Lords of Madness - WE_The Flow of Fresh Brains.pdf - Pozostałe dodatki - elwaro

FRESH BRAINS

THE FLOW OF

Lords of Madness details the D&D game’s most unusual

and unsettling creatures—the aberrations. The book

also offers invaluable tips for overcoming these crea-

tures, as well as new feats, spells, and equipment based

on their abilities. In addition, several organizations

dedicated to the eradication of aberrations are pre-

sented.

The Flow of Fresh Brains is a short D&D adventure for

four 11th-level player characters (PCs). The scenario is

not setting-specific; you can place it in any populated

section of your campaign world that is a near a medium

or large city. The action begins along one of the major

trading routes between cities, then progresses to an

illithid nautiloid. As always, feel free to adapt the mate-

rial presented here as you see fit to make it work with

your campaign.

This adventure uses the horrific adventure guide-

lines presented on page 13 of Lords of Madness . Since the

encounter levels (ELs) of several encounters are higher

than normal for the character level of the PCs, charac-

ter death is a very real possibility. At the very least, the

PCs will find themselves severely taxed during this

adventure, so be sure to provide ample opportunities

for healing.

A Short Adventure for Four 11th-Level

Player Characters Featuring

Material from Lords of Madness

CREDITS

Design:

Darrin Drader

Editing:

Penny Williams

Typesetting:

Nancy Walker

Cartography :

Diesel and @@

Design Manager:

Christopher Perkins

Web Production

Bart Carroll

Web Development:

Mark A. Jindra

PREPARATION

You (the DM) need the D&D core rulebooks—the

Player’s Handbook, the Dungeon Master’s Guide, and the

Monster Manual —as well as the Expanded Psionics Hand-

book and Lords of Madness— to run this adventure. The

information presented here utilizes the D&D v.3.5

rules.

To get started, print out the adventure, including

the maps. Read through the scenario at least once to

familiarize yourself with the situation, threats, and

major NPCs (particularly their motivations). Text that

appears in shaded boxes is player information that you

can read aloud or paraphrase for the players at the

proper times. For monster and NPC statistics, refer to

either the Appendix or the appropriate pages in Monster

Manual or Lords of Madness.

Graphic Design:

Sean Glenn, Cynthia Fliege

Based on the original D UNGEONS & D RAGONS ® game by E.

Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson and on the new edition of the

D UNGEONS & D RAGONS game designed by Jonathan Tweet,

Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Rich Baker, and Peter Adkison.

D&D, D UNGEONS & D RAGONS , and D UNGEON M ASTER are registered trademarks owned

by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. The d20 logo is a trademark owned by Wizards of the

Coast, Inc. All Wizards characters, character names, and the distinctive likenesses

thereof are trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United

States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the

material or artwork contained herein is prohibited

without the express written permission of

Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

Made in the U.S.A.

This product is a work of fiction.

Any similarity to actual people, organizations, places,

or events is purely coincidental.

MINIATURES

You may find that some of the miniatures produced by

Wizards of the Coast, Inc. greatly enhance your players’

enjoyment of this adventure. The warbands presented

in a recent web article (http://www.wizards.com/

default.asp?x=dnd/mi/20050317a) are of particular

interest.

This Wizards of the Coast game product contains no Open Game Content.

No portion of this work may be reproduced in any form without

written permission. To learn more about the Open Gaming License

and the d20 System License,

please visit www.wizards.com/d20.

For more D UNGEONS & D RAGONS articles, adventures, and information,

visit www.wizards.com/dnd

The miniatures indicated below are particularly

useful during play. Some are not exact matches for the

designated NPCs, but they do an adequate job of captur-

ing the nature of the monster, or at least its relative size.

Xhux’uto: Aberrations—Mind Flayer Telepath

(39/60).

Other Mindflayers: Harbinger—Mind Flayer

(50/80).

Narulin: Harbinger—Human Blackguard

(45/80).

Kigrid: Deathknell—Ambush Drake (30/60).

Black Thorne Mercenary: Aberrations—Man-

at-Arms (8/60).

Black Thorne Sorcerer: Deathknell Renegade

Warlock (23/60).

considerably less personal risk than any other means of

acquiring food. Deals were made, and avenues were

opened for slave trade with the inhabited worlds. As a

result, several nautiloids now ply the space lanes

among the various illithid colonies, exchanging living

captives for gold, gems, and spices.

The illithid captain Xhux’uto commands a nautiloid

that services five asteroid settlements. A two-way gate

within the ship links to the subterranean stronghold of

a mercenary company with which Xhux’uto has main-

tained a long-standing relationship. Composed mostly

of humans, the Black Thorne Company rounds up

humanoids and brings them to Xhux’uto’s nautiloid for

transport to the various asteroid settlements. Xhux’uto

charges his clients twice what he pays the mercenaries

for the slaves, keeping the difference as pay for himself

and his crew.

The Black Thorne Company began as a simple

group of highwaymen who brazenly defied the laws

and the protectors of their lands, waylaying travelers

and caravans with increasing frequency. Xhux’uto took

notice of the group as its infamy grew. Eventually, the

mind flayer contacted Narulin, the ruthless fighter

who led the band, and offered him a chance to gain

even more wealth from each raid by selling captives for

illithid consumption. Since the Black Thorne Com-

pany had quite a bit to gain from this arrangement and

nothing to lose, the leader agreed to a partnership with

the illithid captain.

Since then, the Black Thorne Company has become

even more infamous in the surrounding lands because

its members no longer leave survivors, or even corpses,

behind in the wake of an attack. Some claim the merce-

naries are cannibals; others insist that they are slavers.

Only the members of the company and their client,

however, know what really happens to victims of their

attacks. All live captives are turned over to the illithids,

and any corpses are taken back to the band’s hideout

and fed to the kigrids that serve as their guards.

Xhux’uto’s nautiloid is a relic from the distant future

invented. The illithids run the ship with a skeleton

crew and do not even bother to man the weapons.

Since few if any spacefaring races exist at the present

time, the chances of attack by another ship during any

regular trading run are vanishingly small.

ADVENTURE

BACKGROUND

Mind flayers, otherwise known as illithids, are horrific

creatures that originated in the far future. Faced with

the imminent demise of their kind, they fled to the

past with their elder brain leaders, plus certain fero-

cious and twisted creatures that inhabited their home-

world, as well as numerous spacefaring ships called

nautiloids. Upon arrival, they took refuge in the dark

corners of various worlds and began to build their

empire anew by enslaving the native humanoid races.

Since then, the illithids have manipulated events in

both overt and subtle ways to assure the eventual evo-

lution of their own species.

Most of the illithids sought refuge beneath the sur-

faces of their new worlds, establishing colonies that

thrived and grew strong where the light of the sun

could not penetrate. However, a large number of them

avoided inhabited areas altogether and made their

homes among the stars instead. Several elder brains

and their illithid followers settled on small moons or

large asteroids, where they could plot out their future

without interference from the native creatures of the

inhabited worlds. But while this solution helped to

ensure the safety of the illithid masters, it also dis-

tanced the settlements from their primary food source:

the brains of sentient creatures. The vast majority of

the illithids in such stellar settlements addressed this

issue by using their plane shift ability to capture sentient

creatures for food. As luck would have it, however, a

few settlements were established on stellar bodies that

happened to be rich in valuable minerals. The residents

of these colonies quickly discovered that mining these

substances and trading them for living slaves presented

ADVENTURE SYNOPSIS

Several groups of travelers have recently disappeared

along a busy trade route. Investigation leads the PCs to

a cave complex, where they encounter several merce-

naries as well as numerous strange creatures belonging

to the illithidae family of monsters. In the innermost

chamber of the complex, they discover a magic portal.

PCs who pass through the portal find themselves in

the bowels of a nautiloid ship. After fighting their way

past numerous illithids and mercenaries, they can con-

front Narulin and Xhux’uto, the mercenary leader and

the nautiloid captain, respectively. If they defeat these

two leaders, they can rescue the people held in the nau-

tiloid’s slave deck. The PCs cannot control the ship,

however, so they must then decide whether to allow it

to drift in space, or destroy it before leaving.

BEGINNING THE

ADVENTURE

The Flow of Fresh Brains is a site-based adventure in

which the action occurs in two places: inside the sub-

terranean stronghold of the Black Thorne Company,

and aboard Xhux’uto’s nautiloid ship.

You can place the Black Thorne hideout in any sub-

terranean area you desire, so long as it is near enough to

a city to permit easy acquisition of supplies. You must

decide how the PCs learn of its location—perhaps by

following the mercenaries after an attack, or by interro-

gating captured members of the company, or by some

form of divination. The journey to the stronghold is

uneventful, though you may add a random encounter

along the way if it lies some distance from the PCs’ base

of operations.

The adventure begins when the PCs approach the

dungeon that the Black Thorne Company uses as its

hideout.

ADVENTURE HOOKS

As DM, you know best how to involve your characters

in an adventure. However, if you’re stuck for an idea,

you can use any of the following suggestions to draw

the PCs into the action.

• While traveling along a busy trade route, the PCs are

attacked by a vicious band of thugs. The mercenaries

fight hard and seem particularly determined to win,

even though the PCs clearly outmatch them. After the

battle, the surviving thugs attempt to flee under-

ground. Any thugs who are captured and forced to

talk reveal that they are part of a slaver band that

captures people and sells them to a mysterious client.

A. BLACK THORNE

STRONGHOLD

The Black Thorne Company operates from a subter-

ranean stronghold dug out of a sandstone cliffside. Cre-

ated more than fifty years ago by a group of slave

traders, the cavern complex has been occupied by one

criminal organization after another ever since. Heroes

have cleared it out on more than one occasion, and one

group even went so far as to collapse the cave entrance,

but new villains continually re-excavate the complex.

The authorities of the nearby towns have dismissed the

complex as a possible hideout for the mercenary com-

pany that has been plaguing the roads because they

assume the interior of the cliff to be unreachable.

• Lord Dannis, a wealthy noble, was expecting his

nephew Garris to arrive in town two days ago. The

young man was traveling by coach with a group of

friends from a nearby city, but the coach never

arrived. Dannis has heard the recent tales of bold brig-

and attacks, and he fears that Garris and his friends

have fallen prey to such a band of outlaws. Thus, the

nobleman has offered a 5,000-gp reward to any adven-

turers willing to track down his nephew and return

him safely.

A1. ENTRANCE (EL 12)

The entrance to the stronghold is located on a ledge

midway up the face of a steep, forested cliff. When the

PCs reach the area outside the door, read or paraphrase

the following.

The PCs belong to an organization that opposes aberra-

tions, such as the Circle of the True, the Darkrunner

Guild, the Society of the Sanctified Mind, or the Topaz

Order (see Lords of Madness, pages 217–222). Their organ-

ization has learned about the illithids’ covert activities in

this area through an informant who was once a member

of the Black Thorne Company. The leaders of the organ-

ization have passed this information along to the PCs

and asked them to investigate this matter and eliminate

the threat.

Set into the face of the sandstone cliffside is a

thick, wooden door. Just in front of it runs a

narrow ledge overlooking the perilous drop

below.

The door is locked but not barred.

s Strong Wooden Door: 2 in. thick, hardness 5,

hp 20, break DC 23, Open Lock DC 30.

Creatures: A patrol of six Black Thorne mercenar-

ies (four fighters and two sorcerers) guards the

entrance.

Black Thorne Fighter (4): hp 53 each; see

Appendix for statistics.

Black Thorne Sorcerer (2): hp 23 each; see

Appendix for statistics.

Tactics: Because of their recent raids, the merce-

naries are wary of intruders, and their guards are espe-

cially alert. This vigilance manifests as a +2 circum-

stance bonus on each mercenary’s Spot checks when

the PCs approach. If they spot the PCs before they can

close to melee range, the Black Thorne mercenaries

attempt to hide in one of several nooks beside the door,

on side farthest from PCs. This tactic grants each a +2

circumstance bonus on his untrained Hide check.

The mercenaries attack as soon as any PC comes

within 25 feet of the door. If the PCs approach by

climbing the cliff face, the mercenaries fire arrows at

them until someone gets close enough for melee. If the

characters approach via the ledge, the mercenaries bull

rush them and attempt to push them off the cliff. Any

character forced off the ledge falls 50 feet, taking 5d6

points of damage.

When melee combat begins, the fighters quickly

form a line in front of the PCs to protect the sorcerers

in the back. If the PCs protect a spellcaster behind their

own lines but are within 15 feet of the fighters, the

latter use Spring Attack to attack the spellcaster, then

return to their starting squares.

Development: The six guards fight to the death.

They have made a pledge to Narulin to protect the

stronghold, and they fear the mind flayers more than

they fear death. If the battle goes poorly for them, they

focus on trying to force the PCs off the edge of the cliff.

These mercenaries have no keys for the locked door.

They expect their relief to open it for them at the end

of the watch.

Eight of the mercenaries are currently outside the com-

plex in search of targets for raiding. The rest of the

group, including Narulin, is aboard the nautiloid con-

cluding a deal for a group of prisoners.

Creatures: Currently, a group of five mercenaries

remains within the complex. At present, they are rest-

ing, but they will relieve the group on watch outside

within the hour.

Black Thorne Fighter (4): hp 53 each; see

Appendix for statistics.

Black Thorne Sorcerer: hp 23 each; see Appen-

dix for statistics.

Tactics: The Black Thorne fighters immediately

rush to attack when the PCs approach the room. If they

spot the characters in the hallway, they stand three

abreast in front of the entrance to block it and try to

inflict as much damage as possible. If the PCs manage

to get into the room, the fighters form a defensive line

to shield the sorcerer, who casts spells at the intruders

from his position of safety.

Treasure: Within this room are two locked chests

containing the mercenaries’ pay. Between them, they

hold 847 gp, an emerald (worth 300 gp), and four

potions of cure moderate wounds.

s Wooden Chests (2): Hardness 5, hp 25, break

DC 30, Open Lock DC 30.

Development: If the PCs kill or disable two of

the mercenary fighters, one of the remaining pair

attempts to flee to area A3 and rouse the kigrids, which

then chase him back into this room. At that point, the

creatures readily engage any PCs who are still standing.

A3. LAIR OF THE KIGRIDS (EL 11)

Read or paraphrase the following aloud when the PCs

enter this area, adjusting the text as needed if the

kigrids have already fought the PCs in area A2.

Bones, fur, and other grotesque remains of once-

living creatures litter the floor of this cavern. The

stench of rotten meat lingers in the air.

Eight feral-looking creatures with stone-gray

fur look up from a bloody meal. Each of these

vaguely feline quadrupeds has muscular legs, a

thick neck, and a flat, broad head. The creatures’

eyes glow a dull red color, and their jaws are lined

with small, sharp teeth.

A2. MAIN QUARTERS (EL 11)

The mercenaries spend most of their time in this cham-

ber. When the PCs enter, read or paraphrase the follow-

ing aloud.

This chamber has a lived-in look. The floor is cov-

ered by a clutter of personal belongings, bedrolls,

various items of clothing, and other odds and ends.

The two wooden tables that occupy the center of

the room are heaped with the bones of small ani-

mals. Against the north wall stand two empty 5-

foot-by-5-foot cells, each with an iron door.

Creatures: This room is the lair of the kigrids—hor-

rific creatures from the illithidae family of monsters.

Xhux’uto gave them to the mercenaries as a gift to seal

their pact, and Narulin placed them here to protect the

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