Rappan Athuk: Additional Adventure Hooks

Major spoilers for the adventure—players the door is thataway…

As I’ve continued to delve into my copy (tome more like) of Rappan Athuk from Frog God Games, my initial impressions are borne out. The “granddaddy of all megadungeons” is an awesome canvas. It is filled to the brim with flavorful situations, some serious, some wacky in its funhouse dungeon portions. But if you want more than a beer and pretzels dungeon crawl experience with some actual meta narrative then you really need to develop your own plot and side quests. Luckily again, although the work is left to the individual GM, there are plenty of interesting tidbits of lore, characters, and magic items that you can use as motivation.

So without further ado, here as some of my ideas that fall in line with my overall hook and framing devices for a Rappan Athuk campaign. There will be an introductory portion for each section explaining some of my thoughts behind certain missions for context, but the mission and text itself will be written such that they can be handed to players, like a jobs board, or quest descriptions in a video game. I think this will help them keep better track of their missions, and if you use a VTT with a journal note capability like me you can make a journal folder and store their active quests and completed quests in different sections for their reference.

Church Patron Missions

Establish a Church Presence in the Region

The overall mission from the Church in my campaign concept is to find out what happened to the Army of Light and more specifically what happened to Zelkor, its leader.

There are a number of quests that stem off of this or might be good subquests. For instance, a first level party can’t go directly into Rappan Athuk (unless they really want to start with a total party wipe). So other sub-missions might be in order. Especially if we go with the concept that the Church is or has sent additional agents that will be our replacement characters when the primaries die. The Church is interested in developing a stable base of operations in the region for sustained efforts both to enter the dungeon, but also to establish a lasting ecclesiastical presence, particularly in the only real settlement in the area, Zelkor’s Ferry. Additionally, there are several lair locations or hideouts for the brigands in the area that could be useful bases outside Zelkor’s Ferry which are closer to Rappan Athuk.

Another important piece of this is that we need communications back to the patron that the party can use at low level. This might initially be an item like Sending Stones, paired with a stone in the cathedral of Usharia that the Archbishop and Archdeacon share. Later on as a reward for accomplishing some of these missions, a replacement character may bring along a Diplomat’s Pouch, as seen in the Chain of Acheron live play. This item then allows the characters to send actual notes to their patron or others possessing a pouch.

Send Regular Reports Back to Patrons

Via sending stones for short messages and via mundane letter delivery for longer communiques, send back regular reports on your progress to your patrons. You may receive new missions and directions from them as well.

Visit the Town of Zelkor’s Ferry

As the only settlement in the region, Zelkor’s Ferry is of great importance. Explore the town, taking stock of the goods and services typically available so that you and subsequent Church agents can use them. 

Establish a Local Church at Zelkor’s Ferry

The people of Zelkor’s Ferry need religion, and the Church needs a reliable base in the region. Figure out who’s in charge and which palms need to be greased to start building a church in Zelkor’s Ferry. Once you have settled the details, materials will be shipped via keelboat from up river and a priest dispatched to the area with acolytes to oversee construction. Construction of a small chapel will likely take at least two months depending on the weather.

Make the Roads Safer for Travelers 

There are many bandits haunting the roads and forest in this region. Investigate to see if there are any major groups or leaders. Attempt to bring them to heel, whether that be through negotiation or other means.

Obtain Hirelings

Adventurers need help doing difficult work like excavating, carrying torches and supplies, or bringing treasure out from the dungeon. Find some expendables and pack animals that you can use once to assist you.

Explore Castle Calaelan

Travelers passing through Zelkor’s Ferry recount of a castle they came upon while seeking shelter in an afternoon down pour. They were attacked by bandits or brigands inside and left two of their number dead. Return to the area and explore the mysterious castle.

Create a Staging Location for Church Expeditions Closer to Rappan Athuk

After clearing out the castle (above) or another lair of bandits, the characters can create their own staging ground as a stronghold, independent of Zelkor’s Ferry. 

Retrieve Holy Relics

Later on in the campaign once the characters are actually delving into Rappan Athuk, it’s interesting to note that there are additional artifacts of note from the Army of Light. So a corollary to their overall investigation of Zelkor might be to find holy relics in general, like tatters of flags, uniforms, or bones for reliquaries. Or even powerful magic artifacts lost. I got this idea from the Auren Beacon, a holy item listed in Rappan Athuk. The description is written very generally but encourages GMs to modify it as desired for their own campaign.

Retrieve the Auren Beacon

Amongst the many powerful weapons and relics the Army of Light brought to the siege of Tsar was a great mirror said to reflect the radiant power of the gods. Find this relic and use it to cleanse the evil in Rappan Athuk.

Locate the Ark of Magic

Said in song and legend to be the vessel in which an Archangel first carried magic from the gods to mortals, the ark has been lost to the ages. According to myth when the world stands on the brink of destruction, four heroes will arise bearing the ark. Could this treasure be used to destroy the demon worshippers of Rappan Athuk.

(This item is Open Game Content from Chapter X of the Book of the Righteous. See the Legal Page for the full OGL statement).

Destroy the Priesthood of Orcus & Cleanse Rappan Athuk

This is certainly an ambitious goal, but not unwarranted. Bitter experience has shown that entire armies can disappear in the depths of Rappan Athuk, but perhaps a few mighty heroes can move more subtly and begin to weaken the power of the priests of Orcus in the dungeon. This portion of the campaign would occur after characters have had the revelation that this dungeon is dedicated to Orcus. A party making regular communications back to the patron might also receive some assistance in the form of obscure lore that will help them understand how some of the power and magic of the dungeon functions. They might need to leave the region of side quests to seek out answers to questions on their own or gather powerful magic to oppose the most powerful servants of Orcus. GMs who remember that the dungeon does not remain static in their absence though. 

Cast Down the Golden Idol of the Frog God

Once characters find or learn of the idol on dungeon level 14, room 14-3, this quest is revealed.