The result would be a PDF for distribution, so that any GM who wishes to run this campaign would have a nice resource-fat setting to use.
A little backstory:
As told through a series of old letters, from a man named Albert to his mother.
Dear Mother,
I am writing this letter in the morning as I expect we will be busy travelling for the greater part of the day. The jungles are more hot than I have ever imagined. The bugs are horrid, and during the night is sounds as if the entire jungle has come alive and is closing in about you. Fortunately, I have found myself in the company of a few resourceful fellows. There is Collin McFinnley, an Irish, but he seems an alright sort regardless. He has travelled extensively throughout Guatemala, and I count myself greatly fortunate to have made his aquantance. The two of us have got on quite well. His sense of humour reminds me of cousin Charlie. We have a missionary who has asked to travel with us named Mr. Maggus. He's a Britton. A queer sort of fellow. He is awfully quiet, however I suppose he may be just shy. Peculiar for a missionary I should think. Then there is a dark skinned fellow, who wears his hood up on his cloak despite the incredible heat. He calls himself "Bex". He is some sort of jungle guide, but I do not think I trust him so much. I cannot put my finger on it. It is just something about him. However McFinnley assures me that he is trustworthy. The two have worked together in the past. I suspect that since they are both here to tell tales about it, they must know their business. We have enlisted additional aid of some men in transporting our supplies. We trailblaze our way deeper into the steaming jungles, as they follow behind, like dutiful ants. One of the men had been bitten by a snake. He was dead before the night had come. Mr. Maggus gave a blessing, poor as it was. At least we gave him a christian burial. I am certain the poor devil would have wanted it. Well, I must be going. We have a hard day in front of us, and nothing for us to do but to deal with it straight on. I'll write again very soon.
I hope all are well and send love to everybody,
Your affectionate son,
Albert
Dear Mother,
I cannot fathom how fortunate we are! Our mixed troupe stumbled upon the ruins of an ancient city, surrounded by high mountain cliffs. We followed the river until we reached waterfalls. Then it was westward into the jungle again. One of the hired men had turned up missing. We searched the immediate surroundings as best as we could considering the density of the undergrowth. It was Bex who discovered the unlucky fellow, who had fallen down a long sloping cavern into a cliffside, breaking his neck. Judging from the look on the man's face he must have been very surprised. Father Mag gave him his last rights and we buried him. This event bode incredibly fortuitous for us, as we unwitting discovered the long hidden entrance to this amazing city. Limestone structures, rise into beiug from a tangle of bushes and tall grasses. The temple structures and pyramids are like nothing I have even seen. The only inhabitants come in the form of local fauna and there are many enormous trees bearing a variety of fruit. We've all been exploring the crumbling structures, and I've found an excellent spot where you can see the city in it's entirety. I have nominated myself to begin mapping out this ancient place. Though I haven't been able to do so as much as I'd like due to these damn headaches. Must be all of the excitement of the treck and the humidity. I resolve to take at least one day to rest and to refresh myself.
Bex believes that there is a tomb of a great king somewhere in one of the structures. We have yet to find it, but we have found plenty of unusual hieroglyphs. The preacher has begun to baptise the remaining natives below the waterfalls. I don't think the natives are pleased in the least. The cliff wall above has some sort of creature carved out of it, and the waterfall, comes forth from the stone beast's open mouth. They look up at the creatures face and cringe. Sometimes I dream that the stone head swallows me. Such supersticiousness, eh, mother? I'll write again very soon.
Always your devoted son,
Albert
Albert's hand drawn map. As drawn by yours truly.
Dear Mother,
I do not believe that I will make it out of these jungles alive. I cannot express to you how very sorry I am that I will not be returning home. I was a fool, and now I pay for my folly with my very life. Someone tried to poison me. Of that I am certain. I believe that it had been Bex who has done so. I knew that he could not be trusted. This morning I crawled away into the high grasses of the city. I had hoped to find the missionary, but instead I witnessed as Bex drew his firearm and shot McFinnley dead. It took place right in the courtyard in front of where we had eventually found what we believe to be the tomb. I managed to crawl into the shadows there and hid until I could be certain that Bex had left the area. I believe that he went out to finish off the missionary. The men who had bore our supplies each died. The first by snake, and the other by "falling" as I had written in the second letter. Though now I am sure that Bex has killed them off one by one. He will be coming for me very soon once he discovers that I am missing. His knowledge of the jungle greatly exceeds the little that I know, and I can only hope that someone will find these three letters and the map I drew so that perhaps they will find their way back home to you. I hope to write again very soon, but I fear that may not be possible.
You were right after all.
Your devoted son,
Albert Dunning
Cromwell, Conn
Middlesex Co. USA
Santa Boca and
Surroundings
Read the following to the PC's. Or die.
The sound of gulls, ships bells, and steam whistles overlap with the hustle and bustle of the daily happenings of the harbor. Santa Boca, “the saint’s kiss”, fits the Caribbean atmosphere with its semi-colonial architecture and palm tree lined streets. The locals are dressed in simple outfits, but dyed in bright colors, most wearing wide-brimmed woven hats.
From your high vantage point at the top of the boarding ramp you can see the market at the center of town. Stands and comedores line the market and compete with vegetable and fruit vendors tended by Garifuna ladies. The streets of Santa Boca are wide but poorly maintained. The vast jungle canopy can be seen encroaching at the edges of the town’s furthest buildings.
The port town is under the control of the United Fruit Company who used their monopoly control of the railroads to ensure that most Guatemalan trade passed this way. The boom days of the past are over, and Santa Boca is now a seedy port town of about 300 inhabitants and with not much for the average tourist to see. Some may appreciate the Caribbean atmosphere of the town with its semi-colonial architecture of wooden and cinder block buildings, delightful Indian, Guatemalan and Caribbean cuisine, and port town revelry.
The main market built around abandoned railway lines is the center of town and the best place for visitors to get a handle on Santa Boca's identity. Fruit licuado stands and comedores line the market and compete with vegetable and fruit vendors tended by Garifuna ladies.
The streets of Santa Boca are wide but poorly maintained. There a few crumbling wooden relics of the town’s once glorious colonial past, such as the Hotel Del Norte. Nearby is a small park and pier where one can look over the deep blue waters of the Bahia de Amatique.
[Re-Write Notes: This campaign can be totally re-imagined, using the original as a guide. Small Guatemalan towns could have all sorts of fun encounters. REMEMBER TO INCLUDE THE MYSTERIOUS “WATCHER”* this time around. Idiot.]
Use the Fruit company as an opposing force.
The PC’s are secretly in town, because the Fruit Company would likely demand payment for using the town to start the mission. I’d like to keep the town somewhat seedy, but not too much so. I need to find a good balance between the past and present.
Swap out the bar encounter with Manuelo and Malenudo from Orino del Perro, and place it in this town. The guide, can get them in trouble immediately, and Harrison Bones and Co. can pop up almost immediately. This way, the PC’s will be tailed by some local toughs, who think that maybe they can make some money if they discover what the Army group is up too.
I dunno. ouunp I
The Crumbling Farmhouse/Church
As the Lt said, the Farmhouse looks abandoned, and is away from the road near the tree line. Two carts are nearby, and some men in similar clothing to the PC's can be seen.
Lt. Winters is already on site and is speaking with the guide Orlando.
Some of the others are already there, but one of the groups hasn't arrived yet. If any of the players ask if everyone is present, let Aguzzi know who is not yet there.
Lt. Winters will introduce Orlando to the men when everyone is there, and Orlando nods his head and waves back.
First Day
Roll some dice for effect.
Then say “Hmmm… interesting…”
The weather is hot and humid, and the humidity is only increased by the common rain squalls that blow through the area. The road is unpaved, rough and very muddy.
The Carts get stuck. The men get out and push them free.
As the sun begins to set, Orlando suggests they make camp. Then as they stop, he goes off into the tree line to hunt.
Lt. Winters gives the men their duties, if Henry or Carl wishes to have a task, he asks if them if know how to build a fire, then gives them that duty.
Orlando reappears with a few dead giant jungle rats, and begins to cut them open, clean them and cook them over a fire.
First Night
The Lt. gives the duty of watch order over to Sgt. Aguzzi. No Encounter. Roll some dice for effect anyway. If any of the PC's are on duty, have them roll a listen check (DC 10).
On a success, paraphrase the following:
You aren't certain, but you might have heard something moving through the underbrush.
If they wish to investigate, have them roll a Spot check versus the rabbit's hide:
On a success, paraphrase the following:
You see two small glowing eyes, just beyond the tree line, low to the ground.
Any further investigation and the creature runs off into the brush.
Second Day
The next day some men complain that some smaller belongings are missing. A pack of cigarettes here. A lighter there. (all stolen during the night if at all possible by Orlando.)
The weather is the same, with passing squalls. Again the carts get caught in the mud... this time twice. The last time, nearing the time for them to break for camp.
Orlando again goes off into the tree line to hunt.
Orlando reappears with a couple dead giant jungle rats and a rabbit, and begins to cut them open, clean them and cook them over a fire
Second Night
The Lt. gives the duty of watch order over to Sgt. Aguzzi. No Encounter. Roll some dice for effect anyway. If any of the PC's are on duty, have them roll a listen check a couple of times for GM fun. Heh heh.
Third Day
The next day pass a note to Carl and let him know that his Nazi Youth knife is missing.
Roll some more dice.
By mid-morning, shortly after a miserable morning rain, the party reaches the village of Orino Perro.
Orino Perro,
Guatemala
This town is poor, muddy, and small. I lost the write-up I gave it apparently.
The Grateful Goat
The stone and wood building with the hand painted sign declaring it: The Grateful Goat, is the largest structure in the village. Adjoining the building is a muddy bamboo pen keeping a skinny goat. It stands, staring at you. An old toothless man sings and hums drunkenly on the wooden planked porch wearing a wide-brimmed straw hat, and strumming an ancient looking guitar.
Inside the building the PC's find a very dimly lit bar or tavern of some sort. A few tables with chairs. At the back is a row of wooden barrels, with a plank of wood on top for a bar. The bar tender is a skinny man who looks as if he is asleep behind the bar. Leaning against the wall in a chair.
At a table, playing cards with some men is Orlando, the guide. He is betting with the stolen objects. The Hitler Youth knife is visible. He is surprised to see the PC's. Unfortunately, he owes more money and the men threaten the PC's asking them if they are with Orlando. They want the PC's to pay up.
If the PC's resist, the toughs will attempt to strike them and start a brawl.
If the PC's draw arms, the NPC's will draw theirs.
Orlando (if something hasn't gone wrong), offers to go ahead of the group and arrange for boats. From here on in, they will travel by river.
The rest of the men are instructed to hold tight in the backs of the carts.
If the PC's head in to the village, they will find it quiet and muddy. The few villagers they see will look their way then go inside their homes as quickly as possible. A few chickens, and a random dog here and there wander the road. As the PC's go further there is a wandering cow. It takes a crap right as they see it.
If the players do not leave the carts, a small Spanish looking child wearing a NY Yankees baseball cap approaches the group and asks them if they need a guide. If the players respond that they have one, he will ask if they are certain about that. If the mans who go into the tavern was their guide, he may not be coming back out. He asks again, if they need a guide. He knows an brave guide who knows this area better than anyone.
After all is said in the bar, the PC's will be down one dishonest guide, and hopefully will accept Harrison Bones as their new guide.
With Pingo the indian, and Pepito the sidekick, they get into dugouts and begin their way down river. Hopefully, there can be some PC interaction as they talk to Bones.
Bones picks out a good spot for them to make camp, and they pull the dugouts up into the Jungle. They camp in a cleared area. It is used by traveling hunting groups, and some old wooden and branch structures are in place to shield the men, from the elements... sort of.
Third Night
Pingo Hunting. Pepito constructs a poorly built rod and tries to fish. No encounters. Roll some dice anyway. Guard duties. Nothing gets stolen.
Fourth Day
Traveling by river the group takes a tributary and follows it. Roll some dice. They hear the rush of water Listen (DC 15), then closer (DC 10).
They approach a "small" waterfall, only 15 feet high. It's getting late and time to set up camp again.
* The Watcher is actually some sort of interdimensional alien robot or something. The PC's are not intended to interact with it beyond spotting it a couple of times while in Santa Boca. It's presence foreshadows something far greater. The PC's just don't have enough info to put it into context until later in the campaign.
First of all, in the context of the overall ARTIFACT CAMPAIGN, this prologue serves to bring the Artifact to light for the first time. Thus introducing it to the Players.
In the start the main party consisted of Dr. Loder, Sgt. Aguzzi, and Nazi Carl. They also had the military men of Expletive Squad with them; a bunch of Riflemen, a medic, a radioman, Lt. Winters (who was not a very take charge kind of guy-- leaned heavily on his Sgt.), and of course Orlando, the sneaky South American Guide.
Let's talk about Nazi Carl.
Tim, who was playing Nazi Carl did a wonderful job of role-playing his character's anger when he discovered that his Hitler Youth Knife had been stolen in the night. His faux German accent was hilarious, too!
Every morning he would have his character make coffee for himself, and for anyone else who wanted some. It was his way of buying friendship and hopefully trust. After all, it's not easy to be the odd man out. And Carl was written to be that way. But the perk was, he got the Map and that was one of my favorite props to date. (See scan above)--
His character figured into the story this way: He was basically a Lt. in the German SS. He had a vindictive commanding officer who often kept him from rising in rank, and who would take credit for his actions. This resulted in a plot to screw his CO over, which also resulted in him jumping the Nazi ship and going the the Americans.
You see, Hitler had come into possesion of the map, and he had reason to believe that something mighty powerful could be found there. He had placed the map into the hands of Carl's CO and told him to plan an expedition. It was not long after this that Carl stole the map and fled Germany knowing the punishment that would befall his CO would be great. He figured he could use it as a buy-in with the Americans.
Tim played Carl with a cruel streak, and he executed Orlando with a gunshot to the head, at point blank range, in the middle of a dirt bar. He did this the second his suspicions were confirmed that Orlando had been the thief, which is to say, as soon as he saw the dagger laying there in the middle of the poker pot.
It was this action that set Matt's Character, Sgt. Joe Aguzzi truly against Nazi Carl from here on in. Feeling that he could do that to ANYONE at ANYTIME if he so wished. He was given orders to babysit the man, but he would be watched all that much closer from this moment on.
Nazi Carl's killing of the groups guide opened the door for the NEW guide, Harrison Bones to be recruited into the party-- And he was certainloy wary of Nazi Carl.
Tim began to pass me notes with pointless little messages scrawled on them, saying things like. "Hi!" and "Man that was a great soda I just drank!". He would ask me what time it was in-game about every ten minutes in real time. One morning, the PC's and NPCs were all about to drink his coffee, and he passed me a note, and said. "Now."
The other players had their characters secretly dump their coffee, (And asked the NPCs to do the same), for fear of being poisoned.
Nazi Carl's role would still work if it was changed from Nazi Traitor to that of Deep Cover Spy. In this version you could have the PC play the role of a Allied Spy who was working deep within the SS, and who stole the Map for patriotic reasons rather,instead of selfish motivation. This is a good alternative for players who do not wish to play an "evil" character.
The boxes limit me on the scope of my notes, so I try to hit the main points.
July 12th - 22nd, 1941
12
Mission Briefing & Departure.
Move through town of Santa Boca. Meet with Orlando the Guide, by farmhouse.
Travel by cart, Rain. Carts get stuck in the muddy roadway, and need to be pushed free.
Soldiers telling tales. Loder talks about his trip to Copan.
Jungle. Bugs.
Make camp under carts & tarps. Orlando hunts and they feast of rations and jungle rats.
13
Nazi Carl brews some kickass German coffee. Everyone indulges, except for the Sarge.
People complain of missing items.
That day they travel by cart deeper inland. Continued rain. Muddy roads. Deeper jungle. Carts get stuck twice, & require the men to haul them free.
Camping for the night as before. Orlando hunts.
14
Rain.
Nazi Carl awakens furious. His Hitler Youth knife is gone. Stolen!
Orlando suspect, but Lt Winters believes his lies.
Group arrives in tiny river village Orino del Perro, Carl murders Orlando for the theft. Mexican stand-off with local toughs.
Bones reluctantly hires on. Travel upriver where they camp for night.
15
Rain. Coffee. Back into the dugouts to continue upriver. Pirahna attack.
16
Natives. Meeting with the Bovitos Tribe.
Bones is an old aquaintance of theirs.
Learn of the missing heir. The Army expedition is welcomed in the village.
Eat with the village.
17
Rain.
Dr. Loder adds coco leaves to the coffee. Quite a kick!
Small party of seven trek to the local Belly of the Earth Cave. They explore, and find hungry jaguar that was unfortunate enough to have gotten trapped in the cave.
They rescue the chief’s son from the bottom of a pit where he had fallen.
Feast upon return, and the forced marriage of Bones to the Chief’s daughter.
Village watches consummation as per tradition. Soldiers laugh. Bones put on the spot, so to speak.
18
Rain. Coffee.
The group splits.
Lt. Winters and Rifle Team One stay behind to watch the village and the others‘ backs.
Sgt. Aguzzi and Loder lead an expedition to explore the cave more deeply.
Sewer Sludge, er, I mean "Ancient Mayan Ooze" Encounter.
Long and deep. When they come through it, they discover the Lost City of the Jaguar’s Tongue on the other side...
They make camp in the ruins of a Mayan tower.
19
Rain.
Coffee. Groups suspicious of Carl, and thinks he may be trying to poison them.
The group explores the city and temple ruins. Discovery of the palace, and of the Tomb of Chaca’Poya.
Quick puzzle to pop the lock, and the tomb is open.
They descend, and face the puzzles left behind.
Loder aquires the Artifact.
Dire news of Nazi party attacking the village. Nazis hot on their trail.
Flight through Jungle.
20
Rain.
Keeping ahead of the Nazis.
They find their way back to Orino del Perro.
Nazis have been there, and set booby traps on the carts the Army left behind.
A grenade trap blows up , and the boy Pepito is killed. Hurray!
21
Rain.
Loder crafts counterfeit artifact for the journey home. He will give the fake to the Army, and keep the real thing.
22
Rain.
Travel back to town and to freighter HQ.
END PROLOGUE.
So that's pretty much it--
What I want to do now is to re-write this scenario, keeping to the same basic formula--
But I am completely open to ideas about expanding and tweaking this scenario.
When I first ran this I was new to GMing d20 Modern, and so regretably, I steered away from some cool encounter options. Here's where we can fix that :D.
* PC's must travel through hostile tribe's territory, can be hounded by deadly natives.
* PC's come upon a Nazi patrol somewhere along the river and must bypass somehow.
* PC's face huge waterfall. Possibly during the encounter with either Nazis or Mean Natives.
* Rescue mission: Save someone from the clutches of the Enemy tribe.
* Local Flora & Fauna: Piranha, Croc's/'gaters, Dreaded Candiru, Monkeys, Big Snakes! Oh my!
Anyway, these are just off the top of my head. I welcome more suggestions!
This could be useful in the event of a really good encounter idea set on the ship. But frankly, I can't think of anything that wouldn't detract from the pace of the Prologue.
As it stands it is the Army Expedition's base of operations. It is anchored in the Harbor of Santa Boca.
Santa Boca
The Saint's Kiss. There could be some local government toughs, tied to the local fruit cartels that run the city.
PCs could actually have to find a guide, rather than have it supplied to them via the GM like I did.
The Mysterious Watcher should be spotted a couple of times. Looking alot like Gestapo; black trench coat, large black hat. But this is only relevant if this setting is used as part of the larger Artifact campaign.
Open for development.
Orino del Perro
This is a small, dirty village situated along the River. It originally hosted a bar encounter at the local dirt bar Grateful Goat ("Cabra Agradecida")-- but this encounter could be moved, more or less to Santa Boca, so this town is open for suggestions.
Plot-wise, it is where the PCs aquire their dugout canoes to travel the River.
The River
Muddy, and infested with all sorts of critters. Caimen, Pirahna, Etc...
This acts as a sort of main travel way for many who live in the jungles here. The PCs will travel during the daytime presumably, camping along the shore here and there when a good camp presents itself.
An Anaconda of Dire preportions would be a fun encounter mayhaps.
A nazi patrol in a boat as I suggested earlier is a good idea. Enemy tribesmen in their dugouts. Poison tipped darts-- KO you if you fail Fort Saves, so they can take you back to their camp as a prisoner.
Friendly Bovitos Tribe
These are the PC's allies, but only if the PC's are able to find the lost heir who wandered too deeply into a cave. If the boy is not found, they will be too busy grieving to care much about helping the PCs much.
I enjoyed forcing the marriage of the Chief's daughter to one of the PCs. Good times after they rescued the boy.
Enemy Native Tribe
These guys should be cannibals. Why? Because it's iconic. Rescue/Escape missions from their village. **** off the wrong warriors and you will have these guys hounding the PCs all the way into the city.
Also, tie them into the Nazis by having them aligned with the Nazis.
Cave of the Belly of the Earth
As it is roughly translated is a dungeon delve in which by exploring lightly, one could find the Lost Child. There are plenty of signs that point to former a former mayan civilization. Hopefully to pull the PC's deeper. The cave acts as one long tunnel that opens up on the Lost City of Jaguar Tongue.
The last of the kings of the city is buried in this cave. With him a stone "key" that opens his father's tomb, which is where the Artifact lies.
Lost City of Jaguar Tongue
The lost city and ultimate goal of this campaign. The city originally was empty, the PCs being the first to get there-- though that was the wussy way to go. This time around, the Nazis have beaten the PC's thus forcing the PCs to make alot of use of their Move Silently and Hide checks while they themselves have to try finding the Tomb.
Tomb of Chaca'poya
Chaca'poya was given the artifact for safe keeping by a being disguised as a Mayan god. It is kept hidden away deep in this tomb. Lost of booby traps, though not all are neccessarily deadly.
I do admit to planning on killing little Pepito in a spike trap though. Too bad Harrison Bones kept him out of this tomb. Good thing I got him with the grenade trap later. Yes. I'm evil.
Jace, you need to get this campaign setting published!!!
Do it yourself via online PDF or sell it to WotC or whatever, this is first rate material! I know I'd buy it if I found it in a gaming store!
Originally, the PCs were joined by quite a number of NPCs. 12 of them were Army GI's.
This is alot to care about as a GM, and I would like your opinions on whether or not to condense the list down.
I was just trying to "keep it real" so to speak, but how many SHOULD be on this mission with the PC's?
If you were GMing a scenario like this, what would you consider?
To answer the question about NPCs though, I'd consider condensing it down to about Fireteam size (4-5) NPCs and then let the PCs fill out the rest of the roles to provide a reasonably conventional squad size. I tend to base my team sizes around what you'd typically find in a modern special forces deployment, so i generally limit my squad size to 12 including PCs.
the nice thing about fireteams is they are designed to be independent units in a larger organization, so 2 fireteams would allow you to split the NPC team off to focus on the PC team, and bring them back together for when concentrated fire is required.
I find fire teams are easily managed by a couple of stat blocks (your "riflemen" can be an identical block), leaving rifleman stats with a heavy weapon for a second block, and a block for your team leader. Throw in a medic if your PCs don't have one, and your done.
~VW
I could make the NPCs as unique as I wish too, if I wanted to spend that time. A Medic, certainly. Maybe a Sniper? I guess he'd prolly be useful in a tactical sense if the pancakes hit the fan while the PCs are in the Lost City. Crumbling stone roofs and pyramids.
Does anyone have any encounters, or ideas about the first town of Santa Boca? I would really like to flesh this campaign module out a bit more. If it ever goes to "print" I will give written credit to all contributers. But that's just fair.
The PC's Merchant Vessel HQ is based off of a 1930's era Tramp Steamer like the one below.
Keep your 12 soldiers. It's a bit of a hassle bookkeeping-wise, BUT if they're used in a certain way, i.e. controlled by plot, then it's almost a no-brainer.
For example. Every time you need to showcase how dangerous something is you can't kill off a PC...
While I agree with Vagrant Whisper on one hand, I have another idea that could prove interesting.
Keep your 12 soldiers. It's a bit of a hassle bookkeeping-wise, BUT if they're used in a certain way, i.e. controlled by plot, then it's almost a no-brainer.
For example. Every time you need to showcase how dangerous something is you can't kill off a PC...
I could STILL scale it back down a bit, and maybe include just two ro three "red shirts". :P
For example. Every time you need to showcase how dangerous something is you can't kill off a PC...
HAHA! That's so true, this campaign setting just calls for a non-english speaking, foreign national trap magnet ala Indiana Jones.
Does anyone have any encounters, or ideas about the first town of Santa Boca? I would really like to flesh this campaign module out a bit more. If it ever goes to "print" I will give written credit to all contributers. But that's just fair.
The PC's Merchant Vessel HQ is based off of a 1930's era Tramp Steamer like the one below.
I'm still thinking about Santa Boca, but depending on how super natural you want to get, that Tramp Steamer just screams for A Terror from the Deep, or as an alternative some kind of modern era naval fiasco; pirates or in this case a Nazi patrol boat could offer some interesting RP possibilities.
In Santa Boca cartels call for mafia or corrupt officials; for a spin you could make the oligopolistic leader a religious figure given the religious background of the area. A corrupt cardinal who price fixes the industry and sends profits and the results of sponsored excavations into religious sites to the Nazi's for protection and the garauntee of leniency could be interesting - assuming you want to develop the area in that way.
The Freighter
This could be useful in the event of a really good encounter idea set on the ship. But frankly, I can't think of anything that wouldn't detract from the pace of the Prologue.
As it stands it is the Army Expedition's base of operations. It is anchored in the Harbor of Santa Boca.
Nazi sabatage, or local mafia. this is an opertunity to "thin the herd" of red shirts aswell. a good bomb in the engine room. or maybe the nazis paid to have some local thugs blow up the ship or something.
Nazi sabatage, or local mafia. this is an opertunity to "thin the herd" of red shirts aswell. a good bomb in the engine room. or maybe the nazis paid to have some local thugs blow up the ship or something.
Depending on the events of this adventure, we could even hold off on an Attack upon the freighter until the adventure is just about done.
One last F. U.
Ancient cults, secret societies... might be hard to consider for a published adventure, but for an ongoing campaign it might be just the twist needed to introduce an even bigger-BBEG.
One sailor is a nazi spy. During the 3nd night of travelling, he will try and plant a small dynamite bomb on the ship’s engine so he can delay its trip. One day before that he killed the ship’s cook before he found the detonators by accident in his room. The players must solve a murder mystery within the ship within 1 day…otherwise the mission is over. At the time the players will have gained enough clues for their main suspect he is already heading to the engine room to set up the trap.
Santa Boca
I would say add nothing here, so it looks more realistic. If you add encounters in every town/place then the players will become too suspicious on anything. If they get bored try this: the best guide in town is Orlando. He only agrees to come with them in the mission if they pay his debts to the local fruit cartels. The fruit cartel manager (who is actually a money-lender) will ask for more money (outrageous sum) because of the high interest…roleplay this conflict…He can be convinced if they collect for him another dept from Orino del Perro and bring it on the way back. The another dept will be from a man in the tavern where Orlando will be playing cards.
Orino del Perro
This is where the players will have to collect a dept as mentioned above..
The River
The players will find the Nazi patrol boat who are mainly the advanced guard of the main nazi party. The giant anaconda is hiding within the abandoned nazi boat digesting the boat captain! Some equipment (radios, maps, grenades, food) and clues (they can hear in the radio that the rest of the nazi advanced guard is coming back from their reckoning in the jungle because they will soon meet the rest of the Nazis who are close. The heroes must hurry up the enemy is close! (the players should get the feeling that they could ambush the advanced guard but not the rest of the nazi group that is approaching because it is quite large and equipped)
Alternative if you wish for the Nazis to beat up the heroes and get to the Mayan city first they hear from the radio that the two nazi groups will meet up somewhere in the juncle because the nazi advanced guard propably found the ‘cave’. The Nazis are in front of the players now!
Friendly Bovitos Tribe and Enemy Native Tribe
The lost heir wandered too deeply into the cave (that finally leads to the lost Mayan civilization) and was captured by the enemy native tribe who is ready for dinner now! The cannibals act effectively as the guardians of the cave that leads to the Mayan civilization and also as a force that would reduce the Nazi numbers…
Lost City of Jaguar Tongue
If the Nazis have beaten the Pcs and have already established a camp here don’t forget the classical beautiful cinematic scenes of explosions that disturb the bad guys. There will be stocks of dynamites the Nazis brought with them to blow up obstacles.
Tomb of Chaca'poya
The use of all D&D traps is identical here. Try to add some puzzles too.
NPCS YOU COULD USE
Ordinary Cannibal tribe member : Tough Ordinary 1 / Fast Ordinary 1; CR 1; HD1d10+1d8+4; HP 15; Mas 15; Init +5; Spd 30 ft; Defense 16, touch 16, flat-footed 14 (+2 Dex, +3 class); BAB +0; Grap +1; Atk shortspear +1 melee/+2 ranged (1d8+1 Large / crit 20*3/rng 20ft) or bow +2 ranged (1d6 Large / crit 20 / rng 40 ft / 1) or blowgun +2 ranged (1+poison Small/ crit 20 / rng 10 ft/ 1); SV Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +1; AP 0; Rep +0; Str 12, Dex 14, Con 15, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 8.
Occupation: Primitive (bonus class skills: Climb, Swim, Survival +1).
Skills: Climb +3 [2], Hide +4[2], Move Silently +5[3], Spot +2 [1], Swim +4[3], Speak English, Survival +7[5].
Feats: Archaic Weapons Proficiency, improved initiative, Simple Weapons Proficiency, Track.
Possessions: Shortspear, bow with 10 arrows, blowgun with 5 poisoned darts (Injury poison, initial: paralysis 2d6 minutes, secondary: none, save DC: 15. Creation DC: 20, purchase DC: 9).
Cannibal Tribe champion Fast 3/Tough 3/Soldier 2; CR 8; hp 70; Mas 15 ; Initiative +3; Spd 40ft; Defense 20 (+3 dex, +7 class) , touch 20, flatfooted 17; BAB +5; Grap +11 (including improved grapple); Atk: +8 Melee (1d6+2+1d4, nonlethal, unarmed strike - includes Brawl to hit bonuses) or + 10 Melee (1d6+ 5 +1d4 Long knife and poison/19-20*2) or Shortspear + 7 melee(1d8+3 Large / crit 20*3/rng 40ft); or Shortspear +8 ranged (1d8+2 Large / crit 20*3/rng 40ft); FS 5ft.; Reach 5ft.; AL evil l; SV Fort +7, Ref +8, Will +2; AP 4 ; Rep +4; Strength 14, Dexterity 17, Constitution 15, Intelligence 12, Wisdom 12, Charisma 10. Occupation: Adventurer (class skills: Move silently, Knowledge (tactics)). Skills: Balance +8, Bluff +2, Climb +8, Escape Artist + 7, Hide +7, Intimidate +5, Knowledge (tactics) +6, Move Silently +9, Tumble +7. Feats: Brawl, street fighting, weapon finesse, Simple Weapon Proficiency, Personal Firearms Proficiency, Archaic Weapon proficiency, improved grapple, Weapon Focus (Long knife), Weapon Specialization (Long knife). Talents (Fast Hero): Fast movement advanced (+10ft). Talents (Tough Hero): Damage Reduction 1, Second Wind. Possessions:. Long knife (waving traditional tribal blade) mastercraft +2 (+1 damage, +1 attack), 4 extra doses of paralysis poison (Injury poison, initial: paralysis 2d6 minutes, secondary: none, save DC: 15), blowgun (1 damage / piercing/ 10 ft, 1 int, small, 2lb) with 4 needles of paralysis poison.
Low-level Nazi trooper: Strong Ordinary 2; CR 1; HD2d8+4; HP 13; Mas 15; Init +2; Spd 30 ft; Defense 14, touch 12, flat-footed 12 (+2 Dex, +2 class); BAB +2; Grap +3; Atk+3 melee (1d6+1nolethal, unarmed) or +3 melee (1d4+1/ 19-20 / tactical knife or bayonet) or +4 ranged (2d6, Walther p-38 pistol) or +4 ranged (2d10, SturmGeveher 44 assault rifle) or +4 ranged (2d6,MP38 submachinegun); SV Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +1; AP 0; Rep +0; Str 13, Dex 14, Con 15, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8.
Occupation: Military (bonus class skills: , Survival, Climb +1).
Skills: Climb +6 [5], Knowledge (tactics) 5 [5], Jump 4 [3], Survival 3 [2].
Feats: Advanced firearms Proficiency, Simple weapons Proficiency, Brawl, Personal Firearms Proficiency
Possessions: Uniform or Casual clothes or fatigues (juncle/+2 hide helmet or hat, Walther P-38 (9mm, autoloader) [2d6;20;bal;30ft;S;8box;small;2lb], 2 spare box magazines, hip holster, Sturmgeveher 44 (7.92 mm assault rifle) [2d10;20;bal;70ft;S,A; 30 box; Large; 12 lb] or MP 38 (9mm submachine gun) [2d6; 20; bal; 30ft; S,A; 40 box; 9lb], 4 spare box magazines, 2 ‘potato masher’ hand grenades [3d6;Conc; 10ft; 20ft burst; Ref:15; Med; 1.5 lb]], bayonet or tactical knife, Backpack, Compass, Mess vest.
Elite Nazi troop: Tough 4/Soldier1 ; CR 5 Occupation: Military (Listen, Knowledge-tactics); HP: 54; Str: 14 ; Dex: 16 ; Con: 16 ; Int: 10 ;Wis: 14 ; Cha: 8 ; AP: 2; Speed: 30 ft; Defence: 17; Flatfooted: 14, Touch: 17; BAB: +3; Melee: +5 ; Ranged: +6; Initiative: +3; Attacks: +7 Ranged (2d10, SturmGeveher 44 assault rifle) or +6 Ranged (2d6, Walther p-38 pistol) or Rifle Butt: +5 Melee (1d6+2).
Saves: Fort +8 ; Ref +5 ; Will +3 ; Skills: Demolitions: +5 ;Knowledge-tactics: +6; Listen: +10; Survival +4; Spot: +11 Feats: Simple Weapons Proficiency; Point blank shot; Personal Firearms Proficiency; Advanced Firearms Proficiency; Alertness; Burst Fire ;Great Fortitude
Weapon Focus (SturmGeveher 44); Talents: Robust; Damage Reduction 1
Equipment: Uniform or Casual clothes or fatigues (juncle/+2 hide), helmet or hat, Walther P-38 (9mm, autoloader) [2d6;20;bal;30ft;S;8box;small;2lb], 2 spare box magazines, hip holster, Sturmgeveher 44 (7.92 mm assault rifle) [2d10;20;bal;70ft;S,A; 30 box; Large; 12 lb] or MP 38 (9mm submachine gun) [2d6; 20; bal; 30ft; S,A; 40 box; 9lb], 4 spare box magazines, 2 ‘potato masher’ hand grenades [3d6;Conc; 10ft; 20ft burst; Ref:15; Med; 1.5 lb]], bayonet or tactical knife, Demolitions kit, Dynamite (6 sticks), Detonators: Blasting cap x 2, Detonators: Timed x 2 1lb total, Clothing, Fatigues (Jungle ): +2 Hide, 3lbs, Gas Mask, Binoculars, standard, Compass, Mesh Vest, Backpack.
What was the puzzle you used when you played the adventure for the first time?
Nazi sabatage, or local mafia. this is an opertunity to "thin the herd" of red shirts aswell. a good bomb in the engine room. or maybe the nazis paid to have some local thugs blow up the ship or something.
I just saw that :D It seems like we had the same idea
First off Nerull/, awesome contributions and ideas. Great stats too!
The Puzzle that opened the Tomb was pretty lame, really:
The PC's had found a strange stone cylinder with a wedge notched out of it. This thing was a 6" in diameter and a couple of feet long. And Heavy.
They located a hole approx. 6" in diamter in the entrance area of the tomb, and stuck the plug in. When nothing happened, they rotated it. It finally caught on the mechanism inside, and the sealed door came ajar...
Some more NPCs
Nazi commander: (Charismatic Hero 3/Tough Hero 3): CR 6; Medium Humanoid (human); HD 3d6+3d10+6, hp 35, Mas 12; Init +5, Spd 25 ft; Def 14 (+3 class, +1 dex); BAB +3, Grap +4; Atk +4 ranged (2d10, SturmGeveher 44 assault rifle) or +4 Ranged (2d6, Walther p-38 pistol) or Rifle butt +5 melee (1d6+1); S/R 5 ft./5 ft.; AL military unit; SV Fort +7, Ref +3, Will +2; AP 3, Rep +3; Str 12, Dex 12, Con 12, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 16. Occupation: Military (class skills: Hide, Knowledge (tactics); bonus feat: Personal Firearms Proficiency) Skills: Climb +4, Concentration +2, Craft (structural) +2, Demolitions +3, Diplomacy +9, Drive +1, Hide +5 (+1 fatigues), Intimidate +11, Knowledge (business) +3, Knowledge (current events) +3, Knowledge (history) +3, Knowledge (tactics) +7, Listen +2, Move Silently +2, Navigate +3, Profession +4, Spot +1, Survival +1, Treat Injury +1. Feats: Advanced Firearms Proficiency, Point blank shot, Heroic surge, improved initiative, Confident, Great Fortitude, Personal Firearms Proficiency.Talents (Charismatic Hero): Coordinate, Inspiration.
Talents (Tough Hero): Remain Conscious, Second Wind. Possessions: Uniform or Casual clothes or fatigues (juncle/+2 hide), helmet or hat, Walther P-38 (9mm, autoloader) [2d6;20;bal;30ft;S;8box;small;2lb], 2 spare box magazines, hip holster, Sturmgeveher 44 (7.92 mm assault rifle) [2d10;20;bal;70ft;S,A; 30 box; Large; 12 lb] or MP 38 (9mm submachine gun) [2d6; 20; bal; 30ft; S,A; 40 box; 9lb], 4 spare box magazines, 2 ‘potato masher’ hand grenades [3d6;Conc; 10ft; 20ft burst; Ref:15; Med; 1.5 lb]], bayonet or tactical knife, Binoculars, standard, Compass, Mesh Vest, Backpack., first aid pouch, squad-level radio, tactical map.
SS second in Command/ doctor-torturer (the classical vile guy with the eye patch): Dedicated Hero 3/Field Medic 2/Investigator 1: CR 6; HD 3d6 plus 2d8 plus 1d6; hp 29; Mas 10; Init +2; Spd 30 ft.; Defense 16; touch 16, flat-footed 14 (Dex +2, Class +4); BAB +3; Grap +4; Atk +6 ranged (2d6/x2 Walther P-38) or + 4 melee (1d4+1/19-20 x2 medical scalpel) or +4 melee (1 plus poison syringe/needs grapple check); FS 5 ft. by 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.; AL Evil, Nazism; SV Fort +6, Ref +4, Will +9; AP --; Rep +3; Str 12, Dex 15, Con 10, Int 16, Wis 18, Cha 13. Occupation: Adventurer (class skills: Intimidate, Treat Injury) Skills: Diplomacy +2, Gamble + 6; Intimidate+ 10; Investigate +10, Knowledge (behavioral sciences) +9, Knowledge (earth and life sciences) +9, knowledge (arcane) + 4; Listen +10, Profession +5, Research +8, Search +4, Sense Motive +10, Spot +10, Treat Injury +14 (restores 1d4+4 hp).
Feats: Confident, Iron Will, Personal Firearms Proficiency, Dedicated plus, Simple Weapons Proficiency, Surgery, Weapon focus (Walther P-38) Talents [Dedicated Hero]: Empathy, Healing Knack, Healing touch 1 (restores +2 hp), Intuition Talents [Field Medic]: Medical Specialist +1, Expert Healer (restore +2 hp to any treat injury/surgery). Talents [Investigator]: Profile. Equipment: Uniform or Casual clothes or fatigues (juncle/+2 hide), helmet or hat, Walther P-38 (9mm, autoloader) [2d6;20;bal;30ft;S;8box;small;2lb], 2 spare box magazines, hip holster, Binoculars, standard, Compass, Mesh Vest, Backpack., squad-level radio, tactical map, standard flashlight, medical kit, surgery kit, medical scalpel, surgery mask, torturer kit (+2 intimidate; no included); 4 Syringes with poisons. Poison 1: Injury poison, initial: 2d6 CON, secondary: 2d6 CON, save DC: 18. Creation DC: 33, purchase DC: 15; Poison 2: Injury poison, initial: 4D6 hP, secondary: none, save DC: 18. Creation DC: 29, purchase DC: 12.
Nazi advance guard/ Scouts (Dedicated Ordinary 2/Fast Ordinary 2): CR 3; HD 2d6+2d8+4, hp 20, Mas 12; Init +2, Spd 30 ft.; Def 18; BAB +2, Grap +2; Atk rifle +4 ranged (2d10, Mauser Karabiner 98k) or combat knife +2 melee (1d4/19-20); S/R 5 ft./5 ft.; AL military unit; SV Fort +2, Ref +4, Will +4; AP 0, Rep +1; Str 11, Dex 15, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 8. Occupation: Military (class skills: Hide, Move Silently; bonus feat: Personal Firearms Proficiency) Skills: Climb +1, Drive +3, Hide +9 (+11 fatigues), Knowledge (tactics) +4, Listen +8, Move Silently +11, Navigate +6, Profession +3, Spot +9, Survival +7, Swim +1, Treat Injury +3. Feats: Alertness, Stealthy, Guide, Personal Firearms Proficiency.
Possesions: Uniform or Casual clothes or fatigues (juncle/+2 hide), helmet or hat, Walther P-38 (9mm, autoloader) [2d6;20;bal;30ft;S;8box;small;2lb], 2 spare box magazines, hip holster, Binoculars, standard, Compass, Mesh Vest, Backpack., squad-level radio, tactical map, standard flashlight ; Mauser Karabiner 98k (.30 rifle) [2d10; 20; bal; 80ft; S; 5box; Large; 9lb] with scope; 40 .30 rounds; combat knife; 2 ‘potato masher’ hand grenades [3d6;Conc; 10ft; 20ft burst; Ref:15; Med; 1.5 lb].
Nazi spy (the one on the ship) (Fast Hero 3/Strong Hero 1): CR 4; Medium Humanoid (human); HD 4d8+4, hp 25, Mas 12; Init +7, Spd 40 ft.; Def 18 (+3 Dex, +5 class); BAB +3, Grap +4; Atk large knife (cleaver) +7 melee (1d6+2/19-20) or dynamite +6 ranged (2d6) or speargun +6 ranged (2d6); S/R 5 ft./5 ft.; AL self, Nazism; SV Fort +3, Ref +5, Will +2; AP 2, Rep +0; Str 12, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 13, Wis 12, Cha 13. Occupation: Adventurer (class skills: Bluff, Demolitions; bonus feat: Personal Firearms Proficiency) Skills: Bluff +6, Demolitions: +7, Hide +9, Jump +3, Knowledge (streetwise) +4, Listen +2, Move Silently +8, Sleight of Hand +9, Spot +2.Talents: increased speed (40ft); melee smash Feats: Weapon focus (large knife), weapon finesse (large knife), improved initiative , Personal Firearms Proficiency, Point Blank Shot.
Possessions: knife; Fake ID, 4 sticks of dynamite with timed detonators, speargun.
http://www.hostfile.nl/files/4gden5hmf9/93/The Mayan Tomb.pdf
i was kinda bummed at that, and i added private whitley as a second type of solder (BAR weilding explosives irish guy) so one of my players wanted to play a solder and he picked that on randomly so.... and we are a player short for a while.NPCs are pingo (harrisons native guy)strong3/martial artist2, nazi carl fast4/solder1, sgt aguzzi, strong3/solder2.
ok so the group is on the ship headed to guatamalla (sp?), they get the message briefing, after that DR. loder over hears a couple of the solders talkin trash on nazi carl and that they probably arent going to give the nazi a gun, he also notices that carl hears this aswell. and he dont look to happy about it. (the guy playing the solder whitley hasnt shown up yet he is stuck at work late so we go on without him)
they get off the boat, DR loder and Cartl are in one group with Sgt aguzzi. they spot a stranger watching them, carl disappears. Dr loder gets suspicios of carls intentions., they head to the church.
during this time Harrison bones his side kick (via the side kick feat in d20 past) pepito, and his companion pingo are in santa bocca, they hear through the grape vine that a group of americans are in town on some kind of expedition, and that the americans have hired a guide named Orlando. harrison knows orlando as a shady scoundrel. harrison does some info gathering and finds out that orlando has sold out the americans to the united fruit company mafia. so harrison the money minded good-ish guy he is decides to trail the americans and see if he can swoop in at the right time and save the day, and win a fat american money job.
group gets to the church, relay the stranger spotting and carls disapearance, lt winters is concerend but says the mission will go on as planned.
carl shows up at the church a short time later with a couple crappy guns he bought in santa boca. the group starts off into the jungle, followed by harison and his crew.
day one carts get stuck, stuf goes missing at night.
harrison notices that he is not the only one folowing the americans, a group of fruit company thugs are trailing them aswell.
day two carts get stuck slow going. group makes camp.
harrison notices frut co. thugs dont make camp and press on, he figures they are going to the village ahead (orro perro) to set an ambush or something.
stuff goes missing during the night, next morning carl freaks out yelling in german saying his knife was stolen, blaming the solders cuz they dont like him. DR loder calms him down and the group presses on.
they get to the village, orlando heads in to get the boats. group sits at the carts. harrison bones makes his move...he aproaches the group and tells them orlando can not be trusted, and that he probably sold them out, and that they was being followed by fruit co thugs.
winters doesnt trust harrison, so the bones crew head into town. winters sends Sgt. aguzzi into town to check it out after orlando is gone for half an hour. Carl and DR loder go with him.
at the gratefull goat, pingo hides out front to cover harrisons back as he and pepito go in to check it out. harrison sees orlando gambling with 3 shady types, with some crap that looks like it belongs to the americans, so he and pepito sit back in the corner to watch the fireworks.
DR. loder, aguzzi and carl get to the goat, they see orlando, there is an unsure moment of tension, then Carl pulls a gun, so every one else pulls guns, (except orlando who is scared). carl pointing his at orlando, aguzzi pointing his at the 3 shady types at the table, 3 shady types pointing guns at carl orlando and aguzzi. dr loder backs away (armed with a little .38 revolver) and trys to sneaky like cover the room. they 3 shady dudes say the stuff orlando lost to them is thiers now and they aint givin it back, they dont care if he stole it. the nazi makes theats Loder trys to calm him speaking in german to him, he speaks back in german that if he dont get his knife he is going to kill orlando right now. the shady gus speak in spanish to each other, their is more stand off-ing.
Harrison swoops in with a plan. he says since they are going to be needing a new guide, he will take the job, and gamble for their stuff back. they accept, he tells the 3 shady guys he and pepito will go double or nothing. they accept. what he doesn't tell anyone is that befor hand he and pepito worked out a plan.... if they dont win the stuff back pepito is sposed to grab the stuff and run!!!
so they gamble, and presto!!! harrison and pepito win. there is much happyness...then orlando trys to make a break for it. nazi carl is having none of that and trys to shoot him, but i roll a 1 for carl so he accidentally shoots one of the not to happy about losing shady guys. again guns are drawn and this time its a full blown shoot out in the greatful goat.
when the smoke clears the 3 shady fellows are dead, the bar is a wreck and carl is wounded in the leg and limping after orlando followed by DR loder.
carl shoots orlando down, and they group hears the sound of gun fire coming from the carts
at the carts the group was ambushed by the fruit co thugs, they are dispatched easily by irish solder whitley (as the guy playing him just showed up) and the rest of the rifle team.
now with a hot new guide they head down the river.
river travel goes uneventful for the first day but then the group is attacked by a giant anaconda!!!!
and NPC solder is killed and DR loder gets badly injured (via bite and constriction combo). group makes camp.
they travel on then next day and get to pingo's tribe of helpful natives.
the chief tells them about his missing son. they head off to the cave in the belly of the earth.
they find a giant chasm with the remains of an anchor point for what had to be a giant rope bridge now long gone. they also discover ancient wall writing, but it looks like some one tried to scratch it out. DR loder makes out the words jaguar temple and king..... (hook fully hooked :D )
they find cheifs son and return him home, party time. forced marrage, with observed consumation yay....my group and i had a great laugh at this event it was very funny. but harrison pulls ...err makes it through..yay.
the next day Dr loder meets with the chief to talk about the cave.... he tels them its been there since befor his people made a vilage here, and they believe the chasm is bottomless, the good DR says it isnt, he threw a rock down and tried to judge distance, he couldnt but he did hear it hit something down there.
the group decides to investigate further.....
the game continued but im tired of typeing right now and i have to pee, and im hungy. ill be back later to finish.
on the other side they find a small man made tunnle about 20 ft up the cliff face. the go inside, they walk into a giant spider web, and have to fight off a giant poison spider. harrison is biten and poisoned, but other wise ok. they contunue on. (this is actually the tunnle used by the first visitors, the ones who made the map carl has) the tunnel slants upward. about 150 ft they find it caved in, but there is an opening in the roof they climb up out and find them selves in a cave on the far side of the chasm, they head back and find the remains of the ancient rope bridge, and it appears as though some the owners of this place took it down from this side of the chasm, sealing themselves in!!!
so they press on into the darkness, crossong smaller chasms spanned by stone bridges. 5 miles they walk in the darkness with their flash lights and torches. they then find another man made tunnle 10ft by 10ft, they travel down this tunnle intil they come across an ancient cruimbling stone stair case 20 ft long, on top there is a flat platform with a huge set of stone double doors, and an altar with a bowl shaped top.
there they find mayan writing DR loder translates to the effect of "here lise the last king of the jaguar bloodline Junta Natah"
i dont have my exact wording with me right now, but you get the idea.
there is also a riddle to unlock the doors, it is an adaptation of one of the first riddles i learned, basically they have to put a pound of some substance in the bowl shaped altar, the clue is...
"i reside where it is hot, where i work building great castles and tearing down great mountains. i blind some while giving focus to light, and vision to others..."
the answer is sand. and my quick witted group figurered it out on the first shot ....damn, cuz this is where the indiana jones rolling stone trap is...they have three chances each wrong answer setting off a trap, arrows , spike floor then boulder that chases them back down the tunnel.
but alas they defeated my riddle...
inside the door is a large rectangular room with a small 44t pillar in front of a 4ft diamiter dias in the center. the dias is covered with a golden dome. searching the room they find 4 lengths of oranatley carved wodden poles.
the poles are put into holes on the small pillar and work as handles rotating it closes the door behind them and opening the dome on the dias. in side the dome is a giant bowl filled with flamable oil. once alight it burns very bright, and to the horrification (is that a word?) of my players sets off an earth quake!!!
after a minute of dodging falling raocks the earth stops rumbleing... as they scope out the surroundings the walls (all 4) have sunk into the floor and the dias in the center of the room pushed its way up out of the floor and is now an ornatley carved sarcophagus.
inside they find the mummy of king Natah, he wakes up and they fight him and his zombie minoins- servants who sealed them selves in with him after destroying the bridge out.
they try guns and even dynamite to take out the mummy, but no luck, and dr loder private whitley both get hit with the mummy rot...bad saves all around for them...
then loder notices (after a while..) that they all hapen to be fighting with obsidian weapons, as well as wearing obsidian masks...a fact i though i made apparent but i guess telling them 6 times was not enough for it to dawn on them... so they grab some of the stone weapons and find that they are the key to defeating the mummys damage reduction, and manage to make it out alive....barley. everyone is injured some NPCs died fighting zombies, and 2 guys got the mummy rot...but they also got king Natah's obsidian scepter...the key to the tomb of his grandfather Choca'poya....yay
game ends with them licking their wounds around the sarcophagus.
gotta wait 2 run again as i cant do it this tuesday (our normal play day) because of real life resposibilities...damn real life...
yeah im excited about it, they are doing well, and there is just the right amount of tension... wait til the nazis come and they have to get out of the lost city by sneaking past them.
damn flu...i wanna punch the flu in the face
mostly un eventfull,
they were exploring the lost city when a 2 solders from the village ran in and said "the nazis are comming the nazis are comming" and in formed the group that the village wass attacked and the nazis are on there way to the city. the group ran to the tomb of chaca poya, leaving 2 solders out side to stand guard. they made it through the tomb rather well. although DR loder had some troble with the pit trap, almost falling in.
it took them a while to get past "the hungry god of death"
harrison bones being the first to leap past the pit trap was already there throwing jade figurines into its mouth oone at a time....then DR loder got there and was like " hey dont do that its the god of DEATH, we dont know what will happen"
but they finally gave in and dumped the jade in and presto the tomb opened.
in the water cave with the artifact i had another anaconda attack, and sure enough i randomly (with a d4) decided who would be the rfirst to get attacked by the snake, and again DR loder gets biten and grappled,.. and dropped into negative HP.
he hates snakes now.
they got the artifact the temple tomb collapsed, then they sneak out.
they notice the Nazis are digging in the wrong spot, but have paires of guards patroling the lost city. instead of sneaking out of the city they decided to mess with the nazis.
after some sneaking they were discovered and fought a little bit, then ran for it. and it is over after they dynamited the way out of the city trapping (they hope) the nazis inside.
now the group is dieing to know how this all ties in to their d20 apocalyps campain... but im not tellling....till its to late mooohahahaha
mostly un eventfull,
they were exploring the lost city when a 2 solders from the village ran in and said "the nazis are comming the nazis are comming" and in formed the group that the village wass attacked and the nazis are on there way to the city. the group ran to the tomb of chaca poya, leaving 2 solders out side to stand guard. they made it through the tomb rather well. although DR loder had some troble with the pit trap, almost falling in.
it took them a while to get past "the hungry god of death"
harrison bones being the first to leap past the pit trap was already there throwing jade figurines into its mouth oone at a time....then DR loder got there and was like " hey dont do that its the god of DEATH, we dont know what will happen"
but they finally gave in and dumped the jade in and presto the tomb opened.
in the water cave with the artifact i had another anaconda attack, and sure enough i randomly (with a d4) decided who would be the rfirst to get attacked by the snake, and again DR loder gets biten and grappled,.. and dropped into negative HP.
he hates snakes now.
they got the artifact the temple tomb collapsed, then they sneak out.
they notice the Nazis are digging in the wrong spot, but have paires of guards patroling the lost city. instead of sneaking out of the city they decided to mess with the nazis.
after some sneaking they were discovered and fought a little bit, then ran for it. and it is over after they dynamited the way out of the city trapping (they hope) the nazis inside.
now the group is dieing to know how this all ties in to their d20 apocalyps campain... but im not tellling....till its to late mooohahahaha
About MAPS: any you want to "grid up" for me and post, I will happily re-tool the image and redraw based on your design.
but what im really worried about is a map for places like dalton, and especially gallows and fort matherson, those areas i think are going to be very important. i dunno ill see what i can do
thats the problem when i do maps they turn out "too grid like". ya know . like everything is unaturally symetrical in any location i draw. i have some old D&D 2nd edition maps i was going to use for the mesa city, or maybe a couple from palladium the way i see mesa city is it is huge but mostly un used by the cat folk.
but what im really worried about is a map for places like dalton, and especially gallows and fort matherson, those areas i think are going to be very important. i dunno ill see what i can do
I've got some ideas. I'll talk to ya about them after I post them... Over at the Badlands thread. ;)
It's the most eeolved form of this setting thus far, and may be an interesting read if you've been following this Campaign's development over the years.
Artifact: Prologue
Here’s everything you need to know about this past week’s game “session”:
It is July, 7th 1941. The ‘Kingston Queen’ is traveling to a Guatemalan port from Jamaica through the Caribbean Sea. In addition to the Captain and its crew there are an additional 17 passengers heading to Puerta de Santa Boca. This includes a special team secretly working for the League of Nations.
John Kestrel. He is a Sergeant in the US Army who had been stationed in Britain before he found out about the LoN Expedition. He carries a Colt M1911A1, but that’s not all.
Jon Russo is a British/Italian pilot and mercenary. He enjoys the company of women and money, and in great amounts. Now he’s stuck with the rest of these guys and without a plane.
Dr. Henry Loder. Primarily he’s an expert on the pre-Colombian civilization of the Mayas, “which is why I'm here, I suppose.”
‘The German’ is Eisen Abendroth. A saboteur and operative working for the British. He is proud of his heritage, but despises the Nazi regime and what it’s done to them.
Max Hawkins is a traveled adventure with a love of strange bombs. He’s returning to the area after a number of years and hopes to lend his experience in escaping cannibals to the team.
Richard Jameson is a Big Game Hunter and WWI Veteran. He is a British explorer who couldn’t pass up this chance to help his Queen and Country.
Dr. Loder tries to break the ice. "First time in Guatemala, huh?"
They’re given their mission briefing by two suits, Wilkes & DuMont.
It is their objective to pick up their expeditions cargo, hire some mules and porters, locate a knowledgeable guide, and to do their best to follow an obscure trail written about in 20 year old letters. A Guide named Harrison Avery is recommended, but no one knows where he is. "Harrison Avery? That son of a…” Max has a hunch.
The LoN team are to avoid notice by the Nazis while beating them to the fabled city in order to pluck the 'Scheibe der Mayan Könige' out of the Nazi’s hands, rendering the German expedition a failure. It sounds dangerous.
Russo balks. "You want us to trek through the jungle, with two platoons of Nazi soldiers hot on our hides, following a rough trail described to us in obscure letters and then obtain this..... thing before the probably well equipped and armed nasty Nazi men do?”
"Precisely." answers DuMont. Russo wants more money. DuMont gets angry. Wilkes tells him to leave. The group continues to discuss their options. Max says “I know Harrison. He is known to spend time in a small village called ‘Orina Perro’, he's friends with the village chief and his family.”
"All right, so we have a guide. If, and that’s a big if, we can find him.” Russo offers skeptically. "As for the money that fine by me, so long as I survive this, you are lucky I'm so curious about this artifact.”
Wilkes tells them to meet up on deck. He leaves and so do they. Most go to the deck after gathering their belongings. Sgt Kestrel and Max Hawkins head to the cargo hold to check on their stuff. They are blocked by a friendly Haitian. “You mey call me Mister Etienne. I em en charge down here."
He gives both men a cuban cigar. John thanks him and lights up immediately, while Max offers a cigarette in courteous return. They attempt to help but are asked to stay out of the way.
Both men go up to the deck where the party and the 9 other passengers are wondering why the ship has come to a halt. Except for Dr. Loder who has his nose buried in a book.
Wilkes gives Sgt Kestrel a thick, sealed white envelope. "Sgt. These are the papers you will need to retrieve your cargo from the Dock Master. Do not lose it!" There is writing on it.
Max is last to arrive on deck. He says, “Ok everyone first station Orina Perro. The village Harrison spends most of his time here…It is just north west from here…I will guide you…We should either find him or one of his companions…a tongue-less native named Pingo…He will also lead us to him.”
Eisen ‘The German’ lays on a thick accent and asks, "So, do we want to immediately disperse to find the guide, or do we want to investigate the town first? Just so we get an impression of tasks to accomplish. Is there anything anyone needs from town?" If they have to speak to the Nazis for any reason, he is their man.
A small fishing boat has slipped quietly up to side of the ship hidden from the view of the town a mile away. Richard Jameson is first to notice it, but soon he is joined by ‘The German’ and Jon Russo. Richard says "Nice to see that somebody else around here knows that you must pay attention to your surroundings at all time though.” Good Advice.
A crew member arrives on deck and tells the passengers that the Captain would like to speak to them in the Galley. One of them, a bearded Hispanic man, gave the expedition members a curious glance as he went inside. Could it have been the visible presence of guns? Soon it is just the six and the two suits."If you wish to, as a group, take a 'side entrance' into Santa Boca, we've arranged for a boat to carry you to the shore where you can make your appearance to town virtually unnoticed." Wilkes explains. Doctor Loder sees the wisdom, but also the risk."If the Nazis are at the port, it may be a better idea to take the fishing boat in, then again, if we are spotted coming in anywhere other than the port, it could arouse suspicions.” Richard shrugs. "Look at me, I'm a Brit on Safari. My presence is not in and of itself suspicious. However, the soldier and the two scientists stand out a little as such, and if the port is being watched they might arouse suspicion."
"We could split up." Russo suggests. The less obvious of the group ride the ship to port, while anyone who might catch unwanted attention of the Nazis cross by fishing boat. It’s a sound plan. But what about the cargo that is being unloaded in town.
Max decides to go by fishing boat. He says, “I suggest Dr Henry and John Kestrel should be coming with me. Mr Jameson, Mr Russo and Mr Eisen should have no problem to follow the other passengers in this ship.
As a matter of fact the rest of us do not even have to enter Santa Boca and raise any suspicion. The three of you, could take our supplies from the ship and arrange some mules and some Porters to carry our belongings.
The three of us should be going straight to Orina Perro, to find our guide. I will mark the village to your map; it is North West from Santa Boca as I said…it will not be a problem for you to find it. We will meet up there.
You will get the mules and the Porters we will get Harrison, our guide. Does this plan sound ok?” Kestrel responds, "That actually doesn't sound like a bad plan, but I do need a way to gain access to my supplies that will be unloaded in the harbor."
Loder listens intently, then pipes in. “We should stay in Santa Boca at least until we can get a better idea of conditions in the area. No sense in rushing off only to find a Nazi checkpoint waiting for us down the road."
I'll get ashore with Esteban over there.” Decides Sgt. Kestrel.
"See you gentlemen in Santa Boca."Dr. Loder says before climbing down the fishing boat. Before max climbs down he says.
"It’s about 3 days journey to Orino Perro...so I guess we should be best meeting outside near Santa Boca before we travel to find the guide" Max says following after Loder. "Good luck people, we will meet again soon"
Richard, Eisen, and Russo are left aboard the ‘Kingston Queen’. "So what's our story? If Mr. Eisen is between duties, Richard is on safari, am I your guide or something?" Russo asks. Richard shrugs a response. "I know my story. You can figure one out I'm sure, Russo."
Here’s everything you need to know about this past week’s game “session”:
Jon Russo is a British/Italian pilot and mercenary. He enjoys the company of women and money, and in great amounts. Now he’s stuck with the rest of these guys and without a woman on his arm...
Eisen Abendroth. A saboteur and operative working for the British. He is proud of his heritage, but despises the Nazi regime and what it’s done to them.
Richard Jameson is a Big Game Hunter and WWI Veteran. He is a British explorer who couldn’t pass up this chance to help his Queen and Country.
Dr. Henry Loder. Primarily he’s an expert on the pre-Colombian civilization of the Mayas. If caught the Nazis may just force him to work for them.
John Kestrel. He is a Sergeant in the US Army who had been stationed in Britain before he found out about the LoN Expedition. He carries a Colt M1911A1, but that’s not all. He's currently interested in being reunited with his gear.
Max Hawkins is a traveled adventure with a love of strange bombs. He’s returning to the area after a number of years and hopes to lend his experience in escaping cannibals to the team. He hopes to track down Harrison Avery in Orino Perro.
Sgt Kestrel. Dr. Loder, and Max have all three climbed down the rope ladder and have left the Steam Freighter by fishing boat. Their half of the session will be updated next.
Wilkes approaches the remaining men and invites them to join him for a drink in the Galley. The turn him own, electing to stay on deck and watch the arrival. The steam engines begin to churn faster and faster. The great freighter lurches forward, and once again it is moving towards its destination. Puerto de Santa Boca. The Hispanic man with the beard comes back outside. He asks for a light and strikes up a conversation with Russo. "Come on... give me a light and I'll humor you all by guessing why you're going to Santa Boca."
Russo approaches the man taking his matches out of his pocket rattling the box to check how many he had left, the box was more or less full. "here," "My name is Carlos Garcia. MUCHOS gracias, mi amigo."
Carlos says, making small talk. "Alright a promise is a promise...
"Safari-hat guy is here because he's heard the legends of the jungle beast 'el Abuelo', and he's here to punch it's ticket. Mr. No-Smokes is here because his heart has been recently broken and he has come to Santa Boca to get away from his troubles.And you El Signor, have come to Santa Boca because you have heard of how beautiful our women are."
"You Signor have a sharp eye and a sharp wit my friend" Pointing to Santa Boca on the map "you know any local short cuts or directions to this place? I hear there is something there worth sampling" Russo smirks. "Short cut? I can do one better! I know the best guide in town...and if you are going to be in town long, I suggest that you stay at the 'Caribbean Hideaway Inn' it's right next to the 'Ciudad de Perros Tavern'.
"A guide? And your brother no less, Signor! you do us too much kindness, let me just talk to my compatriots…" Russo pushes off the bar leaving the dark bearded Hispanic man to his cigarette.
Carlos calls after Russo."Amigo! You do not have to decide now. I'm just giving you suggestions. If you are still in town tonight, drop by 'Ciudad de Perros Tavern'. I will buy you and your friends a round! I am meeting my brother there for a few cervezas and to watch the fights…"
The Steam whistle blows again in succession. *TOOOOOOOT! TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!*
The 'Kingston Queen' has just docked. A gangplank is set up between the deck and the dock. The passengers on deck are directed by the crew to form a line. Carlos and his group have entered the line and have begun to move down the gangplank. But progress is slow. Passengers are being stopped by a group of Nazis checking ID.
Russo fails top notice the Nazis, and calls to his travellling companions."Hey you two! This could be important! This guy-" he jerks a thumb over his shoulder towards Carlos, "-says he can get us a guide…"
Eisen makes a quick step to get himself between Russo and the soldiers, shooting Russo a hard ‘shut your mouth!’ look as he goes. He doesn't suppose that they'd be terribly proficient with English - after all, not all Germans are - but he'd rather not take the chance to find out whether Russo could get himself killed, he gives a smile to the men checking papers as he walks toward them. Showing his military papers, he prays they are as friendly as he's trying to be. He explains his “situation” in German.
"Heil Hitler" responded a humorless German. His hair was cropped short. His eyes were blue and his hair was blonde. There was a certain national resemblance between him and Eisen. Russo ducked his head down quickly, hoping to divert attention away from himself. Eisen quickly speaks in his native tongue to the Nazis and seems to have satisfied their curiosity. The Nazi smiles warmly at Herr Abendroth, and waves the group past.
Russo was sweating bullets, Nazi straight from the port? Maybe he should have got in the fishing boat. He watched the extended exchange and breathed out a large sigh as the Germans waved them past, leaning towards Eisen he waited until the guards were occupied before whispering "I think you got us out of a very tight spot there, that could have gone very badly"
With the Nazis out of the way, and potentially useful later, Eisen gets his act together. "First thing's first; let's get this team equipment found, unloaded, and on its way into town. We have a lot to discuss..." Eisen takes in his surroundings. Looking around he sees what looks like it could be some kind of office. "I'd just as soon get the unloaded goods taken care of quickly. That building..." he points towards the old building he assumes to be an office of some sort, "...looks like the place to start. I'm not going to say you have to come with me, but it might be a better idea. Of course, if you would prefer to find the others and establish a meeting place, that would also be an excellent idea. If you encounter any more soldiers, just act like an Italian or American tourist. They might spit on you, but they'll probably leave you well enough alone as long as they haven't got a reason to be suspicious; not all Nazis are well-learned agents." With that, Eisen just starts along at a brisk pace towards the Spanish-looking building close to the dock.
"Spit on me?" Russo steps back "Well don't you worry about that! I'm more than used to being spat on, usually with nice fist sized bullets than gizzard juice though" he adds under his breath, following and Richard Eisen for a bit dodging around the carts and baskets and deckhands thinking about how to make himself useful…
"Eisen" he said, "I just want to go check around town, perhaps meet up with the others, that man said he may have a guide for us, I would prefer it if we knew how far the Nazi had got in their search but I don't speak German" he shrugged "also I have something in the luggage I might need you to pick up for me if I'm not back in an hour, It's a couple of machine guns, wrapped in a cream tarp, used to be bolted to my plane, kinda precious to me for some reason... can't think why"
"Right. I suppose I'll be staying here then while Eisen goes inside to handle this." Richard said. "Where are you off to, Russo? Would you like us to try to meet you somewhere if this takes quicker than expected?"
Richard gives Russo a hard look. "Well?" He looked around to see if perhaps Russo's attention had been snatched away by the sight of a pretty girl. "I'm still considering, the others should be around the town by now right? I'll try and meet up with them, if I'm not back within an hour or if you get bored" he smirks "come look for me at the Ciudad de Perros tavern" Russo responds.
Richard nods. "Alright."
Eisen takes his leave and makes his way towards the building. The door is wide open. Looking in he sees that the Office is a really just a benched waiting room with a desk. It is dusty and dry. There is a rusting fan blowing air at a sweating over-weight Guatemalan man. He sits in a wooden chair. Behind him the wall is lined with filing cabinets in various shapes of repair. The room smells of old socks and bananas, oddly.
There is a line of 6 people waiting behind a rope ten feet in front of the clerk’s desk. A man sits in front of the desk speaking to the clerk. There is a man dressed in a Nazi SS uniform sitting on one of the many benches. He’s appears to be reading an issue of TIME magazine. Joseph Stalin is on the cover as Man of the Year.
Eisen stops for a second outside the room. He takes note of the people in the room. SS? There WAS something here very important to Hitler, the greasy lard-bucket traitorous hog. Loyal men to Hitler; if it had been Eisen on his own, he'd have walked outside, torched the building, and shot any who exited, he can stand soldiers of Germany embroiled in the conflict, but not those "loyal" pigs! In any case, it was time to get moving. Taking the envelope out of his pocket, he opens it to examine the contents; looking for anything that might make the SS officer suspicious.
This is the white envelope that Wilkes handed to Sgt Kestrel on the deck. On its front it reads in ink: Dockmaster. It is thick, roughly an inch, possibly more.
Inside the envelope you immediately notice that there is a thick wad of cash. Guatemalan currency mostly, but some of the bills are from neighboring British Honduras. You aren't quite sure of the conversion but you think that this is enough to feed a small family for a month.
There is also the claim slip for your party's cargo and a handwritten note to the Dockmaster. In English it simply says: Per our previous arrangement. Gracias.
Upon seeing its content, he steps into the room, curiously examining the board of messages. Once finished, he turns around to give each man inside a good look, and walks to the desk with a polite nod to anyone who cares to look at him. Stepping to the desk, he hands over the list of equipment, the cash, and the note. He has no idea if he's being ripped off, but he doesn't so much care; hopefully Kestrel knew what he was doing.
MEANWHILE...
"A Separate Path"
"Good morning fella...nice hat...shall we get going now? we are all here." The man called Esteban nods in return.
In addition to Max; Dr. Loder and Sgt. Kestrel have also departed on the fishing boat, and soon the fishing boat is away from the freighter, and arriving at a small dock. Esteban ties the boat up, and motions for you to follow him into the tree line.
A Second man approaches "¿Usted habla español?"
Dr. Loder looks up. "Sí, hablo español. Mi nombre es el doctor Loder." All conversation with this man is in Spanish with Dr. Loder translating. "He says his name is Paco, and this is his brother, Esteban. They have offered to help us acquire the mules and local guides for our trip."
There is more discussion and Loder fills Max and John in on the situation; "If you guys are ready to get going, the horse will do for our bags. Esteban says it won't take long to get there. There will be about three dozen Nazis in Santa Boca, but they shouldn't be too difficult to avoid."
John tips his hat to the brothers to show them he appreciates their effort."Gracias." Max handles over his backpack to the horse's back."Ok let's get going then.."
They begin to lead the way up a winding foot path. Above your heads strange and colorful birds cry out to each other from perches amongst high trees and heavy bushes. Many fly overhead, snatching up stray gnats.
The path is narrow enough that you are forced to walk single file.
Paco takes the lead and Esteban follows last behind the party leading the horse by the reins. The Heavy forest rises up surrounding you on either side of the winding path. You can hear the sound of the waves crashing ashore, but you can no longer see the water.
Max scans the whole area around them the whole time...he does not trust anyone, especially in this part of the world and when he is dealing with nazis...fortunately the jungle is not such a big issue for him. His superior tracking skills allow him to spot danger first. He spots a coral snake on a rock up ahead on the trail while Paco is heading exactly that way “WAIT! PACO stay still”
"****! John exclaims as he hears Max' warning to Paco and reflexively draws his Colt. Reflexively translating Max's warning, Dr. Loder grabs Paco's shoulder. "¡Tenga cuidado, hay una serpiente de coral!"
Paco starts in surprise. "¡Oh! ¡Gracias mi amigo! ¡Gracias! No vi la serpiente. ¡Me disculpo!" Paco takes his tall walking stick, and uses it to get below the snake and to hurl it into the jungle, making the path clear to walk again. He again takes the lead, walking about ten feet further ahead of the group than he had before. Clearly, he doesn't want to be shown up by gringo Max again.
The vast greenery of the plants and trees is just... everywhere. The sounds of birds echo throughout the tree canopy above, and flying insects of all shapes, sizes and colors flutter or buzz by. The gnats have eased up, but there are still too many. The morning was beginning to get warmer as well, adding to the thick layer of humidity that clung to everything. Sweat fills your shirts, and your hair is slick with it. It should be getting close to lunch time soon. You should be in town by then you realize, and can easily grab a bite to eat.
Paco speaks to Loder and once again Loder translates, "We're coming up on a small fishing village, Santa Boca is just beyond it." John puts his Colt back in its holster. "Ah, that's good news. Let's hope there are less gnats there."
The trail widened, eventually they reached a small fishing community preparing to take carts of fish to the Market in Santa Boca. As the group entered the town, most people looked their way and gave them a friendly nod.
An older woman stopped to speak with Paco. She spoke in low tones. As the group walks passed the older woman, she gives the party a hard stare. A group of children sit in a half-circle around a graying old man. He sits on a stump, and holds his wooden cane in his gnarled hands. “¿Usted desea de oír la historia cómo mi padre y yo vinimos ser buscados por El Abuelo?” he asks the children.
Dr. Loder stops at the old man's words. "¿El Abuelo?"
“Story time señores. For the children, but I won’t try to stop you if you wish to listen as well.” Loder, turning to the others, rummages through his bag and pulls out his journal. "Let's take a rest for a moment, I want to hear this.
"You sure we got the time for that, Doc? I don't want to keep the others waiting." Kestrel points out.
"This shouldn't take long, anyways, these old stories and legends tend to provide insight into the local area.
"If you say so..."
As the old man begins his story, he speaks rapidly in Spanish and occasional word or phrase in English. Giving grand motions to his words in a way that would excite a child. He makes a 'clawing motion' with both of his hands at the mention of 'The Grandfather'. El Abuelo. "He says that when he was a young man he would go on regular hunting trips with his father. These trips would take them far into the jungle, past forgotten ruins, of places his people have long forgotten.
His father and he had been tracking a wild boar, and had managed to wound it with an arrow. But the boar was tough and ran into a dark cavern. After a few moments, they heard it squeal and then was silent. Certainly it must have fallen into a pit and broken its back.
His dad wanted to give up on it, but the young man insisted that they could get it. They had rope and they had made some torches with which to safely navigate the cave.
So the two men went into the mouth of the cave. There was a terrible smell coming from it, and they decided that there was likely a pit inside that all these animals would stumble into and die. They almost decided to back out, but at this point the son was too excited and wanted to go. So they went deeper, and deeper still. They began to snap dry twigs and sticks under their feet as they went deeper. The two men lowered the torches down to see, and they found the bones of hundreds of animals spread about.
Raising their torches, they found themselves face to face with the legendary creature that these people call 'El Abuelo - The Grandfather'-- It was like a bear in form, but its fur was a grey or tan. Fresh blood stained its muzzle and it chomped down on the wild pig. It’s eyes glowed in the torchlight as it fixed onto the Father and Son.
Then they ran out of the cave. Tripping over bones, they were nearly out of the cave when the creature let out a monstrous scream.
They understood exactly what El Abuelo had said. 'Stay out.'"
Quickly thanking the old man for his tale, Loder turns back to the others. "I've heard stories of this beast before, but never told by one who claims to have seen it himself. This El Abuelo is something of a local boogeyman. A spook story to keep the children from wandering away, and all that. Still, stories like this always have their root in fact. If we had more time, I'd like to explore the area that the old man was talking about."
Max finds the whole story pretty interesting and totally agrees with what Dr Loder commented about stories having their roots in fact. Besides, this was not the first time he was hearing the story about El Abuelo…
Yeah, that's a pretty good story, but I doubt it's more than that." John says skeptically. He’s clearly unimpressed with the local folklore. "Think we can continue on our way, Doc?" Loder agrees."Good idea... Paco, vamos!" Even as he says this, your group sees that the fish carts are completely filled, and a large group of the villagers begin to escort the carts from their village. Soon you find yourself arriving at Santa Boca from the north.
The town looks haphazard, with paved roads and buildings at odd angles with one another. The majority of roofs appear to be the red clay Spanish shingles. But every so after thatched huts rise up amongst the crumbling colonial style buildings.
The streets and paths in the city are filled with travelers. Men, women, and children in bright colors and patterns. Horses, mules, and carts of all sizes and shapes move through the congested streets.
The villagers move along, presumably towards to the town square where the Market would most likely be held.
Paco and Etseban hang back a bit, along with your group.
"Hemos llegado, señores.
-Nate
I'm kind of late to the thread, here, but this is some excellent work. -Nate
Thanks Nate! I appreciate that!
Currently I am running a Play-by-Post version of this game and I have to say that it is the best version of this campaign that I have yet run hands down-- For those of you who are interested feel free to check out the massive game that has been running since March 23, 2009. There are alternate setting details and a much more thorough and detailed plot.
I'm not advertising more players. I have a dedicated crew who post regularly, and all of the PCs I can handle at the moment.
-+-
What's new? Puerto de Santa Boca is much more fleshed out, and the encounters at the village of Orino Perro are completely flipped upside down and sideways. In many ways it is a completely new game built over the original version's framework.
What's new? Puerto de Santa Boca is much more fleshed out, and the encounters at the village of Orino Perro are completely flipped upside down and sideways. In many ways it is a completely new game built over the original version's framework.
Huge battle map of some Mayan Ruins. Hand-drawn. Puter-colored.
