The Story So Far - Part 15 - "The Samaritan Trap"

"The Story So Far" is an ongoing series recapping the details of a Dungeons & Dragons campaign that I've been running since 2002. Links to the previous entries can be found here:  

Prologue                    Part 1                    Part 2                    Part 3              Part 4  

Part 5                        Part 6                    Part 7                    Part 8              Part 9 

Part 10                     Part 11                  Part 12                   Part 13            Part 14

I've "fictionalized" the session reports in a likely-vain attempt to make them more "entertaining." 

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All hail and well-met, fellow nerds! 

This time out I'm gonna something a bit different: I'm gonna give you guys my actual campaign notes for this part of the adventure so you can use it in your own game if you wanna. At the end I'll let you know how my own players fared. 

A word of introduction: "The Samaritan Trap" is a D&D setting designed for 3-5 players of levels 2-3. It was originally produced for 3E / 3.5 but it's easily adapted to any version of the game (or any fantasy RPG, for that matter.)  

I did a considerable amount of research into the workings of lumber camps to create this scenario but I'll be the first to admit that the camp is definitely more turn-of-the-century than Medieval. I just dig the organization of the camp, the different jobs and the description and function of the various buildings.

This camp (and the resulting adventure) can be slotted into the woodland area of any campaign setting and will appeal to players who are looking for more mystery solving / NPC interaction than combat. 

Okay, if you're all ready...let's begin!

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“The Samaritan Trap”

The Premise

A malevolent creature has taken up refuge at the lumber camp just east of Castebridge and is feeding off the pain and misery of its inhabitants.  After casting a spell of misfortune on the camp, the creature now gains untold strength and vitality from the constant mishaps plaguing the operation.  To make matters worse, the entity has compelled a local witch to exploit her unique relationship with a unicorn, extorting coin from the lumberjacks every time they require a patch up!       

For my group, they were motivated to go to the camp to heal the dwarven lord Giran Oakenshield, who was poisoned by goblins during the defense of Kiras Toth. In order to get him back on his feet, they need to find the unicorn from their very first adventure and either persuade it to come into town (unlikely) or bring Giran to the creature.

Naturally, you can use a similar motivation for your players to visit the camp...or it can even be a random encounter during a hex crawl! 

About the Camp 

At the camp, the group's old friend Beren (wild-eyes, burly-looking, huge gut, 30-something, simian limbs, balding on head but certainly not torso, has a habit of not wearing a shirt) tells them that he hasn't personally seen the Unicorn lately, but an unfortunate number of his crew have.  In fact, notwithstanding the standard practice of consuming vast quantities of mead and Flaxberry wine, there have been an inordinate amount of mishaps and accidents in the camp lately.

For more info on Beren see “Personages” below.

When the group first walks into the camp, a Perception Check of DC 10+ reveals a small sign on the side of the barn that reads: 

4 Days Hours Since Our Last Accident

According to Beren, falling trees and rolling logs have caused a few deaths, but most of the injuries are the result of random ax heads flying off, band-saws breaking and chronic pratfalls.   

The Curse 

Every time someone within the boundaries of the camp (including the PC's) tries to do something even slightly hazardous, get them to roll a d6. On a roll of 1-2 they suffer some sort of personal injury-related mishap.           

NOTE: for additional challenge feel free to make it a 50/50 shot.     

Inside The Buildings

All five buildings are made of long pieces of timber, neatly fitted together, with the intervening seams filled with sticks and plastered with a crude mortar.  Boards about an inch in thickness were used to construct the roof and gable ends.  Light enters the building through two small un-glassed windows at either end. Ventilation is accomplished via metal funnels placed in the roof.

The “Cook Camp”

This structure has two sections: a kitchen and a mess hall.  The food, or "chuck," as it's called, is plain but wholesome.  The chief drinks are steeped djiling tea and water, with the occasional treat of strong-brewed ghava.  Salted meat is typical and fresh meat is uncommon. Bread, butter, corn bread, potatoes, bean soup, pea soup, mince pies and stew are frequent meals.  Desert usually involves apple, prune and currant pies, bread pudding, hot cakes and cookies.

Iron knives and forks, tin dishes, plates and spoons grace the tables since breakable earthenware dishes don’t tend to last very long.

Etiquette is not the woodsman's forte.  Scarcely a word is spoken at the table, save slack-jawed requests like “BEANS!!!” or “Toss over a hunk o’ that cheese, Bill.”   The men are there to eat and they devote themselves to this task with a single-minded focus that borders on ferocious gluttony.

The “Men’s Camp”

This building features one large open room where the men sleep and spend their time when not at work.  Two rows of bunks, one above the other, extend along the side of the room, with each bunk is designed to accommodate two men (!).  A long, stationary bench is built on the front side of the lower bunks, and affords sufficient room to enable all to be seated at once. The sleeping capacity of the camp is fifty men. 

The “Van”

The office is run by a pretty-but-plain “scaler” named Vestine (see “Personages”).  It’s a small store that sells woodsmen supplies: clothing, boots, amber pipeleaf, medicinal herbs, and any other things that the men are likely to need.  Their purchases are added to a tab and, whin it comes time to "settle up", their van bill is deducted from the amount they would otherwise receive. 

Local Color

Personal property is often kept in a canvas grain bag called a "sling."  A piece of rope is attached to each end of the bag and strung over the shoulder diagonally across the chest, allowing a woodsman to easily carry his "sling" into town.

Singing, dancing, and incredibly scary “games” (like “pinfinger”) are maintained throughout the evening, often into the wee hours.  One of the odder activities at the camp is the “stag dance” in which pairs of drunken, uncoordinated residents dance the carole and keep time with a hurdy gurdy, a vielle and a small drum.  

Hazing noobs is quite a popular activity and usually involves forcing new recruits to don a frilly frock and sing a campfire song. Later they're expected to purchase a pound of pipeleaf at the van for the rest of the men as a sign of good will.      

Strangers are often subjected to a good deal of ill treatment.  A common practice is for six or eight men to seize newcomers and fling them as high as possible into the air using a blanket.

Thievery in the camp is rampant.  Men often sleep in their boots since socks have a habit of vanishing right off their feet during the night. 

After doing a delivery to the town and Magda’s Ferry Service, sometimes a handful of the men will will stay in the “big city” to party.   In my campaign they are banned from finer establishments like the Rambling Rogue but Klein tolerates them at the dodgy Lost Souls tavern since he doesn't feel obliged replace anything the wildlings break, steal or spoil.

The woodsman wear tunics and coats made from a heavy and colorful woolen material called a "mac'naw."  Breechers are standard but some of the men occasionally wear full suits of mac'naw, which makes them look as if they’re parading around in their underwear.  The woodsman's outer garments are made of the brightest possible colors, blue, green, red, and yellow being the more prominent.  This allows the men to see each other through the thick underbrush and shout a warning of imminent danger.  Most outsiders would consider such dress "outlandish" but it actually has a practical purpose.    

Camp Organization / Operation

The men are divided into three groups - choppers, skidders, and sawyers.

The choppers go in advance, cutting the roads as they proceed.  Brien is a typical chopper (early twenties, short brown curly hair, small bald spot, blue eyes, always smiling, has a perpetual dazed look about him).  The chopper taking the lead, cuts notches in the trees on whatever side he wishes to fell them.    

The sawyers follow close in their wake.  With their long, cross-cut saw, the sawyers cut down the trees marked by the cutter.  Another chopper severs the branches from the downed timber, and the sawyers cut it into logs, usually sixteen feet in length.  Two of the most productive sawyers are Randall (black crows wing head of hair, mashed nose, ruddy complexion, surly) and Geoff (massive veiny forearms, bow-legged, curly head of straw-colored hair and a braided beard).

The skidders take up the rear.  Two long pieces of timber are laid about eight feet apart parallel to each other in line with the trail.  This is called the “skidway.”   “Swampers” trim the logs and make roads for the teamster by clearing away the thick underbrush.  A veteran “swamper” is Walther, a beady-eyed, round-faced scruffy looking guy who looks like a transient.  He always seems to be covered head-to-toe in mud.    

Myron the teamster hauls the logs, and the “deckers” roll them into a pile varying from about four to ten feet high on the skidway.  One of the dominant “deckers” is Guillaume, a massive Alamenian giant who’s build like a brick outhouse.  Long black hair, lantern-jawed, green eyes, winning smile.  Denn is in unwitting competition with him to be the camps’ most eligible bachelor.     

Personages

Beren the foreman is married to Wilhemina, who resembles Val Kilmer's Madmartigan in drag.  They occupy a very small dwelling in the middle of the camp.  They have a small litter of youngsters (three boys and one girl) with ages ranging from fourteen to four. Sharp eyed folks will notice that some of the kids bear a striking resemblance to other men in the camp.    

Elron A.K.A “Cooky” (early fifties, wide-eyed, massive Adam’s apple, rake-thin, huge mitts) runs the cook camp.  As soon as someone makes the mistake of talking to him, Cooky will proceed to catalog an entire litany of his broken bones and lost digits (some of which have never turned up).   

There is also a humble smithy run by Denn, a bald, mute, inhumanly muscular chap.  Beren calls him “simple” but his work is impeccable.  Female members of the group (and the male members, let's face it) will be awestruck by his inhumanly flawless physique.

The camp is dominated by a sizable barn which houses a horse and cart team.  The lead teamster is Myron, a genial, obese gentlemen who resembles Robbie Contrane as Hagrid.  Players who get inside the barn can hear Oren the owl frantically hooting up in the loft on a DC 15 Listen Check.  They might also be able to Spot the floor’s trap door where our resident villain has hidden the town’s wealth (DC 20).       

Vestine runs the “van” and also acts as the camp’s medic.  When the men get injured - as they often do lately - they come to her.  If she can’t treat their wounds, she goes out into a nearby clearing and calls the Unicorn with a sweet song of beckoning.  The unicorn, clearly predisposed to assist Vestine, helps without question and then vanishes back into the woods.  

After assisting the patient, Vestine adds thirty gold crowns to their van bill for this service. If challenged about this, she says that she needs the money because transportation costs up the River Swift from Footholde are so high that she barely breaks even selling regular goods (exposed as a lie with a successful Insight / Deception contest!).  She tells the group in no uncertain terms that the unicorn will not go into town but may treat Giran if he’s brought to the clearing and if the group is willing to pay the standard fee.  

Suspicion may eventually fall upon Vestine, who is actually a Level 4 Witch.  Here are her stats:  STR: 13 (+1) DEX: 14  (+2) CON: 8 (-1) CHR: 13  (+1) INT: 12 (+1) WIS: 15 (+2).  HP: 2 + 5 + 3 + 5 = 15.  She has a Base +2 Attack Bonus.  Saves: +1 FORT +4 REF +4 WILL.  

Vestine is indeed tricking the men of the camp, but it’s out of necessity. The creature that put a curse on the camp - the Schaden Dämon - has captured Vestine’s familiar (an Owl named Oren) and has threatened to kill him if she doesn’t obey him.  The money that Vestine has been extorting out of the men for their injuries goes right to the fiend. 

The Schaden Dämon is a magical creature from Bresden mythology that feeds upon the physical pain and bad karma of others.  The creature has the ability to Polymorph itself into various humanoid creatures. Typically it will ingratiate itself to a small community, set up its sustaining curse (see above) and then just grow fat from the resulting mishaps.  If confronted, the creature will drop its fraudulent appearance and revert to its true form: that of an obese shade with a demonic countenance.  Here are its stats:  

Schaden Dämon

Hit Dice:               8d8+3

Hit Points:  8 / 6 / 7 / 5 / 5 / 5 / 6 / 6 + 3 = 51  

(NOTE: for an extra challenge, add d8 Hit Points for every "mishap" that occurs after the PC's arrive at the camp) 

Initiative:              -1

Speed:   20 ft. (4 squares)

Armor Class:  19 in pitch darkness, 15 under low light, 11 during daylight. 

Base Attack/Grapple:        +6/+14

Attack:   Slam +10 melee (2d6+4)

Grapple:  If the creature hits with a Grapple causes d4 + 5 damage and inflicts a Crushing Despair  effect (DC 17).    

Special Attacks:  Regeneration.  The Schadendämon regenerates Hit Points for the damage it causes at half the amount (rounded down).         

Special Defenses: The Curse: every time anyone within the camp tries to attack the creature, get them to roll a d6.   On a roll of “1” the players suffers some sort of personal injury-related mishap and the Schadendämon gets Hit Points back equal to this damage.      

Special Qualities:  The creature is immune to fire, cold and lightning.  Light spells act like Fireballs on the creature causing d6 damage per caster level.  Darkvision 60 ft.  Curse (as above).

Saves:    Fort +6, Ref +0, Will +3

Abilities:               Str 21, Dex 10, Con 16, Int 14, Wis 15, Cha 7

Challenge Rating:  8

Experience Points: 5400

Tactics:  At first the creature will attempt to kill the adventurers but - should the battle start to go poorly - it will transform back to human form (taking a round to do so), jump on the only horse in the barn that has a saddle and ride off towards Castebridge.   

Once the creature is slain or driven off, the curse is lifted and the players can raid the barn. It's here that Myron hid the owl in a cage in the loft as well as the camp’s ill-begotten treasure (a trapdoor under the floorboards found with a DC 15 check in full light).  

The treasure consists of 467 Gold Crowns, and two minor magic items…a Potion of Protection for Arrows and an Arcane Scroll with two Spells on it: one first level (Reduce Person) one third (Fly).     

The denizens of the camp will be delighted if a certain portion of their stolen money is returned to them.  If one-third is returned, Beren tells the group that they will always have a place to stay in the camp.  If two-thirds is returned they will give the players run of the camp as well as a free pet like a dog or a light horse.  If all of the money is returned the group gets the key to the camp, the pet and a “pledge to return a favor”. 

Once Vestine has Oren the owl back, naturally she invites the group to bring Giran to the camp ASAP for free treatment.

***

"Th-th-th-that's all, folks!"   

So, full disclosure, the "Fellowship" (more original name, TBD) started out thusly: 

Bria (Human Rogue) - Sabina

Lorelei (Half-Elf Druid) - Cheryl

Pol (Human Fighter) - Claudia 

Rincewind (Human Sorcerer...currently inactive) - Thomas

Roman (Human Cleric) - Dean

Then three more characters were added to the stable:

Elster (Dwarf Cleric) - Angela

Kerbin (Human Ranger) - Mark

Korrick (Dwarf Paladin) - Matt 

I can say - without a doubt - that the final fight proved to be a cakewalk against such a stacked roster. No surprise, especially since this mob was anywhere between Level 2-4 at the time. 

They figured out the mystery, barely broke a sweat killing the Schaden Dämon, spared the witch, reunited her with her owl and then gave two-thirds of the treasure back to the camp...earning them all "the run of the camp as well as a free pet like a dog or a light horse."  

Honestly, I was okay with that because this was meant to cap off a fun, light, open-ended role play session. I enjoyed inhabiting the various NPC's and watching my peeps react to all the absurdities occurring around them and attempt to solve the mystery. 

For the record, I don't mind running a game for eight players at a time but - man! - I'm really gonna hafta ramp up the encounter difficulty!

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Next time out: the group investigates a disappearance that's uncomfortably close to home!

Image Credits:

Lumber Camp https://blenderartists.org/t/lumber-camp-ii/1375562 

Schadendämon https://angrygolem-games.com/monster-tactics-fight-like-a-shadow/

Lumberjack https://www.deviantart.com/dusint/art/Lumberjack-788577279