| Display a Printer Friendly Version Jolly Greenhag's Giants
[comments:(5),
views:(6312), rating:(8.2)] Author: Keven Simmons
Homepage: http://
System: AD&D 2nd Edition
Type: Scenario
Category: Fantasy
Requirements: characters level 5-8
...signs of some giant-sized bipedal creatures have started to appear about 6-8 miles to the north-west of Jolly. The number of these creatures is unknown, but there are definitely more than two or three.
This module is designed for use with the AD&D(tm) game from TSR, Inc. and contains references to trademarks and/or copyrighted material owned by that company. The original portions of this works are (c) copyright 1994 by Keven Simmons and is being offered free of charge under the following conditions:
1) You may not sell this material for your own profit
2) If this material is redistributed, either electronically or in printed form, it must include this copyright notice.
3) You may modify details of this material for your own purposes, but only the original can be redistributed.
Correspondence regarding this material can be sent via U.S. Post to:
Keven Simmons, POB 351, Sherburne NY 13460
or via the internet to: simmonsk@norwich.net
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This material may contain references to non-TSR monsters, spells and magic items. If you would like information on non-standard spells or items used in this module, write or e-mail me at the above addresses. I will be happy to share whatever information I can.
Feel free to make modifications as you deem necessary in order to make the module playable in your campaign.
abbreviations and other notations used:
th or thaco = to hit armor class 0
hd = hit dice
hp = hit points
ac = armor class
d = damage
mr = magic resistance
str = strength
con = constitution
dex = dexterity
int = intelligence
wis = wisdom
chr = charisma
pp = pick pockets
ol = open locks
frt = find / remove traps
hs = hide in shadows
ms = move silently
hn = hear noise
cw = climb walls
rl = read languages
Some spells, magic items or monsters may have a notation following them similar to this: find familiar [P 134]. The information in the brackets is a book and page number reference for locating the item's description. The following are the book abbreviations used in these references:
P = Player's Handbook (2nd edition, first printing)
T = Tome of Magic
D = Dungeon Master's Guide
A = Unearthed Arcana
M = Monster Manual
F = Fiend Folio
S = Monster Manual II (first edition)
C = Creature Catalog Supplements
K = my own compiled reference manuals
If you eventually use this module, I would like to hear how it turned out.
enjoy!
---keven
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The Setting
The small village of Jolly (pronounced joe-LEE), is a hunting community found in the deep woods where game is plentiful. It consists of 15-20 family cottages surrounded by a 12 foot tall wooden palisade. The entrance is a heavy wooden gate which can be barred from the inside. This gate is generally closed but unbarred during the day, and is barred at night. There is a night watch which covers two shifts (dusk to midnight, and midnight to dawn) with three Jollians on duty for each. They have no store or inn, being little more than a hunting camp, but there is a small smithy, a bower/fletcher, and a tanner.
The adult men of the village have abilities of 1-4 level fighters with non-weapon proficiencies in hunting, trapping survival, animal lore, etc.. They are generally of LN/NN alignment, and are equipped with either leather (80%) or light chain mail (20%) for armor, and carry a short bow, hunting knife (treat as a dagger), and short sword. Most are specialized in bow.
The area surrounding Jolly is thick, deciduous forest with substantial undergrowth. Several generations ago, much of this area was cleared for farming and has since grown back. There were quite a few large villages and several baronies in the area, but these communities were over-run, pillaged and burned by a hoard of gnolls and were never rebuilt.
There is ample game in the forest including large deer herds, wild pigs, bear, rabbit, mink and a host of other animals. The woods are also home to the typical population of intelligent sylvan creatures such as dryads, brownies, satyr, unicorns, etc. These creatures tend to avoid the village of Jolly and are rarely encountered by the hunters who, for the most part, do not consider the surrounding forest to be dangerous.
Background
Several weeks age, the game in the area has become scarce, and signs of some giant-sized bipedal creatures have started to appear about 6-8 miles to the north-west of Jolly. The number of these creatures is unknown, but there are definitely more than two or three. From what evidence can be found they stand over 10 feet high and must be very strong, as evidenced by several broken trees. While it was certainly possible to follow the path these creatures left, none of the hunters wanted to risk their lives in doing so. Ever since the signs were first found, that area has been generally avoided by the Jollians, but even so, two hunters have been found dead within a few miles of the village, apparently beaten to death with clubs. Many of the hunters are now unwilling to venture very far into the forest, and thus are bringing back less game.
The most chilling event however, occurred only three days ago, when one of the Jollian guards was found dead at his post, which was inside the compound. He was killed by a number of dagger-like slash wounds and had apparently been surprised, for his weapons were all undrawn. When the body was first discovered by one of the other guards, a quick search of the compound found the gate unbarred and several prime pelt stolen from the tanner's shop. There had been no strangers in the village for several weeks, and none of the villagers are missing. Some believe that the theft and murder was the work of one of the more desperate hunters who are on the verge of poverty because of the loss of game, but as yet, none of the stolen pelts have been found. Whether the appearance of the creatures in the forest and the theft are connected or simply a coincidence is not know, but is the basis for much of the talk in the village.
For the DM
The fact is that both incidents are indeed connected. The large creatures in the forest are hill giants who have recently moved into the area along with their greenhag mistress, Agnathis. Agnathis had a treasure map fall into her possession a few years ago, and desiring to investigate, rounded up a tribe of hill giants to accompany her as free labor. The map lead her to the ruins of a small forest keep, long since fallen prey to the quick growing vines and bushes that covered it when she arrived. Since her arrival at the ruins, she has made the only standing portion of the keep - a four story tower - her temporary home while the giants work on clearing away the brush and rubble.
She found out about the existence of Jolly when one of her giants came back with the pelts from a hunter he had killed. Using her abilities of invisibility and near silent movement, she scouted out the village and even entered the compound to find out more about the people who lived there. After realizing that they had nothing worth taking, she left, confident that their fear of the giants would keep them from intruding on her 'expedition'. She did, however, return to the village a few nights ago to steal a few animal skin for her bed, but had to kill a guard when he got in her way.
Enter the Party
For whatever reason the party has come to Jolly and finds out about the terrible circumstances that have plagued the town. The villagers can't offer anything in the way of payment, but would be very grateful to anyone who rid them of the creatures that are killing their friends and crippling their livelihood. If the party attempts to solve the mystery of the theft and murder from the compound, it will of course be a fruitless endeavor. If the party decides to investigate the creatures' appearance in this neck of the woods, the villagers will be able to point them in the right direction but that is the most help any of them will offer.
The Adventure
Travel through the forest is slowed considerably (50%) by the heavy undergrowth and combat is similarly difficult. Anyone fighting with a weapon larger than a short sword is at -1 to hit and -1 damage due to the likelihood of the weapon getting snagged by a tree branch or bush. Missile fire is at normal chances to hit up to 30 feet, and then suffer a -3 to hit due to the chances of the missile being deflected. The party will have a 75% chance of encountering 1-2 giants before they reach the ruins where the tribe is working. The DM may add other random woodland encounters as desired.
Even without a guide, the party will have no problem finding signs of the giants after a few hours of travel. Several trees have been pushed aside in places and following the giants path is easy even for someone unskilled in tracking. Should a ranger be in the party, they will be able to tell that there were three creatures, and that they were definitely giants of some kind.
If the giants at the ruins have not been previously alerted to the party's approach, the party will have a distinct advantage. The giants are making so much noise in their excavation effort that they will not hear anyone approaching and the party will hear them long before the clearing comes into view. When the party gets close enough to see, they will find a large group of hill giants clearing away bushes and debris from the ruins of some large stone structure. A lone tower is the only piece of the building still standing, and upon the top of it is an old woman who occasionally yells instructions to the giants working below. (note: the forest combat penalties do not apply to anyone fighting in the clearing made by the giants)
Unless the party takes great pains to avoid detection, Agnathis will almost certainly seen them if they enter the clearing created by the giants. She will become invisible at the first sign of trouble and direct her giants to attack any intruders. She will remain on top of the tower directing the giants and throwing weakness spells on the party until her giants are defeated or party members reach the tower. At that point she will try to escape into the forest where she can regenerate if necessary and plan her next move. She will not easily give up her claim to the treasure, but might consider allowing the party to retrieve it and then stealing it from them.
The tower where Agnathis is staying is a simple, four story structure with one circular room per floor. The bottom two rooms have holes in the walls where doors used to be but the third floor is relatively sheltered from the weather. It is here where Agnathis has been staying, having made a crude bed out of sapling poles and the furs that she stole from the village. She has brought with her a small chest in which she stores 800 gp, 40 pp and the treasure map. The fourth floor is the crenelated top of the tower and is open to the sky. It is here that Agnathis will be when the party arrives, overseeing the giants work.
Agnathis (Greenhag) [S 71]
ac: -2 hd: 9 hp: 51 th: 11 damage: 7-8 / 7-8
mr: 35% move silently: 90% surprises 1-5 in 6
at will: audible glamour, change self, dancing lights, water breathing, invisibility, weakness, speak with monsters
ring of regeneration 1 hp/minute (D-130)
potion of speed
Giants
males (8) minus any encountered in the woods
ac: 4 hd: 8+2 hp: 44 each
th: 11 damage: 2-16 or rocks (2-16)
females (3)
ac: 4 hd: 6 hp: 31, 28, 41
th: 13 damage: 1-10 or rocks (1-10)
The giants have nothing of value; they get paid after Agnathis finds the treasure.
The Treasure Map
Should the treasure map fall into the party's hands, they may wish to uncover the goodies themselves. The map is not really a map, but is a collection of several documents. One is map of this general area, another is a sketch of a castle floor plan, and the third is a page out of an old diary which reads as follows:
'. . . oday than twas yester. There be talk of surrender as we have but littel food left in the stores. Our Lerd has commanded that all the values of our keep be hidden so that the besieging hord not profit from ther evil. We was not tolde where twas to be hidden but yester the serving staff be ordered from the kitchen so we suspe . .. '
As near as the party can figure out, the giants have been clearing away the rubble from an area that was once the keep's kitchen judging from presence of a large, rusty cook stove. If they wish to continue clearing it away, they will have to spend another 2 weeks of work on the task for a group of 2-3 characters, or a week for 4-5 characters. In order to put in the amount of time necessary to accomplish this, the party will have to camp here while they work. The trip from here to Jolly will take about two or three hours, which doesn't leave much time to work.
Likewise, they may have to do some hunting to supplement their food supply. Small game is plentiful, but the larger creatures such as wild pigs and deer have been driven away or eaten by the giants.
Also hunting in this general area is a pair of squealers, and as they are tired of living on squirrels, they will try to waylay a party member. Their favorite method is to hide in a tree while imitating the grunts of a wild pig. When the victim strays close enough, they will swing down while holding onto a branch with three of their legs and attack with their vicious bite.
Squealers [S 113]
ac: 6 hd: 12 hp: 37, 40 th: 9 damage: 7-12 / 1-3 / 1-3 / 1-3 / 1-3
can imitate animal noises
75 % invisible in overgrowth
surprises on a 1-4 in 6, gives +2 on attack
Eventually the party will have cleared away enough of the rubble to reveal a hole in what used to be the floor of the kitchen. A set of rubble clogged stairs lead down into the darkness. The stairs end in a smallish dirt walled cellar with wine racks along two of the walls. Most of the bottles are still intact, but the all of the wine has gone bad. A third rack has tipped over and broken bottles litter the floor around it. Partially concealed by this fallen rack is a mustard jelly which will surprise anyone investigating the rack on a 1-3 in 6.
mustard jelly [S 77]
ac: 4 hd: 7+14 hp: 43 th: 10 damage: 5-20 (or 2-8 / 2-8 after splitting)
mr: 10%
special attacks/defenses:
poison vapors in a 10 foot radius, save each round or be slowed. These effects are cumulative and persist for 2 rounds after leaving the area of effect.
can split into two pieces, each has half the hit points of the original and each can attack for 2-8 points of damage
only hit by [+1] or better
electricity and magic missile causes it to grow 1 hit point per point of damage.
cold does half damage
Behind one of the standing racks is a secret door which has been hidden by covering it with dirt so as to make it look like part of the wall. The door is wooden and has swollen shut, making it very difficult to open. (treat as average, "stuck door") Beyond the door is a 10 foot by 10 foot room which unfortunately is currently occupied by a death watch beetle which has dug its way in here to lay its eggs. When disturbed, it will start its deadly clicking and all creatures in either of the two cellar rooms will be affected.
death watch beetle [S 17]
ac: 3 hd: 9 hp: 59 th: 11 damage: 3-12
Once every 2-5 hours: clicking, 30 foot radius, save vs. wands or die, 5-20 hit points of damage if saved.
Also in the small room are 6 small chests. None are locked and each contains one of the following:
1) 670 pp, 300gp
2) 1200 gp
3) 1200 gp
4) 40 gems, 6 pieces of jewelry (worth 12,500 gp), and a gem of seeing [D 170]
5) 2400 sp
6) 5 pieces of jewelry (worth 7,600 gp) and a chime of opening [D 163]
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