Characters with ranks in Knowledge (history) and Knowledge (local) can research the Blind Tower to learn more about it. When a character succeeds on a skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 15: The Blind Tower is a group of investigators, spies, housebreakers, daredevils, and thieves-for-hire that prides itself on discretion in performing illegal and semilegal activities. Anyone who makes serious inquiries about hiring its services is soon approached by a member, ready to discuss terms of a contract. DC 20: The Blind Tower is supposedly funded and run by the master criminal Mister Dark, who went on an unstoppable crime spree thirty years ago. DC 25: All members of the Blind Tower have strange and distinctive names, such as Mistress Picks or Mister Gallows. DC 30: Characters who achieve this level of success learn of the organization’s recent missions and successes, hear gossip about who might be members of the group, and might even piece together hints about the location of the Blind Tower itself. To meet with a member of the Blind Tower, all one must do is openly inquire about contacting the group anywhere Mistress Eve Female human bard 4/rogue 3 frequented by criminals and the well-informed. If the N Medium humanoid inquirer and the task are deemed worthy of the group’s Init +2; Senses Listen +6, Spot +6 attention, an agent of the Tower pays a visit to the potential Languages Common, Undercommon employer soon after. AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14; Dodge, Mobility
Blind Tower Agents in the Game Only recently organized and operating in the shadows, the Blind Tower might well have been working behind the scenes of your campaign all along. The organization is purposely elusive and caters only to the worthy and elite, so it might seek to hire PCs for missions or even recruit them after some display of extraordinary skill. Alternatively, the PCs might be hired by some group with a long memory or
CHAPTER 6
Blind Tower Lore
that wishes the return of an item stolen by Mister Dark, which could lead them to confront one of the most secretive criminal organizations in the world. Adaptation: Any number of small adjustments can make the Blind Tower better suit your game. It’s quite possible that Mister Dark has nothing to do with the Blind Tower and that his name is merely being used by his three supposed lieutenants. Alternatively, Mister Tower, Mistress Eve, and Mister Dagger might be Mister Dark’s apprentices or children and continue his work, communing in a magical sanctum that is in fact an extraplanar tomb. The Blind Tower might also be the contract spy agency of a national government, or could serve any government for the right price. The group might even be a cover for more sinister deals, performing semibenevolent work to hide its vast information-gathering about some great conspiracy or world secret. Sample Encounter: The easiest way to become involved with the Blind Tower is through an agent of that group who has heard about and been impressed by some of the past exploits of the PCs. The agent might have a mission for the characters, whether to see just how good they are or to test them as part of some sort of Tower plot. Alternatively, if the PCs have caught the eye of someone important or robbed a powerful individual, the Blind Tower now stalks the party to collect information or retrieve its employer’s possessions. EL 7: The PCs find that the Blind Tower has been watching them. After some particularly daring stunt or lucrative haul, one of the party members is stopped on the street by a beautiful woman with short-cropped blonde hair. Smiling, she informs the PC that she’s been waiting for him, congratulates him on a job well done, hands him a letter, and leans in to kiss him on the cheek. The physicality lets her get close enough to use Sleight of Hand to steal something valuable from him before she slips away. The letter details a mission and is signed “Mister Dark.” This mission, of course, is a sham arranged by the Blind Tower and is meant to test the PCs, as is the theft of the target’s item. The elusive Mistress Eve slips away, reappearing in a different guise to induct another member elsewhere.
Scoundrel adventures
the inner circle plot and deal, and where the elusive Mister Dark purportedly makes his home. The grounds, hill, and marshes surrounding the Blind Tower are riddled with discarded statuary stolen from temples, castles, ancient ruins, and any number of other sites. Scattered and awkwardly placed, these sculptures make the area around the already sinister tower look like a massive, forgotten graveyard. These statues were acquired expressly at Mister Dark’s request, a product of the master thief’s grim sense of aesthetics, but some say, also to disguise the tower’s hidden guardians. The region around the Blind Tower is constantly patrolled by hidden members, usually initiates training in stealth, but also a number of deadly wilderness masters. The traps laid by practicing members, as well as the natural hazards of the swamp, make a single boggy and constantly watched road the only practical path to the Blind Tower.
CR 7
(+2 Dex, +3 armor, +1 deflection) hp 34 (7 HD) Resist evasion Fort +3, Ref +9, Will +7 Speed 30 ft. (6 squares) Melee short sword +6 (1d6+1/19–20) Ranged +1 light crossbow +8 (1d8+1/19–20) Base Atk +5; Grp +6 Atk Options Combat Reflexes, sneak attack +2d6
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