Charting the Underworld

Today’s inspiration is a campaign idea. Enjoy!

After death, the souls of the departed must find their way across the Underworld to reach the Heavenly Realms. Monstrous beasts, cruel demons, and unnatural hazards riddle the Underworld and claim many of these souls, snuffing them out of existence forever.

For generations, people have had to endure that their beloved may have never reached the promised lands, but perished in the jaws of a dire crocodile or been burned by a demon. Most spent their lives sacrificing to the gods, hoping they will guide them to safety.

When a goat herder accidentally found an entrance to the Underworld in the remote Green Mountains, King Ovin knew he could change all that. He hired teams of adventurers to chart the Underworld and publish the findings in a guidebook all could use to reach safety. Unfortunately, the dangers of the Underworld do not limit themselves to the dead, and three teams have already fail to return, save for a lone adventurer, too traumatized to be of much use. The King has had to search ever wider and up the reward to find any adventurers brave enough, or stupid enough, to face the Underworld.

Ethan Electric’s Automotive Co.

This is an outline for an adventure set in a Super Hero World. I ran this using the Mutants & Masterminds system, but it can be used with any system. I am using the Dungeon World front system for this, which you can read about here

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Description

Zoom City’s car manufacturing industry has been in the dumps for the past several years. Factories closed down. Blocks abandoned. People jobless. But then, Ethan Electric’s appeared. It bought up all the old factories and started manufacturing sleek electric cars at a price every family could afford. They sold like ice cream on a summer day. Soon, Zoom City was back on top. Everyone had a job. Houses filled back up and neighborhoods expanded.

But Ethan Electric is after more than just being CEO of the biggest company in the country. He wants unbridled power and control. So, inside each car he has secretly installed weapons and a mind control device. Whenever he wants, he can flip a switch from his secret lair at the bottom of Grand Lake. A signal will then transmit to the HQ building in Zoom City where an immense beacon transmits the signal to every car. Any occupants in the car will then be compelled to do Ethan’s bidding and the car itself will transform into a weaponized battle vehicle. With this unwilling army, Ethan plots to stage a military coup against the government and become its King.

Adventure Setting: The Lonley Plane

Don’t worry, I haven’t abandoned this blog! This week’s inspiration is inspired by the Elevator Game (a piece of urban folklore) – a mysterious plane where living beings cannot sense each other and mental demons haunt you. Enjoy!

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I had heard that if you went into a room with only one door and shuttered windows there was a ritual you could perform to reach another plane. So last week Ryleela and I decided to try it and went down to that old storage hut. Closed the doors, opened the doors. Closed the windows, opened the windows. Each the set number of times. I didn’t think it would actually work, Ryleela was the one who believed. But then, I felt…well the only way to describe it is I felt alone. I looked around for Ryleela, but she wasn’t there anymore. I opened the door and it was the same world, but I was the only one there. Nothing made a sound, not birds, not the wind, not any workers singing from the fields. The silence roared in my ears. I walked around for a bit in the complete stillness until I came across the shadows. They didn’t behave like normal shadows, but moved on their own. Whenever they came near, my head would  pound and the feelings of being alone and forgotten dominated my thoughts. In a lucid moment, I ran back to the hut and began to perform the ritual in reverse. At one point the dust on the ground began spelling out a sentence “Are you there?” but at the same time it was done and the world returned. Ryleela wasn’t there either, though. I’ve been to the hut every day, but I fear the only way to save her will be to go back there.

Background:

Hidden under our own reality is the Lonely Plane. Only a few have succeeded in traveling there on purpose, the usual way to get there is by accident. Visitors to the realm will find a world tantamount to our own, except they are seemingly the only living or even once living being.

The Order of the Stars

This week’s inspiration is based upon a session run by a friend using the Mutants & Masterminds system.

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The Museum of Human History has recently acquired the complete collection of Pharaoh Cletokep, a newly discovered pharaoh of ancient Egypt. Famed archaeologist Eugene Bullstein found the tomb in the remote Sahara far beyond where people previously believed the ancients lived. Scholars believe the pharaoh may be the person referred to in later Egyptian writings as “the enemy” or “the blasphemer.” Unknown to anyone, the sarcophagus serves as a portal to a pocket dimension where the soul of the fallen Pharaoh and her army await the day they will rise again to bring about the Order of the Stars.

Box-Texts:

Inside the Museum

Hushed voices echo off the polished stone of the museum’s floors and walls. The museum boasts an impressive collection filled with dioramas, interactive displays and multi-media. The curators have even reconstructed rooms from long-gone periods down to pens on desks and tables set for tea. A gilded dog cage, its originally occupant dead for hundreds of years, still sits with pride alongside its dead king’s throne. But few patrons admire these impressive displays and instead flock to see the newly acquired Pharaoh Cletokep Collection.

The Egyptian section

Crowds of people peer through the display cases’ thick glass at the carefully labeled artifacts and sarcophagus. The cases and people fill room after room. School teachers attempt to quiet their charge of students while a curator lectures. In the last room, stone tiles cover the walls. Hieroglyphics and pictures coat each one so that the entire room appears as a giant storybook. Pharaoh Cletokep’s ebony sarcophagus dominates the center, its gold hieroglyphics shimmering as if just painted.

The Splendid Spa of Two Angels

Today’s inspiration is a setting and plot idea for a one-shot adventure, an abandoned spa reachable only by a portal in an alley. Terrible monsters who feed on thoughts inhabit the spa and caused its ruin.

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 Background:

Long ago, the City of Two Angels was the most fashionable place to be seen. The streets lined with shining cobblestone, the shops windows filled with expensive clothing and exquisite jewelry. Artists, politicians, entrepreneurs all called Two Angels home. Tourists came from far and wide to spend a few days being part of the hustle and bustle of the influential city. But mostly they came for The Splendid Spa, a luxury resort existing inside a pocket universe in Two Angels. The Spa claimed its hot springs cured all ailments. The salts, it said, made a person more beautiful, wiser, and even younger. But then one day, shadow creatures began to secretly visit the Spa. Strange creatures that at first appeared as only a haze, but grew more solid and stronger from feeding off a person’s thoughts, especially those of imagination. And few thoughts are more imaginative than that of fear. Guests began to die, found withered up like raisins. The resort was at a loss to explain this, but as the deaths grew more frequent, the creatures grew more plentiful. The Spa was forced to shut down, and the portal to it blocked and buried, least the creatures break through. After the news of the deaths spread through the population, Two Angels began to decline as people moved avoided it out of fear. Today, no one remembers exactly why Two Angels became the cesspool of poverty and crime it is today.

Box-Texts:

The Portal’s Opening

Elderly mansions line this street, their once proud awnings now torn and faded. Trash clutters the yards and banks of mailboxes crowd the space next to the doors. In the alley between two of the houses, cats fight in the piled-up rubbish. But from a crack in a bricked-up door, a blue light glows. A closer inspection reveals that it appears as some kind of window looking out onto a grassy meadow.

Inside the portal:

A deep blue sky peppered with wispy clouds hangs over a grassy meadow, blue mountains obstruct the horizon in the distance. The remnants of stone walls peek through the tall grass and overgrown flowers. Cottages with sagging roofs stand in a semi-circle.

Inside a cottage:

Dead ferns in cracked pots flank a reception desk. An iron sculpture of fish swimming hangs on the wall. Whenever one looks away, the fish appear to move, but when the viewer looks back, they hang still again. In the next room, rows of tubs sink into the floor. Mud fills them, and a few plants have taken root, fed by the sunlight streaming through the cracked roof. A rotten smell wafts in from another room, making one instinctively cover their nose. On the wall, someone has craved the words “Don’t Think” in jagged letters.

Attack of the Riftsquid!

Happy New Year! Today’s inspiration is an outline for a sci-fi one-shot adventure using the Dungeon World Front system. I plan on expanding this adventure into a full campaign, so check back!

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The Triwip People knew their sun was dying. Knew they had to find a way to escape to a new planet if their species were to survive. So they built Deliverance, a massive self-sustaining spaceship that would use the force of the sun’s explosion to propel itself to a suitable planet in a nearby system. It worked. The sun exploded and they sailed its dying winds through the void of space. But then, in year ten of their fifty year voyage, an extra-dimensional space monster attacked. Materializing out of nothing, the Riftsquid latched onto the spaceship and punched its limbs right through the hull. It deposited into the ship gross creatures, writhing balls of tentacles and clashing teeth. While most of the crew joined in to fight the monsters, some did nothing and others even turned on fellow crew members. During the chaos, someone changed the course of the ship to a close, but hostile, planet. Unknown to anyone, safe within the bowls of the ship, cloaked by their natural rift biology, sat a clutch of Riftsquid eggs.

Contessa Moldred’s Mad Winery

An adventure prompt for Halloween! This is slightly darker than I usually like to write, but it is Halloween. Hope you enjoy it and please let me know what you think in the comments.

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The cold floor seeped through her dress, through her skin, through her muscles and came to rest in her bones. She waited for It to start again. The clawing, the screaming, and the pain. The door squeaked open, a figure slipped in.

“Hold out your arm.”

Part 3 of the Crystal Dust Road – The Finale

The finale to the Crystal Dust Road!  Links to: Part 1 and Part 2.

The Surrounding Countryside

Below are a few suggested encounters to use if your PCs decide to explore the countryside. If playing a short game, you may want to skip directly to the graveyard.

The Caves

The cliffs near the trade road hold numerous caves. Before they were captured by Ergithia, the goblins used one of the caves as their home. If the PCs find this cave, read the following out loud:

The air is heady with the smell of pine and damp earth, but a cool breeze wafts up from a man-sized hole in the mountain’s rock. A rope tied around a nearby tree disappears into the opening.

If the PCs go inside, read the following out loud:

The rope leads to a large, natural cavern big enough to comfortably house 20 people. Against one wall stand racks of bunk beds, held together with twine. In another corner, glass instruments and colorful bottles lie strewn about on a table. Pots, blankets, firewood and food rot on the ground.

Adventure Prompt: Part 2 of The Crystal Dust Road – The Disappearing Caravans

I’ve written this adventure prompt to continue the adventure I started in this post. I am using the Dungeon World system, but you could adapt this for any system.

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Your party has traveled to a well-known trade stop on the Crystal Dust Road, Stone Fort,  where the merchant’s guild is offering a big reward for solving the mystery of disappearing caravans. Have your party introduce themselves. Then ask why each party member wants to solve the mystery (or just win the reward), how (or if) they know the other party members and why they are working together.

Suggested Bonds:

_________ and I have collected many a bounty together before, but I still don’t trust them.

I’ve heard rumor of _________’s investigative skills, I hope to learn from them.

_______ is just in it for the money, I will show them there is more to life.

_________ seems like a greenhorn, they better not get in my way.

Once you’ve settled all that, read the following outloud:

Wagons heavily laden with valuable crystal dust rumble along the cobbled streets. Now and then a small puff of dust escapes, contributing to the build-up of dust which gives the whole town a  faint glimmer. The wagon drivers shout at pedestrians to get out of the way, who in turn shout back to get out of their way. Merchants hawk their goods from wooden stands, their buckets brimming with all magical necessities such as siren feathers, newt eyes, and mermaid scales. In stone buildings painted in dizzying patterns, richly-robed merchant sell the more valuable items the discerning wizard requires. 

A Reward poster lies on the small café table in front of you.  Even though you’ve been sitting for only a few minutes, the crystal dust is already scratching your throat and eyes. The poster reads:

“REWARD: Ten Wagons of Crystal Dust or its Equivalent in Coin to Whomever Can Solve the Problem of the Disappearing Caravans. Inquire with the Merchant’s Guild for More Information.”

The next section includes some light descriptions of the town and the people the PCs might encounter. Let your PCs explore, and don’t be afraid to  let them go ‘off-script’

Around the Town of Stone Fort

Population: 15,000

Geographical size: Roughly 3 mile square

Economy: Trade Center

This a mid-sized to large town. Any common items can be bought, and a few rarer items.

People to Encounter:

The outdoor stands: The merchants at this level do not belong to the guild and hence do not know much beyond the fact caravans have been disappearing and there is an award.

Suggested Names: Gligee Potionbrewer, Pan Hawker, Selma Hexenhammer

The wagons: Most wagon drivers are too busy to talk to the PCs and will ignore them. However, there is one caravan in town which is getting ready to leave and will allow the PCs to travel with them.

Suggested Names: Gruf Oxmaster, Ruby Whip

NPC: Kari Undergem, the wagon master. While she is not a merchant, and therefore not in a guild, a guild member has  hired her caravan. She has heard rumors that the caravans are not lost, but taken, their occupants murdered or enslaved. She is nervous about the trip, and willing to let the PCs accompany her caravan.

The indoor shops: Almost all indoor merchants are part of the guild and can give the PCs a bit more detail on the caravans. They know disappearance started happening  6 months ago, and are almost always along a one mile stretch of road. The Guild sent scouts to the area, but so far whenever scouts watch, no caravans are attacked. The scouts also searched the surrounding area, but found no signs of activity.

Suggested Names: Hittie Gold, Clavyo Richmound, Xan Coinbags

Any other townsperson: For the most part, anyone else the PCs talk to knows very little information. Multiple rumors abound about what is happening to the caravans.

Suggested Names: Timur Drop, Gamzee Brave, Rosewater Smiles

The Merchant’s Guild: This location is easily found by asking any towns person or by walking into the biggest, shiniest building with the engraved sign “The Merchant’s Guild.” If the PCs enter this building read the following out load:

The words “Merchant’s Guild” are chiseled above an immense open doorway. A mosaic caravan scene surrounds the doors. As you walk in, the caravan imagery continues, bringing wares to a mosaic marketplace which covers the entire back wall. The masterpiece dwarfs a simple wood desk where a gnome sits cleaning out his ears with a stick.

NPC: Rydarcargemurlite (Rydar for short): A male gnome with the tendency to forget what he’s talking about. He knows the following about the missing caravans, but besides being forgetful, he’s tired of explaining it to every kid who thinks they can win the reward:

• The caravans are often found intact, but the caravan members gone.
• Bodies are rarely recovered, when found, they are brutally torn apart and partially eaten.
• Large caravans are never attacked, but small trinkets are often missing.
• Caves riddle the cliffs where the caravan has disappeared.
• There is a massive and ancient graveyard near to where the caravans disappear.

Continue the story in Part 3

Adventure Fronts: The Crystal Dust Road

This is a short adventure outline using the front system from Dungeon World. If you have are not familiar with Dungeon World’s front system, you can read about it here. Basically, this is a road-map for the GM of what will happen if the PCs do nothing. It also provides a quick reference for the adventure’s main villains, their motivations, and their goals. You can use this outline to run a Dungeon World adventure or as a guide to create an adventure for any system. These fronts are part of the adventure I started in this post.

Introduction

In the middle of the desert stands the surprisingly large town of Stone Fort. Surprising, that is, unless you know that Stone Fort also sits on the cross roads of the Crystal Dust Trade route. Recently, caravans have started to mysteriously disappear nearby. The Merchant’s Guild has put out a substantial reward for anyone who can discover what is happening to them.

Estimated Runtime: 1-2 sessions of 3-4 hours.

Front: Stone Fort

Description: Crystal Dust, the flour of magic, needed by almost every magic-user, grew best far in the North. Mithril steel, the strongest and lightest of all steels, formed in the mountains of the South. Naturally, a trade route developed between the two, carrying valuable Dust to the South and steel to the North.

The Merchant’s Guild controls most of the Crystal Dust trade. The members receive the first pick of the goods, own the best shops in trade towns, and set the price for the Dust. But the Guild is not content being just the biggest game in town, it wants to be the only. To that the end, the Guild, plans to extend its control to the caravans which carry the Dust along the route.

For years, Rydar has worked in the Merchant Guild main office as its head secretary. The lengths the Guild has gone to maintain its tight control over the Crystal Dust trade has disgusted him. So, on the side, he has begun to experiment to find something that will replace crystal dust.

Main Caste:

• Agatha Confeller. The Merchant Guild Captain
• Rydarcargemurlite (Rydar for short). A gnome inventor and current, disgruntled employee for the Merchant Guild.

Danger: The Merchant Guild (ambitious organization)

Impulse: To monopolize the crystal dust trade

1. Caravan and competitors leaders identified
2. Competitors stopped from traveling the road.
3. All buyers of crystal dust forced into compliance with the Guild

Impending Doom: Usurpation. The Merchant’s Guild is now the only way to get crystal dust.

Danger: New! Magic (arcane enemy)

Impulse: To supplant crystal dust market with his own invention.

1. Rydar, an enterprising gnome, begins looking for a way to make crystal dust obsolete.
2. Rydar gathers a team.
3. The team invents/discovers a way to make crystal dust obsolete.
4. The team begins distributing their method and/or new product.
5. The team organizes its own guild.

Impending Doom: Impoverishment. The entire Crystal Dust Road economy is shot.

Front: The Forgotten Graveyard

Description: See this post.

Main Caste:

• Ergithia, an ancient gargoyle in the shape of a veiled woman, she stalks graveyards, kills for fun, and collects morbid tokens from her victims.
• Tribley: One of the captured goblins and an amateur alchemist.

Danger: Ergithia (arcane enemy)

Impulse: To delight in cruelty, to increase her collection

1. Desires a new addition to her collection.
2. Builds her army
3. Marches to find the addition
4. Finds and obtains the addition.
5. Harnesses the power of her new collection and army

Impending Doom: Tyranny. Ergithia takes over Stone Fort and enslaves the city.

Danger: The Imprisoned Goblins (hordes)

Impulse: To survive by any means necessary, to fulfill their own hedonistic desires.

1. The goblins choose a leader
2. The leader organizes a mutiny against Ergithia
3. The goblins mutiny and attempt to kill (or at least escape) the Ergithia.

Impending Doom: Anarchy. If the goblins can free themselves, they plunder and pillage anything they can

Stakes:

1. Who will be the goblin leader?
2. What does Ergithia desire?
3. How does the merchant guild control the competitors?
4. Why is crystal dust so important?
5. What has the gnome invented?
6. Who is on Rydar’s team?

Continue the story in Part 2