BF3 Strongholds of Sorcery

[chiisu81]

Working on R27.

[PapersAndPaychecks]

Incidentally, regarding House of Coldarius... I'm not sure it needs a lot more monsters. Some "empty" rooms (full of time-wasting details, but really empty) might be called for. Also, need to make sure there is actually some treasure in there... a vampire wizard ought to have at least some, right?

Some treasure items, coming right up!

Minor wands
There's a rack of a dozen minor wands in Coldarius' study or laboratory.

Minor wands don't have charges. Instead the user rolls 1d20 after the wand is employed. If the roll is "1" then the wand crumbles to dust, otherwise it can be used again. Magic users and illusionists can use them; other classes only at the GM's discretion.

The twelve minor wands are:-

-- Wand of Access: The user points it at a mechanical lock within 50 ft. If locked, it unlocks; if unlocked, it locks.
-- Wand of Acid: Squirts a gout of acid inflicting 2d6 damage at a single target within 30 ft
-- Wand of Blindness: Fires a thin black ray at a single target within 30 ft. Target must save vs. Wands or be blinded, suffering a penalty of -4 on to hit rolls. Blindness lasts 4+1d4 rounds.
-- Wand of Detoxification: Range is touch, only works if touched to a venom, toxin or poison or to a creature with a venomous bite. Effect is like neutralise poison except that it will not work on a target who has already been poisoned.
-- Wand of the Grave: Range is touch, only works if touched to human remains. The wielder (only) can speak with dead to the subject, provided the subject is no more than 100 years dead; a maximum of three questions are permitted.
-- Wand of Images: No range; when used, the wielder is affected by a mirror image spell. Only 1d3 images are created.
-- Wand of Impressing: Area of effect is a cone, originating from the tip of the wand, up to 50 ft long and up to 30 ft diameter at the base. Targets must roll a saving throw vs. Wands; any that fail are impressed and will give due consideration to what you say. Limitations: Although it works on targets who are openly hostile, it will not work during an actual fight (so once initiative has been rolled this wand has no effect). It will not work on targets who cannot understand the wielder.
-- Wand of Literacy: Can cast read languages or read magic (user's option) but only on the user him- or herself.
-- Wand of Retribution: Fires a dark red ray at a single target within 50 ft. Target must save vs. Wands. If he or she fails, each time the target hits someone in melee, the target takes 1 hp damage.
-- Wand of Sleep: Casts sleep (as the spell).
-- Wand of Weakness: Fires a sickly green ray at a single target within 100 ft. Target must save vs. Wands or be weakened, nullifying any Strength bonus to damage and taking a further -1 damage penalty in addition. Weakness lasts 10+1d6 rounds.
-- Wand of Webs: Casts web (as the spell).

[chiisu81]

I'm still working my way through the whole things with edits and such before trying to fill in the empty rooms, Stuart and Solo I can incorporate Stuart's entry however you want it.

[Solomoriah]

Nah, leave that for me. When you've looked everything over, I'll review it again and put in whatever Stuart has posted along the way. We still have a few cycles before this is a done deal.

[chiisu81]

R27 sent to Solo. Due to the large number of edits I made, I haven’t added any new content yet. I just wanted to get this more-polished version out there, and then can work on new content, along with what Stuart and others come up with.

[PapersAndPaychecks]

Treasure items part 2

1) Mysterious rugby-ball-shaped basalt carving of unknown (but obviously very great) age, with a honeycomb pattern in surface. Consultation with sage costing at least 1,000 gp will reveal that it's a petrified compound eye, represents what is thought to be the very First God from the dawn of time, once worshipped by long-extinct species of intelligent trilobite. Value at least 20,000 gp to the right purchaser but these are very rare and nearest is Yazax the Two-Headed Dragon ---- both of his heads are known have a taste for human flesh (but only if they can't get elf). After seven days of owning this item, the possessor will begin to hear whispering inhuman voices and experience disturbed sleep, and will require a remove curse within a further three days to avoid being drawn into a carboniferous era of high oxygen levels, giant tree ferns and dragonflies as long as your arm where the trilobite-people are looking for new ways to please their ever-hungry deity.

2) A detailed genealogy of the House of Coldarius, value approximately 50 gp. If very carefully read, reader will make bombshell discovery that Coldarius ancestor was in morganatic marriage to royalty -- and owing to a poorly-thought-out subsequent law, morganatic marriage has been retrospectively regularised. Strictly speaking, the outcome is that one of Coldarius' living relatives now has a better claim to the throne than the King. Genealogy may be presented to the King in return for royal favour and gratitude (knighthood possible for fighters and paladins of good reputation, bishopric for clerics in good standing, others will receive 5,000 gp cash) ----- or presented to underground Republican elements who will pay 30,000 gp in cash for the book (but the King will view this as treason if found out -- prescribed penalty is death by dropping into huge vat of fuming sulphuric acid followed by ceremonial disintegration spell cast at remains).

3) Potion of Brilliance: drinker permanently gains 1 point of INT to a maximum of 18. An unfortunate side effect is that the drinker exudes an incredibly a foul stench (as a troglodyte) whenever romantically aroused. This effect may be ended by remove curse or dispel magic but bonus INT will also be lost. Phial contains 2d4 doses, effect of several doses is to intensify the stench but INT bonus is non-cumulative.

[Solomoriah]

Dang, Stuart, how do you DO that???

... I probably won't be able to use it all 100% as written, but make no mistake, this is some good stuff!

[Solomoriah]

R27 is uploaded, without any of Stuart's new stuff as of yet. The relatively minor edits blew up the layout of Castle D'Angelo, and it took me some hammer and chisel work to get it sane again. But all appears to be well now.

Stuart, the items in your part 2 are probably going in pretty much as is, but I'm thinking that the wands in the first part might actually work better as a supplement on their own. I don't want too many unusual items in this one relatively small adventure; I'll likely roll up a type F (vampire) and type A (human, generally) treasure and roll them together, then scatter the results throughout various rooms in the tower. But that fossilized compound eye thing, that's brilliant, and just the sort of thing that a wizard who would (a) have himself made a vampire and (b) make a sword out of nocturnium might have lying around his house.

[PapersAndPaychecks]

Dang, Stuart, how do you DO that???

Go to https://randomword.com/

Hit random word generator x3:- Get honeycomb, trilobite, monotheism. Pour one (1) measure of 12-year-old Highland Park whiskey, add one (1) drop of mineral water. Reflect on random word generator results until whiskey glass empty. Type.

Hit random word generator x3:- Get tree, morganatic, treason. Pour whiskey, drink, reflect. Type.

NB: Usually need several goes at the random word generator before you get something workable.

... I probably won't be able to use it all 100% as written, but make no mistake, this is some good stuff!

No worries, feel free to cut/reuse elsewhere/discard. You're no editor if you won't edit.

[Solomoriah]

Here's a taste of how I'm approaching your material, Stuart:

14. TROPHY ROOM:

This room is filled with the hides and taxidermied heads of a variety of monsters, including blue and black dragons, a troll, a giant frog, and so on. You see the hide of some really large serpent rolled up on a table against the left end of the curved wall ahead of you, with several large skulls of strange animals piled beside it. Another table toward the right end of the curved wall contains only a single object, a large ball of stone bigger than a man's head with a kind of honeycomb pattern cut into its surface. Everything in the room is dusty and draped with cobwebs.

The stone ball is actually a petrified compound eye, once belonging to what is thought to be the very First God from the dawn of time, who was worshipped by a long-extinct species of intelligent trilobite. Learning this information will require consultation with sage costing at least 1,000 gp; the eye is worth at least 20,000 gp to the right purchaser, but such wealthy and eccentric characters are very rare indeed (and may be dangerous).

After seven days of owning this item, the possessor will begin to hear whispering inhuman voices and experience disturbed sleep, and will require a remove curse within a further three days to avoid being drawn out of time into a carboniferous era of high oxygen levels, giant tree ferns and dragonflies as long as your arm where the trilobite-people are looking for new ways to please their ever-hungry deity. The victim may actually recall prophetic dreams of this event in the days leading up to his or her disappearance (thus receiving warning of the curse).

Undead creatures are immune to the effects of the eye, as is anyone who has been affected but has then received a remove curse spell; such characters will henceforth be immune to the eye's curse.