Dungeon Magazine #162 - January 2009.pdf - Dungeon Magazine 155-221 [D&D 4] - m1988k

ISSUE 162 | JANUARY 2009

A Dungeons & Dragons ® Roleplaying Game Supplement

CONTENTS

4 FIST OF MOURNING

By Robert J. Schwalb

A Scales of War Adventure Path

adventure. This short adventure

bridges the gap between the heroic

and paragon tiers of play for your

Scales of War campaign if your PCs

aren’t quite 11th level. The Cult of

Exquisite Agony—a cabal of insane

devotees of the Far Realms—has

grown in power recently, spurred

on by a local sect popping up almost

overnight in Overlook. Now the cult is looking to expand its sphere

of inf luence, using the recent chaos in the city as a springboard for

their own agenda. An adventure for 10th-level PCs.

62 DEPTHS OF MADNESS

By Robert J. Schwalb

The Madness trilogy continues with

“Depths of Madness.” After saving the

town of Wellspring, the heroes find

that their efforts have not stopped the

assault on the town. A new threat has

emerged, seeking to capitalize on the

re-emergence of the Tear of Ioun. The

heroes must seize the Tear and defeat

this threat, or the entire region could

be swallowed by chaos. An adventure

for 11th-level PCs.

ON THE COVER

Illustration by Wayne Reynolds

3 EDITORIAL

103 RULING SKILL

CHALLENGES

By Mike Mearls

Mike continues to educate on the

nature of skill challenges, with

unique applications and examples.

106 SAVE MY GAME

By Stephen Radney-MacFarland

A DM’s best friend? Stephen

Radney-MacFarland, back with

more advice and letters from the

mailbag.

109 DUNGEONCRAFT

By James Wyatt

James discusses the latest changes

to his f ledgling campaign.

27 WINTER OF THE WITCH

By Stephen Radney-MacFarland

In this epic adventure, the Winter Witch—a

legendary archfey—has launched a campaign

to send eternal winter cascading over large

portions of the world. After a summons to

Winterhaven, the characters find a land

locked in ice, and an old ally in need of aid.

A trek to find a artifact known as the Sun’s

Sliver ensues, the only force potent enough

to defeat the Winter Witch and banish her

from the mortal world once more. An adventure

for 22nd-level PCs.

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This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use

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articles, adventures, and information, visit www.wizards.com/dnd

CO N T E N T S

EDITORIAL

162

Don’t Let the XP

DUNGEON

January 2009

Grind You Down

Editor-in-Chief

Chris Youngs

Senior Art Director

Jon Schindehette

Web Specialist

Chris Sims

If you watched the news the week before Christmas, you

might have seen weather reports about snowstorms in the

Pacific Northwest. I know, I know—up here, we tend to freak

out over the least amount of the white stuff, but this was

pretty genuine… at least for a city that boasts a f leet of only

thirty plows. So the office was closed for a few days due to

terrible road conditions, and while I sat home and watched

the snow pile up, I got to thinking about snow days past.

occasion, it can interfere with the story you’re trying

to tell. I know there have been times in each of my

campaigns, past and present, when my characters

have advanced more quickly than I expected, and I’ve

needed to tweak encounters on the f ly to make them

challenging enough. That can be a headache. I’ve

likewise had experiences where groups have missed

encounters, often due to smart play, so they haven’t

advanced as quickly as I thought they would, forcing

me to alter encounters in the other direction.

This isn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of things,

but I love that D&D is a f lexible enough game that

with the right group, you can just alter the XP system

to achieve the same ends. Maybe you increase or

decrease XP values by 20% for a few weeks until the

PCs’ levels are back where you need them. Or maybe

you just stop awarding XP for a few sessions until

they’ve finished the adventure they’re on and are back

on track. (Warning! This approach could be hazard-

ous, and you might find your Mt. Dew spiked with

Ex-lax or worse!)

Basically, XP shouldn’t be a DM’s enemy. Just be

sure to keep your group informed. If you’re going to

fudge the numbers or start dictating when characters

level (after a set amount of real-world time, or after

in-game way points), let your players know and they’ll

appreciate you for the heads up….. Or they’ll hate your

guts and you’ll find your favorite mini’s decapitated

head in your bed one morning. Regardless, the system

can handle this quick and easy change.

Heck, I’m sure I’m missing some other easy fixes.

Has XP ever limited your game in some way or proved

a liability? What’s your story? And how did you fix it?

Send us your responses to dndinsider@wizards.com !

Web Production

Bart Carroll, Steve Winter

Contributing Authors

Stephen Radney-MacFarland,

Mike Mearls, Robert J. Schwalb,

James Wyatt

Developers

Stephen Radney-MacFarland,

Peter Schaefer, Rodney Thompson

I brought this up when we got back to the office, and

Bart mentioned an all-D&D marathon during a snow

week in his youth. What a blast! When they played—

stopping only for food and the occasional nap—they

didn’t track XP. Their DM would just tell them to level

Editors

Miranda Horner, Gary Sarli

Cover Artist

Wayne Reynolds

Contributing Artists

Dave Allsop, Drew Baker

Erid Deschamps, Gonzalo Flores

Izzy, Goran Josic, Howard Lyon

The results from last month’s question are in. As I,

ahem, expected, Against the Giants beat the pants

of f of Tomb of Horrors, 43% to 37%. Thanks to every-

one who participated in the poll!

Raven Mimura, William O’Connor

Ann Stokes, Amelia Stoner

Sam Wood , Ben Wootten

Cartographers

Jason A. Engle, Robert Lazzaretti

Sean Macdonald,Mike Schley

Publishing Production Specialists Angelika Lokotz, Erin Dorries,

up after a significant period of adventuring had passed.

The players didn’t even want to bother tracking XP--

that took away from the marathon session. And the DM

then didn’t have to track numbers. When he was ready

to up the challenges, he had the players take a few

minutes to level up their characters. The idea was that

when you’re running a D&D marathon, you don’t want

to spend precious gaming time calculating XP.

I think this is brilliant! Don’t get me wrong: I don’t

have a thing against XP. In 4th Edition, it’s easier than

ever to calculate and dole out. For most campaigns,

it’s an ideal way to track character progress through

the levels. Plus, that sense of anticipation as you creep

toward your next level is great fun.

For most groups, XP serves as your barometer

for advancement—heck, for the entire campaign’s

progress! However, that means that for most DMs, on

Christopher Tardiff

Web Development

Mark A. Jindra

D&D Creative Manager

Christopher Perkins

Executive Producer,

D&D Insider

Ken Troop

Director of RPG R&D

Bill Slavicsek

Special Thanks

Richard Baker, Greg Bilsland, Logan Bonner, Michele Carter,

Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, Andy Collins, Bruce R. Cordell, Jeremy

Crawford, Rob Heinsoo, Peter Lee, Julia Martin, Mike Mearls,

Kim Mohan, David Noonan, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Peter

Schaefer, Stephen Schubert, Chris Sims, Rodney Thompson,

Rob Watkins, James Wyatt

F ist

o of

M ourning

by Robert J. Schwalb

illustrations by Gonzalo Flores, Goran Josic,

Howard Lyon, and Anne Stokes

cartography by Mike Schley

An adventure for 10th-level characters

January 2009 | DUNGEON 162

ist

ourning

✦

a r y 2009 | DUNG E O N 16 2

Fist of Mourning

While lords and heroes alike look to the brimming

war spilling across the lands, evil blossoms in places

unexpected. With the realm, and possibly the world,

teetering on destruction’s precipice, new factions rise to

work their wickedness. One such menace is the Cult of

Exquisite Agony, a disturbed cabal dedicated to perfect-

ing mortal f lesh by infusing it with the essence of chaos

to make it more adaptable, stronger, faster, and better.

Gathering in a fallen hero’s tomb high in the Stone-

home Mountains, this cult commits horrific acts hidden

from those who cannot comprehend their effort’s mag-

nificent end. Though careful to avoid attention, success’s

proximity has made them sloppy, and their deeds leave

traces those with courage and resolve can follow.

“Fist of Mourning” is a DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ®

adventure for five 10th-level characters. Although

designed as a short scenario for adventuring parties

participating in the “Scales of War” adventure path,

you can adapt it for use in any mountainous region of

any game world and for any campaign.

BACKGROUND

The Cult of Exquisite Agony blossomed and withered

many times over the centuries, rising in power, but

falling when madness and treachery consumed its

greatest leaders. Each time the cult rose, it sought

to improve on what the gods themselves had done:

remake mortal f lesh into something better and attain

the full potential they believed was buried within all.

The last time the cult stirred was over a century

ago, many miles to the south in the ruins of Zannad.

Believing the secrets to their evolution was within

the fabled yuan-ti city, they scoured the wreckage

with little luck and they, like others before them,

succumbed to insanity and malice, turning against

each other in an orgy of violence. Not all perished,

and at least one escaped to carry the filthy message

of transformation to other lands.

One such refugee made it to Overlook, and before

her death, she passed on her cult’s tenets to loyal

followers recruited from local folk. Over the genera-

tions, the cult grew, but its leaders did not follow in

their founder’s steps until one named Obsen came to

power 10 years ago. A disturbed man with a taste for

the exotic, he believed he gained the power and quali-

ties of everything he ate provided the meal was alive

while he consumed it. So he ate plenty and often. It

wasn’t until he devoured a slaad tadpole, purchased at

a high price in Nine Bells—the poor and crime-ridden

district in Overlook—that he realized he had the

means to attain perfection all along.

For the next 10 years, Obsen and his cronies quietly

amassed slaad tadpoles, performed hideous experi-

ments on themselves in dank cellars, stole residuum to

power their rituals, and made unconscionable pacts

with otherworldly beings until they perfected the pro-

cess. When Tusk’s armies marched on Bordrin’s Watch,

Obsen and the cultists quit the city and marched to an

January 2009 | DUNGEON 162

Dungeon Magazine #162 - January 2009.pdf

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