# Help me enworld,  I need sewer encounters!



## satori01 (Mar 3, 2004)

I have a 1st level party that are going to explore the sewer systems of a large city, (sewers inspiried by the Cloaca Maximus of ancient rome).  The sewers are an entry way to an older series of catacombs where a temple of ratman live,(shades of Lankmaar).

Alas, work problems have loomed and to make a long story short, I am far away from home, overloaded and fried.  So if anyone has any creative monsters, scenarios, and devilish deeds they would wish to share I would be most appreciative.  I am willing to take anything and am looking for at least one zany, odd creature or encounter that would be memorable in perhaps a non combat way,(of course combat good as well).

Thanks in advance, and remember, enworld, you are my only hope.

(end transmission)


----------



## Olgar Shiverstone (Mar 3, 2004)

Rats, snakes, assorted vermin.

Some zombies, perhaps ... escaped from a local crypt.

Oozes ... maybe a shrine to an ooze god with an evil cleric or two.

An otyugh, as something big and nasty to run away from.

Perhaps the headquarters of the Halfling Mafia (TM).

An for zany ... how about a giant crocodile?


----------



## Alcareru (Mar 3, 2004)

Olgar Shiverstone said:
			
		

> Rats, snakes, assorted vermin.
> 
> Some zombies, perhaps ... escaped from a local crypt.
> 
> ...



Oozes yes!

Lacedon-aquatic ghouls-perhaps a deceased sewer worker or boatman.

Large versions of frogs preferably posionous created by the mad wizard that lurks in the sewers bowls.


----------



## Dark Jezter (Mar 3, 2004)

Sewers in D&D always contain an otyugh.  Why do they?  Well, people buy baby otyughs as pets because they are cute, but then they flush them down the toilet when they start to get too big.


----------



## SteelDraco (Mar 3, 2004)

satori01 said:
			
		

> Thanks in advance, and remember, enworld, you are my only hope.




I'm not sure I'm actually physically capable of turning down that particular request for aid. Let's see here. I'll assume that your first level party is of normal size, so a CR 1 encounter should use up around 25% of their resources. A CR 2 encounter at that level is fairly challenging, and CR 3 is potentially deadly. With that in mind...


Assassin Vine (CR 3) - the subterranean variety of assassin vine would grow very well in a sewer. Lots of food to eat, even if there aren't any tasty adventurers around.
Choker (CR 2) - a critter like this would probably prey mostly on vermin in a sewer, occasionally snatching a sewer worker or a ratling. Think Gollum.
Ettercap (CR 3) - you can play around with an ettercap's traps for quite some time, giving them the possibility to avoid the creature itself, though it would look for whatever disturbed its lair. Possibly a scary 'hunted through the dark' episode while they scramble for an exit.
Ooze Mephit (CR 3) - a large sewer might create spontaneous gates to the elemental plane of Ooze, dumping surprised and angry (or desperate?) ooze mephits into the material plane. Note that these aren't necessarily hostile; perhaps it wants the PC's help to find a way home? An ooze mephit can navigate in places in a sewer PCs can't or won't go; what's down there that they might want to know about?
Along the same lines, a Dragon magazine a while back had stats for genasi from the other elemental planes. An ooze genasi hermit would be very much at home in the sewers. Perhaps some sort of a sewer druid? Might be an interesting non-combat encounter.
A smaller version of a shambling mound might be the result of magical run-off, if there's a wizard college or something in the area. Drop it to three hit dice or so, drop the stats and natural armor bonus, and it'd be an interesting little encounter, without stomping their heads in.
Rat Swarm (CR 2) - while walking down the tunnels, the PCs hear frantic squeaking and chittering, and their torchlight falls across a furry carpet and seething red eyes as dozens and dozens of rats flee from the darkness. The rat swarm attacks the PCs, but what was it running from, and why?
A (mated?) pair of troglodytes is enjoying the local stench when they run across the PCs. Do they attack? Watch and ambush later? Let them go by? Attempt to talk? For some reason, I love the idea of a pair of troglodytes honeymooning to go smell the human sewer.
The PCs encounter a smuggler making his way through the sewers on a raft, singing as he poles through the sludge. He's very cordial, and offers to show them his wares, though if they look weak, he'll offer them something to drink and try to poison them.
The group runs across a dying ratling. Do they kill it? Take it topside for questioning? Why was it dying, anyway, and what happened to the thing that killed it?
The PCs find the body of a recently-dead official floating through the sludge, with the dagger that killed him still in his back. Around his feet, they find a frayed rope, which was once tied to a stone - he wasn't supposed to ever be found. Perhaps there's some way to identify his killer from the body, such as the dagger? Or is he not even known to be missing yet? Or has he been replaced by a doppleganger?
Along the same lines as the previous, the PCs find a severed hand with a signet ring on it. The ring is magical, and can be used to create a verified seal, used for getting past customs and signing official orders. Do they turn it in for the reward, sell it to smugglers and thieves, or keep it for their own use?
And then there are some more standard sewer monsters - snakes, dire rats, monstrous spiders, that sort of thing. 

Hope that's helpful.


----------



## Tonguez (Mar 3, 2004)

To add to the rest

don't forget methane gas - EXPLOSIVE methane gas that will be sparked off by say a unwary explorer with a burning torch

next fires - what do the PCs do when the tunnel behind them is now a raging fireball?

anykind of vermin and/or abberation is at home in a sewer - carrion crawlers perhaps?

or an Umber Hulk who has broken through from an unkown cave system

I had a PC find evidence of a lost civilisation (Yuan-Ti) when the wall of a sewer collapsed and he fell through into an ancient tomb.

The last time I used a sewer an unused part of it was home to a mad Genomancer (Monster Maker) who had created a 'Blood Crucible' which reinvigorated and dead flesh put in it and could be used to create monsters (by combining the bodies of two or more different creatures which combined into one and came back to life)


----------



## Telperion (Mar 3, 2004)

Slitheren! 

A Red Witch with some Maulers tossed in for the fun of it is all you need   .


----------



## Gnarlo (Mar 3, 2004)

Ok, weird and zany (though cliched probably):

The group is trudging through the sewer when they meet another group of 4 or 5 adventurers. This group appears to be very low level, their weapons appear to be made of wood, cloth padding(!), and very cheap metals; their armor looks very shoddy and possibly self-made. They speak in a foreign tongue unknown to anyone in the group. Depending on how you want the encounter to go they either appear lost, scared, and frustrated, or else they seem excited, aggressive but oddly friendly, and high spirited. 

The former group is likely to approach the party with relief initially until they realize that the weapons and/or races are not costumes at which point they flee down a nearby tunnel screaming and eerily fading out into nothing. The latter group will gleefully "attack" the group with padded arrows and beanbags while very gleefully shouting and hooting, then quickly flee down a nearby dead end passage and through the solid wall at the end of it, insanely laughing and shouting the entire time. No matter how much searching or inspection (magical or otherwise) is performed, no secret door or passage can ever be found at the dead end.


----------



## talinthas (Mar 3, 2004)

for what its worth, www.dragonlance.com just put up a link to the preview of the forthcoming Key of Destiny module, and a big portion of the mod is encounters in the sewers of the town, all scaled for level 1s...heck, the whole mod starts that low and builds up.  You may wanna check it out =)


----------



## satori01 (Mar 3, 2004)

Hmm thanks for the replies,
they are all really great,

but keep them comming,
 at this rate I can keep them in the sewers forever  
{insert manical laughter here}


----------



## Painfully (Mar 3, 2004)

It's all about the gelatenous cube baby!


----------



## Nightfall (Mar 3, 2004)

Telperion said:
			
		

> Slitheren!
> 
> A Red Witch with some Maulers tossed in for the fun of it is all you need  .



You so read my mind Tel.


----------



## Inconsequenti-AL (Mar 3, 2004)

Several local thieves guild members chopping up the last guy who messed with them... Can the players talk their way out of it? Whose going to get upset if these guys go missing...

Guptha the rat catcher. A slightly pathetic half goblin... (stolen from someone on these boards - Buttercup IIRC).

Some dumb kids trying to make their own zombies. With the grave robbing and all, it's not a healthy hobby. Perhaps someone more sinister has been giving them instructions? These guys are way too scared to fight.

A disused and hidden entrance to an interesting building. Perhaps the town leaders house, Temple of Hextor relic room or a trade guild treasury. How much trouble can you get in with one of them?


----------



## Hand of Evil (Mar 3, 2004)

Don't forget the non-monster encounters!  

Natural gas build ups - kaboom or illness.

Flash floods - like a river bed, when it rains sewers can become raging rivers.

Cleaners - These are the guys that make a living making sure when it rains things don't come bubbling up on the streets, no one like that.  

Cult member - Hey, they have to meet somewhere.

Traps - Okay, you have rats, snakes, aligators and other things, people talk and they don't like the thought of things that can enter a house while they are sitting around (if you know what I mean), traps would be placed more as a population control than elimination, if the players do not know what to look for...


----------



## Kae'Yoss (Mar 3, 2004)

What about a water elemental that has been forced to manifest out of the... "water" that is available in a sewer. After it has drowned its caller many a year ago it can't go back - it's in a foreign plane, it feals unclean, and it is harassed by little squeeky creatures. In short, its mood cold be better.


----------



## Ylis (Mar 3, 2004)

How about a young child that's gone missing a few weeks ago.  The PCs see her wandering around the sewers and are trying to "rescue" her.  Meanwhile, she's busy avoiding them and hiding from them because she's not supposed to speak to strangers....this could keep the PCs in the sewers for awhile...

Find an underground city built for the outcasts of society (lepers, unwanted races, etc).  The city is filled with those that might welcome the PCs in, but don't want them let out again, as the city is secret and word of it could send the "normal" people into the sewers to destroy it....


----------



## Olgar Shiverstone (Mar 3, 2004)

I've found a great way to run unexpected sewer explorations -- since you never know when your players will decide to go toff-diving -- is to have a blank, sort of randomly drawn flow chart with a list of encounters.  When they enter, pick a random spot on the chart to start, and let them wander around.  You can place on or two key encounters, and assign a random percentage for the rest.

Setting the stage with descriptions of sights, sounds, and especially smells is useful.  Nothing distracts like a detailed description of the garbage floating by.


----------



## Davek (Mar 3, 2004)

The party happens upon a iron door, set into the wall of the sewer. It is slightly damp to the touch and quite rusty, moreso around the edges. The more observant of the party (Spot DC 15) might notice that around the edges the door is even more damp as if something is seaping out.

The door latch is rusty but still functional. The door is not locked, but because of the rust, it is hard to open (DC 20). 

When opened the room behind it empties of dirty water. The stone walled room had slowly filled, through cracks in the ceiling, over the last few weeks after a strong storm flooded several streets above this section of the sewers. 

Anyone standing near the door (within 5 foot radius) must make a Strength check at DC 20 to avoid being knocked down. Anyone downstream of the door, must make a Strength check at DC 15 to successfully brace themselves from the flow of water, other wise they begin to slide backward. If they fail the strength check by 5 or more they are knocked down.

Anyone knocked down by the water, will be swept downstream for 1d6 rounds, before the water loses the strength to carry them. Each round being swept away, they will receive 1d4 point of subdual damage. If they are rendered unconcious, there is a drowning risk.

Once the room is emptied, they will find a small living area, complete with waterlogged furniture and a large wooden chest. The chest is locked (DC 20) but the wood is water logged so it is easy to break open (DC 15). The inside of the chest is filled with ditry water.

Inside are (x) Silver Pieces and a handful of GP. There is a well crafted leather and brass sheath holding a dagger, but the water has damaged the sheath beyond normal repair. The dagger is a masterwork dagger, but it has been damaged by exposure to the water. A craft: weaponmaking check of (DC 15) or a competant weaponsmith can restore it to its normal functionality.


----------



## kipling (Mar 3, 2004)

Ylis said:
			
		

> How about a young child that's gone missing a few weeks ago.  The PCs see her wandering around the sewers and are trying to "rescue" her.  Meanwhile, she's busy avoiding them and hiding from them because she's not supposed to speak to strangers....this could keep the PCs in the sewers for awhile...




I have read that something similar happens to some people when lost in the wilderness. They make a transition from "searching for help" to "paranoid avoidance of help".

Too bad if the person avoiding them has something they need....


----------



## dreaded_beast (Mar 3, 2004)

I just ran a solo-adventure for my player a 2nd level Monk. The sewer was REALLY small: 100 ft long, ending in a cave-in, with 2 more tunnels on each side ending in cave-ins after 20 to 40 feet.

I added a few "slime puddles" on the ground to make combat interesting: Balance check DC 12 or fall prone. Or you could just Jump over them .

The 2nd level Monk barely survived the encounters I placed:

3 Fire Beetles (EL 1) "Lairing" at the end of the first tunnel. My player killed them no problem.

3 Dire Rats (EL 1) After the battle the Fire Beetles, the Dire rats were alerted by the presence of the Monk. One Dire Rat went to scout ahead and was killed by my player, after wounding her once. She then engaged the other 2 Dire rats, but was almost killed, so I had to "cheat" a little.

I figured the Baric feeds on the Dire rats, Fire Beetles, and what not, so the Baric came out to "save" my player. The Baric killed one Dire rat, while my player killed the other. The Baric then proceeded to attack my player, who was able to kill the Baric after a few rounds.

1 Baric (EL 1) This is a six-legged rat that can be found on the Creature Catalog site hosted by Enworld! 

Hope this helps!


----------



## heirodule (Mar 3, 2004)

There is a temple in the overcity called "The Serenity Temple". They offer cheap healing. Sometimes, the "healing" doesn't work. The dispose of the corpses in the sewers, but first inject them with magical zombie serum.

Zombies wander the sewers under this temple, and you can find the secret entrace to the temple in the sewers

The zombification fluid has also seeped into the corpse of an alchemist who died in the sewers doing experiments. He has been transformed into a shambling mound, who won't attack the part, but actually defends them in another encounter


----------



## Inconsequenti-AL (Mar 3, 2004)

heirodule said:
			
		

> There is a temple in the overcity called "The Serenity Temple". They offer cheap healing. Sometimes, the "healing" doesn't work. The dispose of the corpses in the sewers, but first inject them with magical zombie serum.
> 
> Zombies wander the sewers under this temple, and you can find the secret entrace to the temple in the sewers
> 
> The zombification fluid has also seeped into the corpse of an alchemist who died in the sewers doing experiments. He has been transformed into a shambling mound, who won't attack the part, but actually defends them in another encounter




I like it! 

Anything with Zombie Serum is good by me.

Are they the Cult of Re-Animator?

Now, all I need is a decent excuse for a sewer crawl!


----------



## diaglo (Mar 3, 2004)

carrion crawler.

take a look also at the 2ed stuff dealing with Waterdeep and the place that didn't exist below it.


----------



## Darklone (Mar 3, 2004)

Halfling cannibals 

Wererats additional to the normal ratstuff. 

Rubbish dragons.


----------



## Wulf Ratbane (Mar 3, 2004)

You should also take a look at these:

http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=2254

Maps make everything MORE FUN!

What's around that next corner? Who knows...? Lay down the next map tile and find out...


Wulf


----------



## javapadawan (Mar 3, 2004)

To this day my players have a deepset fear of the sewers from back when they were 1st level.

The reason? Giant cockroaches with swarmfighting. 

The giant roaches were basically modified fire beetles, and looked something like this:

Giant Cockroach: CR 1; Small Vermin; HD 1d8+3; hp 7; Init +3; Spd 40 ft; AC 14 (+1 size, +3 Dex); Melee bite +1 (1d4); SA Swarmfighting; SQ Darkvision 60 ft., vermin traits; AL N; SV Fort +2, Ref +3, Will +0; Str 10, Dex 16, Con 10, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 7.
Skills and Feats: Swarmfighting, toughness.

Swarmfighting appeared first in Dragon magazine (#285). If I recall correctly, it allowed two small creatures who both had the feat to fight in the same space with no penalties, and also gave them a bonus to hit based on the number of allies swarming with them (limited by their Dex modifier). 

Theorectically it's possible to surround a PC with 16 of these, and with their Dex of 16, they'll each have +3 to hit.


----------



## Darklone (Mar 3, 2004)

javapadawan said:
			
		

> To this day my players have a deepset fear of the sewers from back when they were 1st level.
> ...
> ...
> 
> Theorectically it's possible to surround a PC with 16 of these, and with their Dex of 16, they'll each have +3 to hit.



Make them undead and the whole area unhallowed with a desecrate. 

Forget Toughness and use Weapon Finesse...


----------



## javapadawan (Mar 3, 2004)

Darklone said:
			
		

> Make them undead and the whole area unhallowed with a desecrate.
> 
> Forget Toughness and use Weapon Finesse...




Youch, I'm not that mean...

...Wait a minute, yes I am!

Methinks it might be time to revisit the sewers.


----------



## Liolel (Mar 3, 2004)

Ideas that may or may not have already been posted

A group of thieves might use the sewers for an escape route. The party could run into them injured as they tried to escape or into a hired thug that was to keep the escape route clear.

A outcast ranger that lives in the sewers and tames dire rats. Could make a good boss encounter for your level 1 players, the ranger and his tamed dire rats that he sends to attack the party.

On that note dire rats are always good. 

Goblins might have gotten a bright idea and tried to enter the city through the sewers and the party could run into a group of them.

Finally throw in some friendly npcs, the hermit, the lost commoner that sort of stuff.


----------



## Tonguez (Mar 3, 2004)

What about a group of mutant tortle with levels in ninja) lead by a wererat?


----------



## Isida Kep'Tukari (Mar 3, 2004)

You know what's better than a gelatinous cube?  A gelatinous cube with friends!  Have the cube contain a couple of undead.  When the party approaches the cube, all they might see is skeletons floating in mid-air.  They'll fire at them or something, only to see their arrows disappear or seem to pause before they hit them.  If you're lucky, the party fighter might do something really funny, like try to sheild-bash them.  (This happened the first time a DM did this to our party.  The fighter sheild-bashed a gelatinous cube.  Hee hee!)  When the party kills the cube the skeletons go to work, trying to kill the PCs.

Or, as a twist, have the cube contain one or more animated weapons.  The party just sees a floating sword or axe or something, and by the time they figure out what's going on the cube will run over them.  Those that kill the cube now have to contend with some violent animate swords.


----------



## Maerdwyn (Mar 3, 2004)

1)  Keep in mind what sewers are therefore in the first place.  If (admittedly juvenile) humor has a place in the game, the PCs may have to watch out for "deposits" dumped into the sewer from citizens above.  More practically, such deposits are sure to call the sewer's inhabitants who feed on the stuff, be it rotten food, or other material.

2)  Mostly or Totally submerged areas - characters may need to remove armor to swim  through, or figure some way to breathe despite a lack of a water breathing spell (steal a page from the 1st ed Slavers module series, and provide scroll cases for breathing tubes, air tight wine bladders that could hold air for a few rounds, etc.)  These encounters could get really deadly for 1st levl characters if they includd too much in the way of aquatic monsters on top of the the physical difficuly of the water, however.  Maybe the pool provides a hidden escape route in the face of a relatively powerful, but land-bound enemy?


----------



## Altamont Ravenard (Mar 3, 2004)

Small Poop elemental!

AR


----------



## Graywolf-ELM (Mar 3, 2004)

Here's an idea I was thinking of using:

Coins and small treasures are disappearing from peoples homes.  Sometimes there are trails of dampness leading to sewer entries, other times, no trace is found.

The city sewers are home to sewer pixies.  The ride and train sewer rats.  Cause problems around the city, harrass city workers.  They lay traps, do pranks, and otherwise disrupt the smooth functioning of the city sewers, as well as steal from residents of the city upper side.

Standard pixies, without the ability of flight, but can affect their mounts as human spellcasters can with spells, touch attacks, and other spells can affect the sewer rats as well as the pixie.  

The sewer rats are trained to work together, and under the direction of the pixies.  I don't have my MM handy, or I'd whip up some modifications and special uses, and tactics.


----------



## Buttercup (Mar 3, 2004)

Inconsequenti-AL said:
			
		

> Guptha the rat catcher. A slightly pathetic half goblin... (stolen from someone on these boards - Buttercup IIRC).



Yup.  And Guptha will offer to act as cook for your party.  He makes a mean grilled rat....


----------



## frankthedm (Mar 4, 2004)

Crocodile-scorpion crossbreed, originally flushed when the creator thought the creatures sting venom was inneffective. The toxin creates a random effect in the victim on a failed fort save, [best chosen based on campain style, example below]

1-5% petrification
6-10% 1d4 con damage a round until dead
11-20% random limb becomes tentacle until dispelled [1d4+str bonus damage arm, 1d6+ str bonus for leg]
21-30% Paralysis for 1 minute
31-45% stunned 1d4 rounds
46-60% Banefull polymorphed into frog
61-70 fast heal 2 HP round for 10 rounds
71-75 +4 enhancement to strength for 3 minutes
76-80 +4 enhancement to dex for 3 minutes
81-85 +4 enhancement to con for 3 minutes
86-00 Confusion for 1 minute


----------



## TheAuldGrump (Mar 4, 2004)

Dire albino sewer gators! (No city is complete without one...)

Effluent filled cellars where the city just used existing areas rather than creating a fresh tunnel. (London used to have many of them...)
A cult of vampires or degenerate mindflayers using the sewers for a means of transversing the city unseen. In the case of the mindflayers they might even have a spawning pool... (Eeeuuuch!)
Sudden dropoffs hidden 'neath the muck.
A big ball of hair/filth/debris containing coins. (a tosheroon.)
A section of sewer filled with chains & hooks from which several rotted bodies are suspended. And one that seems very fresh indeed...
Poisonous gas. (Stinkdamp or sulpher dioxide, not good at all, at all...)

The Auld Grump


----------



## MeepoTheMighty (Mar 4, 2004)

Gnarlo said:
			
		

> Ok, weird and zany (though cliched probably):
> 
> The group is trudging through the sewer when they meet another group of 4 or 5 adventurers. This group appears to be very low level, their weapons appear to be made of wood, cloth padding(!), and very cheap metals; their armor looks very shoddy and possibly self-made. They speak in a foreign tongue unknown to anyone in the group. Depending on how you want the encounter to go they either appear lost, scared, and frustrated, or else they seem excited, aggressive but oddly friendly, and high spirited.
> 
> The former group is likely to approach the party with relief initially until they realize that the weapons and/or races are not costumes at which point they flee down a nearby tunnel screaming and eerily fading out into nothing. The latter group will gleefully "attack" the group with padded arrows and beanbags while very gleefully shouting and hooting, then quickly flee down a nearby dead end passage and through the solid wall at the end of it, insanely laughing and shouting the entire time. No matter how much searching or inspection (magical or otherwise) is performed, no secret door or passage can ever be found at the dead end.




I dunno man...I've done some bastardly things to groups before, but throwing LARPers at them is just *evil*


----------



## MeepoTheMighty (Mar 4, 2004)

Gnarlo said:
			
		

> Ok, weird and zany (though cliched probably):
> 
> The group is trudging through the sewer when they meet another group of 4 or 5 adventurers. This group appears to be very low level, their weapons appear to be made of wood, cloth padding(!), and very cheap metals; their armor looks very shoddy and possibly self-made. They speak in a foreign tongue unknown to anyone in the group. Depending on how you want the encounter to go they either appear lost, scared, and frustrated, or else they seem excited, aggressive but oddly friendly, and high spirited.
> 
> The former group is likely to approach the party with relief initially until they realize that the weapons and/or races are not costumes at which point they flee down a nearby tunnel screaming and eerily fading out into nothing. The latter group will gleefully "attack" the group with padded arrows and beanbags while very gleefully shouting and hooting, then quickly flee down a nearby dead end passage and through the solid wall at the end of it, insanely laughing and shouting the entire time. No matter how much searching or inspection (magical or otherwise) is performed, no secret door or passage can ever be found at the dead end.




I dunno man...I've done some bastardly things to groups before, but throwing LARPers at them is just *evil*


----------



## Hand of Evil (Mar 5, 2004)

Slugs and leeches!  Big ones, mean ones, nasty ones.


----------



## kipling (Mar 5, 2004)

satori01 said:
			
		

> I have a 1st level party that are going to explore the sewer systems of a large city, (sewers inspiried by the Cloaca Maximus of ancient rome).  The sewers are an entry way to an older series of catacombs where a temple of ratman live,(shades of Lankmaar).
> 
> Alas, work problems have loomed and to make a long story short, I am far away from home, overloaded and fried.  So if anyone has any creative monsters, scenarios, and devilish deeds they would wish to share I would be most appreciative.  I am willing to take anything and am looking for at least one zany, odd creature or encounter that would be memorable in perhaps a non combat way,(of course combat good as well).
> 
> ...




I ran an extensive adventure in the sewers underneath my campaign setting. I don't know how much of it you can use, but it was the climax to a year or two of adventuring.

The city: Aegis, source of all magic and place where magic (and *things*) enter the world. Monsters are citizens, bound by law; raising the dead is strictly controlled; vampires are widely believed to be running it all. Nobody has anything better than leather and magical bronze, since iron damps magic and the city is paranoid about allowing it in the gates.

(I've got the city notes somewhere if anyone cares.)

The Beggar's guild has split into two factions, setting the Beggar King against the Veiled Lady. The ancient Sword of Life has been found in a previous adventure and the Beggar King has worked tirelessly so finally it's in the sewers, where the beggars live. His agents have it, and it's hidden until the time comes for them to do what they want to do:

Create a god. A god of beggars.

Problem is, they need to sacrifice someone suspended between life and death--and that would be a PC's girlfriend, who had been in this state since the Slaves of the Rat God adventure. (Other problem is that the god currently in charge of beggars--who the beggars felt was not doing a good job--was going to lose a domain of control, so he was pulling strings, too.)

Death (whom they met in a bar by the Ebon Fountain) carries the Sword of Death (naturally) and has given them some clues. (One of them found Death to be an extremely hot young person of appropriate sex, which was unsettling, because Death's appearance measures how close you are to dying.)

So into the sewers, accompanied by a GM character who's there to read things others can't read and provide bits of vampire lore as needed.

First of all, a group of wererats who have committed crimes and are hiding out. They defeat the wererats. Then the ratcatcher, who has been after them. Then a group of beggars -- oops, those were the Veiled Lady's; weren't supposed to beat them up.

Then they got really lost. Threw in the trash monster from Star Wars. Had them deal with an area where the water all seemed to converge and they couldn't find where it left.

Then a fireball spell--beggar archer--ignited a pocket of methane gas and everybody nearly died.

And then--foreshadowed earlier--it started to rain. And the water levels started going up. Pretty soon they're all waist-deep in rainwater and sewage. Then chest-deep, the short guy on someone else's shoulders.

Then the big albino alligators came swimming up. Fighting them turned out to be difficult, because they couldn't use lighting or fire, and nobody had any freedom of movement magic.

I think I also had a gelatinous cube acting as a sewage filter, and after they broke a particular wall, they got to invent surfing... 'Course, that just took them deeper into the sewers.

Then they started finding the beggars who would stop them, but they got help from the Veiled Lady's beggars.

And then, finally, they had to deal with breaking up the actual ceremony, with clerics, magic users, blind-fighting monks, Death by the sidelines ready to take people as they fell, and the Sword there, able to take down anybody and feed their life force into the new god, so long as the appropriate sacrifice was made. (The Sword of Life was explained as a kind of battery, sucking up and storing life essence, and requiring a special ritual to discharge.)


----------

