The Heart of the Wild
Dnd Adventure - The Heart of the Wild
Players and Characters
Luke - Enylrem (Human Wizard)
Jessie - Jasper (Human Cleric)
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DM Notes: Sections that are highlighted blue are DM notes commenting on the player's actions or background information.
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Chapter 1
Damned Elves!
The village's lumberjacks were recently found dead, murdered in their camp. The Overseer in charge has gone missing, and nobody knows what happened. The people are afraid, and the mayor wants this mystery solved before any more people are killed.
We started the game just as the players were meeting the mayor, Amicus.
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| Mayor Amicus |
DM: So, before we get started, why don't you tell me a bit about your characters? Luke, you're playing a... wizard now, right?
Luke: Yep. I'm playing Enylrem.
DM: Nice, nice. So, what can you tell me about your character?
Luke: He likes magic mushrooms.
DM:
Ok... what about you, Jessie? You're playing the cleric, right?
Jessie: Um, I'm not really sure what to say?
Luke: Isn't she using a sample character?
DM: Oh, right. Never mind, then.
So here's the obligatory backstory:
Harvestfall is a relatively recent village, having been founded by humans about thirty years ago. The villages immediately had trouble with their neighbors, the elves that lived in the nearby forest. Said elves regarded the forest as their property and had a habit of shooting any human that "trespassed".
The conflict went back and forth for a decade or so until the mayor managed to convince the elves to agree to a treaty. The villages would leave the forest mostly alone, only sending a team to harvest a certain number of trees each year. In return, the elves would refrain from killing any other humans.
The logging team (about five people plus the Overseer) lived and worked in a camp inside the forest, only coming back once a week to drop off their cargo and spend the weekend with their families. They didn't come back last week, and a search party discovered their remains in the camp.
The people are afraid and many of them are blaming the elves for the crime. The mayor personally doesn't think the elves did it but wants the adventurers to get to the bottom of this mystery before anyone else gets killed.
Luke: So, do you have any advice for us?
Mayor: Well, you could stop by the village healer. He's the one that handled the bodies and can probably tell you more about how they died. Or you could go to the camp immediately to investigate.
Luke: I think we should go to the healer first and see what he has to say.
Jessie: I think we should go to the camp.
Luke: Ok, then we'll split up. You go to the camp while I-
DM: Sorry, bad idea.
Luke: Oh, right. Never split the party.
DM: Well, yeah. Also, I don't know how to show you guys two different screens at once. I'm still not used to this website...
In the end, they decide to drop by the healer's hut first.
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Chapter 2
Let's Talk to EVERYONE
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| Healer's Hut (Exterior and Interior) |
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| Herbalist |
Immediately after seeing the picture:
Luke: Why does he have a skull for a lamp?
DM: Um, secret healer thing. He can't tell you. (I did not see that skull earlier. Should have used a different picture...)
Luke: Can I check to see if he has any magic mushrooms?
DM: He's not going to share.
Luke: But we're friends!
DM: You just met him. He's standing there going "Who are you and what are you doing in my house?"
Luke: We're here for mushrooms! Oh, and something about dead bodies?
Herbalist: Why do you want dead bodies for?
Luke: That's my kink.
Herbalist: (backs away slowly)
Eventually, they manage to explain the situation and the herbalist shows them the bodies.
DM: Ok, roll me a Heal check, please.
Luke: Ok. (rolls 2) Umm... Jessie, you try!
Jessie: How do I do that?
DM: (shows her the button)
Jessie: (rolls 10, 5, 2, 8...)
DM: You only need to click it once!
In any case, Jessie has a +10 bonus to healing (because CLERIC, muthafucka), so she's able to tell that the loggers probably weren't killed by elves.
DM: The bodies appear to have been mauled and half eaten. You're pretty sure that they were attacked by some kind of animal.
Luke: Do we know what kind of animal?
DM: Some kind of canine.
Luke: Canine, huh? Can I check to see if there's any magic around the bodies?
DM: You can tell that there's some kind of magic involved, but it's not anything you're familiar with.
Luke: Hmm... ok, can I roll History to see if I recall any information about local problems? (rolls)
DM: You remember that there are elves living in the nearby forest.
Luke: Yeeees?
DM: Some elves are druids. And druids can shapeshift.
Luke: Oh shit.
Red Herring ahoy!
Herbalist: Look, for the last time, I'm not selling you any mushrooms!
Luke: But we're good guys! The mayor sent us on a mission to save the village!
Herbalist: Ah, but I'm the only healer in the village and I need those mushrooms for... uh, healing potions. And stuff.
Jessie's Friend (sorry, I don't know his name): See if you can buy some of the weed in his garden.
DM: What?
Luke: Oh, yeah, I see it. Hey, can I buy some of that instead?
DM: Wait, where?
Luke: Right there!
Luke: Wow, that's kinda expensive. How much money do I have?
DM: 25 gold.
Jessie: Eh? So low?
Luke: Well, that's why we're doing this job: to get money.
DM: And to help people, right?
Luke: Uh, yeah. That too.
Jessie: But why do we need to buy his potions? I can heal already, right?
Luke: Oh, right. Nevermind then. Hey, can I buy one of his chickens?
Herbalist: What for?
Luke: Well, I... you know what, never mind.
Herbalist: You know, there's a perfectly good inn in town if you're hungry.
They also asked the herbalist if he thought the elves were behind it. He wasn't sure because nobody in the village had actually seen an elf in about 5 years.
The herbalist also pointed them towards two other people they could talk to - the mother of one of the dead loggers and a dwarven merchant who seemed to have been doing a lot of business with the Overseer for the past few months. After some discussion, the pair decides to talk to the mother first.
Luke: Wow, she's kinda MILFy.
DM: She's a grieving widow. Please don't start going all "I roll to seduce!"
Luke: A grieving widow? Then why's she wearing all that gold, then?
DM: Well, it's not real gold. It just looks nice.
Luke: Oh, so it's pasar malam gold?
The party decides to try diplomacy...
Luke: "So, do you know why your son died?" Wait, that's not very sensitive, is it? Can I try again?
Widow: It's them filthy elf savages! They killed my poor boy! Probably stabbed him in the back like the sneaky little rats that they are!
Luke: Oh, and now we have racist grandma. Nice.
The widow didn't know a lot about the deaths, but she had a lot to say about the missing Overseer.
Widow: A greedy, 'orrible man he is! Why, every week it's 'work, work, work'. Me poor boy did so much overtime and he never got paid extra!
After parting ways, they decide to check out the dwarven merchant that the herbalist told them about.
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| "Taldric Goldbringer, at your service!" |
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| "And here is my humble stall!" |
Luke: So, what can you tell us about the Overseer?
Taldric: The Overseer! Ah, is good friend! Always nice to be having regular customers, yes?
Luke: (rolls Insight and Perception) I'm noticing a lot of elven trinkets in your stall. How'd a dwarf get ahold of such things?
Taldric: Ah, you noticed? I get from Overseer, you see. Every week he come here, he sells me more elven toys. Is good business!
Luke: People around here don't seem to like elves much...
Taldric: Ah, I am not selling it direct. I send it to cousin in next town over. He sells it for me, we split the money.
Luke: (attempting to blackmail) I wonder what the people around here will do if they find out that you're dealing with elven stuff...
Taldric: The locals? Listen, I being here six months already. They don't care! Hell, the Overseer, he bought books from me so that he can learn to read elvish! Besides, no one's seen an elf here for years!
Just as they're about to leave...
Luke: Can I buy that cage?
DM: What cage?
Luke: That one up there.
Taldric: Sure! For you, only 2gp.
Luke: That's daylight robbery! I'll pay... 5 silver pieces.
Taldric: This item was hand forged by my own family! Is good dwarven quality! Say... 15 silver?
Note: 10 silver = 1 gold
After some negotiations...
Luke: Jessie, you've got more charisma then me! You try convincing this guy!
Jessie: Huh? What?
In the end...
[Item Obtained: Empty Cage!]
Luke: Quick, I use my magic to make it look rusty.
DM: Why?
Luke: Hey, er, dwarf guy. This cage is rusty. You should give us a refund!
Taldric: Sorry friend. Not my problem anymore.
Remember this cage. It will be important later.
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Chapter 3
Honestly, he kinda deserved it...
After they're done with the merchant, the party finally decides to head to the camp, where they see...
After searching the area, they discover footprints from a large, canine creature that appeared to have been walking on two legs rather than four. In the cabin, Luke finds the Overseer's bed, as well as a little locker box underneath containing several elven trinkets, a log book containing the camp's financial records, and a book that's basically the elf version of "See Spot Run".
DM: (After Intelligence check) So, after reading through the log book, you realize that over the last five years, the Overseer's been cutting down more trees than he's supposed to and is pocketing the extra money.
Jessie: (From outside the cabin) Hey! I found something!
Basically, just outside the camp was a small, roughly made shrine of some kind.
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| Basically, something like this |
DM: Based on the translations, it's probably-
Luke: Oh, I can read elven.
DM: (Is sad) It's a ritual called the Test of the Blood Moon. It summons a spirit.
Luke: (sarcastically) Oh, gee. I wonder why they would possibly want to summon a spirit? This guy's only been breaking the treaty they signed for like five years.
DM: No, not that kind of ritual. This one summons a spirit which attempts to attack the person that summoned it. It's meant as a trial of some kind.
Basically, it's the elf's way of training primal characters (barbarians, druids, shamans, wardens). They're supposed to fight and defeat an angry spirit to prove their strength. If they fail, they get possessed by the spirit and the clan shaman is supposed to come over and whack them until the spirit goes away.
The Overseer basically translated it wrong and thought the spirit would give him power instead of testing his power. When he summoned it, he was very surprised when it attacked him and took over his body.
After that, the pair decided to report back to the mayor's office. On the way, they stop by the dwarven merchant again and sell off the elven trinkets they found.
Luke: So, we've found the why and the how. The "why" is that your Overseer was a greedy moron. The "how" is basically an angry spirit possessing his body.
Mayor: What!? That's terrible! You must go and stop him immediately!
Luke: Well before that, we need to talk about payment.
Mayor: Are you trying to blackmail me, sir?!
Luke: No, no. It's just... we're going to fight against some angry spirit thingy. We need to buy some things to prepare.
Mayor: (grumbles) Well, all right. I suppose I can give you half the payment now. But you better make sure to fix this as soon as possible!
Luke: Thanks. Any advice you can give before we go?
Mayor: (sighs) Well, the herbalist might have something you need. And... you should probably talk to her.
Luke: Who?
Mayor: The Witch. She lives on the outskirts of the village. She is a vile, evil creature, so be careful when you speak to her.
After some questioning, they discover why the mayor seems to dislike her so much. Basically, she showed up when the humans and elves were still fighting. The mayor begged her to help stop the fighting and she agreed... for a price.
The mayor had to kidnap and murder an elven child in front of her. The Witch then brought down a plague which killed all the children in the elven village, terrifying them into submission. The mayor got them to sign a treaty and declare peace, but was horribly traumatized by what happened. He hates and fears the Witch, but doesn't dare go against her in case she reveals what he did to everyone.
Before they talk to the witch, the adventurers decided to visit the herbalist again.
Luke: Hey, I got some herbs for your from the woods. How much will you pay for them?
Herbalist: I already grow them in my garden.
So they ask the herbalist about the witch. He says that she's scary and doesn't like liars, but he can provide them with a potion that she'll like. For a price...
Luke: 5gp? What is this stuff? Even wine is like 1gp.
Herbalist: Is special brew. Only I know how to make.
Luke: Can I try some?
Herbalist: No. It's only for the Witch. If you drink it, you die.
Luke: Wait, she drinks poison?
Herbalist: She doesn't drink it. I don't know who does, and honestly, I don't care as long as it gets her off my back.
Finally, they make their way to the witch's house.
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Chapter 4
The Witch of the Wilds
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| The Witch's Hut |
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| The Witch of the Wilds |
Luke: Nice place you got here.
Witch: Ah, welcome. I assume you are the ones the mayor has hired to investigate the recent... problems?
Witch: You may refer to me by my title - the Witch of the Wilds.
Luke: Yes. We found this ritual...
Witch: Ah, it seems that the fool went through with it after all. I warned him that the ritual would not give him what he wanted, but he insisted that he knew better! Imbecile.
Luke: I think I like this character. What's your name?
(Ominous background music rises)
Luke: Can I call you Tracy?
Witch: Oh, very well.
Yeah, I had ominous background music playing when the Witch was around. I originally expected the players to think she was creepy or scary, but they actually seemed to like her a lot. The fact that the ominous music rose just as Luke said that was hilarious, though.
DM: Ok, I think I'll turn off the background music now. It's getting annoying.
Luke: Yeah, it became a lot less creepy after you let us call her "Tracy the Witch"
Jessie: LOL
Luke: So, is the Overseer dead or what?
Witch: Unfortunately, the fool failed to defeat the spirit. It has possessed him and driven him mad.
Luke: Is he going to attack people again?
Witch: Binding a spirit into mortal flesh has consequences. If he remains possessed for too long, he will eventually turn into a Lycan - what you would call a werewolf. The beast will be driven to hunt and infect other humans, including the inhabitants of this village.
Luke: Ok, that's bad. So do we have to kill him?
Witch: You have three options. First: Kill him. Simple and... relatively easy. Second: Complete the ritual the fool bungled up and release the spirit from his body. Third: Perform the ritual yourself. The spirit cannot be in two places at once, so when you summon it, it shall leave his body to appear before you.
Luke: What do you suggest?
Witch: I would suggest you choose wisely.
Luke: Seriously.
Witch: Hmph. The Overseer is a fool, one the world would not miss if you were to kill him. Completing the ritual will cause the spirit to leave him without any ill effects. But performing the ritual yourself... it is risky, but if you defeat the spirit, the power it grants can be useful.
Luke: How do we do the second option?
Witch: The possessed Overseer is hiding in the woods along with a pack of minor wolf spirits. Simply slay one of the wolf spirits and place its heart upon a certain shrine and the ritual will be completed.
Jessie: But I don't want to kill a wolf!
Luke: Ok, what about the third option?
Witch: I can lead you to a nearby shrine where you shall perform the ritual on the scroll. Simply defeat the spirit and you will have passed the trial. Once defeated, the spirit will flee from this world, leaving its former host to his own devices.
Luke: Can you help?
Witch: Hah! The spirits have nothing I want. But I might be willing to help with the ritual... for a price. You will owe me a favor, one that I shall call upon in the future.
After some questions, the adventurers determine that the favor will not cause harm to anyone in the village, nor to anyone innocent ("depending on your definition of innocence"). After some discussion, they decide to accept the offer.
They also ask about the elves and find out that they left years ago when the Elder had a vision predicting that a great calamity would befall the tribe if they stayed.
Basically, after killing all their children the elves decided to run rather than deal with the Witch again. They left in a hurry, so a lot of their stuff was left behind. When the Overseer realized that the elves were gone, he started sneaking into their village, swiping their stuff and selling it to the dwarf merchant.
He found the scroll containing the ritual in an elven shrine, tried to translate it himself, and misunderstood what it actually did. He thought it was a ritual that would give him power when it was actually a ritual to test his power. Which is why he got possessed and is now running around and attacking anything he finds.
In the end, the players decided to choose option 3 (mainly because Jessie didn't like the idea of killing a poor little wolf spirit).
Before they started the ritual, they went back to the mayor to let him know what they were doing.
Luke: Ok, so it turns out that if we leave the Overseer alone he'll eventually become a werewolf.
Mayor: A werewolf? Here? That's terrible news!
Luke: Don't worry, we're going to do a ritual that should stop him.
Mayor: Well that's a relief...
Luke: But if we fail, we're probably going to get possessed as well. Just a heads up.
Mayor: What?!
Luke: See, we're telling you this because we're good mercenaries. Right, Jessie?
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Chapter 5
When your big dramatic fight turns into a Pokemon episode
Once they were ready, the witch led them into a cave containing a shrine to the spirits and told them to do the ritual there.
Luke: Wait, aren't you joining us?
Witch: I have no need for the power of the spirits. This is your test, not mine. In any case, I have already done the necessary preparations for the ritual.
Luke: So how exactly do we do this ritual?
Witch: Well, first you-
Luke: Does it involve mushrooms?
DM: (sighs) Yes, fine. It involves mushrooms. You smoke mushrooms and meditate until the spirit comes.
Luke: Awesome.
If the Witch hadn't agreed to help them, they would have had to do a bunch of skill checks to successfully complete the ritual. Failure would have made the spirit stronger when they summoned it. Since she did all the work for them, they got to pass the skill challenge automatically.
After a few minutes, this appeared:
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| Angry Wolf Spirit |
Immediately, it lunged and attacked them both.
Luke: The cleric's closer! Go for him, not me!
Jessie: Hey!
DM: It can attack both of you at the same time.
Luke: Shit.
(rolls)
DM: Ok, it hits the wizard, misses the cleric-
Luke: Wait, she's the closest one, she should be getting the first roll result.
DM: Ok, look. I'll roll a d4. Evens means it hits the wizard, odds means it hits the cleric. (rolls) Ok, wizard takes... 9 damage.
Luke: The RNG gods hate me.
I actually accidentally deleted the file containing the spirit wolf's stats, so I was using the older version that I'd written down earlier. The older version was originally a level 3 monster, so I had to reduce its health and defenses a bit to make things fair.
There were some... teething problems during the fight.
Jessie: Wait, how do I attack? What am I supposed to do?
Luke: Roll the dice and pray.
Jessie: That's not very helpful.
DM: Well, you are a cleric. All your powers are basically "I pray really hard and ask my god to smite this guy"
Later, the spirit summons a bunch of minions to help:
Jessie: I jump into the water to get away from the wolves!
Also, the DM learns that Luke has modified some of his spells...
Luke: Ok, I cast Cloud of Daggers over there.
DM: Ok...
Luke: Oh, but instead of daggers, they're all mushrooms instead.
DM: Mushrooms?
Luke: And after they hit the target, they fuse together into one giant mushroom that explodes and hits anyone who walks into it.
DM:
Later...
Jessie: Aww... do we actually have to kill the wolf?
DM: Well, you have to defeat it to complete the ritual.
Jessie: Can I tame it?
DM: Um, ok? How are you doing that?
Jessie: Hmm...
Luke: Quick, you need to pray!
In the end, it's decided that if they bring the spirit down to half health, they can do a Charisma check to try to bind it into submission. Problem is, I forgot that Jessie's a Cleric, which actually has a decent Charisma score.
The DC was 20, meaning that she had to roll above 20 three times in a row. She had a bonus of +2 because of her charisma, but I didn't think it'd be enough.
Then this happened...
[Jessie Rolls 1d20: 18+2: 20!]
[Jessie Rolls 1d20: 18+2: 20!]
[Jessie Rolls 1d20: 19+2: 21!]
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| Jessie's face when she saw the rolls |
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| Mfw I saw the rolls |
Jessie: Yay!
Luke: Wow. Nice. Whenever I try to do something cool, the dice fail me.
[Investigator] - Discover what killed the loggers
Jessie: So now I've caught the wolf in my cage.
DM: Wait, what cage?
Jessie: The one I bought earlier!
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| THIS CAGE |
[Jessie has gained new item: Trapped Wolf Spirit!]
DM: (sigh) Ok, you know what? Fine. The wolf howls as it gets sucked into the cage and all the other minor spirits disappear. You've completed the trial.
Players: YAY!
DM: A moment later, these appear:
Jessie: SO CUTE
Luke: Wait, we have to fight these now?
DM: They nod at you approvingly, then howl and fade away. You feel a strange marking appearing somewhere on your body. It looks like this:
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| Blessing of the Wolf Spirits |
Jessie: So cute!
Luke: So cool!
DM: (sobbing) Just... just take the damn rewards. I don't care anymore...
The Overseer stumbled into town a day or two later, suffering from a terrible hangover and with no memories of the last week or so. The players got their payment (with a bonus from the mayor) and the witch has promised to call in their favor at some point in the future.
The DM has a drink. A lot of drinks.
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Rewards:
170 gold
250 XP each
Achievements gained!
Luke and Jessie's characters now have the following achievements:
[How Amusing!] - You've amused the Witch
[A Favor Owed] - You owe a favor to the Witch
[A Man Once More] - You have removed the curse without killing the Overseer
[Gotta Catch Them All] - Capture the Wolf Spirit instead of killing it
For those who're new to this, the achievements help me to keep track of what the players did. Each achievement also earns them bonus XP. Some achievements are easy to get, but others require a bit more time and difficulty.
Due to completing the Trial, both characters also gain the [Blessing of the Wolf Spirits]. They may multiclass into a primal class for free when they level up (instead of spending a feat to do it).
Jessie used a sample character this time, so if she decides to make her own character for our next adventure, he/she will get these achievements automatically. If she makes a primal character (barbarian, druid, seeker, shaman, warden), they'll get to pick a free Tribal feat (found in the Primal Power book, page 136 onwards).
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