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©2008 , Inc. ™ Sample file Sample 300_21764740_002_Scept_32.indd 1 Credits Welcome to Adventure!

Design Lady Saharel has a secret. What secret? All of them. . . . David Noonan, Greg A. Vaughan In Scepter Tower of Spellgard™, the player characters brave Editing the dangers of a fortress of Lost Netheril. Treasures of that Scott Fitzgerald Gray ancient empire are said to be hidden within, but the relics Managing Editing of a bygone age pale in comparison to Spellgard’s greatest Kim Mohan treasure: Lady Saharel. Once the ruler of Spellgard, Lady Saharel exists beyond Mechanical Design and Development Manager death as a kind of prophetic spirit. On those rare occa- Andy Collins sions when she appears within the ruins of Spellgard, she Story Design and Development Manager answers questions posed by any mortals nearby. No query Christopher Perkins is off limits. Lady Saharel can tell a seeker the location of Director of RPG R&D the secret door to a dragon’s lair, why his or her betrothed Bill Slavicsek disappeared mysteriously last month, and what will happen if someone reconciles with estranged friends. Art Director Although no prophecy is supposed to be able to deter- Kate Irwin mine the future with complete accuracy, it is said that Graphic Designer Lady Saharel’s answers have yet to be proven wrong. As Emi Tanji a result, numerous travelers seek the rubble of Spellgard. Some come in search of assurance before making fateful Cover Illustration decisions. Others desire an omniscient guide to acquiring Steve Prescott wealth or power. Some come in search of answers that are Interior Illustrations far more personal: the whereabouts of a lost love, the iden- Attila Adorjany, Miguel Coimbra, Warren Mahy, tity of a parent, or how to find the strength to live with the Jim Pavelec choices of one’s past. Over the broken walls of Spellgard and the broken Cartography Robert Lazzaretti dreams of those who seek it looms the Scepter Tower. One of the few structures left standing after Spellgard’s fall, the Publishing Production Specialists Scepter Tower has become home to a dark presence that Angelika Lokotz, Erin Dorries seeks to control the power of Lady Saharel’s prophecies.

Production Manager Cynda Callaway Sample fileWHAT YOU NEED TO PLAY Special Thanks to Brandon Daggerhart, keeper of Shadowfell Scepter Tower of Spellgard is a DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® game adventure for characters of 2nd level. As the Dungeon DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, , D&D, d20, d20 ® System, WIZARDS OF THE COAST, Player’s Handbook, , you need the Player’s Handbook , the Monster Master’s Guide, , Scepter Tower of Spellgard, Manual®, and the Dungeon Master’s Guide® for the game all other Wizards of the Coast product names, and their rules and statistics necessary to run this adventure for your respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast ™ ® in the U.S.A. and other countries. All Wizards characters, players. D&D Dungeon Tiles and D&D Miniatures can also character names, and the distinctive likenesses thereof be used to enhance your play experience. are property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. This material is Players need only the Player’s Handbook, which gives protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the them information about what their characters can do. material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without This adventure takes place in the FORGOTTEN REALMS® the express written permission of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. setting, and as such it could be worked into a campaign This product is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual people, organizations, places, or events included herein is as a sequel to the adventure presented in Chapter 1 of purely coincidental. Printed in the U.S.A. ©2008 Wizards the FORGOTTEN REALMS Campaign Guide that unfolds in and of the Coast, Inc. around the town of Loudwater. Alternatively, you can play 620-21764740-003 EN Scepter Tower of Spellgard as a stand-alone adventure—even 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 one that kicks off a campaign. This booklet has instruc- First Printing: September 2008 tions for modifying the adventure if it is being used to ISBN: 978-0-7869-4954-0 Visit our website at www.wizards.com/dnd start a campaign with 1st-level characters. The FORGOTTEN REALMS Campaign Guide and the FORGOTTEN REALMS Player’s Guide contain material that can enhance the gameplay experience, but neither of those books is essential to this adventure.

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300_21764740_002_Scept_32.indd 2 4/5/10 11:16 AM The player characters are among those who are eager HOW TO USE THIS ADVENTURE to hear the prophecies of Spellgard—or at least curious enough to visit this ancient site. In this adventure, the Scepter Tower of Spellgard is a DUNGEONS & DRAGONS adven- PCs will meet other seekers after prophetic knowledge, ture that takes a party of five player characters (PCs) from discover what sinister forces lurk in the shadows of the 2nd level to well into 4th level and perhaps as high as 5th. Scepter Tower—and perhaps even gain an audience with You can easily expand the adventure by adding your own Lady Saharel herself. encounters or plot hooks. Defeating the challenges of the tower requires a lot of The two booklets included in this adventure are for the combat, so you ought to make the players aware that their Dungeon Master (DM). If you’re planning to experience

characters should prepare for danger. However, a dash Scepter Tower of Spellgard as a player, don’t read any farther. LANDS THE FALLEN of social skills won’t hurt their chances either. Not every- Scepter Tower of Spellgard contains these components: one in Spellgard is hostile, and some of its denizens can provide useful aid. Before the characters set out, give the 1. Adventure Book One (this booklet) provides the Dungeon players a chance to think about the obligatory precautions Master with an overview of the Fallen Lands, Lady Saha- to be taken when exploring a thousand-year-old ruin. The rel, and the ruins of Spellgard. This material includes a Scepter Tower of Spellgard holds many secrets, but some couple of preliminary encounters, descriptions of non- are more dangerous than others. player characters (NPCs), descriptions of key locations, illustrations of places and adversaries, and a system for The Fallen Lands determining random encounters. Sages, cartographers, and explorers once wrote extensively 2. Adventure Book Two contains the bulk of the adven- regarding the area long known as the Fallen Lands—a last ture, including many possible encounters within the remnant of Netheril that once lay along the western edge Spellgard ruins. The encounters are divided into three of the desert known as Anauroch. Then the Spellplague sections: the Ramparts, the Catacombs, and the Scepter came, thrusting this area into great upheaval and leaving Tower. much of this territory shrouded in mystery. Although the lands of the Gray Vale beyond the Graypeak Mountains, 3. A two-sided poster map. One side shows a “generic” including the towns of Loudwater and Llorkh, stand as location within the Spellgard ruins. The other side is a an island of civilization in the vicinity, the Fallen Lands depiction of the Scepter Tower interior. See page 31 of remain a forbidding place. The map on the next page, this booklet for information on how to use these maps. meant to be shown to players, identifies the location of the Fallen Lands and the Spellgard ruins. (A similar map, on 4. A folder to hold the booklets and the poster map. page 11, provides more detail that players and their char- acters are not initially aware of.) SampleMaps file of Spellgard This area, roughly comprising the territory south of the This adventure includes two maps of the Spellgard ruins. Far Forest, north of the Graypeak Mountains, and east of The one on page 6 of this booklet is meant to be provided the Deep Maw, is crisscrossed by ridges of low foothills, to the players. It shows them the surface features of the dotted with scrubby stands of pine and barren plateaus. area and the locations of the Monastery of the Precipice Craters, fissures, and fault lines make navigation and and the Scepter Tower—all knowledge that they could orientation difficult. Sheer ridges force travelers along obtain from a number of sources (such as one of the cur- endless twisting paths, and the fractured topography rent residents of the monastery, who could have allowed makes good vantage points few and far between. them to copy an existing map). Rain is rare in the summer and sporadic in other sea- The map on page 19 of this booklet, designed for the sons, but the Fallen Lands are by no means a desert. Small DM’s use, includes much more detail, such as the locations streams (tributaries of the Delimbiyr River) are common of monsters and NPCs, that characters will discover as they even in the height of summer. Winter sees a light dusting explore the complex. of snow but only the occasional blizzard or heavy snowfall. The Fallen Lands, as they exist in the aftermath of the Other Player Handouts Spellplague, remain largely unexplored, but here are a few The Player’s Adventure Log on page 7 of this booklet is facts every traveler knows. meant to be photocopied and handed out to the players in your group so they can keep track of encounters their ✦ Somewhere near the center of the Fallen Lands stands characters experience and rewards they earn as they move Stormkeep, a mysterious castle surrounded by magical through the adventure. squalls of electricity that never dissipate. “The Analects of Kuryon,” on page 9, is meant to be ✦ and goblins live in scattered bands throughout shown to players at an appropriate time when you fill them the region. They mostly war against each other, though in on the background of the adventure. You should make different tribes occasionally unite under a single one copy of this page for the group to share.

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300_21764740_002_Scept_32.indd 3 4/5/10 11:16 AM banner to raid over the Graypeaks and strike the fron- tier communities of the Gray Vale. ✦ Travel by day is reasonably safe, although particularly bold bandits sometimes menace travelers who don’t appear capable of defending themselves. ✦ Some explorers speak of a site known as the Plateau of the Reverse Obelisks, which they say is safe to approach and travel through by day. In fact, the denizens of the Fallen Lands grant this area a wide berth, making it perhaps the safest part of the journey to Spellgard. However, it is unwise (if not downright foolhardy) to make camp or spend the night anywhere near this place. ✦ Spellgard lies atop a ridge at the eastern edge of the Fallen Lands. Its ruins are visible from miles away on a clear day. ✦ Spellgard was once known as Saharelgard, a great fortress of ancient Netheril. It is home to Lady Saharel, a ghost who has the gift of prophecy and insight. She speaks of the future or the past to anyone who chances upon her in the Spellgard ruins. ✦ At the edge of Spellgard stands the Monastery of the Precipice. Treasure-hunters and seekers after Lady Saharel congregate there. Rumors Beyond the accepted facts are the following rumors that one or more of the player characters might have heard. ✦ The Monastery of the Precipice trades whiskey dis- tilled on the premises for food and sundries supplied by dwarf merchants. complete. Mystery and legend surround the Scepter ✦ Orcs are on the march across the Fallen Lands. They Tower, and it is said that no living being can pass within are set to seize Spellgard within a month, seeking its walls. ✦ weapons and magic with which they will assaultSample the file The magic of Netheril lingers within the stones of settlements of the Gray Vale. Spellgard. Before the castle fell, its arcanists focused ✦ Three weeks ago, a widowed noble came to the Mon- incalculable power within the Scepter Tower, and the astery of the Precipice, saying that Lady Saharel had chambers of old Saharelgard were warded by magic told her where to find her lost husband’s body. She was locks that no one could defeat. ✦ intending to hire mercenaries to retrieve it so she could Dark rumors have come down from the Monastery of give it a proper burial. the Precipice with the most recent dwarven caravans. ✦ A half-finished castle in the Fallen Lands is haunted Though the Spellgard ruins have always been a danger- by the ghost of the lord who died before it could be ous place, a dark presence is said to have established finished. itself there in recent weeks. More than a few of the ✦ The great treasures of Spellgard were taken from the so-called seekers who look for Lady Saharel have disap- place years ago, in the final days of Low Netheril when peared in the ruins, never to be heard from or seen the fortress was sacked. However, rumors persist of again. ✦ undisturbed chambers there, and of ancient relics that Not all who look for Lady Saharel make the Monastery have not seen the light of day for centuries. of the Precipice their base of operations in Spellgard. ✦ Spellgard has lain in ruins for more than a thousand Seeker camps dot the ruins, and some of their residents years, but the castle has never been truly abandoned. A are as dangerous as any monsters roaming the Fallen shifting population of treasure hunters and prophecy- Lands. seekers occupy the aboveground ruins, and the old tunnels beneath the site are home to kobolds and fouler creatures. ✦ In the middle of Spellgard is the Scepter Tower, one of the few structures of the old castle that still stands

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300_21764740_002_Scept_32.indd 4 4/5/10 11:16 AM What Brings PCs Here? ✦ How long will I live? ✦ How will I die? One of the most important ways that a player can prepare for this adventure is to think about why his or her char- acter wants to speak with Lady Saharel. All the folklore Career behind the ghost sorceress tells the same tale: Saharel As characters advance in level, more and more class and answers any question put to her, but those who seek her feat options present themselves. Choosing the best options often do so in vain. can be a daunting task; as such, one or more PCs might Many come to Spellgard hoping to ask questions such want answers to questions such as these. ✦ as “How can I become wealthy?” or “How can I amass What training or vocation should I undertake? ✦ great power?” Nothing prevents these individuals from How do I set out to follow a particular paragon path? ✦ doing so. However, Lady Saharel appears so infrequently How can I convince a particular mentor to tutor me? that those hoping only for material gain rarely stick it out in the ruins for long. Prophetic wisdom from Lady Saha- The Campaign BRINGS PCS HERE? BRINGS PCS HERE? WHAT rel might indeed be a fast path to wealth and power—but The FORGOTTEN REALMS setting is a world of ageless only if one doesn’t consider the time and risk involved in intrigue and turmoil. In such a world, information is the search for her ghostly presence. The monster-infested power. Even though the characters undertaking this landscape of the Fallen Lands has a way of making adventure are relatively young and inexperienced, one or other get-rich-quick schemes look more promising by more of them might seek knowledge of great import. comparison. ✦ Where can a particular item (a sword, an ancient gri- Those who make their way to the Monastery of the moire, and so on) be found? Precipice and persevere in their search through the ruins ✦ What is a particular archvillain’s greatest weakness? of Spellgard are often driven by deeper questions. If you ✦ What organization or force is behind certain mysteri- want such goals to push the characters toward Spellgard, ous events? here are some possibilities that you can share with the ✦ What is the greatest threat to a certain community? players. ✦ What will happen when a specific nonplayer character dies? Fa mi ly ✦ What is the answer to a particular NPC’s riddle? ✦ If certain elements of a character’s backstory have not How can I destroy a particular organization or foe? been fleshed out yet, consider making that situation into a full-fledged mystery ripe for prophetic insight. Such a Playing against the Grain character might seek the answer to one or more of these A character can come to Spellgard for reasons other than questions. seeking an audience with Lady Saharel. He might be in ✦ Who are my real parents? Samplesearch file of lore or treasure from one of Low Netheril’s most ✦ What happened to my missing relative? famous fortresses. Perhaps he is acting as a bodyguard ✦ What is the source of the feud between two people for a friend or patron in search of prophetic guidance. He close to me? might have business—sinister or otherwise—with another ✦ How can I reconcile with a particular family member? seeker. ✦ Why does a particular family member behave a certain way? Make Questions Known ✦ What happened to our ancestral lands? A character might prefer to keep his planned question ✦ What is the secret that a particular family member for Lady Saharel a secret. Certainly, over the years the refuses to share? monastery has played host to more than a few mysteri- ous strangers keeping their own counsel. However, you Future should strongly encourage every player to reveal his or Every player character is an adventurer destined to her character’s question to you. Although the PCs might become a legend—or to die in the attempt. A certain PC be less than optimistic regarding their chances of gaining might wonder what path offers the best chance of an illus- an audience with Lady Saharel, the players likely realize trious (and hopefully long) life. (because they’re engaging in this adventure) that such a ✦ What will be the greatest obstacle to my success? meeting is well within the realm of possibility. Because a ✦ What will happen to my archrival? character’s question might be far-reaching—perhaps even ✦ What will be my greatest achievement? glimpsing into the future —that character’s player will ✦ Will I achieve a particular goal? receive a more interesting answer from the Sorceress of ✦ How can I find the perfect spouse? Spellgard if you have foreknowledge of his question (and ✦ Will I start a family? thus time to prepare an appropriate reply).

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