Thursday, August 27, 2015

Vornheim / Zwillingsseen: The Temple of Icedeath

The Temple of Icedeath is a building out of pure ice. The only entrance is a big bronze gate. After knocking the door opens itself and whoever enters comes to a big hall.

For every person entering one hallway, barely high enough for the person, leads from the hall. It is so incredible cold in these hallways. Who hesitates in there will freeze to death. The hallways are around seven or eight meters long and end at a curtain.

Behind the curtains there is a shadow that will engulf anyone crossing the curtain. Whoever touches the shadow will turn unconscious and wake up in a shaft, next to a doppelganger of him- or herself.

That doppelganger is evil and wants to replace the person. Or is the person awaking the doppelganger and the other the original? The doppelganger pretends to work with it's twin though. E.g. helping them climb out of the shaft to throw them down back into the shaft while hoping to kill them.

The shaft lies a few meters behind the shadow that disappeared when merging with the character. By climbing out of the shaft, visitor can return to the curtain, hallway and main hall. The hallway is still dangerously cold.

After some time in the shaft the Highpriest of Icedeath will appear floating and try to talk to the prisoners. The Highpriest is looking for visitor to the temple whose doppelganger will show unusual characteristics. Some crank mystics proclaimed hundreds of years ago, it would have to do with the gender of the doppelganger.

Coming back out, between stalactites of ice, on the ceiling you can see a seemingly formerly not existing exit. But the ceiling is very high and the walls really slippery... The Highpriest can levitate so it is easy for him to access the quarters up there.

There is an exit from the shaft: sometimes  a small tunnel open giving visitors the opportunity to crawl out and land at the outside of the temple, near the stairs leading to the bronze gate.

On closer inspection of the main hall one mysterious extra feature can be found: the floor is actually a thick, but nearly transparent layer of ice that covers a cold, cold pool. When people end up down there, they most likely will be frozen for decades until they get out seemingly unharmed.



Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Savage Synnibarr: Yanak Statues and Winged Lions

After awaking Kylie, the Mage Warrior, frozen for 10,000 years, and getting information out of her, Airy, the Shadow Master, teleports in, thanks to his teleport disk, that he left with the group.

The adventurers decide to the take the elevator to the lower floor, where Kylie says, that the entrance to this Temple of Yanak, that resided on a mountain back then when she entered it, orginally was. She only wants to use the elevator together with her Giant Firefly, but the groups mind controls her again and Gorgoroth together with Airy take her to the lower floor.

They find eight statues of Yanak there, that are floating through the air, while changing from young embryos to old men gradually, before dissolving and reappearing somewhere else in the room. Only a small fraction of the room is not in their field of sight at any time and it takes Smarts and Agility to uncover those moving spots  of free floating time and to stay in thhere.

Two shamans that seem to have been frozen in time while running with blasters must have had less luck and are "stored" in a part of the hall that is never outside the stare of the statues. Next to those, the adventures notice windows that have been overgrown by clams on the outside, as well as an archway to the outside that is overgrown as well. Additionally there is an big opening in the ground. Even that opening overgrown with shells of clams, but those have seemingly died a long time ago, as no water can enter the Temple.

Gorgoroth sends the mind controlled Kylie ahead and she falls victim to Yanak's Gaze again. Gorgoroth himself decides to sit down on the floor and to pray and meditate.

Trush and Douro come down the elevator with the firefly in the meantime. Airy finally realizes he can just teleport through the hall, after having figured out the blind angles of the statues' gaze. He gives instructions to everyone and they make their way to the corners of the room.

Trush is able to access his long lost data bank on religious knowledge and figures out more details on the temple: it was considered lost many centuries ago. According to legends it was built on the mountain Hull. Supposedly it contains not only 10 Yanak statues, but also a key to the prison that holds Yanak in Limbo.
This key should be in the lowest level.

Douro decides to shoot through the clams on the ground with this Tiger Fire and really breaks an opening in the clam layer. He jumps in. The others follow him - including the mind controlled firefly.

As Douro and Airy reach the lowest floor first, they notice a lot of coins all over the ground - probably worth around 100,000$. Next to that a floating huge key and a big red sphere float over the ground - in the gaze of another Yanak statue.

But there are also two Winged Lions waiting for the intruders. They want to telekinetically push Douro and Airy in the field of view of this standing statue, but Douro is really fast. He charges one of the Lions and with a mighty Fire Strike heavily injuries one of the psionic lions. Even the psionic shield can't save the creatue and it is heavily wounded. With his last power the lion can telekinetically push Douro into the gaze of the Yanak statue, freezing him.

Airy is able to withstand the telekinetic power of the second Winged Lion thanks to his strong will. He creates a solid illusion that blocks Yanak's Gaze on Douro and frees the Golden Tiger.

Gorgoroth, who just entered, is able to hypnotize both of the lions. With them under his control, the battle is won. He is able order the heavily wounded lion to kill himself with his claws, by making him cut his own throat.

He makes the second one explain the situation: the two Winged Lions arrived in the abandoned temple hundreds of year ago and started to use it as a homebase for raids.

Trush takes the key to Yanak's prison, Gorgoroth the sphere. He orders the lions to destroy the statue, but even their mighty fireballs are not strong enough to harm it.

Therefore they return upstairs with the sphere and the key. Douro punches the clam overgrown archway and is able to break it open. In the same moment water starts streaming in through the newly created opening, because the ebb is over and the sea level has risen.

To protect the group Airy uses a sold illusion to create an orange submarine.

Next: Cloudpuncher and the Fight for Loot

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Savage Synnibarr: Yanak's Temple on Clam Island

Gorgoroth, the Chameleon Drake, and Douro, the Golden Tiger, return to to the Excelsior Hotel while the other adventurers still have breakfast.

Agent Nelson is ready to send them on their next mission: Captain Cloudpuncher the men responsible for the slave ride on amazon Dita's village has been found. His airship crashed in a place called Clam Island. Agent Nelson uses his recorder/flute to teleport the three plus the cyborg Trush to the island.

Shadow Master Airy is still out shopping for mushrooms, while ninja Rolf Choke never returned from his pegasus ride the night before.

The 4 adventurers arrive on a plain covered with Razor Clams and remains of water. It seems that the current ebb made the water retreat from the plain. The are on a trail that leads one side to the wreck of a Giant's airship.  Gorgoroth can smell rotting bodies there. On the other side there is a small, white marble temple on a tall pillar of stone, that is overgrown by clams.



The adventurers notice that a werestorm is coming.  A werestorm is canceling all power sources. They decide to fly up to the temple for protection. Trush is in Chameleon Drake shape and able to carry up Douro and Dita up there. Gorgoroth is able to fly on his own. On the way up some of the clams on the pillar open up and shoot burts of flames at them. But the Trush and Gorgoroth are able to dodge.

Up between the temple columns they notice 5 pools of acid. By analyzing the columns of the pillars, the group figures out that this must be a temple of Yanak, the insane God of Time, who accidentally looks similar to Agent Nelson.

While everyone else gets up to the marble dome roof of the temple to be protected from the werestorm, Gorgoroth starts praying and meditating between the pools. Moments later a giant amoebae slides out of the pool and starts engulfing him. He continues praying and the giant amoeba drags him into the acid pool, taking him - protected by its membran - to the ground of the pool where there is an entrance to the temple's interior.

Gorgoroth finds himself in a room whose outer walls look like a lava lamp: the acid pools with some giant amoebae floating in them. In the centre of the room a female mage-warrior is floating on her giant firefly mount, frozen in time. A small statue of Yanak is staring at her.

In the meantime the other three adventurers follows Gorgoroth's example and are also carried inside the temple by amoebae. The realize that the best way of waking up the mage-warrior would be deactivating the stare of the statue. But when Trush turns into a mirror with legs and walks in front of the statue, he is also frozen.

Dita looks for ghosts in the acid lava dome  and really finds the ghost of a dwarf. He seems to be insane, tries to smash his head against the untouchable walls and cries. He tells that he has been here for centuries and that he was killed by lions. He tries to grab Dita's legs in desperation, but is not even able to do that. Dita decided to release him from his suffering and leads him to the light.

The group decides that pure force is probably a better strategy. Douro is not strong enough to smash the Yanak statue despite his Tiger Fire. Dita has more success. She unleashed the strongest Chi Shout she has done so far and smashed the statue despite being supported by God Power.

The same moment the wings of the firefly start to flap again and the mage-warrior awakes. Before she really can start to communicate with anyone, Trush takes mental control over her. He realizes that she is an adventurer from Terra with a pure golden aura. She tells that her name is Kylie Kirrow and she came here to chase down an evil Priest of Yanaka, by the name of P.M. Nelson, who was in search of immortality. During the conversation the group realizes that she must have been caught in the stasis field for 10,000 years.

Next: Yanak Statues and Winged Lions

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Official Savage Synnibarr Campaign Soundtrack

I asked the players to pick a song each for the soundtrack. Main focus should be on the lyrics.

DragonForce - Through The Fire and Flames

So far away we wait for the day
For the lives all so wasted and gone
We feel the pain of a lifetime lost in a thousand days
Through the fire and the flames we carry on!

[guitar solo]

Wo-o-oah,wo-o-oah,who-o-o-o-oah!
Wo-o-oah,wo-o-oa,who-o-o-o-oah!

[guitar solo]
Now here we stand with their blood on our hands
We fought so hard, now can we understand
I'll break the seal of this curse if I possibly can
For freedom of every man!


Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away ere break of day
To seek the pale enchanted gold.

The dwarves of yore made mighty spells,
While hammers fell like ringing bells
In places deep, where dark things sleep,
In hollow halls beneath the fells.

For ancient king and elvish lord
There many a gleaming golden hoard
They shaped and wrought, and light they caught
To hide in gems on hilt of sword.



My wife doesn't understand me
Many dozens hope to land me
I'm for free love and I'm in free fall
This could be love or nothing at all

But my heart's running 'round like a chicken with its head cut off
All around the barnyard, falling in and out of love
The poor thing's blind as a bat, getting up, falling down, getting up
Who'd fall in love with a chicken with its head cut off?




I'm sorry I sold your records For money, I'll take a train home You're lovely but you've got lots of problems When your sleeping, I'm walking Down the corridor Waaay you've got my number And I've got yours too It's just a matter of time It's just a matter of two I'll do the things that I would say I do I'm worried, your telling me something And you know, you've nothing to sue You're lovely but you've got lots of problems When you're lovin' I can tell that you're not being true Woah
You, know my name
I, don't know

Paid or Free: D&D5 Adventure List (Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition)

I found this really useful list of ALL adventures published so far for D&D 5th Edition.

The list is sorted by levels. Here you find the D&D5 Adventure List.

I hope this list will be well maintained, as even currently it looks like offering so many choices. I am sure there will be many more modules and free adventures added.

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Savage Synnibarr: Breakfast and Dollars

Airy, Dita and Trush head back to the Excelsior Hotel with the Red Girl. It's dawn and they are happy to finally get some rest. Trush shows her his room. Dita has issues sleeping next door.

Shortly after noon the four decide to go for breakfast. While they are eating in the breakfast hall, another shrunk giant, Hiyoto, appears with two bodyguards in loincloths. Hiyoto, a business man in suit with pony tail, explains that he is the owner of the Lizard Club, and he asks for the damage to the Lizard Club being paid back. The destroyed hallway and the dead giant bouncer add up to 30,000$. He is not able yet to give an estimate on how much the red mirror was worth.

At first it looks like that the heroes cannot pay the amount, but luckily Dita remembers 205,000$ of group money she still has stored away from before their trip to space.

They promise Hiyoto to pay him the 30,000$, but ask him to pick it up later. He says they owe him a favour or the amount the mirror cost, but he will come back with details later.

After the breakfast, Airy decides to go and buy new Piseesha mushrooms and finds them in a "headshop". In the meantime Agent Nelson shows up in the Excelsior hotel and pays the three adventures who delivered the suitcase 20,000$ each. He wants to take along the Red Girl though, and mentions a new mission he can offer the adventurers.

Next: Yanak's Temple on Clam Island

Thursday, August 6, 2015

Savage Synnibarr: Red Glow in the Lizard Club

Trush, Dita and Rolf Choke finish their Pegasus shopping, when Airy, the Shadow Master, finally arrives in Bwer-Rock and joins them.

While Rolf Choke flies off, they decide to finish their mission by bringing the suitcase to the Lizard Club. Airy uses the Unclosed Door to create a flying scooter while the other 2 uses their pegasi.

They land on the platform before the Lizard Club and notice 5 giant bouncers there - shrunk into human size. Trush mentally controls two of them, including the boss, and makes those enter the Club. Airy creates the illusion that the boss returns and orders another one to come along.

Now Trush control the last 2 outside. The group enters the Lizard Club with them. In the hallway they notice that there are 6 rooms on the side with people chatting and one closed door at the end of the hallway.

Dita sends a ghost through the closed door, but the ghost just disappears and can't be reached even by telepathy.

Then the other giants return from a room towards the end of the hallway. Airy creates a solid illusion cage around them, but the giants are able to break it. Dita uses her Chi Shout to take them out, but while wrecking the hallway, the giants are not really impressed impressed either. Trush uses the 2 mind controlled giants as a wall of defense. And then opens the suitcase. The giants stare at it and the leader really uses his sanity. He has an expression of utter fear and while the other 2 bouncers are able to close their eyes in time, he starts wrestling them.

Trush passes by them and opens the closed door. He enters a room with no light on, but his Radar Sense still gives him a good overview of what is in there. Next to a huge statue of dwarf, a red mirror covers the wall. Trush opens the suitcase and the red glow comes out. He dares to open his robot eyes finally and sees that the glow flew out of the suitcase and melted with the mirror.

Airy in the meantime was able to overcome the mad giant with a PSI bolt and Dita convinces the other giant to relax after the fight and that they are not opponents.

Now the mirror drips to the floor and forms into a humanoid shape: that of a sleeping woman. Her skin seems to be made out of reddish metal. Airy probes her mind and realizes that she dreams of a plain with a Sickle tower, floating around it.

 Trush is able to wake her up. Together they leave the Lizard Club and while everyone tries to convince the red woman to fly on their mean of transport into the sunrise, Trush is most convincing in the end. She hold him tight on his pegasus.

Next: Breakfast and Dollars