Mother Haggle's Notice Board

Inferno E

THe QUEST Unlikely Disasters

Unwanted Visitors “I won’t be a captive again!”
In a nearby village, a man has sent to Beatrice will die before becoming a slave,
Mother Haggle asking her to save his wife. as she was a Drow captive in her youth.
It seems she has suddenly developed She self-immolates in an act of despera-
magical powers, and can’t control them. tion.
The man has agree to had his wife over to
Mother Haggle in the name of scientific Uncontrollable Gift
progress. Her name is Beatrice. Spells cast with Beatrice as the target trig-
ger a wild magic surge.
THE Core Problem
Nosy Neighbour
Betrayal The man handing over Beatrice doesn’t
The scene is a small townhouse in a pop- know her at all. He’s a jealous neighbour
ulated area. The man meets you outside, who wants her gone so he can buy her
and directs you indoors. His wife is inside. land.
She’s not expecting company, and won’t go
quiety.

In Flagrante Delicto
The woman is a human noble. She has
the Magic Initiate (Sorcerer) Feat, with the
cantrips fire bolt and control flames. Her
1/day spell is Burning Hands. She also has
the Elemental Adept (Fire) feat.

Born This Way
She refuses to admit anything is wrong
with her, protesting she just woke up like
this one day, and that her husband does’t
understand. She refuses to come with the
characters willingly,

Plausible Complications

Whoops
An errant fire spell sets the house alight.

The Patter of Tiny Feet
The couple have a chlid, who comes down
to see what all the noise is about.

Household Supplies
Beatrice has a flask of oil near her, and
hurls it at a character near open flame.

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A Beast of E
Good Conscience

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Kill The Leader Uncanny Skill
A variant human pair are resisting ar- Pyramus gains the Crossbow Expert feat.
rest in a boarded up house. Go there, and
capture them before they cause any more Garbage Disposal
trouble. The couple have littered the floor near the
window and doors with hunting traps.
THE Core Problem
The Right Tool For The Job
Pyramus & Thisbe The crossbow is magical, adding a +1 to
The first outlaw is called Pyramus, a thug attack and damage rolls.
with the Alert and Sharpshooter feats. He
is proficient in and carries a heavy cross- Unlikely Disasters
bow. The second outlaw is his fiance This-
be, who is a commoner with the Lucky Exit Stage Left
feat. The lion eats Thisbe. It doesn’t seem sorry
at all.
Don’t Let Them Get Out
The outlaws have entrenched themselves Endless Horde
in a boarded up old house on the ground Law Enforcement get tired of waiting, and
floor. At street level, a perimeter has been shroud the house in a fog cloud spell before
set up by law enforcement. sending 1d4 guards into the chaos.

Raar, I’m a lion, I make the sun rise This Seems Familiar...
Pyramus keeps a pet lion, which he’s been Thisbe has been keeping a Scroll of Protec-
using to scare off attackers. Both humans tion from Humanoids, and uses it if things
are terrified, and don’t want to go with the look desperate.
characters or be experimented on.

52 Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only.

The Paragon Solution E

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

One Mind, One Cult, One Purpose Lookout Post
Mother Haggle has heard of variant hu- Clarissa has a cultist up in a tree to keep
mans flocking to a new cult, believing they watch for intruders or captors.
are the next stage of mortal development
fostered by the Overgod himself. She wants Wait In Line
you to go and make an example of them The ‘ritual’ to convert people to variant hu-
during one of their night-time woodland mans has attracted 1d6 commoners who
meetings. seem very confused by the party’s appear-
ance.
THE Core Problem
Clang Clang Clang Goes The Magic
Woodland Whispers Clarissa has warded the area with an
1d4 cultists are gathered in the woods, led alarm spell. If a character comes within 30
by a cult fanatic, a tall and bony woman feet of the cultists, bells peal through the
called Clarissa. The cultists all possess air and the cultists try to flee.
the Alert feat, and are extremely paranoid.
Clarissa possesses the mage slayer and Unlikely Disasters
war magic feats.
No God But Mine
Metamorphoses Clarissa believes priests of other faiths to
If approached, the cultists won’t tolerate be blasphemers. She turns violent if they
any talk of coming willingly. They are cho- refuse to convert.
sen, you see, and are destined for great
things. They claim to be able to turn any Fresh Components
human into a ‘variant human’, in a bizarre The Paragon Solution needs fresh blood to
ritual called The Paragon Solution which ‘work’. A LOT of it. Any volunteers?
involves bathing naked in a hidden forest
spring. They are completely wrong, but *creak*
they happily perform the ritual with con- A tree falls on someone. Call it a stroke
viction. of bad luck, call it an angry dryad. If the
character fails a DC 7 Dexterity saving
Undying Loyalty! Sometimes! throw, they take 2d10 bludgeoning damage
If pressed, the cultists rally around their as they are crushed.
leader, but will flee rather than die if the
option presents itself.

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BRING ME A DREAM

Professional Rivalry

The Old Hag Auntie Spindle lurks in a dark recess of the Misty For-
est. She’s been quiet for centuries, but recently Mother Haggle has
become aware of the old witch flexing her powers. Animals run riot
through the woods, food rots at the table. The creeping sense of evil
through the nearby lands is unmistakeable. The quest is clear - find

Auntie Spindle, and put an end to the old bag once and for all.

The Enemy

Twisted and evil, Auntie Spindle is a witch of great power. Having
devoured her mother and sisters from centuries earlier, she hunt-
ed the local wildlife almost to extinction. As nearby towns began to
tell rumours of the Witch In The Woods, Auntie Spindle pulled her
grandest illusion to date: she faked her own death. Pretending to
die of old age, she enchanted herself into a deep and lasting sleep,

using potent magic granted her by an Archfey of sleep, an enig-
matic force she called “The Sandman.” Time passed her by, her lair
protected by ambient magic and her minions. As time passed, her
magic eventually began to fade. Her minions left, believing her truly
gone. Her lair was forgotten. Now, she has awakened, and she has

begun to reassert her control over the woods.

Minions

Auntie Spindle is still recovering from her long sleep, and has not
yet acquired an army of minions. As a result her forces are dimin-
ished, if still a considerable concern. First amongst her servants is
her familiar, Shankity Shankshank, an animated kitchen knife. [Use
the statistics for a Flying Sword.] She also employs Jackalweres as
her guards, as study of their Sleep Gaze helped her develop some of

her more insidious magics.

54 Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only.

BRING ME A DREAM

CApproaching the Lair

THe QUEST Jackal-be-Nimble
Jackalweres might be on guard outside
There’s Something In The Mist the lair, waiting in the forest for any sign
The area surrounding Auntie Spindle’s of intruders. They use their Sleep Gaze to
lair is dangerous. The hag can conjure try and incapacitate as many party mem-
illusions, and has enchanted her home bers as possible before using their claws to
with obfuscatory fog. To reach the hag, the savage any who remain awake. If the party
characters will need to breach her outer carry silver weapons, the Jackalweres flee
defences. once reduced to half health

THE Core ProbleM The Mind Playing Tricks
The fog surrounding the lair might be
Ringing The Doorbell filled with illusions of Auntie Spindle’s last
Auntie Spindle lives underground, in a victims. Children flee screaming. Parents
warren accessible through a hollowed out weep at graves. Others run through trees,
tree with a winding staircase that leads looking behind them as if fleeing a mon-
down into her chambers. The exterior of ster. The display is unnerving, but purely
the lair is defended by a variant of the cosmetic.
Alarm spell that alerts Auntie Spindle
whenever a humanoid creature comes Unlikely Disasters
within 30 feet of the front door. It also tells
her their race and alignment. Insidious Dreams
Auntie Spindle might have trapped her
Hostile Environment front door with a Glyph of Warding, con-
The forest for miles around Auntie Spin- taining a 9th level sleep spell. If the entire
dle’s lair is covered in a light fog. Images of party is incapacitated this way, they might
Auntie Spindle appear to mock creatures wake up prisoners of the witch.
who seem nervous or unsure. If a char-
acter investigates a tree, it has has a 1 in Beware of the Dog
4 chance of being a homicidal Awakened Auntie Spindle’s pet blink dog Wrecks
Tree. The ground around her lair out to might be tied up by the door. If disturbed,
100 feet is difficult terrain, choked with Wrecks attacks the closest stranger, bark-
roots and mud. ing loudly the whole time.

Knock Knock
Auntie Spindle’s front door is almost in-
discernible in the woodwork of the hollow
tree. Characters who use Nature, Percep-
tion, Survival or Investigation might guess
something is amiss. Opening the concealed
door requires the password “Gizznuggets”,
or breaking it down. [AC10, 25 hit points.]

Plausible Complications

Creatures of the Night
Wolves or swarms of bats might lurk in
the mist, hoping to prey on anyone foolish

enough to approach.

55

BRING ME A DREAM C

The Witch in the Woods

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Hubble Bubble Sleeper Agent
Entering the lair, foul trinkets and eviscer- The human looking girl in the bed is a the
ated remains decorate a terrible smelling hag’s “daughter”, unaware of her identity
room. A cauldron bubbles in the center of as a hag. In a few years she will mature
the chamber, throwing green light into the into a full grown hag, but until then she
air and dimly illuminating the chamber. seems to all methods of detection like a lost
A wretched looking futon lies across the little girl.
room, and on it an old lady seems to be
curled up with her back to you. In the bed Knife In The Back
next to her is the sleeping form of a little Auntie Spindle’s familiar, a sentient kitch-
girl, no older than six. Now’s your chance en knife named Shankity Shank, lies
to kill the Witch and end her evil ways, dormant in the kitchen, listening carefully.
once and for all. [Use the statistics for a Flying Sword.]

THE Core ProbleM Pot and Kettle
Auntie Spindle is keeping a Quickling
Off To A Bad Start in the kettle. If she gets the chance, she
Auntie Spindle is a devious old cow. If she opens it and lets it free. The angry fairy
was warned by the smashing of the door or sets about murdering anyone it can see.
any other method, she is actually using her
Lair Action* to sustain an illusion of herself Unlikely Disasters
in her bed whilst she uses Invisible Pas-
sage to watch them from a dark corner. Hostage Situation
The girl in the bed (LE commoner) hides in Auntie Spindle is an old hand at the “ad-
a corner and weeps if disturbed, crying out venturers come to kill you” game. She
for her mother. threatens to kill the girl if she isn’t allowed
to leave freely, holding a knife to her throat.
Words From The Wise This is insincere, she wants the girl alive.
Auntie Spindle watches the newcomers for
signs they might be willing to negotiate. If Might & Magic
so, she uses her illusions to speak to them The hag keeps a Wand of Magic Missiles
from hiding. up her sleeve [literally]. She’s not afraid to
blast her way out if she’s cornered.
Bargain Thrice Made
Auntie Spindle will offer strangers just Playing Possum
about anything she can think of to get If she seems close to defeat, she offers
them to go away. If she can’t manage to them all her treasure. Should the party
make a deal, she tries to escape using her agree, proceed to Requiem [Part 3]. Aunt-
magic. ie Spindle is unaffected by the Sandman’s
powers.

56

BRING ME A DREAM C

Requiem

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Buried Treasure Shifting Sands
There’s a hidden tunnel under Auntie Spin- The earth of the room becomes soft and
dle’s bed. Once the old witch has fled or is hard to walk on, rendering it difficult ter-
dead, a search of the house easily reveals rain.
the trapdoor. It opens to reveal a ladder
down into a small sandstone room, with an Old Enemies
altar carved into the far wall. Any character with the Fey Ancestry trait
who enters the room becomes Frightened
Auntie Spindle’s treasure, which includes of the Sandman’s avatar when it appears.
a spellbook, three uncommon magic items
and a rare magic item, is stashed behind Growing Influence
the altar, in a bag made of human intes- Each round that passes, the save DC to
tines. resist sleep increases by 2.

THE Core ProbleM Unlikely Disasters

The Altar To Sleep Sands Through The Hourglass
The altar is engraved in old Sylvan and Anyone who fails the saving throw against
Druidic. A character who can read either sleep by 5 or more ages by 4d10 years.
language can discern this as a place sacred
to an Archfey...something called the “Sand- No Rest For The Wicked
man”. One of the magic items is cursed. If it is
taken from the room, the Sandman stops
Always Watching the cursed target from sleeping until the
Three rounds after someone enters the curse is removed.
room, an avatar of the Sandman manifests
above the altar. It is humanoid, made of Life Is A Dream
sand, and has no face. It trails golden dust. Anyone abandoned in the room with the
This apparition is scattered by any attacks, Sandman is never seen again.
but soon reforms.

The Dream Begins
Anyone who remains in the room with the
avatar must make a DC10 Wisdom sav-
ing throw at the start of their turn, or fall
asleep. This sleep lasts for three hundred
years, unless cured by an effect that re-
moves poison or curses.

57

AUNTIE SPINDLE

Auntie Spindle Actions

Medium Fey, Neutral Evil Mimicry. The hag can mimic animal sounds and
Armor Class 17 (natural armour) humanoid voices. A creature that hears the sounds
Hit Points 122 can tell they are imitations with a successful DC 14
Speed 30 ft Wisdom (Insight) check

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft.,
18 (+4) 12 (+1) 16 (+3) 13 (+1) 14 (+2) 14 (+2) one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) slashing damage.
Saving Throws Wisdom +5
Skills Stealth +5, Arcana +7, Perception +5, Decep- Illusory Appearance. The hag covers herself and
tion +5 anything she is wearing or carrying with a magical
Resistances: Poison illusion that makes her look like another creature of
Condition Immunities Charmed her general size and humanoid shape. The illusion
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14 ends if the hag takes a bonus action to end it or if
Languages Common, Sylvan, Elvish she dies.
Blessed By The Sandman: Auntie Spindle has ad-
vantage on saving throws against fear, and magic The changes wrought by this effect fail to hold up
can’t put her to sleep. to physical inspection. For example, the hag could
appear to have smooth skin, but someone touch-
Challenge 3 ing her would feel her rough flesh. Otherwise, a
Innate Spellcasting. Auntie Spindle’s innate spell- creature must take an action to visually inspect the
casting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 12, +4 to illusion and succeed on a DC 20 Intelligence (Investi-
hit with spell attacks). She can innately cast the gation) check to discern that the hag is disguised.
following spells, requiring no material components:
Invisible Passage. The hag magically turns invis-
At will: dancing lights, minor illusion, primeval sav- ible until she attacks or casts a spell, or until her
agery concentration ends (as if concentrating on a spell).
1/day: fear, feign death, tenser’s floating disk While invisible, she leaves no physical evidence of
her passage, so she can be tracked only by magic.
Any equipment she wears or carries is invisible with
her.

WEIRD MAGIC: Auntie Spindle

See Volo’s Guide To Monsters for more information on Hags and their Weird Magic.
Use sparingly. Not safe for children.

[Gooey Kablooie] The cauldron in Part Two is a half-finished spell designed to enchant

a nearby village into giving up their children for the old witch to eat. If she feels signif-

icantly endangered, Auntie Spindle uses her action to throw a stick of earwax into the

pot. It explodes, covering everyone in the room in inner ear goo, a la Web.

[Pocket Sand!] The witch reaches into her filthy gown and hurls a handful of pocket

sand into someone’s face. The pocket sand replicates a 5th level Sleep spell on the tar-

get.

[I’ve Mist You] Auntie Spindle pulls out a jar of Barovian Fog, and smashes it on the

floor. The house fills with choking mist. A creature that starts its turn in the fog must

succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or gain one level of exhaustion. This

exhaustion can’t be removed while the creature is in the fog. The area within the fog is

heavily obscured.

58 Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only.

Vanity Fair Tick Tock

Get in, losers. Ceilings. Ceilings are 5 to 7 feet high, and
We’re going Shopping. are littered with bizarre rock formations.
Temperature. It’s hot and moist in the
Mother Haggle has some shopping er- tunnels.
rands she needs doing, but would you
look at the time? She’s just so busy with Debris. The floor is littered with shells,
all these chores. You’ll go for her, won’t rocks and civilization debris that is entire-
you? There’s a very special kind of mar- ly foreign. [Consider having the characters
ket that only happens once a year in the stumble across the odd trinket.]
depths of the Misty Forest, and she’d like
you to go. Remember to be back before At midnight [which, due to the supernat-
midnight though. ural nature of the fair, happens whenever
you think it time], the fair begins to fade
You Ought To Know away. Once the stalls have faded, the tun-
nels begin to slowly close up. Anyone who
The fair appears at dusk in a secluded insists on staying could find themselves
part of the forest. Tunnels appear, lead- crushed to death.
ing into the earth where there were none
before, and down to a large open cavern
bustling with strange life forms. A hazy
white light hangs in the air, shrouding a
plethora of colourful tents, wagons and
booths in a surreal miasma. Whilst in any
of these winding interconnecting tunnels
or in the main cavern where the fair takes
place, the following regional effects apply:

• Visitors to the fair feel as though they
are being watched, even when they
aren’t.

• Each time the characters complete one
of these mini-adventures, each of them
must make a DC 10 Intelligence (Inves-
tigation) check. On a failure, the char-
acter has misplaced one possession
(chosen by the player). The possession
remains nearby but concealed for a
short time, so it can be recovered with
a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Percep-
tion) check. An object that is misplaced
but not recovered disappears forever

after 1 hour.

Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. 59

VANITY FAIR C

What a Spectacle

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Eyescream, Youscream Hold Still
Mother Haggle has asked you to visit her The spectator’s eye test is very long and
usual optician at the fair, and pick up her drawn out. It also requires the subject to
prescription glasses. Dr. Eyescream. allow itself to be paralysed as per the Spec-
Approaching his booth, you can see the a tators eye ray ability.
small green head with a bulbous central
eye and four small eyestalks. It’s wearing a Eyes On The Ball
monocle, and is hovering near an ominous The spectator is tutoring three gazer ap-
optician’s chair. prentices, who float about and make ob-
scene jokes the entire time.
THE Core ProbleM
The Bespoke Collection
Store Policy The spectator is keeping mother haggle’s
Dr. Eyescream won’t willingly hand over spectacles in a bag of identical looking (and
the glasses to anyone who hasn’t under- fragile) eyewear.
gone an eye test. Anyone who subjects
themselves to an eye test from the specta- Unlikely Disasters
tor finds the procedure to be very peculiar.
It gets out a board with rows of letters on Form An Orderly Queue
it, flashes eye rays and asks what colour The spectator wants everyone to undergo
they looked. Whatever the answers given by an eye test before it is satisfied. Trickery
the players are, the spectator hands over may be in order to speed things up.
Mother Haggle’s package. The test takes
the better part of an hour. Probing Procedures
The spectator suggests that the characters
Head Optician might want to try contact lenses, or laser
The spectator is keeping Mother Haggle’s eye surgery. If a character accepts, the
new glasses in a box inside its head. It spectator brings over a big glass lens the
spits it out if the characters subject them- size of a dinner plate, and tells the charac-
selves to an eye test. If the characters kill ter to carry it at all times.
the spectator, they can dig the box out of
the corpse. This Probably Won’t Hurt
If a character accepts laser eye surgery, the
Prescriptions & Precautions spectator unleashes a device in the chair
The optician’s chair is fitted with manacles which shoots a laser through the charac-
to secure a patient’s arms and legs. ter’s head from behind, as per a disinte-
grate spell, DC9.

60

VANITY FAIR

CBabbles and Baubles

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Try Your Luck! Try My Patience! Protective Gear
There is a lucky dip stall run by a mind The gibbering mouther’s goo is mildly acid-
flayer. Mother Haggle wants you to acquire ic. Anyone who reaches in without gloves
a special ring from it, one that she lost to takes 1 acid damage.
the mind flayer in a bet, and which it uses
as the main prize for its event. When you Worthless Tat
approach the stand, the mind flayer stands The mind flayer has hidden several fake
by the gibbering mouther, and explains the rings in the goo. A character can tell a fake
process. You give a coin to the illithid, and ring at a glance if they are proficient in
you’ll be allowed to stick your hand in the metalworking or are particularly keen-eyed.
mouther and pull something out. Simple,
no? The Price Of Failure
The mind flayer ups the gold cost of taking
THE Core ProbleM part by 1 gold for each time that person
has failed to find anything.
Grab & Pull
The gibbering mouther’s aura is in full ef- Unlikely Disasters
fect, which may stymie attempts to reach in
and touch it. Anyone that pays a coin can *ominous tentacle wiggle*
attempt to touch the mouther, making a The real ring isn’t in the goo, the mind flay-
save against the aura. If they fail, they act er is wearing it under his velvet gloves. He
as described on the mouther table, and the may trade it for a sandwich.
illithid considers this their turn.
Well, This Was A Waste Of Time
Penny For Your Thoughts If the ring isn’t recovered in 10 rounds, it
Each attempt costs 1 gold. The illithid tarnishes irrevocably.
doesn’t want anyone to find anything use-
ful, and uses its innate spellcasting and te- Finger Food
lepathy features to subtly influence events. The players pick out a false ring, which is a
mimic. The mimic waits until a good mo-
Let’s Begin ment to strike.
Digging your hand into the gibbering
mouther takes one action. There is a 5%
chance that doing so yields the ring. Oth-
erwise there is a 50% chance the goo yields
a random trinket before the mind flayer
declares that character’s turn over.

61

VANITY FAIR C

How Chuulish

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Ominous Antiquarian I’m A Monster, Not A Fool
A Chuul runs a stand evaluating and The Chuul won’t accept something the
buying magic items. It wears a dinner suit characters offer it, calling it second-rate
which has been extravagantly tailored to craftsmanship, or a fake.
fit its peculiar physiology. Mother Haggle
wants you to take a look at it’s magical Anti-Larceny Magic
wares, and make a good trade for her Hat The items are piled up on a little table next
of Vermin. to the Chuul, which is guarded by a glyph
of warding variant. If someone tries to steal
THE Core ProbleM from the table, the glyph activates. The
glyph sends the Chuul and his table to the
Exquisite Delights Ethereal plane.
The chuul brings out the following items,
one or more of which can be purchased by Magical Rat
exchanging a common or rarer magic item, The stuffed rat is cursed. Minus 2 from all
a spell scroll or a potion. the character’s saving throws whilst they
carry it. Do this silently - the curse is only
1) A toy rat which squeaks when you press revealed if the rat is Identified, as there is
it. no outward indication of this curse.

2) The skull of dead saint which says one Unlikely Disasters
of the following phrases when you shake
it and ask it a yes or no question: “Maybe” Something Is Fishy About This
“Perhaps” “Who knows?” “It’s possible” “Try The Chuul is actually just an illusion pro-
again later” and “In theory.” jected by the real shopkeeper, the quipper
in the bag.
3) A floppy stuffed tentacle which wriggles
about in your hands. I Skipped Breakfast
The Chuul is hungry. It wants payment in
4 ) A small plastic bag containing water, something squishy and tasty.
and a quipper. There is a 90% likelihood
this quipper dies of unknown causes in This Is How We Do It At Home
2d12 hours. To seal the deal, the Chuul wants to shake
tentacles.
5) A magical mirror which shows the face
of the last creature which thought about
murdering you.

62

VCANhITYoFiAcIRes C

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Paid in Advance You’ll Do Just Fine
Mother Haggle needs a new maidservant The neogi becomes rather taken with one
after the last one fell down some stairs and of the characters, and attempts to Enslave
broke her neck. She’s asked you to go and them.
pick up a slave from a Neogi trader. She’s
already paid the creature, so just pick up a Outstanding Invoice
new one for her. The neogi claims (falsely) that Mother Hag-
gle owes it for payment of goods. It will only
THE Core ProbleM accept a replacement slave as payment.

Parade Of The Damned Ethically Sourced Elf
The neogi is chittering in front of its se- The neogi has a drow butler called Woobles
lection of wares, a group of rather de- whose mind has been utterly broken by
pressed looking humanoids in rags. They continued mental control. He giggles a lot,
don’t speak any version of common you and drools.
recognise, and they seem like they are in
a trance. They remain in trance for 1d10 Unlikely Disasters
hours after they are bought, and then re-
gain bits of their personalities. The Muscle
The neogi has a bodyguard, an umber hulk
Algernon is a kobold who has a particular who stands behind it to unnerve and dis-
talent for counting money. When he re- tract potential clients.
covers, he’s sneaky and opportunistic, but
loyal. Marked
Lorelei is a high elf assassin (minus gear) The neogi tattoos all its slaves with indel-
and once she recovers she never stops talk- ible purple ink on their forehead with a
ing about how wonderful her backstory is. symbol that translates to ‘slave’ in deep
[It isn’t.] speech. This process takes 1 hour, and the
Hoghog is an orc who has a passion for neogi performs it with all new captives or
gardening. When he recovers, he becomes slaves.
soppy and mawkish.
FOO is an goliath commoner with one leg. OH GODS. PLEASE HELP ME.
He hops around the place. When he recov- The newly acquired slave recovers more
ers, he flies into a rage. quickly than anticipated from its stupor,
DENDAR is a giant constrictor snake. It’s and either tries to run away or begs ear-
only peaceful until it recovers, at which nestly for its release.
point it resumes trying to eat people.
ANYA is a small human commoner, no
older than ten. She doesn’t remember any-
thing about her old life once she recovers,
and has a bad temper.

63

WEIRD SISTERS

CGiselle, the Buried

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

There’s Something In The Mist Escape
Mother Haggle needs you to go and fetch When the mummy animates, the trapdoor
something for her. There’s an abandoned magically slams shut. It can be forced open
cottage in the heart of the Misty Forest with a DC20 Strength Check or the Knock
where she used to live with her youngest spell.
adopted daughter, Giselle. There was a
tragic accident, and the daughter died - Mummy’s Girl
Mother Haggle moved away to make a fresh The mummy gains immunity to damage
start. She’s realised, however, that she dealt by male characters.
wants to recover her daughter’s remains -
they are buried in the basement of the cot- What Became Of The Others
tage. She wants you to go and fetch what’s The cellar is filled with the bodies of other
left of the corpse so it can be interred near- children who died in this house. They crawl
er to where she now lives. out of the ground as zombies at a rate of
one on Initiative count 20 each round after
THE Core ProbleM the mummy animates. Their size is small,
and their damage die is a d4.
Welcome Home
The cottage is unlocked, and the contents Unlikely Disasters
has largely been looted by bandits and
thieves. Broken furniture lies everywhere, Witchcraft
and the trapdoor to the basement is under The mummy is protected by powerful mag-
a carpet near the door. A rope ladder leads ic placed by Mother Haggle herself when
down into a small, dark cellar. the body was originally interred. It gains
the Innate Spellcasting feature, and can
I Want Hugs cast the following spells, [DC13, +5]. (1/
Digging 5 feet into the earth uncovers day - Bestow Curse, Hex, Bane)
the body, the skeletal form of a child em-
balmed. It animates as a mummy when it Is There A Lift?
is disturbed, screaming for its mother. It The rope ladder down into the cellar snaps
tries to touch anyone it can reach, looking as someone climbs up it, leaving at least
for comfort. (This constitutes its Rotting one character down in the dark.
Fist attack).
Matters Of The Heart
The Burning Question The mummy can’t be killed unless it’s em-
Whilst the mummy is animated, it is re- balmed heart is also destroyed. This has
lentless in its pursuit of affection. If the been buried within 5 feet of the mummy in
body is destroyed by fire or other destruc- a small glass jar.
tive magic, Mother Haggle refuses to re-
ward the party for the mission. The Gentle
Repose spell forces the mummy back into
slumber for the duration, whence it can be
safely carried back to Mother Haggle.

64

WEIRD SISTERS

CEsmeralda, the Lost

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Ghastly Affair Catch Me If You Can
Mother Haggle’s second adopted daughter, Esmerelda and her ghouls have a move-
Esmerelda was corrupted by fell magic. On ment speed of 40ft both in land and under-
her death, she became a ghoul and tore water..
her way out of the grave. She infected an
entire village before she was driven away Knife In The Back
from civilization and into the swamps. The swamp is infested with diseased in-
Mother Haggle wants you to slay her, and sects and bugs. Characters without nat-
bring the body home so that it can be ural armour must succeed on a Constitu-
cleansed and reburied tion saving throw whenever they are fully
submerged in the water. On a failure, they
THE Core ProbleM become poisoned for 1d4 rounds.

Watery Grave Witchcraft
The undead mockery that was once Es- Esmerelda has retained some of her dark
merelda lives under the foul waters of a arts after death. She gains the Innate
swamp. Use the statistics for a Ghast with Spellcasting feature, [DC12, +4] and can
the following alterations. She has a swim- cast the following spells.
ming speed of 30 feet and can breathe un- (1/Day) Tidal Wave, Control Water
derwater. She can sense the general direc-
tion of living creatures within 2 miles. Unlikely Disasters

Don’t Touch Anything New Calling
Each round after a character first touch- A character who dies in the swamp imme-
es the water, a ghoul emerges from the diately rises as a Ghoul under Esmerelda’s
swamp. The ghoul wants nothing more control
than to eat, and retreats with the body if
it manages to acquire dinner. Ghouls stop Font of Undeath
emerging if Esmerelda is killed. Esmerelda Ghouls which start their turn submerged
appears on round four, and attacks until in the water regain 10 hit points. This
slain. feature does not function if the Ghoul has
taken fire or radiant damage since the start
Watch Your Step of its last turn.
The swamp is difficult terrain, and that
water is dirty/cloudy for calculating under- Hastening The End
water visibility. Creatures standing on the The swamp’s evil is omnipresent. Char-
mud in the swamp have disadvantage on acters suffocate in half the normal time if
Dexterity saving throws. they start to drown in the swamp.

65

WEIRD SISTERS C

Bella, the Fallen

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

On The Precipice Revenge
Mother Haggles’ eldest daughter, Bella, Bella is furious, and rages endlessly about
turned away from her mother in greed and how she was killed by her own mother. It’s
spite. Mother Haggle cursed her, an act she unclear whether or not this is true, but she
claims to regret to this very day. Regardless certainly believes it. She has the Innate
of the veracity of the claim, Mother Haggle Spellcasting feature [DC13 +5] and can
wants you to put the spectre of her daugh- cast the following spells (1/Day) Control
ter out of her misery. You’ll find her on the Winds, Gust of Wind, Storm Sphere
cliffs, where they had their last argument.
You must go at night, as that’s the only Envy
time she appears. Bella is green with envy at the life she
never had. Bella has advantage on attack
THE Core ProbleM rolls against anyone wearing jewellery, fine
clothes or otherwise outwardly displaying
A Long Way Down wealth and nobility.
Mother Haggle’s directions lead to the
Screaming Cliffs, where the weather is I Am The Storm
never clement. It’s storming, with violent Bella has mastery over the storm. It’s a
winds pushing towards the sea. Far below, manifestation of her anger. She is unhin-
the tides crash against sharp rocks. Any dered by the strong winds, rain or thunder.
character who falls from this height takes
6d6 falling damage, and 4d6 piercing dam- Unlikely Disasters
age as they hit the water
[Each round, roll a d6 for the storm’s
Distant Menace effect]
Bella, long since corrupted by her curse, is 1-2 Thunder booms overhead. All charac-
now a Banshee. She only appears at night. ters are deafened for a round.
She senses the characters arriving from 3-5 Winds roar towards the cliff edge. Each
some distance away, whirls high up in the character must succeed on a Strength sav-
clouds, hundreds of feet above them. She’s ing throw or be pushed 10 feet towards the
hard to spot in the storm and the rain until edge of the cliff.
she comes closer. 6 Lightning strikes down from the sky. The
tallest player character must succeed on a
Her Words Are Death Dexterity saving throw or take 8d6 light-
When the characters reach the edge of the ning damage. On a successful save, they
cliff, she circles through the floor to release take half damage.
her wail and begin combat.

66

Grisly Betty

Smash and Grab.

The Shadow Witch, or Grisly Betty, lives under a graveyard in
the misty forest. Gnawing on bones and eating human filth, she
feasts on children from nearby towns by stealing them from their
rooms whilst their parents sleep. Mother Haggle needs you to go
there and steal her Soul Bag - a magical item that lets the witch
travel the planes and commit her evil acts. Without it, she will
be powerless to prey on the local children. Kill her if you can,
but beware - she’s a slippery and dangerous foe.

A Dark And Bitter Affair

Grisly Betty is a filthy witch who draws her power from
darkness, death and shadow. She’s been lurking in her lair for
centuries, emerging randomly to steal and eat children. She’s
never been known to bargain, or give quarter. Those parents
who have tried to stop her have been brutally slain, the life
drained from their bodies and their skin left as husks on the
floor. Those who are skilled in history will recall that she’s never
been known to talk at all, displaying the cruel intelligence of a
wolf or another predatory animal. Worst of all, supposedly you
must never speak to her. If you do, she’ll steal your voice forever,
or so they say.

Risk

Grisly Betty has been lurking for some time, and has an array
of defenses. First, the entrance to her lair is guarded by a Wood
Woad and an armada of plantlike foes. The hallway into her
home is trapped with a deadly spell. Her quarters themselves
prove a dirty and unpleasant place, with enemies hiding in plain
sight. Once the bag is stolen, the woods prove an unfriendly
place to carriers of evil.

Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. 67

GRISLY BETTY C

Softly, Softly

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

What Has Been Lost Burning Bright
Grisly Betty’s lair is located in a graveyard Bringing fire, conjured or otherwise, into
a few day’s ride from Mother Haggle. It’s the graveyard activates a Weird Magic trap
filled with angelic statues, gravestones set by Grisly Betty. Three of the dead trees
worn by age, mud, creepers and dead trees. become Awakened Trees, and immediately
It’s raining as the characters enter. move to murder anyone in the graveyard.

THE Core ProbleM There Is No Hope
If a character is reduced to 0 hit points,
Buried Treasure they must succeed on a DC10 wisdom
Grisly Betty has hidden the entrance to saving throw or fall prey to Shadowfell De-
the catacomb under a pile of rubble and spair. [See the Dungeon Master’s Guide]
weeds. She comes and goes by magic, and
this is happy to leave it buried. 10 cubic Creeping Malice
feet of earth will need moving manually or The shadows grow long and distorted in
otherwise, to reveal the staircase leading this place. Characters who stray from the
downwards. group might vanish for a round into a nigh-
marish hellscape of claws, bone and dark-
Sign of Ill Omen ness before reappearing in the same place
The pile of rocks and weeds radiates a they left.
strong unholy presence to effects that
sense such things. In the Ethereal Plane, Unlikely Disasters
there’s glowing Wizard’s sigil hanging in
the air, to warn that a witch lives here. Insidious Dreams
The evil of the graveyard might manifest as
Weeds & Woads 3d6 twig blights motivated by murder and
There are dead trees dotted throughout the mayhem.
graveyard, which is a Shadow Crossing.
There is a Wood Woad guarding it, stalking Mean Green
the perimeter - Grisly Betty has corrupt- Green Slime covers some of the graves. It
ed it with her dark magic, and its abilities is hard to see at night, and some poor soul
function fully with the weeds and dead might just wander into it by mistake.
trees of the graveyard instead. Grisly Betty
killed a child to make this wood woad, and
anyone within 5 feet can hear the child’s
spirit crying out in their minds for its par-
ents. Killing the Wood Woad releases the
spirit, which departs to the afterlife

68

GRISLY BETTY

CShadows on the Walls

The entrance way leads down a short DYNAMIC ELEMENTS
flight of stone steps underground, into a
long stone corridor carved with angelic Increasing Shadows. Each time a char-
reliefs. The angels are weeping. The cor- acter succeeds on a check to tamper with
ridor stretches 150 feet to a wooden door, the music, an additional shadow appears
half-decayed in the near distance. It’s each round.
ominously quiet. [The corridor radiates Join Us. If a character remains grappled
necromantic magic to Detect Magic or Find by a hand for three rounds, they must
Traps.] succeed on a Strength saving throw DC
15 or be dragged 5ft. under the earth,
The TRAP where they begin to suffocate.

Trigger. This trap activates as soon as a CONSTANT ELEMENTS
non-undead creature enters the hallway,
and it remains active while any non-un- If a character ends their turn adjacent to
dead creature is within the hall. a Shadow, they suffer an attack using the
Initiative. The trap acts on initiative shadow’s statistics.
count 20 and initiative count 10. If a character ends their turn within ear-
Active Elements. A shadow arrives each shot of the music, they must make a sav-
turn to harass intruders. An unearthly ing throw or suffer its effects as described
music fills the corridor. Undead hands above.
burst through the earth to drag people
under. Countermeasures

Active Elements The musical enchantment can be broken
with three successful checks using Per-
Shadows. [Init 10] Each round, a shad- formance or a musical instrument, DC15.
ow manifests next to a character in the Alternatively, the music can be disabled
hallway and immediately take a turn. The with three successful castings of silence
shadows aim to drain and weaken, moving in the corridor.
on from unconscious targets.
Chant of Eternal Rest. [Init 20] [Each The shadows are banished permanently
creature that can hear the music must by Turn Undead or a Daylight spell.
succeed on a DC15 Wisdom saving throw
or suffer the effects of a sleep spell. This The hands can be driven away perma-
effect can be broken as usual, though nently with three successful Religion
attacks that deal necrotic damage do not checks [DC15], consecrating the group
wake their victims from this effect. with a vial of Holy Water or Silver dust.
Undead hands. [Init 20] Skeletal claws
burst through the matted earth. The
hands attack all characters who are on
the ground and in the corridor with a +8
bonus. Characters who are hit are grap-
pled. Hands can be destroyed with attacks
or spells. [AC 10, 1 hit point] Hands renew
themselves on initiative count 10.

69

GRISLY BETTY C

Gristle and Bone

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Amongst The Broken Things I Feel It In My Marrow
Grisly Betty’s lair is the dusty tomb of a The bones in the lair are cursed. They
long dead saint. The area has been cor- seem to get underfoot and snag the feet.
rupted and defiled by her magic, and the The room is difficult terrain for anyone
broken sarcophagus is the only clue as to walking through it.
this room’s original purpose. Baubles and
trinkets lie in dirty piles mixed with refuse I Spy-der
and human bones.The room seems unin- Grisly Betty has a pet Phase Spider she
habited, and no larger than 20 feet in any values for its ability to travel the planes
dimension. Perhaps what you’re looking for with her. If in danger of losing her soul
is here? bag, she’s not afraid to send it in as a dis-
traction whilst she grabs the bag.
THE Core ProbleM
Sir Pelt-ergeist
Silent Witness The ghost of the saint buried here is mad
Grisly Betty is spying on the intruders from and corrupted by the Hag’s evil. It mani-
the Border Ethereal using her Heartstone. fests as a Poltergeist, and harries anyone
She’s furious at the audacity of the adven- who begins to investigate the room.
turers, and does her best to stop the theft
without endangering herself too much. Unlikely Disasters

Location, Location, Location Mimicry
The room is dirty and has been continually Under the piles of clothes, Grisly Betty has
poisoned by Grisly Betty’s dark magic. It is been raising a Mimic. It’s slavishly loyal
desecrated ground. to her, and waits for the right moment to
strike, masquerading as something useful
Bag For Life like a weapon or a valuable gemstone. It
The Soul Bag that Grisly Betty uses is might even leave the room, going on several
sitting in a corner in a pile of rags when adventures before striking at a character in
the characters enter. Betty wants it back, their sleep
but can’t get to it without materialising. It
radiates an aura of necromantic magic to Spiritual Malaise
Detect Magic and similar effects. Each minute a character spends in the
lair, they must succeed on a DC10 wisdom
saving throw or fall prey to Shadowfell De-
spair. [DMG]

Darkness Reigns
The Darkvision trait does not function for
characters inside the lair.

70

GRISLY BETTY

CThe Secret Garden

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

The Great Escape The Straw That Broke Her Back
Leaving the graveyard proves difficult. Grisly Betty enters the frey in earnest,
Vines and bones spring up from the earth shrieking like a maniac. She targets the
to create thorny walls that block passage in weakest looking character and shows no
all four cardinal directions. Ghostly nois- mercy.
es begin to emerge from the Soul Bag if it
is still present. Hands burst through the Old Enemies
earth as the dead rise from their slumber. The Zombies that rise are entirely focused
If Grisly Betty is still alive, she emerges on grappling prey to the floor for their rap-
from her lair to lay waste to the intruders idly growing numbers to eventually over-
as they flee with the bag. power.

THE Core ProbleM Stuck In The Mud
Characters have disadvantage on checks to
Thorny Rebuke avoid being grappled due to the sticky mud
The wall is a wall of thorns effect surround- and treacherous footing.
ing the graveyard.
Unlikely Disasters
Army of the Damned
The zombies rise from the earth at a rate of The Pilgrim’s Burden
three every round, on Initiative count 20, The Soul Bag deals 1d4 necrotic damage to
losing initiative ties. This continues until the bearer at the start of their turns until
30 zombies have emerged. They attack the they leave the graveyard.
first living creature they can see.
Stolen Voices
I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream Using spells with vocal components in the
The ghostly wailing is the screams of all Graveyard prevents the caster from using
the children Grisly Betty has slaughtered that spell again until the encounter is over.
and eaten in her miserable career. Destroy-
ing the bag frees the souls, which manifest Leaves Falling In Autumn
as a single ghost. The ghost attacks any- Anyone reduced to 0 hit points in the gar-
one it can see, that isn’t a mother or father. den begins to drift into death. They have
Otherwise, the wailing gives any character disadvantage on all death saving throws.
within 20 feet of the bag disadvantage on
saving throws and ability checks.

71

Grisly Betty

Grisly Betty At will: detect magic, tasha’s hideous laughter

Medium Fiend, Chaotic Evil 2/day each: etherealness, plane shift (self only)
Armor Class 17 (natural armour)
Hit Points 122 Magic Resistance. The hag has advantage on saving
Speed 30 ft throws against spells and other magical effects.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA Actions

18 (+4) 15 (+2) 16 (+3) 8 (-1) 18 (+4) 16 (+3) Claws.(Hag Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to
hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) slashing
Saving Throws Intelligence +3, Wisdom +8 damage.

Skills Stealth +7, Insight +7, Perception +8, Change Shape. The hag magically polymorphs into
a Small or Medium female humanoid, or back into
Resistances: Cold, Necrotic, bludgeoning, piercing her true form. Her statistics are the same in each
and slashing from nonmagical attacks that aren’ t form. Any equipment she is wearing or carrying isn’t
silvered transformed. She reverts to her true form if she
dies.
Vulnerabilities: Radiant, Fire
Etherealness. The hag magically enters the Ethereal
Condition Immunities Charmed Plane from the Material Plane, or vice versa. To do
so, the hag must have a heartstone in her posses-
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 18 sion.

Languages -

Spell Thief: Grisly Betty adds any spell she hears
cast with a vocal component to her Innate Spell-
casting ability. The caster can’t cast that spell
again until the end of their next long rest.

Challenge 5

Innate Spellcasting. Grisly Betty’s innate spellcast-
ing ability is Charisma (spell save DC 14, +6 to hit
with spell attacks). She can innately cast the follow-
ing spells, requiring no material components:

WEIRD MAGIC

See Volo’s Guide To Monsters for more information on Hags and their Weird Magic.
Use sparingly. Not safe for children.

[Stolen Voices] If Grisly Betty gets her hands on her Soul Bag, she gains a sinister
power. If a character directly addresses her, she can use her reaction to steal their
voice. The character is unable to speak until the bag is destroyed or the witch is killed.
A Greater Restoration can also lift the curse.

[Shadow Thief] Grisly Betty can use an action to rip the shadow from an unconcious
character and store it in her soul bag. The character does not wake up until the shad-
ow is freed by destroying the soul bag, even by magic.

[The Bad Touch] The witch can use an action to cast contagion by rubbing her claws
in her own waste and touching a victim. This functions as the spell cast at its lowest
level, requiring no components.

72 Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only.

LAIR ACTIONS

See Volo’s Guide To Monsters for more information on Hags and their Lair Actions.
Grisly Betty can only use her Lair Actions whilst inside the catacomb.

[I Like The Way You Move] Until initiative count 20 on the next round, the hag can
pass through solid walls, doors, ceilings, and floors as if the surfaces weren’t there.

[There And Back Again] One creature the hag can see within 120 feet of her must
succeed on a DC 15 Charisma saving throw or be banished to a prison demiplane. To
escape, the creature must use its action to make a Charisma check contested by the
hag’s. If the creature wins, it escapes the demiplane. Otherwise, the effect ends on
initiative count 20 on the next round. When the effect ends, the creature reappears in
the space it left or in the nearest unoccupied space if that one is occupied.

[Your Words Are Mine] One creature the hag can see within 30 feet of her must suc-
ceed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, or be unable to speak until Initiative count
20 on the next round..

TACTICS

Grisly Betty has long since lost her mind. This makes her somewhat less dangerous
than she would be at full strength, but nonetheless a canny and predatory foe. Unable
to take full advantage of conventional tactics or strategy, she behaves like a wild beast.
She stalks her prey on the Ethereal Plane, trying to work out the weakest member of
the party. When the right moment comes, she strikes from the shadows, retreating if
she meets fierce resistance. If backed into a corner, she fights with full desperation and
fury, vanishing as soon as she gets the chance. If she nears death, she doesn’t risk it
and leaves the party alone whilst she nurses her wounds.

If a member of the party has the soul bag, Grisly Betty marshals her forces against
them. The defences of the lair are a supernatural extension of the hag’s evil, and follow
her unconscious directive to kill intruders.

Unlike most Hags, Grisly Betty is unable to bargain or communicate due to her mad-
ness. This makes her unpredictable, as she can’t understand anything anyone is say-
ing, even if gifted with language from a spell like Tongues - she no longer has the men-
tal capacity for complex communication.

Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. 73

Tunnel Vision

Kobolds Tactics

If there’s one thing Mother Haggle hates The kobolds (each and every one), will beg
more than goblins, it’s kobolds. Scaly, for their lives in the most pathetic and
horrible vermin that steal and bite and mewling way possible if they are ever cor-
nered. Otherwise, they loose ranged weap-
tunnel. She can barely countenance the ons, poisons, traps and pets from afar.
thought. A tribe of kobolds in the area Grovelling is their preferred option, and
has gone too far this time, stealing the they’ll abase themselves for extended peri-
windvane from the roof of her shack. She ods in the mud to buy themselves time, or
even out of genuine admiration.
wants them dealt with, for good.
Adventure Order
The Warren
Play the scenarios in whichever order you
The layout of the warren isn’t important. like, ending with Means of Escape.
The vast majority of it is a series of wind-
ing tunnels that criss-cross through each We Are Legion can be played more than
once. I suggest the following order:
other until the final chamber.
We Are Legion
Ceilings. Ceilings are 4 feet tall unless It’s Quiet, Too Quiet.
specified otherwise. We Are Legion (again)

Corridors. The corridors are 5 feet wide at Outnumbered
most. We Are Legion (yes, again)

The Tribe Skunks & Grubs
The Smell of Rebellion
The kobolds are thoroughly entrenched We Are Legion (once more with feeling)
in their warren. Deep in the depths of the
earth, they accidentally awakened the red Means of Escape
dragon Zinzinata from a long stasis, who
is the one insisting they fetch her treas-

ure. They don’t want to leave whilst the
dragon lives, but should the dragon die
they vacate like rats from a sinking ship.
These kobolds are a maroon colour, with
the occasional yellow speckle on their

snouts.

74 Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only.

TUNNEL VISION

BIt’s Quiet...Too Quiet

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Hackles Raised Not Playing Fair
Whilst making their way through the The kobolds have poisoned their bolts,
warren, the party comes across a corri- dealing an extra 1d4 poison damage on a
dor which is suspiciously wide and tall - hit.
enough for a person to stand and stretch
their legs. It runs for a few hundred feet Low Blow
into the darkness and slopes downwards. The kobolds sneak through the tunnels
into the main corridor to stab any charac-
THE Core ProbleM ter that falls unconscious.

Side Corridors Watch Your Step
Behind the walls of the large corridor are A kobold sorcerer has cast four snare spells
parallel side corridors with murder holes at various inconvenient points in the corri-
for the kobolds to fire projectiles through. dor, DC14.
The kobolds get in and out of these parallel
side corridors via small catflaps in the floor Unlikely Disasters
at the far end.
Gee, What A Surprise
Pew Pew Pew The tunnel is rigged to collapse. When
2d6 kobolds hide in every side corridor, one of the kobolds pulls a hidden lever,
carrying crossbows. They fire through the the ceiling caves in. Characters who fail
murder holes on characters who try and a DC10 Dexterity save are crushed under
move down the corridor. the rocks, taking 6d6 bludgeoning damage,
and a further 1d6 each round until they
Wriggle Room are dug out or they die.
The kobolds enter the side warrens
through tiny tunnels hidden in the mud- Tremors
dy floor. A small character can squeeze The tunnel is trapped with a glyph of ward-
through these tunnels using their action ing [thunder] set by the kobold sorcerer,
and a DC10 acrobatics check. DC14.

House Of Cards
For bonus evil points, have the glyph of
warding set off the tunnel collapse.

75

TUNNEL VISION B

We Are Legion

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Vermin Tide The World Is Quiet Here
The kobolds have gathered to defend their The oil carrying kobolds also carry tinder-
home, and they have come in numbers. boxes.
Play out this encounter at an intersection
of 5 or more tunnels. Front Line Lizards
The front kobolds are proficient in the use
THE Core ProbleM of their shields. Attacks against the kob-
olds behind them whilst they live are made
Five Little Kobolds Went To Market at disadvantage.
5 kobolds advance down each tunnel. The
front kobold in each line carries a shield, SUPPRESSING FIRE
raising its AC by 2. The second carries a The rearmost kobolds stay back and pep-
flask of oil, which it dumps on the first per the party with bolts from range. They
character it can. The third carries a torch, can fire two bolts every round.
which it uses to attack and set alight any-
one covered in oil. The fourth carries cal- Unlikely Disasters
trops, which are scattered to cut off es-
cape. The fifth always has a crossbow, Tricksy Traps
The fourth kobolds also carry ball-bearings
Guerilla Tactics and hunting traps, which they leave behind
The kobolds use their various tools to them as they flee.
harry and harass the intruders. If severely
wounded, the kobolds flee as best they can Mean, Lean, Kobold Machines
back into the warrens. The shield carrying kobolds are tougher
and meaner than usual. Double their hit
Teamwork points.
The kobolds are not hampered by the oil,
or caltrops, and ignore each other when de- Pop Goes The Weasel
termining if a target for a ranged attack is The torch carrying kobolds are rigged with
behind cover. smokepowder. When killed by a flame
based attack such as fire bolt, or by a
EQUIPMENT piercing weapon such as a rapier or an ar-
row, they explode in a 5 foot radius, dealing
The kobolds use the same oil, hunting 1d6 fire damage to anyone within 5 feet,
traps, ball bearings and torches found in and setting them alight if they are covered
the Equipment section in Chapter 5 of the in oil.
Players Handbook.

76

TUNNEL VISION B

Skunks and Grubs

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Necessity Is The Mother of Invention This Is Your Destiny
The kobolds have had enough time to de- The messenger kobolds are fast runners
velop some small talent with Artifice. Three chosen for the job. Increase their move-
kobold inventors have made the warren ment speed to 40 feet.
their home (they are also responsible for
the ceiling trap in It’s Quiet, Too Quiet). Ow, My Toes
Play out this encounter as the characters Each inventor has set up the occasional
reach a three way intersection, ideally as hunting trap nearby. Kobolds ignore these
the party stops for a short rest. traps if they move through the area of ef-
fect.
THE Core ProbleM
Lord Of Tiny Disasters
The inventors, Bleep, Snok and Nedd, are The inventors are largely immune to the
each keen to prove that their inventions are effects of their own inventions, having de-
the best. vised appropriate countermeasures.

Wonders of Ingenuity Unlikely Disasters
Bleep has supplies of the Rot Grub Pot and
Green Slime Pot inventions, which he keeps *fizzle*
strapped to his body in various places. This area of the mine is a dead magic zone.
Snok has supplies of the Skunk In A Cage All spells and magical effects cease to func-
and Wasp Nest In A Bag inventions, which tion for 300 feet surrounding the junction.
he unleashes down the corridor in waves.
Nedd has supplies of the Basket of Centi- Fly, My Pretties
pedes invention. All three hate each other All the skunks break free at once, and
with a passion. swarm down the corridor in a hellish wave
of stinky death.
Supply Line of Death
Each kobold stations themselves 200 feet You’ll Never Take Me Alive
up their respective corridors, and sends When the inventors are hit with attacks,
kobolds carrying their chosen inventions their vials of alchemist’s fire break and
down the corridors one after another. Until they/their inventions are immolated.
the inventors are killed, assume their sup-
plies of carrier kobolds and inventions are
infinite.

One By One By One
One kobold is ‘spawned’ each round at
each inventor on initiative count 20 until
that inventor is killed.

77

TUNNEL VISION

BThe Smell of Rebellion

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

A Breath of Fresh Air Romantic Notions
The kobolds are down to their last line of The sorcerer doesn’t want to go and face
defence. The dragon has become aware of the dragon, and tries to convince the ad-
the intrusion, so the clan scale sorcerer venturers to leave, offering to be their
and his apprentices are tasked with ending sage/slave/footstool.
the adventurers once and for all. This takes
place in a much wider and taller tunnel Last Resort
that must have a link to the surface some- The sorcerer carries a ring of mind shield-
where far above. ing. If it dies, its mind flees into the ring.

THE Core ProbleM Hellish Rebuke
The dragon knew all along that the kobold
Strange Magic intended to betray it. If the party accepts
The kobold scale sorcerer knows the fol- the kobold’s offer of help, the poor sorcerer
lowing spells, which replace the ones in the explodes in a fiery burst, as per a Glyph of
normal statblock - 1st level: burning hands, Warding [fire], DC17.
charm person, snare, magic missile 2nd lev-
el: dragon’s breath, gust of wind Unlikely Disasters

Promotion Eye Spy
The sorcerer has grown to resent the de- The dragon is spying on the party through
mands of the red dragon, and if it thinks the eyes of one of the apprentices.
there is any chance it can throw in its lot
with the adventurers then it does so I Can’t Bear It
A rogue brown bear has wandered down
Flaming Nuisance from the surface. It attacks, and the kob-
The sorcerer has brought its three kobold olds panic.
apprentices, who are fiercely loyal to the
dragon. They know the fire bolt cantrip [+3 Kobold Says What?
to hit, 1d10 fire damage.] The kobold sorcerer doesn’t speak com-
mon, only speaking draconic.

78

TUNNEL VISION B

Prison Break

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

The Room Where It Happens Draconic Bloodline
The warrens finally open up into a vast Zinzinata has the Innate Spellcasting fea-
cavern filled with the modest plunder of ture. She can cast the following spells,
the recent kobold raids. Lounging on the requiring no components: (1/day) fireball,
pile of gold, bric-a-brac and junk is the pyrotechnics, scrying
young red dragon Zinzinata. Mother Hag-
gle’s weather vane is sticking out of a pile Assassins To Ashes
near one of the dragon’s feet is. She is Zinzinata doesn’t like thieves. Characters
awake, and ready for intruders. The cav- who try and steal are incinerated, though
ern isn’t high enough for her to fly, but it is she’s willing to negotiate with the rest of
large enough for her to stretch out fully. the party.

THE Core ProbleM Central Heating
The red dragon’s lair is supernaturally
Untimely Awakening heated. Characters who spend more than
Zinzinata tires of her stony prison. She an hour here must succeed on a Constitu-
sent herself into magical stasis some cen- tion saving throw (DC10) or gain a level of
turies ago, and awoke in this cave when exhaustion.
the kobolds freed her accidentally. Her
desperation makes her unusually willing to Unlikely Disasters
negotiate for a red dragon.

You Scratch My Back Rally The Troops
Zinzinata will happily trade Mother Hag- Zinzinata gains one lair action.
gle’s weather vane for a means of escape. Koboldtopia. 1d4 kobolds rush into the
[Indeed, if the players return to Mother chamber, and join the initiative order.
Haggle with the dragon’s offer, she’ll pro-
vide them with a potion of diminution to Stuck For Options
effect this.] The weather vane is lodged in the gold
piles. A medium or smaller sized creature
Lair must make an Strength (Athletics) check
The piles of stuff around and low lighting DC15 to dislodge it, which sends coins
make it possible for sneaky characters to scattering everywhere.
attempt a theft. If Zinzinata is engaged in
combat, she makes full use of legendary Unbearable
and lair actions. The dragon has a pet brown bear. She sets
it on intruders she finds annoying.
Amongst the piles of wealth are whatever
magical items and gold you deem appropri-
ate for the campaign you are running.

79

CNessus Dorma

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

A Princess And A Suitor Conflagration Expectation
The beautiful and wilful Princess Tura has The barbed devil is prepared to set fire to
been defying suitors for years. She swore all those hanging silks to cover an escape.
she would only marry the man who could
solve her three riddles, but someone finally I’ll Have My Assistant Handle It
managed it - a hideous peasant. In a stroke The devil brought an Imp, which is hiding
of desperation, she’s prepared to make a invisibly near the door in case of trouble.
deal with a Nessan barbed devil to make
the problem go away...and Mother Haggle Drop Your Weapons, Or The Girl Dies!
wants the deal stopped before the fiend The devil, if uncovered, might seize the
steals away the soul of the princess. princess, threatening to kill her unless
someone makes a deal to save her. The
THE Core ProbleM price, of course, is the victim’s soul upon
their death.
Palatial Abode
The princess [LE noncombatant] is in her Unlikely Disasters
bedroom on the third story of her palace
complex. Guards are everywhere inside, Don’t Panic, Your Highness!
but aren’t watching the walls. The commotion causes 3d6 guards to burst
in, wielding spears. They attempt to sub-
Wheeler Dealer due all intruders, and the devil attempts to
Inside her room decorated with lavish silk escape in the confusion.
hangings and piled with pillows, a barbed
devil [Gamigin] is wheedling the princess We’ve Got Company
in common, holding an long contract in Should combat break out, the devil has a
one hand. It’s trying to convince her to give 40% chance of summoning 2 spined devils
up her soul in exchange for the Archdevil as a bonus action.
Zariel’s support in claiming her throne.

Sign Right Here Promotional Matters
The devil focuses on convincing Tura to The barbed devil’s promotion is riding on
agree to the deal. If she does, she immedi- this going well. If foiled, it murders the
ately spontaneously combusts and her soul princess in a fit of pique before leaving.
is damned to the nine hells. There’s a loop-
hole in the contract that a Sage or Guild
Artisan would easily spot. If rumbled, the
devil tries to flee through the window.
Tura is wilful and self-reliant. She’ll do an-
ything to avoid marriage to the peasant.

80

ASpeak of the Devil

THe QUEST individually.

Whoops-A-Daisy Fatal Flaw
Mother Haggle accidentally gave the wrong The magic circle has a flaw, which Kaka-
name to one of her students, who is about zenfarel immediately notices. The flaw ren-
to try and bind a much more powerful ders the circle powerless to defend Vellicor.
demon to his will than he anticipated. The
student, an apprentice wizard named Vel- A Devil Is Never Alone
licor, thinks he’s summoning an Imp fa- If threatened, Kakazenfarel has a 30%
miliar. Instead, he’s been given the name chance of summoning two barbed devils to
Kakazenfarel, a powerful Bone Devil. Go aid his escape.
upstairs, and sort it out for her, will you?
Unlikely Disasters
THE Core ProbleM
Babysitting
Drawing The Line Mother Haggle wants Vellicor alive. If he
Vellicor is standing in a Magic Circle, dies, the reward for the mission is forfeit.
DC14, which protects against fiends. As he
finishes his spell, the characters enter the Name Your Price
room. Kakazenfarel needs to corrupt more souls
if it wants that promotion. It offers the
Kakazenfarel characters anything they desire if they’ll
The devil Kakazenfarel bursts into the drag Vellicor out of the circle for Kakazen-
room in a gout of infernal flame. If left to farel to prey on.
its own devices, it tries to force its way
through the circle and devours the squeal- Brave But Foolish
ing apprentice. If opposed, it becomes Vellicor has a weapon of last resort, a scroll
honey-tongued and sly. It can offer any- of Plane Shift. He botches the casting, and
thing from an Infernal Warlock pact, to an it explodes in a 10 foot radius, dealing 8d6
Imp familiar, to just plain leaving and not force damage to anyone in the area of ef-
coming back. The price, as always, is the fect.
bargainer’s soul.

Agree To Nothing! Kill It!
The apprentice knows better than to make
a deal with the devil. He tries to escape at
the first opportunity. Kakazenfarel wants to
leave too, and crashes through the window
if he thinks he can get away.

Plausible Complications

Honeyed Words
Kakazenfarel is a talented liar and negoti-
ator. He can speak common, but chooses
to use his telepathy to manipulate people

81

ABy Any Other Name
THe QUEST
Plausible Complications

What’s In A Name? Hot As Hell
Mother Haggle requires the true name of The chamber burns hot with the rage of
a powerful devil. Sadly, the name isn’t in hell. For every 10 minutes characters with-
any books, so you’ll need to go right to the out fire resistance spend in the chamber,
source. The fiend is lurking in an under- they must succeed on a DC 10 Constitu-
ground cave, hiding from those who would tion saving throw or gain a level of exhaus-
banish it back to the Nine Hells. The quest tion.
is simple - follow the directions to the mon-
ster’s lair, and force it to divulge its true Archdevil
name. Adramalech adds the following spells to
his Innate Spellcasting feature: Geas, Com-
THE Core ProbleM mand, Power Word Stun.

Down In The Dark Persuade Me
The lair is an underground cavern some If Adramalech is Charmed, a character
days away from civilisation accessible by a must also succeed on a successful DC15
stone tunnel tens of feet wide imbued with Deception or Persuasion check to convince
the stench of brimstone. the devil to give up its true name.

Big Bird Unlikely Disasters
Lurking in the Cavern is the archfiend
Adramalech (use the statblock for a pit Bird Droppings
fiend). He looks much like a gigantic flam- A single feather from Adramalech’s tail
ing peacock with five heads and burning functions as a scroll of protection against
feathers. fiends [DC21]. He guards them jealously.

Mightier Than The Sword Careful Wording
Adramalech loathes being on the surface, Adramalech makes every effort to twist the
having been summoned by a botched ritu- wording of deals to his advantage. He’d
al. He can be convinced to give up his true rather like to go back to hell with four more
name by several routes. souls into the bargain.

• As part of a deal whereby Adramalech is Evil Follows Me
given a safe route back to Nessus. Adramalech is an archdevil, a powerful
extraplanar force. The chamber is imbued
• By Charming him and commanding him with the Pervasive Evil of the Nine Hells.
to reveal it. [See the Dungeon Master’s Guide].

• By subduing him with violence.
• As part of a deal where a character sells

their soul, or the soul of their offspring
(current or future).

Adramalech’s preferred tactic is to convince
a character to sell their soul in exchange
for his true name, and a scroll of plane
shift that he will use to go back to hell.

82

Mother C
Can you Hear me?

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

A Curious Kidnapping Death Rage
A young boy who recently lost his moth- The wraith is fiercely protective of the spec-
er in an accident has been kidnapped by tre. She uses hit and run tactics to take
shadowy spectre. Mother Haggle wants you advantage of her incorporeal movement
to retrieve the boy and destroy the spirit feature by hiding behind rubble. If the
before it causes any more damage. spectre dies, she is enraged and abandons
tactics.
THE Core ProbleM
Mischief Managed
Mother & Child The spectre is actually the poltergeist var-
The wraith has stolen the boy away to iant (see Monster Manual).
an abandoned cellar. The boy is already
dead, as the wraith has raised his spirit as Bonds of Spirit
a spectre. The wraith is the spirit of the If the wraith is reduced to 0 hit points
boy’s mother - having made a fiendish pact whilst the spectre lives, she remains on 1
in life, her spirit collapsed in on itself at hit point instead, tethered to the material
death. As a wraith, she has limited mem- plane by her lingering affection for her son.
ory of her life and is consumed by hunger
for the living - her only remaining attach- Unlikely Disasters
ment is a lingering protectiveness of the
spectre that was once her child. You Don’t Stand A Ghost Of A Chance
The spectre is actually a ghost, having
You Missed A Step been empowered by his mother’s unholy
It’s a long way down into the cellar, and presence
the stairs are long since turned to dust. It’s
pitch black, and the body of the child has Bonds of Flesh
been dumped in a corner, face down in the If the spectre is reduced to 0 hit points
waters. The wraith is floating around the whilst its body lies untended to, it falls to 1
room, and the spectre is loudly shrieking. hit point instead. Purifying the body with a
Gentle Repose spell, performing a Ceremo-
Careful Casting ny or burning the body with fire all allow
Casting spells that cause explosions, such the spirit to pass on.
as Thunderwave or Fireball, causes the
rickety foundations of the house to shake. Soul Shackles
On subsequent castings, there is a 10% The cellar is imbued with supernatural
chance that the cellar caves in, burying evil. Characters who die in the cellar rise
anyone down there under vast amounts of as spectres 1d4 rounds later.
rock and rubble.

83

BArmy of Darkness

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Kill The Leader Choice Apparel
The undead have grown too numerous in The wight wears an Amulet of Protection
the misty forest. Mother Haggle suspects Against Turning [see Tales From The Yawn-
they may have been marshalled under ing Portal], which flashes blue when it
some kind of leader. Go to the woods, and defends him from Turn Undead.
strike down this abomination before the
hordes grow too large to be stopped. Garbage Disposal
From round 4 onwards, a ghoul appears
THE Core ProbleM on initiative count 5.

Cannon Fodder Dressed Like A King
The woods are misty, and cold. Zombies The wight is clad in plate armour designed
begin to claw their way slowly through the for it, giving it an AC of 18.
woods. Introduce 1d4 zombies on initiative
count 20 each round. On initiative count Unlikely Disasters
10, introduce 1d4 skeletons.
Tricks Up His Sleeve
The Main Event The wight is a 5th level spellcaster [+6,
This continues for 1d6 rounds, after which DC14]. It knows the following spells.
a wight manifests through the treeline. It 1st (3 slots) ray of sickness, shield
marshals the undead and attacks. If the 2nd (3 slots) ray of enfeeblement, misty step
wight is slain, all zombies and skeletons 3rd (2 slots) vampiric touch, slow
within 200 feet of the wight fall lifeless to
the floor. Endless Horde
The undead continue to appear each round
Growing Strength until the wight is defeated.
Before the wight emerges, the undead are
weak. All these undead strike with disad- This Seems Familiar...
vantage due to their clumsiness. After the The proceedings are interrupted by the
wight appears, the dead grow stronger and appearance of Mother Haggle’s magic cow,
lose the disadvantage on their attack rolls. chased by a band of 1d6 commoners
tasked with its retrieval. Better save the
cow, or Mother Haggle might get annoyed.
You know how she loves that beast.

84

Bodakious A

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

They Died Screaming Three’s Company
People have been found dead in their bed- The bodak brings three shadows with it
rooms, a horrified expression on their that slink into the room through the mir-
faces. The mystery had law enforcement ror.
stymied, but Mother Haggle’s powerful
divinations have revealed the culprit, a Puissant Evil
creature of shadow that can cross between The bodak gains Turn Immunity.
worlds through mirrors to wreak havoc on
the living as they sleep. She knows where Cold Blooded
it will appear next, and wants you to spring The bodak has a mirror-like sheen covering
a trap. it’s body. If the bodak makes a success-
ful saving throw against a spell, or a spell
THE Core ProbleM attack misses it, the spectator can choose
another creature (including the spellcast-
Bedroom Antics er) it can see within 30 feet of it. The spell
The location is a bedroom in a wealthy targets the chosen creature instead of the
noble’s house. The long bedroom mirror is spectator. If the spell forced a saving throw,
where Mother Haggle believes the threat the chosen creature makes its own save. If
will manifest at some point during the the spell was an attack, the attack roll is
night. There are two small windows, and a rerolled against the chosen creature.
door leading onto a landing and down the
stairs to street level. The room has a four Unlikely Disasters
poster bed and a washstand.
Shattered Reflections
On The Stroke Of Twelve The bodak can cast mirror image at will.
The creature appears at midnight. [Use the
statistics for a bodak.] If the washstand Walking The Upside Down
is undisturbed, the bodak comes through The bodak can enter one mirrored surface,
that instead, hoping to flank its adversar- and exit through any other mirror it can
ies. If reduced to below one third of its hit see using 5 feet of movement. This includes
points, it tries to flee through the mirror, plate or half-plate armour.
which it can do by spending 5 feet of move-
ment and touching the surface of the mir- Expeditious Retreat
ror. Destroying the mirror and upsetting The bodak flees at half-health to recuper-
the washstand prevents these methods of ate, and returns to haunt the characters
escape. the following night.

Means Of Escape
The room is dark, obviously, and the win-
dows are too small for anyone but a tiny
creature to escape through. There’s a hand
mirror lying on a dresser, and a silver
breakfast platter discarded on the bed.

85

The Bogeyman B

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Knock Knock Sinister Suspicions
Mother Haggle has heard that the local The Bogeyman can sense when it is being
farmers are complaining of something watched.
knocking on their windows late at night.
Some children have also gone missing. Curiosity Killed The Cat
She needs you to go and stake out a house A child opens its bedroom window to see
of your choosing, and lie in wait for the what all the noise is about. If not stopped,
mysterious visitor. If it’s hostile, then she the Bogeyman takes it for a snack.
wants you to take care of it.
Hushabye Time
THE Core ProbleM The Bogeyman can cast the sleep spell at-
will.
“Let Me In”
The night-time visitor is an oni which Unlikely Disasters
calls itself the Bogeyman. It visits houses
at night, rapping on the windows with a If We Spirits Have Offended...
clawed hand. If the owner opens it, the Bo- The Bogeyman retreats if it is outmatched.
geyman leaps inside and murders everyone Add the dream spell to it’s 1/day innate
in the house, kidnapping any children to spellcasting, which it uses to harass one of
devour later. the characters.

“Woe, How Impoverished I am” Puppies! Well, not the cute kind.
The Bogeyman is a canny deceiver, and The Bogeyman doesn’t go anywhere with-
usually disguises itself as a beggar. It gives out his helpers, three meenlocks [see
itself away when it begins a murder spree, Volo’s Guide To Monsters] that lumber after
though. him like puppies. The Bogeyman is im-
mune to their fear aura.
“Perhaps we could make a deal?”
The Bogeyman is actually a fey creature, Dreamwrought
an aspect of the Sandman that has leaked The Bogeyman is immune to psychic dam-
onto the material plane. If challenged, it’s age, and damage from nonmagical weap-
happy to go away in exchange for a promise ons.
of aid at a later date.

86

CSandstorm

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Dust Swarm Mockery
The Sandman’s magic drifts through eddies The mephits’ innate spellcasting also in-
in the air and clouds, coalescing into crea- cludes the following spells, cast at their
tures of dust & madness. Try running this lowest level: thaumaturgy, silent image,
as the characters travel from place to place, phantasmal force. The mephits use these
or on the way back from a completed mis- abilities to torment and harass characters.

sion. THE Core ProbleM Servants of the Sandman
Increase the DC of the mephits’ abilities to
Barrage 12.
A small army of dust mephits converges
on the party’s location from all directions. Wisps On The Wind
1d10 dust mephits appear each round on Whilst within the sandstorm, the mephits
initiative count 20, until 100 mephits have can treat the storm as heavy obscurement
been destroyed. for the purposes of making stealth checks.

Natural Habitat Unlikely Disasters
The mephits are accompanied by a violent
(and frankly unseasonal) sandstorm that Triggering Memories
sweeps down from a cloud to blanket the Characters who suffer too many violent
area for miles around in rolling sand. Vision flashbacks might need to make a Charisma
is lightly obscured within the sandstorm. saving throw against madness or take on a
Ranged weapon distance is halved when short-term madness effect. [DMG. p.259]
targeting any creature inside the storm.
Journey To The Centre Of The Earth
Motes Of Memory Areas of the ground might spontaneously
Destroying one or more mephits with a spell transform into a Quicksand environmental
or ability causes the character to suffer a hazard. [DMG. p,110]
vivid flashback to a bad memory of theirs.
Use this as a moment to flesh out character Bad Forecast
backstories with tragic tales. The storm whips into a violent frenzy, caus-
ing concentration checks on Initiative count
20 each round.

87

Awaken A

THe QUEST I Am The Land, The Land Is Me
The giant has been meditating a long time.
Walking With Dreamosaurs Moss grows over it, and from a distance it
There is a suspicious looking menhir which looks like a menhir sat atop a hill.
is right in the path of Mother Haggle’s fa-
vourite forest trail. It’s been there for some Plausible Complications
time, but it’s been emitting some strange
magical auras lately and she wants it re- Rune Magic
The giant has warded its meditation with
moved. THE Core ProbleM rune magic, inscribing a magical symbol
into the earth near it. This functions as a
Sudden Awakening Symbol spell, DC16. [Use whichever mode
The rock is a stone giant dreamwalker, appeals to you, I suggest Insanity or Dis-
which originally came up to the surface cord.]
with dire predictions of doom for the sur-
face world. It believes that the material Talking In Circles
plane is doomed to a curse of endless sleep. The giant long ago inscribed a nonsense
Sadly, it went mad from exposure to the rhyme in Giant onto the plateau where it
surface before it could deliver its message sits. The spiral is confusing and madden-
to anyone who could help, and settled into ing. Anyone who reads it must succeed on
stasis. By now, the giant believes the over- a Wisdom saving throw [DC16] or gain a
world to be an endless waking nightmare, short-term madness.
and has no compunction about lies or vio-
lence it inflicts. People In Glass Houses
If the characters do not approach the giant
Join The Dream stealthily enough, it leans forward to rip a
The giant is meditating as the characters stone from the ground, and casually begins
approach, but uses its Dreamwalker’s to barrage them
Charm to try and adhere some more people
to it if it notices characters approaching. Unlikely Disasters

Maat & Maug
The giant can sense the presence of crea-
tures with an Evil alignment, and targets
them above others.

Strength of Stone
The giant has advantage on all strength
saving throws, and can use a reaction to
avoid being knocked prone.

Mystic Visions
The giant can see invisible or ethereal crea-
tures. It also has telepathy out to 120 feet.

88

CLandscaping

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Henge Act Two, Scene Won
Mother Haggle is quite house proud. She Once the boulders reach the bottom of the
particularly adores the view outsider her hill, they begin to roll upwards, and then
little cottage, where the sun crests a nearby back down again. They don’t take attacks of
hill. Sadly, that view is marred by several opportunity during turns in which they use
boulders which have been dumped on the the Slam action.
hill. Mother Haggle wants you to go and
move the boulders off the hill, and she’s Earth
willing to pay. The Elemental Plane of Earth is strong
here. Spells which produce air, lightning or
THE Core ProbleM thunder effects are cast as if with a spell
slot one lower than was actually used. If
Rock Bottom this would bring the slot lower than the
There are six boulders on the hill, made minimum slot required to cast the spell,
of craggy stone. A character with Stone- then the slot is wasted and the casting fails.
cunning or proficiency with Mason’s Tools Creatures cannot fly whilst within 300 feet
might be able to tell from a distance that of either of the Galeb Duhr.
the rocks are not indigenous to the area.
Two of the boulders are, in fact, galeb duhr. Planar Taint
The hill is muddy and slippery. It is difficult
Rolling Stones terrain for all creatures not native to the
The galeb duhr are very territorial. If the elemental plane of Earth.
characters walk up the hill towards them,
they awaken the remaining four boulders Unlikely Disasters
using their animate boulders ability and
send them rolling down the hill to flatten Master of the Mound
the characters. The fighting angers the true guardian of
this hill, an earth elemental which bursts
Crazy Paving from the soil in a spray of mud. It attacks
The galeb duhr broke free of the spell used in a fury until everyone is dead, or everyone
to summon them long decades ago, and leaves the hill.
have been driven slightly mad by their long
stay in the material plane. They can’t be Slip & Slide
reasoned with short of using magic to cure Creatures who try to Dash or Disengage on
their madness, and soothing repartee in the muddy slopes must succeed on a Dex-
Terran. terity Saving Throw [DC10], or fall prone

Reigning Elements
It begins to rain. Heavily. Characters have
disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws in
the downpour, and visibility is lightly ob-
scured.

89

Art Attack B

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

What A Mess Dendelion
Mother Haggle has heard rumours of de- The archmage’s familiar, a tressym called
stroyed statues decorating the forest floor Dandelion, is sitting guard on a statue out-
near her home. She wants the creature side the cave. It finds the archmage’s diver-
responsible rounded up and killed. sions amusing, and doesn’t mind if the odd
adventurer becomes part of the gallery.
THE Core ProbleM
Artistic Arsenal
The Cave Of Shattered Statues Add animate objects to the Archmage’s spell
Characters proficient in survival can track list. He uses it to animate the statues, por-
the centerpoint of the strange array of traits and artistic equipment for a colourful
rubble to a cavern in a nearby cairn. They assault.
might well deduce that the likely culprit is
a basilisk, which turns people to stone with Garbage Disposal
its gaze, then destroys the statues so they The archmage keeps a fairly benign (and
are easier to devour. garishly multicoloured) black pudding in
the corner of his cave, which (when left to
No, I Must Paint! its own devices) sometimes eats debris, pet-
The culprit is in fact the doddering elf arch- rified creatures, corpses or items left lying
mage Burdock, who has retired to become around.
a hermit/artist. His cave is covered in ea-
sels, sculptures and broken statues. Paint Unlikely Disasters
is everywhere, including on him. The Arch-
mage has the indefinite madness “I must Defence Mechanisms
create art!” His favourite sport is turning The first person who attempts to strike the
people to stone with flesh to stone and then archmage triggers a Contingency variant
painting/smashing them. Sometimes both. which immediately casts flesh to stone on
the attacker before their attack resolves.
Hand-Waving Whimsy
The Archmage won’t countenance stopping Graceful Landings
his art unless his madness is cured by a The archmage knocks over a pot on a ta-
Greater Restoration or similar magic. He’ll ble, which covers the cave floor in a grease
defend himself, and his ‘creations’ with his effect, DC17 until the end of the encounter.
magic. The archmage has some alterations
to his spell list: 1st: shield, mage armour, A Mad Memory of a Mage
colour spray, tenser’s floating disc (for art The Archmage is actually just a simula-
supplies) 2nd: mirror image, misty step, py- crum. The real Archmage turned himself to
rotechnics 3rd: major image, blink, hypnot- stone years ago, and was devoured by his
ic pattern 4th: confusion, polymorph. 5th pet ooze.
mislead, wall of force, 6th mass suggestion,
otto’s irresistible dance, 7th reverse gravity
8th maze, 9th invulnerability

90

Hedge Ringreemeralxoth
Your Bets
The green dragon Ringreemeralxoth has
Bad Dragon been here long enough for its pervasive
evil to seep into the surrounding area.
Mother Haggle has her fingers in many The dragon has long since eaten or killed
pies. This involves managing a veritable the majority of the kobolds, find them
cornucopia of trading posts and pop-up irksome. It kept the inventors and the
outlets. Sadly, one of her trading posts, winged kobolds, however, and set them
which she was using Kobolds to run, has to work finding ways to defend the maze.
fallen under the sway of green dragon. In The labyrinth is a manifestation of its evil
a very short amount of time, the dragon’s presence, as are the following traits:
evil influence has drowned the area in
a thick labyrinth of thorns and choking Always Watching. The character always
weeds. Mother Haggle wants you to kill feel like they are being watched.
the dragon, so she can begin to restore Spite. Whenever a character sits or
some order. kneels, they almost always step on a
poisonous snake,

Maze Lair Actions
The dragon has access to all three lair
The lair of the young green dragon actions suggested by the Monster Manual.
Ringreemeralxoth has grown in the space [p.96]
of a few weeks into a full fledged thorny
labyrinth. The labyrinth has one entrance,
and one correct path through it. It also
has the following general features.
Walls. The walls are 100 feet high, and 10
feet thick.
Destroying Walls. Moving through a wall
is impossible without destroying a big
enough hole. Each 5 foot section of wall
has AC 10, 15 hit points]. Attacking a wall
always triggers a kobold trap - [see The
Clever Part]
Climbing Walls. Characters who climb
the walls take 1d6 piercing damage for
each 5 feet they move up or down the
walls. The walls are difficult terrain.
Navigating The Maze. It takes as long as
you need it to take. Run Bombs Away, The
Coup De Grass, and a whole load of traps
from The Clever Part. When the party is
worn out, let them find the center of the
maze, and run the final encounter.

Rest

This adventure is designed without a
rest in mind. It might be tempting for
the adventurers to try and rest in a quiet
moment. If they try and do so, each and
every time should introduce a squad of
kobolds. Run Bombs Away whenever this
happens. Eventually, they’ll stop trying,

Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. 91

HEDGE YOUR BETS A

The Clever Part

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Whack, Bang, Wallop Tainted Traps
As the party moves through the maze, kob- One of the aforementioned traps is riddled
old traps activate, cleverly hidden in the with poisoned blades or barbed. Charac-
bushes and grass. The traps are devious- ters who are damaged must succeed on a
ly concealed, wrought largely from wood, Constitution saving throw [DC12] or be-
twine and sharpened stones. Activate any come poisoned for one hour.
of these traps whenever the party stops for
a rest, to cast a ritual, or seems to be hav- Once Caught, Twice Careful
ing an easy time of it. Kobold inventors sneak behind the party,
fixing and resetting traps that have been
THE Core ProbleM spring. [VGTM p.166]

The Wangnozzler [Dangerous Threat] Precision
This dastardly trap springs from a behind The Wangnozzler ignores the armour of an-
a bulge in the wall, hurling a knife at the yone not wearing plate mail. It also ignores
legs or crotch. Trigger. A tripwire 1 foot shields unless the character specifies they
off the ground. [DC10 Spot/Disable] Ef- are shielding their crotch.
fect. The attack has a +8 attack bonus and
deals 22 (4d10) piercing damage on a hit. Unlikely Disasters
Male medium sized humanoid characters
reduced to 0 hit points by a Wangnozzler Blunt Trauma
have their genitals severed, The Spazwhacker resets itself into a wall
after it activates. It needs disabling before
The Spazwhacker [Moderate Threat] it will stop trying to brain people.
This nasty device bludgeons an intruder
with a spring-loaded club. Trigger. A pres- The Gloop Pits
sure plate 3 feet wide. [DC15 Spot/Disable] The pit traps contain gelatinous cubes
Effect. The attack has a +5 attack bonus hand-reared by the kobolds. [MM p.242]
and deals 11 (2d10) bludgeoning damage
on a hit, and the character is stunned until Criss-Cross
their next turn, One in three Net Traps are actually mim-
ics, which attempt to eat anyone who tries
The Panoply of Pain to escape from their entangling grip. [MM.
Include Crossbow Traps, Falling Portcullis, 220]
Net Traps and Pit Traps, [XGTE p.113-115]

92

HEDGE YOUR BETS A

Bombs Away

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Air Barrage David & Goliath
As the characters approach the lair, they When the winged kobolds have discharged
come into contact with the thorny lab- their payloads, some of them pick up
yrinth created by the dragon. Play this weapons instead and start to pelt the party
encounter out whilst the characters make from above with their slings.
their way through the open air labyrinth of
spines and plants. Floppy-Eared Terror
A winged kobold drops a bag containing
THE Core ProbleM a rust monster [MM p.262]. [It takes no
damage from the fall.]
Presents!
3d6 winged kobolds fly overhead carrying Precise, Targeted Catastrophe
bags filled with either dragon faeces or Start choosing whichever invention would
wacky weapons supplied by the kobold in- be most devastating to the party in their
ventors (VGTM p.166]who infest the trad- current state. [Personally, I favour the grub
ing post. The barrage continues until all rots.]
the winged kobolds [MM p.195] are dead.
Unlikely Disasters
Shits
Some of the winged kobolds carry bags Terminal Velocity
of dragon faeces. They drop them when The winged kobolds start carrying in
overhead,, Any character standing with- piercers that they’ve reared.
in 5 feet of a bag of dragon poop when it
impacts the floor is covered in it as the bag Death Drop
explodes. Characters who need to breathe The winged kobolds drop an extra package
are poisoned until they clean themselves of when they are killed.
the mess.

Giggles Strafing
The other half of the winged kobold bomb- The kobolds only fly in two or four at a
ing squad drop bags containing horrible time, to avoid being wiped out by a single
stuff. Each bag contains a random inven- fireball or other aoe effect. Where possible
tion from a kobold inventor. they fly out of sight using a Dash action
(as dropping their payload might not con-
stitute an action, in the same way as drop-
ping a weapon.)

93

HEDGE YOUR BETS

AThe Coup de Grass

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Growth of Character Natural Empathy
The Kobolds have one last line of defence The Coup De Grass is immune to plant
against intruders - The Coup De Grass. based difficult terrain and spells such as
This abomination was wrought by the entangle or plant growth.
kobold shaman, Snorkles, who has just
enough control over it to send it on a ram- The Dragon’s Handmaidens
page through the maze before the dragon The kobolds are kobold dragonshields
ate him. [VGTM p.165] (green) who take the dodge
action to defend themselves.
THE Core ProbleM
SANCTUARY
Maze Guardian If the golem gets too attached, it might pick
The abomination is a grassy monster with someone up and run off with them.
violent tendencies. Use the statistics for
a clay golem [MM p.168]. The Coup De Unlikely Disasters
Grass has the Labyrinthine Recall feature
of a minotaur. [MM p.223] Kobold Craftsmanship
The golem is constructed from volatile
The Rule of Three kobold magic. If reduced to 0 hit points, it
The Coup De Grass is accompanied by a explodes in a fireball.
three kobold babysitters, who follow care-
fully behind it, prodding it with sticks. If all Spark of Magic
three of these kobolds are killed, the Coup The golem gains the Innate Spellcasting
De Grass immediately goes berserk as per feature, and can cast the following spells
its statblock. 1/Day - entangle, plant growth, grasping
vine [DC13]
Softly, Softly
Once the kobold babysitters are killed, the Post-Mortem
Coup De Grass can be calmed by soothing When the golem dies, it transforms into a
words and a kind demeanour, combined shambling mound [MM p.270] with half
with successful animal handling checks starting health that murders everything in
or nature checks. If it is domesticated, it sight.
returns to the center of the maze, allowing
characters to follow.

94

A

HEDGE YOUR BETS

Find Your Center

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Ringreemeralxoth Mists of Change
At the center of the maze is a 50 foot ra- A sinister fog creeps over the battlefield on
dius clearing. The young green dragon initiative count 20. It heavily obscures the
Ringreemeralxoth [MM p.94]is curled up battlefield for 2 rounds.
around a tree.The tree is twisted and ugly.
The dragon pretends to be sleeping if he Devoured Whole
is aware of approaching characters, and Characters who die are snapped up by the
‘awakens’ if anyone comes within 30 feet of green dragon, who is quite happy to make
him. an example out of someone to prove a
point.
THE Core ProbleM
Greed
Situational Diplomacy A character who eats one of the magical,
Ringreemeralxoth is a canny foe verging delicious looking fruit hanging on the tree
on adulthood. It has no intention of fight- becomes poisoned for 1d4 hours.
ing a well rested or equipped adventuring
party If they are hurt or look wounded, it Unlikely Disasters
attacks. If not, it negotiates using a combi-
nation of lies, threats and bribes. Magic of the Maze
The dragon has the innate spellcasting
Bye, Felicia feature [+5, DC13]. It can cast the following
The dragon takes to the air if threatened by spells 1/day: spike growth, warding wind,
melee characters, using its breath weapon dust devil, wall of thorns
to gas the adventurers to death.
Death Do Us Part
The Tree of Eternal Headbreaking Ringreemeralxoth’s partner, Morgauth, a
If violence breaks out, the tree in the young green dragon, returns home just as
center of the grove reveals itself to be an the former is killed. He flies into a murder-
evil treant, which begins to hunt down ous rage.
characters one by one. If the dragon is
slain, the treant becomes inert, Fosterlings
Ringreemeralxoth and Morgauth were incu-
bating a clutch of wyvern eggs. These eggs
will clearly die if left alone, which may or
may not cause concerns.

95

Lend Me Goblin Ethos
Your Ear
The goblins haven’t been here long.
Goblins! They’re quite happy to settle into the area
and start raiding farming villages, if they
Mother Haggle is long suffering in many aren’t stopped. They view the incursion of
respects. She cannot, however, abide a adventurers as an inconvenience, then a
goblin. Thus, when a tribe moves into an danger. However, they’ve been told to stay
abandoned mine in the Misty Forest, she put by a nearby Hobgoblin commander,
moves to oust them. She’s offering a very and thus they hang on until their cour-
generous 25gp per goblin ear the adven- age gives out. Enough goblins from this
turers recover, as incentive you to kill as tribe have been skewered through the
many of the little horrors as you can. eyes by this particularly Hobgoblin and
his troops for the goblins to be unwill-
You can play the modules in any order as ing to upset him. If the adventurers stop
the adventurers face wave after wave of for a long rest, the goblin tribe flees. If
goblin defenders and loot the camp. The they stop for a short rest, there is a 25%
suggested order is Leadership, Booyahg chance per completed section of this mod-
Booyahg, The Overseer, The Nilbog, Ulti- ule that the rest of the goblins scatter.
mate Booyahg and finally Digging for Ears
if they still have hit points to burn. Goblin Tactics

Goblin Settlement The goblins are sneaky little wretches.
They make full use of their nimble escape
The layout of the goblin settlement isn’t feature. They don’t fight fair - they use
wonderfully important. mud, oil and fire to fend off stronger crea-
They’re goblins. They’ll have some mud tures, as well as using superior numbers
huts, probably. Maybe some of them have to take down one foe at a time. They are
moved into the mouth of the mine shaft. afraid of magic users, particularly if their
Probably not many. Otherwise, they’ll be Booyahg Caster isn’t around. They’d much
living in their own filth, and whatever sto- rather bend the knee than die, but they’ll
len goods they could carry from their last stab their new master in moments if an
encampment. Wretched creatures. opportunity presents itself.

96 Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only.

LEND ME YOUR EAR Leadership A

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

The Price of Power Slip & Wriggle
The goblin boss of this tribe of goblins The goblin boss is very slippery, and has
is particularly terrified of his impending advantage on checks made to escape grap-
death. He hides for as long as possible, ples.
throwing everyone and everything under
the bus to save his own skin. The other Booyahg Wielder
goblins don’t seem to like him, but resent The goblin boss carries a ring which lets
some other random people marching in to him turn invisible once every hour.
kill him.
Weird How He Keeps Doing That
THE Core ProbleM If the characters take a rest, the boss man-
ages to slip away.
Carry Me
The goblin boss (called Snoop) likes to Unlikely Disasters
travel by makeshift palanquin, but flees it
when he is attacked. He is usually accom- Big Reveal
panied by at least 4d6 goblins. The goblin boss is really a barghest. He
maintains the masquerade for as long as
Help! Murder! possible.
At the first opportunity, the goblin boss
hides somewhere and trembles. He begs for Unexpected Help
his life if his bodyguards are killed. The goblin boss has an Imp familiar, who
keeps an invisible eye out for his master.
Lying Snake
If his life is spared, he stabs the characters How Did They Even Manage This?
in the back at the first opportunity. He al- The goblin boss has been enchanted by his
ways pleads, begs and wheedles for a sec- Booyahg Caster, Whilst the enchanter lives,
ond chance. Whenever he seems close to so does Snoop. Best go kill the magic gob-
death, start one of the other encounters in lin.
this module and allow him to slip the grasp
of the adventurers for a few rounds longer.

97

LEND ME YOUR EAR A

Digging for Ears

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Death Mound Snacktime
The goblins have a cairn where they’ve The wolves are desperately hungry. Social
been burying their recent dead. Should be checks to interact with them that don’t in-
an easy crop of ears, right? volve food are made at disadvantage.

If the dangers here are defeated, the adven- OH NO INVADERS
turers can harvest 2d4 intact goblin ears A live goblin turns up to check on the
from the buried remains. wolves. It panics, runs about in circles,
and flees.
THE Core ProbleM
Even In Death
Nice Doggy....Sit.... The undead goblins have the nimble es-
Approaching the cairn alerts the adventur- cape feature common to all goblins.
ers to the presence of wolves. The wolves
have been trained to guard the site. There Unlikely Disasters
are 1d6 dire wolves, one of which leaves if
combat starts to warn the nearby tribe. Big Boss Wolf
One of the wolves is a Winter Wolf.
THEY JUST WANT TO BE LOVED
The wolves are wary, and can be convinced Tiny Balls Of Death
to back off by magic that influences beasts, The undead goblins are particularly tena-
or by those sufficiently talented in Animal cious. They have advantage on Constitu-
Handling. tion checks and saving throws.

Not Buried Deep Enough Guard Post
If the wolves are defeated, or convinced to A goblin sniper armed with a shortbow is
back off, the day is still not over. 6d4 gob- hiding up a tree nearby. It shoots into me-
lin ancestors interred at the site rise from
the earth to deter interlopers. The undead lee if a fight breaks out.
goblins are small zombies.

98

LEND ME YOUR EAR A

The Overseer

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Friends and Family Khurgorbaeyag’s Blessings
Mother Haggle wants the spirits of the gob- Sneeg has the following spells prepared:
lins crushed. They have a shaman, a cleric command, bane, hold person
of Khurgorbaeyag, who beats the tribe into
a semblance of order with his whip. Mother Improvise!
Haggle wants you to kill him in particular if The commoners are all easily able to grab
you can manage it. Without him, the tribe clubs from their surroundings.
will surely crumble.
I Was A Rat
THE Core ProbleM Sneeg’s giant rat pet is present. It doesn’t
particularly like Sneeg, and is happy to
Overseer Sneeg dart off if it gets the chance.
The overseer is called Sneeg. Use the priest
statblock, except Sneeg is a small creature Unlikely Disasters
and gains the nimble escape feature com-
mon to all goblins. Hunter Gatherers
The commoners are from the gatherer
The Congregation caste, and are carrying nets which they are
When he isn’t wandering around the camp proficient in the use of.
beating other goblins with a whip, Sneeg
is relaxing on a pile of cushions in a small Rally, You Incompetent Filthbags!
mud hut surrounded by 3d6 unarmed gob- The commoners are cowed by the watchful
lin commoners. eyes of Khurgorbaeyag. They are immune
to fear effects whilst Sneeg lives.
Treacherous
Sneeg is a capricious and violent taskmas- The Mature Response
ter, but if it looks like he’s beaten he’ll hap- If the goblins incapacitate a character,
pily grovel until he gets a chance to stick Sneeg orders the commoners to steal all
a knife in his new master’s back. In battle their clothes and tear them up, cackling at
he calls on Khurgorbaeyag for aid, and is the indignity of it all.
happy to sacrifice lesser goblins to save his
own skin.

99

LEND ME YOUR EAR A

Booyahg Booyahg

THe QUEST Plausible Complications

Booyahg! They All Look The Same To Me
Mother Haggle thinks the Goblin tribe is The four casters all look identical to the
being guided by the local wizard - some- untrained eye. Any non-goblin might con-
thing they call a Booyahg. Or at least they fuse them as they scurry about.
seem to chant it whenever the wizened
elder goblin is around. She’ll pay double Familiar Antics
the gold for each magical goblin ear you The caster has a pet frog, Mr. Ribbits,
recover. which leaps about distractingly.

THE Core ProbleM Chicken Little
A bunch of goblin gatherers accidentally let
Boom & Bang loose a flock of chickens elsewhere in the
The Booyahg Caster is a goblin boss. In camp, which rampage over the battlefield
addition, the Booyahg Caster can cast in a tide.
the following spells once per day: burning
hands, thunderwave, catapult, colour spray, Unlikely Disasters
magic missile. [DC12] Each of these spells
triggers a Wild Magic Surge when cast. Sticky Situation
The Booyahg Caster is also a Booyahg
Three’s The Magic Number Wielder, in that he carries a Wand of Web.
The Booyahg Caster has three apprentic-
es. All three are goblins, and can cast the Scheming Servants
fire bolt cantrip. Each goblin can cast one 1d4 normal goblins accompany the caster
wizard spell, once per day - burning hands, as part of his retinue. They wave shrunken
thunderwave and colour spray, respectively. heads at the party.
[DC12, +4]
The Main Event
This Is What I Trained You For The booyahg caster adds one use of pyro-
The booyahg caster lets his apprentices technics to his list of available spells.
fight first, joining the fray only if they fall.
All the goblins carry daggers in case their
magic fails them (it wouldn’t be the first
time).

100