Middle Earth Adventure Locations

Middle Earth

Adventure Locations

Revision History

VersionDateAuthorComments

0.115/11/2006MDCFirst Draft

0.211/12/2006MDCCompletion of Stage 1

Table of Contents

41Overview

1.1Maps41.2Modifications for Middle Earth41.2.1Reason for Adventuring41.2.2Races and Creatures41.2.3Middle Earth Era41.2.4Monsters41.2.5Logic and Consistency41.2.6Treasure51.2.7Combat and Death51.2.8Magic52Notes52.1Cult of the Long Night62.2Cult of Darkness/Ungoliant/Spiders62.3Links to the Iron Hills63Northern Mirkwood63.1Adventure Links63.2ICE.DW1 Attercop Attack73.3ICE.DW2 Trouble with Trolls73.4ICE.SW/CV Cyclops Vale73.4.1Coronan83.4.2Inn of Roses83.4.3Disaster at Carnavon Mine83.4.4Cyclops Vale83.4.5Kuvera, The Lost Lake of Gold83.4.6Hunting Gryphons83.4.7The Last Three Adventures83.5JD.TDR The Chronicle of the Dragons Ring83.5.1A Ring of Ruffians93.5.2The Ring of Fire93.6JG.P7/2 The Ruined Tower of Mabeleck93.7TSR.G1 Steading of the Hill Giant Chief103.8TSR.L1 The Secret of Bone Hill123.8.1Bone Hill133.8.2The Burnt Guard Station143.9TSR.N1 Against the Cult of the Reptile God153.9.1Orlane153.9.2The Temple163.9.2.1Exploration173.9.2.2Siege173.9.2.3Mop-Up173.9.3The Dungeon183.10TSR.T1 The Village of Hommlet193.10.1Introduction203.10.2The Village203.10.3The Moat-House213.10.4Further Adventures223.11TSR.T4 The Temple of Elemental Evil223.11.1Introduction233.11.2Relmethir233.11.3The Temple Ruins233.11.4Clofacot (The Base Camp)243.12WD.30 The Curse of the Wildland243.12.1River Spirit243.12.2Katgi243.12.3The Woodsman243.12.4The Wolf Pack243.12.5The Ruins253.13WD.52 The Serpents Venom253.14Miscellaneous Locations263.14.1Burh Chep263.14.2Cotstow263.14.3Dyn Odoric263.14.4Sahmathas Lair26

1 Overview

This is an attempt to map various third-party locations into Middle Earth. It will not detail the actual adventures, but merely locate them, and provide some notes as to how they could be modified to better fit the Tolkien environment.

Note that these notes are not comprehensive, and can certainly be expanded on.

1.1 Maps

All maps will be from the standard ICE maps.

1.2 Modifications for Middle Earth

Rather than redefine them into a particular game system, the notes will make certain assumptions as to how adventures within Middle Earth should be, and the modification notes shall reflect that. These assumptions will include the following: -

1.2.1 Reason for Adventuring

Whereas most RPG systems assume that the PCs will be motivated by the idea of Kill monster, take treasure, the ME setting makes clear definitions about good and evil, and the assumption will be that the PCs will be motivated by more altruistic reasons than simple greed.

1.2.2 Races and Creatures

Obviously, the ME racial environment is reasonably well-defined, and notes will indicate where changes will need to be made to fit those established roles.

1.2.3 Middle Earth Era

It will be assumed that the adventuring will occur in TA1640, which is the ICE standard era. Reference should be made to the ICE materials for extended background material.

1.2.4 Monsters

Obviously, other third-party adventures tend to make use of monsters that do not exist in ME canon literature. Wherever possible, these will be changed to reflect standard ME critters. Where this is not feasible, the extent of the changes will be minimised, and some rationale provided for the creatures existence.

1.2.5 Logic and Consistency

As part of the change to adventure reasoning, it is also assumed that adventures need to be at least semi-realistic in their approach, in that they are logical and consistent. Among other things, this would imply the following: -

No monsters that live on air all environments should provide a realistic environment to support long-term existence. No mortal enemies living peacefully next door to each other, with no food, water or toilet facilities.

Creatures should not exist solely to be killed. All critters should have a reason, even if not apparent to the PCs, as to why they are where they are, and why they are doing what they are doing.

No stupid puzzles, jokes or other silly things that tend to break the fourth wall it should be up to the players characters to finish the adventure, not the players themselves.

1.2.6 Treasure

Treasure should be minimised in ME, given that it should not be the major reason for adventuring. All valuables available should reflect the published notes for ME.

1.2.7 Combat and Death

Combat should be difficult, and death a major event.

Monsters should fight to the best of their intelligence and abilities, not simply line up all in a row to be dispatched one at a time with a single blow.

PCs will not automatically be better then most monsters a single orc will generally be more than a match for any beginning characters, and should give most more experienced characters a run for their money.

Bad guys, or at least the senior ones, should be given a personality. It is better to have a distinct individual as the main protagonist, rather than some mindless overwhelming force of grunts.

Combat should be deadly to the unprepared. The environment should be harsh, and any player who waltzes into combat without a care should be punished. On the other hand, combat should offer a reward for those players who can think, and can ambush or fight intelligently.

It will be assumed that players will invest a reasonable amount into their characters, and as such, sudden instant should be avoided. No death traps unless players can avoid them by their actions, not by making a lucky role. No instant death poisons. No overwhelming enemies if they do something stupid, then kill them, but always give them a chance to all escape from the adventure alive.

If they do die, the death should hopefully be heroic. Whilst ME is realistic, it is also heroic fantasy, and players like the idea that their characters are doing more than the mundane.

1.2.8 Magic

Magic is rare and personal in ME, and the adventures should reflect this.

2 Notes

I feel I have finally got this document to a state in which I can place it aside for a while and move on to something else, namely Tol Falas. It is certainly not complete, but it is in a state where it can be used by others, and can be built on by others. I would ask people to please review this, and feel free to make any comments, or additions or modifications.

The adventures are mainly clustered down the Celduin. Reference should be made to the Northern Mirkwood.gif file for locations. This does not mean that these are the only adventures possible I have some ideas for a set of adventures in the Grey Mountains, and there are certainly other possibilities, but I have tried to provide a set of linked adventures that could be used as some sort of campaign.

I fully realise that not everyone will have all of the material listed, and for some of the more esoteric publications such as Pegasus, it will be very rare, but hopefully you can get the gist of the adventures from the notes provided. Continuing this work could entail actually rewriting the adventures, much as what was done for Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, but I wont be doing that myself anytime soon.

Note that none of the adventures listed deal with events that happen solely within Esgaroth, Dale or Londaroth this was by design. Such adventures can still be run and fit in with these. These were designed to give a reason for travel, and to provide an overview of the area. Smaller episodes can always be inserted.

The following are some notes on specific points: -

2.1 Cult of the Long Night

Currently, two adventures deal with the Cult, being TSR.L1 and TSR.T1. The bad guys are not actual members of the ten, because they should be tucked up safe in Nan Morsereg, however Brego, the tenth of the ten, could certainly make an appearance in TSR.L1, but should probably escape. These two adventures currently dont lead anywhere, so if anyone has any ideas as to further move up the Cult hidey-holes to Nan Morsereg, please let me know.

2.2 Cult of Darkness/Ungoliant/Spiders

I have not placed any adventures that relate directly to this concept, as I feel that it needs to be planned out more. I have however placed a location for an old ruined Elvish Village which forms the terminus of the WD.30 adventure. This location is roughly where the location of The Cultists Lair is located in the The Dawn of Unlight scenario in White Dwarf 64. As such, it could be used in both adventures.

2.3 Links to the Iron Hills

There are currently three potential links to the Iron Hills module. The first is the TSR.T4 adventure. This is located in the middle of the Men-I-Naugrim, so having the Dwarves as an interested party in this would make sense.

The second is the dwarf Katgi, who appears in WD.30. Katgi is an old (678yo) dwarf who has retired to go fishing. If there can be some background as to who he is, why he has retired to where he has, and any reasons why the dwarves may wish to re-contact him, it could provide an interesting twist.

The third is the magic item that was stolen by the goblin in JD.TDR. It was originally written as being the Broadbeams Ring of Power. That doesnt really make sense, but given the direction that they were coming from, it would make sense that they had stolen some Dwarven item from the Iron Hills. If you could provide the item, and possibly the background to the theft prior to them reaching the river, it could add to the adventure. The party could then be tasked with returning it to the Dwarves, which would provide a neat link to the Iron Hills supplement.

3 Northern Mirkwood

3.1 Adventure Links

The following is a table of how the various adventures could be linked in a campaign. Obviously, this need not be a continuous stream, as some freedom for the characters should be given, but it may help.

1. ICE.DW1 Start at the Vodugarazun in Esgaroth. Recruited by Ulgar to find the missing villagers from Ulgarstat.

2. TSR.N1 Asked by Ulgar to travel from Ulgarstat to Orlane to see if they are missing any people. (TSR.N1 will also provide a later link to WD.52.)

3. Genni Ofmere (ICE Laketown Supplement, p180). Fennric and Flana, hearing of the partys efforts in destroying the Spirit Naga, come to Orlane to ask for their help.4. TSR.L1 Once in Cotstow, they hear about Bone Hill, and decide to check out whilst they are there. Are then led to the Burnt Guard Station at Esgaroth.

5. TSR.T1 Find reference to Lareth (the Beautiful) of Iach Celduin at the Guard Station travel south to check it out.

6. ICE.DW2 Recruited at Iach Celduin to rescue guards from trolls.

7. JG.P7/2 On way back, see tower ruins and hear story. Decide to check it out.

8. WD.30 Find reference to the ruins in the tower. Travel up the river to check them out. (This will also provide a later link to WD.64.)

9. TSR.T4 when back in Iach Celduin, they are approached to travel to Relmether to stop Dieraglir. Note that as per ICE Laketown Supplement Assisting the Gramuz adventure (p188), this could be put forward by an agent of the Gramuz Thyn Brogdin, who would be prepared to offer troops if the characters can first locate the bandits base.

10. JD.TDR Back in Iach Celduin after sucessfully stopping Dieraglir, a suggestion is made to the characters that, as they are at a loose end, they could take a trip south to Buhr Chep for the market.

3.2 ICE.DW1 Attercop Attack

MERP Module Denizens of the Dark Wood Adventure 1 Iron Crown Enterprises

Apart from shifting the location a bit further southwards such that it makes more sense that the road to Wessuns farm must pass through the forest, no changes are needed.

Note that the road north will eventually end up intersecting the Celebannon-Orlane Road about five miles west of Orlane, so this would be a good way to lead into TSR.N1. Simply have the locals suggest that the characters should go to Orlane to check if they have had any missing persons, and then have them run into the orcs at the intersection as described.

3.3 ICE.DW2 Trouble with Trolls

MERP Module Denizens of the Dark Wood Adventure 2 Iron Crown Enterprises

First change I would make is to start this one in Iach Celduin. It can be run as following on from TSR.T1. The merchant comes to Iach Celduin to recruit adventurers, and the locals point out the characters. From then run as normal.

It also provides a neat link to JG.P7/2 have the orcs that ambushed the travelers being from the tower. On the way back from the trolls, have Rothaar point out both the ambush site (the road south of the tower) and also talk about the old Elvish tower on the hill to the north. Let the characters join the dots.

3.4 ICE.SW/CV Cyclops Vale

Shadow World Module Cyclops Vale and Other Tales Iron Crown Enterprises

On the Lake Town book, but not in Northern Mirkwood, is listed the town of Buhr Thurasig, located up in the Grey Mountains. The town of Coronan, as described in the above module, will fit for it. Some of the adventures may be used, but some cannot.

3.4.1 Coronan

Aside from changing the town name and the nationalities of its inhabitants, not much else needs to be changed. Be aware that the local population should be about 100 lake-folk and about 50 Gramuz of the Bearwynas clan. The Carnavon family could be a rich ex-Lake Folk family, who form the major part of the town.

3.4.2 Inn of Roses

No changes are necessary.

3.4.3 Disaster at Carnavon Mine

I would suggest that the Trogli are changed to simply be goblins (lesser orcs). They could be a group of goblins that are not associated with the main orc tribes of the region, and were simply trying to survive when they were discovered by the miners, but a complete new species could stretch the imagination. Make them resemble the Goblins Gate goblins rather than full-blooded orcs.

3.4.4 Cyclops Vale

This could be located directly north-west of Buhr Thurasig, over the other side of the mountain. The lake could be hidden (and unmapped) behind the mountain, and the river flowing from it, run westwards to the patch of woods and then out. After heading westwards around the foothills to the south of the mountain, the characters should hit the river. Then they should follow the river north-east up behind the mountain in which the Buhr Thurasig Mines sit. Change the Cyclops into a Giant, and run as is.

3.4.5 Kuvera, The Lost Lake of Gold

After dealing with the giant, they should reach the source of the river, the lake. The tale probably needs to be changed as to what form the tale or map takes is up to you, but it could simply be a legend of a early mannish race from the Second Age that acted as per the tale. The triangulation could be based on the three surrounding mountain peaks. The Rath can be as is, the Dragon Turtle or Fastalocian is mentioned in Tolkien this is where the legend comes to life.

3.4.6 Hunting Gryphons

You could turn these into Giant Eagles, but personally I wouldnt use this the Eagles are good and shouldnt be harmed. You could have them being there, and the Characters have to build some sort of truce or agreement between the town and the birds, but they and their young shouldnt be hunted.

3.4.7 The Last Three Adventures

Ignore them all these wont work in Middle Earth. The Pech and the Hirazi dont fit, and Morgus is too powerful.

3.5 JD.TDR The Chronicle of the Dragons Ring

Adventure written by John Davis, originally for the Decipher SystemNote that this adventure is available in the fan-modules FTP site (somewhere I thought) and also at http://homepage.ntlworld.com/v.davis/LOR1_DragonsRingChronicle.pdf. This covers what changes would be needed to the adventure to fit it into the ICE TA1640 environment.

The first change is that the Ring of Clay is no longer the Broadbeam Ring of Power, but a lesser ring. The details of the origin of the ring I have yet to work out. Possibly a Dwarven ring from the Iron Hills, stolen?

The starting location is no longer at Esgaroth, simply because the travelling distances are too great for the flight to the forest. As such, the adventure now starts at Buhr Chep.

3.5.1 A Ring of Ruffians

This will be located at Buhr Chep, which is described in the ICE Laketown Supplement (p32). The easiest way is if they are told at Iach Celduin about the market held on the third-quarter of the moon, and go down for that. Then they can run into the ruffians trying to beat up the elf, and it continues from there. Locate the Water Mill on the Chepstream just above the ford (location 5 on the ICE map). It has closed down some time back due to the windmills being built thus the animosity of Mallen.

3.5.2 The Ring of Fire

The ferry is a new location. It is located to allow people to travel from the Men-Dorwinion to the South Road without having to go up to Iach Celduin. On each side of the river is a small hostel/tavern and a larger campsite.

After throwing out the ruffians, a merchant, possibly the weaver, then asks them to go down to the ferry, and drop off some goods for her for a merchant who is travelling up the west side of the river. The drop-off happens late in the day, so the characters should stay overnight at the campsite. The hostel is full it is only small and the merchants tend to book out what accommodation is available. The campsite is a good location though plenty of company with various travelers and traders, and they all tend to socialise together around a fire plenty of companionship, alcohol, talk and laughter.

At some stage during the night, one of the people gets up to attend to a call of nature, and spots movement down at the ferry landing where the boats are located. He raises a hue, and the characters and whoever else get down there to discover the goblins party. Continue the call from there, with the ring-bearer and whoever else escapes stealing a boat and making it into the river.

The following day, someone takes another boat to go and look for the stolen boat. It is found abandoned on the west bank of the river below the ferry. The characters can then go and track the bad guys to the Tree-Post Hideout, and so on for the adventure. Note that the Hidden Base of Gwathkirkad is located off the southern edge of this map.

Note that one day when I get some time, I may go about rewriting the whole adventure and resubmitting it to the fan-module site. I have contacted John Davis (the author), and we have his permission to do so.

3.6 JG.P7/2 The Ruined Tower of Mabeleck

Pegasus Issue 7, Mini-Adventure 2 (p38-43) - Judges Guild

This is positioned on the hill just north of the Men-I-Naugrim and west of the Iach Celduin. It does need some changes to the background, but not a lot to the actual adventure.

Easiest way is to have the tower being originally an outpost of the Wood-elves Realm, back before they were pushed north of the Taurduin. It is situated in a good location for observing both the road and the ford, and the history would explain both the magic and the elven armour and clothing.

The basic premise is that when the Necromancer initially pushed the woodelves back, this tower was taken and destroyed. In order to prevent its reoccupation, a wight was then sent to inhabit the lower halls. Over time, the area gained a reputation as being a bad place, and so the locals and travellers avoid it, even though they know it is there. Residents of Iach Celduin can still tell the same two legends as in the adventure. This adventure should best be used as a follow-on from ICE.DW2.

The orcs can still be an outcast band, kicked out from the Sirkag tribe and on the run. They found the tower only recently and have taken up residence pretty much the same as per the adventure.

In terms of the adventure, few changes need to be made.

Room 3 The apprentices study becomes a previous Officers office.

Rooms 5 & 6 The stone pillar is no longer animated. The skeletons can remain, and crushing room can also remain as an elvish trap room possibly built with dwarvish help.

Room 7 The throne being magic is debatable. It could be an elvish artifact, and it certainly isnt very powerful, given that it is bound to the area, but the rationale behind it is difficult to explain. Your choice, but it could certainly have designs on the chair that indicates that it is of elvish manufacture.

Room 8 The skeleton and bracers should go. Perhaps just turn this into a bathroom facility, and give further hints of the original owners.

Room 9 The Golem needs to go. Perhaps just another trap-room floor trap door that drops them into a pit and then closes?

Area D should be fine its simply an additional magic trap, and is reasonably elvish in nature. Note that the d on the map is incorrectly placed.

Rooms 10 & 11 Fine. The armour and clothes should indicate the previous occupants, and more stuff can be left, such as documents to fully explain the history in a desk in the room. Also in here should be reference to the ruins at the start of the Emynen, being an existing (at that time) Elvish town (See WD.30). If you are using the Dawn of Unlight scenario, then these ruins would also be a good location of the old hollow where the cultists will meet.

Room 12 no need for a command word how would the orcs know? Obviously all coinage in this and following rooms needs to be reduced.

Room 17 The gnolls are an issue. Advisors would be good, but gnolls dont exist, and it is doubtful that any other independent creatures would want to exist with the orcs, or the orcs with them. Perhaps two human or Uruk Hai mercenaries down on their luck? May just have to leave these out.

Room 18 The zombies can be four of the original Elvish guards, given animation by the spirit of the Wight nearby. This would explain the insanity of Aristotle above have a few dead orcs here, and you have elves who cant be stopped a good reason to secure the door. Here would also be a good place to have a member of the party, an elf if possible, be mentally contacted and taken over by the Wight. The Wight can then get him or her to lead the party to the secret door, down to room 19, and then pull on the rope.

Room 20 Change the two ghouls to a Wight make this the big battle scene.

Room 21 this doesnt really work, so should be changed to something else. Your decision as to what reward would work in your campaign.

3.7 TSR.G1 Steading of the Hill Giant Chief

D&D Module G1, TSR Inc

Note: This particular location is listed in various ICE supplements, mainly Denizens of the Dark Wood (Adventure 3) as being the location for Ilmaryen Keep. Personally, I dont like this as it has a few issues: -

Why would a Dunedain Noble build a keep here in the second age when there is no easy way to access it the Men-I-Naugrim wasnt built then?

How could it have remained unknown and empty for so long the Elves would had to have known of it, and there is a clearly marked track up to it?

Personally, I would use this elsewhere, possibly up in the Grey Mountains, with the tithing train being a food train for Angmar.

This is located at the tower just above the small lake just north of the Men-I-Naugrim within the Emyn-nu-Fuin it doesnt show up to well in the provided map, but it is there.

Note: - Maps for the two levels here are on the Wizards of the Coast Website at: -

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/mapofweek/May2006/03_MAWMay2006_72_ppi_h4043g3.jpg http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/mapofweek/May2006/04_MAWMay2006_72_ppi_4yj4.jpgAgain, not too many changes the area is home to lesser giants, and these are them. Main difference is that you dont need the secret motivating force. The giants are relatively independent no one crosses them. They are not evil as such, but they are not particularly friendly. Whether it is a raiding party to destroy them, or just a party to discuss something with them, you can keep the setting without necessarily requiring the killing and destruction.

This should not be the residence of all giants in the area they should be spread out of the whole mountain area with their own farms, but this is the residence of the Chief of them. Thus we have the trail leading up there from the Men-I-Naugrim, and the fact that those who should be aware of it should know the location. If you need to speak to the giants, this is where you would go. The reason for going there is up to you.

The main change is to reduce the amount of coinage and treasure there is no need for it all.

Remove the maps and stuff about raids in room 10.

No cloud or stone giants.

The orc servants and the rebellion is an interesting change, but they should all be of snaga (slave) variety, not warrior orcs.

The ogres could become olog-hai, but that probably isnt realistic. Perhaps just make them a variety of lesser, lesser giants, or even just youngsters or teenagers.

The Dire Wolves are just wolves simple wolves are bad enough.

On the lower level, the Bugbears should become Warrior Orcs.

The cells the elf can be an emissary from either Thranduil or Amroth either would be grateful to those who help him. The skeletons, forget about.

Armourer and smith both normal giants, just big and strong.

Weird Abandoned Temple remove it completely.

Troglodytes remove. Give the entire area over to the snaga rebels. The lizards are optional but unnecessary.

Carrion crawlers could be removed

Manticores and whole trap area could also be removed.

Note that you may wish to reduce the number of orcs, both warriors and snaga surely they dont need that many servants, and the Necromancer may get upset if too many of his own people are being used by a nominally independent people as employees

3.8 TSR.L1 The Secret of Bone Hill

D&D Module L1, TSR IncMost of this can be turfed the only useable parts are the castle ruins and the guard station. Even then, there would need to be major changes. Effectively, the castle would be an old defensive structure located on the hill north-west of Esgaroth, that was once an elvish fortification. It was destroyed a long time ago by an orcish force, has never been reclaimed by the elves, particularly since men moved into the area, and has developed a very bad reputation since.

Note that for those who have the Lake Town module, this is where ICE has located a small hamlet called Cotstow (p31). In order to cater for this, if you want to use both, note that the hamlet is located at the foot of the hill near the river. If you put the old castle on the top of the hill, and make it a large hill, as it appears to be in the regional map, then in my opinion, they can both coexist happily. The hamlets-folk are scared of the reputation of the castle, and the castle inhabitants will not want to be noticed by the people from the hamlet. This could provide some hints, if the PCs are tracking someone from Esgaroth up the path to Cotstow with a loaded wagon of food, and he doesnt arrive there. Well, where could he have gone?

The main thrust of the adventure would be that the Necromancer via the Cult of the Long Night has stationed a small party there as an information gathering force on the Esgaroth area. Whether or not the evil magician is a magician or not depends on your campaign, but he could quite easily have some necromantic powers I tend to think that fireball spells are not really Tolkienish, however the Cult of the Long Night document http://fanmodules.free.fr/ME%20Adventures/The%20Cult%20of%20the%20long%20night.rtf is worth reading for further information. I would however give him some human companions as well perhaps a fighter-type as a bodyguard/commander and a ranger-rogue type or two as the spy/supply officer/liaison. One option is to have Brego from the Cult as a frequent visitor.

The Bugbears should become orcs whether or not there are females and child orcs present is debatable, but if the party is designed to be small, independent and self-sustaining for a long-term plan, then I see no reason why not. The area is a fair distance from Esgaroth, and they should be able to make a base there quite successfully providing pesky adventures dont go ignoring local advice about the haunted keep.

The adventure could occur in two ways. They could either do it forwards, by figuring out about the spy, tracking him to the old guard station, and then finding out information about the castle complex. The alternative is backwards, by having the PCs wander up to the castle due to curiosity, kill the inhabitants, and find out about the post near Esgaroth, and then going there and uncovering the spying plot.

This would be a good way for the characters to discover that the Cult exists. Note that if one of the characters does use the background of being a brother or sister of Namari (ICE Northern Mirkwood Supplement Section 8.52), then having this site being the last location that she was seen in could provide a link to this adventure. Haed was visiting the Guard Station and spotted her, and then kidnapped her at night from the base of the river. Have enough incriminating information at the guard station or the castle (whichever the characters visit second) to lead them towards the Nan Morsereg.

A further link could be that reference is made to Lareth at Iach Celduin. This should provide a suitable hook for the characters to travel down-river to Iach Celduin and thus to TSR.T1.

3.8.1 Bone Hill

The main thing that needs to be done here is to reduce the number of undead there are just way too many. I would also have the undead being a family of ghouls that have moved in I cant see skeletons and zombies cooperating with anyone. For a start, they shouldnt be both intelligent and rational enough to do so, and they should be a lot tougher and scarier than the D&D version. As such, I would suggest the following: -

No encounters, particularly with undead, on the hill. The locals are trying to remain hidden, and given that they dont ever have visitors, they have grown rather lax with security. Standard chances for observation, though.

With the roster, convert the bugbears to orcs, and ignore the undead, unless otherwise noted.

Reduce all treasure appropriately.

Tower A Here, I would suggest that this be the ghoul lair entrance. Work out the family of ghouls that will occupy here, the basement and the lower levels, and then work out their placements and reactions. There shouldnt be too many, such that: -

They can survive without starving to death.

They are happy to coexist with the orcs rather than simply overrunning and eating them. Obviously, the presence of the mage will help to keep them nice, but even still, they would not be friendly, merely tolerant.

Even with small numbers, they should still be scary intelligent and rational, and enjoy eating people. I always liked the Call of Cthulhu idea of ghouls, rather than the D&D version

Wall B four skeletons 3 elves and an orc all old and not active.

Tower E perhaps one animated skeleton that is partially caught under some rubble. It can basically stay immobile until someone stands near it, when it will grab their leg that should provide a decent scare. It is also enough to keep the orcs out undead should be tough and scary, not cannon fodder. The magic horn may need to have its powers changed, though.

Gateway F no animated skeletons.

Wall G the elvish boots could stay, but no animated skeleton.

Catapult H no animation, and make the skeleton orcish (or troll, if you so wish).

The rest of the upper levels of the castle, pretty much as is, making allowances for the change in party. One shaman would probably be enough, though give him both rooms O and P. Either that or turn him into the orcish (Uruk?) commander.

There should also be some fresh food you cant live on iron rations for extended periods of time. As such, there would also need to be some transport mule and cart? This could provide a reason for finding the area Hey, this guy comes to Esgaroth every so often to buy food. Who is it for? Lets track him.

The magician doesnt really need both a bedroom, a workshop and an observatory, and the human companions need somewhere to sleep. Its not as if he is making this a permanent home.

The basement basically as described above extend the number of ghouls, and forget about the wraith and other undead. Also, memo to Len Lakofka; if you lock living creatures into a small room, as you did with AA. The Ghoul Lair, they will starve to death. And if it is all locked up, with other nasties blocking the doors outside, where did the previous victims come from? Appear from thin-air? Did the other bad guys quite cheerfully escort the victims to the doors, unlock them, wave the victims inside, and then close and lock the doors after them?

The dungeon level : -

BC forget the Grey Ooze. The staff could possibly be acceptable.

BD The whole stone-guardian and statue should probably be ignored. The cave to the northeast could probably be turned into an Elvish area for reflection and meditation, with appropriate furnishings, however.

BE, BF and BG no mirror, no gelatinous cube and no spectators. This area can be part of the elvish complex that has not been trashed, however, so you may wish to place some appropriate elvish furnishings or defenses here.

BI, BJ and BK. Might as well remove the entire three rooms, along with the wraith.

BL to BO more ghouls. Give them some sort of family life, maybe with kids, etc theyre not bad, theyre just misunderstood!

BP and BQ I kind of like. BP, with the mystery light and scent can be explained it is and elvish sort of thing, the ghouls would avoid it like the plague, and no others would come down here with the ghouls defending their home. The charm effect could be removed, but perhaps a peaceful feeling could be imposed on the PCs. With BQ though, it can still be a study, but the human skeleton has to go. Make it a very elvish study, with appropriate magical implements like the food and drink producers. As to whether the spirit of the previous good inhabitant is still here, I leave that to you.

3.8.2 The Burnt Guard Station

This can be used as the Esgaroth spying station. Personally, I would locate it at the point where the Taurduin enters the lake. Again, for those who have the Lake Town module, this is on the hill just above the Byrelver. After it was burnt out, it was never rebuilt because of the Hlaestcamol, or Toll House being just nearby at the start of the tollbridge. It doesnt exist on the map, but can easily be placed.

Reduce the size of the complex consider each square to be 3 foot rather than 10 foot.

For the above ground section, have the roof totally burnt, but most of the walls still standing, being of stone construction. All rats may be large, but not giant. They probably wont be savage, either.

With the lower levels: -

Built originally by a earlier incarnation of the Cult back in TA1169, left fallow for many years, and recently reoccupied and extended by the current Long Night. It is now used as a refuge and spy station, for observing both river and lake traffic hidden doors allow inhabitants to watch without being seen.

No undead.

Furnishings do not disintegrate as they are still in use. Food is not rotten, etc. The area is live.

6 no bed, just the table, benches, etc. Keep the chest, but no gaseous form. Have it contain various wealth, trading stuff, minor valuables for bribery purposes etc.

7 and 8, as described.

Turn 9 into the practice range they can play cards in 6. 10 just becomes an entrance hall, containing dark clothing, muddy boots, snorkels, wet weather gear etc. 10a leads to a secret exit near the lake

13 to 18 no giant rats normal rats are fine. Pretty much empty and deserted. 16a leads to an exit in the nearest clump of trees further back on the ridge. 19a leads to a secret exit on the river.

3.9 TSR.N1 Against the Cult of the Reptile God

D&D Module N1, TSR IncThis adventure is in two parts. The first part, the village of Orlane is set north-east of Esgaroth, on the south-east corner of the small woods just south of where the Taurduin exits the forest. The second part, the dungeon, is set to the north of Orlane, within the Aelinann (marked as Temple on the map).

3.9.1 Orlane

The village of Orlane is a small farming community that acts as a feeder to Esgaroth. The whole area west of Esgaroth between the lake and the forest is farming land, and Orlane is the most northern of the comunities there are farms located both north and east of the village.

With regards the map, the road marked To Hookhill leads to Esgaroth, and is the major road. The road marked, To Hochock is, as per the module, a much newer and less used thoroughfare, and leads up to Celebannon, although you would need to get ferried across the river. This road also branches off south a few miles down the track, and heads off skirting the forest down to Ulgarstat via Wessuns Farm.

The only other major points are the river, which we can simply say is an unmarked creek that eventually ends up turning northwards into the woods and then filtering into the Aelinann. The large size of the temple is also unusual, but it can be said that it is a structure dedicated to Yavanna, and is known in the whole area, not just a local church.

I would still have the characters enter from the west, as either coming on foot from Celebannon, or coming from Ulgarstat to the south and then turning east (following on from ICE.DW1). Either way, the best way to get them interested is to stage a small clash with some orcs the descriptive bit in the MERP book (Page 6) about going off the track due to rain, and then discovering three orcs in a tower, would be perfect.

Hopefully some of the orcs should escape. The characters should lose them, and then as any good people would, head for the nearest town to let them know that orcs are loose this far north, as it is very unusual.

Personally, I wouldnt use the rumours let them happen upon the village by chance and figure out something is wrong. Why give them any help?

The one major change I would have for the Cult is to tone down the brainwashing dont have the brainwashed villages all fight to the death. It is generally not considered a good thing to wipe out half a village, even if they are following the orders of an evil creature. They should be enthralled, not brain-dead automatons.

With regards to the town, most works as is. The changes I would make are: -

Watch the armour and weapons, such as with the Constables Quarters. Banded Mail never existed as actual armour outside of fantasy, and plate mail is a bit much. Tone it down to Brigandine or Scale at most. D&D have a habit of over-armouring people.

Obviously, reduce the wealth. Farmers will deal mainly in barter, and the characters shouldnt be robbing them anyway. Most of their wealth, what there is, will be in kind. Note that as part of this, if the characters start flashing high-denomination coinage around, it most likely wont be accepted they have nothing to change it. Should be fun for any elves with their 5sp pieces. What do you mean, this is all you have? You want a pint of ale, and expect me to give you change for that? You think Im made of money? Give them a taste of rural life

Speaking of which, I dont see how a Jeweller and Moneychanger (7) could survive in a small farming community you may want to look at changing his profession.

The Livery Stable just for a change, make him Gramuz give their racial biases a bit of a serve, given that he will be one of the first friendly people that they meet.

The two elves obvious solution is to make them two of Thranduils people, and have that the Mayor has asked the Elven-King for assistance. Any elves from Mirkwood may know them, but these two should be senior to the character, and will still act as described. Whether or not you keep Dorian as being a MU depends on your campaign, but having him as the thinker is still fine. You may wish to give then better names, as well.

The Foaming Mug make the residents in the cellar into orcs hiding out. Obviously, if you used the above entry to the module, then the orc survivors from the tower fight should be here keep their injuries the same.

23 The Retired Ranger. Given that he is also a newcomer, he and his wife can also be foreigners. Pure Dunedain is probably too much, but possibly part-Dunedain from the Gondorian eastern border guards? If that is the case, change their names.

27 The Hermit. Whilst you may hint that he has some unusual powers, you should restrain from allowing him to use them until the Dungeon.

The Golden Grain Inn change their names. Snigrot Dogroot? Derek Desleigh? Why not just stick a label on their chests reading, Bad Guys? It doesnt really need to be so obvious. More notes on Derek in the Temple Mop-Up section.

The way that this part of the adventure should end is with some sort of roving battle around the town; between the bad guys in the town and the good guys, supported by the characters. It shouldnt be the characters taking on everyone, they should start the flame, and then assist it to burn. Run it as a liberation mission rather than a straight-up brawl.

Best way is that once it starts, and it should be something small that starts it the town is a bit of a tinderbox, have it break into a series of running battles. Split the characters up if possible, and have the individual characters or groups supported or responsible for small groups of the good villagers refer to The Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven for hints. It would be good if this happened in the evening or at night for further confusion. Dont be afraid to let the good villagers win fights without the characters, and remember that the bad guys dont always have to fight to the death surrender is an option. It neednt be a bloodbath. It should end with the bad guys either dead, in custody, fled or having taken refuge in the temple.

3.9.2 The Temple

As said, the temple needs some changes to fit into Middle Earth, which does not have such a regimented religious outlook. I would suggest that it be dedicated to Yavanna, or whatever her name is known locally as possibly Alanakyn (ICE Laketown p43). Decorations and such need to be changed to reflect this. The changes that should occur include: -

Courtyard make the wolves just guard dogs.

The inhabitants of the temple proper will be detailed below.

Change decorations from precious material such as jade or gold to simpler material wood. There shouldnt be much to loot that isnt the aim of the adventure.

The Guardroom of the Undead remove the skeletons and turn it into a meeting room, with the wooden benches and a lectern.

The library books are expensive and rare, so there is no need to have so many of them. Also, no need to have any defaced.

Abramos chambers obviously there is no such thing as a Lawful evil alignment tongue. You might want to leave the statues in the subsequent chamber to drop hints as to the Dungeon.

The below ground level remove it completely, it adds nothing.

Generally speaking, the Temple should be taken after the town is cleared. It should be a bit different than a normal D&D campaign, in that the characters arent simply after wealth, and as such, looting the good temple should not be something that they first go for. Of course, the fact that such a small village has such a large temple would be something that would stand out it isnt very subtle, but hopefully they should be able to restrain themselves.

We thus have three situations that the characters may cause: -

An initial exploration expedition prior to the town being liberated.

A siege situation if a lot of the bad guys retreat to the temple after the town is liberated.

A mop-up operation after the conclusion of the town situation.

They will be treated separately.

3.9.2.1 Exploration

Play as per the module. If they go in nicely, then they should get no further than Misha Devi. If they go in at night, then the dogs and the servants should come into play. If they get past them, the evil monks, who can simply be Easterlings skilled at fighting, especially unarmed, can come into play. The characters should either withdraw or, if only a small number of the party went in, such as a single thief, be captured.

3.9.2.2 Siege

If there is a retreat to the temple after the town is freed, then the siege needs to be completed quickly. It could be assumed that the survivors at the temple would be limited, and given that the town has been raised, the townsfolk and the characters should out-number them. Generally, if the survivors are few, they could simply surrender when challenged. The servants should definitely do so they are not fighters. If the Easterlings were not encountered previously, then simply pretend that they were never there. If you think that it does require a combat, then make it quick. Dont allow any of the survivors apart from Misha Devi to retreat into the Temple, have them all outside. If the characters dont want to force the issue, then have, after a suitable period, some of the survivors such as the servants make a break for it to surrender. This should open the gates, causing the fight to start. It should be short and sharp, leading to the mop-up.

3.9.2.3 Mop-Up

This is the final stage of the town adventure, and comprises the characters entering the Temple to capture anyone left. Generally, this should be done without townsfolk the PCs can be asked to do it themselves as a pitched battle inside a building is difficult with a lot of people.

The Easterlings are optional if they were not previously encountered. Whether or not you use them depends on if you want some combat in the first level. If so, they would hide in shadows, and use sneak attacks run as a scary movie type atmosphere dress them up with war paint, but with little armour. Have them strike with surprise with garrotes, knives etc.

Misha Devi is a special case. Personally, I like the character and think that it would be a waste to use her up such she could make a perfect recurring villain. To me, she could be used as the young, very pretty girl, who can use her tongue and appearance to elicit sympathy in people the sort of cheeky amoral survivor, who will always land on her feet. She shouldnt be overtly vicious or nasty think of the Jodie Foster character in Maverick. If she is allowed to surrender, she will charm the town council with her, Poor me, I was only acting out of fear of Abramo act, and will simply be forced out of town. You could then use her for further annoying the characters in other adventures see WD.52.

On the same lines, Derek Desleigh (with a different name, of course) from the Golden Grain could be used the same way. Have him as Mishas secret partner, a born survivor. Remove all the sadistic stuff from him, although he should be more callous than Misha. He could be one of those guys who you are never sure if you have killed. He gets hit by a crossbow bolt and falls out of sight, but when you later go to check the body, it seems to have disappeared. Make him very above it all, lackadaisical, sarcastic and aloof, even to his own people. I have always liked the idea of recurring villains, and these two have potential as the kind of annoying type.

Once they get to the second level of the Temple they will have both the 6 snaga orcs and Abramo to destroy. Let them all fight to the death. It should provide an appropriate end to this section of the module, particularly with them finding Cirilla Finla.

3.9.3 The Dungeon

The first thing that needs to be done here is to personalise it a bit. As such, I would have the bad guys at the village disclose the identity of the four lieutenants from room 14. Give them all a personality, and let the characters have a human face to what they are after. As written, they are a bit of a waste its not as if the characters will even know their names before they kill them. Personally, I would also consider including a secret or concealed exit from the chamber to the passage between 2 and 3, so that they dont all get trapped in a dead-end set of chambers. You may also want to perhaps have one of them sighted above ground on patrol, even if not contacted there, just so the characters have someone to aim for when they enter the dungeon.

As stated previously, the dungeon is located to the north of Orlane, within the Aelinann. Have Ranme the hermit, and possibly the elves and the ranger go with the party. The trail is as described, but there is no need for wandering monsters. The aboveground part of the dungeon should stay as is.

Have the human cult members be from the farming communities to the north of the village obviously the characters should try to avoid slaughtering them, but it may be unavoidable. The defense may need to be more dynamic, depending on the partys action if the entry-room guard sound the alarm, then a running fight may be necessary. Obviously, wandering monsters are unnecessary. The changes in the details of the rooms are described below: -

Room 3 the frogs should probably be replaced I am thinking possibly a transplanted Ninevet, as described in the ICE Dagorlad supplement have Alan Claybourne know what it is, having fought one before. Obviously the bad guys need to be able to get past it to their minor treasure chamber, and it needs to be something that wont wander off down the south passage. The room also needs some sort of boat stored nearby, probably at the south exit how on earth do the bad guys get to the treasure? Either that or you could simply remove room 4 altogether. If the treasure remains then it definitely needs to be reduced massively change it to more of what would be valuable to the people that it was taken from. Good dinner sets, cloth, minor jewelry, well-carved woodwork and small furniture items etc.

7 remove Green Slime.

8 as described above for the entrance, all are local farmers give all a spear and quilt armour.

14 see notes above.

16 & 17 the harpy has to go. Not quite sure as to what to replace it with perhaps marsh spiders, although there is a spider in 22 below may be overkill. Still keep the exit in the ceiling, but remove the treasure.

18 remove the weasel. I still havent worked out how weasels drain blood, either.

20 change trogs to orcs.

22 If you use spiders in 16 & 17, then this one probably should go. What would it eat, anyway? Perhaps just change it to a pit trap in the floor, hidden in the dirt which caves in to a spike-lined hole?

23 I think that this whole section should probably go there is no need for it, especially if you still have the room 4. Just remove the entire passage from the junction with the 24-28 passage.

24 this area needs guards, but the coffer-corpse is too much. Not sure what could go here, but I dont like the idea of undead it creates too much of a hodge-podge of monsters. Perhaps some more orcs, being the jailers in charge of 25? This could be the main orcish hall add some tables and benches in the NW corner, and some a couple of bedrolls in the NE corner, and have say about 10 orcs distributed between 24 to 26. Keep the prisoners as is, and have the evil priest direct the orcs, and then finally make his stand in room 27. All of these should fight to the death the orcs because they believe that they have no where to go, and the priest because he will not give up the secret passage to 37.

28 No centipedes

29 you could have these as severely brainwashed people those who went completely mental after the meeting with the Naga rather than undead. They will still act the same.

33 to 35 main orc lair. Have these as mainly females and child-orcs, with only a couple of males to act as guards.

36 some other guard animal not sure what.

37 Throne room. Change the Naga into some sort of evil Maia with a reptilian or snake bent. Obviously this is where Ranme comes to the fore. A Maia should be more than a party can handle, but if you have Ranme doing some unexpected magical stuff, it should enable the characters to deliver the damage. Pretty much, you could wing the magic battle of Ranme and the Naga, if needed, but having him do purely the defensive work whilst the characters do the offensive would be good he shouldnt be too much of a Deus ex Mechina. Have him be extremely tired after the combat would be good hes not all that powerful, but he should be powerful enough that the characters are awed. No explanations should be given he can drop hints about his order, but his background should be left as being mysterious. Hey, Gandalf didnt give away all his secrets, either.

Then all you need to do is mop it all up. Provide an explanation (from Ranme) of what the Naga was and what she was doing here, provide some sort of reward for the characters from the Nagas personal treasure stash, and leave the rest as something for them to wonder about.

3.10 TSR.T1 The Village of Hommlet

D&D Module T1, TSR IncBecomes the village of Iach Celduin. There will need to be a fair bit of changes to the map, but relatively few to the actual locations and people. The main change is that the bad guys of the village are not associated with the Temple as such, but are agents for Dieraglir of Relmether, the bandit lord (See TSR.T4). We also add complications in that the bad guys in the Moat-House are both local bandits, not aligned with Dieraglir, at the ground level, and some spies for the Cult of the Long Night below ground, with some ghouls thrown in for good measure.

3.10.1 Introduction

The best way to introduce the characters to Iach Celduin is to have them arrive by water from Esgaroth, possibly as a result of information received in TSR.L1 about a Cult of the Long Night agent called Lareth being resident here. On the way down, they would sight the ruins of the moat-house from the river, and this should interest them enough to explore without requiring any further prompting. Any players worth their salt should immediately say, Aha, a ruined fortification, much like at Bone Hill. I bet the bad guys are hiding out there.

You could have the barge-operator give a brief rundown on the moat-house it was an Easterling outpost built in around TA1230 by the Logath under Grachev Hos of the Sagath, in order to monitor river traffic. They were pushed out by Vidugavia in about 1232, and the moat-house has been pretty much a ruin ever since. Refer to the Inner Sea supplement for further information about the occupation.

3.10.2 The Village

With the village, the map needs to be oriented such that east is now north, i.e., the river runs from north to south. The river needs to be much broader and straighter, and as such, the mill will use a mill-race on the west side of the river rather than damming the entire river. The landing place for the river barges should be just south of the village, such that the barge carrying the characters will travel through the village before docking, and then the characters enter by walking in up the road leading past Farm Number 2.

Assuming the new compass directions, the road leading past the Church will be the Men-I-Naugrim leading into the forest. This road will have a branch about a mile down which will head southwards down the river. The road leading past the stonemason and the tower will lead northwards towards Londaroth. The road leading past Farmer's 1 and 4 is also the Men-I-Naugrim, and will eventually end up in the Iron Hills. The road that branches off this and heads past Farmer 2 is the Men-Dorwinion, leading past the Iach Celduin Docks and then to Buhr Chep.

Note that there are two competing religious faiths at work in Iach Celduin: -

The old faith, being the Cult of the Tree (Alanakyn) represented by the druid and the grove. This faith still holds true to the north of Iach Celduin.

The new faith, brought up by Gondorians, being the worship of Eru Illuviatar, represented by the Church. Iach Celduin is a melting pot of the two competing faiths, and this should be brought home to the characters.

In terms of location changes, the following should be made: -

Obviously all family treasures should be reduced. The characters shouldnt be robbing houses anyway

2. Modest Farmhouse and Barn Elmo and Otis should have their names changed they sound like Sesame Street characters. Both should be a agents of the Lord of Buhr Ailgra.

7. The Inn of the Welcome Wench. Personally, I think the name sucks but Reduce the prices. Zert should be from the east rather than the south. The rest of the guests can be played around with too.

11. Tailor. He shouldnt know Khuzdul, but it would be interesting if he did know Sindarin as well as Kuduk. Keep him as mild-mannered, shy and retiring, but give him some elvish blood elves in the party may recognise his ancestry. He shouldnt be an agent of anyone, but having him known by an elf to have resided at Celebannon at some stage would be a good twist. He could even be in contact with the Elves, and could act as a go-between in needed.

13. Trading Post. Make the owners Dorwinion. They can still be nasty, and as thus, in the pay of the Dieraglir as spies.

19. Black Jay. Having him friendly to the wood-elves, would be a good twist either he has fought with them before or done some elves a favour. Having midnight meetings with shadowy figures coming from the forest would be suspicious if the players are watching these meetings could simply be friendly get-togethers with his past-companions. He could have previously lived in the forest as a woodsman, which is where his wife and family were killed.

Church and The Grove refer above on religion.

27 Walled Manor House he is not just the head of the council, but the major landowner. There is no need to have democracy here, have it as a semi-feudal system. This guy is the local Lord.

30 - The Castle. Firstly, the Lord of the village should pay for this, not outsiders. It was planned to protect the crossings and the town due to the incursions and the bandits, but the plague and effects of it have set it back. It is taking a long time to build because the money isnt there trade has been reduced considerably post plague.

31 Two Storied Tower. Burne and Rufus are both employees of the local Lord. Burne should be more of an administrator or Chamberlain rather than a wizard, but he could have some magic skills if it would fit in the campaign. Rufus will obviously be the Castellan.

33 Materials should be coming from the Iron Hills. The spy can still exist.

34 the path leads through the small woods to the north of the village and into the swamp to the moat-house.

Make sure that the characters are made aware of the situation regarding the bandits on the plains, and the effect that it is having on trade, and why the village is suffering. The fact that there may be spies present in Iach Celduin should be disclosed as well.

In terms of visiting the Moat-House, there doesnt need to be any push given by the village the fact that they have seen it as they came down should be enough of a reason for most adventurers to go and take a look at it. The villagers could caution about swamp creatures, but they shouldnt know about any human inhabitants. They definitely shouldnt know about Lareth the Cult should be keeping a low profile, and it should be a surprise to the Village to realise the forces established under their noses.

3.10.3 The Moat-House

For the upper levels, not too many changes need to be made. The main task is to generate the group of bandits. These should be locals, just out to survive by robbing people, not linked to Dieraglirs band, though the characters may not realise this. They shouldnt be too tough, and should be trying to evade any half-decent party.

1. The Pool. Change the giant frogs to an alligator it should only attack if they wander down to the edge of the pool.

4.Tower I would leave the spider here have it as a hunting spider rather than a web spider.

7.Brigands run as is.

12. Corner Room the snake can just be a normal-sized poisonous snake not giant. Use a Marsh Adder, from the ICE Dagorlad supplement. I wouldnt have the jeweled dagger there unnecessary.

13.Storeroom and Stairway no giant rats, just regular ones.

16.Kitchen no giant tick.

17. The lizard is optional, but could be left in. Personally, if left in, I would make it an alligator possibly the mate of the one in the pool. Have a nest here, and make the female fight to the death. Obviously, she wouldnt have swallowed a shield.

The dungeons require quite a few changes, mostly to reduce the undead, and modify the other bad guys. The first change is that the zombies should go. Leave all the undead to be ghouls, which are actually living creatures rather than undead, and run them similar to as described for the L1 - Bone Hill changes. They are not allied to any of the other inhabitants, but survive on their own. If they can pick off a character, they will, but they are not suicidal. Again, run them like Cthulhu ghouls rather than D&D ghouls. Give them the run of areas 18, 21, 22 and 31.

Keep 19 and 20 as storerooms, but remove the black capes too corny. These can be supplies laid in by the Cult of the Long Night.

Personally, I would remove the Ogre he is unnessesary, and overkill for a party trying to keep a low profile. Remove the prisoners from the pantry too the Cult is trying to keep a low profile, and should not be kidnapping anyone.

For the bugbears and gnolls, change them both to two lots of five-orc squads, but from different tribes. Have the northern group be dedicated and fight to the death, but I would keep the interesting quirk of the southern group what were the gnolls being willing to accept a parley. Have them not keen to fight, because they: -

Are a long way from home

Arent allowed to go outdoors, but are told to stay in their quarters and live on dried foodstuffs

Are treated as the second-ranked patrol the other tribe are treated as favourites.

Are annoyed by the egotism of Lareth (the Beautiful) and the high-handed manner of the humans

They keep two nice horses there for a status symbol they dont go riding with them, but they wont let the orcs eat them.

As such, they would be quite willing to desert, providing that the characters agree to pat them their exit fee and to kill all the humans here. They will then be able to give the excuse that Lareth dismissed them from service prior to the attack, and they dont know what happened after that.

The giant crayfish in the pool is probably not needed, nor is the treasure there.

As for the humans the members of the Cult reduce the number to manageable levels, remove the dinky cloaks, and the silly hooting and howling they will yell out if attacked, just like normal people. With the Lieutenant and the Master, use chain instead of plate. Reduce the amount of treasure, and have them fight to either the death or to escape. Standard big brawl to end the whole adventure.

3.10.4 Further Adventures

Iach Celduin is a good location as a base for further adventures, and can be used as a safe haven. The first subsequent adventure should be ICE.DW2. This can then lead into JG.P7/2, which in turn can lead into WD.30. The link with Dieraglir of Relmether can also be explored, and thus lead into travel overland into TSR.T4.

3.11 TSR.T4 The Temple of Elemental Evil

D&D Module T4, TSR IncNote: The ICE Lake Town supplement (p188) already specifies Dieraglirs Lair this is an extension for it.

3.11.1 Introduction

This can start as per the Assisting the Gramuz adventure, but have the party recruited from Iach Celduin, particularly if they have found the spies there. If they havent, they may be known about even before they arrive in Relmethir. The recruitment by Thyn Brogdin should be secret and through an agent he will make troops and himself available once the bandits base camp is found and scouted.

3.11.2 Relmethir

Relmethir is a new population centre. It is effectively a small hamlet located on the Men-I-Naugrim to take advantage of passing trade. It should be smaller than Iach Celduin perhaps just a series of buildings set up on each side of the road. It is a disreputable place, most well-known as being the birth-place of Dieraglir, and close to his bandit hideout.

Effectively, this is a Western, with Relmethir being the small Mexican village just over the border. Thyn Brogdin is thus the Texan cattle-rancher. Feel free to crib from any of your favourite westerns for additional adventures in the area. Dungeon Magazine #42 (July/August 1993) has an adventure called Ransom, which is based on the film, Big Jake, which could be used as a side adventure to get the characters out there.

The locations and people from Nulb can be kept for Relmethir. The Waterside Hostel needs to be renamed to the Relmethir Inn. Keep the same disreputable people, but they dont need to be in league with anyone.

Keep the smithy and stable, with a renamed Otis being a secret agent of the Lord of Buhr Ailgra. He is also still the elder brother of Elmo from TSR.T1, so if the characters came from there, then Otis should know about them and may help them surreptitiously. I would also keep Yday and Murfles, renamed of course, as their present identities.

The Boatmans Tavern could be renames Skoles Tavern, and be as is. Have Lodriss still being the secret owner, but have her as Dieraglirs mistress. Tolub then becomes Dieraglir, and Grud remains Grud. Note that the actual identity of Dieraglir need not be known, no-one should be able to identify him or describe him, so if he wanders into town calling himself Tolub, then no-one should be the wiser. This could be fun if the characters try to recruit help in the tavern for an attack on the bandits, particularly if the bandits sign up with the characters. Having Tolub going along on the search for Dieraglir would provide a nice surprise eventually for the characters.

Add a few more basic buildings, and it should be set. Most folks should be transitory, even if numbers of travelers have dropped since the plague

3.11.3 The Temple Ruins

The temple is located at the end of a track leading north from Relmethir. It is a temple originally constructed by Grachev Hos back in the twelfth century, and then sacked by Vidugavia shortly afterwards (See the Inland Sea supplement). It still retains a haunted reputation, and is avoided by the local Gramuz.

It is also the base for Dieraglirs bandits. Run as is, but it shouldnt be so overtly evil in appearance. The only random encounters in the area should be ravens and bandits.

Keep the tower as the first base for the bandits, and keep the ravens. The Bandits probably need to be reduced in number you are not going to get that many people living together in a 40 diameter area. Note that the entire number of bandits probably needs to be reduced. Have: -

10 in Relmethir at any one time, either with Dieraglir or Grud

15 in the tower at the temple, to guard the temple.

20 or so out on campaign.

40 or so in their base camp in the woods to the east of the temple. Note that the escape tunnel from the tower runs out towards the woods and the path to the Clofacot, such that the Temple acts as a first line of defense for the camp.

The tower can be run as is, but with the bandits reduced in number. The characters should be able to capture this point after a tough struggle. They can then track and find the main base, and then send word to Thyn Brogdin (who should be hiding nearby) for the troops to assault the camp.

The actual temple can be a simple deserted damaged temple to the Sagath Gods. Remove all the magical stuff and the stairs down (and thus the dungeons).

Note that at a later stage, I may have a look at converting the dungeons, but it looks like a difficult task, so for the moment, I am excluding them.

3.11.4 Clofacot (The Base Camp)

Can be run as described in the ICE Laketown Suppliment (p188).

3.12 WD.30 The Curse of the Wildland

White Dwarf Issue 30, Adventure (p20) Games Workshop

The entire plot line for this adventure should be ignored, as it doesnt fit. What is left is a series of five encounter areas. The genesis of this should be that there are ruins of an Elvish village located at the head of the Emynen, which the characters will learn from JG.P7/2. The characters can then go for a leisurely wander up the river to find them. The Elvish village should not be common knowledge, but either Black Jay or the Tailor from Iach Celduin (T1) may have some dim recollection of hearing about it at some stage. Black Jay does know the Woodsman, and could write a reference for the party if they are on good terms with him.

The five encounters are: -

3.12.1 River Spirit

The river spirit should be something like a Neried. Think of her a bit like Tom Bombadils wife Goldberry, but tied to the river. She is located as a pool where the southern tributary joins the Emynen. She can help a party, but current events really arent all that much a concern with her she has been here since time immemorial.

3.12.2 Katgi

Change Katgi from a gnome to an elderly (578yo) dwarf, who has retired here to have a quiet life and to go fishing. He is relatively self-sufficient and a bit of a loner, so not much help. He does know the woodsman, who will go shopping for him, but avoids the River Spirit, as he isnt a fan of magic.

3.12.3 The Woodsman

The Woodsman is an agent of Radagast. You can pretty much run him as written, but if the party are good and recommended by natives, he can be much more helpful. He knows just about everyone in the region, and is on friendly terms with the Elves, the Neried and Black Jay from T1.

3.12.4 The Wolf Pack

The number could be increased if needed, but have these as independent wolves, not agents of the Necromancer. If the party feels the urge, they could go hunting them, but they are on the opposite side of the river. The party should hear their howling, and may even see them coming down to the river to drink.

3.12.5 The Ruins

The ruins may need to be drawn. Note that the ruins can also be used at a later stage as the end point for the White Dwarf 64 scenario, The Dawn of Unlight as the location of the Spider Cultists Lair. In this way, when they receive a hint as to where the summoning should take place, the characters can say, Hey we know where that is, we have been there before. Note that I have not specified this scenario.

The Hsaio could exist make it a new creature from out of the east no need to have the players being able to recognise it. Give it the spell effects as an at-will skill, and it should be a tough creature to destroy.

3.13 WD.52 The Serpents Venom

White Dwarf Issue 52, Adventure (p32) Games Workshop

This works best if the characters have played TSR.N1, and Misha Devi escaped, and is on reasonable terms with the characters. In that case, she can be used as the Galadria character, and the temple could be a temple that was dedicated to the recently departed Spirit Naga from N1. It is probably best not to run this directly after N1 give it some time so that the characters arent expecting Misha Devi to reappear, and memories have faded slightly.

Have her appear at the characters table in the Vodgarazun in Esgaroth with a No hard feelings, huh guys, but I have an offer for you that could make all of us wealthy. Have her then speak a spiel about when she was at Orlane, she heard about this temple, but she requires people to help her loot it, and she thought the characters would like to do it with her. After all that way they can all benefit and it will show that there are no hard feelings.

There is no need to have the overheard party, but if you want to drop a hint, and assuming that Derek Desleigh also escaped, have a few hours earlier, a player catch a glimpse of someone with a facial scar who looks familiar, but they cant place his face. Make sure that you dont link the two events you dont want to make it too obvious.

The site is on the western shore of the lake make the journey relatively painless. You could still have the five goblins attack change them to orcs (2 swordsmen, 2 archers and a leader) and have the encounter be a surprise to both parties. The orcs should try to extricate themselves from the situation with minimal casualties and run away. They are a scouting party, not an attack force. One interesting event that could occur here, if you can arrange it, is to have one of the characters wounded by the orcs, and have Misha Devi save his life with a healing spell. This should help to make the characters friendlier towards her.

In terms of the site make the following changes: -

The goblins are orcs, the leader is an Uruk Hai (the party should be at a sufficiently advanced level to take these). They just need to be from a raiding group hiding out they do not need to be associated with the temple in any way.

The skeletons I am not sure about, given my hesitation about trivializing the undead, but they may have to be used Im not sure what they could be replaced with. Taking a lead from the movie, The Mummy, perhaps turn them into large beetles about one to two feet in diameter, with armoured carapaces. They would be scared by fire, which is how the orcs initially corralled them, but would be hungry and relentless once released.

The outer shrine should have a bas-relief of the late, unlamented spirit naga.

All the paladins and knights should simply be soldiers a good trick would be to have then as Gramuz warriors. That would explain why the place is not local knowledge in Esgaroth, and would also give the characters that dont like Easterlings, food for thought Easterlings arent all bad.

Major Shrine the statue is of the Spirit Naga no genuflection is necessary.

High Priests Room the wraith could still exist, but have him as a ghost wraiths should be associated with Sauron this is just an unquiet spirit.

Armory personally, I would remove the nightmare, and the weapons, and simply have this as an antechamber and guardroom for the cells. You may still want to have some baddie here but I dont know what. Perhaps just a trap magic sigil that Misha Devi knows about and wants to avoid?

Treasury remove the zombies and reduce the treasure.

The Dank Chamber a spider may be a better ME monster than a Hook Horror.

After they escape with the treasure, have them hijacked when they least expect it by Derek Desleigh and some hired thugs/bandits. The characters should not be killed, but simply have most of the treasure taken from them try to organise it so that the characters are taken unaware so that they cannot seriously fight back. They should be forced to surrender to a well-executed hold-up.

Leave them their weapons have Misha act as a swindler rather than a truly nasty piece of work. Sorry guys, thanks for the hard work, but I have to go now. No hard feelings, huh? Basically, the characters should have come to respect and possibly even admire her chutzpah.

This leaves you the option of having the characters encounter Misha and Derek at a later stage, and sets up a relatively friendly rivalry, rather than an all-out war. You could even have them become allies again at a later stage against some evil threat the two should be relatively good people, just criminal and mercenary.

3.14 Miscellaneous Locations

3.14.1 Burh Chep

Buhr Chep, as described in the ICE Lake Town Citadel Supplement (p32).

3.14.2 Cotstow

Cotstow, as described in the ICE Lake Town Citadel Supplement (p31). Also contains an adventure, Genni Ofmere (P180)

3.14.3 Dyn Odoric

Dyn Odoric, as described in the ICE Lake Town Citadel Supplement adventure, Highway Ambush (p182).

3.14.4 Sahmathas Lair

The lair of the Lake Serpent, as described in ICE Lake Town Citadel Supplement (P123)

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