DM information
The lair
for the DM
concluding the adventure
detour
the toll bridge
TOLL BRIDGE
DM Information
This is an adventure that can be placed in any location and any game world. This is a quick side
adventure that can be used in place of an encounter. This is a short adventure for a group of 3 to 6
characters of 2nd to 4th levels. There should be about 12 total character levels in the party. This takes
place in a fairly civilized area where monsters are very rare. This takes place in an area where there are
farm lands and no real towns and cities.
For the DM
A few weeks ago, the local gnome clan expelled one of its members. Ultio Avaritia was expelled
when his plan to raid the clan treasury was uncovered. As punishment, the clan exiled him for 20 years.
The banished gnome left the clan and his family behind, vowing that he would show all of them, and
return rich and powerful.
Ultio set out, and in a few days he came across a bridge used by shepherds to take their flocks to
grazing fields. Resting there, he watched a shepherd leading his flock of sheep to the bridge. Suddenly,
evil inspiration struck Ultio.
While hiding in the woods, Ultio used a spectral force spell to create the illusion of a huge troll
that crawled from under the bridge and demanded a toll from the sheepherder. The terrified shepherd
gave the troll his lunch and a few coins, then rapidly lead his flock across the bridge.
While Ultio munched on the hapless shepherd’s lunch, he decided to see how much more loot he
could extort from the shepherds and other locals. Using his magical powers he created illusions of a
monstrous troll that threatened passing shepherds with violent death unless they handed over a toll. The
poor farmers had no choice but to pay. The next closest bridge is several miles down river.
The scant wealth provided by the shepherds didn’t satisfy Ultio, so he devised an additional plan
to supplement his current plan. Last night, Ultio traveled downstream, covered the nearest bridge, which
was a bridge spanning a great span of deep water, with oil, and then set a fire that quickly consumed its
dry timbers. The gnome then set up detour signs on the old shepherd’s trails, in hopes of attracting
wealthier victims to his bridge.
ULTIO:
class thief / magic user level 7 / 6 hp 23 thaco 17 morale 13 str 14
int 15 wis 9 dex 16 con 12 chr 11
align neutral evil ac 8 move 6”
weapons shortsword / dagger scroll invisibility spell #att 1 sword or dagger
damage 1d6 sword / 1d4 dagger spells change self / phantasmal force x2 /
ventriloquism / blindness x2 / blur / spectral force x2 / suggestion pick pockets 95%
open locks 50% find traps 45% remove traps 45% move silently 45%
hide in shadows 40% hear noise 35% climb walls 75% backstab +4 to hit / x3
damage exp 2,500
Detour
PC’s: Your group set out early this morning and was making good progress. Unfortunately, you have
run into a problem. A 100’ wide river now blocks your path. The river is too deep to ford, so the
bridge was you only means of crossing it. As you contemplate you situation, you notice a
wooden sign decorated with a crudely drawn arrow that points to a dirt path winding west
through the woods.
DM:
The path is Ultio’s detour. Examining the great bridge will reveal that it was deliberately burned
down with a large quantity of lamp oil. The fire was recently set and easy to determine this fact, and
some of the timbers are still warm to the touch. If a ranger is with the party, he can find some small boot
prints in the area, but they come and go too much to determine a direction of travel.
The detour winds through the forest, following a path of least resistance. If the characters follow
the trail, all is quiet until a sheepherder fleeing from Ultio’s “troll bridge” crosses their path.
PC’s: Your group has been traveling for about a ½ hour in the peaceful woods. The midmorning quiet
is suddenly disturbed by a horrible wailing coming from the west. The crying becomes louder,
and you hear the sounds of breaking branches. A dirty child comes crashing out of the woods
screaming and charging straight into the middle of your party.
DM:
The child is Danny, a 9 year old human shepherd. He runs screaming straight into the arms of the
1st female character available. If there is no female character, he runs about until the characters
calm him down. Danny is babbling and crying, so it is going to take 5 rounds to calm him down.
Once he is calmed down, he relates the following tale, punctuated by sobs and sniffles.
PC’s:
“I left home this morning to take the sheep to pasture, but I forgot the sack with the coins to pay
the troll. Last time I forgot it I had to go all the way back home, and the sheep were 1 hour late getting to
the pasture, and Pa was powerful mad. So I figured I could just sneak across the bridge real quick and
nobody would know ‘cause I never saw the troll before and maybe he’d still be asleep since it was real
early.
Well, I got to the bridge and I didn’t see nothing so I started to rush the sheep across when all of
a sudden this big green nasty troll with 3’ long fangs and claws as long as a butcher’s knife jumped out
from under the bridge! Some of the sheep were soo scared that they fell off of the bridge trying to get
away, and the rest ran off in all directions. I tried to stop them, but the troll came after me, and it was big
and mean so I just started to run. I lost my stick and it will take all day to find the sheep and bring them
back, and Pa is going to beat me for sure and now the troll is mad and it’s all my fault!”
DM:
If pressed further, Danny provides only sketchy details about how big and mean the troll looks,
and the superhuman ability of a troll to kill and eat a boy. He calls the monster a troll because that is
what the villagers have taken to calling it. Although the characters will most likely assume that the boy
is exaggerating wildly, he is not! Ultio has never seen a real troll, so he based his creation on old tales
told to gnomish children to keep them from wandering into places they shouldn’t go.
When Danny arrived at the bridge this morning, Ultio used a phantasmal force spell to scare the
boy, who was blocking his bridge when more valuable customers were expected at any minute. Danny’s
screaming and panicked retreat caused the flock to bolt.
Danny has had quite a fright and won’t leave the characters until they go to his home or the
bridge. If the characters go to the bridge he will hang well back from any action until the troll is dealt
with. Danny is a 0th level non-combatant.
The Troll Bridge
DM:
It will take about 5 more minutes of walking to reach the bridge. Once the characters arrive,
however, they find that the bridge appears to be deserted.
PC’s: You turn the final corner of the trail and come out of the woods. Before you are an ordinary
looking bridge. The 10’ wide span extends 45’ across the river, and on the far bank you can see a
trail to the north. Next to the bridge is a poorly scrawled sign that reads:
1 gold piece per person
2 gold pieces per horse
5 gold pieces per wagon
1 silver piece per sheep
Pay the toll or face the troll!
A large wooden bowl sits next to the sign. A well traveled path about 15’ wide leads off to the
south.
DM:
At this point Ultio is hiding in a tree at point “A” marked on the map. If the characters pay the
toll, he will be delighted and wait for his next customer. If the characters don’t pay the toll and
start across the bridge Ultio goes into action. He casts a spectral force spell, and the monster he
creates crawls out from under the bridge at point “B”.
PC’s: Your party has traveled about 15’ across the bridge when you hear an ominous growling coming
from under the bridge. A huge nightmarish beast, 8’ tall and vaguely humanoid, crawls out from
under the bridge. You marvel at the accuracy of Danny’s description. Mottled green skin, a
hulking body, and dead blank eyes nicely compliment the fangs and claws. The beast growls
menacingly and in broken common says “You no pay, me no happy, you pay double or you die
quickly.”
DM:
If the characters pay, Ultio causes the illusion to crawl back under the bridge and disappear. If
the characters attack the illusion, then the DM must carefully chose his words. The attacks by the
characters will have no visible effect on the illusion. The attacks by the illusion always miss the
characters just barely. After 3 rounds of combat, Ultio will try to lure the characters to his lair under the
bridge. On the 4th round a character will strike the illusion and the illusion will bellow in pain, turn and
flee to the ladder at point “C” on the map and go down into the lair below the bridge.
If the characters start to investigate under the bridge or they attempt to damage the bridge, Ultio
will send the troll out to kill or scare off the party. The gnome will attempt to lure the characters into his
lair if at all possible.
The Lair
Ultio lairs in a natural cave located 10’ below the bridge. The cave is on the side opposite the
characters are at when they get to the bridge. The cave entrance is covered with a white sheet stained
with brown dye to give it a crude camouflage. Anyone that looks at the sheet for more than a passing
glance will surely notice the sheet for what it is.
A set of iron spikes have been pounded into the side of the chasm, with wooden rungs lashed to
the spikes, creating a crude ladder from the cave mouth to the top of the ravine. The cave walls and
floors are hard packed dirt. The ceiling is 6’ high in most places, and has been shored up with logs.
There are no light sources in the cave.
The pit trap at the junction of the corridors is the single modification that Ultio has made to the
caverns. The pit is 14’ deep and covered with a thin layer of branches and dirt. Anyone who rushes into
the cave, as if in hot pursuit of the troll, will fall through the trap. They fall 14’ down taking 1d8 points
of falling damage and 1d6 points of damage from the wooden stakes at the bottom of the pit. A careful
adventurer will find the pit if they are searching the area carefully.
In addition to the pit trap, Ultio has fashioned a log trap disguised as on of the shoring beams.
Cutting the rope at the mouth of the cave releases the log from the ceiling. It sweeps down and knocks
intruders into the pit. It does 1d3 points of damage from striking the character, and the character takes
falling and spike damage also. Any character can save vs. wands to avoid the log.
The room to the west is filled with 50gp worth of miscellaneous goods taken from the shepherds.
A large barrel in the northern part of the cave is filled ½ way with lamp oil. Under the boulder marked
with an “X” is really a burlap sack with Ultios’s treasure which consists of 2gp / 623sp / 40cp / and a
small gold ring worth 12gp.
The northern cave is Ultio’s living and sleeping area. It contains a straw pallet, a rough wooden
stove, and an old oil lantern that sits on a crude wooden table. Ultio’s spellbooks are wrapped in cloth
and stuffed in a leather backpack hidden in a small alcove at the back of the cave. These books contain
the following spells: change self / phantasmal force / ventriloquism / blindness / blur / spectral force /
suggestion / read magic / detect magic / wraithform.
Ultio will wait until as many characters have entered the lair as possible, hopefully chasing the
troll, and then cast blur on himself and go into the cave to see how the characters fared with the pit trap.
If only 1 character avoided the pit trap, he will try to sneak up and backstab the character. If more than 1
character avoided the pit trap, Ultio will release the log trap. If this topples the last of the characters into
the pit trap, he will rush forward and start throwing rocks at the characters doing 1d4 points of damage
per rock. If the characters spot and go after Ultio, he will cast invisibility on himself and exit the cave
and try to stalk the characters causing mischief wherever possible.
If the characters avoid both traps, Ultio flees invisibly and stalks the characters in order to cause
problems. If the characters simply leave the bridge after getting rid of the troll, Ultio will stay in his
place to get more loot.
Concluding the Adventure
If the gnome is slain, Danny will appear and thank the characters and praise their heroic deeds.
He mentions how much the people of the tiny village would like to meet and reward the characters, but
that he has to gather his flock 1st. If the characters take the hint and help him to gather his flock, it will
take 10 hours minus 1 hour per character helping.
For the character’s heroic deeds, the village will reward them with 5 acres of prime grazing land
that the characters can do with as they see fit. They can sell it back to the village for 25gp. A great feast
will be thrown for the characters, and the villagers will make polite inquiries about the loot found in the
cave. Good aligned characters will be inclined to return all of the loot the gnome extorted from the
villagers.