First Things First:
What Are Your Needs?
Whether a village, town, city, or farm, a civilized point in a fantasy role-play game has a few requirements. One is an answer to the question: Where can the PCs sleep? This could be an inn, possible apartments or villas for rent, or even the loft in the barn. The judge needs to know what it costs, as well as any security risks or knock-on effects that relate to staying there. For instance, a villa may come with servants, but one or more of those servants may be spies, and not necessarily for the same master. An innkeeper might sell some guests to a cannibal cult while keeping their goods (Shadows in Zamboula) or might not be a real inn at all (The Face in the Frost). In some cases, staying in the right house may increase the PC’s prestige, offer them social opportunities they would not otherwise have, or even provide a unique adventure hook.
PCs require a place to purchase new equipment, sell loot, and to seek out advice, rumors, and answers to questions that have arisen in game play. Not every community will have all of these things, nor should they. You might be able to pick up a hoe staying at a farm, but few farmsteads have spare weapons or suits of armor laying about. In general, the larger the community, the more it will offer in terms of goods and the opportunity to sell treasure. A small village may have a local sage or hedge wizard who can help identify found items through their lore (or by magic), but, then again it may not.
Prices and reliability of goods may vary depending upon where they are purchased. A renowned dwarven smith’s armor costs more than that of ordinary armorers, for the prestige alone. For an even higher price, the smith may be able to increase AC bonus, or decrease weight and/or Fumble Die. Equipment does not have to be magical to provide bonuses or be cool. Similarly, a slipshod weaponsmith’s work might automatically shatter (in addition to other effects) on any critical hit and/or fumble.
Even a hermit knows something of the lands about them, and may be able to provide interesting rumors and leads. Not everyone loves to talk, but enough do that a little coin spent directly or on food and drink can often profit a would-be adventurer. The judge can have pre-written rumors, know the area well enough to make some up on the fly, or fly by the seat of their pants. Most judges in my experience do some mixture of all three.
One thing you might not realize that you need is a unified feeling to a community, even if that feeling is one of great diversity. For instance, Winterhaven sounds very North American or British. It is located in the Cairngorm Mountains, which are Scottish (I have driven through them). The ruler is Lord Padraig, which is Irish. The other names throughout the text are a similar hodge-podge, and there is no reason given why the area should be so diverse. Exotic names only sound out of place when they contrast to a naming convention, and we notice this subconsciously even if we are not aware of it. You may not realize how careful J. R.R. Tolkien was with naming people and places in Middle Earth, but his notes for translation to other languages show just how consistent he was being. There is no expectation that you or I need be as careful, but making a few naming changes to Winterhaven’s population would make the setting better.
For more on NPCs in general, see Care and Feeding of NPCs Part I and Part II. I talk a bit about naming in Part II.
Let’s look at some specific areas.
Wrafton’s Inn
This spacious inn and tavern serves as the public house for the region. Like alehouses everywhere, Wrafton’s Inn offers beer, wine, and, on occasion, spirits. Meals are served for those with the coin, and beds for travelers are available. A crowd of villagers gathers each night to drink, gossip, sing, and play games of chance.
In addition to village residents, any travelers passing through Winterhaven are found here.
Anyone in Wrafton’s knows the general history of the village and the nearby ruined keep. Only Valthrun knows that the ruined keep was built to contain a rift into the Shadowfell.
Salvana Wrafton: Wrafton’s owner and proprietor is a female human named Salvana Wrafton. She employs several waiters, waitresses, and cooks. Salvana is friendly and open, quick with a smile and a warm welcome.
Eilian the Old: This old farmer is a regular customer at Wrafton’s. Every night, Eilian takes a seat at a table in the corner. He has a farm down in the valley along the Old King’s Road. Eilian has an interest in Winterhaven’s history. He is a good source for local information, and he loves to talk.
Valthrun the Prescient: Valthrun is a sage and scholar who lives in a tower within Winterhaven’s walls. On occasion he shows up in Wrafton’s to socialize. Valthrun is knowledgeable about the area, though he knows nothing of death cult activity in the vicinity. He does know about the sealed rift beneath the ruins of the old keep, but he doesn’t discuss such things with just any adventurer, and he never talks about it with the villagers since he doesn’t want to cause a panic. Valthrun is a good listener, asking just enough questions to keep whomever he speaks with talking.
Lord Padraig: From time to time, the town’s lord (level 3 human warlord) visits Wrafton’s. All those present doff their hats and call him Lord, after which he retreats to a corner table and sips beer. He is amenable to speaking with adventurers who approach him. He initially assumes they are dignitaries from another village or possibly merchants scouting new trade routes. Regardless, if he believes they are merely treasure hunters, his respect diminishes unless they prove their worth.
Ninaran: A quiet elf hunter who usually drinks alone, Ninaran is not interested in conversation. Stiff and bitter in demeanor, she is Kalarel’s agent in Winterhaven and reports back to him about happenings in the village.
This is good stuff, and most of what you need to know to run visits to the inn successfully. There are also some specific questions and answers given in the adventure, designed for each of the people the PCs are likely to ask, and this is also useful. 4e assumes that the PCs are “heroes” while DCC does not, so you might need statistics for NPCs beyond what is given here. You can assume most NPCs are AC 9 or 10, with 2 hp. Important NPCs might have 6 hp. Truly important NPCs (Lord Padraig, Valthrun the Prescient, and Ninaran) should probably be given full statblocks. I would suggest building them from King, Magician, and Assassin respectively.
My proposed statblock for Ninaran is:
Ninaran, Elven Spy: Init +4; Atk bronze dagger +9 melee (1d4 or 1d10) or shortbow +12 ranged (1d6); AC 14; HD 3d6; hp 12; MV 30’; Act 2d20; SP infravision 60’, thief skills 75% (disguise, move silently, climb, pick locks, hide in shadows), iron vulnerability; SV Fort +3, Ref +8, Will +4; AL C.
If you compare that with the Assassin statblock on page 432 of the core rules, you will see that I made very few changes – changed weapons, removed the poison, and added infravision and iron vulnerability because the character is an elf.
Market Square
Every other day or so, carts and wagons gather in the square and offer goods to the people of Winterhaven. Once each week, the official Market Day acts as a siren’s song, calling most of the villagers to shop and socialize in the square. Farmers sell produce, hunters hawk smoked meats, villagers sell crafts, and sometimes a trader from the east sells implements or costly goods.
On any given day, there is a 50% chance that items from the adventuring gear list in the Player’s Handbook are available for sale here. Adventurers will almost never find armor, weapons, implements, or magic items in the market square, however.
Delphina Moongem: Delphina turned away from the forest of her elven roots to live an urban existence, if Winterhaven can truly be called such. Delphina can be found in the square on Market Day selling wildflowers from her cart. She is happy to tell visitors about Winterhaven. She collects wildflowers north of the village, and she has seen goblins around the ruined keep visible in the foothills to the north.
We already decided that the kobolds were instead “ratlings”. Now we need to decide what to do about the goblins. Page 380 of the core rulebook is once more handy to help make our monsters mysterious! A roll of 12 on Table 9-1 tells us our goblins are green – nothing unusual there! A 5 on Table 9-2 arms them with slings and clubs predominantly. While we still don’t have a hook, a 14 on Table 9-3 tells us that our goblins have a glowing aura. Finally, a 7 on Table 9-4 reveals that our goblins are “fascinated with jewels, metal weapons, helmets, leatherworking, shoes, etc”, indicating (with their weaponry) a rather primitive group of humanoids. Let us call them “twilight people”, appearing rather like humanish cavemen who glow with a gentle green aura. Like other goblins, they are predominantly nocturnal, and Delphina (from Latin) has only seen them at dusk.
Smithy
A dwarf named Thair Coalstriker owns the village smithy. PCs can purchase a variety of mundane wares here, including spikes, weapons, heavy armor, and so on. Simple weapons are readily available, but military weapons require one day to complete, and superior weapons require a week of work.
My rewrite for DCC:
A dwarf named Thair Coalstriker (AC 10, 4 hp) owns the village smithy. PCs can purchase a variety of mundane wares here, including spikes, simple weapons (dagger, short sword, spear), light armor, and so on. More complex weapons require at least one day to complete (roll 1d5), and superior weapons can be purchased for 1d3+1 times the normal cost. These do +1d damage, and are only broken on a critical hit or fumble that would break or damage a normal weapon if the wielder fails a Luck check. Such weapons require at least 1d3 weeks to create, and the judge should increase this time for larger or more complex weapons. Medium armor can be created in 1d3 weeks +1 week per point of AC bonus, but heavy armor is beyond Coalstriker’s skill to produce.
Valthrun’s Tower
This five-story structure is the highest building in Winterhaven. The tower is rumored to be over 300 years old, and Valthrun the Prescient is its most recent resident.
Valthrun doesn’t use much of the tower; he inhabits the top two levels. The bottom three levels are locked and empty except for the stairway connecting them to Valthrun’s quarters. Valthrun is described briefly above in the section on Wrafton’s Inn. The sage and scholar has a small selection of 1st and 2nd level rituals that he is willing to sell once he determines the worth and merit of an adventurer. Refer to the Player’s Handbook for a list of rituals.
One of the goals in this method of conversion is that you have to neither own nor consult the rules you are converting from. Therefore, we will assume that Valthrun uses the basic statistics of a Magician, from pages 433-434 of the core rulebook.
Under Monsters Don’t Play By the Rules on page 383 of the core rulebook, it says “Spellcasters in particular, whether human or monstrous in nature, should have powers that are unavailable to the players. This does not mean fully defined spells of the same sort learned by the characters. This means a unique power of some kind that would provide a plot hook, leading the player characters to seek out the wizard character and attempt to enlist his services, either as a an ally, hireling, or hostage.” It is, therefore, perfectly fair to give Valthrun whatever unique powers you wish. These can be rituals from the 4th Edition Player’s Handbook if you own it, or they can be as simple as the ability to identify magic items with a degree of accuracy chosen by the judge.
Bairwin’s Grand
Shoppe
Bairwin Wildarson traveled the world, or so he claims, before setting up shop in Winterhaven ten years ago. He has a variety of items available for sale, including anything off the list of adventuring gear shown in the Player’s Handbook. He occasionally has a few 1st-level magic items for sale, and he sometimes has a couple of potions of healing available in the shop.
In DCC, you should be very careful about having magic items available for sale, and even in 4e you will note that availability is left up to the DM. I would caution you also against having any normal item available, unless you want your PCs to patronize Bairwin’s exclusively. The Grand Shoppe is, however, an excellent place to sell loot, and could have an occasional occult trinket.
If you have access to DCC Lankhmar #2: The Fence’s Fortuitous Folly, the opening bit is a good model for this kind of shop – a lot of junk that might be occult, and might not be, but being treated as though it were.
Sometimes having healing potions isn’t a terrible thing. Choose a chance of having them, and a period you need to wait before checking again (for instance, a 1 in 10 chance of having 1d3 healing potions every 1d5 weeks), as well as some details about the potions (25 gp, Luck check to heal 1d3 hp when consumed, sour taste, created by the Sisterhood of Mending in the Temple of Dian Cecht some 25 miles away).
Warrior Guild
Winterhaven villagers can join the Warrior Guild and train, once per week, in basic sword and shield skills. The guild trains in Market Square on days when the market is not open. Some citizens earn militia pay (a few silver pieces per year) by training at least once per month and being on call for emergencies. Rond Kelfem, captain of the Winterhaven Regulars, also oversees the Warrior Guild. He can be found here, in the barracks, or on guard duty, depending on the time of day.
This is a bit of flavor in 4e, and probably in your DCC game too. However, under Weapon Training on page 24 of the core rulebook, it notes that “Generally, using a weapon without training imposes an attack penalty” and this penalty is further clarified on Table 4-1: Attack Roll Modifiers on page 78 as being -1d. The Warrior Guild offers a perfect “Quest For It” opportunity, should the players see it. After every 1d5 weeks training with the guild, the character may make a check to become trained in the use of a longsword. I would add other weapons – short bow, short sword, and spear – as additional weapons one could potentially become trained in. We can set the DC for the check at 15, and make it a Strength check for melee weapons and an Agility check for ranged weapons. You can keep training until you get it right. There is no fee, but the village can call upon you for its defense in times of need.
Tenements
The large tenement structure features apartments for the village residents who don’t own farms or who work in the businesses within the walls. Several families also live in the homes (buildings labeled H) on the west side of the village. Most of the villagers who live outside the walls are farmers and crafters who bring their wares to the Market Square to sell or trade.
You may as well set a rental fee, monthly and/or annually, for residence here. Sooner or later, your players are likely to ask.
Temple
This large stone structure is the village temple. Of the several deities worshiped by locals, Avandra, goddess of luck and change, is the most prominent.
The temple priest, Sister Linora, runs services in the temple three times per week, but otherwise she is not often present. She prefers to travel among the homes outside the walls, dispensing care to villagers and animals and helping with various farm projects. Although Linora is not a cleric, she is a non-heroic priest of Avandra. She doesn’t have access to cleric powers, but she does know the following rituals: gentle repose, cure disease, and raise dead.
Graveyard: Winterhaven has a graveyard for which Sister Linora serves as caretaker. The graveyard is located a short distance south of the walled town.
While you could shift Avandra two one of the Gods of the Eternal Struggle from the core rulebook, I rather like the idea of a goddess of luck and change, which meshes well with DCC. Sister Linora (apparently Australian) can be treated as a Friar from page 433 of the core rulebook, but what to do about her rituals?
Gentle repose just makes sure the dead are quiet in their graves – or at least, that is what the name implies – so we don’t have to do anything. Properly buried, the dead do not usually become un-dead. Sister Linora is the caretaker of the graveyard. She knows how to properly inter the dead. Easy-peasy.
Cure disease is equally simple. A friar can heal 2/day. We will just allow Sister Linora to choose to cure a disease instead of heal hit points. Alternatively, we can just say that each day under her care allows an additional save to end a disease. Also easy-peasy, and the goal really is to avoid complications that don’t make game play any better.
Raise dead, however, is a game changer, and an ability not normally available in DCC. My first instinct is to simply remove the ability, but…well, remember that bit about NPC spellcasters having abilities no available to the PCs? What if we let Sister Linora keep her ability to raise dead, but introduced some cost to the procedure? Here is my version:
Sister Linora has the ability to restore life to the dead by transferring life from the living. In a ritual taking 3 hours, and which must include at least one close associate of the deceased, Sister Linora permanently transfers some of the associate(s)’ energy to the deceased, restoring them to life. The body of the deceased must be reasonably intact (per judge), or the ritual fails.
Roll 1d3 for each day (or partial day) that the deceased has been dead. This is the number of ability score points which are permanently lost from the associates to fuel the magic. Lost points are evenly, and randomly, distributed, with each point coming randomly from (roll 1d5): (1) Strength, (2) Agility, (3) Stamina, (4) Intelligence, or (5) Personality. These points are lost even if the ritual fails.
When the ritual is completed, the deceased rerolls their Luck on 3d6, and then makes a Luck check. If the check succeeds, they are restored to life with 1 hp, and their Luck is now whatever score they rolled. At the judge’s discretion, a raised character may be haunted by vague memories of an afterlife, good or bad, and these memories may serve as a conduit of information or hooks to potential adventures.
Final Words
Under “Next Steps”, this adventure says “Regardless of what the player characters decide to investigate next, kobold bandits descend upon them the next time they leave town, seeking revenge for their fallen comrades.”
This is an attempt to make the PCs more interested in the kobold lair than whatever else they might have decided to do, and it is not something you should do in your own game. How do the kobold bandits know when the PCs plan to leave town? If they are not careful, and talk about their plans were Ninaran can hear, and wait long enough for her to report and the kobolds to prepare, fine. Otherwise, this is seriously problematic. “No matter what choices the players make, the consequences are the same” should not be part of your adventure design.
Next: D&D 4th Edition: Keep on the Shadowfell (3): Skill Challenges
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