I thought I'd start this blog off by sharing an adventure that I never got to use. The campaign I had planned it for fizzed out before it even started, and so it is completely unplaytested. I hope you find use for it in your own game or at least some inspiration.

This is relatively vanilla fantasy fare, but when something in this adventure differs from traditional fantasy, I will point it out.

The dungeon and surrounding material was originally made for a system that I am developing called Ulter, which is based on Knave by Ben Milton. I won't be including things like stats for monsters or exact treasure amounts. If you want to use this in your own game, you can figure that out based on the system you are using. As such, this adventure is presented as "some assembly required."

Feel free to critique this adventure in the comments if you want.

To Find the Necromancer's Skull

Sectioned skull in profile to left with the left side of the cranium removed, print, Wenceslaus Hollar, after Leonardo da Vinci (MET, 20.81.2.20)

Where the great mountains meet the grassy hills, an unusual duchess rules from a castle built high on a craggy outcropping. Castle Thornhaven houses Duchess Shoverra of House Tornyer, a renowned necromancer who returned from her life of adventure three years ago when her father, the duke at the time, was killed by a plague. Shoverra now rules the land her father, her grandmother, and so many of her ancestors have.

The road leading up to Castle Thornhaven from the small town of Fellentrolle at the base of the mountain is winding and steep. The mile-long road is barely wide enough to pass two wagons side by side, and loose rocks and jagged edges make the journey a difficult one. Few stray from the path, but if they were to follow a small animal trail about halfway up, they'd come across a cave in the rock face that many say is haunted.

A quick note: If you are reading this and want to play in this adventure rather than run it, I'd recommend stopping now. Everything forward is written to the game moderator and will spoil the adventure.

The Big Deal

Players will likely come to this area because Duchess Shoverra of House Thornyer has put out a notice seeking adventurers to recover an artifact of great power that was stolen from her. Zealots from the Church of Kalavaster (God of Purity) have stolen the Skull of Drem'mor, which requests a dead person's soul to return to their body and serve the item's owner as a wight, but the soul must be willing.

Shoverra would send her undead army after the zealots, but they have strong anti-undead magics. Otherwise, they are relatively weak (roughly level 1-2 characters in games that have that type of system, or relatively normal folk with a little bit of combat training or experience in other systems).

The zealots are hiding in the cave halfway down the mountain path. She knows this because some skeletons went into the cave to see if the zealots were hiding there, and she saw them get blasted apart by divine magic as she watched through a divination spell. She figures the zealots have a base down there and are likely going to steal more things and try to start a revolution against her. She will tell the adventurers that the zealots may also have potential allies among the village at the bottom of the mountain (Fellentrolle) that smuggle their people and supplies up the road.

The zealots do have allies (1d6) in Fellentrolle, but they have more (3d6) in Thornton, which is the castle's town.

She is concerned that the artifact is about to be or is already snuggled out of the cave and back to the zealot's temple. Place this temple wherever you want on your own map. If you don't already have one, it is in a forest to the far south.

When the players enter Fellentrolle for the first time, they have a week to get the artifact from the cave or it will be smuggled out.

Shoverra will pay the adventurers a moderate amount of coin once the caves have been cleared of zealots and, if the artifact is not found within the caves, an additional large amount of coin if they return the artifact after tracking it down.

To make sure they aren't screwing her over, she will give one of the party members a human molar hanging by thin twine to be worn as a necklace. She instructs the party to whisper her name into it once they find the artifact or confirm it is no longer in the caves. She will then scry the party to ensure these things are true.

Shoverra of House Thornyer

(This is a little long. Shoverra was a previous D&D 5e character of mine, and you can see that influence on her design. Feel free to ignore as much of this as you want, or only reference it if needed. The assumption is that Shoverra will act as a sort of patron from the party while they are in the area or an adversary if the party is against her whole deal. For that reason, I'm keeping the high level of detail in this section.)

Born to Duke Arlington and Duchess Fifta of House Thornyer, Shoverra was the oldest of 4, and nearly since birth was trained to be the heir to the small duchy her family has ruled over for generations.

She was taught that her duty, and the duty of all nobles, was to protect her people and guide them with a fair but strong hand, and in return the common people of her land would be productive, helpful, and generous. She internalized this, and started to seek ways to be the best ruler she could be.

In her studies she learned about the existence of liches, powerful wielders of magic who gave up their mortal life to live forever as masters of the dead. She realized that this power would allow her to rule over her people forever, and it would take from her people the burdens of toil and war, so she left home and devoted herself to this goal.

Three years ago, she returned to Castle Thornhaven just as her father was about to die. Although she had not yet achieved her goal of becoming a lich, she commanded a large undead army, and swiftly dismissed the castle's guards and attendants after taking over as duchess in favor of using her undead servants.

Her father was known as a kind and just ruler. She is known as a fair but reclusive ruler.

Shoverra always holds herself to a high standard, whether that is the treatment of her people, her manners, or her appearance. She is studied in noble etiquette, and acts according to it at all times.

When speaking to common people, she speaks with authority but sympathy. When speaking to someone of equal social rank to herself, she speaks respectfully but is not afraid to interject or disagree. When speaking to someone of higher social rank, she will speak extremely respectfully, always referring to them in their title. In addition, she will typically defer judgement to those of a higher rank than herself, offering only light advice.

Shoverra is a woman of about 40 years old. She has long, straight hair that is black but slightly graying, and she has piercing blue eyes. Her skin is very pale, which is often contrasted by her dark choice of ornate clothing. She always makes an attempt to keep up appearances, with freshly washed hair, manicured nails, and a soft fragrance.

The players likely heard rumors of Shoverra before arriving in her duchy. Each player should roll a random rumor to see what their characters have heard. The other rumors can be given as the players talk to townsfolk in the area.

She is a necromancer who prefers the dead to the living (true)
She raises dead warriors so the living need not risk their lives (true)
She often kills peasants who request aid and forces their souls to be her slaves (untrue)
She was once a fierce and relentless adventurer (true)
She has planted zombies among the living to act as her spies (untrue)
She wishes to destroy the Church of Kalavaster (partially true, they have been attacking her)
She is an immortal undead wizard (partially true, she wants to become one)
She killed her father and was puppeteering his body for many years (untrue)

Thornton

This castle town has a population of 2,302. It is governed directly by Shoverra.

Residents are wary of the new ruler but cannot complain about anything in particular.

The people seem well-fed and healthy. They are friendly to outsiders.
Few revile the new ruler and her “profane” magic, but most are simply unsettled by the undead guards.

The undead guards largely leave the people alone.

Despite the fact that none have seen the undead guards actually attack criminals, all but the most brazen walk a straight line.
Most guards in the town and castle are skeletons.

Number in Castle/Town: 250, usually in squads of 10 accompanied by a wight captain
Number in surrounding territory in total: 500
If needed, Shoverra may summon an additional 2d20 skeletons daily.

She has enough bones to do this for 5 days without restocking her supplies.

Guard captains are wights.

Number in Castle/Town: 25
No. in surrounding territory in total: 50
If needed, Shoverra may summon one additional wight captain each day if the Skull of Drem'mor has been returned to her.

She has enough materials to do this for 1d4 days without restocking her supplies.

Fellentrolle

One small village sits at the base of the mountain road. It has a population of 237.

Most residents are stonemasons (~25%) or metalsmiths (~25%).

The third most popular job (~15%) is working for Arast Emermolt, a dwarven gemsmith who has a generational claim over any precious gems found in the mines.

These jobs may include cutters, packagers, or private protection.

Others do essential jobs for the town, like run the inn, run the tavern, sell food, etc.

The town is led by a mayor elected by popular vote every two years.

Arast has run uncontested for the last 19 consecutive terms (38 years). Before that, his father was the mayor for as long as anyone could remember.

The village's tavern and inn, the Cracked Post, is known around the dutchy for its food and drink selection.
Guarding the town are 25 skeleton guards and 5 wight guard captains
The town is also home to 50 Skeleton miners and five Skeleton caravans (each with 1d4 skeleton horses pulling a cart and 2d6 skeleton guards)

Work in the nearby mines and the transportation of stone and metal up to the castle are completed by these skeletons.
The people are happy about this change, since they have been freed up and (generously gifted) jobs as stonemasons and metalsmiths instead of the difficult jobs of mining or transporting the heavy materials.
Both of the above changes have increased productivity and trade dramatically.
The new duchess has imposed a tax on all mine-related exports, as the growth came on the backs (literally) of her skeletons.

Arast is VERY UNHAPPY about the tax but is anti-violence to solve this problem. He and his close allies are currently the only ones who really feel this way.

The Road Betwixt

The road between Castle Thornhaven and Fellentrolle at the base of the mountain is a mile-long and narrow. Steep elevation, loose rocks, and gravel makes this road difficult to traverse.

Halfway up the mountain road, it forks. The larger path leads to the castle. The other, more dangerous path leads to a natural cave entrance. Horses and vehicles cannot move along the path to the cave.

It takes two hours to travel all the way up or down the road, or the same amount of time to reach the cave entrance from Fellentrolle or Thornton, under normal conditions.

Each journey, roll a rumor the party hears on the road. Regular folk travel the road often, which is where the party hears these rumors.

A blue dragon can occasionally be seen flying overhead. (True)
Animals are disappearing from nearby farms because of the necromancy practiced by the duchess. (Partially true, the blue dragon is stealing the animals).
Arast the gemsmith is gathering mercenaries to protect against the undead guards. (Partially true, the guards are to protect the increased number of gems and caravans)
The tavern in Fellentrolle, called the Cracked Post, has better food and ale than the tavern at Thornton, called the Journeyman's Respite. Sometimes people who live at the castle and town will come down the mountain just to eat at the Cracked Post. (True)
Undead caravans sometimes attack people on the roads. (Untrue, baseless rumor)
Caravans up the road at night have gone missing. The cart is usually found, but the people never are. (True, so is all additional info below)

(1-in-4 chance to add) However, the arm of a stone statue was once found at the scene.
(1-in-4 chance to add) All the carts were said to be carrying food up to the castle.
(1-in-4 chance to add) Undead caravans have never gone missing.

Each journey, there is a 1-in-4 change that the party meets an unusual encounters on the road. There is a 50/50 chance they are heading up or down.

A blue dragon flies overhead.
2d6 blue Kobolds, hunting pack of mountain goats. Tries to avoid contact with others.
3d6 skeleton guards on patrol. If 10+, a wight guard is leading them.
1d4 traders with 2d6 mercenary guards. From obviously different lands. (25% chance they have any given item the PCs may want to buy.)
A cart, completely empty, sits on the side of the road. Large chunks of rock underneath. (1-in-6 chance of a full stone statue limb.)
Skeleton caravan (1d4 skeleton horses each pulling a cart and 2d6 skeleton guards)

50% chance it's stone bricks
45% chance it's metal bars
5% chance it's coins (double rolled guards, always has a wight guard captain)

The Ruins of a Temple to Medusa

A natural rock formation in the Luray Caverns of Virginia. Taken by me.

The natural cave halfway up the mountain eventually gives way a ruined, ancient temple complex that is currently unknown to the people in the dutchy.

In the natural cave entrance, the Church of Kalavaster zealots have made a temporary base to organize their efforts against Shoverra.

In the ruined temple, a blue adult dragon and its blue kobold spawn have recently set up on one side. The other side has long contained a coven of medusas.

The dragon arrived about a year ago and used its kobolds to push back the medusas. Both now have a tenuous agreement to stay on certain sides of the ruined temple but wish to see the other gone.

Ecological note - Kobolds: While many mistake Kobolds for being its own race of lizard-like goblins, they are in fact the spawn of dragons. All are loyal to their mother. Fathers get no claim.

Kobolds are individually weak but great tacticians. They use traps, darkness, theft, kidnapping, etc. to their advantage.

Kobolds get more powerful as they age. Older kobolds are taller and broader than their younger brethren. At age five they develop wings (75% of the time) or an elemental breath (25% of the time). At age six they develop the ability they didn’t at age five and move primarily onto all fours, becoming a young dragon. Generally, the young dragon then leaves their mother’s horde forever.

Hordes of kobolds are generally lead by a king, age 3-5, who has 2d6 guards.

The dragon mother may cull kobolds who get too close to becoming a dragon if competition is high and available territory is low. As such, old kobolds may want to escape their mother’s horde, especially if they have seen their mother cull before.

Ecological note - Medusas: These snake-haired elf women all originated from a single cursed woman. They reproduce asexually. When a snake is cut off their head, it slithers away and forms a medusa child somewhere dark and empty.

Each time something attacks or is attacked by a medusa, they have a chance to be turned to stone. Seeing a medusa’s reflection does not have this effect.

When a medusa is killed, those they turned to stone are returned to life unless they were broken as a statue.

They can also see perfectly fine in the dark.

Dungeon Map

I made this map in Google Sheets. Sorry about the poor screenshot quality. A larger version can be found here.

Map Key

Directions within room descriptions are given in relation to "dungeon north" (up on the map), which is not necessarily true north.
A line across a room entrance indicates a door. No line? No door.
E: Entrance to dungeon.
S: Secret door. This icon is placed next to the secret door.
C: Collapsed. If/when the party comes back, the dungeon can be expanded by opening up these passages into further parts of the temple complex.

Dungeon's Vibe

Rooms 1–12 make up a natural cave system. Stalagmites and stalactites make it difficult to move around. Standing water is common, and in deeper pools swim strange insects and tiny gray fish chasing them. Dripping is constant.

Rooms 13+, with the exception of room 22, are intelligently designed rooms and hallways made of ancient but ornate stone brick walls and marble tile, now often cracked. Artwork is common, but is also commonly destroyed.

Encounters

Every ten minutes, the party has a 1-in-6 chance of meeting an encounter. Randomly determine encounters based on the location of the party by rolling 2d4 on the appropriate table.

White areas are unclaimed and safe from random encounters. If one is rolled here, the encounter happens when the PCs enter the next faction-controlled area.

The disposition of most encounters can be inferred from the fictional context, but for those that are uncertain, the GM may want to roll to see if the encounter is friendly, neutral, or hostile. Do not assume all encounters are automatically hostile.

Kalavaster Zealots (Yellow)

2. Single Medusa, blindfolded. Coming from its area to beg for food.

3-4. 2d6 Kalavaster zealots deep in prayer with self-inflicted wounds.

5-6. 1d6 Kalavaster zealots led by a High Zealot patrolling the caves

7. Kalavaster zealot seer. Blind. Pacifist. Trying to find some water. If the party wants to hurt him, he will offer a prophecy in exchange for his life.

8. 1d6 kobolds coming to trade with the zealots. They have animal bones because they think the zealots horde them.

Kobolds (Blue)

2. Single medusa, looking for weaknesses in the kobolds' defenses.
3-4. 1d6 kobolds, cleaning.
5-6. 2d6 kobolds led by a king's guard, patrolling.
7. 2d6 kobolds, dancing, singing, and eating fresh cooked meat
8. Runaway goat chased by 1d4 kobolds wielding wooden staffs.

Medusas (Green)

2. 1d4 medusa children, attack viciously
3-4. Single medusa, patrolling
5-6. 1d6 kobolds being chased by a single medusa
7. 2d6 giant snakes
8. 1d6 kobolds setting up a trap

Room 1: Entrance

A small stream runs from the south wall out the entrance of the cave.

Stream pools on the west side of the room.

Some coins and a silver necklace can be found in the puddle.

Room 2: Mushroom Farm

Walls are damp, smell is vaguely earthy, ground is mud.

Glowing green mushrooms grow from the mud.

2d6 skittish kobolds gather these mushrooms.

Room 3: Zealot Stables

Makeshift pens are made of reclaimed wood.

Wooden buckets collect water from dripping ceiling.

Hay pile in southwest corner with 2 pitchforks stuck in it.

1d4 zealots care for 4 horses in the pens.

Room 4: Boneyard

Piles of human bones are littered around the room.

1-in-6 chance to find an unbroken weapon, 10 minutes per attempt.

1-in-12 chance to find an unbroken armor piece that fits, 10 minutes per attempt.

Massive stalagmites and stalactites make it difficult to move

Room 5: Kobold Guard

Southern wall made of ancient and ornate stone brick with a stone door.

Two Kobold guards stand on each side of the door. Each guard has a spear and assorted plate armor pieces, but none have a full set.

Torches burn on each side of the door.

Pulling the left torch locks the door with a wooden bar.
Pulling the right torch releases the rope net of rocks suspended from the ceiling in the center of the room. This net of rocks can be seen if the PCs think to look up.

The room is relatively free of stalagmites and stalactites. There is evidence they were broken.

Room 6: Zealot Shrine

A crudely carved stone shrine is in the center of the room. An ornate golden cup filled with water sits on top. Picking up the cup activates a divine sigil carved into the shrine.

If the water is drunk before leaving the shrine, the drinker is cured of all curses and disease.
If the cup is taken from the near vicinity of the shrine and not drank from, a divine fire vortex consumes the holder of the cup, burning the drinker and destroying all dead matter (wood, leather, cloth, etc) on them.

Ash can be seen at the base of the shrine.

Three zealot statues in various states of fear and anger are positioned around the room wielding real daggers.

Room 7: Zealot Armory

A makeshift weapon stand holds 1d6 weapons, which are silvered. A bar of silver sits nearby.

Silvered weapons can hurt some things that are immune to normal damage but have a disadvantage against other creatures.
As such, silvered weapons are required to hurt wights and medusas.

1d6+1 zealots talk about an upcoming secret invasion of the castle as they sharpen or clean their weapons.

Room 8: Stolen Goods

Entrance is difficult to enter, and characters need to crouch or lay down and climb in.

Stolen goods from caravans sit around the room.

1d6 sacks each full of coins
A pile of jewelry
1d6 boxes full of travel rations
1d6 empty boxes.

Four dogs are chained to a wooden post wedged between some stalagmites

Dogs will immediately attack anyone who is not a zealot (as determined by smell)
If they are attacked at range, they will try to break out and will bark (immediately roll an encounter)

Room 9: War Room

Makeshift wooden table and chairs. On table, various maps of the castle and surrounding lands.

A region map marks “targets” as Castle Thornhaven and a dungeon full of undead that the GM wants to add to the sandbox.

If asked, Shoverra will say she has been looking for that dungeon full of undead for many years.
If shown the map, she will implore the PCs to explore the dungeon after they get her artifact.

1d6 zealots and a high zealot are planning out their future invasion of the castle.

Room 10: Zealot Kitchen

Sunlight streams in from a small hole in the cave ceiling.

Cooking tools sit on a makeshift shelf.

A small fire burns. A cauldron full of soup is set on top.

Room 11: Zealot Barracks

20 bedrolls. 1d6-1 zealots are sleeping on them.

Room 12: Medusa entrance

Southern wall is made of ancient and ornate stone brick with a stone door. Rocks are piled up against the door.

If the party encounters the wandering blindfolded medusa, the rocks will have been pushed aside.

Room 13: Common Room

Tables, chairs, mats, are spread around the room.

2d8 unarmed kobolds are talking, eating, and playing music throughout the room.

Room 14: Statue Room

Eight kobold and six human statues stand around the room with expressions of fear and horror.

Room 15: Kobold Kitchen

1d6 kobolds cook food using solid silver pots and pans. The food smells good, fresh, and meaty.

The smoke appears to disappear at the top of the room, where a vent sends the smoke outside. These vents also have openings in rooms 19, 21, and 22.

Room 16: Food Storage

The hallway from room 15 to this room is slanted down, ending in a large and heavy stone door.

It is noticeably cold. Meats hang on hooks. Vegetables sit in stacked wooden boxes that the party has likely seen in Thornton.

Room 17: Trapped Room

Apparently an empty room, but the marble tiles in the room are completely uncracked and have shotty craftsmanship.

If someone steps on any of the uncracked, shotty tiles, the floor will collapse into a 40 ft hole.

There are strings attached to the shotty tiles that will ring bells along the walls of the hole. This alerts kobold guards in room 18.

Room 18: Armory

The eastern part of the room is sectioned off with a low wall made of loose stones.

Weapon racks of silver-tipped spears sit around western part of the room.

2d4 kobolds with silver-tipped spears stand guard at the wall.

Room 19: Kobold Barracks

20 bedrolls lay around the room. These are woven grass, the same type that traveling merchants commonly use.

2d4 kobolds lay sleeping in the bedrolls.

Room 20: Treasure Room

The secret entrance to the room is hidden behind loose stone bricks on the wall. These bricks, unlike the others that line the wall, are not cracked and have visible separations between them.

A small room is crudely cut from the stone wall. In it are the highest treasures of the blue dragon Kelcita the Wicked. Put at least three interesting magic items in here from whatever system you are using.

Room 21: Kobold King

A five-year-old kobold sits on a wooden throne. On his head sits an iron band. He holds an iron mace, which has a head like a star.

Around him, six king's guard kobolds stand nearly still. They each wear full chainmail armor and wield silvered swords that are nearly as tall as they are. Most are age 3-4.

Small piles of treasure flank the natural cave tunnel situated behind the king's throne. Fresh air can be felt from the tunnel, which leads to room 22.

Room 22: Mother's bathhouse

A natural cave with a concave floor.

A natural spring from the west wall has filled most of floor with water. This pool is full of treasure.

The southeast corner is open to outside, and water falls out of the cave from that corner.

There is a 75% chance that Kelcita the Wicked, an adult blue dragon and the mother of the kobold horde, is home.

The rest of the dungeon

To be frank, I've already written a lot more than I had planned for this blog post. I didn't have the kobold part really fleshed out, so I kind of abandoned the whole premise of "this was already planned" when I wrote out that entire part of the dungeon.

The rest of the dungeon is yours to key. Sorry!

As a method of stocking the dungeon, I chose the major rooms that I knew would be important (like Room 22 and 21, for example) and then rolled on the following chart to stock the other rooms. If a result didn't fit with my idea of the dungeon, I changed it, so feel free to do the same.

This chart was adapted from Delving Deeper by Cameron Dubeers and Simon J. Bull.

Roll 2d6 for the room's contents. As a note, I combine NPC and monster into one category because I don't think there should be any difference between the two.

2: Treasure and trap/hazard
3: Trap/hazard
4: Treasure and NPC
5: NPC
6-8: Empty
9: NPC
10: Treasure and NPC
11-12: Treasure

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Friday, April 19, 2024