Manor Uvior

This Page is Currently In Progress of being Uploaded and is Incomplete.

This is a ready to run adventure that you can play through with your friends. Its basic design, with elements of combat, exploration, and social encounters, can serve as a basic guide when you design your own stories.

This adventure has enough structure that you can run it without changing it, but it is also left open-ended enough that you can experiment with any of the tools mentioned throughout this wiki to customize it. For example, neither Uvior nor Mogg have explicit beliefs or quirks, but you are encouraged to add these to their personalities based on how you interpret their actions and based on what you believe would make for an interesting interaction at your table.

Overview

This adventure is designed for level 2 heroes, who will level up one time in the story. You can make your own heroes or use any of the characters from the Legends of MythCraft.

Summary

A beleaguered party seeks shelter from the storm in an abandoned manor overflowing with old books. As they explore, they will encounter roving undead, enchanted tomes, unexpected traps, and a band of hopeful gretchlings led by their elder, Mogg. The undead are the former hirelings of a once-powerful wizard named Uvior, who has now been reduced to a mere specter... literally. The gretchlings have invaded the manor in hopes of finding and devouring innumerable delicious magical scrolls. While the gretchlings are technically the manor’s invaders, Uvior was known to be a cruel and callous figure, so the heroes might find either side sympathetic. Ultimately, the heroes can defeat both the undead and the gretchlings, or they can side with one faction or the other to put an end to the manor’s conflict. Either way, they will be rewarded handsomely with jewels and magic items.

Adventure Flow

The adventurers can explore the manor freely. It can be helpful to think of the adventure in three parts:

1. The heroes explore the manor, learning a little about who lived here and what might live here now.
2. The heroes will encounter undead and gretchlings. They might make an alliance with either side, or with neither side. After the heroes have explored 16 rooms, they level up.
3. The heroes will face off against the leader of the opposing faction. Or, if they made no alliances, then they might end up confronting both leaders separately. It is also possible to broker a peace between the two leaders, though having enough leverage to reasonably arrange a peace between Uvior and Mogg is very difficult and unlikely.

Random Encounters

When the pace drags, or when you want to apply pressure to the heroes, then you can roll or choose a random encounter on the table.

Additionally, when the party attempts to rest, they run a greater risk of a random encounter. If they Catch their Breath, then there is not an encounter. If they attempt to Recoup, roll 2d6. On a total of 5-9, there is no random encounter; on any other total, roll or choose a random encounter from the table. If they attempt to Take a Rest, make the roll as though they were recouping once for every 2 hours of the Rest (4 total rolls).

The exception is if they are in the chapel or have made an alliance with the undead or the gretchlings. If they have made an alliance with the undead, then they can Recoup or Take a Rest without rolling for random encounters if they are in the master bedroom. If they have made an alliance with the gretchlings, then they can Recoup or Take a Rest without rolling for random encounters if they are in the scriptorium. The first time that they Recoup or Take a Rest in the chapel, they also do not need to roll for random encounters.

2d6	Encounter
2	Uvior Appears!
3	Undead Horde
4	Undead Guards
5	Crepits
6	Portrait Trap
7	No Encounter
8	Floorboard Trap
9	Book Trap
10	Gretchling Scounts
11	Gretchling Squad
12	Mogg Appears!

Uvior Appears!

The ghostly visage of a haggard, elderly human man in an embroidered maroon robe floats towards you.

Uvior is a cold, calculating, and cruel person, but will present himself as a gentleman. When speaking with people whom he might need a favor from, he is eloquent, courteous, and has the practiced false smile of a noble.

Uvior will be hostile to the party when they first meet, but will not be violent unless the party attacks. He will demand to know why they have invaded his home, “just like the others,” and will insist that they leave.

The party might ask him who else has invaded the home, or if they have met the gretchlings then they might infer who Uvior is speaking of. If they do pursue this line of questioning, then Uvior will begrudgingly make an alliance with them: they can take a small portion of treasure from his manor if they dispose of the gretchling infestation.

The amount of treasure that Uvior will part with depends on how high the party rolls on skill checks. Each party member may make a CHA skill check (using a skill with the Influence tag if they have one). Take the average of the party’s rolls.

DC	Treasure
8 or less	Each hero will get 100 sc
9-14	Each hero can also get a magic item with an Essence cost of 10 or less
15-18	Each hero gets an additional 100 sc worth of jewels
19 or more	The magic item can have an Essence cost of 20 or less

Uvior's Tragedy

If the party asks Uvior about what happened before they arrived, Uvior is generally elusive, declaring that they need not concern themselves with the past and should just focus on getting rid of the gretchlings. A DC 12 AWR/Intuiting check will confirm that he is hiding something, and a DC 24 CHA/Persuading check will get Uvior to open up and explain what happened.

Six years ago, Uvior invited all of his old adventuring companions to have a feast with him in remembrance of their past quests. Uvior was particularly excited to show them an artifact he had discovered. When used correctly, the artifact would solidify the user’s soul into a physical form, effectively bestowing immortality upon the creature. However, the artifact malfunctioned, turning Uvior into some kind of ghost and exploding outward with concussive arcane force that immediately turned all of Uvior’s guests into stone. Uvior has been trapped in his incorporeal form ever since, and wants more than anything to discover a way to reverse the damage.

Fighting Uvior

If the party threatens Uvior instead of talking with him, or if they try to abscond with more treasure than they agreed upon, it will result in combat. See the Showdown section for more information.

Undead Horde

Muffled footfalls and the rattle of metal give you a moment’s notice, and a horde of armed skeletons burst into view.

2d4+2 skeletons appear. If the party are allied with Uvior and have agreed to dispose of the gretchlings, then these skeletons do nothing threatening and move on.

If the party has not yet met Uvior, then the skeletons will nonverbally communicate that the heroes should leave by rattling their weapons and pointing at the nearest exit. If the heroes try to speak or negotiate with the skeletons, then the skeletons will beckon for the heroes to follow and will take the heroes to the master bedroom (on the third floor), where they meet Uvior.

If the party fights the skeletons, the skeletons will fight until dead.

Undead Guards

This encounter is functionally the same as the Undead Horde encounter, but with 1d4+1 skeletons instead.

Crepits

The curtains rustle, and something scrapes and scrabbles out from under the furniture. Severed, skeletal limbs writhe towards you!

2d4 crepits crawl out from under furniture, behind curtains, and the like. They will attack the heroes and will fight until dead.

Portrait Trap

You hear a quick, punctuated hiss.

Randomly determine one of the party members and make a +3 attack vs ANT. If you hit, then that creature is struck by a poison dart that shot forth from a wall portrait. Roll on the table below to determine its effect.

1d6	Poison Dart
1	Creature is Stunned for 1d10 minutes
2	Creature is Staggered for 1d10 minutes
3	Creature is Dazed for 1d6x10 minutes
4	Creatures is Slowed for 1d6x10 minutes
5	1d6 toxic damage
6	1d4 toxic damage

No Encounter

Whatever you thought you heard, apparently it was nothing after all. The house was just settling, I suppose.

Floorboard Trap

You step on a floorboard that lets out a sharp creak.

Randomly determine one of the party members and make a +2 attack vs ANT. If you hit, then a floorboard snaps. Their leg becomes stuck (they are Restrained, escape DC 12); the floorboard flies up and smacks them in the face for 1d4 blunt damage; and the undead hear the commotion. 1d4 skeletons come to investigate.

Book Trap

Don’t use this trap too frequently; every four or five times a hero tries to interact with a book is plenty. When a hero grabs a book off of a shelf without first investigating (AWR/ Investigating DC 14), the book might be trapped. Make a +4 attack vs ANT. If you hit, then the shelf falls on the hero for 1d10 blunt damage, and the hero is Dazed for the next 1 minute.

Gretchling Scouts

You hear a faint rustling, and a wet footstep, but you see nothing at first glance.

1d4+1 gretchlings stealthily watch the heroes. The heroes can make AWR/Perceiving checks against DC 15 to spot the gretchlings.

If the gretchlings can tell that the heroes have not yet spoken with Uvior (perhaps they just killed some skeletons), then one of the gretchlings will reveal herself to the party. Her name is Gooth, and she explains that the wizard who once lived here was a very evil man. Gooth uses a lot of superlative language and usually says someone’s name along with an epithet that she makes up on the fly.

She and the other gretchlings, under the leadership of Mogg the Marvelous, are trying to find and devour all of his delicious magic scrolls and items. If the heroes will come back and meet Mogg, then Gooth is certain that they can work out some kind of deal. Maybe the heroes can defeat Uvior the Horrible in exchange for a couple magic items.

Fighting the Gretchlings

Gretchlings are not strong creatures, and they will flee if the heroes act violent. If this happens, they will return in force later, led by Mogg.

Gretchling Squad

You hear a chorus of slimy footsteps and quiet croaking. Large, reflective eyes stare out from the darkness.

2d4+2 gretchlings appear. If the party has already made an alliance with Mogg, then they are amicable towards the party and pass through quickly. If the party has not yet made an alliance with the gretchlings, then the gretchling squad’s leader, Begh, will confront the heroes.

Begh is very stern and militaristic, which has the unintended consequence of being amusing given how small and harmless a gretchling looks.

Begh tries to bully the heroes into leaving the manor, but if that doesn’t work, then he will demand that they become his prisoners and he will escort them to Mogg.

Fighting the Gretchlings

Gretchlings are not strong creatures, and they will flee if the heroes act violent. If this happens, they will return in force later, led by Mogg.

Mogg Appears!

A speckled gretchling approaches you, holding a high, proud posture. He wears a wizard’s hat atop his amphibian head.

Mogg is a verbose gretchling that often misuses long words in an attempt to sound smarter. He cares for his fellow gretchlings and clearly commands their admiration. Mogg will be hostile to the party when they first meet, but will not be violent unless the party attacks. He might comment in surprise that “some of Uvior’s servants are still living!”

The party might ask him who Uvior is, or if they have met the skeletons then they might infer that Mogg is talking about the master of the house. If they do, Mogg is likely to ally with them: if they can defeat Uvior and make the manor safe for the gretchlings, then the gretchlings will let the heroes have any amount of gold they might find.

If the party presses to negotiate, then choose one hero to make their case. That hero can roll a CHA/Persuading check, with the following outcomes.

DC	Treasure
16 or less	Each hero will get all the nonmagical wealth they can find (400 sc per hero, and 200 sc worth of jewels per hero)
17 or more	Each hero can also take one magic item with an Essence cost of 15 or less

Fighting Mogg

If the party threatens Mogg, it will result in combat. See the Showdown section for more information.

The Manor

Against the dark sky, a still darker manor looms. Its buttressed stone walls have a gown of ivy, thickest around the ground and much thinner nearing the rooftops. A crenelated balcony keeps silent vigil over the grand double doors, though it appears that no guards are present.

The manor is divided into four floors. This section contains maps and detailed information about what the heroes might find in each room. Note that on each map, arrows next to staircases point in the direction the stairs ascend.

Throughout the manor, the walls are decorated with scores of oil paintings of mediocre quality. There are wall sconces holding unlit candelabras, and the manor’s interior is completely dark unless otherwise noted in a specific room or unless the heroes produce a light source. Additionally, there are dozens of stacks of books dotting the halls. Books can also be found on virtually any flat surface, such as tables, countertops, and chairs.

The books range widely in topic. The books contain no pertinent information to the adventure unless otherwise noted in a specific room (such as the library or private study). However, if a hero wants to find a book that covers a topic of personal interest, they can make an DC 14 AWR/Investigating check. If successful, they find a book covering topics that they are interested in. As relevant, you might choose to award that hero a +1 in a skill with the Knowledge tag while they have that book in their possession. A hero can make this check once in each room and once in the hallways of each floor.

Outside the Manor

Climbing the Manor

Heroes might try climbing the manor’s exterior. Doing so requires a STR/Athletics check. The DC is 12 to reach the crenelated balcony, and 18 to reach the rooftops. If the heroes have climbing gear, they do not need to make a STR/ Athletics check when climbing only to the balcony, and the climb to the rooftops becomes DC 13.

Wolf Packs and Weather

If the heroes try to venture back out of the manor, you have two options. You may let them ignore this adventure and do something else instead, or you can use wolves and harsh weather to encourage them to remain within the manor.

If you use the second approach and they venture back into the forest, use wolves, dire wolves, and wolf alphas to threaten them with difficult encounters. A raging thunderstorm also makes the woods inhospitable and makes Taking a Rest much more difficult, as the heroes will need to succeed a DC 20 AWR/Sheltering check to find a cave that suitably shields them from the elements. This cave likely has more wolves in it, unfortunately.