Exemplars of Evil

FEATURES OF THE AREA
The room has the following features.
Illumination: Weak light streams down from the space at
the top of the ladder and through the grating of the cargo hatch.
The lower deck remains in shadowy illumination, and everyone
in the area has concealment.
Ceiling Height: The ceiling in this room rises 7 feet
overhead.
Crates: Crates and boxes are scattered around the lower
deck. Characters standing in a space containing a crate gain
cover.
Footprints: Bloody footprints emerge from the door to the
galley (area 7) and stop at the foot of the ladder. The unsettling
marks are empowered with fell energy, and evil characters
standing in a space that includes a footprint gain a +1 profane
bonus on attack rolls and weapon damage rolls.
Ladder: The ladder leads up to the main deck. Characters
on the ladder who fight opponents on the lower deck gain a +1
bonus on attack rolls for being on higher ground.
Doors: Several doors lead to other rooms, as shown on the
map of the ship (page 73). Each door is unlocked and has hardness
5 and 10 hit points.
Exterior Walls: Each section of the ship’s hull has hardness
8 and 120 hit points. If any 5-foot section of the hull is breached,
water pours into the lower deck. If twelve sections of the hull
are breached, the caravel sinks.
Interior Walls: The lower deck’s interior walls have hardness
5 and 60 hit points.
Weak Floor: The floorboards are weak and rotting. Each
5-foot section has hardness 2 and 30 hit points. Medium or
larger characters who step on the square that has diagonal shading
fall through the floor and land in the hold. They take 1d6
points of damage from the fall and must contend with the kython
(see tactical encounter 4–3 on the next page).
Water on Floor: Any creature that enters a square containing
water must make a successful DC 10 Balance check to avoid
slipping and falling prone.
Trapdoor: The floor has a 10-foot-square trapdoor in the
space indicated by the dashed line. A successful DC 10 Strength
check opens it, revealing the hold below, but there is no ladder
to climb down.
Masts: The masts (circular symbols along the center line of
the ship) provide cover to anyone standing behind them. Each
mast has AC 3, hardness 5, and 200 hit points.
ENCOUNTER 4-2
advantage of sneak attack. Fecar uses the Dodge feat against
the strongest PC in the group. If the adventurers push
past the barbarians, Fecar bestows a hexblade’s curse on
any character who appears to be some kind of warrior,
banking on the possibility that the PC will not be able
to resist.
Since escape from the lower deck is unlikely, Fecar
and his Boys fight to the death. However, if defeat seems
imminent, the first mate breaks his flask of alchemist’s
fire, hoping to set the ship aflame and take the PCs down
with him.
DEVELOPMENT
After 3 rounds of combat, the two hobgoblins in the galley
(area 7) join the battle. Heedless of danger, the cooks fight
recklessly.
If a section of the hull takes enough damage to spring a
leak, water starts pouring in. One or more holes in one section
of the hull will not jeopardize the ship, but the water
also runs down into the hold below, and the sudden cold
shower makes the kython quite unhappy. After 1d6 rounds,
it begins roaring and hammering at the floorboards over its
head. Each round that the creature pounds the lower deck,
all characters standing on the deck must succeed on a DC
10 Balance check or be knocked prone.
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