September Short Adventure 15: The Nervous Bride

Preamble

A September of Short Adventuresis an OSR Challenge initiated by Matt over at the Asshat Paladinsblog. You can click on the Moustache Dragon over on the right-handside-bar (just above Features) to learn more about all of this stufffrom Matt directly. All of our 25 (possibly more...) entries areformatted along the lines of what Matt calls the Get Ready, GetSet, Go! format. In a nut-shell, this approach breaks eachadventure into a Title, Three escalating sections of adventuredetails (the Ready section is limited to an elevator pitch only 2sentences...), and a final catch-all section for any NPC notes/stats.The idea is to keep it short, simple, easy to read without any maps,drawings, diagrams or 8X10 glossies. Keep description to a minimum,avoid lengthy exposition, and no casts of thousands -- unless it's aninvading horde of three-eyed orcs or goblins riding purple wombats.

We're also going to aim to keep thingsgeneric, setting agnostic and thus portable or adaptable to anycampaign/setting using the particular rules-set we'll be using in anygiven September Short Adventure such as Mutant Future,Labyrinth Lord, Swords & Wizardry (White Box), etc.

FreeRules

Labyrinth Lord:http://www.goblinoidgames.com/labyrinthlord.html

Mutant Future:http://www.goblinoidgames.com/mutantfuture.html

Swords and Wizardry (White Box):http://www.swordsandwizardry.com/whitebox.htm

SeptemberShort Adventure Number 15

Title: The Nervous Bride

Rules: Labyrinth Lord

Ready

While resting from their wildernessadventures safely inside the walls of a mid-sized walled city, thegroup stumbles across the lurid allure of easy money and within notime at all the Player Characters have been engaged to provideprotection to a small entourage traveling to a near-by sea port. Ayoung lady of a local noble family is about to get married.

Set

The Lady is hidden behind a series ofveils and ensconced within a richly decorated coach. According tolocal tradition it would be grossly inappropriate for a male otherthan her immediate family or her betrothed to see her now that shehas been ritually purified and prepared for her wedding ceremony.

The PCs are to accompany the coach anda small retinue of family members and servants along the West Roadand see that they all get to the wedding safely and on time.

Go!

The road ahead iseasy and well-patrolled. It's a short trip. The weather is excellent.What could go wrong?

Nothing. Absolutelynothing. Except that the bride-to-be is a Medusa. Her entourage areall dopplegangers. The real bride is either dead or imprisonedsomewhere known only to the Medusa and her minions. Oh, and thesenefarious villains intend to not only crash the wedding, but tobutcher everyone there and arrange it so that it gets blamed on thebride's family, which the Medusa hopes will start a war between thetwo city-states.

The Playercharacters may escort the 'bride' and her entourage to theirdestination and part ways without the PCs ever being any the wiser.

The PlayerCharacters might discover something of the scheme along the trip tothe sea port. If they choose to meddle, then there's a fight and theMedusa may arrange to blame the PCs for the abduction or murder ofthe actual bride. If the PCs decide to do nothing more than collecttheir pay and keep their mouths shut, the Medusa might have need oftheir services in making a hasty exit from the sea port city-state –or maybe she'll set them up as a distraction so she can escape.

This could eitherbe a very simple scenario, or spin all out of control and grow into afull-fledged campaign of fantastic cloak and dagger/sorcery &espionage/assassination & skullduggery sort of thing alldepending on what the Player Characters do, or don't do.

Notes / NPCs

Dopplegangers(2d4) [AL C, MV 90' (30'), AC 5, HD 4, #ATK 1 (long sword or shortbow), DG 1d6/1d6, SV F10, ML 10] (LLp. 70)

Medusa(1) [AL C, MV 90' (30'), AC 8, HD 6, #ATK 1 (bite, weapon orspecial), DG 1d6+poison/1d4+poison, SV F4, ML 8] (LLp. 87) Gaze attack: Save or be turned to stone.