DCC Encounter - The King of Skull Bridge
What's this?
A simple, ready-made encounter for DCC (or any fantasy game really) to drop in to break up the monotony of overland travel.
The setup
Spanning a narrow ravine, built haphazardly over the frame of the former rickety wooden installation, the party discover a bridge... made from humanoid skulls. Skulls pave the walkway and form the sides; mortared with mud and moss, it spans the 20ft chasm and the rushing rapids some 30ft below.
Near the bridge, a rusty gibbet swings in the breeze. It's occupant (and source of the skulls!) is the very forlorn and very much alive Feckle the Refurbicated, swinging his legs and sighing deeply. Next to the gibbet is a tree stump drenched in blood and with a giant clever embedded in it.
If he spots the party Feckle will look shocked as none have travelled up this road in months. He will then be overcome with joy at the prospect that his suffering will soon be over. He will call them over in hushed tones - wary that his captor is lurking nearby.
He will explain that many moons ago he was an apprentice to an ageing old wizard and that one night Feckle tried to sneak a peek at his master's notes. Squirrelling away some yellowed pages from the large grimoire, Feckle thought he was ready to try his first incantation (his master was too slow with the lessons for Feckle's liking!)
In a flash, the spell misfired and blasted Feckle with a baleful black fire that burnt him to a cinder. However, much to his own surprise, Feckle emerged completely unharmed from the ashes mere minutes later!
Feckle cannot be killed by injury, no matter how grievous, nor by poison, hunger, thirst or exposure. The only thing that can kill Feckle now is magical fire. All other injuries - be it a sword through the gullet or an axe through the skull - are completely healed with in one round. All severed limbs and appendages (including the head) are fully regrown in one turn. Feckle never feels thirsty or hungry nor discommoded by inclement weather.
And he is miserable.
He explains that he was travelling South towards a distant village where a powerful witch lives who can undo curses. Whereupon he was ambushed by Grorg - a foul, ill-tempered ogre of a creature. After being roasted and eaten (agony, Feckle will explain) Grorg roared with glee when his tasty morsel reappeared. And again each time after Feckle was devoured.
Grorg had the darkly enterprising idea of using Feckle's skull as a building material and remodelled his bridge to suit his less-than-subtle tastes. He would then charge a toll for all who wished to cross, and perhaps eat one or two when he felt like it. Grorg insists that all those wishing to make use of his bridge address him as the "King of Skull Bridge".
Feckle is desperate to be freed from his never ending torments. After explaining his tale and predicament, Grorg can be heard returning to his dingy camp carrying an armful of wood for the fire, dragging his huge club behind him, and droning loudly in his incessant, nauseating tongue about his own greatness. The party have 1d6 rounds to prepare for the return of the King of Skull Bridge.
If they rescue Feckle, he will give them his master's grimoire pages - hidden amongst Grorgs foul stash of loot - which contain the spell Magic Shield in spidery old handwriting by way of a thank you.
If they defeat Grorg, they can search his camp and fetid belongings but find little of great value, other than the above-mentioned grimoire pages: 1gp, 26sp, 45cp and small silver mirror (10gp).
What next?
A man like Feckle would be of great interest to cabals of necromancers or guilds of abjuring wizards. Who might have heard of Feckle's powers and seek to bottle his phoenix-like regeneration? What lengths might they go to, or what treasures might they promise?
In my campaign, Feckle would later return to be used by a great demon that needed 666 skulls to complete a dark ritual and the party had to rescue him quickly as the 664th skull had just been harvested...
NPCs
Grorg is a corpulent, grotesque ogre of a creature. He is utterly callous, considering only his own needs and wants - and he wants to be king. Any who approach his bridge are commanded to pay his "Bridge Tariff" or face his murderous tantrums. Even when the tariff is paid in full, travellers may find the amount owed changes, even as they make the crossing. Grorg will often take full payment and still crush his would-be customers into a fleshy pulp. Clever adventurers may be able to distract Grorg by appealing to his endless vanity with compliments and supplication - Grorg loves to hear others proclaim his greatness.
Grorg, enterprising ogre: Init +2; Atk slam +5 melee club (1d8+6); AC 16; HD 4d8+4; 27 hp; MV 20’; Act 1d20; SP bear hug; SV Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +1; AL C. see DCCRPG, pg. 422
Feckle is a nondescript peasant in tattered, blood soaked rags. He has mastered the art of gallows humour and hides his deep misery between wise-cracks about his own wretched existence.
Feckle The Refurbicated: Init -2; Atk Club -1 (1d4-1); AC 9; HD 1d4; 3 hp; Mv 30'; Act 1d20; SP Miraculous Regeneration; SV Fort, Ref, Will, AL N.
Miraculous Regeneration: Even if killed, dismembered, disembowelled, frozen, crushed, or otherwise annihilated, Feckle will recover completely within 1 round - if completely dismembered, the largest mass of Feckle will be the focus of the regeneration and he will return within 1 turn. Only magical fire damage cannot be regenerated and will destroy him at last; something he would welcome.
-Stag