Xoth.Net Publishing Tales of Sword & Sorcery
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XP1 Sword and Sorcery Adventures for Character Levels 1-10 Xoth.Net Publishing http://xoth.net/publishing Tales of Sword & Sorcery Table of Contents Part One: A World of Sword and Sorcery Chapter 1: Introduction ____________________________________________ 3 Chapter 2: Characters _____________________________________________ 8 Chapter 3: Sorcery _______________________________________________ 26 Chapter 4: Cults, Gods & Demons _____________________________________ 35 Chapter 5: Equipment _____________________________________________ 40 Part Two: Tales of Sword and Sorcery Chapter 6: The Necromancer’s Knife ___________________________________ 44 Chapter 7: The Spider-God’s Bride ____________________________________ 56 Chapter 8: The Jewel of Khadim Bey ___________________________________ 74 Chapter 9: The Eidolon of the Ape _____________________________________ 90 Chapter 10: The Crypt-Thing of Khorsul _________________________________ 100 Chapter 11: The Vault of Yigthrahotep __________________________________ 112 Chapter 12: The Swords of Zimballah __________________________________ 132 Chapter 13: The Slaves of the Moon ___________________________________ 148 Chapter 14: The Daughters of Rahma __________________________________ 162 Chapter 15: The Call from the Abyss ___________________________________ 172 Part Three: Appendices Appendix A: New Monsters _________________________________________ 192 Appendix B: References and Bibliography ________________________________ 196 Appendix C: Miscellanea ___________________________________________ 197 Appendix D: License ______________________________________________ 198 Credits Author: Morten Braten (a.k.a. Thulsa) Copyright © 2008 Xoth.Net Publishing. All Layout and Typesetting: Morten Braten rights reserved. Reproduction without the written Cartography: Morten Braten permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden. Front Cover Art: “Slaying of the Prophets of All characters, names, places, items, non-public Baal” by Gustave Doré domain art and text herein are copyrighted by Interior Art: All artwork is public domain art, Xoth.Net Publishing. Dungeons and Dragons® and collected by Karen at http://karenswhimsy.com. Wizards of the Coast® are trademarks of Wizards Playtesters: Roald Aronsson, Yngve Danielsen, of the Coast, and are used in accordance with the John-Martin Johnsen, Glenn Myklebust, Trond Open Game License contained in the Legal Appen- “Baby Doc” Oliversen, Håkon Prestmo, Henning dix. The mention of or reference to any company ”the Game Boy” Rege, Kjartan “Kartanikos” Sletvold, or product in these pages is not a challenge to the Lars Kåre Sukka. trademark or copyright concerned. Special Thanks: Thanks to Henning Rege for his This book uses the supernatural for settings, char- advice and encyclopedic knowledge of the d20 rules. acters and themes. All mystical and supernatural Thanks to Jans Carton for his invaluable online elements are fiction and intended for entertainment reference at d20srd.org. And maximum respect to purposes only. Reader discretion is advised. the Forus Massive worldwide! Check out Xoth.Net Publishing online at http://www.xoth.net/publishing Page 2 Tales of Sword & Sorcery Introduction ”The nostalgia of things unknown, of lands forgotten or unfound, is upon me at times. A Word to the Wise Often I long for the gleam of yellow suns This book makes occasional refer- upon terraces of translucent azure marble, ences to mature themes such as hu- mocking the windless waters of lakes unfath- omably calm; for lost, legendary palaces of man sacrifice, slavery, drugs, racism serpentine, silver and ebony, whose columns and perverted sexuality. Such themes, are green stalactites; for the pillars of fallen which are staples of the sword and temples, standing in the vast purpureal sunset sorcery genre, are simply assumed of a land of lost and marvellous romance. I to be unpleasant but undeniable sigh for (...) the strange and hidden cities of facts of life in the grim fantasy world the desert, with burning brazen domes and described. The sensible reader should slender pinnacles of gold and copper, that quickly note that these themes are pierce a heaven of heated lazuli.” not the focus of the book; they are not — Clark Ashton Smith: Nostalgia of the Unknown explored in-depth, nor are they used gratuitously. Remember that this is a work of fiction, and stuff in this book Welcome to a world where men are mighty, should not be taken as an endorse- women are voluptuous, kings are cruel, and ment of these things in the real world. hidden terror lurks in every brooding ruin! It That said, let’s get on with the game. is an age of splendorous but decadent king- doms, where armies clash at the whims of depraved nobles, and the bloody sword of an adventurer can topple empires. How This Book Is Organized The first part of the book contains new rules This book uses the standard revised third and background information. In this chapter edition rules plus new variant rules for sword (Chapter One), you will find optional rules and sorcery play, which enables you to recre- and advice for running a sword and sorcery ate in your games the exciting pulp fiction of campaign. Chapter Two details new feats, such great authors as Robert E. Howard, Clark races and character classes, including a modi- Ashton Smith, Fritz Leiber, Michael Moorcock, fied sorcerer class. Chapter Three contains and Charles R. Saunders. a collection of new spells and new rules for The first part of the book contains back- studying and using magic. Chapter Four lists ground information and new rules, races, the major cults and religions of the world, and classes, feats, spells, and equipment. The describes their temples, priests, and rituals. second and biggest part of the book contains Finally, Chapter Five has a selection of new a collection of sword and sorcery adventures equipment, including regional weapons and which can be run in the campaign-world alchemical items. described in this book (the World of Xoth), or The second part of the book contains a collec- easily tweaked for play in Howard’s Hyboria, tion of adventures that take the player charac- Smith’s Zothique, Leiber’s Nehwon, Carter’s ters across the world, from the domed palaces Lemuria, Saunders’ Nyumbani, the Wilder- and scented gardens of Zul-Bazzir, through lands from Judges Guild, or your own cam- the scorching deserts of Khazistan, to the paign world. barbaric stone cities of Azimba, into the for- Read on, and prepare for high adventure, bidden temples of Susrah, and beyond. Each as the player characters cut a crimson swath adventure has been designed to be played as a through savage jungle kingdoms and thronged stand-alone scenario, but the DM could very desert cities. From the forbidden catacombs of well combine them into a grand campaign, in Belthaar to the sunken temples of Namthu, a which case they will take the PCs all the way world of adventure awaits you! from 1st level to around 10th level. The book then wraps up with appendices containing new monsters and creature tem- plates, plus a bibliography and other miscel- lanea. Page 3 Tales of Sword & Sorcery Campaign Guidelines and Individuals within this world are defined by their motivation, culture, and personal ambi- Optional Rules tions and ethics. Having characters act accord- The worlds of sword and sorcery adven- ing to their own motivation creates much more tures differ in many respects from the “high interesting plots and storylines than simply fantasy” milieu assumed by the core rules. In “I’m good, you’re evil” plotlines. sword and sorcery, the world is dominated by human races; other races (usually degenerate As a consequence, characters, creatures survivors of an earlier age) and supernatural and deities have no listed alignment value (to monsters exist only in hidden or lost enclaves retain compatibility with the standard stat- far from human civilization. Combat is bloody blocks, the alignment entry is included, but all and brutal, and magical healing does not exist. characters are simply listed as Neutral). The The use of real magic or sorcery is uncommon, PCs will have to judge for themselves whether and when used its effects tend to be subtle. an NPC is “evil” based on his or her actions. Sorcerers are almost always villains, tainted That said, there are certain supernatural by cosmic evil. Permanent magical items are creatures and monsters, such as demonic extremely rare, and never for sale. outsiders and most undead, whose alignments To establish the proper atmosphere for the can be labeled as “cosmic evil” (CE). A protec- adventures contained within this book, you are tion from evil spell works against these kinds strongly encouraged to make use of the follow- of monsters. ing optional rules (and the new classes in the Note that while cosmic evil may exist, there Characters chapter) in your campaign. is no such thing as “cosmic good”. This is one While everything in this chapter is optional, of the major differences between high fantasy, the adventures as written assume all the fol- where some sort of balance of power between lowing rules to be in effect (except for the “Ar- good and evil usually exists, and sword and mor Reduces Damage” rule, as noted below). sorcery worlds, where the outlook is bleak and The DM might have to make adjustments to the heroes usually fight against overwhelming the adventures in this book if he places them odds. within a world with the standard d20 System level of magic, monsters, and magical items. Out With Alignment ”Torches flared murkily on the revels in the Maul, where the thieves of the east held car- nival by night. In the Maul they could carouse and roar as they liked, for honest people shunned the quarters, and watchmen, well paid with stained coins, did not interfere with their sports. (...) In one of these dens mer- riment thundered to the low smoke-stained roof, where rascals gathered in every stage of rags and tatters -- furtive cut-purses, leering kidnappers, quick-fingered thieves, swag- gering bravoes with their wenches, strident- voiced women clad in tawdry finery. Native rogues were the dominant element -- dark- skinned, dark-eyed Zamorians, with daggers at their girdles and guile in their hearts.” — Robert E.