1
Black
Rain
A short adventure for four
16th-level player characters
CREDITS
Design: Monte Cook
Editing and Typesetting: Sue Weinlein Cook
Editorial Assistance: Penny Williams
Cartography: Dennis Kauth
Web Production: Julia Martin
Web Development: Mark A. Jindra
Graphic Design: Sean Glenn, Cynthia Fliege
Playtesting: Michele Carter, Sue Cook,
Jesse Decker, Erik Mona, Chris,
Perkins, Sean K Reynolds, and Keith Strohm
Based on the original DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® game by E.
Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson and on the new edition of the
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game designed by Jonathan Tweet,
Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Rich Baker, and Peter Adkison.
D&D, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, MONSTER MANUAL, and DUNGEON
MASTER are registered trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast,
Inc. The d20 logo is a trademark owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
All Wizards characters, character names, and the distinctive likeness-
es thereof are trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America.
Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is
prohibited without the express written permission of Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
This product is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual people, organizations,
places, or events is purely coincidental.
This Wizards of the Coast game product contains no Open Game Content. No
portion of this work may be reproduced in any form without written permission.
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please visit www.wizards.com/d20.
©2002 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. All rights reserved. Made in the U.S.A.
When the dreaded black rain falls, all those who
revere deities or rely on them for power and protection
cringe in fear. The black rain forms a wall between the
mortal and the divine and thus, when it falls, clerics
lose all their abilities to cast spells and work miracles.
Only the foulest of villains would use this opportunity
to strike against the near-helpless clerics of an other-
wise powerful temple.
When the black rain falls, the temple of St. Cuthbert
comes under siege and a magical barrier prevents
anyone from helping the beleaguered clerics and
temple defenders inside. Someone has to find a way to
aid them, and quick!
PREPARATION
You, the Dungeon Master (DM), need a copy of the
Player’s Handbook, the DUNGEON MASTER’s Guide, and the
MONSTER MANUAL® to use this adventure.
Shaded text is player information, which you may
read aloud or paraphrase when appropriate. Boxed side-
bars contain important information for you, including
special instructions. Monster and NPC statistics are
provided with each encounter in abbreviated form or,
where appropriate, the proper page in the MONSTER
MANUAL is referenced.
This adventure uses a modified version of the Castle
map from the September 2000 Map-a-Week feature on
the D&D website. It is available for download at
. The relevant portion of the map is
reprinted here for your convenience.
DMs should place this adventure in their own cam-
paigns wherever appropriate. The best place would be
in a very large city, preferably one where the player
characters (PCs) are known or have some influence.
THE BLACK RAIN
Imperfections mar the beauty of creation. In a battle
among the gods themselves untold aeons ago, a dis-
charge of divine might changed the weather patterns
of the world so that once every few decades, an oily
black rain pours out of particularly dark clouds.
Whether by design or by mere mischance, this rain
signals a period during which inviolate power severs
the link between the mortal and the divine worlds.
Even the gods themselves can do nothing to remedy
this. Clerics lose all spellcasting ability, wards are sup-
pressed, and so on.
2
During the time of a black rain, all characters lose
the ability to cast divine spells or use divine spell com-
pletion items. Clerics lose the ability to channel posi-
tive or negative energy, and divine-based classes such
as the paladin or druid lose supernatural or spell-like
abilities (in the paladin’s case, for example, this includes
detect evil, divine grace, lay on hands, divine health, aura
of courage, smite evil, remove disease, and turn undead).
Further, divine spell effects currently active when
the rain starts, including permanent divine spell effects
such as glyphs of warding, hallow, or bull’s strength cast on
a character, are all suppressed for the duration of the
rain.
BACKGROUND
Terrid Fomgarten was a cleric of St. Cuthbert until his
fellow priests found him extorting money from local
merchants to protect them from criminals and evildo-
ers. He was kicked out of the church and even spent
some time in prison for his misdeeds. For years, he
stewed in humiliation and regret, spending his waking
hours training in martial skills to pass the time.
Terrid was not an evil man—at least not to start
with. Being a former Cuthbertian, however, he was
prone to thoughts of retribution. Eventually one day, an
erinyes devil named Yallathancia approached him in
disguise. Over a fine dinner and a bottle of wine, she
gave him two important bits of information that led
him down the road to evil. She told him where he
could find two artifacts of evil power and she let slip
the date of the next black rainfall. With this informa-
tion, Terrid set upon his own plan for revenge against
the church of St. Cuthbert.
In his quest to get the artifacts, the iron rods, he
encountered a powerful hydra and a number of crea-
tures called bloodtrolls. Once he gained the rods, he
used their power to master the monsters. Then, he
bided his time for a few months, waiting for the
moment when his foes would be at their weakest—
during the coming black rain.
Yallathancia showed him how to construct special
rugs with teleportation circles on them. These special
circles connected to each other like two-way gates. He
kept one in his home, and one near the ruins where he
found the artifacts (where his monstrous retinue
stayed, including even Yallathancia). He made one to
take to the temple with him on the day of the coming
rain.
Finally, the day he waited for came…
CHARACTER HOOKS
Use one of the following hooks to get the player char-
acters involved in the attack on the temple of St.
Cuthbert:
• Although the exact time and place of a black rain is
(almost) never precisely divined, its coming is
often seen in omens, portents and divinations.
Churches all over go on high alert when they learn
that such an event is coming—the PCs might be
involved in preparing, and thus be on the scene, in
the city, when the events of the adventure occur.
• The initial call of alarm might be all it takes for true
heroes to come to the aid of the St. Cuthbert tem-
ple in its hour of need. If this is the case, all that is
required is that the PCs be present in town.
• If the PCs are of some repute, known for their skill
and their generosity, the town leaders may send a
messenger to them specifically to request their aid.
If need be, the leaders can offer the PCs some mon-
etary reward—perhaps even a small plot of land
within or near the city itself.
• The PCs count either Bishop Jeard or Terrid
Fomgarten as a friend or acquaintance. They are
thus personally interested either in saving the
Bishop or in saving Terrid from himself.
CALL OF ALARM
The city wakes to rain—a black, oily rain that gathers
in tiny, fetid pools. Animals flee under cover where pos-
sible, and people do too. While it does not seem harm-
ful or poisonous, the black rain smells a bit like pitch
and is in no way pleasant.
It does not take long, however, for a call of alarm to
rise through the city. The temple of St. Cuthbert is
under attack!
If the PCs go to investigate, read the following text
to them:
The temple of St. Cuthbert is a single-story build-
ing with a high, pointed roof. A bell tower is near
the rear and an open, flagstone-paved courtyard is
at the front, with the deity’s symbol—a cross
within concentric circles—displayed promi-
nently at the entrance of the yard. Currently,
however, a translucent red nimbus of energy sur-
rounds the entire building. Outside this hemi-
sphere of power, a large, restless crowd stands in
the pouring black rain. City guards are every-
where, occasionally subduing someone in the
crowd, but mostly just looking at the temple in
curiosity and fear.
3
The city’s chief constable (LN female half-elf, Ftr7)
is in charge of the operation outside the strange energy
field surrounding the temple. Her troops attempt to
disperse the crowd for their own good, but folks are
fearful, upset, and ultimately resistant.
If approached by the PCs with Diplomacy (DC 20),
she tells them all she knows. She needs help and fast. If
the PCs cannot get her inside the temple (and at this
stage, they cannot), she eventually ignores them.
What the constable knows:
• A man named Terrid Fomgarten was seen going
into the temple carrying two strange iron rods
about twenty-five minutes ago.
• Shortly afterward, a huge, multiheaded dragonlike
beast was seen in the open courtyard.
• Briefly, some large red-skinned creatures were
seen fighting with some of the templars (temple
defenders) through the open doorway. She has
seen no sign of the defenders or anyone else in the
temple since.
Gather Information or Bardic
Knowledge Check
If the PCs take the time to ask about Terrid, or if a bard
is present, they can attempt to discern more informa-
tion.
Result Information
DC 10 No one knows very much about this individ-
ual. He keeps to himself most of the time.
Wasn’t he in prison a few years ago?
DC 20 The PCs learn of Terrid’s general background
and where he lived.
DC 25 There was a fire at Terrid’s house a few days
ago. It was badly damaged.
DC 30 Terrid has long been promising revenge
against the temple of St. Cuthbert. He was
recently poking around some old ruins to the
south, returning eventually with a pair of
strange rods.
The Energy Field
Terrid used a wish to create the red energy field around
the temple. No one can teleport into it, breach it in any
way, or use divination magic to see what is going on
inside. The only ways in involve the magical gateway
teleportation circles in Terrid’s home and near some old
ruins far to the south (these ruins are not detailed in
this adventure, but the DM could develop them further
if needed).
TERRID’S HOME
The PCs’ only realistic hope of getting into the church
is by investigating Terrid’s home. Terrid lived in a two-
story apartment-like house, on a floor that he shared
with three other single men (a family of five lives on
the floor above). Of the other three, only Gart Herson
(N, male human, Com1) is currently home.
Gart is a weak-willed, fearful, slovenly type who is
usually lacking in funds. He is afraid of the strange rain
outside, and almost certainly even more afraid of the
PCs when they show up at his door. Inside, the smoke
stains of a recent fire are still visible on the white plas-
ter of the walls. One room was clearly the most dam-
aged in the fire. (Terrid set the fire in haste, hoping to
destroy the teleportation circle in his room, but he
failed—residents put out the fire faster than he antici-
pated.)
Gart can be convinced to tell what he knows (Diplo-
macy, DC 15), and he can even more easily be intimi-
dated (DC 10).
What Gart knows:
• Terrid was a quiet man, always brooding and
depressed. Not a bad fellow, but not too enjoyable
to be around.
• Terrid disappeared for two weeks about three
months ago, right around that time he seemed to
acquire a very beautiful girlfriend (this, unknown
to Gart, was the erinyes). He has acted strangely
ever since. (This refers to the adventure in which
Terrid discovered the iron rods.)
• Terrid talked about getting his revenge on the
Church of St. Cuthbert all the time. No one took
him very seriously.
• Terrid’s room caught fire yesterday, but the room-
mates managed to put it out rather quickly. The
whole place could very well have gone up in flames
if not for their quick action. No one has seen Terrid
since.
Terrid’s Room
A Search of the room (DC 20) reveals an important
clue, and the way into the temple.
Clue: In the desk, amid burned and charred papers,
there’s an unfinished letter addressed to “Yallathancia.”
Marred by fire, this room is a blackened, charred
mess. A bed, a desk, a chair, and a wardrobe fur-
nished the room, but now they are all damaged
beyond use.
4
In it, Terrid talks about his gratitude toward her for
helping him explore “the ruins” and find “the rods.” He
hopes the power boost he gave her adequately demon-
strated his thanks. It also mentions “keeping the blood-
trolls in line until the rain comes” and future plans to
destroy the “gateway” in a fire.
The way in: There’s a strange rug, slightly black-
ened and singed from the fire, rolled up under the bed.
Unrolled, it displays a magic circle drawn in what
appears to be blood, with many magical runes around it
and two yellow stones woven into the rug itself.
If one stone is pressed, the circle glows with power.
Anyone stepping onto the rug ends up standing on a
similar rug out in the wilderness south of the city. The
remains of a crude campsite are close by, and the
ground is littered in gnawed bones, trash, and dung.
If the other stone is pressed, the circle also glows.
Anyone stepping onto the rug ends up standing on a
similar rug in the courtyard of the temple of St. Cuth-
bert (see Area 1).
Note that all three rugs work the same way—all of
them lead to one of the other two, depending on which
stone is touched. No matter what, however, all three
rugs lose their power in 1d3 weeks.
TEMPLE OF ST. CUTHBERT
OF THE CUDGEL
Under normal circumstances, this would be a standard
temple to the lawful neutral god of retribution.
Temple Features
The outer walls of the temple are smooth stone, 5 feet
thick (hardness 8; 450 hp; Break DC 50). The DC to
climb them is 20. The interior walls are 1 foot thick
(hardness 8; 90 hp; Break DC 35). All doors are wooden
(Wooden Doors: 2 in. thick; hardness 5; hp 20; AC 5;
Break DC 23). The ceilings are all 15 feet high unless
described otherwise. The temple is mostly windowless,
except for some small windows in Areas 2, 3 and all
rooms marked 4 and 5 (although the windows in Area 5
rooms look into the courtyard only).
1. Paved Courtyard (EL 15)
Once he used the wish function of the iron rods to
create the energy barrier, Terrid set up the special tele-
portation circle rug here in the courtyard, next to the
wall, between the doors to Areas 3 and 5. He com-
manded the hydra to guard here, and his bloodtroll
allies then raced into the temple and began overcoming
the templars and priests within.
Creatures. Terrid tamed a powerful hydra on his
adventures and brought it through the teleportation
circle from the ruins once he established the energy
barrier around the temple. It has killed and eaten a few
of the people who were at the temple, but it is still quite
hungry and immediately attacks anyone other than
Terrid or his allies. In fact, if anyone (even Terrid)
comes into this area wounded, the smell of blood drives
the hydra to attack.
This beautiful courtyard is paved with flagstones
and decorated with planters full of small trees,
shrubs, and flowers. Two normal sized doors lead
off to either side of the yard, and a pair of impos-
ing double doors leads into the temple straight
ahead. A few small windows on the sides look
into the courtyard.
A terrifying, blue-scaled beast, 20 feet long, with
a dozen snarling, draconic heads, stomps around
the south part of the yard. A few bloody spots on
the ground mark the grisly remains of what must
have been recent meals for the creature.
5
d Twelve-headed lernaean cryohydra: hp 140, see
MONSTER MANUAL p. 122. Terrid used the wish function
of the iron rods to increase the beast’s Strength to 24,
giving it a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls.
2. Refectory/Priests’ Common
Room
The corpses are those of clerics killed quickly by the
bloodtrolls. All of their valuables were taken.
3. Library
This room has gone mostly undisturbed by the
fighting so far.
A secret door (Search, DC 25) behind a bookshelf is
trigged to pivot when someone pulls a fake book from
its position. The passage leads to the sacred Areas 10
and 11 as well as the main sanctuary, Area 8.
4. Priest Cells
The six medium-ranked clerics of the temple lived
in these apartments, two to a room. Five of these clerics
are dead. Their cells hold nothing of value or interest—
just holy texts, candles, priestly garments, and personal
belongings.
Each of these rooms has a small, high-placed
window in the outside wall.
Creatures. Hiding in the southernmost room is
Nester Falinash, a mid-ranking cleric of St. Cuthbert.
She is having an extremely bad day. First, her link to
her god is severed. Now, most of her friends are killed,
her temple is defiled, and her life is in extreme danger.
She bides her time here, waiting for an opportunity to
strike at her foes or go get help (although she can see a
strange red glow out her window, she remains unaware
of the energy field’s actual function—she does not
know she cannot get out and that help cannot get in).
She knows that “some strange man with iron rods is
tormenting Bishop Jeard in the sanctuary,” but she fears
she cannot get to him in time. Nester willingly tells the
PCs the basic layout of the place, including the secret
doors that might allow them to get to the sanctuary.
She does not know about the wall of force in Area 8
(since Terrid just put it up).
k Nester Falinash: Female human Clr6; CR 6;
Medium-size humanoid; HD 6d8+3; hp 30; Init –1;
Spd 20 ft.; AC 19, touch 9, flat-footed 19; Atk +6 melee
(1d8+2, +1 heavy mace); SA Turn undead 3/day; AL LN;
SV Fort +5, Ref +1, Will +7; Str 13, Dex 9, Con 10,
Int 12, Wis 15, Cha 11.
Skills and Feats: Concentration +7, Craft (woodwork-
ing) +9, Diplomacy +8, Scry +8, Sense Motive +5; Combat
Casting, Maximize Spell, Power Attack, Toughness.
Cleric Spells (5/4+1/4+1/2+1; base DC = 12 +
spell level): None currently prepared.
Deity: St. Cuthbert. Domains: Law (cast law spells
at +1 caster level), Protection (protective ward 1/day).
Possessions: +1 heavy mace, full plate armor, mas-
terwork large steel shield, scroll of lesser restoration,
potion of levitate, potion of cure moderate wounds, holy
symbol, 13 gp.
This simple room has two beds, a chest of draw-
ers, a small table with an incense burner on it,
two chairs, and a wardrobe. A small bookshelf
hangs on the west wall, near a large holy symbol
of St. Cuthbert.
Filled with packed bookshelves, this room is
clearly a library. A few chairs\ next to tables with
oil lamps sit in the middle of the room.
This room has two long tables girded by wooden
benches, as well as a few chairs, end tables, and
divans clustered in the south part of the room
near a pair of bronze braziers. A stack of dirty
dishes is piled on one of the long tables. Two dead
people, a male half-elf and a human woman,
dressed in priestly garments, lie near the door to
the courtyard.
Adventuring in the Black Rain
Obviously, fighting in the black rain is difficult,
for all divine spellcasters and characters are
bereft of much of their power. Fortunately, all
such characters still possess a respectable
amount of combat skill, and thus still have
plenty of ability to back up their friends. The real
danger is the lack of healing. Curative potions
suddenly become extremely important.
At some point during the climactic
encounter with Terrid, the divinely-powered PCs
should realize that the rain has stopped—the
powers that they had been denied return. This
proves particularly effective if it happens just as
Terrid seems to have the upper hand and all is
lost.
During the black rain, all EL ratings should
increase by 1.