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A Thief's Dream: by Ryan Hietpas

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A Thief’s

Dream
-D&D One-Shot-

 
 
By Ryan Hietpas

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, the dragon ampersand, Player’s
Handbook, Monster Manual, Dungeon Master’s Guide, D&D Adventurers League, all other Wizards of the
Coast product names, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA and
other countries. All characters and their distinctive likeness are property of Wizards of the Coast in the
USA and other countries. This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of
America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of this material or artwork contained herein is
prohibited without the express written permission of Wizards of the Coast.
©2016 Wizards of the Coast LLC, PO Box 707, Renton, WA 98057-0707, USA. Manufactured by Hasbro SA,
Rue Emile-Boėchat 31, 2800 Delėmont, CH. Represented by Hasbro Europe, 4 The Square, Stockley Park,
Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB11 1ET, UK.
Credits
Author: Ryan Hietpas
Art & Maps: Ryan Hietpas
Editors: Sam Hovda, Mark Lichtenberger

Table of Contents
-Chapter-1…………………………………………..4

-Chapter-2…………………………………………..10

-Plot Summary…………………………………………..15

-References………………………………………………….16
Preface
Some things to lay down grid maps that will mainly be used
before this one-shot begins. The for battles and dungeons, one
setting is in Neverwinter so it is square is equal to five feet unless
important that the players be specifically said otherwise. On
there for the story. Knowledge of those maps, the “⭐” marks the spot
Neverwinter is highly where the players start in the
recommended. Every encounter fight, dungeon, etc. The “X” marks
the players go up against is subject the spot where the enemies start in
to change. Meaning the enemies the battle. If no “X” is listed, they
hit points, stats, and amount of can start from your choosing
them can be changed to better suit within reason. The story at some
your party. If they are struggling, points is also nonspecific on some
lower the stats of the enemies. If details because it is your choice on
they are easily tearing through how these things play out. With all
main encounters like nothing, of that taken care of, the story
then bump up the stats of enemies. awaits.
Just keep in mind how much you
can customize these encounters.
Simple NPC dialogue, if any, will
start with a one to three letter
abbreviation followed by what
they are saying enclosed by
quotes. The first part of this book
is the story part where all the
events are listed. In the back there
is the references section which
will include extra details about
most of the story elements. In this
case it is all of the gangs involved
along with some more things. On
Chapter-1
Night of the
​Robbery this rider gets away from the
guards and players. The rider
eventually escapes out the walls of
It starts out as a normal
the city and quickly disappears
night in Neverwinter. Your players
into the night nowhere to be seen.
are doing whatever they are doing
for the night. When everything is
calm and people are starting to
turn in for the night, the deep
clang of bells ring throughout the
city. These bells signify emergency
and to clear the streets return to
your homes. Several minutes later,
wherever the players are, they see
a single hooded figure riding on a
horse down the street who is being
chased by at least 30 guards also
on horses. Whenever one of the The Next Morning
guards gets close to the single
rider, it would fight the guard off.
The next morning the streets
If your players were to cast some
are filled with messengers sent by
sort of spell to help the guards, the
Lord Protector Neverember that
rider would cast counterspell with
the Neverwinter vault has been
ease. Basically, it is inevitable that
robbed and they are looking for
adventurers to help them look for
the stolen treasure. Lots of people
seem interested in this because of himself. With how he operates he
the reward for recovering the is probably well on his way to
treasure, which is a small, yet very hiding his gains around the
valuable, portion of it. To continue surrounding countryside and
the story, your players accept and sometimes within the city itself.
go to meet with Lord Neverember. Whatever treasure you collect the
protector will give you a small
share of it as compensation for the
First Meeting with work. Neverember also gives you a
Lord Neverember bag of holding to help in carrying
the massive amounts of treasure
that you need to recover. You are
When the players arrive,
then escorted out of the office and
another group of adventurers is
a new set of adventurers walk in.
leaving the office of Lord
Neverember. The guards standing
outside usher you into the office Starting the
where two other guards stand and
between them stands Lord Investigation
Neverember himself. He looks at
the party almost annoyed because It is recommended that the
he has already seen so many other players start off investigating near
adventuring groups this morning. The Fallen Tower since that is
Over the meeting he gives the where the most crime currently is
party a briefing of the situation. in the city. When they get there
they may move around and
The Protector says that they investigate for the hidden treasure
have dealt with the thief who stole as they please. The next thing that
from the vaults last night before. happens is whenever they are
His name is Priam. He stole from remotely isolated during the
our treasury before and they investigation.
managed to get most of it back but
never got a hold of the thief
swords the enemy use are a bright
Intro of The Brown and shiny tone of brown.
Swords
​Battle Map
When the players are
investigating in some sort of alley
they must roll perception to see if
they notice the approaching group
for people coming on both sides.
For the DC, roll a d20 and add 5.
When the players notice them or
when the gang reveals themselves
the leader with them says “The
treasure is gone my friends. Now it
is your turn. Prepare yourselves to
face, The Brown Swords!”. It is
time to ​Roll Initiative.

Possible Creatures When the enemies have


- Berserker CR=2 been defeated, the leader has
- Thug CR=½ already ran away.
- Veteran CR=3
- Bandit CR=⅛

Each cluster of enemies has


a minimum creatures count of 4,
but can always be raised.
Remember, raise the enemies stats
to accommodate your party. This
encounter should not be too
difficult. A key detail is all of the
the players. This reveals that there
Interrogation are people riding the eagles. One
of the riders speaks up over the
One of the goons from the constant blowing wind around
fight is still barely alive. The you. The rider says “The word
players should interrogate him to around is The Protector is hiring
try and find out more info. If they adventurers for to find his stolen
do, they learn of another possible loot eh? I hate to break it to him,
treasure stash just outside Helm’s but there are better people
Hold which is just outside recovering it for themselves.
Neverwinter. Priam is a fool to spread his
treasure. The mark of a beginner
White Eagles Intro in my opinion. Which is odd
because of his experience. Old age
I guess? Anyway I’ve rattled on for
The journey to Helm’s Hold
too long. You have crossed paths
is a quiet one with no interference.
with the White Eagles and it will
When you get closer to Helm’s
be your final mistake. Prepare to
Hold, you notice an unusual
soar your last time!”. They attack,
amount of large birds in the sky.
Roll Initiative​.
The party suddenly feels a large
rush of wind as an eagle
Possible Creatures
significantly larger than the rest
- Spy CR=1
swoops up from Helm’s Hold to
- Scout CR=½
join the other circling eagles. You
- Giant Eagle CR=1
can faintly see small objects
falling from it. As it passes over
The minimum enemies in
the party, the objects fall to the
this fight is 6. Scaling up of
ground and are revealed to be gold
enemies is recommended though
pieces. The eagles begin to circle
this encounter should not be too
around the party and the wind
difficult. The spies, scouts are
picks up around them quickly. The
mounted on the giant eagles.
eagles swoop down to land around
​Battle Map

Castle Never
Encounter
The players arrive at Castle
Never at night with a bright moon.
Castle Never is in ruin because of
the chaos Neverwinter was in not
too long ago. When the players
approach the castle they can
clearly hear the clops of horses
inside.
Mysterious Note
Have the players roll
As the last of the eagles lift investigation to see if they can
off, one of them drops a small find the source. The average of all
notebook. Upon investigation, of the rolls must be at least 15 for a
there is only one page with writing success. The below paragraphs are
in it and it is towards the middle. labeled of what happens.
The writing on the page goes as
follows. Success-​ The players find a
circular room with rubble
covering the floor. In the middle of
the room on the ground is the
rider, Priam. Surrounding him are
eight people mounted on horses all
wearing an alarming shade of
scarlet robes. They are encircling
Priam and occasionally hitting
him with blunt weapons and
threatening him to tell them
where the hoard is. After a while scarlet robes on horses. The leader
Priam says “The hoard is of them gives you a smug nod
everywhere, but you still will before leaving with his posse.
never find it.”. This causes the
leader of the riders to trot his
horse forward. They know it is the
Morning
leader because his scarlet robe is
significantly more decorated. He The players awake to
takes out a long and sharp rapier absolute chaos in the streets. The
and out of rage quickly plunges it gangs previously encountered
straight through Priam. The leader who are The Brown Swords, The
then lifts him up on the rapier to White Eagles, and the just met
his height and says “I already Scarlet Riders, have started gang
know where it is. Now die a wars about the recovery of the loot
failure.”. The leader angles his still spread throughout the city. No
rapier downwards and shakes gang will stop until they control
Priam off of it who falls to the all of the loot. This causes guards
ground and lays completely still. and soldiers to constantly be on
One of the other riders then goes guard throughout the streets and
up to the body and places a curse there is always a fight somewhere
on it. This curse makes the body in the city. The next task for the
unable to be resurrected. The party is take out all of the gangs to
riders then leave the castle ruins bring peace and claim the reward.
and disappear into the night.

Failure-​ The players come across


the room and find Priam laying on
the floor dead with a curse
preventing him from being
resurrected. He died from a stab
wound going all the way through
his chest. Outside the castle you
see some men wearing bright
Chapter-2
Moving Through
the City Battle Table
1-20 16 Enemies
Between all of the locations 21-40 14 Enemies
the players must travel to there
are lots of things that can happen. 41-60 12 Enemies
Since there is an active war going 61-80 10 Enemies
on within the city, fights could
81-99 8 Enemies
occur at any time. When traveling
throughout the city, have the 100 Nothing
players role percentage to see if a
fight breaks out where they are
and how bad it is. Take the
The Merchant
average of the numbers to Square Battle
determine the outcome. Use the
same kind of enemies as have
This occurs after the players
been previously used in the fights.
have walked around the city and
The table is below.
have defeated some gangsters.
This battle takes place in the open
part of Neverwinter where The
Chasm used to be. Since then it
has become a merchant square
and is now the site for a gang
battle. This fight will be between
the three gangs mentioned earlier,
White Eagles, Scarlet Riders, and
Brown Swords. The players are
drawn to this fight when they hear
Scarlet Riders Battle
screaming from people and see the
giant eagles swooping down on You reach the makeshift
the area from above. base of the Scarlet riders at one
end of the Merchant Square and
Your players arrive on the the leader takes notice of the
scene to see The Brown Swords intrusion instantly. He sends some
and The Scarlet Riders engaged in troops your way and mounts his
a full battle with The White Eagles horse to fight. With his soldiers
taking picks off from above and around him, he charges towards
occasionally being brought down the players. ​Roll Initiative.
with bows or other ranged
weapons. Some guards who Possible Creatures
recognize the players disengage - Bandit CR=⅛
from the battle and tell the players - Assassin (Must be the leader)
that this is the perfect time to go CR=8
for the leadership of the gangs. - Bandit Captain CR=2
They will escort you through the - Thug CR=½
fight. - Veteran CR=3

Now have they players move The minimum of enemies in


through the fight and occasionally this battle is 8. All of the enemies
have to fend off one or two gang are mounted on horses of your
members. Give them 4 Knights to choice. This encounter should be a
help them through. They can difficult one because of the
either go for Scarlet Riders or situation.
Brown Swords first, the following
events are labeled accordingly.
Battle Map The minimum number of
enemies per cluster is 3. This
encounter should be difficult
because of situation.

Battle Map

Brown Swords
Battle
You arrive at the makeshift
base on one side of the battlefield
to find the Brown Swords eagerly
awaiting their time in battle. The
leader looks up from sharpening
his axe, recognizing you from the Ending of the Battle
alley, and gives you a smirk. He
heaves his giant axe from the With the leadership of the
stone and raises it in a charge. ​Roll gangs defeated, the forces of
Initiative. Neverwinter are easily able to
clean up the remainder of the
Possible Creatures gangsters and taking them
- Gladiator CR=5 prisoner. The eagles have
- Berserker CR=2 mysteriously disappeared from the
- Crazy Powered up Gladiator
(Must be the leader)
sky. The next event is the next day how to ride their eagles. The next
so pick up then. section lists some possible rules
for aerial combat as that will be
happening in the final battle.
Reign of the Eagles
The next morning and a Aerial Combat
little through the day the guards
alert you to go to Lord Neverember This will try to be simple.
for a meeting. The Lord will tell Mostly it will work like normal
them that the White Eagles have combat. On movement you must
gained most of the treasure and no move your full movement per
longer have competition because turn, this means no hovering.
The Brown Swords and Scarlet Melee and ranged attacks can still
Riders have been taken off of the be made against the person on the
playing field. They noticed an eagle in this case or the eagle or
unusual amount of weapons being mount. These are just suggestions
purchased last night from about but you really can run the combat
one hundred different people and however you like.
are suspecting an attack. If one
does come, The Protector wants
the players to use some of the
city’s own trained giant eagles to
fight in the air. After this
Neverember dismisses the party
and gives them each a scroll for
the spell feather falling if in aerial
combat their eagle were to be
killed and make sure that they
don’t fall to their death.

The next bit of time can be


used for the players to figure out
eagles. Roll a d20 on every other
Reign of the Eagles turn and on any number greater
Continued than or equal to 16 one of the
enemy eagles is shot down. If a
player were to lose their eagle
Pick this up when you feel it
have them continue the battle on
is time to begin the final battle.
the ground. This combat should be
From the distant skies the players
difficult for the players because it
see a cluster of small black specks
is the final one.
approaching. A horn sounds
throughout the city and the city
Battle Map
militia take to positions. Some
A completely open sky. Nothing is
fighting has already started in the
put in unless you want it to.
streets from White Eagle members
in the city. One of the head guards
yells at the players “GO!” and the Finishing the Battle
players take to the skies. From
away you estimate about thirty The battle on the ground is
approaching enemies. There is quickly won because the White
about two minutes before the Eagles’ main strategy is using the
battle so give some players the power of their eagles that were all
prep if they need it, but otherwise taken out by the players. This
it's time to ​Roll Initiative. caused a swift defeat of them and
the remaining treasure was soon
List of Possible Enemies recovered. It was hidden within
- Scout CR=½ the sewers. The players are
- Spy CR=1 rewarded handsomely by
Neverember, you can choose the
There are 6 waves to this reward. Neverwinter is once again
battle and there is a set 5 enemies saved from chaos.
per wave. Sometimes during the
combat some artillery from the
city can take out one of the enemy
THE END
Plot Summary
The Neverwinter vaults are The reveal themselves to be the
robbed by an infamous thief White Eagles and have also taken
named Priam. After the robbery, the treasure hidden in Helm’s
Priam goes around the Hold. While escaping from the
countryside of Neverwinter and fight one of the goons drops a
hides his treasure so only he notebook. In this notebook is a
knows the location. The next page that leads the players to
morning, Lord Protector Castle Never, which currently is in
Neverember hires a bunch of ruins. When they arrive there late
adventurers to help him find the in the night, they see the thief
treasure with the promise to give Priam surrounded by mounted
them a small portion of what they people on horses all wearing
find. The party gets involved in Scarlet robes which are later
this and they are off to investigate. known as the Scarlet Riders. They
While investigating an alleyway kill Priam and take the main
near the Fallen Tower they are hoard which was at Castle Never.
mugged by some members of The The next day, gang wars begin all
Brown Swords gang, a gang also around the city with the main
on the hunt for the treasure. The conflict at the merchant square.
party wins the fight and the The party along with
Brown Swords retreat with the Neverwinter’s forces defeat Brown
treasure just beating the party to Swords and Scarlet Riders but The
it. The party then pick up clues White Eagles escape. The players
leading the Helm’s Hold which is get eagle mounts and a battle
just outside Neverwinter. On the against the White Eagles starts the
way they notice eagles encircling next day where the players win
the hold and are attacked by them. and get rewarded by the Protector.
References
Brown Swords
public. Most of the members are
assassins which make this gang
The Brown Swords are a
very threatening when you are
street gang focused on pure
isolated.
strength and force more than
anything else. They use their
Common troops among
physical strength to gain their way
Scarlet Riders are bandits, bandit
in battles and in other means.
captains, and assassins.
They have the distinct
characteristic of having every
weapon they use in battle be White Eagles
colored a deep brown and refresh
this color after every fight to keep The White Eagles are the
their gang identity. most peculiar street gang because
of their characteristic to always be
Common troops among mounted on giant eagles. Their
Brown Swords are berserkers, members are trained in flight and
gladiators, thugs, and veterans. aerial combat to succeed in the
gang. In battle they pick off
Scarlet Riders enemies one by one from the air.
They also are very skilled with the
bow to make the most effect of
The Scarlet Riders are a
flying around their enemies.
street gang that use their cunning
and skill to impose their threat. A
Common troops among
member of Scarlet Riders will
White Eagles are spies, scouts, and
have a horse and will only wear
any other skilled archer.
his or her’s deep scarlet robe out in

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