Month: September 2013

A few words on the design and general “philosophy” of Hexenburg.  While the Castle is sprawling, much of it is empty.  What monsters there are in the ruin, however, tend to be quite dangerous for a low-level party.  The idea is to use a few powerful monsters to their greatest effect, rather than cramming every room with lots of weak monsters.  There are a few exceptions to this (the Goblin tribe in the Dungeons, or the hordes of undead in the Catacombs), but largely the Castle should feel big and mostly empty.  This is to encourage a feeling of paranoia and uncertainty amongst the players.  As they enter each room, they should feel uncertain what they’re going to find.  Each encounter should be a dangerous one where the stakes feel high, not a run-of-the-mill hackfest where the players mow through squads of monsters with relative ease.  Play monsters intelligently; they should employ clever tactics against players, using special attacks, dirty tricks, spells, terrain, disarming attacks, and the like.  They should retreat when wounded, rather than fighting to the death.

Hexenburg is a cursed place – a place where evil and darkness hold saw.  Dead bodies allowed to lay on the grounds can spontaneously reanimate, and the very stones of the place seem to whisper black obscenities on those who tread upon them.

Soundtrack

As an incipient blizzard swirls around you, Hexenburg Castle at last comes into view: a foreboding mass of dark stone, half-reclaimed by the forest.  The trees in this part of the forest seem sickly, tree-trunks mottled by blight, scabrous bark peeling.  The path winds up the raised earthwork motte of the fortress, then passes over a rickety old drawbridge spanning a snow-clotted ditch.  Old wooden spikes are visible in this moat, to deter any trying to scale the walls.  The crenellated battlements are beginning to sag and crumble but the gatehouse is still mostly intact.  Past the walls rise several towers – two largely intact, one a broken stub – and a formidable keep.  Rotting mangonels are visible on the walls.

Perception DC 20 to notice a light flicker in the window of the west tower.  DC 15 to notice:

Scattered on the path leading up to the castle are a number of bones, broken weapons, cloven shields, and other remnants of an old battle – likely the very battle that resulted in the castle’s ruination at the hands of marauders from the north.

A thorough search of the battlefield produces a masterwork longsword.

Watchtower Table

There are many watchtowers in Hexenburg Castle, which may or may not be searched by the players.  The following table allows for random generation of watchtower contents.  Each tower has 4 levels and thus four randomized rooms.  Roll on the following table if the players decide to go poking out in a watchtower:

Roll d%	Result
1	A room covered in old bloodstains.
2	A room covered in fresh bloodstains.
3	Four Goblins hunting rats for stew, led by a Goblin Ranger.
4	A heap of human bones.
5	Aklo runes scrawled on a wall in blood (random 1st level Necromantic spell formulae if deciphered with a DC 20 Linguistics check).
6	Sleeping bats (they could form a swarm if threatened).
7	A human corpse nailed to a wall, with its tongue and fingernails removed.
8	A human corpse nailed to the floor with its heart, liver, lungs, and brain removed.
9	A room with dozens of Elf ears nailed to the walls.
10	Torture implements – a rack, thumbscrews, and branding irons.
11	A roosting Owlbear in its nest.
12	A severed head in the middle of the room with black gems (25 gp each) replacing its eyes.
13	Lectern with a book in an unknown language.
14	Lectern with a Vacuous Grimoire which appears to be a treatise on Hexenburg’s history.
15	A telescope and other astrological equipment.  It looks remarkably new.
16	An Ettercap lair filled with webs and web-swathed corpses.
17	Empty coffin.
18	Coffin full of congealing blood.
19	A huge pile of human teeth.
20	A very large cocoon.
21	Chalk instructions for summoning a Chaos Beast (counts as Planar Binding, but only for Chaos Beasts).
22	A large basin of stagnant water full of leeches.
23	Assassin vine.
24	A black goat, staring at you.
25	Suicide-inducing statuette; a corpse dangles from the rafters, tongue and eyes bulging.  Will DC 10 to resist.
26	An armoury with a morningstar, bec de corbin, bardiche, and handaxe.
27	Slime Mold.
28	Cursed but empty room that generates violent and evil thoughts in those who enter.
29	Wooden crates full of human body parts, carefully sorted.
30	Puzzle-box containing a random Kyton; Disable Device DC 20 to open.
31	Crawling hand.
32	8 Crawling hands.
33	Squatting leper.
34	3 Shriekers.
35	A large owl, possibly friendly, possibly aloof.
36	A map of the Catacombs scrawled in red chalk.
37	1d12 Stirges.
38	An armoury with two suits of chainmail and one suit of masterwork splint mail.
39	Dead body with a Demonic Cyst (see L6) growing out of it.
40	Cow bones.
41	Goat bones.
42	Wolf bones engraved with mystic runes and arranged in an uncanny design.
43	Nest of 2d6 giant ticks.
44	Magical circle carved into the stones.  If filled with blood it teleports those inside it to another watch-tower with an identical circle.
45	Mucus trails leading into the castle walls.
46	Shelves with 4 jars of lamp oil (1 pint each), a hooded lantern, and a spare dozen torches.
47	The husks of many, many insects.
48	Shed grick-skin.
49	Dozens of empty and broken bottles.
50	Huge heap of burlap sacks and bags, one of which is a Bag of Holding, another of which is a Bag of Devouring.
51	Extremely drunk Dwarf named Mim who’s not sure where he is or how he got there.  He’s a 2nd level Barbarian.
52	Mimic.
53	Rat’s nest containing 256 sp, 452 cp, and 22 gp.
54	Mangonel stones (as in G12).
55	Mangonel parts (as in G11).
56	An armoury with 12 longspears and 4 glaives.
57	Raven’s rookery containing 78 sp, 12 gp, and 188 cp, plus a pair of gold earrings worth 50 gp.
58	An Allip.
59	Barrels of sour wine (vinegar, essentially).
60	Dozens of broken crates.
61	Two large, feral black cats.
62	One hundred human tongues in a cauldron.
63	The lingering sound of a child crying, but nothing else.
64	Fungus that’s strangely shaped itself into the visage of Saint Severine.
65	A heap of empty buckets crawling with woodlice.
66	Three large nets.
67	An outlaw guilty of two murders and theft.  He lacks combat gear beyond a dagger, but does have a purse with 23 platinum pieces and 43 gp.
68	A pile of partially burnt holy texts.
69	A statue of St. Bastiana which weeps blood and grants an Aid spell (20th level) to those of the faithful who pray at it, but smites heathens who pray at it as per Inflict Light Wounds (1d8+5, DC 16 for half).
70	Scorch marks and the remnants of burnt furniture.
71	Empty cages made of wicker.
72	Crumbling floor; unless a character has Trapspotter or Stonecunning, they don’t get a Perception check automatically; it’s DC 20 to detect otherwise.  The hazard requires a Reflex DC 20 to avoid and deals 2d6 falling damage, depositing characters in the room below.
73	Signs of a recently made camp.
74	The skeletal remains of a marauder, armed with a broken battleaxe and hide armour.
75	A child’s doll.
76	Firewood, somewhat damp but still useable.
77	An empty wooden chest.
78	A trapped steel chest (Perception DC 20, Disable Device DC 20 – needle with Greenblood Oil, Fort DC 13, 1 Con damage, 1/round for 4 rounds, 1 save cures), locked (DC 20 to open).  Inside is a +1 Heavy Mace made of dark metal that fills a character with feelings of intense pleasure when used to kill.
79	Rotten timber.
80	A lost Black Dragon hatchling.  Will be helpful to Chaotic Evil characters, friendly to Chaotic or Evil characters, indifferent to Neutral characters, unfriendly to Good or Lawful characters, and Hostile to Lawful Good characters.  If befriended, its mother will eventually come looking for it.
81	Barrels of crossbow bolts (300).
82	A powerful Necromancer named Markus Gor, casually scratching runes into a bandit’s corpse.
83	Dead body with organs liquefied, containing a clutch of Tentamort eggs.
84	A broken masterwork greatsword (notched and bloodstained) hanging on the wall.
85	Rotting tapestries depicting scenes from the Winter Crusades.
86	A small shrine dedicated to a wolf-god, with wolf-pelts everywhere and a wolf’s head on an altar.
87	A pair of runaway peasant children from Gründorf, now very lost and very scared.
88	Dead leaves and twigs, heaped into a nest, with no sign of its owner.
89	A Gargoyle.  It will pretend to be a statue, but will then start following the party around when they aren’t watching.
90	Goblin lookout.
91	Berserking Greatsword hung on a wall, along with two bastard swords, four longswords, and six shortswords.
92	Malevolent Faun playing pan-pipes on the window ledge.
93	Pornographic graffiti, probably drawn by a bored Goblin lookout.
94	Rusted caltrops everywhere.
95	Empty shelves.
96	Buckets of small stones for murder holes.
97	Two dead Goblins wrapped in cobwebs.
98	A Halfling tomb-robber named Hippolyta here to plunder the chapel’s catacombs.
99	Tentamort.
100	Small table upon which can be found a leather pouch containing a Deck of Many Things.

In a pinch, the above table can be used for any random castle/dungeon rooms required, for whatever reason.

The players have only been through this region once, but I plan to make much more use of it in future.  I think their encounter with the Wraith back in the village’s abandoned church rattled them a bit, so they tended to leave everything alone as they progressed through the woods up into the forest (refusing to enter the plague-cabin or the barrow).  They made it over the river with the aid of a felled tree.

Soundtrack

Crossing the decrepit stone bridge that leads out of town, you press on into the depths of the Wulfswald.  The road becomes steep, and the already chill weather quickly worsens, and snow begins to fall from the corpse-grey sky.  Black, leafless trees rise to either side of the winding path.  Here and there loom standing stones, rune-graven monoliths swathed in moss and creepers.  Ravens watch you from the trees, while weasels and dark-furred foxes scurry through the undergrowth.  Somewhere, distantly, a wolf howls.

Cold weather Fortitude save DC 15 (+1/hour) or suffer 1d6 nonlethal cold damage.  Remember that characters with the Survival skill can make a DC 15 check to gain a +2 bonus to this save, and that this doesn’t stack with furs.

Anyone who can read Druidic (or make a DC 20 Linguistics check) can decipher the writing on the menhirs, which are prayers to spirits of the forest and can be “cast” by Druids like spells from wands or scrolls, creating the following spell effects: Endure Elements (Cold), Pass Without Trace, Cure Light Wounds, Barkskin, Bear’s Endurance.  Each menhir can be used once per day on one target.

If the players start wandering off the path, they have a good chance of accidentally tripping a hunter’s snare or trap.

Random Encounters

On the first time up to the castle, don’t have too many encounters.  In future (and especially if/while the party is retreating to the town), hit them with wolves, bandits, Ghouls, and other creatures as desired, making a trek back through the woods harrowing.  Here’s a table with a variety of encounters, if desired – note that wolves show up several times (when in doubt, throw wolves at them):

Roll d%	Result
1	Wolves (party’s average level+1d2 wolves).
2	Cold weather worsens.  A Fortitude save is required every 10 minutes to avoid 1d6 nonlethal cold damage.
3	3+1d4 Bandits who hold up the characters.
4	Holy Hermit possibly willing to heal the injured.
5	Sudden fog gives all creatures more than 5 ft away concealment (20% miss chance).  Survival DC 20 or become lost.
6	Wolves (party’s average level+1d3 wolves).
7	One-Eyed Sally and 4 Bandits.
8	1d6 Ghouls
9	1d4 Ghouls and 1 Ghast.
10	Doomsayer driven from town.
11	2 Spriggans.
12	Hailstorm begins, dealing 1 lethal damage every few minutes to those in the open.  Determine who is hurt randomly.
13	Raiding party of Hexenlanders (2d6 Barbarians).
14	Wolves (party’s average level+1d4 wolves).
15	Leper begging alms.
16	Wandering madman.
17	1d6 wolves feasting on a woodsman (not Frederick).
18	Goblin trap consisting of a gut tripwire strung between two trees that releases a wooden battering-ram or spear (+15 melee  attack, 1d8+6); DC 20 to perceive or disable.  1d4 Goblin warriors likely wait nearby, ready to spring on those trapped.
19	Falling tree (Reflex DC 14 or take 3d6 damage).
20	Moss Troll.
21	1d2 Dire Wolves.
22	Prostitute scorned by the locals and driven into the wilderness.
23	Goblin scout party consisting of five Goblin warriors.
24	Goblin war party consisting of four Goblin spider riders with giant spider mounts or Worg mounts.
25	1d3 Dire Wolves.
26	Wolves (party’s average level+1d6 wolves).
27	2 Ghouls feasting on a dead Dire Wolf.
28	1d4 Boars.
29	Murder of crows feasting on the entrails of a slaughtered merchant caravan, thoroughly looted save for a chest with 253 gp, several sacks of grain, and a bottle of fine wine.
30	Persistent hedgehog that leads characters to a buried treasure (a chest buried by bandits – Disable Device DC 20, contains 468 sp and a Ring of Protection +1).
31	Dark Ice Grig protective of the woods.  It will attack anyone it perceives as especially ugly (under 10 Charisma) or who threatens the forest.  It also attacks axe-wielders, torchbearers, and Dwarves.  However, it can be reasoned with.
32	Previously unseen path branches off the main trail.  Survival DC 20 to avoid getting lost if this trail is taken.
33	Decapus.
34	1d4 Dire Wolves.
35	Lone outlaw.
36	1d4 Bugbears.
37	Dead horse infested with Rot Grubs.
38	Wandering minstrel camped by the road with a simpleton assistant.  May provide good cheer.  May rob characters blind.
39	Wolves (party’s average level+1d8 wolves).
40	Distressed dryad whose tree is being molested by woodsmen.
41	1d6 Dire Wolves.
42	Owlbear.
43	Standing stone decorated with entrails, emitting an Unhallow effect; any who dies near the stone rises as a zombie.
44	Bear.
45	Bear with 1d4 cubs.
46	Wolverine.
47	Ginny Greenfang.
48	Huldra seductress who may help or hinder the party, or help them find the path if they are lost.
49	Shunned wolf, exiled from its pack, wounded.
50	Hunting Red Cap.
51	Twigjack.
52	Hedge Wizard for hire.
53	Bear trapped in a bear-trap.
54	Wolf trapped in a bear-trap.
55	1d8 Dire Wolves.
56	Wolves (party’s average level+1d10 wolves).
57	Frederick the huntsman (see below).
58	Sabbat attended by witches or shamans.
59	Grugnar (see Gatehouse, below).
60	Winter Wolf.
61	Troupe of actors rehearsing in the woods (badly).  Possibly being stalked by malicious fey.
62	Forest Drake.
63	Wolves (party’s average level+1d12 wolves).
64	1d10 Dire Wolves.
65	Ghast feeding on the remains of a bandit.
66	Quickwood.
67	1d12 Dire Wolves.
68	Panicked horse with an arrow in its flank (10 hp remaining).
69	Zombie horse.
70	1d6 cannibals led by a mad Druid.
71	Dislodged boulders rolling down a hill requiring a DC 15 Reflex save to avoid 4d6 bludgeoning damage.  A successful Perception check of DC 20 beforehand alerts characters to the boulders, giving them a +4 bonus on the save.
72	Gypsies round a cooking fire who may tell fortunes, sell healing herbs, repair equipment, or slit the characters’ throats and leave their corpses for the wolves, according to taste.
73	Wolves (party’s average level+1d20 wolves).
74	Stray Cairn Wight from a violated barrow.
75	Cold weather becomes extremely severe.  A Fortitude save is required every 5 minutes to avoid 1d6 nonlethal cold damage.
76	Thunderstorm with severe winds (-8 to Perception, -4 ranged attacks) and lightning (1 bolt per hour, 4d8 electricity damage, hits anyone in metal armour or climbing a tree, flying, etc).
77	Wolves (party’s average level+3d10 wolves).
78	A group of 2d6 Elves, who may follow the characters, assist them, or avoid them depending on their general character.
79	Lost child from Gründorf.
80	Malevolent Satyr who preys on high-Charisma female party members.
81	Abandoned camp.
82	A pair of villagers having a tryst. Probably heard before they’re seen.
83	Mysterious Gnome pedlar woman who sells all manner of cures, potions, and even magical trinkets, but who Curses any character who is rude to her.
84	Barghest.
85	Lord Gobbler (see below) and 1d6 Worgs.
86	6 Kobolds from the Weeping Hills.
87	2 Ogres from the Weeping Hills – relatives of Grugnar’s.
88	Dire Boar.
89	Dire Wolverine.
90	Dire Bear.
91	Wolves (party’s average level+2d20 wolves).
92	Wolves (double the party’s average level+1d2 wolves).
93	Wolves (double the party’s average level+1d3 wolves).
94	Wolves (double the party’s average level+1d4 wolves).
95	Wolves (double the party’s average level+1d6 wolves).
96	Wolves (double the party’s average level+1d8 wolves).
97	Wolves (double the party’s average level+1d10 wolves).
98	Wolves (double the party’s average level+1d12 wolves).
99	Wolves (double the party’s average level+1d20 wolves).
100	Gigantic pack of 50+1d100 wolves led by a Dire Wolf, Winter Wolf, Barghest, or a Werewolf (determine with a roll of 1d4).

Don’t be excessive with the table; roll on it every other trip through the woods or so, or if characters insist on exploring the woods themselves because they’ve been driven out of the Castle by Goblins, Grugnar, or the murderous Red Cap.  An encounter with a flesh-eating tree, Ginny Greenfang, or a terrifying number of wolves should hopefully persuade them to return to the dungeons, where at least there’s gold and magic items to be had.

Huntsman

The huntsman will approach stealthily – he has +10 to Stealth in wooded areas, so characters will likely need to roll well to spot him.  This description assumes they didn’t, but if they did, just add in that a branch broke and he’s just suddenly “there.”

You hear the soft sound of a bowstring being draw behind you, and a voice says “Heel, Bridget.  I don’t think they’re bandits.”

Behind you stands a tall, sinewy man dressed in poorly tanned furs, a huge black dog beside him.  The pair must have approached you almost silently.  The man is incredibly grizzled, his face deeply lined and grimy, his eyes deeply sunken, his thin lips curled back in a sneer.  A large wen in visible on his face, and he suffers from goitre as well.  He carries a longbow and an axe at his waist.

The huntsman’s name is Frederick, though he doesn’t volunteer this information.  He disapproves of outsiders and will try to warn players away with phrases like:

“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll head back the way you came.  There’s nought but death up in these hills.”

“The Light has forsaken these woods.  Its servants are no longer welcome here.”

“Mark my words – if you go into that castle, you won’t come back out.  That place is cursed.”

After reciting his cryptic warnings, Frederick melts back into the gloom.

Wolf

The snow falls even more thickly, and a soft wind moans through the wood, making branches creak and murmur.  The path begins to zigzag upwards.  Following it round a sharp turn you find yourself face to face with a large, white wolf – at first you didn’t even see it in the snow.  The creature regards you with incurious, piercing blue eyes.  It takes you a moment to realize that the object held in the beast’s jaws is a bloody human arm.

Give the players a moment to react, but have the wolf lope unhurriedly back into the wood pretty swiftly.

Abandoned Cabin

Down a short track that diverges from the path a dilapidated old cabin is evident, riddled with moss and half-shrouded by the now heavily falling snow.  Scrawled on the door in crimson paint is a red X, a plague mark.

The cabin’s door is swollen shut (Strength DC 20 to force):

A musty, sour smell hangs in the air within the shack.  This must have been a woodsman’s shack – there are rows of animal pelts hanging from the ceiling and wooden racks for drying furs, as well as an array of skinning knives and other tools.  A wood-axe leans against a wall on which an unstrung bow hangs.  Contorted in a bed in one corner of the cabin is a desiccated corpse, clutching a ragged blanket.  There’s a small chest at the foot of the bed.  A wolf-skin rug covers the floor, and there’s a cold hearth on one wall.

The cabin is the perfect place to regain some health lost to the cold.

There are plenty of furs here.  The chest (unlocked) contains a Cold Weather Outfit (+5 Fortitude vs. exposure), 5 silver pieces, and a masterwork dagger set with a small emerald.  There’s also an axe and a composite longbow.  A thorough search turns up 50 arrows, as well.

Beneath the wolf-skin rug is a trapdoor, swollen shut (Strength DC 15 to force).  Finding the trapdoor requires a DC 20 Perception check, unless the players note that they specifically want to check under the rug.  Below:

You enter a small root cellar, where various preserves, dried meats, nuts, and withered roots are stored.  Most of the food here has long gone bad.  There’s also a small wine-rack here, and a wooden chest.

There are 8 bottles of common wine here.  The chest contains 126 silver pieces, 246 copper pieces, and a Potion of Bear’s Endurance (5^th level).

Broken Bridge

Soundtrack

You come to the banks of another river, or a different loop or tributary of the same river.  Here, however, all that remains of the bridge here are a few posts and splinters – flooding must have destroyed the rest.  The current here is quick and the water looks very cold indeed.  The river isn’t very broad and might be jumped, but it doesn’t look like it could be forded here.

Swim DC 15 to make it across (1d3 non-lethal on a failure), but expose yourself to some very cold water (Fortitude DC 20 or take 1d6 non-lethal cold damage).

Another possibility is to simply try and jump the river (Acrobatics DC 20).

A better solution is to cut down a nearby tree (perhaps with the woodsman’s axe) to form a makeshift bridge (crossing is Acrobatics DC 5).  However, chopping down a tree may be noisy, alerting creatures nearby to the characters’ presence.

Finally the characters could follow the river for some distance in either direction till the find a spot to ford it.  In this case, be sure to harass them with traps, snares, and wolves, wolverines, or bears.

Barrow

Soundtrack

As you progress deeper into the hills, the wind picks up, sending swirling snow across the path.  Off to one side looms an earthen mound with a huge, dead tree atop it.  Set at the base of the mound is a stone door marked with runes.

The stone door is DC 23 to open.  The runes are non-magical, simply proclaiming the barrow “The Resting Place of Sigmund Trollsbane” in Druidic (Linguistics DC 20 to translate).

The Barrow serves two purposes.  The first is an alternate route in or out of the Castle, which can be very helpful.  Characters who wish to can bypass most of the tombs and simply walk through B1, B2, and B7 to enter the gatehouse Dungeons, facing a few dangers – spiders, a trap, and an assassin vine – on the way.  Those who wish to tempt fate can attempt to plunder the tombs themselves.  Removing a few grave goods is probably safe, but disturbing the remains of the dead is definitely not.  The cairn, frost, and brute wights who lurk in the barrow are fairly powerful foes for low-level parties, more than capable of decimating a foolhardy group, and even the groups of zombies can be very challenging.  The barrow is certainly not mean to be “cleared out” easily.  The rewards of plunder, however, are rich: magical rings, masterwork weapons, amulets, and scrolls.

I’ll detail the barrow in a later post.