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- The -
CharmedGrotto
A BX Adventure for Characters levels 5 - 8
 
The Charmed Grotto
The charmed Grotto is a B/X adventure for a party ofcharacters levels 5 to 8. It takes place near a small townof farmers and peasants who cannot really offer muchin the way of aid or retainers to the adventurers. A partywith a lot of retainers may find most of the adventureeasier than normal, but the final encounter with thetoad-vampires will remain as much of a challenge as fora small party. A high level cleric (who realizes thenature of the foes) can make the entire adventure acake-walk.The adventure begins when the party isnear the charmed grotto. The smallvillage of Ostercook is nearby. There area variety of ways to get the partyinvolved in the adventure.1. The party is raided by bandits fromarea 3 of the grotto while campednearby. In this case, add extra sleepingequipment to the bandit's lair to accountfor whatever bandits you used in theambush on the party. The bandits in theraid will have their morale break quicklyand will try to retreat to the grotto,leading the party there. Otherwise theparty can track the attackers back totheir home.2. The party is either travelling past thegrotto or stopped in at Ostercook whenthey hear of Old Bill who just wentmissing. If they are at the Inn, then asmall group of townfolk come in andexplain the story, otherwise theyencounter the townsfolk on the hilltopoutside of town. Old Bill is the residentswordmaster who keeps most of thetrouble at bay in town. This morning hewent to the general store, bought abunch of rope and then headed out oftown. On the hilltop he went to a gapbetween two large rocks and tied hisrope to one and climbed down into anold cave. Everyone knows there grotto isthe home to a massive colony of giantblack widow spiders, but Old Billwouldn't listen to anyone and justclimbed on down, walked off to theSouth and was quickly out of sight.3. This option works best for a groupwho need financial encouragement. A
An adventure by Dyson Logos
–
rpgcharacters.wordpress.com
 
The Charmed Grotto
known bandit raider turns up at the Inn while the partyis in Ostercook. He looks dishevelled and bloodied. Hedescribes how something evil stalked the darkness ofthe bandit's lair killing many of them and taking offwith their loot... thousands of gold in plundered goods.He throws himself on the mercy of the townfolk fortheir protection from the beast, and is willing to tell theparty how to get to the bandit entrance to the grotto(area 4).
RumoursRumours
There are several rumours the party can pick up inOstercook. If a character asks around, roll 1d3-1 andadd the character's Reaction Adjustment to determinehow many rumours the character learns. Roll a d12 forthe rumours on the table below, re-rolling anyduplicates that the same character would learn.
1-2. (True)
Bandits have a lair nearby where theyconduct raids on merchants and farmers. FortunatelyOld Bill keeps them out of town. (Area 3 of the Grotto)
3-4. (True)
Old Bill fought against bugbears andhobgoblins when he first helped establish Ostercook,but the town's been pretty safe since then.
5. (False)
Old Bill is actually a worshipper of a darkgod. He gives the god sacrifices of dead animals on thehilltop near town a few times every season. (See thenext rumour below for an explanation)
6. (True)
Old Bill dumps livestock carcasses down intoa hole at the top of the hill. But when you go look thenext day, the bodies can't be seen. (Old Bill made a dealwith the surviving Bugbears. They don't raid the villageand he won't have the villagers work together againstthem, and he trhows them the occasional free meat.)
7. (False)
A spider-dragon lives in the grotto under thehilltop where it lords over the other spiders in theregion.
8. (True)
The bugbears never left the area, I swear I'veseen them lurking around some seasons late at night.
9. (False)
There is a massive moss emerald in the grottounder the hill that has strange magical powers overplants.
10-12 (True and False)
There is a massive colony ofdeadly giant black widow spiders in the grotto under thehilltop. They used to kill the cattle of any farmer foolishenough to allow them to graze on the hillside.
Going UndergroundGoing Underground
The assumption is that the party will be following OldBill into the grotto by starting in area 1, however theymight instead be entering in through the bandit entranceat area 4.The entrance to area 1 is a fault between the massiverocks that make up the cave walls and ceiling. Theresult is a gash about twenty feet long and up to fourfeet wide at it's widest point. There are a pair ofboulders here appropriate for tying a rope to, and thenew rope Old Bill just bought is tied to one and knottedalong its length as it dangles to the floor of the grotto 50feet below.The entrance to area 4 is a very well concealed caveentrance on the back face of the hill where it looksdown over the merchant road. There are a few smallshrubs and a large rock providing cover in front of theentrance (and allowing bandits to post someone here towatch travellers on the road). Odds are that the partywill not be able to find this entrance without the help ofthe bandits. If they specifically look for it, exploring thehillside will take 1d4 hours and will turn up theentrance on a 1-2 on a d6 (1-3 for an elf).
The Toad VampiresThe Toad Vampires
The new masterminds and lords of the Grotto are thepair of “toad vampires” that have taken up residence inthe sunken cavern. These
undead
toadpeople look likemassive humanoid toads in their “human” form,roughly 8 feet tall and almost as heavy as an ogre. Ingame terms they are the same as normal 8 hit die
vampires
except they lack the vampire weakness withregards to running water. Instead of sleeping in theircoffins, they sleep in specially made ponds filled withfilthy, diseased water.The toad vampires will most likely be encountered aswandering monsters initially instead of in their lair.They will try to sneak up on the party members andeither ambush them or try to charm stragglers ormembers of the party who have wandered off on theirown (which is what they did to Old Bill). They will usehit and run tactics and will try to keep their distance.
An adventure by Dyson Logos
–
rpgcharacters.wordpress.com
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