[DF] General Adventure Workshop Thread

[ajardoor]

6. Gainful Employment
As the next day begins, the tensions of the riots slowly diminish and the clean-up begins. If the party stopped their riot, the mess is minimal and peace quickly returns.
The innkeeper speaks to any character hired by the Gapu, telling them of Journo leaving them a message about a job. The message explains that they are to go to the wharf and meet with the captain of a boat, "The Seventh Trace", and collect a package to be delivered. The message also warns that danger is to be expected and to be on guard.
Characters hired by the secret society get contacted as well, this time via a note passed on the streets. It instructs the reciever to meet with a contact in front of a wine shop at the corner of Duncan Street and Invicto Lane, tonight at nine. Bring weapons.
Characters meeting at The Seventh Trace will find themselves talking to the captain. He explains that a member of the Gapu family, Fresco, is to be escorted to the mansion of a Mister Irvine Barrows. Joining the escort is group of mercenaries (stats as per standard combat agent). Fresco wishes to meet with the other factions this way and negotiate a truce with them.
Characters meeting with the secret society find the wine shop attended to by a large fat man called Rey. He pretends to be just another merchant, before 10 secret society thugs (all hooded, five at each end of the street) show up and confirm that the PCs are their hired help. Then Rey hands them a hood each to disguise themselves with.
Once disguised, the characters are then lead to a dark alleyway and inform them that they plan to ambush Fresco and his men. They also warn the characters that they have joined the secret society, for life and at the risk of death - so they'd better behave and work hard.
The ambush point will be a relatively straight section, with several alcoves leading off it, providing the secret society thugs a place to hide. Let each PC choose his position, whetever marching with Fresco and his bodyguards or ambushing with the secret society. If PCs are on opposing sides, they should not be allowed to know info on the other side unless they have an in-game reason to.
The leader of the ambush, an evil cleric, will give the signal to attack the escort when it has passed the first group of hidden thugs. The priority of the attack is Fresco, who is to be captured or killed. This may count as Partial Surprise for the escort, unless their group Observation beat the thugs' group Stealth in a quick contest.
If the PCs capture the ambush leader, they will find he is a red headed man named Oswald. Oswald at first pretends to break down and "confess" to the murder of Reina, saying the Gapu hired to kill her and control the secret society. An successful contest against the PC's Detect Lies versus his Acting reveals this to be a lie. Examining his body and making a roll against Diagnosis or First Aid will show he has no other wounds than what he took in the fight - thus he couldn't be Reina's murderer, as both of them took dagger wounds in the process. Note that Oswald has no details on the actual murder, he knows nothing on how Reina was killed or why. Oswald does not know the identity of the murderers, or where the lair is.
If Fresco survives, he makes it to the Barrows house and rewards each PC on his side with $5000 in coins.
If Fresco is killed, the secret society later pays each PC on their side $2000 through private meetings at the inn, and will be told to watch out for future job offers.

Denouement for Gainful Employment
The point of this part of the adventure is decide a turning point - if Fresco lives and makes peace, the city of Port Vith could be spared a lot of grief. Also note that getting the ambush leader could provide at least one vital clue - feel free to allow more clues to be obtained from his interrogation. Also keep in mind that this whole section could be skipped if the PCs are not employed by either side.

Holes in Gainful Employment
Again, there is a chance the party could be killed or captured at this point. Making friends with either side at this point may just decide the course of the adventure. If the ambush is foiled by skipping it (i.e. the PCs teleport Fresco to the Barrows house), they may miss a chance to collect info on the secret society. If Oswald manages to successfully decieve the party, that will help the Quipper's plot to succeed, and possibly kick start a civil war between the merchant families.

[ajardoor]

7. The Assassins
Start the next day by reminding them that continuing to rent a room at the inn will now cost them money - use the prices in DF 10. Then ask them what do they want to do today. Regardless of what they chose to do, whetever it's leaving the city or continuing the murder investigation, they may well be attacked by secret society thugs, assuming they have done something to foil their plans in the slightest.
It's quite possible that the party will attempt to go to the spot marked on Reina's map, which is the hidden gold mine. Let them make the journey, although be a sport by first letting them find out that trespassing on the baron's private land is a very serious crime. They will not be allowed on the land without express permission given by the proper authorities - which requires reporting the map and its involvement in the murder, not to mention a decent Reaction or Influence roll. Even with permission, they will be required to have a bundle of guardsmen escort them and report all findings once they get back.
If the party does follow the map, legally or not, into the private land, it takes them 2 hours to get to the spot marked on the map. Each hour spent wandering around the private lands means a 6 or less chance of encountering 8 patrolling soldiers, who demand the party give proof of their being allowed here (no sweat if they got permission...) or be taken in as potential poachers or squatters.
Once the gold mine is found (any PCs with Prospecting skill automatically realise the strange structure in front of them is a somewhat concealed gold mine), they can pretty much get in and crack this case wide open. The mine itself is very impressive, or a "dungeon". There are no traps or hidden rooms - it's pretty much one "lobby" where miners enter and keep their equipment, followed by one long straight tunnel into the earth. Carts full of dirt, rock and occassional lumps of gold are hurried back and froth by a crew of 18 miners (none of whom will fight or escape if the mine is raided). Tending to them are 10 armed secret society thugs who make sure the gold is snuck out discretely and no miners get sticky fingers. Each thug is carrying detailed instructions to deliver the haul of gold to the lair under the Orange Fears Beer Hall. Stealing the current load of mined gold should be worth about $80,000 - good luck spending it all! The gold mine will dry up after another 19 weeks of mining, if the operation is left to be, or the PCs try mining it themselves. Each day spent mining yields 2d x $1700 in gold, adjusted by 5% per a group Prospecting roll's margin of success or failure. Reporting this mine to the proper authorities should give the PCs a nice big social and monetary boost from the happy baron.
If the Bellut Estates wine is asked about, wine merchants around the city will reveal which waterfront inns and which individual vendors sell the brand. One of the inns is the Orange Fears Beer Hall, and every vendor will know the red-haired Uther the shipwright as a regular customer.
If the characters have reached a dead end in their investigation somehow, or a little excitement is needed, it is the perfect time to start have the assassins attempt to take the party down. Otherwise, the party may proceed without incident to the Orange Fears Beer Hall, unless you feel it appropriate to have the secret society attack them.
The assassins will first wait until the guardsmen are preoccupied with a new riot before they strike - inform the PCs that they hear news of rioting on the other side of the city, and that the streets they are on now are deserted and quiet. If the PCs specify that they are on guard while crossing the city, which they certainly could decide to, there is no risk of surprise. Otherwise, roll Partial Surprise.
Inform the PCs that suddenly a man in a hood has leaped out from a side street and shot a crossbow at them - but he missed, and is now furiously reloading for another shot. What do they do?
If the PCs let him, the assassin will finish reloading and fire again. If the party charges his position or attacks him with missiles (he's 4 yards away, so the range penalty is -1), he will ditch his crossbow on the ground as a free action and run away.
If the PCs follow the assassin, they find he rejoins with four other crossbowmen, all with readied weapons, just down the adjacent street (10 yards away from the PCs as they spot each other). No partial or total surprise for either side, so just run it as a normal second of combat - with each crossbowman (besides the chased one, of course) shooting an bolt at the party (range penalties are -4). Then we resume the action with chase rules, as the assassins run away to an secret entrance to the lair under the Orange Fears Beer Hall.
Ask each PC if they are sprinting or paced running (B354) and what their encumbrance penalties are, if on foot, and calculate their Basic Move from there. The assassins will be sprinting (Basic Move +1).
The chase itself is a series of Regular Contests (B349) between the two group's Running skills (determine the group skill as per DF2 page 11, Running defaults to HT-5). Each 'round' of rolls takes 15 seconds - so sprinting characters need to make seperate rolls against Running or HT to avoid losing 1 FP each round, same every 4 rounds for paced running characters - see B354. Compare the lowest Basic Move of each side - the side with the faster lowest Basic Move gets a bonus to their group roll equal to the difference between it and the other side's slowest Basic Move.
If the PCs win the regular contest, the PCs immediately catch up to the assassins and can engage the assassins in regular combat again.
If the assassins win the regular contest, they manage to lose the PCs and get away immediately, chase over.
Otherwise, the chase continues through the streets for one round of skill rolls, at which point, one of the assassins will knock over a supporting pole for a street vendor's booth as he passes it. This causes a huge mess the PCs will have to go around, although it also slows down the assassins - give both sides a -1 penalty to the next group roll in the contest. After that round, no penalty. Then, for the next round, the chase continues through a crowd of people fleeing the new riot - both sides suffer a -3 penalty to their group rolls. Two more rounds of chasing, and the assassins will try to push a food cart down an incline at the party - all PCs should roll their Dodge at +1. Failing the Dodge roll means the PC takes 1d crushing damage and must make a ST-2 roll to avoid being knocked down. The group rolls for that round are penaltised thusly; -5 for the assassins and the party suffers a cumulative -2 per PC knocked down by the cart.
If the chase is still going by that point, the assassins have reached the secret entrance to the Orange Fears Beer Hall. The assassins will enter through a hidden door in an empty backalley dead end. Covering for them as they enter, is the giant thug Preslo (stats as per the NPCs and Enemies section), wielding a two-handed sword, ready to attack the party if they persist in chasing the assassins.
All assassins have a note on them instructing them to attend the meeting under the Orange Fears Beer Hall tonight if searched.

Denouement for The Assassins
The main point of the assassins to draw the investigation to a close and lead the party to the final confrontation. Either the party discover that they must go to the Orange Fears Beer Hall for answers, or the investigation will hit a dead end. If the assassination attempt never happened, the investigation can continue without trouble - the PCs won't miss out on anything important.

Holes in The Assassins
Whatever useful info you want the PCs to have can be gotten from the assassins, if captured and interrogated. Keep in mind that the PCs could be killed by the assassins or Preslo. If the PCs give chase by flight or superspeed instead of normal foot running, take that into account for their Basic Move scores and what penalties they suffer.

[ajardoor]

8. The Lair
The Orange Fears Beer Hall provides an excellent front for the secret society - most of their regular patrons are members.
There are two secret entrances to the lair - one is around the very back of the beer hall, a seemingly dead end backalleyway, which requires a Search-4 roll to find. The other is accessed from the inside of the beer hall, and guarded by thugs.
Going inside reveals a very rowdy and bright atmosphere, one suiting a hangout for sailors and strong working class men. At the back of the tavern/inn are a few private rooms, each blocked off from the main common room by curtained doorways.
Just through one of those curtained doorways are the two murderers, Uther and Astrof, who are currently lying low by hiding out in the lair and guarding one of its secret entrances in the beer hall. They are both armed, although both are down 1d-1 HP due to the wounds Reina gave them with her dagger. If the PCs have discriptions of the men, the party recognises them. The second the murderers get the slightest suspicion that the party thinks they are involved with anything, they take action - Astrof casts a Wall of Silence spell over the doorway into the beer hall and Uther draws his broadsword. They try to surprise the party by first distracting with idle chatter. Interrogating them successfully will get a confession that they were hired to kill Reina and the secret entrance in this room they were guarding. The hidden entrance will otherwise require a Search-2 roll to find.
The secret entrance in the beer hall leads to the robing chambers while the one in the backalleyway leads to directly to the meeting chamber.
If the party is in the robing chamber, they find the door they entered and the only other door out of the chamber are designed to lock automatically when closed and will not unlock until the other door is opened and closed. On the left wall is a wardrobe filled with blue hooded robes, all capable of fitting a SM+0 creature.
Once out of the robing chamber, the party will find a passageway that comes to a fork. Taking the left path, which is more brightly lit, will take them to the meeting chamber. The right path leads down to the leaders' office, but they come across the Guardian Statue (stats in NPCs and Enemies section) blocking the path halfway there, which will not let them pass without a fight (although PCs disguised in robes will not be attacked automatically).
In the meeting chamber, the party (unless they raised the alarm and the secret society would know something's up) will find a crowd of 20 thugs in blue hooded robes listening to a man dressed in a gold and red striped hooded robe and jade face mask standing on a raised platform. In front of him is an executioner with a two-handed sword in his hands and a tied-up and gagged man on the floor. The leader will proclaim that the helpless man has failed the secret society by failing to prevent the riots from destroying valuable assests. He will be killed by the executioner, (who is Preslo, unless he was dealt with at the end of the chase), unless the PCs stop him. The room is large, but mostly empty and lit by several brazziers on the far wall.
If the man is executed without incident, the meetings will end there and the thugs will leave the lair one at a time (half of them through the backalleyway entrance). The leader will go to the leaders' office.
The leader in the jade mask is Wade Quipper (stats in NPCs and Enemies section), who will blame the murder and the gold mine scheme on Trey Quipper if interrogated.
The leaders' office is extremely fancy and large room, full of decorations, tables and shelves of books and folders, and lit with four laterns at each corner. The carpet is a rich red linen number, and the far wall shows off a brilliant tapestry with the Quipper family crest in the middle of it.
As the party enters the leaders' office, they walk in on Davo Quipper (stats in the NPCs and Enemies section) holding a rapier to the chest of Trey Quipper (stats in the NPCs and Enemies section). On the floor in a pile of blood is the dead body of Turril Quipper.
Spotting the party entering, Trey shouts for help, and that Davo murdered Turril. Davo responds by turning to attack the party. Trey starts out the fight unarmed, but will take several turns to grab a longsword off a nearby desk and join in on the party's side. If Davo is wounded to half his maximum HP, he will attempt to barge his way past and escape the lair.
If the party wins and Trey is still alive, he thanks the party and offers them a high position in the secret society. If the PCs refuse, he tries to bribe them with $6,000 in jewelry from a small strongbox on a desk in the room. If they refuse a second time, Trey makes a big show of shrugging it off, letting them go and then immediately making plans to flee the city.
Searching the room will let the party find automatically the strongbox of jewelry and a few important looking logbooks. If the PCs examine the logbooks or take them from the room, Trey will forcibly try to stop them, attacking if necessary. The logbooks are extensive accounts of many illegal rackets of the Quipper family and the secret society - in other words, damning evidence that the Quipper faction are traitors to the city and its baron.

Denouement for The Lair
Whatever the party decides to do here will end the adventure and affect the ultimate outcome of the investigation. Be sure to keep track of all the major NPC's fates and what the PCs decide to do with the leaders of the secret society and their logbooks.
Be sure to make the concluding portion of the adventure as tense and interesting as you can make it. Feel free to use different enemies than generic thugs, if you feel that would stop it from being dull and predictable. Perhaps the secret society have a few elementalists or demon summoners on their payroll?

Holes in The Lair
The end choice to join the secret society is the main branch of the adventure's conclusion. Keep in mind that the party may assault the lair with the help of the proper authorities - which would turn this section into a much more combat heavy part. Combat with the Guardian Statue could be a problem, if the party has little way to effectively fight a construct. Killing all the leaders of the secret society, capturing them all or having them get away will have impact on the future of the campaign world, as would exposing the secret society and bringing the murderers of Reina Warsh to justice. If the party never finds the lair, they don't solve the murder - it's that simple.