4th Edition comes to Claw / Claw / Bite !
I finally got around to looking over the terms of the new OGL for 4th edition. One page in I started to get excited because it was forbidding selling 4th edition material until October 1st, but did not mention free material, such as what you see here. Another page or two down and my cautious excitement got full-blown by this text:
Licensee may produce, publish, and distribute (a) marketing and promotional materials for Licensed Products, and (b) non-commercial Licensed Products (i.e. free), in accordance with the terms of this License prior to October 1, 2008.
As strange as it may be to get excited about a contract, this one has me all fired up because it means I can start writing and releasing material for 4th edition here, now! We’ve been very excited by 4th edition since we started playing a month ago, and now I’m even more excited to be able to write up and post new 4th edition monsters, spells, magic items and more.
Of course, none of this material can appear in the print or PDF versions of Claw / Claw / Bite ! for sale until October 1st, so for now it’ll be online only. And since a single product line can only be for 3rd edition or 4th edition, we may launch a new magazine for 3rd edition material and switch CCB to 4th, or vice-versa.
So, start looking for new 4th edition material to use in your games here on clawclawbite.com in the next few days. I’ve already got the first new spell finished, so get ready to start summoning minions, wizards out there.
-Adam A Thompson
Posted in 4th edition Dungeons & Dragons, Editorial by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
Begotten warrior
This twisted monstrosity, when warped by the Old One’s otherworldly energies, retained a sliver of it’s mind where it’s martial skills were. Now it lurches about in it’s deformed plate armor at the beck and call of it’s master, the Begotten Wizard. On twisted limbs, encumbered by the heavy mail permanently fused to it’s wet hide, this horror lurches indomitably forward, it’s tentacle-like arms wrapped around the haft of an enormous flail, the head of which is encrusted with dried bits of hair, skin and bone.
The result of prolonged exposure to Old Ones, persons too near their reality warping effects undergo a transformation into beings which resemble them in some ways. These changed creature’s features are bestial and reminiscent of fish, lizards, and amphibians, with claw-tipped hands or occasionally tentacles for arms. They are cunning and physically powerful, yet twisted and crippled in appearance. These creatures are ruled by the Old Ones through fear, violence and mental domination.
Those that can still speak do not usually chose to do so. Instead they mainly communicate simple thoughts to each other by telepathy, accompanied by whimpering groans and croaks.
Begotten Thing-at-arms CR 10
lawful evil fighter 5
Medium Size Abberation
Init: +2 Senses: darkvision 60′
Listen +7 Spot +7
Languages: Telepathy 60′ and common
AC: 24 (+1 dex, +5 natural armor, +8 full plate armor)
HP: 155 (HD 9d8+ 5d10 + 56)
Defenses: SR 15, DR 5 / lawful
Fort: +10 Ref: +6 Will: +6
Speed: 15 ft, swim 30 ft
Attack: heavy flail + 16 (1d10 + 8 / 19-20 x 2)
Full Attack: heavy flail + 16 / +11 / +6 (1d10 + 8 / 19-20 x 2)
Attack Options: Lightning Touch, improved sunder, power attack
Space / Reach: 5ft. / 5ft.
Base Attack: +11 Grapple: +15
SQ: DR 5/lawful, SR 15, darkvision 60′
SA: spell like abilities: blur
Feats: weapon focus (heavy flail), power attack, ability focus (Otherworldly Gaze), quicken spell-like ability (blur), weapon specialization (heavy flail), power attack, improved sunder
Abilities: Str: 18 Dex: 15 Con: 18 Int: 9 Wis: 12 Cha: 6
Skills: +7 listen, +7 spot, +9 climb
Lightning Touch (Su): Begotten of the old ones can generate, as a free action, a burst of electricity from within their bodies that damages and may stun their victims. The touch deals 1d8 points of electricity damage and stuns the target for 1d4 rounds. A DC 17 Fortitude save avoids the stun effect – the save is constitution based. They may use this ability once per round, delivered by melee attack.
Otherworldly Gaze: As a standard action begotten can focus their otherworldly gaze upon a mortal creature and create a haze of confusion as the spell. A DC 17 will save is required to avoid this confusion (save is wisdom based), which lasts as long as the begotten concentrates upon it. This is a mind-affecting ability.
Spell-like abilities: blur 1/day. Caster level 5th.
Damage Reduction: 5 / lawful (axiomatic)
Spell Resistance: 15
Tactics
This horror will charge it’s enemies without heed of harm to itself. Those that harm it may have their weapons smashed by the being’s heavy flail via improved sunder, or it may smash the shields of those it cannot harm in the same fashion.
Posted in Creature and tagged Stealing Moments by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
Warped Wizard, Begotten of the Old One
This Old One’s mind has been twisted and tuned by the Old One into alignment with arcane magics, and has become a powerful wizard. It lurks beneath the mountain in “Stealing Moments”, an adventure coming soon from Unicorn Rampant by S.D. Hilderbrand.
The result of prolonged exposure to Old Ones, persons too near their reality warping effects undergo a transformation into beings which resemble them in some ways. These changed creature’s features are bestial and reminiscent of fish, lizards, and amphibians, with claw-tipped hands or occasionally tentacles for arms. They are cunning and physically powerful, yet twisted and crippled in appearance. These creatures are ruled by the Old Ones through fear, violence and mental domination.
Those that can still speak do not usually chose to do so. Instead they mainly communicate simple thoughts to each other by telepathy, accompanied by whimpering groans and croaks.
Begotten Wizard CR 11
chaotic evil wizard 11
Medium Size Abberation
Init: +3 Senses: darkvision 60′
Listen +7 Spot +7
Languages: Telepathy 60′ and common
AC: 26 (+3 dex, +5 natural armor, +4 mage armor, +4 shield)
HP: 128 (HD 9d8 + 11d4 + 60)
Defenses: SR 15, DR 5 / lawful, 50% miss chance (displacement)
Fort: +9 Ref: +9 Will: +12
Speed: 20, swim 30
Attack: +12 appendage 1d6
Full Attack: +12 appendage 1d6 and +12 appendage 1d6
Attack Options: Lightning Touch
Space / Reach: 5ft. / 5ft.
Base Attack: +11 Grapple: +15
SQ: DR 5/lawful, SR 15, darkvision 60′
SA: spell like abilities: blur, wizard spells
Feats: weapon focus (appendage), power attack, ability focus (Otherworldly Gaze), quicken spell-like ability (blur), spell focus enchantment, improved spell focus enchantment, spell penetration, scribe scroll, spell focus transmutation, improved spell focus transmutation,
Abilities: Str: 9 Dex: 16 Con: 17 Int: 18 Wis: 12 Cha: 6
Skills: Concentration +17, Knowledge (Arcana) +18, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) +18, Knowledge (Planes) +14, Listen +7, Spellcraft +18, Spot +7
Lightning Touch (Su): Begotten of the old ones can generate, as a free action, a burst of electricity from within their bodies that damages and may stun their victims. The touch deals 1d8 points of electricity damage and stuns the target for 1d4 rounds. A DC 17 Fortitude save avoids the stun effect – the save is constitution based. They may use this ability once per round, delivered by melee attack.
Otherworldly Gaze: As a standard action begotten can focus their otherworldly gaze upon a mortal creature and create a haze of confusion as the spell. A DC 17 will save is required to avoid this confusion (save is wisdom based), which lasts as long as the begotten concentrates upon it. This is a mind-affecting ability.
Spell-like abilities: blur 1/day. Caster level 5th.
Damage Reduction: 5 / lawful (axiomatic)
Spell Resistance: 15
Wizard Spells Prepared (save DC 14 + spell level, +2 for Transmutation and Enchantment)
0th: ray of frost x 4
1st: mage armor, shield, protection from good, magic missile, ray of enfeeblement
2nd: mirror image, scorching ray x 4
3rd: displacement, slow, fireball, lightning bolt, dispel magic
4th: enervation, mass reduce person, fear, charm monster
5th: dominate person, baleful polymorph
6th: repulsion
Tactics
Having warded itself with repulsion, displacement, mage armor and shield, this wizardly horror will attempt to use it’s transmutation and enchantment spells to neutralize those it faces, polymorphing rogues and casters, dominating fighters, and so forth. Those that it defeats become it’s dominated slaves. It will fight to the death.
Posted in Creature and tagged Stealing Moments by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
Begotten, lost in time
These advanced Old Ones will be appearing very soon in “Stealing Moments”, an upcoming adventure from Unicorn Rampant written by S.D. Hilderbrand. As usual, feel free to borrow them if you need an aberrant encounter to throw into your game this week!
The result of prolonged exposure to Old Ones, persons too near their reality warping effects undergo a transformation into beings which resemble them in some ways. These changed creature’s features are bestial and reminiscent of fish, lizards, and amphibians, with claw-tipped hands or occasionally tentacles for arms. They are cunning and physically powerful, yet twisted and crippled in appearance. These creatures are ruled by the Old Ones through fear, violence and mental domination.
Those that can still speak do not usually chose to do so. Instead they mainly communicate simple thoughts to each other by telepathy, accompanied by whimpering groans and croaks.
Elder Begotten of the Old Ones CR 9
usually chaotic neutral with evil tendencies
Medium Size Abberation
Init: +2 Senses: darkvision 60′
Listen +10 Spot +10
Languages: Telepathy 60′ and either common or none
AC: 20 (+2 dex, +8 natural armor)
HP: 127 (HD 15d8+ 60)
Defenses: SR 18, DR 5 / lawful
Fort: +9 Ref: +7 Will: +8
Speed: 30 ft, swim 30 ft
Attack: +16 appendage 1d6+4 or +15 greatclub 1d12+6
Full Attack: +16 appendage 1d6+4 and +16 appendage 1d6+4 or +15/+10/ +5 greatclub 1d12+6
Attack Options: Lightning Touch
Space / Reach: 5ft. / 5ft.
Base Attack: +11 Grapple: +15
SQ: DR 5/lawful, SR 15, darkvision 60′
SA: spell like abilities: blur
Feats: weapon focus (appendage), power attack, ability focus (Otherworldly Gaze), quicken spell-like ability (blur)
Abilities: Str: 18 Dex: 15 Con: 18 Int: 9 Wis: 12 Cha: 6
Skills: +10 listen, +10 spot
Lightning Touch (Su): Begotten of the old ones can generate, as a free action, a burst of electricity from within their bodies that damages and may stun their victims. The touch deals 1d8 points of electricity damage and stuns the target for 1d4 rounds. A DC 21 Fortitude save avoids the stun effect – the save is constitution based. They may use this ability once per round, delivered by melee attack.
Otherworldly Gaze: As a standard action begotten can focus their otherworldly gaze upon a mortal creature and create a haze of confusion as the spell. A DC 18 will save is required to avoid this confusion (save is wisdom based), which lasts as long as the begotten concentrates upon it. This is a mind-affecting ability.
Spell-like abilities: 1/day – blur (caster level 8)
DR: 5 / lawful (axiomatic)
Spell Resistance: 18
COMBAT
Sometimes armed with simple weapons, but generally attacking with whatever appendages the old ones have given them, the begotten are straightforward combatants. If encountered in a group, those in the rear will focus their otherworldly gaze on those being attacked, while their brethren attack with their claws and lightning touch.
Posted in Creature and tagged Stealing Moments by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
Bident
The bident is a A two-pronged version of the trident. Add it to your campaign to add some visual flavor to the world.
Depending on how cumbersome your group’s fights become, roll for each blade which deal 1d4 apiece, or just roll once and deal 2d4 damage upon a successful hit.
Bident
Martial One-Handed Thrown Melee Critical: ×2
Range Increment: 10 ft.
Type: Piercing
Hardness: 5
| Size | Cost | Damage | Weight |
| Fine | 1 gp | 1d2 | 1/4 lb. |
| Diminuative | 5 gp | 1d3 | 1/2 lb. |
| Tiny | 10gp | 2d2 | 1 lb. |
| Small | 15 gp | 2d3 | 2 lb. |
| Medium | 15 gp | 2d4 | 4 lb. |
| Large | 30 gp | 2d6 | 8 lb. |
| Huge | 60 gp | 2d8 | 16 lb. |
| Gargantuan | 120gp | 2d10 | 32 lb. |
| Colossal | 240gp | 2d20 | 64 lb. |
This weapon can be thrown. If you use a ready action to set a bident against a charge, you deal double damage on a successful hit against a charging character.
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged mundane weapon by Stephen Hilderbrand with no comments yet.
Thoul
Wilbur, methinks that troll don’t want yer toll; ‘e wants yer soul!
Thoul
Size/Type: Large Undead Giant
Hit Dice: 7d12+36 (83 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 16 (-1 size, +2 Dex, +5 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 14
Base Attack/Grapple: +5/+16
Attack: Claw +9 melee (1d6+6 plus paralysis)
Full Attack: 2 claws +9 melee (1d6+6 plus paralysis) and bite +4 melee (1d6+3 plus paralysis)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Rend 2d6+9, ghoul fever, paralysis
Special Qualities: Darkvision 90 ft., low-light vision, regeneration 5, scent, undead traits, +2 turn resistance
Saves: Fort +11, Ref +6, Will +8
Abilities: Str 23, Dex 14, Con Ø, Int 6, Wis 9, Cha 6
Skills: Listen +3, Spot +4, Balance +3, Climb +3, Move Silently +4
Feats: Alertness, Iron Will, Multiattack
Environment: Cold mountains, warm swamps
Organization: Solitary or gang (2-4)
Challenge Rating: 6
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Advancement: 8-10 HD Huge
Level Adjustment: –
A Thoul is a troll which has become a ghoul. Thouls walk upright but hunched forward with sagging shoulders, and drag their feet slightly. Their gait is uneven, and when they run, their arms dangle and drag along the ground. For all this seeming awkwardness, trolls are somewhat agile.
A typical adult thoul stands 8 feet tall and weighs 400 pounds. Females are slightly larger than males. A thoul’s rubbery hide is moss green, mottled green and gray, or putrid gray. The hair is usually greenish black or iron gray.
Thouls speak Giant, though barely intelligibly.
Combat
Thouls try to attack with surprise whenever possible, for instance from behind cover. Once engaged, thouls have no fear of death: They launch themselves into combat without hesitation, flailing wildly at the closest opponent. Even when confronted with fire, they try to get around the flames and attack.
Rend (Ex): If a thoul hits with both claw attacks, it latches onto the opponent’s body and tears the flesh. This attack automatically deals an additional 2d6+9 points of damage.
Regeneration (Ex): Fire and acid deal normal damage to a thoul. If a troll loses a limb or body part, the lost portion regrows in 3d6 minutes. The creature can reattach the severed member instantly by holding it to the stump.
Ghoul Fever (Su): Disease—bite, Fortitude DC 14, incubation period 1 day, damage 1d3 Con and 1d3 Dex. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Paralysis (Ex): Those hit by a thoul’s bite or claw attack must succeed on a DC 14 Fortitude save or be paralyzed for 1d4+1 rounds. Even elves can be affected by this paralysis. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Posted in Creature and tagged giant, undead by Stephen Hilderbrand with no comments yet.
Issue 13 Released!
Claw/Claw/Bite is a resource for storytellers and gamemasters to help create thrilling worlds of adventure for your players to test their mettle in. In each issue, you’ll find new characters, creatures, magic items, encounters, and locations for use in your campaigns. We also include little nuggets that will enrich your world with interesting details and intriguing features.
Our goal is to be a “one-stop shop” for you, the gamemaster. With little or no tweaking on your part, you will be able to drop any game element from Claw/Claw/Bite into your adventure setting and run it how you see fit. All of our creations are designed for d20 fantasy rules. And of course, everything is carefully reviewed and balanced to fit into your game without disrupting your play balance or angering the old ones.
This issue of Claw/Claw/Bite includes:
* A new feat, Coordinated Attack
* A new bard ability, Inspire Truth
* A new domain, Sound
* Twelve new spells including Anti-Magic Missile and Vitriolic Blast
* Two new creatures, Birdswarm and Wallflowers
* Nine new magic items, including Buckler of Hum and Robes of the Sea
* A new artifact, the Sorrow of Ard Shurel
* Two mundane items, Mage Purse and Tweed of Blending
* Two encounters, the Chamber of the Old One and the Witch’s Watchdog
* And introducing Ale Break: The DM’s Editorial, first impressions of 4th ed.
Posted in news and tagged CCB issue by Stephen Hilderbrand with no comments yet.
4th edition first impressions
The topic of this first editorial is a popular one these days: the 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons. Like many of you we got our hands on the new rule books earlier this month and started up a new campaign to play “Keep on the Shadowfell”. We’ve played two sessions of that game so far and I have been enjoying it immensely. Of course the caveat is that this is just my first impression as we’ve only hit 2nd level and had less than ten encounters so far. But overall I think 4th edition is excellent. The writing is clear and imaginative, and things are clearer than they’ve ever been in D&D. The downside is that that clarity and simplification of parts of the game has eliminated a lot of the fun flavor that has always made Dungeons and Dragons capture the imagination so strongly.
The thing I like about 4th edition the best is the balancing of the classes. I’m playing in this game, but I usually DM, so I really appreciate the effort they’ve made to keep power levels even across the classes, and the work they’ve done to keep the rules exploits to a minimum. Even the powergamer in our group seems happy with it, and every character has an important role to play in every fight we’ve been in. One of the central tenants of the design seems to be strictly limiting each player to one standard action per turn. Unfortunately this streamlining seems to have eliminated druids altogether, along with summoning spells. More on that below.
I like the way they’ve changed the non-combat magic into rituals that any character can potentially use. My character is a dragonborn warlord with the multiclass wizard feat, and I’m excited to be in a party that doesn’t need a wizard or a cleric to benefit from powerful magics.
And I like the way combat flows in 4th ed, with character’s turns going quickly, no more durations to track, and the ability that many powers give you to act on other’s turns, helping allies and hindering foes. The addition of minor actions is also a big improvement. The game-rules aspects of the game are stronger and in many ways more fun.
On the downside, some of the work done balancing the classes and feats can make the characters feel a little cookie-cutter compared to 3rd edition. It’s nothing like 1st or 2nd though, where every 10th level fighter is exactly the same. But the choices, especially in the feats, feels limited. Even worse are the skills, where I really miss the profession and craft skills. Of course, the 3rd edition skill system had problems in these areas as well (ie- there’s a ride skill, but no sailing skill), but 4th edition leaves the players and the DM to work these things out for themselves. I could definitely see a group of inexperienced gamers asking “my character wants to re-forge his father’s broken sword!” and the group getting bogged down in weather or not his character can know how to do that. Hopefully good groups will roll with it and role-play it out somehow, but it was nice to have non-conflict-oriented character details presented to you as an option. It lent substance to my claim when I said my wizard grew up a goat-herd for him to have a few skill points in Profession (farming). In terms of game play, I worry about non-combat challenges being viable with such a limited set of skills.
The lack of Druids, Bards and Barbarians is lamentable. I assume there is another book in the works, or perhaps one for each class, to cover these fantasy staples. The lack of evil clerics in the player’s is also disconcerting. For me a big part of D&D has always been the scariness of the bad guys, and clerics that can’t raise an army of the dead just feel wrong. The DMG suggests replacing their radiant damage with necrotic, but it feels like a poor solution. Maybe October will see another edition of the Book of Vile Darkness to cover these things (are you listening, Monte?). And the lack of summoning spells is also distressing. Other than a flaming sphere, you can’t really call powerful allies from beyond to aid you, and neither can the bad buys. One of Claw Claw Bite‘s first posts in October will be a power that summons elementals. This power will be designed to stay within the rules balance of 4th edition and bring back my favorite thing from 1st edition about summoning them. Stay tuned to see that.
So why all this talk of October? In October this year Wizards of the Coast is planning to release a new OGL-style rules-set for 4th edition that updates the d20 license and allows 3rd party publishers like us to release material for 4th edition Dungeons & Dragons. So while we’re already writing material for 4th edition, and plan on releasing adventures for both 3rd and 4th edition, we can’t release any of that material until October when that license is made available. Under the terms of that license we can release products for both editions for 6 months at which point we are only allowed to release material for one edition or the other. So we have to make a decision in April 09 about which version we’ll continue to support. We hope to hear from you about which you’d prefer, but we have almost a year to see what the gaming community in general thinks about 4th edition, and 6 months putting out material for 3rd and 4th edition.
So, what do you think? Leave a comment here at clawclawbite.com, or write us at ccb@unicornrampant.com to let us know.
Thanks again,
Adam Thompson
Unicorn Rampant
Posted in 4th edition Dungeons & Dragons, Editorial by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
Evil Faeries: Prankster Posions Pixies
Prankster Pixie CR 10
poison pixie sorcerer 8
chaotic evil female small fey
Init: +2 Senses: Listen +1, Spot +1
Languages: Sylvan, Common
AC: 20 (+2 dex, +4 mage armor, +4 shield) touch 12, flatfooted 12
HP: 28 (HD 10d4)
Resist: +2 vs enchantment & charm, Spell Resistance 23, Damage Reduction 5 / cold iron, %50 miss chance from blink
Immune: magical sleep
Fort: +3 Ref: +5 Will: +8
MV: 30 ft.
Attack: +7 dagger (1d4-1) or +7 shortbow (1d6)
Space / Reach: 5 ft. / 5 ft.
Base Attack: +5 Grapple: +4
SA: sorcerer spells, spell-like abilities
Feats: weapon finesse, spell focus enchantment, greater spell focus enchantment
Abilities Str 8 Dex 15 Con 11 Int 12 Wis 13 Cha 19
Skills: Bluff + 17, Concentration + 6, Knowledge (Arcana) + 1, Spellcraft + 5.
Spells Available (DC 13 + spell level, +2 vs enchantment)
0th (6/day): guidance, ray of frost, prestidigitation, daze, ghost sound +4
1st (7 /day): sleep, color spray, reduce person, shield, mage armor
2nd (7 /day): hideous laughter, invisibility, scorching ray
3rd (6 /day): hold person, blink
4th (4 /day): dimension door
Spell-Like Abilities: 3 / day – disguise self, suggestion, command and charm person. (DC 13 + spell level – saves are charisma based)
Possessions: dagger, shortbow, 10 arrows.
Familiar: snake familiar.
Posted in Creature and tagged fey by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
The Seat of the Seer
Presented here is the first encounter in the upcoming adventure “Anointing the Seer”. Here, a group of giants have taken up residence in a cursed cathedral. Dangerous magic briers guard the exterior, and within the brutes feast on the trapped townsfolk. Feel free to drop it into your games to use as you see fit.
Seat of the Seer
Dungeon Features
Secret Doors in this area are priest-doors, concealed to appear to be part of the ornately carved stone or wood they are set into, and are a DC 18 Search check to find.
The Cursed Seat of the Seer (EL 12)
This temple is much transformed after the attack on it. It is surrounded by magical briars, and inside giants feast on the townsfolk, who have been polymorphed into animals.
Exterior
Surrounded by small outlying buildings, this large and stately temple is completely overgrown with gargantuan brambles, to the point where is is nearly concealed. A large double door can be glimpsed through the thorn-covered trunks of the plants.
In order to enter the temple via the doors one must somehow pass through the patches of brier brambles that block the doorways. If the plants are not killed then they must be defeated in an opposed strength check (DC 19) in order to open the doors. Other methods of entry include teleportation or flying or climbing up and breaking through some of the stained glass windows on the east face of the temple. Either method requires navigating the brambles, which will attempt to grapple the intruders.
Interior
The smell of offal, greasy cooking fires and death permeate this area. The interior of the temple is also sparsely overgrown with patches of the thorny brambles which push up through the flagstones. Several dead peasants and acolytes are caught in their branches. The stone walls are adorned with tapestries of the Seer’s visions and the stories of the petitioners helped by them. Several carcases worth of bones lie upon the floor.
1/4 of the squares in the temple are grown over with brambles in approx 10′ patches in the first room of the temple. Some of the pillars also have brambles in the chapel.
Creatures: Nearly 100 domestic animals cower in the temple. They are the temple priests and townsfolk who had come to observe the coronation, polymorphed into sheep, pigs and dogs. Several giants and and an air elemental have been left behind by the vengeful family to ensure that the temple is not re-inhabited.
Ogre Barbarians (3): HP 79 each
Tactics: The brutes will likely be roused by anyone entering the temple and will have assembled to defend it. The giants may attempt to push intruders into the brambles as they fight, and will mercilessly bludgeon anyone caught in them. Similarly, the air elemental will attempt to scoop up the rear ranks of any intruders in its whirlwind form and drop them into the brambles. If the group is defeated, the air elemental will return to the warlock to inform him that someone has reclaimed the temple. The giants will fight to the death.
Traps: The exterior of the temple and portions of the first room are overgrown with the effects of the brier brambles spell. Anyone entering the area of the spells effect risks entanglement and the plants sleeping poison.
Treasure: Almost the only thing left in the temple’s treasury is a scroll of break enchantment that the temple priest (in his form as a ram) will bring to the party if they are otherwise unable to disenchant the villagers. The giants have little of value on them.
Development: Once the giants are slain and the elemental has fled, the party should be able to disenchant the remaining animals, who creep cautiously up to the PCs once the violence has ended.
Once freed they will relate what happened: the new priestess was in the process of being anointed when a holy trance came upon her. Her eyes rolled up into her head and she began speaking in a strange, strained, voice. “I see… doom! The drake… he is brought low by his son…” The peasants go on to inform their rescuers that a witch and two warlocks, one young and one of middle age, suddenly appeared in a burst of flame and interrupted the anointing of the new Seer and turned them all into animals. One of the older villagers, the abbot of the temple, will angrily go on to identify the witch as the evil old witch who used to live in the village, but was driven off years ago. Some say she inhabits a farm nearby in the wild woods, and the players will be given sketchy directions by one of the village’s hunters.
Attempts to scry upon the priestess will fail, as she is in the Dragon’s lair, which is warded against scrying.
Ad Hoc XP Adjustment: +15% for difficult terrain (the brambles)
Posted in Encounter and tagged Anointing the Seer, Location by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.