GILHELM'S RUN, a proto-adventure

 Wasn't sure what to do with this adventure I had sitting around. I wasn't feeling motivated enough to stat it up for any particular system, but it's too specific to be truly generic... if you can use it, use it, I guess! Thanks for reading, and happy gaming.

GILHELM’S RUN

Brandish Gilhelm, proprietor of the Bergman Yards, finds himself against a wall when the Tollsgate Guard break into his bar and accuse him of high treason. The heroes must leap to action to save Gilhelm, the Bergman Yards, and the valuable information in Gilhelm’s precious scroll case...

CHARACTER CREATION

Create characters as normal. After you´re done, answer the following two questions, or roll on the tables below for a random answer:

• How do you know Brandish Gilhelm?

1 You served together in the Sylbarran Navy

2 He gave you a loan when you needed to get on your feet

3 You’re the bane of the Bergman Yards when you get drunk, which is often

4 He's a childhood friend

5 You escort the ale and food shipments he gets from Deragonna

6 You're secretly a member of the Five Hands too

• What is a secret of his?

1 He´s a member of the Five Hands sect in Tollsgate

2 The ale he sells is watered-down, not authentic Dwarvish as he claims

3 He has a husband… and a girlfriend

4 He framed Alfonso Glass for a misdemeanor he committed

5 He’s in an experimental band called Viking Death Squad

6 He wants to retire and be an artist full-time, not run a bar

BRANDISH GILHELM

Brandish Gilhelm, a veteran of the Sylbarran Navy, is a kindly old barkeep, known for his tendency to sing as he serves the patrons. However, he lives a double life- he is an agent of the Five Hands in Tollsgate. Within the Five Hands, he wields a lot of authority, but this is not without its share of responsibility. He has been entrusted with a scroll case, the contents of which he will not disclose. He knows that a crooked guard named Alfonso Glass is after it, and will do anything to keep it out of his clutches.

WHAT'S IN IT?

1 Love letters between the Dragon Queen and her mate

2 Notes on the Blue Diamond

3 Maps of the Underdark below the Vipernoss

4 A contract outlining an illegal deal

5 Schematics for a new weapon

6 A ledger with information about the members of the Five Hands

ALFONSO GLASS

Alfonso Glass is a Smallfolk Captain of the Watch among the Tollsgate Guard. However, he has a secret: he erased his memory-suppression rune. Now he works as a freelance agent, using the Tollsgate Guard at the directive of the highest bidder. He’s currently hunting down the contents of Gilhelm’s scroll case, and the fact that Gilhelm’s a Five Hands agent only makes his job easier to explain.

WHO HIRED ALFONSO?

1 Alfonso is acting on his own interests

2 The Dragon Queen

3 Mistress Selbernacht

4 One of Tollsgate’s Smallfolk crime families

THE BERGMAN YARDS

The Bergman Yards is among the most happening locales in Tollsgate. Above the front door, the hull of a pirate ship sticks out of the brick facade, a cobwebbed and pirate-garbed skeleton named Barry frozen eternally in the hoisting of a rainwater-filled mug. Inside, warmth and merriment abound as workers frantically cater to the ‘round-the-clock rush. Warm ale gushes forth from taps on the ceilings, allowing a merry rain of alcohol anywhere on the floor on demand. The heroes are all nursing a pint and chatting with Brandish when there comes an abrasive knock on the door…

ENCOUNTER I: SHOOTOUT AT THE SALOON

• Alfonso Glass and 3 Tollsgate Guards began to break into the Bergman Yards

• d4 more Tollsgate Guards arrive every ROUND

• Gilhelm tells all the patrons to invert the tables and get behind them

• The patrons can be asked to do anything not life-threatening

• The Guards will not aim at any civilians; the target is exclusively Gilhelm and any heroes that seem to associate with him

• The furniture and amenities can be used in any creative way imaginable

• In d4 ROUNDS, Gilhelm will suggest a hasty retreat to the basement

ENCOUNTER II: COLD STORAGE

• Wine and ale are stored in barrels along these long, winding stacks

• The room is kept at a constant chill to ensure freshness

• All combatants take 1 FATIGUE every ROUND from the cold

• Spaced FAR from each other and each exit are a series of traps Gilhelm instituted in case of an emergency

• Close: a crushing block (2 WOUNDS) falls when a tripwire is released

• Mid: a pressure plate dislodges a shelf, making barrels roll a la Donkey Kong

• Far: a jet of flame (3 WOUNDS) scorches every other ROUND

• Alfonso sends in 4 Guards in 1 ROUND, then will himself arrive d4 ROUNDS later after the civilians have evacuated the tavern

• Once Gilhelm gets to the door on the far side, he can unlock the various sealant mechanisms in d4 ROUNDS

• If he were to die during this time, he undoes the lock immediately

• He then hands the closest hero the scroll case...

• 
  
  
  
  
  ...and whispers “find the Five Hands, they’ll help you” with his last breath

ENCOUNTER III: SEWERS

The stairs on the other side of the cellar lead down into the sewers below Tollsgate. The heroes have to evade the guards and make their way to the Five Hands stronghold, with or without Gilhelm in tow.

Every TURN the characters spend moving through the sewers, roll to see what they encounter. By default, the PCs have 3 encounters to contend with before they manage to locate the stronghold, though use your discretion to add or subtract from this number.

SEWER ENCOUNTERS

1 Guards: Glass and 2d4 Tollsgate Guards catch up to the party

2 Were-rats: 2d6 massive half-rodent creatures cavort in the dark, hungering for flesh

3 Scrappers: 3 bandits with rusted supplies and empty syringes stage a hold-up

4 Bridge: a crumbling walkway spans a trickle of sewer sludge, roll again on this table

5 Fork: the path branches; roll 2 times, each roll is an option along the path

6 Lost: roll 2 more times total as the sewer twists back on itself

ENCOUNTER IV: THE RESISTANCE

• A ladder from the sewer leads up to this abandoned warehouse

• This is the base of operations of the Five Hands in Tollsgate

• The Five Hands sect is led by Natalia Rotlip

• She’s a no-nonsense Smallfolk woman named for a large, hereditary mole over her lip

• There are 6 other Five Hands members in the warehouse

• The warehouse is filled with scrap wood, tools, and a small cache of explosives

• Glass and a veritable army of Tollsgate Guards will surround the warehouse in 3 TURNS

• This is the final hour of the Five Hands

• If Glass gets into the warehouse, the rebellion will be scattered beyond organization, and the scroll case will be in jeopardy!

CONCLUDING THE ADVENTURE

There are as many ways to end this adventure as there are tables, but here are a few broad categories to use as jumping-off points.

• The Base Held. The Five Hands stands triumphant, the scroll case in hand. However, in all likelihood, Glass and the wider city is now aware of a Five Hand presence, very much illegal under Sylbarran rule. The Five Hands will need to make a getaway… enter a Smallfolk crime family, willing to smuggle them out at a steep price.

• A Narrow Salvation. The heroes have the scroll case, but perhaps at the cost of Brandish’s life, or the security of the Five Hands sect. With Glass hot on their tail, they’ll have to figure out what to do with the contents of the case, and who to trust.

All Is Lost. Glass has a hold of the scroll case. The heroes, in kahoots with the Five Hands, have to get it back fast, before he gets it to his client or uses it for himself. A tense heist mission on the clock, for all the marbles!

The Glitter Ghoul

 Here's what I wanted to make:

1. A monster, who is

2. weak as shit,

3. poses a threat to whole regions, and

4. can and should be stopped by the PCs early, because the longer it goes unchecked the worse it gets. It should also

5. operate by a decipherable internal logic that isn't immediately obvious and

6. be super iconic and memorable.

Here's what I have:

The Glitter Ghoul

N2 HX A Blinding, Bonded Hypnotism, Shining Vitality, Spore Emitter I To colonize

Actually in no way resembles a ghoul. This creature, in its native form, looks like a shifting mass of glittering, blinding light squeezed into a multifaceted prism. It blinds anyone who looks upon it, bypassing even significant layers of protection- like looking at the open face of the sun.

They collectively reside in a demiplane known as the Shifting Gold. Planar scholars have concluded that the Shifting Gold is being eaten by a cosmic beast, and the recent incursion of Glitter Ghouls in the past century has been a result of colonization efforts. In fact, Glitter Ghouls were unheard of not but 100 years ago, making research on them rare and often incomplete or riddled with small errors.

The creature's first impulse, upon entering a new dimension, is to begin producing spawn. It lets out a hypnotic pattern of light on the first person it sees. This person becomes Bonded to the Glitter Ghoul, utterly under its control as long as it can see. The Glitter Ghoul then conceals itself as best it can, using its Bonded as a mouthpiece. The Bonded's eyes radiate pure light, so they often wear coverings over their eyes.

A Bonded can implant Glitter Ghoul spores into whatever it touches once a day. Anything that sparkles, shines, reflects, or otherwise makes a bright light can be infected with the "spores" of a Glitter Ghoul. It shines with unnatural intensity with a golden light while infected with the spores. That light brightens over the course of a tenday, slowly becoming blinding until it rips open a portal to the Shifting Gold, whereupon another Glitter Ghoul emerges to occupy their Bonded. Coins, torches, swords, mirrors, windows, and more can all play hosts to spores. The only way to destroy a spore is to make the object incapable of catching the light- corroding it, painting it, destroying it, disintegrating it, whatever.

To kill a Glitter Ghoul, plunge it into darkness and it screams itself into unmaking. It subsists on light shining on it, and often places itself in inaccessible but well-lit locales, as it can contact its Bonded from anywhere. Often, the challenge isn't spotting the Glitter Ghoul's handiwork, but locating the entity itself. Luckily, it is damn near offense-less save the blinding light. Its multifaceted carapace is invulnerable to conventional means of access.

d6 Adventure Seeds

1 A Glitter Ghoul has Bonded to a Medusa. The Glitter Ghoul has made the Medusa plea for repentance, saying that she wishes to interact with the cultures of the Kin. The heroes receive her plea- will they help her rehabilitate? After all, she does have her eyes securely under wraps, so her stone gaze won't harm anyone...

2 The Captain of the Guard reaches out to the heroes. A local crime lord has been handling a lot of currency that has the shine of the Glitter Ghoul... the heroes would be paid handsomely to raid the guild warehouse and track down the Ghoul. In reality, the crime lord is trying to collect the currency and remove the spores; the Captain is actually the Bonded one, taking out an enemy faction while taking suspicion off itself.

3 The Glitter Ghoul has bonded to a Dragon. It knows that it is advantageous to get adventurers to spread the loot in the hoard, so it spends years infecting it all with a latent spore, then bait the heroes into killing the Dragon so that they'll spread the hoard into the world. How long until the heroes catch on to the fact that portals are opening a week after their spending sprees?

4 The Glitter Ghoul finds itself incapable of Bonding due to a medical error. It sets itself up as a god deep in the Underdark. Can the players find a way to directly combat it? Especially when it asks its suppliants to start cultivating bioluminescent fungus in the nearby caves as a backup?

5 What would happen if a Glitter Ghoul Bonded to a powerful angel? The Celestial Host begins to ship out golden riches to impoverished locales, at the request of Eltheriel the Wise- the shining eyes are simply a sign of newly sparking divine inspiration.

6 What if there were an anti-Glitter Ghoul? Casting light on it banishes it and its touch, and it makes things dull and dim. What would make this monster all the more terrifying is a host of teeth and claws and rusted iron bones... it could truly prove to be a nightmare to deal with it, especially when you can't even see where it is to kite it into the light!

Thanks for reading, and happy gaming.

Mork Borg character matrix

MARROW designed, GLoG compatible:

	STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
S T R		Dour Templar. Your blow rebukes sin and coaxes confession- when you hit with an attack, your target must answer one question truthfully.	Cursed Laborer. You have ADVANTAGE on rolls that relate to the work you’re ensorcelled into doing, but one you start, you can’t make yourself stop.	Witch-Hunter. When someone CLOSE to you uses magic, you can take an OFFENSIVE.	Gargoyle. With your MOVEMENT, make a STR roll to fly for a ROUND.	Muck Marauder. When you are covered in filth, you are effectively invisible while immobile.
D E X	Wickhead Knight. Your head is a lantern,spend WOUNDS as SUPPLY as your light dwindles.		Coward. You move twice as fast when running away from something.	Sawbones. You definitely are certified to do this. You can perform Battlefield Surgery in a ROUND.	Knife Orphan. You always have another dagger tucked away.	Gutterborn Scum. Once a day, inflict a disease of your choice on someone you hit with one of your grimy, pathogen-coated weapons.
C O N	Engorger. You can safely eat and regurgitate anything you can fit in your mouth.	Worm-Host. When you kill something, the parasitic worms in your body emerge to eat it in d4 ROUNDS. You regain 2 WOUNDS when they do.		Scum-Hucker. Your throws always hit non-moving targets, and you can immediately spot valuables cloaked by refuse.	Fanged Deserter. Your bite does 2 WOUNDS, and when you bite something, you can always track its location.	Addict. Choose one drug- you have a resistance to it, and don’t take Addiction when using it.
I N T	Scrapper. Once a day, roll WIS to find something; if you fail, you get something random, if you succeed, get something useful.	Reader of Blasphemies. You can read every language, and speak to otherworldly creatures fluently.	Basilisk-Monk of Creton. Each day at dawn,roll your LEVEL+1 in d20s. You can sub in those rolls for any made by someone you can see that day.		Exorcist. You scare undead creatures, and can smell them from a mile away, literally.	Flesh-Grafter. You can cause a SCAR to sew body parts (back?) onto people.
W I S	One with Beasts. You start the game with a sickly beast companion you can talk to.	Profane Liturgist. You can discern someone’s greatest fear and what they worship with a glance.	Wästland Trapper. You instantly detect traps, and can set up your own in a TURN with a point of SUPPLY.	Occult Herbmaster. With an INT roll, you can make any plant into a drug of dubious quality.		Apocalypse Gnostic. Whenever an APOCALYPSE ROLL is made, force a reroll and choose the result yourself.
C H A	Witch. You get one random Power of each type each day at dawn.	Melancholy Impresario. Your mournful dirge can stop one thing in its tracks for a TURN once per day.	Undying Bard. Once a day, play your song for all corpses around to reanimate; they attack all living creatures for a TURN.	Wretched Royal. You have a well-armed retainer of questionable loyalty.	Inheritor. You start with 50s and a piece of LOOT that is only slightly cursed, promise.

In other news, MARROW version 0.7 is on the way. I have some cleaning up to do in the rules department, which you'll see some blog posts about, and then I want to go over the ABILITIES and SKILLS again with a more focused design ethos, but we're swiftly crawling to a FIRST EDITION. It's working really well at the table, and I'm excited to see where it goes next!