d20 Legion Publishing Critical Hits 10 - Scuttler's Cave.pdf - Legion Publishing - R5700

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INTRODUCTION

Greetings traveler and welcome to Critical Hits - a

series of electronic publications from Legion Publishing.

Each Critical Hit is a complete encounter that can be

dropped into any fantasy campaign with very little

preparation needed by the DM. The encounters are little

gems of ideas built around a single situation, person,

location, creature or object that the players stumble

across in their travels. Each Critical Hit provides all the

DM needs to use the encounter. Whether used as a dispos-

able diversion or the springboard for adventure, Critical

Hits give the overworked DM a break and the players

some memorable encounters that encourage creative

role-playing.

V o l u m e 3 N o 2 - E n c o u n t e r L e v e l 8

S C U T T L E R ’ S C A V E

Published by

www.legionpublishing.co.uk

In Scuttler's Cave, the players are undertaking a sea

voyage of some kind. As they make their way down the

coast, the party encounters what appears to be a ghost

ship. In fact, the ship is a disguised pirate vessel and it

is loaded with loot. Following the pirates back to their

lair, the players find a hidden cave housing treasure and

trouble. Can they defeat the buccaneers or will the

party be fed to the sharks of Scuttler's Cave? As with

other Critical Hits, text inside a border should be read

aloud to the players (unless you have modified the

setting, in which case you're on your own!).

First Published 2003

C R E D I T S &

A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S

Written by

Simon Lucas

Editing

Robin Elliott & Matthew Harffy

Cover Illustration

Matthew Harffy (Ship model courtesy of Greg Crowfoot,

www.greylight.com)

Interior Illustration

Robin Elliott

Typesetting

Kirsty Crabb

Typesetting and graphic design by Wildstar Digital Arts

Contact - info@wildstardigitalarts.co.uk

Author courtesy of Snake Eyes Studio

Contact - info@snakeeyesstudio.co.uk

A PERILOUS JOURNEY

Your ship hugs the coastline as you make you way

through the still waters. The gentle slap of the ocean

against the bow of the vessel is restful but the close fog

prevents you from relaxing. Your eyes strain to pene-

trate the thick mist, but visibility is so reduced that

the stern of the ship is not visible from the bow. On

edge, you struggle to discern shapes in the fog, listen-

ing intently for any sound that might indicate danger.

You cannot continue for long in this weather before a

mishap befalls you. You will have to find a place to

take shelter.

Legion Publishing, Critical Hits, the Legion Publishing logo, Legionnaire,

and all related characters and elements are trademarks of Legion

Publishing.

Wildstar Digital Arts and its logo are trademarks of Wildstar Digital Arts.

Snake Eyes Studio and its logo are trademarks of Snake Eyes Studio.

'd20 System' and the 'd20 System' logo are trademarks of Wizards of

the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc., and are used according to

the terms of the d20 System License version 4.0. A copy of this License

can be found at www.wizards.com/d20.

Designation of Product Identity

All material, other than material already considered Open Gaming

Content is considered Product Identity as described in Section 1(e) of

the Open Gaming License v1.0a. This includes but is not limited to

Critical Hits and all significant characters, names, creatures, spells,

events, plots, logos, trade dress, product names, product lines, places,

Reserved, except where otherwise noted. The use of another company's

trademark should not be construed as a challenge to that trademark.

Reproduction of non-Open Game Content from this work by any means

without the express written consent of Legion Publishing is prohibited.

The players must try to avoid the perils of the coast-

line of Babennan, with eagle-eyed lookouts keeping watch

for reefs, rocks and other vessels.

Legion Publishing - Critical Hits

Volume 3 No 2 - EL 8

If the players manage to avoid detection they watch

the ship slip silently past and notice that it is towing two

other, smaller vessels in its wake. If the party seems

reluctant to follow the pirates, the captain of their ship,

spurred on by the talk of booty and the potential for

sudden wealth decides to trail the ships and offers to pay

the PCs if they will help him capture the pirates’ cargo.

VOICES IN THE FOG

Drifting on the mist is the faint sound of voices, "Sound

the fog horn Gennt, with this haul we don't want to

come a cropper before reaching the haven." A deep,

haunting sound like a horn or a huge sea shell being

blown reverberates through the dense fog, which

muffles and distorts the sound making it hard to tell

where the sound originated.

If the pirates spot the PCs' ship they change course

and attack. Their favored tactic is to attempt to board

their victims' vessel and take the crew in single combat.

Relying on the fear most crews have of ghostly vessels and

the numerous haunted ship stories that circulate the bars

of the realm's seaports, the gang's illusionist conjures up

ghostly lights to create the illusion of a ghost ship and an

undead crew. The stats for the main members of the

pirate crew are presented below (see The Pirates) and

there are, in addition, 20 buccaneers that board the PCs’

ship. The hand-to-hand combat is fast and furious and the

illusionist uses his array of spells to aid the pirates in the

battle. Seeing they are outnumbered by a superior force,

the crew of the PCs' ship quickly gives up, leaving the PCs

to fight alone. The pirates are happy to take prisoners

(with the intention of ransoming off any wealthy captives

to their families) so if the players ask for quarter, it is

given and they find themselves bound and blindfolded in

the hold of the Pirate King. Seeing that the PCs' crew is

obviously penniless, they abandon the poor sailors in

small rowing boats and set them adrift in the fog.

Have the players make a Listen check (DC15) to pick up

snippets of the conversation from the other vessel, though

they have yet to locate it in the inclement weather.

"We were lucky to stumble on that ship in the fog,

skipper," you hear a reedy voice comment. "Aye lad,"

comes the voice of the captain that you heard earlier,

"They wasn't ready for us. Nice of them to bring us

such booty too! Carlo, steer us a straight course for the

Haven and we'll see how rich we are, eh lads?" A chorus

of cheers floats eerily across to you through the mist.

Have any of the PCs on lookout make Spot checks

(DC25) to detect the eerie lights of the ship. The ship is

the Pirate King, a sleek, fast brigand vessel operated by a

vicious crew of pirates. When the fog rapidly descended,

the expert sailors of the Pirate King decided to take

advantage of the cover and search for new victims.

If, by some accident, the players come out of the

battle on top, the pirate chief offers to lead them to his

hideout if the players spare his life. (This is a diversion

from the intended plot, you will need to make some alter-

ations to what follows. In this version of the story, in the

cave, the pirate chief knows there to be a second crew of

his sailors and hopes to lure the PCs back and turn the

tables on them.)

GHOST SHIP

Without a sound, the mist parts and a hideous face

looms through the gloom. The horned visage has fur-

rowed brows and dead eyes, great jaws with wicked

pointed fangs and a curving tongue snaking between

them. The sailors traveling in the ship with you recoil

in horror as the dragon bears down on your, suddenly

fragile-seeming vessel.

CLIFFS OF BABENNAN

The beast is actually the carved figurehead of the

Pirate King, a buccaneer ship cruising through the fog

searching for victims. It has so far attacked and seized

two unsuspecting vessels and, if the party's ship is spotted,

the PCs may have to prepare to repel boarders.

The fast-moving ships slide soundlessly forward as the

fog starts to lift as suddenly as it fell. Ahead of the

ships is a craggy rock face soaring up hundreds of feet

in a sheer cliff. The dragon ship and its captured cargo

heads straight for the cliff. It neither slows nor steers,

instead plowing through the water straight toward the

rocks. In the blink of an eye, and without a sound the

first in the string of three ships sails into the cliff and

vanishes. The two captured vessels follow silently in its

wake and they too disappear into the rock wall.

The dragon is nothing more than an ornately carved

figurehead belonging to the mysterious ship cutting

soundlessly through the water across your bows. Its hull

is made of some kind of black wood but there is an

ethereal glow emanating from the craft.

Legion Publishing - Critical Hits

Volume 3 No 2 - EL 8

The sheer rock face is an illusion cast by the illusion-

ist Malachi Jeebs on the mouth of the cave to shield the

entrance to the pirates’ lair. As the fog begins to lift, the

characters can each make a Spot check (DC15) to notice

the vat number of ominous dorsal fins that circle in these

waters. A successful Local Knowledge check (DC15)

reminds PCs that the shark-infested Babennan coastline

is a notorious spot for shipwrecks with no survivors.

pirates' many successful raids. If the player characters

make it onboard, see the Pirate Kingbelow.

The Fairy Queen

A sleek elven ship, the Fairy Queen was carrying a

diplomat and a message of great importance, begging for

military aid in a coming conflict. Along with the message,

the ship carried tributes to offer to the noble intended

recipient of the message. This vessel was the first ship the

pirates ambushed in the fog, and they seized this dainty

elven vessel intact along with its precious cargo. Also

onboard are the children of a dignitary from an elven

court who were traveling with their father when the ship

was attacked. They hid themselves away in a chest in

their bedroom and were overlooked when the pirates

were sweeping through the ship. Unbeknownst to the two

children, the elves onboard fought to the death and their

father has been slain. The ship itself rightfully belongs to

the two orphans hiding on board, but is worth 12,000 gp

on the open market.

In fact, most of the shipwrecks along this desolate

coast are the work of the pirates. One of their lucrative

activities is the "chopping" of the ships they raid. They

steal the vessel, feeding their crew to the sharks (who

gather in these waters for precisely this reason), then

remove any identifying features before selling it on as a

different ship in nearby ports. The modification work is

carried out in their hideout, in a cavern behind the illu-

sory rock face.

If the PCs sail through the rock wall, either in their

own vessel or as the pirates' captives, they find the huge

cavern beyond is the pirates' lair and the scene is set for

a pitched battle in the stilted huts above shark-infested

waters.

Maelstrom

Captured on the pirates' last trip, the Maelstrom is a

handsome single-masted craft the gang plan to sell on

once they have "prepared" it. They have yet to remove

the figurehead and the identifying features from the

vessel, but all the riches and valuable fixtures and fit-

tings have been looted for the Pirate King. The crew of

the Maelstromfought valiantly but were all killed in the

struggle with the pirates. Almost "clean", the Maelstrom

has been stripped of nearly all identifying features and,

when the task is done, the pirates intend to sail her to a

local port and sell her on. As they sail up the coast, they

dump the figurehead, the name boards and any easily

identifiable items from the ship into the sea to wash

ashore and cover the true fate of the ship. The pirates

are able to sell the ship to a dealer who asks no questions

for 8,000 gp. If the players should try to sell the ship,

there is a chance that someone in the port feels the vessel

looks very familiar.

Shark (7): Medium-size CR 1;Medium Animal (Aquatic);

HD 3d8+3 (Animal); hp 16; Init +2; Spd Swim 60; AC

15; Atk +3 base melee, +4 base ranged; +4 (1d6+1,

Bite); SQ: Keen scent (Ex); AL N; SV Fort +4, Ref +5,

Will +2; STR 13, DEX 15, CON 13, INT 1, WIS 12, CHA 2.

Skills:

Listen +7, Spot +7.

Feats:

Weapon Finesse.

SCUTTLER'S CAVE

Inside the gigantic cave is the pirates’ lair.

At the rear of the vast cavern, built against the rock,

stand a series of huts built on stilts, linked by thin

planks of wood. On either side of the cave, flanking

the huts is a pair of large planked docks and at each

dock stands a ship.

Carteir Mabster

The Mabster is an eerie ship, which drifted across the

pirates' bows after they had taken the Fairy Queen. It

was sailed from an island realm bearing the corpse of the

islanders' king. The deceased monarch was so evil that his

wickedness did not cease when he died. Instead, the king

cursed his realm and caused famine and plague to beset

the people of the island. Finding his corpse impossible to

destroy, the islanders set him in a sarcophagus and placed

The four ships in the cave are:

The Pirate King

The pride and joy of the gang of pirates, this sleek

black craft is stuffed with the prizes seized from the

Legion Publishing - Critical Hits

Volume 3 No 2 - EL 8

it in the Carteir Mabster . A crew of volunteers sailed the

ship far from the island, freeing it from the curse.

However the cruelty of the king's corpse seeped into the

woodwork of the ship itself and strange things began to

take place onboard. By the time the pirates found the

ship, all the sailors were dead, killed by their evil ruler,

but a chilling warning had been left by the crew for any

that found the Mabster. If the PCs explore this ship, see

A Little Ship of Horrors below.

sionist has a number of triggered illusions protecting his

share of the goods which makes up for the absence of

locks. Most of the pirates fear the wizard and avoid his

quarters.

3 - Mess Hall

The ship's cook, Kyle Garrick, can usually be found in

the galley here when the ship is in. Long wooden tables

and benches fill the hall where the buccaneers eat their

meals. The diet of the pirates depends entirely on what

they can loot, except for the occasional visit to the local

ports to sell ships when the crew stock up on the essen-

tials. When times are lean on the shipping lanes, rations

here become very basic and the crew's mood deteriorates

rapidly. Woe betide the first ship they come across when

Kyle has been serving gruel for a week.

1 - Jenn Maister's Quarters

Aside from the brig, this is the only building in the

cave with a lockable door, as the pirate leader's quarters

house his personal treasure horde. In Jenn's personal

effects are the following items:

Goods: Cloth of gold vestments (60 gp); golden circlet

with four aquamarines (5000 gp).

Magic: Scroll: Detect Chaos (1), Detect Snares and Pits

(1); Potion: Love; Wondrous: Robe of Useful Items.

Currency: 800 gp.

4 - Pirates ‘ Quarters

The pirate crew is housed in the remaining buildings

in bunks, each with a sea chest at the foot of the bed.

There are few other personal belongings here; though

there is honor among these thieves, most of them keep

their valuables in the treasury, so as not to test that

honor too far!

2 - Malachi Jeeb's Quarters

The only other pirate to have his own room, the illu-

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