d20 Devil's Workshop Sidetrek Adventure Weekly 12 - An Uncertain Jungle Extraction.pdf - Adventure Weekly - R5700

S I D E T R E K A D V E N T U R E W E E K L Y # 1 2

AN UNCERTAIN JUNGLE EXTRACTION

WRITTEN BY LOU AGRESTA WITH GREG OPPEDISANO

On the Trodoon home world, atop a snow covered

peak, in the isolated outpost of a fallen civilization,

our heroes repaired the portal key that will take

them home – only to trigger an avalanche! Can

they escape the tsunami of snow and rock, survive

the primordial jungle below, traverse the void sepa-

rating time and space, and reach home?

Welcome to Sidetrek Adventure Weekly -- all

the heart-pounding, adrenaline-pumping action

your players can handle! Each Sidetrek Adventure

Weekly episode throws characters into an action-

packed encounter designed to electrify your game.

Drop any Sidetrek Adventure Weekly directly into

your adventure as a stand-alone combat. Or, if

you dare, link all 12 into one pulse-racing, white-

knuckle sidetrek adventure series. Jump aboard

Sidetrek Adventure Weekly tonight!

LPJ9657

ADVENTURE

LEVEL:

LOW

NPC

INTERACTION:

LOW

THREATS &

TRAPS:

HIGH

MAGIC

REWARDS:

MEDIUM

ADVENTURE

LOCATION:

WILDERNESS

PLAYERS

NEEDED:

4 TO 6

REQUIRES THE USE OF THE DUNGEONS & DRAGONS PLAYER'S HANDBOOK, THIRD EDITION, PUBLISHED BY WIZARDS OF THE COAST, INC. THIS PRODUCT UTILIZES UPDATED MATERIAL FROM THE V.3.5 REVISION.

SIDETREK ADVENTURE WEEKLY RATING SYSTEM

These following icons have been development to make it easier for GMs and players to understand what type

of adventure they will be playing in, what perils that might exist; as they may be either physical, mental or even

political dangers; and the rewards that await them during and at the completion of this adventure. Each icon is

broken down by color and text information which determine the intensity of the adventure.

This Adventure Level is for expert level game-

play and adventureing normally reserved for

character from 16th level or higher.

ADVENTURE

LEVEL:

EXTREME

THREATS &

TRAPS:

MEDIUM

The Threats & Traps at this level are danger-

ous and may cause a loss of up to 25% of the

party members.

MAGIC

REWARDS:

MEDIUM

The Magic Rewards at this level are com-

mon and PCs will have reasonable chances to

acquire and use magic and magical items.

This NPC Interaction means the PCs will

have to deal with an tremendous amount of

non-combat interaction with NPCs in this

adventure.

NPC

INTERACTION:

EXTREME

ADVENTURE

LEVEL:

LOW

This Adventure Level is for beginner game-

play and adventureing normally reserved for

character from 1st to 5th level.

THREATS &

TRAPS:

EXTREME

The Threats & Traps at this level are the most

lethal available and can easely result in a TPK

( Total Party Kill ).

NPC

INTERACTION:

LOW

This NPC Interaction means the PCs will

have very little non-combat interaction in

this adventure.

The Magic Rewards at this level are the high-

est magic and magical items available with

several chances for PCs to acquire and use

them.

MAGIC

REWARDS:

EXTREME

THREATS &

TRAPS:

LOW

The Threats & Traps at this level are intimi-

dating and may cause a loss of up to 10% of

the party members.

ADVENTURE

LEVEL:

HIGH

This Adventure Level is for advanced game-

play and adventureing normally reserved for

character from 11th to 15th level.

MAGIC

REWARDS:

LOW

The Magic Rewards at this level are few and

far between. Rarely will PCs see or use a

magic or magical items.

This NPC Interaction means the PCs will

have to deal with an above average amount

of non-combat interaction with NPCs in this

adventure.

NPC

INTERACTION:

HIGH

ADVENTURE

LOCATION:

DUNGEON

This Adventure Location will take place in

an underground location such as a dungeon

or cavern.

THREATS &

TRAPS:

HIGH

The Threats & Traps at this level are very

dangerous and may cause a loss of up to

50% of the party members.

ADVENTURE

LOCATION:

EVENT

This Adventure Location will take place

based on particular occurrence or incident

inclucing a raid, assassination or trial.

MAGIC

REWARDS:

HIGH

The Magic Rewards at this level are very

common and PCs will get several chances to

acquire and use magic and magical items.

ADVENTURE

LOCATION:

JOURNEY

This Adventure Location will take place

during the events of traveling from location

to another.

ADVENTURE

LEVEL:

MEDIUM

This Adventure Level is for experienced

gameplay and adventureing normally reserved

for character from 6th to 10th level.

ADVENTURE

LOCATION:

URBAN

This Adventure Location will take place in a

civilized based population center or location

as a city, village or town.

This NPC Interaction means the PCs will

have to deal with an average amount of

non-combat interaction with NPCs in this

adventure.

NPC

INTERACTION:

MEDIUM

ADVENTURE

LOCATION:

WILDERNESS

This Adventure Location will take place in

an uncivilized based location as a forest,

desert or jungle.

SIDETREK ADVENTURE WEEKLY: AN UNCERTAIN JUNGLE EXTRACTION

EPISODE BACKGROUND

At the end of Chapter 11: Secrets of Trodoon

Mountain, our heroes successfully repaired

the Key of Trodoon using the ancient mech-

anisms of a remote Trodoon installation,

but they also triggered an avalanche above

the station. Fleeing certain destruction, the

adventurers must escape nature’s wrath then

battle dinosaurs across ice, water, and jungle

to reach the portal that takes them home.

RULES REFRESHER

To prep for this adventure, consider

reviewing the swimming ( PHB pg84 ) and

water and drowning rules ( DMG pg304 ), the

rules for spell casting under adverse condi-

tions ( PHB pg69-70 ), rules for navigating

tough terrain ( PHB pg148 ), and the rules

for avalanches ( DMG pg90 ). For simplicity

and to maintain momentum, we suggest not

using strict movement rules to map out the

chase. Rather, consider a more cinematic

approach using the simplified chase rules

later in this episode.

NOTES:

USE THIS ENCOUNTER TONIGHT:

AS A STAND ALONE TREK

Tonight’s Hook: Tonight’s adventure is a

wilderness exploit, and its basic premises

are the chase and the running fight. This is

not a treasure grab. Initiated by an avalanche

the adventurers cannot possibly combat,

their flight catapults them into successively

more danger, keeping them constantly on the

move. The adventure’s challenges call on

the players to recognize what they shouldn’t

fight; as well as demand they improvise out-

of-the box tactics to defeat mechanically

superior foes.

START THE S.A.W.

A bass rumble so low it must herald death,

a subsonic wrongness draws the eye up.

Above, confirming your nightmares, the

avalanche floods down, almost in slow

motion. An inexorable descent of rock and

icy death. Impartial Nature has decided to

get personal – and she’s coming for you.

EPISODE OVERVIEW

A rolling wave of snowy death hurtles down,

but luckily the defeated yeti’s ( see Episode

11: Secrets of Trodoon Mountain ) crude

hunting skids make excellent toboggans, and

the PCs launch into a madcap slalom down

the mountain to the jungle below. Their

rapid, downhill pace forces the players to

select the icy terrain over which they slalom,

haphazardly. Those choices determine their

speed, if they wipe out, and ultimately,

whether the avalanche buries them.

Uses for This Encounter: Use this episode

to galvanize a campaign; catapult your party

onto a new trajectory; or in any circumstance

wherein they recover a valuable object from

a mountain dungeon and now smugly believe

they have but to saunter back home to cash

in. It merely requires a chase from some-

place to someplace to work for you.

EPISODE SYNOPSIS: FOR THE FULL TREK

Repaired Key in hand, the adventurers have

secured their passage home. They must

return to the statue of the Timeless One,

place the key into its hands, and activate the

portal. However, they have also triggered an

avalanche must first escape its fury.

However, the snow slide also disturbs a den

of pterodactyls, and the slavering predators

add to the suspense by chasing after the

sledders, diving from above. Evading the

flying dinosaurs takes the party over an icy

cliff and into raging whitewater, where they

attract an elasmosaurus. The beast snatches

a young pterodactyl out of the air, swallows

it whole, then turns on the players. This

gives them both a head start and warns them

PAGE 3 OR 14

SIDETREK ADVENTURE WEEKLY: AN UNCERTAIN JUNGLE EXTRACTION

against casting fly to escape their predica-

ment.

ening to bury the station beneath a mountain

of ice and rock. A stack of the yeti’s rope

handled, hauling boards sit nearby ( Spot

DC 10 ). If the PCs do not recognize these

for the toboggans they are ( Int DC 15 ),

allow them to ride the backs of their plate

armored companions or on the insides of

shields. Either way, slaloming away from

the avalanche is their only real chance of

escaping it. Any attempt to run down the

mountain is doomed.

NOTES:

The party soon realizes that cutting across the

current for shore slows them enough for the

elasmosaurus to attack. However, sticking

to the central current keeps them ahead of

the pursuing monster. Hurtling downriver in

the dangerous rapids, the adventurers fight a

running battle against the beast; meanwhile,

the pterodactyls haunt the skies, ready to

pounce on any who leave the water.

This part of the adventure takes 10 rounds.

At stake is whether the fleeing PCs choose

terrain that slows or accelerates their escape

– and whether they Wipeout. If the PCs flee

quickly enough, they escape the avalanche

and hurl over an ice cliff into raging rapids.

If the PCs are too slow, the avalanche’s

Slide Zone strikes them, inflicting modest

damage and hurling them over an ice cliff

into rapids. If poor judgment makes them

really slow, the Burial Zone strikes them,

carries them over the edge of the ice cliff,

and buries them beneath ice, snow, rocks

and frigid river water.

Soon the river slows beneath a jungle

canopy. In the calmer, warmer waters, the

elasmosaurus closes, but the PCs decorative

archways, dripping with flowers and vines,

marked with the sign of the Timeless One

and bridging the right half of the river. If

the PCs travel through them, the dinosaur

sticks in the first like a cork, wounding and

stranding itself.

Tied to the second arch, the adventurers find

a strange boat, also bearing the Timeless

One’s mark. The elasmosaurus’ screeches

fade as the party passes beneath successive

arches, but a giant, multi-colored snake falls

into their laps from the third archway and

attacks. After the fourth arch, they reach a

trio of reflecting pools connected by small,

gentle waterfalls. When the fourth and final

waterfall proves neither small nor gentle,

the PCs must operate the boat’s strange

mechanism to release a parachute and float

to safety on the lake below.

In round 5 of their flight, the avalanche

disturbs a nest of pterodactyls. These starving

dinosaurs chase the PCs, riding the wall of

air generated by the avalanche and attacking

from above, hoping to snag a meal.

Avalanche Chase

When the adventurers leave the Trodoon

station and succeed in Spotting the yeti

boards, read the following:

Now on a serene caldera lake, its surface

broken only by the rounded stones of a

Trodoonic water garden, the adventurers

catch their breath and, from their perch atop

the caldera, spot their Gate amidst distant

jungle. At the Gate they learn a sleeping

tyrannosaurus rex lies between them and

home!

Water drips from the lintel as you exit the,

slicking the snow with ice. Nearby lie stacks

of yeti crafted, rope handled boards stained

dark with old blood. The ground shakes, the

sky rumbles. Above you a cloud – no, a wall

– of ice, stone, snow, and trees rushes down

with the inexorability of a sunset. Behind

you a twisted, icy landscape of ramps and

moguls, tunnels and shifting snow stretches

as far as you can see.

Part I: The Avalanche

and the Pterodactyls

As the players exit theTrodoonic station, an

avalanche roars down from above, threat-

Typical avalanches advance at 500’ per

round and run up to 600’ along their Slide

Zone. This makes playing them a challenge

PAGE 4 OR 14

SIDETREK ADVENTURE WEEKLY: AN UNCERTAIN JUNGLE EXTRACTION

for most gaming groups. The following

Chase Point rules help you referee fleeing an

avalanche without a battle mat. Throughout,

consider keeping up the pressure by

demanding rapid choices and denying your

players time to plan.

Sledding over: Slam! You hit the first

mogul, bump and twist. Wham! The second.

Wham! Slam! WHAM!

NOTES:

Careening madly, you leave the icy hillocks

behind.

Ice Ramp:

For the first time: Rising from the snow,

green-thick and coated in frost, an ice wedge

points to the sky like a finger.

Avalanche Chase:

Slide Don’t Walk

To escape, the players must slide down the

mountain. If they try to walk ( -2 Chase

Points / round ) the avalanche will overtake

and bury them. Most likely, they will head

down the mountain on the yeti’s boards or

the backs of their plate armored compan-

ions. One player per board or on a fellow

player’s back. For simplicity, and to avoid a

TPK, assume no player ever misplaces their

board ( or someone’s back ) while escaping.

Sledding over: Rocked backwards, you

careen toward the vast sky. The rattle grind

of ice and snow a reassurance beneath you.

Then nothing. The silent whistle of air, and

the ground no longer supports you. You

begin to wobble.

Snowy Flats:

For the first time: An expanse of powdery

snow, flat and smooth, angled slightly down-

hill.

When the players first flee down the moun-

tain, inform them the icy slope affords five

different trajectories. They may head for ( 1 )

a frozen straightaway, ( 2 ) a field of moguls,

( 3 ) an icy ramp, ( 4 ) a snowy flat patch, or ( 5 )

a tunnel through a snow bank. On request,

read the following descriptions, then imme-

diately press them for a choice.

Sledding over: You careen headlong into

thick snow and your descent slows. Damp

slush grips you, robbing your momentum in

a spray of white powder.

Tunnel:

For the first time: Rivulets of water once

cut through the snow and later refroze.

Fresh snow piled on, until tunnels formed

and tubes of pale green ice slant sharply

down the mountain. Daylight shines beyond

them.

*rumble rumble* The avalanche waits for

no one!

Straightaway:

For the first time: A flat, icy plateau stretches

wide, white, and slightly downhill. You

wouldn’t want to walk it.

Sledding over: You enter the icy tube and

the wind whistles past your ears. It only

takes a minute shifting of weight, uncon-

scious, unpreventable – you slide up one

side of the tunnel. Throw your weight back

– too much! Up the other side. Back again,

a swinging pendulum, rushing downward

ever faster.

Sledding over: You crash onto the frozen

expanse, momentum propelling you.

Shards of ice kick up behind as you rocket

forward.

Moguls:

For the first time: An expanse of low bumps

and irregular mounds of ice, angling down

the mountain.

PAGE 5 OR 14

d20 Devil's Workshop Sidetrek Adventure Weekly 12 - An Uncertain Jungle Extraction.pdf

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