Post by tkdco2 on Apr 2, 2019 20:18:11 GMT -6
Last month I ran a game that appeared in White Dwarf #64. The adventure's name was “The Dawn of Unlight,” and it had stats for both AD&D and MERP. I chose to use AD&D.
I created a party of five characters, all 4th level. Since I only had two players, each player ran two characters; I ran the last one as a reserve character or NPC. The party consisted of:
1. A human ranger
2. An elf fighter/magic-user
3. A half-elf fighter/cleric
4. A hobbit fighter/thief
5. A dwarf fighter (this was the NPC).
Note that everyone was a fighter of some sort. As it turns out, the fighting ability and extra hit points came in handy for survival.
The party was in Mirkwood Forest. At a clearing, they found a woodman camp; all the people there were dead. Searching the bodies, the party learned that the humans were killed with a combination of man-made and natural weapons. Also, while children's belongings were found in the camp, no children were among the corpses.
While the party was searching the camp, a forest troll (AD&D ogre) came upon them; the troll's mate soon joined in. The party was able to fight off the trolls, although a couple of characters were injured.
The party followed a trail that led to a tomb. Two of the tomb's chambers contained corpses and a couple of magic items. The last tomb contained a pair of wights and showed some mysterious writing on the walls. The cleric was able to turn the wights long enough for the others to copy the writing. On the way out, the party was able to destroy one wight and drive the other off.
The party needed to have the writings deciphered The writing used elvish script and a few elvish words, but the language was mostly unknown. The party had the choice to seek help from Elrond, Galadriel, or Thranduil. As Thranduil's kingdom was the closest, the party decided to seek help from him.
The party ran into a group of four giant spiders on the way to the Wood-elves' realm. Instead than using the save vs. poison or die rule, I ruled that spider poison would give a -2 penalty to combat and saving throws until healed. This decision actually saved the lives of most of the party members, as most of them failed their saving throws. Two spiders were killed; the rest fled.
The group later heard a band of orcs approaching, but the characters successfully hid from the orcs and avoided a battle.
Upon reaching Thranduil's realm, the characters were healed while they waited for the sages to decipher the writing. Eventually, the group was summoned before the Elvenking's hall, where the sages recounted the tale of Ungoliant and speculated whether a cult was planning to resurrect her. The group was given a magical dagger created to banish evil. An elven warrior also joined the group to aid in the quest.
While searching for the cult, the party was ambushed by a group of cultists aided by two giant spiders. Some of the party members were trapped by a web spun by the spiders; the rest were attacked by the cult members. The party fought back with swords and spells. The cultists retreated after losing half their number.
The party eventually reached a group of standing stones where a large group of cultists were conducting a ceremony. The missing children were also there, ready to be sacrificed. The party members tried to plan their moves, but they were unable to make a decision until the first child was sacrificed. The cleric cast Hold Person on the high priest while the magic-user cast Sleep on as many cultists as possible. The other members charged. The heroes did their best to stop the remaining cultists from sacrificing a second child, but they failed.
Once the second child was killed, Ungoliant began to materialize. The elf who had joined the party told the others to use the magic dagger on Ungoliant. The ranger threw the dagger and hit. A flash of white light engulfed the area. When the light faded, Ungoliant had disappeared, as did the remaining cultists.
At this point, it was time to wrap up the game. The party had to decide where to take the surviving children. I suggested a nearby woodman town would take in these children, who were now orphans. The party members took the children to safety and went on their merry way.
I created a party of five characters, all 4th level. Since I only had two players, each player ran two characters; I ran the last one as a reserve character or NPC. The party consisted of:
1. A human ranger
2. An elf fighter/magic-user
3. A half-elf fighter/cleric
4. A hobbit fighter/thief
5. A dwarf fighter (this was the NPC).
Note that everyone was a fighter of some sort. As it turns out, the fighting ability and extra hit points came in handy for survival.
The party was in Mirkwood Forest. At a clearing, they found a woodman camp; all the people there were dead. Searching the bodies, the party learned that the humans were killed with a combination of man-made and natural weapons. Also, while children's belongings were found in the camp, no children were among the corpses.
While the party was searching the camp, a forest troll (AD&D ogre) came upon them; the troll's mate soon joined in. The party was able to fight off the trolls, although a couple of characters were injured.
The party followed a trail that led to a tomb. Two of the tomb's chambers contained corpses and a couple of magic items. The last tomb contained a pair of wights and showed some mysterious writing on the walls. The cleric was able to turn the wights long enough for the others to copy the writing. On the way out, the party was able to destroy one wight and drive the other off.
The party needed to have the writings deciphered The writing used elvish script and a few elvish words, but the language was mostly unknown. The party had the choice to seek help from Elrond, Galadriel, or Thranduil. As Thranduil's kingdom was the closest, the party decided to seek help from him.
The party ran into a group of four giant spiders on the way to the Wood-elves' realm. Instead than using the save vs. poison or die rule, I ruled that spider poison would give a -2 penalty to combat and saving throws until healed. This decision actually saved the lives of most of the party members, as most of them failed their saving throws. Two spiders were killed; the rest fled.
The group later heard a band of orcs approaching, but the characters successfully hid from the orcs and avoided a battle.
Upon reaching Thranduil's realm, the characters were healed while they waited for the sages to decipher the writing. Eventually, the group was summoned before the Elvenking's hall, where the sages recounted the tale of Ungoliant and speculated whether a cult was planning to resurrect her. The group was given a magical dagger created to banish evil. An elven warrior also joined the group to aid in the quest.
While searching for the cult, the party was ambushed by a group of cultists aided by two giant spiders. Some of the party members were trapped by a web spun by the spiders; the rest were attacked by the cult members. The party fought back with swords and spells. The cultists retreated after losing half their number.
The party eventually reached a group of standing stones where a large group of cultists were conducting a ceremony. The missing children were also there, ready to be sacrificed. The party members tried to plan their moves, but they were unable to make a decision until the first child was sacrificed. The cleric cast Hold Person on the high priest while the magic-user cast Sleep on as many cultists as possible. The other members charged. The heroes did their best to stop the remaining cultists from sacrificing a second child, but they failed.
Once the second child was killed, Ungoliant began to materialize. The elf who had joined the party told the others to use the magic dagger on Ungoliant. The ranger threw the dagger and hit. A flash of white light engulfed the area. When the light faded, Ungoliant had disappeared, as did the remaining cultists.
At this point, it was time to wrap up the game. The party had to decide where to take the surviving children. I suggested a nearby woodman town would take in these children, who were now orphans. The party members took the children to safety and went on their merry way.