Savage Worlds - Hellfrost - N1 Lair of the Vermin Lord.pdf - SAVAGE WORLDS! - Maldaen

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PAUL ‘WIGGY’ WADE-WILLIAMS

VERMIN LORD

PAUL ‘WIGGY’ WADE-WI LLIAMS

LAIR OF THE

VERMIN LORD

BY PAUL “WIGGY” WADE-WILLIAMS

EDITING & PROOFREADING: RON BLESSING

GRAPHIC DESIGN & TYPESETTING: ROBIN ELLIOTT

COVER ART: EMPTY ROOM STUDIOS

CARTOGRAPHY: JUSTIN RUSSELL & EMPTY ROOM STUDIOS

COVER DESIGN: ROBIN ELLIOTT

FIGURE FLATS: JORDAN PEACOCK

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LAIR OF THE

VERMIN LORD

INTRODUCTION

and make a name for himself, the farmer was easily prey

for the church of Vali.

The winter grain stores from Dalsetter and other vil-

lages are transported to the mill at Dunross, where they

are stored and guarded while awaiting grinding into

ﬂ our. Bread is a staple part of the diet across the land of

Rassilon, especially in winter.

A paladin of Vali, Gautrek, a shapeleaper, worship-

ping his aspect as lord of vermin, convinced the farmer

he could make a fortune by withdrawing his ﬂ our early

and storing it in his sheds in Dalsetter. An accident at

Dunross would ensure the other villages’ grain and ﬂ our

were spoiled. Thus, the only source of ﬂ our over the

remaining winter months would be the farmer’s supply.

He could, the paladin said, raise prices and make a small

fortune, or he could sell the ﬂ our at normal rates and be

hailed as the savior of the region. Which option he took

was left to his personal choice.

The farmer, lured by the promise of higher proﬁ ts

rather than fame, duly removed his ﬂ our from Dunross,

totally unaware of what was to follow. To ensure there

was no chance of the other villages retrieving their ﬂ our

stocks, the paladin arranged for rats to begin infesting

the village. Using an ancient relic, he has called forth an

army of rodents to devour the remaining stores.

What the farmer doesn’t know is that the paladin

plans to poison the ﬂ our. While many in the region will

die of starvation, those who eat the bread made with

the ﬂ our will die a horrible death. Naturally, the farmer

will be blamed for this disaster. The church of Vali thus

enjoys the spectacle of corruption and decay, all in one

fell swoop. Of course, the presence of the heroes is an

unexpected one in the paladin’s plans.

The adventure breaks down into three parts. In part

one, the heroes are hired by an innocent farmer-merchant

to travel to Dunross and collect some ﬂ our destined for

Dalsetter (the rich farmer isn’t the only landowner in the

village, though he is the largest). Arriving at Dunross, they

quickly discover the place is overrun with rats. As they pre-

pare to leave, the rat army invades, forcing them to ﬂ ee.

This adventure is designed for a group of four Novice

characters with no advancements. For parties with more

members or advancements, the GM should increase the

number of opponents accordingly. For this adventure

we advise you to add two additional giant rats to each

encounter for each Rank the party is above Novice. For

instance, if a party of four Seasoned adventures encoun-

ters giant rats numbering one per hero, the characters

must ﬁ ght a total of six rats—one for each hero, plus an

additional two because the party is Seasoned.

This adventure begins on the second Waescdaeg of

Snaermonan, 499 IR. It is the middle of winter, and snow

blankets the realm. As this adventure takes place in the

Hearthlands, the snow is only a few inches deep except

in the hills, where it already lies as deep as three feet.

The temperature outdoors remains a chilly 15° F

(–1 Vigor penalty) during the day and 0° F at night (–2

Vigor penalty) for the duration of this tale. Hence, the

characters will need furs and/or winter clothing to avoid

suffering from the freezing weather. Inside the temple of

Vali, the temperature is one level higher due to the lack

of wind. See the Savage Worlds rulebook for the effects

of cold weather and the Hellfrost Players’ Guide for how

the rules work in this setting.

A selection of pre-generated Novice characters can be

found at our website, www.tripleacegames.com .

PLOT OVERVIEW

The path of corruption is a well-trodden road. Many

begin with small steps. Others run at full pace toward

damnation, heedless of their actions and their conse-

quences.

The plot revolves around the corruption of a rich

farmer from Dalsetter, a small farming community in the

northern Free Lands. Always eager to expand his wealth

LAIR OF THE

LAIR OF THE VERMIN LORD

In part two, the heroes visit Dalsetter, where they

uncover both strands of the dastardly plot—the farmer’s

complicity and the paladin’s poison. This is mainly a

roleplaying section, though there is some combat. In the

ﬁ nal part, the heroes travel to a temple of Vali, where

they face the paladin and his rat legions. This is very

much a combat-oriented chapter.

All being well, by the end of the adventure the heroes

will have stopped an insidious plot which could have

resulted in the deaths of hundreds or thousands of in-

nocent citizens.

Give the heroes a chance to introduce themselves.

There’s no need to rush this opening. Only when the

heroes have ﬁ nished introductions should you continue

with the text below.

The tavern door opens and in steps a well-dressed

man. The man takes off his cloak and shakes off

the snow. He approaches your table without look-

ing around, bows politely, and takes the last seat.

“My name is Rodgar ap-Annwn,” he says after or-

dering another round of drinks, “a farmer from the

village of Dalsetter. Thank you all for coming.

TIMELINE OF EVENTS

D-10: A paladin of Vali, god of vermin and pestilence,

corrupts a local merchant, promising wealth or fame in

return for performing a simple act.

D-7: Caravans from Dalsetter arrive at Dunross and

empty a warehouse. Large numbers of rats begin infest-

ing Dunross hours later.

D-6: The mayor of Dunross sends a letter to the au-

thorities in Aslov asking for assistance in combating the

rat plague.

D-5: A caravan set for the Citadel leaves Dunross. It

is attacked by vicious swarms of rats as it rests at a travel

tower that night. The adventurers discover the aftermath

on their journey to the mill.

D: The adventure begins.

D+1: The heroes encounter an orc ambush and a

deserted tower.

D+2: After coming across a slain rider carrying a

message from Dunross, the characters arrive at the mill.

What happens from here on depends on the actions of

the adventurers.

“In return for 50 gold scields apiece, I wish you

to take a cart to the village of Dunross and col-

lect a shipment of ﬂ our. The ﬂ our then needs to be

taken to the baker in Dalsetter. It shouldn’t take

you more than a few days each way. I would go

myself, but I’m forced to stay in Aslov due to other

business. Take what I owe you for your services

out of the money the baker pays you and drop the

rest off at my house. The baker knows where I live.

I’ll collect it later.

“I know it’s poor weather for traveling, but word

has reached me the baker has run out of ﬂ our.

A poor harvest and cold winter meant we were

rather short of ﬂ our before the snows began. These

are emergency supplies, vital if Dalsetter is going

to survive the winter.”

He reaches into his jacket and pulls out a scroll,

which he places in front of you. “This is a map of

the area, just in case.” He then pulls out an enve-

lope from his jacket. “This is a letter authorizing

you to collect the ﬂ our for me. Just hand it over to

the granary supervisor in Dunross.”

PART 1: DEATH IN DUNROSS

The heroes begin the adventure as strangers to each

other, lured together by a promise of work and material

rewards. Should this adventure be run after the heroes

have already met, the GM must change the beginning

accordingly.

Rodgar then explains that Dunross has a large mill,

which serves the neighboring farming villages. Grain is

transported to the village and stored in granaries before

being ground into ﬂ our. This system gives the smaller

villages in the surrounding area access to a mill without

the expense of having to build and maintain their own.

Assuming the heroes accept the job, Rodgar shakes

them by the hand and leaves. Outside the tavern is a cov-

ered wagon. Two surly-looking horses, nuzzling through

the snow for grass, are tethered to the cart. Thick winter

blankets are thrown over each horse. The wagon cur-

rently holds several bags of oats, enough to feed the

horses for four days.

Cart Horses (2): See page 22.

The Four Sheaves isn’t the best tavern in Rassilon,

but it’s warm, and the food is almost palatable.

Two days ago, you answered a ﬂ yer nailed in

the market square of Aslov, calling for men and

women of stout heart seeking adventure. The no-

tice said to meet here, a small tavern in a village

a few miles north of Aslov.

On arriving, you found the table you were told

to wait at was not empty. It seems others an-

swered the call as well. There is no sign of the

patron you were told to meet, so there seems

little else to do but spend a few coins on food

and drink.

WAGON

Acc/Top Speed: Half animal’s Pace/Top Speed is animal’s

Pace + running die; Toughness: 10 (2); Crew: 1+10;

Cost: 100 gs

HELLFROST ADVENTURE: #01

GM INFORMATION: ASLOV

Aslov lies at the edge of the Jagged Peaks and is the

ﬁ rst settlement of note south of Hellfrost Pass. It is

also a town entering its twilight years.

The city has far exceeded its capacity to house refu-

gees. Hundreds of desperate souls live outside in

tents, surviving on charity and what little food they

can scavenge from the surrounding countryside.

The area has become known as Tent Town. The city

gates are closed at night, but the city guard patrols

the perimeter around the clock, for in Tent Town,

a scrap of black bread or sliver of rancid meat is

enough motive to commit murder.

Inside, the city is divided into the High Quarter,

which houses the rich and powerful, as well as the

merchants’ warehouses, and the Old City, where

the majority of folk live.

Whereas the High Quarter remains uncrowded

(the citizens have refused to allow refugees to live

there), the Old City is teeming with people, the ma-

jority of which are refugees ﬂ eeing their homes in

the High Winterlands. The wealthy of Aslov never

walk the Old City without armed guards.

Disease is a constant problem, as is the ever-in-

creasing crime level. Murder rates have doubled,

with citizens killing each other for a crust of bread,

and theft has risen by many times as citizens rob

each other to pawn goods so as to buy food. Doz-

ens of citizens vanish each night. Many are simply

murdered for their few possessions and their bod-

ies dumped in the overworked sewers, but some

are sacriﬁ ced by the growing number of cultists or,

more sickeningly, become part of the food chain.

Despite being surrounded by good farmland, the

shortening summers and inﬂ ux of people has led to

very low food supplies and starvation is a constant

problem. Food riots have broken out several times,

the last one having to be quashed with lethal force

to restore order to the town.

is approaching, and soon the landscape will be

blanketed in white. The road begins to climb to-

wards the forbidding slopes of the Jagged Peaks,

a region inhabited by all manner of fearsome

beasts.

Check for Surprise. Those who pass the roll are quick

enough to react as four orcs armed with bows pop up

from behind nearby gorse bushes. The orcs are 15” from

the right side of the wagon and have Light Cover from

the bushes.

Monsters: The orcs are part of a small hunting party

from the Jagged Peaks, out looking for meat and trea-

sure. They have already killed one person and taken

some horse ﬂ esh (see p. 5), but they seek more spoils.

Although they don’t consider the heroes edible, their

horses certainly are. The orcs are also hopeful the wagon

contains food or booty.

Orc Warriors (1 per hero): See page 22.

Tactics: On the ﬁ rst round, the orcs unleash arrows

at the party. If the heroes don’t move to attack, the orcs

continue this tactic. To engage in melee, the orcs must

throw down their bows and ready their shields, which

are slung across their backs. This takes an action. Their

short swords are thrust into the ground beside them and

can be withdrawn easily (a free action).

Treasure: Once the orcs are dead, the heroes are free

to search their corpses. Aside from a few coins spread

among the bodies (2d10 gold scields worth), one of

them has a well-made dagger, obviously not of orcish

origin. Another is wearing heavy riding boots, which are

obviously too small for him, as his feet poke out from

cuts in the toes.

THE DESERTED TOWER

As the sun sets, the temperature begins to drop

steadily, and the sky clears. The night looks like it

is going to be very cold.

A DANGEROUS ROAD

Ahead, you spy the distinctive silhouette of a

travel tower, one of the refuges constructed by the

Roadwardens who protect the trade routes and

byways of the land. They are sparsely spaced off

the main roads, so ﬁ nding one is a boon. As well

you know, for a small donation, travelers are

welcome to stay at the towers overnight. Given

how dangerous the lands have become, few hon-

est folk shun the hospitality or refuse to donate a

few coins to help maintain the towers.

During the journey, the heroes have three encoun-

ters. These occur in the order they are presented below.

The ﬁ rst occurs in the afternoon, the second in early

evening, and the third in the morning on the second day

of travel.

AMBUSH!

As you approach, you see the tower may already

be in use. Two snow-covered wagons stand out-

side. Strangely, there is no sign of any horses

tethered to the hitching post, nor are there any

guards. Looking up, you see no smoke from the

chimney, either. As the tower comes into better

view, you notice the door is wide open—unusual

After a quick stop to eat lunch and rest the horses,

you set off again. The snow underfoot is thin and

crunchy, a brief ﬂ urry ﬁ ve days ago being the last

snow to fall in the region. Yet the harsh winter

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