I3: Pharoah

When I first read the TSR module I3: Pharoah back in the early 1980's I was hooked and I had to get it into my game. My campaign at the time was using B/X D&D and the players were at the high end for the adventure so I re-wrote it to fit. Now that I am running a Swords & Wizardry campaign online I thought it would be a good idea to use Pharoah again.

This time I have rewritten and adapted it quite a bit more. The dungeon maps have only been slightly modified (although I have created my own maps for the Online play) but the contents and theme have been changed a fair amount. First and foremost a pyramid was not a possibility since the campaign is in a northern European climate. Removing the pyramid from the dungeons is actually very easy since none of the dungeon levels make note of the surroundings around them. The dungeon could be anywhere. I also cut down on the Egyptian style theme. Going with a more ancient northern theme. The hook was also changed. Now it is a well-known and thought to be plundered tomb with no treasure in it. The players head to the tomb to put the spirit to rest of an acquaintance murdered by bandits.

Most of the adventures I have run in this campaign (with the exception of In Search of the Unknown) have been short as that works best online in my opinion. This adventure is going to be longer and requires more resource management from the players. In the first session they made it to the 2nd level, the Master Maze and once that level is entered there is no way to turn back or step out of the dungeon to rest. Players will need to carefully marshall their resources and hit points to make it to the 5th and final level where they can escape. I did change the method of getting to the Master Maze from the Plundered Tomb. In the original adventure, this is a well-remembered magical portal located in a flaming offering bowl held by a statue. I felt there was a good chance one of my players would know of this from reading or playing Pharoah in the past so I changed it to another method. During play they did not seem to exhibit knowledge of the path so I was tempted to change it back but I decided to keep things as I had rewritten them.

Session 32: The Plundered Tomb

Players: Lakima (Magic-user), Eathwund (Fighter), Carric (Elven Thief), Domago (Human cleric NPC), Lantosh (Human Fighter NPC), Dag Icefoot (Dwarf Fighter NPC).

In the previous session, the fighter Eathwund was visited by the apparition of another adventurer killed by bandits. The adventurer, a wizard named Wella Hobba, was only a brief acquaintance but the players had been the first to stumble upon the ambush and find the body. As the session opens Eathwund tells his companions about the apparition who visited him the night before. The group is in a general agreement that they should help the lost soul (and take any loot the bandits have gathered).

Unfortunately, they are not sure where to start looking for the bandits.

Carric heads out to see if he can spot any lookouts for the bandits in town, figuring they must have had a tip that Wella Hobba was leaving the town to ambush him. He spends some time in the few taverns and Inns in Casters Ford and spots some suspicious characters but nothing definite. Back at the Blue Dragon Inn that evening Lakima suggests a plan to sneak out of town after dark and see if they can catch the bandits setting up an ambush. There is a discussion and they decide to take a small boat from the riverboat they hired. Late at night, after midnight, they set out in two groups and they are landed on the shore a short distance south of Casters Ford. Eathwund comes in the second group and sees the ghost of Wella Hobba waiting for him. He realizes no one else can see the ghost. The ghost answers that it feels that the bandit has gone to the Plundered Tomb deep in the Heroes Valley. Eathwund asks where the tomb is located and the ghost responds that they should follow the river through the valley to its source.

They trek in the dark for a few hours until they come to the spot on the trail where they found Wella Hobba’s body. The body of the wizard and his two companions are gone with little trace remaining. Carric scouts the nearby trees and finds three deadfalls that they suspect were set up by the bandits. The heroes split into three groups with two each at each deadfall. They wait all night for the bandits but do not see anyone. In the early morning, they see a few merchants headed for Casters Ford and then they spot a group of four adventurers on foot headed into the valley. They decide to follow the adventurers and use them as bait.

The four adventurers prove easy to follow, they are loud and not moving very fast. Carric stays in the treeline just within earshot while the rest of the company stays well back on the road. Carric is able to hear that the novice adventurers are headed for an abandoned Dwarven forge. In the evening they camp near the adventurers behind a hill overlooking the road. Late that night, they spot a sled pulled by two enormous goats coming from the direction of Casters' Ford.

The next morning they follow the adventurers again for much of the day until the adventurers turn south apparently toward the ruins of the Dwarven forge. Disappointed that the bandits did not put in an appearance the heroes nonetheless decided to break off and head north toward the supposed location of the Plundered Tomb. Carric relates some notes he has made in his journal about the tomb. The tomb is an ancient one of a ruler of a long-forgotten kingdom. It is called the plundered tomb because of its stripped of any items of value in ages past. Stories claim that adventurers that explore the small tomb frequently go missing.

As the evening begins to approach they spot an abandoned sled in the middle of the trail ahead. The leads of the sled are torn in half and they find a lot of blood on the ground. Carric finds footprints leading away from the trail into the hills left by a bare-footed beast with an enormous stride. They decide to follow. Lakima notes that the beast might have treasure, Domago and Lantosh are eager to help a fellow traveler if they can.  The footprints lead to a cave located under a hill in a small valley full of snow.

Approaching the Cave of the Yeti

Carric leads the way first into the cave entrance followed by Eathwund and Dag. As they come to a bend in the tunnel an enormous yeti springs from the darkness with a blood-curdling shriek. Eathwund and Lantosh are momentarily paralyzed with fear. Dag moves in and hacks away at the creatures’ legs while Lantosh tries to reach it with his polearm. Carric attacks with his sword and Lakima throws darts. After being out of action for a short space of time, Eathwund regains his nerve and attacks as well. Eathwund is struck by one enormous clawed hand and Dag is also struck. They continue pressing the attack until the creature is matted in blood and starts to slow. A dart to the eye from Lakima is the killing blow. Looking around the rank-smelling space they see two dead giant goats - one partially eaten. Behind some pine tree trunks used to close off an alcove like a pen, they find a dwarf who is very much alive. They manage to shift the logs and free the dwarf who introduces himself as Yulgrimmar a toy-maker from Casters Ford. They drag the yeti’s body out of the cave and go and retrieve Yul’s sled. That evening they enjoy a roaring fire in the Yeti cave and roast and eat goat meat.

The next morning they say goodbye to Yulgrimmar who has devised a harness to pull his sled and is headed home to Caster’s ford. The Company sets out again on the trail by the stream. They are still not sure where the tomb is located since they did not buy a map in Casters Ford. As the trail begins to turn north they see that the stream it has been following heads into the hills. Here they find a stone marker stone with ancient writing on it. Carric deciphers the script as pointing to the location of King Munera’s rest. They leave the trail and follow the stream into the hills.

Soon the entrance to the tomb rises before them on the side of a rise. A pair of stone columns, a wall, and a narrow entrance can be seen. Carric dashes between mounds of snow to approach the tomb entrance. His actions cause a pair of bandits on sentry duty to reveal themselves as they step out from behind the pillars and run back into the tomb. From a distance, the heroes can see flickering light emanating from the tomb. They lie in wait to see if the bandits will exit the tomb but nothing happens for ten minutes. Lakima decides on a plan, he summons a horde of giant rats with a spell and sends them into the tomb to attack. Soon the sound of fighting and yelling can be heard from within. Lakima yells for everyone to advance and they all run into the tomb into a large worship chamber with a tall stone statue. They see the bandits trying to fight off the rats and killing several of them. But the companions join the fight and the bandits are immediately on the defensive. One bandit runs to hide behind the statue and one runs down a side passage to their left. The remaining four are cut down by the heroes. Carric forces the bandit behind the statue to surrender. While Carric and Dag search the chamber, Lakima questions the bandit who gives his name as Bern. With a little intimidation, Lakima learns that the bandits are led by Vychan, the bandit leader who killed Wella Hobba. But Vychan, a witch named Apris, and three other men have been missing for three days. Now Haljamir leads the bandits and he is hard put to keep them from leaving while he looks for Vychan. Bern tells them that Vychan was gone one morning without leaving a note. He thinks Vychan abandoned the gang but Haljamir is still loyal.

The aftermath of the fight with the bandits

Lakima sends Bern down the side tunnel to give terms to Haljamir. After some back and forth the bandits agree to leave the tomb and not return - after paying a hefty ransom. Lantosh and Domago watch to be certain the bandits actually leave. Meanwhile, Carric has found a secret door behind the statue but he is unable to locate the opening mechanism. The heroes head down the two side passages and discover two more chambers. One chamber that the bandit Bern called the Offering chamber has a twenty-foot tall statue of the same figure depicted by the statue in the temple chamber. This statue has its arms extending holding a flaming stone bowl 15 feet off the floor. In the last chamber, they find a smaller temple and another statue. In this chamber, they discover another secret door behind the statue. Lakima twists a stone rod in the statue's hand and the door opens revealing a small chamber with a square shaft descending to glowing mists. Dag drops a copper in the shaft and they do not hear it hit the bottom.

Lakima tries twisting the rod in the main chamber and it also opens the secret door. A passage leads to another room with the same statue again. Corridors head left and right to large shafts. The bottom of these shafts is filled with water. One shaft has water pouring into it. Carric surmises that this could be the source of the stream outside. Lakima twists the rod in the statue's hand, opening another secret door leading deeper into the tomb. A corridor leads down into darkness. At the end of the descending hall, they find a small temple with seven more of the identical statues. An altar in the center of the room has a bag of copper, some sticks, and a metal flask lying on it. All look recent. Lakima casts Detect Magic and finds two of the statues have a strong magical aura. He also notes all of the stone in the walls, floor, and ceiling give off a low magical aura. Twisting the rods in these statues’ hands opens two more doors. One leads to a small chamber that looks like a long since deactivated trap. The other leads to a corridor that descends down. They head down and come across three more chambers. One is marked “Treasure Room” in an ancient language Carric deciphers. Another holds an empty sarcophagus. They see that someone has scrawled, “too late” in common on the wall.

Disappointed, they head back to the entrance looking for another chamber or clue. Since Bern mentioned that Vychan was last seen in the offering chamber, they concentrate their search here. Carric is sent up the statue to perch on its arm and check out the flaming bowl. He reports that the flame is burning without any source of fuel and is not putting off heat. He tosses a torch attached to a rope into the bowl and both torch and rope vanish. The rope disappearing right out of his hands. Eathwund figures out the clues and leads them back to the altar deep in the tomb where they find their rope and torch resting on the altar. They discuss what to do next. A few suggest that Vychan did abandon the bandits and is out in the wilderness somewhere. However, they decide to check the room with the shaft of mists one more time.

Carric lowers a torch into the shaft attached to a rope. When it sinks into the mists 15 feet down, the torch, rope, and its holder all vanish. Carric is gone. Lakima says, “Well, that decides it!”, and he directs the others to step over the edge and drop into the shaft. One after one each adventurer drops into the shaft and vanishes. They experience a brief flash of sharp pain and darkness then arrive on their feet in a small octagonal room. Four archways lead from the room. Rolling, purple-blue mists obscure their vision forward. A skeleton lies on the floor, its arm outstretched to a sword pointing at one archway. A large lever nearby.

Leaping into the Unknown

The Master Maze