Kel, for the business challenge

If ur Drav and ur reading this, ur gunna die boyo ;)  (Drav is a player in
my soon to be starting SJ campaign where i plan to use all this junk i keep
doing, and his character doesnt know the future...)







        Forgive me im putting lots of empty liens here so if he clicks on it
by accident he doesnt read anything imporatant in preview box







Kel the Slaver

(for the idea from this refer to pre-campaign notes (Thursday, December 09,
1999)

 Kel the slaver holds an asteroid within a distant sphere.  Upon this
asteroid he works his slaves day and night to produce ships for pirates, the
scro, or anyone who'll buy from him.  He is a fierce leader, often carrying
a large barbed whip, and wearing full plate armor black as wildspace itself
and covered in large spikes.

 Kel sells his ships cheaply and without question.  He does make ships to
order if need be, but typically makes hammerships, squidships, tradesmans,
and other good "pirate/mercenary" ships.  He has plans for other ships, but
not many.  Give him a 15% chance to have the plans to any given human-built
ship (regardless of origin), and a 5% chance to have any non-human plans
(excepting Arcane, Gerese, and similar races).  He also has the plans to the
neogi Deathspider, this being his own ship.

 Kel's asteroid base is surrounded by large walls, containing the dock-yard,
the slave's quarters, Kel's private quarters, and the magical icon that
keeps everyone in line.

 Kel sells his ships for 20% below standard prices, though they must be
bought with direct cash, from him, at the base.  Kel likes to show off his
slaves to buyers, mainly so they know not to doublecross him or they'll end
up there, and so that potential sellers of slaves know who needs the good
strong slaves.


Icon of Dilapidation
This is the magical icon that is house in the middle of Kel's compound,
keeping his slaves in order.  This is not done by normal magical means, but
by psionic means causing moods to dull, motivation to cease, and faces to
droop.  Effectively it makes them think that they're in a hole of despair so
deep there's no point trying to get out.

Kel wears an smaller icon preventing this, and carries several spare to give
to slaves who he thinks are loyal, and those he wishes to bring through the
compound.  His guards also have these smaller icons, though there are not
many guards as the slaves have never once revolted and tried to escape.

The item is worth 15,000xp, and could be sold for 20,000gp to the arcane,
providing of course it can be shielded to not alter the moods of those
around it while the transaction is in place.  Wearing the smaller icons
slowly shifts one's alignment to evil, and causes them to start showing
vicious, violent tendencies.  Both sized icons are, of course, evil.


Kel's base

The base itself is surrounded by a large 40' wall which is only accessible
through Kel's private quarters.  This location is also the guardhouse, and
as such makes it easy for them to reach the walls if need be.  There is a
ballistae upon each of the four corners, and reloads for light crossbows at
every corner and halfway between corners.  The walls are typically manned by
10 to 15 guards.  From their height they can see all activity in the base,
except that in Kel's quarters, his rooms having no windows.

The slave pens are just cages upon the ground, opening at the front.  They
are made of rusted iron, adding to the dreary atmosphere for the slaves.
There are two beds in each ten foot square pen, and there is a small hole in
the corner of the room for a toilet.  There is absolutely nothing for the
slaves to do here but sleep, which is what most of them do after being
worked so hard all day.

The center of the base is where the construction work is done.  Wood is
flown in by traders, and the slaves are given tools and directed by Kel's
only trusted friend, Farron.  Farron is a large, balding, bearded man, whose
natural anger and rage made him immune to the effects of the Icon.  Kel saw
this, and instead of waiting for Farron's successful escape, offered him a
job as slave-driver, and quarters of his own.  He still resides in the slave
pens, but by himself, and the door on his pen has been left in the one spot
for so long it has vines growing on it and is almost completely red with
rust.  This is likely the only possibly trap here, as the lock is so rusted
that when closed it will likely not open again.

The slaves are woken up at 6 am ever morning, and driven by Farron (and
occasionally Kel when he feels like giving someone a good whipping) until
lunchtime where they are given a ten minute break to eat gruel (cooked by
Farron).  Work continues until they are all completely exhausted, or it is
roughly ten o'clock at night, at which time they are allowed to return to
their beds and collapse for the evening.  Farron and Kel typically take this
time to eat, have good wine, and the occasional wench.

The stats for Kel, Farron, and the guards are as follows.

Kel:  AC 0; MV 12; F6; hp 60; #AT 2; DMG by whip or bastard sword (he is
specialized in the latter); Str 16; Dex 12; Con 15; Int 12; Wis 9; Cha 13;
Al NE; Thac0 15 (or 14); Items  small icon, bastard sword, full plate +1
(black and with spikes as per dwarven handbook), whip (spiked, DMG 1d6/1d4).
XP 4,000

Farron:  AC 6; MV 12; F4; hp 45; #AT 2; DMG by fists (specialized in
wrestling); STR 18(99); Dex 18; Con 16; Int 9; Wis 8; Cha 6; AL CE; Thac0
14; Items  brass knuckles (1d4+1 damage per punch), wooden spoon, wooden
ladle.  XP 2,500

Guard:  AC 4; MV 9; F2; hp 12; #AT 1; DMG light crossbow or broadsword
(specialized in latter); Thac0 19 (18); Items  small icon, light crossbow,
20 bolts, broad sword, chainmail.  XP 375

 Kel will buy slaves from anyone, regardless of the slaves' race.  He is
however sexist and doesn't like female slaves unless they're big and brawny.
He sometimes takes female slaves as wenches, but not often as he is worried
about possible diseases they could have had etc.

 Typically, Kel has 30 guards within the base, each group of ten taking 8
hour shifts upon the walls.  During visits, he has 15 to 20 during the visit
shift, but only to show a lot of force.  At any given time there are 100
slaves in the base, most of which work upon ships etc.  There are a few that
serve Kel within his quarters as personal lackeys, but these are
inconsequential.  If fought, slaves will take no action (what's the point?),
unless the Icon has been destroyed.  In this case, they have the same stats
as the guard's (typically) but with a +2 bonus to attack from the sudden
release of emotions.

 Kel's slaves construct craft shabbily, in 75% the time normally required,
but there is a 50% chance something about the ship is even more substandard
than normal.  DM's can randomly determine such effects.

created by Tilaurin
available at:
tilaurin@??????.???.au
or
tilaurin@???????.com
(if unreachable through the first address)

Feel free to use this resource as you wish, in fact i would appreciate notes
on how you used it, what you modified, in what campaign, and how useful you
thought it was.  Of course i would request anyone asks permission before
publishing this in any way.


Tilaurin
tilaurin@??????.???.au or tilaurin@???????.com if the first is broken
"Because by fate even the gods are cast down/Weep ye all with me"