Farkendry Dungeon Master's Guide

Farkendry

Dungeon Master’s Guide

Credits

Module Design and Documentation:

Greg Howley

GMonkey@swingmonkey.com

Guide Format:

Jason Robinson and the DM-Friendly Guild

Disclaimer

Please also see the Player’s Guide for important information. If you intend to play the module for fun, DO NOT READ THIS YET! This document contains almost every possible spoiler imaginable, and is only intended to help DMs. As a builder and scripter, I have literally never opened the DM client, but this document should be useful as a DM guide, cheat guide, or walkthrough.

Introduction

This module was originally designed with the intent of being played single or multi-player, non-DMed, but I've added this document and some other minor modifications in the hopes of making it more DM-friendly.

The player is asked by his/her mentor to investigate a mass murder in a neighboring country which has become something of an international incident. Everyone was slain, and the culprits escaped. The adventure involves finding clues which will lead to the murders, finding out who hired these killers, and finally rescuing nobles who had been thought to be dead.

This module is suitable for first level characters, although an included script will remove all but 500 XPs from any entering character, thereby demoting the character to first level.

The HCM bleeding and strip scripts are in use, so a DM can disable these by removing the respective items from the HCM staging area. In addition, I’ve written my own HCM item for the custom respawn system, and this may also be removed by removing the HCM RESPAWN item from the HCM staging area. I strongly recommend that DMs leave the strip script enabled. Starting money will be awarded, and clothing provided and automatically equipped. A store will be available for PCs to equip themselves before any danger presents itself. Bleeding will not take place in single player games, even if the HCM item is present – if there’s no one there to save you, there’s no point in enabling bleeding.

The custom Respawn system automatically disables respawning in single player games, and only allows respawning in multiplayer games when combat is not in progress. When it is disabled by removing the HCM item, respawning will function as in the official campaign.

Preparation

Before you attempt to DM this module, I suggest you do the following:

· Play through the module at least once

· Read the DM Materials

Suggested Server Settings

PvP Setting:	Full
Level Range:	1-8
Item Level Restrictions:	Enabled
Enforce Legal Characters:	Enabled
Only One Party:	Enabled

Adventure Background

In this setting, there are demons who seek nothing other than to destroy all life and all creation, although they pursue this goal in many ways. The war between gods and demons has raged since the beginning of time. The baser, more animalistic demons simply rampage and destroy. However, more intelligent demons are capable of subterfuge which may cause even greater long-term damage. It is one of these ultra-intelligent, incredibly powerful demons who is ultimately behind the murders being investigated by the players in this adventure. The demon, named Soferoc, hired an infamous group of pirates known as The Scay to perpetrate a mass assassination which would have deep political repercussions.

Recently the country of Timor, Farkendry’s neighbor to the South, has been having difficulties with a group of separatists who wish to secede from Timor and start their own country named Keymore. Timor wishes to put down these separatists and keep their country whole, but lacks sufficient military power to do it alone. To this end, they had asked Farkendry for aid. Farkendry and Timor had always been good neighbors, but at this time, the Farkendrian king refused to aid Timor. The public reasoning for this was that Farkendry did not have the land forces necessary to provide assistance, but the king’s underlying reasoning was that he did not wish to involve Farkendry in the attempt to thwart a revolution, since a country named Cedoria had successfully broken away from Farkendry not so long ago, and Farkendrian losses were high.

The Farkendrian king’s decision caused political tension between Farkendry and Timor where there had previously been none. Trade suffered, and there were a few unsanctioned skirmishes along the countries’ borders. The trend towards militancy between the two nations was very real, but luckily a Farkendrian Lord of the noble house Hillward proposed a solution. His son Lomar would marry the Timorian Lady Meira in the hopes of smoothing over relations between the two countries. All seemed well. Lady Meira was well-loved among the Timorian populace, and if she were to marry a Farkendrian, then Farkendrians could not be all that bad.

This is when the demon Soferoc saw his opportunity. First, he spread the rumor in Timor that Sir Lomar was a user of magic. If you have read the players’ guide, then you know how Timorians feel about users of the arcane. They were incensed that their beloved Lady Meira would wed a “warlock”. Then, less than a week into couple’s first meeting at the Hillward estate, the Scay Soferoc had hired struck. They killed every living person at the estate. The intent was to make it appear as though a Timorian lynch mob had come and killed everyone. Lady Meira was supposed to be captured, since Timorians would certainly not kill her, and yet she could not be allowed to speak of what had happened.

However, all did not go according to Soferoc’s plan. Lady Meira and Sir Lomar had both assented to the marriage with the knowledge that it would be a political marriage and with the expectation that there would be no love. However, upon getting to know one another, they quickly fell in love. When rumors of Lomar’s magic use reached the Hillward estate, Lomar quickly explained to Meira that although he had trained briefly in the arcane arts, he had no skill for it, and so had abandoned the pursuit. Meira’s guardians would hear none of it. They intended to escort her back to Timor the following morning. Lomar and Meira, seeing no other way to be together, eloped. Seeing that they needed to go to a neutral country, and one in which they would not be recognized, they fled to Keymore. No other country was close enough.

The two families were shocked at the disappearance of Lomar and of Meira, and were organizing search parties when the Scay assassins arrived. All the search parties, both families, and everyone who had any knowledge of the disappearance was killed, and the Scay were forced to withdraw without the captive they had planned to take.

Adventure Synopsis

Tensions between Farkendry and Timor having now risen far beyond what they had been, Farkendry is not allowing Timorian investigators onto the Hillward estate, and Timor is not allowing any Farkendrian officials into Timor to question people. To the average citizen of either country, the most obvious answer lies in Timor's cultural bigotry: Timor hates magic. This crime appears to be a brash attack by an angry Timorian mob.

Since the king cannot send any of his normal emissaries or ambassadors to look into the situation, nor can he send anyone who is known to be affiliated with Farkendrian government, he has sent word to Lord Alron of house Greybeard, the PC’s mentor. Lord Greybeard used to be a very skilled intelligence gatherer before his retirement, and the king felt confident that Alron could find someone well-suited to this task.

At the module start, Lord Greybeard imparts the mission to the player(s) in what is a very lengthy discussion. If as a DM you feel that this discussion is too long, or that you have a good enough grip on the background to brief the players yourself, feel free to destroy the preset Alron Greybeard character and use the blueprint instance provided in order to assign the quest. From here, the player heads to the Hillward estate, where various clues are available. The PC will either find a Scay body and note the tattoo, or will learn a name which was overheard by a neighbor. Once the PCs learn the name or copy the tattoo, they may move on to the city of Ellderan, where they must search for more information on whichever of the clues they have found.

In Ellderan, players will search until they find the one man who can give them the info they need, either about the tattoo, or about the name they’ve heard. This man is (of course) in the tavern. He will demand 1000gp for the information, which means that PCs will need to undertake some of the numerous side quests in the town. Once they have gathered the gold, they will learn that the name/tattoo belongs to a Scay. The man does not know where the Scay are, but tells them to begin their search in The Homeland.

In The Homeland, PCs will find evidence leading them to Stark Isle, which is the residence of the Scay. The Scay have fostered the myth of a creature called "The Stark" in order to keep people away. The fact that ships do not return from the area helps to reinforce the danger and the myth. After confronting the leader of The Scay, the player(s) will find that the couple who was engaged to be married eloped, which should be a surprise. They track the couple to Keymore, where they find them held captive by the cult of Soferoc, the demon who hired the Scay. The players confront the cult, and attempt to bring back both Lomar and Meira alive, allowing for four possible endings, depending on whether each of them lives or dies.

Special Notes

· The first player to enter the module is flagged as the "leader", and certain scripting events use this flag to recognize the PC as such. These events include Lord Alron Greybeard and Wedigo’s recognition scripts. This “leader” PC is Alron’s apprentice.

· The rest system in use only allows resting players to heal one point per level when resting outdoors, which takes six hours. Resting at an inn will allow for full recovery of hit points, and takes eight hours. A cancelled or interrupted rest takes three hours.

· When resting in certain areas, players may be interrupted by wandering creatures appropriate to that area. Chances to be awoken by an encounter vary by area. A user defined event is fired at any area where a player rests, and in the areas in which a player may be interrupted, that event is handled.

· In this setting, the only allowable races are Human, Halfling, and Half-elf. Dwarves are so uncommon as to not exist in this part of the world, Elves would be most unwelcome, and Half-Orcs and Gnomes simply do not exist. Half-elves are assumed to pass as human, having only small amounts of elven blood. Halflings in this setting all belong to a subrace known as "Hortel". There are also many human subraces. PCs are assumed to be of the Paiden subrace. Paiden are fair-skinned and of average build. Shee'kar are olive-skinned and of small build. Yutbok are dark-skinned and generally very muscular and tall.

· The few creatures added under the “Custom 5” category are generic NPCs for DM use.

Culture Notes

Farkendry

Farkendry is a Feudal Monarchy. The king has divided up his country into numerous feifs, such as Hartwright and Myrmydia. Each feif is ruled by a noble family. For example, House Greybeard governs Hartwright, and House Hillward governs Myrmydia. The ruler of a noble house is given the title "Lord", his wife "Lady", and his sons receive the title "Sir". Farkendrian culture is closer to that of the typical fantasy genre than any other country in the setting, which is why it was selected as a base location.

Farkendry takes pride in their shipping and fishing industry and in their navy. Farkendry has one of the most powerful navys in the world, second only to that of the Brog. Farkendry’s attempts to put an end to the Cedorian revolution were inadvertently stopped by the Brog, since Cedorian shore lay beyond Brog waters.

Timor

Long ago, Timor was a great empire, but since then it has stagnated. Their king rules only in name, and the individual towns and settlements are mostly self-governed, although they do pay minimal taxes. Ellderan is the largest city in Timor, but Eod is technically the capital. Over the past few decades, Eod has been struggling as they are raided from time to time by a goblinoid mariner race known as the Brog. The Brog have already destroyed many Timorian towns along the southern shore, such as Quezmo. Eod’s defense is entirely shorebound, as the Brog long ago smashed Timor’s naval forces.

One common belief that all Timorians share is that magic is evil, and that those who practice it are warlocks who consort with demons for evil purposes. Long ago, this was actually the case, and Timorians' aversion to magic served them well; they drove out all but the cagiest of warlocks from their country. However, even after hundreds of years, the stigma holds, and the use of magic is illegal in Timor, and is often punished by death.

The Homeland

The Homeland is a country full of halflings, and its name can be confusing for those unfamiliar with it. When halfling settlers who had been nomadic for so long finally found a land they wanted to call home, they simply gave the country this name, and it stuck. Now the large island is simply known as The Homeland. The halflings, or Hortel, who live in The Homeland have developed a reputation for laziness. This comes from living in a land with near year-round perfect weather, and no real dangers. Work is scarce, and seldom necessary. People live in their parents homes rent-free, eat the food which grows in their backyard, and spend their days doing mostly nothing. Positions of government are taken by any qualified Hortel who feels up to the task, although those few who busy themselves with such things are often dubbed 'busybodies', and are met with much eye-rolling.

Keymore

Keymore is a new land, still developing, still in the process of seceding from Timor, much to the chagrin of the Timorian king. Their government is not yet fully established, and their culture is still merely a subculture of Timor's. Keymore's populace consists largely of those who took exception to paying taxes to a king who lived too far away to exert control or extend aid. Use of magic is tolerated, but most people are still not comfortable with it.

For more cultural information, open the module and read the text in the books.

Areas

The area descriptions are covered in the document entitled Farkendry Area Descriptions.

· Farkendry

· Timor

· The Homeland

· Stark Isle

· Keymore

· Dungeons of The Cult of Soferoc

Henchmen

Forthcoming in the final version…

Quest Summaries