Exemplars of Evil

ENCOUNTER 2-1
T
ROPHY ROOM
Encounter Level 8
SETUP
This encounter begins when the PCs approach the door
to the trophy room (area 12). The door is shut, and if
the characters do nothing to announce their presence,
the distracted orcs inside will not hear them approach.
A PC who succeeds on a DC 10 Listen check hears
hammering from within the room and several orcs
muttering excitedly.
Four orcs are positioned in the squares around the
stone sarcophagus in the northeast corner of the room. A
fifth orc is inside the sarcophagus, using a prybar to open
the hidden coffin buried inside the crypt. By the time
the PCs open the door and enter the room, the fifth orc
will be dead, and the others will be about to flee toward
the exit.
When the PCs open the door, read:
This room has the look of an abandoned chapel.
Two rows of stone pews march up the center aisle
to a long, low altar. A Black Wolf banner hangs
behind it, and other battle standards are hung
randomly around the room. Broken, rusty
weaponry is piled in ordered rows along the walls
and on the benches. Another door is to the right,
and two stone sarcophagi lay in an alcove to the
left. Four orcs stand around one of the sarcophagi
with their backs to you, peering down inside the
open tomb.
Give the PCs a chance to declare their actions. Once
they do, read:
You hear an inhuman growl coming from the
stone coffin, and an orc’s shriek—one that ends
with a sharp gurgle. The four orcs turn and charge
toward you as pale, clawed hands reach over the lip
of the sarcophagus and heave a white-skinned,
vaguely humanoid monstrosity into view.
When combat begins, the four orcs are not charging the
party, but fleeing from the unearthed wight that has just
killed their companion. Depending on the PCs’ actions,
the orcs either run for the door or stop to fight just long
enough to push past the adventurers and escape. The orcs’
panic imposes a –2 penalty on their attack rolls for the
first 2 rounds.
4 Orc Soldiers CR 1/2
hp 5 each (1 HD); see page 39
Gray Ooze CR 4
hp 31 (3 HD); MM 202
Wight CR 3
hp 26 (4 HD); MM 255
It takes the wight 1 round to climb out of the coffin.
When it reaches the floor, it moves to attack the nearest
orc (assuming that the PCs blocked them from escaping).
The wight correctly judges the orcs to be a lesser
threat and thus the easiest prey to convert to spawn. Two
rounds after the wight attacks or after the first orc is
killed, the remaining orcs split up. Two head toward the
altar along the south wall and dig through the nearby
debris for something they can use against the wight and
the PCs.
Another orc tries to smash through the locked door
(hardness 5, 20 hp) on the western wall. If he breaks
through, a gray ooze nesting in the small room beyond
surges through the opening and attacks the orc. After
dispensing with its first victim, the ooze moves into the
trophy room and attacks the nearest living target (ignoring
the wight and any spawn).
Both the wight and the gray ooze fight to the death.
The orcs fight, but they will flee the room if they have
the chance.
DEVELOPMENT
Initially, the wight tries to avoid the PCs and concentrates
on killing the orcs to create spawn. Four rounds after
combat begins, the first orc slain by the wight emerges
from the open sarcophagus as a spawn. Any other orcs
killed by the wight also return as spawn 4 rounds after
their death. (Slain orcs that have not yet risen as spawn
dissolve automatically if touched by the gray ooze.) Four
to six rounds after its release, the wight turns on the
party, sending the spawn against the PC who shows the
most martial prowess, and attacking any clerics or spellcasters
itself.
If the wight is turned, it retreats to the southern end
of the room next to the altar and starts throwing broken
weapons and helmets at the PCs, targeting spellcasters
if possible. The missiles deal no damage, but if one
strikes a spellcaster, it has the normal chance of disrupting
a spell.
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