The First Area in the Game / The Hamlet of Grot with Map
almost 3 years ago
– Wed, Jun 21, 2023 at 08:04:00 AM
The first area you encounter in The Dark Glinting with Metal is The Hamlet of Grot. Below is the draft from the book, not fully edited so you're getting a sneak peek. This area is really just a taste of the horrors that compound as this adventure unfolds. From here, your party will travel to The Desiccated Hills and then The Rocky Barren Land which leads to The Necrotic Fields and more.
The Hamlet of Grot (A1.-A11.)
If the players choose to explore Grot before or after going to Lavn Thurn’s hut, they will find a town which seems on the verge of giving up. Paths begin and then abruptly end—there are no straightforward connections between residences. The walls of the few buildings are crumbling and in poor repair. Everything is dusty or rusty or collapsing. There is a town square that was never completed, and which is nowhere near the center of town, a pit in which animals (now exclusively dogs) are kept, a few dwellings, a collection of tents, a collapsed shrine, and little else. Grot is the sort of town nobody would ever want to live in, and the people that do live here are deeply unhappy.
A1. Town Square and Dry Town Fountain
A weedy patch of dirt near one edge of town—whoever planned it predicted the town would grow in a certain direction but predicted wrong. In the middle is a cracked stone basin that was once a fountain. Beside it lies a stone trough filled with silty water.
The dry fountain is empty. If players grope through the water of the trough, however, roll a d10 for each player. One roll per player: any subsequent rolls will only bring up slime.
1-5: All you come up with is a handful of slime. It smells disgusting and makes you gag.
6-8: when you bring your hand back out, a leech is adhered to it. 1 hp damage to remove it.
9: A strange, ancient coin with the image of a disembodied eye on one side and that of a baby tethered to a knight’s chest on the other. Worth 2s, or 20s to a coin collector.
10: A phial of elixir vitalis. Heals d6 HP, and will prevent infection.
A2. Hut of the Jackal
Part of the front wall of this hut has collapsed and lies scattered on the path. It has been replaced by empty liquor bottles cemented together with mud. Inside someone mumbles to himself. This is the Jackal.
If the hut is entered, the door will fall off its hinges. The Jackal will scold players when this happens and tell them they owe him a drink and suggest he take them to the bar. He uses this trick often. Squalid interior, empty bottles everywhere as well as some filled with urine, dirty crumpled clothing. The only light comes from a small guttering fire in the ramshackle fireplace. The Jackal, lies sprawled half on the bed and half off.
The Jackal
HP: 8
Morale: 12
Armor: furs -d2
Attack: throws 2 glass bottles per round with unerring aim, d4
Loot: none
The Jackal is a retired and now disgraced soldier who gambled his pension away in the city and then returned to await death in his hometown of Grot. His face is scarred and disfigured, his salt and pepper hair is filthy, his body swarms with lice. He can tell players old war stories. If players ask about Lavn Thurn he will become upset and demand they leave.
A3. Makeshift Bar
Once a stable, this is now a bar. Patrons drink in the three stalls, seated on makeshift benches, dirty straw on the floor. The bartender, Miles (5 HP, -d2 leather apron, d4 tun mallet, loot: 34s), is a florid, hardy man. He serves only one drink, sour beer from a tun that he uncorks and pours into crude wooden cups. 1s per pour.
The bartender can tell players rumors about the collapsed shrine. According to him, it was this shrine and what she discovered there that caused Lavn Thurn to go out into the waste. The shrine was recently torn down by Basilisk Priests, but perhaps there is still something there…
Patrons of the bar will offer random bits of gossip. They are interested in Lavn Thurn’s return, but speak of it in whispers, superstitious that her sudden aging might happen to them as well.
At any one time the bar will contain 1d4+1 drinkers (d2 HP, no armor, d2 fists or d4 dagger) as well as Old Daft Fing (3 HP, no armor, d2 fists). Daft Fing, being daft, tells a less coherent version of the Lavn Thurn story than the farmer does, but he tells it nonetheless.
In the far corner of the third stall the earth has been noticeably disturbed—any player entering the stall will notice on a 1 on a d2. If Miles detects players scuffling or digging there, he will tell them to get away from there. If they don’t, he will attack them (the bar patrons, game for a good fight, might join in—roll a d2 for each of them; on a 1 they join in). Buried there is a casket containing a deformed, elongated human(?) skull, d83 silver, and three small mushrooms. If eaten, the mushrooms will cause the eater to hear voices for d4 hours. If just one is eaten they will hear whispers that they can’t quite make out; if two, normal voices speak in an unknown language; if all three, deafening shouts will make it impossible for the player to hear anything else.
A4. Dwelling in the Shambles
This portion of Grot is a sinkhole full of collapsed huts. A ramshackle ladder leads down into it. Only one dwelling remains semi-intact. In it lives an old bearded hermit (3 HP, d2 fists, loot: three roots) who speaks of the “great dying” and who seems delirious. He claims to converse with the dead at night and claims that in certain circumstances he can bind the dead.
If players dig through the ruins and roll a 1 or 2 on a d6, they will be allowed to roll on the Table of Random Weapons (see Appendix). Whatever weapon they find will be broken, but can be repaired by the hermit if he is asked. He is much more resourceful than he looks.
A5. Dog Pit
A crude and dirty pit containing d2+1 dogs, thrown here by villagers. They use these dogs to drive wild animals away from their roots at certain times of the year, and also occasionally eat one. Any dog you help out of the dog pit will potentially be so grateful it will adopt you as its master and follow you (d6+2 HP, d4 bite, obeys you), as long as you have a successful test of DR of 12 against presence. If the test fails, the dog will become obstinate: you can drag it along with you on a leash, but it will try to escape on first opportunity.
A6. Root Cellar
A set of wooden doors set in the ground. If opened, they lead down to a dry and relatively cool underground room where roots have been bundled and stored to cure. Nobody is here guarding the roots. If players examine them they will find that 4d10 roots are sufficiently cured as to be edible (1 root = food and water for one player for one day); the others are still too bitter to eat.
In one corner, there is a bundle of twine, a pair of shears, and sturdy wheelbarrow. This latter can be used to transport Lavn Thurn through the wastes or to carry supplies.
A7. Basilisk Priest Encampment
A temporary encampment set up by the Basilisk Inquisitors who have come to “question” Lavn Thurn. Contains 2d4 Basilisks Inquisitors and one Head Basilisk Inquisitor (see A11. for stats). These Inquisitors are unfriendly and arrogant. They will ask players pointed questions meant to determine if they are heretics and if they are in league with Lavn Thurn. If they determine players are, and pass a reaction roll, they may try to take characters into custody to “correct” (i.e. torture) them.
Two small tents of dirty canvas and one larger tent (belonging to the head inquisitor). Smaller tents each contain: 1-4 bedrolls, 1d4 days of rations, a partial transcription of the Nameless Scriptures, a pouch contain 1d10 silver. Larger tent: portable camp chair, a more comfortable bedroll, a copper basin filled with slightly stagnant water, a straight razor with an elaborately engraved handle (d4 damage, worth 14s), and a small wooden coffer. The coffer contains an etching of a knight offering an obviously dead child to a hooded figure standing before a gate. Caption: “If That Light Within Ye Be Darkness, How Great Shall Be That Darkness!” Scrawled in red ink or blood across the image is a single word: “HERESY!” The chest also contains a random broken weapon from the random weapons table (see Appendix). The hermit can repair the weapon if it is brought to him. A letter written to the Inquisitor is with the weapon, giving some details of its purpose and explaining it was found in the Shambles.
A8. Farm
Uneven rows of plants with wilted tops scatter the ground before a small, makeshift farmhouse.
In the farmhouse: A camp bed, a small and filthy kitchen, a hoe (d4 damage), a broom, a coil of rope (40 feet), three chickens, lots of chickenshit. If players search: on a 1 on a d4 they will discover a loose floorboard underneath which is a silver crucifix and four doses of life elixir (heals d6 HP per dose and removes infection).
A9. Ruined Farm
As above, but the soil is blighted, and nothing grows here. The farmhouse is collapsed and looks as though it has been stepped on by a giant. If players search the ruins, they will find crushed human bones, a foot-long needle (d2 damage), and a banged-up toolbox containing a broken saw, a hammer with a shattered handle, and ten rusty nails. Behind the ruins of this farm is a well that players can use to replenish their water supply. The water is healthy but smells very bad.
A10. Collapsed Shrine
A broken and desecrated shrine. It is difficult to tell what god it was to, and people in town seem reluctant to talk about it. It was recently destroyed by Basilisk inquisitors.
What remains: finger-sized chunks of greenish forest glass. A keystone with a carefully carved symbol of an eye on it. Crude scratches on other scattered building stones that depict crude human stick figures.
If players search: on a 1 on a d2, a necklace with a greenish glass eye on it. If a player wears this, they will increase the chance of the eye noticing them by 1 once in the Rocky, Barren Land.
A11. Lavn Thurn’s Hut
- This hut was built by Thurn’s predecessor, a monk who slit his own throat. A mist of his blood still speckles one rough-hewn wall.
- The floor is hard-packed dirt. There is little in the room beyond a filthy straw-filled palette on the floor, a blanket, and a cracked chamber pot. Whatever books or scriptures Thurn had she took with her when she left, and they did not return with her.
- In one long corner lean two six-foot-long poles. These can be used, with the blanket, to make a stretcher to carry Lavn Thurn if the players are so inclined. They can also be deployed as d4 staff weapons.
- A successful search of the room with a DR7 Presence test will discover a crudely made hiding place in the wall. Inside are 4s and a cursed gold tooth that emanates a dark energy. A player who picks the tooth up will feel a compulsion to discard it, but will only successfully do so if they can pass a DR14 Presence test. Players can attempt to discard the tooth once per day. If they fail, they will believe they have successfully discarded it but will discover it a few minutes later in their pocket or among their possessions.
Cursed Gold Tooth Characteristics (d4)
Tooth effects end when the tooth is discarded.
1- Bicuspid of the Clumsy Leper. -2 to Agility, players will sense they are clumsier than usual.
2- Molar of the Ersatz Ogre. -2 to Strength, a sudden weakness sweeps over you.
3- Canine of the Sorrowful Vampire. The player will weep blood. Take d2 damage once per day, precisely at midnight, and do not heal overnight.
4- Incisor of the Incompetent Necromancer. The tooth feels cursed but has been so poorly cursed that the player experiences no ill effects.
Lavn Thurn
Lavn Thurn lies on her palette, shivering and anxious. She is weak, clearly deranged. Once the players find Lavn Thurn’s hut and speak to her, what she can tell them are largely mad rantings, shot through with a few moments of lucidity. Mostly she will mumble and speak of the “dark glinting with metal,” but she might speak of her journey into and beyond the dry hills as the moment of revelation, when “the flesh was stripped from my body by the eye of the dark sun,” where “the furnishers remade me.” She will speak of having been trapped for years there, even though she was gone from this plane of existence for only a short time. “Time consumes flesh much faster in that realm.” She will speak of “living round after round of life and death on the roulette” without being able to explain clearly what the roulette might be. She might say “I saw the eye, and seeing both blinded me and opened my eyes for the first time,” but she will insist that it was worth it.
- If she’s asked if the metal glinting in the dark is silver, she will say that it is better than silver, and also much, much worse. If she’s asked what the metal is, she will give a strange, wandering, mystical answer: the metal both is and isn’t metal, and both is and isn’t of this world. It is in all of us, and is nowhere at the same time. When you see the metal you no longer need to see anything else at all: “though I am blind I can still see it glinting in the dark.” That sort of thing.
- When she is asked how to get to the dark, glinting with metal, she will describe how you must go up into the dry hills and from there cross over the rocky, barren land. And then, if you are blessed by the eye, the way shall be made manifest to you. You cannot find it, but if you wander then, perhaps, it might find you. You must be patient and wait for the eye to notice you.
- If asked about the desiccated hills, she will describe them (see below) and encourage players to prepare for a dry, hot miserable journey.
- If asked about the rocky, barren land, she will say that it is not a land at all. The giant’s corpse, she might say, dead and dreaming, and those dreams are nightmares made flesh. Is it in our world? Yes. And then again no… The eye must see you if you are to travel through it, the eye! Is it the dead giant’s eye? No! And then again, yes…
- If asked about why she is so much older than when she left, she will say something along the lines of: I saw the eye of the void and I touched it, and it touched me and blew the years of my life away as if they were chaff.
- If asked to come with players on their quest, she will agree, willingly. She will stand up and then collapse. She is in no condition to go anywhere on her own, but she will still beg the players to take her with them, to carry her back to the eye. That, she claims, is where she belongs. She will try to convince players that if she goes with them the eye is more likely to notice them and invite them into its presence.
- Lavn Thurn can be carried away either on a player’s back (which will limit a player’s ability to carry other things) or on a stretcher (either assembled from the player’s supplies or from the poles and the blanket in the hut). But if the players try to leave town with her, they will be stopped by a 2d4 group of basilisk inquisitors from location A7, who will demand she be turned over into their care. Thurn is “sick” they say, and needs to be “healed” (i.e. tortured into submission).
- If players resist, the inquisitors will threaten to take her by force.
- If players still refuse, roll a d4.
- 1-2: the inquisitors threaten and grumble but let the players take her.
- 3-4: the inquisitors attack.
- If players win the fight or the inquisitors let them pass, Lavn will not be useful for much of the trip. She will occasionally mumble and make vague pronouncements. She will eat double the amount of the provisions. While crossing the desiccated hills, she will nod and gesture in various directions to guide players: subtract two hours from the time it takes players to cross, though it might not be clear to players that she is the one making the path easier. Starting on the second day of wandering in the rocky barren land, she will begin to let out howling screams as the eye turns to gaze on the players. From that day on add +2 (non-cumulative) to each daily roll to determine if the eye sees them (refer to section C). Lavn Thurn will never be attacked by the creatures in the desiccated hills or the rocky barren land: she has the eye’s mark on her and is protected.
Lavn Thurn
HP: 3
Morale: 7
Armor: None
Weak punches, d2-1
Loot: None
Head Basilisk Inquisitor
HP: 8
Morale: 9
Scale mail beneath robes -d4
Warhammer whose doubled head is in the shape of the two-headed basilisk d6
Special: Has powers from one random unclean scroll. 1 in 2 chance he will use it each round.
Loot: One unclean scroll, 33s
Basilisk Inquisitor Lackeys
HP: 4
Morale: 7
Quilted cloth -d2
Attack: staff, d4
Loot: d8s
Why the Players Are Here
Players may decide what has drawn them to Lavn Thurn’s story and the desire to pursue the dark glinting with metal she describes. The GM should reward anyone with a particularly clever story for their inventiveness. Or players can each roll a d6 and choose from the following possibilities. These rolls should be shared with the GM but not the other players, unless the player wants to do so. Whether they create their story themselves or roll for them, players are encouraged to lie to one another about their motivations. These motivations can also be used for any NPCs accompanying the party.
- Foolish Treasure Seeker. You are convinced that the glinting of metal in the darkness is of inestimable value and that, once you find it, it shall be yours, and yours alone, for the taking. You are involved in this adventure primarily because of greed, and this may well influence your actions.
- Faithful Priest(ess) of the two-headed basilisk. You have come to destroy whatever the abomination is that threatens to take converts away from the one true faith. You have an unwavering devotion to the true faith that may well be about to be challenged.
- Faithless Priest(ess). You believe that what Lavn Thurn has discovered is the actual one true faith. You intend to find a new, better, and darker god to worship.
- Desperate Farmer’s Child. Anything is better than growing the spongy mottled roots that your family has been cultivating for generations and which feed the town of Grot without giving anyone any pleasure. You grab your hoe (d4) or steal the rusty sword (d6) from your father’s army days. You intend never to return to Grot again.
- Criminal on the Run. You don’t give a damn about Lavn Thurn’s story, but are just looking for a group to hide in until you feel you are safe from those looking to inflict vengeance upon you. You are very cagey about what you’ve done and who you’ve robbed or killed.
- Curious Herbmaster. Lavn Thurn’s story reeks to you of the ingestion of a hitherto unknown hallucinogenic herb or mushroom. The promise of this hallucinogen is what you pursue. You could care less about anything else.
Random Weapons from The Dark Glinting with Metal
almost 3 years ago
– Mon, Jun 19, 2023 at 11:24:48 AM
Now that we have a working draft, we can share the D20 weapons that can be found in this dark adventure.
Random Weapons Table
There are to be found in these strange lands weapons such as have never been seen before. Roll a d20. Once a weapon has been found, cross it out and choose the next closest weapon on the next successful roll. Depending on party size and strength, the GM may want to increase or decrease the numbers of random weapons rolled for.
Bone weapons have the soul of the original individual the bone was part of bound to them, and possess a kind of sleepy sentience. If the weapon breaks, the soul is released.
Heat weapons were forged under extreme conditions, and have magically retained some of the heat and suffering of their creation.
Sand weapons reflect the desperation of the bereft and needy as they search in the barren waste for anything to defend themselves.
Eye weapons are precursors and lesser manifestations of the Eye and have a sworn allegiance to it.
Bone
1 Grosch’s Scalpel. A long needle-thin dagger made of a single fire-hardened bone. d4+1 damage, but +2 damage to denizens of the desiccated hills. Delicate: breaks on a natural 1 or 2.
2 Grittr’s Resting Place. A flail with an enchanted spiked skull in the place of a spiked ball. d8 damage. The skull’s eyes glow and it chatters when the flail is swung. Opponents must DR6 Presence test after each round or flee in fear.
3 Nogrud’s Bone Whirl. A grouping of four femurs held together by a black ribbon embroidered with arcane runes. When the ribbon is released and the bones are thrown, they will circle an opponent like a whirlwind in the air, striking again and again. Opponent must test against DR14 Agility or take d2 damage per round and have -2 to hit. When the opponent is dead, the bones will fall to the ground. If not bound by the ribbon within 10 minutes, they will revert to being ordinary bones. Can be used once per day.
4 The Järvklo. Razor sharp bone claws that can be affixed over the hands and used to slash at opponents. Two attacks per round (if the player has two hands), d4 damage each. If these are kept on for more than an hour, they will begin to grow into the flesh. After six hours, the player will take d2 damage in trying to remove them. After a day, they will become permanently part of the player and cannot be removed.
5 Vorna’s Thirsty Edge. A vampiric zweihänder. For every successful hit, two hp will be replenished. With every miss, however, the thirsty edge will drink one of the bearer’s hp.
Heat
6 The Small Sun. A black globe with a corona of dark flame around it. It is warm to the touch. When successfully thrown, it will burst and catch an opponent on fire, dealing d8 damage and losing them one round of attack as they try to smother the flames. It must draw energy from the void to regenerate and can only be used once per hour.
7 Burning from the Inside. A small blackened wooden figurine, carrying a bow, with a picture of a house on its chest. When taken in the hand and rubbed rapidly while focusing the gaze on an opponent, the opponent must pass a DR13 Presence test or feel as if they’re filled with fire. d4 damage per each round of focus, with a Presence test each new round. If three presence tests in a row are failed, the opponent will burst into flame and become a charred, dead cinder.
8 The Goat God’s Oven. A small iron box. If it is successfully hurled at an opponent it will unfurl around them and they will find themselves surrounded by it. The box is an oven and will get hotter and hotter. DR14 Presence test or take d2 damage the first round, d4 damage the second round, d6 damage the third, etc. The box will open and release its victim once it has been struck for 20 hp of damage from inside or out. Can be used once per day.
9 The Desiccator. The desiccator is a quiver with a withered face on it. Any arrows put into it, when taken out of the quiver and fired, will not only do damage; they will cause in the person injured an almost unbearable thirst. Test DR16 Toughness or waste d4 rounds drinking water or looking for water to the exclusion of all else.
10 Sorvald’s Swoon. A ring that gives its bearer the ability to cause heatstroke in an opponent by twisting the ring and pointing a finger at the opponent. DR14 Toughness test or pass out for d4 rounds. Will awaken if attacked while passed out. Can be used twice per day.
Sand
11 Pouch of Red Sand. A pouch of red sand. If the sand is thrown at an opponent, their skin will begin to weep blood. d4 damage for d4 rounds. Ten uses.
12 The Sand Blade. A ring that, when twisted, will generate a surprisingly sharp blade made of millions of grains of sand. The blade, if broken on a fumble, immediately reforms. d6 +2 damage.
13 The Summoner. A small sand-colored icon that summons a sand golem to fight for you for d4 + 1 rounds. Can be used once per battle.
Sand Golem
HP: 12
Morale: -
Armor: sabulous skin -d4
Attack: Gritty fists (d4) and sand throw (DR12 Agility test or be blinded for 1 round)
14 The Dervish. A flail that when swung generates its own sandstorm, focused immediately around the individual struck. d4 damage plus -2 for the opponent to hit. Storm begins with a successful hit and continues until a miss. Opponent has -1 to all melee weapons and -2 to all ranged weapons while the storm is raging.
15 Kullr’s Bottle. A silt-filled bottle. When poured onto the floor it becomes a portable quicksand trap. Ten uses.
Eye
16 The Blade of the Eye. A distinctive forest glass eye is embedded in the pommel of this sword. It has the blessing of the eye. +1 to hit, d8 damage.
17 The Borrowed Gaze. A small forest glass marble. If hurled at an opponent it becomes a disembodied eye that floats in the air, unleashing its malevolent gaze. DR12 Presence test or paralyzed for d4 rounds. On a fumble the marble will be permanently lost.
18 Black Bark. A piece of unnaturally black bark, from no wordly tree that you know. If held out during combat, the bark will crack open and reveal an eye that will sear d4 opponents for d2 damage with its gaze.
19 The Devastator. A strange round disc with razor sharp edges and a closed eye upon it. When it is hurled, the eye opens. d8 damage upon successful hit, and it always returns to you to be thrown again the following round. A critical hit will sever an opponent's head, if said opponent has a head.
20 The Baleful Eye. A morning star with a round globe of forest glass in place of a spiked head. When used in combat, the globe begins to glow, revealing itself to be an eye. Whenever the morning star hits, DR14 Presence test or flee for d2 rounds. Does d10 damage.
