Keep at Blood Red Falls
A long and distance time ago¸ a gnome prospector discovered a strange natural phenomena in a mountainous region¸ that would become known as Blood Red Falls. Over time the Prospector's clan began exploring the underground river that created the falls. While exploring these nooks and crannies along the river. they found not only rich veins of iron ore¸ but other minerals of wealth as well. For decades¸ the clans gained wealth and notoriety¸ while the less fortunate grew ever restless. Eventually¸ those in power grew paranoid of those below their station¸ hiring a powerful wizard to create a keep which would proved itself notorious and impenetrable as time wore on. In recent times¸ the clans have closed the mines due to a lack of demand for ore. The closing of the mine had reached the ears of the dreaded Spriggan Chief¸ who for years has terrorized the countryside by raiding and slaughtering villages. The vile warlord has taken over the keep¸ enslaved the village of Blood Red Falls and nearby settlements¸ forcing the inhabitants into slavery¸ and also put a strangling hold on all rivers traffic by enforcing punitive taxes on anyone wanting to pass by. Due to these action¸ All the inhabitants opposed to the brutal leader have banded together to offer a large reward for the capture of Bloodaxe¸ dead or alive. The inspiration to write the story of The Keep at Blood Red Falls took shape one day after I read about a set of falls in Antarctica that flow into the ocean appearing blood red. With this kernel of scientific knowledge¸ and having recently read about research on spriggans in the Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual 2¸ I began to write the module¸ keeping in mind the classic GDQ series produced by TSR in its early years. After 3 years of test playing at Garycon¸ Gamehole and Grogcon¸ along with playing it with my group the Twin Cities Old School Game Society and The Central Florida Ad&d (1st ed.) grognards guild¸ I have decided it was time to release it. The Keep at Blood Red Falls is not designed to be a TPK (Total Party Kill) module. If your party enters this module with a door kicker philosophy¸ they will surely die. If they approach it as a commando raid¸ they have a chance to survive. This should impart to the DM a way to teach his or her group valuable game lessons. The module lacks traditional traps¸ in order to lull your players into a false sense of security and accomplishment. I drew inspiration from Gary Gygax & James (Jim) Ward¸ and their use of the simplest tricks to make traps. One of these is the Fog of War trick; players get so enamored over a victory they forget the basics. Which can lead to very deadly consequences. These have been outlined in the module for the DM's use. As a DM I have killed¸ captured and allowed numerous characters to survive. Some player's characters made it into this module because of specific moves they did during test play. You could make these separate objectives for your players if you so choose. The Keep at Blood Red Falls has over 140 rooms and 10 levels (maps) in which to play¸ so you are provided with multiple scenarios and adventures to create with your own group.