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Many GMs have been conditioned to believe that there are two possible outcomes to every skill check: The character has an intention that they are attempting to achieve and they will either succeed at that intention or they will fail: You either walk the tightrope or you fall and you die.

In reality, when we make the decision to roll the dice, what we’re actually saying is, “There is more than one possible outcome to this action. Let’s find out which one happens together.” It’s a fictional cleromancy – a casting of lots to determine a fortune. And when we say that our cleromancy can only have two possible outcomes, we are limiting the efficacy of that fortune telling.

GRADUATED RESULTS

The easiest way to step away from the simple success/fail dynamic is to assign a single difficulty number, but then interpret the result based on the margin of success or the margin of failure. A very simple, universal metric of results looks like this:

Success
Partial Success
Partial Failure
Failure

In D&D we could set our margins to 5. If you succeed on a check by less than 5 points, you’ve scored a partial success. If you fail on a check but your result is within 5 points of the DC, you’ve only suffered a partial failure. The key idea behind any partial result is that it does not convey the full benefits of success or the full penalties of failure (and it will often carry with it the possibility of taking additional actions to improve your result).

For example, a character might attempt to leap across a chasm. The GM calls for a DC 15 Jump check. If the player rolls a 20 (a margin of success of 5), they easily leap across the chasm and land on the other side. If they roll a 16, on the other hand, they’ll only score a partial success and the GM might rule that they successfully leap across the chasm but fall prone on the other side. Meanwhile, a result of 12 (a margin of failure of 3) could result in them coming up just short, but managing to grab the ledge on the far side (giving the opportunity of pulling themselves up). Only by rolling 10 or less (a margin of failure of 5+) would the character fall helplessly into the chasm.

It’s also obviously quite easy to expand this spectrum. (Attack rolls in combat provide a simple example: A margin of success of 5 might award +2 damage, a margin of success of 10 might award +4 damage, and so forth.) In some cases the entire concept of “success” or “failure” will evaporate entirely – there is only the question of how well (or how poorly) the character did.

Another way of looking at graduated success is that, when there are multiple possible results, the GM models that by assigning multiple difficulties. I often use this technique with Gather Information checks, for example:

Note that both methods are really just different ways of looking at the same thing. We could just as easily write up that Gather Information chart as:

SIMPLE SUCCESS TEST

Now that we understand that mechanical resolutions can produce a spectrum of results, we can also take the next step of realizing that this spectrum does not need to be all-encompassing: The possible results for a given skill check do not have to range from “abject failure” to “outstanding success”.

A technique I find particularly valuable is referred to as a simple success test in Eclipse Phase: It’s an action where we accept that the character is going to succeed. The only question is how long it takes them or how good their success is.

If we consider our previous discussion of Take 1, we can see how simple success tests can mathematically emerge in many resolution mechanics: Success can be guaranteed no matter what you roll, so the only purpose of rolling would be to determine the quality of that success. (You can see the same thing on our Gather Information tables above: A result of 9 on the skill check would result in failure – they learn nothing about the so-called “Robert”. But if the character has a +9 modifier on their Gather Information skill, then success is guaranteed: They will definitely learn something about “Robert”. It’s just a question of how much they learn.)

In practice, of course, we don’t always have to perform a mechanical calculation to justify the simple success test. We can simply decide that, for example, the characters are professionals and this isn’t the sort of task for which there is any meaningful risk of failure for professionals. At this point, we can either default to yes and declare the action a success, or we can turn to our fictional cleromancy to discover the degree of success the character enjoys.

(We could also hypothetically talk about checks in which failure is guaranteed and the mechanical check merely determines the degree of that failure. I’m generally leery of such an approach because it feels as if it is most often abused in order to enforce railroads and the like. But it’s not impossible to consider a situation in which a character could deliberately choose a course of action for which they know that there is no possibility of success. The Battle of Thermopylae would be an epic example of that in practice.)

FAILING FORWARD

Another way of looking at the simple success test is the concept of failing forward.

In its most basic form, failing forward is largely indistinguishable from the simple success test: Mechanical failure is described as being a success-with-complications in the game world.

(The key distinction, if any exists at all, is that with a simple success test the GM is making a mechanical ruling that failure is impossible before the die is rolled. Failing forward, on the other hand, is an interpretation of a mechanical failure outcome after it has been generated. But, in practice, this is a fairly fuzzy line.)

For example, Lucas is attempting to pick the lock on the file room door and fails his skill check. The GM decides that Lucas still managed to get the door open… but it took too much time and now he’s been spotted by the night watchman. Or his lockpick broke. Or he’s gotten caught on camera and the bad guys will be able to track him down later.

Basically, there’s a large body of useful techniques you can explore as you break away from the basic success/failure paradigm. However, I would like to offer a few words of caution when it comes to the concept of “failing forward” because the terminology has attracted a few pernicious ideas.

First, failing forwards has become curiously fetishized by some players who believe that it should be used every single time. This seems to be primarily the result of people believing that failure automatically causes scenarios to grind to a halt. The classic example proffered is failing to find a clue and having a mystery scenario grind to a halt.

As the Three Clue Rule demonstrates, however, the solution to this problem is to offer multiple paths to success. And being forced to route around the roadblocks created by your failures will take you in directions you never anticipated: If you hadn’t failed to bribe the guards into letting you in through the back door, you never would have climbed the walls of the castle, broken in through the window, and fallen in love with the princess you found there. Failure is often the starting point of the most exciting situations and the most memorable of stories. Taking it entirely off the table won’t enrich your games; it will impoverish them. Like railroading, it’s a broken technique being applied as a hasty patch to another broken technique.

Speaking of railroading, the other major problem with “failing forward” is that it has accumulated a large amount of baggage from GMs who want to use it in order to keep the PCs on their railroad. (This may, in fact, be the origin of the term: “Forward” being the direction the pre-planned plot is supposed to be going.)

But neither of those problems are inherent to the basic concept, and the basic concept can be a very useful tool to tuck away in your toolkit.

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LABORATORY #20: MAZE OF FOCUS

ARCANE RUNES: The walls of this maze are covered in arcane runes.

• Arcana w/read magic (DC 22): The runes on the wall focus the entangling of the teleportal network; or, more accurately, keeps the energy of the teleportal network from entangling into a collapsed state (by sympathetically channeling its complexity into the structure of the maze).

POINT A: Teleportal to Laboratory #19.

POINT B: Teleportal to Laboratory #16.

BLUE POINT: Teleportal to Laboratory #21.

POINT C: Bronze Tablet #4.

POINT D: A large sheet of oil-cloth is draped over a bulky mass. Throwing back the cloth reveals a wooden wagon, fitted for a dray creature.

• Animal Handling (DC 12): The wagon’s harness is not designed for a horse… or anything even remotely horse-like. It’s unclear what sort of creature would have fit into its points.

The wagon contains:

• Dozen bags of sugar
• Dozen bags of sea salt
• 6 large pots, each containing a pickled roc’s foot
• 6 large pots of salted crab meat
• A layer of boxes containing a variety of antique children’s toys
• Search (DC 15): Hidden compartment beneath all the packages, containing three masterwork swords.

POINT E: A long, flat chest of obsidian with a golden statue of a dryad embracing an oak tree atop it (worth 2,500 gp). The chest contains 23,350 sp. Atop the silver pieces lies a book with blank pages, between which have been pressed 101 leaves from different trees. (If the book is viewed with true seeing or similar abilities the pages remain blank… but the pressed leaves are revealed to be the Spellbook of Leaves.

• Search (DC 25): Secret compartment in the bottom of the chest contains a box of cherry wood containing six leaf-shaped broaches of platinum (black ash, elm, gray birch, hemlock, sequoia, and oak) each worth 500 gp.

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SANDS OF TIME
Necromancy
Level: Sorcerer/Wizard 3
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: Touch
Target: One creature or object
Duration: 10 minutes/level or instantaneous (see text)
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Yes

This spell accelerates a creature’s aging, rendering them temporarily withered and haggard, applying a 1d6 penalty to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. This penalty can’t reduce any of these scores below 1. This penalty lasts for 10 minutes per level.

When the spell ends, the target returns to its normal age and vigor. Immortal creatures (including most elementals, fey, outsiders, and incorporeal creatures) are immune to this spell. If you cast this on an object, construct, or undead creature, the spell weathers and corrodes it, inflicting 3d6 points of damage +1 per caster level (maximum +15). This version of the spell has an instantaneous duration.

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SPELLBOOK OF LEAVES

This spellbook has 101 rare leaves pressed between its pages. The spells can only be read using a true seeing spell or similar methods of viewing invisible text.

1-level spells – acidic grasp, animate rope, change self, charm person, chill touch, comprehend language, cetect secret doors, enlarge, erase, grease, identify, jump, message, undetectable aura, ray of enfeeblement, shield, silent image, tenser’s floating disk, unseen servant

2-level spells – absorb dead flesh, alarm (ethereal), blur, darkvision, flaming sphere, fog cloud, invisibility, knock, acid arrow, minor image, protection from arrows, spectral hand, hideous laughter

3-level spells – blade of shade and agony, blink, fireball, tiny hut, phantom steed, sleet storm

4-level spells – bestow curse, dispel magic field, emotion, illusory wall, phantasmal killer

5-level spells – interposing hand, secret chest, passwall, permanency, transmute rock to mud

6-level spells – mass suggestion, lucubration, freezing sphere, planar binding

7-level spells – grasping hand, delayed blast fireball, power word stun, simulacrum

8-level spells – antipathy, clenched fist, dispel magic field (greater), etherealness, incendiary cloud, maze, summon monster VIII, temporal slam

9-level spells – dominate monster, energy drain, horde of hell, meteor swarm, power word, kill, refuge, soul bind

ABSORB DEAD FLESH
Necromancy (Evil)
Level: Sorcerer/Wizard 2
Components: S, M
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Target: Caster
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

By playing a hand upon a corpse (a dead, and not undead, body) the caster absorbs the flesh of the corpse, healing himself for 1d6 points plus 1 point per level of the caster.

Once cast on a corpse, the corpse shrivels and decomposes rapidly, leaving only a bare skeleton. This spell may only be used once on any corpse.

Absorb dead flesh does not work on any corpse that does not have some rotten meat hanging from its bones.

Material Component: A corpse.

ACIDIC GRASP
Conjuration (Creation) [Acid]
Level: Sorcerer/Wizard 1
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Targets: Creatures touched
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Yes

The caster’s hand becomes coated with a sickly, greenish secretion. This allows for a touch attack that causes 1d8 acid damage, which can be used once per caster level. The damage can also be dealt as extra damage when making an unarmed strike, attacking with a natural weapon, or dealing damage with a successful grapple check.

ALARM, ETHEREAL
Abjuration
Level: Bard 2, Ranger 2, Sorcerer/Wizard 2
Components: V, S, F
Duration: 4 hours/level (D)

This spell functions like alarm, but can also be triggered by creatures passing through the affected area on planes which are coterminous with the Material Plane (including ethereal and astral creatures, as well as creatures on the Plane of Shadows).

Focus: A bell made of carved crystal and a very fine piece of mithril wire.

BLADE OF SHADE AND AGONY
Evocation
Level: Assassin 2, Blackguard 2, Cleric 3, Sorcerer/Wizard 3
Components: V, S, DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: 0 ft.
Effect: Dagger-like blade of black flame in the palm
Duration: 1 round/level (D)
Saving Throw: Will partial
Spell Resistance: Yes

The blade of shade and agony can be used to make melee touch attacks that deal 1d6 damage + 1 per two caster levels (maximum of +10). A creature struck by the blade must succeed on a Will saving throw or become shaken for 1d6 rounds.

DISPEL MAGIC FIELD
Abjuration
Level: Cleric 5, Sorcerer/Wizard 5
Components: V, S, DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Effect: A contiguous area up to one 10 ft. square/level
Duration: 1 minute/level
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

A dispel magic field is invisible and can be passed through. Anyone or anything entering it, however, become the target of a dispel magic effect at the caster’s level.

DISPEL MAGIC FIELD, GREATER
Abjuration
Level: Cleric 8, Sorcerer/Wizard 8

This spell functions like dispel magic field except that the effect is that of greater dispel magic.

HORDE OF HELL
Conjuration (Summoning) [Evil, Lawful]
Level: Cleric 9, Sorcerer/Wizard 9
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 10-30 minutes (see text)
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Effect: One or more summoned creatures, no two of which are more than 30 ft. apart
Duration: 10 minutes/level (D)
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

Ten minutes after this ritual begins, 1d4 hellcats appear. Ten minutes later, 1d4 chain devils appear. Ten minutes later (at the completion of casting), one bone devil appears. If the casting is interrupted (or if the caster chooses to cease casting), any creatures which have already been summoned remain but no additional creatures will appear.

The summoned creatures obey the caster for the duration of the spell (which is calculated from the point where the casting came to an end). The caster can dismiss them individually, in groups, or in totality at any time.

SUMMON SHADOW RAVEN
Conjuration (Summoning) [Evil]
Level: Clr 3, Sor/Wiz 3
Components: V, S, F/DF
Casting Time: 1 full round
Range: Close (25 ft. +5 ft./2 levels)
Effect: Summons shadow raven.
Duration: 1 round/level of caster
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

This spell summons a shadow raven from the Demi-Plane of Shadow. Once the raven in on the spellcaster’s plane, the spellcaster may attempt to bind it as a familiar.

The shadow raven enters this world through any shadow within range of the spell, so the spell won’t work in total darkness or total light. The shadow raven serves faithfully for the spell’s duration. If the spellcaster has the proper tribute, the shadow raven may serve as a familiar. The GM is the final arbiter for what tribute is appropriate.

Arcane Foci: A small, shiny object and a shadow.

TEMPORAL SLAM
Transmutation
Level: Sorcerer/Wizard 8
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 full round
Range: Close (25 ft. + 2 ft./level)
Target: 1 creature or object
Duration: 1 hour/level
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless, object)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless, object)

For whatever duration he desires up to the spell’s maximum, the caster pushes that target creature and its carried gear (or any one object of medium-size or smaller) out of time. The target vanishes immediately and it no longer exists in the world’s normal time stream while the spell lasts. If the target is a caster, any spells or effects the target was maintaining are affected as though the target just died.

During the period in which it is outside time, the target cannot be located with scrying or similar divinations. Not even a wish or miracle can bring the target back earlier or dispel the temporal slam, since no magic remains within the normal flow of time to dispel.

When the spell ends, the target returns to the same location from which it disappeared. If some other object occupies that space, the target is harmlessly shunted into the nearest open space. For the target, no time has elapsed. A target creature will have effectively transported into the future from its perspective. When the target returns, any timed phenomenon such as poison onset or the duration of abjuration spells will pick up from the point when the target vanished.

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SHADOW RAVEN (CR 2) – CE Small Undead Animal (Incorporeal)
DETECTION – Listen +5, Spot +5; Init +3; Languages Common
DEFENSES – AC 15 (+3 Dex, +1 size, +1 deflection), touch 15, flat-footed 12; hp 11 (2d8+2); Miss 50% (incorporeal); Immune undead immunities (ability damage/drain, critical hits, death effects, energy drain, fatigue, mind-affecting, nonlethal damage, paralysis, poison, sleep, stunning, any effect requiring Fort save)
ACTIONS – Spd fly 60 ft. (good);  Melee incorporeal claw +4 (1d2 Str); Ranged +4; Base Atk +1; Grapple -3; Combat Feats Flyby Attack
SQ incorporeal
STR -, DEX 16, CON -, INT 2, WIS 11, CHA 12
FORT +1, REF +4, WILL +2
FEATS: Flyby Attack, Weapon Finesse
SKILLS: Hide +10, Listen +5, Spot +5

Incorporeal (Su): Immune to non-magical physical attacks. Ignore spells or magical weapons 50% of the time. Move through physical objects. Ignore any physical bonuses to AC (natural armor, armor, shields, etc.). Affected normally by positive energy, negative energy, or force effects.

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LABORATORY #21: UNDEAD LABORATORY

Map Courtesy of Dyson Logos

TELEPORTALS: In a small chamber outside the door leading to Area 1.

AREA 1 – SOUL NET: A spectral figure of umbral blue seems frozen in mid-air, surrounded by a broken lattice of blue energy.

• Frozen Shade: This shade is caught in the soul net. If the soul net is dispelled or otherwise removed the frozen shade is released.)

The soul net is spread across the entire entrance here. If someone passes through the soul net:

• Undead: Undead other than soul shades cannot pass through a soul net. If forced through a soul net, their animating force will be stripped from their body (which turns to dust).
• Living: Living creatures suffer 8d6 points of damage as their soul is shredded by the net. Their shredded soul becomes a soul shade with a number of hit points equal to those lost. (Going through the soul net multiple times will further shred the living soul, creating more soul shades.)
• Shredded Souls: Shredded souls can only be repaired (and the lost hit points restored) through the use of a modified raise dead spell after the soul shade has been destroyed. (Soul shades are compelled to seek out and destroy the original sour; abhorring it.)

AREA 2 – ZOMBIE MASTER: The zombie master (who ensconces himself in the rear chamber of this area) and 8 bugbear zombies.

AREA 3 – CYCLOPEAN MUMMY: The far end of this chamber appears to be a massive, 15′ tall bas relief of a king. The floor is a mosaic of orange and blue tiles in a spiraling, hexagonal pattern.

• Sarcophagus: The bas relief is actually the lid of a massive sarcophagus sunk into the wall. Within is the Cyclopean Mummy. If offered a tribute worth at least 1,000 gp it will not attack and will instead act as an augury, answering three questions.

AREA 4 – THE LICH BRAIN: A pulsing, purplish brain lies in the middle of an arcane circle in the middle of the floor, surrounded by a pile of dust outlining the rough shape of a corpse.

• Arcana/Spellcraft (DC 28): To identify the ritual as an attempt to create a lich.
• Arcana/Spellcraft (DC 35): To spot the errors in the ritual that resulted in the caster’s body being annhilated.
• Lich Brain: The brain is undead (and hostile).
• Corpse Dust: Within the corpse dust surrounding the brain is a BLUE KEY scarred with several burn marks. (It was damaged during the ritual. Using the key inflicts 4d6 points of damage and has a 25% chance of returning the user to their original location.)
• Ruined Phylactery: The would-be phylactery of the lich was ruined useless by the failed ritual, but the silver and jewels encrusting it are still worth 10,000 gp.
• Side Chamber: A blackened and charred barrel sits in the corner of the room, a tall staff protruding from it and topped with the antlers of a young stag. (The staff is made of mahogany, with a central grip of cold iron.)

AREA 5 – COLLAPSED CHAMBER: Contains shattered shards of pottery. Amidst the shattered pottery are Bronze Tablet #7 and Bronze Tablet #8.

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FROZEN SHADE (CR 9-1*) – 109 hp (13d8+50), AC 21, claws +16/+16 (2d8+5), Save +12, Ability DC 18
Str -, Dex 13, Con -, Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 13
Skills: Intimidate +17, Perception +17, Search +17
Aura of Fear (Su): 30 ft. radius, Will save or become panicked for 3d6 rounds
Incorporeal (Su): Immune to non-magical physical attacks. Ignore spells or magical weapons 50% of the time. Move through physical objects. Ignore any physical bonuses to AC (natural armor, armor, shields, etc.). Affected normally by positive energy, negative energy, or force effects.
Turn Resistance +6
* Undead

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ZOMBIE MASTER (CR 9-1*) – 109 hp (13d8+50), AC 21, claws +16/+16 (2d8+5), Save +12, Ability DC 18
Str 16, Dex 12, Con -, Int 14, Wis 9, Cha 12
Skills: Diplomacy +17, Perception +15
Enthralling Pipes (Su): Standard action; enemies within 30 ft.; Will save or dazed.
Fast Healing 3
Zombie Regeneration (Su): Zombies within 120 ft. gain regeneration 10.
* Undead

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CYCLOPEAN MUMMY (CR 12) – LE Huge Undead
DETECTION – darkvision 60 ft., Listen +8, Spot +8; Init +0; Aura despair
DEFENSES – AC 23 (-2 size, +15 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 23; hp 240 (32d12+32); DR 5/-; Immune undead immunities (ability damage/drain, critical hits, death effects, energy drain, fatigue, mind-affecting, nonlethal damage, paralysis, poison, sleep, stunning, any effect requiring Fort save); Vulnerable fire
ACTIONS – Spd 20 ft.; Melee slam +31 (3d8+18 plus mummy rot); Ranged +16; Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft.; Base Atk +16; Grapple +39; Combat Feats Awesome Blow, Improved Bull Rush, Power Attack
SQ darkvision 60 ft., undead traits
STR 40, DEX 10, CON -, INT 6, WIS 14, CHA 18
FORT +12, REF +10 WILL +20
FEATS: Ability Focus (despair), Awesome Blow, Alertness, Great Fortitude, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Natural Attack, Improved Toughness, Power Attack
SKILLS: Hide +12, Listen +13, Move Silently +12, Spot +13

Despair (Su): Those seeing mummy make Will save (DC 20) or paralyzed with fear for 1d4 rounds.

Mummy Rot (Su): Supernatural disease – Fort DC 16, 1 minute, 1d6 Con and 1d6 Cha. Cannot be cured without first casting break enchantment or remove curse; requires caster level check (DC 20) to apply those spells or any healing spells to victim.

Awesome Blow: -4 to melee attack roll. A smaller corporeal creature is knocked flying 10 feet and falls prone (1d6 damage if they strike obstacle). Reflex save (DC = damage dealt) negates.

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LICH BRAIN (CR 6+3*): 60 hp (8d8+24), AC 19, Save +9, Ability DC 16, Tiny
Str -, Dex 10, Con -, Int 22, Wis 16, Cha 16
Skills: Spellcraft +15
DR 15/bludgeoning and magic
Immobile (can levitate in place)
Immune mind-affecting
Turn Resistance +8
*11th level wizard (+4), undead (-1)

Wizard Spells Prepared (CL 11)
6^th (DC 22)—chain lightning, globe of invulnerability
5^th (DC 21)—dominate person, feeblemind, wall of force
4^th (DC 20)—greater invisibility, ice storm, summon monster IV, wall of ice
3^rd (DC 19)—dispel magic, fireball, haste, lightning bolt, summon monster III
2^nd (DC 18)—darkness, detect thoughts, hypnotic pattern, magic mouth, rope trick, see invisibility
1^st (DC 17)—grease, magic missile (x3), mage armor, shield
0^th (DC 16)—dancing lights, detect magic, mage hand, prestidigitation

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Go to Part 7: Laboratories 22-23

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LABORATORY #15: CONFUSION FOG

An ovoid room filled with a magical fog which has precipitated into the air. Alchemical equipment is scattered around on a number of tables shaped like crescent moons, but it is badly scarred and pitted from centuries of exposure to the fog.

CONFUSION FOG: Will save (DC 18) or become confused.

LABORATORY #16: MORE SOUL BONDING RESEARCH

A circular chamber. Three tables of sturdy, albeit desiccated, oak are arrayed around the center of the chamber. Along one wall is an empty work bench. On the other stand two upright glass coffins containing demonic humanoids.

TABLES: The tables are designed to shackle people down to them. Iron spikes are attached to the bottom of each table and can be driven down through shackle and arm alike to drain blood into glass containers depending under the tables.

WORK BENCH: In a drawer of the work bench are Bronze Tablet #3 and Bronze Tablet #5.

• Search (DC 16): In a hidden compartment there is a small metal tube. Unscrewing the tube reveals a single sheet of paper with a message written on it. (Handout: Message in the Metal Tube)

ARCHER DEMONS: In the glass coffins and seemingly lifeless. Muscular humanoids with four arms. Each has a large diamond (worth 750 gp) embedded in their forehead.

• Awakening: The glass coffins will open 1d4+2 rouns after anyone enters this chamber who doesn’t bear the Sorcerous Brand of Arn.
• Regeneration: These archer demons have been linked through commingled shield other spells. Each demon suffers the damage taken by the other, but it “bounces” back and forth and is slowly diminished (resulting in their regeneration 5). They can only be permanently destroyed if the diamonds in their heads are removed.

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ARCHER DEMON (CR 7+2*) – CE Medium Outsider (Chaotic, Evil, Extraplanar, Tanar’ri)
DETECTION – darkvision 60 ft., Listen +16, Spot +16; Init +4; Languages Old Arathian, Darconic, telepathy 100 ft.
DEFENSES – AC 19 (+4 Dex, +5 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 15; hp 340; DR 5/cold iron; Immune electricity, poison; Resist acid 10, cold 10, fire 10, spell 18
ACTIONS – Spd 40 ft.;  Melee 4 claws +15 (1d6+5); Ranged 2 +1 large composite longbow (+5 Str) +12/+12/+12/+7+7 (2d6+6/x3); Base Atk +10; Grapple +15; Atk Options close combat shot; SA spell-like abilities, summon; Combat Feats Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
SQ darkvision 60 ft., oversized weapons, mirrored archery,  telepathy 100 ft.
STR 21, DEX 19, CON 29, INT 14, WIS 16, CHA 12
FORT +16, REF +11, WILL +10
FEATS: Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, Weapon Focus (longbow)
SKILLS: Balance +17, Bluff +14, Climb +18, Concentration +21, Hide +17, Jump +22, Listen +16, Move Silently +17, Sense Motive +16, Spot +16
POSSESSIONS: +1 large composite longbows (Str +5) (x2)

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 10)
At will – dimension door

Close Combat (Ex): Does not provoke attacks of opportunity from shooting ranged weapon.

Oversized Weapons (Ex): Can use bows up to one size larger than normal.

Summon (Su): 1/day — 1d6 dretches or 35% chance of summoning an archer demon

Mirrored Archery (Ex): Make additional attack with second bow, -2 penalty on all attacks.

* Potentate (see Legends & Labyrinths).

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BRONZE TABLET #3

BONESHATTER
Necromancy
Level: Cleric 5, Sorcerer/Wizard 4
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target: One corporeal creature or object
Duration: Instantaneous and 1 minute/level (see text)
Saving Throw: Fortitude partial (see text)
Spell Resistance: Yes

The target’s bones or exoskeleton shiver and splinter, dealing 1d6 points of damage per caster level (maximum 15d6) to the target, who is also exhausted for 1 minute per caster level from the pain and exertion of the transformation.

If the target makes its save, it takes half damage and is fatigued rather than exhausted. Objects made of bone, chitin, or similar material take half again as much (+50%) damage from this spell. This spell has no effect on creatures that lack both skeletons and hard carapaces.

Material Component: A broken bone.

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BRONZE TABLET #5

CODESPEAK
Transmutation
Level: Bard 2, Sorcerer/Wizard 2
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Components: V, S, M
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target: You plus one willing creature per two levels, no two of which can be more than 30 ft. apart
Duration: 10 minutes/level (D)
Saving Throw: No
Spell Resistance: No

Upon casting this spell, all recipients gain the ability to speak a new language. This language sounds like random, babbling syllables to anyone not under the influence of the spell, but the targets understand each other perfectly.

Anyone using codespeak can read and write in this new language as well. Once the spell expires, however, any coded writing suddenly appears as gibberish. If the same

individuals become the targets of a codespeak spell again, cast by the same caster, they can once again read any coded writings.

Comprehend languages does not enable a caster to understand the language of another’s codespeak spell, but it does reveal that the targets are speaking a magical language. Tongues translates codespeak normally.

Material Component: A complex rune inscribed on a slip of paper that is then placed under your tongue.

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 LABORATORY #17: PHANTASMAL HALLS

Swastika-shaped halls filled with phantasmal forces. The walls are undulated in an irregular wave pattern.

PHANTASMAL FORCES: Will save (DC 18) each round or suffer 2d6 damage. The phantasmal forces take various forms manifesting through the primal power channels formed by the swastika.

• Knights charging.
• Howling banshees ripping down the length of the hall.
• Dragons’ heads.
• Hands grasping from the floor.
• Black winds.
• A song ripping at the ears.

TELEPORTALS: Located in each end of the swastika. None-operational red circle (incoming from Laboratory #7), two operational reds, and then a black teleportal.

• Black Teleportal: No key for this teleportal can be found in the current network. (If it could somehow be activated, it would lead to a different network of laboratories not found on the map.)

 LABORATORY #18: BESTIARY

Map courtesy of Dyson Logos

All the doors in this area are of glass. Many are broken.

RED DOT: The teleportal.

BLUE DOT: This cell contains two husks and the BLUE KEY. (The key lies in plain sight in the middle of the floor.)

ROOM “A”: Treasure stash. Mostly cleaned out, but there remain 120 pp, 9 violet garnets (500 gp) each, potion of hide from animals, and scroll of dispel magic and flame arrow.

RANDOM ENCOUNTERS: 1 in 6 chance of encountered 1d6 wights.

OTHER CREATURES: Found in various cells. Dead unless otherwise noted.

• Lovecraftian Psionic Flayer
• Giant Ants
• 2 trolls overgrown with 8 assassin vines (the trolls are insane, having been feasted upon by the assassin fines — all are alive)
• 6 wights (“alive”)
• 2 goblins
• Spirit Naga (long, iron prongs extend from its chest; the heart has been unnaturally enlarged and infused with mithril worth 100 gp)
• 4 giant spiders
• 2 troll minions (emaciated from long starvation)
• 5 dragon eggs with 5 baby dragon skeletons (one has its jaws clamped around the throat of another)

 LABORATORY #19: TOMB OF UNQUIET WORMS

On a raised, rosette dais stands a rose-colored stone sarcophagus. The tomb effigy depicts a robed man with a flourished moustache clutching a thick tome between his hands.

SPOT (DC 25, or DC 12 with close inspection): The walls are worm-eaten.

UNQUIET WORMS: 1d4 rounds after entering the tomb, a slithering noise can be heard coming from the walls. 1d4 rounds after that, the unquiet worms arrive.

• 12 total. 1d4 arrive per round.
• GM Background: Unquiet worms have feasted upon the brain of a dead mage and become imbued with their arcane powers.
  

DISPEL MAGIC FIELD: The dais is surrounded by an invisible by a dispel magic field (see Spellbook of Leaves in Laboratory #20).

SARCOPHAGUS:

• Spot (DC 18): To notice that the stone of the sarcophagus is worm-eaten.
• Search (DC 18): Sarcophagus can be pushed back to reveal the teleportal to Laboratory #20.
• Mohrg Lich: The spellcaster within the sarcophagus is a mohrg which can cast the spells it knew in life (see below). It wears pleated sheets of platinum worth 12,000 gp.

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UNQUIET WORMS (CR 3+3*): 20 hp (4d8+2), AC 22, bite +6 (1d6+3), Save +6, Ability DC 14
Str 5, Dex 12, Con 11, Int 18, Wis 21, Cha 15
Skills: Alchemy +7, Intimidate +7, Knowledge (arcana) +11, Knowledge (planes) +11, Listen +12, Sense Motive +12, Spellcraft +11, Spot +12, Stealth +8
Scabrous Slime +6 AC (calculated in stat block)
* Class abilities of 8th-level wizard (casting spells per list below).

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THE LICH’S SPELLS (4/5/5/5/3, CL 8)
4^th (DC 18)—fire shield, ice storm, wall of fire
3^rd (DC 17)—blink, dispel magic (x2), fireball, lightning bolt
2^nd (DC 16)—darkness, false life, protection from arrows, rope trick, shatter
1^st (DC 15)—burning hands, color spray, magic missile, ray of enfeeblement, shocking grasp
0^th (DC 14)—dancing lights (x2), mage hand, resistance

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Go to Part 6: Laboratories #20-21

Any material in this post not indicated as Product Identity in the Open Gaming License is released by Creative Common Attribution-Share Alike 3.0.

Tagline: A solid D20 module from an industry newcomer. A couple of crucial flaws undermine what would otherwise be a strong product. Cautiously recommended.

When I first heard the plans emanating from Wizards of the Cost regarding the Open Gaming License and D20 Trademark License I was somewhat skeptical… but there was also a glimmer of excitement and a dash of hope in my emotional make-up.

And its specifically because of products like NeMoren’s Vault that I felt this way.

If NeMoren’s Vault had been produced this same time last year, it would have been preceded by a mammoth tome called something like The Fiery Dragon Fantasy Roleplaying System. And we would have been treated to mind-numbing artwork. And screeching purple prose. And vast claims about how the FDFRP was going to revolutionize gaming as we know it.

And we would have opened this book up and found exactly what we knew we were going to find all along: Dungeons & Dragons with the serial numbers filed off.

In the process, a solid adventure module like NeMoren’s Vault would have been irrevocably lost under the detritus of the hulking monstrosity which would have been the FDFRP: $30 for the rulebook; the time it takes to learn the new system; the effort it takes to start a new campaign. There is far too much investment to be made before you get down to the $10 it actually costs to pick up the module. At the end of the day, something like NeMoren’s Vault is not worth a massive investment of time, energy, and money.

It’s worth $10.

Which, handily enough, is exactly what it costs.

PLOT

Warning: This review will contain spoilers for NeMoren’s Vault. Players who may end up playing in this module are encouraged to stop reading now. Proceed at your own risk.

Three hundred years ago a man by the name of Kragor NeMoren played a key role in the formation and success of the Grand Alliance between humanity and the elvish folk as they repelled the goblin hordes. In return for his service, he was granted ownership of a vast tract of rich forest land by the elvish king and, in turn, a royal title as Baron of the West Wood by the human king. Before he died, Kragor built a mansion – complete with a massive vault for protecting the riches he had accumulated, housing the family’s dead, and storing wine.

Fast forward 250 years: Baron Paytro NeMoren, the last of the NeMoren line, takes a wife. One week after the wedding, however, Amelia NeMoren is kidnapped by Paytro’s ex-love – Lisette – and her two brothers. Lisette comes to the manor and demands that the baron proclaim her the rightful baroness – otherwise she will kill his new wife. Paytro, afraid of the truth coming out, drugs Lisette and her brothers and seals them within the family’s vault.

Tortured with grief and guilt, Paytro goes into seclusion for the rest of his life – and dies apparently without heir. Lisette and her brothers would have starved to death, except for the fact that Lisette used her mystic black arts to transform all of them into undead ghouls – eagerly awaiting their chance to wreak vengeance upon the NeMoren line.

Enter the PCs, who have (by one way or another) come into possession of the silver keys (one per PC) which denote them as heirs of Baron Paytro. As you can easily guess, they are to enter the NeMoren family vault – which only their keys can access – and discover what their inheritance consists of.

Other stuff that’s been happening: A creature known as an Undrathur – a large, humanoid carnivore which burrows through the earth – has taken up residence in the area around the Vault. As a result of his burrowing, the lair of a hobgoblin tribe has been connected to the Vault. The hobgoblins were periodically raiding the Vault, but have been driven back by the ghouls and other undead Lisette has created. The hobgoblins periodically venture out to claim sacrifices in order to appease the ghouls, and their sacrificial chamber has – unbeknownst to the townspeople – befouled the local water supply and created a strange plague. The combination of mysterious disappearances (the kidnapped sacrifices) and the plague have been labeled “NeMoren’s Curse”.

This is something that NeMoren’s Vault does very well: Any one of these elements (a dead noble house leaving behind a subterranean vault; Poe’s Cask of Amontillado by way of a fantasy dungeon; the underground lair of a hobgoblin tribe; a massive, man-eating predator leaving behind underground tunnels) would suffice to explain your average dungeon crawl. But by taking all them in concert with one another, NeMoren’s Vault gets a whole larger than the sum of its parts.

This strength is re-emphasized in the fact that the design of the Vault consistently integrates these background elements in the particulars of the dungeon’s construction – although there are several elements of the Vault which would otherwise be cliché, the fact that they have been made to arise naturally from the Vault’s history and construction gives them a sense of realism and believability

The author has also done a nice job of not only considering a plethora of possible endings to the scenario, but examining a variety of different ways in which each thread plays out. Ideas ranging from placing the PCs in the middle of a civil war arising from the true inheritor of NeMoren’s title and lands to the discovery that Amelia NeMoren is still alive and held in magical stasis to the various fall-outs of breaking the balance of power between the ghouls and the hobgoblins.

A PROBLEM WITH TREASURE

Unfortunately, despite some of its glimmering strengths, NeMoren’s Vault is possessed of one crucial flaw:

There is more than 100,000 gp worth of treasure lying around this Vault.

And that’s just the stuff that’s easily accessible. If you count the stuff they’ve made difficult to access (by collapsing all of the entrances into a treasure room, for example; or requiring one of the PCs to chop off a finger to access the magical vault) there is an additional 225,000 gp worth of treasure I’m not counting (including one of the six legendary Runeblades – mystic blades which “have the power to conquer entire nations”).

That’s 325,000 gp worth of treasure!

Assuming you use the suggested party size of four characters, that’s roughly 25,000 gp of treasure per PC (81,250 gp if they get all the treasure in the complex). To put that in perspective:

1. According to Table 5-1 in the DMG (pg. 145), that’s the amount of treasure that a 7th level character should have accumulated (12th level for the higher number).
2. Using Table 7-2 in the DMG (pg. 170) and the Encounter Level/Challenge Rating for NeMoren’s Vault, the amount of treasure which should be present in an adventure of this type is only 10,000 gp (and that’s only if they defeat the monster which the module tells the DM they probably shouldn’t have to defeat).

Did I also mention that, at the end of the adventure, they also end up with a legal writ granting them possession of one of the richest baronies in the kingdom?

Even when you realize that they neglected to give Challenge Ratings to the various traps and puzzles found throughout the Vault, you’re going to end up with seriously overpowered PCs at the end of this adventure. I seriously suggest going through NeMoren’s Vault and vigorously thinning the treasure hordes out before letting your players go through it. (Or, alternatively, buff up the challenge ratings throughout and run your PCs through at a higher level. Changing the ghouls to ghasts, the medium-size skeletons and zombies to huge skeletons and zombies, and the hobgoblins to bugbears should do the trick – although you’ll still need to cut down the treasure a little bit.)

Actually, the problem is even greater than it appears at first glance because, in fact, they have overstated the Challenge Ratings on several of the encounters (for example, listing Ghouls as having a CR of 2 when, in fact, they only have a CR 1). This is a problem quite a few of these inaugural D20 products are bound to have (because they were working from preview documents or guesswork, rather than the final versions of books like the Monster Manual). Keep an eye open for it and make the necessary adjustments.

(On a related note: I would have liked to see a summary of treasure available in this scenario. A tool like this would not only make it easier to adjust the overall treasure size for parties of different sizes, but in its construction would have immediately alerted the author to the fact that he had vastly overfilled this dungeon.)

WORKING WITH THE WEB

One interesting feature of the Fiery Dragon product line is the on-line support the company is offering. Although still in its nascent infancy (and therefore still rife with the possibility of going heinously awry), there are some interesting ideas under development:

1. Additional support material for the various Fiery Dragon products available on-line (such as complications and secret areas for published modules).
2. An on-line tavern in which players can “Roll for Rumors”. This isn’t particularly impressive at the moment, but conceptually the idea of sending your players to an on-line tavern to pick up the rumors which may (or may not) feed into next week’s adventure is interesting.
3. Perhaps the best feature, at the moment, though is the provision of “private campaign areas” – featuring a number of tools (including the hosting of up to 1.25 gigabytes of game-related files, message boards, etc.) for creating an on-line center for your on- or off-line campaigns.

CONCLUSION

NeMoren’s Vault is a solid product.

It is not an exceptional one — the treasure imbalance, mediocre-to-subpar artwork, a few unfortunate lay-out choices, and the generally traditional set-up prevents it from being one. But it is not a poor one, either.

It is worth $10. And that’s what you pay for it.

It serves its purpose. And that’s why you’ll pay for it.

What excites me about NeMoren’s Vault, though, is that – when you look beyond the weaknesses which pull it down – the strengths which remain are in all the right places. There is an underlying foundation of creative thought and gaming sensibility which, if given the chance to grow, has a chance of becoming something truly impressive.

NeMoren’s Vault is a good product. But Fiery Dragon Productions bears watching for the potential greatness which lies ahead.

This is a review of a complimentary pre-production copy, distributed by Fiery Dragon Productions for publicity purposes.

Style: 3
Substance: 3

Author: James Bell
Company/Publisher: Fiery Dragon Productions
Cost: $9.99
Page Count: 32
ISBN: 1-8946-9300-0

Originally Posted: 2000/11/02

James Bell replied to this review by noting the systemic errors that had been made (particularly in the amount of available treasure) and issued extensive errata to correct the problem. (Two huge thumbs up to him for that.) Fiery Dragon would, in fact, go on to produce a number of really nice D20 products. NeMoren’s Vault would be revised into both a 3.5 Edition and a Pathfinder Edition. I have not personally looked at the updated versions, but I’m guessing they’re still pretty nifty. You can grab the Pathfinder edition here.

Re-reading this review a decade and a half later, I’m actually strongly tempted to use the original version of the module unaltered to launch a campaign: Yup, you’re 1st level characters who have just ransacked 325,000 gp of treasure out of the ground, including a legendary blade with all kinds of prophecies attached to it. Plus, you’ve got a legal writ granting you the richest barony in the kingdom. So… now what? Instead of fetishizing balance, let’s see what happens if we deliberately invert expectations.

For an explanation of where these reviews came from and why you can no longer find them at RPGNet, click here.

One of the things I talked about in The Art of the Key is the conceptual organization of material from the general to the specific: What the PCs immediately see. What they might see. What they can investigate. What they see when they investigate X. This organization, in turn, naturally mimics the way in which the game space is explored during actual play. (Which means that the basic conceptual structure is useful whether you’re keying a location or improvising on the fly.)

I’ve recently realized that there is a specific elaboration upon this general structure that (a) I’ve been using in play for several years without really consciously thinking about it, and which (b) has proven to be very effective. I’m now referring to it as a Matryoshka Search.

Let’s say that PCs are exploring the bedroom of a serial killer. There’s a hidden trap door in the floor leading down to the killer’s mystic butchering chamber. The basic way of handling this scenario looks like this:

Player: There’s gotta be more here. I search the room.
GM: Give me a Search check.
Player: (rolls dice) 25
GM: You find a secret trap door in the floor.

That obviously works just fine. But what I’ll frequently end up doing instead is something like this:

Player: There’s gotta be more here. I search the room.
GM: Give me a Search check.
Player: (rolls dice) 25
GM: There are scuff marks on the floor around the legs of the bed.
Player: As if the bed had been moved back and forth a lot?
GM: Yeah.
Player: I shove the bed to one side and take a look.
GM: You find a secret trap door in the floor.

Instead of immediately discovering the item of interest, the character instead discovers an indicator pointing in the direction of the item of interest. The advantage is that it allows (and even requires) the player to receive information and then draw a conclusion. It’s a subtle distinction, but the result increases the player’s engagement and reduces the feeling that the GM is just handing them whatever information he feels like. I call it the Matryoshka search technique because it turns the interaction into a nested doll: One investigation “opens” new information, which can then be opened by another investigation in turn.

We could also look at this through the lens of the Art of Rulings: The GM is setting an initial threshold for player expertise activating character expertise which is fairly low. (All the player needs to do is say that they want to make a Search check.) But once the character’s expertise has given some sort of result, the GM hits the pause button, turns the interaction back to the player, and basically raises the required threshold. (“Your original declaration has taken you this far, but now I need more information.”) This can make the technique a good way of compromising between players who prefer a very low threshold of player expertise and GMs who want their players to engage more directly with the game world. It’s a naturalistic way of asking, “How are you doing that?” while still moving the action forward.

The Matryoshka technique works even when the indicator really only points at one possible conclusion, as it does in the example above. (Although even in the case of the bed being frequently moved there’s still the question of WHY the bed is moving.) But it can be even more effective if there are multiple explanations possible, requiring additional inquiry and thought before firm conclusions can be reached. As a very simple example, the GM might say, “Taking a closer look at the floor, you can see through the dust and grime clear indications of square-shaped seams.” Is it a pit trap? Is it a pedestal that rises up? Do the seams release poison gas or a force cage projected from below? The player is going to have to figure it out.

This technique is particularly valuable if you’re running the GUMSHOE system: Because every skill use in GUMSHOE is guaranteed to succeed, it can be very easy for investigation actions in the system to feel like “laundry lists” with the player simply naming the skills they want to use and then the GM handing them dollops of information. Matryoshka nesting of information can prevent the automatic successes from becoming lifeless.

FURTHER READING
Matryoshka Hexes