Session 1

The party presses on to reach the North Gate to the city of Cauldron before nightfall. Sixty feet from the gate the party is met by some of the city guards. Four guards line the road on each side in flanking positions. Three more come down the road to speak with the party.

Verrad uses his military experience to size up the guards. “These guys are a joke” he thinks. The party gets the idea that they could easily handle the guards but recognize that the walls of the city and the winding road up the side of the volcano would make any force think twice about attacking Cauldron head on.

The speaker for the guards has no clear sign of rank but he is wearing heavier armor. With him is a lantern bearer and a figure dressed in a tall red hat and red tabard. The speaker informs the party of several things:

There is a 1sp/per person “Gate Tax” to enter the city.

It turns out that the figure in red is one of the city tax collectors. One is stationed at all times at each of the four city gates to handle transactions. The collector is given a single gold piece by Teela and told to “keep the change”.

The speaker recognized that typically a group with a mix like yours is often an Adventure Party. You are informed that if you wish to operate within the city limits you must be registered as an “official Adventure Party”. To do so, you must have a name for the group, pay a 10gp tax, and be sponsored by a local business, church, or noble family.

Teela steps forward and shows the guard proof that she is a member of House Knowlern, and is a niece to Lady Ophellha. She produces a broach that contains the family seal that she uses to seal her sponsorship of the party. She suggests the name of the party be “The Knowlern Troupe” and the rest agree. Leander pays the 10 gp and when he identifies himself as a Rihvadi, the bowing and scraping really turn on.

The speaker of the guard is very helpful and answers several questions the party has about the city. In response to Teela’s question about places they should go, he suggests the Bluecrater Academy and the Temple of Wee Jas. He seems very open even in the cold and rain of this late Autumn night.

Cusp of Sunrise: Establishment that caters to the cream of the nobles – owned by Teela’s Aunt Ophellha. (The guards snicker at the thought of this group entering and Krawg the half-orc probably couldn’t even get in the BACK door.)

Drunken Morkoth Inn: Good basic inn favored by merchants and travelers of all kinds.

Minuta’s Board: A flop-house where the “Half-orc may be more comfortable”.

The party decides to head for the “Drunken Morkoth”. On the way there, they hear a cry for help coming from an alley ahead. Verrad spots a lookout but by the time he can act the others have already made so much noise (music and clanging of armor) that the group is spotted and the lookout darts into the alley.

One wonders if he had told the party what he saw could Teela have “fascinated” the lookout allowing Verrad to work his way behind unseen?

Leander is the first to reach the alley and sees three street thugs with blue and white make-up on their faces standing over a badly beaten Cleric of St. Cuthbert. “Bugger off, this is none of your business” one of the thugs says. It seems the party did not agree with this and soon arrows and bolts where flying towards the thugs. Cries of: “No, really this is none of your business.” “Why are they shooting at us?” “We are NOT getting paid enough for this.” come from the thugs and prompt the party to comment that the thieves in Cauldron seem to be as incompetent as the town guards!

Saelis tried a sleep spell, but the thugs were unaffected. The thugs tried to run and two of them succeeded but Verrad was persistent in bringing one down. Leander and Zylamar came forward to make sure the thug survived to answer some questions.

The thug’s name was “Tom” and as it turned out he is a member of the town guard that is doing a little work on the side for a Thieves’ Guild known as the Last Laugh. Tom, after being charmed by Saelis, was very informative. His companions, also members of the town guard, were “Troy” and “Tim”. A member of the Last Laugh named Jill approached them in the area near Minuta’s Boarding House and paid them to deliver a message to the Church of St. Cuthbert. They agreed to do it only if they were not expected to do any real damage. After all, the beating they gave the Cleric was nothing a “cure light wounds” spell would not fix. The message was that the Church was to stop investigating the disappearance of the children from the Lantern Street Orphanage that had occurred a few nights ago. The Church has vowed to do everything it can to punish those responsible. It seems there has been a rash of unexplained disappearances lately.

The party decides to take the Cleric, Ruphus Laro, and “Tom” the thug back to the Church of St. Cuthbert. There they meet Jenya Urikas, Ruphus’ superior, and the paladin Alek Tercival, who will ask the thug some questions before taking him to the headquarters of the town guard.

Jenya asks the party to look into the disappearance of the children for the church. She offers each member a potion of “cure moderate wounds” and the group an additional reward of 2,500gp for the successful completion of the quest.

She tells the party that she used a divination spell and asked the question, “Where are the children who were abducted from the Lantern Street Orphanage?” She wrote the riddle that was the answer to the question down for the party.

Jenya believed the “Locks” mentioned in the first line of the riddle could be referring to the locks at the Lantern Street Orphanage. Since it was getting late, Jenya offered the party a room where they could spend the night. She tells the party that she will give them a list of the missing people in the morning.

End of Day 1

After getting the list of the missing, most of the party decides to head over to the Lantern Street Orphanage to ask some questions. Verrad decides that he will check out the area around Minuta’s Boarding House. The street thugs mentioned that was where they were contacted by Jill and paid to send a message to the Church.

The party offers to send Krawg with Verrad but he declines, stating that he may get better results working alone. But they all agree that they will meet for lunch and check into the Drunken Morkoth Inn.

At the orphanage, the party is greeted by an elderly Halfling, Gretchyn Tashakk. At first she is reluctant to speak with the party but when she learns the party is working for Jenya she gives them her full cooperation.

They learn over 30 children live at the orphanage and there is nothing that suggests, besides all being orphans, that the children are connected in any way. After a thorough search of the children’s dorm rooms, the group turned their attention to the locks at the orphanage and learned that they were all made by a local locksmith, Keygan Ghelve. The party decided that after lunch they would pay Mr. Ghelve a visit.

At the Drunken Morkoth Inn, the party meets up with Verrad and he tells them he still is working on some things down by Minuta’s. But he has learned that there are two thieves guilds in town. The Last Laugh is the largest organization in town and their rivals are the Alleybashers who run their operations out of Minuta’s.

Once again, Varrad decides to head out alone while the rest of the party goes to check out Ghelve’s Locks. Since Ghelve’s is located just two doors from Bluecrater Academy, and the locksmith’s is too small for the whole party to enter, Saelis decides to take the package he was sent to deliver over to the Academy while others go in to speak to Ghelve. Krawg and Jarzin will accompany Saelis. Leaving Teela, Leander and Zylamar to question Ghelve.

Ghelve is a Gnome but when he comes through the curtains of a back room into the shop he is at least six feet tall. Later the party will discover Ghelve wears stilts while in the shop. But on this visit they can get very little information from Ghelve. So it is decided that they will step out and wait for Saelis to return – maybe he could cast a charm on Ghelve that will make him more cooperative.

It is decided that only Saelis and Teela will enter the shop. Teela tries to distract him with some conversation while Saelis casts his charm. But Ghelve is prepared and gets the drop on both Teela and Saelis with a spell of his own. A color spray comes out of Ghelve’s hands towards Saelis and Teela but they are unaffected by the magic of the spell. Saelis’ charm seems to have no power over Ghelve. But then Ghelve seems to realize he needs to do something so he gives a motion with his eyes that he was being watched. Teela picked up on this and went into the back room to investigate.

When she entered that backroom see caught the glimpse of a shadow move at the top of the stairs. Suddenly a humanoid, a Skulk, dropped from the landing and attacked. Teela was able to hit the creature with a solid blow and Saelis stepped in to finish it off with a magic missile cast from one of his scrolls.

While Teela and Saelis were busy with the Skulk, Ghelve took the opportunity to escape. He quickly removed his stilts and ran out the door – only to be surrounded by the rest of the party waiting outside.

Once back inside, he told his sorry tale. Under the stairs of his shop is a secret entrance to the abandoned Gnome enclave of Jzadirune. The enclave was abandoned 75 years ago after a magical plague called the Vanishing swept through it. A few weeks ago creatures came into his shop from Jzadirune, and kidnapped his familiar, a rat named Starbrow. The creatures were Skulks and a smaller dark race. They force him to give them skeleton keys to all the locks he has made in Cauldron. At night they have used his shop to enter the city and bring their captives to Jzardirune.

Ghelve knows Starbrow is in a dark place within a mile. He can sense both the rat’s fear and hunger. He is sorry for what he has done but he did not know what to do. Starbrow is the only family he has left. Ghelve supplies the party with a map of the Jzadirune enclave.

The party decide to leave Krawg to protect Ghelve during the night. Krawg is happy to have a new little pet.

The others return to the Drunken Morkoth to see what Verrad has been up to and get a meal and then it if off to the Church of St. Cuthbert to tell Jenya what they have learned. Verrad also pulls one of the clerics aside to hear his confession.

Verrad has been a busy adventurer. He has befriended a young street kid who severs as his ears and eyes in the area around Minuta’s. From this child he learned that the janitor of the Lantern Street Orphanage, Patch, has been seen talking with one of the members of the Last Laugh.

Verrad also had an idea to locate one of the meeting areas of the Last Laugh. He would use the rivalry between the Alleybashers and Last Laugh to set them after each other. He found some paint and marked some of his bolts with the colors of the Last Laugh. He then found a safe location he could observe the action around Minuta’s. He witnessed all sorts of illegal and evil acts. He picked out one figure he was sure committed several crimes that night and after one of his crimes when he was in the alley next to Minuta’s, Verrad shot his bolts and after a couple tries killed the young thief.

It did not take long before the other Alleybashers took the bait and went to get some payback on the Last Laugh. Several Alleybashers went to the Slippery Eel Tavern and delivered several missile weapons through the windows of the establishment onto the patrons inside.

Verrad had mixed feelings about what he had done. He did now know the location of the two major Thieves’ Guilds in Cauldron and had succeeded in setting them against each other. But he also was not sure if he did the right things shooting the young thief in the alley. And now even more innocents could have been harmed in the retaliation.

So Verrad asked the Church to hear his confession. The Cleric was concerned that Verrad may have taken the law into his own hands. But evil must be punished in both this world and the next. He encouraged Verrad to try harder to follow the laws laid down for everyone’s protection. Without law we have nothing, though his actions did strike a blow against the evil and chaotic souls that inhabit that part of the city. Maybe now the town guard will have a stronger presence there to help bring order. In the morning a few Clerics from the Church will go to the area and see what they can do.

The party returned to the Drunken Morkoth to rest for the night.

End of Day 2

In the morning the party went down to the orphanage to speak with the half-orc janitor, Patch. Patch admitted that the Last Laugh has been paying him to keep an eye on one of the children, Terrem. He does not know why the Last Laugh is interested in the child but his contact, a Halfling named Revus Twindaggers, let it slip one day that all he knew was “it has something to do with his dead parents.”

This is where the session ended. The parties next task is checking out Jzadirune. But this could change.

The Beginning...

After what for some was a very uneventful three month trip, a band of adventurers arrives at the northern gate of the city of Cauldron.

The company of adventurers includes:

Zylamar, Moon Elf Cleric
Verrad, Half Elf Rogue
Teela Morgansinger, Human Bard
Saelis, Sun Elf Spellcaster
Leander Rhiavadi, Human Paladin
Krawg, Half-Orc Fighter
Jarzen, Maenad Warrior

Character Background

This info may change a litte but I wanted to share it with you. It appears that the PCs may be gathering in a nearby city and then traveling to Cauldron. I should have it locked down by the 15th.

This adventure path is supposed to take PCs from 1st level up to 20th level. The Dungeon Master is supposed to inform players that it will be a “difficult campaign”. The adventure path is designed to challenge a group of six players.

The campaign focus is urban and dungeon environments. Take this into account when generating your character. If you play a ranger, your best choices for your favorite enemies are animals, dragons, humanoid (human, goblinoid, or orc), or outsider (evil). There will be undead in this campaign, but they are not the campaign’s focus. Note the existing temples in Cauldron if you play a cleric.

Provide a reason for working together with at least two other characters in the party. Explain why another character not in the party might follow in your footsteps should you fall.

Characters may be locals or recent arrivals. Locals are eligible for the Knowledge (local) skill. In addition to that, locals may choose (or randomly determine) one of the following traits:

D% Local Trait
01-10 Child Of Jzadirune
11-20 Demonscarred
21-30 Dream Haunted
31-40 Long Shadowed
41-50 Mark Of The Beast
51-60 Nobility
61-70 Scarred Soul
71-80 Scion Of Surabar
81-90 Touched In The Head
91-00 Wyrm Blooded

Child Of Jzadirune

One of your ancestors lived in Jzadirune at the time The Vanishing struck. You are especially resistant to diseases, but find the prospect of becoming sick yourself horrifying.

Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all saving throws made to resist the effects of disease.

Drawback: You suffer a -2 morale penalty on saving throws against fear while in the ruins of Jzadirune, or when fighting creatures that are diseased or can inflict disease with a spell or ability.

Roleplaying Ideas: Your parents told you harrowing stories about The Vanishing, and your dreams are haunted by visions in which you catch the disease and slowly fade away.

Demonscarred

One of your ancestors was a half-fiend. As a result, you carry some of that taint with you.

Benefit: Regardless of your actual alignment, spells and spell-like abilities with the Evil descriptor treat you as if your alignment were Evil.

Magic items are similarly fooled. An unholy blight spell, for example, won’t damage you, no matter what your actual alignment is.

Drawback: Regardless of your actual alignment, spells and spell-like abilities with the Good descriptor treat you as if your alignment were Evil. Magic items are similarly fooled. A holy word spell, for example, will harm you, no matter what your actual alignment is.

Roleplaying Ideas: You are moody, gloomy, and have a short temper.

Dream Haunted

Your dreams are haunted by strange visions or tortured landscapes and deformed monsters. In some of these dreams, you are the deformed monster.

Benefit: You are used to fatigue, and suffer no penalties when you become fatigued. When you become exhausted, you are instead treated as if you are fatigued.

Drawback: You suffer a -2 penalty on saving throws against effects that cause madness or insanity, and on saving throws against sleep effects. If you are normally immune to sleep effects, you lose that immunity.

Roleplaying Ideas: You are always tired, though not to the point of fatigue. You tend to nod off when bored, and sometimes find it difficult to remember minor, relatively unimportant bits of information.

Long Shadowed

You are descended from a tribe of indigenous peoples who died out as a separate tribe many centuries ago. Still, this tribe’s penchant for necromantic magic runs in your blood.

Benefit: You automatically stabilize if reduced to negative hit points. When you take damage from negative energy, you reduce the actual damage you take by 5 points.

Drawback: Healing magic works poorly on you. Whenever you regain hit points from magical healing, you gain 1 less point of healing per character level you possess, to a minimum of one point per die rolled.

Roleplaying Ideas: You are somewhat morbid and intrigued by death and undeath, even if these interests are purely to learn more of your enemies.

Mark Of The Beast

One of your ancestors was a lycanthrope. Select a predatory animal of your choice; that animal feels a mystic bond with you.

Benefit: Animals have a strong reticence when they attack you, and suffer a -2 penalty on all attack rolls made against you. If you have the wild empathy ability, you gain a +1 bonus on wild empathy checks.

Drawback: You suffer a -4 penalty to saving throws made to resist lycanthropy, and take +1 point of damaghe from attacks made by silver weapons.

Roleplaying Ideas: You have a curious animal magnetism that is at once intriguing and disturbing. Your manners might be a bit crude, but you’re loyal to your friends.

Nobility

You were born into a noble family.

Benefit: You start play with an additional 200gp and gain a +1 bonus on all Diplomacy and Intimidate checks made against citizens of Cauldron or nearby villages. Certain NPCs in this campaign may react more favorably to your presence.

Drawback: You are well-known and recognizable, and suffer a -4 penalty on Disguise rolls made against citizens or the nearby villages. Certain NPCs in the campaign may react more poorly in your presence.

Roleplaying Ideas: You might be haughty, impatient, or condescending to others. You might spend money frivolously, believing that there’ll always be more income to be had.

Scarred Soul

You’ve led a particularly tough life. Perhaps you’re an orphan, or maybe you suffered some sort of traumatic experience as a child. Whatever the cause, your childhood experiences have left you jumpy and haunted.

Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on initiative checks.

Drawback: Your experiences have left your mind less able to deal with trauma, and as a result you suffer a -1 penalty on all Will saves.

Roleplaying Ideas: You are quick to anger, jumpy, and possibly even a bit hyperactive. You’re prone to feelings of paranoia and unfounded fear.

Scion Of Surabar

You are a descendent of Surabar Spellmason, the man who discovered Cauldron, helped settle the region, and aided in the defeat of an ancient demonic army.

Benefit: Pride for your lineage girds your mind and soul. You gain a +2 morale bonus on saving throws against fear, death effects, and insanity or confusion.

Drawback: Demons that encounter you in this region (not those that you might fight on other planes) can instinctively sense your lineage and connections to their old enemy, and gain a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls and weapon damage rolls when fighting you.

Roleplaying Ideas: You are proud of your heritage, and quick to anger if another mocks it. You find demons intolerable, and some might see you as haughty or imperious.

Touched In The Head

You’re a little crazy.

Benefit: Your mind is disorganized and chaotic. You gain a +1 bonus on all saving throws against mind-affecting effects, save for those effects that cause confusion or insanity.

Drawback: Your inability to concentrate for long makes you suffer a -1 penalty on all Wisdom-based skill checks.

Roleplaying Ideas: You have a number of strange quirks (whistling off-key, eating raw meat, a nervous tic, a tendency to scream at odd moments, and so on) that can make you difficult to get along with.

Wyrm Blooded

One of your ancestors was a half-black dragon. You have some sort of distinctly draconic feature, be it reptillian eyes, scales on the backs of your hands, or tiny vestigial horns on your hands.

Benefit: You gain a +4 bonus on all saving throws against acid effects, a +2 bonus on Swim checks, and a +1 bonus on Listen and Spot checks.

Drawback: Your body isn’t quite as limber as it should be. You take a -1 penalty on Reflex saves.

Roleplaying Ideas: You have an intensity about everything you do, and your emotions are powerful and often difficult for you to control.

SCAP Introduction

Evil schemes are afoot in Cauldron, a metropolis of merchants built into the caldera of a long-dormant volcano. To foil the agenda of evil cultists, your band of adventurers must brave haunted jungle ruins, slay mighty dragons, and bind themselves to a layer of the infinite Abyss. Will their swords and spells be enough to save the Shackled City?


Originally published as 11 linked adventures in the award-winning Dungeon magazine, the Shackled City Adventure Path is the most ambitious official Dungeons & Dragons campaign ever created. Now, for the first time ever, everything you need to play the campaign has been compiled into a deluxe 416-page full-color hardcover that also includes an 8-panel fully detailed map of the City of Cauldron, a 12-page full-color map and illustration booklet, and a brand new Shackled City adventure written by fan favorite author Christopher Perkins.

The adventure begins, and is primarily set, in the city of Cauldron. Cauldron is a medium-sized city and is located in the World of Greyhawk in the caldera of a dormant volcano set in the Amedio Jungle, east of the Sea of Dust, and southwest from the Azure Sea.

Cauldron

Cauldron is a small city with a mix of mostly human citizens, though halflings, gnomes, dwarves and elves are not uncommon. Other races such a half-elves are less common. Half-orcs used to be rare, but recently there has been an influx of half-orc mercenaries, who are being employed by the city guard to supplement their ranks.

The Lord Mayor Severen Navalant, a human, is the current primary political leader, though he does not act without the consensus of the most powerful nobles in the city. Captain of the Guard, Terseon Skellerang, also a human, is a stern man, but with a reputation for even-handed justice.

Trade
Much of the trade in the region involves deals brokered from Cauldron or Sasserine, but ore and crops mostly come from surrounding villages.

Cauldron is also a popular destination for traveling wizards who wish to measure the magical energies of a volcano without exposing themselves to the harsh conditions of much of the Hellfurnaces. These academics are usually welcomed, but the Bluecrater Academy is careful to keep tabs on such dabblers, and has been known to intervene if their "examinations" pose a threat to the city.

Politics
The politics of the region are complex at best. The largest political and military threat to Cauldron continues to be the Scarlet Brotherhood, while the logistics of waging any sort of military campaign up the side of a volcanic cauldron have thus far defended the city from even the notion of a siege, the Brotherhood can be a devious and dangerous foe regardless of the availabilit of military options.

A token stream of slaves is exported annually from Sessarine to mollify the Brotherhood's slavers, and part of the "tax" that Cauldron pays to defend the roads between Sessarine and Cauldron is the contribution of two people each year to this trade. It is a heavy burden, but families are well compensated, and treated as heroes of the community for helping to defend the city by sending their children off. In some cases, there are some that say such slaves have even returned from the lands of the Brotherhood, but for most, the journey is one-way. This is something that the churches of Pelor and St. Cuthbert have been trying to end, but so far they have been unable to devise a better way that all agree would work.

The relationship between Cauldron and the Hold of the Sea Princes used to be fairly strong, but since the Brotherhood took control of the Hold, communications have dwindled to the point that goods are the only substantial form of communication today, and most of those come through Sessarine.

Religion
Cauldron is the home to four temples. The three most powerful are to Kord, St. Cuthbert and Wee Jas. There is also a smaller temple to Pelor.

Other gods, especially those of the demi-human races are worshiped in Cauldron, but there are no specific temples to them within the city limits.

History
Over 500 years ago, the area was an outlying part of the Yuan-Ti (snake people) domain and there are tales of great wars against supernatural forces in the area. It was against this backdrop that a rush on newly discovered mineral resources lead to, first the founding of the mining town of Redgorge about 15-20 miles to the south, and then Cauldron itself. Recent rains have made news from Cauldron rather dismal. Flooding is a regular problem that the city only recently managed to get under some measure of control.

SCAP House Rules

The goal is to finish the adventure. As a DM I do not focus on how players will die but how the GROUP will finish the adventure together. But every DM has their little house rules or agendas that you should know about going into this.

• The Adventure book cost $60 so already I have made a big investment going into this and we have not played a single session. I expect players to also make strong commitments to the campaign.
  
  
• PCs can die (you are dead at -[Constitution Score] not at -10), and if they do players are allowed to create new PCs to replace their old ones (-1 level of experience). Players who drop out and later want their PC to return will start again at their earned level or with 1/2 the experience of the lowest active PC/Player. Whichever is higher.
  
  
• Characters get max hit points for first level. On subsequent levels, the rolled portion of hit points have a minimum of 1/2 the die rolled.
  
  A roll of 1 on a d4 becomes a 2
  A roll of 1-2 on a d6 becomes a 3
  A roll of 1-3 on a d8 becomes a 4
  A roll of 1-4 on a d10 becomes a 5
  
  
• Natural 20s always hit and do full damage. Natural 1 will always miss. No additional attack may be made the same round a natural 1 is rolled and on the fumble there will be a DC10 reflex check or PC drops their weapon.
  
  
• Spellcraft and Bardic Knowledge checks can be used to identify magic items.
  
  Spellcraft DCs to identify magic items
  Scrolls DC 20 (+1/spell level)
  Potion DC 25 (+1/spell level)
  Minor Wondrous Items DC 25
  Arms, Armor and Wands DC 30
  Medium Wonderous Items DC30
  Rods DC 35Rings and Staffs DC 40
  Major Wondrous Items DC 40
  
  Examples of modifiers to Spellcraft checks for identifying magic:
  
  Casting Identify (without expensive component) gives a +10 bonus on one check
  
  Casting Analyze Dweomer (without expensive component) gives a +10 bonus on every check made for the duration of the spell.
  
  Characters with the relevant item creation feat a +1 bonus/class level on checks
  
  Bards can add their Bradic Knowledge score to their Spellcraft check
  
  
• Town merchants, as a default, always buy items at 80% and sell things at 110% the DM guide price. Charisma modifiers raise or lower by this by 1% per modifier point. Other factors can change the cost/sale value of an item.
  
  
• Any spell/feat/class/etc. from a WOC 3.5e publication can be used in the campaign.
  
  
• The number one rule is to keep an open mind and speak up when you have a concern. We are all in this together.

Feel free to suggest additions to the list.

Coming Soon

The group will start soon - get ready for it.