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Role Playing Game related information, Characters, NPCs, Treasure, Locations, Plot Hooks, Etc

Gods: Lady Helena

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The Goddess Lady Helena

Lady Helena is frequently portrayed as a beautiful dark haired woman. She wears a simple mask to hide her features, but dresses in revealing clothing. In one hand she holds a staff. In the other hand is a human heart pierced through with an arrow.

Lady Helena’s goal is to spread light throughout the world. Her Church does this by maintaining buildings that are essentially brothels in towns with a population over 500. They also have traveling caravans that visit many smaller towns and cities.

The Church maintains Orphanages in bigger cities. Orphans are always female. Male Orphans are passed over to the Brothers of Talric, although some maybe kept and trained as servants or Temple Guards. Usually such positions are given to brothers and family of female Orphans who become priestesses.

Orphans are not forced to join the church, but they are expected to work as servants while attending classes in basic trade skills. At the end of their education they are frequently found apprenticeships, and are given an amount of money sufficient to set them up in their chosen trade at the end of a successful apprenticeship.

If they wish to enter the Priesthood, they are allowed to become a Hand Maiden in Training at the age of 14. They can become full HandMaidens at the age of 16 if they meet all the requirements of the training and have been judged by the majority of the older priestesses to be ready.

A standard temple layout has a large common room downstairs. At the far end is an altar to Lady Helena flanked on the left side by a twice life size statue of her. An area in the corner frequently has a couple of comfortable couches and privacy screens for potential clients and Handmaidens to conduct interviews of each other. Upstairs from there are private rooms for each Handmaiden. Half of the second floor is a common area that the rest of the staff and guards share.

Handmaidens of Lady Helena

Priestess of Lady Helena are known as Handmaidens. Each Church is staffed by between five and thirty priestesses. There are additional guards and support staff that are frequently priestesses in training or orphans picked up by the church.

A priestess of Lady Helena acts as a courtesan, a confident, a companion, and even frequently as a mediator. They are highly intelligent women who are trained in courtesan duties, business, politics and many other pursuits. After successfully serving the Church for a number of years, many Handmaidens will marry a favorite client. Such marriages are very loving, but also very beneficial to both parties. Many a man and his business finds increased fortune under the helpful guidance of former Handmaidens.

Priestesses are given a tenth of the donations they directly solicited over their life in service as a dowry. In return they and their husband are expected to donate one percent of their income after taxes back to the Church. This arrangement is usually extremely profitable for each party.

If a former Hand Maiden finds herself in dire means, poor and widowed for instance, she is frequently welcomed back into the Church and given a role in helping to teach her knowledge to new Handmaidens.

Characters as Handmaidens

15+ Intelligence
16+ Charisma
Sex is female
3 Knowledge skills at 3 or higher
Characters also have an automatic Patron in the form of the Church.

Game Use
Lady Helena was originally built for Dungeon and Dragons 3.5 Edition, but could be easily updated to 4th or even 5th edition, or used in any other Fantasy world you’d like.

Magic Item: Legacy Rod of Lordly Might

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Magic Item: Legacy Rod of Lordly Might

From Okay Your Turn Forums

Legacy Rod of Lordly Might

Base item: +1 Warmace (CW)
Special ability: +5 to Survival checks to keep from getting lost. May tell depth as the Dwarf racial ability. Always knows direction of North.

The Warmace is a heavy, awkward weapon. Without proper training, it is a two-handed weapon that inflicts a -1 penalty to AC. With proper training, it’s a one-handed weapon that inflicts a -1 penalty to AC.

5th Level: Adaptive Weapon I
6th Level: Hold Person 1/day as touch attack
7th level: Flaming weapon
8th level: +2 enhancement bonus,
9: Adaptive Weapon II
10: Fear 1/day
11: Vampiric Touch 1/day
12: +3 enhancement bonus, Flaming Burst
13: Hold Monster 1/day as touch attack
14: Adaptive Weapon III
15: Climbing Pole/Surging Pole
16: +4 enhancement bonus
17: Hold Person 3/day as Touch attack
18: Fear 3/day
19: Vampiric Touch 3/day
20: +5 enhancement bonus

Adaptive Weapon I: As a Swift Action, the wielder may depress a button on the haft and cause a curved blade to spring from one side of the Warmace’s head, effectively turning the weapon into a Dwarven War-Axe. If the wielder is proficient with the Warmace, they are also treated as proficient with this form of the weapon as well. Pushing the same button causes the blade to retract as a Swift Action. Pushing a second button causes a long spike to extend from the tip of the mace as a Swift Action, letting it be used as a Spear; and pushing that button again retracts the spike as a Swift Action.

Spell-Like Abilities: the wielder may use the listed Spell-like abilities, which function as the spells, except as follows: the hold person/hold monster and Vampiric Touch effects require the wielder to touch the target with the Rod. Activating these effects is a Swift action, and the effects will function on either a normal melee attack or a touch attack.

Adaptive Weapon II: as above, except that the blade of the axe is now treated as Silver for purposes of overcoming Damage Reduction, while the spike is treated as Cold Iron.

Adaptive Weapon III: as above, but additionally, the haft can be lengthened, so possible weapons now include a Glaive and Ranseur.

Climbing Pole/Surging Pole:When button 4 is pushed, a spike that can anchor in granite is extruded from the ball, while the other end sprouts three sharp hooks. The rod lengthens to anywhere between 5 and 50 feet in a single round, stopping when button 4 is pushed again. Horizontal bars three inches long fold out from the sides, 1 foot apart, in staggered progression. The rod is firmly held by the spike and hooks and can bear up to 4,000 pounds. The wielder can retract the pole by pushing button 5. Extending the Pole in this manner requires a Standard Action, as does retracting it.
Additionally, the Pole may be used to force open doors, or attempt to push enemies away. The pole has a +12 Strength modifier; if used to push an enemy, treat as a Bull Rush attempt that does not provoke an AoO or require the wielder to move, but has a maximum distance of 50 feet from the wielder.

Magic Item: Pocket of Holding

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Magic Item: Pocket of Holding

The Pocket of Holding looks like a small rounded at one end piece of fabric. The other end has a flap and a button closing it.

The Pocket of Holding has the same capacity as a large belt pouch, but always appears empty from the outside. When the Pocket is left empty for 24 hours, it automatically falls off whatever garment it is on. It can then be moved to another garment, and seamlessly blends in to the new garment.

When spotting an attached pocket, there is a DC 20 check to notice something odd about it. A pocket of holding has a +5 concealment check for anything that is inside it.

Price is the same as a bag of holding.

Location: Village of Edward’s Fields

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Location: Village of Edward’s Fields

The Village of Edward’s Fields sits at a T-Intersection between two roads that are both trade routes. The main road goes East to West, and the other road travels South.

The village consists of two Inns, one right at the Intersection called Ebony Hearth, the other on the “edge” of the village on the Southern Road is named simply “South Inn.” South Inn is the bigger and better of the two, while the Ebony Hearth serves low quality food and is quite drafty.

There is also a Stable that buys and sells horses, manufacturers and sells tack, and repairs wagons. The stable has room for up to fourteen animals. Two of  the stalls are frequently occupied by animals from a local farmer that are for sale.

Next to the stable is a small blacksmith shop. The blacksmith, Olward Spothearted is young and has mediocre skills. He reluctantly took over the shop from his father who died in an accident before passing on many skills.

North of town is a large graveyard. Most of the gravestones are worn and unreadable. There are roughly ten thousand gravestones still present, but there is evidence that many more are missing. Local rumors say that it’s the final resting place of a defeated great army.The same rumors also state that the graveyard is home to witches, goblins, vampires, ghouls and all sorts of other beasts. Yet there has not been an actual sighting of any such things in known history.

Next to the graveyard entrance is a small church. It has room for about twenty worshippers. Near the entrance is a small room for a priest. One wall has a built in bookshelf and another has a small fireplace setup for cooking and heating. The church is kept clean, but is not dedicated to any one god.

North of the Graveyard lives Nelshell the Witch. She is little more then a hedge wizard who knows some herbs and healing. She lives very simply, her hut is dug into the side of a hill. The front walls are old sticks and branches laid next to each other. The door a simple piece of scrap canvas to keep out the weather.

On the Southern side of town, past the South Inn are two tobacco farms. The smaller one on the west side is about two acres in size. At each corner of the field is a small, ancient, statue of a man with a long mustache in prayer. The statues face inwards. A small farm house is next to the field, but as far away from the road as possible.

Across the South Road is a larger farm of ten acres. No farm house or statues are in evidence, and the overall field feels shabbier then the one across the road. There are evident gopher and squirrel holes, along with many weeds.

Adventure Seeds:

  • The Southern Road suffered a washout some time ago and has stopped being used as a trade route. This leaves the Southern Inn with little to no business. Rumors say that the washout was not a total accident though.
  • Acting on Rumors of Evil in the Graveyard, an Militant Order of Paladins takes over the small church. The Villagers are not too happy about it, and are not believed when they tell the Paladins there is no evil there. The Paladins begin to suspect that the Villagers are in on the Evil.
  • The smaller tabacco farm grows much better quality products then the larger one directly across the road. The owner of the larger field decides that the small statues bless the smaller field and thus plans to steal them.
  • Nelshell the Witch is more then she seems. She is actually a powerful Wizard who has been hiding out for many years. Upon rumors that her former rivals are coming through Edward’s Fields, she plans to take over the body of a young girl living nearby with one of her remaining magical artifacts to change her identity and continue hiding.
  • Evil is present in the Graveyard. Each night the two opposing sides battle each other in ghostly form. The former losers can only be satisfied by having their bodies properly buried. Unfortunately they were buried in a mass grave.
  • Olward Spothearted never wanted his father’s Blacksmith shop. He wanted to be an adventurer, or at least a soldier. One night as he’s cleaning the shop, he finds a hidden compartment. Inside is a glowing longsword, and there just happens to be a merchant in town who is short of Guards.

    • Locations: Garnoc’s Gloves

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    Locations: Garnoc’s Gloves

    Garnoc is one of Trizol’s premier gloves makers. His shop is located in the city of Newhaven Crossing. His clientele are mostly nobles and rich military officers. He has experience in making a wide variety of leathers into functional and good looking gloves.

    Garnoc himself is getting on in age and currently has two apprentices working for him, twin brothers named Markoos and Harkoos. These apprentices stand to jointly inherit the shop when he dies. Although both are very skilled and handle the bulk of the orders coming through the shop, Garnoc has not yet sponsored them to the Guild.

    The shop is on the corner of Dragon’s Rest and an unnamed alleyway. It’s a small two story affair that is well kept up. In the back it shares a common area with several other shops and houses. It also shares a dirty stable with the inn next door, although Garnoc does not have any animals at this time.

    When entering from the front door, gloves are neatly arranged on shelves. They are sorted by material, size and color. Each pair is left unfinished so that they can be custom fitted to the customer. A glass case against one the interior wall also serves as a sales counter. Displayed inside are some of the more exotic materials, including a set made from black dragon leather. All gloves are masterwork in quality but confer no other game stats unless created to do so by another NPC or PC at DM’s discretion. Prices range from 7gp for basic leather riding gloves to 600gp for the black dragon ones.

    A door way covered with a simple curtain separates the front from the workshop in back. It is about twice the size of the front showroom, about fifteen by thirty feet. Bolts of leathers of all types are neatly shelved (about 6000gp worth) along one long wall. A work bench lines the other side. All tools are in their place and the only scraps are from projects currently in progress. At the far end is a small stove for heat. Closest to the door is a comfortable chair for clients to sit in while their hands are measured for custom orders.

    Small stairs near the stove lead to the upstairs. It has been divided into four rooms. The twins share one, Garnoc has another and the other two are full of miscellaneous household supplies and broken tools from the shop below.  Garnoc has about three hundred gold hidden in his room (search 15) in various sized coins. It is protected by a magic trap (disable device 25) that freezes (DC:30 save) any would-by thieves.

    Garnoc is about 65 years old. He has a full head of greying hair but walks with a slight stoop. He is always immaculately dressed in one of six nice suits that he owns. All are several generations out of style. Over this he wears a leather apron when working in the shop.

    Stats: male human commoner; CR 3; HD 3d4+3; hp 11; Init +0; Spd 30 ft; AC 10, touch 10, flat-footed 10 BAB +1;  (1d10+3/x3); AL LG; SV Fort +2, Ref +1, Will +0; Str 8(-1), Dex 10(+0), Con 12(+1), Int 11(+0), Wis 9(-1), Cha 14(+2).

    Skills and Feats: HIDE+0, SPOT+2(3), LISTEN-1, MOVE SILENTLY+0, climb+6(4), craft(leatherworking)+6(6), appraise+4(2), use rope+3(3).

    Markoos and Harkoos are identical twins. Both are dark haired, about five and a half feet tall. Their age is somewhere between fourteen and seventeen, but they’re not sure. Their parents were killed by bandits and the twins found themselves in a strange city with no support. Even Garnoc is not sure why he took them in, but they have proven to be well worth his trouble. He looks upon them as the sons he never had and is extremely proud of them, although does not show it, merely commenting upon their skills and efficiency.

    Twins stats: Human Male, Com1; CR 1; HD 1d4+1; hp 5; Init +0; Spd 30 ft; AC 10, touch 10, flat-footed 10 BAB +0; Melee club +3 (1d6+2); AL LG; SV Fort +1, Ref +0, Will -2; Str 14(+2), Dex 10(+0), Con 13(+1), Int 12(+1), Wis 7(-2), Cha 16(+3).
    Skills and Feats: HIDE+0, SPOT-2, LISTEN-2, MOVE SILENTLY+0, craft(Leatherworking)+6(4), escape artist+2(2), heal+1(4),  swim+4(2); simple weapon proficiency(club), track.

    Adventure seeds:

    • Garnoc had a falling out with the guild sometime ago. Due to his skills and Noble patronage it has not affected his business much, but with his increasing age and closing retirement the Guild is looking to change that.
    • The twins recognizes one of the bandits who killed their parents in a nearby tavern. The man has recently moved into the city, reformed his ways and taken up an honest trade. But the twins want revenge for what he did.
    • A single glove was found at the scene of a horrific crime. It is clearly one of Garnoc’s creations. The problem is he never sold that pair. Or perhaps he simply does not remember who he sold them too.
    • The night before Garnoc is set to sponsor the twins to the Guild, he dies. Some of the more jealous Guild members see this as an opportunity to take over the profitable and reputable shop. Markoos and Harkoos are distraught over this news and vow to fight however they can, but being merely apprentices, they have no standing in the Guild.
    • A mysterious woman brings in an a piece of extremely rare leather and asks for a pair of gloves. She does not give a name, but leaves an address in the Mage’s district to deliver them too. That night the shop is broken into and only that piece of leather is stolen. The Constable reports that magic, rather then thief skills were used.