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Ideas For A Dark Castle Map-Based Adventure
🕑 Added 2020-05-19 17:54:52 +0000 UTCDo you remember "Dark Castle" map? Below you will find our proposal / inspiration for events and adventure that can take place using this map. This is another thing we want to create for you as Spellarena - we are very curious how you will like our idea. Write in your comments what you think about this mini adventure. Or maybe you prefer some ideas and inspiration on how to use such a map? Please give us your feedback!
We will create such one-shot short adventure ideas to all maps for Patrons with $5 and $10 tiers.
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"Battle for Immortality"
This adventure seed is designed to work with the Spellarena map of a mysterious castle. It is system-agnostic and can be used within different fantasy settings, from heroic adventures such as Forgotten Realms or darker worlds e.g. Hyperborea (Conan 2d20) or Warhammer.
Background information
Frontier baronies are a tough, unforgiving place, but one where, through hardship and determination, anyone can become a better — and wealthier — person. Baron Harrington was just that, and more. He was just, but stern.
He cared deeply for his land and his people and during his reign, the barony became a stable haven in the otherwise chaotic part of the world. From his sturdy keep, called Steel Gaze, and visible from anywhere in the barony, the Baron ruled for many years… but recently a shadow fell on the land.
The baron’s oldest son, Ragnos, became a wizard. He had always heard the whisper of magic and the baron happily paid for the studies. However, Ragnos discovered that Steel Gaze had been built on a nexus of magical power. He returned home and decided to use that power to become immortal — he never cared for his father, his ideals, or the land and its people.
Ragnos killed his father and thanks to his cruel mercenaries and cultists, he managed to turn the people against each other. Hatred and fear corrupted and empowered the nexus of power. Now Ragnos is ready for the ritual that will grant him immortality!
The road to Steel Gaze
An outline of an adventure that uses the castle for the showdown could look like this:
Bitter return. The barony is the party’s home or perhaps a PC is the baron’s younger child. They return after a few years of adventuring elsewhere and see the horrible changes that came upon the land: distrustful people, new baron’s secret police/cultists, cruel mercenaries, ravaging monsters, etc.
Grassroots movement. Through adventuring the party learns about Ragnos and his plan. This includes gaining the people's trust, battling mercenaries and monsters, discovering the information about the nexus of power. Maybe they will even organize an uprising!
Cut off the head. Having weakened Ragnos and his forces, the party attacks the castle. While they are battling through, Ragnos is desperately trying to tap the nexus’ power — an operation that might ruin the entire land!
Showdown features
In the final battle consider the following highlights of the map:
- entropic mist fills the chasm around the castle, so scaling the walls might be doubly dangerous.
- The ballistas are manned, making direct approach very risky. Later, the PCs might take control of them and repel incoming reinforcements.
- The spikes are a magical prison. The outside circle holds a mighty beast, which Ragnos unleashes on the heroes to buy time. The one within the walls holds prisoners to be sacrificed in the final stages of the ritual.
- The summoning circle is where Ragnos makes his final stand, tapping the nexus’s power without restrain. During this final fight, the entire castle and the rock it is on might rise into the air, making Steel Gaze a flying fortress, which later can serve as the party’s mobile base!
Comments
Hey Mathew! Thank you for your kind words! The creative process is very complicated - we usually start with initial ideas, which we test through questionnaires and then try to squeeze as much as possible out of such a simple idea as "a dark, lonely castle in the mountains". Our goal is for you, our patrons, to get the maximum for the amount you pay for our work every month. You are our most important critics, so we are very interested in your feedback.
Those are some really solid ideas that fit in well with the design of the castle! I'm thinking you all had these thoughts semi-built up whilst doing the drafts? (Come to think of it, the creative process behind the designs themselves would be cool to hear!) Having the background information behind the castle, as well as the ideas for the usage and in-encounter map threats is really neat as it highlights many different parts of the map whilst also giving us patrons further ideas for their role in our many settings!
