Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Rocking Thule #1: Ruins of Kal-Ne-Moz

So here is this setting of Sasquatch Studios, Primeval Thule. It has been released quite a while ago for five popular systems - Pathfinder, 13th Age, Savage Worlds, 4E and 5E. For 5E, it is almost impossible to buy it in print nowadays, so I guess a few people must have it on their shelves. It is most often described as “Conan meets Cthulhu” by folks who reviewed it, which simply sounds awesome IMO. It is a Sword & Sorcery setting strongly influenced not just by Howard and Lovecraft, but Leiber, C. A. Smith, Moorcock, Burroughs and others. The whole thing feels like a Frazetta painting come alive, which, basically, would be the animated movie ‘Fire and Ice’, and you couldn’t get a more precise metaphor if you wanted to sum up Primeval Thule briefly. Great, huh?

SO WHERE ARE ALL THE FAN MATERIAL FOR THULE ON THE INTERWEBZ?! The adventures? The campaign logs? Anything?

Surprisingly, nowhere. It’s like nobody is playing Thule. Maybe every 5E DM is running Adventurers’ League and official WotC campaigns. Or I’m just too partial to Sasquatch - I admit, I really like Rich Baker’s stuff in general. Nonetheless, this made me start this blog with content I brew up while running my own Thule campaign.

I will try not to bullshit too much before presenting the actual content, but you might be interested in the background. I started my Thule campaign a little more than a year ago. Originally, my intentions were to DM a few official adventures loosely connected to each other, as Thule encourages an episodic structure for your campaigns. I only had a few months of spare time and I did not plan this to be a long-term relationship - which it actually turned out to be.

Player characters started in Quodeth, a city that looks like a love child of Lankhmar and Venice. It has so much potential you could easily DM a whole campaign within its walls from level 1 to 10. The characters had a few adventures within its walls, taken the Tower of Black Flame for themselves, made friends and enemies in the many thieves guilds of the city, and, eventually, caught the attention of Prince Dredan Taroth. The prince considered them to be valuable useful tools and commanded them to seek out the truth behind the very unlikely story of a mummy weeping gold - and promised both support and rewards for it. So started the Cavern of Golden Tears, which is a short wilderness trek and a dungeon of ten-or-so rooms, detailed in the campaign book of Thule.

After finishing the adventure, one of the player characters - an Atlantean scholar and wizard - decided to stay and investigate the ruined city of the long lost civilization of janni that ‘created’ the aforementioned (spoiler: cursed) mummy, so I had to come up with a sidetrek for him… here comes the description of the remains of Kal-Ne-Moz.


...or click on "read more"!




Setup
Long story short: a thousand years before the rise of Atlantis, there was a small but advanced civilization of janni, anthropomorphic and mortal race of genies, calling themselves the Moz. They were wise and peaceful, so early people looked upon them as gods and mentors. Their civilization crumbled after the last janni king called Kaldraz decided that it was a good idea to sacrifice his people for power. This resulted in a civil war that culminated in the gods cursing Kaldraz to eternal suffering.

This sums up the relevant part of the background story of Cavern of Golden Tears. We’ve encountered Kaldraz (or, rather, what remained of him) there; I’ve detailed the ruins of Kal-Ne-Moz, ancient capital of the janni, long since devoured by the marshlike jungles of the Ghan peninsula.

The expedition arrives
Our adventure starts when an expedition arrives to Kal-Ne-Moz, armed with esoteric knowledge about the obscure history of the place. They know the story above and more; for example, that Kaldraz himself burned down Kal-Ne-Moz and ordered his loyal guards to massacre its people at the climax of the janni civil war. Also that the curse that ended Kaldraz’s rule was uttered by high priest Zaster, leader of the rebellion. And also that Zaster was helped by three dark mages, the greatest of the time. No one knows what happened to Zaster after that. Only that Kal-Ne-Moz was abandoned by the survivors for good, and the three mages were buried in the same dungeon as Kaldraz (see the secret room in Cavern of Golden Tears; the Scrolls of Moz may hold information about this ancient story if you want to use it as an adventure hook).

What the expedition looks for is the Sun Orb: a mysterious relic from outer space, believed to be a gift from the gods to the janni. It was the wellspring of great magick, also a neverending source of light and energy. Thousands of years ago it was used by the priests of the janni to do many wonders. If  it is true and the Orb still exists, it must worth at least as much as a small town.

Members of the expedition
This was originally made to be an adventure for two players (the Atlantean scholar and a member of the expedition), so it featured many NPCs that could fight and die to create tension, also to create conflicts through opposing motives. If the party consists of more than two characters, some of the NPCs might be unnecessary - your decision.

I recommend to DM a few days of journey through the jungle as an introduction, maybe with a random encounter or two, just to create some exposition, so the players could get familiar with the NPCs. (The random encounter chart I was using will come later.) I didn’t do this, so here is the background I used:

The expedition was organized in Ikath, City of Snakes, by a noble Atlantean scholar called Agamnón. They sailed to Hansiri village, where they hired a few guides and bought two mules to ease the burden of their slave-porters.

Since they entered the jungle, they have been victims of jungle fever, quicksand, a giant carnivorous plant and a party of beastmen; as a result of these, they lost their mules, two of their slaves, all of their guides, so they got lost. As if it wasn’t enough, some strange madness overcame one of their bodyguards, Thadd, the Nimothan barbarian. So their surprise was genuinely pleasant as they happened upon the overgrown remains of the outskirts of fabled Kal-Ne-Moz...

Members of the expedition:

  • Thadd, the Black Eagle: he was one of the PCs in my game. Thadd was a Nimothan barbarian, who joined the expedition as a bodyguard for a share of the loot. Suddenly, his mind had been broken and he started to talk nonsense. He claimed to be Thaddeus, a gentleman and scholar of the Miscatonic University, from some strange other world - or maybe this Earth’s future? - and quoted quite often a certain Alisteir Crowley. Until shit kicked in and blood started to spill, that is. Cause that’s when Thadd, the Black Eagle prevailed and took control of their body again. (The PC, of course, chose the Time-lost Adventurer narrative.) As an NPC, use the stats of a berserker for him.
  • Naya, the Stone Snake: a Dhari warrioress. Just like Thadd, she’s a bodyguard and also a scout. She’s sharp, crafty and adroit. She tries to avoid conflicts and do her job reliably. However, her real intention is to steal the Sun Orb and save her village from the impending doom that is Kang, the Pale Death, the ever-growing glacier that devours all in its path. Use the stats of a scout.
  • Gothan the Nameless: a Lomari fighter and a bodyguard. Once a proud member of the army, he has been banished from Lomar for being a disobedient drunk. He is being paid with a share of the treasure found. Of course he also desires the Sun Orb, so he can buy his way back to his home town and regain his lost honour. He doesn’t make a secret of his past, but he states he changed his ways, and shows himself as a peaceful, kind and empathic person. He tries to solve every conflict that arises in the team, to gain the trust of everyone. Use the stats of a veteran with AC 15 (bronze cuirass). He wields a longbow (1d8+1) instead of a heavy crossbow.
  • Kümmon of Marg, Slavedriver: an unlikely dwarf slaver from the city of Marg. He brought four Kalay slaves for the trip to bear the burdens of the expedition. Half of them has been lost to the jungle (note: this might happen some other way if you decide to play the journey through the jungle). Kümmon looks out for the rest but overloads them and takes his frustration out on them. Kümmon is a cruel, silent creature, but not dumb at all. He’s a born survivor. If the need arises, he’ll cut the achilles tendon of one of his slaves so he can escape from danger. He receives payment from the master of the expedition. Also he’s been promised a share of treasures. Use the stats of a thug. He wields a battle axe (1d8+2) and wears a scale coat (AC 15).
  • Kubol and Humat, two slaves of Kalay origin. They are somewhere between 20 and 40 years old, talk little, and bear all the abuse received from Kümmon silently. Of course they hate their master. They are commoners.
  • Agamnón, Atlantean scholar of noble birth: he pledged his life to study, to uncover forgotten lore and secrets of the past. He’s almost 120 years old, so his body is not as able as it used to be. Also, he’s somewhat absent minded. His only motivation is to learn (this time the secrets of the Sun Orb). He detests violence and acts carefully. The dead language of Moz is known to him, and he also meddled somewhat in the arcane arts - something he tries to hide from the superstitious lot. Use the stats of an Apprentice Wizard with 13 HP.
  • Kalanthe, daughter of Agamnón: a curious and open minded, energetic girl, who genuinely loves his father. She’s an acolyte of Ashura. Even though she disapproves of violence, she has a fierce and strong personality, and does not back off easily. Like her father, she also has the knowledge of the language of Moz. Use the stats of an acolyte with 15 HP.

Locations of Kal-Ne-Moz:
Regarding the main buildings of the ruined city, players may find notes on the Scrolls of Moz (if you use this as an expansion/sequel of Cavern of Golden Tears). Agamnón and Kalenthe may also have this information based on their preliminary research of Kal-Ne-Moz.

General features of the city: old rocks, broken remains and foundations of walls, overrun with vegetation, monkeys, mosquitos and vermin. Sunken stones of old roads create paths across the thicket. The proximity of the marshes make the place damp. Multiple creeks run through it. The city in its golden age must have been huge; the adventure only features its royal quarter.



Locations:
1. Entry point: this is where the expedition arrives to the ruined city.

2. Battlefield: There are thousands of old bones rotting away here under the bushes. Most of them wear pieces of bronze armour corroded away to an almost unrecognizable state. So did their archaic spears and kopeshes. Bones are of men and janni both.

3. Royal palace: the once magnificent palace of Kaldraz has been razed and burned. It is partly in ruins, its halls and corridors are almost impossible to roam. It has an inner garden though, with a toppled and broken statue in the center (it depicted Kaldraz). Strange enough, the vegetation is not proliferating here. Trees, vines, flowerbeds look like they are taken care of. This is caused by a powerful janni gardening charm, cast long ago, still lingering around. It also makes the garden a safe place for camping, as no predator would enter its grounds willingly.

4. Stone bridge: however unlikely, this bridge survived the centuries since the city's fall. Its four bridgehead has arching columns that meet exactly at the center of the bridge, much like a dome. A great ball of stone (4 feet in diameter) is hung on an iron chain from it at a height of 15 feet. The bridge is emanating subtle abjuration magic.

The party might think it is a trap, but it isn't - just a wonder of Moz architecture. The iron chain, however, is a valuable thing on Thule (this particular one would easily sell for 600 gp). If somebody manages to cut it, the ball crushes the bridge.

5. Square of Punishment: another square overgrown with wine, with a tall dais standing in the middle, holding gallows and stumps on it. Before the dais, there are heaps of crumbling old skeletons of janni and men. Whacked into a stump, there is a greataxe, made of grey iron, that drank the blood of the thousands beheaded with it. The axe may be taken freely, but of course, is cursed.

It is a greataxe +1 that causes an additional 1d12 necrotic damage on a ciritical hit and upon hitting prone foes (the axe is most joyful when it can execute somebody). It needs attunement to use its magical properties. When doing so, the curse falls upon the wielder who becomes unwilling to part with the axe, causing him to have disadvantage on all attack rolls made with a different weapon, unless there is no visible or audible enemy within 60 feet of the wielder. Since the janni headsman who used the weapon was killed by the arrows of rebels, the axe’s curse took upon his doom: now every ranged attack has advantage against the character wielding the axe.

6. Trap: there is a primitive trap set on this path, hidden by skilled hands. It needs a successful Perception DC 15 check to notice. It is a classic one; when a character steps on a rope in the undergrowth, a stone ball with wooden stakes fastened to the end of a rope swings across the path from the canopy. It causes 4d6 piercing damage. A successful Dexterity save DC 15 negates.

7. Hut of the Exile: a primitive hut stands on the bank of a creek. Its only inhabitant is a tall, wretched female beastman called Gamu. (Beastmen are hairy neanderthals, basically the "orcs", or more appropriately, the Howardian picts of Thule.) Gamu has shiny blue eyes, for which her tribe accused her of being cursed with bad blood and exiled her. Gamu does not consider herself a beastmen. They are all somewhat right. She has the blood of janni in her. Kal-Ne-Moz subconsciously lured her here years ago, and poisons her dreams with memories of her ancestors. She might talk about “the great blackness that is awakened by light, may be destroyed only by the darkness of itself”.

Gamu is currently sick and skinny and spends her time in bed sweating. She'd beg for help to anyone who comes accross her hut. If the party behaves hostile, she'll try to defend herself with 3 pots of spiders. Her stats are of a tribal warrior who is currently in a poisoned state.

8. Activated trap: this is the same pendulum-like trap as above, but it was triggered by a tapir-like animal. The animal has been dead for days. Most of it has been eaten by scavangers. A swarm of big, green bellied flies buzz around it (they are harmless).

9. Zaster the Savior: there is a great lake at the center of the city, full of water lilies. In the middle of the lake there is a small island with a great statue on it. The statue is leaning slightly sideways and covered in moss and bird drops. It depicts Zaster at the moment of his glory, one of his hand on a wound on his side, his other hand and eyes raised towards the sky.

On its pedestal there is an engraved text in the language of Moz (visible only when crossed the lake - Agamnón or Kalenthe can read it):

"Great One
We leave you behind to sleep
Watch over your fallen city forever"

10. The Arsenal: armory of the elite guard of Kal-Ne-Moz. It was burned to the ground a millennia ago. Only a few broken columns hint at its long gone glory, and at the center of its ruined walls, a safe-like stone block of immense size - each of its edges around 60 feet. The block has a circular bronze plate as a door, decorated intricately with ornaments, but sick green of corrosion, deep in a cavity in its thick walls.

On the top of the block, a mated pair of crested eagles made their nest. They fiercely guard their territory, but the real danger is the trap securing the door. To pick the lock one must succeed on a DC 20 check. Finding the trap is also DC 20, disabling it is DC 25. If somebody opens the lock without pressing the signet ring of the guard captain into a depression on the door, the trap goes off, and acid starts to spill on the space in front of the door (5d8 damage, successful Dexterity save DC 17 halves, the one picking the lock has disadvantage on the roll). 

The inside of the arsenal consists of one mouldy chamber, lit dimly by some globular force field at the far end of the room. There are plenty of arms and armor heaped upon crumbling stands in the chamber, most of them corroded into uselessness. The only valuable item is a magical cuirass (+1) and a pike (also +1). It needs a DC 17 investigation check to uncover their value, since they are thick with dirt.

Under the force field, there is a wooden stand holding a magical longbow (+1) and a single arrow. All these items seem like they’ve been crafted yesterday. The head of the arrow is made of an extraordinary black material; it has a +3 bonus to hit and damage, and it’s impossible to destroy or even to get a notch on it (it can be reused infinitely). Actually, it is made of the same material as Zaster’s body. Should the arrow hit him, both the missile and Zaster sprinkles into fine black dust.

The force field is harmless. It just creates dim light and protect the items under it from erosion.

11. Main square: once magnificent statues and breathtaking fountains, parks and peristyles decorated this huge open space - all gone a long time ago. In the middle of the ruins there is a twenty-some feet deep basin with seats carved into its circular southern side in a stairway-like manner - an amphitheathre. It is overgrown with vines. Sharp eyes may spot cracks on the floor of the amphitheathre (DC 20), and find crumbling bones amidst the vegetation (quite obvious if someone looks around). These are the remains of men and janni, hundrends of them, for this is the place where the city guard massacred the citizens of Kal-Ne-Moz upon the command of Kaldraz. When the guard captain refused to obey, his cowardly men have thrown him to the crowd and killed him with the rest. His jade-inlaid signet ring (the one that disables the trap on the Arsenal’s door) is still on his skeletal finger (a DC 20 investigation check is needed to find it).

People entering the amphitheatre may get an unpleasant surprise: the floor gives way under encumbered, muscular or otherwise heavy characters, and they might fall 30 feet into the remains of a sewer (Dexterity save DC 15 to avoid). The dark and putrid water at the bottom is around 3 feet deep. The rest of the tunnels have collapsed, though somewhere under the rubble it must lead to the surface, because a giant viper made his way down here. It is lurking under the surface; one round after the ceiling came down, it tries to sneak upon the closest character and attack with surprise.

Hidden in the dark water, there is a bronze helmet with a ruby stone engraved in it. It gives off faint light, so it can be found with a DC 17 Investigation check. The helmet functions as a Ring of Telekinesis, but the wearer must hold one of his pointing fingers on his temple while using it. The ruby gives off a red light that gets stronger each turn while the telekinesis is active. Also, there is a cumulative 1% chance each turn that the ruby explodes, hurting the wearer for 3d10 fire damage.

12. Archway: the path crosses a grand archway made of stone at this point. It has reliefs made like skulls and grinning faces of demons on it. At the uppermost point, there is a sculpture that looks like the skull of a great goat. When somebody steps through the gate, the specter of three robed figures appear down the path, about 50 feet away. They hold up their hand like they wanted to stop the characters.

These are mere visages, made to scare away the superstitious lot. They do not move or react, and they disappear as soon as somebody approaches them as close as 20 feet.

13. The Three Black Towers: once the towers of the dark sorcerers of Kal-Ne-Moz stood here. After the civil war, the angry mob killed them in spite of them siding with the rebellion - they kept the superstitious people in their fearful shadow for too long. (Their ashes are in the Cavern of Golden Tears, in the secret room.)

Their towers had been torn down, the ruins strewn thoroughly with salt. Nothing grows here. The dark sorcerers took a lot of their attackers with them to the nether realms, but some of their victims still linger around - 6 shadows are creeping between the dark crevices.

The undead are not hostile at first. They are lingering on the periphery of the character’s sight, whispering, begging for them for mercy. There is a Wand of Binding in the rubble; with it, a magic-user could send them to the afterlife.

The only problem is that this particular Wand of Binding has no charges. It uses the Hit Dice of the wielder instead at a 1 HD = 1 charge ratio. The shadows here may be sent to the afterlife at a cost of only 1 HD. Should their request be denied, they attack the party.

14. Temple of Zaster: of the late archpriest of Moz, the scrolls say (or the scholars know) the following: “after he, as the good device he was, completed the task bestowed upon him by the gods, his body slowly gave in to the lethal wounds received in the fight. His apprentices laid him to rest in his own temple, so a thousand and one years later, if need arises or gods command him to do so, he could return to the world as an immortal being and fulfill his destiny

The temple is a ruined ziggurat overgrown with vines, a 90 feet long stairway leading to a sealed stone door (that needs a successful Strength check DC 20 to open). In its belly, in a six-sided sanctum lies the holy Sun Orb, mounted on a stand made of bronze, glowing with a strange reddish hue. But before that, in an antechamber, stands the proud black statue of Zaster, made of some outwordly mineral - black as obsidian and virtually unbreakable. When somebody enters his temple, and the light of the moon, stars or sun touches the statue (so, almost every possible time), Zaster awakens in 1d4 rounds as a stone golem (with the minor adjustment that he is completely immune to weapon damage, magical or not, save that one special arrow; also, his movement is only 25’).

Upon his return to life, he proves that he’s not a good guy at all - he tests his newfound power and invulnerability on the ones who awakened him, just because he feels great. He wouldn’t give the Sun Orb to anyone voluntarily, and becomes as mad as hell when he finds out that doom befell on Kal-Ne-Moz. He decides to build a new kingdom, founded on the bones of men. 

Since Zaster is almost invulnerable, this should be a fun encounter, especially if the PCs haven’t found the black headed arrow yet. A few NPCs might die here. PCs too, if they aren’t quick enough.

If PCs are capable of running away, Zaster will roam around the city in a random and leisurely manner, searching for them, making oaths to restore the greatness of the janni.


And this is it! After getting the Sun Orb, let’s check out how many of the PCs and NPCs survived and play out the rest depending on their motivations, their current strength and the connections they might have made to each other during these trying times.

The Sun Orb: it is quite a powerful artifact. It constantly gives off warmth and glows with neverending energy - a magic user could restore 5 levels of spell slots from it each day during a short rest. The only problem with it is that it is big and heavy; its diameter is around 3 feet, and it weighs 55 lbs. So, it is not something a sorcerer would take with himself on adventures - maybe in a wheelbarrow, or on the back of a porter -, but it is certainly a sweet thing to have at home.

Random encounters in the swampland: I used this table to illustrate that moving around a swamp is a tiresome and dangerous thing. It has something happening 70% of the time. While nearing on Kal-Ne-Moz, I suggest to roll once every day; while traversing the city, one should roll once after every 2nd location left. That said, roll frequency is totally up to the judgement of the DM.



Roll
Event
1-6
Nothing special occurs.
7-8
Shrieking monkeys: 8d4 small monkeys start following the party high in the canopies. They are throwing fruits, shit and the like at the party. They are harmless but have a chance (25%) to lure some dangerous predator - like a sabertooth tiger or some giant toads - or a party of beastmen to the vicinity.
9
Lotus flowers: trees and bushes conceal some parasitic lotus flowers on them (Perception DC 15 to notice). If the party does not notice them, they are engulfed in a cloud of pollens. Characters failing their Constitution saves against DC 15 are becoming weak, numb, and receive 1 level of Exhaustion. In addition, they’ll see everything colorful, shiny and blurred, things slow down and become funny around them.
10
Forest spirit: the party chances upon a clearing where there is a strange sense of peace, and flowers grow in strange shapes like those of butterflies. On this clearing the party may rest freely as long as they do not hurt the flowers or spill blood. The pollens of the flowers maximize the effect of all Hit Dice the party spend here. If they take some flowers, it’ll prove useless beyond the boundaries of the clearing, but the act of barbarism summons the angered spirit of the place, manifesting in the shape of a Shambling Mound.
11
Swamp gas! The party’s feet touch loose ground, from which erupts a cloud of greenish gas. Victims who fail a Constitution save DC 15 become poisoned. The effect wears off automatically after finishing a long rest. After each short rests, one may make an additional save against it.
12
Bloodthirsty vermin: the party is getting attacked by a swarm of mosquitoes or leeches stick to them. If they have nothing that would repel the vermin, the victims take 1d4 damage and must make a Constitution save DC 11. Those who fail contract Sewer plague.
13
Altar: the party stumbles upon a primitive idol, made by beastmen to the savage god Herum. It is coated by coagulated blood. At its feet, amidst broken, gnawed bones of humans lay bronze and silver bracelets, earrings, torques, headbands and other kinds of mediocre jewelry. Its worth sums around 500 gp. Should the party take the offerings or any other way desecrate the idol, there is a 50% chance that Herum sends a monstrous Girallon after them (with max HP). It will try to track the party and attack them by surprise.

If the party makes an offering at Herum’s idol - preferably in the form of fresh blood, some game, or a valuable item -, the savage god bestows a blessing on them: they’ll have a +1 bonus on attacks and damage until finishing a long rest.
14
Carnivorous plant: a dangerous plant-monster is hiding amidst the foliage or canopy. It is damn hard to notice - Perception DC 25. Roll for initiative!

Since I’ve found no appropriate monster in the MM and PTCS, i’ve used this beauty made by Shawn Ellsworth: https://www.tribality.com/2015/01/30/dd-5e-carnivorous-plant/
15
Rot grubs! One of the characters is suddenly swallowed up to his waist in a sinkhole, where a swarm of rot grubs attack him. Yuck.
16
Gas explosion: the ground trembles under the feet of the party. With terrible sound, a gas cloud explodes from below, causing 6D6 thunder damage (Dexterity save DC 15 halves). The party should leave hastily. The sound lures predators (like 1d2 sabertooth tigers) from the vicinity - they know that fresh meat is usually left behind by the explosion.
17
Dead body: the party finds one or more carcasses. Something killed them; it is up to the DM to decide if it is still around, and if the party finds any useful stuff on the bodies.
18
Sharp teeth: a slow but wide (120’) river crosses the path of the party. It is only waist deep. Mangrove-like trees grow from it. Should the party wade or fall into it from the damp branches, a swarm of quippers attack them.
19
Pest: a harmless rodent or worm gets into the bag of one of the characters. It starts eating up food, then continues with other soft material like paper and parchments. Take the character sheet from the player and erase whatever equipment you find appropriate.
20
Cursed swamp: the vegetation becomes particularly gooey, twisted and sickly here. Dark humours are surfacing from pitchy waters, heavy with the smell of death. The canopies of trees are silent. Only some matted cormorant-like birds sit on the branches, observing the party with hatred. If the party does not turn around at this point, they’ll run into a dreaded beast - the catoblepas, as it lifts its ugly head from the murk. Roll for initiative!



Handy-dandy table I.: NPCs

Name
HP
AC
Attack
Dmg
(Melee, Ranged)
Att#
Special
Motivation
Thadd the Black Eagle
67
13
+5
1d12+3
1
Reckless;
Multiple personalities
Protect the scholars; survive with a share of loot
Naya the Stone Snake
16
13
+4
R: 1d8+2
M: 1d6+2
2
Good at perception and stealth;
Cool and professional
Steal the Sun Orb to save her home village
Gothan the Nameless
58
15
M: +5
R: +3
M: 1d8+3/1d6+3
R: 1d8+1
M: 3
R: 1
Acts as peaceful and selfless person
Get the Sun Orb to buy his way back to Lomar
Kümmon of Marg
32
15
+4
M: 1d8+2
2
Pack tactics;
Cruel, amoral, cunning
Survive with a share of loot - at any cost
Kubol, Slave
4
10
+2
1
1
-
Survive; escape; possibly have revenge on Kümmon
Humat, Slave
4
10
+2
1
1
-
Survive; escape; possibly have revenge on Kümmon
Agamnón, Atlantean scholar and noble
13
10
+2
1d4
1
Spellcasting (3 cantrips, 2 1st level slots);
Absent-minded, pacifist
Find the Sun Orb and take it to Katagia to study it, for the greater good
Kalenthe, daughter of Agamnón
15
10
+2
1d4
1
Acolyte of Ashura;
Spellcasting (3 cantrips, 3 1st level slots)
Brave, loving, idealist
Get his father home safe, possibly with the Sun Orb

Handy-dandy table II.: locations and encounters
Location
Encounter/finding
1. Arrival
Entry point. Nothing’s here.
2. Battlefield
Rotting skeletons and their useless weaponry hinting at the history of the place.
3. Royal Palace
Safe resting place, guarded by abjuration magic.
4. Stone Bridge
Valuable iron chain.
5. Square of Punishment
Cursed axe.
6. Trap
4d6 piercing dmg/Dex save DC 15 halves.
7. Hut of the Exile
Strange but sick female beastman (tribal warrior, poisoned). Armed with spider pots.
8. Activated trap
Dead animal. No real danger here.
9. Zaster’s statue
Cryptic message hinting at the history of the place.
10. Arsenal
Two crested eagles. Locked, trapped door. Magic items inside, including the arrow that could easily defeat Zaster.
11. Main square
Signet ring to open Arsenal. Telekinesis helmet. Pit trap. Giant viper.
12. Archway
Frightening illusion.
13. Three Black Towers
6 shadows (not necessarily hostile). Twisted Wand of binding.
14. Temple of Zaster
Zaster (near-invulnerable stone golem). The Sun Orb.

Have fun!

5 comments:

  1. Wow this is amazing! I think I may need to track down a copy of Primeval Thule now!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, of course it has its weak points alongside its many strong ones... yet I suggest you give it a try if you can. :)

      Delete
  2. Good stuff Gabor. You were looking for Primeval Thule game blogs, mine is at https://simonsprimevalthule.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Simon! Also, thank you for letting me know about your blog, I'm browsing through it right now. You got some cool stuff over there! :)

      Delete
    2. Cheers - most of the best stuff is from my players! :D

      Delete