Mother Haggle's Notice Board

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Mother Haggle

One for a cow that’s lost and then found
And two for a pumpkin that’s lovely and round

Three for a fairy that boggles the mind
And four for lion that makes the sun rise
Five for a ring that was dropped in a hurry
And six is for farmers and letters that flurry
To Seven dead children, all killed at a ball
And eight hungry shadows which dance on a wall

Nine is for fetching, a mirror for me
And ten is for daughters, all one two & three;

Eleven’s for knowing the price of your soul
And twelve is for rags, and for bones, and for all

The thirteen ingredients that conjure a scream
Bring me the Sandman

Bring me a dream


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Contents FARMAGEDDON 41 TUNNEL VISION 75

Mother Haggle 2 Flagon Heist 42 It’s Quiet...Too Quiet 76
Curse of Bread 43
Mother Haggle’s Rise of Tablemats 44 We Are Legion 77
Peacocks of the Apocalypse
Notice Board 4 45 Skunks and Grubs 78

The Settlement 5 The Smell of Rebellion 79

Prison Break 80

Out of the Attic 46 47
53
THE MAGIC COW 14 Storm King’s Undies

the Prime Moo-ver 15 Green Melancholy 48 Nessus Dorma 81
Speak of the Devil 82
Having a Cow 16 A Dog’s Breakfast 49 By Any Other Name 83
Mother, Can you Hear me?
Mein Kau 17 Less is Maw 50 84
Army of Darkness 85
Unexpected Beef 18 Inferno 51 Bodakious 86
The Bogeyman 87
Up a Tree, 19 A Beast of 52 Blazing Saddles 88
Sandstorm 89
Without a Saddle 19 Good Conscience 52 Awaken 90
Landscaping 91
Medium Rare 20 The Paragon Solution Art Attack 92

LOST AND FOUND 21 BRING ME A DREAM 54
All’s Well that Ends Well 22 Approaching the Lair 55

Farming for Experience 23 The Witch in the Woods 56

Will ’o’ Requiem 57

the Witch 24

Shall We Dance? 25 26 VANITY FAIR 59 HEDGE YOUR BETS 93
Touched by an Angel
Deus Videt 27 What a Spectacle 60 The Clever Part 94
Got Wood? 28 Babbles and Baubles 61
How Chuulish 62 Bombs Away 95

FAIRY INCONVENIENT 29 Choices 63 The Coup de Grass 96

Find Your Center 97

mindboggling 30 WEIRD SISTERS 64 LEND ME YOUR EAR 98
Pray the Fey Away 31
Hag in a Bag 32 Giselle, the Buried 65 Leadership 99
Bottom’s Dream 33 Esmeralda, the Lost 66 Digging for Ears 100
No! I must Roar! 34 Bella, the Fallen 67 The Overseer 101
Booyahg Booyahg 102
Little Howler 35 The Nilbog 103
Ultimate Booyahg 104
Can’t Get The Staff 36 GRISLY BETTY 68

Clucking Mad 37 Softly, Softly 69

The Water Baby 38 Shadows on the Walls 70

Blood from a Stone 39 Gristle and Bone 71

The Magic Piano 40 The Secret Garden 72

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Mother Haggle’s The Noticeboard
Notice Board
Mother Haggle has a noticeboard which
What is this book? she props up in front of her hut. On this
board, jobs are advertised with a grade
This book is a collection of mini-adventures indicating roughly how difficult she expects
centered around the desires of the the task to be - this grade correlates to the
eponymous Mother Haggle. Each one-page pay an adventuring party can expect to
adventure should take roughly 1-3 hours receive for completing the task, which they
to complete, depending on how many of the must split between themselves.
optional complications you opt to include.
Mother Haggle’s notice board is optimised Task Gradings
for characters between levels 1-5 in groups
of 3-6. The contents on the previous page lists all
Mother Haggle’s various errands and tasks.
Each task is graded with a letter, which
indicates not only the relative difficulty of
the task by assigning it a level, but also the
pecuniary reward for completing it.

Who Is Mother Haggle? E Suitable for novices, rookies and fledging

Mother Haggle is an old crone who taskbunnies. [200 gold - Level 1]
operates a Lost & Found emporium on the
edge of the Misty Forest. Over the years, D Tasks for competent and seasoned ad-
her enterprise has grown significantly, and
has turned into something of a ramshackle venturers. [300 gold - Level 2]
hamlet. With a reputation for paying
generously, Mother Haggle is a popular C Tasks for the bold, brave and well armed.
employer for mercenaries of all kinds. She
has so much she wants done. after all. [500 gold - Level 3]

B Tasks for the daring, highly skilled and

lucky. [750 gold - Level 4]

A Tasks for the suicidal, daredevil and those

with nothing to live for. [1000 gold - Level 5]

Mother Haggle has a reputation for paying
her mercenaries well for the tasks she asks
them to do, which attracts people from up
and down the sword coast who could do
with making a quick penny. Proximity to
Daggerford and Baldur’s gate results in a
higher than usual percentage of scoundrels
from those locations drifting about the
settlement. Mother Haggle will give work
to anyone able to hold a sword or rope, so
tieflings, half-orcs and other folk sick of
being treated like monsters often gravitate
to her.

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1 5 24

3
7

68

KEY 5 - The Graveyard
6 - Xelyc’s Mind Palace
1 - Mother Haggle’s Cottage 7 - The Flaming Nightmare Inn
2 - The Chapel 8- The Abandoned House

3 - Madame’s Trading Post
4 - The Midden

The Settlement

Mother Haggle’s cottage once stood alone at the edge of the Misty Forest. Over time,
her generous rates and fair dealing has attracted others wishing to put down roots and
contribute to a small local community. Now, it houses an expansive Inn with dormitories,
a library, chapel and general store. With time, it may even expand further, but for now
Mother Haggle seems satisfied with things as they are. Finding it is easy enough for
those who intend to engage in honest work - those with ill intentions find themselves
curiously turned around and never quite seem to reach it. The mist creeping out from
the forest serves as a convenient veil against outside intrusion, and the settlement is
warded against divinatory scrying magics in a mile radius around Mother Haggle’s
cottage.

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Area 1: Mother Haggle’s Cottage Come Into My Parlour

Mother Haggle’s cottage is perhaps the Mother Haggle meets all new adventuring
smallet building in the hamlet, but is the parties here, and is almost always behind
only one that shows signs of age. The her desk reading notes and counting coins.
thatch has clearly been replaced a great She keeps very few valuables here, apart
many times, and stonework leading to the from her Weird Magic, which is largely kept
little door is cracked and worn. Nearby the in the cupboard and her desk in case of
cottage, a cow ambles about in a small emergencies.
wooden enclosure.
Whilst amenable, Mother Haggle takes
Inside, a small desk sits in the corner badly to threats, theft or bad manners. In
covered in papers, letters and other impor- those cases, she asks the stone statue to
tant documents. Mother Haggle usually escort her visitors out. The statue, a shield
sits here to greet guests, employees and so guardian named Useful, encourages any
on. A large cupboard full of strange bottles, such guests to leave and cool off.
trinkets and fetishes lurks in one corner, Mother Haggle turns to violence only as a
and a strange smelling stove in the other. last resort, but enforces any such punish-
Near the desk, a metal statue of a man ment will all due prejudice.
in armour stands perfectly still. A large
window sits behind an ugly curtain at the Mother Haggle’s maid, a dirty and miser-
back of the office. Through a wooden door able tiefling called Hope (NG, female com-
in the wall, a small single bed lies opposite moner), can often be found here cleaning
a small fireplace. up, cooking food or emptying Mother Hag-
gle’s toilet bucket. She doesn’t talk much,
and flinches when anyone moves near her.

AREA 1: Mother Haggle’s Office

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Area 2: The Chapel Area 3: Madame’s Trading Post

Doomscribe The yapping and yipping of the kobolds
that run this trading post can be heard
The Chapel is a small inter-faith building from a distance. Inside, there are usually
decked out with pews and a lectern. An al- between ten and twenty kobolds chatter-
tar lies at the far end of the chapel, which ing to each other in their draconic tongue.
is inscribed with the words “St. Hildegaard Character who need to buy basic supplies
- She loved and lost.” Inside the altar, the from the Player’s Handbook can do so
corpse of a women has been entombed, here. Behind a porticullis in one corner of
though this can only be inferred from the the shop, the kobolds keep a large pile of
inscription unless someone were to push gold and treasure. The door is warded with
off the cover and look inside. The chapel is an arcane lock and whichever other defen-
tended by the local priest, an unassuming sive enchantments you deem appropriate.
human gravedigger called Rose. Though Characters who steal from the kobolds are
unaligned with any official institution, she considered banned from the store and the
carries a holy symbol of Jergal discreet- entire clan refuses to trade with them. In
ly in her pocket. Young-seeming, she digs addition to mundane items, the kobolds
the rudimentary graves for the dead, and can attempt to source rarer magical items
records their names in the book on her from other outposts across the realms.
lectern. She allows anyone of any faith to
worhip in the temple, though she is friend- Madame’s Trading Post can be used as a
lier to those who worship Kelemvor, Myrkul place to conduct downtime activities relating
or other powers that oversee death and the to buying and selling magical items.
dead.

Rose is able to provide clerical spellcasting The Madame
services at the following rates. She’ll do so
for anyone in Mother Haggle’s employ, as The eponymous Madame is rarely seen in
long as they have the money. The temple the settlement, as she’s often looking into
can also be used to perform the religious other outlets across the realms and mak-
service downtime activity. ing sure business is running smoothly.
In her absence, her tribe take care of this
clerical spellcasting particular store. The clan itself lives in an
extensive and heavily trapped basement
Spell Cost [gp] under the Trading Post. Kobolds which die
Identify 20 are soon replaced by others from below.
Lesser Restoration 40
Remove Curse 90 Susan
Speak With Dead 90
Divination 210 In the porch of the Trading Post, a corpse
Greater Restoration 450 has been laid out on the floor. A little sign
Raise Dead 1250 around its neck reveals its name to be
Lazy-Eyed Susan. The corpse doesn’t move
or react to being touched. If asked, Mother
Haggle just says that “Susan is waiting for
her husband. Lovely girl.” If moved, de-
stroyed or disturbed, Susan reappears at
dawn the next day in her original position.

er, after you’ve done that little job for her.
Now hurry along, duckling, she hasn’t got
all day.

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AREA 2:
Chapel

AREA 3: Madame’s Trading Post

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Area 4: The Midden

A pile of refuse sits away from the main
settlement, but close enough for general
use. Every now and then someone hurls a
pair of boots, food waste, or natural debris
onto it from a distance. People don’t get too
close, the reason for which is evident to an-
yone taking a close inspection of the mid-
den. Inside the trash heap lives an otyugh,
which was bought by Mother Haggle and
inserted into the heap. Noone apart from
the old woman is sure why she’s so intent
on stopping anyone from tampering with
the trash heap.

Area 5: The Graveyard

The graveyard is a small collection of tomb-
stones, memorials and loose earth. Under
the ground are buried those poor souls
who died on one of Mother Haggle’s er-
rands, in cases where the body was recov-
ered by their friends or associates.

Mother Haggle doesn’t mind if budding
necromancers ‘recycle’ bodies from the
graveyard. In her words “at least they’re
doing something useful now.” She does
ask that people retain control of their cre-
ations, and keep them out of sight where
possible, as she’s sensitive to the fact that
some people find animated corpses un-
nerving.

Rose

Human Priest of Jergal

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Area 6: Xelyc’s Mind Palace entire week, after which the membership
must be renewed. Xelyc is very apologetic
This cosy building is furnished inside with about this, but business is business.
bookcases, tables and chairs - an ide-
al environment for quiet research. Xelyc, Mind over Matter
the old librarian who presents as a little
old human man with a straggly beard, is Xelyc, as you might have guessed, is more
usually happy to help strangers find what- than he appears at first glance. Actually
ever information they need, particularly if an albino mind flayer on the run from its
it relates to an errand for Mother Haggle. colony, Xelyc wears a hat of disguise given
He has an unnerving ability to sense what to him by Mother Haggle in exchange for
people need as they enter the room, and his services as a librarian. Xelyc under-
start looking for a related manuscript be- stands that it is frowned upon to eat Moth-
fore anyone has even asked a question. er Haggle’s mercenaries, and thus restricts
his diet to the unfortunate souls that she
Xelyc’s mind palace can be used as a place ships in for him through her occasional
to conduct the research downtime. dealings with networks of slave smugglers
from the underdark. If his secret were to be
The Will and the Word discovered, Xelyc would likely flee. In his
spare time, Xelyc searches for the means
Xelyc’s Mind Palace contains a great many to extend his life beyond its normal limits,
manuscripts, some scrolls and a few codi- possibly as an alhoon, or an illithilich. As it
ces. Most are on the subject of monsters, stands, his arcane powers have yet to show
with the odd text on the inner planes, much promise, and he spends many hours
focusing on the Shadowfell, Feywild and in quiet contemplation of the Ilsensine
Ethereal planes. Access to these resources doctrine, hoping that some greater pur-
requires a fee of 50 gold pieces, but doing pose will reveal itself to him. If you return
so provides access to the library for an a book late, he might beat you around the
head with his trusty whip “tonguelasher”.

AREA 6: Xelyc’s Mind Palace

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Area 7: The Flaming Nightmare

This boarding house was built to
accomodate large numbers of adventurers,
mercenaries and travellers. It reached up
four floors high, and is the largest building
in the settlement by quite a margin. The
lowest floor is a large taproom containing
many tables, and serves serviceable food
to those hungry souls coming back from
errands. The first floor is divided into four
large open dormitories, each housing thirty
single beds. The second floor is divided
into twenty smaller rooms, with basic
living amenities. The third floor is divided
into three spacious luxury suites for up to
five people. One of these suites is always
occupied by the Innkeeper, Aravar.

Aravar is a moon elf who looks after
the tavern and all the occupants. With
characteristic elven detachment, he sees
customers as leaves in an autumn breeze.
As far as he’s concerned, people are barely
in the door before they’re being carried out
in a bodybag, or wandering off grey-haired
into retirement. He used to man a tavern
down near Elturel, before he had to leave
due to accusations of being involved with a
demonic cult that (if questioned) he would
claim were totally unfounded. This more
recent enterprise suits him, as it keeps
his minds and hands busy with the work
required to keep the gigantic institution
going. He’s helped in this endeavour by
a small group of kenku waiters, who he
befriended on his travels. The kenku are
named after their first awful accident in
the tavern (of which there are many), and
thus you can often hear Aravar calling after
them “Careful, Bounce! Don’t walk into
Crash like that! Oh, bother....hold still, I’ll
fetch a mop.”

Life in the Flaming Nightmare is

comfortable, if noisy. The dormitories

might at any time be full of colourful

characters of your choice, drawn to Mother

xelyc Haggle by the prospect of quick money. The
fees for staying in the flaming nightmare
illithid librarian depend on the standard of living to which
one aspires. The tavern can also be used
to pursue the gambling, carousing [lower

class] and pit fighting downtime activities.
11
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Curious Customers earn enough to leave the settlement forever
with his wife. His second head doesn’t say
Many different kinds of people stay at the much, but glowers a lot and whispers curs-
Flaming Nightmare. Some suggestions are es under its breath.
provided below, but you can easily insert
any number of suspicious characters of Caradoc Moonshadow [Human, male[
your own devising. At your discretion, other “Selune’s blessings are everywhere, for
guests at the Flaming Nightmare can be those who look for them.”
hired to accompany small parties on tasks 6’, bald, friendly
and errands. In any such cases, hirelings A human priest dedicated to Selune, Cara-
receive an equal cut of the pay. doc is a kind and friendly fellow who goes
out of his way to welcome newcomers to
Elfirio Mickaster [High Elf, male] the settlement. He’s here because he heard
“Did you want something important, or can I rumours of a secret moonwell in the area,
get back to my book?” but he hasn’t been able to find it.
5’7, dark haired, sombre
An elven enchanter down on his luck, Arianna Serpentwind [Human, female]
Elfirio is performing tasks for gold in order “Let me take a look at that skirt...oh my
to research better spells and improve his dear you must let me fix it. And those socks
lot. He recently broke with his apprentice, too.”
Gelena, and secretly hopes that if he waits 5’5, old, tipsy
long enough she will return to him. Mrs. Serpentwind is a local hedge witch
(commoner) who drinks too much and
Goodluck Sexton [Half-elf, male] mends clothes now she’s retired. She’s
“Toosad! Get back here! I’m so sorry, fairly ugly, and quite short. She braids her
madam, I think this is yours.” hair, and has a tiny pet clay golem named
5’4, bearded, desperate Biscuits that helps her darn socks and
A half-elf warlock of the archfey in carries her thimble.
disheveled gear, Goodluck can usually be
found chasing after his boggle familiar Raskin
[Toosad), who has a bad habit of ‘acquiring’ “Who is this enchanting creature? I bet your
possessions from other guests. kidneys are healthy...oh yes....”
5’2, thin, creepy
Living Costs Raskin is an amateur surgeon and magi-
cian (commoner) who often talks to him-
Service Cost per week [gp] self when he thinks noone is looking.
Food & Drink 5
Dormitories 5 Area 8: The Abandoned House
Private Room 15
Luxury Suite 50 Mother Haggle won’t brook any talk of
what goes on in the abandoned house. The
windows and doors are boarded up, and a
sign on the door reads:

Acano Wells [Human, male] GO AWAY
“Don’t mind the other guy...he doesn’t
usually bite.” NOTHING TO SEE HERE
5’7, two heads, wary
A human guard with two heads, Acano DO NOT OPEN
attracts the eye from across the room.
Married to Mother Haggle’s maid, Hope,
he adventures in the hope that he might

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GRADE

Tasks and Errands

The Quest
Here, you get a brief summary of what the
goal is. It could be to rescue a cow, kill
some goblins, or to massage Mother Hag-
gle's ugly old feet. Just kidding, that's what
she has slaves for.

THE Core Problem

Encounter
This is how encounters are formatted.
Encounters can be social, violent or a
mixture of the two. Monsters will be
highlighted in bold.

Unlikely Disasters

Disasters
Are ways to ruin an adventurer’s day.
These are usually unfair, or highly un-
likely. Use if you need to stall for time,
or prove a point.

Plausible Complications

Complications
Are ways to make the encounter harder
on the fly. These are pretty reasonable
for the most part.

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THE MAGIC COW Tasks & Errands

How Now Brown Cow The Magic Cow is a preliminary primer in
three parts, with a simple directive : fetch
Mother Haggle owna a magical cow which the cow, and bring it back alive. All these
she keeps just outside of her cottage in a scenarios are unlikely to prove a serious
small wooden pen. She claims the cow is challenge to adventurers of 1st level.
magic, though it has yet to perform any
feat of sorcery (small or otherwise). The Prime Moover is a simple quest to
negotiate with (or slay) a gnome village to
The Sordid Truth retrieve the cow.
Having A Cow is a tricky scenario to defeat
Mother Haggle’s magic cow was once a or trick a tribe of bullywugs and steal back
powerful wizard, whose name is lost to the cow before it is sacrificed.
time. In his search for immortality, the wiz- Mein Kau is an exploration scenario in the
ard accidentally transformed himself into dark of an abandoned mine.
a cow, along with all his magical secrets. A
side effect of this transformation was that Results
the cow lived a further century without
ever succumbing to old age. Eventually, a If the cow dies, the adventurers are not
local farmer noticed he had an immortal paid for their trouble, and Mother Haggle is
cow and traded it to Mother Haggle in ex- not pleased at all.
change for some magic beans. A few dec-
ades of research later, Mother Haggle has
yet to figure out precisely what is keeping
the cow alive, but she’ll be damned if that’s
a reason to stop trying. The cow has dis-
played no signs of the wizard’s personality,
and to all intents and purposes acts like a
normal cow. Whether or not any vestige of
the wizard remains is entirely up to you.

The Great Escape

The Magic Cow breaks out of the little
wooden pen with monotonous regulari-
ty. When it gets loose, the first thing on
Mother Haggle’s mind is getting it back - if
the fool cow were to get eaten, the secret
to eternal life might be lost with it. None
of the escape attempts over the years has
convinced her to invest in a better cage for
it. She maintains that the old one is just
fine, and is happy to shell out money from
her vast reserves to pay adventures to fetch
the cow back.

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the Prime Moo-ver E

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Mother Haggle has lost her cow. It’s Stubborn as an Ox
wandered off into a nearby forest gnome The cow is being treated very well. Itmight
village, and she wants you to go and ask not want to go anywhere at all - good luck
them for it back. The cow is of sentimental dragging a few thousand pounds of re-
value to her, for some reason. calcitrant cow all the way home. The cow
weighs around 1500lbs.
THE Core Problem
Unlikely Disasters
Gnomes
Multiple Choice
The gnome giggles. “Hey, now! That cow is a The gnomes keep several cows, and by
sign from mighty Baervan himself! Just like Garl, they’ll be damned if they can remem-
ol’ Chiktikka Fastpaws, it’s a good omen. If it ber which one is which. [Spells and effects
wants to stay, let it stay.” such as detect magic reveals a supernatu-
ral aura around the right cow.]
The local Gnome population [gnome com-
moners], led by a fiercely friendly fellow
called Bimpnottin Anklebiter [gnome druid]
have decided that the magic cow is an ava-
tar of their god, Baervan Wildwanderer.

Seeing Double
As if this weren’t bad enough, the gnomes
have more than one cow in their little
shrine. They’ve dressed up three rather
unhealthy looking heifers [use the stat-
block for a stench cow] in gaudy forest
getups, and are desperately trying to avoid
passing out whilst feeding them acorns,
grass and table ornaments. Which is Moth-
er Haggle’s cow? You can decide.

Wandering Free
The gnomes are highly resistant to talk of
taking any of the cows, though might be
convinced that the cows need to roam free.
Killing all the gnomes works too, if your
party is particularly unreasonable.

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Having a Cow E

THe QUEST Unlikely Disasters

Mother Haggle has lost her cow (again). Down In The Deep
How it keeps getting out is a mystery, but An octopus lurches from the pond
she wants it back. She thinks the cow has mid-ritual to steal the cow. It also is infect-
been kidnapped by the Bullywugs of the ed with Cackle Fever, which it can pass on.
Dead Marshes, who have a reputation for
pilfering livestock. Time is of the essence, Magic Cow
as the Cow might be sacrificed to the The stress of the ritual causes the cow to
Bullywugs’ insane god, Ramenos in a manifest its latent magical abilities, trig-
misguided attempt to wake him from his gering a Wild Magic Surge each round on
eternal slumber. Initiative count 20.

THE CorE Problem

Froggos
The local Bullywug population, comprising
about twenty frog people, lives by a small
and fetid pond near the Misty Forest. They
don’t like visitors and are hostile to new-
comers unless pacified by beer.

The Ritual of Awakening
The tribe’s shaman is a large Bullywug
named Polpendop [NE Bullywug Acolyte]
who has the cow tied up by the lake. If
uninterrupted, he sacrifices the cow with a
stone knife to Ramenos, Ramenos pays no
attention whatsoever, so the ritual is fruit-
less, but the Cow might still die if noone
intervenes.

Dusk
Polpendop is convinced the ritual must
take place at dusk. He sometimes has
dreams that an angel is speaking to him,
and the angel specified that the ritual had
to take place at dusk. Is he crazy? You de-
cide.

Plausible Complications

Swimming Lessons
The cow panics and dashes into the pond,
dragging a Bullywug or two with it, and
beginning to drown.

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Mein Kau E

THe QUEST 17

This time, the cow has wandered into an
abandoned mine complex of Dwarven
design. It’s so defunct that it’s no longer
maintained, so it could be treacherous
ground.

THE CorE Problem

The Dark
The cave is pitch black and the air is filled
with dust and soot, lightly obscuring the
air to those with darkvision. Bones crunch
underfoot - those with more acute senses
might guess something terrible happened
here in the past.

The Laughing Cow
The cow is a few miles into the wandering
pathways, which could easily result in her
rescuers getting lost in the winding passag-
es. When the cow is found, it’s collapsed
from the bad air down in the mine, and if
it’s not removed in time, it might die.

Plausible Complications

Bats
Casting a light spell or a flame based spell
might cause a swarm of bats to attack un-
til the light is extinguished.

Dust and Shadow
Sudden movement might kick up rock dust
and soot into the air, heavily obscuring the
area.

Unlikely Disasters

Overkill
A Gas Spore from the Underdark might
drift into view, seeming for all the world
like a Beholder guarding the cow.

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Unexpected Beef

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Echoed Moos Farmyard Frolics
Mother Haggle’s cow has gotten away, with The kenku are particularly talented at
it’s usual panache. There’s a strange moo- mimicking animals. Characters make
ing coming from the woods, and Mother checks to see through these impressions at
Haggle wants you to go and investigate for disadvantage.

her. THE CorE Problem Feathery Death, But From Above
The kenku are hidden in the trees 10 feet
Bait above the ground. They use shortbows to
The mooing is actually a small pocket of attack instead.
kenku out to get some easy cash. Having
heard about the lost cow, they use their Classic Negotiation Strategy
mimicry trait to try and lure characters If the kenku drop a character to 0 hit
closer. points, they hold a knife to the character’s
throat, and extort money or goods off the
Feathery Death party.
If characters enter the woods, four ken-
ku are hidden in the undergrowth hoping Unlikely Disasters
to ambush them. They attack with their
knives. Mockingbird Mojo
One of the kenku is a warlock dedicated to
Come Into My Parlour a demon lord. It can cast the vicious mock-
If three of the kenku are killed the last one ery cantrip at will [DC12].
begs for its life with a series of bleats and
whimpers. It indicates that it can take the Grab & Run
characters where it keeps its stash of treas- If the kenku drop all the party unconcious,
ure. If they are foolish enough to follow it, they leave them to make death saves, and
they are led into the hunting ground of an loot literally all the gear they can carry.
ettercap, which attempts to eat whoever it
sees first. What A Pleasant Vie...*URK*
The kenku have chosen a shrouded wood-
land glade for their ambush. It’s dim light
for mechanical purposes.

18 Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only.

Up a Tree,
Without a Saddle

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Mooving On Up Eight Legs, Eight Stomachs, One Cow
Mother Haggle’s cow has somehow man- A giant spider that lives in the tree decides
aged to get up a tree, and is stuck. Be a it wants lunch.
dear, and fetch it down for her?
Who Are Moo?
THE CorE Problem The cow begins to panic as the characters
climb up to get it. In 3 rounds, it breaks a
Stuck branch and falls.
The cow has climbed 50 feet up a gigan-
tic deciduous tree in the forest, and can’t Rickety Split
seem to get back down. How it managed it The tree is old and dying. The tree is easier
in the first place is unclear. The cow weighs to destroy, but weaker in structure. Animal
close to 2500 pounds, and is lodged be- Handling checks or magic will be needed to
tween two branches. stop the cow destroying the only branches
keeping it aloft.
Terminal Ferocity
The cow is terrified of heights, and lashes Unlikely Disasters
out at anyone who comes close. Unsuc-
cessful attempts to remove the cow cause EVERYONE LOVES A MAGICAL COW
a branch to break, and the cow to come The panic causes the cow’s latent magical
tumbling to the ground, potentially killing abilities to manifest. It breathes out a 15ft
it and anyone standing under it. cone of fire. The tree catches alight, and
characters who fail a DC10 Dexterity sav-
Fleet Feet ing throw take 3d6 fire damage.
The tree is climbable, which might require
an athletics check to avoid falling. Cutting “The Cow Is Fine. Probably.”
the supporting branches will cause the cow The tree is home to a dryad. She takes
to fall, though the trunk is sturdy enough umbrage at the characters intrusion, and
to support a rope winch/hammock. needs to be convinced to let them pass, or
killed.

Dooble Trooble
There are two cows up the tree. Don’t ask
how. One of them is magical. Is there time
to save both?

Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. 19

Medium Rare

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

All Fired Up Shiny Worthless Discs
Mother Haggle’s cow has been stolen. Pil- The firenewts have no real use for money.
fered from under her nose by a pair of They reject any offer of gold for the cow.
firenewts, who will undoubtedly turn it into
steak, or sacrifice it to the evil primordial Sacred Flame
Imix. The newts aren’t long gone - if you If the firenewts discover that the characters
hurry, you can stop them and save the cow. are carrying tinder or torches, they might
turn to violence to take them.
THE CorE Problem
“The dribbling-sky-death comes!”
Bangoono! It starts to rain. The firenewts, scared of
The firenewt warriors are making their way freezing, try to leave with the cow.
as stealthily as they can across the trade
way when the characters catch up with Unlikely Disasters
them. They can only speak draconic or
ignan, and have few facial expressions to Goodie Nosewinkle
convey any subtle indications of emotion. A wagon driven by a busybody gnome
merchant comes down the trade way. The
A Gift Of Value owner, Goodie Nosewinkle [NE commoner]
The firenewts have stolen the cow to pres- demands to know what’s going on.
ent as tribute to their tribal warlock. They
will consider trading the cow for something We Should Get A Leash
of value, such as a magic item , or another If the firenewts use their spit fire ability,
magical creature. They defend themselves the cow panics and tries to run away.
from attempts to take the cow.
Sparks Fly
Evil Is Best Served Cold The firenewts are a male-female breeding
The newts have been away from their heat- couple, and won’t leave each other behind.
ed underground lair for an extended peri- They strike pre-emptively in response to
od. Characters proficient in medicine might any Intimidation attempts.
be able to discern they are freezing slowly
to death. Providing a campfire would be a
good way to gain their friendship.

20 Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only.

Lost and Found Tasks & Errands

Multitasking Lost and Found is a segment with moder-
ate risk. In each case, Mother Haggle needs
Now that the cow problem has been dealt the team to retrieve an item from a danger-
with, Mother Haggle turns to other mun- ous location. These scenarios could prove
dane concerns. Whilst she was worrying difficult for a team at first level, and are
about the cow, she’s built up a small list of best suited for those at 2nd -3rd.
other errands she needs dealing with.
All’s Well that Ends Well is a short explor-
The Sordid Truth atory dive into a dark well to retrieve a lost
ring.
Mother Haggle harbours an intense dislike Farming for Experience is a pumpkin
for her closest neighbour, Farmer Rotgrub. heist through a field of murderous scare-
He thinks she’s a witch, and she wants crows. Combat is likely.
him to move out of the area. To those ends, Will’o’the Witch is a simple ambush en-
she often contrives reasons to send adven- counter by a nasty little monster, the cap-
turers into his land/property, often under ture of which should stretch even a creative
the perfectly resonable guise of hunting a party’s ingenuity.
dangerous monster, recovering a dropped Shall we Dance invites the characters to a
item, or delivering a message. She hopes ball, where everything goes horribly wrong.
that the nuisance, noise and occasional Touched by an Angel sees the characters
bouts of violence on his land will eventu- witness the hand of the divine, or some-
ally convince him life would be easier else- thing much more sinister.
where. Deus Videt is an unethical heist from a
sacred place. Leave your morals at home.
Root of the Matter Got Wood describes a simple log fetching
mission that ends up being harder than
In recent days, Mother Haggle has upped expected.
her efforts considerably. She hasn’t had
any angry letters from Farmer Rotgrub in Paying Up
a while, so she’s redoubling her efforts to
drive the man elsewhere.The reason she Mother Haggle pays the adventurers as
hates the Rotgrub family is lost to time, promised if they return with the requested
but rumour has it that it involves a long items. She’s annoyed it they caused chaos
ago accident with a root vegetable. or lost any of the items.

Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. 21

EAll’s Well that Ends Well

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Mother Haggle’s been a little careless. She’s Give Me A Fulcrum
dropped her favourite ring down a well in The ring is lodged between two rocks hard
the woods. Won’t you go and get it back enough that it might take a few rounds or
for her? The well is located in some ruins a crowbar to leverage out.
in the Misty Forest. It’s only 5 feet wide,
meaning that a group would have to de- Weight of the World
scend one by one. It’s slippery and crum- Those wearing heavy or medium armour
bling, and descends almost 100 feet won’t be able to climb down the side of the
well. It would be far too treacherous.
THE Core Problem
Unlikely Disasters
The One Ring
At the bottom of the well, water half fills a Shadows On The Wall
10 feet square chamber, into which water The shadow has a flying speed of 30 feet.
filters through cracks in the rock. Under It uses it to pursue those who try to climb
the water, the ring lies trapped between out of the well.
two rocks.
Water Works
Shadow Over Well’s Mouth The entire underwater chamber becomes
The well, as you might expect, is inhabited. flooded, hindering attempts to avoid ene-
A shadow lurks down in the darkness. If mies and find the ring.
someone comes down the well, it attacks
them before retreating to hide in the wa-
ter if they seem strong. It uses hit and run
tactics to disable and kill. If a character be-
comes unconscious, it continues to attack
until the character is dead.

22 Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only.

EFarming for Experience

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

The Way To A Man’s Heart Three’s Trouble
Mother Haggle has something she wants. There are actually three scarecrows. One
She’s craving some of those sweet, sweet is hiding under the earth, and bursts up
pumpkins from Farmer Rotgrub’s fields. from underneath to surprise intruders.
Sadly, she’s too old to sneak in and grab
one, and she refuses to pay that “old pen- Seems Unnecessary
nygrabber” a single copper. The irony of The area is littered with Hunting Traps
paying you to steal some is lost on her. liberally placed to injure interlopers. Some
might even be dirty or poisoned.
THE Core Problem

Silent Sentinels Unlikely Disasters
The pumpkins are guarded rather zealous-
ly by two scarecrows, which lurk in the Death By Badger
field, looking scary. They use their False The field is home to a set of giant badgers,
Appearance trait to remain impervious to which also carry Filth Fever. They attack
attempts to discern their true nature. They anyone who strays too close to their tunnel
try and time their attack to inflict the worst entrance.
possible fear.
Bad Intel
Prize Vegetables There’s a 1 in 3 chance that any pump-
The pumpkins themselves are extraordi- kin is infested with a swarm of rot grubs,
narily and unusually heavy, each weighing which burrow out to feast on vegetable
just under 500 pounds and being Medium thieves.
sized. Mother Haggle wants at least two.

Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. 23

THE Core Problem

Flight Of Fancy
The graveyard is haunted by a malevolent
Will-o’-Wisp, which manifests at dusk and
disappears at daybreak. It remains invis-
ible all the time where possible, and only
strikes when it senses weakness or thinks
it can use its Consume Soul ability.

Fruitless Endeavour
Attempts to capture the Wisp would need
a magically reinforced container of some
kind, an Iron Flask, or some other kind
of specialised magic. Without a plan, sav-
vy adventurers are likely to realise sooner
than later that the best course of action is
to kill the Wisp before it takes advantage of
their attempts to subdue it.

Plausible Complications

Will ’o’ Rise And Rise Again
The disturbance causes the inhabitants of
Dthe Witch the graveyard to rise as zombies, one for
each intruder.

Where Magic Comes To Die
The graveyard might be a dead magic zone,
preventing any spells being cast into the
area, and ending any spell effects brought
into it for as long as they remain in the
zone.

THe QUEST Unlikely Disasters

Anyone Have A Light? All Aboard
Mother Haggle has a problem. She claims A crawling claw stalks the area, and
that her nights are being disturbed by a crawls into someone’s bag if it gets the
flashing light near her window. Whenever chance, hoping to strange them in their
she looks out, it’s gone, but it’s driving her sleep.
to distraction. She’s performed a divination
which reveals the source of the problem to Slimy Doom
be in a graveyard long abandoned. Bring The ground might be covered in green slime
the culprit back alive, or dead for half the in some places, threatening to dissolve
money. shoes, feet and legs if characters aren’t
careful where they tread.

24

DShall We Dance?
THe QUEST
Plausible Complications

Masquerade Time For Plan B
Mother Haggle needs your services. She’d There might be a Spy in the hall, working
like you to go the castle of Count Aelric [LG for Count Aelric’s enemies. She watches
noble], and keep an eye on his daughter, for Ethelberta going somewhere quiet, then
Ethelberta. It’s her 16th nameday, and he tries to stab Count Aelric whilst the party’s
wants her kept safe from harm. He fears attention is on the girl.
his enemies would use the occasions to
send assassins after his sole heir. The ball Pride and Prejudice
will be an evening masquerade, so you’ll Count Aelric doesn’t like priests, they re-
need some fancy dress. mind him of his father. He won’t allow an-
yone inside openly carrying a holy symbol
THE Core Problem or priestly vestments.

Danse Macabre Good Grief, Think Of Decorum
Hiding amongst the dancing and chat- This is a social occasion, not a bar brawl.
ting guests are four unusually intelligent The Count insists that weapons must be
skeletons clad in gaudy evening wear and left outside the dancing hall, in the care of
concealed by elaborate disguise. They have the Castle’s Unseen Servants who manage
been sent by the necromancer Raoul, who
is cackling in his lair some leagues distant. the cloUaknrolomik. ely Disasters
Magic can detect their presence, as can
any reasonable skill check against a Diffi- Ladies Who Lacerate
culty check of 15. Unless stopped earlier, The Skeletons have managed to somehow
the undead attack Ethelberta on the stroke sneak in shortswords and hand crossbows
of midnight, throwing off their disguises to under their skirts.
attack with hidden daggers
We Have This All Under Control
Girls Will Be Girls Alerting any of the guests to the undead
Ethelberta [CG commoner] is tired of menace causes a panicked stampede for
being watched by her overbearing father. the door. There’s a significant danger of
She tries to sneak off during the dancing being trampled by high heels.
to go and spend some time in the bushes
outside with a boy. There’s a 50% chance We All Knew It Was Coming
this ‘boy’ is actually a disguised skeleton, The chandelier overhead snaps at a dra-
which takes advantage of the opportunity matic moment, killing the Duke unless
to try and kill her. someone intervenes and setting the gaudy
hangings on fire.
Dancing Lights
The dancing, lights and music make it
hard to track the costumed guests. Percep-
tion checks made inside the dancing hall
are made at disadvantage.

25

ETouched by an Angel

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Word of God Choices
There’s a nearby farm where an angel There are lots of spiders in the barn. Find-
is leaving messages in cobwebs. Moth- ing which one is the culprit could be diffi-
er Haggle wants you to go there and stop cult without the aid of magic.
these rumours from propagating. Farmer
Rathoarder won’t let anyone near the barn Knife In The Back
he doesn’t trust, but she’s convinced him The barn has been tainted by the pres-
to let you look into it. She doesn’t want the ence of the Imp. Beasts that enter the barn
place becoming a site for pilgrimage or oth- enter a killing frenzy, which could cause
er nonsense - have you seen the amount of problems when Farmer Rathoarder tries to
refuse the average commoner leaves be- show the characters his prize Cow.

hind? THE Core Problem Coming To An Understanding
If discovered, the Imp might try to bargain
Charlatan’s Web to be left alone, It can offer a sizeable sum
A spider has been spinning messages of gold, a common magic item or a warlock
in Farmer Rathoarder’s barn. The webs pact with its Infernal master, Mammon.
change each night. Poor old Farmer
Rathoarder [LE human commoner] can’t Unlikely Disasters
read the messages, as they’re written in
Infernal. He’s done some sketches though. Good Timing
Anyone able to read Infernal can tell that Farmer Rathoarder might be in league with
the messages are a series of vicious epi- the Imp. If so, he tries to lock the door
thets. once they are inside, and burn the barn to
the ground.
E is for “Evil”
The culprit is an imp called Bidzarel that’s Rata-tat-tat
been using its shapechanger ability to The Imp is not the only interloper in the
mess with the poor farmer. Each night it barn. There’s a Giant Rat under a pile of
spins a new message and thoroughly en- hay in the corner that bites anyone who
joys the building chaos. gets too close.

Zealous Rebuke Tricks and
Farmer Rathoarder won’t hear any talk of Traps
devils. He’s convinced that the web mes- The imp gains
sages are the work of an angel sent to the Spellcast-
guide him away from sin. He’s a staunch ing trait. It can
devotee of Chauntea, and thinks she’s try- cast the fol-
ing to tell him something. lowing spells
at will: thau-
maturgy, minor
illusion, vicious
mockery, silent
image.

26 Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only.

Deus Videt E

THe QUEST Old Enemies
The characters are not alone in desiring
Recovery Mission the necklace. Someone has hired a bandit
Mother Haggle wants something back. She to try, who is prepared to use violence to
gave her necklace to a friend who recently try and take it as the characters leave.
passed away. She needs you to break into
the chapel where the body is being kept Cold Blooded
and recover the necklace before the funeral The body on the bier isn’t dead, but un-
tomorrow morning. The chapel is a wayside der a Feign Death spell. She wakes if the
temple to Ilmater on the Trade Way. necklace is removed. She’s a Yuan-Ti Pure-
blood, and she is prepared to murder her
THE Core Problem way out if pressed for information.

Grave Robbing Unlikely Disasters
The temple itself is a quiet place, with
candles burning and rudimentary wall You Walk On Holy Ground
hangings. There are no petitioners here at The priest [LG Acolyte] who will oversee
this late hour. The door is locked, but can the funeral the next day is performing a
be picked or broken down at your discre- Gentle Repose ritual over the body as the
tion. The body of an old human woman is characters enter. He point blank refuses
on a bier at the far end of the temple. She’s to let anyone tamper with or steal from the
wearing a necklace, as Mother Haggle de- body. If challenged, he invokes the name
scribed. It doesn’t feel magical. of Ilmater and asks if the characters are
prepared to spill innocent blood on holy
The Angels Are Watching ground for their greed.
The church is watched over by Ilmater.
Anyone entering the church with the in- The Price of Greed
tention to steal from a grave is hit by the Anyone that attacks the priest whilst in the
uncomfortable sensation they are being temple is cursed with blindness by Ilmater
watched. after their attack resolves.

The Eyes Of The Church Life Is A Dream
The church is filled with the statues of The chapel is protected by a Hallow spell,
saints who martyred themselves for Ilma- DC12, which protects against fiends, ele-
ter’s cause. The two statues closest to the mentals, fey and undead, with a secondary
door are guardians of the temple. [Use the Fear effect targeting humanoids.
stats for Gargoyles, except their alignment
is Lawful Good, and their type is Con-
struct.] They attack only if blood is shed in
the temple.

Plausible Complications

Justice
The statues move to block the door as soon
as the last character enters. They bar the
way out all night if necessary.

Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. 27

Got Wood? D

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Logarithm The Bad Touch
Mother Haggle needs more wood for her The dryads have come prepared for war,
fireplace. It’s a good thing she lives right and have been subtly tainted by the shad-
next to the Misty Forest. Go and find out owfell influence of the Misty Forest. Add
what’s taking her usual lumberjack so inflict wounds to their innate spellcasting
long, and come back with...say, 500lbs trait.
worth of logs. Can’t have her catching cold
now, can we? Off you go. No Such Thing As Overreacting
The dryads defend the wood with their life,
THE Core Problem and chase anybody who tries to steal it un-
til either the dryad or the culprit is dead.
Eco-Warriors
This part of the forest is guarded by fierce What A Drag
dryads. who resent both your intrusion These logs are really heavy. Characters who
and the tree murder. They are already clos- carry a piece are likely going to need both
ing in to attack. hands on it. Get your Encumbrance rules
out.
Pointing Fingers
The lumberjack (NE commoner) will hap- Unlikely Disasters
pily abandon the others once the dryads
appear, blaming them for everything if he BEES
gets the chance. One of the logs has become home to a
hive of bees. This manifests as a vengeful
Entmoot swarm of insects if disturbed.
The trees all around are actually animat-
ed trees, which have until now only slow- Camoflage
ly begun to realise what’s going on. 1d4 One of the logs is a mimic, and waits until
rounds after combat begins an awakened the danger has passed before revealing
tree joins the fray, and begins to lay waste itself and slaughtering whoever is carrying
to the nearest creature (including shocked it.
dryads).
Walking The Plank
The dryads start to play dirty, dragging
characters high up into trees with Tree
Stride, and hurling them off.

28

Fairy Inconvenient Tasks & Errands

Multitasking Lost and Found is a segment with moder-
ate risk. In each case, Mother Haggle needs
Now that the cow problem has been dealt the team to retrieve an item from a danger-
with, Mother Haggle turns to other mun- ous location. These scenarios could prove
dane concerns. Whilst she was worrying difficult for a team at first level, and are
about the cow, she’s built up a small list of best suited for those at 2nd -3rd.
other errands she needs dealing with.
All’s Well that Ends Well is a short explor-
The Sordid Truth atory dive into a dark well to retrieve a lost
ring.
Mother Haggle harbours an intense dislike Farming for Experience is a pumpkin
for her closest neighbour, Farmer Rotgrub. heist through a field of murderous scare-
He thinks she’s a witch, and she wants crows. Combat is likely.
him to move out of the area. To those ends, Will’o’the Witch is a simple ambush en-
she often contrives reasons to send adven- counter by a nasty little monster, the cap-
turers into his land/property, often under ture of which should stretch even a creative
the perfectly resonable guise of hunting a party’s ingenuity.
dangerous monster, recovering a dropped Shall we Dance invites the characters to a
item, or delivering a message. She hopes ball, where everything goes horribly wrong.
that the nuisance, noise and occasional Touched by an Angel sees the characters
bouts of violence on his land will eventu- witness the hand of the divine, or some-
ally convince him life would be easier else- thing much more sinister.
where. Deus Videt is an unethical heist from a
sacred place. Leave your morals at home.
Root of the Matter Got Wood describes a simple log fetching
mission that ends up being harder than
In recent days, Mother Haggle has upped expected.
her efforts considerably. She hasn’t had
any angry letters from Farmer Rotgrub in Paying Up
a while, so she’s redoubling her efforts to
drive the man elsewhere.The reason she Mother Haggle pays the adventurers as
hates the Rotgrub family is lost to time, promised if they return with the requested
but rumour has it that it involves a long items. She’s annoyed it they caused chaos
ago accident with a root vegetable. or lost any of the items.

Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. 29

mindboggling E

THe QUEST Waking Dream
One or more of the Boggles might be an
A Little Something illusion spontaneously manifested from the
Mother Haggle has decided she wants whimsical aura Feywild in an environmen-
another pet or two to add to her vast hive tal response to the characters’ quest.
of familiars and animal companions. She
sends the party into the Misty Forest to Addictive Area
an area heavily touched by the Feywild to Characters might feel the tempting pull of
procure her a few Boggles. Anyone who can the feywild resisting their attempt to leave.
bring her back at least three living Boggles
will be rewarded, Unlikely Disasters

THE Core Problem In The Nick Of Time
Characters might find time has passed
Lush faster or slower whilst they were in the Fey
The fey touched area of the forest is filled realm.
with lush plants and overgrown weeds. The
ground is choked with vibrant life, making Grove Guardian
the ground Difficult Terrain. Characters The grove might be protected by a dryad,
connected to the Feywild through a pact or who would leap to the defence of the bog-
class feature are unaffected. gles.

Slippery Fellows Tree-ain’t
The boggles live in abundance in this One of the trees might be an Awakened
area. Four of them are around when the Tree, and wander off with a bunch of stolen
party arrives. They approach as stealthily gear in the branches.
as possible and loot gear using their spe-
cial talents. They play pranks to the best
of their ability, particularly separating the
party from each other. The Boggles cannot
be convinced to go with the party willing-
ly, necessitating capture. If the party did
not bring sacks or cages, this could prove
difficult.

Whoops-A-Daisy
The Boggles deposit any gear they manage
to steal up trees and down holes in the
ground.

Plausible Complications

Mr. Angry Eyes
Any character who gets angry at the Bog-
gles risks accidentally spawning a murder-
ous redcap due to the strong Fey influence
in the area

30 Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only.

EDPray the Fey Away

THe QUEST jumps into the pond with them, holding
them under the water until the bubbles
No Quarter stop.
Mother Haggle has a problem. Her garden
is infested with Pixies, and she wants the Colourful Mistakes
little bastards taken care of once and for Some of the bushes are harmful, letting off
all. The garden in question is a little self- clouds of spores which inflict the Poisoned
contained hedge enclosure no more than condition.
20 feet across. Hidden in the trees and
bushes, she says, are a host of faeries she Unlikely Disasters
wants dead and gone. She’s ready to give
out a ring of protection to a party that will Savage Salmon
see it done. The fish in one of the ponds are anything
but harmless. This swarm of quippers
THE Core Problem strikes to kill anything that enters the
water.

The Frustrating Five “Wait, what were we doing?”
Five pixies are hiding using their superior The characters might suffer from the
invisibility in the garden. Unable to attack Feywild’s Memory Loss as they exit the
directly, they do their best to confound and garden.
beguile unwary adventurers, hoping to
frustrate them so much that they leave in a Bad Intel
fit of pique. There were actually only 4 pixies. Time
spent looking for a 5th is just wasted
Decoration effort.
The garden is also home to a few ponds,
water features and statues that obscure
vision and hamper movement. The ponds
contain gormless looking fish, and the
statues are very delicate, breaking if
exposed to area of effect spells.

Whether the Weather
When the characters turn up, it starts to
rain, hindering vision and possibly causing
a few dramatic tumbles as character move
about the treacherous garden.

Plausible Complications

Bush Business
The garden is also home to several
awakened shrubs, which resent being
manhandled.

DON’T TOUCH ME
One of the statues is actually a gargoyle,
which grabs anyone who pokes it and

Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. 31

Hag in a Bag E

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

A Particular Kind of Revenge Bush Business
Mother Haggle has something that needs The party is attacked en route to the
disposing of. She gives the party a bag, sea by two cultists bound by pact to
telling them not to open it, and to take it Miss Gizzard. If they knock the party
to the nearest coastline, throwing it into unconscious, the cultists release Miss
the sea by dusk. This is a modified bag Gizzard, who eats them both whole.
of holding which safely contains the sea
hag Miss Gizzard, who is understandably Impish Mischief
incensed with rage at her treatment. What Miss Gizzard’s familiar, an Imp named
she did to annoy Mother Haggle is up to Kidneezer, tries to stealth close enough
you, but Mother Haggle only tells them to open the bag and release Miss Gizzard
they must not open it, that it would be a whilst the party are travelling.
terrible idea to open it. She’ll happily give
away a Wand of Magic Detection to a party Could Happen To Anyone
which performs the deed. The bag’s strap breaks, sending it tumbling
into a ravine, swamp or river.
THE Core Problem
Unlikely Disasters
Fight or Flight
If the bag is opened, Miss Gizzard Midnight Malevolence
immediately tries to scare off pursuit and The bag’s magic fails in the middle of the
flee. If she can’t see anyone, she heads for night, and Miss Gizzard tries to sneak off
the nearest cove to set up a lair. If the bag to eat a child at a nearby homestead.
is thrown into the sea, its magic unravels
and Miss Gizzard is deposited below the BEES!!! (again)
surface. [If anyone investigates, Miss Miss Gizzard still has some of her weird
Gizzard attempts to drag them to a watery magic, and can hurl a jar of bees she’s
grave.] been saving to cast a Cloud of Daggers
spell that deals poison damage.
Beached Wail
The beach is both difficult terrain and Well, That’s Just Plain Unfortunate
prevents the use of the Dash action. The bag is actually a Bag of Devouring.
Characters who try and kill the hag will Mother Haggle put the hag in the wrong
need to be inventive to escape the wrath of bag by mistake.
Miss Gizzard, or slay her whilst she’s still
getting her bearings.

Evolution
If Miss Gizzard is not plunged into the sea
by nightfall, she evolves into a green hag,
breaking free of the enchanted bag and
cackling away into the dusk.

32 Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only.

DBottom’s Dream

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

All About Dat Ass What’s Worse Than One Meenlock?
Mother Haggle’s donkey has wandered off The meenlock is not alone. 1d6 rounds
and become lost in the woods. Won’t you go after it first appears, another meenlock
and find it? She thinks it’s strayed far into turns up. This one just uses its fear aura
the deep dark woods. It’s likely to be heav- to terrorize anyone it can see.
ily overcast there, and there might even be
spiders. Still, the ass means a lot to her, A Sticky Situation
and she’d be horrified if it were to come to Webs are scattered through the treeline,
harm in any way. semi-invisible in the mist. [Use the web
Hazard from the DMG]
THE Core Problem
I’m Trying To Help, You Stupid Ass
It’s Only Paranoia Until They Get You The donkey is stuck in a bush. Getting it
The donkey has become lost in the wind- out without making it panick and attack
ing paths of the misty forest. Sadly, it’s could be tricky.
also strayed into the territory of a clan of
meenlocks. One of these foul creatures Unlikely Disasters
has sensed the appearance of prey, and is
stalking the donkey. Abduction Of Opportunity
If the meenlocks spot a humanoid, they
Fight Or Flight might try and kidnap it if the opportuni-
The donkey is terrified and must be con- ty presents itself, taking it back to their
stantly reassured via food and animal han- den to be tortured into becoming another
dling, or magic, lest it bolt further into the meenlock.
treeline.
Along Came A Spider
Spit That Out An ettercap might be lurking in the webs,
The donkey has accidentally eaten a poi- ready to snack on anyone who gets left
sonous plant. Proficiency with a herbal- behind.
ist’s kit, magic or making it regurgitate the
plant are necessary, lest it meet a grisly Breaking The Spell
end 5 minutes after the characters come The ass is actually a polymorphed human
across it. [CN male commoner], with no recollection
of his past. He returns to normal form at a
pivotal moment, screams and tries to climb
a tree. He’s suffering from the delusion
“This is all just a horrible nightmare.”

33

ENo! I must Roar!
THe QUEST
Plausible Complications

Local Nuisance Stranger Danger
There’s a local man that’s convinced he’s The lunatic screams when he’s approached
a lion. He wanders about the town square by anyone he doesn’t recognise, and fights
on all fours, and Mother Haggle has grown tooth and nail if he’s manhandled in any
tired of his antics. Worse, he’s acquired way. The crowd will turn to violence to pro-
quite the crowd of spectators at all hours. tect their source of levity.
Disposing of him could prove difficult.
Gelatinous3
THE Core Problem The nearest dark alleyway is already inhab-
ited by an inconveniently placed Gelatinous
Carnival Of The Animal Cube.
The man [CG commoner] is naked and
suffers from the delusion “I am a lion. I Wild At Heart
love to roar because it makes the sun rise One of the spectators is a druid, who
in the morning. If I stop roaring the world thinks that the man might be a poten-
may be doomed.” He spends all say and tial student. He won’t allow the man to be
night in the town square, watched eagerly harmed it he can help it.
by an ever-changing crowd of commoners.
Unlikely Disasters
A Little Of What You Fancy
There is a watchman [LE human guard] on Pawn Of Prophecy
hand, to make sure noone hurts the luna- The lunatic is blessed by a deity to spread
tic. He’s amenable to bribes. his prophecies. A character who has a
hand in killing the lunatic might find
Mostly Harmless themselves cursed to the same delusion as
The lunatic really is quite likeable. His the dead prophet.
pastiche of a lion is quite funny, if noisy.
What harm Mother Haggle sees in him is Splat
anyone’s guess. It’s a good 40 feet to the Falling masonry threatens to crush a char-
nearest dark alleyway and the town square acter flat. How ignominious. [DC10 Dexter-
is brightly lit even at night. ity saving throw, 4d10 bludgeoning dam-
age.]

No Touching
The lunatic carries a horrible disease.
Anyone who touches him risks developing
Cackle Fever [DMG].

34 Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only.

Little Howler D

THe QUEST Ebb and Flow
The werewolf gains strength when it rests.
Babysitter For each hour in which it isn’t hurt, and
Mother Haggle needs you to babysit her doesn’t hurt another, it regains 4d10 hit
nephew. She’ll be gone until daybreak. points.
Make sure he doesn’t get hurt ot lost,
there’s a good duckling. Oh, and it’s a full Unlikely Disasters
moon this evening. Why do I mention that?
Never you mind. Moonbane
The werewolf’s curse is particularly potent
THE Core Problem on nights of the full moon. Characters who
contract lycanthropy immediately trans-
Suprise! form and lose control.
Mother Haggle drops her nephew off at
sundown. The toddler seems like a young The Hour Is For Witching
noncombatant human boy. An hour after Characters have disadvantage on saving
sundown, as the moon rises, the boy turns throws against disease or curses until sun-
into a werewolf and starts murdering an- rise.
yone in sight. Use the statistics for a were-
wolf, but change the size to Tiny. Scarred Memories
Wounds inflicted by the werewolf scar in
Softly, Softly a horrible/heroic fashion. A remove curse
Slaying the werewolf would be one thing, effect is needed for these wounds to heal
but keeping it prisoner is another entirely. without the cosmetic flaw.
If he gets hurt, Mother Haggle won’t be in
the least bit pleased, and you don’t want
to see her when she’s angry.

Jingle Your Keys
The werewolf can be distracted by baby talk
and funny music. Performance, Persua-
suion and Deception are all useful skills to
keep the monster placated. As time pass-
es, loud noises or violence might scare it
into becoming enraged again, as will seeing
small animals, soft cheeses or the colour
purple.

Plausible Complications

Window Of Opportunity
A window creaks open, and the werewolf
leaps out in a moment of terror. Better go
catch it.

Was It Something I Said? 35
Choose three common words like “hello”,
“green” or “hand”. When the werewolf hears
any of these words, it goes beserk for 1d6
rounds.

CCan’t Get The Staff
THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Can’t Get The Staff These Days A human female, looking very vulnerable
Mother Haggle needs some new housestaff. and lost, called Elinor. She’s actually a
The old ones have slowly been perishing shapeshifting monster called a jackalwere.
from old age, sickness or accident and she [CE jackalwere] If freed, she willingly ac-
need five new members to add to her reti- companies her new owner, hoping to find a
nue. She’s sending characters to the near- way to murder them and slit their throats.
est Thayan Enclave (a few days travel away) [125gp]
to procure her a new maid. She’ll buy on
credit due to her good reputation, and she A goblin called Bibgags [NE male goblin]
wants the party to choose one or two suit- who is prepared to say just about anything
able candidates from the lineup. She gives to get out of his chains. He’ll stab his new
them a letter of marque for up to 500gp owner with their own knife at the first op-
worth in slaves, letting them keep whatever portunity and bolt. He’s also an unknowing
they don’t spend. Boohyag, which means that occasionally
magic goes off around him spontaneously.
THE Core Problem [25gp]

Choices: One of the slaves up for offer is a Yuan-Ti
Pureblood, who can read and write. After
The Thayans have a variety of slaves for being bought, they use Suggestion to try
sale. Let the players choose, and then play and get someone alone, then murder them
out the journey back to Mother Haggle. and make their escape. [200gp]

A modron, clad in chains and insistently Unlikely Disasters
trying to plod in one direction. It got lost
during a Great Modron March some years There’s a kobold on sale who has a strange
ago, and is still trying to rejoin the pack. gold and red pattern [CE female kobold].
It’s harmless, but not helpful. [Cost 200gp] She is actually a carrier for Cackle Fever,
which she transmits to anyone she touch-
An orc male eunuch [CN orc], who just es. [50gp]
cries a lot and doesn’t speak any languages
but Orcish. He is easy to order about, but One set of slave manacles is actually a
is inconsolable. [300gp] Mimic, which waits until the journey back
to try and eat someone, starting with the
A kenku called Shuffle [N female kenku], trapped slave.
who seems happy to go along with the
troupe. Unless tied up and carried, she
compulsively pickpockets from everyone in
range. [400gp]

36

Clucking Mad D

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Playing Chicken The Gift Of Flight
Howling Hatred Cultists have made off with The cultists truly believe they can fly as
all Mother Haggle’s chickens. She woke up long as they’re holding a symbolic chicken.
to find her feathered friends vanished, and
the party have been employed to solve the Tastes Like Chicken
case. One of the cultists enters a hunger frenzy
and starts trying to gnaw on a still-living
THE Core Problem chicken

Spooky Ritual Madness What On Earth Did You Do To It?
Four howling hatred cultists, mostly na- One of the chickens turns a bright yellow,
ked apart from their daggers (and charac- and Mother Haggle accuses them of tam-
teristically emaciated), have begun a rite at pering with it when they return it, refusing
the top of a nearby hill. The cultists, driven to pay them.
mad by food deprivation and cult rituals,
are babbling nonsense in Auran. “Goose... Unlikely Disasters
purple...chicken....demon....yellow....feath-
er....goose.” They all have one level of ex- Murder Chicken
haustion. One of the chickens turns feral, and begins
trying to kill anyone in sight. The chickens
Tastes Like Chicken have the statistics of hawks, with no flying
The 24 chickens are clucking about rather speed.
calmly, but panic if violence breaks out and
scatter. If chickens are killed at any point, Does That Chicken Look Sick To You?
some of the cultists begin to roll about in One of the chickens is actually a cocka-
the feathers, cackling. trice. It lurks in plain sight until it sees an
opening to strike.
No Touching
The cultists dimly recognize strangers, Divide & Conquer
and react with violence. If they are calmed Unless they are physically stopped, the
through magic or trickery, they remain chickens wander off in all kinds of strange
docile only until someone touches one of directions.
the birds, then they fly back into a rage.

37

EThe Water Baby
THe QUEST
Plausible Complications

Baby Courier Scion of the Sea
A cultist of the crashing wave who is oper- The baby has unreliable access to its racial
ating as a spy in town has just given birth. powers, and can cast create or destroy wa-
She doesn’t want her child caught up in ter once each day.
the same mess she’s gotten herself into,
and Mother Haggle has asked you to ar- WAIL
range for her baby to make it safely to her The baby cries at a really unhelpful mo-
sister in Waterdeep. ment, and residents begin to look out of
their windows.
THE Core Problem
Shar’s Mercy
Quiet As A Mouse It’s a new moon, and the path is shrouded
The mother [NE commoner] doesn’t know in complete darkness.
much, only that she reports to a hooded
man at a riverbank. The location of this Unlikely Disasters
rendezvous changes every month. She’s
concerned if the baby stays, then it will be Not A Moment Too Soon
taken and raised as a ‘bandit’. The mother Whilst the characters deal with the reavers,
has arranged for a secret carriage at mid- a thug sneaks into the mother’s house and
night to spirit the baby away. She needs kills her.
the characters to take the baby a half mile
down the road, without being seen by any- Garbage Disposal
one. The carriage will smuggle it away from The real carriage driver has been dumped
there. in a nearby ditch. The smell attracts two
wolves, who come prowling out of the
Something Blue darkness, hungry for flesh.
The baby is a genasi, as evidenced by its
strange complexion. It gurgles a lot, but Clandestine Operation
otherwise seems harmless. It should go The reavers have been given orders to leave
without saying that the baby is a noncom- no witnesses.
batant.

United Parcel Assassins
Two crashing wave reavers are waiting on
the road. They’ve slain the carriage driver,
and are disguised in heavy robes. They ac-
cept the baby if given it, and if the charac-
ters hesitate too long, they attack and try
to steal it.

38 Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only.

EBlood from a Stone

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Seeing Things What A Hoot
Mother Haggle moved a statue into her of- The gargoyle can speak common, and
fice, but she claims that it keeps changing pleads winsomely for its life, before juggling
position when she’s not about. That’s cra- balls and telling jokes.
zy, right?
Randospell
THE Core Problem The gargoyle carries a Wand of Wonder it
stole from Mother Haggle. It has one charge
The Walls Have Ears left.
The statue is a gargoyle sent by the Cult of
the Black Earth to spy on Mother Haggle. Smol
Unfortunately, it keeps getting bored and The gargoyle is called Gargantua. It’s an
shifting about when noone is looking. ironic name, because it was always smaller
than the other Gargoyles. It hates halfings,
Go For The Soft Bits gnomes and children.
The gargoyle is able to use its False Ap-
pearance trait to avoid most mundane Unlikely Disasters
means of investigation. It attacks either
when people turn their backs, or if the in- Googoyle
vestigator is alone, unarmoured or weak. If killed, the gargoyle dissolves into a grey
ooze, which attacks.

Up, Up & Away Undercover Agent
If it gets the drop on the characters, the If the gargoyle is befriended, it slowly in-
gargoyle tries to fly off instead, intending to gratiates itself into the party before stealing
take information back to cult leader some everything and running off.
days distant. If it can, it steals a halfing or
gnome before dropping them from a height. Smashing Time, Lads
When the gargoyle is struck by a nonmag-
ical weapon not made from adamantine,
that weapon breaks after the attack is con-
cluded.

Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. 39

EThe Magic Piano

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Tutoring We’ll See About That
Mother Haggle teaches the piano to local Sparky’s lesson is at sundown, and as it
children. Her favourite pupil, nicknamed gets darker he goes to fetch a candle.
Sparky has turned up to his lesson, but
Mother Haggle is running late. She’s asked Silent Witness
you to go to his house and keep him com- Fireflies begin to swoop about in the
pany until he gets there. evening gloom.

THE Core Problem Insurance Policy
After the explosion two eternal flame cult-
Rigged To Wreck ists dart in with knives to finish the job.
The Cult of Eternal Flame has booby
trapped the piano, hoping to catch Mother Unlikely Disasters
Haggle in the blaze. If anyone presses the
keys, the piano explodes. dealing 3d6 fire Hurry, Hurry
damage to creatures within 10 feet of it. A After the explosion, the house is burning.
successful DC 12 Dexterity saving throw Upstairs, Sparky’s two younger siblings
halves the damage need rescuing from the blaze.

We Should Wait Conflagration Multiplication
Sparky is a commoner non-combatant. He The flames begin to spread to adjacent cot-
doesn’t want to play the piano until Mother tages.
Haggle arrives, but he might if he gets real-
ly bored and noone else does. Dirty Bang
The explosive piano has also been filled
Delicate Work with shrapnel. Characters who fail the sav-
The trap could be disabled by those profi- ing throw take an additional 1d6 piercing
cient in alchemy kits or thieves’ tools with damage.
a successful DC15 check. Failing by more
than 5 causes the piano to explode any-
way, as do sparks or flame from any other
source coming too close to it. Characters
with a passive perception of 15 or higher
can smell the smokepowder in the piano
when they are within 5 feet of it.

40 Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only.

FARMAGEDDON

Disaster Strikes

Mother Haggle has enjoyed a long and eventful life. In her old age, she’s finding it harder
to manager her little cottage than she used to, and it’s beginning to show. Accidents and
nuisances are popping up left, right and centre

Tasks & Errands

Farmageddon is a series of one page adventure seeds with a light to moderate risk
involved. The world is a cruel place, after all, and if someone died to the wiles of Mr
Fierydeath the peacock...well, they wouldn’t be the first.

Flagon Heist asks the adventurers to break into a farm and steal a mug.
Curse of Bread has your heroes face off against a baking disaster.
Rise of Tablemats is a scene in which a dinner party is interrupted by rampaging kitch-
enware.
Peacocks of the Apocalypse involves the escape and capture of Mr. Fireydeath.
Out of the Attic has the adventurers face off against a junk-filled storage room.
Storm King’s Undies requires a stake out to catch an underwear thief.

Paying Up

Mother Haggle pays the adventurers as promised if they solve her various problems
around the farm. If they manage to solve all six, she might even give them a rather sus-
picious looking cabbage from her allotment.

Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. 41

Flagon Heist E

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Mother Haggle wants something. She Harming and Farming
wants Farmer Wilkins’ best flagon, and he Farmer Wilkins uses the statblock for a
won’t’ sell it to her. This, of course, is an thug instead, and sleeps with a cudgel un-
injustice, and she’s prepared to pay you der his pillow. In the day, he carries a rake
handsomely to get it for her. The important around with him instead.
thing is discretion - it just won’t do to have
Farmer Wilkins’ realise who is responsible. Canine Perspective
Jeremy’s senses are very acute. Characters
THE Core Problem who do not mask their scent have disad-
vantage on Stealth attempts to evade his
Walk-In Walk-Out notice
Farmer Wilkins (LN commoner) lives in
a small, bungalow, open plan farmhouse. Burden
In the day, he wanders around the fields, The Flagon is made of a strange kind of
and for each hour that passes, there’s a magical metal, and weighs almost 300
10% chance he comes home. At night, he’s pounds.
asleep in bed near the window, which he
keeps closed on a latch. Unlikely Disasters

Man’s Best Friend Say My Name
The front door is locked (DC12), and the The front door is warded by an alarm spell,
key is left on a hook by the door on the which goes off if someone crosses the
inside. There’s a spare key under the door- threshold without saying the passphrase
mat. Inside, Farmer WIlkins keeps his “Jeremy”.
clothes, food and a mastiff named Jeremy.
In the day, Jeremy is awake, and at night Surprise Party
he is sleeping at the foot of the bed. The flagon is a mimic. It tries to murder
everyone present.
Moving Softly
The Flagon is on a mantelpiece across the
room, over the fireplace. The floorboards
when characters walk over them, which
has a 50% chance to wake either Farmer
Wilkins or Jeremy if they are present. A
DC12 Dexterity (Stealth) check prevents
this from occuring.

42 Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only.

DCurse of Bread

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Mother Haggle has been baking. She’s Bad Timing
been using her little proving pot to make Mother Haggle broke attunement to the pot
the yeast rise, but she can’t remember the a while ago so she could cook something
words to make it stop! It’s rapidly growing else. To make the pot stop, someone needs
out of the pan, doubling every hour. If you to attune to it over a short rest...
don’t do something soon, it will become un-
stoppable. Wyrd Cooking
The words on the underside of the pot are
THE Core Problem in Deep Speech/Abyssal/another rare lan-
guage.
Dough Not Approach
The Little Proving Pot is a magical item Noise Cancellation
currently buried beneath a heap of yeasty The pot can’t hear the magic words whilst
dough. The Dough is alive, and has most of it is covered in muffling dough
the statistics of a Gelatinous Cube, except
it isn’t Transparent. It’s also very docile, Unlikely Disasters
happy to double in size every hour from
now until the end of time. A Bread For Freedom
The Little Proving Pot begins to move
STOP YOU WRETCHED POT around, using the dough as a vehicle.
The Little Proving Pot can be stopped by
shouting “Stop, Little Pot, Stop” at it, but Accelerated Yeast
Mother Haggle can’t remember the words. The pot spews out more dough every half
She’s tried other variants, like “No, Little an hour, not every hour.
Pot, No,” and “Cease, Little Pot, Cease,” to
no avail. Put Your Back Into It
The pot is all gummed up with dough, and
Doubling Season the writing can’t be seen until it is thor-
The words are engraved on the underside oughly cleaned by magic or elbow grease.
of the pot, so characters who ‘defeat’ the
dough can scrape it away to reveal the
magic words. Every hour, the proving pot
regurgitates another gelatinous cube worth
of corrosive dough.

43

DRise of Tablemats

THe QUEST Close Quartering
The dining room is small and poky. At-
Mother Haggle is no stranger to home tempts to use area magic to take down a
disasters. When she invites your party to large number of cutlery at once are bound
dine with her (as a thank you for jobs well to hit allies.
done, or as a send off before a big mission),
she finds her cutlery and table settings in The Family Silver
revolt. Halfway through the starter (a weak The knives were given to Mother Haggle by
pumpkin soup) the various and sundry her grandmother. She asks the adventur-
objects wrest free of their owners and turn ers if they can stop the chaos whilst harm-
on the offensive. ing as few utensils as possible.

THE Core Problem Unlikely Disasters

Knife to Meet You Won’t Someone Think of the Children?
Each character has a tablemat, a knife, a Mother Haggle is babysitting a crowd of
fork and a spoon attacking them. These 1d4 orphans (LG commoners), who she
objects have AC17, and 1 hit point. They seats at dinner next to the characters.
attack with a +2 bonus, and deal 1 slash-
ing damage on a hit. If relevant, all other Pickpockets
rolls the cutlery make are made at +0. The orphans are thieves, and steal from
distracted characters fending off maraud-
Someone Stop That Forking Cutlery ing kitchenware.
The tableware items are nimble, and have
a flying speed of 40ft. They pelt characters Slip’n’Slide
with food, and stab them in uncomfortable The soup spills all over the floor, coating it
locations. as per a grease spell [DC10] for the dura-
tion.

Leaving So Spoon?
The room is small, and Mother Haggle
quickly vanishes beneath the table. There’s
not really room for anyone else under
there, as she has very pointy elbows.

Plausible Complications

It’s A Hard Knife
The knives are particularly lethal, dealing
1d4 piercing damage on a hit. The cutlery
is made of metal and each implement has 4
hit points.

44

DPeacocks of the Apocalypse
THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Mother Haggle’s pet peacock has escaped. Panic Paddock
Unfortunately, much like the rest of her The barn was already home to three riding
menagerie, it’s magical. And on fire. She horses, which are terrified of the fire. They
needs it caught before it sets the whole are tied up in their stables and are unable
place ablaze! It should be hiding out in the to escape. Characters who stray close to
settlement somewhere. them risk being attacked by the frenzied
animals, which bolt if they are released.
THE Core Problem
Catching Fire
Flaming Nuisance Characters who touch the flaming peacock
The peacock is easy to track by following or attack any part of the barn in melee risk
the blackened footprints. It has fled captivi- catching on fire, which deals 1d4 fire dam-
ty into a barn, which immediately set alight age at the start of their turns until they
and is now merrily ablaze. Heading inside spend an action to quench it. .
the barn is risky, and characters might
suffer exhaustion from the smoke inhala- Magical Mayhem
tion unless they hold their breath. The peacock’s magical fire is immune
to the control flames or prestidigitation
You’ll Never Take Me Alive cantrips.
The peacock is not coming quietly. It
shrieks at the top of its lungs with a Unlikely Disasters
GSQUAWK sound whenever anyone comes
near it, and flees to another part of the Won’t Someone Think of the Children?
barn, igniting anything (or anyone) it The smoke heavily obscures the area, al-
touches. lowing characters to only see things within
5 feet of them. Fire appears as a glowing
Smoky Eye (but faint) source of illumination in the
The smoke lightly obscures the area, mak- distance.
ing it difficult to see where the peacock
is. The burning fires all around don’t help The Boy Stood On The Burning Bar
either. The barn’s roof gives way, and a flaming
beam (ac 9, 10hp) falls in the way of the
door. Characters standing near it risk
being struck as it descends from on high
(dangerous trap, 1d10 bludgeoning, 1d10
fire damage), and the beam might obstruct
a speedy escape.

PEACOCK
HP 10, AC 12, 120ft. STR[0], DEX[+2]. CON [+0],
INT [-3], WIS [-4] CHA [-5]. PP6, Peck, +2, 1d4+2
piercing. Flame Body. A creature which touches the
peacock takes 1d4 fire damage, and they set alight.

(1d4 fire damage at start of turn, action to smother.)

45

DOut of the Attic
THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Mother Haggle’s needs you to go up to the There Can Only Be One
attic in her barn and fetch her some things The socks have become separated in the
for a jumble sale she’s planning to hold. piles, requiring each to be found individu-
She needs a pair of socks, a small barome- ally.
ter, and a broken hatstand. Won’t you be a
dear and fetch them? Collateral Damage
Area of Effect spells like thunderwave or
THE Core Problem burning hands risk destroying Mother Hag-
gle’s other possessions.

The Attic Emergency Exit
The attic is a 20ft x 20ft space with a sin- The Junk Golem flies over to the stairs
gle ladder leading downstairs. The attic is down, blocking the exit until the items are
an extradimensional space not visible from returned to its custody.
the outside of the hut. The room is crowd-
ed with a sea of bric-a-brac. There’s plenty Unlikely Disasters
of space to hide up here, behind a broken
rocking horse, or in an antique wardrobe. Caught Up In the Moment
One of the needed items gets caught up in
Garbage Hunters the Junk Golem’s body. It can be removed
Characters can locate other items by using as an action with a DC18 Strength check,
their action to make Intelligence (Investiga- or by incapacitating the Golem.
tion) or Wisdom (Perception) against a DC
of 2d10+5. Trudge
The attic is entirely difficult terrain to due
Rubbish Robot the sheer amount of garbage clogging it up.
The debris inside the room resents being
manhandled by strangers. A few rounds Miscellaneous Duplicity
after the characters enter the room, the When the characters find an item they
assorted junk assembles into a Junk Go- need, there’s a 25% chance it’s not the
lem, which looks like a monstrous teddy right item, just something very similar
bear made of garbage (use the statistics for looking.
a helmed horror). It lumbers over to char-
acters before grabbing them by the scruff
of their necks and hurling them out of the
attic. Characters who make the mistake of
using lethal force against it find themselves
on the receiving end of a very sharp blade
(the horror gives them a warning shot be-
fore it tries to kill anyone in earnest.) The
horror is immune to the fire bolt, eldritch
blast and ray of frost spells.

46 Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only.

CStorm King’s Undies

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Mother Haggle (in addition to her usual Hostage
affairs) runs a thriving laundry service. If cornered, the quickling threatens to de-
Unfortunately, someone keeps stealing the stroy any underwear it is already holding
clothes overnight. This time, she’s cleaning with its knife.
an important batch for a Giant king she’s
friendly with. She’s hiring you to stake out Mendacious Meddler
the location, and stop the ginormous un- The quickling apologizes if caught, and
derwear from being pilfered. promises never to steal anything again. It
breaks this promise at the first opportuni-
THE Core Problem ty.

A Polar Expedition Branching Out
Mother Haggle’s washing line is erected The quickling gets the underwear caught
between two wooden poles outside her hut, in a branch, and they get tangled up in a
and is about 10 feet long. Three gigantic knot.
sets of frilly white underwear have been
pegged to the line. Unlikely Disasters

Interior Decoration Pantaloonacy
The thief is a quickling, which is using An ettercap desires the silk from the un-
the stolen underwear to decorate its home derwear, and tries to steal a pair whilst
in the hollowed out trunk of a tree some everyone is busy with the quickling.
leagues distant.
Dogger, Cromarty, South 5 or 6
Vive La France! Vive La Révolution! Halfway through the night, it begins to
Under cover of night, the quickling dash- rain, threatening to ruin the underwear
es through the area, snatching a pair of entirely unless the characters rescue it.
pants off the line as it passes and trailing
them like a flag. Unprepared or Surprised The Prevailing North-westerly
characters are unlikely to be able to stop A strong wind picks up at a bad moment,
it. If successful, the quickling dumps the and sends one pair of underwear billowing
underwear nearby, and returns twice more. off in another direction.
Once it has all three sets, it vanishes into
the forest with its plunder.

47

EGreen Melancholy

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Lean Green Machine Nom Nom Nom
Mother Haggle is sending you to deal with The crawler has already found dinner in
rumours of trouble on the trade way. Peo- the form of a commoner when the charac-
ple are talking of being followed at night ters arrive. It’s reluctant to give the para-
by something strange and green. Go and lysed food up.
chase the creature away before talk starts
to spread any further. Catch Me If You Can
The crawler flees if approached, and needs
THE Core Problem to be caught.

Lonely Soul Slime Rock
At midnight, a carrion crawler oozes out The crawler is near a large monolithic rock
from under a rock and begins to haunt the formation when found, which it can easily
trade way. The crawler’s goblin rider was climb.
killed in the underdark, and it accidentally
wandered to the surface seeking compan- Unlikely Disasters
ionship.
Friends & Family
Stay Away From The Light The crawler is shepherding an injured sec-
The crawler attacks if someone approaches ond crawler, which starts combat at half
it with bright light, but is otherwise docile hit points.
and friendly.
Mercenaries
Anyone Want A Hug? The crawler is already being hunted by two
The crawler approaches travellers who thugs, who try to kill it.
aren’t carrying torches and tries to be-
friend them. This sometimes involves eat- Innocence
ing them. (It hasn’t got the hang of the The crawler has a passenger, a small child
whole thing yet.) it picked up and made friends with. The
child is considered heavy cover for the car-
rion crawler if the attacking character tries
to avoid hitting it.

48 Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only.

A Dog’s Breakfast D

THe QUEST Unlikely Disasters

The Black Shuck Subtle Death
Mother Haggle’s relative is sick, He saw a The witch’s curse displays no outward
black dog on the road last night, and local signs, visible only to detect magic as a nec-
legend has it that those who see such a romantic effect.
beast only have 48 hours to live. She needs
you to go and slay the beast in revenge. Soul Eater
Characters who die from the effects of the
THE Core Problem witch’s curse cannot be raised from the
dead, as their soul has been destroyed.
Nice Doggy
The beast in question is a death dog, which Tenacious Magic
has been making a living off carrion on a If a character dies from the effects of the
forest trail. curse, their belongings are tainted by it.
Taking ownership of those belongings
Puppy Dog Eyes transfers the curse to the new owner.
This death dog was cursed by a witch. An-
yone who sees it must succeed on a Cha-
risma saving throw, DC 10, or be subject to
the effects of the curse.

Rotting Curse
The curse duplicates the effects of the
Death Dog’s natural poison (see statblock).
A remove curse, dispel magic or more pow-
erful magic can cure this effect and re-
store a character’s maximum hit points.

Plausible Complications

Your Time Is Up
The witch’s curse also makes characters
who fail to kill the dog progressively more
ugly, rotting their soul from the inside out.

Horror
Characters who see the dog clearly (so not
through darkvision or in a reflection) make
their saving throw against the curse at dis-
advantage.

Lingering Curse
The dog hides and flees from attackers,
attempting to disappear from sight in the
treeline.

49

Less is Maw E

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Accidental Summoning Yeenoghu’s Blessing
Mother Haggle thinks that a passenger The maw demon heals 1d4 hit points when
stowed away on a demon she summoned it reduces a commoner to 0 hit points.
to do her chores. It’s been spotted in the
local tavern and she wants you to go and Bad Decisions
destroy/capture it, before it eats too many A commoner dashes for the door, provoking
villagers. an unnecessary opportunity attack and
knocking over a table of spirits.
THE Core Problem

Good Eatin’ Under The Influence
The culprit is a maw demon, which is ram- The commoners have been drinking and
paging around a tavern eating the locals. It are afraid. The demon has advantage on
uses its rampage ability to devour as many attack rolls against them.
as possible.
Unlikely Disasters
A Veritable Buffet
When the characters enter the tavern, it Jack Be Nimble
has killed two people already. There are fif- A young man panics, and brandishes a
teen more people under tables and behind candle, which he drops. It falls into potent
the bar. If seven or more perish, Mother dwarf spirits and sets the tavern alight.
Haggle’s reputation is damaged, and she
refuses to pay the characters. Ghastly Transformation
Commoners killed by the maw demon are
One Track Mind corrupted by the taint of Yeenoghu and
The maw demon wants only to eat. It at- become gnolls.
tacks characters only if they physically
block the path between it and the easier Consumption
softer commoners. Bodies eaten by the demon are mangled
beyond the scope of a revivify spell to re-
store them. Successive bodies are mashed
up with the previous victims. After 8 hours
everything the demon has eaten is trans-
ferred to Yeenoghu’s gullet.

50 Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only.