Ptolus Session Two/Three: Secret & Clues

On 22 August I ran the second session of my Ptolus: City by the Spire campaign. Below are some of the secrets I pulled out to use if anything came up during the session. I ended up using only those about the Delver’s Guild, as my players were mainly interest in going after a bounty of ratmen tails in the sewers. A Dysonlogos map of a section of sewers was my main prep for this session.

• A vast dungeon with many different sections stretches under the city in all directions.
• Strange phenomena that delvers call the pits of insanity can be found throughout the dungeons. (Pg 388 for effects on characters and the area around the pool). Roll a d100 to check for pool. Percentage likelihood increases as closer to the Spire.
• The Banewarrens are built in a compartmentalized magical fashion. Only sealed doors connect the sections and these can only be opened by the Banewarrens Key. 
• The Banewarrens key is held in the vaults of House Vladaam, but they do not recognize the artifact’s significance.
• The Banewarrens were built by a champion of light to protect all the most evil objects in the world. This champion fell from the light.
• Others helped the champion build the Banewarrens. The silver dragon Saggarintys was one. The dragon now is imprisoned in the Banewarrens.
• The stairs beneath the statue in Delver’s Square lead down to the Undercity Market. The market has major tunnels leading off into the dungeons and sewers of the city for delvers.
• The Delver’s Guild headquarters is in the Undercity Market. Would-be delvers can find jobs here, and pay membership dues to join the Guild 
• Associate Guildsman: Open, 10 gp per year. Access to Guild information, 10% discount at Ebbert’s Outfitters.
• Guildsman: Open, 20 gp per year, as associate, access to guild library, taproom, and way stations.
• Master Delver: One year membership at Guildman level. 500 gp per year. As guildsman, voting privileges and retrieval insurance.
• Grand Master: Open to Master delvers with three years membership. 5,000 gp per year. As master delver, plus claims staking.
• Spell scrolls and potions can be bought fairly cheaply from a number of vendors on Delver’s Square and in the Undercity Market.

The secrets & clues step of the Lazy Dungeon Master checklist is one of the most flexible and easy tools to use for GM prep that I’ve seen. I highly recommend using it as a prep tool.

Ptolus Session 3 Secrets & Clues

• Melishan’s Hand is a group of rival adventurers that operate under the city. Melishan is a female human mage and her companion Krotus is a male gladiator with red painted leather armor and shield. He wears a ring of the ram. See Doctrine of Ghul, pg 4 for more details.
• The Bull and Bear Armory sells armor and sometimes has magic armor in stock (pg 191, Ptolus). Iltumar Shon is the sixteen year old clerk of the shop who believes all manner of tales told him by the delvers.
• Notices about a missing girl are up all over Midtown. Text states: “Adventurers Wanted: To find our missing daughter. Reward: 200 gold imperials. See Toman Etherin at the sign of Black Swan.”
• Toman Etherin’s daughter disappeared the day before yesterday from near Iron Street.
• A sign of a tolling bell is marked over a sewer grate in an alley off Iron Street.
• The Cult of the Tolling Bell intends to sacrifice the girl in a ritual under the city.
• Members of the temple of the Ebon Hand passed by Iron Street recently.

Ghostly Minstrel NPC Roster

• Tellith Herdsman: woman, red hair. Manages inn portion and front desk.
• Zade Kenevan: Male, bald, skinny barkeeper.
• Sheva Callister: “Retired” delver. 31 years old. Made it big and has now decided to retire. Constant companion is the ghost of a comrade.
• Daersidian Ringsire: Elf battle mage with a wyvern mount. Companion to Brusselt. Wyvern is named Thorntail.
• Brusselt Airmol: Halfling master thief and constant companion of Daersidian.
• Jevicca Nor: Public face of the Inverted Pyramid. Redhaired woman. Holds a seat on city council. Magical left prosthetic arm made of glass.
• Rastor: Male lion man. Trades in magical weapons and can identify the properties of most free of charge.
• Steron Vsool: Powerful Paladin. His heart shines so bright it can be seen through his armor.
• Urlenius: Ogre mage and member of the Brotherhood of Redemption.
• Araki Chipestiro: 
• Mand Scheben: 
• Runewardens: 

The list above might be a helpful reference for other folks. My players decided to go live in the Warrens this session instead, so the patrons chart is probably unnecessary here.

This work includes material taken from the Lazy GM's Resource Document by Michael E. Shea of SlyFlourish.com, available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.