They Met at A Tavern 14: Return to The Serpent Cult

First of all, it's been about 2 1/2 years since I ran this adventure. I'd dovetailed it into my growing (inadvertent) campaign world, and recalled that we'd had a good time taking down the cult. So why not Shadowdark it up?

The Meetup crew:

• Adam - Rugrord, half-orc priest
• Tyler - Marthal, elf wizard
• Jimmy - Ren Halder, human bard
• Seana - Khori, dwarf fighter

I used the module setting this time, with the party arriving at the settlement of Haven by boat. As per the last time, though, it was a port of surreptitious cargo comings and goings, with the "Solinsky brothers" exchanging coin for no questions. Khori ("drifter" background) had passed through before so knew where the tavern was. 

Approaching the tavern, they see Pip, an entrepreneurial elf, selling very large eggs from a handcart, which he claimed to have found along the shore. 250 coins? Too rich for our taste. Rugrord (hi WIS, low INT cleric) is certain of giant chickens. Entering the tavern, the party got rumors from the barkeep, and pointed toward the town's Elder for a potential job. Marthal left immediately, leaving the others to finish their drinks...

Elder Oddmar told of the town's issues - missing boats, cultists, and oh yeah, the eggs. The herbalist Helga may help as a guide, if needed. She was agreeable, as long as they kept an eye out for spiders.

Off they went.

The party headed south out of town, following the coastline. No eggs. But they did find a wrecked fishing boat, possibly one of the errant ships.

source

They were inspecting it, finding claw and corrosion damage, when they were confronted by five cultists. 

Not this Cult

They were about to throw down, when Marthal asked to learn more about the cult. Why, they were about to harness the powers of Uma'Kai, for "Water is God's domain!" Sounds fascinating, said Marthal. Where do I sign up?

And with that, they sneered at the rest of the party, bundling the elf away. 

Two cultists escorted him away, quoting from their psalters and expounding on the glories to be. Three others hung back in the bushes to ambush the remainder of the party. The other three party members completed their inspection of the boat and figured they should follow their friend (who by now was stealthily dropping bread crumbs as the two escort cultists got into an animated debate bordering on schism). The party was not surprised by the ambush and managed to beat down the cultists. 

Rugrord took their amulets and crushed them to scrap.

They caught up with Marthal and his escorts as the three entered the temple through its secret entrance. The party was close enough to hear the invocation required to open the door. In the meantime, Marthal was whisked into the entrance chamber, and one cultist left to summon the high priest. In the meantime, the party figured out how to open the door and bumrushed the second cultist. With him dispatched, they decided to toss the body outside and wait in ambush. Except Marthal, left as a distraction. That's what you get for splitting the party.

The warlock Kharzun entered with several cultists. He sized up Marthal and questioned why his escort was missing. He wasn't buying it, and attempted to paralyze Marthal for questioning. The spell was partially successful, and Marthal was slowed. In spite of this, Marthal managed to charm a cultist to protect him. No worries, the party burst back in, and battle was joined. They targeted Kharzun, defeating him, before turning on the remaining cultists. 

The dust settled, and everyone licked their wounds. They searched most of the rest of the compound. Marthal found a spellbook, and other loot was picked through. Khazum's journal, with the methods to seal Uma'Kai within the temple, was found. The journal described rare plants needed to boil down as part of the ritual. Hey, we have our herbalist guide! 

Helga was summoned from her safe spot outside of the temple. First, rest and recovery, as it was night by now. 

Helga found the required plants, and a concoction was brewed up. They poured it into the alter with the correct incantations, and a subterranean rumbling was heard elsewhere in the temple. Time to find its source.

Exploring the inundated eastern end of the temple, they found a sealed door (further rumbling and banging heard from beyond it). Of course we'll check it out. They puzzled out the door sequence, sliding open the stone door to the flooded chamber beyond.

One,

two,

three,

four,

five heads arose from the water.

Hi there!

Ren quickly decided on prudence over valor and removed the keys from the door, beating the hydra's initiative roll... The door slid closed as the now fully imprisoned beast beat impotently against the stone and was sealed within.

Rugrord was disappointed that they didn't find that giant chicken.

DM Notes:

A good session, with some creative play on behalf of the players. It should be noted that “Marthal” was essentially a first-time player, so why wouldn't you ask for pamphlets from the evil serpent cult? I played it that they were ready for a scrap (the adventure says “the cultists attack” at this point), but gave them a round to interact before we determined if a throwdown was to happen.

Still doing combat dumb after all this time, as part of the cultists in the temple had spellcasting. That could have varied things up a bit. And I should have trusted the party to overcome, and brought in all of the surviving cultists at that point (12-5=7). I'm a softy.

As I mentioned, this is the second time I've used this scenario. The adventure is written for the author's “Adventurous” game, but may be easily adapted to others. Available here. I ran the adventure the first time with OSE vs Shadowdark this time.

Some brief conversion notes, with Shadowdark in mind, rulebook monster stat references where useful. I've kept the d6 random attacks for each foe, with some modifications, which can be rolled or picked, according to the gamerunner's taste:

Cultist enforcer (Acolyte, p. 194): 4hp, AC12, Atk+1, club (d4) or hand axe (d6), Lvl1

Cultist sorcerer (Acolyte, p. 194): 4hp, AC10, Atk+0, dagger (d4) or spell+2, Lvl1
Attacks: 

    1-2: Replaced with Magic Missile, as normal
    3: Replaced with Bane: Disadvantage on one target's action rolls, 1d6 rounds.

    4-6: Acid Splash: d4 dmg x 2 rounds, one target up to far
    (all as Tier 1 spells)

Wolf (Wolf, p. 294): 10hp, AC12, Atk+2, +1 dmg while another wolf is Close (as bestiary), Lvl2
Attacks: 

    1-2: Fangs to the Throat: d6 ongoing damage until injured or killed
    3-6: Bite (d6)

Giant Spider (Spider, giant, p. 254): 12hp, AC13, Atk+3, no multiple attack, Lvl3
Attacks: 

    1: Poison Spray: d6 dmg to one target up to near, ongoing until DC12 CON save

    2-3: Web: DC15 STR to escape
    4-6: Bite: d6 ongoing damage until injured or killed

Karzhun the Warlock: 12hp, AC11, Atk+1 shortsword (d6) or Spell+3, Lvl3

Attacks: 

    1-2: Flesh to Stone: Target's limbs become stiff and heavy, slowed for 1d6 rounds. Crit Success: Target turned to stone

    3-4: Black Flames: d6 ongoing damage on one target, focus

    5-6: Lightning Bolt: d6+1 dmg
    (all as Tier 2 spells)

Uma'Kai the Hydra (Hydra, p. 227): 25hp (5hp/head), AC15, Atk+6, Attacks = current # of heads, no regeneration, Lvl6
Attacks: 

    1-2: Acid Spew: d6 dmg x 2 rounds, one target up to far

    3-6: Bite: d8 dmg

Treasure:

"Strike of the Hydra" - acid damage decreases enemy's AC by 1

"Tome of Mind Bending" - Grants advantage when casting Charm Person and Detect Thoughts, one slot

Random Loot table:

4. d6 5gp valuables

5. Blightshade Poison: "Anyone that takes a point of damage from a blightshaded weapon will be injected with the poison and suffer 2d4 damage immediately. They will also be incapacitated for 1d4 rounds by extremely painful muscle spasms. A CON check vs DC 15 will reduce both the damage and spasm duration by half." (from Chubby Funster's Player Companion for Shadowdark, p. 93)

9. 10gp valuable

Now that I've made the conversions, the adventure will likely stick around in my game bag.

Off to prep for Sunday's campaign game, although "Frederick" let me know that he might not be available. And I'm not going to let him miss this fight, since he's been at the table since Game #1. So alternate shenanigans may be prepared. Otherwise: