[DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

After seeing the great adventure Stripe put together (and being bored at work today), I thought I would see what I could whip up. This is intended as a "One Shot", but as I haven't run through it yet, I'm not sure if that's realistic. This encounter will use the N scaling method outlined in DF Adventure 1 - Mirror of the Fire Demon (Page 10). Additionally it will use monsters and items from Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 1, and several other Dungeon Fantasy books. Please feel free to make suggestions, and point out any errors, grammatical or otherwise. Any improvements benefit everyone.
I created the map using Maptools, and Probono's fantastic map pack. However exporting Maps (from Maptools) isn't ideal, so the resolution is less then I would like.

The back story (how the adventurers get here), is nonexistent at the moment. I'm thinking that when I run it, I will have a Draugr destroyed while attacking a caravan. The Draugr will have been uttering "Crevan Wakes!", over and over. The story (from a caravan guard), should lead the group to the location of the fight, then they can track the Draugr's path back to the crypt. Obviously I will have them make a history roll, or discover somehow else the back story of Crevan.

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

http://gallery.rptools.net/v/contrib...geViewsIndex=1

Crevan Brokenhand

Crevan, regarded as the greatest of the Barbarian Kings, is renowned for hundreds of miles as the last barbarian to unite the various tribes under one banner. The horde Crevan commanded laid waste to the countryside far and wide. He earned the name "Brokenhand" at one of the first sieges he commanded. While leading the first charge Crevan’s hand was crushed by a blow with a maul. Rather then nurse his badly broken hand; he opted to have the hand bound to the grip of his broadsword. Crevan continued with the siege for 12 days, until the fort was taken, with his sword perpetually "at hand".

Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest

This burial tomb of the last king of the barbarians, is a small affair, but said to be laden with some of Crevans' most valued treasures. The location of the tomb was forgotten long ago, with much of the rest of Crevans’ story.

Outside- The adventurers stumble upon a small hill ringed with stones of roughly 6 feet in height. The forest in this area is very dense, and if not for the path of broken underbrush leading to it, the burial mound would have easily been missed. The hill is mostly obscured by heavy brush that has grown all around the area. The ring is comprised of 12 stones spaced equal distance apart from one another, around the 15 meter wide hill. On the South side of the hill is a stone entrance, with stairs leading into the ground. It appears that the entrance was covered with a heavy slab of rock until recently, however the slab has been toppled over, and crushed all the brush that had grown over the entrance.

The entrance is roughly 2 meters wide by 3 meters tall, and descends into the earth roughly 10 meters.

1. The stairs leading down into the crypt are heavily laden in dirt and have begun to crumble with age, the stonework of the walls is of exceptional quality, with small reliefs of battles etched into the stones. The ceilings are great slabs of smooth stone. Where the corridor turns left the walls have caved in causing the corridor to be filled with loose rock and dirt over half way up. Getting through the corridor is difficult terrain, and may require climbing or dex checks to avoid twisting an ankle, or stumbling and falling through. Additionally the PC's can make a listen roll to hear scraping coming from the south (area 2), it sounds like boots crunching around the area.

2. This open space with vaulted ceiling smells of moldering plants and rotting meat, more so than you would expect with a tomb. In this area there are N Draugr (P. 12, DF Monsters 1). Also be aware of the Horrid Skull in area 4. The Draugr are shambling around aimlessly, until a target presents itself, by either attacking them, or trying to enter area 5, where their personal treasures are.

3. This alter to some ancient god, is completely intact, with no signs of decay, or dust on the surfaces. The large brazier in the center of the room is inscribed with writings of some forgotten language, as are the bases of the fountains on the three walls of this room. Water is still tricking out of the fountains, and the bases are filled with clear and untainted water.


4. This room is filled with trinkets and fetishes of various types, including some made with animal bones and other less recognizable materials. A decayed and largely disintegrated skeleton is slumped over one of the large tables. The skeleton is of fairly small stature (an anatomy roll will determine that it is a female), and the perfectly preserved skull has settled to stare disconcertingly at the doorway. The skull is a Horrid Skull (DF Monsters 1, P.19) and will continue to assault everyone in the area until destroyed. Additionally the various tables in the room are covered in the remains of scrolls that have decayed into useless scraps, and clay containers that have fallen apart, emptying moldering contents all over the tables.

Along the far wall is a table with a couple items that can be recognized as magical with a Perception+Magery roll or Mage Sight spell. A wood Helm and Mask (Maaukepu’s Mask; DF 6 - 40 Artifacts, P.8), and a rune-inscribed metal flask with the stopper sealed by wax (Spirit Flask; DF 6 - 40 Artifacts, P.22); inside the Spirit Flask is nature spirit who (if successfully negotiated with) may offer to heal the party or answer a question. Alternatively the Spirit may just leave if the group antagonizes it, or if things go really poorly it may hinder them in some way.

5. This area of the main chamber has several chests scattered along the south wall, and two large braziers on either side of an archway leading to the east. There are also N open (and empty) sarcophagi lined up in a row near the South wall of the room. The chests (3 total) are locked with simple locks. Inside the chests are d3+2 Swords of fine quality and varying types; d6X$100 in various coins of precious metal. Additionally, roll N times on the Treasure Type Table (DF 8 - Treasure Tables, P.7)

6. Stairs descend several feet down into this area. This area is dominated by a huge statue of barbarian, with a large shield and a massive Broadsword. The statue depicts the mans hand bound with ropes and fabric to the pommel of the sword. Obviously this is a representation of Crevan at the seige he is so renowned for.

This area is brightly lit by four burning braziers. Inspection of the braziers would determine that they are enchanted, but each is several hundred pounds at roughly 5 feet of solid stone. On the opposite side of this room another set of stairs ascend several feet to an archway opening to a corridor continuing east.


7. These four alcoves each contain one Golem-Armor Swordsman (DF 2, P.24) with an additional N-4 Golem-Armor Swordsman positioned in area 8. Anyone Moving into area 7 will awaken these protectors from their slumber. The Golems in area 8 will also start moving into the area.


8. This Crypt contains two Sarcophagi, and an alter at the far end of the room. Strewn around the room are treasures of all sorts, Including Nd6X$100 worth of coins of various types. A pair of gleaming bracers (Bracers of Force- DR1; DF 6 - 40 Artifacts, P.5), A heavy Gold chain ($2,000), a bowl filled with Emeralds(7), Rubies(6), Sapphires(4) $35 each. And Nx2 rolls on the Treasure Type Table (DF 8 - Treasure Tables, P.7)

Conspicuously, the lids of the Sarcophagi have been pushed off and have fallen to the floor where they have broken into several pieces. Also, both of the sarcophagus are empty.

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

Just wanted to say that this is great and once it's done I'll totally use it. Thanks much! Keep it up!

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

My ears were burning. ;)

I'm very glad Shadowyrm helped inspire you to create and post this wonderful dungeon!

If you'd like me to convert the map to hexes with some standard filters/textures, I be happy to do so. Let me know (PS: Also, let me know what, if any, of my suggestions you would like me to incorporate). You'd have to add the furniture and statues and stuff, though. Or, if you know some links with some good top-down dungeon art on transparent backgrounds, I'd be willing to use them.

"Crevan, regarded as the greatest of the Barbarian Kings, is renown for hundreds of miles..." -- that'll make it a complete sentence. I'd replace some "he's" with "Crevan's" to make that first paragraph read just a bit better, too.

Speaking of Crevan, his name in title needs an apostrophe: "Crevan Brokenhand's Last Rest." Would "Final" sound better than "Last?" Dunno.

Right after the sentence that starts, "This burial tomb of the last king..." I'd add some fluff that the tomb's location has been lost/forgotten for a long time so one knows where it's at. That's why it's not been looted already when the PC's find it. Just a sentence or two should suffice. Or, even just call it "The lost burial tomb of the last king..." A heavy slab of rock probably wouldn't stop tomb raiders.

Your descriptions of the rooms are very well written. My complements.

I thought the Druagur were a bit passive until I read in their description that they don't speak and may ignore delvers. Cool.

Reading through this for the first time, I'm wondering why area 3 is important. It may be explained later, but it would be good to mention it now. I notice that there's an extra blank line there, so perhaps it's still a work in progress. (PS: Not explained. Needs some reason for being here. I'd put my suggested "Weapon X" here, explained below.)

Good use of the horrid skull.

As for the sentence, "...items that can be recognized as magical with the appropriate rolls," I'd go ahead and state, "with a Perception+Magery roll or Mage Sight spell," instead. I don't think there's another method other than those two and if there is, it's probably very specialized. I could be wrong.

In that same paragraph, you can hyphenate "rune-inscribed" if you're seeking to impress English teachers.

Might I suggest, for area 5, instead of having chests put some of Crevan's fallen comrades here in either shelf-like catacombs or sarcophagi? The treasure sounds like stuff that could be found among the remains of warriors.

Very minor spelling, grammar and punctuation edits for you:

6. Stairs descend several feet down into this area. This area is dominated by a huge statue of barbarian with a large shield and massive broadsword. The statue depicts the man's right hand bound with ropes and fabric to the pommel of the sword. Obviously, this as a representation of Crevan at the siege he is so renown for. Additionally, this area is brightly lit by four burning braziers. Inspection of the braziers would determine that they are enchanted, but as each is several hundred pounds, they probably are not worth taking. On the opposite side of this room, another set of stairs ascend several feet to a hall continuing east.

Area 6 is the only* problem with the map I have. It seems as if there's almost no way to get around the statue. I can understand them wanting it to dominate the room, but I think there should be amble space to walk around it. You almost run face-first into it as soon as you get down the stairs. I'd suggest making the room about twice as big at least.

There's also nothing going on in area 6. It's empty and uneventful. PC's might spend extra time here just to figure out what they're supposed to do. Hidden staircase beneath the statue? Runes of importance to a later puzzle in the dungeon? Hidden treasure? Potentially, a fair amount of real-time could be wasted here for a big let down.

Of course there can be empty rooms, but I'd suggest this not be one.

Area 7: FOUR golem-armor swordsmen!? With more as reinforcements even?! Wowza! I've not yet ran a DF game being new to the expansion, but I was under the impression that these are heavy hitters approaching boss-level power. No?

Personally, I'd go with N-2 total stone golems. A bit cliché, but they seem more in-genre for motionless, tireless tomb guardians. I always thought of GAS's as more befitting demonic torture chambers, halls of horror, the Lair of Dr. Frankenstein, etc.

Sarcophagi, I believe, is the plural of sarcophagus.

Area 8: I'm a bit let down here. It seems like you wanted a really big battle in area 7, then a big treasure room.

Personally, that's not how I would play it. I'd go a bit easier on the combat in area 7, then have a solo boss fight in area 8.

This is a perfect place for a "Skeleton King" encounter. A Draug Lord on steroids. Make the players rue the day they dared stand against the dread Crevan himself.

http://the-lost-and-the-damned.66461...6/DSC01023.jpg

http://galeon.hispavista.com/criatur...img/conan2.jpg

If I may, I'd suggest making area 8 four times as big. Make it a huge hall with columns and vaulted ceilings like area 4, but perhaps even more opulent.

Here's another suggestion I think you'll like: put in your lore section that Crevan was killed by a special weapon; something highly recognizable, like the boar spear of a storm giant tossed from a thunderhead like a bolt of lightning (Oversized SM+1, Lightning Weapon, Orichalcum, Ornate, Fine, Balanced). Then, put that weapon in the tomb.

With that done, you can give an undead Crevan boss an Achilles' Heel to that weapon. You can give him Unkillable 3 (Achilles' Heel: Weapon X), Regeneration (Extreme, Not Against Weapon X), Vulnerability (Weapon X), DR 20 (Not Against Weapon X), etc.

As has been said many times, bosses as solo encounters need plenty of Damage Resistance and Hit Points. Extra Attacks (p. B53) and Injury Tolerance (Damage Reduction) from Powers, pp. 52-53, can both be highly beneficial.

I'd suggest having his broadsword chained to his arm. Then, allow the chains to magically reel the sword back into his hand as a Ready maneuver.

Like I say, a very nicely done one-shot adventure! Hope you find some good use for my suggestions. Again, let me know about a map. :)


*PS: Actually, I thought of an additional issue I have with the map -- no branches. I always like to have at least a couple ways to get to the end. In Shadowyrm, the players are presented with two paths right off area 1, one being a quick dead end. Then, there are two paths to the final area: jump the abyss or climb the cliff, or walk all the way around. This issue doesn't detract from your adventure, but I think addressing it would be beneficial.

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

I think I can incorporate hexes, and do some of the modifications you mention below, with the Maptools export. Let me give that a try. If it's still problematic, I will definitively take you up on that offer.

Your right it would, however it appears I cannot change the threads title. I meant to have something about the tomb being lost and obscured, thank you for reminding me, and hopefully the addition will make that a bit more obvious.

My thought was that the tomb would still be hidden if not for the path the draugr created, as for why other adventurers haven't plundered it so far.

Originally I had a plan for an encounter in this room, but as I was writing up the rooms, I began to come up with an extended story in my head. This room has to do with that, and is currently reserved for later one-shots. :D

That said, it may be frustrating for the party to encounter empty rooms, much like you alluded to for rooms 6 & 8, so I'm open to suggestions. However room 8 serves a very specific function to a continued story arc, so keep that in mind.

Thanks, I need to highlight that a little better I think. I have a concern that as it is, a GM could miss that it would effect players while fighting in area 2.

Added and incorporated, Thanks!

The size of the statue/room, was more of a mapping oversight. I will change that with the next export.
I'm open to suggestions,on what to do with area 6. I just felt having the statue of Crevan, conveyed a very tomb feel to the place. When I started putting this together, I envisioned it as a (4-6 hour) "encounter" style thing that I could run at a gaming event. With that in mind I didn't want to try to cram too many combats into the tomb. Maybe having a secret cache here would be a good compromise?

I originally thought of doing that, but then I remembered that the (spoilers), last hall of DF Adventures 1 features the same thing. So I thought to myself, myself what other types of guardians would a Barbarian King have standing over his crypt? It occurred to me that his personal guard, bound to watch him from intruders, for eternity would be a perfect fit. You may be right on the power level, but keep in mind that I was intending for them to be the "Boss Fight".


When I started Crevan was intended as the Boss fight, but as I was writing this up, a story started to form in my head. This story revolves around area 3, and the fact that both Sarcophagi are currently empty. Of course then this stops being a one shot, and becomes a intro...so maybe I should write up two different versions? In one you have something interesting in area 3, and Crevan at the end- in the other you have the mystery to solve.

Alternatively, I could have N-2 Blade-Swordsman in the alcoves, and when they wake, the Statue (Golem) could attack from the rear. Then Crevan (Draugr Lord) with enchanted sword in area 8. Of course with the spear in Area 3, in this case.

As it should be completed in 4-6 hours, I didn't want to make it too confusing/add too many combat encounters. Do you think having a hallway and room off of the witches lab would be a good addition?

Thanks for all of the suggestions, I think they will help the adventure immensely!

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

Regarding forking paths:

Choices for the players to make are good, but they have to be meaningful choices. Having dead-end paths doesn't make for real choices, unless there's a consequence for taking the dead-end (good OR bad). If the players know there's a chance to be surprised and cornered by a wandering monster, or wasting precious time before the virgin sacrifice, etc these are all meaningful, as is a chance to find more treasure, especially a weapon useful against "the end boss".

Similarly, having two paths to the same end area isn't really a choice unless there's a notable difference between them. If path A) leads through two dungeon rooms with two "equal level" encounters and path B) leads through two dungeon rooms with two "equal level" encounters, that's not really significant. But, if path B) has NO monsters at all and offers a crazy good shortcut, and the players have any way of determining that, it's not really a "choice" either - you'd be stupid not to take the fast safe route.

It's like if you have a "choice" between two advantages that cost 5 points - one gives +1 to your favorite attacks, and the other gives +2 to your favorite attacks. That's not a choice at all, that's just a booby-trap for someone who doesn't notice the second advantage. Eidedic Memory in 3e was like that - it was either insanely good (and you were stupid not to take it) or insanely bad (and you were stupid to take it).

If you can't come up with a significant choice, and it's a small area, straight-through is perfectly fine. Having a scattering of small 3-5 room "straight-through" dungeons works surprisingly well, because the player choice is in which dungeon to poke their noses into (and when) rather than having different routes through a single dungeon.

The classic Keep on the Borderlands was based around this model, although the "areas" are larger because the original game played through pretty darn quickly (either you die immediately, or the monsters die immediately :)

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

Sorry, I just realized I dragged your thread a little off topic. This is an area where two of my interests start really overlapping so I get excited ;)

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

This may be straying off topic, but this reminds me of the difference in dungeon design between Daggerfall and the later Elder Scrolls games, particularly Skyrim. Daggerfall had these massive, randomly-generated labyrinths that were kinda fun at first, but eventually just a pain to navigate. In Skyrim, the majority of dungeons are a straight line through to the end room, often with a shortcut from there directly back to the exit. Sometimes I like wandering through a sprawling complex, but for tabletop gaming the simpler design is probably best.

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

Since we're doing small spelling/grammar edits :)

I thought I'd just throw in this one: it might be nice to change "renown" to "renowned" when you use it as an adjective. This happens twice:

You might want to watch out for Stripes' changes, too - I'm not sure they've been as incorporated as you think - see "mans" vs "man's" and "seige" vs "siege", above.

In passing: I really like the way this dungeon takes us back into some history. If the GM runs it with real atmosphere, the players could really get the sense that, as they travel deeper into the dungeon, they're also traveling back deeper into some glorious heroic past, which is only now returning to life...

That's great, in my view - for me, this relationship between going deeper into the dungeon and going deeper into history really hits at the heart of good, as opposed to overly schlock, dungeon fantasy. So thanks for that!

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

Let me first say that I wholeheartedly agree with everything Bruno stated and my suggestion that examining the possibility of adding a branch (or not) was made under those pretenses. Like I said, it won't detract from your dungeon if you decide not to add a branch. There's something to be said for a good straight-through design.

That's a good idea. Hopefully, players will take the bait and decide to follow its trail.

Just area 3 and 6, not 8. Area 8 is a treasure vault. No player minds finding those! :)

Again, not that I'm against empty rooms as long as there's a reason they're empty (e.g., an empty crypt where the draugr once lay). Even then, I'll often put something in them -- a page torn from a spell book or diary; a ripped belt pouch with 2d gold coins scattered throughout the room; a false tile with a stash beneath it; a lost earring; etc., etc.

I forgot to suggest to include that info in area 2. You're right; area 2 needs that information. Else, every GM who runs this is going to be counting hexes.

Well, I made a few.

If the room is large, the PC's are probably going to fall back here to battle the armor golems. If that's the case, then this room could potentially be left empty.

Still, it just feels wrong to me. I'd try to think of something to do with it. It just draws the players' attentions so much. If I were a PC here, I'd scour every inch of that statue with a magnifying glass in the absence of a time-limiting factor. Then, I'd be a bit let down when I found that's it's just a room with a big statue.

Just saying.

It does. You're right.

Perhaps.

Oh, I got that. I'm just wondering -- and more experienced DF GM's should chime in here -- if that's not going to be a slaughter for four-five 250/-40/-5-point characters.

If you up the power level to where they can take on four armor golems at once, won't the draugr be fodder? Not sure. Just curious. Have yet to run DF.

Oh, that's a smashing idea. Love that.

Have the statue be a golem? Hadn't considered that. Might work, if you like the idea.

A secret hallway, maybe. But, yes, a single branch would be nice, even if this is meant to be a quick one-shot.

You're very welcome! :)

Yeah, I'd highly suggest just copy/pasting that paragraph. That's why I put it there. There are just several little things -- too many to point out.

That's not to say you didn't do a fine job writing this. It's very well written.

Agreed. Great atmosphere here.

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

I've decided that I will go ahead and split this into two different adventures. While they will both be similar, they will feature fairly significant differences in certain areas. When I started this, I intended it to be a simple one-shot, so I will continue that project here.

This version will feature the streamlined map, 3 encounters (plus skull) with the inclusion of the artifact in area 3, and Crevan as the end fight.

I am going to continue to work on the arc for the extended cut, I'm picturing a three part adventure for that one, and I will post more on that as it becomes available.

I'm going to post the changed version up after this post, so people can see the changes, and make comments regarding the different versions. Once I have the rewrites completed, I will post the finished piece back to the beginning of the thread. Be aware the map links in the following post will be different from the original post.

__________________________________________

GM Map

Horrid Skull AOE

Player Map

This encounter will use the N scaling method outlined in DF Adventure 1 - Mirror of the Fire Demon, Page 10. Additionally it will use monsters from Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 1, and several other Dungeon Fantasy books.


Crevan Brokenhand

Crevan, regarded as the greatest of the Barbarian Kings, is renowned for hundreds of miles as the last barbarian to unite the various tribes under one banner. The horde Crevan commanded laid waste to the countryside far and wide. He earned the name "Brokenhand" at one of the first sieges he commanded.

While leading the first charge Crevan’s hand was crushed by a blow with a maul. Rather then nurse his badly broken hand; he opted to have the hand bound to the grip of his broadsword. Crevan continued with the siege for 12 days, until the fort was taken, with his sword perpetually "at hand".

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhand's Last Rest
 

Crevan Brokenhand's Last Rest

This burial tomb of the last king of the barbarians, is a small affair, but said to be laden with some of Crevans' most valued treasures. The location of the tomb was forgotten long ago, with much of the rest of Crevans’ story.

Outside- The adventurers stumble upon a small hill ringed with stones of roughly 6 feet in height. The forest in this area is very dense, and if not for the path of broken underbrush leading to it, the burial mound would have easily been missed. The hill is mostly obscured by heavy brush that has grown all around the area. The ring is comprised of 12 stones spaced equal distance apart from one another, around the 15 meter wide hill. On the South side of the hill is a stone entrance, with stairs leading into the ground. It appears that the entrance was covered with a heavy slab of rock until recently, however the slab has been toppled over, and crushed all the brush that had grown over the entrance.

The entrance is roughly 2 meters wide by 3 meters tall, and descends into the earth roughly 10 meters.

1. Where the corridor turns left the walls have caved in causing the corridor to be filled with loose rock and dirt over half way up. Getting through the corridor is difficult terrain, and may require climbing or dex checks to avoid twisting an ankle, or stumbling and falling through. Additionally the PC's can make a listen roll to hear scraping coming from the south (area 2), it sounds like boots crunching around the area.

2. In this area there are N Draugr (P. 12, DF Monsters 1). The Horrid Skull in area 4, will also affect anyone in it area of effect, in this room. The Draugr are shambling around aimlessly, until a target presents itself, by either attacking them, or trying to enter area 5, where their personal treasures are.

3. This alter to some ancient god is completely intact, with no signs of decay or dust on the surfaces. The large brazier in the center of the room is inscribed with writings of some forgotten language, as are the bases of the fountains on the three walls of this room. Water is still tricking out of the fountains, and the bases are filled with clear and untainted water.

Resting in the brazier is a large gleaming spear. While the brazier is blackened from a fire, the spear is untouched, and does not seem to have suffered from time at all.

The players can make a History, or Area Knowledge roll to to remember the story of Crevan's death.

A successful Perception+Magery roll or Mage Sight spell, will identify this as a Spear of Penetration (DF 1-Adventurers, P.30)


4. This room is filled with trinkets and fetishes of various types, including some made with animal bones and other less recognizable materials. A decayed and largely disintegrated skeleton is slumped over one of the large tables. The skeleton is of fairly small stature (an anatomy roll will determine that it is a female), and the perfectly preserved skull has settled to stare disconcertingly at the doorway. Additionally the various tables in the room are covered in the remains of scrolls that have decayed into useless scraps, and clay containers that have fallen apart, emptying moldering contents all over the tables.

The skull is a Horrid Skull (DF Monsters 1, P.19) and will continue to assault everyone in the area until destroyed.

Along the far wall is a table with a couple items that can be recognized as magical with a Perception+Magery roll or Mage Sight spell. A wood Helm and Mask (Maaukepu’s Mask; DF 6 - 40 Artifacts, P.8), and a rune-inscribed metal flask with the stopper sealed by wax (Spirit Flask; DF 6 - 40 Artifacts, P.22); inside the Spirit Flask is nature spirit who (if successfully negotiated with) may offer to heal the party or answer a question. Alternatively the Spirit may just leave if the group antagonizes it, or if things go really poorly it may hinder them in some way.

5. This area of the main chamber has several chests scattered along the south wall, and two large braziers on either side of an archway leading to the east. There are also N open (and empty) sarcophagi lined up in a row near the South wall of the room. The chests (3 total) are locked with simple locks.

Inside the chests are d3+2 Swords of fine quality and varying types; d6X$100 in various coins of precious metal. Additionally, roll N times on the Treasure Type Table (DF 8 - Treasure Tables, P.7)

6. Obviously, this is a representation of Crevan at the siege he is so renowned for. This area is brightly lit by four burning braziers. Inspection of the braziers would determine that they are enchanted, but as each is several hundred pounds, they probably are not worth taking. On the opposite side of this room, another set of stairs ascend several feet to an archway opening to a corridor continuing east.


7. The four alcoves each contain one Steel Golem (Below). Anyone moving into area 7 will awaken these protectors from their slumber. Additionally the statue (stone Golem, DF 2-Dungeons P.26)in Area 6 will "Wake up" and attack the party from behind.


8. Strewn around the room are treasures of all sorts, Including Nd6X$100+38 worth of coins of various types. A pair of gleaming bracers (Bracers of Force- DR1; DF 6 - 40 Artifacts, P.5), A heavy Gold chain ($2,000), a bowl filled with Emeralds(7), Rubies(6), Sapphires(4) $35 each. And Nx2 rolls on the Treasure Type Table (DF 8 - Treasure Tables, P.7)

Sitting in the throne is the rotting corpse of a giant barbarian. As the party enters the room, the corpse stands up and declares "What fool's you are to disrupt, my well earned slumber", while pointing the massive sword gripped in his hand at the group. Crevan cannot be negotiated with, and will not speak any further.

For Crevan, use the Draug (P. 12, DF Monsters 1) statistics, but he is SM+1 and ST 25 (Increases HP to 30).
His Fine SM+1 broadsword (16) does 5d+2 cutting.
Additionally he has regeneration (Very Fast) 1HP/Sec, with the Limitation - Damage from Urla-skul's spear cannot be healed.


Steel Golems

A steel golem is a magical automaton created as a guardian. These animated suits of armor are created by Summoning a spirit into them, Then binding them to protect a certain location.

ST: 16 HP: 20 Speed: 6.25
DX: 11 Will: 8 Move: 6
IQ: 8 Per: 8
HT: 14 FP: N/A SM: +1
Dodge: 9 Parry: 9 DR: 8
Mail Gauntlet (12): 1d+1 crushing.
Weapon (13): sword (2d+6 cutting).
Traits: Automaton; Cannot Learn; Doesn’t Breathe; Doesn’t Eat
or Drink; Doesn’t Sleep; Fragile (Unnatural); High Pain
Threshold; Immunity to Metabolic Hazards; Indomitable;
Injury Tolerance (Homogenous, No Blood); Pressure
Support 3; Reprogrammable; Unfazeable; Unhealing (Total);
Vacuum Support.
Skills: Brawling-12; Sword-13.
Class: Construct.
Notes: This is a basic model; there’s no actual limit to ST, HP,
DR, or skill. If clad in barbarian-sized (SM +1) armor, add
armor DR to natural DR 4; DR 5 bronze plate (total DR 9)
is common. No golem will negotiate or reveal useful
information.

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

Nailed it! Great job. Two thumbs up. :)

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

I will point out to the peanut gallery that this short adventure comes in at just shy of 1,700 words plus a map. You could fit almost FIVE such adventures in the wordcount Steven gave me for The Last Gasp.

Point is, this type of thing might just be spiffy for Pyramid. Suggest to check the Wish List and be dazzled by the number of issues this (or other) short adventures could fit into.

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

They'd be great for Pyramid! I hope these two here will prove to be a nice impetus to throw more together for future Pyramid issues (I'm particularly looking at the Action issue as one that needs a nice adventure).

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

My big concern with the re-write, is the combat power levels. Until I run through the adventure I just don't really have a good feel if any given combat, or the accumulation of combats, is too much or too little.

I have a gut feeling that the end fight is too easy, and that Crevan will need extreme regeneration. I worry that that would flop him from too easy to massacring any party that enters.

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

^Didn't want to say anything since I mentioned it before, but I agree that Crevan's certainly too easy. As has been determined in these forums, solo bosses need lots of two things: DR and HP. I'd say he needs at least DR 17 (same as a golem-armor swordsman).

I can't imagine healing 1 HP per round really having much of a noticeable effect on the outcome of the battle at all, either.

Regeneration isn't in "Brokenhand's" lore, either. Twice now you've mentioned that he gets hurt but keeps going on no matter what. It's where he gets his name and why he died, too.

With his lore in mind, I'd say just give him a crap ton of HP and Unkillable 2 or 3 (Achilles' Heel: Weapon X) since he already has the suite of undead pain and injury resistances.

To me, though, he sounds exactly like a berserker. If that's the case, he needs a tremendous amount of HP. However, deciding just how much HP he needs would be easy. How many rounds do you want him to survive? Take all the damage-per-round capability of all the PC's and multiply it by how many turns you want him to take! XD

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

Extreme Regen is 'recover 10 HP every second', not 'recover 1 HP per second'. Then factor in high HP and regen, and it's effectively 'recover your HP every second', so if he has 55 HP, he should recover 55 HP per second.

I agree that Crevan's lore doesn't utilize regen, though.

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

He currently has Very Fast Regeneration, which is what I was addressing.

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

Yeah, I threw the regeneration on, as I was writing him up with limited time. But it really didn't feel right. I think doing a full write-up will make more sense. I don't picture him in full plate, so I think the load of HP, and unkillable sounds pretty good. Feedback appreciated.

Crevan Brokenhand
ST: 25 HP: 35 Speed: 8
DX: 14 Will: 12 Move: 6
IQ: 10 Per: 10
HT: 18 FP: N/A SM: +1
Dodge: 11 (13) Parry: 12(14) Block:11(13) DR: 8
broadsword (18) does 5d+2 cutting.

Traits: Bad Smell; Bad Temper (12); Bloodlust
(12); Berserk (12); Combat Reflexes; Dark Vision; Dependency
(Rest in own tomb 1/3 of the time; Daily);
Doesn’t Breathe; Doesn’t Eat or Drink; Frightens
Animals; Hidebound; High Pain Threshold; Damage Resistance 3;
Immunity to Metabolic Hazards; Indomitable;
Injury Tolerance (No Blood); Intolerance (Living); Unkillable 1 (Achilles Heel:Urla-skul's Spear); Single-Minded; Temperature Tolerance 10
(-40°F to 165°F); Unhealing (Total); Vulnerability (Fire x2).

Skills: Sword-18.
Class: Undead.
Notes: Carries a medium Shield (DB 2, Block 16), A SM+1 Fine Broadsword. Wears mail (factored into the DR above) and a pot-helm (giving
the skull DR 11).

----------------------------------------------------------------------
I went with Unkillable 1, because a higher level won't make much difference in a one-shot, as far as I can tell. With that and 35HP, the group will need to do between 210-385 damage to drop him, which should be a pretty good fight. Add in his higher combat skills, massive damage, and this should be a pretty rough fight for a party of 4-5.

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

He looks great. With berserk and unkillable, he's going to be one tough mutha. Add his shield skill to his skill list and he'll be ready for play test, I'd say.

Now, I need to stop commenting on other people's work and hurry up and finish my own! XD

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

Well, keep in mind that in video games, most dungeons are quest-related (somehow) and finishing the main plot is important. So it's frustrating to have to explore big sprawling dungeons for hours to find something you need in order to finish the quest. I'd scream if I needed to dig around in every nook and cranny of some giant dungeon until I found the Whatzit of Whozit that King Questmore needs to get before you can continue the game.

In tabletop gaming, a non-plot based game (your typical sandbox, say), you don't need to have a linear adventure. The big sprawling dungeon can be the whole point, and you've got a lot more resources as the GM and as the player to find out where the Whatzit is, if it becomes important. The fun keeps going even if you don't find the plot item, because the plot item isn't play-critical, really.

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

This looks great! I will definily run it for my group as their next adventure.

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

The interesting thing is that, in Skyrim, in one sense the vast majority of the "dungeons" have absolutely nothing to do with the main plot, and for many any "quests" related to them are nearly always either picked up in and around the dungeon, or are "add-on" quests generated by the random quest generation system, incidental to the dungeon and possibly even added on to it after you went in.

Skyrim dungeons are frequently just for "messing around" in, and they've got pretty darn good design for that. They aren't randomly generated dungeons though - some very very patient designers have hand crafted each one (which impresses me to no end, because you can't go more than about 100 feet without tripping over another dungeon, and the world map is huuuuuuge). They range from bandits taking shelter in and around a cliff overhang through through one-room caves with animals or trolls in residence through smallish 4-6 room things with tunnels and a second exit to huge spiraling things that keep doubling back on themselves. The really big ones might have two or three entrances and exits, or just one and use the trick of depositing you back at the entrance pretty liberally to save on walking time.

I've been taking lots of notes from Skyrim on "one path dungeon design" because they've done some really clever stuff with the concept. It's also interesting going through a dungeon and seeing the places where GURPS PCs might make an alternate route (various cave-ins and windows through to other dungeon sections), or would use the greater flexibility a table-top RPG gives you to shortcut to what Skyrim has as the "end" - by climbing or flying, for example. . . IF they spot the shortcut at all, which is pretty difficult for me sometimes.

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

Hey, I've just posted my experiences with this dungeon over on this other thread if you were interested in how my group has handled it so far.

Its not entirely a shining review, but there were a number of other teething problems the group has had thanks to the situation which bought it to the table. If you're interested in more details I'll be happy to answer any queries (although the write up is quite detailed already).

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

That is fantastic feedback! I hadn't noticed that thread before, I will have to check it out.

I appreciate your impressions of the combat types, regard variety and I can see where your coming from. I will keep that in mind, with the expanded version I am writing up.

The power levels and experiences of the various encounters is useful information, I would love to hear what other people experience with that, and compare it to what I experience.

Thank you for stopping back and letting me know what hurdles and insights you found.

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

Depends. The Golem Armor Swordsman's DR and active defenses (until it goes Berserk and starts taking 4-6 Telegraphic hits to the Skull/round) are very good, but, like most golems, it's Fragile (Unnatural) and, unlike most golems, it has full vulnerability to everything except bleeding after that. It has a Brain and Vitals. A party with an eye-shooting Scout and some meatshields should make short work of them if they don't charge up the hallway and get surrounded, and most Swashbucklers should be able to do the same or go through chinks in the armor. With a Move of only 2, the party should be able to choose the battlefield, including potential chokepoints, if they play it smart. The GAS also has a Willpower of only 10, so a lot of magic spells are going to take them down easily.

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

I felt the need to make a few tweaks to the end boss fight to make it a little more racy and dangerous - but also to potentially cover the PCs choosing to just flee upfront (due to the proximity of the cramped fight before section 8 and the ability for PCs to just rush ahead into the open room beyond it without finishing that fight). I mostly felt the need to make him more of an annoyance against a group of foes, despite only being one guy, as so to prevent everyone just mobbing him without much care.

I also removed a few of the bits of DF 6 loot which were seeded into previous parts of the dungeon, so wanted to add more to the big boss fight and reward a few unique items to make it stand out against other loot my group has encountered before (I've played lots of DF). I therefore chose to change his equipment to include more loot, but also to help explain how Crevan was so hard to kill, giving him overall much better protection and defences. As such this is my version of Crevan (next post) [And yes, I changed his name in my run of the dungeon, just overlook it].


He's a lot more of a handful than the last one listed here, the extra attack and better equipment make him a lot more dangerous to a group. Overall his lack of weapon skill should allow PCs to not focus overly on defensive play, as he's not really able to make great deceptive attacks to overcome their defences. Although the ghostly bindings will keep them from being too mobile, and his amour divisor and high damage will force them to retreat often if they rely on dodges.

The PCs will have to work out how to get past his awesome Block and Parry, and then his heavy armour... and huge pool of HP - all the while being disarmed and pushed back into poor fighting positions.

The fight should be a bit of a ranging grind, the PCs attempting to retreat away from attacks or fall back to maintain range or recover disarmed weapons, whilst Crevan constantly closes the distance with Shield Rushes and high Move. Hopefully this will make it more engaging and tactical in PC placement and optimising when and where to attack to best put an end to his tenacious fighting.

I'll be running it this next weekend in all likelihood, so I'll let you know how it goes.

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

Crevan Shatterhand

ST: 25 HP: 35 Speed: 8
DX: 14 Will: 12 Move: 9
IQ: 10 Per: 10
HT: 18 FP: N/A SM: +1
Dodge: 12 (16 with shield, +1 against skull)
Parry: 13 (17 with shield, +1 against skull)
Block: 12 (18 with shield, +1 against skull)
DR: Torso+Legs DR 11 (10 Vs Cr); Skull DR 15; Feet DR 5 (4 Vs Imp); Right Hand DR 7; Other DR 3

Attacks (Two attacks a turn, each with a different weapon):

• Ghostly Bindings (15) -1 per distance over 3 yards, HT resisted, target suffers -2 Move and Dodge for 1 min. Must either point sword at target instead of an attack with it, or have struck target successfully with it this turn.
• Broadsword Swing (18) does 5d+4(2) cutting at reach 1.
• Broadsword Stab (18) does 2d+7(4) impaling at reach 1-3.
• Broadsword Disarm (16) +1 if blocked weapon with shield last turn. Will use ST based skill contest of 29 (See B401)
• Shield Bash (16) does 2d+3 crushing.
• Sheild Rush (16)does (velocity/4)d+4 crushing damage, has chance to knockdown foe and self (see B371).
• Shield Disarm (19) +1 if blocked weapon with shield last turn. Will use ST based skill contest of 32!
• Head Butt (17) does 2d+4 crushing at Range C (If parried damage applies to face)
• Offhand Punch (14) does 2d+3 crushing at Range C.
• Offhand Kick (12) does 2d+5 cr at Range C-1. (Misses require DX roll to avoid falling)

Traits: Bad Smell; Bad Temper (12); Bloodlust (6); Combat Reflexes; Damage Resistance 3 (Tough Skin); Dark Vision; Dependency (Rest in own tomb 1/3 of the time; Daily); Doesn’t Breathe; Doesn’t Eat or Drink; Extra Attack; Frightens Animals; Hidebound; High Pain Threshold; Immunity to Metabolic Hazards; Immunity to Mind Control; Indomitable; Injury Tolerance (No Blood); Intolerance (Living); Unkillable 1 (Achilles Heel:Urla-skul's Spear); Single-Minded; Temperature Tolerance 10 (-40°F to 165°F); Unhealing (Total); Vulnerability (Fire x2).

Skills: Brawling-18; Intimidation-13(18); Sword-18; Shield-16; Shield (Disarm)-21; Wrestling-14.
Class: Undead.
Notes: All worn equipment (see spoiler) is factored into above stats, 3 of DR is Tough skin. Also see Combat Guide below for more details on how he should fight.

Equipment: (loot)

Combat Guide:
Crevan was an accomplished fighter before his demise, and as such will fight tactically and competently. Use the following points to help work out how he will act during the fight.

Note that Crevan's will open with an Intimidation check, attempting to convince/scare the PCs out of his tomb. If the PCs agree to leave but have managed to get to section 8 without killing all foes up to that point, Crevan will order his men to let the PCs leave - on the condition that the PCs leave everything they've taken plus extra gold/loot (Nx$1000 worth of gear or coins) - if the PCs refuse or fight anything on the way out he will engage in combat as below with all extra foes.

• To start with Crevan will aim to hit as many PCs with Ghostly Bindings before being engaged in melee combat. If any PCs keep distance and attack with ranged he will specifically target them first, Binding them and shield rushing them to close the distance. He will then attempt to disarm/disable them or position himself so they are cornered and cannot keep distance on him.
• Once in melee combat he will always aim to disarm anyone carrying Urla-skul's spear first and foremost. A successful Tactics roll will reveal this to the PCs after his first attempt.
• When fighting he will attempt to keep at least two fighters busy at once, hitting different PCs with each of his attacks until one shows signs of weakening (1/3HP, stunning or retreat) - at which point he will close on them and use all of his attacks in an attempt to finish them off. He will make use of thrusting attacks (often to vitals) with his sword when unable to fully close distance, but will generally use swing attacks. Crevan will *always* attack once more after any PC fall unconscious/dies, just to make sure.
• Crevan will generally use his block first followed by parries, he will avoid dodging and retreating so long as his defences are high and he keeps his shield - aiming to keep up close and corner the PCs so that he can hack them to death.
• If any PC is able to evade his defences (likely with deceptive attacks due to how high they are) or deal significant damage to him, Crevan will attempt to disarm them - often waiting to use his block against that PC to aid in disarming next round.
• Crevan has two attacks a turn, and will *always* use both of them, even if it means punching due to losing his shield. If he somehow "loses" his sword (due to having his arm crippled/severed, as he cannot be disarmed) he will resort to using head butts, or kicks if he needs range (although due to the low skill he will generally avoid kicking where possible).
• Whenever Crevan knocks out or kills a PC all others suffer a Fright Check at -5, if this causes them to flee Crevan will follow them until they leave the tomb - even if this means ignoring other PCs who did not flee.
• Crevan can be angered due to bad temper, allowing the PCs to goad him into attacking them - this wont stop him from attacking a fallen foe, but may distract him from attacking a retreating/weakened one long enough for that PC to get away/heal.
• Unlike usual Draugr, Crevan is immune to mind control and doesn't suffer from Berserk (so will never go into a mindless fury). He does still lack Injury Tolerance (Unliving) so will take normal damage from piercing and impaling attacks and has target-able vitals etc.

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

NOW I am affraid of Crevan =). And his loot now is exactly in the details that I like. I alwyas put decorations on my itens, so my players rarely encounter a "simple" broadsword. Even orcs shilds I normaly put a dorwing simbol on them.

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

I'm glad you like the loot, some of it is still pretty ordinary like the boots, and the mail doesn't have any extra embellishments, although is a custom made piece. I generally just build loot to the picture in my head, and make sure its befitting, for instance if this guy was encountered in the field (in life) I'd have a number of small bits of gear on his person too (whetstone, small knife, perhaps a magical drinking horn, etc) - but he's been buried in his best garb without utility items so they're missing.

He would still have those ordinary boots though, a barbarian walks through more boots than they have sit down meals - so nothing special there. I'm also quite pleased with the helm (cheap and rusty, as he never worked out how to remove the Horns of Intimidation and put them on a new helm), and the Heavy Fur Mantle as its the sort of status symbol a barbarian king would wear.

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

Yes =). I am a little excited to my players finish the MotFD adventure to run this one. I have alredy put the links for the two in place =). Congrats for your work.

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

PseudoFenton- The changes to Crevan are interesting, that would definitely make him more of a challenge. I really like the addition of the combat guide, and the loot inclusions. I will have to try this with your changes as well.

I want to try the encounter in area 7 with the Golem-Armor Swordsman, and then run it with the Steel Golems, to compare the challenge levels. I will have to try that with both versions of Crevan too. At this point I'm going to have to run this quite a few times, to try out the various suggestions and variations. That said, I probably won't make any significant changes soon; I'm writing up the extended version, and would like to get that down.

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

I generally add combat guides to big fight creatures for my games, more so if they're solo (although they're often more rough as its for personal use). I find it helps to have the attack options picked out with a brief of what the creature is good at and how they should engage optimally, that way a quick glance will remind you what they should be doing.

Otherwise you're left reading every line looking for key traits and trying to guess what they're good at, which is even worse when you've never seen the creature before. So I do feel they're needed for "published" material, especially for key scenes or especially tactical fights.

I'm currently running area 7 with basic Steel Golems as outlined in your last revision, the fight is about half way through though so I cant fully comment on it just yet. The lack of an N factor in their placement will cause a very different feel depending on the number of potency of the dungeoneers running through it - of cause Crevan has that issue too though. I'm not sure if you had a specific power level for this dungeon which things should be roughly balanced too?

Either way, I hope you and others have fun with my Crevan variant!

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

So, is this project done? Any updates or changes? In 2 or 3 sessions my players will begin this adventure, but I will extend in some bit cause I want a +- 10 sessions from it all. Will enlarge the "dungeon" a bit and put a lot of trouble until the pcs get there and probably some unspected "old friends" when they get out of the tomb.

I am linking this with the MotFD.

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

Here is a not finished take on my version of the map (it is some 60mb large:

EDIT: OLD LINK. NEW ONE BELLOW.

EDIT: 1 hex = 1m. I am stil working on the right effects of the hexgrid here.

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

Probably the finished version (+-50mb), enjoy:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/37717003/PAN...2056%201.5.PNG

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Final Rest of Crevan Brokenhand

On the arrow is written "Surface".

1 - Stairway Entry
2 - Access Corridor
3 - Antechamber
4 - Main Chamber
5 - Huscarlr's Rest
6 - Temple
7 - Crevan's Tribute
8 - Crevan's Cript
9 - Sealed Chamber

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

Very nice!

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

Here is the map that I will handle to my players for them to find the tomb of Crevan:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/37717003/PAN...0200%201.4.PNG

Translating...:

Repouso de Crevan = Crevan's Resting Place.
Refúgio do Veterano = Veteran's Hideaway
Máscaras de Sangue = Blood Masks
Atenção às Colinas = Attetion to the Hills!
Morte de Crevan = Crevan's Death
No Escuro está a Resposta = In the Dark is the Answer
Ignore o Canto do Pássaro = Ignore the Song of the Bird
Queda do Guerreiro = Fall of the Warrior
Na espada não confie = Dont trust in the sword
Pergunte pelo Cervo Cego = Ask for the blind deer.

All the rest are names of places.

EDIT: Link now working. I had updated the map and did not correct it here.

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

Next wekeend I will begin to run this. Thanks Ego Archive for all work and inspiration. If you guys think is appropriate (and Ego did not mind), I can post the enemies that I use and how things went in my version of the adventure (that I plan to be +- 10 to 15 sessios long)

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

Wow, Mateus, that is a really awesome map! Weighing in at 21 MB, that's definitely a "save as" there; I tried to open it in-browser on my beastly laptop and even it bulked for a moment! XD

I'd certainly be interested to read all the details about about your sessions! You might want to start a new thread, though, and just link to this one. PM me when you start, please. :)

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

Thank you =). Yes, you are right, probably is best to open a new thread. =)

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

Its been a really long time, but I was just prompted by a PM to comment on how my version of the Cravan fight went - and although I said I'd post how things went when I ran this dungeon, it seems I never did. So without any further delay...

My Group
First of all, I don't have character sheets for the group that ran this any more unfortunately (thanks to them being updated since this point) - but the group was a Barbarian Minotaur (but SM+2) with a spear (meaning silly high ST and high reach), a Dragon-Blooded Monk who specialised in Flying Leaps, and a multiclassing Catfolk Mentalist Thief (a bit of a gish build, used claw weapons and 'illusions' which proved less than useful in this dungeon thanks to all the undead).
They were all built on 340cp, although none were played to the best of their abilities as they were all new characters made for this one shot, so a lot of stuff was forgotten about - plus as I say one of the main Catfolks powers was useless. So the cp value may well be misleading.


My Observations
The group faired well, the dungeon as a whole proved quite straight forward other than the hidden Horrid Skull which just really annoyed them. The range of the attacks were so high they'd hardly explored the tomb before being hit by it and it took them ages to track it down. They actually discovered its general location by trying to skirting the edge of the zone by rapidly moving to different points in areas 2-5, and mapping out where they were getting injured. Once they'd explored enough the Catfolk managed to guess which room the centre of the effect was thanks to her high IQ, and the Monk proceeded to leap directly into it and roast everything with repeated breath attacks until the pain stopped.

The spear room itself was met with a little bit of uncertainty, and thanks to the injury they faced from the get-go thanks to the Draugr and Horrid Skull they were overly cautious and inspected the room for traps after the Skull was dealt with. Sadly no traps, although it would've made sense to have some, and if I ran it again I would trap the spear if only to reward the PCs for their prudence in checking.

Although I'd restructured the treasure distribution in the dungeon a little when I ran it, I did find that the group saw the map had images of piles of loot when there really wasn't much (or anything matching the image) there... as such I quickly threw in some old trade goods and common weapons to bulk out that area with 'cheap'/annoying to haul loot (as this sort of thing is often passed over until the dungeon is fully cleared, at which point they'll sell the doors if there's nothing else better to loot). The same thing happened in the final room, where gems were listed, but no mountains of coin or rugs and chests. If I ran it again I'd try to match the loot to the images a little better, even if it means heavier and more awkward things to haul out.

Crevan himself, as Shatterhand rather than Brokenhand (ie my build, found earlier in this thread), was a good fight - but basically came down to being surrounded and mobbed to death through attrition despite his upgrades. The fight was basically just a matter of positioning (easy to do in a large room) so that he couldn't face everyone at once, and using superior movement and reach to keep out of the way or chase him down when he charged one of the group or tried to reposition. Once they perfected that it was just a HP grind as they exploited multiple attacks and position to mitigate his numerous defences. The Minotaur even lost the Spear in this fight thanks to it becoming disarmed, but rather than retrieve it and give up position, he just redrew his previous weapon and carried on attacking!


My Crevan
I found that my version of Crevan's sword needed to be more powerful at immobilising people, as it was often resisted and even when it wasn't it contributed very little to the fight as a whole. I'd beef it up by adding a turn of stunning followed by the slowdown effect, and make the HT check harder to pass. Basing the HT check against the size of the group (using some factor of N?) might work, or only allowing the stun part to happen N times (rounded up) per fight - as so not to create a situation where Crevan can 'stun lock' and kill a weak character. Either way I'd make the Ghostly Bindings more potent as I clearly underestimated its worth.

His extra attack was handy, but despite the group having no healer (only a few potions and slow regen for the Monky) he found it hard to really beat down any single person, even when facing only three opponents (although it didn't help that the Minotaur had HPs similar to his and the Monk had over 20HP and had time to rest before taking on the final room, so did so on almost full health). I'd probably improve his skill to allow more rapid strikes and targeted/deceptive attacks, considering his Ghostly Bindings trigger off of successful hits, the more hits the better. (In theory Ghostly Bindings should have made this easier to do, but it only penalises Dodge, and you still need them to fail their HT check to be affected by it)


My Suggestions
The main problem the final fight had was the ease in which the PCs could skirt around Crevan and surround him. The final chamber either needs extra foes (additional golems inside this room) to get in the PCs way, more varied terrain to force them around barriers and block LoS, or be much smaller. The entrance way should also become hazardous to exit though, I did make the golems animate to surround the PCs on the way in, but in hindsight I should have kept them inert until Crevan attacked and then used them to flank the party.

A number of these issues could be fixed by granting Crevan more magical attacks that let him control the area around him more (probably through his sword again, allowing you to disable his magical attacks by chopping his arm off). So if I were to run this again I'd have the room decorated with a few pillars that have chains twisted around them and suspended chains connecting them, and add a few bodies of his 'generals' in the room with him - which would be wrapped in cloth and chains as an odd form of funereal gown.

When the fight starts Crevan would animate his generals which would happen slowly, described as the chains and cloth unfurling as they stand (to give the PCs a chance to see what they're up against) which would also leaving a pile of chains and cloth on the floor. Then during the fight I'd let Crevan take a turn to make any two pillars (and suspended chains between them) become an animated semi-solid chain walls which partially block sight and will immobilise anyone attempting to move them (other than Crevan himself). He can also choose to snare anyone standing on 2 radius hex region that includes the discarded cloth and chains, making them effectively PC only traps - although likely one-use only and only bind the legs of the PC so they can still fight if they like.

The generals will follow Crevans commands, attacking either distant PCs or helping to cover his back. I'd also make the golems simply block the passageway out, preventing anyone from leaving until they are defeated, but not using them as extra fighters - although this may be performed instead by animating the oversized statue of Craven himself in area 6 and having it follow the PCs into area 7 (as so to preserve the fight in area 7 as currently detailed).

Defeating Crevan would automatically return his generals to their slumber (Crevan should yell something when he animates them which could tip the PCs off to this so they can choose to focus fire on him if they so desire), and automatically make the golem/s in area 7 stand down (it would also stop animating any chains in the final room, should any PC still be immobilised by them).

My Conclusion
Overall the dungeon was quite fighting heavy, and could've done with a few more traps or interesting terrain to keep things varied. There also wasn't much in the way of puzzles other than the Horrid Skull, and I had to improvise to allow the PCs to make use of their high IQ and skills to solve it, as there were few clues as to how to deal with it otherwise (and the group refused to progress further into the dungeon without dealing with it in case they had to retreat again, or wanted to spend time looting the room, which was impractical when taking periodic damage). These things may not bother some, but it did mean that the Monk and Thief did feel a little neglected that their skill investments didn't see more use, and the Minotaurs lacking in another but brute force meant he was heavily optimised and never felt the negatives from his min-maxing. The fighting on the whole was also a bit of a roller-coaster ride of a difficultly curve, although this might simply be due to the group I had and the oddities of the use of N - but even with my upgrades to Crevan, he still felt too easy and unchallenging in the end.

So I still think it could do with a bit more polishing, and perhaps a little more "show not tell" for the story behind Crevan, as although it's a compelling little bit of lore - it hardly imprints itself into the dungeon, which makes it easy for the PCs to overlook it.

Re: [DF] One shot- Crevan Brokenhands Last Rest
 

Did anyone keep copies of the files Mateus shared? The dropbox links are broken now :(