TEXT: ™
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  PRINTED IN CANADA.
  CREDITS
  Author: Joseph Goodman
  Art Director: Sean Glenn
  Cover Artist:  Niklas Janssen
  Interior Artist: Jeff Carlisle
  Graphic Designer: Rick Achberger
  Cartographer: Sean Glenn
  Developer: Mike Johnstone
  Editor: Ken Hart
  Managing Editor: Andrew Bates
  Playtesters: Garrick Andrus, Stephen Burt, 
  Alan Fishman, Michael Goodman, Stephen Pellicer
  Dedicated to April.
  
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  CONTENTS
  INTRODUCTION 
  3
  Adventure Summary 
  3
  Adventure Hooks 
  4
  Background 
  4
  DM’s Notes 
  5
  EPISODE ONE: 
  SKYFALL 
  6
  INTRODUCTION 
  6
  Area 1: The Meteorite 
  7
  Area 2: The Entrance Chamber (EL 2) 
  7
  Area 3: The Greeting Area 
  8
  Area 4: Host Storage (EL 1) 
  9
  Area 5: Hallway (EL 2) 
  10
  Area 6: Living Quarters (EL 1/4–1) 
  10
  Area 7: Ooze Pools 
  10
  Area 8: Portal of the Faithful (EL 1) 
  11
  Area 9: Sanctum of the Faithful 
  11
  Area 10: Guard Chamber (EL 1) 
  11
  Area 11: The Hatchery (EL 0) 
  13
  Area 12: The Starshard 
  13
  Area 13: Stairwell 
  14
  CONCLUSION 
  14
  EPISODE TWO: 
  OLD IRON ARMS 
  16
  THE GEAR FOREST 
  19
  Area 1: Old Iron Arms 
  19
  Area 2: Supplies 
  21
  Area 3: Cogling Clearing 
  21
  Area 4: Boiler Room (EL 2) 
  22
  Area 5: Rusty Corridor (EL 1) 
  22
  Area 6A: The Cogwheels (EL 2) 
  23
  Area 6B: The Pistons 
  24
  Area 7: The Warder (EL 1) 
  24
  Area 8: The Sludge River (EL 1) 
  25
  Area 9: The Beetle Lair (EL 3) 
  25
  CONCLUSION 
  26
  EPISODE THREE: 
  ENTER THE LEGION 
  28
  TRAVELING ENCOUNTERS 
  28
  Encounter A: Getting Off Nedderpik 
  28
  Encounter B: The Lunar Rain 
  29
  Encounter C: The Worm Pits (EL 1) 
  29
  Encounter D: The Orc Raiders (EL 3) 
  31
  HAIMLER’S TOWN 
  33
  EVENTS 
  33
  Event 1: The Characters’ 
   
  Initial Approach 
  33
  Event 2: The Characters’ Interaction 
   
  with the Community 
  35
  Event 3: The Characters’ Interactions with  
   
  Haimler, Thoron and Shtrawnek 
  36
  Event 4: The Characters’ Investigation 
   
  of the Lunar Temple 
  38
  Event 5: Arrival of the Irontooth Mech 
  39
  Locations 
  39
  NPCs 
  39
  Haimler, Tribal Leader and Legion Major 
  39
  Thoron, Warrior Leader and 
   
  Legion Sergeant 
  40
  Shtrawnek, Tribal Shaman 
  41
  XP Awards 
  42
  SECOND LUNAR TEMPLE 
  42
  Area 1: Ladder and Chute 
  42
  Area 2: Worship Area 
  43
  Area 3: Sleeping Chamber (EL 1/2) 
  43
  Area 4: Divination Chamber 
  44
  Area 5A: The Great Spawn (EL 3) 
  45
  Area 5B: The Last Skinstealer (EL 2) 
  45
  Area 6: New Living Quarters (EL 3) 
  45
  Area 7: The Starshard 
  46
  CONCLUSION 
  47
  Further Adventures with the Legion 
  47
  EPISODE FOUR: 
  ON THE IRONTOOTH TRAIL 48
  INTRODUCTION 
  48
  TRAVELING ENCOUNTERS 
  49
  Encounter A:Irontooth Ambushes 
  49
  Encounter B:Irontooth Charges 
  50
  ENTER THE IRONTOOTH 
  50
  CONCLUSION 
  53
  Further Adventures with the 
   
  Irontooth Clans 
  53
  Looking for Home 
  54
  Back on Nedderpik 
  54
  NEW RULES 
  55
  Insightful Step (General) 
  55
  Piston Rage (General) 
  56
  Power Spell (Metamagic)  
  56
  Prophetic Step (General) 
  56
  Spell Cleave (Metamagic) 
  56
  Tinker’s Touch (General) 
  56
  NEW ITEM: THE STARSHARDS 
  56
  Powers of the Starshards 
  57
  Combining the Starshards 
  57
  NEW MECHS 
  58
  Magwagon (Freight Model)  
  58
  Raptor  
  58
  NEW CREATURES 
  59
  Ferrovore 
  59
  Creating a Ferrovore 
  60
  Lunar Elemental  
  61
  Nanite  
  62
  Spawn of Seroficitacit  
  64
  LEGAL INFORMATION 
  66
  OPEN GAME LICENSE 
  67
  DESIGNER’S NOTES 
  68
  HANDOUT A 
  70
  HANDOUT B 
  70
  MECH SCHEMATIC SHEETS 
  71
  
  TABLES & MAPS
  Table 3-1: Spot Checks by Area Observed 
  35
  Table 3-2: Gather information by 
   
  Person/Topic Queried 
  36
  Table 3-3: Xp Awards 
  42
  Table 5-1: New feats 
  55
  Table 5-2: Onboard Weapons  
  59
  Table 5-4: Seroficitacit’s Changes  
  65
  Table 5-3: Effect of Spawn Attack 
  65
  
  Map 1: The Lunar Temple 
  7
  Map 2: Lair of Old Iron Arms 
  18
  Map 3: Haimler’s Town 
  38
  Map 4: Second Lunar Temple 
  43
  
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  INTRODUCTION
  T
  hundering steam-powered walkers lumber across 
  the plains, battling predatory dragons to protect 
  the fearful humans who dwell within their steel-cased 
  skins. At night the shattered moon rises, raining a hail 
  of deadly debris upon the surface. Sturdy city-mechs 
  batten down their hatches, cliffside dwellers retreat 
  to safety under the rock, and worm farmers slink into 
  the tunnels of their charges, for no one wants to be out 
  in the open when the meteorites start to fall. Yet some 
  meteorites hold the secrets of the moon and its alien 
  civilizations — and perhaps the key to ending the lunar 
  scourge that grips Highpoint. When the sun rises again, 
  explorers crawl from their holes and scour the surface 
  for whatever valuable lunar shards might have fallen 
  the night before…. 
  T
  he Shardsfall Quest is an introductory 
  adventure for DragonMech. It gives the 
  characters a tour of the world, its major politi-
  cal factions, its history and its denizens and 
  dangers. Along the way, the characters face 
  combat, diplomacy, and puzzles. In the end, 
  they become citizens of the prominent city-
  mech Nedderpik (see Chapter 7 of Dragon-
  Mech), make friends and enemies, and are 
  directed to the city of Edge to continue their 
  quest, although they are positioned to pursue 
  adventure in almost any direction. To play this 
  adventure, you will need a copy of Dragon-
  Mech, as well as the core d20 books (Player’s 
  Handbook, DMG and MM). 
  The Shardsfall Quest is designed for 
  beginning characters of 1st level. By the end 
  of the adventure, the characters will have 
  accrued enough experience to be approxi-
  mately 3rd level, depending on the number 
  of characters. The adventuring party should 
  have between 4 and 6 members, with at least 
  one strong fighter, one coglayer or steam-
  borg, and one arcane spellcaster. A rogue 
  and cleric will also come in handy at times, 
  as will a bard with strong diplomacy skills. 
  A mech jockey is not necessary, but at least 
  one character should have several ranks in 
  the Mech Pilot skill.
  ADVENTURE SUMMARY
  T
  he Shardsfall Quest has four 
  major episodes. The adven-
  ture is a cross-country jaunt of 
  sorts, sending the characters 
  in pursuit of the parts of a 
  lunar relic. The relic was in 
  a temple carved into the very 
  bedrock of the moon, which 
  shattered in the lunar rain 
  and fell to earth in the form of 
  several meteorites, each of which 
  landed many miles from the oth-
  ers. With each episode, the characters 
  encounter one of the factions of the Dragon-
  Mech world: first the Stenian Confederacy, 
  then denizens of the gear forests, then the 
  Legion, and lastly the Irontooth Clans.
  The adventure proceeds thus:
  While traveling, the characters come across 
  a recently fallen meteorite that cracked open 
  upon landing, revealing a network of passages 
  inside. It turns out they are the remains of a 
  ruined temple to the lunar god Seroficitacit. 
  In exploring the ruins, the characters find a 
  strange glowing globe. As they emerge from 
  the meteorite, they are stopped by a Stenian 
  Confederacy mech patrol. The Stenians have 
  come to destroy the temple in case it houses 
  any lunar creatures.
  The Stenian soldiers clear the characters 
  for lunar influence, then make a proposition. 
  The Stenian Confederacy has learned that 
  this is only one piece of a larger meteorite 
  that broke into two parts when it entered 
  the planet’s atmosphere. The second sec-
  tion has fallen to the east, in the territory of 
  the Legion. The Stenian Confederacy wants 
  to find it and cleanse it of lunar creatures, 
  but the Stenians can’t risk sparking a war by 
  sending military mechs into enemy territory. 
  They offer to send the characters in a non-
  military mech to destroy the second temple 
  in Legion territory. In return, the characters 
  gain temporary use of the mech and will 
  receive citizenship on the city-mech Ned-
  derpik when they return.
  The characters journey to the city-mech 
  to get their loaner mech. While there, they 
  are secretly recruited by cogling stowaways 
  to help defeat a threat to the city-mech’s 
  engines. Then they move on 
  into Legion territory. 
  While there, they 
  deal with several 
  minor mech skir-
  mishes before 
  finally reaching 
  the 
  temple. 
  Destroying 
  it 
  won’t be easy, 
  however, because 
  human 
  refugees 
  have moved into the 
  tunnels for protection 
  
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  from the lunar rain. The characters must 
  confront the xenophobic Legion humans, 
  who decry non-humans as inferior. And 
  there’s a twist: The Legion’s leaders are 
  controlled by lunar skinstealers.
  Once characters unravel the skinstealer 
  mystery, they go to clear out the lunar 
  temple. Just as they reach the last room, a 
  small one-man mech darts out of hiding. 
  Seemingly just as quickly, it emerges hold-
  ing another radiant globe, like the one the 
  characters found in the first temple. Then 
  it nimbly darts out of range and retreats 
  quickly to the north.
  The characters learn from the Legion 
  refugees that it was an Irontooth mech. Why 
  it was here, so far from Irontooth territory, is 
  a mystery. Once their mission here is done, 
  they journey north, trailing their mysterious 
  assailant. Eventually, they enter Irontooth 
  territory, where they come across one of 
  the legendary Irontooth jousts just getting 
  underway. One of the mechs involved is the 
  same one that attacked them.
  The characters’ mech is sighted and quickly 
  surrounded with overwhelming odds, forcing 
  them to negotiate. It turns out the Irontooth 
  are pursuing the lunar globes to fulfill an 
  ancient prophecy that predates the lunar 
  rain, dating back to the monastic orders from 
  which the Irontooth evolved. They are not 
  sure of the globes’ powers, but the prophecy 
  claims that when all are collected, they will 
  rise into the sky to form a new constellation, 
  and the lunar rain will end. Yet that’s beside 
  the point. The only way 
  the PCs will escape 
  with their lives is 
  if they accept a 
  challenge from 
  the Irontooth: 
  They 
  must 
  duel!
  If the PCs 
  perform hon-
  orably during 
  the duel, the 
  Irontooth recog-
  nize their valor with 
  admission to the clans, 
  then ask them to join in their 
  quest for the globes. They tell the characters 
  there are stories of another such globe some-
  where in the trading city of Edge, far to the 
  south. Once the characters have returned to 
  the city-mech, given back their loaner mech, 
  and gained their citizenship medallion, they 
  are positioned for continued adventures in 
  almost any direction.
  ADVENTURE HOOKS
  T
  he adventure begins with the characters 
  coming across a recently fallen 
  meteorite. The background mate-
  rial assumes they are scavengers 
  who make a living selling ore 
  and other valuables to passing 
  mechs. Yet since the characters 
  are 1st level and just beginning 
  a campaign, the GM can use 
  quite a few other options for 
  explaining how they end up dis-
  covering the meteorite. Here are 
  some ideas:
  • The characters could be freelance 
  ore-hunters. They make their living 
  scouring the meteors left behind after 
  each night’s lunar rain, finding veins of 
  precious metals (such as adamantine and 
  mensite). Then they mine them before 
  anyone else comes across them, or else 
  guard them and sell access to third-party 
  miners. This time, however, they’ve found 
  a particularly interesting meteor….
  • 
  The characters could be refugees, 
  like so many others on Highpoint. 
  They once had training or occu-
  pations, but now they dwell in 
  a secluded cave somewhere 
  on the flatland, eking out 
  an existence and trying 
  to find safe passage to 
  Edge or citizenship on a 
  city-mech. Their normal 
  life consists of scavenging 
  surface wreckage and trad-
  ing with passing mech tribes. 
  They could even live with a tribe 
  of worm farmers that took them in 
  for their combat skills.
  • The characters are scouts for a city-mech. 
  They patrol whenever the city-mech comes 
  to a halt. Being low-level and untrained as 
  they are, they’re in the infantry corps, not 
  the mech division. While scouting on this 
  morning, they find a meteorite with a 
  lunar temple inside it.
  • Alternately, the characters could be in the 
  private employ of the Gearwrights Guild. 
  Their task is specifically to scout meteors 
  on foot and locate valuable lunar relics, 
  particularly 
  technology 
  and 
  magic that might help 
  the Guild. Nor-
  mally, 
  they 
  would take 
  what they 
  find back 
  to 
  the 
  G u i l d , 
  but 
  the 
  interven-
  tion 
  of 
  the Stenian 
  Confederacy 
  (in Episode One) 
  changes their path….
  
  BACKGROUND
  T
  his adventure is set on the continent 
  of Highpoint in the world of Dragon-
  Mech. Highpoint was once a land of tradi-
  tional medieval kingdoms, but that structure 
  has been decimated by the lunar rain. The 
  planet’s moon is slowly falling apart, for 
  reasons unknown. As the moon collapses, its 
  fragments are drawn into the world’s gravity 
  well. The result is a constant meteor storm 
  beneath the moon. On the planet, each 
  night’s moonrise brings with it the so-called 
  lunar rain — sometimes only a particulate 
  haze that irritates the skin, but other times a 
  devastating meteor storm that sends two-ton 
  boulders hurtling into the surface. As if that 
  weren’t enough, the moon’s bizarre denizens 
  are also falling to earth, and they’re univer-
  sally hostile. 
  
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  The meteor rain destroyed the surface 
  world. It shattered castles, flattened cit-
  ies, and sent refugees scurrying for cover 
  underground. It has taken almost a century 
  for the world’s peoples to recolonize the 
  surface, which they did with the help of 
  the greatest technological advance in 
  Highpoint’s history: the mech. 
  Powered by steam, magic, 
  or the labor of a thousand 
  slaves, mechs have become 
  the de facto social unit of 
  Highpoint, particularly the 
  massive city-mechs, which 
  house populations in the 
  thousands. Kingdoms have 
  been replaced by mobile 
  associations of city-mechs called 
  mechdoms.
  Three of the most powerful mechdoms 
  are the Stenian Confederacy, the Legion and 
  the Irontooth Clans. This adventure starts 
  the characters in the territory of the Stenian 
  Confederacy, a dwarven institution ruled by 
  absolute martial law. In its early days, this 
  was a driving force in retaking the surface 
  world, as the organization and structure of 
  the Stenians enabled them to build mechs 
  and survive the hostile conditions of the 
  lunar rain. Five allied city-mechs make up 
  the Stenian Confederacy. The most famous 
  is called Durgan-lok, which was the first city-
  mech ever built, while the most advanced 
  is known as Nedderpik. Nedderpik houses 
  3,500 civilians and crew, and it hangars a 
  fleet of smaller mechs in its shins.
  Episode Three takes the characters to the 
  Legion. The Legion is more of a mass move-
  ment than a proper political body. It is led 
  by the charismatic demagogue Shar Thizdic, 
  whose sheer force of will has united hun-
  dreds of disparate human tribes 
  for the first time in centu-
  ries. Under his leader-
  ship, the tribes have suc-
  cessfully built their first 
  city-mech and are now 
  working on a second. Shar 
  is considered a threat by all 
  other factions in Highpoint, for he 
  is ambitious, warlike and uncompromising. 
  Worst of all, he motivates his people through 
  hatred. He espouses a blatant xenophobia 
  that declares the rightful time of human rule 
  has come and that dwarves, elves, orcs and 
  other races are inferior. Needless to say, this 
  attitude has won him few friends among 
  the neighboring Stenian 
  Confederacy, 
  which 
  is 
  predominantly 
  dwarven.
  The fourth and 
  final 
  episode 
  takes the char-
  acters into the 
  territory of the 
  Irontooth Clans. 
  The Clans’ code of 
  behavior has evolved 
  from ancient monastic 
  traditions 
  practiced 
  by 
  their ancestors. The lunar rains 
  fractured the institutions that held these 
  traditions in place. The Clans were formed 
  by engineers who decried the failures of 
  their previous societies, but were nonethe-
  less influenced by them. Now the Clans are 
  a loosely affiliated group of independent 
  bands that mix monastic inner strength with 
  roughneck barbarian chaos. 
  Daily 
  life 
  among 
  the Irontooth is 
  r o u g h - a n d -
  tumble, and 
  their mechs 
  are 
  orna-
  m e n t e d 
  with spikes, 
  studs, barbs 
  and 
  razor 
  edges. Yet the 
  Irontooth pilots 
  are the best in 
  the world, for 
  they draw on special 
  techniques, a culture of mech joust-
  ing, and mysterious inner reserves 
  to deliver performance that no other 
  mechdom can match. Their enemies 
  call them “mech devils,” and the name 
  is well deserved.
  
  DM’S NOTES
  T
  his adventure starts the characters 
  off without a mech. As such, there 
  is no need for a mech jockey character in 
  the party. However, the adventure does 
  include time on a city-mech, as well as 
  travel and limited combat in a mech, so 
  the characters are exposed to mechs quite 
  a bit. The idea here is versatility: The play-
  ers (and you) will be exposed to adven-
  tures on a mech and on foot, and you can 
  then determine what direction you want 
  your campaign to take.
  By the time this adventure is through, the 
  characters will have encountered the Stenian 
  Confederacy, the Legion, and the Irontooth 
  Clans. They’ll be enemies of some and allies 
  of others. Thanks to the assistance they give 
  the Stenian Confederacy, they’ll end up 
  as allies with citizenship on the city-mech 
  Nedderpik. If they succeed in the challenge 
  offered by the Irontooth Clans, they’ll be 
  granted honorary titles and have powerful 
  new allies there, also. On the other hand, 
  having invaded the Legion’s territory and 
  threatened its citizens, they’ll be hunted 
  enemies of the Legion. 
  The adventure concludes with 
  plot hooks leading the char-
  acters to Edge, the cliffside 
  city far to the south. At 
  this point, the characters 
  are perfectly positioned 
  for whatever direction the 
  players (and you) want to 
  take. They’ll be on Ned-
  derpik, which is rife with 
  adventure; they’ll feel the urge 
  to visit Edge, which is a nexus of 
  trade and civilization on Highpoint; 
  they’ll have Legion enemies pursuing 
  them; and they’ll have safe haven (and new 
  adventures) with the Irontooth Clans.
  
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  EPISODE ONE: SKYFALL
  INTRODUCTION
  I
  ntroduce the players to the adventure by 
  reading them this introduction, adapting it 
  as necessary to their characters’ backgrounds.
  The night started like any other. Before the 
  moon rose, you found safety in an abandoned 
  underground shelter, then listened to the soft 
  pinging of the lunar rain on the ceiling above. The 
  superheated meteor fragments blasted small cra-
  ters in the earth above. Some were large enough 
  to burn through several feet of dirt, denting the 
  scrap metal ceiling of your underground hovel. 
  You knew that by the time the night was through, 
  a hundred new dents would be made, with each 
  dent glowing red from the fiery fragments rest-
  ing above. Finally, the moon would sink over the 
  horizon, carrying the lunar rain with it, and the sun 
  would rise over a landscape scorched clean, as it 
  had every night for nearly a hundred years.
  Yet this night, something different happened. 
  Shortly after midnight, the earth shook with the 
  impact of a massive meteor. You were knocked 
  from the dirt benches on which you slept, awak-
  ening suddenly to the trembling aftershocks. It 
  was obvious that something large had fallen from 
  the moon above.
  That could mean profit — and danger. The 
  meteor could contain valuable lunar ores or 
  rare treasures of the lunar civilizations, both 
  of which you could profit from. If you reach it 
  first, you can sell the ores to the city-mechs that 
  scavenge constantly for the supplies, or sell the 
  lunar treasures to the military men and hunters 
  who battle against the lunar monsters. It might 
  not be that easy, however. There are creatures 
  from the moon, alien monsters with bizarre 
  minds, and they are the scourge of Highpoint. 
  More than one salvage team has been eaten by a 
  meteorite’s unexpected stowaways.
  You rose at dawn and set out immediately. The 
  meteor’s location was obvious from the gouts 
  of steam visible on the horizon. In this scarcely 
  populated region of the rocky flatland, you could 
  easily be the first to reach it.… 
  After two days of hiking, you reach the edge 
  of a shallow crater and look down upon the now-
  cooled meteor. After a descent into the crater, 
  you now stand before the huge, pitted round 
  rock. It looms 50 feet above you, shattered into 
  two halves by the force of the impact.
  Unlike other meteors, this one seems to beck-
  on you to enter. A gaping 10-foot-wide hole opens 
  into its side. The tunnel inside is smooth and well 
  crafted, clearly built by something of intelligence. 
  Your livelihood depends on recovering something 
  of value from what’s inside… but your life may 
  depend on how carefully you do it.
  
  7
  CHPT.
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  Now refer to Map One: The Lunar Temple. 
  Many of the creatures in this temple should 
  be dead, but they aren’t. They have been 
  saved by their own malleable ooze-like 
  forms, their strange physiology and the will 
  of Seroficitacit himself, who ensures that 
  many of his worshippers survive to engage 
  this strange new world.
  THE LUNAR TEMPLE
  T
  his section describes the significant 
  locations of the lunar temple.
  
  AREA 1: 
  THE METEORITE
  T
  he meteorite is about 250 feet in diam-
  eter, with about 50 feet of its top visible 
  above the ground. Its sides rise in a roughly 
  spherical shape, but are cut off suddenly 
  at the top; it looks as if there was another 
  part to the meteor that was simply sheared 
  off. The lunar rock has split into two halves, 
  which now stand about 20 feet apart.
  The only visible entrance to the meteor’s 
  outer perimeter is the one which the char-
  acters stand before, leading into Area 2. If 
  the characters conduct a search of the area, 
  they spy four more entrances on the walls of 
  the channel between the two halves (Spot 
  DC 10). These entrances (corresponding 
  to the broken passages between Areas 7 
  and 8) are 20 feet above ground level and 
  40 feet below the meteor’s roof. They 
  are difficult to reach due to the spawns 
  of Seroficitacit (see “New Creatures” in 
  Appendix One) that were tossed from the 
  openings when the rock split. These spawn 
  now rest in the entrances to the split chan-
  nel, effectively preventing the characters 
  from passing. At least two are in the way 
  of the PCs’ entrance from any direction 
  except dropping from above.
  Dropping from above is difficult due to the 
  meteor’s temperature. It has begun to cool 
  but is still very hot to the touch. It is coolest 
  at its center (where it was most insulated from 
  the friction of its earthfall) and warmest on 
  its surface. Anyone who walks on the surface 
  for more than two rounds takes 1 point of heat 
  damage each round after the second (Fort 
  save DC 10 to take no damage).
  The hot rock and spawns should collec-
  tively steer the characters toward entering 
  the passage into Area 2.
  AREA 2: 
  THE ENTRANCE CHAMBER 
  (EL 2)
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  The hallway goes for barely 10 feet before it enters 
  a 40-foot-wide round chamber. Hanging from the 
  ceiling is a three-foot-tall inverted basin carved 
  
  8
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  with bizarre yet beautiful symbols. You can see 
  an open doorway on the opposite side of the 
  room, but there is an obstacle in your way: A 
  15-foot-wide shapeless mass of grayish ooze is 
  undulating on the floor, sending pulpy tentacles 
  swaying about. It makes no noise, but this ooze 
  is clearly alive.
  The meteorite landed upside-down relative 
  to its orientation on the moon, so the temple 
  that the characters enter is also upside-down. 
  The ooze is a spawn of Seroficitacit that was 
  originally housed in the basin when it was 
  right side up. Now the basin is on the ceil-
  ing, and the spawn has been tossed onto 
  the floor.
  The spawn is the “greeter” for this 
  particular temple. It can sense surface 
  creatures and will attack all who come 
  near, fulfilling Seroficitacit’s whim that 
  their world should change. It is a young 
  spawn that survived the meteor crash but was 
  wounded in the process.
  Tactics: As soon as the spawn senses the 
  characters, it advances on them to attack. It 
  fights to the death.  
  Young Spawn of Seroficitacit (injured): 
  CR 2; Medium ooze (lunar); HD 3d10+15; 
  hp 19; Init –5; Spd 10 ft.; AC 7, touch 5, flat-
  footed 7; BAB +2; Grp +6; Atk/Full Atk +6 
  melee (1d4+4 plus change, slam); Space/
  Reach 10 ft./5 ft.; SA Change; SQ Blindsight 
  40 ft., moon lore, ooze traits, lunar traits; AL 
  N; SV Fort +6, Ref –4, Will +5; Str 18, Dex 1, 
  Con 20, Int 18, Wis 18, Cha 10.
  Skills: Bluff +6, Knowledge (lunar) +20, 
  Knowledge (the planes) +10, Knowledge (reli-
  gion) +10, Listen +10, Spot +10.
  Feats: Insightful Step, 
  Seroficitacit’s Changes.
  SA–Change (Su): Fort 
  DC 10 or suffer change 
  (see “New Creatures” in 
  Appendix One).
  
  AREA 3: 
  THE GREETING AREA
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  The hallway continues for a short distance 
  before coming to yet another round chamber. 
  The bottom of this room is a bowl-like half-
  sphere that dips 10 feet below the floor level. 
  The ceiling stays at its current height. Directly 
  over the lowest point of the floor is a 10-foot-
  wide hole in the ceiling.
  The walls, floor and ceiling of this room are 
  completely covered with utterly alien carvings. 
  The shapes and symbols are totally foreign. You 
  cannot read them or even understand what they 
  represent, and they seem even more confusing 
  than they should. Each time you look at a new 
  section, it seems like the area you were just look-
  ing at shifts ever so slightly.
  
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  As you look around you, your thoughts start to 
  feel sluggish. It seems as if the world is becoming 
  more and more difficult to understand.…
  The characters are now in the influence of 
  the mental static from the dronog in Area 4. 
  Their Intelligence is automatically reduced 
  by 1d4 points as long as they stay in the area 
  of effect.
  Now distribute Players Handout A. The 
  walls of this room tell legends of Seroficit-
  acit in a lunar language. They are magically 
  enchanted to constantly change, but only 
  just after someone has read them. It’s not 
  an illusion and can be perceived by anyone 
  who carefully observes the carvings as they 
  read (Spot DC 10). The legends told by the 
  walls change as the walls do. Yet the stories 
  never contradict each other; they simply add 
  more or different details, or in some cases 
  tell completely different stories. The walls 
  can be read, but only with great difficulty 
  (Decipher Script DC 35, with additional 
  –4 penalty to check as long as symbols are 
  upside-down).
  This room was used by the temple 
  denizens as a simple prayer area. It was here 
  where they would come to meditate on 
  Seroficitacit’s greatness. When it was right 
  side up, the room’s exit was a simple hole in 
  the floor through which worshippers would 
  descend (see diagram). Now that hole is in 
  the “ceiling,” 20 feet above the upside-down 
  “floor.” The characters must figure out how 
  to get up there.
  Anyone who takes the time to 
  observe the shifting walls care-
  fully will eventually see images 
  of the door at Area 8 and the 
  ball-chutes at Area 10. It takes 
  10 minutes for these images 
  to appear in the stories, which 
  describe the building of this very 
  temple. Although the immediate 
  implications will not be obvious to the 
  characters, observing these scenes allows 
  them to make an Intelligence check (DC 12) 
  at Areas 8 and 10 to determine, respectively, 
  the method for passing the door and the use 
  of the ball-chutes.
  The legends told by the wall symbols will 
  not repeat themselves until someone has 
  observed them for a full hour.
  AREA 4: 
  HOST STORAGE (EL 1)
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  You have entered an oddly shaped room about 30 
  feet wide. The sides are lined with shallow five-
  foot-deep alcoves. A circular door is set into one 
  alcove in the northwest corner of the room. Near 
  the other alcoves, a total of four creatures sprawl 
  on the floor. They are grotesque, ugly things, like 
  large lizards but with five legs and no neck. Their 
  mouths have dull teeth, and their skin is lined with 
  ribbed veins.
  As you enter, one of the creatures raises its 
  head to look at you.
  The lunar skinstealers that occupy this 
  temple frequently used dronogs as parasitic 
  hosts, especially when they left the temple. 
  They kept the dronogs here. This room can 
  house up to 15 dronogs at once, though usu-
  ally there were no more than five here.
  Anyone who examines the room carefully 
  (Spot DC 10) notes that there are slight con-
  cave pits worn into the otherwise smooth 
  “ceiling” above each alcove. These pits were 
  worn into the floor by the dronogs after 
  countless years of bedding down each 
  night in the alcoves.
  All four of the dronogs 
  currently present were 
  injured in the mete-
  orite’s landing. Three 
  were killed outright, 
  but one of them sur-
  vived. When it sees the 
  characters, it rises to its 
  feet and charges.
  Remember that the mental 
  static emanated by the dronog ceases as 
  soon as it dies. 
  Dronog (injured): CR 1; Large aberration 
  (lunar); HD 4d8+8; hp 12; Init –2; Spd 20 ft., 
  burrow 10 ft.; AC 15, touch 15, flat-footed 
  7; BAB +3; Grp +11; Atk/Full Atk +6 melee 
  (1d8+6, bite); Space/Reach 10 ft./5 ft.; SA 
  Mental static; SQ Lunar traits; AL N; SV Fort 
  +6, Ref +0, Will +0; Str 19, Dex 7, Con 15, Int 
  4, Wis 8, Cha 8.
  Skills: Climb +8, Listen +3, Spot +3.
  SA–Mental Static (Ex): Terrestrials within 
  50 feet lose 1d4 Int as long as they remain 
  in area; must make a Concentration check 
  (DC 12) to attempt any Intelligence-
  related action.
  LUNAR TEMPLE FEATURES
  Floor Level: The meteorite landed in a way that 
  left the lunar temple both upside down and at an 
  angle. The horizontal axis of the temple is tilted 
  higher on its eastern half than its western side. This 
  allows characters to enter at ground level on the 
  western side of the meteorite, but when they pass 
  through the middle chasm, they are 20 feet above 
  ground level, and when they reach the eastern side 
  they are about 40 feet above ground level.
  Illumination: There is no light of any kind 
  inside the meteorite. The creatures inside navigate 
  through native blindsense or blindsight, or alien 
  forms of navigation possessed by lunar creatures 
  and not understood by terrestrial creatures.
  Walls: All passages in the tunnel are round, with 
  a slightly flattened floor. Unless noted otherwise, 
  they are 10 feet tall. They have stats as follows: 
  Hewn Stone Wall: 3 ft. thick between rooms, 
  otherwise solid rock; Break DC 50; hardness 8; 
  540 hp; Climb DC 22.
  Doors: Doors within the lunar temple are quite 
  unlike normal doors. They are round passages a full 
  10 feet tall, with a round door set within. The door 
  opens by rotating on a horizontal bar set within the 
  frame 5 feet above the ground, effectively “flipping 
  over” to open. Humans using these doors must 
  move with the bottom half of the door and duck un-
  der the horizontal bar. Creatures with the ability to 
  do so can throw themselves at the upper half of the 
  door to flip through to the other side. The rotating 
  door can swing in either direction. 
  Stone Door: 4 in. thick; hardness 8; 60 hp; 
  Break DC 28 (stuck or locked).
  
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  As a side note, multiple skinstealers are excellent 
  opponents for PCs above 1st level. Because their 
  grapple attack occupies their opponent, and a 
  successful host domination not only removes a 
  PC from play but uses him against his allies, a fight 
  against lunar skinstealers with even odds becomes 
  extremely dangerous for the PCs — particularly if 
  the skinstealers attack at close quarters.
  
  AREA 5: 
  HALLWAY (EL 2)
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  This wide hall heads west before winding around 
  to the north. It is rounded and smooth. Three 
  doors line the west wall, and two doors are on 
  the east wall.
  The lunar skinstealers that worshipped here 
  lived in the small rooms off this hallway. 
  Only a few were in attendance when the 
  temple crashed to earth. One was unharmed 
  by the crash-landing. Now it lurks hidden in 
  this hallway.
  Tactics: The lunar skinstealer hides flat 
  on the floor halfway up the hall. It is highly 
  intelligent, and although it has never been 
  to the surface before, it’s smart enough to 
  recognize that a big strong host will be most 
  useful in combat. It waits until a fighter-type 
  comes within reach, then it attacks with a 
  face grapple. As soon as it takes over the 
  host, it retreats to a doorway where it can 
  deal with oncoming attackers one-on-one 
  (or as close to that as possible).
  The skinstealer’s goal is to defend its tem-
  ple. It could be parleyed with (once it has a 
  host to speak from), but not likely.
  Be sure to read the DragonMech mon-
  ster entry for the lunar skinstealer carefully. 
  Skinstealers can be brutally effective if used 
  properly. If used in a manner that doesn’t 
  reflect their high Intelligence score, how-
  ever, they are easy to defeat.
  Lunar Skinstealer (Unhosted): CR 2; 
  Medium aberration (lunar); HD 4d8 (18 hp); 
  Init –1; Spd 10 ft.; AC 9, touch 9, flat-footed 9; 
  BAB +3; Grp +7 (+1 per hook used, up to +11); 
  Atk +5 touch (domination, face grapple); Full 
  Atk +5 touch (domination, face grapple) and 
  +1 melee (1d2, 4 hooks); SA Improved grab, 
  host domination, neighbor domination; SQ 
  Lunar traits; AL CN; SV Fort +0, Ref +0, Will 
  +0; Str 18, Dex 8, Con 10, Int 20, Wis 4, Cha 14.
  Skills: Bluff +26, Disguise +25, Hide +14, 
  Listen +2, Spot +2.
  SA–Host Domination (Su): Initiates face 
  grapple free with touch attack due to 
  Improved Grab ability. Once enemy face is 
  grappled, can dominate as if by dominate per-
  son (DC 15 to resist); absorbs host’s appear-
  ance, physical stats, and abilities; gains 
  neighbor domination ability once hosted.
  SA–Neighbor Domination (Ex): Drain 1 point 
  of host’s Wisdom to cast dominate person (DC 
  15, range 200 ft., duration 10 days).
  Secret Door: The secret door is a 1-foot-
  wide circular section of the wall (Search DC 
  20) that flips open into a round passage only 
  1 foot across. It was once used as an escape 
  route by the skinstealers that guarded the 
  hatchery (Area 11). Now it can’t be navigated 
  by a PC without magical aid.
  AREA 6: 
  LIVING QUARTERS (EL 1/4–1)
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  This 20-foot-wide, semicircular room looks as if it 
  is, or was, the living quarters for some sort of alien 
  life form. Fragments of solid stone are scattered 
  about the room, apparently from several smashed 
  pieces of carved rock that lie in the middle of 
  the room. Various containers, carved icons and 
  unusual chips of metal are strewn about. Carved 
  into the wall are more alien symbols.
  Several lunar skinstealers stayed in each of 
  these rooms. All four rooms are practically 
  identical. 
  Lurking amidst the rubble in each room 
  are 1d4 nanites (see “New Creatures” in 
  Appendix One). Many dead nanites are 
  scattered about the complex, but these ones 
  survived and were knocked from their nooks 
  in the walls. They attack anyone who digs 
  through the rubble. 
  Nanites (1d4): CR 1/4; Tiny vermin 
  (lunar); HD 1/2d8; hp 2; Init +2; Spd 30 ft.; 
  AC 14, touch 14, flat-footed 12; BAB +0; Grp 
  –11; Atk/Full Atk +2 melee (1d3-3 plus 1 acid, 
  bite); SA Death burst; SQ Darkvision 60 ft., 
  lunar traits, vermin traits; AL N; SV Fort +2, 
  Ref +2, Will +0; Str 5, Dex 14, Con 10, Int –, 
  Wis 10, Cha 6.
  Skills: Climb +6.
  SA–Death Burst (Ex): Acidic explosion 
  upon reaching –1 hp; 1 point of acid damage 
  to all within 5 feet (Reflex DC 10 to avoid).
  Treasure: Searching through the mess 
  antagonizes the nanites. Once they’re 
  taken care of, a search reveals mostly worth-
  less junk. The skinstealers’ “furniture” is 
  carved from solid moon rock via the aid of 
  acid-secreting oozes. Now these rectangu-
  lar objects are smashed into hundreds of 
  pieces. The containers hold lunar gruel and 
  worthless moon rocks. The carved icons are 
  symbols of Seroficitacit, worth nothing off 
  the moon. The only things of value (Search 
  DC 10) are the metal chips, which are carved 
  from mensite. Each room has 2d6 such chips, 
  each of which is worth 10 gp to the right 
  person. Plenty of interested buyers will be 
  found on any city-mech.
  AREA 7: 
  OOZE POOLS
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  This organically shaped corridor has several 15-
  foot-wide circular alcoves branching off its sides. 
  In each one rests a puddle of gray ooze, with an 
  inverted basin carved out of the “ceiling” above. 
  The oozes are still and silent. Further ahead, a pas-
  sage veers off to the north.
  
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  These “ooze oracles” were revered spawns of 
  Seroficitacit, eagerly consulted by the cult in 
  all matters of study, worship and religion. Most 
  were killed by the crash-landing. Their bodies 
  are inert and not dangerous; they no longer 
  inflict changes upon those who touch them. 
  The oozes completely fill each chamber.
  The only ooze still living lies in the cham-
  ber that formerly connected to Area 13. It is 
  on the verge of death and will not take any 
  aggressive actions unless physically touched 
  or jostled, at which point it will attack. It is 
  an elder spawn of Seroficitacit that split into 
  two halves during the impact of the collision. 
  One half spilled into the chasm, and the oth-
  er half remains in this room. Each half is now 
  treated as a younger spawn.  
  Young Spawn of Seroficitacit (injured): 
  CR 2; Medium ooze (lunar); HD 3d10+15; 
  hp 15; Init –5; Spd 10 ft.; AC 7, touch 5, flat-
  footed 7; BAB +2; Grp +6; Atk/Full Atk +6 
  melee (1d4+4 plus change, slam); Space/
  Reach 10 ft./5 ft.; SA Change; SQ Blindsight 
  40 ft., moon lore, ooze traits, lunar traits; AL 
  N; SV Fort +6, Ref –4, Will +5; Str 18, Dex 1, 
  Con 20, Int 18, Wis 18, Cha 10.
  Skills: Bluff +6, Knowledge (lunar) +20, 
  Knowledge (the planes) +10, Knowledge 
  (religion) +10, Listen +10, Spot +10.
  Feats: Insightful Step, Seroficitacit’s 
  Changes.
  SA–Change (Su): Fort DC 10 or suffer 
  change (see “New Creatures” in Appendix 
  One).
  Crossing the Chasm: To continue on 
  their way, the characters must cross the 
  chasm between the two halves of the meteor. 
  The hall opens 20 feet above ground level. 
  Climbing down, walking across, and climb-
  ing back up is easy enough with a rope and a 
  few Climb checks.
  The real danger is the many young spawns 
  of Seroficitacit that lurk in the chasm. These 
  oozes are still conscious and will actively move 
  to intercept characters who make themselves 
  visible. The slimes start near the outer edges 
  and move slowly, so the characters should be 
  able to avoid them if they act quickly.
  Note that the interior walls of the meteor 
  are not hot; the meteor split after it landed, 
  and these walls were protected from friction 
  during the descent. Unlike the outer edges, 
  they do not inflict heat damage on those who 
  touch them for too long.
  AREA 8: 
  PORTAL OF THE FAITHFUL 
  (EL 1)
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  After crossing the chasm successfully, you arrive in 
  another 15-foot-wide circular room. On the east-
  ern wall is another of the round, flip-top doors. 
  This one looks different from the others, however, 
  with strange symbols carved into it. An inverted 
  basin on the ceiling directly in front of the door 
  is adorned with different types of carvings, all of 
  which resemble ooze-like shapes. The basin is 6 
  inches in diameter.
  Show the players Handout B. Outsiders 
  were welcome to worship in this temple of 
  Seroficitacit, provided they were suitably 
  escorted and didn’t venture too deep. This 
  portal was the limit of the outsiders’ access. 
  The door is magically locked. In order to 
  pass, one had to scoop up a handful of a 
  spawn of Seroficitacit, and deposit the hand-
  ful of ooze in the basin in front of the door. 
  Because the spawns would attack any non-
  believers who attempted this, the door was 
  effectively locked to all but the faithful.
  Now, of course, the basin is 10 feet above 
  on the ceiling and it’s not exactly easy to get 
  a pile of ooze to defy gravity. Any amount 
  of spawn goo will do the trick, even from a 
  dead spawn, but it must be held in place in 
  the basin for at least one full round. A pole 
  or implement won’t do it; the characters will 
  have to get a pair of hands up to the right 
  height to hold the ooze in place. Once the 
  goo is in the basin, the door will rotate to an 
  open position.
  Alternately, the characters can simply try 
  to bash down the door. If they figure out the 
  puzzle, however, award them experience for 
  defeating a CR 1 encounter. 
  Ooze Bowl Puzzle Door (CR 1): Magical-
  ly sealed stone door (arcane lock); 4 in. thick; 
  hardness 8; 60 hp; Break DC 38 (locked); 
  opens automatically if ooze from a spawn of 
  Seroficitacit is placed in the basin before the 
  door for 1 round.
  AREA 9: 
  SANCTUM OF THE FAITHFUL
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  This 30-foot-diameter, circular room has a deep, 
  bowl-shaped floor. The ceiling is flat and lined 
  with rows of oblong benches carved directly 
  from the stone. In the center of the ceiling is a 
  one-foot-wide column some three feet in height 
  with an inverted basin at its end. A deep crack runs 
  through the stone floor. A number of flat, rectan-
  gular creatures lie still on the floor.
  The characters enter on the ceiling, of 
  course. When part of the temple, this wor-
  ship area was used to show the visions of the 
  starshard (see Area 12) to the faithful. The 
  starshard was placed in the pedestal (which 
  now resembles a column hanging from the 
  ceiling), and the visions were projected onto 
  the hemispherical ceiling while the worship-
  pers rested against the small benches on the 
  floor. The crack was caused by the crash.
  The six bodies are lunar skinstealers who 
  were worshipping here before they were 
  killed in the crash. The characters find noth-
  ing else of interest in this room.
  
  AREA 10: 
  GUARD CHAMBER (EL 1)
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  A 20-foot-long hallway opens into a 35-foot-
  wide circular room. The walls are utterly smooth, 
  almost polished in appearance. On the south wall 
  are three one-foot-wide circular holes, beside 
  which rest a dozen or so brass spheres. On the 
  north wall is another round door. But the most 
  
  12
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  «1»
  interesting feature of this room is the pulpy, putty-
  like mass of flesh in the center. It seems unable to 
  stand still. Its body pulses and undulates before 
  you, slowly changing shape into a semi-humanoid 
  state. The yellowish material that composes it has 
  an oily sheen, and you can’t help but think you 
  catch reflections of yourself in its skin.
  This lunar elemental (see “New Creatures” 
  in Appendix One) was summoned by the fol-
  lowers of Seroficitacit to guard their inner 
  sanctum. Now its guardians are dead, but it 
  still defends the area. 
  Lunar Elemental: CR 1; Small elemental 
  (lunar); HD 2d8+8; hp 17; Init +1; Spd 40 ft.; 
  AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 15; BAB +1; Grp 
  –3; Atk/Full Atk +2 melee (1d4, slam); SA 
  Lunar mastery, adaptive; SQ Entropic skin 
  (DC 15), blindsense, lunar traits; AL N; SV 
  Fort +4, Ref +1, Will +7; Str 10, Dex 12, Con 
  18, Int 4, Wis 18, Cha 11.
  Skills: Listen +7, Spot +6.
  SA–Lunar Mastery (Ex): +1 to attack and dam-
  age when both it and opponent are in contact 
  with lunar surface (including this temple).
  SA–Adaptive (Su): Adapts to shape of one 
  opponent with attack action or standard 
  action used for study. Each round of adapta-
  tion against the same target grants a cumula-
  tive +1 insight bonus to attack rolls and AC 
  versus that one target (max +10). Studying or 
  attacking a new creature reduces this bonus 
  to +1 against the new creature.
  SQ–Entropic Skin (Ex): Images of poten-
  tial pasts and haunting futures flash in the 
  elemental’s skin. Anyone looking at or 
  attacking a lunar elemental must make a 
  Will save (DC 15) or be dazzled; a new save 
  is required each round.
  Tactics: The lunar elemental is perfectly 
  content to wait for the characters to take 
  action. After all, every round they delay 
  gives it another round to study one of 
  them. The characters will notice its shape 
  slowly approximating one of them. Unless 
  it is attacked, the elemental will not initiate 
  combat until it has observed the characters 
  for 10 rounds (giving it +10 to hit one of 
  them, per its adaptive special ability) or until 
  one of them tries to move through either of 
  the room’s exits.
  Development: The lunar skinstealers 
  accessed their most sacred relic (in Area 12) 
  by wrapping their form around one of the brass 
  spheres and rolling through one of the three 
  small passages. The brass sphere are about 9 
  inches in diameter, just the right size for a lunar 
  skinstealer to engulf one and still fit through 
  the exits in the south wall. Each brass sphere 
  weighs 25 lbs. and is worth 15 gp as scrap metal.
  A Search of the room (DC 10) reveals a 
  cloudlike symbol etched over each of the 12-
  inch-wide passages. This symbol matches the 
  symbol on the potions in area 11.
  The only way for a PC to get into Area 12 
  is to somehow get through the 12-inch-wide 
  passages. It is possible for a very nimble 
  Small character to do this (Escape Artist DC 
  20). Medium and larger characters cannot 
  pass except through magical means or by use 
  of the potion in Area 11.
  
  13
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  #
  «1»
  The secret door is another 12-inch-wide 
  passage that presumably only a lunar skin-
  stealer can move through. It leads to the 
  hatchery, bypassing the “pit trap” that would 
  normally capture interlopers (see Area 11).
  
  AREA 11: 
  THE HATCHERY (EL 0)
  T
  he hallway into this area is trapped with 
  a camouflaged pit. Luckily for the PCs, 
  the fact that the meteor landed upside down 
  means the “pit” opens on the ceiling, and 
  they’re saved from danger.
  The pit is triggered by an alarm spell, 
  so it activates even though the characters 
  are walking on the “ceiling.” Do not award 
  experience for the trap unless a careful 
  rogue manages to detect it even though it’s 
  no danger. 
  Camouflaged Pit Trap: CR 0 (normally 1 
  when on floor); mechanical; proximity trig-
  ger (alarm); manual reset; DC 20 Reflex save 
  avoids; 10 ft. deep (1d6 fall, if it were located 
  in the floor); Search DC 24; Disable Device 
  DC 20. 
  Once the characters are through the corri-
  dor, Read or paraphrase the following:
  You stand in an oblong room about 40 feet wide 
  and 20 feet long. Scattered about the room are 
  dozens of small, fleshy, rectangular globs. Each 
  chalky white pile sprouts a few tiny hooks from its 
  sides. Some of them quiver slightly, while the rest 
  are immobile.
  A small ledge runs around the wall, about 
  eight feet from the floor. On the floor beneath 
  the ledge are a variety of metal and stone boxes 
  and vials.
  This is the hatchery. The lunar skinstealers 
  bred and raised more of their own kind here. 
  The 30 globules are immature skinstealers. 
  These creatures are parasitic by nature and 
  the young feed off each other, so only a few 
  will survive to adulthood.
  Eight of the immature skinstealers still 
  live. They are harmless now, but certainly 
  won’t be later. Characters should be awarded 
  XP for defeating a CR 1 creature if they rid 
  the world of these menaces.
  Treasure: This room also housed most of 
  the temple’s supplies, including its magic. 
  The mundane treasures are as follows:
  • A number of cracked stone boxes contain 
  some sort of gruel (this was fed to the 
  immature skinstealers).
  • Other boxes have strange clothing (built 
  for lunar creatures), carvings of oozes, 
  and similarly unusual items.
  • A total of 20 symbols of Seroficitacit can be 
  garnered from these boxes; these pendants 
  with irregular blob shapes on them could 
  come in handy for impersonating followers 
  of Seroficitacit in Episode Three.
  • The characters find five cubical metal 
  boxes some 8 inches to a side, each of 
  which holds stone carvings of unidenti-
  fiable meaning or function. (Some are 
  symbols of Seroficitacit, while others 
  are tools designed for the skinsteal-
  ers’ unique anatomy.) The metal boxes 
  themselves are worth 10 gp each if sold as 
  scrap, since metal is such a rare commod-
  ity on Highpoint.
  The dozen metal vials contain the most 
  important treasure. Designed for a skinsteal-
  er’s anatomy, the “vials” are rather flat and 
  squat, with lids far wider than is comfortable 
  for a normal human hand (but which can still 
  be opened).
  Several of the metal vials were dented 
  and punctured in the crash, but the rest are 
  intact. They are labeled in a lunar language 
  that isn’t particularly clear (Decipher Script 
  DC 35), but the characters can quickly dis-
  tinguish three kinds of potion:
  • Two of the potions are a green shade, and 
  smell pleasantly of an unidentifiable scent 
  (potion of cure light wounds, CL 1st).
  • One vial seems to bounce and jostle of its 
  own accord; it is bright red (potion of jump, 
  CL 3rd).
  • The other vials emit a cloud of visible 
  but inert gas when opened; the gas looks 
  like steam except it is cool to the touch 
  (potions of gaseous form, CL 3rd). Each of 
  these vials is inscribed with a cloudlike 
  symbol that matches the symbols over the 
  12-inch-wide holes in area 11.
  The exact number of potions of gaseous 
  form is up to the GM. These are neces-
  sary for entering Area 12. To create a bit 
  of tension and tactical decision-making, 
  give out one less potion than the number 
  of PCs. On the other hand, if you’re afraid 
  the PCs might make a stupid mistake and 
  get stuck in Area 12 (such as by sending in 
  a character that can’t climb out), give out 
  more than enough.
  All the potions were designed for a 
  lunar anatomy, but magic’s magic. The 
  effects are doubled when a lunar creature 
  drinks the potion, but they still work on 
  terrestrial creatures.
  AREA 12: 
  THE STARSHARD
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  This perfectly spherical 25-foot-wide room has 
  polished black walls. The room is dark, like the 
  last glimpse of twilight before the sun sets. A 
  haunting gold glow emanates from a crystalline 
  globe that floats mid-air in the exact center of 
  the spherical space. Pinpricks in the surface of the 
  globe send pointers of light to the walls, where 
  they look like stars in an infinite black sky.
  Have the characters make Spot checks 
  (DC 15). Those that succeed notice a faint 
  black rectangular outline in the southern 
  ceiling of the room. This black outline is 
  actually an opening into a vertical chute 
  leading twenty feet up. It once led to the 
  lower level of the temple, but now it leads 
  to the surface of the meteor. The sunlight 
  that filters through the hole is blocked by 
  the room’s magical nature (see below).
  The characters can leave this room via 
  the chute or (if they have the ability) via the 
  same way they came in. The globe is small 
  enough that it can be rolled through the 12-
  inch-wide tunnels (whether by a character or 
  a lunar skinstealer).
  
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  Lighting: Thanks to the presence of the 
  starshard, this room remains at the same light 
  level no matter what other efforts the charac-
  ters undertake. Torches still burn, but seem to 
  emanate no light; light spells have no effect 
  in the room; and even the sunlight from the 
  chute seems simply to fade when it enters.
  Development: The globe is the star-
  shard, a magic item that this temple has 
  possessed for centuries. The lunar 
  worshippers treat it as a major relic 
  and a sacred gift of Seroficitacit. 
  Seroficitacit uses the globe (and 
  its twin, found in Episode Three) 
  to impart visions to his follow-
  ers, but he did not create it. The 
  starshard’s divine origins precede 
  his cult’s acquisition of it.
  The starshard is obviously magical, 
  but the characters probably won’t 
  know what to do with it. That’s fine. 
  Once the characters enter the room, 
  the starshard subtly urges them to take it 
  with them, communicating through empathy 
  and perhaps even telepathy if they’re not per-
  suaded. It will not answer questions or offer 
  hints; its only message is “take me.” (Feel free 
  to assure the more paranoid players in your 
  group that the starshard is not attempting to 
  take control of their minds.)
  See “New Item” in Appendix One for full 
  details of the starshard.
  AREA 13: 
  STAIRWELL
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  This 15-foot-wide room is a perfect circle. A cir-
  cular doorway in the eastern wall opens into what 
  appears to be an upside-down staircase leading 
  up. The stairs come down from the ceiling instead 
  of rising from the floor!
  Just in case the characters haven’t figured it 
  out yet, this should make it obvious that the 
  temple landed upside-down. The staircase 
  formerly led down to the next level below, 
  but it now rises upside-down until it emerges 
  from the top of the meteor. The ramp that 
  was formerly the staircase’s ceiling is easily 
  ascended (Climb DC 10), bringing the char-
  acters outside.
  
  CONCLUSION
  W
  hen the characters finally emerge from 
  the meteor holding the enigmatic 
  starshard, they probably think the adventure’s 
  over. Hardly. It’s only beginning! A few min-
  utes after the characters have left the meteor, 
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  Suddenly, the calm is shattered by the lumbering 
  footsteps of a mech. Two combat mechs appear 
  over the top of a hill less than a mile away. They 
  are huge, bulky things, with an axe blade fixed on 
  one arm and a huge steam cannon built into the 
  other. They stomp toward you, trailing a choking 
  cloud of black smoke. As they approach, you 
  notice the insignia of the Stenian Confederacy 
  stenciled on their torsos.
  Development: The Stenians were sent to 
  investigate this meteorite for lunar influ-
  ence. Their goal is to make sure no lunar 
  creatures survive. The encounter proceeds 
  along these lines:
  1. The mechs corner the characters, aim 
  their cannons at them, and order them 
  to freeze.
  2.  Grunnar, the dwarf commanding 
  officer, shouts from a porthole. He 
  wants to know who the charac-
  ters are and what their business 
  is. The characters are familiar 
  enough with the world to know 
  that the Stenian Confederacy is 
  generally lawful.
  3. After the characters explain 
  their situation, Grunnar will 
  admit they’re doing a good deed 
  for the Confederacy by clearing 
  the meteor — but he’ll demand 
  that they submit to testing to make 
  sure they’re not infected by lunar 
  skinstealers (a creature he’s quite famil-
  iar with). Read or paraphrase the fol-
  lowing. (Note: This blurb is important, 
  since it provides a clue as to what the 
  characters will face in the next episode!)
  One mech trains its weapons on the meteor while 
  the other aims its cannon at you! A crewman from 
  each mech climbs down and advances toward 
  you. You watch nervously as they pull out scal-
  pels. Grunnar, watching from a porthole, assures 
  you that it’s a quick, painless test. The crewmen 
  ask for your arm, then take a quick, shallow slice 
  across the top of your forearm. As soon as they 
  see blood, they grunt approvingly.
  “You see,” Grunnar shouts from his porthole, 
  “the way lunar skinstealers work is they drape over 
  your body and assume your shape. They look like 
  you, feel like you, and are you, as far as anyone 
  else is concerned. But you’re inside, powerless to 
  control your own body. The only way to be sure is 
  to slice the skin. If there’s a skinstealer on top of 
  you, it won’t bleed red.”
  4. The Stenians have no particular interest in 
  the starshard (which the characters prob-
  
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  ably hid anyway). Once the characters pass 
  the test, Read or paraphrase the following:
  The mech commander Grunnar seems satisfied 
  that you are free of lunar influence. “We could 
  use more able-bodied soldiers like you in the 
  Confederacy,” he says. “In fact, this meteor has 
  created a bit of a situation. What you just explored 
  is only half of it. The other half landed in Legion 
  territory not too far to the east. We need to clear 
  out any skinstealers that survived, but we can’t 
  send Stenian mechs into Legion territory.”
  Grunnar pauses for a minute and clears his 
  throat. “That’s right. We can’t send Stenian mechs 
  into Legion territory. But if someone else were to 
  clear that meteor for us, well, it would certainly 
  do us a favor that we’d be willing to repay.”
  Then the mech commander gives you a pointed 
  look. “Would you happen to know anyone who 
  might be willing to perform such a service?”
  In exchange for the characters agreeing to 
  clear the other half of the meteor of any 
  lunar influence, Grunnar is willing to offer 
  the following:
  • Transportation back to city-mech Ned-
  derpik, which is traveling nearby. There 
  the characters can clean up and rest for 
  the night.
  • Nedderpik is already moving in the 
  general direction of the other 
  meteor fragment. Once it 
  closes within range, Grun-
  nar offers the characters 
  use of a civilian mech to 
  close the last few miles.
  • When 
  the 
  characters 
  return after a successful 
  mission, Grunnar promises 
  to arrange provisional citizen-
  ship on Nedderpik for each of them.
  If the characters agree, Grunnar makes room 
  for them on one of the Juggernauts. The 
  mech is short on space, so the characters 
  have to ride on piles of coal in the storage 
  area, or even hang on to hammocks strung 
  under the mech’s legs or arms. That Jugger-
  naut hauls the characters to Nedderpik while 
  the remaining Juggernaut loads up its steam 
  cannon and blasts what’s left of the meteor 
  to a pulp, including the spawns of Seroficit-
  acit that were scattered about the chasm.
  Tactics: The encounter with the 
  Stenian mechs really shouldn’t 
  devolve into a combat. As a 
  result, we haven’t presented 
  combat stats for the mech 
  jockeys and their mechs 
  (which are standard-issue 
  Juggernauts). Should these 
  stats be necessary… well, you 
  might as well take this module 
  back for a refund, because the players 
  have derailed this train before it got started!
  
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  CHPT.
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  «2»
  EPISODE TWO: OLD IRON ARMS
  apartment (very small — 10 feet x 10 feet 
  for four people!) in the visitors’ level. The 
  ceilings on that level are 6 feet tall to accom-
  modate visiting humans. This is an excessive 
  waste of space in the eyes of the dwarves who 
  built the mech; most other ceilings are only 
  4 to 5 feet tall, mimicking the close quarters 
  of the tunnels in which the dwarven builders 
  were raised. The visitors’ level also has some 
  built-in lighting, usually in the form of gas 
  lamps or torches, but most other areas are 
  dark, since the dwarven inhabitants gener-
  ally operate using darkvision.
  Nedderpik will reach the general location 
  of the second meteor on the second morn-
  ing following the characters’ arrival. In other 
  words, they have two nights and one day on 
  the city-mech. That second night is a good 
  thing, because their first one will be inter-
  rupted. Once the characters have bedded 
  crushed by the massive quarter-mile-wide 
  legs as they crash down to earth. Once the 
  characters are finally on board, they have 
  to adjust to the constant rocking of the city-
  mech as it lumbers across the land, and its 
  massive vertical scale. Simply reaching the 
  visitors’ zone requires ascending in a slow-
  moving cargo elevator for five minutes.
  Don’t forget to review the rules for travel-
  ing in mechs (see “Inside a Mech” in Chap-
  ter 2 of DragonMech). Characters who ride 
  in the Juggernaut wearing armor other than 
  leather, studded leather, padded or hide will 
  suffer 1 point of nonlethal damage from the 
  chafing and blisters, and all characters may 
  suffer from mechsickness the first time they 
  get on a mech. 
  Give the characters time to explore the 
  city-mech, ask questions, and get a sense of 
  how things work. They’ll be assigned a small 
  INTRODUCTION
  A
  fter a four-hour journey, the characters 
  reach city-mech Nedderpik. Full stats 
  on Nedderpik can be found in the Dragon-
  Mech rule book. Emphasize the characters’ 
  sense of awe as they approach the city-mech. 
  Literally the height of a skyscraper, the thing 
  is visible on the horizon more than two hours 
  before they actually reach it. They’ve never 
  before seen a man-made object this large, 
  and none existed prior to the creation of 
  the city-mechs. The docking process is a 
  carefully choreographed dance between the 
  Juggernaut and the city-mech’s wide plat-
  form docks, which hang from its feet. The 
  city-mech never stops moving, so the Jug-
  gernaut has to time its jump onto the docks 
  to the few seconds when the city-mech’s foot 
  is in position, all the while avoiding getting 
  
  17
  CHPT.
  #
  «2»
  down for their first night on the mech, Read 
  or paraphrase the following:
  You finally fall asleep in your cramped city-mech 
  apartment. But after what seems like only mo-
  ments, you hear a soft tapping sound. Awakening 
  with the quick alertness all adventurers develop, 
  you scan your room and notice two 
  eyes peering through the metal air 
  vent on one wall. When the eyes 
  see you looking back, a pair of 
  hands pushes back the air vent, 
  and a small, slightly built hu-
  manoid covered in filth and grease 
  hangs out of the opening.
  “Please, sirs,” says the creature. “Do not make 
  a sound. My tribe needs your help. Will you save 
  Old Iron Arms?”
  Once the characters have reacted (hopefully 
  by not killing the cogling), continue reading 
  or paraphrasing:
  “I am Hammerbit, fourth cogling of the lower 
  tribe. My tribe has stayed in the gear forests for 
  four generations. We have never been discovered. 
  In exchange for the safety provided by the Great 
  Engine, we have maintained it perfectly. No engi-
  neer has ever needed to make repairs in our area.
  “But now there is a problem we cannot 
  solve. Old Iron Arms has been attacked by a 
  creature that eats metal. Our weapons 
  are useless against it, and our repairs 
  cannot keep up with its rampage. If it 
  is not stopped, the gear forest will 
  be damaged beyond repair, and we 
  will be discovered.
  “Only an outsider can help us! We 
  ask that you save Old Iron Arms with-
  out telling those who control the Great 
  Engine. In exchange we can offer valuable 
  metals and all the secrets of the Great Engine.
  “Please, sirs. Will you save Old Iron Arms and 
  my tribe?”
  Coglings: Refer to “New Creatures” in 
  Chapter 5 of DragonMech for full details on 
  coglings. These halfling stowaways survive in 
  the engine rooms of city-mechs, where they 
  keep everything in perfect running order so 
  the city-mech’s engineers will never have a 
  reason to visit the engine rooms and possibly 
  discover the cogling stowaways. Over the 
  generations, the halflings have degenerated 
  into the grease-covered engine dwellers that 
  are now called coglings. They 
  themselves call the engine 
  rooms “gear forests” 
  and have built entire 
  mythologies 
  based 
  around the “Great 
  Engine,” which is what 
  they call their city-
  mech home. The cleric 
  of the cogling tribe has 
  divined that these adventurers 
  are trustworthy allies, which is why the 
  coglings have made contact.
  Old Iron Arms: Old Iron Arms is a hid-
  den golem that keeps Nedderpik running. 
  
  18
  CHPT.
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  See the description for Area 1 of the gear 
  forest, below.
  Development: If the characters agree 
  to help the cogling, it first recaps the basic 
  situation for them. It describes the coglings’ 
  relationship with the city-mech and gear for-
  ests, and also gives them some sense that Old 
  Iron Arms is a sort of speaking engine part. It 
  also mentions that the menace is capable of 
  destroying metal with a breath — a clue that 
  the characters should acquire some wooden 
  or stone weapons, if possible. (These items 
  can be found on sale in the city-mech. 
  Wooden items are expensive due to the rar-
  ity of trees, generally costing 50% more than 
  an equivalent metal item. Stone items are 
  normal price.)
  Hammerbit is willing to wait until the 
  next night if the characters insist, but the 
  expedition has to happen at night so that 
  the trip into the gear forests isn’t detected. 
  When the characters are ready, he leads them 
  from their room and shows them back-alley 
  passages down to the gear forests. He gets 
  them around the locked entrances to the 
  engine rooms through air vents, 
  secret 
  passages, 
  cleared 
  areas of gear forest, and 
  in some cases fabricated 
  keys that open normally 
  locked doors. Finally, he 
  leads the PCs through a 
  long, dangerous stretch of 
  labyrinthine gear forests to 
  Old Iron Arms.
  Now refer to Map Two: The Gear Forest.
  GEAR FOREST FEATURES
  The Gear Forest: Remember that a gear forest is a 
  hazardous environment. It’s a life-sized engine, and 
  the spinning gears, whirring cogs and smashing pistons 
  are a real hazard. Refer to Chapter 8 of DragonMech 
  for details on the hazards. Most areas of this episode 
  do not directly expose the characters to the gear for-
  est, but it’s a constant background hazard, and must 
  be directly confronted in Areas 8 and 9.
  Illumination: Gear forests are lit by the ambient 
  light of the surrounding engine. Open flames, sparks, 
  burning coal and small gas explosions provide a con-
  stant low-light illumination.
  Walls: Some “rooms” are simply cleared areas of 
  the gear forest. The coglings take apart and rebuild 
  the engine rooms to make space for their habitations. 
  Usually they make the engine more efficient in the 
  process, as well. Those walls that do exist are made of 
  thick sheets of iron, generally 3 inches thick. Areas 3 
  and 8 are cleared gear forest with no walls. 
  Iron Wall: 3 in. thick; Break DC 30; hardness 10; 
  90 hp; Climb DC 25.
  Doors: The few doors are made of solid iron. 
  They are usually locked, as this area of the gear for-
  est was not meant to accommodate anyone but the 
  city-mech’s engineers. Of course, that hasn’t stopped 
  the coglings, who can now successfully pick the locks 
  after generations of trying. 
  Iron Door: 2 in. thick; hardness 10; 60 hp; Break 
  DC 28 (stuck or locked).
  
  19
  CHPT.
  #
  «2»
  
  THE GEAR FOREST
  T
  his section details the various locations 
  of note in the Nedderpik gear forest.
  
  AREA 1: 
  OLD IRON ARMS
  When the characters arrive at Old Iron Arms, 
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  Hammerbit leads you down narrow paths in the 
  dangerous gear forests for what seems like miles. 
  The heat is unbearable, and the hissing steam and 
  sporadic flames singe your clothes. Every step 
  seems to hold the potential for injury as you care-
  fully avoid swinging pendulums, smashing pistons, 
  and toothed gears spinning at breakneck speeds. 
  If it weren’t for Hammerbit’s guidance, you would 
  surely be killed.
  Finally, you reach an area with metal walls. 
  Hammerbit leads you down a wide hallway that 
  is surprisingly clean compared to the filth and 
  grease of the gear forest. After opening four 
  successively locked doors of ever-more-imposing 
  girth, he ushers you quietly into a 40-foot-wide 
  circular room. 
  In the center is one of the strangest constructs 
  you have ever seen. A gigantic metal torso is bolt-
  ed securely into the floor. Its iron head is sculpted 
  into the rough outline of a humanoid face. Each 
  of its massive articulated arms is attached to an 
  enormous piston, one thrusting upward into the 
  ceiling and the other downward into the floor. 
  Both pistons pump furiously, powered by the 
  staggering iron strength of this massive creature. 
  Sparks fly from the joints in its arms as it labors to 
  keep the pistons moving.
  Hammerbit kneels before the creature. Seem-
  ingly from nowhere, a voice addresses you.
  “Greetings, men. I am Old Iron Arms.”
  Old Iron Arms is an iron golem specially 
  designed to keep the city-mech running. 
  When the city-mech was built almost 100 
  years ago, the chief engineer discovered 
  at the last minute that the steam engines 
  wouldn’t be powerful enough to keep it 
  moving. Simple calculation errors had led 
  to a dire mistake. Thousands of worker-citi-
  zens had already converged on the building 
  site, and failure to mobilize the city-mech 
  would not only be a huge blow to morale 
  for the struggling Clan Duerok, but would 
  also cost lives, as the lunar rains and waves 
  of refugees killed a few more defenders 
  
  20
  CHPT.
  #
  «2»
  with each passing day. The chief engineer 
  thus made a difficult decision, which was 
  kept secret from all but the most senior 
  gearwrights: He ordered a magical golem 
  be installed to provide the final vestiges of 
  power needed to run the city-mech.
  This golem was custom-modified to fit 
  the engine’s needs. It augments the power 
  of the steam engine to keep the city-mech 
  running. Without the golem, the city-mech 
  can power itself for short periods but will 
  redline its engines with any kind of sus-
  tained functioning.
  The existence of the golem was well hid-
  den. If ever discovered, it would be far too 
  convenient a target for enemy stalkers. Its 
  location was secured by four massive doors, 
  the keys to which were possessed by only 
  the chief engineer. (Over the years, the 
  coglings have learned to pick these locks.) 
  When he neared the natural end of his lifes-
  pan some 40 years ago, the chief engineer 
  knew that knowledge of the golem must 
  be passed on, but he knew of no one with 
  whom to entrust that knowledge. So he 
  made a dramatic decision: Rather than die 
  a natural death, he enlisted the aid of an old 
  mage friend to transfer his own soul to the 
  golem. Now, thanks to a modified version 
  of the clockwork double spell and special ritu-
  als used to rebuild the golem, he continues 
  on in eternal life as the spirit that keeps the 
  city-mech running.
  The engineer, who now calls himself Old 
  Iron Arms, was surprised to learn that in all 
  his years running the city-mech, the coglings 
  had escaped his notice. Now he enjoys their 
  company in his lonely existence, and has 
  grown rather fond of the small creatures that 
  consider him a god. 
  Old Iron Arms, Custom Iron Golem 
  (Ex-dwarf) Cog13: CR 15; Large construct; 
  HD 18d10+30; hp 110 (max 129; currently 
  injured); Init –5; Spd 0 ft.; AC 26, touch 4, 
  flat-footed 26; BAB +12; Grp N/A; Atk +57 
  melee (2d10+45, slam); Full Atk +57 melee 
  (2d10+45, 2 slams); Space/Reach 10 ft./5 
  ft.; SQ Construct traits, machine empathy, 
  exotic weapon proficiencies (buzzsaw, 
  chattersword, lobster claw, steambreather), 
  DR 15/adamantine, darkvision 60 ft., immu-
  nity to magic, low-light vision, dwarf traits 
  (residual as still applicable); AL LN; SV Fort 
  +10, Ref +5, Will +15; Str 100, Dex 1, Con –, 
  Int 17, Wis 13, Cha 9.
  Skills: Craft (blacksmithing) +21, Craft 
  (mechcraft) +34, Disable Device +19, 
  Knowledge (steam engines) +32, Knowl-
  edge (mechs) +32, Listen +19, Mech Pilot 
  +3, Profession (engineer) +19, Spot +11.
  Feats: Alertness, Craft Powered Mech, 
  Craft Steam Gear, Gearhead, Mechanized 
  Combat Practice, Mechwalker.
  Steam Powers (17): 2x Tiny clockwork 
  puppets (clockwork puppet + animator + 
  discriminator + voice command + metal ear 
  + wavemaker); 1x Small clockwork puppet 
  (clockwork puppet + clockwork puppet + 
  animator + discriminator + voice command).
  Languages Spoken: Common, Dwarven.
  Development: Old Iron Arms points 
  out four important features of the room to 
  the characters. First, the locked door to 
  the north leads to supplies for repairing the 
  golem, left over from when it was built many 
  decades ago. None of these supplies have 
  ever been needed until recently. 
  Second, Old Iron Arms shows signs of 
  severe rust along the base of his torso. The 
  rusted area has been repaired (badly) by the 
  coglings, but Old Iron Arms is not in the 
  same condition he once was. If the rusting 
  continues, he will be disabled or destroyed, 
  bringing the city-mech to a grinding halt and 
  exposing the coglings.
  Third, a trail of rust leads from 
  the golem’s base to a small hole 
  burned through a section of 
  the northeast wall. Old Iron 
  Arms explains that the metal-
  eating beetles that prey upon 
  him enter through this hole. 
  The rust trail can’t be followed, as 
  the hole itself is barely 8 inches across 
  and it leads to a thick patch of impassable 
  and dangerous gear forest. Yet the coglings 
  can lead the PCs to Area 3 and direct them 
  from there.
  Finally, another hole exists in the south-
  ern wall. This hole was made much more 
  carefully, and it leads to the coglings’ lair 
  by way of Area 3. The coglings designed this 
  hole so it could be concealed; should they so 
  desire, they can put metal panels in place to 
  turn it into a secret door (Search DC 25).
  Old Iron Arms explains his history and 
  asks for the characters’ assistance. He tells 
  how the coglings are utterly terrified of the 
  metal-eating beetles. All weapons possessed 
  by the coglings are metal, and their provin-
  cial life inside the gear forest has convinced 
  them that anything that can destroy metal 
  must be supremely powerful. The coglings 
  can direct the PCs to the general direction 
  of the beetles, but the PCs must do the rest.
  Future Development: Old Iron Arms’ 
  stats are provided here for reference, not 
  for combat. He provides a patron for future 
  adventures if you place your campaign on 
  Nedderpik. His clockwork puppets see 
  most of what happens on the mech, and he 
  is surprisingly well-informed for a creature 
  incapable of physical mobility. For decades, 
  his only company has been the coglings, and 
  despite his fondness for them, he welcomes 
  additional companionship. Should the PCs 
  prove their value and trustworthiness, he’d 
  be happy to work with them in the future.
  Old Iron Arms’ profile is that of a modi-
  fied iron golem with a 13th-level dwarven 
  coglayer’s mind, though many of his skills, 
  feats and other abilities gained while he was 
  a coglayer are inhibited by the unique con-
  struction of this particular golem body. Old 
  Iron Arms has only one attack, which is to 
  slam an opponent with his pistons, but this 
  attack has a very limited reach, as the 
  pistons are constrained in where 
  they can move. He cannot grap-
  ple, as his pistons are unable to 
  wrap around an enemy. He speaks 
  via a specialized magic mouth that 
  was added to the golem’s essence 
  when his soul was transplanted. 
  He uses his clockwork puppets to spy 
  about the city-mech and remain aware of 
  what’s going on. Normally, he would also use 
  them for defense, but he has kept them away 
  from the ferrovore beetles for fear they will 
  be destroyed.
  Old Iron Arms is currently injured. Any 
  character who repairs him will immediately 
  enter his good graces.
  
  21
  CHPT.
  #
  «2»
  
  AREA 2: 
  SUPPLIES
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  This 20-by-20-foot room is stacked full of steel 
  bars, wooden crates, and tools.
  When the golem was first installed, these sup-
  plies were stashed here for future use should 
  the golem need repairing. The room contains 
  more than 3,000 pounds of common metal, 
  primarily iron and steel but also some tin and 
  aluminum. It is clear that some supplies have 
  been used over the years (primarily by the 
  coglings), but most are intact. The characters 
  also find a healthy supply of hammers, anvils, 
  tongs and other metalworking tools. Nothing 
  is of any particular value beyond its normal 
  price as mundane equipment.
  AREA 3: 
  COGLING CLEARING
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  A narrow path leads 30 feet south through the gear 
  forest before opening up into a roughly circular 
  clearing. It’s clear that someone rebuilt this entire 
  area of the gear forest in order to create this safe 
  zone. In the middle of the clearing are two more 
  coglings. They carry crossbows that are loaded but 
  pointed at the floor. They eye you warily.
  This is a guard room. The coglings always 
  have at least one guard here to make sure 
  no one finds their lair, which is to the 
  south. Lately they’ve doubled the guard in 
  an unsuccessful attempt to keep the metal-
  eating beetles away from Old Iron Arms. 
  The passage to the northeast leads to other 
  areas of the gear forest, through which the 
  characters must pass.
  Development: Hammerbit introduces 
  the characters to the two guards, named 
  Boltrunner and Truggut. After Hammerbit 
  explains the situation, they direct the char-
  acters toward the northeast passage, which 
  they say leads to where the metal-eating bee-
  tles come from. The coglings are assigned to 
  guard duty here and won’t follow the charac-
  ters, but will help them fight anything that 
  directly threatens this area.
  If it comes up, both guards make it clear 
  to the characters that they’re not allowed 
  
  22
  CHPT.
  #
  «2»
  to travel any further south. The guards will 
  enforce this rule with violence. Only a direct 
  invitation from the leader of the tribe will 
  get the characters any closer to their lair.
  Stats for the coglings are not presented 
  here because they really shouldn’t be 
  involved in combat. If it comes up, treat 
  them as standard cogling warriors as 
  described in “New Creatures” of Chapter 5 
  in DragonMech.
  The Gear Forest: Remember that the gear 
  forest is dangerous. If the characters venture 
  from the cleared area, they may take damage 
  as described in Chapter 6 of DragonMech.
  It is possible for the characters to reach 
  the sludge river at Area 8 by hiking due east 
  through the gear forest from Area 3. The 
  coglings won’t suggest this, as they realize 
  the danger posed by the gear forest. How-
  ever, they won’t hide the possibility either, 
  if the characters are inquisitive.
  Future Development: If the characters 
  complete the mission successfully and earn the 
  respect of the coglings, this is their entrance 
  point to the creatures’ lair. The coglings can 
  become allies for future adventures (or ene-
  mies if the characters botch the mission).
  
  AREA 4: 
  BOILER ROOM (EL 2)
  This hazardous room is filled with scalding 
  steam. Read or paraphrase the following:
  You’ve entered a room full of white-hot steam. 
  The steam obscures sight more than five feet 
  in front of you. The coglings said you must pass 
  through this room, but the steam is so thick that 
  it’s impossible to tell where you should go.
  You will need to keep track of four things 
  in this room: the high temperature; the low 
  visibility; the dangerous centipedes; and the 
  locked door.
  The round objects on the map are boilers, 
  which are red-hot to the touch but otherwise 
  not dangerous. They’re filled with boil-
  ing water, but short of using massive force 
  there’s no way the characters can puncture 
  them (hardness 10, 50 hp).
  The walls of this room are solid iron. 
  They’re quite hot due to the steam.
  The High Temperature: The air tempera-
  ture is approximately 110 degrees Fahrenheit. 
  This is considered severe heat, per the descrip-
  tion of the “Heat Dangers” entry under the 
  “The Environment” section of Chapter 8 in 
  the DMG. For every full 10 minutes that the 
  characters spend in this room, they must make 
  a Fortitude save (DC 15, +1 for each previous 
  check) or take 1d4 points of nonlethal damage. 
  Characters wearing heavy clothing or any sort 
  of armor take a –4 penalty to this check.
  Low Visibility: The steam provides con-
  cealment to everything in the room. Vision 
  is limited to 5 feet, and all attacks have a 20% 
  miss chance.
  Dangerous Centipedes: A wide variety 
  of vermin have made this room their home. 
  The heat is overwhelming to warm-blooded 
  creatures, but cold-blooded centipedes 
  rather enjoy it, at least for a while.
  Lurking in the northern section of the 
  room are 4 Small monstrous centipedes and 2 
  Medium monstrous centipedes. They’re slug-
  gish due to the heat, but also protective of this 
  area, which they routinely defend from other 
  vermin that also want to nest here. They will 
  attack the characters on sight (but remember 
  that sight is limited to 5 feet). Their stats are 
  below. If the PCs win initiative, this encoun-
  ter may not be particularly challenging. In this 
  case, feel free to throw more centipedes after 
  the PCs until they’ve been given a good fight.
  The centipedes have no treasure per 
  se, but a search of the floor turns up the 
  decaying carapaces of countless centipedes, 
  spiders and beetles, all of which died in the 
  endless battles for this warmest of lairs. Hid-
  den among the scraps (Search DC 15) is one 
  thing worth owning: a +1 ring of protection, 
  consumed from a wayward adventurer by 
  some arachnid that died here soon after. The 
  ring is very hot to the touch, however, and 
  must be picked up carefully; it takes 20 min-
  utes to cool down to the point where it can 
  be worn (wearing it while hot causes 1 point 
  of nonlethal damage per round). 
  Monstrous Centipede, Small (4): CR 
  1/4; Small vermin; HD 1/2d8; hp 2 each; Init 
  +2; Spd 30 ft., climb 30 ft.; AC 14, touch 13, 
  flat-footed 12; BAB +0; Grp –7; Atk/Full Atk 
  +3 melee (1d4–3 plus poison, bite); SA Poi-
  son; SQ Darkvision 60 ft., vermin traits; AL 
  N; SV Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +0; Str 5, Dex 15, 
  Con 10, Int –, Wis 10, Cha 2.
  Skills: Climb +10, Hide +14, Spot +4.
  Feats: Weapon Finesse.
  SA – Poison: Injury, Fort DC 10, 1d2 Dex/
  1d2 Dex.
  Monstrous Centipede, Medium (2): 
  CR 1/2; Medium vermin; HD 1d8; hp 4 each; 
  Init +2; Spd 40 ft., climb 40 ft.; AC 14, touch 
  12, flat-footed 12; BAB +0; Grp –1; Atk/Full 
  Atk +2 melee (1d6–1 plus poison, bite); SA 
  Poison; SQ Darkvision 60 ft., vermin traits; 
  AL N; SV Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +0; Str 9, Dex 
  15, Con 10, Int –, Wis 10, Cha 2.
  Skills: Climb +10, Hide +10, Spot +4.
  Feats: Weapon Finesse.
  SA – Poison: Injury, Fort DC 10, 1d3 Dex/
  1d3 Dex.
  Locked Door: The door from this room is 
  locked. The lock is easy to pick, as it has been 
  corroded by the constant exposure to steam. 
  However, the metal is red hot. Anyone trying 
  to pick the lock must make a Dexterity check 
  (DC 15) or suffer 1d2 points of heat damage 
  while they are working. 
  Iron door: 2 in. thick; hardness 10; 60 hp; Break 
  DC 28 (stuck or locked); Open Lock DC 15.
  
  AREA 5: 
  RUSTY CORRIDOR (EL 1)
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  The corridor immediately turns due east. The air 
  is much cooler now that you are out of the steam 
  room. About 30 feet down the corridor, you see 
  what appears to be a rust trail running north-to-
  south. Past that, the corridor turns to the south.
  This corridor has three main features: the rust 
  trail; the two centipedes that are hanging upside 
  down above it; and the locked door in the north.
  
  23
  CHPT.
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  «2»
  The Rust Trail: The ferrovore beetles ate 
  their way through this room in their wander-
  ings. There are two holes in the wall, one to 
  the north and one to the south. They are like 
  the one in Area 1, with a rust trail connecting 
  them. Both lead into unsafe gear forest. (The 
  beetles left behind a rusted trail burrowed 
  right through the gears, but it’s not large 
  enough for PCs to pass through.)
  The Centipedes: Two more centipedes 
  are in this corridor, but they are hiding on 
  the ceiling above the rust trail. They retreat-
  ed here when the beetles passed by earlier, 
  and have not left. Give the PCs a Spot check 
  against the centipedes’ Hide skill. If the 
  centipedes remain hidden, they wait until a 
  character passes underneath to investigate 
  the rust trail, then they drop and attack. This 
  ambush gives them a surprise round before 
  the regular combat initiates. 
  Monstrous Centipede, Medium (2): 
  CR 1/2; Medium vermin; HD 1d8; hp 4 each; 
  Init +2; Spd 40 ft., climb 40 ft.; AC 14, touch 
  12, flat-footed 12; BAB +0; Grp –1; Atk/Full 
  Atk +2 melee (1d6–1 plus poison, bite); 
  SA Poison; SQ Darkvision 60 
  ft., vermin traits; AL N; SV 
  Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +0; 
  Str 9, Dex 15, Con 10, Int –, 
  Wis 10, Cha 2.
  Skills: Climb +10, Hide 
  +10, Spot +4.
  Feats: Weapon Finesse.
  SA – Poison: Injury, Fort DC 10, 
  1d3 Dex/1d3 Dex.
  AREA 6A: 
  THE COGWHEELS (EL 2)
  R
  ead or paraphrase the following. This 
  text assumes the PCs enter from the 
  north. The ceiling is 15 feet tall.
  The room ahead is 40 feet wide and at least as 
  long. Directly in front of you, only 5 feet into 
  the room, are three massive cogwheels turning 
  at breakneck speed. Each wheel is over 15 feet 
  in diameter, with its bottom half buried in the 
  floor. Only 3 feet of space separates the gears 
  from each other. You can pass, but it will 
  be dangerous.
  Getting past the three cogwheels 
  require squeezing between them. 
  This requires three successive Reflex 
  saves per the stats given below, one check 
  to squeeze past each wheel. A failed check 
  results in damage. Once a character has 
  entered, he can’t advance without making 
  subsequent checks, and he can’t leave with-
  out repeating the checks he made to get in.
  There is one other way to pass: on the 
  ceiling, which would be easy along the east 
  or west edges of the wall (where there is 
  almost 12 feet of clear space between the 
  top edge of the cogwheel and the ceiling). 
  However, doing so requires the ability to 
  fly or climb on the ceiling, which the PCs 
  probably don’t have.
  Characters with the bright idea of jam-
  ming the gears are out of luck. Aside from 
  the fact that doing so would damage the 
  city-mech’s engines and bring attention to 
  the coglings, it should also be obvious that 
  they don’t have the power to jam a 30-foot-
  wide gear weighing at least a ton and spin-
  ning at high speed — hence the high Disable 
  Device DC.
  Treasure: The body of a dead adventurer 
  lies between the second and third gears. His 
  skeleton has been picked clean by the centi-
  pedes, but his leather armor and sacks look 
  very appealing to greedy adventurers. How-
  ever, every round spent searching provokes 
  another Reflex save from the spinning gears, 
  as the PCs must maneuver in a cramped, dan-
  gerous space. On the body (Search DC 12) 
  are the following items: leather armor, a sack 
  with 65 gp, a masterwork short sword, a light 
  steel shield, a +1 longsword, two potions of cure 
  light wounds, and a potion of jump. The coglings 
  avoid this area because of the warder in Area 
  7, so they haven’t touched the body. 
  Spinning Gears Trap: CR 1; mechanical; 
  proximity trigger; automatic reset; DC 10 
  Reflex save avoids (characters must make at 
  least 3 checks); 1d3 damage; Search DC 1; 
  Disable Device DC 40.
  
  24
  CHPT.
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  «2»
  
  AREA 6B: 
  THE PISTONS
  Once the characters have made it past the 
  cogwheels, Read or paraphrase the following:
  Once you’re past the cogwheels, you see that 
  the room holds more danger. The southern 
  half extends another 40 feet. Five massive 
  pistons reach from floor to ceiling, pumping 
  up and down with earth-shattering force. This 
  time it looks safe to pass, though, as there’s 
  at least 10 feet of space between each piston. 
  You can’t help but notice another trail of rust, 
  this time leading east-west across the lower 
  half of the room.
  The pistons are indeed safe to pass, but 
  fighting a battle here is another story. Any-
  one fighting in a square adjacent to a pis-
  ton must make a Reflex save (DC 12) each 
  round or be struck, taking 2d8 damage from 
  the massive blow. This probably won’t come 
  into play, but if the characters are clever, 
  they may try to drag the warder from Area 7 
  to beneath one of the pistons. This is easily 
  done with bull rushes and a grapple check; 
  once the combatants are adjacent to a pis-
  ton, whoever wins the grapple check shoves 
  his opponent under the piston, forcing a 
  Reflex save by the opponent while keeping 
  himself out of danger.
  AREA 7: 
  THE WARDER (EL 1)
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  As soon as you glance into this 30-by-30-foot 
  room, you hear a robotic voice speaking to you. 
  A tall, lanky construct with a face carved into 
  a stern expression steps into the center of the 
  room. “Warning!” it says. “This area is off limits. 
  Please return to your level.” As it repeats the mo-
  notonous warning over and over, you notice that it 
  makes no additional moves toward you. You can 
  see that the eastern wall of its room has a door.
  This warder was installed to warn creatures 
  entering from the east, not the north; the 
  characters are approaching from the wrong 
  direction as far as it’s concerned. The door 
  out of this area is unlocked when leaving, but 
  is locked from the outside (which is where 
  the creators assumed intruders would come 
  from). Characters who aren’t careful may 
  have trouble getting back in. 
  
  25
  CHPT.
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  «2»
  Iron door: 2 in. thick; hardness 10; 60 
  hp; Break DC 28 (stuck or locked); Open 
  Lock DC 20 (from area 8), DC 0 (from 
  area 7).
  Warder: CR 1/2; Medium construct; 
  HD 2d10; hp 11; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 
  14, touch 10, flat-footed 14; BAB +1; Grp 
  +2; Atk/Full Atk +2 melee (1d6+1, 
  slam); SQ Construct traits; AL 
  N; SV Fort +0, Ref +0, Will 
  –5; Str 12, Dex 10, Con –, Int –, 
  Wis 1, Cha 1.
  Development: The ward-
  er will continue warning 
  until someone approaches 
  within 20 feet, at which 
  point it attacks. It will not 
  pursue those who retreat.
  
  AREA 8: 
  THE SLUDGE RIVER (EL 1)
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  You’ve entered a natural clearing in the gear forest. 
  It extends for about 30 feet to a river of sludge 
  running north-to-south. The sludge river looks like 
  it was once some sort of grease pit or oil outflow 
  that has since become grossly overrun. Now it’s 
  a slow-running river of grease, oil, chemicals and 
  sludge that’s 30 feet wide in most places. Except 
  for your little clearing, its banks are gear forest on 
  both sides. On the far bank, you see a faint trail of 
  rusty parts emerging about 20 feet upstream.
  The coglings intentionally dam grease flows 
  like this to create habitats for the grease 
  lizards they domesticate. A few wild grease 
  lizards are always present, however, and this 
  is no exception. An adult grease lizard lurks 
  midway across the sludge river. It will hide 
  until the characters are close, then attack. 
  Grease Lizard: CR 1; Medium animal; 
  HD 2d8+2; hp 11; Init –1; Spd 20 ft., swim 
  30 ft.; AC 13, touch 9, flat-footed 13; BAB 
  +1; Grp +4; Atk/Full Atk +4 melee (1d4+3, 
  bite); SQ Fire vulnerability; AL N; SV Fort 
  +4, Ref +2, Will +0; Str 16, Dex 8, Con 13, 
  Int 2, Wis 10, Cha 2.
  Skills: Hide +12 (+0 when not submerged), 
  Listen +2, Spot +2.
  Crossing the River: The river is 3 feet 
  deep in the center. It can be waded at half 
  speed; any faster will risk a fall (Reflex DC 
  16). Anyone wading through 
  will emerge coated 
  with grease and 
  f l a m m a b l e 
  chemicals. 
  Characters 
  so coated 
  take 
  an 
  extra 
  1d6 
  d a m a g e 
  the 
  next 
  time they are 
  attacked 
  by 
  fire. They also 
  suffer from a –1 pen-
  alty to Reflex saves for the 
  next 10 minutes because they are so slippery. 
  Furthermore, they must make Balance checks 
  (DC 10) to attempt any movement faster than 
  a walk, which includes a charge, run or jump. 
  Failure means the PC falls prone. The grease 
  cannot be cleaned short of a very thorough 
  bath or specialized magic.
  Characters may have the magical means to 
  jump the river, but doing so will land them in 
  the gear forest on the opposite bank.
  Fire: The sludge itself has a 
  high moisture content 
  and isn’t extremely 
  flammable, 
  but 
  the 
  chemicals 
  floating above 
  it are. Light-
  ing the sludge 
  river on fire 
  will 
  cause 
  huge flames for 
  1d4+2 
  rounds, 
  igniting 
  the 
  resident grease lizard 
  and sending it charging 
  into the characters. It will also 
  cause mechanical problems throughout the 
  gear forest, bringing unwanted attention to 
  the coglings.
  The Opposite Bank: Emerging onto 
  the opposite bank, the characters can eas-
  ily follow the rust trail, but will be forced 
  to travel through the gear forest to do so. 
  See Chapter 8 in DragonMech for rules 
  on gear forest hazards. Award XP for any 
  hazards encountered.
  AREA 9: 
  THE BEETLE LAIR (EL 3)
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  You carefully push your way through the gear for-
  est until the rust trail opens into a rusted clearing. 
  It looks like something has literally consumed the 
  gear forest in this area. Rusted frames stand like 
  the skeleton of a dead engine. Nesting within the 
  soft waves of rust are three large rust-red beetles, 
  each more than 5 feet long. A soft red glow ema-
  nates from above their eyes.
  This is the lair of the ferrovore fire beetles 
  that so enjoy the taste of the golem’s magical 
  metal. Due to their ability to detect metal, 
  it is highly unlikely that the characters will 
  surprise them (especially if they’re carrying 
  the delicious-smelling +1 longsword from 
  Area 6A). The beetles are prepared to fight 
  and charge on sight.
  Tactics: The beetles open with 
  a barrage of breath weapons. 
  They aren’t smart enough to 
  coordinate their actions, 
  so all three use their 
  breath weapon on the 
  first round. (Hopefully 
  the characters were smart 
  enough to stash their 
  valuable metal objects 
  before the fight!) On the 
  second round, they charge 
  in to use their bite attack. They 
  fight to the death.
  Treasure: A search of the area reveals 
  no treasure. The beetles were interested exclu-
  sively in metal objects, and devoured anything 
  that might be of value to the characters.  
  
  26
  CHPT.
  #
  «2»
  Ferrovore Giant Fire Beetles (3): CR 1; 
  Small vermin; HD 3d8; hp 13 each; Init +0; 
  Spd 30 ft.; AC 16, touch 11, flat-footed 16; 
  BAB +2; Grp –2; Atk/Full Atk +3 melee (1d4 
  plus rust, bite); SA Breath weapon (DC 11); 
  SQ Darkvision 60 ft., vermin traits, detect 
  metal, corrosive skin (DC 11); AL N; SV Fort 
  +3, Ref +1, Will +1; Str 10, Dex 11, Con 11, Int 
  –, Wis 10, Cha 7.
  Skills: –
  SA–Breath Weapon (Ex): Line, 30 feet, once 
  every 1d4+1 rounds; all mundane metals 
  instantly rusted; magic items receive Ref 
  save (DC 11).
  by creatures of Small or Tiny size, to spy on 
  affairs throughout the “Great Engine.” They 
  are aware of most significant developments 
  on the mech — although what’s “significant” 
  to them may have little to no meaning to the 
  characters, and vice versa. They offer their 
  assistance in unearthing secrets in the future.
  Finally, the coglings offer access to Old 
  Iron Arms if it is needed for the future, 
  although they insist this access be regulated 
  by their own warriors. They are keenly aware 
  of Old Iron Arms’ importance in the func-
  tioning of the Great Engine, and they protect 
  him as the totem of their tribe. The cogling 
  warriors don’t let anything get close to Old 
  Iron Arms if they can prevent it, but they’ll 
  allow the characters access as long as it’s in 
  their presence. As far as the coglings are 
  concerned, this is the greatest gift they can 
  offer. The characters, of course, are probably 
  far more interested in the platinum!
  
  CONCLUSION
  T
  he coglings will be overjoyed to hear 
  that the beetles are vanquished. They’ll 
  ask the characters to bring them the crea-
  tures’ bodies, and take them to the beetles’ 
  lair so they can repair the damage they did to 
  the gear forest.
  In exchange for the characters’ help, the 
  coglings offer three valuables.
  First, they give the characters three ingots 
  of platinum. Each weighs half a pound and is 
  worth 250 gp.
  Second, they explain the network of air 
  vents, water pipes and hydraulic cables that 
  are woven into the structure of the city-mech 
  like veins in a living creature. They use these 
  passages, most of which are passable only 
  
  27
  CHPT.
  #
  «2»
  
  28
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  This episode is organized into encoun-
  ters. The first few encounters are along the 
  path to Legion territory, then there are sev-
  eral encounters around the meteor.
  
  TRAVELING 
  ENCOUNTERS
  N
  ow refer to Map Three: Journey to 
  the Legion.
  Encounter A: 
  Getting Off Nedderpik
  On the second morning after the characters 
  arrive on Nedderpik, the city-mech comes as 
  close to Legion territory as it will get. The 
  ition, lest the characters wind up mobbed by 
  dozens of commoners. In the end, the PCs 
  should be able to identify the skinstealers 
  and eliminate them. In this final encounter, 
  they discover the location of another star-
  shard, hidden in the lunar temple — but as 
  they go to retrieve it, they’re beaten to the 
  punch by a nimble Irontooth mech, which 
  leads to the next episode.
  INTRODUCTION
  T
  his episode seems straightforward: 
  The characters are to travel to Legion 
  territory, where they have to raid a lunar 
  temple much like the one they just left. Yet 
  it turns out to be more difficult. First, they 
  encounter a number of hazards as they ven-
  ture deeper into Legion territory, ranging 
  from wild giant worms to orc raiders. Once 
  they make it into Legion territory, they are 
  faced with a suspicious military patrol. 
  When they finally make it to the meteor, 
  they discover the plan has a big hitch: The 
  meteor is now the de facto campground for a 
  band of Legion citizens. They’re living in the 
  meteor, and if the lunar skinstealers are any-
  where to be found, they’re probably already 
  controlling some of the citizens. Navigating 
  this situation requires diplomacy and intu-
  EPISODE THREE: ENTER THE LEGION
  
  29
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  characters are loaned a Magwagon, a mech 
  model that was once used by the Stenian 
  Confederacy but which is now primarily in 
  use by civilian freighters. The Magwagon 
  (see Appendix One) lacks any official 
  Stenian marks or insignia; to all appearances, 
  it is completely nonpartisan.
  Grunnar reiterates their mission: Destroy 
  any lunar influence present at the site of the 
  second meteor. He emphasizes the danger of 
  the insidious skinstealers, and instructs the 
  characters about them as much as possible 
  (to whatever extent you, the DM, prefer). 
  He warns them of the xenophobia common 
  in Legion territory and recommends that 
  non-humans stay out of sight as much as pos-
  sible. He then gives them a rough map and 
  tells them Nedderpik will be in this general 
  vicinity once every week or so for the next 
  month, so they won’t have a difficult time 
  returning. (Remember also that the city-
  mech is large enough to be seen on the hori-
  zon, so the characters can find it if need be.) 
  Then he sends them on their way.
  Now the characters have to get their mech 
  off Nedderpik! This is the opening roll of 
  this episode: the DC 10 Mech Pilot skill 
  check to see if they can land upright after 
  stepping off the city-mech. See “Skills” in 
  Chapter 2 of DragonMech for full details 
  on this check.
  Encounter B: 
  The Lunar Rain
  The trip to the meteor in Legion territory 
  takes three days, unless the characters 
  encounter delays. The first day of travel 
  is completely uneventful. Eventually, dusk 
  arrives and the characters must seek shel-
  ter. Read or paraphrase the following to 
  the characters:
  You pass a long, boring day trudging across the 
  rocky soil of the roughlands. Except for the oc-
  casional wild animal or distant mech far on the 
  horizon, you encounter no other living creatures. 
  You pass hundreds of boulder-sized meteors em-
  bedded in the earth, and more than a few crushed 
  houses and castles, all a constant reminder of 
  the destructive power of the lunar rain. You’re 
  thankful for the protection of your mech, but at 
  the same time you’re painfully aware of just how 
  uncomfortable it is. The constant bouncing of the 
  mech’s uneven step makes your haunches sore. 
  By the time the sun finally begins to set, you’re 
  eager to stop for the night — although you’re 
  nervous, as always, about what the moon’s rising 
  may bring.
  Remind the players of the lunar rain’s brutal-
  ity: The characters must find secure shelter 
  or be sandblasted through the night. The 
  mech’s walls are sufficient to protect them 
  from most meteors, but a bad meteor storm 
  will damage even the mech. They can watch 
  the horizon to see how bad the lunar rain 
  looks as it rises with the moon, then evaluate 
  based on that.
  At this point, you should roll on the lunar 
  rain table in Chapter 4 of DragonMech. 
  The moon is not full, so don’t apply the +4 
  modifier (it was the unusually severe lunar 
  rains of the full moon that brought down 
  the lunar temples a few days ago). Once you 
  know what’s happening with the lunar rain, 
  describe the effects to the players in game 
  terms: “You feel an abrasive mist falling from 
  the sky. Staying outside is painful — you must 
  find cover somewhere!”
  Remember to roll for the lunar rain each and 
  every evening. In most cases, the characters 
  are fine taking cover in the mech, though if 
  the lunar rain is bad enough (19+ result on the 
  table), they might want to find cover under-
  ground. They may also want to seek shelter 
  underground if the only place for the mech is 
  on an exposed position (high on a ridge, at the 
  top of a hill, etc.) where you could rule that it is 
  more likely to be hit by meteors.
  Allow the characters a Survival check (DC 
  15) to find suitable cover. Given the scar-
  city of cover and the fact that every surface 
  creature simultaneously looks for protec-
  tion when the lunar rain gets bad, there’s a 
  good chance whatever cover they find will 
  already be inhabited! Roll 1d20 on the fol-
  lowing table to determine what sort of cover 
  the characters find, then roll 1d20 again to 
  determine what inhabits it:
  Roll 
  Cover Located 
  1–5 
  Cave
  6–8 
  Worm burrows
  9–12 
  Ravine
  13–15 
  Ruined castle
  16–18 
  Burned-out hulk of a damaged mech
  19–20 
  Underground village or town
   
  Roll 
  Inhabitant of Cover Located 
  1–8 
  Uninhabited
  9–10 
  Vermin (monstrous centipedes, 
   
   
  scorpions, and spiders)
  11–12 
  Friendly humanoids: humans, dwarves, elves, 
   
   
  gnomes, halflings, or half-orcs
  13–14 
  Hostile humanoids: goblins, hobgoblins, 
   
   
  kobolds, orcs, gnolls, or bugbears
  15 
  Formians
  16 
  Social insects (giant ants or bees)
  17–18 
  Unfriendly animal: bear, boar, wolverine,  
   
   
  or dire badger
  19 
  Giant worm
  20 
  Ankheg
  Refer to the MM or Chapter 5 of Drag-
  onMech for the stats of the encountered 
  creatures. Searching for cover from the 
  lunar rain provides a constant potential for 
  “random” encounters.
  Encounter C: 
  The Worm Pits (EL 1)
  Around noon on their second day of travel, 
  the characters come to an area pocked with 
  holes. Read or paraphrase the following:
  For a day now, you’ve been walking over rocky, 
  uneven terrain, but now it seems like the land-
  scape is changing. Up ahead the soil has been 
  churned — tilled, almost — and you can see no 
  boulders or trees whatsoever. In fact, the ground 
  is almost perfectly flat, except for the occasional 
  pit or hole that seems to lead straight down into 
  the earth.
  Allow the following checks:
  • Spot DC 12: You notice a flash of movement 
  in one of the holes, but then it stops. Whatever 
  caused it must have moved deeper in the hole.
  
  30
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  • Spot DC 14: The ground ahead seems to 
  sparkle a bit. On more careful observation, you 
  notice that it appears to be littered with frag-
  ments of glass or gemstones.
  • Listen DC 20: You hear a very faint, dull rum-
  bling coming from under the ground.
  • Survival or Knowledge (nature) DC 14: 
  You recognize this landscape as the mark of 
  giant worms.
  The landscape is indeed the work of giant 
  worms. They have congregated here for a 
  natural mating and molting process, which 
  is entering its third week. Their constant 
  churning of the soil near the surface has 
  caused any boulders and other surface debris 
  to sink into the soft, tilled earth. The violent 
  activity has also brought all sorts of smaller 
  objects to the surface, including a wide array 
  of gemstones, many of which have been 
  eaten and then excreted by the worms. The 
  holes and pits lead into the worms’ burrows.
  Dozens of giant worms dwell in this area. 
  They are unintelligent and not inclined to 
  attack in any coordinated manner, so the char-
  acters are not at great risk — but they are almost 
  guaranteed to encounter at least one worm.
  The PCs have three options: go around; 
  advance on foot; or advance in their mech.
  Go Around: Going around this area adds 
  a half-day to the characters’ travels. The 
  worms have traversed a wide swath of land 
  that cuts right through the characters’ path. 
  Going around makes the trip longer but 
  poses no other dangers.
  Advancing on Foot: Once the characters 
  have entered the churned ground on foot, 
  they make the following observations:
  • The loose gemstones on the ground are 
  now obvious to any character that didn’t 
  notice them before. 
  • The pits clearly lead straight into the 
  earth, as deep as the PCs can see. Those 
  looking into the pits catch the occasional 
  glimpse of movement, but can’t discern 
  what’s down there.
  • The soft earth is undoubtedly dangerous 
  for a mech to traverse. The characters 
  themselves sink about 6 inches into the 
  loose soil. A mech would be mired quickly.
  The worms have tremorsense and will surface 
  once they detect movement above them. 
  Advancing on foot gives the characters 1d6+2 
  rounds before the first worm surfaces. Each 
  round they can attempt to gather some gem-
  stones; a Search check (DC 10) reveals 1d4 
  gems worth 25 gp each (mostly chunks of clear, 
  rosy or smoky quartz) in the immediate area.
  When the first worm surfaces, it rises 40 
  feet from the characters. Emphasize its size 
  — a full 30 feet long — as it lurches out of 
  the earth and then flails about in the air. 
  From then on, another worm surfaces every 
  1d4 rounds. The worms advance slowly on the 
  
  31
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  characters. Make it obvious to the characters 
  that they’re outmatched — these worms are 
  big! Their best bet is to retreat to the mech 
  and leave. You should try to let the players 
  come to this decision themselves so that they 
  don’t feel this was their only option all along.
  If the characters attack a worm, it fights 
  back and pursues them. The other worms 
  don’t join the fight unless they too are 
  attacked. A damaged worm will chase the 
  PCs to their mech. Note that the worms are 
  unintelligent and also nearly blind. If wound-
  ed in melee, they’ll retreat underground; if 
  attacked with missile weapons (including 
  the mech’s steam cannon), they’ll spend a 
  couple of rounds out in the open, flailing 
  about trying to identify their attacker, before 
  retreating underground.
  Advancing in the Mech: Advancing in 
  the mech is dangerous:
  • First, the much heavier seismic vibrations 
  cause the first worm to surface in only 1d4 
  rounds.
  • Second, the worms object to the stomp-
  ing of the mech. Its heavy footfall disrupts 
  their peace. The first 1d4 worms will 
  attack the mech.
  • Third, the worm pits count as extremely 
  difficult terrain (refer to “Mech Com-
  bat,” Moving a Mech, in Chapter 2 of 
  DragonMech). Any pilot with at least 1 
  rank in Mech Pilot will be aware of this 
  problem. The pilot must make a Mech 
  Pilot skill check (DC 20) to enter the 
  terrain. Passing the check means his 
  speed is halved. Failure by 5 or less means 
  the mech’s speed is quartered; failure by 
  more than 5 means the mech falls over. 
  (See “Tripping a Mech,” Downed Mechs, 
  in Chapter 2 of DragonMech to deter-
  mine how it lands.)
  • Finally, once the worms attack, the mech 
  is in melee combat. This forces a Mech 
  Pilot skill check every round, and increas-
  es the DC to 22.
  If the mech does fall over, it will be swamped 
  by attacking giant worms, which will bite it 
  for several minutes until they’re convinced 
  it’s “dead.” If the characters remain motion-
  less, the worms will conclude the mech is 
  “dead” and eventually wander off. 
  Righting a downed mech requires a Mech 
  Pilot check (DC 20) (see “Skills” in Chapter 2 
  of DragonMech). Alternately, wandering trad-
  ers could wander by and assist the characters.
  XP Awards: If the PCs make it past this 
  encounter without downing their mech, 
  award them XP as if they’d defeated a CR 
  1 trap. Award XP for defeating giant worms 
  as usual. 
  Giant Worms (1 or more): CR 4; Huge 
  magical beast; HD 9d10+9; hp 58; Init –1; 
  Spd 20 ft., burrow 30 ft.; AC 19, touch 7, flat-
  footed 19; BAB +9; Grp +22; Atk/Full Atk 
  +12 melee (1d6+5, bite); SQ Tremorsense; 
  AL N; SV Fort +7, Ref +5, Will +2; Str 20, 
  Dex 8, Con 12, Int 1, Wis 8, Cha 10.
  Skills: Listen +11.
  Encounter D: 
  The Orc Raiders (EL 3)
  Around dusk on the second day, the terrain 
  begins changing. Read or paraphrase the 
  following:
  It is getting late in the day, and the sun is low in the 
  sky. For the past several miles the rocky flatlands 
  have become less and less flat. Ravines and gullies 
  become common. Soon the entire landscape is a 
  series of deep grooves running east-west. You are 
  forced to guide your mech through narrow chan-
  nels with high walls, each one surfacing to ground 
  level for only a few hundred feet before becoming 
  a rock-walled channel again. The stark shadows of 
  the impending sunset make the channels seem 
  even more isolated.
  There is no way to get around this danger-
  ous landscape. It counts as difficult terrain, 
  requiring a Mech Pilot check (DC 10). Fail-
  ure by 5 or less means the mech’s speed is 
  halved; failure by 6 or more means the mech 
  falls over. Furthermore, climbing out of one 
  channel to enter another requires a Climb 
  check, per the usual rules.
  The players will probably start thinking 
  “ambush!” when they hear this description 
  — and they’re right. After a half-hour or so 
  of navigating these ravines (especially if they 
  fail the Mech Pilot check and topple their 
  mech), they are attacked by orcs intent on 
  capturing their mech!
  The Orc Ambush: A band of orcs haunts 
  this area, living under the overhangs of the 
  gullies and routinely ambushing anything 
  that comes through. They spot the mech 
  from afar and maneuver to ambush it.
  Start the encounter by allowing the PCs a 
  Spot check, as follows:
  Spot DC 
  Result 
  10 
  You notice movement of some kind further
   
  up the gully, but you can’t make out what it is.
  14 
  It seems as if something is using the deep 
   
  shadows on the gully walls to make its way 
   
  toward you. The shapes appear to be humanoid.
  18 
  Green-skinned humanoids are scurrying 
   
  about the gully around you, trying 
   
  unsuccessfully to conceal their movement 
   
  in the deep shadows.
  There are a total of 22 orcs, all with the 
  same stats. They have a single, simple goal: 
  to topple the mech, board it, slaughter the 
  crew and take the mech for their own. Their 
  combat tactics are as follows:
  Round 1: Sixteen orcs charge the mech. 
  They are concealed on both sides of the 
  ravine, so they should be able to surround 
  the mech completely. They then initiate 
  a trip attack. Review the rules in “Mech 
  Combat,” Tripping a Mech, in Chapter 2 of 
  DragonMech for cooperative trip checks 
  by hordes of infantry. The characters’ 
  Magwagon receives a whopping +26 bonus 
  to its Trip check (+16 for size, +10 for its 
  Strength). The orcs receive a minimum of 
  +3 (for the team leader’s 17 Strength), plus 
  another +2 for each of the 15 orcs that passes 
  its Strength check against DC 10 (to contrib-
  ute to the attempt), for a maximum possible 
  trip check of +33.
  The other six orcs find cover along the 
  walls of the gully, three orcs per side, and 
  launch javelins at any character who emerges 
  from a porthole.
  Remember that if the mech passes the 
  trip check, the mech pilot can use a full-
  round action for the mech to trample the 
  orcs that surround it, potentially squashing 
  a dozen orcs or more in one round. The 
  Magwagon deals 4d6 points of trampling 
  damage, as noted in its stats (see Appen-
  
  32
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  dix One, “New Mechs”). Review the rules 
  on trampling in “Mech Combat,” Special 
  Attacks, of Chapter 2 in DragonMech. The 
  orcs will likely attempt Reflex saves rather 
  than attacks of opportunity. Should they 
  choose an attack of opportunity, however, 
  they can use it to make another trip check 
  before they get flattened. Orcs that survive 
  the trample are able to grab the mech’s leg 
  as a free action, which they will do, leaving 
  their options open for climbing or another 
  trip check in the following round.
  If the mech is downed, the pilot can right 
  it with the usual Mech Pilot check (DC 20).
  Round 2: If the mech is downed, the orcs 
  start prying open portholes to try to board 
  (review the rules in “Mech Combat,” Board-
  ing a Mech, in Chapter 2 of DragonMech). A 
  porthole’s break DC is 28, and up to four orcs 
  can cooperate on each attempt. They are 
  equipped with prybars for the task. Any PC 
  who was foolish enough to open a porthole 
  will find himself fighting an orc who is trying 
  to enter through it.
  If the mech pilot manages to right the 
  downed mech while the attack is underway, 
  those orcs who were trying to pry open 
  portholes find themselves lifted into the 
  air with the mech. They now count as riding 
  the mech. Refer to the mech-riding rules in 
  “Mech Combat,” Special Attacks, in Chapter 
  2 of DragonMech. The orcs must make Bal-
  ance checks or fall off the mech, potentially 
  being trampled.
  If the mech isn’t downed, the orcs will 
  continue trying to trip it as long as they can 
  muster at least 12 orcs for the attempt. If there 
  are fewer than 12 orcs remaining, they resort 
  to javelin-tossing against viable targets. If the 
  PCs batten down the hatches and don’t give the 
  orcs any targets, the orcs will wait a few rounds 
  and then retreat, knowing they don’t have suf-
  ficient numbers to take down the mech.
  Round 3: As round 2. The orcs continue 
  trying to down the mech and board as long 
  as they have sufficient numbers. Once there 
  are 11 or fewer orcs and the mech is standing 
  again, they will retreat.
  A Note on EL: A horde of orcs this size 
  should normally have an EL much higher 
  than 3! However, in this case, the characters 
  have the advantage of their mech. Many of 
  the orcs will be trampled to death by the 
  mech as they try to topple it. Those who 
  aren’t trampled will have a hard time board-
  ing the mech even if they do down it. And 
  as long as the PCs are smart enough to stay 
  on their mech, they’re fighting from higher 
  ground and a position of cover. Unless the 
  PCs make a catastrophically stupid tactical 
  error, they should be able to use their mech 
  to destroy the orcs handily, making this an 
  easier encounter than it would otherwise 
  be on foot. 
  Orc Raiders (22): CR 1/2; Medium 
  humanoid (orc); HD 1d8+1; hp 5 each; Init 
  +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 13, touch 10, flat-footed 
  13; BAB +1; Grp +4; Atk/Full Atk +4 melee 
  (2d4+4/18–20, falchion) or +1 ranged 
  (1d6+3, javelin); SQ Darkvision 60 ft., light 
  sensitivity; AL CE; SV Fort +3, Ref +0, Will 
  –2; Str 17, Dex 11, Con 12, Int 8, Wis 7, Cha 6.
  
  33
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  Skills: Listen +1, Spot +1.
  Feats: Alertness.
  Possessions: Studded leather armor, fal-
  chion, 6 javelins, 1d6 gp.
  HAIMLER’S TOWN
  T
  he characters approach the second 
  meteor on the morning of the fourth day 
  (allowing for a half-day detour for the worm 
  pits on what would normally be a three-day 
  journey). As they close in, Read or para-
  phrase the following:
  The pitted, channeled terrain gradually gives way 
  to rocky flatland. You are growing close to the 
  great cliff that separates the roughland from the 
  plains to the east. As you crest a particularly rocky 
  area, you find yourselves standing on the edge of 
  an immense crater. At some point in the past, an 
  enormous meteor blasted this mile-wide hole in 
  the earth. Visible in the far wall of the crater is 
  another crater, this one much smaller, and in it 
  are the still-smoking remains of a recently fallen 
  meteor. Even from this distance, you can tell it’s 
  made of the same material as the other meteor 
  you explored. It must be the other half of the 
  lunar temple.
  Yet it’s not that simple. Clustered around 
  the meteor is a veritable tent city. It looks like a 
  bustling community has sprung up around the me-
  teor! They must be using its tunnels for protection 
  from the lunar rain.
  The settlement is called Haimler’s Town, 
  after the founder. At this point, it’s less than a 
  week old. Haimler is a minor tribal leader who 
  hopes to improve his position in the Legion.
  Recent History: Haimler’s tribe, the 
  Thrawtek, was one of many nomadic peoples 
  on the endless plains before they were swayed 
  by the speeches of Shar Thizdic. They willingly 
  accepted his leadership, becoming part of what 
  is now called the Legion. Shar appointed Haim-
  ler a major and made the Thrawtek’s warrior 
  leader, Thoron, a sergeant. The Thrawtek tribe 
  was largely dissolved as part of Shar’s plans for a 
  military that integrated disparate tribes, break-
  ing down tribal loyalties. However, Haimler 
  never quite accepted this situation; he’d rather 
  be leader of his own tribe than follow orders 
  as someone else’s major. But the dominance 
  of Shar is unquestioned, so Haimler had to 
  find some way to return to leadership without 
  severing ties to the Legion. When the meteor 
  landed, he saw his chance; in the name of Shar, 
  he led an “expedition” to recover whatever 
  valuable artifacts might be in the meteor. Of 
  course, the “expedition” consists almost 
  exclusively of his former tribal brethren, and 
  the Legion’s official support for the expedition 
  is sketchy at best — Haimler’s superiors haven’t 
  exactly endorsed the tribe’s mass migration. 
  Haimler hasn’t shared that little detail with 
  his tribe. He hopes to find lunar artifacts so 
  valuable that they’ll justify the relocation of 
  his tribe here, where he can be both a major for 
  Shar Thizdic and the leader of his old tribe.
  However, Haimler didn’t evaluate the situ-
  ation properly. Short of his finding a minor 
  artifact, there’s almost no way the Legion will 
  let him get away with reforming his tribe for 
  any extended period of time. More impor-
  tantly, several lunar skinstealers survived the 
  meteor crash. They have since taken control 
  of Haimler and Thoron, and now drive the 
  men to pursue the skinstealers’ own agenda. 
  The tribe members that the skinstealers pos-
  sessed prior to Haimler and Thoron have since 
  experienced unfortunate “accidents.”
  This situation creates an interesting dynam-
  ic within the tribe: The possessed Haimler 
  and Thoron have effectively abandoned their 
  own goals and those of the Legion, and now 
  follow the orders of their skinstealer control-
  lers. They want to rebuild the temple as a 
  place of worship for Seroficitacit and convert 
  the tribe to his worship. This sentiment has 
  only emerged in the last three days, since 
  they were possessed. Meanwhile, the tribal 
  shaman Shtrawnek can’t understand why his 
  companions have changed their worldview so 
  drastically. He (like most of the tribe) is more 
  interested in retrofitting the lunar temple for 
  use as living space, followed by the establish-
  ment of a new city here. This conflict has led 
  to the creation of the tent city: Two factions 
  continue to argue over exactly what to do with 
  the inside of the lunar temple, so although the 
  tribe sleeps inside at night, they haven’t yet 
  made permanent habitation there.
  The Characters’ Involvement: What of 
  the characters’ goal: destroying any lunar 
  influence? Well, certain traces of lunar 
  influence are extremely obvious. The temple 
  of Seroficitacit is still intact. Some members 
  of the tribe are actively restoring it. Haimler 
  and Thoron are preaching the virtues of 
  Seroficitacit, and they’re nurturing several 
  lunar creatures back to health. 
  The PCs have quite a few options for how 
  they’ll approach this challenge. Here is an 
  overview of certain key events to help you 
  guide the play. There are five key events that 
  move the plot along: the characters’ initial 
  approach; their interaction with the commu-
  nity at large; their interactions with Haimler, 
  Thoron and Shtrawnek; their investigation 
  of the lunar temple; and the arrival of the 
  Irontooth mech. Below is an overview of 
  those events, followed by a breakdown of the 
  town’s important locations and NPCs.
  
  EVENTS
  Event 1: 
  The Characters’ 
  Initial Approach
  Mechs don’t travel these parts very 
  often, and the tribe is already a little suspi-
  cious. If the characters approach in their 
  mech, they’ll be surrounded and treated as 
  unfriendly visitors, then led to Haimler for 
  interrogation. If the characters approach 
   Haimler’s Town (village): Conventional; AL 
  LN; 200 gp limit; Assets 4,670; Population 467; 
  Isolated (human 100%).
  Authority Figures: Haimler, human male Wiz5 
  (former leader of the Thrawtek tribe, now a major in 
  the Legion; controlled by a lunar skinstealer).
  Important Characters: Shtrawnek, human male 
  Clr3 (tribal shaman); Thoron, human male Ftr4 
  (former warrior leader of the tribe, now a sergeant 
  in the Legion; controlled by a lunar skinstealer).
  
  34
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  on foot, the locals won’t be as suspicious, 
  especially if the PCs explain their presence 
  with a disguise of being traders, refugees or 
  pilgrims of Seroficitacit.
  When the characters are close to the 
  meteor, Read or paraphrase the following:
  The meteor is roughly 250 feet wide, with about 
  50 feet of its top extending above ground level, 
  just like the one you left only a few days before. 
  From your position, no entrances are visible, but 
  someone has already carved a rough staircase up 
  the side of the meteor. The staircase terminates at 
  a landing on the edge of the meteor’s top. Every 
  now and then you see someone enter or leave the 
  meteor through the landing.
  Surrounding the meteor are about 50 tents 
  made of durable canvas. The meteor landed on 
  the wall of the existing crater, and the tents are 
  placed in the lee of its smaller crater. The over-
  hanging meteor, combined with the incline of the 
  crater wall, keeps most of the tents in the shadow 
  all day long, and presumably protects them from 
  the worst of the lunar rain as well.
  Two tents in particular stand out. Both are 
  twice the size of the other tents and have red 
  pennants flying from them. You see no mechs or 
  signs of mechs, nor do you see any sign of a real 
  military presence. If you didn’t know you were in 
  Legion territory, you’d think this was the tent city 
  of wandering nomads.
  You see no sign of any lunar creatures.
  When they arrive, the characters aren’t necessar-
  ily directed to the tribe’s leadership. If their dis-
  guises are sound or their cover stories convinc-
  ing, the tribe is glad to accept them as passing 
  visitors. The tent city has an open central square 
  that passes for a market and tavern, and the char-
  acters can find food and company there.
  Remember, this is a close-knit community 
  made up of tribesman with long associations. 
  Any outsiders stand out, no matter how 
  they’re disguised. The PCs are immediately 
  recognized as outsiders no matter what they 
  do. That said, they aren’t instantly distrusted 
  unless their actions warrant it.
  If for some reason the characters are dis-
  trusted, then the tribesmen will keep them 
  under guard while they get Haimler or Thoron.
  Legion Xenophobia: Remember that the 
  Legion espouses a humanocentric philosophy. 
  Shar Thizdic claims that the lunar rain is a 
  chance for humans to rise up and take their 
  rightful place in the world. His followers con-
  sider humanoids to be inferior to humans — a 
  position Shar Thizdic is careful never to verbally 
  utter himself, but which he obviously supports. 
  Much of the tribe remembers the days 
  before Shar, and many remember when they 
  used to trade with the elves and dwarves. Even 
  
  35
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  so, they’ve been swayed. They’ll automatically 
  be distrustful toward any nonhumans. All non-
  humans have a –2 penalty to Diplomacy checks 
  when dealing with the tribesmen. If they can 
  disguise themselves as humans, there is no 
  penalty. Those who can’t pass as humans (such 
  as gnomes and halflings) can avoid the penalty if 
  they act deferential toward their human fellows. 
  A Gather Information or Knowledge (local) 
  check reveals this rather common knowledge 
  about the Legion and its beliefs, as follows:
  Gather Information or Knowledge (local) Check: 
  DC 
  Information Revealed 
  10 
  The Legion distrusts anyone who isn’t a human.
  12 
  Nonhumans who act deferential to their human 
   
  partners are judged better by the Legion than 
   
  those who act proud of their heritage.
  Event 2: 
  The Characters’ Interaction 
  with the Community
  The community is split. Half of the tribes-
  men are willing to follow Haimler wherever 
  he leads them, including to the worship of 
  Seroficitacit. The other half wonder why 
  Haimler and Thoron have suddenly latched 
  onto this new religion, and aren’t ready to 
  convert yet. As a result of this split, the char-
  acters will get very different assessments of 
  the situation depending on which villager 
  they happen to speak with at any given time.
  There are two primary tools with which the 
  characters can interact with the community: 
  Spot checks and Gather Information checks.
  Spot Checks: Allow Spot checks based on 
  what the characters observe, as follows. Some 
  of these results require extended observation.
  It doesn’t take a Spot check to notice 
  that the entire encampment clears out at 
  night, with almost everyone moving into the 
  meteor for safety. At night, the staircase guard 
  disappears into the meteor with the rest of 
  them. The residents of one of the large tents 
  — Haimler and Thoron — pack up and enter 
  the meteor at night. Shtrawnek, who occupies 
  the other large tent, has stopped moving 
  into the meteor at night out of opposition 
  to Haimler’s proposed worship of Seroficit-
  acit. He and a few of his acolytes are the only 
  tribesmen to remain in the village at night.
  The PCs are not invited into the meteor at 
  night. If their disguises lead the villagers to 
  trust them, they’re allowed to sleep in one 
  of the common tents, although they can’t go 
  into the tents with the red flags.
  Gather Information: Allow Gather Infor-
  mation checks based on who the characters 
  speak with. Assume at least half the people 
  they speak with are followers of Haimler 
  (and recent converts of Seroficitacit), while 
  the other half are traditionalists and hold-
  outs. Use the following table as appropriate. 
  Questions concerning the meteor produce 
  consistent results, as indicated on the table, 
  although you should slant the answers to the 
  views of the person being questioned.
  Typical Tribesman: The typical tribes-
  man has stats as given in “NPCs” below. Here 
  are profiles of four sample tribesmen to use 
  in your interactions:
  Sharia: Sharia was born only 19 years ago. 
  Named after the glorious new leader Shar 
  Thizdic, she’s a model citizen of the Legion. 
  She’s always supported Haimler but consid-
  ers Shar her supreme leader. She doesn’t 
  remember the old tribal ways and doubts 
  Haimler’s new course for the tribe. She’s tall 
  and thin, with sun-bleached hair and wiry 
  muscles built from years of hard work.
  Fornik: Fornik is a sturdy man over 6 feet tall 
  whose age is catching up with him. At least 40 
  years old, he’s now wrinkled and soft where 
  once he was tall and strong. Nonetheless, he’s 
  still an imposing figure. His scraggly beard and 
  tribal tattoos mark his longstanding allegiance 
  to traditional Thrawtek ways. He was attracted 
  to Shar Thizdic’s ability to unite the tribes for 
  the power and respect it offered, but always 
  considered the Legion a little too militaristic. 
  He supported Haimler’s initial excursion to 
  the meteor, if only because it would reunite his 
  tribe, but since Haimler has begun advocating 
  these strange gods and lunar allies rather than 
  the old tribal ways, Fornik has withdrawn his 
  support. He suspects something else is going 
  on, but he does not know what.
  Clarna: Clarna is a middle-aged woman still 
  bearing children. She’s currently pregnant 
  with what she claims will be her fourteenth 
  child. She sees it as her duty to strengthen 
  her tribe however she can, and she hopes her 
  unborn child will be another strong warrior. 
  (She proudly notes that 10 of her 13 prior 
  TABLE 3-1: SPOT CHECKS BY AREA OBSERVED
  Spot DC 
  Result 
  Central square and general observation
  10 
  You notice that the community atmosphere is argumentative. Everywhere you look, people seem to be having 
   
   
  heated discussions.
  15 
  You see very few open displays of religion, but a number of people wear pendants decorated with strange 
   
   
  blob-shaped emblems. (Note to DM: These are symbols of Seroficitacit.)
  Meteor 
  10 
  People seem to avoid the meteor; hardly anyone ventures close. Yet every now and then someone enters or exits 
   
   
  from the landing at the top of the staircase.
  15 
  A guard appears to be hidden at the top of the staircase. Every time someone approaches the staircase, they wait 
   
   
  to be acknowledged by him before advancing.
  20 
  The same people enter and leave the meteor on a steady rotation. Sometimes when they leave, they appear to 
   
   
  be carrying baskets. You can’t tell what’s in the baskets, but they look heavy. (Note to DM: The baskets have 
   
   
  rocks, debris and other construction byproducts. These are dumped by the edge of the crater.)
  Large tents 
  10 
  The two large tents with the red pennants obviously belong to important people. Each tent has a dedicated 
   
   
  guard, and visitors are very deferential.
  15 
  The tents occasionally get visitors who move back and forth between them before leaving, but you never see the 
   
   
  tents’ occupants emerge to speak with each other.
  20 
  The people entering one tent all have pendants decorated with a strange blob-shaped emblem, but the people 
   
   
  entering the other tent never wear this symbol.
  
  36
  CHPT.
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  «3»
  children have been men, all of them great war-
  riors.) It isn’t her place to question the gods 
  or how men should interact with them; that’s 
  a job for great men such as Haimler. If Haimler 
  deems this new god to be the right choice for 
  the tribe, then she’ll follow him.
  Bradok: Bradok is a young man who greatly 
  enjoyed training with the Legion military. 
  He’s always wanted to be a warrior, like his 
  father before him. He looks up to 
  Thoron, who is the greatest 
  warrior he’s ever met. The 
  teachings of Seroficitacit 
  seem reasonable to him, 
  and if Thoron deems it the 
  right thing to do, he’s glad to 
  go along.
  Event 3: 
  The Characters’ Interactions 
  with Haimler, Thoron 
  and Shtrawnek
  The three tribal leaders have very different 
  perspectives on the world. Conversations 
  with them quickly reveal their goals and 
  disputes. The profiles and stats in “NPCs,” 
  below, should allow you to play them as dis-
  tinctive NPCs.
  Characters can encounter these NPCs in 
  a variety of ways. Their initial contact with 
  the tent city could lead to meeting Haimler 
  or Thoron, especially if they make trouble or 
  are distrusted from the start. As they explore 
  the tent city, the PCs are bound to notice 
  the large tents and find out who’s in them, 
  perhaps eventually requesting an audience. 
  Gathering information around town will 
  bring up the leaders’ names repeatedly.
  Gaining an Audience: If it doesn’t hap-
  pen naturally through hostile means, the PCs 
  may be able to gain an audience with Haim-
  ler, Thoron or Shtrawnek in a number of 
  ways. Posing as traders, diplomats, refugees 
  or followers of Seroficitacit are all plausible 
  covers. Don’t make it too hard for the PCs 
  to get in contact with the leaders (unless 
  they really screw it up themselves). In most 
  situations, the leaders will have followers or 
  bodyguards with them, so the PCs’ real chal-
  lenge will be catching the leaders alone.
  Unveiling the Lunar Skinstealers: The 
  ultimate resolution of this episode is when 
  TABLE 3-2: GATHER INFORMATION BY PERSON/TOPIC QUERIED
  Gather Information Check:
  DC 
  Result 
  Pro-Haimler 
  10 
  Haimler brought us to the meteor because he is a great leader and visionary. He is showing us a new way to live.
  15 
  Haimler received visions from a great god. The visions showed a glorious paradise in this new world for those who 
   
   
  follow him. Shtrawnek and his old ways are wrong. The world has changed, and we must, too.
  20 
  Haimler told me confidentially that the moon creatures are our salvation. The gods work in mysterious ways, he said.
  25 
  What happened to Haimler’s pet lizard? It used to follow him wherever he went, but I haven’t seen it for days now. 
   
   
  (Note to DM: This is Haimler’s familiar, which the lunar skinstealer killed once it became aware of the 
   
   
  changes in Haimler.)
  Anti-Haimler
  10 
  I really don’t understand what Haimler’s doing. He’s always been a good leader, but taking us out here to the 
   
   
  middle of nowhere? What is he thinking? He’s been acting differently lately.
  15 
  Haimler’s talk of new gods is nonsense. This tribe has always followed Peripatetin. He’s never failed us, so why 
   
   
  should we abandon him? Shtrawnek is right: We’re risking everything by following Haimler.
  20 
  I’m worried about Haimler. Reforming the tribe, leading us out here, worshipping new gods… all this is going 
   
   
  to get back to the Legion. What has gotten into Haimler? And Thoron, too! He used to be the backbone of 
   
   
  sanity here, but now he’s following Haimler wherever he goes.
  25 
  What happened to Haimler’s pet lizard? It used to follow him wherever he went, but I haven’t seen it for days now. 
   
  (Note to DM: This is Haimler’s familiar, which the lunar skinstealer killed once it became aware of the 
   
   
  changes in Haimler.)
  The Meteor
  10 
  The meteor is a very safe place to live. The layout is a little weird, but it’s safe, so I can live with it.
  15 
  There are still things living in the meteor — strange ooze things. Haimler says not to harm them. Shtrawnek 
   
   
  refuses to enter the meteor as long as they still live.
  20 
  The first people to enter the meteor fought something — but whatever it was, it disappeared before they could 
   
   
  finish it off. The people seemed fine and said nothing had happened. Ever since then, things have been 
   
   
  different, Haimler and Thoron particularly. (Note to DM: These were the lunar skinstealers. They took over 
   
   
  the first people to enter the temple, then switched bodies furtively until they had taken over the leaders, 
   
  Haimler and Thoron.)
  PERIPATETIN
  Peripatetin is the Thrawtek god of good voyages. 
  Many other nomadic tribes of the eastern plains 
  also worship him. Peripatetin is neutral. He doesn’t 
  necessarily guarantee safe passage, or even suc-
  cessful passage, but his worshippers believe he 
  gives good voyages, meaning all things work out in 
  the end. A wandering tribe that is forced to change 
  course due to an overflowing river, and then finds 
  a verdant new pasture as a result, attributes that 
  success to Peripatetin, just as does a tribe that 
  completes a journey successfully according to its 
  original plan. Peripatetin’s symbol varies by tribe, 
  but usually incorporates a walking stick. The Thraw-
  tek symbol for him is a vertical walking stick in front 
  of a stylized sun image. The top of the sun is yellow 
  while the bottom is black, symbolizing Peripatetin’s 
  domain over all travels whether at day or night. Peri-
  patetin’s domains are Luck, Protection and Travel. 
  His favored weapon is the quarterstaff.
  
  37
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  the characters purge Haimler and Thoron 
  of the lunar skinstealers that control them. 
  Exactly how this happens could spell life or 
  death for the characters. Whether the tribes-
  men agree with their leaders or not, they’re 
  still not going to allow a bunch of outsiders 
  to jump them. It is crucial that the characters 
  reveal (and defeat) the lunar skinstealers in 
  a situation where the tribesmen aren’t there 
  to come to their rescue. Otherwise, the 
  characters will be beaten to death by 400+ 
  irate tribesmen. Game over!
  The PCs should be able to lure Haimler and/
  or Thoron away in any of the following ways:
  • Invite them to discuss a “profitable trad-
  ing venture,” but insist the leaders must 
  come to view the goods at the characters’ 
  mech. (In this case, the leaders may bring 
  a few bodyguards, depending on how 
  much they trust the characters. The body-
  guards use the profile of the guard for 
  Area 1 of the Second Lunar Temple; see 
  below.) Remember to make the appropri-
  ate Bluff vs. Sense Motive check.
  • Observe the leaders’ routines carefully. 
  If they do so, the characters will dis-
  cover they come outside, alone, to pray 
  to Seroficitacit under the moonlight 
  shortly after the worst of the lunar rain 
  passes each night. This is the perfect 
  time to jump them.
  • Request a private audience within the 
  lunar temple. Perhaps the PCs can suc-
  cessfully pass themselves off as follow-
  ers of Seroficitacit who wish to see the 
  temple. This again requires a Bluff check. 
  (Give a +4 bonus to the check if the char-
  acters use the symbols of Seroficitacit 
  from Area 11 in Episode One.) Characters 
  could also make such an attempt with 
  Diplomacy (if they’re up front about their 
  religious interests but simply wish to see 
  the temple) or Intimidate (if they use 
  some show of force, such as their mech).
  Battling the Lunar Skinstealers: Combat 
  with Haimler and Thoron uses the profiles 
  presented below. Remember that each of 
  these men has a personal agenda that is very 
  different from his controller’s agenda. Review 
  the rules in “New Creatures” of Chapter 6 in 
  DragonMech for combat with skinstealers. 
  Remember that slashing and bludgeoning 
  attacks deal full damage to the skinstealer, 
  hurting the host only after the skinstealer 
  is dead. Piercing attacks deal half damage to 
  the host and half damage to the skinstealer. 
  As a result, combat against these high-
  level NPCs isn’t nearly as hard as it seems. 
  Although they’ll attack using their normal 
  high-level profiles, each skinstealer can take 
  only 18 points of damage before it peels off 
  from its host, dead.
  A skinstealer’s fundamental goal is sur-
  vival; it will not fight to the death. If they’re 
  losing the fight, the skinstealers will hop 
  between hosts in an attempt to escape and 
  get others to fight for them. Prior to combat, 
  they’ll go so far as to bargain rather than 
  actually engage in a fight, as they don’t want 
  to risk being killed. Use the following strate-
  gies to simulate their combat mentality:
  Round One: The skinstealer engages in 
  ranged combat as much as possible, avoiding 
  damage to itself. This also lets it split damage 
  between itself and its host, as most ranged 
  weapons deal piercing damage.
  Round Two: The skinstealer maintains 
  ranged combat as long as possible. If its 
  wounds become serious or it is losing the 
  fight, it closes into melee range and then 
  jumps to a new host. The skinstealer is highly 
  intelligent (Int 20) and its strategy is to 
  recruit assistance from the rest of the Thraw-
  tek tribe. It will choose a new host who looks 
  fleet-footed. As soon as the new host is 
  dominated, the skinstealer will 
  run from the combat, rais-
  ing a general alarm. 
  Its role in this 
  new outsider’s 
  body will be “I 
  tried to stop my 
  friends, but they 
  insisted on attack-
  ing 
  your 
  leaders. 
  Help your leaders!” As 
  soon as it can, it will hop 
  to the body of a tribes-
  man, abandoning the body 
  of the PC.
  Remember that the bod-
  ies of the leaders will recover 
  once a skinstealer is off them. If 
  the PCs continue attacking, the 
  men will obviously defend them-
  selves, but their first reaction will 
  
  38
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
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  be thanks — the PCs have finally freed them 
  from these horrible alien creatures that were 
  controlling their bodies! If the PCs play their 
  cards right, they can have Haimler and Tho-
  ron owing them a favor.
  Round Three: Once the tribesmen arrive to 
  defend their leader, the skinstealer will send 
  its “new” body close to a leader, if possible, 
  and try to repossess a leader as soon as it’s 
  safe (and when it’s able to switch hosts with-
  out being seen). In general, the skinstealer 
  will try to maneuver the actions of the tribe 
  through controlling influential people or 
  by making the people it does control more 
  influential (which makes their friends won-
  der why their personalities have changed).
  This combat is tricky, because you have 
  an enemy that can possess PCs, you have 
  enemies that fight one way when possessed 
  and another way when not possessed, and 
  you have the potential for a huge brawl if the 
  PCs don’t stop a skinstealer from fleeing and 
  alerting the tribe.
  Secrets Revealed: Once Haimler and 
  Thoron are free of the lunar skinstealers, 
  their agendas change radically. They’ll retain 
  their original goals of reuniting the tribe in 
  a way that can coexist with Shar’s authority, 
  but their interest in all things lunar will be 
  completely changed: They want to destroy 
  the temple and all remnants of its denizens’ 
  attempts to rebuild it. They’ll be happy to 
  enlist the PCs’ aid in purging the temple of 
  whatever may be within. In fact, if the char-
  acters haven’t squandered their goodwill, 
  they’ll even encourage them with gifts of 
  weapons, armor, healing and whatever else 
  they have that may be useful. Both Haimler 
  and Thoron will reconcile with Shtrawnek, 
  and the tribe’s internal divisions will end.
  Keep in mind, however, that all this is 
  still within the context of the Legion. While 
  the PCs did a great favor for the tribesmen, 
  Legion members are still enemies of the 
  Stenian Confederacy, and they still dislike 
  nonhumans. Any hint of Stenian loyalty will 
  be greeted with hostility. The tribesmen 
  will grant the PCs a “free pass” and let them 
  escape with their lives, but they’re warned 
  that the next time they come around, it 
  will mean trouble. And nonhumans, while 
  thanked, are still considered servants of 
  their human friends. Furthermore, if the 
  PCs killed any members of the tribe (such 
  as the laborers in the lunar temple), Haimler 
  and Thoron will consider their rescue from 
  the skinstealers as simply evening the score 
  — in which case they owe the characters 
  no thanks whatsoever, but neither will they 
  attempt to punish them.
  Event 4: 
  The Characters’ Investigation 
  of the Lunar Temple
  Even if the characters unmask Haimler and 
  Thoron early in the episode, they’ll probably 
  still want to explore the lunar temple. In order 
  to complete the mission successfully, they 
  have to eradicate all taint of lunar influence, 
  which includes the three spawns of Serofici-
  tacit that dwell in the temple, so they really 
  must explore the temple to do their job prop-
  
  39
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  erly. Exploring the temple also gives them the 
  chance to catch the Irontooth mech in the act 
  as it makes off with a valuable starshard.
  Unlike the other lunar temple, this one 
  landed right-side-up. This meteor is actu-
  ally Level 2 of the lunar temple in the other 
  meteor. If the first meteor were turned over 
  and placed atop this meteor, they would 
  match up; the hole by which the Thrawtek 
  tribe is entering this lunar temple corre-
  sponds to the chute at Area 12 of the first 
  lunar temple.
  The full map key for the lunar temple is in 
  the next section.
  Event 5: 
  Arrival of the 
  Irontooth Mech
  Through the use of divination magic, the 
  Irontooth Clans heard about the starshards’ 
  fall to earth. They sent out several small 
  reconnaissance mechs to infiltrate enemy 
  territory and recover the starshards. They 
  arrived at the first lunar temple too late, 
  but an Irontooth mech arrives at this second 
  temple just in the nick of time — it snatches 
  the starshard almost literally right out of the 
  PCs’ hands!
  The Irontooth encounter is described in 
  Area 7 of the Second Lunar Temple, below. 
  The flow of the adventure should place the 
  encounter with the Irontooth mech as the 
  very last encounter in this episode. That 
  way, the PCs can immediately set out to 
  pursue it, without having to finish any 
  other tasks first.
  If the PCs reach Area 7 before 
  the Irontooth mech should 
  appear, make Area 7 totally 
  empty. In this case, the Iron-
  tooth mech has already stolen 
  the starshard, but is sticking 
  around to investigate the camp 
  further. After this episode is 
  resolved, present the Irontooth 
  mech in some dramatic manner. 
  Perhaps it emerges from the lunar 
  temple right as the tribesmen are 
  about to enter for the night. It could 
  even attack the PCs (or Haimler or Tho-
  ron) in the mistaken belief that there is a 
  second starshard. (If this Irontooth mech has 
  been to the first lunar temple, it might cor-
  rectly surmise that the PCs have the other 
  starshard.) However the combat progresses, 
  the Irontooth mech should be forced to 
  retreat. (Overwhelming odds? A critical 
  injury?) Then begins the tracking described 
  in Episode Four.
  For further details on the Irontooth mech 
  and its pilot, see Area 7 of the Second Lunar 
  Temple, below.
  LOCATIONS
  T
  here are four locations of particular 
  interest in the tent city: the two large 
  tents with the red pennants, one of which 
  belongs to Shtrawnek and the other of which 
  belongs to Haimler and Thoron; the typical 
  smaller tent (of which there are roughly 48); 
  and the meteor. The meteor is described in 
  more detail in the next section. Here are 
  overviews of the other locations.
  Tent of Shtrawnek: This large, 30-by-
  30-foot tent is occupied by Shtrawnek and 
  his two acolytes. The tent is well appointed 
  with a thick layer of rugs and comfortable 
  pillows. These furnishings aren’t particularly 
  valuable, however; combined, they’re worth 
  250 gp and weigh 400 pounds. The remaining 
  furnishings are the mundane artifacts of nor-
  mal living: food, clothing, bedrolls, stools and 
  a portable desk. A thorough search (DC 20) 
  reveals three solid gold holy symbols of Peri-
  patetin (worth 100 gp each); 12 silver ingots 
  (worth 10 gp each); and six uncut, low-grade 
  diamonds (worth 50 gp each).
  Tent of Haimler and Thoron: This 
  30-by-30-foot tent is where Haimler and 
  Thoron spend their days. Like Shtrawnek’s 
  tent, it is richly appointed with thick rugs 
  and pillows, worth 250 gp and weighing 
  400 gp. Aside from the usual assortment 
  of mundane items, a search (DC 15) reveals 
  five holy symbols of Seroficitacit; two broken 
  holy symbols of Peripatetin; three potions of 
  cure light wounds; and a bag of 25 uncut, low-
  grade diamonds (worth 50 gp each). Among 
  the clothing stored in the tent are the Legion 
  military uniforms of both men.
  Typical Tribal Tent: The typical tent 
  measures 10 feet by 10 feet. It has a few basic 
  pieces of portable furniture (such as a fold-
  ing stool and table), several bedrolls, and 
  sacks of mundane goods. A typical tent has 
  4d10 cp hidden somewhere in the bedding 
  (Search DC 20).
  NPCS
  T
  his section provides the statis-
  tics for the major NPCs encoun-
  tered in Haimler’s Town, including 
  a typical tribesman, Shtrawnek’s 
  acolytes and the lunar skinsteal-
  ers that have taken over Haim-
  ler and Thoron.
  Haimler, Tribal 
  Leader 
  and Legion Major
  Haimler is a stocky, judgmental 
  man who commands the atten-
  tion of those around him. He’s 
  of medium height but is broad and 
  heavy for his size. His face is always set 
  in a grimace. He never offers approval; 
  the best a subordinate can hope for is his 
  
  40
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  respect, and everyone in the tribe tries hard 
  to gain it. Haimler is supremely skilled in 
  almost all aspects of life (reflected by 
  an exceptional array of ability scores); 
  he could have excelled at any pro-
  fession, but chose to be a wizard 
  because he takes a long-term 
  view of most things.
  Goals: Haimler is loyal 
  and protective. He is also 
  ambitious. He wants to rise 
  in the ranks of the Legion, 
  but would prefer to do so in 
  a way that helps his tribe as 
  it helps him. Nonetheless, he 
  won’t abandon Shar Thizdic or 
  the Legion, as he sees great poten-
  tial in what Shar has done. He’d 
  just prefer to find a way around Shar’s 
  heavy-handed control. 
  The lunar skinstealer now controlling 
  Haimler, on the other hand, has only two 
  goals: domination of the surface creatures 
  and furtherance of Seroficitacit’s worship.
  Distinguishing Characteristics: Even 
  when controlled by the skinstealer, Haimler 
  comes across as himself. He carefully consid-
  ers his words before speaking, and never says 
  more than is necessary. He will not carry a 
  conversation past the point of its usefulness; 
  he’s not impatient so much as commanding, 
  and will simply dismiss attempts to sway his 
  opinion after he has made up his mind. He 
  has an intense stare that he levels on 
  those whom he speaks to, making him 
  very intimidating. Despite all this 
  — or perhaps because of it — his 
  personal magnetism is great; he 
  is extremely influential to those 
  around him.
  Note that Haimler does not 
  have a familiar. The skinstealer 
  saw it as a threat, since it was 
  aware of the changes overtak-
  ing Haimler, so the skinstealer 
  made Haimler kill it. Haimler 
  could do nothing to prevent this, 
  as he was possessed at the time. 
  Haimler, 
  Human 
  Wiz5: 
  CR 
  5; Medium humanoid (human); HD 
  5d4+20; hp 32; Init +3; Spd 30 ft.; AC 18 
  (+3 Dex, +2 deflection, +3 armor), touch 
  15, flat-footed 15; BAB +2; Grp +4; Atk/Full 
  Atk +4 melee (1d4+2/19–20, dagger) or +5 
  ranged (1d4+2/19–20, dagger); SA Spells; AL 
  N; SV Fort +5, Ref +4, Will +5; Str 15, Dex 
  16, Con 18, Int 18, Wis 13, Cha 18.
  Skills: Concentration +12, Diplomacy +12, 
  Knowledge (arcana) +12, Knowledge (local) 
  +12, Sense Motive +6, Spellcraft +12.
  Feats: Brew Potion, Combat Casting, 
  Power Spell, Scribe Scroll, Spell Cleave.
  Possessions: 6 daggers, +2 ring of 
  protection, +3 bracers of armor, small 
  sack, symbol of Seroficitacit, spell 
  book, 89 sp, 12 gp.
  Spells Prepared (4/4/3/2, spell 
  DC 14 + spell level): 0—acid 
  splash, daze, ray of frost, message; 
  1st—charm person, magic missile 
  (x2), shocking grasp; 2nd—cat’s 
  grace, M.’s acid arrow, web; 
  3rd—fireball, lightning bolt.
  Spells in Spellbook: 0—all; 
  1st—burning hands, charm person, 
  expeditious retreat, mage armor, magic 
  missile, shocking grasp, T.’s floating disk; 
  2nd—cat’s grace, invisibility, M’s acid arrow, 
  rope trick, web; 3rd—fireball, lightning bolt, 
  whispering wind.
  Thoron, Warrior Leader 
  and Legion Sergeant
  Thoron is taller and heavier than anyone else 
  in the tribe. He wears banded armor at all 
  times, which is painted in contrasting black 
  and red bands that match Thoron’s tribal tat-
  toos. He’s a born warrior, with a natural tal-
  ent for combat that’s been nurtured through 
  years of combat training. He’s quite talkative 
  and loves to regale visitors with tales of the 
  tribe’s exploits. His modesty prevents him 
  from telling stories about himself, but 
  he’s happy to discuss his father (Thor-
  ak) and grandfather (Thorgan), both 
  of whom performed many daring 
  deeds back in the days when the 
  Thrawtek used to fight orcs for 
  control of the endless plains.
  Goals: Thoron defends his 
  tribe from aggressors: noth-
  ing more, nothing less. He is 
  intensely loyal to Haimler and 
  would probably follow him in 
  his worship of Seroficitacit even 
  if he weren’t possessed by a lunar 
  skinstealer. Any serious threat 
  to the community will find Thoron 
  quickly at hand.
  Distinguishing Characteristics: Tho-
  
  41
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  ron is as garrulous as Haimler is curt. He is 
  easygoing and well behaved, the sort of war-
  rior who really enjoys defending those who 
  can’t defend themselves. He uses his hands 
  a lot when talking, and when he reaches the 
  fighting scenes of any war story, he jumps up 
  and acts out the important parts. 
  Thoron, Human Ftr4: CR 4; Medium 
  humanoid (human); HD 4d10+12; hp 36; 
  Init +2; Spd 20 ft.; AC 19 (+1 Dex, +6 armor, 
  +2 shield), touch 11, flat-footed 18; BAB +4; 
  Grp +7; Atk/Full Atk +8 melee (1d8+5/x3, 
  battleaxe) or +7 melee (1d8+3/19–20, dag-
  ger) or +5 ranged (1d6+3, javelin); AL LG; 
  SV Fort +7, Ref +4, Will +2; Str 17, Dex 13, 
  Con 16, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 11.
  Skills: Climb +3, Intimidate +6, Jump +3.
  Feats: Cleave, Great Cleave, Lightning 
  Reflexes, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (bat-
  tleaxe), Weapon Specialization (battleaxe).
  Possessions: Banded mail, heavy steel 
  shield, battleaxe, 3 javelins, dagger, 34 gp.
  Lunar Skinstealer, Unhosted: CR 2; 
  Medium aberration (lunar); HD 4d8; hp 18; 
  Init –1; Spd 10 ft.; AC 9 (–1 Dex), touch 9, flat-
  footed 9; Atk +5 melee touch (special, face 
  grapple); Full Atk +5 melee touch (special, 
  face grapple) and +1 melee (1d2, 4 hooks); SA 
  Improved grab, host domination; SQ Lunar 
  traits; AL CN; SV Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +0; Str 
  18, Dex 8, Con 10, Int 20, Wis 4, Cha 14.
  Skills: Bluff +26, Disguise +25, Hide +14, 
  Listen +2, Spot +2.
  Lunar Skinstealer, Hosted: CR 2; 
  Medium aberration (lunar); HD 4d8; hp 18; 
  Init as host; Spd as host; AC as host; Atk/Full 
  Atk as host; SA Improved grab, host domina-
  tion, camouflage, neighbor domination; SQ 
  Lunar traits; AL CN; SV Fort as host, Ref as 
  host, Will +4; Str as host, Dex as host, Con 
  10, Int 20, Wis as host, Cha 14.
  Skills: Bluff +26, Disguise +25, Hide +14, 
  others as host.
  See Chapter 6 of DragonMech for spe-
  cial abilities.
  Shtrawnek, Tribal Shaman
  Shtrawnek is a young shaman forced to 
  accept responsibility before his time. The 
  old shaman died in the lunar rains while 
  Shtrawnek was still an apprentice. Shtrawnek 
  was the most promising of the acolytes, so 
  he assumed the mantle of shaman. He looks 
  like a young man aged beyond his years. His 
  brown hair is trimmed short, his unwrinkled 
  face is leathery, and he wears passed-down, 
  tattered skins of wild cats and boars long 
  since wiped out by the lunar rains. He is 
  usually accompanied by one of his two aco-
  lytes, who aren’t far behind him in ability. 
  Shtrawnek is of average build and height.
  Goals: Shtrawnek worships Peripatetin, 
  the traditional god of the Thrawtek. He is 
  the tribe’s spiritual and medicinal leader. 
  He leaves politics and martial affairs to 
  Haimler and Thoron, respectively. When 
  it comes to religious matters, however, 
  he has strong opinions, and Seroficit-
  acit goes against every one of them. He 
  is not opposed to occupying the lunar 
  temple as a matter of survival, but the 
  idea of rebuilding it in honor of Serofici-
  tacit is repugnant to him. He is engaged 
  in a standoff with Haimler over the tribe’s 
  future. He is not aware of the lunar skin-
  stealers but suspects something is afoot, 
  since Haimler’s behavior has changed so 
  much over the past three days.
  Over the course of the adventure, the PCs 
  will probably end up allied with Shtrawnek. 
  Keep his underlying goals in mind. The PCs 
  are simple tools to him, nothing more. After 
  they have served their purpose, he’ll double-
  cross them if that’s what has to be done to 
  get rid of them — or if that’s the best way to 
  get rid of Haimler and Thoron. However he 
  gets involved, he’ll probably try to arrange 
  for the PCs to face Haimler without his 
  direct involvement, keeping his name unsul-
  lied and giving him an excuse to get rid of the 
  PCs if need be. (“They attacked our chief. 
  They must be killed!”)
  There’s one last aspect of the situation to 
  keep in mind. The Legion is by nature preju-
  diced against non-humans. But lunar skin-
  stealers aren’t, and generally are inclined 
  to dismiss such petty terrestrial concerns 
  in favor of their larger goals. Non-human 
  PCs may find that they’re treated better by 
  Haimler and Thoron than Shtrawnek. If you 
  want to stir some interesting debates within 
  the party, throw this into the mix.
  Distinguishing 
  Characteristics: 
  Shtrawnek has deep, wise eyes. He pauses to 
  look into his interlocutor’s eyes before mak-
  ing any statement. He speaks evenly, with 
  little inflection. It’s obvious he’s a wise man, 
  for he makes comments of stunning insight 
  on occasion. 
  Shtrawnek, Human Clr3: CR 3; Medium 
  humanoid (human); HD 3d8; hp 17; Init +2; 
  Spd 20 ft.; AC 19 (+2 Dex, +6 armor, +1 
  shield (Two-Weapon Defense)), touch 12, 
  flat-footed 17; BAB +2; Grp +3; Atk/Full 
  Atk +1/+1 melee (1d6+1, quarterstaff) or +4 
  ranged (1d6+1, throwing hammer); SA Turn 
  undead, spells, domain abilities; AL N; SV 
  Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +7; Str 12, Dex 15, Con 
  11, Int 13, Wis 18, Cha 10.
  Skills: Concentration +6, Heal +10, 
  Knowledge (arcana) +7, Knowledge (reli-
  gion) +7, Listen +4, Spellcraft +7, Spot +4, 
  Survival +6.
  Feats: Combat Casting, Two-Weapon 
  Defense, Two-Weapon Fighting.
  Possessions: Breastplate, quarterstaff, 2 
  throwing hammers, 16 gp, holy symbol of 
  Peripatetin.
  Domains: Luck, Travel.
  DON’T SLAUGHTER 
  THE CAMP!
  In playtests of this adventure, the PCs came up 
  with a simple, direct solution to the situation in 
  Haimler’s Town: “We have a mech. They don’t. 
  Why don’t we just trample them all?”
  Try to discourage this course of action. This 
  “blunt force” approach definitely removes some 
  of the challenge from the adventure! One simple 
  observation should push the PCs toward more 
  thoughtful behavior: Remember that the camp is 
  located beside a meteor that crash-landed only 
  days before. The impact threw up tons of debris. 
  The surface is strewn with rubble, which counts as 
  difficult terrain for a mech. Any attempt at running 
  the mech through the camp requires a Mech Pilot 
  skill check every round to keep the mech on its feet. 
  The Irontooth mech that appears later in this epi-
  sode has no trouble in making these checks, thanks 
  to the pilot’s +18 modifier to Mech Pilot checks (as 
  described in Episode Four).
  
  42
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  Spells (4/3+1/2+1; save DC 14 + spell 
  level): 0—create water, cure minor wounds, 
  detect magic, guidance; 1st—cure light wounds 
  (x2), divine favor, longstrider*; 2nd—aid*, cure 
  moderate wounds, inflict moderate wounds.
  *Domain spell.
  Acolytes (2), Human Clr2: CR 2; 
  Medium humanoid (human); HD 2d8; hp 9; 
  Init +0; Spd 20 ft.; AC 16 (+6 armor), touch 
  10, flat-footed 16; BAB +1; Grp +2; Atk/Full 
  Atk +2 melee (1d6+1, quarterstaff); SA Turn 
  undead, spells, domain abilities; AL N; SV 
  Fort +3, Ref +0, Will +3; AL N; Str 12, Dex 
  11, Con 10, Int 11, Wis 16, Cha 10.
  Skills: Concentration +4, Heal +7, Knowl-
  edge (arcana) +4, Knowledge (religion) +4, 
  Listen +5, Spellcraft +4, Spot +5.
  Feats: Alertness, Combat Casting.
  Domains: Luck, Travel.
  Spells (4/3+1; save DC 13 + spell level): 
  0—create water, cure minor wounds, mending, 
  virtue; 1st—cure light wounds (x2), longstrider*, 
  summon monster I.
  Possessions: Banded mail.
  *Domain spell.
  Typical Legion Citizen, Human Com1: 
  CR 1/2; Medium humanoid (human); HD 
  1d4; hp 2; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 11 (+1 
  armor), touch 10, flat-footed 11; BAB +0; 
  Grp +0; Atk/Full Atk +0 melee (1d4/19–20, 
  dagger); AL LN; SV Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +0; 
  Str 11, Dex 10, Con 10, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 10.
  Skills: Craft (any one) +6 or Profession 
  (any one) +6, Handle Animal +3, Listen +2, 
  Ride +3, Spot +5.
  Feats: Alertness, Skill Focus 
  (Craft or Profession).
  Possessions: 
  Heavy 
  clothing (treat as pad-
  ded 
  armor), 
  dagger, 
  1d10 cp.
  
  XP AWARDS
  T
  his free-form episode involves just as 
  much investigation and research as it 
  does combat (perhaps more, in fact). Award 
  XP bonuses to the PCs based on their suc-
  cess in uncovering the mysteries as shown 
  on Table 3-3.
  SECOND 
  LUNAR TEMPLE
  T
  his section details the significant loca-
  tions in the second lunar temple found 
  in Haimler’s Town.
  AREA 1: 
  LADDER AND CHUTE
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  The tribesmen enter the meteor through a rope 
  ladder that rises up its side. At the top is a deep 
  chute that drops straight into the meteor.
  During the day, a guard watches over this 
  ladder. The divide in the tribe has made Tho-
  ron and Haimler worried that someone will 
  interfere with the lunar temple, so the guard 
  prevents unauthorized entrance. He can be 
  easily overcome, but if combat is initiated, 
  his first action is to run back to the tent city 
  and alert everyone — which would rapidly 
  bring reinforcements.
  The chute is 20 feet deep. The rope lad-
  der goes down the chute to the floor level of 
  Area 2, making the descent easy. 
  Guard, Human War1: CR 1/2; Medium 
  humanoid (human); HD 1d8; hp 4; Init +0; 
  Spd 30 ft.; AC 13 (+1 Dex, +2 armor), touch 
  11, flat-footed 13; BAB +1; Grp +3; Atk/Full 
  Atk +4 melee (1d8+2/x3, spear) or  +3 melee 
  (1d4+2/19–20, dagger), or +3 ranged (1d8+2/
  x3, spear) or +2 ranged (1d4+2/19–20, dag-
  ger); AL LN; SV Fort +2, Ref +0, Will +0; Str 
  14, Dex 12, Con 10, Int 9, Wis 11, Cha 9.
  Skills: Climb +6, Intimidate +2, Jump +5.
  Feats: Power Attack, Weapon Focus (spear).
  Possessions: Spear, dagger, leather armor, 1d10 sp.
  SECOND LUNAR 
  TEMPLE FEATURES
  Floor Level: The floor level of this temple is a 
  normal horizontal plane.
  Illumination: There was originally no light of 
  any kind inside the meteorite, but the tribe has now 
  outfitted it with oil-burning lanterns. There are two 
  lanterns per room, usually located on the floor.
  Walls: All passages in the tunnel are round, with 
  a slightly flattened floor. Unless noted otherwise 
  they are 10 feet tall. They have stats as follows: 
  Hewn Stone Wall: 3 ft. thick between rooms, 
  otherwise solid rock; Break DC 50; hardness 8; 
  540 hp; Climb DC 22.
  Doors: Doors within the lunar temple are quite 
  unlike normal doors. They are round passages a full 
  10 feet tall, with a round door set within. The door 
  opens by rotating on a horizontal bar set within the 
  frame 5 feet above the ground, effectively “flipping 
  over” to open. Humans using these doors must 
  move with the bottom half of the door and duck un-
  der the horizontal bar. Creatures with the ability to 
  do so can throw themselves at the upper half of the 
  door to flip through to the other side. The rotating 
  door can swing in either direction. 
  Stone Door: 4 in. thick; hardness 8; 60 hp; 
  Break DC 28 (stuck or locked).
  Time Period: The room descriptions assume 
  that the players enter during the day. If they enter 
  at night, the temple complex will be crammed with 
  inhabitants — almost the entire population of the 
  town squeezes in here at night. Obviously, a night-
  time raid won’t get the characters very far!
  TABLE 3-3: XP AWARDS
  Achievement 
  Per-Character XP Award 
  Discovering that Haimler and Thoron’s behavior has changed 
  300 XP
  Deducing correctly who is controlled by the skinstealers 
  300 XP
  Discovering the hidden chamber with the starshard (Area 7 within the second lunar temple) 
  300 XP
  Defeating the skinstealers without harming Haimler and Thoron 
  100 XP
  
  43
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
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  AREA 2: 
  WORSHIP AREA
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  This 50-foot-wide, perfectly circular room has 
  smooth, almost glassy walls. It is illuminated by two 
  oil lanterns, one at the foot of the chute and one be-
  side the open passage leading out to the northeast. 
  You see signs of recent human habitation: bedrolls, 
  sleeping pads, dirty clothes and crumbs litter the 
  floor. In the center of the room is a bizarre statue of a 
  10-foot-tall blob. It looks like it was carved from the 
  rock of the meteorite, but it is worn smooth in many 
  places, as if touched by a thousand hands.
  This room was once a meditation and prayer 
  chamber for the lunar skinstealers. The blob 
  is a representation of Seroficitacit. The room 
  is now used by the tribe as sleeping quarters.
  The Blob Statue: The blob statue is 
  magical, but its properties are only useful for 
  followers of Seroficitacit. Any follower who 
  touches the statue while praying to Serofici-
  tacit receives the effects of cure minor wounds 
  and guidance, with a duration of 8 hours. The 
  effect can be received only once per day. The 
  statue has no effect on nonbelievers.
  
  AREA 3: 
  SLEEPING CHAMBER (EL 1/2)
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  This perfectly round, 40-foot-wide chamber looks as 
  if it serves as the sleeping quarters for many people. 
  At least 90 bedrolls are crammed next to each other, 
  along with blankets, dirty clothes and other signs of 
  habitation. Two oil lanterns illuminate the room.
  Suddenly, one of the bedrolls rustles. A man rolls 
  over and then starts when he sees you. “Hey!” he 
  says. “What are you doing in here?”
  The man is one of the laborers from Area 6 
  who is taking a nap. He has the stats of the 
  laborers from Area 6, below.
  The characters have 3 rounds to calm him 
  down before he shouts an alarm. Remember 
  that the tribe is close-knit; PCs will be imme-
  diately recognized as outsiders, although 
  they still might be able to pass themselves 
  off as belonging there. Possible ways to calm 
  down the man include the following:
  Bluffing: The characters can try to come 
  up with a plausible explanation for their 
  presence. Only allow this if the players can 
  actually come up with a good reason on the 
  spot. Allow a Bluff check opposed by the 
  man’s Sense Motive.
  Diplomacy: The characters might acknowl-
  edge they don’t belong, but they try to 
  smooth things over with a silver tongue. 
  Allow a Diplomacy check to influence 
  the man’s attitude. His initial attitude is 
  unfriendly, so the Diplomacy check must hit 
  DC 15 to make him indifferent to the PCs. 
  Refer to the Diplomacy skill in Chapter 4 of 
  
  44
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  the Player’s Handbook for full details.
  Disguise: If the characters are disguised 
  as laborers, followers of Seroficitacit, or 
  some other good cover, they may be able 
  to explain their presence. Allow a Disguise 
  check opposed by the man’s Spot.
  Intimidation: The PCs can try to 
  intimidate the man into shutting up. Allow 
  a standard Intimidate check opposed by his 
  level check (for which he receives only a +1 
  modifier). If successful, the man is scared for 
  his life and will stay quiet — at least as long as 
  the PCs are there to threaten him.
  Failure: If the PCs fail to quiet the man 
  within 3 rounds, or if they attack and he 
  receives at least one action before dying or 
  falling unconscious, he starts screaming at 
  the top of his lungs. The laborers from Area 
  6 should make a Listen check against DC 10; 
  if they succeed, they come running, ready to 
  fight. Make a Listen check against DC 20 for 
  the guard at Area 1 (if he’s still alive and able to 
  act); if he hears the fight, he sets off the alarm 
  in the tent town and then comes in himself.
  XP Award: If the PCs do quiet the 
  man, award them XP for defeating a CR 1/2 
  encounter.
  AREA 4: 
  DIVINATION CHAMBER
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  The walls of this 60-foot-wide circular room are 
  completely covered in carved alien symbols. Even 
  the 20-foot-tall domed ceiling is carved. The flick-
  ering light of two oil lanterns in the center of the 
  room plays with the bizarre shapes and symbols. 
  None of them resemble any sort of writing you’ve 
  ever seen before.
  The floor is now covered in bedrolls and sleep-
  ing gear. Two man-sized holes have been bashed 
  through the northern wall. The sounds of picks 
  and shovels emanate from rough-hewn passages 
  beyond the holes.
  In the southwestern corner of the room is a half-
  open round door leading to a dark passageway.
  The lunar skinstealers used this chamber as a 
  place to meditate on Seroficitacit’s greatness.
  In addition to the man-made tunnels lead-
  ing to Area 6, the room contains four exits. 
  Three are secret doors in the walls (one of 
  which is standing half-open, as described 
  above; it leads to Area 5B). The fourth is a 
  secret trapdoor in the ceiling.
  In fact, none of the doors are truly 
  “secret.” Any lunar creature capable of 
  reading the language inscribed on the 
  wall would know the doors are there (kind 
  
  45
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  of like how doors in a movie theater are 
  marked “Exit”). Yet to terrestrial creatures, 
  the bewildering array of symbols is utterly 
  confusing, and it hides the presence of the 
  round doors that don’t look like normal 
  doors to begin with.
  A search (DC 25) of the room reveals the 
  secret doors. The ceiling trapdoor is only 
  revealed if the PCs specifically note they are 
  searching the ceiling (and have the means to 
  do so; Search DC 25), or via an exceptional 
  search (DC 30) result on the ground, which 
  alerts the character to the lunar equivalent 
  of an “Exit” sign beside every exit.
  A powerful Decipher Script attempt (DC 
  35) also reveals the secret doors via reading 
  the wall language. The walls tell stories of 
  the great deeds of Seroficitacit in his war 
  against the lunar dragons.
  If the characters still fail to discover the 
  trapdoor in the ceiling, then inform the PC who 
  possesses the starshard that the item pulsates 
  — as if in anticipation — as he walks through 
  the center of the room. They should realize that 
  they’re missing something at that point.
  
  AREA 5A: 
  THE GREAT SPAWN (EL 3)
  T
  hese rooms were once used to house 
  spawns of Seroficitacit. Now they’re 
  still used for that purpose, for Haimler and 
  Thoron have been directed by the lunar 
  skinstealers to preserve these storehouses of 
  knowledge. Read or paraphrase the follow-
  ing when the characters enter:
  This unlit, perfectly round 30-foot-wide cham-
  ber has smooth, glassy walls. In the midst of the 
  room is a 15-foot-wide shapeless mass of gray 
  protoplasm. Small buds and tentacles sprout oc-
  casionally from its surface before dissipating back 
  into the goo. As soon as you enter the room, the 
  tentacles begin to veer toward you.
  There is one spawn in each room marked 
  5A. These young spawns of Seroficitacit are 
  healthy and ready to defend their temple. As 
  soon as each becomes aware of the PCs, it 
  advances to attack.
  Roll 1d8 on the table under the spawn of 
  Seroficitacit entry (see “New Creatures” in 
  Appendix One) to determine what changes 
  these particular spawn have undergone. 
  Young Spawn of Seroficitacit: 
  CR 3; Medium ooze (lunar); HD 
  3d10+5; hp 31; Init –5; Spd 10 ft.; 
  AC 5 (–5 Dex), touch 5, flat-footed 
  10; BAB +2; Grp +6; Atk/Full Atk +6 
  melee (1d4+4 plus change, slam); SA 
  Change; SQ Blindsight 40 ft., moon lore, 
  ooze traits, lunar traits; AL N; SV Fort +6, 
  Ref –4, Will +5; Str 18, Dex 1, Con 20, Int 18, 
  Wis 18, Cha 10.
  Skills: Bluff +6, Knowledge (lunar) +20, 
  Knowledge (the planes) +10, Knowledge 
  (religion) +10, Listen +10, Spot +10.
  Feats: Insightful Step, Seroficitacit’s 
  Changes.
  AREA 5B: 
  THE LAST SKINSTEALER (EL 2)
  O
  ne more lunar skinstealer survived 
  the meteor’s crash to earth, but was 
  injured in the process. It has remained in 
  this room, recovering from its injuries while 
  being tended by Haimler and Thoron. It has 
  avoided taking hosts for the time being, 
  waiting for the right moment. When the PCs 
  enter, the moment is there! Once the PCs 
  open the secret door, Read or paraphrase 
  the following:
  A short tunnel leads to an unlit, perfectly round 
  30-foot-wide chamber with smooth, glassy walls. 
  The room appears empty.
  The skinstealer uses  its excellent Hide score 
  to remain hidden until someone comes 
  within striking distance, then  it leaps up 
  and attempts to take a host. It is highly intel-
  ligent, so play it as such. It will hide on the 
  floor or ceiling, flat and flush against the sur-
  face, preferably in the 10-foot-wide entrance 
  corridor. Here it can leap up and attack the 
  first PC in the marching order, who will 
  block other PCs from being able to make 
  attacks. Once the skinstealer has a host, 
  it can then fight its way out. Alternately, 
  the skinstealer could hide in the 
  same position but wait until 
  the PCs have passed, then 
  attack the last character. 
  Once it attains a host, it 
  can either fight the now-
  trapped rest of the party 
  or simply run, taking the 
  character’s body with it, and 
  make it do mischief that will get it 
  killed by the tribe. 
  Lunar Skinstealer, Unhosted: CR 2; 
  Medium aberration (lunar); HD 4d8; hp 18, 
  25; Init –1; Spd 10 ft.; AC 9 (–1 Dex), touch 
  9, flat-footed 9; BAB +3; Grp +7; Atk +5 
  melee touch (special, face grapple); Full Atk 
  +5 melee touch (special, face grapple) and 
  +1 melee (1d2, 4 hooks); SA Improved grab, 
  host domination; SQ Lunar traits; AL CN; SV 
  Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +0; Str 18, Dex 8, Con 
  10, Int 20, Wis 4, Cha 14.
  Skills: Bluff +26, Disguise +25, Hide +14, 
  Listen +2, Spot +2.
  Lunar Skinstealer, Hosted: CR 2; 
  Medium aberration (lunar); HD 4d8; hp 18; 
  Init as host; Spd as host; AC as host; BAB as 
  host; Grp as host; Atk/Full Atk as host; SA 
  Improved grab, host domination, camou-
  flage, neighbor domination; SQ Lunar traits; 
  AL CN; SV Fort as host, Ref as host, Will +4; 
  Str as host, Dex as host, Con 10, Int 20, Wis 
  as host, Cha 14.
  Skills: Bluff +26, Disguise +25, Hide +14, 
  others as host.
  See “New Creatures” in Chapter 6 of 
  DragonMech for special abilities.
  
  AREA 6: 
  NEW LIVING QUARTERS (EL 3)
  T
  his room is filled with laborers expand-
  ing the caves. Only a few of the most 
  loyal tribesmen are allowed to work here. 
  In general, they’re making enough noise 
  that they hear only exceptionally loud noises 
  (such as the man in Area 5 shouting at the top 
  
  46
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  of his lungs). When the PCs enter, Read or 
  paraphrase the following:
  This irregularly shaped cavern is about 40 feet by 
  40 feet. You can see six men with picks and shov-
  els working hard to make the cave larger.
  The characters may be able to surprise these 
  men if they’re careful (Hide and Move 
  Silently). The laborers receive a –10 penalty 
  to Listen checks due to the amount of noise 
  they’re making.
  This area is considered off-limits. 
  Even members of the tribe aren’t 
  supposed to be here during day-
  light; only the most faithful of 
  Seroficitacit’s recent con-
  verts are allowed to labor 
  in his temple. Unless 
  the PCs are accompa-
  nied by tribal lead-
  ers, the laborers will 
  immediately 
  assume 
  the worst about their 
  presence. 
  They’ll 
  attack on sight. 
  Laborers 
  (6), 
  Human 
  Com1: 
  CR 
  1/2; Medium humanoid 
  (human); HD 1d4; hp 3; 
  Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 11 
  (+1 armor), touch 10, flat-
  footed 11; BAB +0; Grp +0; 
  Atk/Full Atk +1 melee (1d6/x4, 
  heavy pick); AL LN; SV Fort +2, Ref 
  +0, Will +0; Str 12, Dex 10, Con 10, Int 
  10, Wis 10, Cha 10.
  Skills: Profession (miner) +4, Handle 
  Animal +4, Listen +0, Ride +4, Spot +0.
  Feats: Great Fortitude, Martial Weapon 
  Proficiency (heavy pick).
  Possessions: Heavy clothing 
  (treat 
  as padded armor), 
  heavy pick, sym-
  bol of Seroficit-
  acit, 1d10 cp.
  
  AREA 7: 
  THE STARSHARD
  T
  his room contains the starshard (see “New 
  Item” in Appendix One). There are two 
  important things to note about this area.
  First, Haimler and Thoron have not dis-
  covered this room. The skinstealers consider 
  the starshard to be their greatest artifact, and 
  they have not revealed its existence.
  skinstealers could reach it with the aid of 
  their spawn (which would lift them up), but 
  it’s not so easy for humans. The secret trap-
  door leads to a 40-foot-long round passage, 
  which opens into a 30-foot-wide perfectly 
  spherical room. 
  If the starshard is still in the chamber when 
  the characters enter, and the Irontooth mech 
  encounter proceeds according to plan, Read 
  or paraphrase the following:
  This perfectly spherical room has polished black 
  walls. It immediately reminds you of a similar room 
  you encountered in the last temple. The room is 
  dark, like the last glimpse of twilight before 
  the sun sets. A haunting gold glow 
  emanates from a crystalline globe 
  that floats mid-air in the exact 
  center of the spherical space. 
  Pinpricks in the surface of the 
  globe send pointers of light 
  to the walls, where they 
  look like stars in an infinite 
  black sky.
  You feel a faint hum 
  among your belongings, 
  and something seems to 
  tug upward. It seems as if 
  the starshard you already 
  possess is reacting to the 
  presence of this second 
  starshard.
  This time, however, the PCs don’t 
  get the globe. Continue reading:
  Suddenly, the mystical darkness is broken by a 
  shaft of light. A trapdoor opens on the ceiling and 
  sunlight floods the room. A large one-man mech 
  drops to the floor, grabs the starshard and climbs 
  back up the trapdoor before you can react!
  This is an Irontooth Raptor mech (see “New 
  Mechs” in Appendix One). The pilot drops 
  down, grabs the starshard, and climbs back up 
  the shaft. Arrange the event so the PCs can’t 
  engage the mech — perhaps it drops down 
  Second, this room sets the stage for the 
  next episode in the adventure, as the PCs 
  pursue the Irontooth mech, described above 
  as Event 5. It is assumed the Irontooth mech 
  is encountered here, and it snatches the star-
  shard right before the PCs get it. However, 
  you can change this depending on the 
  PCs’ actions. The starshard might even 
  be gone. See Event 5, above.
  The secret trapdoor to this chamber 
  is 20 feet above ground level. The lunar 
  
  47
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  before they fully enter the room, or perhaps 
  it gets a surprise round and wins initiative, 
  so it’s gone before they can react. If the PCs 
  do somehow engage the Irontooth mech, it 
  simply tries to get free, then runs once it has 
  escaped.
  The trapdoor leads up to the top of the 
  meteor. Its Climb DC is only 10, thanks to 
  handholds built into the shaft. The vertical 
  shaft is 10 feet tall, for a total distance of 
  20 feet from the floor of Area 7 to the top 
  of the meteor. The shaft was obscured by 
  a pile of rubble, so it was not detected by 
  the tribesmen.
  By the time the PCs get to the top of the 
  meteor, all they see is the Irontooth mech 
  running off into the distance. They aren’t the 
  only ones to see this; the camp is an uproar, 
  pointing and shouting at the strange new 
  mech on the scene.
  Stats for the Irontooth pilot are presented 
  in Episode Four. This encounter should 
  really proceed with only a glimpse of the 
  Irontooth pilot and no real interaction with 
  him and the PCs — he should be long gone 
  before they react.
  CONCLUSION
  D
  epending on how much trouble the PCs 
  cause before they defeat the skinsteal-
  ers, they may depart on good terms or be run 
  out with sticks. If the PCs think quickly, they 
  may be able to escape punishment for what-
  ever slaughter occurred within the meteor 
  by pinning the blame on the Irontooth mech 
  that the entire tribe has seen escaping — that 
  is, assuming there are no living witnesses to 
  the PCs’ behavior. The reactions of Haimler 
  and Thoron to the situation are described in 
  Event 3, above.
  Either way, the PCs should be hot on the 
  heels of the Irontooth mech. Any PC with 
  Knowledge (local), Knowledge (mechs), or 
  bardic knowledge can attempt a check (DC 
  10) to recognize that the mech they saw 
  was Irontooth in origin. If they speak with 
  the tribe, they’ll be similarly informed. If 
  the characters need to be pushed, use the 
  starshard as an impetus: Aside from glowing 
  and humming when briefly in the presence of 
  its kin, it can also communicate empathetic 
  messages that the characters are to reunite it 
  with the other, now-departed starshard. The 
  next stage of the adventure involves tracking 
  down the Irontooth mech.
  Further Adventures 
  with the Legion
  This episode gives a shallow view of the 
  Legion that is tangential to its true nature, 
  but nonetheless insightful. The Legion is 
  built of disparate human tribes united by the 
  sheer charisma of the greatest human leader 
  ever to walk the endless plains. In the pres-
  ence of Shar Thizdic, the tribes function like 
  clockwork. When he’s away, they often revert 
  to their ancient traditions and rivalries. The 
  true Legion military-industrial complexes, 
  where the government is largely centralized 
  and the tribal functions broken down, feel 
  like Russian military complexes from the 
  height of the Cold War: paranoid, autocratic, 
  militaristic and regimented. In these places, 
  there are no tribes, no last names; people 
  are addressed by rank, and individuality is 
  subsumed to the collective. Each mech is a 
  nameless, faceless expression of Shar’s will; 
  each soldier, one of his thoughts given form.
  Remember that this adventure took place 
  on the outskirts of Legion territory. If the 
  characters return, send them deeper next 
  time. Make sure they experience the truly 
  regimented side of the Legion, not just what 
  happens when the Legion reverts to the tribal 
  factionalism from which it was born.
  Here are some plot hooks to engage the 
  PCs in future Legion adventures:
  • A routine Legion mech patrol spots the 
  PCs’ mech departing from Haimler’s 
  Town. The Legion mech travels to 
  Haimler’s Town to find out what’s going 
  on. Haimler and Thoron, barely recov-
  ered from their experience with the 
  lunar skinstealers, need a convenient 
  scapegoat to explain why their tribe is 
  in the middle of nowhere with virtually 
  no authorization. So they blame the PCs, 
  concocting a half-baked story that they 
  somehow pass off as the truth. Perhaps 
  the PCs controlled them using charm 
  person; maybe the PCs are lunar crea-
  tures in disguise! Whatever they say, they 
  make the PCs out to be important so as 
  to better cover their own mistakes. The 
  Legion now believes the PCs are power-
  ful enemies, so it sends mercenaries to 
  trail them — or perhaps hatches a plan to 
  lure them back somehow.…
  • Several weeks after the end of Episode 
  Three, the PCs are visited by a young girl. 
  She says she is Haimler’s daughter. Haim-
  ler and Thoron were brutally punished by 
  the Legion for their insubordination. The 
  entire tribe was rounded up and returned 
  to the industrial complexes, where Shar 
  Thizdic’s minions made examples of 
  them. Haimler and Thoron disappeared 
  completely and have not been seen since. 
  Before he was dragged off in the middle 
  of the night, Haimler gave his daughter a 
  handwritten note and told her to deliver 
  it to the PCs. In it, he asks for the char-
  acters’ assistance in defending his tribe 
  against the excesses of Shar Thizdic.
  • Somehow the Legion has discovered 
  the PCs’ Stenian affiliations. Perhaps 
  a tribesman searched their mech while 
  they were in Haimler’s Town. Maybe 
  a Legion patrol saw them enter from 
  Stenian territory and surmised what 
  wasn’t obvious. Or maybe the PCs 
  screwed up and told somebody some-
  thing, which got passed around until 
  it encountered the wrong ears. The 
  Legion has mobilized its mech fleets 
  to the Stenian border in opposition to 
  what it decries as “an invasion and bla-
  tant act of aggression.” The Legion gives 
  the Stenians 48 hours to turn over the 
  invaders before it declares war. Anxious 
  to avoid a larger conflict, the Stenian 
  Confederacy’s highest political officials 
  are perfectly happy to sacrifice a few 
  mercenaries who were expendable to 
  begin with. Now the PCs have both the 
  Stenians and the Legion after them.…
  
  48
  CHPT.
  #
  «4»
  INTRODUCTION
  A
  s the Irontooth mech bounds away 
  from Haimler’s Town, the PCs watch 
  the second starshard go with it. They can feel 
  their own starshard empathetically urging 
  them to follow. The urges are particularly 
  compelling: There’s definitely something 
  larger at stake, though the PCs are not 
  quite sure what.
  Thus begins a long episode of cat-and-
  mouse, as the PCs track the Irontooth mech. 
  The Irontooth Raptor with its Speed Freak 
  pilot outpaces the Magwagon by 2 miles per 
  hour, or about 16–20 miles over the course 
  of a normal day’s travel. However, the Raptor 
  stays close to the Magwagon in order to set 
  ambushes. Except when setting ambushes, 
  the Raptor doesn’t try to hide its trail, mak-
  ing it relatively easy to track. If you have a 
  ranger or other character with the Track feat 
  in your party, you can have that character 
  make Survival checks every so often to stay 
  on the trail. Since the PCs have to stay on the 
  trail in order for the adventure to progress, 
  however, do this sparingly so you aren’t 
  forced to override the dice rolls to get them 
  back on the trail.
  The trail leads almost due north, to 
  a no-man’s-land between Legion and 
  Stenian Confederacy borders. The 
  fact that Irontooth Clans are cur-
  rently operating in this vicinity is 
  unknown to both the Stenians and 
  the Legion. The characters finally 
  come to the Irontooth Clan camp, 
  where they interrupt a joust. The clan 
  learns it is they who possess the other 
  starshard. The Irontooth demand (at pain of 
  death) that the characters turn it over and 
  prove their valor by participating in a duel. 
  The Irontooth mech is fully aware of 
  its pursuers and tries at various times 
  to shake them, primarily so it can set 
  ambushes without being observed. The 
  following travel encounters give several 
  situations in which the characters can 
  face off with the Irontooth mech.
  As always, use the starshard 
  and its empathetic mes-
  sages 
  to 
  continue 
  motivating the PCs 
  on 
  their 
  journey. 
  Because the PC with 
  the 
  starshard 
  can 
  more easily commu-
  nicate with his deity, 
  you can also use divine 
  intervention 
  to 
  keep 
  things moving. Send dreams, 
  visions and flashes of insight from the 
  players’ gods to keep them on track.
  EPISODE FOUR: ON THE IRONTOOTH TRAIL
  
  49
  CHPT.
  #
  «4»
  
  TRAVELING 
  ENCOUNTERS
  T
  he terrain for all traveling encounters is 
  rocky, pitted roughlands with the occa-
  sional gully or canyon. The uneven land and 
  commonplace boulders limit visibility and 
  encourage ambushes.
  Don’t forget also to roll for the lunar rain 
  each night.
  
  ENCOUNTER A:
  IRONTOOTH AMBUSHES
  O
  n the first day of pursuit, the Irontooth 
  pilot sets several ambushes intended 
  to delay his pursuers. These ambushes start 
  as a series of potshots. The faster-moving 
  Raptor mech gains ground on the Mag-
  wagon, then looks for a good place for a 
  sniper attack, preferably at a range of 200+ 
  feet so he gets several shots before the PCs 
  can close. The pilot then aims at whichever 
  PC is piloting the mech, or, if any PCs are 
  foolish enough to stick a head out of a port-
  hole, he goes for them.
  Note the following aspects of the situation:
  • The Irontooth pilot takes 20 on his Hide 
  check to conceal his mech. The Large mech 
  has a –1 penalty to Hide checks, offset by its 
  18 Dexterity. The result is a Hide modifier 
  of +23. In order for the PCs to return fire, 
  they must first make a Spot check to beat 
  that result. Remember that Spot checks 
  have a –1 penalty for every 10 feet of dis-
  tance, so the 200-foot range between the 
  Raptor and Magwagon will initially give 
  the PCs a –20 penalty to their checks. Give 
  the PCs a +5 bonus to their Spot check for 
  every round they’re under fire, to allow 
  them to zero in on the shots. (Conversely, 
  the Raptor pilot should have no problem 
  spotting the Colossal Magwagon as it lum-
  bers across the landscape.)
  • Review the rules for targeting mech crew 
  in “Mech Combat,” Targeting the Crew, in 
  Chapter 2 of DragonMech. Remember 
  that the Irontooth pilot must make a DC 15 
  Spot check to target the Magwagon pilot. 
  He also gets a –1 penalty to this check for 
  every 10 feet of distance between him and 
  
  50
  CHPT.
  #
  «4»
  the target. Once he gets a bead, he’ll fire 
  relentlessly (using his mech attack bonus 
  because the weapon is mounted on the 
  mech) until the PCs locate him and return 
  fire, at which point he’ll race away, taking 
  cover from the terrain as he goes. If he 
  fails to get a bead on the pilot before the 
  PCs have passed, he’ll pick up and move to 
  a new ambush ahead of their position.
  • When the Raptor pilot targets the PC 
  pilot, he bypasses the mech’s hardness and 
  directly targets the character. That’s the 
  point of the Spot check; he’s firing right 
  through the cockpit window.
  • If the PCs pass the point where the Raptor 
  changed its path to look for an ambush, 
  allow any PCs with the Track feat a Sur-
  vival check (DC 14) to detect its altered 
  path. (The Raptor pilot will try to hide his 
  tracks by staking ambushes on firm ground 
  where they’re hard to detect.)
  Morgon, Irontooth Pilot, Human Mcj6: CR 
  6; Medium humanoid (human); HD 6d6; hp 24; 
  Init +7; Spd 30 ft.; AC 16 (+3 Dex, +3 armor), 
  touch 13, flat-footed 13; BAB +3; Mech 
  Attack Bonus +6/+1; Grp 
  +3; Personal Atk/Full Atk 
  +6 melee (1d6/18–20, 
  rapier) or +6 ranged 
  (1d8/19–20, 
  light 
  crossbow); 
  Mech 
  Atk/Full Atk (any 
  mech weapon) +9/
  +4 melee or +9/+4 
  ranged; SA Extraordi-
  nary pilot, hand speed, 
  mech fingers (warrior 
  instinct), patchwork repairs, 
  push the envelope 2/day, roll 
  with the punches (1 increment); AL 
  CN; SV Fort +2, Ref +8, Will +3; Str 11, Dex 16, 
  Con 11, Int 15, Wis 12, Cha 9.
  Skills: Climb +8, Craft (mechcraft) +11, 
  Hide +3, Jump +8, Knowledge (mechs) +11, 
  Knowledge (steam engines) +11, Listen +2, 
  Mech Pilot +18, Spot +10.
  Feats: Dodge, Improved Initiative, Mechi-
  dextrous, Mechwalker, Mobility, Quick 
  Draw, Speed Freak, Weapon Finesse.
  Possessions: Pilot’s armor, light crossbow, 
  rapier, dagger, 1d6 gp.
  
  ENCOUNTER B:
  IRONTOOTH CHARGES
  O
  n the second day, the Irontooth 
  mech decides to begin charging the 
  Magwagon. It finds an area where it can 
  hide, waits for the Magwagon to pass, then 
  charges from behind or the side. It stays 
  for only a round or two, attacking with its 
  unarmed strike, before retreating. If it is 
  able to get a surprise round (remember its 
  Hide +23 modifier?) and also wins initia-
  tive, it will charge, attack and retreat so the 
  Magwagon can’t return a blow. If any PC is 
  foolish enough to expose himself (outside 
  a porthole, walking alongside, etc.), the 
  Raptor will directly target him with a melee 
  strike (don’t forget the Spot check [DC 15], 
  if applicable). Otherwise, he makes general 
  attacks against the mech.
  This sort of hit-and-run tactic isn’t very 
  effective in the long run, as the Magwagon’s 
  hardness absorbs most of the dam-
  age. Yet until the Irontooth 
  mech begins to take dam-
  age, it will continue 
  to harry the larger 
  mech, hoping to 
  whittle it down so 
  its clan brothers 
  will have an easier 
  time against it in 
  the coming days.
  It is unlikely that 
  the players will capture 
  or defeat Morgon and his 
  mech, but it’s possible that 
  player ingenuity (or luck) may cre-
  ate such a situation. If this occurs, there are 
  two easy options to keep the plot moving 
  toward the Irontooth camp. The first option 
  is the starshards, which will urge the PCs to 
  continue traveling toward the Irontooth. 
  The starshards want to be brought to the Iron-
  tooth, who know more about their powers 
  (and proper uses) than the PCs. The second 
  option is Morgon himself, who may try to 
  escape being killed by promising a handsome 
  ransom from his father Phegrip, who waits 
  ahead at the Irontooth joust. The downside to 
  this option is that it gives the PCs a bargain-
  ing chip when the Irontooth subsequently 
  challenge them to a duel (see below). This 
  is where the raucous nature of Irontooth life 
  comes in: A number of clans are present at the 
  joust, and although Phegrip is the foremost 
  chieftain, he has only nominal control over 
  other clans. Holding Morgan hostage might 
  persuade some of the Irontooth to hold their 
  fire, but certainly not all.
  ENTER THE 
  IRONTOOTH
  B
  y this stage of the adventure, the PCs 
  should be 3rd level. The Irontooth 
  Clans are far more powerful than low-level 
  PCs. They are, in essence, a collective com-
  posed of some of the best mech jockeys 
  on the planet. Their “mech devil” pilots 
  are legendary. By the time an Irontooth 
  clansman reaches puberty, he’s already had 
  far more experience in a mech than most 
  Stenian mech commanders. By the time he’s 
  officially an adult, an Irontooth clansmen is 
  at least a 4th-level mech jockey.
  Part of what allows this to happen is the 
  Irontooth jousting tradition. The Irontooth 
  clans originally grew out of a longstanding 
  monastic temple where the martial arts 
  were practiced. It is believed that the jousts 
  grew out of these practices, though no 
  one knows for sure. Regardless, jousts and 
  contests are now an important part of the 
  Irontooth culture.
  When the characters track the Raptor to its 
  destination, they’ll encounter such a joust. 
  On the beginning of the fourth day of their 
  pursuit, read or paraphrase the following:
  After days of tracking your quarry, you notice that 
  his pace has finally slowed. You come out of a 
  boulder-strewn flatland to see a low hill that ap-
  parently rises out of nowhere. The hill extends for 
  what looks like miles in both directions, forming 
  
  51
  CHPT.
  #
  «4»
  a slow, steady arc that moves away from you. The 
  mech’s tracks lead right to the top.
  Once the PCs follow the tracks to the top of 
  the hill, read or paraphrase the following:
  You follow the tracks to the top of the hill. As you 
  approach the crest, you stop short. This is no hill. 
  The opposite side of the ridge drops precipitously 
  at a steep angle. It must fall at least 300 feet be-
  fore it starts to level out.
  You’re standing on the edge of an enormous 
  crater, a gigantic bowl carved out of the earth. A 
  meteor of cataclysmic size must have landed here 
  once. Now, the opposite side of the crater disap-
  pears into the morning mists on the far horizon.
  The Irontooth tracks lead straight down the 
  nearly vertical cliff face right into the crater. As 
  you bring your eyes downward to follow them, you 
  suddenly notice movement far below you. A host 
  of mechs is jostling for position around a crudely 
  defined ring built from boulders piled in a circle. 
  There must be at least 20 mechs watching as two 
  nimble combat-mechs joust within the circle.
  The joust quickly ends, however, and the mechs 
  turn to face you. There’s a booming sound, and a 
  cannonball zips through the air over your head!
  If the players think they can get away from 
  this easily, they’re mistaken. The Raptor 
  pilot wasn’t dumb enough just to leave the 
  rear guard open. He and four other Rap-
  tor mechs suddenly appear out of nowhere 
  behind the Magwagon. (They were hiding 
  behind boulders with their take-20 Hide 
  modifier of +23 up until now. You may want 
  to make secret Spot checks for your players.) 
  The PCs’ only options are to fight or descend 
  into the crater. The Irontooth clearly prefer 
  the latter. Descending the crater counts as 
  difficult terrain (DC 10 Mech Pilot check; 
  refer to “Mech Combat,” Moving a Mech, in 
  Chapter 2 of DragonMech).
  The Challenge: When the PCs reach the 
  bottom of the crater, read or paraphrase the 
  following:
   At least three dozen mechs, of all different sizes 
  and shapes, move into position around you. All 
  are marked with the flags of various Irontooth 
  clans. As you come to a stop before them, there 
  is a long pause. Then a huge mech of seemingly 
  unbelievable agility steps forward. A short, squat, 
  grizzled man can be seen through the canopy. He 
  speaks into a tube that blasts his voice across the 
  field toward you: “So, you thought you could 
  sneak up on the Irontooth, huh? Ha! Ha! They 
  think they’re funny. Ha!
  “So, now that you’re here, is there any reason 
  
  52
  CHPT.
  #
  «4»
  we shouldn’t just kill you now?” He gestures to-
  ward the mech you’d been following, then adds, 
  “My boy over there says you fight like old women.”
  Stress to the PCs that there’s absolutely no 
  way they can fight their way out of this alive. 
  They’re facing a small army of mechs, several 
  of them much larger than themselves.
  The ultimate goal is to steer this confron-
  tation toward a challenge. The two main pro-
  tagonists, Phegrip (the grizzled pilot) and 
  his son Morgon, prefer sport to bloodshed, 
  and the chance to earn a little good face in 
  front of the tribe doesn’t hurt, either. Allow 
  the characters to make social skill checks as 
  follows:
  Diplomacy: If the characters try to talk 
  their way out of the situation, allow them a 
  Diplomacy check. Unless they fail dramati-
  cally, Phegrip will sportingly accept their 
  explanation, then Morgon will shout out 
  hot-headedly that he challenges them. Phe-
  grip encourages this behavior in his son and 
  makes it clear to the PCs that the only way 
  out that doesn’t involve a bodybag is accept-
  ing the duel.
  Bluff: As above. Unless the PCs make an 
  exceptionally bad or extraordinarily good 
  roll, they still get a challenge.
  Intimidate: The PCs are outnumbered 
  more than 30-to-1, in hostile territory, and 
  currently surrounded in a weak position. 
  Intimidation attempts utterly fail. In fact, 
  any attempt at intimidation elicits laughter 
  from the entire clan, and, again, produces 
  a challenge.
  Starting the Duel: Remember that the 
  PCs don’t have to win the duel to make it 
  past this encounter. They really shouldn’t win, 
  since they’re facing a superior pilot. The 
  Irontooth are more concerned about how 
  courageously they fight.
  Phegrip explains the duel as follows. Note 
  that “horse-riders” is a derogatory term for 
  incompetent mech pilots; the phrase com-
  pares them to the anachronistic knights of 
  the old days, who are now utterly ineffectual 
  against mechs.
  “Alright then, a duel it is. Now, you horse-riders 
  listen up. You have something we want, and you 
  know what it is. That globe talks to you, but it 
  talks to us more —žand we know more about it 
  than you do. If you win the duel, you keep your 
  lives and we keep the globe. If you lose, we keep 
  the globe and maybe your lives, depending on 
  how you do. If you aren’t courageous, there’s no 
  reason we should spare you anyway.
  “Your mech’s a lot bigger than Morgon’s, so 
  we’ll give you a choice: either take a Raptor for 
  yourself, or let Morgon get a bigger mech. What’s 
  it gonna be?”
  The choice is the players’. If the characters 
  choose to fight in a Raptor, the extra pas-
  sengers are allowed to stand on a boulder sur-
  rounding the ring, and the PCs’ elected pilot is 
  given a Raptor in perfect working order. If the 
  reverse happens, the Irontooth produce a Mag-
  wagon from the back of their pack of observers. 
  It’s scarred, burnt and miserable-looking, but 
  has the same stats as the PCs’ mech. The Mag-
  wagon has the same number of crew members 
  as the PCs’ mech; treat additional crew as hav-
  ing the same stats as Morgon.
  Traditional Irontooth jousts are described 
  in “Mechdoms,” The Irontooth Clans, in 
  Chapter 4 of DragonMech. These jousts 
  utilize dulled melee weapons operated at 
  low power levels to minimize damage. The 
  weapons are coated with dye, which is used 
  to record “hits” on the jousting combatants. 
  The mechs that were jousting when the PCs 
  arrived are suitably equipped.
  When outsiders are involved, however, the 
  Irontooth aren’t always so generous. This is 
  especially the case when the outsiders need 
  to be intimidated so they’ll give up a starshard. 
  Unlike a traditional joust, this duel does not 
  consist only of close combat weapons, nor 
  do the mechs involved use dye to record 
  hits. Morgon’s mech is already prepared for 
  a duel to the death (or at least that’s the clear 
  impression the characters get). 
  The jousting arena is a level, rocky field 
  500 feet across. A circular ring of Huge boul-
  ders surrounds the field. There is only one 
  entrance, which is closed up by Irontooth 
  mechs once the joust starts. Now Phegrip 
  explains the rules:
  “Alright, get set. When you hear the cannon, go 
  at it!”
  That’s all the rules the PCs get. A Knowledge 
  (local) or bardic knowledge check (DC 
  15) reveals additional information about 
  traditional Irontooth dueling practices, as 
  described above, including their emphasis on 
  honorable combat and respect for those who 
  fight with courage regardless of the outcome.
  The Fight Begins: Run through the fight 
  like a normal combat. Unless the dice go hor-
  ribly awry, the Irontooth pilot should win. As 
  he comes close to the end, evaluate the char-
  acters’ behavior. If they have acted as cowards, 
  or at any point pleaded for their lives, tried to 
  bribe the Irontooth, or in any way impugned 
  the Irontooth clansmens’ honor, Morgon 
  unapologetically closes in for the kill. In this 
  case, the PCs will really have their work cut 
  out for them trying to escape; it’s up to you 
  how you want to handle this.
  If, however, the PCs have demonstrated 
  strength, courage and resolve, even in the 
  face of overwhelming odds, the Irontooth 
  will accept them. Remember that the Iron-
  tooth are kind of like a loose-knit biker gang; 
  they’ll take in anybody if they respect them, 
  and they frequently put personal loyalties 
  ahead of political realities. There are always 
  one or two military mech pilots from the 
  Stenian Confederacy training with the Iron-
  tooth, anyway; the Irontooth look the other 
  way, because they know perfectly well that 
  these pilots will return to the Confederacy as 
  the best-trained mech jockeys in the Stenian 
  fleets, and someday the Irontooth will be 
  able to call in a favor from a powerful Stenian 
  mech commander.
  If the PCs somehow win the combat 
  against Morgon’s mech, they’ve earned the 
  respect of the Irontooth. That might not be 
  enough to keep them alive, however, if they 
  injure or kill Morgon himself. Make it clear 
  from the activity of the crowd that mech-to-
  
  53
  CHPT.
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  «4»
  mech combat is fine, but any sort of personal 
  attack on the pilots — especially one that 
  might cause injury or death — is met with 
  jeers, boos and possibly a cannon shot or 
  two. The parameters of a respectful victory 
  should be clear to observant players.
  If the PCs have been cowards, let them 
  figure a way out of getting killed. If they’ve 
  fought valorously in defeat, Morgon closes 
  in for the “kill” as follows. Change the text 
  to reflect the situation in your own combat:
  You’ve fought hard and courageously, but Mor-
  gon gets the better of you. Suddenly, he swings 
  around and thrusts a perfectly aimed spiked fist 
  directly toward your cockpit. You grimace in 
  anticipation of the hit, which will blast shattered 
  glass into your face even as the Raptor’s combat 
  spikes rend your flesh. Yet the blow never comes. 
  You blink to find Morgon’s fist barely an inch from 
  your mech. Then he speaks, his voice loud and 
  clear from only a few feet away.
  “You’ve fought bravely. You no longer ride a horse. 
  You are a mech rider. You may keep your life!”
  With those words, he backs his mech away from 
  yours. When it’s at a safe distance, he climbs out 
  of the top and repeats his words at the top of his 
  lungs. “You no longer ride a horse. You are a mech 
  rider. You may keep your life!” A rousing cheer fills 
  the air, and the mechs watching the contest toss 
  their hands into the air.
  It seems you’ve passed this test.
  After the characters recover, they are invited 
  to leave the mech on foot and meet Phegrip 
  and Morgon in the center of the ring. Phe-
  grip congratulates them on their perfor-
  mance and invites them to stay the night and 
  drink with the clan.
  Morgon brings the starshard with him. 
  It glows as it gets closer to the characters’ 
  starshard. When Phegrip is done, Morgon 
  explains the history of the globes. The clan 
  knows much about their powers. Morgon 
  tells about the Clan’s history as monks who 
  shook loose their lawful ways and adapted 
  to life as nomadic mech raiders. Their 
  ancient monastic traditions are still followed 
  (though in rather modified ways), and those 
  legends speak of the starshards as reuniting all 
  of humankind when the time is right.
  Morgon and Phegrip do not question that 
  the PCs will give up their starshard; it’s simply 
  the way things are. They do not ask; they wait 
  until the PCs offer. The Irontooth place little 
  value in gold or baubles, except insofar as they 
  will buy mechs and mech parts, so they don’t 
  offer the PCs valuables. Yet they do offer to 
  accept the characters into their own Irontooth 
  clan (known as Clan Hawk). There is no formal 
  process; the characters are simply “in.” Make it 
  clear to the PCs that this is a big deal. Few peo-
  ple are offered this honor. The PCs’ honor in 
  pursuing the starshards, their valor in the mech 
  joust, and their rectitude in giving their star-
  shard to its “rightful owners” in the Irontooth 
  Clans lead Phegrip to this decision.
  Oh, and once the characters are “in,” 
  Phegrip happens to mention (as part of the 
  night’s drinking) that another meteorite 
  — with a visible vein of mensite — recently 
  fell not far from here. “We Irontooth have no 
  use for it,” he says of the mensite. “But we 
  have heard that your people value it. Perhaps 
  you could take some for yourself?” Phegrip 
  is happy to lead the PCs to the meteor, which 
  is about the size of a shed. With a little work, 
  the characters can mine close to 30 pounds 
  of mensite. At a retail price of 100 gp per 
  pound in any city-mech, that’s a healthy 
  return for the characters’ trouble.
  The Clans: As part of the revelry, the 
  PCs get to know the rest of the Irontooth 
  present for the jousts: 268 people on board 
  37 mechs. Five clans are represented: Clan 
  Hawk, North Star Clan, Lotus Clan, Clan 
  of the Middle Pass and Clan Bugbear. 
  Each clan has its own group of leaders, 
  who vary considerably in temperament; 
  for instance, Lotus Clan is calm and can 
  almost be imagined in their ancient role as 
  monks, while Clan Bugbear is as rowdy as 
  orcs at a pillaging. There are a wide variety 
  of NPCs present, and we leave it up to you 
  to develop them as it furthers your own 
  campaign continuity!
  XP Awards: Give the PCs 500 XP each for 
  the duel. Even those who didn’t directly expe-
  rience get the XP for comporting themselves 
  in a manner that didn’t get everyone killed!
  
  CONCLUSION
  N
  ow the characters drink and party with 
  the Irontooth! A night of revelry com-
  mences, as the Irontooth enjoy the bounty 
  of two starshards. The day continues with a 
  dozen more jousts, all of which are fought 
  honorably and fairly, with entertainment and 
  good intentions foremost in the combatants’ 
  minds. The characters have the chance to get 
  to know the various other members of the 
  clans, whom you should develop to create 
  future adventures as you see fit.
  Remember that even though the PCs are 
  now accepted by the Irontooth, they’re still 
  not likely to want to stay with the Irontooth. 
  The Irontooth don’t really partake in any 
  sort of planning or thinking ahead. It’s quite 
  possible that when the PCs wake up in the 
  morning, half the clans have already pulled 
  up stakes and moved on to parts unknown. 
  After all, now that the joust’s over, it’s time 
  to find something else to do! Furthermore, if 
  the PCs do stay with the clans, they’ll have to 
  make a living the way the clans do: raids and 
  protection rackets. Unless that’s the path 
  you want your campaign to take, don’t let the 
  PCs get too close to the Irontooth. Arrange 
  for a separation via the Irontooth leaving 
  early in the morning before the PCs awake, 
  or Stenian intervention, or something else 
  along those lines.
  FURTHER ADVENTURES 
  WITH THE 
  IRONTOOTH CLANS
  T
  he easiest way to separate the PCs from 
  the Irontooth is to give them a mission. 
  Here are some ideas:
  • As the night of revelry wears on, Morgon 
  reveals progressively more about the star-
  shards. It turns out that the Irontooth know 
  far more than they let on about these arti-
  facts. They even know the reputed location 
  of the third starshard: It is in the possession 
  of a dwarven king in Edge, the great trading 
  
  54
  CHPT.
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  «4»
  city hundreds of miles to the south. Phegrip 
  and Morgon offer assistance, training, and 
  a free mech to the PCs if they’ll retrieve 
  this next starshard.
  • One of the Irontooth mech pilots is 
  indeed a Stenian pilot who has been train-
  ing incognito with the Irontooth for a year 
  now. It’s time for him to leave, but he must 
  do so secretly, for he owes an honor debt 
  to one of his clansmen. For whatever rea-
  son, he wants to get out before repaying 
  that debt. He asks the PCs to sneak him 
  out, then help him create a cover story to 
  get readmitted to Nedderpik. On the way 
  back, however, he reveals another twist: 
  He has a child in another clan by way of an 
  Irontooth woman, and he wants to retrieve 
  the child before returning to Nedderpik. 
  Will the characters participate in what 
  might amount to a kidnapping?
  • Clan Hawk is running low on coal. They’ve 
  heard of a shipment being hauled through 
  Legion territory in the next few days. 
  They’re planning a raid — will the PCs 
  come along? Things start off well, but 
  then the PCs are separated from the rest 
  of the group in the midst of a Legion 
  assault. The Irontooth escape, but not the 
  PCs. Now they’re isolated in enemy terri-
  tory, cut off from support, and hunted by 
  the Legion.…
  LOOKING FOR HOME
  E
  ventually, the PCs should return to Ned-
  derpik. They still have a loaner mech, 
  after all, and Grunnar promised them citi-
  zenship. Finding Nedderpik isn’t necessarily 
  easy, though. Remember that city-mechs are 
  literally walking cities! They patrol a fixed 
  territory and are tall enough to stand out 
  against the horizon for miles around, but 
  prospective passengers may have to wait days 
  or weeks for their city-mech ride to make the 
  rounds. Refer to “Getting on Board,” Finding 
  Home, in Appendix: City-mech Nedderpik of 
  DragonMech.
  If you make the PCs wait for Nedderpik to 
  return, remember to check for the lunar rain 
  each night; that alone can create adventure. 
  This waiting period is a good time for ran-
  dom encounters or short interludes. Here 
  are a few ideas:
  • While walking across a safe-looking plain, 
  the PCs’ mech suddenly lurches forward. 
  Its right leg is sunk up to the thigh in a 
  worm tunnel dug right below the surface. 
  A worm farmer soon shows up to apolo-
  gize, and offers to have his worms haul the 
  PCs’ mech out of the hole — but only if 
  the PCs will do him a favor first. You see, 
  it seems that a marauding ankheg has been 
  preying on his worm herd lately.…
  • The PCs are stalked for several miles by a 
  furtive band of goblins. The goblins simply 
  won’t let up, but they won’t attack, either. 
  What are they waiting for? An overcast night, 
  that’s what! On a particularly dark, cloudy 
  night, they approach the mech under cover 
  of darkness. Once they’re up close, they 
  produce bolt cutters and prybars — or worse 
  yet, a rust bomb — and proceed to enter the 
  mech and try to slaughter the crew. If you 
  want to make this encounter really tough, 
  have the goblins’ tribal sorcerer send in an 
  invisible, silent scout to open up the mech’s 
  porthole before the main force approaches.
  • At some point, the PCs must stop 
  to refuel, stretch their legs 
  or find food. While out 
  of the mech, they are 
  suddenly accosted 
  by 
  dusk 
  devils, 
  whose frightening 
  speed lets them 
  close the distance 
  almost 
  instantly. 
  The PCs retreat to 
  their mech, and the 
  dusk devils follow. The 
  mech was turned off, and 
  it takes 1d6 rounds to start up. 
  Meanwhile, the dusk devils are clawing 
  at its hide.…
  • During a severe lunar rain when it seems 
  almost nothing could survive, the PCs 
  hear a knock on their porthole. It’s a band 
  of tortog traders, who are practically 
  immune to the lunar rain. They have a few 
  new items available for sale and would like 
  to know if the PCs are interested.
  
  BACK ON NEDDERPIK
  W
  hen the PCs finally make it back to 
  Nedderpik, they have no trouble 
  locating Grunnar. He asks for a full report 
  of their activities. Allow him a Sense Motive 
  check if the PCs try to lie in any way. If he 
  detects dishonesty, he’ll doubt everything the 
  characters say, and will assume they did not 
  complete their mission in a satisfactory man-
  ner. He’ll thank them for their service, take 
  back the mech and tell them they haven’t yet 
  earned citizenship.
  If he is persuaded the PCs did a good job, 
  however, his attitude is completely different. 
  He’s persuaded if he has no cause for a Sense 
  Motive check, or if they bring back convinc-
  ing proof of their battles. Any artifacts from 
  the lunar temple go a long way toward dispel-
  ling any doubts he may have.
  Once Grunnar is persuaded, he thanks 
  the characters for their heroic efforts in the 
  name of the Stenian Confederacy. In a formal 
  manner, he fills out some paperwork with 
  official-looking seals, asks them to sign it, 
  and then escorts them to the office 
  of an administrator. The 
  administrator 
  reviews 
  the paperwork, nods at 
  Grunnar’s notes, con-
  gratulates the char-
  acters, and pulls 
  out a citizenship 
  medallion for each 
  PC. The PCs are 
  warned that this is a 
  provisional citizenship, 
  subject to their good 
  behavior for the next year. 
  With that one caveat, there are 
  handshakes all around, and the PCs 
  are welcomed on board. As citizens, they are 
  now eligible to own “land” on the mech and 
  can proceed to “buy” a room if they’d like, or 
  they can simply stay at an inn. Grunnar gives 
  them a short tour of the city-mech, then they 
  are free to look for adventure wherever they 
  may find it!
  
  55
  apdx.
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  «1»
  NEW RULES
  attack bonus. This penalty lasts until your 
  next action. This penalty does not apply to 
  attacks against other creatures.
  Special: The benefits of this feat stack 
  with those that improve your ability to feint. 
  If you have Improved Feint, you can perform 
  an Insightful Step feint as a move action.
  A mech jockey of sufficient level to have 
  the Mech Fingers – Skill Transfer ability can 
  use this feat while in a mech.
  where you won’t be, effectively hampering 
  his ability to strike.
  Make a Bluff check to feint as usual but 
  specify that you are using your Insightful 
  Step feat. The usual penalties to feinting 
  against nonhumanoid or unintelligent 
  creatures apply. If your Bluff check result 
  exceeds your target’s Sense Motive check 
  result, he suffers a penalty to all attack and 
  damage rolls against you equal to your base 
  T
  his appendix presents the new game 
  mechanics, items, mechs and creatures 
  introduced in The Shardsfall Quest.
  
  NEW CHARACTER 
  OPTIONS: FEATS
  Insightful Step 
  (General)
  You can anticipate enemy attacks and react 
  accordingly.
  Prerequisites: Wis 13, Bluff 3 ranks.
  Benefit: You can make a feint action 
  to mislead an opponent so that he has dif-
  ficulty hitting you. Rather than using your 
  feint to catch your opponent off guard, you 
  instead use the feint to lead him to attack 
  TABLE 5-1: NEW FEATS
  General Feats  
  Prerequisites  
  Benefit 
  Insightful Step  
  Wis 13, Bluff 3 ranks  
  Feint to reduce opponent’s attack roll
  Piston Rage  
  Rage, steamborg level 1+  
  Add artificial part bonus to Strength while raging
  Prophetic Step  
  Insightful Step, Improved Feint  
  Feint to reduce multiple opponents’ attack rolls
  Tinker’s Touch  
  Knowledge (steam engines) 3 ranks  
  Inflict critical hits and sneak attacks against constructs 
  Metamagic Feats  
  Prerequisites  
  Benefit
  Power Spell  
  13 in appropriate ability  
  Add ability modifier to spell damage
  Spell Cleave  
  Power Spell  
  Extra spell attack after dropping target  
  
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  apdx.
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  «1»
  Piston Rage 
  (General)
  You have specially crafted your mechanical 
  body to maximize its strength potential.
  Prerequisites: Ability to rage, steamborg 
  level 1+.
  Benefit: When you rage, your artificial 
  part bonus is added to your temporary 
  Strength bonus. It does not matter whether 
  you have already used your artificial part 
  bonus to enhance your Strength or for another 
  purpose. For example, a multiclassed 1st-level 
  barbarian/4th-level steamborg normally gains 
  a +4 bonus to Strength when he rages. With 
  this feat, he gains a +6 bonus because of his 
  artificial part +2. This extra bonus wears off 
  when the rage ends, as normal.
  Power Spell 
  (Metamagic) 
  You tap a powerful inner strength to fuel 
  your spellcasting.
  Prerequisites: 13 or higher in appropri-
  ate spellcasting ability score (Int for wizards, 
  Cha for sorcerers, Wis for clerics, etc.).
  Benefit: When you cast a spell that deals 
  damage, you add your appropriate ability 
  modifier to the damage result. The damage is 
  added for each individual attack generated by 
  the spell. For example, a 5th-level wizard with 
  Int 16 casts magic missile. Normally, this would 
  produce three missiles that each does 1d4+1 
  damage. With this feat, each missile would do 
  1d4+4 damage. If the same wizard cast fireball, 
  the attack would do 5d6+3 damage.
  Special: The ability modifier is only 
  added to hit point damage inflicted directly 
  from the spell. It does not apply to duration, 
  range, area or other aspects of the spell, nor 
  does it apply to other kinds of damage or 
  secondary damaging effects. For example, 
  casting the poison spell with this feat would 
  have no added benefit.
  Prophetic Step 
  (General)
  You maneuver around your opponents with 
  uncanny ease, deftly predicting their attacks 
  and stepping aside before they materialize.
  Prerequisites: Improved Feint, Insight-
  ful Step.
  Benefit: You can make a feint action to 
  frustrate the attacks of multiple opponents. 
  Make a Bluff check to feint as usual, using a 
  move action due to your Improved Feint feat. 
  You can use this feint to mislead a number of 
  opponents equal to your Wisdom bonus, pro-
  vided they are within your line of sight. Each 
  such opponent makes a Sense Motive check 
  to oppose your feint, as usual. Those that 
  fail the opposed check suffer a penalty to 
  all attack and damage rolls against you equal 
  to your base attack bonus. This penalty takes 
  place immediately and lasts until your first 
  action in the following round.
  Special: A mech jockey of sufficient level 
  to have the Mech Fingers – Skill Transfer abil-
  ity can use this feat while in a mech.
  Spell Cleave 
  (Metamagic)
  You can strike down multiple foes with a 
  single spell.
  Prerequisite: Power Spell.
  Benefit: If you deal enough damage with a 
  spell in one round to make an opponent drop, 
  you can continue the momentum of the spell 
  toward another target. The spell must have 
  a single target (area-effect spells cannot be 
  used with this feat) and must have a casting 
  time of 1 round or less. When the opponent 
  drops, you can immediately extend the spe-
  cific spell effect that dropped him toward 
  another opponent within the maximum range 
  and other normal parameters of the spell. 
  (Spells that require touch attacks, such as 
  vampiric touch, cannot be used with this feat. 
  However, such spells, if already active, can be 
  used with the standard Cleave feat.) You can-
  not affect more than one extra target with this 
  feat each round. A cleaved spell uses up a spell 
  slot one level higher than the spell’s actual 
  level. You must declare that you are casting a 
  cleaved spell before you roll the dice.
  For example, imagine a 5th-level wizard 
  with Int 16 and this feat who casts magic mis-
  sile against an orc. The spell generates three 
  missiles, each of which does 1d4+4 damage. 
  The second missile kills the orc. The wizard 
  can then extend the effect of that second 
  missile to impact one other target, for anoth-
  er 1d4+4 damage. He can then continue the 
  original spell by aiming the third missile at 
  a target. Even if the third missile drops the 
  target, he cannot cleave with it, as he has 
  already used that effect for this round.
  Tinker’s Touch 
  (General)
  Your deep understanding of mechanical crea-
  tures allows you to identify their weak points.
  Prerequisites: 
  Knowledge 
  (steam 
  engines) 3 ranks.
  Benefit: You can make sneak attacks 
  against constructs, and inflict critical hits 
  on them, as if they were living creatures. 
  You never suffer a penalty to feint attempts 
  against constructs, even if they have nonhu-
  man anatomy or low Intelligence.
  Normal: Without this feat, the constructs 
  you attack are immune to critical hits and 
  sneak attacks. The one exception is mechs, 
  which are vulnerable to critical hits (but 
  not sneak attacks) due to their complex 
  construction. 
  NEW ITEM: 
  THE STARSHARDS
  A 
  powerful hierophant journeyed to 
  the moon 40,000 years ago. He was 
  the first terrestrial creature to walk there. 
  What he saw were the earliest stages of life, 
  a sort of life that was nothing like life on 
  the surface: puddles and oozes and massive 
  creatures without anatomical structure that 
  nonetheless thrived.
  This hierophant was called Athuraz, and 
  he was lawful good. His divination spells 
  quickly revealed that the moon held far 
  greater significance than just another place 
  to adventure. Its creatures were utterly 
  unable to communicate with either him 
  or, as he discovered, his god. They were 
  truly alien — and their alien intelligence was 
  coalescing into divine forces outside the ter-
  restrial pantheon.
  Athuraz lived as a mortal for 3,000 years, 
  finally rising to his own place on the outer 
  
  57
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  «1»
  completely covered with a cloak or other 
  solid surface, this ability is suppressed.
  • A starshard emits patterns of light that 
  mimic the constellations in the sky, both 
  past and present. Studying these patterns 
  grants insight into the future. A star-
  shard can be used as the focus for 
  any divination spell, and any 
  divination spell cast within 
  120 feet of the starshard is at 
  +1 caster level and receives 
  a +1 bonus to the Will DC to 
  resist its effects.
  • If held by a cleric who casts prayer 
  or commune, a starshard becomes attuned 
  to that character’s deity. From then on, 
  the presence of a starshard makes direct 
  communication with the deity much sim-
  pler. Followers of that deity have +1 caster 
  level when casting divine spells within 120 
  feet of a starshard. Furthermore, such cler-
  ics are much more likely to receive mes-
  sages, dreams or visions from their deity.
  • A starshard can cause itself and whoever 
  holds it to levitate up to 100 feet off the 
  ground. When not held, it usually rests at 
  a height of 6 to 10 feet.
  • The starshards are intelligent (Int 18, Wis 16, 
  Cha 18; ego 19). They can communicate via 
  empathy and telepathy, and have darkvision 
  out to 120 feet, as well as blindsense and 
  hearing. Their greater purpose is for them 
  to be reunited when the time is right so 
  that they might forestall conflict between 
  the divine powers. However, they are quite 
  patient and not given to dominating their 
  possessors, except for the occasional 
  subtle push. After all, they’re operating on 
  a god’s timetable: What’s the rush?
  Combining the Starshards
  The real power of the starshards becomes evi-
  dent when they are brought together. When 
  two or more starshards are aware of each other, 
  they will rise into the sky together, glowing 
  brightly, and start rotating around each other 
  like planets in a constellation. When this hap-
  pens, their powers are increased by +1 for each 
  additional starshard present. For example, two 
  starshards together grant a +2 bonus to the Will 
  save to resist divination spells and +2 caster 
  planes as a minor demigod. All the while, his 
  experience on the moon remained with him. 
  As a demigod, he watched the formation of 
  the young lunar gods. With prescient vision, 
  he foresaw that they would eventually clash 
  with the creatures of earth. He did not know 
  when or how, but he knew it was inevitable. 
  To prevent bloodshed should the event occur 
  long after his influence had passed, Athuraz 
  created the starshards. He imbued them with 
  the fullness of his essence, nearly killing 
  himself in the process. As a result, the star-
  shards are extremely powerful, and Athuraz’s 
  inert husk now floats through the Astral 
  Plane in a zombielike state, its spark of divin-
  ity barely detectable.
  Eight starshards exist. Athuraz hid three on 
  the moon and five on Highpoint’s surface. 
  The starshards have a number of minor powers, 
  which have been experienced by countless 
  adventurers who have encountered the items 
  over the millennia. Yet they are actually far, far 
  more powerful than anyone has ever realized. 
  Only when the time is right — as it now is 
  — will their full powers finally emerge.
  To ensure the starshards would be found 
  when their time came about, Athuraz had 
  previously planted their story in countless 
  legends and myths of innumerable terres-
  trial and lunar cultures. Now, 35,000 years 
  later, the clash between the lunar and ter-
  restrial gods is reaching its climax. Some of 
  the legends of the starshards survived. They are 
  surfacing once again, and not just among the 
  Irontooth Clans. Even some lunar creatures 
  are interested in the artifacts. Few of those 
  who pursue them realize that their quest will 
  actually bring peace to the world. The legends 
  that motivate them are those that speak of the 
  starshard’s great powers, which they hope to 
  use for selfish purposes — but no legend spe-
  cifically states what those great powers are. 
  Little do their pursuers know they are divine 
  tools in a cosmic quest for peace.
  Powers of the Starshards
  There are eight starshards. Each has the fol-
  lowing properties:
  • A starshard maintains a constant light level 
  within a 50-foot radius, as described in the 
  description of Area 12 in Episode One. If 
  level to divination spells and all spells of the 
  deities of their respective casters.
  Furthermore, combining the starshards 
  sets the following events into action:
  • Two, three, or four starshards: The gods 
  to which the starshards are attuned 
  become aware of the fact that they 
  can communicate directly via 
  the starshards.
  •  Five or six starshards: Within 
  each pantheon, all gods of align-
  ments to which the starshards are 
  attuned can now communicate 
  directly. The powers of those of 
  similar alignment are amplified such that 
  each god is as powerful as the sum total of 
  all gods of that alignment before the star-
  shards were brought together.
  • Seven starshards: All gods within each 
  pantheon can now communicate directly, 
  and all gods of similar alignment can com-
  municate across pantheons. All gods of 
  each pantheon are rendered as powerful 
  as the sum total of all gods in that pan-
  theon before the starshards were brought 
  together.
  • All eight starshards: The power of all gods 
  within all pantheons represented by the 
  starshards is equalized. None is stronger 
  than any other, and none is weaker. They 
  are no longer tied to the energies of their 
  followers, or at least those energies now 
  benefit all equally, effectively rendering 
  them irrelevant.
  The result of combining all eight starshards 
  is a situation in which divine power is spread 
  equally. The gods can either choose to 
  destroy themselves utterly through endless 
  war or make perpetual peace. The presence 
  of weaker gods who are now super-powerful 
  creates a core of defenders for the starshards, 
  for these gods have the most to lose if the 
  starshards are separated. Finally, the joining 
  of the starshards has another effect, one that 
  Athuraz foresaw long ago: Athuraz himself 
  will be revived and raised to the same power 
  level of all other deities, to whom he can 
  speak in the name of peace.
  Such are the starshards.
  Strong divination; CL 25th; Weight 3 lb.
  
  58
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  #
  «1»
  NEW MECHS
  T
  his section provides the stats for two 
  new mechs used in the adventure.
  
  MAGWAGON 
  (FREIGHT MODEL) 
  Size: Colossal
  Power Source: Steam
  Payload Units: 16
  Height: 35 ft.
  Space/Reach: 15 ft./15 ft.
  Crew: 4 (weapons: 2)
  Firing Ports: 12
  Hit Dice: 48
  Hit Points: 264
  Critical Thresholds: Green, Yellow 132, 
  Orange 66, Red 26
  Base Initiative: –1
  Speed: 50 ft. (6 mph)
  Maneuverability: Average
  AC: 1 (–1 Dex, –8 size)
  Hardness: 9 (stone)
  Base Melee Attack: +2
  Base Ranged Attack: –1
  Unarmed Damage: 1d12+10
  Trample: largest Large; safe Medi-
  um; damage 4d6
  Saves: Fort 0, Ref –1, Will +0
  Abilities: Str 30, Dex 8, Con –, 
  Int –, Wis –, Cha –
  Mechcraft DC: 39
  Base Planning Time: 78 days
  Base Cost: 2,752 gp
  Total Cost: 9,128 gp
  Labor Requirements: 3,840 
  man-hours
  Construction Time: 16 days 
  (30 avg. laborers plus 3 overseers)
  Special: Heavy payload
  Payload Usage 
  PU  
  Use 
  4  
  Workspace for crew
  8  
  Storage/passenger space 
    
  (heavy payload = up to 16,000 pounds)
  4  
  Onboard weaponry
  128  
  Total
  The Magwagon is an old mech model. It 
  was originally built as a stopgap solution. 
  The Stenians needed to develop a mech 
  fleet quickly to extend their influ-
  ence, so they constructed 
  large, 
  intimidating 
  mechs with readily avail-
  able materials. The Mag-
  wagon, with its stone 
  armor and impressive 
  physique, was one such 
  creation. As more advanced 
  mechs were later built, many 
  Magwagons were retrofitted 
  to freight duty. The above pro-
  file is for a Magwagon freighter, 
  which resembles an awkward dump 
  truck on legs.
  The pilot rides in the head, which has 
  room for two Medium creatures. The boiler 
  and coal dump are located in the huge cargo 
  hold, which can be used for passengers or 
  loads of even the heaviest metals. The left 
  arm holds the mech’s only weapon, a Huge 
  steam cannon.
  RAPTOR 
  Size: Large
  Power Source: Clockwork
  Payload Units: 3
  Height: 10 ft.
  Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
  Crew: 1 (weapons: 1)
  Firing Ports: 3
  Hit Dice: 9
  Hit Points: 50
  Critical Thresholds: 
  Green, Yellow 25, 
  Orange 12, Red 5
  Base Initiative: +2
  Speed: 60 ft. (7 
  mph) (70 ft./8 mph 
  when piloted by Irontooth with 
  Speed Freak feat)
  Maneuverability: Perfect
  AC: 11 (+2 Dex, –1 size)
  Hardness: 12 (steel)
  Base Melee Attack: +3
  Base Ranged Attack: +4
  Unarmed Damage: 2d6+4
  
  59
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  «1»
  Trample: largest Tiny; safe Tiny; damage 1d6
  Saves: Fort –2, Ref +4, Will +0
  Abilities: Str 18, Dex 18, Con –, 
  Int –, Wis –, Cha –
  Mechcraft DC: 40
  Base Planning Time: 80 days
  Base Cost: 1,021 gp
  Total Cost: 5,677 gp
  Labor Requirements: 960 man-hours
  Construction Time: 20 days 
  (6 avg. laborers)
  Special: Combat spikes, fast legs, steady feet
  Note: Base trip bonus is +12 (+4 for perfect 
  maneuverability, +4 for steady feet, +4 
  for size Large)
  Payload Usage 
  PU  
  Use 
  1  
  Pilot
  2  
  Onboard weaponry
  3  
  Total
  The Raptor is a fast, nimble mech devel-
  oped by the Irontooth Clans for reconnais-
  sance purposes. Only 10 feet tall, it is a pip-
  squeak in the world of mechs but a frightening 
  opponent in the world of men. Its (relatively) 
  small size allows it to sneak about in a way 
  larger mechs can’t. The steel armor still pro-
  tects the pilot securely, and the fast legs allow 
  him to outrun many foes. The steady feet let 
  him trip those he can’t outrun, and he can fol-
  low that up with a devastating unarmed attack, 
  courtesy of the mech’s razor-sharp combat 
  spikes. For ranged combat, the Raptor carries 
  a steam gun, but this weapon is rarely used; 
  Irontooth pilots prefer close combat in which 
  they can use their mech fu to its best advan-
  tage, so the Raptor usually closes into melee 
  as quickly as possible.
  For most of history, ferrovores were minor 
  annoyances, but in the age of mechs they 
  have become catastrophically dangerous. 
  Possessing appetites far greater than those 
  of crumble bugs and a devastating breath 
  weapon, most ferrovores can disable a mech 
  in mere seconds. Because a ferrovore that 
  mates with a normal creature of its species is 
  capable of passing on its ferrovorous genes, 
  the creatures are hunted with a vengeance 
  lest they reproduce en masse.
  Sample Ferrovore
  This example uses a giant fire beetle 
  advanced to 3 HD as the base creature.
  Ferrovore Giant Fire Beetle, 
  Advanced
   Small Vermin (ferrovore)
  Hit Dice: 3d8 (13 hp)
  Initiative: +0
  Speed: 30 ft.
  AC: 16 (+1 size, +5 natural), touch 11, 
  flat-footed 16
  BAB/Grapple: +2/–2
  Attack: Bite +3 melee (1d4 plus rust)
  Full Attack: Bite +3 melee (1d4 plus rust)
  Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
  Special Attacks: Breath weapon (DC 11)
  Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., 
  vermin traits, detect metal, corrosive 
  skin (DC 11)
  Saves: Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +1
  Abilities: Str 10, Dex 11, Con 11, 
  Int –, Wis 10, Cha 7
  Skills: —
  Feats: —
  Environment: Gear forests
  Organization: Cluster (2–5) or colony 
  (6–11)
  Challenge Rating: 1
  Treasure: None
  Alignment: Always neutral
  Advancement:  —
  Level Adjustment: — 
  This small, red-tinted beetle smells strongly of 
  metal. A gland above each eye produces a red glow 
  that seems distinctly rust-colored.
  TABLE 5-2: ONBOARD WEAPONS 
  Location 
  Arc of Fire 
  Weapon (damage, range in ft., other) 
  PU 
  Crew
  Magwagon Onboard Weapons 
  Left arm  
  180˚ forward  
  Huge steam cannon (2d10, 1,000)  
  4  
  2
  Total    
   
   
  4  
  2
  Raptor Onboard Weapons 
  Left arm 
  180˚ forward  
  Large steam gun (1d10, 200)  
  2  
  1
  Total   2 1 
   
   
  6 
  2
  A Raptor looks like a 10-foot-tall bird of 
  prey. Its cockpit is stylized to resemble a 
  hooked beak, and its legs feature gigantic 
  claws (which are more than just decorative 
  elements). The entire mech is layered in 
  razor-sharp steel feathers, which act as com-
  bat spikes in close combat.
  NEW CREATURES
  T
  his section details four new creatures 
  encountered in the adventure.
  
  FERROVORE
  A 
  ferrovore is a normal creature that 
  has developed a taste for metal. Its 
  corrosive powers and hunger for all things 
  metallic make even the weakest ferrovores a 
  monumental challenge, for they can reduce 
  an adventurer’s gear to rust before he is even 
  within striking range. Ferrovores resemble 
  normal specimens of their type, but smell 
  strongly of metal and have a faint rust-col-
  ored tinge to their outward appearance.
  Ferrovores result from infestation by a 
  rare fungus that corrodes metal on contact. 
  Living creatures that consume this fungus 
  suffer a horribly painful infection as the 
  fungus interacts with their digestive system. 
  Most die as a result, but a few survive with 
  completely altered physiology. From then 
  on, they can survive only by consuming 
  metal. They are the ferrovores.
  
  60
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  «1»
  Combat
  This giant fire beetle has an insatiable hunger 
  for metal. The gear forests it inhabits are a 
  veritable smorgasbord of potential meals, so 
  the creature can afford to be picky. It seeks 
  out the cleanest sources it can find, nibbling 
  for hours on end until it is satisfied. The clean-
  est metals are often those that are magically 
  enchanted in some way, enabling machines to 
  run without messy oils or grease.
  Breath Weapon (Ex): Rusting breath, line, 
  30 feet, every 1d4+1 rounds. Normal metal 
  objects are destroyed instantly; metal magic 
  items receive a Reflex save (DC 11) to avoid 
  destruction. Objects made of wood, stone, 
  gems and other materials are not 
  affected. Metal objects securely 
  contained within sacks, back-
  packs, pouches and wooden 
  chests are not affected, 
  although the mecha-
  nisms that hold the 
  containers 
  shut 
  (such as hinges, 
  buckles 
  or 
  locks) 
  may 
  be destroyed, 
  exposing 
  the 
  metal items to 
  a 
  subsequent 
  attack.
  D e t e c t 
  Metal (Ex): The 
  ferrovorous giant fire 
  beetle can smell any metal 
  within 90 feet.
  Corrosive Skin (Ex): Any nonmagi-
  cal metallic object or weapon that comes into 
  contact with the ferrovorous beetle is instantly 
  dissolved to rust, per its breath weapon attack 
  above. Magic items receive a Reflex save to 
  avoid being destroyed. The metal weapon is 
  still capable of doing damage before being 
  disintegrated by the creature’s skin.
  Creating a Ferrovore
  “Ferrovore” is an acquired template that can 
  be added to any animal, fey, giant, humanoid, 
  magical beast, monstrous humanoid, ooze 
  or vermin (hereafter referred to as the base 
  creature). After assuming the template, the 
  base creature’s type does not change. How-
  ever, “ferrovore” is added to the creature’s 
  subtype. A ferrovore has all the base crea-
  ture’s statistics and special abilities except 
  as noted here.
  Attacks: The attacks remain the same as 
  the base creature. However, any attack that 
  involves physical contact with the target 
  inflicts corrosive damage per the ferrovore’s 
  corrosive skin ability (see below) in addition 
  to normal damage.
  Special Attacks: The ferrovore has all 
  the special attacks of the base creature, and 
  it gains the following:
  Breath Weapon (Ex): The fer-
  rovore can exhale a rusting 
  mist (line, 30 feet, every 1d4+1 
  rounds). Any metallic object 
  fully enveloped by the breath 
  weapon (which looks like 
  a cloud of red hissing 
  steam) 
  corrodes 
  and becomes 
  u s e l e s s 
  immediately. 
  O b j e c t s 
  partially cov-
  ered by the 
  breath 
  weapon 
  see the covered area 
  disintegrate into rust. 
  The size of the object in 
  question does not alter the 
  speed of this effect. Nonmagi-
  cal metal items receive no save. 
  Magic items receive a Reflex save 
  (DC equals 10 + half the ferrovore’s 
  HD + the ferrovore’s Constitution modi-
  fier). Objects made of wood, stone, gems 
  and other materials are not affected by the 
  breath weapon.
  Special Qualities: The ferrovore has all 
  the special qualities of the base creature and 
  gains the following:
  Detect Metal (Ex): A ferrovore can smell the 
  presence of any metal object within 90 feet. 
  Corrosive Skin (Ex): Any nonmagical metal-
  lic object or weapon that comes into contact 
  with a ferrovore is instantly dissolved to rust, 
  per its breath weapon attack above. Magic 
  items receive a Reflex save to avoid being 
  
  61
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  #
  «1»
  destroyed. The metal weapon is still capable 
  of doing damage before disintegrating. 
  A secondary implication of this ability is 
  that any natural attack of the base creature that 
  touches an enemy also inflicts its corrosive skin 
  quality. For example, if a ferrovore succeeds in 
  a bite attack against an enemy in plate mail, the 
  plate mail is instantly destroyed.
  Challenge Rating: Same as base creature 
  +1, if base creature is 6 HD or less; as base 
  creature +2, if base creature is 7 HD or more.
  
  LUNAR ELEMENTAL 
  Lunar Elemental, Small
  Small Elemental (Lunar)
  Hit Dice: 2d8+8 (17 hp)
  Initiative: +1
  Speed: 40 ft.
  Armor Class: 16 (+1 size, +1 
  Dex, +4 natural), touch 
  12, flat-footed 15
  BAB/Grapple: +1/–3
  Attack: Slam +2 
  melee (1d4)
  Full Attack: Slam +2 
  melee (1d4)
  Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
  Special Attacks: Lunar 
  mastery, adaptive
  Special Qualities: Lunar 
  traits, entropic skin (DC 
  15), blindsense
  Saves: Fort +4, Ref 
  +1, Will +7
  Abilities: Str 10, 
  Dex 12, Con 18, 
  Int 4, Wis 18, Cha 11
  Skills: Listen +7, Spot +6
  Feats: —
  Environment: Lunar or meteors
  Organization: Solitary
  Challenge Rating: 1
  Treasure: None
  Alignment: Usually neutral
  Advancement: 3 HD (Small)
  Level Adjustment: —
  Lunar Elemental, Medium
  Medium Elemental (Lunar)
  Hit Dice: 4d8+20 (38 hp)
  Initiative: +1
  Speed: 40 ft.
  Armor Class: 17 (+1 Dex, +6 natural), 
  touch 11, flat-footed 16
  BAB/Grapple: +3/+5
  Attack: Slam +5 melee (1d6+2)
  Full Attack: Slam +5 melee (1d6+2)
  Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
  Special Attacks: Lunar mastery, adaptive
  Special Qualities: Lunar traits, entropic 
  skin (DC 17), blindsense
  Saves: Fort +6, Ref +2, Will +9
  Abilities: Str 14, Dex 12, Con 20, 
  Int 4, Wis 20, Cha 11
  Skills: Listen +9, Spot +8
  Feats: —
  Environment: Lunar or mete-
  ors
  Organization: Solitary
  Challenge Rating: 3
  Treasure: None
  Alignment: Usually neutral
  Advancement: 5–7 HD 
  (Medium)
  Level Adjustment: —
  Lunar Elemental, 
  Large
  Large Elemental 
  (Lunar)
  Hit Dice: 8d8+48 (84 hp)
  Initiative: +1
  Speed: 40 ft.
  Armor Class: 18 (–1 size, +1 Dex, +8 
  natural), touch 11, flat-footed 18
  BAB/Grapple: +6/+14
  Attack: Slam +9 melee (2d6+4)
  Full Attack: 2 slams +9 melee (2d6+4)
  Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft.
  Special Attacks: Lunar mastery, adaptive
  Special Qualities: Lunar traits, entropic 
  skin (DC 20), blindsense
  Saves: Fort +8, Ref +3, Will +12
  Abilities: Str 18, Dex 12, Con 22, 
  Int 4, Wis 22, Cha 11
  Skills: Listen +12, Spot +11
  Feats: —
  Environment: Lunar or meteors
  Organization: Solitary
  Challenge Rating: 5
  Treasure: None
  
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  «1»
  Alignment: Usually neutral
  Advancement: 9–15 HD (Large)
  Level Adjustment: —
  This strange, putty-like mass of flesh seems 
  unable to stand still. Its body pulses and undu-
  lates before you, slowly changing shape into a 
  semi-humanoid state. The yellowish material that 
  composes it has an oily sheen, and you can’t help 
  but think you catch reflections of yourself in it.
  Description
  Lunar elementals are embodiments of 
  raw entropy. Their bodies are constantly 
  in motion, undulating and even mutating 
  before the eyes. They cannot alter their 
  mass, but their shape seems to change 
  almost 
  subconsciously; 
  they 
  generally 
  assume the rough shape of whatever creature 
  stands before them. Their natural state, if 
  it can be called that, is a shapeless mass of 
  putty, sometimes flat like a pool of fluid, 
  other times bulky like a pile of clay.
  Scholars are divided as to what composes 
  the body of a lunar elemental. The material 
  is spongy but durable. It has been likened 
  to a “solid ooze.” Regardless of the lunar 
  elemental’s shape, it retains its opalescent 
  yellowish color.
  The most unusual part of a lunar ele-
  mental’s anatomy is the haunting images 
  reflected on its surface. Like the entropy it 
  represents, the elemental reflects all pos-
  sibilities, in a random and chaotic fashion. 
  Those who stare at its skin catch glimpses 
  of what appears to be them, but at different 
  ages, in strange surroundings. Sometimes 
  the image is something that really happened 
  or something that is truly destined to hap-
  pen, but most often is an alternate possibil-
  ity, a tangent of entropic fate that will never 
  connect to the material plane.
  Lunar elementals appear to speak an 
  unidentified lunar language. They attack ter-
  restrial creatures on sight. They have been 
  seen cooperating with other lunar creatures, 
  although it is unknown whether this is volun-
  tary or coerced. Lunar elementals show no 
  signs of being extraplanar and do not appear 
  to hail from another plane; nonetheless, 
  they are distinctively elemental in nature. 
  Some sages theorize that the moon may 
  begins to shift toward the new opponent.
  For example, a lunar elemental is fight-
  ing two steamborgs. For the first round, the 
  lunar elemental studies one of them and 
  begins to adapt, gaining a +1 insight bonus 
  to attacks and AC against that steamborg. 
  On the second round, the lunar elemental 
  attacks that opponent (receiving a +1 bonus 
  on the attack roll). The attack is successful, 
  which increases the lunar elemental’s insight 
  bonus to +2. On the third round, the lunar 
  elemental makes another attack (this time at 
  +2), but it misses. Its bonus remains at +2 
  and does not increase. On the fourth round, 
  the lunar elemental decides to target the 
  other steamborg. It attacks (with no insight 
  bonus against this target) and causes dam-
  age. It now has a +0 insight bonus against 
  the first steamborg and a +1 bonus against 
  the second.
  Lunar Traits (Ex): Lunar creatures suf-
  fer half damage from elemental attacks 
  (air, earth, fire or water), or no damage on 
  a successful save. They receive a +10 bonus 
  to saves against mind-affecting effects 
  (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns 
  and morale effects), mind blasts and psionic 
  attacks, and thought detection due to alien 
  psychology.
  Entropic Skin (Su): Any creature glanc-
  ing at a lunar elemental sees the nature of 
  change in its skin. Flickering glimpses of 
  potential pasts and haunting futures distract 
  the viewer. Anyone attacking or even staring 
  at a lunar elemental must make a Will save 
  (at the DC indicated in the creature’s stats) 
  each round or be dazzled (–1 to attack rolls 
  and Search and Spot checks). This condition 
  lasts only until the creature’s next turn, but 
  a new check must be rolled each round. The 
  save DC is Wisdom-based.
  NANITE 
  Nanite
  Tiny Vermin (Lunar)
  Hit Dice: 1/2d8 (2 hp)
  Initiative: +2
  Speed: 30 ft.
  AC: 14 (+2 size, +2 Dex), touch 14,
  flat-footed 12
  provide access to a different set of planes, 
  or alternate versions of the known planes, 
  and perhaps the plane of lunar energy is one 
  such place.
  Combat
  A lunar elemental moves in fits and starts. 
  Sometimes it is slow and ponderous; other 
  times it is nimble and quick. Its form slowly 
  adapts to that of the creature it is fighting, 
  and it also acquires powers similar to its 
  enemy. All the while, images of its opponent 
  flash across its surface, distracting them and 
  in some cases causing emotional reactions.
  Lunar Mastery (Ex): The lunar elemental 
  receives a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls 
  as long as it and its target are in contact with 
  the moon or fragments of the moon (includ-
  ing meteorites that have fallen to earth). If 
  the elemental’s target is not in contact with 
  the moon (including via flight or any other 
  method that takes its feet off the surface), 
  it does not receive this bonus. If both the 
  elemental and its target are not in contact 
  with the moon, the lunar elemental receives a 
  –1 penalty to attack and damage rolls.
  Adaptive (Su): The lunar elemental 
  slowly adapts to the shape of one opponent. 
  It does not turn into an exact mimic, and 
  there’s no chance that anyone will confuse 
  the elemental with the target. At best, it 
  resembles a rough likeness carved from 
  clay. As the elemental adapts, however, it 
  slowly intuits the nature of its opponent and 
  becomes better equipped to combat it.
  Each round it is not in combat, the lunar 
  elemental may choose to use a standard 
  action to adapt. When in combat, it does 
  not need to use an action if it damages the 
  opponent with a normal melee attack; strik-
  ing an enemy automatically induces adapta-
  tion. For each round of adaptation, the lunar 
  elemental gains a +1 insight bonus to attack 
  rolls and armor class against that one target, 
  to a maximum of +10. Each additional bonus 
  makes the elemental’s physical form change, 
  too, bringing it closer and closer to the form 
  of the target creature. A lunar elemental that 
  strikes a new opponent reverts to a +1 bonus 
  against that new opponent and no bonus 
  against the original target, and its form 
  
  63
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  «1»
  BAB/Grapple: +0/–11
  Attack: Bite +2 melee (1d3–3 plus 1 acid)
  Full Attack: Bite +2 melee (1d3–3 plus 1 acid)
  Space/Reach: 2-1/2 ft./0 ft.
  Special Attacks: Death burst
  Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., lunar 
  traits, vermin traits
  Saves: Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +0
  Abilities: Str 5, Dex 14, Con 10, 
  Int –, Wis 10, Cha 6
  Skills: Climb +6
  Feats: Weapon Finesse
  Environment: Lunar or meteors
  Organization: Solitary, pack (2–20),
   or swarm
  Challenge Rating: 1/4
  Treasure: None
  Alignment: Always 
  neutral
  Advancement: –
  Level Adjustment: –
  Nanite Swarm
  Tiny Vermin 
  (Lunar, Swarm)
  Hit Dice: 6d8 (27 hp)
  Initiative: +2
  Speed: 30 ft.
  AC: 14 (+2 size, +2 Dex), 
  touch 14, flat-footed 12
  BAB/Grapple: +4/–
  Attack: Swarm (2d6 plus 
  1d4 acid)
  Full Attack: Swarm (2d6 
  plus 1d4 acid)
  Space/Reach: 20 ft./0 ft.
  Special Attacks: 
  Acid bursts
  Special Qualities: Darkvision 
  60 ft., damage reduction 5/piercing 
  or slashing, lunar traits, vermin traits, 
  swarm traits
  Saves: Fort +5, Ref +4, Will +0
  Abilities: Str 7, Dex 14, Con 10, 
  Int –, Wis 10, Cha 6
  Skills: Climb +6, Listen +2, Spot +2
  Feats: Alertness, Weapon Finesse
  Environment: Lunar or meteors
  Organization: Solitary
  Challenge Rating: 3
  Treasure: None
  Alignment: Always neutral
  Advancement: –
  Level Adjustment: – 
  This little creature looks like a five-legged spider 
  whose carapace can barely contain its bulk. It can’t 
  weigh more than five pounds, but it looks grossly 
  overweight for a creature with a frame its size.
  Description
  Nanites are tiny bug-like creatures that are 
  the lunar equivalent of rats. Weighing no 
  more than five pounds each, they are more 
  pest than threat — except on the rare occa-
  sions when they gather in swarms, when they 
  can be deadly. When attacked, they have a 
  disgusting tendency to burst, showering the 
  surrounding area with their caustic blood.
  Combat
  Nanites are pests and scavengers. They 
  attack when frightened, hungry 
  or threatened. Their acidic 
  blood inflicts an extra point 
  of damage when they 
  bite and also makes 
  possible their death 
  burst attack.
  Death Burst 
  (Ex): Nanites 
  have 
  acidic 
  blood. 
  Their 
  bodies explode 
  when they die, 
  showering 
  the 
  surrounding area 
  with blood. A 
  nanite reduced to 
  –1 hit points or lower 
  immediately explodes. 
  All creatures within 5 feet 
  must make a Reflex save (DC 
  10) or take 1 point of acid damage. Those 
  who make their save take no damage.
  Acid Bursts (Ex): Combat against a 
  swarm of nanites results in a constant shower 
  of caustic blood. Each time the swarm takes 
  damage, it inflicts 1 point of acid damage on 
  all creatures within 10 feet. A Reflex save 
  (DC 10) avoids damage.
  
  64
  apdx.
  #
  «1»
  SPAWN OF SEROFICITACIT 
  Young Spawn
  Medium Ooze (Lunar)
  Hit Dice: 3d10+15 (31 hp)
  Initiative: –5
  Speed: 10 ft.
  AC: 7 (–5 Dex, +2 natural), touch 5, flat-
  footed 7
  BAB/Grapple: +2/+6
  Attack: Slam +6 melee (1d4+4 plus 
  change)
  Full Attack: Slam +6 melee (1d4+4 
  plus change)
  Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft.
  Special Attacks: Change
  Special Qualities: Blind-
  sight 40 ft., moon lore, 
  ooze traits, lunar traits
  Saves: Fort +6, Ref -4, 
  Will +5
  Skills: Bluff +6, Knowledge 
  (lunar) +20, Knowledge 
  (the planes) +10, Knowl-
  edge (religion) +10, Listen 
  +10, Spot +10
  Feats: Insightful Step, Serofic-
  itacit’s Changes
  Environment: Lunar or meteor
  Organization: Solitary or coven 
  (2–7), often found with lunar 
  skinstealers
  Challenge Rating: 3
  Treasure: None
  Alignment: Always neutral
  Advancement: 4–6 HD (Medium); 7–12 
  HD (Large)
  Level Adjustment: —
  Elder Spawn
  Large Ooze (Lunar)
  Hit Dice: 7d10+49 (87 hp)
  Initiative: –5
  Speed: 10 ft.
  AC: 8 (–1 size, –5 Dex, +4 natural), touch 4, 
  flat-footed 8
  BAB/Grapple: +5/+17
  Attack: Slam +12 melee (1d6+8 plus change)
  Full Attack: Slam +12 melee 
  (1d6+8 plus change)
  Space/Reach: 15 ft./10 ft. 
  Special Attacks: Change
  Special Qualities: Blindsight 40 ft., moon 
  lore, ooze traits, lunar traits
  Saves: Fort +9, Ref -3, Will +13
  Abilities: Str 26, Dex 1, Con 24, Int 22, Wis 
  22, Cha 1
  Skills: Bluff +10, Knowledge (arcana) +16, 
  Knowledge (lunar) +26, Knowledge (the 
  planes) +16, Knowledge (religion) +16, 
  Listen +16, Spot +16
  Feats: Insightful Step, Prophetic Step, 
  Seroficitacit’s Changes
  Environment: Lunar or meteor
  Organization: Solitary or 
  coven (2–7), often found 
  with lunar skinstealers
  Challenge Rating: 5
  Treasure: None
  Alignment: Always 
  neutral
  Advancement: 8–12 HD 
  (Large)
  Level Adjustment: — 
  This shapeless mass of 
  gray protoplasm lies flat 
  before you. Small buds and 
  tentacles sprout occasionally 
  from its surface before dissi-
  pating back into the goo.
  Description
  The spawn of Seroficitac-
  it is a creature created by 
  the lunar god of change. 
  One or more spawns are 
  bestowed upon each temple 
  of Seroficitacit, where they serve 
  as guardians and guides. Unlike most 
  oozes, a spawn is quite intelligent. It is 
  an oracle of sorts, channeling the direct will 
  of its creator and advising its worshippers 
  appropriately, and serves as a vast storehouse 
  of knowledge on lunar history.
  A spawn appears as a shapeless mass of 
  gray or ochre protoplasm, generally a flat 
  puddle no more than one foot deep. It 
  is an ooze in the purest form: a creature 
  with no limits to its possibilities. Spawns 
  do not speak in any terrestrial manner, but 
  are nonetheless capable of communicating 
  
  65
  apdx.
  #
  «1»
  directly with Seroficitacit’s worshippers, 
  primarily through dreams and enigmatic 
  thoughts that are conveyed to those who 
  meditate in their presence.
  As a temple grows, more spawns are 
  formed. Those already present grow in size, 
  seemingly deriving their sustenance from 
  the strength of the temple’s worship. When 
  they reach sufficient size, they split off por-
  tions, forming younger spawns from their 
  own bodies.
  Unfortunately for terrestrial creatures, 
  the spawns have no way to communicate with 
  them. It’s not that much of a loss, however; 
  a spawn views all terrestrial creatures as the 
  next stage in the world’s process of change 
  and is all too happy to destroy them to fulfill 
  Seroficitacit’s next phase of change.
  Combat
  A spawn rarely leaves the basin in which it is 
  kept within a temple of Seroficitacit. When 
  it senses the approach of terrestrial crea-
  tures, it readily attacks with its slam attacks, 
  which impart not just a great deal of force, 
  but the whim of Seroficitacit as well.
  Although spawns cover a wide area, they 
  resemble puddles or pools rather than solid 
  masses. Their size characteristics are based 
  on weight rather than area.
  Change (Su): Anyone hit by a spawn’s 
  slam attack must make a Fortitude save (DC 
  10) or see their form mutated by the chan-
  neled will of Seroficitacit. Roll 1d20 on Table 
  5-3 to determine the effect of the change. 
  The change takes place instantaneously and 
  is a permanent physiological change; it can-
  not be undone with remove curse or the like, 
  though wish or miracle may undo the change.
  A character’s minimum speed is 5 ft. 
  Note that the DC for this 
  check is always 10. It is a 
  divine power not influ-
  enced by the spawn’s 
  size 
  or 
  personal 
  capabilities.
  Moon 
  Lore 
  (Ex): A spawn of 
  Seroficitacit 
  is 
  imbued by its creator 
  with a vast storehouse 
  of 
  knowledge 
  about 
  the moon. This knowledge 
  only grows as it ages. A spawn 
  receives a +10 bonus to all checks relating 
  to lunar knowledge, including Knowledge 
  (lunar) and other Knowledge skill checks 
  involving the moon or its history, creatures 
  or religions.
  Ooze Traits (Ex): Unlike normal oozes, a 
  spawn is affected by mind-affecting affects, 
  although it has the lunar creature’s normal 
  resistance to such effects. It is still blind, 
  with immunity to gaze attacks, visual effects, 
  illusions and other attack forms that rely on 
  sight. It is immune to poison, sleep effects, 
  paralysis, polymorph and stunning, and not 
  subject to critical hits or flanking.
  Lunar Traits (Ex): Lunar creatures suf-
  fer half damage from elemental attacks (air, 
  earth, fire or water), or no damage on a 
  successful save. They receive a +10 bonus to 
  saves against mind-affecting effects (charms, 
  compulsions, phantasms, patterns and morale 
  effects), mind blasts and psionic 
  attacks, and thought detection 
  due to alien psychology.
  S e r o f i c i t a c i t ’ s 
  Changes: All spawns of 
  Seroficitacit have this 
  feat. When generating a 
  spawn for an encounter, 
  make a Change Check 
  for the spawn per the 
  usual rules for the feat and 
  apply the results. This makes 
  every spawn encounter dif-
  ferent. If you’re stuck on ideas for 
  the spawn’s changes, roll 1d8 on Table 5-4. 
  (Note that 25% are harmful, 25% helpful and 
  50% neutral, per the feat’s rules.)
  TABLE 5-3: EFFECT OF SPAWN ATTACK
  Roll (1d20) Change 
  1–2  
  Melted face (–1 Cha)
  3–4  
  Enlarged head and rapid brain growth (+1 Int)
  5–6  
  Distorted muscle growth (+1 Str, –5 ft. speed)
  7–8  
  1d4 new fingers sprout from each hand (+1 Dex but difficulty using some equipment)
  9–10  
  Elastic limbs (+8 to Escape Artist checks)
  11–12  
  Melted leg (–10 ft. speed)
  13–14  
  Crystallized form (–20 ft. speed, –2 Dex, +4 Con)
  15–16  
  Tactile awareness (gains blindsight 40 ft.)
  17–18  
  Slurred thoughts and speech (–1 Int, –2 Cha)
  19–20  
  Thoughts distorted into alien psychology (treated as lunar creature for purposes of saves against mind-affecting 
   
  effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns and morale effects), mind blasts and psionic attacks, 
   
  and thought detection due to alien psychology; gains +10 to save against these effects but has a –5 penalty 
   
  to caster level checks, DCs, and other checks to create them itself)
  TABLE 5-4: SEROFICITACIT’S CHANGES 
  Roll (1d8)  
  Seroficitacit’s Changes 
  1  
  Hardened form: spawn is partially paralyzed (speed and reach halved)
  2  
  Ethereal sight: the spawn’s blindsight extends onto the Ethereal Plane, but it is completely blind on the 
   
   
   Material Plane (50% miss chance) 
  3  
  Translucent body
  4  
  Liquefied: occupies twice the normal space but is only 1” high
  5  
  Antigravity effect: floats 2 feet above the ground; no change to speed or other stats
  6  
  Furred
  7  
  Spines: deals an additional 1d3 damage on any slam attack or grapple check
  8  
  Whip tendril: can use full-round action to make a single attack with double normal reach and +2 bonus to damage
  
  66
  CHPT.
  #
  «0»
  T
  his printing of The Shardsfall Quest 
  is done under version 1.0a of the Open 
  Game License; version 5.0/4.0 of the d20 
  System Trademark License 
  and 
  d20 
  System 
  Trademark Logo 
  Guide; 
  and 
  the 
  Revised 
  (v.3.5) 
  Sys-
  tem Refer-
  ence Docu-
  ment, 
  by 
  permission 
  from Wizards 
  of the Coast. 
  S u b s e q u e n t 
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  of 
  this 
  book will incorporate 
  final versions of the license, guide 
  and document. 
  Designation of Product Identity: The 
  following items are hereby designated as 
  Product Identity in accordance with Section 
  1(e) of the Open Game License, version 1.0a: 
  The terms DragonMech, clockwork ranger, 
  coglayer, mech jockey, steamborg, the 
  assimilated, gearwright, mech devil, steam 
  mage, Dotrak, gearstride, Seroficitacit, 
  College of Constructors, steam powerAn-
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  LEGAL INFORMATION
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  COPYRIGHT NOTICE 
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  Joseph Goodman, Copyright 2004, Good-
  man Games; for more information, see 
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  67
  CHPT.
  #
  «0»
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  original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
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  The Shardsfall Quest by Joseph Goodman, Copyright 2004, Goodman Games; for more information, see www.goodman-games.com, or contact 
  info@goodman-games.com
  
  68
  CHPT.
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  T
  he Shardsfall Quest is an amalgam 
  of several longer adventures I ran in 
  my first DragonMech campaign. I’ve tak-
  en the basic concepts, rewritten them as 
  shorter episodes, and tied them together 
  with the larger concept of the starshards. In 
  that first campaign, all of these elements 
  were present, including an earlier version 
  of the starshards: They were 
  crystalline pendants, 
  in the possession 
  of nearly a dozen 
  brothers, 
  sis-
  ters and vari-
  ous half-sib-
  lings, 
  most 
  of 
  whom 
  didn’t know 
  each other, all 
  of whom were 
  imparted 
  with 
  scattered portions 
  of a half-understood 
  prophecy, and each of whom 
  bore the same strange birthmark. The PCs 
  stumbled into this prophecy when the 
  dying pilot of their hired mech asked them 
  to get his starshard into the hands of his sis-
  ter. But that’s a story for another day.
  Playtesting this adventure led to some 
  interesting situations. As usual, the play-
  ers did things I never expected. This was in 
  spite of the fact that most of the scenes in 
  this module came from other adventures 
  the same players had been through over 
  the preceding year. At the very onset of 
  The Shardsfall Quest, the PCs decided 
  that instead of entering the obvious begin-
  ning of the adventure (Area 2 in the first 
  meteor), they would explore the crack 
  running down the center of the meteor. So 
  they pitted their 1st-level party against the 
  several spawns of Seroficitacit residing in 
  the ravine between the two meteor halves. 
  They’d faced such creatures in an earlier 
  DESIGNER’S NOTES
  DragonMech campaign, so perhaps that 
  was why they felt confident of quick 
  success. Unknown to them, however, 
  I’d retooled the monster and made the 
  spawns tougher. Less than an hour into the 
  session, two of five party members were 
  dead, and the remaining three were drag-
  ging away the bodies and trying to figure 
  out how to retrieve their coglayer’s con-
  traption, which was now guarded 
  by the remaining spawn. They, 
  of course, blamed me for 
  not properly telegraph-
  ing how dangerous the 
  spawns 
  were. 
  (“You 
  should have said it 
  looked like a really pow-
  erful ooze!”)
  By the next session, 
  their neophyte characters 
  were back on their feet and 
  ready to explore the meteor 
  the way the read-aloud text 
  said they should. We played through 
  the following episodes without incident, 
  until we reached the second lunar temple. 
  Herein lay the greatest D&D battle that I 
  have ever witnessed.
  Before I tell you about this 
  battle, you have to understand 
  something about lunar skin-
  stealers. They’ve been a 
  consistent element of my 
  DragonMech campaigns, 
  and the players know 
  how to fight them. The 
  skinstealers are extremely 
  powerful if they win the 
  surprise round and take over 
  a PC immediately. Otherwise, 
  they’re dead meat, easily defeat-
  ed with ranged attacks. Because the 
  playtesters knew to expect them (in a way 
  that your own first-time players won’t), I 
  made a few allowances in the skinstealers’ 
  favor. Suffice it to say, they made their 
  Hide check more than once due to divine 
  intervention.
  This epic battle began with one such 
  Hide check. It started in Area 4 of the 
  second lunar temple. The PCs opened the 
  door to Area 5A in the southwest corner, 
  where they had a rocking battle against 
  the spawn there. Next they detected the 
  secret doors and entered the hidden room 
  in the northeast corner. Here I departed 
  from my own adventure text and made it a 
  repeat of Area 5A (with the spawn, rather 
  than two skinstealers), hoping to lull them 
  into a sense of false security about what 
  to expect from the last hidden chamber. 
  When they finally opened the southeast 
  secret door, they had their “anti-ooze 
  SWAT-team tactics” down pat, and were 
  prepared to dispatch another spawn. 
  Instead, they found an empty chamber. 
  I made this Area 5B. The PCs went in 
  searching. The skinstealers made a terrific 
  Hide check (wonder how that happened?) 
  and escaped notice. The characters blun-
  dered right into the middle of the room 
  before one of the skinstealers made a 
  surprise attack.
  And then the fun 
  began. The skin-
  stealer attacked 
  Fin, a half-elf 
  c l o c k wo r k 
  ranger and 
  one of the 
  party’s two 
  main fight-
  ers. 
  The 
  s k i n s t e a l e r 
  made its grapple 
  and Fin failed his 
  Will save, leaving him 
  under the skinstealer’s con-
  trol. This ended the surprise round, and 
  now the regular round began. The skin-
  
  69
  CHPT.
  #
  «0»
  stealer-hosted Fin came last in the order. 
  All four of the other PCs got a chance to 
  attack him, but they rolled terribly. Even 
  Rangus, the half-orc steamborg-barbarian 
  who wielded a greataxe with a 20 Strength, 
  failed to land a blow. Only the halfling 
  coglayer hit, with a measly 1d4 points of 
  damage caused by a ranged shocker device 
  he had built. 
  Now came the skinstealers’ turn. The sec-
  ond stealer jumped from hiding and attacked 
  Rangus. It hit and grappled. Everybody 
  assumed the dim-witted Rangus was done 
  for, but he somehow made his save. 
  Then the skinstealer-hosted Fin 
  attacked... and the party would 
  never be the same. He aimed 
  for Ang, the party cleric. 
  Attacking with two weapons, 
  he rolled a 20 to threaten a 
  critical, then rolled another 
  20 to confirm it. He rolled 
  near-maximum critical damage, 
  then proceeded to deal near-max 
  damage with his second weapon.
  In a single round, Fin the skinstealer-
  possessed clockwork ranger dealt more 
  damage than he’d done in any round of the 
  entire campaign so far – and he dealt it to 
  the party’s cleric.
  Fin’s player continued to have the 
  best rolls of his career. In the combat’s 
  second round, he dropped the cleric. In 
  the fourth round, he killed Sarah Mae the 
  mech jockey (all the way to –10 hit points). 
  Meanwhile, the rest of the players had 
  been rolling terribly. They’d managed to 
  dispatch the second skinstealer (which 
  rolled poorly) but couldn’t touch Fin.
  In the sixth round, Fin dropped Rangus. 
  Until that point in the campaign, Rangus had 
  been nigh-unstoppable, a low-level charac-
  ter who routinely dealt 12+ points of damage 
  every round– but against Fin, the half-orc 
  barbarian-steamborg’s Power Attack and 20 
  Strength didn’t seem to matter one bit!
  Round seven began with a moment of 
  stark clarity. Fin’s player looked down on 
  a battlefield littered with the bodies of 
  his friends. He had dropped three of the 
  party’s five members. He was the fourth, 
  and his possessed character swung his gaze 
  toward the only remaining PC: Kenteth 
  Clockwinder, the halfling coglayer. Ken-
  teth had done more damage to the skin-
  stealer than anyone else, pelting it with his 
  1d4-damage shocker for round after round 
  – and now the skinstealer wanted revenge.
  Kenteth pondered using his coglayer 
  contraption to fly to safety in the 20-foot-tall 
  ceilings of Area 4, but I reminded him that 
  if he did so, Fin’s skinstealer would naturally 
  administer a coup de grace to the remaining 
  members of the party. So 
  the coglayer made a 
  brave choice: to 
  stand and fight 
  the clockwork 
  ranger toe-to-
  toe.
  It 
  didn’t 
  last long. Ken-
  teth  launched 
  one more attack 
  from his shocker, 
  again doing 1d4 
  damage, and the skin-
  stealer again shrugged it off. 
  Then Fin stepped into melee and chopped 
  Kenteth down.
  There was a moment of silence. The 
  players stared dejectedly at the table. 
  Four of them had dead PCs, a feat which 
  had been administered by the fifth. The 
  campaign was over.
   Then Fin’s player, Stephen, jumped up. 
  “Wait!” he shouted. “There’s 
  still a chance! You’re 
  at exactly zero hit 
  points, right?”
   “Yes,” said 
  Garrick, Kente-
  th’s player. “So 
  what? I die if 
  I do anything! 
  The 
  exertion 
  will 
  put 
  me 
  into negative hit 
  points.”
   “That’s our only 
  hope!” shouted Stephen. 
  “You’ll die either way. But if 
  you kill him with this last shot, the skin-
  stealer will fall off my body and I can save 
  the rest of you!”
   A light of hope came into Garrick’s 
  eyes. “Yeah!” everybody said. “Go for it!”
   Garrick picked up his lucky 20-sider. 
  Kenteth looked Fin in the eye and then 
  shouted the most glorious battle cry a man 
  has ever heard –
   “I’LL SEE YOU IN HELL!”
   Garrick threw down the d20 with a 
  flourish. His character Kenteth took 1 point 
  of damage and went into negative hit points. 
  But the d20 rolled a hit! Garrick rolled for 
  damage – a measly 1 point on 1d4! But that 
  was enough! Eight consecutive rounds of 
  blasting the skinstealer had finally taken 
  their toll! As Kenteth faded into uncon-
  sciousness, the dead skinstealer slipped off 
  of Fin. Fin was back to his senses. Kenteth’s 
  sacrifice had saved the party!
   From then on it was a race against time 
  as Fin dug through backpacks for healing 
  potions and tried to stabilize the party. In 
  the end, he managed to stabilize everyone, 
  and the party was able to leave the meteor 
  in tatters – but alive. Well, mostly. Sarah 
  Mae the mech jockey was dead-dead, but 
  she’d soon find resurrection.
   So, as you consider how to impart this 
  adventure to your players, keep in mind 
  the power of a lunar skinstealer with a 
  surprise round and good dice rolls. There’s 
  a reason Area 5B only has one skinstealer 
  now. If you have a skilled, large or expe-
  rienced party, you might consider two 
  skinstealers in that room. But 
  be careful. The results can 
  be deadly!
  Joseph Goodman
  May 2004
  
  70
  CHPT.
  #
  «0»
  HANDOUT A
  HANDOUT B
  
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  ™
  Check out upcoming Sword and Sorcery Studios products online at:
  http://www.swordsorcery.com
  Look for more information on DragonMech, including freebies, news, and web enhancements, at:
  http://www.goodman-games.com
  Distributed for Sword and Sorcery Studios by White Wolf Publishing, Inc.
  This printing of The Shardsfall Quest is published in accordance with the Open Game License. 
  See the Open Game License Appendix of this book for more information. 
  All rights reserved.
  © 2004 Goodman Games. DragonMech is a trademark of Goodman Games in the U.S. and/or other countries, used with permission. All rights reserved. 
  Sword & Sorcery Studios and its logo are trademarks of White Wolf Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.
  Dungeons & Dragons and D&D are registered trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc., and are used with permission. “d20 System” 
  and the “d20 System” logo are registered trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast and are used according to the terms 
  of the d20 System License version 5.0. A copy of this License can be found at www.wizards.com/d20.
  The mention of or reference to any company or product in these pages is not a challenge to the trademark or copyright concerned.
  PRINTED IN CANADA.
  CREDITS
  Author: Joseph Goodman
  Art Director: Sean Glenn
  Cover Artist:  Niklas Janssen
  Interior Artist: Jeff Carlisle
  Graphic Designer: Rick Achberger
  Cartographer: Sean Glenn
  Developer: Mike Johnstone
  Editor: Ken Hart
  Managing Editor: Andrew Bates
  Playtesters: Garrick Andrus, Stephen Burt, 
  Alan Fishman, Michael Goodman, Stephen Pellicer
  Dedicated to April.
  
  2
  CHPT.
  #
  «0»
  CONTENTS
  INTRODUCTION 
  3
  Adventure Summary 
  3
  Adventure Hooks 
  4
  Background 
  4
  DM’s Notes 
  5
  EPISODE ONE: 
  SKYFALL 
  6
  INTRODUCTION 
  6
  Area 1: The Meteorite 
  7
  Area 2: The Entrance Chamber (EL 2) 
  7
  Area 3: The Greeting Area 
  8
  Area 4: Host Storage (EL 1) 
  9
  Area 5: Hallway (EL 2) 
  10
  Area 6: Living Quarters (EL 1/4–1) 
  10
  Area 7: Ooze Pools 
  10
  Area 8: Portal of the Faithful (EL 1) 
  11
  Area 9: Sanctum of the Faithful 
  11
  Area 10: Guard Chamber (EL 1) 
  11
  Area 11: The Hatchery (EL 0) 
  13
  Area 12: The Starshard 
  13
  Area 13: Stairwell 
  14
  CONCLUSION 
  14
  EPISODE TWO: 
  OLD IRON ARMS 
  16
  THE GEAR FOREST 
  19
  Area 1: Old Iron Arms 
  19
  Area 2: Supplies 
  21
  Area 3: Cogling Clearing 
  21
  Area 4: Boiler Room (EL 2) 
  22
  Area 5: Rusty Corridor (EL 1) 
  22
  Area 6A: The Cogwheels (EL 2) 
  23
  Area 6B: The Pistons 
  24
  Area 7: The Warder (EL 1) 
  24
  Area 8: The Sludge River (EL 1) 
  25
  Area 9: The Beetle Lair (EL 3) 
  25
  CONCLUSION 
  26
  EPISODE THREE: 
  ENTER THE LEGION 
  28
  TRAVELING ENCOUNTERS 
  28
  Encounter A: Getting Off Nedderpik 
  28
  Encounter B: The Lunar Rain 
  29
  Encounter C: The Worm Pits (EL 1) 
  29
  Encounter D: The Orc Raiders (EL 3) 
  31
  HAIMLER’S TOWN 
  33
  EVENTS 
  33
  Event 1: The Characters’ 
   
  Initial Approach 
  33
  Event 2: The Characters’ Interaction 
   
  with the Community 
  35
  Event 3: The Characters’ Interactions with  
   
  Haimler, Thoron and Shtrawnek 
  36
  Event 4: The Characters’ Investigation 
   
  of the Lunar Temple 
  38
  Event 5: Arrival of the Irontooth Mech 
  39
  Locations 
  39
  NPCs 
  39
  Haimler, Tribal Leader and Legion Major 
  39
  Thoron, Warrior Leader and 
   
  Legion Sergeant 
  40
  Shtrawnek, Tribal Shaman 
  41
  XP Awards 
  42
  SECOND LUNAR TEMPLE 
  42
  Area 1: Ladder and Chute 
  42
  Area 2: Worship Area 
  43
  Area 3: Sleeping Chamber (EL 1/2) 
  43
  Area 4: Divination Chamber 
  44
  Area 5A: The Great Spawn (EL 3) 
  45
  Area 5B: The Last Skinstealer (EL 2) 
  45
  Area 6: New Living Quarters (EL 3) 
  45
  Area 7: The Starshard 
  46
  CONCLUSION 
  47
  Further Adventures with the Legion 
  47
  EPISODE FOUR: 
  ON THE IRONTOOTH TRAIL 48
  INTRODUCTION 
  48
  TRAVELING ENCOUNTERS 
  49
  Encounter A:Irontooth Ambushes 
  49
  Encounter B:Irontooth Charges 
  50
  ENTER THE IRONTOOTH 
  50
  CONCLUSION 
  53
  Further Adventures with the 
   
  Irontooth Clans 
  53
  Looking for Home 
  54
  Back on Nedderpik 
  54
  NEW RULES 
  55
  Insightful Step (General) 
  55
  Piston Rage (General) 
  56
  Power Spell (Metamagic)  
  56
  Prophetic Step (General) 
  56
  Spell Cleave (Metamagic) 
  56
  Tinker’s Touch (General) 
  56
  NEW ITEM: THE STARSHARDS 
  56
  Powers of the Starshards 
  57
  Combining the Starshards 
  57
  NEW MECHS 
  58
  Magwagon (Freight Model)  
  58
  Raptor  
  58
  NEW CREATURES 
  59
  Ferrovore 
  59
  Creating a Ferrovore 
  60
  Lunar Elemental  
  61
  Nanite  
  62
  Spawn of Seroficitacit  
  64
  LEGAL INFORMATION 
  66
  OPEN GAME LICENSE 
  67
  DESIGNER’S NOTES 
  68
  HANDOUT A 
  70
  HANDOUT B 
  70
  MECH SCHEMATIC SHEETS 
  71
  
  TABLES & MAPS
  Table 3-1: Spot Checks by Area Observed 
  35
  Table 3-2: Gather information by 
   
  Person/Topic Queried 
  36
  Table 3-3: Xp Awards 
  42
  Table 5-1: New feats 
  55
  Table 5-2: Onboard Weapons  
  59
  Table 5-4: Seroficitacit’s Changes  
  65
  Table 5-3: Effect of Spawn Attack 
  65
  
  Map 1: The Lunar Temple 
  7
  Map 2: Lair of Old Iron Arms 
  18
  Map 3: Haimler’s Town 
  38
  Map 4: Second Lunar Temple 
  43
  
  3
  CHPT.
  #
  «0»
  INTRODUCTION
  T
  hundering steam-powered walkers lumber across 
  the plains, battling predatory dragons to protect 
  the fearful humans who dwell within their steel-cased 
  skins. At night the shattered moon rises, raining a hail 
  of deadly debris upon the surface. Sturdy city-mechs 
  batten down their hatches, cliffside dwellers retreat 
  to safety under the rock, and worm farmers slink into 
  the tunnels of their charges, for no one wants to be out 
  in the open when the meteorites start to fall. Yet some 
  meteorites hold the secrets of the moon and its alien 
  civilizations — and perhaps the key to ending the lunar 
  scourge that grips Highpoint. When the sun rises again, 
  explorers crawl from their holes and scour the surface 
  for whatever valuable lunar shards might have fallen 
  the night before…. 
  T
  he Shardsfall Quest is an introductory 
  adventure for DragonMech. It gives the 
  characters a tour of the world, its major politi-
  cal factions, its history and its denizens and 
  dangers. Along the way, the characters face 
  combat, diplomacy, and puzzles. In the end, 
  they become citizens of the prominent city-
  mech Nedderpik (see Chapter 7 of Dragon-
  Mech), make friends and enemies, and are 
  directed to the city of Edge to continue their 
  quest, although they are positioned to pursue 
  adventure in almost any direction. To play this 
  adventure, you will need a copy of Dragon-
  Mech, as well as the core d20 books (Player’s 
  Handbook, DMG and MM). 
  The Shardsfall Quest is designed for 
  beginning characters of 1st level. By the end 
  of the adventure, the characters will have 
  accrued enough experience to be approxi-
  mately 3rd level, depending on the number 
  of characters. The adventuring party should 
  have between 4 and 6 members, with at least 
  one strong fighter, one coglayer or steam-
  borg, and one arcane spellcaster. A rogue 
  and cleric will also come in handy at times, 
  as will a bard with strong diplomacy skills. 
  A mech jockey is not necessary, but at least 
  one character should have several ranks in 
  the Mech Pilot skill.
  ADVENTURE SUMMARY
  T
  he Shardsfall Quest has four 
  major episodes. The adven-
  ture is a cross-country jaunt of 
  sorts, sending the characters 
  in pursuit of the parts of a 
  lunar relic. The relic was in 
  a temple carved into the very 
  bedrock of the moon, which 
  shattered in the lunar rain 
  and fell to earth in the form of 
  several meteorites, each of which 
  landed many miles from the oth-
  ers. With each episode, the characters 
  encounter one of the factions of the Dragon-
  Mech world: first the Stenian Confederacy, 
  then denizens of the gear forests, then the 
  Legion, and lastly the Irontooth Clans.
  The adventure proceeds thus:
  While traveling, the characters come across 
  a recently fallen meteorite that cracked open 
  upon landing, revealing a network of passages 
  inside. It turns out they are the remains of a 
  ruined temple to the lunar god Seroficitacit. 
  In exploring the ruins, the characters find a 
  strange glowing globe. As they emerge from 
  the meteorite, they are stopped by a Stenian 
  Confederacy mech patrol. The Stenians have 
  come to destroy the temple in case it houses 
  any lunar creatures.
  The Stenian soldiers clear the characters 
  for lunar influence, then make a proposition. 
  The Stenian Confederacy has learned that 
  this is only one piece of a larger meteorite 
  that broke into two parts when it entered 
  the planet’s atmosphere. The second sec-
  tion has fallen to the east, in the territory of 
  the Legion. The Stenian Confederacy wants 
  to find it and cleanse it of lunar creatures, 
  but the Stenians can’t risk sparking a war by 
  sending military mechs into enemy territory. 
  They offer to send the characters in a non-
  military mech to destroy the second temple 
  in Legion territory. In return, the characters 
  gain temporary use of the mech and will 
  receive citizenship on the city-mech Ned-
  derpik when they return.
  The characters journey to the city-mech 
  to get their loaner mech. While there, they 
  are secretly recruited by cogling stowaways 
  to help defeat a threat to the city-mech’s 
  engines. Then they move on 
  into Legion territory. 
  While there, they 
  deal with several 
  minor mech skir-
  mishes before 
  finally reaching 
  the 
  temple. 
  Destroying 
  it 
  won’t be easy, 
  however, because 
  human 
  refugees 
  have moved into the 
  tunnels for protection 
  
  4
  CHPT.
  #
  «0»
  from the lunar rain. The characters must 
  confront the xenophobic Legion humans, 
  who decry non-humans as inferior. And 
  there’s a twist: The Legion’s leaders are 
  controlled by lunar skinstealers.
  Once characters unravel the skinstealer 
  mystery, they go to clear out the lunar 
  temple. Just as they reach the last room, a 
  small one-man mech darts out of hiding. 
  Seemingly just as quickly, it emerges hold-
  ing another radiant globe, like the one the 
  characters found in the first temple. Then 
  it nimbly darts out of range and retreats 
  quickly to the north.
  The characters learn from the Legion 
  refugees that it was an Irontooth mech. Why 
  it was here, so far from Irontooth territory, is 
  a mystery. Once their mission here is done, 
  they journey north, trailing their mysterious 
  assailant. Eventually, they enter Irontooth 
  territory, where they come across one of 
  the legendary Irontooth jousts just getting 
  underway. One of the mechs involved is the 
  same one that attacked them.
  The characters’ mech is sighted and quickly 
  surrounded with overwhelming odds, forcing 
  them to negotiate. It turns out the Irontooth 
  are pursuing the lunar globes to fulfill an 
  ancient prophecy that predates the lunar 
  rain, dating back to the monastic orders from 
  which the Irontooth evolved. They are not 
  sure of the globes’ powers, but the prophecy 
  claims that when all are collected, they will 
  rise into the sky to form a new constellation, 
  and the lunar rain will end. Yet that’s beside 
  the point. The only way 
  the PCs will escape 
  with their lives is 
  if they accept a 
  challenge from 
  the Irontooth: 
  They 
  must 
  duel!
  If the PCs 
  perform hon-
  orably during 
  the duel, the 
  Irontooth recog-
  nize their valor with 
  admission to the clans, 
  then ask them to join in their 
  quest for the globes. They tell the characters 
  there are stories of another such globe some-
  where in the trading city of Edge, far to the 
  south. Once the characters have returned to 
  the city-mech, given back their loaner mech, 
  and gained their citizenship medallion, they 
  are positioned for continued adventures in 
  almost any direction.
  ADVENTURE HOOKS
  T
  he adventure begins with the characters 
  coming across a recently fallen 
  meteorite. The background mate-
  rial assumes they are scavengers 
  who make a living selling ore 
  and other valuables to passing 
  mechs. Yet since the characters 
  are 1st level and just beginning 
  a campaign, the GM can use 
  quite a few other options for 
  explaining how they end up dis-
  covering the meteorite. Here are 
  some ideas:
  • The characters could be freelance 
  ore-hunters. They make their living 
  scouring the meteors left behind after 
  each night’s lunar rain, finding veins of 
  precious metals (such as adamantine and 
  mensite). Then they mine them before 
  anyone else comes across them, or else 
  guard them and sell access to third-party 
  miners. This time, however, they’ve found 
  a particularly interesting meteor….
  • 
  The characters could be refugees, 
  like so many others on Highpoint. 
  They once had training or occu-
  pations, but now they dwell in 
  a secluded cave somewhere 
  on the flatland, eking out 
  an existence and trying 
  to find safe passage to 
  Edge or citizenship on a 
  city-mech. Their normal 
  life consists of scavenging 
  surface wreckage and trad-
  ing with passing mech tribes. 
  They could even live with a tribe 
  of worm farmers that took them in 
  for their combat skills.
  • The characters are scouts for a city-mech. 
  They patrol whenever the city-mech comes 
  to a halt. Being low-level and untrained as 
  they are, they’re in the infantry corps, not 
  the mech division. While scouting on this 
  morning, they find a meteorite with a 
  lunar temple inside it.
  • Alternately, the characters could be in the 
  private employ of the Gearwrights Guild. 
  Their task is specifically to scout meteors 
  on foot and locate valuable lunar relics, 
  particularly 
  technology 
  and 
  magic that might help 
  the Guild. Nor-
  mally, 
  they 
  would take 
  what they 
  find back 
  to 
  the 
  G u i l d , 
  but 
  the 
  interven-
  tion 
  of 
  the Stenian 
  Confederacy 
  (in Episode One) 
  changes their path….
  
  BACKGROUND
  T
  his adventure is set on the continent 
  of Highpoint in the world of Dragon-
  Mech. Highpoint was once a land of tradi-
  tional medieval kingdoms, but that structure 
  has been decimated by the lunar rain. The 
  planet’s moon is slowly falling apart, for 
  reasons unknown. As the moon collapses, its 
  fragments are drawn into the world’s gravity 
  well. The result is a constant meteor storm 
  beneath the moon. On the planet, each 
  night’s moonrise brings with it the so-called 
  lunar rain — sometimes only a particulate 
  haze that irritates the skin, but other times a 
  devastating meteor storm that sends two-ton 
  boulders hurtling into the surface. As if that 
  weren’t enough, the moon’s bizarre denizens 
  are also falling to earth, and they’re univer-
  sally hostile. 
  
  5
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  «0»
  The meteor rain destroyed the surface 
  world. It shattered castles, flattened cit-
  ies, and sent refugees scurrying for cover 
  underground. It has taken almost a century 
  for the world’s peoples to recolonize the 
  surface, which they did with the help of 
  the greatest technological advance in 
  Highpoint’s history: the mech. 
  Powered by steam, magic, 
  or the labor of a thousand 
  slaves, mechs have become 
  the de facto social unit of 
  Highpoint, particularly the 
  massive city-mechs, which 
  house populations in the 
  thousands. Kingdoms have 
  been replaced by mobile 
  associations of city-mechs called 
  mechdoms.
  Three of the most powerful mechdoms 
  are the Stenian Confederacy, the Legion and 
  the Irontooth Clans. This adventure starts 
  the characters in the territory of the Stenian 
  Confederacy, a dwarven institution ruled by 
  absolute martial law. In its early days, this 
  was a driving force in retaking the surface 
  world, as the organization and structure of 
  the Stenians enabled them to build mechs 
  and survive the hostile conditions of the 
  lunar rain. Five allied city-mechs make up 
  the Stenian Confederacy. The most famous 
  is called Durgan-lok, which was the first city-
  mech ever built, while the most advanced 
  is known as Nedderpik. Nedderpik houses 
  3,500 civilians and crew, and it hangars a 
  fleet of smaller mechs in its shins.
  Episode Three takes the characters to the 
  Legion. The Legion is more of a mass move-
  ment than a proper political body. It is led 
  by the charismatic demagogue Shar Thizdic, 
  whose sheer force of will has united hun-
  dreds of disparate human tribes 
  for the first time in centu-
  ries. Under his leader-
  ship, the tribes have suc-
  cessfully built their first 
  city-mech and are now 
  working on a second. Shar 
  is considered a threat by all 
  other factions in Highpoint, for he 
  is ambitious, warlike and uncompromising. 
  Worst of all, he motivates his people through 
  hatred. He espouses a blatant xenophobia 
  that declares the rightful time of human rule 
  has come and that dwarves, elves, orcs and 
  other races are inferior. Needless to say, this 
  attitude has won him few friends among 
  the neighboring Stenian 
  Confederacy, 
  which 
  is 
  predominantly 
  dwarven.
  The fourth and 
  final 
  episode 
  takes the char-
  acters into the 
  territory of the 
  Irontooth Clans. 
  The Clans’ code of 
  behavior has evolved 
  from ancient monastic 
  traditions 
  practiced 
  by 
  their ancestors. The lunar rains 
  fractured the institutions that held these 
  traditions in place. The Clans were formed 
  by engineers who decried the failures of 
  their previous societies, but were nonethe-
  less influenced by them. Now the Clans are 
  a loosely affiliated group of independent 
  bands that mix monastic inner strength with 
  roughneck barbarian chaos. 
  Daily 
  life 
  among 
  the Irontooth is 
  r o u g h - a n d -
  tumble, and 
  their mechs 
  are 
  orna-
  m e n t e d 
  with spikes, 
  studs, barbs 
  and 
  razor 
  edges. Yet the 
  Irontooth pilots 
  are the best in 
  the world, for 
  they draw on special 
  techniques, a culture of mech joust-
  ing, and mysterious inner reserves 
  to deliver performance that no other 
  mechdom can match. Their enemies 
  call them “mech devils,” and the name 
  is well deserved.
  
  DM’S NOTES
  T
  his adventure starts the characters 
  off without a mech. As such, there 
  is no need for a mech jockey character in 
  the party. However, the adventure does 
  include time on a city-mech, as well as 
  travel and limited combat in a mech, so 
  the characters are exposed to mechs quite 
  a bit. The idea here is versatility: The play-
  ers (and you) will be exposed to adven-
  tures on a mech and on foot, and you can 
  then determine what direction you want 
  your campaign to take.
  By the time this adventure is through, the 
  characters will have encountered the Stenian 
  Confederacy, the Legion, and the Irontooth 
  Clans. They’ll be enemies of some and allies 
  of others. Thanks to the assistance they give 
  the Stenian Confederacy, they’ll end up 
  as allies with citizenship on the city-mech 
  Nedderpik. If they succeed in the challenge 
  offered by the Irontooth Clans, they’ll be 
  granted honorary titles and have powerful 
  new allies there, also. On the other hand, 
  having invaded the Legion’s territory and 
  threatened its citizens, they’ll be hunted 
  enemies of the Legion. 
  The adventure concludes with 
  plot hooks leading the char-
  acters to Edge, the cliffside 
  city far to the south. At 
  this point, the characters 
  are perfectly positioned 
  for whatever direction the 
  players (and you) want to 
  take. They’ll be on Ned-
  derpik, which is rife with 
  adventure; they’ll feel the urge 
  to visit Edge, which is a nexus of 
  trade and civilization on Highpoint; 
  they’ll have Legion enemies pursuing 
  them; and they’ll have safe haven (and new 
  adventures) with the Irontooth Clans.
  
  6
  CHPT.
  #
  «1»
  EPISODE ONE: SKYFALL
  INTRODUCTION
  I
  ntroduce the players to the adventure by 
  reading them this introduction, adapting it 
  as necessary to their characters’ backgrounds.
  The night started like any other. Before the 
  moon rose, you found safety in an abandoned 
  underground shelter, then listened to the soft 
  pinging of the lunar rain on the ceiling above. The 
  superheated meteor fragments blasted small cra-
  ters in the earth above. Some were large enough 
  to burn through several feet of dirt, denting the 
  scrap metal ceiling of your underground hovel. 
  You knew that by the time the night was through, 
  a hundred new dents would be made, with each 
  dent glowing red from the fiery fragments rest-
  ing above. Finally, the moon would sink over the 
  horizon, carrying the lunar rain with it, and the sun 
  would rise over a landscape scorched clean, as it 
  had every night for nearly a hundred years.
  Yet this night, something different happened. 
  Shortly after midnight, the earth shook with the 
  impact of a massive meteor. You were knocked 
  from the dirt benches on which you slept, awak-
  ening suddenly to the trembling aftershocks. It 
  was obvious that something large had fallen from 
  the moon above.
  That could mean profit — and danger. The 
  meteor could contain valuable lunar ores or 
  rare treasures of the lunar civilizations, both 
  of which you could profit from. If you reach it 
  first, you can sell the ores to the city-mechs that 
  scavenge constantly for the supplies, or sell the 
  lunar treasures to the military men and hunters 
  who battle against the lunar monsters. It might 
  not be that easy, however. There are creatures 
  from the moon, alien monsters with bizarre 
  minds, and they are the scourge of Highpoint. 
  More than one salvage team has been eaten by a 
  meteorite’s unexpected stowaways.
  You rose at dawn and set out immediately. The 
  meteor’s location was obvious from the gouts 
  of steam visible on the horizon. In this scarcely 
  populated region of the rocky flatland, you could 
  easily be the first to reach it.… 
  After two days of hiking, you reach the edge 
  of a shallow crater and look down upon the now-
  cooled meteor. After a descent into the crater, 
  you now stand before the huge, pitted round 
  rock. It looms 50 feet above you, shattered into 
  two halves by the force of the impact.
  Unlike other meteors, this one seems to beck-
  on you to enter. A gaping 10-foot-wide hole opens 
  into its side. The tunnel inside is smooth and well 
  crafted, clearly built by something of intelligence. 
  Your livelihood depends on recovering something 
  of value from what’s inside… but your life may 
  depend on how carefully you do it.
  
  7
  CHPT.
  #
  «1»
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  Now refer to Map One: The Lunar Temple. 
  Many of the creatures in this temple should 
  be dead, but they aren’t. They have been 
  saved by their own malleable ooze-like 
  forms, their strange physiology and the will 
  of Seroficitacit himself, who ensures that 
  many of his worshippers survive to engage 
  this strange new world.
  THE LUNAR TEMPLE
  T
  his section describes the significant 
  locations of the lunar temple.
  
  AREA 1: 
  THE METEORITE
  T
  he meteorite is about 250 feet in diam-
  eter, with about 50 feet of its top visible 
  above the ground. Its sides rise in a roughly 
  spherical shape, but are cut off suddenly 
  at the top; it looks as if there was another 
  part to the meteor that was simply sheared 
  off. The lunar rock has split into two halves, 
  which now stand about 20 feet apart.
  The only visible entrance to the meteor’s 
  outer perimeter is the one which the char-
  acters stand before, leading into Area 2. If 
  the characters conduct a search of the area, 
  they spy four more entrances on the walls of 
  the channel between the two halves (Spot 
  DC 10). These entrances (corresponding 
  to the broken passages between Areas 7 
  and 8) are 20 feet above ground level and 
  40 feet below the meteor’s roof. They 
  are difficult to reach due to the spawns 
  of Seroficitacit (see “New Creatures” in 
  Appendix One) that were tossed from the 
  openings when the rock split. These spawn 
  now rest in the entrances to the split chan-
  nel, effectively preventing the characters 
  from passing. At least two are in the way 
  of the PCs’ entrance from any direction 
  except dropping from above.
  Dropping from above is difficult due to the 
  meteor’s temperature. It has begun to cool 
  but is still very hot to the touch. It is coolest 
  at its center (where it was most insulated from 
  the friction of its earthfall) and warmest on 
  its surface. Anyone who walks on the surface 
  for more than two rounds takes 1 point of heat 
  damage each round after the second (Fort 
  save DC 10 to take no damage).
  The hot rock and spawns should collec-
  tively steer the characters toward entering 
  the passage into Area 2.
  AREA 2: 
  THE ENTRANCE CHAMBER 
  (EL 2)
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  The hallway goes for barely 10 feet before it enters 
  a 40-foot-wide round chamber. Hanging from the 
  ceiling is a three-foot-tall inverted basin carved 
  
  8
  CHPT.
  #
  «1»
  with bizarre yet beautiful symbols. You can see 
  an open doorway on the opposite side of the 
  room, but there is an obstacle in your way: A 
  15-foot-wide shapeless mass of grayish ooze is 
  undulating on the floor, sending pulpy tentacles 
  swaying about. It makes no noise, but this ooze 
  is clearly alive.
  The meteorite landed upside-down relative 
  to its orientation on the moon, so the temple 
  that the characters enter is also upside-down. 
  The ooze is a spawn of Seroficitacit that was 
  originally housed in the basin when it was 
  right side up. Now the basin is on the ceil-
  ing, and the spawn has been tossed onto 
  the floor.
  The spawn is the “greeter” for this 
  particular temple. It can sense surface 
  creatures and will attack all who come 
  near, fulfilling Seroficitacit’s whim that 
  their world should change. It is a young 
  spawn that survived the meteor crash but was 
  wounded in the process.
  Tactics: As soon as the spawn senses the 
  characters, it advances on them to attack. It 
  fights to the death.  
  Young Spawn of Seroficitacit (injured): 
  CR 2; Medium ooze (lunar); HD 3d10+15; 
  hp 19; Init –5; Spd 10 ft.; AC 7, touch 5, flat-
  footed 7; BAB +2; Grp +6; Atk/Full Atk +6 
  melee (1d4+4 plus change, slam); Space/
  Reach 10 ft./5 ft.; SA Change; SQ Blindsight 
  40 ft., moon lore, ooze traits, lunar traits; AL 
  N; SV Fort +6, Ref –4, Will +5; Str 18, Dex 1, 
  Con 20, Int 18, Wis 18, Cha 10.
  Skills: Bluff +6, Knowledge (lunar) +20, 
  Knowledge (the planes) +10, Knowledge (reli-
  gion) +10, Listen +10, Spot +10.
  Feats: Insightful Step, 
  Seroficitacit’s Changes.
  SA–Change (Su): Fort 
  DC 10 or suffer change 
  (see “New Creatures” in 
  Appendix One).
  
  AREA 3: 
  THE GREETING AREA
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  The hallway continues for a short distance 
  before coming to yet another round chamber. 
  The bottom of this room is a bowl-like half-
  sphere that dips 10 feet below the floor level. 
  The ceiling stays at its current height. Directly 
  over the lowest point of the floor is a 10-foot-
  wide hole in the ceiling.
  The walls, floor and ceiling of this room are 
  completely covered with utterly alien carvings. 
  The shapes and symbols are totally foreign. You 
  cannot read them or even understand what they 
  represent, and they seem even more confusing 
  than they should. Each time you look at a new 
  section, it seems like the area you were just look-
  ing at shifts ever so slightly.
  
  9
  CHPT.
  #
  «1»
  As you look around you, your thoughts start to 
  feel sluggish. It seems as if the world is becoming 
  more and more difficult to understand.…
  The characters are now in the influence of 
  the mental static from the dronog in Area 4. 
  Their Intelligence is automatically reduced 
  by 1d4 points as long as they stay in the area 
  of effect.
  Now distribute Players Handout A. The 
  walls of this room tell legends of Seroficit-
  acit in a lunar language. They are magically 
  enchanted to constantly change, but only 
  just after someone has read them. It’s not 
  an illusion and can be perceived by anyone 
  who carefully observes the carvings as they 
  read (Spot DC 10). The legends told by the 
  walls change as the walls do. Yet the stories 
  never contradict each other; they simply add 
  more or different details, or in some cases 
  tell completely different stories. The walls 
  can be read, but only with great difficulty 
  (Decipher Script DC 35, with additional 
  –4 penalty to check as long as symbols are 
  upside-down).
  This room was used by the temple 
  denizens as a simple prayer area. It was here 
  where they would come to meditate on 
  Seroficitacit’s greatness. When it was right 
  side up, the room’s exit was a simple hole in 
  the floor through which worshippers would 
  descend (see diagram). Now that hole is in 
  the “ceiling,” 20 feet above the upside-down 
  “floor.” The characters must figure out how 
  to get up there.
  Anyone who takes the time to 
  observe the shifting walls care-
  fully will eventually see images 
  of the door at Area 8 and the 
  ball-chutes at Area 10. It takes 
  10 minutes for these images 
  to appear in the stories, which 
  describe the building of this very 
  temple. Although the immediate 
  implications will not be obvious to the 
  characters, observing these scenes allows 
  them to make an Intelligence check (DC 12) 
  at Areas 8 and 10 to determine, respectively, 
  the method for passing the door and the use 
  of the ball-chutes.
  The legends told by the wall symbols will 
  not repeat themselves until someone has 
  observed them for a full hour.
  AREA 4: 
  HOST STORAGE (EL 1)
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  You have entered an oddly shaped room about 30 
  feet wide. The sides are lined with shallow five-
  foot-deep alcoves. A circular door is set into one 
  alcove in the northwest corner of the room. Near 
  the other alcoves, a total of four creatures sprawl 
  on the floor. They are grotesque, ugly things, like 
  large lizards but with five legs and no neck. Their 
  mouths have dull teeth, and their skin is lined with 
  ribbed veins.
  As you enter, one of the creatures raises its 
  head to look at you.
  The lunar skinstealers that occupy this 
  temple frequently used dronogs as parasitic 
  hosts, especially when they left the temple. 
  They kept the dronogs here. This room can 
  house up to 15 dronogs at once, though usu-
  ally there were no more than five here.
  Anyone who examines the room carefully 
  (Spot DC 10) notes that there are slight con-
  cave pits worn into the otherwise smooth 
  “ceiling” above each alcove. These pits were 
  worn into the floor by the dronogs after 
  countless years of bedding down each 
  night in the alcoves.
  All four of the dronogs 
  currently present were 
  injured in the mete-
  orite’s landing. Three 
  were killed outright, 
  but one of them sur-
  vived. When it sees the 
  characters, it rises to its 
  feet and charges.
  Remember that the mental 
  static emanated by the dronog ceases as 
  soon as it dies. 
  Dronog (injured): CR 1; Large aberration 
  (lunar); HD 4d8+8; hp 12; Init –2; Spd 20 ft., 
  burrow 10 ft.; AC 15, touch 15, flat-footed 
  7; BAB +3; Grp +11; Atk/Full Atk +6 melee 
  (1d8+6, bite); Space/Reach 10 ft./5 ft.; SA 
  Mental static; SQ Lunar traits; AL N; SV Fort 
  +6, Ref +0, Will +0; Str 19, Dex 7, Con 15, Int 
  4, Wis 8, Cha 8.
  Skills: Climb +8, Listen +3, Spot +3.
  SA–Mental Static (Ex): Terrestrials within 
  50 feet lose 1d4 Int as long as they remain 
  in area; must make a Concentration check 
  (DC 12) to attempt any Intelligence-
  related action.
  LUNAR TEMPLE FEATURES
  Floor Level: The meteorite landed in a way that 
  left the lunar temple both upside down and at an 
  angle. The horizontal axis of the temple is tilted 
  higher on its eastern half than its western side. This 
  allows characters to enter at ground level on the 
  western side of the meteorite, but when they pass 
  through the middle chasm, they are 20 feet above 
  ground level, and when they reach the eastern side 
  they are about 40 feet above ground level.
  Illumination: There is no light of any kind 
  inside the meteorite. The creatures inside navigate 
  through native blindsense or blindsight, or alien 
  forms of navigation possessed by lunar creatures 
  and not understood by terrestrial creatures.
  Walls: All passages in the tunnel are round, with 
  a slightly flattened floor. Unless noted otherwise, 
  they are 10 feet tall. They have stats as follows: 
  Hewn Stone Wall: 3 ft. thick between rooms, 
  otherwise solid rock; Break DC 50; hardness 8; 
  540 hp; Climb DC 22.
  Doors: Doors within the lunar temple are quite 
  unlike normal doors. They are round passages a full 
  10 feet tall, with a round door set within. The door 
  opens by rotating on a horizontal bar set within the 
  frame 5 feet above the ground, effectively “flipping 
  over” to open. Humans using these doors must 
  move with the bottom half of the door and duck un-
  der the horizontal bar. Creatures with the ability to 
  do so can throw themselves at the upper half of the 
  door to flip through to the other side. The rotating 
  door can swing in either direction. 
  Stone Door: 4 in. thick; hardness 8; 60 hp; 
  Break DC 28 (stuck or locked).
  
  10
  CHPT.
  #
  «1»
  As a side note, multiple skinstealers are excellent 
  opponents for PCs above 1st level. Because their 
  grapple attack occupies their opponent, and a 
  successful host domination not only removes a 
  PC from play but uses him against his allies, a fight 
  against lunar skinstealers with even odds becomes 
  extremely dangerous for the PCs — particularly if 
  the skinstealers attack at close quarters.
  
  AREA 5: 
  HALLWAY (EL 2)
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  This wide hall heads west before winding around 
  to the north. It is rounded and smooth. Three 
  doors line the west wall, and two doors are on 
  the east wall.
  The lunar skinstealers that worshipped here 
  lived in the small rooms off this hallway. 
  Only a few were in attendance when the 
  temple crashed to earth. One was unharmed 
  by the crash-landing. Now it lurks hidden in 
  this hallway.
  Tactics: The lunar skinstealer hides flat 
  on the floor halfway up the hall. It is highly 
  intelligent, and although it has never been 
  to the surface before, it’s smart enough to 
  recognize that a big strong host will be most 
  useful in combat. It waits until a fighter-type 
  comes within reach, then it attacks with a 
  face grapple. As soon as it takes over the 
  host, it retreats to a doorway where it can 
  deal with oncoming attackers one-on-one 
  (or as close to that as possible).
  The skinstealer’s goal is to defend its tem-
  ple. It could be parleyed with (once it has a 
  host to speak from), but not likely.
  Be sure to read the DragonMech mon-
  ster entry for the lunar skinstealer carefully. 
  Skinstealers can be brutally effective if used 
  properly. If used in a manner that doesn’t 
  reflect their high Intelligence score, how-
  ever, they are easy to defeat.
  Lunar Skinstealer (Unhosted): CR 2; 
  Medium aberration (lunar); HD 4d8 (18 hp); 
  Init –1; Spd 10 ft.; AC 9, touch 9, flat-footed 9; 
  BAB +3; Grp +7 (+1 per hook used, up to +11); 
  Atk +5 touch (domination, face grapple); Full 
  Atk +5 touch (domination, face grapple) and 
  +1 melee (1d2, 4 hooks); SA Improved grab, 
  host domination, neighbor domination; SQ 
  Lunar traits; AL CN; SV Fort +0, Ref +0, Will 
  +0; Str 18, Dex 8, Con 10, Int 20, Wis 4, Cha 14.
  Skills: Bluff +26, Disguise +25, Hide +14, 
  Listen +2, Spot +2.
  SA–Host Domination (Su): Initiates face 
  grapple free with touch attack due to 
  Improved Grab ability. Once enemy face is 
  grappled, can dominate as if by dominate per-
  son (DC 15 to resist); absorbs host’s appear-
  ance, physical stats, and abilities; gains 
  neighbor domination ability once hosted.
  SA–Neighbor Domination (Ex): Drain 1 point 
  of host’s Wisdom to cast dominate person (DC 
  15, range 200 ft., duration 10 days).
  Secret Door: The secret door is a 1-foot-
  wide circular section of the wall (Search DC 
  20) that flips open into a round passage only 
  1 foot across. It was once used as an escape 
  route by the skinstealers that guarded the 
  hatchery (Area 11). Now it can’t be navigated 
  by a PC without magical aid.
  AREA 6: 
  LIVING QUARTERS (EL 1/4–1)
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  This 20-foot-wide, semicircular room looks as if it 
  is, or was, the living quarters for some sort of alien 
  life form. Fragments of solid stone are scattered 
  about the room, apparently from several smashed 
  pieces of carved rock that lie in the middle of 
  the room. Various containers, carved icons and 
  unusual chips of metal are strewn about. Carved 
  into the wall are more alien symbols.
  Several lunar skinstealers stayed in each of 
  these rooms. All four rooms are practically 
  identical. 
  Lurking amidst the rubble in each room 
  are 1d4 nanites (see “New Creatures” in 
  Appendix One). Many dead nanites are 
  scattered about the complex, but these ones 
  survived and were knocked from their nooks 
  in the walls. They attack anyone who digs 
  through the rubble. 
  Nanites (1d4): CR 1/4; Tiny vermin 
  (lunar); HD 1/2d8; hp 2; Init +2; Spd 30 ft.; 
  AC 14, touch 14, flat-footed 12; BAB +0; Grp 
  –11; Atk/Full Atk +2 melee (1d3-3 plus 1 acid, 
  bite); SA Death burst; SQ Darkvision 60 ft., 
  lunar traits, vermin traits; AL N; SV Fort +2, 
  Ref +2, Will +0; Str 5, Dex 14, Con 10, Int –, 
  Wis 10, Cha 6.
  Skills: Climb +6.
  SA–Death Burst (Ex): Acidic explosion 
  upon reaching –1 hp; 1 point of acid damage 
  to all within 5 feet (Reflex DC 10 to avoid).
  Treasure: Searching through the mess 
  antagonizes the nanites. Once they’re 
  taken care of, a search reveals mostly worth-
  less junk. The skinstealers’ “furniture” is 
  carved from solid moon rock via the aid of 
  acid-secreting oozes. Now these rectangu-
  lar objects are smashed into hundreds of 
  pieces. The containers hold lunar gruel and 
  worthless moon rocks. The carved icons are 
  symbols of Seroficitacit, worth nothing off 
  the moon. The only things of value (Search 
  DC 10) are the metal chips, which are carved 
  from mensite. Each room has 2d6 such chips, 
  each of which is worth 10 gp to the right 
  person. Plenty of interested buyers will be 
  found on any city-mech.
  AREA 7: 
  OOZE POOLS
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  This organically shaped corridor has several 15-
  foot-wide circular alcoves branching off its sides. 
  In each one rests a puddle of gray ooze, with an 
  inverted basin carved out of the “ceiling” above. 
  The oozes are still and silent. Further ahead, a pas-
  sage veers off to the north.
  
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  These “ooze oracles” were revered spawns of 
  Seroficitacit, eagerly consulted by the cult in 
  all matters of study, worship and religion. Most 
  were killed by the crash-landing. Their bodies 
  are inert and not dangerous; they no longer 
  inflict changes upon those who touch them. 
  The oozes completely fill each chamber.
  The only ooze still living lies in the cham-
  ber that formerly connected to Area 13. It is 
  on the verge of death and will not take any 
  aggressive actions unless physically touched 
  or jostled, at which point it will attack. It is 
  an elder spawn of Seroficitacit that split into 
  two halves during the impact of the collision. 
  One half spilled into the chasm, and the oth-
  er half remains in this room. Each half is now 
  treated as a younger spawn.  
  Young Spawn of Seroficitacit (injured): 
  CR 2; Medium ooze (lunar); HD 3d10+15; 
  hp 15; Init –5; Spd 10 ft.; AC 7, touch 5, flat-
  footed 7; BAB +2; Grp +6; Atk/Full Atk +6 
  melee (1d4+4 plus change, slam); Space/
  Reach 10 ft./5 ft.; SA Change; SQ Blindsight 
  40 ft., moon lore, ooze traits, lunar traits; AL 
  N; SV Fort +6, Ref –4, Will +5; Str 18, Dex 1, 
  Con 20, Int 18, Wis 18, Cha 10.
  Skills: Bluff +6, Knowledge (lunar) +20, 
  Knowledge (the planes) +10, Knowledge 
  (religion) +10, Listen +10, Spot +10.
  Feats: Insightful Step, Seroficitacit’s 
  Changes.
  SA–Change (Su): Fort DC 10 or suffer 
  change (see “New Creatures” in Appendix 
  One).
  Crossing the Chasm: To continue on 
  their way, the characters must cross the 
  chasm between the two halves of the meteor. 
  The hall opens 20 feet above ground level. 
  Climbing down, walking across, and climb-
  ing back up is easy enough with a rope and a 
  few Climb checks.
  The real danger is the many young spawns 
  of Seroficitacit that lurk in the chasm. These 
  oozes are still conscious and will actively move 
  to intercept characters who make themselves 
  visible. The slimes start near the outer edges 
  and move slowly, so the characters should be 
  able to avoid them if they act quickly.
  Note that the interior walls of the meteor 
  are not hot; the meteor split after it landed, 
  and these walls were protected from friction 
  during the descent. Unlike the outer edges, 
  they do not inflict heat damage on those who 
  touch them for too long.
  AREA 8: 
  PORTAL OF THE FAITHFUL 
  (EL 1)
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  After crossing the chasm successfully, you arrive in 
  another 15-foot-wide circular room. On the east-
  ern wall is another of the round, flip-top doors. 
  This one looks different from the others, however, 
  with strange symbols carved into it. An inverted 
  basin on the ceiling directly in front of the door 
  is adorned with different types of carvings, all of 
  which resemble ooze-like shapes. The basin is 6 
  inches in diameter.
  Show the players Handout B. Outsiders 
  were welcome to worship in this temple of 
  Seroficitacit, provided they were suitably 
  escorted and didn’t venture too deep. This 
  portal was the limit of the outsiders’ access. 
  The door is magically locked. In order to 
  pass, one had to scoop up a handful of a 
  spawn of Seroficitacit, and deposit the hand-
  ful of ooze in the basin in front of the door. 
  Because the spawns would attack any non-
  believers who attempted this, the door was 
  effectively locked to all but the faithful.
  Now, of course, the basin is 10 feet above 
  on the ceiling and it’s not exactly easy to get 
  a pile of ooze to defy gravity. Any amount 
  of spawn goo will do the trick, even from a 
  dead spawn, but it must be held in place in 
  the basin for at least one full round. A pole 
  or implement won’t do it; the characters will 
  have to get a pair of hands up to the right 
  height to hold the ooze in place. Once the 
  goo is in the basin, the door will rotate to an 
  open position.
  Alternately, the characters can simply try 
  to bash down the door. If they figure out the 
  puzzle, however, award them experience for 
  defeating a CR 1 encounter. 
  Ooze Bowl Puzzle Door (CR 1): Magical-
  ly sealed stone door (arcane lock); 4 in. thick; 
  hardness 8; 60 hp; Break DC 38 (locked); 
  opens automatically if ooze from a spawn of 
  Seroficitacit is placed in the basin before the 
  door for 1 round.
  AREA 9: 
  SANCTUM OF THE FAITHFUL
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  This 30-foot-diameter, circular room has a deep, 
  bowl-shaped floor. The ceiling is flat and lined 
  with rows of oblong benches carved directly 
  from the stone. In the center of the ceiling is a 
  one-foot-wide column some three feet in height 
  with an inverted basin at its end. A deep crack runs 
  through the stone floor. A number of flat, rectan-
  gular creatures lie still on the floor.
  The characters enter on the ceiling, of 
  course. When part of the temple, this wor-
  ship area was used to show the visions of the 
  starshard (see Area 12) to the faithful. The 
  starshard was placed in the pedestal (which 
  now resembles a column hanging from the 
  ceiling), and the visions were projected onto 
  the hemispherical ceiling while the worship-
  pers rested against the small benches on the 
  floor. The crack was caused by the crash.
  The six bodies are lunar skinstealers who 
  were worshipping here before they were 
  killed in the crash. The characters find noth-
  ing else of interest in this room.
  
  AREA 10: 
  GUARD CHAMBER (EL 1)
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  A 20-foot-long hallway opens into a 35-foot-
  wide circular room. The walls are utterly smooth, 
  almost polished in appearance. On the south wall 
  are three one-foot-wide circular holes, beside 
  which rest a dozen or so brass spheres. On the 
  north wall is another round door. But the most 
  
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  «1»
  interesting feature of this room is the pulpy, putty-
  like mass of flesh in the center. It seems unable to 
  stand still. Its body pulses and undulates before 
  you, slowly changing shape into a semi-humanoid 
  state. The yellowish material that composes it has 
  an oily sheen, and you can’t help but think you 
  catch reflections of yourself in its skin.
  This lunar elemental (see “New Creatures” 
  in Appendix One) was summoned by the fol-
  lowers of Seroficitacit to guard their inner 
  sanctum. Now its guardians are dead, but it 
  still defends the area. 
  Lunar Elemental: CR 1; Small elemental 
  (lunar); HD 2d8+8; hp 17; Init +1; Spd 40 ft.; 
  AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 15; BAB +1; Grp 
  –3; Atk/Full Atk +2 melee (1d4, slam); SA 
  Lunar mastery, adaptive; SQ Entropic skin 
  (DC 15), blindsense, lunar traits; AL N; SV 
  Fort +4, Ref +1, Will +7; Str 10, Dex 12, Con 
  18, Int 4, Wis 18, Cha 11.
  Skills: Listen +7, Spot +6.
  SA–Lunar Mastery (Ex): +1 to attack and dam-
  age when both it and opponent are in contact 
  with lunar surface (including this temple).
  SA–Adaptive (Su): Adapts to shape of one 
  opponent with attack action or standard 
  action used for study. Each round of adapta-
  tion against the same target grants a cumula-
  tive +1 insight bonus to attack rolls and AC 
  versus that one target (max +10). Studying or 
  attacking a new creature reduces this bonus 
  to +1 against the new creature.
  SQ–Entropic Skin (Ex): Images of poten-
  tial pasts and haunting futures flash in the 
  elemental’s skin. Anyone looking at or 
  attacking a lunar elemental must make a 
  Will save (DC 15) or be dazzled; a new save 
  is required each round.
  Tactics: The lunar elemental is perfectly 
  content to wait for the characters to take 
  action. After all, every round they delay 
  gives it another round to study one of 
  them. The characters will notice its shape 
  slowly approximating one of them. Unless 
  it is attacked, the elemental will not initiate 
  combat until it has observed the characters 
  for 10 rounds (giving it +10 to hit one of 
  them, per its adaptive special ability) or until 
  one of them tries to move through either of 
  the room’s exits.
  Development: The lunar skinstealers 
  accessed their most sacred relic (in Area 12) 
  by wrapping their form around one of the brass 
  spheres and rolling through one of the three 
  small passages. The brass sphere are about 9 
  inches in diameter, just the right size for a lunar 
  skinstealer to engulf one and still fit through 
  the exits in the south wall. Each brass sphere 
  weighs 25 lbs. and is worth 15 gp as scrap metal.
  A Search of the room (DC 10) reveals a 
  cloudlike symbol etched over each of the 12-
  inch-wide passages. This symbol matches the 
  symbol on the potions in area 11.
  The only way for a PC to get into Area 12 
  is to somehow get through the 12-inch-wide 
  passages. It is possible for a very nimble 
  Small character to do this (Escape Artist DC 
  20). Medium and larger characters cannot 
  pass except through magical means or by use 
  of the potion in Area 11.
  
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  «1»
  The secret door is another 12-inch-wide 
  passage that presumably only a lunar skin-
  stealer can move through. It leads to the 
  hatchery, bypassing the “pit trap” that would 
  normally capture interlopers (see Area 11).
  
  AREA 11: 
  THE HATCHERY (EL 0)
  T
  he hallway into this area is trapped with 
  a camouflaged pit. Luckily for the PCs, 
  the fact that the meteor landed upside down 
  means the “pit” opens on the ceiling, and 
  they’re saved from danger.
  The pit is triggered by an alarm spell, 
  so it activates even though the characters 
  are walking on the “ceiling.” Do not award 
  experience for the trap unless a careful 
  rogue manages to detect it even though it’s 
  no danger. 
  Camouflaged Pit Trap: CR 0 (normally 1 
  when on floor); mechanical; proximity trig-
  ger (alarm); manual reset; DC 20 Reflex save 
  avoids; 10 ft. deep (1d6 fall, if it were located 
  in the floor); Search DC 24; Disable Device 
  DC 20. 
  Once the characters are through the corri-
  dor, Read or paraphrase the following:
  You stand in an oblong room about 40 feet wide 
  and 20 feet long. Scattered about the room are 
  dozens of small, fleshy, rectangular globs. Each 
  chalky white pile sprouts a few tiny hooks from its 
  sides. Some of them quiver slightly, while the rest 
  are immobile.
  A small ledge runs around the wall, about 
  eight feet from the floor. On the floor beneath 
  the ledge are a variety of metal and stone boxes 
  and vials.
  This is the hatchery. The lunar skinstealers 
  bred and raised more of their own kind here. 
  The 30 globules are immature skinstealers. 
  These creatures are parasitic by nature and 
  the young feed off each other, so only a few 
  will survive to adulthood.
  Eight of the immature skinstealers still 
  live. They are harmless now, but certainly 
  won’t be later. Characters should be awarded 
  XP for defeating a CR 1 creature if they rid 
  the world of these menaces.
  Treasure: This room also housed most of 
  the temple’s supplies, including its magic. 
  The mundane treasures are as follows:
  • A number of cracked stone boxes contain 
  some sort of gruel (this was fed to the 
  immature skinstealers).
  • Other boxes have strange clothing (built 
  for lunar creatures), carvings of oozes, 
  and similarly unusual items.
  • A total of 20 symbols of Seroficitacit can be 
  garnered from these boxes; these pendants 
  with irregular blob shapes on them could 
  come in handy for impersonating followers 
  of Seroficitacit in Episode Three.
  • The characters find five cubical metal 
  boxes some 8 inches to a side, each of 
  which holds stone carvings of unidenti-
  fiable meaning or function. (Some are 
  symbols of Seroficitacit, while others 
  are tools designed for the skinsteal-
  ers’ unique anatomy.) The metal boxes 
  themselves are worth 10 gp each if sold as 
  scrap, since metal is such a rare commod-
  ity on Highpoint.
  The dozen metal vials contain the most 
  important treasure. Designed for a skinsteal-
  er’s anatomy, the “vials” are rather flat and 
  squat, with lids far wider than is comfortable 
  for a normal human hand (but which can still 
  be opened).
  Several of the metal vials were dented 
  and punctured in the crash, but the rest are 
  intact. They are labeled in a lunar language 
  that isn’t particularly clear (Decipher Script 
  DC 35), but the characters can quickly dis-
  tinguish three kinds of potion:
  • Two of the potions are a green shade, and 
  smell pleasantly of an unidentifiable scent 
  (potion of cure light wounds, CL 1st).
  • One vial seems to bounce and jostle of its 
  own accord; it is bright red (potion of jump, 
  CL 3rd).
  • The other vials emit a cloud of visible 
  but inert gas when opened; the gas looks 
  like steam except it is cool to the touch 
  (potions of gaseous form, CL 3rd). Each of 
  these vials is inscribed with a cloudlike 
  symbol that matches the symbols over the 
  12-inch-wide holes in area 11.
  The exact number of potions of gaseous 
  form is up to the GM. These are neces-
  sary for entering Area 12. To create a bit 
  of tension and tactical decision-making, 
  give out one less potion than the number 
  of PCs. On the other hand, if you’re afraid 
  the PCs might make a stupid mistake and 
  get stuck in Area 12 (such as by sending in 
  a character that can’t climb out), give out 
  more than enough.
  All the potions were designed for a 
  lunar anatomy, but magic’s magic. The 
  effects are doubled when a lunar creature 
  drinks the potion, but they still work on 
  terrestrial creatures.
  AREA 12: 
  THE STARSHARD
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  This perfectly spherical 25-foot-wide room has 
  polished black walls. The room is dark, like the 
  last glimpse of twilight before the sun sets. A 
  haunting gold glow emanates from a crystalline 
  globe that floats mid-air in the exact center of 
  the spherical space. Pinpricks in the surface of the 
  globe send pointers of light to the walls, where 
  they look like stars in an infinite black sky.
  Have the characters make Spot checks 
  (DC 15). Those that succeed notice a faint 
  black rectangular outline in the southern 
  ceiling of the room. This black outline is 
  actually an opening into a vertical chute 
  leading twenty feet up. It once led to the 
  lower level of the temple, but now it leads 
  to the surface of the meteor. The sunlight 
  that filters through the hole is blocked by 
  the room’s magical nature (see below).
  The characters can leave this room via 
  the chute or (if they have the ability) via the 
  same way they came in. The globe is small 
  enough that it can be rolled through the 12-
  inch-wide tunnels (whether by a character or 
  a lunar skinstealer).
  
  14
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  «1»
  Lighting: Thanks to the presence of the 
  starshard, this room remains at the same light 
  level no matter what other efforts the charac-
  ters undertake. Torches still burn, but seem to 
  emanate no light; light spells have no effect 
  in the room; and even the sunlight from the 
  chute seems simply to fade when it enters.
  Development: The globe is the star-
  shard, a magic item that this temple has 
  possessed for centuries. The lunar 
  worshippers treat it as a major relic 
  and a sacred gift of Seroficitacit. 
  Seroficitacit uses the globe (and 
  its twin, found in Episode Three) 
  to impart visions to his follow-
  ers, but he did not create it. The 
  starshard’s divine origins precede 
  his cult’s acquisition of it.
  The starshard is obviously magical, 
  but the characters probably won’t 
  know what to do with it. That’s fine. 
  Once the characters enter the room, 
  the starshard subtly urges them to take it 
  with them, communicating through empathy 
  and perhaps even telepathy if they’re not per-
  suaded. It will not answer questions or offer 
  hints; its only message is “take me.” (Feel free 
  to assure the more paranoid players in your 
  group that the starshard is not attempting to 
  take control of their minds.)
  See “New Item” in Appendix One for full 
  details of the starshard.
  AREA 13: 
  STAIRWELL
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  This 15-foot-wide room is a perfect circle. A cir-
  cular doorway in the eastern wall opens into what 
  appears to be an upside-down staircase leading 
  up. The stairs come down from the ceiling instead 
  of rising from the floor!
  Just in case the characters haven’t figured it 
  out yet, this should make it obvious that the 
  temple landed upside-down. The staircase 
  formerly led down to the next level below, 
  but it now rises upside-down until it emerges 
  from the top of the meteor. The ramp that 
  was formerly the staircase’s ceiling is easily 
  ascended (Climb DC 10), bringing the char-
  acters outside.
  
  CONCLUSION
  W
  hen the characters finally emerge from 
  the meteor holding the enigmatic 
  starshard, they probably think the adventure’s 
  over. Hardly. It’s only beginning! A few min-
  utes after the characters have left the meteor, 
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  Suddenly, the calm is shattered by the lumbering 
  footsteps of a mech. Two combat mechs appear 
  over the top of a hill less than a mile away. They 
  are huge, bulky things, with an axe blade fixed on 
  one arm and a huge steam cannon built into the 
  other. They stomp toward you, trailing a choking 
  cloud of black smoke. As they approach, you 
  notice the insignia of the Stenian Confederacy 
  stenciled on their torsos.
  Development: The Stenians were sent to 
  investigate this meteorite for lunar influ-
  ence. Their goal is to make sure no lunar 
  creatures survive. The encounter proceeds 
  along these lines:
  1. The mechs corner the characters, aim 
  their cannons at them, and order them 
  to freeze.
  2.  Grunnar, the dwarf commanding 
  officer, shouts from a porthole. He 
  wants to know who the charac-
  ters are and what their business 
  is. The characters are familiar 
  enough with the world to know 
  that the Stenian Confederacy is 
  generally lawful.
  3. After the characters explain 
  their situation, Grunnar will 
  admit they’re doing a good deed 
  for the Confederacy by clearing 
  the meteor — but he’ll demand 
  that they submit to testing to make 
  sure they’re not infected by lunar 
  skinstealers (a creature he’s quite famil-
  iar with). Read or paraphrase the fol-
  lowing. (Note: This blurb is important, 
  since it provides a clue as to what the 
  characters will face in the next episode!)
  One mech trains its weapons on the meteor while 
  the other aims its cannon at you! A crewman from 
  each mech climbs down and advances toward 
  you. You watch nervously as they pull out scal-
  pels. Grunnar, watching from a porthole, assures 
  you that it’s a quick, painless test. The crewmen 
  ask for your arm, then take a quick, shallow slice 
  across the top of your forearm. As soon as they 
  see blood, they grunt approvingly.
  “You see,” Grunnar shouts from his porthole, 
  “the way lunar skinstealers work is they drape over 
  your body and assume your shape. They look like 
  you, feel like you, and are you, as far as anyone 
  else is concerned. But you’re inside, powerless to 
  control your own body. The only way to be sure is 
  to slice the skin. If there’s a skinstealer on top of 
  you, it won’t bleed red.”
  4. The Stenians have no particular interest in 
  the starshard (which the characters prob-
  
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  CHPT.
  #
  «1»
  ably hid anyway). Once the characters pass 
  the test, Read or paraphrase the following:
  The mech commander Grunnar seems satisfied 
  that you are free of lunar influence. “We could 
  use more able-bodied soldiers like you in the 
  Confederacy,” he says. “In fact, this meteor has 
  created a bit of a situation. What you just explored 
  is only half of it. The other half landed in Legion 
  territory not too far to the east. We need to clear 
  out any skinstealers that survived, but we can’t 
  send Stenian mechs into Legion territory.”
  Grunnar pauses for a minute and clears his 
  throat. “That’s right. We can’t send Stenian mechs 
  into Legion territory. But if someone else were to 
  clear that meteor for us, well, it would certainly 
  do us a favor that we’d be willing to repay.”
  Then the mech commander gives you a pointed 
  look. “Would you happen to know anyone who 
  might be willing to perform such a service?”
  In exchange for the characters agreeing to 
  clear the other half of the meteor of any 
  lunar influence, Grunnar is willing to offer 
  the following:
  • Transportation back to city-mech Ned-
  derpik, which is traveling nearby. There 
  the characters can clean up and rest for 
  the night.
  • Nedderpik is already moving in the 
  general direction of the other 
  meteor fragment. Once it 
  closes within range, Grun-
  nar offers the characters 
  use of a civilian mech to 
  close the last few miles.
  • When 
  the 
  characters 
  return after a successful 
  mission, Grunnar promises 
  to arrange provisional citizen-
  ship on Nedderpik for each of them.
  If the characters agree, Grunnar makes room 
  for them on one of the Juggernauts. The 
  mech is short on space, so the characters 
  have to ride on piles of coal in the storage 
  area, or even hang on to hammocks strung 
  under the mech’s legs or arms. That Jugger-
  naut hauls the characters to Nedderpik while 
  the remaining Juggernaut loads up its steam 
  cannon and blasts what’s left of the meteor 
  to a pulp, including the spawns of Seroficit-
  acit that were scattered about the chasm.
  Tactics: The encounter with the 
  Stenian mechs really shouldn’t 
  devolve into a combat. As a 
  result, we haven’t presented 
  combat stats for the mech 
  jockeys and their mechs 
  (which are standard-issue 
  Juggernauts). Should these 
  stats be necessary… well, you 
  might as well take this module 
  back for a refund, because the players 
  have derailed this train before it got started!
  
  16
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  «2»
  EPISODE TWO: OLD IRON ARMS
  apartment (very small — 10 feet x 10 feet 
  for four people!) in the visitors’ level. The 
  ceilings on that level are 6 feet tall to accom-
  modate visiting humans. This is an excessive 
  waste of space in the eyes of the dwarves who 
  built the mech; most other ceilings are only 
  4 to 5 feet tall, mimicking the close quarters 
  of the tunnels in which the dwarven builders 
  were raised. The visitors’ level also has some 
  built-in lighting, usually in the form of gas 
  lamps or torches, but most other areas are 
  dark, since the dwarven inhabitants gener-
  ally operate using darkvision.
  Nedderpik will reach the general location 
  of the second meteor on the second morn-
  ing following the characters’ arrival. In other 
  words, they have two nights and one day on 
  the city-mech. That second night is a good 
  thing, because their first one will be inter-
  rupted. Once the characters have bedded 
  crushed by the massive quarter-mile-wide 
  legs as they crash down to earth. Once the 
  characters are finally on board, they have 
  to adjust to the constant rocking of the city-
  mech as it lumbers across the land, and its 
  massive vertical scale. Simply reaching the 
  visitors’ zone requires ascending in a slow-
  moving cargo elevator for five minutes.
  Don’t forget to review the rules for travel-
  ing in mechs (see “Inside a Mech” in Chap-
  ter 2 of DragonMech). Characters who ride 
  in the Juggernaut wearing armor other than 
  leather, studded leather, padded or hide will 
  suffer 1 point of nonlethal damage from the 
  chafing and blisters, and all characters may 
  suffer from mechsickness the first time they 
  get on a mech. 
  Give the characters time to explore the 
  city-mech, ask questions, and get a sense of 
  how things work. They’ll be assigned a small 
  INTRODUCTION
  A
  fter a four-hour journey, the characters 
  reach city-mech Nedderpik. Full stats 
  on Nedderpik can be found in the Dragon-
  Mech rule book. Emphasize the characters’ 
  sense of awe as they approach the city-mech. 
  Literally the height of a skyscraper, the thing 
  is visible on the horizon more than two hours 
  before they actually reach it. They’ve never 
  before seen a man-made object this large, 
  and none existed prior to the creation of 
  the city-mechs. The docking process is a 
  carefully choreographed dance between the 
  Juggernaut and the city-mech’s wide plat-
  form docks, which hang from its feet. The 
  city-mech never stops moving, so the Jug-
  gernaut has to time its jump onto the docks 
  to the few seconds when the city-mech’s foot 
  is in position, all the while avoiding getting 
  
  17
  CHPT.
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  «2»
  down for their first night on the mech, Read 
  or paraphrase the following:
  You finally fall asleep in your cramped city-mech 
  apartment. But after what seems like only mo-
  ments, you hear a soft tapping sound. Awakening 
  with the quick alertness all adventurers develop, 
  you scan your room and notice two 
  eyes peering through the metal air 
  vent on one wall. When the eyes 
  see you looking back, a pair of 
  hands pushes back the air vent, 
  and a small, slightly built hu-
  manoid covered in filth and grease 
  hangs out of the opening.
  “Please, sirs,” says the creature. “Do not make 
  a sound. My tribe needs your help. Will you save 
  Old Iron Arms?”
  Once the characters have reacted (hopefully 
  by not killing the cogling), continue reading 
  or paraphrasing:
  “I am Hammerbit, fourth cogling of the lower 
  tribe. My tribe has stayed in the gear forests for 
  four generations. We have never been discovered. 
  In exchange for the safety provided by the Great 
  Engine, we have maintained it perfectly. No engi-
  neer has ever needed to make repairs in our area.
  “But now there is a problem we cannot 
  solve. Old Iron Arms has been attacked by a 
  creature that eats metal. Our weapons 
  are useless against it, and our repairs 
  cannot keep up with its rampage. If it 
  is not stopped, the gear forest will 
  be damaged beyond repair, and we 
  will be discovered.
  “Only an outsider can help us! We 
  ask that you save Old Iron Arms with-
  out telling those who control the Great 
  Engine. In exchange we can offer valuable 
  metals and all the secrets of the Great Engine.
  “Please, sirs. Will you save Old Iron Arms and 
  my tribe?”
  Coglings: Refer to “New Creatures” in 
  Chapter 5 of DragonMech for full details on 
  coglings. These halfling stowaways survive in 
  the engine rooms of city-mechs, where they 
  keep everything in perfect running order so 
  the city-mech’s engineers will never have a 
  reason to visit the engine rooms and possibly 
  discover the cogling stowaways. Over the 
  generations, the halflings have degenerated 
  into the grease-covered engine dwellers that 
  are now called coglings. They 
  themselves call the engine 
  rooms “gear forests” 
  and have built entire 
  mythologies 
  based 
  around the “Great 
  Engine,” which is what 
  they call their city-
  mech home. The cleric 
  of the cogling tribe has 
  divined that these adventurers 
  are trustworthy allies, which is why the 
  coglings have made contact.
  Old Iron Arms: Old Iron Arms is a hid-
  den golem that keeps Nedderpik running. 
  
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  See the description for Area 1 of the gear 
  forest, below.
  Development: If the characters agree 
  to help the cogling, it first recaps the basic 
  situation for them. It describes the coglings’ 
  relationship with the city-mech and gear for-
  ests, and also gives them some sense that Old 
  Iron Arms is a sort of speaking engine part. It 
  also mentions that the menace is capable of 
  destroying metal with a breath — a clue that 
  the characters should acquire some wooden 
  or stone weapons, if possible. (These items 
  can be found on sale in the city-mech. 
  Wooden items are expensive due to the rar-
  ity of trees, generally costing 50% more than 
  an equivalent metal item. Stone items are 
  normal price.)
  Hammerbit is willing to wait until the 
  next night if the characters insist, but the 
  expedition has to happen at night so that 
  the trip into the gear forests isn’t detected. 
  When the characters are ready, he leads them 
  from their room and shows them back-alley 
  passages down to the gear forests. He gets 
  them around the locked entrances to the 
  engine rooms through air vents, 
  secret 
  passages, 
  cleared 
  areas of gear forest, and 
  in some cases fabricated 
  keys that open normally 
  locked doors. Finally, he 
  leads the PCs through a 
  long, dangerous stretch of 
  labyrinthine gear forests to 
  Old Iron Arms.
  Now refer to Map Two: The Gear Forest.
  GEAR FOREST FEATURES
  The Gear Forest: Remember that a gear forest is a 
  hazardous environment. It’s a life-sized engine, and 
  the spinning gears, whirring cogs and smashing pistons 
  are a real hazard. Refer to Chapter 8 of DragonMech 
  for details on the hazards. Most areas of this episode 
  do not directly expose the characters to the gear for-
  est, but it’s a constant background hazard, and must 
  be directly confronted in Areas 8 and 9.
  Illumination: Gear forests are lit by the ambient 
  light of the surrounding engine. Open flames, sparks, 
  burning coal and small gas explosions provide a con-
  stant low-light illumination.
  Walls: Some “rooms” are simply cleared areas of 
  the gear forest. The coglings take apart and rebuild 
  the engine rooms to make space for their habitations. 
  Usually they make the engine more efficient in the 
  process, as well. Those walls that do exist are made of 
  thick sheets of iron, generally 3 inches thick. Areas 3 
  and 8 are cleared gear forest with no walls. 
  Iron Wall: 3 in. thick; Break DC 30; hardness 10; 
  90 hp; Climb DC 25.
  Doors: The few doors are made of solid iron. 
  They are usually locked, as this area of the gear for-
  est was not meant to accommodate anyone but the 
  city-mech’s engineers. Of course, that hasn’t stopped 
  the coglings, who can now successfully pick the locks 
  after generations of trying. 
  Iron Door: 2 in. thick; hardness 10; 60 hp; Break 
  DC 28 (stuck or locked).
  
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  CHPT.
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  
  THE GEAR FOREST
  T
  his section details the various locations 
  of note in the Nedderpik gear forest.
  
  AREA 1: 
  OLD IRON ARMS
  When the characters arrive at Old Iron Arms, 
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  Hammerbit leads you down narrow paths in the 
  dangerous gear forests for what seems like miles. 
  The heat is unbearable, and the hissing steam and 
  sporadic flames singe your clothes. Every step 
  seems to hold the potential for injury as you care-
  fully avoid swinging pendulums, smashing pistons, 
  and toothed gears spinning at breakneck speeds. 
  If it weren’t for Hammerbit’s guidance, you would 
  surely be killed.
  Finally, you reach an area with metal walls. 
  Hammerbit leads you down a wide hallway that 
  is surprisingly clean compared to the filth and 
  grease of the gear forest. After opening four 
  successively locked doors of ever-more-imposing 
  girth, he ushers you quietly into a 40-foot-wide 
  circular room. 
  In the center is one of the strangest constructs 
  you have ever seen. A gigantic metal torso is bolt-
  ed securely into the floor. Its iron head is sculpted 
  into the rough outline of a humanoid face. Each 
  of its massive articulated arms is attached to an 
  enormous piston, one thrusting upward into the 
  ceiling and the other downward into the floor. 
  Both pistons pump furiously, powered by the 
  staggering iron strength of this massive creature. 
  Sparks fly from the joints in its arms as it labors to 
  keep the pistons moving.
  Hammerbit kneels before the creature. Seem-
  ingly from nowhere, a voice addresses you.
  “Greetings, men. I am Old Iron Arms.”
  Old Iron Arms is an iron golem specially 
  designed to keep the city-mech running. 
  When the city-mech was built almost 100 
  years ago, the chief engineer discovered 
  at the last minute that the steam engines 
  wouldn’t be powerful enough to keep it 
  moving. Simple calculation errors had led 
  to a dire mistake. Thousands of worker-citi-
  zens had already converged on the building 
  site, and failure to mobilize the city-mech 
  would not only be a huge blow to morale 
  for the struggling Clan Duerok, but would 
  also cost lives, as the lunar rains and waves 
  of refugees killed a few more defenders 
  
  20
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  with each passing day. The chief engineer 
  thus made a difficult decision, which was 
  kept secret from all but the most senior 
  gearwrights: He ordered a magical golem 
  be installed to provide the final vestiges of 
  power needed to run the city-mech.
  This golem was custom-modified to fit 
  the engine’s needs. It augments the power 
  of the steam engine to keep the city-mech 
  running. Without the golem, the city-mech 
  can power itself for short periods but will 
  redline its engines with any kind of sus-
  tained functioning.
  The existence of the golem was well hid-
  den. If ever discovered, it would be far too 
  convenient a target for enemy stalkers. Its 
  location was secured by four massive doors, 
  the keys to which were possessed by only 
  the chief engineer. (Over the years, the 
  coglings have learned to pick these locks.) 
  When he neared the natural end of his lifes-
  pan some 40 years ago, the chief engineer 
  knew that knowledge of the golem must 
  be passed on, but he knew of no one with 
  whom to entrust that knowledge. So he 
  made a dramatic decision: Rather than die 
  a natural death, he enlisted the aid of an old 
  mage friend to transfer his own soul to the 
  golem. Now, thanks to a modified version 
  of the clockwork double spell and special ritu-
  als used to rebuild the golem, he continues 
  on in eternal life as the spirit that keeps the 
  city-mech running.
  The engineer, who now calls himself Old 
  Iron Arms, was surprised to learn that in all 
  his years running the city-mech, the coglings 
  had escaped his notice. Now he enjoys their 
  company in his lonely existence, and has 
  grown rather fond of the small creatures that 
  consider him a god. 
  Old Iron Arms, Custom Iron Golem 
  (Ex-dwarf) Cog13: CR 15; Large construct; 
  HD 18d10+30; hp 110 (max 129; currently 
  injured); Init –5; Spd 0 ft.; AC 26, touch 4, 
  flat-footed 26; BAB +12; Grp N/A; Atk +57 
  melee (2d10+45, slam); Full Atk +57 melee 
  (2d10+45, 2 slams); Space/Reach 10 ft./5 
  ft.; SQ Construct traits, machine empathy, 
  exotic weapon proficiencies (buzzsaw, 
  chattersword, lobster claw, steambreather), 
  DR 15/adamantine, darkvision 60 ft., immu-
  nity to magic, low-light vision, dwarf traits 
  (residual as still applicable); AL LN; SV Fort 
  +10, Ref +5, Will +15; Str 100, Dex 1, Con –, 
  Int 17, Wis 13, Cha 9.
  Skills: Craft (blacksmithing) +21, Craft 
  (mechcraft) +34, Disable Device +19, 
  Knowledge (steam engines) +32, Knowl-
  edge (mechs) +32, Listen +19, Mech Pilot 
  +3, Profession (engineer) +19, Spot +11.
  Feats: Alertness, Craft Powered Mech, 
  Craft Steam Gear, Gearhead, Mechanized 
  Combat Practice, Mechwalker.
  Steam Powers (17): 2x Tiny clockwork 
  puppets (clockwork puppet + animator + 
  discriminator + voice command + metal ear 
  + wavemaker); 1x Small clockwork puppet 
  (clockwork puppet + clockwork puppet + 
  animator + discriminator + voice command).
  Languages Spoken: Common, Dwarven.
  Development: Old Iron Arms points 
  out four important features of the room to 
  the characters. First, the locked door to 
  the north leads to supplies for repairing the 
  golem, left over from when it was built many 
  decades ago. None of these supplies have 
  ever been needed until recently. 
  Second, Old Iron Arms shows signs of 
  severe rust along the base of his torso. The 
  rusted area has been repaired (badly) by the 
  coglings, but Old Iron Arms is not in the 
  same condition he once was. If the rusting 
  continues, he will be disabled or destroyed, 
  bringing the city-mech to a grinding halt and 
  exposing the coglings.
  Third, a trail of rust leads from 
  the golem’s base to a small hole 
  burned through a section of 
  the northeast wall. Old Iron 
  Arms explains that the metal-
  eating beetles that prey upon 
  him enter through this hole. 
  The rust trail can’t be followed, as 
  the hole itself is barely 8 inches across 
  and it leads to a thick patch of impassable 
  and dangerous gear forest. Yet the coglings 
  can lead the PCs to Area 3 and direct them 
  from there.
  Finally, another hole exists in the south-
  ern wall. This hole was made much more 
  carefully, and it leads to the coglings’ lair 
  by way of Area 3. The coglings designed this 
  hole so it could be concealed; should they so 
  desire, they can put metal panels in place to 
  turn it into a secret door (Search DC 25).
  Old Iron Arms explains his history and 
  asks for the characters’ assistance. He tells 
  how the coglings are utterly terrified of the 
  metal-eating beetles. All weapons possessed 
  by the coglings are metal, and their provin-
  cial life inside the gear forest has convinced 
  them that anything that can destroy metal 
  must be supremely powerful. The coglings 
  can direct the PCs to the general direction 
  of the beetles, but the PCs must do the rest.
  Future Development: Old Iron Arms’ 
  stats are provided here for reference, not 
  for combat. He provides a patron for future 
  adventures if you place your campaign on 
  Nedderpik. His clockwork puppets see 
  most of what happens on the mech, and he 
  is surprisingly well-informed for a creature 
  incapable of physical mobility. For decades, 
  his only company has been the coglings, and 
  despite his fondness for them, he welcomes 
  additional companionship. Should the PCs 
  prove their value and trustworthiness, he’d 
  be happy to work with them in the future.
  Old Iron Arms’ profile is that of a modi-
  fied iron golem with a 13th-level dwarven 
  coglayer’s mind, though many of his skills, 
  feats and other abilities gained while he was 
  a coglayer are inhibited by the unique con-
  struction of this particular golem body. Old 
  Iron Arms has only one attack, which is to 
  slam an opponent with his pistons, but this 
  attack has a very limited reach, as the 
  pistons are constrained in where 
  they can move. He cannot grap-
  ple, as his pistons are unable to 
  wrap around an enemy. He speaks 
  via a specialized magic mouth that 
  was added to the golem’s essence 
  when his soul was transplanted. 
  He uses his clockwork puppets to spy 
  about the city-mech and remain aware of 
  what’s going on. Normally, he would also use 
  them for defense, but he has kept them away 
  from the ferrovore beetles for fear they will 
  be destroyed.
  Old Iron Arms is currently injured. Any 
  character who repairs him will immediately 
  enter his good graces.
  
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  
  AREA 2: 
  SUPPLIES
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  This 20-by-20-foot room is stacked full of steel 
  bars, wooden crates, and tools.
  When the golem was first installed, these sup-
  plies were stashed here for future use should 
  the golem need repairing. The room contains 
  more than 3,000 pounds of common metal, 
  primarily iron and steel but also some tin and 
  aluminum. It is clear that some supplies have 
  been used over the years (primarily by the 
  coglings), but most are intact. The characters 
  also find a healthy supply of hammers, anvils, 
  tongs and other metalworking tools. Nothing 
  is of any particular value beyond its normal 
  price as mundane equipment.
  AREA 3: 
  COGLING CLEARING
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  A narrow path leads 30 feet south through the gear 
  forest before opening up into a roughly circular 
  clearing. It’s clear that someone rebuilt this entire 
  area of the gear forest in order to create this safe 
  zone. In the middle of the clearing are two more 
  coglings. They carry crossbows that are loaded but 
  pointed at the floor. They eye you warily.
  This is a guard room. The coglings always 
  have at least one guard here to make sure 
  no one finds their lair, which is to the 
  south. Lately they’ve doubled the guard in 
  an unsuccessful attempt to keep the metal-
  eating beetles away from Old Iron Arms. 
  The passage to the northeast leads to other 
  areas of the gear forest, through which the 
  characters must pass.
  Development: Hammerbit introduces 
  the characters to the two guards, named 
  Boltrunner and Truggut. After Hammerbit 
  explains the situation, they direct the char-
  acters toward the northeast passage, which 
  they say leads to where the metal-eating bee-
  tles come from. The coglings are assigned to 
  guard duty here and won’t follow the charac-
  ters, but will help them fight anything that 
  directly threatens this area.
  If it comes up, both guards make it clear 
  to the characters that they’re not allowed 
  
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  CHPT.
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  «2»
  to travel any further south. The guards will 
  enforce this rule with violence. Only a direct 
  invitation from the leader of the tribe will 
  get the characters any closer to their lair.
  Stats for the coglings are not presented 
  here because they really shouldn’t be 
  involved in combat. If it comes up, treat 
  them as standard cogling warriors as 
  described in “New Creatures” of Chapter 5 
  in DragonMech.
  The Gear Forest: Remember that the gear 
  forest is dangerous. If the characters venture 
  from the cleared area, they may take damage 
  as described in Chapter 6 of DragonMech.
  It is possible for the characters to reach 
  the sludge river at Area 8 by hiking due east 
  through the gear forest from Area 3. The 
  coglings won’t suggest this, as they realize 
  the danger posed by the gear forest. How-
  ever, they won’t hide the possibility either, 
  if the characters are inquisitive.
  Future Development: If the characters 
  complete the mission successfully and earn the 
  respect of the coglings, this is their entrance 
  point to the creatures’ lair. The coglings can 
  become allies for future adventures (or ene-
  mies if the characters botch the mission).
  
  AREA 4: 
  BOILER ROOM (EL 2)
  This hazardous room is filled with scalding 
  steam. Read or paraphrase the following:
  You’ve entered a room full of white-hot steam. 
  The steam obscures sight more than five feet 
  in front of you. The coglings said you must pass 
  through this room, but the steam is so thick that 
  it’s impossible to tell where you should go.
  You will need to keep track of four things 
  in this room: the high temperature; the low 
  visibility; the dangerous centipedes; and the 
  locked door.
  The round objects on the map are boilers, 
  which are red-hot to the touch but otherwise 
  not dangerous. They’re filled with boil-
  ing water, but short of using massive force 
  there’s no way the characters can puncture 
  them (hardness 10, 50 hp).
  The walls of this room are solid iron. 
  They’re quite hot due to the steam.
  The High Temperature: The air tempera-
  ture is approximately 110 degrees Fahrenheit. 
  This is considered severe heat, per the descrip-
  tion of the “Heat Dangers” entry under the 
  “The Environment” section of Chapter 8 in 
  the DMG. For every full 10 minutes that the 
  characters spend in this room, they must make 
  a Fortitude save (DC 15, +1 for each previous 
  check) or take 1d4 points of nonlethal damage. 
  Characters wearing heavy clothing or any sort 
  of armor take a –4 penalty to this check.
  Low Visibility: The steam provides con-
  cealment to everything in the room. Vision 
  is limited to 5 feet, and all attacks have a 20% 
  miss chance.
  Dangerous Centipedes: A wide variety 
  of vermin have made this room their home. 
  The heat is overwhelming to warm-blooded 
  creatures, but cold-blooded centipedes 
  rather enjoy it, at least for a while.
  Lurking in the northern section of the 
  room are 4 Small monstrous centipedes and 2 
  Medium monstrous centipedes. They’re slug-
  gish due to the heat, but also protective of this 
  area, which they routinely defend from other 
  vermin that also want to nest here. They will 
  attack the characters on sight (but remember 
  that sight is limited to 5 feet). Their stats are 
  below. If the PCs win initiative, this encoun-
  ter may not be particularly challenging. In this 
  case, feel free to throw more centipedes after 
  the PCs until they’ve been given a good fight.
  The centipedes have no treasure per 
  se, but a search of the floor turns up the 
  decaying carapaces of countless centipedes, 
  spiders and beetles, all of which died in the 
  endless battles for this warmest of lairs. Hid-
  den among the scraps (Search DC 15) is one 
  thing worth owning: a +1 ring of protection, 
  consumed from a wayward adventurer by 
  some arachnid that died here soon after. The 
  ring is very hot to the touch, however, and 
  must be picked up carefully; it takes 20 min-
  utes to cool down to the point where it can 
  be worn (wearing it while hot causes 1 point 
  of nonlethal damage per round). 
  Monstrous Centipede, Small (4): CR 
  1/4; Small vermin; HD 1/2d8; hp 2 each; Init 
  +2; Spd 30 ft., climb 30 ft.; AC 14, touch 13, 
  flat-footed 12; BAB +0; Grp –7; Atk/Full Atk 
  +3 melee (1d4–3 plus poison, bite); SA Poi-
  son; SQ Darkvision 60 ft., vermin traits; AL 
  N; SV Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +0; Str 5, Dex 15, 
  Con 10, Int –, Wis 10, Cha 2.
  Skills: Climb +10, Hide +14, Spot +4.
  Feats: Weapon Finesse.
  SA – Poison: Injury, Fort DC 10, 1d2 Dex/
  1d2 Dex.
  Monstrous Centipede, Medium (2): 
  CR 1/2; Medium vermin; HD 1d8; hp 4 each; 
  Init +2; Spd 40 ft., climb 40 ft.; AC 14, touch 
  12, flat-footed 12; BAB +0; Grp –1; Atk/Full 
  Atk +2 melee (1d6–1 plus poison, bite); SA 
  Poison; SQ Darkvision 60 ft., vermin traits; 
  AL N; SV Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +0; Str 9, Dex 
  15, Con 10, Int –, Wis 10, Cha 2.
  Skills: Climb +10, Hide +10, Spot +4.
  Feats: Weapon Finesse.
  SA – Poison: Injury, Fort DC 10, 1d3 Dex/
  1d3 Dex.
  Locked Door: The door from this room is 
  locked. The lock is easy to pick, as it has been 
  corroded by the constant exposure to steam. 
  However, the metal is red hot. Anyone trying 
  to pick the lock must make a Dexterity check 
  (DC 15) or suffer 1d2 points of heat damage 
  while they are working. 
  Iron door: 2 in. thick; hardness 10; 60 hp; Break 
  DC 28 (stuck or locked); Open Lock DC 15.
  
  AREA 5: 
  RUSTY CORRIDOR (EL 1)
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  The corridor immediately turns due east. The air 
  is much cooler now that you are out of the steam 
  room. About 30 feet down the corridor, you see 
  what appears to be a rust trail running north-to-
  south. Past that, the corridor turns to the south.
  This corridor has three main features: the rust 
  trail; the two centipedes that are hanging upside 
  down above it; and the locked door in the north.
  
  23
  CHPT.
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  «2»
  The Rust Trail: The ferrovore beetles ate 
  their way through this room in their wander-
  ings. There are two holes in the wall, one to 
  the north and one to the south. They are like 
  the one in Area 1, with a rust trail connecting 
  them. Both lead into unsafe gear forest. (The 
  beetles left behind a rusted trail burrowed 
  right through the gears, but it’s not large 
  enough for PCs to pass through.)
  The Centipedes: Two more centipedes 
  are in this corridor, but they are hiding on 
  the ceiling above the rust trail. They retreat-
  ed here when the beetles passed by earlier, 
  and have not left. Give the PCs a Spot check 
  against the centipedes’ Hide skill. If the 
  centipedes remain hidden, they wait until a 
  character passes underneath to investigate 
  the rust trail, then they drop and attack. This 
  ambush gives them a surprise round before 
  the regular combat initiates. 
  Monstrous Centipede, Medium (2): 
  CR 1/2; Medium vermin; HD 1d8; hp 4 each; 
  Init +2; Spd 40 ft., climb 40 ft.; AC 14, touch 
  12, flat-footed 12; BAB +0; Grp –1; Atk/Full 
  Atk +2 melee (1d6–1 plus poison, bite); 
  SA Poison; SQ Darkvision 60 
  ft., vermin traits; AL N; SV 
  Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +0; 
  Str 9, Dex 15, Con 10, Int –, 
  Wis 10, Cha 2.
  Skills: Climb +10, Hide 
  +10, Spot +4.
  Feats: Weapon Finesse.
  SA – Poison: Injury, Fort DC 10, 
  1d3 Dex/1d3 Dex.
  AREA 6A: 
  THE COGWHEELS (EL 2)
  R
  ead or paraphrase the following. This 
  text assumes the PCs enter from the 
  north. The ceiling is 15 feet tall.
  The room ahead is 40 feet wide and at least as 
  long. Directly in front of you, only 5 feet into 
  the room, are three massive cogwheels turning 
  at breakneck speed. Each wheel is over 15 feet 
  in diameter, with its bottom half buried in the 
  floor. Only 3 feet of space separates the gears 
  from each other. You can pass, but it will 
  be dangerous.
  Getting past the three cogwheels 
  require squeezing between them. 
  This requires three successive Reflex 
  saves per the stats given below, one check 
  to squeeze past each wheel. A failed check 
  results in damage. Once a character has 
  entered, he can’t advance without making 
  subsequent checks, and he can’t leave with-
  out repeating the checks he made to get in.
  There is one other way to pass: on the 
  ceiling, which would be easy along the east 
  or west edges of the wall (where there is 
  almost 12 feet of clear space between the 
  top edge of the cogwheel and the ceiling). 
  However, doing so requires the ability to 
  fly or climb on the ceiling, which the PCs 
  probably don’t have.
  Characters with the bright idea of jam-
  ming the gears are out of luck. Aside from 
  the fact that doing so would damage the 
  city-mech’s engines and bring attention to 
  the coglings, it should also be obvious that 
  they don’t have the power to jam a 30-foot-
  wide gear weighing at least a ton and spin-
  ning at high speed — hence the high Disable 
  Device DC.
  Treasure: The body of a dead adventurer 
  lies between the second and third gears. His 
  skeleton has been picked clean by the centi-
  pedes, but his leather armor and sacks look 
  very appealing to greedy adventurers. How-
  ever, every round spent searching provokes 
  another Reflex save from the spinning gears, 
  as the PCs must maneuver in a cramped, dan-
  gerous space. On the body (Search DC 12) 
  are the following items: leather armor, a sack 
  with 65 gp, a masterwork short sword, a light 
  steel shield, a +1 longsword, two potions of cure 
  light wounds, and a potion of jump. The coglings 
  avoid this area because of the warder in Area 
  7, so they haven’t touched the body. 
  Spinning Gears Trap: CR 1; mechanical; 
  proximity trigger; automatic reset; DC 10 
  Reflex save avoids (characters must make at 
  least 3 checks); 1d3 damage; Search DC 1; 
  Disable Device DC 40.
  
  24
  CHPT.
  #
  «2»
  
  AREA 6B: 
  THE PISTONS
  Once the characters have made it past the 
  cogwheels, Read or paraphrase the following:
  Once you’re past the cogwheels, you see that 
  the room holds more danger. The southern 
  half extends another 40 feet. Five massive 
  pistons reach from floor to ceiling, pumping 
  up and down with earth-shattering force. This 
  time it looks safe to pass, though, as there’s 
  at least 10 feet of space between each piston. 
  You can’t help but notice another trail of rust, 
  this time leading east-west across the lower 
  half of the room.
  The pistons are indeed safe to pass, but 
  fighting a battle here is another story. Any-
  one fighting in a square adjacent to a pis-
  ton must make a Reflex save (DC 12) each 
  round or be struck, taking 2d8 damage from 
  the massive blow. This probably won’t come 
  into play, but if the characters are clever, 
  they may try to drag the warder from Area 7 
  to beneath one of the pistons. This is easily 
  done with bull rushes and a grapple check; 
  once the combatants are adjacent to a pis-
  ton, whoever wins the grapple check shoves 
  his opponent under the piston, forcing a 
  Reflex save by the opponent while keeping 
  himself out of danger.
  AREA 7: 
  THE WARDER (EL 1)
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  As soon as you glance into this 30-by-30-foot 
  room, you hear a robotic voice speaking to you. 
  A tall, lanky construct with a face carved into 
  a stern expression steps into the center of the 
  room. “Warning!” it says. “This area is off limits. 
  Please return to your level.” As it repeats the mo-
  notonous warning over and over, you notice that it 
  makes no additional moves toward you. You can 
  see that the eastern wall of its room has a door.
  This warder was installed to warn creatures 
  entering from the east, not the north; the 
  characters are approaching from the wrong 
  direction as far as it’s concerned. The door 
  out of this area is unlocked when leaving, but 
  is locked from the outside (which is where 
  the creators assumed intruders would come 
  from). Characters who aren’t careful may 
  have trouble getting back in. 
  
  25
  CHPT.
  #
  «2»
  Iron door: 2 in. thick; hardness 10; 60 
  hp; Break DC 28 (stuck or locked); Open 
  Lock DC 20 (from area 8), DC 0 (from 
  area 7).
  Warder: CR 1/2; Medium construct; 
  HD 2d10; hp 11; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 
  14, touch 10, flat-footed 14; BAB +1; Grp 
  +2; Atk/Full Atk +2 melee (1d6+1, 
  slam); SQ Construct traits; AL 
  N; SV Fort +0, Ref +0, Will 
  –5; Str 12, Dex 10, Con –, Int –, 
  Wis 1, Cha 1.
  Development: The ward-
  er will continue warning 
  until someone approaches 
  within 20 feet, at which 
  point it attacks. It will not 
  pursue those who retreat.
  
  AREA 8: 
  THE SLUDGE RIVER (EL 1)
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  You’ve entered a natural clearing in the gear forest. 
  It extends for about 30 feet to a river of sludge 
  running north-to-south. The sludge river looks like 
  it was once some sort of grease pit or oil outflow 
  that has since become grossly overrun. Now it’s 
  a slow-running river of grease, oil, chemicals and 
  sludge that’s 30 feet wide in most places. Except 
  for your little clearing, its banks are gear forest on 
  both sides. On the far bank, you see a faint trail of 
  rusty parts emerging about 20 feet upstream.
  The coglings intentionally dam grease flows 
  like this to create habitats for the grease 
  lizards they domesticate. A few wild grease 
  lizards are always present, however, and this 
  is no exception. An adult grease lizard lurks 
  midway across the sludge river. It will hide 
  until the characters are close, then attack. 
  Grease Lizard: CR 1; Medium animal; 
  HD 2d8+2; hp 11; Init –1; Spd 20 ft., swim 
  30 ft.; AC 13, touch 9, flat-footed 13; BAB 
  +1; Grp +4; Atk/Full Atk +4 melee (1d4+3, 
  bite); SQ Fire vulnerability; AL N; SV Fort 
  +4, Ref +2, Will +0; Str 16, Dex 8, Con 13, 
  Int 2, Wis 10, Cha 2.
  Skills: Hide +12 (+0 when not submerged), 
  Listen +2, Spot +2.
  Crossing the River: The river is 3 feet 
  deep in the center. It can be waded at half 
  speed; any faster will risk a fall (Reflex DC 
  16). Anyone wading through 
  will emerge coated 
  with grease and 
  f l a m m a b l e 
  chemicals. 
  Characters 
  so coated 
  take 
  an 
  extra 
  1d6 
  d a m a g e 
  the 
  next 
  time they are 
  attacked 
  by 
  fire. They also 
  suffer from a –1 pen-
  alty to Reflex saves for the 
  next 10 minutes because they are so slippery. 
  Furthermore, they must make Balance checks 
  (DC 10) to attempt any movement faster than 
  a walk, which includes a charge, run or jump. 
  Failure means the PC falls prone. The grease 
  cannot be cleaned short of a very thorough 
  bath or specialized magic.
  Characters may have the magical means to 
  jump the river, but doing so will land them in 
  the gear forest on the opposite bank.
  Fire: The sludge itself has a 
  high moisture content 
  and isn’t extremely 
  flammable, 
  but 
  the 
  chemicals 
  floating above 
  it are. Light-
  ing the sludge 
  river on fire 
  will 
  cause 
  huge flames for 
  1d4+2 
  rounds, 
  igniting 
  the 
  resident grease lizard 
  and sending it charging 
  into the characters. It will also 
  cause mechanical problems throughout the 
  gear forest, bringing unwanted attention to 
  the coglings.
  The Opposite Bank: Emerging onto 
  the opposite bank, the characters can eas-
  ily follow the rust trail, but will be forced 
  to travel through the gear forest to do so. 
  See Chapter 8 in DragonMech for rules 
  on gear forest hazards. Award XP for any 
  hazards encountered.
  AREA 9: 
  THE BEETLE LAIR (EL 3)
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  You carefully push your way through the gear for-
  est until the rust trail opens into a rusted clearing. 
  It looks like something has literally consumed the 
  gear forest in this area. Rusted frames stand like 
  the skeleton of a dead engine. Nesting within the 
  soft waves of rust are three large rust-red beetles, 
  each more than 5 feet long. A soft red glow ema-
  nates from above their eyes.
  This is the lair of the ferrovore fire beetles 
  that so enjoy the taste of the golem’s magical 
  metal. Due to their ability to detect metal, 
  it is highly unlikely that the characters will 
  surprise them (especially if they’re carrying 
  the delicious-smelling +1 longsword from 
  Area 6A). The beetles are prepared to fight 
  and charge on sight.
  Tactics: The beetles open with 
  a barrage of breath weapons. 
  They aren’t smart enough to 
  coordinate their actions, 
  so all three use their 
  breath weapon on the 
  first round. (Hopefully 
  the characters were smart 
  enough to stash their 
  valuable metal objects 
  before the fight!) On the 
  second round, they charge 
  in to use their bite attack. They 
  fight to the death.
  Treasure: A search of the area reveals 
  no treasure. The beetles were interested exclu-
  sively in metal objects, and devoured anything 
  that might be of value to the characters.  
  
  26
  CHPT.
  #
  «2»
  Ferrovore Giant Fire Beetles (3): CR 1; 
  Small vermin; HD 3d8; hp 13 each; Init +0; 
  Spd 30 ft.; AC 16, touch 11, flat-footed 16; 
  BAB +2; Grp –2; Atk/Full Atk +3 melee (1d4 
  plus rust, bite); SA Breath weapon (DC 11); 
  SQ Darkvision 60 ft., vermin traits, detect 
  metal, corrosive skin (DC 11); AL N; SV Fort 
  +3, Ref +1, Will +1; Str 10, Dex 11, Con 11, Int 
  –, Wis 10, Cha 7.
  Skills: –
  SA–Breath Weapon (Ex): Line, 30 feet, once 
  every 1d4+1 rounds; all mundane metals 
  instantly rusted; magic items receive Ref 
  save (DC 11).
  by creatures of Small or Tiny size, to spy on 
  affairs throughout the “Great Engine.” They 
  are aware of most significant developments 
  on the mech — although what’s “significant” 
  to them may have little to no meaning to the 
  characters, and vice versa. They offer their 
  assistance in unearthing secrets in the future.
  Finally, the coglings offer access to Old 
  Iron Arms if it is needed for the future, 
  although they insist this access be regulated 
  by their own warriors. They are keenly aware 
  of Old Iron Arms’ importance in the func-
  tioning of the Great Engine, and they protect 
  him as the totem of their tribe. The cogling 
  warriors don’t let anything get close to Old 
  Iron Arms if they can prevent it, but they’ll 
  allow the characters access as long as it’s in 
  their presence. As far as the coglings are 
  concerned, this is the greatest gift they can 
  offer. The characters, of course, are probably 
  far more interested in the platinum!
  
  CONCLUSION
  T
  he coglings will be overjoyed to hear 
  that the beetles are vanquished. They’ll 
  ask the characters to bring them the crea-
  tures’ bodies, and take them to the beetles’ 
  lair so they can repair the damage they did to 
  the gear forest.
  In exchange for the characters’ help, the 
  coglings offer three valuables.
  First, they give the characters three ingots 
  of platinum. Each weighs half a pound and is 
  worth 250 gp.
  Second, they explain the network of air 
  vents, water pipes and hydraulic cables that 
  are woven into the structure of the city-mech 
  like veins in a living creature. They use these 
  passages, most of which are passable only 
  
  27
  CHPT.
  #
  «2»
  
  28
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  This episode is organized into encoun-
  ters. The first few encounters are along the 
  path to Legion territory, then there are sev-
  eral encounters around the meteor.
  
  TRAVELING 
  ENCOUNTERS
  N
  ow refer to Map Three: Journey to 
  the Legion.
  Encounter A: 
  Getting Off Nedderpik
  On the second morning after the characters 
  arrive on Nedderpik, the city-mech comes as 
  close to Legion territory as it will get. The 
  ition, lest the characters wind up mobbed by 
  dozens of commoners. In the end, the PCs 
  should be able to identify the skinstealers 
  and eliminate them. In this final encounter, 
  they discover the location of another star-
  shard, hidden in the lunar temple — but as 
  they go to retrieve it, they’re beaten to the 
  punch by a nimble Irontooth mech, which 
  leads to the next episode.
  INTRODUCTION
  T
  his episode seems straightforward: 
  The characters are to travel to Legion 
  territory, where they have to raid a lunar 
  temple much like the one they just left. Yet 
  it turns out to be more difficult. First, they 
  encounter a number of hazards as they ven-
  ture deeper into Legion territory, ranging 
  from wild giant worms to orc raiders. Once 
  they make it into Legion territory, they are 
  faced with a suspicious military patrol. 
  When they finally make it to the meteor, 
  they discover the plan has a big hitch: The 
  meteor is now the de facto campground for a 
  band of Legion citizens. They’re living in the 
  meteor, and if the lunar skinstealers are any-
  where to be found, they’re probably already 
  controlling some of the citizens. Navigating 
  this situation requires diplomacy and intu-
  EPISODE THREE: ENTER THE LEGION
  
  29
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  characters are loaned a Magwagon, a mech 
  model that was once used by the Stenian 
  Confederacy but which is now primarily in 
  use by civilian freighters. The Magwagon 
  (see Appendix One) lacks any official 
  Stenian marks or insignia; to all appearances, 
  it is completely nonpartisan.
  Grunnar reiterates their mission: Destroy 
  any lunar influence present at the site of the 
  second meteor. He emphasizes the danger of 
  the insidious skinstealers, and instructs the 
  characters about them as much as possible 
  (to whatever extent you, the DM, prefer). 
  He warns them of the xenophobia common 
  in Legion territory and recommends that 
  non-humans stay out of sight as much as pos-
  sible. He then gives them a rough map and 
  tells them Nedderpik will be in this general 
  vicinity once every week or so for the next 
  month, so they won’t have a difficult time 
  returning. (Remember also that the city-
  mech is large enough to be seen on the hori-
  zon, so the characters can find it if need be.) 
  Then he sends them on their way.
  Now the characters have to get their mech 
  off Nedderpik! This is the opening roll of 
  this episode: the DC 10 Mech Pilot skill 
  check to see if they can land upright after 
  stepping off the city-mech. See “Skills” in 
  Chapter 2 of DragonMech for full details 
  on this check.
  Encounter B: 
  The Lunar Rain
  The trip to the meteor in Legion territory 
  takes three days, unless the characters 
  encounter delays. The first day of travel 
  is completely uneventful. Eventually, dusk 
  arrives and the characters must seek shel-
  ter. Read or paraphrase the following to 
  the characters:
  You pass a long, boring day trudging across the 
  rocky soil of the roughlands. Except for the oc-
  casional wild animal or distant mech far on the 
  horizon, you encounter no other living creatures. 
  You pass hundreds of boulder-sized meteors em-
  bedded in the earth, and more than a few crushed 
  houses and castles, all a constant reminder of 
  the destructive power of the lunar rain. You’re 
  thankful for the protection of your mech, but at 
  the same time you’re painfully aware of just how 
  uncomfortable it is. The constant bouncing of the 
  mech’s uneven step makes your haunches sore. 
  By the time the sun finally begins to set, you’re 
  eager to stop for the night — although you’re 
  nervous, as always, about what the moon’s rising 
  may bring.
  Remind the players of the lunar rain’s brutal-
  ity: The characters must find secure shelter 
  or be sandblasted through the night. The 
  mech’s walls are sufficient to protect them 
  from most meteors, but a bad meteor storm 
  will damage even the mech. They can watch 
  the horizon to see how bad the lunar rain 
  looks as it rises with the moon, then evaluate 
  based on that.
  At this point, you should roll on the lunar 
  rain table in Chapter 4 of DragonMech. 
  The moon is not full, so don’t apply the +4 
  modifier (it was the unusually severe lunar 
  rains of the full moon that brought down 
  the lunar temples a few days ago). Once you 
  know what’s happening with the lunar rain, 
  describe the effects to the players in game 
  terms: “You feel an abrasive mist falling from 
  the sky. Staying outside is painful — you must 
  find cover somewhere!”
  Remember to roll for the lunar rain each and 
  every evening. In most cases, the characters 
  are fine taking cover in the mech, though if 
  the lunar rain is bad enough (19+ result on the 
  table), they might want to find cover under-
  ground. They may also want to seek shelter 
  underground if the only place for the mech is 
  on an exposed position (high on a ridge, at the 
  top of a hill, etc.) where you could rule that it is 
  more likely to be hit by meteors.
  Allow the characters a Survival check (DC 
  15) to find suitable cover. Given the scar-
  city of cover and the fact that every surface 
  creature simultaneously looks for protec-
  tion when the lunar rain gets bad, there’s a 
  good chance whatever cover they find will 
  already be inhabited! Roll 1d20 on the fol-
  lowing table to determine what sort of cover 
  the characters find, then roll 1d20 again to 
  determine what inhabits it:
  Roll 
  Cover Located 
  1–5 
  Cave
  6–8 
  Worm burrows
  9–12 
  Ravine
  13–15 
  Ruined castle
  16–18 
  Burned-out hulk of a damaged mech
  19–20 
  Underground village or town
   
  Roll 
  Inhabitant of Cover Located 
  1–8 
  Uninhabited
  9–10 
  Vermin (monstrous centipedes, 
   
   
  scorpions, and spiders)
  11–12 
  Friendly humanoids: humans, dwarves, elves, 
   
   
  gnomes, halflings, or half-orcs
  13–14 
  Hostile humanoids: goblins, hobgoblins, 
   
   
  kobolds, orcs, gnolls, or bugbears
  15 
  Formians
  16 
  Social insects (giant ants or bees)
  17–18 
  Unfriendly animal: bear, boar, wolverine,  
   
   
  or dire badger
  19 
  Giant worm
  20 
  Ankheg
  Refer to the MM or Chapter 5 of Drag-
  onMech for the stats of the encountered 
  creatures. Searching for cover from the 
  lunar rain provides a constant potential for 
  “random” encounters.
  Encounter C: 
  The Worm Pits (EL 1)
  Around noon on their second day of travel, 
  the characters come to an area pocked with 
  holes. Read or paraphrase the following:
  For a day now, you’ve been walking over rocky, 
  uneven terrain, but now it seems like the land-
  scape is changing. Up ahead the soil has been 
  churned — tilled, almost — and you can see no 
  boulders or trees whatsoever. In fact, the ground 
  is almost perfectly flat, except for the occasional 
  pit or hole that seems to lead straight down into 
  the earth.
  Allow the following checks:
  • Spot DC 12: You notice a flash of movement 
  in one of the holes, but then it stops. Whatever 
  caused it must have moved deeper in the hole.
  
  30
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  • Spot DC 14: The ground ahead seems to 
  sparkle a bit. On more careful observation, you 
  notice that it appears to be littered with frag-
  ments of glass or gemstones.
  • Listen DC 20: You hear a very faint, dull rum-
  bling coming from under the ground.
  • Survival or Knowledge (nature) DC 14: 
  You recognize this landscape as the mark of 
  giant worms.
  The landscape is indeed the work of giant 
  worms. They have congregated here for a 
  natural mating and molting process, which 
  is entering its third week. Their constant 
  churning of the soil near the surface has 
  caused any boulders and other surface debris 
  to sink into the soft, tilled earth. The violent 
  activity has also brought all sorts of smaller 
  objects to the surface, including a wide array 
  of gemstones, many of which have been 
  eaten and then excreted by the worms. The 
  holes and pits lead into the worms’ burrows.
  Dozens of giant worms dwell in this area. 
  They are unintelligent and not inclined to 
  attack in any coordinated manner, so the char-
  acters are not at great risk — but they are almost 
  guaranteed to encounter at least one worm.
  The PCs have three options: go around; 
  advance on foot; or advance in their mech.
  Go Around: Going around this area adds 
  a half-day to the characters’ travels. The 
  worms have traversed a wide swath of land 
  that cuts right through the characters’ path. 
  Going around makes the trip longer but 
  poses no other dangers.
  Advancing on Foot: Once the characters 
  have entered the churned ground on foot, 
  they make the following observations:
  • The loose gemstones on the ground are 
  now obvious to any character that didn’t 
  notice them before. 
  • The pits clearly lead straight into the 
  earth, as deep as the PCs can see. Those 
  looking into the pits catch the occasional 
  glimpse of movement, but can’t discern 
  what’s down there.
  • The soft earth is undoubtedly dangerous 
  for a mech to traverse. The characters 
  themselves sink about 6 inches into the 
  loose soil. A mech would be mired quickly.
  The worms have tremorsense and will surface 
  once they detect movement above them. 
  Advancing on foot gives the characters 1d6+2 
  rounds before the first worm surfaces. Each 
  round they can attempt to gather some gem-
  stones; a Search check (DC 10) reveals 1d4 
  gems worth 25 gp each (mostly chunks of clear, 
  rosy or smoky quartz) in the immediate area.
  When the first worm surfaces, it rises 40 
  feet from the characters. Emphasize its size 
  — a full 30 feet long — as it lurches out of 
  the earth and then flails about in the air. 
  From then on, another worm surfaces every 
  1d4 rounds. The worms advance slowly on the 
  
  31
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  characters. Make it obvious to the characters 
  that they’re outmatched — these worms are 
  big! Their best bet is to retreat to the mech 
  and leave. You should try to let the players 
  come to this decision themselves so that they 
  don’t feel this was their only option all along.
  If the characters attack a worm, it fights 
  back and pursues them. The other worms 
  don’t join the fight unless they too are 
  attacked. A damaged worm will chase the 
  PCs to their mech. Note that the worms are 
  unintelligent and also nearly blind. If wound-
  ed in melee, they’ll retreat underground; if 
  attacked with missile weapons (including 
  the mech’s steam cannon), they’ll spend a 
  couple of rounds out in the open, flailing 
  about trying to identify their attacker, before 
  retreating underground.
  Advancing in the Mech: Advancing in 
  the mech is dangerous:
  • First, the much heavier seismic vibrations 
  cause the first worm to surface in only 1d4 
  rounds.
  • Second, the worms object to the stomp-
  ing of the mech. Its heavy footfall disrupts 
  their peace. The first 1d4 worms will 
  attack the mech.
  • Third, the worm pits count as extremely 
  difficult terrain (refer to “Mech Com-
  bat,” Moving a Mech, in Chapter 2 of 
  DragonMech). Any pilot with at least 1 
  rank in Mech Pilot will be aware of this 
  problem. The pilot must make a Mech 
  Pilot skill check (DC 20) to enter the 
  terrain. Passing the check means his 
  speed is halved. Failure by 5 or less means 
  the mech’s speed is quartered; failure by 
  more than 5 means the mech falls over. 
  (See “Tripping a Mech,” Downed Mechs, 
  in Chapter 2 of DragonMech to deter-
  mine how it lands.)
  • Finally, once the worms attack, the mech 
  is in melee combat. This forces a Mech 
  Pilot skill check every round, and increas-
  es the DC to 22.
  If the mech does fall over, it will be swamped 
  by attacking giant worms, which will bite it 
  for several minutes until they’re convinced 
  it’s “dead.” If the characters remain motion-
  less, the worms will conclude the mech is 
  “dead” and eventually wander off. 
  Righting a downed mech requires a Mech 
  Pilot check (DC 20) (see “Skills” in Chapter 2 
  of DragonMech). Alternately, wandering trad-
  ers could wander by and assist the characters.
  XP Awards: If the PCs make it past this 
  encounter without downing their mech, 
  award them XP as if they’d defeated a CR 
  1 trap. Award XP for defeating giant worms 
  as usual. 
  Giant Worms (1 or more): CR 4; Huge 
  magical beast; HD 9d10+9; hp 58; Init –1; 
  Spd 20 ft., burrow 30 ft.; AC 19, touch 7, flat-
  footed 19; BAB +9; Grp +22; Atk/Full Atk 
  +12 melee (1d6+5, bite); SQ Tremorsense; 
  AL N; SV Fort +7, Ref +5, Will +2; Str 20, 
  Dex 8, Con 12, Int 1, Wis 8, Cha 10.
  Skills: Listen +11.
  Encounter D: 
  The Orc Raiders (EL 3)
  Around dusk on the second day, the terrain 
  begins changing. Read or paraphrase the 
  following:
  It is getting late in the day, and the sun is low in the 
  sky. For the past several miles the rocky flatlands 
  have become less and less flat. Ravines and gullies 
  become common. Soon the entire landscape is a 
  series of deep grooves running east-west. You are 
  forced to guide your mech through narrow chan-
  nels with high walls, each one surfacing to ground 
  level for only a few hundred feet before becoming 
  a rock-walled channel again. The stark shadows of 
  the impending sunset make the channels seem 
  even more isolated.
  There is no way to get around this danger-
  ous landscape. It counts as difficult terrain, 
  requiring a Mech Pilot check (DC 10). Fail-
  ure by 5 or less means the mech’s speed is 
  halved; failure by 6 or more means the mech 
  falls over. Furthermore, climbing out of one 
  channel to enter another requires a Climb 
  check, per the usual rules.
  The players will probably start thinking 
  “ambush!” when they hear this description 
  — and they’re right. After a half-hour or so 
  of navigating these ravines (especially if they 
  fail the Mech Pilot check and topple their 
  mech), they are attacked by orcs intent on 
  capturing their mech!
  The Orc Ambush: A band of orcs haunts 
  this area, living under the overhangs of the 
  gullies and routinely ambushing anything 
  that comes through. They spot the mech 
  from afar and maneuver to ambush it.
  Start the encounter by allowing the PCs a 
  Spot check, as follows:
  Spot DC 
  Result 
  10 
  You notice movement of some kind further
   
  up the gully, but you can’t make out what it is.
  14 
  It seems as if something is using the deep 
   
  shadows on the gully walls to make its way 
   
  toward you. The shapes appear to be humanoid.
  18 
  Green-skinned humanoids are scurrying 
   
  about the gully around you, trying 
   
  unsuccessfully to conceal their movement 
   
  in the deep shadows.
  There are a total of 22 orcs, all with the 
  same stats. They have a single, simple goal: 
  to topple the mech, board it, slaughter the 
  crew and take the mech for their own. Their 
  combat tactics are as follows:
  Round 1: Sixteen orcs charge the mech. 
  They are concealed on both sides of the 
  ravine, so they should be able to surround 
  the mech completely. They then initiate 
  a trip attack. Review the rules in “Mech 
  Combat,” Tripping a Mech, in Chapter 2 of 
  DragonMech for cooperative trip checks 
  by hordes of infantry. The characters’ 
  Magwagon receives a whopping +26 bonus 
  to its Trip check (+16 for size, +10 for its 
  Strength). The orcs receive a minimum of 
  +3 (for the team leader’s 17 Strength), plus 
  another +2 for each of the 15 orcs that passes 
  its Strength check against DC 10 (to contrib-
  ute to the attempt), for a maximum possible 
  trip check of +33.
  The other six orcs find cover along the 
  walls of the gully, three orcs per side, and 
  launch javelins at any character who emerges 
  from a porthole.
  Remember that if the mech passes the 
  trip check, the mech pilot can use a full-
  round action for the mech to trample the 
  orcs that surround it, potentially squashing 
  a dozen orcs or more in one round. The 
  Magwagon deals 4d6 points of trampling 
  damage, as noted in its stats (see Appen-
  
  32
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  dix One, “New Mechs”). Review the rules 
  on trampling in “Mech Combat,” Special 
  Attacks, of Chapter 2 in DragonMech. The 
  orcs will likely attempt Reflex saves rather 
  than attacks of opportunity. Should they 
  choose an attack of opportunity, however, 
  they can use it to make another trip check 
  before they get flattened. Orcs that survive 
  the trample are able to grab the mech’s leg 
  as a free action, which they will do, leaving 
  their options open for climbing or another 
  trip check in the following round.
  If the mech is downed, the pilot can right 
  it with the usual Mech Pilot check (DC 20).
  Round 2: If the mech is downed, the orcs 
  start prying open portholes to try to board 
  (review the rules in “Mech Combat,” Board-
  ing a Mech, in Chapter 2 of DragonMech). A 
  porthole’s break DC is 28, and up to four orcs 
  can cooperate on each attempt. They are 
  equipped with prybars for the task. Any PC 
  who was foolish enough to open a porthole 
  will find himself fighting an orc who is trying 
  to enter through it.
  If the mech pilot manages to right the 
  downed mech while the attack is underway, 
  those orcs who were trying to pry open 
  portholes find themselves lifted into the 
  air with the mech. They now count as riding 
  the mech. Refer to the mech-riding rules in 
  “Mech Combat,” Special Attacks, in Chapter 
  2 of DragonMech. The orcs must make Bal-
  ance checks or fall off the mech, potentially 
  being trampled.
  If the mech isn’t downed, the orcs will 
  continue trying to trip it as long as they can 
  muster at least 12 orcs for the attempt. If there 
  are fewer than 12 orcs remaining, they resort 
  to javelin-tossing against viable targets. If the 
  PCs batten down the hatches and don’t give the 
  orcs any targets, the orcs will wait a few rounds 
  and then retreat, knowing they don’t have suf-
  ficient numbers to take down the mech.
  Round 3: As round 2. The orcs continue 
  trying to down the mech and board as long 
  as they have sufficient numbers. Once there 
  are 11 or fewer orcs and the mech is standing 
  again, they will retreat.
  A Note on EL: A horde of orcs this size 
  should normally have an EL much higher 
  than 3! However, in this case, the characters 
  have the advantage of their mech. Many of 
  the orcs will be trampled to death by the 
  mech as they try to topple it. Those who 
  aren’t trampled will have a hard time board-
  ing the mech even if they do down it. And 
  as long as the PCs are smart enough to stay 
  on their mech, they’re fighting from higher 
  ground and a position of cover. Unless the 
  PCs make a catastrophically stupid tactical 
  error, they should be able to use their mech 
  to destroy the orcs handily, making this an 
  easier encounter than it would otherwise 
  be on foot. 
  Orc Raiders (22): CR 1/2; Medium 
  humanoid (orc); HD 1d8+1; hp 5 each; Init 
  +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 13, touch 10, flat-footed 
  13; BAB +1; Grp +4; Atk/Full Atk +4 melee 
  (2d4+4/18–20, falchion) or +1 ranged 
  (1d6+3, javelin); SQ Darkvision 60 ft., light 
  sensitivity; AL CE; SV Fort +3, Ref +0, Will 
  –2; Str 17, Dex 11, Con 12, Int 8, Wis 7, Cha 6.
  
  33
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  Skills: Listen +1, Spot +1.
  Feats: Alertness.
  Possessions: Studded leather armor, fal-
  chion, 6 javelins, 1d6 gp.
  HAIMLER’S TOWN
  T
  he characters approach the second 
  meteor on the morning of the fourth day 
  (allowing for a half-day detour for the worm 
  pits on what would normally be a three-day 
  journey). As they close in, Read or para-
  phrase the following:
  The pitted, channeled terrain gradually gives way 
  to rocky flatland. You are growing close to the 
  great cliff that separates the roughland from the 
  plains to the east. As you crest a particularly rocky 
  area, you find yourselves standing on the edge of 
  an immense crater. At some point in the past, an 
  enormous meteor blasted this mile-wide hole in 
  the earth. Visible in the far wall of the crater is 
  another crater, this one much smaller, and in it 
  are the still-smoking remains of a recently fallen 
  meteor. Even from this distance, you can tell it’s 
  made of the same material as the other meteor 
  you explored. It must be the other half of the 
  lunar temple.
  Yet it’s not that simple. Clustered around 
  the meteor is a veritable tent city. It looks like a 
  bustling community has sprung up around the me-
  teor! They must be using its tunnels for protection 
  from the lunar rain.
  The settlement is called Haimler’s Town, 
  after the founder. At this point, it’s less than a 
  week old. Haimler is a minor tribal leader who 
  hopes to improve his position in the Legion.
  Recent History: Haimler’s tribe, the 
  Thrawtek, was one of many nomadic peoples 
  on the endless plains before they were swayed 
  by the speeches of Shar Thizdic. They willingly 
  accepted his leadership, becoming part of what 
  is now called the Legion. Shar appointed Haim-
  ler a major and made the Thrawtek’s warrior 
  leader, Thoron, a sergeant. The Thrawtek tribe 
  was largely dissolved as part of Shar’s plans for a 
  military that integrated disparate tribes, break-
  ing down tribal loyalties. However, Haimler 
  never quite accepted this situation; he’d rather 
  be leader of his own tribe than follow orders 
  as someone else’s major. But the dominance 
  of Shar is unquestioned, so Haimler had to 
  find some way to return to leadership without 
  severing ties to the Legion. When the meteor 
  landed, he saw his chance; in the name of Shar, 
  he led an “expedition” to recover whatever 
  valuable artifacts might be in the meteor. Of 
  course, the “expedition” consists almost 
  exclusively of his former tribal brethren, and 
  the Legion’s official support for the expedition 
  is sketchy at best — Haimler’s superiors haven’t 
  exactly endorsed the tribe’s mass migration. 
  Haimler hasn’t shared that little detail with 
  his tribe. He hopes to find lunar artifacts so 
  valuable that they’ll justify the relocation of 
  his tribe here, where he can be both a major for 
  Shar Thizdic and the leader of his old tribe.
  However, Haimler didn’t evaluate the situ-
  ation properly. Short of his finding a minor 
  artifact, there’s almost no way the Legion will 
  let him get away with reforming his tribe for 
  any extended period of time. More impor-
  tantly, several lunar skinstealers survived the 
  meteor crash. They have since taken control 
  of Haimler and Thoron, and now drive the 
  men to pursue the skinstealers’ own agenda. 
  The tribe members that the skinstealers pos-
  sessed prior to Haimler and Thoron have since 
  experienced unfortunate “accidents.”
  This situation creates an interesting dynam-
  ic within the tribe: The possessed Haimler 
  and Thoron have effectively abandoned their 
  own goals and those of the Legion, and now 
  follow the orders of their skinstealer control-
  lers. They want to rebuild the temple as a 
  place of worship for Seroficitacit and convert 
  the tribe to his worship. This sentiment has 
  only emerged in the last three days, since 
  they were possessed. Meanwhile, the tribal 
  shaman Shtrawnek can’t understand why his 
  companions have changed their worldview so 
  drastically. He (like most of the tribe) is more 
  interested in retrofitting the lunar temple for 
  use as living space, followed by the establish-
  ment of a new city here. This conflict has led 
  to the creation of the tent city: Two factions 
  continue to argue over exactly what to do with 
  the inside of the lunar temple, so although the 
  tribe sleeps inside at night, they haven’t yet 
  made permanent habitation there.
  The Characters’ Involvement: What of 
  the characters’ goal: destroying any lunar 
  influence? Well, certain traces of lunar 
  influence are extremely obvious. The temple 
  of Seroficitacit is still intact. Some members 
  of the tribe are actively restoring it. Haimler 
  and Thoron are preaching the virtues of 
  Seroficitacit, and they’re nurturing several 
  lunar creatures back to health. 
  The PCs have quite a few options for how 
  they’ll approach this challenge. Here is an 
  overview of certain key events to help you 
  guide the play. There are five key events that 
  move the plot along: the characters’ initial 
  approach; their interaction with the commu-
  nity at large; their interactions with Haimler, 
  Thoron and Shtrawnek; their investigation 
  of the lunar temple; and the arrival of the 
  Irontooth mech. Below is an overview of 
  those events, followed by a breakdown of the 
  town’s important locations and NPCs.
  
  EVENTS
  Event 1: 
  The Characters’ 
  Initial Approach
  Mechs don’t travel these parts very 
  often, and the tribe is already a little suspi-
  cious. If the characters approach in their 
  mech, they’ll be surrounded and treated as 
  unfriendly visitors, then led to Haimler for 
  interrogation. If the characters approach 
   Haimler’s Town (village): Conventional; AL 
  LN; 200 gp limit; Assets 4,670; Population 467; 
  Isolated (human 100%).
  Authority Figures: Haimler, human male Wiz5 
  (former leader of the Thrawtek tribe, now a major in 
  the Legion; controlled by a lunar skinstealer).
  Important Characters: Shtrawnek, human male 
  Clr3 (tribal shaman); Thoron, human male Ftr4 
  (former warrior leader of the tribe, now a sergeant 
  in the Legion; controlled by a lunar skinstealer).
  
  34
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  on foot, the locals won’t be as suspicious, 
  especially if the PCs explain their presence 
  with a disguise of being traders, refugees or 
  pilgrims of Seroficitacit.
  When the characters are close to the 
  meteor, Read or paraphrase the following:
  The meteor is roughly 250 feet wide, with about 
  50 feet of its top extending above ground level, 
  just like the one you left only a few days before. 
  From your position, no entrances are visible, but 
  someone has already carved a rough staircase up 
  the side of the meteor. The staircase terminates at 
  a landing on the edge of the meteor’s top. Every 
  now and then you see someone enter or leave the 
  meteor through the landing.
  Surrounding the meteor are about 50 tents 
  made of durable canvas. The meteor landed on 
  the wall of the existing crater, and the tents are 
  placed in the lee of its smaller crater. The over-
  hanging meteor, combined with the incline of the 
  crater wall, keeps most of the tents in the shadow 
  all day long, and presumably protects them from 
  the worst of the lunar rain as well.
  Two tents in particular stand out. Both are 
  twice the size of the other tents and have red 
  pennants flying from them. You see no mechs or 
  signs of mechs, nor do you see any sign of a real 
  military presence. If you didn’t know you were in 
  Legion territory, you’d think this was the tent city 
  of wandering nomads.
  You see no sign of any lunar creatures.
  When they arrive, the characters aren’t necessar-
  ily directed to the tribe’s leadership. If their dis-
  guises are sound or their cover stories convinc-
  ing, the tribe is glad to accept them as passing 
  visitors. The tent city has an open central square 
  that passes for a market and tavern, and the char-
  acters can find food and company there.
  Remember, this is a close-knit community 
  made up of tribesman with long associations. 
  Any outsiders stand out, no matter how 
  they’re disguised. The PCs are immediately 
  recognized as outsiders no matter what they 
  do. That said, they aren’t instantly distrusted 
  unless their actions warrant it.
  If for some reason the characters are dis-
  trusted, then the tribesmen will keep them 
  under guard while they get Haimler or Thoron.
  Legion Xenophobia: Remember that the 
  Legion espouses a humanocentric philosophy. 
  Shar Thizdic claims that the lunar rain is a 
  chance for humans to rise up and take their 
  rightful place in the world. His followers con-
  sider humanoids to be inferior to humans — a 
  position Shar Thizdic is careful never to verbally 
  utter himself, but which he obviously supports. 
  Much of the tribe remembers the days 
  before Shar, and many remember when they 
  used to trade with the elves and dwarves. Even 
  
  35
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  so, they’ve been swayed. They’ll automatically 
  be distrustful toward any nonhumans. All non-
  humans have a –2 penalty to Diplomacy checks 
  when dealing with the tribesmen. If they can 
  disguise themselves as humans, there is no 
  penalty. Those who can’t pass as humans (such 
  as gnomes and halflings) can avoid the penalty if 
  they act deferential toward their human fellows. 
  A Gather Information or Knowledge (local) 
  check reveals this rather common knowledge 
  about the Legion and its beliefs, as follows:
  Gather Information or Knowledge (local) Check: 
  DC 
  Information Revealed 
  10 
  The Legion distrusts anyone who isn’t a human.
  12 
  Nonhumans who act deferential to their human 
   
  partners are judged better by the Legion than 
   
  those who act proud of their heritage.
  Event 2: 
  The Characters’ Interaction 
  with the Community
  The community is split. Half of the tribes-
  men are willing to follow Haimler wherever 
  he leads them, including to the worship of 
  Seroficitacit. The other half wonder why 
  Haimler and Thoron have suddenly latched 
  onto this new religion, and aren’t ready to 
  convert yet. As a result of this split, the char-
  acters will get very different assessments of 
  the situation depending on which villager 
  they happen to speak with at any given time.
  There are two primary tools with which the 
  characters can interact with the community: 
  Spot checks and Gather Information checks.
  Spot Checks: Allow Spot checks based on 
  what the characters observe, as follows. Some 
  of these results require extended observation.
  It doesn’t take a Spot check to notice 
  that the entire encampment clears out at 
  night, with almost everyone moving into the 
  meteor for safety. At night, the staircase guard 
  disappears into the meteor with the rest of 
  them. The residents of one of the large tents 
  — Haimler and Thoron — pack up and enter 
  the meteor at night. Shtrawnek, who occupies 
  the other large tent, has stopped moving 
  into the meteor at night out of opposition 
  to Haimler’s proposed worship of Seroficit-
  acit. He and a few of his acolytes are the only 
  tribesmen to remain in the village at night.
  The PCs are not invited into the meteor at 
  night. If their disguises lead the villagers to 
  trust them, they’re allowed to sleep in one 
  of the common tents, although they can’t go 
  into the tents with the red flags.
  Gather Information: Allow Gather Infor-
  mation checks based on who the characters 
  speak with. Assume at least half the people 
  they speak with are followers of Haimler 
  (and recent converts of Seroficitacit), while 
  the other half are traditionalists and hold-
  outs. Use the following table as appropriate. 
  Questions concerning the meteor produce 
  consistent results, as indicated on the table, 
  although you should slant the answers to the 
  views of the person being questioned.
  Typical Tribesman: The typical tribes-
  man has stats as given in “NPCs” below. Here 
  are profiles of four sample tribesmen to use 
  in your interactions:
  Sharia: Sharia was born only 19 years ago. 
  Named after the glorious new leader Shar 
  Thizdic, she’s a model citizen of the Legion. 
  She’s always supported Haimler but consid-
  ers Shar her supreme leader. She doesn’t 
  remember the old tribal ways and doubts 
  Haimler’s new course for the tribe. She’s tall 
  and thin, with sun-bleached hair and wiry 
  muscles built from years of hard work.
  Fornik: Fornik is a sturdy man over 6 feet tall 
  whose age is catching up with him. At least 40 
  years old, he’s now wrinkled and soft where 
  once he was tall and strong. Nonetheless, he’s 
  still an imposing figure. His scraggly beard and 
  tribal tattoos mark his longstanding allegiance 
  to traditional Thrawtek ways. He was attracted 
  to Shar Thizdic’s ability to unite the tribes for 
  the power and respect it offered, but always 
  considered the Legion a little too militaristic. 
  He supported Haimler’s initial excursion to 
  the meteor, if only because it would reunite his 
  tribe, but since Haimler has begun advocating 
  these strange gods and lunar allies rather than 
  the old tribal ways, Fornik has withdrawn his 
  support. He suspects something else is going 
  on, but he does not know what.
  Clarna: Clarna is a middle-aged woman still 
  bearing children. She’s currently pregnant 
  with what she claims will be her fourteenth 
  child. She sees it as her duty to strengthen 
  her tribe however she can, and she hopes her 
  unborn child will be another strong warrior. 
  (She proudly notes that 10 of her 13 prior 
  TABLE 3-1: SPOT CHECKS BY AREA OBSERVED
  Spot DC 
  Result 
  Central square and general observation
  10 
  You notice that the community atmosphere is argumentative. Everywhere you look, people seem to be having 
   
   
  heated discussions.
  15 
  You see very few open displays of religion, but a number of people wear pendants decorated with strange 
   
   
  blob-shaped emblems. (Note to DM: These are symbols of Seroficitacit.)
  Meteor 
  10 
  People seem to avoid the meteor; hardly anyone ventures close. Yet every now and then someone enters or exits 
   
   
  from the landing at the top of the staircase.
  15 
  A guard appears to be hidden at the top of the staircase. Every time someone approaches the staircase, they wait 
   
   
  to be acknowledged by him before advancing.
  20 
  The same people enter and leave the meteor on a steady rotation. Sometimes when they leave, they appear to 
   
   
  be carrying baskets. You can’t tell what’s in the baskets, but they look heavy. (Note to DM: The baskets have 
   
   
  rocks, debris and other construction byproducts. These are dumped by the edge of the crater.)
  Large tents 
  10 
  The two large tents with the red pennants obviously belong to important people. Each tent has a dedicated 
   
   
  guard, and visitors are very deferential.
  15 
  The tents occasionally get visitors who move back and forth between them before leaving, but you never see the 
   
   
  tents’ occupants emerge to speak with each other.
  20 
  The people entering one tent all have pendants decorated with a strange blob-shaped emblem, but the people 
   
   
  entering the other tent never wear this symbol.
  
  36
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  children have been men, all of them great war-
  riors.) It isn’t her place to question the gods 
  or how men should interact with them; that’s 
  a job for great men such as Haimler. If Haimler 
  deems this new god to be the right choice for 
  the tribe, then she’ll follow him.
  Bradok: Bradok is a young man who greatly 
  enjoyed training with the Legion military. 
  He’s always wanted to be a warrior, like his 
  father before him. He looks up to 
  Thoron, who is the greatest 
  warrior he’s ever met. The 
  teachings of Seroficitacit 
  seem reasonable to him, 
  and if Thoron deems it the 
  right thing to do, he’s glad to 
  go along.
  Event 3: 
  The Characters’ Interactions 
  with Haimler, Thoron 
  and Shtrawnek
  The three tribal leaders have very different 
  perspectives on the world. Conversations 
  with them quickly reveal their goals and 
  disputes. The profiles and stats in “NPCs,” 
  below, should allow you to play them as dis-
  tinctive NPCs.
  Characters can encounter these NPCs in 
  a variety of ways. Their initial contact with 
  the tent city could lead to meeting Haimler 
  or Thoron, especially if they make trouble or 
  are distrusted from the start. As they explore 
  the tent city, the PCs are bound to notice 
  the large tents and find out who’s in them, 
  perhaps eventually requesting an audience. 
  Gathering information around town will 
  bring up the leaders’ names repeatedly.
  Gaining an Audience: If it doesn’t hap-
  pen naturally through hostile means, the PCs 
  may be able to gain an audience with Haim-
  ler, Thoron or Shtrawnek in a number of 
  ways. Posing as traders, diplomats, refugees 
  or followers of Seroficitacit are all plausible 
  covers. Don’t make it too hard for the PCs 
  to get in contact with the leaders (unless 
  they really screw it up themselves). In most 
  situations, the leaders will have followers or 
  bodyguards with them, so the PCs’ real chal-
  lenge will be catching the leaders alone.
  Unveiling the Lunar Skinstealers: The 
  ultimate resolution of this episode is when 
  TABLE 3-2: GATHER INFORMATION BY PERSON/TOPIC QUERIED
  Gather Information Check:
  DC 
  Result 
  Pro-Haimler 
  10 
  Haimler brought us to the meteor because he is a great leader and visionary. He is showing us a new way to live.
  15 
  Haimler received visions from a great god. The visions showed a glorious paradise in this new world for those who 
   
   
  follow him. Shtrawnek and his old ways are wrong. The world has changed, and we must, too.
  20 
  Haimler told me confidentially that the moon creatures are our salvation. The gods work in mysterious ways, he said.
  25 
  What happened to Haimler’s pet lizard? It used to follow him wherever he went, but I haven’t seen it for days now. 
   
   
  (Note to DM: This is Haimler’s familiar, which the lunar skinstealer killed once it became aware of the 
   
   
  changes in Haimler.)
  Anti-Haimler
  10 
  I really don’t understand what Haimler’s doing. He’s always been a good leader, but taking us out here to the 
   
   
  middle of nowhere? What is he thinking? He’s been acting differently lately.
  15 
  Haimler’s talk of new gods is nonsense. This tribe has always followed Peripatetin. He’s never failed us, so why 
   
   
  should we abandon him? Shtrawnek is right: We’re risking everything by following Haimler.
  20 
  I’m worried about Haimler. Reforming the tribe, leading us out here, worshipping new gods… all this is going 
   
   
  to get back to the Legion. What has gotten into Haimler? And Thoron, too! He used to be the backbone of 
   
   
  sanity here, but now he’s following Haimler wherever he goes.
  25 
  What happened to Haimler’s pet lizard? It used to follow him wherever he went, but I haven’t seen it for days now. 
   
  (Note to DM: This is Haimler’s familiar, which the lunar skinstealer killed once it became aware of the 
   
   
  changes in Haimler.)
  The Meteor
  10 
  The meteor is a very safe place to live. The layout is a little weird, but it’s safe, so I can live with it.
  15 
  There are still things living in the meteor — strange ooze things. Haimler says not to harm them. Shtrawnek 
   
   
  refuses to enter the meteor as long as they still live.
  20 
  The first people to enter the meteor fought something — but whatever it was, it disappeared before they could 
   
   
  finish it off. The people seemed fine and said nothing had happened. Ever since then, things have been 
   
   
  different, Haimler and Thoron particularly. (Note to DM: These were the lunar skinstealers. They took over 
   
   
  the first people to enter the temple, then switched bodies furtively until they had taken over the leaders, 
   
  Haimler and Thoron.)
  PERIPATETIN
  Peripatetin is the Thrawtek god of good voyages. 
  Many other nomadic tribes of the eastern plains 
  also worship him. Peripatetin is neutral. He doesn’t 
  necessarily guarantee safe passage, or even suc-
  cessful passage, but his worshippers believe he 
  gives good voyages, meaning all things work out in 
  the end. A wandering tribe that is forced to change 
  course due to an overflowing river, and then finds 
  a verdant new pasture as a result, attributes that 
  success to Peripatetin, just as does a tribe that 
  completes a journey successfully according to its 
  original plan. Peripatetin’s symbol varies by tribe, 
  but usually incorporates a walking stick. The Thraw-
  tek symbol for him is a vertical walking stick in front 
  of a stylized sun image. The top of the sun is yellow 
  while the bottom is black, symbolizing Peripatetin’s 
  domain over all travels whether at day or night. Peri-
  patetin’s domains are Luck, Protection and Travel. 
  His favored weapon is the quarterstaff.
  
  37
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  the characters purge Haimler and Thoron 
  of the lunar skinstealers that control them. 
  Exactly how this happens could spell life or 
  death for the characters. Whether the tribes-
  men agree with their leaders or not, they’re 
  still not going to allow a bunch of outsiders 
  to jump them. It is crucial that the characters 
  reveal (and defeat) the lunar skinstealers in 
  a situation where the tribesmen aren’t there 
  to come to their rescue. Otherwise, the 
  characters will be beaten to death by 400+ 
  irate tribesmen. Game over!
  The PCs should be able to lure Haimler and/
  or Thoron away in any of the following ways:
  • Invite them to discuss a “profitable trad-
  ing venture,” but insist the leaders must 
  come to view the goods at the characters’ 
  mech. (In this case, the leaders may bring 
  a few bodyguards, depending on how 
  much they trust the characters. The body-
  guards use the profile of the guard for 
  Area 1 of the Second Lunar Temple; see 
  below.) Remember to make the appropri-
  ate Bluff vs. Sense Motive check.
  • Observe the leaders’ routines carefully. 
  If they do so, the characters will dis-
  cover they come outside, alone, to pray 
  to Seroficitacit under the moonlight 
  shortly after the worst of the lunar rain 
  passes each night. This is the perfect 
  time to jump them.
  • Request a private audience within the 
  lunar temple. Perhaps the PCs can suc-
  cessfully pass themselves off as follow-
  ers of Seroficitacit who wish to see the 
  temple. This again requires a Bluff check. 
  (Give a +4 bonus to the check if the char-
  acters use the symbols of Seroficitacit 
  from Area 11 in Episode One.) Characters 
  could also make such an attempt with 
  Diplomacy (if they’re up front about their 
  religious interests but simply wish to see 
  the temple) or Intimidate (if they use 
  some show of force, such as their mech).
  Battling the Lunar Skinstealers: Combat 
  with Haimler and Thoron uses the profiles 
  presented below. Remember that each of 
  these men has a personal agenda that is very 
  different from his controller’s agenda. Review 
  the rules in “New Creatures” of Chapter 6 in 
  DragonMech for combat with skinstealers. 
  Remember that slashing and bludgeoning 
  attacks deal full damage to the skinstealer, 
  hurting the host only after the skinstealer 
  is dead. Piercing attacks deal half damage to 
  the host and half damage to the skinstealer. 
  As a result, combat against these high-
  level NPCs isn’t nearly as hard as it seems. 
  Although they’ll attack using their normal 
  high-level profiles, each skinstealer can take 
  only 18 points of damage before it peels off 
  from its host, dead.
  A skinstealer’s fundamental goal is sur-
  vival; it will not fight to the death. If they’re 
  losing the fight, the skinstealers will hop 
  between hosts in an attempt to escape and 
  get others to fight for them. Prior to combat, 
  they’ll go so far as to bargain rather than 
  actually engage in a fight, as they don’t want 
  to risk being killed. Use the following strate-
  gies to simulate their combat mentality:
  Round One: The skinstealer engages in 
  ranged combat as much as possible, avoiding 
  damage to itself. This also lets it split damage 
  between itself and its host, as most ranged 
  weapons deal piercing damage.
  Round Two: The skinstealer maintains 
  ranged combat as long as possible. If its 
  wounds become serious or it is losing the 
  fight, it closes into melee range and then 
  jumps to a new host. The skinstealer is highly 
  intelligent (Int 20) and its strategy is to 
  recruit assistance from the rest of the Thraw-
  tek tribe. It will choose a new host who looks 
  fleet-footed. As soon as the new host is 
  dominated, the skinstealer will 
  run from the combat, rais-
  ing a general alarm. 
  Its role in this 
  new outsider’s 
  body will be “I 
  tried to stop my 
  friends, but they 
  insisted on attack-
  ing 
  your 
  leaders. 
  Help your leaders!” As 
  soon as it can, it will hop 
  to the body of a tribes-
  man, abandoning the body 
  of the PC.
  Remember that the bod-
  ies of the leaders will recover 
  once a skinstealer is off them. If 
  the PCs continue attacking, the 
  men will obviously defend them-
  selves, but their first reaction will 
  
  38
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
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  be thanks — the PCs have finally freed them 
  from these horrible alien creatures that were 
  controlling their bodies! If the PCs play their 
  cards right, they can have Haimler and Tho-
  ron owing them a favor.
  Round Three: Once the tribesmen arrive to 
  defend their leader, the skinstealer will send 
  its “new” body close to a leader, if possible, 
  and try to repossess a leader as soon as it’s 
  safe (and when it’s able to switch hosts with-
  out being seen). In general, the skinstealer 
  will try to maneuver the actions of the tribe 
  through controlling influential people or 
  by making the people it does control more 
  influential (which makes their friends won-
  der why their personalities have changed).
  This combat is tricky, because you have 
  an enemy that can possess PCs, you have 
  enemies that fight one way when possessed 
  and another way when not possessed, and 
  you have the potential for a huge brawl if the 
  PCs don’t stop a skinstealer from fleeing and 
  alerting the tribe.
  Secrets Revealed: Once Haimler and 
  Thoron are free of the lunar skinstealers, 
  their agendas change radically. They’ll retain 
  their original goals of reuniting the tribe in 
  a way that can coexist with Shar’s authority, 
  but their interest in all things lunar will be 
  completely changed: They want to destroy 
  the temple and all remnants of its denizens’ 
  attempts to rebuild it. They’ll be happy to 
  enlist the PCs’ aid in purging the temple of 
  whatever may be within. In fact, if the char-
  acters haven’t squandered their goodwill, 
  they’ll even encourage them with gifts of 
  weapons, armor, healing and whatever else 
  they have that may be useful. Both Haimler 
  and Thoron will reconcile with Shtrawnek, 
  and the tribe’s internal divisions will end.
  Keep in mind, however, that all this is 
  still within the context of the Legion. While 
  the PCs did a great favor for the tribesmen, 
  Legion members are still enemies of the 
  Stenian Confederacy, and they still dislike 
  nonhumans. Any hint of Stenian loyalty will 
  be greeted with hostility. The tribesmen 
  will grant the PCs a “free pass” and let them 
  escape with their lives, but they’re warned 
  that the next time they come around, it 
  will mean trouble. And nonhumans, while 
  thanked, are still considered servants of 
  their human friends. Furthermore, if the 
  PCs killed any members of the tribe (such 
  as the laborers in the lunar temple), Haimler 
  and Thoron will consider their rescue from 
  the skinstealers as simply evening the score 
  — in which case they owe the characters 
  no thanks whatsoever, but neither will they 
  attempt to punish them.
  Event 4: 
  The Characters’ Investigation 
  of the Lunar Temple
  Even if the characters unmask Haimler and 
  Thoron early in the episode, they’ll probably 
  still want to explore the lunar temple. In order 
  to complete the mission successfully, they 
  have to eradicate all taint of lunar influence, 
  which includes the three spawns of Serofici-
  tacit that dwell in the temple, so they really 
  must explore the temple to do their job prop-
  
  39
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  erly. Exploring the temple also gives them the 
  chance to catch the Irontooth mech in the act 
  as it makes off with a valuable starshard.
  Unlike the other lunar temple, this one 
  landed right-side-up. This meteor is actu-
  ally Level 2 of the lunar temple in the other 
  meteor. If the first meteor were turned over 
  and placed atop this meteor, they would 
  match up; the hole by which the Thrawtek 
  tribe is entering this lunar temple corre-
  sponds to the chute at Area 12 of the first 
  lunar temple.
  The full map key for the lunar temple is in 
  the next section.
  Event 5: 
  Arrival of the 
  Irontooth Mech
  Through the use of divination magic, the 
  Irontooth Clans heard about the starshards’ 
  fall to earth. They sent out several small 
  reconnaissance mechs to infiltrate enemy 
  territory and recover the starshards. They 
  arrived at the first lunar temple too late, 
  but an Irontooth mech arrives at this second 
  temple just in the nick of time — it snatches 
  the starshard almost literally right out of the 
  PCs’ hands!
  The Irontooth encounter is described in 
  Area 7 of the Second Lunar Temple, below. 
  The flow of the adventure should place the 
  encounter with the Irontooth mech as the 
  very last encounter in this episode. That 
  way, the PCs can immediately set out to 
  pursue it, without having to finish any 
  other tasks first.
  If the PCs reach Area 7 before 
  the Irontooth mech should 
  appear, make Area 7 totally 
  empty. In this case, the Iron-
  tooth mech has already stolen 
  the starshard, but is sticking 
  around to investigate the camp 
  further. After this episode is 
  resolved, present the Irontooth 
  mech in some dramatic manner. 
  Perhaps it emerges from the lunar 
  temple right as the tribesmen are 
  about to enter for the night. It could 
  even attack the PCs (or Haimler or Tho-
  ron) in the mistaken belief that there is a 
  second starshard. (If this Irontooth mech has 
  been to the first lunar temple, it might cor-
  rectly surmise that the PCs have the other 
  starshard.) However the combat progresses, 
  the Irontooth mech should be forced to 
  retreat. (Overwhelming odds? A critical 
  injury?) Then begins the tracking described 
  in Episode Four.
  For further details on the Irontooth mech 
  and its pilot, see Area 7 of the Second Lunar 
  Temple, below.
  LOCATIONS
  T
  here are four locations of particular 
  interest in the tent city: the two large 
  tents with the red pennants, one of which 
  belongs to Shtrawnek and the other of which 
  belongs to Haimler and Thoron; the typical 
  smaller tent (of which there are roughly 48); 
  and the meteor. The meteor is described in 
  more detail in the next section. Here are 
  overviews of the other locations.
  Tent of Shtrawnek: This large, 30-by-
  30-foot tent is occupied by Shtrawnek and 
  his two acolytes. The tent is well appointed 
  with a thick layer of rugs and comfortable 
  pillows. These furnishings aren’t particularly 
  valuable, however; combined, they’re worth 
  250 gp and weigh 400 pounds. The remaining 
  furnishings are the mundane artifacts of nor-
  mal living: food, clothing, bedrolls, stools and 
  a portable desk. A thorough search (DC 20) 
  reveals three solid gold holy symbols of Peri-
  patetin (worth 100 gp each); 12 silver ingots 
  (worth 10 gp each); and six uncut, low-grade 
  diamonds (worth 50 gp each).
  Tent of Haimler and Thoron: This 
  30-by-30-foot tent is where Haimler and 
  Thoron spend their days. Like Shtrawnek’s 
  tent, it is richly appointed with thick rugs 
  and pillows, worth 250 gp and weighing 
  400 gp. Aside from the usual assortment 
  of mundane items, a search (DC 15) reveals 
  five holy symbols of Seroficitacit; two broken 
  holy symbols of Peripatetin; three potions of 
  cure light wounds; and a bag of 25 uncut, low-
  grade diamonds (worth 50 gp each). Among 
  the clothing stored in the tent are the Legion 
  military uniforms of both men.
  Typical Tribal Tent: The typical tent 
  measures 10 feet by 10 feet. It has a few basic 
  pieces of portable furniture (such as a fold-
  ing stool and table), several bedrolls, and 
  sacks of mundane goods. A typical tent has 
  4d10 cp hidden somewhere in the bedding 
  (Search DC 20).
  NPCS
  T
  his section provides the statis-
  tics for the major NPCs encoun-
  tered in Haimler’s Town, including 
  a typical tribesman, Shtrawnek’s 
  acolytes and the lunar skinsteal-
  ers that have taken over Haim-
  ler and Thoron.
  Haimler, Tribal 
  Leader 
  and Legion Major
  Haimler is a stocky, judgmental 
  man who commands the atten-
  tion of those around him. He’s 
  of medium height but is broad and 
  heavy for his size. His face is always set 
  in a grimace. He never offers approval; 
  the best a subordinate can hope for is his 
  
  40
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  respect, and everyone in the tribe tries hard 
  to gain it. Haimler is supremely skilled in 
  almost all aspects of life (reflected by 
  an exceptional array of ability scores); 
  he could have excelled at any pro-
  fession, but chose to be a wizard 
  because he takes a long-term 
  view of most things.
  Goals: Haimler is loyal 
  and protective. He is also 
  ambitious. He wants to rise 
  in the ranks of the Legion, 
  but would prefer to do so in 
  a way that helps his tribe as 
  it helps him. Nonetheless, he 
  won’t abandon Shar Thizdic or 
  the Legion, as he sees great poten-
  tial in what Shar has done. He’d 
  just prefer to find a way around Shar’s 
  heavy-handed control. 
  The lunar skinstealer now controlling 
  Haimler, on the other hand, has only two 
  goals: domination of the surface creatures 
  and furtherance of Seroficitacit’s worship.
  Distinguishing Characteristics: Even 
  when controlled by the skinstealer, Haimler 
  comes across as himself. He carefully consid-
  ers his words before speaking, and never says 
  more than is necessary. He will not carry a 
  conversation past the point of its usefulness; 
  he’s not impatient so much as commanding, 
  and will simply dismiss attempts to sway his 
  opinion after he has made up his mind. He 
  has an intense stare that he levels on 
  those whom he speaks to, making him 
  very intimidating. Despite all this 
  — or perhaps because of it — his 
  personal magnetism is great; he 
  is extremely influential to those 
  around him.
  Note that Haimler does not 
  have a familiar. The skinstealer 
  saw it as a threat, since it was 
  aware of the changes overtak-
  ing Haimler, so the skinstealer 
  made Haimler kill it. Haimler 
  could do nothing to prevent this, 
  as he was possessed at the time. 
  Haimler, 
  Human 
  Wiz5: 
  CR 
  5; Medium humanoid (human); HD 
  5d4+20; hp 32; Init +3; Spd 30 ft.; AC 18 
  (+3 Dex, +2 deflection, +3 armor), touch 
  15, flat-footed 15; BAB +2; Grp +4; Atk/Full 
  Atk +4 melee (1d4+2/19–20, dagger) or +5 
  ranged (1d4+2/19–20, dagger); SA Spells; AL 
  N; SV Fort +5, Ref +4, Will +5; Str 15, Dex 
  16, Con 18, Int 18, Wis 13, Cha 18.
  Skills: Concentration +12, Diplomacy +12, 
  Knowledge (arcana) +12, Knowledge (local) 
  +12, Sense Motive +6, Spellcraft +12.
  Feats: Brew Potion, Combat Casting, 
  Power Spell, Scribe Scroll, Spell Cleave.
  Possessions: 6 daggers, +2 ring of 
  protection, +3 bracers of armor, small 
  sack, symbol of Seroficitacit, spell 
  book, 89 sp, 12 gp.
  Spells Prepared (4/4/3/2, spell 
  DC 14 + spell level): 0—acid 
  splash, daze, ray of frost, message; 
  1st—charm person, magic missile 
  (x2), shocking grasp; 2nd—cat’s 
  grace, M.’s acid arrow, web; 
  3rd—fireball, lightning bolt.
  Spells in Spellbook: 0—all; 
  1st—burning hands, charm person, 
  expeditious retreat, mage armor, magic 
  missile, shocking grasp, T.’s floating disk; 
  2nd—cat’s grace, invisibility, M’s acid arrow, 
  rope trick, web; 3rd—fireball, lightning bolt, 
  whispering wind.
  Thoron, Warrior Leader 
  and Legion Sergeant
  Thoron is taller and heavier than anyone else 
  in the tribe. He wears banded armor at all 
  times, which is painted in contrasting black 
  and red bands that match Thoron’s tribal tat-
  toos. He’s a born warrior, with a natural tal-
  ent for combat that’s been nurtured through 
  years of combat training. He’s quite talkative 
  and loves to regale visitors with tales of the 
  tribe’s exploits. His modesty prevents him 
  from telling stories about himself, but 
  he’s happy to discuss his father (Thor-
  ak) and grandfather (Thorgan), both 
  of whom performed many daring 
  deeds back in the days when the 
  Thrawtek used to fight orcs for 
  control of the endless plains.
  Goals: Thoron defends his 
  tribe from aggressors: noth-
  ing more, nothing less. He is 
  intensely loyal to Haimler and 
  would probably follow him in 
  his worship of Seroficitacit even 
  if he weren’t possessed by a lunar 
  skinstealer. Any serious threat 
  to the community will find Thoron 
  quickly at hand.
  Distinguishing Characteristics: Tho-
  
  41
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  ron is as garrulous as Haimler is curt. He is 
  easygoing and well behaved, the sort of war-
  rior who really enjoys defending those who 
  can’t defend themselves. He uses his hands 
  a lot when talking, and when he reaches the 
  fighting scenes of any war story, he jumps up 
  and acts out the important parts. 
  Thoron, Human Ftr4: CR 4; Medium 
  humanoid (human); HD 4d10+12; hp 36; 
  Init +2; Spd 20 ft.; AC 19 (+1 Dex, +6 armor, 
  +2 shield), touch 11, flat-footed 18; BAB +4; 
  Grp +7; Atk/Full Atk +8 melee (1d8+5/x3, 
  battleaxe) or +7 melee (1d8+3/19–20, dag-
  ger) or +5 ranged (1d6+3, javelin); AL LG; 
  SV Fort +7, Ref +4, Will +2; Str 17, Dex 13, 
  Con 16, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 11.
  Skills: Climb +3, Intimidate +6, Jump +3.
  Feats: Cleave, Great Cleave, Lightning 
  Reflexes, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (bat-
  tleaxe), Weapon Specialization (battleaxe).
  Possessions: Banded mail, heavy steel 
  shield, battleaxe, 3 javelins, dagger, 34 gp.
  Lunar Skinstealer, Unhosted: CR 2; 
  Medium aberration (lunar); HD 4d8; hp 18; 
  Init –1; Spd 10 ft.; AC 9 (–1 Dex), touch 9, flat-
  footed 9; Atk +5 melee touch (special, face 
  grapple); Full Atk +5 melee touch (special, 
  face grapple) and +1 melee (1d2, 4 hooks); SA 
  Improved grab, host domination; SQ Lunar 
  traits; AL CN; SV Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +0; Str 
  18, Dex 8, Con 10, Int 20, Wis 4, Cha 14.
  Skills: Bluff +26, Disguise +25, Hide +14, 
  Listen +2, Spot +2.
  Lunar Skinstealer, Hosted: CR 2; 
  Medium aberration (lunar); HD 4d8; hp 18; 
  Init as host; Spd as host; AC as host; Atk/Full 
  Atk as host; SA Improved grab, host domina-
  tion, camouflage, neighbor domination; SQ 
  Lunar traits; AL CN; SV Fort as host, Ref as 
  host, Will +4; Str as host, Dex as host, Con 
  10, Int 20, Wis as host, Cha 14.
  Skills: Bluff +26, Disguise +25, Hide +14, 
  others as host.
  See Chapter 6 of DragonMech for spe-
  cial abilities.
  Shtrawnek, Tribal Shaman
  Shtrawnek is a young shaman forced to 
  accept responsibility before his time. The 
  old shaman died in the lunar rains while 
  Shtrawnek was still an apprentice. Shtrawnek 
  was the most promising of the acolytes, so 
  he assumed the mantle of shaman. He looks 
  like a young man aged beyond his years. His 
  brown hair is trimmed short, his unwrinkled 
  face is leathery, and he wears passed-down, 
  tattered skins of wild cats and boars long 
  since wiped out by the lunar rains. He is 
  usually accompanied by one of his two aco-
  lytes, who aren’t far behind him in ability. 
  Shtrawnek is of average build and height.
  Goals: Shtrawnek worships Peripatetin, 
  the traditional god of the Thrawtek. He is 
  the tribe’s spiritual and medicinal leader. 
  He leaves politics and martial affairs to 
  Haimler and Thoron, respectively. When 
  it comes to religious matters, however, 
  he has strong opinions, and Seroficit-
  acit goes against every one of them. He 
  is not opposed to occupying the lunar 
  temple as a matter of survival, but the 
  idea of rebuilding it in honor of Serofici-
  tacit is repugnant to him. He is engaged 
  in a standoff with Haimler over the tribe’s 
  future. He is not aware of the lunar skin-
  stealers but suspects something is afoot, 
  since Haimler’s behavior has changed so 
  much over the past three days.
  Over the course of the adventure, the PCs 
  will probably end up allied with Shtrawnek. 
  Keep his underlying goals in mind. The PCs 
  are simple tools to him, nothing more. After 
  they have served their purpose, he’ll double-
  cross them if that’s what has to be done to 
  get rid of them — or if that’s the best way to 
  get rid of Haimler and Thoron. However he 
  gets involved, he’ll probably try to arrange 
  for the PCs to face Haimler without his 
  direct involvement, keeping his name unsul-
  lied and giving him an excuse to get rid of the 
  PCs if need be. (“They attacked our chief. 
  They must be killed!”)
  There’s one last aspect of the situation to 
  keep in mind. The Legion is by nature preju-
  diced against non-humans. But lunar skin-
  stealers aren’t, and generally are inclined 
  to dismiss such petty terrestrial concerns 
  in favor of their larger goals. Non-human 
  PCs may find that they’re treated better by 
  Haimler and Thoron than Shtrawnek. If you 
  want to stir some interesting debates within 
  the party, throw this into the mix.
  Distinguishing 
  Characteristics: 
  Shtrawnek has deep, wise eyes. He pauses to 
  look into his interlocutor’s eyes before mak-
  ing any statement. He speaks evenly, with 
  little inflection. It’s obvious he’s a wise man, 
  for he makes comments of stunning insight 
  on occasion. 
  Shtrawnek, Human Clr3: CR 3; Medium 
  humanoid (human); HD 3d8; hp 17; Init +2; 
  Spd 20 ft.; AC 19 (+2 Dex, +6 armor, +1 
  shield (Two-Weapon Defense)), touch 12, 
  flat-footed 17; BAB +2; Grp +3; Atk/Full 
  Atk +1/+1 melee (1d6+1, quarterstaff) or +4 
  ranged (1d6+1, throwing hammer); SA Turn 
  undead, spells, domain abilities; AL N; SV 
  Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +7; Str 12, Dex 15, Con 
  11, Int 13, Wis 18, Cha 10.
  Skills: Concentration +6, Heal +10, 
  Knowledge (arcana) +7, Knowledge (reli-
  gion) +7, Listen +4, Spellcraft +7, Spot +4, 
  Survival +6.
  Feats: Combat Casting, Two-Weapon 
  Defense, Two-Weapon Fighting.
  Possessions: Breastplate, quarterstaff, 2 
  throwing hammers, 16 gp, holy symbol of 
  Peripatetin.
  Domains: Luck, Travel.
  DON’T SLAUGHTER 
  THE CAMP!
  In playtests of this adventure, the PCs came up 
  with a simple, direct solution to the situation in 
  Haimler’s Town: “We have a mech. They don’t. 
  Why don’t we just trample them all?”
  Try to discourage this course of action. This 
  “blunt force” approach definitely removes some 
  of the challenge from the adventure! One simple 
  observation should push the PCs toward more 
  thoughtful behavior: Remember that the camp is 
  located beside a meteor that crash-landed only 
  days before. The impact threw up tons of debris. 
  The surface is strewn with rubble, which counts as 
  difficult terrain for a mech. Any attempt at running 
  the mech through the camp requires a Mech Pilot 
  skill check every round to keep the mech on its feet. 
  The Irontooth mech that appears later in this epi-
  sode has no trouble in making these checks, thanks 
  to the pilot’s +18 modifier to Mech Pilot checks (as 
  described in Episode Four).
  
  42
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  Spells (4/3+1/2+1; save DC 14 + spell 
  level): 0—create water, cure minor wounds, 
  detect magic, guidance; 1st—cure light wounds 
  (x2), divine favor, longstrider*; 2nd—aid*, cure 
  moderate wounds, inflict moderate wounds.
  *Domain spell.
  Acolytes (2), Human Clr2: CR 2; 
  Medium humanoid (human); HD 2d8; hp 9; 
  Init +0; Spd 20 ft.; AC 16 (+6 armor), touch 
  10, flat-footed 16; BAB +1; Grp +2; Atk/Full 
  Atk +2 melee (1d6+1, quarterstaff); SA Turn 
  undead, spells, domain abilities; AL N; SV 
  Fort +3, Ref +0, Will +3; AL N; Str 12, Dex 
  11, Con 10, Int 11, Wis 16, Cha 10.
  Skills: Concentration +4, Heal +7, Knowl-
  edge (arcana) +4, Knowledge (religion) +4, 
  Listen +5, Spellcraft +4, Spot +5.
  Feats: Alertness, Combat Casting.
  Domains: Luck, Travel.
  Spells (4/3+1; save DC 13 + spell level): 
  0—create water, cure minor wounds, mending, 
  virtue; 1st—cure light wounds (x2), longstrider*, 
  summon monster I.
  Possessions: Banded mail.
  *Domain spell.
  Typical Legion Citizen, Human Com1: 
  CR 1/2; Medium humanoid (human); HD 
  1d4; hp 2; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 11 (+1 
  armor), touch 10, flat-footed 11; BAB +0; 
  Grp +0; Atk/Full Atk +0 melee (1d4/19–20, 
  dagger); AL LN; SV Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +0; 
  Str 11, Dex 10, Con 10, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 10.
  Skills: Craft (any one) +6 or Profession 
  (any one) +6, Handle Animal +3, Listen +2, 
  Ride +3, Spot +5.
  Feats: Alertness, Skill Focus 
  (Craft or Profession).
  Possessions: 
  Heavy 
  clothing (treat as pad-
  ded 
  armor), 
  dagger, 
  1d10 cp.
  
  XP AWARDS
  T
  his free-form episode involves just as 
  much investigation and research as it 
  does combat (perhaps more, in fact). Award 
  XP bonuses to the PCs based on their suc-
  cess in uncovering the mysteries as shown 
  on Table 3-3.
  SECOND 
  LUNAR TEMPLE
  T
  his section details the significant loca-
  tions in the second lunar temple found 
  in Haimler’s Town.
  AREA 1: 
  LADDER AND CHUTE
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  The tribesmen enter the meteor through a rope 
  ladder that rises up its side. At the top is a deep 
  chute that drops straight into the meteor.
  During the day, a guard watches over this 
  ladder. The divide in the tribe has made Tho-
  ron and Haimler worried that someone will 
  interfere with the lunar temple, so the guard 
  prevents unauthorized entrance. He can be 
  easily overcome, but if combat is initiated, 
  his first action is to run back to the tent city 
  and alert everyone — which would rapidly 
  bring reinforcements.
  The chute is 20 feet deep. The rope lad-
  der goes down the chute to the floor level of 
  Area 2, making the descent easy. 
  Guard, Human War1: CR 1/2; Medium 
  humanoid (human); HD 1d8; hp 4; Init +0; 
  Spd 30 ft.; AC 13 (+1 Dex, +2 armor), touch 
  11, flat-footed 13; BAB +1; Grp +3; Atk/Full 
  Atk +4 melee (1d8+2/x3, spear) or  +3 melee 
  (1d4+2/19–20, dagger), or +3 ranged (1d8+2/
  x3, spear) or +2 ranged (1d4+2/19–20, dag-
  ger); AL LN; SV Fort +2, Ref +0, Will +0; Str 
  14, Dex 12, Con 10, Int 9, Wis 11, Cha 9.
  Skills: Climb +6, Intimidate +2, Jump +5.
  Feats: Power Attack, Weapon Focus (spear).
  Possessions: Spear, dagger, leather armor, 1d10 sp.
  SECOND LUNAR 
  TEMPLE FEATURES
  Floor Level: The floor level of this temple is a 
  normal horizontal plane.
  Illumination: There was originally no light of 
  any kind inside the meteorite, but the tribe has now 
  outfitted it with oil-burning lanterns. There are two 
  lanterns per room, usually located on the floor.
  Walls: All passages in the tunnel are round, with 
  a slightly flattened floor. Unless noted otherwise 
  they are 10 feet tall. They have stats as follows: 
  Hewn Stone Wall: 3 ft. thick between rooms, 
  otherwise solid rock; Break DC 50; hardness 8; 
  540 hp; Climb DC 22.
  Doors: Doors within the lunar temple are quite 
  unlike normal doors. They are round passages a full 
  10 feet tall, with a round door set within. The door 
  opens by rotating on a horizontal bar set within the 
  frame 5 feet above the ground, effectively “flipping 
  over” to open. Humans using these doors must 
  move with the bottom half of the door and duck un-
  der the horizontal bar. Creatures with the ability to 
  do so can throw themselves at the upper half of the 
  door to flip through to the other side. The rotating 
  door can swing in either direction. 
  Stone Door: 4 in. thick; hardness 8; 60 hp; 
  Break DC 28 (stuck or locked).
  Time Period: The room descriptions assume 
  that the players enter during the day. If they enter 
  at night, the temple complex will be crammed with 
  inhabitants — almost the entire population of the 
  town squeezes in here at night. Obviously, a night-
  time raid won’t get the characters very far!
  TABLE 3-3: XP AWARDS
  Achievement 
  Per-Character XP Award 
  Discovering that Haimler and Thoron’s behavior has changed 
  300 XP
  Deducing correctly who is controlled by the skinstealers 
  300 XP
  Discovering the hidden chamber with the starshard (Area 7 within the second lunar temple) 
  300 XP
  Defeating the skinstealers without harming Haimler and Thoron 
  100 XP
  
  43
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
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  AREA 2: 
  WORSHIP AREA
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  This 50-foot-wide, perfectly circular room has 
  smooth, almost glassy walls. It is illuminated by two 
  oil lanterns, one at the foot of the chute and one be-
  side the open passage leading out to the northeast. 
  You see signs of recent human habitation: bedrolls, 
  sleeping pads, dirty clothes and crumbs litter the 
  floor. In the center of the room is a bizarre statue of a 
  10-foot-tall blob. It looks like it was carved from the 
  rock of the meteorite, but it is worn smooth in many 
  places, as if touched by a thousand hands.
  This room was once a meditation and prayer 
  chamber for the lunar skinstealers. The blob 
  is a representation of Seroficitacit. The room 
  is now used by the tribe as sleeping quarters.
  The Blob Statue: The blob statue is 
  magical, but its properties are only useful for 
  followers of Seroficitacit. Any follower who 
  touches the statue while praying to Serofici-
  tacit receives the effects of cure minor wounds 
  and guidance, with a duration of 8 hours. The 
  effect can be received only once per day. The 
  statue has no effect on nonbelievers.
  
  AREA 3: 
  SLEEPING CHAMBER (EL 1/2)
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  This perfectly round, 40-foot-wide chamber looks as 
  if it serves as the sleeping quarters for many people. 
  At least 90 bedrolls are crammed next to each other, 
  along with blankets, dirty clothes and other signs of 
  habitation. Two oil lanterns illuminate the room.
  Suddenly, one of the bedrolls rustles. A man rolls 
  over and then starts when he sees you. “Hey!” he 
  says. “What are you doing in here?”
  The man is one of the laborers from Area 6 
  who is taking a nap. He has the stats of the 
  laborers from Area 6, below.
  The characters have 3 rounds to calm him 
  down before he shouts an alarm. Remember 
  that the tribe is close-knit; PCs will be imme-
  diately recognized as outsiders, although 
  they still might be able to pass themselves 
  off as belonging there. Possible ways to calm 
  down the man include the following:
  Bluffing: The characters can try to come 
  up with a plausible explanation for their 
  presence. Only allow this if the players can 
  actually come up with a good reason on the 
  spot. Allow a Bluff check opposed by the 
  man’s Sense Motive.
  Diplomacy: The characters might acknowl-
  edge they don’t belong, but they try to 
  smooth things over with a silver tongue. 
  Allow a Diplomacy check to influence 
  the man’s attitude. His initial attitude is 
  unfriendly, so the Diplomacy check must hit 
  DC 15 to make him indifferent to the PCs. 
  Refer to the Diplomacy skill in Chapter 4 of 
  
  44
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  the Player’s Handbook for full details.
  Disguise: If the characters are disguised 
  as laborers, followers of Seroficitacit, or 
  some other good cover, they may be able 
  to explain their presence. Allow a Disguise 
  check opposed by the man’s Spot.
  Intimidation: The PCs can try to 
  intimidate the man into shutting up. Allow 
  a standard Intimidate check opposed by his 
  level check (for which he receives only a +1 
  modifier). If successful, the man is scared for 
  his life and will stay quiet — at least as long as 
  the PCs are there to threaten him.
  Failure: If the PCs fail to quiet the man 
  within 3 rounds, or if they attack and he 
  receives at least one action before dying or 
  falling unconscious, he starts screaming at 
  the top of his lungs. The laborers from Area 
  6 should make a Listen check against DC 10; 
  if they succeed, they come running, ready to 
  fight. Make a Listen check against DC 20 for 
  the guard at Area 1 (if he’s still alive and able to 
  act); if he hears the fight, he sets off the alarm 
  in the tent town and then comes in himself.
  XP Award: If the PCs do quiet the 
  man, award them XP for defeating a CR 1/2 
  encounter.
  AREA 4: 
  DIVINATION CHAMBER
  Read or paraphrase the following:
  The walls of this 60-foot-wide circular room are 
  completely covered in carved alien symbols. Even 
  the 20-foot-tall domed ceiling is carved. The flick-
  ering light of two oil lanterns in the center of the 
  room plays with the bizarre shapes and symbols. 
  None of them resemble any sort of writing you’ve 
  ever seen before.
  The floor is now covered in bedrolls and sleep-
  ing gear. Two man-sized holes have been bashed 
  through the northern wall. The sounds of picks 
  and shovels emanate from rough-hewn passages 
  beyond the holes.
  In the southwestern corner of the room is a half-
  open round door leading to a dark passageway.
  The lunar skinstealers used this chamber as a 
  place to meditate on Seroficitacit’s greatness.
  In addition to the man-made tunnels lead-
  ing to Area 6, the room contains four exits. 
  Three are secret doors in the walls (one of 
  which is standing half-open, as described 
  above; it leads to Area 5B). The fourth is a 
  secret trapdoor in the ceiling.
  In fact, none of the doors are truly 
  “secret.” Any lunar creature capable of 
  reading the language inscribed on the 
  wall would know the doors are there (kind 
  
  45
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  of like how doors in a movie theater are 
  marked “Exit”). Yet to terrestrial creatures, 
  the bewildering array of symbols is utterly 
  confusing, and it hides the presence of the 
  round doors that don’t look like normal 
  doors to begin with.
  A search (DC 25) of the room reveals the 
  secret doors. The ceiling trapdoor is only 
  revealed if the PCs specifically note they are 
  searching the ceiling (and have the means to 
  do so; Search DC 25), or via an exceptional 
  search (DC 30) result on the ground, which 
  alerts the character to the lunar equivalent 
  of an “Exit” sign beside every exit.
  A powerful Decipher Script attempt (DC 
  35) also reveals the secret doors via reading 
  the wall language. The walls tell stories of 
  the great deeds of Seroficitacit in his war 
  against the lunar dragons.
  If the characters still fail to discover the 
  trapdoor in the ceiling, then inform the PC who 
  possesses the starshard that the item pulsates 
  — as if in anticipation — as he walks through 
  the center of the room. They should realize that 
  they’re missing something at that point.
  
  AREA 5A: 
  THE GREAT SPAWN (EL 3)
  T
  hese rooms were once used to house 
  spawns of Seroficitacit. Now they’re 
  still used for that purpose, for Haimler and 
  Thoron have been directed by the lunar 
  skinstealers to preserve these storehouses of 
  knowledge. Read or paraphrase the follow-
  ing when the characters enter:
  This unlit, perfectly round 30-foot-wide cham-
  ber has smooth, glassy walls. In the midst of the 
  room is a 15-foot-wide shapeless mass of gray 
  protoplasm. Small buds and tentacles sprout oc-
  casionally from its surface before dissipating back 
  into the goo. As soon as you enter the room, the 
  tentacles begin to veer toward you.
  There is one spawn in each room marked 
  5A. These young spawns of Seroficitacit are 
  healthy and ready to defend their temple. As 
  soon as each becomes aware of the PCs, it 
  advances to attack.
  Roll 1d8 on the table under the spawn of 
  Seroficitacit entry (see “New Creatures” in 
  Appendix One) to determine what changes 
  these particular spawn have undergone. 
  Young Spawn of Seroficitacit: 
  CR 3; Medium ooze (lunar); HD 
  3d10+5; hp 31; Init –5; Spd 10 ft.; 
  AC 5 (–5 Dex), touch 5, flat-footed 
  10; BAB +2; Grp +6; Atk/Full Atk +6 
  melee (1d4+4 plus change, slam); SA 
  Change; SQ Blindsight 40 ft., moon lore, 
  ooze traits, lunar traits; AL N; SV Fort +6, 
  Ref –4, Will +5; Str 18, Dex 1, Con 20, Int 18, 
  Wis 18, Cha 10.
  Skills: Bluff +6, Knowledge (lunar) +20, 
  Knowledge (the planes) +10, Knowledge 
  (religion) +10, Listen +10, Spot +10.
  Feats: Insightful Step, Seroficitacit’s 
  Changes.
  AREA 5B: 
  THE LAST SKINSTEALER (EL 2)
  O
  ne more lunar skinstealer survived 
  the meteor’s crash to earth, but was 
  injured in the process. It has remained in 
  this room, recovering from its injuries while 
  being tended by Haimler and Thoron. It has 
  avoided taking hosts for the time being, 
  waiting for the right moment. When the PCs 
  enter, the moment is there! Once the PCs 
  open the secret door, Read or paraphrase 
  the following:
  A short tunnel leads to an unlit, perfectly round 
  30-foot-wide chamber with smooth, glassy walls. 
  The room appears empty.
  The skinstealer uses  its excellent Hide score 
  to remain hidden until someone comes 
  within striking distance, then  it leaps up 
  and attempts to take a host. It is highly intel-
  ligent, so play it as such. It will hide on the 
  floor or ceiling, flat and flush against the sur-
  face, preferably in the 10-foot-wide entrance 
  corridor. Here it can leap up and attack the 
  first PC in the marching order, who will 
  block other PCs from being able to make 
  attacks. Once the skinstealer has a host, 
  it can then fight its way out. Alternately, 
  the skinstealer could hide in the 
  same position but wait until 
  the PCs have passed, then 
  attack the last character. 
  Once it attains a host, it 
  can either fight the now-
  trapped rest of the party 
  or simply run, taking the 
  character’s body with it, and 
  make it do mischief that will get it 
  killed by the tribe. 
  Lunar Skinstealer, Unhosted: CR 2; 
  Medium aberration (lunar); HD 4d8; hp 18, 
  25; Init –1; Spd 10 ft.; AC 9 (–1 Dex), touch 
  9, flat-footed 9; BAB +3; Grp +7; Atk +5 
  melee touch (special, face grapple); Full Atk 
  +5 melee touch (special, face grapple) and 
  +1 melee (1d2, 4 hooks); SA Improved grab, 
  host domination; SQ Lunar traits; AL CN; SV 
  Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +0; Str 18, Dex 8, Con 
  10, Int 20, Wis 4, Cha 14.
  Skills: Bluff +26, Disguise +25, Hide +14, 
  Listen +2, Spot +2.
  Lunar Skinstealer, Hosted: CR 2; 
  Medium aberration (lunar); HD 4d8; hp 18; 
  Init as host; Spd as host; AC as host; BAB as 
  host; Grp as host; Atk/Full Atk as host; SA 
  Improved grab, host domination, camou-
  flage, neighbor domination; SQ Lunar traits; 
  AL CN; SV Fort as host, Ref as host, Will +4; 
  Str as host, Dex as host, Con 10, Int 20, Wis 
  as host, Cha 14.
  Skills: Bluff +26, Disguise +25, Hide +14, 
  others as host.
  See “New Creatures” in Chapter 6 of 
  DragonMech for special abilities.
  
  AREA 6: 
  NEW LIVING QUARTERS (EL 3)
  T
  his room is filled with laborers expand-
  ing the caves. Only a few of the most 
  loyal tribesmen are allowed to work here. 
  In general, they’re making enough noise 
  that they hear only exceptionally loud noises 
  (such as the man in Area 5 shouting at the top 
  
  46
  CHPT.
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  «3»
  of his lungs). When the PCs enter, Read or 
  paraphrase the following:
  This irregularly shaped cavern is about 40 feet by 
  40 feet. You can see six men with picks and shov-
  els working hard to make the cave larger.
  The characters may be able to surprise these 
  men if they’re careful (Hide and Move 
  Silently). The laborers receive a –10 penalty 
  to Listen checks due to the amount of noise 
  they’re making.
  This area is considered off-limits. 
  Even members of the tribe aren’t 
  supposed to be here during day-
  light; only the most faithful of 
  Seroficitacit’s recent con-
  verts are allowed to labor 
  in his temple. Unless 
  the PCs are accompa-
  nied by tribal lead-
  ers, the laborers will 
  immediately 
  assume 
  the worst about their 
  presence. 
  They’ll 
  attack on sight. 
  Laborers 
  (6), 
  Human 
  Com1: 
  CR 
  1/2; Medium humanoid 
  (human); HD 1d4; hp 3; 
  Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 11 
  (+1 armor), touch 10, flat-
  footed 11; BAB +0; Grp +0; 
  Atk/Full Atk +1 melee (1d6/x4, 
  heavy pick); AL LN; SV Fort +2, Ref 
  +0, Will +0; Str 12, Dex 10, Con 10, Int 
  10, Wis 10, Cha 10.
  Skills: Profession (miner) +4, Handle 
  Animal +4, Listen +0, Ride +4, Spot +0.
  Feats: Great Fortitude, Martial Weapon 
  Proficiency (heavy pick).
  Possessions: Heavy clothing 
  (treat 
  as padded armor), 
  heavy pick, sym-
  bol of Seroficit-
  acit, 1d10 cp.
  
  AREA 7: 
  THE STARSHARD
  T
  his room contains the starshard (see “New 
  Item” in Appendix One). There are two 
  important things to note about this area.
  First, Haimler and Thoron have not dis-
  covered this room. The skinstealers consider 
  the starshard to be their greatest artifact, and 
  they have not revealed its existence.
  skinstealers could reach it with the aid of 
  their spawn (which would lift them up), but 
  it’s not so easy for humans. The secret trap-
  door leads to a 40-foot-long round passage, 
  which opens into a 30-foot-wide perfectly 
  spherical room. 
  If the starshard is still in the chamber when 
  the characters enter, and the Irontooth mech 
  encounter proceeds according to plan, Read 
  or paraphrase the following:
  This perfectly spherical room has polished black 
  walls. It immediately reminds you of a similar room 
  you encountered in the last temple. The room is 
  dark, like the last glimpse of twilight before 
  the sun sets. A haunting gold glow 
  emanates from a crystalline globe 
  that floats mid-air in the exact 
  center of the spherical space. 
  Pinpricks in the surface of the 
  globe send pointers of light 
  to the walls, where they 
  look like stars in an infinite 
  black sky.
  You feel a faint hum 
  among your belongings, 
  and something seems to 
  tug upward. It seems as if 
  the starshard you already 
  possess is reacting to the 
  presence of this second 
  starshard.
  This time, however, the PCs don’t 
  get the globe. Continue reading:
  Suddenly, the mystical darkness is broken by a 
  shaft of light. A trapdoor opens on the ceiling and 
  sunlight floods the room. A large one-man mech 
  drops to the floor, grabs the starshard and climbs 
  back up the trapdoor before you can react!
  This is an Irontooth Raptor mech (see “New 
  Mechs” in Appendix One). The pilot drops 
  down, grabs the starshard, and climbs back up 
  the shaft. Arrange the event so the PCs can’t 
  engage the mech — perhaps it drops down 
  Second, this room sets the stage for the 
  next episode in the adventure, as the PCs 
  pursue the Irontooth mech, described above 
  as Event 5. It is assumed the Irontooth mech 
  is encountered here, and it snatches the star-
  shard right before the PCs get it. However, 
  you can change this depending on the 
  PCs’ actions. The starshard might even 
  be gone. See Event 5, above.
  The secret trapdoor to this chamber 
  is 20 feet above ground level. The lunar 
  
  47
  CHPT.
  #
  «3»
  before they fully enter the room, or perhaps 
  it gets a surprise round and wins initiative, 
  so it’s gone before they can react. If the PCs 
  do somehow engage the Irontooth mech, it 
  simply tries to get free, then runs once it has 
  escaped.
  The trapdoor leads up to the top of the 
  meteor. Its Climb DC is only 10, thanks to 
  handholds built into the shaft. The vertical 
  shaft is 10 feet tall, for a total distance of 
  20 feet from the floor of Area 7 to the top 
  of the meteor. The shaft was obscured by 
  a pile of rubble, so it was not detected by 
  the tribesmen.
  By the time the PCs get to the top of the 
  meteor, all they see is the Irontooth mech 
  running off into the distance. They aren’t the 
  only ones to see this; the camp is an uproar, 
  pointing and shouting at the strange new 
  mech on the scene.
  Stats for the Irontooth pilot are presented 
  in Episode Four. This encounter should 
  really proceed with only a glimpse of the 
  Irontooth pilot and no real interaction with 
  him and the PCs — he should be long gone 
  before they react.
  CONCLUSION
  D
  epending on how much trouble the PCs 
  cause before they defeat the skinsteal-
  ers, they may depart on good terms or be run 
  out with sticks. If the PCs think quickly, they 
  may be able to escape punishment for what-
  ever slaughter occurred within the meteor 
  by pinning the blame on the Irontooth mech 
  that the entire tribe has seen escaping — that 
  is, assuming there are no living witnesses to 
  the PCs’ behavior. The reactions of Haimler 
  and Thoron to the situation are described in 
  Event 3, above.
  Either way, the PCs should be hot on the 
  heels of the Irontooth mech. Any PC with 
  Knowledge (local), Knowledge (mechs), or 
  bardic knowledge can attempt a check (DC 
  10) to recognize that the mech they saw 
  was Irontooth in origin. If they speak with 
  the tribe, they’ll be similarly informed. If 
  the characters need to be pushed, use the 
  starshard as an impetus: Aside from glowing 
  and humming when briefly in the presence of 
  its kin, it can also communicate empathetic 
  messages that the characters are to reunite it 
  with the other, now-departed starshard. The 
  next stage of the adventure involves tracking 
  down the Irontooth mech.
  Further Adventures 
  with the Legion
  This episode gives a shallow view of the 
  Legion that is tangential to its true nature, 
  but nonetheless insightful. The Legion is 
  built of disparate human tribes united by the 
  sheer charisma of the greatest human leader 
  ever to walk the endless plains. In the pres-
  ence of Shar Thizdic, the tribes function like 
  clockwork. When he’s away, they often revert 
  to their ancient traditions and rivalries. The 
  true Legion military-industrial complexes, 
  where the government is largely centralized 
  and the tribal functions broken down, feel 
  like Russian military complexes from the 
  height of the Cold War: paranoid, autocratic, 
  militaristic and regimented. In these places, 
  there are no tribes, no last names; people 
  are addressed by rank, and individuality is 
  subsumed to the collective. Each mech is a 
  nameless, faceless expression of Shar’s will; 
  each soldier, one of his thoughts given form.
  Remember that this adventure took place 
  on the outskirts of Legion territory. If the 
  characters return, send them deeper next 
  time. Make sure they experience the truly 
  regimented side of the Legion, not just what 
  happens when the Legion reverts to the tribal 
  factionalism from which it was born.
  Here are some plot hooks to engage the 
  PCs in future Legion adventures:
  • A routine Legion mech patrol spots the 
  PCs’ mech departing from Haimler’s 
  Town. The Legion mech travels to 
  Haimler’s Town to find out what’s going 
  on. Haimler and Thoron, barely recov-
  ered from their experience with the 
  lunar skinstealers, need a convenient 
  scapegoat to explain why their tribe is 
  in the middle of nowhere with virtually 
  no authorization. So they blame the PCs, 
  concocting a half-baked story that they 
  somehow pass off as the truth. Perhaps 
  the PCs controlled them using charm 
  person; maybe the PCs are lunar crea-
  tures in disguise! Whatever they say, they 
  make the PCs out to be important so as 
  to better cover their own mistakes. The 
  Legion now believes the PCs are power-
  ful enemies, so it sends mercenaries to 
  trail them — or perhaps hatches a plan to 
  lure them back somehow.…
  • Several weeks after the end of Episode 
  Three, the PCs are visited by a young girl. 
  She says she is Haimler’s daughter. Haim-
  ler and Thoron were brutally punished by 
  the Legion for their insubordination. The 
  entire tribe was rounded up and returned 
  to the industrial complexes, where Shar 
  Thizdic’s minions made examples of 
  them. Haimler and Thoron disappeared 
  completely and have not been seen since. 
  Before he was dragged off in the middle 
  of the night, Haimler gave his daughter a 
  handwritten note and told her to deliver 
  it to the PCs. In it, he asks for the char-
  acters’ assistance in defending his tribe 
  against the excesses of Shar Thizdic.
  • Somehow the Legion has discovered 
  the PCs’ Stenian affiliations. Perhaps 
  a tribesman searched their mech while 
  they were in Haimler’s Town. Maybe 
  a Legion patrol saw them enter from 
  Stenian territory and surmised what 
  wasn’t obvious. Or maybe the PCs 
  screwed up and told somebody some-
  thing, which got passed around until 
  it encountered the wrong ears. The 
  Legion has mobilized its mech fleets 
  to the Stenian border in opposition to 
  what it decries as “an invasion and bla-
  tant act of aggression.” The Legion gives 
  the Stenians 48 hours to turn over the 
  invaders before it declares war. Anxious 
  to avoid a larger conflict, the Stenian 
  Confederacy’s highest political officials 
  are perfectly happy to sacrifice a few 
  mercenaries who were expendable to 
  begin with. Now the PCs have both the 
  Stenians and the Legion after them.…
  
  48
  CHPT.
  #
  «4»
  INTRODUCTION
  A
  s the Irontooth mech bounds away 
  from Haimler’s Town, the PCs watch 
  the second starshard go with it. They can feel 
  their own starshard empathetically urging 
  them to follow. The urges are particularly 
  compelling: There’s definitely something 
  larger at stake, though the PCs are not 
  quite sure what.
  Thus begins a long episode of cat-and-
  mouse, as the PCs track the Irontooth mech. 
  The Irontooth Raptor with its Speed Freak 
  pilot outpaces the Magwagon by 2 miles per 
  hour, or about 16–20 miles over the course 
  of a normal day’s travel. However, the Raptor 
  stays close to the Magwagon in order to set 
  ambushes. Except when setting ambushes, 
  the Raptor doesn’t try to hide its trail, mak-
  ing it relatively easy to track. If you have a 
  ranger or other character with the Track feat 
  in your party, you can have that character 
  make Survival checks every so often to stay 
  on the trail. Since the PCs have to stay on the 
  trail in order for the adventure to progress, 
  however, do this sparingly so you aren’t 
  forced to override the dice rolls to get them 
  back on the trail.
  The trail leads almost due north, to 
  a no-man’s-land between Legion and 
  Stenian Confederacy borders. The 
  fact that Irontooth Clans are cur-
  rently operating in this vicinity is 
  unknown to both the Stenians and 
  the Legion. The characters finally 
  come to the Irontooth Clan camp, 
  where they interrupt a joust. The clan 
  learns it is they who possess the other 
  starshard. The Irontooth demand (at pain of 
  death) that the characters turn it over and 
  prove their valor by participating in a duel. 
  The Irontooth mech is fully aware of 
  its pursuers and tries at various times 
  to shake them, primarily so it can set 
  ambushes without being observed. The 
  following travel encounters give several 
  situations in which the characters can 
  face off with the Irontooth mech.
  As always, use the starshard 
  and its empathetic mes-
  sages 
  to 
  continue 
  motivating the PCs 
  on 
  their 
  journey. 
  Because the PC with 
  the 
  starshard 
  can 
  more easily commu-
  nicate with his deity, 
  you can also use divine 
  intervention 
  to 
  keep 
  things moving. Send dreams, 
  visions and flashes of insight from the 
  players’ gods to keep them on track.
  EPISODE FOUR: ON THE IRONTOOTH TRAIL
  
  49
  CHPT.
  #
  «4»
  
  TRAVELING 
  ENCOUNTERS
  T
  he terrain for all traveling encounters is 
  rocky, pitted roughlands with the occa-
  sional gully or canyon. The uneven land and 
  commonplace boulders limit visibility and 
  encourage ambushes.
  Don’t forget also to roll for the lunar rain 
  each night.
  
  ENCOUNTER A:
  IRONTOOTH AMBUSHES
  O
  n the first day of pursuit, the Irontooth 
  pilot sets several ambushes intended 
  to delay his pursuers. These ambushes start 
  as a series of potshots. The faster-moving 
  Raptor mech gains ground on the Mag-
  wagon, then looks for a good place for a 
  sniper attack, preferably at a range of 200+ 
  feet so he gets several shots before the PCs 
  can close. The pilot then aims at whichever 
  PC is piloting the mech, or, if any PCs are 
  foolish enough to stick a head out of a port-
  hole, he goes for them.
  Note the following aspects of the situation:
  • The Irontooth pilot takes 20 on his Hide 
  check to conceal his mech. The Large mech 
  has a –1 penalty to Hide checks, offset by its 
  18 Dexterity. The result is a Hide modifier 
  of +23. In order for the PCs to return fire, 
  they must first make a Spot check to beat 
  that result. Remember that Spot checks 
  have a –1 penalty for every 10 feet of dis-
  tance, so the 200-foot range between the 
  Raptor and Magwagon will initially give 
  the PCs a –20 penalty to their checks. Give 
  the PCs a +5 bonus to their Spot check for 
  every round they’re under fire, to allow 
  them to zero in on the shots. (Conversely, 
  the Raptor pilot should have no problem 
  spotting the Colossal Magwagon as it lum-
  bers across the landscape.)
  • Review the rules for targeting mech crew 
  in “Mech Combat,” Targeting the Crew, in 
  Chapter 2 of DragonMech. Remember 
  that the Irontooth pilot must make a DC 15 
  Spot check to target the Magwagon pilot. 
  He also gets a –1 penalty to this check for 
  every 10 feet of distance between him and 
  
  50
  CHPT.
  #
  «4»
  the target. Once he gets a bead, he’ll fire 
  relentlessly (using his mech attack bonus 
  because the weapon is mounted on the 
  mech) until the PCs locate him and return 
  fire, at which point he’ll race away, taking 
  cover from the terrain as he goes. If he 
  fails to get a bead on the pilot before the 
  PCs have passed, he’ll pick up and move to 
  a new ambush ahead of their position.
  • When the Raptor pilot targets the PC 
  pilot, he bypasses the mech’s hardness and 
  directly targets the character. That’s the 
  point of the Spot check; he’s firing right 
  through the cockpit window.
  • If the PCs pass the point where the Raptor 
  changed its path to look for an ambush, 
  allow any PCs with the Track feat a Sur-
  vival check (DC 14) to detect its altered 
  path. (The Raptor pilot will try to hide his 
  tracks by staking ambushes on firm ground 
  where they’re hard to detect.)
  Morgon, Irontooth Pilot, Human Mcj6: CR 
  6; Medium humanoid (human); HD 6d6; hp 24; 
  Init +7; Spd 30 ft.; AC 16 (+3 Dex, +3 armor), 
  touch 13, flat-footed 13; BAB +3; Mech 
  Attack Bonus +6/+1; Grp 
  +3; Personal Atk/Full Atk 
  +6 melee (1d6/18–20, 
  rapier) or +6 ranged 
  (1d8/19–20, 
  light 
  crossbow); 
  Mech 
  Atk/Full Atk (any 
  mech weapon) +9/
  +4 melee or +9/+4 
  ranged; SA Extraordi-
  nary pilot, hand speed, 
  mech fingers (warrior 
  instinct), patchwork repairs, 
  push the envelope 2/day, roll 
  with the punches (1 increment); AL 
  CN; SV Fort +2, Ref +8, Will +3; Str 11, Dex 16, 
  Con 11, Int 15, Wis 12, Cha 9.
  Skills: Climb +8, Craft (mechcraft) +11, 
  Hide +3, Jump +8, Knowledge (mechs) +11, 
  Knowledge (steam engines) +11, Listen +2, 
  Mech Pilot +18, Spot +10.
  Feats: Dodge, Improved Initiative, Mechi-
  dextrous, Mechwalker, Mobility, Quick 
  Draw, Speed Freak, Weapon Finesse.
  Possessions: Pilot’s armor, light crossbow, 
  rapier, dagger, 1d6 gp.
  
  ENCOUNTER B:
  IRONTOOTH CHARGES
  O
  n the second day, the Irontooth 
  mech decides to begin charging the 
  Magwagon. It finds an area where it can 
  hide, waits for the Magwagon to pass, then 
  charges from behind or the side. It stays 
  for only a round or two, attacking with its 
  unarmed strike, before retreating. If it is 
  able to get a surprise round (remember its 
  Hide +23 modifier?) and also wins initia-
  tive, it will charge, attack and retreat so the 
  Magwagon can’t return a blow. If any PC is 
  foolish enough to expose himself (outside 
  a porthole, walking alongside, etc.), the 
  Raptor will directly target him with a melee 
  strike (don’t forget the Spot check [DC 15], 
  if applicable). Otherwise, he makes general 
  attacks against the mech.
  This sort of hit-and-run tactic isn’t very 
  effective in the long run, as the Magwagon’s 
  hardness absorbs most of the dam-
  age. Yet until the Irontooth 
  mech begins to take dam-
  age, it will continue 
  to harry the larger 
  mech, hoping to 
  whittle it down so 
  its clan brothers 
  will have an easier 
  time against it in 
  the coming days.
  It is unlikely that 
  the players will capture 
  or defeat Morgon and his 
  mech, but it’s possible that 
  player ingenuity (or luck) may cre-
  ate such a situation. If this occurs, there are 
  two easy options to keep the plot moving 
  toward the Irontooth camp. The first option 
  is the starshards, which will urge the PCs to 
  continue traveling toward the Irontooth. 
  The starshards want to be brought to the Iron-
  tooth, who know more about their powers 
  (and proper uses) than the PCs. The second 
  option is Morgon himself, who may try to 
  escape being killed by promising a handsome 
  ransom from his father Phegrip, who waits 
  ahead at the Irontooth joust. The downside to 
  this option is that it gives the PCs a bargain-
  ing chip when the Irontooth subsequently 
  challenge them to a duel (see below). This 
  is where the raucous nature of Irontooth life 
  comes in: A number of clans are present at the 
  joust, and although Phegrip is the foremost 
  chieftain, he has only nominal control over 
  other clans. Holding Morgan hostage might 
  persuade some of the Irontooth to hold their 
  fire, but certainly not all.
  ENTER THE 
  IRONTOOTH
  B
  y this stage of the adventure, the PCs 
  should be 3rd level. The Irontooth 
  Clans are far more powerful than low-level 
  PCs. They are, in essence, a collective com-
  posed of some of the best mech jockeys 
  on the planet. Their “mech devil” pilots 
  are legendary. By the time an Irontooth 
  clansman reaches puberty, he’s already had 
  far more experience in a mech than most 
  Stenian mech commanders. By the time he’s 
  officially an adult, an Irontooth clansmen is 
  at least a 4th-level mech jockey.
  Part of what allows this to happen is the 
  Irontooth jousting tradition. The Irontooth 
  clans originally grew out of a longstanding 
  monastic temple where the martial arts 
  were practiced. It is believed that the jousts 
  grew out of these practices, though no 
  one knows for sure. Regardless, jousts and 
  contests are now an important part of the 
  Irontooth culture.
  When the characters track the Raptor to its 
  destination, they’ll encounter such a joust. 
  On the beginning of the fourth day of their 
  pursuit, read or paraphrase the following:
  After days of tracking your quarry, you notice that 
  his pace has finally slowed. You come out of a 
  boulder-strewn flatland to see a low hill that ap-
  parently rises out of nowhere. The hill extends for 
  what looks like miles in both directions, forming 
  
  51
  CHPT.
  #
  «4»
  a slow, steady arc that moves away from you. The 
  mech’s tracks lead right to the top.
  Once the PCs follow the tracks to the top of 
  the hill, read or paraphrase the following:
  You follow the tracks to the top of the hill. As you 
  approach the crest, you stop short. This is no hill. 
  The opposite side of the ridge drops precipitously 
  at a steep angle. It must fall at least 300 feet be-
  fore it starts to level out.
  You’re standing on the edge of an enormous 
  crater, a gigantic bowl carved out of the earth. A 
  meteor of cataclysmic size must have landed here 
  once. Now, the opposite side of the crater disap-
  pears into the morning mists on the far horizon.
  The Irontooth tracks lead straight down the 
  nearly vertical cliff face right into the crater. As 
  you bring your eyes downward to follow them, you 
  suddenly notice movement far below you. A host 
  of mechs is jostling for position around a crudely 
  defined ring built from boulders piled in a circle. 
  There must be at least 20 mechs watching as two 
  nimble combat-mechs joust within the circle.
  The joust quickly ends, however, and the mechs 
  turn to face you. There’s a booming sound, and a 
  cannonball zips through the air over your head!
  If the players think they can get away from 
  this easily, they’re mistaken. The Raptor 
  pilot wasn’t dumb enough just to leave the 
  rear guard open. He and four other Rap-
  tor mechs suddenly appear out of nowhere 
  behind the Magwagon. (They were hiding 
  behind boulders with their take-20 Hide 
  modifier of +23 up until now. You may want 
  to make secret Spot checks for your players.) 
  The PCs’ only options are to fight or descend 
  into the crater. The Irontooth clearly prefer 
  the latter. Descending the crater counts as 
  difficult terrain (DC 10 Mech Pilot check; 
  refer to “Mech Combat,” Moving a Mech, in 
  Chapter 2 of DragonMech).
  The Challenge: When the PCs reach the 
  bottom of the crater, read or paraphrase the 
  following:
   At least three dozen mechs, of all different sizes 
  and shapes, move into position around you. All 
  are marked with the flags of various Irontooth 
  clans. As you come to a stop before them, there 
  is a long pause. Then a huge mech of seemingly 
  unbelievable agility steps forward. A short, squat, 
  grizzled man can be seen through the canopy. He 
  speaks into a tube that blasts his voice across the 
  field toward you: “So, you thought you could 
  sneak up on the Irontooth, huh? Ha! Ha! They 
  think they’re funny. Ha!
  “So, now that you’re here, is there any reason 
  
  52
  CHPT.
  #
  «4»
  we shouldn’t just kill you now?” He gestures to-
  ward the mech you’d been following, then adds, 
  “My boy over there says you fight like old women.”
  Stress to the PCs that there’s absolutely no 
  way they can fight their way out of this alive. 
  They’re facing a small army of mechs, several 
  of them much larger than themselves.
  The ultimate goal is to steer this confron-
  tation toward a challenge. The two main pro-
  tagonists, Phegrip (the grizzled pilot) and 
  his son Morgon, prefer sport to bloodshed, 
  and the chance to earn a little good face in 
  front of the tribe doesn’t hurt, either. Allow 
  the characters to make social skill checks as 
  follows:
  Diplomacy: If the characters try to talk 
  their way out of the situation, allow them a 
  Diplomacy check. Unless they fail dramati-
  cally, Phegrip will sportingly accept their 
  explanation, then Morgon will shout out 
  hot-headedly that he challenges them. Phe-
  grip encourages this behavior in his son and 
  makes it clear to the PCs that the only way 
  out that doesn’t involve a bodybag is accept-
  ing the duel.
  Bluff: As above. Unless the PCs make an 
  exceptionally bad or extraordinarily good 
  roll, they still get a challenge.
  Intimidate: The PCs are outnumbered 
  more than 30-to-1, in hostile territory, and 
  currently surrounded in a weak position. 
  Intimidation attempts utterly fail. In fact, 
  any attempt at intimidation elicits laughter 
  from the entire clan, and, again, produces 
  a challenge.
  Starting the Duel: Remember that the 
  PCs don’t have to win the duel to make it 
  past this encounter. They really shouldn’t win, 
  since they’re facing a superior pilot. The 
  Irontooth are more concerned about how 
  courageously they fight.
  Phegrip explains the duel as follows. Note 
  that “horse-riders” is a derogatory term for 
  incompetent mech pilots; the phrase com-
  pares them to the anachronistic knights of 
  the old days, who are now utterly ineffectual 
  against mechs.
  “Alright then, a duel it is. Now, you horse-riders 
  listen up. You have something we want, and you 
  know what it is. That globe talks to you, but it 
  talks to us more —žand we know more about it 
  than you do. If you win the duel, you keep your 
  lives and we keep the globe. If you lose, we keep 
  the globe and maybe your lives, depending on 
  how you do. If you aren’t courageous, there’s no 
  reason we should spare you anyway.
  “Your mech’s a lot bigger than Morgon’s, so 
  we’ll give you a choice: either take a Raptor for 
  yourself, or let Morgon get a bigger mech. What’s 
  it gonna be?”
  The choice is the players’. If the characters 
  choose to fight in a Raptor, the extra pas-
  sengers are allowed to stand on a boulder sur-
  rounding the ring, and the PCs’ elected pilot is 
  given a Raptor in perfect working order. If the 
  reverse happens, the Irontooth produce a Mag-
  wagon from the back of their pack of observers. 
  It’s scarred, burnt and miserable-looking, but 
  has the same stats as the PCs’ mech. The Mag-
  wagon has the same number of crew members 
  as the PCs’ mech; treat additional crew as hav-
  ing the same stats as Morgon.
  Traditional Irontooth jousts are described 
  in “Mechdoms,” The Irontooth Clans, in 
  Chapter 4 of DragonMech. These jousts 
  utilize dulled melee weapons operated at 
  low power levels to minimize damage. The 
  weapons are coated with dye, which is used 
  to record “hits” on the jousting combatants. 
  The mechs that were jousting when the PCs 
  arrived are suitably equipped.
  When outsiders are involved, however, the 
  Irontooth aren’t always so generous. This is 
  especially the case when the outsiders need 
  to be intimidated so they’ll give up a starshard. 
  Unlike a traditional joust, this duel does not 
  consist only of close combat weapons, nor 
  do the mechs involved use dye to record 
  hits. Morgon’s mech is already prepared for 
  a duel to the death (or at least that’s the clear 
  impression the characters get). 
  The jousting arena is a level, rocky field 
  500 feet across. A circular ring of Huge boul-
  ders surrounds the field. There is only one 
  entrance, which is closed up by Irontooth 
  mechs once the joust starts. Now Phegrip 
  explains the rules:
  “Alright, get set. When you hear the cannon, go 
  at it!”
  That’s all the rules the PCs get. A Knowledge 
  (local) or bardic knowledge check (DC 
  15) reveals additional information about 
  traditional Irontooth dueling practices, as 
  described above, including their emphasis on 
  honorable combat and respect for those who 
  fight with courage regardless of the outcome.
  The Fight Begins: Run through the fight 
  like a normal combat. Unless the dice go hor-
  ribly awry, the Irontooth pilot should win. As 
  he comes close to the end, evaluate the char-
  acters’ behavior. If they have acted as cowards, 
  or at any point pleaded for their lives, tried to 
  bribe the Irontooth, or in any way impugned 
  the Irontooth clansmens’ honor, Morgon 
  unapologetically closes in for the kill. In this 
  case, the PCs will really have their work cut 
  out for them trying to escape; it’s up to you 
  how you want to handle this.
  If, however, the PCs have demonstrated 
  strength, courage and resolve, even in the 
  face of overwhelming odds, the Irontooth 
  will accept them. Remember that the Iron-
  tooth are kind of like a loose-knit biker gang; 
  they’ll take in anybody if they respect them, 
  and they frequently put personal loyalties 
  ahead of political realities. There are always 
  one or two military mech pilots from the 
  Stenian Confederacy training with the Iron-
  tooth, anyway; the Irontooth look the other 
  way, because they know perfectly well that 
  these pilots will return to the Confederacy as 
  the best-trained mech jockeys in the Stenian 
  fleets, and someday the Irontooth will be 
  able to call in a favor from a powerful Stenian 
  mech commander.
  If the PCs somehow win the combat 
  against Morgon’s mech, they’ve earned the 
  respect of the Irontooth. That might not be 
  enough to keep them alive, however, if they 
  injure or kill Morgon himself. Make it clear 
  from the activity of the crowd that mech-to-
  
  53
  CHPT.
  #
  «4»
  mech combat is fine, but any sort of personal 
  attack on the pilots — especially one that 
  might cause injury or death — is met with 
  jeers, boos and possibly a cannon shot or 
  two. The parameters of a respectful victory 
  should be clear to observant players.
  If the PCs have been cowards, let them 
  figure a way out of getting killed. If they’ve 
  fought valorously in defeat, Morgon closes 
  in for the “kill” as follows. Change the text 
  to reflect the situation in your own combat:
  You’ve fought hard and courageously, but Mor-
  gon gets the better of you. Suddenly, he swings 
  around and thrusts a perfectly aimed spiked fist 
  directly toward your cockpit. You grimace in 
  anticipation of the hit, which will blast shattered 
  glass into your face even as the Raptor’s combat 
  spikes rend your flesh. Yet the blow never comes. 
  You blink to find Morgon’s fist barely an inch from 
  your mech. Then he speaks, his voice loud and 
  clear from only a few feet away.
  “You’ve fought bravely. You no longer ride a horse. 
  You are a mech rider. You may keep your life!”
  With those words, he backs his mech away from 
  yours. When it’s at a safe distance, he climbs out 
  of the top and repeats his words at the top of his 
  lungs. “You no longer ride a horse. You are a mech 
  rider. You may keep your life!” A rousing cheer fills 
  the air, and the mechs watching the contest toss 
  their hands into the air.
  It seems you’ve passed this test.
  After the characters recover, they are invited 
  to leave the mech on foot and meet Phegrip 
  and Morgon in the center of the ring. Phe-
  grip congratulates them on their perfor-
  mance and invites them to stay the night and 
  drink with the clan.
  Morgon brings the starshard with him. 
  It glows as it gets closer to the characters’ 
  starshard. When Phegrip is done, Morgon 
  explains the history of the globes. The clan 
  knows much about their powers. Morgon 
  tells about the Clan’s history as monks who 
  shook loose their lawful ways and adapted 
  to life as nomadic mech raiders. Their 
  ancient monastic traditions are still followed 
  (though in rather modified ways), and those 
  legends speak of the starshards as reuniting all 
  of humankind when the time is right.
  Morgon and Phegrip do not question that 
  the PCs will give up their starshard; it’s simply 
  the way things are. They do not ask; they wait 
  until the PCs offer. The Irontooth place little 
  value in gold or baubles, except insofar as they 
  will buy mechs and mech parts, so they don’t 
  offer the PCs valuables. Yet they do offer to 
  accept the characters into their own Irontooth 
  clan (known as Clan Hawk). There is no formal 
  process; the characters are simply “in.” Make it 
  clear to the PCs that this is a big deal. Few peo-
  ple are offered this honor. The PCs’ honor in 
  pursuing the starshards, their valor in the mech 
  joust, and their rectitude in giving their star-
  shard to its “rightful owners” in the Irontooth 
  Clans lead Phegrip to this decision.
  Oh, and once the characters are “in,” 
  Phegrip happens to mention (as part of the 
  night’s drinking) that another meteorite 
  — with a visible vein of mensite — recently 
  fell not far from here. “We Irontooth have no 
  use for it,” he says of the mensite. “But we 
  have heard that your people value it. Perhaps 
  you could take some for yourself?” Phegrip 
  is happy to lead the PCs to the meteor, which 
  is about the size of a shed. With a little work, 
  the characters can mine close to 30 pounds 
  of mensite. At a retail price of 100 gp per 
  pound in any city-mech, that’s a healthy 
  return for the characters’ trouble.
  The Clans: As part of the revelry, the 
  PCs get to know the rest of the Irontooth 
  present for the jousts: 268 people on board 
  37 mechs. Five clans are represented: Clan 
  Hawk, North Star Clan, Lotus Clan, Clan 
  of the Middle Pass and Clan Bugbear. 
  Each clan has its own group of leaders, 
  who vary considerably in temperament; 
  for instance, Lotus Clan is calm and can 
  almost be imagined in their ancient role as 
  monks, while Clan Bugbear is as rowdy as 
  orcs at a pillaging. There are a wide variety 
  of NPCs present, and we leave it up to you 
  to develop them as it furthers your own 
  campaign continuity!
  XP Awards: Give the PCs 500 XP each for 
  the duel. Even those who didn’t directly expe-
  rience get the XP for comporting themselves 
  in a manner that didn’t get everyone killed!
  
  CONCLUSION
  N
  ow the characters drink and party with 
  the Irontooth! A night of revelry com-
  mences, as the Irontooth enjoy the bounty 
  of two starshards. The day continues with a 
  dozen more jousts, all of which are fought 
  honorably and fairly, with entertainment and 
  good intentions foremost in the combatants’ 
  minds. The characters have the chance to get 
  to know the various other members of the 
  clans, whom you should develop to create 
  future adventures as you see fit.
  Remember that even though the PCs are 
  now accepted by the Irontooth, they’re still 
  not likely to want to stay with the Irontooth. 
  The Irontooth don’t really partake in any 
  sort of planning or thinking ahead. It’s quite 
  possible that when the PCs wake up in the 
  morning, half the clans have already pulled 
  up stakes and moved on to parts unknown. 
  After all, now that the joust’s over, it’s time 
  to find something else to do! Furthermore, if 
  the PCs do stay with the clans, they’ll have to 
  make a living the way the clans do: raids and 
  protection rackets. Unless that’s the path 
  you want your campaign to take, don’t let the 
  PCs get too close to the Irontooth. Arrange 
  for a separation via the Irontooth leaving 
  early in the morning before the PCs awake, 
  or Stenian intervention, or something else 
  along those lines.
  FURTHER ADVENTURES 
  WITH THE 
  IRONTOOTH CLANS
  T
  he easiest way to separate the PCs from 
  the Irontooth is to give them a mission. 
  Here are some ideas:
  • As the night of revelry wears on, Morgon 
  reveals progressively more about the star-
  shards. It turns out that the Irontooth know 
  far more than they let on about these arti-
  facts. They even know the reputed location 
  of the third starshard: It is in the possession 
  of a dwarven king in Edge, the great trading 
  
  54
  CHPT.
  #
  «4»
  city hundreds of miles to the south. Phegrip 
  and Morgon offer assistance, training, and 
  a free mech to the PCs if they’ll retrieve 
  this next starshard.
  • One of the Irontooth mech pilots is 
  indeed a Stenian pilot who has been train-
  ing incognito with the Irontooth for a year 
  now. It’s time for him to leave, but he must 
  do so secretly, for he owes an honor debt 
  to one of his clansmen. For whatever rea-
  son, he wants to get out before repaying 
  that debt. He asks the PCs to sneak him 
  out, then help him create a cover story to 
  get readmitted to Nedderpik. On the way 
  back, however, he reveals another twist: 
  He has a child in another clan by way of an 
  Irontooth woman, and he wants to retrieve 
  the child before returning to Nedderpik. 
  Will the characters participate in what 
  might amount to a kidnapping?
  • Clan Hawk is running low on coal. They’ve 
  heard of a shipment being hauled through 
  Legion territory in the next few days. 
  They’re planning a raid — will the PCs 
  come along? Things start off well, but 
  then the PCs are separated from the rest 
  of the group in the midst of a Legion 
  assault. The Irontooth escape, but not the 
  PCs. Now they’re isolated in enemy terri-
  tory, cut off from support, and hunted by 
  the Legion.…
  LOOKING FOR HOME
  E
  ventually, the PCs should return to Ned-
  derpik. They still have a loaner mech, 
  after all, and Grunnar promised them citi-
  zenship. Finding Nedderpik isn’t necessarily 
  easy, though. Remember that city-mechs are 
  literally walking cities! They patrol a fixed 
  territory and are tall enough to stand out 
  against the horizon for miles around, but 
  prospective passengers may have to wait days 
  or weeks for their city-mech ride to make the 
  rounds. Refer to “Getting on Board,” Finding 
  Home, in Appendix: City-mech Nedderpik of 
  DragonMech.
  If you make the PCs wait for Nedderpik to 
  return, remember to check for the lunar rain 
  each night; that alone can create adventure. 
  This waiting period is a good time for ran-
  dom encounters or short interludes. Here 
  are a few ideas:
  • While walking across a safe-looking plain, 
  the PCs’ mech suddenly lurches forward. 
  Its right leg is sunk up to the thigh in a 
  worm tunnel dug right below the surface. 
  A worm farmer soon shows up to apolo-
  gize, and offers to have his worms haul the 
  PCs’ mech out of the hole — but only if 
  the PCs will do him a favor first. You see, 
  it seems that a marauding ankheg has been 
  preying on his worm herd lately.…
  • The PCs are stalked for several miles by a 
  furtive band of goblins. The goblins simply 
  won’t let up, but they won’t attack, either. 
  What are they waiting for? An overcast night, 
  that’s what! On a particularly dark, cloudy 
  night, they approach the mech under cover 
  of darkness. Once they’re up close, they 
  produce bolt cutters and prybars — or worse 
  yet, a rust bomb — and proceed to enter the 
  mech and try to slaughter the crew. If you 
  want to make this encounter really tough, 
  have the goblins’ tribal sorcerer send in an 
  invisible, silent scout to open up the mech’s 
  porthole before the main force approaches.
  • At some point, the PCs must stop 
  to refuel, stretch their legs 
  or find food. While out 
  of the mech, they are 
  suddenly accosted 
  by 
  dusk 
  devils, 
  whose frightening 
  speed lets them 
  close the distance 
  almost 
  instantly. 
  The PCs retreat to 
  their mech, and the 
  dusk devils follow. The 
  mech was turned off, and 
  it takes 1d6 rounds to start up. 
  Meanwhile, the dusk devils are clawing 
  at its hide.…
  • During a severe lunar rain when it seems 
  almost nothing could survive, the PCs 
  hear a knock on their porthole. It’s a band 
  of tortog traders, who are practically 
  immune to the lunar rain. They have a few 
  new items available for sale and would like 
  to know if the PCs are interested.
  
  BACK ON NEDDERPIK
  W
  hen the PCs finally make it back to 
  Nedderpik, they have no trouble 
  locating Grunnar. He asks for a full report 
  of their activities. Allow him a Sense Motive 
  check if the PCs try to lie in any way. If he 
  detects dishonesty, he’ll doubt everything the 
  characters say, and will assume they did not 
  complete their mission in a satisfactory man-
  ner. He’ll thank them for their service, take 
  back the mech and tell them they haven’t yet 
  earned citizenship.
  If he is persuaded the PCs did a good job, 
  however, his attitude is completely different. 
  He’s persuaded if he has no cause for a Sense 
  Motive check, or if they bring back convinc-
  ing proof of their battles. Any artifacts from 
  the lunar temple go a long way toward dispel-
  ling any doubts he may have.
  Once Grunnar is persuaded, he thanks 
  the characters for their heroic efforts in the 
  name of the Stenian Confederacy. In a formal 
  manner, he fills out some paperwork with 
  official-looking seals, asks them to sign it, 
  and then escorts them to the office 
  of an administrator. The 
  administrator 
  reviews 
  the paperwork, nods at 
  Grunnar’s notes, con-
  gratulates the char-
  acters, and pulls 
  out a citizenship 
  medallion for each 
  PC. The PCs are 
  warned that this is a 
  provisional citizenship, 
  subject to their good 
  behavior for the next year. 
  With that one caveat, there are 
  handshakes all around, and the PCs 
  are welcomed on board. As citizens, they are 
  now eligible to own “land” on the mech and 
  can proceed to “buy” a room if they’d like, or 
  they can simply stay at an inn. Grunnar gives 
  them a short tour of the city-mech, then they 
  are free to look for adventure wherever they 
  may find it!
  
  55
  apdx.
  #
  «1»
  NEW RULES
  attack bonus. This penalty lasts until your 
  next action. This penalty does not apply to 
  attacks against other creatures.
  Special: The benefits of this feat stack 
  with those that improve your ability to feint. 
  If you have Improved Feint, you can perform 
  an Insightful Step feint as a move action.
  A mech jockey of sufficient level to have 
  the Mech Fingers – Skill Transfer ability can 
  use this feat while in a mech.
  where you won’t be, effectively hampering 
  his ability to strike.
  Make a Bluff check to feint as usual but 
  specify that you are using your Insightful 
  Step feat. The usual penalties to feinting 
  against nonhumanoid or unintelligent 
  creatures apply. If your Bluff check result 
  exceeds your target’s Sense Motive check 
  result, he suffers a penalty to all attack and 
  damage rolls against you equal to your base 
  T
  his appendix presents the new game 
  mechanics, items, mechs and creatures 
  introduced in The Shardsfall Quest.
  
  NEW CHARACTER 
  OPTIONS: FEATS
  Insightful Step 
  (General)
  You can anticipate enemy attacks and react 
  accordingly.
  Prerequisites: Wis 13, Bluff 3 ranks.
  Benefit: You can make a feint action 
  to mislead an opponent so that he has dif-
  ficulty hitting you. Rather than using your 
  feint to catch your opponent off guard, you 
  instead use the feint to lead him to attack 
  TABLE 5-1: NEW FEATS
  General Feats  
  Prerequisites  
  Benefit 
  Insightful Step  
  Wis 13, Bluff 3 ranks  
  Feint to reduce opponent’s attack roll
  Piston Rage  
  Rage, steamborg level 1+  
  Add artificial part bonus to Strength while raging
  Prophetic Step  
  Insightful Step, Improved Feint  
  Feint to reduce multiple opponents’ attack rolls
  Tinker’s Touch  
  Knowledge (steam engines) 3 ranks  
  Inflict critical hits and sneak attacks against constructs 
  Metamagic Feats  
  Prerequisites  
  Benefit
  Power Spell  
  13 in appropriate ability  
  Add ability modifier to spell damage
  Spell Cleave  
  Power Spell  
  Extra spell attack after dropping target  
  
  56
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  «1»
  Piston Rage 
  (General)
  You have specially crafted your mechanical 
  body to maximize its strength potential.
  Prerequisites: Ability to rage, steamborg 
  level 1+.
  Benefit: When you rage, your artificial 
  part bonus is added to your temporary 
  Strength bonus. It does not matter whether 
  you have already used your artificial part 
  bonus to enhance your Strength or for another 
  purpose. For example, a multiclassed 1st-level 
  barbarian/4th-level steamborg normally gains 
  a +4 bonus to Strength when he rages. With 
  this feat, he gains a +6 bonus because of his 
  artificial part +2. This extra bonus wears off 
  when the rage ends, as normal.
  Power Spell 
  (Metamagic) 
  You tap a powerful inner strength to fuel 
  your spellcasting.
  Prerequisites: 13 or higher in appropri-
  ate spellcasting ability score (Int for wizards, 
  Cha for sorcerers, Wis for clerics, etc.).
  Benefit: When you cast a spell that deals 
  damage, you add your appropriate ability 
  modifier to the damage result. The damage is 
  added for each individual attack generated by 
  the spell. For example, a 5th-level wizard with 
  Int 16 casts magic missile. Normally, this would 
  produce three missiles that each does 1d4+1 
  damage. With this feat, each missile would do 
  1d4+4 damage. If the same wizard cast fireball, 
  the attack would do 5d6+3 damage.
  Special: The ability modifier is only 
  added to hit point damage inflicted directly 
  from the spell. It does not apply to duration, 
  range, area or other aspects of the spell, nor 
  does it apply to other kinds of damage or 
  secondary damaging effects. For example, 
  casting the poison spell with this feat would 
  have no added benefit.
  Prophetic Step 
  (General)
  You maneuver around your opponents with 
  uncanny ease, deftly predicting their attacks 
  and stepping aside before they materialize.
  Prerequisites: Improved Feint, Insight-
  ful Step.
  Benefit: You can make a feint action to 
  frustrate the attacks of multiple opponents. 
  Make a Bluff check to feint as usual, using a 
  move action due to your Improved Feint feat. 
  You can use this feint to mislead a number of 
  opponents equal to your Wisdom bonus, pro-
  vided they are within your line of sight. Each 
  such opponent makes a Sense Motive check 
  to oppose your feint, as usual. Those that 
  fail the opposed check suffer a penalty to 
  all attack and damage rolls against you equal 
  to your base attack bonus. This penalty takes 
  place immediately and lasts until your first 
  action in the following round.
  Special: A mech jockey of sufficient level 
  to have the Mech Fingers – Skill Transfer abil-
  ity can use this feat while in a mech.
  Spell Cleave 
  (Metamagic)
  You can strike down multiple foes with a 
  single spell.
  Prerequisite: Power Spell.
  Benefit: If you deal enough damage with a 
  spell in one round to make an opponent drop, 
  you can continue the momentum of the spell 
  toward another target. The spell must have 
  a single target (area-effect spells cannot be 
  used with this feat) and must have a casting 
  time of 1 round or less. When the opponent 
  drops, you can immediately extend the spe-
  cific spell effect that dropped him toward 
  another opponent within the maximum range 
  and other normal parameters of the spell. 
  (Spells that require touch attacks, such as 
  vampiric touch, cannot be used with this feat. 
  However, such spells, if already active, can be 
  used with the standard Cleave feat.) You can-
  not affect more than one extra target with this 
  feat each round. A cleaved spell uses up a spell 
  slot one level higher than the spell’s actual 
  level. You must declare that you are casting a 
  cleaved spell before you roll the dice.
  For example, imagine a 5th-level wizard 
  with Int 16 and this feat who casts magic mis-
  sile against an orc. The spell generates three 
  missiles, each of which does 1d4+4 damage. 
  The second missile kills the orc. The wizard 
  can then extend the effect of that second 
  missile to impact one other target, for anoth-
  er 1d4+4 damage. He can then continue the 
  original spell by aiming the third missile at 
  a target. Even if the third missile drops the 
  target, he cannot cleave with it, as he has 
  already used that effect for this round.
  Tinker’s Touch 
  (General)
  Your deep understanding of mechanical crea-
  tures allows you to identify their weak points.
  Prerequisites: 
  Knowledge 
  (steam 
  engines) 3 ranks.
  Benefit: You can make sneak attacks 
  against constructs, and inflict critical hits 
  on them, as if they were living creatures. 
  You never suffer a penalty to feint attempts 
  against constructs, even if they have nonhu-
  man anatomy or low Intelligence.
  Normal: Without this feat, the constructs 
  you attack are immune to critical hits and 
  sneak attacks. The one exception is mechs, 
  which are vulnerable to critical hits (but 
  not sneak attacks) due to their complex 
  construction. 
  NEW ITEM: 
  THE STARSHARDS
  A 
  powerful hierophant journeyed to 
  the moon 40,000 years ago. He was 
  the first terrestrial creature to walk there. 
  What he saw were the earliest stages of life, 
  a sort of life that was nothing like life on 
  the surface: puddles and oozes and massive 
  creatures without anatomical structure that 
  nonetheless thrived.
  This hierophant was called Athuraz, and 
  he was lawful good. His divination spells 
  quickly revealed that the moon held far 
  greater significance than just another place 
  to adventure. Its creatures were utterly 
  unable to communicate with either him 
  or, as he discovered, his god. They were 
  truly alien — and their alien intelligence was 
  coalescing into divine forces outside the ter-
  restrial pantheon.
  Athuraz lived as a mortal for 3,000 years, 
  finally rising to his own place on the outer 
  
  57
  apdx.
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  «1»
  completely covered with a cloak or other 
  solid surface, this ability is suppressed.
  • A starshard emits patterns of light that 
  mimic the constellations in the sky, both 
  past and present. Studying these patterns 
  grants insight into the future. A star-
  shard can be used as the focus for 
  any divination spell, and any 
  divination spell cast within 
  120 feet of the starshard is at 
  +1 caster level and receives 
  a +1 bonus to the Will DC to 
  resist its effects.
  • If held by a cleric who casts prayer 
  or commune, a starshard becomes attuned 
  to that character’s deity. From then on, 
  the presence of a starshard makes direct 
  communication with the deity much sim-
  pler. Followers of that deity have +1 caster 
  level when casting divine spells within 120 
  feet of a starshard. Furthermore, such cler-
  ics are much more likely to receive mes-
  sages, dreams or visions from their deity.
  • A starshard can cause itself and whoever 
  holds it to levitate up to 100 feet off the 
  ground. When not held, it usually rests at 
  a height of 6 to 10 feet.
  • The starshards are intelligent (Int 18, Wis 16, 
  Cha 18; ego 19). They can communicate via 
  empathy and telepathy, and have darkvision 
  out to 120 feet, as well as blindsense and 
  hearing. Their greater purpose is for them 
  to be reunited when the time is right so 
  that they might forestall conflict between 
  the divine powers. However, they are quite 
  patient and not given to dominating their 
  possessors, except for the occasional 
  subtle push. After all, they’re operating on 
  a god’s timetable: What’s the rush?
  Combining the Starshards
  The real power of the starshards becomes evi-
  dent when they are brought together. When 
  two or more starshards are aware of each other, 
  they will rise into the sky together, glowing 
  brightly, and start rotating around each other 
  like planets in a constellation. When this hap-
  pens, their powers are increased by +1 for each 
  additional starshard present. For example, two 
  starshards together grant a +2 bonus to the Will 
  save to resist divination spells and +2 caster 
  planes as a minor demigod. All the while, his 
  experience on the moon remained with him. 
  As a demigod, he watched the formation of 
  the young lunar gods. With prescient vision, 
  he foresaw that they would eventually clash 
  with the creatures of earth. He did not know 
  when or how, but he knew it was inevitable. 
  To prevent bloodshed should the event occur 
  long after his influence had passed, Athuraz 
  created the starshards. He imbued them with 
  the fullness of his essence, nearly killing 
  himself in the process. As a result, the star-
  shards are extremely powerful, and Athuraz’s 
  inert husk now floats through the Astral 
  Plane in a zombielike state, its spark of divin-
  ity barely detectable.
  Eight starshards exist. Athuraz hid three on 
  the moon and five on Highpoint’s surface. 
  The starshards have a number of minor powers, 
  which have been experienced by countless 
  adventurers who have encountered the items 
  over the millennia. Yet they are actually far, far 
  more powerful than anyone has ever realized. 
  Only when the time is right — as it now is 
  — will their full powers finally emerge.
  To ensure the starshards would be found 
  when their time came about, Athuraz had 
  previously planted their story in countless 
  legends and myths of innumerable terres-
  trial and lunar cultures. Now, 35,000 years 
  later, the clash between the lunar and ter-
  restrial gods is reaching its climax. Some of 
  the legends of the starshards survived. They are 
  surfacing once again, and not just among the 
  Irontooth Clans. Even some lunar creatures 
  are interested in the artifacts. Few of those 
  who pursue them realize that their quest will 
  actually bring peace to the world. The legends 
  that motivate them are those that speak of the 
  starshard’s great powers, which they hope to 
  use for selfish purposes — but no legend spe-
  cifically states what those great powers are. 
  Little do their pursuers know they are divine 
  tools in a cosmic quest for peace.
  Powers of the Starshards
  There are eight starshards. Each has the fol-
  lowing properties:
  • A starshard maintains a constant light level 
  within a 50-foot radius, as described in the 
  description of Area 12 in Episode One. If 
  level to divination spells and all spells of the 
  deities of their respective casters.
  Furthermore, combining the starshards 
  sets the following events into action:
  • Two, three, or four starshards: The gods 
  to which the starshards are attuned 
  become aware of the fact that they 
  can communicate directly via 
  the starshards.
  •  Five or six starshards: Within 
  each pantheon, all gods of align-
  ments to which the starshards are 
  attuned can now communicate 
  directly. The powers of those of 
  similar alignment are amplified such that 
  each god is as powerful as the sum total of 
  all gods of that alignment before the star-
  shards were brought together.
  • Seven starshards: All gods within each 
  pantheon can now communicate directly, 
  and all gods of similar alignment can com-
  municate across pantheons. All gods of 
  each pantheon are rendered as powerful 
  as the sum total of all gods in that pan-
  theon before the starshards were brought 
  together.
  • All eight starshards: The power of all gods 
  within all pantheons represented by the 
  starshards is equalized. None is stronger 
  than any other, and none is weaker. They 
  are no longer tied to the energies of their 
  followers, or at least those energies now 
  benefit all equally, effectively rendering 
  them irrelevant.
  The result of combining all eight starshards 
  is a situation in which divine power is spread 
  equally. The gods can either choose to 
  destroy themselves utterly through endless 
  war or make perpetual peace. The presence 
  of weaker gods who are now super-powerful 
  creates a core of defenders for the starshards, 
  for these gods have the most to lose if the 
  starshards are separated. Finally, the joining 
  of the starshards has another effect, one that 
  Athuraz foresaw long ago: Athuraz himself 
  will be revived and raised to the same power 
  level of all other deities, to whom he can 
  speak in the name of peace.
  Such are the starshards.
  Strong divination; CL 25th; Weight 3 lb.
  
  58
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  «1»
  NEW MECHS
  T
  his section provides the stats for two 
  new mechs used in the adventure.
  
  MAGWAGON 
  (FREIGHT MODEL) 
  Size: Colossal
  Power Source: Steam
  Payload Units: 16
  Height: 35 ft.
  Space/Reach: 15 ft./15 ft.
  Crew: 4 (weapons: 2)
  Firing Ports: 12
  Hit Dice: 48
  Hit Points: 264
  Critical Thresholds: Green, Yellow 132, 
  Orange 66, Red 26
  Base Initiative: –1
  Speed: 50 ft. (6 mph)
  Maneuverability: Average
  AC: 1 (–1 Dex, –8 size)
  Hardness: 9 (stone)
  Base Melee Attack: +2
  Base Ranged Attack: –1
  Unarmed Damage: 1d12+10
  Trample: largest Large; safe Medi-
  um; damage 4d6
  Saves: Fort 0, Ref –1, Will +0
  Abilities: Str 30, Dex 8, Con –, 
  Int –, Wis –, Cha –
  Mechcraft DC: 39
  Base Planning Time: 78 days
  Base Cost: 2,752 gp
  Total Cost: 9,128 gp
  Labor Requirements: 3,840 
  man-hours
  Construction Time: 16 days 
  (30 avg. laborers plus 3 overseers)
  Special: Heavy payload
  Payload Usage 
  PU  
  Use 
  4  
  Workspace for crew
  8  
  Storage/passenger space 
    
  (heavy payload = up to 16,000 pounds)
  4  
  Onboard weaponry
  128  
  Total
  The Magwagon is an old mech model. It 
  was originally built as a stopgap solution. 
  The Stenians needed to develop a mech 
  fleet quickly to extend their influ-
  ence, so they constructed 
  large, 
  intimidating 
  mechs with readily avail-
  able materials. The Mag-
  wagon, with its stone 
  armor and impressive 
  physique, was one such 
  creation. As more advanced 
  mechs were later built, many 
  Magwagons were retrofitted 
  to freight duty. The above pro-
  file is for a Magwagon freighter, 
  which resembles an awkward dump 
  truck on legs.
  The pilot rides in the head, which has 
  room for two Medium creatures. The boiler 
  and coal dump are located in the huge cargo 
  hold, which can be used for passengers or 
  loads of even the heaviest metals. The left 
  arm holds the mech’s only weapon, a Huge 
  steam cannon.
  RAPTOR 
  Size: Large
  Power Source: Clockwork
  Payload Units: 3
  Height: 10 ft.
  Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
  Crew: 1 (weapons: 1)
  Firing Ports: 3
  Hit Dice: 9
  Hit Points: 50
  Critical Thresholds: 
  Green, Yellow 25, 
  Orange 12, Red 5
  Base Initiative: +2
  Speed: 60 ft. (7 
  mph) (70 ft./8 mph 
  when piloted by Irontooth with 
  Speed Freak feat)
  Maneuverability: Perfect
  AC: 11 (+2 Dex, –1 size)
  Hardness: 12 (steel)
  Base Melee Attack: +3
  Base Ranged Attack: +4
  Unarmed Damage: 2d6+4
  
  59
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  «1»
  Trample: largest Tiny; safe Tiny; damage 1d6
  Saves: Fort –2, Ref +4, Will +0
  Abilities: Str 18, Dex 18, Con –, 
  Int –, Wis –, Cha –
  Mechcraft DC: 40
  Base Planning Time: 80 days
  Base Cost: 1,021 gp
  Total Cost: 5,677 gp
  Labor Requirements: 960 man-hours
  Construction Time: 20 days 
  (6 avg. laborers)
  Special: Combat spikes, fast legs, steady feet
  Note: Base trip bonus is +12 (+4 for perfect 
  maneuverability, +4 for steady feet, +4 
  for size Large)
  Payload Usage 
  PU  
  Use 
  1  
  Pilot
  2  
  Onboard weaponry
  3  
  Total
  The Raptor is a fast, nimble mech devel-
  oped by the Irontooth Clans for reconnais-
  sance purposes. Only 10 feet tall, it is a pip-
  squeak in the world of mechs but a frightening 
  opponent in the world of men. Its (relatively) 
  small size allows it to sneak about in a way 
  larger mechs can’t. The steel armor still pro-
  tects the pilot securely, and the fast legs allow 
  him to outrun many foes. The steady feet let 
  him trip those he can’t outrun, and he can fol-
  low that up with a devastating unarmed attack, 
  courtesy of the mech’s razor-sharp combat 
  spikes. For ranged combat, the Raptor carries 
  a steam gun, but this weapon is rarely used; 
  Irontooth pilots prefer close combat in which 
  they can use their mech fu to its best advan-
  tage, so the Raptor usually closes into melee 
  as quickly as possible.
  For most of history, ferrovores were minor 
  annoyances, but in the age of mechs they 
  have become catastrophically dangerous. 
  Possessing appetites far greater than those 
  of crumble bugs and a devastating breath 
  weapon, most ferrovores can disable a mech 
  in mere seconds. Because a ferrovore that 
  mates with a normal creature of its species is 
  capable of passing on its ferrovorous genes, 
  the creatures are hunted with a vengeance 
  lest they reproduce en masse.
  Sample Ferrovore
  This example uses a giant fire beetle 
  advanced to 3 HD as the base creature.
  Ferrovore Giant Fire Beetle, 
  Advanced
   Small Vermin (ferrovore)
  Hit Dice: 3d8 (13 hp)
  Initiative: +0
  Speed: 30 ft.
  AC: 16 (+1 size, +5 natural), touch 11, 
  flat-footed 16
  BAB/Grapple: +2/–2
  Attack: Bite +3 melee (1d4 plus rust)
  Full Attack: Bite +3 melee (1d4 plus rust)
  Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
  Special Attacks: Breath weapon (DC 11)
  Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., 
  vermin traits, detect metal, corrosive 
  skin (DC 11)
  Saves: Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +1
  Abilities: Str 10, Dex 11, Con 11, 
  Int –, Wis 10, Cha 7
  Skills: —
  Feats: —
  Environment: Gear forests
  Organization: Cluster (2–5) or colony 
  (6–11)
  Challenge Rating: 1
  Treasure: None
  Alignment: Always neutral
  Advancement:  —
  Level Adjustment: — 
  This small, red-tinted beetle smells strongly of 
  metal. A gland above each eye produces a red glow 
  that seems distinctly rust-colored.
  TABLE 5-2: ONBOARD WEAPONS 
  Location 
  Arc of Fire 
  Weapon (damage, range in ft., other) 
  PU 
  Crew
  Magwagon Onboard Weapons 
  Left arm  
  180˚ forward  
  Huge steam cannon (2d10, 1,000)  
  4  
  2
  Total    
   
   
  4  
  2
  Raptor Onboard Weapons 
  Left arm 
  180˚ forward  
  Large steam gun (1d10, 200)  
  2  
  1
  Total   2 1 
   
   
  6 
  2
  A Raptor looks like a 10-foot-tall bird of 
  prey. Its cockpit is stylized to resemble a 
  hooked beak, and its legs feature gigantic 
  claws (which are more than just decorative 
  elements). The entire mech is layered in 
  razor-sharp steel feathers, which act as com-
  bat spikes in close combat.
  NEW CREATURES
  T
  his section details four new creatures 
  encountered in the adventure.
  
  FERROVORE
  A 
  ferrovore is a normal creature that 
  has developed a taste for metal. Its 
  corrosive powers and hunger for all things 
  metallic make even the weakest ferrovores a 
  monumental challenge, for they can reduce 
  an adventurer’s gear to rust before he is even 
  within striking range. Ferrovores resemble 
  normal specimens of their type, but smell 
  strongly of metal and have a faint rust-col-
  ored tinge to their outward appearance.
  Ferrovores result from infestation by a 
  rare fungus that corrodes metal on contact. 
  Living creatures that consume this fungus 
  suffer a horribly painful infection as the 
  fungus interacts with their digestive system. 
  Most die as a result, but a few survive with 
  completely altered physiology. From then 
  on, they can survive only by consuming 
  metal. They are the ferrovores.
  
  60
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  «1»
  Combat
  This giant fire beetle has an insatiable hunger 
  for metal. The gear forests it inhabits are a 
  veritable smorgasbord of potential meals, so 
  the creature can afford to be picky. It seeks 
  out the cleanest sources it can find, nibbling 
  for hours on end until it is satisfied. The clean-
  est metals are often those that are magically 
  enchanted in some way, enabling machines to 
  run without messy oils or grease.
  Breath Weapon (Ex): Rusting breath, line, 
  30 feet, every 1d4+1 rounds. Normal metal 
  objects are destroyed instantly; metal magic 
  items receive a Reflex save (DC 11) to avoid 
  destruction. Objects made of wood, stone, 
  gems and other materials are not 
  affected. Metal objects securely 
  contained within sacks, back-
  packs, pouches and wooden 
  chests are not affected, 
  although the mecha-
  nisms that hold the 
  containers 
  shut 
  (such as hinges, 
  buckles 
  or 
  locks) 
  may 
  be destroyed, 
  exposing 
  the 
  metal items to 
  a 
  subsequent 
  attack.
  D e t e c t 
  Metal (Ex): The 
  ferrovorous giant fire 
  beetle can smell any metal 
  within 90 feet.
  Corrosive Skin (Ex): Any nonmagi-
  cal metallic object or weapon that comes into 
  contact with the ferrovorous beetle is instantly 
  dissolved to rust, per its breath weapon attack 
  above. Magic items receive a Reflex save to 
  avoid being destroyed. The metal weapon is 
  still capable of doing damage before being 
  disintegrated by the creature’s skin.
  Creating a Ferrovore
  “Ferrovore” is an acquired template that can 
  be added to any animal, fey, giant, humanoid, 
  magical beast, monstrous humanoid, ooze 
  or vermin (hereafter referred to as the base 
  creature). After assuming the template, the 
  base creature’s type does not change. How-
  ever, “ferrovore” is added to the creature’s 
  subtype. A ferrovore has all the base crea-
  ture’s statistics and special abilities except 
  as noted here.
  Attacks: The attacks remain the same as 
  the base creature. However, any attack that 
  involves physical contact with the target 
  inflicts corrosive damage per the ferrovore’s 
  corrosive skin ability (see below) in addition 
  to normal damage.
  Special Attacks: The ferrovore has all 
  the special attacks of the base creature, and 
  it gains the following:
  Breath Weapon (Ex): The fer-
  rovore can exhale a rusting 
  mist (line, 30 feet, every 1d4+1 
  rounds). Any metallic object 
  fully enveloped by the breath 
  weapon (which looks like 
  a cloud of red hissing 
  steam) 
  corrodes 
  and becomes 
  u s e l e s s 
  immediately. 
  O b j e c t s 
  partially cov-
  ered by the 
  breath 
  weapon 
  see the covered area 
  disintegrate into rust. 
  The size of the object in 
  question does not alter the 
  speed of this effect. Nonmagi-
  cal metal items receive no save. 
  Magic items receive a Reflex save 
  (DC equals 10 + half the ferrovore’s 
  HD + the ferrovore’s Constitution modi-
  fier). Objects made of wood, stone, gems 
  and other materials are not affected by the 
  breath weapon.
  Special Qualities: The ferrovore has all 
  the special qualities of the base creature and 
  gains the following:
  Detect Metal (Ex): A ferrovore can smell the 
  presence of any metal object within 90 feet. 
  Corrosive Skin (Ex): Any nonmagical metal-
  lic object or weapon that comes into contact 
  with a ferrovore is instantly dissolved to rust, 
  per its breath weapon attack above. Magic 
  items receive a Reflex save to avoid being 
  
  61
  apdx.
  #
  «1»
  destroyed. The metal weapon is still capable 
  of doing damage before disintegrating. 
  A secondary implication of this ability is 
  that any natural attack of the base creature that 
  touches an enemy also inflicts its corrosive skin 
  quality. For example, if a ferrovore succeeds in 
  a bite attack against an enemy in plate mail, the 
  plate mail is instantly destroyed.
  Challenge Rating: Same as base creature 
  +1, if base creature is 6 HD or less; as base 
  creature +2, if base creature is 7 HD or more.
  
  LUNAR ELEMENTAL 
  Lunar Elemental, Small
  Small Elemental (Lunar)
  Hit Dice: 2d8+8 (17 hp)
  Initiative: +1
  Speed: 40 ft.
  Armor Class: 16 (+1 size, +1 
  Dex, +4 natural), touch 
  12, flat-footed 15
  BAB/Grapple: +1/–3
  Attack: Slam +2 
  melee (1d4)
  Full Attack: Slam +2 
  melee (1d4)
  Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
  Special Attacks: Lunar 
  mastery, adaptive
  Special Qualities: Lunar 
  traits, entropic skin (DC 
  15), blindsense
  Saves: Fort +4, Ref 
  +1, Will +7
  Abilities: Str 10, 
  Dex 12, Con 18, 
  Int 4, Wis 18, Cha 11
  Skills: Listen +7, Spot +6
  Feats: —
  Environment: Lunar or meteors
  Organization: Solitary
  Challenge Rating: 1
  Treasure: None
  Alignment: Usually neutral
  Advancement: 3 HD (Small)
  Level Adjustment: —
  Lunar Elemental, Medium
  Medium Elemental (Lunar)
  Hit Dice: 4d8+20 (38 hp)
  Initiative: +1
  Speed: 40 ft.
  Armor Class: 17 (+1 Dex, +6 natural), 
  touch 11, flat-footed 16
  BAB/Grapple: +3/+5
  Attack: Slam +5 melee (1d6+2)
  Full Attack: Slam +5 melee (1d6+2)
  Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
  Special Attacks: Lunar mastery, adaptive
  Special Qualities: Lunar traits, entropic 
  skin (DC 17), blindsense
  Saves: Fort +6, Ref +2, Will +9
  Abilities: Str 14, Dex 12, Con 20, 
  Int 4, Wis 20, Cha 11
  Skills: Listen +9, Spot +8
  Feats: —
  Environment: Lunar or mete-
  ors
  Organization: Solitary
  Challenge Rating: 3
  Treasure: None
  Alignment: Usually neutral
  Advancement: 5–7 HD 
  (Medium)
  Level Adjustment: —
  Lunar Elemental, 
  Large
  Large Elemental 
  (Lunar)
  Hit Dice: 8d8+48 (84 hp)
  Initiative: +1
  Speed: 40 ft.
  Armor Class: 18 (–1 size, +1 Dex, +8 
  natural), touch 11, flat-footed 18
  BAB/Grapple: +6/+14
  Attack: Slam +9 melee (2d6+4)
  Full Attack: 2 slams +9 melee (2d6+4)
  Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft.
  Special Attacks: Lunar mastery, adaptive
  Special Qualities: Lunar traits, entropic 
  skin (DC 20), blindsense
  Saves: Fort +8, Ref +3, Will +12
  Abilities: Str 18, Dex 12, Con 22, 
  Int 4, Wis 22, Cha 11
  Skills: Listen +12, Spot +11
  Feats: —
  Environment: Lunar or meteors
  Organization: Solitary
  Challenge Rating: 5
  Treasure: None
  
  62
  apdx.
  #
  «1»
  Alignment: Usually neutral
  Advancement: 9–15 HD (Large)
  Level Adjustment: —
  This strange, putty-like mass of flesh seems 
  unable to stand still. Its body pulses and undu-
  lates before you, slowly changing shape into a 
  semi-humanoid state. The yellowish material that 
  composes it has an oily sheen, and you can’t help 
  but think you catch reflections of yourself in it.
  Description
  Lunar elementals are embodiments of 
  raw entropy. Their bodies are constantly 
  in motion, undulating and even mutating 
  before the eyes. They cannot alter their 
  mass, but their shape seems to change 
  almost 
  subconsciously; 
  they 
  generally 
  assume the rough shape of whatever creature 
  stands before them. Their natural state, if 
  it can be called that, is a shapeless mass of 
  putty, sometimes flat like a pool of fluid, 
  other times bulky like a pile of clay.
  Scholars are divided as to what composes 
  the body of a lunar elemental. The material 
  is spongy but durable. It has been likened 
  to a “solid ooze.” Regardless of the lunar 
  elemental’s shape, it retains its opalescent 
  yellowish color.
  The most unusual part of a lunar ele-
  mental’s anatomy is the haunting images 
  reflected on its surface. Like the entropy it 
  represents, the elemental reflects all pos-
  sibilities, in a random and chaotic fashion. 
  Those who stare at its skin catch glimpses 
  of what appears to be them, but at different 
  ages, in strange surroundings. Sometimes 
  the image is something that really happened 
  or something that is truly destined to hap-
  pen, but most often is an alternate possibil-
  ity, a tangent of entropic fate that will never 
  connect to the material plane.
  Lunar elementals appear to speak an 
  unidentified lunar language. They attack ter-
  restrial creatures on sight. They have been 
  seen cooperating with other lunar creatures, 
  although it is unknown whether this is volun-
  tary or coerced. Lunar elementals show no 
  signs of being extraplanar and do not appear 
  to hail from another plane; nonetheless, 
  they are distinctively elemental in nature. 
  Some sages theorize that the moon may 
  begins to shift toward the new opponent.
  For example, a lunar elemental is fight-
  ing two steamborgs. For the first round, the 
  lunar elemental studies one of them and 
  begins to adapt, gaining a +1 insight bonus 
  to attacks and AC against that steamborg. 
  On the second round, the lunar elemental 
  attacks that opponent (receiving a +1 bonus 
  on the attack roll). The attack is successful, 
  which increases the lunar elemental’s insight 
  bonus to +2. On the third round, the lunar 
  elemental makes another attack (this time at 
  +2), but it misses. Its bonus remains at +2 
  and does not increase. On the fourth round, 
  the lunar elemental decides to target the 
  other steamborg. It attacks (with no insight 
  bonus against this target) and causes dam-
  age. It now has a +0 insight bonus against 
  the first steamborg and a +1 bonus against 
  the second.
  Lunar Traits (Ex): Lunar creatures suf-
  fer half damage from elemental attacks 
  (air, earth, fire or water), or no damage on 
  a successful save. They receive a +10 bonus 
  to saves against mind-affecting effects 
  (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns 
  and morale effects), mind blasts and psionic 
  attacks, and thought detection due to alien 
  psychology.
  Entropic Skin (Su): Any creature glanc-
  ing at a lunar elemental sees the nature of 
  change in its skin. Flickering glimpses of 
  potential pasts and haunting futures distract 
  the viewer. Anyone attacking or even staring 
  at a lunar elemental must make a Will save 
  (at the DC indicated in the creature’s stats) 
  each round or be dazzled (–1 to attack rolls 
  and Search and Spot checks). This condition 
  lasts only until the creature’s next turn, but 
  a new check must be rolled each round. The 
  save DC is Wisdom-based.
  NANITE 
  Nanite
  Tiny Vermin (Lunar)
  Hit Dice: 1/2d8 (2 hp)
  Initiative: +2
  Speed: 30 ft.
  AC: 14 (+2 size, +2 Dex), touch 14,
  flat-footed 12
  provide access to a different set of planes, 
  or alternate versions of the known planes, 
  and perhaps the plane of lunar energy is one 
  such place.
  Combat
  A lunar elemental moves in fits and starts. 
  Sometimes it is slow and ponderous; other 
  times it is nimble and quick. Its form slowly 
  adapts to that of the creature it is fighting, 
  and it also acquires powers similar to its 
  enemy. All the while, images of its opponent 
  flash across its surface, distracting them and 
  in some cases causing emotional reactions.
  Lunar Mastery (Ex): The lunar elemental 
  receives a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls 
  as long as it and its target are in contact with 
  the moon or fragments of the moon (includ-
  ing meteorites that have fallen to earth). If 
  the elemental’s target is not in contact with 
  the moon (including via flight or any other 
  method that takes its feet off the surface), 
  it does not receive this bonus. If both the 
  elemental and its target are not in contact 
  with the moon, the lunar elemental receives a 
  –1 penalty to attack and damage rolls.
  Adaptive (Su): The lunar elemental 
  slowly adapts to the shape of one opponent. 
  It does not turn into an exact mimic, and 
  there’s no chance that anyone will confuse 
  the elemental with the target. At best, it 
  resembles a rough likeness carved from 
  clay. As the elemental adapts, however, it 
  slowly intuits the nature of its opponent and 
  becomes better equipped to combat it.
  Each round it is not in combat, the lunar 
  elemental may choose to use a standard 
  action to adapt. When in combat, it does 
  not need to use an action if it damages the 
  opponent with a normal melee attack; strik-
  ing an enemy automatically induces adapta-
  tion. For each round of adaptation, the lunar 
  elemental gains a +1 insight bonus to attack 
  rolls and armor class against that one target, 
  to a maximum of +10. Each additional bonus 
  makes the elemental’s physical form change, 
  too, bringing it closer and closer to the form 
  of the target creature. A lunar elemental that 
  strikes a new opponent reverts to a +1 bonus 
  against that new opponent and no bonus 
  against the original target, and its form 
  
  63
  apdx.
  #
  «1»
  BAB/Grapple: +0/–11
  Attack: Bite +2 melee (1d3–3 plus 1 acid)
  Full Attack: Bite +2 melee (1d3–3 plus 1 acid)
  Space/Reach: 2-1/2 ft./0 ft.
  Special Attacks: Death burst
  Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., lunar 
  traits, vermin traits
  Saves: Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +0
  Abilities: Str 5, Dex 14, Con 10, 
  Int –, Wis 10, Cha 6
  Skills: Climb +6
  Feats: Weapon Finesse
  Environment: Lunar or meteors
  Organization: Solitary, pack (2–20),
   or swarm
  Challenge Rating: 1/4
  Treasure: None
  Alignment: Always 
  neutral
  Advancement: –
  Level Adjustment: –
  Nanite Swarm
  Tiny Vermin 
  (Lunar, Swarm)
  Hit Dice: 6d8 (27 hp)
  Initiative: +2
  Speed: 30 ft.
  AC: 14 (+2 size, +2 Dex), 
  touch 14, flat-footed 12
  BAB/Grapple: +4/–
  Attack: Swarm (2d6 plus 
  1d4 acid)
  Full Attack: Swarm (2d6 
  plus 1d4 acid)
  Space/Reach: 20 ft./0 ft.
  Special Attacks: 
  Acid bursts
  Special Qualities: Darkvision 
  60 ft., damage reduction 5/piercing 
  or slashing, lunar traits, vermin traits, 
  swarm traits
  Saves: Fort +5, Ref +4, Will +0
  Abilities: Str 7, Dex 14, Con 10, 
  Int –, Wis 10, Cha 6
  Skills: Climb +6, Listen +2, Spot +2
  Feats: Alertness, Weapon Finesse
  Environment: Lunar or meteors
  Organization: Solitary
  Challenge Rating: 3
  Treasure: None
  Alignment: Always neutral
  Advancement: –
  Level Adjustment: – 
  This little creature looks like a five-legged spider 
  whose carapace can barely contain its bulk. It can’t 
  weigh more than five pounds, but it looks grossly 
  overweight for a creature with a frame its size.
  Description
  Nanites are tiny bug-like creatures that are 
  the lunar equivalent of rats. Weighing no 
  more than five pounds each, they are more 
  pest than threat — except on the rare occa-
  sions when they gather in swarms, when they 
  can be deadly. When attacked, they have a 
  disgusting tendency to burst, showering the 
  surrounding area with their caustic blood.
  Combat
  Nanites are pests and scavengers. They 
  attack when frightened, hungry 
  or threatened. Their acidic 
  blood inflicts an extra point 
  of damage when they 
  bite and also makes 
  possible their death 
  burst attack.
  Death Burst 
  (Ex): Nanites 
  have 
  acidic 
  blood. 
  Their 
  bodies explode 
  when they die, 
  showering 
  the 
  surrounding area 
  with blood. A 
  nanite reduced to 
  –1 hit points or lower 
  immediately explodes. 
  All creatures within 5 feet 
  must make a Reflex save (DC 
  10) or take 1 point of acid damage. Those 
  who make their save take no damage.
  Acid Bursts (Ex): Combat against a 
  swarm of nanites results in a constant shower 
  of caustic blood. Each time the swarm takes 
  damage, it inflicts 1 point of acid damage on 
  all creatures within 10 feet. A Reflex save 
  (DC 10) avoids damage.
  
  64
  apdx.
  #
  «1»
  SPAWN OF SEROFICITACIT 
  Young Spawn
  Medium Ooze (Lunar)
  Hit Dice: 3d10+15 (31 hp)
  Initiative: –5
  Speed: 10 ft.
  AC: 7 (–5 Dex, +2 natural), touch 5, flat-
  footed 7
  BAB/Grapple: +2/+6
  Attack: Slam +6 melee (1d4+4 plus 
  change)
  Full Attack: Slam +6 melee (1d4+4 
  plus change)
  Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft.
  Special Attacks: Change
  Special Qualities: Blind-
  sight 40 ft., moon lore, 
  ooze traits, lunar traits
  Saves: Fort +6, Ref -4, 
  Will +5
  Skills: Bluff +6, Knowledge 
  (lunar) +20, Knowledge 
  (the planes) +10, Knowl-
  edge (religion) +10, Listen 
  +10, Spot +10
  Feats: Insightful Step, Serofic-
  itacit’s Changes
  Environment: Lunar or meteor
  Organization: Solitary or coven 
  (2–7), often found with lunar 
  skinstealers
  Challenge Rating: 3
  Treasure: None
  Alignment: Always neutral
  Advancement: 4–6 HD (Medium); 7–12 
  HD (Large)
  Level Adjustment: —
  Elder Spawn
  Large Ooze (Lunar)
  Hit Dice: 7d10+49 (87 hp)
  Initiative: –5
  Speed: 10 ft.
  AC: 8 (–1 size, –5 Dex, +4 natural), touch 4, 
  flat-footed 8
  BAB/Grapple: +5/+17
  Attack: Slam +12 melee (1d6+8 plus change)
  Full Attack: Slam +12 melee 
  (1d6+8 plus change)
  Space/Reach: 15 ft./10 ft. 
  Special Attacks: Change
  Special Qualities: Blindsight 40 ft., moon 
  lore, ooze traits, lunar traits
  Saves: Fort +9, Ref -3, Will +13
  Abilities: Str 26, Dex 1, Con 24, Int 22, Wis 
  22, Cha 1
  Skills: Bluff +10, Knowledge (arcana) +16, 
  Knowledge (lunar) +26, Knowledge (the 
  planes) +16, Knowledge (religion) +16, 
  Listen +16, Spot +16
  Feats: Insightful Step, Prophetic Step, 
  Seroficitacit’s Changes
  Environment: Lunar or meteor
  Organization: Solitary or 
  coven (2–7), often found 
  with lunar skinstealers
  Challenge Rating: 5
  Treasure: None
  Alignment: Always 
  neutral
  Advancement: 8–12 HD 
  (Large)
  Level Adjustment: — 
  This shapeless mass of 
  gray protoplasm lies flat 
  before you. Small buds and 
  tentacles sprout occasionally 
  from its surface before dissi-
  pating back into the goo.
  Description
  The spawn of Seroficitac-
  it is a creature created by 
  the lunar god of change. 
  One or more spawns are 
  bestowed upon each temple 
  of Seroficitacit, where they serve 
  as guardians and guides. Unlike most 
  oozes, a spawn is quite intelligent. It is 
  an oracle of sorts, channeling the direct will 
  of its creator and advising its worshippers 
  appropriately, and serves as a vast storehouse 
  of knowledge on lunar history.
  A spawn appears as a shapeless mass of 
  gray or ochre protoplasm, generally a flat 
  puddle no more than one foot deep. It 
  is an ooze in the purest form: a creature 
  with no limits to its possibilities. Spawns 
  do not speak in any terrestrial manner, but 
  are nonetheless capable of communicating 
  
  65
  apdx.
  #
  «1»
  directly with Seroficitacit’s worshippers, 
  primarily through dreams and enigmatic 
  thoughts that are conveyed to those who 
  meditate in their presence.
  As a temple grows, more spawns are 
  formed. Those already present grow in size, 
  seemingly deriving their sustenance from 
  the strength of the temple’s worship. When 
  they reach sufficient size, they split off por-
  tions, forming younger spawns from their 
  own bodies.
  Unfortunately for terrestrial creatures, 
  the spawns have no way to communicate with 
  them. It’s not that much of a loss, however; 
  a spawn views all terrestrial creatures as the 
  next stage in the world’s process of change 
  and is all too happy to destroy them to fulfill 
  Seroficitacit’s next phase of change.
  Combat
  A spawn rarely leaves the basin in which it is 
  kept within a temple of Seroficitacit. When 
  it senses the approach of terrestrial crea-
  tures, it readily attacks with its slam attacks, 
  which impart not just a great deal of force, 
  but the whim of Seroficitacit as well.
  Although spawns cover a wide area, they 
  resemble puddles or pools rather than solid 
  masses. Their size characteristics are based 
  on weight rather than area.
  Change (Su): Anyone hit by a spawn’s 
  slam attack must make a Fortitude save (DC 
  10) or see their form mutated by the chan-
  neled will of Seroficitacit. Roll 1d20 on Table 
  5-3 to determine the effect of the change. 
  The change takes place instantaneously and 
  is a permanent physiological change; it can-
  not be undone with remove curse or the like, 
  though wish or miracle may undo the change.
  A character’s minimum speed is 5 ft. 
  Note that the DC for this 
  check is always 10. It is a 
  divine power not influ-
  enced by the spawn’s 
  size 
  or 
  personal 
  capabilities.
  Moon 
  Lore 
  (Ex): A spawn of 
  Seroficitacit 
  is 
  imbued by its creator 
  with a vast storehouse 
  of 
  knowledge 
  about 
  the moon. This knowledge 
  only grows as it ages. A spawn 
  receives a +10 bonus to all checks relating 
  to lunar knowledge, including Knowledge 
  (lunar) and other Knowledge skill checks 
  involving the moon or its history, creatures 
  or religions.
  Ooze Traits (Ex): Unlike normal oozes, a 
  spawn is affected by mind-affecting affects, 
  although it has the lunar creature’s normal 
  resistance to such effects. It is still blind, 
  with immunity to gaze attacks, visual effects, 
  illusions and other attack forms that rely on 
  sight. It is immune to poison, sleep effects, 
  paralysis, polymorph and stunning, and not 
  subject to critical hits or flanking.
  Lunar Traits (Ex): Lunar creatures suf-
  fer half damage from elemental attacks (air, 
  earth, fire or water), or no damage on a 
  successful save. They receive a +10 bonus to 
  saves against mind-affecting effects (charms, 
  compulsions, phantasms, patterns and morale 
  effects), mind blasts and psionic 
  attacks, and thought detection 
  due to alien psychology.
  S e r o f i c i t a c i t ’ s 
  Changes: All spawns of 
  Seroficitacit have this 
  feat. When generating a 
  spawn for an encounter, 
  make a Change Check 
  for the spawn per the 
  usual rules for the feat and 
  apply the results. This makes 
  every spawn encounter dif-
  ferent. If you’re stuck on ideas for 
  the spawn’s changes, roll 1d8 on Table 5-4. 
  (Note that 25% are harmful, 25% helpful and 
  50% neutral, per the feat’s rules.)
  TABLE 5-3: EFFECT OF SPAWN ATTACK
  Roll (1d20) Change 
  1–2  
  Melted face (–1 Cha)
  3–4  
  Enlarged head and rapid brain growth (+1 Int)
  5–6  
  Distorted muscle growth (+1 Str, –5 ft. speed)
  7–8  
  1d4 new fingers sprout from each hand (+1 Dex but difficulty using some equipment)
  9–10  
  Elastic limbs (+8 to Escape Artist checks)
  11–12  
  Melted leg (–10 ft. speed)
  13–14  
  Crystallized form (–20 ft. speed, –2 Dex, +4 Con)
  15–16  
  Tactile awareness (gains blindsight 40 ft.)
  17–18  
  Slurred thoughts and speech (–1 Int, –2 Cha)
  19–20  
  Thoughts distorted into alien psychology (treated as lunar creature for purposes of saves against mind-affecting 
   
  effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns and morale effects), mind blasts and psionic attacks, 
   
  and thought detection due to alien psychology; gains +10 to save against these effects but has a –5 penalty 
   
  to caster level checks, DCs, and other checks to create them itself)
  TABLE 5-4: SEROFICITACIT’S CHANGES 
  Roll (1d8)  
  Seroficitacit’s Changes 
  1  
  Hardened form: spawn is partially paralyzed (speed and reach halved)
  2  
  Ethereal sight: the spawn’s blindsight extends onto the Ethereal Plane, but it is completely blind on the 
   
   
   Material Plane (50% miss chance) 
  3  
  Translucent body
  4  
  Liquefied: occupies twice the normal space but is only 1” high
  5  
  Antigravity effect: floats 2 feet above the ground; no change to speed or other stats
  6  
  Furred
  7  
  Spines: deals an additional 1d3 damage on any slam attack or grapple check
  8  
  Whip tendril: can use full-round action to make a single attack with double normal reach and +2 bonus to damage
  
  66
  CHPT.
  #
  «0»
  T
  his printing of The Shardsfall Quest 
  is done under version 1.0a of the Open 
  Game License; version 5.0/4.0 of the d20 
  System Trademark License 
  and 
  d20 
  System 
  Trademark Logo 
  Guide; 
  and 
  the 
  Revised 
  (v.3.5) 
  Sys-
  tem Refer-
  ence Docu-
  ment, 
  by 
  permission 
  from Wizards 
  of the Coast. 
  S u b s e q u e n t 
  printings 
  of 
  this 
  book will incorporate 
  final versions of the license, guide 
  and document. 
  Designation of Product Identity: The 
  following items are hereby designated as 
  Product Identity in accordance with Section 
  1(e) of the Open Game License, version 1.0a: 
  The terms DragonMech, clockwork ranger, 
  coglayer, mech jockey, steamborg, the 
  assimilated, gearwright, mech devil, steam 
  mage, Dotrak, gearstride, Seroficitacit, 
  College of Constructors, steam powerAn-
  dakakilogitat, Erefiviviasta, bar-
  bagula, Janzeter, rodwalker, 
  Smiggenbopper, 
  lunar 
  rain, Stenian Confed-
  eracy, Duerok, Dig-
  gon, Axon, Digget, 
  Suron, Suret, Surel, 
  Arie, 
  Cammerce, 
  Highwater, 
  Flero, 
  Jealo, 
  Lowwater, 
  Highpoint, 
  Glatek, 
  Edge, Stilt City, Tyratian River, Chemak, Bes-
  semer, Rook, Lebra, Stavians, Wisps, Thurd, 
  Gur, Hypsies, worm farmer, deep trader, 
  tortog, dusk runner, Vermil, Pretominin 
  Heads, Irontooth, Irontooth Clans, 
  L’arile Nation, Tannanliel, Ned-
  derpik, Durgan-lok, rust riders, 
  the Legion, Gearwrights 
  Guild, dronog, lunar 
  skinstealer, fores-
  trati, slathem, 
  magwagon, 
  nanite, lunar 
  e l e m e n -
  tal; any and 
  all 
  Goodman 
  Games 
  products, 
  logos, titles; any and all 
  stories, storylines, plots, thematic 
  elements, and dialogue; all artwork, 
  symbols, designs, depictions, illustrations, 
  maps and cartography, likenesses, poses, 
  logos, symbols, or graphic designs, except 
  such elements that already appear in the 
  d20 System Reference Document and are 
  already OGC by virtue of appearing there. 
  The above Product Identity is not Open 
  Game Content.
  Designation of Open Game Con-
  tent: Subject to the Product 
  Identity 
  designation 
  above, the following 
  portions 
  of 
  The 
  Shardsfall Quest 
  are 
  designated 
  as Open Game 
  Content: 
  all 
  creature 
  and 
  NPC stat blocks; 
  and anything else 
  LEGAL INFORMATION
  contained herein that is already Open 
  Game Content by virtue of appearing in 
  the System Reference Document or some 
  other OGC source. 
  Some portions of this book that are 
  delineated OGC originate from the Sys-
  tem Reference Document and are 
  ©1999, 
  2000, 
  2001, 
  2002, 2003 Wizards 
  of the Coast, Inc. 
  The remainder 
  of these OGC 
  portions 
  of 
  this 
  book 
  is 
  hereby 
  added 
  to 
  Open 
  Game 
  C o n t e n t , 
  and if so used, 
  should 
  bear 
  the 
  COPYRIGHT NOTICE 
  “The Shardsfall Quest by 
  Joseph Goodman, Copyright 2004, Good-
  man Games; for more information, see 
  www.goodman-games.com, 
  or 
  contact 
  info@goodman-games.com.” All contents 
  of this book, regardless of designation, 
  are copyrighted year 2004 by 
  Good-
  man 
  Games. 
  All 
  rights reserved. 
  Reproduction 
  or use with-
  out the writ-
  ten 
  permis-
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  publisher 
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  den, except for the 
  purpose of review or use 
  of OGC consistent with the OGL.
  
  67
  CHPT.
  #
  «0»
  OPEN GAME LICENSE  VERSION 1.0A
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  15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE 
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  System Reference Document Copyright 2000–2003, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Bruce R. Cordell, based on 
  original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
  Book of Templates, Copyright 2002, Silverthorne Games; author Ian Johnston.
  DragonMech Copyright 2004, Goodman Games
  The Shardsfall Quest by Joseph Goodman, Copyright 2004, Goodman Games; for more information, see www.goodman-games.com, or contact 
  info@goodman-games.com
  
  68
  CHPT.
  #
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  T
  he Shardsfall Quest is an amalgam 
  of several longer adventures I ran in 
  my first DragonMech campaign. I’ve tak-
  en the basic concepts, rewritten them as 
  shorter episodes, and tied them together 
  with the larger concept of the starshards. In 
  that first campaign, all of these elements 
  were present, including an earlier version 
  of the starshards: They were 
  crystalline pendants, 
  in the possession 
  of nearly a dozen 
  brothers, 
  sis-
  ters and vari-
  ous half-sib-
  lings, 
  most 
  of 
  whom 
  didn’t know 
  each other, all 
  of whom were 
  imparted 
  with 
  scattered portions 
  of a half-understood 
  prophecy, and each of whom 
  bore the same strange birthmark. The PCs 
  stumbled into this prophecy when the 
  dying pilot of their hired mech asked them 
  to get his starshard into the hands of his sis-
  ter. But that’s a story for another day.
  Playtesting this adventure led to some 
  interesting situations. As usual, the play-
  ers did things I never expected. This was in 
  spite of the fact that most of the scenes in 
  this module came from other adventures 
  the same players had been through over 
  the preceding year. At the very onset of 
  The Shardsfall Quest, the PCs decided 
  that instead of entering the obvious begin-
  ning of the adventure (Area 2 in the first 
  meteor), they would explore the crack 
  running down the center of the meteor. So 
  they pitted their 1st-level party against the 
  several spawns of Seroficitacit residing in 
  the ravine between the two meteor halves. 
  They’d faced such creatures in an earlier 
  DESIGNER’S NOTES
  DragonMech campaign, so perhaps that 
  was why they felt confident of quick 
  success. Unknown to them, however, 
  I’d retooled the monster and made the 
  spawns tougher. Less than an hour into the 
  session, two of five party members were 
  dead, and the remaining three were drag-
  ging away the bodies and trying to figure 
  out how to retrieve their coglayer’s con-
  traption, which was now guarded 
  by the remaining spawn. They, 
  of course, blamed me for 
  not properly telegraph-
  ing how dangerous the 
  spawns 
  were. 
  (“You 
  should have said it 
  looked like a really pow-
  erful ooze!”)
  By the next session, 
  their neophyte characters 
  were back on their feet and 
  ready to explore the meteor 
  the way the read-aloud text 
  said they should. We played through 
  the following episodes without incident, 
  until we reached the second lunar temple. 
  Herein lay the greatest D&D battle that I 
  have ever witnessed.
  Before I tell you about this 
  battle, you have to understand 
  something about lunar skin-
  stealers. They’ve been a 
  consistent element of my 
  DragonMech campaigns, 
  and the players know 
  how to fight them. The 
  skinstealers are extremely 
  powerful if they win the 
  surprise round and take over 
  a PC immediately. Otherwise, 
  they’re dead meat, easily defeat-
  ed with ranged attacks. Because the 
  playtesters knew to expect them (in a way 
  that your own first-time players won’t), I 
  made a few allowances in the skinstealers’ 
  favor. Suffice it to say, they made their 
  Hide check more than once due to divine 
  intervention.
  This epic battle began with one such 
  Hide check. It started in Area 4 of the 
  second lunar temple. The PCs opened the 
  door to Area 5A in the southwest corner, 
  where they had a rocking battle against 
  the spawn there. Next they detected the 
  secret doors and entered the hidden room 
  in the northeast corner. Here I departed 
  from my own adventure text and made it a 
  repeat of Area 5A (with the spawn, rather 
  than two skinstealers), hoping to lull them 
  into a sense of false security about what 
  to expect from the last hidden chamber. 
  When they finally opened the southeast 
  secret door, they had their “anti-ooze 
  SWAT-team tactics” down pat, and were 
  prepared to dispatch another spawn. 
  Instead, they found an empty chamber. 
  I made this Area 5B. The PCs went in 
  searching. The skinstealers made a terrific 
  Hide check (wonder how that happened?) 
  and escaped notice. The characters blun-
  dered right into the middle of the room 
  before one of the skinstealers made a 
  surprise attack.
  And then the fun 
  began. The skin-
  stealer attacked 
  Fin, a half-elf 
  c l o c k wo r k 
  ranger and 
  one of the 
  party’s two 
  main fight-
  ers. 
  The 
  s k i n s t e a l e r 
  made its grapple 
  and Fin failed his 
  Will save, leaving him 
  under the skinstealer’s con-
  trol. This ended the surprise round, and 
  now the regular round began. The skin-
  
  69
  CHPT.
  #
  «0»
  stealer-hosted Fin came last in the order. 
  All four of the other PCs got a chance to 
  attack him, but they rolled terribly. Even 
  Rangus, the half-orc steamborg-barbarian 
  who wielded a greataxe with a 20 Strength, 
  failed to land a blow. Only the halfling 
  coglayer hit, with a measly 1d4 points of 
  damage caused by a ranged shocker device 
  he had built. 
  Now came the skinstealers’ turn. The sec-
  ond stealer jumped from hiding and attacked 
  Rangus. It hit and grappled. Everybody 
  assumed the dim-witted Rangus was done 
  for, but he somehow made his save. 
  Then the skinstealer-hosted Fin 
  attacked... and the party would 
  never be the same. He aimed 
  for Ang, the party cleric. 
  Attacking with two weapons, 
  he rolled a 20 to threaten a 
  critical, then rolled another 
  20 to confirm it. He rolled 
  near-maximum critical damage, 
  then proceeded to deal near-max 
  damage with his second weapon.
  In a single round, Fin the skinstealer-
  possessed clockwork ranger dealt more 
  damage than he’d done in any round of the 
  entire campaign so far – and he dealt it to 
  the party’s cleric.
  Fin’s player continued to have the 
  best rolls of his career. In the combat’s 
  second round, he dropped the cleric. In 
  the fourth round, he killed Sarah Mae the 
  mech jockey (all the way to –10 hit points). 
  Meanwhile, the rest of the players had 
  been rolling terribly. They’d managed to 
  dispatch the second skinstealer (which 
  rolled poorly) but couldn’t touch Fin.
  In the sixth round, Fin dropped Rangus. 
  Until that point in the campaign, Rangus had 
  been nigh-unstoppable, a low-level charac-
  ter who routinely dealt 12+ points of damage 
  every round– but against Fin, the half-orc 
  barbarian-steamborg’s Power Attack and 20 
  Strength didn’t seem to matter one bit!
  Round seven began with a moment of 
  stark clarity. Fin’s player looked down on 
  a battlefield littered with the bodies of 
  his friends. He had dropped three of the 
  party’s five members. He was the fourth, 
  and his possessed character swung his gaze 
  toward the only remaining PC: Kenteth 
  Clockwinder, the halfling coglayer. Ken-
  teth had done more damage to the skin-
  stealer than anyone else, pelting it with his 
  1d4-damage shocker for round after round 
  – and now the skinstealer wanted revenge.
  Kenteth pondered using his coglayer 
  contraption to fly to safety in the 20-foot-tall 
  ceilings of Area 4, but I reminded him that 
  if he did so, Fin’s skinstealer would naturally 
  administer a coup de grace to the remaining 
  members of the party. So 
  the coglayer made a 
  brave choice: to 
  stand and fight 
  the clockwork 
  ranger toe-to-
  toe.
  It 
  didn’t 
  last long. Ken-
  teth  launched 
  one more attack 
  from his shocker, 
  again doing 1d4 
  damage, and the skin-
  stealer again shrugged it off. 
  Then Fin stepped into melee and chopped 
  Kenteth down.
  There was a moment of silence. The 
  players stared dejectedly at the table. 
  Four of them had dead PCs, a feat which 
  had been administered by the fifth. The 
  campaign was over.
   Then Fin’s player, Stephen, jumped up. 
  “Wait!” he shouted. “There’s 
  still a chance! You’re 
  at exactly zero hit 
  points, right?”
   “Yes,” said 
  Garrick, Kente-
  th’s player. “So 
  what? I die if 
  I do anything! 
  The 
  exertion 
  will 
  put 
  me 
  into negative hit 
  points.”
   “That’s our only 
  hope!” shouted Stephen. 
  “You’ll die either way. But if 
  you kill him with this last shot, the skin-
  stealer will fall off my body and I can save 
  the rest of you!”
   A light of hope came into Garrick’s 
  eyes. “Yeah!” everybody said. “Go for it!”
   Garrick picked up his lucky 20-sider. 
  Kenteth looked Fin in the eye and then 
  shouted the most glorious battle cry a man 
  has ever heard –
   “I’LL SEE YOU IN HELL!”
   Garrick threw down the d20 with a 
  flourish. His character Kenteth took 1 point 
  of damage and went into negative hit points. 
  But the d20 rolled a hit! Garrick rolled for 
  damage – a measly 1 point on 1d4! But that 
  was enough! Eight consecutive rounds of 
  blasting the skinstealer had finally taken 
  their toll! As Kenteth faded into uncon-
  sciousness, the dead skinstealer slipped off 
  of Fin. Fin was back to his senses. Kenteth’s 
  sacrifice had saved the party!
   From then on it was a race against time 
  as Fin dug through backpacks for healing 
  potions and tried to stabilize the party. In 
  the end, he managed to stabilize everyone, 
  and the party was able to leave the meteor 
  in tatters – but alive. Well, mostly. Sarah 
  Mae the mech jockey was dead-dead, but 
  she’d soon find resurrection.
   So, as you consider how to impart this 
  adventure to your players, keep in mind 
  the power of a lunar skinstealer with a 
  surprise round and good dice rolls. There’s 
  a reason Area 5B only has one skinstealer 
  now. If you have a skilled, large or expe-
  rienced party, you might consider two 
  skinstealers in that room. But 
  be careful. The results can 
  be deadly!
  Joseph Goodman
  May 2004
  
  70
  CHPT.
  #
  «0»
  HANDOUT A
  HANDOUT B
  
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SOURCE: textdata/thevault/DragonMech/DragonMech - The Shardsfall Quest {Sword & Sorcery 17601}.pdf