Planescape Introductory Adventure: DESIRE AND THE DEAD

Man, your guys are so much fun!

Xaldemar as a guide sounds like it worked particuarly nicely... and thanks for the info on the Undead Hardheads. That probably needs looking at (your suggestion sounds good, bits of armour can have decayed and fallen entirely off to give them the lower AC - I might see what else I can do though).

Now time for an update from me… and you may notice that I’ve added some quotes, as every planescape adventure comes with a few choice phrases scattered in its texts. If you (or other groups) have any, please feel free to throw them at me, and I might well include them.

Depending on your cultural reference point, this last session was either Carry On Adventuring or Abbot & Costello Meet the Chaosites. Bad jokes, terrible puns, and comedy were a strong theme. As you might guess, they’ve met the Joculators.

Despite this the PCs have had some success.

They spent the day making more contacts and investigating other ‘attacks’ by the Joculators, who they rightly pegged as the main source of trouble. Further conversations with Mother Xero convinced them that maybe she was being affected by something, but they were soon distracted. They also tried continually to see Narma the Loud – believing him to be an important contact – but repeatedly failed/forgot to make it across the square to the Wailer’s Guild.

During various patrols the PCs noticed a zombie endlessly trying to fill a leaky bucket from the Wailer’s Square pump. After ignoring it a couple of times, they finally bothered one of the nearby Dustmen enough to make him take a look - after deciding to check if the zombie was Deadwick’s before dealing with it. they managed to both amuse and aggravate the necromancer to equal degrees.

Turns out the creature was muttering “thirsty” under its breath, which is well out of order for a supposedly mindless creature. It had also wondered back to the pump after being sent home by a passing Dustman earlier. This concerned the dusty shopkeep enough to take it personally back with him to the Mortuary for examination.

Alas an unfortunate result with that morning’s random encounter table meant a portal opening as they passed it, and a huge tentacle lunging through. The Dustmen was immediately “promoted” (to outright dead) by the tentacle, which also tossed the zombie onto a spike high up on a tenement wall – where it stuck fast high out of reach.

The group got a fair battering and the tentacle left as the portal began to close rather than being defeated – but it was still a public display of bravery that did their reputation in the district no harm. Afterwards there were some painful attempts at recovering their now impaled clue (Primer Brig forgot about the razorvine…) then they shiftily dragged the zombie into an alleyway to “investigate” it, to the chagrin and off-colour comments of the Collectors that came to gather it up.

Finding nothing, they became convinced that the portal had been deliberately used to eliminate a potential clue and spent the rest of the day demolishing the archway and minutely examining every little piece of trash they found in the vicinity just in case.

That night another “safety run” to Rattling Alley saw some locals home without incident. Afterwards they had a couple of interesting encounters: Keen-eyed Brig spotted someone lurking in the shadows along their route, and since he was still there and being shifty on the way back, the decided to confront him. It turned out to be Grimjaw the Githzerai. The party were alternately diplomatic and threatening (although sometimes people forgot which assist roll they were making…) but got only scorn in return. Since Grimjaw had carefully placed himself in a narrow alley thronged with razorvine, they let him retreat without combat.

Feeling tense after the confrontation, the party decided to stop for a drink on the way home. Unfortunately they chose the Scold’s Bridle – because Wyk thought that it sounded like “a right rorty place, good for Ysgardian bashers.”

Unfortunately his previous wave and hello had not gone down well – thanks to a fumble he came across as an effeminate halfling luvvy rather than the bold bariaur barbarian he is. There’s also a bone of contention because the Ogre brothers are giants (traditional enemies of the Norse Gods) and he’s a bariaur (in my mythology they’re descended from Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder, the two magical goats who draw Thor’s chariot –Thor, traditional smiter of giants everywhere).

Wyk and elder brother Sven’Ole engaged in some traditional Viking wrestling in front of the bar (“first one to pop a head off wins!”). Sekushi saw Ygg reaching for his axe and taunted him into attacking her (unarmed thank goodness), and Brig the Celt saw nothing unusual and headed for the bar… where he still didn’t realise that you have to actually PAY FOR THINGS in Sigil, and so got a drinking horn smashed over his head by Stunt Bosi (because neither of them have a great command of common, high intelligence, or any skill at charades).

Petubastis shook his head sadly at the antics of these barbarians and went back to Whispering Word. The others did not forgive or forget this when they eventually staggered home but by then he had been exploring the benefits of mummerwine and couldn’t appreciate their sentiments (at least he remembered to feed his eunuchs today…)

The brawl stuttered to a halt when Sven’Ole was reduced to exactly 0 hp, and both sides went their separate ways with many bruises. Everyone concerned is now looking forward to them stopping by again tomorrow night (except maybe Ygg, who was beaten up by a gnomish girl - damn her anti-giant bonuses!)

Early the next morning the sound of a signal whistle being urgently blown brought the PCs tumbling from their beds at speed. They discovered an urchin had arrived blowing happily on the emergency whistles the group had sent him out to buy yesterday. He handed them over and said there was no emergency… although some Collectors were knifing each other over in Rattling Alley if the group was interested in that sort of thing.

A now familiar mix of cheerful diplomacy and cheerful threats got the Collectors separated before anyone died. Incense was detected again, both on their robes and the rags of the beggar-corpse they were arguing over – everyone’s nicely infected to a minor level now. The corpse’s fingers had also been gnawed off post-mortem.

Knowing the incense was a clue and now suspecting that it was behind everyone’s strange behaviour, the PCs used Sekushi’s riding dog to track the scent into the Pyres (amusing as the more he was exposed to it, the more unruly he became). Unfortunately they were tracking Fingers rather than the Joculators, but the results were the same.

After encountering the Bugbear Brothers (“Treasure, hurray!” they cried), the party encountered Naxur the Nathri and his invisible thieves. They fell for it hook, line, and sinker (Brig revealing his special Celtic Taunt powers) but then tempted Naxur into guiding them through the ruined streets. The Nathri champion’s greed got the better of him and he agreed, but got his comeuppance a few minutes later when Petubastis discovered that he’d been robbed – of his expensive potion pouch and all his potions (Brig in comparison lost just two candles and a flint and steel). The rogues escaped unharmed alas.

It was then only a short distance to Blighthouse, where the PCs found Fingers pacing and muttering outside. Some careful diplomacy revealed that he was the injured party, so the PCs promised to help him get some peace and quiet back to his house. With him as a guide they approached the house… which is where things degenerated into a mass of jokes, dancing lights, and circus music.

Having just had a loud argument right outside, the Joculators became aware of their presence. Brig tried to climb stealthy onto the porch but had the wood Greased under him and slipped off. Laughing alerted the PCs to the fact that the game was up – laughing and some jokes at Brig’s expense. The Celt immediately retaliated with a torrent of abuse, again using his Taunt ability.

Rembrandt became enraged. Swan tried to restrain him but rolled a 1, Rembrandt tried burst free and got a natural 20 – And came bursting out of the window, hit the greased porch-roof and flew off in a flying tackle at Brig. More spells then flew out, accompanied by a barrage of terrible jokes and puns:

“Chill out man! / Look, a gnome Alaska!” (Ray of Frost)
“Feel my stinging retort!” (Acid Splash)
“Charmed I’m sure.” (Charm Person)
“Sleep you sheep!” (Sleep)
“What colourful language, allow me to reply with some of my own…” (Colour Spray)

While Sekushi futilely tried to negotiate, Brig ran through Rembrandt and named his blade “Foolsbane” in the proper Celtic fashion - but was otherwise rather disturbed, having never actually killed anyone before.

At the back door Wyk, Petubastis, and Fingers confronted a Joculator who snapped his fingers and demanded that they all fall asleep. When this had no affect whatsoever (“spell resistance”, “cleric will saves”, “undead” respectively) he told them that he was appalled at how they’d ruined the drama of the moment and turned to flee.

After a brief scuffle, the Joculator surrendered but made yet another fatuous remark which caused Fingers to lunge at him, revealing his undead nature. Petubastis immediately Turned the ghast, causing him to flee shrieking into the Pyres and Petubastis to get a lecture from Wyk on why being undead isn’t a crime and Clueless berks are the most annoying thing in the multiverse.

We ended the game as they secured their prisoner – by bashing his head repeatedly against the lobby wall until he passed out. 2 down, 1 to go.

Notes & rules points from this session -

I’ve downgraded the 'random portal' tentacle, as its just a but [i]too dangerous… even given that its meant to be a dangerous encounter the combination of huge size, high strength, and Improved Grapple is just too deadly.

From a design point of view, this session again highlighted the benefits of tracking by scent, but I think I’ve added everything I need to about it now.

Possibly need to make a note in Alley Fighting that a 3.5 bariaur can’t turn round in that space! Note that there are differences between the PSCS version and the new 3.5 version for this creature that’s in the Book of Exalted Deeds.

The whole Joculator encounter was MUCH easier than I’d expected; I think basically because the players came looking for them, not the other way around. My players also didn’t take the comedy of the Jocs with as much good grace as other playtest groups, treating them like any other enemy despite the antics (but it’s not over yet).

The party have pressed on into the heart of the Pyres and now don’t have enough HP to get out again

It was pointed out that all 2e Planescape scenarios also had a “what my faction thinks” section, so I’m working on that at present too (both pre-Faction War & afterwards).[/i]

That's quite possible, but Xaosetics aren't the best planners (on incense even worse!) so I'd just assumed they'd improvise each time rather than laying more traps. There's plenty that's dangerous in the Pyres in addition to the PCs, so all the traps that are there are already in place the first time (only three - if you count the cockatrice).

Things can't be too secure in there, becuase Fingers (and Mister Click) still needs to get in, and I guess that if it looked like a fortress plenty of nasties would get curious...

On the other hand - maybe there does need to be more to Blighthouse than currently. Since the Jocs like a good prank, maybe a few "humourous" traps to make the place like some nightmarish fun house?

Although I like the idea that they dress up in diffierent styles every time too...

Yeah, but you have an annoyed Derek

Thanks for the feedback Karma, I'm definately going to do something with the Wights to tone them down. Bg thanks to you (and Arytiss and the other PCs) for playtesting, and giving us all so many laughs. Our own adventure was pretty laugh-heavy too, which is a bit different from my usual style - I think the Joculators had an effect on all of us!

My playtest is ended now, so here's the final update:

After subduing the Jocs (1 dead, 1 unconsious, 1 tied up) and scaring off Fingers, the PCs made their way somewhat nervously (in a low HP kind of way) back through the Pyres. Fortunately their encounter with Mister Click on the way out went peaceably, and they also met Grimjaw outside, heading for the Blighthouse. With his employers firmly defeated however, the githzerai was a bit more forthcoming.

Back in the Whispered Word, the PCs were able to eventually get the surviving Joculators to confess their "plans" and how they'd had the idea. The group was less than enthused with the idea of tracking down even more Joculators to confirm their story... After getting the handout (see below) they fixated a bit n Strawberry as the only lead, with good reason.

The party were introduced to Cranium Rats after Hal Haigherty threw out their bathwater, causing them to frenzy in the alley behind the inn (going to expand this into a proper encounter, I think). This clued them in a bit more to what was happening with the incense. Unfortunately the PCs had failed to notice the significance of the Thurible, being far too over-emotional, then far too impressed with Petubastis for casting Calm Emotions. After giving out the majority of the stolen goods from Blighthouse, the sold the rest of the incense and the funerary gear right back to the Dustmen... triggering an unhappy sleep-interruption from Factotum Ambergris a night or two after.

They were NOT impressed, but (as players) soon accepted his ultimatum. They took the returned Thurible to Protector Nymon, who promptly scammed them over identifying it. After pusruing him all the way up Shuffle Street (in a race to catch him before he could cash their IOU) and loudly threatening him in public, they took the thankfully now empty Thurible to Deadwick, who charged them a fortune before just opening it up and showing them the maker's mark. All was not wasted effort however, in that Deadwick also interrogated Brig's severed Joc head for some slightly less Joculatored answers.

They were soon on their way to the Lower Ward in the company of Narma the Loud. After buying a whole load of cogs, nuts, tiny little screws, and other brick-a-brac, they made it to Brunathel's shop. After some verbal wrangling with his modron receptionist (they particularly liked his poetry), they were able to see the man himself, then on to Eyes Desire.

Wyck: "we'd like to speak to someone about the terrible reputation of the Sensates becuase of what's going on in the Grey District!"

Sensate: "Perhaps you should speak to my fellow Factotum, Eyes Desire?"

The Party: "oh crap."

First they tried to speak to the scariest/most serious sensate they new about someone defaming the Sensates with their actions in the Grey District. They chose Benden Maul (from The Eternal Boundary) who happily informed them that his fellow Factotum Eyes Desire would deal with the matter.

Initially the meeting went pretty much as expected... they fenced verbally with Eyes for a bit, coming to the conclusion that she'd done it but wasn't going to oblige them with cackling out her confession like a Clueless Prime. She offered them her 'finder's fee' for locating the Thurible but Petubastis claimed they did not have it anymore, and she offered to pay for a Sensory Stone recording of their adventures too (which was refused).

Then Brig ap Nud spotted Strawberry in the background and after futilely trying to signal this to the rest of the party, just yelled at him with his Taunt ability, openly accusing Eyes of the crime. Strawberry launched himself at Brig in responce to the taunt, so Wyck cut him in half with his sword and it looked like violence would ensue until Petubastis once again cast Calm Emotions, creating a suspicious (but calm) stand off and the PCs withdrew from both the meeting and the Festhall. Despite these events, Brig made it clear that he thought EyesLater, he was very annoyed that they were Desire was worthy of his romantic attenions. now persona non gratia at the Festhall...

"it's a much better cult than these dead worshippers!" he announced with typcial Cluelessness.

With Ambergris pacified (and Thurible returned to him for destruction) and the Voices satisfied that chaos was leaving the district, the PCs were able relax for a few days and believe the adventure was over. Then the Pariahs arrived.

Fortunately the PCs unanimously elected to stay and fight - in fact they were very proactive in getting the rest of the district to fight with them too(plus the just love the Ogres). They formed a rough barricade across the road just down from the Whispered Word and gathered behind it. Petubastis bravely tried to recruit Deadwick to the cause, without success, but the group didn't even bother to ask the Dustmen - believing that a) "the living are not their concern" and that b) the last thing they wanted to do was see a horde of undead let loose to pacify the district.

Brig meanwhile, managed to rig up some ropes to a building, to pull a rotted frontage (and its razorvine covering) down onto the enemy when they arrived.

Sekushi (on her wardog mount) and Jaime Foultongue (naked escept for woad - he was another perrenial favourite NPC) lurked in the alleyways ready to ambush the enemy, while everyone else stood firm on the barricade.

"I cast Remove Fear.... on myself!"
- Petubastis, on first seeing the Proud Pariahs

As you can see, the flavour text had quite an impact.

Favourite moment: Gnome Sekushi's ride by attack, stuffing her alchemical fire package into the gaping mouth of Gerr the troll (Sveb-Ole activated the bomb by punching it)

The adventure ended with the PCs strolling the district to friendly greetings and nods of quiet respect from the gangs, and the first peices of graffiti depicting their heroics. It was obvious that things could go in several directions from here (including taking over the local underworld themselves), but that whatever happened next they'd made friends here for life.

Overall, they really enjoyed the scenario (which was often a lot more 'fun' and comedic than I'd originally envisioned - no bad thing for an introductory scenario). I'm going to pass my copy of the adventure around them all for further comment and tally up all my own DMing notes for a final analysis, but basically everything worked. I'll make the tweaks required then set to work on formatting and final touches.

Expect begging for more artwork to begin soon...

He'd be overjoyed... if you know, joy was allowed in his Faction.

I'll definitely find room for this in the scenario somewhere... mmm, maybe Dykos can draw?

Edit:

Minor update - I've printed a full copy of the scenario out and am circulating it through all my players for a final analysis/troubleshoot. After which, I'll be moving on to final formatting.

Update 10th August 2007

The playtesters are still scribbling all over my scenario, and I've made an official plea for artwork on this thread right here

The final draft is now underway, so the finished document is coming soon to Planewalker!

*edit: 01/01/08*

Happy new year folks! THought I'd update everyone on how things are coming: I am almost done - the Grey District is finished apart from the map, the main adventure is a hair from complete, and then I just have Gnarlybone's Lair and Blighthouse to spruce up and it'll be readt for Planewalker!

I've also started inserting the artwork, and omg it all looks great - thanks again to all concerned; you're making a huge difference to the finished product.

My group completed the adventure in a short length of (game) time, and so skipped a lot of the random enounters and side-quests, which could well have effected their final XP total. It'll be interesting to see how it goes in your group. The finalising of the Pariahs encounter since the playtest will probably also up the XP difficulty a bit.

The final scenario level came out as 3rd for three reasons:

Lower level scenarios are harder to write, becuase it doesn't take a big mistake to low level PCs killed (and this scenario has more than a couple of encounters where DM discretion is the main guidenced). The adventure is designed for a 'complete noob' too - first planescape and possibly even first D&D, which is why why this is important.

It allowed more scope in the design (basically in the monsters and level/number of enemies available, etc).

It's meant that the scenario is a suitable 'first adventure' - something else its designed to be - for ECL +2 characters like Githyanki and Rogue modrons (I think official non-PS bariaur 3.5 stats might be +2 as well these days). Don't worry though - there's extensive notes for running lower level characters through things (and not many changes required, even then; 2nd or 1st level characters can easilly go through it if the DM knows their stuff).

Oooh, more playtesting! Always useful, and I can't underestimate how great it is to see your work actually being used. Its worth all the blood, sweat, and tears (sometimes only just). You've a nice turn of phrase going on there btw - I particularly liked Lathander's 'divine intervention' PC arrival and your description of Lannis. I'm looking forward to seeing how the tale progresses.

In other news, the adventure is submitted now! Its finally gone to Planewalker (on March 1st, actually - and boy is it mammoth....) along with a few additions and very minor rewrites, and a lot of frankly sodding brilliant artwork from various planewalkers - and with almost two whole months to spare until 4th edition comes out. As always any rules points, unexpected difficulties (or ease), plot holes, or other information will be well received. There's always a chance that I left something major out.

"Just when I thought I was out, they drag me back in!"

Sadly, I need a bit of a break
This one alone almost killed me