AC10: Bestiary of Dragons and Giants

AC10 "Bestiary of Dragons and Giants" is a 64-page compilation of 14 mini-adventures, ranging from Basic to Master level, edited by Deborah Christian.

Advertisement for AC10, appearing in Dragon #125-6

Creative Team:

The introductory section and first two mini-adventures were written by Jim Ward, while the remaining scenarios were contributed by others.

The cover illustration is by Larry Elmore, from a D&D poster "Teamwork" sold exclusively at Sears, as advertised in Dragon #90 (October, 1984).

The inside of the gatefold cover depicts illustrations of the various types of giants and dragons, overlaid upon a 5' gird.*

*the artist for the inside of the gatefold cover isn't credited, although was probably Roger Raupp, who is mentioned in the review for AC10 in Dragon #148 (pg. 65)

Black and white interior illustrations are by Wanda Lybarger.  Cartography is by Dennis Kauth and Ron Kauth

A random spell generator for spell-casting dragons is also included, credited to Bruce Heard.

Mini-Adventures:

The Haunted Helm: James Ward

Monster: White Dragon

Party Level: 1-4

This adventure takes place a week's travel into the high mountains, and would be suitable for a low level party in Threshold.

The Questing Barbarian: James Ward

Monster: Young Mountain Giant

Party Level: 1-4

This adventure takes place a three week's trip into the high mountains to the north, and would likewise be suitable for a low level party in Threshold.

Ravellia and the Dragon Eggs: Warren and Caroline Spector

Monster: Black Dragon

Party Level: 5-7

This adventure takes place in a hilly region surrounded by marshes, and includes a brief section "On Black Dragons and Their Eggs".

Trouble in Tall Stone Pass: Steve Perrin

Monster: Stone Giant

Party Level: 5-7

This adventure starts in "the little town of Breaker’s Reach, part of a long section of land, the Reach, where a lot of horse training is done", and includes a brief section "On Stone Giant Creation and Origin".

The Wizard in the Woods: John Nephew

Monster: Green Dragon

Party Level: 8-11

This adventure takes place in an elven forest, and includes a brief section "On Subdual and Control of Dragons".

The Tip of the Iceberg: Thomas Kane

Monster: Frost Giant

Party Level: 8-11

This adventure takes place on an iceberg, and would be appropriate for the seas around the Northern Reaches.

Krasniy the Red: Gary Thomas

Monster: Red Dragon

Party Level: 12-15

This adventure takes place in the town of Saffir, nestled in a small valley with surrounding farms, and includes a brief section "On Aerial Combat".

The Feud of the Fire Giants: John Terra

Monster: Fire Giant

Party Level: 12-15

This adventure takes place in the foothills of the mountains, and includes a brief section "On Fire Giants".

The Deluded Dragon: Deborah Christian

Monster: Gold Dragon

Party Level: 16-20

This adventure begins in the seaport of Nandua, a town notorious for its population of smugglers and pirates (similar to Freiburg in the Heldann Freeholds, or Landfall in Norwold), and includes a brief section "On Gold Dragons".

Prince Reynard and the Silver Staircase: Ray Winninger

Monster: Cloud Giant

Party Level: 7-10

This adventure takes place in a cloud giant castle, and includes a brief section "On Cloud Giants and Their Castles".

Thyralax and the Ruby Amulet: Rick Swan

Monster: Ruby Dragon

Party Level: 21-25

This adventure takes place in "a barren wilderness, about 20 miles north of the nearest civilized area", and includes a brief section "On Gemstone Dragons".

Isle of the Storm Giant: Vince Garcia

Monster: Storm Giant

Party Level: 21-25

This adventure takes place on a desert island, a week's sail from "the port of Serendib, which may be placed in the DM’s campaign world or set in the eastern region of the D&D game world’s wilderness overseen by the Minrothad guilds" and includes a brief section "On Storm Giants".

Serendib was also mentioned in Garcia's solo adventure "The Djinni's Ring" published in Dungeon #9 (January/February 1988) and might represent the unnamed port on the easternmost island of the Minrothad Guilds appearing on the parchment map of the Sea of Dread in XSOLO "Lathan's Gold"

Fangs Alot: Bob Blake

Monster: Dragon Ruler

Party Level: 26 and up

This adventure involves Opal the Sun Dragon, Ruler of All Neutral Dragons, and takes place on Opal’s home plane.  It includes a brief section "On Dragon Parts".

The Pestiferous Castle of Bodor Sordstone: Scott Bennie

Monster: Mountain Giant

Party Level: 25 - 30

This adventure takes place "in the center of an extinct volcano on an island in a crater lake" and includes a brief section "On Mountain Giant Lore: From the Dwarvish Legends".

M5: Talons of Night

M5 "Talons of Night" (1987) by Jennell Jaquays is a D&D adventure for four to eight players of levels 25 to 30.*

*the banner on the cover states 20-25, an editorial error

M5 "Talons of Night" (1987) by Jennell Jaquays.  Cover illustration by Daniel Horne (possibly based on early concept art, rather than the actual adventure).

A remarkable feat of the imagination, Jaquays engineers a fittingly epic, grand finale to the overarching clash of empires metaplot introduced in CM1 "Test of the Warlords", and continued in CM2 "Death's Ride", CM3 "Sabre River", M1 "Into the Maelstrom", and M2 "Vengeance of Alphaks".

Creative Team:

M5 "Talons of Night" was designed by Jennell Jaquays and edited by Gary L. Thomas.

Jaquays is better known for her Judges Guild classics "Dark Tower" and "The Caverns of Thracia".  She freelanced for TSR in the late 1980s/early 1990s.

The project came to me as I was in the process of moving my family across the country to be closer to where I grew up and my child's grandparents.

TSR gave me a the product description and what they wanted the product to accomplish: a climactic event between Thyatis and Alphatia, suitable for very high level D&D characters, that took place on an undeveloped land mass, the Isle of Dawn.  With that came a reasonable amount of freedom to take ownership of that space.  And I did.

I wrote an adventure to challenge players and their characters, offer a variety of play challenges, give some "Holy Shit" experiences to players and characters alike (who may have been jaded by then), turned the powerful leaders of two nations into relatable people, change everything in the world, and then like a good episodic television show, reset it all back to status quo at the end.  I created the playable characters and did the interior illustration (including the painted game board).

... prior to writing this adventure, I had never played in or run a Master Level D&D game (or even played in or run this edition/version of the D&D rules).  I never play-tested this adventure.  Balance was based on best guesses and analysis of scenarios in other Master level games.  This was NOT an uncommon practice for me.  Very few of my adventure scenarios in the 70s and 80s were ever play tested prior to publication.

Jennell Jaquays on Facebook (January 19, 2017)

For more on Jaquays' recollections designing this adventure, check out this interview on Wandering DMs (season 03, episode 14) from 13:19 to 20:07 (April 10, 2021)

The cover illustration is by Daniel Horne, with black and white interior illustrations by Jaquays.  Cartography is by Dennis Kauth and Steve Sullivan.

Dedication: Special thanks to Jay Belsky for his impromptu seminar on negotiation, and to play-testers  Bruce Jaquays, Patrick Ryan, Tobin Davenport, Joe Davenport, William Phillips and Todd Lang.

The Isle of Dawn:

Map of the Isle of Dawn.  Scale marked as 24 miles per hex, although is actually closer to 33.7 miles per hex (as discussed, here)

The adventure includes a mini-gazetteer on the Isle of Dawn (appendix III, pg 44-46), with short descriptions for the neutral city of Helskir, the Confederated Provinces of Dunadale, the Grand Duchy of Westrourke, East Portage, West Portage, the City-States of Ekto and Trikelios, Kendach, the Kingdom of Thothia,* and Caerdwicca.

*based on ancient Egypt, the Thothians are described as descendants of colonists from the ancient Nithian Empire, which had recently been described in GAZ 2 "The Emirates of Ylaruam" (1987)

The southern tableland hides the Lost City of Aran, within the Lands of the Aranea.

An island within Lake Avernus, a subterranean lake two miles beneath the Lost City, contains a gate into the world of Thorne, an outer plane.

The Immortals:

Koryis, Patron of Peace and Prosperity, a Lawful celestial from the sphere of Thought.  He opposes wars and violence.

Night, the Immortal ruler of the Sphere of Entropy.

Alphaks the Dark, Patron of Chaos and Revenge, a Chaotic temporal from the sphere of Entropy and Death.

The Night Spider, a temporal from the sphere of Entropy.

Rathanos, the ancient Thothian sun god, a minor Immortal from the sphere of Energy in the pantheon of the Magian Fire Worshippers.

Outer Planes:

Illustration by Jennell Jaquays, used for the cover of Dragon #175 (November, 1991) from this Facebook post (December 19, 2014)

Thorne -  a world beyond the Astral Plane, one of the so-called outer planes on the fringes of the Sphere of Death's primary influence

Chasm - a world of steep cliffs "that fill your vision as far as you can see in all directions", location of the Tower of Night

Tower of Night - a location accessed through Chasm, but with gravity at right angles, containing the means by which to access the Isle of Night

Isle of Night - a miniature version (1 mile/hex) of the Isle of Dawn.  The small plane is a personal but minor project of Night, the Immortal ruler of the Sphere of Entropy.

The Peaceful Periapt of Pax:

The legendary Immortal peacemaker Pax once imbued her pacifying abilities into an alabaster dove as a passive defense against the forces of Entropy.  A clever mortal discovered that it could be made into a mace head with serious damaging effects against mortal and immortal creatures aligned with the Sphere of Death.

"Talons of Night" pg. 44

The Peaceful Periapt of Pax is a Greater Artifact, as described in the Master DM's book (1986).

Powers include A2: Calm Others (PP 30); A2: Mass Charm (PP 75); B2: Lore (PP 70); B2: Truesight (PP 50); D1: Cure Serious Wounds (PP 25); D1: Cure Critical Wounds (PP 35)

New Monsters:

Aranea and Phanatons, introduced in X1 "The Isle of Dread", are given a backstory:

Ages ago, planar spiders exiled to the Prime Plane for their evil founded the city of Aran on the Isle of Dawn.  Here they created the only known works of that arachnid civilization (using the enslaved race of phanaton that accompanied them here).  Mighty webs intertwined with pearlescent pillars of magical stone to create a lustrous city that scintillated in the rising dawn.  Yet the planar spiders' Chaotic descendents soon interbred with lesser giant spiders and so formed the degenerate intelligent spider race known as aranea.

"Talons of Night" pg. 42

Dusker (goblin-like constructs created by the Immortal Hierarch of Entropy); Hunakoi (red-skinned stone giants)

Prerolled Characters:

Kavva Lindenelm, Neutral 10th level Elf

Blind Wooster, Lawful 31st level Cleric

Knolimer Knolin of Yskelb, Neutral 27th level Magic-User

Ethendril h'Caramore, Lawful 30th level Paladin

Unice, Lawful 27th level Fighter

Shebb Woolsey, Neutral 30th level Thief

The pre-rolled characters were loosely based on players in the AD&D adventure that Lawrence Schick (of White Plume Mountain fame) DM'd.  Eunice was my partner's character, and she indeed worshipped a god of pink socks.  The wizard Knolimer was Jay Belsky, one of the engineers who worked with me at Coleco (he was a technical wizard in real life and the co-designer of the product specifications for the ColecoVision game console) and the character's name was originally Nonamer (which meant "No Name'r, jay couldn't think of a name at the time, so Nonamer stuck).  TSR made me change it to something else.  Shebb Woolsey was a thief played by the husband of one of my partner's co-workers at a fabric store).

May be worth noting that that same adventure group included former TSR designer Kevin Hendryx and his wife Mary (both worked for Coleco as well), and Dr. B. Dennis Sustare, the co-author of Bunnies & Burrows, the creator of the Druid class for D&D, and the person for whom the 7th level clerical spell Sustarre's Chariot was named.  We had a good game group.

Jennell Jaquays on Facebook (January 19, 2017)

M4: Five Coins For A Kingdom

M4 "Five Coins For A Kingdom" (1987) by Allen Varney is a D&D adventure for four to six players of levels 28 to 32.

M4 "Five Coins For A Kingdom" (1987) by Allen Varney.  Cover illustration by John and Laura Lakey.

The PCs must gather five enchanted coins as a means of traveling to an outer plane in order to rescue the city of Lighthall from the fiery depths of the Sun.

Creative Team:

M4 "Five Coins For A Kingdom" was designed by Allen Varney* and edited by Robin Jenkins.

*Varney would go on to design the Hollow World "Blood Brethren" trilogy (1990-1)

Cover and interior illustrations are by husband and wife team John and Laura Lakey (see the Lakey Studios website, for more of their work).

Cartography is by William Reuter.

The Setting:

If the players use the pregenerated PCs provided with this adventure, the city is Lighthall, the dominion of Sir Theobold Redbeard.  Lighthall, so named for its well-lit stronghold, is situated on the coast of Norwold, about halfway between the cities of Landfall and Oceansend.

"Five Coins For A Kingdom" pg. 3

The PCs are in Lighthall when the city vanishes without a trace.

One of the five Ruling Wizards of the city of Solius, capital of the kingdom of Trann, appears to implore their assistance, explaining that the fates of their two cities are linked.

Eloysia:

The Outer Plane of Eloysia is in some ways a reverse image of the Prime Plane.  Whereas the PCs' world floats through the vast emptiness of outer space, the realm of [Eloysia] is almost filled with material.  Quintillions of cubic light-years of weird, semi-solid, gray material fills the entire plane: this is called the plenum.

Scattered thinly through the plenum, like bubbles of gas in soda water, are a few spherical habitats.  Life has arisen here (perhaps migrating from other planes).  Each sphere is minute by cosmic comparison, separated from its neighbors by incomprehensibly large distances.  In human terms, each is as large as our own solar system, playing host to whole civilizations.

Physical Description

Eloysia is a colossal, hollow sphere filled with breathable air and lit by a small central sun.  Around the sun, thousands of large, rocky islands proceed in stately orbits - not in belts, like the asteroids of our own solar system, but in concentric shells, like electrons around the nucleus of an atom.

Conceptual model of Eloysian solar system.

Some islands are practically dust-motes hardly a mile across.  Others are as big as states or nations.  Every few millennia, a shard of the plenum, at the boundary of the sphere, is baked solid by the sun’s heat; it breaks free and drifts inward to join the other islands in their orbits.

As for the shape of a typical island, they most closely resemble a cornflake.  These islands are usually flat, with occasional bumps overall and ridges at the edges.  Making the cornflake the size of Montana gives a relative scale for an Eloysian island.  The inner side of the island always faces the sun; the inhabitants of all islands live in perpetual noon.  The underside miles beneath is dark and lifeless.  As for the interior of each island, who knows what creatures live there?

The Shells

There are three concentric shells of islands around Eloysia's sun; these islands share orbits much in the same manner as electrons around an atomic nucleus. 

The inner shell, hardly more than 10,000 miles from the sun, is too hot to support human life.  The scorched rocks here have nothing to offer but pools of molten metal, which the Eloysians sometimes mine.  Fire elementals and bizarre alien creatures are occasionally spotted here.

Several thousand miles further out are the warm, agricultural islands.  These lush, green, farm-worlds grow food to feed Eloysia's inhabitants.  The fields and vineyards are watered by vast, permanent rainstorms that wander through the shell, sustained by complex climatic patterns and magical forces.

The outermost shell, about 2,000 miles beyond the farm belt, contains the many island kingdoms of Eloysia. This is where most of the inhabitants live in a bewildering diversity of nations and cultures. Among these is the kingdom of the Ruling Wizards and its beautiful city of Solius - or rather. the site where Solius once was.

"Five Coins For A Kingdom" pg. 12

The Sun:

The PCs return to the Prime Plane, only to discover that they must travel into the depths of the Sun to rescue the city of Lighthall.

This is a well-thought-out, imaginative scenario, which can alternately be used as part of an epic quest in other high-level adventures.

The Shadow Belt of Orcus:

Durhan the Conqueror

The Shadow Belt of Orcus is a Greater Artifact, as described in the Master DM's book (1986)

Powers include A1: Lightning Bolt (PP 60); A2: Mass Charm (PP 73); A4: Power Drain; B2: Clairvoyance (PP 25); B3: Levitate (PP 15); D3: Immunity (PP 100)

New Monster:

Auratus (600'-800' long creatures resembling Chinese goldfish that float through Eloysia like dirigibles, using the hydrogen gas stored in their abdomens)

Prerolled Characters:

Sir Theobald Redbeard, Lawful 30th level Knight

Theona of the Righteous Glory, Lawful 30th level Cleric

Prosper, Neutral 30th level Thief

Quentin the Aggressive, Neutral 30th level Magic-User

Laralyn Athilar, Neutral 10th level Elf (Attack Rank K)

Hogun of Rockhome, Lawful 12th level Dwarf (Attack Rank L)

...those six pre-gen PCs were directly inspired by the PARANOIA adventures West End was publishing at the time, including Send in the Clones (1985), which I co-wrote with Warren Spector.  Each published PARANOIA adventure would provide six Troubleshooter PCs with ready-made reasons to kill each other.  For Send in the Clones I created a free-floating backstory unrelated to the main plot involving sabotaged Bouncy Bubble Beverage; the scandal implicated each PC, though none of them knew of the others' involvement.  I didn't try to tie together the M4 PCs so closely, but it seemed Master-level characters would at least already know one another.

Allen Varney on the Piazza (April 17, 2009)

Trivia:

M4 had a sequence where the PCs had to reach the destination plane by passing through an interim plane inhabited by a culture of planar spiders; I believe the editor accidentally left a line about these spiders in the final experience awards section.

Allen Varney on the Piazza (April 17, 2009)

Varney re-used the basic premise of M4 in "The Vanishing City" Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Gamebook #15 (November, 1987)

M3: Twilight Calling

M3 "Twilight Calling" (1986) by Tom Moldvay is a D&D adventure for a party of four to six characters of levels 30 to 35.

M3 "Twilight Calling" (1986) by Tom Moldvay.  Cover illustration depicting Carnifex Castle by Larry Elmore.

The PCs are manipulated by Alphaks "the Dark" into releasing an evil, ancient reptilian race from "the Pits of Banishment", a prison dimension.

Creative Team:

M3 "Twilight Calling" was designed by Tom Moldvay, with additional design, development, and editing by Bruce Heard, Karen Martin, Rick Swan, Jennell Jaquays, Kevin Stein, and Robin Jenkins.

The cover illustration is by Larry Elmore, with black and white interior illustrations by Ben Otero (the artists' names were mistakenly switched in credits).

Cartography is by Diane & Dave Sutherland, Gloria Szopinaki and Rob Peacock.

The Septahenge:

Illustration by Ben Otero

The PCs must locate a stonehenge-like edifice of seven dolmen arches atop Guardian Mesa, a gray basalt plateau a thousand feet high and 500 feet wide, in the center of the Broken Lands.

Each arch is a gate leading to one of seven magical realms.

The Seven Realms:

The seven magical realms are pocket universes, ruled by quasi-immortal beings.  Each draws inspiration from one of the seven classical planets.*

*see "The Seven Magical Planets" by Tom Moldvay in The Dragon #38 (June, 1980) 

The Rainbow Realm (Mercury)

• the realm of Nabumetis, a consummate trickster who delights in practical jokes
• the ultimate symbol of the Rainbow Realm is the fool who learns to control the chaos within him, and in the process, becomes the magician
• the wand of Koloron, made of deep violet crystal, which can function as any of the 13 kinds of magic wand

The Green Realm (Venus)

• the realm of Belotra the Beautiful, who fears change, and tempts the PCs with a life of eternal youth and luxury
• the traditional ideal of the planet Venus and the feminine aspects of nature; the seductive lure of luxurious, but stifling stasis
• also inhabited by Ambriel, the elven queen
• the tunic of glory (cleric), the shaman's mantle (magic-user), the deceptor's boots (thief), the gauntlets of might (fighter)

The Red Realm (Mars)

• the realm of Anator the Charioteer, a tall, ruddy, muscular warrior with blood-red hair
• the mystical analog of Mars; the suffering and the horrors of war
• also inhabited by Malkar the Warrior and the Kirekan, a mindless biological war machine (a mountain of flesh, moving on countless legs, waving an uncountable collection of mismatched but deadly weapons)

The Black Realm (Saturn)

• the realm of Silcharde the Black, a tall emaciated man with a dark complexion, who spends all of his time brooding on the mysteries of life and death
• dominated by gloom, death, and darkness
• also inhabited by Ombiassa, the great serpent and Zagriona, the hag of time

The Blue Realm (Jupiter)

• the realm of King Valeratros, a giant of a man, with pale blue skin and bright blue hair
• also inhabited by Coroman, the Corn King and Sorabeth the Lawgiver
• the Gift of the Archons, the ability to create the Archon Flame-Sword (4-32 points of damage to any creature hit, including those undead, hit only by magical weapons, and those of other planes)

The White Realm (the Moon)

• the realm of Kerrisar, a maiden huntress, clad in a flowing, diaphanous gown
• the mystical analog of the moon; magic and theft are part of the ideal of the land, spells are more witchcraft than magic, illusions are more vision than hallucination
• also inhabited by Astracus, Guardian of the Shore

The Yellow Realm (the Sun)

• the realm of Morilon the Golden, a lion-headed man
• dominated by harmony, warmth, and friendship
• also inhabited by Hyperbius, the Grand Master of the Brotherhood of the Sun

The Carnifex:

Once the PCs have collected a magical symbol from each of the Seven Realms, the Septahenge disappears and the party is transported to the Pits of Banishment, where a narrow, half-mile long bridge leads towards Carnifex Castle.

Illustration by Ben Otero

The Carnifex are described as seven-foot tall, lizard-like humanoids, kin to both lizards and dinosaurs.

There are four classes of Carnifex (guards, tricksters, chaplains, and magi) corresponding to each of the four main character classes.

The surviving Carnifex have created a one-way gate leading to the PCs' home world, and must be stopped.

The Carnifex have also created a powerful magical device, the Black Staff, which can be used to create undead duplicates of any living creature.

Prerolled Characters:

Taran, Neutral 33rd level Fighter, a former King of Ierendi*
Arian, Lawful 33rd level Cleric, raised in the Temple of Law in (G)lantri City
Strom, Chaotic 33rd level Thief, born and raised among the Ferret Clan of the Atruaghin tribes
Morgana, Neutral 33rd level Magic-User, a former ruler of the Lost City of Cynidicea*
Barnstormer, Lawful 33rd level Paladin, an Ethengar tribesman*
Draco, Neutral 33ed level Fighter, born and raised in Thyatis

*based on PCs Taran the Wanderer aka Taran of the Two Swords, Moirrighan, and Barnstormer from Tom Moldvay's and Lawrence Schick's Original Known World (OKW) campaign (c.1976-1979), see Bundle D - OKW Character Sheets in Bill Wilkerson's Original Known World documents

Commentary:

Given its high level, "Twilight Calling" is unlikely to be used as part of a regular D&D campaign.  However, it's component parts can easily be repurposed.

PCs may be transported to any of the seven magical realms as part of a quest or curse.  Individual realms can be expanded, using Moldvay's article in The Dragon #38 as inspiration.

The Carnifex are an interesting, ancient race.  Hints to their existence can be dropped into the campaign as whispered legends.

High-Level Campaigns

The AD&D 2e "Dungeon Master Option: High-Level Campaigns" (1995) by Skip Williams, provides great advice for Master-level adventures.

"Dungeon Master Option: High-Level Campaigns" (1995) by Skip Williams.  Cover illustration by Jeff Easley.

Williams has stated that he used the storyline from M2 "Vengeance of Alphaks" for adventure design examples in "High-Level Campaigns".

The relevant sections are reproduced, below:

Chapter 2: Adventures

Plots

Even simple adventures can benefit from flexible, decision-oriented plots.  For example, let’s suppose the player characters become involved in a dispute between two NPCs over a magical item.

The adventure might begin when one of the antagonists (the one who currently owns the item) settles down in the PCs’ area without their knowledge.  Perhaps one of the PCs is the area’s ruler.

The first incident occurs when the villain sends a raiding party to steal the item.  The other NPC goes into hiding, leaving the PCs to deal with the raiders.

After dealing with the raiders, the player characters track them back to their lair and ultimately confront the villain, who either is killed or forced to flee.

The adventure has reasonable potential.  The party is faced with a variety of difficulties, including dealing with the raiders quickly and with minimal damage to the countryside.  They also must deduce where the raiders are coming from, and they face a difficult fight against an entrenched foe.  The plot, however, fails to consider actions that thoughtful players might choose to take.  A flexible plot that offers the players more choices might go something like this:

The player characters are going about their normal business one day when a newcomer arrives in the area and stops to pay his respects.  He is very pleased to meet such famous heroes, and he presents each character with a small, but fairly valuable, gift.  Perhaps the stranger shares an esoteric hobby with one of the player characters.  In general, the newcomer proves to be a very agreeable person.

The newcomer discovers a team of spies or burglars snooping around his home.  A spectacular battle ensues, creating damage that the player characters must clean up.

The newcomer confesses that he has something the villain wants.  The player characters now have several choices to make.  They can drive the newcomer away, take the disputed item, offer protection from future attacks, tell the newcomer to deal with the problem himself, or confront the villain.

The adventure continues in one form or another no matter what the player characters do.  If the item stays in the PCs’ area (because they took it away or allowed the newcomer to stay), the raids continue and begin to grow in strength.  If the characters seized the item (or offered to guard it), they become the subject of the villain’s attention.

If the PCs told the newcomer to scoot, they’re still in for trouble.  Perhaps the newcomer pretends to leave—but goes into hiding instead—or escapes to another plane, leaving behind a replica of the item to distract the villain.  In either case the raids continue.

One way or another, the PCs must locate the villain’s lair and confront him.  If they don’t wish to fight, they can surrender the item—and perhaps the newcomer—to the villain.  This approach isn’t very heroic, but it’s an option.

If the newcomer has fled, the PCs might convince the villain to leave them alone, but the villain might demand a humiliating service or payment in return for the favor.

If the PCs favor a more active approach, they can attack, killing or driving away the villain.  In either case, they acquire some new enemies but also gain some treasure, enhance their reputation as heroes, and maybe gain a valuable ally or henchman in the form of the grateful newcomer.

This example is based on Lambert Bohn (C30), who has the Girdle of De'Rah, and Coiger de Mory (C34) in M2 "Vengeance of Alphaks".

Williams has stated that "In the original proposal, Coiger was quite the schemer and was constantly leaving false clues and backtracking." (on Facebook, December 4, 2016)

Types of Encounters

Puzzle:  This is a noncombat encounter that tests the players’ mental skills in some fashion.  Most puzzles involve logic, memory, or creativity.  The riddle game included in J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel, The Hobbit , represents one kind of puzzle encounter.

Puzzles are an excellent way to make players rely on themselves rather than on their characters’ abilities.  The best puzzles fit your game’s atmosphere; word plays on pop music lyrics or Disney movie titles aren’t a good approach to puzzle making unless you are playing the adventure for laughs.

You can add some tension to a puzzle encounter by combining it with a trap—the characters suffer damage or a magical effect if they give an incorrect response—or guardian—which attacks if the correct answer is not provided.

Here is one of the riddles used in M2:

Bill turns to you and says "And you thought you were sharp!  One of these four gentlemen here...” (four humanoids in leather armor fade into visibility next to Bill), .is of the thieving persuasion and has purloined an item from one of you.  This item in fact."

Bill holds up one magical item owned by a PC and selected by the DM.  The item has been stolen, and no precautions, magical or otherwise, will prevent the theft.

“These gentlemen are the ore, the kobold, the goblin and the ogre.  Each will now make a statement.  The culprit will lie, and the other three will tell the truth.”

"The goblin pilfered it, that wimp” laughs the ore.  “It certainly wasn't me” whines the kobold.  “The ore's lying through his filthy teeth” mumbles the goblin.  “Nah, the kobold and the goblin didn’t do it” rumbles the ogre.

“Now then,” announces Bill, "tell me which one took it and I’ll give it back, and shut off this here machine.”

"Vengeance of Alphaks" pg. 14

Williams later used a variation of this riddle in "Moonlight Madness" (1998):

I lifted a fractured version of the riddle for Moonlight Madness and that version could not be solved (an androsphinx is just no good at riddles).

 Skip Williams on Facebook (December 4, 2016)