SPOILER WARNING: I’m adapting James Wyatt’s 3.5 adventure “Queen with Burning Eyes” from Dungeon magazine #113, August 2004. I’m going to spoil the heck out of bits of it over the next few posts in this series. So:
1. I’m not sure if Paizo has this issue on sale online, but if you can get your hands on it do so. QwBE is a solid, cool 1st – 3rd level adventure.
2. This thing came out in a magazine 11 years ago. Don’t worry about me ruining some plot twists.
The session begins with the characters, having decided to form an adventuring company, looking for job leads at their favorite tavern in Brunwald, The Magpie. They are approached by Vestan Simul, a nobleman. Simul has recently acquired an old warehouse in The Chasm, a rundown neighborhood that is, quite literally, a hole in the ground. His workmen found an underground complex of tunnels beneath, and, in the course of exploring these tunnels, several workers have vanished. He needs hearty adventures to check out these underground passages.
So, once again we have a mysterious stranger giving the PCs a quest in the tavern. The original adventure gives several options to start things off without resorting to this old chestnut, and, as I’ve said before, it’s counter to my instincts. However, it seemed the most efficient way to get things going. Embracing the cliché means the players know what’s going on and their roles. The familiarity helps momentum. I’m pretty sure I first saw this advice in Last Unicorn Games Star Trek RPGs.
(Side Note: I try not to think about the LUG Star Trek games. Doing so encourages me to pull the books off the shelf and lose an afternoon paging through them.)
The players are pretty eager to get down into the ruins and do some dungeoneering. There’s some equipment checking, but no research on Simul. I’m sure that’s fine. (SPOILER) In the original adventure, the noble pays each PC 100 gold pieces, with the promise of more after they clear out the tunnels. I neglected to take into account the economic shift in 5E. 100 gps is a small fortune. This is particularly true when compared to the monsters’ treasure I generated using the appropriate tables from the Dungeon Master’s Guide. The handfuls of copper and silver pieces seem paltry.
Anyway, there’s a fight at the entrance with some goblin guards and the discovery of a trapdoor leading to the tunnels. 5E combat is brutal. The combination of 1st level hit points and this edition’s bounded accuracy means that each hit matters and can do significant damage. What in 3.5 would have been an appetizer fight before the real action is now a knock-down, drag-out event. The PCs were probably saved by me forgetting about the goblin’s special movement abilities until almost the end of the fight.
More cautious now, and with the new catch phrase “first level sucks”, they send the rogue Copper to scout out the lower level. The half-elf misses the camouflaged Grimlocks and is walloped. He takes cover while the sorcerer, hanging out the trap door, fries the creatures with acid spells. (Wow, magic is dangerous in this game.)
Put through the ringer, the PCs decide to climb back up to the entrance room, using the trapdoor’s capstone to block access from the lower dungeon. Here, they take advantage of the Long Rest rules and try to heal up before going any farther.
Things Get Dicey 