Dungeon Magazine 169.pdf

ISSUE 169 | AUgUSt 2009

A DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ® ROLEPLAYING GAME SUPPLEMENT

Co n t e n t s

4 hall of the snak e god

By Robert J. Schwalb

Legends of the Serpent Wood speak of an ancient

group of primitive humans who dedicated

themselves to the dark god Zehir. Several of the

temples they raised still stand in the wild lands,

and one such place has become home to new

dangers. This Side Trek makes for an excellent

respite between adventures, or can be used as a

springboard for a larger adventure series against

the forces of Zehir. A Side Trek for 11th-level PCs.

29 oa sis of the golden Pe aCoCk

By Tim Eagon

A desert oasis once revered by a group of avian-

friendly druids holds a secret well of power. Now, a

power-mad sorcerer seeks to tap the essence of the

oasis for her own abuses. The PCs must act quickly

to secure the oasis from this villain and her band

of eladrin bandits. An adventure for 7th-level PCs.

on t h e Cov er

Illustration by Zoltan Boros

& Gabor Szikszai

63 dungeon delve: Crown

of the troll k ing

By Daniel Marthaler

A troll who styles himself king has acquired an

artifact that allows him to capture the souls of

his defeated foes. Do your PCs dare brave his

lair to defeat him and retrieve this foul device? A

Dungeon Delve adventure for 11th-level PCs.

3 edi tor i a l

75 ru l i ng s k i l l

Ch a l l eng e s

By Mike Mearls

Mike continues to educate on the nature of skill

challenges, with unique applications and examples.

78 sav e My g a M e

By Stephen Radney-MacFarland

A DM’s best friend? Stephen Radney-MacFarland,

back with more advice and letters from the mailbag.

82 du ng eonCr a f t

By James Wyatt

James discusses the latest changes to his f ledgling

campaign.

10 s tor MCrow tor

By Bruce R. Cordell

Stormcrow Company—an unsavory band of

adventurers—haven’t been seen or heard from in

years. Rumors of their accumulated wealth have

spread far and wide, and if they have truly been

slain, that treasure is just waiting for adventurers

to come and collect it. But is anything ever as easy

as it seems? An adventure for 4th-level PCs.

72 C a MPaign wor k shoP:

the Bl a sPheMer

By James Wyatt

The depraved villain of James Wyatt’s Draconic

Prophecy series of Eberron novels is brought to life

for use in your D&D campaign.

Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, D ungeon , D ragon , d20, d20 System, Wizards of the Coast, all other Wizards of the Coast

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

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Inc. This product is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual people, organizations, places, or events is purely coincidental.

No portion of this work may be reproduced in any form without written permission. For more Dungeons & Dragons

articles, adventures, and information, visit www.wizards.com/dnd

E D i T o R i A L

169

IPHONE ANGST

Dungeon

A u g u s t 2 0 0 9

Editor-in-Chief

Chris Youngs

Even though D&D is still a tabletop game at its core, the

game is now firmly entrenched in the modern trappings—and

perils—of technology. The message boards, hordes of fan-

generated software, and ultimately D&D insider have seen

to that. But in the past couple of years, one particular device

has become a bane and boon to D&D games everywhere: the

iPhone.

Certainly, laptops preceded iPhones to many game tables.

i know several players who’ve brought their characters on lap-

tops, and used them to track their hit points and power usage,

and store their campaign notes. And of course cell phones

have been in everyone’s pockets for almost as long. But there’s

something about the iPhone…

it’s near-ubiquitous, for one. i know many people who own

iPhones but who don’t own laptops. And then there are the

apps. Cool apps have become so accessible for gamers, and

they’re mostly so cheap that few people who own iPhones, in

my experience, haven’t indulged themselves with one or two.

or fifty.

But mostly, it’s just that they’re cool. Full disclosure: i don’t

own one, but i wish i did (stupid two-year contract). And most

people i know who don’t have one also wish they did. They’re

handy, they’re fun, and yes, they can do so much cool stuff

out of the box that they can turn into a bigger time suck than

Techmobowl was for 12-year-old boys in 1987. With some-

thing so snazzy and now so common, DMs have to find ways

to deal with iPhones at the table. Some have just banned them

outright, adding them to the list with cell phones, portable

TVs, and durian (or maybe that’s just me).

As with any tool, iPhones can be used for good or evil. i’ve

thoughtfully attached a list in each category, so maybe you

DMs can rethink those blanket bans you may have already

put in place.

•CharacterSheets:Wedon’tcurrentlyofferourown

iPhone apps, but there are a couple cool ones that let you

import your Character Builder data into an iPhone readable

character sheet. The site www.iplay4e.com has an app that

people around the office use, for example.

•Twitter:Isavethisoneforlastbecauseyou’llseeitonthe

next list as well. Lots of folks i know twitter during games to

post updates to events as they unfold. Done in moderation, i

think that’s pretty cool. in excess? See below.

Senior Art Director

Jon Schindehette

Web Specialist

Chris Sims

Web Production

Bart Carroll, Steve Winter

Contributing Authors

Bruce R. Cordell, Tim Eagon,

Daniel Marthaler, Mike Mearls,

Stephen Radney-MacFarland,

Robert J. Schwalb, James Wyatt

THE BAD

•StartingDebates:Thecurseofhavingsomuchinforma-

tion at one’s fingertips makes some feel like the authority on

everything from hot wings to hot air balloons. So if someone

at the table engages in any sort of harmless speculation, some

iPhoners bust out i’mrightandyou’rewrong.com just to prove

a point. That crashing sound you just heard was your session

jumping the tracks.

•Youtube:Iloveafunnyvideoasmuchasthenextguy.

And i love some in-game movie quotes even more. What i

don’t love? Someone busting out the movie clip for the movie

just quoted. it’s overkill, it’s distracting, and it’s not welcome,

thank you very much.

•Twitter:Hereitis,backforroundtwo.Twitteringduring

the exciting moments of a game: Cool. Twittering your life as

itunfolds:Lame.HascelebrityTwitteritistaughtusnothing?

i’m sorry, but no one’s life is that interesting. Not to mention,

doing so during the game is just less attention paid to the

game and your fellow players. That leads me to…

•“It’sMyTurnAlready?”:Andlast,butcertainlynotleast,

the iPhone can be a never-ending source of one distraction

after another. i mean, it’s the interwebs. of course there’s

stuff to do, games to play, and message boards to lurk (or

troll). Take comfort: Those players who have their eyes glued

to their iPhones, oblivious to the world around them, will be

the first to fall when the zombie apocalypse happens.

Developers

Stephen Radney-MacFarland,

Peter Schaefer, Stephen

Schubert, Rodney Thompson

Editor

Miranda Horner, Gary Sarli

Cover Artist

Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai

Contributing Artists

Thomas Denmark, Empty Room

Studios, Rob Alexander, Wayne

England, Patrick McEnvoy, Raven

Mimura, William O’Connor,

Sam Wood

Cartographers

Jason Engle, Kyle Hunter,

Sean Macdonald, Mike Schley

Publishing Production Specialists Angelika Lokotz, Erin Dorries,

Christopher Tardiff

Web Development

Mark A. Jindra

THE GOOD

•SettlingDebates:iPhonesallowyoutoquicklyandeasily

access information. Sometimes you’re not near a computer or

a wireless network when you really want to access, say, iMDB

to quickly settle those movie quote debates that have derailed

many a D&D session. For something like this, nothing is

handier than an iPhone. Look it up, move along.

•Music.Sometimes,suchasaroundouroffice,you’re

playing D&D and just hankering for someone to fire up the

Conan the Barbarian soundtrack to accompany your current

battle. But there’s not a stereo or iPod dock in sight. Sure, the

speakers on the iPhone are tiny, but sometimes any music is

better than none.

D&D Creative Manager

Christopher Perkins

Executive Producer,

What it all boils down to is, as with everything, iPhones

are best in moderation. in the case of this particular piece of

technology, a little goes a long way, but the benefits can defi-

nitely outweigh the negatives if you set up some easy ground

rules.HaveafavoriteiPhoneapporiPhonehorrorstory?Let

us hear about it at dndinsider@wizards.com . We’d love to

hear from you!

D&D Insider

Ken Troop

Director of RPG R&D

Bill Slavicsek

Special Thanks

Richard Baker, Greg Bilsland, Logan Bonner, Michele Carter,

Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, Andy Collins, Bruce R. Cordell,

Jeremy Crawford, Rob Heinsoo, Peter Lee, Mike Mearls,

Kim Mohan, Cal Moore, Stephen Radney-MacFarland,

Peter Schaefer, Stephen Schubert, Matthew Sernett, Chris Sims,

Rodney Thompson, James Wyatt

A Side Trek

for 10th-Level

Characters

By Robert J. Schwalb

illustrations by Rick Hershey,

Empty Rooms Studios

cartography by Sean Macdonald

HALL

ld legends and dubious tales abound about

the Serpent Wood. Spoken over mugs of

ale, these stories about snake gods, shadowy

serpents, and vile thralls describe how they all

once capered in the gloom cast by the tall trees.

SNAKE GOD

A u g u s t 2 0 0 9 | D u n g e o n 16 9

OF THE

HALL OF THE SNAKE GOD

Generations have passed since the days when the strange folk ruled the forest, but even now, centuries

later, few dare tread its darkened trails for fear of disturbing the restless ghosts and drawing the atten-

tion of terrible predators. Rangers and other woodsy folk lend credence to these fears by whispering

about moss-covered ruins where old stones jut up from the loamy earth and serve as mute reminders of a

lost and ancient society. One can only wonder what might still remain behind for an intrepid adventure

with more courage than sense to unearth and bring into the light.

“Hall of the Snake God” is a short Side Trek designed

for five characters of between 10th and 12th level.

Consisting of just two encounters, you can run this

scenario to bridge two larger adventures together or

as an adventure played in a single night.

Beyond the door, they find a long staircase descend-

ing into darkness.

At the bottom, the stairs open onto a crude

chamber that the people who ruled the forest above

excavated long ago, and in it stands a strange portal

that links this world to another beyond it. To prevent

mortal passage through the shimmering portal, an

ancient naga protects the gate with the added might

of an eidolon and a sea of serpents.

Fresh Sacrifice: The people of Sedgewen, a small

settlement on the Serpent Wood’s fringes, descend

from those primitive snake worshipers. Believing

their god to still live in the forest, they lure adven-

turers into the woods, promising great treasure or

imperiled innocents awaiting rescue. The wicked

villages hope their master will accept the adventurers

as a worthy sacrifice.

Marauding ettin: A tiny community huddled on

the Serpent Wood’s outer edge came under attack

from a marauding ettin. At first the raids claimed live-

stock, but the ettin is becoming more daring and has

snatched a few villagers. The villagers beg the heroes

for help as they pass through the area.

ADVENTURE

BACKGROUND

The rumors surrounding the Serpent Wood are true:

Primitive humans did raise a city in the trees’ shelter.

They dedicated their society to Zehir, the serpent god,

but their nation didn’t thrive long. Decadence, overin-

dulgence, and treachery were the hallmarks of their

undoing. The few weathered stones, many marked

with strange runes, remain in full view, but secret

places, such as rooms and structures buried beneath

the forest f loor, are hidden and forgotten by all but

the strange inhabitants set to guard them.

While traveling the forest, the adventurers dis-

cover one such site. After confronting an ettin and its

pet owlbear, the PCs discover a locked, soot-darkened

bronze door that vines have nearly overgrown.

INVOLVING THE PCS

Any of the following adventure hooks are suitable for

involving the adventurers in the adventure.

Buried Treasure: A strange discovery during a

previous adventure leads the characters to the Hall

of the Snake God. Painted on an old swatch of snake

skin is a map, likely found amid other treasure or

tucked away inside an old scroll tube. Scrutinizing

the map reveals a few familiar landmarks, which

allows the characters to follow the map to what can

only be treasure and glory.

A u g u s t 2 0 0 9 | D u n g e o n 16 9

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