Oathbound Horrors of Penance.pdf

Horrors of Penance

by Brannon Hollingsworth & Ken Marable

Table of Contents

Horrors of Penance ................... 1

Introduction ........................... 2

Adventure Preparation ........................................ 2

Scenario 1: Craving Darkness ........ 3

Background ............................................................ 3

The Initial Trap ...................................................... 5

Main Floor (Level 2) .............................................. 7

Second Floor (Level 3) .......................................... 9

Observatory (Level 3) ......................................... 13

Basement ............................................................... 14

Conclusion ............................. 18

Statistics for NPCs ............................................... 18

The Lectors ........................................................... 18

Allies ...................................................................... 19

Monsters ............................................................... 20

Scenario 2 - Totem ..................23

Background .......................................................... 23

Synopsis ................................................................ 23

The Ritual ............................................................. 23

Character Hooks .................................................. 24

The Death of Samuel Viss .................................. 25

Clue Checklist ...................................................... 26

Visiting Aunt Anelie ........................................... 27

The Deadpit .......................................................... 28

A Slew of Swarms ............................................... 30

Tying Up Loose Ends ......................................... 32

The Plot Thickens ................................................ 32

Anelie’s Tomes ..................................................... 33

The Fires of Damnation ...................................... 34

Facing the Devil ................................................... 36

Conclusion 1: Playing into

the Devil’s Hands ......................................... 36

Conclusion 2: Refusing to Play the Game ....... 37

Final Battle ............................................................ 39

Conclusion ............................. 41

Totembound Soul ................................................ 42

Statistics for NPCs ............................................... 43

Further Adventures – A

Coven of Ideas .................. 46

The Flesh Gatherers ............................................ 46

The Empty City .................................................... 47

Plague of the Penitent ......................................... 47

Bloodlord Thrall .................................................. 47

Brotherhood of the Bane .................................... 48

Curse of the Decaying Flesh .............................. 48

March of the Beasts ............................................. 48

Rain of Blood ........................................................ 48

Restless Spirits ..................................................... 49

The Thirteen ......................................................... 49

The Brood ............................................................. 49

The Mist ................................................................ 49

Design

Brannon Hollingsworth and Ken Marable

Cartographer

Jeremy Simmons

Editor

Robert Vaughn

Typesetter

Jack Gray

Art Director

Jim Butler

Oathbound Concept

Greg Dent, Jim Butler, and Todd Morasch

Cover & Interior Artist

Jesse Mohn

Dedications

Dedicated to all the late-night odd noises and moving shadows that I swear are just the cats. –klm

To all those nights spookin’ with the gang. –blh

Bastion Press and the Bastion Press logo are trademarks, and Oathbound is a registered tradermark owned by Bastion Press, Inc. All Bastion characters, character names, and the

distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks owned by Bastion Press, Inc. ‘d20 System’ and the ‘d20 System’ logo are trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast and are used

according to the terms of the d20 System License version 3.0. Dungeons & Dragons and Wizards of the Coast are registered trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and are used

Marceline, MO.

Open Content: Only materials indicated in Section 15 of the Open Gaming License on the last page of this PDF are considered Open Content. All other content is Product Identity

and copyrighted by Bastion Press, Inc.

Introduction

The Forge is a place of extremes. Newcomers to the

Forge soon learn that every perception, every emo-

tion and every sensation that they experience here is

hammered into its most acute and intense manifes-

tation by the unique properties of the plane. Fear,

while often overlooked, is one such emotion, and

there is no other place in the known universe where

fear can be as concentrated or palpable as on the

Forge. This product focuses on that single aspect and

offers adventures and adventure ideas that delve into

the fear-invoking and truly horrifying side of the

great City of Penance, the largest settlement on the

Forge.

Horrors of Penance includes two complete adven-

tures specially designed to spawn feelings of fear,

disgust, and horror in the characters and to send shiv-

ers down the players’ spines. The Forge is home to

the mightiest of heroes; it takes a great deal to instill

fear into such stalwart and heroic hearts.

Horrors of Penance begins with Craving Darkness ,

an adventure for characters of 10 th level. While

traveling through the Undercity, the characters find

themselves in a centuries old mansion that has been

cursed and plunged into utter darkness. Even the

most powerful mortal spells can only barely pierce

the seething darkness. The characters are forced to

traverse the maze-like rooms and corridors blindly

as they seek their way out again. This task alone

would prove difficult enough, were it not for the pair

of undead lectors ( Oathbound, p. 335 ) that continually

stalk them and the many insidious these villains

have placed.

Second, Horrors of Penance offers up Totem , an

adventure for characters of 17 th level. The simple

totems of a kindly old lady seem to ease the pain of

grieving families. Unbeknownst to them, these

totems also act as a doorway for a powerful devil.

Now that the door is open, a rash of horrific and

puzzling murders breaks out and the characters soon

find themselves facing angry mobs, plagues of

insects, and finally a pit fiend in his own lair. All of

these obstacles must be overcome if they are to save

both Penance and the souls of their departed loved

ones.

Lastly, Horrors of Penance provides a Coven of

Ideas , a selection of thirteen horror-themed

adventure seeds meant to be planted in the most

twisted corners of your imagination. These seeds can

serve as the inspiration for any number of other

possible adventures that will immerse the characters

even deeper into the dark places of Penance.

Adventure Preparation

As these adventures are intended to be used in the

Oathbound campaign setting, it is highly recom-

mended that the GM possess the book Oathbound:

Domains of the Forge . With a little work, though, a

GM should be able to adapt the encounters to an-

other setting. In such a case, all that is required to

use these adventures are the three core d20 rulebooks.

All non-player character (NPC), monster and item

statistics have been provided at the end of each ad-

venture in an abbreviated form or in the adventure

where appropriate. When necessary, the proper re-

source is clearly referenced. In addition, Minions , e-

Minions (or Minions: Rebirth ), Arms and Armor, and

Spells and Magic , all from Bastion Press might also

prove useful. These tomes contain the expanded ver-

sions of many of the creatures, items, and spells men-

tioned within.

It is highly recommended that the GM read over

each adventure fully and have a keen and clear

understanding of the events that are about to unfold

before running it. Both are fairly non-linear, and

what happens in one moment or location will

dramatically affect what occurs in other times and

places.

Note that text that appears in shaded boxes is

considered player information, which you can read

aloud or paraphrase as appropriate.

Lastly, it is the goal of the adventures herein to

inspire a healthy dose of fear and trepidation in your

players. Establishing and maintaining an

atmosphere of creepiness and uncertainty is essential

to achieve that goal. GMs might consider any

number of “real world” alterations to the typical

gaming ambiance to keep their players on edge, a

factor which will naturally bleed over into their

characters’ moods and actions. Some tips and tricks

are listed here as an initial source of inspiration:

Take advantage of a stormy night for your

gaming session and use the storm as emphasis in

your game. Draw audio and visual examples from

the impressive and awe-inspiring show that is going

on around you.

Turn off all of the lights and play by only the light

of a few candles. Use the reduced light to show the

players how their characters see their surroundings.

Select a new and unfamiliar location for your

gaming session. The experience of being in a strange

locale will help considerably in setting your players

(and their characters) on a fear-stirred edge. We’re

thinking more along the lines of someone’s basement

or an isolated cabin than of a gaming store, which is

pretty far from “eerie”.

Play moody and eerie background music. Music,

especially when played at very low volume, becomes

an almost subliminal force that will heighten the

levels of suspense and tension around the gaming

table.

retrieved the sword without their knowledge. They

would not listen to reason as they exploded into a

furious rage and began slaying their companions.

The party’s ceptu cleric was the last to fall, and with

her dying breath she called upon her god to curse

the two betrayers and murderers.

Though her deity had no power in the Forge,

something that many consider a myth answered the

call: the palethian ( Oathbound, p. 144) .

Bolthor and Sissel were killed in a flash of intense

evil and the house filled with a dark curse that

blinded any who enter. Because they so coveted an

item of magical power, Bolthor and Sissel’s

punishers thought it just that they be animated as

the undead creatures known as lectors. Such beings

usually roam the Undercity, attuned to and attracted

by items that are cursed or imbued with negative

energy. These two were inflicted with an additional

ironic and darkly humorous punishment: forever

hungering for items of negative energy, they were

bound to the scene of their crime and, unbeknownst

to them, to the location of a powerful weapon of

positive energy. The proximity of Red Shard would

cause them an eternal pain that they would never

understand. So they remained and sought solace for

their pain by preying upon unwary explorers for

several centuries, satiating their hunger for cursed

items with whatever these unlucky souls brought

with them.

Of course, anything so unusual as a darkness-

flooded mansion was bound to draw attention,

especially one with a link to the fabled Red Shard.

Rafter after rafter, delver after delver traveled to the

cursed home, seeking the truth and the wealth

behind the house and its rumored treasures. The vast

majority of them met nightmarish ends at the hands

of the covetous, vicious lector couple.

Finally, Einian Quickfinger, a dwarven rafter and

part-time trap maker that stumbled onto the house,

managed to elude the lectors for a time through the

creation of impromptu traps made from the

belongings of past victims. His delaying tactics

caught their attention, so when they inevitably

caught him, they spared his life. They kept him as

both a toy and a servant, forcing him to set traps in

several of the rooms to ensnare other visitors.

Einian has been recreating and setting traps for

almost a year now. He has hopes that some group

will arrive and help him to escape and to destroy

the lectors, if possible. His hopes were almost made

reality when a week ago a powerful group of rafters

entered the house. Encountering the deadly traps,

they tried to avoid them by digging out through the

basement. Unfortunately a monstrous jaggon had

made a lair near the cursed darkness and it was into

this very lair that the delvers dug, releasing the

creature into the basement, where it immediately

Scenario 1

Craving Darkness

An adventure for 10 th level characters, wherein a

house cursed in darkness holds captives, deadly

traps, and two ravenous undead.

Background

The legendary magic sword Red Shard traveled

through the seven domains of Penance until it was

picked up on the fields of Arena by Purepath, a haze

warrior. It served him well for decades as he wan-

dered the Forge on a variety of adventures. Time

eventually caught up with Purepath, and he trav-

eled to the great city of Penance to retire. With the

riches gained from a lifetime of adventures, he pur-

chased a fine estate where he lived until his death at

a ripe old age. The mighty sword Red Shard, a friend

as much as a weapon, was displayed in honor upon

a wall. No one could find Red Shard among

Purepath’s belongings when he died, nor had he com-

municated a desire to bestow it upon any heir. After

ferocious searching, all interested parties, both foul

and fair, gave up. The house was abandoned and the

city grew up over it.

Red Shard remained hidden in the house, though,

and waited for someone to come and claim it.

After discovering a mention of the sword and the

haze’s home in ancient annals, a group of delvers

decided to make the trek into the Undercity for the

weapon and any other treasures that might be found

within the old warrior’s estate. It turned out to be a

difficult expedition, and the group almost turned

back several times. Thanks only to the urging of two

strong-willed party members (Bolthor, a male orc,

and Sissel, a female human) did the group press

onward.

Whether it was the maddening depths of the

Undercity, or a problem deep within their minds that

had been lingering for quite some time, the deeper

they traveled, the more obsessed the two became.

Obstacles of the journey and the rest of the group’s

trepidation only pushed them further. Finally they

found the home and began exploring it…and

discovered they were too late. Perhaps lost to

another group of delvers, or magic, or the Queen

herself – the sword appeared to be gone and with it

went Bolthor’s and Sissel’s sanity. They believed the

rest of the group had somehow duped them and

attacked the group. Einian does not know for certain,

but he suspects that one of the party might still be

alive down there. What the dwarven trap-maker

does know for sure is that the jaggon is still down

there – and is growing hungry.

of the current characters is a descendant of one of

the original party members and themselves are

plagued by these dreams. If this hook is used, it could

make the final confrontation with Bolthor and Sissel

all the more dramatic and fear inspiring, especially

if one of the characters is a direct descendant of what

is now an evil undead abomination! With this as

the adventure’s background, the adventure could be

simply started with the handing down of a family

heirloom that leads to an investigation via city

records or a divination into who these past

adventurers were and what they were looking for.

In the end, all that is truly necessary to begin this

adventure is that the party be traveling through the

Undercity. GMs are welcome to use as much or as

little of this information as they wish.

Synopsis

As the characters are traveling through the Under-

city, they come across the “entrance” to the cursed

mansion, which is a pit that drops the characters into

the midst of the house. Chances are that not all of the

characters will fall prey to the trap. However, the lec-

tors encourage Einian to yell for help and lure would-

be rescuers to their doom.

After entering the darkness, the characters must

make their way out by passing through several

trapped rooms and survive multiple hit and run

attacks from the lectors. There are three possible

allies they can find in this home in their attempts to

destroy the lectors and survive to see light again.

There is Einian who is more than willing to destroy

the lectors (and in fact will not leave the house

knowing they are still around). Also, a valco

paladin named Sorib lak Haran is trapped in the

basement with the jaggon. Lastly, an ort named

Mafuane is inside the house terrified at what it has

stumbled onto. It will gladly help anyone who can

guide it out of the darkness.

The Darkness

The curse placed upon the house goes beyond a mere

magical darkness. It was crafted by the palethian as

a bitter and ironic metaphor for the blindness that

Bothor and Sissel exhibited in the insane slaughter

Character Hooks

The hook for this adventure is quite easy to inte-

grate into any campaign – simply get the party into

the Undercity. Their reason for entering the Un-

dercity can be literally anything: they can be there

in search of an item, to map a certain region, on a

task for a bloodlord (or other important individual),

or merely passing through on their way to another,

ultimate destination (if used in this last manner, it

would be very simple to insert Craving Darkness

as an extended “Side Trek” adventure). Whatever

their mission is, it should not be so urgent that they

are unwilling to take an impromptu trek to assist

someone in need.

Alternatively, their purpose there could be tied

more directly to the background of this adventure.

Perhaps they could have come to this area in search

of Red Shard or they may be searching for someone

who entered the house recently, such as Sorib lak

Haran’s party or possibly Einian himself.

Another variation is that the characters are

hired to investigate the death of the original

adventuring party (the one composed of Bolthor

and Sissel before their cursed deaths). Perhaps one

of the party member’s relatives is continually

haunted by dreams of her death, or perhaps one

of their party. It generally blinds any creature in the

house. This is not to say that creatures with alterna-

tive forms of vision are unaffected; the curse simply

smothers and makes useless a creature’s main sen-

sory apparatus. Indeed, creatures that do not nor-

mally rely on vision may never have experienced

blindness before and may be even more severely

panicked by finding themselves thus affected. Nor-

mal vision, lowlight vision, and darkvision are use-

less. A haze’s mindsight is similarly “blinded”, as is

a grimlock’s blindsight. A creature with vision and

the scent ability, for example, would lose vision but

retain the their secondary ability to pinpoint other

creatures by smell; on the other hand, a creature that

has no eyes and relies almost entirely on scent would

have that sense “blinded”. As explained in the DMG,

blindness has the following effects:

•

50% miss chance in combat

A Note on Room Descriptions

The bold italicize text descriptions of the rooms as-

sume that the characters cannot “see” and try to con-

vey the sensations experienced by secondary senses.

One of the primary means of exploring blindly is with

the tactile sense. Therefore, do not read certain sec-

tions of the descriptive text aloud until the charac-

ters feel their way over to the object described.

Obviously, if the characters are able to muster

some reasonable means of illumination, then the ob-

jects can be described without the characters having

to physically come in contact with them. Feel free to

embellish the descriptions with details of how all of

the furniture and other décor are mildly lavish, but

very old. Occasional damage can be detected from

the various fights that have occurred within this

house, but unless otherwise mentioned, no bodies

are present.

Also, the entire house is thick with the musty

aroma of a house several centuries old mixed with

the metallic scent of blood from the lectors’ many

victims. Most of the walls and floors are stained with

the lifebloods of countless races, a sign of the

inhabitants’ violent reception of guests. All floors

other than the basement, the floorboards will creak

as people walk across them (causing a –5

circumstance penalty on all Move Silently checks).

Lastly, all windows throughout the house are

broken with some shards of glass remaining along

the edges. The lectors can navigate through them

easily without injury. Others who try to feel their

way through the window opening take 1d4 points

of slashing damage from the broken glass.

•

loss of positive Dex bonus to AC

•

movement at half speed

•

-4 on Search and most Str and Dex based

skills (GM’s discretion)

•

Spot checks or other visual based

activities are impossible

Opponents receive a +2 on their attacks

against the blinded character

Trying to pierce or dispel the darkness is nearly

impossible. Mundane light sources do not work. A

light spell only illuminates a 1’ radius, and daylight

only creates a 5’ radius. Remove blindness/deafness and

remove curse allow any creature to “see” again with

its main sense, but only to a distance of 5’ and only

for a duration of 10 minutes/level (identical to a

daylight spell). True Seeing will allow any creature

to “see” within the house normally.

Other spells that enhance a creature’s main

sensory system, like a spell specifically for hazes that

improves their mindsight, may work at the GM’s

discretion; ideally, however, no spell effect other

than true seeing should allow a creature any greater

visibility than daylight does for vision-based

creatures.

In order to try and dispel any of the darkness, a

dispel magic check (DC 26) must be made. If the dispel

attempt succeeds, for every point above 26, a 10’ by

10’ section can temporarily be “seen” normally (there

are no natural light sources here, so creatures relying

on vision would have to illuminate it by some other

means). However, the darkness returns at rate of 5’

by 5’ every 10 minutes. Light within the mansion

simply seems to grow dimmer every moment.

A limited wish, wish, miracle, or other similarly

extremely powerful spell will allow an entire floor

to be illuminated, but darkness will encroach at same

rate as above. Only once the Forge has been rid of

the foul pair of lectors can anyone permanently

remove the darkness from the house.

The Initial Trap

At some point while traveling through the Under-

city, read the following:

As you emerge from a small winding cav-

ern, your shadows stretch out before you onto

what was once a main city street. There seem to

be several openings and archways leading fur-

ther into the maze, but every one you investi-

gate reveals only a dim, shadowy pocket that is

sealed with rubble and stone after only a few feet.

Only the countless tiny tunnels marring the

walls and ceiling of your subterranean road seem

to progress very deeply, and they are no wider

than a picker’s slender fingers. This once proud

thoroughfare is the only reasonable path along

which to progress, but it is far from pleasant.

The statues lining the road leer at you with an

ancient haughtiness. The dust puffing up from

your footsteps seeps beneath your clothes and

armor to scrabble at your flesh. Based on the lack

•

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