BOOK OF THE LONG NIGHT
Objective: locate and secure the
aforementioned spell book
Setting: Abandoned School of Magic
Difficulty: moderate to hard, depending
on level of player-character aggression and thoroughness of
exploration. Those with stealth and investigative/problem solving
skills will have an easier time than those that look to destroy
everything, for there are quite a few potential enemies here. A few
of them are downright wicked. One Apex encounter is included.
BACKGROUND STORY:
two star crossed lovers wanted to
immortalize their love and so began researching spells that would
reverse their aging.
The wizard and lord of the manor, Vito
Aertern, had turned to nefarious methods, which he kept secret from
his wife, Boni Corr. He gave her the master key of the keep but
forbade her to enter one of the rooms.
One day while the wizard was in the
middle of an experiment she used the key to enter the forbidden
chamber, to discover a gruesome scene of torture and imprisonment.
Connected to the chamber was his secret laboratory, in a dungeon
beneath the earth. There Boni found him in a magical slumber. Blood
from a victim's heart had been spiritually tethered to a ring on
Vito's finger, sustaining his life.
Horrified, Boni put an end to the
ritual, stealing the ring from Vito's finger, which killed him within
seconds. As she left the room, she intended to leave the entire keep
as well, but found that all the exits had been sealed.
While Boni searched for a way out, she
realized that Vito Aertern's servants would be looking for the cursed
ring and so she planned to hide it somewhere within the keep, some
place none of them would think to look. After a time of solitude Boni
Corr took her own life and the place became haunted. The spirit of
the wizard Vito Aertern was so strong that he was able to possess a
servant, who obsessively searched the halls for the cursed ring –
to no avail. Vito nonetheless desired to continue his quest for
immortality and so, through the servant, began again his experiments,
which required the hearts of living subjects and specks of a ghostly
opal, shards of pure magic.
The Book of the Long Night is the name
of the spell book written by Vito and, if ever deciphered, would be
considered highly valuable to many circles. The PCs are charged with
finding this book and returning it to a Dark Magician for a hefty
haul of valuable loot.
Once the PCs make it inside Vito
Aertern's inner sanctuary, however, the exits are all sealed. They
will need to find the magical apparatus that seals the sanctuary,
find the key and smear it with the foul wizard's blood. In order to
do that, they will need to find Vito's body and the cursed ring.
Returning the ring to the wizard's body will cause it to leech onto
the player, sucking its blood. They receive 1 wound and take 1d10
blood pool damage per turn. A STR check is required to break the
bond; Vito's hand can be severed to break the bond. After 3 turns of
leeching blood, the re-animated corpse will “come alive” and
attack the players. They can then use Vito's blood to satisfy the
apparatus that lifts the magical, clockwork barriers.
Employ random environment encounter
chart in addition to overland chart. GM preparation is simply
assigning antagonists to specific areas.
Note: Not all creatures are aggressive
or immediately hostile
1d100 Skeletal Warrior or Mage, spade
or club skill 35; heart skill 30. DR 5. BHP: 18. Scattered throughout
the landscape.
1d20 Husks, slow mindless creatures
whose attacks deal 1d10+3 physical damage and 3 END damage; Spade
skill: 38, heart skill 20. movement: 3. DR 6. BHP: 15
1d10 Undead Imp: club skill: 33. spade
skill: 28. diamond skill: 44. DR: 3 BHP: 11. Flying movement: 7.
1d8 Shadow Animus, minor.
1d4 Doppelganger (triggered by view
upon a mirror): creates an exact duplicate of any PC that beholds
their own image
1d10 Giant Flesh Flies: Spade skill:
38 heart skill 40 diamond skill: 40. DR 4 BHP: 26
1d4 Flesh Golem: spade skill: 55.
heart skill 50. DR 6 BHP: 48. BA: unarmed 2x/turn: 1d10+8.
1d6 Spider-Animus: spade skill: 42
heart skill: 30 diamond skill: 42 DR 4 BHP: 21. HP: 18
1 Rat swarm
1 Giant Undead Rat
10% chance of Rival Thief/Spell
Caster/Unhinged prisoner: can possess information about how to leave
The Currently Possessed Servant: club
skill 48; diamond skill 20; heart skill: 38. DR 3. BHP: 16. HP: 8.
Myrian and Void spell lists. Keeps a flesh golem, 1d6 skeleton
warriors, and 1d6 skeleton mages.
Ghost of the Wizard, Vito Aertern –
disembodied and mocking of the intruders
Ghost of the Lady, Boni Corr – when
she speaks it sounds like gargling or as though through water; near a
pond in the center of a glass-encased greenhouse, she is a banshee
that screams once per hour. Failed END save, causes process of
petrification. Person cannot move no matter what, and they lose 1d6
points of END every 10 minutes. Successful save causes 1d6 turns of
sleep, sending the person face first into the pond. Restoring END
damage can reverse the spell. A counterspell can reverse the spell.
Any spell that removes curses can reverse the spell. Upon hitting the
water, the character will come awake.
Vito Aertern, reanimated: power based
on how long it life-drains a character. Use occult shaman, void
magician spell lists.
3 turns: club: 25 DR: 3 BHP: 12 HP: 9
4 turns club: 35 DR: 4 BHP: 13 HP: 11
5 turns club: 45 DR: 6 BHP: 15 HP: 15
6+ turns club: 55 DR: 8 BHP: 16 HP: 20
* She placed the ring into a heavy box
and chained herself to it by the ankles, drowning herself in a deep
still pond in the center of the manor.
* the spell book will be either on a
pedestal or in the possession of the wizard's chosen servant
Death Knight (APEX)
Only can be found across the bridge where the toppled security towers used to reside. Optional altogether.
STR: 55 AGI: 24 END: 58
INT: 29 PER: 33 CHA: 19
spade: 52%
hearts: 60%
clubs: 37%
BP: 38
HP: 28
DR: 14 (Plate Armor +1, 5 END, +1 Armor
Proficiency)
“Meteor” Greatsword (+3% spade
skill, +2% club skill, +1 damage): 9+2d10
Can Make 2 Attacks 4x/Encounter
Meteor Sword: prerequisite: (z-card)
as a free action, when you make a BA, you tap this card and sacrifice
7 hearts to add 6d6+3 energy (fire) damage to your attack.
Helm of Telepathy: you can enter the mind of anyone within 20 ft of you. 1X/day the death knight can deal 2d6 damage to any mental attribute of their choosing.
Clubs:
3) death curse: after 3 rounds deals
3d6 END damage to single target, ignoring ADR. No save permitted, but
can be counterspelled or purged.
3) inner pestilence: cause 1d6 END
damage/turn for 3 turns.
3) Vampiric Drain: for 5 turns, all BA
deal 1 END damage, and heals the death knight for 1d6 health
3) Soul Armor: when death knight takes
damage within 100 ft, it returns 1d6 END damage, ignoring ADR –
successful save negates.
CLUES
stack of intercepted letters to her
family, one in particular about the key he carries
journal entries in observation of the
wizard, the wound he never closes
notes from students past, mourning
vanished students
a general obsession with the head
wizard
spells that slow time, healing spells,
charm potions, END replenish potions
woman in the portrait speaks as though
through water
story of the man who fell in love with
a woman, a duke, and a body of water
messages on walls (“kill me” “for
ever having loved you” “heaven forgive me” “let me go” “let
me die” “i need to die” “this life is hell” “i beg you
let me go”)
PCs can sense movement behind the
walls; many walls can form ghastly hands that clutch characters,
immobilizing them for 1d6 turns. Successful STR check ends effect.
Successful AGI check avoids it.
Husks can enter room through the bone
walls
statues surrounding the pond; at
specific intervals the stone statues appear to be bleeding
undead enemies have holes in their
chest cavities
there are 1d10 heartless people in the
torture chamber
“the students gather pearls of water
on their finger's ends”: the ghostly opals (very small pure magic
orbs)
mist that reeks of the dead emanating
from the forbidden chamber
the glass room has a self-contained
weather pattern of rain and moonlight-catching.
1: Toll House and In-take
2: Student Residence
3: Mess Hall, Language studies, and
Library of Common Lore
4: Community Chapel
5: Hall of Central Studies
6: Central Studies Professor quarters
7: Philosophy Classroom and Library
8: Head of Philosophy Department
Residence
9: Chapel of the Dead and Dying
10: Medical Row
11: Kanza's School of Wizardry
12: Ruined Barracks
13: Ruined Archer Tower
Comments
Post a Comment