DEATH's RIDE by Garry Spiegle
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DM MAP 1 BARONY OF TWOLAKES VALE Scale: 1 square = 1 mile KEY: Village Castle Tower Lake River Road Trail Mountain Forest Swamp © 1984 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved. DM MAP 2 SKULLHEIM STRONGHOLD Scale: 1 square = 10 yards Bastion © 1984 TSR, inc. All Rights Reserved. DM MAP 3 SKULLHEIM CASTLE Scale: 1 square = 10 feet SECOND FLOOR THIRD FLOOR 2c 4b 3c DUNGEON Bastion KEY: Door Double Doors Secret Door Trapdoor in Floor Trapdoor in Ceiling Spiral Staircase Dais Portcullis Battlement © 1984 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Companion Game Adventure DEATH'S RIDE by Garry Spiegle CONTENTS PROLOGUE: HOW TO RUN THIS ADVENTURE .....................2 THE BARONY OF TWOLAKES VALE: DOMINION OUTLINE..........5 SKULLHEIM CASTLE: KEEP OF CLUES............................8 WESTLAKE ROAD: PEASANTS' WARNINGS ........................12 KORBUNDAR'S LAIR: HOME OF THE DEATHSTONE ...............13 MIASMA SWAMP: JOINING THE HAMMER ........................19 HIGHPASS TOWER: WIZARD'S SHOWDOWN .......................20 GOLLIM VILLAGE: BATTLE OF THE UNDEAD. ....................23 TEMPLE OF THE STARS: GATEWAY TO DEATH ....................25 Editor: Tim Kilpin EPILOGUE: MAGIC, MONSTERS & WEAPONS .....................26 Cover Artist: Jeff Easley New monster. .............................................................. .26 Interior Artist: Jeff Easley New magic items ........................................................... .27 Graphic Designer: Ruth Hoyer New weapon ............................................................... .27 Maps: Diesel NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS: SUPPORTING PLAYERS ..............28 Distributed to the book trade by Random House, Inc., and in Can- ada by Random House of Canada, Ltd. Distributed to the toy and Skullheim characters ........................................................ .28 hobby industry by regional distributors. Distributed in the United Highpass tower characters. ................................................... .29 Kingdom by TSR UK Ltd. DUNGEONS & DRAGONS and D&D are registered trademarks Gollim village characters ..................................................... .30 owned by TSR, Inc. Temple of the stars characters ................................................. .30 © 1984 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printed in U.S.A. This adventure is protected under the copyright laws of the United PREROLLED CHARACTERS.......................................31 States of America. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of TSR, Inc. LIST OF PLAYING AIDS TSR, Inc. TSR UK Ltd. Players' Map: The Barony of Twolakes Vale ....................................... .32 POB 756 The Mill, Rathmore Road DM Map 1: Barony of Twolakes Vale ................................... .inside cover Lake Geneva, Cambridge CB14AD DM Map 2: Skullheim Stronghold ..................................... .inside cover WI 53147 United Kingdom DM Map 3: Skullheim Castle ......................................... .inside cover DM Map 4: Korbundar's Lair .................................................. 15 DM Map 5: Highpass Tower.................................................... 16 DM Map 6: Gollim Village .................................................... .17 DM Map 7: Temple of the Stars ................................................ .18 Table 1: Wandering Monster Terrains ............................................ .3 TSR, Inc. Table 2: Wandering Monster Encounters. ......................................... .3 Table 3: Barony of Twolakes Vale Villages. ........................................ .5 Table 4: Normal Troop Postings ................................................. .7 Adventure for character levels 15-20 ISBN 0-88038-117-5 9118 PROLOGUE: HOW TO RUN THIS ADVENTURE A cloud of death hangs over the land, as an cisely an outer plane, so a character using a weapon that has a special bonus against crea- unlikely trio of evildoers orchestrates a reign tures from other planes gets no bonus with of terror over the tiny Barony of Twolakes the weapon if he uses it against a creature Vale. Because of these fiends' actions, hordes from the Sphere of Death. of undead have escaped through a gateway Controlled undead: Under certain condi- from the Sphere of Death, laying the peace- tions (10% or less on random encounters), ful lands of the barony to waste and terroriz- intelligent undead creatures can control other ing its citizens. Can the undead be stopped? undead. An undead can control another undead of half its hit dice or lower (for exam- Death's Ride is an adventure designed for ple, a wraith can control a ghoul, or any use with the D&D® Companion Set rules. weaker undead). If an undead has the ability to summon Six player characters, levels 15 to 20, may other undead, it can then automatically gain try to stop the undead horde now pouring control of other undead. Otherwise, the con- forth from Twolakes Vale. The party should trolling undead must be within 60 feet and be in sight of the weaker undead to gain control. include at least one high-level cleric, as this Use the Cleric Turning Undead Table to adventure showcases the new undead crea- determine if the stronger undead gains con- tures from the Companion set. trol (count the stronger undead's hit dice as cleric levels, ignoring any hit point plusses). If an undead tries to gain control of another undead during combat, the attempt is consid- How to ered a combat action. another adventure, such as tracking down a Effects of controlling undead. An intelli- Use This Adventure marauding band of hill giants. Such an intro- gent undead creature can control twice its hit duction establishes the barony in your cam- dice in creatures. An intelligent undead can You can run this adventure over a course of paign world and makes this adventure more even set up a chain of control. For example, a several game sessions. Several weeks of time interesting. spectre might control 12 wights, who each may pass for the characters before the adven- might control 6 skeletons. Such control is tel- ture is resolved. Allow the characters plenty Awarding Experience Points epathic; the controlling undead can see and of time between encounters, as they face new hear through the controlled undead. Control undead creatures and a large blue dragon; A six-character party should gain a total of is total, so even if the controlling undead they'll probably need the time to rest and about 750,000 Experience Points during this gives its underlings suicidal orders, the con- heal. adventure. Most of these points will be trolled undead obey without hesitation. The Keep in mind, though, that 15th level or awarded based on the treasure the characters range of control over undead is 24 miles (one higher player characters are quite powerful. recover. Since most of the treasures' cash hex) per hit die of the controller. The effect You must take care to balance their encount- value will be returned to the barony to help it lasts until the next full moon. A controller can ers, making sure their opponents are strong recover from the invasion of the undead, also release controlled undead singly or in and challenging enough. Pay particular experience should be awarded based on what groups at will. attention to the effects of new spells, as they the characters find, not on what they keep. Turning controlled undead. When charac- can completely change an encounter's out- Each character may also reap a "king's ters try to turn controlled undead, the attempt come. reward" of up to 50,000 gp, plus any healing is made against the controller. If the attempt Some player characters may want to lead or restoration the character may need. fails, the controlled undead are unaffected, large bodies of troops, retainers, or hirelings The amount of treasure characters may find even if they would normally be turned or in this adventure. Don't let too many charac- in a specific area is given in each encounter destroyed. If the attempt succeeds, the control ters get caught up in this, as it can bog your section. over the undead is broken, but there is no game down in a mire of details. Encourage other effect. If a character makes a second suc- your players to concentrate on their own Encountering Undead cessful attempt at turning a previously con- characters. If a character still wants to lead a The clerical turning ability will be important trolled undead, the undead is then turned or large body of men, use the War Machine to the party's success. Remember that in nor- destroyed. Where there are multiple levels of rules from the Companion Set. mal turns, undead forced to flee will return in control, the turn attempt is resolved only Introducing the Barony 1-10 rounds. against the controlled undeads' immediate Almost all the undead creatures in this superior. The Barony of Twolakes Vale is detailed adventure come from the Sphere of Death, an throughout this adventure. If you want, you area either among or beyond the outer Wandering Monsters may introduce your characters to the barony planes. The sphere is rumored to be the Because there are so many undead roaming before actually starting the adventure. For source of Death and Entropy, and at least through the barony, travel there is extremely example, you may have the characters pass part of it is malignantly evil. dangerous. When the characters are resting, through the barony while on their way to Note that the Sphere of Death is not pre- check normally for wandering monster 2 PROLOGUE: HOW TO RUN THIS ADVENTURE