9568 Moonlight Madness.pdf - Free

If any character asks, tell them they recognize the
music as the same sound they heard during Madame Esmerelda’s
fortune-telling the night before. Any werewolf
in the party finds all of the bard’s songs trite and annoying,
due to the enmity that exists between werewolves
and wolfwe res. Likewise, the wolfwere is inexplicably irritated
with such a character. Other player characters will
probably pl- it this down to some side-effect of the bard’s
charming ST )ell on the wolves.
If the grc ’up hails the ”bard,” he greets them jauntily
and seems g ;lad for a chance for a little civilized conversation.
He introduces himself as Jovan, a wandering
bard, and v vi11 be particularly attentive to any female
party meml: )ers. He will happily play them a song upon
request; if none is requested, he volunteers one for
”m’lady” (o lr m’lord, should there be no female characters).
Use tl he prerolled saving throws, imposing a -2
penalty for each character who states that he or she is
“listening cl osely” (as instructed by Madame Esmerelda
in the prece ding encounter, see page 24). If they confide
in him or as ;k specifically about the Hermitage, roll percentage
dicc : to fake a Legend Lore check; then have the
bard say thi at he knows a song about it. He encourages
them to ma ke themselves comfortable and let him serenade
them. He then begins to sing a very funny song
about a vile, , cowardly werewolf named Isengrim, crooning
away UI itil the party are all charmed or until one of
them realizc 2s the situation and tries to attack. He then
signals his v volves to attack, changes into wolfman form,
and joins in the attack.
If the cha racters show no inclination to let him sing for
them, he sec :ms disappointed but still converses with the
group for a round or two, dropping hints as to his extensive
knowle dge of local legendry. If they still flatly refuse
to hear his 1 repertoire, he surreptitiously signals the five
hidden wo1~ Jes to attack the group, then says ”Here come
some more- -don’t hurt them; I’ll take care of it,” and,
stepping bel hind the front line of characters for cover, begins
to strur n and sing. Out of concern for the lives of his
wolves, he croons only until they begin taking serious
losses and tl hen attacks (hopefully from behind with surprise).
The t hree ”charmed” wolves attack when he does.
If at any point the characters attack him, he begins to
croon immc :diately. Once in melee, he changes to wolfman
form a nd attacks, urging all his wolves to do likewise.
If at all possible he focuses his attacks on any
werewolves in the group, enraged by their very scent.
If the PCs i wait in hiding or try to avoid him, he signals
the five hid den wolves to attack the party. He then pretends
to he2 ir the noise from the attack and rushes to the
party’s aid, crooning all the while. Use the pregenerated
saving throi NS each round for the characters to see if they
succumb tc 1 the wolfwere’s song. When he judges the
time is righ t Jovan assumes wolfman form and joins in
the attack, ( mce again focusing on werewolves as much
as possible.
25
JOK-~NI the wol here: ii!Z 3, ?+;-‘v l,“~ ; I-ID 5 t .; 3 t hp;
THACO 15; #AT 2; Dmg 2d6/ld6+1 (bite/rapier); SA
magical song (all within earshot are overcome with
lethargy and slowed for 1d4+4 rounds on a failed saving
throw vs. spell), wolfman form can both bite and attack
with weapon in same round; SD immune to nonmagical
weapons; SW cold iron, wolfsbane; MR 10%; SZ M;
Int high (14); AL CE; XP 1,400. Chr 18.
Wolves (8): AC 7; MV 18; HD 3; 18 hp each; THACO 18;
#AT 1; Dmg ld4+1 (bite); SD +1 bonus to saving throws
vs. charm spells; SZ S (4’ long); Int low (6); AL N; XP
120 each.
Anbrvspbinx
Four days after the encounter with the wolfwere, the
party arrives at the foothills of the Spikey mountains. The
trees begin to thin out and the land becomes rocky and
dry.
An androsphinx named Huttucilege is currently living
in this area. He has been avoiding the advances of Helen,
a gynosphinx, for some time. Knowing that Helen was on
his trail, Huttucilege went to the only local source of
magic for sale-the bandit castle (these are the same ban-
dits, in fact, that tried to highjack the silver weapons ship-
ment). They sold Huttucilege a magical girdle which they
assured him would provide an excellent disguise. That
much was true. The item was a girdle offemininity. Hut-
tucilege is very annoyed. As a gynosphinx, ”she” is a fail-
ure. She retains her spell abilities, but her roar is much
reduced in effect and she finds it difficult to scare anyone
with it. She does not have the gynosphinx’s spell powers,
nor a gynosphinx’s higher Intelligence and Wisdom. And
she is not good with riddles.
Huttucilege’s current lair is a cave in a bluff right
above the trail. When the PCs approach, the sphinx is
rummaging through her treasure looking for an item that
might help her out of her current predicament and not
finding anything. The party will be alerted to the sphinx’s
presence when a helmet, hurled in anger, sails out of the
cave and clatters onto the rocks below, right before their
feet. When the PCs look up, they see a large pile of dis-
carded armor and other assorted treasure blocking the
mouth of a cave. Totally frustrated by her lack of success,
Huttucilege roars.
se of some small
metallic object hurtling downward toward you. It
lands a few yards in front of the party with a ping and
a bounce. When the object comes to rest, you see that
it is a helmet.
u spot a large cave in the bluff above
you, its entrance choked with quite a pile of metal
items in a careless, haphazard stack. As you try to dis-