Transcription
Hollow’sLast HopeGameMastery Module D0Wilderness and Dungeon AdventureCREDITSDesign: Jason Bulmahn, F. Wesley SchneiderDevelopment and Editing: Jason Bulmahn, Mike McArtor, Jeremy WalkerCover Artist: UDON with Joe Ng and Espen GrundetjernInterior Artist: UDON with Joe Ng and Espen Grundetjern, Vincent DutraitCartographer: Christopher West, Robert LazzarettiGraphic Designer: James DavisSenior Art Director: Sean GlennBrand Manager: Jason BulmahnPublisher: Erik MonaHollow’s Last Hope is a GameMastery Module designed for four 1st-level characters. By the end of this module, characters should reach 2nd level. This module is compliant with the Open Game License (OGL) and is suitable for usewith the world’s most popular fantasy roleplaying game. The OGL can be found on page 16 of this product.Paizo Publishing, LLC2700 Richards Road, Suite 201Bellevue, WA 98005paizo.comGameMastery 2007, Paizo Publishing, LLC.Paizo Publishing and the golem logo are registered trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC. GameMastery is a trademark of Paizo Publishing, LLC. All Rights Reserved.Printed in China
Hollow’s Last Hopeboth the wilderness and the wiles ofAdventure Summaryknow one another as friends or relations,or they might encounter one another asthey’re individually drawn to seek a curefor the town’s affliction (likely either in lineat Roots and Remedies or at Laurel’s suggestion of cooperation).If the PCs need encouragement tobecome involved in the plot of the adventure, a friend, relative, or possibly one ofthe PCs themselves might come down withblackscour taint. Alternatively, both herbalist Laurel and Sheriff Baleson could put outcalls for assistance, drawing on PCs’ specifictalents, which might lead the PCs to learnof Laurel’s more unusual cure.When you’re ready to begin the adventure, read or paraphrase the following tothe players.man. Wolves nip at their heels andCharged by herbalist Laurel to cure theafflicted town, the PCs venture into Darkmoon Vale to secure the ingredientsrequired to cure Falcon’s Hollow of theblackscour taint. Along their path, the PCsencounter numerous forest denizens, hintsof growing dangers within the woodlands,and the ruins of a dilapidated dwarvenholding—the domain of a ferocious, bestial master.Perched at the edge of civilized lands, the smalltown of Falcon’s Hollow has always had torely on itself to solve its problems. Meanwhile,the uncaring lumber barons squeeze the common folk for every last copper, deaf to theirpleas. Now the hacking coughs of the sick areheard throughout town. The plague has cometo Falcon’s Hollow and the town’s leaders can’tbe bothered to stop it.The small village of Falcon’sHollow is a wild place. Nestledin the shadow of Droskar’s Crag, thepeople of Falcon’s Hollow are heartyand stern. Theirs is a life of hardships,broken only occasionally by a handfulof festivals and the infrequentmerchant caravan.They face constant adversity fromcutpurses ply at their pockets. It is atestament to their strength that theyeven manage to survive at all.—Pathfinder ChroniclesHollow’s Last Hope is a wilderness anddungeon adventure designed for four 1stlevel characters. Characters who successfully complete this adventure should reach2nd level by its conclusion. This adventurecan be used as a prequel to the GameMastery Module D1: Crown of the Kobold King.This module is a combination of wilderness exploration through the DarkmoonVale and dungeon delving in the surfaceruins of an ancient dwarven monastery.Since time is a factor, Game Masters (GMs)should familiarize themselves with therules for overland travel before beginningthis module.source of the malady to Brookman’s well,a small spring on the edge of town, and arare fungus called blackscour. By banningthe use of the spring, the town constabulary hopes to prevent further infection, butsuch measures offer little respite to thosealready afflicted.While Laurel has attempted numeroustreatments, she has been unable to curethe disease. She lacks the reagents to brewone last unusual medicine, though all thenecessary elements can be found withinnearby Darkmoon Vale. Thus far, though,no townsfolk have dared to venture into thewooded reaches and secure the ingredientsfor this potential cure.IntroductionAny number of events might draw the PCsto the small trade town of Falcon’s Hollow.Merchant caravans regularly travel herefrom any number of points abroad, trading for the rare darkwood that grows soabundantly in Darkmoon Vale, and potentially bringing exotic individuals to townas guards or paying travelers. Alternatively,characters might be long-time residentsof Falcon’s Hollow, young or adventuroussouls seeking excitement and opportunitybeyond the lumber mills and town’s pettyintrigues. Local residents might alreadyThe Town of Falcon’s HollowA rough community wholly owned by thelocal Lumber Consortium, Falcon’s Hollowrests on the edge of Darkmoon Vale, a blunt,sawdust-choked stop on a winding traderoute. Home to fewer than 1,500 humansand a smattering of other races, most ofthe townsfolk care only for the paltry coinspaid for their backbreaking work and whatsimple comforts they can buy. A few, however, understand that what’s bad for one isbad for all, and so the community thrives onAdventure BackgroundIn the past week, numerous residents ofFalcon’s Hollow have fallen ill, each suffering from the same hacking affliction.Local remedies prove as useless as prayersat the Church of Iomedae, goddess of valor,justice, and honor, and already at leastone town elder has been claimed by thew heezing death.Fortunately for Falcon’s Hollow, a cannylocal herbalist named Laurel has traced the module D0Before the Kobold KingAside from being its own adventure, Hollow’s Last Hope works well as a prelude toGameMastery Module D1: Crown of the Kobold King. GMs interested in running thisadventure as part of Crown of the Kobold King can remove all elements of the diseaseafflicting Falcon’s Hollow and instead use the encounters in Darkmoon Vale and in theruins above the kobolds’ lair as supplementary encounters. Containing its own complete adventure and extensive details on the town of Falcon’s Hollow, Nicolas Logue’sCrown of the Kobold King is available now at your favorite local game store and onlineat paizo.com.
a tenacious mix of greed, debauchery, andstubborn self-reliance.Falcon’s HollowTown nonstandard (Lumber Consortium); AL NEGP Limit 1,500 gp; Assets 40,550 gpDemographicsPopulation 1,400Type isolated (human 94%, halfling 3%, half-elf1%, elf 1%, other 1% )Authority FiguresGavel Thuldrin Kreed, LE male human expert 3/rogue 4 (Gavel of the Lumber Consortium),Magistrate Vamros Harg, NE malehalfling aristocrat 2/sorcerer 5(Magistrate-Elect), SheriffDeldrin Baleson, LN male halfelf expert 3/fighter 3 (Sheriff ofDarkmoon Vale), Boss Payden“Pay Day” Teedum, LE malehuman monk 2/fighter 3(Overboss of the LumberConsortium).fourth day, with the death toll increasingan additional 1d4 every day until a totalof forty villagers have perished. If the PCshave acquaintances or loved ones afflictedby blackscour taint (and who lack full NPCstatistics), roll 4d10 for each noteworthyrelation. If the PCs do not return to townwith a cure for the disease by the time thedeath toll reaches the NPC’s number, thespecified character dies.Once forty townsfolk die from blackscour taint, the malady has run its course,killing all those unable toThe AfflictionAt the start of this adventure, several dozen peoplein Falcon’s Hollow havecontracted a fungaldisease called blackscour taint. While themalady is not exceptionally deadly, poorconditions and ageneral lack of supplies mean that manyof the sick—especially the elderly andyoung—face mortalconsequences. Slowlydeteriorating, most ofthe afflicted can hang onfor several more days, butalready the weakest have succumbed, withtheir number growing daily.Blackscour taint is an ingested diseasewith an incubation period of 1d3 days. Thedisease deals 1d2 points of Constitutiondamage and is resisted with a DC 14 Fortitude save. Those who are infected developa hacking cough that quickly turns bloodyif the disease is allowed to progress.For the first two days from the startof the adventure, 1d4 townsfolk die fromblackscour taint every day. On the thirdday, 2d4 townsfolk die, then 3d4 on theovercome the disease on their own. If thePCs take up the search for a cure and fail toreturn to Falcon’s Hollow by this time, theyare widely shunned and blamed by manyfor the deaths of their loved ones.lay their medical concerns at the feet ofthe local herbalist, a tough woman namedLaurel (NG female human expert 3), whoseincome stems as much from her sale ofsnake oils and aphrodisiacs as from questionable cure-alls and bitter teas. As quickto suggest expensive remedies as she is toremind angry buyers that she is not, in fact,a physician, Laurel does her best to helpthose who come to her in need, but her tightincome, need to survive, and pride preventher from admitting failure.In treating the blackscour taint, as inmost cases, Laurel has turned to her grandmother’s tome of recipes, cures, and spellsfor aid. Although the book contains noactual magic, it holds the rooted wisdom of generations of Laurel’s family, including the teachings of theWitch of Darkmoon Vale, Ulizmila,from whom Laurel’s grandmotherlearned in exchange for her sight.There’s one last treatment fromthe cultic appendices of thetome—scribed in a hand that isnot Laurel’s grandmother’s—thatthe herbalist has yet to try, as shelacks three of the most important ingredients and wouldrather do what she can for thesick with what she knows thanchase a fanciful salvation.How the PCs come to entreatLaurel for aid is largely up tothe GM. A DC 10 Knowledge(local) check or merely i nquiringwith any of the families of theafflicted reveals that Laurel isaiding the families of the sickas best she can—although herproscriptions are little morethan bed rest and a pungent blackurdroot tea. Nearly anyone in towncan direct the PCs to Laurel’s shop, theunmistakably named Roots and Remedies.The line stemming from Laurel’s shopmakes a useful first-time meeting placefor unacquainted PCs.Part 1: An ElusiveAntidoteRoots and RemediesFalcon’s Hollow has few clerics, and onlyLady Cirthana (LG female cleric 2 of Iomedae) shows any interest in stopping the illness and she lacks the ability to cure diseases. Since few townsfolk trust her, mostCreeping ivy and full window boxes cover thefaçade of the rugged-looking, two-story shopbearing the faded sign “Roots and Remedies.” Aline of twenty-some somber townsfolk—somewith pale, wheezing children, others seeming
Hollow’s Last Hopeto be precipitously near tears—stretches fromthe open door.Laurel’s shop has been besieged since theoutbreak of blackscour taint, both by theafflicted and their families and by hypochondriacs of all stripes. While she tries tohelp those with legitimate concerns as bestshe can, she has no qualms in selling thedeluded her most expensive balms.Unless the PCs attempt to bypass theline—an act that might touch off a small,hacking riot—it takes nearly an hour toreach the door of Roots and Remedies.Once inside, the clutter and disrepair of theshop shows the recent traffic, and Laurelvisibly overworks herself at the store’s rear,brewing remedies for the ill.The smell of burnt earth and spicy incensechokes the air of the cramped, mud-trackedshop. Bunches of dried herbs hang from theceiling, along with dangling pots, presses,alchemical apparatuses, and glasswareof more arcane purposes. Pouches of rareplants, jars of colored glass, and all mannerof dried, preserved, and jellied animal partsfill high shelves and tables doing double dutyas displays and workspaces. In the shop’srear, a rail-thin woman with severe-l ookingspectacles and hair pulled back tightly busies herself between an overpacked rack ofherbs, a table covered in stray powders andmeasuring equipment, and a pot loudlyb ubbling over with thick gray froth. Overthe din of her work and without looking up,the woman impatiently shouts, “And what’syour problem?”The PCs are free to converse with Laurel as they please and she can tell themanything they need to know about theblackscour outbreak, how many people areafflicted, and—especially—how it’s not herjob to treat every cut and scabbed knee thedaft people of Falcon’s Hollow come cryingto her about.Initially dismissive if the PCs don’t present themselves as customers or capableassistants, she eventually comes aroundand tells the PCs what she knows aboutthe taint. Even if the PCs seem honestlyw illing to help, she might not even thinkto mention the untried medicine until the c haracters are about to walk out the door,calling them back at the last moment.While conversing with Laurel, sheanswers some of the most likely questionsas follows:What is blackscour? “Just a fungus that’snot good for anything. Hard, bitter, andsharp, it likes the water and gets you sick ifyou drink it down. Never heard of it g rowingaround these parts, though, until now.”What is blackscour taint? “It’s a sickness,almost like any other, but you get the moldgrowing in you. It starts eating away in yourchest and belly and is damned determinedto stay. Your body near turns itself insideout trying to hack the stuff up, but all thatdoes is cuts your guts up bad.”How many townsfolk have blackscour taint? “More than thirty, honestly,though at least three times that thinksthey’ve got it.”Is there any cure? “Not around here. I’llget these folks what I can and we’ll see whatgood it does.”There’s another medicine? “My grandmother’s book has a brew in it that says itsgood for this kind of thing. A weird concoction that sounds more like hoojoo than realmedicine.”What’s in this medicine? “Some rareroots and concentrations, most of which Ihave here, but there’s three I don’t. Elderwood moss, which I’ve never heard of, butgranny says the stuff only grows on the oldest tree in a forest. A specially pickled rootcalled rat’s tail, agai
Hollow’s Last Hope is a GameMastery Module designed for four 1st-level characters. By the end of this module, char-acters should reach 2nd level. This module is compliant with the Open Game License (OGL) and is suitable for use with the world’s most popular fantasy roleplaying game. The OGL can be found on page 16 of this product. Paizo Publishing, LLC 2700 Richards Road, Suite 201 .
