DDAL-CGB - Cloud Giant's Bargain (5-7).pdf

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CLOUD GIANT'S BARGAIN.
The renowned adventuring company Acquisitions
Inc.
hires
you
to infiltrate
a castle-
but
not
just any castle.
This is a
flying fortress
built
by the
cloud giant Count
Stratovan,
who is
currently
preparing to destroy the Sword Coast. Your
mission
is to meet with his
son,
who claims to
want to prevent
the
war
and establish peace between the giants
and
the
small
folk.
If
you can
learn whether the
son can be trusted, discover the secrets
of the castle, and ...
well,
survive, you too
can earn acclaim
with Acquisitions Inc.!
A 4-hour adventure for Sth
-
7th
level
characters
and legal for Dt!?D
Adventurers
League· play
In Association with Acquisitions Inc.
CREDITS
Adventure Design:
Teos
Abadia
Story Design:
Teos
Abadia,
Christopher
Perkins
Additional Design:
Christopher
Lindsay
Editor:
Scott Fitzgerald Gray
D&D
Adventurers
L
eague:
Christopher Lindsay
D&D
Lead Designers: Mike Mearls,
Jeremy
Crawford
Graphic Designer:
Emi Tanji
Cover Illustrator:
Mark Behm
Interior Illustrators:
Eric Belisle, Lars Grant-West,
Aaron
Hiibrich,
Brynn Metheney,
Slawomir Manlak, Zack
Stella, Matt Stewart,
Justin Sweet, Autumn Rain Turkel
Cartographers:
Teos
Abadia,
Travis Woodall
Project Manager:
Heather Fleming
Product
Engineer:
Cynda Callaway
Art Administration:
David Gershman
Prepress Specialist: Jefferson
Dunlap
Other D&D Team Members:
Chris
DuPuis, John Feil,
Kate
Irwin,
Trevor Kidd, Adam
Lee,
Shelly Mazzanoble, Shauna
Narciso, Ben
Petrisor, Hilary Ross,
Liz Schuh,
Matt
Sernett,
Nathan
Stewart,
Greg
Tito,
Shawn Wood, Richard
Whitters
Adventure Code: PAXW2016
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D. Wourds of
the
Coast, Forgotten R.,lms. the dragon
ampersand,
Player's Handbook, Monster Manual, Dungeon Masters G.ode o&O Advenlu'<rs
league.
all other w;urds of the Coast
product
names, and their
respective
logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast
1n
the
USA and other
countr1u.
A
I
duracttn
.ar-d
~ti!
d st !'l<:t:Jvc -.eness.es
arc property of Wizards of the Coast. This
material
is protttttd under the
copyright
laws of the
United
States of
America.
Any
reproduction or un1utlior
zed
~u
of the ma:
er
.a
or artwork
con·
t1ined herein
1s
proh1b1ted without the express written permission of Wizards of the Coast.
Acquisition Incorporated""' oadernark and logo design
are
wholly owned by
Penny
Arcade Inc. and used here with permission.
C>2016 Wizards of tho Coast llC, PO Box 707, Renton, WA 9SOS7-0707, USA.
Manufactured
by Hasbro SA, Rue Emile Bo6chat
~1.
2800 Dol6mont. CH. Represe"t<d by "•sbro Ewrope 'Tho
Square, Stocklty Park, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UBll lET. UK.
0
INTRODUC TION
Can
I
.
..
This
seems like it might be an unexpected avenue of
attack,
and they are engaged with other opponents
...
Can I
sneak attack with
the chandelier?
-Patrick
Rothfuss,
playing the
character Viari
The
Cloud Giant's
Bargain
is a DUNGEONS &
DRAGONS
adventure
for three to seven characters of
5th-7th level,
with the default encounter
difficulty
set for five char-
acters of 6th level.
This adventure is meant to be easy to
run, providing guidance to assist new Dungeon Masters.
The adventure is set in a cloud giant's castle and in the
city of Neverwinter,
over
which the castle
flies.
Neverwin-
ter is
in the Sword Coast, a
tumultuous land
located in
the northwest
of
FaerOn in
the Forgotten Realms cam-
paign
setting. Characters
have
the opportunity
to become
interns for
the
legendary
adventuring company
Acqui-
sitions
Inc.
as
they
eliminate a dangerous threat
to
the
Sword Coast!
OM
TIP:
NAME
TENTS
Create a name tent
by
taking a note card
or
similar piece
of cardstoclc and folding
it
in half. Open the fold to a right
angle, so
that it forms a display tent when the edges are
placed on the table. Give
one
to each player
and
have them
write their character's name, race,
and
class on each outer
side of the tent.
This
will allow you
and
the other players to
remember
character names and important details. Whenever
possible,
refer
to
players
by their character names.
•
Character name and
level
•
Character race
and
class
•
Passive Wisdom (Perception)- the most common pas-
sive ability check
•
Anything notable you might use to help you shape the
adventure around the characters (such as backgrounds,
traits, flaws, and so on.)
ADJUSTING THE ADVENTURE
As
you run the
adventure, always feel free to
make adjust-
ments for smaller
or larger
groups and for characters of
higher or
lower
levels
than the adventure
is
optimized for.
This is typically used mostly for combat encounters. You
can also adjust the adventure depending on the players'
needs. For example, if you're playing with a group of inex-
perienced players, you might want to make the adventure
a little easier; for very experienced players, you might want
to make it a little harder.
Five categories of party strength have been created for
you to
use
as a guideline. Feel free to use a different
ad-
justment
during the
adventure if
the recommended
party
strength feels off
for
the group.
This adventure
is
optimized
for
a
party of five 6th-level
characters.
To figure out whether you need to adjust the
adventure, do the following:
•
Add up the total
levels
of all the characters.
•
Divide the total by the number of characters.
•
Round fractions of 0.5 or greater up; round fractions of
less than 0.5 down.
You've now
determined
the
average party
level
(APL)
for the adventure.
To figure
out the
party strength for
the
adventure, consult
the following
table.
DETERMINING PARTY STRENGTH
THE
D&D
ADVENTURE RS
LEAGUE
This adventure is official for D&D Adventurers
League
play. The
D&D
Adventurers
League
is the official orga-
nized
play system
for DUNGEONS
&
DRAGONS.
Players
can create characters and participate in any adventure
allowed as a
part of the D&D Adventurers
League.
As
they
adventure, players
track their
characters' experience, trea-
sure, and other rewards, and can take those characters
through other adventures that will continue their story.
For
valid play, a player must have a character who has
advanced to 5th-7th level through previous Adventur-
ers League play. For more information on running this
adventure as part of the D&D Adventurers League, see
appendix
A.
PREPARING THE ADVENTURE
Before you
show
up to run this
adventure for a group
of
players,
you should
do the
following to prepare:
Make
sure to
have
a copy of the most current
version
of
the
Dl!J'D Basic
Rules
(available for free at dnd.wizards.
com) or the
Player's Handbook.
Read
through the adventure, taking notes of anything
you'd like to highlight or remind yourself of while run-
ning the adventure, such as a way you'd like to portray
an NPC (nonplayer character) or a tactic you'd like to use
in
combat.
Review the list of
NPCs
found in appendix B.
Get familiar with the monster
statistics
in
appendix C.
Gather together any resources
you'd
like
to
use
to aid
you in running
this
adventure,
such as notecards, a
DM
screen, miniatures,
battle
maps, and so forth.
Party Composition
3-4 characters, APL less than 6
3- 4 characters, APL 6
3- 4 characters, APL greater than 6
5 characters, APL less than 6
5 characters, APL
6
5 characters, APL greater than 6
6-7 characters,
APL
less than
6
6-7 characters,
APL 6
6- 7 characters, APL
greater than
6
Party Strength
Very weak
Weak
Average
Weak
Average
Strong
Average
Strong
Very
strong
BEFORE PLAY AT THE TABLE
Ask
the players
to provide you with relevant character
information:
Average
party
strength
indicates no adjustments to
the adventure are necessary. For other party strengths,
you can adjust encounters by increasing or decreasing
the number of monsters or by adjusting the DCs of abil-
ity checks.
C:
l.OU D
O
l
ANT"S BARGAIN
RUNNING THE ADVENTURE
As the Dungeon Master of the session, you have the most
important role in facilitating the enjoyment of the game
for the players. You help guide the narrative and bring the
words on these pages to life. The outcome of a fun game
session often creates stories that live well beyond the play
at the table. Always follow this golden rule when you run a
game for a group:
Make
decisions and a<ljudicatioos th at enhance the
fun
of
the adventure when possible.
To reinforce this golden rule, keep in mind the following:
• You are empowered to make adjustments to the adven-
ture and make decisions about how the group interacts
with the world of this adventure. Doing so is especially
important and applicable outside of combat, but feel free
to adjust the adventure for groups that are having too
easy or too hard of a time.
• Don't make the adventure too easy or too difficult for a
group. Never being challenged makes for a boring game
and being overwhelmed makes for a frustrating one.
Gauge the experience of the players (not the characters)
with the game, try to feel out (or ask) what they like in a
game, and attempt to give each of them the experience
they're after when they play D&D. Give everyone a
chance to shine.
• Be mindful of pacing, and keep the game session mov-
ing along appropriately. Watch for stalling, since play
loses momentum when this happens. At the same time,
make sure that the players don't finish too early; provide
them with a full play experience. Try to be aware of run-
ning
long
or short. Adjust the pacing accordingly
•
Read-aloud text is just a suggestion. Feel free to mod-
ify the text as you see fit, especially when dialogue
is present.
• Give the players appropriate hints so they can make
informed choices about how to proceed. P
layers
should
be given clues and hints when appropriate so they can
tackle puzzles, combat, and interactions without getting
frustrated over lack of information. Doing so helps to
encourage immersion in the adventure and gives players
"little victories" for figuring out good choices from clues.
In short, being the DM isn't about following the adven-
ture's text word-for-word; it's about facilitating a fun, chal-
lenging game environment for the players. The
Dungeon
Master's Guide
has more information on the art of running
aD&Dgame.
ACOLYTE BACKGROUND
A character possessing the acolyte background requesting
spellcasting services at a temple of his or her faith may
request one spell per day from the Spellcasting Services
table for free. The only cost paid for the spell is the base
price for the consumed material component, if any (see the
spell details).
SPELLCASTING SERVICES
While in the city ofNeverwinter, characters can obtain
certain spellcasting services. The rules below help you
play out such scenarios, and are required for Adventurers
League Play.
Spell services generally available include healing and
recovery
spells, as well as information-gathering spells.
Other spell services might be available as specified in the
adventure. The number of spells available to be cast as a
service is limited to a
m
aximum
of three p
er
day total,
unless otherwise noted.
SPELLC
ASTING
SERVICES
Spell
Cure wounds
(1st
level)
Identify
Lesser restoration
Prayer of healing
(2nd level)
Remove curse
Speak with dead
Divination
Greater restoration
Raise dead
Cost
10 gp
20 gp
40
gp
40
gp
90
gp
90
gp
210 gp
450
gp
1,250 gp
ADVENTURE BACKGROUND
This adventure allows characters to interact with and
potentially become members of the famous adventuring
company Acquisitions Inc.!
Acquisitions Inc.
is
known to many from the hilarious ses-
sions in which Jerry Holkins, Mike Krahulik, Scott Kurtz,
and Patrick Rothfuss play D&D in front of live audiences
with Chris Perkins, Dungeon Master Extraordinaire.
Acquisitions Incorporated: The Series
further details
their antics.
In the PAX West 2016 live play game, the heroes of
Acquisitions Inc. battled against the cloud giant Count
Stratovan, who had claimed a powerful artifact (the
Rod
of Seven Parts)
with the intent of destroying the folk of the
Sword Coast.
In this adventure, the players are hired to deal with a
threat directly related to the PAX live play event, as well as
to
Storm King's Thunder,
a published adventure in which
giants rise up against the civilized lands of the Sword
Coast. The material in
Storm King's Thunder
is helpful,
but not required to run this adventure.
OM
TIP:
CONFIDENCE
If you are a new OM, it is perfectly normal to feel a bit ap·
prehensive before your first session. Just
remember:
players
need OMs to play. What you are doing is valuable and cov-
eted. You don't need a perfect understanding of the rules or
to have Chris Perkins' improvisational skills for players to
have a great time. When in doubt, make decisions that you
think the players will enjoy. The more often you run games as
a OM, the easier it gets!
CLOUD GIANT'S BARGAIN
A
CHALLENGE FOR INTERNS!
just prior to the live play battle, the cloud giant Count
Stratovan who Acquisitions Inc. faced ordered his son
to put his flying cloud castle into position over the city of
Neverwinter, where it would eventually become the stag-
ing ground for a cloud giant attack. However, Count Stra-
tovan's son Olthanas is not evil, and he has long held the
small folk of Faerun in high esteem. Distraught, Olthanas
shared his desire to avoid war with Balakar, the major-
domo who raised him.
The majordomo has promised Olthanas that she knows
exactly what to do. Contacting adventurers on her master's
behalf, she promises to arrange a meeting-but Olthanas
has no idea that Balakar is setting a trap. The majordomo
nurtures a deep hatred of the small folk, and hopes that
exposing Olthanas's subterfuge before arranging his death
will
prompt the count to reward her.
Balakar's message reaches Acquisitions Inc., but those
adventurers are already heading out to face Count Stra-
tovan. In this time of dire need, they hire the first interns
they can find and hope for the best. Now the characters get
to find out if they have what it takes to succeed!
USING
Turs
ADVENTURE
WITH
STORM KING'S
THUNDER
You can use this adventure as a lead-in to
Storm King's
Thunder.
To do so, have Olthanas tell the characters about
the Eye of the All-Father and the frost giant Harshnag. The
characters can encounter Harshnag as they travel to the
temple, continuing the adventure from that point.
This option is not available for D&D Adventurers
League play.
ADVENTURE HOOK
The adventure begins on a cold and overcast day in Never-
winter. When the players are ready, read or paraphrase the
following.
OM
T1P: BOXED TEXT
The text enclosed in boxes is meant to
be
read aloud to
players. However, it can be better to paraphrase boxed text
in your own words, at a pace that fits the ongoing narrative.
Watch the players. lfthey aren't paying attention, stop read-
ing and just ask them what they want to do. Then relay the
information in the boxed text as they make choices.
You step out of Driftwood Tavern-a dark, curio-lade
n
es-
tablishment
favored by the
locals-onto
a tumultuous street
in
the
city of Neverwinter. Clutched in your hand is the scroll
given to you by the tavern keeper. According to her, a gnome
by the dub
ious
name ofBambra Gallagher wishes to employ
heroes for a great adventure. Your employer awaits you at a
side street
off
Dagger Way, a short walk from here.
You are not alone. Others have answered the call as well.
You look at one another. Will this group have what it takes
to succeed?
OVERVIEW
The adventure begins with the characters in the city of
Neverwinter. A tavernkeeper tells them about a possible
adventuring job, sending them to meet their new employer
in a dark alley.
Ambush. An ambush awaits the adventurers, but it has
been arranged by Bambra Gallagher, an employee of Ac-
quisitions Inc., to assess the adventurers' capabilities. In
both this and later challenges, the characters can impress
Bambra, gaining titles and elevating their rank within
Acquisitions Inc. Bambra provides the characters with a
talking skull named Tulahk, who assesses their perfor-
mance throughout the adventure and reports telepathi-
cally to Bambra.
Bambra shares the mission's details with the adventur-
ers, which involves them sneaking into Olthanas's cloud
castle, verifying that he is not evil, then negotiating the
cloud giant's bargain. The party is provided with two
choices for approaching and entering the castle.
The Cloud Castle.
Either route into the cloud castle
allows the characters to explore. The cloud castle is
composed of three islands joined by bridges: the Island
of Contemplation, the Towers of Hospitality, and the
Towers ofjudgment. While braving the castle's dangers,
the characters can learn important information about
Olthanas, Balakar the majordomo, and Count Stratovan.
Ba/akar's Endgame.
When at last the characters reach
Olthanas, they find him with Balakar-just in time for the
majordomo to spring her trap.
If
the characters have ex-
plored carefully, they might anticipate the trap, thwart Bal-
akar's plan, and gain a powerful ally. Successful heroes
will also gain renown and titles with Acquisitions Inc.!
Ask the players to introduce their characters. This is a
good time for you to make note of each adventurer's distin-
guishing characteristics.
OM
TIP:
PLAY
TO THE CHARACTERS
Before play or during character introductions, write down
anything notable you might use to help you shape the
adventure around the characters (such as backgrounds,
traits, flaws, and so forth). The adventure becomes far more
interesting to the players when their characters' personali-
ties matter.
If
the players desire, the characters can return to the tav-
ern or ask around to learn more about their job prospects.
A successful DC 15 Intelligence (History) check reveals
that Bambra Gallagher is a bard and trickster associated
with the adventuring company known as Acquisitions Inc.
Beyond that basic information, no other details regarding
the mysterious gnome can be uncovered.
Once the characters travel to Dagger Way, read or para-
phrase the following.
·~
CLOUD GIANT'S
BARGAIN

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