"All in the Family" or, The Family that Prays Together, Stays Together...

... or something like that.

Here we have a family interred within their family tomb, which is also a shrine to their god, as well as a gateway for an avatar of that god to treat with them, other faithful followers, as well as those who may seek conversion and the gifts that act bears...

It took me a while to come up with what "lived" in the pool, until the phrase 'flayed god' came to me. Leaning heavily on the imagery of Xipe Totec, I went with it.

The OG Flayed God

Anyway, I'm not sure how this one turned out. It was an interesting presentation and content challenge. The adventure-bits themselves are basically one page, with lore, monster and spell descriptions, and other material taking up four pages... The spell Fear doesn't show up in B/X-OSE, with its first appearance in AD&D as a mage/illusionist spell. Likewise, Shadowdark has neither Fear or Remove/Cause Fear in its original edition. So those spells are included, and modified to fit the systems. I got lazy and didn't convert the family members and avatar to SD, but I think they are straightforward enough to run on the fly. Also, this can be approached as a delve, or potentially access to a resource, depending on how it plays out. 

Anyway, you can check in on the Viermetz family and their fleshless proselytizing here. 

Going to step into the Crumbling Keep of Khashmur with some other yahoos on Monday evening. Watch our hapless adventures here.

They Met at a Tavern 21: When the DM Mentions Something in Passing...

What did I get myself into tonight, and with whom?

• Seana: Zanegar, 1/2 orc Sea Wolf
• Roger: Brom, dwarf Desert Rider
• Chris: Roult, human Basilisk Warrior
• Callista: Erol, elf Priest
• Daniel: Hawk, human Ranger
• Rick: Bjorr, 1/2 orc Paladin 

Note: Callista is Chris' granddaughter, who had never rolled dice before this session. This will become important later.

Well, the party docked at Zelkor's Ferry, arriving due to some unfortunate events in the last town across the water.

This, coincidentally (or not) was where a prior party arrived a couple of sessions ago... Note: None of the players (except the Shorter Half) were involved in that session, so it's untrodden territory.

ANYWAY, the DM (who had a trio of available scenarios lined up) mentioned that the party meets some other patched-up adventurers going the other way with a couple of chests of loot. They mention that they got it off some pirates, but you don't need to worry about them. Just the undead dragon.

So much for delving some pre-selected tomb or abandoned mine...

The paladin beelined to the inn to purchase a cask of ale to fortify himself for the adventure. It was determined to be evening anyhow, so everyone eventually followed. They got a bit of background from the militia sergeant and a rough map the adventurers had left. The desert rider asked the priest if undead dragons could still speak and throw spells (WIS roll, dirty 20) - we decided that Erol did well in her Undead Studies classes and suspected that, depending on the cause of undeath, that the dragon was unlikely to still speak. 

Things in the inn took a turn when the local blacksmith showed up to play (poorly) her bagpipes. As well as a certain coolness that came over the crowd when another local appeared, Hebetha Solace. Erol's neck hairs stood up a bit as the woman approached the table. I understand you are seeking looking to hunt down the undead dragon. I have associates who are in need of the head. I'll pay you good coin if you are able to retrieve it.  

More coin? We're in.

Oh, and she dropped off a pair of Hugo's Healing Potions (tm) as a down payment. 

In the morning, the band set off in a somewhat patched-up small sailing boat, captained by the sea wolf, with assistance by the ranger (sailor background). The desert rider hung over the rail, and tried to keep land in sight. 

A shark followed the ship, possibly lured by the desert rider's "chumming."

They Met at a Tavern 20: Ignoring the NFC Championship Game

Besides running Shadowdark, I'll get further onto BXBlackrazor's pariah list by ducking out of various Seahawks viewing opportunities to run another one-shot. 

Because The Ridgecrest doesn't sport a TV. 

Anyway. Off we go:

• Chris: Thorn, Dwarf Wizard
• Seana: Katwaen, Dwarf Sea Wolf
• Michael: Rango, Dwarf Knight of St. Ydris
• Patrick: Nix, Kobold Thief
• Daniel: Maven, Elf Witch

Three dwarves, two miscellaneous others. Dwarf-themed misadventure, it is.

I've always wanted to see how Dwarves With Worms runs at the table. PCs bumped to 3rd level, plus some random magical items, just in case.

Rango's "cousin" Ugraen had headed out with some followers to reconsecrate or expand some old temple. Trouble is, he'd gotten excommunicated from the local temple for some questionable practices and beliefs. Anyway, better go check up on him.

The party found the complex, showing signs of recent excavation and expansion. Upon entering, the dwarves were disappointed to see shoddy excavation and stonework. I mean, humans could do this...

Listening at a door, they heard nothing. Deciding to explore in the opposite direction, they spiked the door and headed deeper into the complex.  

Well, that noise called up something:

arrrrr.....

A trio of vacant-eyed dwarves accosted them. The party sussed that they weren't quite undead, as something seemed to writhe under their flesh. 

Many poor rolls occurred. Finally, the wizard was able to web them up for easy disposal. Upon slaying them, large worms burst from their bodies, and swarmed the party, intent upon infecting them. Much worm stomping and stabbing, and possibly one Knight of St. Ydris screaming like a little girl. The wizard quaffed their sole potion of healing. 

Fortunately, around the corner, the explorers found a stash of ale, which went a long way to cure shaken nerves.

Onward!

Bollixing Up the "Shrine of the Mother" by Tim Shorts

So Tim posted up this excellent little scenario on his Patreon. It includes a small hexcrawl, a novice deathcult, and halflings. Always good. I ganked the map of the "Shrine of Dedragoria" for a quick bar writeup:

work in progress

The map is a good space, essentially a five-room dungeon. A place to hide the McGuffin, a side passage, something causing some structural damage. I can work with this.

Stuck with the shrine idea, because it fits. And shrines need a relic. Preferably hidden away. So our heroes get assigned a simple snatch-and-grab by my campaign's favorite thieves' guild boss, Solange. Nothing to it.

Without further ado: The Shrine of Dhena

(Note: I realized that Tim used a map from a previously-posted set of small adventure/encounter area maps. Which are also part of my languishing Project Transcribe(tm). Curses.) 

Added for no reason whatsoever.

Foxtail Grotto, revised

After last week's shenanigans, I gave Foxtail Grotto a revision to (hopefully) improve usability and play. I revised descriptions to clarify placement of encounters, and added a small introduction on playing out the discovery of the pirate cove. Monster stats have been updated and consolidated at the end of the scenario, more consistent with my current format. I also bumped the format to two column, which I've been using and seems to read better. 

New and Improved!

And apropos of nothing, found this while image searching:

source

Finally, some validation! I always knew that princess was up to something sketchy.... We knew all along the dragon was unfairly incriminated!