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THOUSAND
DEAD BABIES
BY ZZARCHOV KOWOLSKI
A
NEOCLAS SICAL GEEK REVIV
AL
AND OSR ROLEPLAYING GAMES
A LOW LEVEL ADVENTURE FOR
C ORROC
THE V
ALE OF
& THE
ACRE
WOOD
SCALE : 1” = 1/2 MILE
THOUSAND
CORROC
OLD
MACDONALD’S
FARM
THE LUMBER
CAMP
THE JUJU TREE
THE GOA
T’S LAIR
THE GROVE
OF TITIANA
NEW SMITHW
ALD
THOUSAND
DEAD BABIES
BY ZZARCHOV KOWOLSKI
A
Cover p
ainting taken from “ QU
A ALARRE” by FRANCISCO GOYA
ILLUSTRA
TION, CARTOGRAPHY& DESIGN BY JEZ GORDON
© ZZARCHOV KOWOLSKI 2013
PRINTED iN CANADA
ISBN 978-0-9920472-2-1
A THOUSAND DEAD BABIES
INTRODUCTION
T
his is a very simple introductory
adventure about a small little town
in the grips of some religious turmoil.
It switched to follow the Holy Church about
a generation ago, throwing off their ties to the
Old Gods (mostly). There are some hold outs.
Recently however,
tales of demon worship
and witchcraft have begun to flourish,
leading the young and inexperienced priest
to enter a panic.
The town is at a crossroads and the players can
influence what happens to the very souls of
the town’s inhabitants. Will they let the witches
and warlocks rule the night? Crush the pagans
once and for all? Overthrow the oppressive Holy
Church or perhaps just keep everyone from
killing each other and hopefully get along?
The answer is probably whichever one occurs
as a side effect of stripping the place of
everything valuable that isn’t nailed down.
THE TOWN OF CORROC
T
he small town of Corroc is both
backwater and unimportant. It is located
on a rolling hill that was claimed from the
great boundless forest to the north. It overlooks
fields and pastures, the bog to the east, and a small
river and marsh a few hours to the west. South
is the Thousand Acre Wood (also unoriginally
called the South Wood), a small lot that was kept
when the area was cleared and settled. The town is
fairly even mix of cracked field stone huts and log
cabins clustered together, their brushwood roofs
giving the hill a slight resemblance to a muskrat
lodge. The hill itself is surrounded by a small stone
fence no more than four feet in height.
A single
limestone church
juts out from the town to
cast a long shadow on the fields below, acting
almost as a sundial. The only other noticeable
building being
a sturdy two story inn
that has
a noticeably different construction of plaster and
timber. It appears to be of Bavarian design.
THE PEOPLE OF CORROC
T
he people of Corroc lead a simple
agrarian existence and generally
exhibit a friendly, outgoing demeanour.
While Corroc is out of the way, it is not isolated.
A handful of visitors will pass through each
month and a rather large community of
Travellers always stops here for a couple weeks
during harvest season to trade. Most of the
townsfolk will continue with their day to day
routine and never interact with any of the Player
Characters but there are several key participants in
the town’s current troubles who almost certainly will.
Non-humans in the party may receive a slightly
mixed welcome. The more pious individuals tend to
be disrespectful to halfings and wary (bordering on
afraid) of elves . The situation is almost reversed for
those who still cling to elements of the Old Gods.
Dwarves are regarded as a curiosity with no real
bias by either group. That isn’t to say Dwarves aren’t
associated with a whole host of bizarre stereotypes,
merely that they are neither reviled nor adored by
the townsfolk. Other less common races will also be
seen as curiosities, but may arouse fear depending
on exactly how unusual they are.
Should (or perhaps when) the players get into
trouble,
there are no watchmen or police to
enforce order.
The Reeve maintains order with
the backing of the peasants in a makeshift mob.
If things get out of hand or people are killed,
they may send someone to fetch the men from
the local lord a few hours to the north. This is
a last resort as the knights tend to enforce
order harshly and indiscriminately.
2
A THOUSAND DEAD BABIES
ROBERT DOYLE
The Town Reeve
Robert Doyle (or Bobbie as the locals call him
when he isn’t around) is the elderly and dour faced
reeve of this small town. He keeps the records of
the turnip and barley harvest, the sheep and the
lumber tithes. While people rumour that he’ll
fudge the records in one’s favour for a split of the
take, it is false. He is actually impeccably loyal to
the local lord and wouldn’t think of cheating him.
He is generally unconcerned with the religious
goings on, but he is quite eager to find someone
to capture the black knight and is authorized by
the local lord to pay the reward for doing as such:
•
•
•
•
100lbs of turnips,
2 rams,
6 ewes, and
2 acres of pasture.
JULIE O’RANNIGAN
The Herbalist
Julie O’Rannigan is an ageing spinster whose
fiery red hair is beginning to turn white. She is
independent minded, single, no children, works
as an herbalist, and has a black cat for a pet.
The townsfolk think she is a witch and more
than a few want to burn her at the stake. It is only
at the urging of Father McKenzie that they do not.
He is young and idealistic and sick of what he
sees as persecution of single women. He is of
course wrong, she is indeed a witch. The signs
are all there. She is a member of the cult of
Baphomet and sneaks out to frolic nude with
the devil’s minions and sacrifice babies unto
his glory. Also she sells a variety of soothing
ointments and herbs for 2 shillings a dose.
Applying a dose of her ointments before
sleeping will ease pain and relax muscles
(NGR: +2 to healing check OSR: +1d6-3 hp
regained overnight, minimum of 0). She has
45 shillings and 202 pence in her stone cottage
just outside of town. If the players start
interrogating her about witchcraft she will
claim to have seen a robed figure congregating
near the MacDonald house at night.
OSR:
Level 1 witch, chaotic evil cleric, or failing that
magic user who knows “charm person”
NGR:
Level 1, 1 part priest, 1 part wizard, 1 part
rogue. Expert (Herbalism), Familiar, Miracles.
Low strength (7) but high spirit (13).
30 piety. 1200xp.
Note that this is property ownership not mere usage
rights, in essence turning a simple serf into a yeoman.
FATHER MCKENZIE
The Village Priest
Father McKenzie is a young priest in his early
twenties. He has been in Corroc for just over a
year and is deeply concerned about its pagan
history and the rumblings of there being diabolists
practising in the woods. He knows there are still
secretly pagans in the town, and others openly in
New Smithwald on the other side of the Thousand
Acre Woods, but he hopes kindness, reason and
prayer can convert them. He is also unable to live
up to his own ideals, and he is filled with guilt.
He has been sneaking out at night to have an
illicit affair with the yeoman’s daughter, Marilyn.
He is gone from an hour after sunset until
midnight each night. Father McKenzie has
offered his church’s entire savings of 17 golden
crowns , 45 silver shillings and 112 copper pence
if anyone can slay whatever demonic creature
has been leaving bipedal hoof prints in the forest.
OSR:
Level 1 cleric, 3 hp.
NGR:
Level 0, 2 part priest. Dogma, True Belief, Exorcism.
100 piety. 900xp. No milestone.
3

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