Week of Encounters Day 5: Living Skulls of the Purple Marsh

This encounter takes place in the Darkearth Plains region of the Valley.  It takes place just north of the Great River, where the Jazzan Mountains can be seen to the south, and the Harp Woods spread out to the North.

On the northern banks of the Great River, as it passes just east of the Jazzan Mountains, near the Harp woods, there is a swampy expanse that stretches for approximately 25 miles along the river. This swamp is called the Purple Marsh, named long ago for the semi-aquatic Narreck trees that clog the waterways of the swamp (the Narreck, when they flower, produce a purple floss that becomes airborne in the spring winds, and spread the growth of the trees).

The locals from the fishing villages that owe fealty to the Barony of Khomaes have long known that they should give the Marsh a wide miss. It is widely known that the normal dangerous Marsh inhabitants (trolls, lizardmen, dangerous large aquatic grazers such as the catoblepas and so on) are present, but these rarely leave the marsh to raid surrounding areas. When they do, the fighting men of Khomaes, led by Knights of the White Lady, often arise to contain the threat, and keep it limited to the marsh itself. The area is too large, and largely impassable to military units, for the soldiery to clear out the marsh - but they can keep the dangerous inhabitants contained.

Recently, numerous trading cogs from areas west of the Jazzan have been attacked by a string of piracy in the area of the Marsh. The Player Characters, traveling through the area, come across the wreckage of a cog that has washed up on shore. It was attacked, and the crew mostly killed, but a few survivors are found with the wreckage. They talk about an attack by a pirate ship that came out of the morning mists on the Great River, as the cog passed by a part of the Purple Marsh. The cog was carrying a heavy cargo of expensive clothes and other luxury items, meant for trade in Khomaes and Gorrem river towns. These trade goods have all disappeared. The player characters should be given a sense that tracking down the pirates will be quite profitable for them.

The survivors will describe the pirates as living men (human fighting men and thieves), but with skulls for heads. Living Skulls with no flesh, no skin, no eyes - but attached to the body and capable of a rude speech. The players have no concept of these skull men, nor have they encountered anything like it before.

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Living Skull
Num Appearing: Special (created creature)
Alignment: Chaotic evil
Movement: 60'
Armor Class: 4
Hit Dice: 2d (10 h.p.)
Attacks: 1 (claw) or by weapon
Damage: 1d6 - or by weapon (claws are 40% poisoned)
Save: F2
Morale: special (commanded creatures)
Special Abilities: Similar to undead - can be controlled by Evil priests and clerics, but cannot but turned by Good or Neutral priests and clerics.

The claws of a Living Skull are poisoned 40% of the time. Every time a claw attack scores, there is a 40% chance that it is poisonous (does an additional 1d3 points of damage per round, for 1d6 additional rounds - save for half as many rounds).

Living Skulls are supernaturally strong, even if they are slow (if using initiative rules, they suffer are -2 slower than a typical human). Their strength gives them +1 to hit in combat with weapons, and +2 damage when using weapons.

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The searching and investigating of the players should lead them to a watery inlet into the Purple Marsh, that goes to a protected lake, surrounded by small islands and ridges of dry land, but the whole area is thickly forested with Narreck trees. The region is full of primitive bands of hunting lizardmen who are always seeking a source of fresh meat. On one of the larger dry land ridges at the edge of the lake, there is a small walled village, with some simple piers stretching into the lake. There are several galleys (the sort that would make good piracy vessels) moored here.

The village appears deserted. There are some wild denizens of the Marsh who have moved in where pirates and brigands once dwelt. Nearby is a solitary stone structure (all else is made of wood and bamboo), a squat round tower, with a large bronze brazier (25' across) on the exposed top floor. Examining this reveals that there is a dungeon complex underneath. Several layers, magically constructed, lined with marble and extending deep underground, past the water table levels of the swamp. Some areas of the dungeon are dry, and some are intentionally flooded as pools.

Within the dungeon is a society of cultists of the ancient Old Ones' deity, the "One beneath the Waves". These deranged beings seek to draw their deity back to the world, in order to destroy it. They have taken up with a clan of Kuo Toa (who dwell in the dungeon as well, within the flooded chambers, and elsewhere), and have perfected and cast a spell on the inhabitants of the brigand village on the surface. All of the men (and women and children - although the latter were mostly eaten by the cultists in cannibalistic rites) were transformed into "skull men" - mindless servants that are enslaved to the cult and do its bidding. These are strange hybrids of life and undeath, but are immune to the religious sway that modern priests and clerics would have over normal undead. While slow, like most undead, they fight very well and are persistent to the point of destruction.

The dungeons under the tower are quite well stocked with treasures of both the normal and magical types, and exploration of the site by the Player Characters would prove quite valuable. What to do with the knowledge of the Cult and their macabre invention is up to them.

Living Skulls are created by EHP's of the cult of the "One Beneath the Waves". It is a level 6 spell, taught only to priests of the cult, and it works as follows:

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Create Living Skulls (spell)
Level: 6
Duration: Permanent
Range: 30'
This spell turns incapacitated humans (it only works on humans) into Living Skulls. The created beings have no memory of their pre-converted life. The process removes all skin, hair, eyes, brain, muscle etc from the head, leaving an exposed skull. The created beings respond to simple commands (as with other simple undead) from their creator, although this can be a command to transfer their allegience (such as "Obey Igor").

The number of humans converted per application of the spell is equal to 1d6 plus the caster's level. All of the humans to be converted must be incapacitated (sleeping, knocked out, tied up, or something similar), and within the range of the spell.

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Week of Encounters Day 4: Terror of the Stoatmen

This encounter takes place in the Wychwood region of the Valley.  It could be just about anywhere that an untended forest exists, but here it is placed in the northern parts of the forest stretching along the Great River, just across from where the Greywater joins the Great River.

The player characters, while crossing a patch of woods on their way to a village for the night, come across a camp site that has been attacked. A storm as come up at the last minute, and what should have been the last hour of sunlight is rapidly darkening. The travelers are all dead, and their equipment has been taken. Worse, some of them, and their dead horses, have been partially eaten.

While examining the bodies, all of a sudden, a hail of arrows rains down on the party. Each member of the party is shot at twice per round, by a suitable number of Stoat archers who have climbed up high in the surrounding trees.

After the second round of this shooting, and whatever response the players offer up, some trap doors in the forest floor open up and 8 stoatmen warriors emerge to viciously attack the players.

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Stoatmen Warriors
Num Appearing: 2-16
Alignment: neutral evil
Movement: 90'
Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 1d+1 (6 h.p.)
Attacks: 3 (claw, claw, bite), or 1 weapon (preferred)
Damage: 1d4; 1d4; 1d6 - or by weapon (scimitar or short bow are common)
Save: T1
Morale:9
Special Abilities: Climbing and Burrowing.

Stoatmen are Forest Folk, and as such have no souls.  They are considered a cursed race.

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The Stoatmen favor man's flesh for food, but will stoop to eat dwarves, elves, or even horses. The group of Stoatmen archers in the trees will stop firing once their comrades emerge from the warren, and will descend the trees to aid in the attack (mostly because they fear missing out on any meat).

There is a leader of this group of Stoatmen, named Bloodfang, who will unleash a sack of poisonous snakes into the combat if things begin going bad. These snakes attack as 2HD monsters, but only have 3 hit points. If they successfully attack, there is no damage, but a 50% chance of affecting the victim as per a sleep spell (save vs. poison).

If the Stoatmen are vanquished, then their warren holes can be explored. All but one of them are just simple ambush holes, however one leads to a small warren complex with three rooms, in succesion.

The first room has a Stoatwoman Witch (4th level MU) with two pet giant badgers.

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Giant Badgers
Num Appearing: 1-4
Alignment: neutral
Movement: 90'
Armor Class: 4
Hit Dice: 4d (22h.p.)
Attacks: 3 (claw, claw, bite) plus disease
Damage: 1d3+1; 1d3+1; 1d8
Save: F2
Morale:9
Will fight past death (until -10 hit points). If the giant badger scores a bite hit, then it will hang on and do an additional 1d6 points until removed or slain.

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The second room has a bunch of stoatmen young feeding on a stash of rotting bodies of farmers and travellers.

The third room has a board of wood over the door, once removed those opening the door are attacked by two very large coyote spiders.

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Coyote Spiders
Num Appearing: 1-2 (underground only)
Alignment: neutral
Movement: 90'
Armor Class: 4
Hit Dice: 4d (20h.p.)
Attacks: 1, plus poison
Damage: 1d6
Save: F3
Morale:8
The coyote spider, if it scores a hit, injects a very potent poison. Unless the victim makes a saving throw vs. poison, they will start screaming horribly in pain, and spasming uncontrollably. This forces all of the rest of his comrades to make a saving throw vs. fear or they will flee the area. The spasming and screaming lasts for 1d3+1 rounds, but after the first round his comrades are immune to the fear. Each new victim, however, causes a save to be made. During the period of spasming, etc. the victim suffers a -4 on all combat rolls, and also a +4 to foes to score a hit.

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If the spiders are slain, then the last room in the warren is revealed to have a treasure of 1,200 g.p. worth of jewelry, coins, and valuables in it.

The Storm King's Pantheon

The various tribes of Storm King barbarians vary one from another in many different ways, however they all share one thing in common - reverence and worship of the Storm King and his associated pantheon. This is a brief overview of those gods.

Bronc is the King of the Destriel Gods, and also the King of Storms. He is rarely seen, but always present. He is in every storm cloud, and looks down on his people. The Destriel Mountains, marking the northern boundary of the Valley of the Old Ones is a cold, windy place, often wracked by mysterious storms of all sorts. It is fitting that the king of storms dwells here. When the broody Bronc (who is much more frequently called, simply, the Storm King) appears, either in artwork, or during his very rare appearances on earth, he is a dark hulking being, with a horned helmet, wearing a great black shag-cow's hide as a cape. He carries a single broadsword, called Arrios which sings to the Storm King when in combat. His common foes are the many Sun Worms sent against him by the Sun King, Photos. The Storm King dwells in his cloudy castle Windkeep with Tyrros and Othero.

Tyrros is the son of the Storm King, and is the Prince of Thunder. He is the god of thunder and lightning, and has a personality to match. He is often roaming the world, in search of combat and warfare. He carries a great warhammer named Bloodthunder. When roaming the world, he is often in his chariot, which is pulled by a pair of great blue oxen named Glangor and Feory.

Othero is the lady of the Storm King, sometimes called the Storm Lady. She is pale and golden and beautiful, but she is also freezing cold. She dwelt alone at the top of the tallest peak in the Destriels until she attracted the interest of the Storm King. He rescued her from her mountaintop by beating the giants keeping her imprisoned, and then took her back to Windkeep with him. She bore him the son, Tyrros. Now she dwells at Windkeep and controls the coming and going of winter. She sometimes, for sport, will shoot at the sun worms that encircle the fortress with her bow, Icefinger.

Helgor is the Black Chieftain. He is the ruler of the Dark Shore, and is the lord of the domain of the restless dead. All those who die an unsatisfying death are doomed to dwell on the Dark Shore, where they may be called upon by sorcerers to perform foul deeds, or worse. Nobody wants the Black Chieftain to appear, however some will pay homage to him when affairs of the dead are concerned. He appears as a tall dark man, with a helmet set by two great curving goat horns. He carries a black longspear named Soulteaser, with a slender tip that ends in flame. By his side, when he is seen traveling the face of the earth, he is sometimes accompanied by a Fell Beast (a huge wolflike creature the size of an elephant, and quite ferocious).

Week of Encounters Day 3: Captain Lu d'Ross and Caerilla Ne Quolda

This encounter takes place in the Wychwood region of the Valley, just to the west of the Tiazarr River.  it deals with the Khozaki - a "nation" of Fethta riding nomads from the vast plains around the Barony of Ungams.

The players come across an encamped Khozaki mercenary company near the Tiazarr River, along it's eastern bank. These particular mercenaries are in the employ of Baron Ungams and have been sent to cross the Tiazarr, enter the realm of Gorrem Castle, test to see if a new baron has been selected yet, and scout if there is a chance for advantage to be made by a full scale crossing of the river.

These Khozaki mercenaries are 3rd level human fighting men, and are all experts with the spear and the short bow. In the common manner of the Khozaki, they wear loose brightly colored pants, leather shirts, and short capes of a variety of colors. High hard leather riding boots and bronze helmets complete their outfit. In combat, they would wear scale armor over their leather shirts. Again, as common for all Khozaki, they are excellent riders.  This company are riding the common riding animal from Ungams, the Fethta. The Fethta is a great riding lizard, the girth and bulk of a horse, but much longer counting the spiky tail. The drool and spittle of the Fethta is poisonous, and they are trained to fight as well as ride. When angered, and in combat, they will rear up on their hind legs (a maneuver that the riders train for, and their special harnesses and saddles are built to support it), and fight with their two front claws and by biting. The riders will employ their spears, and also shoot their bows. In appearance, the fethta looks like a common green garden lizard, but with a 7' long body, and an additional 7' long spiky tail. The spikes on the tail are merely mating adornments, and not for fighting.

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Fethta
Num Appearing: 1-2 (if encountered in the wild)
Alignment: neutral
Movement: 90'
Armor Class: 5
Hit Dice: 3d (15h.p.)
Attacks: 3 (claw, claw, bite) plus disease
Damage: 1d4; 1d4; 2d4
Save: F2
Morale:9
The bite of the Fethta is indeed dangerous. If a successful bite is made, and a save vs. poison is failed, then there is a 25% chance of infection. If this happens, a blood disease ensues - if infected, the victim will lose one point (from each) of strength, constitution and dexterity for 9 days, and then gain it back at one point each for 9 days; if any go below 0 the victim dies. A cure disease will end this.

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This company of mercenaries is a small river crossing party, perhaps 20 fighters strong, being led by a 5th level fighting man named Captain Lu d'Ross. They are encamped near the rivers edge in order to construct rafts for crossing the river with their riding fethta.

In order to speed up the process, Captain Lu d'Ross has ordered the company to chop down the nearby Quolda trees. These are semi-magical trees cultivated by the Elves, and have been growing since the birth of the Elven people. Well into the chopping of the second tree (only three or four would be needed, because of the fantastic properties and quantities of wood that can be harvested from each one), an Elven princess from the nearby woodland realm came to Captain Lu d'Ross, begging for the men to stop the process of killing the sacred trees. Captain d'Ross immediately ordered that the princess, a Caerilla Ne Quolda, be taken prisoner so that the wood harvesting could continue.

Encounter: As the players are looking on to the scene of the harvesting of the Quolda trees, they are ambushed and attacked by a group of wood elves who are intent on stopping the harvest, and have mistaken the player characters as part of the mercenary company. The warband of wood elves consists of a 4th level leader Turokan Har Quolda, and six 3rd level elves. All are fighter/magic-users.

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Experienced Wood Elf Warriors
No. Enc.: 1d4
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 120'
Armor Class: 5
Hit Dice: 3 (18 h.p.)
Attacks: 1 (long sword, and long bow)
Damage: 1d8 or 1d6
Save: MU3
Morale: 8
Spells: Magic Missile, Shield, Levitate
If possible, half of the group will cast Levitate on themselves, floating up out of reach, and will employ long bows. The rest will immediately cast Shield, and then engage in combat. If the chance comes up, they will use Magic Missile against spell casters.

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Details for Captain Lu d'Ross, Caerilla Ne Quolda, and Turokan Har Quolda are left for the DM to devise.

The players must decide whether they will fight the elves, or try to parlay with them. Then the noise generated will ensure an attack by the Mercenaries.

During the combat, if one occurs, the second quolda tree will be felled (it is almost down when the ambush comes), and inside its massive trunk, a chamber leading to an underground Wood Elf burrow is revealed. Within are treasures and dangers awaiting the Characters - no doubt which will be determined by their decisions during the encounter between the Elves and the Mercenaries - and how they treat with the imprisoned Princess.

Week of Encounters Day 2: The Fell-Beast of Riven Moor

This encounter takes place in the Sildur Reaches region of the valley.  It is near the Greywater River, up where it rolls south out of the Destriel Mountains.  This is Stormking Barbarian country, and this encounter features elements of the Stormking mythology.

Just north of the Shadow Woods, but south of the Greywater is an area known as the Riven Moor.  The area is home to many of the crypts and barrows of the Storm King tribes. It is a high flat place, nearly 100 miles wide, and approximately 30 miles north to south, with the Greywater along the northern edge, and clumps of forest marking the beginning of the Shadow Woods along the southern edge.  There are no permanent habitations up here, but occasionally bands of traveling Storm King tribesmen will be encountered.  They almost always travel through the area well armed, and in groups consisting mainly of fighting men, because of the number of Fell-Beasts in the area.

The Fell-Beast appears as a very large wolf (approximately the size of a forest elephant), but is much more dangerous.  The beings are supernatural in origin, and come from the underworld realm of the Black Chieftain.  In the pantheon of the Storm King, the enemy of the Storm King himself is their barbarian god of death and the underworld, known as the Black Chieftain.  He dwells in a domain known as the Dark Shore, and it is pictured to be a cold, forested island, in the middle of a bleak icy sea, under a sunless sky.  The island is populated by foul beasts of all sorts, who hunt the lost souls through the forest night after night.  One of the types of creatures are the Fell-Beasts.

One of the reasons there are so many Fell-Beasts in our realm, especially on the Riven Moor, is because of the magical protections put on the barrows there, and the fact that so many barrows become plundered and robbed.  Many of the protections and curses used by priests of the Storm King tribes consist of curses based on beings and magic from the Dark Shore, so when a barrow is violated, the arrival of a being from the cursed realm is the result.  This being then usually hunts down the offending party, and exacts revenge.  The number of barrows, and the strength of the magic on the Riven Moor means that some of these beings remain in our world, savagely and viciously hunting the living.

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Fell-Beast
Num Appearing: 1-2
Alignment: neutral-evil
Movement: 90'
Armor Class: 3
Hit Dice: 8d (48h.p.)
Attacks: 3 (claw, claw, bite) plus special (if bite is successful)
Damage: 1d4+1; 1d4+1; 2d8
Save: F8
Morale:8
Special Attack: Level Draining Bite - whenever a Fell Beast makes a successful Bite attack, there is also a 20% chance that the Fell-Beast will attempt to drain a level from the character that was bitten.  This can be avoided by a successful save vs. Petrification.

The Fell-Beast is an undead being, and so a cleric would have a chance to turn one.  It appears as a large, black wolf (the size of a small elephant), with hollow ghostly eyes and blood and ichor matting its fur around its horribly large fanged mouth.  The Fell-Beast can howl a dreadful howl that will cause all beings below 3rd level within 100' to save vs. magic, or flee in terror.

If encountered (or worse, if one is cursed to be hunted by a Fell-Beast) other than fighting the creature with means both physical and magical, one would have to worry about the ability of the Fell-Beast to be able to summon to its side death birds from the Dark Shore.  These death birds are described below, but the Fell-Beast can summon 1d12 of these beings, twice a day.

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Death Birds
Num Appearing 1-12
Alignment: neutral-evil
Movement: 120'
Armor Class:6
Hit Dice: 2d (9h.p.)
Attacks:1, plus shriek
Damage: 1d4
Save: F2
Morale:9

The Death-Birds are also undead beings, so a cleric would have a chance of turning them (2HD undead beings).  These appear as undead ravens, with red eyes and blood stained beaks and talons.  They appear to be quite dead, with feathers missing here and there, and sometimes chunks of flesh torn from their bodies.  They exude a horrid stench of decaying flesh.

Whenever one is in combat with death birds (whether 1 or a dozen), the constant shrieking (the Storm King tribesmen call it "crying for the dead") of the birds will cause one to make a saving throw vs. magic at the beginning of the combat round.  If the save is failed, then the character may not move during that round - it may still attack or defend, but it may not move.  Magic User spells are also not allowed if this saving throw is failed, however Clerics of a good alignment may still cast spells.

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Encounter: The players are moving across the Riven Moor for some reason, when they hear the horribly howl of a Fell-Beast in the distance.  Should they move to see what is afoot, they will encounter the Fell-Beast and a cloud of Death Birds feasting on the remains of a (now) deceased grave robber.  The nearby open barrow mound attests to the reason for the attack, and there are bags of treasure spilled about on the ground near the body.  If they Fell-Beast or the Barrow Mound is approached in any way, then both the great undead wolf and the flock of birds (eleven) will attack the players instantly.

Star Marauders of Vogg Tarsh

Vogg Tarsh, the sorcerer of the Verdant Marsh, had recently banished the bone men inhabiting the water crypt of the old ones and in so doing had recovered a tome of ancient arcane knowledge.  The learned scroll was written in an obscure Old One language of magic, but Vogg Tarsh held binding agreements over elder devils capable of translating such magical lore.  Soon, Vogg Tarsh was practicing the art of dimensional transplantation.  After perfecting the ability, he contacted the twilight dimensions and began enslaving beings encountered there.  The Moak Runner, the lowly Fife beast, and the hive of Rootam Ek.  All of these are creatures brought to our world by Vogg Tarsh.

On one of his other dimensional sojourns, Vogg Tarsh encountered a tribe of men like beings who dwelt on a desert world.  They would hunt the dust dragons and sand worms by day, and worship the ancient star gods by night.  These men themselves would join into groups of marauders, and venture out into the astral realms between dimensions and attack sorcerors and other travellers they encountered there.  Vogg Tarsh had heard of these star marauders, and had lost several colleague sorcerers to their attacks.  While those sorcerers could not be said to be the friends of Vogg Tarsh (can such a man afford to have friends?), they were trusted colleagues, and he was offended by the loss of their knowledge of the magical universe.  So the sorcerer vowed to take revenge on these star marauders.

Over time, one by one, he would capture bands of the star marauders and transport them to other worlds, and always without the aid of their tribal shamans (who served as astral guides).  One of the forms of magic that these marauders practiced was the use of tattoos of power.  These tattoos would each be modeled after one of the stellar constellations that they drew power from in their home dimension, and they would grant certain powers to the marauders that wore them.  They were favored, individually, by certain tribes - so groups encountered almost always have the same tattoo.

The constellations from the dimension of the Star Marauders, and the magical powers that they provide, are listed here:

Ginar the Block - Stone skin, occasionally other stone related manifestations
K'Nar, the Fire Goat - Heat generation, sometimes flame generation
Helfin the Striker - The ability to fire small shards of glass from the arms and hands
Assep and Kutar - The head and body split and operate separate.  The body has magical senses. The head will grow additional bodies.
Ch'Nar, the Ice Goat - The ability to slow living opponents by chilling their blood.
Ubell the Spider _ Climbing walls, casting webs, draining blood.
Rish the Stormwind - The body becomes incorporal, only affected by magical weapons.  It can attack normally, however.
Uesti the Kraken - Can breathe water.  In addition, multiple tentacle limbs grow, which can all use weapons.  Resistant to magic.
T'Nux the Suneater - Can create darkness and also absorb magic, to be reused.
Felp the Owl - Silent, stealthy, and flying.
M'tor the Worm - The ability to meld through stone and earth, and also corrode flesh with a touch.
Hagtar the King - Mental powers of attack and defense.

Physically, the Star Marauders are very similar to normal men, and may adopt the abilities of any of the character classes.  Far and away, the most commonly encountered are fighters (and occasionally thieves).  They are often organized into bands, and will be led by leaders of slightly higher level.  They appear as bald humans, are given to sparse dark clothing.  For armor they tend to wear a curious hide armor from their own dimension, made of cured strips of Kraken flesh (AC 5).  They favor their own weapons - the Sukkong (a short sword), the Lasterak (throwing dagger) and the Peffalar (a halberd).  All of these weapons are made of specially treated ivory taken from the fangs of giant desert spiders in their own dimension.

The bad news is that the Star Marauders are hardy and have a long lifespan (perhaps up to 1000 years).  The good news is that they are not inter-fertile with regular human females, and Vogg Tarsh brought no women from their own dimension.

As encountered in the Valley of the Old Ones, Star Marauders are almost always groups gathered together by a sorcerer either attack someone or to protect something.  They would never be encountered as a randomly moving group.

Week of Encounters Day 1: The King's Highway

This encounter takes place in the Shattered Plains region of the valley, far to the west.  It occurs along the King's Highway, not too far to the west of the Durwash River crossing, where the Highway passes over that mighty river.  Like all of the river crossings, the mound the Highway is built on has a vast opening through it for the river to pass underneath.

The King's Highway is an interesting feature in the Valley of the Old Ones. It was built by the last King of the Old Ones, and in spite of their absence for a long, long time the highway remains intact, and still in use. It is, however, a magnet for danger, because of the associated rumors about periodic structures full of the treasures of the Old Ones.

The encounter in question here concerns the efforts of the player party to cross past the highway for some reason.

Physically, the obstacle is the Highway itself. The section the players come up against is over 150 feet tall. Much of the side is covered with patches of exposed rock face and boulders. Climbing the nearly sheer face of the highway is bad enough (requires 1 hand at all times to hang on, and dexterity and strength checks as the DM warrants), but the rocks are teaming with all manner of small predators, like rock snails.


Rock Snails
Num Appearing: 2-8
Alignment: neutral (evil)
Movement: 5'
Armor Class: 4 vs. One foe in contact. 1 vs. All others
Hit Dice: 1d-1
Attacks: 1 (bite), possible poison
Damage: 1d4
Save: F2
Morale: 8


Special Attack: poison (save or as sleep spell); corrosive slime (after successful attack, or against incapacitated foe, snail slime causes automatic 1d3 points per round. Save for half)

The top of the mound is approximately 500 feet across in the area the players are attempting to cross (although this varies from place to place). The most striking feature is that the entire surface is covered in smooth marble blocks.

The top of the mound is indeed a highway, and it stretches as far as one can see to the east and west.  The center 150 feet of the top is the highway itself, with approximately 150 feet on either side dedicated to structures that were once standing, and in some spots are still present in a ruined state.  The remainder of the top is just a grassy surface that gives way to the rocky escarpment on either side.

Once the party comes up to the top, the DM should show them the map of the apparent buildings in the area, and let them look around for a few minutes.  Suddenly, the rubbled doors are thrown open on the "Great Stone House" on the map, and out rush a band (16) of Star Marauders.  These particular Marauders have the tattoo'd Sign of K'nar visible on their foreheads.

Star Marauders (sign of K'nar)

Num Appearing: 4-24
Alignment: chaotic-evil
Movement: 60'
Armor Class: 5
Hit Dice: 2d (9 h.p.)
Attacks: 1 (shortsword)
Damage: 1d6
Save: F2
Morale: 9


Special Attack: Heat generation.  This band of Star Marauders has been branded with the "Sign of K'nar" tattoo, which means that they have the capability to generate extreme heat for a short amount of time.  Once per day, for a period up to 10 consecutive melee rounds, these Star Marauders generate heat that will cause 1d4 H.P. damage per round to anyone in melee contact with them (save v. spells for half).


These are led by a 3HD leader (14 h.p.), who is an expert with a longsword.

Once the Marauders are dealt with, it is revealed that there is a set of stairs in the great stone house, leading down into a series of dungeon chambers (detailed separately).

Seven Encounters Challenge

From the staff at Gaming with Chuck - "Have a Week of Encounters - Seven encounters that make define your setting"

The idea is to come up with seven encounters that are unique to the setting you are using for your RPG, and use those to expose some things that make your setting unique.  Valley of the Old Ones is going to take up the challenge, and respond by having a Week of Encounters.  Given that the upcoming week is a holiday week, and I won't get too much done on my dissertation, I will use this week to do the Valley of the Old Ones.

Starting tomorrow (Monday) I will do seven different encounters.  These will be for AD&D2E.

The Nine Rivers

Within the Valley, which is some 3200 miles long from east to west, the most common way to distinguish regions is to consider the segments that are roughly split up by the Nine rivers that flow into the Great River.  These divide the Valley up into eleven different regions. 

The northern regions, west to east, are

• The Shattered Plains
• The Enchanted Forests
• The Darkearth Plains
• The Sildur Reaches
• The Suuviz Region

The southern regions, from west to east are:

• The region of Gateway
• The region of Bartaloo
• The Rising Land
• The Wychwood region
• The Nightside region
• The Shale March

Four of these rivers flow from the Destriel mountains in the north, and each of them passes underneath the King's Highway.  Five of the rivers flow from the Holabria mountains in the south.  All nine empty their contents into the Great River, which continues to flow from the east to the west.

Listing the rivers, in order, from west to east we see that we have:

1. Durwash River - which flows out of the Destriel Mountains, near the famous Groben Cave sites, down past one of the Altars of the Old Ones (the great stone amphitheater, near the King's Highway), flowing south into the Great River.  While the Durwash southwest from the Groben sites, there is a tributary that joins it from the north west, called the Stormwash. The region to the west of the Durwash is the Shattered Plains, and the region to the east is the Enchanted Forests.
2. Pellet Water Run - This swift flowing body of water begins in the Holabria Mountains, with the glacial lake Sunshield as its point of origin.  It flows down, through the Burning hills, and finally north between the Falcon Woods and the Deeper Forest. The region to the west of the Pellet Water Run is the Gateway region, and to the east is the Bartaloo Region.
3. The Two-Moon river is an amazing body of water.  First there is the magical property that the third moon of the world never reflects on the water, only the first and second moons (which is where the name comes from).  Second, the headwaters of the Two-Moon are high in the Holabria Mountains, and they are in fact a waterfall descending from a cloudy realm high over the Fircarran Peaks.  The waterfall splashes down and forms a lake called the Skybowl, and then begins the long journey down out of the mountains, north towards the Jazzan and into the Great River.  The Two-Moon river is joined also by the Tandalorn River, which originates to the east of the Skybowl, as a series of  springs.  The site of the Tandalorn Springs is where the Parn Tandalorn Monastary is located.  To the west of the Two-Moon river is the Bartaloo Region, and to the right is the Rising Land.
4. The Lost Mare River is the next of the Nine.  It flows, at first mad and fast, south out of the Destriel Mountains towards Sorrad Forest, and then turning east, begins to lose a lot of its speed and anger, making its way lazily towards the King's Highway, and then on to the Great River.  Once it turns east away from the Sorrad Forest, one of the reasons for the great slowdown of the Lost Mare is because a lot of the river is diverted underground, feeding the mighty Underdark Sea, which is home to the Dark Elves and their so-called  "buccaneer kingdoms".  The Lost Mare is also joined by the Night Wash, a mountain stream fed tributary river.  The Lost Mare river divides the Enchanted Forests region to the west from the Darkearth Plains region to the east.
5. The Fernrush River is next.  It empties out of Ancalhenn Lake, which is fed itself by four mountain rivers coming out of the Holabrian Mountains.  Several ruined Old One sites are along the Fernrush River, which for some forgotten reason was a focal point of Old One trade activity.  The Fernrush River divides the Rising Land to the west from the region of Wychwood to the east.
6. The Greywater flows south out of the Destriel Mountains, joined by the Terrapin River.  There is a lot of river traffic along the Greywater from the many different Storm King tribes in the northern Shadow Woods.  Many different Storm King Jarls have holdings along the Greywater river.  The Greywater serves to divide the Darkearth Plains to the west from the Sildur Reaches to the east.
7. The Tiazarr River is next.  Its source is in the south, in the Caves of Night.   The Tiazarr is joined by the Ceduria River, flowing out of Ceduria Lake, which is also home to Panakus River, one of the four feeding Ancalhenn Lake.  The Tiazarr River divides the Wychwood region to the west, from the Nightside region to the east.
8. The Fa'Ars River flows past the great city of Narn, as it makes its way south from the Destriel mountains to feed the Great River.  The Fa'Ars has its source high in the Destriels, at a series of connected lakes known as the Tears of Heaven.  The region is widely avoided, as Giant country.  The Fa'Ars River divides the Sildur Reaches to the west of the river, from the Suuviz region to the east of the river.
9. The Moa Thola is the last of the Nine.  It is a river that comes out of the Shale hills.  It is home to a large amount of Sun King tribal traffic.  The river itself is joined by the Errando River originating not too far from the Caves of Night.  Perhaps there is a connection to the Tiazarr River.  The Moa Thola river divides the Nightside region, to the west, from the Shale March region to the east.

Valley of the Old Ones - updated with Nine Rivers information - click for more detail

History of the Valley - since Ba'a Zarn

The Archivists of Parn Tandalorn tend to view the history of the Valley of the Old Ones as, enigmatically, beginning with the departure of the Old Ones themselves.  At some point, in the distant past, the King of the Old Ones Ba'a Zarn disappeared from the world.  After this time, the many creatures and creations of the gods of the Old Ones began to spread and to rule over the world.  The chief creations amongst all of these are Men, Elves and Dwarves.  The Men seem to have been a companion gift to the Old Ones, constructed by the Elemental Gods.  The Elves were first created by the forest goddess Earnissa.  The Dwarves were created by The Krung, lord of the mountains.

As the power of the Old Ones began waning, many of the Men who were living with them in their fabulous cities began to flee, and to already spread across the world.  At this time they began worshiping the gods and goddesses of nature, especially Bronc the Storm King, and Photoss the Sun King.  The Three Goddesses were not unknown at this time, but the complicated nuance of the modern churches did not exist - they were simply worshiped as Fertility, Magic and Agriculture.

The tribes of the Storm King grew in power and strength, until they threatened both the Dwarves and the Elves.  This brought about the first Elf war, which pitted the ancient tribes of the Storm King against the original forest tribes of Earnissa's people.  The Dwarves were pledged to help the Elves, but due to unknown reasons they never appeared at any of the battles.  The barbaric humans were losing in the war against the elves, but in the end the Elves capitulated and settled an uneasy peace with the humans.

There are still groups of humans that worship the Storm King, however (and this is true within the Valley) much of human civilization is now built around the worship of the Three Goddesses.  These three, and a complicated hierarchy of saints and scions, are the object of much of the modern Church that is key to human civilization.

Within the Valley, the human city of Narn is home to the feudal kingdom of Neill family.  Duke Alasdair IV is the current head of the family, and he rules with the blessings of the Arch-Cleric Neveross, of the Cathedral of St. Narn.  Across the valley there are many small baronies and other realms that all, in theory, owe feudal loyalty to the Neill family, however the distance and the politics involved mean that at any time any number of these can be at war with each other, or against the Neills themselves.  Complicated church politics don't make matters any simpler.

Within the valley, there are several forests where Elven domains are evident.  These are largely Wood Elves.  There are, in the mountains surrounding the valley, several hidden cities of High Elves as well.  During the war with the Storm King barbarians, the High Elves felt betrayed by their brothers who surrendered to the Humans, and so went, mostly, into seclusion.  Other than their hidden mountain cities, the High Elves also have a floating city that travels up and down the Great River.

Several underground colonies of Grey Dwarves exist in the mountains surrounding the valley.  These are the types of dwarves who feel compelled to pursue their traditional role as miners and craftsmen, working with stones and gems, and digger deeper and deeper into the mountains.  Offshoots of these 'traditionalists' often move down out of the mountain, and build towns and villages where they trade with the feudal human cities, and others.  These Dwarves who leave the mountains are often referred to as Brown Dwarves.

Countless other races of beings (magical and natural) occupy the areas within and around the Valley.  Among the more numerous are the Halflings, Gnomes and of course all the Goblin races, from the goblins themselves, up through the trolls.  Many variants of beastmen exist as well.  In addition to the underground empires of the goblins and dwarves, there is another race of elves that have taken up life under the mountains - the Dark Elves.

Since the departure of the Old Ones, and the war between the Barbarians and the Elves, the rise of Human civilization has dominated the valley.  Today they are the most numerous people within the valley, although the strength of Narn has faded in recent decades.

History of the World - Valley of the Old Ones

The Valley, of course, is part of a much larger world.  This is a short version of the history of that world, according to the Archivists of Parn Tandalorn.

Once, a long time before there was time, the world had no music.  Without music, there was no magic.  Without magic, there were no numbers.  But one by one, through the strength of their will, the elemental gods of the Old Ones awoke.  Their names are now long forgotten, but in the course of things, each of them had a number.  The first, the lord of fire, helped to bring the rest into being.  They came in order, the Lord of Fire, the Lady of Air, Earth Weaver and the One beneath the Waves.  From them the rest of the gods of the Old Ones came, each after its own element.  Now their numbers were many, and  from this they could wring out all manner of magic.

The magic allowed the gods to create, each after his or her own fashion, the things that would live on the earth.  Plants, Animals, Fish, Birds.  Even the Old Ones.  They were created by the Lord of Fire and the Lady of Air directly, and held sway over all other things.  Through their ordering, the magic gave way to music, and now the world was complete.

After a time, a king arose amongst the Old Ones named Ba'a Zarn the Builder.  Ba'a Zarn and his people built all manner of fantastic cities and wonders.  Some still stand - the Sky Lake of Cittar and the Great Block.  Some are long gone.  Many were deep under the earth, still more were among the clouds.  One of the amazing feats of Ba'a Zarn was the construction of the Great River, which completely crosses the face of the world from one end to the other.  Along with the Great River is the King's Highway.  Much of the King's Highway is still in existence, and these two wonders - the River and the Highway - run through the middle of the Valley of the Old Ones.

It is said that the Valley itself was once a garden of the Old Ones, where they would come to take their ease and talk with all of the creatures of the gods.  Certainly they left behind some fantastic structures in the mountains and on the plains of the valley.  Many these days shun such spots, as they are the home of amazing creatures and inscrutable magic, but others seek them out as spots of adventure and fantastic treasures.

Forest Abbey of the Hedgehog People (part 2)

Here is the basic area map for the countryside surrounding Finch Abbey. I am planning a more detailed version, but the details are not meant for the eyes of the scenario players, so it will remain safe and secure in my GM notebook.

The key to the map is as follows:

1.Finch Abbey – former abbey of St. Brigid – Hedgehog people monastery
2.Trevor Landing – Out of use boat landing
3.Kliban Tower – Tower of a dead wizard
4.Village of Nosh – Western most village of Gorrem Castle
5.Tozen Quarry – flooded stone quarry
6.Raifhome Keep – Home to the retired mercenary, Raif the Spear.
7.The Red House – Very old marble villa, now a nest to a clan of ogres.
8.Haunt of the Spider – Tower of a dead wizard
9.Ruins of Fernrush – Once a wealthy trading town, now ruins.

Although the scenario of the game centers around the player-characters starting out at the Village of Nosh (in a tavern called "The Happy Lute" no less...) and then traveling to Finch Abbey, I wanted to populate the map with other interesting locations that could be of use later on for other gaming sessions.

Forest Abbey of the Hedgehog People (part 1)

(this is another posting that was originally on Gaming with Chuck - moved here)

One of the keys to the old school adventure I am dreaming up for MarsCon is the peaceful fantasy race known as the Hedgehog People. Their own name for themselves is the Roikkitikki, but everyone else just calls them the Hedgehog People, or just the Hedgehogs.

For visual inspiration, I take my cues from the marvelous artwork done for the Ironclaw rpg, especially the hedgehogs.

In my setting of "The Valley of the Old Ones" the hedgehogs usually inhabit relatively peaceful forests,near (but not too close) to the civilized lands of peaceful people. When encountered outside of their forests, they are usually in small groups consisting of monks and clerics of St. Brigid. They don't usually deal in magic, get along well with halflings and gnomes, admire humans of the better sort, but distrust the elves. Hedgehogs are excessively fond of feasting, and usually tend towards the pacifistic.

One of the very sad aspects of the Hedgehog folk is that they, like all of the Forest Folk, are a created race - dreamt of and given life by some long forgotten mad magician. Because of this, although they move through the world as other sentient beings, they have no soul.

For my scenario, the group in question is a community associated with the Abbey of Finch, in the Redsmoke Woods. This small forest lies along the Fernrush River, which is a southern tributary to the Great River. Nearest the Abbey, the Fernrush is about a mile wide, and is home to sporadic trade and fishing.

East of the forest, the rolling hills in the demesne of Gorrem Castle. The lands have been lawless for several years, and most of the villages and holdings have started looking to their own defense, without the castle to protect them. During this period, a number of bands of goblins have worked their way north into the Redsmoke and have been raiding out, threatening outlying settlements that were once under the protection of Gorrem. Finch Abbey has recently fallen to one of those bands, but there must be something more sinister at play, because of the degree of evil coming out of the former peaceful sanctuary. A band of raiding goblins couldn't possibly be responsible for the atrocities committed.

Maps and write-ups coming soon, subject to real life demands, of course!

Introduction - Valley of the Old Ones

This is a setting for fantasy games (wargames, roleplaying games, etc) developed by Me. It draws on a lot of different sources and ideas, but is primarily designed as a fun place to run games.

The Valley exists in a much larger world (much) although I will write about that later on.

For now, here is the original opening description (originally posted on Gaming with Chuck):

Once, ages ago, before even the dragons remember, the Old Ones held court on the sunny face of the world. At that time, Ba'a Zarn, the king of the Old Ones, ruled a mighty empire. His craftsmen were the source of many things - the stars, music, time - but one of the the strongest things they built was the King's Highway.

This highway is a massive stone lane, large enough for the King's chariots to ride over, built on top of a mound that varies between 100 and 200 feet above the surrounding plains. Periodically, there are ancient guard towers that still stand, and massive stone lined tunnels that go through the mound. There are even tunnels under the mound for the tributaries of the Great River to run through.

The Great River circles the entire world, and the King's Highway generally follows its course.

The Valley of the Old Ones is one spot along the Great River, home to the ancient human city of Narn. The valley measures 3200 miles from end to end. The city is old and crumbling, but was once mighty enough to withstand attacks from the warlords out of the mountains surrounding the valley. Now it is mostly bereft of riches, so is not the subject of attack nearly so much.

In the plains throughout the valley, countless small unknown villages dot the countryside. With the collapse of Narn some generations back, local nobles began the construction of many of their own castles and keeps, to keep safe from the mountain raiders.

Today, Humans, Elves, Dwarves and Halflings dwell in the valley, trying to make a peaceful life. The surrounding ancient ruins and wonderous sites remind them that the Old Ones once roamed here. Those same sites can be the home of adventure and exploration, but can also be the source of great, unnatural danger.

This will be the setting of a number of old school adventures that I am brewing up. I hope to reveal the first at MarsCon (January 2011).

Classic Fantasy Gaming Monsters

There are some classic monsters that exist almost exclusively because of gaming. You know the sort I am thinking of - the Beholder, the Carrion Crawler, the Shrieker. What is your favorite, and why? Please comment...

Valley of the Old Ones

A setting for some Old School roleplaying. Drawn using Autorealm.

Once, ages ago, before even the dragons remember, the Old Ones held court on the sunny face of the world.  At that time, Ba'a Zarn, the king of the Old Ones, ruled a mighty empire.  His craftsmen were the source of many things - the stars, music, time - but one of the the strongest things they built was the King's Highway.

This highway is a massive stone lane, large enough for the King's chariots to ride over, built on top of a mound that varies between 100 and 200 feet above the surrounding plains.  Periodically, there are ancient guard towers that still stand, and massive stone lined tunnels that go through the mound.  There are even tunnels under the mound for the tributaries of the Great River to run through.

The Great River circles the entire world, and the King's Highway generally follows its course.

The Valley of the Old Ones is one spot along the Great River, home to the ancient human city of Narn.  The valley measures 3200 miles from end to end. The city is old and crumbling, but was once mighty enough to withstand attacks from the warlords out of the mountains surrounding the valley.  Now it is mostly bereft of riches, so is not the subject of attack nearly so much.

In the plains throughout the valley, countless small unknown villages dot the countryside.  With the collapse of Narn some generations back, local nobles began the construction of many of their own castles and keeps, to keep safe from the mountain raiders.

Today, Humans, Elves, Dwarves and Halflings dwell in the valley, trying to make a peaceful life.  The surrounding ancient ruins and wonderous sites remind them that the Old Ones once roamed here.  Those same sites can be the home of adventure and exploration, but can also be the source of great, unnatural danger.

This will be the setting of a number of old school adventures that I am brewing up.  I hope to reveal the first at MarsCon (January 2011).

Tags: fantasy role playing

Retro-Clone RPG based on the RC of BD&D

Okay, I think that is the most Acronym laden title of any article here at Gaming with Chuck.  (The Staff is currently on a Health Improvement Program (HIP) and that means increased levels of vitamins being consumed.  So there is a big fascination with letters....)

Okay, a Retro Clone of a Role Playing Game is one of a new-ish batch of RPGs that seek to capture either the specific rules or the flavor of classic RPGs.  You know - like Good Old Dungeons & Dragons (or Basic D&D).  One of the versions of that game (a pretty good one) was the old Rules Compendium.  A great collection of rules.  It has everything in it that I usually like in a simple RPG - good distinct classes.  Nice list of spells and equipment.  Skill system.  Weapon system.  In fact, for me, the only things missing would be (1) Speed factors on spells and weapons (easy to add in), and (2) Tactical moves for doing combat with miniatures (also easy to add in).

Alright - so there is this great new retro-clone of the RC version of BD&D called "Dark Dungeons" (yes, named after the made-up game in the old Chick comic.  If you have to ask, then you are better off not knowing).

It has it all.  And in true to form honesty to old Basic D&D (or OD&D - Original D&D, although that is sometimes more narrowly defined as old White Box D&D - again, if you have to ask, you are better off not knowing, although it might be a good plan for the Staff to write a history of versions of D&D) there are only Classes, not the Race/Class combination we have seen in so many other RPGs.  This means that if you want to play an Elf - then that is your class.  This bodes well for the geek tshirt I once saw that said "I Remember when Hobbit was a Class" - and it was in OD&D.  It is again in Dark Dungeons (although, for several legal reasons, they are called Halflings).

How does this race-as-class thing work out?  Well it makes the race of non-humans Really important.  As in it is a big deal if you say you are an Elf.  Unlike in, say, AD&D when you are an Elf MU or an Elf Fighter, or an Elf F-M-C, then there is not too much of a big deal about the Elf Part.  Especially in 2E, 3E or 4E (remember the vitamins thing and acronyms).  But in OD&D - and in Dark Dungeons - being an Elf is a big deal.

So what are these races as class all about?  More coming in a future article but briefly - Elf is a Fighter/Magic User mix.  Halfling is a Fighter/Thief mix.  And Dwarf is crusty.  Like I said - more coming soon.

Also - look for some coming up articles on content for Dark Dungeons.  I am inspired . . .

ps- thank you especially to Matt and Braz, whom I saw at Battlefield Band in Williamsburg on Nov 5 - and they got me jazzed up on Dark Dungeons.  Previously my favorite retro-clones included Castles & Crusades (which I still love - and the Castle Keeper's Guide finally came out - w00t), and Mutant Futures.  Both of those generated a fair amount of press here at GWC.



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