Barrowmaze

Player Characters

• Hrothgar, Dwarf 5, 23/23 HP, AC 0
• Severi Silvertongue, Elf 4, 21/21 HP, AC 6
• Triath, Magic-User 5, xx/xx HP, AC xx
• Zortan the Heretic, Cleric 5, 23/23 HP, AC 3
• Fraiio the Friendless - Halfling 5, 20/20 HP, AC 3
• Torgo the Tall, Halfling 5, 22/22 HP, AC -2
• Blank Labyrinth Lord Sheet

Retainers

• Viabet - Thief 2, 7 HP, AC ?, retainer to Fraiio the Friendless

Encumbrance Ape

• Zortan the Heretic
  • Adventuring Gear: 50 lbs
  • Treasure: 0 lbs
  • Total Encumbrance: 50 lbs
  • Movement Rate: 90'
• Severi Silvertongue
  • Adventuring Gear: 60 lbs
  • Treasure: 0
  • Total Encumbrance: 60
  • Movement Rate: 90/30
• Hrothgar
  • Adventuring Gear: 59 lbs
  • Treasure: 0 lbs
  • Total Encumbrance: 59 lbs
  • Movement Rate: 90'
• Fraiio the Friendless
  • Adventuring Gear: 54 lbs
  • Treasure: 0 lbs
  • Total Encumbrance: 54 lbs
  • Movement Rate: 90'
• Torgo the Tall
  • Adventuring Gear: 48.7 lbs
  • Treasure: 0 lbs
  • Movement Rate: 90'/30'
• Viabet, Thief retainer
  • Adventuring Gear: 34 lbs
  • Treasure: 0 lbs
  • Total Encumbrance: 34 lbs
  • Movement Rate: 120'

Beasts of Burden

• Arisen, Zortan's war horse
• Baldawin, Severi's Warhorse. HP: 13/13, AC 5
• Horse, Hrothgar's pony.
• Caul, Zortan's draft horse
• Pringle, Fraiio's pony
• Old Reliable, Torgo's pony
• Emma, Viabet's riding horse

Maps

• The Barrows
• Duchy of Aerik
• An important post with directions to various treasure maps is here.

Plot Hooks

Treasure map to a hoard of 6d6x1000 gp value: Some time ago, the adventurers were sold a map by a one-legged fighter who claimed to know the location of the largest pile of gold he had ever seen. He estimated there were roughly 21,000 coins in an immense hill. Unfortunately, the gold was guarded by an immense beast with more heads than he could count. "And that's when I lost my leg and decided to retire" he chuckled, "the loot's located in the middle of this god-forsaken swamp, too. Skeeters the size of robins." The map leads to the location 04.08 on the map)

Treasure map to 2 magic items, 5d6 gems: A passage in an old, musty tomb led to the discovery of the location of the tomb of the ancient wizard Fortingarris. The book indicated the wizard was buried with, among other things, a ruby the size of a man's head, his staff of wizardly might, and his spellbook, which was said to contain several spells unknown to modern man. This tomb is located on the great field of barrows located south of the little town of Helix (#71, on the barrow map). The ancient book refers to a number of cunning traps and guardians guarding the old wizard's tomb.

Treasure worth 1d4 x 1000 gp. The map, found rolled up in a scroll case discovered amongst the possessions of a dead thief, lead to a spot just north of a town called Helix. "We buried the chest in a copse of willows, half a day north of Helix, on top of the tallest hill in the area." Hex 10.02

Another treasure map, 1d6 gems, 2d10 jewelry: A vast hoard of gems and ornate jewelry is said to be secreted in ruins of a place called The Secret Shrine of Zorgon, located somewhere in the Moon Peaks South of Bogtown. While the exact location of the Shrine is not known, the adventurers possess a map of the shrine itself, with a secret chamber marked as the resting place of the treasure.

Houserules

• Fighters and Dwarves will be able to Cleave, as per ACKS p. 105.
• We will be using Shields will be Splintered.
• I really like the alternate class features that Dyson Logos had in Dodecahedron #7. I will roll for two and let you choose which you prefer. I will roll for an additional feature at the following levels: 8, 12, 16 and so forth. The Focused class feature stacks with XP bonuses from Prime Characteristics.
• I'll be rerolling hit points at each level. If the total rolled is lower than the previous total, the character gains a minimum of 1 hp.
• We'll also be using Lifestyle costs listed on p. 51 of the ACKS Corebook, as corresponds to the character's level. Therefore, a 4th level character would be paying 200 gp per month. All characters begin with the first month of lifestyle costs paid. Lifestyle costs cover the following: basic food, drink and lodging, incidental equipment such as rations, torches, standard lamp oil, etc. (essentially, any item with a cost of 1 gp or less) and taxes and incidental fees (the largest of which will be conversion of ancient coinage to modern).
• Up to twenty coins/gems can be carried in a belt pouch or manly coin purse without adding to encumbrance. Likewise, if jewelry is worn it does not add to encumbrance, but may likely attract the attention of thieves.
• Dwarves and Halflings ride ponies. Human or elves can fire or cast spells over dwarves or halflings in the rank immediate before them; characters with polearms or spears can attack from the second rank past any height in the first rank.
• Magic armor has half the encumbrance value of non-magical armor.
• Basic adventuring gear takes up 8 pounds, regardless of the actual weight/makeup, within reason.
• We'll be using group initiative, re-rolled each round, modified by each PC's Dexterity.
• Let's call a potion 1/2 pound. Ten sheets of paper = 1 pound.
• Magical armor (including shields) weigh half normal.
• According to the Beginning Spells section on p. 19, each spellcaster can choose two 1st level spells and one 2nd level spell for their books. If you can cast a third level spell choose one of third level as well. In addition, each spellcaster will have the following random spells per level they can cast added to their books: 1st level: 1d4 2nd level: 1d3 3rd level: 1d2

Languages

• Human/Demi-human languages
  • Common
  • Faery (elven and other fey creatures)
  • Undertongue (dwarvish and gnomish and kobold)
• Non-human languages
  • Bestial (includes orc, ogre, gnoll)
  • Goblin (includes hobgoblin and bugbear)
  • Grog (includes neanderthal, troglodyte, mongrelman)
  • Swampspeak (includes frogling and lizardman)
  • Draconic
  • Giant

Elves speak Common, Faery, Goblin and Bestial.

The Gods

The Ancient Ones, called the Anganach by the folk of the region, represent the elder gods . Whether they preexisted in the forests, swamps, and old streams of the land, or whether they were brought with the first humans, few can say . The humans who founded Ironguard Motte, Helix, and Bogtown (called the Second Settlement by local sages) found protection in the worship of Silvanus (Green Man), Herne the Hunter, Cromm Cruach, Impurax, and to a lesser extent, Nergal . Through respect and reverence for the wilderness and its deities, the human settlers learned to survive and established their villages . With the migration of the new gods from the civilized kingdoms to the east, the Anganach are in decline.

The New Gods, called the Futurus, include the faiths of St . Ygg and Arcantryl, and the more clandestine cults devoted to Orcus and Set . Slowly their priests have made their way to the duchy . The clerics of St . Ygg have been aggressive in their attempts to convert the people from the “primitive” faiths of Silvanus and Herne . They established a stone temple at Ironguard Motte, converted the Ironguard family, and began to spread their influence from the major trade and political center of the district . Although the cults of Orcus and Set are not openly worshipped their influence has started to grow in the dark corners of the region.

Despite its isolation from the outside world, the people of the duchy (particularly those in Ironguard Motte) have heard tales of foreign religions including Kor the Sun God, Athena the Goddess of Military Strategy, Thor the God of Thunder and Lightning, and others.

Setting

The Barrowmaze book describes an area of of 11 x 11 6-miles hexes as the Duchy of Aerik. There are three towns (Ironguard Motte, the largest settlement, Class V), Bogtown and Helix (Class VI, the town closest to the Barrowmaze, where I'm assuming you guys will start). The Barrows are a half-days walk from Helix, and you guys are likely going to need a guide to get there the first time. In the past I've been pretty lax about leaving mount outside of dungeons, assuming that if reasonable precaution is taken they'll be left alone, for the most part, but the area around the Maze is pretty dangerous, so having mercenaries to watch the horses might not be a bad idea.