d20 Avalanche Press Greenland Saga The Lost Norse Colony.pdf

Requires the use of the Dungeons 6r

Third Edition, published by Wizards of the Coast®

Norse Colony

aPu

An Adventure Module for Characters

of 2nd ~ 4-th Level

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'D20 System' and the 'D20 System' logo are Trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast and are used according to the terms of the D20

System License version 1.0. A copy of this License can be found at www.wizards.com.

The Open Game Content in this book includes game rules, character and creature statistics, and similar material using the D20 system. This

content is denoted by its placement in stone bordered-style sidebards. The Open Game License does not cover the rest of the text nor its

presentation as a complete work. With the exception of the Open Game Content, reproduction of this work without the written permission

of the Copyright Holder is a violation of copyright law.

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblence to anyone living, or dead less than 500 years, is purely unintentional.

Credits

Text: Dr. Mike Bennighof, Ph.D.; Art Direction: Peggy Coleman; Cover: Lorenzo Sperlunga; Interior Art: Peggy Coleman;

Editing: Doug McNair; Additional Character Design: Tommy Jones, John F. Morris; Playtest, Advice and Assistance: Peter Adkison,

Ryan S. Dancey, Marcelo A. Figueroa, Brian L. Knipple, Tommy Jones, John F. Morns; Plotline Combinations: Doug McNair;

Character Instigation: Bricn J. Miller; Special Thanks to Peter Adkison and Ryan S. Dancey

Avalanche Press Ltd.

P.O. Box 4775,Virginia Beach.VA 23454 USA

I -800-564-9008 • www.AvalanchePress.com

ISBN 0-970796;-2-9

Introduction

During the last decades of the first millennium, Viking

adventurer Erik "The Red" Thorvaldsson sighted the

massive, snow-covered island of Greenland. Erik,

considered rough and violent even for a Viking, had a

bad habit of killing people and being banished for the

crime. First he had to leave his home in southern

Norway, settling in Iceland. It wasn't long before he

got angry and killed again, and had to depart his

adopted home. Not allowed to return to either place

for three years, he set sail for some islands an earlier

seafarer had spotted west of Iceland.

Erik and his comrades found a large landmass with

inhospitable, rocky shores. Sailing around it, they came

to a series of fjords similar to those of their Norwegian

homeland. Though Greenland is mostly known for the

massive icecap covering almost all of the island, some

areas experience warm summers, sport pasturage for

livestock and contain small groves of trees. The Norse

arrived during one of the Earth's periodic warm spells,

and so the climate was less harsh than the 21st Century

and certainly an improvement over Iceland. Erik s naming

of "Greenland" represented an early form of real estate

promotion, but he did indeed see green lands. Meadows

could support sheep and cattle, and the nearby seas

teemed with fish, seals, whales and sea cows. Norse

settlers came to this new land and set up colonies that

endured for almost 500 years. And then they disappeared.

Just what happened to the Greenlanders is still disputed.

But the image of a small group of settlements on the

fringe of the known world disappearing under mysterious

circumstances is a powerful one in fantasy literature. It

is a staple of the genre, and of fantasy game play, and

now players can experience the original version.

GREELAND SAGA is an historical adventure for four to

six 2nd through 4th-level characters, based on the still-

unexplained disappearance of the Norse settlers. The

material included will give you the information necessary

to conduct the game, though players may want to stop

reading after the "Background section to help maintain

the sense of adventure.

Norse belief includes a powerful sense of magic, and

so magic-using characters would be appropriate for

this adventure. However, the Greenlanders have been

Christian for centuries and their faith frowns on

displays of magical ability. This is very definitely a

"low magic" setting. Non-human characters are also

not advisable; the adventure is designed for a small

party of low-level western European characters.

At Avalanche Press, we firmly encourage you to use your

own discretion when guiding players through an adventure

rather than simply depending on the roll of the dice.

To build an exciting story that keeps players interested,

it is sometimes necessary to force the action. This

adventure has several possible plot lines.

in the southwest. Beaches are gravel rather than sand, and

valleys often contain gravel beds as well. It is a beautiful

landscape. North of the colony, the icecap approaches

the sea until it merges into the Arctic ice. Temperatures

are bitterly cold, but Eskimos live in this region.

Hunting and Wildlife

Hunting Greenland's abundant wildlife is the most

important factor in the Norse colony's survival.

Hunting parties of a half-dozen or so range hundreds

of miles from the settlement in search of meat, fur and

ivory. Using lessons learned the hard way or adopted

from the Eskimos who began to filter into Greenland a

little over two centuries ago, the Norse hunters coat

themselves with a thick layer of animal fat to help fight

off the intense cold. With heavy fur clothing and eye

covers as protection against snow blindness, these

hunting parties are as well-equipped to handle the

severe cold as anyone in this age.

Fiercest among Greenland's animals is the polar bear,

known as the Ice Bear to the Norse. The polar bear is a

massive, fearless creature, weighing over 1,000 pounds

when full-grown. These bears are sea-oriented creatures,

rarely venturing more than 30 miles inland. They are

extremely fast over short distances, and can run down a

frightened caribou under the right circumstances. They

are excellent swimmers and very strong, capable of

grabbing a seal's nose and squeezing the 200-pound

creature through a small breathing hole in the ice,

crushing its bones in the process.

Norse hunters report cunning behavior from these

predators. Polar bears have been observed picking up

huge chunks of ice and smashing them down on the

heads of hapless prey, or standing on their hind legs to

throw pieces of ice at their victims. They stalk seals by

filling in the seals' breathing holes in the ice, then

guarding one remaining hole, knowing the seal must

eventually poke its nose through the hole or suffocate.

Polar bears will also camouflage themselves by packing

snow on their black noses, the better to blend in with

their surroundings.

Polar bears are loners. Males will fight one another savagely

during their brief April mating season, but otherwise

ignore others of their species. The bears will eat most

anything, including dead polar bears and wood chips, and

will stalk and kill humans. The Norse in turn hunt the

polar bear both as a test of manhood and for its white

coat, which fetches high prices from European traders.

The only Arctic creature with an outside chance of

Part One:

Greenland Background

Climate and Landscape

Most of Greenland is covered by a thick sheet of ice,

and temperatures in the interior never climb above

freezing. On the southwestern coast, where the Norse

settled, summer temperatures rise to just above 60

degrees Fahrenheit. Winters are extremely cold, but the

climate is still less harsh than that of Iceland. Rain falls

sparsely, but as the Greenlandcrs grow few crops this is

not a serious problem.

Greenland's predominant features are the bare mountains

of gray granite that cover most of the country. Grass grows

Cold and Exposure

The party's journey to Greenland rakes place during

the brief summer. There are no cold penalties in

place in the settlement area. If the party ventures

onto the icecap, treat this as extreme cold for purpose

af determining Cold Dangers. Eskimos and

Greenland Norse are exempt from cold checks

(due to innate toughness not represented by the

game stats, and lifelong experience on the island).

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