An Adventure based on Doc Savage (PEACH!) [Archive] - Wizards Community

An Adventure based on Doc Savage (PEACH!) [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Sereno
03-10-06, 10:18 AM This adventure is based on events and characters in the Doc Savage story ''Land of Terror" (Doc Savage #8). I've taken the core of the plot and tried to Eberronize it.

Quick Summary
Someone is using an unknown magic to break into vaults in Sharn and murder several people. The PCs become involved and follow clues to lead them not only to the source of the strange magic, but all the way to Xen’drik where it’s being produced.

Chapter One - “The Smoking Death”
1. The Smoking Death. After reading in the Sharn Inquisitive about a number of bizarre deaths and inexplicable break-ins where victims and property have been dissolved, the players witness the murder of what they will later learn is a noted alchemist, Tomas Rillon.

The man is shot in broad daylight on a busy Sharn street with a silver crossbow quarrel from which exudes a roiling bluish-black cloud of smoke that quickly and horrifically dissolves the man, leaving only a foot. If the PCs are of the heroic sort, they may wish to pursue.

This leads to a chase through Sharn which ends at an apartment complex by the Dagger river, and then to a docked ship. On the ship, evidence is found about the planning of a Kundarak bank heist, to be carried out several days in the future. The Sharn Watch may get involved, but it’s possible that the assassins and the party may escape them.

If the PCs decide not to do anything about the bizarre death happening right in front of them, it will probably be necessary to develop a couple of other hooks to get them into the adventure. This could involve the death of a friend of family member during a robbery, or being hired to investigate one of the crime scenes or to retrieve something stolen from a wealthy citizen.

2. A Friend Wants Justice. Once the PCs become involved in some way, they will meet a friend of Tomas. He is Darron Krogar (d’Kundarak) a male dwarf artificer, and excoriate from House Kundarak, who requests help to bring the perpetrators of his friend’s murder to justice.

Darron Krogar is actually the leader of the thieves. He will keep his status as both being dragonmarked and excoriated a secret. His mark is small and easy for him to keep well hidden. He insists on staying with the party, paying numerous expenses and offering advice and knowledge, but his true purpose is to make sure of what they know and to subtly thwart them.

Why doesn’t he just have them killed? In reality, Darron doesn’t like killing or raw violence and finds it distasteful. He’s “done what he had to do,” getting rid of the other links between himself and the dead alchemist, but in truth the decision to kill them was made by his second-in-command, a bitter female gnome sorcerer named Lyrra del Sollen. Darron’s greatest goal is to discredit House Kundarak to pay them back for his excoriation. Seeing his former House discredited would be FAR more satisfying than killing anyone. Lyrra wants to get weathly and doesn’t care how many people she’s got to kill to make that happen.

3. The Alchemist’s Home. At some point, the PCs will probably want to investigate the alchemist’s home/laboratory; if they don’t think of it on their own Darron will suggest it. Darron wants to make sure that any information tying him to Tomas is found and destroyed.

They will discover some information from Tomas’ lab that explains “The Smoking Death,” that he created it and feared it would fall into the wrong hands. Further more, there is information that indicates that “The Smoking Death” relies on a substance found on an island off the coast of Xen'drik.

When the PCs investigate the home/lab, they’ll also find evidence that three of the people murdered by “The Smoking Death” were all associates of the alchemist; one a financier, and two others being Morgrave University scholars – one a specialist in obscure metallurgy and the other a geographer with much knowledge of Xen’drik. The use of “The Smoking Death” on these men is specific to making sure that no corpses remain to be questioned by magical means. During the searching of the lab, Darron will carefully remove any incriminating evidence pointing to his own involvement; it’s up to the DM to decide how obvious this action should be.

The alchemist’s wife, Lina, and daughter, Tryssa, will be helpful to anyone trying to solve his murder.

4. Making It Personal. Fearing that the PCs will discover the connections between Tomas and the thieves, the will be attacked. They’ll get caught in an unnerving, but ultimately survivable, attack by several of the thieves after they discover the alchemist’s information.

At some point during the encounter, especially when it looks like things are going well for the PCs, the thieves will use “The Smoking Death” on the PCs. IMPORTANT! It’s up to the DM to create the right atmosphere of menace while making sure that no PCs actually get hit by it. One or two shots is more than enough, in conjunction with real attacks, to get the players attention and not tip them off that the misses are “intentional.”

At least one of the attackers will flee by a fast stormship. If the PCs missed the chase in Chapter Two, and thus never found out about the robbery, it can be replaced here. With some of the thieves running to their apartment complex and ship/hideout. If the PCs fail to pursue, this time, they’ll only read about the Bank Robbery in the Sharn Inquisitive.

Chapter Two – Kundarak Bank Robbery
1. Thwart the Robbery. It will be possible to get the Sharn Watch and some Kundarak guards involved, but “The Smoking Death” will be used both to gain entry (primary) and to terrify/kill defenders (secondary). If a fight breaks out, some of the robbers will make escape their first priority. They may go back to the apartment, but more likely will lie low and assimilate themselves into the expedition to Xen’drik (see below). They might lead the PCs all the way to the ship/hideout, where the PCs will find the evidence that this was well-planned (if they haven’t already found this evidence).

Like in the “Making It Personal” encounter (above) if things go very poorly for the thieves, they will unleash “The Smoking Death” to cover their escape. Again the effect is to maintain a high level of fear and respect for “The Smoking Death” and not reduce it to a simple Fort save.

Remember that the thieves only have a few canisters of “The Smoking Death,” that it’s extremely difficult and dangerous to make, and that it’s far more useful to the thieves for getting into vaults than it is to kill a single person.

Chapter Three – We’re Goin’ to Xen’drik
1. Help from Morgrave. Discover that an exploration expedition is being sent to Xen’drik from Morgrave U., and that they will actually be close enough to the island mentioned to drop the PCs off as passengers and pick them up on the return trip a week later. PC's can attempt to get in with expedition, or they can find their own way.

2. Pleasant Cruise. The boat ride to Xen'drik should go easy unless PC's make trouble. The conspirators will be laying low and blending in if the PCs are on the Morgrave U.’s ship. Near the island, a diversionary strike will occur; it will involve paid sahuagin. During the attack, a swift stormship will, as surreptitiously as possible, remove the conspirators. If the PCs are taking their own transportation, they will skip the sahuagin ambush, but will instead be air assaulted by the stormship in an attempt to drive them away from the island.

Chapter Four – The Island Of Terror

The island is heavily populated with hostile dinosaurs and a race of jungle giants.

Dino encounters include hunting velociraptors, an enraged triceratops, and a hungry T-Rex. The giants are out in hunting parties. They aren’t necessarily hostile, but unlikely to be helpful, either.

1. Locate the Stormship. The PC's will have to search the island for signs of the stormship. If they don’t approach from the air, they’ll have to follow jungle trails and signs will lead them to a clearing on the wrong side of the crater lake in which the stormship has landed. This clearing is only a secondary base but is very safe for landing the stormship because of a natural quay. The opposite end of the lake, where the mine actually is, is a thick (giant) mangrove swamp with big semi-aquatic dino’s that would damage the stormship.

2. The Outpost. A few low-level guards are left behind to watch the stormship. While the PC’s are dealing with the guards, a larger “strike force” will attack. The sole purpose of the attack is to separate Darron Krogar from the party. They will attempt to capture PCs if it seems easy, and might grab and NPC “redshirts” that may have accompanied the party from the Morgrave ship or their own.

The party will have to track the strike force through the jungle and avoiding traps left behind. If a “redshirt” was captured, he will try to alert followers of traps by marks in path until caught and clubbed unconscious. There will be at least one more trap, after the valiant “redshirt” is dealt with. The trail eventually leads to main mining base.

3. The Perilous Mine. The mine is actually an ancient giant ruin so completely buried under dirt and covered in jungle that it appears to be a natural mountain until going inside. The substance that makes up “The Smoking Death” is the remnants of some huge giant eldritch machine whose purpose has been long lost.

Slaves, captured in Sharn, are being used to work the mine … most of them are goblins or other lower-class citizens. The slaves will do their best to assist any attempt to rescue them. The slaves are kept in a pen, guarded by a basilisk. Several stone statues indicate the fate of anyone attempting to escape. Any “redshirts” captured by the strike force at the outpost will also be in the pen.

There are several small structures outside the mine for the overseers and an office and alchemical laboratory for the creating of more “Smoking Death”. Now that the process has been perfected, someone less skilled than the original alchemist can do it. However, several older half-dissolved structures will attest to the level of danger in make the vile stuff.

If the PCs are detected invading the ruins or freeing the slaves, a fight will ensue. During the fight, Darron will gather up all of the notes for “The Smoking Death” and the last operational vial, and flee into the depths of the ruin with a small contingent of defenders. If the PCs get too close, he will burn the notes with an infusion or item to prevent anyone having this evidence and figuring that he can work out the details a second time if he survives. Lyrra will stay aboveground to coordinate the gang’s offence and defense

The gang will fall back into the giant ruins if they are having difficulty defending their mining base. At this stage, the gang will have only one vial of “The Smoking Death” remaining and, if possible, Darron will use it on himself to prevent being captured and hauled back to Sharn.

If the PCs manage capture the last vial of “The Smoking Death” and plan to use it, treat it as a Disintegrate spell with NO save!

Chapter 5 – Returning Heroes

If the PCs have their own transportation, no problems. If they came with the Morgrave U. expedition, and have completed their mission in 7 days, they can be picked up by that ship. If they miss the Morgrave U. ship, they’ll have to rough it on the island for 7 more days until another ship passes by and can pick them up. They can also try to fly the stormship, but unless they’ve got a member of House Lyrandar, it will be a difficult flight of opposed Charisma checks. If they capture it, they can keep it!

Reporters from the Sharn Inquisitive will want to hear their story and House Kundarak will be grateful for ending the threat of Darron Krogar, and will reward appropriately. Likewise, if the PCs manage to retrieve any of the stolen items and return them to their rightful owners they might be rewarded for that, too!

-------------------------------------------------------

Okay ... you'll notice that I've not spec'd out ANY of the NPCs, yet. I've not even put any real work into how many people are part of Darron's gang.

This is typical of the way I write adventures. I think up the situations and encounters before I determine what level they should be. I figure if the plot works, I can scale the NPCs/encounters to be a valid challenge for the PCs.

Also, since I'm currently DMing ... by the time I finish one of these, my PCs are usually higher levels than I thought they'd be and I'd have to go back and do even more reworking! :)

What I'd really like, is to further "Eberronize" this. It's got the one main twist, that the bad guy is working with the party right from the beginning, but I think there should be a second layer, or even a third. Any ideas?
cuhullen
03-10-06, 11:17 AM This is terrific. I love the Doc Savage tales (even the really bad ones). Nice adaptation.
Belabras
03-10-06, 11:34 AM This looks like a great adventure. Nicely done.
Sereno
03-10-06, 11:52 AM Thanks for the kind words ... I can't really think of anything that's more "pulp" than Doc Savage.

I've been reading the entire series starting at #1 from BlackMask.org (http://www.blackmask.com/cgi-bin/newlinks/page.cgi?g=Pulp_Fiction%2FDoc_Savage%2Fi ndex.html&d=1). I'm now on #17.

The only problem is that they aren't listed in order so you've got to search by the title number ... but other than that it's great (and legally free!).

Not every one would make a good adventure ... or, at least, and adventure I'd want to DM. I've got five more of these in the works. Adaptations of:

The Mystic Mullah; involving a Lhazaar prince and a plot to destabilize Khorvaire.
The Phantom City; a lost city under the Mournland.
The Spook Legion; invisbile thieves at work in Sharn.
The Man of Bronze; the PCs have to help a wealthy Sharnite who's been targeted for assassination and eventually end up in Xen'drik.
The Land of Always-Night, a civilization beneath the ice in Frostfell.

I also like the long trainride in The Brand of the Werewolf ... it would work on the Lightning Rail, but I've found the rest of that one kind of hard to Eberronize.

As I complete them, I'll post them here.

BTW, any ideas for adding additional layers of intrigue ... adding a little "noir" to the "pulp"? :)
Belabras
03-10-06, 12:19 PM Mix in mysterious contacts, shortages of money, moral conflicts, and doomed love interests to taste. Stir until well mixed.
Sereno
03-13-06, 03:40 PM :bump:

Sooooo ... anybody got any ideas to twist this plot just a little?

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Sereno 03-10-06, 10:18 AM	This adventure is based on events and characters in the Doc Savage story ''Land of Terror" (Doc Savage #8). I've taken the core of the plot and tried to Eberronize it. Quick Summary Someone is using an unknown magic to break into vaults in Sharn and murder several people. The PCs become involved and follow clues to lead them not only to the source of the strange magic, but all the way to Xen’drik where it’s being produced. Chapter One - “The Smoking Death” 1. The Smoking Death. After reading in the Sharn Inquisitive about a number of bizarre deaths and inexplicable break-ins where victims and property have been dissolved, the players witness the murder of what they will later learn is a noted alchemist, Tomas Rillon. The man is shot in broad daylight on a busy Sharn street with a silver crossbow quarrel from which exudes a roiling bluish-black cloud of smoke that quickly and horrifically dissolves the man, leaving only a foot. If the PCs are of the heroic sort, they may wish to pursue. This leads to a chase through Sharn which ends at an apartment complex by the Dagger river, and then to a docked ship. On the ship, evidence is found about the planning of a Kundarak bank heist, to be carried out several days in the future. The Sharn Watch may get involved, but it’s possible that the assassins and the party may escape them. If the PCs decide not to do anything about the bizarre death happening right in front of them, it will probably be necessary to develop a couple of other hooks to get them into the adventure. This could involve the death of a friend of family member during a robbery, or being hired to investigate one of the crime scenes or to retrieve something stolen from a wealthy citizen. 2. A Friend Wants Justice. Once the PCs become involved in some way, they will meet a friend of Tomas. He is Darron Krogar (d’Kundarak) a male dwarf artificer, and excoriate from House Kundarak, who requests help to bring the perpetrators of his friend’s murder to justice. Darron Krogar is actually the leader of the thieves. He will keep his status as both being dragonmarked and excoriated a secret. His mark is small and easy for him to keep well hidden. He insists on staying with the party, paying numerous expenses and offering advice and knowledge, but his true purpose is to make sure of what they know and to subtly thwart them. Why doesn’t he just have them killed? In reality, Darron doesn’t like killing or raw violence and finds it distasteful. He’s “done what he had to do,” getting rid of the other links between himself and the dead alchemist, but in truth the decision to kill them was made by his second-in-command, a bitter female gnome sorcerer named Lyrra del Sollen. Darron’s greatest goal is to discredit House Kundarak to pay them back for his excoriation. Seeing his former House discredited would be FAR more satisfying than killing anyone. Lyrra wants to get weathly and doesn’t care how many people she’s got to kill to make that happen. 3. The Alchemist’s Home. At some point, the PCs will probably want to investigate the alchemist’s home/laboratory; if they don’t think of it on their own Darron will suggest it. Darron wants to make sure that any information tying him to Tomas is found and destroyed. They will discover some information from Tomas’ lab that explains “The Smoking Death,” that he created it and feared it would fall into the wrong hands. Further more, there is information that indicates that “The Smoking Death” relies on a substance found on an island off the coast of Xen'drik. When the PCs investigate the home/lab, they’ll also find evidence that three of the people murdered by “The Smoking Death” were all associates of the alchemist; one a financier, and two others being Morgrave University scholars – one a specialist in obscure metallurgy and the other a geographer with much knowledge of Xen’drik. The use of “The Smoking Death” on these men is specific to making sure that no corpses remain to be questioned by magical means. During the searching of the lab, Darron will carefully remove any incriminating evidence pointing to his own involvement; it’s up to the DM to decide how obvious this action should be. The alchemist’s wife, Lina, and daughter, Tryssa, will be helpful to anyone trying to solve his murder. 4. Making It Personal. Fearing that the PCs will discover the connections between Tomas and the thieves, the will be attacked. They’ll get caught in an unnerving, but ultimately survivable, attack by several of the thieves after they discover the alchemist’s information. At some point during the encounter, especially when it looks like things are going well for the PCs, the thieves will use “The Smoking Death” on the PCs. IMPORTANT! It’s up to the DM to create the right atmosphere of menace while making sure that no PCs actually get hit by it. One or two shots is more than enough, in conjunction with real attacks, to get the players attention and not tip them off that the misses are “intentional.” At least one of the attackers will flee by a fast stormship. If the PCs missed the chase in Chapter Two, and thus never found out about the robbery, it can be replaced here. With some of the thieves running to their apartment complex and ship/hideout. If the PCs fail to pursue, this time, they’ll only read about the Bank Robbery in the Sharn Inquisitive. Chapter Two – Kundarak Bank Robbery 1. Thwart the Robbery. It will be possible to get the Sharn Watch and some Kundarak guards involved, but “The Smoking Death” will be used both to gain entry (primary) and to terrify/kill defenders (secondary). If a fight breaks out, some of the robbers will make escape their first priority. They may go back to the apartment, but more likely will lie low and assimilate themselves into the expedition to Xen’drik (see below). They might lead the PCs all the way to the ship/hideout, where the PCs will find the evidence that this was well-planned (if they haven’t already found this evidence). Like in the “Making It Personal” encounter (above) if things go very poorly for the thieves, they will unleash “The Smoking Death” to cover their escape. Again the effect is to maintain a high level of fear and respect for “The Smoking Death” and not reduce it to a simple Fort save. Remember that the thieves only have a few canisters of “The Smoking Death,” that it’s extremely difficult and dangerous to make, and that it’s far more useful to the thieves for getting into vaults than it is to kill a single person. Chapter Three – We’re Goin’ to Xen’drik 1. Help from Morgrave. Discover that an exploration expedition is being sent to Xen’drik from Morgrave U., and that they will actually be close enough to the island mentioned to drop the PCs off as passengers and pick them up on the return trip a week later. PC's can attempt to get in with expedition, or they can find their own way. 2. Pleasant Cruise. The boat ride to Xen'drik should go easy unless PC's make trouble. The conspirators will be laying low and blending in if the PCs are on the Morgrave U.’s ship. Near the island, a diversionary strike will occur; it will involve paid sahuagin. During the attack, a swift stormship will, as surreptitiously as possible, remove the conspirators. If the PCs are taking their own transportation, they will skip the sahuagin ambush, but will instead be air assaulted by the stormship in an attempt to drive them away from the island. Chapter Four – The Island Of Terror The island is heavily populated with hostile dinosaurs and a race of jungle giants. Dino encounters include hunting velociraptors, an enraged triceratops, and a hungry T-Rex. The giants are out in hunting parties. They aren’t necessarily hostile, but unlikely to be helpful, either. 1. Locate the Stormship. The PC's will have to search the island for signs of the stormship. If they don’t approach from the air, they’ll have to follow jungle trails and signs will lead them to a clearing on the wrong side of the crater lake in which the stormship has landed. This clearing is only a secondary base but is very safe for landing the stormship because of a natural quay. The opposite end of the lake, where the mine actually is, is a thick (giant) mangrove swamp with big semi-aquatic dino’s that would damage the stormship. 2. The Outpost. A few low-level guards are left behind to watch the stormship. While the PC’s are dealing with the guards, a larger “strike force” will attack. The sole purpose of the attack is to separate Darron Krogar from the party. They will attempt to capture PCs if it seems easy, and might grab and NPC “redshirts” that may have accompanied the party from the Morgrave ship or their own. The party will have to track the strike force through the jungle and avoiding traps left behind. If a “redshirt” was captured, he will try to alert followers of traps by marks in path until caught and clubbed unconscious. There will be at least one more trap, after the valiant “redshirt” is dealt with. The trail eventually leads to main mining base. 3. The Perilous Mine. The mine is actually an ancient giant ruin so completely buried under dirt and covered in jungle that it appears to be a natural mountain until going inside. The substance that makes up “The Smoking Death” is the remnants of some huge giant eldritch machine whose purpose has been long lost. Slaves, captured in Sharn, are being used to work the mine … most of them are goblins or other lower-class citizens. The slaves will do their best to assist any attempt to rescue them. The slaves are kept in a pen, guarded by a basilisk. Several stone statues indicate the fate of anyone attempting to escape. Any “redshirts” captured by the strike force at the outpost will also be in the pen. There are several small structures outside the mine for the overseers and an office and alchemical laboratory for the creating of more “Smoking Death”. Now that the process has been perfected, someone less skilled than the original alchemist can do it. However, several older half-dissolved structures will attest to the level of danger in make the vile stuff. If the PCs are detected invading the ruins or freeing the slaves, a fight will ensue. During the fight, Darron will gather up all of the notes for “The Smoking Death” and the last operational vial, and flee into the depths of the ruin with a small contingent of defenders. If the PCs get too close, he will burn the notes with an infusion or item to prevent anyone having this evidence and figuring that he can work out the details a second time if he survives. Lyrra will stay aboveground to coordinate the gang’s offence and defense The gang will fall back into the giant ruins if they are having difficulty defending their mining base. At this stage, the gang will have only one vial of “The Smoking Death” remaining and, if possible, Darron will use it on himself to prevent being captured and hauled back to Sharn. If the PCs manage capture the last vial of “The Smoking Death” and plan to use it, treat it as a Disintegrate spell with NO save! Chapter 5 – Returning Heroes If the PCs have their own transportation, no problems. If they came with the Morgrave U. expedition, and have completed their mission in 7 days, they can be picked up by that ship. If they miss the Morgrave U. ship, they’ll have to rough it on the island for 7 more days until another ship passes by and can pick them up. They can also try to fly the stormship, but unless they’ve got a member of House Lyrandar, it will be a difficult flight of opposed Charisma checks. If they capture it, they can keep it! Reporters from the Sharn Inquisitive will want to hear their story and House Kundarak will be grateful for ending the threat of Darron Krogar, and will reward appropriately. Likewise, if the PCs manage to retrieve any of the stolen items and return them to their rightful owners they might be rewarded for that, too! ------------------------------------------------------- Okay ... you'll notice that I've not spec'd out ANY of the NPCs, yet. I've not even put any real work into how many people are part of Darron's gang. This is typical of the way I write adventures. I think up the situations and encounters before I determine what level they should be. I figure if the plot works, I can scale the NPCs/encounters to be a valid challenge for the PCs. Also, since I'm currently DMing ... by the time I finish one of these, my PCs are usually higher levels than I thought they'd be and I'd have to go back and do even more reworking! :) What I'd really like, is to further "Eberronize" this. It's got the one main twist, that the bad guy is working with the party right from the beginning, but I think there should be a second layer, or even a third. Any ideas?
cuhullen 03-10-06, 11:17 AM	This is terrific. I love the Doc Savage tales (even the really bad ones). Nice adaptation.
Belabras 03-10-06, 11:34 AM	This looks like a great adventure. Nicely done.
Sereno 03-10-06, 11:52 AM	Thanks for the kind words ... I can't really think of anything that's more "pulp" than Doc Savage. I've been reading the entire series starting at #1 from BlackMask.org (http://www.blackmask.com/cgi-bin/newlinks/page.cgi?g=Pulp_Fiction%2FDoc_Savage%2Fi ndex.html&d=1). I'm now on #17. The only problem is that they aren't listed in order so you've got to search by the title number ... but other than that it's great (and legally free!). Not every one would make a good adventure ... or, at least, and adventure I'd want to DM. I've got five more of these in the works. Adaptations of: The Mystic Mullah; involving a Lhazaar prince and a plot to destabilize Khorvaire. The Phantom City; a lost city under the Mournland. The Spook Legion; invisbile thieves at work in Sharn. The Man of Bronze; the PCs have to help a wealthy Sharnite who's been targeted for assassination and eventually end up in Xen'drik. The Land of Always-Night, a civilization beneath the ice in Frostfell. I also like the long trainride in The Brand of the Werewolf ... it would work on the Lightning Rail, but I've found the rest of that one kind of hard to Eberronize. As I complete them, I'll post them here. BTW, any ideas for adding additional layers of intrigue ... adding a little "noir" to the "pulp"? :)
Belabras 03-10-06, 12:19 PM	Mix in mysterious contacts, shortages of money, moral conflicts, and doomed love interests to taste. Stir until well mixed.
Sereno 03-13-06, 03:40 PM	:bump: Sooooo ... anybody got any ideas to twist this plot just a little?