The Wayfarer's Inn

Hi Geoff,

Could you eventually consider to post a sample of your work online? - I have heard about that new version of Inferno, and I am curious how it will be!

Yours,

Rafael

That's not bad either. Will check now.

I am pretty glad Inferno gets an update! I didn't like the classical GDQ and most other *descent into hell* like scenarios, but this one was always an exception. Hope you find a publisher soon! Maybe the new partnership between NG an Paizo opens some doors...

I don't think the Paizo deal changes NG's underlying conclusion that JG updatets aren't profitable enough.

Please remember that d20 is not my native language, so translation errors are likely.....

THE WILDERNESS ENTRY (paragraph breaks removed):
The looming forest is made up of tall, spindly, pines with small green tops and parched brown drooping needles on their lower branches, which block much of the rain and snow. The paved road continues into the forest and follows a serpentine path, and is curiously clear of needles. Mules, draft horses, ponies, ordinary mounts, and other equines require a Handle Animals check DC30 otherwise balk, rear, and refuse to enter the forest; dogs, cats, or birds require a Handle Animals check DC24 otherwise refuse to enter; trained warhorses require a Handle Animals check DC18 otherwise refuse to enter; all other animals require a Handle Animals check DC20 to enter. Character familiars are unaffected. Spells of animal control are sufficient to compel animals to enter. The forest floor is covered in a thick layer of pale brown needles which softly muffles all sounds. The trees are close together and thick, and there is little available light. Movement is at half-pace unless characters have low-light vision, use the darkvision spell, use torches or lanterns, or use Spectacles of Night Vision (or similar equipment); equine mounts require augmented vision to move at full speed. As the gloom deepens the party sees (or thinks they see) blinking yellow eyes in the darkness out of sight from the lights, they hear rustling in the underbrush, and frequently hear far-off snarls, cries, howls, and animal screams. Whenever they investigate, however, no animals are seen, only a variety of unidentifiable tracks which are clearly animal in origin. There are no encounters while in the forest. Characters quickly develop the undeniable feeling they are being watched and tracked by the forest animals. The entire experience is very distressing for any Elves in the party, and for Druids. Clerics, Priests, or Paladins of any nature-deity are subliminally bothered and are uncomfortable, with a feeling the entire forest is somehow evilly twisted and distorted. Every 500 to 1000 ft. (5d%+495 ft.) the companions pass a skull spiked onto a tree along the side of the road, mostly human, but occasionally recognizably dwarven or elven, and occasionally not recognizable at all,. All skulls have the aura of evil; skulls can be removed on a Strength check DC17 and are empty. Characters attempting to bury a skull discovers the ground sufficiently hard (even in summer) to bend and dent their ferrous tools; only adamantine or harder tools are sufficient to break the ground. If characters possess means to speak with the dead, all the summoned ghosts can tell them is that in the far past their good and fair land of Brogantes was destroyed by the Legions of Evil, and that evil is still found at the end of the road. Every 1000 ft. to 1500 (5d100+495) feet the companions pass ruined remnants of thick-walled stone buildings, mostly consisting of piles of cubic stones, empty rectangular foundations, and one-story remains of stone walls standing alone amongst rubble. Many appear to have been set afire at some time in the distant past. If characters determine alignment, these ruins have an aura of goodness associated with them. If characters closely examine or dig into the remains of these buildings they find unidentifiable bones, broken wood from furniture, small common household objects and implements, and various small twisted metal pieces. On a successful Search check DC25, the characters find a useful object as determined from 1d10: (1) 2 Cure Moderate Wounds potions, (2) 1d6 vials of Holy Water, (3) 3 Tonics of Disease Removal, (4) a Balm of Stone to Flesh, (5) a gold Mind Shielding Ring, (6) a Cloak of Resistance [+2], (7) a Bag of Holding II, (8) 1d10 arrows +1 TH [+1d8 damage versus Evil Creatures], (9) a +1 Imperial Short Sword, or (10) a silver-bladed +1 Imperial Short Sword; a maximum of 3 objects may be obtained by all companions from searching forest ruins. If a fire is constructed in the forest, the fire remains contained and controlled on a Survival check DC18 otherwise sparks catch fire to the dry forest floor creating a rapidly moving forest fire which scorches the tree trunks; characters avoid the fire by climbing into the trees as indicated by a Climb check DC18; characters caught on the ground during a fire or who do not climb high enough suffer 4d12 fire damage. After 4800 rounds (8 hours) of travel through the bleak and forbidding forest the companions come to a wide river (at least 150 ft. across) flowing through the forest, with the current from left to right. The near bank of the river is mostly flat with a thick carpet of hardy dark green spiky weeds growing along it while steep banks at least 20 ft. high line the opposite side. The water flows quickly, feels icy cold to the touch, and is GTET 20 ft. deep. Regardless of the season, the far side of the river is lined by thick ancient oaks, all with the bare limbs of deep winter and cracked and twisted trunks, and the black stone road continues past and into this icy forest. A weathered arched grey stone bridge spans the river with a single support column in the middle, 15 ft. wide with low stone railings along each side. Over each end of the bridge are arches made of connected black skulls on which is fastened a cast metal plaque reading (in the Common language), ABridge of Doom.@ Someone has written on the bridge=s buttress in white chalk the single word (also in Common), AAbandon.@ A wooden sign nailed to a stake in the ground to the right of the bridge (also in Common) reads ARiver of Dreams.@ Clerics, Priests, Druids, or Paladins of any deity associated with death, dying, or the underworld, see silent ghostly flickering souls cross the bridge then disappear up the road on the other side. Horses, mules, and other equines refuse to set even a single hoof onto the bridge, regardless of their level of training, degree of loyalty, or use of bridles, goads, prods, chains, or whips; the judge should allow a Handle Animals check but regardless of outcome it always fails. Trained birds cross the bridge on a Handle Animals check DC28, otherwise fly off into the forest and are unrecoverable until the owner reemerges onto the Prime Material Plane; trained dogs and cats require a Handle Animals check DC34, otherwise run off into the forest and are lost; other animals require a Handle Animals check DC 36 to cross the bridge. Character familiars require a Handle Animals check DC14, otherwise lie down away from the bridge and refuse to move. The use of hoods, blinders, eye covers, feed bags, halters and the like do not improve an animal=s chances of crossing the bridge. If an animal is mentally controlled or compelled, the compulsion is broken at the bridge=s archway, and the animal refuses to continue on. The repulsion does not affect intelligent equine creatures such as Unicorns, Daymares, Nightmares, and Pegasus. A caged animal or animal unable to physically resist being forced over the bridge goes into a frightened state and remains in that condition until reemerging onto the Prime Material Plane. The river forms an inter-planar boundary which cannot be crossed by ordinary means, except at a few widely spaced bridges. Characters attempting to cross the river by swimming, water-walking, walking under the water, on a boat or raft, or by flying or levitation, run into an impenetrable force field located about the center of the river. Characters swimming the river or transiting underwater must succeed on a Fortitude check, DC28, otherwise become numbed and insensible due to the bitterly cold water temperature in 1d20 rounds, drowning after 1d10 additional rounds (does not effect characters with innate or enchanted protection from cold); characters possessing the Great Fortitude and Toughness feats check Fortitude, DC20. Characters not numbed must succeed on a Swim check, DC28, otherwise be swept up by the current and transported 1d20*300 ft. downstream before making it back to shore. Characters cannot cross the river by means of Dimension Door, Miracle, Passwall, Phase Door, Shadow Walk, Teleport or Greater Teleport, but may cross by Etherealness, Ethereal Jaunt, or Plane Shift. Characters capable of moving through earth are prevented from crossing under the river. Humans, Elves, and half-Elves drinking from the river (including water stored in canteens or water jugs) must make a successful Will check, DC24, otherwise within 1d12*5 rounds begin vividly hallucinating, with the condition persisting 10d100+300 rounds; a hallucinating character is unable to cast spells, perform any mental activities, and performs combat at a -8 penalty due to their inability to distinguish between real and imaginary opponents. After a character is afflicted with hallucinations they must make a successful Will check, DC16, at the beginning of every subsequent combat [or other significant stressful situation] for the remainder of the module, otherwise they experience a relapse of hallucinations lasting 1d100 rounds. The far end of the bridge is located on the Petit Infernal Plane, also called “Upper Hell,” giving access to Gehenna (True Hell) and Inferno. The ghostly river and bridge are not permanent placed on the Prime Material Plane, flickering in-and-out of existence on a schedule only known to the devils, or as needed by the Judge. Once the characters cross into Upper Hell, the bridge remains for 3d20*10 rounds as measured by time in Hell before phasing out of existence. It manifests for 3d20*10 rounds at intervals of approximately 14,000 rounds (24 hours) as measured in Hell. Time flows differently in Gehenna, with one day in Hell approximately the same as 60 days on the Prime Material Plane. Once characters cross the bridge they are no longer on the Prime Material Plane but are transported to Upper Hell. On the bridge’s far side the sky is bright but hazy so the sky appears white and washed out of colors, with patches of drifting fog with calm to very light and variable winds, humid and muggy conditions, with a temperature of 84°F. There is a constant drone of minor insects such as mosquitoes, flies, midges, and gnats. There is an odor of lush, luxuriant plant growth, intermingled with an undertone of decay, strangulation, and death. As long as the bridge remains connected to the Prime Material Plane characters cross freely from one side to the other, although the bridge’s effect on animals never lessens; judges may elect to cause the bridge to immediately disappear to dissuade the companions from quitting Inferno too abruptly. While in Upper Hell the spells Dimension Door, Etherealness, Ethereal Jaunt, Miracle, Passwall, Phase Door, Plane Shift, Shadow Walk, Teleport and Greater Teleport (including any enchanted object imbued with those spells) do not function, although other spells function normally.

THE GATE OF HELL (CIRCLE ZERO)
At the bottom of the great cliff separating Gehenna from Inferno/Malebolge the last traversing ramp turns inward 25 ft. above the ground and turns into a road leading directly away from the cliff in the direction of the center of Inferno. It is 20 ft. wide and made of a gritty blood-red sandstone brick. Four hundred fifty ft. from the cliff the companions find a red sandstone wall about twice the height of a tall man, with flickers of bright red flame spaced at 2 ft. intervals along the top. This wall goes around the whole of Inferno with a total length of 1200 miles. If a character climbs the wall, the spaced flames enlarge and merge become a solid ring of fire doing 8d10 damage to creatures passing through; characters at the top take 1d20 heat damage unless they succeed on a Dexterity check, DC20. The road passes through a 30-ft gap in the wall filled by a massive two-part metal gate and bridged by a black metal arch. Thirty feet in front of the gate stands two very tall (1d20+100 ft.) dead grey trees with 7 ft. thick trunks, one on each side of the road. A single Greater Vulture [HP30] sits on an upper limb of the tree to the left carefully watching the party, but no other creatures are visible; as long as the characters leave the vulture alone, she does likewise. A grave of fresh-turned earth, 12 ft. long by 5 ft. across, is located 40 ft. forward and left of the gate, headed by a 6 ft. tall, 20 inch thick, granite obelisk, and fresh black blood continually seeps out the earth pile. On the near obelisk face is carved the word AValara@ and on the back face is carved [in Common] AThe First Dead.@ Any character summoning Valara=s shade (she does not appear of her own volition) obtains 3 prophecies pertaining to the world above (e.g. the Prime Material Plane) which generally come true. Some of what she predicts may not come to pass, depending on the action or inaction of others. Valara is surly, sarcastic, flippant, resents being summoned, and is difficult to handle or tolerate; she speaks in plain language about the future and enjoys telling about doom (particularly of a personal nature); she is hostile towards her summoner unless they are male AND succeed on a Charisma check, DC24. She knows something of the organization of outer Inferno (through Circle 3) and can tell the characters about the Noble Castle. Buried 4 ft. deep in Valara’s grave is a locked bronze box (DC18, Open Lock) containing: a Charm versus Power Diabolicus, Prayer Beads, a Circlet of Blasting (Minor), a Cloak of Displacement (Major, sized for a dwarf) a Remove Blindness Potion, 2 Potions of Greater Healing, a bottle of Lethe Water, and Goggles of Night Vision. The gate has massive black iron hinges attached to the stone walls, and each gate section opens outward. The gates are made up of elaborately curled metal bars worked into iron metal likenesses of many winged and horned humanoid figures, and several species of four-legged horned animals (the creatures depicted on the gate are all unidentifiable). Above the gate is an arch to which is attached a large solid rectangular iron plate on which is written in Common: AThrough me is the way into the doleful city, through me the way into eternal pain, through me the way among the peoples lost. Eternal I endure, leave all hope ye who enter.@
The gate is wide open with no apparent barriers. Looking through it, the companions see a region of darkness beginning 50 feet inside the gate, with the road running straight into the dark region. They can hear a loud mixture of curses, angry shouts, weeping and wailing, cries of pain, and cries for help, all over a undercurrent of buzzing noises. The air is hot and humid and the atmosphere (both air and mood) is gloomy and oppressive. Each character is overcome with fear while standing in front of the Gates and unable to pass through unless they succeed on a Will check, DC18 (if the initial check fails, additional checks are made at 600 round intervals). Characters must walk through the gate on their own; a Wall of Force fills the open gap if an unconscious or sleeping character is brought through, or one under mental control or compulsion. There is no resistance to passing through the gate but as each person enters a single mournful bell note sounds from an unknown location. Once a character enters the gate, they a Wall of Force blocks manifests to block their exit if they attempt to leave through it within 15,000 rounds (one day). CIRCLE 0: The region of darkness is 370,000 ft. (70 miles) across and stretches across the Zero and First Circles to the foot of a line of crags which forms the boundary with the Second Circle. The loud background of plaintive wailing is continually heard throughout the region and the air remains hot and fetid. The darkness does not prevent ordinary light sources (torches, candles, lamps, lanterns, matches, etc.), enchanted objects, or light spells from operating, although their effective range is halved. The 157,000 feet (30 miles) between the Gate and the River Archeron, makes up Circle Zero, inhabited by those souls who died neither good nor evil. The ground in the Circle is covered in a 100 inch layer of fine, smooth, sand, and the land is completely without features or objects (nothing larger than the size of a large pebble). The souls here are organized into troops 2d100+100 in size, each troop perpetually running after a large glowing triangular flag which moves ahead of them at 70 ft./round (each flag is self-levitating). As they run, the souls are continually attacked by wasps and hornets, as well as by sharp-toothed worms burrowing up out of the ground....

Geoff

Here's another tidbit:

WALLS OF DIS: Phlegyas transports the characters to a wharf on the inner side of Styx identical in all respects to the wharf where they boarded his boat, located directly in front of the western Gate of Dis. Characters crossing Styx by their own power land on the inner bank as appropriate but may have to travel a long distance along the Wall to find the nearest Gate.

Between the inner boundary of Styx and the Walls of Dis is a 150 foot wide strip of bare, hard packed, red-brown clay with no growing vegetation or structures anywhere. The Walls of Dis are a circle 350 miles in circumference, 35 feet high, 10 feet thick, made of ancient red stones, crenellated along the top. A torch and bubbling cauldron [boiling oil, damage 2d8/round] are located every 50 feet along the top. There are 10 Gates through the Walls spaced 35 miles apart; each gate having an iron portcullis (Strength 80 to lift) in front of a set of silver rectangular double doors 15 feet wide by 12 feet tall (cumulative Strength statistic GTET 60 to push open, DC34 Open Door when locked or barred; immune to knock spell); each door is decorated by a castle surrounded by a circle of 20 devil figures. The walls and gates are spelled to repel ladders, rams, and other siege equipment, and are impervious to spell attack. For any Gate, the portcullis is found raised and the silver doors are closed but unlocked.

Wherever characters reach the Walls of Dis, 2d100+100 devils are seen on top of the wall (an even mixture of Ordinary, Common, Assura, Etvaras, Nimidoryas, Type 4, and Type 5 devils). The devils taunt the characters with threats and obscene suggestions but take no other action as long as the characters remain GTET 75 feet from the wall; if the characters have not approached the wall after 200 rounds, the three Furies fly out from the walls, each holding a Medusa head (DC10 Spot, Fortitude save DC22 to resist stoning, effective range 50 ft.). When characters approach within 75 feet of the wall they are attacked by 2d20+20 missiles/round (1d8 at +1, 1d4 at +2), plus 1d12 ranged spells/round (fireball, lightning, cold ray, etc.), with an approximately equal number directed toward each individual. The crenellated wall provides considerable protection to the devils; apply a combat penalty of -3 to all missile fire; apply a penalty of -2 to all ranged spells, and reduce the damage done by ranged spells by 50%. If characters reach the wall base, they are attacked by boiling oil and by 2d12 dropped rocks/round (damage 2d8).

The characters clear the Walls of Dis of devils without fighting by successfully invoking or manifesting the physical presence of a Good Deity, blowing a blast on the Trumpet of the Lord [found on the Fourth Circle], invoking the scroll given them by the Lesser Seraphim at the Shining Hill that summons sufficient Lesser Seraphim to chase the devils from the wall, or invoking the scroll found following the encounter with the Chimera of the Wood that summons sufficient Lesser Seraphim to chase devils from the wall. Once the walls are cleared, they remain clear for (1d12*6)+20 rounds then repopulate at 2d8 devils/round. To clear the Walls of Dis through direct fighting requires the characters to kill all of the devils initially found on the wall plus an additional 1d100 devils summoned during the fight, all by missile fire or indirect combat. If a fight develops, there is an 8% chance that at least one of the General-level Devils Kamdro, Lalullum, or Xuwia will join, and a 5% chance that at least one of the Earls Ahriman, Abulam, or Batinin also join in [separate checks for each General and Earl]. Once characters are inside the Walls of Dis, devils on the wall ignore them.

CITY OF BURNING TOMBS (DIS): A 100 foot wide hard-packed strip of bare red clay earth lies between the inside of the Wall of Dis and the edge of the City of Burning Tombs. Every 10 miles along the outer perimeter, 30 feet out from the red wall, is a black marble obelisk, 8 foot tall with square 10-inch sides, mounted on a 1-foot thick black slab 20 inches on a side. Inscribed on the outer face of the obelisk are arrows pointing north (clockwise) and south (counterclockwise). Above the north arrow are written the words, “Abalam, Belphegor, Paimon, Mephisotoles,” above the south arrow are written the words “Batanin, Mephisotoles, Paimon.” The palace of Abalam, Earl of Hell, is located in the center of the City of Burning Tombs 265,000 feet (50 miles) north/clockwise of the west-east axis through the Fifth Circle; the palace of Belphegor, Earl of Hell, is located 11,000 feet (2 miles) into the City, 530,000 feet (100 miles) north/clockwise of the west-east axis; the palace of Paimon, Prince of Hell, is located 37,000 feet (7 miles) into the City, 713,000 feet (135 miles) north/clockwise of the west-east axis; the palace of Mephisotoles, Earl of Hell, is located near the Wall of Dis, 898,000 feet (170 miles) either north/clockwise or south/counterclockwise on the east side of the west-east axis; and the palace of Batanin is located 158,000 feet (30 miles) south/counterclockwise of the west-east axis, 26,500 feet (5 miles) into the City. These directions and distances may need adjustments if the companions enter Dis through any gate other than the one aligned with the west-east axis of Inferno.

The City of Burning Tombs is the inner area between the Walls of Dis and the inward edge of the Fifth Circle, an area approximately 42,500 feet (8 miles) across. The city is made up of an uncountable number of rectangular marble sepulchers, each 12 feet long by 6 feet wide by 44 inches high, and ornately or grotesquely carved and decorated. Some (35%) are covered by heavy marble lids, some (45%) missing lids, and some (20%) with lids bashed in and broken in pieces; the name(s) of a tomb’s occupant(s) have a 40% chance to be carved on the tomb. Many tombs are decorated by columns, spires, posts, vertical walls, up to 15 feet tall, making the landscape a confusing jumble of heights, blocking out line-of-sight to the horizon within 200 feet. All tombs are warm to the touch and many (30%) are hot enough to cause burns if touched by unprotected skin (Fortitude save, DC15). The tombs are placed about 6 feet apart at all possible angles, so there are no straight line paths anywhere in the City. The open tombs are lit from within by eerie flickering red lights and there is a 70% chance of visible orange-red tongues of fire in each. Flickers of flame roll and dart about randomly in the spaces surrounding and between tombs, with small jets of flame visible on the ground between every 1d6 tombs. Black smoke roils upward out of every open tomb and a dark haze hangs over the entire City. About half of the tombs are occupied. Heretics are confined in the sarcophagi and mausoleums of the City of Burning Tombs.

Because of the random placement of the tombs and the lack of any straight paths, navigating a “straight” course requires traveling an additional one-half times the baseline distance (e.g. 1½ mile of actual distance are covered in traveling one mile of “beeline” distance). Keeping to a straight course requires that at least one character has skills in wilderness navigation; check to determine if the companions become lost after every 2000 feet of travel or 100 rounds.

Heavy black clouds hang low over the City. The air smells smoky, is 92ºF, and is very dry. The soot, mist, and vapors from the pervasive fires continually irritate the lungs, causing frequent bouts of coughing that result in a character’s Constitution statistic being reduced by 2 points with a -1 attack penalty for 600 rounds (Fortitude save DC26, checked every 300 rounds or 2500 feet of travel).

Harhar... That will be one kick-ass location to run through...

*City of Burnign Tombs* - the geek in me makes a salto! Thank you very much for sharing!

Havard,

Well, that's up to the D&D-playing public. I've stated before that I think the tabletop RPG industry is at a critical cross-roads right now. The D20 heyday is certainly deader than a doornail, and many of the imposter D20 companies have bitten the dust. Now the top-tier D20 places are struggling, and WoTC is getting back into putting out adventures. Companies like Troll Lords, Necromancer, and Goodman Games are going to be wary about publishing anything that doesn't earn them immediate and worthwhile profits.

Dark Tower is in the works (Goodman Games), as is Tegel Manor (Necromancer). if everyone who loves the Judges Guild world and/or who has purchased the Wilderlands of High Fantasy Boxed Set goes out and buys Thieves of Fortress Badabaskor and Citadel of Fire, you have a good chance of seeing other JG products hit the shelves in 2008. If not, well, it may be a while. The big project James Mishler is working on is actually competitive rather than complimentary to the Necromancer Games Wilderlands Boxed Set, so I'm not sure if that counts for you.

Nothing else is in the pipeline that I am aware of. Some writers are working on some projects, but I don't know that there is a firm commitment to publish from anyone. I'd love to write some more Judges Guild material (compatible with the Necro WoHF boxed set), both re-makes and new, but I doubt Necromancer, Troll Lords, or Goodman Games will want to talk to me if Badabaskor and Citadel of Fire don't do well. That's just business.

So, I can't urge you enough to buy Badabaskor and Citadel of Fire from your local hobby shop (or RPGshop.com, RPG.net, RPG now, Amazon, etc.) if you want to see more Judges Guild material for 3.5/D20.

Thanks for your interest and support.

SS