writing an adventure

[Deleted]

hopefully i have already written some introductory narrative. looking for feedback. i'm thinking this adventure could be used by relatively new characters, either before or after the Orcs of the High Mountains adventure....

Having recently spent some time in nearby Sutton-town, your party was hired to deliver a message from the mayor to the Lord of Devonsy. Although you do not know the contents of the message you suspect it was a plea for martial aid. This region has been brimming with goblin activity of late, activity which has led to the dwindling number of able-bodied men in Sutton-town’s militia. Of course, it is this same activity and lack of local swords-for-hire that allowed such an easy but high-paying job to fall into your laps. Who would have thought that a plague of goblins would be such good fortune? Having already delivered the message to Devonsy without incident, you and your companions continue your winding trek along a dirt road that snakes its way through the southern foothills of the High Mountains. Chuckling with amusement, you begin planning how you will spend your share of the wages when you return and collect them in Sutton-town. Fortune has indeed smiled down with favor upon your troupe...until now. A particularly dark and sullen storm front approaches from the west. The merriment of your band quickly falls into silent brooding with the prospect of having to spend your last night on the road getting soaked to the bone. Fortune, it would seem, has blessed you again when you spy a large hill with outcropping stones just a few hundred yards to the east...and just in time as a few ice-cold drops of rain have already sent chills down the back of your neck. Upon reaching the shelter of the stones thrusting out from the side of the hill you realize that it is not a natural rock formation. Before you lies the entrance to a long forgotten tor, a burial mound of an ancient and mysterious race that inhabited this region long before it was settled by man.

strongly inspired by and loosely converted from:
www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/oa/20050329a

players will begin after being trapped in the tor by a cave-in. players will discover treasure, traps, and foes in their search for another exit. players that survive will return to Sutton-town and receive a share of the wage for the aforementioned message delivery service.

there will only be about 6-8 'rooms' but i plan on cramming as many options as i can imagine and 'harmonize' into each room.

[Deleted]

i think i'm going to put the previous narrative/idea on hold. instead, i'm going to work on turning each of the quests from the old Heroquest game into a LAW adventure.

are there any pre-existing stats for skeletons, zombies, and mummies from existing adventures?

[mister frau blucher]

Sounds interesting, ewookie. Both the narrative and the idea of converting Heroquest quests!

Skellies and zombies have made multiple appearances. Skeletons are in the free adventure The Sorcerer's Manor, as well as Sewers of Redpoint and The Dark Vale. Zombies have been in SOR and Island of Lost Spells, and a few others if I recall. There is a bit of variance in their stats. There is no official Monster Manual.

[Deleted]

yeah, i found the skellies in TSM. i don't suppose you could look at the zombies in SOR and ILS, average their stats and post them here, could you?

i have noticed that a 'game developer' is very free to make a monster as powerful or as weak as he wants, so i could just pull some zombie stats out of my hat. i just don't want to deviate too far from the material that already exists.

[gigglestick]

I always felt that undead should be a little nasty but not impossible to beat...and that no two had to be alike.

In LBB and the sequel, skelotins took 1/2 damage (after armor) fromslashing and piercing while zombies took 1/2 damage from piercing and blugeoning weapons. GM and players' option for which did which. (Spears were obviously piercing, and clubs were blunt...but a sword could be used for either...)

Ghosts had high DR vs everything except magic...

But whatever fits YOUR idea of undead will probably make for a fun adventure...

[Deleted]

things have evolved a great deal. what i'm writing no longer feels like a loose conversion of the linked D&D adventure module. i've written about 12 paragraphs now and it is starting to get easier for me to format them. many plot ideas are starting to 'grow' from what i've written. here's the new starting paragraph:

You find yourself employed as escorts by a merchant making a long journey to the northern kingdoms. You have been paid 10 silvers each. Another 20 silvers each will be paid when the merchant safely reaches his destination. The journey has been uneventful until now. A dark and sullen storm front, brooding since mid-day, approaches from the north. Twilight fast approaches from the east. Seeking shelter for the night and from what is sure to be a nasty storm, you make your way to an out-crop of stone on the side of a large hill. You find a large area sculpted into the side of the hill. Cobbled stone lines the floor beneath an earthen canopy high over-head. Earth and stone coddle you to the north, west, and east. However, a dark doorway looms in the north wall. Thick shards of stone and splinters of wood lay broken within the fathomless corridor leading into the hill. Curiously, a log rests in the north-east corner. This appears to be one of the many ancient tors scattered throughout this region, burial mounds of a mysterious civilization long lost in the mists of time.

You and your companions roll the log to the edge of the opening. There, you tie off your horses and the merchant's horse after unhitching it from his small wagon. The evening meal is had around a small fire and everyone begins settling in for the night.