The Spectral Incursion
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THE SPECTRAL INCURSION JOHN ROGERS AND SHAWN MERWIN Adventure Designer Adventure Code: CCC-BMG-CORE03-01 Optimized For: APL 1 As Melvaunt rebuilds after the devastation wrought by the modron and orc attacks, the planar portal outside the city walls continues to worry everyone in the City of a Thousand Forges. A closer examination of the portal is needed, and brave adventurers are asked to help be part of the reconnaissance team. A four-hour adventure for 1st - 4th level characters Sample file Producer: Baldman Games Development and Editing: Shawn Merwin Proofing and Layout: Encoded Designs Organized Play: Chris Lindsay D&D Adventurers League Wizards Team: Adam Lee, Chris Lindsay, Mike Mearls, Matt Sernett D&D Adventurers League Administrators: Lysa Chen, Bill Benham, Travis Woodall, Claire Hoffman, Greg Marks, Alan Patrick DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, the dragon ampersand, Player’s Handbook, Monster Manual, Dungeon Master’s Guide, D&D Adventurers League, all other Wizards of the Coast product names, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA and other countries. All characters and their distinctive likenesses are property of Wizards of the Coast. This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of Wizards of the Coast. ©2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC, PO Box 707, Renton, WA 98057-0707, USA. Manufactured by Hasbro SA, Rue Emile-Boéchat 31, 2800 Delémont, CH. Represented by Hasbro Europe, 4 The Square, Stockley Park, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB11 1ET, UK. INTRODUCTION Welcome to The Spectral Incursion, a Convention Created Con- tent D&D Adventurers League™ adventure, part of the official D&D Adventurers League™ organized play system. This adventure is designed for three to seven 1st - 4th level characters, and is optimized for five charcters with an average party level (APL) of 1. Characters outside this level range cannot participate in this adventure. Adjusting This Adventure Gather any resources you’d like to use to aid you in This adventure provides suggestions in making running this adventure--such as notecards, a DM adjustments for smaller or larger groups, characters of • screen, miniatures, and battlemaps. higher or lower levels, and characters that are otherwise Ask the players to provide you with relevant a bit more powerful than the adventure is optimized for. character information, such as name, race, class, and You’re not bound to these adjustments; they’re here for • level; passive Wisdom (Perception), and anything your convenience. adjusting the adventure, add up the total levels of all specified as notable by the adventure (such as the Tocharacters figure out and whether divide theyou total should by considerthe number of Playingbackgrounds, the traits, Dungeon flaws, etc.) Master characters (rounding .5 or greater up; .4 or less down). You have the most important role—facilitating the This is the group’s APL. To approximate the party enjoyment of the game for the players. You provide strength for the adventure, consult the following table. the narrative and bring the words on these pages to Determining Party Strength life. To facilitate this, keep in mind the following: You’re Empowered. Make decisions about how Party Composition Party Party Strength the group interacts with the adventure; adjusting or 3-4 characters, APL less than Very weak improvising is encouraged, so long as you maintain the 3-4 characters, APL equivalent Weak adventure’s spirit. This doesn’t allow you to implement house rules or change those of the Adventurers League, 3-4 characters, APL greater than Average however; they should be consistent in this regard. 5 characters, APL less than Weak Challenge Your Players. Gauge the experience level 5 characters, APL equivalent AverageSampleof yourfile players (not the characters), try to feel out (or 5 characters, APL greater than Strong ask) what they like in a game, and attempt to deliver 6-7 characters, APL less than Average the experience they’re after. Everyone should have the opportunity to shine. 6-7 characters, APL equivalent Strong Keep the Adventure Moving. When the game starts 6-7 characters, APL greater than Very strong to get bogged down, feel free to provide hints and clues to your players so they can attempt to solve puzzles, engage in combat, and roleplay interactions without Some encounters may include a sidebar that offers getting too frustrated over a lack of information. This suggestions for certain party strengths. If a particular recommendation is not offered or appropriate for your choices from clues. Watch for stalling--play loses group, you don’t have to make adjustments. momentumgives players when “little this victories” happens. for At figuring the same out time, good make Before Play at the Table with a full play experience. Before you start play, consider the following: sure that players don’t finish too early; provide them Read through the adventure, taking notes of anything you’d like to highlight or remind yourself • of while running the adventure, such as a way you’d like to portray an NPC or a tactic you’d like to use in a combat. Become familiar with the adventure’s appendices and handouts. 2 CORE03-01: INTRODUCTION Quote: “The complexities of the multiverse Adventure Primer dictate that the only constant is change, and even that Adventure Background constant is only true and valid in the exact moment Still recovering from the attack by the modrons and constants.” of divergenceZarabi Thar’khul from an (zahr-RAH-beeinfinite number ofthar-COOL). other stasis. The walls are mostly repaired, and the depleted Zarabi, a necromancer, used to be a Red Wizard. It Citythe orcs, Watch the remains city of Melvaunt vigilant against has fallen the intofrequent a fitful took the murder of her husband at the hands of a forays by the remaining modron and orc forces. A rival to realize how cruel and malicious Thayans planar portal remains static outside the city walls, occasionally burping forth some monstrosity that than seeking vengeance. She came to Melvaunt must be defeated before it threatens innocent lives. tocan study be. She the fled effects the ofcountry the planar soon portal. after rather She is Captain LeCampe Eledstra has been tasked with renewing the effort to close the portal. Truushee few moments to open up the characters, but once the Sage and the ex-Red Wizard Zarabi Thar’khul sheexcited, does, confident, the necromancer and brilliant. is more It may than take happy her to a are consulted, and the adventurers are hired to yammer on about her research and her past. guard them from any attacks, from the gate or the surrounding countryside. Truushee believes the Adventure Overview gate is becoming more active, and Zarabi can feel the increasing necrotic emanations from the portal. The adventure is broken down into three parts: Beginnings. An Offer from the Captain. Captain Location and NPC Summary Eledstra asks the adventurers to escort a sage and a The following NPCs and locations feature wizard outside the walls of the city to investigate the prominently in this adventure. planar portal. Captain LeCampe Eledstra (le-CAMP el-LED- Part 1. Through the Portal. Arriving at the strah). LeCampe Eledstra is a human of late middle portal, the adventurers witness massive creatures age. She’s a decent woman who takes her job of burst through, immediately charging them and the protecting Melvaunt’s ordinary citizens seriously. people they were tasked to protect. In the midst of Eledstra is tall, thin, and lanky with a shock of unruly the chaos created by the creature, the portal belches Sampleforth file incorporeal undead that take possession of the constantly whenever she’s trying to think. She is townsfolk and guards, including the wizard Zarabi. white hair through which she runs her fingers very bad at playing political games, which is why she Part 2. Trekking North. The adventurers follow was only recently promoted to captain despite her the trail of Zarabi north into the wilds, dealing with many years of service in the City Watch. She knows the traps and other surprises left by the possessed this promotion means that if anything goes wrong, necromancer. After dealing with a potentially hostile she is the one who will take the political fall. And she suspects that she is expected to fail. destination of the necromancer. Truushee the Sage (TRUE-shee). Truushee groupPart at 3.a tavern,The Abandoned the adventurers Tower learn. At the the tower final is a young half-orc, no more than 20 years old. She of the lost necromancer, Zarabi sets a trap for the looks more orc than human, which is disconcerting pursuing adventurers, and then she attempts to use to many citizens, especially with the orc-infested an item of great power to create an undead army. lands of Thar so close. Truushee was found as a baby by a sage traveling between Melvaunt and Phlan, Adventure Hooks and she raised Truushee as her own. When the old Story Hook. Word is spread that Captain LeCampe sage recently passed away, Truushee took over. is looking for adventurers to pick up the slack left by rendering concepts like personal space and small their members to help her out, so as to garner her talkTruushee’s nonexistent. social Truushee skills are learnedsignificantly a great lacking, deal from favora depleted if needed city guard.at a later The time. factions specifically ask her foster mother and has a knack for understanding incredibly complex information. 3 CORE03-01: INTRODUCTION.