The Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying Adventure) 0786941960

A new D&D adventure for lower-level characters!This low-level D&D adventure showcases a new format for combat en

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The Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying Adventure)
 0786941960

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Introduction You're about to e mba rk 0 11 a jo urney fu Il ofdanger and exc iteme nt , in rr igue and c halle nge-a jo urney to t h e Shatt ered Gate s of Slaug hte rgard e! You'll face off aga in st si n isrer foe s fro m ram pag ing d rago ns to c alcu lati ng demo ns. As pan of a closc-k n u team of advent ure rs, yo u'll gro w in power an d k nowle dge. A nd you'l l e arn glory e nd accl ai m, as we ll as pile s of treasure. Bur to do a ll th at , you need a c ha racter. Th aI's whe re th is book comes in.Th is p/l1Ya's Gllillt' is a lin k bet wee n the 0 & 0 ru les a nd the ad venture you're abo ut ro unde rt a ke. He re yO ll can find all sons of advic e on how 10 make a memorable c h aracte r wh o can su rv ive th e r igors of Slaug luerga rde an d emerge victoriou s. O n ce the adve n t u re h as start ed, you 'll sul l find the Plll ycr's Cllidt' u se fu l. You r c h arac te r em acq ui re som e of t he m agi c items de tailed in thi s book. In t ime, you r PC mi g ht all y wi t h one or bo th of th e o rgan izat io ns de ta iled h er e- the Lu min ou s a rtie r a nd the Ebe n Ca ba l. Th e Pla ycr'sGuidl' tel ls you th e bene fits of th at affilia lion, including p restige cl as ses avail able on ly to member s of o ne of th ese gro ups. Share th e PIII.\'t'r's GuidI'arou nd the table as you u nder take the advent u re. That's what it's de signed for. Re fer to it as a rle n as you wi sh- the know ledge i n thi s book migh t save your ch arac ter' s life !

CREATING A CHARACIER You an d you r fri end s begin your ad ve nt ure s in t he Valle y of O bel isks , a r ugged land o n the fro n tier o f c iviliza tion . As you ge ne ra te a new Isr-level c ha ract er. co nsi de r the follow in g po in ts. The Va lley of O bel isks is a big p lace. Eve n a fasr r ider woul d take d ays to travel its len g t h by road , Th us, ne arl y any ch aracter you ca n imag ine ca n be from he re. Don 't be shy abou t tr y ing an u nu sual com bin ation or cla ss and race, or a typ e of c ha racter n ew to YO li . Your Dungeo n Ma ste r has all sorts of advent urematcria ls. but they requ ire a re aso na bly cohe sive cast of c h arac ters to spring ro life. Discu ss with you r fr iends wh at ki nd ofc h arac ter you're ma king. Th at w ay, you make su re you've go t th e basics covered-c-someone who ca n heal, so meone w ho ca n figh t, someo ne who is sk ille d w ith arca ne mag ic, and so me one w ho ca n de al w ith traps. Ideas that your fr ie nds h ave for their c ha racte rs mi g ht in sp ire yOll, An oth er way you can m ake th e DM 's li fe easier is by invc nti ng some sort of socia l co n nec tion be twee n your c ha racte r and at least one othe r I'C. Doing so pro vides a rea son yo ur c ha rac ters ar e togethe r, and it h elps mak e su re that everyone mak es ch arac ters th at wo rk w it h one a no t her. You don't have to play a c harac te r who's best frien ds wi th everyon e el se, of co urse, bUI 0 & 0 is a coope rative ga me, so you sho u ld n't playa com ple te mi santh rope eithe r. Root your c h arac te r in t he world-or at lea st plant some seeds tha i ca n grow roo ts in time. You shou ld be able to pick a com m u ni ty in th e Valle y of O belis ks that you r ch arac te r

c alls hom e, and you shou ld k now th e basics of how you r c harac te r gre w up, whet he r livi ng rela tives exis t, a nd so on . You do n't have to have a de tai led h isto ry unless you wa n t to. In fact , it's o fle n conven ie nt to leave so me pari s o f th e sto ry blan k in itia lly, so you ca n fill t hem in late r w ith det a ils t h at con nec t ro th e on going ca m pai gn . 1n an y case, you shou ld be able ta lk abo ut you r c hara cter in a way [h at doesn 't rel y on rac e, cl ass, and level.

RACES OF THE VALLEY Most co rnrnu ni ries in th e Valley of O belisks are we lco m ing to reside n ts of all rac es, but so me natu rall y attrac t more o f one race t han a no t her. Ot her s are t he hi stor ical home o f a spec ific race . \X:T hen yOll c hoose a race, you don 't n ecessa ril y have to be fro m one of the co m muni tie s descr ibed in rh nr race's sect ion. You ca n pic k a differenr se n lcment, decl ar e th at you're from a sma ll h am let or t ho rp that isn't shown on th e map, or eve n dec ide that you wa u r 10 play a visitor from a far-off

land. Dwa r f: Few o f the valley 's dw ar ves are farm e rs. In sread . the)' are arti sans in urban ce nte rs o r mi ners up in th e foo lhi lls a nd mou nt ai ns. CO"' UrIllllfifS: Dwarves dominate th e town of Krokar r an d (he su rro u nd ing Sardarian 1-1 ills. Recently, a dwarfc lan has moved to Hem yul nk. w here its membe rs are scour ing th e nearby mouu t nin s for ore. Elf: The e lves of the valle y call its ma ny fo rest s horn e. Elves spe nd t he ir tim e ten ding the grea t t ree s, hu nti ng, ga t her in g rare herbs, an d pe r fec ting wi zardry. COll l lll lll ll lit', : Built amo ng t he t ree s of the Oa kwoo d, t he tow n of s hu l She n ne k is t he larges t cl uster of e k es in th e valley. Sh ul Vaath in the Vaathwo od ru ns a close sec ond. Bo th [he O a kwood a nd t he Vaathwood haw smalle r elf ham lets as wel l. Elf co m m u ni tie s a re mo re spo radic in t he o t he r forests. and no elves live in the Forest o f Turlek . Werewolves w ipe d th em al l OUI. Gnome: Gno mes in the valley kee p to th eir ow n , living qui et ly i n thorps burro wed into t he hill s a nd ro ll ing past ures that c ha rac terize th e ce nt ral pa n of t he valley. M any are she pherd s ot vege table far mer s. Conmlllllitk s: Gnomes have a sig n ificant prese nce in Ri verbe nd , a nd t he Ri"erbend Carn ival is jus tly famo us for its sk ill ed, e nt erta in ing g nomes . Half-Elf: H al f-elves have a re putation as d iplo ma ts and sh rewd bargaine rs, so many gravitate to t he me rcha nt trades or other job s requ iring tr avel. COllll111l11 ilics: Those half-e lves of th e Vall ey o f Obe lisk s who live wi th e lves are usually fou nd in s h u I Shc n nck . Th ese in d ivid uals are t reated as fu ll-blo ode d elves in the co m m u n ity, set apart from the ot he rs onl y by the ir sho r t life spa n s. Si nce th e e lves of Shu I Vaet h di sdai n outs ide rs , • ha lf-e lves are rare am ong th em . H al f-e lves wh o live wi th their hum an ki n are usuall y residents of large se rtle ruen ts such as Su rnbcr ron. Half-Orc: Fu ll-blood ed orcs o nce com prise d t he majorit y of th e barbar ian tribes roam ing th e fringes o f t he valle y, bu t th ey began mi xing w irh humans lon g ago. Many of

these trib es are now mad e up ent irely of half-orcs. A few suc h tr ibes wand er the fri nges of the Valley of Obel isks, hu nt ing and gathe r ing when they can, and raidi ng nearby se ttle ments whe n they mu st. COl1 l11l1l1lilics: Th e mountain s nort h of th e VaHey ofO belisks an d th e headw aters of the Ma r ril ach River arc th e terr itor y of th e two larges t hal f-ore trib es. Ha lfl ing: Th e M nn-ilnch River that run s th roug h the hear t of the valley also ru ns th rough th e heart ofevery ha lfling , it is said. Th e vast majo rity of hal flings lives and work s wi thin a few miles of the r iver, many on th e ri ver boats that carr y goods back and for th betw een th e Valley of Obel isks and the rest of th e world. C O/ll I11tlllr ti CS: Three hal fling cl an s are pnrticu larly common in the valley. The Markt un scl hal flt ngs are h istoric ally from Sum berton; Lu kr im ar Keep is home to the H und ivarsr cla n; and the I ami nestri clan is fro m Jewel fon l. Halflings from all th ree clans, as well as a scatteri ng of "exten ded fam ily" from o ther cla ns, live any where w ithi n sight of the Marr ilach River. H u ma n: Th e dom ina nt race of the Valley of Obelisks, h um ans built th e roads an d erected the scttlern em s whe re most of the valley's res iden ts live. Hum an far mers m ake up the pr epond eran ce of th e valley's co mmon folk. COllllllllllitics: The city of Sum bc r tc n is th e largest settlement in the Valley of O belisks, and nearly ha lf of its pop ulation is h uma n . Jewcl ford is ano ther tow n tha t ha s a large hu ma n populat ion , and m any of the sma ller v illages and hamlets suc h as Dondu rran,'Iu lvercross,and Silver moru have a hu man m ajorit y.

CLASSES OF THE VALLEY It isn' t hard to j ust ify th e presen ce of any class w ith in th e com mu n ities of the Valley of Obelisks. Some classes na tu rally gr avitate to certa in occ upations an d locatio ns.

Barbarian Th e set tle d lands of th e Valley of Ob elisks ha ve few native barbarian s. Some tr ibes wander along the nort hern pe r iphery or the headwaters of th e Mar rt lach River. Occupations: Barbarians wh o come to th e valley fin d work as car avan guards or soldiers, or as band its wh o figh t car avan guar ds an d soldiers. c hara ct er Co n cep ts Th e berserke r who glares at everyone and let s an axe do rhc talking. The exot ic hu nt er-gath erer who's cu rio us but naive abo ut civiliz ation. The survivo r who lived rh rough a massacr e or disaster that wip ed out the tr ibe.

Bard The art of son g is partic ularly es teemed in th e Valley of Obelisks . Per form er s are co m mon, bur only the bes t can call themselves bard s. Oc cu pa t io ns: Every bard needs an audience, so the natural tende ncy is for bard s to gravit ate to larger cities suc h as

Sum be non and jewelford. The gno mes of Riverbend pro duce a nu mber of bards as well. many of wh om learn th eir craft in the travel ing Riverbc nd Carn ival. Cha ra ct er Co n cep t s Th e tale-spin ner wh o's eager to hit th e road, perform heroic dee ds, and tell stor ies abo ut th em. The fencer m ins trel wh o wie lds a rapier as well as he does a m and oli n. The dabbler who's fasci na ted by anc ien t lore, de lving into cru mbling ru ins and long-fo rgotten cry pts in sea rch of secre t k now ledge.

Cleric The folk of th e Valley of Obe lisk are cos mopo litan enoug h to toler ate the wors hi p of ,my no n-evil deity. \X'i th no sing le religion dom inating the area, clerics of m any faiths