Chapter 4: Mountains and Valleys: Difference between revisions

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Chapter 4: Mountains and Valleys (view source)

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“Once before I’d die I’d like to see one of those hot baths of theirs.”
“Once before I’d die I’d like to see one of those hot baths of theirs.”


== '''The Journey to Karies''' ==
After spending some time in Cavesafe and potentially convincing some of the citizens of the town to enter into an alliance with them, the heroes may continue to the Cheran. Journeying to Karies will involve dangerous treks through the snowy Lachonhet Mountains.


The following are possible random encounters for travel via the snowy mountains of Lachonhet.


==== '''Combat''' ====
{| class="wikitable"
|'''1d4'''
|'''Encounter'''
|-
|1
|Hostile Predator
|-
|2
|Sisaptum Deserters
|-
|3
|Hostile Dinosaur
|-
|4
|Elementals
|}


==== '''Social''' ====
{| class="wikitable"
|'''1d4'''
|'''Encounter'''
|-
|1
|Hapless Merchant
|-
|2
|Occupied Cave
|-
|3
|Raided Caravan
|-
|4
|Wounded Patrol
|}


[[Writer drafting: Heroes travel to Lachonhet village
==== '''Survival''' ====
{| class="wikitable"
|'''1d4'''
|'''Encounter'''
|-
|1
|Snow Storm
|-
|2
|Avalanche
|-
|3
|Kaijan Sighting
|-
|4
|Road Block
|}


* Describe the village
=== Combat Encounters ===
* The buildings
If you rolled or selected from the combat table, consult the matching subheading to set up the combat encounter.
* The economy
* 2-3 key NPCs to the village (strongman leader, sage elder)
* Caves where they hide during a stampede and where they store food


[[Writer drafting: Then the Kaeries mountain arc
==== Hostile Predator ====
A hostile pack, or hungry creature, assaults the party looking for its next meal. The encounters are based around the number of adventurers in a party, but can be made more difficult by selecting the next category up, or adding 1 of any of the included creatures.
{| class="wikitable"
|'''Players'''
|'''Creature'''
|-
|3
|4 Dire Wolves
|-
|4
|2 Polar Bears
|-
|5
|1 Alpha [[Wolf]], 5 Dire Wolves
|-
|6
|4 Polar Bears
|}
 
==== Sisaptum Deserters ====
A small group of Kareis’ defenders have abandoned the Tyrant King’s influence and are resorting to ambushing travelers and caravans into and out of the city. For this encounter, have the adventurers make AWR/Perceiving checks. Depending on the difficulty, this check can be anywhere from a DC 12 to DC 20. Any adventurer that fails the check begins the encounter Surprised.
{| class="wikitable"
|'''Players'''
|'''Creature'''
|-
|3
|3 Veteran Soldiers
|-
|4
|4 Veteran Soldiers
|-
|5
|5 Veteran Soldiers
|-
|6
|6 Veteran Soldier
|}
These soldiers are all wielding iron weapons and wearing iron armor due to their former employment. If this iron is collected and returned to Kareis it earns the adventurers +1 Fame.
 
==== Hostile Dinosaur ====
The party is assaulted by a hunting dinosaur, or adjacent creature. These encounters are slightly more difficult than the average recommended levels.
{| class="wikitable"
|'''Players'''
|'''Creature'''
|-
|3
|1 [[Saber-Tooth Tiger]]
|-
|4
|4 Enraged Arctic Sloths
|-
|5
|2 Saber-Tooth Tigers
|-
|6
|1 Arctic [[Titanboa]]
|}
'''Saber-Tooth Tiger.''' For a single Saber-Tooth, you can double its hit points to make it a more intense encounter.
 
'''Enraged [[Arctic Sloth]].''' Cut off from a reliable food source and hunted by Kareisans, these sloths have become carnivorous and hostile against humanoids.
 
'''Arctic Titanboa.''' Lachonhet Titanboas have adapted to the cold, losing their '''Cold Blooded''' feature. Titanboa are very strong and may have too much HP also. You can reduce their difficulty by cutting their hit points by as much as half.
 
==== Elementals ====
Highly territorial, Ice Elementals of the Lachonhet mountains assail travelers during storms and if they veer too far off the beaten path. Ice Elementals are flavored '''Water Elementals.'''
{| class="wikitable"
|'''Players'''
|'''Creature'''
|-
|3
|2 Gale Piercers
|-
|4
|1 Ice [[Elemental]]
|-
|5
|3 Gale Piercers
|-
|6
|1 Ice Elemental, 1-2 Gale Piercers
|}
'''Ice Elemental.''' An Ice Elemental’s '''Water Blast''' is flavored to '''Ice Blast''', and its '''Drown''' feature is instead '''[[Freeze]].''' Ice Elements have Resist Cold 8, Resist Lightning 4, and Vulnerable Fire 1 and loses '''Malleable Form'''. If an Ice Element takes more than ½ its hp in [[damage]] from Fire, it thaws into a '''[[Water Elemental]]'''.
 
=== Social Encounters ===
The following social encounters can be resolved without resorting to combat. Heroes should think creatively about using their influence skills or abilities to diffuse these situations.
 
==== Hapless Merchant ====
A victim of the '''Raided Caravan''' event, or a simple merchant lost or separated from their party, the adventurers come across a lone, native merchant from Kareis. This individual has the stats of a '''Merchant''', and can beg, bargain, or deal with adventurers to escort them safely back to Kareis. If accepted, they will become a protected traveler, and are game for being attacked by any encounters, though they have no [[equipment]] sans cold [[weather]] [[gear]]. The merchant can be close to starvation or suffering from severe cold or malnutrition for added difficulty of keeping them alive.
 
 If they are safely escorted back to Kareis, they will reward the adventurers with +1 Fame and potentially introduce the party to Cheran Periak or Amarik, depending on their preference. They will also reward them with 200sc per adventurer.
 
 If you don’t wish to make your own merchant, you can use Pektak Borikoa, a [[Bhrunai]] iron monger, a shrew negotiator and perceptive deal maker with a tendency to [[babble]] when they are terrified, which is always.  
 
==== Occupied Cave ====
In the distance, the adventurers can make out a flickering flame coming from the mouth of an otherwise darkened cavern. If explored, they’ll find Merip.
 
'''Meriptitanicarick.''' Pronounced Mar-ip-tit-an-ick-air-ick, this wizened, old human is very evidently insane. Merip is a kaijan scholar, obsessed with finding, recording, and potentially booping the snoot of a [[Fenrir]]. Unfortunately, he’s spent far too long in arctic environments without much in the way of survival skills, and is not okay.
 
 Merip is a very powerful psychic whose body is riddled with [[frostbite]], sustained only by his insanity. He is immune to any chilling, Cold, or freezing effects, including damage, and will talk about nothing other than finding and asking about Fenrirs. Adventurers can convince him to come with them by mentioning '''any''' Fenrir sightings or with DC 15~20 CHA checks and by feeding Merip.
 
 While traveling with a party, Merip nulls any potential dinosaur encounters due to his psionic powers, but he will only wander with them until they either find a Fenrir, they leave the mountains, or get close to civilization. He will not fight with, or against the party (he’s a scholar!) but if necessary, he has the stats of a '''[[Psion (Greater)]]'''.
 
 If the '''Kaijan Sighting''' Survival Encounter occurs, Merip will lose it and immediately track down a lone Fenrir, at which point he will attempt to boop the snoot. If this occurs, he will be successful before he is consumed by the Fenrir, satisfying the beast's hunger before it stalks off. Poor Merip. This results in him dropping his journal, The Book of Everything Kaijan, which, when consulted during a Recoup or while Taking a Rest, grants TA on any INT checks made to identify or gain knowledge on specific kaijan, including weaknesses.
 
==== Raided Caravan ====
The adventurers come across a ransacked, raided Caravan. If they possess the hapless merchant, they can recover a crate of goods and if given over will result in +1 Fame and 200sc per adventurer. If taken for themselves, they will lose -2 Fame but gain 500sc in goods per adventurer.
 
 Without the hapless merchant, consult the following table for potential gains. This encounter can also result in an ambush from any of the Combat Encounters, which would be the cause of the ransacking.
{| class="wikitable"
|'''Roll 1d4'''
|'''Loot'''
|-
|1
|Luxury Goods
|-
|2
|Iron Shipment
|-
|3
|Weapons
|-
|4
|Magic Item
|}
'''Luxury Goods.''' Various valuable goods worth the number of adventurers x500.
 
'''Iron Shipment'''. 2,000sc worth of iron, which can be held onto and sold in other cities for as high as 3x its value, or returned to Kareis for +1 Fame, or given specifically to Cheran Perak for +3 Favor (mini resource used in Kareis).
 
'''Weapons.''' A valuable shipment of iron weapons. This can be anywhere from 4 to 10 weapons, usually axes, swords, or iron-tipped spears. Adventures can hold onto these, or return them to Kares for +1 Fame, or given specifically to Cheran Kessara for +3 Favor (mini resource used in Kareis).
 
'''Magic Item.''' A single, uncommon magic item created with psionic imbuements.
 
==== Wounded Patrol ====
The adventurers stumble across a patrol of 4-6 Sisaptum from Kareis, weakened by a recent attack. Most of the individuals should be near death or significantly wounded, and will not make it back to Kareis without help. These individuals have the stats of '''Veteran Soldiers''', though their maximum hit points should be capped currently at 10. Adventures can make variable INT/Medicine checks per soldier, ranging from DC 10 to 20, and on a success they patch them up long enough to reach either a village or Kareis itself.
 
 If the soldiers are aided and returned to Kareis, they adventurers earn +1 Fame and +2 Favor with Cheran Kessara and Cheran Felfaris. If they are killed in an encounter, the adventurers are unaffected, whereas if they are taken advantage of, and their deeds are discovered, the adventurers lose 5 Fame with Kareis and 5 Favor with Kessara. .
 
=== Survival Encounters ===
The following encounters generally tax the heroes’ resources and may force them to make hard decisions if they cannot overcome these challenges.
 
==== Snowstorm ====
A terrible storm covers the mountain in freezing [[conditions]], blinding anyone within and forcing them to forge ahead in dangerous conditions or dig in and wait out the [[terror]] while trying not to freeze. Roll 1d4 to determine how many days the storm lasts. During any of these days, you may roll a d100. On a 1-50, an Elemental encounter is triggered. On a 51-90, nothing occurs, and on a 91-100 the '''Kaijan Sighting''' encounter occurs.
 
 If players have Merip with them during a snowstorm, '''Kaijan Sighting''' occurs on a 50-100.
 
==== Avalanche ====
While traveling, the adventurers’ idle noise triggers an avalanche from a higher peak. They can attempt to outrun it, or withstand its effects. Any creatures caught in such an event can make a DC 12-18 Applied Force check to hold their own. On a failure, they take 1d6 Blunt damage per 10 ft the avalanche has traveled, and are swept up into the detritus. During this event, they are Restrained, and continue to take 1d6 Blunt damage per 10 ft they travel. Once the avalanche stops, the creature is buried and begins to suffocate, able to be freed with the same DC used to resist the event.
 
==== Kaijan Sighting ====
Massive canine prints surface in the snow and  a piercing howl can be heard, portending a distant [[shadow]]. This belongs to a lone, stray Fenrir, a terrifying creature that is more than a match for the current adventurers. Whenever this event occurs, it should result in any of the combat encounters, creatures summoned by the Fenrir, a snowstorm, or an avalanche. If Merip is with the party, it will trigger his special event. Otherwise, the Fenrir keeps its distance, uninterested in such a measly group. The adventures may instead make DC 15 DEX/Sneaking checks to avoid the creature’s notice, preventing any of the previous events from triggering.  
 
==== Road Block ====
Usually resulting from an '''Avalanche''' encounter, or coming across it naturally, the path ahead is blocked by ice, snow, or some other temporary hazard. Roll a 1d4. Adventurers can clear the roadblock over that many days with DC 12 to 15 Applied Force checks, reducing the amount of time taken by ½ per adventurer. On a failure, they still work through the day and make progress, but that adventurer gains Fatigue. Each day can be accompanied by potential, additional random encounters, favoing combat encounters from all the noise.
 
[[


== '''The Return Trip''' ==
== '''The Return Trip''' ==
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