Playing with pre-generated characters in the one-shot: A golden beginning

If your players have chosen to play some of the pre-generated characters, there are a few things that need changing. These are suggestions, so feel free to change them up, but do provide something "special" or "extra" if any player has chosen a NPC based class.

Parent Plot

A golden beginning: one-shot

(made with Portrait Workshop)

If a player is playing Wimkal Thimbaum, they have left Dagenos Galekii in charge of inspecting the property. The player should be given the following information in advance, and they should present it to their fellow players, who they are hiring for backup:

• Your cousin Grako, the only human child who survived the plague in the village, is missing. He had his lessons with his tutor, Dagenos, and that is the last time you are certain of his whereabouts.
• Dagenos said he left for the village, but you haven't seen Grako since yesterday morning.
• Grako has had a pretty sheltered childhood, but lately, he has been given a lot more freedom to explore beyond the family's properties and go to the village on his own.
• Grako spends most of his time with you, shadowing you and learning the family's ways, or with Dagenos.
• Several golden items around the manor have gone missing.
• Grako enjoys reading and spending time in nature almost in equal amounts.

If the player enquires about the missing golden objects, you can provide the following list as a handout to them:

Missing golden objects

Wimkal will, reluctantly, give the PCs a list of the items that have gone missing if they insist (Diplomacy DC 13).
These are the objects which have been missing. Most of these items can be found at the aurumvorax's den.

• Thirteen golden masks: relics depicting the idealized face of different gods
• A gold, gem-encrusted chalice
• A gold reliquary: it used to house an ancient codex. The codex is not missing, just the reliquary.
• A gold signet ring
• A gold cane
• A large burnished copper cooking pot
• A sack of copper coins (168 copper coins)

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(made with Portrait Workshop)

If a player is playing Dagenos Galekii, Wimkal Thimbaum searches the property on his own. Also note that their mare cannot go down the well. As such, some of the benefits of having a mount are decreased. This, however, allows for the penalties inherent to having lost their previous mount less important.
The player should be given the following information in advance, which they can share with the party on their own volition or if asked:

• You tutor Grako about the nobility of the region, handling animals: wild and domesticated alike, fighting techniques, as well as diction and general diplomacy.
• Grako is a somewhat odd child, but kind in nature. He is very good with horses.
• After finishing the lesson yesterday, Grako said he was going towards the village.
• You stayed in the Thimblebaum's manor for a bit, burshing your pony Kathe. Once you went into town you did not see Grako, but there is nothing strange in that
• Kathe, her mare, was a gift by the Thimbaums.
• You received a visit from Wimkal Thimbaum yesterday night asking about Grako, and you told him that Grako had mentioned going to town.
• You diffused the situation and told Wimkal that you were sure he would appear at some point during the night, just testing the boundaries of his newfound freedom.
• When the messenger arrived in town seeking volunteers, it became clear that Grako had not returned home.

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If both Wimkal Thimbaum and Dagenos Galekii are in play, change the narrative slightly. Tell those players that they searched the family's property yesterday evening, but could not find anything. Before searching any further, it seems wise to check the town, which was were Grako Thimbaum was heading towards. Provide each player the information listed above.

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If a player is playing the ragtag group of rangers, consider them having found older tracks of the aurumvorax. The player (or players) playing a ranger have spotted some disturbances in the old mine. Something has been digging holes around the old mine, and several large animal carcasses have been found throughout the area. They are in town to gather some supplies for the group and see if anyone has spotted any weird creatures that could be behind the tracks spotted. Once in town, they hear the call for help.
The group of rangers also has access to two magic items: a scroll of treading companions (normally in Ari's possession), and a wand of spectral hand (normally in Katta's possession).

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(made with Portrait Workshop)

If a player is playing Hildza, they know the information that can be gathered through Diplomacy or Knowledge (local) in advance:

Things that Hildza knows

• The water level has been quite low in the last few days.
• It's the only well in town, although the Thimbaum family has their own.
• The well is actually a cistern, fed by rainwater collected by all the houses in town.
• Before the plague, the cistern was overdue for fixing.
• Over the years, they have had to patch its walls and do repairs as best as they could. Radtel and Liaf usually do the repairs.

(made with Portrait Workshop)

If a player is playing Radtel, they know that the pillar in the cistern is about to break, the fact that descending the stairs is tricky and they should be careful, and that an aquatic creature has been living in a tunnel in the cistern. They give all characters (including themselves) a +3 luck bonus to deal with the well stairs and the broken pillar.

(made with Portrait Workshop)

If a player is playing Liaf, they have the following magic items:

• a shield scroll
• a wand of chaos
• a strand of beads of prayer

(made with Portrait Workshop)

If a player is playing Walwich, they have seen Grako a couple of times around his property in the last couple of days. He had dirty clothes both times, full of mud and dirt, as well as a backpack. If the players try to track Grako and succeed to find their tracks, once they reach Walwich's lands, Walwich can take over the tracking, as he knows his lands like the palm of his hands. He is able to automatically track Grako and find the hole.