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The Broken Mountains

by Patrick Lawinger

The Broken Mountains is a web expansion for The Hall of the Rainbow Mage providing additional information about the

wilderness north of Hampton Hill and detailing two additional small dungeons the PCs might decide to explore based on maps they

discover in Londar Brightrain’s tower. While these dungeons and encounters are designed for a party of 4 or more 8th or 9th-level

characters the dificulty level can easily be increased by the DM.

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The Hall of the Rainbow Mage

The Broken Mountains

Credits

Author

Patrick Lawinger

Additional Material and Monsters

Erica Balsley and Kevin Walker

Art

Brian LeBlanc

Cartography

Rich Oliver

Playtesters

Nathan White, Andy and Amy White,

Jenny “Notdatone” Jones, Jacob

Robson, Alexandra Davis, David Cane,

Mark Cane, Brad Wiscomb, and Beth

and Michael Park.

Developer

Bill Webb

Producer

Clark Peterson

Editor

Bill Webb

Special Thanks

Thanks to Natalie, a new baby gives

a new outlook on life. Thanks also go

to Melanie, Anthony, and Alexander for

putting up with my gaming addiction.

Managing Editor

Andrew Bates

Art Director

Rich Thomas

Layout and Typesetting

Charles A. Wright

This product requires the use of the Dungeons and Dragons®

Player’s Handbook, published by Wizards of the Coast®.

reserved. Reproduction without the written permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden.

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names, places, items, art and text herein are copyrighted by Necromancer Games, Inc. “D20

System” and the D20 System logo are trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast and are

used under the terms of the D20 Trademark License contained in the Legal Appendix. The

mention of or reference to any company or product in these pages is not a challenge to the

trademark or copyright concerned. Dungeons and Dragons® and Wizards of the Coast® are

trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, and are used in accordance with the Open Game and D20

Trademark Licenses contained in the Legal Appendix. Creature Collection and Relics and Rituals

are trademarks of Sword and Sorcery Studio.

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THIRD EDTION RULES,

FIRST EDITION FEEL

This book uses the supernatural for settings, characters and themes. All mystical and supernatural

elements are iction and intended for entertainment purposes only. Reader discretion is advised.

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Page 2

The Hall of the Rainbow Mage: The Broken Mountains

His information hinted both of these locations

could hold the key to great power. He recruited

an orcish war party to investigate the library,

promising they could keep all magical weapons

and gold they discovered if they allowed him

to view all of the books they retrieved. He also

made preliminary explorations of the tower on

his own. These two locations provided him with

the books, notes, and information that lead to

the discovery of Horgrim’s Pyramid and the

White Eye, as well as additional valuable texts.

Londar ignored the fact that a very old red

dragon named Atrilux considers the entire ter-

ritory his. The dragon never noticed Londar’s

swift travels back and forth or the orcs Londar

convinced to assist him.

Introduction

The Broken Mountains is a web expansion

for The Hall of the Rainbow Mage providing

additional information about the wilderness

north of Hampton Hill and detailing two addi-

tional small dungeons the PCs might decide to

explore based on maps they discover in Londar

Brightrain’s tower. While these dungeons and

encounters are designed for a party of 4 or more

8th or 9th-level characters the dificulty level

can easily be increased by the DM.

If the PCs do not return to Hampton Hill after

exploring Londar’s mansion, or if they do not

ind the caverns and laboratories hidden beneath

it, these dungeons provide the PCs an excellent

opportunity to discover additional information

about what happened to Londar, or a way to

interpret the Decaying Book (see the Items

Appendix in The Hall of the Rainbow Mage )

describing Horgrim’s Pyramid, Korik’s Ruby, as

well as material describing the White Eye and

the location of the temple to Horgrim (described

in The Hall of the Rainbow Mage ). This easily

enables the PCs to continue their adventures

without further trips to Hampton Hill, or inter-

actions with Xanthaque.

Character Hooks

The PCs might decide to explore the area of

the Broken Mountains based upon rumors they

hear in Hampton Hill, or based upon notes and

maps discovered in Londar’s mansion (use Area

12, 32, or 33 of Londar’s Mansion to provide

these notes or maps).

Alternately, maps could be discovered at one

of several locations in the Temple to Horgrim.

If the PCs have completely explored the temple,

the DM might have to increase the dificulty

of the dungeons provided here, guidelines for

doing so can be found at the end of the module.

Background

Horrik forest, the light forest dotted with

rocky ravines and clearings, gives way to a sec-

tion of wilderness further north of Hampton Hill

known as the ‘Broken Mountains.’ It is an area

of low, rocky hills, and thin, steep ravines cut by

swift-moving rivers. Rumors and speculations

suggest the area was once a series of mountains

containing several cities and fortiications that

was somehow destroyed by a natural, or unnat-

ural catastrophe. Tales of forgotten dungeons,

lost cities, hidden towers, and forgotten libraries

make for interesting yarns in dark taverns but

few adventurers trek into the Broken Mountains

in search of these lost places. Orcs, ogres, and

hill giants live a hard-pressed existence there

under the watchful eye of a very old red dragon

that considers the entire territory his personal

kingdom.

Londar’s research discovered several very old

maps. By lying over the Broken Mountains and

using his scrying room (Area 12 in Londar’s

Mansion) he was able to create new maps iden-

tifying the location of a wizard’s tower (Falin’s

Tower) and a library (Library of the Dark Wind).

Module Organization

This module is designed to provide a broad,

open area for adventure. A general description

of the Broken Mountains including encounter

tables and a few lairs and locations follows the

Introduction. Falin’s Tower is detailed in the

next chapter, followed by a description of the

Library of the Dark Wind. Suggestions for

continuing adventures and for adjusting the

dificulty of the encounters lead into two Appen-

dices detailing Monsters, and Magic Items and

Spells.

DM Notes

This adventure includes overland travel and

exploration potentially requiring a variety of

climbing implements, and other adventuring

tools. The DM should monitor the use of ropes,

torches, lanterns and other gear as they see it.

The area is broken by many rough, steep ravines,

PCs traveling with horses or other pack ani-

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The Hall of the Rainbow Mage: The Broken Mountains

mals must make special preparations for cross-

ing these hazards.

The Broken Mountains can be used as a loca-

tion for a variety of other ‘lost’ towers, castles,

cities or other elements found in a variety of

other adventure modules as well as the lairs of

dangerous, deadly creatures. In general, encoun-

ters can be adjusted to a lower level by reduc-

ing the number of creatures encountered, or by

changing the creatures encountered. The Tome

of Horrors (published by Necromancer Games)

provides a wide range of creatures that can be

used to populate the area.

Running the Adventure

This module is designed as an open-ended

presentation of locations and dungeons. While

none of these encounters is speciically required

to solve elements of The Hall of the Rainbow

Mage , they can provide exciting alternatives to

some of the solutions provided in the original

module. The PCs should be allowed to simply

explore the area, but should always be reminded

that they might not be able to overcome every

creature they come across.

The Broken Mountains

Rumored to have been a series of tall, majes-

tic mountains, various tales tell of earthquakes,

wars, or magical cataclysms that shattered the

mountains crumbling them down to the low

rocky hills that now occupy the area. Different

tales have different sources, but it was really a

combination of war, nature, and even the wrath

of several gods that eventually broke the moun-

tains, hiding several small cities and various

castles, dungeons, and wizard’s towers. Discov-

eries by adventurers in the past feed tales of

great riches lost in the mountains. Wiser indi-

viduals often suggest that, if this were true, the

orcs and ogres living in the Broken Mountains

would have discovered them by now.

Jumbled clusters of jagged rock thrust their

way through the thin, scrub-like forest clinging

to the low, rough hills and brutal, steep ravines.

Trees growing here are twisted and stunted by

the many violent storms and high winds that

rip across the hills and valleys. Only those trees

growing in the deepest valleys, or clinging to

the rocky soil in the deep ravines grow beyond

a height of 30-35 ft. The rough weather and thin,

sandy soil leave little in the way of any arable

land, one reason for the absence of any cities

or towns dependant upon farming. Rough travel

conditions and a lack of supplies make any

effort to mine the minerals found here uneco-

nomical.

Broken hillsides conceal numerous caves pro-

viding homes to a wide variety of creatures,

from small gophers to dragons. Herds of small,

goat-like deer adapted to the rough, rocky envi-

ronment and steep ravines provide a source of

food for a large variety of predators. The deer

thrive on scrub brush that is almost inedible to

other creatures and breed so quickly that preda-

tors barely keep their population in check.

Swift, powerful rivers cut steep ravines through

the rocky terrain and punch through cataracts

with a deafening roar. Some ravines reach

depths as great as 200 ft. and several of the

rivers appear to disappear into the ground, pos-

sibly feeding into underground rivers or seas.

Crossing over the deep ravines, with their rush-

ing rivers and jagged rocks can be dificult, in

some cases impossible, for those without the

natural or magical ability to ly. Several of the

wider crevasses are spanned by old rope bridges

occasionally maintained by one of the tribes of

orcs living in the area.

The Balance of Power

Several tribes of orcs have small villages

tucked into safe, defensible locations, and

numerous families of ogres and hill giants live

throughout the area. Larger gatherings are gen-

erally discouraged by Atrilux, a great red dragon

with a lair nearby (see Area G below), as he

considers larger tribes of orcs a possible threat.

Atrilux generally exacts a toll on the orc vil-

lages at random times. The toll isn’t great, and

the orcs always pay, so they generally get along.

Atrilux considers anyone approaching his lair a

threat and attacks them with brutal eficiency,

but if he encounters a party of adventurers out-

side his lair he generally tries to exact some sort

of payment or toll before going into full-ledged

battle. Other than Atrilux, most creatures keep

to their own hunting areas and avoid major con-

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The Hall of the Rainbow Mage: The Broken Mountains

licts. Other than orcs, ogres, and hill giants,

other intelligent creatures exist only in small

groups or even solo and are little threat to the

more populous races or Atrilux. Atrilux himself

only springs into action when he feels the need

to crush a possible threat.

Atrilux has had only one problem with con-

trolling the entire area, hill giants. He attacks

hill giants whenever he sees them and acts

immediately on reports of possible hill giant

lairs. This makes hill giants particularly aggres-

sive when spotted, as many creatures are happy

to report them to Atrilux in an effort to gain

favor. Unknown to Atrilux, orcs of the Bloody

Fingers were recruited by Londar Brightrain to

examine the ruins of the Library of the Dark

Winds (see below). As a result, these orcs are

rapidly growing in power and knowledge. If

Atrilux learns of this, he immediately attacks

the war party at the library, and demands all

of the treasure they have discovered (see the

description of Atrilux for further details). In

general, no creature has any desire to do battle

with Atrilux, allowing him to exact tributes and

tolls from whomever he chooses.

Random Encounters:

The DM should choose a random encoun-

ter from the following table by rolling

a d20. Results labeled ‘D’ are daylight

only, and are ‘no-encounter’ when rolled

at night. Similarly, encounters labeled ‘N’

only occur at night.

1. The PCs are attacked by 1d4 hill

giants (CR7 each) hiding from

Atrilux as they approach their

hidden lair (N).

2. A roc (CR9) circles over the PCs

several times (attacks untended

pack animals, but not PCs).

3-4. Attacked by an orc hunting party;

orc Rgr2 (CR2), and 1d6 orcs

(CR1/2 each).

5. Atrilux (see below) notices the

PCs and comes by to demand trib

ute (D).

6. Attacked by 3 ogres (CR2 each) as

they near a hidden cave.

7. The PCs discover the burned, half-

eaten corpse of a hill giant . (no

treasure)

8. Ambushed by an orc war party, orc

Bbn5 (CR5), 2 orc Bbn2 (CR2

each), and 3d6 orcs (CR1/2 each).

9. Stumble across an athach (CR7)

lair.

10. The party is approached by a

pegasus (CR3) and warned about a

nearby danger/lair (D).

11. Attacked by a chimera (CR7).

12. Ambushed by three lamia (CR6

each).

13-14. Attacked by three black tigers

(CR4 each).

15-20. No Encounter

These encounters should be used once, or

as the DM sees it. One encounter per day

is generally suficient, but the DM should

make this decision based on the party level,

make-up, and precautions taken.

Random Encounters

As outsiders to the area, the PCs are subject

to attack, or observation from a number of dif-

ferent creatures in the area. Every six hours of

travel and every four hours they are camped or

traveling at night exposes them to a possible

encounter listed in the random encounter table.

PCs camping, or resting during the day are only

subject to a random encounter once every eight

hours.

Encounter Locations

The locations described below correspond to

locations identiied on the map (Map 1). Some

entries cover multiple locations. Treasure at

such locations must be determined by the DM

based on the inal encounter level. The PCs

are also likely to come across many wild ani-

mals, including goat-like deer and black-skinned

mountain lions (called black tigers by the local

orcs). Game is plentiful so even the larger pred-

ators are unlikely to attack well-armed human-

oids.

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d20 Necromancer Games The Hall of the Rainbow Mage - The Broken Mountains.pdf

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