September Short Adventure 22: Art Thieves

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 22

Title: Art Thieves

Rules: Swords and Wizardry (WhiteBox)

Ready

It is a cold, windy night and thePlayer Characters are safe and snug in their rooms at the Chalet of alocal warlord who is interested in hiring them on for a specialexpedition. Then there is a loud CRASH!

Set

The entire chalet has been awakened andguards are starting to patrol the outer areas, a few have dogs withthem. Lord Rupprecht is not amused. He demands that whomever it isthat has broken into his domicile be caught and punished immediately.It will take him 2d4 turns to get his armor properly situated (heblames his half-asleep attendants). This is the Player Character'sbig chance to show off in front of their potential new boss...

Go!

There are intrudersin the Salon where Lord Rupprecht keeps his priceless art collection.

The intruders areservants of a nefarious mastermind who may or may not be someone thatthe PCs have run up against previously. In either case, thisdastardly villain is a master of the black art of golem-making andthey have sent their minions to plunder Lord Rupprecht's collection.

• Is Franz after aspecific piece or just a lot of easy-to-transport loot?
• Is thenasty mastermind the good Doktor Morbius from Short Adventure21?
• What do theMisshapen Pilferers manage to make away with?
• How does LordRupprecht want to deal with this gross violation of his sanctum?
• How will he seek torecover his property or exact revenge?

Things could getcomplicated. Especially as someone within the chalet opened the doorfor these thieves to enter and if it were not for their bumblingincompetence (or was that really the reason for the crash that woke everyone up?), these horrid thingsmight have gotten away unhindered and undiscovered until after it wastoo late to do anything about it. That means there just might be a traitor onthe staff or within the PCs' party...or possibly even closer to LordRupprecht than he might suspect...

Notes / NPCs

Franz the FeloniousFlesh Golem (1d4) [HD 12; HP 68; AC 9[10];ATK 1 fist; Move 8; Save 7; CL/XP 12/2,000; Special: Only lightning(which heals the thing), fireand cold spells (onlyslow it down) affect it, and you need a +1 or better weapon to harmit.] (S&W[WB]Bk III p. 19)

Misshapen Pilferers(4) [HD 3; HP 16,16,14; AC 9[10]; ATK 1 fist; Move 6; Save 16; CL/XP:5/240; Special: Only lightning (which heals them), fireand cold spells (only slow them down) affect them, and you needa +1 or better weapon to harm them.] Note: These brutish masked loutsare of minimal intelligence and mindlessly obey Franz unless theirMaster is present. They are confused easily.

Various Disgruntled By-Standers(2d4) Dwarves, Halflings and a few Humans. Mostly unarmored, withmaybe a candle-stick or heavy book for weapons.

Lord Rupprechtis a12^th levelwizard who once earned distinction as a fighter in the service of anobleman who betrayed him and left him crippled, poisoned and lockedaway behind bars for a crime he did not commit. In his quest forvengeance Rupprecht sought-out a nymph-born Druid who performed aritual of reincarnation upon his old and broken-down body, allowinghim to be reborn as a magic-user. At times Rupprecht can recall somesmall vestige of his past life and act as a 4^thlevel fighter, but only for brief periods of time (3d4 turns), duringwhich time he cannot cast spells. He also wears a peculiar antiquebronze form of enchanted chainmail which does not interfere with hisspell-casting. This armor will crumble to dust, rust and debrisshould anyone else attempt to don it. (Rupprecht does know how toacquire a similar suit of armor, however...and that couldbe the gist of the Special Expedition mentioned above...)