The basic story is that a no-good, dirty rotten gnome has stolen a faerie clan chief's staff - a wand of wood which among other powers, can turn a living creature to wood. The gnome (actually a spriggan), Bark Wilder, then sells these "statues" to the PCs for incredibly cheap prices considering the masterful quality. Whether the PCs buy the statues or not, the Faerie clan wants them to beat up Bark and return their staff.
I ran this adventure from Dungeon Magazine #73 only once, and it was one of the last times I played D&D. It didn't go well. They bought several of the wooden statues, and then didn't want to give the wand (or the statues) back after they killed Bark.
Now, there are a number of things I really like about this little adventure. First off, I like that Bark is a nasty little fay, and that he has 4 other nasty little fay helpers. The adventure calls them Shikes and describes them as 4" tall fairies with chitinous full plate armor with Trojan shaped crests of the same material sharpened for attack, and wings that fold out of the armor like a beetles. I had a great time visualizing those nasty little sprites flickering in and out cutting up the adventurers.
I also like how it brought the fairy to my game. Most of my games tended toward much less magic creatures like orcs and kobolds. Even the elves of my games in that era were rather terrestrial. It was an aspect that I again got away from with 3rd Edition, and I'd like to bring into my megadungeon and maybe even my 4e game.
I've been trying to have an area in my current campaign with a fairy tale/fey feel to it.
ReplyDeleteHere's an adventure report from one of the players with DM comments and a couple of critters.
Sounds like a fun adventure, I will have to see if I have a copy of that issue of Dungeon around somewhere. Because mad-crazy fey are right up my alley.
ReplyDelete@seaofstars - It's not a bad issue. There's a fun sidequest about a necromancers pet in it too. If you don't have it there's one on e-bay for $.99.
ReplyDelete@Red - I look forward to reading it, thanks for the heads up!
I know this is 14 years later, but I'm running this mini-adventure for my players in 5th edition.
ReplyDeleteThe players did buy a few of the wooden critters, then there was a fun scene in which Alder Darkwand's sprites attacked the players with sleepy-poison arrows. The PCs are elves, so weren't affected :) But they agreed to get the wand for them. On the route to Bark Wilder's shack, I'm going to have groups of sprites keep harrasing the players, teasing them and betting that they won't be able to defeat Bark.
Example:
A group of sprites flit through the glen, singing and laughing. The wispy faeries radiate an aura of joy and mischief.
One sprite with purple hair flutters up right in front of the party's faces. "Well, well, if it isn't the brave adventurers off to fight the big bad Bark!" She puts her hands on her hips and cackles mockingly.
Two other sprites fly in loops around the party chanting, "Bark's gonna win! Bark's gonna win!" They blow raspberries after each chant.
A sprite with red hair perches on the party's shoulders, pretending to whimper and sob. "Oh please Mr. Bark, don't turn me into wood! I'm too scared to go in your shack!" He dissolves into exaggerated wails.
Several sprites gather together whispering loudly with exaggerated head nods and glances towards the party. "They don't stand a chance..." "Gonna end up as sculptures for sure!" More mocking laughter.
One sprite mimes swinging a tiny sword at a pretend enemy. "Oh no, my sword is made of butter! It melted!" He flutters to the ground, sticking his tongue out and pretending to play dead.
The purple-haired sprite returns, hovering in front of the party's faces. "Maybe you should just give up now? We sprites know you can't handle big scary Bark!" She blows a loud raspberry at them.
14 years or 14 minutes after I post, I'm thrilled to get a new comment!!
DeleteThere's so much fun you can have with faeries, and I'm glad to hear that the adventure translates into 5e.