Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 npc_dave Feb 27, 2007 2:33:41	Need help once again from the Mystara fanbase, as always when I run low on ideas you guys can help me out. Has anyone developed either of the following two adventure hooks? If so, what did you do? If not, anything you can think of would be useful. The first is from the Five Shires Gazeteer. Adventure seed #9 The Wavestone. Jalassa is searching for Selbrinor's Wavestone, an artifact detailed in the hook. She has her pirate crews searching ships and questioning the coastal taverns. She identified the island where it was buried, but another ship had just beaten her to it. She caught up with that ship, but the hin captain had dropped off the Wavestone at Bramblerose along with two hin and two humans, all male, called "the Brothers". Anyone take this idea further? The second is from the Darokin gazeteer. The town of Estrich lies north of the Malpheggi Swamp, but in 1000 AC the "river serpent" started plucking boatmen and cargo handlers off ships, while evading hunting parties and mercenary mages. No one ever got close enough to see what it was or fight it, and then it was gone after a month. Now this one I am thinking the beast swam back to Malpheggi, but decides to make an annual trip up river to plague the town? Any ideas for a BECMI/1E/2E/3E/3.5E monster that could fit that description and offer some unique challenges for PCs? Thanks in advance.
#2 RobJN Feb 27, 2007 7:08:07	The town of Estrich lies north of the Malpheggi Swamp, but in 1000 AC the "river serpent" started plucking boatmen and cargo handlers off ships, while evading hunting parties and mercenary mages. No one ever got close enough to see what it was or fight it, and then it was gone after a month. Now this one I am thinking the beast swam back to Malpheggi, but decides to make an annual trip up river to plague the town? Any ideas for a BECMI/1E/2E/3E/3.5E monster that could fit that description and offer some unique challenges for PCs? Thanks in advance. Not so much a suggestion for a beastie, but moreso its motivations: Perhaps the boats are cutting through the serpent's nesting grounds, and the annual appearance is tied to its reproductive cycle. It would certainly defend its eggs, thus attacking ships. However, it could also be attacking the townspeople and sailors to gather food for its young. Or, perhaps some sailors found the clutch of eggs, and now Mama wants them back....
#3 gazza555 Feb 27, 2007 7:30:34	The second is from the Darokin gazeteer. Possibly a naga? Their spellcasting offers further options. Regards Gary
#4 agathokles Feb 27, 2007 8:46:02	The second is from the Darokin gazeteer. The town of Estrich lies north of the Malpheggi Swamp, but in 1000 AC the "river serpent" started plucking boatmen and cargo handlers off ships, while evading hunting parties and mercenary mages. No one ever got close enough to see what it was or fight it, and then it was gone after a month. Now this one I am thinking the beast swam back to Malpheggi, but decides to make an annual trip up river to plague the town? Any ideas for a BECMI/1E/2E/3E/3.5E monster that could fit that description and offer some unique challenges for PCs? Maybe a cunning hydra that has been only attacking with one head at a time, while keeping its body and remaining heads hidden in the waters?
#5 twin_campaigns Mar 01, 2007 1:24:17	Perhaps the beast has been washed out of Alfheim, and the annual cycle is connected to the rainiest season there? This might offer an opportunity to introduce the Alfheim-Malpheggi tunnels.
#6 havard Mar 01, 2007 7:31:26	How about one of those Rockhome Loch Ness Monsters? I forget their real names... Havard
#7 agathokles Mar 01, 2007 7:38:41	How about one of those Rockhome Loch Ness Monsters? I forget their real names... Lake Klintest Monster. It may not be a good choice, though, because it is actually unable to snatch a grown human (or dwarf) off a boat. It is only dangerous if wounded and berserk -- and then it would hardly be as invisible as the one described in the hint.
#8 Cthulhudrew Mar 01, 2007 9:48:20	IIRC, there's a similar "Loch Ness" type of beast in a sidhe lake near the Dreamlands/Grundale from PC1: Tall Tales of the Wee Folk. Perhaps there is a connection there? In the PWAs, I tied the monster to the Malpheggi swamp, and had an upsurge in its attacks post-WotI as the changes to the Canolbarth rain patterns were reducing its territory (due to the Malpheggi beginning to dry up with the decreased runoff from the forest).
#9 npc_dave Mar 12, 2007 3:18:31	Thanks for some good ideas on the monster. I particularly liked the hydra head idea. I am surprised no one took up the Shires adventure seed. No one has any ideas? Maybe I will use some of the villains described in CM9 Legacy of Blood at an earlier point in their careers, and have them operate as pirates, or perhaps smugglers to pirates. After all, the Wavestone is only useful for someone with a ship.