d20 Devil's Workshop Sidetrek Adventure Weekly The Undead Chronicles Player's Guide.pdf
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THE UNDEAD CHRONICLES
PLAYER’S GUIDE
WRITTEN BY John Ling, Amber E. Scott
and Greg Oppedisano
LPJ9668
SIDETREK ADVENTURE WEEKLY 2: THE UNDEAD CHRONICLES PLAYER’S GUIDE
PLAYER CHARACTERS
INTRODUCTION
“Who has not heard of the Cauldron-Born, the mute and
deathless warriors who serve the Lord of Annuvin? These
are the stolen bodies of the slain, steeped in Arawn’s caul-
dron to give them life again. They emerge implacable as
death itself, their humanity forgotten. Indeed, they are no
longer men but weapons of murder, in thrall to Arawn
forever.”
PLAYER CHARACTERS’
HISTORY OF MERZEL’S FALL
My grandpappy told me that Merzel was the man who built
this town, but he lived only a single night in it. The next
morning, a trapper found his body floating in the river. They
say it was the loneliness that got him, the wind howling
outside his window. One night was all it took for him to
realize what a fool thing it was to try and live this far north.
Now his spirit haunts the empty town and draws in more
unnatural beasties.
— Lloyd Alexander, The Black Cauldron
Me? I’ve lived here for nigh on a dozen years now. But my
grandpappy always said I was a fool, too.
With hundreds of bizarre and freakish monsters populating
game supplements, zombies seem a little old-fashioned.
Quaint. Their lumbering gait and limited vocabulary seems
straight out of a black-and-white movie from the 50s. Their
single slam attack and slow movement speed make them
an annoyance to low-level characters, but few experienced
gamers feel real fear when facing down a pack of zombies.
– Caba Dell, Zombie Hunter
Everyone knows that a prospector named Merzel founded
Merzel’s Fall, but no one remembers exactly how he died.
Someone did find his body in the river; legend tells that he
jumped from the cliffs above, giving the town its name. The
reason for his suicide remains unclear, though most agree
it was financial ruin that triggered the desperate act. Some
whisper about a dark pact Merzel signed, and a black crea-
ture that came to claim his soul.
Add the roleplaying angle, though, and a zombie’s effect
on characters changes substantially. Alien monstrosities
might frighten with their strangeness, but it is a zombie’s
familiarity which makes it so terrifying. This is not just a
monster: it’s a person. A person whose memories, morals,
dreams, and loves have all been stripped away, leaving
behind an unthinking, unfeeling monstrosity. Its fate could
conceivably befall any adventurer, no matter how skilled.
A zombie is an unliving reminder that bitter and inglorious
ends are as common as brave and heroic ones — perhaps
even more common.
The town stood abandoned for many years until another
prospector struck gold in the river. Soon dozens flocked
to Merzel’s Fall every year during the thaw to make their
fortune. Many succumbed to intense cold, natural predators,
and the undead that seemed to throng the region in the past.
It’s been many years now since anyone’s seen a zombie
around the town.
It’s easy to treat a zombie adventure as just another hack-
fest. This time, try imagining, really imagining, what it
would be like to look your best friend in the eye and realize
he is dead. Look at the faces around you and picture them
with no memory of you, raw flesh showing through their
rotten skin, filled with murderous fury. Imagine all your
individuality gone, leaving you a mindless tool to serve
whatever whim Evil dictates.
Oh, sure. Every now and then some undead abomination
wanders too close. Sometimes a prospector or two gets
killed. But hey, that’s the cost of the job. Honestly, the
natural hazards around here are far more dangerous. Steep
cliffs, icy water, starving bears. Those are the things pros-
pectors need to be concerned with. Undead? Well, they’re
great for telling stories around the campfire, that’s for
sure!
Think on this and swing your axe, cast your spell, or say
your prayers with mercy in your heart for those lost souls
battering down the door and breaking through the window.
And if you survive, be grateful you have escaped their fate
another day.
Every Spring, the Rushers make haste for the little shanty
town by the Icingrill River. A supply caravan, typically
headed by Zelly Berrick, rides into town a week or so before
the big rush. They basically open the town for business –
clean out the Heart of the Rush Inn, get the shelves stocked,
and so on. And then the wave of humanity hits the town.
Happy gaming,
The Werecabbages
When the Rushers arrive, the town really comes alive. A
lucky prospector can make enough cash in two months to
set his family up for a couple of years. During the season,
The Heart of the Rush is active at all hours of the day and
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SIDETREK ADVENTURE WEEKLY 2: THE UNDEAD CHRONICLES PLAYER’S GUIDE
night. Card games, drinking, accusations of claim jumping,
hookers. The Heart has it all. You can count on at least
one brawl breaking out a day, typically because somebody
accuses somebody else of stealing his claim, or maybe his
woman.
1. Heart of the Rush.
No sign dangles from this wooden building. As the only
inn in town, it doesn’t need to advertise. Two large cabins
joined by a lean-to make up the Heart. The western cabin
serves as a taproom with a large bar and floor crowded with
tables. The eastern cabin functions as the inn. Bunks bolted
to the walls hold one — barely — and go for the kingly rate
of 1 gp per night. The floor is a common area that’s held as
many as twenty-five, each paying 5 sp a night.
The folks in town aren’t very pious, but they do work to
maintain Preacher Toll’s shrine. An odd thing, that shrine.
You name a deity, there’s probably been a prayer said to
him there. Preacher Toll runs the place on just two simple
rules. First, the shrine is neutral ground; anybody is free to
set up a memorial to their god, but you can’t deface the area
of another. Second, Toll insists that the memorial for his
patron remains the largest. Oh, and of course it helps if you
pay him, as well.
A family of six runs the Heart, led by their patriarch, Reet
Zeggin (
LN male human expert 2
). He runs the taproom
while his wife, Erla, manages the inn, and their three sons
— Jakk, Erlest, and Ryn — and their daughter, Reeta, help
out where they’re needed.
That’s the key in Merzel’s Fall – everything is for sale.
Everything. If you have the cash, somebody is selling what
you want. They may not know it’s for sale yet, but that’s
OK. Once you start flashing around your gold, scruples and
morals get tossed into the melting river. It’s been said that
men have even sold their wives – especially if their claim
is dry.
2. Stables.
These solid wooden stables hold up to eight horses. Reet
Zeggin or one of his sons stands guard here every night.
3. Zelly’s Supplies.
Azalea Berrick (
LN female gnome expert 3
) – known as
“Zelly” to most folks in Merzel’s Fall – runs this overpriced,
under stocked general store. Zelly is cheerful and always
telling tall tales, but she also drives a hard bargain. Zelly
stocks typical supplies – pans, ropes, dried meat, pitons, and
so on. Her prices start at triple the price listed in the Core
Books, and she’ll negotiate a price no lower than double the
listed price.
Law enforcement in Merzel’s Fall doesn’t really exist.
Disputes are generally settled with cash or fists. Whoever
has the most cash or the strongest fists is right, and the other
fool was wrong. If things get really out of hand, Hardin
Frostheave – a dwarven prospector – has been known to
step in to help resolve things on occasion. Things have to
devolve pretty far for ol’ Hardin to step in, though. He’s
more interested in making his riches then running any sort
of government – even if most of the Rushers do look to him
as their leader. Well, more or less.
4. Appraisals.
Serinnel Day (
LG female half-elf rogue 2/expert 2
) oper-
ates this weigh station, charging the Rushers a small fee for
access to her scales. Serinnel’s past as a criminal and con
artist is something she’d just as soon forget. However, she
possesses skills unique to the region, and presented with an
altruistic use for those skills, she could be convinced to ply
her original trade again. Her weigh station is a ramshackle
building, barely standing after the most recent winter. All
the Rushers know Serinnel to be honest, and thoroughly
trust her scale and her appraisals.
Yep, Merzel’s Fall is a crazy place. A person could make his
fortune here. Of course, the alternative isn’t that a person
won’t find his fortune; the alternative is that the land eats
you alive, and spits out your cold corpse.
PLAYER CHARACTERS’
OVERVIEW OF MERZEL’S FALL
Merzel’s Fall, a tiny prospecting town, holds only the
minimum number of buildings to support the Rushers and
the Suppliers every year. Most residents sleep in sturdy
canvas tents, but six log cabins — supposedly built by
Merzel himself — contain narrow bunks and a firepit. Each
cabin houses up to ten, and occupants claim bunks on a
first-come first-serve basis.
5. Tablerock.
Pitched tents mark off a roughly oval area, in the midst
of which, stands a cluster of flint-gray boulders. Frost has
cracked and split the boulders over and over again, leaving
a mass of sharp planes and jagged edges. One section of
Merzel’s Fall hosts seven unique locations, detailed here.
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SIDETREK ADVENTURE WEEKLY 2: THE UNDEAD CHRONICLES PLAYER’S GUIDE
boulder appears sliced off as if by a giant’s axe and forms a
rough table atop the five-foot-high pile. It is on this ‘table’
that the Suppliers light their bonfire every year to signal
their families it is safe to approach.
The residents of Merzel’s Fall use Tablerock as a meeting
place and an area in which to gather for celebrations and
revelry.
6. Mule Pen.
Mersi Bigglefrow (
NE female halfling
expert 2
) operates the Mule Pen; she
rents mules to Rushers at an exorbitant
rate, charging 3g per day for the mule and
an additional 1g for standard items such as a
pack saddle. Mersi has no particular interest
in the well-being of her animals; she doesn’t
abuse them, but she also doesn’t take espe-
cially good care of them. At the beginning
of the Rush season, she has a total of 10
mules available for rent.
7. Shrine.
An odd polytheistic shrine dedi-
cated to a plethora of deities stands
here. The small open-air shrine
contains areas dedicated to most
gods within the pantheon. The
largest area is reserved for Ghedet,
however, since one of his loyal
followers – Preacher Toll – oper-
ates the shrine. Toll’s rules for the
shrine are simple. Worship of any
faith is permitted at any time, and
all must respect the space dedicated
to other deities – even if it’s a god whose
believes are anathema to your own.
NEW PRESTIGE CLASS
Hunter of Ghedet
The Hunters of Ghedet is an order
dedicated to the deity Ghedet and
as such share his hatred of all
things unnatural. Its members typi-
cally include rangers and druids, and
occasionally fighters, clerics and barbarians. A Hunter of
Ghedet must believe that undead are the world’s greatest
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SIDETREK ADVENTURE WEEKLY 2: THE UNDEAD CHRONICLES PLAYER’S GUIDE
Hunter of Ghedet
Base
Attack Fort Ref Will
Level
Bonus Save Save Save Special
1st
+1 +2 +0 +2
Ghedet’s Pact +1, Critical Undead
2nd
+2 +3 +0 +3
Smite Undead 1/day
3rd
+3 +3 +1 +3
Ghedet’s Pact +2, Great Cleave Undead
4th
+4 +4 +1 +4
Smite Undead 2/day
5th
+5 +4 +1 +4
Ghedet’s Pact +3, Mighty Cleave Undead
abomination – and be willing to take violent action on
that belief. A hunter actively seeks out undead minions at
their epicentre and with determination and cunning acts to
eliminate both the spawn and the source – containment is a
secondary objective.
Ghedet’s Pact (
Ex
):
A hunter never utilizes undead for
his own purposes, even if the ends justify the means to
others. A hunter who creates undead, or associates with
anybody who creates undead, loses all class abilities until he
receives an atonement spell from a cleric of Ghedet who is
at least 3 levels higher than the hunter. A first level Hunter
of Ghedet receives a +1 sacred bonus on all attack rolls,
damage rolls, ability checks, skill checks and saves while
combating undead. This bonus increases to +2 at 3rd level,
and increases to +3 at 5th level.
The life of a Hunter of Ghedet is often lonely; they are
frequently living and working on the edges of civilization.
The hunter is not against working with other adventurers as
long as they work to further Ghedets war on the undead. A
hunter will not tolerate the use of undead by any associate;
the ends never justify the means.
Critical Undead (
Ex
):
At 1st level, whenever a Hunter of
Ghedet successfully attacks an undead creature with a crit-
ical hit and successfully confirms the critical hit – he deals
critical hit damage as per the normal critical hit rules.
Hit Die:
d8.
REQUIREMENTS
To qualify to become a Hunter of Ghedet, a character must
fulfill all of the following criteria.
Smite Undead (
Ex
):
Once per day, a Hunter of Ghedet may
attempt to smite undead with one normal melee attack. He
adds his charisma bonus to his attack roll and deals 1 extra
point of damage per class level. If he accidentally smites a
creature that is not undead the smite has no effect but is used
up for the day. He can use this ability more times per day as
shown on the Hunter of Ghedet table.
Alignment:
Any neutral.
Base Attack Bonus:
+3.
Skills:
Knowledge (
religion
) 4 ranks or Knowledge (
nature
)
4 ranks.
Great Cleave Undead (
Ex
):
If you deal an undead creature
enough damage to make it drop (typically by dropping it to
below 0 hit points or killing it), you get an immediate, extra
melee attack against another undead creature within reach.
You cannot take a 5-foot step before making this extra
attack. The extra attack is with the same weapon and at the
same bonus as the attack that dropped the previous creature.
There is no limit to the number of times you can use this
ability in a round.
Feats:
Power Attack.
Class Skills:
Concentration (
Con
), Craft (
Int
), Heal (
Wis
),
Listen (
Wis
), Knowledge (
Religion
) (
Int
), Knowledge
(
Nature
) (
Int
), Listen (
Wis
), Profession (
Wis
), Ride (
Dex
),
Spot (
Wis
), Survival (
Wis
), Swim (
Str
).
Skill Points at Each Level:
6 + Int modifier.
CLASS FEATURES:
Weapon and Armour proficiency: Hunters of Ghedet is
proficiency with all simple and martial weapons, all types
of armor and shields (
except tower shields
)
Mighty Cleave Undead (
Ex
):
This ability works exactly
like Great Cleave Undead except that you can take a 5-foot
step before making this extra attack. The number of five
foot steps you may take is equal to the number of attacks of
opportunity that you may make (
the Combat Reflexes feat
may be used to increase this number
).
PAGE 5 OR X
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