Need adventure for [edit] 6th level

[Firechanter]

Okay guys, the spontaneous opportunity arose to play a round of D&D on the weekend.
Since one player is new to D&D (and pen&paper in general, iirc), I need to pick something lowlevel, but surviveable, as I want to get her hooked on the hobby.

So I figured 4th level would do fine.
She wants to play a Swift Hunter (well, she said "Ranger", but we use something based on jiriko's homebrew class. Essentially a Ranger/Scout Gestalt with a Druid's pet). I will build the character.

Also, there will be only one other character in the party. A Crusader, because that should complement well with the ranged striker and her pet.

I have an adventure idea, but don't have the time to flesh out everything in detail, so I thought I'd ask if one of you knew a published module with a similar setup:

The Ranger is patrolling her woods when she hears the din of battle in the distance. Approaching the scene, she sees some laden wagons on a blocked road, with some accompanying troopers being hard pressed by a number of [fill_in_the_blank] monsters/humanoids. One of the soldiers is the other PC. With the help from our nature's warrior, the attackers can eventually be dispatched.

Then it might turn out that some of the civilians driving the wagons have been abducted. So the surviving warriors have to split up: most of them continue with the convoy to see it to its destination, and our Crusader and Ranger are tasked with tracking down and rescuing the prisoners.

Does anyone know a module that I could smoothly segue into at this point?

As I said, should be suitable for a pair of T3 characters, and be suitable for the abilities and skills of a Ranger/Scout.
Most modules I know have pitifully weak encounters considering they are intended for a party of four, so that may just work out.

[SevTai]

Do you still need one?
I have some adventures I could look through.

Most modules I know have pitifully weak encounters considering they are intended for a party of four, so that may just work out.
Really? It's the opposite with me. At some points there even have been certain casualties. Maybe we just snipe the heavy combat based ones? :smallbiggrin:

[Firechanter]

Those characters just hit level 6, but sure, I can always use adventures. I'm rather bad at writing these things myself.

e:
fwiw, the last time I had the two lvl 4 characters basically run a gauntlet of encounters of mixed difficulty; just to see how much they could take. ELs were:
4x CR2 = EL6
2x CR3 = EL4
2x CR3 = EL4
2x CR3 + 1x CR4 = EL7
4x CR3 = EL7
2x CR4 + 1x CR5 = EL8

They won all of them without resting up in between. The very last one knocked the Crusader down to about 3HP, but he was able to heal up with Crusader's Strike and bind the enemies long enough for the Hunter to finish them up. Healing Belts were used up, and a small number of CLW Wand charges spent (2 or so).
So all in all, those were the equivalent of 11 CR4 encounters and a little more. Almost three full days' worth of encounters for a level 4 party, and with just two characters, the average party level was actually 2. Not bad for a single day of work, I'd say.

[SevTai]

Well, not just any two characters. They are gestalt.. but still, less powerful than a group of 4. So, not bad indeed.

Um.. So you want me to suggest a random adventure? :P
Maybe give me a general direction of your campaign (or the place they are now if they have no active quests) to try find something fitting?

[Firechanter]

Oh they aren't actually Gestalt. One is a by-the-book Crusader, and the other essentially a Ranger with full-level pet. So both of them would be T3.

Here's the current setup:
The PCs are in the western reaches of a prosperous empire -- but this is the frontier to the wilderness, and there is little civilization outside the few cities' walls. There is plenty of space for all kinds of local and regional threats, just the right environment for aspiring young heroes to prove their mettle.

There are indigenous populations of humans, some elves, and various wild humanoids like bugbears and lesser giants like ogres, but there can be pretty much anything beyond that.

My idea for the next adventure, where a new stealthy character with a wee bit of magic might join, would be something like this:

A fortified frontier city is under siege. I haven't decided on the immediate threat yet - but the BBEG should be some arcane magic user. Because the Ranger has the Arcane Hunter ACF and I want that to come into play. So maybe the classical Necromancer's Army of Undead, although something slightly less cliché might also be an option.

The local defenders are hard pressed, and this would be a great chance for the Crusader to take matters into his own hands there, organize the defense, train troops etc.
The stealthy characters however would leave the city, sneak far behind enemy lines, seek out the BBEG's base, and destroy the threat right there. Because the besieging army is too powerful to vanquis in open battle as long as the magician still lives.

Anything come to mind that I could use for this? There must be some adventure about infiltrating a magician's holdings and tower or citadel. I don't mind a bit of adaptation work. It also shouldn't be too much dungeon crawling, although some fights are of course the salt in the soup.

I used to have something in that vein from the WotC site, a free adventure about infiltrating a Thayan border castle or something, but apparently I lost that and it's not available on WotC anymore.

[ngilop]

OMG there is a dungeon that is this perfectly!!!its from a dungeon mag in the mid 90s..(not sure on the year) so its a 2nd ed one

the heros happen upon a small caravan ( 3 or 4 wagons) and the guards being assaulted. the dwarf In charge is carrying some item of importance and blah blah. most of the guards being hurt the PCs are ask to accompany the rest of the way.



also in my experience the only way 2 level 2 characters are ale to fight 2 CR4 plus 1 CR 5 is thatthey just had a tank and spank fight and the opposition never ever hit with an attack

im pretty sure that just a lone dire wolverine would wipe the floor with a level 2 crusader. let alone 2 dire wolverines and a 5th level druid or whatever.


I would stay away form any 1st or 2nd ed adventure if I were you as they tend to force player to think up tactics and not just brute force through anything..


then again what I am saying is coming from the perspective of a non optimizer so maybe optimized lvl 2s could fight a CR 8 encounter and come out unscathed easily.

[Firechanter]

also in my experience the only way 2 level 2 characters are ale to fight 2 CR4 plus 1 CR 5 is thatthey just had a tank and spank fight and the opposition never ever hit with an attack

You misread. They were a pair of level 4 characters. But that means the average party level is 2 (because the El system assumes 4 person parties and (4+4+0+0)/4 = 2).

They are not really highly optimized, just reasonably well built, without idiot choices. So of course the crusader has Combat Reflexes and a Reach weapon to lock down enemies. No voodoo there.

[ngilop]

oh may bad then. LOL


yeah the CR system assumes the wizards is tossing fireballs the healer is curing X wound the rogue is taking an extra round to stealth in postion to super sneak attack and the melle are big dumb fighters

or IMO the CR system is set up to run at the 'tier' 5 or low 'tier' 4 level.


getting competent 'tier' 3s that are for the most part self sufficient will skew that

[Firechanter]

yeah the CR system assumes the wizards is tossing fireballs the healer is curing X wound the rogue is taking an extra round to stealth in postion to super sneak attack and the melle are big dumb fighters

Yes, exactly. In a recent discussion somewhere else, I said that I believe that 2 well-built T3 characters are enough to clear a typical adventure -- unless of course you need a specific magic effect to which the PCs have no access. So this game was spawned to test exactly that claim. And the PCs performed even better than expected. ^^

So, I didn't confront them with a spellcaster yet -- that's what I want to try next, hence the aforementioned scenario.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

The party learns of some lost artifact or lore rumored to be hidden on a small island with a ruined temple that had been occupied by a reclusive summoner of some renown. A coastal fishing boat wouldn't be able to make the trip that far out, and the island has a bad reputation among the seafaring community, so it could be expensive.

Approaching the island the party may be attacked by several Terlens (Fiend Folio), which are extraplanar sharks with enormous winglike fins, capable of leaving the water and taking flight to stalk prey on the land. They'll swoop in targeting any small-size creatures that they can improved grab, then carry their victims into the water.

The temple itself is a ruined structure consisting of a rectangular building with a crumbling tower at one end. The worn symbols of a long-dead god of light (Amaunator if in FR) peek out from behind the moss that's overgrown much of the building. The island is fairly tall and the wet cliffs are steep and treacherous, but there appears to be an obvious path that they can use to reach it.

At the base of the island near the the path to the temple is a shipwreck, less than a week old. Investigating it the PCs will find two Ooze Mephits scavenging it, which when discovered will immediately activate a Stinking Cloud ability and use breath attacks then retreat into the temple. The mephits have already destroyed what cargo and supplies remained in the wreckage using their acid breaths.

As the PCs approach the temple they'll notice an adult Arrowhawk flying around. It lives at the top of the ruined tower, and it's extremely angry so it will attack if provoked. They'll also notice that there are a lot of bugs around, and there's a dark green moss growing all over the temple. There's a broken device on the ground among the rubble of the ruined tower, it appears to have been some sort of light-emitting beacon. A Kn: Religion check will reveal that such devices typically have gold sheets to reflect the light better, but it must have been scavenged long ago.

The main hall of the temple is overgrown with moss and overrun with Shocker Lizards and quite a few tiny monstrous spiders. They eat the bugs, which eat the moss. None of these are hostile toward the PCs. The roof has rotted away completely and some of the outer wall is collapsed, plus all the rotten furniture, so there's a lot of rubble strewn about. There are also quite a few barrels and crates from the shipwreck piled in a corner, but they're broken and their contents has been destroyed by the mephits' acid. The only direction to go is into the ruined tower.

The first floor of the ruined tower is very damp and mossy, they may have to fight some monstrous spiders here. The way to the upper level is barricaded, the way to the lower level below the temple is extremely damp and mucky.

On the upper floor of the tower are several sailors (pick a humanoid race) who are shipwrecked and need help, but probably don't speak the PCs' language. If they overhear the PCs they'll get their attention and ask for a ride back to the mainland. They came to the temple seeking shelter, and even carried in much of the ship's remaining supplies, but the mephits apparently chased them upstairs and destroyed their supplies hoping they would leave. The marooned sailors found two Arrowhawks nesting at the top of the tower, and managed to first steal their eggs and then killed one for food, but now the other is relentlessly trying to avenge its mate. There are more ruined books on this level of the tower, the sailors have burned many to cook food and stay warm but the ones that remain may give the PCs some clues about the temple's origins, but what they're looking for is on the lower levels.

The lower level of the tower's floor has sunk down a bit and become uneven, and it's mostly covered in mud but there's still a few stones visible with the remnants of a summoning circle etched into them. There are several shelves filled with ruined books, and a doorway leading to the basement below the temple itself. The two Ooze Mephits from the shipwreck are here, and will use harsh words and their remaining Stinking Cloud to drive the trespassers away. If the PCs attack them they'll retreat into the first basement room, if the PCs ignore them and proceed into the basement the mephits will taunt them with predictions of their doom. The first room of the basement is even muckier and difficult to move through, there's an Otyugh hiding in the muck which will attack as soon as someone gets close enough. If the PCs attacked the mephits and they retreated here they'll be behind the otyugh and move forward to use their breath attacks as soon as it strikes. This can be an extremely hard fight, hopefully the PCs aren't XP hungry murderers of all creatures they encounter and they just ignored the mephits in the previous room.

The final room of the basement is sealed by a very old and surprisingly sturdy iron door. It's stuck, but nothing a good Str check can't fix. Breaking down the door makes the PCs' presence obvious to the room's occupants: two Grells (MM2), but they may not be immediately obvious due to magical darkness. The room itself is still damp and slimy but the stone floor is intact. There's a drain hole in one corner that leads out to the cliff and drains into the sea which the Grells squeeze through to go feed on the lizards and spiders. In this room there are bookshelves containing the information the PCs may be seeking, a lockbox containing whatever wealth the temple still had on hand or the item they may be seeking, and a pedestal at the center of the room upon which is an onyx that continually* emits a Deeper Darkness effect heightened to a 5th level spell (moderate evocation, caster level 9th, 2,000 gp value). The Grells will conceal themselves near the ceiling until they have an easy target, their Blindesight allows them to ignore the miss chance from the darkness.

*The item automatically casts Deeper Darkness on itself every nine days, if it's dispelled then it won't come back on for 1d8 days. It's priced based on Spell Level (5) x Caster Level (9) x 2,000 gp (use-activated), /5 (charges per day), /9 (one charge every nine days). Being Heightened, it automatically overrides Light-descriptor spells of 4th level and lower, and is cancelled equally by a 5th level light spell. The onyx itself is small enough to put on a pendant and not occupy an item space. A character wearing it could place the stone in their mouth to block its effect, then when they need it they can 'drop' it as a free action by spitting it out, and it will return to its place hanging from their neck.

[SevTai]

For starters, here are some adventures I found interesting:


Scourge of the Howling Horde
------------------------------
A black dragon wyrmling after demanding the worship and servitude of a local tribe of
goblins and hobgoblins ordered them to help her acquire a treasure hoard to fill her lair.
Nothing special.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




The village of Tonwell was overrun by vile barbarians, the Uthuk Y'llan.
Without warning or provocation the Uthuk captured most of the villagers and slew all those
who opposed them. Only a handful escaped.
According to the barbarians oracles this town is the last known location of a magical sword
that houses the soul of a great Uthuk warrior.
They want to locate the sword and free that soul.
Interesting overall, but you'll have to expand it/it's a small adventure -probably combat oriented.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




The Siege of Durgam's Folly
----------------------------
Durgam's Folly has long stood guard ont he frontier between civilized lands and the
chaotic wilderness. Constant target of orc and goblin attacks, but unconquerable against
external threats.
A powerful wizard was charged by the king to devise innovative magical defenses for the
kingdom.
He secretly created an army of clockwork constructs (bug-sized that can form
larger strong constructs). While expanding his work cellars using his constructs to dig,
he awoke a forgotten evil(Orcus) that took over his construct and enthralled the wizard.
I found this one closest to your description, but don't know how you feel about constructs. (your rogue won't like them for sure :P )
It got all aspects of what you want.
The town has to organize against the construct attacks(which are sentient and can adapt to situations, so it's challenging).
The wizard must be found in order to stop the attacks, for the stealthy characters.
And there is magic in play too that caused all this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



The Speaker in Dreams
----------------------
A besieged town from within.
Powerful gangs roam the streets.
Grimlocks terrorize the lower-class.
Those Who Hear: a powerful cabal of mad sorcerers
The mastermind behind the havock is a mind flayer controlling the baron
Pretty descriptive adventure, but the threat is internal.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Darwell's Tower
---------------
The antagonist is a lawful evil necromancer and cleric
one of his minions found a sphere of grave mist/allows to call and bind powerful undead
plans to use the sphere to launch raids
evil rogue who found the sphere got captured
based on his testimony the band is hired to infiltrate
the tower and steal the sphere

Obviously they need some altering but usable ideas overall.

[Firechanter]

Pretty cool, I think I can knit something out of this.
Btw I do have Durgam's Folly; didn't want to bring it on at level 4, but now they might be almost ready to take that challenge.