The following is a quick adventure meant to "fill the gaps".
If anyone happens to run this adventure please tell me how it went and what improvements I could make to it.
I can be e-mailed at: geniuslocigames@gmail.com
If anyone happens to run this adventure please tell me how it went and what improvements I could make to it.
I can be e-mailed at: geniuslocigames@gmail.com
5 Minute Adventures – The House That Wasn’t Built
A Swords & Wizardry Whitebox Adventure for 4-5 players of 3-6th
level
Introduction
There
always seems to be a place in any long game, a place where the
adventure is done, the heroes have completed their tasks, saved the
princess, and collected their pay. A place in a game where everyone
just mills around, doing their shopping and the Referee is
desperately trying to figure out how to introduce his flock to their
next employer.
That
is the purpose of the five-minute adventures. A simple, quick
adventure that can take place anywhere in the Referee’s world urban
or rural.
Enjoy!
Background
The Marshlands of have
always been a place of stories, of tales told around campfires late
at night when the last of the stew has been taken and the ale is
running low.
Some stories tell of a
woman in a tattered wedding gown walking amongst the tree and high
grasses, humming an old dirge of a long forgotten people. Others of
strange lights in the sky that dive into the water and never return.
Still more tell of the lost treasure of the Azure Orcs, money looted
from life-times of raids and pillaging.
The most famous tales,
however, the tales that are more whispered than spoken are those of
“The House”. No one story gives this place the same location, no
one story describes it the same way, but every story is the same. An
old house, worn with age and misuse lay in the swarm lands, a single
candle light in the window. The tales tell of farmers, merchants and
adventurers, weary of long travel entering the house in hopes of food
and drink. The tales tale of how in the morning, when the sun burns
away the mists, the house is gone.
Adventure
Summary
Unlike Most the
adventures in the 5 Minute Adventure series, “the House That Wasn’t
Built” is truly meant to be shoe-horned into any place or time that
the Referee chooses. The adventure is a mostly randomized set of
tables, listing rooms, traps and other perils the players will
encounter during their time in the house.
Why is this? The house
is the monster, an Ancient Greater Pseudomorph that can adapt its
appearance to seem as a house as large as a modestly sized inn or
manor. Once the Players enter there is no escape, safe by finding the
creature’s heart (which it can move) and destroying it.
While in the house the
players will face rooms that change, switch and bend, stairs that
expands before them or possibly turn into slides. To the creature
that is the house the plight of the players is noting more than idle
entertainment; a cat playing with its food.
The
Adventure
For whatever reason
the players are traveling through the Marshlands as the sun sets on
the day. Perhaps they are on their way to dungeon or some other point
of interest or merely going to the next town on their map in hopes of
treasure and fame.
While traveling
through the marshlands the Players have a 50% chance of either
encountering one of the creatures listed on Table 1 (1-50%) or one of
the supernatural phenomena listed on Table 2(51%-100%).
Table
1 – Marshland Creatures
Roll (d6)
|
Creature Encountered
|
1
|
Young Black Dragon
|
2-3
|
2d4 Striges
|
4-5
|
1d6 Lizardmen Patrol
|
6
|
Troll
|
Creatures
listed found in S&W Whitebox
Table
2 – Marshland Phenomena
Roll (d6) | Phenomena |
1-2 | Lady in White |
2-4 | Ghost Fire |
5-6 | Azure Coin |
See
End of Adventure for descriptions
After twelve rounds of
wandering, the players will encounter the The House.
The thick, close trees of the marsh part slightly to reveal a small clearing. An old moss covered inn with an attached stable stand – albeit slightly crooked – before you. The door and window are closed, and an ancient faded sign clacks in the humid breeze. As you approach a light comes on and you can begin to hear the sounds of music and talking from within. |
The
House
The house is an
ancient Greater Pseudomorph, a creature that makes itself appear to
be an inanimate object. This creature, unlike its semi-sentient is
old and strong and intelligent making the world around it suit its
will or at the very least, make those living beings near it believe
wheat it wants them to believe.
There is no light and
no music or talking coming from The House, the Pseudomorph that is
The House is inflicting its will on the players (Save -10 to negate)
to draw them closer to it and the inviting trap it has prepared for
them.
Once the players are
inside they will find themselves alone in an inn common room. A dim
sourceless light keeps back the natural darkness. If they attempt to
leave they will find the door and the windows gone.
Once the players leave
the common room they are subject to the ever changing rooms listed
below. Some rooms may contain the remains and treasures of former
victims or may, if the players are lucky contain the creature’s
heart.
Table
3 – “The House” Rooms
Roll (d%)
|
Room Type
|
0-20
|
10x10 room
|
20-40
|
Large Ballroom
|
40-60
|
Hallway
|
60-70
|
Prison
|
70-80
|
Kitchen
|
80-90
|
Crypts
|
90-95
|
Storage Room
|
95-99
|
Stairs
|
100
|
The Common Room*
|
*The
Common Room is the only room in the house exempt from tables 4 and 5.
There is a 50% chance, however, of a Psychic Attack occurring while
in The Common Room.
Table
4 – “The House” Traps
Roll (d%)
|
Room Type
|
0-10
|
Elongating Illusion*
|
10-30
|
Spike Pit
|
30-50
|
Poisonous Gas
|
50-70
|
Psychic Attack*
|
70-80
|
Falling Ceiling
|
80-90
|
Enclosing Walls
|
90-99
|
Nothing
|
100
|
Stomach Acid*
|
*See
End of Adventure for Description
Referee Note: All the traps in The House are technically “Psychic Attacks”, however, unlike the Psychic Attack trap listed, these traps can be overcome by the players successful making a saving throw or skill check involving the trap. I.E. If the Thief succeeds in picking the locked door the attack/trap fails and the Players are freed from that room. |
Table
5 – “The House” Room Contents
Roll (d%) | Contents |
0-10 | 2d10 Standard Currency Pouch |
11-30 | Nothing |
31-40 | +1 Armor |
41-60 | 4d10 Standard Currency Pouch |
61-80 | +1 Magic Weapon |
81-90 | Spell Scroll |
95-100 | Heart of “The House”* |
*See
End of Adventure for Description
Ending
the Adventure
When the heart is
destroyed the house will “melt” around the players within four
turns leaving nothing but a slimy puddle that takes up most of the
clearing.
Day is just breaking
as the house finishes melting, and the players find that they are
still in the small clearing amid the corpse of the Greater Pseudopod
and the remains of its former victims.
Should the players
chose they can pick through the remains (Roll table 5 three times)
but find nothing else.
All
that is left for the players to do is to move on and continue on
their way. However, if any of them are exceptional perspective they
may notice that the stables are still in the clearing and a baleful,
but dim, red light is emanating from it.
New
Monsters
Greater
Pseudomorph
(Heart)
Armor
Class: 2[17]
Hit
Dice: 7+3
Attacks: Pseudopod
(3d6+stick)
See
Below
THB: +9
Saving
Throw: 10
Special: Psychic
Attack, Stick
Move: 3
HDE/XP: 9/1,100
The
Heart of the Greater Pseudopod is the only way to kill the Greater
Pseudopod as a whole. As a sentient creature the Greater Pseudopod
will attempt to protect its heart at nearly all costs.
The
first way that the Greater Pseudomorph will attempt to protect itself
is by hiding the heart from the prey trapped within itself. If the
Prey happens to find the Pseudomorph heart it will use the rest of
its body to defend itself by creating pseudopods from three different
surfaces.
The
Pseudomorph will also attempt to use its Psychic Attack ability to
trick and confuse the attackers away from attacking it. While in the
presence of the Pseudomorph Heart the save against any psychic attack
is increased by -2
Stick
– Any
Melee attack
has a 75%
chance of causing the attacker to become stuck to the Pseudomorph.
While stuck to the Pseudomorph
the target takes 1d4 acid damage as the Pseudomorph begins to digest
the target.
New
Traps
Elongating
Illusion
– When
the players affected by this trap attempt to move in any direction
the space will grow before them 10' for every step taken. A
successful saving throw with a -3 modifier will cause the illusion to
vanish leaving the area normal for the player.
If
a single member of a party succeeds in disbanding the illusion the
modifier is dismissed for all other party members.
Psychic
Attack
– The player is assaulted with false imagery, scenarios and
personal memories. A Psychic Attack can take the form of imagining
being attacked by a horde of orcs, or seeing a lost lover out the
window being killed before the players' eyes. The Psychic Attack is
typically the same for all the players.
Paranormal
Phenomena
Lady
in White
– The players see the image of a pale human woman in a tattered
wedding dress running through the marshlands as if it where a
carpeted room. If pursued the Lady in White will continue to run
until she reaches a place in the center of marsh. There the players
will find the corpse of a long dead human and have a 75% chance of
being hopelessly lost (add an additional 6 rounds of wandering before
the house is found).
Ghost Fire –
Pale lights that dance in the sky of the marsh and dive toward the
murky, fetid waters. If pursued the lights will dance deeper and
deeper into the marsh, until the player steps into the waters. Once
the player steps into the waters something will grab and attempt to
drown the player. If the player does not succeed a saving throw with
a -2 modifier he or she will be pulled under and drowned in 1d6
rounds.
Azure Coin –
The player finds a large standard currency coin on the ground before
him or her. If he or she attempts to pick-up the coin it will fall
from his or her fingers back onto the ground. With every attempt to
pick-up the coin the player becomes more obsessed with picking the
coin up. At first attempt a normal saving throw is made, on every
attempt after the first a negative modifier equal to the number of
attempts is added to the saving throw.
Nice work, very cool idea.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Matt!
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