First off, if you play in the Southwest of England (specifically North Devon) I advise you to leave at this point - I will only be giving the exposition of the start of the game, but nonetheless, you don't want to spoil it for yourself!
Ok, everyone else, I have a oneshot planned and I would like some ideas of what to expect from people.
The start of it is thus (summarised):
Your party is transporting an elven brooch to the museum in Founderhold, a small village, after turning in a bounty in an elven town. On the way, you are approaching Founderhold through the snow when a man approaches you and asks you to come with him to the shack just off the track.
The man explains to you that they found an urn in a dungeon and took it to the museum, and that he found out afterwards that it was cursed to conceal a monster within any who touched it. He also explains that he found a small knife which can force such a monster to emerge with just a scratch.
He says how his friend was acting very strange and wanting to shake his hand when he got back, following them from the dungeon after staying to translate the old texts (and discovering the curse and the knife), and he scratched him with the knife, causing him to split upen like an overripe melon to reveal twisting limbs and teeth inside of him, which promtply tried to eat him. The man killed him by burning his house down, and fled with the knife.
Now he wants the party to take the knife and save the town. He doesn't know how many of them have been affected, and recommends that they seek the other members of his dig first, and test them to see if they touched it. He also asks that they find a way to bring the Urn back to him, without touching it, so that he can lock it back in the dungeon forever.
Further information, if pushed for, will be that his dog, Jed, fled the village with him, and he noticed he was acting strange so checked him too, and found he was a monster as well - his twisted monstrous corpse is burning behind the shack in the woods. The man also tested himself - there is a cut on his palm, bound in bandages - and was not affected.
So, now the question - what would your characters do next? What approach might you take to this adventure? What would your plans be?
The more I know, the more I can make sure I have answers to hand! Thanks!
Is the name of the chap with the shack MacReady by any chance? I think anything I say or do would be heavily influenced by my knowledge of a certain film + sequel/prequel. having said that I would probably scratch the chap one more time just to make sure he is normal but thats a paranoia thing really.
First of all, my character has trust issues. On top of this, she has already experienced the effects of a cursed magic item and doesn't ever want to go through that misery again. She would not take the man's story at face value, nor would she willingly touch either the man or the knife.
My first instinct would be to look for a cure. I don't think my characters would be willing to accept that the affected individuals must be lost for good. To do so, they'd probably want to go to the dungeon or look through items found alongside the urn and knife. If they can't find a cure, they would at least want to discover the source of the curse (a demon?), and determine if there is any lore about identifying those affected. After that, they would prioritize finding the individuals from the dig site.
One thing they would absolutely not do is touch anyone. They would also be incredibly suspicious of anyone who does try to touch them.
I will be sure to write up the dig site then, though he will be pressuring them to go to the village first, as the dig was a hard days ride from the village and so they would be gone for 2+ days if they decided to go there! Don't want to railroad them though, so I'll add the journey and dig site to the game!
Is the name of the chap with the shack MacReady by any chance? I think anything I say or do would be heavily influenced by my knowledge of a certain film + sequel/prequel. having said that I would probably scratch the chap one more time just to make sure he is normal but thats a paranoia thing really.
Oh no, of course not!
His name's ReadMacy 😜
I'm glad that the reference has come through, I was concerned I was going too far sidewards to make it obvious!
Is the name of the chap with the shack MacReady by any chance? I think anything I say or do would be heavily influenced by my knowledge of a certain film + sequel/prequel. having said that I would probably scratch the chap one more time just to make sure he is normal but thats a paranoia thing really.
Oh no, of course not!
His name's ReadMacy 😜
I'm glad that the reference has come through, I was concerned I was going too far sidewards to make it obvious!
Well based on what you've got there, I might be inclined to have the encounter play out a little closer to the film, so rather than have the PC's meet "Read Macy" you could have them walking along and see a dog, or maybe a wolf, bounding down the hillside chased by Read/Reid/Reed (depending on how/if you want to chnge the name), Read can then shout out warnings and fire arrows at it and the dog/wolf runs to the PC's in a "help me!" kind of way, play up the dog looking terrified and make Read out to be the bad guy, then see what happens. If Doggo survives then he tags along with the party, maybe proves to be a good guard dog sitting watch etc and then unleash the monstrosity when they get to a town or if the party side with Read then they have a little fight see the body horror and maybe decide they need to go investigate and help the town out before things get out of hand.
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Thanks for the ideas! The adventure is intended as a self-contained oneshot for a 3-hour session, so I need to make it fairly to the point at the start to get the ball rolling - totally agree on that delivery in a campaign, but not so much for a oneshot!
I may even swap things about a bit and have it be a half-elf woman called Macy Reed, that might be enough of a nod to the fans without people being "oh this is totally a reference to something".
So, thus far we have:
Trust nothing, don't touch the character or the knife.
Act with extreme caution, double-checking people, based on knowledge of the inspiration.
head to the dig site, and try to work out if there is a cure for the curse.
Thanks all for the derailments so far, it's good to know what to plan!
First off, if you play in the Southwest of England (specifically North Devon) I advise you to leave at this point - I will only be giving the exposition of the start of the game, but nonetheless, you don't want to spoil it for yourself!
Ok, everyone else, I have a oneshot planned and I would like some ideas of what to expect from people.
The start of it is thus (summarised):
Your party is transporting an elven brooch to the museum in Founderhold, a small village, after turning in a bounty in an elven town. On the way, you are approaching Founderhold through the snow when a man approaches you and asks you to come with him to the shack just off the track.
The man explains to you that they found an urn in a dungeon and took it to the museum, and that he found out afterwards that it was cursed to conceal a monster within any who touched it. He also explains that he found a small knife which can force such a monster to emerge with just a scratch.
He says how his friend was acting very strange and wanting to shake his hand when he got back, following them from the dungeon after staying to translate the old texts (and discovering the curse and the knife), and he scratched him with the knife, causing him to split upen like an overripe melon to reveal twisting limbs and teeth inside of him, which promtply tried to eat him. The man killed him by burning his house down, and fled with the knife.
Now he wants the party to take the knife and save the town. He doesn't know how many of them have been affected, and recommends that they seek the other members of his dig first, and test them to see if they touched it. He also asks that they find a way to bring the Urn back to him, without touching it, so that he can lock it back in the dungeon forever.
Further information, if pushed for, will be that his dog, Jed, fled the village with him, and he noticed he was acting strange so checked him too, and found he was a monster as well - his twisted monstrous corpse is burning behind the shack in the woods. The man also tested himself - there is a cut on his palm, bound in bandages - and was not affected.
So, now the question - what would your characters do next? What approach might you take to this adventure? What would your plans be?
The more I know, the more I can make sure I have answers to hand! Thanks!
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!
Is the name of the chap with the shack MacReady by any chance? I think anything I say or do would be heavily influenced by my knowledge of a certain film + sequel/prequel. having said that I would probably scratch the chap one more time just to make sure he is normal but thats a paranoia thing really.
First of all, my character has trust issues. On top of this, she has already experienced the effects of a cursed magic item and doesn't ever want to go through that misery again. She would not take the man's story at face value, nor would she willingly touch either the man or the knife.
My first instinct would be to look for a cure. I don't think my characters would be willing to accept that the affected individuals must be lost for good. To do so, they'd probably want to go to the dungeon or look through items found alongside the urn and knife. If they can't find a cure, they would at least want to discover the source of the curse (a demon?), and determine if there is any lore about identifying those affected. After that, they would prioritize finding the individuals from the dig site.
One thing they would absolutely not do is touch anyone. They would also be incredibly suspicious of anyone who does try to touch them.
Only spilt the party if you see something shiny.
Ariendela Sneakerson, Half-elf Rogue (8); Harmony Wolfsbane, Tiefling Bard (10); Agnomally, Gnomish Sorcerer (3); Breeze, Tabaxi Monk (8); Grace, Dragonborn Barbarian (7); DM, Homebrew- The Sequestered Lands/Underwater Explorers; Candlekeep
Thanks all!
I will be sure to write up the dig site then, though he will be pressuring them to go to the village first, as the dig was a hard days ride from the village and so they would be gone for 2+ days if they decided to go there! Don't want to railroad them though, so I'll add the journey and dig site to the game!
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!
Oh no, of course not!
His name's ReadMacy 😜
I'm glad that the reference has come through, I was concerned I was going too far sidewards to make it obvious!
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!
Well based on what you've got there, I might be inclined to have the encounter play out a little closer to the film, so rather than have the PC's meet "Read Macy" you could have them walking along and see a dog, or maybe a wolf, bounding down the hillside chased by Read/Reid/Reed (depending on how/if you want to chnge the name), Read can then shout out warnings and fire arrows at it and the dog/wolf runs to the PC's in a "help me!" kind of way, play up the dog looking terrified and make Read out to be the bad guy, then see what happens. If Doggo survives then he tags along with the party, maybe proves to be a good guard dog sitting watch etc and then unleash the monstrosity when they get to a town or if the party side with Read then they have a little fight see the body horror and maybe decide they need to go investigate and help the town out before things get out of hand.
Thanks for the ideas! The adventure is intended as a self-contained oneshot for a 3-hour session, so I need to make it fairly to the point at the start to get the ball rolling - totally agree on that delivery in a campaign, but not so much for a oneshot!
I may even swap things about a bit and have it be a half-elf woman called Macy Reed, that might be enough of a nod to the fans without people being "oh this is totally a reference to something".
So, thus far we have:
Thanks all for the derailments so far, it's good to know what to plan!
Anyone else have a route they'd take?
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!