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Stealing Stones: lysyy the Hat Merchant

lysyy the hat merchant

lysyy THE HAT MERCHANT     CR 4
XP 1,200
Male zwerc skald 5
NG Medium humanoid (dwarf, fey)
Init +1; Senses darkvision 120 ft., low-light vision; Perception +3

DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 12, flat-footed 16 (+6 armor, +1 Dex, +1 dodge)
hp 41 (5d8+15)
Fort +6, Ref +2, Will +3; +2 vs. spells and spell-like abilities, +4 vs. sonic or language-dependent effects
Defensive Abilities uncanny dodge
Weaknesses light blindness

OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft.
Melee +1 earthbreaker +3 (2d6, Crit x3)
Ranged shortbow +4 (1d6, Crit x3, Range 60 ft.)
Special Attacks raging song 14 rounds/day (inspired rage—+2 Str/Con, +2 Will, -1 AC, song of marching—60 ft.-radius, overland hustle for 1 hour), spell kenning 1/day, treacherous earth 1/day (standard action, 10-ft.-radius into difficult terrain for 5 minutes)
Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 5th; concentration +8)
2nd (3/day)—allegro, blindness/deafness, gallant inspiration
1st (5/day)—chord of shards, identify, timely inspiration, vanish
0th—detect magic, know direction, mage hand, mending, prestidigitation, sift

TACTICS
Before Combat lysyy avoids it when possible, but otherwise uses treacherous earth to make the area between him and enemies into difficult terrain.
During Combat lysyy focuses more on enhancing his allies using raging song, timely inspiration, and gallant inspiration.
Morale Unless his hats are on the line, lysyy casts vanish and flees when reduced to 18 hp or less.
Raging Statistics When raging song is active, lysyy’s stats are AC 17; Speed 25 ft.; Will +5; Melee +1 earthbreaker +4 (2d6+1, Crit x3)..

STATISTICS
Str 8, Dex 13, Con 15, Int 12, Wis 8, Cha 16
Base Atk +3; CMB +2; CMD 14
Feats Craft Wondrous Item, Dodge, Scribe Scroll [B], Skill Focus (Craft [hat])
Skills Acrobatics +5, Appraise +5, Climb +3, Craft (hat) +12, Knowledge (arcana) +7, Knowledge (geography) +7, Perception +3, Perform (oratory) +11, Profession (merchant) +7, Sense Motive +3, Spellcraft +5, Use Magic Device +8
Languages Common, Dwarven, Undercommon
SQ bardic knowledge +2, deep magic (+2 to dispel magic or overcome spell resistance), rage power (swift foot), stonecunning, versatile performance (Perform [oratory]; Bluff, Diplomacy), well-versed
Combat Gear potions of cure light wounds (3), potion of invisibility, potion of pass without trace; Other Gear hat of disguise, mwk breastplate, shortbow (10 arrows)

 

5E Rules

Use the “Deep Gnome (Svirfneblin)” entry in the Monster Manual with the following changes: Medium sized (increase weapon attack damage to 1d10 and 1d6, respectively), dwarf subtype, increase hit points to 22, knows Dwarven instead of Gnomish, has the bardic inspiration feature (d8; 3 uses per long rest) and combat inspiration class feature.

 

The Aventyr Bestiary Kickstarter!

WHY YOU NEED THIS:

  • Book Golem and Liberum Golem – If you prefer your golems well read, these constructs are up your alley—just mind the paper cuts.
  • Chicken Coop – Swallow parties whole with this madman’s dream of a chicken mixed with a house.
  • Cold Mutated Ogre Spider, Earthen Spider, Sloth Spider – We at AaW firmly believe there can just never be enough spiders.
  • Exsanguinator the Daemon – Make adventurers really feel the hurt and introduce them to the master of blood.
  • Eye Eater – Give maiming PCs a try and don’t hesitate to rip out an eye or two (it can give them a new perspective on the game!)
  • Mosaic Tile Golem, Mushroom Golem, Pumpkin Golem, Totem Golem, Treasure Golem– There’s a reason Paizo is so fond of these…
  • NITNAM – Remember that time the adventurers had to go inside of the giant, flesh-sac alien monster to kill it? You always will.
  • Pubo, Great Pubo, Jinn Wizard, Tyngdekraften – Explosions, antimagic fields, and gravity wells—who could ask for anything more?
  • Skildpadder – If dwarves don’t belong on top of giant subterranean tortoise-bullettes, what’s the world coming to?
  • Templates: Dark Scion, Eldritch, Fleshdoll, HEL, Titanic – Because you never really can have enough templates.

Get your pledge in and get your game on!

 

 

Vote AdventureAWeek.com in the 2015 ENnies!

We are excited to tell you that AdventureAWeek.com has been nominated for the 2015 ENnie award for Best Website! Please take a moment out of your day to visit the ENnies website and vote for us (make sure to select 1 to mark us as your favorite!).
If you’re also a NERDTREK reader (another website many of the AAW Games crew take part in) that’s nominated for Best Blog and we encourage you to vote not only in that category, but all of the 2015 ENnies!

Thanks for reading and casting your vote! Booths close on July 14th!

 

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Stealing Stones: Hat Tricks

hat tricks mapShortly after the adventurers arrive in the Shlyappa zwerc enclave, they are approached by lysyy the hat merchant [tomorrow’s Statblock Sunday!] and offered one free masterwork chapeau. These are not magical in any way, but are perfect for enchanting (reducing the construction cost for a hat wondrous item by 250 gold). The zwerc is extremely friendly, perhaps overly so—PCs that make a DC 23 Sense Motive check sense he’s testing the party, gauging their measure and intent.

The adventurers are free to wander Shlyappa searching for traces of the P.R.A.N.K.S.T.E.R.S. and their nefarious doings. A DC 20 Diplomacy check turns up rumors in the local tavern (the Ale Stone), but these only confirm that other non-zwerc, non-dwarf travelers have been through the enclave in the past month. Each day the PCs get a Perception check (DC 25 – 3 per previous check) to notice that lysyy is stalking them, continuing to evaluate their trustworthiness for 1d4 days before finally confronting the party.

A few months ago lysyy began to get the feeling that someone was tampering with his stockpile of hats, some of which are rarities that are truly legendary in their esteem and grandeur—even the very thought of losing any of the most treasured chapeaus in his collection sends the zwerc into a fit. Since the PCs are clearly adventurers of fine moral character or potent ability, the merchant offers them a total of 1,000 gold and one magical hat of their choice should they learn what’s going on in his warehouse (a buffering cap, hat of disguise, or helm of comprehend languages and read magic).

Read the following when the PCs are brought to lysyy’s hat stockpile:

The many-hatted zwerc toddles off through the caves and tunnels of Shlyappa, keeping up a good enough pace that you are a tad hard pressed to keep up. With a wave of his hand one of the sealing caves opens, and you immediately are taken aback by the pungent odor of leather within. Everburning torches hanging along the walls inside flicker on to illuminate the stockpile, and you are astounded by the sheer number of different pieces of headwear in this cavern. There are hats for horses, chapeaus for giants, peacock feathered-helmets, draconic scales carefully carved into crowns, pieces of amber road aglow in the bands of bowlers, fedoras made of angel feathers—of the tens of thousands of hats here, you are certain that there has to be something to fit your tastes.

hat tricksA DC 17 Survival check finds piles of hats moved deliberately in certain spots, displaced by a creature taller than a zwerc. In the center of the disturbed chapeaus the PCs find a few pebbles of Shlyappa ore and a DC 15 Perception check notices granite dust as well (a type of stone that only appears in a few specific tunnels in the zwerc enclave). Adventurers that succeed the check to “find tracks” gain a +5 circumstance bonus to the DC 23 Perception check to notice a secret sealing cave in the northwest corner; this leads to a main tunnel of the demiplane. Only a detect secret doors spell cast by a dwarf locates this hidden sealing cave with magic.

When the party finds this secret sealing tunnel they are attacked by the northwesternmost pile of stone—it is actually a disguised earthen mimic left there by the P.R.A.N.K.S.T.E.R.S. that were hiding their contraband here! lysyy is overwhelmingly pleased with the PCs and rewards them, and after a night in the Ale Stone, he shares with them his suspicions of ignis the stoneshaper, his spurned paramour. She broke things off with the hat merchant a few months ago and has been strangely aloof ever since, with both him and the rest of the zwerc enclave.

5E Rules

A DC 17 Wisdom (Insight) check figures out that lysyy is judging the adventurers.
A DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check to gather information in the Ale Stone tavern turns up the rumors of other travelers.
A Wisdom (Perception) check (DC 19 – 3 per previous check) notices lysyy stalking after the party making his final evaluations.
A DC 15 Wisdom (Survival) check finds the displaces piles of hats (and grants a +5 bonus to the check to find the secret sealing cave).
A DC 15 Intelligence (Investigate) check finds the bits of granite dust.
A DC 16 Intelligence (Investigate) or Wisdom (Perception) check finds the hidden sealing cave.

 

The Aventyr Bestiary Kickstarter!

WHY YOU NEED THIS:

  • Book Golem and Liberum Golem – If you prefer your golems well read, these constructs are up your alley—just mind the paper cuts.
  • Chicken Coop – Swallow parties whole with this madman’s dream of a chicken mixed with a house.
  • Cold Mutated Ogre Spider, Earthen Spider, Sloth Spider – We at AaW firmly believe there can just never be enough spiders.
  • Exsanguinator the Daemon – Make adventurers really feel the hurt and introduce them to the master of blood.
  • Eye Eater – Give maiming PCs a try and don’t hesitate to rip out an eye or two (it can give them a new perspective on the game!)
  • Mosaic Tile Golem, Mushroom Golem, Pumpkin Golem, Totem Golem, Treasure Golem– There’s a reason Paizo is so fond of these…
  • NITNAM – Remember that time the adventurers had to go inside of the giant, flesh-sac alien monster to kill it? You always will.
  • Pubo, Great Pubo, Jinn Wizard, Tyngdekraften – Explosions, antimagic fields, and gravity wells—who could ask for anything more?
  • Skildpadder – If dwarves don’t belong on top of giant subterranean tortoise-bullettes, what’s the world coming to?
  • Templates: Dark Scion, Eldritch, Fleshdoll, HEL, Titanic – Because you never really can have enough templates.

Get your pledge in and get your game on!

 

 

Vote AdventureAWeek.com in the 2015 ENnies!

We are excited to tell you that AdventureAWeek.com has been nominated for the 2015 ENnie award for Best Website! Please take a moment out of your day to visit the ENnies website and vote for us (make sure to select 1 to mark us as your favorite!).
If you’re also a NERDTREK reader (another website many of the AAW Games crew take part in) that’s nominated for Best Blog and we encourage you to vote not only in that category, but all of the 2015 ENnies!
Thanks for reading and casting your vote! Booths close on July 14th!
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Foul Machinations: Stealing Stones

Earthen Mimic (Sara Shijo)When we last left the party, they were nearing the last step through the Underworld to reach a zwerc enclave believed to be the source of a special stone the P.R.A.N.K.S.T.E.R.S. are acquiring: Shlyappa. By befriending or slaughtering the minotaur rulers of the small subterranean realm at the entrance to the Amber Roads that lead to the sought after demiplane, the PCs can earn themselves an improved amber attenuator. With this navigation tool in hand the adventurers are unlikely to get lost on the final leg of the journey, but just before their arrival they are ambushed in a collapsing tunnel by mischievous, deadly schewerka!

There are certain things the PCs will quickly learn not to do while there and that, oddly, hats of some kind are practically a necessity (though the adventurers may have acquired one after the ambush). Road to Shlyappa 1Besides the enforced taboos there are also indigenous creatures out along the border of this place; some are deceptive like the earthen mimic, and others familiar but obviously changed by the Amber Roads. More danger yet awaits the party as they travel through Shlyappa should they be about nefarity—the amber prison trap, the hat rack trap, and the sneezing bell haunt!

Explore some of what Shlyappa has to offer throughout the rest of Stealing Stones, and make sure to tune in tomorrow to see the first signs of the P.R.A.N.K.S.T.E.R.S. in this far flung place!

 

 

The Aventyr Bestiary Kickstarter!

WHY YOU NEED THIS:

  • Book Golem and Liberum Golem – If you prefer your golems well read, these constructs are up your alley—just mind the paper cuts.
  • Chicken Coop – Swallow parties whole with this madman’s dream of a chicken mixed with a house.
  • Cold Mutated Ogre Spider, Earthen Spider, Sloth Spider – We at AaW firmly believe there can just never be enough spiders.
  • Exsanguinator the Daemon – Make adventurers really feel the hurt and introduce them to the master of blood.
  • Eye Eater – Give maiming PCs a try and don’t hesitate to rip out an eye or two (it can give them a new perspective on the game!)
  • Mosaic Tile Golem, Mushroom Golem, Pumpkin Golem, Totem Golem, Treasure Golem– There’s a reason Paizo is so fond of these…
  • NITNAM – Remember that time the adventurers had to go inside of the giant, flesh-sac alien monster to kill it? You always will.
  • Pubo, Great Pubo, Jinn Wizard, Tyngdekraften – Explosions, antimagic fields, and gravity wells—who could ask for anything more?
  • Skildpadder – If dwarves don’t belong on top of giant subterranean tortoise-bullettes, what’s the world coming to?
  • Templates: Dark Scion, Eldritch, Fleshdoll, HEL, Titanic – Because you never really can have enough templates.

Get your pledge in and get your game on!

 

 

Vote AdventureAWeek.com in the 2015 ENnies!

We are excited to tell you that AdventureAWeek.com has been nominated for the 2015 ENnie award for Best Website! Please take a moment out of your day to visit the ENnies website and vote for us (make sure to select 1 to mark us as your favorite!).
If you’re also a NERDTREK reader (another website many of the AAW Games crew take part in) that’s nominated for Best Blog and we encourage you to vote not only in that category, but all of the 2015 ENnies!
Thanks for reading and casting your vote! The polls close on July 14th!
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Stealing Stones: Shlyappa Zwerc Enclave

There’s no consensus on when exactly the zwerc enclave of Shlyappa first appeared—some scholars claim that it cannot have come into being until after the fall of the Dracoprime, while others point out that the intensely magical demiplane has power locked within that is far, far, far older. The enclave exists as a pocket plane within the Amber Roads, cut off from the rest of Aventyr and accessible only via the Amber Roads. Even lesser deities cannot see into Shlyappa without first entering the Amber Roads.

Shlyaapa Enclave story locale

Anti-Air Sentiment
Creatures with wings or are otherwise associated with air (via a bloodline, holy symbol, or otherwise) take a -2 penalty to all Charisma-based skill checks with denizens of Shlyappa.

Hats, Hats, and More Hats
All zwerc enclaves have certain taboos that cannot be trespassed without great consequence. One of the tenets enforced in Shlyappa only allows spellcasters wearing hats to practice their craft without suffering for it and as a result, every citizen wears a chapeau of some kind. Travelers that come into Shlyappa are offered a hat right after getting off the Amber Roads, and if they do not have a hat or helmet of some kind afterward, are frequently offered one. Creatures that refuse to wear a hat (this includes animal companions, mounts, and familiars) suffer a -5 penalty to all Charisma-based skill checks with denizens of Shlyappa.

Sealing Caves
There are few buildings in this zwerc enclave; every home, shop, and establishment in Shlyappa is part of the earth, housed within hollowed out caves and tunnels. Any zwerc, natural born citizen, or stonespeaker can wave their hand as a swift action to open or close a sealing cave. Other creatures can spend a standard action to open or close a sealing cave by making a DC 15 Use Magic Device check (no training is required for this use of the skill), though the sealing cave does not finish opening or closing until the end of that creature’s turn.

 

The Aventyr Bestiary Kickstarter!

WHY YOU NEED THIS:

  • Book Golem and Liberum Golem – If you prefer your golems well read, these constructs are up your alley—just mind the paper cuts.
  • Chicken Coop – Swallow parties whole with this madman’s dream of a chicken mixed with a house.
  • Cold Mutated Ogre Spider, Earthen Spider, Sloth Spider – We at AaW firmly believe there can just never be enough spiders.
  • Exsanguinator the Daemon – Make adventurers really feel the hurt and introduce them to the master of blood.
  • Eye Eater – Give maiming PCs a try and don’t hesitate to rip out an eye or two (it can give them a new perspective on the game!)
  • Mosaic Tile Golem, Mushroom Golem, Pumpkin Golem, Totem Golem, Treasure Golem– There’s a reason Paizo is so fond of these…
  • NITNAM – Remember that time the adventurers had to go inside of the giant, flesh-sac alien monster to kill it? You always will.
  • Pubo, Great Pubo, Jinn Wizard, Tyngdekraften – Explosions, antimagic fields, and gravity wells—who could ask for anything more?
  • Skildpadder – If dwarves don’t belong on top of giant subterranean tortoise-bullettes, what’s the world coming to?
  • Templates: Dark Scion, Eldritch, Fleshdoll, HEL, Titanic – Because you never really can have enough templates.

Get your pledge in and get your game on!

 

 

Vote AdventureAWeek.com in the 2015 ENnies!

We are excited to tell you that AdventureAWeek.com has been nominated for the 2015 ENnie award for Best Website! Please take a moment out of your day to visit the ENnies website and vote for us (make sure to select 1 to mark us as your favorite!).
If you’re also a NERDTREK reader (another website many of the AAW Games crew take part in) that’s nominated for Best Blog and we encourage you to vote not only in that category, but all of the 2015 ENnies!
Thanks for reading and casting your vote! Polls close on July 14th!
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Stealing Stones: Sneezing Bell Haunt

sneezing bell hauntSneezing Bell Haunt     CR 7
XP 3,200
N Persistent haunt (40 ft. by 15 ft. tunnel)
Caster Level 7th
Notice Perception DC 22 (to hear a sneezing dwarf and uppity goat)
hp 31; Trigger proximity; Reset 1 day

Effect When the sneezing bell haunt is triggered, creatures within its area make a DC 16 Fortitude save or become sickened and spend a swift action each turn for 2d4+2 minutes as their body seizes up while they sneeze relentlessly. Creatures that make this initial Fortitude save are forced to make a DC 16 Will save or be transformed into a (likely grouchy) goat for 2d4+2 minutes.

Destruction The sneezing bell haunt can only be destroyed by finding the corpses of Szzundi and Vidor, dwarven travelers that came through Shlyappa centuries ago, and smashing the remaining bones to bits against Shlyappa ore. Alternatively, two creatures in true love that perform a song inside of the sneezing bell haunt’s area can soothe the spirits permanently. [See the upcoming Snow White book, currently in the final stages of development. -MM]

 

The Aventyr Bestiary Kickstarter!

WHY YOU NEED THIS:

  • Book Golem and Liberum Golem – If you prefer your golems well read, these constructs are up your alley—just mind the paper cuts.
  • Chicken Coop – Swallow parties whole with this madman’s dream of a chicken mixed with a house.
  • Cold Mutated Ogre Spider, Earthen Spider, Sloth Spider – We at AaW firmly believe there can just never be enough spiders.
  • Exsanguinator the Daemon – Make adventurers really feel the hurt and introduce them to the master of blood.
  • Eye Eater – Give maiming PCs a try and don’t hesitate to rip out an eye or two (it can give them a new perspective on the game!)
  • Mosaic Tile Golem, Mushroom Golem, Pumpkin Golem, Totem Golem, Treasure Golem– There’s a reason Paizo is so fond of these…
  • NITNAM – Remember that time the adventurers had to go inside of the giant, flesh-sac alien monster to kill it? You always will.
  • Pubo, Great Pubo, Jinn Wizard, Tyngdekraften – Explosions, antimagic fields, and gravity wells—who could ask for anything more?
  • Skildpadder – If dwarves don’t belong on top of giant subterranean tortoise-bullettes, what’s the world coming to?
  • Templates: Dark Scion, Eldritch, Fleshdoll, HEL, Titanic – Because you never really can have enough templates.

Get your pledge in and get your game on!

 

 

Vote AdventureAWeek.com in the 2015 ENnies!

We are excited to tell you that AdventureAWeek.com has been nominated for the 2015 ENnie award for Best Website! Please take a moment out of your day to visit the ENnies website and vote for us (make sure to select 1 to mark us as your favorite!).
If you’re also a NERDTREK reader (another website many of the AAW Games crew take part in) that’s nominated for Best Blog and we encourage you to vote not only in that category, but all of the 2015 ENnies!
Thanks for reading and casting your vote! Booths close on July 14th!
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Stealing Stones: Hat Rack Trap

Hat Rack Trap     CR 6
Type mechanical; Perception DC 22; Disable Device DC 23
Trigger location; Reset automatic reset
hat rack trapEffect Atk +12 melee touch (4d6 piercing damage; if target’s headgear slot contains a magic item, it takes this damage instead and gains the broken condition without a DC 18 Fortitude save); multiple targets (all targets within a 10-ft. square area)

The hat rack trap was commissioned by a wealthy zwerc merchant who loved to entertain and fascinate his guests. He thought that having a hat rack that automatically removed his guests’ hats would be wonderful—which it would have, had he not been delivered this monstrosity. Not only does the hat rack trap offend by removing the hats of elders, it also tends to destroy the headgear and in the case of a hatless guests, the head.

After several unfortunate instances during the first party where it was displayed, the hat rack trap was stored away, not to be seen again. How it ended up in Shlyappa is anyone’s guess.

 

[Submitted by Rory Toma!]

 

 

The Aventyr Bestiary Kickstarter!

WHY YOU NEED THIS:

  • Book Golem and Liberum Golem – If you prefer your golems well read, these constructs are up your alley—just mind the paper cuts.
  • Chicken Coop – Swallow parties whole with this madman’s dream of a chicken mixed with a house.
  • Cold Mutated Ogre Spider, Earthen Spider, Sloth Spider – We at AaW firmly believe there can just never be enough spiders.
  • Exsanguinator the Daemon – Make adventurers really feel the hurt and introduce them to the master of blood.
  • Eye Eater – Give maiming PCs a try and don’t hesitate to rip out an eye or two (it can give them a new perspective on the game!)
  • Mosaic Tile Golem, Mushroom Golem, Pumpkin Golem, Totem Golem, Treasure Golem– There’s a reason Paizo is so fond of these…
  • NITNAM – Remember that time the adventurers had to go inside of the giant, flesh-sac alien monster to kill it? You always will.
  • Pubo, Great Pubo, Jinn Wizard, Tyngdekraften – Explosions, antimagic fields, and gravity wells—who could ask for anything more?
  • Skildpadder – If dwarves don’t belong on top of giant subterranean tortoise-bullettes, what’s the world coming to?
  • Templates: Dark Scion, Eldritch, Fleshdoll, HEL, Titanic – Because you never really can have enough templates.

Get your pledge in and get your game on!

 

 

Vote AdventureAWeek.com in the 2015 ENnies!

We are excited to tell you that AdventureAWeek.com has been nominated for the 2015 ENnie award for Best Website! Please take a moment out of your day to visit the ENnies website and vote for us (make sure to select 1 to mark us as your favorite!).
If you’re also a NERDTREK reader (another website many of the AAW Games crew take part in) that’s nominated for Best Blog and we encourage you to vote not only in that category, but all of the 2015 ENnies!
Thanks for reading and casting your vote! Booths close on July 14th!