Adventure Time: Seven Samurai

This week’s adventure is based on the film “Seven Samurai” by Akira Kurosawa. An amazing film, it’s been continually remade over the years, occasionally changing genres, such as when it was remade as the American western, “The Magnificent Seven” or the steampunk anime, “Samurai 7.” The story is a classic, featuring desperate villagers hiring a ragtag team of mercenaries to protect them from thieving bandits. It makes for a great movie, and an even better adventure. So with that… it’s Adventure Time!

So today’s adventure is one I typically use when I have a new group of players that haven’t played together yet, or are new to D&D. That said, this adventure works with people of all skill levels and backgrounds.

The adventure begins in a wagon, rolling through Roseland. Roseland contains a farming community who live in a village known as Bloomfield, which is the wagon’s destination. Bloomfield would normally harvest enough crops to feed themselves, as well as bring enough goods to market to put a fair amount of coin in everyone’s pocket. Unfortunately for them, a group of bandits known as the Black Hand has spent the past few years taking a large amount of their harvest just before it was ready to be sold. At first they just took a portion of their excess, but as the bandit group grew larger and larger, their cut grew as well. Now the villagers can barely feed their own families, and have nothing left to bring to market. Not having any way to fight the bandits themselves, they have sent the daughter of one of the farmers, a 13 year old girl named Kylee to to round up a group of mercenaries from the nearby city. Her offer to each of them was the same, 100 gold each, as long as the bandits are wiped out and can never harm the village again.

Each party member has agreed to help the village, but its up to them as to why. Evil inclined characters might only be in it for the money, while good characters might turn down some or all of the reward that is being offered. Some might have a personal connection to farming and small villages, while others might have a specific reason to despise banditry and theft. The wagon ride is a chance for the party to introduce themselves to each other, or if it’s in-character, to shun the other characters and remain mysterious.

The wagon, in my original run through of this adventure, was driven by a nameless, faceless man. The party wanted a name however, so he became “Old Bill” who had lived in the village all his life. The party immediately distrusted him for no apparent reason, which we will circle back on later.

The party gets approached by a pair of bandits shortly before they reach the village. The bandits demand a toll, and the party can pay it, negotiate, or attack. Should any bandits survive the encounter, they will report back the mercenaries presence. Should the bandits get too many reports of the mercenaries, this will trigger the surprise attack, which I will explain later.

Once the players arrive at the village, they will get a lukewarm reception. While everyone contributed to the pot of money that will pay the mercenaries, not all of them think the plan is a good one, and some will look at the mercenaries and consider their money poorly spent.

The village has a single inn where the players can choose to rest, but they will immediately be informed that the bandits will arrive en masse in 3 days (you can add a day or take away a day to make the adventure harder or easier). It is already noon, so the players can start immediately, or they can begin the next day. Regardless, each day of the adventure the players can spend their time pursuing a number of activities. Each activity can take an hour, half a day or a full day, with the DM deciding how long each takes (though I’ve provided some example lengths). Generally, the more the players fool around, the longer an activity should take. The players can split up, but it is best to discourage this.

Activities the players can undertake in town are:

Investigate the church (1 Hour)

If the players do not approach the local priest, he will approach them. He will demand they not harm the church and complain that the last outsiders that came to the village damaged his roof while bolting some contraption to it. The players can climb onto the church’s roof with a Dexterity check and find the device the priest was complaining about. A successful investigation check will tell them that the device does not work, but that it seems to point at a tower to the south (Sunspire Tower). If the players ask the priest about the tower, he will state that it was built by the same “batch of crazies” that put the contraption on his roof, and refer to them as some sort of sun cult.

Investigate the Smith (1 Hour)

If players speak to the forge master he will offer to craft weapons and armor for the villagers, allowing them to help fight the bandits, but states that he has no ore. He will direct players to the miners to the east. If the players get a load of ore, the smith will work through the night, crafting armor and spears for the townspeople, increasing their strength.

Investigate the Constable’s Office (1 Hour)

If the players ask about law enforcement in the town, the townspeople will explain that they once had a constable, who was killed when he stood up to the bandits in the second season where they took their tithe. While he was never replaced, the constable’s office remains, and can be explored by the player. An examination of the office will reveal two functioning jail cells the players can use, a map of the region which marks every point on the DM map but without labels, and a note about their recent use of Fort Calvera, revealing it’s exact location.

Train the Townspeople (Full Day)

The players can choose to train the townspeople instead of investigating the area. Every player that stays in town to train them can make an intelligence roll or a charisma roll. If successful, the strength of the townspeople increases by one.

Beyond the town limits, there are many additional activities for the player:

Investigate the Druid’s Grove (Half Day)

If players travel to the druid’s grove to the north they will find a friendly group of pacifist druids. They will refuse to take sides in the conflict, but with some good persuasion rolls, one druid will take them aside and offer them a bag of 2d4+4 magical acorns. These acorns can be crushed and sprinkled on anything , causing it to grow in size. You can treat them as simply reproducing an enlarge spell, or you can let them cause wacky shenanigans. I have had players enlarge sticks to make giant spikes to barricade the town, enlarge the explosives retrieved from the mine, enlarge themselves to make a giant Tortle (which they likened to Gamera) and a giant bear (druid shapeshift). I would let the players get super creative with the acorns, but if they push it, treat it like a money’s paw and find ways to make it go hilariously wrong. Should the players need more to do, rather than the acorns be freely given to them, you can require them to hunt down and kill a rabid bear in the woods to the north of the grove.

Investigate the Mine (Full Day)

Players can investigate the mine to the east, which they will directly be pointed to by the blacksmith. When the players get there the mine owners, a trio of dwarves, will immediatly ask for their assistance. They will explain that the mines have been overrun by Kobolds, and all mining has come to a halt. They ask the players to exterminate the Kobolds in return for a load of ore (which is currently deep within the mine).

Players can simply slaughter their way through the mines and complete their objective, or they can try to parlay with the Kobolds (one group I ran disguised themselves as a Kobold to help with the process). If the Kobolds are spoken to, they will explain that the original cave network was theirs to begin with and the miners are the invaders. They will ask the players to kill the miners in return for the ore. Players can do this, but if their activities are discovered by the townspeople, they will refuse to fight in the final battle. With some persuasion/intimidation rolls (or good roleplaying) the players can strike a deal between the two groups, dedicating a portion of the mine to the the Kobolds, and the rest to the miners. All three solutions will get the players the ore, and should they search the caves while they are completing the side quest they will find a wooden box that contains three stones, each marked with a dwarven rune. If a player can speak dwarven they might chose to speak a rune aloud in dwarven. Speaking the rune while holding the rock arms it. Speaking it again while within a mile of the rock detonates it. Each rock is the equivalent of a bundle of dynamite. Should the players arm it and set it off while holding it, it will most likely kill the player holding it and severely injure the others. Should they do this in the caves it will most like cause a small cave-in. If the players take the rocks to the dwarves (and have solved their mine problem), with a persuasion/intimidation check they will be allowed to keep them and the dwarves will explain how they work. They can also just smuggle them out and say nothing, but then they will need to figure out how they work on their own. The best use of the rocks is to detonate the North Bridge while the bandits are crossing it, but the players can get creative with its use, and should not be given hints unless their overall efforts to prepare the town are goin badly.

Investigate North Bridge (Half Day)

There are three crossings of the Tagata river to the north, but two require fording a raging river, which will cost the bandits several men(using Rager’s Way or Greig’s Crossing costs the bandit’s 1d4 men). Unless they have been tipped off, the bandits will always try to cross North Bridge instead. The bridge is wooden and well built, suspended about fifty feet from the rushing river below. If the players make a Dexterity check or two, they can climb down to the support beams and place an explosive rock (should they recover them from the mine) beneath the bridge. One rock below the bridge will bow a hole in it and make it difficult to pass. Two will destroy the entire bridge and kill anyone on it. The bridge is resistant to fire, but can be burned down if they plays spend about 10 minutes using fire spells, or a half an hour with torches and kindling. Should the players burn down the bridge before the Bandits cross it, they will double back and ford the river, losing 1d4 men in the process.

Investigate Mill’s Ruin (Half Day)

Players can ask if anyone has ever stood up to the bandits before and the townspeople will speak of the Dawson Family at Miller’s Corner, now known as Mill’s Ruin. The Dawsons’ tried to gather support from the townspeople to fight the bandits directly, and began organizing a resistance movement. Unfortunately, the bandit’s discovered their efforts and attacked Miller’s Corner, killing the Dawson Family and burning down all their structures. The players can investigate the ruins and with some good rolls, discover a secret door in the basement of the main house. The door will reveal a secret storage room filled with resistance supplies, including a dozen long bows, hundreds of arrows, and 1d4 wands of magic missiles. This equipment will significantly increase the strength of the townspeople.

Investigate Fort Calvera (Half Day/Full Day)

To the north is a fort once maintained by the local lord, used to patrol the plainslands. Over the years, as the soldiers stationed there quelled the nearby barbarian tribes, they found themselves with little to do. Eventually the soldiers were re-stationed away from the northern plains and the fort slowly fell into ruin. Roughly five years ago the Black Hands came under new leadership in the form of “The Captain”, who is secretly Thomas Marson. Thomas left Roseland thirty years prior, leaving his brother Bill behind (or at least Old Bill in my first playthrough of this adventure, you can make the sibling anyone you want). After becoming a bandit, he formed a small crew and returned to Rosewood and claimed the fort as his own. Having a strong base of operations caused other bandits to flock to Thomas, but also required him to have a steady source of food. After meeting up with Bill and seeing the prosperous farms in the area, he demanded a tithe from the village, keeping his real identity a secret. At first the tithe was small, and the two groups seemed to be able to coexist. But as the bandits grew from 5 to 10, to 20, 40, the food requirements grew larger and larger. Now having nearly 50 men, the village can barely meet the tithe and feed themselves.

The fort is large and well built, though it has clearly been patched together in some place. If the fort is approached by the players during the day, the spotters will take note, but allow them entry. Any attempt to negotiate with the bandits will result in failure, and they will only be able to speak to lieutenant Dhaneel. If the players threaten the bandits, or promise to defeat them in battle when they arrive in three days, the bandits will arrive the night before, attempting to take the town by surprise. Players should be heavily discouraged from attacking the fort unless they have a plan that allows them to lay siege to it, and even if they are successful, the Captain will escape with his personal henchman and attack the town that night.

If the players investigate the fort at night, they will find the gate open and the guards slacking. If a player or players sneak inside they can undertake a variety of actions, including poisoning the well, releasing the horses, planting bombs, etc. Each action will reduce the number of attackers when the bandits lay siege to the village, but the bandits will attack the morning after the sabotage. If the players want every day of prep they can get, they shouldn’t sabotage the fort until the night before the attack.

Investigate the Hermit (Half Day)

If the players ask the townspeople who could possibly help them in the fight with the bandits, they will mention the old hermit to the south. If the players explore the southern forest they will find the hermit’s camp, as well as some arrows that will be fired dangerously close to them. The hermit is a Hunter Ranger who collects furs and other woodland supplies and sells them in town. The hunter is blind, but has incredible hearing, and is deadly accurate with his bow. While he is hesitant to fight the bandits, a good persuasion roll will get him to help, especially when he is reminded that he makes his entire living trading with the town. Once he has decided to help the players, they can station him wherever they wish. They should remember that the hermit is blind and can not easily tell friend from foe. Players should place him somewhere where he will not accidently attack the townspeople or the players.

Investigate Sunspire Tower (Half Day/Full Day)

If the players investigate the church, they will learn of Sunspire Tower. If they travel to the tower they will find a group of three people assaulting the tower door. These three people are members of the Church of Night, consisting of two brothers (fighters) and one paladin. The brothers are quite dumb, but the paladin is smart and angry. She will attack the players unless they leave immediately. If the players decide to fight the the Church of Night, they will not stop until they are clearly losing, at which point they will break through the tower door and run for the roof to destroy the device that is kept there. If the players do not defeat anyone who makes it to the roof, they will attack the device every turn, automatically doing 1d6 damage per church member per round. The device has 18 hit points, and if reduced to zero, is utterly destroyed.

If the players defeat the church and save the device, they will, via an investigation roll (or good roleplaying) figure out that it is a solar emitter. The emitter is not configured properly, but can be reconfigured by having the players solve a Tower of Hanoi puzzle to reconfigure the emitter’s lenses. You can find this puzzle online and can set it to a difficulty that matches the group (I use three towers with three discs as a basic setup). Once the puzzle is solved the emitter will send a barely imperceptible beam of energy to the solar cannon on the roof of the church. Once the canon is powered, it can be used to fire a laser beam at any area outside of town. The canon can only fire for three rounds before it is out of energy, but can kill 1d4 bandits every turn if they arrive in large numbers (20+) by strafing them, or kill a single bandit per turn if they arrive in lesser numbers (1-20). The canon can only be aimed outside of town, due to it’s design.

How You Win… Or Lose

The townspeople start with a strength of zero. The bandits have a strength of 50. Generally as you add to the town’s defenses, up their strength. Building barricades makes it go up. Training the townspeople makes it go up. Adding in the hermit make it go up. Do not tell the players their strength, keep it secret.

Every time you kill a bandit, their strength goes down by one. Every time the player’s sabotage the fort, lower the bandits strength. Hopefully the players will ambush the bandits in route to town and greatly lower their numbers (the bandits leave their fort at 7am, and arrive in town at roughly 9am). Once the bandits arrive in town, compare the strength of the two groups. If the bandits surprise the town by arriving early (which can be because the players attack the fort, or because their actions draw the bandits attention), then halve the strength of the townspeople. If they arrive on time on the morning of the third day, their numbers remain unchanged.

Your goal as DM is to try to encourage the players to do good job preparing, and if possible should nudge them towards getting the town’s strength equal to the bandits. But if the players do foolish things… so be it. Once the bandits reach the actual town, you are dealing with two major fights. One is the bandit captain and his lieutenants. The other is the mass of attacking bandits. If the bandit number is lower than the townspeople’s strength, the bandit masses are defeated without the players assistance. If the bandit number is higher, the difference in the number is the amount of casualties the townspeople take, and is also the number of extra bandits the players must fight themselves. Once the extra bandits are nearly dealt with, the captain and his men will arrive via an unexpected route into town. The captain will start burning buildings, forcing the players to deal with him immediately. If possible, someone from town should attack the players or put them at a disadvantage, somehow spoiling their defensive plans. This townsperson is the sibling of the captain (in one of my games this was Old Bill). The sibling is responsible for betraying Miller’s corner years before, and will feed information to the Captain if the players entrust them with it. This information could allow the bandits to defeat some of the towns defenses, and if this happen make sure you have lowered the townspeople’s strength accordingly. The reveal of this sibling should be the surprise of the adventure, so try to pick a townsperson that is able to build up trust with the party.

The final battle is the captain and his men (with the sibling) versus the players in a burning town. Players can focus on putting out fires, fighting the captain, and fighting his henchmen. The sibling can be made to withdraw from the fight via good roleplaying or persuasion/intimidation/deception by drawing attention to all the people that have already died through their deception. If the players struggle with the fight, but kill the captain, the henchman will break and run, ending the fight.

At the end of the battle, if the players lose, they are stripped of their gear and dumped in the original wagon which is sent rider-less down the road. the players do not get any money, and have lost their gear, plus they have gained a villain who could show up down the road. Should they return to the town, they will find it burned to the ground and the fort abandoned.

If the players win the battle, but the casualties are in the double digits, they get their monetary reward, but the saddened townspeople ask them to leave immediately via the wagon, intent on burying the dead.

If the players win and suffer single digit casualties, the town rejoices! They pay the players the money owed plus each player gets a mundane item from the townspeople worth an extra 50 gold.

If the players win and suffer zero casualties, they get their gold, but instead of a mundane item from the townspeople, they get a a random common magic item, representing the farming families greatest treasures. The townspeople also promise to rebuild Miller’s Corner and give the deed to the players, providing them with steady income once the mill is rebuilt, as well as a base of operations between adventures.

And that is our adventure. As a standard disclaimer for all Adventure Time articles, these adventures are frameworks for what your players will experience. Many times you will be given a roll for the players to make that does not provide a DC, you will need to determine one based on your player’s ability. No stats are provided for NPC’s or creatures, those are for you to determine. Generally, you should look a your player’s levels and then take an hour or so to flesh out these missing bits. While this is a bit more work for you, the DM, it allows the adventure to be customized to support any group of players, regardless of their level.

Happy roleplaying, and may the dice be ever in your favor.

Samurai Unit

By Hideyoshi

https://www.deviantart.com/hideyoshi/art/Samurai-Unit-675434457

Maps

By Mike Schley

https://prints.mikeschley.com/