1 CREDITS Editor: Melanie McConathy Template: Simple Microsoft Word Template by Laura Hirsbrunner Cover Image: Photo by Joy Anne Pura from Pexels Special Thanks: Bruce Cordell for the original adventure, Todd Gamble for the original cartography Playtesters: Nathan Champion, Mariana Studart, Steven Aaron Cohen, Peter Parsons, Aaron Killingsworth, Jeff Edwards, Brent Williams, Cameron Clardy, Ron Collins ON THE COVER Photo by Joy Anne Pura from Pexels Disclaimer: The designer of this template did not come up with a clever disclaimer, but felt obligated to format this template with it nonetheless. DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, Eberron, the dragon ampersand, Ravnica and all other Wizards of the Coast product names, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA and other countries. pp This work contains material that is copyright Wizards of the Coast and/or other authors. Such material is used with permission under the Community Content Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild. All other original material in this work is copyright 2022 by Lucas Cockerham and published under the Community Content Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild.
2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Credits ................................................................................ 1 Table of Contents...............................................................2 Introduction.......................................................................3 Session 0......................................................................................3 Theme.....................................................................................3 Seven Truths About White Plume Mountain.................3 Party Building.......................................................................3 Running the Adventure.....................................................4 Story Synopsis............................................................................4 Dramatis Persona......................................................................4 Story Flowchart .........................................................................4 Notes on Running......................................................................5 Imprints.......................................................................................5 Wandering Monsters ............................................................... 6 Locations Around White Plume Mountain ......................... 6 General Areas....................................................................... 6 Ringland.................................................................................7 The Great Swamp.................................................................7 The Dungeon ..............................................................................8 Appendix I: Monsters...................................................... 16 Appendix II: Magic Items................................................20 Deck of Destinies .................................................................... 20 Frostrazor ................................................................................ 20
3 INTRODUCTION I first played this adventure in a Greyhawk campaign in college shortly after it was released. The details got murky over time, but I always remembered gnome after gnome shouting “I am the real Keraptis!” as each new imposter was slain. I decided to convert it to 5e to run for a new virtual group that formed during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as for the same group (and DM) who ran it for me all those years ago. The adventure still works very well after 20 years! However, I did so much work converting it I thought I should do it with an eye to eventually publish it on DM’s Guild to make it easier for others to run it themselves. I know the original White Plume Mountain has been redone several times, but I never played it and have no nostalgia for it and want to enable other folks to enjoy the very worthy sequel. Generally, I would say this adventure is complex to run and wouldn’t recommend it for a new DM. A big part of the adventure are scrolls that can turn characters and non-player characters into copies of the “villain” of the adventure, Keraptis. If executed well, it is cool, but it took me halfway through running the adventure to really grasp how it works in the story (and how to then make it work mechanically in 5e). On top of that, 2e and 5e scale very differently, and I don’t worry a lot about making sure combats are perfectly balanced in my conversion, as I am comfortable adjusting during play. I ran this at levels 7-11 for one group and 11-13 for another, and I try to give encounter guidance for each level range in the conversion, but I think the challenge could vary significantly based on the competence of the group. This is a dungeon crawl with plenty of fun roleplaying opportunities, but I have marked some encounters as optional when I feel they are repetitive to make it a little quicker to run than a completely faithful conversion. This document is broken into the following sections: • A Session 0 for introducing the adventure to your characters. • A story synopsis, a list of important NPCs, flowchart, and general notes on running the adventure. • An explainer on the imprints and how to use them in your game. • Converted random encounters. • A summary of the areas around White Plume Mountain. • A room-by-room conversion of the dungeon. • An appendix of converted monsters from the adventure. • An appendix of converted magic items from the adventure. SESSION 0 THEME A wizard named Keraptis once sought immortality. The desire eventually led him to White Plume Mountain, where he supposedly conducted many experiments into extending one’s natural life span and gathered many weapons of legendary power to fuel his research. Eventually, it is said he left White Plume Mountain in his search, but recently a face has appeared in the smoke billowing from White Plume Mountain, and catatonic gnomes have been found in the surrounding area. These foul portents have reached you, and for your own reasons, you wish to visit White Plume Mountain and discover what lies within. SEVEN TRUTHS ABOUT WHITE PLUME MOUNTAIN • White Plume Mountain is located on Oerth in the World of Greyhawk setting. • A few thousand years ago a powerful wizard named Keraptis served as the protector of a mountainside town. Eventually he became corrupted due to his obsession with immortality, and was banished from the town, along with his gnomish servants. • Keraptis wandered for centuries. In his travels, he acquired four powerful implements: the hammer named Whelm, the trident named Wave, the sword named Frostrazor, and the sword named Blackrazor. • Keraptis heard rumors that White Plume Mountain held the secrets to immortality and traveled there, where he killed the mountain’s protector. At around this same time, the mountainside village he once ruled was destroyed. • Keraptis continued his magical experiments, and as a result of one such experiment, he left the material plane of Oerth in search of immortality. • It is said that heroes plundered Keraptis’ implements from White Plume Mountain several decades ago. However, recently a face that resembles Keraptis has started appearing in the smoke that wafts from White Plume Mountain. • More and more gnomes in the areas around White Plume Mountain are being afflicted with a catatonic state, as if some magic were gaining control of their mind. Many fear that this plague will continue to spread. PARTY BUILDING Have your players try to answer two or three of the following questions to explain their motivation to explore White Plume Mountain: • Why is your character interested in White Plume Mountain? • Does he or she seek immortality? • Do they know an NPC in the mountain? • Do they seek one of the (in)famous weapons Keraptis supposedly kept in the mountain? • Do they know someone who went to the mountain and is now in a catatonic state? • Do they have ties to the mountain village Keraptis once protected?
4 RUNNING THE ADVENTURE STORY SYNOPSIS Keraptis was a powerful wizard obsessed with immortality and tried to achieve it many ways. Eventually he found a way to transport himself to another plane and planned to eventually return to Oerth reborn as an infant. Unfortunately, in the time Keraptis has been away, another of his failed immortality experiments, the ability to imprint his mind on others, was discovered by the followers he left behind. Four NPCs have been completely imprinted and believe themselves to be the one true Keraptis. They seek to increase the power of their hive minds by getting more intelligent beings to read the imprint scrolls. This scourge of false Kerapti could spread like a plague until everyone is part of a hierarchical hive mind of someone who thinks they are Keraptis. The only way to stop the plague is to recover Keraptis’ four powerful weapons and use them in the mountain fane to return the now infant Keraptis, releasing all who have been imprinted in the process. Once returned, the spirit of the druid Keraptis killed to take control of the mountain will seek to kill the infant, and the party must protect the baby and escape the leviathan at the heart of the volcano. DRAMATIS PERSONA • Nightfear o Controls dungeon areas 0-21. o Fighting Spatterdock for control of the entrance level. o Insignia is a black armband with the letter K superimposed over the letter N, with snakes. o Gnome who followed original Keraptis into the mountain. o Recently lost Wave to gnomes from the resistance, it eventually fell into Thingizzard’s hands. • Spatterdock o Controls dungeon areas 28-48. o Fighting Nightfear for control of the entrance level. o Used to be an ogre mage named Quesnef. o Former servant of the real Keraptis, and for a time a false Keraptis. o Found Whelm and gave it to his favored servant, the vampire Ctenmiir. o Usually appears as a halfling via polymorph magic. • Killjoy o Controls areas 49-55 o Fighting Mossmutter for control of the lava tubes. o Originally an efreeti named Nox, and a friend of Nix, leader of the resistance. o Once served a false Keraptis until he read his own complete imprint. o Wields Blackrazor. o Looks like bald human male with tattooed face. • Mossmutter o Originally a mold worm, it fell in the Basin of Boundless Life, exploded into spores, then reformed as a new mold worm with intelligence. o Ate a fully imprinted gnome who attacked the worm with its imprint, and now the worm thinks it is Keraptis. o Creates imprints with his spores instead of scrolls. o Thinks they used to be human. o Allows follower Saprophis to carry Frostrazor. • Thingizzard o Witch of the Fens. o Lived here for 1300 years, long before Keraptis showed up. o Creates bog mummies she treats as children. o Took Wave from the gnomes who stole it from Nightfear and has disguised it as a dagger. • Nix o Controls dungeon areas 22-27. o Leader of the Resistance, a small group fighting the False Kerapti and seeking to bring the real Keraptis back. o Once followed Keraptis, along with this friend Nox, who is now Killjoy. • Aegwareth, Shade of Vengeance o Shade of the elder druid that once protected the Fane at the heart of White Plume Mountain. o Aegwareth was slain by Keraptis when he first came to White Plume Mountain. o The shade has grown powerful over the many years it has haunted the fane, and its hatred of Keraptis has only grown stronger over that time. o Controls the elemental entity known as the Leviathan that lives at the center of White Plume Mountain. STORY FLOWCHART This flowchart represents a possible path through the adventure. Both groups I ran the playtest with took this approach with limited nudging from me. I think it does a good job of having some mystery up front, but still putting the characters in a position of knowing their objectives and what they are dealing with at the right time. First, characters arrive in Ringland, hear some rumors, and gather information about the mountain. They then cross the land and enter the dungeon. Their first encounter can default to a parley that will lead them to Nightfear and their first encounter with a false Keraptis, and their first opportunity to read an imprint themselves. As they leave Nightfear, it is easy to have an NPC appear that leads them to Nix, the leader of the Resistance who can explain what is really going on, and let the characters know the bad news if they have read an imprint. From there, the adventure will be more of a dungeon crawl as the characters look for each False Kerapti to take their weapon, with a foray into the fens to confront Thingizzard. Finally, once the characters have the weapons, they travel to the fane, summon baby Keraptis, and escape.
5 I do not include any of the optional outdoor locations in the flowchart; they can happen anytime or be ignored. NOTES ON RUNNING Ability check and saving throw DCs: Throughout this document, you will see saving throws and ability checks in the following format: Make a DC [X] + level [Ability] saving throw Make a DC [X] + level [Ability] [Skill] check By setting a base number and then adding a level, you can make sure the difficulty of a check scales with the level of the characters. I use the following guidelines for setting X: 6 – easy 8 – moderate 10 – hard 12 - very hard And then I assess how hard I think a check should be. This isn’t a novel idea, and I am not sure who my original source was, but has served me well over time, especially when tailoring an adventure like this to a range of levels. Magic Items: As originally written, this module awards more magic items than a typical 5E Dungeons and Dragons game. I have scaled this back some, but characters will get more, and more powerful, magic items over the course of this adventure than they would in a typical 5E adventure. If you are not comfortable with that, you should reduce the number of magic items I provide. I would be especially careful about the four powerful weapons used to return Keraptis and the Deck of Destinies. Dungeon conversion: I provide the following information for each room, as needed: Summary: A brief summary of the room, intended to remind the DM quickly what is important about that room. Traps: Any traps in the room. Monsters: Any creatures on the room, friend or foe. Treasure: Any magic items, gold, or otherwise valuable items in the room. Advice on Running: Anything I think would make the adventure better or easier to run. Throughout this document, I hyperlink monsters, magic items, spells, and other pieces of useful DM information to dndbeyond.com. I find this is the easiest way to run modules, and the new monsters and magic items provided in this module can be found there as homebrew items. I do include copies of the monsters and magic items in the appendices, but I believe using dndbeyond will provide a better experience for the DM. I do occasionally pull monsters from outside the Monster Manual, but that content is individually purchasable on dndbeyond. Maps: I’ve included maps of the two dungeon levels I edited for virtual tabletop play. I am not a professional image editor, so these are very rough edits, but they do a good enough job of hiding the traps and secrets. I only play tested them on Fantasy Grounds, where they were adequate. Monsters: I substitute in monsters from a variety of 5e books, and occasionally use the Monster Manual Expanded books from DM’s Guild. I try to provide alternatives when I use the MME. Most of the monsters I have created are small flavor changes to existing monsters (like gnome versions of common NPCs) or adding spells and weapon effects to existing monsters (the bosses). IMPRINTS The imprints are a key part of the adventure, but also confusing and difficult to run. This section summarizes how I ran the imprints, which isn’t just a straight conversion from the 2e source material to 5e – I attempt to simplify them to make play easier. A complete imprint is a scroll that if read, will make anyone believe they are Keraptis – it is essentially a copy of his mind. The four bosses of the dungeon have each read a complete imprint. For the purposes of this conversion, I just add a spell list to the base creature for each boss. I vary the spell list based on the boss, but otherwise their personalities should be the same, as they are all basically copies of the wizard Keraptis. There are also partial imprints – these imprint a piece of Keraptis’ mind, generally give the wielder access to a spell they can cast once per day and tie the reader of the scroll to the nearest complete imprint as something like a conduit for its mind. Over time, the imprints erode the person’s mind, and eventually their personality is subsumed by one of the False Kerapti. The false Kerapti can see through one of their thrall’s eyes and can cast spells through their subsumed thralls. Rather than tracking this, I gave subsumed gnomes and skin puppets the ability to work together to cast spells.
6 Its possible characters will read a partial imprint and pick up a spell, as well as a weakness to orders from the associated False Keraptis. I generally treated this as a reason to opportunistically give a PC advantage or disadvantage on a roll involving one of the false Kerapti and alluding to the fact they might eventually become a thrall. I never really intended on going through with the threats, but if you wanted you could force a DC 6 + level Wisdom saving throw each day to avoid being subsumed. I would only subsume a character if they failed this save three times, much like a death save. I would do this more often if characters read every scroll they encounter despite the apparent danger and escalate the save DC by 2 with each scroll read. If a character is subsumed, the only way to save them is through a few magical effects in the dungeon, or by recalling the true Keraptis. Here are the imprints and how I handled them: • Complete: gain spell list of a mage, and think you are Keraptis. • Door: cast dimension door, recharge on long rest • Fire: cast fireball at 5th level, recharge on long rest • Missile: cast magic missile at 1st level, recharge on short rest • Resistance: gain advantage on saves vs spells for one hour, recharge on long rest • Wall: cast wall of force, recharge on long rest WANDERING MONSTERS The list of monsters below updates monsters used in the White Plume Wandering Monster Table on page 10 of the adventure. I would recommend only having random encounters on a roll of 19 or 20 on a d20, as is standard for 5E. There is already a lot of combat in this module, so I think the over 25% chance the module gives by default is much too high. In running the module twice, I only rolled for random encounters about 4 times, as I did not find that the additional combat led to more fun. • Rogue Gnolls o 7-9th level: 8 gnolls, 1 gnoll fang of Yeenoghu o 10-12th: 6 gnoll fangs of Yeenoghu • Meenlocks (Volo’s Guide to Monsters) o 7-9th level: 5 meenlocks o 10-12th: 8 meenlocks • Bog Mummies (monster appendix) o 7-9th level: 4 bog mummies o 10-12th: 7 bog mummies • Subsumed Gnomes (monster appendix) o 7-9th level: 8 subsumed gnomes o 10-12th: 12 subsumed gnomes o If you do not want the gnomes to be part of a hierarchical mind, remove their spellcasting abilities. This will make for an easy encounter regardless of level. • Ogres (Monster Manual and Tome of Foes) o 7-9th level: 3 ogres and an ogre chain brute o 10-12th: 6 ogre chain brutes • Elevated Ghouls (Monster Manual Expanded I) o 7-9th level: 3 Agarats o 10-12th: 5 agarats • Fungus Hulks (monster appendix) o 7-9th: 2 Fungus Hulks o 10-12th: 5 Fungus Hulks • Bloodwight (monster appendix) o 7-9th level: 2 bloodwights o 10-12th: 4 bloodwights • Burning Golem (monster appendix) o 7-9th level: 1 burning golem o 10-12th: 2 burning golems • Mold Wyrm (monster appendix) o 7-9th level: no encounter o 10-12th: 1 mold worm • Skin Puppets (monster appendix) o 7-9th level: 8 skin puppets o 10-12th: 12 skin puppets LOCATIONS AROUND WHITE PLUME MOUNTAIN GENERAL AREAS • Yellowflow River: Sulfurous water from the volcano that supports little life. Must be distilled to be safe to drink. • Dead Gnoll’s Eyesocket: o Cave surrounded by a series of bluffs that give the feature its name. o The cave is safe for resting and shows signs of recent habitation by intelligent creatures (stored water and provisions). If the characters are connected to someone who was lost in White Plume Mountain, the saddlebag is marked with their initials. • Castle Mukos o Mostly ruined castle inhabited by meenlocks. o A shield +1 is hidden in the castle that belonged to Mukos. o If the characters disturb the castle, having the meenlocks hound them throughout the adventure could be fun and a good way to discourage excessive resting in the dungeon. o Not essential to the adventure. • The Great Swamp o If you want to use quicksand, I recommend using it with a wondering monster encounter with bog mummies. Decide where it is at during initiative (10 by 10 feet square). Quicksand requires a passive Perception DC 10 + level to spot. If a character moves into the area with quicksand, they are restrained unless they make a DC 8 + level Dexterity saving throw. The character can repeat the save at the end of each of their turns, but the DC increases by 2 each turn. Any means of aid given by another character gives them advantage on that save. If they fail the save three times they go under the sand. o See Scene 2 for the encounter with Thingizzard. • Plague Fields o Town abandoned after the Yellowflow killed all the surrounding wildlife. o Inhabited mostly by gnolls. You should trigger a Rogue Gnolls encounter from
7 the Wandering Monsters section if the characters travel here. o Inconsequential to the adventure. • Twisted Thickets o Field of gnarled, prickly shrubbery that grows foul off the Yellowflow. o Inconsequential to the adventure. o Traveling through the thickets requires a Constitution saving throw DC 8 + character level every hour to avoid being poisoned by the bushes, which gives the characters a level of exhaustion. If the characters take precautions to protect themselves from the briars, they can avoid this saving throw. o If the characters spend much time there, they are likely to encounter a group of subsumed gnomes from the wandering monsters section. RINGLAND • Ringland is a small hunting and trapping village with an approximate population of 200. The smoke of White Plume Mountain is clearly visible from town. • I would recommend sending the characters to the local Inn (call the Ringland Inn). From there its owner and a couple of the regulars can hand out rumors and advice. • Rumors: o We stay clear of the volcano. It's always smoking and covered with monsters. Worse, some crazed wizard trapped himself there back in my gran pappy’s days! o Closest anyone ever goes to the mountain is Dead Gnoll’s Eyesocket, a day’s ride east of here and a little bit up the mountain’s slope. Well, ‘cept for crazy adventurers. o Sometimes, you can see a face in the smoke. Lately, it’s been many copies of the same face, all at the same time. o Otus is the best guide we have in town. You can find him in the hunter’s guild or the inn. • People in Ringland: o Sebastian Fauke (N male human veteran), owner of Ringland Inn. Retired adventurer who speaks in a booming voice. o Rulph and Sim, two old timers who hang out in the taproom of the Ringland Inn and enjoy poking fun at adventurers who pass through. o Monaric (CG dale human diviner), older local hedge wizard, clicks his tongue a lot. o Otus Hilltopper (NG human scout), local wilderness guide from the Hunter’s Guild. Otus has a large stomach that belies his dexterity. Will guide characters for 20 gp a day. THE GREAT SWAMP If you want to use quicksand in the Great Swamp, I recommend using it with a wondering monster encounter with bog mummies. Decide where it is at during initiative (10 by 10 feet square). Quicksand requires a passive DC 10 + level Wisdom (Perception) check to spot. If a character moves into the area with quicksand, they are restrained unless they make a DC 8 + level Dexterity saving throw. The character can repeat the save at the end of each of their turns, but the DC increases by 2 each turn. Any means of aid given by another character gives them advantage on that save. If they fail the save three times they go under the sand. When the characters arrive at Thingizzard’s hut, she is out front stirring a cauldron. As stated in the adventure, she won’t admit to having Wave, but any character can do a Wisdom (Insight) check opposed by her Deception (+4) to determine if they think she is lying. If the characters think she has it, they can try to convince her to part with it. I would give each character the chance to convince her to part with Wave using an appropriate skill with a DC 10+ level check. If more characters succeed than fail, then she will trade Wave, but only for something of great value…if the characters have nothing that suits her fancy, she might be willing to trade it for an unnamed favor in the future (which could be asking for Wave back). Should this turn into a fight, it can be very complicated to run because of the cube of force effect from Wave. The lair actions give Thingizzard a lot of ground control and combined with the cube of force she can easily lock down party members and pick them off. I also have her start with five bog mummies between her and the party. Here is a set of tactics you could use: Round 1: Use sulfuric gases to poison and lightly obscure area with the most characters. Activate the cube of force’s ability to block spells (assuming Thingizzard has bog mummies and distance to prevent characters from immediately closing). As a reaction, cast Mind Blank to protect against effects that might incapacitate her (she doesn’t have an ability to automatically pass saves). Round 2: Use poison gas lair action if characters are clustered, or vine and undergrowth if they have closed. If she can separate one character with the cube, she moves next to them and activates the cube of force’s barrier to living creatures. As her reaction, she casts bestow curse on the character she has locked in the cube with her. Round 3: Use whatever lair action makes the most sense. Cast call lighting to attack characters outside the cube who are clumped and use reactions to attack the character she has isolated with Wave. Treasure: There are several potions in Thingizzard’s hut. I would include a potion of longevity, 3 potions of superior healing, a potion of fire giant strength, as well as 5 disguised potions of poison. Thingizzard also possesses Wave, a sentient trident that hums when it grows bored. It constantly tries to convert those around to worship of a sea god of the world is currently inhabits (Procan in the case of Oerth, Vulkur or Umberlee in the Forgotten Realms). Wave secretly fears it is destined to bring about the sea god’s demise.
8 THE DUNGEON 1. KILLING GROUNDS Summary: Initial entry to White Plume Mountain, controlled by a large force of gnomes loyal to Nightfear who are willing to negotiate. They are led by a gnome named Kabyle. Traps: DC 8 + level Wisdom (Perception) check to spot the trap that sounds the gong. Advice on Running: The password is a good chance to inject some levity. You can prepare beforehand or let the characters come up with a password. It will probably be silly, but it made for good humor every time I ran it. 2. “GNOMING” THE MURDER HOLES Summary: Wraps area 1 with a room with murder holes manned by gnomes loyal to Nightfear. Monsters: Kabyle is a gnome veteran with 8 gnome guards. Advice on Running: This could be a tricky encounter if it comes to battle with the gnomes’ advantages. They have three-quarters cover, and thus a +5 bonus to AC and Dexterity saving throws. Every time I play tested it, I directed it towards parley and getting the characters to go meet with Nightshade. 3. HALLWATCH Summary: Gnome guards who watch areas 1 and 5, one of whom has a necklace of fireballs. Monsters: Five gnome guards. Treasure: Necklace of Fireballs with 3 beads. Advice on Running: If you want a challenging encounter, each gnome could have one bead from the necklace, but that is a potential 24d6 of damage in one round. It is truer to the 2e adventure, but in modern terms it probably makes sense for just one gnome to have the necklace so there can only be one fireball a turn. If the characters parley their way past the gnomes, give the characters a chance to notice the necklace in case someone wants to try to a DC 10 + level Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check to take it from the gnomes. If the character fails by 5 or more, the gnomes notice, and hostilities begin. 4. TRAPPED CORRIDOR Summary: Corridor with a pit trap. If someone falls in, Nightfear’s minions help or attack depending on the character’s allegiance. Traps: The pit trap is a DC 6 + level Wisdom (Perception) check to spot. Characters can make a DC 8 + level Dexterity saving throw to avoid falling in. Players who fall in take 10 (3d6) bludgeoning and 3 (1d4) piercing damage. Treasure: Hidden pouch (DC 10 + level Intelligence (Investigation) check to find) containing 3 100 gp diamonds and a Figurine of Wonderous Power (Ivory Goats) Goat of Travail. Advice on Running: I would ignore this if the characters negotiate with Kabyle to go see Nightfear. If not, it leads to an interesting item but is inessential. 5. FUN WITH PHYSICS Summary: This long corridor is lined with metal plates that create an induction field that heats up metal. The switch to turn it on and off is in area 7. Traps: The induction field. You can just run it as written, or you can simplify it to just act like a Heat Metal spell cast at fifth level so it does 5d8 damage per round the character is in the field. Advice on Running: It makes a lot more sense to me to say that the switch to turn off the plates is in room 6 rather than 7. 6. HALL WATCHERS Summary: Billet for the Nightfear aligned gnolls that operate the induction plate trap. Monsters: 12 gnolls. Treasure: 55 gp diamond pendant and a 20 gp crystal goblet in the filth, and 70 gp on the gnolls themselves. Advice on Running: Put the switch in here with the gnolls. 7. EMPTY CHAMBER Summary: Empty room, but the gnolls from room 6 will ambush trespassers as they pass through. Also has a secret door leading to area 28. Advice on Running: Secret door is a DC 10 + level Wisdom (Perception) check to see. 8. SLIP, SLIDING AWAY Summary: A pit, then a frictionless section that will make it likely you fall into a second pit, and nearby gnomes with planks to help Nightfear’s allies get through unscathed. Trap: The first pit is easily avoided, but anyone who jumps across it must make a DC 10 + level Dexterity saving throw to avoid sliding into the second pit. Falling into a pit does 2d10 damage from the spikes and 1d6 from the fall. Treat the poison as wyvern poison – DC 15 Constitution saving throw, 24 (7d6) damage on a failed save, half on a successful one. Advice on Running: Make it obvious to the characters how the trap works. They can probably easily come up with some way to circumvent it, and that’s ok. If they yell out the passwords the gnomes coming out with boards can be funny too. 9. BRIDGE PARTS Summary: Gnomes with boards to help Nightfear’s allies through room 8. Monsters: 5 Gnome Archers. Advice on Running: If the characters have a Nightfear armband, the gnomes tell the characters to take precautions against the kelp devil but avoid giving specifics. You want them to know to look for the oil repellant, but it not to be totally clear how to use it, so they can come up with their own inventive solutions. 10. WATCH POINT Summary: Kuhlefaran, a follower of the resistance, hides behind a secret door to area 22a here to look for recruits for the resistance. Otherwise, it’s an obstructed hall on one end, and the underground lake on the other. Monsters: Treat Kuhlefaran as a Priest. Advice on Running: Both times I ran this I had Kuhlefaran peak out the door and get the characters attention after they had parlayed with Nightfear. That ended up being a good mix of having some mystery in the beginning about who and what Nightfear is before taking the characters to Nix to get the real backstory. I also would not give Kuhlefaran any magic items. 11. WATERFRONT Summary: Shore of a large steaming lake. Boats on the shore with bottles of kelp repellent to keep away kelp devils. Nightfear’s lair is on the opposite side of the lake, but the landing is too far away for the characters to see.
9 Advice on Running: If the gnomes told them to take precautions, make a point about the liquid in the boats. The goal is to let them know it helps, but not know exactly how so they can try different solutions. 12. LAKE SENTRIES Summary: Sentries in an alcove in the lake who let the characters by if they provide the password but try to burn the boat out from under the characters if they do not. Monsters: 2 Gnome Archers. Advice on Running: If the gnomes end up attacking the characters, the flaming arrows do an additional d6 fire when they hit players. Let characters use their skills and abilities to put out flames on the boat. If the boat burns for one full round, it sinks. If it catches on fire three separate times, it sinks. Treat it as AC 12 to hit the boat with the flaming arrows. The gnomes have 6 flaming arrows, not 4. 13. LAKE OF STEAM Summary: A large steaming lake with a couple of monsters that can be deterred by the repellent in the boats. Monsters: 2 Kelp Devils. 14. KELP NEST Summary: A smallish grotto off the lake filled with Kelp Devils and treasure. Monsters: 6 Kelp Devils. Treasure: Roll a d6 for each Kelp Devil and consult the table to determine what treasure it has. Rerolling the same number results in no treasure. KELP DEVIL TREASURE Advice on Running: If the characters charge in this is a very dangerous fight. However, if they are careful, they could attack from range with little danger. The gnomes in area 12 will tell the characters about the kelp devils if they are asked and the characters are allied with Nightfear. The kelp devils won’t be able to approach the characters’ boat if they have repellant, and the exit on the other side (area 35) leads to danger (a boiling lake). The kelp devils will escape to potential death in area 35 if cornered by the repellent, taking their treasure with them. Be aware the staff of striking is a very good magical weapon at this level. A legend lore reveals that the Fist of Aku belonged to General Aku, a hobgoblin that raided civilized lands from his lair in the Bone March. While a potent weapon, the mace undoubtably was used to advance his evil agenda. 15. LANDING Summary: Landing for Nightfear’s command center. There is evidence of boats that go back and forth. Sentries are always present, and interlopers who don’t provide the password lead to a large rolling battle. Advice on Running: I’ve not had to run this as a combat. I think the instructions in the module are decent, except I would only have the gnolls enter the combat at the rate of 3 per round and it should be relatively easy for the characters to get out of range of three of the murder holes. 16. REINFORCEMENTS Summary: A force of gnolls defend this chamber and use a secret door to get behind the characters. Monsters: 12 gnolls. Treasure: 74 gold, 25 gp bloodstone ring, and a 50 gp angelskin ring. Advice on Running: The gnolls do not need poison weapons. A battle in area 15 will be tough enough without it. 17. GNOME BILLET Summary: Gnome archers who man the three murder holes here and in area 16. Monsters: 6 gnome archers. Advice on Running: Give each gnome a flaming arrow that does an additional 4 (1d6) fire damage. Arrow slits provide three quarters cover. 18. THE REST OF NIGHTFEAR’S GNOMES Summary: Billet for the rest of Nightfear’s forces. Monsters: 19 gnome guards and a gnome veteran leader. Advice on Running: Keeping the three gnomes per round cadence should work, but feel free to slow it down if the party is getting too overwhelmed. It should be easy to avoid combat here, so it’s likely this will never come into play unless the characters are spoiling for a fight. 19. NIGHTFEAR’S AUDIENCE CHAMBER Summary: Nightfear’s crystal throne where he spends half his time is the centerpiece of the room. Monsters: Nightfear and 4 ogres Treasure: None. I would remove Nightfear’s listed magic items. Advice on Running: I would assume Nightfear is in this room when the characters arrive. Again, this is a good chance for parley. If the characters didn’t fight his minions, Nightfear will be eager for an alliance, especially if the characters will bring back an item stolen from him. Instead of pointing characters to the secret door in area 12, I had Nightfear tell the characters gnomes from a rival faction stole it and took it to the swamp directly. The result didn’t differ much since I had Kuhlefaran intercept the characters anyway. Nightfear will also offer K imprint scrolls from area 20 before the characters leave. If this ends up as a fight, Nightfear is one of the weaker False Kerapti, but he has a lot of minions he can bring to bear. If he can, he will capture characters and force them to read K scrolls until the characters feel they must obey him and defeat the other False Kerapti, then you can give the characters the chance to escape at some point. 20. NIGHTFEAR’S STUDY Summary: It’s a study, complete with a holder for Wave. There are also some K imprint scrolls and a letter to accompany them to spread the Keraptis imprint outside White Plume Mountain. Treasure: Several K: fire imprint scrolls equal to the number of characters in the party, plus a separate K: wall imprint scroll. Roll Treasure 1 shield +1 2 light crossbow +1 3 Chest containing 3 potions of greater healing and 5 100 gp gems 4 mace +2 known as the Fist of Aku 5 bag of holding containing 1,342 gp 6 staff of striking
10 21. NIGHTFEAR’S LAB Summary: Nightfear’s alchemical lab. It features flaming arrows, kelp devil repellent, and lots of firewine. There is also a keg hiding a secret compartment DC 8 + level Intelligence (Investigation) to find. Trap: DC 8 + level Wisdom (Perception) check to spot, if triggered everyone within 20 feet must make a DC 6 + level Dexterity saving throw or take 22 (4d10) poison damage, or half as much damage on a successful save. Treasure: Hidden in the keg are 5 potions of greater healing and a decanter of endless water. Flaming arrows are just regular arrows that do an additional 1d6 fire damage on a single use. 22. THE SPLIT Summary: Small chamber where Kuhlefaran hides until she can hail the characters. She’ll warn them of a pit trap in the chamber if they come with her to see Nix. Trap: DC 8 + level Wisdom (Perception) check to spot, DC 8 + level Dexterity saving throw to avoid. The trap deals 10 (3d6) bludgeoning and 3 (1d4) piercing damage if you fall in. 23. IT HUNTS THE INVERTED ZIGGURAT Summary: This room is an inverted Ziggurat, with the entrance to resistance headquarters at the bottom. Spatterdock reanimated a dead huge giant crab and made it permanently invisible as greater invisibility. It attacks as the characters head towards the exit. Monster: Invisible Undead Huge Giant Crab. Advice on Running: Use the picture in the module to help the characters understand the layout of the ziggurat. This is one of the highlights of the dungeon in my opinion. Note if Kuhlefaran is taking the characters to Nix, it’s possible the characters will think she led them into a trap. I made it very clear to the characters it was not a double cross so they were more likely to trust Nix, who is one of the only people in the dungeon who will tell the characters something relatively truthful. 24. READY ROOM Summary: This is the main living quarters for the resistance, Nix’s ragtag group that opposes the false Kerapti. So long as Kuhlefaran is with the characters, they are friendly. Monsters: 5 gnome guards, a meenlock named Henri, an ogre named Garcon, and Marthy and Hammond, two human veterans. Advice on Running: Henri can be useful as an NPC who can join the characters if they ally with Nix, so I play him up here. Try to keep his identity (a meenlock that split with his tribe in Castle Murkos for reasons even he can’t fathom) a secret as long as possible. I used a French accent and deployed him for comic relief when needed as well. 25. HEART OF THE RESISTANCE Summary: A very hot room with a large man who introduces himself as Nix. Nix then gives the characters the full story of White Plume Mountain, the false Kerapti, and his desire to bring his former leader, the real Keraptis, back. He explains the characters need Keraptis’ four powerful weapons and tells the characters his gnomes took Wave to the swamp, where he thinks Thingizzard stole it from his gnomes. He tells any characters who read imprint scrolls of the fate that soon awaits them. Monsters: Nix is an efreeti. Advice on Running: Play Nix as straightforward and honest, and give the characters the full story, so they know what they are trying to do and the threat they are trying to prevent (copies of Keraptis running amok all over the world). 26. STORES Summary: Storage area for the resistance. 27. THE RESISTANCE’S SECRET EXIT Summary: A set of lava tubes that lead the characters out of White Plume Mountain. The best way for characters to enter and leave the mountain undetected. 28. FORGOTTEN Summary: The former resting place for ghouls that the real Keraptis once used as guards. One ghoul remains. Monsters: Use the Ghoul Abomination from Monster Manual Expanded I for the elevated ghoul if you want a tougher fight, otherwise use a ghoul with maximum hit points that does maximum damage on every hit. Advice on Running: Inessential encounter. I removed the amulet of repudiation and effects. 29. STAIRWELL Summary: Key tactical area as it holds stairs to the lower level. Currently held and monitored by gnomes subsumed by Spatterdock in area 30. Moirison, the subsumed gnome, will offer an alliance and fealty to Spatterdock if the characters negotiate. If they agree to an alliance, he gives them a scroll, an armband, and directs them to meet with Spatterdock in person in area 45. If the characters show any allegiance to another false Keraptis, the gnomes immediately attack. Treasure: A scroll of K: fire if the characters agree to ally with Spatterdock. Trap: Pit Trap DC 8 + level Wisdom (Perception) check to spot, DC 8 + level Dexterity saving throw to avoid. The trap deals 10 (3d6) bludgeoning and 3 (1d4) piercing damage if you fall in. 30. WIZARD’S ALL Summary: Subsumed gnomes loyal to Spatterdock monitor area 29 through murder holes. Monsters: 8 subsumed gnomes and Moirison, a gnome veteran. Advice on Running: Two sets of three gnomes will lead with fireballs, and the last two will team up to cast magic missile at someone who looks like a spellcaster. Moirison will then charge out and attack. This is a lot of damage at the outset, but the subsumed gnomes do not have a lot of hit points and should go down quickly. In theory the number of spells is tied to Spatterdock’s spell list, but I didn’t bother tracking that. I would only throw the initial pair of fireballs though and rely on magic missiles or innate spells after the first round. Mechanically it would make sense for Moirison to also use the subsumed gnome stat block, but I think it’s a better encounter if you treat him as a melee character. 31. FUNGAL DELIGHTS Summary: A fungal garden to feed Spatterdock’s forces. Advice on Running: I would ignore the chance of an encounter with fungus hulks, and have Thallo in area 32 warn the characters before attacking if they enter the fungal bed.
11 32. FUNGUS TENDER Summary: Home of Thallo, Spatterdock’s fungus tender. He has mushrooms growing on him. Thallo only wants to talk about his fungi but will mention that his brother Saprophis went missing a few months ago. He doesn’t know Saprophis is now an ally of Mossmutter, but if informed he will join with the party to kill Mossmutter and free his brother. Monsters: Use evil mage for Thallo. Traps: Treat the phycomid infection caused by Thallo’s spores as yellow mold, except you sprout mushrooms, and if you fail three consecutive saves you die and become 1d4 new phycomids. 33. COLONIZED Summary: Some fungi grow here, including 4 phycomids. Traps: Treat phycomid infection as yellow mold, except you sprout mushrooms, and if you fail four consecutive saves you die and become 1d4 new phycomids. 34. FOUR WAY INTERSECTION Summary: Intersection with doors to the north ripped off, as well as signs of flooding some months ago. 35. THE BOILING LAKE Summary: Balcony over a once full lake of boiling water that has drained some due to cracks caused by volcanism. Water from this lake hitting lava below generates the plume of smoke that gives the mountain its name. Swarms of crabs will attack the party here, and there is treasure in some burlap sacks. Monsters: Use the swarm of insects (beetles) stat block for the crabs. There are 4 crab swarms. Treasure: 2500 gp, 4 100 gp gems, a ring of jumping, a wand of winter and a Stone of Good Luck. The last two are quite powerful and you should think about if you want to award them. Advice on Running: Be sure to make the connection to the players that the steam generated here is what gives the mountain its name. The crab swarms and the treasure are inessential to the adventure and can be left out. 36. A GATHERING OF HUSKS Summary: Subsumed gnomes that are part of Spatterdock’s hierarchical mind. If they see the characters, Spatterdock will speak to them through all nine at once. Monsters: 9 subsumed gnomes. Advice on Running: I wouldn’t use these gnomes for combat, but I would use them to taunt the characters as Spatterdock. If the characters were entering the mountain looking for a person, that person could be one of these gnomes (or whatever race you need it to be). 37. OBSERVATION CHAMBER Summary: Jailer’s room to observe prisoners in area 38. Advice on Running: Ignore the arcane lock on the door since the key is in the room in plain view. 38. INTERIM PRISON Summary: A prison Spatterdock has lost interest in, and therefore most of the prisoners are dead. The only one alive, a deranged werewolf named Snarla, will believe the character that frees her is Burkett, her lover that Spatterdock killed. Monsters: Snarla is a werewolf. Advice on Running: Another good spot to have someone the characters are looking for, or to have a new character replacing a dead one or just a new character to appear. I would keep Snarla regardless as she can be a cool companion. 39. INQUISITION ROOM Summary: A Gynosphinx named Sapho lairs here and serves as Spatterdock’s inquisitor and torturer. She will parley with the characters if they answer her riddle. Monsters: Gynosphinx Treasure: Chain mail +2, a shield +1, a potion of hill giant strength, and a scroll with magic missile, lightning bolt and dispel magic. Advice on Running: I’d give a content warning for torture before this room. Both times I ran this the negotiation with the sphinx led to an uncomfortable conversation for the players and characters, since I played the sphinx as clearly evil but also willing to negotiate and provide information or treasure in exchange for freedom once the riddle was solved. What to do for good characters at that point is not easy to decide. If you don’t think that would go to a good place with your players or aren’t comfortable with it, just have the sphinx attack or omit it entirely. The riddle is a nice change of pace, but otherwise the sphinx is inessential. Lastly, I would not treat this as a sphinx’s lair. 40. HALL MONITOR Summary: Flesh golem guardian who attacks the characters if they don’t wear Spatterdock’s armband. Monster: Use Flesh Golem Abomination from the Expanded Monster Manual, or a regular flesh golem with maximum hit points and maximum damage on its slam attack. Traps: Pit Trap DC 8 + level Wisdom (Perception) check to spot, DC 8 + level Dexterity saving throw to avoid. The trap deals 10 (3d6) bludgeoning and 3 (1d4) piercing damage if you fall in. Advice on Running: Just remember the golem will try to lure the characters into the pit trap. I would roll a secret Wisdom (Perception) check for any character moving to attack. 41. ANOTHER GATHERING OF HUSKS Summary: More of Spatterdock’s gnomes. Monsters: 12 subsumed gnomes Advice on Running: Another chance for Spatterdock to taunt the characters. 42. CHASM OF BOILING MUD Summary: Five hanging platforms above a sea of boiling mud filled with mud zombies. Monsters: A pair of Mud Mummies. Treat as normal mummies that ignore difficult terrain in mud. Traps: Traversing from platform to platform requires a DC 8 + level Dexterity (Acrobatics) or Strength (Athletics) check. Success means the player moves as normal; succeeding by 5 or more means the player doesn’t have to treat it as difficult terrain. Failure means the PC makes no progress; failure by 5 or more means the player falls into the boiling mud and takes 8d6 fire damage from the blistering mud. The players take this damage each round they remain in the mud. Once the characters exit the mud, they will take 1d6 damage per turn until they pass a Constitution saving throw DC 8 + level to clean off the blistering mud. Have the party roll initiative and cross the platforms in initiative order. Have mud geysers go off and deliver mud mummies to
12 the platforms whenever you think is appropriate over the course of the encounter. Advice on Running: As I said above, just use the geysers in a way that makes the encounter interesting. They won’t be very difficult to deal with for a party of this level, but they will seem more threatening than they are, especially if you have a less hearty character attempting to cross by manual effort. Many characters will have spells and abilities that let them easily bypass the danger, and that is fine. Reward smart play and accept the characters may make this encounter trivial. 43. VAMPIRE LAIR Summary: Lair of Ctenmiir, Spatterdock’s vampire sidekick. 44. FINAL GATHERING OF HUSKS Summary: One more room filled with Spatterdock’s subsumed gnome minions. Monsters: 12 subsumed gnomes. 45. SPATTERDOCK’S STUDY Summary: A study where Spatterdock plans his conquest of White Plume Mountain with his sidekick Ctenmiir. Monsters: Ctenmiir and Spatterdock Treasure: 3 potions of greater healing and a ring of fire resistance on Spatterdock. The characters also gain Whelm. Whelm’s purpose is to slaughter giants and humanoids, and longs to be returned to its clan. However, its wielder fears the daytime sky and has disadvantage on attack rolls, saving throws, and ability checks in the daytime sky. Advice on Running: Spatterdock is going to force the characters to read imprint scrolls, or attack them, so combat is likely here regardless. I started the fight with a shock wave from Ctenmiir followed by a cone of cold from Spatterdock. Have 3 subsumed gnomes arrive from area 44 each round of combat after the first, and when Spatterdock dies, have his conscious move to Ctenmiir (if alive) and then from gnome to gnome, each one shouting “I am the real Keraptis!” as the imprint transfers. I would not continue to force combat after the first few gnomes are defeated, as they will pose no threat to the characters at that point. 46. LAVA TUBES 47. DESCENT INTO THE DEPTHS 48. EGG NODE Summary: A grayish green toadstool sits in the middle of a room filled with fungus. If a character comes within 10 feet of the toadstool, it explodes. Trap: The fungal egg mass explodes if a character comes within 10 feet of it. It explodes for 12d6 acid damage in a 15-foot radius circle, Dexterity saving throw DC 8 + level for half damage. Perception checks will not identify the danger, but a Wisdom (Nature) check DC 6 + level will. 49. INDOCTRINATION CENTER Summary: This viewing chamber was used by Keraptis to subvert minds. Now a false Kerapti, Killjoy, uses it for the same purpose. The chair magically increases creatures’ susceptibility to persuasion and charm affects. It has a view to a river of burning lava. Killjoy is using it on a gnome as the character arrive. Monsters: Killjoy stands next to a gnome guard seated in the iron seat. A pair of burning golems lurk in area 49C and come out to defend Killjoy if he is attacked. Traps: The crystal panes have AC 5, 60 hit points and are immune to fire damage. If the panes are broken, everyone within a 60-foot burst must make a Dexterity saving throw DC 12 + level or take 20d6 fire damage, or half on a successful save. The Iron Seat’s suggestion DC is a Wisdom saving throw DC 10 + level. It’s a Strength check DC 6 + level to break the straps. Treasure: Blackrazor. Blackrazor’s tone is imperious and commanding, and its purpose is to consume souls. It must be fed every day. It has a strange kinship with Wave (who it finds tedious) and Whelm (who it violently disagrees with). Remember to play up the personalities of the weapons! Advice on Running: Killjoy immediately kills the gnome as the characters enter the room to get temporary hit points from Blackrazor (included in his stat block). He will open with a fifth level fireball or cone of cold, being sure to include any NPCs with the party in the attack. He’ll use his legendary action to haste himself, then he focuses on the most injured NPCs with the party to get the benefit of temporary hit points from Blackrazor. It’s both a good strategy and a way to ratchet the tension as it shows the players what Blackrazor can do. He will opportunistically seek to divide the field and block characters in with the golems using wall of ice. He will get reinforcements on the second round from Wilde and Camille in area 54, and then 3 gnomes per turn from area 52 each round after. Camille will go catatonic after she has lost half her hit points or 1d4 rounds of combat, whichever comes first. At that point Wilde will disengage and only try to care for her. Killjoy will also readily spend a legendary action to kill Camille, Wilde, or a gnome to get temporary hit points. 50. KILLJOY’S CHAMBER Summary: Killjoy’s private chamber. Treasure: 3,121 gp, 23 100 gp gems, a Brazier of Commanding Fire Elementals, a complete imprint and one each of missile, wall and fire imprints. 51. THROUGHWAY Summary: Entryway to the room where Killjoy keeps his prisoners. The prisoner’s possessions hang on racks and shelves in the room along with the keys to their cells. The owner of this gear is Eithan in area 53. Treasure: dagger +1, 23 gold, a variety of mundane weapons and adventuring gear, and a Ring of the Ram. 52. KILLJOY’S HUSKS Summary: A room where Killjoy keeps his subsumed gnomes. Monsters: 21 subsumed gnomes. 53. HOLDING CELLS Summary: Prison cells for Killjoy. One has a strange undead kept for safe keeping, another has a gnome subsumed by Nightfear that Killjoy plans to convert, and the last has Eithan, a gnome loyal to the resistance. Eithan will want his gear from room 51. Monsters: Cell A: Revenant. Cell B: subsumed gnome cell C: Use Gnome Veteran for Eithan. 54. FOOD DISTRIBUTION Summary: Food (mostly fungi) distribution center for Killjoy’s forces, maintained by a pair of exiled drow lovers, Wilde and Camille. Camille is very close to joining Killjoy’s hierarchical mind. Monsters: Treat Wilde as a Drow Elite Warrior, and Camille as a Drow Mage.
13 Advice on Running: Remove the magic items for the drow. I think they work best as sympathetic figures who fell in with Killjoy because they thought they had no other choice. Camille will go catatonic after she has lost half her hit points or 1d4 rounds of combat, whichever comes first. Wilde deeply cares for Camille and will do anything to try to help her get her mind back. 55. X-INTERSECTION Summary: A cinder pit containing burning golems that attack anyone who isn’t Killjoy, Camille or Wilde. Monsters: 2 Burning Golems. 56. EMPTY 57. ROCKFALL 58. ABANDONED & LOOTED LAB Summary: There are lots of labs in this section of the dungeon - some are looted, and some aren’t. This is a looted one. Advice on Running: Let the character search the first looted lab to determine it was once the scene of some sophisticated magical research, but make it clear it has been picked clean. I generally find it’s more fun to just tell the players the room has nothing of value up front, especially after the first of the looted labs. 59. ABANDONED LAB, UNLOOTED Summary: Several chambers that are secured in different ways, and contain magic items related to longer life. Traps: • Lock 1: This lock requires a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check DC 10 + level to pick. It is trapped with a poison needle. • Lock 2: This lock requires a forgotten passphrase. The door is marked “speak the passphrase” so characters have a chance of guessing the effect. The effect goes off as a fireball, Dexterity saving throw DC 8 + level for half damage. • Lock 3: The door has a +7 bonus to attack when biting, and likely advantage on the first bite. It does 10d6 piercing damage for parties 10th level and below, and 15d6 for 10 and above. A character gets a Strength saving throw DC 6 + level to avoid mutilation by the door. A mutilated party member has disadvantage on attacks with that hand until a lesser restoration is cast. The door can be hacked down by the party, but it may attract a wandering monster. A Strength (Athletics) check DC 10 + level will also break it down, but the door will get an attack with advantage as the character attempts to break it down. • Lock 4: This door has arcane lock cast on it, which means its DC to open is 20 + level (either Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) to pick the lock or Strength (Athletics) check to bash down). Treasure: Simplified to a list of 10 items rather than 12. • Potion of Longevity • Periapt of Health • Scroll of Time Stop • Phylactery of Long Years: This phylactery slows the aging process by 25%, so the character’s physical body only ages 9, rather than 12, months in a year. • Phylactery of Monstrous Attention: This is an old item from the first edition dungeon master’s guide, intended as a cursed item that attracted the ire of your deity’s greatest enemy. I would treat it as a ring of protection that attracts the attention of the minions of some existing foe in your campaign. Any time you roll a random encounter, roll twice, and minions of this foe show up on a 20 no matter where the characters are. If you don’t have a good enemy to use, I would choose Orcus and demons or undead randomly show up until the characters could complete a quest to remove it…or kill Orcus. You can also give the bearer an extra 2d6 against the foe as well. • Dragon’s Heart: Maximized Potion of Longevity, so a character who consumes it becomes 13 years younger physically. • Delaying Glass: As the description, except you get a Constitution saving throw DC 10 + level if it is destroyed. If that save fails, you age and must repeat the saving throw each round until death or de-aging. • Gauntlet of Life Theft: As description, except it requires a melee attack roll to hit an unwilling creature, who then gets a Constitution saving throw DC 8 + level to avoid the effect. • Skull of Prophecy: As described. • Vessel of Life Translocation: As described. 60. SENTIENT SPELL RESEARCH Summary: A scriptorium where Keraptis did much of his original research on creating his imprint spells. Treasure: SENTIENT SPELL RESEARCH TREASURE Advice on Running: Give each character an Intelligence (Investigation) check DC 6 + level to find a useful scroll. Then roll from the table. The scroll of protection from possession could either suppress an imprint or even remove it from a character. The two Manuals on the table are very powerful loot wise, and that’s why you only want to allow a limited number of checks. I would have a character reroll if they were to get two of the same item. I also defaulted to giving at least one of the characters the deck of destinies just because it’s fun. 61. ANTEROOM Summary: Three gnomes who look like they had the blood sucked out of them. A trail of dried blood points to the bloodwights in area 62. 62. EDGEWORKS Summary: A contraption of coils that once captured liquid and storied it in the basin in area 63. Several bloodwights lair here and attack the party on sight. Monsters: 7 bloodwights. Advice on Running: Gang up on a character if you can with the bloodwights to increase the chance of activating their splitting ability. Make it clear the creatures are Roll (d10) Treasure 1 Scroll of K: Missile 2 Scroll of K: Wall 3 Scroll of K: Fire 4 Scroll of K: Resistance 5 Scroll of K: Door 6 Scroll of protection from fire 7 Scroll of protection from possession 8 Manual of Bodily Health 9 Manual of Gainful Exercise 10 Deck of Destinies
14 related in some way to the basin in area 63 to try to warn them of the basin’s dangers. 63. BASIN OF BOUNDLESS LIFE. Summary: A large, cracked basin with only a little silvery goo left as much of it has drained through a crack in the basin. It is difficult to reach the liquid, but it has powerful but dangerous healing properties. Advice on Running: It takes a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check DC 10 + level to make it down to the liquid without failing. The first drink of the liquid duplicates the effects of a heal spell and a greater restoration spell. If desired, it could remove an imprint as well. A second sip reduces age as described, but the third sip is death. You can give a Constitution saving throw DC 12 + level to avoid death if desired. If a character is immersed, they gain 10 hit points per round until fully healed, and then continue to gain 10 temporary hit points per round. If they stay in the pool and keep receiving the temporary hit points, give them some sense that this may not be good and an opportunity to get out clean off the liquid. Getting the liquid off is a group skill check, DC 8 + level for each character using a skill of their choice, with more successes than failures to succeed. Add hit points to the character narratively as it feels appropriate – maybe after every check unless the character is already close to double hit points. If a character has more temporary hit points than hit points, its blood explodes out of its body and the character becomes a bloodwight. 64. CONNECTIONS Summary: Another entrance to the basin chamber like area 62, also guarded by bloodwights. Monsters: 3 bloodwights. Advice on Running: Gang up on a character if you can with the bloodwights to increase the chance of activating their splitting ability. Make it clear the creatures are related to the basin in area 63 to try to warn them of the basin’s dangers. You could skip this encounter if the characters already encountered bloodwights in area 62. 65. LAVA TUBE NODES Summary: Lava tube chambers with different encounters. Advice on Running: Just do the encounters below in order as the characters find them, it is easier to keep track of that way. • The fungus hulk shells should be used to foreshadow Mossmutter and the other fungal worms. • Replace the wand here with a wand of web. • This is a chance to foreshadow Mossmutter’s fungal infection ability. • Foreshadowing the ending of the adventure, specifically the Leviathan. • If you want a combat encounter here, you could treat the growth as a shambling mound. • No change 66. EGG NODE Summary: A grayish green toadstool sits in the middle of a room filled with fungus. If a character comes within 10 feet of the toadstool, it explodes. Trap: The fungal egg mass explodes if a character comes within 10 feet of it. It explodes for 12d6 acid damage in a 15-foot radius circle, Dexterity saving throw DC 8 + level for half damage. Perception checks will not identify the danger, but a Wisdom (Nature) check DC 6 + level will. 67. ASCENT 68. GUARDED NODE Summary: Four fungus hulks that guard the main chamber of Mossmutter’s domain. Monsters: 4 fungus hulks Advice on Running: This is an inessential encounter and can be skipped. 69. COILS OF THE WORM Summary: Multiple chambers covered in mold that coalesces into a great worm if disturbed. Monsters: Young purple worm Advice on Running: I would only do this encounter once and let the second location the characters come to be empty. 70. DUG IN Summary: Followers of Killjoy and Mossmutter engaged in battle, but both quickly turn on the characters. Monsters: For Killjoy – 9 subsumed gnomes and 1 fungus hulk. For Mossmutter: 9 skin puppets and a burning golem. 71. COLLAPSED CHAMBER 72. DEADLY INHALATIONS Summary: Room filled with blue mushrooms, decomposing bodies, and volcanic gas that pushes the oxygen out of the room. Trap: Characters can make a Wisdom (Medicine) check DC 8 + level to know asphyxiation was the cause of death of the bodies. If a character who must breathe enters the room, they must make a Constitution saving throw DC 6 + level or fall unconscious. The DC for this saving throw should increase by 2 each round the character stays in the area, and it should be clear they cannot breathe. If a character fails the save, they fall unconscious, and make death saving throws starting the next round. Advice on Running: Give the characters plenty of clues as to what is going on. Note I don’t use the normal rules for suffocation in 5e since that would make the trap trivial, and in the game you can treat it as the oxygen being pulled from the character’s lungs by the gas. I’d reward any novel idea to not lose oxygen and let them retrieve the magic items in area 73. 73. VICTIMS Summary: Duegar emissaries to Keraptis who fell prey to the room’s trap, but who still have some magic items and a clue. Magic Items: Remove most of the listed items but keep Tanglelance as a +1 short sword that also functions as a ring of freedom of movement. Tanglelance belonged Satrina Leatherfoot, a halfling ranger and selfappointed guardian of the Vesve Forest. Satrina harried the forces of Iuz that logged her forest to support their ghastly armies. In one such foray, the forces of Sevvord Redbeard (under the magical sway of Iuz) captured and hung her as an example to those who would interfere with their warlord's work. The sword went into Iuz's treasury, but by theft and deceit passed through many hands before ending up in White Plume Mountain. If any characters do not have a magic weapon, they find a +1 version of it here. 74. MOSSMUTTER’S LAIR Summary: A massive cavern filled with fungal growth, broken up into different areas detailed below
15 74A.VAMPIRE MOSS Summary: Patches of moss that suck life at multiple locations. Trap: The vampire moss requires a Wisdom (Perception) check DC 10 + Level to notice before it starts draining life; Wisdom (Perception) check DC 6 + Level to identify it once a character takes damage. Vampire moss is immune to all damage types except fire and acid. Any damage from those sources instantly destroys it. 74B. HOT SPRING Summary: A hot spring that is the primary source of water for the cavern, so there is an increased chance for random encounters. Traps: Drinking from the pool requires a Constitution saving throw DC 8 + level or be poisoned for one hour, with a save at the end of each hour until the character recovers. 74C. REFUGEES Summary: A small pod of myconids who will parley with the characters. If they can be convinced the party opposes Mossmutter, one of the myconids will accompany and help the characters. This is also a safe place to rest under their watch. Traps: The pit trap is a DC 6 + level Wisdom (Perception) check to spot. Characters can make a DC 8 + level Dexterity saving throw to avoid falling in. Players who fall in take 10 (3d6) bludgeoning and 3 (1d4) piercing damage. If the party has made friends with the myconids they will point out the trap. Monsters: 5 myconids. 74D. PHYCOMID Summary: Aggressive fungal creatures are growing in these areas. Monsters: 4 myconids, except their first attack can be melee or range 6. 74E. SLUG OF REMARKABLE SIZE Summary: It’s just a giant slug. Monsters: Giant slug that does max damage on attacks. 74F. SKIN PUPPET RINGS Summary: Skin puppets possessed by Mossmutter. If the characters engage in combat with one, Mossmutter pulls the other two back to his side as aid. Monsters: 12 subsumed gnomes. 74G. MOSSMUTTER Summary: Mossmutter’s lair. Monsters: Mossmutter and Saprophis. Treasure: Frostrazor. Unlike the other weapons, Frostrazor is not sentient. Advice on Running: Have Mossmutter lead with a confusion spell to attempt to disrupt some of the characters. Then Mossmutter and Saprophis will try to double team a character. Don’t have Mossmutter burrow up behind the party – it leads to Saprophis being the only target, and he will fall quickly that way. 75. CLOSET Summary: Locked closet with a cauldron filled with magical dust. Traps: Arcane Lock has been cast on the door. Treasure: The dust in the cauldron functions as a Stone of Good Luck. 76. BATTLEGROUND Summary: A common battleground for forces of the false Kerapti, filled with the corpses of gnomes and fungal creatures. Treasure: 124 pp, 100 gp gem, and a Ring of Protection. 77. FANE ACCESS SHAFT Summary: A 120 feet deep shaft that provides access to the fane. It is covered in darkness and silence 60 feet down, and a scythe will slice ropes of descending characters after 70 feet. At 100 feet, characters are targeted by a dispel magic with a +4 bonus for the spellcasting ability. It ends in a magma pit with a 10-foot walkway around the perimeter. Touching two handprints at one end of the shaft creates a bubble that takes the characters through the lava to the fane. Traps: If you decide a character is in the scythes path, it makes a melee attack +10 and deals 3d10 points of damage on a hit. 78. ENGINE NO MORE Summary: The gondola that once provided transport to the fane is now destroyed, but the chain provides a way to descend to the fane without risk from the scythe. 79. THE FANE Summary: The characters are confronted by the shade of Aegwareth, the druid Keraptis killed who once maintained the fane. He is eager for the characters to return Keraptis. If he thinks any of the characters are Keraptis returned, he attacks. Otherwise, he waits for them to put the weapons into the obelisk to return Keraptis so he can slay the wizard. Monsters: Aegwareth Treasure: A sun blade made of molten magma, a Hammer of Thunderbolts with a molten head that doesn’t require a girdle of giants strength or gauntlets of ogre power, a Robe of the Archmagi, and the following Ioun Stones: Intellect, Sustenance, and Mastery. Advice on Running: First, I would make my own decisions on what weapons survive (it’s good to tell the characters up front they may not have them long term). Personally, I would only keep Frostrazor or Whelm, as Blackrazor and Wave are too powerful/game breaking/difficult to run. When the baby Keraptis arrives, the characters need to decide what to do. The adventure makes it clear saving the child is the only good choice, but some parties may not see it that way. Give them a time limit to react to Aegwareth moving towards the baby, say 2 real world minutes. If they do nothing, Aegwareth kills the baby. If they interject and save Keraptis, enter combat. I’d have the Leviathan show up no matter what the outcome, and then have the characters engage in a skill challenge where everyone contributes to escape the fane with or without the baby. If they do horribly and have the baby you could come up with a variety of bad outcomes, but I would go out of my way to make sure the party succeeds – it’s just trying to create a cinematic moment to capstone the adventure.
16 APPENDIX I: MONSTERS
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20 APPENDIX II: MAGIC ITEMS DECK OF DESTINIES Wondrous Item, legendary The Deck of Destinies was created for the wizard Keraptis by a bound demon. Keraptis did not trust the demon and filed the deck away for later research. Anyone drawing a card from the Deck of Destinies becomes the recipient of its magic. There is no way to divine the nature of the card to be drawn from the deck ahead of time. Once a card is drawn, it fades from existence. Unless the card is the Fool or the Jester, the card reappears in the deck, making it possible to draw the same card twice. DECK OF DESTINIES Playing Card Card Ace of Diamonds Druid King of Diamonds Black Sword Queen of Diamonds Skull Jack of Diamonds Gauntlet Ace of Clubs Magma King of Clubs Hammer Jack of Clubs Vampire Ace of Spades Withered Hand King of Spades Trident Queen of Spades Crow Jack of Spades Djinni Black Sword. At the end of a long rest, you automatically gain 1d12 temporary hit points. Crow. Character grows a pair of black, feathered, wings that bestow the benefits of winged boots. The wings are permanent additions to the character's body. Djinni. The character gains one wish that must be used within 24 hours. Druid. Characters gain the enmity of nature. At the DM's discretion, natural disasters affect the character and everything around them at regular intervals. Gauntlet. One of the character's arms generates a layer of slimy fungus. If removed it regrows in a few hours. Any time the character touches a fertile surface, a ring of mushrooms grow. Giant Crab. As a bonus action, you magically gain the following benefits, which last for 1 minute: • If you are smaller than Large, you become Large, along with anything you are wearing. If you lack the room to become Large, your size doesn’t change. • You have advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws. • Once on each of your turns, one of your attacks with a weapon or an unarmed strike can deal an extra 1d6 damage to a target on a hit. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest. Hammer. Your unarmed strikes deal an additional 1d6 bludgeoning damage. Ice Sword. You can cast chill touch at will. Magma. Your character instantaneously sinks 100 feet into the earth until they reach magma, taking 20d6 fire damage from the magma. The tunnel created by this effect stays open until the end of the character's next turn, at which point it magically seals, entombing the player if it has not been able to escape. Hand of Youth. The character's natural life increases by 1d10 x 100 years. Ogre. The character's strength score increases by 2, and its intelligence decreases by 2. Sea. The character gains the enmity of the sea. Any time the character travels on a large body of water, a kraken attacks the ship they travel aboard. Skull. The character's forehead visibly swells, and their Intelligence increases by 2, while their Charisma decreases by 2. Trident. The character gains a swim speed of 30 feet and can breathe underwater. Vampire. The character's hit point maximum is reduced by 17, as if they had suffered a permanent vampire bite. Withered Hand. The character ages to a point only seconds away from natural death. The character must make a Constitution saving throw DC 16 each round or die, unless they are somehow magically de-aged. FROSTRAZOR This archetypal weapon is completely composed of enchanted ice, but this causes no discomfort to anyone who grasps the hilt. Though the weapon constantly steams and drips, a magical recondensation process ensures that it never permanently loses any of its substance. Frostrazor is a +3 greatsword. On a successful attack roll of 17-20, a shard of the sword embeds itself in the target and has the following effects at the beginning of the target's turn. Effects are cumulative, and the target may make a Constitution saving throw DC 18 per embedded shard at the end of each round to purge the shard. • 17 - The shard drains 1d4 hit points from the target, and the wielder of Frostrazor gains that many hit points. • 18 - The shard drains 1d6 hit points from the target, and the wielder of Frostrazor gains that many hit points. • 19 - The shard drains 1d8 hit points from the target, and the wielder of Frostrazor gains that many hit points. • 20 - The shard drains 1d20 hit points from the target, and the wielder of Frostrazor gains that many hit points. Undead and constructs are immune to these effects. If Frostrazor reduces a target to 0 hit points, or a target dies from shard damage from Frostrazor, the target is turned into a solid piece of ice. If a character is shattered in that form, it can only be restored to life through the use of the spells wish and true resurrection cast in tandem. Proficiency with a greatsword allows you to add your proficiency bonus to the attack roll for any attack you make with it.
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