An Incarna™ World of Orlec [fantasy] adventure for characters as they investigate the refinery to obtain knowledge and materials. For parties of good intent: release this blight that resides over an animus font . Set in the ___ lands of ____, the characters encounter a ___ in need of ___. ETC
Challenge: Characters around 6th-8th level 5th ED or 80-100 CP Incarna
ADVENTURE PRINCIPLE
Do not let strict campaign or challenge level dictate your use of adventures. Story and play should be able to be modified to support most measures of Player Character capability. A good Game Master can generally use a system & tools to support them in telling a story with whatever characters and circumstances the Players have.
Author: Arabus Grenier and Kelly Berger
Published Feb. __, 2018 (original)
Editor(s):
Testing:
ORIGINAL IDEA BY ARABUS GRENIER
A modern refinery that is running off of backup power show up in a swamp. No one in the world knows what it is, but its a huge metal construct that just showed up and mages are going nuts over it. High risk for cancerous agents, large fires, varying disease factors….. A lot of bad shit from leaks and such. To top it all off im thinking everglades, crocs lurking around, greedy swamp people with shamanistic magics
Missing Elements:
Map (Being made based on an existing refinery in the skagit valley. The final map will likely need to be adjusted by a superior artist)
Are there ways to counter effects afterwards, or is it purely an avoidance adventure? (Avoidance is critical to avoiding disease and other nasty effects, though the end result should allow the party to negate some negative effects
Why are the characters going there? Mage hired? (Money, power, knowledge. Greed is a factor. Anyone with a tie to the wyld faith will have a strong desire to rid the land of this blight, aiding the Animus font that is located at it’s center.)
Setup
Using the Materials
Familiarize: Read through the entire adventure and familiarize yourself with the entire scenario and encounter set. If its too much to track, break the game session and milestones into what you can manage – sometimes it better to end early with a better experience than fumble through. Materials are presented in groupings the most likely order the players will experience them in. If they go off script, you must be ready to adjust and improvise.
Online Experience: This material contains links to additional material in the text. Make sure you are familiar with the linked content as well. The optimal experience for using these materials is as online content. The materials only link to publicly available content, so you may follow the links and print out or have loaded on a device ahead of time, all materials needed to effectively run this adventure. Print friendly PDF or ePub versions also maintain the links, and you can use the option to display hyperlinks with the full URL.
All linked materials were publicly available at the time of original publication.
Linked materials usually contain more information about creatures and places, though some are to assist the Game Master’s running of the adventure.
The stats for creatures are not presented; It is assumed GMs have access to system source books or materials for them. Where possible, creatures will be linked to online resources.
Prompts and Formatting
This adventure contains text that is formatting in a certain way to easily enable good narration and play during the running of it. Familiarize yourself with these to make the pace of the adventure and flow of each encounter is smooth.
This is primary text you can read aloud to the Players – it is what their characters will perceive upon interacting with the encounter.
——————- MORE —————–
This is supplemental text that can be read aloud after the related primary text.
————————————
{- “This is dialogue option you can read aloud” -}.
[GM] > Note to the GM for options and preparation ahead of time.
[i]> This is information which can be gained with the appropriate skill/knowledge [check].
[C]> Character or Creature in an encounter (# appearing if more than 1)
The number of characters in the players party = party#
NARRATION > Tips on how to read to or interact with the Players
Challenge Summary
Combat Content:
Rule Set: This adventure is compatible with
Challenges: Fungus & molds, modern toxic chemicals, fire, acid/solvent, natural creatures (alligators, snakes, nutria/rodents, frog, insects, raccoon, skunk > > toxic effects on some make them big, aggressive, and short lived), toxic air (prolonged exposure = disease on a scaled effect based on resistance), swamp people and shaman. Delayed effects from radiation and cancerous agents may affect the characters without them being aware of it.
Horror/Sanity Checks – If the GM feels like the horrors presented have already been seen or an equivalent experience, they may adjust or ignore the checks.
Background Information
This is a summary of events leading up to the point the characters enter the picture.
Who: Representatives of the Wyld faith seek the reparation of the land, the removal of the unnatural taint. The Druid Imaekel Forden has sought out those willing to undertake the task. He has 2 representatives aiding him: Andel Haust an elemental Magus interested in the workings and substances of the refinery, and Armein Thaulus a half elven ranger representing the dukes interests.
What: The blight on the land is a massive construct of metal and unknown materials, which has been poisoning the land and recently started drawing on the natural energies of the Animus Font it is centered around.
Where: Orlec in the southern lands of Haudlen (The allied lands of man and Kaithllen), west of Hiddzwaur and just north of the Tribal lands in the Isthmus near the east coast. Steel Realms: East of Teil, in an are largely ignored by any other than the Druids and some isolated tribesmen (Some being pine tribes). The run off of the river and the hills to the west have affected the climate enough to make it somewhat warmer and marsh like than other areas in the vicinity.
Regardless of the world the Refinery is in a swamp/ Marsh where crocodiles/ Alligators could easily thrive and the insects make the land uninhabitable to humans without severe shelter and other aid.
When: Time does not matter for this adventure. The refinery is an alien appearance from another time/ universe.
Prerequisites: The party must have some level of reputation, enough that Druids and or authorities would feel they are capable of handling this investigation. Someone in the part, or an NPC with strong ties to the party, must have ties to nature. It is strongly advised that the players have access to nature skills, and a wide range of Lores and knowledges about nature, tribesmen, and to a lesser extent: demonic or dark taints.
What the Characters Know
Nothing – the characters are entering the adventure knowing nothing of what’s about to happen.
Common knowledge: Tribal or Local knowledge will reveal that there are groups with strong ties to nature in the area (Tribe “A” “B” and “C”. Tribe “C” is known for being demon worshippers.)
Uncommon knowledge: Knowledge of nature or religion could reveal that there is in fact an animust font in the area, one that has thrived on it’s own and is strongly protected by the Druids. Knowledge of demons or dark gods, or a critical result with knowledge of the wyld faith/ nature gods will reveal that a creature/ power of pestilence and disease once scoured the are, resulting in it’s marsh like state after the beings downfall.
Hidden Knowledge: Very specific to Milieu. The correct knowledge will reveal that the Animus Font is the power imprisoning the ancient creature of blight. Imaekel Forden knows this, but it is something not to be revealed to others. The beings existence might attract unsavory types to the area.
Fitting into Existing Campaign
As stated in prerequisites, the characters will have to have some tie to the wyld faith as well as some repute with locals or higher level authorities. The adventure is designed to punish players and groups who don’t bother to think of consequences or show an appropriate amount of respect for their own mortality. It is very easy in the adventure to permanently injure or weaken the characters even if they do not die outright.
The adventure fits in best after a string of successes of the parties. Particularly if they have reached a power spike or have gained fame or recognition. Cocky and shortsighted characters will likely be punished heavily.
Altering Encounter Challenges (for GMs)
Any changes should be noted ahead of time, in a way that the GM can remember without altering the flow of encounters.
In order to match the level of power for the party, add, remove, or alter the PCs or their foes capability of…
Timeline
All events take place in or around approximately 6 months
X Days ago: Event 1
Y Days ago: Event 2
Introduction/Getting There
Note: The weather is such…
Traveling to
Encounters in the
Arrival in the
Notable Characters & Creatures
Outcomes
Success
Failure
Followup
dwellers that revere some infected/nasty creature as a god
Shamanistic magic from one of the swamp folk