Episode 3: Temple of the Goddess
-
Before launching into the 3rd episode of the
adventure, let's look at the island as a whole.
(Now that the characters have a native character
to TALK to, they can pump him for
information -- so here it is.)
Map of the Island
Take a look at the DM's map of the island:
(1) The Cove. This is the cove where the
shipwreck took place. The ship, as you can
see, has ground up on the headlands and cliff
on the right side of the cove.
(2) The Western Hills. These hills
are impassable
for the party of PCs unless
they come up with climbing gear and
mountaineering training
in the course of the
adventure -- which is doubtful.
(3) The Temple of the Goddess. The temple
has its own map key later in this episode. The <link>
temple is on the far slope of
the large hill
which overlooks the manor of the Sea King, its
associated buildings, and the town further on.
(4) The Manor of the Sea King. This large,
rambling mansion once housed Viledel, his
family, and retainers. It has its own map key in
Episode Four. <link>
(5) The Barracks of the Sea King. This
building is a long, low construction, rather
like a flattened and elongated barn. It can
house upwards of 100 soldiers. Though
its shutters are Now long blown away by wind,
its cots and contents ravaged by the weather
and the years, the orc commander has set
up
his company of followers here. The barracks,
with its shutterless windows Now nailed over,
is more defensible than any of the other large
buildings on the island, and much safer than
the crumbling and hazardous Manor. About
100 orcs occupy the barracks; at any given
time, about 24 will be on patrol (in four 6-man
teams, such as the one the characters encountered),
and in times of battle most of the
orcs will fly to the attack, leaving a token force
of about 20 in the barracks. There are always
guards set at strategic points around the barracks,
and 2 more on the roof, to keep vigil
against the goblins quartered in the
stables.
(6) The Stables of the Sea King. Once it
housed Viledel's horses and grooms;
now it
houses the goblins so recently arrived
on the
island. The stables are constructed much like
the barracks on the outside, with a few exceptions:
dirt floors, fewer windows, larger doors,
and the interior is separated into stalls instead
of large barracks rooms. There are about 135
goblins stationed here, though two 12-goblin
patrols are outside at all times. Like the barracks,
the stables are well guarded.
(7) The Old City. The small city where the
Sea King's minions lived once upon a Time
is
now a ruin, burned 60 years ago and deteriorated
by 6 decades of fierce weather, so little
but the rotting piers and the still-standing
chimneys indicate that a city once stood here.
(8) The Beach of the Orcs. It was here that
the orcs arrived, en masse, several days
ago.
Six boats -- 20-man galleys --
are drawn up on
the beach. They are surrounded by a newly dug
ditch and outward-projecting spikes cut
from the scrub trees of the island. A token
force of about 20 orcs guards the boats.
(9) The Beach of the Goblins. The arriving
goblin force pulled up in this cove
two days
ago. Eight boats -- galleys
for 24 oars goblins --
are drawn up on the beach. A token force of
35 goblins guards the boats. At any given
time, 10 or 11 will be on the cliff-tops over the
cove, on duty; another 10 or 11 will be working
in the camp, repairing the boats or doing
makework. The remainder will be off duty
and asleep.
(10) The Exit from the Catacombs. It is described
in greater detail in the map key in Episode
Five. <link>
Orcs and Goblins
The orcs and goblins
on the island are similar
to those encountered in the last
previous episode.
Orc Commanders: AC 8; HD 1 (hp 6); MV
9"; #AT 1; Dmg 2-8/3-12 (bardiche), 1-4/
1-3 (dagger); THAC0 19; AL LE.
Equipment: bardiche,
dagger,
padded
armor.
Orc Leader
AC: 8 (leather)
HD: 1
hp: 6
MV: 9"
#AT: 1 (bardiche)
Dmg: 2-8/3-12
THACO: 19
AL: LE
Orcs with bardiches: AC 10; HD 1 (hp 3); MV
9"; #AT 1; Dmg 2-8/3-12 (bardiche), 1-4/
1-3 (dagger); THAC0 19; AL LE.
Equipment: bardiche,
dagger.
Orc with bardiche
AC: 10
HD: 1
hp: 3
MV: 9"
#AT: 1 (bardiche)
Dmg: 2-8/3-12
THACO: 19
AL: LE
Orcs with <battle> axes: AC 10; HD 1 (hp 4); MV 9';
#AT 1; Dmg 1-8/1-8 (battle axe), 1-4/1-3
(dagger); THAC0 19; AL LE.
Equipment: battle
axe, dagger.
Orc with axe
AC: 10
HD: 1
hp: 4
MV: 9"
#AT: 1 (battle axe)
Dmg: 1-8/1-8
THACO: 19
AL: LE
Goblin Commanders: AC 8; HD 1 (hp 2);
MV 6"; #AT 1; Dmg 1-6/1-8 (spear), 1-6/
1-6 (bow), 1-4/1-3 (dagger); THAC0 20;
AL LE.
Equipment: spear,
dagger,
leather
armor.
Goblin leader
AC: 8 (leather)
HD: 1
hp: 2 <1>
MV: 6"
#AT: 1 (spear)
Dmg: 1-6/1-8 <-1 damage>
THACO: 19
AL: LE
Goblins with spears: AC 10; HD 1 (hp 2); MV
6"; #AT 1; Dmg 1-6/1-8 (spear), 1-4/1-3
(dagger); THAC0 20; AL LE.
Equipment: spear,
dagger.
Goblin with spear
AC: 10
HD: 1-1
hp: 2 <1>
MV: 6"
#AT: 1 (spear)
Dmg: 1-6/1-8 <-1 damage>
THACO: 20
AL: LE
Goblin archers: AC 10; HD 1 (hp 4);
MV 6";
#AT 1; Dmg 1-6/1-6 (<short>
bow), 1-4/1-3 (dagger);
THAC0 20; AL LE.
Equipment: battle axe, dagger.
Goblin with bow
AC: 10
HD: 1-1
hp: 4 <3>
MV: 6"
#AT: 2 (short bow)
Dmg: 1-6/1-6 <-1 damage>
THACO: 20
AL: LE
Orcs and their Arrangements
The orcs are members of the Hak-kubra
tribe, a seafaring orc clan from the coast of the
continent, south of the Korinn Archipelago.
<see FR2>
Seafaring orcs are always pirates
-- they <alignment?>
never deign to fish or trade, not when there's a
chance to make an honest profit by killing
some innocent and taking away his possessions.
The orcs on the island use mostly axes and <axe=battle
axe>
bardiches. Of the force present on
the island,
4 in 10 will be armed with bardiches, 5
will be armed with axes, and 1 will be a <axe=battle
axe>
commander. Any small party will break down
in similar proportions.
Goblins and Their Arrangements
The goblins are members of the Sithisila
Fleet, a buccaneering society with
a secret base
on the island of Tetris. The Sithisila Fleet is
not so completely piratical
as the Hak-kubra
tribe; they hire out as mercs for naval
wars in addition to preying upon the weak.
Of every 10 goblins on the island, six are
armed with spears, three are archers,
and the
tenth is a commander
Wildlife on the Island
There's not much living on the island, so
you needn't worry about random animal encounters
-- the only encounters are where the
text and map keys indicate. <link?>
Creatures living on the island include ordinary
sea birds, wild goats (especially in
the
western hills), and ordinary rats.
The old
man, Keestake, survived these 60 years by eating
wild plants, especially wild onions, and by
feasting on rats. (This has done wonders for
his sanity, not to mention his breath.)
Players' Map of the Island
If the players ask the old _ man to describe
the island to them in any sort of detail, he tells
them that he will draw them a map once
they're safe in the temple. Once they reach
the temple, he hunts up some scraps of parchment
and a burnt stick and draws them the
Player's Map of the Island. Fold the module
cover to show the players their map at this
time.
The player's map contains most of the information
on the DM's map. Although it
doesn't show the catacomb exit, Keestake can
tell the characters approximately where it is.
He is delighted to tell them all about the
island -- where, for instance, the plumpest
and juiciest rats can be found; the hilltop that
the Sea King loved best; the beach where
Keestake hid from the pirate attackers 60 years
ago; and so on. All these details are extraneous
to the adventure, although you can develop
Keestake's personality for the players as he exults
over these irrelevant historical sites.
On With the Adventure
As mentioned, the old _ man is delighted to
lead the PCs to the temple of the
goddess. Keestake tells the characters that he
is no priest himself, but he has always had
veneration for the temple. The orcs sacked
it
3 days ago, looking for treasures, but they
became alarmed when thunder sounded--the
thunder that signaled the arrival of the storm
that still rages around the island. They left
and won't be back. While Keestake was their
captive, he learned that the orcs are now
deathly afraid of the place. "But noble youths
such as yourself," he says, "seeking only shelter,
won't gain the wrath of the goddess."
Who is the Goddess?
You have to decide who the goddess is, because
the characters will inevitably ask.
Use one of the goddesses from the regular
pantheon used in your campaign. The goddess
should be any goddess who is a patron of
Heroes and adventurers, especially one
who
gives luck and wisdom to her followers.
<link>
If you?re using the Deities & Demigods
supplement,
here are some sample goddesses of the
appropriate type:
Babylonian --
Ishtar
+
Celtic -- Brigit
+
Egyptian -- Isis
+
Greek -- Athena
+
Indian -- Lakshmi
+
Japanese -- Kishijoten
+
Of these, Ishtar and Athena are the most
appropriate, but the actual choice depends on
the flavor of your campaign.
Keestake leads the characters down backtrails
and across rough terrain; he explains
that he doesn't want to be recaptured by the
orcs or the goblins.
Eventually the group arrives
at the hillside below the temple and sees
it silhouetted against the dimming sky--the
first indication that it--s almost nighttime.
When they get within a hundred yards of
the temple, the characters see the unimpressive
sight of the building. Relate to them the
following:
| The building before you was doubtless a
beautiful temple in its day--2 stories in height, crafted from well-fitted planks of dark hardwoods brought from the mainland. The windows were spacious and cheerful, closed against the wind with brightly-painted shutters; a gate of well-crafted wrought iron once stood before the large front door, and a trellis for well-tended ivy once leaned against the right half of the front face of the temple. Today, after 60 years of neglect, the temple
It's a spectacle of gloom and disrepair.
|
The old man leads the characters clear up to
the gate at the entrance, pulls it open a
little--it makes a squeak, alarming but really
not too loud--and steps through the still-working
doors of heavy oak into the temple
itself.
Once the characters have entered, they find
that the main hall where they stand is thoroughly
shielded against the wind, for it has
no
windows, and the front doors are sound. Tell
them, once they've been in the temple for a
few minutes, that their shakes are subsiding,
their fingers and toes becoming less numb,
etc.
Inside the Temple
Take a look at the DM's map of the temple.
The individual areas of the temple are as follows.
| #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 | #9 | #10 |
| #11 | #12 | #13 | #14 | #15 | #16 | #17 | - | - | - |
1. Antechamber
The 1st room beyond the gate and doors is
the antechamber, a small and thoroughly dark
chamber. Keestake can move through it, and
guide the characters through it, with the confidence
of utter familiarity.
If the characters get a chance to see the
room (this requires some light), they
see the
following.
| This room once had plastered walls
painted with frescoes of the goddess, her symbols and her deeds. The paint and plaster have badly flaked over the years. There is no furniture in the room, only wind-blown rubbish. There are 2 sets of double doors in the
|
2. Hall of the Goddess
The next room past the antechamber is the
main hall -- "This," Keestake announces, "is
the hall of the goddess." Once again, it's almost
utterly black, but the echoes of the characters
' speech convince them that it's quite
large. The floor, they can feel, is tiled; there
are pieces of wood, which feel like broken furniture,
all over the floor.
The characters can try to make a fire
out of
rubbish from the antechamber and the broken
wood from this main hall. If they do not,
the old _ man automatically begins
to do so. He
says that there are no windows out of the hall
of the goddess, and the room is tall enough
that they won't choke on the smoke. If they
order him not to make a fire, or physically restrain
him, he naturally won't build a fire. In
that case you should tell the player character
with the highest Wisdom score that there
doesn't seem to be any real reason not to have
a fire and thaw out.
If the characters do build a fire, they see:
| This chamber is very large, and two stories
in height. There is broken furniture all over the tiled floors--it looks like the remains of chairs, tables, and perhaps low couches. Most of the wood looks aged, but you can see that the breaks are all fresh. Everything has been smashed recently. On the east wall, in the middle, is a set
The west wall is actually a flight of 3
The walls of the hall of The Goddess were
|
Keestake says that the damage to the
room--the smashed furniture, the damaged <funiture=x>
and befouled WALLS--all took place when the
orcs investigated the temple, looking for treasure.
Enraged because they found no gold,
they destroyed all the furnishings and much
of the painting, defiling the decoration; they
would have done more, but the sudden arrival
of the violent storm made them break off their
vandalism and flee.
3. Altar Chamber
When the characters decide to investigate
the upraised room beyond the dangling cur-
tains, they see the following.
| This chamber is raised about a foot and a
half above the floor of the hall of The Goddess. You had to push your way through the tattered curtains to enter. You could tell, as you did so, that these ratty cloths were once fine velvet, purple embroidered upon in gold, but they've aged now into a uniform, revolting brown and you cannot tell now what the embroidery represented. There are only two items in the chamber. One is a statue of The Goddess. She is sitting
The sculptor must have been a tremendous
The other object in the room is a low table,
Both statue and altar are sculpted out of
|
The old man confirms that the damage to
the statue is also recent, also a result of the
orcs' defilement.
4. Temple Offices
These are simple rooms with panelled walls
and the ruins of furniture -- tables and
chairs -- scattered all over. The walls have been
hacked upon by orcs looking for secret
panels
and passages but, except for firewood, there is
nothing of interest here. The floor is tile, and
the shutters are closed over all the windows.
These shutters can only be opened with a successful
"Open Doors" roll, for the shutters are
held in place by the ivy outside. The ivy forced
its way in through the shutters here and there.
There are rats, of the ordinary
sort, scuttling
around in the rubbish here. They do not
attack the characters, and try to run if attacked.
5. Kitchen
This is a large room with heavy wooden tables
running around most of the WALLS. There
is a large, recessed fireplace on the east wall.
It's as large as a small room, certainly enough
to mount a cross-bar and roast a bull
within
while simultaneously cooking other dishes.
The fireplace seems to be in good shape The
window's shutters are still closed, and ivy
creeps in through holes in them; it takes a successful
"Open Doors" roll to shove a shutter
open.
The tables are all undamaged, and the orcs,
other than taking a few preliminary axe swings <axe=x>
at the plaster walls, do not seem to have done
much damage here.
There is, unknown to the orcs, the characters,
and even the goddess, a creature living in
the upper parts of the chimney. It is a ghoul. It
preyed last on the crew of a merchant
ship.
killing and gradually consuming the entire
crew. The ship ran aground on the north shore
of the island a few months ago. Since then the
creature has found itself a nest in the temple
and, like Keestake, survived by eating rats.
It
has not captured Keestake yet because the old
man is too wary and PARANOID for the ghoul to
catch and, despite his age, he can still outrun
it.
Keestake knows about the ghoul but is not
going to mention him--for reasons to be
found on Keestakes' character sheet and
during
Episode Five. <link>
The Ghoul: AC 6; HD 2 (hp 7); MV 9";
#AT
3; Dmg 1-3 (claw) /1-3 (claw) / 1-6 (fang);
THAC0 16; special attack Paralyzation
(saving throw applicable); AL CE.
Ghoul
AC: 6
HD: 2
hp: 7
MV: 9"
#AT: 3
Dmg: 1-3/1-3/1-6
THACO: 16
AL: CE
The ghoul does not attack people it hears
creeping about in the kitchen. It huddles silently
at the top of the kitchen, and attacks at
this time only if a character with infravision
(i.e., elf, dwarf, etc.) looks up the
chimney
Otherwise it waits to attack until the characters
are asleep, as described later in this episode.
6. Storeroom
This is a large room with no windows and a
solid door with a broken locking
mechanism.
It once contained stored food: casks of ale and
wine, sacks of grain, and so forth. The casks
are still there, but broken; the sacks are still
there, rotted and decayed. Again, there's
nothing here of value to the characters except
perhaps firewood.
7. Storeroom
This storeroom, like the previous one, is a
single large room with no windows, and a
solid door with a broken locking
mechanism.
It's different from the other in that it has
thicker WALLS--a double layer of bricks was laid
in and plastered over, so the room seems a little
smaller than room 6 -- and the only things
to be found inside are large hooks attached to
the ceiling. The hooks have very old, brown
stains upon them. Any character can figure
out that this was a storeroom for hanging
meats, with thick walls to keep things cool.
8. Main Corridor
Any corridor marked 8 is a main corridor for
the temple. This means only that the doors are
all nicely finished, the walls neatly plastered
(before six decades of weathering), the floors
tiled. The floors are now covered in a thin
layer of leaves and refuse, and rats lurk in the
mess, but there's nothing dangerous within
the corridors.
9. Servants' Corridor
Any corridor marked 9 is a servants' corridor;
it?s just as wide as the main corridors, but
the walls are crudely planked, the floor of decaying
planks, the doors all crude and illfitting.
Since most of these doors were hung
on leather hinges, they are no longer hanging;
some still stand in place, most are on the floor.
Like the main corridors, the floors are covered
in refuse and are occupied by rats.
10. <French> Maid Servants' Quarters
This chamber used to act as a dormitory for
servants. If the characters really take the Time
to prowl through the ruined furniture and <funiture=x>
scraps of cloth which litter the floor, they can
determine that this was the female servants'
dormitory; the rotting clothes are maids'
robes.
11. Men Servants' Quarters
This chamber, like 10, was a dormitory for
servants. Like 10, it's a wreck, but by assembling
scraps of clothes, the player characters
can determine that it was the male servants'
dormitory.
12. Senior Servants' Quarters
This is a series of small bedroom chambers,
decked out with crude furniture (broken), obviously <funiture=x>
intended for couples or servants of
slightly higher importance.
13. Storeroom
This storeroom is crammed nearly to the
ceiling with what had once been bolts of
cloth, chests of clothes, chests with buttons <clothes=x>
and threads and other clothes-making accouterments.
Numerous rats live in the mess
made by this collapsing mass of cloth. Fearful
of the ghoul in the kitchen, they keep away
from player characters, scurrying out through
cracks in the walls.
If the characters take some Time to prowl
around, they can find enough cloth still in
good condition to make up replacement garments
or cloaks, if they need them. They can
also find many brooches, pins, buckles, and so
forth, all of low value -- 1 gp worth, total.
14. Well
In the garden is a small well. The water
in it
is good; Keestake has used it all these
years. A
worn path leads from the well, through the
garden, and down to the manor of the Sea
King.
15. Garden
This was once a nicely planted and kept garden.
Now, 60 years later, it's a small jungle of
overgrown flowering plants. The stones which
made up the path through it are broken or
covered over. There's nothing dangerous here,
but except for the path and the well it looks
quite menacing and untamed.
16. Priests' / Priestesses? Quarters
Upstairs, all these chambers are trashed-out
quarters which once were sumptuous bedchambers
and sitting chambers. Obviously,
priests and priestesses of the goddess were not
required to limit themselves to poverty. Today,
as you might expect, the rooms are wrecked,
the furniture smashed, the walls carved up,
the paneling torn out, the floor coated with
mulch and rat-waste <rat piss and rat shit> and
living rats.
17. Upper Floor Over the
Hall of The Goddess
The hall of The Goddess is 2 stories high,
of course, so this section is walled off from the
REST of the 2nd floor; it's open air above the
hall.
In all the old living chambers, characters
find ruins of furniture, chamberpots, clothing,
etc. Nothing of value, nothing to use.
<funiture=x>
<clothing=x>
Keestake's Commentary
on the Temple
Keestake knows the details of the temple,
up to and including the PRESENCE of the ghoul,
as mentioned. If the characters ask him what's
beyond a particular door or what?s in a specific
room, he is willing to tell them. As noted, he
avoids any mention of the ghoul.
Players' Map of the Temple
If requested, Keestake draws the characters
a map of the temple -- give the Players' Map of
the temple to the players, but only if they request
it. If they don't ask for it, let them map
out the temple normally as (and if) they explore
it.
Enter The Goddess
Eventually, the characters finish their explorations
and have pumped Keestake of all the
information they're likely to get from him.
It's fully dark outside, they're exhausted and
hungry but warm and dry, and eventually they
drop off to sleep -- though it's possible,
even
probable, that they will leave a GUARD awake.
If they seem too slow about getting to sleep,
you can ask them, 'How are you going to handle
the sleeping arrangements?" -- which is
when they need to indicate their guard arrangement,
if they have one.
In any case, most or all of the characters will
ultimately drop off to sleep. The
hall of the
goddess, in spite of its great open spaces, is the
most congenial chamber to sleep in ? in any
other chamber, enough wind howls in to chill
the characters.
As it turns out, The Goddess -- whichever
goddess you have chosen to be represented by
this temple -- has been keeping a careful eye
on the AREA since her precincts were desecrated,
since she commenced that great storm
in her irritation several days ago. She's seen
the player characters enter her temple, and
she is curious about their PRESENCE and their
desires.
So she appears to one of them
Whom Does The Goddess Choose?
If only one character is on guard through
the night (a foolish arrangement, but possible),
the goddess appears to that character
If, during the characters' explorations of
the temple, any character made a kind remark
about The Goddess -- or, especially, if a character
expressed outrage at the way the temple
was desecrated -- she appears during that character
's shift as guard (or she magically awakens
the character, if no character is on guard). If
two or more characters expressed similar sentiments,
she chooses the one with the highest
total of Wisdom and Charisma.
If a character, for any reason, spent Time
trying
to clean off the statue of the goddess, she
automatically appears to him, regardless of
the guard arrangements. She causes the guard
on duty to fall asleep (a simple sleep spell, applied
until it succeeds; the guard falls asleep
but remains on his feet) and then appears to
the character who attempted to clean her
statue.
Appearance of the Goddess
If the goddess is appearing to a character
who is already awake, she simply causes a subdued
glow to appear around her statue and
calls the character's name in a low tone. She is
mystically keeping the other characters asleep,
for the first few moments of conversation at
least, so the character has no luck if he tries to
AWAKEN them. (If two characters were awake,
the character she plans to speak with and one
other, she does not cause the other to fall
asleep, but she does not address him by name
for the first few moments of conversation.)
If The Goddess is appearing to a character
who is asleep, he awakens to the sound of a
bell tolling, far away, except that it seems to
be coming from the now-glowing statue. The
situation is as described above; the other characters
are temporarily and thoroughly asleep
The statue changes subtly: the filth<shit> disappears
(if it wasn't cleaned off already), the
broken nose and arm float up and themselves,
the crack in the torso repairing itself, and the
the statue even moves and stands, inhabited
by the essence of The Goddess.
The Goddess's Words
Having gotten the character's attention (by
calling his name, and with the fancy special
effects) The Goddess addresses him somberly:
"Mortal man, why are you and your companions
come to my temple?"
Assuming the character tells her anything,
she gradually loosens her control on the other
characters and they wake up, one by one, to
the sound of their companion talking, and to
the sight of him addressing this beautiful,
moving statue.
Having heard the characters' story, She addresses
the characters.
| You see about you the results of the raid of
the Hak-kubra, the pirate _ orcs. They have defiled my sanctuary. When men came hither three generations
But the acts of debasement you see
I see no reason for you to die for another
It is a difficult test. I see you have not
For the Time you remain here, I will
allow
|
Conversation
Make that little speech of the goddess?s as
natural as possible, and should the characters
wish to speak with her during its course, let
them. Make it as normal a conversation as you
can manage (as normal as you can have when a
goddess speaks to mortals, that is).
Once The Goddess concludes her pronouncement,
she asks, "Have you anything to
say or ask"?
If one or more of the characters wishes to
address The Goddess, he certainly may. Some
sample questions they might ask:
How do we escape the island? She tells
them that they must find that out themselves,
in order to prove themselves worthy
Will She extend her Time limit? No. Tomorrow
at nightfall, this island will be cleansed.
What information will She give them about
the manor, the treasure, the orcs, or
the goblins?
None.
In short, such questions won't gain the
characters much information, but will give
them an opportunity to impress The
Goddess -- or anger her -- with their courtliness
(or lack of it). Speaking of which . . .
Currying Favor
A character, if he knows what is good for
him, will address the goddess respectfully or
not at all. But if a character goes beyond the
simple respect that the gods deserve, he impresses
The Goddess with his manner.
To manage this, a character would have to
be quite well-spoken when addressing Her, or
offer well-chosen flattery (she knows flattery
when she hears it, but is still susceptible, as
mortals are), or offer service to The Goddess regardless
of any reward it may gain him.
Any character who makes such an offer, or
lavishes some impossibly pleasing compliment,
or addresses her with words expertly
chosen and delivered, earns her favor
throughout the adventure. Her favor means
this: Once, during the rest of the adventure,
the character gets an automatic 20 on a die roll
when things are at their worst. When it
looks as though a character is going to die, or
fail to save another from dying, let him make
his last roll before doom rolls down on him--
and then disregard the result. Tell him, "No,
that's a 20." If it's a saving throw, he saves automatically.
If it's a roll to hit, it's an automatic
hit, and you should give the hit the
maximum damage possible for the weapon.
Should a character, when addressing The
Goddess, offer to become her cleric,
he earns
two favors; one which occurs as described
above, and one which occurs once he becomes
a 1st level character -- if he's true to his word
and takes the clerical class. If, at 1st level, he
takes some other character class, he earns a disfavor
(explained below).
Any character who previously worked to
clean off the statue, or did a lot of work trying
to repair the damage done by the orcs,
automatically
earns a favor
Earning Disfavor
Likewise, a character can make The Goddess
very angry with insensitivity, expressions of
anger, etc. Should any character do so, he
earns her disfavor sometime in the course of
the adventure. The first time he achieves some
spectacular success at a crucial time, tell him,
"No, it didn't work. I don't care what the dice
say. The attack (saving throw, trick, whatever)
failed. Additionally, your sword (body, trap,
whatever object is appropriate) is glowing
with the same glow that surrounded the statue
of the goddess earlier . . ."
A character could really offend the goddess
--by insulting her repeatedly, even attacking
her (some characters have enough self-destructiveness
in their natures to do this).
Should this happen, the goddess slays him
with her usual spell or attack--such attacks
usually cause 10d6 or 5d10 points of damage,
quite enough to obliterate a foolish mortal.
The Goddess Departs
Once the questions are concluded, or if no
questions were asked at all, The Goddess resumes
her perch on the throne and the glow
fades, leaving an inanimate--but now undamaged
--statue.
Later That Same Night
Ultimately, as before, the characters drop
off to sleep again. The encounter
with the
goddess should not have taken place later
than about four hours from daybreak--plenty
of time for the characters to get some more
sleep. Perhaps they leave a character on guard
again, perhaps not.
The Ghoul Strikes
The ghoul was creeping out of the chimney
whesn he felt the goddess's presence enter the
temple, and he hid. But now, hours later, it's
Time for him to attack--to kill a party of humans
and let their bodies season for a bit before
devouring them.
He comes creeping out of the chimney
again, stealing up the hall, through the door
to the main corridor, into the east-west servants
' corridor, and then through the small
door into the hall of the goddess.
He was a thief in life, so give him
a Move Silently
score like that of a 5th level thief: 40%
He creeps up on the characters. If a guard is
awake, the ghoul contrives to sneak up behind
the guard, even if he has to enter by another
door. Give him two Move Silently rolls; one to
enter the room silently, one to cross the intervening
distance to the victim. Assuming he
makes it that far unnoticed, he attacks.
The ghoul is not stealthy in the attack: He
screams, gibbers, jumps, rends, and tears. Set
up and run the combat normally. Sleeping
characters awaken during the first round of
combat, can stand up during the second, and
can act and attack during the third.
Combat Notes
Once again, the ghoul's stats are:
Ghoul: AC 6; HD 2 (hp 7); MV 9"; #AT 3;
Dmg 1-3 (claw)/ 1-3 (claw)/ 1-6 (fang);
special attack Paralyzation (saving throw
applicable); AL CE
Ghoul
AC: 6
HD: 2
hp: 7
MV: 9"
#AT: 3
Dmg: 1-3/1-3/1-6
THACO: 16
AL: CE
If the ghoul manages to kill or paralyze all
the characters, he won't automatically slay all
of them. He intends to make his dinner last a
while. He hangs the dead ones up on the meat
hooks; while he's doing so, the paralysis wears
off the first character to make a successful saving
throw (roll once per turn). If no character <cf. REF5 Lords of Darkness>
has made a successful roll by the Time
the
ghoul is through, The Goddess burns one of
her favors by unparalyzing a character. If no
character had earned a favor, she frees the
doughtiest warrior among them
If the ghoul has killed any or all of the characters,
go to "When Things Go Wrong" to see
how to come up with replacement characters
A Final Favor
If some or all of the characters survive the
night's events, when they wake up the next
morning they are completely healed -- all
damage from exposure or attacks is
completely
recovered, a final blessing of The Goddess.
Experience
All characters who see The Goddess earn 20
XP for that event alone
A character who earns a favor also earns an
additional 40 XP. If he
earned more than one favor, he earns 40 xp for
each.
The ghoul is worth 62 XP,
divided among the surviving characters who
participated in its defeat.
