In the Dust
by Black Drazon

“My friends, you must wake at once, for your watch over the sacred spring has failed and you have been captured by the Orcs. Already they are testing the waters of the springs, and when they have finished they will escape and will have no further need of hostages. You must escape at once. Know that the Goblin just outside your cell has the only key. But be cautious: your gear is being kept near the entrance to the caves, so you will have to use your limited resources wisely. Survival, not revenge, must be your priority. Stick to the shadows and you may yet escape with your life!”

Notes:

When the quest begins, the Heroes are trapped in their cell. They have been stripped of their possessions and must roll 1 die in combat. They have been thoroughly drubbed, and stand on half Body Points (round up). To make matters even worse, the Elf has forgotten his spells and the Wizard has only managed to recover his Earth Spells through a fevered night of forced meditation. They should, however, select from the other sets as normal, as some spells will be recovered later in the quest.

A) This door is locked and the goblin outside has the key. The only feasible way out of the cell is for the Wizard to cast Pass Through Rock.

B) The monsters in these halls each carry a single Dagger.

C) This desk contains a Potion of Healing (4BP). The table also contains 2 sets of the Elf or Wizard’s stolen spellcasting components. Each set will allow either the Elf or Wizard to recover a single spell “lost” at the start of the quest, but not one that has already been cast.

D) The Weapons Rack contains 2 Short Swords.

E) There is a Potion of Healing (4BP) in the cupboard. If the Heroes search the room for secret doors, they will find a Magical Throwing Dagger and 35 Gold in a small recess behind a hidden panel.

F) If the Heroes search this room for any reason, read this aloud:

“This room is filled with spears, shovels, worthless Goblins tools of all sorts: everything they would need to set a series of deadly traps.”

If they search for Treasure, they will find a Toolkit, along with a map marked with a number of X’s. Reveal the X’s (without revealing their purpose) by placing Skull Tokens on every trapped square the Heroes can “see” from here to the room marked G. However: the Goblins have not finished the job! Every square marked “X” on the quest map should also be marked with a Skull Token. These squares are safe, but the Heroes do not know this. A Search for Traps will clear the fakes.

H) This chest contains a shoddy Crossbow. Decades, if not centuries, of rot have ruined it and it will break after 4 shots and will have to be discarded. There is also a Potion of Healing (4 BP).

I) This chest contains a key to door M and one set of spell components. It is trapped with a Poison Needle that will do 2 BP of damage.

J) This chest contains a Staff and one set of stolen spell components.

K) When the Heroes reach this square, warn them that they hear the sounds of a large enemy force through the doorway!

L) This is Mogar. He has the stats of a normal Orc, but has 3 BP. He carries a copy of the key to door M, a set of spell components and an Orc’s Bane that he uses to terrorize his underlings, all of which the Heroes can take immediately upon killing him.

M) This locked door leads to the Heroes’ former possessions (including all lost spell components, even if not otherwise recovered at C, I, J or L) and the exit. A Genie cannot open the door.


Wandering Monsters in this Quest: Goblin