Seabarrow: A Short Horror Adventure (2nd Level, D&D 3.5)

[Inerrant Lust]

Your band of adventurers have just completed your first quest! Clearing out kobolds from a cave or dire rats from the sewers- no sweat, right? You stop by the small hamlet of Seabarrow to restock on items and seek new quests for your next adventure... but all the villagers here are just... weird.

Then things go... very very wrong.

Game Information
I can run 5e but I am intimately familiar with 3.5e. We can do either/or depending. Please cast your vote when you post here.

Party size... 3-4 sound about right?

Starting at level 2. You've just completed your first level adventure, so you are a band of adventurers that are still pretty green... but maybe that cakewalk of a last dungeon has made you overconfident.

Bad Ends are possible. In fact, they may be expected. The final boss is CR 10 if we use 5e. I considered making it easier... but then I remembered this is supposed to be horror! The possibility of defeating it IS there, if you're lucky or I'm generous with leveling (as I tend to be) but I do feel like the threat of a party wipe enhances the horror atmosphere. Not only death if you roll poorly (though I'll try to avoid outright killing of characters), but imprisonment and rape and all that fun stuff.

This should not be a very long game. I only envision making two areas for you to explore.

X-Rated Information
The Horror elements of this may include monsters of the aberration category. That's all I'll say. Rape and 'Bad Ends' as discussed above are possible. That being said, I am very keenly aware of people's O/Os so I won't try to make anyone uncomfortable.

[inflatetress]

Ooo fun!

[wander]

Potentially interested!

I don't own the DM Guide for 3.5, just the Player's Handbook, so I'd like to know how much extra gold a 2nd Level adventurer starts with, if possible. :)

I know when you start at higher levels you get gold for extra items and to buy magic stuff to equal things out.

[Inerrant Lust]

It's just a flat 900gp in 3.5e. In 5e, it's just normal starting equipment.

As an aside, I kinda hate the name Seabrrow... and may change it. But, you know, it kind of invokes Lovecraftian horror in its name so... 

[wander]

I recommend Innsmouth. ^^

Cheers btw. If interest picks up, I'll see what I can get for that 900 GP. I have a Rogue character ready to go.

[Inerrant Lust]

Idly considering this for the town itself.

The problematic thing is the big buildings I labeled as ruins. The presence of a castle with armed soldiers/guards would kind of make the premise impossible... or, alternatively, it would make things a little too difficult for the PCs.

And yes, the villagers were dumb enough to build a barrow before realizing that there's precious ore they can extract from the ground beneath it... 

Essentially, the mini narrative is that the town was built around a place that had or required a big barrow. There was a battle there or something... and then they found precious metals in the mountainside, so the local authorities built a fort, a watchtower, and some stables to house an armed presence there. Probably in the middle of a war or something. Then the ore dried up and they left the place to ruins.

[schnookums]

ooh, this sounds like it'd be a lot of fun. Color me interested

[wander]

Me and my Rogue are still interested also. :)

[Inerrant Lust]

Oh hey, Schnookums! Long time no see.

For Char Gen, I'm thinking Point Buy 28, 2nd level, 900 starting gp

3 players is sufficient for a small adventure, though I think we could take more. Worse comes to worse, I can whip up an NPC that was with the group in their first adventure if we wanted a standard 4-person party.

[Hexed]

Any limits on classes?  If nothing else can fill any gaps in the party.

[Inerrant Lust]

At 2nd level, I don't foresee any problems with allowing any class.

I'm taking a page from Matt Colville's YouTube series on GMinh and say 'party balance doesn't matter'

No need for a healer/tank/dps or whatever. Play what you want.

[Hexed]

Huh. Interesting. I'll see what catches my eye when I get home then.


3.5 right?

Looking at a half-elf or human dusk blade from player's manual 2. Gets to swing a hammer and cast spells!

[Inerrant Lust]

Centuries ago, Highbarrow(?) was the site of a terrible battle against the legion of the Dread King. Outnumbered and cornered, the paladins of Cometfall put their backs to the nearby mountains and forced the legion to assault them across the river that marks the town's border. The Dread King was defeated, his armies (and remains) scattered. The fallen were buried in a great barrow on the mountain and the area was consecrated. It became a place of pilgrimage for many Cometfall clerics and paladins.

100 years ago, Mithral flakes were found floating down from the river after a rockslide by some pilgrims. Some of the younger clerics and paladins figured there was more money to be had in mining and obtained permission to (very carefully) start an operation there. The town boomed and expanded into the town it is today. Due to its strategic value, the King established a fort, some watch towers, and a stable to house a small fighting force.

Some 30 years ago, the mithral deposit was starting to run dry. The fort was abandoned after the war and largely left to the cobwebs and dust. The already aging wooden stables fared worse and have begun to fall apart. Highbarrow began to decline as well, the town's trade economy dwindling to a shadow of its former glory. Though habitual trade was only a memory, it became a waystation for adventurers and pilgrims again.

Today, Highbarrow's inhabitants are a far cry from the faithful who founded the town in the first place. Last year, Cometfall petitioned the King to censure Highbarrow when a desperate expansion into the mines there unearthed bones from the barrow above... but nothing came of it.

[Cataclysmic Archangel]

I'm tempted.  I only have one idea right now, but what's sticking is the 'short adventure'; I don't get to play D&D very often, and knowing it might be limited makes me wonder if I should bother.  On the other hand, it's been so long since I played, anything is better than nothing, right?

[Inerrant Lust]

Well, I can certainly work with a party of 5.

I think it's kind of risky to aim for a long epic campaign on any PbP forum, even Elliquiy. People struggle to find their muse, there's a lot less communication than there would be on Skype or in person, and it's kind of easy to just... stop posting. It's my hope that a smaller adventure will be nice and compact. Consider this something akin to one module in one of those old school D&D books.

If it works out, then I'm certainly not opposed to running more games. Even if the characters might be... slightly disposable (but really, I don't go out of my way to kill PCs! Well, unless they ask for it. *eyes inflatetress*), having met good players and (hopefully) a good GM is a worthwhile trade in my book.

I ran a system game for 7-some odd years on Elliquiy. It ended, but we all got out of it a pretty dependable group of players that I'm in a game with right now, in fact.

So, if we can get everyone's sheets in this weekend, I'll be able to start the game proper.

[Hexed]

just making sure!

The characters are NOT from Highbarrow right?

It's more of a party wiped some little thing off the map (those poor goblins or kobolds) and while going back to "home" decide to restock in this ex-mining town?

[Inerrant Lust]

Yep. You're just a group of novice adventurers passing by, looking for a place to stay/adventure hooks/people to swindle.

[wander]

Okay!

Shall Level up my Lv.1 human rogue to 2, then figure out their gear list. Gear is probably going to take a fair amount of time... I have their basic stuff from starting cash, the rest of their gear I'll probably sift over the SRD magic item costs for. Maybe upgrade their armour and weaponry to magical/masterwork too.

[schnookums]

Thinking I'm going to play a Cloistered Cleric for this

[Hexed]

Gear and a pic, plus writing down the backstory are all that's left for my duskblade.

Found out something rather stupid. Duskblade spell list has 4 cantrips total. I get 5 known cantrips due to 2 start + 3 int mod which adds more cantrips.  They did not think out the spell list very well.

[wander]

Can I get someone to link me to a webpage with a 3.5 point build calculator?

I don't own the Dungeon Master's Guide with it in, just the Player's Handbook which doesn't have the point buy option in it. I think my Rogue may be built with 28pts so I want to make sure they'll be legal for the game.

[Inerrant Lust]

http://www.myth-weavers.com/pointbuy.html

There you are.

[Hexed]

So. Winding up with a... good chunk of gold. Given the short nature of the planned adventure would a mule and cart be a worthwhile purchase? Or just stick all the remaining gold in cure potions?


Also!

Can't decide between these pics. Any slaps upside the head to help me chose?

First

Second

Third

Fourth

[Inerrant Lust]

I kind of like the third, personally. Suitably modest for a low level adventurer, the style is a bit serious and dark for a horror game... and a little sexy too.

As the GM, I won't say one way or another whether a mule and cart or more potions would be useful.  Potions are probably the 'safer' bet, since their use depends on taking damage and being in combat. While a mule and cart would be useful for transporting a lot of things or something very heavy... which basically might mean a lost opportunity or a huge inconvenience if it's something you have to bring with you.

[Haztur]

I am really interested in this if there is still place, I read there is a rogue and a cloistered priest, then I could play a sorceress

As mentioned above, being horror I do expect bad endings (I just prefer the bad ones where  I am not killed, but the capture and all sort of abuse is welcome!)

Maybe any of these outlooks

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

An option besides skype or person could be roll20, obviously not everyone can participate in the same timeline, so its a shame, but its a rather useful system to play online too.