DEAD MAN'S QUEST: FREEPORT ADVENTURE BY GRAEME DAVIS Ce er Dunee- Gre TT ae ore ie it a3: iy it e UTS ST La ae eGo eT eg. A y ar \\ BA — “a Nl is UJ rnd Mellorn Who You Hospitality GonnaCall? MU NYU: 1 Oe PT are AT Beret niet EN paizo publishing” il IIn This Issue Now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were grad, God would permit us to be pirates, Life on the Mississippi Mark Twain Editorial 6 Mapof Mystery Test ofthe SmokingEye 38 David Noonan Letters 8 Critical Threat: Evard 5 The Shacked City Adventure Path con Mellorn Hospitality R rmatiguitors of the cy of Cluldron, = making the PCs thelr test pawns in Bey Soe ee ds ee tpmblt that leads all the way > the Mellorell hosts the Festal of Life. an Pose Tha ee she cgainn ee pear eae sey eal ee Lager tes ate wth the le of ey ind, Bat a dark the safety of Cauldron and all it zens Fart hat ould ca te Ua eg ‘A DAD shackled Ciy Adventte Path diane ces tana pla at a a deceit steel tare the way Haden, A DED aden fe Gthderl PCs Downer 4 (On THE Coven: Beautiful. Deadly. Iresstable. And that’ just seeing Orcus on the cover of a ns magazine. Artist Mark Nelson was also kind enough toi from the latest installment of Dungeot’'s Adventure Path lude a Tovely succubus in this seeneDungeon Adventure Player Rewards! Take advantage of the rpga’s Player Rewards program by scoring points with the adventures from ths issue of Dun- eon Magazine! Each adventure i worth 2 DED Player Rewards points, and remains active until 3/31/04. Drop by vwvrpg0.com for more details, and use the fllowing adventure codes Meliorn Hospitality (107MH1DN) Test of the Smoking Eye (107SE1DN) Dead Man's Quest (107DQ1DN) February 2004 Vol. 18, No.2 Issue 107 peesta ae the Rich Redman zo Modem and Urban Arcana heroes will want to consult this handy guide to dealing with Shadow expressions. Unfortunately, their enemies might Tarn a thing or two, too. Graeme Davis: Living pirates are a common enough haz- ard around the islands known as the Serpent's Teeth. A dead one is ever: more when his treasure has been stolen. A DRD Freeport adventure for ist-level character Potyntpmow: “Arr! When you be done soabbin’ the decks, head you tothe secret warehouse 'o the Cult othe Unspeakable ‘One anc scratch behind the ears '0 my pet quasit, Tale.” (Cover art by Aaron St. Goddard. meron mi en 4 tn var pi eye nn ‘Sic homult Ramend oe er open Fo tara Paat Sne bae WAnaDitching the “Campaign” you're anything ike me, you've got numerous shelves filled to bursting with D&D and d2o products. And ifyou'te anything like me, those books share more than just common set of rules. Way, way, way, way more than half of my gaming books have never been used in an actual game. Sure, I've read most of them, and have even jotted down some notes in the ‘margins with suggestions about how I might be able to use this or that prestige class, this map, oF that amazing feat. But more often than not, no matter how good the game product seems in and of itself, | end up shoving it back with its unloved brethren, muttering something about how this or that feature “just won't fim my campaign. Hey, its no secret that | ove the WoRLo oF GnevHawx camptign setting. Most of my D&D gaming since the very earliest days has taken place in Greyhawk, and wherever | star anew campaign, I'm pretty much duty-bound to set it somewhere inthe Flanaess. love so many of Greyhawk's trappings that even if created my own word, it would look an awful lot ike the WoRLD oF GrevHAWk. Numerous, often contentious human subraces? Yep. Wretched supernatural villains lurking in deep dungeons of their own design? Check, An emphasis on grit and shades of gray over NPC storytelling and “good vs. evil” fabulism? Absolutely But when considering whether or not to use the books on my shelves, my favorite campaign setting more often can be seen as a list of things that won ft, rather than an invitation to ty something new. \ love Gary Gygax’s adventure design. He wrote most of the D&D adventures | consider alltime classics, and | lke to pull one ofthe oldies out of mothballs every Dur 10} few years to spring it on younger gamers who never had the chance to experience it for the first time. So when Necromancer Games released Gary Gygox’s Necropolis last year, | was eager to start up another Greyhawk campaign using the new module as a starting point. The only problem was, Necropolis was set in a giant tomb in an Egyptian style desert. The WoRLD oF Gneviawe, for allt offers, doesn't realy have Edtnin ci ik Mors a place for that kind of adventure, | dejectedly slid Necropolis back onto the shelf, fis again regretting that it "just wouldn't fit my campaign.” sete i's that kind of thinking that keeps us from using 80% of the gaming books we EiZimus, eames buy. It’s cur assumption that every time we play we've got to be contributing to an _‘ANETHNESWes Decor Rab Swat endless, ongoing campaign that limits us from getting the full potential out of our Gefen ew tha ees stuff, leaving great gaming ideas, great adventures, languishing on the shef when Deaudieiy Mr nin they could be offering us hours of enjoyment. ‘ona Niort Wve launched more than a dozen “long term” campaigns in my time, and not 8 yctoucam Anat aden single one of them is going on right now. Many of them lasted no longerthan ahand- _Pov"sforon Gin Anbt_ Anon Grd ful of sessions, about the same amount of time | could have run a team through coming Aor Festal Bown Graeme Davis, Dvd Noonan, Ted Gygax's Egyptian tomb. Su ‘Which | intend to do very soon, long-term campaigns be damned. ‘fear he oe & Ae hg ab ato {he jms yan, rn Coe Po UO ‘ant Aa Auny, Oat Dopo ot ‘Eto chr Wak Erik Mona paizo polyhedron@paizo.com 6 Dunceon/PotyHepron February O4PRISON MAIL Tell us what you think ofthis issue. Write to: Prison Mail, Paizo Publishing, 3245 146th Place SE, Suite 110, Bellevue, WA 98007 ‘or send an email to dungeon @ @ Shock and Awe | would like to take a moment to compl ‘ment your magazine. I enjoy the articles, pictures, stories, comedy, and so forth. 1 purchase your magazine every chance 1 get. I get lucky to find it, sometimes, con- sidering that our base/camp has a lim- ited magazine selection. 1 got a few soldiers that feel the same way Ido around here. Keep up the great work you are doing, Your magazines keep our spit- its up around this desert. I do have one question or favor we ‘would like to request. Do you have a cat logue that festures Dungeon merchan- From a handawriten note on the back of gt. Elenes's photograph: “You might find this dise? I'm interested in purchasing picture interesting. These tanks in the background ore the ones Saddam used to invade miniatures, I've got afew soldiers in my Kuwoit in 1990-1991. The tonks were put out of commision bythe US (he, he) and were tunit who are interested in a longterm captured, Now they just sit herein Kuwait rusting. Enjoy the historical picture!” We sure game of D&D, Our resources here are limited, however, so we must resort to ‘mail order. The word around here is that did! If you're a Dungeon reader stuck out inthe desert, send us a picture featuring yourself in uniform holding a copy of our magazine and we'll happily run it herein Prison Mall Experience the World’s #1 Online Multiplayer Adventure! Journey to the world of Norrath, a living breathing fantasy world that continuously evolves. Join more than 400,000 players online to form alliances, enemies and friendships in your quest for adventure and survival in the world of EverQuest. And now is the best time ever (o try the game! From the new customizable User Interface, to the Bazaar zone, to the new Raid options in the Lost Dungeons of Norrath expansion pack, we have listened and learned from our players over the past 4 years, creating the most enchanting and rewarding online gaming experience available. So, arm yourself with incredible magic spells and weaponry. Then, prepare yourself for an epic adventure like no other. ia Blood end Gore vio Emcor ws 3 Game Experience May || Saucaw Sot ant Soe on Ghange Guring Online Play | Set, i ease Soy ing Eta es cons NTI ENS OE‘we will be here until May or April 2004 (we arrived in Kuwait lst April) but with a little Dungeon here and a little D&D there, time will ly by. I enclosed some newspapers for your reading pleasure. This way you will know ‘what is going on in this side ofthe world, Enjoy the papers and best wishes from the world’s largest litter box! Sgt. Blanes Camp Spearhead, Kuwait Thanks @ million for the newspapers, Sergeant! And thanks again to all of our brave servicemen who have taken the time to write us from deployment in the Persian Gulf region. t's a strange time over there ‘and over here, and we're proud that our work in the pages of Dungeon has provided 2 little fun and comfort on the other side of. the world. With the new DaD Miniatures game, itl bbe easier than ever to get decent minis you won't heve to paint, and that will stand up {0 rough trectment in the desert. Seriously. You can step on these things without break. ing them. They should be aveilable for moil ‘order through normal channels at your bose, but ifnot, here's a reputable merchant who ought to be able t0 set you up with ordering information: Noble Knight Games co Aaron Leeder/2z19 Green Valley Dr jJanesuille, WI 53546. © Bad Guys Killed? Yes/No {A few years ago I hung up my dice bag to go on some adventures of my own. I gained a lot of life experience and lost a couple hit points (motor bike accident, rock climbing fall, and some rare Southeast Asian dysentery). But I'm back now, and I've still got D&D on the brain, So when I found my brother's back issues of Dungeon, I read through them like I was meeting up with an old friend. ‘There have been quite a few changes that I'd like to comment on. First off, T've noticed that the new editors have included more “extras,” a¢ it's a rare issue that does not contain a postersized hhandout, a Critical Threat, or a Map of Mystery. This is awesome! I rarely use Dungeon adventures as they appear in the magazine, but instead canni- balize them for ideas, maps, NPCs, or any- thing else that catches my eye. love extras for this reason—they can be easily sal vaged and installed into an ongoing cam: paign. | especially like Maps of Mystery ‘and would not be opposed to sceing two or three per issue (as long as the current level of quality can be maintained). Kudos to Christopher West for his Red Dragoris Lair map in issue #102. 1 replaced the ‘magma lake with a steam lake, and stuffed the cave with a tribe of horticulturaly advanced kobolds. The lir’s broken geog- raphy allowed the kobolds to attack my PCs froma distance with poisoned arrows and hallucinogenic pollen spores. It was great. My players have never had such a ‘good time getting trounced, In fact I'd like to thank all the cartogra- phers, The overall quality of Dungeow's ‘maps has skyrocketed in the past ew years! So, yes, extras are good, but they're no substitute for a solid adventure with dynamic and believable plot. For this rea son, I really enjoyed Nicolas Logue's “Cry Wolf” (also in issue #102). I fel it was a Jean, story-driven adventure that broke the “monster-monstertrap-monster-boss" pattern to which many Dungeon adven- SONY ONLINE ENTERTAINMENTtures fll victim. Although my PCs should bbe th-level orhigher by the time they fin- ish with the kobolds, I hope to bring “Cry Wolf” to them in some form or another. I also enjoyed the content of “The Stink" (issue #105), despite the somewhat linear layout of the sewers (the only thing more ‘ho-hum than a symmetrical dungeon is @ linear dungeon). 'm going add a few ‘more rooms and tunnels, and my PCs should have a ball with this one. Hightlevel, low-level, short or long..doesnt really matter to me. I just like adventures with multiple reschutions (beyond just “Bad guys killed? Yes/No"), and a variety of ways to reach those reso lutions. An adventure with a lot of Development sections isa joy to read, if not play, Thanks for hearing me out and keep up the good work. Kevin Carter Vin Email Ward 1 really enjoyed issue #105 of Dungeon Warduke is amazingly evil. | look for- ward to unleashing him on my players. 1 was not as impressed with “Deathnet.” For whatever reason, it just idrit get the creative fires going..not like “V for Victory [Dungeon #7}. know tis is ancient history, but is there any chance Charis Pramas will pen some more ofthis Mini-Game? It immediately had me run- ning off to buy new lead figures and spend hours building adventures for my players. So far, we've managed to meld "V for Victory” with [AEG's] Spycraf to make a prety exciting WWI experience. | hope to see more of it in the future. Even though I dortt use everything I see in Dungeon/Folyhedron, {rally like the com: bined magazine format, Keep up the good work. I was a sub- scriber 10 the very first six issues of ‘Dungeon, and then came back two years ‘ago. Ihaverit been disappointed yet. Paul Wolfe Freelance Robot/Etc. ‘Via Email We'll be happy to print another “V for Victory" article as soon as Chris Pramas decides to write one and send it in. He's @ little busy running Green Ronin Publishing these days, however, so we're atthe mercy fis schedule. iW Private @ See Page 78 After a 20-year hiatus from roleplaying ‘games, I recently began DMing a 3rd Edition D&D game for my kids. Yes, that's right, I bought all the 3rd Edition books about six months before 3.5 came ‘out. Ouch! Despite this misfortune, 1 hhave very much enjoyed the creativity and interactive storytelling inherent in any version of D&D. Now I want to play with other adults. How about a bulletin board or similar tool to find gamers on your Web site? It would promote the game and your publications. I'm not really interested in online games—'d rather play in person, face to face. ‘Are any companies reissuing older campaign settings in the 3rd Edition for mat? How about “The City State of the Invincible Overlord” ot “Teagle Manor?” These were fun and practically inex: hhaustible. It seems I have a lot less time to develop original adventures now than as a teenager/young adult, so any DM aides are welcome. Dungeon and Dragon have helped immensely! As well as being ‘an enjoyable read. they have given me many ideas for adventures, By the way, subscriberonly sections have generally just pissed me off. try to ‘support local gamer shops and wish you would treat all your readers equally. Keep up the great content! Graig Culpepper California Justin case anyone missed the memo, the ‘subscriber-only concept died as of Dungeon #702, and won't be reappearing while the current staff has anything to say about it ‘Necromancer Games has decided to revisit the Wilderlands campaign setting, hhome of the legendary “City State of the Invincible Overlord” orginally published by Judges Guild, We review the fst product in the new line in the Polyhedron section of. this magazine. I's a mixed bog, but fans of the original material wll find a lot to ove ‘bout the new treatment. ‘A good place to find gamers in your area is the Gamers Seeking Gamers messoge- board on the d20 Spstem fan superite ‘erworld.org, You might aso attend a local IRPGA game day or canvention, where you'll {get a chance to meet local gamers face to face. Check ous the RPGA's events calendor at rpga.com. 10 Dungeon/Polyhedron February O4 @peven Deadly ventures: [think it was a really good idea to inte- grate Polyhedron with Dungeon. I've only recently started picking up Dungeon since Poly appeared in it, mainly for the Polyhedron axtcles ("The Kage,” “Iron Lords of Jupite") and additional source material. 1 do have one question. A friend of rmine ran “Gluttony” from the “Seven Deadly Sins" series for his family during family reunion, and he said it was really cool. My response was typically noncommittal: “So run it for us, dude!” know I've got “Ghattony” as well as “Lust and I was wondering how many of the sins have been published, where I can find the ones that have been published, and when the rest wil be published. ‘Thanks for your time, keep up the good work! John Kraemer Austin, Texas Author). Bradley Schell has been ticking off the sins since back in 2001. We've olteady published “Roge" (#80), “Sloth” (tor) "Vanity" (93), “Lust” (#95), and “Gluttony” (#93). We look forward to receiving adventures based on the two ‘remaining sins (envy and gred, by our rece ening) inthe near future Getting in Touch with Dungeon-MELLORN | ee HOSPIT ALITY ‘Mellor Hospliality*is & D&D adventure designed for four 7th-level characters. The DM can modify the adventure for lower-or higher level characters by adjusting the encountersas described in the "Scaling the Adventure’ sidebar.The adver- ture begins when the PCs escortan old merchant to an annual trading fait held deep inside an old forest. Ifyou incorperate ‘Mellen Hospitality” inro-an ongoing campaign, fel fee to sake whatever changes are necessary tothe adventuer so that it fits more naturally into you game world ADVENTURE BACKGROUND CCenuries ago, in an undergrouad temple 1 the yugoloc lord Anthraxus the Decayed that was already ancientat the time a pow- erful wizard named Kal spent his life studying the planes and portal magic. Depressed and distraught this obicsion with his seus, Kal over Liwella commited suicide and pasiel over 19 the Gray Wane of Hades, from whence her woul refsed tbe rau red. Enraged with gif eal realize that Ke Bad ot i love and determined to travel to Hades himself Over the next sever daysafterher death, he worked furiously 6 build a portal wo Hades (On the seventh day, the portal was complete. Kval took his gear and ‘mered the portal intent on finding Lurlls and dragging er soul back the realm ofthe living by band ifnecessary Kral was never hear from again, but the poral he created sll exists tis keyed to the shor period of time benveen Lisreli suicide snd Kvafs subse quent use ofthe port itis thus only seve ance every seven years and remain open for seven dajs : (Over the centusies, the temple fell nto ruin and dhe Hades side ofthe portal wis discovered by a night hag namad Malt fusta, She now uses this poral ta vist the Material Plane once every seven years to collect prisoners for torture and barter. [Bgch time she visits, she also augments the numbers of her var- gouille swarms with other captured prisoners. "Ati, Malia ned only the grimlocks har lr inthe caves around the temple, but soon she discovered Mellorelk an elven setlement in the forests abuve. The elves became her fivored prey, and the grimlocks became her slaves and worshipers. Every seven years when the portal opens, the grimilocks are ready at the temple to icrifice one of their own to Malifstal os she emerges. ARTWORK BY ANDREW HOU & ARNOLD TSANG. CARTOGRAPHY BY ROBERT LAZZARETTI Dating ie seyen days the portal remains open, she sends grimlocks and her vargoulles to the surface to collet victims while she stalks the wood for choice victims wo visitin nightmares. The elves of Mellorell did not passively ccepr their fate, ‘They sent parties of skilled warriors into the unnels to find the source ofthe recurring evil Although chese warbands evencw- ally found the ruined temple and killed many of the grimlocks, they found no sign ofthe night Bag or her other minions. Mel Jom warbands sent into the caverns duitg the hauntings were never heard from aga ‘Eventually; the Mellom came to believe tht they would never beabletofind and deitoy the night hag. Instead, they charted the upper avers Extegively and then sealed allofthe entrances ‘with multiple wals fst, marking each former entrance with a movdlich to wacn Furute generations of the dangers below. Unfortunately, this proved litle hindrance to Malifutl and her Powerful aximlock servants, since Malifusal can se ethereaness toring herselFand her minions through physical bareers Realiingthattey could not step Maliustals teribleartacs, 2 yoting wood elfnamed Aelethcameupwith desperate waytosave her people. By hosting Lge trading ue during the seven days of| the night bag’ traditional hunt, Malifstal would have access to hundreds of unsuspecting victims. Few of the Mellora, any, ‘would be taker Malifustal apprcated the increase in selectiod _ealy and ob er net visi lier the firs Festival of Life she prom ised Acleth in person one nigh that a long asthe elves kepethe arrangement secret she would never take from the Mellor Sothe Mellom Festival of Life was born. Fr seven daysoutofthe year the Mellor open their borders ro ouiders, provide fod and driokina ingecesringinthe center of thee forestlnds and take no taxes from merchants Today the Festival of Life hs eputation a5 an excellent opportunity for merchant to thaké money as well sa ‘prime lotion for thers wo purchase rareand exotic pod at exe Tent prices Mellel can be a dangeros place to get, however, 0 ‘many merchans hie adaitional guads forthe journey. ADVENTURE SUMMARY The PGsare hired to escort a merchant named Therav othe Festt val of Life. Hehasbeen there many times before, and can entice thetimes and amazing di con magic items. He feel the festival is safe, bur the road to Mellorell runs hrough dangerous lands soe wants an escort While at the festival the PCs me Mel the mysterious fs and ma tems to buy. When Theray wakes up eaming during the night and disappears Into the woods, his leads the PCst0d trail night eee andthe caverns Flirmay below the Mellor lands. In the caverns, the PCs encounter grimlocks and other reatures, while in the ruined Temple of hey must face vargouilles and Malifasal herself f h to rescue Therav and the o prisoners the night lected. The PCs discover the portal used by Malt fustal and should have a chance to permanently deactivate it GINNING THE ADVENTURE hat the This adventure assumes PCs first meet Ther. 1, bur the wnifne opens an be adjusted to occurin a tyr ary; Therav is quite the traveler and he can .iceivaby be encountered almost anywhere he PCs and asks ifthey have ever heard of the val of Li Theray gr Mellor Fes Regardless of their answer, he goes on “Oh, the Festival of Life is the most wondrous of fais, to be sure. The food and erik are delicious and fre for the taking. and the Mellor don’t charge taxes for any of the merchants, which means the merchants can charge the customer less, you see. The deals ae immensely satisfying fo both the buyer ane the seller. "And the setting ofthis annual event imbues it with even ‘more wonder. The fairs held inthe center of the Mellora Forest, ina large clearing surrounded by golden leaves. How wonderful its to make such lurative trades ina setting uch as that, with regal Mellor guards looking on frorn the edges ofthe woods. “would ike you to come with me. It is only a short journey fiom here. Although } know that you'l ind the trip itself ‘worthwhile once we're there, 1am ready to offer you these four ‘emeralds if you agree to escort me safely to the far and offer some protection while 'm there."The gems Theray ho n the palm of his hand are indeed emeralds, each worth 200 gp. Therav as been tothe last four fes tivals and each rime he bas hired guards. fasked, he admits tha hhisband was attacked by monstrous spiders on all four of his vious tips, and lst tacked by a manticore He's just as quick to point our that none of his guards have ever of them had a great time at the fair insels. we: Therav isa thin old human with a long, thin, gray beard, He clothes himselfin colorful pur! and yellow robes and wears bracelets, rings, and necklaces with abandon. Thetay is a glass merchant, and spends « good deal of his profits on clothes led with fine glasswork, including and accessories, His cart is and inticate glass sculptures. Therav, Male Human Exps: CR 4; Medium humanoid AC 15, touch 11, Aaefooted 14; Base Atk +3; Grp +3 Atk/Full Atk +3 melee ids morningstar) or +5 ranged (1d8/19-20 yw); SA 5 SQ— 5 AL human); HD 546-5; hp 15; Init +4; Spl 30 masterwork light cross SV Fort +0, Ref +2, Will 45; Str 10, Dex 12, Con 9, nt 14, Wis 12, Cha 13, Skills Appraise +8, Blulf +9, Diplomacy +9, Disguise +1 (+3, acting), Forgery +8, Gather Information +9, Intimidate +3, Listen +3, Profession (merchant) 49, Sense Motive +9, Spot +3. Feats Alertness, Point Blank shot, Precise Shot ges Common, Elven sions: Chain shirt, masterwork ossbow, morn ingstar, nobles outfit, amber necklace (200 gp), 420 gp, 200 5 ssorted glassware and other items carefully packed in his cart worth a total of 4,000 gp. THE ROAD TO MELLORELL ‘A well kept ral, easily wide enough for Therav’s cart, winds ‘through the ancient forest of agestained cedars and twisted hemlock. The forest floor i a maze of mossy roots, stumps, and rotting deadwood. The smell of decay and new growth hangs heary inthe ar Yet despite the forest's obvious age and antiquity, the trail itselfis clean and shows signs of heavy recent trafic, This trail thro the ‘ellor rest is maintained by the Ives to aid travelers to the Far of Life, Unfortunately, every seven yeuts when the portal to Hades opens and the grimlocks force the spiders out of the surrounding sunnels, the arachnids become a major problem for travelers in the forest. As the PCs approach Mellorell, they have atleast one encounter with spi ders, slong with another creature that has been forced out ofits normal hunting grounds by the same Ifthe PCs ins ‘on traveling offroad through the forest, they they get into the woc iggressive the spiders become; 40 and of any wandering monster en the forest are with monstrous spidersThe M ‘cron Masren’s Guide for more details mn Forest is a dense forest. Sce page 87 of the Duw sample temperate forest encounter table Fi, SPIDERS (EL 6) Malifuseal has litle lov spiders. After she subjugated the grimlocks, she comm: