Nothing else seems out of the ordinary for a horrible haunted forest being inhabited by a child eating witch.
Seanan McGuire, Reflections
Session 4 – Mara
Things start to get interesting now, and my personal library has grown to great proportions!
This is the third of three session posts where I’ve gone back through my notes, to recap things that have transpired thus far. I can officially say, that after this one we are caught up and I can progress to my switch over to using the Mythic Game Master Emulator (MGME).
During this time, my collector’s addiction had gone into full gear. I had started to amass many GM related resources and bestiaries and started work on my encounter generation tool. It was all in good fun.
Unlike the last post, which was pretty short, this one is just a tad bit longer. But the story, and my use of resources has greatly expanded upon where the story has gone and where it’s ultimately going in the future. And just using all the resources I have at my disposal has provided a wealth of fun, and justified, for me, the investment I’ve made.
Advice to the reader
In order to interpret the structure of my gaming session posts effectively, it is strongly suggested that you peruse A Readers Guide to Play Sessions on The Old Bard, if you haven’t already.
To better grasp what I mean when I bring up Fate questions, you might find it useful to keep the Mythic Fate Chart accessible, potentially in a new window or tab in your browser.
The Story So Far
The party up to this point had bitten off more than they could chew. They got their asses kicked by a bunch of goblins played by my wife and had returned back to the town of Dreadmere to recuperate.
Day 11
ATGM: It was about this time that my copy of Ultimate Bestiary: The Dreaded Accursed (5E) (I'll use NGTDA for the rest of this post) arrived and I was anxious to utilize some of the creatures from this book. I had created an area on my maps called The Haunted Woods that I was eager to get my characters to and act out some horror related elements. This was also the time I realized that the solo pc encounter sections in TSAT would not be helpful to me in generating encounters to use 3rd party bestiaries with.
While back in Dreadmere, the party was heading toward the constable’s office to check and to hire additional hands to deal with the goblins when the local carpenter rushed past them to open his shop.
“I’m so behind! I’m so behind!” he shouts as he runs past.
Curious about what all the excitement is about, the party enters the carpenters shop where they find him now at his workbench. The carpenter looks up from his work briefly and nods before returning to it, shaping a groove in an unfinished mahogany shelf with a chisel. The wide array of tools hanging from the wall of his workshop provides ample evidence of a life spent on his craft. He does not smile as he transforms plain wood into beautiful furniture before you, but a vague twinkle in his eye says all you need to know about the pleasure with which he exercises his skill.
“If only I had more Jatoba wood! I could finish all of these orders, but I just can’t keep enough of the darn stuff in stock!” he states. “Say, you look the courageous type! I’d like to hire you to get me more Jatoba! I’ll pay handsomely!” he states to the party.
ATGM: Once again, I used Chapter 14: Story Element Interaction Tables of TSAT once again to with its Situations Tables. I also used dscryb to help with a description of the carpenter. I never gave him a name sadly.
The carpenter explains to us that the Jatoba wood can only be found in the Haunted Woods to the east, and that every time he hires someone to go there, either they don’t come back, or come back with a story of some silly nonsense of ghastly creatures they encountered.
“I don’t much believe in that type of thing, but I need the Jatoba so badly I’ll pay you well!” he begs.
The party accepts his offer and rent his wagon that will hold about 200 lbs of cargo. The carpenter agrees to pay them 1 gold piece per lb. of Jatoba wood.
Before heading out of town however, the party pays a visit to Ulmog whom had helped them find the treasure from the translated scroll. The party wanted to hire him for assistance on their quests. Ulmog had used his new riches to pay for training and had become an accomplished fighter.
The party, now with Ulmog in tow, then heads out of town. After about a day’s travel, the party makes it to the haunted woods and begin searching for the Jatoba wood.
ATGM: I knew I needed my party to be a bit stronger, especially for the encounters I wanted to generate using NGTDA, however I didn't want to spin up a full new player character that I would have to manage as well. Instead, I decided to transform the NPC Ulmog, into a Sidekick. Sidekick rules originally appeared in an Unearthed Arcana article. But when the D&D Essentials Kit was released it introduced new rules for them via a complete rewrite. Ultimately Sidekicks were detailed in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. For finding wood, I would move a unit within the map area of the haunted woods and roll 1d100 for a 50% chance that wood was found there. If the roll was 51 or higher, I would then roll another 1d100 to determine the lbs of wood found.
During the party’s search for Jatoba they came upon a Giant Ape. The ape doesn’t attack and can speak Common which the party found fairly intriguing.
The ape revealed that its name was Mara, and she tells them that she was with her husband at a traveling carnival near the town of Dreadmere.
ATGM: I had recently read through Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft and came up with the idea using The Carnival, mentioned in that sourcebook, as a plot hook and story element in my solo campaign. The Carnival is a traveling domain, capable of visiting other domains and lands beyond the Mists.
While Mara and her husband were at The Carnival, a sorcerer showed up and massacred everyone including her husband. The Sorcerer also transferred Maras’ soul into an Ape at the carnival and she has been lost in the haunted woods ever since.
Mara knows the richest portions of the woods where the Jatoba grows, and if the party will help her get out of the haunted woods, she will help them find it.
ATGM: With Mara leading the party, I increased the chance of finding wood to %80. While the party continued on, there would be an occasional encounter with forest creatures and monsters from NGTDA. I used the stat block for a Giant Ape for Mara who was now part of the party during combat which made things easier along with our new sidekick Ulmog. Ultimately, Mara was also transformed into a sidekick but I'll detail how later.
As night came, the party decided to make camp before returning to Dreadmere the next day.
ATGM: Considering the choice was made to camp in the middle of haunted woods, I rolled 1d100 for a 50% chance that the party was interrupted during their rest, however they lucked out with no interruptions.
Day 12
The party woke early and broke camp before dawn. As they began to exit the haunted woods, they came across a farmer who went by the name of Benson.
The party asked how Benson came to decide to build his home in the middle of these woods. to which he responded, “He just wound up here”.
The party felt Benson wasn’t being that forthcoming with information but didn’t push it.
ATGM: There was a whole subplot I thought of here dealing with a Vampire that arrived at Bensons' cabin, but I never completely fleshed it out. Benson had told them to hide, and there was a conversation with the Vampire and Benson where the vampire questions Benson about seeing any interlopers and to inform him if he does. Obviously Benson is akin to Renfield from Bram Stoker's Dracula. I plan to have the party revisit Benson and flesh out that part in detail later.
Benson tells the party that it’s not that safe for them to be traveling at night, and they were more than welcome to come in for breakfast and await for daylight before heading on.
Once dawn does break, Benson tells them they shouldn’t come back unless they come heavily armed and prepared to deal with undead dangers, and that they should only come back in at the south end of the woods.
The party eventually makes it out of the haunted woods unscathed and returns to the town of Dreadmere where they cash in for their cargo of Jatoba wood. The carpenter is thrilled with their accomplishment and tells them to return to him each week if they would like to run another job for him
ATGM: Returning to the carpenter optionally weekly is a selfish plot hook for me to get my characters back to the Haunted Woods for more undead action. However, I can always use it as an opportunity to flesh out additional plot threads for encounters there.
Day 13
While in town, the townsfolk are in awe of the Giant Ape traveling with them. Back at The Leering Eagle, Honey O’Dell informs the party about a rumor going around that there is a Rune in the west goblin cave that can help transform Mara back to her human form.
With this information, the party decides to clear out more goblins in the west goblin caves to search for the Rune. They head to the goblin stronghold and battle more goblins, but obviously the combat is a little less harsh on the party with Ulmog and Mara in tow.
Eventually the party does in fact find the Rune to help transform Mara back to her human form.
Upon traveling back to Dreadmere, the party finds a mystic to see if they can provide information about the Rune and how to use it.
The mystic does show them how to use the Rune for Mara to return to human form. Unfortunately, they learn, this is not permanent, and Mara must keep the Rune upon herself to remain that way. The mystic informs them that only the sorcerer who placed this curse on her can reverse it permanently. The Rune, however, does allow her to transform into the form of the Giant Ape at will.
The party discusses with Mara how valuable she is to them with this ability. They convince her that if she remains with them, they will actively seek out the sorcerer to force him by deadly force to reverse the curse. Mara reluctantly agrees but knows she can’t accomplish this alone.
The party retires at The Leering Eagle for the day.
ATGM: Throughout all the above, I once again relied upon the tables from Chapter 14: Story Element Interaction of TSAT and its Situations Tables to come up with everything above. I of course leaned in heavily to utilizing Mara as well as a sidekick with....um.. KICK! So now the party has grown from a single PC (Morn) to 2 full PCs and two sidekicks. I keep a side document updated with the sidekick statistics for Ulmog and Mara along with a page for the stats of a Giant Ape, that I then print off and keep with my game material. I update the statistics as necessary with the average party level based on the mechanics for sidekicks, and re-print when needed. Mostly, Mara remains and is vulnerable in her human form, but when the need arises for her to transform, it takes a full turn for her to make the transformation. This way, there is a cost and penalty for making that happen. If she takes damage in either form, I take the percentage of damage against the total HP of that form and apply that when she transforms back. For instance, at full HP at level 5 in human form she has 33 HP, while at full HP in Ape form she has 157. If she takes 10 points of damage in human form that's roughly 30%, so if she transforms to Ape form, her HP is at 109 in that form. Additionally, while in Ape form, she's just not that stealthy nor able to hide that well, so it would cost her a full turn to transform back to human form during combat should that need arise. Overall, the goal of seeking out the mysterious sorcerer makes for an interesting plot thread I can weave into the overall story.
Day 14
While venturing around town, the party comes across two old hags trying to rid themselves of a wild boar on their property. It turns out, that the boar was actually a human who had come to them seeking aid to rid themselves of boars from their farm.
These two witches gave the man a potion to spread around the farm to rid themselves of the boars, but somehow the man got the potion on himself and when a boar rammed into him, his soul was transferred into the boar. And now this man trapped inside the boar would not stop pestering them. The hags used their witchcraft to come to an understanding of what the boar was actually.
ATGM: It's interesting that during my story, using the situational tables from TSAT, resulted in words that my mind fixated onto possessions of animals.
The witches asked the party to retrieve elecampane which grows in the Haunted Woods, which they could use to create a new potion to reverse this accidental transformation. They would also reward them greatly for a black pearl, and one could be found from a Wight warrior who roams the Haunted Woods. The black pearl wasn’t needed for the concoction, but the hags desperately desired it.
The party ventures back to the Haunted Woods but taking note of what Benson had told them earlier, they enter from the south.
They find plenty of elecampane and do in fact encounter the Wight Warrior and defeat him, also taking his Obsidian Greatsword along with the Black Pearl he had.
ATGM: It was during this time that I started working on an Encounter Builder that I could mix in many of the undead creatures from The Dreaded Accursed for balanced encounters with the party.
On the way back to Dreadmere the party encounters Cheng Koos. He has broad shoulders, strong hands, and a patch across his right eye. He pleads to the party to help rescue his wife who was kidnapped by cultists in the area.
Cheng leads them to a cabin owned by Fiddlefen Copperfield whom he is a close friend of along the road back to Dreadmere where they can rest. The party informs Cheng to wait for their return and they may be able to help.
ATGM: My notes are unfortunately too loose during this time, and I suppose I didn't write down too many facts I had generated about Fiddlefen Copperfield. However I do have a note that she can teleport. My thinking at the time would be to utilize that ability to help the party find The Carnival.
After returning to Dreadmere and to the two hags, they reward them 300 gp for the Obsidian Sword and 500 gp for the black pearl. They then cast a spell to remove the man’s soul from the boar.
ATGM: This was another plot hook to get my characters back to the haunted woods. As you can see, I'm trying to work it in as a series of major plot threads in this adventure. My plan is to work in some other plot hook at some point about the Obsidian Greatsword, and the two hags being important NPCs with lots of information on the mysteries within the haunted woods and the Carnival. I just haven't figured that out yet.
Day 15
Before returning back to check on Cheng Koos, the party stops by the weapons shop to have their weapons silvered to better protect themselves when they return to the Haunted Woods, as well as stock up on rations and supplies.
ATGM: I should note that at the end of each day, I decrease 2 rations from both Morn and Thenelis. This is to account for not only themselves, but for their sidekicks. This is also to help ground the characters in the world. They have needs I need to account for, so at the end of every day, I do some bookkeeping to lower their ration count. If the party is out for too long without re-supplying, the effects of not eating or getting plenty of water then affects their Exhaustion level. So far, this hasn't become a factor, but I imagine at some point they will run out or their camp raided, or I'll work in some daily mechanic to determine if they lose any supplies.
The party returns to Cheng Koos at Fiddlefen Copperfield’s Cabin at noonish. Cheng then explains to the party about the cult that has taken his wife.
The cult is called the Disciples of the Shadowed Eye.
ATGM: I used the book Remarkable Cults & Their Followers by Lore Smyth to flesh out some details about the cult, but from a generalist point of view. The cult type is a Religious Order.
In search of knowledge about the group that had kidnapped his wife, Cheng reveals to the party that he had determined that it was this cult. He goes on to find out that the cult meets in The Leering Eagle Tavern and Inn in Dreadmere, and that they had a ritual site to the east.
ATGM: When I originally started building out the area, I had placed a ritual site on the map that the party was curious about, but it wasn't revealed to them until now what it was all about.
After infiltrating the cult, itself, Cheng then continues on explaining that he learned the cult began after its founding leader, Cord Stomrock, excavated an ancient crystal ball from a tomb in the haunted woods. The leader can hear a voice from the artifact.
Along with this crystal ball, parchment was found with ancient text which described that immortality could be reached by blood sacrifices every full moon for 24 months.
The cult of course wished for its members to gain this immortality, and the effects from the blood rituals also give members supernatural strength and vitality. He describes that each member also each have the following tattoo on their arm that aids to identify cult members.
It’s leader and members revere the crystal ball.
ATGM: I planned on working in some element to the story that the party discovers that if this crystal ball is destroyed, it will rip apart their faith and loyalty to its leader. Another element the party is not privy to, is that the cult’s members rely on the spirits of the dead, whether in the form of ghosts, zombies, or poltergeists for assistance. When a cult member dies, its ghost remains as an enemy in combat. I also have a note about the party determining a way to kill a member without its ghost appearing. I also established the following for combat with the cult members. Cult Members are a variation on a Cultist from the D&D MM (pg 345) which I call a Possessed Cultist. I created a Homebrew creature in D&D Beyond based on the Cultist and bumped up their hit points and added proficiency in Acrobatics to match their description given to us by Cheng. I bumped them up to CR 1 and allowed them to perform a multiattack. I believe they will come into play frequently. When a cult member is killed, a 80% chance exists that a Phantom Servant appears in their place (page 9 of NGTDA) A Cult Fanatic (pg 345 of the MM) exists with Cord in the primary chamber of the crypt who must be defeated before Cord. If he is killed, he will become a Possessive Consciousness pg. 12 of NGTDA. The Two Hags also know of the cult. I didn't' change any stats for the Cult Fanatic other than the fact that when killed he WILL become a Possessive Consciousness.
Cheng then explains the following about Cord Stomrock
“Stomrock conceals his form in a shroud of darkness, a cloak so black it seems to drink in light. A cowl, pulled low over his head, shadows his features and evokes the image of a faceless shadow. He is a thin, emaciated man who moves slowly and delicately.” he states.
Cheng continues on with his description.
“His speech drones, as in when he speaks, it’s only an emotionless, inhuman monotone.
He was once leader of the Dreadmere trading post but was stripped of his title when he failed to act on the threats of the town.”
ATGM: The party will soon discover that in fact, he is a Wight Malignant, pg 169 of NGTDA. He was magically transformed into the humanoid version of the actual Cord Stomrock.
The party agrees to help Cheng rescue his wife. Cheng leads them to the ritual site where they encounter some of the cult members at the site.
ATGM: There is a small crypt that is located underneath the ritual site. It can be discovered by pushing the ritual table aside which triggers a door to open behind the statue on the ground. Once opened, it reveals stairs down into the crypt.
The party battles the cult members, whom they discover that some of them become Phantom Servants. During the battle, some of the cultists try to flee behind the statue at the site, and they discover the secret door leading below. The party chases after them and enters the crypt below.
Bookkeeping
That was a lot. I know. But I’m pretty sure future posts won’t have so much weight to them and will be more digestible. But hey! We’re caught up and the next post will be about using the Mythic Game Master Emulator as the oracle system I’ll be using moving forward.
I’ve also gotten my Encounter Generator to the point where I was utilizing for generating encounters with undead in the Haunted Woods, and plan on using and testing it more moving forward.
Resources Used
- The Solo Adventurer’s Toolbox (TSAT)
- Dungeons & Dragons Core Rule Books
- Players Handbook (PHB)
- Dungeon Masters Guide (DMG)
- Monster Manual (MM)
- Dungeons & Dragons Campain Settings: Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft.
- Dungeons & Dragons Expanded Rules: Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
- dscryb for flourish in some descriptions.
- Ultimate Bestiary: The Dreaded Accursed (5E) (NGTDA)for creatures in the Haunted Woods. and Phantom Servants that the cultists become.
- Remarkable Cults & Their Followers by Lore Smyth for details about the cult.
- Dungeonfog for generation of the ritual site.
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