Endless Night: The Nursery

ENDLESS NIGHT

A Fantasy Core Adventure

© Jerry Harris 2014

Published here as Open Game Content.

(This link will take you to the Fantasy Core Index.)

Adventure Overview Index

Second Floor Index

The Nursery

Description: It’s a happy-looking room, brightly colored and filled with stuffed animals, wooden toys, a puppet theater, a doll house, and a troop of toy soldiers.  There’s also a small daybed and bathroom. 

Status: The door is closed, but not locked.  There characters can hear the sounds of the children playing inside, which ceases as soon as the door is opened.

Inhabitants: Just the toys, but they’re haunted.

Objective: Be clever in the Puppet Theater and defeat the toy soldiers in the Dollhouse.  The characters will all gain +1 to their Int or Wis Bonuses (only increase up to +4) along with +1 to their BAB (which will be small consolation for the humiliation).  Award 1 XP.

Carter’s Introduction: “Meow.  Here generations of Creightons played as children.  They left their toys behind.  Meow.”

Upon entering the room the characters have to make a DC 12 Will Sv.  Those failing it, get turned into toy soldiers in the Dollhouse.  Those making it, end up as puppets in the Puppet Theater.  Both encounters need to be defeated for the grandfather clock to chime and for the characters to be returned to normal.    

The Dollhouse 

Which by amazing coincidence, looks just like Azimuth House.  The characters appear in the Entrance.  The doors are open and they can see a troop of 10 Toy Soldiers bearing either crossbows and swords or muskets with bayonets (AC 10, Hp 1, BAB +5, damage 1).  The characters now, toy soldiers, have these stats: AC 10, Hp 1, their weapons are now either crossbow and sword or musket with bayonet (depending on the characters’ era), damage is 1 with one attack per rd.  They have no other gear, spells, or special abilities, though the other stats stay the same.  The players can pick whatever strategy they want to deal with them.  It’ll take them 2 rds to reach the doors, and they’ll be shooting all the way.

(Anyone trying to rules lawyer their way through this, and not in a clever way, should get special attention, like everyone shooting at them first.)

The goal is to take out the troop.  Any character killed out (or if this encounter is completed) gets knocked into the Puppet Theater, or if not available, is put into stasis 1 rd, then put back at the Dollhouse Entrance to continue fighting the Toy Soldiers. 

The Puppet Theater

Here’s how this works.  The characters are now hand puppets inside the puppet theater.  On either side of them appears Punch and Judy puppets.  One of the puppets will then say one of the lines below.  (Feel free to make up your own statements that might be more appropriate to your group, more or less following this format.) 

When the puppet says, “Blank,” cue The Match Game music.  The players are expected to fill in that blank with something amusing (to the Ref) within about 30 seconds.  If they fail up come up with anything or nothing funny.  Punch and Judy attack. 

 “Hey, Punch.  I’m taking a vacation in the Barrier Peaks.  Should I pack my Blank?”

“Hey, Judy.  The Keep on the Borderlands is hiring.  Should I apply as a Blank?”

“Hey, Punch.  I hear Tiamat’s a prostitute now.  With five heads, I wonder if she’ll Blank?”

“Hey, Judy.  I have a date with Acererak.  I wonder if ‘Tomb of Horrors’ refers to his Blank?” 

“Hey, Punch.  I changed my alignment.  I was Chaotic Evil, but now I’m Blank?”

(Okay, if the players can’t come up with something for this one or after five tries, just go ahead and fight it out.)

Punch and Judy have these stats: AC 11, Hp 5, BAB +5, Club damage 1.  The characters’ stats are AC 10, Hp 1, Club damage 1, and the rest as above.  Any character killed out (or if the encounter is completed) reappears in the Dollhouse, or if not available, is put into stasis 1 rd, then put back in the Theater to continue the torment.