3E D&D - Adventure 06 - House of Harpies.pdf - Przygody - Sliwerr

House

of harpies

INTRODUCTION

The local thieves’ guild survives by hiding outside of

town, in the nearby forest. Since the thieves confine

their predatory efforts to within the city, local druids

and rangers have no reason to look for them, and the

town guard concentrates its efforts within the town’s

walls. Over the past several decades, the guild managed

to build a well-concealed hideout in one of the large

evergreen trees near the town. This allows the thieves

to plan and plot in safety, gives them a place to rest and

hide if things get too hot, and lets them check caravans

coming into the city for likely targets.

Unfortunately for the guild, their ideal hideout

attracted a flight of harpies that moved into the area.

The harpies like the hideout for many of the same rea-

sons the thieves do, and have driven the thieves out and

taken up residence. The thieves managed to escape

with most of their secret documents and important

possessions, but now lack a good, secure base of opera-

tions. The leader of the harpies, a particularly nasty

creature named Irith, hopes to use the treehouse base

as a headquarters from which she will expand her

flight, becoming a force in the area with which to be

reckoned.

A short adventure for four

6th-level player characters

CREDITS

Design:

Owen K.C. Stephens

Editing:

Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel

Cartography:

Rob Lazzaretti

Typesetting:

Sue Weinlein Cook

PREPARATION

You, the Dungeon Master (DM), need a copy of the

Player ’s Handbook , the D UNGEON M ASTER ’ S Guide , and the

Monster Manual to use this adventure.

Text that appears in shaded boxes is player informa-

tion, which you may read aloud or paraphrase when

appropriate. Unshaded boxes contain important infor-

mation for you, including special instructions. Monster

and NPC statistics are provided with each encounter in

full.

This adventure uses one of the elven tree base maps

from the January Map a Week feature on the D&D

website. It is is available for download at

< http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/mapofweek

/Jan_56b4EF89r.jpg>. The map is reprinted here for

your convenience.

Web Production:

Julia Martin

Web Development:

Mark A. Jindra

Graphic Design:

Sean Glenn, Cynthia Fliege

Based on the original D UNGEONS & D RAGONS ® game by E.

Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson and on the new edition of the

D UNGEONS & D RAGONS game designed by Jonathan Tweet,

Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Rich Baker, and Peter Adkison.

D&D, D UNGEONS & D RAGONS ,D RAGON , F ORGOTTEN R EALMS , and

D UNGEON M ASTER are registered trademarks owned by Wizards of the

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Coast, Inc. All Wizards characters, character names, and the distinc-

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Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is

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This product is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual people, organizations,

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This Wizards of the Coast game product contains no Open Game Content. No

portion of this work may be reproduced in any form without written permission.

To learn more about the Open Gaming License and the d20 System License,

please visit www.wizards.com/d20.

CHARACTER HOOKS

This adventure can be inserted in any wilderness set-

ting or just outside any city. It provides a good side trek

to get groups out of the dungeons and more involved in

outdoor and possibly urban adventures. It could take

place as part of a larger adventure centered on the

nearby town, or could be used as a standalone

encounter with Irith and her flight. Although the tree-

house is set in an evergreen, it could easily be moved to

a large tree appropriate in any climate, allowing the

adventure to be set nearly anywhere. You can use one of

the character hooks below to get the characters inter-

ested in the area around the treehouse.

•A flying bat-creature of some sort, possibly a mon-

strous bard, has been seen and heard in the area. It

seems to be able to mesmerize people with the

sound of its voice. A few caravans have disappeared

entirely, and a local collection of merchants are

willing to pay 1000 gp to whoever can get rid of the

creature.

•A group of griffins are believed to have moved into

the local forest. Numerous entrepreneurs have

begun searching large trees for griffin nests, hop-

ing to find eggs to sell.

•The thieves need to reclaim their base without

attracting any official attention. A member of the

party with underworld contacts is asked to accept

the job of clearing out the nest without any of the

local guards becoming aware of their efforts.

•Rumor claims that the songs heard in the forest are

from an ancient magic harp, lost in the area hun-

dreds of years ago.

140 ft. off the ground and 20 ft. tall. The second layer is

20 ft. above the first, and the third and fourth each 10 ft

above the layer below them. Each of the four layers has

a ladder access from above, meaning you must climb

over a level to its top before you can climb down into it

(normally there would always be a guild member on

duty to lower a rope to anyone allowed in).

The lowest layer of the treehouse has areas 6-9. The

next layer up has areas 10-13, the third layer areas 1-3

and the topmost lookout post areas 4 and 5. Since the

harpies have darkvision to a range of 60 feet, they’ve

made no effort to illuminate any of the treehouse’s

rooms. The thieves built the treehouse without win-

dows (to increase its camouflage value), so unless the

characters provide their own light or can see in dark-

ness, they won’t be able to see in any of the rooms

described below.

Area 6: The Main Hall (EL 6)

A ladder in the center of the room leads down

into a floor covered in filth and rot. The room is a

semi-circle five roughly 15-feet wide and 50-feet

in diameter, with a door at either end. The thick

smell of waste and musk fill the air, overpowering

any other scent. Piles of broken furniture, decom-

posing food and torn, bright fabrics line the

curved walls, with random refuse scattered across

the floor and smeared onto the wooden walls. A

few small holes, no more than a foot across, are

visible in the walls.

TREE FEATURES

Most likely at some point characters are going to end

up climbing up or down the trunk of the tree or

moving along some of its branches. The tree’s trunk is a

DC 15 to climb. A character can move along a tree limb

with a Climb check (DC 15) or Balance check (DC 10

within 10 ft. of the trunk, DC 20 further out). The

thieves intentionally kept the interior of the treehouse

rough so it can be climbed. The walls are DC 15 to

climb, and the ceiling DC 20. The ladder linking the

treehouse’s levels is a DC 5 to climb.

Remember that a climbing character or balancing

character with less than 5 ranks of Balance loses his

Dexterity bonus to AC and that attacks get a +2 bonus

to attack either climbing or balancing characters. A

character struck while climbing or balancing must

make an additional skill check or fall.

This room was originally the treehouse’s main hall,

where members of the thieves’ guild met in secret. The

harpies have intentionally trashed it to encourage a

pack of dire rats to move in and make a nest. Assuming

the characters have not already fought some of the dire

rats, twenty of the creatures live here, though no more

than ten are likely to be present at a time. The rats hide

(Spot DC 21), and will not attack the characters unless

they begin digging through the refuse.

d Dire Rats (20): CR 1/3; small animal; HD 1d8+1; hp

5 ea.; Init +3; Spd 40 ft., climb 20 ft.; AC 15 (touch 14,

flat-footed 12); Atk +4 melee (1d4, bite); SA Disease; AL

N; SV Fort +3, Ref +5, Will +3; Str 10, Dex 17, Con 12,

Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 4.

Skills and Feats: Climb +11, Hide +11, Move Silently

+6; Weapon Finesse (bite).

Disease (Ex): Filth fever — bite. Fortitude save (DC

12), incubation period 1–3 days; damage 1d3 temporary

Dexterity and 1d3 temporary Constitution (see Disease

in chapter 3 of the D UNGEON M ASTER ’ S Guide ).

THE LAYOUT OF THE

TREEHOUSE

Note that the scale of the room maps is 2.5 ft. per

square, but the side-view is at double that scale (making

the tree 400-ft. tall). The lowest layer of the treehouse is

Irith’s Tactics

Irith is a cunning foe, and has no interest in taking on a well-

armed group of adventurers in a fair fight. She does her best

top ambush them, wear them down, and weaken them

before they reach her own nest. Irith normally stay in area 1

when not out hunting for prey, and she only preys on targets

that are alone. She always has at least one harpy in the tree-

house’s lookout post, so she is likely aware of the characters’

approach to the treehouse unless the heroes take steps to

remain hidden.

If aware of the characters’ approach, Irith sends the two

harpies from area 12 to go attack them and assess how pow-

erful they are. These harpies make a few flyby attacks and try

to use their captivating song to get a few characters away

from the main party. If they seem likely to lose a fight with the

characters, the two harpies fly away and circle back to report

to Irith. In this case, Irith does her best to ambush the heroes

when they’re most vulnerable — likely while climbing on the

outside of one of the highest layer of the treehouse.

Irith has encouraged the dire rats in area 6 to make a nest

there so they are available for her to summon with her pipes

of the sewers. Irith uses this item whenever she’s directly

threatened, or the characters seem vulnerable to being over-

whelmed by their numbers. Even if the heroes manage to

drive off the dire rats, the survivors stay within 400 feet of the

tree and can be summoned again by the pipes.

Irith does not want to be driven out of her new nest, but if

it becomes obvious she can’t overcome the characters, she

flees through the air at her best possible speed, ordering any

remanding harpies to remain to fight the characters and help

cover her escape.

Area 8: Pantry

A thick stench of rot fills this 15-feet by 40-feet

wedge-shaped room. Broken barrels and splin-

tered wooden boxes fill it. Traces of rotting food

still show in cracks and crevices between the

broken containers. A door sits at each end of the

room.

This room is full of rusty nails from the crates and

sharp shards of broken pottery and glass. Anyone

moving through this room who doesn’t have at least a

+2 armor or natural armor bonus to AC needs to make a

Reflex save (DC 10) or take 1 hit point of damage. A

character is then exposed to the red ache disease (Forti-

tude save DC 15, id3 day incubation period, initial

damage 1d6 points of Strength - for more information

see Chapter 3 of the Dungeon Masters Guide ). A Search

check (DC 10) reveals both this danger and a safe path

through the room.

Area 9: Cloakroom

A few tattered pieces of cloth line the floor of this

15- foot long room. Small brass hooks line the

curved walls, and empty shelves run above the

hooks. Doors sit at each end of the room. There is

a small hole near the floor of the outside wall.

Area 7: The Kitchens

This was the treehouse’s cloakroom, where visiting

members of the guild would drop off packages and

hang outerwear. A single dire rat makes its nest along

the outer shelf, but it is hiding (Spot DC 21 to notice it),

and doesn’t attack unless the characters search the top

shelf.

This curved room is roughly 15-feet wide and 20-

feet long. A door sits at either end of the room.

Tipped tables line the walls. The remnants of

small lamps that had been fitted with metal plates

to allow food to be cooked lie scattered around

the room. The floor is slick, covered in a thin lair

of oil from the smashed cooking lamps.

SECOND LEVEL

This was the small kitchen that allowed the treehouse

to serve small, informal meals. The cooking lamps

allowed food to be reheated but were not really appro-

priate for fully-cooking raw food. They were tipped

when the harpies attacked, and the oil has never been

cleaned up. Moving cautiously isn’t a problem, but

anyone running or fighting in this room must make a

Reflex save (DC 13) each round to avoid falling. If the

oil comes in contact with fire, the whole room erupts

into flames dealing 2d4 points of damage (Reflex save

for half, DC 15) each round for 3d4 rounds. The tree-

house was built of wood treated to resist fires, so the

conflagration won’t spread beyond this room unless the

characters do something to encourage it.

Area 10: Meeting Room (EL 8)

Four nests made of broken chairs and fouled

clothes sit in this thirty-five foot long room, one

to either side of each of the two doors, located at

either end of the room.

If the characters haven’t dealt with the harpies from

this room yet, add the following.

Within each nest sits a horrid, hag-like creature

with long claws and huge bat-like wings.

These are the four youngest and weakest harpies in

Irith’s flight, and they’re not likely to be encountered

anywhere other than on this level. These harpies are

brash and arrogant, and fight to the death if attacked. If

encountered outside of area 10 the young harpies have

armed themselves with clubs (+7/+2 melee, 1d4

damage), otherwise they attack only with two claws (+7

melee, 1d3 damage per claw).

If it’s night time and the characters come in quietly,

the harpies are asleep and the characters can get a sur-

prise round of action. If its daylight the harpies are

awake, and no one gets a surprise round. The harpies

try to use their captivating songs to lure the characters

to them, but give up singing and defend themselves if

attacked. If the harpies in area 12 haven’t been dealt

with yet they definitely hear a prolonged fight in here

unless the characters take steps to prevent it (such as

cast a silence spell). If it can obviously be determined by

the sound of the fight that it’s going against the harpies

here, the ones in area 12 flee to warn Irith.

Area 11: Infirmary

Smashed pottery, broken tables, and ripped band-

ages line the floor of this 15-foot long room. Sev-

eral pastes and poultices are smeared across the

floor, and from them a strong, herbal smell fills

the room and overwhelms any other scents. A

door sits at either end of the room. A thin layer of

dust covers everything in this room.

This was the treehouse’s infirmary, for dealing with the

injuries of wanted thieves who couldn’t seek help in

town. The harpies smashed it along with everything

else in the treehouse, but found they hated the smell

and haven’t been in since. If a character smears some of

the poultices on themselves, any harpy attacking them

suffers a -1 penalty to their first melee attack against

the character.

d Young Harpies (4) ; CR 4; Medium-size monstrous

humanoid; HD 7d8–7; hp 29, 28, 24, 22; Init +2; Spd 20

ft., fly 80 ft. (average); AC 13 (touch 12, flat-footed 11);

Atk +7/+2 melee (1d6, club) and +2 melee (1d3, 2

claws); SA Captivating song; SQ Darkvision 60 ft.; AL

CE; SV Fort +1, Ref +7, Will +5; Str 10, Dex 15, Con 8,

Int 7, Wis 10, Cha 15.

Skills and Feats: Bluff +8, Diplomacy +4, Intimidate

+4, Listen +7, Perform (buffoonery, chant, epic, limer-

icks, melody, ode, storytelling) +9, Spot +6; Dodge,

Flyby Attack.

Captivating Song (Su): When a young harpy sings,

all creatures (other than harpies) within a 300-foot

spread must succeed at a Will save (DC 15) or become

utterly captivated. This is a sonic, mind-affecting

charm. If the save is successful, that creature cannot be

affected again by that harpy’s song for one day.

A captivated victim walks toward the harpy, taking

the most direct route available. If the path leads into a

dangerous area (through flame, off a cliff, etc.), that

creature gets a second saving throw. Captivated crea-

tures can take no actions other than to defend them-

selves. (Thus, a fighter cannot run away or attack but

suffers no defensive penalties.) A victim within 5 feet

of the harpy stands there and offers no resistance to the

monster’s attacks. The effect continues for as long as

the harpy sings. A bard’s countersong ability allows the

captivated creature to attempt a new Will save.

Possessions: Each of the young harpies has a potion of

cure moderate wounds , the harpy with 29 hit points wears

a necklace of fireballs (Type I) .

Area 12: Thieves’ Quarters (EL 6)

Two large nests of torn furnishings and tree

boughs dominate the center of this 45-foot long

room. There are claw marks along the walls, and a

few dark stains soaked into the wooden planks of

the floor. Broken bunk beads line the walls, and a

door can be found at each end of the room.

If the characters haven’t already faced the two harpies

that live here, they’re hiding behind two of the bunk

beds (this is where the harpies sleep, the nests are just a

decoy). A Spot check (DC 12) allows a character to see

the harpies as they leap out to attack on a surprise

round. Any characters that don’t notice the harpies

hiding can not act on the surprise round.

These two are Irith’s second and third in command

of the flight. They’re cunning old creatures, who have

fought many battles before. Each harpy is armed with a

+1 bone club. They won’t try to win a fight that’s clearly

going against them, instead attempting to flee and

warn Irith of the invader’s presence.

The nests do contain the harpies’ possessions, which

can be found by a thorough investigation (Search DC

15). There are 200 gold pieces hidden in the two nests

as well as four small, polished stones worth 5 gp each.

d Harpies (2) ; CR 4; Medium-size monstrous

humanoid; HD 7d8+7; hp 36, 34; Init +2; Spd 20 ft., fly 80

ft. (average); AC 14 (touch 12, flat-footed 12); Atk +7/+2

melee (1d6, club) and +2 melee (1d3, 2 claws); SA Capti-

vating song; SQ Darkvision 60 ft.; AL CE; SV Fort +3, Ref

+7, Will +5; Str 10, Dex 15, Con 12, Int 7, Wis 10, Cha 15.

3E D&D - Adventure 06 - House of Harpies.pdf

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