THE ABANDONED MINE UNDER WHEATWINTER FARM AN ADVENTUREFOR 5TH LEVEL The Abandoned Mine under Wheatwinter Farm is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved / endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.
Contents 3 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 13 13 13 13 14 14 14 15 16 16 16 17 18 19 Introduction Author's Notes................................................................. Overview................................................................................. Hooks......................................................................................... Random Encounters.................................................... Location Descriptions 1 to 5........................................................................................... 6 to 10......................................................................................... 10 cont. to 12..................................................................... 12 cont. to 16..................................................................... 17 to 20...................................................................................... 20 cont. to 25................................................................... 25 cont. to 27................................................................... 27 cont. to 29................................................................... Ending the Adventure Seeing Daylight Once More............................. What's Next?.................................................................... Experience........................................................................... Treasure and Items..................................................... Appendices A. Maps.................................................................................... GM Map .................................................................................... Adventure Map ........................................................................ B. Handouts...................................................................... Markus' Letter ......................................................................... Thieves' Instructions .............................................................. C. Puzzle Placards...................................................... D. Monster Stat Blocks........................................ Final Words, Thanks and Credits 2
Introduction to the Adventure and other useful information D eep beneath Wheatwinter Farm lies an abandoned mine, the location of which has been lost to the passing of time. Markus Wheatwinter struggling to keep his farm running with his young daughter, had only just started to turn things around following the clearing out of the Ankheg nest which had been taking his and his neighbour's cows. He thought things were on the mend until one fateful morning, during breakfast a deep ominous rumbling sound started from beneath their very feet. Quickly packing clothes and a few possessions, they leave behind an empty farm house and an adventure for any of those brave enough. This adventure follows on from "A Much Bigger Problem" which pitches the party against a nest of Ankhegs terrorising Wheatwinter Farm that sits on top of an old kobold mine. Linked to this mine is another area which the players may or may not discover, this is my take on what that additional location under Wheatwinter Farm could be. Author's Notes During lockdown WotC released a large collection of free adventures and resources, and I decided to start a weekly session running season one of the adventures leagues (nonofficially) as it sounded interesting. I based the one shot "A Much Bigger Problem" in the Moonsea region along the Iron Route, and ran it when the party were travelling back from King's Pyre (Season one - Episode nine, Outlaws of the Iron Route). If you find any references to events from season one of the adventures league in this document let me know, I have tried to remove them all. This adventure follows on from the "A Much Bigger Problem" one shot and so falls into that same timeline. This is also my first attempt at anything like this. If anyone is interested the main structure of the map was created using the dungeon generation rules in the Dungeon Master's Guide, I then fleshed it out with the underdark and tomb sections to spice things up a bit. Disclosure: this adventure reuses the instructions about the kobold "go boom" potions from Taking20's IP. Overview This adventure has been designed to follow on from the completion of "A Much Bigger Problem", there is an alternative hook below if you want to run it stand alone. The aim is for this adventure to be run by a party of 5 with an APL of 5, from the initial playtest it seems best to keep the random encounters light and if the horde are triggered slow to react characters will find themselves quickly swarmed so may need a prod in the right direction. But of course, use your judgement to tweak things as you see fit. There are several things going on with this dungeon, an attempt to have the dungeon tell a story, and can be summarised as: Underneath the kobold mine / ankheg nest is this abandoned dwarven mine, the entrance hinted at in "A Much Bigger Problem" was sealed off due to the mass slaughter of the kobolds (location 19) The mine itself was abandoned by the dwarves when an orc force broke through the floor (location 16) and invaded, the dwarfs escaped through a portal (location 11) but not before blocking the only way into the mine for the orcs (location 13) and setting up a barricade (location 12) The kobolds later found this mine and started tampering with the portal which caused it to explode knocking out the opposite wall and exposing part of the underdark (location 18) Two thieves were hired to find a long lost tomb (and documentation about an heir born out of wedlock) that was known to be in this region, they setup camp in a cave that the dwarf miners had broken into (location 20) and eventually managed to breach the wall into the tomb (location 22). They were killed before being able to complete their mission This dungeon holds naturally occuring traps, a puzzle, some secrets to uncover and of course loot. It also seeds some other storylines to follow if the party find the documentation about the heir (location 29) A young female gold dragon has moved into the main mining shaft (location 10) Unless otherwise stated the following holds true: Light: There is no light down here. Sounds: Dripping water, the odd scurrying of rats but nothing else can be heard. Smells: The air is musty and the smell of damp is strong. Tracks: There are rat tracks everywhere across the floor, but as the mine has been silent for so long any other tracks have been covered by the dust. Condition: Everything is run down and well used, anything not rusted and falling apart is not in a usable condition. Every room is covered in a thick layer of dust. 3
Hooks Completed "A Much Bigger Problem" If the party have previously completed "A Much Bigger Problem", then they receive a letter (Appendix B. Handouts - Markus' Letter) from Markus saying they are packing up and travelling west. Although no more cows have disappeared, strange rumbling sounds have started below the farm and that he thought the party should know. If the party decide to investigate they find an empty farm house, they are then free to head down to the mine they uncovered but didn't explore previously. Not played "A Much Bigger Problem" The party are travelling through some part of your game world when they hear this ominous deep rumbling sound, after some investigation they track the noise down to an empty farm house. It looks like the farm house has been abandoned in a rush. Chairs are knocked over on the floor in the kitchen, bedrooms have clothes thrown everywhere and the remaining rooms give a general sense of people leaving in a hurry. The party then need to track a way into the area underneath the farm, perhaps via the cellar containing a hidden trapdoor revealing a ladder that leads to the beginning (location 1) of the mine. Random Encounters Whenever you feel the moment is right you can roll on the following table for a random encounter and adjust for whether you think the party can handle it or not. It is up to you if you take duplicate rolls or re-roll until a new encounter is rolled. NOTE: Might be best not rolling for random encounters around the following locations: Royal bathroom / gigantic hole (location 16), unless you want to have the horde attack due to the noise of fighting Don't roll for a random encounter in the underdark, there is a major fight near the water (location 19) Nor in the tomb section, this area is more to do with the puzzle / sanctifying the area / hunting for hidden documentation tasks Random encounter table d12 Encounter details 1 1d4 giant wolf spider(s) 2 As the party pass through the mine someone unwittingly knocks over a keg of blasting powder which ignites, roll a dice to select which party member it was and anyone within a 10 foot radius of that party member takes 4d6 fire damage 3 2d4 specter(s) 4 3d4 rust monster(s), as long as the party are being quiet they will gain surprise as the rust monster(s) munch on some mine carts and iron banding on barrels 5 A portion of the ceiling caves in and the party need to make a dexterity saving throw (DC 12+) against 2d8 bludgeoning damage (half on a save). This doesn't block the passage 6 1d4 ghast(s) with 1d10 ghoul(s) 7 1d3 gelatinous cube(s), whoever is leading the group need to make a wisdom perception check (DC 15+) otherwise they walk straight into the cube and become engulfed 8 A shape starts to merge up out of the floor and an earth elemental takes form and charges at the party 9 The floor gives way and anyone leading the party needs to make a dexterity saving throw (DC 12+) or take 3d6 crushing damage (half damage on success) and on a fail they get trapped in a small sink hole. It take a while to dig anyone trapped out and the noise might attract additional encounters. Roll 1d20 and anything 15+ leads to a re-roll on this table, getting a non-combat encounters means no additional encounter. This doesn't block the passage 10 2d4 wight(s) 11 Swarm of rats appear and charge at the party, before the party can react the rats have passed and silence falls once more 12 1 umber hulk 4
1. The beginning There is nothing of much worth in this room; the barrels are filled with sodden gunpowder and the crates with spoiled food stuffs and the sacks stuffed with rags. The skeleton in the southern most mine cart can be identified (medicine DC 10+) as kobold in origin. The dead end to the East has a cave in and a skeleton but nothing else of interest. The skeleton can be identified (medicine DC 10+) as also being of kobold origin. The container of water is not suitable for drinking and looks very dirty, it also smells a bit funny. There isn't anything in there if someone searches through it / tips it out. 2. Makeshift parlour Apart from a sealed jar of what look like seeds (possible solution to a part of the puzzle in location 27) sitting on one of the tables, there is nothing else of much interest. Unless the party want some dirty cutlery? 3. Guard room The arrows in the basket are still in good condition, there are 7 arrows and can be taken if needed. The armour and weapons are in very poor condition and can't be used in combat, they pretty much fall apart if touched. 4. Cave in If the party fancy chancing it to look around the room there are 150gp in rough cut gems to be found in the various ore containers. However for each party member walking about the room, roll 1d20 and compare the result against this table (see row 5 on the random encounter table for details about cave ins). Number of people in the room Roll for another cave in 1 18+ 2 16+ 3-4 12+ 5+ 5+ 5. Workshop If any of the players investigate the kobold altar and can read draconic, they find 4 vials with the following descriptions (this will be very familiar to them if they investigated room 4 in the Ankheg nest above) - there are 2 red vials and 2 yellow vials: The liquids when mixed will produce a powerful explosion. If the Players mix the liquids the result will be a 10' radius explosion for 2d6 fire damage and 2d6 force damage. The dwarven part of this workshop is broken and smashed by the falling support beams and debris. 5
6. Toilets Unless the party needs to spend a penny, there is nothing else of interest in this room. The contents of the this room are bog standard. 7. Sleeping quarters The first time the party enter this room, they find it is home to a group of very hungry giant wolf spiders, seven in total. The party need to make a wisdom perception roll (DC 15+) to spot them before they are attacked, on a group wide fail the spiders get advantage on the first round of attacks and each person in the party get disadvantage on their first attack. Adjusting the Encounter Very weak party: Remove 3 of the giant wolf spiders Weak party: Remove 2 giant wolf spider Strong party: No change to encounter Very strong party: Add 2 more giant wolf spiders 8. Storage area Before entering this room, let the party know they can hear a rumbling sound coming from beyond the closed door. The chests here appear to contain parts to repair mining carts, there are also other things like ropes and pulleys, nails and hammers. Anything to keep a mining operation working as best as possible. 9. Tool shed Before entering this room, let the party know they can hear a rumbling sound coming from beyond the closed door. Assorted mining tools and torches, nothing usable here as everything is in a state of disrepair. 10. Mine shaft Let the party know the rumbling sound has now stopped. The golden dragon that has made a home here is female and called Zevass. She appears to be asleep (she isn't, the party's activities prior to entering the room woke her up), she won't do anything unless the party make contact or try to investigate the horde of treasure. If the party converses with her and she thinks they are trustworthy, she tasks the party with finding her nice gems, or heirlooms and promises to reward them with something special. Zevass wants to increase her horde, and she has heard about a noble's tomb in this area (location 27). Before the party leave and if there is a bard present in the party, then Zevass requests a song of the party's exploits. If asked about the task she knows the following: The family name started with R, but doesn't remember the whole thing They lived in this area, but any trace of their property is long gone The family all died out many many years ago, rumour has it a curse or something was placed on the family (Zevass is vague and doesn't really care that much) The most important fact in all this, Zevass points out, is they had in their possession a gigantic Garnet She hopes this Garnet was buried with the last of the noble family line in the tomb This particular Garnet is very precious She makes sure the party really knows how much she would like that Garnet 6
Roleplaying Zevass the Gold Dragon Zevass is relatively young in dragon terms, but she has a wise head on her shoulders. She isn't dismissive of the party, and is warm and welcoming if approached. If the party bring up any issues up on the surface she replies that she has little interest in running / advising the lands above her, nor in righting the wrongs of any current big bad the party might be involved with. Her current main interests are building her horde of treasure and finding a mate, that isn't to say she won't give the party something interesting if they entertain her or perhaps run an errand for her. If this adventure is being run before running "Rise of Tiamat" it might be worth including Zevass in amongst the metallic dragons, maybe now with a mate - up to you. It would appear she had a change of heart in not getting involved when it looked like Tiamat could actually be brought back. Depending on the parties actions in the dungeon she is either friendly/apologetic about not heeding any warnings about the cult or indifferent/hostile about thefts from her horde. If the party bring back the Garnet and the heirlooms from the Noble's tomb (location 27) then Zevass is extremely happy with the party and offers every magical items from her horde (this is up to you though). The garnet on its own is worth three magical items, and the heirlooms on their own will be rewarded with one magical item. Once they hand over the garnet Zevass exclaims "this truly is the largest garnet I've ever seen" and promptly pops it into her mouth and starts chomping, the heirlooms are carefully added to her horde. If the party want to murder this gloriously lawful and beautifully good being she will leave combat shortly after it starts, completely dismayed at the party's actions returning soon after to try and drive them away with a breath attack. Retreating again for good if the party persist and returning later to see what remains of her horde. It will take a wisdom perception / investigation check (DC 20+) to find 1d3 magical items. Feel free to change the following items to a better fit for your party; this was randomly rolled using magical items table F, Dungeon Master's Guide. Young Gold Dragon's horde 1000 cp, 8000 sp, 2500 gp, 10 pp 500 x 100 gp gems (mostly garnets) Staff of the Python Pipe of the sewers Wand of web Sentinel Shield 11. Portal room Quite a lot is going on in this room, the following bullet point list describes the important details: On an arcana check (DC 15+) you can tell that this is a dwarven portal, similar to those written about in stories of the deep roads. If the arcana check is failed, then the party can tell this is some kind of glowing structure that probably does something magical. Regardless of the check result the party find two magical circles flanking the portal, neither of which are currently active. On an investigation check (DC 10+) you can see that there are skeletons caught in the rubble and stonework fallen on the floor, they are not dwarven skeletons but kobold. Peering into the massive broken hole in the wall opposite the structure, the party can see part of the Underdark. Mysterious coloured lights shine and glowing plants line the walls and the cave passage bends round to the right and splits into two exits. Lighting the two giant candles on the tables does nothing, other than providing a bit of light. 12. Abandoned barricade The abandoned guard post here was set up to help the escape of the dwarf miners through the portal in case the makeshift barricade (location 13) failed, there are a couple of abandoned crossbows sitting here. 7
The passage is thick with webs and the remains of many corpses, but from the looks of it no spiders. On an investigations check (DC 20+) you can tell that some of the remains are not dwarven and may be orc in nature. If the party plan to go through the barricades: It will take several hours to dismantle the crates and rows of spikes, time for a few random encounters The webs can be burnt away and will take some minutes before they are all gone The crossbows and rack of weapons are in a bad state and not usable If they want to brute force their way through, then this area is treated as difficult terrain. 13. Blocked door Investigating the stack of crates (no roll needed) uncovers a door that is double barred across the top and bottom with additional wood planks nailed in to hold it shut. It looks like the door has been attacked from the other side, there are several holes with splinters of wood protruding out towards the players. On a successful investigation / insight / perception check (DC 15+) the party will notice marks in the walls and floor of this corridor, made by multiple weapons of various sizes. There are faded blood stains here and there, quite a battle was fought here. There are no noises coming from the other side of the door. 14. Sleeping quarters On investigating the room (DC 10+) you can tell goblins and orcs were sleeping here, the corners of the rooms have been used as toilets. There is nothing salvageable here. 15. Throne room There is a dwarven inscription carved into the wall above the throne that reads "Barak Khazad! Khazad ai menu!" translating to "Axes of the Dwarves! The Dwarves are upon you!". Nothing else is found here. 16. Gigantic hole / Royal bathroom This is where the orc and goblin hordes broke into the mine causing the dwarves to abandon it. If the party throws something down the hole, or walk around it and fail a dexterity saving throw (DC 10+) read the following. Don't rush into what is about to happen too quickly, let the players think everything is fine for as long as possible. If the party are quick to retreat and barricade the door again (location 13), then nothing bad will happen as the door holds. If the party waits around to see what comes up from the depths then roll on the following table: 1d4 Horde (10 goblins per horde) 1 3 goblin hordes 2 2 orcs, 5 goblin hordes 3 1 orog, 3 orcs, and 5 goblin hordes 4 1 bugbear, 1 orog, 3 orcs and 5 goblin hordes Couple of suggestions about running the horde (but feel free to do whatever you think is best): These combat rules might be useful: https://slyflourish.com/running_hordes.html Feel free to keep rolling on the table if the party stick around If the party has split to investigate the top room, it might be feasible some get trapped by the horde. Escaping might take some rather herculean heroics or help from the DM (e.g. most of the horde retreat if everything goes quiet). If there are a large amount of monsters then maybe montage any escape attempt before things get bogged down. This isn't meant to kill, but hopefully be an interesting encounter. 8
17. Royal bedroom The doors to this room are locked, it will take a thieves toolkit and a successful roll (DC 15+) to unlock it. It cannot be kicked down, broken or otherwise brute forced open. If the party manage to open the doors, a very nice bedroom awaits. If the party look around the room, general details: All the furniture is scaled for shorter creatures and everything looks expensive The water is not drinkable, and the bidet is empty The bed is made and looks very comfortable The paintings are of victorious dwarven battles and of mighty dwarf cities No safes or similar hidden behind the paintings The wild boar head looks like it was the trophy from a mighty hunt indeed, it is huge The clothes in the wardrobe look they've been made for a nobility and are very well made The reading desk is locked If the reading desk is broken into or lock picked (DC 10+), a dagger of venom is found inside. Also there are blank papers, pots of ink (usable) and quills. 18. Broken wall Nothing is edible and probably poisonous if anyone is silly enough to try and eat anything in here, make a constitution saving roll (DC 15+) otherwise the player is poisoned. The minerals have no value or property other than being able to glow captivating lights. The cave system here is bright, full of wondrous (and probably dangerous) things. The gentle sound of lapping water can be heard in the distance. 19. Kobold skeleton pile On closer inspection the skeletons are clearly kobold, however what killed them all is not obvious. If the party start to explore the water, or poke about the following happens. Of the 7 Sahuagins the first 3 out of the water get advantage on their attacks and disadvantage on attacks against them for the first round of combat as they catch the party off guard. Adjusting the Encounter Very weak party: Remove 2 of the Sahuagins Weak party: Remove 1 Sahuagin Strong party: No change to encounter Very strong party: Add 2 more Sahuagins When the party defeats the last Sahuagin the water ripples again and 1 Sahaugin Baron, 1 Sahuagin Priestess and 3 Sahuagins emerge. After this battle the water is finally still once more and the kobolds are avenged. Adjusting the Encounter Very weak party: Remove the 3 Sahuagins Weak party: Remove 1 Sahuagin Strong party: No change to encounter Very strong party: Add 2 more Sahuagins 20. Green cavern 9
Obviously everything is poisonous in here, if the party are silly enough to have a nibble they need to make a constitution saving roll (DC 15+) to avoid being poisoned. The two north exits eventually lead to the camp made by two thieves tasked with finding the Randolf family tomb. 21. Thieves' camp Apporaching from the first northern exit: Approaching from the second northern exit: The two skeletons have been here a good while, on a successful investigation check or any other check that is relevant (DC 18+) the party can work out the victims were slain by an Umber Hulk. If the various bags are searched the party find the following: A letter (Appendix B: Handouts - Thieves' Instructions) 2 potions of greater healing Kindling and other camp fire materials 22. Breach into the tomb If the party listen through the hole they hear faint lapping of water and water dripping, a very low moaning can also be heard but that could just be the wind.. Looking around the hole in the wall, familiar barrels from the mine can be seen and scorch marks show this hole was made by an explosion. Although the entrance corridor into the tomb is a mess, but it is structural sound and won't collapse. 23. Flooded tunnels The water goes waist deep at the murkiest part of the corridor, here and there the party will find some broken crates and other flotsam floating in the water - but nothing of any value. The first time the party walk through the darkest part of the water the person in front feels something around their legs... then they feel the sharp pain as something bites. Two swarms of quippers have decided the party look like a nice snack, to mix things up place the swarms in places that will cause the most disruption. At the deepest part of the water here movement is halved, and attacks at the fish in the water are made at a disadvantage. The party may decide to chance it and get through the water as quickly as possible or attempt to defeat the hungry fish. 24. Flooded tunnels The are exits leading south and west, the two sets of doors lead to the same room (location 25). The corridor south leads to a cave-in which used to be the normal entrance for this tomb. 25. Chapel If a cleric is present in the party (tell the cleric in the party that they immediately feel that the chapel seems bereft of the protection from its god) and they decide to attempt to sanctify the chapel then the surprise in the room of coffins (location 26) will not be there even if the sarcophagi are opened. They will also receive a message, this could be sent privately to the cleric and personalised for their deity, etc: If the party investigate the statue, a successful religion check (DC 10+) will jog the ol' grey cells of someone and they recognise this to be Lathander. Any cleric will automatically recognise the deity as Lathander, the deity of birth and renewal. The statue is holding a bowl, which is empty. The sarcophagi are the final resting place of prominent members of the Randolf family. They are sealed and impossible to open without a herculean effort, strength check (DC 20+). Other than skeletons, nothing else is in the tombs. The party have also finally made this once holy ground desecrated, a surprise awaits them in the room of coffins (location 26). A cleric can attempt to fix this desecration, which will require a religion skill check (DC 20+), give advantage for good role playing. 10
Once the message has been relayed to the cleric, read out the following: This water is holy water. The chapel and Lathander If there is no cleric or if the party desecrate this once holy land before the cleric has conversed with Lathander, then Lathander will depart forever. This tomb has not been used in many years, and his influence on the area has waned to the point of non-existence. If the cleric accepts the quest which requires them to sanctify all the rooms of the tomb with the provided holy water, even the office, then Lathander will reward them with a charm (see DMG page 228). 26. Room of coffins Carpets lined with candles line out the paths through the collection of coffins in this room. There are three gated exits here; one to the west and two to the north. If the party desecrated the chapel (location 25), as the party travel through this room several of the closed coffins explode open, and seven mummies climb out and immediately attack. Adjusting the Encounter Very weak party: Remove 3 Mummies Weak party: Remove 1 Mummy Strong party: No change to encounter Very strong party: Add 2 more Mummies 27. Noble's tomb If the players investigate the room (DC 10+): The chests are locked and cannot be opened by physical or magical means The 8 statues have a placard (see the resources section for the 8 placards) The throne is large and doesn't seem to have any hidden compartments or latches The throne has 7 indentations along the front of the base that look like something can be placed in each one The statues flanking the throne have no special features The skeleton has remnants of clothes, a sceptre is placed next to the skeleton and a crown sits upon its head Looking at the crown there is an inscription inside "Reginald Randolf the last great noble of house Randolf." Removing either object doesn't cause anything to happen in the tomb No traps or any dangers to the party are found in this room 11
Puzzle solution The solution to each placard can be found in the table below, the reward is an object that can be placed in the base of throne and a key which opens a secret compartment in the office (location 29). The objects need to be placed in order to spell out the family name "Randolf"; this can be worked out from the crown, from the thieves' letter (location 21), documentation in the office (location 29) or because the party have worked out the anagram by themselves. Placard Solution Rewards Men must live and create, live to the point of tears. Put water in the cupped hands An object with the letter R on it From a small seed a mighty trunk may grow Put a seed / plant in the cupped hands** An object with the letter L on it Give light and people will find the way Put a source of light / show the hands a torch in the cupped hands An object with the letter O on it The best thing to hold onto in life is each other Hold the cupped hands with both hands A key with a skull on the end As long as hunger exists, peace cannot prevail Put some food into the cupped hands An object with the letter N on it If the world seems cold to you, kindle fires to warm it Put a flame of some kind in the cupped hands An object with the letter A on it Noble deeds that are concealed are most esteemed Cover the hands completely or extinguish light around the cupped hands An object with the letter F on it Every charitable act is a stepping stone toward heaven Put at least 1GP worth of coins in the cupped hands An object with the letter D on it Puzzle reward When the last letter is placed the stone can be moved to give access to the loot within, a rather large and valuable garnet (at least 1000gp) and some heirlooms; none are magical and not really worth much without knowledge of where they came from and who used to own them. That knowledge is not stored in this tomb but has been lost to time. Zevass (location 10) though will find value in them, especially the garnet! 28. Crypt If the party want to do a bit of grave robbing then on a successful roll (DC 15+) of exploring the rubble and smashed coffins reveals jewellery and trinkets worth 1d4 x 100 GP. Nothing else can be found in this room, anything of interest has already been smashed to bits. If the party are trying to sanctify the area for Lathander this action doesn't make him happy, but it won't prevent the cleric completing the quest. 29. Office The various papers and books on the tables contain information about births, deaths and entombments of the Randolf family. There is some information about the end of the family line and assets kept by the merchant guild in case an heir is ever found, but the information here is rather vague. For anyone wanting to investigate further (DC 15+), on a successful roll they find a key hole in the northern wall with a symbol of a skull above it. The key for this lock is in one of the chests in the noble's tomb (location 27). Opening this lock reveals a hidden compartment in the wall, it would seem every skeleton in the Randolf family closet is stored in here. Spending a bit of time to investigate the documentation stored here shows evidence of fraud, births out of wedlock, crimes that were covered up, and if some more time is taken definitive evidence of what would appear to be a curse upon the family that finally ended the family line. 12
Ending the Adventure Seeing daylight once more The party finally emerge back out of the mine, the sunlight stings their unadjusted eyes but its warmth warms their cold and aching bones. The soft breeze and bird song improves everyone's mood as they readjust their backpacks, and making sure their newly acquired loot is secure. Turning to walk back down the road by the farm, the party look forward to their next adventure. What's next? Are the party interested in following up on the Randolf inheritance? It seems to be quite difficult seeing how much time has actually passed. There are still some things to clear up; who is this heir, why was a curse put on the family, was the fire an accident? There currently aren't many clues to really follow though at this point, some possibilities to expand on this: Adding a name to the bottom of the thieves' instructions could give a lead. In the hidden compartment documentation there could easily be names of accountants, legal types, contacts in the merchant guild, etc. Trying to find where the Randolf estate once stood doesn't find much, the whole place was burnt to the ground many years ago but maybe a piece of family jewellery could be found. Which may or may not hold more clues. In terms of the actually mine, where are the dwarves that ran the mines now? This might be the most puzzling mystery of all (sorry, not a clue!) Experience Experience is earned from particular events and kills in combat, add up all the experience gained and share it out equally across the party. The following table breaks down experience gained from events. Event XP Successfully parley with Zevass 250 Complete Zevass' quest 500 Solve the puzzle in the noble's tomb 500 Unearth the Rudolf family's mysteries 250 Sanctify the Randolf family chapel 100 Complete the thieves' mission 100 Avenge the kobolds 200 Work out what happened in the mine** 250 ** Use the introduction section to see how close the player's get to working out events, they don't need to and may not be all that bothered about it. Experience from killing the monsters encountered in this dungeon. Monster XP (each) Earth elemental 1800 Gelatinous Cube 450 Ghast 450 Ghoul 200 Giant Wolf Spider 50 Mummy 700 Rust Monster 100 Sahaugin 100 Sahaugin Baron 1800 Sahaugin Priestess 450 Spectre 200 Swarm of Quippers 200 Umber Hulk 1800 Wight 700 NOTE: the orc / goblin hordes are not included here as it is not intended that the party fight them. If the party decide to kill or be kill then use normal xp rewards, for a goblin horde kill take goblin xp and multiply by ten. Treasure / Items A summary of treasures / items and locations. Treasure / Items Location Sealed jar of seeds 2 7 arrows 3 150gp in rough cut gems 4 Kobold "go boom" potions 5 Young gold dragon's horde 10 Dagger of Venom 17 Thieves' Instructions 21 Potions of Greater Healing 21 Charm (diety) 25 Noble's tomb treasure (~1200gp worth) 27 Jewellery and trinkets 28 Hidden documentation 29 13
Appendices A. Maps GM map 14
Adventure map Roll20 dimensions: width 66 x height 76 each square = 5 ft. 15
B. Handouts Markus' letter Thieves' Instructions 16
C. Puzzle Placards Original quote by Lucy Larcom Original quote by Willy Brandt Original quote by Audrey Hepburn Original quote by Blaise Pascal Original quote by Henry Ward Beecher Original quote by Albert Camus Original quote by Ella Baker Original quote by Aeschylus 17
D. Monster Stats Monster Stat block Earth elemental https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/earth-elemental Gelatinous Cube https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/gelatinous-cube Ghast https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/ghast Ghoul https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/ghoul Giant Wolf Spider https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/giant-wolf-spider Mummy https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/mummy Rust Monster https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/rust-monster Sahuagin https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/sahuagin Sahuagin Baron http://dnd-5e.herokuapp.com/monsters/sahuagin-baron Sahuagin Priestess http://dnd-5e.herokuapp.com/monsters/sahuagin-priestess Spectre https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/specter Swarm of Quippers https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/swarm-of-quippers Umber Hulk http://dnd-5e.herokuapp.com/monsters/umber-hulk Wight https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/wight Note: The various orc horde stat blocks are not listed here, as it isn't expected for any party to actually attempt combat. If they do, stat blocks can be found from the two websites used above. 18
Final Words If anything is missing, you have feedback or you would like additional resources added let me know. Thanks for playing and hope you enjoyed this adventure. u/telboy007 Document version 1.01 (13th July 2021) update front page formatting, add additional thank you and update overview with results of playtest. Thanks In no particular order: Big thanks to Taking20 for creating the original adventure that gave me the motivation to create my very first oneshot. Disclosure: this adventure reuses the instructions about the kobold "go boom" potions from Taking20's IP. Thanks to homebrewery for the amazing tool that helped create this beautifully formatted adventure! Thanks for this styling guide which has a lot of useful information. Logos and styling used on the front cover come from this document, the red slash is re-used on the back cover. A big thanks goes to this reddit post, I've used quite a lot of the CSS tweaks from here. u/TheLurkerOne for their front page layout css, which uses elements from the excellent styling guide mentioned above. Credits Images Used p1 / p20 Front and Back Cover Image (Neil Hanson) https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/File:Cave_planks_concept_art.jpg p3 Mine Cart (Sarah Brown) https://sarahbrown3d.wordpress.com/2d-des/sprites-andtextures/textures/ p4 Spider Swarm (Prodigyduck) https://www.deviantart.com/prodigyduck p5 Alchemy Table (Red Hook Studios' IP) Darkest Dungeon Ruins Curio, Red Hook Studio p7 Treasure (Will Terry) http://willterry.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-secret-life-offreelance-illustrator.html p8 Goblins (Yoshinori Matsushita) Dragon's Dogma - Official Design Works, Capcom (2014) p9 Phantasms (Chris Cold) https://www.deviantart.com/chriscold/gallery/all p11 Healing Potion (Adorabless) https://www.deviantart.com/adorabless/art/Level-2-HealthPotion-OPEN-373505284 p18 Rust Monster (Jason A Engle) Monster Manual 2, WotC (2009) p19 Sunny Dragon (Gugu-troll) https://www.deviantart.com/gugu-troll/art/Sunny-dragon410859390 p20 Back Cover Squiggly Thing (T.Bonds) Maps Created by T. Bonds using dungeondraft and associated assets by 2-minute tabletop, gogots, krager and crosshead. Handouts and Puzzle Placards Created by T. Bonds using Gimp. 19
A mysterious place lost to time Beneath an unassuming farm lies an abandoned mine long lost to the eons of time, but has someone or something made this place their home? A deep rumbling noise from below sends the farm's inhabitants fleeing in terror, leaving behind a mystery to solve and a dungeon to explore for those that are brave enough. Feel free to run this adventure as a one-shot or following Taking20's "A Much Bigger Problem". T. Bonds 2021