TEXT: Based on the original DUNGEONS & DRAGONS
  ® rules created by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson and the new DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game
  designed by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Richard Baker, and Peter Adkison.
  This game product contains no Open Game Content.  No portion of this work may be reproduced in
  any form without permission of the author.  To learn more about the Open Gaming License and the
  d20 system license, please visit www.wizards.com/d20
  DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, GREYHAWK and RPGA are registered trademarks of Wizards of
  the Coast, Inc. LIVING GREYHAWK is a trademark of Wizards of the Coast, Inc.  ALL RIGHTS
  RESERVED. This scenario is intended for tournament use only and may not be reproduced without
  approval of the RPGA Network.
  COU5-S01
  A Day Late and A Doggie
  Short
  A One-Round D&D LIVING GREYHAWK®
  County of Urnst Regional Adventure
  Version 3.0
  By Gregory Ison & Keera Smith
  Take a coach ride into the countryside of the County of Urnst. An all-expenses-paid trip thru a
  settled land of farms and ranches, to pick up some livestock and return it to Radigast city. An
  introductory adventure for 1st level characters.
  
  <A Day Late & a Doggie Short>
  Page 2
  Introduction
  This is an RPGA® Network scenario for the
  Dungeons & Dragons® game. A four-hour time
  block has been allocated for each round of this
  scenario, but the actual playing time will be
  closer to three and a half hours. The rest of the
  time is spent in preparation before game play,
  and scoring after the game. The following
  guidelines are here to help you with both the
  preparation and voting segment of the game.
  Read this page carefully so that you know and
  can communicate to your players the special
  aspects of playing an RPGA scenario.
  Preparation                                    
       
  First you should print this scenario. This
  scenario was created to support double-sided
  printing, but printing it single sided will work
  as well. There is enough room along the inside
  margin to bind the adventure, if you desire.
  Read this entire adventure at least once before
  you run your game. Be sure to familiarize
  yourself with any special rules, spells, or
  equipment presented in the adventure. It may
  help to 
  highlight 
  particularly 
  important
  passages.
  When you run an RPGA D&D adventure we
  assume that you have access to the following
  books: the Player’s Handbook, the Dungeon
  Master’s Guide, and the Monster Manual. We
  also assume that you have a set of dice (at least
  one d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, and d20), some scrap
  paper, a pencil, an RPGA scoring packet, and
  your sense of fun. It is also a good idea to have
  a way to track movement during combat. This
  can be as simple as a pad of graph paper and a
  pencil, as handy as a vinyl grid map and chits,
  or as elaborate as resin dungeon walls and
  miniatures.
  Instruct the players either to prepare their
  characters now, or wait until you read the
  introduction, depending on the requirements of
  the scenario as described in the introduction.
  Keep in mind that you must have at least three
  players (not counting the DM), for the game
  session to be a sanctioned RPGA event. As
  well, you cannot have more than six players
  participating in the game.
  Once you are ready to play, it is handy to
  instruct each player to place a nametag in front
  of him or her. The tag should have the player’s
  name at the bottom, and the character’s name,
  race, and gender at the top. This makes it easier
  for the players (and the DM) to keep track of
  who is playing which character.
  The players are free to use the game rules to
  learn about equipment and weapons their
  characters are carrying. That said, you as the
  DM can bar the use of even core rulebooks
  during certain times of play. For example, the
  players are not free to consult the Dungeon
  Master’s Guide when confronted with a trap or
  hazard, or 
  the 
  Monster 
  Manual 
  when
  confronted with a monster.
  Some of the text in this scenario is written so
  that you may present it as written to the
  players, while other text is for your eyes only.
  Text for the players will be in gray boxes. It’s
  strongly recommended that you paraphrase the
  player text instead of reading it aloud. Some of
  this text is general and must be adapted to the
  specific situation or to actions of the player
  characters.
  
  <A Day Late & a Doggie Short>
  Page 3
  Scoring                                           
  After the players have completed the scenario
  or the time allotted to run the scenario has run
  out, the players and DM score the game. The
  RPGA has three ways to score its games.
  Consult your convention 
  coordinator 
  to
  determine which method to use for this
  scenario:
  1. No-vote scoring: The players write their
  names and RPGA numbers on the scoring
  packet grid. You fill in the top of the grid.
  That is all. No one is rated. This method is
  used for people who are just playing for
  fun.
  2. Partial scoring: The players rate the game
  master and the scenario on their player
  voting sheet, and provide personal
  information, but don’t vote for other
  players. The game master rates the
  scenario and completes personal and event
  information, but does not rate the players
  as a team or vote for players. This method is
  used when there is no competition, but the
  event coordinator wants information on
  how the game masters are performing, or
  the game master wants feedback on his or
  her own performance.
  3 .  Voting: Players and game masters
  complete the entire packet, including
  voting for best player. If this method is
  used, be sure to allow about 15-20 minutes
  for the players to briefly describe their
  characters to the other players, and about
  5-10 minutes for voting. This method is
  used when the players want to know who
  played the “best” amongst the group, or
  when the adventure is run in tournament
  format with winners and prizes.
  When using voting, rank the players in order of
  your voting choice while they are completing
  their forms, so that you are not influenced by
  their comments on your abilities. It’s a good
  idea to have the players vote while you
  determine treasure and experience awards for
  the scenario.
  After voting, give the Scoring Packet to your
  event coordinator.
  This is a LIVING GREYHAWK Adventure. 
  As a LIVING adventure it is expected that
  players bring their own characters with them. 
  If players do not have a 
  LIVING
  GREYHAWK character generated, get a copy
  of the current LIVING GREYHAWK
  character generation guidelines, and a character
  sheet from your convention coordinator or the
  RPGA Web site, ant then have any players
  without a character create on.  Once all players
  have a LIVING GREYHAWK character, play
  can begin.
  Along with the other materials that you are
  assumed to have in order to run a D&D game,
  it is also recommended that you have a copy
  of the LIVING GREYHAWK Gazetteer.
  Living Greyhawk Levels of Play      
  Because players bring their own characters to
  LIVING 
  GREYHAWK 
  games, 
  this
  adventure’s challenges are proportioned to the
  average character level of the PCs participating
  in the adventure. To determine the Average
  Party Level (APL):
  1. Determine the character level for each of
  the PCs participating in the adventure.
  2. If PCs bring animals that have been trained
  for combat (most likely being war horses,
  dogs trained for war), other than those
  brought by virtue of a class ability (i.e.
  animal companions, familiars paladin’s
  mounts, etc) use the sidebar chart to
  determine the number of levels you add to
  the sum above. Add each character’s
  
  <A Day Late & a Doggie Short>
  Page 4
  # of Animals
  Mundane
  Animals Effect
  on APL
  1
  2
  3
  4
  1/4 & 1/6
  0
  0
  0
  1
  1/3 & 1/2
  0
  0
  1
  1
  1
  1
  1
  2
  3
  2
  2
  3
  4
  5
  3
  3
  4
  5
  6
  4
  4
  6
  7
  8
  5
  5
  7
  8
  9
  6
  6
  8
  9
  10
  CR of Animal
  7
  7
  9
  10
  11
  animals separately. A single PC may only
  bring four or fewer animals of this type,
  and animals with different CRs are added
  separately.
  3. Sum the results of 1 and 2, and divide by
  the number of characters playing in the
  adventure.  Round to the nearest whole
  number.
  4. If you are running a table of six PCs, add
  one to that average.
  By following these four steps, you will have
  determined the APL. Throughout this
  adventure, APLs categorize the level of
  challenge the PCs will face. APLS are given in
  even-numbered increments. If the APL of your
  group falls on an odd number, ask them before
  the adventure begins whether they would like
  to play a harder or easier adventure. Based on
  their choice, use either the higher or the lower
  adjacent APL.
  APL also affects the amount of experience you
  may gain at the end of the adventure. If your
  character is three character levels or more
  either higher or lower than the APL this
  adventure is being played at, that character
  will receive only half of the experience points
  awarded for the adventure. This simulates the
  face that either your character was not as
  challenged as normal, or relied on help by
  higher-level characters to reach the objectives.
  Note: LIVING GREYHAWK adventures are
  designed for APL 2 and higher. Three or four,
  or sometimes even five 1st-level characters may
  find difficulty with the challenges in a LIVING
  GREYHAWK adventure. If your group is
  APL 1 there are three things that you can do
  to help even the score.
  1. Attempt to create a table of six 1st-level
  characters, or try to enlist higher-level
  characters
  to play at
  that table.
  2 .  
  Advise
  characters
  t o  
  b u y
  riding dogs
  to 
  help
  protect
  them, and
  fight 
  for
  them. All
  riding dogs
  are
  considered
  trained to attack. PCs who want their dogs
  to attack must succeed at a Handle Animal
  or Charisma check (DC 10). Failure
  indicates that the animal will not attack
  that round. This is a free action (spoken
  command) that may be attempted each
  round. If an animal loses half or more hp in
  a single round it flees, unless another check
  is successful.
  Time Units and Upkeep                               
  This is a standard one-round Regional
  adventure, set in the County of Urnst. 
  Characters native to the County of Urnst pay
  one Time Unit per round, all others pay two
  Time Units per round.  Adventurer’s Standard
  Upkeep costs 12gp per Time Unit.  Rich
  Upkeep costs 50gp per Time Unit.  Luxury
  Upkeep costs 100gp per Time Unit.
  Adventure Background
  A Day Late and a Doggie Short is a LIVING
  GREYHAWK adventure intended for parties
  composed of first level characters.  It is an
  introductory adventure, designed to accustom
  
  <A Day Late & a Doggie Short>
  Page 5
  both starting characters and players to the
  LIVING GREYHAWK world in general and
  to the County of Urnst in particular. 
  Adventure Summary
  Background:
  A little over a year ago, in the Bandit
  Kingdoms, a goblin war-leader named Salash
  gained control of a small band of mounted
  goblin warriors. As is often the case with new
  leaders, Salash has conceived of a plan to
  increase his personal reputation and attract
  more followers. To this end he has brought a
  portion of his followers over the northern
  border of the County of Urnst.
  Traditionally, goblins tribes have formed
  alliances with worgs in order to gain cavalry,
  as worgs are stronger than wolves, and better
  able to carry a rider. The goblins are often the
  junior partner in this arrangement, the worgs
  taking a larger share of the loot (at least in the
  opinion of the goblins).
  The goblin war leader that Salash replaced had
  started to crossbreed riding dogs with wolves
  in an attempt to gain mounts able to carry a
  goblin warrior. The biggest problem in this
  plan was the gaining of breeding stock in riding
  dogs. What few dogs the goblins have been
  able to capture or steal have not been enough.
  Salash knows that if goblins are able to gain
  breeding stock in superior riding dogs, it will
  vastly increase the power of the goblin tribe
  that has these mounts.
  After a year of spying, following rumors and
  gathering information in unlikely places, Salash
  has been able to locate one of the breeding
  farms that supply the County of Urnst with
  Superior Riding Dogs (see the DM aids for
  more on the County of Urnst Kennel Club). A
  week ago, Salash and his raiders slipped over
  the border from the Bandit Kingdoms and have
  passed unnoticed through the lightly settled
  lands and up to the edge of the farm. Salash
  left most of his raiders concealed some
  distance away; he took only his two best
  scouts (and their mounts) and moved up to
  observe the farm. (The goblins left in hiding a
  short distance from the farm are the goblins
  the characters encounter in Encounter 7).
  From hiding, Salash and his scouts “cased the
  target” and waited for their best opportunity.
  Just before dawn (while the characters are
  asleep in the Inn in Encounter 8), Salash and
  his goblin sergeant took potions of sneaking
  and sipped into the farm and into the kennel
  building. The goblin druid waited with their
  mounts just outside the farm. In the kennel,
  Salash found half a dozen puppies ready for
  transport. He and his scout scooped them up
  and slipped quietly away in the night. These
  were the puppies the characters are being hired
  (in Encounter 1) to travel to the farm and pick
  up.
  Encounter 1:
  Characters are hired to retrieve some puppies
  from a County of Urnst Kennel Club (CUKC)
  farm three days coach ride from Radigast and
  return with them. (Low pay, but most
  expenses paid). The characters are provided
  with coach tickets, given a briefing and sent on
  their way.
  Encounter 2:
  A “boxed text” encounter. The characters meet
  the coach and settle in their seats. A small
  character will be invited to ride on top of the
  coach, nestled amongst the baggage. If there are
  more than 4 medium sized characters, one will
  be invited to ride up on the driver’s bench.
  Encounter 3:
  The coach the characters are riding in stops for
  a mid-day meal with another coach (a west
  
  <A Day Late & a Doggie Short>
  Page 6
  bound coach). A farmer here has tables set out
  under a large shade tree and provides a small
  meal (the cost is part of the ticket). Persons
  “living rich” get better food and good ale. A
  druid riding on the other coach asks for the
  players aid with a puzzle. If the characters can
  solve it, he rewards them with goodberries
  from a spell he casts.
  Encounter 4:
  Another “boxed text” encounter. The
  afternoon, night and the next morning pass
  uneventfully. Lodging in common room of the
  Brynefold Inn is part of the cost of their coach
  ticket. (Characters living rich get a private
  room, and slightly better food).
  Encounter 5:
  Again the characters stop for a mid-day meal
  with another coach (another west bound one).
  And again, a farmer here has tables set out
  under a large shade tree and provides a small
  meal. Persons “living rich” again get better
  food and good ale.
  Encounter 6:
  Just prior to arriving at the second inn the
  coach is ambushed on the road by goblins
  riding dog/wolf crossbreeds. The Goblins were
  just looking for some food/loot/fun, and not
  expecting a coach full of characters. The
  Goblins will try to flee when they decide they
  can’t handle the characters. The coachman is
  very much at a loss as to where the goblins
  have come from, but is very happy the
  characters were along. “Bandits are one thing,
  but these were Goblins! Their like hasn’t been
  seen in these parts sense the Greyhawk
  Wars!”
  Encounter 7:
  After reaching the second inn, the players hear
  a tale from an older man and compete with
  him, telling their tale of how they defeated the
  goblins just hours ago. The local Sheriff (a
  halfling outrider) will arrange healing for any
  injured characters (and the coachman) in
  exchange for any information they might have
  about the encounter. He states that he will
  head out first thing in the morning to check the
  encounter area and track any Goblins that
  escaped.
  Encounter 8:
  The characters arrive at the CUKC farm two
  hours after dawn and learn that the puppies
  they are to pick up were stolen last night (just
  a few hours ago). The coach leaves them (it
  continues east) here with the instructions that
  they can catch any eastbound coach within the
  next week using their return tickets. When the
  characters check with the farm workers they
  will learn that someone slipped into the kennel
  last night and slipped out unnoticed. The Head
  Breeder thinks it was a halfling master thief
  unless/until the characters mention goblin wolf
  riders in the area, and then he becomes very
  worried. These puppies are special breeding
  stock and can’t be allowed to fall into hands
  outside the County.
  Encounter 9:
  The Head Breeder contracts the characters to
  pursue the dog thieves and recover the
  puppies. Payment is discussed. She will
  provide any equipment the characters might
  need; riding dogs for small characters and
  riding horses (not war-horses) for medium
  characters as well as saddles and harness, and
  tracking dogs to assist any characters with the
  feat Track, or to track if none of the characters
  have the ability.  She states that she is sending
  a rider to inform the local Sheriff (who the
  characters know went in pursuit of the goblins
  they saw yesterday).
  Encounter 10:
  
  <A Day Late & a Doggie Short>
  Page 7
  Players mount up and head out. A character
  with Track will be able to tell the number of
  persons being tracked (players do not get this
  information if they are just using dogs to
  track). Two sets of small boot tracks from the
  farm joined up with several sets of riding dog
  prints, and headed west. When the characters
  follow trail, they will find that it heads west,
  but stays well north of the coach road.
  Encounter 11:
  The trail meets other dog tracks coming from
  the west, and then turns north. If any of the
  goblins or wolves that escaped in encounter 7
  were injured, then these goblins will be moving
  slower.
  Encounter 12:
  Trap/ambush. Two Goblin Trappers (Rogues)
  and any goblins from encounter have been left
  here to lay traps to slow pursuers, and the
  characters fast pursuit has caught them before
  they finish all the traps. The goblins are off
  their mounts and will have to fight on foot
  until they can get mounted. If they are able to
  get mounted they are likely to flee (in a
  random direction. They are defeated and will
  be fleeing to the border and will likely be
  tracked down by the sheriff in the next few
  days). The puppies’ trail continues to lead
  north.
  Encounter 13:
  The characters catch the Goblin leader and
  guards. This is the “Final Fight”. If the
  characters are doing badly, the local Sheriff
  will arrive to finish the fight and heal any
  “downed” characters.
  Encounter 14:
  The characters return to the CUKC farm to a
  heroes’ welcome celebration. They will receive
  any additional healing needed and gain a
  reward from the Sheriff.
  The characters will then return to Radigast
  City on the next westbound carriage and see
  the puppies safely to their new owner.
  Introduction
  The characters find themselves at the offices
  of the County of Urnst Kennel Club (CUKC),
  an organization dealing with the raising and
  training of guard/riding dogs.
  A little while ago you entered the outer offices
  of CUKC, and were ushered into a small
  meeting room with a large table and 7 chairs.
  Yesterday you applied for a job here and you
  were one of the few persons asked to return
  today to meet your possible employer. The rest
  of the people here appear to be here for the
  same reason you are.
  In the center of the table sets a tray holding an
  ale pitcher a number of mugs. Counting the
  mugs still on the tray and those already in
  front of some of the other people at the table
  shows that there is one mug for each chair
  around the table (7).
  The players should take time at this point to
  introduce their characters and themselves to
  each other.  A brief description of how each
  character looks should be included, though this
  can be skipped if all the players and/or
  characters know each other. (The idea of table
  tents should be introduced to beginners, and
  they should be encouraged to use them.) 
  Encounter One
  A slightly overweight human male enters the
  room and moves to the nearest empty seat.
  Sitting down he takes a mug, pours himself an
  ale and smiles broadly at the other people in
  the room. Dressed in the clothing of a well-to-
  do merchant, he appears a little out of place in
  this group of adventurers. Still smiling broadly
  at the adventurers, he clears his throat and
  
  <A Day Late & a Doggie Short>
  Page 8
  begins speaking. “Good day! May Pelor bless
  this meeting with his warmth and light!
  “I am Edward Favaren, master merchant and
  head of the Favaren merchant house in
  Radigast. Several days ago I contracted the
  Kennel Club to assist me in locating a number
  of able-bodied persons that would be willing
  do a job that my current staff is unable to. I
  have been lead to believe that each of you is
  looking for employment and have no unusual
  problem with dogs. Is this true?”
  Any character that does have some problem
  with dogs will likely not be able to adventure
  in this module. In this case the player should
  be advised to run a different character.
  Merchant Favaren will explain that the
  characters are hired to retrieve some puppies
  from Drisco’s Dog Ranch, a County of Urnst
  Kennel Club (CUKC) farm two and a half
  days coach ride from Radigast and return here
  to the CUKC offices in Radigast with them.
  The puppies have been paid for by Favaren,
  and will be trained by the CUKC trainers here
  as guard dogs for use in his warehouses in
  Radigast. The dogs are a special breed, and
  quite expensive. The characters are basically
  being hired as currier/guards.
  “The pay for this currier job is 24 gold nobles
  each, a handsome sum for what is effectively a
  weeks easy work. Travel expenses will be
  covered, as well as food and lodging.  You will
  be traveling by commercial coach, which
  leaves in the morning. If you accept this job,
  my associate will be in to finish your briefing
  and provide you with coach tickets for the
  morning coach. Anyone not wishing to take the
  job should be excused at this point.” After
  waiting a few seconds to see if anyone needs to
  leave he continues. “Are there any further
  questions that I can answer?”
  Merchant Favaren will answer any questions
  the characters might have to the best of his
  abilities, but this is a minor matter to him and
  he needs to be on about his other business. He
  has been having some trouble with another
  merchant house, and has found that shipments
  with guards never seem to be bothered. Thus
  he has started hiring guards for most important
  shipments.
  As Merchant Favaren departs the room, a thin
  human woman of mixed blood (Flan-Oridian)
  enters. Dressed in browns and tans, she seems
  to be a minor worker in some merchant house
  – House Favaren one would guess. She moves
  to the chair that Merchant Favaren had just
  recently occupied and sits. Placing a leather
  folder holding some papers on the table in
  front of her, she opens it and glances up at
  you. In a voice that seems to match her looks,
  she introduces herself and sets to business.
  This is Jynix (pronounced “Gin-icks”), a
  human female employee of the Favaren
  merchant house. She looks to be exactly what
  she is, a clerk or minor bookkeeper. 
  Asking each of the characters for their names,
  Jynix checks a list of names she has in her
  folder and provides each of the characters with
  a parchment coach ticket. She then goes over
  the basics of the mission with the characters
  and will answer any questions they have to
  the best of her abilities.
  She will ask each of the medium sized
  characters if they have mounts, and will advise
  them not to bring them. It seems that coaches
  with outriders have tended to attract too much
  attention from bandits lately. Jynix will assure
  characters with mounts that they will be well
  stabled (paid for by house Favaren) while they
  are away on Favaren business.
  
  <A Day Late & a Doggie Short>
  Page 9
  Encounter Two
  This encounter is not an interactive
  encounter for the characters.  It provides
  the characters with the information they
  need, without needing responses from
  them. Parts of it should be read as “boxed
  text”, and the characters seating on the
  coach (“marching order”, sort of) should be
  worked out. If the judge and the players
  wish they could role play a lot here, but it
  is not furthering the adventure any if they
  do so, nor hurting it any if they skip the
  role playing here (though they may enjoy
  it, so feel free to spend some time on it if
  you can). 
  The coach looks like a slightly larger version
  of a western stagecoach, pulled by four heavy
  horses. Each pair of horses are “in harness”,
  causing them to be “squeezed” into one 10
  foot by 10 foot area (see the Coach Template
  in the Appendix). Doors on each side of the
  coach can be opened as a move action. Inside it
  will hold four persons comfortably, six if there
  is some squeezing, eight with a lot of
  squeezing (effectively it is a 10 foot by 10
  foot room). Outside the drivers bench will
  hold 2 persons comfortably, (though there is
  only the one driver) three with some squeezing
  (which Zeb will not allow). Baggage and cargo
  is normally stored on the roof of the coach,
  and for the trip out to Drisco’s Dog Ranch it
  occupies the entire roof (otherwise there
  would be room for persons to ride there as
  well).
  The coach moves at an average speed of 45’,
  just a little faster than a riding dog. This means
  that creatures with a 40’ move (barbarians and
  riding dogs) would shortly be outdistanced and
  will have to ride in the coach.
  The driver pulls the coach to a stop in front of
  the station and sets the wheel brake. An older
  human male, his bright green eyes squint a bit
  as he looks over the number of characters
  waiting, but he brakes into a broad smile
  anyway. “Well, looks to be a full load this
  morning don’t it. We’ll just be getting ya
  aboard then, and getting on our way.” He
  speaks with a gravelly voice, perhaps having
  breathed a little too much road dust in his day.
  “I’m called Zeb, though in a pinch you can just
  yell for the coachman and I expect I’ll answer.
  If ya want to pass me any baggage I’ll lash it
  down up here with the cargo for this trip. I
  expect ya can sort ya’rself out inside as to who
  sits where.”
  Character placement on the coach: Zeb will
  invite one small character (a halfling or gnome)
  to ride on top of the coach, nestled amongst
  the cargo and baggage (if there is more than one
  small character, he uses the same selection
  criteria as he does for the character to ride on
  the bench with him). Several cloth packs in the
  cargo make for a very comfortable little nest,
  which just happens to be concealed from the
  sight of anyone on the ground (+20 on any
  hide checks for small creatures). If there are
  more than 4 medium sized characters, Zeb will
  invite one of the characters to ride up on the
  bench with him. He picks the best-armored
  archer or crossbow armed character, choosing a
  lightly armored archer over a fully armored
  character with no missile weapon.
  Wolf animal companions not riding in the
  coach will cause problems with sheep along
  the way (or rather with the shepherds and
  dogs tending them).  Zeb knows this and will
  mention it to anyone with unusual animals.
  Horse animal companions can be tied to the
  back of the coach, but Zeb does not want
  riders trailing along with him. (Although if a
  character insists, he will not say anything else
  about it. The customer is always right in the
  end…)
  
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  During the trip, Zeb will tend to ramble on
  with stories of the open road, bad weather and
  halfling bandit gangs. He does like to talk, and
  he can spin a tall tale when he gets started.
   Encounter Three
  The day has turned into one of those classic
  days that poets write about. Bright sunshine,
  warm weather with just enough breeze to keep
  things cool. A few fleecy clouds drift across an
  otherwise brilliant blue sky. Peasant farms dot
  the countryside, their houses often clustered
  around the occasional manor house or keep of
  the country nobility. Over the sound of the
  coach and it’s horses can be heard the
  occasional song bird.
  Just before noon the coach crests a hill and
  below can be seen another coach just off the
  road, stopped in the shade of a large oak tree.
  The small cluster of buildings nearby, as well a
  several large fields of grain show that this is a
  prosperous farmstead. The coach heads down
  the hill and two large tables with benches come
  into view under the tree. The coach the
  characters are riding in approaches the tree,
  Zeb calls out in a loud voice “Got a full load
  today Raven! And I’m in need of something wet
  to cut this dust from my mouth!”
  This is a standard stop, something the
  coachman and the farmer has done hundreds of
  times, in all kinds of weather. The farm is a
  minor holding of House Bryne (they are a
  noble house who owns major holdings in
  Radigast), and is managed for them by a male
  human named Raven, a veteran of the resent
  civil war. He gained his appointment here due
  to his heroic actions in getting several Bryne
  children safely out of Radigast City during the
  devil occupation there.
  The characters stop here for a mid-day meal
  provided for by Raven (the Bryne family is
  paid by the coach company). The household
  here (several children and hired hands) set
  dishes out and serve the food on two tables
  placed under a large shade tree (an oak). The
  cost for this service is part of the coach ticket.
  Persons “living rich” get better food (a cheese
  plate and a bowl of hot fruit cobbler with
  heavy cream in addition to standard fare), a
  padded bench to sit on and good ale.
  The other coach here is the westbound
  coach, which today has only one passenger,
  a human male druid named Caiyan
  (pronouncation – “Kay-in”). 
  The other coachman is a young male human
  who goes by the name of Skeeter (pronounced
  Ski-Ter), though he doesn’t talk at all if he can
  help it. He’ll sit with Zeb and let him do all
  the talking needed.
  Caiyans’ animal companion is a light horse,
  and is being tended by a stable hand. When
  lunch ends it is brought out and tied to the
  back of the other coach. Caiyan himself is very
  well dressed (“living rich”) in finely made
  leather and silk clothing. When he joins the
  characters table he will bring a fine bottle of
  wine with him (local vintage) and share with
  anyone caring to join him.
  At this point the DM must make a choice
  as to which path this encounter (Encounter
  Three) will follow. This is partly
  dependent on whether the characters have
  a non-druid spell caster among them. If
  they do, choose path A. If not, or if the DM
  would like to challenge the players with a
  logic puzzle choose path B.
  Path A:
  If the characters have a spell caster among
  them, Caiyan offers the characters a spell
  trade.
  
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  “Like yourselves, I am a bit of an adventurer.
  In the past, I have often found it to my
  advantage to have access to spells that a druid
  such as myself cannot normally cast. With the
  aid of an unusual ring I found early in my
  adventuring, this is possible. Called a Lesser
  Ring of Spell Storing, it will hold a number of
  spells cast into it. At a later date, these spells
  can be cast by the ring wearer. When the ring
  is empty, I will approach a band of
  adventurers, such as yourselves, with the
  following offer. You cast spells into my ring
  that I normally cannot cast, and I will cast the
  spell Goodberries three times for you. The
  berries from these spells will last 5 days, and
  can be used in place of rations, or to provide
  healing at any point during those days. Would
  you be willing to charge my ring for me?”  
  If the characters agree to fill his spell storing
  ring, he will reach across the lunch table and
  pass them a small gold ring set with three
  moonstones. It will hold three spell levels. If
  the characters make a valid attempt to fill the
  ring with spells (0 level spells count as _ a
  spell level each), he will then reach into the
  bowl of blueberries on the table and cast
  Goodberries three times. Extracting 15 berries,
  he will pass them over to the characters with
  the following instructions:
  “No more than eight of these can be used each
  day to heal a single individual, but they can be
  used to heal any living creature. And they will
  only be good for five days from right now! And
  good luck in your quest, whatever it may be!”
  Path B:
  Caiyan asks for the players aid with a puzzle.
  If the characters can solve it, he rewards them
  with Goodberries from spells he casts at the
  table. 
  When the characters sit down to eat, Caiyan
  will speak to them. If the characters have set
  at the other table, he will pick up his food and
  slide over to sit with them.
  “I have a bit of a problem that I need to
  discuss with someone. Would you kind persons
  mind if I troubled you with the background,
  and perhaps you could see some solution that
  escapes me?” If the characters agree to hear
  him out, he launches into his tale. “Recently I
  have been retained to judge a horse race. This
  in itself is in no way unusual. I do several of
  these each year, and am well know for doing a
  fine job of keeping these things honest. But, like
  I said, this one is very strange.” Here he takes
  a drink of his ale and seems to order his
  thoughts.
  “It seems these two nobles in Radigast one
  evening, over an evening brandy, had a bit of
  a disagreement about the speed of their
  respective carriages. Unlike most debates of
  this type, they each claimed to have the
  SLOWEST transport. Well, one thing led to
  another, and several brandies later, a bet was
  made. A race was to be run to prove whose
  carriage and team of horses was the slowest! I
  was summoned to judge the race. Perhaps you
  see my problem at this point? I need to judge a
  race in which each side hopes their team will
  lose. How do I ensure that each carriage is
  raced as fast as they will go, realizing that they
  want to cross the finish last?
  The answer to the above problem is to have
  each of the drivers switch carriages. Each
  driver will then do everything he can to ensure
  that the carriage he is driving goes as fast a
  possible. Thus if he wins the race, his carriage
  (not the one he is driving) will have finished
  last, and his team will have won.
  If the characters are able to solve the puzzle
  (with the provided answer, or with something
  novel), he will then reach into the bowl of
  blueberries on the table and cast Goodberries
  
  <A Day Late & a Doggie Short>
  Page 12
  three times. Extracting 15 berries, he will pass
  them over to the characters with the following
  instructions:
  “No more than eight of these can be used each
  day to heal a single individual, but they can be
  used to heal any living creature. And they will
  only be good for five days from right now! And
  good luck in your quest, whatever it may be!”
   Encounter Four
  Like Encounter Two, this encounter is not
  an 
  interactive 
  encounter 
  for 
  the
  characters. It will provide the characters
  with the information they need, without
  needing responses from them. Parts of it
  should be read as “boxed text”, and should
  be presented as already done (thus the past
  tense used in the boxed text). If the judge
  and the players wish they could role play a
  lot here, but it is not furthering the
  adventure any if they do so, nor would it be
  hurting it any if they skip it (though they
  may enjoy it, so feel free to spend some
  time on it if you wish).
  The afternoon was uneventful, with the coach
  traveling on thru quite countryside, grain fields
  giving way to vineyards and pastures holding
  sheep tended by sleepy shepherds with their
  dogs. Occasional copses of trees would have
  provided a bit of shade, but the road avoided
  them, perhaps to deprive would be bandits of
  hiding places. Just as evening fell, the coach
  approached a small cluster of houses. The
  largest of these proved to be a small country
  inn. Thus you passed the night in the thorp of
  Brynefold, and slept in the common room of
  the Brynefold Inn.
  (Characters living rich got a private room, and
  slightly better food).
  Lodging for the night in common room was
  part of the cost of the coach ticket, and after a
  quick breakfast, the coach was again on its
  way. This morning proved to be as uneventful
  as yesterday afternoon, and you begin to look
  forward to lunch just to provide a brake from
  the creek of leather springs and the rattle of the
  coach wheels.
   Encounter Five
  Again the characters stop for a mid-day meal
  with another coach (another west bound one).
  This second "farm" is more of a vineyard,
  most of its’ 600 acres given over to the
  growing of grapes.
  The vineyard here belongs to the family
  Hershold, and currently has a minor noble
  from House Yarne (Faun Yarne) visiting. As
  she is being entertained at the “big house”, it is
  unlikely that the characters will see her (except
  possible from a distance).  She might be
  sighted riding the grounds with several
  members of the Hershold family staff and her
  guards, inspecting (asking the persons serving
  lunch might turn this information up). She's an
  attractive Suel human woman (blonde/blue)
  and is here seeing to the affairs of her
  betrothed, (Zeli Torquann).  They have made
  an active offer to purchase these estates from
  the Hershold family.
  The Hershold family have tables set out under
  a pair of large shade trees (elms) and are
  providing a simple meal. (Persons “living rich”
  again get better food and good ale.)
  Except for the lack of any passengers on the
  other coach, this encounter is much like
  Encounter Three. The other coachman is a
  female human named Korace (pronounced
  Core-Ace) of about 35. She is basicly a
  younger, female version of Zeb.
  
  <A Day Late & a Doggie Short>
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  At the lunch table the characters may
  overhear the following CLUE. Have them
  each roll two listen rolls: the first (DC 15) for
  what Korace says:
  The driver of the westbound coach says, “I tell
  you Zeb, it was a goblin wolf rider! It ducked
  back behind a stand of trees, but I seen it plain
  as I see that tree over there! Must of shadowed
  my coach for four miles this morning…”
  Here she is interrupted by Zeb saying (DC
  10) to hear:
  “Halfling bandits again Korace. Probably
  some of the old Split-Foot gang got out of jail
  again and they’ve picked up a scout on a
  riding dog. Nothing for me to worry about, but
  I’ll tell the Sheriff at Cloverton when I get
  there.”
   Encounter Six
  Just prior to arriving at the thorp of Cloverton
  (the second inn, Cloverton Inn) the coach is
  ambushed on the road by goblins riding
  dog/wolf crossbreeds (treated as riding dogs).
  Terrain for the ambush site. Gentle rolling
  hills, open fields to each side of the roadway.
  While there are no trees or large bushes within
  300 feet of the roadway, the grass/grain of the
  fields is quite tall (two to three feet) and could
  provide concealment for small creatures.
  The Goblins were just looking for some
  food/loot/fun, and not expecting a coach full of
  characters. The Goblins will try to flee when
  they decide they can’t handle the characters.
  The coachman is very much at a loss as to
  where the goblins have come from, but is very
  happy the characters were along to deal with
  them. “Bandits are one thing, but these were
  Goblins! Their like hasn’t been seen in these
  parts sense the Greyhawk Wars!”
  Riding Dogs (4): hp 13, 13, 13, 13; see
  Monster Manual page 272.
  Goblins (4): hp 5, 5, 5, 5; see Monster
  Manual page 133. These goblins carry 3
  javelins each.
  Skills and Feats: These goblins have the
  Mounted Combat Feat in place of the
  Alertness feat, which reduces their Spot and
  Listen check modifiers from +3 to +1.
  Tactics: The goblins (mounted) are hiding in
  the tall grain 40 foot off of the road and will
  spring out to hurl javelins at one of the coach
  horses (the left lead horse) hoping to kill it and
  stop the coach from escaping. The Hide roll
  needed for the characters to beat with a Spot is
  20 (at 40’), but remember to modify this by
  –1 for every 10’ of extra distance. All spot
  rolls from inside the coach are made at –10.
  Basically, if the characters on the outside of
  the coach make a spot roll above 20, they
  notice 1d4 of the goblins at a distance of 40’
  plus 10’ for each point above 20 (for example:
  a roll of 24 means they spot the goblins at 80’
  from the coach).  Characters inside the coach
  will subtract 10 from their rolls.
  If the goblins are spotted, they will hurl
  javelins while charging as part of the surprise
  round (the surprise action for the mounts
  would be to move, the action for the goblins to
  throw). Any characters that spotted the
  goblins will get to act in the surprise round,
  taking their action on their initiative.
  Characters that did not spot the goblins are
  surprised.
  If the goblins get surprise (remain hidden
  until they are 40’ from the coach) they will
  hurl javelins in the surprise attack, then charge
  on their initiative. Second and third javelins
  will be hurled at persons on coach, while the
  dogs will be used to attack the horses or any
  persons on foot.
  
  <A Day Late & a Doggie Short>
  Page 14
  These goblins will flee when they realize they
  are outnumbered! (Remember to count Zeb
  when counting numbers of characters, even
  though he does not fight and will hide if able.)
  Any goblins (and dogs) that escape from this
  encounter appear in Encounter 13. The two
  goblins from that encounter are observing this
  fight from a great distance (several hundred
  yards) and will collect any rider-less dogs.
  Treasure: from the sale of goblin equipment
  and bounties (on the dog/wolves as well as on
  the goblin bandits)
  loot(40 gp), coin-(100 gp), magic items- (value
  0 gp).
  Encounter Seven
  Arriving at the second Inn for the night, you
  hear the tale of an old man from the center
  table in the inn. The man is short, crouched
  over and shaky. He speaks softly until he
  reaches a certain point in the story, then gets
  louder, though his voice is scratchy with age.
  "Ah tell ya, it was about the size of a mountain
  and it breathed fire, burning villages all over
  the countryside!! The locals called him
  Drogtor. I heard he ate a noblewoman once, a
  really important one too. But we got him, ah
  tell ya."
  At this point the old man tells his story, he is
  a little eccentric and exaggerates in several
  places. He basically tells the story of how he
  slew Drogtor by himself with nothing but his
  sword. The DM should over play this so that
  when the players get a chance to tell the story
  about how they triumphed over the goblins,
  they are forced to make it good to compare
  with the old man's tale, otherwise, the few
  other travelers at the tavern will not share
  information with them so freely. (They will
  need a Perform skill check DC15 to “outdo”
  the old mans’ tale.) Give them a -2
  circumstance penalty to Gather Information
  rolls if they do not please the crowd and a +2
  if their Perform check was 20 or more. Remind
  the characters that they can aid each other
  with these rolls.
  Note: If you are stressed for time or the
  players do not wish to role play this, they can
  Gather Information without telling their story
  and just speak with the Sheriff, continue with
  the box text below and make changes as you
  see fit.
  After telling their tale, have the players roll a
  Gather Information roll DC 10 to get the
  following “Clues”:
  *Dog tracks were found leading towards the
  farm they're headed to.
  *The bartender, if spoken to, is sure that there
  have been Halfling bandits running around on
  dogs.
  At this point the players meet the local
  Sheriff. The judge should play him as any
  television detective that they like (suggestions
  would be Dirty Harry, Kojac, or Columbo).
  Give him some personality, and the players
  will enjoy him greatly. The following text can
  be altered to fit any Sheriff personality.
  After talking with the other travelers and
  sitting down for dinner, a halfling in a vest
  with a shining star on it stands, approaching
  from the back of the bar, chewing on half of a
  cigar. The bar gets silent the moment he
  stands, and then returns to its medium roar.
  Though short, his intimidating stare does a
  number on everyone around him. The
  bartender, after seeing him stand, lowers his
  head and places a beer respectfully on the
  bartop before sneaking off to the back. He
  approaches you and removes the cigar from
  his lips, using it to point while he speaks.
  "That's quite the tale you spin and being the
  
  <A Day Late & a Doggie Short>
  Page 15
  Sheriff 'round these parts, I figure I best be
  interested in goblin antics. Name's Sheriff
  Rhenarr, any of you in need of healin'?"
  At this point Sheriff Rhenarr, a tough guy
  with an intimidating stance, interrogates the
  characters about the goblins and offers healing
  to those who have been hurt in the last battle.
  He will answer questions to the best of his
  knowledge, which isn't much, and the DM
  may want to play him suspiciously to
  convince the characters that he may be
  somehow involved with the goblins.
  The Sheriff will offer to take any goblins they
  have captured in the previous battle (if any)
  and will tell them little about where they're
  going to be kept and that they probably will
  not be able to see the goblins later, this is
  where the suspicion plays. He intends to take
  the goblin captives the easy way or the hard
  way, but he will take them in.
  He then states that he will head out first thing
  in the morning to check the encounter area and
  track any Goblins that escaped.
   Encounter Eight
  Two hours after leaving the Inn, the coach
  rounds a gentle curve in the road and passes a
  small clump of trees. About a mile ahead, you
  can see a cluster of buildings. It appears to be
  a large farm, or ranch, somewhat larger than
  the ones you have been stopping at for lunch
  each day. Zeb calls down from his bench
  “Comin’ up on ya destination folks! That there
  is Drisco’s Dog Ranch!”
  The characters learn that the puppies they are
  to pick up were stolen last night (just a few
  hours ago).
  The coach leaves them (it continues east) here
  with the instructions that they can catch any
  eastbound coach within the next week using
  their return tickets.
  When the characters check with the farm
  workers they will learn that someone slipped
  into the kennel last night and slipped out
  unnoticed. The female Head Breeder, Tayune
  (pronounced Tay-oon) thinks it was a halfling
  master thief unless/until the characters
  mention goblin wolf riders in the area, and then
  she becomes very worried.
  Her concern is due to the fact that “these
  puppies are special breeding stock and can’t
  be allowed to fall into hands outside the
  County”! Normally the guard dogs will be
  “fixed” just before they start their training, but
  these were being moved to Radigast City
  before that and so still count as breeding stock.
   Encounter Nine
  Because the Dog Ranch is currently
  shorthanded, Tayune will contract the
  characters to pursue the dog thieves and
  recover the puppies. Payment is discussed.
  She is willing to pay each of the characters 30
  gp. for catching the thieves and recovering the
  puppies (10 gp for the thieves, 20 gp for
  recovering all the puppies) .She cannot
  provide people to help (not even a dog
  handler), but she will provide the equipment
  the characters might need for the pursuit;
  riding dogs for small characters and riding
  horses (not war-horses) for medium characters
  as well as saddles and harness, and (2) tracking
  dogs to assist any characters with the feat
  Track, or to track if none of the characters
  have the ability. One of the characters will
  need to use the Handle Animal skill (usable
  untrained) to get the tracking dogs to follow
  the trail. Remind the players that they can
  “take ten” on this roll.
  
  <A Day Late & a Doggie Short>
  Page 16
  Tayun states that she is sending a rider to
  inform the local Sheriff of the problem (the
  characters know the local Sheriff went in
  pursuit of the goblins they saw yesterday, so
  he is not likely to get any message soon.).
   Encounter Ten
  Players mount up and head out. A character
  with Track may be able to tell other
  information about the persons being tracked
  (players do not get this information if they
  are just using the tracking dogs to track).
  A Track check DC of 10 will reveal that
  more than one set of tracks from the farm
  joined up with more than one set of riding dog
  prints, and headed west.
  A Track check DC of 15 will reveal that two
  sets of small boot tracks from the farm joined
  up with several sets of riding dog prints, and
  headed west.
  A Track check DC of 20 will reveal that two
  sets of small boot tracks from the farm joined
  up with a dog rider leading two other riding
  dogs and headed west.
  When the characters follow trail, they will find
  that it continues west, but stays well north of
  the coach road.
   Encounter Eleven
  An hours’ ride west of the Dog Ranch, and the
  countryside is getting rough. The trail you are
  following appears to have been paralleling the
  road you came down this morning, but you are
  well to the north of it in broken country, full of
  small stands of trees and large patches of
  brush.
  Because the trail turns north at this point, the
  characters need to make another Track roll.
  The tracking dogs will not fail to notice the
  change in direction and will turn the characters
  north. If one or more of the characters have the
  Track feat, they may 
  get additional
  information.
  (The players do not get the following
  information if they are just using the
  tracking dogs to track) The trail meets other
  dog tracks coming from the west (the two
  goblin rogues and any goblin raiders that
  escaped encounter 7), and then turns north. If
  any of the goblins or wolves that escaped in
  encounter 7 were injured, then these goblins
  will be moving slower.
  A Track check DC of 10 will reveal that two
  groups of riders met here. The group the
  characters have been following and another
  group from the west. Both groups then turned
  north.
  A Track check DC of 15 will reveal that two
  groups of riders met here. The group (3) of
  wolf/dog riders the characters have been
  following was met here by another group of
  riding dogs/wolves that came from the west
  (the players should be advised of the number
  of riding dogs in the second group). Both
  groups then turned north.
  A Track check DC of 20 will reveal that two
  groups of riders met here. The group (3) of
  wolf/dog riders the characters have been
  following was met here by another group of
  riding dogs/wolves that came from the west
  (the players should be advised of the number
  of riding dogs AND RIDERS in the second
  group). Both groups then turned north, with
  the second group trailing the first.
  
  <A Day Late & a Doggie Short>
  Page 17
   Encounter Twelve
  Trap/ambush. The lesser goblins (any that
  escaped from encounter 7) have been left here
  to help the rogues lay traps to slow pursuers,
  but the characters fast pursuit has caught them
  before they finish the traps.
  The trail you have been following has led to a
  large stand of trees, almost a small forest, and
  now follows a small game trail among them.
  These are old growth trees, the kind you would
  expect to find with Druid or Wood Elf
  guardians. The path here is shadowed now,
  and what breeze there was outside the trees
  has changed into a whisper of leaves in the
  treetops, as if the trees were talking to each
  other.
  The game trail the characters are on is five foot
  wide and counts as clear ground. Off this path
  the area is littered with undergrowth and
  shrubbery, tree roots and fallen leaves in holes.
  Movement off the path is hampered slightly
  (no charging or running), but not enough to
  slow normal movement.
  Have the characters roll spot rolls here to see
  the rope ahead (DC 0). They detect it at a
  distance of 5 feet for each two points above 0
  that their check is (50 feet if they rolled a 10
  spot). When any one character sees the rope,
  they can call it to the attention of other party
  members (another spot, with an aid from the
  other character). The characters can “take ten”
  on these rolls.
  Ahead of you on the path you see a rope
  hanging down from the tree branches above.
  Looking closer, you see a parchment attached
  to the rope at about three feet off the ground.
  When the characters move up to the rope,
  they can see that the parchment has writing on
  it. They also see another rope, about 40 feet
  ahead (use the same Spot procedure outlined
  above). The writing on this parchment is in
  goblin (it says “do not pull me”). Gazing up
  to see where this rope goes the characters will
  see that it runs up about 20 feet, and up onto a
  tree branch.
  If a character does pull this rope, a bucket
  filled with goblin excrement will tip over on
  the branch above, “fouling” the character
  beneath (reflex save DC15 to avoid the
  contents). The only real effect of “fouling”
  will be to cause the character to smell REAL
  bad until they bathe thoroughly (or have a
  prestidigitation spell cast on them). This could
  have an effect on a characters Hide or Move
  Silently skill checks…
  As you moved up to get a closer look at the
  rope hanging down you spotted another rope
  about forty feet further down the trail. Though
  this one doesn’t have a parchment sign and
  shrubbery hides the bottom of the rope from
  your view from here.
  If any goblins escaped from Encounter Seven,
  they will be using this rope to hoist a large
  rock into the tree branches as part of a trap
  they are building. If the characters pause a
  moment, they will see this rock slowly rise
  into sight, and should be able to figure out that
  someone is hauling it into the trees overhead.
  If they move closer to look, they will see the
  goblins pulling on the other end of the rope,
  though the goblins are concealed by
  undergrowth beside the 
  trail 
  (20%
  concealment). The goblins are very distracted
  and suffer a –5 circumstance modifier to their
  Spot rolls to see the characters.
  While observing the second rope, characters
  will see a clump of dirt fly across the trail
  some 20 feet past it. If they watch a little
  longer, they will see a second clump of dirt fly
  and one fly back in reply. The two goblin
  rogues are digging pits (for pit traps), one on
  
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  each side of the trail. The fact that they have
  started tossing dirt into each others pit should
  be something of a comedy routine. If the
  characters continue to watch, dirt will continue
  to fly back and forth across the trail.
  There is a completed trap (see below) located
  on the trail between the two pits.
  Twenty feet past the two pits (which are 10
  ft. by 10 ft. by 2 1/2 ft. deep), can be seen a
  large wooden chest. Very dirty, it looks to
  have been dug up by the goblins. This chest is
  trapped (see traps below) and contains only a
  number of rocks and a parchment note (see
  Handout #1).
  The puppies’ trail continues to lead north.
  The following goblins will be in addition to
  any that escaped from encounter 7.
  Riding Dogs (2): hp 13, 13 see Monster
  Manual page 272.
  Goblin 1st level Rogues (2):
  CR 2 (3 with dogs); Small Humaniod
  (Goblinoid); HD 1d6+1 hp 7, 7; Init +4; Spd
  30 ft., AC 17 (touch 15, flat-footed 13) [+1
  size, +4 Dex, +2 leather armor]; Atk +1 melee
  [(small Club, Blud.] or +5 ranged [(small Light
  Crossbow 1d6, piercing]; SA none; SQ
  Darkvision 60 ft.; AL N/E; SV Fort +1, Ref
  +6, Will -1; Str 12, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 10,
  Wis 8, Cha 8.
  Skills and Feats: Craft (Trapmaking) +4,
  Handle Animal +3, Hide +12, Listen +3,
  Move Silently +12, Ride +10, Search +4, Spot
  +3. Mounted Combat: These goblins have the
  Mounted Combat Feat in place of the
  Alertness feat, which reduces their Spot and
  Listen check modifiers (calculated in).
  Possessions: Leather Armor, Club (small),
  Light Crossbow (small), 10 Bolts (small), 12
  gp in mixed coinage.
  Traps: this encounter includes two
  completed traps, which might be encountered
  during the fight, or after the characters have
  started searching the area for loot.
  On the trail, between the two pits the goblins
  have finished a “basic arrow trap”.
  Basic Arrow Trap: CR 1; mechanical:
  Proximity trigger; manual reset; Atk +10
  ranged (1d6/X3, arrow) Search (DC 20);
  Disable Device (DC 20).
  On the chest, the goblins have a Poison Dart
  Trap.
  Poison Dart Trap: CR 1; mechanical: location
  trigger; manual reset; Atk +8 ranged (1d4/X2,
  plus poison, dart); poison (bloodroot, DC 12
  fortitude save resists, 0/1d4 Con plus 1d3
  Wis); Search (DC 20); Disable Device (DC
  18).
  Tactics:
  The goblins are off their mounts and will have
  to fight on foot until they can get mounted.
  They will command any dogs without riders
  to “attack” (Handle Animal check at DC10, as
  a move action) and call their own mounts to
  them. If all the dogs are slain, they will flee on
  foot.
  If the battle is going badly for the goblins and
  they are able to get mounted they will flee in a
  random direction. (They are defeated and will
  be fleeing to the border and will likely be
  tracked down by the sheriff in the next few
  days).
   Encounter Thirteen
  The characters catch the Goblin leader and
  guards. This is the “Final Fight”. If the
  characters are doing badly, the local Sheriff
  will arrive to finish the fight and heal any
  “downed” characters (if this is needed, handle
  
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  it as “boxed text” and move on to the next
  encounter).
  With a fast pursuit, the players will not be
  able to sneak up on these goblins, but with a
  slow pursuit they will not catch them. Allow
  the 2 best characters (those with the best Spot
  Skill) to roll vs. the Goblin Sergeants’ Spot of
  14 (he is taking 10 on his spot). If they beat
  him they see the goblins first and can react. If
  they loose, the goblins will see them and can
  react first. If it is a tie, then both sides see each
  other at the same time and there is no surprise.
  Riding Dogs (3): hp 13, 13, 13 see Monster
  Manual page 272.
  “Salash” Goblin Leader 3rd 
  level
  Aristocrat: 
  CR 1; Small Humaniod
  (Goblinoid); HD 3d8 hp 16; Init +2; Spd 30
  ft., AC 17 (touch 13, flat-footed 15) [+1 size,
  +3 Dex, +4 chain shirt]; Atk +3 melee [(small
  Longsword 1d6+1, Slashing] or +5 (+6 within
  30’) ranged [Small Comp. Longbow 1d6+1 (+1
  within 30’), piercing]; SA none; SQ
  Darkvision 60 ft.; AL N/E; SV Fort +1, Ref
  +2, Will +4; Str 12, Dex 16, Con 10, Int 12,
  Wis 12, Cha 12.
  Skills and Feats: Bluff +7, Gather Information
  +7, Handle Animal +7, Hide +4, Listen +1,
  Move Silently +6, Ride +11, Spot +1.
  Mounted Combat, Point Blank Shot.
  Tactics: Be the Boss (lead from the back,
  avoid melee, run if all the other goblins are
  down). Wait till the Entangle spell is cast, and
  shoot at any creatures entangled.
  “Stub Bumble” Goblin Lieutenant 1st level
  Druid:
  CR 1; Small Humaniod (Goblinoid); HD 1d8
  hp 8; Init +2; Spd 30 ft., AC 15 (touch 13,
  flat-footed 13) [+1 size, +2 Dex, +2 leather
  armor]; Atk +1 melee [(small Club 1d4+1,
  Blud.] or +3 ranged [Sling1d4+1, Blud.]; SA
  none; SQ Darkvision 60 ft.; AL N/E; SV Fort
  +2, Ref +2, Will +4; Str 12, Dex 14, Con 10,
  Int 10, Wis 15, Cha 10.
  Spells: (3, 2) Cure Minor Wounds x2, Create
  Water, Goodberries (cast), Entangle
  Skills and Feats: Handle Animal +4, Heal +6,
  Hide +6, Knowledge (Nature) +4, Listen +2,
  Move Silently +6, Ride +10, Spot +2.
  Mounted Combat.
  Tactics: Cast the Entangle spell to best effect,
  and shoot at any creatures it entangles. Run
  like hell if Salash goes down – FLEE IF THE
  BOSS BUYS IT.
  Goblin Sergeant 2nd level Rogue:
  CR 2; Small Humanoid (Goblinoid); HD
  2d6+2 hp 9; Init +4; Spd 30 ft., AC 18 (touch
  15, flat-footed 14) [+1 size, +4 Dex, +3 leather
  armor]; Atk +2 melee [(small Club, Blud.] or
  +6 ranged [(small Light Crossbow 1d6,
  piercing]; SA none; SQ Darkvision 60 ft.; AL
  N/E; SV Fort +1, Ref +6, Will -1; Str 12, Dex
  18, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha 8.
  Skills and Feats: Craft (Trapmaking) +5
  Handle Animal +3, Hide +13, Listen +4,
  Move Silently +13, Ride +11, Search +5, Spot
  +4. Mounted Combat.
  Tactics: Wait till the Entangle spell is cast,
  and shoot at any creatures entangled. Run like
  hell if Salash goes down – FLEE IF THE
  BOSS BUYS IT.
   Encounter Fourteen
  (Conclusion)
  If the Sheriff did not have to show up and
  save the characters in Encounter 13 read the
  following:
  As you strut victoriously back to Drisco’s Dog
  Ranch (or limp in carrying the bodies of your
  companions), you are greeted by several
  
  <A Day Late & a Doggie Short>
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  joyous farm workers, including Tayune
  herself. She looks at you with an appreciative
  smile and speaks in a soft tone. “Thank you so
  much, now these young pups can be returned
  to their rightful owner and the secrets of the
  County are once again safe in our hands.” She
  then shows you to a barbeque held in your
  honor at the back of the ranch. Later there you
  meet Sheriff Rhenarr, with a mouthful of
  barbeque, stands and greets you with a nod of
  approval, lights his cigar and reaches to his
  belt, pulling off a small leather pouch and
  tossing it toward you. “A small token of the
  government’s appreciation for ringin’ in those
  goblins, y’all’re welcome here anytime. Now
  let’s get some of this here grub!”
  If the Sheriff did have to show up and save the
  characters in Encounter 13 read the following:
   As you strut victoriously back to Drisco’s
  Dog Ranch (or limp in carrying the bodies of
  your companions), you are greeted by several
  joyous farm workers, including Tayune
  herself. She looks at you with an appreciative
  smile and speaks in a soft tone. “Thank you so
  much, now these young pups can be returned
  to their rightful owner and the secrets of the
  County are once again safe in our hands.” She
  then shows you to a barbeque held in your
  honor at the back of the ranch. Sheriff Rhenarr
  looks over at you and, reaching to his belt,
  pulls off a small leather pouch and tosses it to
  you. “Y’all did a fine job out there, a fine job.
  Here’s a token of the government’s
  appreciation for ringin’ in the goblins. Now
  what d’y’all say we go get some of that grub?”
  The characters will then return to Radigast
  City on the next westbound carriage and see
  the puppies safely to their new owner.
  The End
  Experience Point Summary
  To award experience for this adventure, add
  up the values for the objectives accomplished.
  Then assign the experience award.  Award the
  total value (objectives plus roleplaying) to
  each character.
  Encounter 6:
  Driving off the goblin raiders, 90 xp.
  Encounter 12:
  Defeating the goblin ambush, 90 xp.
  Defeating the traps (avoiding or springing both
  traps), 60 xp.
  Encounter 13:
  Defeating the Goblin leader, 120 xp..
  Story Award
  Recovering all the puppies, 45 xp.
  Discretionary roleplaying award
  Discretionary judges award 45 xp;.
  Total possible experience: 
  450 xp;
  Treasure Summary
  During an adventure, characters encounter
  treasure, usually finding it in the possession of
  their foes.  Every encounter that features
  treasure has a “treasure” section within the
  encounter description, giving information about
  the loot, coins, and magic items that make up
  the encounter’s treasure.
  The loot total is the number of gold pieces each
  character gains if the foes are plundered of all
  their earthly possessions.  Looting the bodies
  takes at least 10 minutes per every 5 enemies,
  and if the characters cannot take the time to
  loot the bodies, they do not gain this gold.  If
  you feel it is reasonable that characters can go
  
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  back to loot the bodies, and those bodies are
  there (i.e., not carted off by 
  dungeon
  scavengers, removed from the scene by the
  local watch, and so on), characters may return
  to retrieve loot.  If the characters do not loot
  the body, the gold piece value for the loot is
  subtracted from the encounter totals given
  below.
  The coin total is the number of gold pieces each
  character gains if they take the coin available. 
  A normal adventuring party can usually gather
  this wealth in a round or so.  If for some reason,
  they pass up this treasure, the coin total is
  subtracted from the encounter totals given
  below.
  Next, the magic items are listed.  Magic item
  treasure is the hardest to adjudicate, because
  they are varied and because characters may
  want to use them during the adventure.  Many
  times characters must cast identify, analyze
  dweomer or similar spell to determine what the
  item does and how to activate it.  Other times
  they may attempt to use the item blindly.  If
  the magic item is consumable (a potion, scroll,
  magic bolts, etc.) and the item is used before the
  end of the adventure, its total is subtracted
  from the adventure totals below.
  Once you have subtracted the value for
  unclaimed treasure from each encounter add it
  up and that is the number of gold pieces a
  characters total and coin value increase at the
  end of the adventure.  Write the total in the GP
  Gained field of the adventure certificate. 
  Because this is a Regional scenario, characters
  may spend additional Time Units to practice
  professions or create items immediately after
  the adventure so this total may be modified by
  other circumstances.
  L = Looted gear from enemy; C = Coin, Gems,
  Jewelry, and other valuables; M = Magic
  Items.
  L:  Looted gear from enemy
  C:  Coin, Gems, Jewelry, and other valuables
  M:  Magic Items (sell value)
  Encounter One: 
  Agreeing to take the job and showing up.
  L: 0 gp; C: 24 gp; M: 0 gp
   Encounter Six: 
  Loot from the goblins, which might be gained
  here or might be gained in Encounter Eleven,
  depending on if the goblins escaped.
  L: 10 gp; C: 10 gp; M: 0 gp
   Encounter Seven: 
  This is bounty paid for goblin bandits (bodies
  or prisoners), which might be gained here or
  might be gained in Encounter Foruteen,
  depending on if the goblins escaped.
  L: 0 gp; C: 40 gp; M: 0 gp
  Encounter Nine: 
  This is payment from Tayune for catching the
  dog thieves and recovering the puppies.
  L:  0 gp; C: 50 gp; M: 0 gp
  Encounter Twelve: 
  Loot from the goblin rogues:
  L: 10 gp; C: 14 gp; M: 0 gp
  Encounter Thirteen: 
  Loot from the goblin leader and his guards:
  L: 200 gp; C: 32 gp; M: 0 gp
  Encounter Fourteen: 
  This is bounty paid for goblin bandits (bodies
  or prisoners from Encounters 12 and 13), 
  From Encounter 12
  L: 0 gp; C: 20 gp; M: 0 gp
  From Encounter 13
  
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  L: 0 gp; C: 40 gp; M: 0 gp
  Total Possible Treasure
   L: 220 gp; C: 230 gp; M: 0 gp  -
  Total: 450 gp
  
  <A Day Late & a Doggie Short>
  Page 23
  DM Aid — Encounter 12
  
  <A Day Late & a Doggie Short>
  Page 24
  Player Handout #1
  (This is the note retrieved from the treasure chest in Encounter12)
  To Whom It May Concern -stop- :
  We have now gotten away -stop- we hope you had fun with our traps -stop-
  you will never get the puppies back -stop- do not follow us anymore -stop-
  ha ha ha ha ha! -stop-
  sincerely;
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/3rd Edition (3.x)/RPGA/Living Greyhawk/Nyrond and Her Environs/County of Urnst/URC5-A01 - A Day Late and a Doggie Short.pdf