Finkald’s Freebooters
medium level fantasy encounter
While travelling on the road, the Player Characters (PCs) encounter “Finkald’s (‘Fin-kald) Freebooters”, a small army composed of rowdy dwarven mercenary veterans. They are fresh from a string of victories in the lands to the west, and are on a quest to find the fabulous lost dwarven stronghold of Kargoth. Finkald claims to have a map that shows the way to Kargoth, also known as “The Invisible Fortress”, but will show it to none, saying he has committed it to memory. His secret, which he will never admit, is that he recently learned that his victories in the east had led to his being singled out for assassination by the wild priest-hunters of the elven lands they had been raiding. He is therefore leading his warband as far away as he can get from those woods.
Upon meeting the party, Finkald will size them up, silently appraising their wealth, asking which way the roads lead, if they know anything of Kargoth, and who the players are and where they are headed. While Finkald talks the dwarves will fall out of order to begin drinking from a keg on a wagon and eating from a haunch of roast deer. Some will gather to hear the conversation.
Unless the players flee or offer to join Finkald on his journey to Kargoth he will ask them if they can help the army with any spare provisions they may have – “You see how hungry my Freebooters are – full bellies keep them happy!”. If the players seem wealthy and relatively weak, he might ask for gold or, particularly, any gems or jewelry they players are wearing. If the players refuse to give him what he asks for, he raises his voice and makes threats, “What’s to stop us from taking it, and everything else you have!?” Unless the players pay his price or run away, they try to take the players’ valuables by force.
ENCOUNTER – low to medium level
- Fainkald – dwarven ranger 6
- Seargents – 3 x dwarven fighter 4
- Freebooters – 20 x dwarven fighter 1
Posted in Encounter, rules agnostic and tagged Fantasy 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.
Prehensile Fang Armor
Why attack them when they can hurt themselves attacking you?
Inspired by foes of Hluyuk Tikimit, the quivering porcupine, this legendary full-body armor appears as a typical suit of jet-black leather armor. However, when the wearer is attacked, it puffs up and strikes at the attacker, sending prehensile, poison-tipped fangs into the assailant’s flesh.
The wearer can also disengage the fangs, which then serve as poison daggers with spiraled-bone handles. In crisis mode, the armor projects the gruesome fang daggers as a standard ranged attack.
The wearer looks out on the world through a narrow slit, providing identity obfuscation for night-time antics.
For each day that the prehensile fang armor is worn, there is a cumulative 1% chance of it poisoning the wearer, so this deadly weapon of an armor must be used sparingly.
Posted in Equipment, Magic Item, rules agnostic and tagged armor by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
Griffon Roosts
These Griffon Roosts are set toward the east end of the Goduanil, though this location can be placed into your world wherever griffons roost. They are intended to range from EL 7-9, depending on which is needed for your adventure.
The Goduanil is a region filled with rocky hills, where along the valley floors flows purple ooze in streams that run all the way to the sea. This roost is set in a valley off one of the main streams of ooze. The difficult terrain adds a +1 to the CR of this encounter.
1 Approach through the valley
A steep 100′ deep gorge devoid of a river branches off from the main valley, leading off in a direction clearly away from the central valley that runs with purple ooze. Stands of leafless birch saplings cling to the cliffsides in this otherwise barren landscape.
The characters hear the occasional flapping of wings as the wind gusts. Occasional rocks will break loose and tumble from the cliffsides. The party is not in danger of these small rocks, but they are an indication of something being afoot. When the party returns to the main valley, they will need to find a creative way around or over the rivers of ooze.
2 Bend in the rocks
The valley makes a turn to the left here, cutting a rocky path through the mountains. The bend obscures the view of the valley. Boulders cling to the ledges of the hillsides.
The characters see a shadow make its way across the valley floor. By the time they look up, whatever it was that caused the shadows has passed them over and is out of sight.
3 Hoodoos
Three sandstone hoodoos rise like towers from the valley floor, the result of years of extreme erosion in this valley. The scattered skeletal remains of large quadrupeds dot the valley floor. A few large feathers are blown about by the gusts of wind across the landscape, drawing attention to the tufts of hair clumped in small, regular dips in the ground.
In actuality, it is more the doing of the ooze that has caused the erosion and thus the hoodoos, areas of hardness where the erosion has not run its course on the rock. The skeletons and tufts of hair are those of horses, picked up from the lands to the north and east of the Goduanil and flown in to feed the griffons and their offspring. If the characters collect reagents or materials for fine brushes, they will recognize the horsehair and can collect a few horses worth, though not before they encounter the following.
Four griffons protect this valley floor, while the others hunt. They attack the party upon their entering this area. Resolve this encounter immediately after reading the above text.
Creatures: Griffons (4): MM page 139.
If the characters search the edges of the floor, they will find a broken staff and a torn red and white flag. This provides evidence that one of the horses belonged to a local knight.
4 View of Nests
From this vantage, it is clear that atop the hoodoos, large sticks frame 20’x20′ bowls filled with oversized, brown and white eggs.
The mound of rocks that form the vantage point have been affected by many years of erosion and the ooze begin to slip out from under the party’s feet, revealing a few pockets of a purple ooze that seep up to ground level, its acidic discharge spewing plumes of steam into the air.
Creature: Purple Ooze (see tomorrow’s post on CCB!)
5 Nests
The sticks and straw are bound together to make a nest. The sticks have been chewed at the ends by sharp beaks. In the center of the nest is a pair of speckled eggs.
Two griffon eggs are in each nest. The eggs are nearing the time to hatch, and when the characters arrive in this location, there is a 50% chance per egg that it will be hatching.
Development: As the characters explore the first of the nests, the four remaining elder griffons (14 HD) swoop in and attack, with the tactic of lifting them off of the floor of the nests and dropping them from the sky onto the valley floor. They will attack relentlessly until one side is vanquished. After the battle, in one of the nests, the party finds a mace +1 and a helm of alacrity +2 among some shredded metal that once was a suit of plate mail.
Posted in 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons / d20 fantasy / Pathfinder, Adventure, rules agnostic and tagged Goduanil, Location, Northbay by Stephen Hilderbrand with no comments yet.