d20 4e Expeditious Retreat Press Lands of Darkness 6 The Wild Hills.pdf

Lands of Darkness

The Wild Hills

An adventure setting for 5 players levels 3-5

Credits

Table of Contents

Introduction.....................................................................................2

1. Waylaid!......................................................................................3

2. Oh What a Tangled Web We Weave...........................................5

3. Stone Rats...................................................................................6

4. Dust in the Wind.........................................................................7

5. Let Sleeping Bears Lie................................................................8

6. Food For Worms.........................................................................9

7. Last Refuge...............................................................................10

8. ....And the Dead Keep it............................................................12

9. The Wonders of Nature.............................................................13

10. Home Sweet Home.................................................................15

11. Home Sweet Home, Room 2...................................................17

12. Dust Wyrm..............................................................................18

Player Handouts............................................................................20

Authors: Suzi Yee and Joseph Browning

Cartographer: Joseph Browning

Cover Artist: Ash Jackson

Internal Artists: Scott Purdy, Jeremy McHugh, Joe Calkins

Editor: Joseph Browning

Layout: Suzi Yee

Introduction

Hooks

If the party needs some incentive to explore the Wild Hills,

here are three potential adventure hooks. If used, they are

treated as Quests with token treasure if they are successful.

(Party Level 3 - 150 Experience, 50 gp; Party Level 4 - 175

Experience, 75 gp; Party Level 5 - 200 Experience, 100gp).

Lands of Darkness #6: The Wild Hills is designed for a

party of 5, levels 3-5. While this work details 12 encounters,

the hills themselves are quite large. GM’s are encouraged

to drag and drop this location in their campaign and create

more encounters for party exploration or future story arcs.

However, a general history and adventure hooks are provided

for GM’s on the go.

• A up and coming naturalist is working on a theory of

evolutionary adaptation, and while he has been able to support

his theory in the laboratory, he wants samples from nature. He

hires the party to search through the wild hills for a rare breed

of rat rumored to pass through stone. (area 3)

How to Use Lands of Darkness

Lands of Darkness have encounters within a larger area. They

are easily dropped into a pre-existing campaigns with plenty

of room for GMs to expand more detail speciic to their world

and story arcs.

Encounters are tailored for each level within range. For

example, The Wild Hills is designed for parties levels 3-5,

so each encounter will have monsters, treasures, quests, and

starting position maps for a party level 3, party level 4, and

party level 5. If a party completes each encounter, they should

have acquired enough experience to gain 1 level.

GMs should take note of which monsters are in the area,

as the monster lists and starting locations are dependent on

party level. For example in area 5, the adolescent mountain

bear is only present for Party Level 5 and is not present for

Party Levels 3 and 4. Also note the addition of more monsters

of the same type. For example in area 1, a Party Level 5

encounters 4 footpads denoted on the map as (F) (F 4 ) (F 5 ).

• Renowned anthropologist Alfred Dire hires the party to

explore and map the cave complexes of the past civilizations

of the wild hills. (area 11)

• A wizened master of the arcane requires a unique

component: the ashes of a Large dust elemental. Such

creatures are rumored to haunt the wild hills and the party will

be handsomely rewarded should they obtain a vial’s worth.

(area 12)

Features of the Wild Hills

Terrain: The area is rocky and hilly with large stone features

dotting the landscape, the larger ones riddled with caves.

Road: Once a river bed, a lone road winds through the

wild hills following the lay of the land. The southern entrance

is the low ground.

Overview Map : The encounters detailed in this

supplement are labeled with numbers and white while other

structures are illed in grey. GM’s are encouraged to adapt the

map to suit their needs and create more encounters germane to

their particular campaigns and story arcs.

History

The wild hills are an ecological buffer between a point of light

and the true barbarism that lies beyond. Dotted throughout the

hills are large tufa deposits covered with basalt, spires of rock

dotted with caves both natural and engineered. Once home

to a thriving civilization when water was more bountiful,

decades of drought caused the people to lee their stony

homes, leaving the arid canyons to those who can eek out an

existence in the wild hills.

Random Encounters in the Wild Hills

While life in general is scarcer in the wild hills, that makes

potential prey all the more desirable. Roll on the following

table every 6 hours during the day and every 4 hours at night

for random encounters.

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS

Compatibility Logo, D&D, PLAYER’S HANDBOOK, DUNGEON

MASTER’S GUIDE, and MONSTER MANUAL are trademarks of

Wizards of the Coast, Inc. in the USA and other countries and are

used with permission. Certain materials, including 4E References in

this publication, D&D core rules mechanics, and all D&D characters

and their distinctive likenesses, are property of Wizards of the Coast,

Inc., and are used with permission under the Dungeons & Dragons 4th

Edition Game System License. All 4E References are listed in the 4E

System Reference Document, available at www.wizards.com/d20.

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS 4th Edition PLAYER’S HANDBOOK, written by Rob Heinsoo, Andy Collins, and James Wyatt;

DUNGEON MASTER’S GUIDE, written by James Wyatt; and MONSTER MANUAL, written by Mike Mearls, Stephen

Overview Map of the Wild Hills

10/11/12

7/8

Scale=1 mile

Random Encounters (1d6)

Party Level 4 (900 XP)

1 Thaumaturge (175 XP) ( T )

2 Thugs (175 XP each) ( H )

3 Footpads (125 XP each) ( F ) ( F 4 )

1 5 Hyenas

2 1 Giant Mound Worm

3 2 Dust Cats

4 5 Stormclaw Scorpions

5 No Encounters

6 No Encounters

Party Level 5 (1,025 XP)

1 Thaumaturge (175 XP) ( T )

2 Thugs (175 XP each) ( H )

4 Footpads (125 XP each) ( F ) ( F 4 ) ( F 5 )

1. Waylaid!

Features

Hidden amongst the caves and rocks of the lowland, a band

of brigands have taken to ambushing the few travelers and

traders that pass through the wild hills.

Boulders: The brigands hide behind the large boulders

previously fallen from the surrounding cliff side. Most are 3-5

feet tall while the largest are up to 7 feet tall.

Camp Fire: During the evening, the camp ire is lit for

warmth and cooking, but during the day, the ire is unlit.

Cliffs: On the sides of this clearing are steep cliffs,

requiring a DC 25 Athletics check to climb.

Hidden Stash: Underneath a small boulder nearest the

campire is a hidden cache (see Treasure).

Monsters

Party Level 3 (775 XP)

1 Thaumaturge (175 XP) ( T )

2 Thugs (175 XP each) ( H )

2 Footpads (125 XP each) ( F )

F 4

Thaumaturge

Level 4 Artillery

Medium natural humanoid

XP 175

F 5

Initiative +4

Senses Perception +5

+40

HP 42; Bloodied 21

AC 17; Fortitude 13, Relex 14, Will 15

Speed 6

M Quarterstaff (standard; at-will) • Weapon

+3 vs. AC; 1d8 damage.

R Energy Blast (standard; at-will) • Force

Ranged 20; +8 vs. Relex; 2d4 + 4 force damage.

r Tri-icicle (standard; encounter) • Cold

The thaumaturge makes a separate attack against 3

different targets; ranged 10; +6 vs. Relex; 1d6 + 4

cold damage.

a Arcane Slap (standard; encounter) • Force

Area burst 1 within 10; +8 vs. Fortitude; 1d8 + 2 force

damage, and the target is dazed (save ends).

Alignment Evil Languages Common

Skills Arcana +10

Str 11 (+2) Dex 15 (+4) Wis 16 (+5)

Con 13 (+3) Int 19 (+6) Cha 13 (+3)

Equipment robes, quarterstaff, wand

+40

Footpad

Level 2 Skirmisher

Tactics

Medium natural humanoid

XP 125

Their tactics are simple yet effective. The thaumaturge starts

the combat with arcane slap , the thugs and footpads get 1

round of ranged attacks off before switching to melee. The

thaumaturge hangs back using his tri-icicle and then his energy

blast , the thugs used pissed off , and the footpads maneuver for

combat advantage and use dazing lurry on any opponents that

were not dazed by the initial arcane slap .

Initiative +7

Senses Perception +2

HP 37; Bloodied 18

AC 16; Fortitude 12, Relex 14, Will 12

Speed 6

M Scimitar (standard; at-will) • Weapon

+4 vs. AC; 1d8 + 1 damage, and the footpad shifts 1 square.

R Dagger (standard; at-will) • Weapon

Ranged 5/10; +5 vs. AC; 1d4 + 3 damage.

m Dazing Flurry (standard; encounter) • Weapon

Requires scimitar; +5 vs. AC; 1d8 + 1 damage, the

target is dazed until the end of the footpad’s next turn,

and the footpad shifts 1 square.

Combat Advantage

The footpad deals an extra 1d6 damage on melee

and ranged attacks against any target it has combat

advantage against.

Alignment Evil Languages Common

Str 13 (+2) Dex 16 (+4) Wis 10 (+1)

Con 12 (+2) Int 11 (+1) Cha 13 (+2)

Equipment leather armor, 4 daggers, scimitar

Treasure

Party Level 3

Potion of Healing , golden chain (20 gp), ornate silver broach

with lock of hair (25 gp), turtle shell combs with ivory inlay

(100 gp), 20 gp, 50 sp, 100 cp

Party Level 4

Potion of Healing , golden chain (25 gp), ornate silver broach

with lock of hair (35 gp), turtle shell combs with ivory inlay

(100 gp), 30 gp, 100 sp, 200 cp

Party Level 5

Potion of Healing , golden chain (25 gp), ornate silver broach

with lock of hair (35 gp), turtle shell combs with ivory inlay

(100 gp), coral and pearl earrings (200 gp), 50 gp, 100 sp,

200 cp

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