The Cursed Vagabonds (3.5e Quest)/Introduction

Introduction

The Cursed Vagabonds is designed to function as a one-off game, though it could be played over several sessions depending on the speed at which the game runs. In it, the players all play as cursed 1st level commoners with very little gear where they must kill to win a game set forth by a mysterious extraplanar patron. If they die, their curse resurrects them. Whomever kills the most earns some post-game rewards as described by the DM. Players can cooperate, rat-out, backstab, steal and otherwise do whatever they want to get ahead since death is a short setback.

Grab some drinks and snacks and get ready to play.

The Setup

One gentle evening in the alley behind the Warty Goat Grotto Inn & Eatery, a gathering of unfortunate homeless peasants sat telling stories around a burning pile of smelly garbage. Some lamented their fortune while others muttered and mumbled various colorful slurs. In the distance, the church tower bell chimed the first of twelve.

With a flash of light, a figure materialized in the sooty smoke of the fire and spoke to them as they sat, unable to move or empty their bowls in terror.

"I, Ügar The Ancient, place a foul curse upon you lot! I grant you resurrecting life for the next seven days and nights, after which you'll drop dead and be judged in the afterlife by me, Ügar The Judgemental! He who slays the most mortals within that time shall earn the great favor of Ügar The Generous and be granted a new life in a form of his choosing, a wish and several fabulous prizes. Last place will be instead punished in unfair and unusual ways. For every death you suffer yourself, you'll only set yourself back on your tally. Your tally shall appear as a cursed mark upon your skin. As your competitors are now cursed with resurrecting life, they are exempt from adding marks to your tally as slain mortals if you kill them. In the event of a tie, the competition will be extended until only one of you remains alive. So sayeth Ügar, Master of Cruel Games!"

With those parting words, the figure vanished in a burst of red light and cackling laughter. The bewildered peasants, able to move again glanced about as the realization of their situation took hold. The church tower bell chimed the final chime of twelve.

Making it a Game

Its all about your kill tally, right? If you get a kill, you get a black tally on your skin. If you die, you lose a tally. If you go into the negatives, you get red tallies. The winner of Ügar's game will be whoever has the most black tallies at the end of 1 week of in-game time.

Ügar counts not the slaying of rats and cows, so tough cheese. He wants "mortals" for those tally marks to be earned. For the purposes of the game, consider that to be humanoids and monstrous humanoids but may be extended to other creatures with Intelligence of 3 or greater.

It is advised that the DM just keeps a list for tallies, rather than writing on his players.

Making it a Different Game

Maybe you don't like the idea of the PCs scrambling all over individually trying to kill everything and doing a poor job of it. Here are some options you could go with instead of the default setup but still work within the framework of the quest presented here.

• Ügar decrees that they're cursed with resurrecting life, but will die at the end of a week. He merely desires to see what this band of near-skill-less unfortunates would do.
• Ügar decrees that they're cursed with resurrecting life, but will honor the group if they cause much slaughter among the mortals. Can the group satisfy Ügar's bloodlust or will they meet his wrath in disappointment?
• Ügar decrees that they're cursed with resurrecting life, but they must do his bidding to spill much blood, allowing him to return to the mortal realm and conquer his ancient nemesis, Quarbat the Odorous, before his nemesis destroys everyone and everything. They also only still have 1 week (or whatever time frame the DM decides upon) to accomplish this.
• Ügar decrees that they're cursed with resurrecting life, but so have another group of vagabonds across town. The other group has been cursed by Quarbat the Vicious. Whichever group kills more mortals will ascend into prizes and victory while the other will be doomed to misery and punishment. Killing members of the other group nets the cursed vagabonds no tally, but does serve to slow their opponents down.