Curse of the Ganshaggr: Free, Beautiful, and Weird as Hell

A beautiful module. Free. About a killer goose. One of the most fun things I’ve read in a long time.

It’s by Gus L and you can get it on DriveThruRPG. Let me tell you why you want to read this.

You Work For The Goose King

The Goose King sits in a squat great hall among verdant fields won by his ancestors. He feasts nightly on the most succulent turf, rich foreign wines, and the finest lettuces. In the swampy dark outside, his kingdom crumbles and suffers.

That’s the quality of writing in this thing. And it’s free.

The Ganshaggr

The great Gander of the clay marshes. The despoiler. The land-devara. The sword-blessed terror bird. Maimer of Champions. Curse of the wrathful stars.

It has come again.

The Ganshaggr’s scream rips the night in contemptuous accusation, sounding the Goose King’s failure.

Come on. How good is that?

The Goose King is a coward. He decrees he must not face the ravening monster himself (as is his royal right) and seeks a champion. He’s going to pay you a lot of gold to kill this goose demon thing.

Great one-shot setup.

It Will Kill Your Players

This is whimsical. You’re dealing with killer geese. But it’s also terrifying because the Ganshaggr will destroy your players in seconds if they’re not clever.

The module seeds information throughout. Rumors that seem to make no sense but help players unwrap what’s going on. If they don’t pick up on it? Things will not go well.

The Clay Marshes

“The fetid grey muck of the clay marshes, a worthless expanse of brackish streams, grey mud, drowned corpses, and fibrous weeds.”

That quality of writing isn’t available in most modules - even expensive ones.

The Farm

A ramshackle farm. Inside you find:

• Gris, a one-legged goose matron
• Reed, a handsome young man missing his left arm
• Tau the Inevitable, a robed and shrouded figure missing both arm and leg

Odd. They offer you a feast. If you ask about the Ganshaggr, each gives you an extra rumor.

The feast is blessed and cursed. Several dishes, each made from the missing limbs of former champions. These three crippled things? Former champions who fought the Ganshaggr and lost. They feed you parts of themselves.

Eat something similar to your character? Cursed with the mark of the cannibal - you start growing canine teeth. Eat something different? Blessed.

If you sleep at the farm, you wake refreshed, full hit points, all exhaustion gone. But the farm is now deserted and derelict. Gardens overgrown. Your packs have been searched. Any bells in your possession are stolen.

The farmers are former champions granted immortality as servants of the Ganshaggr.

So much wrapped up in one encounter.

The Ganshaggr Itself

“Tall as a shrine steeple, bright as serrated beak and cunning blue eyes. It pecks with serpent quickness and force enough to shatter a destrier’s skull. Festooned with chains, bedecked with dented golden crowns, and pierced with ancient swords. The Ganshaggr is no mortal beast grown from an egg but a cosmic rebuke hatched from misrule and fashioned by grim avian gods to destroy kings and champions.”

That’s a big bad for your module.

It has weaknesses. Every big bad should. Uncovering them is part of the mystery. Your players need to figure out how to beat it, not just hit it hard.

The Lair

Every room is unique, beautiful, and has its own mystery.

The Candle Shrine: Every surface covered in melted wax studded with candle stubs that fail to hide the glint of gold. The shrine keeper croaks offers, selling candles. Prayers are answered based on the value of coins placed beneath candles. Try to steal? Things do not go well.

The Hall of Pillars: A candle-lit enameled altar with a feather blade. Any sword placed on it for one turn transforms into a feather blade that helps fight the Ganshaggr. Can only be used for one battle. Sacrifice something to create something magical.

The Ghost King: A floating transparent lord of war. Will ask for a crown recovered from the Ganshaggr. Give it any crown and it blesses your weapon.

All these things let clever players power up through their journey.

The Night Shield

A magical item on a trophy tree:

• Blessed: Owner is immune to fear
• Cursed: Cannot reject any challenge and cannot abandon the shield

One of your players can’t back down from a challenge now. A lot of fun for everyone.

Secret Doors Done Right

Tapping the rear wall suggests a void behind it. Easy to find. Looking at the mosaics closely reveals three geese among goosefolk behaving inappropriately - drinking, sleeping, wiping blood from a sword.

Press all three at once to reveal a latch and a staircase.

That’s what a secret door should be. Not just “roll to find it.” You have to figure something out.

Bottom Line

This module is beautiful. It’s free. You’ll spend half an hour reading it and really enjoy it.

I want to cover more of Gus L’s stuff because it’s all this good.

Get it. Curse of the Ganshaggr