Adventure Site Contest - The Fountain of Bec
Trolls Trolls in the church!
This entry comes from Stooshie & Stramash, and is for a veritable hodge-podge of systems, to included Labyrinth Lord, Advanced Labyrinth Lord and what I believe is Fighting Fantasy. The level target is 4-7. It described a disgraced monastery, original dedicated to the Sisters of Bec, an order of nuns dedicated to the goddess of cultivation and horticulture. However, it was raided and area around it abandoned until only a scant 70 years ago. Now sheep and shepherds are going missing at night, and farmhouses are being raided with no survivors.
This is a fairly strong entry. There are quite a few avenues for the players to investigate and become interested in the location, the Troll gang is a very large threat, bolstered by their leader being a giant two-headed variety, and keeping a pack of six deaht / devil dogs with him at all times. There is no wandering monster encounter table, however, the referee is instructed to roll a D6 to see where the trolls are at the beginning of the nights gaming. Once option is for trolls to be "away." These have a time limit of turns after which they return. That's a good addition. Fighting trolls is a harrowing ordeal, and the party might think "whew, that's the last of them" only to be ambushed by a troll freshly back from a raid. Good stuff.
This adventure is fairly on high interactivity as well. There'a coffer that requires two keys, one around the lead troll's neck, and one inside the titular Fountain of Bec. The fountains itself is quite interesting as well. If the party replaces the cherub ornament and casts Purify Food and Drink, Bless, and Remove Curse. Those who contributed gain 2000 XP and +2 to all saves for a month. This I am somewhat leery of. For one thing "contributed" is a weasel word. One of the hooks sees the party simply being given the cherub ornament and asks to rededicate the fountain (the spells necessary are never told). Does that mean the whole party contributed? Or just whoever placed the cherub on the fountain. Minor quibling sure, but these sorts of things can and do lead to player confusion and "real life persuasion check" style gaming. Some tables like that, other do not so your mileage may vary.
Still on the interactivity train, the coffer room. This room is a doozy
A substantial puddle covers half the floor but is otherwise empty save for a tapestry similar to that in 9, though in this case Bec and her daughters are by woodland waterfall. Again a fish and a bird hold a key in their mouth. An invisible stalker waits in the room, with the mission to prevent anyone other than a Sister of Bec who attempts to remove the coffer and its contents unless they offer a blessing to Bec and her daughters. Behind the tapestry is a small niche carved into the wall, containing a silver coffer measuring 12" wide 8" deep and 8" high. It has two keyholes (locked), the keys being held separately by the canoness and the purser. The coffer is trapped - using a knock spell or picking or forcing without disarming the trap releases a petrifying gas covering all in the room (save vs petrification to avoid, including the invisible stalker). The coffer contains an emerald worth 1500gp and a 4" long fragment of a woman's lower jawbone. This jawbone belongs to one of Bec's daughters and if a prayer to Bec is said in advance confers the ability to speak with animals (1/day), speak with plants (1/day), bless (1/day), Cure Disease (1/day as 14th lvl cleric) and commune (1/wk). The latter two work only with lawful alignment.
The invisible stalker is nasty a but reasonable guardian. It explains why the treasure room as remained disturbed for the last few decades despite being empty. Petrify on Knock is also a devious trap. It think they both could use slightly more telegraphing. Maybe a pile of bones, or similar in the room for the stalker. Anything to key attentive players in that it isn't as simple as put the keys in the locks and go. But it's a minor thing.
This module has a lot of character as well. The treasure in it is rarely just coins, it's "a chieftain’s head dress with walrus ivory and rubies" or the jawbone of a demi-goddess that grants some clerical spells. It adds flavor without really harming portability into a campaign. Most settings have something that looks like an agriculture goddess, and nothing here makes any sort of bold assumptions about the nature of trolls or monasteries etc.
Minor bits. The treasure is good, 9000 total value, with some good magic items in the mix. Decent for the threat level, plus the possible extra 2000 XP from the fountain makes for a decent reward on full clear. The information presentation is mostly good. Things are cross referenced in multiple important locations. The maps are from Dyson and an automated tool, and are inoffensive like most maps of that type tend to be. That is the strength of a Dyson map or it's like and I'm glad to not be the only person using one. One minor quibble is that i can't find where the basement entrance is, which is somewhat annoying as the basement is the bulk of the adventure. All in all, a solid piece that I would be happy to run in a pinch.
Sail On!
ShockTohp