Adventure Shorts #6: Quest for a Skull

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One of the heroes falls severely ill after being scratched by a goblin spear. Lying on the ground, he sees an old goblin woman, a shaman, who tells him that he will die... unless he fulfils a quest. He must find the lost skull of the goblin chiefs before next nightfall.

What may occur next:

• To complicate matters the shamaness says she will not undo the curse if even a single goblin is killed or maimed by the heroes during the quest.
• After a number of confusing and vexing confrontations with goblins the goblin chief skull is found as a trophy hanging in an inn. To undo the curse the shamaness says, the hero must now drink a most putrid liquid – goblin pee? - from the skull.
• The whole poisoning is a prank. No matter if quest fails, or if the hero succeeds and does drink the liquid, he will drop down unconscious. And wake up with a headache next morning. No more no less.

Goblin

Goblins are a smaller kind of orc according to some. Whether this is true, is not clear, but they surely are similar in temper and use of language. They stand about three to four foot tall, and often raid and plunder human settlements with smaller warbands. Others manage to more or less peacefully mingle with city folk, but then they tend to be boisterous, bothersome, drunk, and full of pranks.

OSR: AC 6, HD 1-1, Dam 1d6, Move 90', Save: F1, #app 1d10

DD2: leather or hide (armour 1), light club or spear 3 (weapon 1), dex 2 or shield 2 (+2 **)

Skull Brew

A favorite drink among goblins is “Skag Drag” or “Skekdrek”, which is most commonly translated as skull brew. It is indeed often drunk from a skull, but the words probable mean “shit and piss”. The drink is at least as obnoxious as excrement, but unless a goblin is pranking you, it's really a very strong kind of beer with a mix of rotting herbs in it. Often these herbs are hallucinogenic or otherwise mind-influencing. Once you get the hang of the drink, it is said, you can actually get a fondness for it.

Update: You can find all shorts of this series and more in Unpleasant Encounters at RPGNow.