Download adventure "HD3 The City of the Spider-God&quot

[thulsa]

Just in time for Christmas, here is "HD3 The City of the Spider-God"! This is an homage to the original classic adventure module, “D3 Vault of the Drow”, by Gary Gygax, reimagined for sword and sorcery gaming in Robert E. Howard’s Hyborian Age using Mongoose’s Conan RPG ruleset.

Many of the original’s high fantasy elements have been removed or toned down, but the module should be instantly familiar to those familiar with the classic scenario, as much of the text is verbatim from Gygax’s original manuscript.

I have turned the subterranean Vault into the valley of Yezud, changed the drow into Zamorians, and converted the priesthood of Lolth into the cult of Zath the Spider-God. I have also borrowed liberally from de Camp’s “Conan and the Spider-God” and the relevant stories from Marvel Comics, including the recent “Lord of the Spiders”. The amount of treasure (and magic) has been significantly reduced from the original.

The result is a 44-page PDF module, including 20 pages of NPC stats and new monsters and magic, which should provide many hours of play.

Check it out today, and let me know what you think! My own notes from playtesting will follow shortly...

Download at http://hyboria.xoth.net/adventures/index.htm

- thulsa

 

[Clovenhoof]

We love you, too.

Thanks a lot, Thulsa, I d/led it immediately and am skimming through now.

First reply!

 

[Hervé]

Yes, yes, yes...
Wonderful Xmas gift, Thulsa! Thanks a lot, I was waiting eagerly for it.
More comments after reading...

 

[Yogah of Yag]

I've DL'ed both modules. They look VERY well produced, very professional!
I look forward to reading through them after holiday turkey (provided I can stay awake!) :lol:

 

[The King]

Quite wonderful.
I love the professional feel of the PDF.

I hope you'll convert many more old AD&D adventures.

 

[Spectator]

I am arranging the marriage of my 16 yr old daughter with you.

 

[merkkari-masa]

wow!! thanks alot

 

[Aholibamah]

Thanks SO much thulsa--this will be a really nice addition to my ongoing campaign. Just in time to consider that lovely jaunt up north...

 

[DaveNC]

You Rock! Thanks! I played this old module what seems like a million times back in the day...

 

[The King]

A question though: how is it that your works appear so professional-like?

 

[thulsa]

I am arranging the marriage of my 16 yr old daughter with you.

LOL!

- thulsa

 

[thulsa]

A question though: how is it that your works appear so professional-like?

I dunno... I'm no professional*, but I've always enjoyed working with text and graphics. I've been toying around with desktop publishing software since it first appeared on the Amiga 500 (back in the stone age...).

So thanks a lot for your positive feedback; I had a lot of fun creating these conversions, but it's a lot of fun sharing them, too. Let me know what you think when you've used them in actual play.

- thulsa


* = But, to quote Doug Douglason, author of The Pleasure Prison of the B'thuvian Demon Whore and star of this brilliant video, you may consider me "an elite game master, that means, I don't just create adventures; I'm an artist, my campaigns are multi-layered tapestries upon which I texture themes and subject matters which are, quite frankly, too strong for the mere hobbyist gamer...!".

 

[Spectator]

After watching that utube video, I think I need to throw my crap away. How embarassing.

 

[EricKRod]

Awesome job! I love the way you can take the 'old' stuff and make it look 'new' all over again.

I would like to see you and your imagination do more original stuff. You definately have a talent. keep up the awesome work.

Eric in Vegas

 

[thulsa]

Here follows the first of my session notes from actual play.














WARNING: THE FOLLOWING TEXT OBVIOUSLY CONTAINS SPOILERS...














The player characters (level as of end of adventure)

Huan-Ti, male Khitan Scholar 11
Ravnir, male Hyperborean Soldier 11
Zalayeta, male Zamorian Thief 10
Zaporovo, male Zingaran Thief 9
Cruaidh, male Cimmerian Barbarian 4 (NPC; Zaporovo's cohort)


Session #1:

The PCs are currently in the city of Khorosun, hiding from Turanian authorities after a period of piratical activity on the Vilayet Sea. One night, Ravnir the soldier wakes up from a nightmare and discovers a bite mark on his chest; after studying it, Huan-Ti the sorcerer concludes that Ravnir is the target of a curse cast by the spider-priests of Yezud (the Kiss of Zath spell) as retribution for Ravnir having killed and violated (yes, in that order...) one of the temple-dancers of Yezud some years earlier (at 1st level, during the first adventure of the campaign).

Ravnir has only one month left to live, so the PCs waste no time, stealing some horses from a caravanserai outside Khorosun and ride for the foothills of the Kezankian mountains, where they arrive four days later.

They negotiate with the Kozakis, who recognize the PCs as fellow enemies of Turan. The PCs agree to "rescue" a Turanian noblewoman from a band of man-apes, in return for guides who know the secret paths into Zamora through the mountains. Cruaidh uses his Track ability to find trail left by the man-apes, and the PCs sneak up on the ape lair.

Huan-Ti uses telekinesis (Loft to the Sky) to hurl a big rock at one of the man-apes, but 10d4 is not enough damage to kill it (it makes its MD save), and the other man-apes are alerted and counterattack. After a quick battle, where the PCs avoid getting grabbed and crushed, the man-apes are killed.

Ravnir climbs down the 80 feet pit and retrieves the Turanian girl. A discussion between the players ensues as they consider whether to keep the girl for themselves, or to give her back to the Kozaki bandits as agreed. The PCs finally conclude that the girl's presence will only hinder their current mission, so they grudgingly hand her over to the Kozakis.

Led by two Kozaki guides, the PCs travel though the mountains in seven days, without any encounters.

Session #2:

The PCs come down from the mountains and travel north, arriving in the southern end of the valley of Khesron. They wait until nightfall and sneak past the fortress, arriving at the city gates of Yezud at dawn on day 13.

They enter the city as "travellers" and spend the day gathering information about the temple and its location, and find that it is not within the city itself, but rather on the plateau to the north, which is forbidden to all except the nobles and priests.

The PCs debate whether to seek employ with a noble as mercenaries, but decide that there is too little time to bother with it, so they simply leave the city and wait until nightfall. Then they swim across the river and climb up to the plateau on the far shore (river 50 feet wide, rock wall 60 ft tall, Climb DC 25).

The next day they spy on the noble estates and avoid being detected. At night, Huan-Ti uses the Spirit of the Land spell to map out the presence of buildings and people on the plateau, giving them a clue as to the temple's location. The same night, the PCs are attacked by four "normal" giant spiders (not the temple spider variety) but defeat them quite easily.

On day 15, they enter the canyon and approach the lesser temple. They debate various tactics for a while, but (as usual!) they decide on a frontal assault. Huan-Ti casts Burst Barrier to break down the temple doors. As the PCs enter the temple, six temple spiders drop down from the ceiling and attack, but are finally defeated.

To be continued...

 

[FailedSpotCheck]

Wow. I mean, WOW!
:shock:
That sounded like a group of great RP sessions and would make for an awesome film!

 

[thulsa]

Session #3:

Guest appearance by Nestor, male Nemedian Thief 7

The PCs are now in the main hall of the lesser temple. They free a prisoner from one of the webbed frames that stand next to the altar. The prisoner is Nestor (a temporary player character played by a guest in the gaming group).

As Nestor is freed and given a spare weapon by one of the other PCs, the forces of the lesser temple appear from behind the black tapestries on the far wall. Several temple guards, two elite temple guards, two black-robed priests and one high priest (identified by his black robe and golden spider-pectoral) appear, while two more temple spiders drop down from the webs in the ceiling.

The priests use Web spells to trap and entangle Huan-Ti, Nestor and Cruiadh. Nestor breaks free from the webs, but the high priest (Zuthraxes) targets him with a Shrinking Doom spell, and the thief fails his save.

Meanwhile, Zaporovo is maimed by a temple spider and falls unconscious. Zalayeta is also hit by the bites of the temple spiders, and ends up with an effective Strength score of 1 due to poisoning (however, since his finesse attacks are Dex-based and the majority of his damage output is from sneak attack dice, not Strength, he can still fight well).

Using his staff, the high priest Zuthraxes delivers a Death Touch spell to Nestor, killing him (and ending his brief adventuring career).

Despite the losses suffered by the PCs, they manage (in no small part due to the heavily armored and power-attacking Ravnir) to turn the tide against the temple forces. The high priest Zuthraxes and one other priest retreat back through the curtains, while the last priest uses the Become Swarm defensive blast to escape into the webs covering the ceiling.

The party explores the rest of the lesser temple and find several other prisoners (but leave them in their cells). They exit the lesser temple on the far side and realize that it was merely an outpost, and that there is a greater temple a mile or so further down the valley.

Before they proceed, however, the PCs retreat back into the lesser temple to rest and heal.

To be continued...

 

[Vicar In a Tutu]

Hi, I was the lucky gentleman to play Nestor, the amazing shrinking thief. My guest appereance was cut short by the fact that Henning - who plays the craven sorcerer Huan-ti, which I suspect is a wordplay on "yuan-ti", reinforcing the serpent-like connotation not only of the player character, but also of the aforementioned gentleman - failed to conjure up some sort of meta-gaming bonus on my saving throw.

The session kicked ass, and I had a great time.

Hilsen Stig

 

[thulsa]

Hi, I was the lucky gentleman to play Nestor, the amazing shrinking thief.

Hi Stig, and welcome to the messageboard!

The craven sorcerer Huan-ti (...) failed to conjure up some sort of meta-gaming bonus on my saving throw.

Well, I can see how you failed the Fortitude save against the Death Touch spell, but you were extremely unlucky to fail the Will save against Shrinking Doom, since you had piled up on Sorcerous Protection (thief class ability), Iron Will, and No Honor, to boost your Will saves.

I guess the high priest hitting you with Death Touch even after you had started to shrink could be seen as some sort of mercy killing... :wink:

The session kicked ass, and I had a great time.

Glad to hear you enjoyed it; you should roll up a new character and join us for the next adventure! (I am working on my evil DM schemes for that adventure right now... :twisted: )

- thulsa

 

[Spectator]

THulsa you really have outdone yourself on this adventure. It was 10/10!