The following is a quick adventure meant to “fill the gaps”. My apologizes for the crude map. I did not have proper supplies or hardware and was limited to MSPaint.
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
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.
These adventures will not follow standard layout for adventures or modules as they are meant to be quickly copy-pasted from the Genius Loci Blog.
Enjoy!
Background
The Broach of Dai was the first and only creation of a young mage whose name was forgotten long ago. An enchantment held in suspension by the imprisoned Life Elemental of Life within a ruby broach. The energies to create the broach killed the young wizard and the broach passed to the fool looters who dared to take it.
Rumor and myth have it that the broach can grant a single wish, but when it does the enchantment wears off and the power of the imprisoned Elemental of Life ebbs away.
The Adventure
The Inn
After a long adventure in the wilds the adventurers are finally setting down at their favorite inn or a random inn along the roadside. The night is a stormy one, and the inn is packed to bursting with travelers and locals trying to escape the cold rain with a warm hearth and cup.
The fire burns merrily as barmaids sway and dodge and slap errant hands, the bartender busily serves drinks from his bar and the smell of cooking meats flow through the air.
Up on a small stage a woman sings a merry tone of adventures won and loves lost. Beside her, sitting on a stole, a man runs his fingers expertly over a lyre. The night is a good one, despite the storm but that cannot be for long.
After a small amount of time and drinks consumed a scream goes out near the bar. The bartender lay slumped over the long hardwood, blood pooling around him.
If the Players investigate they find a crude dagger sticking out the base of the Bartender’s skull. The crude dagger is nothing more than sharpened metal wrapped in ratty, dry-rotted cloth.
Whether the players investigate or not after a few moments the door of the inn slams open and a heavy, cold wind overtakes the inn, blowing out all the candles and lanterns as well as the hearth.
In the darkness that follows a screams can be heard as Something brushes up against several of the inn patrons (60% chance of a Player being one of those patrons – They feel a large hairy thing brush up against them and quickly away). A crash can be heard as well as several more screams.
When the lights are re-lit by the barmaids, the players find that the lyre-player has been stabbed, but still alive, and that the singer is missing. They also find a trail of blood leading back toward the door.
Following the trail of blood will lead the players to a well next to the stables.
If the players decide to talk to the lyre player they will discover his name is Willhim and that the singer was his wife, Aucia. His wounds are superficial and can be bound easily. If questioned he will inform the players that he and his wife are simple musicians. He will also let the players know, with some reluctance, that Aucia is sick and this excitement could cause her sickness to get worse.
The Well
The well is 5 feet in radius; a bucket is attached to a simple hemp rope. The bucket lay on the ground next to the well, shattered and blood is smeared on one stone in the distorted shape of a large, spindly hand.
The well is 50’ in depth with mossy, slick walls. The rope as well is slick and requires a successful save to navigate.
The Well ends in a natural cavern with a large river flowing east to west. A Tunnel can be seen winding north.
The Caves
A natural cave system under the inn is small but boosts three caverns of various sizes. Water drips from the ceiling and the wall are slick, showing that this cave system is typically filled with water from the underground river.
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Wandering Monster Table
Every three turns there is a 1 in 10 chance of encountering on of the following monsters.
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Rats: HD 1; AC 8[12]; Atk 2 bite (1d4); Move 12; AL N; CL/XP /10; Special: None
Giant Rats: HD 1; AC 7[12]; Atk bite (1d6); Move 12; AL N; CL/XP /10; Special: 5% are diseased
Wererats: HD 3 AC 6[13]; atk weapon (1d6); Move 12; AL C; CL/XP 4/120; Special: Lycanthropy, control rats
Giant Centipede: HD 2; AC 5[14]; atk 1d6-1; Move 15; AL N; CL/XP 4/240; Special: Poison (save) +6
Grey Ooze: HD 3+3 AC 6[12]; atk Strike 1d6; Move 1; AL N; CL/XP 5/240; Special: Acid, immunities
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C-1 The Passage
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The passage through the caves snakes its way on a meandering course, smooth stone walls slope to floor and ceiling as water drips to small puddles on the passage floor.
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The passage runs the length of the cave system and connects all the caverns together. There are no natural light sources so make sure the players have their own lights.
C-2 Cavern 1
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The large almost oval chamber looks sparkles with light as the light of the torch/lantern is reflected off of dozens of small crystals and precious stones.
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Cavern one has the equivent of 100 GP worth of precious stones buried in the rock of the cavern. If the players should attempt to dislodge the stones the noise has a 65% chance of alerting 1d4 Wererat Patrols to their presence who will enter the cavern within 1 turn of the start of the noise.
C-3 Wererat Camp
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The large cavern is well lit but it’s light is hidden from the passage by an artificial wall of old mildew ridden wood the cavern lay up a step incline, protecting it from the frequent floods that claim these caves. Dozens of rags and old crates litter the room marking beds and tables for the wererats who call this place home at the moment
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There is a 45% chance 3d4 wererats being in C-3 at the time the players discover it in various states of sleep and rest.
The crates in C-3 have bones, and a total of 50 gp of tarnished jewelry and money.
C-4 The Altar
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As the players approach this final cavern they hear the sounds of sobbing punctuated by the low drone of chanting.
The cavern is huge, it’s ceiling disappearing in the darkness. Old crates circle the cavern chamber, large jury-rigged braziers sitting on top of them burning some foul smelling fuel.
In the center of the room, lay Aucia, naked save for the golden broach around her neck. Her wrists and feet bound to hidden stakes in the raised rock she lay on.
Behind the altar a huge wererat, his arms upraised, a crude knife in his hand, chants something to an unknowable god.
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This room serves as the ritual center for the wererats. Acucia is about to be sacrificed, for reasons that are unclear. If the Players attempt to talk to the wererat, a priest named Zevious, they will discover that the broach is the Broach of Dia, and the priest believes that by sacrificing the broach’s current owner when he makes his wish that he can extend its effect to his entire tribe. His wish is to cure his tribe of their lycanthropy.
Zevious cannot be deterred from his mission, but regrets that Aucia must lose her life to save the lives of his tribe.
Zevious, Wererat Cleric: HD 3+3 AC 4[16]; atk weapon (1d6); Move 12; AL C; CL/XP 5/240; Special: Lycanthropy, control rats, divine casting 3rd level
Concluding the Adventure
If questioned after his wife is returned to him Willhim will explain that he found the broach back in his own adventuring days and correctly surmised that the presence of the imprisoned Life Elemental would keep his wife from dying from her sickness. Aucia did not know any of this and is surprised that her husband never told her.
Furthermore it is possible that the area may still hold a wererat presence, one that now has a score to settle with the players for killing Zevious.
