Vrock Feathers

Getting A Vrock's Feathers

There are several ways the PCs might go about getting the feathers from Skreek and as the DM you have to be ready for any one of them. While it is imposable to count for all methods that the PCs might use you can plan ahead and here we'll go over some of the possibilities.

Direct Assault
This is one method that probably should be discouraged by the GM. However, you should allow the PCs to try if they insist, but you should also allow them to get away. Remember, that a party of first level PCs shouldn't be able to directly take down a Vrock, but with a good plan it might just be posable. Also remember that the PCs are instructed not to kill Skreek. Also if Skreek dies his feathers will dissolve and migrate back to the Abyss along with the rest of his corpse. In any case if the party simply treats the adventure as any other dungeon crawl they are quickly going to run into a lot of trouble. In any case engaging Skreek in direct combat will not be easy, or a fight that the PCs could likely win. See his write-up for more details.

Bargaining
While to some this might not seem to be a good option it is actually perfectly viable. Skreek is nothing if not greedy and if approached in the right way a savvy PC with diplomacy roles AND good role-playing should be able to get some of his feathers. Of coarse Skreek feels that his plumage is finely kept and flattery will get the PCs everywhere, but it also means he's going to ask for a good green(copper coin) in return.

Scavenging
One of the simplest ways of going about collecting the feathers, though it might also take the longest time, is for the PCs to scavenge for shed feathers. Remember most feathers that he has lost will be of poor quality and the mage needs 20 that are of sufficient size and quality to make quill-pens out of. Searching through Skreek's bar as a customer or a group of customers is a fairly easy way to find a few feathers. Have the PCs make a search check. Passing a DC 10 will give one or two feathers. For a DC 15 the PCs find 1d4+1 feathers, 18 gives 1d6+2, 20+ gives 1d8+3. Remember, Skreek might still demand payment if he realizes that the lost feathers are of value to the PCs. Another search check DC 18 (should be made secretly) gives the players the location of the trap door leading down to Skreek's private lair in the basement. Searching the lair gives twice as many feathers as the bar would.

Bribing the Boarders
The boarders living in the Scragged Nail are desperate for money and given a few days (about a week) they might be able to collect as many as 1d6 feathers. If the PCs buy their services caution should be used to keep the vrock from finding out. The boarders' secrecy will not cost extra, but there is still a 10% chance per week that Skreek will catch on; this chance should be modified by how well the PCs role-play and negotiate with the boarders.

Shadowing Skreek
Skreek loses feathers regularly, often during fights, and he gets into a lot of fights. The vrock when he is not terrorizing his tenants or tending his "bar" is usually making a random set of rounds through various small businesses, poor destitute persons living in the hive and others who can't defend themselves extorting money from them. For every fight that Skreek gets into roll 1d6 and subtract three, if the result is positive then Skreek has dropped that many feathers. Roll 1d20 to randomly determine the search DC for each feather dropped, if the roll is under 10 assume the feather fell in plain sight and no search roll is needed.