World of Alidor» Jelling

Ogres of Nordoon and Mt. Revenge

shent_lodge — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 04:09:32 +0000

I have been running some quickie dungeons which have actually taken longer to play out than I expected. The kobolds and goblins of the Cave Bandits game gave a good run for their money (free) against 4, 1st level pathfinder players, and now the group has traveled on and encountered the Unfortunate Ransomers which will eventually reveal the Ogres of Nordoon, and the Hill House Ogre; whom by the way has three of the Kings illegitimate daughters as hostages. I like to set my dungeons up in threes. I spent the summer spinning the idea of the King of Jelling being assassinated and this is how I am building up to a story of how the PC’s get involved. They are still like second level, but by the time they get to the To Kill a King dungeon they should be about 7-9th level which are always fun levels to play IMHO.

The Hill House is an old stone keep built into a hill on the lower slopes of Mt. Revenge, locals call that area the Crane Hills; it is located on the South Eastern edge of the District of Nordoon. Ten years of mild winters allowed the ice and snow to reced enough to open an old mountain pass from the eastern coast inland, giving the ogres access to the interior of Jelling and to the District of Nordoon and it’s people; and their pigs and cows, and chickens and horses, and pigs; the ogres do favor pigs. The Hill house is an old Dwarven trading outpost that closed after the dragon Surma attacked and decimated the dwarves of Mt. Revenge. If you look at my maps of jelling Mt. Revenge is in the middle of Huraram Mountains. GMs prerogative, I moved the mountain North.

That’s the cool thing about being the world builder, plus map makers in Alidor don’t have GPS technology; since most folks in Jelling never travel more than five to ten miles away from home in their life time, but nearly all have heard the story of the Dwarf King Stowbeck Stealsword; so any mountain of good size could potentially be Mt. Revenge to them. The true Mt. Revenge is now more North it will stick and say from this point since I have some dungeons written up to explore it if my party wants.

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Cave Bandits a level 1 dungeon

shent_lodge — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 02:21:29 +0000

This is a quick dungeon I jotted together tonight. It revolves around to sets of monsters, kobolds and goblins, who found a cool hideout up in the hills near a remote settlement. It is a three room intro game to get people interested in my home game. I like to have a dynamic game and give players hints along the way. For instance, I made a quick random table that either group of monsters is camped outside the mouth of a cave that be the source of a small stream. 1-2 on a die 6 the goblins are outside; maybe they were forced out by the kobolds; maybe they hunt this area and don’t know about the potential lair, or maybe they just want to camp outside, whatever the reason, they are outside. The party can potentially see them if they are stealthy. The cool thing is, if the party decides to wander off and return later, they may find the kobolds outside instead, or nobody at all. The cave is dark and the key says 10ft but you could make it 5 feet if you want. The pit trap says 10ft area in the rules but I put it in a five foot wide hall; the kobolds made it; the dirt pile in the big hall is from the kobolds. I figure the little beasties are plotting to cause trouble for the goblins that and the arrow trap are the only traps in the dungeon.

The hook for the dungeon is whatever you want, from lights off in the hills at night near town, to disappearing livestock. It is level on so let people armor up and adventure forth. Extra in game flare, the axe belongs to the Hathor clan in southern Jelling and a reward may be had by taking the axe back to its home clan and maybe more adventure there or maybe it is just a cool axe. The sword in the fiend’s room was once a merciful blade, but the magic in it sleeps if a spell caster spends a an hour chanting and holding it there is a chance to awaken the magic again. Not a big deal if the players don’t awaken the sword it can still be sold as booty as a master work weapon. I usually don’t decide on the type of sword until the actual discovery of the weapon by the PCs. Oh their is a silver dagger with the dwarf if the party climbs up the waterfall and finds the dwarf from the Hathor clan. That is also the back way into the dungeon leading to the goblins or the secret hallway by the fiend. As for fiend I was thinking lemure.

This is for Pathfinder/3.5 stuff, you could use it for 4e I just wouldn’t.

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Hanging out by the tomb tree can be dangerous

shent_lodge — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 02:43:13 +0000

Tomb trees in Alidor are usually innocuous things usually found in graveyards and sacred places keeping the dead in their place, an important duty in Jelling where the dead don’t stay still for long. Yup you heard right dying in Jelling can be traumatic for those kin close to the diseased, especially among the poor and elderly since they sometimes don’t have the means for a proper burial, and, or the resources to start a good funeral pier. If you don’t lock the dead away, or burn them through, they come back and they come back with a vengeance, especially if they only get partially burned.

Tomb trees dropped out of fashion hundreds of years ago along with many of the old Brunary traditions; as the “dragon lovers” territory was conquered and the folks from Port Headland forced their will, one by one old traditions faded. Unbeknownst to the new landlords of these captured Brunary settlements, people built on or next to these trees that keep the dead still, not knowing their error until it was too late. Some foolhardy souls even cut these down, though not without effort, since the trees are quite difficult to fell, even with the sharpest saw or axe. Once a tree starts to die their grip on the tomb below breaks and any undead below, if they have any will left in them, will claw their way to the surface, and, well, what can I say? Things just get bad right quick for people in close proximity to such a tree.

If you see where I am going with this, this is my next dungeon and it is a simple one full of little adventures that lead up to discovering the vampire. The tree is next to an old inn that just has never been very popular, until recently, and that is only because of body found by the tree last week…

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Updated another town in Jelling

shent_lodge — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 02:56:41 +0000

Slowly, I update Alidor to fit better with the Pathfinder RPG game. Here is Brendon Mill a village in Jelling that has been the starting point for a couple home brew adventures. Now it is just a little more detailed and better set to accept adventures in the future.

A city in the Nation of Jelling

Stats:

Brendon Mill

LG Village; on trade crossroad and river; Nation of Jelling  
Corruption -5; Crime -1; Economy +0; Law +0; Lore +1; Society +0; Spells 6th(W)/5th(D)

QUALITIES:

Holy site: (Druid Circle watched over by: Runs like a Deer Druid 5, and small Church of Jelling priest of Taandi Cleric 5) 
Magical: (Redchrist Sandheart; Wizard 6) 
Tourist Attraction: (Druid Circle, ruins south west of town and in town)

Danger: 0

DEMOGRAPHICS:

Magical: The Bitter Dusk Magic Guild lead by Redchrist Sandheart 
Population 403 (humans, half-elves and one halfling)

NOTABLE NPC’S

Redchrist Sandheart (NG half-breed Male wizard 6) 
Rock Bordrand (LN Human male cleric 5 of Taandi)
 Reeko lightfoot (N Halfling male Dealer 4)
Runs Like Deer (N Half-elf Male Druid 5) 
Zelga Borlin (N Humane Female Bard 1) Owner of Jeffers Inn

MARKETPLACE:

Base value 700gp
Purchase limit 3,000gp
Spell casting 6th (W) 5th (D,C) 

Minor items 2d4; Medium Items 2d4; (75% 1/week an item requested may show up)  
Ready cash 4,029  

Guards/Soldiers 5 (193 Queen’s special garrison roles through once a month)  

Militia 27

I really like using the PF Game Mastery Guide for tweaking my home game. The halfling is a perfect example of integrating the new rules easily. PCs looking at the town stats will see halfling? One halfling? Curiosity will take over and a NPC will be needed and I will just pull the book and grab the Dealer stats if needed from the GMG page 301 and I have a guy ready to interact with the PCs.

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A Riddle for those seeking Pagdush Firethrower

shent_lodge — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 00:29:44 +0000

I am so simple,
That I can only point
Yet I guide men
All over the world

What am I?

In Alidor magical maps exist that adventurers can use to find places in the world like ancient ruins and dragon lairs. Areas are found through rituals and by celestial events like when all the moons are full on the seventh month (Kalaron) of the year then the door to the vault of one eyed one will appear. This would lead the party eventually to the city of Bryce and to the cemetery and vault of the old Brunary family Kromdain who dabbled in dark magic and were said to have found the the secret to eternal life… Unfortunately they were cursed and the family faded. All that is left, is their old family burial vault and the family vault tree known as One Eye by the locals, because of the strange face like visage in its trunk of a one eyed man in grimacing in pain. The tree will move either via powerful magic or on any day that all three moons are full in the seventh month of the year.

Maps like these are more complicated than the simple compass which is the answer to the riddle above.

Answer to riddle: A compass.

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