ShadowDark Scenario by Harlass Orn
A 1st level adventure for the Shadowdark RPG.
Your eyes open to a dim red light. You are lying on your back. A score of thin tendrils are embedded in your arms and chest. The air is humid and smells of iron and decaying flesh. A deep throbbing surrounds you, like the heartbeat of some massive beast.
You remember your name. You remember eating a meal in a tavern overlooking the Akhiban River. Then your memory ends.
Heart ships are living constructs in the shape of watercraft. The adventurers awaken within a heart ship grounded on a sandbar. Without armor, weapons, or any other gear. Without memory of how they got there.
The ship is dying. Most of its thrall servants are dead. The adventurers must find a way to exit the claustrophobic and decomposing vessel and recover their possessions. Perhaps the nearby village of Torman’s Reach will provide some answers.
One of the heart ship’s human servants arrived in Torman’s Reach ahead of the adventurers. Quinn Beloki has ingratiated himself with the village leaders and pretends to be their friend. But he plots to kidnap villagers and feed them to the ship. Then the ship will repair itself and leave the sandbar. Can the adventurer’s thwart Quinn’s plans and save the villagers?
This adventure contains:
- A sentient sailing ship in the form of a xebec, crewed by animalistic thralls and one “normal” human linked to the ship’s mind
- Maps showing the sandbar and Torman’s Reach on the Akhiban River
- Two versions of the heart ship: the weakened ship used in the adventure and a healthy ship suitable for 3rd or 4th level adventurers
- Below deck and above deck plans for both versions of the heart ship
- VTT tokens for the thralls, heart ship, and a rowboat
Hulk of the Dying Ship is available through DriveThruRPG in PDF.
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Voices From The Pulpit 