NeoExodus Gel.pdf

neoexodus adventure:

LPJ9998

Gel

Written By Lee Hammock

and chris m c coy

Requires the use of the Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook, Third Edition, published by

Wizards of the Coast, Inc. This product utilizes updated material from the v.3.5 revision.

NeoExodus Adventures: gel

“Gel” is an adventure for 4-6 characters level 6-

8. All character classes will be useful but rogues,

rangers and druids in particular will find their skills

in demand. This adventure can be run any time

characters are undertaking dimensional travel, such

as teleporting or planeshifting, or as a sequel to the

adventure “Cold Visitor”. Also characters could be

shipwrecked on the island of Lannil with only slight

modifications needed for the beginning of the module.

No special abilities are needed for this adventure but

the ability to inflict cold damage is a great advantage.

perform them. Most of Heslik’s stay was a solitary

one, but in the last two years a group of farmers and

scholars settled on the island. Led by a sage named

Jurik Poken, the newcomers settled on the one cove

on the island and began constructing a small settle-

ment there. While people actually wanting to settle on

a cursed island initially disturbed Heslik, the settlers

soon convinced him that they only wanted to farm

the island. The druid made sure they obeyed certain

methods for farming on the island but impeded the

settlers little in other ways. They meant no harm to

the island so Heslik was content to leave them alone.

The settlers found Heslik a bit odd but the druid was

so happy for company he kept his weirdness under

control.

Much of this adventure happens on a schedule so the

DM should read through it carefully and be familiar

with the sequence of events before running this adven-

ture.

Background

Information

The island of Lannil is a small, temperate island that

is part of a small island chain far out to sea. The

island is a rich source of sugar cane and has several

ruins on it of historical importance, but other than

these sources of interest there is little on the island

that makes it valuable. There is a reef around the

island making it difficult to land on or leave the

island. Only on high tide, occurring this time of year

at 3 AM and 3 PM, can a ship make it through the

reefs unscathed.

Four months ago, a new merchant came to the settle-

ment to set up shop as a buyer and shipper of the

island’s sugar cane. This merchant, named Davin

Longtil, was actually a thief who had stolen some very

valuable items and maps from an ogre pirate named

Strong Kas the Red, whose territory is not terribly far

from Lannil. Davin sought to hide out on Lannil for

a few months and let things calm down before leaving

the region entirely with his ill-gotten goods in tow.

Unfortunately two days before the arrival of the PCs,

Strong Kas and his ship caught up with Davin. Strong

Kas’ ship sailed into Lannil Harbor and took over the

settlement of Lannil Point. Davin and many of the

inhabitants fled in the chaos, so Strong Kas and his

men began searching the island looking for survivors.

Heslik soon learned what had happened and moved to

stop the pirates. Unfortunately, the pirates had their

own wizard and the druid was not able to best the

pirates in open combat. Fleeing in the form of a bird,

Heslik returned to his cave and came up with a new

plan. Using an old ritual Heslik had been researching,

he sought to transform himself into a powerful ooze

creature but keep his mind intact. Regrettably, this

ritual went awry because of the odd magic on Lannil,

which transformed the druid into a Rotter Ooze; a

giant, almost mindless blob of acidic protoplasm with

no drive other than to feed.

The ruins on the island mark the place where a duel

between two groups of wizards happened centuries

ago. This duel destroyed several other islands in the

chain and permanently warped the magical aura of

the region. Ever since then, battle magic has been

unreliable in the area around the island, giving it a

reputation as a cursed land. Ships often go missing

in the vicinity and more than few legends speak of

monsters living on the island and kraken haunting the

surrounding waters.

Despite these rumors, a druid has inhabited the

island for the last eighty years by the name of Heslik

Gunther. Heslik lived on the island to study a colony

of slimes and oozes that had begun developing some

rudimentary intelligence as it grew and thrived in an

inactive volcano. He thought these creatures were the

product of the strange magical energies around the

island but later learned that the wizards who fought

on Lannil used magically modified slimes and oozes

as soldiers. Eventually the druid found records of

some of these rituals and begun researching how to

And this is where the PCs enter the scene, stuck

between a giant flesh eating blob and a group of angry

pirates.

Adventure Synopsis

The PCs arrive on Lannil and are greeted by two

young inhabitants of the town, Mina and Joshua, who

had sought to escape the island using an old scroll of

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NeoExodus Adventures: gel

Heslik’s. They botched reading the scroll, however,

and the twisted magic of the area brought the PCs to

the island instead of provide the two teenagers with an

escape off the island. Mina and Josh explain the situ-

ation on the island, the presence of the Rotter Ooze

and the pirates, that the pirate boat is the only way

off the island that they know of, and that most of the

members of the settlement are dead.

should probably be given one chance to flee before

being absorbed and turned into a gel zombie.

Conditions on Lannil

Lannil is a temperate circular island roughly ten miles

in diameter. The center of the island is a dormant

volcano and the region between the volcano and

the coast is covered either by forests or sugar cane

fields. The island has very fertile soil and it is almost

completely covered in greenery. The volcano at

its center is long dormant and is riddled with caves

formed by lava flows.

The PCs then travel to the settlement to assess the

situation and are attacked by the Rotter Ooze in

transit. The PCs learn most of their weapons have

little affect on the creature and hopefully end up

fleeing toward the settlement. Once in the settle-

ment the PCs begin a game of hide and seek with

the pirates and the Rotter Ooze, trying to get off the

island before either group finds them. To make things

worse, the Rotter Ooze can create gel zombies out of

its meals, causing more difficulties for the PCs. Once

the PCs have explored part of the settlement, the

Rotter Ooze attacks the pirate ship, sinking it, leaving

only a fishing boat on the shore for the PCs to escape

by.

The weather on Lannil is usually temperate but

occasionally powerful storms blow in. During these

storms it is nigh impossible to navigate the reef

successfully.

A dangerous reef surrounds Lannil and there is only

one safe place to cross the reef. Even using this safe

passage the reef can only be crossed during high tide

at 3 AM and 3 PM. Trying to cross the reef at other

times or other areas means the ship is going to run

aground unless the PCs can make a Profession (Sailor)

check, DC 30. If the ship runs aground it is consid-

ered holed and will start sinking. Characters forced to

swim in the region around the reef will have to make

a Swim check, DC 15, every round to avoid getting

cut by the reef. If a character fails this check, the

character takes 1d6 damage and will possibly attract

sharks now that blood is in the water. Anyone still

determined to make it through the reef may do so,

but it will take that person 20+3D6 rounds and must

to make a Swim check, DC 15, every round to avoid

getting cut by the reef. If a character fails this check

the character takes 1d6 damage.

Now the PCs must outfit the fishing boat and get off

the island all the while dodging pirates, the Rotter

Ooze and gel zombies.

Character Hooks

“Gel” is a very easy adventure to involve the PCs in

because they can be hijacked from any dimensional

travel to end up on Lannil. Also, PCs traveling by

boat may easily be shipwrecked on the island, espe-

cially if they are relying on magic for navigation.

Characters traveling by other magical means, such as

flying, may find the magical distortions around Lannil

forcing them to land on the island.

Unfortunately, casting any type of magic can be rather

difficult on Lannil because of the magic fluctuations

in the area. Each time a spell, spell-like ability or

magic item is used roll d20 and add the spell level

of the spell cast to the roll. If the roll is over 15 the

spell malfunctions; roll a d20 and check the result on

the table below to see what happens. If the character

casting the spell has 8 or more ranks in Spellcraft,

Knowledge ( arcana ), or Concentration subtract -2

from the roll for each skill.

For the GM

The key thrust of this adventure is a feeling of

impending doom. The Rotter Ooze, for much of the

adventure, is unstoppable; only its low movement

rate allows the characters to escape it. The characters

should feel that as soon as they stop moving it will be

on them and that the Rotter Ooze could be anywhere;

behind any door or wall. The DM should describe

events to make the PCs think they constantly hear the

soft gurgling of the Rotter Ooze as it moves along and

occasionally roll dice simply to raise PC paranoia. It

is important though that the PCs not loose hope. Mina

and Josh should tell the PCs early on their best chance

is to run from the Rotter Ooze so the PCs realize they

can stay alive by fleeing. PCs who insist on staying

to fight despite the fact their weapons have little effect

1-4 Explosion: A fireball erupts centered on the

caster, doing 1d6 points of fire damage per

spell level with a blast radius of 20 ft.

5-8 Misdirected Spell: Roll 1d4. Starting from

the closest viable target from the original

target count to the d4 die roll. This target is

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the one actually struck by the spell. If the

spell uses a template use the grenade-like

weapon deviation rules.

9-12 Overpowered Spell: The caster level of the

spell is increased by +5.

13-15 Weakened Spell: The caster level is reduced

by -5.

16-17 Energy Burst: A cloud of lightning strikes

erupts centered on the target of the spell,

doing 1d8 points of lightning damage per

spell level with a blast radius of 20 ft.

18 Magic Dead Zone: For a 5 ft. radius centered

on the place where the caster is standing no

magic will function for the next hour. This

radius does not move with the caster.

19 Magic Drain: The caster loses all other spells

of that level that he has prepared. Sorcerers

and bards suffer no ill effect. Magic items

stop function for an hour and all spell-like

abilities of that same spell-type are lost for the

day.

20 Death Zone: Everyone within 10 ft. of the

caster must make a Fortitude save, DC 10, or

die.

you. The two pillars, each fifteen feet tall and at least

five feet wide at the base, curve slightly toward each

other at the top of their height, creating an arch-like

structure with a space in the middle. Both pillars

are covered with carvings of some type. Before you

stand to young humans, a boy and a girl, who both

look very surprised at your appearance. The girl,

looking annoyed turns to the boy and gives him a hard

shove, almost knocking him over. “Good job, Josh!”

she says. This is not where you wanted to be. In the

distance, you notice a column of smoke and the sick-

enly sweet smell of burnt sugar wafts to you.

If the PCs are entering this adventure after having

played the adventure “Cold Visitor” read the

following:

You exit the freezing chill of Praegelidus expecting

to find yourself safely back home where your journey

began. As you slip into a state of non-being between

worlds you begin to feel a slight tug down, pulling

you off course from your destination. Not wanting to

go through any other unexpected stops you struggle

against the pull but to no avail. You hear echoes of

raised voices as the force pulls you down. Suddenly

there is a loud popping noise and a rush of air filled

with the scents of the sea. Waves can be heard not far

behind you and birds sign out from many of the trees.

The only landmark you can see is a pair of stone pedes-

tals right next to you. The two pillars, each fifteen feet

tall and at least five feet wide at the base, curve slightly

toward each other at the top of their height, creating

an arch-like structure with a space in the middle. Both

pillars are covered with carvings of some type. Before

you stand to young humans, a boy and a girl, who

both look very surprised at your appearance. The girl,

looking annoyed turns to the boy and gives him a hard

shove, almost knocking him over. “Good job Josh!”

she says. This is not where you wanted to be. In the

distance, you notice a column of smoke and the sickenly

sweet smell of burnt sugar wafts to you.

Introduction

The PCs begin their adventure on Lannil by being

accidentally pulled there by Josh and Mina. This

happens on the coast on the other side of the island

from Lannil Point. The PCs can be pulled to Lannil

while undertaking any type of dimensional travel, or if

the PCs exist in the same world as Lannil they could

simply be pulled to the island out of the blue because

the teleport spell Josh reads reverses itself, bringing

the PCs to Josh instead of transporting Josh. It is

assumed that the PCs arrive on the island after being

pulled there during dimensional travel. Read the

following to the PCs:

You feel the strange sense of non-existence common

to dimensional travel as you suddenly stop existing, in

one plane at least. Normally this would be followed

by a sudden jolt, a loud popping noise and the pungent

odors of your target destination, but instead you get

a sudden feeling of something pulling you down.

You hear echoes of raised voices and feel a force

pulling you down. Suddenly there is a loud popping

noise and a rush of air filled with the scents of the

sea. Waves can be heard not far behind you and birds

sign out from many of the trees. The only landmark

you can see is a pair of stone pedestals right next to

If any of the NPCs from “Cold Visitor” managed to

escape with the PCs, they can either end up on the

island or be lost between worlds at the DM’s discre-

tion. It’s recommended if more than two NPCs

survived they get lost on the trip to Lannil.

The people present are Josh and Mina, who

summoned the PCs here when the teleport scroll Josh

tried to use went awry. They are initially fearful of

the PCs. It shouldn’t be hard for the PCs to convince

the two adolescents that the party is not evil. The

two teenagers will quickly inform the PCs of the sad

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NeoExodus Adventures: gel

state of affairs on Lannil. They are also quick to add

that the teleport scroll was found in Heslik’s cave ( he

pointed it out to them during a visit last month ) and

there might be more useful stuff there. Josh and Mina

are terrified of the Rotter Ooze, the gel zombies and

the pirates but are not going down without a fight.

They’ll stick with the PCs if allowed, but won’t let the

PCs escape the island without them.

at the ooze, setting the frost pebble off and causing

noticeable damage. This will hopefully give the PCs a

hint as to the weakness of the Rotter Ooze. Josh will

explain the purpose of the frost pebble after the fight,

saying that Davin Longtil, a merchant in the town

makes them and that there are several more in town.

If the PCs manage to inflict more than 40 points of

normal damage to the Rotter Ooze it will attempt to

flee, but it’s more likely the PCs will be forced to flee.

Assuming the PCs flee, the ooze begins following

them to the village at its rather slow rate of speed. If

the PCs kill the Rotter Ooze bully for them! Now

they just have a boatload of angry pirates and a village

of gel zombies to deal with.

Mina and Josh tell the PCs the only way off the island

now is to get a boat from the cove and sail it out past

the reef at 3 AM or 3 PM, otherwise they’ll crash on

the reef. They suggest going to the village and trying

to get a boat and sneak away under cover of darkness.

The closest island, Mertee, is two days sail away. The

PCs appear 6 miles from the settlement of Lannil

point.

The Village of Lannil Point

When the PCs reach the village, both the pirates

and the ooze have already done serious damage to

it, destroying several buildings and killing all of the

inhabitants except for Josh, Mina, Davin Longtil and

Ben Rivers. The pirates have temporarily retreated

to their ship to avoid the gel zombies, ten of which

wander aimlessly about the village in a pack. The

PCs can explore the village while dodging zombies

and trying not to attract the attention of the pirates.

The PCs arrive at 9 PM on day 1. Daybreak is 6:30

AM and sunset is 7:30 PM.

The Portal Stone

The Portal Stone is the center of the unusual magical

effects cast on Lannil. It is a powerful artifact but

has no effect other than to cause the unusual magical

effects on Lannil active. It is slightly warm to the

touch and is completely covered in runes. This portal

is not operating and only usable one way by drawing

people to Lannil. You cannot escape from Lannil

from this portal.

If the gel zombies see or hear the PCs, they will attack

in mass until they or the PCs are destroyed.

If the PCs use any big flashy spells or engage in any

combats longer than five rounds, the pirates will send

a group of ten men ashore to investigate. It will take

five minutes for the pirates to get ashore.

Ambush!

As the PCs traverse the island towards the village,

they run into the Rotter Ooze, which is out looking

for a meal. This attack should occur at roughly 10:30

PM. The ooze has already devastated the town and

fought the pirates, now it is now hunting in the forests

for more food. Not being one for subtlety, the Rotter

Ooze simply rolls toward the PCs with 5 Gel Zombies

( former settlers ). When the attack occurs, the PCs

are on a trail leading from the place they arrived

through the center of the island to the settlement and

the Rotter Ooze is coming down the path toward

them. They can hear it coming with a Listen Check,

DC 15; otherwise they will see it when it enters the

radius of their light source. The ooze and its zombies

will attack with full force trying to slay the PCs and

feed them to the ooze.

Read the following when the PCs arrive at the village:

This settlement looks more like a war zone than a

farming village. Several buildings lay in ruins and to

the west a silo burns, illuminating the entire town in an

eerie, flickering light. Smoke rises in several areas and

there are bloodstains in several areas, but no bodies. In

the cove next to the village, a single galleon is moored

flying the Jolly Roger high and proud.

Thanks to the burning silo, the PCs do not suffer

lighting penalties while outside within the villages.

Unless otherwise noted all the buildings in the village

are single story buildings with basements.

Josh and Mina will suggest the PCs run because as far

as they know there is no way to harm the Rotter Ooze.

If the PCs insist on fighting the Rotter Ooze, Mina

and Josh will do their best. During the third round

of the fight, Josh accidentally throws a frost pebble

The PCs have until 1:00 AM to search the village

before the Rotter Ooze shows up and begins hunting

them.

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