AD&D DL - Dragons of Despair.pdf - Advanced D&D (unsorted) - Amiga7878

Official Game Adventure

Dragons of Despair

by Tracy Hickman

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PROLOGUE

THE TALE

The history unfolds, wherein the heroes join in the story of the world of Krynn.

A massive chair floats amid soft white

light. The gold of its delicately carved

frame gleams warmly. To the right of the

chair, an ornate stand strains beneath a

huge crystal globe. To the left of the

chair, another stand holds a large book.

Between the stands, an old man in bril-

liant white robes nods on a glistening

throne. One hand rests on the globe,

while the other lies poised on the book.

The face looks as though the eyes

closed only a moment ago. Yet the man

does not move, nor does the thoughtful

expression change. For this is Astinus

of Palanthus, Lorekeeper of the World.

Astinus ranges across the face of

the world, searching out the bravest

deeds of men, recording the acts of

greatness otherwise left unsung. This is

the historian’s historian: Astinus is

there as history happens.

Chapter 1: The Road Travels East . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Wherein darkness spreads over the land, and your players move toward the ancient

city

Chapter 2: Lost City of the Ancients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . 12

Xak Tsaroth, the great city, appears before you, swallowed by swamp.

Chapter 3: Descent into Darkness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Beneath the buildings of Xak Tsaroth lies the greater city and its lost glories.

Chapter 4: Lair of the Dragon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Khisanth herself, known also as Onyx, lies in the heart of the ruins, hoarding both

treasure and knowledge of the old ways.

Epilogue ...................................................29

Here the curtain falls on this part of the epic. Yet the tale continues: here greater

deeds to come cast their shadows.

APPENDICES

Here are the tools of the story. That which is new is explained, as are encounters

by fate alone.

Appendix 1: Rate of Exchange Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Appendix 2: Treasures and Tomes . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Appendix 3: Monsters and Men. . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Appendix 4: Random Encounter Tables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Appendix 5: Canticle of the Dragon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Yet the man has never left this

chair.

You, Dungeonmaster, are the spirit

of Astinus. You look upon your mortal

body and again bid it farewell. For the

greatest age in the history of this world

called Krynn is about to unfold. You

note its passage, walking unnoticed

among the greatest of heroes, seeing

history through the eyes of men and

creatures, good and evil, feeling what

they feel.

Now turn from the chair. Leave

your mortal self again. Take up your pol-

ished staff. Walk softly into the light.

Remember all.

Original Concept: Tracy Hickman

Editor: Michael Williams

Design Staff: Tracy Hickman, Harold Johnson, Douglas Niles, Carl Smith,

Michael Williams

Product Design: Bruce Lewis, Elizabeth Riedel

Cover Art: Clyde Caldwell

Interior Art: Jeff Easley

Cartographer: “Diesel”

Canticle by Tracy Hickman and Michael Williams

Song by Tracy Hickman, Carl Smith, and Michael Williams

Special Thanks to Larry Elmore, Jeff Grubb, Gali Sanchez, Garry Spiegel,

Dave Sutherland

At the end of this book is the technical

information needed to play the adven-

ture. Refer to these sections to become

familiar with the new world of Krynn and

all of its wonders.

Distributed to the book trade in the United States by Random House, Inc., and in Canada by Random House of Canada, Ltd.

Distributed to the toy and hobby trade by regional distributors.

Distributed in the United Kingdom by TSR (UK) Ltd.

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

or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of TSR, Inc.

ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, AD&D, and PRODUCTS OF YOUR IMAGINATION are trademarks of TSR, Inc.

* 1984 TSR, Inc. All Rights Resewed.

TSR, Inc.

TSR (UK) Ltd.

POB 756

The Mill, Rathmore Road

Lake Geneva,

Cambridge CB 14AD

wi 53147

United Kingdom

TSR, Inc.

PRODUCTS OF YOUR IMAGINATION

Printed in U.S.A.

ISBN 0-88038-086-l

9130

Permission granted to photocopy or

print this product for personal use.

Chapter 1: The Road Travels East

Dragons of Despair is the first in the epic

DRAGONLANCE series of modules. You

may play this module by itself or as part of the

grand DRAGONLANCE campaign.

Dragons of Despair is designed for a

party of 6-8 player characters, levels 4-6.

Encourage a good balance of character classes

in the party — the adventure demands the

skills of each class.

DRAGONLANCE contains a story. Play-

ers generally will spend the first part of their

play gathering information about their quest.

This information will direct them to the

sunken city of Xak Tsaroth, where the dun-

geon part of the adventure takes place.

Much about the world of Krynn will be

new to both you and your players. There are

three important differences between standard

AD&D campaigns and this universe:

the true gods in search of other, less demand-

ing gods (which do not exist). These pseudo-

clerics use the same combat table as true clerics

but have no spell abilities. PC clerics brought

into Krynn from other campaigns lose their

spell-casting abilities at once. Never fear: it is

the goal of this adventure to regain these abili-

ties.

However, if your players insist on bring-

ing other characters into this game, review

them carefully and keep in mind the differ-

ences mentioned in this prologue.

All PC elves are Qualinesti Elves in this

world. Other kinds of elves exist, but they

come into the DRAGONLANCE story in later

modules.

The equivalent of a halfling in this world

is called a Kender. Kender look like wizened

14-year-olds and, unlike halflings, they wear

shoes. These folk have two special abilities (in

addition to the usual halfling abilities):

3. No dragons have existed in Krynn for over

1000 years. As a result, most people in this

world smile when dragons are mentioned,

believing they are only folktales to frighten

children. Few believe that dragons ever did

exist; almost nobody believes that they exist

now.

1. Taunt. Any creature the Kender taunts

must save vs. Spells or attack wildly at once

for 1-10 rounds at a -2 penalty to hit and a

+2 penalty to their armor class. Kender are

masters at enraging others by verbal abuse.

Your adventures in Krynn begin with Event 1

below. As the world and history open before

them, PCs face events (keyed to times) or

encounters (keyed to places). Events and

encounters will confront them at all stages of

the adventure, and more than likely lead

them to Xak Tsaroth (area 44) and an under-

standing of their important quest.

Players may wish to use PCs from the

DRAGONLANCE story, detailed on character

cards in the center of the module. It is gener-

ally an advantage for players to use these char-

acters rather than bring their own into the

campaign.

1. Gold has no value in this world. Each place

has its own currency and its own values for

trade (these are explained in Appendix 1).

What one country values may be worthless in

another.

2. Fearlessness. Kender are immune to fear,

either magical or non-magical. They are,

however, curious about everything: a ten-

dency that often gets them into trouble.

The text of the module refers to player

characters in various shorthand forms: PCs,

adventurers and/or heroes. Read boxed text

sections aloud to your players.

Welcome to Krynn, and to the fantastic

world of DRAGONLANCE!

2. Clerical spells have not existed for nearly

300 years. Some people still call themselves

clerics, still belong to worshipful orders; how-

ever, all of these have turned their backs on

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