Monday, September 8, 2014

The Chaos Scar - Adventure Notes

Some adventures need adjustment to fit into the Scar, others could just use some adjustment to tie them in more tightly to the setting. If the change is simply in who offers the quest I won't list it here as I've already included that information in the rumor and job lists.

1a - Stick in the Mud - Perhaps make Voran's buried teleportation circle more visible once the mud is cleared out. It isn't of immediate use but it makes a nice detail for later on.

1b - Den of the Slavetakers - Instead of Torog, use Chitteruk. "Hand of Torog" rolls off the tongue better, but Torog has little else to do with the Scar and using Chitteruk more than once adds some consistency.

1f - Some Assembly Required - Dardun is relocated near the King’s Wall and the mine that the kobolds are hiding in are located within the Scar.

1i - Elves of the Valley - When the Voice in the Darkness is destroyed, have a Chaos Shard be embedded near the base.

Torak Banehammer - Torak can be a good source to run a series of quests as he searches for the Hammer of Ivak. He might suspect the duregar Barulg from The Hammer Falls of having the hammer first and then perhaps suspect the lost temple of Erathis from Dead by Dawn is actually the lost temple of Moradin before honing on his final destination. He can make for a useful companion character, too.

2h - Slaark's Crown - Nothing needs to be done with adventure but the rivalry with Urgog's goblins in Down the Goblin Hole can be played up, perhaps with Slaark trying to hire the party to take out Urgog.

3c - The Wayward Wyrmling - Have the Stormcrows kill Karonzaxus for a bit of continuity.

3d - Storm Tower - The tower is along the King’s Wall and Lord Drysdale intends to use it as a watchtower which was its use back when the heroes lived there.

3e - Fjorin's Foothold - Can pretty much be played as-is except for its location in the Scar. If you'd like, consider re-skinning the chitine into creepier star-touched baddies whom Fjorin has made a devil's bargain with.

4c - Vanguard Tower – The adventuring group that used to own the tower is almost completely irrelevant. Instead have the tower be Voran’s, mysteriously in tact after the star fell, complete with another teleport location for the PCs to use. The teleportation circle is activated by pouring a decanter of seemingly endless oil on it - the decanter is in the tower.

4d - Stormcrow Tor - The Wrathstone is made from a potent chaos shard and was obtained from the Banite's keep.

4e - Blood of Gruumsh - This doesn't really need any changes; the Scar seems like a perfectly good place for the Colony to try and hide.

6b - The Radiant Morn - Consider having the cultists follow Chitteruk or some other non-existent deity instead of Baalzebul.

7e - Vainglorious - Replace Torm with Moradin. If you'd like, have Torak Banehammer give the quest. If you'd like to keep Moradin followers dwarfy then change Sir Tavil Soarvaren to Tavil Banehammer, Torak's older brother.

8c - The Star touched Grove - The grove is now a remote wilderness location. Use the setups in the rumor and job lists to establish things.






Wednesday, September 3, 2014

The Chaos Scar - Jobs and Events

Jobs

The rumors are to entice the party's spirit of adventure. These jobs are what puts money in their pockets. Wall postings are essentially wanted ads posted on the inner wall of the keep. Word of Mouth jobs are essentially rumors but with a promise of payment. Enough jobs come from the Saruun Guildhall that it has its own category. Finally the events are adventures that come to the keep and are initiated by the Dungeon Master. I've numbered some categories since they can be treated similar to rumors, however the jump in danger levels is pretty steep between 3rd and 7th level so you may wish to hand these out as appropriate. 

Wall Postings
  • Kick the Skullkickers! The bailiff will pay 10 gold for each Skull Kicker kobold killed and 100 gold for proof they've all been eliminated. (Kobold Hall)
  • Bullywug Bounty! The bailiff will pay 10 gold for each bullywug killed and 100 gold for proof they've all been eliminated. (Stick in the Mud)
  • Looking for strong and good-hearted heroes to deal with an evil cult. See Chendara in the Temple of Avandra for details. (Den of the Slavetakers)
  • Wanted! Finneus, Lambert and Moseley Graybairn for murder and robbery. Lord Criswell of Wellspring will pay 100 gold for each of the brothers brought to justice. Dead or alive. (The Brothers Gray)
  • Stop the Marauders! The bailiff has been authorized to pay 200 gold for the party that tracks down and eliminates the marauders who recently attacked the farms outside of Dardun. (Elves of the Valley)
  • 200 gold offered for anyone who can bring justice to Kevmar Windsnap and another 200 gold for finding his sister, Zeta. See the bailiff for more details. (Some Assembly Required)
  • Debt collectors wanted! Doran owes me 100 gold and I intend to see that collected. See Nerrin Silverhand if you want a cut. (Dead by Dawn)
  • A reward for any brave soul willing to clear out the Goblin Hole. See Kendon Longstrider for more details. (Down the Goblin Hole)
  • Wanted for murder: the dragonborn Hesskin Flamebrow. Lord Criswell of Wellspring will pay a bounty of 200 gold for his capture or death. (The Lost Library)
  • Lord Drysdale requests aid retaking Stormtower. A reward of 300 gold is offered to any group that is successful. See Elessan for further details. (Stormtower)
  • Good-hearted heroes wanted to recover the Cup of Chance which was stolen from the temple of Avandra. See Chendera for more details. (The Splintered Spring)
  • Lord Drysdale offers 1,000 gold for anyone who can eliminate the beholder Shur-Tuuz. The successful party can collect from Lord Drysdale personally. (Vanguard Tower)
  • Wanted for Murder, Robbery, Assault and other crimes: Keljack and his ogre companion. Lord Criswell offers 2,500 gold for his head and 500 for the ogre. (Scarred for Life)
  • Lord Criswell offers 200 gold for the capture of Bolios the Elementalist and Master Vyen offers 1,000gp for the return of a book he stole called Azael’s Elemental Travels. (Head in the Clouds)
  • The relic, Loyalty's Sacrifice, must be recovered! Any brave heroes willing to undertake this quest should see Lord Drysdale. (Vainglorious)
  • The Circle of Druids has condemned Hongya the Fallen to death. See Lolfinor for details and your reward. (The Star Touched Grove)
Word of Mouth
  1. Bergen lost a green dragon hide on that caravan the Skull Kickers hit. He's offering a reward to whomever can get it back. (Kobold Hall)
  2. Four members of Jangi Blackstream’s family have been kidnapped by the cult of Chitteruk. He’s willing to give a discount on his merchandise for any adventurers who can find them. (Den of the Slavetakers)
  3. The local Fireclaw clan of kobolds have offered to give a band of adventurers inside information about locations in the Scar in exchange for eliminating a pair of Halflings nearby. (The Brothers Gray)
  4. Ardia Ironleaf is offering a reward to anyone who can find her lost father, a merchant who sometimes travels close to the wall. He was last seen in the vicinity of the glowing cave. (The Tainted Spiral)
  5. The Cragbottom brothers decided to check out the old refinery to see if they could get it going again. They were ambushed by duergar! Only Balidor survived and he’ll pay anyone who can bring him his brothers or proof of their fate. (The Hammer Falls)
  6. Thorgrim Spinehammer, the operator of a mine near the Scar, had some mining gear stolen by a bunch of kobolds. He’ll pay anyone who can track them to their cave and get his stuff back. (The Lost Library)
  7. A brown wyrmling has been raiding the countryside. The farmers have gathered a reward for anyone who can eliminate it. (The Lost Library)
  8. The druid Lolfinor is offering to pay 10gp for each venom sack from one of the large insects that have been spotted near the King’s Wall. (The Crawling Fane)
  9. Torak Banehammer, a cleric of Moradin, is searching for the Hammer of Ivak that was located in an old temple of Moradin that existed before the star fell. He’ll give a reward to anyone who can bring him the relic. (The Crawling Fane)
  10. Erim Haverlan and his two sons are woodcutters who have been crossing into the scar to get better material. They haven’t returned and Erim’s wife is offering a reward for anyone who can find him or his remains. (The Wayward Wyrmling)
  11. Bergen crafted fine armor from the scales of Karonzaxus. He believes some more scales may be in her lair and he will pay anyone who can bring back enough to make a shield or suit of armor. (The Wayward Wyrmling)
  12. Sharda, Fjorn Hammermain's wife, hired some adventurers to go looking for her husband and they never returned. She's hiring again and offering a large sum of gold to anyone who can bring back proof of his fate, more if he's brought back alive. (Fjorin’s Foothold)
  13. A visiting elf named Thathar is looking for some lost elven colony. He's apparently willing to pay for someone to find it for him. (Blood of Gruumsh)
Saruun Guildhall

  1. Oneus Earthmane believes the abandoned tower near the King's Wall belonged to his ancestor, Voran. Theoretically an object called the Staff of Earthen Might could be there. He will pay 100 gold to a party that can check the place out for him and an extra 200 gold for finding the staff. (Stick in the Mud)
  2. The Guildhall can always use more residuum. Citirian will pay 40 gold per ounce of residuum the party can acquire. (Death in the Pincers)
  3. Ivian the Unpredictable believes the lights in a nearby cave are related to chaos magic and will pay the party 100 gold to investigate it and an additional 50 gold per piece of evidence they can bring back. (The Tainted Spire)
  4. The half-elf wizard Casaubon wants a party of adventurers to help him find a lost magical artifact that his master had told him about. He will pay on 500 gold upon completion. (Sliver’s Call)
  5. Oneus, looking around the Scar for more signs of Voran, found what seemed like a magical flow of lava leading to the old refinery but was attacked by twisted fire elementals. He’ll pay for a sample of the lava from the refinery. (The Hammer Falls)
  6. Citirian wants someone to retrieve a powerful artifact called Wrathheart which he believes is still under Stormcrow Tor. The Guild has authorized him to pay up to 1,000 gold. (Stormcrow Tor)
  7. Citirian has acquired a piece of obsidian with strange properties. He wants a group to find a cave deep in the Scar and bring him back more of it for examination. He will pay 1,000 gold for this. (Reflections of Ruin)
  8. Citirian has heard that a fallen druid called Hongya has grown some plants with interesting star-touched qualities. He will pay for samples of these plants - more plants for higher pay. (The Star Touched Grove)

Events

  • Benwick approaches the party with concerns about the cult of Tiamatt in the region. (Keep on the Borderlands)
  • Strange and disturbing dreams are bothering the residents near the Scar. Now Chendera has received a warning from Avandra that the Pillar of Eyes is close to being freed and this must not happen. It must be destroyed. (The Pillar of Eyes)
  • Jangi Blackstream is looking for the party. Something about his caravans being attacked by elemental creatures from the Scar. Sound like he’s willing to pay lots of coin. (Rumble in the Valley)
  • Lord Drysdale has an old friend, Olek Dael, who’s fallen from grace. He wants his friend stopped and preferably brought back alive. He will request the aid of the party once they've proven themselves to him. (Runecutter)
  • Residents of Restwell Keep begin seeing things and generally suffering from delusions. (Pit of Delirium)