DM Scraps! Episode 1

(The "DM Scraps!" series is a collection of assorted notes from my own tabletop adventures. I am sharing them in hopes of providing some inspiration and insight into what goes on behind my DM screen. They are raw and unedited, but I will highlight details that I find interesting to look back on. Enjoy!)

ASSORTED NOTES FROM WAR OF WHISPERS: FESTIVAL OF GEARS
AN ADVENTURE FOR 3RD EDITION DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS


This is an adventure from my days as a novice DM, one of the first I ran. For this game I included stats for a number of monsters, including a couple of major villains. Both of them were not as dangerous as I thought they would be for my low level party, which was a good lesson to learn in underestimating player force. Even the vampire was endangered by the undead-smiting abilities of the party's cleric. Fortunately most of his spells were built to be defensive so I managed to save him from his demise and keep him around to become the campaign's primary villain. Live and learn.

Lord Tiberius Level 5 Fighter

STR 17+3 CON 15+2 CHA 14+2 INT 13+1 DEX11+0 WIS 10+0

Power attack

Combat expertise

Improved sunder

Improved Bull rush

Weapon focus: bastard sword

Exotic weapon (bastard sword)

AC 14

+10/+1 bastard sword 1d10 (19-20)

Lord Druce Level 6 Vampire Sorceror  

CHA 20 +5 INT 18+4 CON -- DEX14+2 STR17 +3 WIS 12

30 ft

+4 BAB f2 r2 w5

+7 attack 1d6 Slam

HP 40   AC 10+6nat+2dex=18 DR= 10/silver, magic

Energy drain, fast healing, alternate form, gaseous form, resistance to cold/electric 10, +4 turn resistance, Dominate, children of the night, blood drain.

Spells 6/5/3

1 Ray of enfeeblement/ Spirit worm/ Cause fear

2 Mirror image/ Stolen breath

3 Blink

The Purplish crystal is beneath your feet. You see the crowds moving about the banquet hall like ants, hundreds of feet beneath you. The glass surface shimmers and becomes an opaque shade of polished ebony.

The crystal glows with an unearthly aura, energy crackling and pulsing madly. The air trembles and hums, the chamber vibrates with raw power, and the machines containing the crystal begin to break apart. The crystal's shape begins to twist and contort, and three monstrous forms emerge. Each medium-sized monstrosity looks like a huge, toothy mouth perched on a few stubby appendages. Its hide is a dull brown shade.  

"The Zazz Crystal" started out as a vaguely defined macguffin, and later became an integral element of the setting, and the main subject of the campaign.

Abyssal Maws (3)

15 hp AC 15 touch 10 flat 15

Bite +5 2d8+4

Rend fallen

climb + 7 jump +7 Listen +5 Spot +1

Alertness

A ROOM OF EIGHT STONE COLUMNS LEADING TO A SEALED  VAULT DOOR. A MAN-SIZED SENTINEL OF METAL LIES BEFORE THE EXIT, ITS OPTICAL CIRCUIT ALIGHTING AS IT SENSES SOMETHING. One of the creature’s two arms ends in a massive claw or pincer, the other in an even more massive hammer. iT LURCHES FORWARD WITH A GRIND OF GEARS. THE SCENT OF MOTOR OIL FILLS THE ROOM. 

This was another ill-advised encounter that didn't have as much going for it as I thought it did. The monster chasing them around the room was a little too heavily armored and some of the players got caught up fighting it instead of following the urgency of the mission. The room itself was too empty, it could have benefited from better terrain. I liked the automatons, though. They were good enemies for fitting into this adventures theme of a clockwork steam-punk city.

Hammerer Automoton

27 HP Init +0 20 ft speed

Construct, unreliable

STR 25 DEX 11 WIS 9 CHA 4

Slam +10 2D8+10

Fort +1 Ref +1

You seem to be on a service staircase contained within a wide shaft just inside the outermost section of the tower. The steps are rusted iron and of purely utilitarian design. The clang of your first step echoes high above you. Looking up through the staircase grating you see a distant glow. It seems to be coming from quite a distance.

You hear a slight whirring in the corridor, as a dark red glow grows in passage. The sound is like a purring engine or beast. Something is treading heavily down the hallway.

This was actually a fun part, an encounter that could be avoided with tactical stealth. The following description is a room that the players ducked into to avoid the mechanical hounds that were being described in these passages.

JUNK AND COMPONENTS LITTER THIS MUSTY WORKSPACE. HALF-ASSEMBLED AUTOMATONS LINE THE WALLS. YOU ARE GREETED BY A SWARTHY GNOME WITH THICK EYEBROWS AND A PAIR OF COVERALLS COVERED IN MECHANIC'S TOOLS THAT JINGLE WHENEVER HE MOVES. LOOKING AT HIM AGAIN, YOU RECOGNIZE HIM AS THE GNOME YOU SAVED FROM THE RAMPAGING ROBOT IN THE MARKETPLACE.

Dorwick is suspicious of  your intentions, but with buttering up can give you the key to the utility closet.

Dorwick can also tell you a bit about the castle layout, and the sport of Clockwork Gladiators, in which he participates. This was to give the players a little more connection to the ongoing story threads. A familiar face that could also drop a plot hook for a future session. I used him to lead in to the next episode in the campaign, and it worked pretty well.

WEAPONS ROOM

THIS ROOM IS FILLED WITH BINS AND RACKS OF EQUIPMENT LABELLED "SPARE PARTS." THE SHELVES ARE FULL OF SHARP AND POINTY THINGS, WEAPONS COGS AND PLATES OF IRON AND STEEL.

+1 Masterwork Mace

+1 Small Masterwork Rapier

+2 Construct Bane Morningstar

And here is a blurb for when the group actually confronts one of the hounds, which they annihilated with extreme prejudice.

HYENA EFFIGY (3 Prowling the corridor)

WITH SHARP CLICKS OF ITS HEELS AND A FAINT HUM OF INTERNAL MECHANISMS, THIS CROUCHED CANINE FORM SLINKS DOWN THE HALLWAY, ITS GLOWING EYES CASTING RAYS OF RED LIGHT BACK AND FORTH.

Medium Construct

Hit Dice: 2d8 (28 hp)

Initiative: +2

Speed: 50 ft. (10 squares)

Armor Class: 14 (+2 Dex, +2 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 12

Base Attack/Grapple: +1/+3

Attack: Bite +3 melee (1d6+3)

Full Attack: Bite +3 melee (1d6+3)

Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.

Special Attacks: Trip

Special Qualities: Low-light vision, scent

Saves: Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +1

Abilities: Str 14, Dex 15, Con -- Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 6

Skills: Hide +3*, Listen +6, Spot +4

Feats: Alertness

Environment: Warm deserts

Organization: Solitary, pair, or pack (7–16)

Challenge Rating: 1

Advancement: 3 HD (Medium); 4–5 HD (Large)

Level Adjustment: —

DR 1/adamantine

Trip (Ex): A hyena that hits with its bite attack can attempt to

trip the opponent (+2 check modifier) as a free action without

making a touch attack or provoking an attack of opportunity. If

the attempt fails, the opponent cannot react to trip the hyena.

Skills: *Hyenas have a +4 racial bonus on Hide checks in areas

of tall grass or heavy undergrowth.

Overall this was an average quality adventure that ended up setting a lot of groundwork for the ongoing campaign. Early episodes can sometimes be less riveting if your group is still seeking the main thread of the adventure. Still, it led to a climactic encounter atop the tower involving inter-dimensional transit, hellish monsters, and a collapsing floor atop a towering pinnacle. So still a memorable excursion for the players, despite its flaws.