Room 3: Golem Guardian
A 40′x40′ chamber opens before you. Nestled in between two large stone fountains set into the wall, a rusty statue twice the size of a man dominates the far wall of this room. Its chest is puffed out, revealing an oversized keyhole. The heads of jackals adorn the walls above the marble fountain basins, their jaws open wide, spewing a steady stream of gurgling, sudsy liquid.
As they approach the fountains or statue:
Glowing embers illuminate the eyes of the ruddy statue. Its metallic jaw rumbles, spilling bits of nuts, bolts, and screws upon the floor. Finally, it speaks.
“I am G-L-M. I hold great mysteries. I will not attempt to bar your way – if and only if you can assist me in my existential dilemma. If you challenge my existence, or my authority on such matters, you will face my wrath.”
The rusty statue is a rusted iron golem with a door on its chest and inside there are various potions to heal and restore the party as well as one of Athganazar’s key fragments, an iron key.
If they answer the golem’s questions correctly then they gain the key and the potions.
If they do not answer the questions, then they must fight the golem and the potions will be destroyed. In this case, they will also need to find a way to open the golem’s chest, since it it rusted shut.
Questions:
- What is my condition?
- What beast think you that crossed my path to bring me to this condition?
- What can be used to soothe my weary joints?
- What other materials are my brethren made from that would not suffer the same fate?
- Yet I am the mightiest! Take these metal boxes and give me an appropriate name. Not all boxes are needed, but all must be heeded. With this he opens his chest and out drop 10-12 boxes labeled with letters. DM Note: Use letter dice or tiles from a popular word game for this.
- Now tell me how I have earned this name and how I am the mightiest!
One set of answers the golem will accept:
- Rusted; angsty; bored; disused.
- A rust monster attacked the golem; the golem has been here between the fountains for far too long; golem has idled too long.
- Grease or some lubricant; the grease spell; a higher purpose.
- Flesh, clay, stone (also bone, straw).
- The answers to this challenge depends on their roll of the letter dice. They will have to make this up themselves – the more patronizing the higher chance of success.
- Here they should air on the side of honoring and praising the golem to earn its respect.
Upon success, the golem will seem pleased and it will present the healing potions and the iron key.
With each incorrect answer, it will take a 5′ step closer to the nearest adventurer and bellow “Incorrect!”, “No” or “This angers me.” With each correct answer, it will say “Correct” or “Yes” or “This pleases me.”
Posted in 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons / d20 fantasy / Pathfinder, Adventure, Encounter and tagged The Tomb of Athganazar by Stephen Hilderbrand with no comments yet.
Adventure: The Dragon of Krom Frykt – Wilderness Encounters
Welcome to the second in Claw Claw Bite’s series of weekly adventure posts! Today we present the overland travel portion of our serial adventure. Having taken up the quest to rescue the dragon’s treasure from the goblins who hold it hostage, the players must now travel north to the dragon’s lair in the Smoking Valley. For the adventure’s introduction, click here.
Encounters
Over Hill and Dale – The players will face minor hardships while traveling to the dragon’s lair.
Hazard – CR 1/2 – 50 XP per player – First they must make three DC 7 acrobatics checks as they traverse the rocky mountain slopes on their way to the dragon’s valley – failing a check results in a fall for 1d6 points of damage.
Creatures – CR 4 – 1200 XP – During the journey a pair of lynxes will stalk the party. If they can they will sneak up (Stealth +10) and attack stragglers or pounce during a moment of confusion such as after a party member falls.
Hazard – CR 1 – 100 XP per player – Two different geothermal vents present a hazard as the party approaches the lair’s entrance, and unless players make a successful DC 17 Dungeoneering or Survival skill check they will have to make DC 13 Reflex saves to avoid blasts of hot poison gasses that deal 1d8 points of damage.
The Dragon’s Cave – Once the players reach the entrance read or paraphrase the following:
The rocky hillside, cracked and smoking from various vents, descends to the valley floor here where a wide, low cavern lies. A natural stone awning canopies an open space of small scattered rocks. Within, a dark passage emits heat and haze.
One goblin hides among the rocks in at the entrance (DC 20 perception to spot) and watches the approach (perception +0). If he sees the party approaching the cave he will alert the goblins in area 1 (see below).
An alternate entrance can be discovered through investigating the vents on the hillside above and succeeding on a DC 20 nature, survival or dungeoneering skill check. Success means they discover a fissure on the hillside above the cave, which leads to a corridor behind the entrance guards (area 2 on map).
To continue into the dragon’s lair, go here.
Posted in 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons / d20 fantasy / Pathfinder, Adventure, Encounter and tagged Dragon of Krom Frykt by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
Adventure – The Dragon of Krom Frykt – Introduction
This begins the first in a new weekly series of Pathfinder & 3rd Edition D&D adventures. Over the next four weeks, we will be posting this adventure one section at a time. So enjoy and look for the complete adventure in the next issue of Claw Claw Bite magazine!
The Dragon of Krom Frykt
An adventure for 2nd – 4th level characters, for use with Pathfinder or 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons rules
Introduction
The heroes, while returning from their latest adventure, get lost in the hilly wilderness during a long spring rainstorm. When the players find their way to the town of Seraford, they hear of a reward being offered to assist the valley’s temple to Krom.
This temple was dedicated to Krom long ago, at a time when he was known as Krom Frykt. In ancient times he came here, killed a bloody-handed monster known as Tyran, and claimed the land as his, saying he would kill any who did evil or who did not pay due respects at his temple, before moving on to further adventures as Krom is said to have done. Now, those who tend the temple uphold this promise in his fearsome name – every spring a feast is held where whoever wins in games of wrestling and feats of strength earns the title of Dread Champion, and who must uphold Krom’s promise when called upon, in exchange for the earthly privileges of the temple.
When the Player Characters arrive at the temple, they hear that it is occupied by a threatening cinder-mawed dragon. The terrified priests bring the heroes before the dragon who declares, “I am a drake of the earth. My most precious treasure is stolen by cowardly thieves and sneaks. I come to demand justice of Krom Frykt.” The dragon refuses to leave until its treasure is once again safe, explaining that a goblin sneaked in and snatched it, and threatened to destroy it unless the dragon left and stayed away. She demands assistance in the name of the god of the temple, and if rebuffed threatens to “turn this vale and all the lands I can see from this peak into scorched and barren dust, where I shall gnash the bones of the dead.” The dragon tells the Player Characters that “the temple champion has not returned,” and asks the players to sneak into its lair “in the valley that smokes” and secure what is in “the chamber of earthfire” from the goblins who tricked their way into her lair.
The priests confirm that the creature claims it has been wronged and has come to the temple to demand justice from their fearsome god, and the temple Champion, a warrior ordained to hand out justice in Krom’s name, went to the lair a week ago with some of the former champions and has not yet returned. The priests will offer the adventurers the eternal gratitude of the temple and 100 gold each if they help. The priests will ask, then beg for assistance, eventually offering up to 500 gold to each Player Character if they will undertake the task.
For the wilderness portion of the adventure, journey here.
Posted in 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons / d20 fantasy / Pathfinder, Adventure, rules agnostic and tagged Dragon of Krom Frykt by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
The Curse of Castle Stieglitz
We are happy to announce a new, updated release of The Curse of Castle Stieglitz, a ready-to-play adventure for 4-6 questers of 10th-12th level.
Rumor has it that in his isolation, Baron Stieglitz has allowed himself to become corrupted by dark, sinister, undead forces. His greed led him down a path of self-ruin until he himself became a wight. Wretched and sinister, the villagers of Talook have begun to fear for their lives. He is so corrupted, he has not left his bed chamber in months. The allegiances of his men have splintered, and four rival factions have set up their own mini-baronies within his lands.
As the questers travel the road to Castle Stieglitz they encounter groups of men collecting tolls. These groups are from the different factions of the Baron’s splintered army. Once they reach the Talook they will encounter Anna, the most respectable of the Baron’s commanders, and a visiting clergyman who ask them to confront the Baron and help put things right. Within the castle they can either convince the Baron to atone and right his fief or they can extinguish his unlife and help establish a new ruler. Either way the questers must deal with the bands of freebooters now roaming the area. The leaders of the three bands must be convinced to work with the new ruler, or be eliminated. Only then can peace return to the lands of Northbay, the Great Marsh and the Cyrűk Mountains.
Posted in Adventure and tagged The Curse of Castle Stieglitz by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
Is There Honor Amongst You?
We are pleased to announce the release of our latest adventure, written by S.D. Hilderbrand and Leo Monaghan of Dungeonstone. From the introduction:
Is There Honor Amongst You? is a tournament-ready dungeon delve for 6-8 5th level rogues. We have provided eight pregenerated characters at the end of this module, half of which are straight rogues, and the other half of which are multi-classed characters with a few levels of rogue.
Living on the streets of Waymar is a difficult task for those who would live in the shadows. Without the protection of the Guild it seems only a matter of time before your luck runs out, you take one risk too many and end up in either the city’s dungeons or its gallows.
Members of the guild however almost never seem to suffer such fates, even when caught they tend to be seen again out on the streets or in the local taverns mere days after their arrest. As such, membership into the Guild is the goal for all those who work outside the law.
Unfortunately, they only recruit once every two years and even then potential applicants must past a rigorous review in order to even be considered for membership…
…And then of course there is the final challenge…
As presented by the guild leader:
“Your goal is to pilfer the most loot from this city lord. We have bribed his guards and convinced them to take up residence in the local tavern for a period of two hours and not a minute more. Understand that anyone still inside the underground when the time expires will have failed the test and be left to their fate.
…”
Pick up a copy from rpgnow.
The character sheets for these characters are available in a separate document available at clawclawbite.com.
This adventure is Dungeonstone-ready; the map can be built using just a few sets of the leader in stone dungeons.
Posted in Adventure and tagged Is There Honor Amongst You by Stephen Hilderbrand with no comments yet.
Cover of Darkness Released
Claw/Claw/Bite is pleased to announce the release S.D. Hilderbrand’s Cover of Darkness, a Pathfinder/d20/3.5 Dungeons and Dragons fantasy module for 14th-16th level characters. Originally written in 2008, the module has undergone a number of refinements and improvements over the years. Cover of Darkness is part 2 of 3 in the Time Out of Mind trilogy, a series that takes the PCs in a journey through time and space as they chase down a party of false heroes who wield a powerful artifact.
The adventure also ships with five 15th-level false heroes to serve as the party’s nemeses.
From the Introduction:
This is a continuation of a story starring the False Heroes the nemesis and your players’ party of 15th-level adventurers as the heroes. In Stealing Moments, a unique artifact known as the Silver Orb of the Ages was unleashed from the bottom of a mountain cave, carried forth by the False Heroes.
These False Heroes have traveled the land, burning villages and causing trouble. In time, and as covered in the concluding module,Time Out of Mind, the party will chase the False Heroes to the Dream Plane, the only place where time is relative and thus out of reach of the power of the Orb.
But first, the party needs to learn more about the Orb. In this module, they will follow a trail of clues into the Plane of Knowledge and then track down a collection of tomes, through which they will become informed of the history of the Orb. However, the since the Plane of Knowledge is a sprawling library of endless passageways and sections devoted to obscure subject matter, it is full of peril in every section.
The False Heroes are comprised of a collection of characters of a similar makeup as the party. They have taken on the party’s persona and have made their way across the world, using the Silver Orb of the Ages to wreak havoc on the many peoples, and have brought shame to the party’s name. This has forced the party to travel in secret, following the many tales of the False Heroes’ exploits, keeping abreast of the local bardic lore, and have hunted them down throughout the multiverse.
Recently, they have heard a bard’s tale that the False Heroes have been sighted in the merchant quarter of the large port city of Chaurille. Upon visiting the quarter, they locate a bookstore, where they learn that a rare book collector as been inquiring about a book describing a silver orb.
This is where the action picks up!
Buy the PDF for $2.99 at rpgnow.
Posted in 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons / d20 fantasy / Pathfinder, Adventure and tagged Cover of Darkness by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
What’s Mine’s Yours Re-released
In a continued effort to revamp S.D. Hilderbrand’s adventures, Inverspace Press has released a clean version of What’s Mine’s Yours.
What’s Mine’s Yours is a 4th edition Dungeons & Dragons adventure for 1st level characters. This adventure begins in the marketplace in the town of Fort Wood, where the players are approached by representatives of the Guild, a Merchant collective heavily invested in mining operations.
They are escorted to a courtyard at the Guild headquarters in Fort Wood, where they are provided with the setting. Kobolds have taken control of a mine of great importance to the Guild. Their task is to free the mine of the kobolds.
The party travels to the mine, where they take stock of the situation from afar. It appears the kobolds have taken control of the mine. However, once the party encounters the kobolds, they discover there is a more sinister story surrounding the Guild’s doings in the mine. This adventure easily serves as the first adventure undertaken by a new party of 1st level characters.
Download for just $1.99 from rpgnow.
Future adventures will provide follow-on adventures to this introductory adventure.
Posted in 4th edition Dungeons & Dragons, Adventure and tagged What's Mine's Yours by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
Stealing Moments Re-released
Inverspace Press is pleased to release S.D. Hilderbrand’s Stealing Moments, a Pathfinder/d20/3.5 Dungeons and Dragons fantasy module for 10th-12th level characters. Originally written in 2005, the module has undergone a number of refinements and improvements over the years. It is part 1 of 3 in the Time Out of Mind trilogy, a series that takes the PCs in a journey through time and space as they chase down a party of false heroes who wield a powerful artifact.
The adventure also ships with a party of five 10th-level false heroes, the PCs’ nemeses, with full illustrations to wow your players and keep them in character.
From the introduction:
FALSE HEROES
A group of rogues has moved into a cave up in the Silvermist Mountains a few miles uphill hike from the local town of Farreach. These false heroes were once noble and devout, but have become corrupted by loot, lust, and the desire for greater power. They are now working for (or more accurately controlled by) begotten of the old ones, who in turn are working for a stalking eye.
They have been performing experiments on the Silver Orb of the Ages, a magic artifact made of magesilver, a magic metal which amplifies arcane magical power. The Orb can help control the flow of time, making it a powerful item indeed. However, the stalking eye knows not how to wield the Orb’s power, and must rely upon the false heroes to learn its secrets.
Buy a copy from rpgnow; send us a note if you would review the product and we’ll send you a copy for half price!
As always, stay tuned to Claw/Claw/Bite for more adventures.
Posted in 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons / d20 fantasy / Pathfinder, Adventure by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
New Adventure: The Ruins of Soguer
We’ve started layout for the new 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons adventure The Ruins of Old Soguer. As part of the process we’re gathering together some of the last pieces of art: the cartography. On our Facebook page you can see a preview of the cover art, and the interior art is pretty much done, but I wasn’t totally satisfied with the black and white maps I had made. So I’ve busted out the drawing tab and am adding a splash of color. Here’s a peek at what the maps look like.
Waddaya think? Let me know in the comments below.
Thanks!
Posted in Adventure and tagged The Ruins of Soguer by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
The Ruins of Soguer – The Mages’s Guild Tower, Part 2
Once again we return to the adventure The Ruins of Old Soguer, being posted piece-by-piece here on Tailslap. Today’s post details the first two floors of the Mage’s Guild Tower in the central portion of the ruins. There, a figure from the past languishes under a mysterious curse.
Previous sections of the adventure can be found here:
The Ruins of Soguer – Introduction
The Ruins of Soguer – Start of the Adventure in Aguies Town & Castle
The Ruins of Soguer – River Journey to the Ruins
The Ruins of Soguer – The Western Ruins
The Ruins of Soguer – the Central Ruins
The Ruins of Soguer – The Mages’s Guild Tower, Part 1
Journeyman’s Hall
I – Haunted Mirror – here a cursed magic mirror shows the night of Soguer’s destruction and serves as a conduit to the Shadowfell.
Stepping into the thick fog at the top of the stairs you see the corpse of a long-dead man in worn leather armor. Patches of fog fill the room and partially conceal the tables and chairs scattered about. Corpses of men in ragged leather armor and light hand weapons surround a stand-up mirror near the center of the hall.
A DC 10 Arcana check reveals that the mirror is magic. DC 16 Arcana reveals that is is useful for scrying, DC 21 Arcana to know that it is somehow broken. A DC 25 Arcana check reveals that the barrier between the worlds is thin in the city, and that the mirror is stuck showing scenes from the land of the dead – the Shadowfell.
Looking at the mirror causes it to show scenes of the twilit city as it once was – bustling with people and commerce – with the regal king in gleaming mail astride a green dragon outside a magnificent palace. Then, the scene turns to night. Some type of calamity seems to grip the city. Some people shuffle down the street with blank looks, transfixed by some type of ominous droning, while others scream and flee in the opposite direction. Then shadowy figures are drawn to the scene, approach the mirror’s view, and come out of the mirror into the hall.
Encounter (level 12 +, xp 2400 / 3000 / 3600)- Wraiths from the Shadowfell come through the mirror and attack the players. A DC 28 Arcana check is required to control the mirror enough to stop the additional wraiths from coming through, or a DC 25 Strength check to break it will stop the tide of wraiths. Otherwise another wraith comes through the mirror every other round.
2 x oblivion wraiths (level 14 brute – xp 1000)
1, 2, or 4 vortex wraiths (level 9 soldier – xp 400 each) + one additional vortex wraith every other round.
Treasure – the dead adventurers carry shoddy armor and weapons, and 500 gold worth of scavenged jewelry, flatware, and other art objects.
J – Dead Journeyman’s Apartment – Here a dead journeyman, Malaki guards his chambers and his spellbook.
These chambers feature two small apartments, each with a disheveled bed, and a chair and small table broken and knocked to the ground. Debris litter the floor, including a large illuminated tome lying open on the floor, its pages open to reveal some type of arcane diagram. Standing above the book is a ghostly apparition of a young mage wearing robes and wielding a runed dagger and a wand of oak.
Encounter – xp 1200
1 x watchful ghost (with magic ritual dagger instead of sword and spectral wand instead of crossbow) – (Open Grave)
Treasure (parcel 8) – The ghost’s ritual book contains the following rituals: Water Walk, Phantom Steed, Silence, Shadow Walk, Wizard’s Sight, Water Breathing, Arcane Barrier, Detect Treasure and Shrink.
K – Crumbling Masonry – An open pit that falls through to area A.
Hazard
Level 10 Warder – xp 500
The bottom ten feet of these stairs have collapsed, leaving a large hole that plunges down to the floor of the main hall twenty feet below.
Hazard – Careful climbing or a great leap are needed to ascend these stairs. Failure results in a painful fall.
DC 21 perception or dungeonering check to notice the cracked stonework at the edges of the pit.
Trigger – If anyone comes within 5′ of the edge of the pit.
Attack – immediate interrupt
Target – the first creature coming within 5′ of the stairs
+13 vs Reflex
Hit – 2d10 falling damage and secondary attack from falling stones
-Secondary Attack – +13 vs Fortitude, 1d10+5 damage
-Effect – the floor at the edge of the pit crumbles, widening the pit that looks down into the Main Hall (area A).
Countermeasures
– DC 16 Acrobatics check to to gingerly stand at the edge of the pit without the masonry opening up further (player is attacked as above on failure).
– DC 21 Athletics or Acrobatics check to cross the pit (player falls for 2d10 damage on failure).
Master’s Chambers – these rooms contain only fine furniture in various states of decay, except one chamber.
R – Alidol’s chamber
This chamber’s walls and ruined furniture bear are cracked, scorched, and twisted. Above the door a curse still burns on the wall in letters of cold black magical flame – it reads “Alidol – you are cursed to languish here, un-helped within your tower until you have died here.”
Master’s Workshops – The landing at the top of the stairs leading up to this floor features doors carved with stars and constellations over tall mountain peaks.
L – Master’s Workshops – these chambers contain tables and a few pieces of discarded alchemical equipment but are otherwise empty.
M – Alidol’s Private Laboratory – The door is arcane locked and requires a DC 21 Strength or Thievery check to open it. The laboratory is currently occupied by a mute, mad naked old man who is an incomplete simulacrum that looks just like Alidol, and a shield guardian that guards the clone.
Overturned tables and broken alchemical equipment litter this chamber. A stone door leading to a side chamber on the north wall lies broken on the ground. A large humanoid made or stone, wood and metal stands still near the southwest corner for the room, and in the middle of the chamber stands a naked old man with a long beard that hangs to his knees and a mad gleam in his eyes. Catching sight of you, he screams wordlessly and lunges at your throat!
A DC 16 Arcana check identifies the old man as some type of magical copy of Alidol. DC 21 Arcana reveals that it is a simulacrum – a copy made of snow – that is incomplete and therefore not controlled by its creator.
Encounter – level 12 – xp 2800
Uncontrolled simulacrum (use flesh golem stats) – xp 1400
shield guardian – xp 1400
N – Warded Treasury – The secret door to this area is DC 21 Perception check to find, unless they specifically search that wall, in such chase it is a DC 16 Perception check. Within is a magic staff and a tome guarded by two deadly traps.
Opening the secret door reveals a small vault, with a table at the west end. Upon the table are a steel staff tipped with a pointed mason’s plumb and a brass-bound tome.
Traps – spectral tendrils – level 13 trap – xp 800 – (DMG p.91) will attack any entering the treasury, and a kinetic wave (level 19 trap – xp 2400) which wards the staff’s display table and will also attack any who approach the table.
Treasure – PARCEL #1 – Architect’s Staff +3 (level 15, Arcane Power), Summoner’s Tome +1 (level 5, Arcane Power) – contains the Summon Fire Warrior (Arcane Power) and Summon Shadow Serpent (Arcane Power) powers.
O – Simulacrum Creation Chamber
The stone door to this chamber lies broken on the floor outside in the laboratory. Within a large metal coffin covered with runes lies empty, and various labeled vials and boxes of reagents stand on some shelves and a table.
A DC 16 Arcana check reveals that this coffin is the focus for a ritual used to make magical copies of oneself.
Treasure – PARCEL #9 – 1,000 gp worth of arcanum and 2 emeralds worth 500 gold each.
P – Master’s Hall
A large stone table is set in the middle of this solemn hall, surrounded by four stately chairs and flanked by stout pillars. Surrounding the table is an engraved magic circle.
A DC 10 Arcana check reveals that the circle is some type of runes of protection or privacy, and a DC 16 Arcana check determines that the circle is inactive.
Q – Roof
From the wide, flat platform that is the top of the mage’s guild tower there is a magnificent view of the ruins of the city – the river, the trees, the ruined buildings, the walls and gates, and towards the sea, another stone tower. Near the south edge of the roof there are faintly glowing arcane runes in several overlapping circles.
A DC 21 Arcana check reveals that these hastily summoned but very powerful runes ward the tower and permanently protect it from intrusion by demons.
Posted in Adventure, Location and tagged The Ruins of Soguer by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.