TEXT: Bitter Harvest 
   
  For PCs level 1-2 
   
  Other Material Needed: 
   
  Player’s Handbook (PHB) 
   
  Dungeon Master’s Guide (DMG) 
   
  Monster Manual (MM) 
   
   
   
   
  To the west of the city of Burden’s Peak is a 
  large, fertile plains area. Scattered across the 
  rolling plains are small farming villages that 
  rely on the fertility of the plains to keep them 
  supplied in crops that they sell in Burden’s 
  Peak. They don’t make much money from them, 
  but without the crops, these families might well 
  be destitute and starve. 
   
  While in the streets of Burden’s Peak, the PCs 
  are approached by a frantic young girl. The 
  frightened girl is crying, and begs the PCs to 
  come help her small village. She tells the PCs 
  that “monsters” came, stole their crops, 
  ransacked the village, and abducted some of the 
  residents. She says her father sent her to 
  Burden’s Peak to find help while he looked for 
  his wife who came up missing in the raid. 
   
  If the PCs accept, the little girl tells them her 
  name is Alyssa, and then tugs at their hands as 
  she leads them outside of the mighty walls of 
  Burden’s Peak west gate to a small horse-drawn 
  wagon. She invites the PCs to ride in the back of 
  the wagon which has a soft bed of hay in it. 
  Young as she is, Alyssa is quite adept at driving 
  the wagon which she immediately heads toward 
  the west in the direction of her village. 
   
  It is a fairly short ride of only about three hours. 
  As the wagon approaches, plumes of smoke can 
  be seen coming from some of the houses in the 
  tiny village. Small bushes and scrub oaks dot 
  the plains and periodically line the road toward 
  the village. 
   
  The ride is interrupted as a flaming arrow flies 
  out from one of the small bushes near the road 
  and stick in the front end of the wagon, setting it 
  on fire. Alyssa yells out in panic, dropping the 
  reigns of the horse. Frightened and out of 
  control, the horse barrels toward the village with 
  the burning wagon tethered behind it. The PCs 
  must stop the wagon before it crashes into one 
  of the small homes or jump out of the wagon 
  before the fire consumes it. Alyssa screams for 
  the PCs to help stop the wagon, jumps out, rolls, 
  then runs off into the village. 
   
  If the PCs try to stop the wagon: 
   
  A skill challenge will ensue if the PCs decide to 
  try and regain control of the errant horse. The 
  PCs must be able to regain control of the wagon 
  by completing the skill challenge with 4 
  successes before 3 failures. If the PCs fail: 
   
  A) The horse runs the out-of-control wagon 
  into one of the village houses, setting it 
  on fire and killing the horse. The crash 
  will also do 2d4 points of untyped 
  damage to the PCs as they are ejected 
  from the wagon. 
   
  B) The fire consumes the wagon which falls 
  apart, pulling the horse down, killing it 
  and doing 2d4 points of fire damage to 
  the PCs with ongoing 5 fire damage 
  (save ends). 
   
  The skill checks progress as follows: 
   
  2- Acrobatics checks (DC 15) to maintain 
  balance while trying to retrieve the reigns. 
   
  1- Endurance check (DC 15) to regain control of 
  the horse once the reigns have been retrieved. 
   
  1- Nature check (DC 15) to steer the wagon 
  away from the houses to a safe area. 
   
  When the wagon has been brought to a stop, the 
  PCs must free the horse by cutting away the 
  reigns before the fire consumes the entire 
  wagon, killing the horse as well. No skill check 
  is necessary to perform this action. 
   
  Whether the PCs successfully stop the wagon, 
  crash the wagon, or jump out of the wagon 
  before it crashes, the following encounter occurs 
  just outside of the small village: 
   
   
  
  Level 2 Encounter:  600 XP 
  ♦ 2 Goblin Sharpshooters (MM, pg. 137) 
  ♦ 6 Goblin Cutters (MM, pg. 136) 
  ♦ 2 Goblin Blackblades (MM, pg. 136) 
   
  The Goblin Sharpshooters will utilize the bushes 
  for cover as long as possible, shooting at the 
  PCs from the partial cover. The Goblin Cutters 
  will come running toward the PCs from some of 
  the homes of the village. The Goblin 
  Blackblades take partial cover behind bushes 
  and shout commands to the other Goblins. 
   
   
   
  When the Goblins are dispatched, noises can be 
  heard along with Goblin voices coming from 
  inside some of the houses. When the houses are 
  approached, another wave of Goblins pours out 
  of the houses and attacks the PCs. 
   
  Level 2 Encounter: 500 XP 
  ♦ 2 Goblin Blackblades (MM, pg. 136) 
  ♦ 6 Goblin Cutters (MM, pg. 136) 
  ♦ 1 Goblin Hexer (MM, pg. 137) 
   
  The Goblin Hexer will attempt to stay as far 
  away as possible from the PCs and use various 
  abilities to aid the other Goblins. The Goblin 
  Blackblades order the Cutters who will try to 
  swarm and flank the PCs. If necessary, the 
  houses can be entered. 
   
   
   
   
  There is a large barn at the far west end of the 
  town. When the PCs reach it, they can clearly 
  see that the front door is pushed slightly open. If 
  the PCs attempt to push the door open, it will 
  trigger a trap. 
   
  Swinging Log                                           Level 2 Warder 
  Trap                                                                         XP 125 
  As the door swings open, a rope is pulled that stretches 
  over to a large log that has been tied up against the wall. 
  It swings down, and will slam into whoever is in the way. 
  Trap: A 3 foot thick by 18 foot long log is tied to the side 
  wall, and is triggered by the opening of the door. 
  Perception: 
  DC 20: The PCs notice the rope leading away from the 
  door in an upward position. 
  Trigger:  
  The trap attacks when the door is opened. 
  Attack: 
  Immediate Reaction           Melee 
  Target: Any within the path of the swinging log. 
  Attack: +7 vs AC 
  Hit: 1d8+3 damage and the target is pushed 2 squares 
  Miss: The target returns to the square it occupied before 
  triggering the trap and its move action ends immediately. 
  Countermeasure: 
  The only countermeasure for this trap is to reach a blade 
  or other sharp object through the opening of the door and 
  cutting the rope, allowing the log to swing harmlessly 
  before entering. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
  When the PCs have finished with the log trap, 
  they are confronted with more enemies inside 
  the barn who will immediately attack. 
   
  Level 3 Encounter: 800 XP 
  ♦ 3 Goblin Blackblades (MM, pg. 136) 
  ♦ 4 Goblin Cutters (MM, pg. 136) 
  ♦ 2 Goblin Sharpshooters (MM, pg. 137) 
  ♦ 1 Doppelganger (MM, pg. 71) 
   
   
   
  The Cutters will rush toward the PCs and attack. 
  The Sharpshooters will remain behind two sets 
  of stacked crates, popping up only to shoot. The 
  Blackblades will do nothing but shout 
  commands until the PCs come on their side of 
  the crates, at which point they will attack.  
   
  The Hexer stands on the loft up the stairs. He is 
  holding the young girl Alyssa at knife point. 
  When the rest of the Goblins are dead, the 
  Hexer yells down to the PCs in broken Common 
  to stop or the girl dies. He shoves Alyssa down 
  behind him and begins a spell. A second later, a 
  white-haired figure looms up behind the Goblin. 
  The Hexer screams as a steel blade shoves 
  through his back, spraying blood out of the front 
  and back. As the Goblin slumps to the floor, the 
  almost-featureless white-haired figure smiles, 
  then thanks the PCs for killing the raiders that 
  took over her village. She then leaps down and 
  attacks the PCs. 
   
  When the Doppelganger is destroyed, the PCs 
  find a large wooden chest on the loft. It is 
  unlocked, and contains the following: 
   
  500gp 
  200sp 
  2 Potions of Healing 
  1 Cloak of Distortion 
   
  Total XP: 2250 
   
  If the PCs are level 1 when they start this 
  adventure, they gain enough XP to reach level 3. 
   
   
   
   
   
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/3rd Party/4th Edition/Implement Games/Bitter Harvest.pdf