You are in 10,000 gold’s worth of debt to THE COMPANY. That’s okay- they’ve generously loaned you a near-dilapidated seaskipper, the Last Resort, and sent you out to make its fortune back trawling the Drakewracked Isles for treasure.
The Last Resort carries up to 20 SLOTS of cargo. Every day it spends on the water costs 10 gold in maintenance. On top of standard random encounter checks, roll d6 for weather daily: 1-3: clear skies. 4-5: rough waters; extra 5g. 6: storm: extra 10g, lose a random SLOT of cargo.
Whenever you arrive in safe port, THE COMPANY seizes whatever it can of what it’s owed. You can only be free of their clutches when you’ve paid debt in full.
(I’m running an after-school DnD club for 5th graders. These are notes from a campaign premise they missed out on. You’ll hear more about the game we’re actually playing, including the rules we’re using, by the end of the year.)
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VULCAN ISLE- a backwater volcanic isle terrorized by Pyronax, a fearsome dragon lord with an untouched hoard (vanishingly rare in the wake of the Drachomachy). There’s a mouldering dock off Naxburg, or a cove tucked away on the other side of the isle where 4 goldeaters roost.
NAXBURG. A hamlet called Olis, before Pyronax took roost.
Only CHEAP goods are available in the Naxburg Mercantile, at a 5x markup. Proceeds go directly to Pyronax.
The Dragonspeaker, a painted fool puppet of Pyronax, has long held mayorship. Him and his two thugs try to extort and humiliate whoever passes through town.
In the basement of the temple, the Council of Olis stages quiet resistance against the Dragonspeaker’s regime. They can be convinced to supply Mercantile goods for free.
MT. VULCANA. Once housed a shrine to Vulcana, the Abeyant Goddess, before it erupted- so much for abeyant. Her worshippers were transformed into melted undead. Now, Pyronax has made his lair in the bowels of the mountain, and controls the slagfaces (as zombies/cultists with fire immunity) with the Amulet of Vulcana. There’s two ways in, neither of them safe: in through the TEMPLE GATES (I), or the arduous climb and perilous drop through the CHIMNEY (III).
(I) TEMPLE GATES. 2 slagfaces, one wearing a key around its neck, guard the sealed iron double door to the ABLUTION CHAMBER (II). On their signal, 6 more emerge from the scrub.
(II) ABLUTION CHAMBER. A pool of scalding water simmers sulfurously in a central pool, fed from a vent in the wall. In the center, a face-down, inert slagface wears the key to the CHIMNEY (III) around his neck. It attacks if disturbed.
(III) CHIMNEY. Carved basalt stairs wind around the volcano’s throat, from the ABLUTION CHAMBER (II) to the BROOD POD (IV) to the SHRINE TO VULCANA (V) at the very base. Pyronax has clawed away the stairs within ~10 feet of the door to the BROOD POD (IV), leaving a drop of ~40 feet. A chasm in the throat’s floor looks down into the HOARD (VI) below. Four goldeaters, blind flying serpents with corrosive spit, cling to the walls, descending on anything that makes noise with shrill screams.
(IV) BROOD POD. In the center of the room, three of Pyronax’s eggs sit on a bed of heated crystal. They’ll hatch after warmed to the point of taking 30 points of fire damage. The crystal magnifies heat; as long as it’s being warmed, it deals 1 fire damage/ROUND to everything in the room, then 2 the next ROUND, then 3. If it ceases to be heated, it cools down at the rate of 1 damage/ROUND, too. Clinging to the ceiling, a dragonspit elemental falls on anyone who gets CLOSE to the eggs.
(V) SHRINE TO VULCANA. Three statues of Vulcana with rubies for eyes flank a pool of lava: one weeping (coated in powerful adhesive), one snarling (animates to attack if the room is disturbed), and one shushing (conceals a secret door). The secret door to the HOARD (VI) opens whenever something heavy is placed in the offering bowl before the snarling statue.
(VI) HOARD. Once a burial vault for the cult of Vulcana. Now, Pyronax sleeps atop an uncountable pile of raid-spoils, including 5 TREASURES and as many slots of gold and gems (each worth d20 x 100 gold) as can be carried.
PYRONAX’S SLUMBER. Every time the party triggers a random encounter for noise, roll a d6. If the result is equal to or under the number of times Pyronax has been disturbed, Pyronax awakens. He’ll first climb up to the chimney and inspect his lair for intruders, breathing fire into any room that shows signs of having been disturbed. If he thinks it’s safe, he’ll then fly away to eat some cattle, leaving his hoard undefended for 2d6 TURNS.
Thanks for reading, and happy gaming.
