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[Fantasy HERO]An Adventure I wrote
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Apprentice Greytalker

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Sat May 03, 2008 7:03 am  
[Fantasy HERO]An Adventure I wrote

Here is an adventure. PLEASE CRITIQUE - ALL CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM welcome.

BTW - I do not like the names, if you have better suggestions please let me know.

This is a rough draft for an introductory adventure. I do plan a few encounters along the way.

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The story begins when a local mercenary broker recommends you to Ziger Belvin, who is seeking to augment the security of his trade caravan. Being a man of modest means, Ziger has done well in the Principality of Ulek. He has planned a rather large expedition to Dyers and has entrusted this venture to Synt’n Maygrith. Synt’n has ‘risen in the ranks’ over the last couple years and has been partially instrumental in Ziger’s success. Synt’n’s not only leads caravans but also hand-picks the entire crew allowing Ziger to put his energies in securing new partners and increasing his political influence locally.

Ziger has personally hired the characters because he does not trust that Synt’n has a large enough troop to ensure safe passage for this latest venture. He has good reason to be nervous since this is the shipment of goods (in value) to date. While Synt’n has convinced him to take this economic gamble, Synt’n’s assurances of having adequate manpower has not been successful. Ziger does not question Synt’n honesty just his judgment at this point.

What Ziger does not realize is that he should be questioning Syntn’s integrity. Synt’n worked hard to make Ziger successful and to win his confidence. This is the last caravan trip for Synt’n is going to steal it all. The loyalty of all the men-at-arms resides with Synt’n. They do not know of the duplicity that is about to happen and may well fulfill the whole mission without realizing anything is amiss. But, even so, they are being paid by Synt’n and if things complicated, will expect a bonus.

Since Synt’n is going out, he decided to go out with a bang. Not only is he stealing Ziger’s wealth from under his very nose, but Synt’n is going to add kidnapping to his crime. After all, he never expects to be going back to Ulek, so he may as well make the most out of his leaving. Synt’n has Sojurt Neibart, a son of an influential merchant from Furyondy, will be leaving the country rolled up in tapestries. Synt’n is the middleman who will sell Sojurt to the Slavers. Their intention with the boy is to “wrong a slight” and to extort his family for various reasons.

The trip was to go as follows

From the Duchy of Ulek
Travel through a pass in the Lortmil Mountians to Celene
From Celene through the Iron Hills to Verbonic.
From Verbonic, by boat, to Dyvers.
At Dyvers the goods are to be given over to the trade associations’ broker. The broker will, for a fee, sell the goods with all money (minus the commission) going to Ziger’s account.


While Synt’n plans to make it to Dyvers, he will make sure that the goods never arrive. He cannot sell the goods in this town because he will be recognized and may be arrested for suspicious activity. Members of the Merchant’s guild take their goods to the guild’s brokerage service. Since Synt’n is known to work for Ziger, his selling the goods outside the guild will arouse suspicion. Money made on the sales is deposited in Zigler’s account (which Synt’n cannot touch). If Synt’n tried to sell the goods here, it would become obvious what his true intent was. Synt’n does have access to a set amount of credit. This is to cover expenses such as mercenary fees. Synt’n will hate to pass that up and will do what he can to drain that account.

How to shake the PCs:

Once the party makes it through the Lortmil Mountains, Synt’n will try to pay the adventures off. He will pay them their FULL PAY plus 20%. The reasons given are as follows:

1. They can have all their pay plus extra without having to perform the extra work.

2. He feels that the extra people will put a burden on his resources.

3. The have already passed the greatest danger, even ambush while traveling through the mountain pass.

4. The adventures are an insult to him and his honor. They are more than was what he judged for the mission and he does not appreciate being second-guessed – even by his boss.

5. He does not trust the adventurers. They are not part of his hand-picked banned and their loyalties are suspect. It is so easy for things to come up missing and he would rather limit the number of people with access to the goods.


If that doesn’t work, upon reaching the town of Hommlet Synt’n will slyly suggest that the party encamps in the abandoned, collapsing castle as this would prove to be a very defensible position especially since they are getting into questionable areas. He will use whatever tactic possible to shake the PCs at this point. His purpose is to try to get the party to check the lower-level for brigands – or at least “lead” the party (think of the Biblical story of Uriah) . Once they head down the stairs, Synt’n will simply close and barricade the door and leave them there. After a certain number of days, the party will be found by a band of rangers who are heading through the area. They will not aid the party except to free them of their prison and information.

If the ploy in Hammlet does not work, he will attempt a “blind-side” them on the way to Sobanwych. He will drive the main wagon forward while the mercenaries dispatch the adventures. It is not Synt’n’s intent to kill the adventures but f it becomes necessary, he will do so. Synt’n dislikes killing since it make the situation too “messy”. So, if the ambush is successful, he will, if possible, have them bound up and thrown into the woods. They will be found after a few days by some villager traveling between towns.


Order of Events
Travel through the Lortmil Mountians (70 leagues) 12 days of Travel plus 2 days to rest and trade. Sell foodstuffs (fresh fruit, dried fruit and smoked clams, quality leather Purchase silver ingots, raw gems, cut gems.)

Travel to city Enstad in Celene (10 leagues) 1 day forced march. Plus 1 day to rest and 1 day for trade. Sell silver ingots, raw gems, purchase finished fine silverwork and tapestries.)

Travel to the Iron Hills (20 leagues). 3 days.

Travel through the Iron Hills (30 leagues) 5 days plus one day trading in Kron after traveling through the hills. Sell horse and wagon, fine furniture, Dwarvish tapestries from Urlek.)

Travel to Hommlet (4 leagues) 1 day . Plus 1 day of rest. Planned forced march to Sobanwych and then Caltaran. Planned diversion to be rid of Adventures.



If he rids himself of the adventures he will hid directly to Verbonic as planned. Here he will sell the horses and wagons.

If not he will take the land route through the Gnarley Forest. He will send a mercenary on to Verbobonc to let he ship know to meet up with him in Caltaran.

Travel to Sobanwych. (6 leagues) 1 day. This gives them time to rest up for the next day’s forced march.

Travel to Caltaran (10 leagues) 1 day, forced march. Here Caltaran will meet up with the ship and finish his journey to Dyvers. The horses and carts will be sold here.


Once in Dyers, Synt’n will draw money from an account that Ziger has given him access. The money is enough to cover the payment of the caravan workers and guards as well as a little extra. Synt’n will not sell any of the goods here as it would draw too much attention. He will keep as low a profile as possible. All the mercenaries, except the captain will be dismissed.

From Dyvers he will travel NE around The Great Southern Peninsula. As he rounds the bend there is a secret cove. The ship, by rowboat, will unload the prisoner to remain here. From here the ship will travel to Fort Harbor, in which the ship will unload/load it normal goods. Next will be the dtip down the Selintan River to Greyhawk. This is the final destination for Synt’n. The Elvin silverworks will be sold at Synt’n’s leisure and his account should be filled with his reward for delivering the prisoner.


Clues that something is amiss:
1. Synt’n is overly cautious (almost paranoid) about the good in his wagon. While of value, they are not as valuable as other good in the caravan.
2. If the adventures can get a good peek in the rolled up tapestry they will see the body of the hostage.
3. Given a certain amount of time the tapestry will start to stink.
4. Every few days Synt’n will need to unroll the tapestry give the hostage some fluids and nourishment. To anybody seeing this, it will be real obvious that something is really wrong. To accomplish this, Synt’n will send the adventures way ahead on reconnoiter on ahead to scout.
5. If Synt’n hasn’t rid himself of the adventures by the stay in Hommlet, he will become extremely agitated. And make a change in travel plans. He will come up with some excuse that will seem ‘odd. An excuse to go through the Gnarley Forest to be rid of the adventures.



Clues for adventures to find Synt’n:
1. Every city he travels to knows of his general arrival and departure.
2. Bar patron in Hommlet knows of the general route Synt’n plans. One of the mercenaries “spilled the beans” in regards to the itinerary. The patron does not know of the nefarious situation at hand.
3. Which ever city they disembark from will contain some news about the boat’s being loaded and the next port of call. Also if the adventures go into the market, they will recognized some of the livestock and carts being auctioned off. Synt’n did not wait to haggle for the highest amount, rather sold them for the best price he could get on a moment’s notice. The buyer, of course, has the time to exact the best price possible.
4. If enough time is spent in Dyvers, some of the mercenaries who worked for Synt’n will be found. If the proper economic incentive is applied (perhaps even plying with liquor) they will come to find out in general where Synt’n was headed as well as the existence of the mysterious stranger that was stowed away. Synt’n told them a wild story about this man’s situation that they neither believed nor questioned. Since they have been paid and have fulfilled their contract, they feel no loyalty to Synt’n



Maps

http://www.canonfire.com/cf/modu...&d_op=TopRated




It will be a bit before this adventure gets played...

Some more information:
Sojurt Neibart, the kidnapee can be taken to his home city for the reward. To his surprise, his father is not that happy with his son. It appears that Sojurt has played a bit of the prodigal and the father will pay the adventures for rescuing his son...by paying them what remains of the son's inheritance. He, in discharging his son's remaining money, demonstrates in a very dramatic way that he absolves himself of ANY responsibility for his son. During a very dramatic scene, the father declares that the son has to find his own way now. He can expect no further assistance and is, in effect, cast out. It appears that, as in the biblical story, the son demanded most of his inheritance to chase after riotous living. While a very capable person, he has never grown up.


The players are not payed with any of the father's money. It is what remains of the son's inheritance. You may want to make that figure a reasonable amount that can be divided among the adventurers to cover their expenses and then some (say $3,000 apiece).

The father is very impressed with the group. While he will not financially reward them for rescuing his son, he is very willing to provide them employment, or at least assignments. If they are willing to work some jobs for him, he will also provide contacts and favors for the party as well.

What happens with the son? Well that is up to the GM. Very likely he will try to hang with the players until he reaches a city of common destination. He can provide some plot hooks in future adventures. Here is the way I see it. He can:

1. Determine to prove his worth to
a. Enact revenge on his father
b. Reconcile with is father
c. prove he is better than his father.

2. Determine to follow a different path
a. A life of doing good. Wealth was a source of woe, he now seeks a life of doing good works
b. A life of evil. Revenge on his father. Revenge on the adventures for taking his inheritance.
c. Start all over
1. Farmer
2. Adventurer
Journeyman Greytalker

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Sat May 03, 2008 4:49 pm  

That is one of the more interesting plotlines I have seen for an adventure in a while.

I think this would work best with lower-level PC's. Once the PC's get to the point where their Sense Motive or Spot rolls get too high (or worse, they gain access to the scry spell) there is too much risk of the party catching on early.

Out of curiousity, why is the dad so hard on the son at the end? I didn't get a good feel for that, and it's a sure bet the PC's won't either... unless they happen to see the son being a wasteful drunkard (or some such) before the beginning of the adventure.

Just one more thing. Be prepared for the PC's to do the unexpected. It has been my experience as a DM that players have an unerring instinct for doing the one thing you had never considered.
Apprentice Greytalker

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Sun May 04, 2008 6:37 pm  

Thanks for the kind comments. I am going to be making some changes before I play and will repost what I have come with. Yes, it is intended for low-level characters. BTW - I am using the world but not the D&D system AND I plan to keep the level of magic to a lower level of usage for the campaign (few magic users and even fewer magic items), at least for awhile.

The reason the father is so hard on his son is that the son has squandered enormous amounts of money and has sullied the family's good name. The father's reason for shunning has more to do with his hope for the son's redemption. The father knows that for too long he has been supporting his son's excessive behavior. This is a wake up call. The father dearly loves his son and sees this as his last chance to bring the son to reality. The question is what will the son do?


Vulcan wrote:
That is one of the more interesting plotlines I have seen for an adventure in a while.

I think this would work best with lower-level PC's. Once the PC's get to the point where their Sense Motive or Spot rolls get too high (or worse, they gain access to the scry spell) there is too much risk of the party catching on early.

Out of curiousity, why is the dad so hard on the son at the end? I didn't get a good feel for that, and it's a sure bet the PC's won't either... unless they happen to see the son being a wasteful drunkard (or some such) before the beginning of the adventure.

Just one more thing. Be prepared for the PC's to do the unexpected. It has been my experience as a DM that players have an unerring instinct for doing the one thing you had never considered.
Apprentice Greytalker

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Mon May 05, 2008 8:02 am  

This is a good adventure idea; it creates a need for travel while keeping the PCs from the dire consequences of travelling alone at low levels.

Caravan protection is a good low level adventure hook, and the plot from within should keep the PCs on their toes, whether the players are new or experienced gamers.
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Tue May 06, 2008 2:14 pm  

OK, that makes the father's actions make a bit more sense. I can even see dad covertly sending business the son's way once he sets himself up to do something. And if the PC's stick with the son (espectially if he 'grows up' a bit during his misadventure) then you have a ready-made party contact.

You could even tailor the son's future actions to reflect:
a) what the party's future intrests are - if they look to want to join the nobility, he could become an advisor to the king; if they want to do a lot of dungeon crawling he could become a dealer in antiquites; and so on...
b) how the PC's treat him - he could become a valuable contact, a dangerous enemy, or evn a street bum depending on what the PC's do to him.

A lot of growth potential in this story. I would love to hear what your players do in this adventure.
Master Greytalker

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Wed May 07, 2008 12:40 pm  

Sounds like a great adventure idea. I have one reservation; you might need to have a convincing, completely unrelated, side trek style adventure occur whilst travelling. This will serve to divert the characters from the main plot. Otherwise, the PC's will get the hint that the expedition actually is the adventure and suspicion will immediately fall upon the caravan leader, possibly bringing things to a premature end and not allowing you to reap the benefits of a well thought out story. The side trek could feature a clue or somesuch about a future adventure so it's not completely random or meaningless. Let's face it, with the best will in the world, most players have a tendency to try to second guess the DM's plot; it's metagaming, but it happens.
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Wed May 07, 2008 4:07 pm  

Especially if you normally don't have involved travel content between adventures. If all of a sudden the group has to roleplay the "boring" part of the game between adventures. Chances are someone will smell a rat.
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Wed May 07, 2008 6:31 pm  

Yeah I know what you mean. I do have a some sub-plot adventure hookish things in mind. One of the main areas of interest will three men running from an attack by some owlbears. The adventurers will be there in time to save them. Perhaps one of the three will be severely wounded. The men will thank out helpful party and explain that they are on an important mission. They are, in fact lying. They are spies on the run. The adventurers may even be told to tell a governor something that will lead to immediate suspicion once said. The plan would be to reintroduce these characters again in the campaign at a later date. The three spies comes from one of the Greyhawk suppliments, but I cannot remember what.

There may even be some skirmishes in the mountains with bandits/orcs practicing various guerrilla (sp?) tactics.

Once they hit Hommlet it will become real interesting.

I will do a rewrite and will submit it once I finish.


Crag wrote:
Especially if you normally don't have involved travel content between adventures. If all of a sudden the group has to roleplay the "boring" part of the game between adventures. Chances are someone will smell a rat.
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Mon May 26, 2008 5:29 pm  

Next revision. Quite a bit of new stuff. The formatting is messed up. When I am finished I will supply a link to download a Word file. Here is a link to a Google Document of the same

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhd2597x_3ggzqsmr3


I added some characters but they are not in D&D format. If someone wishes to post a conversion that would be great.


The story begins when a local mercenary broker recommends you to Ziger Belvin, who seeks to increase his trade caravan's security. Over the years Ziger has become a man of reasonable means and is doing quite well in the Principality of Ulek. His greatest triumph is the negotiation with the Dwarves who have opened a new town in The Trail of Tears (found in the Lortmil Mountains) and the elves of Celene. Currently, he has plans an expedition to start from ***** and will end at Dyers. He has entrusted this venture to Synt’n Maygrith. Synt’n has ‘risen in the ranks’ over the last couple years and has been partially instrumental in Ziger’s success both in the negotiations and in managing some of the caravans. Synt’n’s leadership extends to his hand-picking of the entire crew. The efficiency in which Synt'n works allows Ziger to focus his energies in securing new partners and increasing his political influence locally.



The reason Ziger has taken a very personal part in hiring the characters is that he does not trust that Synt’n has a large enough troop strength to ensure safe passage for this latest venture. And he has good reason to be nervous since this is the shipment of goods (in value) to date. While Synt’n has convinced Ziger to take this economic gamble, his assurances to Ziger of having adequate manpower has not been successful. Ziger does not question Synt’n honesty but he does question his judgment on this point.



What Ziger does not realize that he should question Syntn’s integrity for Synt’n worked so hard to make Ziger successful to also win his confidence. This is the last caravan trip for Synt’n and he is going to steal it all. The loyalty of all the men-at-arms resides with Synt’n. They do not know of the duplicity that is about to happen and may well fulfill the whole mission without realizing anything is amiss. But, even so, they are being paid by Synt’n and if things complicated, they will expect a bonus.



Since Synt’n is getting out, he decided to go out with a bang. Not only is he stealing Ziger’s wealth from under his very nose, but Synt’n is going to add kidnapping to his crime. After all, he never expects to be going back to Ulek, so he may as well make the most out of his leaving. Synt’n has possession of Sojurt Neibart, the son of an influential merchant, Yarmen Neibart, from Furyondy. The young man will be leaving the country rolled up in a tapestry. Synt’n has a deal worked out to sell Sojurt to the Slavers. Their intention with the boy is to “wrong a slight” and to extort his family for money and favors.



The City in the Lortmils:


A private dwarven enterprise has set up the town, Elhak (“Goblin Bulwark), in the pass known as The Trail of Tears. The town was mainly founded by the three dwarven miner/explorers: Dwten, Werthal and Whuror. While they do maintain a large degree of control of the town, it is a private enterprise with 7-9 other major stockholders (the number varies depending on who is buying and selling shares at any particular time).



Elhak is still rather small, and its citizens are numbered in the low hundreds. While the town is owned by the company, all citizens are allowed to purchase shares. With increased shares comes greater rights as shares correlate to voting and hence influence. A certain number of shares correlates to "citizenship" and affords protection and rights not afforded to others.



To facilitate trade, two small forts were built at strategic location in the pass. These are, at best, are only a deterrent to small bands of brigands or humanoids. Currently the city remains mostly unmolested by humanoids and giants. Undoubtedly as trade and prosperity increases, so will the threat. The pass is very long and there are many places for malicious parties to hide.



The opening of this town, by itself, is of little value without trade. The company has been hard at work to establish trade on both sides of the mountain range. With the help of the humans and gnomes, the elves of Celene were convinced to trade to proceed along their border. They have a trade “outpost” located ***** for the exchange of merchandise, but they do not allow anybody to cross into their borders, nor do they allow the passage of suspicious caravans. They have no problem in applying martial force if necessary.



Note:

How did this town come to be? Dwten, Werthal and Whuror found in their travels an unusual and, so far, unexplained artifact. This oblong shaped rock gives the wielder the ability to form tunnels and manipulate rock. This power not only makes it easier to access rich veins but it also allows the quick building of fortified town. As the city fortifies itself, there may be another threat brewing as well. Dwten, Werthal and Whuror have never explained where they gained this “artifact”. And if anybody else knew the answer to that question, they may not feel so safe living in Elhak.



[note: Dwarven names generated by http://grey-starr.ca/Tools/random-male-dwarf-name.htm ]









The trip as Ziger believes is to go as follows:



From the Duchy of Ulek travel through a pass in the Lortmil Mountians to Celene

From Celene travel through the Iron Hills to Verbonic.

From Verbonic, by boat, to Dyvers.

At Dyvers the goods are to be given over to the trade associations’ broker. The broker will, for a fee, sell the goods with all money (minus the commission) going to Ziger’s account.





While Synt’n plans to journey to Dyvers, he will make sure that the goods never arrive there. He cannot sell the goods in Dyvers because he is easily recongnizable his suspicious activity will arouse suspicion. Ziger is a member of the merchants guild and the guild provides a brokerage service. Money made on the sales is deposited directly into the merchant's account (Zigler’s) and nobody else, not even Synt’n, can touch those monies.



Since Synt’n is known to work for Ziger he would arouse a great deal of suspicion if he was found trying to sell the goods outside the guild thus revealing to all his nefarious intent. But in Dyvers Synt’n does have access to a set amount of credit in Ziger's name to serve the purpose of covering various expenses that would have to be paid. Synt’n will hate to pass that up and will do what he can to drain that account.



How to shake the PCs:



#1 PAY THEM OFF



Once the party makes it through the Lortmil Mountains, Synt’n will try to pay the adventures off by offering to give them, at that point, their FULL PAY plus 20%. If pressed he gives the following reasons:



1. They can have all their pay plus extra without having to perform the extra work.
2. He feels that the extra people unnecessarily burden his caravan resources.
3. The have already passed the greatest danger, even ambush while traveling through the mountain pass.
4. The adventures are an insult to him and his honor. They are more than was what he judged for the mission and he does not appreciate being second-guessed – even by his boss.
5. He does not trust the adventurers. They are not part of his hand-picked banned and their loyalties are suspect. It is so easy for things to come up missing and he would rather limit the number of people with access to the goods.



#2 Lock Them Up



If that doesn’t work, upon reaching the town of Hommlet Synt’n will slyly suggest that the party encamp in the abandoned, collapsing castle as this would prove to be a very defensible position should they be attacked. This is very convincing since the caravan is heading into unsafe areas. Once the caravan arrives at te abandoned keep he will propose that the entire group of adventures (and not any of his soldiers) check the lower-level for brigands. If the adventures seem a bit nervous, he will state the purpose is for the them to “lead” the entire party. Once our adventures head down the stairs, Synt’n will simply close and barricade the door leaving them there. After a certain number of days, the party will be found by a band of rangers who are heading through the area. They will not aid the party except to free them of their prison and information.



#3 Knock Them Out



If the ploy in Hommlet does not work, he will attempt a “blind-side” them on the way to Sobanwych. He will drive the main wagon forward while the mercenaries ambush the adventures. If the ambush succeeds he will, if possible, have them bound up and thrown into the woods. They will be found after a few days by some villager traveling between towns.It is not Synt’n’s intent to kill the adventures (killing since it makes situations too “messy”) but he will, if it becomes necessary.





Order of Events

Travel to the Lortmil Mountians (70 leagues) 12 days of Travel plus 2 days to rest and trade.

Purchase To Sell at city in Lortmil: Lumber (quality hardwood), jerky, dried fruit, dried peas, ponies.

Purchase to sell to Gnomes: Cloth

Purchase to sell at Dyvers: Tapestries



Purchase at city in Lortmil to sell at Celene: Silver ingots, iron dwarven weapons (for sale to the gnomes), rough gemstones.

Purchase at gnomish city:

Fine furniture, tools.



Travel to city Enstad in Celene (10 leagues) 1 day forced march. Plus 1 day to rest and 1 day for trade. Sell silver ingots, raw gems, purchase finished fine silverwork and tapestries.)



Travel to the Iron Hills (20 leagues). 3 days.



Travel through the Iron Hills (30 leagues) 5 days plus one day trading in Kron after traveling through the hills. Sell horse and wagon, fine furniture, Dwarvish tapestries from Urlek.)



Travel to Hommlet (4 leagues) 1 day . Plus 1 day of rest. Planned forced march to Sobanwych and then Caltaran. Planned diversion to be rid of Adventures.











If he rids himself of the adventures he will go directly to Verbonic as planned, selling the horses and wagons and transporting the rest via ship.



If not he will take the land route through the Gnarley Forest. He will send a mercenary on to Verbobonc to let he ship know to meet up with him in Caltaran.



Travel to Sobanwych. (6 leagues) 1 day. This gives them time to rest up for the next day’s forced march.



Travel to Caltaran (10 leagues) 1 day, forced march. Here Synt'n will meet up with the ship and finish his journey to Dyvers. The horses and carts will be sold here.





Once in Dyvers, Synt’n will draw money from an account that Ziger has given him access. The money is enough to cover the payment of the caravan workers and guards as well as a little extra. Synt’n will not sell any of the goods here as it would draw too much attention. He will keep as low a profile as possible. Captain Aydec, sergeant Juacy and 5 others will go with the ship. The rest of the mercenaries will furlough in Dyvers.



From Dyvers Synt'n and crew will travel NE around The Great Southern Peninsula. As he rounds the bend there is a secret cove, the ship, via rowboat, will unload the prisoner to the slaver's cove in exchange for a voucher. From here the ship will travel to Fort Harbor, in which the ship will unload/load it normal goods. Next will be the trip down the Selintan River to Greyhawk. This is the final destination for Synt’n. The Elvin silverworks will be sold and he will cash in his payment (voucher) for delivering the prisoner.





Clues that something is amiss:

1. Synt’n is overly cautious (almost paranoid) about the good in his wagon. While of value, they are not as valuable as other good in the caravan.
2. If the adventures can get a good peek in the rolled up tapestry they will see the body of the hostage.
3. Given a certain amount of time the tapestry will start to stain and stink.
4. Every few days Synt’n will need to unroll the tapestry give the hostage some fluids and nourishment. To anybody seeing this, it will be real obvious that something is really wrong. To accomplish this, Synt’n will send the adventures way ahead to "reconnoiter".
5. If Synt’n hasn’t rid himself of the adventures by the stay in Hommlet, he will become extremely agitated. The sudden change in travel plans followed by some lame excuse should seem very odd to our adventurers.





Captain Aydec mercenaries



Aydec has been a successful soldier and he has turned that experience into the forming of a successful mercenary band. His experience in war has made him a very cautious man. He is not inclined to get into overly dangerous contracts. He wants to live a long life and have a sizeable estate to one day "retire" to. He has found the protection of caravans proves to provide the best economic return while minimizing economic and physical risk.



Aydec lives by strong 'ethical' code and seeks to honor the terms of his contracts. While not an overly legalistic interpreter of his contracts, he is not afraid to abide strictly by its dictates when it makes good sense to do so.



Aydec has economically involved himself with Synt’n and therefore Aydec's loyalty (to a point) is tied to this Synt'n. He knows that Synt’n is involved in some shady dealings even the transportation of a semi-conscious individual. However, Aydec feels that it is none of his business and will not inquire into what is going on. He was hired for a job and the rest is 'none of his business'.



Regarding the player characters – Aydec has a neutral attitude toward the adventurers. If rewarded sufficiently he will take the party out of action but is very much against killing them. Dealing with the PC is beyond the scope of Aydec's contract, and Synt’n will have to pay him well to violate the ethic. If it comes down to killing the PC's, Aydec will demand a very HIGH payment but he will seek to talk Synt'n out of such actions.



Aydec and his men will valiantly guard caravan and Synt’n against all harm UNLESS they face a particular country’s proper authorities. They will not fight "the law". Also, they will abandon the cause if the situation proves to be completely hopeless.





This scenario could play out a number of different ways. No matter what happens, the Aydec sees whatever any action that happens between his company and the adventurers as strictly business. If he were to meet this party in the future he may even offer them help or even employment even if the last time they met he ambushed them.







Clues for adventures to find Synt’n:

1. Every city he travels to knows of his general arrival and departure.
2. Bar patron in Hommlet knows of the general route Synt’n plans. One of the mercenaries “spilled the beans” in regards to the itinerary. The patron does not know of the nefarious situation at hand.
3. Which ever city they disembark from will contain some news about the boat’s being loaded and the next port of call. Also if the adventures go into the market, they will recognized some of the livestock and carts being auctioned off. Synt’n did not wait to haggle for the highest amount but will sell them for the best price he can get withing his limited time frame. The buyer will, of course, get a great bargain.
4. If enough time is spent in Dyvers, the adventurers can find some of Aydec’s mercenaries furloughed there. If they can apply the proper economic incentive (perhaps even plying with liquor) the adveturers will come to understand the general area Synt’n is headed as well as the existence of the mysterious stranger who was stowed in the tapistry (general detail, they have no idea who he was. Synt’n told them a wild story about this man’s situation that they neither believed nor questioned. Since they have been paid and have fulfilled their contract, they feel no loyalty to keep the secret.







Maps



http://www.canonfire.com/cf/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=TopRated





While riding point our hardy adventures finds a very interesting sight – that of three men fleeing from an enraged owlbear (or two depending on the number of adventures) chasing three men who are fleeing for the lives. Presumably heroes will jump right in and save this intrepid trio. Once the battle is one, they will have time to evaluate these three grateful men. Two of the men, Cedwyn and Heth, are wearing very fine clothing, although the clothing is torn and stained. The clothing is from the court of Veluna. Based on the state of their clothing and their somewhat haggard faces these men have been running hard for quite awhile. The story that they give our adventures is that they are diplomats from Veluna on a very important mission to relay some critical information to the leadership in Dyvers concerning a mole located within their court. Haste is of the utmost concern since lives are in the balance even the fiancée of one of Cedwyn. They mentioned that in their haste they failed to take the appropriate security precautions (the route they took and failing to bring soldiers along) were ambushed by bandits in the Welkwood forest. They have nothing on-hand with which to reward the adventurers and they will, in fact, solicit whatever goods and monies that the adventures will give them to help fund their flight. The trio assures them that their good deeds will not go unrewarded. They are certain that their “disappearance” will lead local officials to send soldiers to look for them. Cedwyn tells the adventurers can expect a great reward if they explain to the soldiers how the players saved the three AND have enabled their further travels. Cedwyn even gives them a codeword to use to verify their story.



But their story is a complete lie. These three are in fact spies for Iuz who in order to protect their work and the moles they set up were forced to perform some assassinations and blow their cover. They were captured for a brief time but have escaped. Their intent is to head to Blackthorn Caverns in the Gnarley Forest. Our intrepid heroes have, by their good deeds enabled, this nefarious trio to escape justice. As Cedwyn stated, a band of soldiers will indeed be looking for them. If the adventurers explain the situation to the soldiers, they will bring immediate suspicion as indicated by the drawing of swords followed by an interrogation. After explaining themselves they will be released.



The purpose of this encounter is to set the stage for future encounters.. These three will be responsible for much of the intrigue that will cause the fall of some nations during the Greyhawk Wars.





Some more information:
The adventurers may decide to take the kidnapee, Sojurt Neibart, to his home city **** to collect some reward money (or maybe out of duty). Probably to everyone's surprise, that while the father is glad to see is son out of danger, he is none to pleased with his son for Sojurt has been playing the prodigal (wasteful) son for quite some time. The father will pay the adventures for rescuing his son but it will be out of what remains of the son's inheritance ($15,000 converted to your favorite currency - for me 1 silver = $10. 1 day's wage of a laborer = 2-3 silver). By discharging his son's remaining money, THE FATHER ***** demonstrates in a very dramatic way that he absolves himself of any further responsibility for his son. During a very dramatic scene, the father declares that the son has to find his own way now. Sojurt can expect no further assistance and is, in effect, cast out. While the father still deeply cares for his son, he realizes that unless drastic action is taken, his son will continue down the path of ruin. The is the possiblity of future reconciliation. The father will still keep secret tabs on his son, and will even aid him covertly if his son does start to get he "act together".


The father is very impressed with the group. While he will not financially reward them for rescuing his son, he is very willing to provide them employment, or at least assignments. He will also provide contacts and favors for the party as well.

What happens with the son? Well that is up to the GM. Very likely he will try to hang with the players until he reaches another major city (in any direction). He can provide some plot hooks in future adventures. Here is the way I see it. He can:

1. Determine to prove his worth to
a. Enact revenge on his father
b. Reconcile with is father
c. prove he is better than his father.

2. Determine to follow a different path
a. A life of doing good. Wealth was a source of woe, he now seeks a life of doing good works
b. A life of evil. Revenge on his father. Revenge on the adventures for taking his inheritance.
c. Start all over
1. Farmer
2. Adventurer







Random Occurance Table


Events Occurance (1d6)

1-5 No Event

6 Event



Event Severity (1d6)

1-5 Minor Event

6 Major Event



----------------------------------------


Minor Events (2d6)

2 Sudden Bad Weather - Lose Time*

3 Meet another Trading Party

4 Meet Patrol

5 Harassment (2d6 arrows shot randomly. OCV- 3)

6 Cart Mishap - Lose Time*

7 Animal Mishap - Lose Time*

8 Rockslide/Swollen creek, fallen tree - Lose Time*

9 Bad Weather - Lose Time*

10 Meet individual

11 Find Wagon remains

12 Illness. Make Con roll or lose 1d3 Str. Every day make a Con roll to recover 1 Str point.





Lose Time Chart

1-5 Lose 4 hours

6 Lose more time



Lose More Time Chart

1-5 1 Day

6 1d3 days. May need to destroy animal.





Major Events (1d6)

1 Wagon Broken - lose 1d6 days

2 Animal Injury - Destroy animal

3 Enemy attacks - 10+1d6 orcs or 1d3 Hill Giants

4 Major bad weather - Delay 1d3 +2 days

5 Major injury to NPC (but not to Synt'n, Captain or the Sergeant.

6. Injury to PC 1d6 body










Characters

===========================================

Cedwny

===========================================



Val Char Cost

9 STR -2

13 DEX 9

12 CON 4

11 BODY 2

18 INT 8

17 EGO 14

16 PRE 6

12 COM 1



4 PD 2

3 ED 1

3 SPD 7

4 REC 0

24 END 0

22 STUN 0



6" RUN 0

2" SWIM 0

1 1/2" LEAP 0

Characteristics Cost: 52







Cost Skill

15 High Society 18-

1 Language: Aerdi (idiomatic; Custom Adder, literate) (6 Active Points)

7 AK: Northern Nyr Dyv region 16-

3 AK: Veluna 12-

2 Language: Ferrond (fluent conversation)

1 Language: Orcish (basic conversation)

1 Triad Code Language: Any spoken tongue (basic conversation)

1 TF: Equines

1 WF: Blades

6 +2 Blades

0 Climbing 8-

0 Concealment 8-

0 Deduction 8-

3 Oratory 12-

0 Paramedics 8-

0 PS: Appraise (Custom Adder) 11-

3 Shadowing 13-

9 Acting 15-

3 Gambling 13-

7 Persuasion 14-

5 Conversation 13-

3 Bribery 12-

Skills Cost: 71



Cost Perk

2 Deep Cover

12 Contact (Contact has significant Contacts of his own, Very Good relationship with Contact), Organization Contact (x3) (12 Active Points) 8-

6 Reputation: Important Worker of Iuz (A medium-sized group) 14-, +3/+3d6

4 Fringe Benefit: Midlevel leader in Iuz organization

Perks Cost: 24





Total Character Cost: 147



Pts. Disadvantage

15 Reputation: Member of the Triad , 11- (Extreme)

15 Hunted: Country of Veluna 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Limited Geographical Area, Harshly Punish)

20 Psychological Limitation: Intrigue Junkie (Very Common, Strong)

10 Psychological Limitation: Aristocratic/Regal Attitude (Common, Moderate)

Disadvantage Points: 60

Base Points: 75

Experience Required: 12

Total Experience Available: 30

Experience Unspent: 18


===========================================

Heth

===========================================



Val Char Cost

18 STR 16

16 DEX 18

16 CON 12

15 BODY 10

12 INT 2

16 EGO 12

17 PRE 7

10 COM 0



8 PD 4

5 ED 2

4 SPD 14

7 REC 0

32 END 0

32 STUN 0



6" RUN 0

2" SWIM 0

3 1/2" LEAP 0

Characteristics Cost: 97





Cost Martial Arts Maneuver

4 Killing Strike: 1/2 Phase, -2 OCV, +0 DCV, HKA 4 DC

4 Martial Block: 1/2 Phase, +2 OCV, +2 DCV, Block, Abort

3 Takedown: 1/2 Phase, +1 OCV, +1 DCV, Weapon +4 DC Strike; Target Falls

4 Counterstrike: 1/2 Phase, +2 OCV, +2 DCV, Weapon +6 DC Strike, Must Follow Block

5 Offensive Strike: 1/2 Phase, -2 OCV, +1 DCV, Weapon +8 DC Strike

16 +4 HTH Damage Class(es)

Martial Arts Cost: 36



Cost Skill

7 WF: Common Melee Weapons, Common Missile Weapons, Flails, Garrote, Off Hand

10 +2 with Ranged Combat

12 +4 with Martial Maneuvers

7 Feint 14-

5 Defense Maneuver I-II

3 Fast Draw 12-

7 Tactics 13-

7 Acting 14-

0 Climbing 8-

0 Concealment 8-

0 Conversation 8-

0 Deduction 8-

0 Language: Ferrond (idiomatic) (4 Active Points)

2 Language: Aerdi (fluent conversation)

1 Triad Code Language: Any spoken tongue (basic conversation)

3 Paramedics 11-

3 Persuasion 12-

0 PS: Appraise (Custom Adder) 11-

0 Shadowing 8-

0 KS: Bandit Kingdom (Custom Adder) 11-

7 AK: Northern Nyr Dyv region 16-

3 AK: Veluna 12-

Skills Cost: 77



Cost Perk

12 Contact (Contact has significant Contacts of his own, Very Good relationship with Contact), Organization Contact (x3) (12 Active Points) 8-

6 Reputation: Important Worker of Iuz (A medium-sized group) 14-, +3/+3d6

4 Fringe Benefit: Midlevel leader in Iuz organization

Perks Cost: 22



Cost Talent

6 Lightning Reflexes: +4 DEX to act first with All Actions

3 Combat Ready

3 Bump Of Direction

Talents Cost: 12



Total Character Cost: 244



Pts. Disadvantage

20 Psychological Limitation: Always Obeys Orders (Very Common, Strong)

15 Reputation: Member of the Triad , 11- (Extreme)

15 Psychological Limitation: Always Goes Armed (Common, Strong)

15 Hunted: Country of Veluna 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Limited Geographical Area, Harshly Punish)

10 Social Limitation: Illiterate (Frequently, Minor)

15 Enraged: If team members are attacked (Uncommon), go 11-, recover 11-

Disadvantage Points: 90

Base Points: 75

Experience Required: 79

Total Experience Available: 79

Experience Unspent: 0


===========================================

Lewys

===========================================


Val Char Cost

13 STR 6

16 DEX 18

12 CON 4

12 BODY 4

16 INT 6

15 EGO 10

13 PRE 3

10 COM 0



6 PD 3

2 ED 0

4 SPD 14

5 REC 0

24 END 0

25 STUN 0



8" RUN 4

4" SWIM 2

2 1/2" LEAP 0

Characteristics Cost: 74







Cost Skill

11 Acting 16-

11 Persuasion 16-

7 Streetwise 14-

2 Navigation (Land) 12-

10 +2 with HTH Combat

5 Concealment 13-

3 Disguise 12-

3 Climbing 12-

3 Contortionist 12-

3 Lockpicking 12-

3 Mechanics 12-

0 Conversation 8-

0 Deduction 8-

0 Language (idiomatic) (4 Active Points)

0 Paramedics 8-

3 Trading 12-

4 TF: Carts & Carriages, Equines, One-Wheeled Muscle-Powered Ground Vehicles, Two-Wheeled Muscle-Powered Ground Vehicles

5 WF: Common Melee Weapons, Common Missile Weapons, Garrote

6 Survival (Temperate/Subtropical, Mountain, Urban) 12-

0 PS: Appraise (Custom Adder) 11-

0 Shadowing 8-

0 AK (Custom Adder) 11-

3 Interrogation 12-

3 Bribery 12-

7 AK: Northern Nyr Dyv region 16-

3 AK: Veluna 12-

Skills Cost: 95



Cost Perk

12 Contact (Contact has significant Contacts of his own, Very Good relationship with Contact), Organization Contact (x3) (12 Active Points) 8-

4 Fringe Benefit: Midlevel leader in Iuz organization

6 Reputation: Important Worker of Iuz (A medium-sized group) 14-, +3/+3d6

Perks Cost: 22



Cost Talent

5 Eidetic Memory

Talents Cost: 5



Total Character Cost: 196



Pts. Disadvantage

15 Reputation: Member of the Triad , 11- (Extreme)

15 Hunted: Country of Veluna 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Limited Geographical Area, Harshly Punish)

20 Psychological Limitation: Believes He Can Do No Wrong (Common, Total)

15 Psychological Limitation: Antagonistic And Mean (Common, Strong)

Disadvantage Points: 65

Base Points: 75

Experience Required: 56

Total Experience Available: 50

Experience Unspent: 0


===========================================
OwlBear

===========================================



Val Char Cost

30 STR 20

15 DEX 15

22 CON 24

20 BODY 20

8 INT -2

5 EGO -10

20 PRE 10

8 COM -1



10 PD 4

8 ED 4

3 SPD 5

10 REC 0

44 END 0

46 STUN 0



6" RUN 0

2" SWIM 0

6" LEAP 0

Characteristics Cost: 89



Cost Power

20 Bite: HKA 1d6+1 (2 1/2d6 w/STR)

20 Claws: HKA 1 1/2d6 (3d6+1 w/STR) (25 Active Points); Reduced Penetration (-1/4)

4 Growl: +10 PRE (10 Active Points); Only For Fear-Based Presence Attacks (-1), Incantations (must roar) (-1/4)

4 Tough Hide: Damage Resistance (4 PD/4 ED)

10 Fearfully Tough : Physical Damage Reduction, 25%

10 Fearfully Tough : Energy Damage Reduction, 25%

6 Heavy: Knockback Resistance -3"

2 Fur Coat: Life Support (Safe in Intense Cold)

12 Bear's Nose/Owl's Eyes: +4 PER with Smell/Taste Group and Normal Sight

5 Owl's Eyes: Nightvision

Powers Cost: 93





Cost Skill

10 +2 with HTH Combat

0 Climbing 8-

2 Concealment 11- (3 Active Points); Self Only (-1/2)

7 Tracking 13-

Skills Cost: 19







Total Character Cost: 201



Pts. Disadvantage

15 Physical Limitation: Animal Intelligence Frequently, Greatly Impairing

5 Physical Limitation: Large (up to 3m and 650 kg; -2 DCV, +2 to PER Rolls to perceive) Infrequently, Slightly Impairing

20 Psychological Limitation: Vile Temperment (Very Common, Strong)

10 Physical Limitation: Poor Hearing, suffers -2 to all Hearing PER Rolls Frequently, Slightly Impairing

5 Physical Limitation: Reduced Leap, can only leap 1" Infrequently, Slightly Impairing

15 Physical Limitation: Very Limited Manipulation Frequently, Greatly Impairing

Disadvantage Points: 70

Base Points: 75

Experience Required: 56

Total Experience Available: 6

Experience Unspent: 0[url][/url]


Last edited by azato on Mon May 26, 2008 6:13 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Posts: 25


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Mon May 26, 2008 5:49 pm  

Next revision. Quite a bit of new stuff. The formatting is messed up. When I am finished I will supply a link to download a Word file.

I added some characters but they are not in D&D format. If someone wishes to post a conversion that would be great.


The story begins when a local mercenary broker recommends you to Ziger Belvin, who seeks to increase his trade caravan's security. Over the years Ziger has become a man of reasonable means and is doing quite well in the Principality of Ulek. His greatest triumph is the negotiation with the Dwarves who have opened a new town in The Trail of Tears (found in the Lortmil Mountains) and the elves of Celene. Currently, he has plans an expedition to start from ***** and will end at Dyers. He has entrusted this venture to Synt’n Maygrith. Synt’n has ‘risen in the ranks’ over the last couple years and has been partially instrumental in Ziger’s success both in the negotiations and in managing some of the caravans. Synt’n’s leadership extends to his hand-picking of the entire crew. The efficiency in which Synt'n works allows Ziger to focus his energies in securing new partners and increasing his political influence locally.



The reason Ziger has taken a very personal part in hiring the characters is that he does not trust that Synt’n has a large enough troop strength to ensure safe passage for this latest venture. And he has good reason to be nervous since this is the shipment of goods (in value) to date. While Synt’n has convinced Ziger to take this economic gamble, his assurances to Ziger of having adequate manpower has not been successful. Ziger does not question Synt’n honesty but he does question his judgment on this point.



What Ziger does not realize that he should question Syntn’s integrity for Synt’n worked so hard to make Ziger successful to also win his confidence. This is the last caravan trip for Synt’n and he is going to steal it all. The loyalty of all the men-at-arms resides with Synt’n. They do not know of the duplicity that is about to happen and may well fulfill the whole mission without realizing anything is amiss. But, even so, they are being paid by Synt’n and if things complicated, they will expect a bonus.



Since Synt’n is getting out, he decided to go out with a bang. Not only is he stealing Ziger’s wealth from under his very nose, but Synt’n is going to add kidnapping to his crime. After all, he never expects to be going back to Ulek, so he may as well make the most out of his leaving. Synt’n has possession of Sojurt Neibart, the son of an influential merchant, Yarmen Neibart, from Furyondy. The young man will be leaving the country rolled up in a tapestry. Synt’n has a deal worked out to sell Sojurt to the Slavers. Their intention with the boy is to “wrong a slight” and to extort his family for money and favors.



The City in the Lortmils:


A private dwarven enterprise has set up the town, Elhak (“Goblin Bulwark), in the pass known as The Trail of Tears. The town was mainly founded by the three dwarven miner/explorers: Dwten, Werthal and Whuror. While they do maintain a large degree of control of the town, it is a private enterprise with 7-9 other major stockholders (the number varies depending on who is buying and selling shares at any particular time).



Elhak is still rather small, and its citizens are numbered in the low hundreds. While the town is owned by the company, all citizens are allowed to purchase shares. With increased shares comes greater rights as shares correlate to voting and hence influence. A certain number of shares correlates to "citizenship" and affords protection and rights not afforded to others.



To facilitate trade, two small forts were built at strategic location in the pass. These are, at best, are only a deterrent to small bands of brigands or humanoids. Currently the city remains mostly unmolested by humanoids and giants. Undoubtedly as trade and prosperity increases, so will the threat. The pass is very long and there are many places for malicious parties to hide.



The opening of this town, by itself, is of little value without trade. The company has been hard at work to establish trade on both sides of the mountain range. With the help of the humans and gnomes, the elves of Celene were convinced to trade to proceed along their border. They have a trade “outpost” located ***** for the exchange of merchandise, but they do not allow anybody to cross into their borders, nor do they allow the passage of suspicious caravans. They have no problem in applying martial force if necessary.



Note:

How did this town come to be? Dwten, Werthal and Whuror found in their travels an unusual and, so far, unexplained artifact. This oblong shaped rock gives the wielder the ability to form tunnels and manipulate rock. This power not only makes it easier to access rich veins but it also allows the quick building of fortified town. As the city fortifies itself, there may be another threat brewing as well. Dwten, Werthal and Whuror have never explained where they gained this “artifact”. And if anybody else knew the answer to that question, they may not feel so safe living in Elhak.



[note: Dwarven names generated by http://grey-starr.ca/Tools/random-male-dwarf-name.htm ]









The trip as Ziger believes is to go as follows:



From the Duchy of Ulek travel through a pass in the Lortmil Mountians to Celene

From Celene travel through the Iron Hills to Verbonic.

From Verbonic, by boat, to Dyvers.

At Dyvers the goods are to be given over to the trade associations’ broker. The broker will, for a fee, sell the goods with all money (minus the commission) going to Ziger’s account.





While Synt’n plans to journey to Dyvers, he will make sure that the goods never arrive there. He cannot sell the goods in Dyvers because he is easily recongnizable his suspicious activity will arouse suspicion. Ziger is a member of the merchants guild and the guild provides a brokerage service. Money made on the sales is deposited directly into the merchant's account (Zigler’s) and nobody else, not even Synt’n, can touch those monies.



Since Synt’n is known to work for Ziger he would arouse a great deal of suspicion if he was found trying to sell the goods outside the guild thus revealing to all his nefarious intent. But in Dyvers Synt’n does have access to a set amount of credit in Ziger's name to serve the purpose of covering various expenses that would have to be paid. Synt’n will hate to pass that up and will do what he can to drain that account.



How to shake the PCs:



#1 PAY THEM OFF



Once the party makes it through the Lortmil Mountains, Synt’n will try to pay the adventures off by offering to give them, at that point, their FULL PAY plus 20%. If pressed he gives the following reasons:



1. They can have all their pay plus extra without having to perform the extra work.
2. He feels that the extra people unnecessarily burden his caravan resources.
3. The have already passed the greatest danger, even ambush while traveling through the mountain pass.
4. The adventures are an insult to him and his honor. They are more than was what he judged for the mission and he does not appreciate being second-guessed – even by his boss.
5. He does not trust the adventurers. They are not part of his hand-picked banned and their loyalties are suspect. It is so easy for things to come up missing and he would rather limit the number of people with access to the goods.



#2 Lock Them Up



If that doesn’t work, upon reaching the town of Hommlet Synt’n will slyly suggest that the party encamp in the abandoned, collapsing castle as this would prove to be a very defensible position should they be attacked. This is very convincing since the caravan is heading into unsafe areas. Once the caravan arrives at te abandoned keep he will propose that the entire group of adventures (and not any of his soldiers) check the lower-level for brigands. If the adventures seem a bit nervous, he will state the purpose is for the them to “lead” the entire party. Once our adventures head down the stairs, Synt’n will simply close and barricade the door leaving them there. After a certain number of days, the party will be found by a band of rangers who are heading through the area. They will not aid the party except to free them of their prison and information.



#3 Knock Them Out



If the ploy in Hommlet does not work, he will attempt a “blind-side” them on the way to Sobanwych. He will drive the main wagon forward while the mercenaries ambush the adventures. If the ambush succeeds he will, if possible, have them bound up and thrown into the woods. They will be found after a few days by some villager traveling between towns.It is not Synt’n’s intent to kill the adventures (killing since it makes situations too “messy”) but he will, if it becomes necessary.





Order of Events

Travel to the Lortmil Mountians (70 leagues) 12 days of Travel plus 2 days to rest and trade.

Purchase To Sell at city in Lortmil: Lumber (quality hardwood), jerky, dried fruit, dried peas, ponies.

Purchase to sell to Gnomes: Cloth

Purchase to sell at Dyvers: Tapestries



Purchase at city in Lortmil to sell at Celene: Silver ingots, iron dwarven weapons (for sale to the gnomes), rough gemstones.

Purchase at gnomish city:

Fine furniture, tools.



Travel to city Enstad in Celene (10 leagues) 1 day forced march. Plus 1 day to rest and 1 day for trade. Sell silver ingots, raw gems, purchase finished fine silverwork and tapestries.)



Travel to the Iron Hills (20 leagues). 3 days.



Travel through the Iron Hills (30 leagues) 5 days plus one day trading in Kron after traveling through the hills. Sell horse and wagon, fine furniture, Dwarvish tapestries from Urlek.)



Travel to Hommlet (4 leagues) 1 day . Plus 1 day of rest. Planned forced march to Sobanwych and then Caltaran. Planned diversion to be rid of Adventures.











If he rids himself of the adventures he will go directly to Verbonic as planned, selling the horses and wagons and transporting the rest via ship.



If not he will take the land route through the Gnarley Forest. He will send a mercenary on to Verbobonc to let he ship know to meet up with him in Caltaran.



Travel to Sobanwych. (6 leagues) 1 day. This gives them time to rest up for the next day’s forced march.



Travel to Caltaran (10 leagues) 1 day, forced march. Here Synt'n will meet up with the ship and finish his journey to Dyvers. The horses and carts will be sold here.





Once in Dyvers, Synt’n will draw money from an account that Ziger has given him access. The money is enough to cover the payment of the caravan workers and guards as well as a little extra. Synt’n will not sell any of the goods here as it would draw too much attention. He will keep as low a profile as possible. Captain Aydec, sergeant Juacy and 5 others will go with the ship. The rest of the mercenaries will furlough in Dyvers.



From Dyvers Synt'n and crew will travel NE around The Great Southern Peninsula. As he rounds the bend there is a secret cove, the ship, via rowboat, will unload the prisoner to the slaver's cove in exchange for a voucher. From here the ship will travel to Fort Harbor, in which the ship will unload/load it normal goods. Next will be the trip down the Selintan River to Greyhawk. This is the final destination for Synt’n. The Elvin silverworks will be sold and he will cash in his payment (voucher) for delivering the prisoner.





Clues that something is amiss:

1. Synt’n is overly cautious (almost paranoid) about the good in his wagon. While of value, they are not as valuable as other good in the caravan.
2. If the adventures can get a good peek in the rolled up tapestry they will see the body of the hostage.
3. Given a certain amount of time the tapestry will start to stain and stink.
4. Every few days Synt’n will need to unroll the tapestry give the hostage some fluids and nourishment. To anybody seeing this, it will be real obvious that something is really wrong. To accomplish this, Synt’n will send the adventures way ahead to "reconnoiter".
5. If Synt’n hasn’t rid himself of the adventures by the stay in Hommlet, he will become extremely agitated. The sudden change in travel plans followed by some lame excuse should seem very odd to our adventurers.





Captain Aydec mercenaries



Aydec has been a successful soldier and he has turned that experience into the forming of a successful mercenary band. His experience in war has made him a very cautious man. He is not inclined to get into overly dangerous contracts. He wants to live a long life and have a sizeable estate to one day "retire" to. He has found the protection of caravans proves to provide the best economic return while minimizing economic and physical risk.



Aydec lives by strong 'ethical' code and seeks to honor the terms of his contracts. While not an overly legalistic interpreter of his contracts, he is not afraid to abide strictly by its dictates when it makes good sense to do so.



Aydec has economically involved himself with Synt’n and therefore Aydec's loyalty (to a point) is tied to this Synt'n. He knows that Synt’n is involved in some shady dealings even the transportation of a semi-conscious individual. However, Aydec feels that it is none of his business and will not inquire into what is going on. He was hired for a job and the rest is 'none of his business'.



Regarding the player characters – Aydec has a neutral attitude toward the adventurers. If rewarded sufficiently he will take the party out of action but is very much against killing them. Dealing with the PC is beyond the scope of Aydec's contract, and Synt’n will have to pay him well to violate the ethic. If it comes down to killing the PC's, Aydec will demand a very HIGH payment but he will seek to talk Synt'n out of such actions.



Aydec and his men will valiantly guard caravan and Synt’n against all harm UNLESS they face a particular country’s proper authorities. They will not fight "the law". Also, they will abandon the cause if the situation proves to be completely hopeless.





This scenario could play out a number of different ways. No matter what happens, the Aydec sees whatever any action that happens between his company and the adventurers as strictly business. If he were to meet this party in the future he may even offer them help or even employment even if the last time they met he ambushed them.







Clues for adventures to find Synt’n:

1. Every city he travels to knows of his general arrival and departure.
2. Bar patron in Hommlet knows of the general route Synt’n plans. One of the mercenaries “spilled the beans” in regards to the itinerary. The patron does not know of the nefarious situation at hand.
3. Which ever city they disembark from will contain some news about the boat’s being loaded and the next port of call. Also if the adventures go into the market, they will recognized some of the livestock and carts being auctioned off. Synt’n did not wait to haggle for the highest amount but will sell them for the best price he can get withing his limited time frame. The buyer will, of course, get a great bargain.
4. If enough time is spent in Dyvers, the adventurers can find some of Aydec’s mercenaries furloughed there. If they can apply the proper economic incentive (perhaps even plying with liquor) the adveturers will come to understand the general area Synt’n is headed as well as the existence of the mysterious stranger who was stowed in the tapistry (general detail, they have no idea who he was. Synt’n told them a wild story about this man’s situation that they neither believed nor questioned. Since they have been paid and have fulfilled their contract, they feel no loyalty to keep the secret.







Maps



http://www.canonfire.com/cf/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=TopRated





While riding point our hardy adventures finds a very interesting sight – that of three men fleeing from an enraged owlbear (or two depending on the number of adventures) chasing three men who are fleeing for the lives. Presumably heroes will jump right in and save this intrepid trio. Once the battle is one, they will have time to evaluate these three grateful men. Two of the men, Cedwyn and Heth, are wearing very fine clothing, although the clothing is torn and stained. The clothing is from the court of Veluna. Based on the state of their clothing and their somewhat haggard faces these men have been running hard for quite awhile. The story that they give our adventures is that they are diplomats from Veluna on a very important mission to relay some critical information to the leadership in Dyvers concerning a mole located within their court. Haste is of the utmost concern since lives are in the balance even the fiancée of one of Cedwyn. They mentioned that in their haste they failed to take the appropriate security precautions (the route they took and failing to bring soldiers along) were ambushed by bandits in the Welkwood forest. They have nothing on-hand with which to reward the adventurers and they will, in fact, solicit whatever goods and monies that the adventures will give them to help fund their flight. The trio assures them that their good deeds will not go unrewarded. They are certain that their “disappearance” will lead local officials to send soldiers to look for them. Cedwyn tells the adventurers can expect a great reward if they explain to the soldiers how the players saved the three AND have enabled their further travels. Cedwyn even gives them a codeword to use to verify their story.



But their story is a complete lie. These three are in fact spies for Iuz who in order to protect their work and the moles they set up were forced to perform some assassinations and blow their cover. They were captured for a brief time but have escaped. Their intent is to head to Blackthorn Caverns in the Gnarley Forest. Our intrepid heroes have, by their good deeds enabled, this nefarious trio to escape justice. As Cedwyn stated, a band of soldiers will indeed be looking for them. If the adventurers explain the situation to the soldiers, they will bring immediate suspicion as indicated by the drawing of swords followed by an interrogation. After explaining themselves they will be released.



The purpose of this encounter is to set the stage for future encounters.. These three will be responsible for much of the intrigue that will cause the fall of some nations during the Greyhawk Wars.





Some more information:
The adventurers may decide to take the kidnapee, Sojurt Neibart, to his home city **** to collect some reward money (or maybe out of duty). Probably to everyone's surprise, that while the father is glad to see is son out of danger, he is none to pleased with his son for Sojurt has been playing the prodigal (wasteful) son for quite some time. The father will pay the adventures for rescuing his son but it will be out of what remains of the son's inheritance ($15,000 converted to your favorite currency - for me 1 silver = $10. 1 day's wage of a laborer = 2-3 silver). By discharging his son's remaining money, THE FATHER ***** demonstrates in a very dramatic way that he absolves himself of any further responsibility for his son. During a very dramatic scene, the father declares that the son has to find his own way now. Sojurt can expect no further assistance and is, in effect, cast out. While the father still deeply cares for his son, he realizes that unless drastic action is taken, his son will continue down the path of ruin. The is the possiblity of future reconciliation. The father will still keep secret tabs on his son, and will even aid him covertly if his son does start to get he "act together".


The father is very impressed with the group. While he will not financially reward them for rescuing his son, he is very willing to provide them employment, or at least assignments. He will also provide contacts and favors for the party as well.

What happens with the son? Well that is up to the GM. Very likely he will try to hang with the players until he reaches another major city (in any direction). He can provide some plot hooks in future adventures. Here is the way I see it. He can:

1. Determine to prove his worth to
a. Enact revenge on his father
b. Reconcile with is father
c. prove he is better than his father.

2. Determine to follow a different path
a. A life of doing good. Wealth was a source of woe, he now seeks a life of doing good works
b. A life of evil. Revenge on his father. Revenge on the adventures for taking his inheritance.
c. Start all over
1. Farmer
2. Adventurer







Random Occurance Table


Events Occurance (1d6)

1-5 No Event

6 Event



Event Severity (1d6)

1-5 Minor Event

6 Major Event



----------------------------------------


Minor Events (2d6)

2 Sudden Bad Weather - Lose Time*

3 Meet another Trading Party

4 Meet Patrol

5 Harassment (2d6 arrows shot randomly. OCV- 3)

6 Cart Mishap - Lose Time*

7 Animal Mishap - Lose Time*

8 Rockslide/Swollen creek, fallen tree - Lose Time*

9 Bad Weather - Lose Time*

10 Meet individual

11 Find Wagon remains

12 Illness. Make Con roll or lose 1d3 Str. Every day make a Con roll to recover 1 Str point.





Lose Time Chart

1-5 Lose 4 hours

6 Lose more time



Lose More Time Chart

1-5 1 Day

6 1d3 days. May need to destroy animal.





Major Events (1d6)

1 Wagon Broken - lose 1d6 days

2 Animal Injury - Destroy animal

3 Enemy attacks - 10+1d6 orcs or 1d3 Hill Giants

4 Major bad weather - Delay 1d3 +2 days

5 Major injury to NPC (but not to Synt'n, Captain or the Sergeant.

6. Injury to PC 1d6 body










Characters

===========================================

Cedwny

===========================================



Val Char Cost

9 STR -2

13 DEX 9

12 CON 4

11 BODY 2

18 INT 8

17 EGO 14

16 PRE 6

12 COM 1



4 PD 2

3 ED 1

3 SPD 7

4 REC 0

24 END 0

22 STUN 0



6" RUN 0

2" SWIM 0

1 1/2" LEAP 0

Characteristics Cost: 52







Cost Skill

15 High Society 18-

1 Language: Aerdi (idiomatic; Custom Adder, literate) (6 Active Points)

7 AK: Northern Nyr Dyv region 16-

3 AK: Veluna 12-

2 Language: Ferrond (fluent conversation)

1 Language: Orcish (basic conversation)

1 Triad Code Language: Any spoken tongue (basic conversation)

1 TF: Equines

1 WF: Blades

6 +2 Blades

0 Climbing 8-

0 Concealment 8-

0 Deduction 8-

3 Oratory 12-

0 Paramedics 8-

0 PS: Appraise (Custom Adder) 11-

3 Shadowing 13-

9 Acting 15-

3 Gambling 13-

7 Persuasion 14-

5 Conversation 13-

3 Bribery 12-

Skills Cost: 71



Cost Perk

2 Deep Cover

12 Contact (Contact has significant Contacts of his own, Very Good relationship with Contact), Organization Contact (x3) (12 Active Points) 8-

6 Reputation: Important Worker of Iuz (A medium-sized group) 14-, +3/+3d6

4 Fringe Benefit: Midlevel leader in Iuz organization

Perks Cost: 24





Total Character Cost: 147



Pts. Disadvantage

15 Reputation: Member of the Triad , 11- (Extreme)

15 Hunted: Country of Veluna 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Limited Geographical Area, Harshly Punish)

20 Psychological Limitation: Intrigue Junkie (Very Common, Strong)

10 Psychological Limitation: Aristocratic/Regal Attitude (Common, Moderate)

Disadvantage Points: 60

Base Points: 75

Experience Required: 12

Total Experience Available: 30

Experience Unspent: 18


===========================================

Heth

===========================================



Val Char Cost

18 STR 16

16 DEX 18

16 CON 12

15 BODY 10

12 INT 2

16 EGO 12

17 PRE 7

10 COM 0



8 PD 4

5 ED 2

4 SPD 14

7 REC 0

32 END 0

32 STUN 0



6" RUN 0

2" SWIM 0

3 1/2" LEAP 0

Characteristics Cost: 97





Cost Martial Arts Maneuver

4 Killing Strike: 1/2 Phase, -2 OCV, +0 DCV, HKA 4 DC

4 Martial Block: 1/2 Phase, +2 OCV, +2 DCV, Block, Abort

3 Takedown: 1/2 Phase, +1 OCV, +1 DCV, Weapon +4 DC Strike; Target Falls

4 Counterstrike: 1/2 Phase, +2 OCV, +2 DCV, Weapon +6 DC Strike, Must Follow Block

5 Offensive Strike: 1/2 Phase, -2 OCV, +1 DCV, Weapon +8 DC Strike

16 +4 HTH Damage Class(es)

Martial Arts Cost: 36



Cost Skill

7 WF: Common Melee Weapons, Common Missile Weapons, Flails, Garrote, Off Hand

10 +2 with Ranged Combat

12 +4 with Martial Maneuvers

7 Feint 14-

5 Defense Maneuver I-II

3 Fast Draw 12-

7 Tactics 13-

7 Acting 14-

0 Climbing 8-

0 Concealment 8-

0 Conversation 8-

0 Deduction 8-

0 Language: Ferrond (idiomatic) (4 Active Points)

2 Language: Aerdi (fluent conversation)

1 Triad Code Language: Any spoken tongue (basic conversation)

3 Paramedics 11-

3 Persuasion 12-

0 PS: Appraise (Custom Adder) 11-

0 Shadowing 8-

0 KS: Bandit Kingdom (Custom Adder) 11-

7 AK: Northern Nyr Dyv region 16-

3 AK: Veluna 12-

Skills Cost: 77



Cost Perk

12 Contact (Contact has significant Contacts of his own, Very Good relationship with Contact), Organization Contact (x3) (12 Active Points) 8-

6 Reputation: Important Worker of Iuz (A medium-sized group) 14-, +3/+3d6

4 Fringe Benefit: Midlevel leader in Iuz organization

Perks Cost: 22



Cost Talent

6 Lightning Reflexes: +4 DEX to act first with All Actions

3 Combat Ready

3 Bump Of Direction

Talents Cost: 12



Total Character Cost: 244



Pts. Disadvantage

20 Psychological Limitation: Always Obeys Orders (Very Common, Strong)

15 Reputation: Member of the Triad , 11- (Extreme)

15 Psychological Limitation: Always Goes Armed (Common, Strong)

15 Hunted: Country of Veluna 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Limited Geographical Area, Harshly Punish)

10 Social Limitation: Illiterate (Frequently, Minor)

15 Enraged: If team members are attacked (Uncommon), go 11-, recover 11-

Disadvantage Points: 90

Base Points: 75

Experience Required: 79

Total Experience Available: 79

Experience Unspent: 0


===========================================

Lewys

===========================================


Val Char Cost

13 STR 6

16 DEX 18

12 CON 4

12 BODY 4

16 INT 6

15 EGO 10

13 PRE 3

10 COM 0



6 PD 3

2 ED 0

4 SPD 14

5 REC 0

24 END 0

25 STUN 0



8" RUN 4

4" SWIM 2

2 1/2" LEAP 0

Characteristics Cost: 74







Cost Skill

11 Acting 16-

11 Persuasion 16-

7 Streetwise 14-

2 Navigation (Land) 12-

10 +2 with HTH Combat

5 Concealment 13-

3 Disguise 12-

3 Climbing 12-

3 Contortionist 12-

3 Lockpicking 12-

3 Mechanics 12-

0 Conversation 8-

0 Deduction 8-

0 Language (idiomatic) (4 Active Points)

0 Paramedics 8-

3 Trading 12-

4 TF: Carts & Carriages, Equines, One-Wheeled Muscle-Powered Ground Vehicles, Two-Wheeled Muscle-Powered Ground Vehicles

5 WF: Common Melee Weapons, Common Missile Weapons, Garrote

6 Survival (Temperate/Subtropical, Mountain, Urban) 12-

0 PS: Appraise (Custom Adder) 11-

0 Shadowing 8-

0 AK (Custom Adder) 11-

3 Interrogation 12-

3 Bribery 12-

7 AK: Northern Nyr Dyv region 16-

3 AK: Veluna 12-

Skills Cost: 95



Cost Perk

12 Contact (Contact has significant Contacts of his own, Very Good relationship with Contact), Organization Contact (x3) (12 Active Points) 8-

4 Fringe Benefit: Midlevel leader in Iuz organization

6 Reputation: Important Worker of Iuz (A medium-sized group) 14-, +3/+3d6

Perks Cost: 22



Cost Talent

5 Eidetic Memory

Talents Cost: 5



Total Character Cost: 196



Pts. Disadvantage

15 Reputation: Member of the Triad , 11- (Extreme)

15 Hunted: Country of Veluna 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Limited Geographical Area, Harshly Punish)

20 Psychological Limitation: Believes He Can Do No Wrong (Common, Total)

15 Psychological Limitation: Antagonistic And Mean (Common, Strong)

Disadvantage Points: 65

Base Points: 75

Experience Required: 56

Total Experience Available: 50

Experience Unspent: 0


===========================================
OwlBear

===========================================



Val Char Cost

30 STR 20

15 DEX 15

22 CON 24

20 BODY 20

8 INT -2

5 EGO -10

20 PRE 10

8 COM -1



10 PD 4

8 ED 4

3 SPD 5

10 REC 0

44 END 0

46 STUN 0



6" RUN 0

2" SWIM 0

6" LEAP 0

Characteristics Cost: 89



Cost Power

20 Bite: HKA 1d6+1 (2 1/2d6 w/STR)

20 Claws: HKA 1 1/2d6 (3d6+1 w/STR) (25 Active Points); Reduced Penetration (-1/4)

4 Growl: +10 PRE (10 Active Points); Only For Fear-Based Presence Attacks (-1), Incantations (must roar) (-1/4)

4 Tough Hide: Damage Resistance (4 PD/4 ED)

10 Fearfully Tough : Physical Damage Reduction, 25%

10 Fearfully Tough : Energy Damage Reduction, 25%

6 Heavy: Knockback Resistance -3"

2 Fur Coat: Life Support (Safe in Intense Cold)

12 Bear's Nose/Owl's Eyes: +4 PER with Smell/Taste Group and Normal Sight

5 Owl's Eyes: Nightvision

Powers Cost: 93





Cost Skill

10 +2 with HTH Combat

0 Climbing 8-

2 Concealment 11- (3 Active Points); Self Only (-1/2)

7 Tracking 13-

Skills Cost: 19







Total Character Cost: 201



Pts. Disadvantage

15 Physical Limitation: Animal Intelligence Frequently, Greatly Impairing

5 Physical Limitation: Large (up to 3m and 650 kg; -2 DCV, +2 to PER Rolls to perceive) Infrequently, Slightly Impairing

20 Psychological Limitation: Vile Temperment (Very Common, Strong)

10 Physical Limitation: Poor Hearing, suffers -2 to all Hearing PER Rolls Frequently, Slightly Impairing

5 Physical Limitation: Reduced Leap, can only leap 1" Infrequently, Slightly Impairing

15 Physical Limitation: Very Limited Manipulation Frequently, Greatly Impairing

Disadvantage Points: 70

Base Points: 75

Experience Required: 56

Total Experience Available: 6

Experience Unspent: 0
Black Hand of Oblivion

Joined: Feb 16, 2003
Posts: 3837
From: So. Cal

Send private message
Mon May 26, 2008 7:49 pm  

FYI: for anybody who doesn't know, the crunchy rules bitz here look to be the Fantasy HERO rules sytem.

Thread title corrected.

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