Module "Girls Night Out" by Melinda Berkman and Lee Sonko this document is given up to the public domain. This is a live action adventure written for the NERO roleplaying system. It was run in the winter of 1993 in Massachusetts. I encourage you to modify this document to conform to your roleplaying system and then play it! If you like this module, We'd love to see one of yours. Write to me at LSonko@pearl.tufts.edu or contact Nero Ashbury at: 718-596-NERO or NeroNY@aol.com Nero 218 Plymouth St Brooklyn, NY 11201-1124 -------------------------------------------------------- Description: Madame Boboinka approaches the party to hire them to retrieve some of her missing employees. Six of them went out on an excursion; none returned. Madame Boboinka uses the term "Girls" loosely; although it is preferable that at least some of the NPCs be female or guys willing to play a drag role, they don't all have to be. One of the girls received a message that her father was outside of town and would like to visit her. Unbeknowst to all the others, the reason he cannot enter town is that he is a Necromancer and is travelling with a pack of Undead for protection. Also unbeknownst to the rest, one of the other girls has been taunting some of the non-monster denizens of the woods, such as nymphs, and has brought down the enmity of the forest creatures on the entire party. Each of the "girls" has met a different fate. It is the job of the party to bring them back; in practice, however, this is impossible. They must at least learn of the fate of each of them to earn their full reward. Note to Director: Many of these roles require someone who will at least try to roleplay. Try to cast the Drag Troll and the Taunting Nymphs with someone who can make the most of the role. Desdemona and her father should also know the rules well, as they may be required to stalk or escape from the party. These encounters do not have to occur in any particular order. Some of them can be indoors or outdoors, so you can alter the settings and the order to suit the area chosen for the module. Desdemona should occur first, if possible, so that if the NPCs must follow or accompany the party for a while, they will be likely to be finished by the time the next group must start. If any of the girls are rescued and would therefore be with the party, you can use a real live NPC if there are enough. If so, the other NPCs in following encounters should not treat this character any differently from the party. They may be killed in combat. If there are not enough NPCs, the party can just be told that the rescuee is accompanying them and runs screaming off into the woods at the first sign of danger, to return when the fight is over. (This does slightly favor groups when there are not enough NPCs, which is why most of the payoff does not come at the end.) I use the word "girl" rather loosely in this writeup because I don't know what else to call them. Depending on the NPC mix, you can use all females, males in drag if they want to play females, males in drag if they want to play males in drag, or just plain males (there's no reason why Boboinka's employees can't be male too.) Items Needed: Lots of string or tape to draw out FOUR concentric circles for Circle of Power or lines for Wall of Force Even more tape to mark out areas in the Sleep Spider cave A bunch of foam rocks for throwing A Wanted poster - for someone named Kyril wanted for murder Monster makeup/ tabards NPC Spell packets NPC Weapons Something to let male NPCs play females because there are never enough female NPCs. I suggest lengths of cloth to make wrap-around skirts, headscarves, wigs, use guys with long hair, etc. On the other hand, we may have enough female NPCs. Components - 2 for each run. Either physical items or tags for magic items in the module. Potion tags: Cure Crit, Cure Light, Magic Armor for each run Weekend passes to Madame Boboinkas Money INITIAL ENCOUNTER - Madame Boboinka There should be a Wanted poster tacked to the door of the Logistics cabin, so that everyone sees it as they check it. It should say "Wanted for Murder : Kyril of Volta. Reward offered - Dead or Alive, preferably alive". No mention of this is made at any time to the party. It should not even be clear if this has to do with this module or not. Madame Boboinka approaches the party. As far as I'm concerned, this can happen without the marshall, perhaps before the party is battle-boarded while they are waiting their turn. It will give them something to plan and/or think about while they are waiting. This makes a natural leadin to the module without the marshall having to say "OK, you're in the middle of the woods for no apparent reason when you see. ..." In the NPC's best Mae West accent, Madame Boboinka will explain that she is looking for some stalwart adventurers to help her out (if it seems appropriate to the party's reaction, she may add "but you'll do instead".) It seems that one of her girls received a message that her father was waiting to see her outside of town. Four of the other girls decided to make a party of it and accompany her to the meeting. They left early in the morning and should have returned already. Madame Boboinka is quite concerned that they be back in time to go to work this evening, as she is expecting quite a busy night due to it's being "Mud Wrestling" night. Since several items in the module are there to delay the party, she should stress the "on time" part. She should NOT say what condition she expects the girls back in. She will offer a cash reward and free weekend passes for each of the party members if they return all of the girls to Ravenholt by evening. She will give the party the girls' names and make them recite them back to her: Desdemona, Esmerelda, Fred, Carlotta, Llewellyn and Blitz. She will point out the path that they left town by. As a parting comment, she should mention "Oh, by the way, you understand I'm using the term "girl" loosely", to tip off the party that some of these girls might not be female. The NPC should feel free to vamp this role up as much as desired within the realms of decency. If the party asks how much the reward will be, she should answer that it depends on how many of the girls come back and whether they're on time or not. ENCOUNTER : Desdemona and her father What the Party sees : The party approaches a cabin on the path. Smoke is coming from the fireplace. If there are windows, they can see through them if it is possible. If the door closes, it should be left open the tiniest crack for them to try to see through. If they do look, they see two people, preferably a man and a younger woman. They will be sitting talking. The party is told that the interior of the cabin looks like someone lives there, (Since we don't have the props to actually set this up.) Who they are: This is Desdemona and her father. Desdemona is a first level rogue, Madame Boboinka's specialist in ... err ... restraints. She is visiting with her father and has no desire whatsoever to accompany the party deeper into the woods. Her father Baxtus is a fighter. He lives in the woods outside of Ravenholt because he is the antisocial sort. If questioned and not threatened, she will freely offer the following information as it comes up in conversation: She is NOT the one who was going off to visit her father. That was Carlotta. Desdemona decided not to accompany the rest of her friends when she found out that Llewellyn had been going out into the woods and taunting nymphs and throwing rocks at them. She also was uneasy about why Carlotta wasn't meeting her father in town, so she just decided to stop off and visit her father and have them pick her up on their way back. She expected them back some time ago. Desdemona does NOT want to go any further into the woods and will not leave unless forced to do so by force or charm. She and her father will not initiate an attack under any circumstances, since they are outnumbered. If Desdemona is taken by force, she will attempt to escape as soon as she can, using her magic item of Release 3 times ever (a useful tool in her profession). If she is charmed, she will attempt to escape as soon as the charm wears off. In either case, her father will wait until the party is out of sight and attempt to rescue Desdemona. The NPC chosen, therefore, should be conversant with the rules and interested in playing a role that may involve stalking the party and waiting to pick them off. (He will not killing blow them, however. If he takes any down out of sight of the party, he will first aid them to 0, remove their weapons and items, and leave them there.) If the party offers to let her wait there and pick her up on the way back, she will agree. It is likely that both NPCs will be available by the time the next group is ready to start, since between charms wearing off and battles, Desdemona should be able to escape. NPCs Desdemona - First level rogue, 15 body (with spells and leather armor) Small weapon, Waylay, carrying Magic item of Release 3 times ever, Spell shield, Mage armor, toxin shield Baxtus fighter - weapon of choice, First Aid, Read Write, no spell shield 1 3rd level 20 total body+armor+spells +1 damage 2-3 5th level 30 total body+armor+spells +2 damage 4-5 7th level 35 total body+armor+spells +3 damage, 1 slay 6-7 9th level 40 total body+armor+spells +4 damage, 2 slays 8-10 11 level 50 total body+armor+spells +5 damage, 2 slays 11 13 level 55 total body+armor+spells +6 damage, 3 slays ENCOUNTER : Carlotta and the Drag-Troll What the Party sees : A large Goblinoid-class creature dressed in rags of womens' clothing is standing in the center of the path. When it sees the party, it will immediately start to plead with them for help. It does not have a visible weapon. It will enter into conversation with the party and claim to be Carlotta. Its story is that she was just walking along the path when these monsters jumped out and carried her off. They brought her to a clearing (or building if the director deems it better) where a human Wizard was waiting. He looked her over, said that yes, she would do nicely for the experiment, that he really wanted to know if this Ritual worked, etc. Then he started chanting from a scroll and the next thing she knew she was a Troll! (Orc, etc, according to scale). She does not WANT to be a Troll and will plead with the party to follow her back to where the Wizard is and force him to turn her back. It will warn them to be careful, though, as he had a magic wand and weapon. If asked where the other girls are, it will look confused and say it doesn't know, they left earlier. It will try VERY hard to get them to follow it. The truth is, of course, that poor Carlotta has long since become an appetizer, and that this is an ambush to provide lunch. Knowing of the humanoid desire for magic, the monsters have come up with this story to lure whover came looking for Carlotta into a trap. The human mage with the monsters has offered to help if he can have his pick of the party's possessions (he was recently robbed and has nothing of his own) The Not-Carlotta will lead the party to an area where a human and two monsters are sitting. It should be set up in a place where it is possible for 3 other NPCs to hide behind something (a building, perhaps). The human admit to turning the girl into a monster, she deserved it because she had tried to rob something from them. He will say that there is no law against turning people into monsters, and will ask the party to leave as he has done them no harm, etc. He will also say that he DOES know how to turn her back into a human. He is stalling for time hoping the other three monsters can get into position behind the party. He is holding a short smooth stick, hoping the party will think it is the mentioned magic wand. If they try to bribe him he will accept the bribe and say that he will begin the ritual, but the party must lay down their weapons first. The Not-Carlotta should try to retrieve a weapon left there for it during this. When the NPCs think the time is good, they will attack the party, preferably starting from behind. If any of the other girls are with the party, she will be able to confirm that the clothing the Not-Carlotta is wearing is what Carlotta was wearing when they left. A party knowledgeable in Ritual magic will know that this is definitely not Carlotta from the absence of Ritual scrolls, but some new parties may think the monster is really Carlotta and try to bring her back to Ravenholt. NPCs The mage may cast whatever protective spells he wishes on the monsters Not Carlotta Human Mage Monsters (with mage armor and spell shld) 1 Elite goblin 2 level 5 goblins 4432 14 body+spells 2-3 elite hobgoblin 4 level 2 goblins 444431 3 hobgoblins 15 body+spells 4-5 War Orc 6 level 3 ogres 4444432 2 trolls 16 body+spells 6-7 War Troll 8 level 5 Trolls 44444432 18 body+spells 8-10 War Troll 11 level HELP 555555432 22 body+spells 11+ War Troll 13 level 555555555 25 body+spells ENCOUNTER : Llewellyn and the Taunting Nymphs What the Party sees : This depends on whether this encounter is set up indoors or outdoors. They will see three figures (two female and one male) standing over a body. If they are outdoors, there are four concentric circles outlined on the ground. If they are indoors, there is a line marked for a Wall of Force at the doorway. As the party approaches, it is clear that the people are two Nymphs and a Satyr. If any of the girls are with the party, they will say that the body is Llewellyn. Llewellyn's body moves slightly, showing that he/she is still alive. When the party gets closer, one of the Nymphs will call "Activate" and the Wall of Force or Circle of Power will go up. What is happening: The Nymphs are very angry that Llewellyn has been coming into the woods and throwing rocks at them and taunting them, and they think it is their right to do the same to whoever wanders by. They have just knocked Llewellyn out, not really hurt him/her (I'm just going to use her). They have obtained an Item of (Circle of Power/Wall of Force) 5 times ever, and are using it to taunt the party. Safely behind their barrier, they will mock the party. If the party is sufficiently far back from the barrier, they will drop it and throw rocks at the party, then call Activate and raise it again as the party approaches. If this encounter takes place in a cabin with windows, they will throw rocks out of the windows. They also will try to use their ability to influence party members. They will show the party the magic item and boast of how they will use all the charges before they can get it. If they are questioned, the Nymphs will explain why they are behaving as they are. They feel justified in their behavior. Possible outcomes : Most likely, the Nymphs will run out of charges and will be slaughtered. If the encounter is dragging on too long because the party is staying too close to the barrier and the Nymphs cannot raise and lower it, using charges, the marshall may arbitrarily decree to the NPCs that there are no more charges. Groups that attempt to reason with the Nymphs will be successful if they offer something in exchange for the girl. If the party is extremely polite, so that the Nymphs feel that they have been treated fairly, they will offer to hand the girl over if they are not hurt. If the exchange goes off successfully and the Nymphs are not attacked after they hand the girl over, they will thank the party and then tell them where they have buried a Magic Item of Charm 1 time per day, since they have no use for it with their natural abilities (which they used to get these items in the first place. (In other words, parties may obtain one of two magic items from this encounter. If they are efficient and kill the Nymphs before they can use all the charges, they will obtain the Circle of Power/Wall of Force item with whatever charges are left. If they treat the Nymphs fairly and do not hurt them, they will obtain the item of Charm 1 time per day. NPCs: Unscaled 2 Nymphs (armed with rocks) (1 normal) 1 Satyr (armed with rocks) (1 normal) 1 unconscious Llewellyn ENCOUNTER : Fred and the Sleep Spiders What the Party sees : As the party travels, they see a piece of cloth caught along the side of the road. If any of the girls are with the party, she will tell them that it is part of the clothing Fred was wearing when they left. If they investigate in that direction they see a cave entrance. (The cabin used for the cave should be large enough that you cannot cross from the door to one end of it with one giant leap. At the part furthest from the door, tape marks out a ledge large enough for the party to stand on in tight quarters. A crumpled, web-enshrouded body can be seen on this ledge. The rest of the cabin floor is marked out in small areas that corresponds to stalagmites. The majority of the floor is about twenty feet below the surface of the cabin floor, and is studded with irregularities (no more bottomless pits!). The layout of the raised areas on the floor should be such that there are a few areas where a single person could stand with two feet down, but most of them are small rocks (four inches squares) or ledges (4 inches wide.) It should be possible to make ones way to the ledge with the body, but only with cooperation. In other words, the intent is that the party must cooperate for any member to reach the ledge, by forming a chain and using ropes and weapons to steady themselves. What the party sees: Once they have entered the cave, the party sees the body on the ledge. The walls, if examined, appear to be slimy. And there are three spiders hanging on the walls of the cave. (Note: the first set of spiders can be killed while they are still on the walls, if the party chooses to use spells. The NPCs may dodge if possible.) The walls of the cave are slimy to the appearance. Any party member touching the wall of the cave for balance will find that they are covered with a slime that does two points of acid damage. Once an area of the wall has been touched, it is cleared of the slime and can be touched again. Any member falling to the ground between the stalagmites will take twenty points of damage from the fall. It is possible to hit someone on teh ground with a healing spell. It is also possible to lower oneself with a rope to the ground and make ones way across the floor that way, but one cannot climb up to the ledge unless a party member has already been across and lowered a rope. The body is Fred, who hid in the cave when the Nymphs captured Llewellyn and was taken by the spiders. He/she is at 2 body (out of 6) and is asleep by the toxin of the spiders. Awaken will not work because this is not a magical sleep; Purify Blood will work; shaking will not. Fred must be removed fromt the cave awake or asleep. Again, it will require team cooperation to get him out, as he is not the bravest of people. The easiest way is if the party has sufficient rope to lower people to the floor. Once the party has been in the room fifteen minutes, the Sleep Spiders return and attack. They can run on any part of the cabin's floor, using webs to support themselves. They attack for (damage/sleep). The sleep portion only affects the party if it does body damage, but they will take additional damage if they fall to the cave's floor. (I know we have done this sort of floor layout thing before. I intend that the difference be that unlike previous versions, where the only point was that you could only step on certain portions of the floor or you fell into a bottomless pit, that here party cooperation is required to make it across the floor, and that a well-equipped adventuring party will have no problem at all. For example, one layout for part of the floor might be that two six-foot long strips of four inch wide rock lie parallel to each other four feet apart. This is too far for one person to walk with one foot on each strip, but two people might go at once, each holding one end of a staff or stick and leaning into the middle, so that they support each other.) Once the party has been in the cave fifteen minutes, the spiders will attack. NPCs : One body Spiders (9 spiders, in three waves of three) (If there are sufficient weapons, spiders should fight with two short weapons, otherwise one long) party level Spiders 1 4 body, damage 2 sleep 2-3 10 body, damage 3 sleep 4-5 15 body, damage 4 sleep 6-7 20 body, damage 5 sleep 8-10 25 body, damage 6 sleep 11+ 30 body, damage 7 sleep ENCOUNTER : Esmerelda and her Dad, Moranis What the Party see: Two figures can be seen moving about. They are standing under the overhang of a cave roof, out of the sunlight (basically outside of a cabin.) As the party approaches, they can be seen to be lessor Undead. Two voices can be heard from the cave: A man's voice, loud and excited, of which the only clear words are "what am I going to do?", and a low moaning voice that does not make intelligible words. The undead outside the cave will attack the party as soon as they can reach them without coming into the sunlight. Their orders are to guard the cave and kill anything that tries to enter. This is, unfortunately, precisely what has happened to Esmerelda. She came to visit her father, who had forgotten to give exceptions to his orders to kill anything that approached. His creatures killed her before he could stop them. Distraught, he raised her as an undead (type depends on party level.) Now he has no idea what to do next. What is he going to do, take her home and say "Honey, I killed the kids"? If the party attacks immediately, he and the remaining undead inside the cave will defend themselves. Esmerelda has no idea how to fight, has not been given orders to do so, and will stand around moaning if she is an unintelligent undead, and will pick up and weapon and attempt to look threatening if she is intelligent. She knows who she is and can tell the party if she is able to speak. Again, any girls with the party will recognize her immediately. If the party enters the cave without attacking immediately, the undead within will move to attack, but Moranis will tell them "Wait", and they obey. He does not want to start a combat that might get Esmerelda killed (If that is the appropriate term!) He will talk to the party and try to get them to leave. If they are hostile, he will order an attack. If they are willing to talk, he is open to suggestions as to what he should do. He wants to save his daughter's life but does not know how. He is open to any reasonable suggestion, including that the party bring her back to Ravenholt to the Healer's Guild in case they can help. He does not want to do this himself because he knows he will be killed, but he does not think Necromancy is wrong and will defend himself verbally. (Actually, it would be fun if the NPC can do a southern accent and claim to be from Sutherland.) If it looks like the party will do something to hurt Esmerelda, he will also order an attack. If Esmerelda is an undead capable of speech, she will complain loudly that she does not WANT to be undead, and her fingernail polish is rotting off ... hmm, actually, so are her fingers. There is no reason why the party can't try to bring Esmerelda back with them. If they bring her to the Healer's Guild when they return, she will be immediately killed and resurrected. Moranis has two components on his body. Note : Moranis must always have at least 7th level spells since he must be able to raise Esmerelda. This means that for lower level parties, there will be fewer additional undead. For higher level parties, where Esmerelda is a higher level undead, he should also have the necessary Ritual scroll to create that type of undead. Esmerelda Moranis outside undead inside undead 1 zombie 5th level 2 zombies 2 zombies 4444321 2-3 zombie 5th level 2 zombies 3 zombies 4444321 1 skeleton 4-5 zombie 7 level 2 skeletons 1 skeleton 44444321 3 huge skeletons 6-7 8-10 11+ NPCs ENCOUNTER : Blitz and Kyril's Men What the party sees : Yet another cabin. The door is closed. Sounds of laughter come from the interior, along with an occassional weak scream. When the party can see the interior, they see a group of uncouth and brutish men with swaggering attitudes and ill manners, and one frightened girl. Again, any girl with the party can identify her as Blitz. If they listen, they can hear an arguement going on about important heroes in Evendarr's history, and which of them they could have beaten in a fight. (Along the lines of "Oh, Boran Westmarch, he was a wimp, I could have beaten him in a minute. That Northridge, I bet he drank milk!") The NPCs should make up names for themselves, but the leader is named Kyril. They should use these names so the party has a chance to hear the name Kyril. This is Kyril and his band of unpleasant people. They have struck a business deal with Blitz to come out and entertain them, but have no intention of letting her leave alive. She is slowly beginning to realize this from their rough treatment of her. These bandits are extremely cocky and obnoxious. They will not open the door and answer the party's first overtures with "Go away, this is a private party". (The arguement started because one of them got hold of a new history book, and they started making fun of the contents.) The door to the cabin is not locked, but one of the men is holding it closed. He has three delayed endows on him and will use them if the party uses endows to open the door. After they are used, the party will be able to force the door open if they have two people pushing. While the party is deciding how to get the door open, Kyril's men decide to have some fun at the party's expense. They will tell the party that they can attend the party if they answer three questions. The NPCs should have a copy of the Player's Guide with the history section. Kyril will ask random questions from the history section. If the party gets one wrong, the bandits will mock them, but will offer to give them more questions until they get one right. When the third question is answered correctly, the bandits will still claim it is wrong. They will never admit the party has gotten three questions right, and will keep going until the party breaks in and attacks. (The questions should be very easy, so that the party can figure out that the bandits are definitely lying. The NPCs can also make up questions if they want, such as "What is the King's favorite color?" I kind of like "Who is the rightful King of Evendarr" as a question myself, to let the party think there is something else going on.) When the party begins to break in, one of the bandits will threaten to kill the girl Blitz if they continue. He will hold a weapon to her throat and the party will have to decide how to handle it. WHen the fight breaks out, he will kill her but not killing-blow her, so she will survive if healed within one minute. The bandits will fight until all are dead. Besides their weapons, they have (8 * party level) silver on them, split among them. The party may bring back Kyril's head or body to Ravenholt if they so desire - it does not disappear after five minutes. NPCs Kyril - fighter 2 Mages 1 Healer 2 fighters END: The party presumably brings the girls they have rescued back to Madame Boboinka's. If they stop to pick up Desdemona on the way back, she will gladly accept their escort. Carlotta has already returned the hard way, via the Healer's Guild. Any other girls that die also return to Ravenholt and are resurrected. If the party has killed any of the girls and any of the others are witnesses, or if they kidnapped or killed Desdemona or her father, or have taken her Release magic item and will not return it, Madame Boboinka will refuse to pay and will tell them that they should consider themselves lucky she doesn't have the Prince arrest them -- he owes her a few favors (It may not be TRUE, but it's what she SAYS). Otherwise she will pay the party three levels of potions per party level (the party's choice), free weekend passes for each member, and gold according to the following table: 1 2 silver per girl returned in any condition (undead counts) 2-3 4 silver " " 4-5 6 silver " " 6-7 8 silver " " 8-10 10 silver " " 11+ 12 silver " " Also, bringing back Kyril to the Sheriff or Town Guard receives the appropriate reward: Dead 1 gold Alive 2 gold _evel 2 zombies 3 zombie