A Fantasy Core Adventure
© Jerry Harris 2016
(This link will take you to the
Fantasy Core Playtest Rules.)
The
The Opera House
[Let the Players see this map if they recovered the map at
Kurtz’s Plantation .]
General
Description
Cresting a rise at the end of their trek, the party will be
able to get a good look at their final destination before reaching it. A rough semi-circle of a walled city hugs the
river shore. The ancient city is a
massive jungle-covered ruin. A large
tower dominates the center of the landscape. There are also four large buildings
that are still standing, all of which have a red glow to them. There is a curious bridge from the
city that goes out into the river, but it doesn’t seem to lead anywhere. The Character’s map of the city clearly shows
an island with a temple out in the river, but it’s not there. The city walls have fallen down in several
places and are unguarded. Land entry
will be unopposed. Airborne entry will
attract the attention of the Thunderbird,
described later.
A large, hungry-looking aquatic dinosaur-era creature
patrols this river. The group should be
given a good look at it before trying any waterborne adventures on the river. The creature should also attack anything
lingering on shore or on the bridge too long.
2 XP for killing this thing, but the Players really should be smart
enough to not waste their time, and likely their Characters’ lives, attacking
it.
Elasmosaurus
HD 10+10, Hp 90, AC 13 (Natural)
Fort +15, Ref +9, Will +4
Melee: Bite +13 to
hit 2d8+5
Ram: (against
ships) +10 to hit, 2d10+10 causes hull damage to ships larger than themselves,
automatically capsizes smaller vessels.
Stealth (in
water) +5 (DC 17 Detect)
Description: Large
aquatic hunter, long-necked with flippers (“Loch Ness Monster”).
Character Goals
This is the remaining Demon
Host’s last stand. They are distributed
amongst the four ruined buildings, glowing red: the Museum, the Opera House,
the Prison, and the Cathedral. Here they will all fight to the death. The Characters’ motivation for fighting these
creatures on their home turf is to break the spell that keeps Kurtz’s island
temple invisible. The group needs to
take out all of the sacrificial altars to make the island visible again so that
they can enter it.
Hemisphere
This is long lost proper name of the city, which Kurtz
discovered in his studies. I’m using Paris as a model, though with
extensive changes. (The civic geography
isn’t even close, I know.) Jungle has
covered much of the city, with orchids growing everywhere. Except for the largest and sturdiest of
structures, the rest is in ruins. Could
there be a relationship between this city and long-lost Circumsphere
in the Southland? [Jdh417 shrugs his
shoulders.] That’s up to you.
The Grand Avenue
A single, broad street goes down the center of the city and
is the only easily navigable path. It is
also extensively watched by the city’s biggest predator, the Thunderbird (described under the
Tower entry). Each of the main
sites of the city exists along either side of the road. (Obviously not like the real Champs Elysees
in Paris .) The street terminates in a massive fallen
arch and a nearly collapsed bridge leading to the island (which is currently
invisible). Near the entrance to the
city and at the beginning of the street is a massive crater which leads down
into the city sewers.
The Bridge
Award 3 XP to the group for making it to the island. (This entry is a bit misplaced, since this
should be last encounter in the city, but it may be likely that the Characters
will investigate it before the other structures in the city.)
There is a large, crumbling bridge that leads to the island
in the river. It is at the end of the Grand Avenue , just
beyond the fallen arch
monument. Currently, the bridge just
ends in the middle of the river, without any signs of apparent damage. It leads right to where Kurtz’s map shows an
island. Up close, one can see a
shimmering effect, which radiates strong magic.
Those with True Sight or something similar can see the island. However, the island isn’t just invisible,
it’s not in this reality. If the party
is able to go Astral, Ethereal, or Phase, they can go right on in without any
preamble. But if they’re using a spell
with a time-limit or if the spell is disrupted, they get dumped in the middle
of the river, with the river monster.
The only way to bring the island to the Characters is for
them to break the four sacrificial altars in the city. If the Players are unduly confused, some
taunting and clue-dropping by one of the Demon Host, or a hint dropped by Witch
Doctor Sane would be probably be in order.
After the island is made visible, Hellion
and Satha will both be aware of
it. The Dragon, no dummy, will be
orbiting above, waiting on the Characters to soften things up before he enters
the fray. Satha is too much of a coward
to directly enter the fight at this time.
However, at the Ref’s discretion, Satha may teleport a troop of
fanatical native warriors in to assist the characters.
Reinforcements
I’d really recommend that the Characters receive some help before
leaving the city. They should be under
the Players’ control as long as they’re not abusing them. A troop of Natives, sent by Satha,
should approach the group as they come to the Bridge. There should be a Witch Doctor for healing support if Doctor Sane didn’t make it and
up to 4 Warriors to replace any lost
from when they entered the city. They
should be lead an Elder or even a King, if the group is down a
member. If the Characters befriended
them in the sewers, 4 Lizardmen
might also join them.
[Note: The
adventure from here on out is pretty tightly (hate to use this word) scripted. On the other hand, an entire “Forbidden City ” would seem to imply more than a small
(but really dangerous) handful of encounters.
This is left up to you. Extra
encounters might not fit into this adventure, but perhaps another group of
Characters could discover and become intrigued with exploring this locale after
this adventure.]
No comments:
Post a Comment