Adventure Location - Giors Glass Works

8/8/2019 Adventure Location - Giors Glass Works

1/12

Bates free product


2/12

City

StreetsGiors Glassworks

Author: Patrick Lawinger

Cover Design:

Dave Gilham

Art/Art Direction:

Patrick Lawinger

Cartography:

Patrick Lawinger

Editor:

Patrick Lawinger

Production and Development:Patrick Lawinger

Sparks Introduction:

Patrick Lawinger

2008 Generic Universe Publishing. All rights reserved. Reproduction without the written permission of

the publisher is expressly forbidden. Generic Universe, Generic Universe Publishing, Sparks, City Streets and

attending logos are trademarks of Generic Universe Publishing. All characters, names, places, items, and

text herein are copyrighted by Generic Universe Publishing. With the exceptionof Public Domain Art, Art-

work is Copyrighted by Generic Universe Publishing or by the original Artist and used with permission.

This book uses the supernatural for settings, characters and themes. All mystical and supernatural ele-ments are fiction and intended for entertainment purposes only. Any similarity to real locations or indi-

viduals is unintended. Reader discretion is advised.

www.genericuniverse.com

Bates free product
http://www.davegraphix.com/http://www.genericuniverse.com/http://www.genericuniverse.com/http://www.davegraphix.com/


3/123

Introduction

Sparks system independent products are designed to ignite the creativity of the Game Master (GM).Generic Universe Publishing (GU) believes the re you create with your imagination provides more lastingentertainment and more enjoyable games than a set formula or script created by someone else. The

City Streets books deliver highly detailed locations for your city or village designed to help bring yourgame to life. These locations are useful for basic role-playing interactions or as a source of adventure orinformation within your own game world. Obviously, as a generic RPG product, the non-player characters(NPCs), animals, and monsters described within have no game statistics. Many RPG systems alreadyprovide basic statistics for monsters and some NPCs and these can easily be used. In those othersituations, perhaps when the player characters (PCs) decide to wantonly murder and/or rob a storekeeper,the GM might need to create statistics for some NPCs. Fortunately, NPCs are described in detail and GUprovides a simple way to help the GM assess NPC abilities.

NPCs

The detailed descriptions of the NPCs in ourproducts should help immensely during those

moments the PCs decide to take their interactionsto a more physical level. While the descriptionsalone should help the GM create statistics,sometime a bit more help is needed. We provideadditional information as described below.Obviously, we encourage your own creativeinterpretation of any material provided and youare free to change anything you desire. In fact, weencourage making changes as they make it easierfor you to bring these locations to life.

Attributes

Although the physical and mental attributes of NPCsshould not often come into play, it is easy to seehow the GM might need to know something aboutthese attributes even in non-combat situations.Some interactions might see the PCs asking forhelp carrying a large item, or interpreting a difcultpuzzle. The system we use for looking at physicaland mental traits is fairly simple.

Physical Traits: how fast, strong, and hearty acharacter might be. Most NPCs are average withrespect to physical traits but older characters mighthave slowed or gotten more frail with age.

Mental Traits: general intelligence, commonsense, and problem solving ability. This can alsoinclude how well spoken an individual is and howconvincing they might be. Again, most people areconsidered average in this area.

Sparks products use 5 ability levels to translate intoyour game system.

Weak: the mental or physical abilities areweaker than average. Whetherthrough age or mental disability,

this individual is simply not ascapable as most.

Average: just what it states, the average.Neither stronger nor smarterthan most; this covers the vastmajority of NPC mental andphysical traits. If no Mental orPhysical Traits are listed, thenthe character is average for thosetraits.

Exceptional: possessing above averagestrength, stamina, or mentalabilities that stand out above thecrowd.

Inspiring: these characters are eithersmarter or stronger than mostothers. Smart or wise enoughto be sought out for advice orstrong enough to be sought outfor physical assistance. A smallnumber of individuals haveinspiring Mental or Physical Traits.

Heroic: possessing legendary mental orphysical powers discussed byothers with awe. Only a mere

fraction of a percentage of thepopulation has heroic attributes.However, some types of monstershave been known to possesslegendary abilities.

Most NPC descriptions provide no information aboutattributes. In such cases, always presume that theattributes are average.

City Streets

Bates free product
http://www.genericuniverse.com/http://www.genericuniverse.com/


4/12


5/125

Mental Powers

Special Mental Powers, such as telepathy ortelekinetic powers, are used in some role-playinggames. If your game does not include specialMental Powers, use the character description totranslate these characteristics into other abilitiesthat t your game system. Mental Powers followthe same track as Magic Talent with the default,none, never listed and the following ve categoriesused for those creatures possessing special Mental

Powers:

Minor: able to perform minor tricks of themind, but nothing overly deadly orpowerful

Greater: able to perform great feats bymental powers alone

Major: this persons mind is a potentweapon capable of harmingmultiple targets, or even healing ormodifying reality on a small scale.

Awesome: feared and admired for their

incredible mental powers, theseindividuals can twist reality withtheir minds.

Heroic: possessing mental powers so greatthat time and space are merelyconcepts that can be followed,or ignored at a whim. PCs foolishenough to attack someone thispowerful are generally left with themind of an infant, if they survive atall.

Locks

Different game systems handle locks and thepicking or breaking of locks in different ways. Whenlocks are described they are categorized as follows:

Easy: a child or a swift blow with ahammer can open this lock.

Average: requires some tools and a small

amount of skill.

Challenging: requires skill, tools, and time toopen.

Exceptional: requires extreme skill, specialtools and lots of time to open.

Outrageous: really, it would be easier to ndthe key, no, really

Traps

In some rare cases, a particular vault, door, orchest might be trapped. A general description of the

type of trap and what it does includes the level ofpain it can inict using the following categories:

Annoying: not terribly dangerous becauseit is easy to nd or bypass orbecause the trap simply doesntinict much damage.

Painful: these traps are either capableof inicting a small amount ofdamage to multiple targets or alarger amount of damage to asingle target. They are also moredifcult to detect and disarm.

Yikes!: traps at this level are trulydangerous and are only identiedby a trained professional andusually only disarmed or bypassedusing specialized tools. They inictmassive amounts of damage to asingle target or large amounts ofdamage to multiple targets.

Gravestone: The most extreme level of trapis particularly difcult to disarmand is often triggered just tryingto foolishly bypass it. These trapsare capable of inicting instantand gruesome deaths upon theirvictims.

Bates free product


6/126

Items

Items possessed or sold by NPCs are the standardfor the game world or system the GM is usingunless described differently. Sometimes a characterpossesses a rare or special item, or an item thatis named. Such items can be considered magic,or particularly well made or designed, dependingupon the game world and game system being used.The exact power(s) of such items is left to the GMto determine thus insuring nothing unbalancing isbrought into the game.

In some cases a particular magic item or specialitem has its own description. The GM should choosewhether or not the item is appropriate for theirgame and assign it powers as they see t.

Prices

Prices for all items should be considered standardfor the game system being used. Store prices aredescribed in relative terms such as reasonable orexpensive rather than giving specic guidelines.Again, only the GM can determine what prices tbest with their game world. Fantasy prices, whenlisted, use a gold standard (1 gp = 10 sp = 100cp). Modern prices use US dollars as a standard andFuture prices use credits as a standard.

Other Details

A wide variety of other factors may require gamestatistics during gameplay. The GM is trusted toderive appropriate statistics for poisons, potions,and other items based on the descriptions provided.This insures such items are appropriate to theparticular style of game being played.

If the PCs are particularly destructive the GM mayeven require statistics for the breakage of woodfurniture, doors, walls, windows, mirrors, etc. GUsuggests using standard statistics for glass or woodas a baseline to start from.

Bates free product


7/127

Giors Glassworks

written by Patrick Lawinger

A squat stone building stands at the edge of thecobblestone road. Decorative glass windows anka heavy oak door set deep into the stone. A stonefence extends from the sides of the building beforeturning back to enclose a large area behind thebuilding. Pillars support a high roof extending fromthe rear of the building. The sign over the door is

painted with a glass bottle enclosing a G withinanother G, marking this as Giors Glassworks, asupplier of bottles, glasses, and other glass items.

Giors hard work and dedication in the decadessince opening the glassworks have turned it into avery successful business. He now supplies blownglass wine goblets and decorative items to noblesand wealthy merchants throughout the area aswell as providing more simple bottles and smallpanes of glass to other customers. Hardworking andhonest, Gior trains numerous apprentices in his ownbusiness philosophy as well as glass working. Giors

recently developed new techniques allowing thecreation of clear crystal glasses and bottles that areetched and decorated have increased demand. Therising popularity drives him to hire new apprenticesand desperately seek materials for his growingbusiness.

1. The Shop

Narrow tables and shelves along the outer edgesof the room hold a wide variety of glass productsfrom delicate goblets to sturdy bottles to strange

statues and gures made of colored glass. Crystaldecanters and goblets are displayed along theback wall beside more mundane bottles and asks.A wide table squats in the center of the roomsurrounded by chairs. When the store is open acash box, parchment, pens, and ink are found onthe table, otherwise it is clear. Lanterns shieldedwith cut crystal send rainbows of colors along thewalls and oor, aided during the daylight hours bysunlight shining through the colored windows. Thedoor in the rear of the shop is usually left openrevealing the furnace and work area while thesturdy oak door to the storeroom is usually closed.

The shop is managed by Wemari, thoughsometimes an apprentice comes to assist her.She keeps careful track of inventory and recordsevery transaction. Customers seeking special glassorders are asked to wait while Wemari calls Giorinto the room. He sits down with customers and

discusses their desires and draws out plans at thetable when he needs them. Only rare customersare brought into the back area near the furnaceand the working apprentices. In his rst years ofbusiness a customer burned their hand on a pieceof hot glass so Gior avoids allowing customers intothe glassworks unless it is absolutely necessary toachieve a large sale. Wemari works from morningthrough late afternoon, leaving an apprentice towatch the store in the evening. When darknessfalls, the door to the shop is closed and barred.

Bates free product


8/128

2. Storage

Shelves line the small, closet-like room. Simpleglass bottles, glasses, and other glass items line thevarious shelves. Organized by size and shape, thevarious items are easy to locate. Only the simplestandard items are found here, special order itemsare stored elsewhere. The door has no lock and

there have been no thefts.

3. The Glassworks

Dominating the area is a massive furnace used tomelt, reheat, and slowly cool glass that createssuch great heat Gior wisely decided to house it ina wide, open area sheltered by a roof supported by

sturdy pillars. Breezes ow through easily, drivingsome of the oppressive heat of the furnace away.The well-designed workspace makes it much easierfor the workers to tolerate the heat allowing themto work longer and more efciently. The roof keepsaway any rain that could fall on hot glass and crackit. Bins along one side contain white sand, potash,and soda-lime that are mixed in different amounts

to create different types of glass. Large stacks ofwood rest outside the roofed area against the stonewalls. Tarps lay on the ground nearby, ready tocover the wood when needed.

The circular furnaces four openings are placed atdifferent distances from the re that is kept burning24 hours a day. The two openings closest to the

City Streets

Bates free product


9/129

main heat and bellows are the mixing areas wherethe sand and soda-lime, or sand and potash, aremixed and melted. The second opening is used bythe glass blowers to reheat the glass while they areshaping and forming it, and the last oven area isused to store nished glass products allowing themto cool slowly and avoid cracking.

Active work areas are split into two corners, oneis for the true glass blowers to blow delicate glassgoblets and artistic designs, and the other isdedicated to creating quicker, less expensive bottlesand other items. Less experienced apprenticesblow glass into various molds or spin glass into atshapes before cooling and cutting them into panesfor windows, or they pour molten glass is pouredinto special molds. Various small wood bins containakes of pigments used to color the glass if aparticular product calls for color, and racks holdingvarious specialized clip, tweezers, and glass cuttingand etching devices hang from the ceiling above. A

third work area is Giors bench and is reserved onlyfor his use. Often, one or two apprentices simplywatch him work, providing assistance when calledfor. Gior is usually found here only in the laterhours of the day, he spends the morning makingassignments and overseeing the apprentices beforehe spends time with the glass he loves.

4. Workers Cottage

Built in the back of the large yard behind the actualGlassworks, this cottage was originally Giorshome. Gior has since moved into a larger, nicerhome in the city and now uses this to house some

of his apprentices. Large enough for one person,the living space is cramped with curtained bedsleaving a small kitchen in one corner. Each of the 5apprentices now living here has an individual trunkfor their personal belongings. They share cookingduties and one apprentice each night needs to getup and stoke the ames in the furnace outside,keeping the re burning 24 hours a day.

Products

Gior and his apprentices can produce almost anyglass object a customer could desire. This includesspecial alchemists equipment, special lamp covers,glass windows, bowls, crystal glasses, and otherdecorative items. He keeps bottles and some otheritems in stock (as they are easy to create and keep

the apprentices busy. Most of the standard bottles,asks, and simple glasses are priced at or belowprices of his few competitors. However, Gior hasgreat faith in his skill, and that of his apprentices,and charges more for wine goblets, crystaldecanters, and other special items. He chargesstandard rates for window panes unless a customerrequests a special size.

Personalities

Gior Markave, male human, 5 ft. 6 in., 150 lbs.Age 52.

Magic Ability: minor

Bald, wrinkled, and hunch-backed, Gior is nota pretty man, and frankly, never has been. His

bent nose and missing eyebrows draw focus tohis dark, beady eyes. His dusky skin stretchestightly across his wiry muscled frame kept lean byconstant exposure to the brutal heat of his furnace.Fortunately, Giors smiling, friendly, honest naturehelps set people at ease. Gior has dedicated himselfto his work for decades, only recently realizing hehas missed the joys of life such as love, marriage,and children. He now considers his apprenticeshis children and does his best to not only pass onhis skills but also a more open, honest philosophy

Giors Glassworks

Bates free product


10/1210

on life. He also does his best to demand hisapprentices take one day off a week to go out andenjoy themselves. Giors present goals includecreating new types of glass and glass makingprocesses that he hopes hold his name in history.

Now wealthy and living in his own home in thecity, Gior now receives invitations to some of the

ner parties and celebrations throughout the town.Nobles and merchants that supported Gior in hisearlier years now receive special services andtreatment, including the rst options to purchaseGiors artistic work, something he prefers to focushis time on now. Giors open honesty does notextend to his distant past, he refuses to discusswhere he learned to work with glass, nor wherehe came from. Decades here erased local doubtsand curiosity to the point that he rarely ever eldsquestions about his past. Gior has natural minormagic abilities related to an ability to make hisdelicate glasswork more sturdy and resistant to

breakage.

Wemari Goldleaf, female half-elf, 5 ft. 6 in., 120lbs. Age 87.

Gold hair frames Wemaris delicate features andshockingly blue eyes. An attractive thin nose andhigh cheekbones draw attention to her eyes andwide smile. Wemari began working for Gior 28years ago after being divorced due to her mixedheritage. Her human husband could not come toterms with his swift aging when compared to herenduring beauty. Still bitter from the break-up,Wemari has not entered into another relationshipin all this time. She is rumored to be involved withGior because she attends parties with him, but they

are only friends that have supported each otherthrough difcult times. Wemari lives in a smallapartment several blocks away from the store andis content with her work and her life.

Smart and dedicated, Wemari keeps Giors booksand ensures a protable business. Giors boldhonesty when he rst hired her simply to be an

attractive shopkeeper to help overcome his uglinesshas lead to a strong dedication to keeping Gior inbusiness. Wemaris true attractive ness doesnt liein her physical beauty, but in her kind smile and herability to sit and calmly listen to customers to helpthem determine what they really want. Fortunately,she looks completely human, though a bit thin, sothe unwelcome topic of her mixed heritage doesnot often come up. Many locals do know about it,but most recognize her desire to avoid the subject.Wemari avoids relationships with human men, andis content for elves to ignore her, though lately shehas shown some interest in another half-elf she met

in town.

Fiarl and Wedge, male humans, 5 ft. 7 in., 145lbs. Age 17, 19.

Nearly identical squashed, at features and lightbrown eyes mark these two senior apprentices asbrothers. Despite their youth, they are two of themost skilled apprentices working for Gior at thistime. Cast out of their fathers home, they came towork for Gior when Fiarl, the eldest, was only 9 andGior gladly provided them a home and work. Lighthaired Fiarl is solemn and quiet while the younger,dark-haired Wedge is jovial and light-hearted.

Tiabane, male dwarf, 4 ft. 10 in., 235 lbs. Age123.

Cheerful on the outside, this scarred dwarf givesno family name because he was outcast by his clanfor theft. Tiabane rarely wears more than a thickleather work apron, exposing his bare, muscularframe to the world even when traipsing throughthe city. Dwarves of all clans avoid him, his clean-shaven face a shock and a clear sign that he has noclan. Tiabane took up glasswork with Gior 15 yearsago and has been content to work here ever since.

Tiabanes skill and knowledge are second only toGior but he is not as artistic as Fiarl and Wedge.

Lepton Whitehale, male human, 5 ft. 10 in., 185lbs, Age 24.

Lepton has only been working for Gior for severalmonths. Lepton is the bastard son of a localnobleman that asked Gior to take him in. Leptonresents being here, and his work shows it. Thoughtall and well-proportioned, women shy awayfrom lingering anger and resentment worn on his

City Streets

Bates free product


11/1211

expressive features. Lepton is actively seekingother jobs with Giors encouragement.

Coral White, female human, 5 ft. 2 in., 100 lbs,Age 19.

Apprenticed to Gior several years ago, Coral stilllives with her family in the city. The family felt

that Coral needed a trade of some sort and she isenamored with glasswork. In truth, Coral is so uglythe family considers her unmarriageable. Coralconsiders herself ugly as well, leading her to cut herhair short as well as failing to care for her clothingor appearance.

Apprentices, male or female.

Gior usually has traveling apprentices that come tovisit for a time and learn techniques. They comefrom all races, shapes, and sizes, but generallyhave friendly personalities that enable them to getalong well with the other workers at the glassworks.

NPCs seeking a small, out of the way job to hidefrom the world for any reason might be foundtaking a position here.

Giors Glassworks

Adventure Ideas

(1) The Past Returns

Giors past comes back to haunt him as his workyears ago for a Thieves Guild is being used toblackmail him. That guild is now moving into thecity and is in a minor war with existing thieves and

they have demanded Giors help. The paymentis not in the form of money, but services, Gior isexpected to help hide members of the guild and tohelp dispose of bodies in his furnace. Wemari andseveral of the apprentices have noticed Giors quiet,shifting mood and his nervousness around one ofthe new apprentices but the real questions dontcirculate until the day he sends everyone out for theday. Later that afternoon neighbors complain aboutthe awful stench coming from the furnace, the smelof burning corpses. If investigated or questioned,Gior confesses and begs for help. Do the PCs wantto side with the new guild or the old? Should they

approach the City Watch?

(2) A Bastards Vengeance

Lepton, consumed with anger and hatred, contrivesto ll chambers of the furnace with oil duringthe night he is expected to watch the res. Theresulting explosion and re destroys the furnaceand kills two of the apprentices (chosen randomly).Asked to investigate, the PCs learn that Leptonsfather is hiding Lepton on one of his properties inthe city. Lepton knows enough about his fatherto destroy him in the eyes of the nobility and isusing the information to blackmail his father intoprotecting him. Wanted for murder and destruction,Gior is also offering a reward for his capture.

(3) Boys will be Boys

Fiarl and Wedge are not the kind boys they seem.Hidden from all is the truth of their expulsionfrom their fathers home. The boys are demonworshippers that have nally achieved the skill tocreate a glass device allowing them to summon aportal to the Abyss. They now seek others to helpbuild a cult and a facility to house their horriblecontraption. Recently, a new merchant in town has

been visiting with them frequently to encouragetheir work. PCs investigating the merchant for anyreason learn that he is a demon worshipper, and hisconstant interaction with the boys should be a hintthat something strange is going on.

Bates free product


12/12

Generic Universe Publishing (GU) is dedicated to encouraging imagination and

creativity in an increasingly generic world. We provide inexpensive, simple gamesupplements to meet your fantasy role-playing needs. Most of our products usesimple black and white art and hand drawn maps as a tribute to the earliest RPGs.All of our RPG products are created with the philosophy that it is what YOU do witha book that will make it truly memorable.

The Sparks line of system independent productsdesigned for use in any fanasy role-playing game.Sparks products are designed under the philoso-phy that it is the GM and players that create the bestgames and are built to ignite your own creativity.

Sparks, we provide the spark, you create the re.

The City Streets books providing highly detailed city and village locations for yourfantasy role-playing needs. These books are the rst in a series of system inde-pendent RPG books in the Sparks product line.

The GreatCreators line reintroduces classic novelsand short stories to modern readers with ebooksdesigned specically for on-screen reading. ReadClassic stories by authors such as Sir Arthur ConanDoyle, Jules Verne, Ernest Bramah, and even Ed-gar Rice Burroughs. Enjoy the stories that spawnedgenerations of creative writers.

Visit the GU website and forums and make your desires and opinions known.

www.genericuniverse.com
http://www.genericuniverse.com/http://www.genericuniverse.com/http://www.genericuniverse.com/http://www.genericuniverse.com/products.htmlhttp://www.genericuniverse.com/products.htmlhttp://www.genericuniverse.com/products.htmlhttp://www.genericuniverse.com/http://www.genericuniverse.com/http://www.genericuniverse.com/

Documents

Adventure Location - Giors Glass Works