Barrowmaze

Player Characters

• Torgo II, Halfling 5, 17/17 HP, AC 4
• Hrothgar, Dwarf 5, 23/23 HP, AC -1
• Severi Silvertongue, Elf 4, 21/21HP, AC 6
• Zortan the Heretic, Cleric 5, 24/24 HP, AC 3
• Telemachus, Magic-User 5, 22/22 HP, AC 9
• Aneirin the Sure, Elf 4, 12/12 HP, AC 2
• Blank Labyrinth Lord Sheet

Retainers

• Viabet - Thief 2, 11/11 HP, AC 8, retainer to Fraiio the Friendless
• Socus - Magic-User 1, 3/3 HP, AC 9, retainer to Telemachus

Mercenaries

• San, Light Mounted
• Rutar, Light Mounted
• Tarn, Light Mounted
• Anis, Mounted Bowman
• Kolla, Mounted Bowman
• Gery, Heavy Mounted
• Wine, Heavy Mounted
• Epher, Heavy Mounted
• Helry, Heavy Mounted
• Reder, Heavy Mounted

Encumbrance Ape

• Torgo II
  • Adventuring Gear: 45 lbs
  • Treasure: 0 lbs
  • Total Encumbrance: 45 lbs
  • Movement Rate: 90'
• Zortan the Heretic
  • Adventuring Gear: 50 lbs
  • Treasure: 2.3 lbs
  • Total Encumbrance: 52.3 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'
• Aneirin the Sure
  • Adventuring Gear: 59 lbs
  • Treasure: 0 lbs
  • Total Encumbrance: 59 lbs
  • Movement Rate: 90'
• Telemachus
  • Adventuring Gear: 29.5 lbs
  • Treasure: Necklace, 1 lb.
  • Total Encumbrance: 30.5 lbs
  • Movement Rate: 120'
• Viabet, Thief retainer
  • Adventuring Gear: 34 lbs
  • Treasure: 0 lbs
  • Total Encumbrance: 34 lbs
  • Movement Rate: 120'
• Socus, M-U retainer
  • Adventuring Gear: 22 lbs
  • Treasure: 0 lbs
  • Total Encumbrance: 22 lbs
  • Movement Rate: 120'

Treasure, XP Awards, Party Slush Fund

XP Awards

• Defeated six harpies (92/46 XP)
• Found loot and defeated two Tower Guardians (218/72 XP)

Treasure

• Platinum necklace (800 gp?), carried by Telemachus
• 6 garnets (100 gp each), wolf's head silver ring (200 gp), dagger with wolf head shaped into hilt with preserved leather sheath (IC 628 [1]), carried by Zortan
• Staff of the Spectre (aka Gahlemdas's Staff), carried by Telemachus
  • Passwall effect, cast Web, function as a Wand of Paralyzation or be broken as a retributive strike
  • At the same time Socus examines the staff. It takes about an hour, and at the end of the time the young mage is staring at the staff with awe. "It's the most powerful thing I've ever seen, and I'm not sure I've plumbed the depths of its powers, nor have an accurate idea of how much energy remains stored in it. But here's what I was able to tell. It functions as a normal magical stave vis a vis the ability to damage certain creatures only vulnerable to magic, if used in combat. The wielder can use it to open a portal through almost any material, or create a mass of a sticky, web-like material. Further, its powers can be called upon to create a cone shape ray that freezes all within its area. In addition, should the need be great, the wielder can break the staff, releasing the remaining stored energy in a great explosion. This is likely to kill the wielder, in all honesty. Unfortunately, in my estimation the stave has little energy left, perhaps enough for four uses of any of the powers I described. Of course, breaking it uses up all the remaining energy."
  • The adventurers meet with Leera in the morning. She is handling the staff with more respect -- awe even, perhaps -- than the first time she laid hands on it. "This staff," she says, "was created by the Archmage Gahlemdas during the Second Age of Man, and lost from history until now. It is theorized that one of his apprentices claimed it after his death, but records from that time period are spotty, inconsistent at best. It is said the the fortress of Gahlemdas was once located far to the west of Greenspire, on the shores of the Shallow Sea. But the boundaries of the ocean have changed since then, and no trace has ever been found of his once-mighty redoubt. This staff," she says, gesturing, "has the following abilities: It can create a mass of sticky strands, similar to the spell commonly known as Web. The wielder can use the stave to become invisible, or open a portal through solid material. She can summon a great whirlwind, such as those created by the elementals known as djinn. The wielder may create a cone of paralyzation, or if nearing defeat can break the staff, releasing the remaining stored energy in a potent explosion. Perhaps most interesting of all, there is an elemental of earth bound to this staff: the histories name it Renregin. The wielder can summon this being in time of need, but be wary, as you must maintain total concentration while the elemental is in this world, or it will be freed from its bonds and attempt to slay the bearer of the staff. We have determined there are nine uses remaining to this puissant item." She takes a deep breath. "I have spoken to my superiors, who have in turn contacted the Guild offices in Eras. We are prepared to offer you thirty thousand gold noturis for this item."
  • Recharging: the list of ingredients needed to restore Gahlemdas's Staff to its full power. The items are, as follows:
    • A gem of unusual size and clarity, worth at least ten thousand gold coins.
    • A skein of giant spider silk, taken from a living spider.
    • A dozen basilisk claws.
    • One pound of raw earth from the plane of Elemental Earth, collected by the bearer of the stave.
    • The breath of a djinn.
    • The grave dirt from a ghoul's initial burial plot.
• Spectre's spellbook, carried by Zortan
  • 1st-Order: Charm Person, Detect Magic, Magic Missile, Ventriloquism + AEC: Jarring Hand, Summon Familiar, Unseen Servant
  • 2nd-Order: Continual Light, Detect Evil, Knock, Locate Object, Web + AEC: Amnesia, Fool's Gold
  • 3rd-Order: Clairvoyance, Hold Person, Lightning Bolt + Feign Death, Suggestion

Disbursed coinage

• Recovered 1,998 gp from Treasure Map #1 [2]
• Spectre's ruby, sold for 9100 gp and divided amongst Hrothgar, Zortan, Severi, Viabet, and party slush

Party Slush Fund

• each PC will donate 15% of the monies distributed to them as loot into the party's slush fund.
• Current Contents of Slush Fund = 378 gp in scrip/gems

Marching Order

In the dungeon, without mercenaries

Hrothgar / Torgo

Severi / Zortan

Socus (NPC) / Telemachus

Viabet (NPC) / Fraiio

Watch Order

Shift 1: Severi + Telemachus + Socus

Shift 2: Torgo II + Viabet

Shift 3: Torgo II + Hrothgar

Shift 4: Hrothgar

Shift 5: Aneirin + Zortan

2 hour delay: catch-up sleep for Torgo + Hrothgar, the elves and spellcasters keep watch and alternate spell study

All shifts are 2 hours.

Beasts of Burden

• Arisen, Zortan's war horse, HP: 18/18
• Baldawin, Severi's Warhorse. HP: 13/13, AC 5
• Horse, Hrothgar's pony, HP 10/10
• Caul, Zortan's draft horse, HP 8/8
• Saeldarin, Aneirin's warhorse, HP: 12/12, AC 5
• Pringle, Fraiio's pony, HP 4/4
• Old Reliable, Torgo's pony, HP 10/10
• Sterling, Triath's warhorse, HP 12/12
• Aithon, Telemachus' warhorse HP 10/10
• Emma, Viabet's riding horse, HP 11/11
• Hetch, Everbert's riding horse, HP 13/13
• Mustard, Socus' riding horse, HP 3/3
• Wagon and 4 draft horses

Maps

• The Barrows (09.04 of the Duchy map)
• Duchy of Aerik
• An important post with directions to various treasure maps is here.
• Wizard's Tomb Map [3]
• The Expanding World
• Harpy Lair [4]

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 Duchy 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 (34.07, #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 Duchy map)

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.

Fallen Adventurers

• Torgo the Tall, Halfling 5, 15/22 HP, AC -2
• Triath, Magic-User 5, 16/16 HP, AC 9
• Fraiio the Friendless - Halfling 5, 18/20 HP, AC 3
• Everbert - Magic-User 1, 2/2 HP, AC 7, retainer to Triath

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

Spells, Scrolls, and Spellbooks

That implies to me that "learning" how to cast a spell (or memorizing it) is merely a function of being able to read it. So, once someone reads a spell book they can then prepare any spells contained within, and can read them in the future without having to cast Read Magic again.

Casting Spells from Scrolls: The caster must first read the scroll with Read Magic. This *does not* give the caster the ability to prepare that spell himself, and it does allow him to read higher level spells than he can cast. The assumption is, I think, that the writing on the scroll is kind of a short hand that simply releases stored energy and doesn't actually describe how to *cast* the spell.

Preparing Spells from a Spellbook: Once you read a spell in a book you can prepare it. Having thought about it, I'd like to start tracking spellbook weight as opposed to lumping it in with adventuring gear (see below). I am also going to start rolling for damage to spellbooks, from water, fire or what have you, since there is actual a section on replacing damaged spellbooks in LL Basic (p. 19). So, a standard spellbook is going to weigh 5 pounds and can hold a total of 50 spell levels. You can also purchase traveling spell books, which are smaller, weighing only 2 pounds, and can hold a total of 20 spell levels. Traveling spell books are also more resistant to damage, and cost 20 gp. The idea is that a magic-user might accumulate a bunch of spellbooks in their library, but have a smaller, condensed book they travel with that contains a select number of spells.

Learning New Spells without Read Magic: It is assumed that low-level characters learn spells from higher level casters, and that higher level casters research spells.

Since this is all kind of a retcon, I'll allow the spellcasters in the party to swap out one of their first level spells for Read Magic, if desired.

Spellbooks: The LL rules state it is a week and 1000 gp per spell level to replace a book that has been destroyed, so let's say it takes one day and 100 gp per spell level to recopy a spell you know -- and have access to, obviously -- to a second spell book (this does not apply to scribing scrolls, of course).

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.

There's a class III city -- Greenspire -- about three days' ride away, and several Class II cities within three or four days of that. The nearest Class I city is about a ten to fourteen day ride from Helix. You've got essentially three months before the moors become impassable and the Barrowmaze is no longer accessible.

Greenspire

Named for the ancient opaque tower of green, nigh impenetrable glass-like material that rises hundreds of feet above the surrounding plain, Greenspire is a small city of about twenty thousand located at the crossroads of great trading wheel between the Inner Kingdoms and farflung Outer Territories, of which the Duchy of Aerik is but one remote settlement out of tens, or even hundreds.

• Temples
  • The House of Life and Death, where most Greenspirians are laid to rest and their bodies prepared for the journey to the afterworld, located just inside the northern gate on the other side of the city
  • Whispering Waters, an ancient stone edifice half in and half out of the river Vela, a place sacred to the eponymous goddess of those waters. "Either one will raise your friend, for a fee. Me, I'd try Vela, if only 'cause there's always a chance the House misfiles some paperwork and decides he needs to be cremated instead of brought back."
    • The temple of the Whispering Waters is a low-slung stone building canted at a crazy angle and half-submerged in the wide, slow waters of the River Vela. From where the adventurers stand, Hrothgar is of the opinion that the entire building has been carved from a single piece of granite, by unknown hands, thousands of years in the past. The interior is dark and humid, with algae growing on the walls. The interior floor slopes at a fifteen degree angle towards the river, which occupies the lower half of the building.
  • Zortan discovers that the Greenspirans, for the most part, worship a number of different gods. The Whispering Waters temple is devoted to Vela, the local river goddess, and the most important of the local deities. The House of Life and Death, where he buys the second healing potion, seems to be devoted to not one deity in particular but rather the abstraction of the cycle of life. There are a number of other smaller temples throughout the town, either sacred to single deities -- such as Thliul, the patron of good hunting and safe journeys, Tsukan, the goddess of pecuniary prosperity (much beloved in Greenspire) and Naki, the horse-lord -- or devoted to an entire pantheon of gods. In a secluded side street he finds an ancient building of tumbledown stone dedicated to the worship of the Anganach, the old gods of the moor-lands. He is able to purchase a half-dozen vials of holy water from the elderly priest on duty.
• Collegia Arcana (Mage's Guild) and Leera the Lonely
  • Located a mere block away from the 'Spire itself, on a quiet side street, the Collegia is an imposing building with a facade of black, non-reflective stone. The Guild's sigil is emblazoned above the entrance, crossed staves in front of a full wineglass. The foyer is large and somber; several groups of men and women in robes are clustered about, murmuring in low voices.
  • "Standard Guild price to identify magical items is one thousand gold noturi. If you choose to sell the staff to the Guild after it has been identified, we will pay you an additional one thousand gold noturi on top of your asking price. Should you choose to sell it elsewhere, you will have official Guild papers outlining the powers and peerage of the item." If you choose not to pay -- or to wait -- to have the item identified, the Guild would be willing to pay you five thousand noturi, once we ascertain that it is indeed magical, and not cursed.
• Vendors
  • Eber the Bookbinder [5] and [6]: There are several booksellers in Greenspire, and a bookbinder located a block away from the Collegia specializes in selling exactly those sorts of things. The owner has a variety of books for sale, from basic leather bound books to those bound in exotic hides, or treated with alchemical preservatives, or protected by various wards.
  • Potent philters and enigmatic elixirs: Hrothgar discovers there are several sources for such things within Greenspire. The Guild itself has a small supply of potions, typically those mixed by apprentices and sold to supplement tuition. The dwarf is told such potions are typically sold at slightly less than the standard market rate. There are several apothecaries and alchemists in town that carry the occasional potion, and there are also two independent mages -- Riron the Red and Nala Nine-fingers that make their living casting spells, brewing potions and so forth. Of course, healing potions can always be obtained at the larger temples.
  • Three jewelers stand out from the rest. Lady Chetmari, Mibeorth the Miser, and one other: [7], [8] and [9]
  • Silver Standard Company: Before leaving the inn Severi made inquiries, and determined that the Silver Standard Company -- upon whom the bank notes are written -- has their main offices in Greenspire. From what the innkeeper says, it is halfway around the city, in a less prosperous section of town. "They're small," he says, "and I only know of them 'cause my brother-in-law used to be a partner, before he got a poisoned spear in the gut from those fucking frogmen they've got out there in the bogs."

Helix

It is typical of any small frontier town; the few roads within the village are dirt (or mud, as the case may be), the houses small and rustic. Krothos Ironguard rules over Helix from a small keep with earthen walls on the eastern edge of town.

• Temples
  • There is a small temple to St. Ygg in the center of town
• Vendors
  • HHR Huffnpuff's
  • the moneylender
  • Turgen's Trade Goods
  • The Axe and Anvil smithy
  • The Brazen Stumpet Inn
  • The Foul Pheasant, a combination tavern and brothel
  • a young elf named Valeron serves as the bowyer
• Other locations of note
  • the Mercenary Guild
  • the Silver Standard Mercantile Company
  • to the north, the tower of Mazzahs the Magnificent is the highest building in town

Rumors

• There are at least three score barrows scattered about the moors, most of which date back to the Second Age of Man, centuries or even millennia ago. Some of the barrows have been broached, but many more remain sealed. More than a few still need to be excavated, or their massive stone seals broken with crowbars and sledgehammers.

• There is a maze of corridors and rooms located below the barrows themselves, said to be filled with both traps and treasure.

• The dead have been seen walking the Barrowmoor with increasing frequency.

• The mutated people of Barrowmaze guard fabulous treasure.

• An elven maiden was recently freed from the Barrowmaze.

• All the entrances to the Barrowmaze are trapped.

• Runic tablets can contain curses as well as information.

• For safety seek the pools.

DM Notes

Link to DM Notes thread. [10]