small caravanof gaudily-painted wagons has been attacked. Two of the wagons are infull blaze, there is a chance that the third one might be saved ifsomeone were to help the mountain nomads instead of just watching orriding past.

Go!

The next Therioclast patrol will be along in 1d4 hours. They will assume the worst if they spot the PCs consorting with the nomads.

The nomads will want to get off of the road and make camp in the woods along a trail that only they can find easily. At least one of them has blood-ties to the dryads and will be able to negotiate passage through the woods that will close-up behind the nomads, making it extremely difficult for the Therioclasts to follow them.

Thesepeople were not attacked by bandits. They ran afoul of theTherioclasts. The nomads are rumored to have ties to various abhumanand nonhuman beings, including a few different varieties ofshape-shifters, lycanthropes and the like, all of whom they hide fromthe Therioclasts.

Aidingthe mountain nomads will incur the suspicion and potentially thewrath of the Therioclasts.

Itcan also expose the Player Characters to whomever the mountain nomads are hiding intheir wagon. Like the runaway flesh golem seeking to escape from HerrDoktor Morbius from Short Adventure 21: A Pound of Flesh. There might even be some loot in the wagons from the heist that took place in Short Adventure 22: Art Thieves, if you want to make things even more complicated.

Thereare doppelgangers among the mountain nomads. They will stay back andwatch the PCs carefully in order to decide if they want totry to ambush the Player Characters and impersonate them in laying a trap for the Therioclasts or not. The nomads and theirdoppelganger kin desire revenge on the Therioclast fanatics, but theyknow better than to attempt to stand up to the troopers openly. Not yet. Theywill opt for misdirection, subtlety, and just mislead the PCs intohelping them, rewarding them with lots of strong liquor and strikingin their sleep...or not. The doppelgangers could use some allies, butthey will settle for dupes, if it looks like they can accomplish something useful without having to outright attack the PCs. They might consider trading some spells, or helping out with magical healing in exchange for various 'small errands' or favors. They are also very skilled in themanufacture of potions, folk remedies and aphrodisiacs...as well asvarious potent toxins and poisons. It might be possible to buy or acquire some potions, but the nomads will deny any knowledge of poisons and never sell such things to an outsider.

If the Player Characters attack the mountain nomads, or just ride on and leave them to fend for themselves, the worgs in the woods will make note of this and remember it for a long, long time. The nomads will mark them as unfriendly and may well ambush the PCs at a later date, or just notify their friends among the local bandits all about the PCs so as to make it easier for the bandits to find them. They might also send the flesh golem after the PCs if they are particularly hurtful to them. And if the PCs are really in a foul mood and attack the nomads, the worgs will come to their assistance.


Doing so will impress the Therioclasts (+1 on Reaction Rolls for 1 month).

Shouldthe Player Characters stop and attempt to help the nomads, the nomadswill be thankful and offer them the hospitality of their camp thatnight, such as it will be with two-thirds of their possessionsdestroyed. They will quickly have plenty of meat for the fire,provided by the worgs out in the woods – this being something thatone of the Player Characters might inadvertently witness.

ThePlayer Characters could earn the trust of the nomads, but itwould take a lot of doing, and in the end it is not likely to workout very well as the nomads are increasingly being targeted by theTherioclasts and things are getting uglier each week that goes by. APlayer Character might become enamored of a particular nomad, andthere could even be a bit of a liaison possible for some members ofthe party, depending on circumstance, but the nomads will eventuallymove on and the PCs are unlikely to be able to follow. This couldlead to any number of romantic, or personal entanglements. There arerumors that the nomads consider it lucky for one of their females tobear the child of a proven warrior or particularly giftedspell-caster...but what is less well known and even less spoken aboutis that a nomad male will know if a female he has been with hasconceived. The nomad male will then do everything in their power tomake sure that the child is raised among the nomads, includingkidnapping the mother or abducting the child. Sometimes they willleave a changeling in its place. There are all sorts of possibilities along these lines. (One of the Player Characters could even be a Changeling or possibly a long-lost child whose real father who was a nomad was killed so that they wound up raised among the villagers...but that gets really cliche and trite unless you find a way to put a fresh spin on it. Good luck with that.)

Becominga true friend of the nomads is possible, but will bring a lotof trouble from the Therioclasts and many villagers who will be illat ease with anyone who wears the mark of the nomads in any way,shape or form. And no outsider will ever be fully accepted by theelders and Wise Ones...not without lots and lots of challenges,tests, tricks and so on. Pursuing this path could end up with thePlayer Character acquiring some form of lycanthropy, becomingenthralled by some dryad, or worse.

Themountain nomads have good reason to hate the Therioclasts and to wishto avenge themselves upon the fanatical soldiers who are waging a warof extermination against all the inhuman beasts and shape-shiftingthings that would mock humanity. No matter how much the PlayerCharacters might sympathize with the nomads, in the end the nomadsare going to start fighting back against the Therioclasts and thePlayer Characters are very likely to be caught in the middle.

Thelonger the Player Characters associate with the nomads, the morelikely they will become targets of the Therioclasts.

Notes/ NPCs

MountainNomads(3d4) [HD 2+1; HP 11 on average.; AC 5[14]; ATK 1 weapon/spell; Move12; Save 14; CL/XP: 2/80; Special: +2 on Saves vs magic, all MountainNomads are dual-classed magic-users and can cast spells while wearingarmor that they've prepared or received as an heirloom; they are notnecessarily entirely human...but they tend to have CHAR 15 or better,on average, with at least a couple of CHAR 17 or 18 in the group.]

MountainNomad Wise Ones(1d4) [HD 4+1; HP 19 on average.; AC 5[14]; ATK 1 weapon/spell; Move9; Save 12; CL/XP: 5/810; Special: +2 on Saves vs magic, Wise Onesare dual-classed Magic-user/Clerics and can cast spells while wearingheirloom armor; they are almost always hybrids, mutants, half-humansor abhuman-descended. Wise Ones can cast Bless/Curseonce per day. They DetectMagicautomatically. They have friends among the fey, the were-folk, theprowlers and hunters, the beasts and the worgs...]

DoppelgangerKin(1d4) [HD 4; HP 24,22,20,17; AC 5[14]; ATK 1 claw/weapon; Move 9;Save 14; CL/XP: 5/240; Special: Immune to Sleep and Charm, +5 on allSaves vs magic; can shape-shift to resemble any person.] They will bevery suspicious of strangers and stay amongst their kin-folk unlessthey sense a good opportunity to ambush and impersonate someonepotentially useful to them...

WorgWatchers (2d4)[HD 4; HP 20,20,18,18,16,15,14,12; AC 6[13]; ATK 1 Bite; Move 18;Save 15; CL/XP: 4/120] Note: These creatures are supernatural andhave some measure of human in their ancestry due to unspeakable ritesperformed by demented cultists long, long ago...they will hang backin the woods and watch...and wait. They are very interested in howthe Player Characters respond to the mountain nomads.

TherioclastTroopers (2d4) [HD 3+1; HP 12 on average.; AC 6[13]; ATK 1weapon; Move 12; Save 16; CL/XP: 4/80; Special: +2 on Saves vslycanthropy] Grim and dour warriors who might be either Humans,Dwarves, Elves or Halflings. Studded-leather armor, crossbow (with amix of silver and iron headed bolts), silver-headed hand-axe orblessed scythe, rune-engraved short-sword and skinning-dagger. Theseare hard-bitten professionals who exterminate shapeshifters and eachone has a 10% chance to spot one outright.

Runaway Flesh Golem(1d4) [HD 12; HP 68; AC 9[10]; ATK 1 fist; Move 8; Save 7; CL/XP12/2,000; Special: Only lightning(which heals the thing), fireand cold spells (onlyslow it down) affect it, and you need a +1 or better weapon to harmit.] (S&W[WB]Bk III p. 19)

September Short Adventure 26: Let's Make a Deal

Preamble

A September of Short Adventures is an OSR Challenge initiated by Matt over atthe Asshat Paladins blog. You can click on the Moustache Dragon overon the right-hand side-bar (just above Features) to learn more aboutall of this stuff from Matt directly. All of our 25 (possiblymore...) entries are formatted along the lines of what Matt calls theGet Ready, Get Set, Go! format. In a nut-shell, thisapproach breaks each adventure into a Title, Three escalatingsections of adventure details (the Ready section is limited to anelevator pitch only 2 sentences...), and a final catch-all sectionfor any NPC notes/stats. The idea is to keep it short, simple, easyto read without any maps, drawings, diagrams or 8X10 glossies. Keepdescription to a minimum, avoid lengthy exposition, and no casts ofthousands -- unless it's an invading horde of three-eyed orcs orgoblins riding purple wombats.

We're also goingto aim to keep things generic, setting agnostic and thus portable oradaptable to any campaign/setting using the particular rules-setwe'll be using in any given September Short Adventure such as MutantFuture, Labyrinth Lord, Swords & Wizardry (WhiteBox), etc.

FreeRules

LabyrinthLord: http://www.goblinoidgames.com/labyrinthlord.html

Mutant Future:http://www.goblinoidgames.com/mutantfuture.html

Swords andWizardry (White Box):http://www.swordsandwizardry.com/whitebox.htm

SeptemberShort Adventure Number 26

Title: Let'sMake a Deal

Rules: Swordsand Wizardry (White Box)

Ready

The players havebeen attacked in the middle of a dark and dismal forest by a largepack of worgs. Despite their best efforts, the worgs have practicallyoverrun their position and they have become separated as they make ahasty tactical retreat...

Set

One of the Player Characters is chased across a bare stretch of frozen rock when asection gives way and they fall into an ancient, forgotten chamberdown below. The worgs will prowl around the hole, occasionally pokingtheir grizzled muzzles in to snap, bark and drool offensively at thetrapped Player Character below.

They areunharmed. No injuries sustained in the fall.

The chamber isdry, but small, perhaps 12' in diameter, with the ceiling maybe16-18' overhead. The worgs will eventually settle-down and just waitfor the PC to try to leave via the hole. If they look around, even inthe darkness just outside the shaft of dying light coming in from thehole above, they will discover that there is an opening leading offto another chamber beyond. This is obviously some sort of ancientburial mound or lost barrow.

It's a real Conanmoment.

Do they have theintestinal fortitude to go into the other chamber?

Go!

Insidethe second chamber is an empty throne, a lot of dust, and a magicalweapon appropriate to the Player Character's class/race.

Theweapon is ancient and has been locked-away down here in the darknessfor centuries. It craves the light and it desires to be put to gooduse.

Itclaims to hate worgs...

Butcan it be trusted? Is it smarter than the PC? Will it try to takethem over right away, or wait and look for a better host or a moreopportune moment to possess them?

Surethe Player Character and the magical weapon can come to some sort ofdeal, a working arrangement of sorts—it desperately wants to getout of the barrow and go killing things, so the weapon is more thanwilling to make a deal. Now.

Butsometimes the enemies of your enemy are better left lying in thedarkness and dirt.

Thisweapon is a cultic artifact of a group of vampiric woodsfolk whotrace their lineages via oral traditions back to the now vanishedempire from which this tomb dates. They will recognize the magicalweapon. It will attract them, call to them, and it only begrudginglyserves the PC...unless somehow they were to prove themselves to be asuperior or more appropriate host than the diabolical descendents ofits original masters...

Butthis aspect of the magical weapon won't be immediately obvious, nornecessarily revealed right away...

Somethings take a little time to set up.

Andgood things come to those who wait...even in the darkness and thedirt...

Notes/ NPCs

CorruptedWorgs (2d4)[HD 4; HP 20,20,18,18,16,15,14,12; AC 6[13]; ATK 1 Bite; Move 18;Save 15; CL/XP: 4/120] Note: These creatures are supernatural andhave some measure of human in their ancestry due to unspeakable ritesperformed by demented cultists long, long ago...there will also beanother 2d4 of the things out in the woods, watching...

Asfor stats for the Magical Weapon...that is something best left to theingenuity of each DM for themselves. Suffice to say that it isessentially a +2 weapon with some useful abilities/handy powers, anda fairly high INT and Psyche/Ego...and if you want a few examples, try out our post: Eight Magical Weapons.

September Short Adventure 25: Down in the Hole

Preamble

A September ofShort Adventures is an OSR Challenge initiated by Matt over atthe Asshat Paladins blog. You can click on the Moustache Dragon overon the right-hand side-bar (just above Features) to learn more aboutall of this stuff from Matt directly. All of our 25 (possiblymore...) entries are formatted along the lines of what Matt calls theGet Ready, Get Set, Go! format. In a nut-shell, thisapproach breaks each adventure into a Title, Three escalatingsections of adventure details (the Ready section is limited to anelevator pitch only 2 sentences...), and a final catch-all sectionfor any NPC notes/stats. The idea is to keep it short, simple, easyto read without any maps, drawings, diagrams or 8X10 glossies. Keepdescription to a minimum, avoid lengthy exposition, and no casts ofthousands -- unless it's an invading horde of three-eyed orcs orgoblins riding purple wombats.

We're also goingto aim to keep things generic, setting agnostic and thus portable oradaptable to any campaign/setting using the particular rules-setwe'll be using in any given September Short Adventure such as MutantFuture, Labyrinth Lord, Swords & Wizardry (WhiteBox), etc.

FreeRules

LabyrinthLord: http://www.goblinoidgames.com/labyrinthlord.html

Mutant Future:http://www.goblinoidgames.com/mutantfuture.html

Swords andWizardry (White Box):http://www.swordsandwizardry.com/whitebox.htm

SeptemberShort Adventure Number 25

Title: Downin the Hole

Rules: Swordsand Wizardry (White Box)

Ready

The playersdiscover a hole in the ground that they just barely avoid fallinginto. There's someone down there...

Set

The immediatearea around the hole is slippery, treacherous and uneven.Investigating who or what is down there will take some cleverness,ingenuity, spells or lots and lots of rope. It is a challengingsituation, not an impossible one, and anyone with a little effort andforethought can either lower someone down to investigate things, orat least make a good attempt at extricating whomever is down therewithout too much difficulty. At least in terms of getting themselvesdown there, or the victim brought up to them...then it getsinteresting...

Attempting tocommunicate with whomever is down there will reveal that there is infact someone down there and they appear to be injured orwounded. There is blood. If left down there, the harsh winter nightwill kill them via exposure, or the wolves or worgs will surely getthem.

What do thePlayer Characters want to do about this?

Go!

This is not an excuse for ambushing the Player Characters while they are in the middle of doing a good deed. Far from it. The hoary old chestnut of the damsel-in-distress as the monster can work, and we've allowed for that down below, but really this scenario starts to get interesting when you move past the falling damage, broken rope gambit, or just giving your vagabond miscreant PCs some sort of moral dilemma. The real meat and potatoes of this Short Adventure comes from the implications and repercussions of how the characters respond to the initial set-up.


Sometimes doing the right thing will lead to terrible outcomes. The worst monsters are not the balrogs or dragons, but the ones that look like us. What really makes this sort of encounter work is to play-up the social aspects, the gratitude of the victim's family, the hatred of those who see the PCs as idiotic meddlers in things they know nothing about and should leave alone. Secrets and shame, the kind of subtext and greasy underlying sense that things are just not quite right. Imagine Lovecraft's Innsmouth run by worgs and not fish and you're half-way there...


Ifthis is taking place out in the woods prior to Short Adventure 24: A Babe in the Woods the young girl will be unable to talk—her tonguehaving been cut out.

Ifthis is taking place around the time of Short Adventure 23: A Snowy Evening then the young boy down in the hole will identify himself asHans, the son of the local cobbler. He claims not to know how heended-up down in the hole. He is lying. There are 1d4 worgs downthere with him—they will let him go free if he lures down better,more meaty prey...

Alternatively,if you prefer, the injured person down in the hole could instead bepoor old Franz from Short Adventure 22: Art Thieves. Franz might havefallen into the hole while trying to escape from a pack of worgs thatchased him after he crossed the frozen lake. Franz may or may not becapable of speech. He might also have various bits of loot stolenfrom Lord Rupprecht's salon that he could use to bribe the Players torescue him. Also, whomever Franz works for might have sent someone tohelp retrieve him after his daring escape from Lord Rupprecht'schalet...so there could be further encounters and entanglementsgalore just from pursuing that angle...

Anotheroption is to have one or more Therioclast Troopers trapped down inthe hole. The party then has to sort out whether or not to save thefanatics who will very likely accost them for just being out in thewoods and even if the PCs do rescue them the troopers will remainhighly suspicious of them. Those worgs and their allies are a craftylot, very tricky. Depending on how that plays out, the PCs could earnthe grudging gratitude of Somber Jill and her Therioclast troops...ortheir vengeful enmity...plus those worgs are watching and they justmight decide to take advantage of any situation that the PCs leaveopen for them to sow more chaos, discontent, distrust and falseleads...

Andthen you might consider a slightly more Shirley Jackson meets ArthurMachen approach—the child down in the hole was driven out of thelocal village as a suspected ally to/depraved consorter with theworgs. Or they were sent out into the woods as a sacrifice to keepthe village safe from the worgs (a classic fairy-tale extortionscheme). Bringing either or both of Hans and Greta back to thevillage will seriously and adversely impact the reaction rolls ofeveryone noted as being in the group that brought them back. If thevillage was making a sacrifice, they'll be guilty and afraid of beingreported to the Therioclasts. If they drove either or both of thechildren out of the village as worg-spawn, then some might repent oftheir harsh deed and others will want to finish the job. Role-playing opportunities and bad accents abound.

Ifeither or both of the kids actually are somehow tainted by theworg-spawn, then it gets violent as the worgs will be watching whathappens and they (or their allies) will intervene if necessary. Ifthe children are innocent, what then? How will the PCs handle thefrightened villagers? Will a mob arise? Will the villagers call outthe Therioclasts and Somber Jill to drive off the PCs who are'obviously' in cahoots with the worgs?

Oh,and as a more Hammer-like twist, either or both of the children couldbe the product of Herr Doktor Morbius' (see Short Adventure 21) latest experiments in tissue regeneration and golemification...or ifyou really want a more Hammer-esque spin on things, either or both ofthe children could be runaways from the village who have decided tojoin the circus...from this post at Old School Heretic, perhaps...

Evenif there is just a simple peasant girl down in that hole, who's tosay that she isn't somehow tangled-up with the worgs? (She could evenbe pregnant with another hybrid-child, or she might be a suitablewet-nurse for the babe if they recovered it in Short Adventure 24...of course, whatever you decide, this woman does not exist in a vacuum and may have familial ties to the worg-cult, the Therioclast-fanatics, or other factions. This is a chance to muddy the waters with all sorts of contradictory loyalties, bad choices, social obligations, lingering vendettas or feuds, unspeakable secrets hidden within local blood ties and relationships that could lead to all sorts of troubles, conflicts and great opportunities for misunderstanding if the PCs just start to talk to this simple, harmless victim whom they've just rescued...)

Whicheveryou decide to use, remember that there are worgs in these woods.Clever beasts who have mingled their blood with humans off and onover the centuries, and they are most definitely watching, waitingand looking for a chance to sow chaos, terror and mayhem amid theirenemies...

Notes/ NPCs

Greta(1) [HD2; HP 12; AC 9[10]; ATK 1 dagger; Move 12; Save 17; CL/XP:1/20]

Hans(1) [HD1; HP 7; AC 9[10]; ATK 1 club; Move 10; Save 18; CL/XP: 1/10]

CorruptedWorgs (2d4) [HD 4; HP20,20,18,18,16,15,14,12; AC 6[13]; ATK 1 Bite; Move 18; Save 15;CL/XP: 4/120] Note: These creatures are supernatural and have somemeasure of human in their ancestry due to unspeakable rites performedby demented cultists long, long ago...there will also be another 2d4of the things out in the woods, watching...

Franzthe Flesh Golem (1d4)[HD 12; HP 68; AC 9[10]; ATK 1 fist; Move 8; Save 7; CL/XP 12/2,000;Special: Only lightning(whichheals the thing), fireand coldspells (only slow it down) affect it, and you need a +1 or betterweapon to harm it.] Note: Franz works for someone, possibly HerrDoktor Morbius from Short Adventure 21: A Pound of Flesh? (S&W[WB]Bk IIIp. 19)

TherioclastTrooper (2d4) [HD 3+1; HP 12 on average.; AC6[13]; ATK 1 weapon; Move 12; Save 16; CL/XP: 4/80; Special: +2 onSaves vs lycanthropy] Grim and dour warriors who might be eitherHumans, Dwarves, Elves or Halflings. Studded-leather armor, crossbow(with a mix of silver and iron headed bolts), silver-headed hand-axeor blessed scythe, rune-engraved short-sword and skinning-dagger.These are hard-bitten professionals who exterminate shapeshifters andeach one has a 10% chance to spot one outright.