Sample file Sample file Sample file #36 Talons of the Horned King By Mike Ferguson AN ADVENTURE FOR CHARACTER LEVELS 3-5

Credits Table of Contents

Writer: Mike Ferguson SampleIntroduction file ...... 2 Front Cover Artist: Jeff Dee Back Cover Artist: Brad McDevitt Game Master’s Section ...... 2 Interior Artists: Gary Dupuis, Friedrich Haas, Alex Background Story ...... 4 Kosakowski, William McAusland, Jesse Mohn Map Key ...... 6 Cartographer: Jeremy Simmons Part 1: Canyon of the White Wind ...... 6 Graphic Designer: Joseph Goodman Part 2: The Horned King Awakens ...... 14 Editor: Joseph Goodman Part 3: The Alien Ship ...... 22 Proofreader: Aeryn “Blackdirge” Rudel Appendix 1: New Monsters ...... 39 Line Editor: Harley Stroh Playtesters: Jonathan Day, John Geoghegan, Alison Mee, Eric Appendix 2: New Spells ...... 43 Mee, Rick Schmidt, Chris Valk, Rich Zeitler Appendix 3: High-Tech Equipment ...... 45 Appendix 4: Player Handouts ...... 49 Special Thanks, Acknowledgment, and Inspiration from the fol- lowing Sci-Fi “Dungeon Crawl Classics”: “Expedition to the Barrier Peaks” by ; “Metamorphosis Alpha” by James Ward; and “Star Frontiers” by David Cook and Lawrence Schick.

This adventure is dedicated to the memory of Doug Cohen.

If you enjoy this adventure, be sure to look for the rest of the Dungeon Crawl Classics series at your local game store.

Log on to www.goodman-games.com for freebies, news, spe- cial offers, and more.

1 Introduction Game Master’s Section Remember the golden days of role playing, when Encounter Table adventures were underground, NPCs were there to be killed, and the finale of every dungeon was the dragon To help the GM prepare, we have included a quick ref- on the 20th level? Well, those days are back. Dungeon erence table showing all encounters at a glance. Loc – Crawl Classics feature bloody combat, intriguing dun- the location number keyed to the map for the encounter. geons, and no NPCs who aren’t meant to be killed. Pg – the module page number that the encounter can Each adventure is 100% good, solid dungeon crawl, be found on. Type – this indicates if the encounter is a with the monsters you know, the traps you fear, and the trap (T), puzzle (P), or combat (C). Encounter – the key secret doors you know must be there somewhere. monsters, traps, or NPCs that can be found in the Talons of the Horned King is designed for four to six encounter. Names in italics are classed NPCs. EL – the players of 3rd through 5th level. We recommend 18-22 encounter level. total character levels between the party members. Loc Pg Type Encounter EL While the characters can be of any character class, a good mix of character classes is helpful. A strong war- 1-1 7 C 8 arctic bandits 4 rior and a rogue may prove to be helpful in this adven- 1-2A 8 C 6 arctic orc bandits 3 ture. Wizards and sorcerers may either find the adven- ture very challenging or very simple, depending on the 1-2B 8 T Poisoned needle trap 3 randomizing forces that may affect their magical abili- ties during parts of the adventure. See the “Scaling 1-2C 9 C Surgut Tark, arctic orc Ftr1 4 Information” section for ways to tailor this adventure to Mukhur Koto, arctic orc Ftr3 your group’s size, level, and unique style of play. 1-3 9 T Rope bridge ice shard pit trap 5 Adventure Summary 1-4 10 T Polar bear 4 Traveling through the frozen wastelands of the north, 1-5 10 T Self-destruct trap 4 the characters arrive in the town of Kyarovsk. The town is in turmoil, as a nobleman named Borys Rassylov has 1-6 11 C 2 primitive kra-dhan 6 suddenly disappeared, and the town is in danger of 1-7 12 C Dire wolf 3 being attacked and destroyed by nomadic creatures called kra-dhan. The PCs travel through narrow, icy 1-8 12 C Batu Chaigatai, half-orc Sor7 7 ravines to a druidic circle of stone known as the Talons Timujin, cat familiar of the Horned King, which is believed to be the source Sample1-9 file 13 C 2 driftmen 5 of the town’s problems. There, the characters discover a sinister tribe of kra-dhan... and the ruins of a space- 2-3 17 C 2 primitive kra-dhan 6 ship, buried beneath the Talons. Borys Rassylov acci- dentally reactivated the spaceship, which had been dor- 2-4 18 C Oghul Ghaimish, arctic orc Sor5 6 mant for centuries. Ominous creatures and machines 2 arctic orc bandits aboard the ship are now awake and trying to resume 2-6 19 C Iron spider 5 their sinister mission. Meanwhile, the kra-dhan, who are the descendants of the original inhabitants of this 2-7 20 C Frost giant skeleton 6 spaceship, have fallen under the ship’s control. Should 2-8 21 C Driftman 3 the characters fail to unlock the secrets of the ship and stop its newly-awakened inhabitants, they may find that 3-1 23 T Corrosive gas trap 5 the wastelands of the north are about to become the new home of unspeakable evil forces... 3-2A 24 C Hjálmgeirr the Strong, Bbn4 4 3-2C 25 C Borys Rassylov, human Rog2 2 3-3 25 C Advanced kra-dhan 4 3-5 27 C Simulated white dragon Special 3-6 28 C Advanced kra-dhan 4 3-7 29 T Corrosive gas trap 6 3-8 30 C Immature remorhaz 4

2 Loc Pg Type Encounter EL Borys has not returned. The Rassylov family has become concerned that something terrible may 3-9 30 C Young white dragon 4 have befallen their wayward son. The characters’ T Self-destruct trap 4 mission is to find Borys and bring him back to Kyarovsk safe and sound. 3-13 33 C 2 advanced kra-dhan 7 4 automated laser turrets • Rare, yeti-like creatures called kra-dhan have been spotted along the roads leading to Kyarovsk. 3-15 35 C 1+ advanced kra-dhan 4+ Ordinarily, these creatures are gentle and relatively 3-17 36 C Iron spider 5 harmless. But in recent weeks they have been aggressive and violent, attacking travelers and mer- 3-19 37 C Merykare Setep, kra-dhan Ftr3 7 chant caravans with great ferocity. While few have died as a result of these attacks, they have caused T Gas trap 6 many merchants from other towns to stop sending Scaling Information goods to Kyarovsk. The town elders of Kyarovsk have hired the characters to find out exactly where Talons of the Horned King is designed for 4-6 charac- the kra-dhan are located – it is believed that they ters that are of 3rd to 5th level, but it can be easily mod- make their lairs somewhere near the Talons – and to ified for parties of different sizes or levels. Consider determine why they have suddenly turned violent. adapting the adventure using any of the following sug- • Days ago, a shooting star streaked across the gestions: nighttime sky of Kyarovsk, transforming the darkest Weaker parties (3 characters or less, or lower than hours of midnight into a brilliant silver light far 3rd level): Reduce the number of arctic orc bandits in brighter than the sun itself for a few startling areas 1-1, 1-2A, and 2-4, and remove Surgut Tark from moments. This strange phenomenon has piqued the adventure. Reduce Batu Chaigatai and Oghul the interest of a local scholar and sage called Ghaimish by 2 character levels. Eliminate the frost giant Vladmyr Borune, who witnessed the “silver fire in skeleton in area 2-7. Remove the immature remorhaz the sky.” He and managed to calculate that the from area 3-8 and the automated laser turrets in area 3- falling star probably landed somewhere near the 13. Remove the corrosive gas traps from areas 3-1, 3- Talons. Borune wants the characters to see if they 7, and 3-19, and make the swords found in areas 3-7 can possibly find and recover any remnants of this and 3-19 masterwork quality, not magical. shooting star, and to determine if there is any poten- tial connection between it and the centuries-old Stronger parties (7 or more characters, or higher Talons. than 5th level): Double the number of arcticSample in file areas 1-1, 1-2A, 2-4. Add 2 character levels to Mukhur • The Talons of the Horned King are more commonly Koto, Batu Chaigatai and Oghul Ghaimish. Add an iron known in other parts of the world as one of the “Five spider to areas 2-6 and 3-17. Double the number of Wonders of the World.” However, because the advanced kra-dhan in areas 3-3, 3-6 and 3-15. Talons are located in such a desolate, arctic waste- land, very little is known about them. A sage from Getting the Players Involved the faraway kingdom of Crieste, the Marquis d’Otrionne, has hired the characters to travel to the Feel free to use the following plot hooks to get the char- Talons and make detailed records of this strange acters headed straight towards the dungeon. place – what it looks like, what materials it is made • A powerful and wealthy family – the Rassylovs – from, what could have possibly created the Talons, wants the characters to track down and find one of how big the spires are, and so on. The characters their missing children. About a week ago, a young have also been asked to see if they can bring any and impudent member of the Rassylov family fin- relics or artifacts that they find back to Crieste. ished construction of a strange flying contraption. This young man – Borys Rassylov – then took off in Treasure this flying machine, and was last seen heading for The areas outside the Talons contain fairly standard the Talons. Normally, such behavior has never con- treasure (gold pieces, gem stones, and one or two rela- cerned the rest of the family; Borys has always tively ordinary magic items). However, hidden among been known for his eccentric behavior, and he has the Talons – specifically, within the alien ship buried always returned to Kyarovsk after a few days with beneath them – are alien artifacts that can command an some outlandish tale regarding his latest exploits. extremely high price. These include weapons (flame- However, several weeks have now gone by, and bows and needlebows), armor (force armor and force

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