Black Taxes

A Touch of Black: Chapter 4

A weighty tax bill is weighed against the player’s patron in an obvious effort to force her out of town. Their Lady has
two options. Pay up or send them to find a missing person. The choice is clear, at least for the Lady. This is a political
game and those playing such games move pawns, not the queen.
TABLE OF CONTENTS What is The AOG?
2 It started 40ish years ago. I still remember the day my
SETUP INFORMATION
cousin brought out this thin blue book with a white
ACT 1: Taxes 5 sketched dragon on its cover and a pile of strange dice.
ACT 2: Search 6 He told eight year old me that we were going to play a
7 game where I could be anything I wanted (as long as it
ACT 3: Seizure was an elf, dwarf, human, or halfling). I immediately
ACT 4: Rescue 8 developed that love of bringing people along on journey
9 after journey, and through all the moments and four
CLOSING decades of playing, the trip has never lost its wonder.
OTHER CHAPTER LINKS 10
11 Now, I think we are best described as a network of
THE APPENDECIES Table Top Role Playing Gamers (Mostly D&D). I had
MAPS 15 been sharing my work online for some time but decided
in April 2021 to open a Patreon and Discord. Honestly,
ADVENTURE MECHANICS I knew I was behind the Patreon Train, but it made
sense as a platform. I’m not interested in money, but I
This Adventure is Part 4 of Many am interested in sharing with and helping others in the
Target Party and Level: 4 level 2 players hobby. So I run the site 100% free of any paywalls.
Expected Playtime: 3+ Hours More like a Digital Magazine than a Patreon.
Tone: Urban Adventure Horror
Writing Style: Rescue Mission Almost a year in and we’ve grown quite a bit. We host
One Shots through the Discord. I do a lot of requests for
our supporters and some commission work. I coach
STYLE “SHORT SHOT” many of our subscribers regularly on DMing and fantasy
A Short Shot is designed to give the DM a solid concept cartography. My son helps write our “Year One” series
of what is going on inside of the adventure not just which are adventures designed for entry level DMs and
ideas. The Story will be well flushed out, including both players, and we use our content to run an after school Jr
Area and NPC descriptions, but will be more conceptual High Group. We even support a podcast my youngest
regarding things like encounters, rewards, and hazards. son and I lend our voices to. It has been a busy year.
The Short Shot gives everything most DMs require to
lead a fantastic game. Contact us
PLAYING A.O.G. ADVENTURES PATREON Amplus Ordo Games
If you’ve never played an AOG adventure, I thought it DISCORD Join the Network
wise to give you some notes on how I write them. Cuz I
do some stuff non traditional like. I’ll put those notes REDDIT Our Sub in Reddit (Not super active)
down in the Appendices.
ABOUT HORROR GAMES ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Running an effective Horror game can be a real trick Wizards of the Coast and D&D for the amazing job
and takes a different set of skills than the average DM they do providing RPG Content for us to use!
employs from game to game. It is my favorite style of Original Story Written by Amplus Ordo Games
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some suggestions for you. You can find those in the Games using Inkarnate
Appendices. PDF Formatting done using The Homebrewery

Black Taxes, July 2022

 SETUP INFORMATION
Town of Tragedies Guidebook
This adventure is part 3 of many to come, and will put
your players on a collision course with a Elder Being. It
is designed to be used in conjunction with the Town of
Tragedies Guide, which can be found below. The Guide
isn’t necessary, but I will reference it often.
A TOWN OF TRAGEDIES GUIDE
Story Flow
Our players have had some time to breath. They arrived
in the employ of Lady Persophone of House Trellu just
over a week ago now. Lady Persophone has recently
inherited her Aunt’s estate and is looking to stake a
claim in the city. It has not been an easy endeavor. The
group has had to deal with thieves, creatures, the
government, and most recently the terrible state of the
inherited property, which included two poltergeists that
were haunting the house.
We pick the story back up a week later. We can’t quite
call it rest since the players have been cleaning out the
seemingly endless crates of things that Aunt Zattana
hoarded in her house, but it has been conflict free which
is saying something for this town. It will be fairly early in
the day when the house is approached by a messenger
from the Chamber of Voices (Town Hall). Lady
Persephone has been summoned to the Chamber by the
Magistrate. She will be gone for several hours, creating
an opportunity for the players to have a little freedom in
town.
When Lady Persophone returns the news will not be
good. She was slapped with a massive Back Taxes bill.
That she must either pay immediately or the city will
take the house. It is obviously a fraudulent charge, as
Aunt Zattana kept her receipts for tax payment.
However, the Magistrate ruled them the forgeries of a
madwoman and gave Persephone twenty four hours to
come up with the balance. Or she can have her
Retainers (The Players) search for a missing young
noble woman. Persephone took the later deal. The crew
will now be on the hunt through The Downs for the
wayward girl. Hopefully, that hunt won’t be more than
they can handle.
Game Opening and Hooks
Escort Lady Persephone to the estate,
Campaign:
where it becomes obvious the house is haunted.
One Shot: You are looking for a place to hold up
after a crime. Taking refuge in an abandoned house
you are soon confronted by the spirit.
One Shot Alternative: A notice offerings a reward for
ridding the a home of an angry spirit.
2 Black Taxes, July 2022
Mood
Things hidden away. Moments covered in darkness.
The unknowable. Secrets. Mysteries. Echoes of the past
long thought forgotten. These are the bedrock of
Deleran’s Crossing. Beyond every door. Behind the
curtains. Under every stone. Locked in the backroom.
Chained in the cellar. Politely veiled evils covered by
swollen sad eyes and wryly smiling lips. There are few,
if any, places in the city that have corners empty of
shadow or closets sans skeletons. Now in most cases
these private wickednesses remain buried but not
forgotten. In most cases… Those that live here, know
there are those rare and wretched moments where what
was thought long lost has gently come rapping, so
faintly it comes tapping, tapping at the chamber door. It
shall be hidden nevermore.
Madness, Sanity. and Trauma
This adventure and future adventures will deal with
Madness and Insanity in the NPCs. For the PCs I am
introducing an optional Madness and Sanity Mechanic
to the campaign. Thusfar the players have been in
uncomfortable situations and faced creepy things, but
there is a vast difference between spiders and
centipedes and murderous entities from beyond the
grave and void. Coming face to face with inexplicable
horror does things to the mind, and that should not be
lost on your players.
Please keep in mind that all people, in their real lives,
have faced or are facing difficult things, many extreme. I
for one am not prone to dancing around those issues. I
think we are made stronger when we deal with them
head on, and happen to think Role Playing can be a
great setting to deal with such things. HOWEVER, this
is what I prefer… not what everyone else prefers. There
is absolutely no excuse or reason to be insensitive or
flippant with another human being’s emotional state
and past trauma. I highly recommend talking about the
possibility of sensitive issues before the game and
having a way for players to signal the need for a course
correction when something begins to cross boundaries.
The Mechanic I Use
I use a countdown mechanism. (See Appendices)
Basically, every player starts with 100 Sanity Points,
which work like HP. Certain events and sights will
cause Sanity Damage. Conversely, specific kinds of
treatment, rest, and downtime activity restore them, like
healing does for HP. Once they lose certain amounts of
points they cross Madness Thresholds and begin to
suffer from different mental and emotional maladies. At
first they aren’t all that bad. Picking up odd
superstitions. Strange habits. A smidge of paranoia or a
phobia. But the further they dive or the more often the
dip into madness the greater the issues. Kleptomania.
Real Paranoia. Hallucinations. Even violence against
themselves or their friends.
Trigger Warning
Horror Games often deal with Triggering topics. This
episode deals with Sex Work, Fetishes, and Human
Trafficking. These touchy subjects can be difficult for
people to deal with. Fetishes and Sex Work are often
seen as taboo and Traffiking is one of our worst sins as
a species. So please make certain that you’ve taken care
with your players, talked about boundaries, and have a
safeword system in place in the event that you
encounter something that is an undiscovered boundary.
Important Locations
Balinovia and the City of Beurnoli
This is Persephone’s home, and worth mentioning as a
backdrop to her life. Balinovia has an Italian feel to it,
particularly when it comes to social and familial culture.
Sadly, it is a land of extreme selfishness, most everyone
there is looking out for themselves first and themselves
second. And who could blame them? The nation is run
by a former Pirate who wrangled the nobility under his
thumb with the promises of riches or blood. They chose
riches. It likely won’t last though. There are tens of
thousands of Orcs from the Blood Axe Dominion
building up on their northern borders. Balinovia has
managed to keep them at bay thus far, but sooner or
later the Orcs will break the lines and sweep through
the land.
Buernoli is a good sized city of tens of thousands
nestled on the north side of the Thundering River, and
is a valuable industrial center, and produces much of
the nations arms and armor. The surrounding area is
hilly and rich with minerals, though most of the major
mining operations are across the river in the mountains.
It is covered with small farms producing grain and
livestock.
The Barony and Deleran’s Crossing
Let us begin with the Nation itself. Once a thriving part
of Cetnovia, The Barony was founded long ago after
land and title for the Eastern forests of Cetnovia were
granted to Deleran Callington as reward for stopping
the Kren Empire from using the Throne of Bones to
dominate Cetnovia. It was later split off from Cetnovia
after some near cataclysmic disasters. Nestled in the
rocky foothills and valleys of the Stolregard mountains,
the barony is a land with deep old growth forests. It was
once a shining jewel in the world but centuries of
struggle have dimed its light. The Gray Wood is now
filled with dark creatures and foreboding mystery.
The Capital City of Stolregard, Deleran’s Crossing is
nestled deep in the foothills of the Stolregard
Mountains and surrounded by dark and foreboding
Gray Wood forest. Even in these late years and dark
times it is still a sight to behold. The city is built upon a
cliffed island surrounded by a series of ridges and dells
cut out of the land by the Cold Rock River. The ruling
seat, Castle Skystone, sits just above the higher points
of the city on a plateau along the town’s northern edge.
At first glance Deleran’s Crossing appears to be
something out of a storybook, upon closer inspection it
more closely resembles a Shakespearean tragedy.
Being a resident here is difficult, and life is pretty
dismal. Despair and hopelessness are as common in
town as rats and roaches. Low level violence and petty
crime are a daily occurrence. The people do what they
have to do to survive both physically and emotionally.
There are also a fair amount of vineyards, though the
land isn’t as well suited to growing grapes as the towns
to the southwest. It would be extremely picturesque if it
weren’t for the pollution. Buernoli itself is filthy, the
streets are filled with trash from large amount of
industry that dominates the town. The waste has tainted
the river and forges have filled the sky with smoke. The
wealthy live well outside the city in hillside villas where
they can ignore the decay happening in town.
NPCs
Lady Persephone of House Trellu of
Balinovia
Introduced in Chapter 1: Warehouse of Woe
Persephone is the player’s Adventuring Patron. She is a
noblewoman new to town looking to extend her family’s
power. She has secretly made some dark deals that will
soon require attention.
DM Notes: Persephone is a main protagonist for the
early adventures in A Touch of Black. There should be a
certain amount of mystery surrounding her, enough to
create suspicion but not so much that the players turn
on her. I will be using her Dark Secret as the story
builds, but intend for her to be more of a tragic figure as
things develop.
Marsilia Baralini, Persephone’s
Handmaiden
Introduced in Chapter 1: Warehouse of Woe
She is a middle aged woman of proper bearing. She
holds herself as a lady of class, although she has no
claim to any titles herself. She is Persephone’s personal
bodyguard, Handmaidens in Balinovia are not simply
responsible for dresses and makeup. They are trained
combatants responsible for protecting their charges
with their very lives. She too has deals in the making,
but there will be some time yet before they come to
fruition.
DM Notes: Marsilia is in way over her head, but so far is
holding the course. There should be minimal hinting at
her Dark Secret until the actual reveal. Marsilia is not
slotted for a happy ending.
Black Taxes, July 2022 3
 Terasa Roche
Introduced in Chapter 2: Condemned
The City Clerk of Deleran’s Crossing. She is an efficient
manager and basically runs the town under the orders
of the Magistrate and Baroness.
Adysyn Halcine, New NPC
Adysyn is a young Noble Woman from the city of
Barown’s Crown. She is shorter, with brown hair and
fair features. Her family is descended from the
Titanbrookes and is one of the more wealthy Houses in
the Nation. She is also currently on the run. Adysyn
loved the wealth of nobility, but often bristled against
the expectations. Being sold into an arranged marriage
with a man four decades older than her was the
breaking point. Four Months ago she packed her
favorite things, raided a family safe, and slipped out in
the middle of the night with Eddin Jordayne. Her father,
who needs this marriage to happen in order to keep the
family above the other houses, has been desperately
looking for her ever since. Adysyn bleached her hair and
rented a room in the Downs of Deleran’s Crossing and
as been hiding there until recently.
Potential Dark Secret: Adysyn isn’t the wisest and
certainly not street smart. It did not take long for her
spend the coin and to have picked up several nasty
addictions. Eddin ended up dead one evening when she
sent him to pick up her evening “medications”. WIth her
coin gone and no options she began dancing at the
Crimson Curtain. Soon after she began taking part in
the other vices the Curtain Provides. Soon she owed a
lot of money to the wrong people, and began working
for more “specialized” clients who paid top coin for
escorts with no inhibitions. She has recently
disappeared, something unfortunately common for
those in her line of work in this city. People noticed, but
no one cares.
Matrons of the Crimson Curtain -
Elviesi, Cecelia, and Luan
Introduced in the Setting Guide: Town of Tragedy
These three alluring ladies are all spaced well apart age
wise, but oddly particularly similar in appearance, run
the Crimson Curtain. Each has their own duties and
they carry them out with absolute perfection..
Katya (Kitty) Shadowstar, New NPC
Katya is one of the more seasoned dancers at the
Crimson Curtain. She is a Drow from Runir Uspin and
who has spent her entire life on the surface. She left the
Black Spiral years ago with her father after her mother
was killed by a rival. He was executed in the Kren
Empire just for being a Drow. Katya fled through Misty
Vale and ended up in the Barony. She was recruited as
a truly Exotic Dancer at the Crimson Curtain, and is one
of the most requested escorts in the Curtain’s
entourage.
4 Black Taxes, July 2022
Potential Dark Secret: Katya spent some time lost in
the Misty Vale. There she stumbled into a ruined inn.
She was not alone. A strange old gnome sat alone at a
table in the corner. A game of dice ensued. A high
stakes game. He would help her out of the mists, if she
were to beat him. If she lost however, she would owe
him the rest of her elven years of her life. She lost, but
the gnome wasn’t heartless, he gave her the ability to
charm others and drain their lifeforce. She could keep
herself alive by shaving time off of others. The Curtain
has made the perfect cover for her to help herself to the
lives of her clients.
Rourke, New NPC
Rourke is a Bugbear. Which makes him an oddity in a
city that finds Dwarves and Elves to be quaint. Unlike
many of his species he keeps himself well groomed and
dresses far above the stereotype. He wears a white
dress shirt with black pants, bowtie, suspenders, and
bowler hat. He works as the chief bartender at the
Crimson Curtain. He is polite, knowledgeable, and
makes a fierce martini.
Potential Dark Secret: Rourke was some of the muscle
for a notorious gang of Bandits in the Elinosian Empire.
So notorious in fact that, when the bounty on the heads
of his companions got high enough, Rourke claimed
their heads. For the most part that offense was
unoffensive. No one was going to miss some goblins and
a kobold. Rourke took the gold and joined a new crew.
He then repeated the act and turned on his new crew.
Five crews later he had finally killed someone that folks
weren’t going to forget. Apparently the Crown Prince of
the Silver Kingdom was wanted returned alive. Rourke
faked his own death and headed to the last place anyone
would ever look, Deleran’s Crossing.
Jhymes Khastavir “Jimmy Two Shoes”
Introduced in the Setting Guide: Town of Tragedy
The Tabaxi frontman for Mother’s Purse, the local
Criminal Syndicate. Mother is extremely powerful, but
no one knows if Mother is real or just a collective name.
Whatever the case Jhymes is not one to cross.
Symon Okenbrau
Introduced in the Setting Guide: Town of Tragedy
The hulking Half Ogre of a man and Warehouse Master.
He isn’t well liked in town, which is fine by him, he
doesn’t really like anyone else anyway. What he does
like is money, and Symon make quite a bit of it
kidnapping local homeless and desperate folks and sells
them to flesh traders. Sadly in this city there is no
shortage of desperat “voulenters”.
PRE-GAME She has a wild side and refused to conform to the
standards of a proper lady. They believe she has fled to
Level 2 Deleran’s Crossing with a man named Eddin Jordayne,
This is a level 2 adventure. If they have not leveled a young working class man her parents objected to.
please do so. These adventure are designed using EVENT: The Tax Man Cometh
Milestone Experience. So if you are counting numbers
then thye are likely not there yet. If you are unfamiliar
with that concept, it is basically rewarding them equally
for achieving certain goals in the three pillars of D&D
Adventures - Exploration, Social Interaction, and
Combat. I find it give the DM a lot more wiggle room
when it comes to Adventure Design and encounter
planing. Buy you play how you want!
Shopping
They’ve made some money from their (3gp a Day)
wages now. I don’t think I’ve discussed this yet. I would
be willing to say they’ve been in Persephone’s employ
for a month now. (Four Weeks, travel time and earlier
adventures) plus any other cash they may have rustled
up. So they may want to go shopping. They will get an
opportunity early on in the adventure.
OPENING CUT-SCENE The Taxman has shown up and summoned Persephone
to the Chamber of Voices to meet the Magistrate. There
should be some arguing that happens. Maybe enough to
drive the players to action. But ultimately Persephone
will have to relent and go see the Magistrate.
EVENT: Shopping Trip
Persephone pays the players their month’s wages and
then sends the players to Theodore’s Textiles to pick up
her order of curtains and linens for the house. (She has
ordered a lot, they’re going to need a cart) They can also
hit up any other stores for themselves if they wish. The
Monthly Caravans have arrived in town, and so there is
a greater chance for interesting finds and better deals.
This would be a good place to drop a magic item into
their hands. Nothing fnacy too, but something helpful?
EVENT: Find Adysyn Halcine

ACT 1: Taxed
In this act the players will be present when Lady
Persephone is approached by the tax collector. She and
Marsilia head to The Chamber of Voices to deal with
the problem. She will send them to the store to pick up
some linens. After which they are now free to move
about town for several hours. It is caravan week in town
They can shop for themselves, or be sidetracked by
whatever else you’d like to throw at them. Eventually,
Lady Persephone will return angry and hand them a
Bounty Poster. Persephone has gained a brief reprieve
of the bill, but the magistrate’s patience with them to
find the “fugitive” and return her will be short. The
fugitive is a young noblewoman from Baron’s Crown on
the run. Her parents are desperately looking for her.
Black Taxes, July 2022 5
 Persephone will return furious and tell them they have a EVENT: The Crimson Curtain
job to do. She has had a massive tax bill levied against
her and the Magistrate is willing to waive it if they can
find Adysyn for him. She is believed to have come to
town with a man named Eddin Jordayne and is hiding
somewhere among the common folk. So far the
authorities have been unable to locate her.
ACT 2: Search
As the players begin their search for Adysyn they are
going to have to first overcome the town’s continued
resistance to them as outsiders. Eventually they will be
tipped off to the Crimson Curtain, a very powerful
establishment in town that specializes in serving any
and all vices the population of Deleran’s Crossing
engages in. It is located in the poor district of town
known as The Downs. Once there they’ll have to again
find someone willing to help. This will lead them
through a string of NPCs each giving a few more tidbits DM NOTE: The smaller building is a Drug Den. They
to the story. Eventually they should be able to collect mostly sell out the front window, but if a little extra you
some names. Symon Okenbrau should be on that list, as can enter the building through the ally.
he is the chief villain, but Adysyn’s last client should be
someone else, to toss off suspicion from Symon.
EVENT: Hit the Streets
This part is a little open ended. They will have to begin
asking around town and not many people like them.
Sooner or later have someone tell them to check the
Crimson Curtain. Chances are if a new young pretty
face disappears in town they have ended up at the
Curtain. Or at the very least someone there probably
knows her. And the Curtain never talks to the
Constables about what happens at the Curtain so
chance are the investigations ended there.

6 Black Taxes, July 2022

The Curtain is a den of vices. There is gambling and sex
work enough to make Las Vegas feel insecure. And
there are enough other things going on inside that could
make Vegas blush. They’ll need to ask around about
Adysyn. They will be first sent to Rourke the Bartender.
Rourke, will chat them up and then send them to talk to
Kitty down in the pool. Kitty will need to be convinced
that they actually want to find Adysyn to help her. Kitty
will tell them that Adysyn did end up working here. She
was sad and desperate. She wasn’t here long, but did
have a few regular clients and list off some of the more
“problematic” ones. Kitty could also be paid to do this if
things go poorly. On their way out they will be sidelined
by Elviesi, the Madam in charge of the younger
employees and new hires. She will have a “Don’t screw
with our Establishment” conversation with them, but If
they play this conversation well they could gain further
solid information.
EVENT: Jimmy Two Shoes
As they leave the Curtain, two Half Orcs will approach
them. Jhymes Khastavir “Jimmy Two Shoes” would like
to speak with them. The Mobster will introduce himself
and ask what they’re doing. If they’re unaware of who
Jhymes is he will educate them. He will also tell them
that Adysyn is not the first notable girl to go missing
recently. Mother is interested in putting an end to this. If
they can bring the kidnapper to him dead they will be
rewarded, bring him alive they will be well rewarded.
They can ask more questions. Khastavir will be polite
but not overly giving of information.
ACT 3: Seizure
They’ll then begin investigating the people on the list.
There should be good alibis and excuses for Ethan and
Bolivar. Bolivar has been out of town? Maybe Ethan is
very compliant when approached, even allowing them to
search his home? Eventually they will end up looking
for Symon the Warehouse Master. If they’re sharp they
may remember him from their arrival in town. They will
find him in a warehouse speaking with a group of
“traders” who are negotiating a price for a woman. It
will all break loose from there.
EVENT: Suspects
The list of suspects should include at least three
individuals. Bolivar Snowbrooke, an angry and cruel
man who enjoys beating his girls. Bolivar almost killed a
girl at the Curtain when he beat her too badly. Ethan
Lesage, an obeese and unwashed man who comes to
the curtain to bathe, eat, and be serviced. He often
makes attempts to buy girls to help him at home, but the
Curtain doesn’t operate that way. And lastly, Symon
Okenbrau the Half-Orc Warehouse Manager who has
violent tastes. He demands his girls to be submissive,
and then treats the kindly if they are, especially while he
is enjoying the use of the torture rooms. You can add
more if you want them goose-chasing longer. Just
remember players tend to fixate on things and you may
have difficulty getting them back on track. It is hard to
say where they will start, but Ethan is the likely target.
They should grab at his desire to bring the girls home.
EVENT: Slavers
This event has the chance to play out in a number of
ways, and it all depends on how the players approach
the Warehouse when coming to investigate Symon.
Symon will be near the end of a transaction with a few
Slavers for a young woman. If the players are hidden
they may overhear the conversation, although the group
is not speaking loudly, so a Hard Perception check is in
order. If the players approach the slavers they will be
attacked. If they manage to overhear them the
discussion will be centering around how the Slavers
only pick up only one girl a month not two. Symon will
relent and tell them “I suppose my dogs will eat well
this next week”. The players will almost certainly
intervene at some point leading to a battle. (They may
decide to follow the slavers and rescue Adysyn later as
well.) The Moment the fighting begins Symon will
disappear and flee to his hideout.
Black Taxes, July 2022 7
 EVENT: Sava
Once she is rescued the young lady will tell them her
name is Sava Florent. She was taken by Symon on her
way in from Cold Rock weeks ago. She has been
drugged and is pretty weak. Sava can tell them that
Adysyn is in the tunnels below. They will then have to
find the entrance to the tunnels and begin the search for
Adysyn. Sava will offer to hide in the warehouse while
the players go to rescue Adysyn. She will tell the players
that Symon said he was going to feed Adysyn to his
dogs as the slavers would not take her. THis should
motivate them to hurry after Symon.
ACT 4: Rescue
Depending on how the last ACT played out, there is a
good chance that Symon and his goblin minions know
they are coming. The players will have to race through
the Tunnels and make their way to Symon’s Hideout
before some awful fate befalls Adysyn.
EVENT: The Tunnels
The tunnels contain many possible hazards and
encounters. I have provided a map with a lot of
possibilities, but as the DM, limit these extras to what
best fits the party’s resources. Eventually they will find
Symon’s lair
LOCATION: Warehouse Cellar
Simon lives below this particular warehouse. This
particular area is divided into a few sections. There
are SImon's Quarters and a storage room. The
storage room has a drain leading to the Vine Pit,
through which the cavern can be accessed. There
are some secret rooms as well that Symon uses
when moving captives.
8 Black Taxes, July 2022
LOCATION: Simon’s Quarters
His quarters are borderline wretched. A quick toss of
his belongings will reveal his stash of coins
constituting a medium treasure, as well as a
notebook. This notebook has details about the slaver
ring, a group known as The Tiger’s Claw. It outlines
the traders that come monthly, the ones they just
killed, as well as a few notes on their boss. The ring
is run by a large Tabaxi from overseas. Symon
believed his name was Bu’cash. There is a secret
door in the fireplace leading into the tunnels.
LOCATION: Vine Pit
A mold and slime covered drain pit with a “Vine
Creature” living in it. I use a toned down Roper as
the base concept for this monster.
LOCATION: Web Room
There is a nest of Giant Spiders living here. They
have been walled in by Symon and his crew. There is
also a broken grate to the sewers where the Spiders
go hunting.
LOCATION: Kobold Warren
A small pack of Kobolds lives down here collecting
trash for themselves. Symon and the Goblins allow
them to stay under the condition that they help guard
the hideout. There will always be two Kobolds in the
Archers’s Nest waiting to ambush any trespassers.
LOCATION: Cave Fisher Canyon
Cave Fishers are nasty buggers that like to ambush
the last person in line. It doesn’t leave the area.
LOCATION: Archer’s Nest
Symon has two of his Kobold Minions perched here.
They will ambush anyone trespassing.
LOCATION Hideout
The Hideout is divided by a 20’ ledge that cuts down
the middle. That ledge has a spiked wall on top of it.
There is a small room for his Goblin cronies. They
each have a chest with petty treasures, some
equipment and their cut of the profits. A Mastiff pen
is in the corner. The back has cages for those Symon
has captured. One of them is suspended over a
spiked pit.
ENCOUNTER: Symon Okenbrau
Symon will probably know they are coming, and I will The End
write the encounter as such. If your players have been
extra covert then you’ll have to pivot but that shouldn’t The Story Will Continue in
be hard. The villains will attack the players from the “The Black Candle”
palisaded wall above, shooting at them with their bows
while they attempt to get inside. Once the players are
fully inside Symon will release his dogs. (Mastiffs)
Adysyn will be in a cage suspended over some spikes.
Symon will threaten to drop Adysyn in that classic
“come any closer and I’ll kill my prisoner” move.
Personally, I kill the girl here, or at least begin the
process. If she survives then she should be permanently
maimed by the ordeal and for now unconscious.

CLOSING
With Symon dead or captured, and Adysyn “recovered”.
They can now return to the Chamber of Voices and
Jhymes Khastavir closing their deals. There is a
problem though. The recovered girl is not Adysyn. The
prisoner they just rescued or got killed is Sava. Adysyn
was the girl they liberated from the slavers who has now
fled the scene. She will be long gone by the time the
players start looking for her. This is another reason I kill
“Adysyn” in the final encounter. It forces the players to
bring a body back and gives the real Adysyn more time
to flee. This leaves their job unfinished and
Persephone’s Tax Bill outstanding.
Good thing they have a Mobster who is more than
willing to “reward” them. Mr Khastavir will cover the
Bill either way, but will throw in some extra money if
they bring Symon to him alive. So the tax bill is no
longer an issue, which is great news, but Adysyn’s
father will be furious that his daughter was not returned
and will begin plotting revenge, which is not so great.
Also… there is now a very dangerous Mobster who
believes the party owes him a favor.
Black Taxes, July 2022 9
 THANKS FOR PLAYING
I do want to take one last moment to sincerely thank you for playing an AOG Adventure. It means a lot to me as a
creator. If you enjoyed it please leave me some comments on wherever you found this adventure. You can support
more content like this by subscribing to our Patreon. AMPLUS ORDO GAMES
DELERAN’S CROSSING ADVENTURES
A Town of Tragedy Campaign Guide
Warehouse of Woe

Condemned

The Haunting of House Trellu

Black Taxes

10 Black Taxes, July 2022

 THE APPENDICES
Notes, Lore, Stories, Handouts, Maps, & Statblocks
D&D is a complicated dance of information and imagination. I've often found a lot of
trouble seeing someone else's vision in what they have written. Having put out dozens
of adventures now, we at the AOG have figured out that what we see isn't always what
you see. And while that is absolutely wonderful when it spawns creativity... it is
absolutely tragic when it breeds confusion.

You probably won't find sections like these in our "Year One" or "Quick Shot"
Adventures, as those are designed to flow without a lot of extra information. But
when it comes to our Bigger Releases we'll typically include quite a bit of extra
information to bring some clarity to our thinking, to further expand on our vision,
and hopefully add fuel to your own.

Some of the things below probably won't change from module to module. Things like the
House Rules and How I structure the AOG's Adventures. Other parts like Maps and
Statblocks will change every Adventure.

I think that's about all you need to know about this section.

And as always Thank You for playing with us!

Black Taxes, July 2022 11

 PLAYING AN AOG ADVENTURE
Homebrewed World
First off, almost all my adventures are set in my Homebrew World of Taalist, particularly the Continent of Krenshad.
Which the majority of has a very Gothic Art and Renaissance Period cultural feel to it. With some Greek and Middle
Eastern Cultre from various time periods thrown in there for flavor. That said… Almost all of my Adventures can be
easily ported into your location of choice. If you would like to play in Taalist my Campaign Guide (All 150+ Pages of it)
can be accessed on our Discord.
The Lay Out
I divide my adventures into “Acts”. An Act doesn’t necessarily reflect an amount of time, but more of an important
series of events or locations. Some Acts may take 5 minutes, some 5 hours. Why? I dunno, ask the players who over
complicate simple matters and simplify the overly complex.
Skill Check DCs
I don’t spend a lot of time defining DCs as I play with a bit wider scale of success and failures. What does that mean?
For reference the DC scale in 5E looks like this…. Very Easy DC 5, Easy DC 10, Medium DC 15, Hard DC 20, Very
Hard DC 25, Nearly Impossible DC 30. When I list a DC, I will tell you it is Hard. But Hard for one party may be easy
for another so I leave the actual number value up to you. I also play with a “Success but with Consequences” mentality.
That means if they get close they still accomplish their goal, but there is a “but” to that success. An Example? Hard
Stealth DC is 20, they roll an 18, I tell them “You sneak past the guard you see, but the guard you didn’t see heard
something and is headed your way.” I think it adds more to the story that way.
Search Checks
I often reference Search Checks. What is a Search Check? When the players want to “search” something or for
something I let them use either Investigation or Perception. I know that isn’t RAW but it just makes things so much
easier. I got real tired of explaining to players who have been playing with me for years the difference between the
two… just let them look for stuff!
Treasure Sizes
Every game is different. So I do not usually list out treasures. Instead I use the follwing terms to assign value not size
to the treasure Petty, Small, Medium, Large, Huge. Often I will use a combination of them. You can decide how best to
fulfill that for your party.
Identify Rules
I use a different style of Identify. Items in my world have a Knowledge DC on them (Arcana, Religion, History, and
Nature). I allow the player to use an appropriate Check on an item to identify it. The Identify Spell adds a +10 to this. It
can be upcast for additional +5 bonuses. Depending on the score of the Check I give them different information. Some
information is extremely hard to obtain, for example Curses are well hidden behind DCs that are at least DC 30, often
much higher.
Opening Cutscene
I like to start my games with an Opening Cutscene which is read before anything else happens. These are usually
really vague bits of information that give a glimpse into something that will maybe happen later, happened before the
adventure, or is story adjacent to it. I have found these to be great tools to set the mood and create a little mystery.
Setting, Background Info, and Hooks
These portions can be used as you see fit. Each one is a little different, so it is hard for me to say how best to use them.
Some will play better if you can get them into the hands of the players before the game. Others may have better
influence when read just after the Cutscene. Some are really only relevant to moments in the story. But as in all things
you do what is best for your game! That is always the way to go.
Skill Challenges
I use the idea of Skill Challenges a lot. What is that? It is an event in the game that isn’t quite an encounter and it isn’t
a simple skill check. It is a problem they solve with their whole skill set. Typically they must get three successes before
three failures in order to succeed in a skill check. The thing about a Skill challenge is they’re are vague on purpose to
allow players to be creative in solving a problem. An example may help here.
DM says “Your Boat is taking on water. What would you like to do?”
Player 1 responds with “I use my carpentry tools to fix the hole” and they make a Tool Check. But they roll a 2 so
they fail. Too much water.
Player 2 says “ wants to row harder with the crew to get us toward shore faster” They make an Athletics Check and
roll an 18. So that is a success.
Player 3 “I use Destroy Water to get water out” OK, well it only destroys 10 gallons so it isn’t super helpful, but the
momentary reprieve allows a little drywork to happen and allow player 1 to reroll.
12 Black Taxes, July 2022
THOUGHTS ABOUT
HORROR GAMES
What is a Horror Game?
That question covers a lot of bases! But there are some
core values that make a game a Horror Game, and they
aren’t what a lot of people think. Sure it can be a gross
out carnage and gore run with entrail and blood covered
monstrosities, but far more often it is about the tension
and mood of the game you are running. Horror games
dive deep into setting a specific tension building tone
and subverting player expectations. If you have access
to Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, read it! It has a
multitudes of tips on what a Horror game is and can be!
Safety and Boundaries
VRGtR talks about this a lot. Make sure you know your
group’s boundaries and have a safety system in place
when you play. You can google info about that real quick
if you need to. But basically it is a way for players to let
you know that you’re heading into territory that makes
them uncomfortable in NOT a fun way. Then you as the
DM can pause and redirect. Twas a time I thought that
was lame and unnecessary… then I had a player have a
breakdown. I didn’t know it was coming and in fact they
didn’t either, but the narrative got way to close to home
emotionally in regard to past trauma. Were there safety
tools in place that player could have let me know, but
instead they felt trapped there growing more and more
uncomfortable until it was too late. So talk to your
players and develop a plan to create and protect
boundaries!
Tone and Subverting expectations.
So lets talk about tone. Not the specific tone differences
between say a gothic horror game and a cosmic horror
game. The overall tone that horror should create. No
matter what the style of the game is, horror games
always promote feelings of rising tension and release. A
lot of people compare this to a roller coaster, that’s
close but coasters usually start big and end slower.
Horror tends to work in reverse. Rising tension, small
relief, more tension, more relief, high tension, little
relief, you get the idea, and then it all comes racing to a
finish at the end… or did it? Creating that kind of tension
and not making your players miserable with it is a skill
that you as the DM will need to develop. And one of the
best ways to do that is to subvert their expectations.
This is another place where the Roller Coaster analogy
kind of goes off the rails. (Yeah I punned that). You
know on a coaster that after a long rise there is going to
be a drop. You see it coming. You’ve watched it the
entire time you were in line. It built excitement for that
moment. But what if the coaster didn’t drop right there?
What if it only dipped a little bit? What if the design of
the track was intentionally misleading? That is the kind
of tension you want to create.
Ever ride a Disney Coaster? Most are encased in a
building or shoot through massive scenery that
obscures your vision. That is 100% intentional, because
were those coasters open air they’d be pretty lame, but
the fact that you have no idea there are dips and twists
coming on that run-away-mine-train makes otherwise
yawnable rides fun. That is horror. The players think
something is about to happen, but what is really
happening is over here. You ever do the pull a quarter
out of a kid’s ear trick? If you’re good at it you learned to
get them to look anywhere but at where you’re keeping
that quarter, and then the moment they look away you
grab their head and scream WHAT IS THAT IN YOUR
EAR! OMG!… lol… don’t do that to children… that’s
called trauma. But when it comes to Horror Games I’m
sure you get the idea. Its basic illusion work, get them
looking anywhere other than where the threat is.
You also need to play with tropes and then sometimes
turn them on their heads. Folks say all the time they
hate tropes. I’m just gonna put this out there… most
people don’t know what they actually like and hate.
People love tropes, they’re tropes for a reason. We play
a game that in all of its core aspects is a living breathing
trope and it is really hard to get away from it.
So what we’ve all done is embrace it, sometimes
without realizing it, and that gives you a lot of room to
take tropes and flip them upside down. Horror leans
into tropes all the time. A group of people get isolated
and a creature picks them off one by one. That is the
heart and soul of 90% of horror stories. That’s a trope.
Strahd is one of the tropiest tropes that ever troped, and
we all still love him. Tropes create a sense of security,
players think they know what’s coming, and messing
with that is your most effective tool in creating tension.
I ran Curse of Strahd a while back. It is wonderful as
written, but I can’t help but mess with stuff so I jiggered
the heck out of that module. In the run I introduced
Colletta (the “Tatyanna”) character as the typical
damsel in distress being chased by a Vampire. But then
they met Strahd who was simply done with everything
and determined to destroy his own realm. He was of
course hot after Coletta as he always is, but more
interested in the end of his curse. This turned him into
an anti-hero of sorts, and every interaction with him was
uncomfortable but helpful. . Now the players Never Ever
Ever trusted Strahd, nor should they have. But Strahd
was never the Villain of my story. Colletta was. I had
given her access to past memories of her former lives
and she was determined to not let Strahd free of his
curse but instead to strip him of his powers and torment
him herself forever. They players did so many horrible
things to protect that damsel in distress and all the
while were pawns to evil, meanwhile evil was
attempting a true redemption that they denied him.
Tropes used and expectations subverted. It was a
glorious ending full of shock and horror. And I couldn’t
have done it without leaning into tropes!
Black Taxes, July 2022 13
 Keep your Focus & Remember, Less is More
Less is More, this old saying rings true in so many areas
of life, and holds a lot of sway over Horror. How many
monsters are there in most Horror stories? Most of the
time there is only one. If there are more it is usually the
same type of creature. There is a reason for that. One
you should lean into. One very hard to kill creature is a
lot scarier than dozens of slaughterable goons. “If it
Bleeds We Can Kill It.” is a statement of Hope not Fact.
Hope can be crushed. Now I’m not saying don’t use
minions or random encounters or mini bosses. We need
those in an Adventure. What I am saying is don’t drown
your players in them, and never let the focus off your
main threat. It is always there. Looming and lurking. In
many ways it is the Monster’s story and no one else’s.
Doubt that? Think of most of the popular Horror Stories
you know, who is easier to remember? The Monster or
the People it is after? In almost every regard, your
threat is your Protagonist. You still probably want your
players to pull out a win, because that is fun for them,
but your monster is your true star.
The World Doesn’t Work in Their Favor
Normally, there are a lot of things that should work in
the players favor. NPC cooperation is often one of them.
But you’re out to create a general feel of suspicion and
distrust. Therefore NPC and the World should give the
impression of wanting to cooperate, but they often don’t.
Use Good Descriptive Words.
It’s not an Ogre. He isn’t just ugly. He is a hulking
monstrocity nearly 10 feet tall covered in oozing sores
with chunks of flesh hanging between its rotting teeth.
Hunt Them
Being Hunted by a monster is more nerve wracking
than fighting it. Building on a feeling of dread and
anticipation can really make people unsettled.
2 Steps Forward 1 Step Back, Always…
They never fully win. Everything has strings attached
and ripple effects. You‘re out to create the shadow of
hopelessness. They save a peasant from a monster but
while they were helping them, something else bad
happened. Not as bad, but they need to start to live with
the feeling that they have too many fires to fight. Let
them win once and awhile, but they should mostly be
partial victories. I mean you don’t want to crush their
souls or anything… wait… or do you… ?
Use a Kobayashi Maru
Otherwise known as a No Win Situation. Someone is
sick and dying and they can’t save them. Someone can’t
be brought back from the dead because - reasons. They
couldn’t prevent a village from being destroyed. And if
they pull a Captain Kirk and try to cheat the system…
well remind them that Star Trek is fiction and this is
D&D.
14 Black Taxes, July 2022
Force Them to Make Terrible Choices
In a regular game a BBEG might monologue and
players could try to save the day. Yeah, that doesn’t
happen here. If the BBEG is monologuing it is because
players can’t stop them and they think it is amusing.
There are two guillotine and two people trapped in
them. They literally, no matter what can only save one.
Those type of things. I have even killed a player very
early in the campaign to emphasis that in a Horror
Game villains don’t piss around.
Enforce Consequences.
Bad choice need consequences. This chips away at their
morale. However, a player can usually deal with
consequences affecting them. But… If they have an NPC
ally and that NPC pays for it. That is differet. Hurt the
helpless and your players will become extremely
nervous. Hurt someone they don’t want to mess with
and they will be down right scared. Now, this does not
work on Murder Hobos… at first… because players like
that don’t care about things like NPCs… but there are
things they do care about, and once the consequence
affects those things it hurts bad.
Chipping Away at Their Sanity
I highly reccomend using a sanity mechanic. There are
many good ones out there that don’t come across as
blunt force trauma immediately. The things seen in a
Horror Game should unsettle the characters deeply. In
fact if we’re honest most of what adventurers do and see
should leave emotional trauma in their wake. Lean into
that. When they see something have them make a sanity
check… the more they fail the harder the checks get.
And the more unhinged thier behavior becomes. Will
they even be able to tell friend from foe by the end of the
game? Hopefully at least one of them wont! Because
having someone’s character completely go off the rails
is a good time in a game like this!
SUPER IMPORTANT
Give Them a Flower in the Desert
The last thing I will leave you with is an easy and simple
notion. Don’t constantly oppress the players. Horror has
a lot of things that chip away at resolve, and if you don’t
lift them up once and a while they’ll give up. That means
they stop having fun. The Flower in the Desert concept
is exactly what it sounds like. Give them something fun
and wonderful once and a while. Give them a scene of
beauty not terror. Give them a flower in the desert. It
keeps them going and helps relieve the stress of the
adventure. Humor is often one of your best avenues, but
a real spot of world building beauty is something they
will always remember!
The End?
I’ve got a ton more I could say about all things Horror,
but I gotta wrap it up somewhere. If you want to pick my
brain about it, send me a message where you found this
and I’ll get back to ya!
The Stolregard Barony

Black Taxes, July 2022 15

 Deleran’s Crossing

16 Black Taxes, July 2022

The Crimson Curtain
Main Floor

Black Taxes, July 2022 17

 The Crimson Curtain
Lower Level

18 Black Taxes, July 2022

Warehouse

Black Taxes, July 2022 19

 Slaver Hideout

20 Black Taxes, July 2022