Strange Aeons Module 5
Part I: the Parched Lands offer a wealth of travel
role-playing opportunities.
It is
important to remember that Blunder will not be able to ride a camel (or any
other animal, though a Mount spell creature will not reject him). Natural
animals will be hostile to Blunder.
Desert
travel (environmental rules, desert terrain) require players to make
increasingly difficult FORT saves every hour when travelling. This can result
in a LOT of boring dice rolling, so I simplified the rules. I assume the following
per day:
·
Environment
•
10 hrs of day time (hot)
•
10 hrs of night time (cold)
•
4 hrs (2 hrs at dusk and 2 hrs at dawn) temperate
•
If any player/character is walking, travel speed is
reduced and that character’s FORT save is reduced by 2
·
Environmental damage
•
Players in sleeping rolls are protected from cold
•
Environmental damage is non-lethal. Once a player’s
map HP is exceeded, they start taking lethal damage.
•
A player who has taken any environmental damage is
fatigued. Environmental damage cannot be cured by spells
•
Players regain 1 hp / hr / lvl while resting (so a lvl 13 player resting for 8 hrs could recover 104 hp non-lethal damage).
·
Water consumption
•
Players (and humanoid companions) must consume 2.5
gallons of water/day. Do not forget that pack/riding animals need water too.
•
Endure Elements protects a player from environmental
damage and reduces water requirements to 1 gallon/day
I created a
table giving the amount of non-lethal damage a character would take during a
day or night depending upon their FORT bonus and armour type:
|
|
FORT Bonus |
||||||||||||
|
Armour |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
|
None |
21 |
19 |
18 |
17 |
16 |
14 |
13 |
12 |
11 |
9 |
8 |
7 |
6 |
|
Light |
31 |
30 |
29 |
27 |
25 |
24 |
22 |
20 |
18 |
17 |
15 |
13 |
11 |
|
Medium |
43 |
42 |
40 |
39 |
37 |
35 |
33 |
30 |
28 |
26 |
24 |
21 |
19 |
|
Heavy |
54 |
53 |
52 |
51 |
49 |
47 |
45 |
43 |
40 |
37 |
34 |
32 |
29 |
If the
players stay up overnight, they take non-lethal cold damage as follows
(irrespective of armour):
|
FORT Bonus |
||||||||||||
|
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
|
29 |
27 |
25 |
24 |
22 |
20 |
18 |
17 |
15 |
13 |
11 |
10 |
8 |
And I
ignored the small amount of cold damage for staying up a couple of hours on
watch.
Thus a player with a FORT save of +7 and wearing heavy armour
would have taken 47 points of non-lethal damage at the end of a day. GMs can
estimate how much of that the player has lost for an encounter depending on the
time of day. Note that if a player has no water, then the Starvation and Thirst
rules apply in addition to these.
This means
that a low-level character would die in a day or two, even with supplies and no
armour. A high level character (like ours!) can survive indefinitely, as long
as they have supplies and nothing untoward happens.
Be aware of
the rules for donning
armour.
I also
added the rules that:
·
Sandstorms last for 2d20 hrs and have ruin that % of
the players supplies
·
Khamaseen Storms
last for 4d20 hrs and ruin 2x that % of the players supplies
Supplies
which are magically protected are safe. It is likely that the players will be
relying on Endure Elements and Create Food and Water spells.
Neruzavin Encounters
I created a
timeline for encounters, allowing for a build-up of menace, rather than random
encounter rolls.
Arrival in Neruzavin
·
Hair-thin alien threads of fungus growing up a wall (Aelin touch triggers vision).
·
See a seeded shambling from a distance, in shadow, but
it disappears.
·
Geoffrey hear voices
asserting directions “We turn right here; I have foreseen this path before!”
·
In distance, see black swarm of birds flocking
unnaturally, making strange sigils in shape.
·
Loud rumbling of thunder bug from nearby.
·
See circling rift drakes. Hear strange whistling.
·
Geoffrey hears: screams and “what is that growing from
his body?”, “Quick! Burn him!”
Then find charred remains of corpse.
Act I: The
Haunted Tower (Disorder of Alar)
·
Fungus grown.
·
Hoshbach approaches
when camping.
·
Rift drakes feeding on decaying thunder bug.
·
Queleas more
active, swarming overhead.
·
Find strange tracks and crushed remains of stone,
armour, etc.
·
See from distance seeded loitering by lake, before
entering.
Act II: The
Snarl (Nihilism of Carcosa)
·
Fungus more grown.
·
Queleas swarm
attack.
·
See thunder bug, but it is scared off by rumbling of
juggernaut.
·
Deadly fog encounter.
Act III:
The Oraculum (Decadence of Yhtill)
·
Fungus overrunning city, covering entire blocks.
·
Seeded Raiders.
·
Juggernaut attack.
A10: The
players found the Necronomicon and one of them studied Section 10, gaining the
ability to cast Greater Teleport once per day, as well as the two rituals to
follow Count Lowls. They then suggested teleporting
back to Thrushmoor and using the three stelae there,
which would be much safer than locating the three stelae in Neruzavin.
However, remember that the Necronomicon cannot be teleported, and attempting to
do so risks dire consequences (see p71).
D4: I included
many volumes of Yithian accounts of their
mind-swapping travels here. Kaklatath can show the
section of her travels. If searched, they can find her account of when she
mind-swapped with Estra, and Kaklatath
can explain Estra’s unusual background.
D7: This space
needs to be much bigger. Currently it is approx. 100’ across and a spell with
60’ radius will almost entirely fill the lateral space. The space available for
fly-by attacks is very limited. I recommend making this space 4x larger.
D8: I placed Weirelei here, as I reasoned she is attempting to dismantle
the wards holding the Flying Polyps at bay. Weirelei
taunts the players from amongst the columns while preparing her spells, and
opens with Greater Command (Flee), hoping to split the party.