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Isle of the Ape by Gary Gygax

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Isle of the Ape by Gary Gygax ^^^v^^X^i Sample file 6-20 i See Map, TXXI YTTI op YYTTWXXIXI^ 1 ^^^ 1 ^^^p \ 1 1 [ 1 1 1 1 1 j YYWYYY 0666: Y$ 35: XJ «J ^vvvvvv kL 1 H^ER Li ^\ 1 BB'MP* T JTJN xxixWxx xxxxxxx rSFl?TPB?v^K^jrii »w ^^^ -^^ J^. j^^ ^A^ J*^ jL ^gt ^^P\ J^S» ^^^. y^m^ ^<#* /^h IHLJI. -Jk J>. - m urXjuijLxxxcxxxi ail" <_> "\ ^*Ns. J-^N. J^S. y\ /*\ j^s. >s If JL ' JL ' PH n mac 065Ju5u wTrr 1 11 11 11 u nfhnrT SriSample file 1OT TO IAT T T T T XJ JL ! S^lXXXX iii* T 1 J(^ IP T JT JK^L^X ^'^C JS*^* -^^W ^^W J^^S. JJGJCL S9£fil SKDTXXIJL M M^ mm WTWYY / 1^ 1 ^ !~ 1 X 1 f& VYVY 0 >-^ x 1 [ 0,1 fXj^xXwxxxr: [ :"TVYV SVYVrYYY^A [ f''rXiYS^YTTrVAY^ Advanced Dungeon Fantasy World Adventure Isle of the Ape by Gary Gygax taBle of Contents Design: Gary Gygax Development: Bruce A. Heard 2 Illustration: Gary Williams mtRoouction 2 Cover: Jeff Easley BackqRouno fOR the Ounqeon TTlasteR 3 Typesetting: Betty Elmore and Carolyn Vanderbilt the laws of the Isle of the &pe maqical Items Special Thanks to Penny Petticord Oescrminq the island island Conditions movement Rates monster Statistics and encounters Distributed to the book trade in the United States by Ran- other dm notes dom House, Inc. and in Canada by Random House of Can- ada, Ltd. Distributed to the toy and hobby trade by regional distributors. Distributed in the United Kingdom by TSR UK Sample file Ltd. the AdventURe Beqins 6 meetinq with tenser ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, AD&D, WORLD OF GREYHAWK, PRODUCTS OF YOUR IMAGINATION, and the encounter Settmq TSR logo are trademarks owned by TSR Inc. encounter key s Copyright 1985 TSR Inc. All Rights Reserved. Beyond the Wall 18 This adventure is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or other unau- encounter Settmq thorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of TSR encounter key Inc. Ounqeon masteR maps 19, 20, 29, 30 TSR Inc. TSR UK Ltd POB 756 The Mil), Rathmore Road piayeR handouts 23-26 Lake Geneva, Cambridge CB14AD WI 53147 United Kindgom PReqeneRateo ChaRacteRS 21, 22, 27, 28 Oonqa's laiR 40 encounter Settinq encounter key TSR, Inc. PRODUCTS OF YOUR IMAGINATION" new monsteRS 46 new Spells 48 Printed in U.S.A. ISBN 0-88038-238-4 RH ISBN 394-54877-9TSR0750 9153 0R6W0R6 This module is based on an actual portion of the Greyhawk Castle campaign initiated by the author in 1972. It contains complete infor- mation for the adventure, including outdoor maps, maps of subterranean-type areas, an expanded Monsters Attack Matrix (page 47), a Player Character's daily Journal, and finally, the monster statistics and pre-generated characters for those players who do not have sufficiently advanced characters of their own to undertake this quest. The participants of the original adventures that took place on the Isle of the Ape include the following: Don Arndt, Ernie Gygax, Don Kaye, Rob Kuntz, Terry Kuntz, and Mike Mornard. It is worth noting that none of these Bold Adventurers ever completed the quest, opting to risk other fell places rather than con- tinuing to face the perils of the island. ntROduction The place you are about to send you/ Player OnSamplee further note: filethis module has been Characters is a very deadly one indeed. Well, designed for use with Unearthed Arcana. players have been asking for high-level adven- Many of the magical items, new rules, and tures, and you are about to give them what character classes mentioned come from this they've been asking for (in spades). Before unearthly tome. they begin, and before you prepare to run, remember this: if you DM this module accord- Classes & Levels: ing to the rules of the game, and its spirit, the best of players are going to be in real trouble Barbarian 12th level and up before very long. There are not many tricks, Cleric 15th level and up traps, or clever devices here. This is an Druid 12th level and up adventure of attrition. The place is literally Fighter 15th level and up infested with horrible monsters, and the Magic-user 14th level and up sheer numbers of huge, man-eating creatures Paladin 15th level and up will soon take toll of the PCs. Unless they are Ranger 15th level and up clever about conserving their resources, the Thief, Acrobat 15th level and up adventurers will find that they have exhausted far too much of their power and not explored Not Recommended: assassins, bards, cava- half of the island. Magic-users will be particu- liers, illusionists, and monks. larly vulnerable to this. The point of all this preamble is to exhort you to be tough. That's You may easily allow groups of more than right, don't allow any sympathy to interfere six or characters of greater than 18th level of with the game as it is designed. Too many experience to adventure on the island. To han- players are marching around claiming that dle larger or stronger groups, simply increase they have characters able to handle anything. the number of monsters encountered slightly. Now is the time to let them demonstrate the Don't overdo it! Remember that a larger mettle of these invincible characters they group will have greater difficulty avoiding have. monsters, so the object is simply to allow the planned attrition to operate naturally. the unqeon master cast the spell or spells requiring the compo- time, so only portions of the island can usually The Laws of the nents which are not available. be seen, and then only from relatively close Isle of the Ape proximity. Divine intervention will not happen, regard- The whole land mass is well above the Spells that do not function less of any claims to the contrary. Only one water, except for the bit of beach near the deity is aware of what goes on on the demi- southwestern tip of the island. The rest of the on this demi-plane plane that contains the Isle of the Ape, and place is sheer-sided cliffs, steep mountain- Alter Reality that is Zagyg. He is totally indifferent to what sides, and broken rocks that prevent Animal Summoning fate befalls adventurers there—it is strictly up approach to the land. There are plateaus in Astral spell to them to survive or become fertilizer. Cler- the southwest, the northwest, and the east- Augury ics praying for their spells may do so without ern ends of the isle. The central mass is a Cacodemon being affected as described above. gradually sloping basin, a saucer, if you will, Chariot ofSustarre where the daily downpouring of rain collects Commune Magical Items to form a large lake and surrounding swamp. Commune with Nature This slowly drains because the water has Contact Higher Plane The players can bring along a vast array of managed to cut a bed that leads underground Dimension Door magical items, providing that they have the and empties via a 200-foot-long waterfall on Divination means to cart them along. Remember what the west coast of the island. The whole place will function and what will not. Also be sure Drawmij's Instant Summons is very warm, and it is muggy and steaming that you keep track of where all items are Find the Path hot in the central morass of swamp and jungle. stored. If, for instance, they pack a magical Gate bag or hole full of goodies, require them to go The plateau areas are only slightly less Invisibility to Animals through the whole thing in order to retrieve overgrown than the rest of the place. The Legend Lore something. This will take lots of game time. whole island is a riot of vegetation. Limited Wish To illustrate this point to them, gather up If you have any colored illustrations of the Locate Object some smallish, disparate items, and put them Jurassic, Triassic, or similar period, be sure to Monster Summoning into a pillow case or similar container. Then, get them ready for perusal by your players Plant Door indicate a singular item (say a pen represent- during the course of the adventure. Once they Teleport ing a wand) Sampleas one that is to bfilee drawn out. are in a position to see the island, having such Teleport without Error Count. If the contents are dumped out, the illustrations open to their view at all times will Transport item can be obtained with fair rapidity. If an assist them in setting the mood for the game. Wish arm is thrown into the container, it will take a Word of Recall long time to find, for you will have placed Terrain Types other objects of similar size and shape therein All similar psionic powers are likewise use- to simulate the difficulty of retrieving items Plain areas are covered with tall grasses (3 less, including psionic invisibility. from such a bag. A portable hole will abso- to 6 feet or higher), scrub growth, ferns, and lutely require emptying—or crawling into— scattered trees. There will be occasional out- Illusions applied to reptiles are virtually use- for retrieval of items. Meanwhile, adversaries croppings of rock, small pools, ant nests, ter- less, as the brains of these monsters are too will be attacking. mite mounds, thickets, and so forth. Where dull to notice anything of such sublety. Thus, herds of herbivores graze, the rich soil and when such spells are used against these mon- Artifacts and relics, as well as special magi- volcanic ash fertilizer allow growth at an sters, they always save.
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