Adventure Primer Allow Galerbrash to Fully Restore Himself to the Just Remember, You Can Do Anything You Set Your Realm
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Sample file The Rage Within An Iron Arbiters Adventure Version 1 Page and Map Background: Darrin Scott (inspired by Dungeons & Dragons products) (Color level and saturation adjustments made) Cartography: Jeff C. Stevens Cover & Internal Art: Dean Spencer Some artwork © 2015 Dean Spencer, used with permission. All rights reserved. https://www.deanspencerart.com/ Editor: Maria RePass, Ken Carcas Iron Arbiters Sigil: Jay Africa Layouts: Jeff C. Stevens Special Thanks: Al Spader Written by: Jeff C. Stevens @jcorvinstevens Playtesting: Mason Anderson, Jimtu Hogue, Jesse Peterson 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. ©2016 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. All other original material in this work is copyright [2020] by Jeff C. Stevens and published under the Community Content SampleAgreement for Dungeon Masters Guild file 2 | The Rage Within Unless otherwise noted, all NPCs have the stats of Introduction a commoner. Welcome to The Rage Within, a two- to four-hour adventure for 5th edition. Average Party Level This adventure is designed for three to seven The Average Party Level (APL) can be used to 1st–6th level characters and is optimized for five calculate the appropriate challenge level for your characters with an average party level (APL) of 3. party. To calculate the APL, add the total levels of all characters and divide the sum by the number Iron Arbiter Skull has a mission for the of characters (rounding up for .5 or greater). adventurers—investigate a strange occurrence in the hamlet of Hipswitch. Four friends entered the Skill Checks and Saving Throws forest, yet only one, who can’t recall the events of Specific DCs are written for each of the the night, returned. Two bodies were found encounters. You may wish to change these DCs without their hearts, and another of the group is based on the APL of the adventuring party. We missing. The Iron Arbiter fears something evil has suggest the following range: manifested in or around the hamlet, and the heroes are tasked with investigating. APL Check / Save DC 1st thru 3rd 11 Placing the Adventure 4th thru 6th 13 Though written in the Forgotten Realms, the village of Hipswitch is a generic location created In addition, if you feel a skill check or saving throw for this adventure, allowing it to be easily placed DC is too low or too high, feel free to adjust the in other fantasy settings. DC as you wish. While writing, I imagined the adventure occurring Maps in autumn, with the leaves in full color and the air Unless otherwise noted, for all maps: crisp and cool. 1 square = 5 feet. Liars’ Night: If you are running this adventure as a Halloween or Liars’ Night one-shot, you may add You Are Empowered carved pumpkins and gourds resting on the stoops As mentioned above, you do not have to run of the houses and buildings of the village. In these encounters as written. You (as the DM) are addition, several of the merchants may have empowered to make changes as you wish – bowls of candy sitting out, free for anyone adjusting the encounters as the game is played, if wanting a piece. you like. Using this Supplement Locations in this adventure may be changed as needed to fit your campaign. Text in these yellow boxes is to be read to players. Text in these boxes is for the DM only and should notSample be read to players. file 3 | The Rage Within consumes the eight humanoid hearts that will Adventure Primer allow Galerbrash to fully restore himself to the Just remember, you can do anything you set your realm. mind to, but it takes action, perseverance, and facing your fears. Location and NPC Summary - Gillian Anderson - The following NPCs and locations feature prominently in this adventure: Hipswitch. A small hamlet west of Hillsfar. Adventure Background Administrator Skull (C/G). A human woman in her mid- Ages ago, before the hamlet of Hipswitch had thirties with green eyes and red hair. She has a jovial been settled, Galerbrash the werewolf roamed demeanor but doesn’t deviate from her task. She meets with this forest, attacking travelers during the night. the adventurers in the White Elk Inn, where she gives them the details of their assignment. She wears a silver cloak and a Rumors of his existence spread, and many black metal mask. sellswords were hired to hunt down and destroy Jovas Kindle (L/G). A 21-year-old man who the party the beast. meets when they enter Hipswitch. He shares bits of information with the adventurers when they first arrive at Galerbrash had several followers—humans who Hipswitch. Kelly (L/N). A 23-year-old, slender human with brown hair saw him as a god, following him and offering him and brown eyes. She’s the only survivor of the events at the sacrifices of livestock and humanoids. When ruins. She’s traumatized by the events and can’t recall what Galerbrash learned of the sellswords, he happened. commissioned one of his arcane followers to Jean (L/N). Kelly’s very protective mother. She’s in her create a ring that would trap his soul and give him mid-forties and dresses conservatively, wearing brown leather pants and a blue top. the opportunity to rise again should a humanoid Bale (L/N). A red-headed, 22-year-old dwarf. Bale is still don the ring. missing, though his body will be found below the altar in the forest. His parents, Dorn and Suza, are beside themselves and In addition to wearing the ring, the humanoid plead to the adventurers to find their son. transforms into the werewolf form of Galerbrash Marvin (L/G). A brown-haired, 21-year-old human. Marvin, along with Hagrid, were attacked and died at the ruin in the at night, searching for humanoids to kill and forest. His parents, Biff and Bunny, believe Kelly murdered hearts to consume. To fully return to this realm, the boys. They can’t believe there’s any other reason for Galerbrash must consume eight humanoid hearts. Marvin’s death. Once he does, his soul and power is released from Hagrid (N/G). A blonde-haired, blue-eyed young human the ring and overcomes the wearer, whose soul man who turned 24 the night he was murdered. Hagrid stumbled and hit his head on the altar in the forest, causing changes places with Galerbrash and itself the secret entrance to open. Moments later, he was attacked becoming trapped within the ring. by Galerbrash. Hagrid’s father, Eb, constantly weeps and is of no use to the adventurers. However, he doesn’t believe Kelly A few of the sellswords infiltrated Galerbrash’s committed the murders. She’s always been kind, gentle, and followers and learned of the ring. After the friendly. Talbot the Barkeep (N/G). A human man in his late fifties, ceremony which trapped Galerbrash’s power and with greying brown hair, a friendly demeanor, a beard and a soul in the ring, the sellswords stole the ring and moustache that hangs over his top lip, hiding his mouth when hid it in a cave under a stone patio. The ring, its he speaks. location, and Galerbrash’s soul would be Ike Hillsgard (N/E in human form. C/E in werewolf form). imprisoned for eternity, safely hidden under the Ike is a lonely trapper who sells his pelts to the surrounding cities. Ike found a ring hidden under a stone patio in the stone altar. forest. Ike is responsible for the killings and is keeping a low profile until the memorial service for the boys. A trapper named Ike Hillsgard happened upon the Galerbrash (C/E). An ancient werewolf who had his power secret chamber, found the ring, and placed it on and soul trapped in a magical ring. The wearer of the ring— Ike—is slowly trading places with Galerbrash in the ring. his Samplefinger. Now, Ike is becoming Galerbrash as he file 4 | The Rage Within The Iron Arbiters The Iron Arbiters are psychic projections from the The Iron Arbiters are a mysterious organization of NPCs future. These projections are clearly trying to stop dreamed up by fellow creator Al Spader. You may see more a major catastrophic event from happening. As adventures featuring other Iron Arbiters soon. such, the Arbiters try not to give away too much information, instead focusing on the specific task Who are the Iron Arbiters? at hand. As the seasons progress, more and more of this information will be given to the players. (Player Information) Since the dawn of recorded history, strange The future that the Iron Arbiters reside in is full of arcane events have occurred across Faerun. Even turmoil and war. In this future, the very fabric of in a world of magic and dragons, these bizarre The Weave has been consumed by an enemy of happenings have left wizards, philosophers, and unprecedented evil.