TEXT: Mysterious Lights of Witch Mountain
  Jerry Stratton
  Tractor Feed Adventures
  Character Levels 2-4
  
  Notes
  I don’t recall, but I can’t believe anyone didn’t recognize that there were aliens involved, given the 
  similarity in titles to “Escape to Witch Mountain”. On the other hand, what does Mysavak the 
  Wonderful have to do with the aliens? Who summoned the Mist of Evil, or did the Mist somehow 
  summon the aliens?
  I clearly wrote this after reading Stephen King’s short story “The Mist” in Dark Forces. That’s what 
  inspired the Pink Horrors, Fire Spiders, and the Mist of Evil; possibly also Crazy Crabs. I don’t 
  know why I didn’t include stats for them under the wandering monster chart, but you can ﬁnd stats 
  later in Mist of Evil. You can see their current incarnation in the Gods & Monsters Encounter 
  Guide.
  I had obviously started including natural weather events in wandering monsters charts pretty early.
  Scenario
  Some strange lights have been buzzing the town of Savta and appearing all over the place. They 
  seem to be coming from the west, in the middle of the Witch Mountains. This has been occurring 
  for 3 weeks, but nothing else has happened.
  Dungeon Master’s Notes
  The lights are results of atmospheric teleporting in a region of low dimensional differential. Some 
  aliens crashed on the moon, and used a small life-ship to travel to earth orbit. The ship is in 
  stationary orbit over the aliens’ makeshift HQ. The teleporters only work if there is only atmosphere 
  between the destination and start.
  Savta and Kartel
  Savta
  Savta was founded in the Last Hills on the land path between Corunglain, Akesoli and Akorros, the 
  second three largest cities in the Republic of Darokin. Placed just on the edge of the Broken Lands 
  and the Land of Glantri, Savta is pretty much surrounded in the north by monsters, and only the 
  Republic Patrol holds in the largest monsters.
  Savta itself is fairly small: 400-600 permanent residents, but it is frequented often by travelers, 
  adventurers, and merchants attempting to make Akorros or Akesoli, and even very rarely the 
  Atruaghin Clans, on foot. It is also the stopping over spot for travelers from the Land of Glantri.
  The town is governed by a mayor and 3 councilmen: an ofﬁcial of the nearby fortress, a merchant, 
  and any traveller who can be picked up off the streets.*
  *That is an adventure idea right there. One of the characters is pulled off the street to be the third council member. The 
  merchant and the ofﬁcer each tries to convince the PC on some question, and their partisans outside of the council try to 
  gain inﬂuence among the party.
  
  3
  There are 3 inns/taverns in Savta, and one tavern. The simple tavern is most frequented by 
  townspeoples, and while the food is not superb, it is well-priced. The others cater to the travelers, 
  and generally charge a bit more than normal.
  Kartel
  Kartel is larger than Savta (about 800-900 people), for it can support a larger number of permanent 
  residents. It has many inns, stores, etc. The magic-user guild has a spot here, which it does not in 
  Savta.
  
  4
  The Adventure
  In the mountains, movement is 2/3 normal.
  Wandering Monsters
  On the map, ‘O’ is an Ogre lair, ‘B’ a Bugbear lair, and M is the Mist.
  01-10
  11-30
  31-40
  41-45
  46-60
  61-68
  69-80
  81-82
  83-84
  85-86
  87
  88-91
  91-95
  96
  97-00
  Bear, Brown
  Bugbear
  Dog, Wild
  Eagle, Giant
  Goat, Giant
  Were Wolf
  Ogre
  Pink Horror
  Fire Spider
  Crazy Crab
  Dryad, Rock
  1-3
  2-5
  2-8
  1-4
  1-2
  1-2
  1-4
  2-8
  AC6, MV12, HD5+5, at3, D1-6/1-6/1-8, SA: hug for 2-12
  AC5, MV9, HD3+1, hp 14, at1, D1-8/sword, SA: surprise on 1-3
  AC7, MV15, HD1+1, at1, D1-4
  AC7, MV3/48, HD4, at3, D1-6/1-6/2-12
  AC7, MV18, HD3+1, at1, D2-16, SA: charge
  AC5, MV15, HD4+3, at1, D2-8, SA: surprise on 1-3, SD: silver or +1
  AC5, MV9, HD4+1, at1, D1-10
  AC6, MV8, HD4, at1, D1-4, SA: rock-mud/mud-rock, SD: charm, MR 60%
  Thunderstorm
  Mysterious Lights
  Large winged creature far off towards the Broken Lands
  Light rainstorm
  
  5
  Bugbear Lairs
  
  6
  Bugbear Lair #1 (MeisterSmiters)
  16 male bugbear, using morning stars.
  1 leader (25 hp, AC4, +1 damage) using a footman’s ﬂail
  3 females kept extremely busy
  5 kids
  1)
  Entrance: 4 bugbear are in the two trees in front of the entrance. They will, depending on the size of the party, 
  attack, attack and warn (with a bird call of a non-existent bird) or just warn. In 6-10 rounds, 1-2 bugbears will 
  come out each 1-3 rounds for 5 rounds. On the sixth round the remaining will come.
  2)
  There will be 3-12 bugbear ﬁghters here.
  3)
  This is the pantry: worse food than co-op.*
  4)
  The women and children will be here.
  5)
  Main Room: The remaining bugbears will be here.
  6)
  Treasure Room: Small box with a poison lock, with a 220 gp jade necklace and silver thread, and two 170 gp 
  gold anklets. More is piled around: 500 sp, 1,000 cp, ﬁve 10 sp boxes, urn of garlic worth 100 sp, urn of pepper 
  worth 50 sp, urn of salt worth 20 sp, and an urn of mustard worth 40 sp. Each urn weighs about 20 lbs.
  Bugbear Lair #2: Backsnappers
  15 total, using sword or scimitar
  1 leader, using his hands (24 hp, AC4, +1 damage)
  4 women
  3 children
  1)
  60% chance in each room of meeting 1-4 bugbears.
  2)
  75% chance to meet 1-4 women, 1-3 children.
  3)
  the remaining bugbears will be here.
  4)
  Treasure!? A box, shabbily made, with a 10 gp malachite (green, white) a 10 gp blue azurite, and a 60 gp small 
  jet.
  Bugbear Lair #3: Bistruns
  20 normal, using natural weapons
  1 leader (22 hp, AC4, +1 damage)
  5 female
  5 kids
  1)
  Guard Cavern: 3 bugbear on each side. They will ﬁght, ﬁght and warn, or warn.
  2)
  Dining Quarters: 1-4 bugbear in each. These will usually run.
  3)
  Storage: grass, food, grass food.
  4)
  The full bugbear force, if they have a chance, will have mustered themselves here. Otherwise, they will have 
  taken the other way out.
  *I have no idea what this means.
  
  7
  Ogre Lairs
  Ogre Lair #1
  2 ogres: AC5, MV9, HD4+1, hp 25, 19, at1, D1-10, 2-8.
  1)
  50% chance for each to be here. If one is attacked, the other will come in one round.
  2)
  60 gp under a rock. There is the same chances as above for the ogres.
  Ogre Lair #2
  3 ogres: AC5, MV9, HD4+1, hp 22, 17, 21, at1, D1-10, 2-8, 1-10
  1)
  Dump Room: There is a new body here, smashed and only partly eaten. It is an alien.
  2)
  60% chance that they will be here. 80 gp, laser gun (3 shots) in pile of bones.
  Mist of Evil
  This is simple a very thick mist. Vision is reduced to 2-8 feet. It is about 1/2 miles E-W, 1 mile N-S. 
  For wandering monsters, roll once every turn on a 1 in 4.
  1-12
  13-16
  17-20
  Pink Horror
  Fire Spider
  Crazy Crab
  2-12
  1-3
  1-2
  AC4, MV15, HD1+1, at2 or 1, D3-24/2-16 or 2-8, SA: poison
  AC7, MV10, HD4+3, at2, D2-12/2-5 for 2-5 rnds, SA: poison, web
  AC4, MV8, HD5+6, at2, D5-15/5-15
  
  8
  Ruins
  
  9
  Origin
  A magic-user from Glantri, at least 500 years back, probably 1,000 to 2,000, built this place in the 
  mountains. He left after becoming even more powerful.
  Rooms
  1)
  Entrance: these large doors (20 feet up, 20 feet each) will be closed (they automatically close) and will open 
  with no difﬁculty, inwards. On the doors are
  Welcome Friend
  Away With Foe
  Enter Now
  Be Thou Laid Low
  Such Is Love
  Such Is Death
  Follow Me
  No Longer Breath
  Above the right side is a large, lion’s face, roaring, obviously hungry. On the left is the same lion, content.
  2)
  Entrance Hallway: Grand Mosaics of weird art (no real pattern) cover the walls. The ﬂoor and ceiling are 
  perfectly  white/black (according to the doors). At the point at the head of the hall is a head sticking out, like 
  the ones at the door, with no expression. When someone walks within 10 feet of it, it will demand: “Fast! Who 
  Enters Unbidden The Hall of Mysavak the Wonderful?!”* That’s it.
  3)
  Large Banquet Room: Tables are stone and have skeletons sitting around them: these are not yet undead, and 
  will not be turned. Upon entering by a secret door, ALL skeletons will have animated†, forming 2 lines. AC7, 
  MV12, HD1, hp 5 each, at1, D1-6, SD: 1/2 from sharp weapons.
  A) Bas-Relief of a wizard ﬁre blasting orcs and hobgoblins: army. In reality, this is a secret door, opens by 
  force: strength of 200.‡
  B) Painting: dull, but still entirely visible, of a night scene. It shows a graveyard and sky, but the sky is weird: 
  rings and nebulae, planets, etc.
  4)
  Kitchen: C’est Ca.
  5)
  This was a bedroom/barracks for the wizard’s servants.
  6)
  This was a pantry.
  7)
  TRAP! It will immediately be seen that the walls are laced with holes: spider holes. There are 10 spiders total. 
  If the holes are poked around in by more than 4 feet, they will come out, but at a rate of 1 per round per round. 
  If they ignore the holes, but continue down to the end of the corridor, they will turn around to see all these 
  creatures coming at them. The poison is saved at +3, due to genetic weakness over the years. Huge spiders: hp 
  8 each, HD2+2, AC6, MV18, at1, D1-6, SA: poison.
  8)
  Whoops! Seems to be light at the end of the tunnel! Walking through the opening sends them to the top of the 
  mountain. The portal is only one way, but lets light in the other way.
  9)
  This room is magically lit. No paintings are on these walls, simply light bas-reliefs. The statues are of magic-
  users in action poses and are extremely life-like.
  10)
  What’s this? Another trap! This doesn’t work anymore however. When the ﬂoor is stepped on, 10 arrows come 
  out from the two sides, but the mechanism is so rusted that the arrows will simply fall out.
  11)
  This secret hall is empty: it was for moving heavy stuff around and storing it.
  12)
  Guest Room: Drab, completely empty.
  *And the voice speaks in title case, too.
  †12 skeletons? I have penciled in “7 skeletons: 4/5”, which sounds more like only a few, and then hit points—but I did 
  not cross out the hit points in the description, so it may be that this was how many skeletons remained after a party 
  incursion? It might not even be a seven, it might be a greater than bullet.
  ‡A combined strength of 200.
  
  10
  13)
  Wizard’s bedroom: There is an illusion here which used to protect the wizard but is now fairly weird. Nothing 
  is here but the illusion is of a bedroom, the bed made, a cabinet, and a night table.
  14)
  Hallway: A Demos Magen is at each end of this hallway. AC7, HD2, hp 16, 13, MV12, at1, D1-8 (sword).
  15)
  The room is now empty, but a sheet phantom: AC3, MV6, HD3, at1, D1-4, SA: suffocation for 1-4 each round, 
  hp 18.
  16)
  This was a library, but nought but dust is on 
  the table. In the chest, however (which is 
  locked and made of metal) is a strange 
  apparatus: a long, heavy tube with two glass 
  ends. It is covered with weird symbols, similar 
  to those over the graveyard picture. It is in 
  reality a telescope about 10X.
  17)
  Two stone tables and an old iron pot. There is 
  some smashed glass on the tables and some 
  smashed pottery.
  18)
  Empty; he never used this room.
  19)
  A continual light spell is on this room.
  20)
  A ﬁre spider was thrown between dimensions 
  to here: AC7, MV10, HD4+3, hp 28, at2, 
  D2-12/2-5 for 2-5 rounds, SA: poison, web.
  
  11
  Cavern Complex of the Aliens
  The aliens are completely evil. Their mother ship crashed on the moon, and they escaped in their 
  short distance craft, which cannot radio back. They are attempting to build a hyper-torp* to send the 
  message that there is a planet ripe for the plucking…
  All they need to make this is parts available in their ship and a substance usually found with gold.
  *Hyper-torpedo. For sending messages via hyperspace to bypass the limitations of light-speed messaging. From Men 
  and Supermen.
  
  12
  Aliens
  Weapons
  Rooms
  On the south side of the dotted line no wandering monsters will be met.
  1)
  Inﬁnite number of small bats.
  2)
  Spiders (large) have completely blocked this way with their webs. There is 5 gp, 10 sp in there, somewhere. 
  There are 25 spiders: AC8, MV6*15, HD1+1, at1, D1, SA: poison, hp 6.
  3)
  The aliens! There are 8 aliens total, 3-6 will be in the cavern, plus two guards; There is a pile of melted gold in 
  here, worth 1,000 gp.
  #Appearing (on Earth):
  AC:
  MV:
  HD:
  AT:
  D:
  Alignment:
  Strength:
  Dexterity:
  Intelligence:
  Wisdom:
  Constitution:
  Charisma:
  2-5
  8
  8
  1-3
  none or futuristic weapon
  see weapon
  Lawful evil, tendency towards Lawful Neutral
  2d8
  3d6
  3d4+2
  3d6
  2d8
  3d6 to them, 2d6 to us
  1-3
  4-5
  6-8
  Laser
  Stun Ray
  nothing
  +1
  +2
  0
  0
  -2
  -3
  Damage: d4
  Damage: 0, save vs. paralysis at -5
  3 attacks
  2 attacks
  9 shots
  6 shots
  #1
  #2
  #3
  #4
  #5
  #6
  #7
  #8
  Guard
  Guard
  Scientist
  Armsman
  Pilot
  Scientist
  Passenger
  Armsman
  HD 3
  HD 3
  HD 1
  HD 2
  HD 2
  HD 1
  HD 1
  HD 2
  hp 15
  hp 17
  hp 5
  hp 10
  hp 7
  hp 4
  hp 3
  hp 7
  laser
  stun ray
  laser
  stun ray
  laser
  laser
  9 shots
  6 shots
  9 shots
  6 shots
  3 shots
  6 shots
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Old School Revival (OSR(ic))/[1e Compatible, OSRIC]/1e, OSRIC Adventures & Settings/Tractor Feed Adventures (1e,OSRIC)/Tractor Feed Adventures Mysteriuous Lights of Witch Mountain (1e,OSRIC).pdf