[BFRPG] Castle D'Angelo

[Solomoriah]

Regular players in my games... please STAY OUT of this thread.

Seriously.




EDIT: Here are the map links:

Ground Level (Level 1)
http://basicfantasy.org/mapmatic2.cgi?c ... &mapid=194" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Level 2A
http://basicfantasy.org/mapmatic2.cgi?c ... &mapid=196" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Level 2B
http://basicfantasy.org/mapmatic2.cgi?c ... &mapid=198" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Level 3, 4, 5
http://basicfantasy.org/mapmatic2.cgi?c ... &mapid=208" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Dungeon Level 1
http://basicfantasy.org/mapmatic2.cgi?c ... &mapid=200" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Dungeon Level 2
http://basicfantasy.org/mapmatic2.cgi?c ... &mapid=209" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Dollhouse Level 1
http://basicfantasy.org/mapmatic2.cgi?c ... &mapid=203" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Dollhouse Level 2
http://basicfantasy.org/mapmatic2.cgi?c ... &mapid=204" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Okay, so here's the deal: An upcoming adventure (though thankfully not the next adventure) for my "A" group will be a foray into Castle D'Angelo. Here's the plot leading up to it, and sorry if it's a bit verbose; GMs will have to adapt quite a bit to make it fit their own worlds, and I make no apology for that.

Enterone (en-ter-own) is ruled not by a king, but by the Regency Council. Years ago, the last king, Gallus Oberon, left no heir to his throne; he did this deliberately, as he was a believer in democracy. Sadly, no one else in Enterone really believed such a system could work, so despite his final orders to create an elected council to rule the country, the hereditary nobility continued to rule their individual fiefdoms under the control of the Regency Council.

Recently, Lord Jarvan Margrave, a landless noble and wizard of the dishonored house of Margrave, has discovered a way to fool the ancient Orb of Regency into recognizing him as a legitimate heir to the throne of Oberon. His method is so clever that he is sure that any lesser mage or priest will be unable to discover it, thus allowing him to take the throne and become the next King of Enterone.

But among the six members of the Regency Council is Duke D'Angelo. Pons III, Duke D'Angelo, is a great wizard like all his predecessors. The exploits and power of the house of D'Angelo are well known and stretch back more than a thousand years to the time when Roland D'Angelo founded the duchy, then a mere barony, in the lawless northwestern frontier of Enterone. Jarvan knew that the Duke would see through his ruse, so he plotted to prevent it. Fortunately, only five of the six Regency Council members were required to form a quorum; after biding his time until the Duke returned from the capitol to his own duchy, Jarvan sent him a gift.

The clockwork man, obviously the work of the ancient Wizard of Clocks, arrived at the front gate of Castle D'Angelo unaccompanied, bearing a letter with the seal of Duke Tarkan. The letter informed Duke D'Angelo that the clockwork man was a recently-discovered artifact in need of refurbishment, and as Duke Tarkan did not have a wizard of adequate skill, he had turned to the house of D'Angelo to complete the repairs.

So the clockwork man was led into the castle and taken to the private workshop of the Duke. When the Duke entered the presence of the machine for the first time, it responded by opening its chest and revealing a huge, cracked jewel.

The jewel was the prison of Khaadk, the demon who had previously caused havoc in the Duchy of Freestead. Jarvan had stolen the jewel from the keep of Freestead and placed it inside the clockwork man. As before, when the cracked jewel was exposed, a powerful force field appeared which allowed creatures to enter the castle grounds but not to leave. However, instead of turning the inhabitants to stone, this time the power of Khaadk drove them all mad.

The player characters must enter the castle, survive the various unpleasant events that will ensue, and secure the jewel again in order to free the Duke, his family and his subjects.

Some interesting facts: The guards of the castle are all women, no exceptions. This is in honor of Sara D'Angelo, younger sister of Roland, who was herself a warrior. Many if not most of these warriors are from other countries, where their choice of arms over "approved" feminine activities would make them outcasts. They are led by a virtuous woman warrior of Enteronean descent named Valor True. She was quite recently an adventuress, traveling with Sevras D'Angelo, the grandson of the present Duke; he is also present within the castle.

All the male members of the D'Angelo family are expected to learn magic, but there are surely a few who have not done so well; it's reasonable that there may be several family members who are quite old and yet still low level, and perhaps one or two who turned to alchemy when magic proved beyond their grasp. Similarly, all female D'Angelos (by birth, not by marriage) are raised as warriors, and again not all will find that entirely suitable. There should be at least one magic-using female D'Angelo, perhaps a niece to the present Duke; she was tolerated but considered odd among this odd company.

The wives of those male D'Angelos who are married may be magic-users (this would be preferable as a way to ensure that heirs might be more likely to be wizardly); also, it's entirely reasonable that some D'Angelo men might have taken wives from among their warrior-women guards.

SO... here's where I want to start. I need to work out the members of the family (not too many of them, but neither too few); then, I need to draw a map and begin stocking it. Knowing who lives here will help in designing a castle large enough for all of them.

[Bloated Blowfish]

Even though this is a Castle, it "sounds" as if its more closely related to a fortified manor. While this is fairly typical in medieval settings, a traditional manor listing might suit your needs for this fantasy setting. So, I'd recommend checking out Lythia.com - the home of the Harn Forum - which excels at free fanon in the downloads section that without fail has provided me with inspiration and information for just such situations.
http://www.lythia.com/category/downloads/settlements/

From one of the free generic manors come this listing (thanks go to Kerry Mould) that might help.

*****
Keep in mind that the numbers can also vary depending on visitors and guests, some who stay for extended periods. This listing here is atypical when the lord is in residence:

Lord and Lady (noble)
Their two small children (noble)
Lord’s squire (noble)
Steward and wife (noble)
Their three children (noble)
Herald and wife (noble)
Knight-retainer and wife (noble)
Three ladies-in-waiting (noble)
Priest (noble)
Nursemaid
Chamberlain and wife (domestic)
Eldest son and wife (both domestics)
Two unmarried children (both domestics)
Cook and wife (alewife) *
Baker *
Clothier and wife (domestic)
Their two children
Apprentice *
Ostler and wife (domestic) *
Apprentice *
Kennel boy *
Physician
Harper
Sage/Tutor
Sergeant/Huntsman (medium foot)
Two men-at-arms (light foot)
Two archers (longbowmen)

The members of the household marked with an asterisk (*) sleep in the sleeping loft.

Alter to fit your needs.

[Solomoriah]

Even though this is a Castle, it "sounds" as if its more closely related to a fortified manor. While this is fairly typical in medieval settings, a traditional manor listing might suit your needs for this fantasy setting. So, I'd recommend checking out Lythia.com - the home of the Harn Forum - which excels at free fanon in the downloads section that without fail has provided me with inspiration and information for just such situations.
http://www.lythia.com/category/downloads/settlements/

Thanks! I'll try to look into it.

Here are my takes on your quoted list:

Lord and Lady (noble) Duke D'Angelo and his wife
Their two small children (noble) The Duke is not a young man; his children are all grown. It would not be a large family, probably two to four total.
Lord’s squire (noble) Not sure I understand this... is this his right-hand man? The Duke's eldest son would fill this role.
Steward and wife (noble) and Their three children (noble) I'll have to think about. Should not be one of his children.
Herald and wife (noble) This is a position I don't know about.
Knight-retainer and wife (noble) Here we have the first thing that's really different... this would be the Knight-retainer and her husband. He might fill a non-combat role (remember, no exceptions on the female warriors bit).
Three ladies-in-waiting (noble) Ur. Not sure how to handle this one. Such specifically traditional female roles don't really fit this situation.
Priest (noble) I almost forgot this one. Possibly a male D'Angelo who didn't fit the wizardly role.
Nursemaid Not needed for the Duke, but his youngest children might need such.
Chamberlain and wife (domestic) and Eldest son and wife (both domestics) and Two unmarried children (both domestics) are all traditional servant roles. I'm good with that, just need to think it over in detail.
Cook and wife (alewife) * and Baker * are also common servants, as are Clothier and wife (domestic) and Their two children
Apprentice * Whose? (BTW: One or more of the older D'Angelo men would have to act as teacher for the younger ones. Possibly might be one or more unrelated wizards in residence also for training, or perhaps just friends/sycophants of the family.)
Ostler and wife (domestic) * Had to look this one up. A stableman.
Apprentice *
Kennel boy *
Physician Probably not relevant, as the priest takes this role.
Harper Traveling minstrels are common in Enterone; rather than have a regular resident, I might have one or two who happened to be there when the curse was released.
Sage/Tutor I see perhaps a librarian.
Sergeant/Huntsman (medium foot) A female role here, as are Two men-at-arms (light foot) and Two archers (longbowmen).

Let's take a look at the family. I'm going to do some die rolling here:

Pons III, Duke D'Angelo; Wizard
Maricela, Duchess D'Angelo, his wife (obviously); a lower level magic-user with excellent Charisma.
Their children, oldest to youngest:
Neva, Fighter
Julianne, Fighter
William, Magic-User
Tia, the spoiled brat of the family; her stats aren't up to snuff to be good at any class, but especially not fighter.

... I'm going to come back at this later, fill in the rest. Need to cogitate some.

[Solomoriah]

Here's the first-level map of the fortress:

http://basicfantasy.org/mapmatic2.cgi?c ... &mapid=194" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hopefully this works... I wrote MapMatic, but I'm not sure how well I implemented public links.

[PapersAndPaychecks]

SO... here's where I want to start. I need to work out the members of the family (not too many of them, but neither too few); then, I need to draw a map and begin stocking it. Knowing who lives here will help in designing a castle large enough for all of them.

We really need the level range here, Chris.

[Solomoriah]

Sorry. Five to eight, I should think. That's actually where my player characters are now.

Some notes on the map I linked to earlier:

In the beginning, Roland D'Angelo hired the best available Dwarven artisans to build him a tower, four levels high, with a single dungeon level beneath it (storage, including a wine cellar). Area 26 on the current map is this tower. Later, his younger brother Arcan arrived in the area and hired local (human) builders to construct a tower for him also, five levels high plus a single dungeon level; the two towers were connected underground at this time. This is area 27 on the map. Not that long after, little sister Sara showed up with her troop of elite woman warriors, and arranged the construction of a three-story keep encompassing the two towers; this structure is areas 9-13 on the map.

This was all done within a fifteen year period, a long time ago (almost a thousand years). The remaining construction, consisting of two single story sections (2-6 and 28-33), the gatehouse (area 1) and the six smaller towers (5-8, 29, and 34) were built later, as was the second dungeon level.

I realize now I've left out the stairs in both directions. Obviously, the two main towers have stairs both up and down; there should also be stairs in the main keep, so one or two of those rooms should go. I'm thinking that 17 and 18 should become a stacked arrangement of stairs, down on one side, up on the other. Or maybe 19 and 20.

The statues shown on the map are almost certainly enchanted, but I don't think they should be standard living statues. Talking would be more interesting. However, if any of them is a living statue, it should be the one in area 28, as it would be a good defensive position if someone finds their way in to the secret door in 33 (which should only be able to be opened normally from the inside, and which should have some protection vs. knock since it's a wizard's domain).

The upper floors will mirror the lower ones, but the dungeon will probably be more novel (i.e. having little relationship to the above-ground section).

That's all I can think of right now. I'll try to get the dungeon map drawn soon, and get the first level map corrected to include the missing stairs.

[Solomoriah]

Okay, I've corrected the main map. Besides the stairs I needed to add, I needed stairs leading up to the single room above the gatehouse (where the murder holes are, of course).

[PapersAndPaychecks]

1. GATEHOUSE:-

[boxed text]
The main doors to Castle D'Angelo stand open, flapping slightly in the breeze. On the inner face of the left hand door, someone has painted the word "WELCOME!" in bright pink letters.
[/boxed text]

The inner doors (at the north of area #1) are closed but not barred, and will open with gentle pressure. They pull towards the party.

Any character entering the gatehouse corridor will hear porcine squeals and the clatter of trotters against flagstones from within the castle. The walls have been liberally daubed with graffiti in bright, clashing colours. Tangerine letters inform the party that THE PASSWORD IS "CAMEMBERT" (NB: this is not true); in lime green, another graffito says TURN BACK! THIS IS NOT THE WAY; and in sky blue, a third says THE ALE HERE IS TERRIBLE, IT'S ENOUGH TO DRIVE YOU MAD. Other graffiti is less coherent, and all of it is completely unhelpful.

2. STAMPEDE:-

[boxed text]
As the door opens, lots of wild boars charge through it, directly at you!
[/boxed text]

Charlotte La Neve is the Duke's Sergeant and Huntswoman. In her madness she has decided it will be easier to hunt the boar if she keeps them in the castle, reasoning that the boar can also serve as gate guards and will be very tasty! Accordingly, she has been out hunting every day since the madness struck, and she now has nine boars. She has been amusing herself by stampeding them along the corridor and back, so they are both terrified and angry. When the party opens the door, she takes them for marauders or bandits and stampedes her boars straight through it. They will attack the party at once.

9 boars: AC13, HD3, #AT1, dam 2d4, Mv 50ft, Save F3, ML9, XP 145 ea
HP 15 each

• â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡
• â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡
• â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡
• â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡
• â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡
• â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡
• â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡
• â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡
• â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡

Charlotte herself will retreat to area #3 immediately on seeing the party. The party will find the brazier and torches that she was using to drive the boars. There is nothing else of interest or value in this area.

[PapersAndPaychecks]

3. HUNTSWOMAN'S ROOM:-

By the time the party gets here, Charlotte will have shut and locked the door.

[boxed text]
The door is made of dark oak, stoutly bound with iron. On the left hand side there is a handle, with a keyhole immediately below.
[/boxed text]

Charlotte is on the other side of the door, holding a slim poniard, which is much like a knitting needle with a dagger hilt. She can see the party through a small knot in the door. (If someone actually says they are inspecting the door, then they will automatically see this knot. Otherwise nobody in the party will notice it.) If a character tries to look through the keyhole, she will drive her poniard through it, trying to poke out their eye. Have the target roll a saving throw vs. death. If they pass, they will only take 1d4 damage. If they fail, they will take 2d4 damage and lose a randomly-selected eye (which means that if using a missile weapon at medium range or greater, the character suffers a -1 "to hit" penalty).

If the party opens the door, they will have to fight Charlotte. She wears a mailshirt and carries a great axe:-

Huntswoman: S 13, D 14, C13, I 9, W 10, Ch 9, AC17, Fighter 5, #AT1, dam 1d10+1, Mv 30ft, Save F5, ML10, XP 405
HP 22

• â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡

Charlotte's high, hard boots are lined with walrus fur, which makes them both very warm and very waterproof. They are worth 50gp. Her belt is two inches wide, of tooled leather in intricate knotwork set with brass studs and a big brass buckle in the shape of a dragon, and it is worth another 50gp. In her satchel are 43gp in change, a whetstone, a block of beeswax, and the key to her door.

The room contains Charlotte's rope hammock, a hand lamp with oil, and sixteen assorted pelts. These are mostly hare, wolf, boar, deer or badger worth no more than 10gp each, but there is also one fine bearskin worth 60gp.

[PapersAndPaychecks]

By the way, this does have a bit of a Castle Amber feel about it, doesn't it?

[Solomoriah]

By the way, this does have a bit of a Castle Amber feel about it, doesn't it?

Shhhhh...

It is a location that has always existed in my campaign, but never before been detailed, involving NPCs who played an important part in my original game circa 1982. But yeah, thanks to Jarvan and Khaadk, it's a bit of a funhouse now.

If you're going to contribute in the sort of volume and quality (well, I think the quality is a given with you) that you did with Crooked Rock Tower, I'm giving you co-creator credit rather than merely contributor. I probably should have done that with Crooked Rock Tower in the first place.

[PapersAndPaychecks]

4. LEONORA'S ROOM:-

Leonora was a maidservant in the kitchen. Since she was driven mad, she has believed herself to be a medusa.

[boxed text]
The door is made of dark oak, stoutly bound with iron. On the right hand side there is a handle, with a keyhole immediately below.
[/boxed text]

This door is not locked. Leonora used to have a key but in her madness she has lost it. If she hears the party outside (chance to be determined by the GM according to how stealthy they are), Leonora will call through the door to warn them not to enter her chamber, for her gaze will turn them to stone. If they actually enter, she will certainly cry out this warning. It is false and she is a normal human woman. However, she wears a bulky hood ("to contain the snakes!") and her head is not visible. She is wearing a beautiful gown of silk and taffeta (which she has purloined from one of the castle noblewomen).

Leonora: S 8, D 10, C11, I 8, W 13, Ch 13, AC10, NM, #AT1, dam 1d4 (dagger), Mv 30ft, Save NM, ML7, XP Nil
HP 3

• â–¡â–¡â–¡

If the party kills Leonora, then in the process they will ruin her beautiful gown, which is worth 100gp. If they deal with her peacefully, then provided the party supplies her with an alternative garment, she will be prepared to give it to them.

If the party proves to Leonora that she is not a medusa, then she will start to believe that she is a dryad instead. She will flee into the woods in search of her tree. There is no end to her madness, and although she will never believe herself to be something violent, there is also no way to get her to talk any sense.

Aside from Leonora's hammock and her few personal effects (a tinderbox, a couple of candles, a clay mug, a wooden bowl and her eating knife which doubles as a dagger) the only other thing of interest in this room is a copper bathtub that hangs from one wall. It is large and bulky but well made, with feet cast like ducks' webbed feet, and would be worth 100gp, though the party would need a wagon to transport it.

[Solomoriah]

I can see that, for a published module, I'm going to have to come up with some way to warn adventurers against actually killing anyone inside the castle. Also, whatever reward is given for containing the demon and rescuing the Duke will have to be graduated based on how many of the insane but innocent are slain; after all, the Duke will have to get them all raised, and even for him that will cost more than a few gold pieces.

BTW, nice stuff again, P&P. I'm going to have to devote some time to this soon.

[PapersAndPaychecks]

5. WEST TOWER, GROUND FLOOR:-

[boxed text]
This 20ft square room contains a stove, a table, five chairs, and some sacks and chests. The stove is unlit, and from the coating of soot, has not been cleaned for some time. On the table stands a large clay jar. It emits foul, acrid-smelling fumes.
[/boxed text]

The clay jar contains oil of vitriol (which is the alchemical name for sulphuric acid). At the time when everyone went mad, it was being used to clean the Duke's silverware, and since this is a smelly process, it was being done away from the Duke's family in the guard tower. If inspected, the jar will prove to be full of knives, forks and spoons. They have a value of about 30gp. A vialful of acid will do 1d6 damage to a creature it with it, or 1d2 splash damage from a near miss. It will dissolve small amounts of wood or metal. A magic user can use the stove and other equipment in the room to boil away some of the water and produce concentrated sulphuric acid, but the quantity produced will be very small, so 1d6 damage or dissolve a small amount of wood or metal is the maximum effect achievable.

The sacks contain rice, dried beans and pulses, and the chests contain wooden plates and bowls.

[PapersAndPaychecks]

6. EAST TOWER, GROUND FLOOR:-

During his madness, Pons has tried experimenting with conjuration magic, and through a bizarre combination of castings, he has called up a pair of weird creatures called pangotheria. They live in this tower. Whether the pangotherium comes from an alien world or plane, or from another time in this world, or somewhere even stranger, can only be a matter of conjecture, and its behaviour is highly unpredictable.

[boxed text]
This 20ft square room contains a weird creature, like a ground sloth the size of a man, but with the head and scales of a giant pangolin. Its claws are huge! It seems to have made a nest of some kind out of fabric and upholstery.
[/boxed text]

A second pangotherium is hiding behind the door. Each has an effective strength of 18. They are intelligent animals, with similar cognitive ability to a gorilla, but extremely chaotic. Determine how each one reacts to the party by rolling 3d6. A score of 3-6 means it charges; a 7-8 means that it attacks; on a 9-12 it approaches without attacking; on a 13-14 it retreats; on a 15-17 it flees, and on an 18 it takes an immediate liking to the party and will roll on its back waiting for its belly to be scratched. If attacked they will certainly retaliate!

Pangotheria: AC16, HD7, #AT 2 claws, dam 2d4/2d4, Mv 40ft, Save F7, ML9, XP 670
HP 41, 36

• â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡
• â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ â–¡

The pangotheria can operate doors and other simple mechanisms but they have no language. If the Duke regains his sanity he will wish to study them, and he will be pleased if one has survived. If both have been captured for him, then he will be delighted and will either forgive the party for an error or a certain amount of damage they might have caused, or else if there is nothing to forgive, he will increase their reward by 500gp.

[Solomoriah]

... and I had to google "pangolin" as I'd never seen the word before. Scaly anteater, that I've heard of. You're a well-read man, P&P.

I've been doing edits on JN2, but I think I'll take a break from that and start putting together this module. I think I can trust the group I'm playing with not to download and read it.

If they do, with this kind of adventure, they'll give themselves away fast.

[Solomoriah]

Okay, I've swept up all the material to this point; I'll try to get a release out in the next day or two. I'll have to make a few changes to your work to make it fit; in particular, I neglected to mention that it's not possible to leave the fortress once you enter due to Khaadk's magic, so the dryad bit will need modification. I will tend to it, of course, and I'll borrow the force field text from BF2 and add it here also. Also, I'm going to need to move a couple of the rooms (at least, Leonora's) into the main keep. I also need to decide where the kitchen is.

The main barracks for the women should be the two large rooms in the back of the first level (areas 30 and 31); leader-types may be housed on the second floor of the main keep, along with honored guests (with the guests in the front rooms and the military leaders in the back). I need to make a change to MapMatic before I can do the second level map, but I hope to get that done soon as well.

Right now, I've copied my introductory post from this thread as the GM's background, but it's going to need some revision as well.

Two more NPCs need to be fitted in somewhere; I'll have to pay attention to where they go. Both are servants of the new King; they were sent to be witnesses to the gift of the clockwork man, so that, if the D'Angelos are freed, King Jarvan can use the "evidence" to prove a conspiracy between the dukes of Freestead and Tarkan against the D'Angelos. As those three dukes are the greatest threat to King Jarvan's throne, removing two of them (to the dungeons of Castle Enterone) is a good trade for the freedom of the third.

One of those NPCs, a thief named Loren Mulroy, didn't know the real reason he was sent; he is simply the servant of the other NPC, a fighter ally of Jarvan's who was recently knighted by the new King. Mulroy was inside the castle when the clockwork man opened his chest, and was driven mad like the rest.

The other managed to be outside, and is keeping watch; if he sees the adventurers enter, he'll enter as well and then pretend he was there all along. Of course, this means he must pretend to be insane. I haven't named this fellow yet, so I'm open to suggestions. Loren Mulroy is a recurrent NPC in my game, and I'll dig up his stats and add them to the module.

Last, it seems logical that the clockwork man was ordered to hide Khaadk's gem after revealing it, so that it would be hard to locate and contain (or worse, break open completely). After hiding it, the clockwork man would have been instructed to return to the great hall, which is area 10, so as not to give away where the stone is hidden.

In area 2, there are two statues which ought to be detailed. As area 2 is in the military-defensive part of the castle, it seems reasonable that they would represent woman warriors; one might possibly be of Sara herself.

NOW, P&P, please do not think I'm giving orders here... I'll tend to all of the above myself. I'm frankly thrilled with all that you've contributed so far, and I've already written in your co-creator credit on the title page... it would be rude of me to ask more of you, and so please understand that's not what I'm doing. But if you or anyone else wants to jump in with suggestions, I'd love to see them.

[PapersAndPaychecks]

It's cool, Chris. I write, you edit: it's your vision we're trying to achieve. No problem with that at all.

[Solomoriah]

Excellent! It's nice to work with professionals...

[PapersAndPaychecks]

So, these statues in area #2. You might want to label them "A" and "B" on the map, or something, for ease of reference.

EAST STATUE:-
This depicts a seated woman, wearing a mailshirt and a conical helm. Her sheathed sword is on her lap. She is flanked by two leopards, with her hands resting on their heads. The statue gazes into the middle distance with a haughty, dignified expression. Someone has painted a full moustache on it.

WEST STATUE:-
This depicts a woman in a toga, bent over to pick a flower. Her hair is piled up on top of her head. A bow is on her back and a quiver at her hip.

[PapersAndPaychecks]

This next one goes, err, anywhere inside. Pick whichever room number makes sense to you.

CLASSROOM:-

[boxed text]
This is evidently a classroom or schoolroom of some kind. Three child-sized writing desks are arranged facing north, and a huge slate has been nailed to the north wall as a chalkboard. At the central table, a boy of about eleven or twelve stares at the writing on the board, apparently lost in thought.
[/boxed text]

The boy is Philippe Beauclerc, the son of one of the senior castle staff. His madness is a monomania: he can think and talk about nothing else until he has answered the question on the board. Unfortunately, even though it's an easy question, in his madness, he can't work it out.

The question is:-

Five girls took part in a race. Annette finished before Beatrice but behind Chantal. Dorothée finished before Élise but behind Beatrice. What was the finishing order?

If the players work out the answer (which is 1. Chantal, 2. Annette, 3. Beatrice, 4. Dorothée, 5. Élise), then award the party 100xp. Philippe will immediately begin a new madness: he will be insanely hungry and thirsty after his long stint of thinking. If given food and water, he will become insanely sleepy. If allowed to sleep for at least ten hours, then he will develop another new insanity of the GM's choice, and so ad infinitum. There is no way to get Philippe to tell the party anything helpful.

Philippe's desk contains six blank sheets of vellum and a magical pen of inking. This is a large flight feather from a black swan which has been enchanted so that its nib never wears out and it has an eternal, magically-replenished supply of ink. The pen will not write magical scrolls or other magical writings of any kind since it does not use the exotic inks such scrolls require, but it is nevertheless of considerable value to a magic user or scribe and could be sold for 500gp.

[Solomoriah]

So, I'm looking at the map, and thinking, wow, so it's really old, and the family has grown in numbers and influence... where do they put everyone? And then I think, but the D'Angelos are a long line of wizards...

And then I realize that they'd use magic to solve the space issue. There are two second floors; they have similar layouts, and occupy the same space transcendentally. Half the windows on the outside belong to 2A, half to 2B. I haven't exactly worked out the stairs yet; perhaps they have magical gateways (so you don't have to walk up and down, a big plus when the wizard gets old).

I'll get the details ironed out soon.

P&P, I don't know how you churn out interesting rooms and characters like that. I'm hardly ever that productive and creative at the same time.

[PapersAndPaychecks]

Well, Chris, I'm going to need your editorial help with the next one. I'll write it as a concept sketch rather than a fully-fleshed out room.

YUNKERS AND RABLETT

The idea is, two interlinked rooms within the castle. One belongs to the castle's glassblower, and the other belongs to the castle's alchemist. The glassblower is an elderly gnome called Yunkers and the alchemist is a slender middle-aged man called Rablett. Rablett has an apprentice called Marcel.

Yunkers should ideally be an illusionist, if you use the supplement that contains those, or failing that a magic user. Rablett should be an alchemist, if there's such a class, or failing that another kind of magic user. They have complementary madnesses: Rablett believes he's Yunkers' horse, and Yunkers believes he's Rablett's jockey. Rablett is galloping around on all fours, neighing and whinnying, with Yunkers perched on his back. The party can talk to Yunkers but they won't get any sense out of him or make any progress in the encounter unless they bring him what he wants, which is a saddle, because Rablett is too bony to ride without one and Yunkers is getting sore. (There'll be a saddle somewhere where the party can get to it, by the way, because the castle is going to have a stable. It has a mad unicorn in it. More on that later...)

If they give Yunkers the saddle then he'll take the rope out of Rablett's mouth, which means he'll be able to talk properly. Rablett can make some kind of sense and he'll give the party helpful information of some kind. (I don't know exactly what, yet.)

In the actual rooms, Yunkers has some lovely glassware that he makes that's of value but very fragile (it's worth a few thousand gold pieces but most of it will get broken if there's a fight in there). Rablett has made a whole bunch of potions. Unfortunately, Marcel's madness has made him swap around all the labels on the potions. Marcel then went around swigging potions at random. One of the potions is a potion of silence, which had a permanent effect on Marcel because of the potion miscibility table. (Chris: is there a potion miscibility table in BFRPG? This might need tweaking.) Anyway, Marcel is under a permanent magical silence effect. If the party can remove curse/dispel magic they can get him talking again and he can explain what he's done. (NB: Each time he's asked what a label means, there's a 25% chance that he'll lie.)

We'll need a table of potions showing what their labels are, what the potion really is, and how many doses there are. Some of the potions are unusual or unique (not appearing on the normal tables), such as the potion of silence which has the same duration etc. as a potion of invisibility, or the potion of liquid form which is like a potion of gaseous form but you can only go downwards, or the gone-wrong potion of levitation which makes the person who drinks it float upwards but only because they've bloated up with helium like a balloon, or the essence of blue which makes the drinker's skin go permanently cobalt blue, or, well, I'll just have fun with this.

So I've got this seed of an idea but I don't know the BFRPG rules well enough to do the implementation, particularly what with the obscure caster types. Could you stat out the three NPCs for me with their spell lists and help me write up the rest of it?

[Solomoriah]

Wow, that's really good.

... and I never once considered the stables. Dang. This castle is really more a keep in some ways, having no courtyards; perhaps I need to put in an outer wall enclosing a yard, with a stable. Though I've not described it yet, the castle is on top of a hill (better viewing for casting fireballs, ice storms, etc.).

Which leads me to the thought, perhaps the stable itself is underground, within the first dungeon level. It would have a fortified door leading out to a fenced corral area.

Well, that's sorted.

We don't have a potion miscibility table, but there's no reason a badly-made potion couldn't cause permanent (or at least, indefinite duration) magical silence. I've long assumed that errors making magic items is where some cursed things come from.

I'll stat the gnome as a magic-user, and provide optional spells for an illusionist version so the GM can choose. As far as the alchemist goes, we have no class as such, but I have always allowed them as "special" NPCs. I'll stat him out as a low-level magic user and simply describe him as an alchemist, since his specific alchemical abilities won't really matter so long as he's mad.

I love the scrambled potion labels, too. BFRPG has all the best-known beneficial potions you're used to seeing, so should not be a problem there. How many were you thinking of having?

Heck, here's the whole list:

Clairaudience
Clairvoyance
Control Animal
Control Dragon
Control Giant
Control Human
Control Plant
Control Undead
Delusion
Diminution
ESP
Fire Resistance
Flying
Gaseous Form
Giant Strength
Growth
Healing
Heroism
Invisibility
Invulnerability
Levitation
Longevity
Poison
Polymorph Self
Speed
Treasure Finding

As a matter of general principles, most laboratories that aren't in towers tend to be in dungeons, and I guess that's where I plan to put this. That'll be convenient to the stables anyway.

I'm assuming this room isn't intended to be a combat challenge, so the exact levels of the characters aren't that important; let's say the gnome is 4th or 5th level, and the alchemist perhaps 3rd or 4th. Marcel is an apprentice alchemist, so I'm not going to hold to the usual level rules on this; he's maybe 1st or 2nd level. Does this sound about right?

[PapersAndPaychecks]

That works, Chris. OSRIC thinks that magic users have to be 7th level before they can make potions, but I take it there's no such restriction in BFRPG.

Let's make it 3d6 randomly-determined potions, each containing 1d3 doses. Each potion has a 20% chance of being a "special" from the following table:

1d4	Result
1	Potion of silence
2	Potion of blueness
3	Potion of bloat
4	Potion of liquid form

Some little details to help you with an evocative writeup:-

The glasswork is worth, let's say, 1200gp. It comprises an assortment of test tubes, boiling tubes, boiling flasks, pipettes, alembics, crucibles, burettes, pycnometers, retorts, dessicators, funnels, dropping funnels, vials, beakers and jars of all shapes, sizes and kinds.

The alchemist's laboratory contains, let's say, an owlbear skull, a glass jar of grey liquid (concentrated wraith ectoplasm: anyone who drinks some loses an experience level), a big brass pot of yellow mould, a jar of embalming alcohol containing a dead octopus, a magic bunsen burner of some kind and an apparently ordinary apple with one bite taken out of it (Marcel's lunch).

[Solomoriah]

I'll try to get on this tomorrow. Sadly, real life may be going to kick in again, and this adventure has become a project explosion; I'm behind on maps, and am having to update the MapMatic software to draw some of the plans for this one. But I'm really liking this one.

I've updated the map of the first level (previous link should still work) so that the missing chapel and corral are visible. Once I get the details of the two second floors worked out, I'll turn my mapping attention to the dungeon. I'm actually glad I haven't drawn it yet; I won't have to do a bunch of redesign for the glassworks and alchemist's lab.

BTW... in BFRPG, we have a similar level requirement for creating potions, but in my game I have non-magic-user alchemists who follow different rules. Since I don't allow them as PCs, I've never written them up as a class. However, I think for this adventure I'll just make him a 7th level magic-user in the first place.

[PapersAndPaychecks]

Okie, the corral/stables bit is going to be called "Tia and the unicorn". I was thinking Tia sounded a bit like she could be a thief. Shall I just stat her out as one?

[Solomoriah]

Yeah, sounds good... if Tia is a thief, what is she doing in this castle? Is she a servant (or servant's child) who picked it up "on the side" or a professional thief come to try to rob the place (a gutsy idea for sure)?

I've put together the three main above-ground maps. There are more levels to the towers, and two (or maybe three) dungeon levels yet to draw.

The first (ground) level contains the great hall, a number of undefined main-keep rooms (at least two of which must be the missing kitchen and pantry), some smaller rooms which are likely servant quarters, and two larger rooms which are surely barracks (along that back hall). Here's the map:

http://basicfantasy.org/mapmatic2.cgi?c ... &mapid=194" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Level 2A contains three suites, each consisting of a main room, a bedroom, and a closet. These rooms are inhabited by family members; I'm thinking adult children, with the unmarried girls sharing a suite, and perhaps the Duke's mother, or maybe one suite has a particularly honored guest in it. The smaller back rooms in that level would house less honored guests, such as couriers or traveling knights (who, if male, would not be welcome in the barracks or officer's quarters). Level 2A's map is here:

http://basicfantasy.org/mapmatic2.cgi?c ... &mapid=196" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Level 2B contains the classroom (64) with the teacher's room (65) behind it, along with four larger single rooms (three without windows, one with) and a row of smaller rooms which would be servant's quarters. That map is here:

http://basicfantasy.org/mapmatic2.cgi?c ... &mapid=198" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Note that 2A and 2B show the same numbers for the towers, since the second level "duplication" effect applies only to the main keep. There are doors from both Roland's and Arcan's towers into both instances of level 2, as well as a magic archway linking level 1 with 2A and 2B (the faded a, b, and 1 show which side you enter to get to the marked level).

I'm going to have to do some thinking to internalize how the multidimensional map affects navigation. You can see through the magic portals from one level to the next, so you don't run into anyone. No telefragging here. I'll have to write boxed text to help the GM describe the portals without actually explaining them.

And now, I'm tired. I'll think more about this tomorrow...

[PapersAndPaychecks]

Yeah, sounds good... if Tia is a thief, what is she doing in this castle?

Well, according to your blurb, she's the Duke's youngest daughter!

[Solomoriah]

Gah. You scoundrel.

That'll teach me to post when I'm tired.