(ear a K S| ed ETAT cS Reon are h i it a s i 7 4 7 PY Ke a 7 TN - ) é “ lg Nail iv of Er 7 i 1 Fate of Istus sey oer eeeAdvanced DungeonsfPragons: WORLDoGREYHAWK_ Fantasy World Adventure The Fate of Istus SS CREDITS Authors: Nigel Findley, Dan Salas, Stephen inniss, Robert J. Kuntz Coordinators: Bruce Heard, Karen §. Boomgarden Editor: Kim Mohan ‘Typography: Betty Elmore Cartography: Diesel Cover Art: Daniel Horne Interior Art: Karl Waller Detrutas to te bok trace nthe unites Sates by ‘Son tre stat tho Snanosoy eae oy {Spor gotten Swine tee {Ber of te nee states of america Amy repro brine herein promises wiehout the expres wr ‘mnerteton 9a re reve, rogues Or YOUR MACRATN, one ‘Selog are essere onnee by Te ame rsa rae ‘20curen na ner Ste ene moray Sb swtsane vin The geom TSR, Ine, san 0-009030-7122 9253, Table of Contents Introduction ....... | Ye Olde city scroll #1: Rookroost Adventure #1: The Sage’s Tower ‘by Nigel Findley Ye Olde City Scroll #2:Rel Mord ..............-.....14 Adventure #2: Swords for Hire... 2.1. 7 bby Dan Salas Ye Olde city Scroll ¢3:Jurnre.. =... : 25 Adventure #3: Countdown in Jurnre 228 bby Stephen Inniss Ye Olde city scroll #4: Elredd . Adventure #4: Diambeth’s Deiving by Nigel Findley Ye Olde city Scroll #5: Wintershiven ‘Adventure #5: Service for the Dead - by Nigel Findley Ye Olde City Scroll #6: Leukish . . Adventure #6: The Garden of Evil ‘by Dan Salas, Ye Olde city Scroll #7: Rauxes . . Adventure #7: Down with the Wii by Robert J. Kuntz Ye Olde city Scroll #8: Chena. Adventure r8: At the King's Right Hand ‘by Nigel Findley Ye Olde City Scroll #9: Verbobone - we ‘Adventure #9: luz's Gambit . . area by Robert J. Kuntz Ye Olde City Scroll #10: Hesuel tishar . . Adventure #10: The Scarlet Masque | bby Stephen Inniss The Mirrors of Fate NPC #1: Cymbelline (by Nigel Findley) NPC #2: Alaric (by Dan Salas) . NPC #3: Beastman Avatar (by Stephen inniss) NPC #4: Arlina (by Nigel Findley). ....... NPC #5: Nariond and the Prophet iby Robert J. Kurita) .-INTRODUCTION ‘Sages ofthe future onthe world of Oerth wil Took bock on the events described inthis book and say to themselves (sel, ofcourse) that they had to happen sooner or later. In fact, they were Fated to happen. "The Fate of Istus, i aditon to being the latest playing aif related to the WORLD OF GREYHAWK® setting, isa, milestone fchieverent—bot in terms of what it wil focyou, the DM, and your players, and what it wil do tothe world its. ‘Not too mich wil be said about the story line here, 80 that you can be surprised and texted by this book as you read it—just as Sour players wal be surprised and excited as, Their characters proceed through each adven- ture to the cataclysmic conclusion, How to Use This Book “The Fate of Ist package of ten ave: tures... and mace, Along with each adver ture is a map and description of the cty in wich takes place At the end ofthe book, in the section entitled The Mirrors of Fate, are Geseriptions of the five new non-player char- fcters bo play pivotal res inthe campaign "The overall scenario is the brainchild of Itis, the Goddess of Fate inthe Grephawk milea, who. has—in her nearly infinite ‘visdom-—decied that i's time to make some Ganges in the way of the work, But she doesn't simply make the changes, because she believes in the cght of mortals to have an ‘opportunity to induence their own Pate, So she ‘S2ts up aseres of eats, each one designed to sees the sks and the worthiness ofa certain ‘dass of character. Next, he needs some sub- jects to perform the tests—and that’s where the payer characters come i. “The heroes ofthe campaign begin as incon- spieuous novices, but by the time they reach the climactic confrontation in Adventure {H0-ifthey get that far!—they willbe adven- turers of great sil. However, the tests that fre ae for themineach adventure growin dit- fculty while the PCs are growing in power ‘They wil indeed be tested every step of the sway, and the inal episode ofthe campaign wil be the most perilous and taxing of al. "The Lady of Fate must have a hand in things, of course. But instead of intervening herve, she creates an entity whom she thames Morgorath, This character appears to the PCs in varioas guises and incarmations throughout the course ofthe eampaign—each Inaniestation so different rom the others that only the most perceptive player character ‘woul even dream that they are actually athe {ume “person” Morgorath’s roe difers from fone test to another; sometimes he (she?) isan lative assistant, sometimes a more passive provider of cues and information Sometimes an adversary asthe PCs didn't Ihave enough problems already! "These adventures can be played indepen: dent of one another by making only minor Siteretons. And, ofcourse, the information on the cies (and even the NPCS) can be put to food use for perpores that have nothing to do ‘rth Ist, But the best way to get the most fut of The Fate of Istus sto get the group together, ol up a few brand-new characters, ‘and plank them down ust outside the wals of Rookroost—on the verge of besinaing the adventure oftheir ves. About the Product I you've looked over the Table of Contents sleeady, youknow that The Fate of stusis not the creation of single person—and that's what makes it such an exciting andinteresting package. Four accomplished designers were tach given the same background information find then banded apeciic assignments to be ‘complished within that framework. AS Jou'l See, the framework was rgd in some Fespects and flexible in others, The sdven- tures have the contimity that's needed to ‘make them playable in succession—but there's also a tzemendous amount of variety ‘rom one section tothe next. "Perhaps nowhere i the variety more obvi- cous than inthe sections ented Ye Ole City Scroll Essential, each designer was told (0 write about the city in which the adventure Takes place, and provide a map a8 well. Just Jeafing through the book and glancing atthe ity maps wil give you some idea ofhow each designer’ approach tothe project varied. In the process of playing any oF all of these ‘adventures, you'l get insights ito the histo- Fy, culture, and geography ofthe Greyhawk ‘lea that wil ring the environment to Ile lke never before. ‘No matter what kind of adventure you oF your players prefer, you'l find it represented here. Battnga warrior with nothing but bare hands and quick reflexes; acing through afor- ‘est to fol an assassination plot; breaking into ‘mausoleum to pat a beleaguered soul to rest; Coping with a benevolent but insensitive bbureaueracy: treading lightly through & aby Finth of dungeon corridors all these chal~ Tenges and more await the characters who are pt to the test, over and over again, in The Pate of Its. Game Mechanics [Anyone who's familar with the terminology ‘drules ofthe ADED® game should have no ‘rouble understanding of interpreting any of the information inthis Book. Only a couple of points are worth special mention. ‘Some ofthe adventures call for characters toattempt Abity Checks—a concep that was introduced in Dungeoneer’s Survival Guide. ‘The procedure works 2s flows: Rll the ind cated di o dice and compare the result tothe ‘designated abity score of the character mak ing the attempt. Ifthe roll is equal to or ess than the character's ability score, the checks successful ‘Also, note thatthe THACO statistic ven for any NPC fighter with an even-numbered fexperience level stsumes the use of "per level combat advancement," as deseribed in the note on page 74 ofthe Dungeon Masters (Guide, 0 that or instance) a 10th evel Sight cer has a better ower) THACO number than a ‘tn level fighter. If you elect not to use this ‘optional rile, simpiy add 1 to the THACO ‘number fr such characters, Now, direct your eyes tothe top of the next page and, on behalf of Istus, welcome to Rookroost.Rookroost Like most petty holdings in the Bandit King- ‘dome, Rookroost (the name is shared by the territory and the city traces its origin back ‘tthe wid skirmishes andturf wars that raged between 300 and 350 C¥—and stil continue, although somewhat abated in feroety. It began as a smal city-state, encompassing a ‘walled town and lite else, but has grown ftronger over the years unt it has become the largest and most powerful of the king- ‘oms. Is founder was an eridian robber bar ‘growth. In 371 CY, Latavius died suddenly — luder rather suspicious circumstances—and the throne of Rookroost was taken over by the former commander of Latavius's personal bodyguard. This assumption of power through assassination would become the hal mark of Rookroost politics even until the present diy. "The current overlord of the kingdom is 2 human bandit-prince named Pernevi (a fighter/thet of 12th level) who styles himsell 18" The General” (don't forget the capital et ters!) Like Latavis, bei of Oenitin extrac thon and chaotic neutral (with ev tendencies) inalignment; unlike Lataius, he isn'ta partic- lary strong leader. With the help of Rookroost’s powerful ‘Thieves Gui, The General gained ascendancy byassassinaing the preceding ruler, The throne sas tll warm from its previous accapant when, ‘The Gener realzed how easy it ad been to remove 4 wel- guarded (ard neurobealy Sap os) leader, ae he suddenly developed a para oi Tear that he might be next. To protect Tims, he came to an amicable agreement with the Thioves Gui: The General would run the mary and national poy (uch siti) and any thing ese the gal dint want to beter wit the gall would run the rest. Thus, there are ‘po fatty distinct goverments in Rookroos: ‘ne overt, concerning itself with externa afar (The General, his administration, and his buly boy pice force); and ane covert, concerning ‘self with anything. profiable (the Thieves Guid. "The leader of the Thieves Gull is Blara Mornsar (see Adventure #1), a hale who callsherselfGuildmother and rles ber guil— dnd much of the city—with an iron fist. Despite ths, or perhaps because of it, she is highly respected, even loved, by the mem- bers ofthe guid, Elara Keeps close contact, with Rookroost’s small but very effective {nsassins gud, hnown asthe Siyers Brot thood, “The felationship between The General and Ela is complex. He sometimes turns to the ‘mild for hel, and guid members sometimes ‘Serve himwhen it suits Elara—as his secret police. Despite the arrangement he has made trith the guild, The General would very maoch like to see his own rule unchallenged. Very carefully, he's sounding out the assassins ‘aus in the neighboring ternitores to see i ‘one of them would care t0 id him of this ‘aggravating female. Of course, Ela has learned of his machinations, since she already had contacts in all the gulls with which The General has communicated. (This possibiity has occurred to The General, but out of & ‘combination of desperationand self-assurance he keeps trying anyway.) For herself, Bara finds the whole sila rather amusing. She doesn't want The Generals throne . yet. But ifhis efforts to get her become more serious, she might see that he receives a righttioe visitation fom “a short man with 2 long bade," as she puts it She would then arrange for someone more accommodating 0 be placed on the throne “The arrangement between the goverment ‘and the guldisan open secret, although new- ‘comers to the city might not become aware of itimmediately. They would, however, quickly notice pervasive corruption inthe police force and government. The government is suppor fed through bribes, exorbitant gate fees, profits from foreign currency exchange, and donations” from the ‘Thieves Guid the army is similarly funded, helped along by heavy “protection payments” fom the tern tories trough which the army moves. "The Generals a relatively poor leader (pe: ‘haps because he spends so much ime looking ‘ver his shoulder). Under his rue, Rockroost has lost considerable amounts of territory to its neighbors in the continuing border skic- mnishes that mark fein the Bandit Kingdoms. Despite these recent losses, Rookrooss stil the largest ety nore than 17,000 population) and the strongest territory inthe Kingdoms, ‘The city began as a walled townie ‘more tha fort—situated atop alow il, and {or the frst partion ofits history it grew by repeatedly buling new walls to encompass its burgeoning size. Soon, however, growth ‘became so rapid thatthe builders had to give Up the losing battle. Now almost half ofthe taty's area les outside the outermost set of ‘wal, clustered around the two main gates. Rookroost’s earlier history canbe traced from the concentric ngs of walls that stil stand within the city. Generally, the wealth ofthe residents decreases 25 one moves outward fom the center area—clled "The Peak: {eventhough its no more than 50 feet higher than the surrounding terrain. The poorest neighborhoods are beyond the city’s outer- ‘most barn, inthe region known as Outwal. [Residences and other buildings and physical features decine in appearance and quality the farther they ae from The Peak. Prices a inns and taverns vary according to their loeton the costo drink atthe Drunken Dragon, for instance, is somewhat less than atthe Palace Guard Inn. “This concept of progressively poorer neigh- borhioods gives an interesting perspective on the relationship between the Thieves Gull fad the power bate of the city. The Thieves Guildhall, located ina ramshackle warehouse ‘belonging to Benedict’ Trading Coster, ust ‘where ene might expect ittobe—in one of the Tougher parts of town, just inside the outer- ‘most wall ona dak, digy alley called Cheap Street. Even though ths is, where Blara works, by no means is it where she lives. The Gulla is connected by along underground ‘tunel to Elara’s palatial estate on The Peak (GBlarais well aware that this tunnel threatens the security of the cy. Tus, se as heavy boobytrapped the tunel, making it ea Meee brerer- emir de should the necessity ever arse.) “The population of Rookroost is rough mix ture: predominantly human, with very few