Episode One: Sea and Storm
1st things 1st: explain to the players that
their characters have been captured by slavers
who took away all their interesting gear when
they were captured. The characters are left
with their breeches and tunics, or robes, and
nothing else -- no boots, no belts, no cloaks,
no hats, no money or weapons or special gear.
Now, describe to them the following situation:
| Separately and collectively, you've all
fallen into the hands of pirate slavers Most of you remember it this way: You
And, suddenly, you heard a thrashing in
When you awoke, you were in the dark,
You were sick from the blow to your
A few days after you woke up, the ship
That was yesterday. You haven't seen
Right Now, as you're waiting for some
The bow of the galley is shattered by the
A moment later, there's once again only
|
During the narration, the players may wish
to interrupt--to ask questions, to try to break
their chains with brute strength
or pick them,
to converse with one another, etc.
Let them. Answer the questions to which
they can reasonably be expected to find answers
Let them converse with Hafkris if they
really feel like dealing with an odious,
obnoxious,
and psychotic slaver pirate.
He will let
them know in no uncertain terms that he is in
charge of the "meat" or "walking cargo" --
that is, the captured PCs and
NPCs. If one of the characters mouths off to
him, Hafkris will take off his belt and lash the
character repeatedly, doing a total of 2 HP
of damage to the character before leaving
off. He tells the characters they are bound
for Westhaven, the "greatest pirate city in the
world," where they will be sold as slaves.
They can't break their chains. The shackles
were, after all, designed to hold people, even
the strongest of people. (And the characters
are chained to their bunks in such a way that
they can't get any leverage against the chains,
so even a vaunted 18/00 Strength
is
irrelevant -- no leverage, no strength.)
Nor can they pick their chains. The lack of
lock picks, the darkness of the hold,
and their
inability to bring their hands together utterly
prevent this.
They can TALK with one another. After the
2nd group of slaves is taken away, the only
characters left in the hold are all the PCs and 1 NPC --
Melisana, who describes herself as the daughter
of Melkeras, a
wealthy merchant of the
large Island of Ventris.
(For more about Melisana, read ahead in
this episode.) <link>
As soon as you can dispose of the questions,
continue on with the narration until you?ve
ended it.
Immediately after the crash, the characters
are going to be trying their chains to see if any
of their bunks are damaged enough for them
to break free.
The answer is YES: 1 character's bunk was
buckled by the impact with the boulder, and
he can (after a few moments of pulling) yank
his chains free of his bunk. The shackles and
about 8 inches of chain still dangle from his
wrists. (To decide which character is free, either
roll 1d6 for each character and take the
highest roller, or choose the most peaceable
and physically unthrcatcning character, because
he might not be seeing as much action
later as the huskier characters: or use Melisana,
to give the characters some reason to be
grateful to her.)
The free character can take some blocks of
wood and spend about 45 minutes prying the
others free; however, it's much faster, and easier
just to grab that ring of keys and free the
rest. (If the characters don't think of it, let
Melisana come up with the idea -- but give
them enough Time to think of it themselves.)
The ring of keys is still hanging on its hook.
If the characters look around the hold for
weapons or gear, they find very little. They
can find some pieces of wood that are basically
equivalent to <bats> (and remember
that, since
most don't have proficiency with a <bat>, they
will be striking with a non-proficiency penalty.
Give them a flat -4 non-proficiency penalty;
that may get worse or better later on,
when they've chosen a character class).
Their chains can be used as weapons, but
they are not very good ones, doing as much
damage as a dart (1-3, 1-2).
There are no blankets in the hold. The characters
are wearing all of their clothing, their
boots and cloaks are long gone, taken by the
slavers.
The slave hold runs about 2/3 of the
length of the galley, from the
bow to about
1/3 of the way to the stern. 1 ^hatch^
leads to the deck. If they try it, it is immovable
(they won't know it immediately, but the
mast has fallen across it). The only other exit is
the huge hole torn open at the bow.
Characters who walk to the hole in the
galley
to look around will be met first of all with a
renewed blast of bone-chillingly cold
air and
driving rain. When they look outside, they see
a gray world.
The ship ran aground on a beach. On this
side of the beach, craggy rocks and cliffs rise
40 or 50 feet. The cliff descends
as it continues
down the beach, until it's no more than a line
of rocks a few feet high at the far end.
You, the DM, can look at the DM's map <link>
of the island to see the precise
point where the galley has run aground.
The sky is blackly overcast, but the characters
will think it's still daytime. The wind
is
sharp and fierce, blowing rain droplets so hard
that they seem like hailstones.
And, out there on the beach, perhaps 30'
from the galley, staggering up and down
the beach, is Hafkris. He has his BROADSWORD
at his side; he's marching up and down the
beach like a soldier on parade, singing grotesque
sailor-songs; the PCs can
hear snatches of the songs whenever the wind
shifts in their direction. He can't see the characters
while they are in the darkness of the
hold, but if they MOVE out onto the sands of
the beach he will be able to spot them instantly.
Let the characters discuss among themselves
what they wish to do about Hafkris. Hafkris,
from his attitude, has shown them that he
thinks of them as meat to be sold--he won't
be responsive to offers of common-sense cooperation.
He will either shackle them again |or|
kill them. Tell the players this if they discuss
talking to Hafkris.
The characters should arrive at the conclusion
that they must either kill him, capture
him, or FLEE from him. All these approaches
are equally worthwhile.
Right Now, Hafkris is drunk out of his
mind, wandering up and down the beach simply
to be off the galley that failed
him and his
companions, and trying to figure out what to
do -- a difficult task for one of his limited
mental abilities.
Hafkris is the sole survivor of the galley's
crew. The captain was a complete lunatic, sailing
so far from land in the storm season; the
captain was the last to go, after all the other
pirates had been washed overboard,
after all
the slaves brought up to man the oars were
washed overboard. The captain wasn't washed
overboard: Hafkris threw him. The murder
doesn't bother him in the least; he simply
wishes he'd done it before the captain managed
to strand Hafkris on this gods-forsaken
rock so far from Westhaven.
Hafkris has managed to keep from going
completely crazy these last 2 days by getting
thoroughly drunk. Now that he's on
land, he
intends to wander around on the beach until
he gets his land legs again (sobers up, rather).
That will be a couple of hours. At that Time,
he climbs back up into the galley, gets his
crossbow, and checks out the hold to see
how <heavy?>
many of the walking cargo survived. Once he
is sure that the slaves are still safely chained in
place, he begins exploring to see where they
ran aground and to find some shelter.
If the characters decide to attack Hafkris,
they must decide how to do it. They may lure
him into the cargo bay and bash him over the
head when he enters. They may charge
out in
a pack and try to bring him down.
Let them
decide how to go about it.
After a few more minutes of observation,
they will be able to tell that he is drunk
to the
gills. This should prompt them to attack or
ambush him quickly, as it would be easier to
overpower him when he is drunk. If they
choose NOT to do so during the time he walks
up and down the beach, sobering up, that's
their choice, but it's probably not a good one.
If they decide to ambush him or attack him
before he's sobered up, find out exactly how
they want to go about it; set up the surroundings
and terrain where they've decided to attack
him; and run the combat through until
one side or the other is defeated. Remember
to use the "to hit" penalty that Hafkris suffers
from being drunk; it's given below, under
"Hafkris," with his character stats.
If the characters wait until he's sober, he
clambers up into the galley again,
walks to the
stern hold, retrieves his <heavy> crossbow,
and descends
into the hold through the hole in the
hull. They could ambush him at this point,
too, but he's cold sober and armed with a
crossbow in addition to his <BROADSWORD>,
so it's not
the best choice of times to attack.
If the characters kill Hafkris when they attack,
they have accomplished their first kill.
They have his gear, listed below under
"Hafkris," and a rather ugly
corpse. They also
can study the galley at their leisure.
If they attack to subdue and capture
him
alive, he is surly but not insulting -- he would
rather be alive than dead -- and is willing to
tell them what happened to the pirates
and
the other slaves. He knows no more about this
place than the PCs do.
If the Characters are Defeated
If the characters are defeated by Hafkris
(but not all killed), Hafkris chains the surviving
characters back to their bunks, grabs the
ring of keys, and departs on his SEARCH for shelter
and information.
Hafkris will be GONE for quite some Time
--
long enough for some other PC
(you determine who, randomly) to gradually
pry his chains loose of his bunk. This character
's bunk had been damaged, but not as severely
as the other one, meaning it takes him
at least an hour of straining, but he can indeed
free himself
Once free, the character can USE other
blocks of wood to pry the other surviving characters
free.
Once these characters are all free, they can
continue doing as the wished to. Give the
"When Things Go Wrong" appendix a QUICK
LOOK to find out how you can introduce new
PCs into the adventure (to replace
those that might have died in the attack
on Hafkris) and continue on with "The
Galley,
" below.
Hafkris is a half-orc _ Vet
with
unexceptional abilities. His combat statistics
are:
AC: 6 (studded leather + 15 DEX)
HD: 1
hp: 6
MV: 9"
#AT: 1 (BROADSWORD)
Dmg: 2-8/2-7
THACO: 20
AL: NE
<drunk>
Languages: Common, NE.
Secondary skill: sailor.
Weapon Proficiencies: <broad
sword>, dagger, <heavy
crossbow>, pike.
Equipment: studded
leather, BROADSWORD,
dagger; (after reaching stern
hold)
heavy
crossbow, 10 quarrels
While he's drunk, Hafkris has a -3 penalty
"to hit" whenever he attacks - in effect, his
THAC0 is 23 while he's drunk For every 40 <x>
minutes the characters wait, his THAC0 drops
by 1 until he reaches his normal 20 after 2
hours.
If he's defeated, of course, the PCs
can salvage his equipment. If they forget
to, don't remind them (after all, their
characters are supposed to be new at this).
If the characters choose to WAIT until they
have a chance to "make a break for it,"
their
chance will eventually come.
Once Hafkris has sobered sufficiently, as
mentioned, he climbs back into the
galley and
begins rooting through the stern compartment
for his <heavy> crossbow
and quarrels. This takes
a couple of minutes and gives the characters
plenty of Time to reach the western
edge of the
cove, where they can clamber over the low
rocks and escape.
If the characters do this, go straight to "Melisana
" and "Exposure," below.
If the characters leave the hold but decide
to climb the nearer cliff-face,
tell them before
they begin that it will take a long Time
to
climb to the top and to safety: long enough
for Hafkris to finish what he's doing and spot
them, certainly.
If they decide to do it anyway, Hafkris
emerges from the stern hold with his crossbow,
spots the characters before they get halfway
up, and shoots at them until they decide
to surrender and descend. He has plenty of <quarrels/bolts>
in the hold. This will probably lead back
to "If the Characters are Defeated," above.
If the characters do defeat or kill Hafkris,
they have plenty of Time and opportunity
to
SEARCH the galley.
This galley is a typical Korinn
Archipelago
galley. It is about 60 feet long, with 10 two-man
oar benches down each side. Obviously,
it carries a rowing complement of 40 men plus
a captain and a steersman.
The galley has (had, rather) a single
mast.
The sail was furled when the squall hit, and
the mast snapped to come crashing down on
deck mere minutes before the ship ran
aground.
The galley had no forecastle or
sterncastle.
2 hatches open into the holds; the forward
hatch, now covered by the fallen mast, opens
into the forward hold (where the PCs
were chained) and the aft hatch opens
into a small aft hold.
This hold is in no better shape than the forward
hold. The collision with the boulders to
starboard tore open a huge part of the
galley's
hull here, and the bottom of the hold is
swamped in sea-water. This hold is still partly
in the water.
There's NOT much to be found here -- specifically,
the following items:
4 broken barrels which have spilled wine
and ale everywhere;
Dozens of sacks of grain, soaked with wine.
ale, seawater, and rainwater, all useless;
50 quarrels for Hafkris's heavy
crossbow (40,
if he's already removed a <cases'> worth);
A heavy crossbow (unless Hafkris has already
removed it);
A chest. In the chest, undamaged, are the <chest=x>
captain's log (scribed in a written form of
Thieves' Cant, which none of the players
can read yet); navigational charts (including
one indicating the galley's destination,
a hitherto-unknown pirate
stronghold on
the north coast of Pandira Island), and a <link>
book.
The book is a spell book, written in Common,
which contains two 1st level spells:
magic missile and sleep.
When the characters
first look at it, the esoteric text won't make
any sense to them, but they have the feeling
that they could make sense out of it if they
had some Time to really read it.
If they continue reading it when they have
some time available, they can be considered to
be studying it, as described in the DMs Introduction.
Experience
Award experience immediately for
this part
of the adventure -- the characters, as we've
mentioned, need all the help they can get.
1st, an important note: since you don't
know what class the characters will be taking,
the characters cannot receive any experience
bonus for having a high prime requisite.
Award the characters experience for every
enemy they killed (or captured) and for all
"treasure" they acquired. For this episode:
Hafkris is worth 18 XP, divided
between the characters who fought him.
Hafkris's gear is worth 53 XP
(and 53 gp). <XP for non-magical gear?>
The chest and its charts seem to be worth 1
gp, except for the magic book, which
is by itself
worth 200 XP.
Divide all experience among all PCs
who were present when the treasure
was
obtained or the monster overcome; this
way,
<e.g.>, if the characters kill or capture
Hafkris, the character who is awarded his armor
will not somehow earn more experience
than the character who received only his dagger.