Would anyone be intersted in using this adventure in their campaign?
I have a "Secret Armoury" adventure Ive created recently that is generic enough to be used in a range of settings.
The adventure is called 'The Secret Armoury of Heqt', suits a party of 3-6 players.
The dungeon map is on roll20 but i have copies of the open source map. id need to add simple detail to the 20 rooms in the dungeon explaining the traps, treasure, monsters etc but that woudnt be too involved as iv put icon on the map and noted down specific relics and magic items in each location.
There is a paladin/knight NPC who recruits the parry to help him on his quest to find the a Secret Armoury that contains a cache of ancient relics that are needed to equip a small army in a future battle versus undead The larger story involves an evil cult of vampire worshippers who are working to resurrect an ncient cabal of vampire lords who have been magically trapped in magic stones called Soul Stones. (You could of course modify these details to suit your onw game)
The adventure begins with the party looking for information about the Secret Armoury of Heqt. This requires research in a city library to locate maps to find the armoury. To find the maps needed the party must solve two riddles which gives clues to the map they need. Requires a role-playing encounter with the librarian to gain access to a restricted private guarded library and find the maps.
The party must then travel into the mountains (2-3 days from the city), locate a hidden entrance by decoding a series of runes/riddles and enter the dungeon/cave complex which is well guarded by undead (6 skeletons, 3 wights and 4 wraiths), 4 golems, 3 giant spiders and a Toad Monster near a lake filled with electric eels. They must also negotiate a number of traps (rolling boulder, collapsing bridge, poison darts and fire trap). The undead are ancestors of an ancient order of knights who guard the armoury and are armed with some of the magical relics (swords, shields and armour) that the party are sent to find and return to the paladin's temple.
The main encounter in the dungeon is with the Spirit Guide of Heqt who will put the party through a series of trials before she will assist them on their mission. There are 7 trials, some designed for paladins specifically but these could be completed by other professions also. The ideal setup is having a paladin in the party who is of the same order of knights - The Knights of Heqt.
Spirit Guide "Knight of Heqt you must pass the Trials of Heqt to show that you are worthy. If you fail you will be offered up as a sacrifice to the Red Moon Mage. You will become an immortal protector of the ancient relics of Heqt and you will remain here for eternity".
"Knight of Heqt do you trust your companions? Are they free of malice or greed? Yes? Then they too must be tested. If they are proven unworthy then they will be sacrificed to the creatures that inhabit the dark depths of the Sacred Waters of Heqt. This is a great honor!".
"Knight of Heqt, if you and your companions prove yourselves worthy then I will serve as your guide and give you what help I can to complete your quest".
The Spirit Guide invokes the seven ancient Trials of Heqt.
1) Combat
2) Lore
3) Might
4) Will
5) Wisdom
6) Courage
7) Power
The 7 Trials of Heqt. >>>> trials must be attempted in this order: Wisom 1st, Courage 2nd, Combat 7th/last
1) Test of Combat. A physical combat versus a spirit/enemy summoned by the guide [FINAL TRIAL FOR ALL WHO ENTER THE ARMOURY]
2) Test of Lore. Name the 3 Elemental Laws. the 3 Laws? Paladins order/religion [Paladin only]
3) Test of Might [Strength], remove the black orb from the fountain on the isle on the Sacred Lake [Any PC]
4) Test of Will [Self-Discipline], Stab an ally/draw 3 drops of blood into the sacred waters. with the the Quartz Dagger. Full OB. [Any PC]
5) Test of Wisdom [Intuition check to get a clue], Riddle: Sometimes I shine, sometimes I’m dull, sometimes I am big, and sometimes I am small. I can be pointy, I can be curved, and don’t ask me questions because even though I’m sharp, I’m not smart enough to answer you. What am I? (Low Int check = half the riddle. High INT check and entire riddle with a clue)
Answer: A knife
6) Test of Courage. Retrieve the Quartz Dagger (green) from the Sacred Waters of Heqt. [Paladin only]
7) Test of Power. Channeling skill check/touch the Toad statue and make a channeling check. (Absurd/Lose all PP/statue by the Lake) [Paladin only]
Test of Combat (1) is the final test and Passing all the tests the party can avoid combat (or most combat). Failure in these will determine the strength/numbers of the enemies that will be sent against the party.
If they pass all the tests (still need to complete a trial by combat of some level) the Spirit Guide will be able to answer ONE yes/no question for each party member. 7 in total.
I made the test of wisdon more challening by only giving the half the riddle. if they didnt come up with the correct answer early on I gave them an INTUITION modified stat/manuvre check (Hard) to get a clue.
Test of Lore.There are three laws, one gold, one silver and one iron. The golden law is full of cheer. The silver law is cold calm and clear. The iron law is harshly severe. What are their names?
Love is the golden law,
Full of cheer;
Justice, the silver law,
Cold, calm, and clear;
Anger, the iron law,
Harshly severe
RIDDLE ONE>>>
Yellow flame flickers
Shadows dance upon the wall
This grows ever strong.
>>> I am the law of gold, WHATS MY NAME? Love
RIDDLE TWO>>> For agony and spoil
Of nations beat to dust,
For poisoned air and tortured soil
And cold, commanded lust,
And every secret woe
The shuddering waters saw—
Willed and fulfilled by high and low—
Let them relearn the Law:
>>> I am the law of silver, WHATS MY NAME? Justice
RIDDLE THREE>>> The eye of revenge
Forged in volcanoes of fire
An act of revengence
>>> I am the law of iron, WHATS MY NAME? Anger
The combat trials involves fighting a Toad Monster and 2-4 giant spirit knights which are animated suits of armour.
The number of trials that must be passed are up to the GM. id suggest 5-7. fail in too many quests and the party will be attacked by the protectors of the armoury (more animated spirit knights and Toad Monsters). These Trials of Heqt take place ina large undergound cavern which had a large lake at its centre and a narrow suspension bridge across it. I have the master map co leted in roll20.
Maps for The Secret Armoury of Heqt. There are 4 in total. As its generic the dungeon can be placed anywhere really. I split the layout map for the dungeon into thirds and only gave the party the west and east ends of the map (they find these two in the library at the start of the adventure).The maps are hidden in a private library (one beind a mirror and one inside the base of a fountain). Locate Secret Opening skill to find them but they still need to solve the initial riddles found in the main library first by using Linguistics and Read Runes.
This reseach component of the adventure was completed by a single character but in a larger group id spread the skills around and extra players could help solve the riddles which can easily be changed to suit your playgroup if riddles arent their thing eg. could be a mini adventure helping the librarian complete a task or errand involving some role-playing or different skills - just as long as they get the two clues they need and somehow gain access to the private library. A thief/burglar/rogue character could be sent the burgle the place and you could tailor the challenge level to the level of the character easily enough - putting traps and/or alarms in his/her path. This might involve them pickpocketing the keys to the restricted private library or sneaking past the two guards in the corridoor near the private library or picking the lock.
I didnt actually use a physical map for the libarary and make this first part of the quest quick short but it would be easy enough to crreate a layout for a library (with help from someone here on these forums) and include this in the adventure with specific details about the head librarian who is a magician and his staff and the guards.
Back to the maps. There are 4 maps. one map shows the location of the secret armoury in the mountains (but not the entrance itself which is hidden) and the other 3 maps are parts of a single map which only show the layout of the dungeon with rooms, caves and doors. It does not show the monsters, traps or treasure and the party begin the adventure still missing the middle 3rd of the map (This can be found in the dungeon about half way through the adventure on a skeleton lying in a corridoor).
