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Strange Salve: Void of Ullast

Void of Ullast      CR 6

XP 2,400
Persistent NE haunt (single bed roll)
Caster Level 6th
Notice Perception DC 14 (to notice the absence of peripheral senses)
hp 22; Trigger proximity; Reset 1 day

Effect The void of Ullast haunt triggers when a creature touches the bed roll of an eliminated survivor, triggering a DC 24 Will save; failure on this save compels the creature to doze off to sleep for 2d4+10 minutes. A creature put to sleep by the void of Ullast haunt dreams of an urban village brimming with vivid colors and all manner of life. Each minute that passes gradually drains some of the brightness from this world until parts of the village and its people begin to vanish. When almost nothing is left, a diminutive monster similar to a malfunctioning skurgxon appears, glaring angrily for a moment before it suddenly multiplies. The pair start to make disturbing whispers, slowly duplicating again and again until a creature under the effects of the void of Ullast haunt has been sleeping for 10 minutes. At that point the sleeping creature receives a DC 17 Will save to wake up as the monsters multiply hundred- and thousand-fold. Failure on this save keeps a sleeping creature from awakening for one minute and deals 1 Wisdom damage, and creatures under the void of Ullast haunt’s effects receive another save every minute until they awaken or the haunt’s duration ends.

void of ullast hauntDestruction The void of Ullast haunt can be destroyed by burning the bedroll and then planting phycomid in the ash.

Adventure Hook The young refugee in Drak’kal, Issa, was not the only survivor of whatever plight undid the settlement of Ullast. Not only is it fueling the rumors of what might have happened to the town that disappeared, but the resemblance of the unique monsters in the dreams caused by the void of Ullast is uncannily similar to the creature the adventurers encountered in the Three Sisters [during the finale of Duty in Drak’kal! -MM].

 

[Contributed by Tim Snow!]

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Weird Wednesday (Duty in Drak’kal): Rapacious Bags

rapacious bags hauntRapacious Bags     CR 3
XP 800
LN haunt (15 ft. by 5 ft. alleyway)
Caster Level 3rd
Notice Perception DC 23 (to hear the metal jangling of coins)
hp 6; Weaknesses susceptible to silver weapons; Trigger proximity; Reset 1 minute

Effect When the rapacious bags haunt is triggered, spectral bags of jingling ghostly coins follow creatures within its area, growing so loud that they subtly drown out the noise of anything else and cause deafness for 2d6+2 minutes (DC 13 Fortitude negates). After 3 rounds a deafened creature makes a DC 12 Will save or falls asleep for 1d4 rounds and immediately experiences troubling dreams of being eaten by unnatural creatures.
Creatures that make their Perception check to notice the haunt see and hear the rapacious bags, but otherwise they are invisible and silent.

Destruction Bringing an end to the rapacious bags haunt requires finding out the source of the apparition with a DC 14 Knowledge (local) check to know of Galdr Bartsa the tax collector and where his remains might be found, or a DC 14 Diplomacy check to gather the information from citizens of Drak’kal. Galdr’s skeleton must be found (a DC 14 Survival check), anointed with holy water, and buried in a cemetery. When found, Bartsa’s skeleton is oddly scorched by acid—a DC 14 Spellcraft check recognizes it is from a skurgbomb.

Adventure Hook Tax collectors have been subjected to several extremely vicious ends in Drak’kal, and the rapacious bags are a remnant of one of these impromptu public lynchings. In this particular instance, the poor soul of Galdr Bartsa was locked in an enclosed metal box, batted at with swords for hours until his ear drums exploded. Left without his hearing and unable to take refuge in the city, he wandered northwest of Drak’kal where beasts waylaid him not long after.

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Weird Wednesday: Final Laugh

Final Laugh    CR 3

XP 600
CE Persistent haunt (Tiny-sized clown mask)
Caster Level 3rd
Notice Perception DC 13 (to hear a squeaky horn)
hp 15; Trigger sight; Reset 1 day

final laugh - MylerEffect When the final laugh haunt is triggered, a horn squeaks, the creatures face becomes wet, and confetti surrounds their vision for 1d4 rounds. Creatures that fail a DC 14 Will save are followed by the final laugh haunt’s clown; it hovers just out of sight, performing a random prank every 1d4 hours (see table below).

Destruction The mask needs to be facing a golden mirror as holy water is splashed on it.

Adventure Hook A mischievous individual comes across the party and hire them to investigate the cult that cursed him (truly seeking a new target for the final laugh haunt).

d100          Prank
01-64         Water is sprayed on the creature’s face, dealing 1d2 nonlethal damage and imbuing the vulnerability to cold weakness for one round.
65-80         A loud squeaky horn blasts out loud deafening the creature for 1d4 rounds.
81-99         Confetti drifts down from above, functioning as glitterdust (DC 12 Will save negates).
100            The creature is compelled to play childish pranks whenever possible, everything from trying to trip random passerby, splashing water on a person, or even flipping up the half-orc’s kilt. This effect lasts for 1d4 hours; a DC 10 Will prevents the compulsion to commit a prank from overtaking a creature.

 

[Submitted by Tim Snow!]

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Weird Wednesday: Stampeding Rage

Stampeding Rage     CR 2

stampeding rageXP 600
CE Persistent haunt (15-ft.-radius around mastodon statue)
Caster Level 2nd
Notice Perception DC 13 (to feel tremors in the ground)
hp 9; Trigger touch; Reset 1 round

Effect     When the stampeding rage haunt is triggered the creature touching it feels the ground rumble as a ghastly mastodon stampedes across the area nearby. Anyone within 30 feet of the stampeding rage haunt makes a DC 15 Will save or is knocked prone, taking 1 points of Dexterity damage. Regardless of their locale, if the stampeding rage haunt was not destroyed the ghostly mastodon charges the creature again at noon and sunset that day.

Destruction     The mastodon statue housing the stampeding rage haunt needs to be placed atop an enormous dreamcatcher that has no less than three silver weapons woven into it.

Adventure Hook     The daily sacred worship of a tribe of plain nomads has been getting interrupted by their mastodon deity and the adventurers are hired to help quell the ghostly beast’s undying rage.

[Contributed by Tim Snow!]

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Weird Wednesday: Snickering Wind

Snickering Wind     CR 2

XP 600
CE haunt (50 ft. by 50 ft.)
Caster Level 2nd
Notice Perception DC 12 (snickering winds emanate from behind you)
hp 4; Trigger location; Reset 10 minutes

Effect When the snickering wind haunt manifests, all creatures in its area must make a DC 13 Will save or be forced to move in a random direction for half of their movement each round for 3d4 rounds. snickering-winds-wereboar_bg__matt_bulahaoCreatures affected by the snickering wind haunt are unable to take any additional movement actions on their turns, and stop if impeded (ending the creature’s movement that turn). The snickering wind haunt is not restricted to any one location and tends to roam about in a 1,000-ft.-radius circle until currents (or other mystical means) carry it elsewhere.

Destruction The snickering wind haunt can be destroyed by presenting a compass or similar navigational device and stating loudly that you have found your way.

Adventure Hook A small mining town has failed to deliver its monthly shipments for some time now, and those sent to investigate haven’t returned. Rumors claim that only the light of foot can reach the settlement—the clumsy are too prone to fall from the sheer cliffs of the canyon protecting it.

[Submitted by Tim Snow!]

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Weird Wednesday: Whispering Well

Whispering Well     CR 1
XP 400
CE Persistent haunt (10 ft. by 10 ft. well)
Caster Level 1st
Notice Perception DC 15 (to hear confused whispers)
hp 4; Trigger proximity (tricked by Stealth); Reset 1 week

Whispering Well haunt - Brian Brinlee gibbering mouther

Effect When the whispering well haunt is triggered, all creatures adjacent to (or in) the well make DC 16 Will saves or become confused for until the end of their next turn. Creatures confused by the whispering well haunt for three or more rounds in a single day gain the confused condition for 24 hours.

Destruction A vat of acid mixed with holy water must be thrown down the whispering well at the same time it is subjected to a bless spell.

Adventure Hook Generations ago a strange creature appeared randomly in the town square. Gathering torches and pitchforks, villagers managed to corral it into the settlement’s well where it seemingly drowned to its death (despite many attempts, its body was never recovered). Recently folks have fallen into the whispering well, returned from gathering water with grievous wounds, or gone utterly mad after visiting it. Worse yet are the monsters said to lurk in the underground river beneath the whispering well, and rumors claim that the voices are not always of ghostly apparitions.